VGamingBargains: Nintendo Switch Sale – January 2021
Whether it’s because we’ve just made it through Christmas or because of COVID-19, money is tight for a lot of people right now – but with stress levels at an all-time high across the country, VGamingNews want to make sure that our readers are still able to enjoy videogames to relieve some tension even if they’re on a budget.
We’ve drawn a fine-tooth comb over the Nintendo Switch eShop and come up with a list of games that offer a fair amount of bang for their buck without costing you more than a tenner!
The games are split into three levels, based around their price points:
Level 1 – games in Level 1 cost between £7.50 and £10.00 and tend to be the larger titles available in our price range – they’ll take most of your budget here but offer the most full-game experience for a small amount of money
Level 2 – costing between £3.50 and £7.49, games at level 2 give you a little more flexibility on how to spend your money but might be a little shorter or perhaps a little older than games in the top level
Level 3 – rounding out the list are our cheapest games, from those that are absolutely free up to a cost of £3.49. These games tend to be made by independent developers and are often a shorter experience, but make no mistake – while they might only be a few hours long, the games in Level 3 still offer a lot of enjoyment – even better, you can mix-and-match a few to get the most out of your money
We’re aiming to make VGamingBargains a monthly feature, published at the start of each month to highlight a few good deals available on the eShop soon after each pay day. Keep an eye out for future editions and we’ll do our best to put you onto a couple of great games that won’t break the bank!
| Level | Title |
Cost |
On Sale Until |
| Level 1 | Overcooked 2 |
£9.99 |
06/01/21 |
| Castle Crashers Remastered |
£9.17 |
10/01/21 |
|
| Level 2 | Super Bomberman R |
£7.49 |
10/01/21 |
| Unravel Two |
£6.24 |
10/01/21 |
|
| My Time at Portia |
£6.24 |
06/01/21 |
|
| Contra Anniversary Collection |
£3.99 |
10/01/21 |
|
| Level 3 | Candle: The Power of the Flame |
£2.99 |
12/01/21 |
| Goodbye Deponia |
£1.79 |
10/01/21 |
|
| Star Story: The Horizon Escape |
£0.89 |
27/01/21 |
|
| Binaries |
£0.99 |
21/01/21 |
|
| League of Evil |
£2.87 |
10/01/21 |
|
| Xeodrifter |
£1.79 |
01/02/21 |
Level 1
Overcooked 2 is a cooperative cooking simulator where you take control of a host of adorable chefs and work together to get meals out of the kitchen as quickly as possible. To stand any chance of getting each meal out on time you’ll have to work together, overcome a myriad of obstacles in the crazy kitchens and communicate better than ever before! Best enjoyed as a couch co-op where laughter and swear words will flow in equal measure, you can also play online co-op*, or even on your own if you want, though it probably won’t be as much fun. With hours and hours of entertainment on offer, and some free DLC available too, Overcooked 2 is an absolute steal at £9.99 – it quite honestly might be my favourite multiplayer game of all time. (NB, you don’t have to have played the first one to thoroughly enjoy this sequel!)
Castle Crashers Remastered is a fantastic scrolling beat-em-up in the style of Golden Axe or Streets of Rage, with a bright and wacky art-style and pick-up-and-play gameplay that makes it a perfect distraction on a wintery day. Up to four players can join in on this arcade brawler that sees your knights hack and slash their way across the kingdom to retrieve the king’s magical gem that’s been stolen by an evil wizard. You’ll level up your characters and get a choice of new attacks and spells to help you overcome the hordes of enemies in your way. Again, it’s best played in couch co-op if you’re bubbled up with someone, but online play* and single-player is nearly as good too. You’ll have plenty of laughs at this one and there’s a good amount of replay value by trying different character types as well. If you’re still not sure, the eShop has a demo available if you’d like to try before you buy!
Level 2
A launch title for the Nintendo Switch, Super Bomberman R has really come down in price and is well worth playing, particularly for fans of the series. There’s a solid single-player campaign on offer with some fun comic book panels and voice-acting to carry you through the plot, and multiple difficulty levels to give you some replay value too. Of course, no Bomberman game would be complete without the chaotic multiplayer modes and Super Bomberman R is no different – this time up to eight (!) players can go at it in the arena to be the last man standing, in either couch or online modes*.
