@Bunkerneath And $80 games.

Yes we know Sony. What we want to know is where are the games? Most garbage lineup for a Sony console ever.

@whodatninja I mean, we're absolutely getting Splatoon 4 at some point in the Switch 2's lifespan, it's pretty much inevitable. Splatoon is way too popular to not do it. But this is likely a sign that it's not happening for a few years. This is clearly a game they're using to get Splatoon fans on board with the Switch 2 early, tide fans over until 4, and expand the IP's fanbase. It's not a replacement for anything.

@Nintoz Given the lack of a release date and it being a vague teaser I'm feeling like this isn't coming out this year. Maybe it'll be 2026.

Oh man, this is pretty much exactly what I wanted out of a Splatoon spinoff. I've been losing interest in the main series because the multiplayer is getting too repetitive and rehashy, but this is exactly the kind of game I'd want to stay engaged with the IP. Can't wait to see more.

At least it's not Rachel Zegler.

@TheBigK This. The spawn radius was a bit of an annoying limitation and slowed down my shiny hunting a bit, this is still an improvement.

@N00BiSH Ehh, it really doesn't seem that complicated. And dual screens have been one of Nintendo's most successful and used gimmicks. We definitely lost something getting rid of them.

@N00BiSH Simple answer to that. Take the current screen and split it in two and make them detachable. Then you can get DS/3DS style handheld mode, Wii U style docked mode, and in local multiplayer each person gets a screen in addition to a Joycon.

@N00BiSH I'd rather have dual screens back than this TBH.

@N00BiSH Except dual screens apparently.

This is actually pretty surprising since sequels on the same console tend to sell worse. I guess people really do like the open world. I myself did have a lot of fun with the game, despite the performance issues it's a good foundation for future Pokemon games.

It was a complete mess going back and forth between different retailers like a game of Whack-a-Mole, and I was close to going to bed and going to Gamestop in the morning, but I managed to snag one at Walmart after about 2 hours.

@J_C Just got mine in at Walmart! Thanks for the tip.

@tobsesta99 As much as I despise capitalism, there'd be no getting around this in any economic system.

It's officially sold out at Target, don't bother with that.

@jon128 Yeah, this is the only message I've been getting from Walmart, I've been "in line" for a while and still not getting anywhere.

Yeah I think they're gone now. Walmart kicked me out of line now and I never got a chance to order (and attempting to reorder sends me in an endless loop), and Target lets you get to checkout and says "Something went wrong". Gamestop and Best Buy just said "Coming soon" even a millisecond after refreshing the page. Going to have to try my luck with Gamestop in store tomorrow. If I can't get that, I'm screwed.

Did anyone in the U.S. manage to get a preorder through? They were all gone like, the millisecond after midnight with the exception of Walmart who has me "in line" for an indeterminate amount of time (who knows if there's even any stock left or they're just jerking me around with this). I think scalper bots snapped up all of the online stock, might have to go into my Gamestop tomorrow. Luckily it's in a rural area and I don't think there's a line forming yet, but this has not gone well so far.

Not at all. It's decent but it's not quite the same level as the Switch.

More likely they can't afford to jump to Switch 2.

Is there a Switch 2 Edition upgrade for those that bought the Switch 1 version? That's all I want to know.

@N00BiSH Same. I always thought DK lacked a gameplay identity and felt too close to Mario, the Country games feel like a 2D Mario with heavier physics and a jungle coat of paint, and DK64 is kind of just Mario 64: DK Edition. And I did think leaning into DK's brutish strength was a good way to differentiate himself from Mario. And we're getting that here. I could almost feel like I could drop Mario into other DK games and he wouldn't feel too out of place, but I DEFINITELY cannot say that for this one. Does Mario look like someone that can rip entire chunks out of the level and throw them around? Hell no. Some of these exact mechanics aren't quite what I envisioned in a good way, but a game like this is exactly the kind of game I think DK needs to make a resurgence.

