CTMike

@AnD4D great game and great review.

Got a pre-Christmas day off work so just picked it up this morning. Me and the kids are having a blast!

Down time? Better be more stability on the way!

Merry Christmas and a stable New Year!

N should do a navity where the stable is replaced by a giant 3DS.

@Ogbert yep, same. It's a constant stream of 5K eggs. Had about 2x 2K egg and 1x 10K egg in the last couple of weeks.

Mobile game!

I hope not.

4am on a work night... sods

PR talk, I'm not buying it. Stars (or equivalent of) will happen late 2017 I reckon.

The rumours have been on point and the same source says Stars is a thing for Switch.

I suspect any 'dedicated handheld' will just be a Switch (same architecture, similar build) with the controls built in rather than strapped to the side, perhaps bigger battery.

They clearly don't want to make two versions of games and could use this method to plug the fact that some are more suited to handheld.

It was monster year for high quailty JRPGs. Not for much else unfortunately!

Wow, just wow. This is a truly amazing gesture. Merry Christmas!

@MitchVogel there's no denying it gets crazy hard fairly quickly but I still think there's a lot to be said for just playing the first 50 levels or so over and over.

The levels are extremely short, even by Runbow standards (talking all of 10-15 seconds for a lot for them) but restarting the level once you die is instantaneous - not even a transition if memory serves - and it nails that 'one more go' vibe perfectly.

It's not as troll-tastic as some write ups would have you believe, in my view. Honestly, give it a half hour blast, it's well worth it!

But yes, level designs (or really, ememy/hazard placment) make your runs feel smooth and flowing.

Hey, Mitch have you played Cloudberry Kingdom? If not, I'd thoroughly recommend it. Based on this article I think you'd love it.

Runbow is great for local co-op but ran a little dry single player for me after a few hours. Having said that I'd still recommend it, fun art direction with good humour, fast-paced no nonsense gameplay and great menu setup (which really helps for a game like this). Massive variety of controller options was also a classy move.

Edit: forgot to give a nod to the awesome soundtrack.

I think the term 'core gamer' is bit overused and defined very differently depending who you speak to but I do not agree with people saying the categories don't matter, that's ignorent.

If the categories of gamer aren't recognised it's hard to sell games. This isn't a popularity contest, it's developers having the means to find a target audience and budget accordingly.

My main point is that niche genres will fail to exist if all anyone creates is games that try to appeal to everyone. Art will die and we'd never see, say, a JRPG in the west again if there's no means of identifying the audience.

Nintendo games do manage to have a great, broad appeal and do away with categories for the most part on first party stuff. It works for them, but for the wider market and devs making games on Nintendo's platform, the labels are necessary.

Everyone looking to adopt the same model can often impact creativity.

As for HOW they're used, that's an entirely different matter...

It seems odd that they would do Fifa or Madden and not both so I'm starting to wonder if they're going for something different.

Unlikely to be an exclusive either.

Mass Effect would be nice but it's probs Plants Vs Zombies unless they're holding back and it really is multiple games.

@beazlen1 I would be surprised if 8 Switches weren't able to be linked locally. It's a total no brained for them if the game supports the function online already.

The only solution, if that feature is indeed missing, is to play online but of course you're relying on a single net connection to carry 8 players - not going to happen.

Here's hoping local play extends beyond use of JoyCons on one system. Splatoon part of the trailer makes local 4 player seem very likely. I am hopeful we'll see 8.

Love stuff like this, it's always fun to see an artwork collection.

I particularly like the Mega Man 6 pic.

I love his honestly. This model is exactly how Kickstarters should done - it should be used as template for them. This and Yooka.

Still happy I backed both. Now to see how the finished products fair...

Great list and I love every game on there. Very SMT Soul Summoner got a shout. It's delightfully dark and old school.

I'd be tempted to add Fantsy Life to the list. I know it's fairly divisive but it really was an awesome local multiplayer effort.

Truly shocked at the level of skepticism on display here.

The doubters of rumours coming from Eurogamer/Tom Phillips, LPVG/Laura K Dale and Emily Rogers (all have different sources, too) need to have a look at their recent track records.

Remove the salt, I believe they have very reliable sources following the actual evidence of the Switch reveal. These people are not guessing.

I wasn't keen when the original rumour surfaced but SRPG? Completely outlandish? I'm actually interested now!

If there's ever a sign you shouldn't buy from this firm: this is it. No PR spin or relaunch can hide the fact that they DIDN'T TEST IT.

Maybe they couldn't secure a Mini NES in the first place...

The price point will never work for drawing casuals in. £7.99 in the UK is dead on arrival.

Edit: Just to clarify, I'm not saying it won't be worth that money, who can say until we know exactly what it offers, but I firmly believe it has no chance of drawing the millions of casual players they're after.

As awful as this whole scalper business is there is a burning question: though they're listed at these silly prices, are they actually selling?

I suspect a lot will go unsold on Amazon & eBay. I can't imagine there are thousands of people paying £100+ for these.

Edit: Just checked the eBay 'bidding' lists and people are paying! This nonsense will never end with niche Nintendo stuff

Noooooooooooo.

I'm currently playing Bravely Second and I'm enjoying it just as much as the first. I was really hoping for a Switch/PS4 home console remake or sequel.

I'll reserve a touch of judgment for when we see exactly what the game is but I sincerely doubt it will be a full length classic style RPG.

