Cathousemaster

I need to get BioShock infinite. Not so fussed about the others, but must play this. Haven't played a borderlands before...

Two words. Digital copy.

Looks amazing. Think we'll support it just for the effort.

My understanding is that the switch lite has a different supply chain, possibly not made in China at all. So it's sales are less effected.

And regarding sales - a lot of people in Japan are all quarantining. Digital sales will now be going through the roof. I'm surprised physical sales are even this high.

I liked it, and it was better than I expected. It did a great job of setting up sonic, Eggman and co for future movies as well. And it left open enough space for a prequel.

It's a much simpler movie than detective Pikachu.

It's pretty clear. 4 challenges means 4 projects or games. The first is the 101 KS as it says on their page.

Id love a second viewtiful Joe ...

Yup, 5 minutes later the switch funding is already over 50%.i guess those PS players really want the game.

Lol. Had a look at the Kickstarter, and watching the page for about a minute or went from $5k to $8k pledged.

At this rate it will be confirmed by the time I head into work...

Surely, a brand new Mario Kart isn't that far from fantasy? The "engine" of the current version is getting dated (10 years?), and the team should have been working on something.

Nothing would make sales explode more than a brand new Mario Kart at Xmas ...

Switch is just warming up. It's effectively supply constrained, with the lite an obvious market segment.

Look at the iPad. It's been going 10+ years, and will not stop. Nintendo are positioning the switch as the iPad for gaming.

And the other thing about the pillars is software consolidation. No more mobile Mario kart and console Mario kart. Just Mario kart.

As long as the attach rates remain high, the switch will be here forever. It's much easier to profit from a software release - especially when digital sales are going up (again, look at the iPad ... All Digital sales).

Looks like a blatant ripoff to me. If they aren't careful lawyers will be called in.

TYOD remake or sequel. Full.

People can whine as much as they like. The base games sold well, and I welcome these as DLC add-ons rather than standalone games.

Sure it would have been nice to get all this for FREE but the same goes for everything.

It was always clear they needed more time, and now they can spend a full year working on this and do it properly.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a new physical releases next Xmas as the "ultra" version, which is the base game plus DLC. Too much money in it.

Let's see numbers next week. They usually drop off a cliff now, as expected.

Especially interested to see what Sony can pull out prior to the PS5, wherever that is scheduled...

Switch has the only platform exclusives in the top#10 - 3 of them. And 6 titles in the top#10. That is a massive win for Nintendo.

You ain't going to dislodge the main cross-platform releases from the top#3 over Xmas ... shooter, sports, Star Wars...

Great to see another thread hijacked

My son opened his lite and Pokemon on Xmas day, and hasn't stopped playing unless threatened with grounding or worse. I haven't played it yet, but he seems to be enjoying it.

I just need to get through Luigi's, then Monster boy, with some dead cells thrown in (what a time sink) ... And then I can open the Witcher. I need more holidays.

Finally the PS4 Xmas sales kicked into gear ... Sales from last few weeks have been very low. Wonder if Sony gave up and threw in a new bundle or discount.

Hard to remember a bigger Xmas domination by a single player in Japan. Its a complete monopoly at the moment ... Or at least looks like it.

This is why Nintendo cares a lot about Japan ... And in native currency. Win win.

I'm going to have to choose between this and fire emblem ... But the Witcher calls first.

PS4 sales smashed. What surprises me the most is it's Xmas ... And PS4 sales are dead. Just dead. Obviously no one else wants one ... Everyone who does, has one. Sales will not be strong next year.

I really can't see PS5 sales being stronger, unless they pull a surprise or two out.

Switch could sell another half a million units in Japan, combined, for the rest of the year. Having a hybrid console is great idea - as everyone can get their own, rather than one per house.

From this Xmas we'll have 2 switches in my house ... Never happened before with any console.

Very tempted after reading these comments. Generally like these games, and the kids would enjoy them as well .. and it should look great on the news 75'' TV

That makes no sense to me. I don't know what those boomerangs are, or if link has extra enhancement ... But even weaker lynels are super strong, and I'd be going through multiple weapons, exploring arrows and more to just kill one. Even with the stasis.

I'm far from an expert though

Just no.
This is not Netflix. The user base is different, the costs are different, the issues are different.

Why centralise gaming? It makes no sense. Hardware isn't that expensive ... And as we see on mobile, the public are happy to "game" ... As long as it's completely free, and completely dumbed down. But even those games run on the devices.

