I don't have a firm opinion about Myles Mackenzie and chatty NPCs as yet, I'm going to play the game and make up my mind. I will say, though, that we can be absolutely sure that Retro knew very well how the dedicated Metroid audience would initially react to such a character. The cutscene directors most certainly did as well, as we can see from Samus' body language and silence in response to Mackenzie.
I suspect we're all missing some big piece of the puzzle, but I do respect the reactions of people like Monsieur Olney, who have played the game. Nonetheless, I can suspend judgement for the moment, while acknowledging that the critics may be right in the end. We shall see!
using the word "isolated" so far. It's really sunk its teeth into the tiny Metroid cult. I guarantee none of you thought up that word yourself while you were playing the games as a kid or young adult. There's nothing inherently attractive about being physically isolated.
@SpaceboyScreams Your entire comment, and not just the part I'm quoting, is so blinkered and offensive that I'm going to engage here, as long as it takes, rather than Ignoring you right off.
I didn't label NES Metroid with words like "isolation" as a kid because I didn't have the vocabulary yet, especially in English - and more importantly, no one was asking me what I thought of the game. Or any game, as yet. When I played the original Metroid, people almost universally treated this medium as disposable trash.
I can still remember the winter night when we brought the NES cartridge home. From the first, the game was so utterly unique. Spare, pure, so attractive in a world of action games and platformers... and those black backgrounds. Evocative of outer space. So many corridors and tunnels to explore.
Even if you weren't alive in the '80s, and can't understand what it meant then - I challenge you to find even two other NES/Master System/Genesis games that feature the consciously alien (and alienating) tones and harsh repetition of the title theme. Or the Item room theme. Let alone the music in Kraid's Lair!
Metroid took risks on so many fronts - composer Tanaka himself can attest to this, they told him the music was too dark. This game respects the player and allows one to get truly lost, which is too much for modern muppets like Arlo. When you consider that the cited inspiration for this game was Alien (1979), all of this is much less surprising. Sure, I didn't have the language as a child. Just the feelings.
I don't suppose there's any point in my going into the consciously directed experiences of the later games - the Omega Metroid section in Return of Samus, Maridia in Super Metroid, the Wastes in Prime 2... you'd just tell me I'm interpreting things with my "groupthink", right?
And as for "nothing attractive about being physically isolated"... seriously, I pity you. You accuse us of being part of a cult, yet it seems you yourself don't know the restorative pleasure of solitude. Some of us find it in the back country, some in meditation, but isolation means accepting that, for the given moment, all you've got is what you've got. I'd have thought that would be hard for "cultists" like us.
Are Nintendo doomed to never branching the series out because some trained monkeys regurgitate "muh isolation" ad nauseum?
Of course Metroid has to evolve. It won't do so by taking attitudes of contempt toward the source material and the audience, as you do.
imo metroid games should have about 3 lines of spoken dialogue max, if that gives you an idea of where my head's at
@The_Nintendo_Expat I've been thinking about this opinion, so commonly held, it seems. Certainly, the eerie, "silent" and alien atmosphere of NES Metroid and Game Boy Metroid are unparalleled.
That being said, I found that the (one-way!) dialogue with the Luminoth was not very offensive in Prime 2. It was kept pretty minimal, I thought; I can even hear the Luminoth theme in my head as I tap out these words... as if speech with those aliens was a rare and significant event, as it should be. Did that game not work for you? It was actually Fusion that I found jarring in this category...
Clearly Sakamoto is taking a chance here. I don't blame reviewers like Monsieur Olney for being concerned, but I'm not entirely sure we know how this "companionable" Metroid will turn out. The original "Alien" film had plenty of dialogue too, and we know how that story ended...
i can plainly see from the trailers that it has become something I dont care to play.
@The_Nintendo_Expat Don't you think that's a bit premature? Whenever I see something I dislike in a trailer, I try to reckon on the percentage of the game represented by the offending few seconds I've just seen.
This is not a rhetorical question, I'm genuinely curious how your doubts could grow so large. Retro and NCL have a reputation to maintain here.
As far as I'm concerned, Square Enix has already provided a permanent discount, which I am grateful for. Game Key Cards result in no sale for me. (Full disclosure: I don't own a S2, and I don't plan on buying one. However, I may buy individual games in anticipation of a backwards-compatible S3)
It's a crying shame. I've purchased more Squeenix games than first- and second-party games at this point, I'm one of their prime customers (very much enjoying DQ I Remake so far). Still, I note that there are more proper, integral physical copies of new S2 games appearing as the weeks pass, so I suppose there's hope.
I'm surprised Nintendo doesn't charge a fee for the right to acknowledge the 3DS and Wii U even exist, let alone see one's playtime. I mean, based on what some people in these threads tell us, this kind of information threatens NCL's IP rights, correct? (I'm sure the feature was easy enough to implement, or they wouldn't have bothered... then again, that's usually no excuse for them to "give away our precious functionality", or something.)
While I do like the idea of an information hub of this kind and would normally be happy to access it, this is the kind of app I typically never allow on any of my mobile devices. There is way too much data harvesting potential, and we are increasingly being asked to hand over personal data to anyone and everyone*. And that's before you consider that many of us still live in a social milieu where gaming by adults (or even kids) is looked down upon.
That being said, this is a logical move. I'm sure NCL could be even more creative with this data (in a good way) and integrate it meaningfully with their other products. I just wish we didn't live in such a voracious anti-customer culture.
EDITED TO ADD:
*And that includes not just employers, but potential employers. I'm told that some have been asking to look at one's smartphone as part of interviews, which is not just creepy, but certifiably demented...
@The_Nintendo_Pedant Though I essentially share your viewpoint here - especially about "Day 1 DLC" - I must say that I've found myself strangely well-served by all this.
Take the case of Sonic Mania Plus. The package that appeared at retail was content-complete, as I recall. What I found awesome, however, was the time to review the months-long critical acclaim and enduring community impact of that game, which gave me a lot more confidence when buying than I normally have.
You might be thinking, "So you skipped the early adopter penalty, furball. So what? Other people paid it for you" — Which would be true. You could say I'm benefiting from the greed of publishers and impatience of gamers. That probably isn't sustainable - people's time and money are the ultimate community resources.
Still, I'm of two minds here. Like you, I err on the side of physical media. At the same time, digital PLUS physical creates some nice choices we didn't have before. If a company with the heft of SEGA is going to commit the resources to following up their digital "early access" with a polished physical release, I guess I can't complain.
