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Anticipation for Nintendo’s next console has reached a fever pitch. It seems like every other day we hear word of a new rumor or supposed leak pointing to some detail about their follow-up to the Switch. Yet here we are, still with no concrete news about a successor, and still with the original Switch chugging right along.

At the start of this year, it wasn’t clear exactly what Nintendo’s plans were for the current Switch. The idea that they were saving up their good ideas for a new console seemed pretty believable. Then the June Direct hit, and it featured some unexpected first party titles. As it turns out, there’s still some life in the old Switch yet.

Last week, Nintendo held a “Holiday Tour” event to take a look at their upcoming slate of releases from now until the end of the year. Will these games be enough to satisfy fans who are frothing at the mouth for something new? I was lucky enough to attend this year’s event, and got to play some current and upcoming Switch games to see what’s in store.

One thing Nintendo knows how to do right is atmosphere. Whether inside a game or on a convention floor, they have a knack for crafting the right vibes to fit the occasion. The show room at this event was divided into multiple sections, one for each game available to demo, and each had their own unique decor, some of which you can check out in the gallery above.

The Mario Party Jamboree area was set up like the ultimate multiplayer party hangout room, complete with goofy masks. LEGO Horizon Zero Dawn’s area felt like a genuine campsite lifted straight from the original game. And The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was given an impressive display of pillars in a circle, each with their own Switch OLED attached, making you feel like you were experiencing a grand adventure instead of just playing a video game. These little touches really helped bring the games to life, and that’s not to mention the awesome lineup of creative snacks and drinks.

Be sure to check out all the photos above. Maybe you’ll get some decorating ideas for your own gaming setup! If you’re here for the games and not the decorating tips, read on, as I run down the biggest titles that were on display there.

Publisher Raw Fury and developer Fury Studios announced that Kingdom Two Crowns: Call of Olympus, the next major DLC for the atmospheric side-scrolling strategy game, will launch on October 8 on Switch. Today brings us a new trailer showcasing the legendary threat looming over Mount Olympus. Are you ready to win the favor of Hermes?

In addition to the DLC’s launch on October 8, players can look forward to a free 2.0 update that includes a collection of quality-of-life improvements, such as options to turn off the tutorial ghost, a new save system supporting up to 10 save slots and more. Along with the update, players can expand their royal experience in the world of Kingdom with two new cosmetic DLC packs: The Archon’s Royal Wardrobe DLC and Regent’s Royal Wardrobe DLC. The supporter DLC packs provide players with more ways to customize new looks for their Monarchs and when purchased (for $2,99 each), will provide an additional way to support the ongoing development of the Kingdom series.

Kingdom Two Crowns: Call of Olympus is set in a fantastical interpretation of Ancient Greece and its mythos. An all-new campaign experience will evolve the classic Kingdom formula, including the ability to unlock powerful artifacts through quests that can be used to defend against the waves of Greed coming at night.

Players must defend their Kingdom and conquer the Greed to find out what awaits them on top of Mount Olympus. As the Monarch, gain access to the divine mountaintop by earning the favor of several gods. Players will embark on an island-hopping journey packed with unique challenges and puzzles to appease the gods and rise to victory on the mountain.

Fortnite has shared a new cinematic short on their YouTube channel called “Fighting Doom”. The short features a variety of characters and skins from the Marvel universe all facing off against a supersized Doctor Doom. This is all in service of Chapter 5 Season 4 - Absolute Doom, which is currently live in Fortnite. Check out the cinematic video above.

Wielding the ancient power of Pandora’s Box, Marvel’s armored despot Doctor Doom has transplanted his Latvarian domain to the Battle Royale Island and seized a foothold with his army of loyal henchmen. Once his empowered armor is complete, he’ll reap total control. Doctor Doom and his lieutenants must be defeated! Whatever it takes.

Marvel’s War Machine, Gwenpool, and the Wakandan royal Shuri join Captain Jones and Peelverine as first on the scene to defend against Doctor Doom and his forces. They’ll need all the help they can get! Suit up for Fortnite Battle Royale Chapter 5 Season 4: Absolute Doom, launching Aug. 16th, 2024.

Nintendo recently announced that they’d be taking the Play Nintendo Tour 2024 to various spots around the United States. This is a special traveling event with demos, and other goodies for Nintendo fans. The tour recently touched down in Miami, Florida. If you weren’t able to attend, the family oriented Play Nintendo channel has shared a fun and thorough tour video for you to live through vicariously. It includes some multiplayer gameplay with host Jordan’s real life brother!