When will we see mobile games running via the cloud? ... Never. Because it doesn't make sense. And it makes less sense for gaming.

I almost feel sorry for MS. They release early, and Sony says "PS5 will be twice as powerful and will be out in 6 months...".

They release late, and give Sony a 10m head start ... Followed by a 10m advantage in Japan.

Unless Sony really stuff up, there isn't much MS can do ... The consoles are effectively PCs anyway, and no one really wants Windows on their Xbox ... Because then it's not a console.

The names are building up to... XXXBOXXX

Followed by ... X ... Or BOX.

Reminds me of the old StarBox for those that remember that...

They really need to fire their console naming team... :/

Pokemon will beat Mario kart by end of year, then we'll see if it has legs to challenge smash. Doubt it will happen, but will see.

Could Nintendo have a Mario kart 9 in the works?

Wow. There ain't anything to compete with hollow Knight 2, but this comes close for me. Absolutely loved the first game, just wish the endings were more fleshed out.

Day 1 here.

@cowntsikin I love hard games. I have finished Mass effect 2 on impossible, and fire emblem (awakening?) On the hardest difficulty as examples. I love hollow Knight, and got through the path of pain ... But I haven't 100% it, and I won't.

But I don't like Celeste. I spent many hours playing it, but I had to force myself ... And just stopped eventually. I have too many other games I enjoy playing. Its a 6/10 for me ... That's my opinion and my score.

Mass Effect 1 > Mass Effect 2 .. easily
Super Mario Galaxy 1 was easily better than 2, although both were very good.

Its sort of hard to say, but I hate Celeste. Its polished, and has a nice story, and nice undertones and surprises ... but the core gameplay is tedious, boring, and really just painful. And most of the game is the gameplay ... I got fairly far, but couldn't put up with any more of the pain in exchange for the small gains.

Hollow Knight easily makes my top#10.

BotW deserves its spot - its a truly amazing game, and does bring back memories of the original Zelda. I can't wait for the sequel, and I hope they improve on some of the weak points (combat does become grindy, and eventually pointless).

I'm steering WAY away from this thread before I get banned.

This is a positive for Nintendo, as it will boost sales and profits - and that's all that matters.

Nice to see another chart thread hijacked. I still can't believe the lifetime sales for the XBone are under 40k. Wow.

Sony better be prepared for terrible PS4 sales next year, although you get the feeling they don't care much about Japan anymore. At least the PS4 outsold the XBone in Japan by 99%

Give game freak a year to polish up Sword and Shield, as they were clearly pushed for time - the ultra versions for next Xmas should be much improved titles.

Going to very interesting to see if Nintendo can keep this momentum going ... Can switch do 20m units lifetime in Japan? What did the PS2 do?

I went into JB in Australia, found one copy hidden away - and was shocked to see the price at $120. It comes with a strong plastic ring and a leg band, right? That's a $40-50 premium over a AAA title. I was expecting it for half the price.

I want it for Xmas, but will see - may shop online for it. Just bought the Witcher, switch lite, and Pokemon sword for Xmas.

Lol at all the haters. Almost 3000 votes, almost 3000 sales. That's a serious flop right there

IGN say it's the best Pokemon release, easily. And it's getting better scores than death stranding.
I'll comment after I play it, but I've hatred the most recent Pokemon releases so I get the feeling I'll love this.

S&S is the best Pokemon game ever, because it's spawned this trash thread.

I 100% agree with game freak. Imagine having to play with new Pokemon. What a crazy idea.

If you want to play with your old Pokemon, play the old games.

Its like saying BoTW is rubbish, because I couldn't use a hookshot from an earlier game.

Let's see what surprises Nintendo have for us next year. What franchises haven't they redone on the switch yet?

Pikmin surely. New Mario, or a galaxy game. Maybe a Mario RPG, I can dream of a sequel to the TYOD. Another Mario kart game would be a massive money spinner.

Given the new consoles at Xmas, what will their Xmas 2020 titles be? Could Zelda be ready? Metroid won't be ... The next Xeno game? Thinking about it, I'll put my money on a major Mario title for next Xmas.

@RennanNT have to agree. Kids played Ultra Moon recently, and I thought this feature would break the game ... But it was only used when the party was basically dead anyway, which means switching out all the party Pokemon ... And it was hard to find decent replacement Pokemon in the box. It meant we ended up experimenting and training a wider range of Pokemon, rather than spamming the same ones every battle.

With the new "open" area this might become essential, as you never you what Pokemon or types you'll see ... And this week cut down on frequent trips back to closest Pokemon centre.

