First Details on 4K Switch, Pyra/Mythra Revealed for Smash

New Switch model with bigger screen

Nintendo is about to launch a new Switch model featuring a bigger Samsung 7 inch OLED display according to Bloomberg.

The new panels are expected to go into mass-production in June, and production is expected to yield just shy of a million panels a month. That means the new Switch model should enter production sometime in July.

Improved: “The OLED panel will consume less battery, offer higher contrast and possibly faster response time when compared to the Switch’s current liquid-crystal display,” said consultant Yoshio Tamura. Apparently, the new model will also be able to output 4K, although it's unclear if that means games will be rendered at 4K or if the output will simply be upscaled.

Revision: This is not the first time Nintendo launches a new Switch model, but they have not made any official indications that they intend to launch a more powerful Switch model. It's not exactly clear that they need to either – Switch is outselling all the other consoles on the market, despite Sony and Microsoft launching next-generation consoles late last year.

Who designed the forgotten Xbox exclusive Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes?

a) Kim Swift
b) Brenda Romero
c) Sierra Williams
d) Andrew C. Greenberg

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.

A sick marketing stunt

The Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith game from 2005 had a rather interesting promotional campaign: Virgin Atlantic flights were stocked with – fasten your seatbelts – Star Wars-themed barf bags.

There were four different bags: One had an instruction manual for lightsaber combat; the second detailed the components of a lightsaber; the third detailed Jedi combat technique and the final one featured flight seating plans for Jedi and Sith. Turbulence has never been this fun!

Join our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today's fact.

Take-Two is serious about remasters

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has talked about the publisher’s approach to remastering titles, and says that it is a part of the company’s strategy but that it will not grow particularly prominent.

“We’ve done differently than the competition – we don’t just port titles over, we actually take the time to do the very best job we can making the title different for the new release, for the new technology that we’re launching it on,” Zelnick said at Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference.

Recipe for success: For example, Rockstar has tended to upgrade games significantly for rerelease: “We improve the technology, we upgrade the visuals, and we make performance enhancements. And that’s why I think our remastered titles typically do so well,” Zelnick added.

Next-gen remasters: Grand Theft Auto V will soon appear on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, having first launched on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2013, making it one of the first games to span three console generations.

Smash away with Pyra and Mythra

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's roster of fighters is expanding again, and Mr. Sakurai Presents announced that Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will be the latest addition.

Director Masahiro Sakurai also unveiled new Mii Fighter costumes based on Monster Hunter and Ghosts 'n Goblins, which will be the fourth fighter added as part of Fighters Pass Volume 2.

Tag team: You can swap between Pyra and Mythra in the middle of battle, so they're not actually separate characters. Pyra is more powerful, while Mythra is more agile and will probably appeal to veterans who enjoy a more complex character.

Unique fighter: “This strategic dual dance makes Pyra/Mythra a unique fighter in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate line-up.” The new characters will be available today. So far, Min Min, Steve, Alex and Sephiroth have been added as part of Fighter Pass Volume 2 so far.

A completely bananas input scheme

Yep, Sony has gone totally bananas and filed a patent for playing games with a banana. Or a coconut. Or a guinea pig. The idea is that any handheld object could be tracked by a camera while finger movement is captured to infer motions that imply pressing buttons.

While that might seem a bit pointless, it could potentially replace the kind of motion controllers commonly used with VR platforms. The patent filing also includes images of what could be the new controller for the next-generation PlayStation VR.

Rec Room 'will compensate creators'

If you have created content for Rec Room, you could get paid for your work. Developer Rec Room Inc has announced the Creator Compensation Program and you can sign up if you have an active Rec Room Plus membership and is over 18 or over 13 and obtain parental consent.

Rec Room hopes the initiative will help them gain ground on arch-rival Roblox, and the studio expects to pay out “at least a million USD to creators this year,” – or more, if the initiative is successful.

Win a copy of Mail Mole for PC or Switch

A charming 3D platformer called Mail Mole is our latest giveaway prize and it’s from indie Talpa Games and Undercoders. In order to save Carrotland from disaster you’ve got to deliver the mail, make new friends, solve puzzles, and race against Mecha-Moles!

Mail Mole launches this week and for a chance to win one of our 5 giveaway codes for either Steam (PC) or the Nintendo Switch all you need to do is follow us @DailyBitsGaming, retweet us and visit the DailyBits website. Check out the Mail Mole Giveaway to learn more.

• Arc System Works delays Guilty Gear -Strive- until June following feedback from the beta test
• Hidden Path is hiring for Dungeons & Dragons project, an open-world third-person AAA role-playing game
• Players bring down Call of Duty: Warzone server by collecting every vehicle in the map triggering a massive chain reaction
• Switch version of Stardew Valley updated to fix the “blue floor bug and the zoom offset issue”

Who designed the forgotten Xbox exclusive Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes?

ANSWER: Brenda Romero!

Remember Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes? It was an Xbox exclusive hack-and-slash RPG from 2003 featuring 4 player co-op designed by none other than Brenda Romero.

She has recently designed games like Empire of Sin and Gunman Taco Truck, but is probably most famous for her work on the Jagged Alliance games, Wizardry 8 and Playboy: The Mansion. She has also contributed to videogame academia, writing about game design, game balance and sexual expression in videogames.

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Today's issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Erlend Grefsrud, Simon Priest, and Jamie Davey.