Switch Pro details? Plus Nintendo snag Next Level, and more monster hunting

Nintendo will acquire Next Level, the Canadian studio behind Luigi’s Mansion 3 — The studio has been working with Nintendo for the best part of 15 years now, 10 of which have been exclusively, so this move makes a lot of sense — chiefly as a way to bolster Nintendo's own internal development capabilities, as outlined in this solid analysis Twitter-thread from Daniel Ahmad.

Andy Robinson // VGC

The top Next Level Games...games — Yup, in related to the above news, Neal takes a look back and ranks the Vancouver-based developers past releases.

Neal Ronaghan // Nintendo World Report

Dataminer reportedly unearths Switch Pro details: OLED, 4K, ‘substantially better’ battery — Yet more smoke to the Switch Pro fire. I feel I should set up a betting pool for what the eventual name of this thing is going to be... 😅

Andy Robinson // VGC

▶ Monster Hunter Digital Event — Earlier this week Capcom shared this 20-minute update on upcoming Switch-exclusive Monster Hunter Rise. The game is due to arrive in March. A demo was released shortly after this video went up (I've downloaded it, but not had chance to take it for a spin just yet). It seems the demo was very popular, as the eShop crashed under the demand.

Monster Hunter // YouTube

PREVIEW Monster Hunter Rise: The demo teases beautiful, skill-based play — "a faithful Monster Hunter experience with a few extra mechanics added and visuals that look terrific even when playing handheld".

John Friscia // Nintendo Enthusiast

Limited Run Games announces three physical versions of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game

Vikki Blake // Eurogamer

REVIEW Dicey Dungeons — This dice-rolling roguelike from Terry Cavanaugh left the author "thoroughly blown away" adding it's an amazing game that they would "almost call a roguelike game for people who don’t like roguelikes".

Neal Ronaghan // Nintendo World Report

Dicey Dungeons' creators on inspirations, characters, and The Crystal Maze — Gavin at Nintendo Life caught up with designer Terry Cavanagh and composer Chipzel to talk about the origins of this gem, how its characters and mechanics formed and evolved throughout development, and how classic British game shows helped shape the game and set it apart from your average fantasy deckbuilder.

Gavin Lane // Nintendo Life

The 2020 Nintendo report card — With both Sony and Microsoft launching flagship new hardware in 2020, the author quips that "Nintendo has been the one platform holder most affected by what’s happened" in the hell year that was. Johnny also put together this excellent look at what each of Nintendo's teams are working on.

Johnny Cullen // Play Diaries

REVIEW Grindstone — This colour matching puzzler is "constantly exciting". Another review (from the folks at Nintendad) call it addictive, "despite not doing much new".

Ryan Janes // Nintendo Insider

REVIEW Traffix — "turns the typically stressful situation of a congested commute into that of a fun strategy game that can be enjoyed by anyone".

A.K Rahming // Nintendo Enthusiast

REVIEW Synthetik — "a modern roguelite spin on a retro-inspired concept, Synthetik is a cracking title from a small team".

Greg Hicks // Finger Guns

How one modder discovered Nintendo's most advanced Miis hiding in Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Joe Skrebels // IGN

The old Pokémon games need Nintendo Switch ports 

Laura Gray // Screen Rant

Why not patch these Switch games to work with the Ring-Con, Nintendo? 

Gavin Lane // Nintendo Life

▶ Games that made 2020 better 

Nintendo World Report // YouTube

30 upcoming Nintendo Switch games to look forward to in 2021 — I shared this in last week's issue, but if you missed it, it's worth taking a look at to get a feel for what games are on the horizon this year.

Gavin Lane // Nintendo Life

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Monday, January 11

• Radio Commander — Vietnam war real-time strategy.
• Wrestling Empire — Fighter/sim that recalls the "genre's 64-bit heydey".

Tuesday, January 12

• Arcanoid Breakout — Budget 'breakout' arcade game.
• Dead Ground — A procedurally generated tower defense game.
• Mahjong Adventure — Classic mahjong.
• S.U.M. - Slay Uncool Monsters — Fight with math skills. Every day, man's on the block.

Wednesday, January 13

• Get Over Here — Competitive arena game.
• Gorilla Big Adventure — Basic endless platformer.
• Space Aliens Invaders — Budget arcade shooter with a name that's probably just on the right side of avoiding trademark infringement....
• The Pillar: Puzzle Escape — Erm, this looks like something of a pastiche of The Witness.

Thursday, January 14

• Down in Bermuda — Quirky island adventure with puzzles and mysteries to solve.
• Fantasy Tavern Sextet - Vol. 2 Adventurer's Days — Rom-com adventure.
• Four in a Row — Connect four.
• Galactic Trooper Armada — 3D space shooter. (Jan 13 in U.S.)
• Grand Prix Racing — Budget 3D racer. (Jan 11 in U.S.)
• ⭐️ Life of Fly — You're a fly on the wall in this adventure collection of 12 short stories.
• ⭐️ My Hidden Things — Visual novel meets hidden object adventure with 'unusual mechanics'.
• Ping Redux — Ping pong puzzler.
• Ploid — Retro-style arcade adventure with 'hardcore' platform levels.
• Rhythm Fighter — Roguelike horizontal 2D action game.
• ⭐️📦 Scott Pilgrim vs The World - The Game — Complete edition of this much loved arcade-style beat 'em up with all the DLC.

Friday, January 15

• Curling — Yup, it's curling.
• WRITHE — 3D arcade FPS set in an 1970s alternate Thailand.