Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@Magician Honestly, I think the Switch’s first party lineup is pretty strong and will be fondly remembered in the future even when compared to previous consoles. Many of the titles released on it were very well received or big steps for their franchises. Fire Emblem, Kirby, Pokémon, Zelda, etc. Not all of them managed to knock it out of the park, some releases were more lackluster or mixed like with Yoshi or Paper Mario, but it’s been pretty excellent so far.

Does anyone know where to get some cheap eshop cards?

@Grumblevolcano, I still don't know if it's a bug. In 8D the cars are in an angled position (slightly facing towards the direction you're coming from, they're sort of looking at you), while in Tour they completely have their sides facing you (facilitating the left/right movement).

If the fact that they don't move in 8D is a bug you'd think that they'd still be positioned the same as they are in Tour (indicating that they SHOULD be going back & forth), but they're not.

Ya, Switch exclusive library beats the snot out of every other system I've played or owned. SNES still has the trifecta of Super Mario World, Super Metroid and Zelda Link to the Past, bur Switch has Super Mario Odyssey, Metroid Dread and Zelda Breath of the Wild, and frankly all 3 of those are better games than their SNES counterparts imo. That's not even mentioning the other Mario/Metroid/Zelda games like 3D World, 3D All Stars, Mario Maker 2, NSMBU, the coming Metroid Prime 4 (and hopefully Prime Remastered), Zelda BotW 2, Zelda Link's Awakening, Zelda Skyward Sword (and hopefully Zelda WW/TP), ​Pokémon games like Arceus, Let's Go, Sword/Shield, BD/SP Remakes, the coming Scarlet/Violet and New Pokémon Snap, Splatoon 2 and 3, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (by far the best to date), Smash Bros (also the best to date), Switch Sports, Triangle Strategy (one of the best SRPGs of all time), DKC Tropical Freeze (best 2D platformer of all time), Cruis'n Blast (definitely the best arcade racer), Fire Emblem Three Houses, Xenoblade Chronicles 1, 2 and 3, Kirby Forgotten Land (best Kirby to date), Mario Rabbids Kingdom Battle and Spark of Hope (far better than the dated Mario RPG), Monster Hunter Rise and Sunbreak (and MHGU), Pikmin 3, SMTV, WarioWare, and the total onslaught of games in the pipeline like Mario Strikers Battle League, Advance Wars 1+2, Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes and the games we know are around the corner, such as a new Fire Emblem.

For being just 5 years into the system's lifespan, that's a pretty impressive spread, but what makes it even more impressive is the quality of the games. The majority are pure bangers. There's a few misses, or games that are good but not great (Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, Yoshi's Crafted World, Kirby Star Allies, etc) but those games still have their audience and provide variety all the same.

By the time this generation is over, Switch is going to have such an advantage over previous Nintendo libraries it won't even be close. Combined with the best 3rd party support they've ever had with many of the best games ever made coming to Switch, it's untouchable.

Nintendo has their work cut out for them if Switch 2 is to rival the original Switch with its library.

@Scooby-Doo
Raise is a good place to get 8% back on eShop cards, but I tend to wait for the 10% off deals from Newegg, Amazon, NintendoLife Store, etc.

@JaxonH I'm trying to get something that is only on sale until the 8th, and raise just comes up as a 403 error.

@Scooby-Doo
Comes up fine for me. Try this link

https://www.raise.com/buy-nintendo-eshop-gift-cards

@JaxonH Nope, still 403.

@Scooby-Doo
Gotta be something in your browser. Need to use a different browser or reset tracking/cookies and history.

It comes up fine for me so there's nothing wrong with the website

@JaxonH Tried it in 2 browsers, not working. Hang on, is it US-only?

@Scooby-Doo I've been using Eneba recently for my eShop cards (mostly for 3DS). Not massive discounts, but if you check out the keyforsteam website, there's usually a discount code for Eneba on there too which brings it down a bit more.

@dmcc0 @Scooby-Doo
I'm in the US- maybe that's it.

Can also vouch for Eneba. Got 15% off from there recently, and the cards were legit.

@dmcc0 @JaxonH Thanks for the help.

CHAPTER 5 OF TGAAA GOT REALLY GOOD REALLY QUICK COR BLOODY BLIMEY.

@Fizza Yep.

TGAA 2 is even better. Almost the entire second half of the game is actively amazing.

I just finished reading Reggie's new book, Disrupting the Game.

