Issue #52: Photography in Focus – May/June 2021

It's here! It's real! After waiting for over two decades for it to finally appear, an honest-to-goodness actual sequel to the N64 fan favorite Pokémon Snap has arrived at long last. And we're in the mood to mark the moment!

One of the driving forces behind Nintendo Force, you've surely noticed, is contextualizing new releases by painting a picture of the past that led up to their launch -- timelines, chronologies, history features. It's kind of our thing. But New Pokémon Snap has no direct history to recount. It's just the second game in its series . . . you couldn't even call Snap a series until now! So how do we look back on the two decades of nothing between the two installments?

We follow the photography.

Snap might not have been active through the '00s and '10s, but its core concept of fusing together video games and photography absolutely endured. So our central feature this time around is "The Path to New Pokémon Snap," looking back on how cameras have continued to creep into gaming over the decades -- both virtually, as in Snap, as well as in reality, when built into new generations of hardware! 

We've got other photo-focused content in support as well, of course, including a double Peripheral Vision retrospective on both the Game Boy Camera and Printer, an interview with professional photographer Brandon Hill and a look ahead to the Switch release of the unique photo-snapping indie game, Umurangi Generation. 

All those flashbulbs going off didn't blind us from our usual duties, though, so we've got reviews of major recent releases like Persona 5 Strikers, Bravely Default II, Monster Hunter Rise and The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV. And New Pokémon Snap isn't the only trip to Pikachu's world we'll take, as you can check out our first looks at the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Arceus, as well as the long-awaited Sinnoh remakes, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl!

Here's hoping this issue's content inspires you to smile your most picture-perfect smile!

Print subscribers, your physical copies of this issue are in production now and will be mailed out to you this week. 

Digital subscribers, keep an eye on your email inbox this Wednesday, April 21, as that's when we'll be sending the latest download link your way.

Thanks as always for your support, Nintendo Force fans! This one has been fun, and we've got exciting plans already in the works for the next few issues as well. Stay tuned!

~ Lucas M. Thomas