Cathousemaster

Oh oh. There goes my money and any free time I might have had

Finished the original several times, but it's still a classic "pure gameplay" Zelda. Almost certainly getting this.

Kids should love it.

I'm keen to get this, but the price (around $30 AUD) kept putting me off. Will definitely get it when it's on sale.

This is poor corporate communications from a big company - this would never happen where I work.

It actually sounds like a restructure - the gaming department is killing it - but the eSports side has badly failed, and is being cut back.

Gaming is mainly not affected.

Like I said above ... Poor corporate communications. Maybe there is more detail this site is glossing over.

Clocked over 10hrs and really enjoying so far. It really is a "Rogue like", as in its almost exactly an enhanced version of Rogue.

Dying is frustrating, sometimes it's hard to gauge how hard an area is until it's too late.

Hmmm. the more I think about it, the more I think I'm right:

"Nintendo is working on a smaller, cheaper Switch console".

Release the Switch as a standalone console - end of story. Without controllers, they could target $99 USD ... and they could get another manufacturer to make these easily. Don't need the dock either - its all built in.

Spent a couple of hours on this so far, and quite enjoying it. Surprisingly I haven't died - there is nothing stopping you from spending more time in lower dungeon levels where the risk is lower...

It's fairly complex, and could have benefitted from more information around the controls.

If you release a switch mini as described above, you might as well release the opposite... The switch as a dedicated console. No screen, no controllers. Plugs into a TV, you use joycons or other controllers.

Now that would be heaps cheaper to produce and would be in line with a PS4 or XBone.

Sounds perfect for me, will give this a go.

How long is the campaign? One of the things I loved about advance wars is the number of missions and that you can replay to get better medals / scores.

I have no interest in creating my own levels or content...

Do you need Nintendo online access to download content from other players?

Simple solution. Monitor game results, and look for any players who win a higher than normal % of games by disconnect.

Start by awarding a smaller win bonus, then none.

And if the data shows a massive spike... Well, bring on the ban hammer.

It's not that hard.

Nintendo can also use their servers to ping users - and see if a connection goes from normal to unreachable towards the end of a match.

Add this to some analysis, plus some time penalties... And you'll catch the cheaters soon enough.

Love the Japanese. This is how its done.

Unless the price is ridiculous, or the reviews bite - I'm getting this. Huge advance wars fan. Been a while since I played a "chess style" (no rolls) compared to a fire emblem style (rolls) game.

@rjejr into the breach isn't bad, but I found it quite repetitive after a while. It's definitely a brisk game - you can complete an entire game in under 2hrs - and then you replay using a different squad to change up the gameplay. It's also fairly easy - I "won" on my second attempt, and won virtually every other campaign from then onwards. Might be perfect for kids.

Some RPGs have the player play as the main character - it's your decisions that matter, so choosing gender matters.

But some don't - this game has a fixed main character. You are along for the ride - you might control the combat, but you don't control the dialogue or the interactions.

I completely understand why not everyone is up for this - it's not the gender that matters. It's the lack of control. I presume reskinning the main character isn't going to change anyone's purchase decision, based on that alone.

Anyway - this looks interesting to me and I love weird. But backlog is huge, so it's on my watch list.

I'm going to get a new game - while I'm playing Zelda in the background along with kingdom rabbids ... And before I really start dark souls.

I loved Hollow Knight and the gungeon, but I'm not that into punishing platformers like Super meat Boy.

Should I get Celeste or Dead cells?

Celeste does sound very special, but I suspect I'll enjoy dead cells more. Thoughts?

Xmas period is likely sorted ... Unless Pokemon slips to 2020.

Animal Crossing in September / October. Pokemon in November.
Fire emblem H1 hopefully.
Bayonetta ... December?

How about a new, switch exclusive Monster Hunter for the holidays / Japan?

My most played isn't even on the list ... Hollow Knight. Easily over 100hrs on that... Needs more love.

Then probably Odyssey and Zelda, which I'm not even halfway through...

Played 1 game of fortnite, and that was it for my house. Kids do not have Nintendo accounts, can't set it up for them.

Very happy to see Mario party smash the 1m figure. Kids here were playing it last night and having a ball...

The real question is what is next for both Sony and Microsoft. Neither of the mid generation machine upgrades set the sales world on fire.

