Well, it’s broken now, with Nintendo bringing a more-or-less faithful port of the original 2002 game, ensuring that the entire Nintendo 64 collection is now all playable in one place. That’s music to the ears of any Mario fan, and if you’re like us, you’re probably humming the same tune in your head.

But this new version brings upgraded visuals and built-in save states to help make it more palatable to modern tastes. However, you can expect all the original’s flaws (and triumphs), right down to the secret levels without FLUDD. It’s out on August 13 and could be a great one to dive into if you’re subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack.

A trailer accompanies the announcement, and it’s a perfect showcase of what made Super Mario Sunshine as memorable as it was back in the day.

Raiders, as I specified already, decidedly bucks that declining trend and pulls me back into the fold. The very first spin off the Splatoon franchise has ever gotten, it delivers two things that until now, have been unprecedented – a Splatoon title that is primarily single player; and, perhaps more importantly, the very first looter shooter Nintendo has ever made.

"There’s actually not that much variety in mission types and variety"

Because that’s what Splatoon Raiders is – a looter shooter. Rather than being based on the content distribution model of something like Destiny, however, it’s better to compare Raiders to Borderlands or Monster Hunter. This is a game that’s packed with a remarkable amount of content and systems, requiring neither persistent online connectivity, nor updates, to flesh out the structure and skeleton.

Like any loot game, Splatoon Raiders sees players pick out missions, and then run them to the end for loot drops; said loot drops can then augment and modify your build and abilities, which in turn allows you to take on higher leveled missions for better loot, and so on and so forth. It’s a structure that has worked in pretty much every loot game there ever has been, from Borderlands to The Division, and it serves Raiders well. The missions in question are extremely quick to run, requiring under ten minutes to complete in almost all cases, which lends them well to the repetition inherent to replaying older levels for better loot – also something that is a hallmark of loot games, mind you.

There’s actually not that much variety in mission types and variety – you either run through a linear course, clearing some mandatory objectives, and defeating all enemies you find on the way; or you are tasked with defeating a certain amount of enemies within a certain period of time, with enemies respawning endlessly until you do; there are missions that give you one primary objective, with a bunch of minor objectives scattered across the map, and let you decide how you want to progress; and then there are the smaller, more specific missions, such as ones where you can only use certain gear, or have to fight off only a specific kind of enemy, or have to complete some sort of platforming obstacle course.

You’d think the lack of variety would start to grate, particularly in a game that asks for so much repetition from the player to begin with. However, interestingly enough, that never quite happened with Raiders in my experience. At least part of this has to do with Splatoon’s immaculate game feel and mechanics. Spraying stages with colored ink, seamlessly transforming into your squid form to traverse and navigate, and defeating enemies in giant explosions of color all remains inherently satisfying and addictive on some deep, primal level, and keeps players on the loot treadmill in spite of the ostensible issues with repetition. These, combined with the general stage design — short and quick, with rapid pacing and straightforward objectives — means that the issue of the lack of variety and repetition never even occurred to me while actually playing the game. It was only when stopping to reflect on my time with Raiders that I realized that it does technically “falter” on this front.

"Every major mission in the game can be played multiplayer, with friends or with strangers."

Repetition is ultimately inherent to a loot game — one could even argue it is the entire point. Loot games that don’t force you to work towards your preferred or desired drops by repetition and grinding tend to receive harsh criticism from players who find they have nothing within the game left to do — as happened with Monster Hunter Wilds last year, or Destiny 2 when it first came out, before its expansions fixed it up. I don’t think anyone who is interested in the genre is going to find Raiders worse on this front than any other similar title. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that Splatoon is generally better about it than other titles in the genre are. The strength of the series’ core mechanics, paired with smart mission design, helps it retain an edge.

A key aspect of loot games, particularly in the modern era, is multiplayer and co-op. For all that the marketing of Splatoon Raiders has focused on the fact that it is the first single player game in the series, it is, in fact, fully multiplayer. Every major mission in the game can be played multiplayer, with friends or with strangers. And, in fact, Splatoon Raiders has a far more robust and functional suite of online multiplayer features than any of the mainline games have had.

For starters, and remarkably, I experienced no lag, no stuttering, no disconnections, and no instability in my entire time with the game at all, almost half of which was spent playing with others. In 2026, it can feel almost comical to call attention to this, but I would like to remind everyone that Nintendo, and the original Switch, were so deficient with online support and features that games with frequent lag, stutters, and disconnections were extremely common until just a few years ago. With Raiders, however, the game ran as smoothly in multiplayer as it does single player.

