Could you please update the Wii U so that all activity can be accessed with any controller, not just the gamepad, especially the settings menu? Then we can talk about what I do with a system I spent my own money on. Franky if you are going to remove services and no longer provide them then it’s none of your business what I do with it afterwards.
As someone who owns a Wii, Wii U and Switch it’s not really an issue for me. I had the full switch online for the last 2 years, mainly for my kids but it turned out only my son bothered and when we looked at the games he was playing we already had most of not all on previous consoles, so I’ve dropped it together far cheaper standard option (I like having access to Game Boy games which you can’t play on anything other than an original cart or 3DS VC).
I have modded my Wii, so I have the entire VC on two SD cards and my Wii U has plenty of VC games on it, so a VC on Switch isn’t really an issue. Whilst this isn’t the same as having physical copies of the games it is nice to know that they are always going to be there I some way so long as I look after the systems.
Where it’s going to sting a bit I think is for younger people who have the Switch as their first console; once the online inevitably shuts down there will be some who realise what they lost. However, I’m sure the service will continue on each new system in some way. Personally I don’t really like the idea of not owning things I pay for, but with certain services it’s now sadly an inevitability.
@Rainbowjames the remake is one of the very few games I preordered to play day one. No regrets. It is a fantastic update, just as the remake of Resident Evil on GameCube and Resident Evil 2 a few years ago are.
@WheresWaveRace couldn’t have put it better myself. Though the PS2 got most of my attention at the time I still had a GameCube for exclusives and over 20 years later it is the system I’m far more fond of. In fact I was playing Double Dash just today!
Somehow for nearly all of 2005 this totally passed me by (though I had a lot going on). I had moved abroad by the end of the year and when returned briefly for Xmas I decided to get a new game, as my PS2 was going back with me. I picked up RE4 and was hooked from the first play.
That game got me through one of the coldest winters on record, where I could hurry home and just loose myself in it. It was one of the only games where I can remember finishing a section and thinking ‘please don’t be the end of the game. New part? Wahoo!’
The PS2 version has a different balance for some of the weapons any contained Operation Ada and Separate Ways, neither of which were on the original GameCube release. However I managed to scratch the disc and picked up the GameCube version to play during the summer when I returned home. The graphical differences between the Cube and PS2 versions is quite noticeable. My now wife who was with me at the time still occasionally quotes the Merchant (‘what are a buying?’) as I am sure she was sick of hearing it!
On the one hand I understand the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach of making the Switch 2 basically a better Switch, but on the other hand I would like the excitement of something different. When I went from the Xbox One S to the Series X yes the newer machine was much faster and more powerful, but everything else, including the UI was identical and as such didn’t really feel ‘new’. It’s a first world problem I know but most Nintendo systems feel different from their predecessor (even, if I’m being honest, several have simply been iterations on the previous system).
@Anti-Matter You’re fully entitled to your opinion, but I think you are missing out. The Sonic movies are some of the most family friendly, wholesome films I have seen in a long time. The moral centre is very consistent across all three, with great ideas about family, friendship, responsibility, self-discipline and being true to yourself. The humour is also very warm and genuinly funny.
Good. It was a fun movie. All three Sonic films are wholesome family fun and as a Sonic fan since 1991 it’s great to see what us fans could only imagine: Sonic and co on the big screen!
Also can we stop comparing it to the Mario film? Mario was a ‘traditional’ fully animated film for a character who is even more popular with a consistently high level of games keeping him in the zeitgeist far more successfully than old Sonic. To me both series are triumphs: with Sonic it’s that it has managed to return him to great popularity among the general public to a level not seen since the early 90s and has managed to stay consistently good across three films. Mario’s success isn’t just financial; it’s the fact that after so many years they did it and didn’t make a huge mess of it! As anyone who grew up with the Super Mario Bros. Movie from the 90s can attest, it was not necessarily a sure thing <shudders>
To hit pay dirt as an actor is rare. To manage it a second time in your career is even more rare. Carey’s shtick fell out of favour for a long time but a comically over the top villain in family films is perfect role for him. He will keep doing it as long as they pay him to. He doesn’t seem the sort that would regret it as they ‘want to be taken seriously as an ACTOR!’ and the fact that the films are successful with a wide audience along with a very clear moral centre for the characters is enough to flavour that enormous pay check!
As for going with Shadow’s story rather than Metal Sonic for the third film I thought it was rather smart: as someone who was around 10 when Sonic first released in the 90s I had aged out of him by the time of Adventure 1&2. So whilst the first two films were great for nostalgia for parents my age, the third is good for those who grew up 10 years later with Sonic’s move to 3D. I went in not knowing much about Shadow and it was still very entertaining, but didn’t push the same buttons as Knuckles’ story in 2. Now by bringing in Amy and Metal sonic the fourth film is once again aimed at us Gen 1 fans. Doing it earlier might have some good arguments but remember that Sonic CD was for the longest time only available to those who could afford the Mega CD/Sega CD attachment for the Mega Drive/Genesis, so the characters had less cultural impact than Tails or Knuckles.
