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Nintendo Faces a Worldwide Shutdown in Services

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Fans were left surprised and saddened by the fact that the Nintendo Switch’s online services are temporarily down. It seems that both the multiplayer services, as well as the Nintendo eShop facilities are not working for the time being. Here’s a look at why this has happened and what Nintendo plans to do regarding the same. multiplayer services are not working.

Officially Down

The company’s official Twitter account, which is in Japanese, has confirmed the news, by tweeting that the incident is true. The Twitter account also confirms that they have taken all the necessary steps to make sure that the site will be up in no time. The company has confirmed that repair work is underway regarding the website and portal. Furthermore, the company’s updated status confirms they are not able to connect to their services over their network. The message also urges users to try again later. The news also shows that the outage is worldwide and not specific to a certain area or nation. Also, the outage has affected various Nintendo services such as the Switch, 3DS, and Wii U. However, certain users have confirmed that while they are unable to access the eShop, many are being able to play the Rocket League online without any issues.

Aftereffects of COVID-19

Some experts believe that the Xbox Live and PlayStation services have suffered as a result of an increase in user base. The hard-hitting effects of the COVID-19 have left many people without work or school, meaning more people than ever before are turning towards entertainment facilities to stay occupied. This has put undue network strain on such services, leading to discrepancies and inefficiencies within the system. For instance, the gaming platform Steam, recorded a new all-time record for the number of users with 20 million people signing in last weekend. It is unfortunate that such an outage has occurred now when it is most needed with most people staying indoors to prevent the spread of the virus.

As more and more people choose to stay at home and avoid social gatherings, they are turning to online streaming services and video games to fill their time. However, it has not been confirmed whether or not this is the reason for the break-in service by Nintendo. But, most online multiplayer service portals are facing a severe network strain due to the excessive number of users. Both IGN and Downdetector have both stated that both the Switch Online and eShop are inaccessible to them. March 15 had also witnessed Microsoft’s Xbox Live network going down. However, this news comes at a bad time for Nintendo, who is coming out with their new release, Animal Crossing: New Horizons very soon. Fans are eagerly awaiting the services to start normal operation, and are hoping this does not delay the release of the new game. The outage seems to have occurred somewhere between 4:56 AM and 1:45 PM ET. The outage was experienced both in the UK, Japan, and the US, with Nintendo Mario Kart’s online facility being affected severely.

Other Failings

However, Nintendo isn’t the only tech company having problems keeping their services online. Last week, Microsoft was in the same position when the Xbox Live went down for almost 2 hours. Similarly, the gaming chat application Discord has been facing difficulties in recent times as well. This definitely comes as bad news for all the people who are self-quarantining themselves in the wake of the COVID-19. While nothing has been officially stated, certain players tweeted today morning that they were able to open the eShop. This suggests that at least some of the services were back on track, much to the delight of fans from all over the world. However, if you are still unable to access the eShop or any other online facility, do not worry, because Nintendo is doing all it can to fix the issue.

Nintendo Announces a Labo Cardboard VR Kit for the Switch

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It was in 2014 when Google demonstrate a cardboard virtual reality. Last year in April, Nintendo introduced a gaming and construction toy platform, including kits with cardboard cut-outs and other materials, that are used to create different toy-con DIY projects.

Nintendo Labo VRKit
Image Source: uploadvr.com

Now, Nintendo Labo has stepped a bit forward and has announced the latest Labo VR Kit for the Switch. The new Labo VR Kit transforms the Nintendo Switch into a VR Kit and puts the system a few inches from your face. The kit is available in various options, and when assembled.

The cost of the main Labo VR Kit is $79.99 and offers six different toy-con designs. The six toy-con includes a pair of VR goggles, a blaster, a camera, an elephant, a bird and a wind pedal. The kit also comprises a screen holder and a safety cap. The Labo VR Kit also incorporates the Labo software, step-by-step instructions, and the “garage” mode for building your own Labo creations.

