Category: Games

Nintendo has added a couple of new physical rewards to its My Nintendo loyalty program. My Nintendo members can now spend their points on a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate greeting card set or a Splatoon 2 keychain set.

The Smash Bros. greeting card set costs 400 Platinum points and is designed to resemble the series’ signature invitation letter. The Splatoon 2 keychain set, meanwhile, costs 350 Platinum points and comes with keychains of the Super Mushroom and Super Star, the two Mario power-ups featured during this weekend’s Mario-themed Splatfest.

As is generally the case with other physical rewards, both items are likely limited in supply, so you should grab them quickly if either catches your eye. Once you redeem your Platinum points, you’ll be able to add the items to your Nintendo Store cart for free, although you will need to pay for shipping.

The aforementioned Mario Splatfest runs from January 15-17. To take part in the event, you’ll need to first pick a side from the voting terminal in Inkopolis Square, then participate in Turf War matches this weekend. Everyone who takes part in the event will earn Super Sea Snails after the results are announced.

If you don’t have Splatoon 2 yet, you can pick up a digital copy at a nice price right now. The colorful shooter is one of many games currently discounted as part of the eShop’s New Year sale. That sale runs through January 21.

In other news, Nintendo also revealed a second Super Mario 35th anniversary pin set. To be eligible for this one, you’ll need complete 15 Mario My Nintendo missions, including purchasing Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury. That launches for Switch on February 12 and is releasing alongside a special Mario edition Switch console.

Fans of real time strategy games can pick up Bomber Crew, a game about managing the inner workings of a World War 2 bomber, for free by subscribing to the Humble Bundle newsletter. The offer is only around for the next three days, so players will need to act quickly if they want to grab this freebie.

Visit Humble Bundle’s official website, click on the banner on top, create an account, and enter your email in order to receive a copy of Bomber Crew. This offer will end on January 17, 2021 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET.

Bomber Crew puts you in charge of various crews flying missions at the height of World War 2. You’ll act as their invisible leader, giving engineers, gunners, and other crewmate’s orders. The graphics may look charming, but there is a real challenge hidden behind Bomber Crew’s colorful visuals.

Developer Runner Duck has also revealed the upcoming sequel to Bomber Crew, titled Space Crew. Gameplay will be similar to its predecessor, meaning you’ll be able to customize your ship, recruit unique team members, and deal with aliens when they board your ship.

GameSpot did not review Bomber Squad, but the Nintendo Switch version–which has the most reviews–has an average rating of 75 on GameSpot sister site Metacritic.

A notoriously tricky “ultra-shortcut” in Mario Kart Wii has been performed by a human, after years of attempts. The shortcut is on the final track, Rainbow Road, and though players have known about its theoretical existence for almost five years, no one has been able to pull it off.

As noted on Reddit, streamer @ArthuurrrP is the first person to have performed the shortcut. You can see it in the streamed video below: The racer stops and turns their kart just after the starting line, then rides the railing and hops over to a piece of the track, bypassing most of Rainbow Road and going straight to the finish line. Total lap time: 22.5 seconds. Doing this successfully is said to have taken thousands of hours.

This is one of the “ultra-shortcuts” in Mario Kart Wii, and a 2018 video from Summoning Salt explains what makes it so rare and tricky. Mario Kart Wii uses a series of checkpoints to load in and make sure you’ve finished the entire track in sequence, so if you find a shortcut, you need to trip those markers or it won’t count your progress. This particular shortcut was discovered in March 2016, and had been recreated with bots, but there wasn’t yet a record of a person actually performing it.

This almost mythical ultra-shortcut requires a very particular sequence of events. You have to turn around and ride just outside the rail, which is tricky enough. But then you need to perform a perfectly-timed drift dash off that tiny piece of ledge, hop at the correct angle, and then use another boost mushroom to make the extra distance. If you do all of that, perfectly in sequence, you manage to just barely land in the correct part of the track.