As someone who grew up with Sonic in the 90s Mania and to a slightly lesser extent Superstars, are exactly what I want more of. I have never liked Sonic in 3D, his speed means that I end up just going on auto pilot and then dying randomly as I can’t anticipate what to do next (and I wanted to like Lost World and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve played of Frontiers). Generations was good, except the sections with modern sonic.
Superstars was a good step forward in many ways with 4 player options. The bosses however are terrible!
Mania is what I think many people my age wanted from a 32X/Saturn Sonic back in the day. More please!
And release Knuckles Chaotix you cowards! This 90s kids still has no way to play it!
I love the mini consoles for their ease of use and the access to a bunch of games in one convenient package, along with controllers properly designed for them. Also the fact that they need no online connection or cursed subscription to enjoy. Furthermore I can enjoy them forever with no chance that they’ll be blocked or taken away.
Constantly paying a subscription to play games that will eventually disappear when service ends really annoys me. I know that there will inevitably be some continuation with Switch online with the Switch 2 but it feels like ‘hey! Keep paying us money to access the same old games!’ With mini consoles and virtual console I have the games until my console dies. If I’m spending money I want to at least keep what I buy in some way, shape or form.
@MrGawain that’s how I’ve always seen it. Each game is ‘The Legend of Zelda’ so each game is a retelling of the story. I imagine a group sat around a fire, each telling their own version of the legend.
Played and completed it this week. What a lovely game! Just goes to show that with the right effort and some clever thinking , traditional Zelda games can still feel fresh after nearly 40 years. Much prefer this style to BOTW or TOTK.
Now can we have OOT, MM ported from 3DS in HD please?
Windwaker and Twilight Princess would be nice too, but I have them on Wii U.
I supported the Wii U heavily 2014-2019, with most games on disc. It has its moments but looking back I am very grateful that I had only just got into Xbox 360 a couple of years earlier, as I got far more fun out of that console than the Wii U, which was just an awkward machine that didn’t really know what it wanted to be; casual fun or ‘proper gaming machine’. I’ve still got it and won’t get rid of it but let’s face it, it was pretty much DOA.
That being said, as a console for younger players I can imagine it was great. However, with only 13 million sold worldwide I can’t imagine it will generate a huge amount of nostalgia in the future. Though the Dreamcast’s legacy may argue against that, the fact that pretty much all the good Wii U games are on Switch means I can’t imagine many going back to the Wii U instead. In 10-20 years time the Switch on the other hand will be a nostalgia beast!
The only time I really pay attention to a timeline in Zelda is with direct sequels, where it is either the same Link and Zelda (e.g Oot and MM or WW and TPH) or in the same world at different times (e.g ALTTP and ALBW).
My head-canon has always been that, aside from direct sequels, all the games’ stories are independent. After all, the series is called ‘The Legend’ which implies that although there are themes running throughout them all, the story changes depending on who is telling it. I always imagined different people telling the story around a campfire, with it changing depending on time and tradition, each person telling their own version of ‘The Legend of Zelda’.
@FredsBodyDouble I saw it last night. As a big Alien fan the best way to put it is this: Alien Isolation is how you do a great sequel to a classic movie. Romulus isn’t…
@JohnnyMind a 1080p update of F-zero GX with online play is such an open goal for Nintendo that is frustrating that they haven’t done it already! It already ran at 60fps on GameCube and was insanely fast. Even a digital only release would do well.
Mario Kart 8 is doing so well because it’s a game that has something for everyone. Kids can play it, families can play it, ‘gamers’ can play it, it can be played solo, couch co-op or online with potentially unlimited challenge depending on who you get put in a race with. Add to that a large roster of characters, one of which is bound to appeal to somebody, a huge number of tracks all adds up to practically unlimited replayability AND the fact that there is nothing close to it in any of these regards on other systems (barring Sonic Team Racing) will lead most people to see why it’s such a system seller. I had it on Wii U and I’m not surprised they ported and improved it; it’s too good to be stuck on such an unpopular system. Had the Wii U had a bigger install base it would have sold better. It being the best seller is hardly a disappointment. The Wii U’s failure was the big disappointment.
@WaveBoy or with very little effort (and I say that as someone who is not particularly good with computers and the such) you can reconnect that Wii and fill it with any and all the Virtual Console and Wiiware titles you could ever want. My Wii is my go to retro machine under my crt tv.
I’ll get this on sale at some point. I still have my GameCube copy and got the Xbox 360 version through Games with Gold years ago. It’s a really fun Zelda type adventure with some great characters.
At least we got the best 2D Metroid in years with Dread on the Switch. It could have been like the N64 with no appearance from Samus outside of Smash Bros.
I reckon we’ll get an HD release of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption before we see Prime 4…
I don’t really bother with amiibo, I’ve given the ones that I got in pack-ins with games to my kids.
Having said that, I was playing Smash Bros Melee with my son yesterday and it was funny to see how the trophies in that game resemble amiibo so much, despite predating them by about 12 years.