The users who already own a Labo VR Kit can use the Toy-Con Garage with the Nintendo Labo Kit and experiment with their Labo Kit.

Although the $79.99 is a complete kit, the company is also offering cheaper kits with lesser toy-con sets. You can also buy a $39.99 starter kit that includes the goggles and blaster. The other kits for the same price are the pairs of the elephant and the camera, and the wind pedal and the bird. You can also purchase additional project kits as well. Even you can get the elephant for $20, later.

Nintendo Labo works towards teaching engineering and basic programming to its users, so the Labo Kits for VR are just to promote creativity. These are the fun games that are nowhere close to the high definition games. The Labo VR games can be played without mounting the Switch to your face or even without using the Nintendo Switch.

The kit is a way to “introduce virtual reality in a way that’s fun and approachable for both kids and kids at heart,” said Doug Bowser, the incoming President of Nintendo America.

The new Labo VR Kit is considered as the unique first Virtual Reality experience. The kit will be available in the market from 12 April this year.

A Rare Sealed Copy of Super Mario Bros. Auctioned for $100,150; Makes World Record

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Super Mario, is one of the most acclaimed video games of all times and one of the most popular games among the children of 80s and 90s. The love of people for this amazing game can be measured through the huge amount for which an old pristine sealed copy of Super Mario was auctioned.

Super Mario
Image Source: kotaku.com

An original mint copy of the Super Mario Bros., for NES, was sold for $100,150 at an auction, making a world record for being the first ever graded video game to be sold for a six-digit amount. The game is professionally graded and certified one and was auctioned by the Heritage Auctions. Wata Games has certified the game, and for its condition, it gave it 9.5 out of 10 and a “Seal Rating” of A++.

“Beyond the artistic and historical significance of this game is its supreme state of preservation,” says Kenneth Thrower, co-founder and chief grader of Wata Games.

The game was bought by a group of collectors including Jim Halperin, founder and co-chairman of Heritage Auction, Zac Gieg, owner of Just Press Play Video Games, Rich Lecce, who is a video game collector, and the owner of Robert B. Lecce Numismatist Inc.

This copy of the video game was one of those rare copies that were sealed with a Nintendo sticker on the top of the box, whether other regular video games are shrink-wrapped.

As there are so many versions of Super Mario Bros., and all of the video consoles had at least one of their own Super Mario version released in the past thirty years, this mint copy of Mario is a bit different from all of those versions of Super Mario and is one of the rare of the versions of it.

This preserved copy of Super Mario Bros. was one of the early released copies of the same, published in Los Angeles and New York, during the testing of the video game, in 1985. This copy of video game was kept in a flawless condition and the seal of quality won it the huge value. This game cartridge is one of the eleven versions that were shipped between 1985 to 1994, in a black box, having slightly different features from one another.

New “Dr Mario World” Game to Get on to iPhone & Android Smartphones by Summer 2019

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Nintendo, the Japanese multinational video game company has announced that it is going to launch its another mobile video game, Dr Mario World, in the coming summer. The game is going to be an action puzzle game, based on the theme of the 90’s popular Mario game.

mario-world
Image Source: destructoid.com

For the development process, Nintendo has joined its hands with Japanese messaging app LINE and development company NHN Entertainment. The game will be available on the Apple Store and the Play Store for free, with in-app purchases.

One of the prominent names in the video game industry, Nintendo, has been in the field for the past many decades, and in 2016, it started its Smartphone games line. One of the first mobile apps which the company introduced was freemium social networking app Miitomo. Later, the company rolled out Super Mario Run, its first game to the mobile games lineup, and then, Fire Emblem Heroes for the Smartphone users.

The company made the announcement through its official Twitter account about the release of its new game, saying, “The doctor is in! Mario puts on the white coat once again in the mobile game Dr Mario World, targeting an early summer 2019 global release.”

