Damo

@rockodoodle Yep, that's another reason why I thought it was worth covering this. Look at the amazing leap between the 3DS and Switch. Eventually mobile chips will be able to produce these kind of visuals at a fraction of the cost and without the power overhead.

@Spider-Kev This isn't supposed to be news, it's a feature and is clearly intended to entertain. As you can see from the other comments, it has accomplished its mission.

@Jonnyl You're very welcome. It was a fun piece to write, because systems like this offer a potential view on where Nintendo could go with its next console - but they also show exactly what Nintendo got right with the current Switch. The balance between power and stamina, for me, is what makes the Switch so appealing.

@HeadPirate "That's a interesting theory if this was a Qualcomm product (which it isn't) instead of a Dev Kit they designed for Razer (which it is)."

PR quote from the piece:

"This is not a Razer hardware announcement. The Snapdragon G3x developer kit is a Qualcomm device. Working together with Qualcomm in this collaborative partnership, we aim to bring more publishers and developers to the table and achieve our joint vision for creating the future of portable gaming."

This is 100% a play by Qualcomm to enter the portable gaming space, just as the Nvidia Shield was. Razer's role here is simply to create the development kit; it won't be releasing this kit, unless, of course, it chooses to create its own gaming platform based on the G3x – which is almost certainly what Qualcomm will hope other hardware makers will do, too.

@Gamer_Zeus Yeah, potentially - I'd imagine that Qualcomm has seen the success of the Switch and how much Nvidia has made out of the relationship and wants a piece of the pie.

@sanderev The iPad doesn't have dedicated gaming controls, though. It's fair to compare what is the market leader in its sector with similar products.

@sanderev That's clearly a matter of debate, but regardless, any device which has a chance of entering the dedicated portable gaming space is going to be of interest to our readers, because Nintendo has that sector of the market all to itself at present.

@HeadPirate I think you're missing the point here. Just as Nvidia released the Shield Handheld to show-off the prowess of the Tegra chip when it comes to gaming (although that actually got a retail release), Qualcomm is using this device as a way of promoting the mobile gaming power its chips can deliver. The fact that it has chosen such an overtly gaming-focused design for this developer unit speaks volumes; it's Qualcomm's way of putting its chips "in the shop window" for any company which is looking to produce a portable gaming device.

Just as Nvidia did with the Tegra all those years ago... and remember how that turned out?

@nessisonett @nhSnork Our audience is mostly American, so we gotta do what we gotta do sometimes, I'm afraid.

@electrolite77 I really miss Woolies. I got so many games from there. I remember picking up Zelda: LttP for £20 in the mid-'90s when Nintendo either re-released it or was in the process of flogging off old stock on the cheap. I also fondly recall pre-ordering a bunch of games (Zelda: Minish Cap included) from there much later. Such a shame it's gone now.

@dew12333 I got mine from Woolies (RIP) - back when Woolies was still around and surprisingly good for video game stuff!

@Ralizah @noobish_hat It's a light hearted way of addressing the fact that Nintendo now makes Sega hardware, which, in the '90s, would have been utterly unthinkable and unnatural (which is what eldritch means).

@Dudikowski Sadly there isn't much we can do about these sites, and we're aware of this particular one. Thanks for keeping an eye out, though!

@nhSnork Burn it with fire!

@Mountain_Man I do wonder how many poor kids are going to find these under the Christmas tree for that exact reason lol

@abdias Where do I begin?

"Unlike polimega, that can't run any of those systems"

Polymega supports the NES, SNES and Mega Drive - the only system I listed that it doesn't currently support is the Game Boy.

"But for whatever reason those systems (that are sofware emulators as well) don't get nearly the same love."

We've covered loads of these systems in the past, including the R351V, R351, Retroid Pocket 2, GameForce CHI, BittBoy, RG300X and many others.

And the Polymega isn't quite the same as this as it offers a way to dump your own personal collection of games (including CD titles) and leverage a powerful database whilst doing so.

@thiz- The review is perfectly fine and does exactly what is expected of a review (we wouldn't have published it if that were not the case); there's no issue there, so we'll have to politely disagree on that score.

@thiz- This is how embargoes work. We're told what we can and can't talk about on the understanding that we get pre-launch access to the game.

