The Switch’s Shovelware Problem

Long gone are the days of Nintendo’s Official Licensed seal of approval.

Stephan’s E3 2018 Highlights

My favourite week of the year is over, and now it’s time to discuss.

Stephan’s E3 2018 Predictions

Here it is, my favourite week of the year: E3! The Electronic Entertainment Expo, where the world’s video game industry comes together in Los Angeles, California for a week of announcements, previews, teasers, awkward programmers talking to auditoriums full of people, awkward celebrity hosts trying to sound excited about games… it’s a magical time.

Nintendo Direct 08.03.2018 Recap

Last week the Big N held a Nintendo Direct that melted the Internet. While the usual deluge of ports for underperforming Nintendo games was announced, there were lots of new announcements to get fans excited- including the big one that many have been speculating about for months.

Here’s everything we saw in last week’s direct!

Nintendo Direct Mini 1.11.2018 Recap

Nintendo dropped a new Direct Mini this morning which is a bit of a misnomer, as there was a load of announcements. In case you missed it, here’s everything Nintendo showed this morning, there are loads of exciting games coming to a Switch near you.

Who Won E3 2017?

Who won E3 2017? This was the question posed to me by my roommate. It’s a question that all the Gamers™ ask around this time of year as the conferences become old news and the convention wraps up. There’s an intense desire to compare the different publishers, aligning ourselves with the team we want to win. The team that made the biggest noises, had the most retweets and showed the best CG trailers. Okay, and maybe some genuinely interesting gameplay trailers. But it’s a desire I never really got. If you ask me who won at the end of E3 2017 I would argue I did. Why? Because there’s dozens of new awesome, beautiful, scary, intriguing and compelling video games coming out in the next year that I can’t wait to play.

Legend of Zelda Wii U might have Gender Selection

According to a report from NintendoLife the new Legend of Zelda game for Wii U may finally let players select their character’s gender. Every instalment in the Legend of Zelda series has always starred Link, the green tunic clad elf. But according to a some tweets from Nintendo employees the new game may let players choose the gender of the longtime male series protagonist.

This rumour fits with what seasoned series designer Eiji Anuma has said in previous interviews about the upcoming Wii U exclusive. Anuma has stated that the new Zelda game will shake things up and hopefully prevent the tried and true Zelda formula from becoming stale. In an interview with Famitsu, relayed by Kotaku, Anuma likened the new changes to “going from Japanese food to Western style food.” This is possibly a reference to stepping away from the sparring, desolate worlds traditionally found in Japanese games and moving towards the more dense, populated worlds found in Western RPGs. Western RPGs like Fallout, Elder Scrolls and Mass Effect all let players select their character’s gender. Whether this change Anuma talked about will bring with it the choice to play as someone other than Link remains to be seen.

Stop Worrying About the NX Controller

When I first saw the leaked pictures of the NX (the codename for Nintendo’s new console) controller my first reaction was to panic. Why the hell are there analog sticks over the screen? Why are there no buttons? Wait, why is there a screen??? But then I thought about it for a while. Ever since video games made it into homes Nintendo has been there. They have put out the most memorable, most successful products for over thirty years and their success has cemented them as a household name. So why was my immediate reaction to panic when Nintendo has delivered new and innovative hardware before and delivered it quite successfully? This question prompted me to do some research.

Awesome Video Games Coming in 2016

2016 is going to be huge. This will be the year of virtual reality as well as the next glimpse at Nintendo’s plans for the home console market. It’s also been three years since the current generation of consoles launched and developers are really starting to harness the power of the systems to help make games reach their full potential. This year promises not to disappoint, regardless of what platform you’re playing on. From robust, AAA blockbusters to intriguing, creative indie games 2016 has it all. But as everyone knows there will most likely be quite a few delays. Keeping that in mind here’s what gamers should keep an eye on in 2016:

Diversifying Your Platforms

In October 2012 after having a job for a couple months I finally had enough money to buy things. It was the first time in my life where I could go, “I want that” and then buy it. My naive, little 14-year-old brain almost overloaded. The first thing I did was go out and buy an Xbox 360 with Halo 4. Up until then, I had only had a PS3 and a Wii. I had my Wii for Zelda, Mario Kart and Smash. I had my PS3 for everything else. But I bought an Xbox 360 anyways. That was the moment in my gaming life when I took myself out of the PlayStation ecosystem I had devoted myself to for so many years before. I stepped away from my PSN friends and more importantly, my trophies. I started anew on Xbox with zero friends and zero gamerscore. At the time I thought to myself “I’ll just become a big part of both!” But there are certain things about diversifying your platforms that I hadn’t considered that I wish I had.