Churchy

I'm envisaging a similar situation to drunken Dylan Cuthbert on a bike with the N64 prototype documents.

Although the Resi influence is obvious, there does seem to be the odd touch of Alone in the Dark and the PlayStation Clock Tower game. Sure, why not?!

In all honesty, I actually like this guy's confidence in reading. But obviously my expectations will be tempered. To be fair, the story in the early Castlevania games (and most games of the 80s) is quite thin, so it's possible to go in a lot of different directions.

As for mature content, as long as it makes sense in the world and the story it's trying to tell then that's what matters. I think Game of Thrones does it well, as do the original books. Of course, comparing it to that does create some sort of expectation, which could backfire, but we'll see how it goes. I think with someone like Warren Ellis involved we could be in for a good time though!

@JLPick I actually quite liked the ending, especially seeing as how Sean Bean's character was essentially created due to studio pressure.

But I think when translating something to another medium, the feel of it is the most important aspect, and I felt it did it brilliantly. Also, the inclusion of Akira Yamaoka's soundtracks from the first four game was great.

The funny thing is I've never seen the second film. I got told I would tear my hair out so I've avoided it to this day!

So the writer of Transmetropolitan is writing a serial adaptation of Castlevania. Hell I'll go with it.

Although I would argue with Shankar that the first Silent Hill film was a good video game-to-film adaptation.

I thought it stood for "Really desperate to get back fans after that whole Kojima thing."

@BionicDodo That message is simply brilliant. I'm going to drop that into conversations wherever appropriate.

This reminds me of the Amstrad Mega PC which could play Mega Drive games. But I love these oddities.

I personally hope that the Streetpass Group scheme will be renamed Joy-Con Division.

What a legend. This reminds me of the time Shigsy was in the Mega64 video for Super Mario Bros.

@BinaryFragger Exactly. This is meant to be fun. And Kojima himself played the Famicom a lot before getting into games. Like a lot of people in the industry, Ninty are a huge reason why he entered in the first place.

But then, looking on the positive, there are plenty of chilled out folks who enjoy the industry as a whole.

@Shiryu Yeah, I thought we were past all that now. Developers are allowed to enjoy games from other consoles, and many have. I remember at a past E3 that Shigsy played Crash Bandicoot and complimented it's water effects.

This is part of the reason I'm glad Anouma was left in charge of the series over Miyamoto. I've found myself disagreeing with Shigsy more and more as time goes on. As others have stated, Paper Mario is a casualty of this.

I'm glad that Ninty are putting more faith in Fire Emblem and I'm genuinely excited for this one. Lovely stuff!

In a way I'd wish they'd created their own Hylian language for voice over, but hey it's not that big of a deal. If there's a choice I'd probably go Japanese with English subtitles. But it's not like the English VO is in the same league of House of the Dead 2 so it's not a huge problem.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Well one of those shots has to hit sometime, right? ...right?

Okay, long shot: we'll see a Fire Emblem collection on Switch with all games remastered.

This is what I love about this industry, especially back in earlier times. There are often all sorts of strange connections going on. I had no idea the bloke who came up with Catchphrase had a hand in these CD-i games.

crosses fingers

C'mon new Advance Wars on Switch.

@AlexSora89 That's awesome. I can relate to that feeling and it's great when it's there! Happy Holidays!

Image and Form have quickly established themselves as great developers. They have that sense of fun whilst making games that feel ridiculously polished. I love the fact that the SteamWorld series has explored different genres with each game, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I think Heist is the best. I consider that game a masterpiece.

@AlexSora89 On the fortune of interviewing people from Insomniac, they said they played a lot of Mario Kart 64 during lunch breaks. Naughty Dog were across the hall from them and they often hung out with each other so it spread to other developers too!

Yeah, well you didn't Shigsy.

@gcunit The thing is he does seem genuinely into it. In the past he's been very vocal about his love of video games in past interviews. And with his old segments on video games (e.g. playing GoldenEye with Pierce Brosnan) it's not always been about a new product so it does feel genuine. Obviously, he's throwing out some bold statements as that's the presenter's job but he does seem to honestly care.

Is that the smell of Pachinko parlours?

We all know this is because there isn't much sunny weather here.

I'd like the Silly Walks glitch to be patched in as an in-game mode.

Also, does this mean that the protagonist's Mum as a T-1000 can be considered canon?

It's a bit unreasonable but I'd love it if they made a GameCube adapter or made wireless GameCube controllers.

Aside from that I'd love Issac from Golden Sun, a CO from Advance Wars, or Rawk Hawk to be playable characters (although that last one is exceptionally unlikely).

But yeah, I don't want to expect too much as Sakurai must be exhausted enough. Melee was made with the mindset of being the last game!

This is all making the assumption this is real of course.

I've decided to create a bingo card with all of the rumours and see what will come to pass, because right now it's getting so weird I don't know what to think!

@FantasiaWHT I agree. They'd have me too. Unfortunately, it's unlikely the heads of Factor 5 would be involved in a Rogue Squadron game. However, there was the unreleased Rogue Squadron trilogy for the Wii - which was finished - but that's in Disney's hands now.

Clearly this was written by the people who wrote the NES Ghostbusters credits sequence.

The woman in the picture will be devastated.