Obviously a shortcut that can only be performed once in five years isn’t very functional for winning competitive races, but it’s an impressive look at perseverance to pull off an almost-impossible gaming feat.

Developer Respawn Entertainment has rolled out a new patch for Apex Legends on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S that stabilizes the game.

The patch comes after numerous players reported errors while playing the game on all platforms. Specifically, players were getting caught in infinite loops that freeze the game or the game would crash entirely. Respawn said that while it couldn’t replicate whatever’s causing the hiccups, the new patch “improves stability and (hopefully) fixes the freezing issues.”

In addition to trying to address technical issues on the server side, the latest patch for Apex Legends fixes a variety of other problems. This includes issues with Fight Night event skins like Haute Drop and Gold Standard getting in the way of the reticle when aiming down sights, errors with selecting the Steam Friends list, and other problems related to clubs and text chat.

Apex Legends Patch Notes (January 14)

• Improves stability and fixes freezes.
• Issues with event skins “Haute Drop” and “Gold Standard.”
• Errors with clicking on Steam Friends list.
• Text chat issues with Steam.
• Several Clubs-related issues.

This patch comes not long after Respawn kicked off its Fight Night event, which added new cosmetics, a hand-to-hand combat game mode, and various quality-of-life improvements.

YouTuber and “hardware hacker” Mike Choi has combined an exercise bicycle, Mario Kart 8, and the Ring Fit Adventure controller to create a fantastic way to get in shape. The Labo Fit Adventure Kart Kit, as he calls it, lets you control your favorite Mushroom Kingdom character by pedaling, squeezing, and working your butt off.

“This kit allows you to control your kart by pedaling on the Bike-Con and steering and using items with the Ring-Con,” Choi said in a tweet. “This is a fully-functional concept product that I developed myself.”

Choi uploaded a video to YouTube and Twitter where he can be seen huffing and puffing as he showcases his home brew creation. The “full-body exercise experience” gets extra difficult when he picks up a golden mushroom and has to squeeze the Ring Fit controller every time he wants a boost. “Even when you lose in the game,” Choi said in the video. “You’re winning at exercise.”

Hardware modders have taken a special interest in finding new ways to play video games. Others have found ways to play games like Overwatch and Fortnite with Dance Dance Revolution dance pads, guitars, and even baguettes. One Redditor managed to combine another Nintendo creation–Mario Kart Live: Home Circut–and Mario-themed Legos to create an incredible race track that actually recognizes enemies and items.

Now all we need is a special modified version of Ring Fit Adventure that turns every step in Animal Crossing: New Horizons into an exercise. Then no one would worry about gaining weight during lockdown–they’d burn it while pulling virtual weeds.

Activision Blizzard has announced that its holiday charity campaign was very successful, with its employees collectively giving more than $1.6 million to thousands of charities.

In December, Activision Blizzard kicked off the Holiday Giving Initiative, which gave every employee $200 to donate to a charity of their choice. More than 8,000 employees took advantage of the offer, donating to more than 3,200 charities and raising $1.6 million.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and COO Daniel Alegre released a statement on the initiative:

“At Activision Blizzard, we recognize our responsibility to give back to the communities where we operate. From developing pathways for veterans’ employment to fighting racial inequality to supporting pivotal healthcare programs, we are committed to making a difference. We believe that we can truly connect and engage the world in ways that no other company can, with purpose and meaning. We continue to be grateful for so many of you who share our commitment to change the world in lasting ways.

“We want to honor the past year of giving with one more philanthropic endeavor for this unique year when people are in need more than ever: We are contributing company funds as well as reallocating funds that were earmarked for year-end company events towards an Activision Blizzard Holiday Giving Initiative.”

Before this donation campaign, Activision Blizzard, Kotick, and Alegre made donations to the United Negro College Fund, the Equal Justice Initiative, and the Management Leadership for Tomorrow back in June 2020 amid the racial injustice protests in the US.