CANOEberry

Jobbie means [...] (Scotland only) and pong means [...]

@ralphdibny Where were you when I was trying to comprehend Kate's early articles on this site? I mean, I'm certainly grateful to learn about her culture through her writing. It's just... well, I learned some time ago to keep an Urban Dictionary tab open when I saw her byline.

Science, politics, sociology, these things are hard. I don't often expect to be challenged this way when I read about gaming...

I'm interested in this hack, and even more interested in Celeste, but the game has yet to appear as a physical retail copy in the country of its birth... the same goes for The Messenger, come to think of it. I don't know how much influence Thorson might have over a physical release, but I will note that Stardew Valley showed up at retail quite late into the Switch's life. Here's hoping!

My request is one that can be fulfilled in the opening cutscenes.

While the landmasses of Hyrule are being elevated by some mysterious force, there would be some unfortunate, poignant scenes of people... well, falling. To an unfortunate outcome.

Would it not be poignant if Beedle, a familiar haircut face, were to be lost in this way? His vast services denied to the player all game long, as a way of escalating the stakes early?

I mean, Aonuma is going to resurrect the b*****d anyway for the next game, isn't he?

And this is all assuming it gets past anti monopoly commission

@FragRed ... when was the last instance of the US government actually halting a corporate merger on that basis?

That actually sounds quaint now, like the Carnegie grants, or complete physical editions of Ubisoft collections...

@Debo626 You forgot about XXY and intersex people.

I don't know what your removed comments were about, but from what I can infer, it seems you are deliberating courting controversy here. I didn't read any comments above denying the existence of males or females - did you? As for "going woke", there are plenty of users on this site, myself included, who criticize that political tendency, among others. I'm still here and still making comments, so I don't think this criticism is quite warranted.

If this is about Sterling, then I hope your comments will focus on the person's message and not their identity. I dislike fanatics who deny the existence of biological sex, but I dislike attacks on trans people just as passionately.

@KateGray For the record, I didn't mean to rile you or insult you with the word "catty", although I plainly did, which I regret. For that I will apologize.

As for your past gigs, I don't blame any writers for getting work where they can, and I'm not saying any of you set policy for those publications. I would be remiss if I didn't point out that those other outlets have a certain "protest" (I'd even say "outrage") orientation. The writers on NL itself aren't shy about making complaints, which I don't think are bad, abnormal, or anything other than part of the universal experience of being a fan. I was and remain baffled by that remark.

On the whole, I'm going to have to agree to disagree with you here.

The PS5's value proposition being inferior to that of the Switch at this point in the console cycle would make this question moot, but it is interesting that we are comparing a premium service from one to the base product of the other.

Regardless, I feel that I am obligated to support the human with the furrier face (Monsieur Olney). I mean, he almost has more on his than I do on mine. In fact, this seems to be a recurrent theme with the men of NL. Why this cultural difference between the Nintendo and Sony writers? They're both based in Luff-bra, aren't they? (Aside: I forgive you your smooth-faced look, Jon. For now.)

Sometimes complaining about things is good. (Sometimes, we said. Most of the time it's just stressful and/or annoying.)

@KateGray Complaining is mostly stressful? Didn't you used to write for the Guardian and Kotaku? 🤣

I thought I knew what a dry sense of humour was until I met certain Australians and English folk. I also seem to remember a catty remark in a recent article by a certain staff writer about a key piece of furniture being too macho, or something. Personally, neither "macho" nor "girly" work for me, and I don't like to attack either human sex, but I'm just a furball. What do I know? As for puns... you're allowed to discuss "bums" and "pants" in yours, so it's not a fair competition, Kate.

Humans must be the only species that literally begin life as a ball and promptly forget how liberating it can be.

You know, I get it; you are what you are. From my perspective, arms and especially legs just get in the way more often than you realize. OTOH, it's quite amusing to watch humans slide down the snow-covered hills on their backsides or bellies when they could just try rolling.

Skating, I will grant, is pretty cool, if you use feet to get around.

And yet my initially facetious point remains... why the hell are they importing potatoes of all things?!

@Silly_G It's even more absurd than that. Those potatoes are coming (at least in large part) from the southern Okanagan Valley, one of the very few legitimately semi-arid ("desert") areas in Canada. And the shipment is delayed because of recent huge floods there!

Just thought that, as an Australian, you'd appreciate that 😁

We always just referred to it as Sex-Sex. As the developers intended, no doubt. Anyways, it's pretty good.

The game, I mean.

This person single-handedly increases the éliteness of all gamers everywhere... nay, the éliteness of this whole planet. Let everyone learn from his example! May the fur on his face grow ever longer!

