Today marks fifteen years since our Nintendo Life began, and five years since I wrote about our ten-year anniversary, which feels like only yesterday. Back in 2015, Nintendo was teasing us with NX and games for mobile phones as interest really started to wain in the criminally-misunderstood Wii U. We wouldn’t say it was the darkest time for Nintendo, but it was pretty grim.

Fast forward to the present, and it’s fair to say it’s been an incredible five years for Nintendo, and for Nintendo Life. We’ve grown substantially in that time, and not just in terms of visitors; our team has expanded and our company has matured in many different ways. Switch has obviously been an integral part to our success in recent years, and we must congratulate Nintendo on their latest achievement; after all, a strong Nintendo is obviously a very good thing when you’re running a Nintendo-centric website.

It’s not all praise for Nintendo, though; people that don’t know us often mistake us for blind fanboys, which couldn’t be further from the truth. It would be fair to say that we’re no closer to understanding the strategy or machinations of Nintendo than we were five years ago. The company continues to make bizarre choices on a regular basis, and because of that, we’ll continue to question them. The phrase “because Nintendo” is very much alive, despite the Switch being an overwhelming success. Hopefully, those of you who have been with us through thick and thin appreciate the editorial balance we strike on this site.

It certainly keeps things interesting for readers, and we’ve simply never had more things to talk about – even during the heady days of the Wii and DS (total combined sales: over 250 million), there didn’t seem to be as much going on in the world of Nintendo as there is now. The eShop has new releases overflowing on a weekly basis – a potential problem itself – meaning we have to pick and choose which games to review; our previous mandate to cover every single digital release (an easy objective to maintain during the desperate days of the 3DS and Wii U) has sadly had to fall by the wayside.

For consumers, the industry is providing an amazing number of games at the moment and we’re on the eve of a new generation of consoles, with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X (and Series S) launching this month. Nintendo is yet to reveal its hardware plans for this coming decade, but the smart money is on an evolution of Switch and no more “Revolutions” like we saw back in 2006.

Anyway, that’s more than enough waffling; let’s dive right into the “thank you” messages.

Thank you, thank you, thank you

The site (and YouTube channel) wouldn’t exist without you, the reader. Whether you visit every hour of every day (we know who you are) or once a month, whether you first visited in 2005 or today, I’d like to say a huge thank you.

Next is a thank you to our hard-working and dedicated staff members, Ryan, Gavin, Liam along with Alex, Zion and Jon on YouTube and Darren and Damien, my fellow Directors. Their collective effort in recent years has been an honour to work alongside, and I look forward to many more still to come.

Thanks also to our current pool of regular contributors including, Mitch Vogel, Alan Lopez, Gonçalo Lopes, Chris Scullion, Austin Voigt, PJ O’Reilly, Stuart Gipp, Ollie Reynolds, Henry Stockdale, Kate Gray, Matthew Castle, Jon Mundy, Robert Sephazon and Pete Davison.

I also have to thank the authors on other websites that cover and link to our content appropriately — hat-tip — and those that share our articles across social media.

Behind the scenes, there are just as many people who help make things happen. Thank you to our partners at Gamer Network, in particular Simon Maxwell, Jon Hicks, Dan Robinson and his wonderful sales team Alistair Pardoe, Nadine Alden, Callum Johnson, Julia Cohick and Matt Butlin. Special thanks also to Richard Badley, Craig Munro and Mark Kennedy for their technical support. Finally, an extra special thanks has to go to the one and only Rupert Loman, the former CEO of Gamer Network, who believed in us all the way back in 2011 and has been an integral part of our growth over the years.

Thanks also to Kornel and Andrew at 44bytes for providing us with some excellent infrastructure, and Andrew Bowler at Loughborough University, who oversaw our move to a proper, dedicated office space last year.

We should also thank Nintendo itself, and the many, many staff we’ve had contact with over the years who have helped us do cool things like have our own page on the 3DS eShop, run a stand at EGX and have access to the likes of Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles Martinet.

Last but not least are all the developers and publishers of the games we cover. Thank you for creating your games and helping us bring them to the attention of as many people as possible. We appreciate your support, and we hope the positive reviews we’ve published have done your work justice (and the negative ones have spurred you on to greater heights).

Looking to the future

The last five years have been great – for many different reasons – and we’re looking forward to the next five. We’re going to continue to develop the site and expand our team to cover as much of the world of Nintendo as we can, alongside our sister websites Push Square, Pure Xbox and Stadia Life (yes, the last one was a joke. Or was it?).

It’s clear that the world is having a difficult time right now, for various reasons, which means we aren’t able to celebrate this birthday in quite the way I had envisioned. Everyone is having to adapt in different ways, ourselves included.

