November 2021

Today  Nintendo announced its quarterly financial results and published an update to the number of Switch units shipped worldwide since the console’s release.

The data is updated as of September 30, 2021, when the latest fiscal quarter (which began on July 1) ended.

Specifically, the infographic below shows exactly how many Nintendo Switch units have been shipped to retailers. 92.87 million units of the hybrid console have found a friendly store shelf.

This means that the console has shipped 3.83 million units worldwide during the quarter (compared to 3.3 million PS5 and 0.2 million PS4 units shipped by Sony in the same period).

The press release also includes the outlook for the full fiscal year ending on March 31, 2022. Nintendo predicts to ship 24 million Switch units in the twelve-month period, which would bring the total to 108.59 million units if the goal was achieved.

Forza Horizon 5 on Xbox Series X

I’ve always loved cars. Ever since I was a kid, pushing toy models of Ferraris, Jaguars, Lamborghinis, and Lotus around my parent’s living room was a favorite pastime — drifting around the kitchen’s vinyl floor, then going full off-road by taking them outside, where the little plastic tires were often shredded to pieces on the stone floor, much to the frustration of my parents. Swiftly sent back indoors, I’d sometimes then construct ramps out of store catalogs and magazines and hurtle the cars up and over, imagining the driver inside putting the pedal firmly to the floor as they soared over a death-defying jump.

Several times when I was playing Forza Horizon 5, I realized why the game feels so great to play. It’s the digital evolution of how I spent countless hours in my childhood. An extensive sandbox of varied terrain, ramps, adrenaline-pumping showcase events, and a veritable selection of cars, trucks, and buggies than I could ever dream of having in my matchbox collection.

For those that have played a Forza Horizon game before, the format of the latest entry is going to feel rather familiar. You’re dropped into a new real-world location as the Horizon Festival kicks off. An epic racing event teeming with drivers looking to prove their skills and cement themselves in the gas-scented history books alongside the greats that have come before them. Having already honed your skills at countless festivals before this latest excursion to Mexico, you’re just there to prove a point. And prove it you will by partaking in showcase events that see you hurtling down the side of active volcanoes, embarking on excursions through ancient temples, launching yourself off ramps to set new Danger Sign records, and, of course, winning plenty of races.

Today Konami announced its financial results for the first half of the fiscal year 2022, which ended on September 30, 2021.

Both revenue and profit figures showcased significantly positive trends, with major increases year-on-year for the whole company.

The digital entertainment business, which includes video games and the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game also grew year-on-year both in revenue and profit.

You can find all the figures below.

You better bend before I go in the first car to Mexico Last month I had the pleasure of previewing Forza...

The post Review: Forza Horizon 5 appeared first on Destructoid.

I hope you didn’t have any other plans The time has come for the Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 update...

The post Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 update released early, go download it now appeared first on Destructoid.

A gorgeous open world and deeply satisfying racing await, as do difficulty spikes and information overload

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A new book digs deep into the classic platformer series

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An online store has opened to sell the goods.

The post Yoshitaka Amano Lotus Sutra Illustration Gear Goes on Sale appeared first on Siliconera.

The new controller support only applies to Super Mario 64.

The post Super Mario 3D All-Stars Update Adds N64 Controller Support appeared first on Siliconera.

Forza Horizon 5 Barn Finds are here, meaning the series is once again teasing players with unique but well-hidden vehicles all across the sprawling map. You'll need to chase down all Forza Horizon 5 Barn Finds in order to complete the list at launch, and they'll require patience both before and after you locate each car or truck. While these vehicles are once again quite elusive, we've managed to track all 14 of them down. Follow along with us here so you know where to find all Forza Horizon 5 Barn Finds.

Forza Horizon 5 Barn Finds: All Locations And Vehicles

While we can expect more Forza Horizon 5 Barn Finds to be added throughout the long lifespan of Forza Horizon 5, there are 14 you'll need to track down if you're an early adopter. Before you can even locate Barn Finds, you'll need to wait for each "Barn Find rumor," which appears on your map as you progress through the game naturally. Even if you go to the right spot, a Barn Find vehicle won't appear without its rumor appearing first.