I do sympathize strongly with your fatigue and demotivation here. It was simpler and cleaner in the days when Shinobi first made its mark; just straightforwardly exciting when you saw something new like this pop up. Maybe I'm just luckier than you, less jaded... for now. ☺
Is it possible most people on here aren't real? Could it be fake accounts existing solely for upvoting while trying to push for their narrative?
@SurprisedRobinChu I really don't have an answer to your question, but having thought about it a bit, this is what I'd say:
I think there really are genuine human people who are just that misanthropic and contemptuous of their fellow gamers.
I will never forget one exchange I had here with a pair of regulars, several years ago, who were seriously attempting to argue that the entire Metroid fanbase, and gamers generally, are toxic because of the bad behaviour of a few. When I challenged their prejudice and generalizations, they pointed me toward (1) the existence of pornography and (2) online negativity as proof of their assertions. As if they were not themselves foisting (2) on us in that very thread!
Having "rubbed shoulders" with quite a few people from IT, science, engineering, as well as gaming, my working theory is this: there is a significant contingent among the technical and gaming crowds that are just frightened of people in general - and while I guess I understand, I can't say it's a healthy mindset. In my experience, when you quiz people that identify strongly with greedy corporations, dysfunctional governments, or some other toxic but powerful minority, you find a lot of fear in their core beliefs.
I dunno. I could be wrong, but when I see the sheer aggression these people have against the majority of their fellow gamers...
between GKCs and a digital copy that I can’t resell or more easily get at a discounted price, I’m sticking with GKCs.
If this is the only way these games are going to get on switch, I’d rather this than a code in a box/digital only release
Here we have one of the most-favoured fallacies of the feeble-minded types advancing this anti-choice key-card argument: the false choice.
The only parties presenting us with the "choice" between 1) code-in-box/key cards 2) eShop only/key cards are precisely the anti-choice types in online threads like this. Has anyone here - assuming you live in a functioning country that has reasonable retail options - actually heard another person, standing in front of you, advocating in favour of key cards?
Nintendo themselves haven't tried to make this argument. So why are people here so breathless and eager to set the terms of these discussions, right down to frequently being the top comment on threads like this?
@Nintencats73 Have you reported Telcontyr for his blatant racism and bigotry yet? I have. I am shocked that NL would allow comments like this to remain visible. We don't need people like that around here; it seems, however, that this site is being overrun by right-wing trolls of this kind at the moment.
That being said, I initially thought he was in the right - that's how poorly you made your argument. Dismissing censorship, and reducing concerns about interference to mere prurient impulses, is shallow and insulting. Especially at this time. If the ratings system is not enough to allow adults to enjoy things that are even mildly titillating or offensive, we've already lost.
I don't get the hype over this game. Why are people so desperate to play it?
@abbyhitter I have nothing against you asking this question, sincerely - provided we can ask you the same when one of your most-anticipated games comes out. I think your question is a fair one, that proviso aside.
@topsekret The point of any ratings system is to simplify and categorize. If unlike things get lumped together incorrectly, well, that's just the risk you run. God forbid we ask anyone (like parents) to do things like, you know, read labels, or something.
So all those pro-age verification types, particularly from the UK, will be glad to submit their IDs or credit card particulars each time they start up this game, yeah?
What's that you say? Switch 2 works offline? I'm sure that loophole will be closed in time. Come now, fellow gamers - be consistent. You tell me that such laws aren't overreach and have an element of common sense, so you have one choice - comply. Don't argue. Or don't play this game. And don't protest what I'm saying, either.
Samus getting down to her Zero Suit is not fodder for teens, and we know these games do things like that gratuitously. Right? (No, mods, this isn't trolling. I'm deadly serious here. When Wikipedia and social media fora can be government ID-gated, sites like NL aren't going to be far behind. I'm extremely curious to see how Hookshot Media will weather this.)
I experienced (and finished) Metroid II, not long after release, at a very impressionable age, and it has stayed with me forevermore. I actually remember that time with great fondness as one of safety and warmth, surrounded by friends and family, in a time of relative peace - one of the rarest and most precious passages of my entire life. If you had asked my younger self about this game - at any point during or (let's say) up to a year or two after my first playthrough - and enquired about isolation, fear, and confronting loneliness on a cosmic scale, I think I would have partially demurred. Undoubtedly, the last quarter of the game is addressing the player's fear in a conscious way. As a young person, however, I think I might have tried to tell you something about joyful solitude, and even joyful fear, which defines the best of Metroid. And I think my younger self was right about this, except... that joy was given to me by others, by people, even if solitude is one of Metroid's strongest themes.
It was only years later, after my crisis in the wilderness - just a few years objectively, in reality, though subjectively it seemed much longer and worlds away - that I would have been able to put my experience with this game in meaningfully different terms. The transition from childhood to adulthood changes everything, of course, making those elapsed years seem much longer - in French we say "du vécu" to speak of things that cannot be understood except through lived experience.
Growing up is like that. Or facing consequences in the wilderness. I don't know what it would be like to be Samus, light-years away from another's comfort or succour... but I sometimes think that her armor, that protects you from vacuum and lava and mandibles, could become a prison. If you cannot face yourself and your own fear.
Samus doesn't explode, and the game over screen is nothing more than white text on a black screen. She just ceases to exist, the hundreds of pixels that make up her sprite disappearing line by line until nothing is left. The game leads us to believe Samus is the only person capable of eliminating the Metroid threat, but it treats her defeat with hardly any reverence at all.
This same purifying, terrifying solitude, this force that isolates you, also removes every distraction. It doesn't matter if the universe will notice your death: you will. The thin hot thread of determination, of life, in this immense void, isn't small or absurd or insignificant - it's everything.
In my early twenties I was very much subject to wanderlust. The forests, mountains, lakes and rivers of this country were irresistible to me; they were my nourishment and freedom, where I felt most like myself. Even now, I go north - away from the cities and the people - when I need to reorient myself again through life's trials. In those days, I did so often, and more and more I did so alone, since the people around me then were not at all inclined to voyages in the wilderness.
But I am not Samus Aran. Almost certainly, she would have been prepared for getting herself lost and stranded, alone, in the mountains, on a clear October night, with far too little gear - and still less knowledge and experience. Not I. Even before the cold embraced me and the sun set over an achingly beautiful but forelorn lake in a deep (and blind) valley, I knew I was in trouble. I tasted then an emotion which transcends anything that one would call "fear" or "panic", one which I cannot describe even now, with any words in any language I've ever learned. One's first confrontation with death, one's first knowledge of death, is intensely personal. The beaver that chose to slap its tail on the lake in that moment, in that endlessly silent forest, could not have punctuated that shattering feeling any more clearly; even the wolf howls that seemed to draw closer and closer in the depths of that night could not have underlined my foolishness more strongly.