If you’re a fan of traditional arcade run-and-gun’s then the Contra Anniversary Collection is an absolute must – it collates 10 of the genre’s best into one package that will keep you button-mashing until the cows come home! With a mix of side-scrolling and isometric formats, you’ll collect power ups and blast your way through a huge number of levels, fighting countless goons and monstrous bosses along the way. Not for the faint hearted, the games in this collection will take some beating – you’ll need keen eyes, good reactions, and an itchy trigger finger to get to the end!
Unravel Two is a beautifully animated puzzle-platformer where you control a pair of knitted creatures literally tied at the hip – it’s a thoughtful little game with some nice action sequences and head-scratching puzzles. You can play alone or with a partner in local co-op if you have someone in your bubble. My Time at Portia is a bright and relaxed resource manager/farm simulator with some RPG elements thrown in to spice things up. If you’re even a passing fan of the genre then it’s a really good pick up – there’s tonnes of hours play time on offer for a good price.
Level 3
Candle: The Power of the Flame is a stunning hand drawn watercolour adventure game that’s playfully narrated and offers a good challenge. You’ll play as Teku, a young tribesman who must go on a dangerous journey to save the shaman of his tribe, solving ancient puzzles and avoiding traps and the evil Wakcha tribesmen along the way. The setting is beautiful and there’s a host of fantastic characters to enjoy in this one, along with some really well-designed puzzles to offer a real challenge for only £2.99.
Xeodrifter is a really well-crafted Metroidvania game where you play as a spaceman who must investigate a small group of planets after your ship becomes damaged. It’s short and sweet but has a very clever weapon upgrade system that you’ll use to blast your way through some great environments. It’s fairly priced at £1.79; you’ll have great fun while it lasts, even if you do find yourself wanting more once you’re done!
Star Story: The Horizon Escape might not be for everyone, but it makes the list for its price alone. It’s effectively an animated ‘choose your own adventure’ book with a turn-based combat system set on a far away planet filled with strange creatures and enemies. Binaries is a twin-stick platformer where you have to simultaneously navigate two coloured balls to the goal area using a single set of controls! It’s vastly different to anything else on the list and has some difficult portions that offer a genuine challenge. League of Evil is a tiny precision-platformer in the vein of Super Meat Boy though not on the same level – it’s nicely animated and offers a nice platform experience for a couple of quid. Finally, there’s Goodbye Deponia, a hilarious point-and-click adventure set on the vibrant junk planet of Deponia. It’s the third instalment of the Deponia series that would ideally be played in order – the three other games (Deponia, Chaos on Deponia and Deponia Doomsday) are also on the eShop and will eventually be on sale I’m sure, so if you have some change, pick this one up as an investment until you can get the whole series.
*Game requires Nintendo Switch Online membership to play online
The recommendations made in this article do not come from any paid promotion and are solely influenced by our enjoyment of the games highlighted and their perceived value for money. Prices accurate at the time of publication
The Game Awards 2020
The Game Awards 2020 is here and while things were a little different this year, there were some nice surprises to be had. Here’s all of the winners and a summary of what happened throughout the night!
Winners
- Player’s Voice – Ghost of Tsushima
- Best Score In Music – Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Best Action/Adventure – The Last of Us Part II
- Best Family Game – Animal Crossing New Horizons
- Best Community Support – Fall Guys Ultimate Knockout
- Best Debut Game – Phasmophobia
- Best Esports Game -League of Legends
- Best Esports Coach – Zonic
- Best Esports Event – League of Legends World Championship
- Best Esports Host – Sjokz
- Best Esports Team – G2 Esports
- Best Esports Athlete – Showmaker
- Best Performance – Laura Bailey as Abby (The Last of Us Part II)
- Best Ongoing Game – No Man’s Sky
- Best Art Direction – Ghost of Tsushima
- Best Action Game – Hades
- Best VR/AR – Half-Life Alyx
- Best Sports/Racing Game – Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1+2
- Best Anticipated Game – Elden Ring
- Best Narrative – The Last of Us Part II
- Games for Impact – Tell Me Why
- Best Multiplayer – Among US
- Best Indie Game – Hades
- Best Audio Design – The Last of Us Part II
- Best RPG – Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Best Simulation / Strategy – Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Best Fighting Game – Mortal Kombat XI Ultimate
- Innovation in Accessibility – The Last of Us Part II
- Best Mobile Game – Among Us
- Content Creator of the Year – Valkyrae
- Game of the Year – The Last of Us Part II
Announcements (Newest first)
New Mass Effect is coming! No details, but a very nice trailer throwing back to the original trilogy!