I’ve had a surprising amount of fun playing through Sonic 4 part 1 on Wii and have dabbled in part 2 on my Xbox. Perhaps a collection (just called ‘Sonic 4’) would be pretty good if it was a budget title. Even better if as part of it they tweaked the physics to be a bit more accurate to the classic games and Mania. For all the frustrations of the bosses at times, Sonic Superstars nails the physics so everything else in the game is good fun. Get Sonic 4’s physics up to par with Superstars and it would be quite a decent little sequel.
@Steel76 I had a random day off to myself a few months ago. Celebrated by day drinking and watching Jaws, Alien and the Thing back to back on Blu Ray. To borrow from Comic Book Guy on the Simpsons ‘Best day ever!’ 😁
@Diogmites check out Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness if you haven’t already. Along with The Thing and Mouth of Madness it forms the third part of his ‘Apocalypse Trilogy’. Also have you seen Event Horizon? A great cosmic horror film imo.
@TotalHenshin there is also a follow up novella to the film called ‘Things’ which tells the film from the creature’s point of view. It is revealed to be sentient and doesn’t understand why the humans are so hostile to it, as to its species joining together is how they communicate. It has some really freaky ideas, sure as people being conscious that they are being taken over and slowly fading away as the thing consumes more of their cells and the creature’s disgust at finding out what humans really are…
It’s not an adaptation of the 1982 film; it’s actually the official sequel to the story, with an American Special Forces unit arriving at the Antarctic base to see what went wrong. However, it seems that man is still the warmest place to hide….
@Not_Soos I was pretty young when the Game Boy and SML launched in the UK. The overwhelming attitude of the time was ‘portable Mario? Awesome!’. At the time SMW hadn’t been released yet, so we only had the NES titles to compare it to. As such, the graphics were looked upon as perfectly acceptable for the limits of the system (in four shades of blurry green and grey!). The game was short, but many early GB games were. They were the natural transition from the very limited Game and Watch series and initially were designed to fill that niche of quick pick up and play titles for kids and commutes. Once the GB became the success it was developers really pushed the ancient hardware, keeping it relevant for 10 years (well into the era of the Playstation). So later games with much more scope and depth such as Pokemon and Link’s Awakening do make early games like SML, Alleyway, Double Dragon and Castlevania Adventure look quite short and quaint. However, at the time they were released they were perfect. The GB was the first truly portable system with interchangeable cartridges, which was a phenomenon at the time.
It s a bit strange that Mario wasn’t top, but then I realised 2 things: Tomb Raider was huge here in the UK in the 90s and came out of nowhere and secondly Lara is a British character so on reflection it seems appropriate she should win in old Blighty.
No idea how the random bloke from Hitman was higher than Sonic though, SEGA was massive in the 90s too and Sonic was by far the most popular character here, only challenged by Mario and then clearly Ms Croft.
@sleepinglion I’ll second that. I haven’t noticed any problems with other games in the Mega Drive Collection but for some reason the lag on the Sonic games is aweful! The Ages versions are excellent though, as is the Sonic Origins versions. Pity about the terrible replacement music on Sonic 3 though…..
It’s ok. It lacks the character of Angel Island, Carnival Night or Ice Cap Zone. Hydrocity Zone is by far the most thrilling level. It’s better than Launch Base Zone, which is a bit of a drag at times. It’s fine.
I stopped trading in games as soon as I had a decent income. It was a necessity as a kid as I didn’t have much money. Since then I’ve reacquired nearly all my childhood Mega Drive games barring 2. I love being able to revisit them and sharing them with my kids.
@deKay I remember those days well. I was possible a bit younger (about 11) when I played it, as well as some of the others I mentioned, so it probably was about my level at the time.
As for the 8bit games those were the ones I cut my teeth with: Castle of Illusion was my first Game Gear game in 1991, with Lucky Dime Caper my second. However, I always wanted the 16 bit games and Quackshot was one of my first. I only actually went back to complete it a couple of years ago. The puzzle element, while not tough in itself, made it much tougher than Castle of Illusion on Mega Drive. Aladdin had some tricky parts in the cave of wonders (and you were screwed if you had no apples for the final boss) whilst Lion King was just unfair in parts!
@deKay love that game. I agree it is far too short but it’s in the multiplayer that it comes alive. My sister and I spent many an hour playing through as Mickey and Donald and my kids love it today. For single player Disney games Quackshot, Aladdin, Jungle Book and especially the Lion King provided a much better challenge.
If Nintendo decide to follow the pattern of the Game Boy then we may get a couple more iterations of the Switch before we get a true successor.
At the moment they are not in direct competition with anyone; they comfortably occupy a niche between the generations of Sony and Microsoft’s machines and have no real competition in the handheld sphere. I know there are a plethora of other handhelds in the style of the Steamdeck but for the vast majority of Switch owners, who are ‘normies’ (and I mean no disrespect with that label btw) these other machines don’t offer anything that the Switch doesn’t already do for the average Switch owner, even if they are more powerful.
