Embracer Group to Acquire Limited Run Games, LotR, and way more

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Hey, they've now earned the right to be in a headline without quotes around their name.

You may remember the Embracer Group back several months ago this year when SQUARE ENIX sold off Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Interactive to them. Read KoopaTV's article on that if you want a quick premier on what they are.

Per Embracer Group's press release from August 18 for their first quarter financial disclosure, they are giving a “happy” “welcome” to their new from-SQUARE ENIX acquisitions, and the transaction will close soon. They then described a “strong funnel of [merger & acquisition opportunities]”, but also said they are “increasingly selective” on who they choose to invest. Otherwise, their press release was all about “organic growth” and their projection of an impressive (but widely varying) 20–35% “overall organic growth” for the rest of their fiscal year.

If you don't understand what “organic growth” means—maybe you don't read financial reports often—it's a concept that means how much a company would grow in a time period by itself. As in, without having the growth rate of an acquired company added to it. Growing by acquisition would be “inorganic” growth. Of course, eventually the acquired company's growth becomes part of that organic growth base. But Embracer wants you to know that they don't HAVE to keep acquiring companies to be impressive. ...And yet on the same August 18 day, they announced all of these new acquisition agreements:

Kirby's Dream Buffet rolled to the Nintendo Switch!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - I really just wrote that it rolled to the system? How unoriginal and cliché.

Today, Nintendo released Kirby's Dream Buffet as a $15 download-exclusive title on the Nintendo eShop. Here's the overview/launch trailer that goes into a lot more depth than the initial announcement a month ago:

I need to address some incorrect information that was in my original article. When Nintendo first announced Kirby's Dream Buffet, they said that the number of players that can play were “Single System (1–4)”. This resulted in me writing that the game does not support online multiplayer. However, now that Kirby's Dream Buffet is actually out, Nintendo changed that number of players to read “Single System (1–2) | Local wireless (2–4) | Online (1–4)”. That's totally different. That means that Kirby's Dream Buffet only supports two-player split screen multiplayer as opposed to four-player split screen multiplayer (which may be a dealbreaker for you). It also means that there is online play for up to four players, as well as local wireless for up to four players (four different Nintendo Switch systems in a room).

This incorrect info was entirely Nintendo's own fault and I take no responsibility for commenting on official (but wrong) information.

Anyway, like other Kirby games, Kirby's Dream Buffet will end up being nominated for Best OST of 2022 at KoopaTV. Not saying it'll win (and it'll also compete with Kirby and the Forgotten Land in the process), but there is a lot of good music here. That includes the Battleship Halberd (Meta Knight's Revenge) theme from Kirby Super Star that had an unofficial remix win a Grammy award earlier this year.

Take a Look at the Capcom End of Summer Sale 2022

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - TAKE THAT!

Starting yesterday up to August 29, 2022 at 02:59 Eastern (which is NOT the end of summer—this makes the third example that CAPCOM very demonstrably does not know when summer begins and ends in 2022 alone) is the “Capcom End of Summer Sale” on the Nintendo eShop. It's given the marketing blurb of “Don't miss the chance to grab iconic games from Capcom before summer wraps up! Up to 67% off on Switch, and a whopping 83% on 3DS!”

That whopping 83% savings on the 3DS represents how the 3DS titles Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney–Dual Destinies and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney–Spirit of Justice are only $5, down from a standard $30. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, also on the 3DS, is 75% off as well ($5, down from a normal $20).

That August 29 date is also the date when you will no longer be able to directly add money to your Nintendo 3DS or Wii U wallets using Nintendo eShop card codes, but you still could indirectly if your 3DS or Wii U accounts are linked to your Switch wallet like mine is. But if you lack a Switch, these next less-than-two-weeks are the last time you can add funds to the 3DS eShop to go buy things. You know, like those Ace Attorney games. (There aren't any on the Wii U and there are no Wii U games on sale now.)

As for Ace Attorney games on the Switch, there is Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy at 50% off ($15) and The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles at 38% off ($24.79 from $40). You can get an extremely minor discount by getting the Ace Attorney Turnabout Collection bundle at 34% off ($39.59), which gives you both of those compilations in one compilation.

You may wonder how you can justify getting Ace Attorney when this sale is sandwiched between the likes of LIVE A LIVE (and, uh, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, I GUESS) and Splatoon 3. Well, if you want to hype yourself up for Splatoon 3's Splatana weapon revealed last week, why not acquaint yourself with another katana-using generic anime swordsman like Kazuma Asogi?

They're pretty much mirror images.

