Latest Features
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (10th May)
Break out the banjo
Say hello to the weekend folks, because it's here. Before we get into what we're playing, however, let's just recap the week so far. Nintendo released its latest financial data, confirming that it is forecasting a total of 15 million Switch 2 sales within the next fiscal year. It also reconfirmed its upcoming slate of games,...
"Nintendo was very supportive"
When Cyberpunk 2077 first launched back in 2020, it had more than its fair share of issues. Nevertheless, largely thanks to CD Projekt Red's excellent Witcher 3 port, there was a part of us that thought, "Man, it would be great to play this on a Switch one day." This feeling only strengthened as time went on and the...
"How do we make this better?"
Looking back at anything you loved as a kid can bring on a sense of trepidation. Books, films, games - viewed through a modern lens, decades-old efforts may not stand up to scrutiny. Tired tropes and dated dialogue that can come as a smack in our 21st-century chops. Progress is natural — we like to think we're a...
Feature From BOTW To TOTK - How The Switch Helped Me Overcome Mental Illness And Thrive
Dr. Nintendo offered more than pills
May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the US. With Switch 2 drawing near, today Tim shares a personal journey he's been on throughout the Switch generation... If the Switch’s eight-year-long lifecycle has led you to existential 'then and now' thoughts, I’m right there with you. It was my life-changing...
Talking Point With Prices Rising, Are Your Gaming Habits Changing?
Feeling the squeeze
If there’s one thing we can all agree on in 2025, it’s that gaming is becoming a pretty expensive hobby. Not that it was ever ‘cheap’, of course, but recent price hikes have caused quite a stir within the community, perhaps most notably that of Mario Kart World on the upcoming Switch 2. With the physical edition set at...
Opinion Switch 2 Finally Gives Star Wars Outlaws A Second Chance
Hoth Take
It's May 4th, Star Wars Day. Or, as we refer to it at Nintendo Life Towers, Oh-god-Jim's-going-to-bang-on-about-Star-Wars-again Day. Heh, it's true, I am a fiend for all things from a Galaxy Far, Far Away, and, if I'm being honest, that has sometimes meant that I'm a little more keen to see the Light Side than embrace the more realistic...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: 1080° Avalanche
Or 'Silverstorm', if you like
Hello folks, and welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl. Last week, we looked at Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones for the GBA in celebration of its addition to Nintendo Switch Online. Hoo boy, it was a close one too. In the end, North America and Europe triumphed over Japan with 51% of the vote, but really, this...
Feature Nintendo Life eShop Selects (April 2025)
Our picks for the top Switch 1 eShop games of April
Ready for better, brighter weather (at least in the northern hemisphere) and eShop Selects? Us too! Admittedly, our eyes are firmly set on the near future. The Nintendo Switch 2 is just over a month away, and that means a whole slew of big, new games are waiting for us. It's safe to say, things...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (3rd May)
Invaders must die
We're another week closer to the Switch 2, folks! We can't almost taste the new cartridges... (bleugh!) Anyway, let's see what's been going on this week. First up, we had the big 20.0.0 update on Switch, which added both Virtual Game Cards and GameShare, along with a few other minor bits and bobs. On a similar topic, it seems more...
Editorial Gamers, Support The People And Sites You Love, Before It's Too Late
Forever
Well, we've come to the end of a week that's seen the end of two gaming institutions as we've known them for many years. The departure of Dan Ryckert and Jeff Grubb from Giant Bomb on Thursday was swiftly followed by news of layoffs at Polygon following the site's sale to Valnet (owner of Screen Rant). Seeing these top-tier creators and
Talking Point Will You Be Buying Any Game-Key Card Switch 2 Games?
Oh boycott
The death of physical media has been looming for decades now, essentially since the internet made digital downloads a viable option for purchasing games - or purchasing your licences to play games. While Nintendo got involved relatively quickly (for Nintendo, at least) with WiiWare and Virtual Console digital downloads, there's still...
Opinion Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Best Gameplay Feature Is Straight Out Of Mario's Playbook
QTE in the place to be
If you've been paying any attention whatsoever to upcoming and newly released games of late, you'll no doubt already know all about Sandfall Interactive's stunning Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Indeed, this very writer slapped a 10/10 score on the new RPG over at our sister siter Pure Xbox, so yeah, it's quite good, is this...
Talking Point Which Nintendo Series Are You Most Excited To See Return On Switch 2?
Playing favourites
We're on the cusp of a new console generation and naturally thoughts are turning to games we know are coming and games we know must be coming. News flash: Nintendo is making another one of those Mario games. They seem to go down well? So far, only Mario Kart and Donkey Kong have been confirmed for brand new, Switch 2-specific...