Something we get asked for on a regular basis is “Where can I buy a Nintendo Life t-shirt?”, probably because they are expertly modelled by Alex, Zion and Jon across their videos. Now, we’re not entirely sure what the demand for these is like, so we’ve put together a store with limited quantities to test the waters. If you are interested in grabbing a T-Shirt and showing your support for the site, then use the links below – if things go well, we’ll no doubt do an entire range in 2021. Whoop! (PS. If you order 2x T-Shirts you’ll get 20% off the second one)

Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.

Aside from T-Shirts, we’ve got bunch of other things that we’re looking to do in the years ahead, but for now, we’d better get back to reporting the latest Nintendo news; no doubt Nintendo has shadow-dropped another Direct during the time I’ve written this.

What are your memories of turning 15? Are you 15? (Wow, that makes us feel old.) When did you first visit Nintendo Life? Let us know in the comments below.

Earlier this year in May, the legendary video game designer Suda51 mentioned how he would be interested in releasing some of Grasshopper Manufacture’s older titles on the Nintendo Switch.

One of the games he mentioned at the time that had a “more realistic” chance of coming to the hybrid system was Grasshopper’s 1999 adventure visual novel, The Silver Case.

Now, just months later, multiple online listings in Japan have revealed The Silver 2425 is on its way to the Switch. This two-in-one package contains remakes of Grasshopper’s original title The Silver Case and the sequel, The 25th Ward: The Silver Case.

These games have previously been localised and released on the PlayStation 4 and PC, and Playism’s Nintendo Switch version is scheduled to launch in Japan on 18th February next year for 6,578 yen.

Here’s the backstory of the original game (via Steam):

1999 – Tokyo’s 24 Wards. The city has been plagued by a string of serial murders. The detectives of the 24 Wards Heinous Crimes Unit have their sights set on one particular suspect: Kamui Uehara, legendary serial killer and perpetrator of a number of assassinations of government officials 20 years prior in the now-famous “Silver Case”. However, nobody knows who – or what – Kamui really is. Is this really the second coming of Kamui? Who is this infamous serial killer, and what is his endgame?

Take control of the protagonist – a member of the Special Forces Unit known as “Republic” – from a first-person perspective and dig deep into the underground of the 24 Wards and the police force itself to unravel the various interconnected mysteries encountered throughout the game. Inspired by classic adventure and visual novel-style games as well as neo-noir and hardboiled detective films, The Silver Case provides a unique and revolutionary gameplay experience as it leads you through deep and engaging storylines filled with puzzles and riddles. Uncover the truth piece by piece as you struggle to survive in this dark and dangerous world where the stakes are even higher than they seem!

In related news, last weekend Engine Games revealed it would be happy to talk with Suda51 about bringing Killer7 to the Switch. You can read more about this in our previous story.

If we hear anything regarding a Silver 2425 western release, we’ll be sure to let you know right away.

It’s been another busy week with plenty of new data from Nintendo revealing that the Switch has now outsold the NES, that Super Mario 3D All-Stars sold over 5 million copies in just 12 days, and even an updated list of Switch’s best-selling games, so it’s about time we sat back and had a breather, right?

With the weekend now upon us, it’s time to discuss our weekend gaming plans. Members of Nintendo Life have done just that below, and we’d love for you to join in via our poll and comment sections. Enjoy!

Stuart Gipp, reviewer

Roaring through the first two No More Heroes titles gave me quite the hankering for the upcoming third instalment, so I’ve watched the excellent The Return trailer a number of times. Aside from this I’ve got Tropico 6 and Cobra Kai to review, so look out for those soon.

Otherwise I’ve been chipping away at Paradise Killer, and I’m about to start playing Pokémon Sword – my first pocket monster adventure since Pokémon White, so I’m a little apprehensive. Lastly, it’s back to waiting for Destiny 2: Beyond Light to drop, though that’s not on Switch. Of course, if it was, my life would basically be over, so I’m quite glad.

Gavin Lane, features editor

I’m not going to have the opportunity to play much this weekend, but any time I do nab will likely be spent with an upcoming release (I won’t spoil here). Still, if by some stroke of luck I manage to squeeze in a cheeky half hour, I’d love to get back to Banjo-Tooie. I’ve been dabbling with it for the last couple of weeks and it’s been eye-opening to revisit a game which felt so overwhelming the first time I through. The game hasn’t changed over the years, so it must be me. It’s good stuff!

Take care, everyone – it’ll be all right in the end.

Austin Voigt, contributing writer

This weekend, t’is myne day of birth! I shall avoid all chores and responsibilities and simply play video games to my heart’s desire. On the menu: Pikmin 3 Deluxe, Pokémon Shield Crown Tundra DLC, Paper Mario: The Origami King, Luigi’s Mansion 3, the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity demo, and OBVIOUSLY attending my birthday party in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Additionally, a friend is stopping by, and has many questions about which games to buy his daughter for Christmas with her very first Switch (and first console, ever). I plan to show him all of the above games, as well as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, and more. If anyone has suggestions for other great titles to get a young’un who’s new to gaming, drop them in the comments below!