While experimenting, we found that simply idling and waiting for more Barn Finds didn't do the trick, but any kind of quantitative progress seemed to unlock subsequent Barn Find rumors. The very last Barn Find rumor appeared just after we finished the main campaign.

Forza Horizon 5 Player Houses offer players a number of conveniences, some of which can really enhance the game as you work to hit every race, danger zone, speed trap, and more in the sprawling open world. There aren't many Player Houses, but several of them offer unique perks that you'll definitely want to prioritize when discovering new content in Playground Games' sandbox. Here's where to find every Player House, how much they cost, and what perks, if any, they unlock.

Forza Horizon 5 Player Houses: Locations, Prices, And Perks

There are seven Player Houses to discover across Mexico in Forza Horizon 5. You'll get the first one during the game's extended introduction. After that, you'll want to play through the first event under each category in Horizon Adventure.

Think of these as the main story races, and with six categories, each one you initiate will allow you to move into a new Player House. Some are quite expensive, others are free if you have Forza Horizon 5 VIP access, and best of all, some of them include some amazing perks. Here's the full rundown from west to east on the map:

La Cabaña

• Location: Northwest of Dunas Blancas
• Price: 150,000 CR
• Perk: None

Buenas Vistas

It's time to get back in the driver's seat as Forza Horizon 5 has arrived. Destined to be one of the biggest games of the year, Forza Horizon 5 gives players another sprawling landscape to explore behind the wheels of over 500 vehicles at launch, and with more to come in the months ahead. This year's game takes you to Mexico, where you'll drift through narrow cityscapes, launch yourself over massive dunes, and splash through shoreline checkpoints on some of the world's finest beaches. After dozens of hours with the game, we've written this Forza Horizon 5 beginner's guide to get you in the fast lane with Xbox's new racer.

Grab Your Rewards From The Accolades Menu

Like before, Forza Horizon 5 gives out rewards so often that it's sometimes easy to lose track of everything you've earned. A lot of your earnings, such as new vehicles and dialogue options for Forza Link, the in-game quick chat feature, are doled out via the game's Accolades menu when you're paused. Accolades are like additional in-game achievements that unlock main story missions in Horizon Adventure, but while you grab those numerical Accolades themselves automatically upon earning them, you'll need to manually check up on what else you've earned alongside them.

The fastest cars in Forza Horizon 5 can add some top-end speed to your garage, though they won't come cheap. With over 500 cars in the game at launch, it's remarkable that merely a handful top off the speed attribute, making them some of the most sought-after vehicles in the open-world racer. In this guide, we've broken down all of the fastest cars in Forza Horizon 5 alongside their other stats and prices so you can decide which one is your favorite.

2015 Koenigsegg One:1

The One:1 gets its name from it being the world's first-ever car produced with one megawatt of power, thus making it the only car in the world that boasts such a feat.

• Speed: 10
• Handling: 9.5
• Acceleration: 7
• Launch: 7.5
• Braking: 10
• Offroad: 4.3
• Price: 2.8M CR

2017 Koenigsegg Agera RS

Newer than its older sibling car, the Koenigsegg Agera RS also features slightly better handling and launch without sacrificing the top speed.

Of the hundreds of activities to complete in Forza Horizon 5, drifting is often the hardest to master. That's because drifting doesn't rely on speed or acceleration like races, Danger Signs, and most Showcase events. Drifting is all about control and mastering a vehicle's unique steering ability over roads both paved and made of dirt. If you're looking to get better at this challenging PR stunt, here's how to drift in Forza Horizon 5 and all the best drift cars to buy.

The Best Drift Cars In Forza Horizon 5

There are 20 Drift Zones in Forza Horizon 5. Using the game's three-star system, the amount of XP and Accolades you'll get for each Drift Zone is contingent upon how high you score. One-star scores usually offer a low bar for entry, so even if you're not great at drifting yet, you can still check them off your list as PR stunts you've performed, albeit not perfected.

If you're intent on three-starring every Drift Zone, however, you'll want to use some of the game's best drift cars. If you head to the Autoshow from any Festival Site or Player House, you'll be able to browse the lineup of every car in Forza Horizon 5, which totals more than 500 at launch. Select the "sort" option and choose to sort the list of vehicles by car type, then cycle through to the category of Drift Cars.

