Comments 285

Re: Random: This Fan Is Ripping Nintendo's Finest Tunes From Vinyl, Including The 3DS Menu Theme

BrewsterTea

@ShadLink Listen, this whole time it sounds like you've been arguing in favor of why others should have to experience the OS the way you want to: barebones. If all you're saying is that you just want to continue having the option to keep it simple, then all the power to you. I just want the option to make my menus noisy and cluttered, the way I like it. I'm not advocating Nintendo take away simple menu's from you. But the way your messages are received, it sounds like you want others to have to continue not getting the thing they want because you want to keep the thing you want. And the Switch 2 is powerful enough where we can both get what we want. There's no reason to be so adamant about keeping others from getting what they want.

Re: Random: This Fan Is Ripping Nintendo's Finest Tunes Onto Vinyl, Including The 3DS Menu Theme

BrewsterTea

@ShadLink Like I said, you miss the point entirely. A menu on a games console is not just a place you spend one second; it's a visual space that you return to, over and over. For a core gamer, it can be a visual space that you return to almost every day, for years! Every time you boot up your Switch, the home menu greets you not too dissimilarly to the visual space that greets you every time you enter your home. That's fine for you if you prefer to interact with a computer's operating system as little as possible. I'm not judging you. But your dismissal of the value other people find in tailoring that visual space to feel cozy or cool, or to reflect their fandom for a certain Nintendo franchise or game, is pretty close-minded.

Re: Random: This Fan Is Ripping Nintendo's Finest Tunes Onto Vinyl, Including The 3DS Menu Theme

BrewsterTea

@ShadLink Actually, your point can be taken even further. A phone can be just a phone. And a house can be just where you sleep and spend the night. Why would you need to personalize a tool to call people? Indeed, a telephone used to be solely a tool; a means to an end. Just like Nintendo's past consoles.

Layers of innovation were added over time; for houses, economies grew so that home owners could expect to afford to buy things to decorate their homes. Phones innovated beyond simply functioning as a tool into becoming a universal space for software operation. And as every industry knows, once you create a space, it enhances revenue to give people the ability to personalize it.

As you described, you are the type of person who does not see the point in expressing yourself through the platforms you use. But your perspective does not reflect everyone else's, and there are many people who appreciate the ability to personalize the things they own and use. And as they say, once Pandora's box is opened, you cannot go back. Now that we have experienced the fun of adding wallpapers to the home menu, we want to continue experiencing it moving forward. It's not a big ask to be honest. And your vehemence against it is perplexing.

Re: Random: This Fan Is Ripping Nintendo's Finest Tunes Onto Vinyl, Including The 3DS Menu Theme

BrewsterTea

@ShadLink I don't stare at the Home Menu; I enjoy personalizing it the same way I personalize my phone, and the same way I personalize my home. I don't leave my phone with a plain black or white background. I enjoy switching the wallpaper to match the seasons or my mood.

To act like it's pointless to design an engaging user experience or allow us to personalize it is reductionist, because you can draw the line anywhere you like. Why waste time choosing between Nintendo account icons? Just jump right into the game and don't even bother giving your account a name! Or why waste dev time creating a cool menu layout within the game? It's just distracting you from playing the game itself! Just create a simplistic, barebones menu so that you can do what you need to do and get right back into the game! Persona 5, Smash Bros., and etc all, are good examples why creating an engaging UI enhances the user experience and adds value to the product, without inhibiting functionality. You just completely miss the point if the only logic you can stand on is reductionism.

Re: Random: This Fan Is Ripping Nintendo's Finest Tunes Onto Vinyl, Including The 3DS Menu Theme

BrewsterTea

@OmnitronVariant Thankfully at least for the Switch 2, the beeps and boops are a lot closer to the 3DS... IF the 3DS never got wallpaper themes.

Can you imagine how fun it would be to collect wallpaper themes of each game on NSO in the same way that you collect NSO icons? A gamer can dream.

@ShadLink Switch 2 has 3 whole GB of RAM dedicated to the OS. Switch 2 has PLENTY of juice capable of handling a richer user experience on the Home Menu. With that much RAM, Nintendo could add Nintendo Music directly onto the Quick Menu and overlay music over anything else happening, like playing music while you play games or browse the eShop.