I'd be interested in a Switch 2 Edition of Sonic x Shadow Generations, I assumed it would be a Switch 2 game but the Switch 2 didn't release soon enough for that to happen so I just bought a Switch 1 version.

You don't have the new poll up for this, you just recycled the one from the Switch 1 Direct.

Anyway, solid 9/10. It does just about everything it needed to do and what it didn't do is excusable given the circumstances. My biggest gripe is no 3D Mario (did it get internally delayed AGAIN?), but Mario Kart being open world and open world DK is a good enough substitute for now. The price is a bit more than I'd like, and I think they may be nickel and diming us with Switch 2 Editions, but given the economic conditions I don't really blame them (I blame the orange turd for that one). But there seems to be enough to start off with that it's close to 2017 levels (not quite there, but close enough).

Now this was a surprise. I was fully expecting 3D Mario to be the closer (did it get internally delayed AGAIN?), but 3D DK is fine too. Really has vibes of those mining games on mobile, but as a AAA open world game. Should be interesting.

Treehouse is back! Oh yes! I loved Treehouse, it really gave you a better feel for the games and revealed some tidbits that the trailers didn't quite cover well enough. I missed it so much. Glad to hear they're going all out and making this an E3 throwback of sorts. That's exactly the kind of energy this event needs.

Let's see this infographic again after next week. Not much of interest here for the Switch 1.

Also also, there NEEDS to be a Switch 2 version of this. This HAS to have mouse support, the new psychic abilities feel like they're absolutely designed around the Switch 2's mouse mode.

I mean, the psychic powers are kind of neat, but overall an unexciting showcase here. I hope they have more hidden.

Also y u no release date?

I expected nothing and was still disappointed. Practically a Partner Showcase, that's how bad it was.

If this isn't cross gen we riot. Those psychic abilities look like they were freaking MADE for the mouse mode.

@batmanbud2 Do they? The only one I really like from this bunch is A Trip to Alivel Mall, most of my favorites aren't here. I'm waiting on Through the Tunnel, Faded Dream of a Psychomeddler, and Scattered Souls Across Isolated Isles.

@Bigmanfan Of course he's going to deny it, he's not going to admit to that. You can't take his denial at his word.

As far as the supporting evidence, he showed AI generated monster designs as far back as 2021.

https://x.com/urokuta_ja/status/1470995753627951104

It was a few months after Palworld's announcement, but close enough to be believable that he used the same process for the official designs. His comments on supporting AI, this tweet showing he's done AI-generated Pokemon, and the official designs including elements of Pokemon should be enough evidence for a copyright infringement claim.

@Bigmanfan The CEO blatantly admitted to supporting AI and the designs have distinctive features from Pokemon. Easy to connect the dots here.

No plagiarism on my Nintendo console please. If you're going to ripoff Pokemon, at least use some original freaking monster designs instead of lazy AI amalgamations.

@Eel The Lite is not a hybrid though. I want a hybrid that can fully realize the idea of being a home console and a handheld. No Switch model currently does.

@MrGawain Not really. The problem they're trying to solve with foldable screens is having a larger screen that can also fit in your pocket. A Switch can't fit in your pocket, and that limits its appeal as a handheld, a foldable screen like this one would solve that. The design they chose for this is hot garbage, but the concept of foldable screens is most certainly not a solution looking for a problem.

Let's see the full hardware and the games first before we get too ahead of ourselves.

@Munchlax No, Patrat was in the Kalos Dex. Although you couldn't catch it directly, it was only obtainable by breeding in XY, so that might be why you don't remember it. You could catch Watchog on Rt. 15 (the autumny route in between Laverre and Dendemille). The starters are actually the only Pokemon we've seen so far that weren't in the original Kalos Dex.

@TheBigK The Galar starters are about as old as the Alola starters were when LA came out, and we got Rowlet as a starter in that game. So Galar starters would've been fair game I think. I also don't think Alola is off the table for a Mega, they're fairly old too. I would've subbed one of the Johto starters for something else. Snivy, Litten, and Totodile would've made a far better trio than what we've gotten. Chikorita and Tepig are so bad (I might like them better if they get neat variants, but as is IMO they're some of the worst starters in the series).

