During the Nintendo Direct, we experienced a whirlwind of new games, accessories, and features coming to the Nintendo Switch. From previously announced games coming in the Fall and Winter of this year to never-before-announced titles scheduled for 2019, there was so much content shown that it was hard for anyone to keep up. Get clued into all things Nintendo with our roundup of everything shown during yesterday’s Nintendo Direct.
The biggest news coming out of the September 2018 Nintendo Direct is the announcement of a new Animal Crossing scheduled for 2019. Nintendo toyed with us a bit, first showing Isabelle getting a letter where she’s asked to join the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster. We got a preview of some gameplay showing off her moves which include shooting off confetti poppers, smacking opponents around with poms-poms, summoning a fire hydrant rocket, and floating around on a bench attached to two bunny-head shaped balloons.
Following that announcement, Tom Nook stole the show and Nintendo revealed the big news. There’s not much to go on right now but we do know that the new Animal Crossing will be coming out in 2019 and will most likely launch in the Fall/Winter if it follows the same pattern of previous titles in the series.
The September 2018 Nintendo Direct kicked off with a mini trailer of Luigi’s Mansion 3. Gameplay included Luigi sneaking around what looks to be a hotel as he gets spooked by a haunted housekeeping cart, sucks up poltergeists with his famous ghost-sucking vacuum, and shoots off a plunger in a ghost’s face. Presently, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a working title coming in 2019 with no release date.
The original Luigi’s Mansion will be arriving to the Nintendo 3DS on October 12 with a new two-player mode that requires both people to own the game. One person will also get to play as a green, ghost-like version of Luigi. If only one person owns the game, friends can still partake in boss battles in the gallery using download play.
A slew of Final Fantasy titles are coming to the Nintendo Switch with leading with Final Fantasy 15: Pocket Edition available today. This will be followed up by World of Final Fantasy releasing November 6, 2018, Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon: Everybody set to arrive this Winter.
Crystal Chronicles is getting a graphical facelift in Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered which will feature a new online multiplayer mode and new areas in dungeons to explore, making it a (relatively) fresh experience for people who played the original. This will be available in 2019.
Lastly, Final Fantasy 12 is scheduled for the Nintendo Switch in 2019, and will be followed up by Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy 9, and Final Fantasy 10/10-2. The latter don’t have a release schedule as of yet.
Five features were announced with the Nintendo Online Membership that include Online play, a growing NES games library with online multiplayer, a save data cloud that automatically uploads your game data online, a smartphone app that pairs up with certain games, and special offers such as the new wireless NES controllers. Service begins on September 18th, 2018 and will include a 12-month family membership for people with 2 or more accounts for only $34.99.
New features were shown for Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee. We learned that Pikachu and Eevee will be able to learn Special Techniques that let them cut down trees, surf on water, and fly (exactly like the Hidden Machine moves in the Gamefreak games). They will also be able to learn powerful moves that only they can use in battle. Petting them in handheld mode will change their hairstyle depending on how you pet them.
The developer behind the popular Pokemon games announced a working title called Town. It’s a turn-based RPG that follows the story of a village that has known lasting peace until the sudden arrival of monsters. As the town’s hero, you’ll summon the help of your neighbors to defeat the beasts and figure out what’s going on. Town is scheduled to release sometime in 2019.
Beat em ups are coming to the Nintendo Switch via the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle. It includes classics such as Final Fight, The King of Dragons, Captain Commando, Knights of the Round, Warriors of Fate, Armored Warriors, and Battle Circuit. Up to four players can play locally and you can jump online and play with friends starting September 18, 2018.
Mario Tennis is getting new characters — Birdo, Shy Guy, Koopa Paratroopa, and Petey Piranha — with more to come. They can be acquired while playing online. A new mode called Co-op Challenge will allow players to participate in online co-op missions for a limited time where they can unlock outfits, new moves, and more. The version 2 update will be available September 9, 2018.
Full adaptations of the best selling tabletop games are coming to the Nintendo Switch, brought on by Asmodee. Titles include Carcassonne, Pandemic, and The Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game which will be arriving in December 2018. There are more hit tabletop games expected soon after including Catan Universe and Munchkin.
A bundle for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was announced with exclusive Joy Cons and a docking station featuring popular characters from the roster. This and a Gamecube controller adapter will be available starting on November 2, 2018.
While the above are just highlights from September’s Nintendo Direct, there was a ton more news announced, including some upcoming release dates.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.