Halo’s Master Chief is confirmed to appear in Fortnite along with Red vs Blue. Microsoft’s headline mascot joins Kratos and is available now
Cowboy monster game Evil West coming next year to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4 & Xbox One
Fresh look at Monster Hunter Rise for Nintendo Switch. Looks incredible for a Switch game if you ask us… Nice to see the RE: Engine fully working though. Demo in January, launches in March 2021.
Elder Scrolls Online gets a new update in the form of Gates of Oblivion coming in 2021 and presumably, based on the trailer a next-gen update is also coming to consoles.
“It Takes Two” is a co-op platformer and gets a new trailer. It looks absolutely mental. Like a cross between LittleBigPlanet and Unravel. Out 26th March.
3D person shooter “Returnal” re-announced for PS5. Haven’t heard about this one since the initial reveal. Coming 19th March 2021.
Microsoft Flight Simulator coming to Xbox Series X|S in summer 2021.
Ghosts and Gobblins reboot coming to Switch 25 Feb 2021. Capcom Arcade brings the original also in February.
Saber interactive present the Evil Dead game. Coming to Xbox SeriesX|S, PS5, Switch, PS4, Xbox One & PC.
Play as an angry bunny in 2D brawler: F.I.S.T: Forged in Shadow Torch Coming to PS5, PS4 & Steam in Spring 2021. One to keep an eye on!
Arena shooter, where you kill to regain health – Outriders from Square Enix hits Series X|S and PS5 2nd Feb.
Exploring on foot in Elite Dangerous expansion Odyssey. Brings more first person space shooting in early 2021.
Fall Guys Ultimate Knockout brings us a winter wonderland for Season 3. Featuring penguin, elf, and ski costumes. Big Yeetus returns on 15th December.
Vin Diesel fights dinosaurs (because of course he does) in Ark II. Also announced is an Ark Animates series with a huge voice cast. Both coming in 2022.
New PlayStation 5 game “Season” is a beautiful, celshaded game coming soon. No real details but looks incredible.
Warframe update with Unreal Tournament weapons pack available on the Epic Store.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury trailer reminds us that it’s still a thing. Coming February to the Nintendo Switch
The Swedish Chef is available in Overcooked All You Can Eat edition as DLC. Our Game of the year right here.
Crimson Desert is a new single player, Nordic inspired action game. Stunning looking settings, looks like a cross between Game of Thrones and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. Lots of blood, grunting and fire mixed with puzzle solving and mythical creatures.
Rogue-lite from Sega set in the Endless universe, Endless Dungeon is coming to every platform.
Dragon Age first look from BioWare. Looks insanely stunning, no gameplay, full title, or release date just yet.
Isometric RPG game Disco Elysium The Final Cut (a free upgrade for all players) coming to PS5, PS4 & PC. Physical Collectors edition up for preorder.
Wooper event in Pokémon GO for 24 hours. Shinys have been sighted.
Doom Eternal is on sale for 66.6% off.
Annapurna interactive drops a new trailer for Open Roads. No gameplay shown.
Warhammer gets a trailer. We missed it so will update when we take a breath!
New game from developer Striking Distance & publisher Krafton The Callisto Protocol coming 2022 to PC & consoles. The studio is aiming to create the most intense and scary survival horror game. From the trailer, we’d say they are well on their way!
Forza Horizon 4 gets a new fancy 4K trailer showcasing a Cyberpunk crossover coming tomorrow as free DLC.
Hood Outlaws & Legends from Sumo Digital And Focus comes to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5 & PS4 10th May. Looks like a great battler focused on medieval England. Looks a little like For Honor.
Scavengers which was announced at The Game Awards 2 years ago has an update. The Beta has launched on PC right now. 50,000 spaces available.
Back 4 Blood by Turtle Rock productions (Left 4 Dead) and Warner bros bring a new Zombie co-op , first person shooter to consoles and PC. The mutated zombies are giving early Resi-Evil vibes. Comes out 22 June 2021.
Perfect Dark reboot! An “Eco Sci-Fi” First person shooter from The Initiative is in early development. Aims to address the effect effects of climate change. The disaster has already happened and corporations have stepped in to rebuild the world. Coming exclusively to Xbox Series X|S. Shame it’s not made by Rare, but looks great.
