BANANZA ALARMO

Nintendo continues screaming as loudly as it can that Bananza is essentially a 3D Mario

I think Nintendo didn't give a date for Ocarina because it will swipe GTA 6's date in the event it gets delayed.

That was a classic Switch 2 era Direct. Tons of third-party support where YMMV depending on how many other consoles you own, lots of Switch 2 Editions and updates for existing games, and cool first-party reveals that come up just short of feeling substantial enough. 7/10 from me.

Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave is $69.99 digitally. Likely looking at another $80 physical release here.

Posable Arwing amiibo is the prediction I'm going ALL IN on

NVC will be LIVE from Los Angeles tomorrow morning at 6:30 a.m. for the Nintendo Direct! I extended my trip to do my first-ever in-studio show, and I can't wait! See you bright and early with me, @adventnick.bsky.social, and @peer-ign.bsky.social.

IGN Live is off and running

What a lovely first year for Switch 2, highlighted by a masterful reinvention for DK, the brilliant genre mishmash of Pokopia, and an extremely fun Mario Kart. I'm very happy with the franchises that are getting love, and how different the library is from Switch 1. www.ign.com/playlist/MrH...

My coworkers know me so well

I don't say this to brag/dunk, but I'm surprised by the difficulty talk surrounding Mina. I didn't find it any harder than, say, Oracle of Seasons, but maybe it's because top down games speak to me. I'll say this: If you're not burrowing 75% of the time you're playing it wrong. Live in the ground!

Star Fox is shaping up to be incredible. Crisp graphics, perfect controls, and an overhauled script brought to life by some of the best voice acting and cutscene direction in any Nintendo game. Plus, this version of Slippy Toad is wonderful. More thoughts in my preview: youtu.be/BRovRF77Bj8?...

I hit 100% completion on Mina. What a special game! So many moments I'll remember for years to come

Mina made me laugh, scared, scratch my head, feel like a genius, and so much more. I'm in awe at how many secrets are crammed into its gorgeous pixel world. I can't emphasize enough how much you should play it as soon as you can.

Mina the Hollower is one of the best games I've ever played. I'm in complete agreement with Sam's 10/10 (!!!) review on @ign.com, and had a wonderful (spoiler-free!) conversation with @yachtclubgames.bsky.social on this week's NVC. Check it out! youtu.be/pT005MnLZnE?...

I drove to Best Buy to play Yoshi (and really liked it!)

Best weekend ever

At least they didn't name it "New Star Fox"

Name a better game (hint: you can't)

I just wrapped IGN's Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen walkthrough! It was a solo project and across two months I wrote 110 full walkthrough pages with checkmarks for every item, TM/HM, Trainer, and Pokémon (almost 3,000 checks in total!), and a ton more I am so, so happy with how it turned out 🥹

I work at Kotaku now! :) You can go watch back today's KFGD to hear me talk about it a little if you want. You could also read my alma mater @gibiz.bsky.social to learn more! www.gamesindustry.biz/kotaku-hires...

The lack of a filter in Tomodachi Life has completely killed my interest in seeing what people are sharing online. It's all <famous person/character> said <R-rated thing>, and it's deeply uninteresting to me. I've never liked Cards Against Humanity, and that's what it's turned into.

Star Fox Zero should be used in driver's ed classes to showcase the dangers of texting and driving

Yes I did

One of my favorite video reviews I've ever done (especially the last five seconds) www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCFV...

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a big, digital dollhouse. It’s childlike fun to dress them up, feed them dinner, and meddle in their romantic drama. But what good are toys if you can’t play with your friends, or at the very least show them off? My review: www.ign.com/articles/tom...

Add me to your Tomodachi Life island!

This is my new obsession

We're sending Reb off this week on NVC. We're all going to miss her so much, but can't wait to see what she does next.

Check out our IGN Playlist of the best-reviewed games of 2026 so far, from Resident Evil Requiem to Marathon: https://bit.ly/3PSrDxC

Altano x Miyamoto is a must-read interview:

By some miracle, for the second time in ten months I got to sit down with Shigeru Miyamoto, this time at the Nintendo Museum in Kyoto. As always, he was an absolute delight: www.ign.com/articles/ill...

Whoops

Seems like future first-party Switch 2 games are going to be $69.99 digital and $79.99 physical. Yoshi is $59.99/$69.99, but if we compare that to the UK prices (which has been higher for physical since launch), we can see Yoshi is a cheaper title compared to the other full-priced first-party games.

Link's Crossbow Training is underrated www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAVn...

I'm over the moon with Switch 2's new handheld mode update. Instead of waiting for months hoping your favorite Switch game happens to be chosen to get a free update or Switch 2 Edition ranges from $5-$20 for contrived reasons, this makes them all look better at the press of a button. Brilliant!

Coolest intro I've ever seen at a sporting event

Boost Mode for Switch 1 games was the biggest fix I've wanted on Switch 2 since June. Tropical Freeze looks great in handheld now!!

Nintendo Hot Takes youtu.be/T6tjrRbeATo?...

Love this trailer. Discovering attributes of enemies and using them to find secrets is a fantastic concept for a relaxed, kid-friendly platformer. This is a very Modern Nintendo game, with emphasis on systems interacting with each other. Can't wait for it!

Nintendo Direct discourse is so deeply uninteresting. Pokopia is less than a week old. We just got a trailer and date for a new Yoshi game. There is no shortage of things to play. And, it's been obvious since January that Nintendo's schedule for the first half of 2026 was pretty much known.

I wrote about how Resident Evil Requiem works so well as a Hollywood style legacy sequel for one of my favorite characters and why that's a really rare thing for video games. It would make my day if you read it <3 www.ign.com/articles/res...

Minishoot Adventures is incredible so far. Incredible Zelda homage with tons of its own ideas. Can't recommend it enough!

Nintendo's latest Indie World Showcase showed new looks at a bunch of cool indie games, from Blue Prince to Denshattack!, Blighted, and more coming to Switch. https://bit.ly/4u3Eb4K

That was my favorite Indie World in a very long time. Been waiting for Minishoot Adventures on Switch for a while now, Denshattack looks fantastic, Mixtape, Blue Prince, The Midnight Walk are great gets, and Heave Ho 2 was a wonderful announcement. Great show!

With Pokemon off the table... What is Nintendo's November game?