Beyond just the netcode, the actual suite of online features is also great; you can play with strangers, play with friends, have private parties, call on help from other players if you’re playing solo and struggling, help out other players who may be stuck; it’s all quick and straightforward, and it’s remarkably seamless. If multiple players are playing, then everyone gains progress for the levels being completed in their individual and respective games, even if the missions in question are ahead of however far they may have progressed in their own game. This, again, doesn’t seem like a big deal, but is such a contrast to how something like Monster Hunter handles synching players’ progress, that it merits being called out – especially since this is technically Nintendo’s first attempt at the genre to begin with.

"Like other games of this type, Raiders also really spreads its wings and comes into its own when it gets to the endgame."

The actual loot and grinding aspect of Raiders benefits from being part of the Splatoon IP. The mainline games’ madcap weapon variety, with different types (all of which play substantively differently), makes it over; to augment it further, Raiders also has you aiming for modifiers on your powers and abilities, weaving and mixing its various randomized drops in all sorts of ways to allow for a glorious litany of ways to customize your build to your play style.

Like other games of this type, Raiders also really spreads its wings and comes into its own when it gets to the endgame. The post game content in Splatoon Raiders is pretty robust and deranged in its challenge and difficulty level, and running some of the end game stuff leads to some of the most hectic moments in any game that I can remember in recent memory.

Which, actually, brings me to what I found the most surprising aspect of Splatoon Raiders — it may be the most technically impressive game from Nintendo I have played in the Switch 2 (again. Yes, I realize I say this often, but also, we are early enough in the console’s life cycle right now that each new release shows us more about its capabilities).

It’s amusing, because Splatoon Raiders apparently started development as an expansion for Splatoon 3, a game on the original Switch. However, this game, in the form that it is currently in, would probably melt that system if it tried to run on it. Splatoon Raiders frequently fills the screen with dozens of enemies, dozens of beams, explosions, waves, transparencies, and particle effects, dozens of bright splashes of color, multiple player characters, and through all this, it runs at a steady, locked 60 frames per second. There was not a single dropped frame in Raiders in the entire time I spent with it — and believe me, after a certain point, I was trying my best to push the game and catch any stutters or frame rate drops in the act.

I legitimately had very little expectations from or interest in Splatoon Raiders, with the last few entries in the franchise convincing me that it was no longer for me. What I ended up getting is definitely my favorite game in the franchise since the Wii U original over a decade ago, one of my favorite exclusives on the Switch 2, a system that is rapidly building an enviable library of quality exclusive content, and one of my favorite loot games ever, in a genre where, over several decades, I’ve experienced no end of fantastic games. For an unassuming spin off in one of Nintendo’s so called lesser franchises, that’s a pretty strong outing, all said and done.

This game was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2.

As outlined in the overview below, the DLC introduces the titular town, which is located underwater and a great place to grow watermelons (though you’ll need Pokémon specializing in Water). It’s also where you’ll engage in some deep-sea diving, new buildings constructed with bouncy blocks, and the Sharpedo submarine to serve as a new room.

That’s besides the new Pokémon, outfits, Surf upgrade and Smoothies that can be prepared. Aside from the DLC, the free update allows for building underwater, swimming alongside Water Types and even learning Dive from Manaphy.

For those seeking even more reasons to get lost in the world of Pokopia, Part 2 of the Expansion Pass arrives in late 2026. Details are scarce right now, but expect even more Pokémon and furniture.

Pokémon Pokopia is available exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 and is developed by Game Freak and Omega Force. Aside from garnering extensive acclaim (check out our review where we gave it a 9 out of 10), it’s become one of the biggest surprise hits for Nintendo. It sold 2.41 million copies as of March 31st, and even surprised Koei Tecmo’s CEO. Read more about that here.

While it retails for $5, the Prop Hunt-style title sold over 10 million units before the month was out, so it makes some sense. Star Fox debuted strong in fourth place, beating out Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream and Mario Kart World to top sales on Nintendo platforms for the month.

But even with these three titles, and the likes of 007 First Light, which is already the third best-selling game in the US year-to-date, video game content spending dropped by 12 percent year-on-year. Then again, compared to the drop in hardware and year-to-date dollar sales remaining flat, it’s not terrible, especially since this wasn’t the busiest month for releases.

Things should improve in September with Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Control Resonant, Silent Hill: Townfall, The Blood of Dawnwalker, Minecraft Dungeons 2, and Marvel’s Wolverine to look forward to. Of course, there’s also Grand Theft Auto 6 in November, and given its alleged pre-order numbers, it may end up carrying the year.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is once again the top-selling platform in unit and dollar sales for the month while also topping year-to-date charts, with Sony’s PlayStation 5 coming in at second. However, spending for both dropped year-over-year, the former falling by 79 percent while the latter dropped by 19 percent.