Sephiroth is coming to Smash as part of the DLC 2 pack.Features One-Wing Angel soundtrack. Available by the end of the year.
Century Age of Ashes from Playwing features dragons. Lots and lots of dragons. An airborne multiplayer battler coming to PC in 2021.
Neir Replicant 1.7″we’re not even going to” debuts. It looks like a great update on the hack and slash original. Coming 23rd April.
Shady Part of Me shadow drops on Xbox One, PS4, Switch and PC NOW!
Sea of Solitude The Directors from Quantic Dream cut coming to Switch 4th March. Built from the ground up, and apparently not a port of last year’s game, this sees you hunt down monsters across, well, the Sea of Solitude. Looks stunning, a bit too stunning.
Tchia – a cute indy game in the style of Wind Waker but inspired by Hawaii.
Devolver Digital have announced Loop Hero by Four Quarters. An overhead card game/RPG where you use your cards to rebuild your world and fight demons and monsters. Out at some point in 2021.
Product Test: Metal GameCube Sticks
We don’t know about you, but our GameCube controller was starting to look a bit ropey. Who can blame it? Over the course of nearly 20 years (WHAT?!) our little black controller has taken a beating. If it had a consciousness, the controller would shudder when games such as Smash Bros and it’s vigorous button mashing, or Mario Party and it’s anger inducing train level were loaded up.
Be it rage, usage or simply the passage of time, our controller has seen better days. While the chunky plastic buttons are working as well as the day they came out of the box, one of the things we’re seeing is that the rubber on our control sticks have started to peel away.
Luckily, the team at Zedlabz (UK based company specialising in replacement parts for repairing and modding your consoles) have been busy at creating a metal alternative to the rubberised control sticks.
Quick important note: Zedlabz sent Joe a couple of these sticks for free as part of their Labratz program. They are prototypes and we’ve not been paid for this review. They only asked for our thoughts on their Instagram and did not know we were relaunching VGamingNews. Since we’ve ordered products through Zedlabz multiple times and their help with our first steps into console modding/repairs has been nothing short of amazing, we thought it would be nice to share our thoughts to a wider audience. Any links included aren’t affiliated, we just love the work they do!
Oh, we’ve never taken a GameCube controller apart before. While were a bit gung-ho, we’d still advise caution and only attempt this at your own risk. This is not a how-to guide and this could void any warranty you might have. Yes, it sounds daft, but ‘Cube controllers are still being manufactured and we’re not taking any responsibility for any mistakes. Sorry.
That said, let’s get into this.
There are six tri-wing screws on the back of the controller and once they were off, the face and buttons lifted straight off. The control sticks are attached to the motherboard and just pop off. Don’t pull too hard and if they’re on the stiff side, use a pry tool. Too much force and you could pull the whole unit off. Nobody wants a broken unit.
Installing our metal sticks was simple enough, just line them up and pop them on. Since they’re made of metal, they are on the stiff side so when you’ve put the controller back together, make sure you push them down firmly or they’ll resist and get stuck in place.
This process took us less than 15 minutes. 5 minutes to disassemble, 10 minutes to arrange the buttons for the perfect shot.
Zedlabz included two sets of sticks for us, one silver and one bronze. These are anodised metal which is quite a cool process. Simply put, they are effectively electrocuted to the desired colours. If they were painted, they would fade much quicker. View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Gaming Accessories|Parts|Mods (@zedlabz)
As we were given two sets, we had fun mixing and matching the combinations. Zedlabz have said more colours will be coming so keep an eye on their Instagram for more details.
Now we’ve installed the sticks, time to play some games.
We decided to start a new file on the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Master Quest and after a few hours of gameplay with the Wavebird, we came away impressed. Apart from the cold, metallic feeling of the sticks, the left stick worked just as well as the original. We thought some target practice over at Hyrule castle would be a good test of responsiveness and we’re pleased it took us two tries to pass the test. That’s muscle memory for you!
It might sound like high praise, and it is. Throughout testing; Pikmin, Luigi’s Mansion, Eternal Darkness and Mario Sunshine, all of the games performed as expected. The only differences were the aforementioned cold feeling, which helped keep our hands cool for those long sessions.
