@HeadPirate If you ask me, Nintendo needs to rethink how future Splatfests are won, maybe reworking the Clout mechanic (maybe by awarding them to the overall team in mirror matches, albeit half of what it would have been if you went up against another team).
It seems to me like, more often than not lately, the winning team took home the victory based on Clout alone. In this case, Team Past didn't even need the most votes in order to win. And Team Future (my team) didn't win any points at all. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little miffed by that.
My only question at this point is how far into the past the next Splatoon game will be. Personally, I'm hoping they cover the first Turf War between the Inklings and Octarians, thus making it a prequel of sorts.
Since Team Past won, I wonder how far into the past the next Splatoon game will be. Personally, I'm hoping it will be a prequel, where it covers the first Turf War between the Inklings and Octarians.
@Bonggon5 I was big into it as a kid (mainly Wild Force and Ninja Storm), but by the time Dino Thunder rolled around, I lost interest. That being said, I would not mind watching more of Time Force, especially since the actor who played the Red Ranger in that season, Jason Faunt, is from my hometown. We even attended the same high school! Although, he graduated in 1992, before I was even born.
I have Wild Force on the GBA. It could be difficult at times (that Forklift Org boss always gave me grief), but it was a mostly enjoyable experience. It definitely had decent replay value in trying to unlock all the Zords to create new Megazord combinations.
I just don't know why Toxica used her powers to revive and make the Master Org grow to gigantic size when she had already been defeated in the game, and also the fact that she turned against him in the show by the time he assumed his final form.
I don't know if they will be able to recover from this, but I would hope that something good comes of it. Personally, I think it would be fun to see a video game adaptation of Oscar-nominated film Nimona, which Annapurna Pictures worked on, picking up the project from Blue Sky Studios after Disney shuttered the company after they bought it out.
I think back to the 3DO and its $700 price point. And that was in 1993 money (adjusted for inflation, that's over $1500 today). Like the PS5, it presented itself as the "real" game console, with the SNES and Sega Genesis being regarded as baby toys. While it did have some impressive games (like Wing Commander III) the system flopped hard, in no small part due to that hefty price.
I'm not saying the same will happen to the PS5 Pro, but with the cost of living skyrocketing and wages remaining stagnant, I don't see many people beyond a small group of people shelling out $700 for what is essentially an incremental hardware update. Especially if Sony can't pick up the pace and release more exclusives for the system (and as of right now, there's only about a dozen or so).
Of course, I didn't have to worry about buying a PS5, as I won mine in a raffle at a work party last year (and repeated my success this year with winning a 65" Samsung 4K Smart TV). I got the raffle ticket for free, put my name in the bucket for the heck of it, and luckily ended up winning. So I really don't have much need for a PS5 Pro, especially if I can play any games released in the near future on the base model.
@OFFICIALMichi Well, you can't really have a Zelda game where you don't save her in the end. Granted, there are a few like that (Link's Awakening, Majora's Mask, Tri Force Heroes), but for the most part, she is basically the one you have to rescue at the end of the game.
It is interesting to note, though, that it is only in recent Zelda games that her imprisonment was self-imposed (sealing herself into a crystal in Skyward Sword to prevent the return of Demise, sealing herself and Calamity Ganon away for a century in BOTW, turning herself into the Light Dragon for an indeterminate amount of time in TOTK).
So Echoes of Wisdom is REALLY going to shake up that formula, with Zelda being the one to save Link and Hyrule this time around. But I welcome it. It hasn't been since Spirit Tracks that Zelda was playable in a mainline Zelda game (so no Hyrule Warriors or Cadence of Hyrule), and it hasn't been since 1996 that Zelda was the main protagonist (when Zelda's Adventure was released on the Philips CD-i). Echoes of Wisdom is the first mainline Zelda game where the titular princess herself is the playable protagonist, something that fans had been wanting for years.
Zelda transforming herself into the Light Dragon deeply affected me on an emotional level. It still does to this day. That she sacrificed her humanity (Hylianity?) to become a mindless beast for thousands of years for the sake of her people--after all, her final conscious thought was "Protect them all!"--only proves that she is kind, caring, and strong of heart. It is for that reason why she is my favorite monarch, real or fictional.
I said that to Patricia Summersett (the English voice of Zelda) when I met her at FanExpo Chicago a few weeks ago. She agreed that it was quite the sacrifice for Zelda to make. And when she autographed my copy of TOTK, she wrote "Protect them all!" on the slip cover. She also autographed my copy of BOTW, Age of Calamity, my F4F statue of Zelda from BOTW, my TOTK-themed OLED Switch, and a holographic poster of Zelda in all of her various outfits from the games.
They should have gone in an animated direction. I have always been a fan of the Minecraft animations by Slamacow on YouTube. To me, that's the kind of style the Minecraft movie should have gone in.
Frankly, I think Hollywood should just stay away from the video game industry. If movie adaptations of video games are to be made, they should be made in-house, by people who work closely with the video game industry, or even the fans themselves; basically, people who know the source material inside and out.
Well, considering Nintendo revealed the Switch in late October 2016, I would figure they would reveal the successor to the Switch sometime in the next couple of months, assuming they're targeting a Spring 2025 release.
I actually have this on DVD already, the version released by Shout! Factory. It comes in three discs instead of one. I remember seeing it advertised in an issue of Nintendo Power and asked my parents to get it for me for Christmas one year.
But it's not just the cartoon: it has several bonus features, like a downloadable art gallery, a Legend of Zelda trivia quiz, an interactive Legend of Zelda match game, and even select live-action segments from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
From the looks of it, this new DVD release is just the episodes, nothing else. If you guys want the definitive version of this series, I recommend you track down a copy of the Shout! Factory version.
@N64-ROX Technically, they did release a proper Zelda for it, but it came at the very end of its lifespan and was also a launch title for the Switch. Over 31 million people bought the Switch version, and only about 1.7 million people bought the Wii U version. I personally have both versions.
@DripDropCop146 It's also interesting to note that while PlayStation and Xbox have sold quite well amongst hardcore gamers, the strategy of focusing on power and graphics has not always paid off.
We're beginning to see that with this current generation, with the Xbox Series X/S selling around as many units as the GameCube did (roughly 21 million) as of right now, and the PS5 selling only about 61 million units so far (the worst for a PlayStation home console; only the Vita sold worse, between 10 to 15 million units sold).
While the PS5's numbers are still impressive in their own right, when compared to other PlayStation consoles, the difference is huge. The PSP sold between 80 and 82 million, the PS3 sold over 87 million, and PS4 has sold over 117 million and counting, and the PS2 sold between 155 million and 160 million.
Some have argued that this is because of the pandemic-related supply chain issues, or that there are only about a dozen or so exclusives for the system (with much of their library also being found on Xbox, PC, and Switch).
But the way I see it, if Microsoft and Sony can't come up with an impressive library of games and fun new ways to play, their sales will inevitably drop, and we'll probably be more likely to see them drop out of the console market before Nintendo ever does.
As it is, Sony was reported to be over $31 billion in debt earlier this year, to the point where they didn't even crack the Top 300 richest companies in Japan, while Nintendo was #1, with over $11 billion in cash and cash equivalents and no debt to their name. At this rate, I don't think even the PlayStation can save Sony.