Opinion Switch's Secret Best Couch Multiplayer Game Won't Be Playable On Switch 2
Don’t let this gem disappear unloved into the long dark night
After eight years of articles and YouTube content covering the Switch, you might think there are no surprises left to uncover, but I'm here to say that the very best couch multiplayer on the system – a game by Nintendo themselves – was completely missed by seemingly everyone on the...
Poll After One Month, How Often Are You Actually Using 'Nintendo Today'?
Old news?
It has been such a busy few weeks in the world of Nintendo that when asked, "How long has Nintendo Today! been out for?", our answers could range anywhere from three days to three years. In truth, the daily news app launched one month ago today, on 27th March 2025. That means we've had a full 31 days to see the calendar in action, set our...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Tactical decision
Howdy partners! We are back with another edition of Box Art Brawl. Last week, we matched up a duo of delightful designs for Pikmin on GameCube, though the competition wasn't even close. The classic North American / European variant walked away with a commanding win, taking 74% and leaving the colourful Japanese design with the...
Poll GameStop Offers A Tempting Switch 2 Trade-In Deal, But Is It Really Worth It?
Out with the old?
Buying a new console on or close to its launch date (or, in some cases, at any point during its lifespan) can be exceptionally costly. It's often a good option, then, to flog your current-gen console and get a discount off your next hardware purchase, especially if the new one is backwards compatible. In the case of the Switch 2,...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (26th April)
Zero dawn
Can you believe we're now less than 40 days away from the launch of the Switch 2? Gosh, it feels like yesterday we were sat peering at blurry photos of the motherboard, and now here we are. In the meantime, we have some games to play, but let's first recap some of the most interesting stories from this week. First up, it appears that the...
Poll So, Did You Manage To Get A Switch 2 Pre-Order In? (North America)
A pre-orderly fashion
Well, Switch 2 pre-orders are finally live across North America and we're interested in getting a sense of how it's been for Nintendo fans on the ground in the US and Canada. Following a 15-day delay from the planned date, Switch 2 pre-orders went live at retailers across North America at 9pm ET / 12am ET. Europeans have been...
Exclusive Shin'en Talks 'Fast Fusion' On Switch 2, Reveals First-Look Trailer
"This will make your hands sweaty!"
Believe it or not, when the Nintendo Switch first launched back in March 2017, those first couple of months weren't exactly packed to the rafters with new releases. Folks had The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to keep them busy, of course, but beyond that, big tentpole releases seemed few and far between. As...
Opinion Steam Deck Fans Are Seriously Underestimating The Switch 2
And the comparisons are missing one key point
When the Switch launched in 2017, it was in a league of its own. Literally. Shrinking a no-compromise, home console experience into a portable device that could also double as a dedicated home console was an entirely new concept. Overnight, Nintendo had created another of those blue oceans that they so...
Feature 27 GameCube Games We'd Love To See On Nintendo Switch 2 NSO
Born to Play... on Switch 2
Despite somewhat meagre sales when compared to the rest of the Nintendo console line-up (Wii U notwithstanding), the GameCube is widely considered to be one of the very best in terms of its games catalogue. Indeed, several titles from the GameCube – including Metroid Prime, Pikmin, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door,...
Feature Catch-Up Crew: Pikmin - "A Moment Of Sheer Panic That I Can’t Quite Describe"
I am compelled—I must approach it
Captain's log, stardate 202504.21. Following our last Catch-up Crew mission to Shadow Moses Island, the crew has enjoyed extended shore leave having (re)acquainted ourselves with Metal Gear Solid. Our new assignment takes us to the M-class world of PNF-404. However, ship instruments indicate that we haven't left...
Community Did We Miss A Great Switch Game? Give Us Your Recommendations
The ones that got away
We're approaching a brand new hardware generation, so naturally, it's time to look back and stress about all of those great Switch 1 games we haven't played. Yep, it's time for us to ask you lovely lot to tell us about the Games We Missed. With backwards compatibility coming to the Switch 2, and a whole host of gems on the...
Opinion Cult Classic 'Tokimeki Memorial' Hits Switch - But 30 Years On, It’s Still Out Of Reach
Forever with you; never with us
True love lasts forever – and so do some games. Tokimeki Memorial: Forever with You, the legendary dating sim from 1995, is hooking up with Switch next month to celebrate 30 years on the scene. Immaculately presented but bewilderingly complex, TokiMemo is a foundational piece of video game history that defined a...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Pikmin (GameCube)
Pik your winner
Hello everyone – welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last time, we looked at Survival Kids for the Game Boy Color in celebration of the new Switch 2 release from publisher Konami. In the end, although North America's variant is certainly nice enough, Europe and Japan won the day confidently with 71% of the vote. This...
