Comments 432

Re: Review: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Switch)

AirElephant

"...back in 2014 the Wii U was considered underpowered for a home console."

I've never bought into the idea that more powerful tech equates to better, or even graphically superior, games. It's all about the art. It's remarkable how much mileage Nintendo and its artists can get out of simple, but well-designed graphics. But when I played World of Warcraft, I was continually amazed at how appealing WoW's graphics remained more than a decade later even though other games with much more technically advanced game engines had been released.

I've seen a lot of realistic, high-gloss PS4 and XB1 games that I still believe are visually inferior to Switch titles such as Zelda and Mario. Sure, if you have the best of both worlds (art AND tech) you can produce superior results, but it's rare that companies have the talent or the interest in investing in that level of polish.

Even though it's (yet) another re-release of a Wii-U title on the Switch, I've never played Treasure Tracker so I might just go for it this time.

Re: WWE 2K19 Might Be Skipping Nintendo Switch

AirElephant

@kobashi100
That's my assertion and you're free to dispute it. The fact remains that the version on Switch runs extremely poorly when games with outstanding visuals and smooth gameplay don't. Either the company in charge of porting the game was incompetent, 2K forced an unrealistic release schedule on them or gave them insufficient resources, or a combination thereof. Others have noted that the game also ran poorly on more powerful hardware, indicating poor source code.

If, by implication, you want to argue that the Switch is simply underpowered then so be it. But other developers have released stellar ports on the same hardware, so if you don't mind yes I'll stick with the "lazy/incompetent developers" narrative for now.

Re: WWE 2K19 Might Be Skipping Nintendo Switch

AirElephant

Considering how well properly-adapted game engines work on the Switch, the first WWE port only demonstrates 2K's laziness and incompetence. They put in a minimal effort to cash in on the popularity of the system and it showed. A new port with a similarly half-*ssed effort wouldn't do any better. Unless they're willing to put in the work to create a lighter engine that works on mobile CPUs like the one in the Switch, they SHOULD remain off the platform.

Re: Feature: The Big Nintendo Summary From E3 2018 - Day One

AirElephant

@Paraka
What other games? Why does it seem that all we expect from Nintendo anymore are hits from their existing IP lines? I'd love to see Nintendo release an entirely new game play concept. Hell, even if we had gotten an old IP I'd have been thrilled if they'd done a new Wave Race, F-Zero, 1080, Pilotwings, or Excitebike. But we got a handful of (to me) really, REALLY uninteresting games. It's like Nintendo simply can't produce enough content, which is unfortunate because they still can't get 3rd parties to put AAA content on the platform with any consistency.

Re: Feature: The Big Nintendo Summary From E3 2018 - Day One

AirElephant

Interesting how little there is to actually talk about. If you're not into SSB (like I'm not) or Pokemon (nope), there really isn't anything from Nintendo worth talking about until 2019. You'd have thought that after they consolidated their development teams they'd have done a better job of keeping games in the pipeline so that they could release two or three major titles a year. Nope.

Re: Hands On: Revisiting Kanto With Pokémon: Let’s Go! Pikachu And Let’s Go! Eevee On Switch

AirElephant

I haven't played Pokemon in years, so my opinion means virtually nothing, but I was sure hoping the graphics would have some sort of unique style to them. I mean this is one of Nintendo/Game Freak's top-tier IP's and the graphics at this point look little better than many mobile games. (I compare this to games like Mario and Zelda on Switch, which both have extremely high-end graphics--for Switch games--and which each have a distinctive style.)

I hope Nintendo puts more effort into the mainstream Pokemon game they plan on putting out next year. This just looks poor.

Re: Guide: How To Play Fortnite On Switch If You've Played Before On PS4

AirElephant

@Hamguar
Sorry, man, but players will not abandon Sony over this. Absolutely no way. They'll complain for awhile, but people require a great deal of discomfort before they'll budge. Sony knows it and doesn't give two fleeps about how players feel. They're trying to keep Nintendo out of their domain--especially since they're fierce rivals in Japan--and they won't make any move that benefits Nintendo. Period.

And I guarantee it will not hurt their sales one iota. Not even a smidge. The only people at Sony that will suffer is the team that handles their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Re: Ubisoft CEO Believes The Next Generation Of Consoles Will Be The Last

AirElephant

It's the model all developers want. You'll never truly own games anymore, rather you'll access them through a continuous monthly subscription. That allows Company X to essentially collect revenue on their games forever. This isn't being driven by consumers, but I do see it as inevitable in developed countries with sufficient infrastructure.

Re: Gallery: Feast Your Eyes On These Gorgeous Sega AGES Screenshots

AirElephant

@Moroboshi876

Np. I had to Google it. Also, SEGA is milking it, of course. They COULD release a collection, but Nintendo gamers are used to paying for retro titles individually versus a collection on disc as on the XB1 or PS4. I think you can partially blame that on Nintendo for its Virtual Console, which I feel has created an almost Pavlovian link between retro nostalgia and unbundled games. (Hamster has done the same for its NEO GEO series.)

It is what it is. We live in a time where buying and playing the games on original hardware is enormously expensive, there are few really good emulators (and they're illegal to boot), and the Switch itself is such a great product to consume them on.

I'm not carping, but noting that I'm not surprised that they're meting them out on Switch but bundling similar collections on other platforms.

Re: Nintendo Applies For New N64 Trademark - Is Another Classic Edition On The Way?

AirElephant

I believe that Nintendo and Microsoft will work out some kind of profit-sharing (or simple up-front payment) to allow key Rare titles on the N64 Classic. It's not a threat to Microsoft and would in fact earn it some goodwill. I'm sure that many at Microsoft also grew up playing Rare games on Nintendo hardware, so there's a nostalgia factor there as well.

