Category: Games

Much of the allure of the original Super Mario Maker stemmed from the seemingly endless possibilities it afforded, even if that didn’t turn out to be quite true. Robust as that game’s course editor may have been, it didn’t allow players to create certain basic Mario elements, such as sloped terrain, and some of the series’ most iconic enemies were notably missing from its toolbox. Even so, the title proved to be a critical and commercial success, and for its Switch follow-up, Super Mario Maker 2, Nintendo has taken the foundation laid down by the original and embellished it in nearly every conceivable way.

We recently had a chance to attend a Super Mario Maker 2 demo event, where we were able to go hands-on with the game and sample some of the new features Nintendo has introduced. Like its predecessor, the centerpiece of Super Mario Maker 2 is the course editor, which features a wealth of tools with which to build your own Mario levels. Along with the full suite of course parts from the original game, Super Mario Maker 2 offers a variety of new customization options, from new course themes and stage hazards to a greater array of enemies and items. All of the features so conspicuously missing from the first title are present and accounted for here, along with a plethora of other tools you may not have even thought of but which now seem indispensable, such as the ability to customize the trajectory of autoscrolling levels.

One of the most profound new features in Super Mario Maker 2 is the option to impose clear conditions–goals that players must meet before they can complete the level. These can run the gamut from collecting a certain number of coins to more specific objectives, such as defeating a particular enemy or reaching the flagpole without taking damage. The game offers a staggering number of clear conditions to choose from, opening up a whole new dimension of design possibilities; you can, for instance, build a course that must be cleared without jumping, completely upending the traditional rules of the series.

As in the original Super Mario Maker, you can design your stages in the style of several different Mario games: the original Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, New Super Mario Bros. U, and the newly added Super Mario 3D World. The latter boasts its own unique assortment of enemies and tools that makes it distinct from the other game styles, and switching to it from one of the other options while in the course editor will cause the entire level to reset. Between all of the different themes, items, and clear conditions, there’s a mind-reeling array of customization options at your disposal in Super Mario Maker 2, but the process of building stages is remarkably intuitive, thanks to the ease with which you can lay down course parts and immediately test out your creation.

As with the first game, you can edit your stages using either a controller or the Switch’s touch screen. However, whereas the Wii U GamePad’s built-in display allowed you to use the latter method whether you played on the television or in Off-TV mode, you can only use the Switch’s touch screen when playing the console undocked. If you play the game on a television, you’ll have no choice but to build levels using Joy-Cons or a Switch Pro controller, neither of which feels well-suited. Placing terrain and objects with the control stick is much more cumbersome than doing so by tapping on the touch screen, so if you’re interested in Super Mario Maker 2, you’ll want to pick up a Switch-compatible stylus to have the best experience.

Fortunately, Nintendo has implemented a handful of quality-of-life improvements to the course editor that somewhat help mitigate the control issues. This time around, you no longer need to shake enemies or combine them with certain items in order to change their forms; you can simply tap on them and select their different permutations from the menu. As fun as it was to manually discover all of the possible item and enemy combinations in the first game, this change helps streamline the building process. Moreover, tools are now grouped into categories that you navigate using radial menus. The top toolbar is also automatically populated with the tools you most frequently use, and you can pin specific parts to the bar for easy access.

Beyond all of the new toys in the course editor, another significant addition in Super Mario Maker 2 is Story mode, which boasts more than 100 pre-made levels fashioned by Nintendo’s designers. Unlike a traditional Mario platformer, Story mode doesn’t whisk you through eight themed worlds on a quest to rescue Princess Peach; rather, it tasks you with rebuilding the princess’s castle, which involves amassing coins by taking on “jobs” from bulletin boards and other characters. Each of these jobs comes in the form of a different level, and completing them rewards you with the coinage necessary to fund the reconstruction process. It’s not a proper Mario adventure, but it does offer a more structured way to experience the game’s pre-made levels than the original Mario Maker did, and the courses we’ve sampled are as clever as you’d expect from Nintendo.

Rounding out the new features is multiplayer. Whereas the original Super Mario Maker was a decidedly solitary experience (unless you passed the controller around to others gathered in the same room), Super Mario Maker 2 gives you the option not only to build courses with a nearby player, but to play any of the game’s stages in Co-Op or Versus modes, either locally or online. As in New Super Mario Bros. U, up to four players can tackle a course simultaneously, which quickly devolves into a chaotic fight for survival as each person vies to avoid stage hazards and accidentally–or intentionally–knocks each other into pits and enemies. That you can play any stage in multiplayer adds yet another dimension to the experience, making Super Mario Maker 2 as much a party game as it is a level editor.

How well the multiplayer experience holds up online remains to be seen, but between all of the new features and tools Nintendo has introduced, Super Mario Maker 2 certainly has the potential to be, if not quite endless, then certainly one of the most compelling time sinks in the Switch’s library. The game launches on June 28, and as with other online-enabled titles for the console, you’ll need to have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to take advantage of its online features. However, Nintendo is offering a bundle that includes a 12-month membership with a copy of the game for $70, saving you $10 over the regular cost of an individual 12-month subscription. You can read more details about the bundle in our Super Mario Maker 2 pre-order guide.

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Super Mario Maker 2 feels like it could last forever. It’s fully loaded with new game modes and tools to play with on Nintendo Switch. Tony and Kevin talk about how it seems like a game you could basically play forever, thanks to its combination of custom levels, story mode, and online multiplayer–not to mention the scores of new items, enemies, and themes for building custom courses.

The free-to-play MMO DC Universe Online is coming to Nintendo Switch. The game is launching this summer, it was announced on the game’s website recently.

The Switch version will have its own server dedicated to Nintendo Switch. There is no cross-play with the game’s existing PS4, Xbox One, and PC versions, but a FAQ on the game’s website states that the studio “look[s] forward to exploring cross-play options in the future.”

The PC and PS4 editions of DC Universe Online support cross-play.

There are also no account transfers, so players who already have accounts on a different platform will have to start over with a new character if they want to play on Switch. You connect to DC Universe Online through your Nintendo Account.

DC Universe Online launched back in 2011 for PC and PS3, before coming to PS4 in 2013 and Xbox One in 2016. The PS3 edition has been discontinued.

In the game you create a hero or villain and you fight alongside iconic characters from the DC Universe such as Batman, The Joker, Wonder Woman, and Superman.

A listing for what could be a new Ubisoft streaming service has emerged online ahead of E3 2019 next month. Members of the Resetera forum (via VG247) spotted a placeholder listing for something called “Ubisoft Pass.”

The listing has since been removed, but VG247 reports that the Ubisoft Store also had a page dedicated to subscription services that has also since been taken down. That is curious since Ubisoft does not currently operate any subscription services.

The original placeholder image was for a “Premium” version of the Ubisoft Pass. This wording suggests that the service, if it is real, may be available in different tiers.

Ubisoft’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, is a big believer in streaming as a technology that will be a huge deal for gaming going forward.

“With time, I think streaming will become more accessible to many players and make it not necessary to have big hardware at home. There will be one more console generation and then after that, we will be streaming, all of us,” Guillemot told Variety in 2018.

For a streaming service to have success, you need content. As one of the biggest publishers in gaming, Ubisoft is not lacking in content, as its back catalog is deep and rich with major franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Splinter Cell, Rabbids, Watch Dogs, and many others.

Ubisoft worked with Google on that company’s streaming platform, Stadia, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Ubisoft be announced as one of Stadia’s third-party partners this summer.

We’ve contacted Ubisoft to see if the company has any comment on the Ubisoft Pass listing.

If not a streaming service, it’s possible that Ubisoft Pass could be an EA Access-style offering where people can pay a monthly fee to get access to a variety of titles. This is only speculation, however. For now, you should take all of this with a grain of salt, as Ubisoft has made no announcements.

Ubisoft’s E3 2019 briefing takes place Monday, June 10, beginning at 1 PM PT. GameSpot will have all the big news from Ubisoft’s E3 briefing and all the other ones, so keep checking back for more.

Battlefield V is adding a new map very soon, and now DICE has released a trailer for it. The new map, Mercury, is coming to Battlefield V on May 30 through a free update.

As you can see, Mercury is set in Greece in the Mediterranean. The map is part of Battlefield V’s Chapter 3: Trial By Fire Update. “Based on the events of Operation Mercury in 1941, this map lets you deploy on the coast of Crete where the British take on the invading German forces,” reads a line from the map’s official description.

In a blog post, DICE said the gameplay for Mercury is focused on “verticality, all-out war, and asymmetrical vehicle forces.” The British side have tanks and only a small number of plans, with the German side commanding the skies with more planes.

DICE says Mercury has been designed for a number of different playstyles, and the map itself borrows characteristics from maps like Guadalcanal (Battlefield 1942), Altai Range (Battlefield 4), and Monte Grappa (Battlefield 1).

“Due to the size and verticality of the map, tempo will vary. Find holes in the defense to flank or engage in a hot firefight around one of the flags,” DICE said. “There’;s a place in the map for SMGs to clash with shotguns, while Recon players can snipe at Support players, who in turn suppress enemies with their LMGs.”

You can read this in-depth blog post to learn more about Mercury and how to see some tips for have the most success on the battlefield.

Battlefield V launched in October last year and it was one of the year’s biggest games with more than 7 million copies sold in two months (though that was below EA’s commercial expectations).

DICE has steadily supported Battlefield V with numerous free updates adding a variety of things like new maps and modes, including the uber-popular battle royale mode Firestorm.