The voice of my experience asks me now: were you truly in mortal danger? You would not have frozen to death, young and healthy as you were. You were able to sleep after the wolf howls ceased. You knew the stars and the course of the moon well enough to navigate, which likely spared you a much longer ordeal. And yet I know without doubt: a lone hiker or paddler lost in the country makes fatal choices in that situation, choices attended without the least fanfare or awareness in the moment.
The most important knowledge one gains from such experiences is the knowledge of self. How do I react in that situation - how do I respond in my heart? I'm speaking not of actions taken but thoughts and emotions which come to you, unbidden and unavoidable. Beyond the self-reproach and chagrin, and the mind-numbing fear, there is something purifying about that feeling. It reorients you. I got there alone - by choice - and I would get out alone. Samus' first ordeal on SR-388 was and is always with me, even if silently, and unconsciously.
It's sad to see to bad faith arguments from people - well, one person - whose opinions I have entertained out of respect, regardless of how contrary I found them to be. I read threads like this not for my pleasure, but to update my Ignore list, because this site is sometimes overrun with dim-witted company apologists and right-wing trolls (there used to be more left-wing trolls, but the tide has turned, it seems). Occasionally, however, some light can come through, even from people whose viewpoints are coming from a place diametrically opposed to my own.
There is an inherent proposition I commonly perceive from a certain number of more intelligent commentators on this site which has steadily caused me to expand that Ignore list, albeit with regret - to wit: people are bad, humanity is inherently bad, and more fundamentally - authority is automatically correct because people scare me.
The resulting pre-supposition underpinning arguments here - that charities, among sundry other non-NCL organizations, are automatically nefarious - is bad faith in the extreme.
HeadPirate has presumably already Ignored me, but to everyone else: let's have some critical thinking here, please. Absent a verifiable source for your information, we have no cause or justification to assume that a given charity is automatically a vehicle for corruption. I mean, from what I can see, this charity event is not being held by one of Trump's personal enrichment vehicles, or an '80s televangelist.
All the legalistic nonsense that I have read in the last two decades fails to explain, in general and in particular, why countless other companies have ABSOLUTELY NOT LOST their IP rights via behaviour that some seem determined to breezily dismiss as "fair use at a whim", as if we were all living under the Russian Tsars.
I'm not going to convince everyone here, and that's fine. But if you're going to produce multi-paragraph responses claiming greater knowledge and reasoning, maybe you should get down to the matter at hand, and not dismiss prevailing commercial and cultural reality with vacant comments like:
"Fair use" is a relatively new concept, and doesn't apply here. Streaming has been recognized as a live performance, and therefor streaming another's work has been a violation of copyright since around 2005.
@GrailUK @HeadPirate I say this with all respect - I think you are both off-base.
I don't know all the ins and outs of Japanese law, but I can clearly see the principle at stake, so let me ask you - where does "asking for permission" end? With Nintendo pushing out the boat this way, can monetized YouTube commentary pieces about Nintendo games exist without their permission? Blog posts? Articles on sites like these?
Please show me where this ends, show me the line in the sand. It sounds very well to say "ask permission"; but with entities like NCL, you, my good primates, will be walking on all fours at some point with the litigiousness and low-key authoritarian nature of this trend.
The other consoles don't even ship with physical media readers any more.
@Xansies Reported for blatant misinformation. The most cursory search would have told you about the Series X and base PS5. Lazy BS, even for NL trolls.
I will admit that around the time of my 12th crash, I said out loud "I think I understand why Gollum moved into a cave"
@KateGray I don't know if it would conflict with review gigs like this one, and you'd have to mind the pre-release embargo, but - I truly believe that video of reviewers playing through genuinely bad games like this could be a significant revenue stream. I for one would financially support content that involves Kate Gray cursing in a mix of UK English and Québécois, or some other choice combination...
EDITED TO ADD: If this sort of thing is too unrefined for Kate, or something, there's always Monsieur Olney and his cat, for some especially furry content.
if you're selling a service that you planned to discontinue from the start, isn't it only fair that you give an estimate of how long it'll last?
@DDFawfulGuy Excellent point, and a possible way out of this. A game's planned end-of-support date should be prominently featured on the game packaging or download page. If customers pay for a digital service that ends before that date, they should be entitled to a partial or complete refund.
In the end, games, like other works, should be preserved. Once upon a time, the USA seemed to understand that. Or so their Library of Congress seemed to imply...
@GrailUK Hahahaha I hear you and I totally get your reaction. You've just provided the sanity check I was hoping for, thanks!
For the sake of your buzz, probably best you don't read this thread, then. I'm not even planning to buy one of these things and I'm still taken aback at how jam-packed that Direct was. Anyhow, I'm doing pretty well - thanks for your perspective, as always! Best wishes to you and yours there, over the pond!
@GrailUK Hi there. Long time no chat. I probably shouldn't be here, but I do follow your comments pretty closely, and so, I just wanted to ask: have you read through some/most of the comments in this thread?
the original designers of the bubble cow never have to lift a finger again. They have left an indelible impact on the world, and it is in the shape of a Very Round Cow. It literally cannot get better than bubble cow. ... It's a pretty good happy medium between "actual cow" and "sphere with cow pattern that makes milk"
It was obvious from the subject matter and the sub-headline that this was going to be @KateGray's handiwork... and I was certain that the pun above was going to be deployed. I am well aware that she has channeled the "Dad joke" quite efficiently. But in reading the list and article, I wondered... was she actually sparing us an obvious and even more belaboured pun?
But this cow contains mooltitudes
Yes, of course. Like half-mad prophets speaking in tongues, Final Fantasy summoners, and the Canadian housing market, Kate's work crowds the many into spaces meant for the few. ... Which occasionally proves dangerous. But I don't know what to make of the fact that she didn't use the deadliest pun of them all - this list features Harvest Moon twice, and those titles only have two 'o's each! What can this mean?
