Dringo

@SillyG Well because of the ability to share the game… otherwise you can only share all 3 at once

@Lizuka Although Arceus' sales were lower over time, at launch it was very big.

They hinted at a Switch 2 version in an interview with me

I obviously would love the visual power on a PS5... but TV time is so rare. I've still not completed RE4. So, if it runs fine, I'm getting Requiem on Switch 2.

@Diowine Mate, I didn’t say any of those things.

My point about Indiana Jones is that the game was excellent, but Xbox still released it in December, so it missed out on awards.

But that’s because awards don’t factor into release date strategy (not really). It’s just when the game is ready and when there is an available spot

I actually wrote a whole piece about the impact of awards on sales. It can have some minor positive impact, particularly paired with a discount and especially for smaller games, but it varies and certainly isn’t significant.

Nintendo’s strategy is to release a game a month and ensure each title has room to breathe. Metroid in December makes sense, considering the slate it has for October and November.

@Diowine Ok. I mean, i definitely know a lot more about this than you do, but fine.

Metroid Prime 4 is clearly destined to be bad. Only bad games come out in December. Like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Marvel's Midnight Suns, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, The Last Guardian...

@Diowine No, as in, they don’t plan release dates around awards. Indiana Jones was probably the only game that could have challenged Astro Bot last year. But ultimately, it still landed in December.

As someone who indirectly works for the people behind the TGAs, trust me on this one.

@Diowine That’s not how it works. Indiana Jones released in December

Tony Hawks and DK are essential to me. As a mega fan of both franchises, July is like Christmas for me this year.

Might get a PS5 and Switch 2 version of Tony Hawks. So I have the best version and a portable version

Cracking trilogy. 3 is deeply underrated.

Rage Wars is a belter, but I suspect that’s challenging considering how they’ve not really done the Turok Trilogy’s multiplayer properly.

I have the games so probably won’t get this unless it’s on sale. But nice they’re doing it

Eternal Darkness would be great.

Pac-Man Vs, obviously.

But also… I would love to check my nostalgia for Lost Kingdoms or Bloody Roar

This was fun. Knows the audience of who is buying this

Nobody cares about the launch of a Nintendo console outside of us. People come on-board, or don't, when their friends start playing the games and talking in the playground.

I am going to be busy with other games when this comes out… but when I get round to it, I’ll be torn between playing this and the inevitable HD re-release.

Anyway. My dream GameCube titles I want to see are Wave Race: Blue Storm, Starfox Adventures and Eternal Darkness

I suspect we're most likely to get a Zelda 3D Collection now, to justify a higher priced package.

It's easier to convince parents to buy a games console today than it used to. Because we are the parents.

@sanderev Just feel I’ll get bored exploring (and a big part of Legends was exploration) identical looking places.

Equally, the whole research mechanic made it worthwhile catching duplicate ‘Mon. I assume there’s no need to do that this time

@sanderev Sure, I’m less worried about the size and scale. I just can’t see a beach area or a volcano area (or equivalent) fitting in this.

The visual style isn’t interesting in the slightest and (so far) lacks variety. Disappointed

Arceus' style was refreshing and the ability to go through a whole region meant lots of variety. Exploring caves, traversing rivers, clambering up mountains... that exploration was part of what made Arceus so frigging awesome.

This... doesn't look like any of that. Kinda worried.

It's worth noting Iron Galaxy also worked on THPS 1 + 2, supporting Vicarious Visions.

Scarlet and Violet.

The best game of them all that needs a technical overhaul

Seeing as Legends Arceus remains one of the best Pokemon games of all time, I’m excited even if the only game of note is Z-A

@ChakraStomps Tetris 99 is a Switch exclusive and handled by Nintendo as a subscriber game…

Tetris 99 is one I would have included in this.

Paper Mario is also on NSO

Nintendo's point is that their franchises have grown.

Yes, the bigger install base, increased number of releases etc.. are the reasons for that growth (in some cases). But there is always a reason why something happens.

The point Nintendo is making is simply... not just their big franchises have grown, but their smaller ones have, too.

That Metroid figure in particular is a promising one.

@johnedwin So the install base discussion really needs addressing amongst fan communities, because it’s actually not how sales trends work on console.

As a platform ages, the number of games increases. So although the potential audience is greater, the competitive landscape is fiercer. In other words, yes there are more players to sell to, but there are also more games trying to sell to them. Including, on Switch, even more Zelda games.

