@dimi yeah, that warrants some explanation. I actually had both systems but I have far more nostalgia for the Cube. I also have a much bigger cube collection than PS2 but I love both systems and have the both set up to play (though the cube gets more use).
I was never interested in the PS1 at all back in the 90s. I had transitioned from Mega Drive to PC by 1995 and our home PC could do what the PS1 could but much better. Not knocking it, it had some excellent games, but I experienced things like Resident Evil 2 on PC first and nothing it had could really compare to games like Xwing Vs Tie Fighter or Doom/Quake. I got the N64 on a whim for my 16th birthday and the quality of games such as Mario 64, Ocarina of Time and Goldeneye (which admittedly I didn’t ‘get’ at first as I was used to using a keyboard and mouse for shooters) made it a much better choice, especially when it came to 4 player sessions every weekend. I’ve dipped into the PS1 library since and have the mini console but I just can’t really get excited for many of these games. However, funnily enough the PS2 became my main system in the early 2000s so it’s all swings and roundabouts really 😁
I took my now 7 year old to see the Sonic movie. I went with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised. My son loved Sonic and ‘Donut Lord. I was happy for the nostalgia filled SEGA logo at the beginning, filled with clips from old games, the nostalgic credits at the end and 1994 era Jim Carrey 😁
Mario 64 was my second N64 game after Shadows of the Empire. The thing is, at the time, I don’t think I really appreciated how revolutionary it was; as a fan of the PC Star Wars games like Xwing I was more impressed at being able to fly in 3D but on a console with an analogue stick than 3D platforming. Plus SEGA was far more popular in the UK than Nintendo, so although I knew of Mario I didn’t get the whole massive step it was (as I never played Super Mario Land on SNES).
It must have been amazing for Mario fans to see him move in full 3D, whereas I just thought it was a neat platform game. Furthermore, with games like Tomb Raider so popular as well the whole 3D thing wasn’t quite as impressive. However, I was a teenager at the time; I’m guessing for those 5 to 10 years younger than me it must have been mind blowing!
I have had the Gameboy Player since 2003. Excellent add on. I recently completed Metroid Fusion through it.
I remember as a kid my first device was the SEGA Game Gear and going round the shops with my dad to see if there was a way to plug it into the TV (other than just buying a Master System and those versions of the games of course). When I spotted the Gameboy Player in Toys r Us one day, having never heard of it before, it was an instant purchase (even as a skint student!)
@jump Link between Worlds as a direct sequel to Link to the past obviously borrows heavily from it, but the twisting of Hyrule and Lowrule is very similar to Hyrule and Termina. Then again, Ocarina’s child timeline and dark adult timeline also owe a lot to the different worlds of Link to the Past. The recurring themes and moods of the Zelda games is something I love about the series. So either way, it’s all good 😊
Excellent article. MM has always been a bit of a thinker and the way that it twisted Hyrule and its people into a strange mirrored image seems to have laid down the tracks for a link between world’s two settings.
I remember preordering this back in 2000. I had only played Ocarina for the first time within the year before its release and therefore got to play both games as I transitioned from teen to adult. Whilst I’ll always love Ocarina more (it’s hands down the best Zelda for me) MM has a special place in my heart. It’s still probably one of the strangest, most uncomfortable at times, games to revisit.
If only Nintendo were a bit more willing to be strange more often...
I don’t remember anyone back in the late 90s not ‘getting’ the N64 controller. At the time I think most of us kids just thought it looked futuristic and different. I don’t get what’s so difficult about the concept of using it:
2D game or fighter (Killer Instinct Gold for example): hold the left grip and use the d pad. Both shoulder buttons are used. Totally ignore the centre grip, analogue stick and z trigger. 3D games: ignore the left grip and use the centre grip and analog stick. Z trigger replaced the left shoulder button. Ignore d pad and left shoulder button. No game that I can recall used the left grip and dead in combination with the centre grip and stick (though I’m sure there was at least one). I remember being more confused by the SNES pad shoulder buttons after being a Mega Drive fan back in the early 90s. Had to learn to hold the pad in a totally different way than I was used to. That and Sony’s weird use of shapes instead of letters on their face buttons!