This oversight (?) deprives us of countless worthy choices: the PS1 RPG Mooooon, Bloodstained Curse of the Mooooo, the Ori games (from Mooooon Studios), Atari's Mooooonar Lander (a loud Mooooo should play when you crash - again), Luigi's Mansion: Dark... you get the point. This gets overwhelming fast. And I haven't even mentioned the sacred cow... but maybe we shouldn't talk about Pokémon.
I have zero knowledge or factual basis for saying this, but here goes with the speculation:
Is it possible that Nintendo is delaying their usual February/winter direct so that MS can make their own very Nintendo-relevant and important announcement first? If MS is going to allow some of their signature games of the generation to come to other consoles, maybe NCL would like to talk up that fact in the Direct...
This "winter" has been disgustingly hot and practically snowless... so I'm tempted to do some shed work to prepare for the paddling/outdoor patio season, while decrying the evil that this non-winter represents.
I keep meaning to return to The Excavation of Hob's Barrow, which I began on a foggy night many weeks ago. It is excellent and well-paced both as narrative and game, but... perhaps the fog must return before it feels right again. I think I'm going to persist in my long search for my missing power bomb upgrades in Metroid Prime Remastered. Perhaps ending the Phazon threat on sweet Tallon IV will be a kind of sympathetic magic, for recalling the winter to this place. I strongly prefer Fusion to Prime for it's "post-game" (finding the last few items which are hidden to me), though Prime is the superior game in practically every respect - Fusion holds many surprises, whereas I've already drunk deep from Prime more than once...
You can use your black hole head to parry attacks, which deals massive amounts of damage
I read this in the voice of generic Sony executive presenting at awkward press conference, so clearly I'll have to pick this up on PlayStation. Sorry, NCL.
compilation of ROMs from handhelds systems where data is measured in megabytes
@RupeeClock You are correct, of course, but I've seen astounding amounts of bloat even in Hamster's Arcade Archives Releases. So yeah, I'm being pretty sarcastic, but I think Konami merits this kind of cynicism. As for Limited Run... well, better them than no physical copy, I suppose.
I'm disappointed in the headline - outright clickbait. When a niche franchise like Shiren the Wanderer and mainstays like Mario Wonder and Momotaro Dentetsu are above it, I don't think the PS5 can really be dampening Apollo Justice that much.
@dkxcalibur I like what you're saying here, but I wouldn't want to lay down a hard and fast rule like what you're proposing.
If companies are convinced that layoffs are absolutely necessary... so be it. I would accept that - provided that they were already paying the full social costs of hiring people in the first place. Especially given the profits these companies have been turning, year after year, while so many countries have been dealing with crisis after crisis, economic contraction, even war.
That means real, proper living wages for everyone. Paying for transit passes/commuting costs if you insist people need to work in the office. Mandatory overtime for crunch, even for salaried employees. Job security. Collective bargaining. Proper healthcare, especially in the USA. The works.
What I see now is that so many companies are freeloaders: they pass the social and financial costs of precarious employment, traffic, employee burnout, health care and caregiving on to... everyone else. While they skim the profits. As if that weren't enough, they constantly threaten to move their operations to low-wage, low-human rights jurisdictions if we don't give them even more.
If our societies demanded that they pay their fair share, if the playing field were level between employees and companies, then - yes, I'd say: go right ahead and engage in layoffs when it's easy and convenient for you. You can take the reputational damage and implication that you're bad managers. In that world, the employees - you know, the ones who actually make these games - would have the option of going elsewhere...
@Kayloo What should they do when multiple players have historic, career-defining seasons in the same year, though? Ohtani totally deserved to be the cover of '22, or even Machado, say, or Aaron Judge, who might show up in the next year or two. Why shouldn't someone colourful like Guerrero get his time in the sun?
Boo to the people saying that Guerrero should only be on the cover in Canada - this is what they mean by "East Coast bias", only it ain't just a Yankees/Red Sox thing...
Comments 1,596
Re: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Meet The Team
I don't have a firm opinion about Myles Mackenzie and chatty NPCs as yet, I'm going to play the game and make up my mind. I will say, though, that we can be absolutely sure that Retro knew very well how the dedicated Metroid audience would initially react to such a character. The cutscene directors most certainly did as well, as we can see from Samus' body language and silence in response to Mackenzie.
I suspect we're all missing some big piece of the puzzle, but I do respect the reactions of people like Monsieur Olney, who have played the game. Nonetheless, I can suspend judgement for the moment, while acknowledging that the critics may be right in the end. We shall see!
Re: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Meet The Team
using the word "isolated" so far. It's really sunk its teeth into the tiny Metroid cult. I guarantee none of you thought up that word yourself while you were playing the games as a kid or young adult. There's nothing inherently attractive about being physically isolated.
@SpaceboyScreams Your entire comment, and not just the part I'm quoting, is so blinkered and offensive that I'm going to engage here, as long as it takes, rather than Ignoring you right off.
I didn't label NES Metroid with words like "isolation" as a kid because I didn't have the vocabulary yet, especially in English - and more importantly, no one was asking me what I thought of the game. Or any game, as yet. When I played the original Metroid, people almost universally treated this medium as disposable trash.
I can still remember the winter night when we brought the NES cartridge home. From the first, the game was so utterly unique. Spare, pure, so attractive in a world of action games and platformers... and those black backgrounds. Evocative of outer space. So many corridors and tunnels to explore.
Even if you weren't alive in the '80s, and can't understand what it meant then - I challenge you to find even two other NES/Master System/Genesis games that feature the consciously alien (and alienating) tones and harsh repetition of the title theme. Or the Item room theme. Let alone the music in Kraid's Lair!
Metroid took risks on so many fronts - composer Tanaka himself can attest to this, they told him the music was too dark. This game respects the player and allows one to get truly lost, which is too much for modern muppets like Arlo. When you consider that the cited inspiration for this game was Alien (1979), all of this is much less surprising. Sure, I didn't have the language as a child. Just the feelings.
I don't suppose there's any point in my going into the consciously directed experiences of the later games - the Omega Metroid section in Return of Samus, Maridia in Super Metroid, the Wastes in Prime 2... you'd just tell me I'm interpreting things with my "groupthink", right?
And as for "nothing attractive about being physically isolated"... seriously, I pity you. You accuse us of being part of a cult, yet it seems you yourself don't know the restorative pleasure of solitude. Some of us find it in the back country, some in meditation, but isolation means accepting that, for the given moment, all you've got is what you've got. I'd have thought that would be hard for "cultists" like us.
Are Nintendo doomed to never branching the series out because some trained monkeys regurgitate "muh isolation" ad nauseum?