Furthermore, Nintendo are not interested in ‘power’ for their system; its hybrid nature and the compromises this entails is a reasonable enough explanation to most people as to why it is far less capable than other dedicated consoles. They can wait until the power vs energy consumption struggle catches up enough to make a new system that performs significantly better.
I would predict a new Switch Lite (akin to the ‘New 3DS’ models). The old Lite model may get a price drop (£120-£150?), with a ‘New Lite’ with an OLED screen, as it is only in handheld mode that this makes any difference anyway, occupying the current £200 price point.
Bottom line: if ain’t broke don’t fix it and if it sells, keep selling more!
@rushiosan It’s annoying because all I want is a sword and shield, just like in the older games. Ingredients and ammunition in menus is fine (as I said on my previous post I played Monster Hunter plenty in the past) but constantly worrying about my weapon breaking and then having to dig into a menu to find something else to fight with, which is far weaker and even more prone to breaking) is a chore. Then to finally get the Master Sword, only to find that it needs to ‘recharge’? Urgh! The more I think about it the more I dislike both modern Zelda games even more…
Weapon degradation is terrible, puts me off replaying BOYW and made me switch off TOTK after a few hours. I don’t mind weapons weakening (like in Monster Hunter) and needing sharpening or upgrading, but having to carry around dozens of items just in case one breaks during battle is messy and annoying. Give me back the old Zelda ranked swords anyday, along with decent shields.
There are loads of books about video games, especially hardback books on the history of consoles. There are encyclopaedias of the entire catalogue of games on various systems. There are books on the history of gaming. I personally have a whole shelf of them. There are also plenty of novels set in the universes of various games, but they vary in quality.
Resident Evil 4: any quick time event, they have never been fun (the remake fixes a lot of this) Classic Sonic games: no rings on final boss stages. Not a problem now but as a kid it was annoying as it was clearly artificial difficulty/padding. Ocarina of Time: water temple was a pain but not to the extent that people go on about. Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom: breakable weapons. Just why? Puts me right off. Don’t even get me started on a Master Sword that needs to recharge/rest.
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Re: Nintendo Asks Wii U Owners To Refrain From Using "Unauthorised" Online Services
Dear Nintendo,
Could you please update the Wii U so that all activity can be accessed with any controller, not just the gamepad, especially the settings menu? Then we can talk about what I do with a system I spent my own money on. Franky if you are going to remove services and no longer provide them then it’s none of your business what I do with it afterwards.
There’s a good chap.
Re: Review: Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (Switch) - Aping A Retro Classic
‘Somehow…Donkey Kong Country…has returned’
I’ll show myself out…
Re: Rumour: Switch Virtual Console Was Apparently Nintendo's "Original Plan"
As someone who owns a Wii, Wii U and Switch it’s not really an issue for me. I had the full switch online for the last 2 years, mainly for my kids but it turned out only my son bothered and when we looked at the games he was playing we already had most of not all on previous consoles, so I’ve dropped it together far cheaper standard option (I like having access to Game Boy games which you can’t play on anything other than an original cart or 3DS VC).
I have modded my Wii, so I have the entire VC on two SD cards and my Wii U has plenty of VC games on it, so a VC on Switch isn’t really an issue. Whilst this isn’t the same as having physical copies of the games it is nice to know that they are always going to be there I some way so long as I look after the systems.
Where it’s going to sting a bit I think is for younger people who have the Switch as their first console; once the online inevitably shuts down there will be some who realise what they lost. However, I’m sure the service will continue on each new system in some way. Personally I don’t really like the idea of not owning things I pay for, but with certain services it’s now sadly an inevitability.
Re: Anniversary: Resident Evil 4, One Of The Greatest Games Ever Made, Turns 20
@AmplifyMJ mine does too! Usually followed by one of us answering with something inappropriate…
Re: Anniversary: Resident Evil 4, One Of The Greatest Games Ever Made, Turns 20
@Rainbowjames the remake is one of the very few games I preordered to play day one. No regrets. It is a fantastic update, just as the remake of Resident Evil on GameCube and Resident Evil 2 a few years ago are.
Re: Anniversary: Resident Evil 4, One Of The Greatest Games Ever Made, Turns 20
@WheresWaveRace couldn’t have put it better myself. Though the PS2 got most of my attention at the time I still had a GameCube for exclusives and over 20 years later it is the system I’m far more fond of. In fact I was playing Double Dash just today!
Re: Anniversary: Resident Evil 4, One Of The Greatest Games Ever Made, Turns 20
Somehow for nearly all of 2005 this totally passed me by (though I had a lot going on). I had moved abroad by the end of the year and when returned briefly for Xmas I decided to get a new game, as my PS2 was going back with me. I picked up RE4 and was hooked from the first play.
That game got me through one of the coldest winters on record, where I could hurry home and just loose myself in it. It was one of the only games where I can remember finishing a section and thinking ‘please don’t be the end of the game. New part? Wahoo!’