You'll improve your wits and logical thinking, which are critical in any Turf War, by playing through the Ace Attorney games. And since they're on sale... now's a great time to buy them. Plus, you'll hone your truth and levity abilities, which are important when reading KoopaTV articles! You'll also be able to participate in this article discussing what appears to be a plothole in the second case of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles.


Don't regret missing out on this sale before dangerous things happen to the eShop. Keep in mind that KoopaTV also offers Nintendo eShop gift cards as prizes in the KoopaTV Loyalty Rewards Program, and that after this sale ends, you will only be able to use those through a Nintendo Switch eShop account.


The Ace Attorney games were on sale and at these same prices just a month ago for The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles one-year anniversary.

Ludwig's Delayed but Unspoiled Reaction to the Splatoon 3 Direct

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - This is all pretty exciting!

Hey y'all, I'm back. And while I was on my previously announced vacation last week, Nintendo went and had a Splatoon 3 Direct that clocked in at over half an hour long! I knew there was a Direct while I was away, but I didn't watch it or interact with much of Internet society on my vacation—so I didn't know what was actually talked about. ...But I figured that if I wanted to re-integrate myself with Nintendo-based civilisation, I definitely needed to watch the Splatoon 3 Direct first. And so here it is, and you can follow along with my “live” reactions (from Sunday). Remember: Splatoon 3 is releasing this summer on September 9:

[3:59 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiuIZN0KDFQ
[3:59 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Okay, I'm... late on this, but I really gotta watch it to reintegrate myself with society.
[3:59 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: snap
[4:00 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: I had a dream that there were three-way Splatfests announced for the first week of the game's launch, and it was, like, Giraffes vs. Hippopotamuses vs. Dogs or something.
[4:00 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: And they had Addition vs. Multiplication vs. DIVISION as a sample Splatfest in the video and I wished that was a real Splatfest.
[4:01 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: No offence to giraffe fans.
[4:01 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: I'm just now realising that's the cast of Lord Winklebottom Investigates.
[4:02 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: As for actual content in this game, they're showing 4v4 Turf War in Splatsville. I mean, that's not new.

June 30, 2022 Nintendo Quarterly Financial Update

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Finally! Negative numbers!

Just to be clear, I'm not rooting for Nintendo to have a worse performance than before. But at least it's something new to talk about, and it finally disproves the idea that this company can just infinitely grow.

How bad are we talking? 4.7% reduction in net sales compared to the June 30, 2021 update. ...Now, to be fair, the June 30, 2021 update itself had even more negative numbers than this one. But that's because June 2021 was comparing to June 2020, which means it was comparing to Animal Crossing: New Horizons being a cultural icon at the start of the Chinese Communist Party Virus pandemic. That's a tough compare. But the reason 2022 is lower than 2021 is because of “the global shortage of semiconductor components, resulting in a decrease in hardware shipments and subsequent decline in overall sales.” While Nintendo didn't outright say this, I think it's implied that if there wasn't a semiconductor shortage, then Nintendo Switch demand would still be quite robust and high. (And, you know, not necessitating a major new 4K-based hardware revision.)

Nintendo isn't changing their FY23 (or fiscal year that ends March 2023) forecast, since they acknowledged that semiconductors would be in short supply when devising it. Nintendo only shipped 3.43 million Switch family systems (1.32 million normal Switch, 1.52 million (OLED model) Switch systems, and a paltry 0.59 million Switch Lite handhelds) from April 1 to July 30 2022. This is the second time that the Nintendo Switch (OLED model) has outsold the normal Nintendo Switch in a quarter—it was 1.81 OLED versus 1.77 regular in the last quarter of last fiscal year (or January 1 to March 31 2022). I wonder how much of that 1.81 number would be added to the 1.77 number if the (OLED model) didn't exist. (Reminder that Nintendo says the (OLED model) has a lower profit margin compared to the other Switch models.)

How about some software?

I had to chop off some of the games from appearing on this chart, or else the new titles wouldn't appear.
Ring Fit Adventure is still the 10th best selling Switch game.

Games Media Now Says Nintendo Will NOT Reveal a Nintendo Switch Hardware Revision in 2022

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Eight months late, but, hey, glad they're on board.

I think I'm becoming known as a gaming media critic with regards to their perpetual FAKE NEWS about an alleged Nintendo Switch hardware revision. Our whole series of articles throughout 2021 was determined to be the Best KoopaTV Article Series of 2021. And as recently as last month, I roasted the likes of GameXplain for clickbaiting about an “imminent” “Switch Pro reveal”. (There was an imminent reveal... but for a Splatoon 3-themed Nintendo Switch (OLED model) instead of a whole hardware revision.)