Re: Rumour: A Nintendo Direct May Be Coming As Soon As Next Week

BrewsterTea

Would love an exciting general Direct revealing the big AAA first-party title for this winter, as well as a tease for games in early 2027.

However, if they continue rolling out individual Directs for other games like Splatoon Raiders, Yoshi's Storybook, and Fire Emblem, then I worry it will just be a third-party partner Direct.

Re: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Gets Another Stunning Movie Poster

BrewsterTea

Would be really cool if the end of the movie teased a character, or a game mechanic, or environment, or something, that basically gave massive hints toward a Mario Galaxy 3. Then right after the movie launches, Nintendo announces a Mario Direct, and reveals Galaxy 3, launching this holiday season! Would have been nice if Nintendo planned far enough ahead to do something like that. I mean when you think about it, hardly any other media franchise could coordinate something so multifaceted (and lucrative).

Re: Best Final Fantasy Games, Ranked - Switch 2 And Nintendo Systems

BrewsterTea

  • Final Fantasy Explorers is so underrated. A new one could add as many classes as Tactics, flesh out the hub towns you can visit, a storyline along the lines of MH4, and you've got yourself an excellent hunting game with Final Fantasy flavor. Bonus points if they make the UX extra crunchy and cozy like Kingdom Hearts.
  • Wii graphics have the coziest art styles of all the games listed. It's the perfect meeting point between clean, fully-proportioned 3D and that nostalgic pixelated appearance.

Re: Japanese Charts: Animal Crossing: New Horizons Digs Up A Win On Switch 2

BrewsterTea

@AmplifyMJ You're right, and I agree; I'm still interested in the game as a Nintendo fan who's neutral about DK. I just have too many other things to prioritize right now, so maybe the game will look more tempting a couple years down the road. It's a nice game to get during a quiet month when you don't have anything else to buy... if not for that pesky backlog always gnawing at you of course!

Re: The Fable Reboot Is Reportedly "Under Consideration" For Switch 2

BrewsterTea

Microsoft feels like one of those toxic friends, who is all chummy to Nintendo's face, but behind their back is conniving and antagonistic. I'm really hoping it's just a case of delayed optimization due to the ridiculous dev kit drip feed. I have lots of nostalgia playing my friend's Fable 1 and Elder Scrolls when I was young, so I'm dying to see those games get proper ports!

I love the lighthearted tone of the Fable series, and the trailer looks like it does a good job of recreating that old magic. Not many medieval franchises offer that unique light-hearted tone that the first Fable game did so well.

Re: Opinion: A Big Life Change Means I'm Happy To Wait For A Brand New Animal Crossing

BrewsterTea

Congratulations on becoming a mom! What an exciting new era you can look forward to.

I agree on New Horizons following along with major life beats; More than any other individual game, ACNH has served as a wonderful companion to my busier life, playing just as much or as little as I need over the past few years. But no matter how little I can play, it has become the number one game that I boot up for that quick dose of comfort and decompression.

The only other video games that I can compare it to is the Pokemon franchise in general, where I have fond memories of faithfully playing each Pokemon game across the years as I grew up. In that way, I can associate all the generations of Pokemon reflecting different times in my life.

Re: Nintendo Producer Kensuke Tanabe Has Seemingly Confirmed His Retirement

BrewsterTea

@NinjaWaddleDee What I really want to see from the Metroid Prime series is more dynamic first-person platforming. A lot of franchises like Mirror's Edge have shown that you can still have really interesting acrobatics in a first-person game. More dodging, using the Screw Attack ability in first-person, wall-jumping, and etc., are all things that they can more directly integrate into Metroid Prime while still maintaining a first-person perspective.

@canaryfarmer Not just Tanabe! I played Metroid Prime Hunters to death back in the day, and I was a huge fan of Sylux. I'm so pumped that Tanabe-san felt the same way and tried his best to create a bonafide Sylux saga before retiring. I just hope Retro Studios continue the saga even if they do it in their own way apart from Tanabe.

