News:: Nintendo's paid online service might be getting a delay

It has been quite a while since we've heard anything about Nintendo's upcoming paid online service. Originally meant to launch in the fall of 2017, the service was pushed back to an unspecified 2018 date where Nintendo said they would be unveiling details later in the year (2017). Seeing as how we have less than a week left in 2017, this new bit of news (or mistranslation/rumor), might explain why we haven't heard a peep about the service.

According to Nintendo's Italian website, the Switch online subscription has now been pushed back to Fall 2018. If you remember from that original announcement, the service was first launching in the US, Canada and Mexico, so this news might only be for European players. Even still, when is the service actually launching for the US?

This bit of news could mean a delay is in order for everyone. You'd figure that Nintendo would explain something about how the service is going to roll out. I doubt the clock will strike midnight on January 1st and suddenly online is locked off, but anything could be happening in a matter of a week! It would be nice to know what is the deal with this.

Nintendo Switch Online [Nintendo of Italy via WCCFTECH]

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News:: Vote now for Destructoid's 2017 Community Choice Award!

The results of the Destructoid staff GOTY picks on each platform have been revealed over the past few days. But who cares about these nerds anyway? Doesn't the community deserve a voice as well?

Why yes, it does.

So we're reaching to everyone with an online connection (unfortunately, we haven't figured out how to add an offline mode yet) to pick favorites in a selection of the most beloved games of the year. Will the community pick completely different games? Will our tastes align? I can't withstand this suspense!

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News:: 8-Bit Mega Man and co appear in the latest Super Robot Wars X-Ω trailer

This month it was announced to great surprise that Mega Man would be joining the all star cast of Super Robot Wars X-Ω. This was to be a part of the 30th anniversary celebrations, and the cast would show up starting January 1. Now we have our first look at our Blue Bomber in the game.

You can catch the trailer below.

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News:: Did you get any gaming goodies this Christmas?

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. That song they've been playing in shops says so.

Christmas Day is underway. Maybe you're surrounded by annoying loving family members and friends. Perhaps you're stuffing your face with more food than you would any other day of the calendar year because it's December 25. Perhaps (like myself) you're just taking the opportunity to catch up of 2017's games and movies.

Whatever you're doing this holiday weekend, hope you're having a great few days. For those of you lucky enough receive pressies and gifts from your friends and loved ones, why not share your hauls with us in the comments?

Whether you're off your face, surrounded by opulence and living it up, whether you're having a slighter, quieter Christmas, or even if you aren't celebrating at all, we at Destructoid wish you all the very best for the holidays. Have a great day, guys 'n' gals!

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News:: Zelda director expalins the lack of dungeons in Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Oh hey, Nintendo Power is back as a podcast (how often remains to be seen, as evidently the community response will dictate that), and they just had Zelda: Breath of the Wild director Hidemaro Fujibayashi on to shed some light on the game's various design decisions.

One major thing that keeps coming up is the deliberate shrine and beast concept, which eschews the lengthy labyrinthine dungeon conceit of previous games -- a staple of the series. Fujibayashi notes that since the world was so sprawling, they opted to instead spread out the experience over 100 or so shrines, which ended up being the same "ratio" as a game full of dungeons.

The team decided though that this "wasn't enough," so they added the mini-dungeon Divine Beasts. This ended up being a polarizing thing to do, as many fans pined for more fully-featured dungeons to conquer, and didn't like the samey shrine themes.

I can see that argument, but I loved that the dungeons and shrines were never really the focus. It's totally okay for Nintendo to try something different every now and then and it paid off.

Nintendo Power Podcast [Nintendo]

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News:: Bravely Default wishes you a 'Happy Merry Christmas'

From the "Let's look too deeply into this" file, the Bravely Default twitter account released a very cute image yesterday wishing all of their fans a "Happy Merry Christmas".

But it also set tongues wagging, as the accompanying image features Bravely Default character Edea in cutesy Xmas gear, but also waving around a pair of Joy-Con, with a  Switch console clearly visible in the stocking hung up behind her.

This has led fans to wondering whether the team -- who are currently hard at work on Project Octopath Traveller -- may have some Switch-related Bravely Default news to share with us in the near-future. That, or maybe Edea just got given a Switch for the Holidays.

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News:: Josh Tolentino's personal picks for Game of the Year 2017

This is probably the second time in two years that I can say that it’s been a pretty good year for games and anime, if not necessarily a great year for everything else.

That might be true in the broader sense, but despite this more general similarity, the ends of 2016 and 2017 still feel like caps to altogether different years. Last year was full of anticipation and a bit of dread, particularly as long-in-the-making legends like Final Fantasy XV and The Last Guardian, my personal pick of the year, showed up for real to confound or delight the expectations of people who’d been waiting the better part of a generation for them to come out.

This year, though, felt more like a louder, more confident, almost manic expression. Rather than looking forward to one thing or another, we were bombarded from angles both anticipated and unanticipated, as surprise hits and preordained blockbusters landed one after another, with barely any time between them.

I’ll admit, I barely even had enough time to form a decent impression of lots of this year’s best games and shows, much less finish or truly appreciate them. Let these silly personal highlights serve as a tip to the iceberg of good content that made up my 2017, and hope 2018 goes as well, ideally in a video game sense as well as a real-life sense.

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News:: Meat Boy Switch is coming in a few weeks, with a kick ass 'Race Mode'

Super Meat Boy is just one of those games. It was part of the digital indie revolution, in part because of how replayable it is and how much it holds up years later.

A ton of people (myself included) are planning on picking it up yet again on the Switch too, which has finally been dated. Team Meat confirmed via Twitter that Switch port will be released on January 11, 2018, and it'll bring a goodie with it. Seemingly confirming an exclusive gametype, "Race Mode" is a thing, and will likely be a split-screen literal race in the style of old school Sonic.

The idea of breaking off a piece of the Switch (Joy-Con) to throw down on some Meat Boy sounds perfect.

Team Meat [Twitter]

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