Latest Comments

Re: Metacritic Shares Updated List Of "Every Metroid Game, Ranked"

LEGEND_MARIOID

Metroid Prime 1 Remastered is the greatest of all time but understably the original will be highest due to impact. After those its Super Metroid for me, then Prime 3.

Haven't played 4 yet, but I have a feeling it'll be a top 4 or 5 Metroid game

They're all great games, however...

(except for federation force, ahem....)

Re: Talking Point: Six Months Since Launch, How Would You Rate Switch 2?

Suketoudara

I am very happy with it, enjoying Nintendo taking risks with their franchises and leading with some more niche ones, even if it makes their games more polarising. I'll always take polarising Nintendo over safe Nintendo, their games lately really reminds me of GameCube era (probably my favourite) but with better sales and more support.

Never thought I'd get a Nintendo console with a new Metroid Prime, new Kirby Air Riders and 3D Donkey Kong in the first six months (made by their best people, the 3D Mario team, Sakurai and Retro Studios!) and I have over 150 hours in Mario Kart World, mostly in Free Roam. Probably my favourite since Mario Kart DS.

Also very happy with how much better Switch 1 games run on it, often without even a patch. Add to it NSO and all the retro games plus countless indie games that go on sale for cheap and I'm overwhelmed with things to play on it.

My dislike is the size and weight of it plus battery life, so I mostly play docked. But the combination of Switch 2 + Switch Lite is amazing 👌🏻 Nintendo definitely needs a Switch 2 Lite

Re: Talking Point: Six Months Since Launch, How Would You Rate Switch 2?

ToniK

Now that I'm playing MP4 and being blown away by the graphics I know I have a powerful piece of hardware in my hands (not that Cyberpunk didn't prove that already).

I've been more than happy with my S2 itself but the first-party line-up has been solid but not amazing. DK Bananza was a bit 'meh' to me and MK World was just more MK. I'm very excited about future games and will check more third-party offerings after I'm done with Metroid Prime 4. And a new Mario will show up eventually. Good times!

Re: Talking Point: Six Months Since Launch, How Would You Rate Switch 2?

the_beaver

The system is a solid 9/10, in my opinion. It's pretty much EVERYTHING I could ask for, except for the Key Card situation and the game prices, that have seen an increase...
Other than these little things, the console is a BEAST, and I love everything about it. Following Switch"s strategy was the best Nintendo could do. Hybrid, no gimmicks, very powerful, backwards compatible... Everything we wanted from Nintendo is here.

Re: Sega Will "Carefully Assess Appropriate Use Cases" When It Comes To "Leveraging AI"

Filthy

It's pretty clear that AI isn't NFTs or Crypto.

Like it or not, it's here to stay. It's also used as a production tool (no, not saying creation — more for data handling, analytics, documentation etc. etc.). Now do I trust Sega to just do this? Nah.

But there are use-cases to improve processes, though they have to be carefully rolled out and the work vetted by professionals who understands how the work is done, as it's not exactly error-proof (although, neither are people).

Re: Talking Point: Six Months Since Launch, How Would You Rate Switch 2?

Rees

It’s been excellent. Great hardware and some solid 1st party games (Mario Kart, Bonanza, Prime 4). Mario will arrive when he’s good and ready and I’m happy to wait.
3rd Party support has been good too with games like Cyberpunk.
Overall I’m very happy and have no regrets in upgrading from my Switch 1.
It’s ace!

Re: Talking Point: Six Months Since Launch, How Would You Rate Switch 2?

OldGamer999

The switch 2 console itself absolutely fantastic.
Slick and faster and spot on and what I expected.
Maybe a little bit more juice in docked mode would have been nice.

As for the games, well here we go.
MKW it’s good but and 8
DKB GOTY 10
Metroid Prime 4 so far an 8

If it was not for back ward compatibility and the upgrades overall the score would be lower on the software front.

Next year concerns me more, so far tennis and a Yoshi game that I’m not even sure has any enemies to fight and looks like a plant exploration type thing.

I hope it’s not just those and we get a couple of big massive AAA from Nintendo studios, which are bigger than ever in numbers now.

Re: Talking Point: Six Months Since Launch, How Would You Rate Switch 2?

sketchturner

I don't have a Switch 2 but I have played on one. The screen is impressive, but I really want a Lite version that's more compact. I play almost 100% handheld, and it's just not a very good handheld. I already have a Steam Deck which is great apart from the battery life and large size. Switch 2 feels just like that only less ergonomic.
On top of that, there aren't any Switch 2 exclusive games that I care about. Only DK looks interesting, but if I never get to play it I won't feel like I'm missing out.

Re: Talking Point: Six Months Since Launch, How Would You Rate Switch 2?