Of course Metroid has to evolve. It won't do so by taking attitudes of contempt toward the source material and the audience, as you do.
Re: Metroid Prime 4's Official Rating Summary Spotted On ESRB Website
imo metroid games should have about 3 lines of spoken dialogue max, if that gives you an idea of where my head's at
@The_Nintendo_Expat I've been thinking about this opinion, so commonly held, it seems. Certainly, the eerie, "silent" and alien atmosphere of NES Metroid and Game Boy Metroid are unparalleled.
That being said, I found that the (one-way!) dialogue with the Luminoth was not very offensive in Prime 2. It was kept pretty minimal, I thought; I can even hear the Luminoth theme in my head as I tap out these words... as if speech with those aliens was a rare and significant event, as it should be. Did that game not work for you? It was actually Fusion that I found jarring in this category...
Clearly Sakamoto is taking a chance here. I don't blame reviewers like Monsieur Olney for being concerned, but I'm not entirely sure we know how this "companionable" Metroid will turn out. The original "Alien" film had plenty of dialogue too, and we know how that story ended...
Re: Metroid Prime 4's Official Rating Summary Spotted On ESRB Website
i can plainly see from the trailers that it has become something I dont care to play.
@The_Nintendo_Expat Don't you think that's a bit premature? Whenever I see something I dislike in a trailer, I try to reckon on the percentage of the game represented by the offending few seconds I've just seen.
This is not a rhetorical question, I'm genuinely curious how your doubts could grow so large. Retro and NCL have a reputation to maintain here.
Re: "Consumers Generally Do Not Care" About AI In Games, Says Former Square Enix Exec
it’s becoming clear that the use of AI is a non-issue for most people.
@bluemage1989 Source, please.
Re: "Consumers Generally Do Not Care" About AI In Games, Says Former Square Enix Exec
Indeed. This is a succinct description of people's conduct - like Satya Nadella, and all those "investors" inflating the AI bubble.
Re: Square Enix Switch 2 Launch Title Scores A Limited-Time Discount
As far as I'm concerned, Square Enix has already provided a permanent discount, which I am grateful for. Game Key Cards result in no sale for me. (Full disclosure: I don't own a S2, and I don't plan on buying one. However, I may buy individual games in anticipation of a backwards-compatible S3)
It's a crying shame. I've purchased more Squeenix games than first- and second-party games at this point, I'm one of their prime customers (very much enjoying DQ I Remake so far). Still, I note that there are more proper, integral physical copies of new S2 games appearing as the weeks pass, so I suppose there's hope.
Re: Nintendo Releases A Storefront App For Android And iOS
I'm surprised Nintendo doesn't charge a fee for the right to acknowledge the 3DS and Wii U even exist, let alone see one's playtime. I mean, based on what some people in these threads tell us, this kind of information threatens NCL's IP rights, correct? (I'm sure the feature was easy enough to implement, or they wouldn't have bothered... then again, that's usually no excuse for them to "give away our precious functionality", or something.)
While I do like the idea of an information hub of this kind and would normally be happy to access it, this is the kind of app I typically never allow on any of my mobile devices. There is way too much data harvesting potential, and we are increasingly being asked to hand over personal data to anyone and everyone*. And that's before you consider that many of us still live in a social milieu where gaming by adults (or even kids) is looked down upon.
That being said, this is a logical move. I'm sure NCL could be even more creative with this data (in a good way) and integrate it meaningfully with their other products. I just wish we didn't live in such a voracious anti-customer culture.
EDITED TO ADD:
*And that includes not just employers, but potential employers. I'm told that some have been asking to look at one's smartphone as part of interviews, which is not just creepy, but certifiably demented...
Re: Nintendo Wins Lawsuit Against 'Pirate' Streamer Who Taunted Company Online
Does anyone truly want Nintendo to lose their copyrights?
@FrenchVaniIIuxe After a number of decades - yes, I do. The concept of perpetual copyright is absurd.
Re: Nintendo Wins Lawsuit Against 'Pirate' Streamer Who Taunted Company Online
@TheMule1983 Thoughtless comments and hot takes should go away entirely.
No surprise that the democratization of technology itself would come under attack from some of the reactionaries around here.
Re: Shinobi: Art Of Vengeance Reveals Final SEGA Villain For Upcoming DLC
@The_Nintendo_Pedant Though I essentially share your viewpoint here - especially about "Day 1 DLC" - I must say that I've found myself strangely well-served by all this.
Take the case of Sonic Mania Plus. The package that appeared at retail was content-complete, as I recall. What I found awesome, however, was the time to review the months-long critical acclaim and enduring community impact of that game, which gave me a lot more confidence when buying than I normally have.
You might be thinking, "So you skipped the early adopter penalty, furball. So what? Other people paid it for you" — Which would be true. You could say I'm benefiting from the greed of publishers and impatience of gamers. That probably isn't sustainable - people's time and money are the ultimate community resources.
Still, I'm of two minds here. Like you, I err on the side of physical media. At the same time, digital PLUS physical creates some nice choices we didn't have before. If a company with the heft of SEGA is going to commit the resources to following up their digital "early access" with a polished physical release, I guess I can't complain.
I do sympathize strongly with your fatigue and demotivation here. It was simpler and cleaner in the days when Shinobi first made its mark; just straightforwardly exciting when you saw something new like this pop up. Maybe I'm just luckier than you, less jaded... for now. ☺
Re: The Next Nintendo Switch Online Game Trial Is A Modern RPG Classic
doing this right before P3R comes out
@Lizuka PLAY A REAL SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI GAME
Re: Game-Key Cards A "Sales Strategy Decision", Says Resident Evil Requiem Director
Is it possible most people on here aren't real? Could it be fake accounts existing solely for upvoting while trying to push for their narrative?
@SurprisedRobinChu I really don't have an answer to your question, but having thought about it a bit, this is what I'd say:
I think there really are genuine human people who are just that misanthropic and contemptuous of their fellow gamers.
I will never forget one exchange I had here with a pair of regulars, several years ago, who were seriously attempting to argue that the entire Metroid fanbase, and gamers generally, are toxic because of the bad behaviour of a few. When I challenged their prejudice and generalizations, they pointed me toward (1) the existence of pornography and (2) online negativity as proof of their assertions. As if they were not themselves foisting (2) on us in that very thread!
