Nintendo – The INSIDER

What’s The Deal With: Super Mario Odyssey – First Impressions

January 4, 2018 BeNjamyn Upshaw-Ruffner Nintendo, Review, Switch, Videogame0 comment

Not long after picking up the controller and starting to play Super Mario Odyssey, does one realize how insanely fun it is. It’s abundantly clear that Nintendo has crafted another masterful example of the platforming genre of games, which Mario himself helped create back in the 1980s. Even after playing for 10 hours, there’s no end to the collecting of Power Moons in sight. Odyssey represents a continuation of the more openended 3D Mario games such as 64 and Sunshine, and there are many more layers on top…

Entertainment

Nintendo Direct Headlines: September 2017

September 25, 2017September 25, 2017 BeNjamyn Upshaw-Ruffner Nintendo, Switch, Videogame0 comment

Earlier this month, Nintendo had some big announcements during their Nintendo Direct broadcast. So what awaits fans down the pipeline? Let’s hop right in and see what the biggest announcements were! The biggest upcoming 3DS title, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, received a spotlight which kicked off the Direct broadcast. We learned a little bit about the cover-art Pokémon for Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, which are new forms of Necrozma that have fused with Solgaleo and Lunala respectively. We briefly saw a couple of new areas in the Alola…

Entertainment

Nintendo Switch Headlines

May 12, 2017 BeNjamyn Upshaw-Ruffner Hardware, Nintendo, Switch, Videogame0 comment

On April 12th, Nintendo made numerous announcements regarding upcoming titles for the Nintendo Switch in their Nintendo Direct online broadcast. For those of you who may have missed the broadcast, here are the biggest takeaways: The Broadcast started off with a reintroduction of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, an enhanced port of the 2014 Wii U game, Mario Kart 8. The Switch port adds a slew of new features, including new characters and vehicles, the return of double items, but most substantially, a traditional battle mode which didn’t appear in the…

Entertainment

The Nintendo Switch Presentation: One Month Later, a Post-Hype Recap

February 16, 2017February 26, 2017 BeNjamyn Upshaw-Ruffner Hardware, Nintendo, Switch, Videogame0 comment

Last Month, Nintendo’s latest console was given a lengthy live-stream which delved deep into the hardware, and software of this console-handheld hybrid; but what exactly should the average gamer take away from this? Here is the lowdown on everything Nintendo has revealed to us. The first question on everybody’s mind is going to be launch date, and cost. Mark your calendars, Nintendo came right out of the gate saying that the console will launch worldwide on March 3rd and retail for $299.99, which means us lucky Canadians will…

Entertainment

Nintendo Switch: After the Hype-Storm Thoughts

November 21, 2016May 6, 2017 newspaper Hardware, Nintendo, Switch, Videogame0 comment

It has been nearly three weeks since the announcement of the Nintendo Switch, and now that the initial shock has been tamed, it may be safer to make observations. When the console was revealed, there were two kinds of people; the ones that whole-heartedly supported the changes and the ones that instantly shunned the idea down for various reasons. The majority of people, myself included, seem to have fallen into the former. Times have changed since then, however, and now taking a step back is necessary. The console appears to…

Entertainment

It was a Breath of Fresh Air Ride

October 19, 2016May 6, 2017 BeNjamyn Upshaw-Ruffner GameCube, Kirby Air Ride, Nintendo, Videogame0 comment

When people think of Nintendo racing games, there’s no doubt that Mario Kart comes to mind, and maybe even F-Zero for older fans. But there’s another game that often gets forgotten, buried underneath the discussion. That game is Kirby Air Ride, and it’s quite different from anything else. This game came out on the Nintendo GameCube way back in 2003, and was designed by none other than Masahiro Sakurai himself, the man behind the Super Smash Bros. series as well as Kid Icarus: Uprising, and original creator of the Kirby character. This game may have fallen by the wayside at the time of its release, but to those…

Entertainment

Top 3 Reasons To Try Super Smash Bros.

September 4, 2016September 25, 2016 BeNjamyn Upshaw-Ruffner Nintendo, Super Smash Bros., Videogame, Wii U0 comment

For those of you who don’t know, Super Smash Bros. is a fighting/party game series published by Nintendo, in which the likes of Mario, Pikachu, Link, Kirby, and many of Nintendo’s other intellectual properties get the opportunity to engage in fierce, and at times comical, battles. However, this isn’t your typical fighting game. No. 1: The Mechanics Whether you’re a veteran competitive Melee player, or just casually played Brawl on your friend’s Wii that one time, one thing remains constant across all the Smash games; characters don’t have health bars, but instead can…