Games, games and MORE GAMES! I’m at the Play Nintendo Tour In Miami and this is the best day EVER! Wanna see what Professor E. Gadd is up to in Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD? Or if my little brother can beat me at Nintendo Switch Sports Basketball? How about see what happens when I grab an Elephant Fruit in Super Mario Bros. Wonder? Well, come explore with me and let’s play!

Good Smile Company has officially opened up pre-orders for their Princess Zelda Figma, based off her look in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The figure is expected to ship in August 2025, and you can pre-order it right now via Good Smile’s Japanese web site. There’s a pre-order deadline of November 13th, 2024.

The figma depicts Zelda in her outfit from Tears of the Kingdom, along with a number of accessories. Those include a decaying Master Sword, a Purah Pad, plus various face and hand parts. It costs 12,800 Yen (~$87 USD).

Click here to pre-order and see below for more a video preview and more details.

Back in March, Bushiroad Games pulled back the curtain on Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Myth – Fulland of Water and Light. This title is an action RPG that “traces the trails and truths of heroes.” Now, Bushiroad has revealed that the game’s release date will be February 27th, 2025.

The game will include both Japanese and English language options, so you don’t need to worry about being able to play this one. There will also be a physical edition with a soundtrack CD, short story, and other goodies, available only in Japan. Check out the new trailer above for a look at the game’s characters and setting.

Memories of love that overflow across time… One fateful day, without any warning, the labyrinthine city of Orario was transformed. A “World of Water” emerged. In this submerged city, Bell Cranel meets a mysterious girl.

“Fullland.” Calling him this, she disappeared as if inviting him to play. At the same time, he received a glowing, blue sword. A submerged city, “Fullland,” a girl, and an ultramarine sword… Bell remembered the heroic tale “Fullland of Water and Light,” which he had once read. Perhaps this was the clue to solving the mystery of their current predicament.

In the sunken Orario, Bell and his group follow the trail of the characters as dictated in the heroic tale. What they find there are an abundance of thoughts and feelings not depicted in “Fullland of Water and Light.” This is a “story beyond love,” where the heroes struggle and the spirits dream. A completely original story from the mind of Fujino Omori! In addition to the deep main story, sub-stories can also be read by reaching “Scenario Points” during exploration!

INTI CREATES recently announced that “Card-en-Ciel,” is set to launch on Oct. 24th, 2024 worldwide. A departure from previous INTI CREATES titles, Card-en-Ciel is a turn-based card-battling RPG with roguelite dungeons.

The Muse characters in Card-en-Ciel each sing a song, 50 in total. Enjoy songs from the fictional game universes as if they were the real theme songs, battle themes, and endings, all created in the style and genres of the appropriate eras.

From those songs are 3 from “Gal*Gun Double Peace”! Heroine Shinobu Kamizono (Emi Uema) sings “Twinkle, Twinkle, Double Star (Shinobu True End)”, Maya Kamizono (Chinami Hashimoto) sings “Twinkle, Twinkle, Double Star (Maya True End)” and the demonic Kurona sings “Swirling Confusion” in this introductory trailer for the featured characters from the world of GalGun Double Peace and GalGun 2!

In Card-en-Ciel, you’ll control the “gaming chair detective” Neon as he battles through these dungeons, each based on a different fictional game in the Card-en-Ciel universe. Battles take place on a 3 by 6 grid, giving players the option to use their cards for attacks, movement, or Special Skills. Each victory will allow the player to collect a new card to put in their deck right away and add to their collection later.

The game features a full story that develops as you conquer the dungeons, complete with full English and Japanese voice options! All character cards in the game, over 300, will also be voiced in both languages! Plus, the game’s soundtrack will include 50 songs.

eastasiasoft has shared a new trailer for boxing game Thunder Ray. This one has been available on Switch for over a year in the US, but now eastasiasoft has brought it to Asian territories as well in both digital and physical formats. Click here for more info and links to the game on the Japanese eShop.

In addition, Thunder Ray is currently on sale on the North American eShop for $5.99. Click here to check it out if all this Thunder Ray talk is getting you excited.

Get ready for the ultimate Arcade Boxing, Retro-like experience in a game brimming with blood and violence.

Step into the ring and experience the adrenaline-pumping action of our retro arcade boxing game, but with a modern twist! Get ready to throw jabs, hooks, and uppercuts as you face off against a roster of colorful and eccentric opponents. The game features meticulously crafted HD animations, bringing each character to life with stunning detail and fluid movements.

Includes the Thunder Ray - Forgotten Duels DLC.

Nintendo has revealed the next round of Fire Emblem Heroes content, and they’re set to drop on October 4th, 2024 at 12:00am PT. You can find out who they are, along with their stats and skills by watching the new trailer up above.

