Nintendo’s Switch successor needs new experiences

Switch successor needs a new experience

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa recently talked to Nikkei, and told them that there will not be a Switch successor until Nintendo has “something new to experience”.

“In order to create a single piece of hardware, we have to do a lot of preparation several years in advance, so we are working without stopping,” he told Nikkei, which is another way of saying they are of course working on a new console.

• Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017
• Switch Lite followed in September 2019
• Switch OLED launched in October last year

Wii U fears: “In the end, the deciding factor in whether or not to commercialise a product is whether it can create a new experience.” Nintendo does not want to repeat the Wii U experiment.

Strong sales: “The lifecycle can still be extended,” he said, referring to the Switch, which continues to perform well.

How do you evolve a Galarian Farfetch’d in Pokemon Sword/Shield?

a) Level them to lvl 20
b) Level them to lvl 33
c) Trade them with a friend.
d) Score 3 critical hits in a single fight

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.

Pokémon Go Tour: Johto begins soon

Pokémon Go Tour is back and will take place in cities across Europe. The first event, Pokémon Go Tour: Johto, starts on February 26th in cities in Austria, Germany, Poland, and the UK.

But first, there's the Go Tour Poké Ball Prep Rally which starts today and offers research to earn PokéBalls as well as catch Hisuian Voltorb and Amoonguss until February 25th.

Go debuts: Hisuian Electrode will also be arriving in Pokémon Go and two new Shadow Pokémon need rescuing; Apex Shadow Ho-Oh and Apex Shadow Lugia.

Season dates: Pokémon Go Community Days are scheduled for March 13th, April 23rd and May 21st as the Season of Heritage wraps up.

Total War: Warhammer III review bombing

Another day, another review bombing and this time the target is Creative Assembly's Total War: Warhammer III, which is being buried under an avalanche of negative reviews, mostly from Chinese players.

The cause seems to be, uh, poor marketing and promotion in China with many complaints about inexperienced streamers receiving preview codes and stumbling awkwardly through the game.

Marketing: The slightly haphazard streaming strategy has also led to a lot of spoilers, since Chinese streamers were not subject to quite as many content embargoes as their Western counterparts.

Suboptimal: Many players are also complaining about performance issues and bugs, but those are pretty much par for the course with any new Total War game. Perhaps Denuvo could be to blame? 

Brave Browser rewards you for surfing

Maybe your internet connection is fast, but what about your browser? The Brave Browser is built from the ground up for speed, privacy and providing an ad-free Internet.

You can opt-in for ads that respect your privacy, and even earn rewards. It’s quick and easy to use, featuring the same comforts and conveniences you expect from a modern browser.

System Shock 2: VR “a lower priority”

Nightdive Studios has published a fresh backer Q&A for System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition, which reveals that System Shock 2: VR is still happening but is not the company's highest priority since the core product is about to launch and requires all hands on deck.

Intergalactic Bartending on March 17th

Grab your shaker and get ready for an intergalactic bartending adventure in Startenders for PlayStation VR on March 17th. You are a “cosmic mixologist” and you need to master no less than 100 cocktail recipes.

Magic: The Gathering Virtual Art Exhibit

Around 83 Magic: The Gathering artists who have contributed to the new Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty expansion are bringing a Virtual Art Exhibition to life. It opens to the public today and is exclusively available for PC.

• My Nintendo Store is now open featuring games and merchandise including exclusive licensed products in the US and Canada
• NACON has acquired Daedalic Entertainment following their collaboration on The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
• Terraria creator teases sequel on Twitter by changing the account's geolocation to “terraria 2 – a new age”
• Two Point Campus introduces Archaeology Course which, surprise-surprise, introduces archaeology to the university management sim
• Tom Henderson reports on Dead Island 2’s development at Dambuster Studios and how insiders are “very excited” about it

How do you evolve a Galarian Farfetch’d in Pokémon Sword/Shield?

ANSWER: Score 3 critical hits in a single fight!

Most Pokémon evolutions are pretty straightforward: Level someone up, and boom they turn into something stronger and potentially stranger – but that's not always the case. Try evolving a Galarian Farfetch’d into Sirfetch’d, for instance. Forget your evolution stones, it's time to get weird.

The only way to evolve a Galarian Farfetch’d into Sirfetch’d is by having them score three critical hits in a single battle, which makes Sirfetch’d the only evolution dependent upon certain battle conditions. Not only that, but the Galarian Farfetch’d is only available in Pokémon Sword so Shield players can only get Farfetch’d from a friend. Those evolution stones suddenly look like a pretty sweet deal, right?

Storm Eunice is currently hammering us down here in Devon at the moment, the perfect conditions for a bit of horror gaming, if we can keep the power online… 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!