I’m upset that we can’t all buy these Labo Switches ⊟
Nintendo has reserved these cardboard-inspired consoles as prizes for its Labo Creators Contest, inviting contestants from several regions to submit entries for two different categories: “Best Toy-Con Musical Instrument” and “Best Gaming Experience using Toy-Con Garage.”
In the U.S. and Canada, one grand prize winner for each category will receive a custom-painted console, a Nintendo Labo Creators jacket, and a framed award certificate signed by the platform’s developers. Four runner-ups will receive the Labo Joy-Cons and jackets. The contest will run from July 9 to August 20.
Nintendo also put out a free software update today for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, now allowing players to use the Toy-Con Motorbike from the Nintendo Labo: Variety Kit to control their in-game vehicles.
Sega came up with the idea of “hey, we should make scented candles that go in Dreamcast- and Mega Drive-shaped candle holders” but didn’t already have scents in mind for these products. And so they’re asking for suggestions on the Sega Forever Facebook page.
The fact that I’m posting this here and not putting a contest-winning suggestion on the page should tell you how many good ideas for Sega-themed smells I’ve come up with. But here are some bad ones I made up:
Mega Drive scents: Streets of Sage, Toe Jam & Earl Grey, Michael Jackson’s Macaroonwalker, Ecco: The Tides of Lime, Golden Apple II, John Madden
Let’s all Kickstart this beautiful vertical Switch grip ⊟
This is something I need for my Namco Museum, Ikaruga, etc. sessions, a Switch grip that secures the Joy-Cons to the sides of a tate-mode console. It’s designed by Jeremy Parish of Retronauts/Game Boy Works/a million other things/most of my professional goals, along with Mike Choi (who made the great IRL Tiny seen in our Twitter header) and Club Tiny supporter Fangamer.
The Flip Grip not only allows you to use the Switch in handheld mode, it also has a slot in which you can insert a credit card to use as a kickstand. The device is on Kickstarter now. $12 gets you one!
This morning I saw the title “Whip! Whip!” in the weekly Nintendo downloads email, and braced myself for whatever that was going to be. It’s… a really cute Bubble Bobble-type game! With a soundtrack by Taito/Zuntata composer COSIO! It’s… cool!
Tira the dessert hunter explores ruins to uncover the recipe required to revive a dessert from ages past.
Ancient machines known as golems are also buried within these ruins.
One day, Tira discovers a golem shaped like a mitten and finds out the legendary dessert she’s been searching for is real. Head out in search of the legendary recipe!
Why yes, I would love a Kunio-kun 3-pack SNES cartridge ⊟
This (not exactly a) reproduction cartridge collects three SNES Kunio spinoffs: Kunio-kun’s Dodgeball, Downtown Nekketsu Baseball Monogatari, and Kunio’s Oden, a falling-block puzzle game with a cute food theme!
This will be released in Japan in August, published by Arc System Works. They’ve even made up a “Technos by Arc System Works” logo to connect their Kunio stewardship to the original publisher. Via miki800.
Valkyria Chronicles 4 offers a new take on Switch puppy controllers ⊟
The “Ragnarok” controller skin included with the launch edition of the game (on the console of your choice) bears the blessed image of Ragnarok, the valiant rescue dog. That’s in North America – you get a Ragnarok sticker in Europe.
I mean, to a certain extent it looks like a mobile game running on PC – complete with default letterboxed portrait orientation – but it’s also got tate mode! And controller support! I’ve never played a Groove Coaster arcade machine, so this is going to be my first big-screen experience with this wonderful rhythm game.
Also! Why is Degica Games publishing these? Why not Square Enix, who owns Taito?
Available for 30 pretend Nintendo bucks! It’ll be like you have a brand new game on your shelf, sort of, complete with new back-of-the-box feature blurbs… which are not there to sell the game, but to give the appearance of being there to sell the game you’ve already bought.
Here’s a tiny picture of an okay Animal Crossing New 2DS XL ⊟
It’s not a new game, but it is… a decent special edition New 2DS XL out in Europe July 20. If you’re in that region and don’t have New Leaf, the updated Welcome Amiibo version is preloaded.
See? There was Animal Crossing news this week! Everything is cool!
“Sky Skipper itself was not a huge draw in Japan. Nintendo quickly discovered that the game was not being played as much as they would like for it to be a viable release. This lukewarm reception from Japanese players meant that the game was not considered for a release here in the West. It is believed that Nintendo wisely decided to convert and re-purpose its remaining Sky Skipperhardware inventory into Popeye PCBs. So as well as dedicated Popeye boards, there are a handful of ex-Sky Skipper PCBs that run the Popeye code.
Of course, what this meant was that Sky Skipper as a game, quietly disappeared and was forgotten about. Lost to history, the arcade game became the stuff of legend and nothing more than vague mentions can be found on Nintendo based forum sites over the years.”
But it’s releasing to Switch next month! Today’s Treehouse stream even revealed that the cabinet art shown above comes from Shigeru Miyamoto. Arcade Archives: Donkey Kong is also available now from the eShop!
That tiny Neo Geo cabinet will be available this summer ⊟
And here’s what’s on it (the Japanese version, anyway):
1.THE KING OF FIGHTERS ‘94 / 2.THE KING OF FIGHTERS '95 / 3.THE KING OF FIGHTERS '96 / 4.THE KING OF FIGHTERS '97 / 5.THE KING OF FIGHTERS '98 / 6.THE KING OF FIGHTERS '99 / 7.THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2000 / 8.THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2001 / 9.THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2002 / 10.THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2003
11.SAMURAI SHODOWN II / 12.SAMURAI SHODOWN IV / 13.SAMURAI SHODOWN V SPECIAL / 14.FATAL FURY SPECIAL / 15.REAL BOUT FATAL FURY / 16.REAL BOUT FATAL FURY 2 / 17.GAROU: MARK OF THE WOLVES / 18.WORLD HEROES PERFECT / 19.KIZUNA ENCOUNTER / 20.ART OF FIGHTING
21.THE LAST BLADE / 22.THE LAST BLADE 2 / 22.NINJA MASTER’S / 24.AGGRESSORS OF DARK KOMBAT / 25.KING OF THE MONSTERS 2 / 26.CYBER-LIP / 27.SHOCK TROOPERS 2ND SQUAD / 28.TOP HUNTER RODDY & CATHY / 29.NINJA COMMANDO / 30.BURNING FIGHT
Wow! Mondo will sell 18"x24" prints for this sick artwork by Sachin Teng tomorrow (expected to ship this August). The limited run of 255 posters will go for $45 each, but Mondo will begin selling them online at a random time, so you’ll have to keep an eye on their site. Shoutouts to Sam for the link!