Xbox is fighting to turn fortunes around for its consoles, and on the bright side, hardware spending more than double compared to June 2025. A reversal of fortunes, however slight it may be. Overall spending on video games in the region totalled $4.5 billion, 21 percent lower than last year. At the very least, the first six months of 2026 have seen $27.5 billion in spending, which is only one percent less than last year.

That will likely change when Grand Theft Auto 6 launches on November 19th. It’s reportedly receiving massive pre-orders and could reach a whopping 51 million units sold in its first week if it retains this momentum. Console sales are dicier, especially with reports of shortages, so stay tuned for more updates.

One of these new approaches would be to work on a PvE-oriented experience that could expand on concepts that were otherwise confined to game modes like Salmon Run or Story mode in the previous Splatoon games.

“We’ve been going full speed ahead for over 11 years since the series’ launch, developing and updating three titles along the way,” said Inoue. “We thought it might be interesting to create something with a slightly different approach to gameplay, where you can really savor the action on your own. Splatoon isn’t just about competitive play; it also includes cooperative modes like Salmon Run and a single-player Story Mode. “

“So, one of our motivations for developing this game was our desire to create a new entry point into the series by releasing these non-competitive elements not just as a secondary feature, but as a standalone spin-off. That said, we will continue to develop competitive gameplay going forward. That’s why we developed this game as a spin-off and not as ‘Splatoon 4.’”

Ito mentioned that Salmon Run served as the foundation on which the Splatoon team could experiment to ultimately come up with gameplay for Splatoon Raiders. The fact that it was being made for the Nintendo Switch 2, giving the developers more access to raw horsepower, also meant that the team could introduce new challenges, like ramping up the number of hostile Salmonids.

“Originally, around the time our work on updates to Splatoon 3 was winding down, we were exploring whether we could develop a single-player experience that players could dive into to their heart’s content, leveraging the gameplay of Salmon Run. Salmon Run is a part-time gig for squids, where four players* team up to take down Salmonids and collect Golden Eggs.”

“We thought that if we could adapt it for single-player, it might result in something hectic yet exhilarating. We’d discussed developing the next Splatoon game for Nintendo Switch 2, and that being the case, we thought we could really take advantage of the system’s performance. This prompted various experiments, such as ramping up the number of Salmonids for the ‘ultimate multitasker’ experience, where a single player battles them all.”

Splatoon Raiders got a brand-new trailer just this week providing an overview of its PvE gameplay. As the trailer explains, players take on the role of a Mechanic working alongside music group Deep Cut, with the entire team working together to discover treasures across the Spirhalite Islands. Alongside classic Splatoon gameplay pointed towards AI-controlled enemies, Splatoon Raiders will also feature an RPG-inspired gearing and progression system that will allow players to experiment with a variety of builds and weapons. For more details, here’s everything you need to know before jumping in.

Players serve as the Mechanic, who works with Deep Cut, the Splatoon 3 band that’s determined to find treasures on the islands. Of course, those treasures are guarded rather jealously by Salmonids that you’re going to have to fend off as you make your way across various biomes. The ones we got to see are quite imposing, but we know that only means that deadlier ones await us later down the line.

Of course, a robust progression loop and what seems to be a very RPG-esque gear system are on board, along with a few build ideas that perform quite impressively. These should be a helpful starting point for those of you looking to dive in.

The gameplay on offer did show off some more single-player moments, while there was more information on the previously discussed online options. Splatoon Raiders launches on July 23rd, so take it as a primer before jumping in later this week.

In a filing from earlier this week in the case of Hoffert et al v. Nintendo, as caught by Game File, the company said that the customers “received exactly what they bargained and paid for” when buying products despite price hikes. Rather than issuing refunds, Nintendo has said that the plaintiffs “are not entitled to a rebate simply because of intervening legal developments related to tariffs.”

The lawsuit itself alleges that by not passing on the price difference from the tariffs after they had been deemed illegal by the US Supreme Court, Nintendo was committing a crime.

“The common thread among Plaintiffs’ claims is that it is somehow ‘unfair; that Nintendo has not retroactively adjusted its prices for completed sales in response to the outcome of the tariff litigation,” continued the lawyers in a motion to dismiss. “But that is not how commercial transactions work.”

The Supreme Court’s ruling happened earlier this year, with the bench deeming the US tariffs as being illegal by a vote of 6-3. Even at the time, however, the ruling didn’t quite offer any concrete decision on how refunds for the tariffs would work. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, for instance, noted that the federal government “may be required to refund billions of dollars to importers” that had paid the tariffs.

