Kirby meets his match in Kirby Battle Royale

Kirby™ is entering a tournament against his toughest rival yet…himself! 1-4 players can fight in local* or online** battles. You can pick from 10+ Abilities and 10 battle types to compete in countless matchups. You can hoard treasure in Ore Express, knock out opponents in Slam Hockey, shoot missiles at Robo Bonkers, and more.

• Up to 4 players* can each choose an Ability and fight in Kirby-on-Kirby battles*
• Battle via local wireless* or regional online play
• Uncover King Dedede’s nefarious plan in the single-player story mode

The Kirby series amiibo™ figures and Kirby character amiibo from the Super Smash Bros.™ series are compatible with this game. Tap the corresponding amiibo to receive exclusive in-game headgear of Galacta Knight, Café Waddle Dee, Ultra Sword Kirby, or Masked King Dedede.

Take some of Kirby’s Abilities for a spin in the free game demo, now available for download on Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS™ family of systems. After finishing the demo, you can transfer your demo data to the full version of Kirby Battle Royale (once purchased) to unlock Meta Knight as a playable character!

The Kirby Battle Royale game is available now only on the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. It can be purchased in stores, in Nintendo eShop, and at Nintendo.com. For more information about the game, visit http://kirby.nintendo.com/battle-royale/.

Game in 2D.

amiibo sold separately. Compatibility and functionality of amiibo may vary per game. Visit amiibo.com for specific details on how each amiibo works.

* Additional games and systems required for multiplayer mode. Sold separately.

**Wireless Internet access required for online play. For more info, go to support.nintendo.com.

Game Rated:

Mild Cartoon Violence

Welcome to Next Week on Xbox where we bring you the latest details on upcoming games coming soon to Xbox One! This coming week we’ll get the console launch exclusive Full Metal Furies, the beautiful inner-planetary flying game InnerSpace, and a new graduate from the Xbox Game Preview program in Mutant Football League to name just a few. Read on below for more details on these games and more.

Games

January 16, 2018

InnerSpace is an exploration flying game set in a mind-bending world of inside-out planets called the Inverse. Soar through skies and oceans to discover the true history of this realm. Featuring a brilliant art style and soothing electronic musical score, InnerSpace delivers a thoughtful, provocative flying experience unlike any other.

Games

January 17, 2018

It’s Neo-San Francisco, 2064 AD. Your life as a struggling journalist is interrupted by the world’s first sapient machine, a ROM (Relationship and Organizational Manager) named Turing. Together, you and the quirky robot will encounter a colorful cast of locals and overcome challenges as you uncover the city’s secrets behind the overlapping futures of technology and humanity.

Games

January 17, 2018

Console Launch Exclusive From the team that brought you Rogue Legacy, it’s time to work together to defeat enemies, string together combos to deal massive damage, and save a war-torn world battling itself to extinction in Full Metal Furies. With an emphasis on team play and a unique combat system where everyone is important, party up on the couch with friends or online with up to four players.

Games

January 19, 2018

As a government-installed landlord in a totalitarian state, your job is to spy on tenants, peep into their lives, eavesdrop on their conversations and profile everyone to ensure laws are beyond obeyed. Subversion or breaking any of the laws of the state must be reported… but will you report them? Buy Beholder Complete Edition between January 19 and February 2 to receive Dear Esther Landmark Edition for free.

Games

January 19, 2018

Leaving Xbox Game Preview Taking inspiration from over-the-top sports games like NFL Blitz , Mutant Football League (MFL) is the bloody-fun, next-gen, successor to arcade-style American football games. Featuring deep strategic 7-on-7 gameplay, bone-crunching, tooth-shattering, head splitting hits, and a roster of comical ghouls delivering tongue-through-cheek humor.

Games

January 19, 2018

A first-person story-driven mystery game focused on exploration and discovery, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter will place you in the shoes of Paul Prospero, an occult-minded detective, who aims to uncover the mystery behind a trail of corpses and a dark ancient force lurking within Red Creek Valley.