A lot of Bravely's strengths lie in the battle system and it's extremely modern shortcuts/conveniences - I cannot fathom how they would achieve that on a touchscreen, even with it being turn-based.

Then again it will likely just be a dumbed-down microtransaction-laden casual game in the style of the Kingdom Hearts mobile game (not an awful game for a touch screen mobile game but not remotely comparable to a proper RPG).

Here's hoping a proper sequel or remake will folllow.

Mega Man... seriously, make it happen!

There is no chance the games in the trailer aren't at least in development. It makes zero sense headlining your marketing like that with no follow-through.

Proof of concept or not, for the trailer, those games will be released. I can't see this being a Dreamcast style marketing bugger-up.

@StuOhQ ah, I missed that, thanks

@rjejr I have faith in Emily Rogers claims on the touchscreen - let's face it, the list of stuff she got wrong was tiny, her Switch stuff was bang on the mark and leaked prior to Eurogamer.

I'm inclined to believe the other rumour regarding an IR pointer in the JoyCon which could be used to allieviate the touchscreen issue (not useable when docked) though it's not an elegant solution and I suspect they won't rabe about it for fear of Wii comparisons, if true.

On the other hand, the dock would need a sensor. Saw no sign of that. Roll on January.

Yeah, the market for Nintendo is pretty grim here but I think, outside the DS/Wii anomalies, the Switch is geared to be more suitable for the sort of market that might buy into to the idea.

Basically they need to get Fifa out on it and sell it as 'play Fifa with mates anywhere' machine. People bringing a decent game of Fifa to work on breaks etc would go down a storm in the UK. Not interested personally but there ya go. (Edit: I know portable Fifa has been done numerous times but the local multiplayer on Switch will feel more like couch co-op).

Bethesda games will help too.

I don't think backwards compatibility will make any difference to UK sales beyond a small niche group.

I personally will buy anything Nintendo puts out within reason - the Wii U first party line up is simply amazing and 3DS remains the most played console in my house.

Nintendo have a great opportunity to allow customisation and they should seize it.

These designs are awesome.

I think they'll make the 3DS amiibo reader compatible or maybe something similar but NFC / btooth combo rather than IR.

The touchscreen was apparently on the dev kit and the Blizzard tease makes it sound likely. The ad was likely to divert the attention from comparisons with previous hardware.

Having said that, there's every chance it was another decision to keep the cost down (like the lack of camera). The fact that the dock basically stops it being a core feature is a other sign.

The turn-based JRPGs generally benefit from touchscreens (Vita tends to utilise it well) but I think Pokemon takes the biggest hit from losing dual screen. All based on too many presumptions though, I guess. The early gens managed.

I was hoping you'd do a piece like this. Great article. Can't watch the vids right now but I remember most of the main bits.

He's hoping the NX reveal throws a little of the cheeky Japanese wackiness they can pull off on occasion.

@Mogster agreed, but let's keep the artificial hype train going!

What we betting post-reveal guys? Higher or lower?

Rational me says lower.

Hype-train-riding-Nintendo-fan-boy me is saying HIGHER!

Let's have it, Big N!

@ThomasBW84 can we get a countdown clock on the main page, pal? I think we're all ready to explode haha

@Rexx haha that has been bugging me forever but didn't want to be the one to point it out because EVERYONE does it.

As a huge fan of both WarioWare and NES Remix this speaks to me.

I do hope a SNES Remix is on the cards.

@NIN10DOXD we need the straight-man Shinpachi to shout at Nintendo

Honestly, I'd prefer ALL games to run at 60fps+. The 'cinematic' quality does nothing for me. If I had a PC rather than PS3 & PS4 I'd have Skyrim/Witcher running at 60+.

The Dreamcast was the game changer for me in terms of selling framerates as priority.

What gets me the most is the bulk of the discounts still don't reduce the price to the cost of the physical games.

Discounts for Platinum points are dismal. They should really offer more themes as I feel they're a fairer reward for Platinum points.

@rjejr haha thanks, pal. But yeah, long gone it seems!

To be fair I have a PS4, I was hoping to grab a cheap Xbone!

@FragRed £150?! What? Where?

@ottospooky that was totally common. Given we were reaaaaallly young at the time me and any of my immediate friends would remember it as Alex The Kidd.

Given later EU release dates and not necessarily owning newest hardware, we're talking early 90s (so like 3-6 year olds) and I found it hard to remember anyone that's DIDN'T think it was Alex The Kidd haha.

I just love that he's eating a hamburger instead of a rice cake in the US release.

I have an Alex Kidd t-shirt. Loved the Master System effort.

Time and space is forever distorted.

Touching but sad story. Nice move from Nintendo.

More money in the bank for Nintendo is a good thing for their console business. Let's hope these titles sell well.

ThIs actually looks alright! How the Android version wait isn't too long. It not be free to play is encouraging.

@Madder128 yeah this was my experience and take on the DC - specifically those games.

I later found a few gems like Cannon Spike. Capcom put some good arcadey games out.

The 60hz stuff was a game changer. They really should have plugged how comparatively smooth these games were wih the ads. Really was a missed opportunity to bring Sega back in the game.

Seems the code's been cracked.

Thanks for the review. I'm planning to buy this my daughter for Xmas, sounds like she will get a lot out of it!

Sad news for his family, my sympathy goes out to them, and a loss the gaming community.

Clearly the man did some great work.