The PS2 version has a different balance for some of the weapons any contained Operation Ada and Separate Ways, neither of which were on the original GameCube release. However I managed to scratch the disc and picked up the GameCube version to play during the summer when I returned home. The graphical differences between the Cube and PS2 versions is quite noticeable. My now wife who was with me at the time still occasionally quotes the Merchant (‘what are a buying?’) as I am sure she was sick of hearing it!
Re: Rumour: New 'Switch 2' Photos Show Off A Very Legit-Looking Joy-Con
On the one hand I understand the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach of making the Switch 2 basically a better Switch, but on the other hand I would like the excitement of something different. When I went from the Xbox One S to the Series X yes the newer machine was much faster and more powerful, but everything else, including the UI was identical and as such didn’t really feel ‘new’. It’s a first world problem I know but most Nintendo systems feel different from their predecessor (even, if I’m being honest, several have simply been iterations on the previous system).
Re: Sonic's Live-Action Movies Have Apparently Surpassed $1 Billion At The Box Office
@Anti-Matter You’re fully entitled to your opinion, but I think you are missing out. The Sonic movies are some of the most family friendly, wholesome films I have seen in a long time. The moral centre is very consistent across all three, with great ideas about family, friendship, responsibility, self-discipline and being true to yourself. The humour is also very warm and genuinly funny.
Re: Sonic's Live-Action Movies Have Apparently Surpassed $1 Billion At The Box Office
Good. It was a fun movie. All three Sonic films are wholesome family fun and as a Sonic fan since 1991 it’s great to see what us fans could only imagine: Sonic and co on the big screen!
Also can we stop comparing it to the Mario film? Mario was a ‘traditional’ fully animated film for a character who is even more popular with a consistently high level of games keeping him in the zeitgeist far more successfully than old Sonic. To me both series are triumphs: with Sonic it’s that it has managed to return him to great popularity among the general public to a level not seen since the early 90s and has managed to stay consistently good across three films. Mario’s success isn’t just financial; it’s the fact that after so many years they did it and didn’t make a huge mess of it! As anyone who grew up with the Super Mario Bros. Movie from the 90s can attest, it was not necessarily a sure thing <shudders>
Re: Jim Carrey "Open To The Idea" Of Playing Robotnik In Future Sonic Movies
To hit pay dirt as an actor is rare. To manage it a second time in your career is even more rare. Carey’s shtick fell out of favour for a long time but a comically over the top villain in family films is perfect role for him. He will keep doing it as long as they pay him to. He doesn’t seem the sort that would regret it as they ‘want to be taken seriously as an ACTOR!’ and the fact that the films are successful with a wide audience along with a very clear moral centre for the characters is enough to flavour that enormous pay check!
As for going with Shadow’s story rather than Metal Sonic for the third film I thought it was rather smart: as someone who was around 10 when Sonic first released in the 90s I had aged out of him by the time of Adventure 1&2. So whilst the first two films were great for nostalgia for parents my age, the third is good for those who grew up 10 years later with Sonic’s move to 3D. I went in not knowing much about Shadow and it was still very entertaining, but didn’t push the same buttons as Knuckles’ story in 2. Now by bringing in Amy and Metal sonic the fourth film is once again aimed at us Gen 1 fans. Doing it earlier might have some good arguments but remember that Sonic CD was for the longest time only available to those who could afford the Mega CD/Sega CD attachment for the Mega Drive/Genesis, so the characters had less cultural impact than Tails or Knuckles.
Re: Sega President Shuji Utsumi On Sonic The Hedgehog’s Next Major Outing
As someone who grew up with Sonic in the 90s Mania and to a slightly lesser extent Superstars, are exactly what I want more of. I have never liked Sonic in 3D, his speed means that I end up just going on auto pilot and then dying randomly as I can’t anticipate what to do next (and I wanted to like Lost World and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve played of Frontiers). Generations was good, except the sections with modern sonic.
Superstars was a good step forward in many ways with 4 player options. The bosses however are terrible!
Mania is what I think many people my age wanted from a 32X/Saturn Sonic back in the day. More please!
And release Knuckles Chaotix you cowards! This 90s kids still has no way to play it!
Re: Don't Expect Any More Miniature Consoles From Sega
I love the mini consoles for their ease of use and the access to a bunch of games in one convenient package, along with controllers properly designed for them. Also the fact that they need no online connection or cursed subscription to enjoy. Furthermore I can enjoy them forever with no chance that they’ll be blocked or taken away.
Constantly paying a subscription to play games that will eventually disappear when service ends really annoys me. I know that there will inevitably be some continuation with Switch online with the Switch 2 but it feels like ‘hey! Keep paying us money to access the same old games!’ With mini consoles and virtual console I have the games until my console dies. If I’m spending money I want to at least keep what I buy in some way, shape or form.
Re: The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Has Been Added To The Official Timeline
@MrGawain that’s how I’ve always seen it. Each game is ‘The Legend of Zelda’ so each game is a retelling of the story. I imagine a group sat around a fire, each telling their own version of the legend.
