Of Course Scalpers Are Already Listing Fire Emblem’s 30th Anniversary Edition
This week, Nintendo announced it would be bringing Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light to the west for the first time ever. The catch – because there’s always one – is that it’ll be another “limited-time” release and will only be available on the Switch eShop until 31st March 2021.
Alongside this, Nintendo is offering a Fire Emblem 30th Anniversary Edition. Like the digital release, this will only be available for a “limited time”. Despite the fact it doesn’t include a physical copy of the game, it’s still in high demand and as a result, scalpers are already taking advantage of its limited availability. Here are some examples from Twitter user grayson_james23:
“I don’t post on Twitter much but come on @NintendoAmerica these sold out in two minutes… for the sake of everyone please produce a lot so that you can drown out these scum bags. As an FE collector and mega fan.. I’m really upset..”
If you do a quick search of Fire Emblem 30th Anniversary on eBay or similar websites, you’ll likely come across a number of these listings. The good majority aren’t really making an effort to hide the fact they’re reselling their own orders, and as usual, the prices have been significantly bumped up from the suggested price of $49.99. Some listings even have bids on them…
This follows on from last month when scalpers were caught out reselling another “limited-time” release, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, ahead of its launch date. Have you had any issues securing Fire Emblem’s 30th Anniversary Edition? Tell us down below.
With the weekend now upon us, though, 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!
Jon Cartwright, video producer
I wish I got a little more invested in Pokémon Sword and Shield. I finished the main game, levelled up my party a little and just kinda moved on. Isle of Armor squeezed a few more hours out of me but this weekend I’ll be returning to Galar once more and maybe this time the “post-game” will hook me.
The Crown Tundra just came out and this seems to be the real meat of the Expansion Pass. Not only is there an entirely new Wild Area to explore but Dynamax Adventures, which offers up legendary Pokémon from prior games, sounds like the time sink I’ve been waiting for.
I’ve also returned to my Persona 5 save which I for some reason abandoned around the 70-hour mark (we can pretend that’s on Switch, right?) It probably is in an alternate universe.
PJ O’Reilly, reviewer
Hello. This weekend I’m going to be jumping into Green Hell, Creepy Jar’s brutal survival effort that so far has been absolutely hammering me with snake bites, parasites and all-manner of nasty, nasty ways to die so look out for that review shortly if I manage to make it out the other end of it all. Elsewhere I’ve finally reinstalled Valkyria Chronicles 4 and am adamant that I’m gonna get right the way through it this time without having my attention diverted by some other shiny new game…although I do quite fancy that Horace and Mario Tennis Aces is on sale right now…oh god, make it stop! Have a good weekend whatever you’re playing and stay safe out there.
Stuart Gipp, reviewer
Other than blitzing through Oddworld: New N’ Tasty for review (keep an eye out for that one!), and some cheeky seshes on Shadow of Mordor (not Nintendo, shh, don’t tell the lads!), I’ve been putting time into both G.I. Joe Operation Blackout and Transformers Battlegrounds, both for reviewing on here in the near future. Just call me “Mr Hasbro”. Actually, please don’t, that would be wretched.
As for my usual retro malarkey, I’ve been eyeing up Mega Man Legacy Collection 2, which remains conspicuously uncompleted by me. I’m just not sure if I can muster another playthrough of Mega Man 8. Jump, jump. Slide, slide…
Gavin Lane, features editor
I finally put Rogue Legacy to bed last week. Yes, I cheesed the final boss across the room with a constant barrage of throwing daggers from my Archmage – a totally legit strat! – and there’s now nothing standing between me and Hades. There was nothing standing between us before, apart from a mental barrier that didn’t want to have two rogue-likes on the go, but I’m sure you understand.
There’s tons of other stuff I might dip into. I went and bought Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (or Luigi Kart Live, as my variant should be called), and I’d like to unlock the fastest 200cc mode and see how the cats cope with it. I’m also only a handful of hours into the excellent Horace, and I picked up Killer Queen Black for mere pennies on sale. And all that’s just the mere tip of the whopping-great iceberg which is my backlog. Whatever you do, don’t mention Game of the Year yet…
Ryan Craddock, news editor
Having wrapped up the first game in LEGO Harry Potter Collection this week, I’ve found myself diving right into the second, exploring the final few years of this bricky Hogwarts journey. It already feels like this game might be significantly bigger than the first, so it looks like I could be here for some time.
I’ve also picked up the physical version of Cadence of Hyrule this week – as I never played it the first time around – and also have Pokémon Sword and Shield‘s The Crown Tundra DLC to play. It’s also my birthday today, so this is going to be a very busy weekend! Have a good one folks.
Gonçalo Lopes, contributing writer
I do believe this is some sort of record week for physical arrivals. My collection has increased by no less than eleven tiles, including game number #400(!)… and its not a “proper” Nintendo Switch game… or a game from 2020 even! At long last I have in my hands the physical Switch edition of Xeno Crisis! I can’t believe I still haven’t been able to complete this game in single player.