It's more of a business leadership book, conveying principles and lessons learned throughout his education at Cornell and career at Proctor and Gamble (where Doug Bowser also worked at the time), Pizza Hut launching the Bigfoot Pizza to compete with Little Ceasar's, Guinness Imports, Derby Cycle, Panda Management Company, VH1, and of course, Nintendo of America.

He's a business growth shark. His passion revolved around taking quality brands and growing them to their full potential.

From his book, he explained that at the time he joined NoA, it was a mess. Different departments were siloed, there was little communication with NCL in Japan, even less understanding of the western market among execs at NCL, and Nintendo was struggling and losing ever more marketshare with the GameCube at the time. He made it his personal mission to change the culture, and transform NoA and Nintendo at large to a world class organization.

In his tenure, he completely changed the culture at NoA. Depts that had historically competed and hid information from each other became collaborative. He pushed for communication with NCL, and developed a relationship with Iwata. He would push back against ideas when he felt he was right. He didn't always succeed in convincing them (such as arguing for a $199 3DS launch price) but more times than not, he did. He came up with the Ambassador program too, after the price drop (which showed he was correct in protesting the initial $250 launch price). He spearheaded Wii Sports being included as a pack in for the Wii launch despite harsh resistance from Miamoto, Iwata and other execs.

He said the big decisions were driven by a board of execs at NCL and they were all Japanese. Iwata never did appoint him to that board, but after Iwata's passing, Kimishima, who was previously president of NoA and had transferred to NCL and later became president of Nintendo for a short time, restructured the board and appointed Reggie, the first American to be given the honor. I believe Kimishima was a huge driver of change in terms of NCL being more cognizant of market trends in the west. Having worked at NoA, and then transferring to NCL and becoming president, surely he educated other execs about the western market and stressed the importance of listening to NoA and considering their feedback, as the US accounts for over 50% of sales volume worldwide.

Reggie oversaw the launch of the DS, Wii, Wii U, 3DS and Switch. All of them but 1 would see massive success. A large part of that was the change in marketing and image of Nintendo in the United States. They went from a dwindling company being attacked on all fronts- nearly driven out of the console business and even their handheld business came under attack from PlayStation (who he says always envied Nintendo's portable dominance as they prided themselves on the infamous Walkman and portable entertainment, and felt they should own that marketshare), and later mobile phones. It was a crucial time for Nintendo, who needed to pivot and turn the ship around. And it seems he helped them do precisely that.

It was an interesting read. Gave me insights to how Nintendo is run, how NoA operates and the communication that goes on between them.

Decided to take a shot at Mario Golf: Super Rush and am enjoying it so far, though I don't think I'm a huge fan of Timed or Speed Golf, which seem to run counter to the vibe of Golf.

I'm in Balmy Dunes now (in the story mode) and have to say I really think the hub areas are really charming and surprisingly large (not sprawling or anything, but I thought they were all going to be as small as the Ridgerock Lake hub. Again, not a huge fan of the Timed or Speed Golf (which seem to be the only varieties explored in story mode, other than Cross Country Golf, which is only ruined because they put a timer on that too), but I do like the optional Driving, Approach, & Putting target challenges that open up in each area, and they can get surprisingly tough (it took me about 20 tries to clear the approach challenge in Balmy Dunes).

Standard Golf is super relaxing though & it's fun to hit the links with your Mario favorites. The New Donk City course may be my favorite so far (it seems like they simply imported the map wholesale from Odyssey & slapped some greens on it, instead of making a golf course first that happens to be NDC themed which makes it really interesting to play), though I like the chilled atmosphere of the more plain courses as well.

Summer Game Fest is confirmed to be at 11am PT/2pm ET/6pm BST on June 9th, just like last year it's the Thursday before the Xbox showcase. Probably much like last year though, the Nintendo front is likely to be very limited for this event. Maybe a MH Rise Sunbreak trailer?

@Grumblevolcano
Sunbreak has its own digital event next week, and will reveal tons of info. I suppose they could drop a trailer then too, but I wouldn't expect much new info since we'll already have our info drop next week.

@JaxonH Well with base MH Rise there was consistent news drops up to launch like in 2021 before launch there were 2 digital events and a trailer in the February 2022 general Direct. My logic regarding a trailer in Summer Game Fest is connected to my prediction that Nintendo's next general Direct is in September.

New free content for Zombie Army 4 via an update! Game just dropped and already they're stuffing it with more free stuff!

New Horde mode map and a new campaign mission with 2 chapters, as well as character skins. I'll take it.