Can you run it?

10% Switch Boost

Nintendo boosts Switch production

Nikkei has reported that Nintendo is planning to increase Switch console production rate by 10% to 22 million units. Switch is sold out in many territories and second hand units sell at inflated prices, so the demand is definitely there.

Like many other hardware manufacturers, Nintendo has suffered from supply chain constraints resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has turned into a phenomenon, and the millions of people quarantined at home clearly have an appetite for Nintendo games.

• The flagship console is sold out everywhere, but Switch Lite appears readily available
• The time spent gaming has risen by 45% in the US according to Nielsen

Nintendo’s statement: “We hope [suppliers] will be responsive to the production increase, but for procurement of some parts, the outlook remains uncertain, and we can’t forecast exactly how many Switches can be supplied.”

Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?

Which tool has Hideo Kojima compared Death Stranding to?

• The Knife
• The Lever
• The Rope
• The Inclined Plane

The answer will be revealed at the bottom of today’s issue. Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss what the answer could be.

Daily Fact

But can it run Crysis?

Now that Crysis Remastered is coming to PC and consoles, we will finally get to know whether the Switch can run it.

Crysis set a whole new standard for real-time graphics – and system requirements – in 2007, and is still melting PCs to this very day. Powered by CryEngine 2, the game pushed hardware well beyond its limits back then and can even give modern hardware something to chew on.

Developer Crytek made their name with FarCry in 2004, which was built on the first-generation CryEngine. FarCry was published by Ubisoft, who kept the name and open-world motif for the sequels but not the original game’s heady mix of genetically engineered monsters and tacky Hawaiian shirts.

Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today’s fact.

Death Stranding PC Delay

Death Stranding for PC delayed

Kojima Productions has announced that Death Stranding for PC has been delayed until July 14th, 2020. The studio is temporarily closed and staff are working from home, so development has slowed down.

In any case, the PC version of Death Stranding looks like it will be definitive version, supporting high refresh rates, ultrawide aspect ratios and the photo mode that was recently added to the PlayStation 4 version.

• Death Stranding was originally scheduled to launch for PC on June 2nd
• Pre-order on Steam to receive in-game cosmetics and some wallpapers

Mixed yet good reception: Death Stranding has a MetaCritic score of 82 based on 111 reviews. Some are straight 100s, while others dip as low as 35 – certainly a much wider range than your average AAA game. Strangely enticing!

Animal Crossing Seasonal Events

New merchants and seasonal events in Animal Crossing: New Horizons update

Nintendo is launching another free update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Thursday, introducing two new merchants as well as seasonal events like Nature Day and May Day. The museum will also be expanded to include an art gallery.

Leif is a seed and plant merchant – so now you can finally plant your very own shrubs – while Redd is an art and furniture merchant who will presumably help you kit out the new gallery.

• Reese and Cyrus from Animal Crossing: New Leaf will return
• Be sure to inspect Redd’s paintings – he’s been known to stock imitations

Seasonal delights: Enjoy Nature Day from April 23rd until May 4th and celebrate May Day between May 1st and May 7th, appreciate International Museum Day from May 18th until May 31st and get romantic in the Wedding Season, which lasts for the entire month of June

What Else Happened Today?

• Super Mario Maker 2’s final update is the biggest yet, adding the Frog Suit, all seven Koopa kids and a World Maker. Nintendo has published a video showing off all the new stuff
• More Crysis remasters might be on the way according to a series of tweets by Tim Willits, Chief Creative Officer at Saber Interactive. The now deleted tweets talked about the Crysis games in plural, but only one remaster has been announced yet
• Unravel rated by Brazilian ratings agency. The listing said the game was rated as of April 17th, but has now been deleted. The game was rated for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Switch, suggesting that a remaster is on the way
• More publishers pull games from GeForce Now streaming service, including Xbox Game Studios, Codemasters and Warner Bros. The service is scheduled for commercial launch in June
• Nintendo launches Android app in Japan. The app is called My Nintendo and presents users’ Switch, 3DS, and Wii U play records and buy Switch games as well as featuring news and videos

Quiz Answer - Did You Get It Right?

Which tool has Hideo Kojima compared Death Stranding to?

Answer: The Rope!

It’s easy to mock Hideo Kojima’s frequently wacky work, but his games undeniably stand out from the crowd.

According to a 2016 interview, a short story by Kobo Abe called Rope was one of the inspirations for Death Stranding. The story expounds on mankind’s earliest tools: Sticks and ropes. Sticks were made to keep bad things away, while ropes were made to keep good things close.

Kojima said that most games are “stick” games focusing on battle and weapons. His goal was to make a “rope” game that focuses on connection over “stick”-style play. Whether Death Stranding achieves this goal is a matter of taste, but it certainly stands out from the pack in the AAA market.

Today’s issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Ken McKown, Erlend Grefsrud, Christian Vaz and Jamie Davey.