NX-3318

I love the hardware and can't go back to the NS1 after using it, the larger buttons and everything else on the Joy-Con 2 just feel great. The system feels really sleek.

I think that when the original Switch stops getting support, the NS2 will really start becoming something special, but until then I am looking forward to Tomodachi Life 3 and and more free updates to run NS1 games in higher resolutions...

Re: Sega Will "Carefully Assess Appropriate Use Cases" When It Comes To "Leveraging AI"

MegaVel91

RupeeClock has it mostly right. But that's not the full breadth of why GenAI stuff gets scrutinized so harshly. It's also because it is explicitly anti-human. I know that sound's dramatic, and it will sound like philosophy, but let me explain:

Being "creative" is something you train yourself to do. To a point. Anybody can come up with wild ideas, but as you learn more, expose yourself to more media, and learn more about how things in the world work, your imagination and creativity becomes more refined. Affected by your likes and dislikes in fiction and IRL.

Sure, you'll probably end up pulling stuff and tropes from things you like, but, it's not a bad thing. You cannot create what you've never seen without some basis to create it from. And to make it look appealing, you learn about artistic principles and fundamental concepts such as perspective, color theory, framing, etc. That learning, is very important.

Now, this might sound like "oh, the AI does that too!", but... no it doesn't. The GenAI stuff does -giving it the most generous description I can- at best, an extremely truncated, nuance-less version of what humans do, with some randomization thrown in for good measure.

When a human does what the GenAI is trying to mimic, it will inevitably be affected by our previous experiences, worldview, emotions connected to those things. They make us think about what we want to represent in an image, and how, even if you don't exactly have the terminology to concretely express it. All of those things are important -and inherent to- the creative process.

Giving that process over to the machine, robs you of the mental exercise the creative process gives your mind. All you see is the end result of the process. There's no journey, no real learning happening there. Sure, you can curate and redo the results over and over and over again...

But what did you learn that could make the resulting picture, better? Did you learn how to do it? What steps it takes to achieve that? Putting it into words makes it seem like a lot, but it's really not. Considering how fast the human brain calculates and makes decisions.

Re: Talking Point: Six Months Since Launch, How Would You Rate Switch 2?

Dev-N

My Switch 2 is still in perfect condition and playing the Pro 2 controller still feels like a dream. I don’t buy many games anyway, especially with today’s prices, but I don’t think 2’s Year One lineup was ever going to top 1’s. It’s admirable how well it’s doing though. It’s not going to slow down at all.

Nintendo’s few heavy hitters this year have still been heavy for sure. Mario Kart, DK, and even Kirby Air Riders have been such amazing experiences that it’ll personally be hard for next year’s games to top or match those three for me. 2026 seems to have a lot of “smaller” or filler games. Only Splatoon Raiders truly excites me right now, and that one should be bigger than we expect!

Re: Talking Point: Six Months Since Launch, How Would You Rate Switch 2?

Gamer83

The system itself is a great piece of hardware for what it's supposed to be and I'm very pleased with some of the improvements the extra horsepower has given to some of my favorite NS 1 games. The mouse controls are also a nice touch, Overall, however, while I'd say it's been a mostly good first six months, it's nowhere near as good as its predecessor in the same time frame. That's largely because the software, in particular the first and second party exclusives have not lived up to expectations, the exceptions being Donkey Kong Bananza which right now is my choice for Game of the Year and Kirb Air Riders which is a tremendous improvement on the original. Unfortunately, though Mario Kart World is a really fun game it haas some big time flaws, especially in multiplayer. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is just another Warriors game, Pokemon Legends Z-A is another half you know what entry (in an overrated franchise to begin with) and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond may very well be the biggest disappointment of all-time for me. It's certainly the most disappointed I've been with a game over the last 10 years given how much I love the series. Not a bad game, and when it's sticks to being a 'traditional' MP entry it's awesome but the baffling decision to add a bike and open world and an average narrative made worse by putrid NPC dialog makes this, easily, the weakest game that Retro Studios has put out. It lost a ton of great talent over the years and it shows.

The first/second party misses along with idiotic business practices like 'variable game pricing' and key cards and downright despicable legal actions that have been taken against other companies and even gamers also doesn't help matters. All that and I haven't even mentioned the puritans inside NoA going on moronic censorship campaigns against Japanese third parties and cancelling releases because of 'the children' like it's the early-mid 90s again. Something has seemed off to me about Nintendo since the NS2 direct in April and Furukawa better pull his head out of his backside soon and fix it.

Re: Talking Point: Six Months Since Launch, How Would You Rate Switch 2?

