AstroTheGamosian

So we'll be getting the REAL Jedi Power Battles on a Nintendo platform now. I have the version for the GBA (in fact, that was my first-ever GBA game, when I got my GBA for Christmas many years ago), and let's just say, it could have been a lot better than it actually was. They didn't even have my boy Plo Koon in the GBA version! Definitely going to have to get this one, for sure.

@nhSnork Had to Google what YMMV meant. I guess I'm an old fart. 😅

But to each their own. Personally, I find it more difficult to aim with gyro controls than anything else, with a mouse being the easiest.

Any game that requires precision aiming. For example, Skyrim, Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom. I usually like to play as an archer in those games, but trying to aim with a joystick can be a chore at times. And I hate using gyro controls. But doing it with a mouse can make aiming more precise.

Another game that could benefit from the mouse feature is Trauma Center. Previous entries in the series used a touchscreen and stylus or motion controls, but it is possible to use a mouse to use surgical tools. I'd frankly love to see Atlus revisit this franchise. I think we've seen enough Persona and Shin Megami Tensei for a while. I especially want to see Derek Stiles and Angie Thompson finally become a couple (and have it be in glorious full-motion video, animated by the studio that made the Persona 4 anime).

Yeah, I guarantee Nintendo will shut this down once they get wind of it, if they haven’t already. I mean, they did allow a fan film that adapted Ocarina of Time called “The Hero of Time” to be up on YouTube for a brief time, but even that was taken down.

We’ll just have to wait for the official film to come out, it seems, in order for us Zelda fans to see Hyrule, Link, Zelda, and Ganon in all their live-action glory.

Not too surprised. It seems like more and more movies are coming out on digital just weeks after they release in theaters. In fact, the recent anime film "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" did just that, being released on digital just two weeks after coming out in theaters.

Probably a good thing, too, since the movie made only about $20 million at the box office against a $30 million budget. A movie has to make twice as much as its budget to break even, and three times as much to be a success. Anything less than twice its budget is a flop. But to not even make its budget back, that's a disaster.

Still, despite what the critics and haters say, it's a good movie, and I highly recommend it to everyone who enjoys The Lord of the Rings. Even my mother liked it, and she doesn't even like anime (mainly due to the art style, especially with how they draw the eyes).

It will be interesting to see what the price will be, but for us Americans, it will be even more interesting to see how much more expensive the price will be if our newly-inaugurated president gets his way and implements the tariffs that he wants on all imported goods, which would include games and consoles.

I don't know if it counts as a quest, but collecting all of the Dragon's Tears in Tears of the Kingdom. The reveal that Zelda was the Light Dragon all along still affects me. Especially since her final thoughts as a human were with her people.

It's because of her kind and selfless nature that she is my favorite monarch, real or fictional. I said as much to Patricia Summersett when I met her last August at a convention. She even wrote "Protect them all!" on the box art for my copy of TOTK due to our conversation.

Pleasantly surprised to see the GBA version of The Two Towers in the Top 5. Don't get me wrong, it's a solid game, but it can be frustrating if you're not familiar with RPG games where you have to upgrade your armor, weapons, skills, etc. I do, however, have The Two Towers on the PS2 (and I believe The Return of the King as well, if memory serves me correctly), and I enjoyed that version very much. I don't know if it's the same kind of gameplay as the GCN version, so if anyone's played both, please let me know.

And for those who don't know, the one that came out on the SNES is based on the 1978 animated film directed by Ralph Bakshi (the director behind movies like Wizards, Fire and Ice, and Cool World); you can tell by one of the screenshots in the article, which depicts one of the Hobbits. Interestingly enough, that movie is unrelated to the animated adaptations of The Hobbit and The Return of the King, which were made by Rankin/Bass Entertainment in association with Topcraft (the predecessor to Studio Ghibli).