@DripDropCop146 Exactly. A lot of people might not know that it was on par with or more powerful than its contemporaries at the time, with only the original Xbox possibly being even more powerful. But come the Wii era, Nintendo stopped caring as much about power under the hood (instead focusing on some sort of gameplay gimmick), while Sony and Microsoft started racing each other to push the limits as to what their hardware is capable of.
We've seen this strategy pay off to some degree for Nintendo, with the Wii and its motion controls selling over 101 million units, the DS and its dual screen setup selling over 154 million units, and the Switch and its ability to switch between TV, tabletop, and handheld mode selling over 143 million consoles and counting.
It didn't always pay off, though, as the Wii U with their tablet controller standing as one of their worst-selling standalone consoles since the Virtual Boy (I don't count the Game Boy Micro, as that was just a hardware update to the Game Boy Advance; nor do I count the NES and SNES Classic Editions, as those are basically glorified emulators).
It would be nice to see the successor to the Switch be even more powerful, but still come up with a quirky, fun way to play games. But Nintendo cannot fall into the same trap that they did with the Wii U, otherwise the successor to the Switch will flop just as hard. They need to aggressively market the system as its own thing, separate from the original Switch (assuming they keep the Switch name), and have a killer library of games right out of the gate (not just first and second-party, but also third-party and indie games).
Super Mario 64 (especially the DS version), Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy are probably my three favorites. I did also very much enjoy Super Mario Odyssey. Basically, anything that allowed you to freely roam around the level with no time limit.
While I do enjoy games like Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World, they're not my first choice for a Mario game, because they're basically a "reach the flagpole at the end of the level before the time runs out" kind of game.
I personally think that such a Mario game should be for the 2D Marios only, with the 3D Marios being more like Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Odyssey.
I see there being pros and cons to the whole use of AI. But I have always said that if AI is here to stay, then we need try and make AI work for us instead of against us.
For example, when it comes to the context of voice acting, people should give their consent to have their voice be recreated via AI, and then get royalties when it is used. And in the event of their passing, the royalties go to their estate.
When it comes to AI art, I recently saw an artist who made the base artwork with AI, then added the details to the image in their own style. That is another example of making AI work for someone instead of against them.
Obviously, there are a lot of gray areas with AI, areas that need to be defined and regulated via legislation, executive fiat, and court order. It is not enough to go to companies that use AI, hat in hand, and ask them to self-regulate. This strike is evident of their position on the issue.
I can only hope that there will be a resolution to this issue that is mutually beneficial for both sides, and that governments around the world pass laws that clearly define what AI is to be used for and to what extent.
It's gonna be a Genshin Impact-exclusive weekend for me, especially since Natlan just came out. I already got through the Archon Quests that have been released so far, and now I hope to take part in the current version's flagship event while also exploring the region and raising my Reputation with the tribes of Natlan.
I also want to use this opportunity to collect some materials to level up my characters, as the game now has a feature where you can search for materials by giving you the general location for said materials (meaning I don't have to use the online Teyvat Interactive Map anymore and constantly have to switch back and forth between the game and the map).
My personal theory is that the BOTW/TOTK timeline is a timeline that resulted in a merger of the other three timelines. Ganon found a way to cross timelines and joined forces with his alternate selves to destroy Link and Zelda in all other timelines. This started to cause the fabric of reality to fall apart.
What few Links and Zeldas were left would have to unite and face off against the Ganons, who then amplified their power by merging with one another, becoming Calamity Ganon in the process. Link and Zelda do the same, and ultimately merge victorious.
However, in order to save reality, they must merge their timelines together to create a brand new one: the one we see in BOTW and TOTK. This is why we see elements and references from various games throughout the series, such as why the Rito and the Zora live alongside each other instead of the former being descendants of the latter as they are in TWW.
@littlegreenbob Yeah, I've heard from non-native speakers of a given foreign language that some of the best way to learn a language is immersion. But consuming their media is a great way to start. As it is, I am interested in going to Japan to teach English. I would love to include English-translated versions of manga and anime in the lessons, to help Japanese students understand how English is written and spoken.
Unfortunately, I have also heard that in the case of Japan, they don't so much teach English to improve fluency, but to pass their school tests, hence why so many Japanese people are hesitant to communicate in it (this I heard from Chris Broad, a.k.a., Abroad in Japan, who taught English there before becoming a YouTuber and travel vlogger). This was even touched upon in a strip of one of my favorite manga, Azumanga Daioh (passed off as more of a joke, but does carry some troubling implications for the Japanese educational system as a whole).
@FantasiaWHT You can't please everybody, sadly. I remember a few people saying that they would be very disappointed and wouldn't even consider playing this game if Zelda didn't fight with a sword. They want a more traditional experience.
But if you look at it this way, the variety of gameplay styles means that you can tailor the experience to your liking and not be limited to just one way to play. And isn't that what the Zelda series has been about for the last decade? If anything, this game is just par for the course for the series.
And don't forget, the CD-i Zelda games also had her fighting enemies herself. She could use a sword in The Wand of Gamelon, and she would strike enemies with a wand in Zelda's Adventure. And there were times that she would use weapons (even Link's sword) in the Zelda cartoon series from the 1980s.
Within the main series, Zelda can fight with a bow, as we saw in The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. Also in Twilight Princess, she is shown wielding a sword when Zant invaded her castle, so we can infer that she does know some swordplay. Furthermore, she is capable of fighting enemies with a sword when she possesses Phantoms in Spirit Tracks. And Hyrule Warriors also has her fighting with a sword, as well.
So this isn't a first for her. Personally, I'm looking forward to trying out all the new ways to play as her in this game. September 26th cannot come soon enough!
@littlegreenbob It's probably not a good resource, either, but I do watch anime, and have learned a few words. For example, I know that the word "eat" is "tabete" or "taberu" in Japanese, because I've heard it in anime enough times to associate it with that word.
But ah, how I wish for the day when we can invent the universal translator from Star Trek and be able to translate every spoken language in real time.
Well, I am trying to learn Japanese. While I do have Rosetta Stone for Japanese, I've heard some bad things about it, so any other tools and resources that can help me learn the language will be of great help.
@Croctopus To me, it almost sounds like Nintendo is making this the last-ever Splatfest for Splatoon 3. If you get to have your photo taken with the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook and not just Deep Cut, then this could be the big blowout bash that caps off the Splatfests for this entry in the series.
Personally, I would not mind that, as I'm admittedly getting a little tired of the Splatfests. They just start feeling more like a chore to me. It also doesn't help that these things keep getting scheduled on weekends where I have to work for half of it. And the team I pick usually ends up losing, anyway (not just in terms of battles, but the Splatfest overall).
@The-Chosen-one Same. I also worked for my university’s bookstore, which had a tech department. We also sold video games and consoles. I’d have to explain to people that the Wii U was its own system, not an add-on for the Wii.
I doubt we'll see it, but it would be nice if they were able to confirm whether or not Genshin Impact was coming to the Switch. Then again, with Version 5.0 coming out tomorrow, which will require even beefier hardware than before, I doubt it will.
@The-Chosen-one People knew that a new Nintendo console was on the way before the Wii U was announced. The problem was that during the reveal trailer and afterwards, Nintendo failed to properly market the system. It also didn't help that they tried to capitalize on the Wii name without making the distinction between the two systems.
But at least it's not as bad as Xbox right now. Starting with the Xbox One, Microsoft has had a really boneheaded naming scheme for the system. I have to hand it to Sony, but when it comes to the PlayStation, they got it down pat, just slapping a 2, 3, 4, 5 (and so on) after the word PlayStation. I don't know what Nintendo is going to call the successor to the Switch, but if they keep the concept, it would make sense to call it the Switch 2, to let people know that it's a brand new system and not a peripheral for the original Switch.