You'll find at launch there are 14 cars ideal for drifting. The list includes:

Grand Theft Auto 3 was a major turning point for the GTA series, but also for video games as a whole, forming the earliest blueprint for modern open-world games. Now, after the game turned 20 years old on October 22, Sony is celebrating that legacy by asking some of the industry's biggest figures how Grand Theft Auto 3 impacted them when it was released back in October 2001.

The responses come from devs in studios including Capcom, Arkane, and Remedy, as well as a number of Sony's own first-party studios. Many of the devs talk about how GTA 3 affected their subsequent games, showing just how big an influence it had on the industry.

"GTA III was a game with an astonishing degree of freedom, released at a time when we were struggling to make a single-path game within the capabilities of the PS2," said Capcom director Hideaki Itsuno. "I was impressed by the way the game was made. It embraced the realities that come with an open-world concept instead of restricting gameplay to avoid every potential glitch that might come up."

"GTA III changed my perspective of what makes games fun," said Insomniac Games' Brian Hastings. "Games had always been about making the jumps, killing the enemies, solving the puzzles--doing the tasks the designer laid out for you. GTA III was the first game where you really made your own fun. That led me to reimagine how exploration and open-ended gadget and weapon usage in Ratchet & Clank could allow players to find their own fun and approach the gameplay in their own creative ways."

While Animal Crossing: New Horizons' free update dropped by surprise almost two days early, it's looking like the $25 Happy Home Paradise DLC is sticking to its original release date of November 5. While players wait to join the Paradise Planning team, Nintendo is dropping more details about the update on the official Animal Crossing Twitter account.

The Happy Home Paradise expansion is designed after Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, a spin-off game for the Nintendo 3DS. It lets players join otter Lottie's Paraside Planning team, where they can help clients design their perfect holiday homes.

The latest tweets on the official Animal Crossing account have been from Lottie's perspective, introducing players to some of the new locations they'll encounter in the Happy Home Paradise DLC.

The first one shown off is the Paradise Planning office, which includes a downstairs area with a gift shop and reception, and an upstairs room for employees including lockers, a hammock, and space to change into a uniform. The screenshots show a glimpse at some of the rare furniture that'll be available to purchase at Paradise Planning, though these items are expected to rotate.

The Fortnite Item Shop has updated once again, and now displays a wide range of skins, wraps, emotes, and more. The headliners of the day are a pair of fan-made skins first seen earlier this year. Both only hit the store about once every month, so now's your chance if you want them. Here's what's new in the Fortnite Item Shop for November 4, 2021.

Today's front-and-center items on sale include the Joy skin and Marius skin. Each of these heroes was made by members of the community, which has made them both quite popular, like a lot of fan-made skins in Fortnite. Alongside Joy comes her Rainbow Bubblegum wrap, while Marius doesn't have any other items in his set. However, his muted colors do make him an easy match for lots of other styles and sets.

If you like the Sunshine and Rainbows set, you can find Brite Bomber and the rarer Brite Gunner in the shop today alongside their set-completing cosmetics. Here's everything you can find in the Sunshine and Rainbows set:

Nintendo has just updated its list of the Nintendo Switch’s all-time top selling games. Which is, let’s face it, a two-horse race between Mario Kart and Animal Crossing. But which one crosses the finish line first? Let’s find out.

The list is for worldwide life-to-date numbers, as of September 30, 2021. These sales…

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Nintendo has released a new update for Super Mario 3D All-Stars, ver. 1.1.1, to add support for the Switch’s new Nintendo 64 Controller. This is the first update for the game since November of last year, when Nintendo GameCube controller support was added to Super Mario Sunshine. Not that you can currently buy either…

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Atlus has released another of its trailers showcasing the 200+ demons of its upcoming JRPG Shin Megami Tensei V one by one.

This time around, the trailer focuses on Sui-Ki, a demon inspired by an Oni from Japanese tradition. He debuted in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne in 2003.

You can watch him in action below, alongside two TV commercials.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has officially surpassed Mario Kart Wii in overall sales, making the Switch port obviously the best Mario Kart ever made (sorry, I don't make the rules).

In its latest financial report, Nintendo announced it had shifted 3.34m copies of the game over the past two quarters, meaning it has sold more than 38.74m copies to date. In contrast, Mario Kart Wii had 37.38m sales in its lifetime.