However, since those three films largely tell the overarching story of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings book trilogy, they're often referred to as The Lord of the Rings Animated Trilogy. We would not get another animated LOTR film until this past year, when The War of the Rohirrim (which was frankly a good movie, despite what the critics and haters say) came out; and despite being animated (more specifically, an anime film directed by Kenji Kamiyama), the film is related to the live-action films directed by Peter Jackson. It's already out on digital, so if anyone wants to buy or rent it, definitely check it out!

I don't necessarily like his abrasive demeanor all the time, but I 100% agree with him here. Because of these leakers, I was simply not that blown away by the actual reveal. Of course, I urged caution for everyone here and elsewhere, because not every rumor and "leak" may be true.

But still, the actual reveal was a bit of a let-down. I still think Nintendo rushed out the reveal because of the torrent of leaks coming out from partners, third parties, and random joe-blows on the Internet. I have a sneaking suspicion that they wanted to wait until the end of March to do a proper reveal, but these leaks forced them to do one early (hence why we only know what the form factor looks like and not much else).

The thing is, no matter how many units you manufacture, this isn't going to stop the scalpers. They are just going to end up snapping up that much more Switch 2s before legitimate customers can get their hands on them.

This is where we need laws that get tough on scalpers and online resellers like eBay who allow these scalpers to continue their activities unabated. Fine the resellers and jail the scalpers. Basically, make it so painful to scalp anything that no one wants to do it anymore or allow it to happen.

Furthermore, all consoles, games, and accessories (including limited-edition items) must be able to be preordered in-person instead of being online-only; I missed out on quite a few things during the Switch era because the preorders were online-only instead of in-person.

Maybe if this had come to Chicago or Milwaukee (two of the largest cities in the area where I live), I might have considered it. But I am not going to travel to Dallas, Los Angeles, or New York City for this. I simply can't justify the travel expenses for a few hours of entertainment.

@8bit-Man Exactly. After all, Nintendo said that it would be revealed by the end of the fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2025. And since Nintendo usually announces Nintendo Directs a day or two in advance, my guess is they were planning on waiting until the end of March to properly reveal it.

Sadly, we live in a world where instant gratification matters more than patience (basically, "Don't care how, I want it now" instead of "Good things come to those who wait"), so no one wanted to wait for Nintendo to reveal the console on their own terms. That more than likely ended up forcing Nintendo's hand.

Maybe a 6 or a 7 for me. All we really have to go on is the form factor right now. I'm more interested in what's under the hood, especially compared to the original Switch and maybe even the competition. I've heard rumors that it would be on par with the base model PS4, but until Nintendo reveals the specs, that remains to be seen.

Besides, the original Switch's reveal trailer showed all the kinds of things you could do with the system, playing it at home, on the go, etc., and even showcased the kinds of games you could play on it. The reveal for the Switch 2 doesn't really generate that same hype for me.

I can't help but wonder if Nintendo had something bigger and better planned for a proper reveal in the coming months, but the flood of leaks from other parties, especially third-party accessory makers like Genki, forced Nintendo's hand and made them expedite their plans to reveal the console before they were truly ready. Them shadow-dropping the trailer, if only to reveal the form factor, and announcing a Nintendo Direct for April, just says to me that they didn't plan on showcasing it this early.

I mean, don't get me wrong: I'm still going to get the system, but this trailer doesn't generate as much hype for me as the original Switch's reveal trailer did.

Yeah, with a Nintendo Direct being announced that far out, I have to wonder if they had planned for a reveal sometime in March, but had to expedite their plans a couple months early because of the leaks from various parties, especially third-party accessory makers like Genki.

Not only that, the fact that Nintendo shadow-dropped the reveal on YouTube instead of announcing a day or two beforehand that they would be unveiling the system today is a bit of a head-scratcher to me. You'd think that they would have announced the date when they would reveal their next generation of hardware. After all, when the original Switch came out, they announced the date when they would reveal the system well beforehand.

Well, color me surprised. The thing was actually revealed today. I half-expected the rumor that it was being revealed today to not pan out. After all, Nintendo is notorious for keeping their cards close to their chest and not divulging too much information, if any at all.