Other than Genshin Impact, most likely Tears of the Kingdom. I still have to beat that game. Kind of felt a bit guilty and embarrassed telling Patricia Summersett (the voice of Zelda in the game) at FanExpo Chicago last weekend that I had yet to beat it.
@-wc- Yeah, I remember having a nightmare about those things after seeing that. I dreamt that they were chasing me around the yard.
Admittedly, I've never seen the miniseries version, only a part of the movie version with Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. That being said, I did watch the Nostalgia Critic's review of the miniseries, and according to one of the people in the review, Jack Torrance's character was better in the miniseries versus the movie.
And I can see it: the miniseries version was more nuanced and sympathetic, whereas the movie version had almost no redeeming qualities. Whereas Jack's madness in the miniseries and book was due to being possessed by ghosts, Jack's madness in the movie more or less came across as a bad case of cabin fever.
But overall, I'm not really a horror fan. I don't know if it counts as horror, but the only horror movies I care to watch are the original Godzilla from 1954 and Tremors. That being said, I did kind of like The Howling, which was about werewolves and starred the likes of Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, and Robert Picardo. That, and its sequel, which starred Christopher Lee in the only role I've ever seen him in where he played a good guy.
@-wc- Honestly, I only have very vague memories of that miniseries as a kid, having watched it in a hotel many, many years ago. It took watching the Nostalgia Critic's review of it in the last few years to jog my memory of what the Langoliers looked like. Needless to say, the CGI looked terrible, but what do you expect for a miniseries that only had a budget of about $3-5 million?
Well, considering how game consoles have progressively gotten more expensive with each new generation, it only makes sense that the same happens with Nintendo systems. And we have already seen this. Yes, Nintendo may be the cheapest of the Big Three consoles on the market right now, but even they will have to eventually raise prices in order to make back the cost of development.
As long as they can provide enough justification for the higher price point (namely enough power under the hood to run the latest games, especially those made by third-party developers, as well as a whole slew of games, especially exclusives), I think people will be able to accept a higher price point.
Look at PlayStation, for example: it is one of the best-selling family of systems on the market, and their base model for the PS3 and PS5 cost $499, and the base model for the PS4 cost $399. Even with such an astronomical price point, tens of millions of PlayStations are sold each console generation.
@Samalik Maybe replay value is not the right word for it. But I want Nintendo to give me a reason to keep playing the game after I've beaten it. Let's say it takes me a week to beat a game, then a few more weeks to complete it. What incentive is there for me to keep playing it after all is said and done? I know the game's story, so it's not like I need to experience it over and over again.
Like with a book or a movie, you can only play a game so many times before it gets boring. And with increasing development times, they need something to fill the gap. So if they want to expand the lifespan of a game, they need to do something to encourage players to keep playing it. In that sense, I feel like miHoYo is onto something with Genshin Impact, with its regular updates which include limited time events, new characters, and new quests.
And speaking of multiple characters, I am actually trying to write a light novel that adapts the original Zelda game, but adds elements from other Zelda games, including Breath of the Wild and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (where Link was part of a group and not a solo adventurer), to give it a more fleshed out story with more character interaction.
Oddly enough, what gave me inspiration for this story is the DragonForce song "Power of the Triforce." Listening to this song, I realized that it sounds just like the theme song to an anime. By doing some clever editing, I was able to trim a 3-minute, 52-second song down to around 1 minute and 25 seconds; roughly the length of a typical anime intro.
Based on that, I started storyboarding this hypothetical anime intro in my head, and then taking elements from other Zelda games, came up with an entire plotline and cast of characters. I even came up with romantic subplots for the main characters, too, including Link! In fact, you'd be surprised by who he ends up with!
I hope to publish this light novel with Nintendo's permission, and eventually adapt it into a manga (maybe have Akira Himekawa draw it) and eventually an anime (to be animated by Ufotable, since they have done excellent work on Demon Slayer, and are in charge of the upcoming Genshin Impact anime, the concept trailer for which looks gorgeous).
@Samalik It was more or less an idea to increase the replay value of the game. I find that the Zelda games have very low replay value, in my opinion, so it's hard for me to play the game again, even when starting over from scratch on a new save file.
Genshin, on the other hand, has a steady stream of new content that keeps me coming back for more, which is why I play so much of it. If Nintendo can somehow replicate that for Zelda, even if it's not a live-service game, I'd be quite happy.
@JohnnyMind Fair enough. I wasn't so much thinking of completely mimicking Genshin's model. Maybe make it more like Splatoon. That has some of the structure of a live-service game, but Nintendo comes out with new entries in the series every few years.
Basically, have a complete game, but support continued development with a smaller dev team to come out with new updates and limited time events to encourage people to keep coming back after beating the main game, while other dev teams work on the next entry in the series.
I just find it hard to play a Zelda game again after beating it, so I want a Zelda game that has more replay value. That's why I like Genshin so much: it has a steady stream of content that keeps me coming back for more. And it's the same with Splatoon, even though I'm not much of a competitive player.
@JohnnyMind Personally, I think people are still salty about the similarities to BOTW. Don't get me wrong, I love BOTW and the Zelda series as a whole, but I love Genshin Impact more. The reason being is that it has significantly more replay value than any other game in the Zelda franchise, due to its frequent updates and expansions, as well as its steady stream of new events, quests, and characters.
Personally, I consider Genshin Impact to be the Oreo to Zelda's Hydrox. If you didn't know, Hydrox and Oreo are similar cookies, but Hydrox came out first. Oreo came out a couple years later. But Oreo has the sweeter filling and its cookie part absorbs milk more easily, so it became the more popular of the two. Now, people mistakenly assume that Hydrox is the knockoff to Oreo when it's actually the other way around.
Frankly, if you ask me, Nintendo should either take a page from miHoYo for its next 3D Zelda game and consider making it a live-service game of sorts. Plus, make it so that Link is not the only playable character, but is part of an adventuring party (making it a first for the series outside of Hyrule Warriors).
They don't need to do the gacha or Battle Pass component from Genshin, but as a way to extend the game's lifespan and increase its replay value, add new characters, quests, and limited time events on a regular basis. Heck, maybe they could get miHoYo themselves to work on the next 3D Zelda game!
Might be a good reason to start playing my Xbox again. As it is, I haven't touched my Series X in over a year. And I really have only played my PS5 in the last year for Genshin and Stellar Blade.
But we'll just have to see how powerful the Switch's successor is before we can confirm one way or the other if Genshin is coming to the system. I mean, my iPhone 8 could barely run it, and my iPhone 15 Pro seems to run it mostly fine.
If it does indeed come to the Switch's successor, I have a feeling that it might be the Cloud version, so as to get around any potential lack of power.
@CaptainRainbow Yeah, it's not the worst game I've ever played. It has potential, but that potential needs to be realized. Once the DLC comes out and the bugs ironed out, I'd like to see NintendoLife and other companies review the game again to see if it gets a better score.
@CaptainRainbow Yeah, I enjoyed it too, for the most part. It was a nice, laid-back game, and it does have potential, but that potential needs to be realized if it wants to get a better score. Bugs and typos need to be fixed, Mika's flying controls could stand to be tightened up a bit further (they were even worse in the beta), there should frankly be more missions, and have more variety in the gameplay. Plus, expand the story and flesh out the characters more.