For Zelda in particular, the core fanbase for that were there day one on Switch, too.

@johnedwin No it doesn’t

There was never a chance in hell Zelda was going to top EA Sports FC in the UK. In fact, there’s no chance ANY game is going to top EA Sports FC

Slightly disappointing it sold 14% less at launch than Link’s Awakening 2019. Although with digital I expect it’ll be a lot closer

@Xansies I’m well aware. It just only feels like yesterday that it came out

It’s a great game. But for some reason it doesn’t seem old enough for a remaster. And it’s not like the gameplay is radically different.

But I get it. Luigi’s Mansion 3 was huge, and a lot of those players never experience the originals

TOTK is a sequel. And it's rare for a sequel to pack the same punch as the original. I have to say, TOTK was a bit too big for me. I have never put 180 hours into a game before this one. And it's a clear masterpiece. I just... sometimes like to play a Nintendo game that's a little tighter.

Best Pokemon game since the original. Utterly compelling. I did every inch of it and was sad when it was over, which isn’t usual for me.

Delighted it isn’t a one-shot thing

@Faucet It was part of the share agreement from the start. Nintendo bought the shares with a full purchase option that they didn’t exercise. It’s unusual that the owners of the company are prohibited to sell it to someone because of a minority share holder.

This is all in the official internal Rare magazine released in 2017 (which I wrote)

@Faucet Not true. Nintendo owned 49% but was obligated to buy the business outright after a certain point, or alternatively they’d have to sell the shares to a buyer.

When the time came to buy, they requested a 2 year extension. The Stampers agreed. When that 2 year had passed, they requested another 2 year extension and the Stampers refused.

Nintendo passed on the option to buy fully. So Rare sought a new buyer. And ended up picking Microsoft over Activision

@SBandy1 Then that wouldn’t be a subscription service.

@SBandy1 It is a subs service, so actually releasing things all at once is not recommended as you need a regular feed of content to drive engagement and keep the funnel working

@mlt Well… this is the third Rare game on the service

@LadyCharlie They didn't buy Free Radical. Free Radical closed down years ago. They bought TimeSplitters, then they reformed the Free Radical team to bring it back, including the original founders.

Come on. Give me some more of those sweet platformers and the Rare games. I’ll take just one every 6 months.

Body Harvest, DK64, Banjo Tooie, Beetle’s Adventure Racing, Perfect Dark, Rocket Robot on Wheels, Resident Evil 2, Space Station Silicon Valley, Indiana Jones, Rogue Squadron, Battle for Naboo, Castlevania…

I don’t think this release is aimed at hardcore Rockstar fans.

@Baler Games take longer to make with bigger teams. It’s true of everybody. Rockstar released one game last generation and they’re 5 times the size.

Battletoads to Donkey Kong to Banjo to Viva to Kinect to Sea of Thieves. Rare always changes and never sits still. But their games all have the same distinct vibe

Pokemon Legends and Pokemon Scarlet and z Violet actually made the franchise exciting again. I hope they don’t pivot back to the old ways. We’ve had plenty of those games.

@K1LLEGAL I have to say, I was disappointed in PD0. But broadly, Rare’s output post-Nintendo has been good… quality wise, anyway. It’s not resonated as much or had the same impact, of course.

@Baler As someone who hosted a Sea of Thieves panel at EGX, which was completely packed out and had to turn people away, I can believe it. It’s a great game

I think Wind Waker would top my list, but TP would be next.

But I’m in no rush. I’ve still got 10000 hours of TOTK left

That does not look official

@Link-Hero Only really the Goldeneye/Perfect Dark team. The Banjo and Conker teams were there for years afterwards (some still are). And a lot of the DK64 folks.

@Dazman Viva Piñata was great. Nuts and Bolts was unexpected, but very good. Even Ghoulies was a lot of fun.

All of them, including Sea of Thieves, were directed by Gregg Mayles (who also directed Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie). Paul Machachek is still leading a bunch of teams there, who was lead programmer on Banjo and Battletoads. Huw is still there. Louise O’Connor and Chris Marlow and Robin Beanland (whose credits include Killer Instinct and Conker are still there).

It’s all overblown. They make fewer games these days, but these games are still great.

As for ‘brooms’… companies change completely over generations. The key is whether that heritage lives on with the next generations. And it clearly has. Sea of Thieves is as Rare as it gets.