Arrow has very suddenly turned a corner in the last month, finally living up to its potential again as the feud between Oliver Queen and Ricardo Diaz has come into focus. The show has taken a stripped-down, streamlined approach lately that’s really paid off. The question, though, is whether Arrow will simply fall back into old habits as the other members of team Arrow reenter the picture. Judging from “Shifting Allegiances,” there’s some cause for concern.
I’m not sure I realized just how little I’ve actually missed Wild Dog until he made his return this week. Season 6 is burdened with too many characters on both the hero and villain side of things. It doesn’t help that Rene’s character arc feels so redundant at the moment. He’s basically struggling through the same problems Diggle was at the beginning of the season. It would be one thing if this superhero PTSD subplot were a way of shuffling Rene out the limelight, but there’s little indication that he and his team are going anywhere right now.
Nintendo and has promised new 3DS games will be coming “in 2019 and beyond”.
In its financial results briefing published on Nintendo’s official site, the company highlighted previously announced 3DS games coming this year (Dillon’s Rolling Western: The Dead Heat Breakers, Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker for Nintendo 3DS, WarioWare Gold for 3DS and Luigi’s Mansion), and next (Mario & Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story + Bowser’s Jr.’s Journey). “In addition to the titles currently on sale we have announced the coming release of the titles shown here,” reads the accompanying text, “we are even preparing new software for release in 2019 and beyond.”
As it’s been since launch, you don’t have to pen a penny to play Nintendo Switch games online. But that’s going to change in September when Nintendo rolls out a paid membership plan akin to PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold. We know how much it will cost (and it’s considerably less than PS Plus or Gold), but other details about the service are unknown.
That’s set to change soon. Nintendo announced today that it will reveal more details about the Switch’s online paid membership in “early May.” This information will be shared through Nintendo’s website, but that’s all Nintendo had to say on the matter for now.
Nintendo did say, however, that the online service “will provide consumers with a richness of online features that allow them to continuously enjoy Nintendo Switch.”
The Switch’s paid membership program was originally supposed to launch in late 2017 before Nintendo delayed it to 2018. If the previously announced prices stay the same, you can subscribe for 1 month ($4), 3 months ($8), and 12 months ($20). By comparison, Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus cost $60/year.
Earlier this year, Nintendo management said online services are an important way to help reach new players. “That is why we want to apply substantial resources to the online service, with the thinking that we will devote our energies to making this a for-pay service,” Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima said at the time.
Regarding how Nintendo plans to popularise the Switch’s online membership, Kimishima teased that Nintendo will offer “products” that gamers hopefully find appealing. “It is less about the mechanism and more a question of what kinds of products we can offer, and the spread of the service will depend on whether consumers want what we offer
Nintendo’s upcoming announcement about the Switch’s online service will be some big news, apparently. “We have some ideas about how to make Nintendo Switch Online appealing when it becomes a for-pay service, so I think our next announcement will be worth the wait,” Nintendo executive director Shinya Takahashi said.
By comparison, the paid memberships for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 offer things like free games every month and discounts, among other benefits.
E3 2018’s briefing schedule continues to come into focus, as Nintendo today announced the date and time for its big show. Nintendo’s briefing, which will take the form of a pre-recorded video instead of a live broadcast, will air at 9 AM PT on June 12. That comes out to 12 PM in New York, 5 PM in London, and 2 AM the following morning in Sydney.
Nintendo did not provide any specifics or any teases about what will be in its E3 2018 briefing, but you can be pretty sure that the new Smash Bros. for Switch will play a big part. GameSpot will bring you the live broadcast to watch and ongoing coverage of the show with a live blog, news stories, and videos for all the major announcements.
Immediately after the briefing, Nintendo will kick off its annual Treehouse Live programming, which is three days of gameplay reveals, developer discussions, and more. The show will begin with Super Smash Bros. for Switch.
Overall, Nintendo said its E3 showing will focus more on games launching soon instead of titles coming after 2018. Still, that doesn’t mean the company won’t offer glimpses or teases of further-out projects, only that they may not be a focus.
In addition to Smash Bros., two other high-profile and much-anticipated Switch games on the way include a “core” Pokemon RPG and a new Metroid Prime.
With Nintendo now having announced the date and time for its E3 2018 briefing, we’re just waiting for Sony to announce the details for its show this year. If history is any indication, it’ll take place on the evening of Monday, June 11, following Ubisoft that afternoon.