@JohnnyMind I also donated to the Kickstarter, and ended up beating the game yesterday on Steam. I figured it would get middling reviews. But believe me, the flying mechanics were MUCH better in the final release versus the beta (which I took part in).
In the beta, the controls did not feel as tight, and I would end up careening all over the place. The hit detection was also more sensitive, so I'd be more likely to damage the package I was delivering whenever I bumped into anything, even if I wasn't going at full speed. Plus, so much as barely touching water also damaged the package.
That being said, I did notice numerous typos and graphical issues with the dialogue screens. Sometimes, the character on the right side of the screen would overlay the text, so we couldn't see what they were saying. The D in "Day 4" was half missing. Another bug I discovered was being able to leave the island altogether by flying out into the ocean.
I don't know if they plan on patching the game to iron out the bugs, but it would be nice if they did. It would also be nice if they added more missions and had some variety in the gameplay. Furthermore, have a mini-map in the corner of the screen, instead of us having to go the in-game menu all the time to figure out where we're going. And maybe take a cue from the Metroid games and show where on the map the collectibles are once you beat the game.
So yeah, the game is not terrible, and was an improvement over the beta, but it could have had a lot more improvements, especially when it came to QOL updates.
I mean, it's kind of unexpected to do this as a Direct, but it's not like they haven't done something like this before. After all, look what they did with Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan before it opened to the public.
I mean, I've got the Zelda & Loftwing amiibo, along with Daruk, Revali, Mipha, and Urbosa, but those are the only Zelda-related amiibo that I have. I don't have any of the others on that list, sadly. And I frankly don't feel like paying through the nose for a scalped one. So I'm with @Sarkos: I hope these can be obtained in-game as well, not just through amiibo.
@HeadPirate No problem. I head a feeling that's what it meant. I just wanted to confirm.
And yeah, we were a bit disappointed that we couldn't get in, as my girlfriend and I hadn't been to one in over 20 years, and her sibling had never been to one at all. But we couldn't justify $63 per person; that's highway robbery. Despite that, we did have a good time.
And for the record, Ironmouse is a VTuber, and one of the more prolific ones in the English-speaking world, hailing from Puerto Rico. In fact, according to her Wikipedia article, she's the most-followed English-speaking VTuber on Twitch.
Despite suffering from a debilitating medical condition, she has made a name for herself, has become very successful (with over 2 million followers on Twitch and over a million subscribers on YouTube), and won several awards, including The Game Awards for Content Creator of the Year in 2023 (becoming the first VTuber to do so). She also does charity livestreams with her friend, Welsh ex-pat Connor "CDawgVA" Colquhoun (who lives in Japan) to raise money for the Immune Deficiency Foundation. So definitely check her out if you can!
@HeadPirate Forgive me if I don't know what SEA means. I assume it means Southeast Asia, correct? I live in North America, and I do tend to be on the losing team more often than not (both in individual matches and the Splatfests overall).
Most of the time, I am usually working when these Splatfests are going on, so beyond a couple of hours in the evening on Friday and Saturday, the only day I really have time to play is Sunday, when I am not working. But this was one of the rare times that I had the whole weekend off, so I could also play on Friday and Saturday.
I meant to play more yesterday (Sunday), but my girlfriend invited me to go to the circus (set up in the parking lot of a shopping mall) with her and her sibling. Unfortunately, admission for the circus was $63 per person, so we didn't do that.
Instead, we walked around the shopping mall, played some games at a new arcade that opened up, and I even won a Cinnamoroll plushie at a crane game (and yes, I tweeted a photo of it to popular VTuber Ironmouse, who is obsessed with them). Then we went out for dinner at an Asian restaurant, chowed down on some takoyaki, ramen, sushi, and shrimp. That was my entire afternoon, so I didn't get to play at all yesterday.
On the bright side, at least the live-action Mario movie from 1993 is no longer one of the worst, if not the worst, movie adaptations of a video game anymore. That movie had a better score, and even performed better at the box office.
Frankly, I think it should be a requirement that any movie adaptation of a video game should be made by someone who knows the franchise inside and out: a movie made by fans, for fans. That, and also have the game developer exercise creative control over the film, to make sure that it is as faithful to the source material as possible.
@beaus27 As @HeadPirate said, it's all random matching. If you ask me, the real problem is that you can't voice chat to coordinate with your team during a match. I know that Nintendo is trying to go for a kid-friendly experience (so we won't have what people end up with in Call of Duty or Halo with kids screaming into their mics and trying to be edgy by cursing out everyone), but I have also noticed how a lot of people tend to go do their own thing instead of having any strategy.
That being said, though, by inking as much turf as you can, even if away from the action, can help tip the scales in your favor. Of course, going for the middle of the map is a must, but don't ever neglect the outer edges of the map, either. Those can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
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Re: 'Team Past' Takes The Gold In Splatoon 3's 'Grand Festival' Splatfest
@HeadPirate If you ask me, Nintendo needs to rethink how future Splatfests are won, maybe reworking the Clout mechanic (maybe by awarding them to the overall team in mirror matches, albeit half of what it would have been if you went up against another team).
It seems to me like, more often than not lately, the winning team took home the victory based on Clout alone. In this case, Team Past didn't even need the most votes in order to win. And Team Future (my team) didn't win any points at all. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little miffed by that.
My only question at this point is how far into the past the next Splatoon game will be. Personally, I'm hoping they cover the first Turf War between the Inklings and Octarians, thus making it a prequel of sorts.
Re: It's Official, Splatoon 3's "Regular Updates" Are Coming To An End
Since Team Past won, I wonder how far into the past the next Splatoon game will be. Personally, I'm hoping it will be a prequel, where it covers the first Turf War between the Inklings and Octarians.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (14th September)
Coming late, but I spent the weekend playing Splatoon 3 for the Grand Festival. Hopefully my team will win for once.
Re: Best Power Rangers Games, Ranked - Switch And Nintendo Systems
@Bonggon5 I was big into it as a kid (mainly Wild Force and Ninja Storm), but by the time Dino Thunder rolled around, I lost interest. That being said, I would not mind watching more of Time Force, especially since the actor who played the Red Ranger in that season, Jason Faunt, is from my hometown. We even attended the same high school! Although, he graduated in 1992, before I was even born.
Re: Best Power Rangers Games, Ranked - Switch And Nintendo Systems
I have Wild Force on the GBA. It could be difficult at times (that Forklift Org boss always gave me grief), but it was a mostly enjoyable experience. It definitely had decent replay value in trying to unlock all the Zords to create new Megazord combinations.
I just don't know why Toxica used her powers to revive and make the Master Org grow to gigantic size when she had already been defeated in the game, and also the fact that she turned against him in the show by the time he assumed his final form.
Re: All Annapurna Interactive Staff Resign Following Failed Spin-Off Negotiations
I don't know if they will be able to recover from this, but I would hope that something good comes of it. Personally, I think it would be fun to see a video game adaptation of Oscar-nominated film Nimona, which Annapurna Pictures worked on, picking up the project from Blue Sky Studios after Disney shuttered the company after they bought it out.
