Nintendo Wiretap (5/18/17)

Welcome to the Nintendo Wiretap! Each day the team here at Nintendo Wire works tirelessly to bring you the best, most relevant late-breaking Nintendo news this side of the Mushroom Kingdom. To help make ingesting all these meaty stories easier than Kirby hopped up on Miracle Fruit, we’ve compiled a handy list of noteworthy announcements and general industry happenings regarding the Big N in the last 24 hours. Without further ado, here’s a few things we’ve picked up over the wire for today:

INKLING GIRL GETS AN ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

Wondering what exactly was tweaked in the Inkling Girl’s animation during yesterday’s cryptic Mario Kart 8 Deluxe patch? Courtesy of eagle-eyed players on NeoGAF, it appears the squid kid’s victory pose was slightly altered due to its offensive nature in several European countries.

HAPPY SWITCH-MAS EVE, TOYS”R”US SHOPPERS

An official tweet from Toys”R”Us confirmed Nintendo Switch units will indeed be restocked in stores across the US tomorrow, May 19th! One can only hope you’re reading this tidbit from your phone while already standing in line.

REVIEW: THUMPER

Jaxson Tapp, resident ghost buster and lover of a certain Hylian merchant, donned the chrome-plated carapace of Thumper’s rhythmic space beetle this week. Read his full review to find out if careening down a otherworldly track towards a giant, spiked skull is as bizarrely enjoyable it sounds.

Read more: Review: Thumper

FIRE EMBLEM STORMS HEARTS AND DISGAEA 5 THREATENS SOCIAL LIVES IN THIS WEEK’S ESHOP UPDATE

It’s a tactical RPG extravaganza in this week’s eShop update, with the latest legendary iteration in the the Fire Emblem franchise leading the charge, followed by the dood slinging verbiage of the Disgaea series’s definitive fifth entry.

OWLBOY FLAPS ITS WINGS ON JAPANESE SWITCH CONSOLES

Nintendo Japan’s latest episode of Nyannyan Cat Mario showcased several of the Switch’s upcoming Indie titles — one of which turned out to be the indie sensation Owlboy! Here’s hoping an official announcement is right around the corner.

MORE DITTO PLUSHES SPOTTED IN THE WILD

Ditto is back in plush form at the Pokémon Center website, giving some old-school love to the very first generation of pocket monsters. Rest assured, that derpy-looking Snorlax will be mine.

ARMS’S MANY GAME MODES ARE CHOCK FULL OF SURPRISES

Yesterday’s ARMS Direct delved into the various gameplay modes and challenges that the bouncing brawler has to offer. We run you through all the nitty gritty details.

Read more: ARMS game modes explained

BEGIN TRAINING FOR THE ARMS OPEN INVITATIONAL

Lucky enough to be attending E3 this year? Nintendo’s ramping up the hype for ARMS by dropping some minor details about the 2017 ARMS Open Invitational. Learn everything there is to know about the June 14th competition below for your chance to take home the belt.

Read more: ARMS Open Invitational Teaser

THE JAPANESE SPLATOON 2 X 7-ELEVEN CAMPAIGN HAS ME FEELING INK-REDIBLY JELLY

The first selection of Splatoon 2 merchandise is up for sale via Japanese 7-Eleven stores! Click below to check a full gallery of images, including exclusive in-game clothing items and a real life splat roller to help remodel your kitchen in style.

SPLATOON 2 PROVIDES SOME EEL-ABORATE OPTIONS FOR DIGITAL MEDIA EMBRACERS

Splatoon fans planning to ink up the competition digitally once the sequel hits later this summer will be happy to know it won’t be eating up too much of your system storage. Nintendo of Japan also confirmed they’ll be releasing digital codes for the paint shooter in a physical box, presumably for collectors.

NIKKI AND FRIENDS ORGANIZE ANOTHER GET-TOGETHER IN THE BADGE ARCADE

This week’s Badge Arcade update is filled with the delightful doodles and costumed hijinx of Nikki and friends. She’s joined by a litter of felyne Monster Hunter badges and an influx of amiibo stock and pixel N64 cartridges.

Read more: Badge Arcade News: Week of 5/18/17

That’s all for today! For all your future Nintendo news, stay plugged in to Nintendo Wire.

Written by Matthew Weidner

When it comes to playing and writing about video games, Matthew aspires to be the very best, like no one ever was. Writing for Nintendo Wire and the thought of one day finally achieving a perfect, no death Super Meat Boy run fills him with determination.