MTMike87

I put it at an overall 9 right now, simply because it's everything I've wanted, but at the cost of battery life and some hiccups with backwards compatibility on some of my library. The battery issue was quickly remedied with a Power Bank, as for me personally, I'm really only going to be playing this in handheld for long periods of time when playing multiplayer games with my wife over the weekend. Tabletop + Power Bank + Pro Controller on a small table works great with the bigger screen size, so this wasn't a huge deal to me personally.

The library is also strong for me, between the Free Upgrades, the Nintendo Switch 2 Editions of various Switch titles, the great but minimal library of GameCube games and the small library of Nintendo's exclusive offerings. We'll see if the momentum carries on next year.

The Game Key Card thing doesn't bother me much but I also haven't purchased one yet since nothing I've wanted for Switch 2 uses it, but that will change when Pokémon Pokopia launches next year. I'll see how I feel about it then, but I don't think my opinion on it will change much.

Lastly, it seems my entire library is deemed "playable" by Nintendo's standards, but things like audio crackling in the port of the original Final Fantasy VII for example, are disappointing to see. Sadly, because of the official statement on the eShop that it performs correctly when it doesn't, I don't feel that games with these issues will ever see improvement patches, meaning I'll have to play them elsewhere now.

Re: Sega Will "Carefully Assess Appropriate Use Cases" When It Comes To "Leveraging AI"

HammerGalladeBro

Ok, SEGA. (Super Monkey) Ball's in your court to make me trust you on good AI use for machine learning with human input to the results and not as an excuse to dispose of human staff/release AI slop.

And by the way, that sAInic has a "double ring", which nobody mentioned. But then again, I suppose this is how he looked in Sonic '06 in-game. And yes, this last part is a joke, if it flies over your head.

Re: Talking Point: Six Months Since Launch, How Would You Rate Switch 2?

JohnnyMind

Overall it's top, riches and 10 - Outstanding for me personally - love the hardware and the only significant issue I've had so far is the wired connection (and even that has got better, it has to be something going on between that and the Wi-Fi for me as now that I've reconnected the cable and most likely after some system updates it works after leaving my Switch 2 in the dock for some time) while when it comes to the software there most certainly are some games I have that aren't supported yet considering the sheer number... but at the same time everything else works and more often than not even better than on Switch thanks to how the backward compatibility works other than of course the Switch 2 exclusives and this is just the beginning!

Re: Talking Point: Six Months Since Launch, How Would You Rate Switch 2?

FrenchVaniIIuxe

As someone who still has my launch day switch 1 and 2, I’ve come to appreciate the simple and user friendly UI and mouse controls might be the best gimmick they’ve ever done.

DS touch controls were done well for a lot of games, and waggle…sucked let’s be honest, but unless you count the hybrid as a gimmick the mouse mode is awesome.

As for the games yes I’ve come around on key cards and don’t see them as an issue, and games like Hitman and Bravely Default show good 3rd party support.

Honestly the only controversy with any teeth so far is that Nintendo really gave Metroid to people who hate gaming and it shows.

Re: Talking Point: Six Months Since Launch, How Would You Rate Switch 2?

Sonicka

Still holding out until there is something I REALLY need to play right now that I absolutely cannot wait for... Hyrule Warriors was a close one. Mario Kart and DK Bonanza as well as other obvious Switch 2 upgrades and editions are very welcome but not necessary to upend my backlog at the moment.

Additionally, I’m waiting considering the LED screen model can vary (from the launch editions) and would rather guarantee the better version, not to mention I have a preference to OLED now, but I reckon that variation in model will be a few years away.

However, having played a lot of my mates I am impressed all the same. I can’t wait to get it eventually.

Re: Talking Point: Six Months Since Launch, How Would You Rate Switch 2?

Jack_Goetz

The hardware feels great in the hand but I've been pretty underwhelmed with the launch titles, and MP4 has kinda proved that I'd really didn't didn't need to upgrade at the earliest opportunity. I've yet to buy any physical games for it, as they're either available much cheaper digitally (thanks Amazon.co.jp) or they're GKCs, which I still refuse to purchase.

Improved loading times is about the only real difference I've noticed first-hand. I've also had issues with the intermittent black screen, which I believe is down to the new dock and LG TVs having some handshake issue, which is yet to be fixed. Overall, it's been fairly underwhelming. And don't get me started on Mario Kart World.

Re: Talking Point: Six Months Since Launch, How Would You Rate Switch 2?

DashKappei

The rubber under the right Joycon2’s analog stick has crumbled and is basically falling apart, I barely used it and it never happened before with the dozen Joycon 1 I have (well, concerning drifting, that’s a different issue. 😅) It’s something that I can hopefully get fixed under warranty since it hasn’t consumed itself by use, but still very annoying because the stick “trips” with the moving rubber and doesn’t travel smoothly anymore

Latest News