Re: Soapbox: Sony's Insane PS5 Pro Price Highlights The Delicate Balance Nintendo Must Strike With 'Switch 2'
I think back to the 3DO and its $700 price point. And that was in 1993 money (adjusted for inflation, that's over $1500 today). Like the PS5, it presented itself as the "real" game console, with the SNES and Sega Genesis being regarded as baby toys. While it did have some impressive games (like Wing Commander III) the system flopped hard, in no small part due to that hefty price.
I'm not saying the same will happen to the PS5 Pro, but with the cost of living skyrocketing and wages remaining stagnant, I don't see many people beyond a small group of people shelling out $700 for what is essentially an incremental hardware update. Especially if Sony can't pick up the pace and release more exclusives for the system (and as of right now, there's only about a dozen or so).
Of course, I didn't have to worry about buying a PS5, as I won mine in a raffle at a work party last year (and repeated my success this year with winning a 65" Samsung 4K Smart TV). I got the raffle ticket for free, put my name in the bucket for the heck of it, and luckily ended up winning. So I really don't have much need for a PS5 Pro, especially if I can play any games released in the near future on the base model.
Re: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Almost Had A Different Name
@OFFICIALMichi Well, you can't really have a Zelda game where you don't save her in the end. Granted, there are a few like that (Link's Awakening, Majora's Mask, Tri Force Heroes), but for the most part, she is basically the one you have to rescue at the end of the game.
It is interesting to note, though, that it is only in recent Zelda games that her imprisonment was self-imposed (sealing herself into a crystal in Skyward Sword to prevent the return of Demise, sealing herself and Calamity Ganon away for a century in BOTW, turning herself into the Light Dragon for an indeterminate amount of time in TOTK).
So Echoes of Wisdom is REALLY going to shake up that formula, with Zelda being the one to save Link and Hyrule this time around. But I welcome it. It hasn't been since Spirit Tracks that Zelda was playable in a mainline Zelda game (so no Hyrule Warriors or Cadence of Hyrule), and it hasn't been since 1996 that Zelda was the main protagonist (when Zelda's Adventure was released on the Philips CD-i). Echoes of Wisdom is the first mainline Zelda game where the titular princess herself is the playable protagonist, something that fans had been wanting for years.
Re: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Almost Had A Different Name
Zelda transforming herself into the Light Dragon deeply affected me on an emotional level. It still does to this day. That she sacrificed her humanity (Hylianity?) to become a mindless beast for thousands of years for the sake of her people--after all, her final conscious thought was "Protect them all!"--only proves that she is kind, caring, and strong of heart. It is for that reason why she is my favorite monarch, real or fictional.
I said that to Patricia Summersett (the English voice of Zelda) when I met her at FanExpo Chicago a few weeks ago. She agreed that it was quite the sacrifice for Zelda to make. And when she autographed my copy of TOTK, she wrote "Protect them all!" on the slip cover. She also autographed my copy of BOTW, Age of Calamity, my F4F statue of Zelda from BOTW, my TOTK-themed OLED Switch, and a holographic poster of Zelda in all of her various outfits from the games.
Re: First Minecraft Movie Trailer Features Creepers, Piglins And Jack Black's Steve
They should have gone in an animated direction. I have always been a fan of the Minecraft animations by Slamacow on YouTube. To me, that's the kind of style the Minecraft movie should have gone in.
Frankly, I think Hollywood should just stay away from the video game industry. If movie adaptations of video games are to be made, they should be made in-house, by people who work closely with the video game industry, or even the fans themselves; basically, people who know the source material inside and out.
Re: Rumour: 'Industry Whispers' Fuel Speculation Of A Switch 2 Reveal This Month
Well, considering Nintendo revealed the Switch in late October 2016, I would figure they would reveal the successor to the Switch sometime in the next couple of months, assuming they're targeting a Spring 2025 release.
Re: The Legend Of Zelda '80s Cartoon Series Gets DVD Re-Release
I actually have this on DVD already, the version released by Shout! Factory. It comes in three discs instead of one. I remember seeing it advertised in an issue of Nintendo Power and asked my parents to get it for me for Christmas one year.
But it's not just the cartoon: it has several bonus features, like a downloadable art gallery, a Legend of Zelda trivia quiz, an interactive Legend of Zelda match game, and even select live-action segments from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
From the looks of it, this new DVD release is just the episodes, nothing else. If you guys want the definitive version of this series, I recommend you track down a copy of the Shout! Factory version.
Re: Random: 'Minecraft' On GameCube Boasts A Better Render Distance Than Switch
@N64-ROX Technically, they did release a proper Zelda for it, but it came at the very end of its lifespan and was also a launch title for the Switch. Over 31 million people bought the Switch version, and only about 1.7 million people bought the Wii U version. I personally have both versions.
Re: Random: 'Minecraft' On GameCube Boasts A Better Render Distance Than Switch
@DripDropCop146 It's also interesting to note that while PlayStation and Xbox have sold quite well amongst hardcore gamers, the strategy of focusing on power and graphics has not always paid off.
We're beginning to see that with this current generation, with the Xbox Series X/S selling around as many units as the GameCube did (roughly 21 million) as of right now, and the PS5 selling only about 61 million units so far (the worst for a PlayStation home console; only the Vita sold worse, between 10 to 15 million units sold).
While the PS5's numbers are still impressive in their own right, when compared to other PlayStation consoles, the difference is huge. The PSP sold between 80 and 82 million, the PS3 sold over 87 million, and PS4 has sold over 117 million and counting, and the PS2 sold between 155 million and 160 million.
Some have argued that this is because of the pandemic-related supply chain issues, or that there are only about a dozen or so exclusives for the system (with much of their library also being found on Xbox, PC, and Switch).
But the way I see it, if Microsoft and Sony can't come up with an impressive library of games and fun new ways to play, their sales will inevitably drop, and we'll probably be more likely to see them drop out of the console market before Nintendo ever does.
As it is, Sony was reported to be over $31 billion in debt earlier this year, to the point where they didn't even crack the Top 300 richest companies in Japan, while Nintendo was #1, with over $11 billion in cash and cash equivalents and no debt to their name. At this rate, I don't think even the PlayStation can save Sony.
Re: Random: 'Minecraft' On GameCube Boasts A Better Render Distance Than Switch
@DripDropCop146 Exactly. A lot of people might not know that it was on par with or more powerful than its contemporaries at the time, with only the original Xbox possibly being even more powerful. But come the Wii era, Nintendo stopped caring as much about power under the hood (instead focusing on some sort of gameplay gimmick), while Sony and Microsoft started racing each other to push the limits as to what their hardware is capable of.
We've seen this strategy pay off to some degree for Nintendo, with the Wii and its motion controls selling over 101 million units, the DS and its dual screen setup selling over 154 million units, and the Switch and its ability to switch between TV, tabletop, and handheld mode selling over 143 million consoles and counting.
It didn't always pay off, though, as the Wii U with their tablet controller standing as one of their worst-selling standalone consoles since the Virtual Boy (I don't count the Game Boy Micro, as that was just a hardware update to the Game Boy Advance; nor do I count the NES and SNES Classic Editions, as those are basically glorified emulators).
It would be nice to see the successor to the Switch be even more powerful, but still come up with a quirky, fun way to play games. But Nintendo cannot fall into the same trap that they did with the Wii U, otherwise the successor to the Switch will flop just as hard. They need to aggressively market the system as its own thing, separate from the original Switch (assuming they keep the Switch name), and have a killer library of games right out of the gate (not just first and second-party, but also third-party and indie games).
