Switch Weekly - #184: This week's Nintendo update

Nintendo of America shares statement on Black Lives Matter

Nintendo of America on Twitter

The video game industry has no clue how to respond to protests — "the statements of solidarity with the black community have all come too little, too late".

Gita Jackson // Vice 

video game companies only stand for what you make them stand for — "corporate statements of solidarity are the beginning of the conversation, and not the end".

Joshua Rivera // The Verge 

Where are our Black gaming journalists? — "Journalism has never been diverse, and correcting the issue requires figuring out what the problem is in the first place". Jeffrey Rousseau also wrote this 2018 piece looking at characters of colour in Nintendo games.

Jeffrey Rousseau // US Gamer 

Game companies say they’re supporting Black Lives Matter, but few are offering specifics 

Ethan Gach // Kotaku 

Current African American Portrayals in video games 

Terril 'Rell' Fields // Blerd (Published in 2019)

Fear, anxiety and hope: What it means to be a minority in gaming 

Zaveri, Menghistab, Beltran & Celii // The New York Times (Published in 2019)

Video games: How big is industry's racial diversity problem? 

Rahil Sheikh // BBC (Published in 2017)

'Animal Crossing' and 'Splatoon' communities are embracing digital protest

Gita Jackson // Vice

Animal Crossing’s escapist fantasy is getting a reality check

Patricia Hernandez // Polygon

REVIEW Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics — A little PSA first: This has two slightly different names depending on where you live. I picked this up and have to agree that the entire compilation of games on offer are  "presented with charm and warmth" that's typical of Nintendo. The Verge called it a "comforting collection of classics".

Chris Scullion // Nintendo Life 

REVIEW The Outer Worlds — This Fallout-style space RPG reviewed very well on other consoles, but it looks like the Switch version doesn't quite hit the mark, chiefly due to performance issues. GameSpot said it's "full of great characters and layered questlines, but techincal limitations make combat suffer on the Switch". The always great Digital Foundry also took a look and deemed it ambitious, but not good enough.

Edmond Tran // GameSpot 

REVIEW Shantae and the Seven Sirens — "a highly polished and roundly enjoyable Metroidvania that, even in light of its pacing issues, is easy to recommend".

Abram Buehner // Nintendad 

REVIEW Liberated — "a peculiar game. While it explores some interesting concepts around surveillance, people’s privacy and how societies react to terrorism, I’m not sure any of its ideas are helped by being a video game".

Noah Graham // The Indie Game Website 

REVIEW Indiecalypse — A scathing appraisal from Nintendo Life: "a deeply unpleasant game about games" that's also described as no fun to play.

Jon Mundy // Nintendo Life 

What games are still stuck on the Wii U, and will they ever be liberated?

Joseph Stanichar // Paste

INTERVIEW The making of Streets Of Rage 4, by the people who made it happen

Stuart Gipp // Nintendo Life

Everything you need to know about Borderlands

Phil Myth // Nintendo Village

New print magazine Ninty Fresh — I've mentioned the print magazine Switch Player a few times here, and now the same team is working on a bigger publication that covers the entire world of Nintendo, past and present. The magazine is currently doing great on Kickstarter. I've backed it, and if you miss the days of Nintendo Power or Official Nintendo Magazine you may want to back it too. 

Ninty Fresh // Kickstarter

I went on the radio to talk about Switch Weekly — Yours truly was on BBC local radio the other week, talking about Nintendo and this very newsletter. I've chucked the audio up on YouTube if you want to hear me bang on about Super Mario 64.

Chris Brandrick // YouTube

Monday, June 8

• Demon's Tier+ — Explore the dungeons of King Thosgar in this RPG roguelike. (June 9 in U.S)

Tuesday, June 9

• Jump King — Keep on climbing in this 'tactical leaping adventure' platformer.
• 1971 Project Helios — 3D turn-based warfare strategy set in a frozen world. Looks neat.

Thursday, June 11

• Project Warlock — If you dig the classic first person shooters of the early 90s this will appeal.
• Ancestors Legacy — Storm through medieval Europ in this real-time strategy game.
• Magazine Mogul — All the struggles of the printed press in sim game format.
• Rogue Robots — Erm...defeat 'mad' cops in this roguelite shooter.  (June 12 in U.S)
• Cosmic Defenders — 2D alien arcade shooter for up-to four players. (EU release date)
• Evan's Remains — A mystery-thriller puzzle adventure.
• Glass Masquerade Double Pack — A bundle of jigsaws.

Friday, June 12

• Super Toy Cars 2 — Arcade racing ala Micro Machines.
• Warborn — Kinda looks like Advance Wars with a dash of Sci-Fi.
• Dots 8 — Budget puzzle strategy for up-to eight players.
• Half Dead — A multiplayer sci-fi game about a violent TV show. Demo available.
• House Flipper — Invest, renovate and flip in this property sim.
• Remnants of Naezith — A dark, fast-paced 'grappling hook' platformer. (Available now in U.S)
• Pew Paw — It's you and your dog versus the zombies.

✨ Get Knight Squad ✨
 

I've teamed up with Chainsawesome Games to giveaway three copies of Knight Squad to subscribers of Switch Weekly. Sound good? All you need to do to enter is hit the link below:

Let's do this

....act fast though. I'll be picking three random people on Monday (tomorrow) evening.