Dr Mario World is the 90’s most famous Mario games played on NES. The company has already developed and launched a few other games, few of which were huge hits and few of which could not do that well. Now we need to see how well the game goes as the puzzle game on the Smartphones.

Nintendo had also been preparing to bring about another Mario game, Mario Kart Tour, for quite some time now, but now, there may be a delay in the release of the game to avoid any kind of mistakes and to provide better quality to its users. Even after the delay, people can expect the game to launch in the summer along with Dr Mario World.

The Dr Mario World will be released in about 60 countries.

Nintendo : From a Small Card Company to World’s Largest Video Game Maker

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There might merely be a person, who has not heard of Mario. The magical mission game that engaged every single child with entertainment and amusement was not just famous among the children, but, was also the first choice of every teenager, and adult. It is also one of the best-selling video games in history.

Everybody is familiar with this amazing video game, but not every person would have heard of the name of the company that produced it. Nintendo is a name that started with the production of playing cards and ended up in becoming one of the biggest producers of video games in the world. Nintendo not only have Mario to its credits but have introduced multiple entertaining games and gaming consoles to the world.

Nintendo a Playing Card Company

Nintendo was founded by a Japanese entrepreneur, Fusajiro Yamauchi, as a playing card company in Kyoto, Japan, on 23 September 1889. At the time, the foreign card games were banned in Japan, and not from twenty or thirty years, but since 1633, almost 250 years. Many people had tried making different card games, but eventually, all of them were banned too.

nintendo
Image Source: nintendolife.com

Meanwhile, a playing card game Hanafuda was developed. The game was played with handmade cards, which instead of numbers had illustrations on it. The game escaped the ban and became popular in no time. Nintendo started making good profits with the production of those cards, and Yamauchi had to employ assistants to lower down the workload.

In 1949, the company was renamed as Nintendo Karuta Co., Ltd., and started operating outside Japan, as The Nintendo Playing Card Co. By the time, Yamauchi’s grandson had also joined the company, and in 1956, he flew to the USA, to expand the business overseas. He found out that the playing card market in the USA had quite limited potential, so he decided to take advantage of this opportunity and got the license from Disney, to print Disney cartoon characters on the playing cards.

Till 1963, the company had experimented with various other businesses as well, including taxi service, a love hotel chain, a TV network, a food company, etc. At the same time, the playing card game was also facing a drop in its popularity.

In 1966, the company entered into the toy business and with the help of maintenance engineer of the company, Gunpei Yokoi, developed the Ultra Hand, an extendable toy arm. The company produced many other toys, but it was taking a little longer for Nintendo to establish itself as one of the leading toy maker company.

In 1973, the company started developing family entertainment venues with the Laser Clay Shooting System, in which the participants used a light gun for shooting. The idea was a hit, but the company had to shut it down soon, maintaining it was way too expensive.

Success in Video Games

In 1974, Nintendo managed to get the rights to distribute the commercial home video game console, Magnavox Odyssey, in Japan. By 1977, the company started the manufacturing of Color TV-Game home video game consoles. It also produced arcade games with EVR Race.

In 1981, with the release of Donkey Kong, Nintendo experienced real success. The next release from Nintendo was a handheld video game, that was also an immediate hit.

In 1985, Nintendo launched a platform video game named the Super Mario Bros., a successor to the 1983 arcade game, Mario Bros., for the Famicom, and in North America and Europe for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Along with Super Mario Bros., Nintendo holds the credit of many other famous games including NES, Game Boy, SNES, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy Advance SP.

In 1995, Nintendo announced that it had sold one billion game cartridges worldwide. At the same time, Nintendo bought 25% shares in another video game development company Rare and developed a CGI game through this partnership. The game was an instant success and became the second best-selling game in the SNES library.

Next big release from Nintendo was the Nintendo DS and Wii, between which, the Wii console became the best seller and was released in 2006. Among the handheld video games, the Nintendo DS Lite is the best-selling handheld console of all time.