Re: Charles Martinet Reveals His Favourite Super Mario Games At Nintendo Live 2024
Super Mario 64 (especially the DS version), Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy are probably my three favorites. I did also very much enjoy Super Mario Odyssey. Basically, anything that allowed you to freely roam around the level with no time limit.
While I do enjoy games like Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World, they're not my first choice for a Mario game, because they're basically a "reach the flagpole at the end of the level before the time runs out" kind of game.
I personally think that such a Mario game should be for the 2D Marios only, with the 3D Marios being more like Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Odyssey.
Re: Bayonetta Star Jennifer Hale On The SAG-AFTRA Strikes: "AI Is Coming For Us All"
I see there being pros and cons to the whole use of AI. But I have always said that if AI is here to stay, then we need try and make AI work for us instead of against us.
For example, when it comes to the context of voice acting, people should give their consent to have their voice be recreated via AI, and then get royalties when it is used. And in the event of their passing, the royalties go to their estate.
When it comes to AI art, I recently saw an artist who made the base artwork with AI, then added the details to the image in their own style. That is another example of making AI work for someone instead of against them.
Obviously, there are a lot of gray areas with AI, areas that need to be defined and regulated via legislation, executive fiat, and court order. It is not enough to go to companies that use AI, hat in hand, and ask them to self-regulate. This strike is evident of their position on the issue.
I can only hope that there will be a resolution to this issue that is mutually beneficial for both sides, and that governments around the world pass laws that clearly define what AI is to be used for and to what extent.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (31st August)
It's gonna be a Genshin Impact-exclusive weekend for me, especially since Natlan just came out. I already got through the Archon Quests that have been released so far, and now I hope to take part in the current version's flagship event while also exploring the region and raising my Reputation with the tribes of Natlan.
I also want to use this opportunity to collect some materials to level up my characters, as the game now has a feature where you can search for materials by giving you the general location for said materials (meaning I don't have to use the online Teyvat Interactive Map anymore and constantly have to switch back and forth between the game and the map).
Re: Zelda Timeline Featuring Breath Of The Wild And Tears Of The Kingdom Spotted
My personal theory is that the BOTW/TOTK timeline is a timeline that resulted in a merger of the other three timelines. Ganon found a way to cross timelines and joined forces with his alternate selves to destroy Link and Zelda in all other timelines. This started to cause the fabric of reality to fall apart.
What few Links and Zeldas were left would have to unite and face off against the Ganons, who then amplified their power by merging with one another, becoming Calamity Ganon in the process. Link and Zelda do the same, and ultimately merge victorious.
However, in order to save reality, they must merge their timelines together to create a brand new one: the one we see in BOTW and TOTK. This is why we see elements and references from various games throughout the series, such as why the Rito and the Zora live alongside each other instead of the former being descendants of the latter as they are in TWW.
Re: Feature: The Return Of Lynels And Five Other Exciting Reveals In The Latest Zelda Trailer
Showed this to my mother just a bit ago. She seems pretty excited about it. Maybe I'll be able to get her to play this.
Re: 'Shashingo: Learn Japanese With Photography' Snaps Up September Release Date On Switch
@littlegreenbob Yeah, I've heard from non-native speakers of a given foreign language that some of the best way to learn a language is immersion. But consuming their media is a great way to start. As it is, I am interested in going to Japan to teach English. I would love to include English-translated versions of manga and anime in the lessons, to help Japanese students understand how English is written and spoken.
Unfortunately, I have also heard that in the case of Japan, they don't so much teach English to improve fluency, but to pass their school tests, hence why so many Japanese people are hesitant to communicate in it (this I heard from Chris Broad, a.k.a., Abroad in Japan, who taught English there before becoming a YouTuber and travel vlogger). This was even touched upon in a strip of one of my favorite manga, Azumanga Daioh (passed off as more of a joke, but does carry some troubling implications for the Japanese educational system as a whole).
Re: Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Trailer Introduces Us To The 'Still World' And Dungeons
@FantasiaWHT You can't please everybody, sadly. I remember a few people saying that they would be very disappointed and wouldn't even consider playing this game if Zelda didn't fight with a sword. They want a more traditional experience.
But if you look at it this way, the variety of gameplay styles means that you can tailor the experience to your liking and not be limited to just one way to play. And isn't that what the Zelda series has been about for the last decade? If anything, this game is just par for the course for the series.
And don't forget, the CD-i Zelda games also had her fighting enemies herself. She could use a sword in The Wand of Gamelon, and she would strike enemies with a wand in Zelda's Adventure. And there were times that she would use weapons (even Link's sword) in the Zelda cartoon series from the 1980s.
Within the main series, Zelda can fight with a bow, as we saw in The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. Also in Twilight Princess, she is shown wielding a sword when Zant invaded her castle, so we can infer that she does know some swordplay. Furthermore, she is capable of fighting enemies with a sword when she possesses Phantoms in Spirit Tracks. And Hyrule Warriors also has her fighting with a sword, as well.
So this isn't a first for her. Personally, I'm looking forward to trying out all the new ways to play as her in this game. September 26th cannot come soon enough!
Re: 'Shashingo: Learn Japanese With Photography' Snaps Up September Release Date On Switch
@littlegreenbob It's probably not a good resource, either, but I do watch anime, and have learned a few words. For example, I know that the word "eat" is "tabete" or "taberu" in Japanese, because I've heard it in anime enough times to associate it with that word.
But ah, how I wish for the day when we can invent the universal translator from Star Trek and be able to translate every spoken language in real time.
Re: 'Shashingo: Learn Japanese With Photography' Snaps Up September Release Date On Switch
Well, I am trying to learn Japanese. While I do have Rosetta Stone for Japanese, I've heard some bad things about it, so any other tools and resources that can help me learn the language will be of great help.
Re: Splatoon 3 Version 9.0.0 Announced, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
@Croctopus To me, it almost sounds like Nintendo is making this the last-ever Splatfest for Splatoon 3. If you get to have your photo taken with the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook and not just Deep Cut, then this could be the big blowout bash that caps off the Splatfests for this entry in the series.
Personally, I would not mind that, as I'm admittedly getting a little tired of the Splatfests. They just start feeling more like a chore to me. It also doesn't help that these things keep getting scheduled on weekends where I have to work for half of it. And the team I pick usually ends up losing, anyway (not just in terms of battles, but the Splatfest overall).
Re: Nintendo Reminds Us It's Not Ready To Announce The "Switch Successor"
@The-Chosen-one Same. I also worked for my university’s bookstore, which had a tech department. We also sold video games and consoles. I’d have to explain to people that the Wii U was its own system, not an add-on for the Wii.
Re: Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase & Indie World Announced For Today, 27th August 2024
I doubt we'll see it, but it would be nice if they were able to confirm whether or not Genshin Impact was coming to the Switch. Then again, with Version 5.0 coming out tomorrow, which will require even beefier hardware than before, I doubt it will.
Re: Nintendo Reminds Us It's Not Ready To Announce The "Switch Successor"
@The-Chosen-one People knew that a new Nintendo console was on the way before the Wii U was announced. The problem was that during the reveal trailer and afterwards, Nintendo failed to properly market the system. It also didn't help that they tried to capitalize on the Wii name without making the distinction between the two systems.