Honestly, the only thing that comes to mind is a major GPU upgrade - for instance the new NVIDIA raycasting compatible lighting chips. Very expensive and very power hungry.

They could also try a cloud based 3rd-pillar console ... Something much cheaper to produce.

As for Nintendo... This is just the beginning for hybrid consoles. Apart from the obvious iteration ... Would they introduce a 5G device sometime? A smaller switch that could double as a phone?

Are they more worried about pressure from mobile gaming, or other competitors?

I remember playing the demo on my 360 years back. Looks nice, reminds me of Zelda which I have been playing a lot of.

Maybe by the time I'm done with Zelda and Dark souls, this could be next...

$300m revenue is peanuts. It's still $300m more than 0, but we have no idea of the development or outsourcing costs .. and the profit. If it was $300m in profit, that's another thing.

1m of switch hardware sold brings in around $300m in revenue ... Roughly.

I call zero chance on a "lite" version as Pachter predicts. Zero.

Apart from it no longer "switch"ing ... Too many games rely on different controller schemes, separate motion between controllers and so on.

Most importantly... Where is the cost reduction? You could remove the battery and charging systems in both controllers, and the controller detection switches... But what else? No value. Won't happen.

Like the GameCube, will probably hang onto mine for 10 years then sell it.

Even with its huge library and Wii support, it gets almost no play time. I did set it up for the kids during the holidays - most of the games played are now also available on the switch...

Although I can see some appeal, in a Wario Ware X Travis style, this is not for me. I hope a demo is released, so everyone can properly experience and try this out...

All Digital, especially now we have accounts. Although I do own a couple of physical games, because it's harder to buy a kid a digital game for their birthday

But I'm so over building a physical "library". The less *junk" in the house, the less to lose, the less to get damaged, the less to store, the less to clean and the less to move.

I still have my old CD library... Which is taking lots of space and absolutely never gets used. Apart the Blu Ray player, I don't even own a CD player. A few years back they would have been useful in the car on roadtrips ... But no longer.

And my DVD library... Is going the same way. Can't remember the last time anyone watched a DVD in the house.

Convenience wins over content... Because there is so much content.

This sounds great. How many hours in adventure mode? Does it have any RPG or character building elements?

At least cod is a real game, and has massive development effort across multiple teams every year.

Is FIFA much more than new teams, new skins / textures, and tweaks to the game? How much more can you add to football?

I have worked on sports games in the past, and I have an idea of how much "real" work is involved... But it's literally a machine. Pump in the assets, pump out the next release. Pay the licensee cost.

Looking forward to this, very likely a purchase for my older son. He never finished YW1 though - some parts got confusing and tricky.

@Morgan19 ... And then you'll get a PS5 in a few years or a high end PC tomorrow, and wonder why you bothered with PS4, etc...

Sure, if you have both consoles, and primarily play on TV - then go with PS4. Or whatever is cheaper. That's a tangible benefit with launching earlier, as the games are usually cheaper.

But this is not a switch technical issue. Software will always run better on better hardware.

The question should be - is the game fun?

Other thing of interest to me...

With online now paid, there was always a chance this would dampen the sales of heavy online games. This would be a lose-lose.

The corollary being that strong sales boosts the numbers for paid online users ... Which is a win-win.

So far it seems like a win-win ... Although there is a lot of offline content in smash.

Be interesting to see if anything can top this next year. The only releases that could be bigger are animal crossing (Japan anyway), next-gen Pokemon RPG (almost certain to beat it) and ... A new Mario kart (have to wonder if one is planned, and what they could put in it).

Sony is going to have to release some new hardware soon - a portable PS3 / PS4 would help.

Surely it's too early for PS5 ... That's the problem with the "Pro" releases...

FTL reference sells it to me. Hope it's as hard as FTL as well

Have too much to play though, so will have to wait until I don't... And probably a sale.

Picked up dark souls for Xmas, and I had a plan to get Xenoblade as well...

Other things for people to check re: performance...

Running from internal or SD card
Any downloads happening while it's running
Is WiFi on
TV latency ( unlikely to vary per game, but it's possible based on mode)

Make sure it's running from internal ram, turn off WiFi and see if it helps the lag.

If it's clearly a problem, there will be something that triggers it.