We could certainly post it later, but then we'd have to buy the copy on launch day and then play it and review it, which would make the review as much as a week late. While some embargoes can be quite limiting, I'm not massively keen on the idea of sharing every aspect of a game to people who are looking to buy it and experience things for themselves.

@thiz- You realise reviewers are bound by embargoes regarding how much they can discuss about a game, right?

@gaga64 We're working on it as we speak. Rockstar didn't provide review code for this (and now we know why) so we didn't get any pre-release access.

@TheRealKyleHyde You know what? You're 100% correct lol

@TryToBeHopeful Ah, sorry - the clear stands are unofficial ones a friend designed for me, you don't get those with the unit. I can see where the confusion has come from now!

@MarioBrickLayer Very likely, I'd say. Metroid next, perhaps?

@TryToBeHopeful From the review:

"There's also no kickstand (again), but at least this time Nintendo has been kind enough to see that the packaging's internal cardboard tray can be turned into a rather fetching display stand."

@Rin-go There were Wii U ports in year one - (Pokken, MK8) so she was partly right. And like I said, even these insiders don't get it 100% all of the time because they rely on info coming out of the big companies; often, that info can get garbled before it reaches them, so it's little wonder that sometimes what they're told isn't totally true. But yes, Emily's track record is better than most, and she's backed up by Grubb in this instance.

@Scapetti She said Nintendo would bring VR to Switch in 2019, and Labo VR was announced shortly afterwards. She was also on the money with the initial NX / Switch rumours.

Those are just two examples I've found (rather busy at the moment) but she's certainly one of the better insiders when it comes to reliablity.

@HamatoYoshi Yup, we'll just have to wait and see.

@skywake And that's fine! You've got to judge people on being right and wrong in these situations. No insider is 100% right all of the time, as plans change, and while I'm sure there are people who make stuff up for attention, we don't cover those people on here. We stick to insiders who we know have a good track record.

@KayFiOS They're simply relaying what they're hearing from their sources; there's no 'making their minds up' here, as the insiders aren't in control of what Nintendo does. Plans change - COVID may well have had an impact on Nintendo's plans for the remastered trilogy, for example.

@HamatoYoshi So how do you explain their above-average hit rate when it comes to these rumours? Surely they're not THAT good at predicting the future based on no evidence whatsoever?

Just like any industry, people network and people talk. That's how this info gets out to people like Rogers and Grubb.

@HamatoYoshi Both Rogers and Grubb have solid track records for this kind of thing. They're not right every time (plans change behind the scenes, reports from sources aren't always accurate) but they're a long way from 'making things up for likes' at this stage, my friend.

@Maxz Thanks! Fixed!

@Paulo I don't think it is. I was kinda hoping it was!

@ProjectLittleMan "I assume the community rules do not address my right to repair do they? How about other DMCA exceptions?"

I'm not entirely sure why our community rules would cover this kind of thing? We don't allow the discussion of piracy for modern systems - that's the only thing being stated here. Most other sites have the exact same editorial policy. I have no issue with you discussing your problems with Watermelon here (I have the exact same problems, as I've stated several times) but piracy for modern-day games - no matter the reason - isn't permitted.

"similarly curious about the community rules of supporting a known scam. You seem to be one of the only "news" or "media" outlets not under a "blackout"

Are you serious? Here's some examples of the reporting we've previously done on Paprium - you tell me if you think we're earmarked for special treatment?

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/05/exclusive_the_artist_behind_troubled_sega_mega_drive_fighter_paprium_speaks_out

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/11/papriums_disastrous_launch_party_leaves_backers_furious_as_unfinished_prototype_is_shown_off

We're one of the few sites which has covered the troubled development of this game in-depth, and, given that I've been told by Fonzie that I'm not getting the copy I paid for in 2017 until after the KS is finished, how can you possibly infer that we're somehow getting special treatment?

Covering that a KS exists is not the same as "supporting" it (just as a news outlet covering a crime doesn't mean they support that crime).

@ProjectLittleMan While I can appreciate this is a rather sensitive topic given what has happened to people who backed this game back in 2017 (I'm one of them! I still don't have my copy and have been told I won't get it until this KS has finished), please refrain from posting any links or discussion about piracy relating to modern releases (that includes Paprium, as it's coming to Switch) as this is against our community rules. Thanks.

