Nintendo Switch Has Officially Outsold The N64

Nintendo’s lastest financial earnings results are now out, giving us a look at the company’s hardware and software sales for the past fiscal year. Not only did Nintendo’s recent spate of Switch exclusives sell an impressive number of copies, the Switch console itself has also hit a new sales milestone.

During the fiscal year ended March 31, Nintendo moved 16.95 million Switch consoles. While that missed the company’s ambitious plan to sell 20 million units during the fiscal year, it did represent a 12.7% year-on-year increase. Moreover, it brought the system’s global sales thus far up to 34.74 million, surpassing the lifetime sales of the Nintendo 64, which stands at 32.93 million.

The Switch has been an impressive rebound for Nintendo after the poor performance of the company’s previous home console, the Wii U, which moved 13.56 million units over its lifetime. The hybrid system, on the other hand, has been selling remarkably well since launching back in March 2017, managing to outsell its predecessor in just 10 months. However, it remains to be seen whether or not it’ll match the company’s best-selling home console, the Wii, which stands at 101.63 million.

This past fiscal year was also a big one for Nintendo in terms of software sales. The company released a handful of notable exclusives for Switch, which have all moved some impressive numbers. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sold more sold more than 13.81 million units, making it the series’ best-selling installment and Nintendo’s third best-selling game for Switch, while Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee sold a combined 10.63 million copies. Those numbers have quickly rocketed both titles up Nintendo’s list of the 10 best-selling Switch games.

This fiscal year has the potential to be even bigger for Nintendo. The company has a number of major exclusives lined up for Switch in 2019, including a new pair of Pokemon games, Sword and Shield. There have also been numerous reports that Nintendo will release a cheaper Switch model this summer. While not necessarily denying that a new version of the system is coming, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa responded to those rumors, saying the company has “no plans to announce” any new hardware at this year’s E3.

Smash Bros. Custom Stages Are Getting Pretty Crazy

Weeelcoooome to NVC, IGN’s Nintendo podcast! I’m temporarily taking over as host this week (for the first time!) as we talk about SteamWorld Quest, Mortal Kombat 11 on Switch, and some of the craziest Super Smash Bros. Ultimate custom stages we’ve seen so far! We’ll also be taking look at recent news – with a message from the FUTURE! – talking about some games we’ve been playing recently, and taking YOUR questions during Question Block!

Here are some topic timecodes for your convenience:

  • 00:00:01 – Hello!
  • 00:01:50 – SteamWorld Quest is out! Let’s talk about it.
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Fortnite Week 9 Secret Battle Star Location Guide (Season 8 Discovery Challenge)

We’re quickly coming up on the end of Fortnite Season 8, but Epic still has a few more challenges in store for players before Season 9 officially begins. Week 9’s challenges are now live across PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch, and mobile, which means you have another chance to earn Battle Stars and unlock more of this season’s skins and other Battle Pass rewards.

If you’re familiar with how Fortnite works by now, you’ll know there’s an added incentive to complete as many challenges as you can; if you finish all of the ones from a given week, you’ll also clear a Discovery challenge, which will reward you with a special loading screen. These screens typically feature a cool or humorous piece of artwork, but the real reason you want to unlock them is because they each hide a subtle clue that points you to a free Battle Star (which levels your Battle Pass up by one tier) or Banner (which can be used as a profile icon) hidden somewhere around the island.

Once you’ve completed nine weeks’ worth of challenges, you’ll unlock the loading screen pictured below. This one features Season 8’s best new skin, Peely, rather unwisely trying to retrieve a treasure chest from a river of lava. Look in the background directly above the treasure chest, however, and you’ll be able to spot an etching of a viking ship. This is the clue to where this week’s free Battle Star can be found.

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As it turns out, there’s a large wooden viking ship in the snowy mountaintop village located just southeast of Snobby Shores. Make your way to the area and you’ll be able to easily spot the boat sitting near the edge of the waterfall. Approach it and the Battle Star will appear inside. Collect it as you would any other item, then finish the match and your Battle Pass will level up by one more tier. You can see the ship’s exact location on the map below. We also walk you through exactly where to find it in the video at the top of this guide.