At the moment, my slate is pretty clean! I do have a few games sitting on the sideline: The campaign of Pokémon Sword & Shield is staring at me as I write and I haven’t watered my Animal Crossing island in weeks…but I also don’t really feel any urgency to get back to them. I have a big stack of games in my room that I consider “my backlog” and I’m in debates about pulling something short and sweet out of it for the weekend!
Metroid Prime, the original Pikmin or even Super Metroid are all prime contenders, but I’m also picking up my physical copy of Cadence of Hyrule today! Why can’t I just be limited to what I have, like when I was a kid? Someone please, just pick for me!
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…
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 10-25-2020, 11:21 AM - Forum: Lounge
- No Replies
Xbox Could Offer Streaming Stick For Game Pass Subscribers
In addition to streaming for your phones, tablets, and (eventually) your PC and Xbox consoles, Microsoft could be offering a dedicated streaming stick that comes free with a Game Pass subscription. All you would need is a TV and a controller to start playing your favorite Xbox games.
Speaking to Stratechery (via The Verge), head of Xbox Phil Spencer didn't outright confirm such a device is coming, but he very heavily hinted at it.
"You could imagine us even having something that we just included in the Game Pass subscription that gives you an ability to stream xCloud games to your television and buying a controller," Spencer said.
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Random: Not Everyone Is Happy With Cadence Of Hyrule’s Interior Artwork
If you’ve got full artwork inside your Cadence of Hyrule Switch game case, consider yourself lucky, as fans of the game in certain regions around the world have opened up their latest physical purchase to discover it’s a completely blank canvas.
One individual, located in Spain, was nice enough to upload an image over on Twitter, and well…as you can see, it’s just the game card sitting there all by itself. A few other people in this same location shared similar shots. In other regions, like North America, it’s slightly better – with the game’s main artwork at least repeated in the interior.
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened, either. There have been past incidents where local classifications have obstructed stunning game artwork, and last month, the North American game card for the “limited-time” Super Mario 3D All-Stars release rubbed fans up the wrong way.
There’s also been a trend of physical games shipping with a code instead of a card. There are even entire collector editions – like the Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light one Nintendo announced this week – that come with everything but a game card. It’s sure not easy being a physical collector in 2020!
While it’s certainly a bummer for anyone who receives a copy of Cadence of Hyrule with a blank interior, at least they’ll still get the game and all of its DLC on the cartridge. Have you got any physical Switch cases that don’t include interior artwork? What’s your own copy of Cadence of Hyrule look like? Tell us down below.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 10-25-2020, 05:15 AM - Forum: Lounge
- No Replies
Xbox Could Offer Streaming Stick For Game Pass Subscribers
In addition to streaming for your phones, tablets, and (eventually) your PC and Xbox consoles, Microsoft could be offering a dedicated streaming stick that comes free with a Game Pass subscription. All you would need is a TV and a controller to start playing your favorite Xbox games.
Speaking to Stratechery (via The Verge), head of Xbox Phil Spencer didn't outright confirm such a device is coming, but he very heavily hinted at it.
"You could imagine us even having something that we just included in the Game Pass subscription that gives you an ability to stream xCloud games to your television and buying a controller," Spencer said.
microStudio is a game engine that runs entirely in your browser and makes it incredibly easy to get started creating 2D games, with a polished, well designed, comprehensive and documented set of tools. You can start as easily as going to microStudio.dev in your browser, clone an existing or create a new project and start coding, no account creation required.
Key features of microStudio include:
entirely browser based, no install or account creation required
simple Lua inspired programming language microScript
built in multi-file code editor with contextual documentation and syntax highlighting
run your game directly in browser or remote test on phones with live loading
pixel art editor
tile map editor
support for multiple devs with automatic synchronisation of changes
deploy your game as HTML5, or beta export support for Windows, Mac and Linux
You can learn more about microStudio and see in it action in the video below (or Odysee here). If you want to learn more or encounter a problem check out their discord server.
The kernel team is working on final integration for kernel 5.9. This version was just recently released, and will arrive soon in Fedora. As a result, the Fedora kernel and QA teams have organized a test week from Monday, October 26, 2020 through Monday, November 02, 2020. Refer to the wiki page for links to the test images you’ll need to participate. Read below for details.
How does a test week work?
A test week is an event where anyone can help make sure changes in Fedora work well in an upcoming release. Fedora community members often participate, and the public is welcome at these events. If you’ve never contributed before, this is a perfect way to get started.
To contribute, you only need to be able to do the following things:
Download test materials, which include some large files
Read and follow directions step by step
The wiki page for the kernel test day has a lot of good information on what and how to test. After you’ve done some testing, you can log your results in the test day web application. If you’re available on or around the day of the event, please do some testing and report your results. We have a document which provides all the steps written.
Happy testing, and we hope to see you on test day.