Sounds to me like the reviewer didn't put enough time in, and found the game too hard ... Which is almost enough to make me buy it . Maybe once I'm done with the current backlog...

@Radbot42 I played through and finally finished LM2 ... And although I enjoyed it, it was a grind. By the end of the game it was room after room of lots of ghosts, and became more about not dying from combat than anything else. I would argue the spooky and cinematic is heavily linked - portrait ghosts and the specials. If you took all that out, you would have an average action game.

Re: Zelda - I know what you are trying to say. But there are different levels of "linear". Zelda promotes exploration - especially after you get a new item - so you can find secrets such as extra hearts, or other power ups. In LM, you can always "backtrack" - but the only purpose is to collect something you missed in the first place. It's rare to get a powerup which acts as a key, which opens access to new secrets in places you have completed. And I say rare, as I can think of a couple of use cases ... In links awakening for example, I explored to entire island again after completing the third dungeon. And now I have the flippers, I can do it again. LM ain't like that ... But that's fine, because it's meant to be a different type of game anyway.

Being sued by Nintendo vs losing some revenue. Easy choice.

My copy is downloaded and ready to roll for this weekend with the kids ... They don't know yet. Should be fun.

@Radbot42 nice idea, but they have very little in common. Luigi's is level based, and linear. It's also highly cinematic, and lacks all the items that Zelda games have that make them puzzles games. Zelda games are adventure / puzzle games with action elements. Luigi's is an action game, with some puzzle and adventure elements. The cinematic / set pieces are the highlights.

@Monkeido totally. We might have 8-10 physical titles, but I shudder to think how many digital titles I have. I bought another 5 yesterday ... 3 budget titles, manticore and Luigi's mansion. I would have at least 50 digital titles and maybe a lot more.

So the PS4 sells 100m worldwide, but doesn't even hit 10m in Japan?

And the switch close to 40m worldwide, and almost 10m in Japan?

That's a big difference .. 1:12 vs 1:4.

Sony has really lost Japan to Nintendo.

I loved RE4 to death, and so couldn't wait for RE5. What followed was one of the most disappointing experiences ever .. and I think this was on the 360?

I can't even remember why I hated it, but I did and I stopped playing at some point. Maybe it was simply action rather than adventure... But I think it was more than that.

I might try RE6 but I'll never play, buy or try 5 again.

I finished the second on the 3ds, and the biggest issue with that was repetitiveness. This looks to have more variety in the different floors, and we'll get lots of fun out of the multiplayer - but the core gameplay of Ghost fighting does get repetitive.

Once the kids finish links adventure, will get this and ring fit adventure ... Before investing in the switcher.

I couldn't care less about the code in a box, nor is this my type of game - but getting these games on the shelves is good for marketing. It's probably the only reason its done.

When publishers release a game on a physical cartridge, there is a "minimum order size". I don't know what the numbers are for switch games, but you can't order a few hundred... It used to be 4,000 or so.

So if it's $10 per SKU (cost of the box, cartridge at a given size, shipping), at 4,000 units for a minimum order ... The publisher needs to cough up $40k before they ship anything to a retailer.

And if they only sell a fraction of these, the other units go nowhere and it's wasted money.

So it's a measure of risk, dollars, estimated sales, retail orders and more.

Digital only may have less sales, and less profit ... But it's also less risk.

XB1 is the best. Full stop. XBC was such a letdown compared to XB1 ... And XB2 is a really good game, and probably more polished ... But it lacks the brilliance and balance of XB1.

I really enjoy the Dragon Quest games, but other than a few story twists they are all a bit cookie cutter.

I think the Witcher is next for me, now that I've finished enough of BoTW. That suffers from the silent protagonist as well, and the game suffers as a result. It's an amazing game and world, but far from perfect.

@neufel compression typically leads to faster loading times, as the decompression can happen in the background while more assets are loading. Less loading means faster loading times.
They probably switched to a different format for switch, maybe they used the entire cartridge space allowance.

Never a good reason for taking more space for the same assets though

The classification rating says multiplatform. No mention of switch. It also says "High impact" for sexual content, which is higher than the violence ... Drug use is "low".

My bet is on stadia. If they wanted this on switch, it would have been done ages ago.

You don't get drift after a couple of days of use. It's quite easy to leave a stick in an off centre position and get slight movement. That isn't drift. It took me over a year of sustained joycon use to get any drift.

If it's drifting out of the box, it's either a faulty unit .. or not drifting at all.