GameManAdvance

This "easier" direction for Monster Hunter was inevitable and necessary for the series continued success. I absolutely loved "classic" Monster Hunter but I don't think this new direction is a bad thing at all. If they didn't streamline things like they did in World and Rise we would not be seeing the huge surge in popularity for the series that we are seeing now and that it so deserves. The game is easier, yes, but that's mostly a result of less tedious manual labor in the form of crafting and gathering. It's just so much more focused on actual combat and less on slogging through chores. Most of the complexity is still there for advanced players, it's just not a necessity anymore. The game simply wastes less of your time. As a series veteran it does feel a little wrong but it's also a relief to be honest.

As much as I disagree with the marketing tactic used for this game, this article is pure clickbait. All you have to do is apply a "sold listings" filter to a search for SM3DAS to see that not a single sold listing cracks $70. These morons who bought a bunch of copies expecting to sell them for huge sums are in for some serious disappointment.

@Spiders The difference is that none of those were blatant cash-grabs. Club Nintendo rewards were free. Zelda Collection was a pack-in. The games in SMAS for Wii were all individually available on the Wii Shop for years. All of them were marketing campaigns and none of them were as transparently cynical as this one.

It’s infuriating to see this put so bluntly by an actual Nintendo developer. I’ve been a huge Nintendo fan for my entire life and I’ve never seen them do anything like this. It makes my heart sink and it forces me to doubt this company in ways I hoped I never would.

@Minecraft_Master I'm guessing that means you plan on scalping your extra copy.

@TryToBeHopeful You don't think a massive sales spike the week before the game is disappeared is proof that this strategy works? What?

It's frustrating to me that Nintendo now has proof that holding their games hostage is a profitable strategy. I refuse to pay this ransom.

@HeadPirate I totally agree. I find it a little frustrating that nobody is talking about Littlewood in particular. It’s not perfect but it’s such a refreshing take on this genre and deserves more recognition.

Depends on the system. For tiny cartridges like DS and 3DS that originally came with nice plastic cases I definitely prefer boxed. For Gameboy and GBA it’s just not worth the trouble or cost trying to find them with a fragile old cardboard box.

For those who are disappointed by Harvest Moon and possibly Story of Seasons now too, give Littlewood a try! It’s such a sweet little game that gives you sort of a bite-sized life sim experience.

My beloved GBA collection consists primarily of the beautifully lo-fi 3D hot garbage that never gets any recognition. Very few of my favorites are listed (big shoutout to Colin McRae Rally 2.0 though).

Smashing Drive
LEGO Drome Racers
Duke Nukem Advance
Super Monkey Ball Jr.
Killswitch
Stuntman
Driv3r
Top Gear Rally
Ecks Vs. Sever series
Payback
Big Mutha Truckers
Star X

The list goes on. These games are very much a product of their time and perhaps deserve their relegation to the waste bin of gaming history. But damned if they aren’t fascinating to behold. It’s amazing how developers took such radically different approaches to squeezing 3D out of the GBA.

Shhhh... Some of us are still trying to collect these games for reasonable prices. The less we talk about them, the easier that will be.

I absolutely love the Monster Hunter franchise. I have never reached G rank.

Sadly I think Nintendo has really painted themselves into a corner with the Switch Lite. I’d be surprised if we saw many more Joy-Con only games, if any. If they can avoid alienating the Switch Lite userbase, they definitely will.

I've been sucked into the Littlewood abyss and I can't seem to pull myself out.

This is genuinely upsetting. I never thought Nintendo would become the "anti-consumer cash grab" company. Holding their own games hostage and saying "buy it now or you might never see it again" is just so pointlessly cynical. I just don't get it and I refuse to pay them money for this BS.

It's a shame that Littlewood didn't make the cut. It's such a nice little step forward for the life sim/farming/town building genre. It's so streamlined and easy to do what you want without being overly-simplified. It's a treat.

I have zero interest in wrestling or wrestling games, but damned if this interview wasn't fascinating.

@BulkSlash The Wii U had wonderfully smooth rounded edges on its discs as an anti-piracy measure.

I could have SWORN that red D-Pad was from a New 3DS XL. You cheeky buggers.

The Wii U launch kind of reminds me of the PS3 launch. It came right off the heels of the massive success of its predecessor but just couldn't reach previous heights due to poor marketing, lack of software that really took advantage of the system, and an overall lack of focus on what the system is supposed to be. The difference here is that Nintendo just ditched it early instead of committing to fixing it like Sony did with the PS3.

Lol they're rushing it out the door because they know nobody is going to like it and most people won't be able to go see it in theaters due to COVID. They're clearly embarrassed about it.

The Japanese one feels very sedate and frankly makes the game look boring. The dog literally looks like it's falling asleep while the child is just kind of listlessly holding a sword for no apparent reason. I much prefer the more action oriented North American one. It's way more visually striking and the characters look like they're actually up to something.

Is it weird that I was much more bothered with the omission of Super Marion Land 2 from the sizzle reel than Galaxy 2 from the collection? Like, they couldn't show 5-10 seconds of gameplay for what reason exactly?

A cheaper solution would be to just pick up one of those grip cases that makes the Switch easier to hold. Bing bang boom. Not the same but close.

I've always thought the Switch eShop felt like a huge step backwards from the 3DS and Wii U eShops. The 3DS eShop in particular was so well curated with several new categories and fun concepts built into the front page every single week; developer spotlights, genre roundups, top picks from various guest curators(including Nintendolife), and plenty of weekly opportunities for indies to be marketed. It was just fun and I looked forward to checking it out every Thursday. The Switch shop feels like an overly simplified, boring, and uninspired slog in comparison. All Thursday brings now is a heavy new load of shovelware.

Lol I love how the park isn't even constructed yet and people are complaining that it's too much Mario and not enough other franchises. Yes, two of the first three areas of the park to be revealed are Mario related but look at the size of the lot they're constructing on vs. the sections that have been revealed. There's plenty of space for other franchises.

https://orlandoparkstop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/dev-plan-904.jpg

@NoTinderLife Wow, thanks for pointing this thing out. Really cool. Anything Teenage Engineering has a hand in is sure to be fun and interesting. This is definitely something to keep an eye on.

@BirdBoy16 I suppose it isn't exactly cheap, but doesn't seem excessively expensive to me. Most other emulator handhelds in its price range aren't exactly top quality. Plus the OS on this looks much more elegant and usable than the competition within that price range. That certainly adds to the value for me.

I'm a huge sucker for tiny emulator consoles like this. It's certainly not the ideal way to play games but there's just something so adorable and technically impressive about this kind of stuff. Something in my brain insists that I must have it. I backed the Pocket Sprite last year as well and enjoyed playing with it, but the Fun Key S looks like it'll blow the Pocket Sprite out of the water spec wise. Suffice it to say I've enthusiastically backed this one.

Edit: I'm a little saddened by all the negativity and pessimism about this project in the comments here. I honestly don't get it. There's a video on the page that shows it working, and working well, at length. Some skepticism is understandable and necessary but this seems like too much. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. All the comments about it being too small to be taken seriously are missing the point completely. It's a novelty. Relax.

Mystery Islands stopped being interesting to me after I got the exact same 5 or 6 islands literally like 50 times. I've also had pretty bad luck hunting for new villagers; I've consistently ended up getting stuck with the dregs out there.

What a strange coincidence. I literally just bought a Virtual Boy and six games from a friend yesterday. Now I find this list on my go-to Nintendo news site. Have uh... have you guys been watching me?

Hey now, the Chupa Chups logo was designed by Salvador Dali. Maybe Zool was just trying to act as a gateway to get kids into surrealist art.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. It might help, but the review-bombing segment of the gaming community is exceptionally whiny and wrongly think they are owed something. 36 hours will likely not be enough to do a whole lot about that.

@Snesionetty Critics and journalists often get early access to games from the developers so that they can have reviews ready on launch day. That’s not to say that all journalistic reviews of games are any good but there’s no conspiracy there. User scores from people who not only haven’t played the games in question but actively want to harm sales are a much more serious problem.

@Incarna That's not hard to do these days lol.

Ah yes, because the casual approach went over so well with Metroid Prime: Federation Force. It was just so well received and everyone loved it. Finally, a Metroid Prime game for everyone except people who like Metroid Prime.

Please... please don't make this mistake again. I know this is a clickbaity article with little connection to Metroid's development but this has me worried.

What I don't understand is why they would give the player so little incentive to actually engage in this new battle system. Part of what makes a satisfying battle system in any game is a sense of progression and a reward for the grind. Neither of these seems to be present here; no EXP, no new abilities, no skill trees, nothing. It seems like it's just kinda tacked on to an otherwise competent adventure game. Why bother?

I really wish I could see myself getting into this game as I did with the first Paper Mario but I just don't think I can. It seems like such a shallow experience to me. What good are pretty environments and a funny storyline if the gameplay surrounding them looks as simplistic and shallow as a paper plate? I just don't see anything new or compelling here besides an apparently pointless battle system that provides no incentive to actually use it.