@TheFullAndy you’re absolutely right; from a business point of view if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. People are still willing to pay the original price it seems so there is no motivation to change it. However, as much as I love Nintendo, everything in this generation just costs so much! I have always been able to get a good deal on their systems in the past (and to be fair I got a good deal on my Switch Lite) but not even a pack in game as standard whilst maintaining the same price puts me off upgrading, even though I could afford to 😕
@Marios-love-child I get what you’re saying but an Xbox Series S is £20 cheaper (if you can find one) and is a heck of a lot more bang for your buck, especially with Gamepass. No good if you want Mario/ Zelda though 😁
Any chance of a price drop then? Paying £279 for a 4 year old system (that is significantly weaker than the competition) is bonkers (I have a lite already but was hoping to pick up the main model eventually when there was a good deal...)
@Zenszulu I saw some footage of the N64 build of Eternal Darkness (there’s a screenshot in the GameCube anthology book too). Even though it’s obviously a N64 game at heart even on the cube, the graphical difference is still really impressive today. Going back to something like Resident Evil 2 on the N64 shows just what a leap the generation was. I remember really wanting Resident Evil Zero on the N64 at the time.
@Zenszulu as interesting as that would be, the graphical leap from the N64 to GameCube means they wouldn’t be more than a curio. Don’t get me wrong, I was a N64 fan back then (still have it set up now) but the leap from gen 5 to 6 is astounding, especially with games like Resident Evil. I’d love to see a play through of these games but I wouldn’t bother playing them. The GameCube versions are classics.
Great game. Played it on PC in 2008. The banter between the squad is great and some levels (such as boarding the abandoned cruiser) are especially memorable. It’s also the grittiest SW game I’ve played (and I’ve played nearly all of them!)
@Zenszulu yeah, that’s my understanding of it too. Pity, it could have been an epic title if they hadn’t been rushed by the Microsoft buy out. The fact that we got it at all is a blessing, as Microsoft have done nothing really worthwhile with Rare in 20 years and even if you count the excellent Rare Replay, nothing that compares to their heights on N64.
I finally got round to finishing StarFox Adventures on the Cube last month. It’s a great looking game but does feel unfinished and the final boss feels very tacked on. That being said it’s a perfectly good game in and of itself. Bit of a slog at times but I’m glad I finally got around to ticking it of my list.
I got this in the special edition with the soundtrack CD and gold Wii more for Xmas 2011 from the missus. At the time it came out there was a lot of hype; it was the last major release for the Wii and for those of us who had stuck with the machine after the novelty of motion control games it was really anticipated.
That being said, I tired of it very quickly. I could handle the controls but the first time I had to fight the boss who keeps catching my sword if I was only slightly off I quickly got tired of it. However, I was always under the impression that I was in the minority as most people seemed to love it. It’s only in recent years that the view seems to have changed for the worse, mainly for the controls, which is amusing considering motion control has been a thing ever since the Wii for Nintendo. However, I think they went too far with the over reliance on motion control (desperate to push the Wiimote Plus) when the best Wii games with motion controls (Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime Trilogy for example) used the motion controls to great effect as they were fairly simple to learn and remember. Skyward Sword just seemed too complex at times. I also didn’t like that fact that your shield would wear down and get destroyed (I hated that in Breath of the Wild’s weapons too).
I think playing with buttons will make it much more enjoyable (just as Twilight Princess on GameCube was more fun than on Wii) but for £60? Not a chance!
@JimmySpades I totally agree with you about Wii U owners not bring the target audience (the fact that these games sell like hot cakes to a new audience on Switch shows that it’s good business for Nintendo and they don’t owe fans from the Wii U era anything anyway) I wouldn’t call those of us who supported the Wii U idiots; after all, we got to play these exact same games years ago for about a third of the price ....
This is why I never, ever buy a game at launch or pre-order. With patches and updates it’s just an excuse to rush something out to make money quickly and then fix it later. I’m going to sound old but before the 7th gen (Xbox 360/PS3/Wii) a game was ready at launch or it wasn’t. If it was buggy and crappy then everyone knew and avoided it like the plague, even if the hype had been huge. Even now you can track down a PS2 or GameCube game and if was good then it’ll be good now. DLC and positive updates to an already good game are great but I wouldn’t go watch a hyped up film, pay full price to see it only to be disappointed and have someone say ‘come back in 6 weeks it’ll be better!’ so I won’t do it with a game either <climbs off soapbox>
I’m a fan of original hardware (as long as it’s affordable and not a ridiculous hassle to set up and use) but seeing I no longer have a NES and cart (dang) I’d say the best way to play is on the NES classic mini with either a Wii classic controller + cable extension (the home button in the controller will seamlessly take you back to the game select/save screen) or for a few quid more the pinnacle is using the 8bitdo N30 wireless controller. This is great on a modern tv (the Wii U eshop version is also good). Nothing wrong with the Switch online version, but I only have a lite, so no tv play for me!
However, aside from the original hardware, on a CRT TV the Wii VC version run through a RGB SCART cable feels quite authentic (even more so if you want to plug one of the NES mini controllers into the Wiimote). I’ve got the Super Mario All Stars Wii disc which is great, but my nostalgia is for the original 8 but version.
I have bought the Game & Watch for my Mario obsessed 7 year old for Xmas. I’m interested to see how SMB runs on that, purely for the nostalgia (the thought of playing SMB portably when I was his age in the 80s would have been mind blowing at the time!)
Edit: gah! Totally forgot another option! SMB DX through the Gameboy player on GameCube, played with a GBA through the link cable!
Tldr; on a modern tv NES mini with 8bitdo N30 controller or Wii classic controller with extension. On a CRT tv either original NES cart or Wii VC through RGB SCART.
I have all my systems dating back to my mega drive from 1993 set up in the man cave and the Wii U is no exception. I really supported it and have a vast majority of the games physically. However, it was a SLOW machine and I had a nightmare connecting it online and doing the day one update back in 2014.
Still, it has some excellent, gorgeous looking games. My son loves playing New Super Mario Bros U and Captain Toad and I have many more games sitting, unplayed in my back log.
VC is also excellent on it (not quite sure what some people are on about with the emulation on NES, SNES and N64 titles; I’ve literally swapped the image between the two mini consoles and the same game on VC and seen no difference whatsoever. As for N64 it looks a hell of a lot better than my original N64 running into a crt tv through component (plus save states are a godsend!)
Was it perfect? No. Did it have frustrating droughts of games? Yes. Was it fun to play regardless? Oh Yes!!!
Dizzy was my first video game ‘hero’ back on the Spectrum ZX. I still have Fantastic Dizzy on Mega Drive too! I’d love a collection on Switch, with modern updates like save stated or rewind function. Some of those games were punishing!
I got the original model 2DS in early 2014. What a great system! Really comfy to play for extended sessions. I eventually bought a 3DS XL but never really liked it as much. A while later I got a regular sized new 3DS replace it and as good as that model is I really wish I’d never transferred my games from the 2DS in the first place.
The 2DS is still going strong (mainly played by my kids). In fact one of the reasons I haven’t upgraded from a Switch Lite to a full Switch (apart from the cost) is the regret of upgrading from the humble 2DS: it did exactly what I wanted it to and the additional features just weren’t really worth it in the end (for me at least).