Interestingly, the Supreme Court’s ruling was followed by Nintendo of America, alongside more than a thousand other companies, filing its own lawsuit against the government, calling the implementation of the tariffs to be illegal, and demanding refunds.

“This action concerns Defendants’ initiation and administration of unlawful trade measures that have, to date, resulted in the collection of more than $200 billion in tariffs on imports from nearly all countries,” wrote Nintendo’s lawyers.

Leading up to the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, company president Shuntaro Furukawa had spoken about the potential of the console’s price going up to deal with the import tariffs imposed by the US. He noted that would be done despite the primary focus still being on encouraging mass adoption of the Switch 2.

“At this time, the top priority is to quickly popularize the Switch 2 hardware,” said Furukawa back in May 2025. “If the assumptions regarding tariffs change significantly, we would like to consider what price adjustments we should make and implement them after considering various factors.”

While Nintendo managed to avoid raising the Switch 2’s prices because of the US tariffs, the company hasn’t been able to avoid the global component shortages. This has led to the Switch 2’s price going up from $449.99 to $499.99. These prices are slated to go into effect from September 1st onwards.

In a statement, Furukawa noted that the price hikes are happening because current market conditions don’t seem to be temporary. “If the increase in costs were seen as something temporary that would subside relatively soon, then we could have pursued other options, such as working to improve productivity and expand the installed base while maintaining hardware prices.”

The report does note, however, that these plans haven’t yet been written in stone. Rather, the company is still just considering an OLED-equipped refresh, and development of such a design will start later this year if Nintendo goes through with it. This means that, at the earliest, we could see a Nintendo Switch 2 OLED launch in 2028.

The original Nintendo Switch, which was launched in March 2017, got an OLED version four years later, in October 2021. Going by the report’s estimation of a 2028 launch, the Switch 2’s rumored OLED version would come out at a faster pace than that of its predecessor.

As for why Nintendo hasn’t yet decided on whether to work on an OLED version of the Switch 2 at all, the report has brought up the cost of the displays as the major concern. Citing conversations with industry officials, ZDNet Korea noted that Nintendo has been in talks with suppliers like Samsung. However, details about the price difference between OLED panels and the Switch 2’s current LCD panels are unknown.

“Nintendo is considering applying rigid OLED to the Switch 2, but has not yet confirmed the release of the Switch 2 OLED due to the price difference compared to liquid crystal display (LCD) products,” said one official (via machine translation). “Samsung Display will strive to supply Switch 2 OLEDs to Nintendo,” said another, “the extent of the price increase for the Switch 2 resulting from the application of OLED is a variable.”

The current incarnation of the Nintendo Switch 2 makes use of an LCD display. While many consider this a bit of a downgrade when compared to the Nintendo Switch OLED, the step down in color accuracy and sharpness is balanced out by the display’s variable refresh rate capabilities, making games feel smoother even at low frame rates.

Interestingly, before launching the Nintendo Switch OLED, the company had released the handheld-only Nintendo Switch Lite in 2019. The system was made for those who prefer to use it only in handheld mode, and as such, could not be docked to work with a larger external display. It is currently unknown whether the company will follow a similar path with the Switch 2.

In the meantime, Nintendo has announced that the original Switch, the Switch Lite, and the Switch OLED will be discontinued in Europe from February 2027 onwards. The company has said that this is due to local legislation requiring the consoles to have user-replaceable batteries. Going forward, Nintendo plans to replace some of its products with removable batteries. The first wave of these revised products is slated for launch in Summer 2026, with more coming out in Autumn and Winter 2026 and early 2027.

Speaking to Famitsu, he stated that Pokopia is quite high among the studio’s list of successful collaborative efforts with other talented studios, talking about how the original goal was to make it a bestseller. That said, there weren’t very high expectations for how far it could really go.

“From among our spin-off titles, I do feel a strong sense of accomplishment. We worked to make it the best-selling spin-off game, but before launch there weren’t any real expectations (laughs). However, directly ahead of launch, lots of overseas media played it and rated it very highly, and then I felt it spread from there.”

It isn’t really a surprise considering how addictive this one can get, and the strong endgame it brings long after you’re done with the 20-30 hour story. Of course, Koinuma was asked whether this bodes well for future spin-off titles, and he pointed to successful past collaborations that have been beneficial and educational for all stakeholders involved.

Of course, that’s rather enigmatic and perhaps a carefully maneuvered statement to conceal what might be the early stages of potential follow-ups, which is what we’re choosing to believe until there are more official announcements on the subject. In the meantime, there’s that expansion in August to look forward to, if nothing else.