@HedgehogEngine We've been told by the usual suspects in this country that the "Great Resignation" is a US-only or US-centric phenomenon, but it's nice to see that the anecdotes I've heard about people leaving the office behind (with or without the agreement of management) extend to the tech industry. It's not usual to see people in Montréal and Toronto act in unison on anything, so this is particularly encouraging.

There will be consequences from all of this, good and ill, but at least some of them should fall on these AAA mismanagement types...

Shelter (and its sequel) both cover a similar concept too; a mother lynx has to help their babies grow up in the wild

@DarkTron Interesting. Assuming you've played it - would you recommend Shelter?

I've spent a great deal of time in lynx country, but I have literally never seen one (hardly uncommon, that). OTOH, here in Eastern Canada, one can see foxes even in the cities, on occasion. I get to hear coyotes fairly often, but they tend to lay low; whereas foxes seem almost casual in their willingness to visit your campsite without taking every precaution (I've heard them rustling in tall grass often enough!).

In my neck of woods, at least, foxes are not a common symbol for "endangered charismatic furry species"...

@HotGoomba @BTB20 Thanks for your comments. I try, I try, I try to be patient with people and differing perspectives, but comments like "no one cares" or "no one asked for this" - meaning "I don't like/want it, even though I can't be bothered to identify who is behind the proposal" - result in me using the Ignore function yet again. I just can't handle the bratty, braying ignorance of people like this.

I guess you guys are more patient and are willing to engage with people like that, so I must compliment you, at least.

@San_D Since I purchased the game in 2019, none of the patches for Switch have addressed the bugs I've found, and others (such as the persistent issues around entering or exiting caves) are still generating complaints on Klei's own forums.

The problem seems to be that Klei is busy adding content (like the Hamlet mode, or a crossover with Terraria), rather than ensuring stability on all platforms. For the record, I've encountered few problems with the PC version.

I messed around with my TV's settings a lot though and adjusted the gamma rays and contrast and stuff

@Not_Soos ... your TV is emitting gamma rays? In that case, I fear you have greater problems than contrast...

Have played the game on PC for 40+ hours but haven't bought it on Switch because of bugs.

@San_D I have played this game for even longer on PC, and even on Switch, but I was forced to stop due to a game-breaking bug: files more than one season long would crash not long after start-up.

I certainly hope that Klei Entertainment (with all their Tencent backing) has attended to all that, because this "free trial" is nothing but a cynical joke otherwise.

wah wah comments here about

@Anti-Matter I'll remember your comment if things ever become... hot in the Strait of Malacca, champ.

@GrailUK Good morning.

Is there an option to... perhaps one could say, negatively influence Beedle's chances at survival?

It has occurred to me that an unfortunate accident at the beginning of the timeline may negatively affect his chances at appearing in future games. ... Just saying...

@jello64 @__dave Old IronMan there is being quite sarcastic. His comment deliberately echoes the, uh, "format" adopted by a very prominent former US politician.

... and apparently, all of that went right over your heads.

Only the gaming industry is hellbent on making every single product a premium priced status icon.

@NEStalgia You know that this is exaggeration. Surely you don't need me to provide counter-examples here.

you have no one here to provide a counter-argument. NL has a core of Nintendo fans living in countries with high economies... and they don’t even pretend to care about people barely making a living in far less rich countries.

@iuli First, I will agree without reservation that video games are targeted primarily at First World countries, with even Second World countries being an after-thought. Given that fact, and the wage suppression that has been occurring for decades even in rich countries, I find the arguments that higher-priced games are "cheap" quite absurd.

NL made up some ridiculous notions such as “speaking against the current is trolling” which works good on sensitive subjects but frankly nowhere else

I don't know what your experience with the moderators has been, but I'd like to share mine.

I have argued openly with several mods in various threads, including recently, and I have "gone against the current" too often to count. (Some people seem to comment only for that purpose!) There was a thread weeks ago where some people decided to attack the entire Metroid fan community, and I argued loudly over that one. NL still hasn't deleted those comments.

In other instances, I disagreed with some actions by the mods - to the point where I am comfortable calling them arbitrary - but I have found there is definitely room for argument. Be as respectful as you can, and stick to your guns!

Personally, I strongly doubt that Metroid Dread will have the same value as BOTW, and I think Dread should be priced lower than that phenomenal title. (Friendly and I have disagreed about that one before.) How much lower? That depends on the gameplay, length, story etc. Also, I'd like to ask you something of you. Please don't assume that no one here cares about poorer countries or is oblivious to them. Remember that many people living in richer countries come from poorer ones, and there are plenty of people born in N. America or Europe who don't forget the rest of the planet...

To be fair, what else do they expect him to say? Has Nintendo ever made a major new hardware announcement at an investor meeting like this?

@SwitchVogel That begs the question, then: why publish an article on NL about these pro forma responses?

