PracticalBrush12 has a strong track record with his leaks and predictions, with many of his previous reports ultimately turning out to be true, including leaks for the likes of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Diablo 2: Resurrected, Monster Hunter Rise, and more There’s also the fact that the developer in question is Ubisoft, which also has a track record of having its surprises leaked beforehand what seems to be every single time.

Not a lot of other details on the matter are known so far, but thankfully fans don’t have to wait much longer to find out. With highly anticipated titles like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake, Skull and Bones, as well Beyond Good and Evil 2 almost confirmed to absent from the event, there’s a great chance that fans will be getting an extensive look at this new Nintendo Switch exclusive.

After a long wait, we are finally getting a sequel to the Pokemon picture taking simulator, titled simply New Pokemon Snap. The game will come in April, but today we got a trailer highlighting the various things you can do in the game, as well as its region.

In a new trailer from the Pokemon Presents, we got a big highlight for the Lental region, where the game will take place. The video also showed some of the Pokemon you’ll be taking shots of. Much like the original game, you can do things to change their expressions or movements, such as throwing baits to get reaction shots. Your pictures will get rated based on rarity, leading to more rewards.

The game will also have a social element, where you can share pictures online, where people can like it, and those with the most likes will be featured. This is most likely the online portion that was referenced when the eShop listing went live earlier in the year.

New Pokemon Snap is set to release as a Nintendo Switch exclusive on April 30th.

One thing that has emerged recently has been the consolidation of the gaming industry as a whole. Probably the most notable example of this is Microsoft’s purchase of Zenimax/Bethesda, the first case of a platform holder purchasing in full a major third party publisher. But there is also Embracer, that is buying up studios at a rapid pace. It seems like the question is who is going to buy what next. When it comes to Nintendo, that’s a very calculated question.

Speaking with Nikkei and as transcribed and translated by VGC, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa was asked about acquisitions, primarily in relation to their recent signing of Next Level Games. Furukawa was surprisingly blunt in his answer, saying that Nintendo didn’t want to go around “blindly” buying studios, and that purchasing other companies is something they think a lot about and how strategic it will be in the long run. They don’t see the simple act of just buying a lot of studios as adding inherent value.

“This is a partner that we have been working with for many years to develop various software, and we decided that we could improve the quality and speed of development by making it a subsidiary and working together.

“We are not just blindly acquiring companies because we want development resources. We don’t think that simply expanding the scale of our business will really improve the value of the entertainment that Nintendo provides.”

Much like other companies, Nintendo will no doubt buy more developers, but it sounds like a lot of thought and previous work experience will go into that decision when it does happen.

It has now almost been 4 years since Bayonetta 3 was announced for the Nintendo Switch with nothing of any real note coming afterward. While the developer PlatinumGames has reassured us that development is going well for three separate years now, one can’t help but wonder just what happened with the game. Well, the always vocal Hideki Kamiya has some advice: just forget about it.

In an interview with VGC, Kamiya, who directed the first title, was asked about the game once again, and he pretty much laughed it off, and said that for now everyone should just forget about Bayonetta 3, and that way when we do finally do get something, it’ll be a pleasant surprise.

“It’s not really our position to say, but… it’s January. We’ve got to have something come out, right? I guess it’s safe to expect that something will come out. There’s still a lot of the year left is what I’m saying.

“I understand it’s driving the fans crazy! In light of that, my suggestion would be that maybe we should all reset and forget about Bayonetta 3. Then when something finally does happen, it will be a nice surprise, won’t it?”

PlatinumGame did say they hoped to share an update for the game, as well as others the studio is working on, at the beginning of the year. Whether or not you want to read too much into Kamiya’s words is up to you, but it’s not the worst advice since it seems pretty clear we aren’t going to hear about the game until probably near release, whenever that will be.

The first Bayonetta released way back in 2009 for the PS3 and Xbox 360, and eventually would see re-releases on PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC and Wii U. While moderately successful, it took Nintendo stepping in to revive Bayonetta 2 as an exclusive to Wii U, where it remained until being re-released with the first game in 2018 on the Switch. Bayonetta 3 was then announced as a Switch-exclusive at The Game Awards 2017, but has not been seen since.

The year is starting to wind down, but the games are still coming. Like many companies, Nintendo has been one that was hit hard due to the COVID outbreak, and their output has reflected that. Whether or not that will change is up in the air, but at the very least, next month a Nintendo Switch game will be revealed that apparently everyone will enjoy.

The Japanese-only magazine, Nintendo Dream, teased in their latest issue (October 2020) that they will have a reveal for a Switch title. It’s not clarified if the game in question is third party or first party, but since Nintendo generally reveal their own first party catalog it’s likely a third party title. They say it’ll be something everyone will enjoy, which seems to hint at something all ages oriented (thanks to NintendoEverything for translations).

The next issue of Nintendo Dream will come in September, so whatever is in store we’ll know then.

The data for video game software and hardware sales in the United States across all of July 2020 is in, courtesy of The NPD Group (via GamesBeat), and was the case last month – and has been for a number of months running, in fact – the Nintendo Switch was once again the highest selling console in the region for the month, in both unit and dollar sales. It is also the highest selling platform of the year so far.

