Nintendo announced last week that Bethesda is bringing its popular shooter games like Doom and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus to the Switch hybrid handheld and home game console. That’s a big departure for both companies, as mature-rated titles haven’t been a staple of Nintendo consoles. I went to a preview event and played the beginning of Doom on the Switch. I used a game controller to control the action, and watched it unfold on the Switch’s 6.2-inch screen. You can also plug it into a TV and watch it in 720p resolution on a TV.

When Nintendo announced the launch of the Switch by using footage from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, it was a surprise -- but a reasonable one. Bethesda's open-world adventure game was beloved, but old enough that a port to Nintendo's new console seemed entirely reasonable. When the company announced that it was bringing the upcoming Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and last year's Doom reboot to the Nintendo Switch, however, it gave us pause.

UK based indie dev VooFoo Studios has announced that their top-down racing game, Mantis Burn Racing, will be coming to the Nintendo Switch complete with all previous DLC. While the game is already available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, the team are bringing it to the Nintendo Switch for gaming on the go as well as at home. Burn Mantis Racing on the Switch will feature 4-player local split screen in both docked and undocked modes as well as 8-player online multiplayer.

In the long history of weird Nintendo moments, this one stands out. Tucked away deep within the Nintendo Switch operating system is the data for an NES original, Golf. It's playable by one or two players using Switch Joy-Cons and it even appears to support motion controls... or it would, if anyone knew how to unlock it.

Nintendo went all out this week showcasing a slew of high-profile games heading to the Switch, 3DS and 2DS -- titles like Doom, Wolfenstein II and Pokemon Gold. But, just last month, Nintendo was all about indie love. That's when the company and renowned ultra-violent game director Goichi "Suda51" Suda revealed Travis Strikes Again, the third title in the No More Heroes series. And, this time around, he's brought 15 indie video game creators along for the ride.

What's more, it might have a first for an emulated NES game: motion control.

Nintendo’s biggest announcement during its latest Direct didn’t go by unnoticed. Two major current-gen PC and console first-person shooters, Doom and Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, will be making their way to Nintendo Switch. But they represent much more than a chance to fill out the Switch’s library with a genre unrepresented on the system so far.

The good folks over at 8Bitdo have made a name for themselves with their lineup of wireless retro controllers. Not to rest on their laurels, the company is set to release yet more must-have controllers for gamers who appreciate and have a fondness for the old-school. The latest 8Bitdo controllers are styled after the Super Famicom and Super Nintendo controllers.

In March, Nintendo released quite possibly the best entry yet in its revered Legend of Zelda series. This week, the iconic Metroid returns with an excellent new title on the 3DS, while an inventive new Super Mario is coming in October. That’s three of the company’s biggest franchises, all in the same year. (Oh, and Nintendo also released a brilliant new piece of hardware with the Switch console / tablet as well.)

Excited for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 after the E3 2017 coverage? Well, we’ve got just the thing for you: brand new footage from our gamescom 2017 presentation! This RPG of titan-ic proportions is coming to Nintendo Switch this year, so settle in and get a glimpse of an all-new area of the game: the eerily beautiful Uraya.

Arena of Valor was previously released on mobile and includes 35 heroes including tanks, mages, warriors, marksmen, and more. Modes mentioned during the Direct include 5v5, 3v3, and 1v1, as well as MOBA staples including First Blood, Double Kills, etc. A beta for Arena of Valor will launch on Switch for free this winter.

It’s a Sunday morning; you just woke up, got out of bed, and took a look at your disaster of a house. Your trash needs to be taken out, your dishes are filthy from last night, and your laundry pile is taller than your chairs. So what do you do? You ignore the chores, boot up your computer, and start playing Stardew Valley.

The state of the video game industry is such that games are more often bought based upon their underlying concept than their actual execution of said concept- it's why we have so many disappointments in Steam Early Access right now, but it's also how some really interesting and innovative indie games have found their audiences. If you have a cool idea for a game and the talent to show it off- through a flashy trailer, perhaps, that demonstrates your concept, you're halfway to selling the game. I feel that this must be said outright: Community Inc is not finished.

Double Dragon IV will launch for Switch on September 7 via the eShop, Arc System Works has just announced. This should apply to all regions – North America, Europe, and Japan. Double Dragon IV debuted earlier this year and was created as the next core entry in the series. On Switch, docked, portable, and tabletop modes will be supported. Two players will be supported with each option.

Nintendo's reputation, by and large, precedes it. Nintendo is the company that made console gaming cool again in the United States in the wake of the industry crash that turned Atari upside down- Nintendo is the company that brought gaming to the masses through the Wii, then somehow squandered their incredible mainstream cultural impact. It doesn't matter what game console you buy- your parents are going to call it the Nintendo- that's the impact that they've had on the industry. Within the gaming community, Nintendo is beloved, but often pitied because as a company, it seems doomed to repeat embarrassing mistakes.

Another new Switch game from Team17 has been revealed for Switch outside of today’s Nindies Showcase. Included in Nintendo’s assets are screenshots for Worms W.M.D, which was originally released last year. Unfortunately, aside from those screenshots, nothing else was included. We don’t have a fact sheet for this one or anything else.

Before Telltale Games confirmed its new releases for Switch, one of the rumors swirling around was about Batman: The Telltale Series. A number of retailers were listing Batman: The Enemy Within, which is the second season Telltale started just recently. An Amazon listing offers clarity about what’s going on here. Rather than The Enemy Within, Switch will be getting all five episodes from the first season instead.

