DiggleDog

Isn’t it a thing in Japan that voice actors are never truly replaced? I wonder if Charles continuing to represent the Mario brand is a way of honouring that tradition while letting him semi-retire.

Game has all the hallmarks of Nintendo firing on all cylinders, a thankfully common sight during the Switch era. Don’t think we’ve seen so many first party bangers since the GameCube.

@EarthboundBenjy I also replayed Rayman 2 on GOG a few months ago and I was astonished at how well it’s held up. If ever a game deserved to be described as timeless, it’s Dreamcast/PC Rayman 2.

Love how unabashedly British this is. It’s like the Beano in game form.

That’s quite a bombshell for a Monday afternoon. Martinet’s portrayal of Mario in 64 made the character feel as responsive, interactive and alive as the worlds he traversed. For every action taken by the player, Mario had a reaction, be it a wahoo or a mamma mia. Such an understated part of what made that game feel so revolutionary. The games didn’t just have newfound depth, so did the avatars.

@Not_Soos it does seem like the Milan devs have a vested interest in taking on Rayman in a full time capacity. I think Rayman 4 was more on cards initially when Michel Ancel wrapped up Beyond Good and Evil 2 but alas, that’s become a whole thing unto itself.

Cautiously optimistic on this one. Red Dead on Switch is wonderful but the reaction overall seems a bit muted.

What I like about Nintendo as well is that, post Yamaguchi, most of the top brass have backgrounds in game and hardware development. Helps keep the company on point.

I remember playing Ni No Kuni and being convinced Drippy was voiced by Rod Gilbert.

Demographically speaking, Nintendo is not in the same rat race as Xbox and PlayStation. Gamers, yes, but we’re not buying Nintendo hardware for Call of Duty, no matter what Phil says.

Considering that post-Zelda Switch was a bit of an unknown quantity, I’m chuffed to see Nintendo has plenty of plans yet.

As a few people have pointed out, a game starring Mario frequently selling for 20 quid on a system where Nintendo games never go on sale is a huge boon for Kingdom Battle. That’s not against the game, the more people who play it the better.

The Pixel Remaster is excellent. As a newcomer, I love how it’s been zhuzhed up in certain respects but ultimately leaves the core untouched, allowing me to appreciate the game in the context of its time. Much like Earthbound in my opinion, the je ne sais quois of FF6 is wholly intact as a SNES game. You can see the vision, the achievement and the legacy unfolding before your eyes as you play. I don’t think that’s something you can easily recapture, hence why FF7 Remake wisely became a new thing unto itself.

Remakes are nice and all but the abundance of them of late gives the impression that old media by itself is insufficient. Weird for an industry that frequently makes bank on nostalgia but renders so many of the classics unplayable through official means.

Surely the blue Pikmin will be fine if you put it in water though

@Vyacheslav333 I call it the Metroid effect, where a hotly anticipated revival of a neglected series enters development hell so a 2D entry gets announced out of nowhere to keep fans happy.

Grant Kirkhope is truly one of the all time greats. Any game dev who wants some whimsy in their soundtrack needs to have him on speed dial.

Kinda glad they’re drawing attention to this. Claiming to support Nintendo with CoD is such an empty gesture on Microsoft’s part in my opinion. Anyone with eyes could tell you that a hamstrung Switch port of CoD is in no way competitive with Xbox and PC.

I personally can’t see any other Nintendo IP having the same kind of box office success as Mario. Mario has the legacy, the cultural footprint and the financial sure bettedness to turn heads. Really, Animal Crossing is the only series that strikes me as comparable and even that is small potatoes compared to Mario.

I was cold on this game but now I’m red hot. Nintendo once again punishing my bank account for doubting them.

Honestly the Italian-American family dinner scene was my favourite. It was so refreshing getting a sliver of grounded characterisation for the Mario Bros. I wonder if the film and its success will cause Nintendo to reassess the direction they’ve taken Mario’s character in. They’re clearly open to it based on this article.

Really enjoyed the movie. Not everything needs to be high art.

Personally, the fact that Nintendo routinely wins awards in the family categories is an overlooked achievement. Nintendo prides itself on this very image. Plus who knows how many new gamers into the fold through their accessible, easier going titles.

The fact that we’re still talking about Chris Pratt as Mario means the casting team did their job. At any rate, everything about this movie screams passion for the source material. I wouldn’t have picked Pratt personally but if the movie bombs it’s not gonna be because he didn’t sound enough like Charles Martinet.

