Duncanballs

I think the biggest concern would be that someone actually buys this game at those prices.

As per my comments above, very tempted and hopefully it will go on sale soon.

Whilst we are on this genre, Star Wars Squadrons on Switch 2 anyone?

@gb_nes_gamer I will definitely give it a go at somepoint though I am swayed slightly towards PC to use a flight stick.

F22 from memory was good on the Megadrive.

@gb_nes_gamer I really should give this a go. I used to love F18 interceptor on the Amiga in the 80s.

Switch 2 Pro rumours starting early this gen

@Strawblaze I think as you have highlighted, the longevity may be more specific to certain hardware rather than a general rule.

Im possibly thinking more on a few gens back of simplistic boards and carts.

Long live the concept of keeping these things going. Time will tell as to which will survive and which won't.

Some things are made better today, somethings are not.

@Strawblaze I've raised this point a few times before.

However, I think the situation is much different now. Today's tech is not built to last and considerably more complex.

Unfortunately as a more generalised view of the world, consumer products are now made with a short life in mind and routine replacement is the norm.

We've lost the make do and mend of old.

@SuppressorSteve I'm sure all of those would do rather well on SW2.

Im hoping at the next direct, Microsoft starts to deliver on a lot of its talk from recent years.

As always, the more games, the better 👍

Like stocks and shares, I'm in it for the long game with Switch 2. 👍

What is not mentioned is that stock is up 6.62% on January 2025.

@Pillowpants glad to hear. Timesinks but great games. Some say dated when it comes to DQ but for me, that is some of it's charm.

@Teksette if you can't motivate them, 2 hours on your own in a cinema not having to share your popcorn, is no bad thing 😃👍

@shgamer all good choices but Ghosts and Ghoblins is the old equivalent of Elden Ring. I have neither the dexterity or patience these days for uber difficult ..... Great game though 👍

Finished the rather excellent demo of FF7 reimagined so back to my 2nd runthrough of TOTK.

My copy of the Amiga Compendium by Bitmap Books arrived this week so some evening reading ahead.

Might take my daughter this evening to the cinema for a 40th anniversary showing of Labyrinth.

As I said on another thread, I do quite like the look of the black joycons as they are but I wouldn't say no to some transparent shells in a dark grey with subtle accents of colour.

@Anti-Matter they won't connect to a Switch 1. Just saying 🙃

Not great on first attempt but as history proved on SW1, this won't be the only edition of Joycons that the big N will release and we did see the odd meh effort then.

In all honesty, I like the current all black aesthetic of the SW2 with subtle colour hints. Each to their own.

AI the modern equivalent of what advances in production manufacturing did to manual labour of making things.

We've been here before people and we will again.

Say what you will about Microsoft, but I am keen for a few franchises to make their way to Switch 2.

More so, Halo, Forza, Gears of War and the latest Psychonauts. I would also add Starfield. It didnt live up to its promise but was still good IMO and I would enjoy a handheld version maybe more.

January/February Direct maybe???

I couldn't wait until the weekend so dived in and about an hour under my belt.

Im a little done with the often popular chibi style and diorama approach to these classics but in this example it's really nicely done.

Great voice acting and a very dragon quest esq orchestral score.

Performance appears flawless on SW2 so far and it's quite stunning visually.

Gameplay and dialogue is very classic DQ although I do note a bit of hand holding so far but I think thats by design for the opening part.

Controls are good and in particular the camera rotation is nice.

Overall, Ive got no reason to question my pre order and thoroughly looking forward to it.

As a fan of the series, I quite quickly felt like I was about to embark on a grand fantasy adventure and it felt very Dragon Quest ..... and thats a good thing 👍

...... possibly my older eyes, but if I was to give the most minor quibble, would be nice to have a zoom in function for some of the areas. That's mainly from a handheld perspective. Text size is fine, just sometimes feels just a smidgen too far zoomed out. Ill adapt.

Happy questing people.

@NintendoWife you raise a point I have often mulled over, the hardware!

Whilst not a given, modern tech doesn't last as long as it used to. So some may be in a position in 20-30 years time of owning the physical media but the hardware died a long time ago.

Having been a gamer from the 80s, I must have played 1000's of games in my time. I wager that of those, I only go back to about 5-10% of them. Most are available digitally in some shape or form.

Yes, I'm paying twice and yes not everything is available but from experience of gaming over 40 years, most games I want to revisit, I can.

@ozwally I can be a bit like that so Im quite selective these days myself.

I welcome the demos from my love of magazines back in the 90s.

Used to look forward to the cover cassettes and disks each month for the demos.

@ozwally nice to be in that position of too many to play!

If anything, I think FF7 is the more likely to go on sale at some point so my money is going on DQ7 first and will look at FF7 in spring.

Im basing this on Crisis Core that has gone half price often in sales but recent DQs seem to hold their price.

...... FF7 however is launching at a sensible price regardless.

@WiltonRoots totally agree. Ive always enjoyed the NL threads even if I dont always comment.

Its a shame that a select few are derailing what are normally some fun and good discussions.

Lots of things in life that I do not like but Im not going to bore the NL community with them at every opportunity with no relevance to the topic in hand.

@Pillowpants hope you enjoy your first dip of your toe into the world of DQ.

You are in for a treat 👍

....... Just set aside 100's of hours for when you get hooked. 😃

@nessisonett thats udderly possible 🙃 🐄

Tentatively looking forward to this.

I think Mario Tennis (and Golf) hit its peak during the Cube era and I regularly fire up that version for a quick tournament.