I'm impressed that a mobile racing game is "better" than Pokemon let's go (9 > 8)

So it must be really good... Might try it out.

Loved the game, loved the dungeons but totally loved the motion controls. Added a great level of immersion. The game would work without them, so whatever works for everyone.

The water "dungeon" was one of the best ever.

I'm loving it, as is my 6 year old son. In my eyes this is better than the mainline games - and heaps better than Ultra Sun/Moon, the last one I played.

The game actually requires skill now - not just strategy - if anything I'm finding this harder than Ultra Moon, which was blindingly boring and easy beyond belief.

As I've stated previously the only downside is this being a remake - so I know what is coming.

Our Australian sale will never be tracked, as it was a digital sale. Games like this are ideal for digital purchases, and the double credit just topped it off.

@gcunit think of the HD Rumble support ;p

Sees headline ... "DOA xxx coming to Switch". Gets excited.

Reads about "Xtreme" series ...

Goes from a likely purchase, to never will consider a purchase...

Back to waiting for DOA on the Switch...

Hollow Knight is my switch game of the year. Haven't played dead cells yet...

Fortnite? Sounds like click bait.

Re: Pro controller... Nintendo could patch this - but only if the Pro controller has the tilt sensors, as they are still used in handheld mode.

But given it uses 2 buttons and 1 stick, it's not going to add much. It might be more comfortable to play, that's all.

Actually playing the game now. Playing on handheld mode. Biggest impressions so far:

1/ game is very much streamlined. You are on your way in route 1 very quickly

2/ looks great

3/ it literally only uses 2 buttons and the control sick. Even the + / - buttons do nothing

4/ being able to see Wild Pokemon is great, and it completely changes the game - because there are no more random grinding encounters

5/ so far, I'm only catching Pokemon with 1 in 3 throws.

6/ experience is granted by catching. This also links leveling to the number of Pokeballs you have... Which are limited. Assuming you can buy more, it's now linked to money and skill... Not time grinding.

So far I'm enjoying this much more than Ultra Moon, which was a huge yawn for me (that was my first mainline game for a few years).

Too early for a score - but make no mistake, this is a full Pokemon RPG experience, in 3d, on a console. It's just less grinding.

Main negative for me, is it does feel like I've played this before... Because it's a remake of red/yellow/blue .. so I know what's coming. But given that even Ultra Moon was making me yawn...

@Agent721 those numbers are shipping numbers, i.e what the publishers have sold through to retailers. Media create and famitsu track what retailers have sold through to consumers.

For publishers, it makes no difference though - they primarily sell to retailers plus any digital sales if they want to include them.

@Agent721 that 17m is likely shipped numbers - and there are a lot of copies sitting on shelves. This is true sell through. And will not include digital.

But I agree with your point, even if it's 2% - Japan is a much bigger market than that.

@Octorok385 Wild Pokemon are capture events only. But all trainer battles, are full battles, with full stats and moves - just like normal Pokemon.

If this unlocks on the 15th, only a few hours before I can try this out...

I'm a little confused now about the game.

Catching Wild Pokemon does not use battling. But fighting trainers does - just like the old games.

So how do you level your party up? Does this happen automatically, with Wild Pokemon catching ... Or just with trainer battles? It must still have levels, otherwise hard trainer battles couldn't exist.

IMO, this could actually be better than the mainline series. There were too many irrelevant and boring battles. If it just stripped back to trainer battles, it will flow much better as a game.

I'll find out soon.

Glad to see this thread has turned into trash as well. Well done everyone

Pre-ordered, and can't wait to play this with my kids in a couple of days.

Can't believe all the hate because of no Pro controller support. Sigh.

Don't bother with the OLCF in Australia - its really a joke. In the US, classification is ... FREE. Its Europe its cheap. In Germany its cheap.

In Australia - it can cost $1000+ per PLATFORM depending on the game. The requirements are horrendous and it can take months (or you pay extra to "fast-track" it).

Ironically, Flowerworks for the WiiU was released everywhere in the world (even Russia) - but not Australia. It was too expensive, and there was no way we were going to sell 500+ copies in Australia to cover the costs.

Damn. I had no interest or intention to buy this. Now I think the kids will love this to death, especially my youngest who lives Kirby and has mastered star allies...