That being said, however, when it comes to announcing the next generation of hardware, you'd think they would have made some announcement of when the reveal trailer would drop. Just shadow-dropping the reveal on YouTube is kind of a head-scratcher, if you ask me.

I can't help but wonder if Nintendo had planned to reveal it much later (like, sometime in March), but the flood of leaks, especially from third-party accessory makers like Genki, expedited their plans. After all, we only know about the form factor of the system, not much else.

Mario Paint port when?

In all seriousness, if the mouse feature is indeed a thing, it would be cool if you could use alternative control schemes to play certain games. For example, since I play on the PC a lot (mainly for Genshin Impact), I obviously use a mouse and keyboard to play instead of a controller.

For games that are on both PC and Switch 2 (now I can finally call it "Switch 2" instead of the "successor to the Switch," since the console and the name are officially revealed), it would be nice to be able to have the option to play either with a traditional control scheme or with a mouse functionality, especially for games like Skyrim, which benefit from precision aiming with a mouse.

Well, that's a little closer to the Star Fox: Assault soundtrack. I do love several of the tracks in The Wind Waker, though, the Molgera Battle especially (both versions).

@Jack_Goetz Exactly. It felt like a chore. Especially since I was losing more matches than I was winning. It’s frankly a wonder I got to Ruler rank in a single day.

Assuming this is true, I’ll be able to see it live, as that is one of my days off this week. Still, I’m not getting my hopes up. Until Nintendo themselves says anything, or they shadow-drop the reveal, I am taking this rumor with a grain of salt.

I swear, there’s got to be balancing issues if the winning team won through the Clout score alone yet again. It wasn’t even close. Even my girlfriend’s sibling, who is more into Splatoon than I am, agrees.

Nintendo REALLY needs to rebalance the game, or fix it come Splatoon 4, because I’m honestly beginning to get annoyed that the winning team keeps taking home the victory through the Clout score alone.

@TheRealKyleHyde Well, it makes sense that Lurtz is not in that game. He was a character created specifically for the Peter Jackson movie. He never appeared in the book (nor did he appear in the animated version from 1978 by Ralph Bakshi), ergo he wouldn't appear in a game based on the book version instead of the movie version.

In fact, in the book, it was never even specified who killed Boromir; all the text says is that his body was pierced with many black-feathered arrows, and that multiple Uruk-hai lay dead around him. Not only that, it occurs at the very beginning of The Two Towers, not at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring; Peter Jackson moved his death from the beginning of the Two Towers to the end of The Fellowship of the Ring to make the ending more climactic.

@UmbreonsPapa Oh, believe me, I get it. It can be fun to speculate at times, provided that we don't let our expectations spiral out of control. We end up being let down by the final result in that instance.

Personally, the one game I want to see come to the successor to the Switch is Genshin Impact. If I have to play it on the go, I'd rather it be on that instead of my smartphone. Granted, it runs just fine on my smartphone (it's an iPhone 15 Pro, after all; I bought it specifically so I could have an easier time playing Genshin when I am on the go, as my iPhone 8 doesn't run it all that well), but I'm not very well versed with touchscreen controls. So having a proper controller would be nice.

I mean, it's not the end of the world if it doesn't come to the system; I prefer to play it on PC with a mouse and keyboard, after all. But being able to play with a proper controller when I'm on the go would be nice.

The only LOTR game that I have on a Nintendo console is The Two Towers on the GBA. It’s got a bunch of RPG elements to it, such as leveling up, unlocking skills, etc. It’s not a bad game, but it can be very a challenging one.

That being said, there is one game-breaking glitch that I discovered if you play Gandalf. If you fight the Balrog and defeat it before you trigger a dialogue box, you end up stuck in the arena where you fight it. You would have to restart the game without saving in order to do the battle again.

Fortunately, there is another glitch in that fight in the upper-left corner of the arena. If you stand next to a chasm, the Balrog will keep trying to hit you but can’t. However, you can hit the Balrog. So it’s an easy way of killing a difficult boss.