Games

January 19, 2018

Explore the ruins of humanity in this mesmerizing underwater action-adventure. As the sub-aquatic spaceship Argo9, discover thriving wildlife, monstrous beasts, and let curiosity guide you through a voyage of extinction across a frozen planet Earth thousands of years in the future.

Games

January 19, 2018

Join Vesta as she explores 36 levels full of obstacles and enemy robots in this unique action adventure game. She’ll need her brains and her faithful robot companion’s power to traverse this varied landscape to solve the numerous puzzles in her path and fight to survive.

In a similar style to Splatoon 2‘s Splatfests, ARMS‘ Party Crash events have been giving players something different to sink their gloves into, keeping things fun and interesting. The good news for anyone wishing to take part is that the latest one is happening right now!

With Lola Pop and Misango starring as the event’s featured fighters, the Party Crash will allow players from all over the world to join in, enjoy some fights, win points, and raise their Lab Level to earn in-game currency and badges.

For those not in the know, players can take part with any character they wish, although playing as one of the featured fighters can help to earn extra points. With bonuses for the ARMS you choose, as well as bonus periods that add new twists to the gameplay, these events are a good way to mix things up a little and try new techniques.

This timed event began today, 19th January at 9am GMT, and will end at 9am GMT on January 22nd. As ever, if you follow the ARMS news channel on your Nintendo Switch console, you should also find a news post talking about this event which will provide you with a bonus in-game badge.

Will you be punching your way through the Party Crash event? Let us know whose side you’re on with a comment below.

Full Metal Furies is Now Available on Steam!

From the creators of Rogue Legacy comes a “true-cooperative” action RPG. FULL METAL FURIES puts an emphasis on team play with a unique combat system where everyone is important. Play on the couch, alone or with friends, or make it an online party for up to four players!

– Founder of Big Robot Jim Rossignol on how visuals affected combat design in The Signal From Tölva.

In a piece recently published by PC Gamer, founder of development studio Big Robot Jim Rossignol discusses how bright visual effects and sci-fi sound clips contributed to enhancing how it feels to shoot guns in The Signal From Tölva. 

“We wanted to have big colorful lasers,” Rossignol explains. “[We wanted] big long trails that last quite a long time and light up the landscape.” This powerful display appears every time a player pulls the trigger, which is intended to help shooting things feel great.

The fantastic display of visuals aren’t used to help gunplay feel better though. It’s also designed to evoke a sense of awe. “When you see groups engaging each other in the distance you get that flicker of gunfire that allows you to see where people are firing from. That brings those battles to life,” says Rossignol. 

Working in tandem with the visual fireworks set off by the guns are futuristic sound effects that help sell the combat. “Rather than having a single sound effect for when the weapons go off, we broke it down to an overall firing noise and a projectile leaving noise, so every weapon has components that make the sound better,” he notes. “As you take your finger off the trigger you hear the end of your shot cut off, that just sells the behavior of the weapon more, and gives them way more life than they had.”

Check out the entire interview over at PC Gamer. 

Conveying information and maintaining a distinct visual style can be difficult, especially if a game’s user interface depends on having a clear and concise design to relay instructions to the player. 

In this 2017 GDC session, Mini Metro developer Jamie Churchman goes over the successes and failures of visual design in Mini Metro, examining how visual design and user interface decisions play a role in creating a gratifying experience for the player.

“The design process starts with understanding your subject matter,” explains Churchman. “And in this case, that’s understanding a game that’s halfway in development. And that can start with a simple question: what is the game about?” 

Churchman uses that question to break down the parts of Mini Metro which would eventually lead toward a discussion on how to design a user interface that would encourage and explore those facets.

Visual and user interface designers interested in what did and didn’t work for Mini Metro can now watch the talk completely free via the official GDC YouTube channel!

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas.