FineLerv

The game looks like all of the violence of Verhoeven's movie, without the self awareness.

Since demos have been shown to more likely negatively effect sales, I can understand the strategy.

"I'm going to buy it anyway" isn't an argument, though.

It's an ethical argument. If you believe that people in general need to stop buying massive amounts of landfill then you have to also support a fully digital future. In which case, having an infrastructure that ensures eternal backwards compatibility should be paramount.

@Princess_Lilly "Isn;t MTG gambling though with the booster packs?"

I guess it is if you're aiming for something specific, but back in '94 was just playing with what I had. Nowadays, you can just buy anything outright from your local hobby shop so I haven't bought a randomised packet in 20 years!

@Princess_Lilly "Its much better to show kids how hard gambling is before they gamble away their livers to the mafia over texas holdem."

I think I agree with you on this one but I will say, from my own experience, the thing that actually turned me off gambling was being so invested in video games (and other nerd hobbies) that the mechanics behind gambling just seemed so uninteresting by comparison.

When i turned 18, pressing a single button on a pokie machine and hoping to win was so boring compared to the arcade games I had been playing at the time. Playing cards was never gonna beat Magic: the Gathering.

So I guess what I'm saying is; If they made gambling mechanically stimulating, I might be in trouble...

Pokemon Picross again please.

They left money on the table by not periodically releasing DLC until the end. It didn't have to be frequent, but if every six months I had another reason to log on to Smash, I'd pay for that.

@smithyo "Your average well made SHUMP/STG will be 20 times harder to clear (1cc) than Cuphead."
I'm not playing THOSE either. I really have no interest in "getting good" at videos games. I'm not saying everything needs to feel like a cakewalk but if I need to play the same content twenty times just to make a little progress then it's a major turnoff for me. It reeks of a bygone era of artificially inflating the value of a product by making it harder than it needs to be.

Having said that, I recognise it's a personal preference and don't necessarily think that review scores need to reflect my own ideals.

@smithyo I mean, if we're knocking points off for games that don't have our preferred difficulty setting, Cuphead would be a solid 6 or 7 in that case. I'll take stupidly easy over obnoxiously challenging any day.

Regarding the co-op; I'm not saying that it's a suitable replacement for a proper two player mode but for a parent with a young primary school kid, it was actually a welcome innovation. I don't want to necessarily play Pikmin's campaign as a multilayer experience, but being able to help my son get through the demo was a nice alternative way to play the game.

The GameCube F Zero was great but obnoxiously difficult.

I think Nintendo needs to entice new people into their fringe IPs by taking advantage of other media. Have a charming short play before the next Mario movie starring whatever character they want to push. Put some quality cartoons on Netflix. Kids don't play games because they're good, they play them because they're familiar.

Playing Pikmin 4 demo with my son... man, it's sooooo wordy. I like the 2 player assist mode, but Nintendo needs to calm down with the text boxes.

They should put Steve in Smash Bros!

N64 is kind of the hardest console to go back to for me. It doesn't take long down the list before you've exhausted the mandatory titles. The cream on top is so sweet but unfortunately the bottom of the N64 barrel has a thick layer of crust.

It should have happened in Ultimate. There was no greater rival to Street Fighter 2 than Mortal Kombat and what better way to commemorate its legacy than Scorpions's inclusion in the most meta fighting game of all time?

I booted up the SNES app yesterday for the first time in ages. It was pleasantly surprising how much was on there. Though I do wish all the consoles were centralised in one location, I think at this stage it's hard to argue against the value of NSO for a retro enthusiast.

@sinndec "Strange how this game already feels kinda "forgotten" while Three Houses is still discussed."

I've played so many Fire Emblem games multiple times through but I barely even touched Three Houses. It couldn't hook me at all. To each his own, I guess.

I picked up Jurassic World last time it was on sale and have spent a ridiculous amount of hours on it. Sure, it struggles to run on bigger islands any time you construct a building but it's still worth investing in for any dino-zoo enthusiasts.

