LIVE MARCH 2018
NINTENDO SWITCH SPECIAL
Freedom to have Wherever. Whene One Controller or two, vertical or sideways motion controls or buttons... Joy-Con and Nintendo Switch give you total gameplay flexibility! Plus Joy-Con gives you HD number to make your gaming more immersive. The IR Motion Camera in Joy-Con can detect the shape, movement and distance of objects captured by the camera and gives you all new gaming experiences. Like choice? We do too and we’re glad that Nintendo game us some colour combos... you can head over to the Nintendo Switch pages and experiment with colour combos for your Joy-Con. www.nintendo.com/switch/choose-your-joy-con-color/#!/jcl:neonyellow/wsl:neonyellow/wsr:neonblue/jcr:neonblue
fun. ever.
Must-have! The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Step into a world of adventure.
Forget everything you know about The Legend of Zelda games. Step into a world of discovery, exploration, and adventure in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a boundary-breaking new game in the acclaimed series. Travel across vast fields, through forests, and to mountain peaks as you discover what has become of the kingdom of Hyrule In this stunning Open-Air Adventure. Now on Nintendo Switch, your journey is freer and more open than ever. Take your system anywhere, and adventure as Link any way you like.
Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rPxiXXxftE
Switch News
Switch Shipments Reach 14.86 Million Units in 2017, S
Nintendo has released its latest hardware and software figures for the Switch and 3DS through December 31, 2017.
the 2.74 million units shipped in its launch month that would put shipments figures at 17.74 million units at the end of March.
Shipments figures for the Nintendo Switch reached 14.86 million units as of December 31, while the Nintendo 3DS hit 71.99 million units shipped.
Breaking down software figures, Super Mario Odyssey is the top-selling game on the Switch with 9.07 million units shipped and sold digitally. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold 7.33 million units, The Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild 6.70 million units, Splatoon 2 4.91 million units, 1-2 Switch 1.88 million units, ARMS 1.61 million units, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 1.06 million units.
As for software 52.57 million games have been shipped on the Switch and 360.50 million games on the 3DS. Nintendo has updated its forecast for March 31, 2018. Nintendo predicts it will move 15 million Switch consoles for the fiscal year. When you add in
BY WILLIAM D’ANGELO - VG CHARTZ
Super Mario Odyssey Sells 9.07 Million Units
Super Mario Odys BY EVAN NORRIS - VG CHARTZ Mario proves himself to be a man of many hats in this joyful, enchanting platformer. “Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many devices...” This line begins Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey but it could function easily as an introduction to Nintendo’s own magnum opus, Super Mario Odyssey. In Odyssey, Nintendo’s latest attempt to redefine a genre it more or less invented in 1981, Mario is a man of many devices, a wearer of many hats (literally), and a possessor of many things, both animate and inanimate. Most importantly, he is the star of his very own odyssey: a platform-adventure game so surprising, so joyful, and so endlesslyinventive that it ranks among the best of 2017.
(and Mario’s sometimes-girlfriend) Peach, and needs several items to complete the ceremony. One of those items is a sentient crown named Tiara. As a result Mario teams up with Tiara’s brother Cappy, a being with amazing transformational powers, to rescue the two damsels in distress. As far as Super Mario storylines go, this is one of the more involving. Don’t expect anything as substantial as the game’s namesake, but don’t be surprised to see a strong through line, an abundance of interesting NPCs, and even a little character development. Odyssey’s greatest contribution to the series’ narrative gestalt, however, might just be the expansion and elaboration of its fictional world — which is saying something, as previous games sent Mario into the cosmos.
Super Mario Odyssey wedding Super Mario Odyssey ship In this newest Mario adventure, the mustachioed hero must travel from kingdom to kingdom, tracking down Bowser, the big baddie of the Mario universe. Bowser has arranged a shotgun wedding between himself and Mushroom Kingdom monarch
In Odyssey, we meet new races and species; encounter different societies and civilizations, some bustling, some ancient, some decaying; and, vitally, witness, via the heroic twosome’s flying machine, how all these
ssey Review things are connected spatially. Never before has a Mario adventure felt so structured or so systematic. Instead of a series of loosely-connected levels or worlds, Odyssey gives players an organized system of kingdoms united by transportation, commerce, and tourism. These kingdoms form the heart of the game. Each is a miniature sandbox filled with NPCs, platforming challenges, and dozens of collectibles. There are 14 to explore before the end credits, and several more afterward. Every one is thoughtfullydesigned, meticulously-detailed, and beautifully-rendered. There are traditional kingdoms with desert, ice, and water themes, but also many surprising locales: a prehistoric kingdom complete with T-Rex; a realm of giant comestibles and cheese as hard as quartz; and, the crown jewel of Super Mario Odyssey, the busy metropolis New Donk City. Super Mario Odyssey New Donk City Inside all of these kingdoms are scores of collectibles, including gold coins, purple coins, outfits, souve-
nirs, and power moons. Purple coins buy new costumes and trinkets from each location, and moons power the Odyssey, the hat-shaped airship that ferries Mario and Cappy between kingdoms. Like stars and shine sprites before them, power moons are the main currency of this Mario adventure. In Odyssey, however, there aren’t six or seven moons per kingdom. There are dozens. In Super Mario 64, hitting 120 stars meant your journey was at an end. Here, 120 moons is just the beginning.