Simply put, it's a business decision. Microsoft has one price and Nintendo has theirs. If they can coordinate, and they can get the licensing rights for a version of Goldeneye from the Broccolis, I can't see any reason why Rare titles couldn't appear in a N64 Classic.

Re: Review: The Adventures of Elena Temple (Switch eShop)

AirElephant

Argh. From the heading I thought that this was a genuine classic, unreleased game that was finally seeing the light of day. Instead, it's a pseudo retro game with questionable graphics and light gameplay. The problem for me, having grown up on DOS games, is that it doesn't really look the part. It looks more like a DMG game, which it isn't. It's a buck cheaper on Switch than it is on Steam, though, so there's that.

Sorry, but for $5 (or more accurately $7.99) I can buy a game from Hamster that is a true "retro" title with much longer gameplay and polish. Now, if Hamster (or dare I say GOG) wants to start releasing really old DOS or Amiga games on the Switch I won't complain...

Re: The Studio That Brought You Immortal Redneck Is Working On A Pokémon-Style MMO

AirElephant

I like the art style, but it's going to be very difficult to thrive in the shadow of an actual Pokemon game on Switch. They may have a niche, though, if Nintendo doesn't provide extremely robust online game play for the Switch version. (OTOH, if it does have that it's going to be the killer app that ensures that Nintendo's Online hub will be a massive success from day one.)

The name isn't very catchy, though. TemTem sounds like baby talk.

Re: Feature: Hands-On With Raging Justice, The Streets Of Rage Successor Your Switch Deserves

AirElephant

@Milton_Burle

Looks brilliant? Looks clunky, awfully drawn and animated and with poor hit detection to boot (at this stage of development.) This guy's previous projects at Rare were after that company's heyday and this title looks just as ugly as Kameo and PDZ.

I have zero confidence that this will be anything but an easily forgotten and critically panned hot mess when it arrives.

Re: AtGames Confirms It's Making The Mega Drive Mini, Then Deletes Tweet

AirElephant

I'm pretty sure the reason they deleted the tweet wasn't that it announced their involvement out of turn, rather that the responses were almost uniformly--and harshly--negative. It's a marketer's nightmare. In retrospect, considering the poor quality of most of their systems, what did they expect?

They have an uphill climb to respectability. It would have been better that they remained quiet until, and if, the MD Mini was favorably (or favourably to you folks at N-Life) received.

Re: Sega Announces AGES For Nintendo Switch, Mega Drive Mini Console

AirElephant

@Atariboy
You seem better informed than many of us, including myself, about the state of emulation. Hopefully, AtGames recognizes that they have a serious credibility problem and are doing exactly what you say they are. Both SEGA's and their own reputation depends on it, since this is the first time SEGA has really put their full weight behind this type of product.

As an aside, it's too bad they didn't put a full-sized cartridge port on it so that they could do something Nintendo's mini consoles cannot, namely play actual cartridges. Perhaps the hints they've put out indicate that it's a possibility, though. (They could even revive the old "SEGA does what Nintendon't" slogan if it could.)

Re: No, Sega Is Not Returning To The Home Console Arena

AirElephant

I know it's naive, but it would be heartening if there were even a chance that Nintendo could collaborate on a Sega Megadrive/Genesis Mini using using Nintendo's careful, accurate approach to emulation. Sega continues to undermine the value of their IP by letting AtGames continue to produce subpar hardware and poorly-emulated games.

Nintendo could assist and receive a portion of the returns and Sega could have a really hot retro console that would finally have the quality gamers want.

I can dream can't I?

Re: Review: Arcade Archives Star Force (Switch eShop)

AirElephant

I don't understand rating classic games by today's standards. It may be a "5" to a reviewer, but what about to a person who wants a faithful arcade port of a title they once enjoyed? Perhaps a single score is unfair and almost unnecessary for titles like this? You can't expect a modern audience, for example, to enjoy Pac Man's simplistic graphics and gameplay in an age with leaderboards, online competition, and HD graphics so why hold this one to that standard?

It looks quite right for what it is.

Re: Review: Coffin Dodgers (Switch eShop)

AirElephant

Looks like one of a million "indie" games and...

(Googles "Coffin Dodgers"...)

...yep, it is. God aren't there enough of these mediocre Kart titles out there? The textures alone scream, "two guys in a basement with Unity."

Re: Video: Digital Foundry Considers "Nintendo Switch Pro" With NVIDIA Tegra 2 Processor

AirElephant

I'd DEFINITELY love faster loading on the Switch. As for higher performance, I don't see anything thus far that suffers as long as the software is carefully designed with the hardware limitations in mind. Even though I've long since completed BotW on Master Mode (minus all of the Korok Seeds), I keep going back to it for fun. The only disappointment is the long-ish load times. That alone would be worth an upgrade to me.

Re: Art: These Fantasy Nintendo Hardware Breakdowns Are Just Magical

AirElephant

The pictures are nice but I'm struggling with cohesion. The images representing the "internals" don't really seem to represent anything analogous to actual hardware. Had they found a way to represent circuits or micro switches or even a CPU as if imagined in Mario or Zelda I'd have applauded their creativity. As it stands, though, it looks like they drew a few Nintendo mini worlds, sandwiched them in console shells, and pointed a few factoid bubbles at random places.

Re: Nintendo Is Announcing "A New Way To Play" Later Today

AirElephant

My guess is that it'll be a series of toys--like Lego or similar--that interact with a new Switch game. Not Amiibo, necessarily, but something that uses both NFC communication and Bluetooth connectivity that causes actions to take place in a game and reactions in the toy itself.