It's entirely another to not answer those same questions when they come from your company's own shareholders (and shareholders who have direct access to the president for posing questions at these meetings, are probably not minor shareholders either).

@Northwind Meaning that these "open" shareholder meetings are entirely for public consumption. Real questions would be asked elsewhere, one presumes.

@Teksetter Hello, esteemed fellow gamer! I really hope you don't mind me pinging you here... I just had to share a dazzling insight with you. I was wondering also if this game interested you, given your insights into Japan. (Or perhaps you've played it already?)

I was planning to save my pennies until a certain title releases on the 8th of October, but Kate's words and Zion's tones in the video weakened my resolve (damn them), so I'll be picking up this "attorney" game. Chagrined by all this, I began to wonder - how can I avoid such weakness in the future? Then it occurred to me...

Since Kate is not a video person, NL could use its vast budget to hire celebrities to read her copy! I would nominate Scott Thompson, in his role as Queen Elizabeth. The accent would be correct, and he would lend a much-needed air of gravitas to the "game review" genre. Wouldn't that be awesome?! Your ideas, of course, are also welcome.

(This is only because I'm assuming that Zion doesn't want the role.)

After reading the review and the comments, I'm going to play this just to find out what the Hell [REDACTED] is.

@VenomousAlbino I wonder if I can adopt [THAT] as my username. ... Well, maybe after the vaccination rate climbs.

Kate never appears on video. Perhaps she is secretly a furball?

EDIT: Let me add that Kate's words (and Zion's delivery) convinced me to break with my plans for NO NEW GAMES before 8 October. That's a dangerous power you two have. ... Please stop.

they should if they want to maintain full control over their IP. If you allow one, you have to allow all of them.

@Octane I need to ask you, then: how is SEGA managing to allow Sonic fan games? I have yet to see anyone argue that they have lost the rights to Sonic.

It also has an "Story Mode" feature so it plays itself

@KateGray I fully believe in software giving us choice, but this option does not cultivate éliteness.... You're, uh, you're not going to "play" it that way, are you? I blatantly assume you're going to be reviewing this game 😁

I've never played one of these before, but I think I will hold off for a long while in order to support my budget for indie games. After all, the boundaries of visual novels and narrative games (with or without courtrooms) are being pushed by the indie types, right? Maybe you're compartmentalizing my thinking, Staff Writer!

I still think part of this game should be set in Loughborough.

America isn't as transit-savvy as Japan.

@YoshiAngemon Yeah, I've noticed - but NYC does have quite an impressive system (the subway must have been awesome to behold when it was in better shape). Didn't I just read, though, that high-speed rail in Texas has taken a step forward? Maybe games and controllers like this will help things move along!

Internet Goes Wild Over One Incredibly Small Detail in Metroid Dread

HEADLINE AMENDED

@Mr-Fuggles777 You are quite correct, sir.

Apparently the mods didn't approve of our entirely wholesome and family-friendly discussion of Gillian Anderson a while back. So, if the green... lady (?) above is fair game, we'll have to pay our respects that way.

Mr. Fuggles, I am wondering if this game would interest you, given the, uh... distinctive boss featured in the last nine seconds of the video above.

Purely on an aesthetic level, of course. @Mr-Fuggles777

Forget the Chaos Emeralds; I just want Chaos

You know what's even more fun than raising a child-pet? Raising a child-pet that you repeatedly lob against a wall like a deflated football until it turns evil!

@KateGray Well, this isn't the recommended route into a real Shin Megami Tensei game... but if that was your path, I won't complain.

I think Mr. Vogel could use your counsel in attaining this level of enlightment.

I don't know why, but these comments are really making me laugh.

I'm really curious about Ender Lilies. Some great reviews, some mediocre ones. Sounds like it might run at 60fps on Switch, but I'm not sure yet.

@60frames-please I really enjoyed your comment here. In your honour, I'm composing this on my high-refresh monitor

All the lazy commentary trashing this game due to genre, price or similarity to other titles only firm my interest. Seriously, do you people think your flippant, dismissive comments are convincing anyone?

That doesn't mean I'll buy the game, but I will pay attention to it; there is something very stately about this game from what I've seen, something that even Hollow Knight and Metroid don't possess. We shall see!

It seems I was wrong about the relative importance of this studio.

I'm not very familiar with their work. Can anyone who has played a number of their games give an opinion here?

Both string theory and the most empirical of results from modern astrophysics assure us that nothing can be extracted from the dead space in Android Wilson's eyes. And certainly not the Switch port of a new-old property.

I'm not even sure why we're discussing this, quite honestly.

@WhiteUmbrella That retailer you mentioned - I called them last week about this game. I was directly told that they will getting more stock in later, since it was expected to sell out quickly. I don't want to shill for them, so I'll leave it at that.