Im hoping for a feature rich single player experience. Online is a bonus with this one for me.

@LikelySatan and that viewpoint is totally fine. I think the issue I have with the subject, whilst I am open that it doesn't bother me, is that it is raised in so many articles when it isnt the topic of discussion.

Genuinely do feel for anyone who has an issue with this and it's a shame if it is impacting their enjoyment of this hobby.

I just dont want to hear about it on everythread when there have been dedicated articles on this and anyone can start a topic in the forums if they wish.

Unfortunately we have a few in the community who are not interested in the article in question and just use it as an opportunity to spam their views that are often off topic to get clicks. This site is becoming more and more like IGN.

First week back at work is a bit of a slog. Looking forward to the demo at the weekend for some chill time.

Can't wait.

@SlimeRyu and 3 months of a certain musical turned film found it's way to every comment section as well.

@Anti-Matter for a dude who is allegedly all physical, why on the Pushsquare 2026 PS5 New Years Resolutions article did you say on Monday that you are getting a 2tb ssd for your PS5?

That's a lot of storage for someone who only buys physical.

Comments for clicks on this site as always.

@Pillowpants DQ11 released with a 10 hour demo. If it's still available, give that a go.

Like you, I was a late starter on the DQ games due to being in the UK. 8 was my first DQ back on the PS2.

Long live turn based!!!!

@jaughndis nope.

Remake
Crisis Core
Rebirth

In that order IMO.

@Anti-Matter who mentioned AI??

Im not for AI and your comment is somewhat valid, but not here.

I dont get the instant negativity on all articles. Are you just after the thumbs up clicks?

The best news they could announce???

DQ12 confirmed as still turn based! 👍

@Ornstein thanks for the recommendations 👍

I was late teens when Pokemon first came out. Not saying it is exclusively for kids but at the time I was in to different things (waned on gaming for a bit ... more into my music, going out, girlfriends etc) so never jumped on the Pokemon bandwagon.

Been tempted in recent years but know to stay away from some of the more modern stuff. I think if I do give it a go, Ill probably go for something from the GBA era.

Im very open on here that I am not a graphics snob but I do look at the latest releases that look quite dated in both graphics and gameply/world design and think they could do better.

2026, who knows. I might finally dip my toe.

Happy new year to everyone.

Make 2026 awesome and keep gaming.

👍🎉🎮🕹

Miss the days of Iwata, Shibata and Reggie on Directs. Legends

Nintendo survives and thrives on its exclusives because it releases a high comparative volume of them and there are not many duds.

In fairness, Sony has some quality IP but they also have many droughts between releases with long development cycles between announcement and release. Sony survives on multiplat and powerful hardware ..... xbox tried the same but has no unique proposition to win the tech two horse race.

Exclusivity works as proven with high quality and volume.

Ive been coming back for 40 years, so Nintendos exclusivity works for me.

Give it 10-15 years and apart from handheld, hardware will either be dead and buried or on its way out and the only thing that will matter is the games.

As it should and always be.

@LordFunkalot fellow old gamer. Im torn. I think exclusivity works if you produce hardware. Its largely why I have owned every Nintendo console since the NES. In truth though, I have benefitted from multiplat on many machines ..... C64, Amiga, PC etc

Never say never though. Seeing the gaming wars of the 90s, none of us would have ever imagined Sonic on a Nintendo machine!

@Anti-Matter genuinely, why capitalise words??

Merry Christmas All!

And here's to an epic 2026 👍

AI, the modern equivalent of automation in manufacturing but more an impact on creative ability.

Compliment not replace. It has its place but not as a replacement.

Glad we lived past Judgement Day.

Two weeks off from work started yesterday.

Nostalgia will be strong this holiday with a dust down of my Amiga, Spectrum and C64. The arcades will no doubt get some time.

With the kids back from Uni, Im blessed with my family around me and looking forward to some laughs with Mario Kart and Mario Party.

My son and I will no doubt be playing Talisman and we will have a try of Starcadia Quest for the first time.

Happy holidays people 👍

I would have triple dipped on this if 1. It was in a good state and 2. It was a sensible price.

Neither, Im afraid.

Having got into NMS finally this year and enjoying the freedom of that game, Im a little on the fence with Starfield.

It was good but missed a number of elements that NMS does well with the notable observation on spaceship travel and of course the massive step up this year of corvettes. It wins on combat though. Principly the main difference. One is geared to resource collecting and exploration, the other more story and combat driven.

Hmnn, if only I could mould the two.

However, the prospect of handheld whilst watching something on the TV somewhat elevates it's appeal.

£40 or less and I might bite.

...... Edit, thinking about it, I'd much rather see the remastered Mass Effect trilogy first if talking about space themed games.

@Anti-Matter thats a little preachy suggesting what people should and shouldnt like and suggesting people are not open minded.

For me personally, I'm neither led by society or popularity. I make my own choice.

Poor comment Im afraid pushing your narative and preference on others and Im sorry to say it works both ways. You are one of the most close minded people on here.

@Pillowpants thats what I did on my playthrough to make it somewhat familiar. Its a halfway house.

@Pillowpants Ive only really enjoyed the Xenoblades and this outside of turn based.

Turn based is like a game of Chess thinking 2 or 3 moves ahead constantly. My reactions are too slow these days for real time and Im guilty of panic button mashing 😃

Fingers crossed that DQ12 sticks with tradition.

Nice. Will try this evening. I played this through once on Steam Deck and it ran well. Hoping for the same on SW2.