The PS4 and Xbox One had both been enjoying resurgences of sorts in recent months, with sales being driven up due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it seems that boost is now fading away, with sales for both consoles now dropping. Given how close we are to the successors for both machines coming out, that’s not a surprise. It’s a surprise, in fact, that the two had been selling as well over the last few months as they had been.

The Switch, on the other hand, is moving from strength to strength in terms of sales, in spite of what has arguably been a weak year for the console as far as major new releases are concerned. A lot of that is probably down to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Just recently, in fact, Nintendo announced that the Switch’s lifetime worldwide sales had hit 61.44 million as of June 30 of this year.

All in all, hardware spending in the US across July stood at $166 million, down 2% from July 2019. Meanwhile, year-to-date hardware spending stands at $1.8 billion, which is up 22% year-on-year.

The COVID-19 outbreak had a major impact on global production for pretty much every industry. Some companies were hit more than others, and Nintendo was one that seemed to get hit among the hardest. Stock on Switch was seemingly on the low side over the last few months, leading to a lot of jacked up prices from second hand sellers. Well, as some places are starting to normalize, it seems production is on track again, though with some caution.

As reported by Kyodo News, in a meeting with shareholders, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed that production had seemingly gotten back on track, saying, “We could not manufacture [Switch] as planned until May but production has been largely recovering from June. We expect it to normalize around summer.” That’s probably reassuring, especially for those who have had troubles getting a Switch lately.

On the software side, there has been issues as well. One of the biggest examples is Ring Fit Adventure, a game that’s seen severe stock shortages since its release. While nothing is said about current games, Furukawa was reassuring about upcoming software, stating that he expected no major impact on games coming out later this year. However, he does warn that could change with new COVID-19 waves.

“Currently, we do not see any impact on software set to go on sale this year, but there is a possibility that we cannot sell it as scheduled in the event of a second or third [coronavirus] wave.”

It’s clear that a lot of companies had major reshuffling this year due to COVID-19, so fingers crossed that the second wave expected to hit won’t be as bad as the first, or at least we’ll be more prepared.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order hits stores today. The game is the return of the brawler series that’s packed to the gills with Marvel characters, from the beloved to the obscure. We already know the third entry would follow in those footsteps, as we’ve seen a lot of characters already. Now we may know that full base roster, thanks to some datamining.

People have been digging through the game’s code and have come back with some interesting things. We have a lot of DLC slots, though none are named (though we do know what one DLC pack will consist of). The remaining base roster is rounded up to 40 due to the previously unknown Blackbolt, Medusa, Vision, Valkyrie, and an unlockable Thanos and Loki.

Like all leaks and datamines, we are filing this one under speculation, but considering that Loki was confirmed as playable at San Diego Comic-Con, there’s a good chance this is pretty on the nose- and we know even more are joining soon. You don’t have to wait long to find out if it’s legit, since Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order is available as of today on the Nintendo Switch.

nope, base roster shows 40 chars pic.twitter.com/L16zHdYsQj

— Dmnslyr (@Demonslayerx8) July 18, 2019

Undoubtedly the most hyped upcoming games on the Nintendo Switch are the mysterious new Pokemon RPGs announced for the console by The Pokemon Company at E3 last year. The games are going to be the first time Pokemon games have hit a home console, and they will also be the first HD titles in the series. Anticipation for them is understandably high.

Now, at long last, we know more of what to expect from these games. Thanks to a cascading series of leaks from a variety of sources (including known Nintendo insider Emily Rogers), all consolidated in this thread on ResetEra, we know what to expect from these Pokemon games.

Apparently, as has been speculated for a while, the new games go back to Kanto, the original Pokemon region. There will be two versions, Pokemon Let’s GO Pikachu and Let’s GO Eevee; and as the names suggest, they lock you into the eponymous Pokemon as your stater choice.

Pokemon follow you on the field again, and it appears as though wild Pokemon show up on field, too- meaning random encounters may be out. Some form of integration with Pokemon GO is on the cards, and a minigame for when you throw a Pokeball, in the vein of Pokemon GO, may be in the game, too.

Additionally, there will be an integrated hub for online, and Red and Blue, the heroes of the original Pokemon games, may be returning as well. The HM system is still gone, and Pokemon Rides from Sun/Moon will be returning. Finally, this is unconfirmed, but it sounds like Johto, the region from the second game, may be included as the post game.

All of this sounds fantastic- a HD console remake of the original Pokemon games that integrates with the ever popular Pokemon GO is a genius move. At this point, these leaks are all but confirmed- but we have to wait till the official reveal. For now, that is planned for May 24- but Rogers suggests that it may be moved up in response to all the leaks, so it could happen earlier than that.

This was not what we wanted, admittedly. The next mainline entry in the Pokemon series will be Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, an expanded remix of the superlative Pokemon Sun/Moon that launched last year. This game will be releasing exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS later this year.

A Pokemon game for the Nintendo Switch had been widely speculated upon and rumored- indeed, Pokemon Stars had reached almost mythical status among Pokemon fans. However, for now, it looks like that is not going to be happening. If Pokemon makes the jump to the Switch – which it probably will eventually, given that there is no other portable system for it to jump to – then it is likely that it will do so with a brand new game instead.

Meanwhile, you can check out the first trailer for Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon below. More information for this game will be shared later, ahead of its worldwide November 17 release date.