Having "rubbed shoulders" with quite a few people from IT, science, engineering, as well as gaming, my working theory is this: there is a significant contingent among the technical and gaming crowds that are just frightened of people in general - and while I guess I understand, I can't say it's a healthy mindset. In my experience, when you quiz people that identify strongly with greedy corporations, dysfunctional governments, or some other toxic but powerful minority, you find a lot of fear in their core beliefs.
I dunno. I could be wrong, but when I see the sheer aggression these people have against the majority of their fellow gamers...
Re: Game-Key Cards A "Sales Strategy Decision", Says Resident Evil Requiem Director
between GKCs and a digital copy that I can’t resell or more easily get at a discounted price, I’m sticking with GKCs.
If this is the only way these games are going to get on switch, I’d rather this than a code in a box/digital only release
Here we have one of the most-favoured fallacies of the feeble-minded types advancing this anti-choice key-card argument: the false choice.
The only parties presenting us with the "choice" between 1) code-in-box/key cards 2) eShop only/key cards are precisely the anti-choice types in online threads like this. Has anyone here - assuming you live in a functioning country that has reasonable retail options - actually heard another person, standing in front of you, advocating in favour of key cards?
Nintendo themselves haven't tried to make this argument. So why are people here so breathless and eager to set the terms of these discussions, right down to frequently being the top comment on threads like this?
Something to think about.
Re: Game-Key Cards A "Sales Strategy Decision", Says Resident Evil Requiem Director
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Re: Why Remake 'Dragon Quest VII' Before The Zenithian Trilogy? Yuji Horii Comments
@Nintencats73 Have you reported Telcontyr for his blatant racism and bigotry yet? I have. I am shocked that NL would allow comments like this to remain visible. We don't need people like that around here; it seems, however, that this site is being overrun by right-wing trolls of this kind at the moment.
That being said, I initially thought he was in the right - that's how poorly you made your argument. Dismissing censorship, and reducing concerns about interference to mere prurient impulses, is shallow and insulting. Especially at this time. If the ratings system is not enough to allow adults to enjoy things that are even mildly titillating or offensive, we've already lost.
Re: The Switch eShop And Steam Are Buckling Under The Weight Of Silksong
I don't get the hype over this game. Why are people so desperate to play it?
@abbyhitter I have nothing against you asking this question, sincerely - provided we can ask you the same when one of your most-anticipated games comes out. I think your question is a fair one, that proviso aside.
Re: Metroid Prime 4 Rating Spotted On Nintendo's Website
@topsekret The point of any ratings system is to simplify and categorize. If unlike things get lumped together incorrectly, well, that's just the risk you run. God forbid we ask anyone (like parents) to do things like, you know, read labels, or something.
Re: Metroid Prime 4 Rating Spotted On Nintendo's Website
So all those pro-age verification types, particularly from the UK, will be glad to submit their IDs or credit card particulars each time they start up this game, yeah?
What's that you say? Switch 2 works offline? I'm sure that loophole will be closed in time. Come now, fellow gamers - be consistent. You tell me that such laws aren't overreach and have an element of common sense, so you have one choice - comply. Don't argue. Or don't play this game. And don't protest what I'm saying, either.
Samus getting down to her Zero Suit is not fodder for teens, and we know these games do things like that gratuitously. Right? (No, mods, this isn't trolling. I'm deadly serious here. When Wikipedia and social media fora can be government ID-gated, sites like NL aren't going to be far behind. I'm extremely curious to see how Hookshot Media will weather this.)
Re: Opinion: Metroid II Doesn't Care If Samus Lives Or Dies
I experienced (and finished) Metroid II, not long after release, at a very impressionable age, and it has stayed with me forevermore. I actually remember that time with great fondness as one of safety and warmth, surrounded by friends and family, in a time of relative peace - one of the rarest and most precious passages of my entire life. If you had asked my younger self about this game - at any point during or (let's say) up to a year or two after my first playthrough - and enquired about isolation, fear, and confronting loneliness on a cosmic scale, I think I would have partially demurred. Undoubtedly, the last quarter of the game is addressing the player's fear in a conscious way. As a young person, however, I think I might have tried to tell you something about joyful solitude, and even joyful fear, which defines the best of Metroid. And I think my younger self was right about this, except... that joy was given to me by others, by people, even if solitude is one of Metroid's strongest themes.
It was only years later, after my crisis in the wilderness - just a few years objectively, in reality, though subjectively it seemed much longer and worlds away - that I would have been able to put my experience with this game in meaningfully different terms. The transition from childhood to adulthood changes everything, of course, making those elapsed years seem much longer - in French we say "du vécu" to speak of things that cannot be understood except through lived experience.
Growing up is like that. Or facing consequences in the wilderness. I don't know what it would be like to be Samus, light-years away from another's comfort or succour... but I sometimes think that her armor, that protects you from vacuum and lava and mandibles, could become a prison. If you cannot face yourself and your own fear.
This same purifying, terrifying solitude, this force that isolates you, also removes every distraction. It doesn't matter if the universe will notice your death: you will. The thin hot thread of determination, of life, in this immense void, isn't small or absurd or insignificant - it's everything.
Re: Opinion: Metroid II Doesn't Care If Samus Lives Or Dies
In my early twenties I was very much subject to wanderlust. The forests, mountains, lakes and rivers of this country were irresistible to me; they were my nourishment and freedom, where I felt most like myself. Even now, I go north - away from the cities and the people - when I need to reorient myself again through life's trials. In those days, I did so often, and more and more I did so alone, since the people around me then were not at all inclined to voyages in the wilderness.
But I am not Samus Aran. Almost certainly, she would have been prepared for getting herself lost and stranded, alone, in the mountains, on a clear October night, with far too little gear - and still less knowledge and experience. Not I. Even before the cold embraced me and the sun set over an achingly beautiful but forelorn lake in a deep (and blind) valley, I knew I was in trouble. I tasted then an emotion which transcends anything that one would call "fear" or "panic", one which I cannot describe even now, with any words in any language I've ever learned. One's first confrontation with death, one's first knowledge of death, is intensely personal. The beaver that chose to slap its tail on the lake in that moment, in that endlessly silent forest, could not have punctuated that shattering feeling any more clearly; even the wolf howls that seemed to draw closer and closer in the depths of that night could not have underlined my foolishness more strongly.
The voice of my experience asks me now: were you truly in mortal danger? You would not have frozen to death, young and healthy as you were. You were able to sleep after the wolf howls ceased. You knew the stars and the course of the moon well enough to navigate, which likely spared you a much longer ordeal. And yet I know without doubt: a lone hiker or paddler lost in the country makes fatal choices in that situation, choices attended without the least fanfare or awareness in the moment.