Re: Ubisoft Cancels 6 Games In Major Organisation Restructure

BrewsterTea

I want to buy Assassin's Creed Shadows, but I want a version of the game where:

  • the gratuitous combat is toned down. I don't need edgelord, Mortal Kombat-esque death blows every time I fight an NPC. I prefer quick, simple, efficient combat.
  • the game can be played with just the ninja. I have no interest in the samurai character, and I would prefer to play the whole game as just a sneaky ninja. Per Assassin's Creed original paradigm, in fact.

Just my two cents. After AC2, I noticed the franchise grow excessive and wanton with its combat. Call me old-fashioned, but mainstream games' revelry in bloody, gory violence is one big reason why I prefer Nintendo's overall sensibility.

Re: Digital Foundry Delivers Its Tech Review Of Final Fantasy VII Remake On Switch 2

BrewsterTea

One big thing that has opened my eyes to the benefit of 120fps is panning the camera left and right. After playing Metroid Prime 4 in 120fps mode, it felt like I was looking around with my own two eyes within the world. Everything else, even 60fps, blurs the screen as you pan the camera, and it's become much more noticeable to me after playing Switch 2 games. Switch OLED's camera panning really bothered my eyes, and now that I've experienced a game in 120fps, I am eagerly anticipating the era where Nintendo's games are 120fps standard. Hopefully within 10 years, but who knows when.

Re: Switch 2 Predicted To Follow In PlayStation And Xbox's Footsteps This Year With "Global Price Hike"

BrewsterTea

Honestly, whatever hardware can be accommodated with a $399 price point, I wish Nintendo would stick with, and just rely on efficiency gains to improve performance at a slower pace over time.

I would be willing to make that concession in power, because as I've said before, Tears of the Kingdom is the greatest game I need for the foreseeable future, and it's quite nearly functional on the Switch 1.

The biggest problem is this graphics arms race that has spiraled the game industry, and has pressured even Nintendo to opt in with the Switch 2's specs. But as others have said, now that Nintendo has written themselves into this corner, offering a relatively affordable game console is going to be tough.

Re: Mystery Product Code Sparks Rumours Of A New Switch 2 Model

BrewsterTea

I don't want the same Switch Lite design. I want a clamshell Switch 2 Mini! I would love another clamshell handheld from Nintendo, and a Switch 2 Mini would be a perfect way to offer a smaller, more affordable SKU to price-conscious buyers, while offering something totally unique from the standard Switch form factor.

Re: Pokémon Lego Sets Are Already Being Sold On eBay For Stupid Money

BrewsterTea

@SillyG Agreed; I also love the Kanto trio set, but the highest I would have been willing to spend is $400. Definitely not spending $650 for three decent models of Pokemon.

Perhaps if they sold them a la carte, I would have been willing to splurge $200 on each over the next two years. But what amounts to nearly $700 upfront, after taxes in my region, is a massive dealbreaker. I should just spend that on a PS5 Pro!

Even Pikachu should have been a $100 model without the trumped up buildable display stand. The Pokeball should have been standalone for $45. Ah well. The LEGO Pokeball and Pikachu will sit nicely next to the LEGO GameBoy. Now I just have to recollect a genuine copy of Pokemon Yellow (my first Pokemon game) and a GBC (my first handheld).

Re: More Switch Games Have Received Switch 2 Compatibility Updates

BrewsterTea

Great to hear these Pokemon games received an update! I can finally feel comfortable playing them on Switch 2.

Speaking of audio issues, Skyrim's audio issues were so bad on Switch 2 that I had to put it down. Every time I loaded into a new area I'd hear a loud, disconcerting scratch over the speakers. It was one of the games that made me realize I needed to buy a Switch console to play my Switch 1 backlog natively. Very happy with my new, yellow Switch Lite. Perfect way to pick up and play Switch 1 games and Indies.

Re: LEGO Pokémon Reveals First Sets, Launches February 2026

BrewsterTea

Preordered both Eevee and Pikachu!! Pikachu looks better at different angles, and that Pokeball in LEGO form is a must collect for me. Plus it's a nice display model showing Pikachu hovering over the stand. Instant buy!

Only big bummer is that the Kanto badge collection is locked behind the starter trio set. No way I'm getting that anytime soon 🥲