Dogorilla

I will of course be playing the most anticipated release of the week. Yes that's right, it's Deltarune time! Haven't had a chance to get into the new chapters yet but hopefully I'll have time to make a proper start this weekend.

I'm not a big fighting game fan but the solo mode actually sounds like a lot of fun, much better than trying to figure out how to play the game by just doing a load of contextless scraps. I might consider giving it a go whenever I get a Switch 2 - I can't imagine caring about one mode only being 30fps, although the 50GB download and lack of proper physical release is rather more off-putting...

Welcome back, Miitomo

@nessisonett Yep, I've made peace with waiting a while to get a Switch 2, there's nothing else on it that I desperately want to play at launch, but I can't help feeling a bit of envy over this one game...

Amazing news, this is a game I've been wanting to pay for a while and it's a great idea to include the original version alongside the remaster, I hope they'll do the same if they remaster/remake Chrono Trigger!

I was almost sold when I watched the Switch 2 Direct, but my excitement quickly ended up being outweighed by the pricing of the console, games and SD cards. I'll get one eventually, probably when a more exciting colour variant is available, but I can live without it until the games start getting discounts.

This is an entirely superfluous feature, I love it

Definitely interested in playing this after reading this! As an asexual person I'm not massively into dating sims, but the abstractness of this game as well as the friendship option makes it sound much more up my street.

Eh, I'm not getting one, too expe-- sorry, @Siaha, what do you mean you're going to continue balding? Do you include that in your schedule every day just as a matter of course or are you going to be tearing your hair out waiting for your Switch 2 games to download?

I think I would cry if I met Donkey Kong in real life

Japan may have two Kirbys but NA/Europe has three Ricks (plus a few more that are hidden), so I think there's a pretty clear winner here

I'm long overdue a replay of this amazing game but I got 11/13, so I guess I remember it better than I thought!

@LordPieFace I was thinking the same - that's what the famously gameplay-first Miyamoto is most excited about?

How fast would he be with wings?

'At this point, it's not really a Switch console without Hamster's excellent Arcade Archives series'

I suppose this is true in that there is currently 1 Switch console that has the Arcade Archives series and 0 Switch consoles that don't, but I'm not sure that's a big enough sample size to make this claim

I was assuming it was going to be pre-written voice lines using AI to recreate Jones's voice, but it seems he can just... say anything? I hate this is but it is kind of funny

That's a really fun idea, I'd love to get a chance to go one day! How do I become a pudding paleontologist?

I quite like the look of it in theory - it's pretty neat how you can superimpose yourself onto the game with the camera, or 'parallel play' by half-watching your friends play a different game. Will I actually do those things? Not sure, especially given that the camera is a paid extra. But I think GameChat does just enough to make it feel like a somewhat novel spin on voice chat.

Player 2 probably gets to shake the Joy Con to flap DK's tie or something.

I've never been someone who buys every game I'm interested in at launch, but I do tend to make an exception for Nintendo's big hitters at least. With the Switch 2, though, I'm not buying the console until the games start getting decent discounts, and if we're looking at £60-75 for every major first-party game I think it'll be very rare for me to buy anything at launch once I do have the system. I definitely do want to get the console in due course, but for now I'm not feeling particularly enthusiastic about modern gaming and I'm quite happy to just focus on older games for a bit.

@Zufolobelisk I don't disagree, but I'm curious how you know he's not autistic?

I've always wanted an Ecco game with GPU sensibilities!

I preferred the orange, it was a nice contrast to the red of the NSO apps.

I might do if I find a game I'm interested in for a good price and it's only on key card, but I already tend to skip Switch games with hefty downloads so I can't see myself buying loads of these. It might actually encourage me to buy games I wouldn't normally if they do have proper physical releases though - Cyberpunk isn't something I would have considered if it was digital only but I may actually give it a go (when I eventually get a Switch 2) just because it's a full game on cartridge, and that seems to be a novelty now!

ARMS! It's gonna happen one day, right? RIGHT?

I open it now and then to see what's on it but it's never massively exciting. There's some nice artwork but it would be more useful if there was a better archive of that stuff rather than having to scroll back through the days. Having said that, they did recently treat us to a 3D view of the Switch 2 HDMI cable and a video of Donkey Kong pulling funny faces, and it's hard to imagine what more we could want than that.

Good to see we're continuing the tradition of Nintendo consoles launching with a third-party port with added Mario or Zelda costumes.