So take that how you will. If you’re interested in trying it out, maybe you can find a copy of it somewhere (unless you decide to emulate it). If all else fails, you can always watch a gameplay video on YouTube.

@UmbreonsPapa The reason why we shouldn't get too much into speculation is because if the console doesn't live up to the standards we set for it based on said speculation, we'll end up being let down by the final product.

For example, I've heard one rumor that the system will upscale to 4K while in Docked mode. That would be really neat, but it's just a rumor. But if I believe it as the gospel truth (especially if the "leaker" has had a good track record in the past), and it turns out that the system actually DOESN'T upscale to 4K, I'm going to be left sorely disappointed and less likely to buy the system on launch.

So I try to keep my expectations low so that I don't end up feeling let down when the product is officially revealed. This is especially the case since Nintendo prefers to go in its own direction instead of just making a more powerful console like Sony and Microsoft do. They've basically exited that race a long time ago, so it's best if we keep our expectations low in terms of what the console is capable of.

@Dev1024 I mean, Nintendo has reused previous console names before (Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy Pocket/Color/Advance/Advance SP/Micro, DS Lite/DSi/DSi XL/3DS/3DS XL/New 3DS/New 3DS XL, Wii U), so Nintendo could always call it the Switch 2 if they wanted. But we simply don't know yet.

But if we think about it this way, assuming they continue with the Switch line with a significantly beefier successor to the original Switch, calling it the Switch 2 would clear up any confusion as to it being a separate system altogether, instead of being just an add-on to the original Switch. After all, a lot of people were confused about the Wii U, assuming it was just a peripheral to the original Wii instead of being its own system, thus no one bought the console.

Furthermore, Sony puts a number after each of its generations of PlayStations to differentiate between them, so no one is confused there. Nintendo could always do the same. And there's nothing wrong with that, in my opinion. But as of right now, I simply urge caution before we all start jumping the gun on things.

And I get what you mean about having other games to play in the meantime. I'm finally able to sit down and enjoy the latest version of Genshin Impact. I meant to get through it a week ago, but as my luck had it, I came down with COVID (for the second time in my life, the last time being in August 2022, oddly enough the same day Sumeru was released in that game), and only just now have the energy to play.

Just finished the Archon Quest a few minutes ago, and now I'm on to complete the Tribal Chronicles Quest in the Masters of the Night-Wind village in Natlan, and finally Mavuika's Story Quest. Gotta get those Primogems to wish for Citlali somehow, especially since I blew all of my Intertwined Fates wishing for Mavuika (but lost the 50/50 to Jean before finally getting the Pyro Archon).

Oh, great, I forgot about this. I've spent the last week fighting off COVID, and haven't had much energy for gaming. I've only just been able to finally play Genshin Impact again.

Maybe once I get through the Archon Quest, I can play the Splatfest. But it will have to be on my Switch Lite, because my OLED Switch is not hooked back up to my TV again. I was planning on getting the rest of my game systems hooked up last weekend, but then came down with COVID instead.

As cool as this would be (being a big fan of Halo), I will believe it when I see it. Again, I don't want to get hyped up by the rumor mill, only to be sorely disappointed.

See, with this update, this is EXACTLY what I've been saying for a while. We should not take these rumors and "leaks" as gospel truth, regardless of how legit they seem or how accurate the "leakers" have been in the past.

This is EXACTLY what happened before the Switch was revealed (back when it was still known by its codename NX). Someone made a 3D-printed mockup of the NX based on a patent that Nintendo filed (which looked nothing like what we ultimately got), and passed it off as legit before coming out with the truth.

We NEED to wait for Nintendo to lift the lid on the successor to the Switch (after all, it may not even be called Switch 2; and I say this because, as I've said before, a GameStop employee told me that their Nintendo rep told them specifically NOT to call it Switch 2), and not engage in wild speculation about the name and nature of the console.