But at least it's not as bad as Xbox right now. Starting with the Xbox One, Microsoft has had a really boneheaded naming scheme for the system. I have to hand it to Sony, but when it comes to the PlayStation, they got it down pat, just slapping a 2, 3, 4, 5 (and so on) after the word PlayStation. I don't know what Nintendo is going to call the successor to the Switch, but if they keep the concept, it would make sense to call it the Switch 2, to let people know that it's a brand new system and not a peripheral for the original Switch.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (24th August)
Other than Genshin Impact, most likely Tears of the Kingdom. I still have to beat that game. Kind of felt a bit guilty and embarrassed telling Patricia Summersett (the voice of Zelda in the game) at FanExpo Chicago last weekend that I had yet to beat it.
Re: Pac-Man Sure Looks Different In Amazon's New "Adult-Animated Anthology Series"
@-wc- Yeah, I remember having a nightmare about those things after seeing that. I dreamt that they were chasing me around the yard.
Admittedly, I've never seen the miniseries version, only a part of the movie version with Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. That being said, I did watch the Nostalgia Critic's review of the miniseries, and according to one of the people in the review, Jack Torrance's character was better in the miniseries versus the movie.
And I can see it: the miniseries version was more nuanced and sympathetic, whereas the movie version had almost no redeeming qualities. Whereas Jack's madness in the miniseries and book was due to being possessed by ghosts, Jack's madness in the movie more or less came across as a bad case of cabin fever.
But overall, I'm not really a horror fan. I don't know if it counts as horror, but the only horror movies I care to watch are the original Godzilla from 1954 and Tremors. That being said, I did kind of like The Howling, which was about werewolves and starred the likes of Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, and Robert Picardo. That, and its sequel, which starred Christopher Lee in the only role I've ever seen him in where he played a good guy.
Re: Pac-Man Sure Looks Different In Amazon's New "Adult-Animated Anthology Series"
@-wc- Honestly, I only have very vague memories of that miniseries as a kid, having watched it in a hotel many, many years ago. It took watching the Nostalgia Critic's review of it in the last few years to jog my memory of what the Langoliers looked like. Needless to say, the CGI looked terrible, but what do you expect for a miniseries that only had a budget of about $3-5 million?
Re: Pac-Man Sure Looks Different In Amazon's New "Adult-Animated" Anthology Series
Pac-Man reminds me of that Stephen King miniseries The Langoliers. Anyone else think that, or is it just me?
Re: Talking Point: Would $499 Be Too Much For 'Switch 2'?
Well, considering how game consoles have progressively gotten more expensive with each new generation, it only makes sense that the same happens with Nintendo systems. And we have already seen this. Yes, Nintendo may be the cheapest of the Big Three consoles on the market right now, but even they will have to eventually raise prices in order to make back the cost of development.
As long as they can provide enough justification for the higher price point (namely enough power under the hood to run the latest games, especially those made by third-party developers, as well as a whole slew of games, especially exclusives), I think people will be able to accept a higher price point.
Look at PlayStation, for example: it is one of the best-selling family of systems on the market, and their base model for the PS3 and PS5 cost $499, and the base model for the PS4 cost $399. Even with such an astronomical price point, tens of millions of PlayStations are sold each console generation.
Re: Genshin Impact Announced For Another Platform, Switch Release Left In Limbo
@Samalik Maybe replay value is not the right word for it. But I want Nintendo to give me a reason to keep playing the game after I've beaten it. Let's say it takes me a week to beat a game, then a few more weeks to complete it. What incentive is there for me to keep playing it after all is said and done? I know the game's story, so it's not like I need to experience it over and over again.
Like with a book or a movie, you can only play a game so many times before it gets boring. And with increasing development times, they need something to fill the gap. So if they want to expand the lifespan of a game, they need to do something to encourage players to keep playing it. In that sense, I feel like miHoYo is onto something with Genshin Impact, with its regular updates which include limited time events, new characters, and new quests.
And speaking of multiple characters, I am actually trying to write a light novel that adapts the original Zelda game, but adds elements from other Zelda games, including Breath of the Wild and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (where Link was part of a group and not a solo adventurer), to give it a more fleshed out story with more character interaction.
Oddly enough, what gave me inspiration for this story is the DragonForce song "Power of the Triforce." Listening to this song, I realized that it sounds just like the theme song to an anime. By doing some clever editing, I was able to trim a 3-minute, 52-second song down to around 1 minute and 25 seconds; roughly the length of a typical anime intro.
Based on that, I started storyboarding this hypothetical anime intro in my head, and then taking elements from other Zelda games, came up with an entire plotline and cast of characters. I even came up with romantic subplots for the main characters, too, including Link! In fact, you'd be surprised by who he ends up with!
I hope to publish this light novel with Nintendo's permission, and eventually adapt it into a manga (maybe have Akira Himekawa draw it) and eventually an anime (to be animated by Ufotable, since they have done excellent work on Demon Slayer, and are in charge of the upcoming Genshin Impact anime, the concept trailer for which looks gorgeous).
Re: Genshin Impact Announced For Another Platform, Switch Release Left In Limbo
@Samalik It was more or less an idea to increase the replay value of the game. I find that the Zelda games have very low replay value, in my opinion, so it's hard for me to play the game again, even when starting over from scratch on a new save file.
Genshin, on the other hand, has a steady stream of new content that keeps me coming back for more, which is why I play so much of it. If Nintendo can somehow replicate that for Zelda, even if it's not a live-service game, I'd be quite happy.
Re: Genshin Impact Announced For Another Platform, Switch Release Left In Limbo
@JohnnyMind Fair enough. I wasn't so much thinking of completely mimicking Genshin's model. Maybe make it more like Splatoon. That has some of the structure of a live-service game, but Nintendo comes out with new entries in the series every few years.
Basically, have a complete game, but support continued development with a smaller dev team to come out with new updates and limited time events to encourage people to keep coming back after beating the main game, while other dev teams work on the next entry in the series.
I just find it hard to play a Zelda game again after beating it, so I want a Zelda game that has more replay value. That's why I like Genshin so much: it has a steady stream of content that keeps me coming back for more. And it's the same with Splatoon, even though I'm not much of a competitive player.
Re: Genshin Impact Announced For Another Platform, Switch Release Left In Limbo
@JohnnyMind Personally, I think people are still salty about the similarities to BOTW. Don't get me wrong, I love BOTW and the Zelda series as a whole, but I love Genshin Impact more. The reason being is that it has significantly more replay value than any other game in the Zelda franchise, due to its frequent updates and expansions, as well as its steady stream of new events, quests, and characters.
Personally, I consider Genshin Impact to be the Oreo to Zelda's Hydrox. If you didn't know, Hydrox and Oreo are similar cookies, but Hydrox came out first. Oreo came out a couple years later. But Oreo has the sweeter filling and its cookie part absorbs milk more easily, so it became the more popular of the two. Now, people mistakenly assume that Hydrox is the knockoff to Oreo when it's actually the other way around.
Frankly, if you ask me, Nintendo should either take a page from miHoYo for its next 3D Zelda game and consider making it a live-service game of sorts. Plus, make it so that Link is not the only playable character, but is part of an adventuring party (making it a first for the series outside of Hyrule Warriors).
They don't need to do the gacha or Battle Pass component from Genshin, but as a way to extend the game's lifespan and increase its replay value, add new characters, quests, and limited time events on a regular basis. Heck, maybe they could get miHoYo themselves to work on the next 3D Zelda game!
Re: Genshin Impact Announced For Another Platform, Switch Release Left In Limbo
Might be a good reason to start playing my Xbox again. As it is, I haven't touched my Series X in over a year. And I really have only played my PS5 in the last year for Genshin and Stellar Blade.