The only trouble came about when we decided to test out the criminally forgotten Soul Calibur II. It is a game that uses both sticks constantly and during intense sessions, the ridges on the left stick that prevent your thumb from slipping can start to rub. After a while it’s like playing a guitar and pushing hard on the strings.
We were told to put them through their paces so we picked the most intensive game we had to hand. This occurred after excessive and prolonged use. It is doubtful most gamers will get to this point on an older machine but it is something to consider. In the event you’re a left-handed guitar player who has a callus on your thumb, you’ll be fine.
The C-stick is a slightly different story. Again, it functioned as you’d expect. Throughout the time with the sticks, they worked in the usual way depending on the game. They didn’t leave us with rubbed thumbs because of the lack of ridging on the top. However, because of the engraved C it did unfortunately make the grip a little slippy side. This wasn’t a big problem in the slower paced games but when you needed a certain action in Soul Calibur, there were a few missed hits.
Zedlabs advised before these were sent that they would remove this from the final product and improve the top so this shouldn’t be a worry for prospective buyers.
After a week of more play than we’d usually dedicate to the GameCube, we’d say that the metal sticks are a suitable replacement if your original sticks need replacing, or if you want to give your controller a fresh new look. The small tweaks to the C-stick will be welcome and we can’t wait to get our hands on the retail versions which are due by the end of the 2020. For more active gamers, it will be worth considering your options. The rubbing on the left stick could be potentially be a problem, but the longevity of these metal variants could override your options. The cost which is set to be about £10-£13 makes these a worthwhile investment.
UPDATE – 11 December 2020:
Zedlabz have been in touch and advised their sticks are now available to buy! They’ve been listed for £12.56 for a pair (left & C-stick) and in a variety of colours. On top of this, they’ve offered a 10% discount code by clicking this link. All you have to is enter your email address and the code will be emailed to you.
We’re not being paid for this feature. We genuinely love these mods and the work Zedlabz are doing!
Games that defined…The GameBoy
Next up we take a look at Nintendo’s Handheld – The GameBoy. Unlike other competitor handhelds, Nintendo managed to carve new games that cannot be played on a big TV. Its closest rival was the Game Gear by SEGA but that was ultimately a portable Master System. The GameBoy name would only be succeeded by one console – the Nintendo DS some 15 years after it launched. But let’s take a look at what it managed to produce.
Games that defined…The Master System
In the next of our series of features, VGamingNews takes a look at the games that defined the Sega Master System. The first main stream console to rival Nintendo’s NES. With the release of the console began what journalists at the time dubbed the 8-bit war.
Games that defined… The NES
There are a lot of video games in the world each of the main current generations of consoles can boast between 700-1200 games. These are mostly made up of sequels, remakes and multiplatform titles. In this series of features VGamingNews takes a look at the games that defined the consoles that they first featured on. The first system on our list is the great granddaddy of consoles: The NES.
E3 2012: Nintendo Keynote Round Up
Nintendo have everything to do this year after their poor showing last E3. Announcing the WiiU, there was confusion with it being a handheld console or a home console with a tablet controller or at one point – an addon for the Wii. After a hasty release last year, Nintendo went back to the drawing board and thought about their console long and hard. Keeping their cards close to their chest. This year, they have to prove to gamers and shareholders that WiiU is the future.
E3 2012: Sony Keynote Round Up
Sony, like Microsoft is feeling the pressure as the PlayStation3 is entering its twilight years and members of the gaming community are itching for the latest tidbits of information regarding the next generation console. Microsoft said No,no,no and there was no new Xbox. Sony however never denied the existence of the PS4. In their shareholder conference, they said money was going in to the research and development of the next console. Could they provide an upset and surprise the gaming world?
E3 2012: Microsoft Keynote Round Up
Microsoft were the first company to hold an official conference outing at E3 this year, and have a big year lined up. Halo 4 is the big one as well as new Fable and Gears of War games are just the tip of what to expect from the Xbox 360 this year. After watching the conference, the highlights and a few lows are condensed just for you!
E3 2012 Hub
Welcome one, welcome all to the VGamingNews E3 2012 hub. This is our second year of reporting on the biggest and best expo in the world of video games. There is a lot to be excited for and over the coming days, we will be updating this page with all of the news happening in Los Angeles right now. This is the only place to be when it comes to E3. Sit back, relax, and let us do all the hard work, so you don’t have to!
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