Persona finally comes to Switch (properly), plus Nintendo's Joy-Con repair subscription

▶ Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase — June 2022 — After endless speculation, here's the June Direct we were all waiting on. This ~25 minute presentation focused entirely on titles from partners - so, not Nintendo games - and was labelled 'mini'. I feel the 'mini' designation actually does this Direct a bit of a disservice, as there's plenty to like here, including NieR: Automata, Return to Monkey Island, the new Mario + Rabbids game, Portal, and Persona (finally). I guess Nintendo stuck this 'mini' tag on it due to runtime (most 'proper' Direct's go around 40-mins), and as a way to once again set expectations. On the whole, I'd say it was a really solid look at what third party titles are on the horizon — with my takeaway being that even five plus years in the Switch remains a vibrant platform for third party titles — not something you could ever really say during the Wii U days. Here's a written round-up of the highlights if you'd prefer.

Nintendo // YouTube

▶ Why you should play the Persona series on Switch

Nintendo Life

The Switch is in the middle of its life cycle, but it's starting to show its age — I enjoyed this overview from Nadine on where the Switch is and how things are looking for the platform now it's over half a decade old. This 'ageing hardware' thing is something I've been thinking about a lot lately — whereas some titles seem to really struggle on Switch, others seemingly still shine — but generally it does feel like we're now at the time where the hybrid platform may start to get more than a little left behind. We shall see, but it's always fun to ponder on this sorta stuff. 

Nadine Dornieden // iMore

Switch Online’s latest Mega Drive/Genesis update adds Mega Man: The Wily Wars — Comix Zone is another addition here that has a neat concept (jumping around from panel to panel). Zero Wing is also included in this update and that's the source of once famous internet meme "All Your Base".

Tom Ivan // VGC

REVIEW Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak — "an enjoyable expansion full of cool new monsters but not many new ideas."

Tom Marks // IGN

REVIEW Cuphead expansion pack: As good as DLC gets — This 'delicious last course' seems to serve up more of the same, but that's no bad thing really. I've been playing the original game recently and this looks to be equally as well crafted. This review (of the PC version) notes that it "looks and sounds like a massive thank-you letter to the millions who already bought the original as opposed to an opportunity for Studio MDHR to flex entirely new design muscles". An FYI on buying it — the Switch 'bundle' ain't cheaper.

Sam Machkoveh // Ars Technica

▶ Nintendo launch Joy-Con repair subscription — I read this news a few days ago (via VGC) and was kinda shocked to be honest. Nintendo's (Japan-only for now) solution to your broken Joy-Con? It's this: Subscribe to an AppleCare style subscription program. Considering all the consumer group action they are facing on the whole Joy-Con drift saga this feels a bit... tactless. For what it's worth, in a world without Joy-Con drift, I'd be hailing this as a smart move. I share my thoughts in this six-minute video. 

Switch Weekly // YouTube

‘We’re terribly sorry’: The heavily criticised XIII remake is getting a remake — I'm pleased to see this is getting picked up again and getting another chance. I loved the 2003 GameCube original and was excited to see it come back...but it was something of a dud, and never made it to the Switch. This version will come to Nintendo's machine, so I'm crossing my fingers again for a good result here.

Tom Ivan // VGC

REVIEW ▶ The Legend of Bum-bo —This is a roguelike deck-builder from Edmund McMillen of 'The Binding of Isaac' fame. 

Star or Shovelware // YouTube

REVIEW ▶ Rabbids Party Of Legends

Switch Corner // YouTube

REVIEW Ground Divers

Orpheus Joshua // Noisy Pixel

Neon White’s creative director on making the ‘most video games game possible’

Jay Peters // The Verge

Nintendo can’t realistically create sequels ‘to every series fans request’

Andy Robinson // VGC

We should copy Mario Odyssey, not Breath of the Wild

Harry Mitchell // Overlode

Happy 50th birthday to Atari, whose simple games gave us so much

Keith Stuart // The Guardian

Games are not gonna fix this — An essay on our relationship with media and art during dark and trying times within our wider culture.

Malindy Hetfield // Medium

🎮 Upcoming Releases

All releases are digital, Europe & U.S. unless otherwise stated. 
Release data sourced in collaboration with Switch Scores.
⭐️ = Ones to Watch | 📦 = Physical release | 🎮 = Demo available

⚡️ Quick Links:

• Nintendo increased security following a prolific leak of game prototypes.
• Looks like Nintendo is stockpiling raw material.
• That game-breaking bug in Star Wars KOTOR II for Switch has been fixed.
• Nintendo have updated the trademark for Donkey Kong, with new use cases outlined.
• SUPERJUMP: Celebrating great games and their creators through cynicism-free games journalism. #AD
• This is why we can't have nice things... Ron Gilbert won’t post about the new Monkey Island anymore following online abuse.
• Dunkey's usual pithy style explains the appeal of first-person platformer Neon White.
• If you like digging into early Nintendo history as much as me, here's a great new post from Before Mario looking at a 1950s playing card catalog.
• Of course you wanna watch someone recreating a Mario Kart track in clay. Love this.
• I spotted this Magikoopa plush ...but they'll forever be 'PlayStation wizards' to me... 😅
• ICYMI: These Zelda Hylian Shield wallpapers from my buddy MindFad are pretty rad.

Curated by Chris Brandrick | Support Switch Weekly on Patreon

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