Nintendo’s behind-closed-doors appointments at PAX West always happen in the same tiny room. Well above the bustling show floor, down a very clinical hallway, tucked behind a door that simply reads “Nintendo”, we get to spend about an hour here each year, and get a sneak peak at the Nintendo games that are just over the horizon. This year, we waited in that beige hallway for an extra 10 minutes before we were allowed entry. Our Nintendo rep opened the door just enough to pop his head out.

For a limited time, Steamworld Dig is Origin's On the House offer- if you want the game, all you have to do is log into Origin and claim the game from this page- this is only for the Windows version of the game (there's a Mac/Linux version available on Steam), but even if you don't have a Windows PC, you should claim the game anyway in case EA does make the game available for your platform sometime in the future.

Twitch is now rolling out support for 1080p/60fps streams, the platform announced on its blog. To stream at 1080p/60 you're going to need to be able to sustain a bitrate up towards 6 megabits, though quality will depend on the game being streamed. The previous 3.5 megabit ingest bitrate limit has been lifted. Furthermore, viewers will also have lots more quality options available to them, ensuring they get the best viewing experience possible.

From the makers of the acclaimed hit game Destiny, comes the much-anticipated sequel. An action shooter that takes you on an epic journey across the solar system. Humanity’s last safe city has fallen to an overwhelming invasion force led by Ghaul, the imposing commander of the brutal Red Legion. He has stripped the city’s Guardians of their power, and forced the survivors to flee. You will venture to mysterious, unexplored worlds of our solar system to discover an arsenal of weapons and devastating new combat abilities.

Digital Foundry has the specs, has seen it running, and has talked to the people who built it.

Each weekend a new APEX multiplayer mission begins for Mass Effect: Andromeda players. Last week, the Remnant Investigation began when a new character was introduced to the roster and APEX members were tasked with finding out more about Remnant faction. Today, APEX Mission 04 extends the investigation with a modified Firebase Sandstorm map and new additions in the multiplayer store.

Pay what you want for new frontier to explore – and support charity!

At long last, Stardew Valley is available to play in seven different languages; English, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Brazilian-Portuguese! While localization is the biggest new feature, 1.2 also includes some controller improvements and important bug fixes. Check the patch notes below!

This year may be the year of Kirby according to the last Nintendo Direct, but I have an inkling which franchise will be in the spotlight next year. The Pokémon Company was founded on 23 April 1998, making this week its 19th anniversary. Contrary to popular belief, the Pokémon Company isn’t entirely owned by Nintendo – something that came to light when people realised Nintendo did not make, and made little money directly from insanely popular app Pokémon Go.

A longstanding dream: Video games will evolve into interactive stories, like the ones that play out fictionally on the Star Trek Holodeck. In this hypothetical future, players could interact with computerized characters as round as those in novels or films, making choices that would influence an ever-evolving plot. It would be like living in a novel, where the player’s actions would have as much of an influence on the story as they might in the real world.

Something big has happened to the video game industry over the last five years – you may have noticed. All the old rules about consoles – the fact that they enjoyed five-to-eight-year life cycles, the fact that games “just worked” out of the box – they’re all gone. An accelerating consumer electronics sector and the mass penetration of broadband internet have led us into a new era of chaotic innovation and fraught business model evolution. And somewhere in the middle of all this, people are making and playing games. How do those people keep up?

Nintendo Co., Ltd. have applied for a Koopa trademark for a number of uses including ‘Program for home video game console etc’ and for 'Clothing etc’. The trademark application was made on 24 February 2017. It’s unconfirmed whether this will result in an actual Bowser videogame but hey, E3 next month!

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe had a very successful launch on the Switch, selling 459,000 units on launch day in the US, making it the fastest selling Mario Kart game ever. And Jefferies equity analyst Atul Goyal believes the game’s success is more than just sales numbers, it shows the Switch as a viable console. In a note to investors, Goyal advised them to buy Nintendo shares, and said about the success of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe:

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is set to launch for the Nintendo Switch later this year, bringing Monolith Soft’s critically-acclaimed series to yet another platform. While there’s still very little information on the game outside of a brief teaser, now we’re getting some updates on the game’s music.

Set in an alternate 19th century, Herald: An Interactive Period Drama is an adventure game that is as much about uncovering the mysteries surrounding the game's characters as it is about discovering who you are. In Herald, you play as Devan Rensburg, a young man from the Protectorate who has taken work as a sailor aboard the titular ship, the HLV Herald. This Protectorate is a colonial superpower made up of multiple European nations that have branched out to conquer the rest of the world; at the start of the game, Devan is rescued from drowning, only to be taken prisoner somewhere in India. His captor, a mysterious Rani, interrogates him...

As Nintendo continues to celebrate an incredibly strong launch for its hybrid Switch console, a looming question remains about whether major third-party publishers will lend significant software support to the system. In a recent earnings call, mega-publisher Electronic Arts suggested that strong hardware sales may be convincing the company to give the system a second look.

Mark Kearns, 38, a web designer and gamer from Chicago, stumbled upon a new video game called Star Citizen while online in late 2013. The game, which was in development, promised to revive the spaceflight simulation genre with a sprawling universe for players to explore. Intrigued, Mr. Kearns decided to pledge money to see the game come to fruition. In total, he donated $175, which gained him access to Star Citizen’s alpha version — a playable version of the game in its early stages — plus a virtual ship to use in the game.

Sid Meier’s Civilization V is the perfect game to relax with at the end of a long day. Unfortunately, the game falls flat in the department of theme. To be clear, I’m not talking about the way that Civ V sets things aesthetically- from my own western viewpoint, the game does a good job portraying the character of the world’s leaders and nations within its own scope; even the game’s music is different based on which civilization you pick. Where Civ V fails thematically is in its own gameplay.