The sheer number of ideas, notions, and gameplay conceits on display in Super Mario Odyssey is staggering. Each kingdom is a game unto itself. It helps greatly that, somehow, every captured creature plays perfectly, despite its unique weight, mass, and actions. Odyssey has impossibly flawless controls, across the board. In a franchise known for tight, snappy controls, this game stands above all others. Super Mario Odyssey desert
Some moons are hidden under rocks or locked behind mini-games. Others function as rewards for fetch quests. Many more are found by taking advantage of Odyssey’s signature gameplay hook: possession, or “capture” if you’re one of Nintendo’s PR folks. By flicking Cappy on to unsuspecting Goombas, Lakitus, and even inanimate objects like huge slabs of meat (yes, really), Mario can take over control of those beings’ motor functions. It’s a brilliant mechanic that opens up a world of “many devices” to our modern Odysseus. Super Mario Odyssey capture Things start simply. Mario possesses a frog and uses his jumping ability to scale a tall cliff. Then it’s a Paragoomba, who flies safely above poisonous smog. Then a Chain Chomp, deployed to smash through a rock wall. Next, a T-Rex, at which point all bets are off. Even without the “capture” mechanic, Mario has a huge portfolio of moves. When Nintendo adds possessed creatures into the mix, the diversity of motions and mechanics shoots off the chart.
So, Odyssey provides over a dozen mini-sandboxes with hundreds of moons to collect, and invites players to explore those sandboxes with perfect controls and a unique possession mechanic that opens up virtually endless gameplay possibilities. What’s the catch? If there is one, it’s this: the game is easy. Much of Odyssey’s main campaign is a breeze. Finding enough moons to power up the Odyssey and advance to the next kingdom is never a problem. Many are earned merely by talking to an NPC or by wearing the correct costume. Others are dislodged with a simple ground pound. Some are on full display, unhidden and obvious. Super Mario Odyssey garden The counter argument is that nabbing all this low-hanging fruit isn’t the true challenge of Super Mario Odyssey. Much like Yoshi’s Island, in which finishing a level is relatively easy but finishing that same level with all hidden items and full health is demanding, Odyssey has two layers of dif-
ficulty: one of simple completion and one of 100 percent completion. While there’s some truth to that, it doesn’t explain the game’s pushover bosses or the general lack of penalties for failure. That said, the game’s easiness is mitigated in a big way by a shockingly substantial end-game, nearly as big as the main campaign. Upon finishing the final boss battle and subsequent platforming episode, players are dumped into a very familiar kingdom. From there they can use moons to unlock new kingdoms, return to old kingdoms to find new moons, purchase previously-unavailable costumes, and even experience new story moments. Nintendo as a game-maker has long prioritized value and replay value, and in Odyssey it has made a game that can rival Breath of the Wild as a playground of playtime. Super Mario Odyssey food In terms of production values, Odyssey is practically peerless. Its orchestral soundtrack is full of catchy, exciting, and atmospheric themes; its sound design captures the diversity of the game’s large roster of animals, materials, and weather systems; and its flexible, inventive art direction runs the gamut from gothic horror to medieval Japan. Only a few unsightly textures and a lot of aliasing — particularly bad among the shadows of New Donk City — serve to break the illusion. While Mario’s exploits in Super Mario Odyssey don’t match up with Odysseus’ quest in The Odyssey (although both feature a hero seeking
a love interest pursued by an illegitimate suitor), they do coalesce into an epic voyage. With so many characters, sandboxes, collectibles, and mechanics, the title feels like many games in one — all of which surprise and delight at every turn. Odyssey is one of Nintendo’s most inventive, joyful, and audacious adventures, and one of the marquee games of 2017, a year fast becoming one of the industry’s best.
BY EVAN NORRIS: VG CHARTZ
A closer look at the Champions amiibo
Mipha grants you the Van Ruta Divine Helm (with Swim Speed Up Lv1)
Daruk gifts you the Vah Rudania Divine Helm (with Flame Guard Lv1)
When any of the Divine Helms are equipped with the Ancient Cuirass and Ancient Greaves, you trigge Guardian series weapons*. Enemies’ remaining HP/full HP is also visible like the Champion’s Tunic. Each amiibo figure also grants randomized in-game materials and weapons, so try it out to see what y
Along his journey in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Link gains invaluable help from four Champions: Daruk, Mipha, Revali, and Urbosa. On November 10, these mighty heroes become available as amiibo figures. When tapped, these amiibo figures unlock special headgear, each helm inspired by that Champion’s Divine Beast.
Revali unlocks the Vah Medoh Divine Helm (with Cold Resistance Lv1)
Urbosa gives you the Vah Naboris Divine Helm (with Electricity Resistance Lv1)
er a set bonus, Ancient Proficiency, which increases the attack power of Ancient or
you get!
Must-Have Games!
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