If you’ve been keeping up with all of this season’s free Battle Stars and Banners, you’ll know there are a few caveats before you can find them in the game. Specifically, the items won’t appear around the map unless you’ve first completed the necessary number of challenges and unlocked their corresponding loading screen, so you can’t simply waltz to the right location and expect to find it unless you’ve done all of the other steps.

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If you still have any outstanding challenges from this season, be sure to check out our complete Fortnite Season 8 challenges guide. We’ve put together tips to help you finish all of this season’s trickier missions. You can also see all of the cosmetics up for grabs in our Season 8 Battle Pass rewards gallery.

Fortnite’s 8.50 update arrived on April 25, and it marked the start of the anticipated Avengers: Endgame crossover event, which encompasses new Avengers-inspired cosmetics–like a cool Black Widow skin–and a Fortnite Endgame limited-time mode that features its own unique set of challenges to complete and rewards to unlock. The event is slated to run through to the end of Season 8, which formally wraps up on May 8.

Apex Legends Devs Address Update Plans, Tease Season 2 Content

Respawn Entertainment has addressed its plans for future updates coming to Apex Legends, teasing what’s to come in Season 2.

Revealed in an EA blog post by executive producer Drew McCoy, Respawn is “100% committed to the long-term growth of Apex Legends” and has so far had to “react and direct resources to play whack-a-mole with lots of unexpected issues.” He also noted Apex Legends’ continued development isn’t impacting Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and that Respawn is “pushing out plans for future Titanfall games” to fully support Apex Legends.

The team’s plan moving forward is to prioritize fixing slow server performance that can occur at the beginning of matches, addressing some audio issues, dealing with cheaters, and resolving hit registration issues.

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Marvel’s Iron Man VR Dev on Crafting an Original Tony Stark Story

Marvel’s Iron Man VR debuted during Sony’s first State of Play this year, marking the second Marvel Games PS4 exclusive, following the hugely successful Marvel’s Spider-Man. Developer Camouflaj has worked on the upcoming PlayStation VR title for more than two years, before Insomniac’s webhead adventure took off, though, and for much of that process, one of the biggest concerns was whether the high-profile game would leak.

“I swear to god, I’d wake up every morning, one eye on Twitter

, ‘It didn’t leak, right,’” Iron Man VR director Ryan Payton told IGN during a recent interview on our weekly PlayStation show, Beyond!, which you can watch below.

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Fortnite – Season 8 Week 9 Secret Battle Star Location Guide (Discovery Challenge)

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Deal Alert: Own An iPhone X, Apple Watch and Airpods 2 Bundle for 17% Off

If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.

Have you been looking to jump into the Apple sphere of technology? Or maybe you’re trying to convert your Android loving friend? Well, now’s your chance, as you can get your hands on one of the best phones out there, plus two other key Apple products, for a little over $1,000 USD, a total savings of 17%. Considering the excellent quality and years of use you’ll get out of them, this is definitely an investment worth making.

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Flash Deal: Get 12 Months Of Xbox Live Gold For $40

If you’re an Xbox One owner who plays online multiplayer games, you’re probably very familiar with Xbox Live Gold, Microsoft’s premium service that lets you do just that. A 12-month membership sells for $60 at most retailers, but for a very limited time, you can grab an annual subscription to Xbox Live Gold for just $40 at MassGenie. The deal ends in less than 24 hours, so act fast.

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GET 12 MONTHS OF XBOX LIVE GOLD FOR $40 »

Here’s how to claim the offer at MassGenie: On the product page, click on the Power Deal circle. It’ll prompt you to sign in or create an account–creating an account is free (and there’s no guest checkout for Power Deals). After you’re signed in, you’ll automatically be redirected to checkout, and you’ll see that the coupon (XBOXLIVE12M) has automatically been applied.

After you check out, you can access the Xbox Live Gold digital code via email. The Xbox Live Gold code is the same as the tracking ID in your order history. To see the code, just click “track your package” in the email you’ll receive, and you’ll be redirected to your order details, where you can see the tracking ID/digital code to redeem at the bottom right.