Meh, aside from the starters, no real surprises here. All of the non-starter Pokemon shown were previously in the Kalos Dex in XY, so not much to be excited for with this selection. Yet. They do love doing new forms, variants, and evolutions now, I suspect we'll see some in a later trailer. Really I'm surprised that none were shown in this trailer, but since it's a holiday title they're probably holding those kinds of reveals until later.

Also Patrat actually is kind of a big deal since this is the first time since Dexit it'll be available. It hasn't been in a single Switch title at all (Furfrou is also making its Switch debut here, leaving the only yet unaccounted for Pokemon being the monkey trio from Unova).

Not surprising because of the difficulties in developing 3D models, but why does this game exist if that's the case? You can already battle in the main games, what exactly is this adding that would make me want to play this as opposed to a game like SwSh and SV? This is why we haven't had a game in this style for a while.

Meh, fairly unimpressed with what I saw. This is like the bare minimum they could've shown. Two Johto starters is certainly a choice, and I don't really like any of the three that much (maybe some good variants will change that). I guess I'll choose Totodile. No new Pokemon or Megas shown whatsoever. Only remotely interesting announcement is the real time battling system, that is something Pokemon needs to experiment with. And WTF did they do to AZ?

Pretty much showed the bare minimum they could've and the game feels like it might be bare minimum effort. We had a gap year for this? There should still be some cool stuff in the usual June/August trailer but right now there's not much hype about this reveal.

@Clark2k So that is an average. That makes the claim a tad misleading, since without specifying it's an average it leads one to believe that there would be one all 96 months. An average is still nothing to sneeze at, especially compared to Xbox and Playstation, but not specifying an average does raise expectations even further.

Um what? No, there's definitely been some gaps in first party content with this schedule, some of the slower years like 2020 and 2024 did not keep this schedule. At best maybe it was an average, but they definitely did not have a first party game all 96 months that the Switch was on the market from March 2017 to the present day (hell we don't even have something for this month).

Even if they did, I doubt they can with the Switch 2. The Switch 2 is expected to be stronger, so dev times will probably be closer to Xbox and Playstation. And that's probably going to be enough to make one per month unrealistic. It may be more like one every 2-3 months on Switch 2.

@Dazman The lack of Platinum DLC wasn't due to sales, they were probably never planning to make any in the first place with LA and SV both coming within the next year. Unfortunately both LGPE and BDSP are the two best selling Pokemon remakes, both sitting at 15.07 million and 15.06 million respectively. The reality is that Pokemon fans gobbled these games up regardless of their lower quality, and in fact they likely sold better because of the Switch effect.

@ScalenePowers Let's Go is hampered by much more than the naming convention. The entire design philosophy of those games are extremely controversial. Making it a glorified copy/paste of Yellow with Go catching mechanics replacing actual wild battles was the exact wrong direction for a Switch game and honestly I'd play BDSP 10 times over before I even think of touching the likes of LGPE. At least BDSP has wild battles, more than the same 151 Pokemon we've seen 17 times, map design that doesn't feel like it was made by a 5 year old, an actual story, actual side content, and actual QoL features.

Legends is a far better version of what LGPE is trying to be, in a sense LA is a spiritual successor of LGPE. That game actually has a sense of modern game design and fresh, constructive formula improvements to make a game of that style worth playing. And we're actually getting a second Legends entry, as it deserves.

I'd rather Pokemon get NSO ports and Legends entries than remakes, remakes don't serve much of a purpose anymore.

Bold of you to talk about 3DS NSO when we don't even have DS. Let's get DS NSO games first.

And I don't think Nintendo wants to start porting them to NSO when they can do remakes/remasters right now. They don't have Wii U remakes/remasters to rely on at this point so 3DS is probably going to have to help fill that void. I can definitely see some popular 3DS games like 3D Land, ALBW, the Kirby games, and Kid Icarus getting Switch 2 remakes/remasters.