The Switch seems to be harkening back to the 80s Nintendo; massively popular with a huge install base (just like the NES) loads of quality titles from many third parties as well as Nintendo’s own offerings (just like the NES) along with exorbitant prices for the games themselves (just like the NES). 😁
On a serious note, I’m not surprised that it’s done so well. Nintendo of today is not the Nintendo of old. Back in the 80s/90s most people could only afford one system, so Nintendo needed you to choose their system instead of a competitor’s. Now they are in the perfect position (that will probably stick with them for the foreseeable future). They don’t care if you buy a PlayStation or Xbox; if you want to play Nintendo exclusives you need a Switch. That, combined with nostalgia for older gamers, family friendly games and accessories, plenty of mature games for the ‘hardcore crew’ (which although don’t look as nice as on the big systems it means you can play on the bus!) means they have A unique corner of the market. Sure, Microsoft are going to muscle in with their play anywhere, but the appetite for a dedicated portable console is clearly there. It remains to see how much of a dent this makes to Nintendo, but as a parent if I was looking at buying a console, then a tablet and a controller for my kids to play mobile I would probably just choose the Switch anyway (as it does it all out of the one box).
After the dark days of the Wii U (which I love and supported heavily) it is nice to see Nintendo back on top again. Long may it last. Gaming without Nintendo would be like cartoons without Disney!
TLDR; Nintendo today are in as strong a position as the NES days of the 80s, with a unique position in the market not in direct competition with Sony/Microsoft and that’s a good thing!
Oh the Game Gear! My first SEGA system. Some excellent games, Master System compatibly and most importantly a colour, back lit screen. Honestly, the mini sound and blurry screen were never an issue. The battery life though.... I was so jealous of my friend’s Game Boy. 4 AA’s gave 30 hours on the GB whereas you were lucky to get 90 mins on the Game Gear (3-5 hours, similar to an original 3DS is nonsense, it never lasted that long)
I remember going to the US on holiday. 9/10 hour flight. One set of batteries. Total boredom for 8 hours plus. My little sister on the other hand, got a Game Boy at the airport and could play for as long as she wanted...
You could also gain 4 cheats if you had a copy of the Gameboy Color game and inserted it into the transfer pack on the controller (the divide came with Pokemon Stadium).
After the disaster (in terms of sales) of the Wii U it is heartening to see Nintendo back on top (yeah it’s a company there to make money but nostalgia gives me warm feelings towards them; I’d no more want to see them disappear than Disney or Star Wars).
I will admit that I’ve not been blown away by the Switch (I’ve got the Lite model, so to me it is a replacement for my 3DS as a handheld; I mainly play Xbox One so as a console the Switch just seems weak in comparison, but as a handheld it’s ace).
If it out performs the NES it will be impressive, not sure it’ll hit the Wii’s sales level. Regardless, Nintendo do best when they offer something unique:
NES - solid, reliable with great quality games (after the lack of confidence caused by the crash of ‘83) SNES - most powerful system, unique effects along with innovative titles. Gameboy series - full portablity, huge library, great battery life. DS series - touch screen, dual screens well implemented with titles Wii - accessible for all, great for non gamers, virtual console
The Switch does offer something no one else can do. It is not competing with the Xbox or PS4; it’s main competition is smart phones and tablets and it’s focus on pure gaming and real controls (ever tried playing on touch screen tablets? Yuck!) makes it stand out. More power too ‘em.
It will be interesting to see what they’ll do next. A switch 2 or something completely different?
Excellent game. Exactly what I wanted from a modern sequel since playing the original back in 1991. The soundtrack is still growing on me, though sticking on the classic tunes whilst playing is also great. The online multiplayer (at leat in my Xbox) is fantastic. The new characters are fun, the extras and unlockables good and the the nods to all games in the series (including a few cheeky ones to the excellent fan remake) are nice. The controls are brilliant (even better if you choose to change the controls to the legacy settings so it plays just like the older games). After SOR 3, which was a let down after 2, it’s nice that the hits feel solid once again (3 felt far too light).
I get that some people don’t like the art style, but it is entirely appropriate in 2020. The originals are available in HD on multiple systems, so there is enough out there for all types of fans. The only thing I’m missing Out on is local multiplayer. I can’t imagine I’ll ever get more than 2 player (only got 2 Xbox pads) but I can’t wait to try it out with a friend.
I’m going to wait for a sale on Xbox/switch before buying it; Gamepass is good enough for now.