However, in the interest of being FAIR AND BALANCED, I figured I should also report on mainstream gaming media sites—including ones I distrust—saying that there WON'T be a new Nintendo Switch hardware revision (or new Nintendo system) in 2022 (or the first three months of 2023). Now, since they're FAKE NEWS, you could say that this means that there really will be a new hardware revision... or maybe it's a “broken clock is right twice a day” scenario. But as a result of comments made by Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa to Japanese business news outlet Nikkei (which has its actual article paywalled and in, you know, Japanese—so I can't verify this), Nintendo is too busy with production on their current Switch models (hampered by semiconductor shortages) to have the capacity to manufacture a new product line anyway.

Furukawa was quoted (and translated) by these outlets as saying, “Normally, we stockpile inventory in the summer to prepare for the year-end sales season, which is at its peak. This summer, we are not able to produce as many as usual.” I've always thought that it's a logic leap beyond clueless and business-illiterate media personalities and “journalists” to go from “we don't have the inventory we need for our existing product lines” to “there is just no way we can make a new Switch hardware revision with 4K and all that other stuff you think will be there”. MAYBE THEY'RE LEARNING. At least this SHOULD mean that we're safe from these idiotic rumours for another eight months or so, especially since the media moves in lock-step. Here's a media montage:

Pokémon Presents August 3, 2022 Reaction

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - OPEN BORDERS.

This morning, The Pokémon Company put on a new Pokémon Presents, with updates on Pokémon apps and video games, including Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet. Of course, I didn't watch it live. I wasn't able to. But most people who watch it didn't watch it live. And what matters is that I wasn't spoiled on the contents of the presentation before watching it, which means that it didn't make any impact to how I reacted. It's like... time was frozen!

But because of the unscheduled and uncoordinated viewing, you'll only get to read my live reactions. I hope that's fine with y'all.

[5:00 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojiBuA97rdc
[5:01 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Chris Brown of The Pokémon Company International giving updates on the Pokémon World Championships in London.
[5:01 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: The stock footage features 3DSs still.
[5:02 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: ...and there's a Pikachu trophy.
[5:03 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Ultra Beasts are gonna ruin Pokémon GO Fest 2022.
[5:03 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Literal alien invasion at the end of August.
[5:05 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Pokémon UNITE anniversary segment, which is a China invasion of your Switch.

w00t! I got a Nintendo Switch Icon Element!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - I'm happy, and no one can take that away from me. (...Right?)

You may remember two weeks ago I wrote an article complaining about how my brothers got Nintendo Switch icon elements—the Switch's most exciting new feature of 2022—from the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe set (exclusive to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers) but I did not get any such icon elements. (Neither did my sister, Wendy.)

As of last night, Nintendo listened to and directly addressed my complaints and has now implemented a brand-new Mario Kart 8 Deluxe set of five icon element waves to go on until September 5. Nintendo is saying that this is to promote the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass DLC, but it's not a separate set from the first set of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe icon elements featuring the other Koopalings. One of the annoying things about icon elements is that you cannot mix and match them between different series—you can't use a background from Kirby and the Forgotten Land with a character image from Xenoblade Chronicles 3. But this new set of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe icons is compatible with the old set with the other Koopalings (and several other characters).

Anyway, to my utter joy, wave 1 of this August set has an icon element of... me! Yeah, it's not a whole scene like Morton's, Iggy's, or Roy's, but I think that's better in terms of fitting with a background.

Look! It's me!
Plus a generic Koopa shell, which is good for letting people know I'm taking a nap.
...And the Eiffel Tower as a background photo.
(Maybe I need to increase the brightness on my camera.)

This probably means that I'm going to be all set in terms of my Nintendo Switch profile picture's design. The background or frame might end up changing, or maybe I might get a SECOND icon element (hey, Link and Mario have a bunch). But I'm content with this feature. ...I'm sure Wendy O. Koopa will get an icon element within this month as well! Right?!

Ludwig likes purple and King Bowser's Castle,
but maybe a more visible background image might be better if it becomes available. (Not the Eiffel Tower.)
And maybe he might want to use a more fancy non-solid-colour frame if there's a good one for download.

I'm just hoping that we get to keep these icons and Nintendo won't take them away for whatever reason. (According to Nintendo, even if your Nintendo Switch Online membership expires, you will still be able to keep the icons.) I worked hard to make this happen. The life lesson here is that sometimes, when you ask for something of a multinational corporation, you actually can get that something. So don't be afraid to share your thoughts!