Is it known which branch or branches of Climax worked on this?

I'm holding out for Cheggers' Party Quiz.

I think that "SHOOT THE BALL" is one of the funniest game names I've ever come across.

Well, it makes me swear less than Transformers: Mystery of Convoy on the Famicom!

As for ports, I think it makes more sense to do it for upcoming releases rather than older games (although maybe Resi VII is the exception on that!). But with the current state of the Monster Hunter series I'd be very surprised if future titles weren't on Switch.

And if they did decide to offer exclusive games, let's just hope they keep their promise. Remember the Capcom Five.

For me, it comes down to two factors:

The game in question. With Smash Bros. this approach actually makes a lot of sense. The core design of the game and the way it handles hasn't really changed since Melee. I'm not complaining, but it's a game that feels like it doesn't really need a whole new title to justify it. However, I feel that Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon should have new titles in the series as I think there can be more evolution to come from either series. And as Splatoon is a new IP, I think it deserves to have a new title and be given a bit more credit and respect.

Also, it depends on what the bulk of the software launch line-up is. If it's just these updates, I'd find that a little disappointing. But if it is another set of titles alongside new and original ones, then it makes a nice extra.

In all honesty, what did he expect? I'm not having a go at Pokemon GO (no pun intended), but that's what you do with a smartphone or anything you interact with, you look down at it!

@Darkwario1 You win the day, good sir

This was a huge reason why F-Zero GX seemed so much faster when it came out in the UK! Glad to know they've actually put in the original version at last.

Sonic the Hedgehog was always the most painful one, as even the music would slow down. There were of course developers who optimised for PAL regions but that wasn't always the case. Many gamers in the Europe didn't know about this issue for years, but to me it does feel like we missed something and didn't get the "real" version, but there you go!

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Oh man, I'd nearly forgotten the horrors that Data Design had bestowed upon the Wii, along with the likes of Anubis II and Billy The Wizard! shudders

I'm just sitting here staring at my 2017 calendar.

If anything, third-party support is the thing I'm most concerned about. It could be great, and I desperately want it to be, but with almost every console launch ever there is always a group of people who claim they're going to support the platform.

Obviously, it'll come in January but my main question is how it will manifest? Will it be largely ports of older games? New releases that will come to Switch alongside other platforms? Or exclusive titles?
Hopefully games would mainly fulfil the last two categories.

I won't really feel secure on this until the details are nailed down. Yeah, we've had a list of third party developers and publishers, but to those on the outside, that doesn't really mean much. But like anything, we can only wait and see!

@JHDK I'd say you're right to be cautious on that front, as things need to keep going after the initial first year as well. And there are always the people who say they'll do loads of cool stuff with the hardware and then don't follow it up, or do a u-turn! I'm with you that I also I hope I'm wrong about my feelings too. But after the Wii U and Ninty's shaky history with third-party games on their home systems, it's difficult not to feel that way!

Even though I've been a stickler for info coming sooner, I'll wait for January on this sort of thing as there were so many rumours flying around about the Switch. Mochizuki has had some potentially interesting things to share but it'd be better if he wrote a full article on this sort of thing as there will be other issues surrounding this alongside data capacity. Twitter isn't a great platform for going into details!

Also, it's a rumour!

Come on Europe! Splendid show everyone!

@Xaessya Ninty could learn a thing or two from that.

This is still a little later than it should be, but as long as they reveal everything we need to know, then it should be okay - as long as the Switch gets the essentials right like the software line-up, battery life and pricing.

I thought this was the case from the off.

But for those that didn't realise it,or aren't used to the way things are shown in videos like this (because it was pretty much an advert), it's a big reason why we need more details and specs soon. People need to know what this thing actually is. We have a glimpse, we have an idea, and we know what they WANT to do. But we need to know how, and if, this fulfils it in the way we hope.

I have a nasty feeling we're going to get radio silence on Switch again. I really hope I'm wrong.

@Frosty_09 Aha, I see what you mean. If you're playing active over ATB then I can see how flitting between the two would be a pain. I guess I'm stuck in my way so I went with ATB! Also, the fact that Chrono Trigger on DS was the first official release in the UK may swing my view on that!

I definitely agree that the UI is well suited to turn-based strategy or turn-based RPGs.

Also, thank you for reminding me of Advance Wars: Dual Stirke. I loved the dual battles with two COs and how both screens could affect one another. If anything, Advance Wars and Golden Sun are the two games that would make me lose my sh*t if they were announced for Switch, especially as they've been dormant for a while. Both worked brilliantly on one screen as well so it's all good!

I'm glad the Switch is going for its own vision and not aping the dual screen idea from previous consoles. There wasn't anything necessarily wrong with it, but it's had its time - even if the Game & Watch games did it a long time before the DS!

As for dual screens, it's all about how designers use the hardware creatively. With the DS I remember particular games like Hotel Dusk and Zelda Phantom Hourglass creating fantastic puzzles, some platformers moved the action from one screen to another, and other games used the bottom screen so you didn't have a cluttered HUD on the top screen (it's a reason why I love the DS version of Chrono Trigger most).

It felt less important in 3DS games, and the Wii U only had a couple of games which properly utilised it in an interesting way, so it felt like it ran its course.