I’m so glad that it has managed to live up to the hype. I loved the original trilogy on the Mega Drive back in the 90s and have played all three to completion this week in preparation for part 4.
This is going on Gamepass on Xbox One day one, so I will play it there, then get it on sale later on. If it’s that good I may double dip on my Xbox and switch lite...
This was the very first game I pre-ordered online from Amazon back in 2000 (!). I loved Ocarina and could t wait for this game. I still have the gold cartridge and whilst I didn’t like it as much as Ocarina it is still a great game, though much more challenging. I think I had to buy a guide to finish it back in the day. I have the 3ds remaster but have never gotten very far with it. One day...
Love Quackshot on Mega Drive. I got it for Xmas 93 I think (along with Alien 3, Street Fighter 2 Championship Edition and Aladdin) Good times. Was disappointed it wasn’t included on the Mega Drive mini along with Castle of Illusion and World of Illusion 😐
To me a system’s power is important for its potential, but time and time again it is playability which wins out: 3rd gen - NES - weaker than some competitors, clear concept, excellent games, huge variety, run away winner. 4th gen - SNES/Mega Drive - parity in power, excellent exclusives, everyone’s a winner. 5th gen - PS1- weaker than competition but easy to use format, huge library, run away winner 6th gen - PS2 - weakest contender, easy to use format (which it massively helped to popularise), massively library, run away winner. 7th gen - Wii - weakest contender, original concept, universal appeal, run away winner. 8th gen - PS4 - parity of power (sort of), clear concept (games, games, games), exclusives, run away winner (and I say this as an Xbox player) HOWEVER Switch - weakest system, clear concept, unique selling point, universal appeal, storms into 2nd place after releasing 4 years later.
Compare that to Wii U - weakest, unclear concept, little broad appeal, flop (and I say that at a Wii U player!)
Conclusion: power is one thing but a clear concept, unique selling point and appeal to a broad range of players wins every time. Same with handhelds the OG Gameboy was about 10 years out of date (In terms of technology) when it launched in 89. The game gear and lynx could run rings around it. However, it was simple, efficient and cost effective. Winner by a landslide. The Switch owes a lot to the Gameboy, as it is like history repeating itself 30 years on.
Although shootings are not the only type of violence it goes without saying: you can’t shoot anyone if you don’t have a gun! You can play all the violent games you want to, but with no access to firearms you are not going to be shooting anybody.
I have this on Wii U, Xbox 360 (and therefore backwards compatible on Xbox One). Great game for 80s children and really nice to have alongside the Saturday Afternoon Collection. My kids love seeing the two games side by side to see the changes.
I don’t know why anyone complains about the voice acting; it is literally the same cast as the original cartoon and from what I could tell they sound like they are putting in just as much effort. Also nice as the chap that voiced Scrooge passed away since, so this game is a great swan song.
Be warned, it is a bit glitchy on Wii U. I recommend the Xbox version myself.
@charlieonholiday I don’t remember any adverts on TV (I didn’t watch much tv when I lived there; a combination of actually having a social life in my 20s and not being brilliant at Polish 😁) but I remember a large number of DS games available.
Actually I’m quite annoyed with myself looking back. I went over there with a Gameboy Advance but totally missed out on getting a DS Lite due to not thinking to check if the DS games were in English (of course they are!) and not realising how good the backwards compatibility on the DS Lite was.
Still, my PS2 did get a lot of play (Resident Evil 4 was particularly moody in a long, dark and extremely cold Polish winter!)
@charlieonholiday I have a very similar story but I lived in Poland 12- 15 years ago. During the Wii/DS era Nintendo was present in stores like Empik and MediaMarkt (especially DS). It was during the Wii U era that it practically disappeared from stores (the 3DS appeared but was gone from nearly all retail shortly afterwards).
It’s funny, there’s a guy on YouTube called Adam Koralik who does videos about games and he actually visited Poland a few years back and talked about the complete lack of Nintendo. He pointed out that there was only one product in the stores (literally one product) a boxed set of Disney infinity for Wii U. I messaged him that I had literally just seen the very same boxed set in the same shop a few months later; it was still there!
