Will the opportunity for extra rewards cause you to enhance your quality of life?

After being announced last month, the promised My Nintendo changes to gold coins have now gone live.

The new program increases the amount of gold coins earned from purchasing digital software on all systems from 1% to 5% of the actual cost, while physical Switch software increases from 10-20 points to 1% of the game's MSRP. The gold coins can be used to pay for digital purchases, at a conversion rate of 1 coin = $/€/£0.01 or 1 yen.

Fight with your friends... but where's Rick? UPDATE: Now live in North America as well

Kirby's newest adventure has a demo available now.

The upcoming Kirby: Star Allies has a demo available for download now in the European and Australian eShops ahead of the game's 16 March release.

UPDATE MARCH 4: The demo is now live in North America as well.

For most of North America, Payday hit on Tuesday. For me, it was yesterday.

Another week, another double-digit set of games hit the Switch. The biggest release of the week, depnding on your point of view, is either the retail release du semaine in Payday 2, or the big indie title Mulaka. Casey and John have you covered on those review fronts. If you're looking for something that even my sorry rear end can finish in an afternoon, there's also Subsurface Circular.

See Tommy, this is what we need.

Some more details have emerged about the latest title from Team 17.

A new trailer (found below) for Yoku's Island Express has announced even more new powers for the postal pinball title. Among the included abilities are a party horn for mail calls, a vacuum for dealing with slugs, and the submarining Dive Fish.

I got Pac-Man Fever and it's driving me crazy.

The big game for the Switch this week is Namco's Switch rendition of Pac-Man Championship Edition. I'm not sure if it's getting the competitive play that they expect for it, but if you want to fill in some gaps on the Twin Galaxies scoreboard that recently opened up, it'll be worth a shot. Open adventure... Read more...

Go get your balloons.

Nintendo apparently wanted to get in on the week's update party.

The chief feature of the update is the Luigi's Balloon World mode announced in last month's mini Nintendo Direct. The mode will unlock following the completion of the game.

New costumes and filters for the photo mode are also available in the update.

This is not the strategy RPG you're looking for.

After a decade away, the Shining series is leaving Japan and coming to a Nintendo platform.

Sega has confirmed that Shining Resonance Refrain, an expanded version of a previously Japan-only action RPG, is coming to Switch this summer. The expanded re-release will include dual audio (English/Japanese) and all of the DLC of the original PlayStation 3 release, and a new story. The first print of the game will include a special slipcase.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse charted. Not 2, the first one that isn't on Switch.

Despite no major retail releases for Switch, it continued to lead US system sales into the first month of the year.

The NPD Group's January survey, which covered December 31 - February 3, had the Switch as the best selling console hardware in the month, the largest January for console sales since... Read more...

You might be familiar with its predecessors.

One of the 3DS's most successful indie series is moving to the Switch.

The Urban Trial series, which had two releases on 3DS and sold over a million copies on various platforms, will come to Switch on April 5 with Urban Trials Playground. Playground, rather than be set in an urban environment, will take place on the beaches of California.

And now you can BFG in peace.

DOOM's latest patch has added a couple of oft-requested features.

The 1.1 update has added a motion aiming option that uses the Joy-Con's gyroscope, and can be combined with the standard analog aim for finer shots. A party option for multiplayer games is also available with the patch.

Resolution... Read more...

A full load of fixes for the tropical exploration

RiME had a rough start, but a new patch aims to resolve a lot of the issues.

The 1.0.2 patch, available now, lists multiple fixes. A full list is available on the developer's website, but among the major refinements include resolving exploits that allowed for stage skipping, stabilizing the framerate, and a sharper image resolution.

Now, about those X releases...

Capcom will be holding two different collection releases on Switch in May.

Following the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, Capcom will also launch the Mega Man Legacy Collection titles on Switch May 22. The eShop releases will be separate, with Legacy Collection 1 (Mega Man 1-6) costing... Read more...

A nice surprise from Europe

This week's Nintendo download PR has revealed a new version of a beloved Wii U indie game coming to Switch.

A listing for Toki Tori 2+ Switch edition was found in this week's European store update release, with a release date of 23 February. Although the regular price of the game will be €14.99 (or equivalent), the preorder will be available starting at 1500 CET tomorrow for €9.99.

A heavy download list coincides with a heavy heart.

Permit me a moment of reflection here... my grandmother passed away on Tuesday evening.

She was the last of my grandparents to pass away at age 89, and she raised eight children on her own for the better part of fifteen years. She never really understood the whole video game thing, but she always... Read more...

Breaking new ground in roguelikes by being a scrolling shooter.

March 8 will see the Switch get an unusual genre mashup.

Steredenn: Binary Stars, a combination of co-op scrolling shooter and roguelike, has been cleared for a March 8 Switch release. The Switch version is an upgraded version of the existing PC release.

Daily and weekly challenges, as well as an arena mode for practicing strategies against defeated bosses, will also be on offer.

A shorter project from a well known independent designer.

March 1 will see a well-known independent developer's return to Nintendo consoles.

Thomas Was Alone developer Mike Bithell will release a new version of his recent PC release Subsurface Circular on Switch March 1. The futuristic adventure title will cost US$5.99.

Bithell has described the title... Read more...

Some might say a better game than Breath of the Wild is coming to 3DS.

The 3DS will have the entire SteamWorld series on it next week.

SteamWorld Dig 2 has been tabbed for release on the 3DS on February 22. The cost of the game will be the same as it is on Switch: US$19.99/€19.99/equivalents.

Image & Form has stated that the 3DS version of Dig 2 will run at 60 frames per second, regardless of model and even with the 3D set to maximum.

Not quite shutting down, but we have a schedule until around generation 14.

After three years of operation, Pokemon Shuffle has dramatically shifted its update schedule.

Traditionally updates have held 1-2 weeks of special stage data, with 3-4 weeks given for holiday periods, but yesterday's update (version 1.5.7 for 3DS) has released 24 weeks worth of information that... Read more...

Complete with a PG mode. You know, for kids.

The Switch will get a little ultra-violent next month with a new edition of a recent cult hit.

Slayaway Camp, the isometric adventure from former PopCap developers, will come to the Switch in March as Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut. The voice actors for the title include Mark Meer (male Shepard from the Mass Effect series) and Derek Mears (Jason from Friday the 13th (2009)).

100 pages of tips for becoming the best kid/squid on the block included.

Following the announcement of the Marina and Pearl Amiibo, Nintendo is continuing to juice Splatoon 2.

A "Starter Edition" of the game will release on March 16, for the same suggested retail price as the current game ($59.99). The new edition will include two pages of stickers and a 100-page strategy guide.