@Jaguar_Wong They're working on a fix: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/10/horizon-chase-turbo-honours-f1s-ayrton-senna-in-new-senna-forever-expansion

@aaronsullivan I was very much the same; I think I'd seen snippets of the Lynch movie and I'd seen trailers for Cryo's original Dune game (based on the movie) but the story and setting were largely fresh to me when I first played Dune 2, and it served as the perfect introduction to Herbert's world.

@ValZ Why would you think it's fake?

@SwitchForce @CovidBarbie Could you guys please keep the comments section on-topic? Any more posts which derail the thread will be removed and accounts will be banned.

If you have feedback for PJ then deliver it in a polite manner. It doesn't take much.

Thanks in advance.

@Lordplops I really liked The King. It's the first thing I really 'noticed' him in, and I thought he was superb. Great film, too!

@Bunkerneath Dune 2 is still one of my all-time favourite games. I'm still blown away by the spoken dialogue in the intro to the PC version. I think it might have been one of the first games I ever played on PC, after it had taken my dad three days of solid effort to get the Gravis Ultrasound sound card working properly!

@homecomputermuseum Could you drop us a line via the contact form when it's ready?

@homecomputermuseum Thanks for posting! The talk sounds amazing - if there is any way we can help promote / raise awareness then let me know. This is a part of Nintendo's history I'm always keen to know more about!

@Lyricana "They're literally not officially Nintendo games because Nintendo says they're not. There isn't some Board of Game Officiating that gets to decide based on precedent that you point out. It's all based on what the company that owns it says. Like whether or not story is official canon in some spin-off game."

I'm not sure Nintendo has ever officially said "the Philips CD-i games are not Mario / Zelda games", has it? Saying something isn't canon isn't the same thing; Castlevania Legends was removed from the official 'canon' timeline for the series but that doesn't mean it's not a Castlevania game.

"Philips strong armed Nintendo into allowing them to make games with the Mario name after Nintendo weaseled out of a contract with them. Nintendo wanted nothing to do with those games."

Do you have any evidence to support this chain of events? Because my understanding, based on how it was reported at the time (and since), is that Nintendo used Philips to get out of its deal with Sony, and then, when it realised that CD wasn't going anywhere in the 16-bit era, offered up its IP to Philips to soften the blow of exiting that deal, too. I've never heard of Philips strong-arming Nintendo, but I could be wrong.

As for Nintendo "not wanting anything to do" with the games, again, there's little proof to suggest that's actually the case. The developers of Wacky Worlds state that Nintendo was impressed with the game and had even suggested the concept of a SNES-style platformer to NovaLogic / Philips.

"And even if you were right, it doesn't matter.. because it was never made. It can't be an official sequel when it literally doesn't exist."

Unreleased and unfinished games are still considered to be part of a series - see Castlevania on the Dreamcast, for example.

@darkswabber Well, this is a geographical rabbit hole I never thought I'd go down.

This site seems to consider it to be in Holland, but I'm happy to be corrected:

https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/destinations/provinces/north-brabant.htm

"North Brabant has many delights to offer, including De Biesbosch, a wonderful nature reserve, the historic cities of Breda and Den Bosch, and Eindhoven, Holland’s city of design"

Also:

https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/information/general/netherlands-vs-holland.htm

"The official name of the country is the Kingdom of the Netherlands. King Willem-Alexander is the king of the nation. Holland actually only means the two provinces of Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland. However, the name Holland is often used when all of the Netherlands is meant."

I had no idea that Holland / Netherlands weren't entirely interchangeable!

@Qphlat27 Spoiler alert: we didn't actually think it would do anything.

@Samo_Gallego Users can edit IMDB, right? That doesn't mean it's 100% legit. Wen (the guy mentioned in this interview) has said in the past he's not sure it's her. Highly likely, yes, but not 100% confirmed, as far as I'm aware.

@napabar This piece is about the 'grunts' etc, not dialogue.

@Samo_Gallego That's the assumption, but it's by no means 100% confirmed.

@ChessboardMan The physical pre-order page for the western version isn't live yet - and with just 2,500 copies of both the collector's and limited editions, they'll sell out in short order, so we'd prefer to link to the physical version that's readily available.