Opinion It's Time To Get Rid Of Fall Damage
Free faller
Falling. It hurts, right? We’ve all tripped up over nothing while walking and scraped our knees, or tripped up the stairs and landed face-first. It’s not fun. It’s embarrassing, it's painful, and it stands as a persistent reminder that I am the most clumsy of human beings. There’s a reason we can't jump off of buildings and...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (19th April)
Whatever will we Pik?
You wait six months for a Nintendo Direct and then three come along in a matter of weeks! There's no rest in the world of Nintendo at the moment, and we're excited about it. This week's showcase put Mario Kart World in the spotlight. The presentation didn't have all that much newness to show, but we got a better idea of
Feature The Switch 2 Sticks Might Not Be Hall Effect, But They Feel Fantastic
So smooth
One of the disappointments to come from the recent avalanche of Switch 2 information was the confirmation that the new Joy-Con 2 controllers would not use Hall Effect magnet technology. Of course, it does make sense, in a way, since the Switch 2 is already utilising magnets to attach the Joy-Con to the console, so although it would be...
Gallery These 'Lunar Remastered Collection' Goodies Remind Us Of The Good Old Days
When the moon hits your eye...
At the end of this week, fans of classic turn-based RPGs, charming characters, and a hefty dose of cheesy '90s humour will be celebrating, as the Lunar Remastered Collection launches on Switch (and other platforms). Lunar is one of those series that, if you're in JRPG circles, you've almost definitely heard of, even...
Feature "I Can't Believe This Is Happening" - The Game Kitchen On Reviving Ninja Gaiden
"We had a lot of creative freedom"
After rinsing through Blasphemous 2 in 2023, we immediately turned our attention to the future and began to dream about what a potential third game in the series might look like. How little we knew. Of course, another Blasphemous may still be on the cards at some point, but for now, developer The Game Kitchen has...
Hands On Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound - A Slick, Bloody Return To The Series' 2D Roots
Slice 'n' dice
It’s been a long time since we were last graced with a proper 2D Ninja Gaiden game, so you can imagine our shock when Dotemu revealed Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, a brand-new side-scrolling action title from Blasphemous developer The Game Kitchen, currently scheduled to launch in Summer 2025. We recently went hands-on with the game in...
Feature "It's Huge For Us" - Devs Talk Switch 2 Reactions, Dev-Kit Disparity, Future Plans
What devs make of Switch 2
In case you somehow missed it, Nintendo has officially lifted the lid on Switch 2, cueing all sorts of excitement and apprehension from those of us who have been loyally playing our Switch 1s for the past eight years. It's an exciting time to be a player, but how does it feel from a developer's standpoint? Is the Switch 2...
Opinion It's Been 20 Years Since I Was This Excited For A Mario Kart
Double dash it all
It's been a busy couple of weeks in the Nintendoverse, and we're all a bit excited around these parts. Despite some bumps in the road around pricing, if you look past all the noise and the Nintendo-like messaging that can present more questions than it answers, the software looks per-itty good. Sure, for multiplatform gamer
Opinion In A Post BOTW And Elden Ring World, Xenoblade Chronicles X Is Still Daunting
The Planet between
Whether it’s your first or your fortieth time, booting up Xenoblade Chronicles X and exploring your immediate surroundings is nothing short of incredible. Mira’s huge, biodiverse landscape, populated by monsters both as small as a ball or as large as a four-storey building, with scraps of ruined ships and alien devices dotted...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Survival Kids (GBC)
Which box art will survive?
Howdy folks, and welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl! We're still thinking about the Switch 2 , which was the subject our big bumper BAB last weekend. We compared all of Nintendo's first-party titles with box art for the new console, and just barely squeaking out a win with 42% of the vote was Donkey Kong...
Community The Results Are In - These Are Your Most (And Least) Wanted Switch 2 Games
Yes! No! Maybe?
Last weekend, following the blowout of Switch 2 news with the Direct, we asked you which Switch 2 launch games you were wishlisting. Looking specifically at the launch lineup and Nintendo's first-party slate thereafter, we were interested to take the temperature not only for the big games (no surprises that there's a lot of...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (12th April)
Still reeling?
Well folks, another week has come and gone, and it was another doozy. We're still kind of reeling from the onslaught of Switch 2 news that followed Nintendo's recent Direct, and to kick the week off, we showcased our big interview with Nintendo's own Nate Bihldorff, in which he confirmed that the new Joy-Con 2 controllers don't...