Review: Pumpkin Jack – The Perfect Platforming Treat For The Spooky Season
We don’t know about you, but Halloween is one of our favourite times of the year. Autumn is in full force, supermarkets are littered with skeletons and pumpkins, and it’s possibly the only time of year where it’s acceptable to watch The Exorcist on repeat while gorging on Toblerone (although you’ll forgive us if that’s been our Saturday night ritual for much of the year — 2020, eh?). For most of us, Halloween will likely look a bit different this year; some may not even bother celebrating at all. Thankfully, though, Pumpkin Jack has arrived to fill the ghostly void, and we’re delighted to say that it’s absolutely worth picking up.
If you’re a fan of the classic action platformer MediEvil, then you’ll be right at home with Pumpkin Jack. Taking place in the quiet, dreadfully boring Arc En Ciel Kingdom, the Devil himself conjures up a curse to plunge the kingdom into depths of despair, unleashing monsters and ghouls upon the poor, unsuspecting residents. The King tasks his champion Wizard to defend his people, so in retaliation, the Devil enlists his own champion to take on the Arc En Ciel Wizard: Stingy Jack.
The story is about as in-depth as you need it to be. As you traverse the land, you’ll encounter a rather mouthy owl, who guides Jack along his 6-8 hour quest with hints, tips, and the occasional jibe. Other characters pop up here and there, including a merchant who sells cosmetic skins, and a range of spooky boss characters that will test your platforming and combat skills. The character and world design is simply magnificent, and there’s plenty here to really kickstart a successful franchise, should the developer choose to do so (oh, and we should mention that Pumpkin Jack was developed by just one person, Nicolas Meyssonnier, with Adrien Lucas on porting duties).
The stages themselves are fairly open, whilst maintaining a comfortable level of linearity. You can stray off the beaten path to find hidden crow skulls (which can be exchanged for the cosmetic skins mentioned earlier), but by and large, you’ll be following a designated path from A to B. It’s really well done, and while a couple of levels suffer from a touch of repetition, most of them are expertly paced, injecting new and absurd tasks from riding a ghostly horse through a swamp to navigating a magical maze that brings back vivid memories of Ocarina of Time’s Lost Woods.
Gameplay is split between platforming and combat, with a few mini-games sprinkled in for good measure. Fighting off hordes of the undead (which, of course, can’t distinguish between friend or foe, and so attack Jack regardless) is relatively simplistic, but consistently satisfying. Tapping ‘Y’ unleashes a combo that is more than capable of cutting down most basic enemies, and you can also perform separate attacks whilst in the air. As you complete each level and its subsequent boss, you’ll be gifted with a new tool of destruction, including a magical sword, a blunderbuss, and a spear. Each has its own unique attack animation, and we particularly enjoyed how the magical sword allows Jack to float along the ground like a powerful mage.
The platforming is a touch trickier, and can cause a bit of hassle here and there. Jack can double jump right from the start of the game, but his movement is severely hampered once he’s in the air. This means that if you misjudge a jump and go off in the wrong direction, it’s quite difficult to correct this, and you’ll end up falling more times than necessary. It’s a minor gripe, though, and doesn’t rear its head too much, particularly once you’ve gotten to grips with how Jack controls. On the whole, the platforming is well implemented, and there’s plenty of variety to keep you on your toes, including rotating columns and bouncy mushrooms.
Visually, Pumpkin Jack isn’t going to compete with some of the Switch’s more accomplished titles, but in terms of its art design, it’s absolutely wonderful from start to finish. It’s typically ‘Halloween’, with oranges, purples, and greens making up the majority of the colour palette. The environments can feel a tad bare at times, and some of the assets tend to fade away on occasion (though we might argue this actually adds to the spooky effect at times!), but the variety on display here is commendable, and the game rarely, if ever, feels stale. If you’re playing in handheld mode, though, just be aware that the graphics look quite rough in comparison to docked mode.
One housekeeping measure we would recommend if you do decide to take the plunge on Pumpkin Jack is to make sure you crank up the camera sensitivity. The camera works really well for the most part and rarely gets in the way of the action, but its default setting is far too slow. Moving the dial right up to maximum is definitely the way to go here, and makes the gameplay feel much smoother as a result.
Conclusion
Pumpkin Jack is an absolute triumph. For a debut title, it’s remarkably confident in its vision, delivering a delightfully spooky experience that feels very familiar to MediEvil without outright copying it; in fact, with MediEvil’s controls feeling distinctly dated by 2020 standards, we’d go so far as to say Pumpkin Jack is superior. The controls are slick with satisfying combat mechanics, and while the platforming can occasionally feel a bit frustrating, it’s mostly very well done. Visuals in handheld mode can look a little grotty, so we’d recommend playing on the TV if you can, and make sure you crank up that camera sensitivity. Fear not though, folks; Halloween is well and truly alive in 2020 thanks to Pumpkin Jack.