Re: Black Friday 2024: Best Deals On Nintendo Switch Consoles, Games, eShop Credit, Accessories And More
Just ordered Epic Mickey Rebrushed on Amazon for £23.99. Not a bad price for a remaster.
Re: Sega Delisting 'Mega Drive Classics' On Switch eShop This December
Whatever collection they inevitably release I hope they can get Sonic 1&2 working properly at least. The input lag is unforgivable on this collection.
Re: Review: The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom (Switch) - A Bold Blend Of Old & New That Ranks With The Series' Best
Played and completed it this week. What a lovely game! Just goes to show that with the right effort and some clever thinking , traditional Zelda games can still feel fresh after nearly 40 years. Much prefer this style to BOTW or TOTK.
Now can we have OOT, MM ported from 3DS in HD please?
Windwaker and Twilight Princess would be nice too, but I have them on Wii U.
Re: Reaction: With Xenoblade Chronicles X On Switch, The Wii U's Demise Is Complete
I supported the Wii U heavily 2014-2019, with most games on disc. It has its moments but looking back I am very grateful that I had only just got into Xbox 360 a couple of years earlier, as I got far more fun out of that console than the Wii U, which was just an awkward machine that didn’t really know what it wanted to be; casual fun or ‘proper gaming machine’. I’ve still got it and won’t get rid of it but let’s face it, it was pretty much DOA.
That being said, as a console for younger players I can imagine it was great. However, with only 13 million sold worldwide I can’t imagine it will generate a huge amount of nostalgia in the future. Though the Dreamcast’s legacy may argue against that, the fact that pretty much all the good Wii U games are on Switch means I can’t imagine many going back to the Wii U instead. In 10-20 years time the Switch on the other hand will be a nostalgia beast!
Re: Nintendo Switch System Update 19.0.1 Is Now Live, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
Our consoles can’t withstand stability of that magnitude!
Re: Soapbox: Sony's Insane PS5 Pro Price Highlights The Delicate Balance Nintendo Must Strike With 'Switch 2'
@TenEighty and back then DVD players were very expensive too. The PS2 was a good deal for a next gen system and next gen media player.
Re: Zelda Timeline Featuring Breath Of The Wild And Tears Of The Kingdom Spotted
The only time I really pay attention to a timeline in Zelda is with direct sequels, where it is either the same Link and Zelda (e.g Oot and MM or WW and TPH) or in the same world at different times (e.g ALTTP and ALBW).
My head-canon has always been that, aside from direct sequels, all the games’ stories are independent. After all, the series is called ‘The Legend’ which implies that although there are themes running throughout them all, the story changes depending on who is telling it. I always imagined different people telling the story around a campfire, with it changing depending on time and tradition, each person telling their own version of ‘The Legend of Zelda’.
Re: Book Review: Perfect Organism - A Must-Read For Fans Of Alien: Isolation
@FredsBodyDouble I saw it last night. As a big Alien fan the best way to put it is this: Alien Isolation is how you do a great sequel to a classic movie. Romulus isn’t…
Re: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe + Booster Course Physical Release Reportedly Updated
@JohnnyMind a 1080p update of F-zero GX with online play is such an open goal for Nintendo that is frustrating that they haven’t done it already! It already ran at 60fps on GameCube and was insanely fast. Even a digital only release would do well.
Re: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe + Booster Course Physical Release Reportedly Updated
Mario Kart 8 is doing so well because it’s a game that has something for everyone. Kids can play it, families can play it, ‘gamers’ can play it, it can be played solo, couch co-op or online with potentially unlimited challenge depending on who you get put in a race with. Add to that a large roster of characters, one of which is bound to appeal to somebody, a huge number of tracks all adds up to practically unlimited replayability AND the fact that there is nothing close to it in any of these regards on other systems (barring Sonic Team Racing) will lead most people to see why it’s such a system seller. I had it on Wii U and I’m not surprised they ported and improved it; it’s too good to be stuck on such an unpopular system. Had the Wii U had a bigger install base it would have sold better. It being the best seller is hardly a disappointment. The Wii U’s failure was the big disappointment.
Re: Switch Is Now Nintendo's Longest-Serving Flagship Home Console
@WaveBoy or with very little effort (and I say that as someone who is not particularly good with computers and the such) you can reconnect that Wii and fill it with any and all the Virtual Console and Wiiware titles you could ever want. My Wii is my go to retro machine under my crt tv.
Re: Round Up: The Reviews Are In For Beyond Good & Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition
I’ll get this on sale at some point. I still have my GameCube copy and got the Xbox 360 version through Games with Gold years ago. It’s a really fun Zelda type adventure with some great characters.
Re: Random: It's Now Been Seven Years Since Metroid Prime 4 Was Announced
At least we got the best 2D Metroid in years with Dread on the Switch. It could have been like the N64 with no appearance from Samus outside of Smash Bros.
