The latest Nintendo Direct video presentation saw the game maker deliver on a huge slew of holiday-timed announcements for first- and third-party fare. Arguably its biggest news came in the form of Overwatch, the mega-popular team-shooter game from Blizzard Entertainment. Nintendo confirmed that we can expect a Switch version of Overwatch on October 15.
Though the game’s reveal footage was marked with a “not real gameplay” disclaimer, it at least included confirmation that Blizzard will lean into the Nintendo Switch’s unique gyroscope options. Aiming some of the game’s combat superpowers, including Junkrat’s RIP-Tire attack, can be assigned to rotating the Nintendo Switch or its Joy-Con controllers (though we don’t have firm confirmation that this can be disabled, if you prefer to restrict controls to joysticks). The announcement included no information about the potential for cross-play between other platforms.
As has become standard in game-announcement surprises, today’s Overwatch news was spoiled by a leak. This one came from a goof-up at Amazon. As spied by the deal-hunting Twitter account Wario64 last week, the site accidentally revealed a new Switch carrying case smothered in Overwatch logos (along with a detailed zipper pull shaped like a Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controller). The accessory listing was almost immediately deleted.
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The full slate of SNES games coming to paying NSO subscribers as of tomorrow.
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What would classic SNES gaming be without classic SNES hardware?
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Coming soon, exclusively to paying NSO subscribers.
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A closer look at its Switch indicator for player number.
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Charge with the USB Type-C connector, while ZL/ZR nubs guarantee compatibility with other Switch games.
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You already saw the list, but here’s the box art.
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No sign of Star Fox 2 just yet. That remains a SNES Classic exclusive.
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One game was a Japanese exclusive, so its NSO box art is the vertically arranged Japanese original.
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This one’s the biggie, in terms of never previously seeing an official Nintendo re-release.
In what might be the most hoped-for update to the Nintendo Switch’s retro-minded side, the system’s paid online subscription service will finally get support for another library of classic video games: the Super Nintendo. A full suite of 20 SNES games will land for all Nintendo Switch Online subscribers starting tomorrow, September 5. And while Nintendo was mum on how many other SNES games to expect in the future, this opening slate is pretty killer, with a surprising launch of Stunt Race FX—a “Super FX”-powered classic that has never seen a re-release on other platforms until now.
Nintendo took the opportunity to announce a “coming soon” piece of hardware: a wireless SNES controller for the Switch, priced $29.99 and exclusively available for NSO subscribers. Nintendo placed the same restriction on its Switch-compatible NES controllers last year, but unlike those, the Switch SNES pads will have near-complete control parity with the Switch. (It lacks a joystick, but it does include tiny ZL/ZR buttons.)
In addition to details about Nintendo’s three biggest first-party games of the season—Luigi’s Mansion 3, Link’s Awakening, and Pokemon Sword/Shield—the presentation included a mix of confirmations and surprises. On the first-party front, we learned that the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s onslaught of new characters will last longer than originally anticipated. The game’s existing Character Pack DLC will conclude with five characters in all (including, as revealed today, Terry from SNK’s Fatal Fury.) But now we know there will also be an open-ended slew of additional, paid characters once that five-character pack is fully released.
(If you’ve been keeping track of Smash Bros. Ultimate, you know a release tied to the N64 classic Banjo-Kazooie is coming, and Nintendo confirmed its launch date. You can purchase and download the beloved Rare characters to your Smash Bros. sessions starting today.)
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One of gaming’s weirdest homages to Twin Peaks and David Lynch returns in a brand-new sequel next year.
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York is back.
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Don’t be surprised, but it looks weird.
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No idea what I’m talking about? No idea why people are bringing up coffee jokes and puns? Dive into the polarizing original game today.
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A long-rumored Doom 64 port is finally coming to modern systems.
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From the look of things, this is a pretty raw port of the N64 original, as opposed to the lovingly crafted homebrew Doom 64 EX project. But we’ll need more time to compare all the versions to be sure.
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In good news, it’s a lot less blurry than the N64 original.
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No, we didn’t see this one coming either.
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The game originally launched on computers and early-’00s consoles, so we’ll be curious to see which file base is used for this port.
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It’s definitely angular.
The announcement slate included two surprises for classic-gaming aficionados: the first-ever port of Doom 64 on a system other than its original N64 home, coming to Switch on November 22, and a Switch port of 2002’s Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, coming September 24. In terms of out-of-nowhere announcements, arguably nothing topped the revival of the cult classic series Deadly Premonition, which now has a modern-looking sequel slated to launch in “2020.” (Or you can dive into the 2010 original today on Switch by way of a brand-new port.)
And for those keeping an eye on Switch’s future, Nintendo used today’s opportunity to tease Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, coming in “2020,” and a longer look at the multiplayer features coming to Animal Crossing: New Horizons (formerly set to launch in 2019, but now delayed until “March 2020”).
For more on other newly announced games and ports coming to Switch, including Ars favorites Return of the Obra Dinn and Divinity: Original Sin 2, watch Nintendo’s 40-minute video presentation below.
https://arstechnica.com/?p=1562421