@AG_Awesome Well, you can manufacture as many as you want, but that just means more for the scalpers to get their hands on. What Nintendo needs to do is tell their partnered retailers that preorders must either be in-person only, or if they are online, they are allowed to preorder only one console per transaction. Really, that should be the case for both online and in-person preordering. That will hopefully mitigate the scalpers using their bots to buy up all of the stock before legitimate customers have the chance to get one.

@8bit-Man @AG_Awesome That could very well be what it is. Maybe they're trying to get enough games in a state to where they can showcase them as titles that will come out on launch day or during the launch window.

Of course, it's also important to know that Nintendo planned on REVEALING the successor to the Switch by the end of March 2025. They never said anything about RELEASING it within that timeframe. It's very well possible that they might shoot for a Holiday 2025 release. Reveal a bunch of games over the course of the year, build up a ton of hype, and basically make a killing during the holiday rush.

Besides, neither Sony nor Microsoft have anything concrete hardware-wise coming down the pipeline, as far as we are aware. The PlayStation 6 is still a few years down the road at the very least, and it's anyone's guess if Microsoft is even going to continue with the Xbox line with such dismal sales numbers as the Series X/S has (and my money is on no, especially since they're buying up a bunch of third-party developers and really pushing the PC component of their brand).

@Fulgor_Astral In all fairness, what is the PlayStation but a hardware upgrade over the previous generation? Ditto with the Xbox. There's really nothing new to either system beyond more power under the hood. And yet people still buy those consoles anyway.

It's really only Nintendo that tries something new when it comes to gameplay. I'd say let's wait and see if they can pull off a repeat of the original Switch's success with the new system. If they end up doing so, it could be a winning formula for them in the future.

But if they end up with another Wii U on their hands, they may end up rethinking their strategy and going back to the drawing board, coming up with a new, innovative console (and hopefully one with beefier hardware inside so as to compete with Sony and Microsoft).

Only used them with Super Mario Odyssey. Maybe ARMS as well. But not really beyond that.

Nice use of the Khan Noonien Singh and his crew of Augments, by the way. LLAP, from one Star Trek fan to another.

Still waiting on my Star Fox: Assault soundtrack. I'll be repeating this until they finally release it.

As long as it can play Genshin Impact without any major issues, I'm happy.

Assuming that this is true, I would love to see a new Trauma Center game that utilizes this function. Derek’s and Angie’s story isn’t done yet!

Honestly, I don’t know if I will be. As my luck would have it, I came down sick again, this time with a respiratory infection. This is two weeks after I dealt with the norovirus. Good thing I am on a five-day weekend right now; I’d hate to have to put in more time off at work. I’m likely just going to be taking it easy these next few days and rest.

[EDIT]: Looks like I came down with COVID. This is my second bout with it, my last one being in August 2022. Fortunately, I am vaxxed and boosted, so it feels no worse than a bad cold right now. But I will have to take at least one day off of work per the doctor’s orders.

Well, if you ask me, it's highly unlikely that we'll see another Punch-Out!! game, but not because of stereotypes. Nintendo always likes to experiment with gameplay, and if they can't come up with a fun new gameplay gimmick, they basically put the entire franchise on the back burner. It's what they did with F-Zero until F-Zero 99 came out. It's also why they didn't put a Star Fox game on the Wii.

The issue with Punch-Out!! is the fact that there really isn't much room to introduce new gameplay gimmicks. If anything, ARMS was a spiritual successor to Punch-Out!!, but even then, there's little they can do with introducing new gimmicks to that game as well. I guarantee you, even Nintendo, as creative as they can be, will eventually run out of new ways for people to play games.

Frankly not surprised that this game got mediocre reviews. It's almost a rule of thumb that Star Trek games are not that good. Probably the best one I've seen in a long while is Star Trek Online. Frankly, it'd be nice if that game came to the Switch. I'd love to play that game on the go without having to drag my Alienware laptop with me!