I reckon we’ll get an HD release of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption before we see Prime 4…
Re: Talking Point: amiibo Were First Revealed 10 Years Ago Today, And We Still Want More
I don’t really bother with amiibo, I’ve given the ones that I got in pack-ins with games to my kids.
Having said that, I was playing Smash Bros Melee with my son yesterday and it was funny to see how the trophies in that game resemble amiibo so much, despite predating them by about 12 years.
Re: Sonic Team On Remasters: "If There's A Title People Like, We'll Think About It"
I’ve had a surprising amount of fun playing through Sonic 4 part 1 on Wii and have dabbled in part 2 on my Xbox. Perhaps a collection (just called ‘Sonic 4’) would be pretty good if it was a budget title. Even better if as part of it they tweaked the physics to be a bit more accurate to the classic games and Mania. For all the frustrations of the bosses at times, Sonic Superstars nails the physics so everything else in the game is good fun. Get Sonic 4’s physics up to par with Superstars and it would be quite a decent little sequel.
Re: The Thing: Remastered Is Officially Announced For Switch, Coming This Year
@Gitface yeah and by then no-one will trust each other anymore. We’ll all be very tired…
Re: The Thing: Remastered Is Officially Announced For Switch, Coming This Year
@Steel76 I had a random day off to myself a few months ago. Celebrated by day drinking and watching Jaws, Alien and the Thing back to back on Blu Ray. To borrow from Comic Book Guy on the Simpsons ‘Best day ever!’ 😁
Re: Rumour: It Looks Like Nightdive Studios' Next Remaster Is 2002's 'The Thing'
@Diogmites check out Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness if you haven’t already. Along with The Thing and Mouth of Madness it forms the third part of his ‘Apocalypse Trilogy’. Also have you seen Event Horizon? A great cosmic horror film imo.
Re: Rumour: It Looks Like Nightdive Studios' Next Remaster Is 2002's 'The Thing'
@Teksetter it’s closer to Dead Space as it is far more action oriented than Alien Isolation.
Re: Rumour: It Looks Like Nightdive Studios' Next Remaster Is 2002's 'The Thing'
@TotalHenshin there is also a follow up novella to the film called ‘Things’ which tells the film from the creature’s point of view. It is revealed to be sentient and doesn’t understand why the humans are so hostile to it, as to its species joining together is how they communicate. It has some really freaky ideas, sure as people being conscious that they are being taken over and slowly fading away as the thing consumes more of their cells and the creature’s disgust at finding out what humans really are…
Re: Rumour: It Looks Like Nightdive Studio's Next Remaster Is 2002's 'The Thing'
It’s not an adaptation of the 1982 film; it’s actually the official sequel to the story, with an American Special Forces unit arriving at the Antarctic base to see what went wrong. However, it seems that man is still the warmest place to hide….
Re: Talking Point: 'Remake' Vs. 'Remaster' - What's Your Definition?
Remaster = essentially the same game but with a ‘new coat of paint’ e.g. Ocarina of Time 3D
Remake = total reinvention whilst sticking with the spirit of the original e.g Resident Evil 2 remake
Re: Nintendo Expands Switch Online's Game Boy Library With Three More Classics
@Not_Soos I was pretty young when the Game Boy and SML launched in the UK. The overwhelming attitude of the time was ‘portable Mario? Awesome!’. At the time SMW hadn’t been released yet, so we only had the NES titles to compare it to. As such, the graphics were looked upon as perfectly acceptable for the limits of the system (in four shades of blurry green and grey!). The game was short, but many early GB games were. They were the natural transition from the very limited Game and Watch series and initially were designed to fill that niche of quick pick up and play titles for kids and commutes. Once the GB became the success it was developers really pushed the ancient hardware, keeping it relevant for 10 years (well into the era of the Playstation). So later games with much more scope and depth such as Pokemon and Link’s Awakening do make early games like SML, Alleyway, Double Dragon and Castlevania Adventure look quite short and quaint. However, at the time they were released they were perfect. The GB was the first truly portable system with interchangeable cartridges, which was a phenomenon at the time.
Re: Random: BAFTA's 'Iconic Game Characters' Poll Has Us Scratching Our Heads
It s a bit strange that Mario wasn’t top, but then I realised 2 things: Tomb Raider was huge here in the UK in the 90s and came out of nowhere and secondly Lara is a British character so on reflection it seems appropriate she should win in old Blighty.
No idea how the random bloke from Hitman was higher than Sonic though, SEGA was massive in the 90s too and Sonic was by far the most popular character here, only challenged by Mario and then clearly Ms Croft.
Re: Best Sonic Games Of All Time
@sleepinglion I’ll second that. I haven’t noticed any problems with other games in the Mega Drive Collection but for some reason the lag on the Sonic games is aweful! The Ages versions are excellent though, as is the Sonic Origins versions. Pity about the terrible replacement music on Sonic 3 though…..
Re: Soapbox: An Ode To Marble Garden, Sonic The Hedgehog 3's Best Zone
It’s ok. It lacks the character of Angel Island, Carnival Night or Ice Cap Zone. Hydrocity Zone is by far the most thrilling level. It’s better than Launch Base Zone, which is a bit of a drag at times. It’s fine.