Ryan Craddock, news editor

This weekend I’ll continue working my way through the long list of legendary Pokémon I need to catch in Sword and Shield’s Crown Tundra DLC. The number of times my team and I have got all the way to a legendary in the Dynamax Adventure thingy just to lose out at the last moment is starting to get painful now!

Elsewhere, I’m still mopping up the last of the collectables in LEGO Harry Potter Collection, although the end is finally in sight. Hopefully I’ll have that done over the next few days. Have a good weekend everyone, and hang in there.

Gonçalo Lopes, contributing writer

Last weekend’s spooky retro gaming romp coupled with the re-release of both No More Heroes titles had an unexpected consequence. My Wii is once again powered up for much-needed comfort gaming, starting this very weekend with yours truly producing some gameplay videos of my Wiiware collection. Star Soldier R, Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth, Contra Rebirth, Gradius Rebirth, Excitebike: World Rally and Military Madness: Nectaris (a series that deserves more love) are all frontrunners for my free time.

My game of the week is the extremely clever YesterMorrow. Don’t really want to spoil this one so just trust me on that. Join me next weekend as I pick up my next generation console. It is probably not the one you’re thinking…

As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to leave a vote in the poll above and a comment below with your gaming choices over the next few days…

Quick Fix: Python throws the “ImportError: No module named pandas” when it cannot find the Pandas installation. The most frequent source of this error is that you haven’t installed Pandas explicitly with pip install pandas. Alternatively, you may have different Python versions on your computer and Pandas is not installed for the particular version you’re using. To fix it, run pip install pandas in your Linux/MacOS/Windows terminal.

Problem: You’ve just learned about the awesome capabilities of the Pandas library and you want to try it out, so you start with the following import statement you found on the web:

import pandas as pd

This is supposed to import the Pandas library into your (virtual) environment. However, it only throws the following import error: no module named pandas!

>>> import pandas as pd

ImportError: No module named pandas on line 1 in main.py

You can reproduce this error in the following interactive Python shell:

Why did this error occur?

The reason is that Python doesn’t provide Pandas in its standard library. You need to install Python first!

Before being able to import the Pandas module, you need to install it using Python’s package manager pip. You can run the following command in your Windows shell:

$ pip install pandas

Here’s the screenshot on my Windows machine:

This simple command installs Pandas in your virtual environment on Windows, Linux, and MacOS. It assumes that you know that your pip version is updated. If it isn’t, use the following two commands (there’s no harm in doing it anyways):

$ python -m pip install --upgrade pip

...

$ pip install pandas

Here’s how this plays out on my Windows command line:

The warning message disappeared!

If you need to refresh your Pandas skills, check out the following Pandas cheat sheets—I’ve compiled the best 5 in this article.

Related article: Top 5 Pandas Cheat Sheets

How to Fix “ImportError: No module named pandas” in PyCharm

If you create a new Python project in PyCharm and try to import the Pandas library, it’ll throw the following error:

Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:/Users/xcent/Desktop/Finxter/Books/book_dash/pythonProject/main.py", line 1, in <module> import pandas as pd

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pandas' Process finished with exit code 1

The reason is that each PyCharm project, per default, creates a virtual environment in which you can install custom Python modules. But the virtual environment is initially empty—even if you’ve already installed Pandas on your computer!

Here’s a screenshot:

The fix is simple: Use the PyCharm installation tooltips to install Pandas in your virtual environment—two clicks and you’re good to go!

First, right-click on the pandas text in your editor:

Second, click “Show Context Actions” in your context menu. In the new menu that arises, click “Install Pandas” and wait for PyCharm to finish the installation.

The code will run after your installation completes successfully.

Here’s a complete introduction to PyCharm:

Related Article: PyCharm—A Helpful Illustrated Guide

The post How to Fix “ImportError: No module named pandas” [Mac/Linux/Windows/PyCharm] first appeared on Finxter.

One of the most memorable characters in Pokémon Sword and Shield is Ball Guy – a mascot for the Galar region Pokémon League. Each time you meet up with him throughout your journey, he gives you a different type of Poké Ball.

It seems he’ll be going beyond the video game very soon, as he’s making an appearance in the upcoming Pokémon Trading Card Game set, “Shiny Star V” – launching in Japan later this month on 20th November. Here’s a look, courtesy of Serebii.net webmaster and Nintendo Life contributor, Joe Merrick:

Many fans of Ball Guy are already requesting a “full art” version of him, and who knows what could happen now that he’s got his own trainer card. What do you think of this new card yourself? Do you collect Pokémon cards yourself? Comment down below.