I prefer not to engage in rumors and speculation regarding the successor to the Nintendo Switch, be it the name or the specs. As it is, when I was at GameStop a few months ago, the store associate told me that their Nintendo rep specifically told them to NOT call it the Switch 2.

I encourage everyone here to temper their expectations by not giving much credence to these supposed “leaks” and rumors, regardless of how legitimate they appear to be, lest we all end up disappointed with the final product when Nintendo themselves finally pulls back the curtain.

It would definitely be nice to have a rerelease of Star Fox: Assault. It's my favorite Star Fox game.

I could see them adding new levels in the campaign mode, including using the multiplayer-only maps of Titania, Zoness, and the Great Fox, plus new levels like Aquas, Macbeth, and maybe even see Papetoon for the first time in a Star Fox game.

I'd especially love to see Venom, where Fox has to infiltrate the ruins of Andross' base to acquire the schematics for the computer virus weapon that the Cornerian Army created to destroy the Aparoids.

It would also be nice to see the rest of Team Star Wolf be included in multiplayer mode, and have it be online so you can play with people around the world.

If they can do that, plus tighten up the controls for the on-foot and Landmaster portions of the game (which were a little touchy in the original release, where one wrong move could send you tumbling off a ledge), this game could end up being the best Star Fox game of all time, maybe even better than Star Fox 64.

I mean, it's kind of a no-win scenario here. The box art for either really isn't that great. Personally, I went with the JP box art, because we at least got Link and a shot of Hyrule in the background, even though I am more used to the NA/EU box art. But neither are really, "Oh my God, that's awesome!"

But on the bright side, at least the NA/EU box art told the truth: "Another journey of ultimate challenge." And boy oh boy, is that game the ultimate challenge for the series. Even I, as a veteran gamer and lifelong fan of the series, can have immense difficulty playing the game, even with all of Link's stats being maxed out.

My usual Genshin Impact. But I'll be spending Sunday with my girlfriend, and we're planning on watching more Star Trek (which I got her into), so there won't be much game time other than later today after work and tomorrow morning before I go to her condo.

If I'm being honest, I don't want them to make an adaptation of The Wind Waker. At least, not as it is right now. Maybe if Akira Himekawa made an adaptation of it that expands upon the story and especially the characters, then I could see it. But with just the game to go on, I don't think it's workable.

Amy Rose and Rouge the Bat are definitely two that I would love to see come to the big screen. But I would also love to see Sally Acorn and Bunny Rabbot. I think it would be nice to see their big-screen debut.

Heck yeah! Although, it would have been cool if they included some of the tracks from the DS version, too. For example, the remix of the Isle Delfino theme, which played in a mini-level that was original to the DS version of the game (the room in Princess Peach's castle where you could play all of the minigames).

Would be cool if they added in the Star Fox 64 version of Krystal that someone made into the game. You can find that model and rig on the Krystal Archive to see what it looks like. It's as if she was already a member of the team to begin with (so she's in the flight suit and jacket, scarf, boots, gloves, and even has a blaster).

I maintain, I ain't calling it "Switch 2" until Nintendo itself tells me to do so. As it is, when I went to GameStop a few months back, the employee told me that their Nintendo rep specifically told them to not call it that. So it's very well possible that Nintendo could be calling it something else.

While the NA/EU version does look pretty bada** (kind of reminds me of ThunderCats, for some reason), I'm more biased towards the anime art style for basically anything and everything (especially retro anime art styles), so the JP version gets my vote.

Really not planning on playing much this weekend, sadly. I just don’t have the energy for it. Still recovering from the worst gastrointestinal infection I’ve ever had in my entire life. I need to focus more on resting and getting fluids back into me than playing games.

Heck yeah! This was one of my favorite soundtracks from Nintendo! Absolutely loved "The Ballad of the Goddess" and "Gliding with a Loftwing" (what we would call "The Sky" in YouTube uploads of that soundtrack).

Now they just need to get Twilight Princess and Star Fox: Assault! Those are also a couple of my favorite video game soundtracks from Nintendo, so I would love to see it happen eventually!