Seeing them listed out like that highlights how they're mostly all pretty horrendous for one reason or another. The Joy-cons are definitely the bottom of the list for me, though. A great concept let down by a cheap and flimsy implementation.

@JohnnyMind Although it's only a matter of time before your hard drive dies and there's no way to recover all your games.

No multiplayer story mode?!? That instantly killed it for me. I was keen for this game as something to play through with my son. Now it's DOA.

It's the least creative way for them to encourage players to use different weapons.

No love for Ultimate ADOM? My late 90s self is screaming.

Spent wayyyy too many hours playing the original on my A500 mini this year.

Peggle was probably the most overrated game of all time.

I've been playing the original on my A500 mini in preparation. My body is ready.

@denpanosekai Pretty much, though it doesn't convert that easily.

Assuming it plays like actual Monopoly Jr, it's a six sided board with one dice, no Community Chest, easier maths, mandatory purchasing, and the game just ends when someone can't pay for something. There's slightly more advanced rules that let's you pay for things with properties you own but that's all there is to it. Perfect for my 5 year old.

This looks like it sits somewhere in between the two versions.

So offensive that they are using standees instead of figurines. Vanilla Monopoly Jr has wonderful kid-friendly pieces and even the Nintendo Monopoly has proper Nintendo-themed Tokens.

Excellent. When my A500 mini arrives, I'll be inspired to load up the original two now!

April Fools, right?

Fantastic news! I don't think I could endure Alien Soldier again but it's an amazing game for those who haven't played through it. Can't wait to try the other two.

@SteamEngenius Not meaning to sound facetious but do people still actually care about achievements?

Probably still better value than the money I spent watching The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at the cinema...

Cowabunga! This news is totally tubular.

The real "best N64 Zelda game"!

I'd love to have one but can't justify the cost. If I was younger and played games more, it'd be a "must buy" for me.

Classic Amiga game Moonstone on Switch?!? keeps reading headline Awwww.

@JustMonika They're definitely a blind spot for me. I don't play games like I did when I was young, so I think a lot of video game stuff gets sieved out of my awareness and I'm left only really tracking the titles that would appeal to me.

So, are they actually just largely storytelling experiences, as the name implies? Or is there puzzles and choices and things that you would normally associate with a more traditional game?

@JustMonika "Where you been since 1983?! Lol!"

We never used that term in '83. Even text adventures have been retroactively given the name "novel" but to us they were dungeons and dragons games.

@Slinkoy1 "Because I still have no idea what it is"

Same. I just followed Liam's link to Kate's review and the problem is I have no idea what a "visual novel" is. And I'm being dead serious. Is it just words with pictures and no gameplay? I'm genuinely confused.

Great! I'll be trying Thunder Force 2. I've played through, and enjoyed my time with, all the games that aren't on the Megadrive Collection. Definitely worth the 12 dollars a year I paid for my share of a family pass.

We said Commodore Amiga, dagnabbit!

I loved this game when I used to play it. It'd be nice to see how the Switch version performs. But, by the time I get around to playing these free trials they have always expired.

@TonyTyga90 Replace an actual actor with a plank of wood? I hope you're joking.

From Stringer Bell to Bloodsport, the man is always phenomenal.

@Matty1988 I can totally relate. The job's not demanding, but my lifestyle is. If I'm playing games for only a handful of hours a week, I'm gravitating towards short and sweet experiences.

However, my five year old just got Minecraft last week and it's absolutely perfect for him.

I'm still playing the Megadrive games. Haven't even looked at the N64 yet.

Coincidentally, my new V:teS cards just arrived in the mail.

Correct me if I'm wrong but this game feels like all the gameplay is in story decisions without any underlying mechanics. If so, it's definitely not my cup of tea.

I know, I know. Those dumb racoons tell me about it over and over and over.

Hoping to get the ones I slept on. I think there was some Mario Golf and No More Heroes or something. Either way... There's a long gap in my collection!