In addition to online multiplayer, Xbox Live Gold members gain access to exclusive discounts and free monthly games for Xbox One and Xbox 360. April’s free Games With Gold currently include The Technomancer, Outcast: Second Contact, and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2, so if you claim this deal, be sure to pick up those freebies while they’re still available.

Respawn Delays Future Titanfall Games To Focus On Supporting Apex Legends

It appears Respawn’s current Titanfall project and plans on all future Titanfall games have been delayed. Previously scheduled for later this year, Apex Legends executive producer Drew McCoy announced plans for all future Titanfall games have been delayed so that Respawn can better focus on future seasons for Apex Legends.

“[Regarding] other games in development at Respawn, it is important to understand that there are entirely separate development teams working on Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order,” McCoy wrote in a blog post. “Additionally, in order to fully support Apex Legends, we are pushing out plans for future Titanfall games. No resources from the Apex Legends team are being shifted to other titles in development here at the studio, nor are we pulling resources from the team working on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.”

Not many details about this upcoming Titanfall project have been revealed, but Respawn CEO Vince Zampella has clarified that it is not Titanfall 3. “We love being able to experiment in this crazy universe!” he said. On Twitter, Zampella also shot down the theory that the Titanfall project would be a VR game. In an earnings call, EA described the project as a “premium” title but suggested the game would not be a typical Titanfall sequel.

In this regard, the Titanfall project sounds like it could be similar to Apex Legends, Respawn’s battle royale game set within the Titanfall universe years after the events of Titanfall 2. This upcoming game could just be set within the same setting as the original first person shooters, but doesn’t quite follow the same mixture of fast-paced, wall-running gameplay and slower, mech-based combat.

Respawn is set to announce the details concerning Apex Legends Season 2 during EA Play in June. “For Season 2 you can expect a Battle Pass with more meaningful content, the introduction of a new Legend, the debut of a new weapon…and you didn’t expect Kings Canyon to stay the same forever, did you?” McCoy wrote. Following the start of Season 2, Respawn is scheduled to release Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order on November 15 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. The Star Wars game is set after the events of Revenge of the Sith and sees you play as Jedi padawan Cal Kestis.

Fortnite’s Avengers: Endgame Crossover Adds Cool Black Widow Skin, But Only For Today

Fortnite‘s 8.50 update is now live across PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch, and mobile devices, kicking off the game’s highly anticipated Avengers: Endgame limited-time event. That isn’t the extent of the crossover, however. Epic has also introduced an assortment of new Avengers-inspired cosmetics to the battle royale game, including a cool skin based on Black Widow.

The Black Widow outfit, which you can see below, is available for purchase now from Fortnite’s in-game store. It costs 1,500 V-Bucks and comes in two variants: one with red hair, and one with blonde. It also includes a matching Back Bling. On top of that, Epic is selling a Widow’s Bite harvesting tool skin for 800 V-Bucks, as well as a Widow’s Pirouette emote for 200.

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If you’re interested in adding the Black Widow outfit to your wardrobe, you’ll need to act quickly; the skin will only be available from the Fortnite store until 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET. There’s also no telling if it’ll cycle back in at some point in the future, so if you’d like it, you only have a few hours to pick it up. However, Epic has teased that there will be other Avengers outfits in the game, with the second set going on sale “early next week.”

Meanwhile, the Fortnite Endgame LTM will run through to the end of Season 8. This special mode has players either siding with Thanos and his Chitauri Invaders or the Heroes trying to stop them. Those on Team Thanos must find the six Infinity Stones scattered around the island in order to power up the mad titan, while players on the Heroes’ side will need to find the Avengers’ iconic weapons and wield them against the villains. There’s also a set of Fortnite Endgame challenges to complete, which will unlock more Avengers-inspired cosmetics.

On top of all that, Week 9’s challenges are also live in Fortnite, which means we’re quickly nearing the end of Season 8. That also means you only have a little more time to complete any outstanding challenges from this season and unlock the remaining Battle Pass rewards. If you need any help, we’ve rounded up tips for the trickier tasks in our complete Season 8 challenges guide.