The new heroes featured in this trailer are Askr, Lethe, Nah, and Nagi. Along with the new characters comes a new story chapter as well, dubbed Festival Guide.

Last but not least, after your 40th summon on this summoning event, you can choose a Focus Hero from the event to summon for free (once per summoning event).

Along with the first video, Nintendo has also shared a Harmonized Heroes: Nagi & Idunn (Fire Emblem Heroes) skit. You can watch that in the video above.

Fashion Dreamer has been receiving regular updates since its launch, and the eleventh free addition is available now. A rose by any other name would still make for a fashionable fit. See what’s new in the latest free Fashion Dreamer update, and share your style with the world!

The theme of the October limited-time fair is “Wonderland.” We are re-running the fair held in March this year! You can get up to four patterns of each type, and we’ve also increased the number of useful items!

• 14 new patterns (Some patterns can only be unlocked after reaching a certain rank)
• 2 hairstyles
• 1 lip colour
• 1 make-up type

In Fashion Dreamer, enter a virtual world of fashion fantasies made real, where coordination and communication mix like never before. Your new life as an influencer awaits. The virtual space is bustling with Muses, fashion fans who are always on the lookout for new inspiration. Dazzle them with your freshest fits—and if you catch their eye, you’ll earn their Likes. Rack up more and more Likes to grow as an iconic fashion influencer!

Imagineer has announced that they’ll be publishing Mystery Walk from developer Toybox Inc. on Nintendo Switch. This is a brand new visual novel and the first in what is planned as a three part series.

The first Mystery Walk entry will be available in Japan on December 12th, 2024. Right now we have no word on a possible English localization. You can check out the trailer above, or read more info below.

The next G-MODE Archives+ title for Switch has been revealed. G-MODE Archives+: Utakata no Sora is heading to the Switch in Japan. This is a hybrid visual novel/escape game that was previously released on mobile devices. There’s no release date just yet, and as usual there’s no word of localization at this time. Check out the official site for more info and screenshots.

“Utakata no Sora” is a novel-style escape game set in a nostalgic rural town, where a high school boy experiences something strange during his summer vacation. The conversations with the unique characters and the beautiful nature of the rural town are depicted in a novel-style, and the game is structured in such a way that various “mysteries” that await the player along the way are solved in an escape game style. The game contains a total of eight stories, six main stories and two supplement stories, as well as a side story, “The Bookstore Resident.”

The protagonist, Ayumu Nishina, takes advantage of his high school summer vacation to go on a bicycle trip to a small rural town in the mountains, but gets into an accident along the way. This accident causes the protagonist to accidentally open a gate to the “other world,” and he soon approaches the truth behind the “spirited abduction” incident that has upset the fate of the people who live there.

Nintendo has just launched a brand new wave of user icons exclusively for Nintendo Switch Online members. This is the second of four waves based on the newest Zelda adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. There will be a new one coming each week until the week of October 16th.

This wave includes new icons featuring Link, Zelda, the King of Hyrule, and a few other characters and baddies featured in Echoes of Wisdom. There are also some new backgrounds, including the game’s own boxart backdrop.

As per usual, the character icons themselves are 10 Platinum Points, while the borders and backgrounds are 5 Platinum Points a piece. The current wave will be available until October 9th, 2024.

Nintendo of Japan has just shared several brand new Super Mario Party Jamboree videos on their official YouTube channel. If you’re eager for more gameplay footage from the upcoming party game, then you’ve got another healthy dose of it right here.

Up top, you can check out a lengthy 7+ minute video featuring a group of friends playing through one of the new boards that will be featured in Super Mario Party Jamboree. It’s a great demonstration of the look and feel of the game, the UI, plus some new mechanics and minigames. The dialogue is all in Japanese, but if you’ve played a Mario Party game before, you can probably figure out what’s going on without too much trouble.

Below, you can find all the other videos that were shared, quick 30 second morsels showing off specific minigames. There’s also one which offers a brief glimpse at the new Galleria board. Familiarize yourself with all of it now so you’ll be ready to party when Super Mario Party Jamboree drops on October 17th, 2024.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is now officially available on the Nintendo Switch. After the recent launch of Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo fans didn’t expect to have another new Zelda title to enjoy so soon. Fortunately, the official Nintendo Store in New York City was prepared to celebrate with another of their official launch events.

Fans waited in line outside the store to purchase their own copies of the game, as well as to experience the event’s activities. There were various photo ops with cutouts and decorations from Echoes of Wisdom, and even a trivia game to test your series knowledge. You can watch through the video above to get an overview of the festivities. (You’ll have to take a break from playing the game to do so, though.)