Feeling better about my decision to wait a while before getting the console now. Just a handful of third-party games will chew through the system memory (not to mention that I'd fill it immediately with a system transfer from my Switch), most of them don't have proper physical releases by the look of it, and those microSD express cards are expensive at the moment. Hopefully by the time I get my hands on a Switch 2, those memory cards and actual physical games will have dropped in price (standard microSD cards are much cheaper now than they were when the Switch launched, so there's hope).

That's a great detail, it often feels like Nintendo doesn't expect anyone to keep playing their old consoles once newer ones are out (what with the online and digital stores being shut down and a lot of the games being re-released for higher prices) so it's nice to see them acknowledging 3DS players in some small way in 2025!

Counting SP versions is generous, they're just glorified save states. But yes, we've definitely reached the point where NSO is good value for money, even if I would rather have the option to buy games individually as well.

Good to see this is being patched - I've seen that there are a few issues with the port as it stands, which are not necessarily dealbreakers to me as I'd still like to play this game again but it will definitely be better once they're fixed. Looking at that video it's kind of hard to believe the game was even launched with those blatant missing textures, but better late than never.

Psychonauts 2 pleeeease

You can tell Nintendo PR's going great when they have to clarify this

Thought this looked interesting even though nobody was talking about it when it showed up in Directs. Glad to hear it's pretty good; I like the idea of collectible cassettes that unlock music both in-game and online.

I suppose I might consider one of these if it's a game that I'm unsure if I'll like and it isn't available on a proper cartridge, as at least I can then resell it. As an alternative to pure digital it's not a bad option to have, but it's disappointing that we're already seeing some publishers defaulting to key cards for games that you'd expect to be on cartridge (like Bravely Default and Suikoden, especially in the case of the latter where you can already get exactly the same game physically for Switch 1).

Nitrome is a great developer and it's fantastic to see a game built specifically for Mouse Mode, I'll definitely buy this when I eventually get a Switch 2!

I'm happy to just boot up the Wii U if I want to replay it.

I saw this on TV! I think I got 5 right, which isn't too bad bearing in mind it wasn't multiple choice and the contestant only got 4. (Not going to do the quiz on here as I'd have a bit of an unfair advantage )

@MontyCircus The trailer in the Direct seemed to suggest the camera and mic can pick up multiple people in the same room

Hmm, the wording of that small print sounds like the 'upgrade pack' might just be a download even if you buy the physical copy, in which case if you want the better box art you might as well buy the Switch 1 release and the upgrade pack separately.

Hmm, not sure about that case design. Original Switch game boxes look nice with the artwork filling the whole canvas, but this feels a bit dominated by that red stripe.

Looking forward to seeing more of this one. They didn't really show what you can do in the game other than the basic gameplay, but I'm always happy to see games built around unique controller features like this, especially new IP.

The poll's set for the wrong Direct. I'd give it an 8 or 9 - the new hardware features look fun, Mario Kart looks incredible, I'm delighted to see DK back, and there were so many other little things that I'm excited about. Slightly freaking out about the game prices, but I suppose they didn't mention those in the Direct so I can't mark it down for that...

Not sure why but I'd be slightly embarassed to be seen with a controller that says 'Republic of Gamers' on it.

This sounds like such a timesaver, you'd be a fool not to go for it!

I know I am! I've yet to see anything that particularly excites me about the Switch 2 (which may well change on Wednesday), but I've wanted a new Tomodachi Life for years.

I briefly fired up Xenoblade X on Wii U today but didn't really make any progress. I never did beat the final boss and probably won't at this point, I'll just pick up the Switch version some day and play through that instead since it has new content and apparently fixes some of the game's many issues. That'll be a while away though as I still haven't played Xenoblade 2 or 3 yet, so it's nice to be able to revisit Mira on Wii U in the meantime.

Other than that, I played a few levels of Little Big Planet 2 today and I'm intending to continue my playthrough of Okami HD. I'm making fairly slow progress on it, as I do with most games, but it's very good so far.

I have heard of it, always nice to see the library of cult classics available on Switch expanding.

I like the idea of each Legends game experimenting with a new battle style while the main main series sticks to the traditional system. I wouldn't want real-time battles to replace turn-based ones for good, but as a one-off (or recurring thing in Legends/other side games) I'm all for it.

I can't believe the Switch has been around for almost twice as long as the Wii U was. While the Switch hasn't quite overtaken the Wii and DS in my affections, the years have flown by and the sheer breadth of its library is almost unimpeachable. I'm always going back to previous consoles (or at least their games, through backwards compatibility) even after their successors have been released, so here's to another 8 years of the Switch!