But we'll just have to see how powerful the Switch's successor is before we can confirm one way or the other if Genshin is coming to the system. I mean, my iPhone 8 could barely run it, and my iPhone 15 Pro seems to run it mostly fine.
If it does indeed come to the Switch's successor, I have a feeling that it might be the Cloud version, so as to get around any potential lack of power.
Re: Review: Mika And The Witch's Mountain (Switch) - A Cute Ghibli-Inspired Tale That Doesn't Deliver
@CaptainRainbow Yeah, it's not the worst game I've ever played. It has potential, but that potential needs to be realized. Once the DLC comes out and the bugs ironed out, I'd like to see NintendoLife and other companies review the game again to see if it gets a better score.
Re: Review: Mika And The Witch's Mountain (Switch) - A Cute Ghibli-Inspired Tale That Doesn't Deliver
@JohnnyMind I wanted to play more of the beta after that first day, but real life got in the way, and I wasn't able to.
Re: Review: Mika And The Witch's Mountain (Switch) - A Cute Ghibli-Inspired Tale That Doesn't Deliver
@CaptainRainbow Yeah, I enjoyed it too, for the most part. It was a nice, laid-back game, and it does have potential, but that potential needs to be realized if it wants to get a better score. Bugs and typos need to be fixed, Mika's flying controls could stand to be tightened up a bit further (they were even worse in the beta), there should frankly be more missions, and have more variety in the gameplay. Plus, expand the story and flesh out the characters more.
Re: Review: Mika And The Witch's Mountain (Switch) - A Cute Ghibli-Inspired Tale That Doesn't Deliver
@JohnnyMind I also donated to the Kickstarter, and ended up beating the game yesterday on Steam. I figured it would get middling reviews. But believe me, the flying mechanics were MUCH better in the final release versus the beta (which I took part in).
In the beta, the controls did not feel as tight, and I would end up careening all over the place. The hit detection was also more sensitive, so I'd be more likely to damage the package I was delivering whenever I bumped into anything, even if I wasn't going at full speed. Plus, so much as barely touching water also damaged the package.
That being said, I did notice numerous typos and graphical issues with the dialogue screens. Sometimes, the character on the right side of the screen would overlay the text, so we couldn't see what they were saying. The D in "Day 4" was half missing. Another bug I discovered was being able to leave the island altogether by flying out into the ocean.
I don't know if they plan on patching the game to iron out the bugs, but it would be nice if they did. It would also be nice if they added more missions and had some variety in the gameplay. Furthermore, have a mini-map in the corner of the screen, instead of us having to go the in-game menu all the time to figure out where we're going. And maybe take a cue from the Metroid games and show where on the map the collectibles are once you beat the game.
So yeah, the game is not terrible, and was an improvement over the beta, but it could have had a lot more improvements, especially when it came to QOL updates.
Re: Nintendo Announces 'Nintendo Museum Direct'
I mean, it's kind of unexpected to do this as a Direct, but it's not like they haven't done something like this before. After all, look what they did with Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan before it opened to the public.
Re: Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom amiibo Functionality And Compatibility Revealed
I mean, I've got the Zelda & Loftwing amiibo, along with Daruk, Revali, Mipha, and Urbosa, but those are the only Zelda-related amiibo that I have. I don't have any of the others on that list, sadly. And I frankly don't feel like paying through the nose for a scalped one. So I'm with @Sarkos: I hope these can be obtained in-game as well, not just through amiibo.
Re: 'Team Rice' Wins The Latest Splatoon 3 Splatfest
@HeadPirate No problem. I head a feeling that's what it meant. I just wanted to confirm.
And yeah, we were a bit disappointed that we couldn't get in, as my girlfriend and I hadn't been to one in over 20 years, and her sibling had never been to one at all. But we couldn't justify $63 per person; that's highway robbery. Despite that, we did have a good time.
And for the record, Ironmouse is a VTuber, and one of the more prolific ones in the English-speaking world, hailing from Puerto Rico. In fact, according to her Wikipedia article, she's the most-followed English-speaking VTuber on Twitch.
Despite suffering from a debilitating medical condition, she has made a name for herself, has become very successful (with over 2 million followers on Twitch and over a million subscribers on YouTube), and won several awards, including The Game Awards for Content Creator of the Year in 2023 (becoming the first VTuber to do so). She also does charity livestreams with her friend, Welsh ex-pat Connor "CDawgVA" Colquhoun (who lives in Japan) to raise money for the Immune Deficiency Foundation. So definitely check her out if you can!
Re: 'Team Rice' Wins The Latest Splatoon 3 Splatfest
@beaus27 I do that too. I ink my team's home base before joining the fray. Occasionally, I'll make headway into the enemy's base as well.
Re: 'Team Rice' Wins The Latest Splatoon 3 Splatfest
@HeadPirate Forgive me if I don't know what SEA means. I assume it means Southeast Asia, correct? I live in North America, and I do tend to be on the losing team more often than not (both in individual matches and the Splatfests overall).
Most of the time, I am usually working when these Splatfests are going on, so beyond a couple of hours in the evening on Friday and Saturday, the only day I really have time to play is Sunday, when I am not working. But this was one of the rare times that I had the whole weekend off, so I could also play on Friday and Saturday.
I meant to play more yesterday (Sunday), but my girlfriend invited me to go to the circus (set up in the parking lot of a shopping mall) with her and her sibling. Unfortunately, admission for the circus was $63 per person, so we didn't do that.
Instead, we walked around the shopping mall, played some games at a new arcade that opened up, and I even won a Cinnamoroll plushie at a crane game (and yes, I tweeted a photo of it to popular VTuber Ironmouse, who is obsessed with them). Then we went out for dinner at an Asian restaurant, chowed down on some takoyaki, ramen, sushi, and shrimp. That was my entire afternoon, so I didn't get to play at all yesterday.
Re: Rachael Lillis, Voice Actor For Pokémon's Misty And Jessie, Has Passed Away
Was never allowed to watch the Pokémon anime as a kid, but my heart goes out to the family, friends, and fans of Rachael Lillis. I could never imagine anyone other than her as the voice of Misty and Jessie. She will be sorely missed.
Re: Critically-Panned 'Borderlands' Movie Flops At The Box Office
On the bright side, at least the live-action Mario movie from 1993 is no longer one of the worst, if not the worst, movie adaptations of a video game anymore. That movie had a better score, and even performed better at the box office.
Frankly, I think it should be a requirement that any movie adaptation of a video game should be made by someone who knows the franchise inside and out: a movie made by fans, for fans. That, and also have the game developer exercise creative control over the film, to make sure that it is as faithful to the source material as possible.
Re: 'Team Rice' Wins The Latest Splatoon 3 Splatfest
@beaus27 As @HeadPirate said, it's all random matching. If you ask me, the real problem is that you can't voice chat to coordinate with your team during a match. I know that Nintendo is trying to go for a kid-friendly experience (so we won't have what people end up with in Call of Duty or Halo with kids screaming into their mics and trying to be edgy by cursing out everyone), but I have also noticed how a lot of people tend to go do their own thing instead of having any strategy.
That being said, though, by inking as much turf as you can, even if away from the action, can help tip the scales in your favor. Of course, going for the middle of the map is a must, but don't ever neglect the outer edges of the map, either. Those can mean the difference between victory and defeat.