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The next major project from Mafia 3 studio Hangar 13 has been canned, despite $53m having been spent on its development since 2017.

The unannounced game, known internally as Volt, was set to be a three-player co-operative live service game to rival Destiny. The game's name was apparently short for Voltron, and one key mechanic would have seen enemies fusing together.

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Nintendo has added N64 controller support to the Super Mario 3D All-Stars version of Super Mario 64.

The wireless N64 controller was released for the Switch last week alongside the new Nintendo Online Expansion that adds N64 and Sega Mega Drive games.

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Nintendo has launched its Animal Crossing: New Horizons update a day early - it's available now.

The update, intended for 5th November, was announced at a recent Animal Crossing Direct and brings a number of additions.

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The new France-based event will replace the "Skybound Oratorio" rerun after the next maintenance.

The post Azur Lane’s New Event Will Feature Vichyan Cruiser Foch appeared first on Siliconera.

Depending on where you purchase them, you can get a bonus keychain of either Aether, Amber, or Venti.

The post Genshin Impact Plush Mochi Dolls Will Focus on Mondstadt appeared first on Siliconera.

Other titles on the list include Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

The post Best Selling Nintendo Switch Games Include Mario Kart and Animal Crossing appeared first on Siliconera.

General profits for Nintendo are up, thanks to strong Nintendo Switch sales.

The post Nintendo Switch Sales Have Reached 92.87 Million Units Worldwide appeared first on Siliconera.

The big Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 update is now live, one whole day earlier than expected. 

This news comes by way of Wario64 on Twitter, and really, the rest of Twitter which collectively and rightfully freaked out when it was realized that the update was live in-game. To download it, you simply need to check for an update for New Horizons on your Switch. Then, the update will download. 

Animal Crossing New Horizons v2.0.0 update is out now pic.twitter.com/fmpLj4BhSB

— Wario64 (@Wario64) November 4, 2021

Originally set to release tomorrow on November 5, the new 2.0 update is the biggest update New Horizons has received thus far. It brings Brewster’s coffee shop, The Roost, to players’ islands and it also brings Kapp’n to the game as well. Kapp’n can take players to special islands that follow their own rules – it might be nighttime on that island, or maybe it’s winter there even though your island is in Summer. 

Intel's 12th-gen desktop processors promise a dramatic leap forward, courtesy of the long-awaited shift to a modern 10nm process, dubbed Intel 7, and a radical new hybrid design that echoes Apple's powerful M1 chips. It's the most exciting Intel release for years, and it comes at the perfect time: just as AMD's Ryzen 5000 processors prised the gaming crown (and significant market share) from Team Blue.

We've been testing the $589 Core i9 12900K and $289 Core i5 12600K for the past week against their 11th-gen predecessors and AMD's Ryzen 5000 processors, and have come away impressed with what Intel has accomplished here. However, all this horsepower comes with a cost - and we're not sure that 12th-gen makes sense for everyone just yet. In this review, we'll explain the gaming performance you can expect, explore the new features of the Z690 platform and everything else you need to know.

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In an earnings call this week, EA boss Andrew Wilson called NFTs and so-called "play-to-earn" games were an "important part about the future of our industry", but added, "it's still early to figure out how that's going to work".

The major publishers are slowly dipping their toes into the "play-to-earn" concept, which typically sees players earn cryptocurrency for playing a game.

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A group of Turkish Twitch streamers have been involved in a money laundering scheme that has reportedly netted $10m.

The scheme was exposed following the Twitch data leak that revealed the top earning streamers on the platform.

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Twitch has rolled back a ban feature it said was accidentally released early.

A change to the way bans work on the platform meant that banned accounts were automatically removed as a follower.

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Another day, another video game delay. This time it's Marvel's Midnight Suns, the upcoming turn-based strategy title coming from XCOM developer Firaxis.

Announced back in August, Marvel's Midnight Suns was originally set for March 2022. It's now set to arrive sometime in the latter half of next year.

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Shin Megami Tensei V could do for the mainline SMT series what Persona 3 did for Persona. It's an incredible and memorable JRPG.

The post Review: Shin Megami Tensei V is Powerful appeared first on Siliconera.