Nintendo Halts shipments as Russia opens up piracy

Sony and Nintendo halt shipments to Russia which ‘may allow’ software piracy

Sony recently announced that it would stop new hardware and software sales in Russia, and Nintendo has now followed suit and will cease shipments of consoles and games.

Nintendo is expecting “considerable volatility surrounding the logistics of shipping and distributing physical goods”, and has also delayed Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp due to “recent world events.” The Russian Nintendo eShop is currently unavailable since most methods of payment have been suspended in Russia.

Reboot delay: Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is a turn-based strategy game featuring what can only be described as a bright and cheerful depiction of war. It was due to launch on April 8th, but will probably stay off shelves for a little while yet.

Piracy laws: Russia might opt to legalise software piracy and suspend copyright law for international trademark holders. Developer Vostok Games has been forced to stop work as staff flee Ukrainian capital Kyiv, or opt to stay home with their families.

What was the only Mario Kart game made by Intelligent Systems?

a) Double Dash
b) Super Circuit
c) 64
d) DS

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.

More allegations of harassment and discrimination surface against Sony

Trouble is brewing at Sony after 8 more women have come forward with serious sexual harassment and discrimination allegations against the company.

The latest accusations are from current and former Sony Interactive Entertainment employees according to court documents. One of the accusers is former security analyst Emma Majo, who was fired from Sony in November 2021.

Class action: She claims to have been discriminated based on her gender, wrongfully terminated and is seeking class-action status for her suit so other women who have been mistreated by Sony can come forward to seek damages.

Work culture: Her allegations includes questionable behaviour like female staff being ranked by “hotness” alongside “filthy jokes and images of women” being passed around the office. Sony has yet to make a statement about the case.

Ikumi Nakamura founds “borderless” studio Unseen with unannounced project

Ghostwire: Tokyo creative director Ikumi Nakamura has announced her new studio called Unseen. She has previously worked on Ōkami, Bayonetta and The Evil Within.

"A mix of cultures can be a breeding ground for new ideas, which is the real joy of starting a new studio," she said, signalling that the studio will seek to attract international talent.

Reflect life: "I want to make a game with characters that reflect real-life personalities and minorities, with an open-minded setting that represents multiple cultures," Nakamura continued.

Mystery game: The studio has not announced any game yet, but its recently launched website will probably be picked apart by dataminers hungry for clues.

Get your fill of bargain bin high octane fun

If you need to let off some steam, the Adrenaline Fuelled Sale provides all the bargain bin pew pew you will ever need, including deeply discounted Doom and Wolfenstein fun. If you're in a more cerebral mood (but wouldn't mind a spot of pew pew), the 2K Publisher Sale offers up to 94% off Civilization, XCOM and Borderlands.

If you're still missing some classics from your Capcom collection, the Capcom BYOB lets you pick and mix from most of Capcom's extensive catalogue including Resident Evil, Dead Rising and Street Fighter. Finally, the Best of Boomer Shooters Bundle will satisfy all your retro shooter cravings.

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Guildford Castle VR gives you a grand tour

Step back in time to 14th century England with Guildford Castle VR that gives a tour of this great landmark that has stood for over 900 years. It’s a free-roaming narrative VR game with “light interactivity” throughout and uses “state-of-the-art data capture” to recreate the castle.

Resident Evil 7 PCVR shows off gameplay

Capcom’s well-received Resident Evil 7 is getting a community-made PCVR release incorporating a lot of improvements for motion controls, roomscale, full-body, etc. It’s not yet released but this latest test footage shows what will come to Resident Evil 8 as well.

Cities: Skylines celebrates 7 years with VR

A virtual reality version of Cities: Skylines has been announced to mark its 7th anniversary called Cities: VR, and this port is created by Fast Travel Games for Meta Quest 2 this spring. It offers a stunning birds-eye view along with all the tools a mayor needs.

• Pokémon Go Community Day meetups are rolling out across the globe on March 13th between 11:00am and 5:00pm local time
• Square Enix Music Channel launched on YouTube featuring an enormous collection of 5,500 tracks across 62 albums
• You can grab Cities: Skylines for free on Epic Game Store until March 17th just in time for its 7th anniversary VR version
• Gamescom will return in 2022 as both on-site and digital events in Cologne this summer running from August 24th to 28th
• Ubisoft opens Insider Program for Skull and Bones, but only the “selected few” will get the opportunity to test the game

What was the only Mario Kart game made by Intelligent Systems?

ANSWER: Super Circuit!

Intelligent Systems is best known for their work on Paper Mario and Fire Emblem, but they also worked on Mario Kart: Super Circuit, the first handheld Mario Kart game. Launched for Game Boy Advance in 2001, it featured all the racing goodness your heart could desire despite the system's rather limited capabilities.

It became the fourth best-selling game on the Game Boy Advance, which is pretty impressive considering the stiff competition from various Pokémon games. Intelligent Systems didn't get another shot at Mario Kart, but they have enjoyed considerable success with their own games. At least it shows some impressive range!

Just a shoutout to thank our awesome community for all the feedback and responses to our poll this week, we really appreciate your input. Enjoy your weekend!

Today's issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Erlend Grefsrud, Simon Priest, and Jamie Davey. If you have any feedback or news tips for the team, please email us!