Handheld Gaming News week 38

Hi there, fellow gamer! Welcome to this weeks Handheld Gaming News, come on in and have a nice cup of coffee while we chat gaming. New games are being announced left and right for the Switch, which makes me very glad I ended up buying one when I did. Up till now I’ve not played much more then Breath of the Wild but it has made the console very valuable to me with even that one game!

The Switch has been even more successful then Nintendo itself expected, Credit Suisse has upgraded Nintendo’s rating from “neutral” to “outperform”, and they now forecast Nintendo to sell 130 million Switch consoles through to 2022, which is up from their previous 70 million forecast. What’s interesting is that Credit Suisse did this because they expect the Switch to perform more like a handheld then as a console when it comes down to sales!

But let’s head back to handheld gaming news!

Meowth plushie at Build-a-Bear

Build-a-Bear must love Pokémon! They have quite a nice line of Pokémon plushies with a choice of Pikachu, Squirtle, Eevee and Charmander. And now, they’ve added a Meowth plushie too. I’m a bit too old I guess for such a furry friend, but the sets they advertise with online do look pretty good, especially for a Pokémon Fan!

Game based attractions Universal Japan

Though we are still eagerly awaiting the addition of Nintendo Land to Universal Florida, over in Japan they are taking gaming fun to another level. Universal Japan will get a new Final Fantasy attraction next year, as well as a Sailor Moon attraction. The Final Fantasy attraction will be called the Final Fantasy XR Ride. It’s a VR/roller coaster experience, guests will board airships (like in the game) and warp between multiple Final Fantasy worlds. Of course, they will encounter heroes and all kinds of adventures along the way.

Preschooler Mobile Pokémon Game

A new app called Pokémon Playhouse was released this week on Android and iOS, and it’s filled with activities young children will like. They can take care of their critter in a Pokémon Grooming activity, or they can look for Pokémon in the night sky in Search for the Stars. You can read a bit more about it here.

New information about Harvest Moon: Light of Hope for Switch

As you know I’m eagerly awaiting the first real sim game on the Switch. One of the ones I’m looking forward to is Harvest Moon: Light of Hope. You can see for yourself in the video below, but this is what Natsumé shared about the new mechanics Farming Enhancements.

After planting seeds in Harvest Moon: Light of Hope, you can position your farmer next to the crop to see how well it is growing and what it is. When it is not ready to harvest, you will see a question mark and different color bubbles to represent if it needs water or other sorts of tending. Once a crop is ready to harvest, you will be able to see what it is and determine its quality depending on whether the Farming Friend window is normal or gold with a sparkle. It will also indicate whether or not a crop is a mutation by putting a question mark over an already harvested item.

Picross S coming to Switch

As I mentioned earlier this week, Picross S is coming to the Switch too. Pretty soon too, the title will make it’s way to the eShop on September 28. I wrote a bit about the history of this great puzzle series, find the article here. 

Secret of Mana remake on the Vita

I don’t seem to have a lot of Vita news to offer lately, a pity as it’s such an incredible machine. So this news stood out to me: a remake of Secret of Mana is being made for PlayStation 4, the PC and the Vita! They will ad a lot of new screenshots and character illustrations. The game is set to release February 2018.

That’s it for this week! I’m a bit restless when it comes to gaming at the moment, can’t seem to commit to anything. I see a lot of potential games being announced, but as it is now, I think I’ve put no more then 6 hours of gaming in last week. Hopefully this will change soon!