What's your number one dream icon element? Let KoopaTV know in the comments section below! ...And if you see that image above and decide you are going to send Ludwig a friend request, you should let him know you're doing that in the comments section, because he probably has to delete someone else from his friend list to make room for you, given that he's at the Switch's cap on the number of friends. Unsolicited requests aren't welcome requests.

KoopaTV's July 2022 Review Newsletter

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Stay inside and read KoopaTV!

Unless you're in the southern part of Earth (or not on Earth at all), you've probably been experiencing some very hot temperatures. KoopaTV's staff recommends that you stay inside from the heat and humidity, drink water, and keep yourself entertained with KoopaTV-published content. ...And I guess play some videogames.

Every KoopaTV month, in terms of absolute value, is great and better than what you'd see from our non-existent comparable competitors. We've been doing this for over nine years now, and I still haven't found anyone like us. ...But if they are out there, I wonder if they know about KoopaTV? Well, the important part is that YOU know about KoopaTV, and even if you're in a relatively mediocre month like July, it's still better than basically anything else.

Upcoming Vacation for a Week in August

I know that me taking a vacation is very very rare, but that's what I'll be doing next week, so no articles (or responding to comments or social media) the week of August 8. ...I'm not telling y'all where I'll be, since I don't want to see you. Please understand. I'll respond to everything when I'm back!

Top Five Recommended Experiences of July 2022

I said July 2022 was a relatively mediocre month on KoopaTV. But are you really able to tell that with these five highlighted articles, listed in chronological order?

1. Took Me Over 21 Years to Learn Zero Wing's Voice-Acting is Fan-Made — This is the closest I got to subscribing to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack since they announced its existence. But then I learned a dark truth...
2. Dynamo Pictures Acquired; to be Nintendo Pictures — You might think this isn't an important story, and we don't know if it is yet, but did you know that Dynamo Pictures made an Ace Attorney Virtual Reality game? (Did you know that VR game existed?)
3. LEGO Super Mario: Character Pack 5, Iggy Koopa, and THE MIGHTY BOWSER — Oh, hey, the first two of these come out today. THE MIGHTY BOWSER comes out in two months. Anyway, I wrote about Koopa-filled LEGO stuff. Was nice.
4. LIVE A LIVE Relives on the Nintendo Switch; Out Now — I feel a special obligation towards LIVE A LIVE since it was the subject of a KoopaTV guest article a year ago, so I played its demo and gave my thoughts.
5. How did the Russian newspaper get on the SS Burya on Jan 9, 189X? — Fantastic article on what I believe to be a plothole in the second case of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. I thoroughly use in-game evidence to prove my point.

That last article about the newspaper is easily the best article of the month. ...But you should really play The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles before you go and read it. Fortunately, that's an excellent idea even if you don't intend to read that article.

Content-packed epic Xenoblade Chronicles 3 available now

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - The Xenoblade fan is busy playing for 10 hours or more in the span of one day to write this, so you get me.

I asked Heavy Lobster earlier this week if it would like to write something to be published today for Xenoblade Chronicles 3, since it published a puff piece article for Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. Heavy Lobster said it wasn't opposed, but that it'd rather be playing the game than writing about it. And that's why I asked earlier... you know, to pre-write. It didn't happen, and as of my Nintendo Switch friend list's Trending tab, Heavy Lobster has played 10 or more hours of the game even though it's only been out for 22 hours or so. At least it recharged its batteries? But I haven't seen it around.

I did get Heavy Lobster to tell me that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is potentially the “Greatest Game of All Time” and that it's going to correct any issues it could have had with the first two Xenoblade Chronicles games. Heavy Lobster is into the “darker and grittier feel” that's reminiscent of Xenogears, and the darker tone should set up nicely for “maximum emotional impact.” At least Heavy Lobster is no longer shocked into silence as it was back in the February 2022 Nintendo Direct when Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was announced.

I asked a totally unrelated person who I haven't talked to since 2018 about Xenoblade Chronicles 3, since they are on my friends list, and they basically said the same thing regarding the darker tone being like MONOLITHSOFT's older games and that the gameplay is complex but incredible. I think Xenoblade Chronicles fans, at least the ones I've interacted with, have a kind of hivemind-ish thought process that also makes them out to feel like a persecuted victim class. In a “Nintendo doesn't love us!” sense. But I guess the games they love really are that great? Here's an overview trailer: