Oh! Direct

Announced via the Nintendo Today! app, Donkey Kong Bananza will be getting its own Nintendo Direct this Wednesday, June 18. The presentation will be roughly 15 minutes long and will air at 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Donkey Kong Bananza itself is scheduled to release next month on July 17.

Definitely not featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series (tm).

The first release for the Switch 2 since launch lands this week in the potnetially-relevant-to-my-interests Raidou Remastered: Mystery of the Soulless Army - and it's on both Switch 1 and Switch 2 with no upgrade path. SEGAAAAAAAAA~! (derogatory) If you'd like to have the other part of the Persona... Read more...

So I guess we can put those Switch 2 Pro rumors on ice for an Olympiad.

Whether due to tariff fears or pent-up desire for the first new Mario Kart in more than a decade, the Switch 2 is off to a flying start.

A press statement from Nintendo this evening has confirmed that the first four days of Switch 2 saw "more than" 3.5m systems sold. This represents the fastest any Nintendo system has sold: for comparison, Switch 1's opening month of sale (March 3 - 31, 2017) was 2.74m units.

Also Splatoon 3 is getting a Switch 2 update.

Nintendo has announced a spinoff from the popular Splatoon franchise entitled Splatoon Raiders. Unlike the mainline multiplayer series, Splatoon Raiders will be a single-player adventure set in the world of Splatoon where players will explore the Spirhalite Islands. It features several of the characters from Splatoon 3, including musical group Deep Cut.

The Summer Game Fest taketh, the Summer Game Fest giveth back.

Last week saw the greatest expansion to the planning sheet ever with the two consoles combining for 96 releases in North America - and only 30 of them on Switch 2 including upgrade packs for Switch 1 games. Seriously, how did Switch 1 more than double the launch list of the Switch 2? This week is honestly more along the lines of what I expected, with around 20 games in the post-Summer Game Fest lull.

Apparently the rule of "3D Zeldas get delays" even extends to film.

The Legend of Zelda movie is now going to be an early part of a summer release season.

Shigeru Miyamoto took to Nintendo social media this morning to announce that the Sony Pictures co-production, which was announced for a March 26, 2027 release date at the end of March, will now launch on May 7 of the same year. The reason for the delay was not disclosed.

The PC Gaming Show was, blessedly, only two hours this year.

Following the reveals on Friday and Saturday, Sunday had a smaller number of shows but still had a few Switch 1 and 2 updates.

And out of protest, Donald is now uninstalling Steam from his computer.

The day after the Summer Game Fest kickoff has traditionally held several game announcement shows, and with two new shows being added for 2025 it meant nearly six hours of game presentation. Below is a brief recap of the games confirmed for Switch 1 or 2 (not just "consoles") from today's events. Note that unless specified, these games were identified only with a Switch logo.

So how do you say "chicken jockey" in Japanese?

Switch and Siwtch 2 did have some representation at the annual Summer Game Fest event that just wrapped in Los Angeles. In addition to Mina the Hollower:

We finally have a release date for this long-awaited top-down action adventure.

Announced as part of Summer Game Fest, Mina the Hollower has a fitting release date, October 31, 2025. The gothic theming of the title and bone-chilling difficulty seem a perfect match for the spooky season, and we can't wait to finally sink our teeth into Mina's mouse-y adventure this fall.

While you wait, check out our most recent PAX West impressions of Mina the Hollower here.

Argath's hatred of poor people has never appeared in a higher definiton.

As often happens, a Sony State of Play event did have some announcements for the Switch family.

After being included in a leak of NVIDIA games previously, a remastered version of Final Fantasy Tactics (1997/98, PlayStation) was shown for launch on September 30: Square Enix later confirmed that... Read more...

Did you know that despite the Switch 2's Wii U-esque launch lineup, there are MORE original Switch games this week?

Looking back at the last Downloads article I wrote on a system's launch week (March 2, 2017), the ratio of "games for new hotness" vs "games for old and busted" was more than 2:1, but that was across two consoles and one was a Wii U release of a Switch game. This week, the first of the Switch 2 era,... Read more...

And when we might see more presented.

The new Pokemon Legends game will come out around the anniversary of X and Y.

The Pokemon Company announced today that Pokemon Legends: Z-A will release globally on October 16. Editions will be available for Switch and Switch 2, and an upgrade pack will be available.

Accompanying the reveal was the announcement of a Pokemon Presents presentation that will air on July 22.

For the record, 35% of 15,000 is 5,250. And now you know why our News Editor lives in a country with legal recreational marijuana.

Nintendo has provided an update on the state of backward compatibility for Switch 1 games and apps for Switch 2.

Of 112 first party Switch releases, only one (the Labo VR kit) will not work with Switch 2 due to the kit being designed for the smaller screen of the original Switch. Of approximately 15,000 "partner" (3rd party) titles on Switch 1, approximately 65% are said to work without issue, while another 34% are "playable with issues".

One of which is well overdue.

Nintendo has released more details on Switch 2-powered updates to the N64 app.

A video posted on Nintendo Today May 26 showed a comparison chart for three features being added to the N64 and Mature N64 applications on June 5. Both the Switch and Switch 2 will receive an option to remap controller buttons at emulator level, while the Switch 2 versions of the app will also get the rewind function and a CRT filter option.

With a price only explainable by straight yen to USD conversion.

Last week's shockingly successful launch of Fantasy Life i is looking to get that day 1 Switch 2 bump.

Level-5 have announced on the game's blog that a Switch 2 version of the RPG will be available on June 5. Purchasers of the Switch version will be able to upgrade for US$2.59 or €2.27, with digital versions costing $62.58 or €62.26.

So 1 and 2 will be on the 1 and the 2.

Bravely Default isn't the only Square RPG remake the Switch 2 will get in 2025.

As part of observations of the anniversary of Dragon Quest, Square Enix have announced a Switch 2 version of the HD-2D versions of Dragon Quest I and II. All versions will launch on October 30, and a collector's edition is available from the Square Enix online store for $149.99.

Hopefully this is "get this out before the Switch 2" but... for some reason, I highly doubt that.

The last time we had a Downloads article the week before a system launched was February 23, 2017 when there were a combined total of six games across two systems in North America and four in Europe. This week, with Switch 2 landing next week? North America has a 6x multiplier and Europe goes nearly 10x with its schedule - and Japan's in the 40s, which I couldn't check because of region locks. Goody.

...it's also full of stars.

Four games have been dropped into the Game Boy (Color) Switch Online library this evening.

Yes, the image is aimed at amusing me and one of our regulars. No, I will not apologize, especially given the alternative.

It hardly seems like this week is real, what with the appearance for all the world that Level-5's Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is coming out after an uncountable number of delays, several platform changes including apparently a Switch 2 edition, and the possibility that several acres of... Read more...