The most important knowledge one gains from such experiences is the knowledge of self. How do I react in that situation - how do I respond in my heart? I'm speaking not of actions taken but thoughts and emotions which come to you, unbidden and unavoidable. Beyond the self-reproach and chagrin, and the mind-numbing fear, there is something purifying about that feeling. It reorients you. I got there alone - by choice - and I would get out alone. Samus' first ordeal on SR-388 was and is always with me, even if silently, and unconsciously.
Re: Nintendo Won't Let Charity Speedrunning Event Use Its Games Without Permission, Because Of Course
It's sad to see to bad faith arguments from people - well, one person - whose opinions I have entertained out of respect, regardless of how contrary I found them to be. I read threads like this not for my pleasure, but to update my Ignore list, because this site is sometimes overrun with dim-witted company apologists and right-wing trolls (there used to be more left-wing trolls, but the tide has turned, it seems). Occasionally, however, some light can come through, even from people whose viewpoints are coming from a place diametrically opposed to my own.
There is an inherent proposition I commonly perceive from a certain number of more intelligent commentators on this site which has steadily caused me to expand that Ignore list, albeit with regret - to wit: people are bad, humanity is inherently bad, and more fundamentally - authority is automatically correct because people scare me.
The resulting pre-supposition underpinning arguments here - that charities, among sundry other non-NCL organizations, are automatically nefarious - is bad faith in the extreme.
HeadPirate has presumably already Ignored me, but to everyone else: let's have some critical thinking here, please. Absent a verifiable source for your information, we have no cause or justification to assume that a given charity is automatically a vehicle for corruption. I mean, from what I can see, this charity event is not being held by one of Trump's personal enrichment vehicles, or an '80s televangelist.
All the legalistic nonsense that I have read in the last two decades fails to explain, in general and in particular, why countless other companies have ABSOLUTELY NOT LOST their IP rights via behaviour that some seem determined to breezily dismiss as "fair use at a whim", as if we were all living under the Russian Tsars.
I'm not going to convince everyone here, and that's fine. But if you're going to produce multi-paragraph responses claiming greater knowledge and reasoning, maybe you should get down to the matter at hand, and not dismiss prevailing commercial and cultural reality with vacant comments like:
"Fair use" is a relatively new concept, and doesn't apply here. Streaming has been recognized as a live performance, and therefor streaming another's work has been a violation of copyright since around 2005.
Re: Nintendo Won't Let Charity Speedrunning Event Use Its Games Without Permission, Because Of Course
@GrailUK @HeadPirate I say this with all respect - I think you are both off-base.
I don't know all the ins and outs of Japanese law, but I can clearly see the principle at stake, so let me ask you - where does "asking for permission" end? With Nintendo pushing out the boat this way, can monetized YouTube commentary pieces about Nintendo games exist without their permission? Blog posts? Articles on sites like these?
Please show me where this ends, show me the line in the sand. It sounds very well to say "ask permission"; but with entities like NCL, you, my good primates, will be walking on all fours at some point with the litigiousness and low-key authoritarian nature of this trend.
Re: Octopath 0 Is A Game-Key Card On Switch 2, And Square Enix Has "No Plans" For A Switch 1 Upgrade Option
The other consoles don't even ship with physical media readers any more.
@Xansies Reported for blatant misinformation. The most cursory search would have told you about the Series X and base PS5. Lazy BS, even for NL trolls.
Re: Review: Tales Of The Shire: A The Lord Of The Rings Game (Switch) - The Hobbit, Or "There It Crashed Again"
I will admit that around the time of my 12th crash, I said out loud "I think I understand why Gollum moved into a cave"
@KateGray I don't know if it would conflict with review gigs like this one, and you'd have to mind the pre-release embargo, but - I truly believe that video of reviewers playing through genuinely bad games like this could be a significant revenue stream. I for one would financially support content that involves Kate Gray cursing in a mix of UK English and Québécois, or some other choice combination...
EDITED TO ADD: If this sort of thing is too unrefined for Kate, or something, there's always Monsieur Olney and his cat, for some especially furry content.
Re: "It Will Have A Chilling Effect On Game Design" - EU Group Responds To 'Stop Killing Games'
I don't understand the pushback against something that's supposed to help you.
@TheDragonDAFan You're not meant to. It's an inherently emotive "argument", and astroturfing to boot.
Re: "It Will Have A Chilling Effect On Game Design" - EU Group Responds To 'Stop Killing Games'
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Re: "It Will Have A Chilling Effect On Game Design" - EU Group Responds To 'Stop Killing Games'
@ShieldHero You object to governments taking more and more power, but not multinational corporations?
Re: "It Will Have A Chilling Effect On Game Design" - EU Group Responds To 'Stop Killing Games'
if you're selling a service that you planned to discontinue from the start, isn't it only fair that you give an estimate of how long it'll last?
@DDFawfulGuy Excellent point, and a possible way out of this. A game's planned end-of-support date should be prominently featured on the game packaging or download page. If customers pay for a digital service that ends before that date, they should be entitled to a partial or complete refund.
In the end, games, like other works, should be preserved. Once upon a time, the USA seemed to understand that. Or so their Library of Congress seemed to imply...
Re: "It Will Have A Chilling Effect On Game Design" - EU Group Responds To 'Stop Killing Games'
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Re: Back Page: Every Game Should Have A Cow
@KateGray I'm not sure there are enough cows for you in the whole of Nova Scotia.
Might have to move you over to Alberta.
Re: Poll: So, How Would You Rate The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct?
@GrailUK Hahahaha I hear you and I totally get your reaction. You've just provided the sanity check I was hoping for, thanks!
For the sake of your buzz, probably best you don't read this thread, then. I'm not even planning to buy one of these things and I'm still taken aback at how jam-packed that Direct was. Anyhow, I'm doing pretty well - thanks for your perspective, as always! Best wishes to you and yours there, over the pond!
Re: Poll: So, How Would You Rate The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct?
@GrailUK Hi there. Long time no chat. I probably shouldn't be here, but I do follow your comments pretty closely, and so, I just wanted to ask: have you read through some/most of the comments in this thread?
Re: Back Page: The Best Cows On The Nintendo Switch
(For this one, at least, I and physics teachers everywhere thank you, Kate Gray.)