Well, it's already live on that Canadian site I mentioned

Can't believe so far it has only been Gamestop and some obscure Canadian retailer.

I was on VGP for the first time ever, and the special edition was available

@Ralizah @WhiteUmbrella You're welcome, my goodly British and USA friends...

@Silly_G Hmmmmm.

First, my thanks for the detailed reply. I've met a number of Australians here in Canada, and I have at least a passing familiarity with the culture, and certainly your sense of humour. You guys seem to have a very well-developed sense of irony toward authority, along with a more relaxed attitude toward life than we do, so I am pretty curious about what the heck is going on down there. (The hypocrisy around sex - bodies bad, violence good - is quite familiar, of course.)

I see that even the M rating still allows kids to "legally access this material", whereas I've seen kids attempting to purchase ESRB-M games at retail here being firmly turned down pretty often.

After considering your examples, I think my question is this: is the Classification Board falling into disrepute with parents, and in the culture broadly? In North America, I find that video games (and gamers) still have a definite stigma around them for many people, and I wonder if that perhaps explains some of the inconsistency. (Haha, sorry - that's two questions, I know...)

Meanwhile, scenes of sexual violence are permitted in films rated as low as M (mostly analogous to BBFC’s 12 and MPAA’s PG-13 ratings), whereas the same scenes would get a game banned.

So much for reflecting “community standards”.

@Silly_G If you don't mind a question about all this: why is Australia's censorship system so strict? From my perspective, maybe I should ask: why is it so much more imposing and restrictive than that of New Zealand, Canada or the UK?

I'm guessing the moral panic about video games infected Australia in the '90s as well as North America, but if so, it seems to persist there.

Welp. No need to ask our Staff Writer about the British slang in use here.

Want Japanese cover art - minus the white logos in the corners - as poster!

METOROIDO ! ! ! ! !

I also hope they will include more newcomer-friendly options for filthy casuals like me who will likely get stuck only a few maps in.

@Silly_G Why are you describing yourself in these terms, my multi-lobed monster friend? I'll hear no such talk. You should not doubt your own éliteness; you've clearly been around long enough to qualify. This site is not reserved for filthy casuals.

Sadly, digitally produced animation looks sterile more often than not, and this is especially noticeable in remakes like these

I was prepared to make this precise comment, but then I watched Zion's video. Now, I can not only agree unreservedly with you, I can also say that the originals had a style worth emulating much more closely. The battlefield solider sprites in the originals are incredibly charming! (I had never viewed Advance Wars gameplay before.) I would love to know what governed WayForward's art direction here.

Stardew Valley — the most generous game in the history of gaming.

@iuli And here I'd thought that the "Switch Pro" rumour game fit that description. Free-to-play, with an infinite number of moves and skins, and - apparently - no Game Over in sight.

Stardew Valley? Bah. That merely took effort.

I agree with your statement that an arbitrary ceiling for a price is weird.

@Friendly Ah, I'm feeling reassured that English is at least partially working for me, then. If I may elaborate on pricing:

The MSRP of BOTW at $80 (all figures Canadian) - before DLC - is an important reference point for me. I found BOTW to be "worthy" of that price because of its many surprising and joyful qualities (innovation, artstyle and quality of animation, mastery of the exploration ethic, clever iterations of older elements of Zelda, freedom to attack Beedle, etc. etc.). The game had its flaws, of course, and was incomplete, as far I can tell, but we are speaking of relative value here. So, $80; very well.

Is Yoshi's Crafted World worth the same as BOTW? Not by any metric I know.

The same goes for Mario Maker 2, Tropical Freeze, or Mario Tennis Aces. The $80 price point for these games were set as being the "maximum the market will bear", underlined by the brand pricing @RoguePirate alludes to. To my mind, if $80 is the maximum, then these games - and I see value in all of them, the DKC game especially - should not exceed $70.

In my estimation, $80 titles should be few and far between. Skyrim. Dragon Quest XI. Possibly FE3H (with DLC included - NB I've not played the game). Horizon Zero Dawn. GTA V.

Elsewhere on the scale, I was delighted with the Day One cost of Mega Man 11 ($40) and Shovel Knight Treasure Trove ($50), and I am displeased with the Day One prices of Catherine Full Body, Final Fantasy XII and Disgaea 6 (all about $65).

So, where does this leave Dread on my scale? Somewhat overpriced, unless we all have a shock awaiting us. I will pay for quality (it is not entirely correct to call it "brand power", although I do have a keen ardour for Samus), but pricing the game at the same point that BOTW occupies is not wise. That kind of pricing does not place Metroid, Yoshi and other worthy franchises in the best possible position to succeed.

@Friendly I'm buying it Day One. I haven't purchased a new first-party game in years. You've misunderstood me, I'm afraid.