Talking Point How Does Switch 2's Launch Price Compare To Past Nintendo Systems?
Launch sequence initiated
The big talking point out of last week's Switch 2 Direct hasn't been the system deep dive, the Donkey Kong reveal, or the weird little camera; it's mainly been about Nintendo's approach to pricing. The messaging was non-existent in the Direct itself, but in the minutes and hours after it ended, we learnt that games would...
Feature Nintendo Life eShop Selects (March 2025)
Our picks for the best eShop games from March on Switch 1
Hello, hello, we're here — nothing at all happened last week, right? We didn't miss anything? Okay, you might have noticed, but things got a lil' hectic last week, hence why our regularly scheduled eShop Selects is a bit later than normal. Things are changing in the world of Nintendo, and...
Opinion The Switch 2 Is A Powerhouse For The Price
We'll soon be playing with power
There's been a load of discourse about the price tags associated with everything concerning the Nintendo Switch 2, and rightly so. If we can't discuss things like this openly and frankly, you know some big company would look to exploit the public more than they already do. The talk regarding the price of games...
Talking Point Does Switch 2 Have Nintendo's Best Launch Line-Up Ever?
Let's see how it matches up
I don't know about you, but I'm already giving my shelf space a worried look as I consider the number of Switch 2 launch titles I want to pick up. It's been just about a week since Nintendo revealed the Switch 2 and its 21 separate launch games (24 if you include those dropping on the NSO GameCube library), which, the...
Community What Questions About Switch 2 Do You Still Have For Nintendo?
What a difference a Direct makes
It's been a busy week for Nintendo and its fans, that's for sure. With Switch 1 in a definite 'wind-down' mode over the past few months — though still delivering goods like Xenoblade Chronicles X, to be fair! — last week's Switch 2 Direct brought new goods,
Feature "We Really Want To Future-Proof" - The Nintendo Switch 2 Interview
Nate Bihldorff talks pack-ins, game-key cards, and Korok Forest
Nate Bihldorff, Senior Vice President of Product Development & Publishing The Nintendo Switch 2 reveal has been a rollercoaster ride. We've been waiting what feels like years for this momentous occasion, and from the game selection and the revelation of the 'C' button's function to
Opinion A Few Too Many Questions & Unwelcome Surprises Are Taking The Shine Off The Switch 2 Reveal
The camel's back
After going hands-on with the hardware, we can confirm that Switch 2 is exciting. It not only promises fresh Nintendo goodness but also to reinvigorate the OG Switch libraries many of us have been building up over the past eight years. The future is looking bright for Nintendo lifers, though a few too many unclear details and small...
Talking Point Zelda: Wind Waker Is On Switch 2 - Do You Still Want A WW:HD Port?
Can't always get what U want
Wind Waker is coming to Switch 2! With a whole load of classic GameCube games too! And a nice optional CRT filter! In a week with more official Nintendo announcements than we've had in the last year combined, this news could be seen as minor, but it ticks off yet
Poll Box Art Brawl - Nintendo Switch 2 Special
All-star brawl
Hello folks, and welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Before we get onto this week's very special one-off battle, let's see how things went down last time. We looked at Tomodachi Life to celebrate the newly-announced sequel for the Nintendo Switch, and it wasn't even remotely close. North America absolutely killed it with 65%...
Community Which Switch 2 Games Are You Wishlisting?
Two months to go!
Well, that was a week, wasn't it? We Nintendo lifers finally got an influx of info, a deluge of details about Switch 2 and the games we can expect to be playing on it. And soon! Yep, 5th June is exactly two months away, and we're champing at the Joy-Con Strap to get our hands on the launch lineup. We've had a taste, but we're...
First Impressions Nintendo Switch 2 'Wows' Most When You Go Back To Your Old Switch
2 takes
After years of speculation, Switch 2 finally exists. It’s got a launch date, a price, a bunch of accessories, and — most importantly — a lineup of games large and small, all showcased in an hour-long Direct which answered a lot of questions. But what does the system actually feel like in the hands? How does that screen compare to the...
Opinion Oh No, I'm Not A Fan Of Switch 2's Mouse Mode At All
The big squeak
You've probably read a bunch of thoughts and previews about the Nintendo Switch 2 at this point, many of them from us. I was already a little sceptical of Mouse Mode before it was officially announced in the Nintendo Direct. I don't like playing games on my PC, and if I have to, I avoid keyboard and mouse like the plague. Except for...