Re: Back Page: The Best Cows On The Nintendo Switch
It was obvious from the subject matter and the sub-headline that this was going to be @KateGray's handiwork... and I was certain that the pun above was going to be deployed. I am well aware that she has channeled the "Dad joke" quite efficiently. But in reading the list and article, I wondered... was she actually sparing us an obvious and even more belaboured pun?
Yes, of course. Like half-mad prophets speaking in tongues, Final Fantasy summoners, and the Canadian housing market, Kate's work crowds the many into spaces meant for the few. ... Which occasionally proves dangerous. But I don't know what to make of the fact that she didn't use the deadliest pun of them all - this list features Harvest Moon twice, and those titles only have two 'o's each! What can this mean?
This oversight (?) deprives us of countless worthy choices: the PS1 RPG Mooooon, Bloodstained Curse of the Mooooo, the Ori games (from Mooooon Studios), Atari's Mooooonar Lander (a loud Mooooo should play when you crash - again), Luigi's Mansion: Dark... you get the point. This gets overwhelming fast. And I haven't even mentioned the sacred cow... but maybe we shouldn't talk about Pokémon.
To this I have only one thing to say, Kate:
Booooooooooooo
Re: Nintendo To Stop Repairing 2DS, New 3DS & 3DS XL In Japan
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Re: Anniversary: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Is Now A Decade Old
This game needed more toothberries.
Re: Xbox Exclusives Hi-Fi RUSH & Pentiment Reportedly Coming To "Rival Consoles"
I have zero knowledge or factual basis for saying this, but here goes with the speculation:
Is it possible that Nintendo is delaying their usual February/winter direct so that MS can make their own very Nintendo-relevant and important announcement first? If MS is going to allow some of their signature games of the generation to come to other consoles, maybe NCL would like to talk up that fact in the Direct...
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 10th)
This "winter" has been disgustingly hot and practically snowless... so I'm tempted to do some shed work to prepare for the paddling/outdoor patio season, while decrying the evil that this non-winter represents.
I keep meaning to return to The Excavation of Hob's Barrow, which I began on a foggy night many weeks ago. It is excellent and well-paced both as narrative and game, but... perhaps the fog must return before it feels right again. I think I'm going to persist in my long search for my missing power bomb upgrades in Metroid Prime Remastered. Perhaps ending the Phazon threat on sweet Tallon IV will be a kind of sympathetic magic, for recalling the winter to this place. I strongly prefer Fusion to Prime for it's "post-game" (finding the last few items which are hidden to me), though Prime is the superior game in practically every respect - Fusion holds many surprises, whereas I've already drunk deep from Prime more than once...
Re: Review: GRIME Definitive Edition (Switch) - A Poor Port Of A Superb Soulslike Metroidvania
I read this in the voice of generic Sony executive presenting at awkward press conference, so clearly I'll have to pick this up on PlayStation. Sorry, NCL.
Re: Konami Announces Yu-Gi-Oh! Classic Collection For Switch, Launching This Year
compilation of ROMs from handhelds systems where data is measured in megabytes
@RupeeClock You are correct, of course, but I've seen astounding amounts of bloat even in Hamster's Arcade Archives Releases. So yeah, I'm being pretty sarcastic, but I think Konami merits this kind of cynicism. As for Limited Run... well, better them than no physical copy, I suppose.
Re: Nintendo's Switch Online Service Spotlights Donkey Kong With New Hub
So does anyone else see that writing in the corner it's a t for teen rating for donkey Kong. LOL
@edgedino I'm under no illusions about that foul-smelling ape. Even so, I respect that DK is totally unafraid to bare his fur.
Humans, being far less furry, are... not as comfortable doing so. I mean, from their perspective, he's wearing nothing but a tie.
ETA: None of the above applies to Monsieur Alex Olney, of course.
Re: Konami Announces Yu-Gi-Oh! Collection For Switch, Launching This Year
Now taking bets on the date when we inevitably learn that physical copies will require a download. I can handle your Suikoden wagers as well.
Re: Japanese Charts: PS5 Newbies Dampen Apollo Justice's Opening Statement
@PepperMintRex @JohnnyMind Do you know by chance if those sales for Shiren are unusually good? I'm getting curious about that franchise.
Re: Japanese Charts: PS5 Newbies Dampen Apollo Justice's Opening Statement
I'm disappointed in the headline - outright clickbait. When a niche franchise like Shiren the Wanderer and mainstays like Mario Wonder and Momotaro Dentetsu are above it, I don't think the PS5 can really be dampening Apollo Justice that much.
Re: Surprise! Dave The Diver Is Getting Godzilla DLC
im all in for godzilla invading different games. i now want a shrunken godzilla to play as in tekken 8.
@daftmagician GODZILLA IN F-ZERO 99
Re: Sega Of America Set To Lay Off 61 Employees In March
@dkxcalibur I like what you're saying here, but I wouldn't want to lay down a hard and fast rule like what you're proposing.
If companies are convinced that layoffs are absolutely necessary... so be it. I would accept that - provided that they were already paying the full social costs of hiring people in the first place. Especially given the profits these companies have been turning, year after year, while so many countries have been dealing with crisis after crisis, economic contraction, even war.
That means real, proper living wages for everyone. Paying for transit passes/commuting costs if you insist people need to work in the office. Mandatory overtime for crunch, even for salaried employees. Job security. Collective bargaining. Proper healthcare, especially in the USA. The works.
What I see now is that so many companies are freeloaders: they pass the social and financial costs of precarious employment, traffic, employee burnout, health care and caregiving on to... everyone else. While they skim the profits. As if that weren't enough, they constantly threaten to move their operations to low-wage, low-human rights jurisdictions if we don't give them even more.
If our societies demanded that they pay their fair share, if the playing field were level between employees and companies, then - yes, I'd say: go right ahead and engage in layoffs when it's easy and convenient for you. You can take the reputational damage and implication that you're bad managers. In that world, the employees - you know, the ones who actually make these games - would have the option of going elsewhere...
Re: MLB The Show 24 Reveals "Home Run King" Vladimir Guerrero Jr. As Cover Star
@Kayloo What should they do when multiple players have historic, career-defining seasons in the same year, though? Ohtani totally deserved to be the cover of '22, or even Machado, say, or Aaron Judge, who might show up in the next year or two. Why shouldn't someone colourful like Guerrero get his time in the sun?
Boo to the people saying that Guerrero should only be on the cover in Canada - this is what they mean by "East Coast bias", only it ain't just a Yankees/Red Sox thing...