Re: Poll: How Often Do You Trade-In Your Switch Games?
I stopped trading in games as soon as I had a decent income. It was a necessity as a kid as I didn’t have much money. Since then I’ve reacquired nearly all my childhood Mega Drive games barring 2. I love being able to revisit them and sharing them with my kids.
Re: Poll: How Often Do You Trade-In Your Switch Games?
@deKay I remember those days well. I was possible a bit younger (about 11) when I played it, as well as some of the others I mentioned, so it probably was about my level at the time.
As for the 8bit games those were the ones I cut my teeth with: Castle of Illusion was my first Game Gear game in 1991, with Lucky Dime Caper my second. However, I always wanted the 16 bit games and Quackshot was one of my first. I only actually went back to complete it a couple of years ago. The puzzle element, while not tough in itself, made it much tougher than Castle of Illusion on Mega Drive. Aladdin had some tricky parts in the cave of wonders (and you were screwed if you had no apples for the final boss) whilst Lion King was just unfair in parts!
Re: Poll: How Often Do You Trade-In Your Switch Games?
@deKay love that game. I agree it is far too short but it’s in the multiplayer that it comes alive. My sister and I spent many an hour playing through as Mickey and Donald and my kids love it today. For single player Disney games Quackshot, Aladdin, Jungle Book and especially the Lion King provided a much better challenge.
Re: Players Need To Start "Feeling Comfortable" With Not Owning Games, Says Ubisoft Subs Boss
‘You’ll own nothing and be happy!’
I’m happy to stream for convenience but I fundamentally believe in ownership of media as an option. If that right is removed then I’ll keep my money.
Re: Soapbox: "Go Outside, Get Some Fresh Air" - Why Won't Outmoded Gamer Stereotypes Die?
My advice as a gamer in my 40s when I encounter this: smile, nod, agree then go do what the f@&£ you were going to do anyway 😁
Re: Talking Point: Could Nintendo Go Another Year Without A Switch Successor?
If Nintendo decide to follow the pattern of the Game Boy then we may get a couple more iterations of the Switch before we get a true successor.
At the moment they are not in direct competition with anyone; they comfortably occupy a niche between the generations of Sony and Microsoft’s machines and have no real competition in the handheld sphere. I know there are a plethora of other handhelds in the style of the Steamdeck but for the vast majority of Switch owners, who are ‘normies’ (and I mean no disrespect with that label btw) these other machines don’t offer anything that the Switch doesn’t already do for the average Switch owner, even if they are more powerful.
Furthermore, Nintendo are not interested in ‘power’ for their system; its hybrid nature and the compromises this entails is a reasonable enough explanation to most people as to why it is far less capable than other dedicated consoles. They can wait until the power vs energy consumption struggle catches up enough to make a new system that performs significantly better.
I would predict a new Switch Lite (akin to the ‘New 3DS’ models). The old Lite model may get a price drop (£120-£150?), with a ‘New Lite’ with an OLED screen, as it is only in handheld mode that this makes any difference anyway, occupying the current £200 price point.
Bottom line: if ain’t broke don’t fix it and if it sells, keep selling more!
Re: Soapbox: How Zelda's Bad Economy Made Weapon Degradation Great Again
@rushiosan It’s annoying because all I want is a sword and shield, just like in the older games. Ingredients and ammunition in menus is fine (as I said on my previous post I played Monster Hunter plenty in the past) but constantly worrying about my weapon breaking and then having to dig into a menu to find something else to fight with, which is far weaker and even more prone to breaking) is a chore. Then to finally get the Master Sword, only to find that it needs to ‘recharge’? Urgh! The more I think about it the more I dislike both modern Zelda games even more…
Re: Soapbox: How Zelda's Bad Economy Made Weapon Degradation Great Again
Weapon degradation is terrible, puts me off replaying BOYW and made me switch off TOTK after a few hours. I don’t mind weapons weakening (like in Monster Hunter) and needing sharpening or upgrading, but having to carry around dozens of items just in case one breaks during battle is messy and annoying. Give me back the old Zelda ranked swords anyday, along with decent shields.
Re: Soapbox: Why Aren't There More Books About Games?
There are loads of books about video games, especially hardback books on the history of consoles. There are encyclopaedias of the entire catalogue of games on various systems. There are books on the history of gaming. I personally have a whole shelf of them. There are also plenty of novels set in the universes of various games, but they vary in quality.
Re: Talking Point: What Are The Worst Parts Of Your Favourite Games?
Resident Evil 4: any quick time event, they have never been fun (the remake fixes a lot of this)
Classic Sonic games: no rings on final boss stages. Not a problem now but as a kid it was annoying as it was clearly artificial difficulty/padding.
Ocarina of Time: water temple was a pain but not to the extent that people go on about.
Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom: breakable weapons. Just why? Puts me right off. Don’t even get me started on a Master Sword that needs to recharge/rest.