Tears of the Kingdom is in an interesting spot. Lest we forget, Breath of the Wild was the first time that Zelda broke away substantially from a template. However, the elongated dev cycle (in which we’ve seen a new console generation and some equally impressive games like Elden Ring) has perhaps led people to believe they were in for a great deal more than a more of the same affair. Nintendo is probably unlikely ever to announce a game so early in development ever again.

Yves “ball is in your court” Guillemot needs to go. Ubisoft has no hope under his rancid leadership.

It’s gonna be interesting to see how this fares. Breath of the Wild was a bit of a Mario 64 moment for open world design but we’ve seen some amazing games a new console generation since. Hopefully Nintendo haven’t been resting on their laurels.

Surely though the bulk of any previous Smash game’s most worthwhile content has already been remastered for Ultimate? Stages, characters, music?

Love to this sort of thing. Kudos to the team.

Nintendo platforms vary so wildly in design that straightforward backwards compatibility is going to be an issue, further problematising preservation. It was a rare Wii U victory that the game pad allowed for DS games to run on it as originally designed but what happens when a future Nintendo console inevitably eschews the critical features of their predecessors? They’ve future proofed some select titles like Skyward Sword and the Wii U classics but how is something like Star Fox Zero supposed to work in the future without being made into something completely different?

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a great book, although it only reaffirmed for me that game dev is a nightmare career.

2017 was just an unbelievably nutty year for Nintendo

@-wc- hard disagree. Luigi being a put upon, reluctant hero who still steps up when it matters makes him a far more sympathetic and easy to root for character than his brother. He’s easily got the most developed personality of the core Mario cast in the games.

@Bunkerneath no offence but where were you when the Wii was shovelware city

Gonna wait for the Rayman DLC before jumping in

Because Akira Tago passed away, I don’t see this being a bundle of brain teasers with a mystery plot stringing them together. Rather it could be a more traditional point and click adventure where the puzzles are all environmental and related to the story. I think that would be an appropriate direction to the series in since the old formula was very suited to a handheld format but not so much a console.

The game is a mess as far as I’m concerned. I think we’re so ready to expect the lowest lows from Sonic that we’re now conflating a not outright disaster with top quality. But if Frontiers’ success means Sega is prepared to actually pump some time and money in Sonic development than I’m a happy boy.

Went straight from the launch model to the Micro.

It seems likely to me if everything else about the commercial is a homage to the cartoon. It also says Punch Out on the map of New York, around Brooklyn. Looks like this movie is going for the deep cuts.

@nocdaes I think a 10 year life cycle is very much a possibility. I was part of the Switch losing its lustre discourse but Pokémon and Splatoon were setting sales records at late as 2022 so there’s more than enough incentive to keep the Switch on the docket. Don’t doubt the next machine is coming down the tracks though.

PlayStation 5 is finally readily available and next gen game releases are kicking into high gear at last. This doesn’t surprise me.

@tysonfury been replaying 3 Deluxe to prepare for 4. My girlfriend doesn't understand the restart-if-one-Pikmin-dies rule.

@Olliemar28 that’s awesome. I was thinking to myself through all the footage that this looks way too good to be a mere upscaling. Any idea who handled the remaster? I’ve been trying to find out but can’t find anything.

I’m not a Metroid Prime connoisseur. Are the visuals remade or is it just a spit shine on the Gamecube original? Either way, the mad lads at Nintendo managed not to charge full price for an older title.

In a direct that gave us Pikmin, Metroid and Zelda, it was seeing that familiar top hat that made me weep with joy.

The Mother 3 discourse returns ho ho

Shadow drops galore

@ChaoticKirby yeah, can't really fault the authorities. Still, America's obsessions with guns will forever be incomprehensible to me.

@CammyUnofficial cartridges were always more expensive. It’s part of why the PS1 obliterated the N64.

People tend to forget that Xbox and PlayStation games will inevitably depreciate or go on sale at a price point that’s actually enticing. Game Pass in particular is a very cost effective way of getting your hands on new releases if you’re an enthusiast.

To be honest, I think Tears of the Kingdom will back up the asking price if £70 is real, but that’s an exception for Nintendo amid the Wii U ports and filler Mario sports titles.

@RareFan my headcanon is that the paratrooper is a blue shell that will lead to a big chase scene during the Mario Kart sequence.