Now Nintendo is back, but Xbox and PlayStation are far more dominant. Switch seems easy to find though. Pity the prices are roughly the same, so no cheap games for me when I’m on holiday there...
I’m from a Polish family and am married to a Pole. There is a certain bluntness to Poles (we joke that if you hire someone to come and fix something in your house, Poles will tell them how to do their own job 😂) . However, I look at his replay a different way; he spent years writing these books and works building and most people are more familiar with them due to other projects that have used his ideas. He probably would rather that the books were recognised and the games and books were seen as good too. Compare it to J.K.Rowling; the HP books were already a sensation before the films. She probably feels comfortable that she gets recognition as a writer first, then the other aspects of the HP media. It is the other way around for the Witcher, so I can see a little resentment there. I wonder if songwriters who write massive songs that are more famous by other artists feel the same way (‘I sang it first, you know!’)
I really enjoyed playing through this on Xbox gamepass. Exactly the sort of game that would otherwise have passed me by. Managed to complete it in a couple of hours, but was really satisfied. Not all games have to be long (I can rattle through sonic 1 in 50 mins). Some really nice nods to AI philosophy, like the Chinese Room argument too.
@WiltonRoots I got the same deal a couple of months before Xmas 14. So weird that I got the system when it was already a flop; most systems are hitting their stride a couple of years in. Certainly got my money’s worth; even if you focused exclusively on Nintendo ips and virtual console/eshop it was more than enough to keep you going. However, the third party offerings (bare in mind I have 70+ physical games for the Wii U was terrible compared to Xbox and Playstations offerings in the two generations the Wii U ‘straddled’. Some good ones, but the way they played was no where near as good as on rival systems (Avengers Lego runs poorly for example) which is a shame as first party games from Super Mario 3D World all the way through to Breath of the Wild run great.
I’m sticking to exclusives (Smash), puzzle games (Namco Museum), retro on the go (Mega Drive Collection) or nice little cheap re-releases (Jedi Knight 2, Grim Fandango) on Switch. Anything else is on my Xbox One; either it is significantly cheaper and a much better experience (Doom, Wolfenstein) or effectively free through Game Pass. Switch games are ridiculously expensive.
Nintendo has been a complimentary system arguably since the GameCube era. I know that’s when it became that way for me. I went from N64 only to PS2 (at first just because it was a decently priced DVD player and later really got into the games). I got the cube a year later and only bought the handful of exclusives I wanted to play. I more than got my money’s worth from both systems.
I have a lot of systems and tend to play a bit on each. However, as nice as the switch is it is a glorified handheld (a very good one) but cannot compete with my Xbox one in terms of power and content. I have a huge library of digital games, both from games with gold giving me 4 games a month and backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games. Add to that game pass and it is clear why it is my main console. The ridiculous pricing of switch games means it will end up like my cube; used regularly for the handful of exclusives I get for it (I only have Smash, Mega Drive Collection, Namco arcade double pac and Jedi Knight (nostalgia!) and because I supported the Wii U last gen, a lot of other games I already have for that system so, unless I find them really cheap at some point, I won’t double dip.
You weren't there man .... you don’t know what it was like! Sometimes you’d leave you Mega Drive on for days at a time, didn’t want to have to beat that boss again <shudders>. Sometimes the console would crash, sometimes it wouldn’t. Sometimes you’d hear the dreaded call ‘turn that off and get down for dinner’ or ‘you’ve played enough of that rubbish today’. I can still hear those voices, at night, calling out in my nightmares. The horror ... the horror.... <states off into the distance>
On a serious note, save states, rewinds and save files are the single greatest advantage of playing old games today. I’ve done my time; now my time is precious and save states mean I can enjoy it properly. Not going to be told I’m less of a gamer by someone who wasn’t around for the Console Wars 😁
This decade has started with and ended with Nintendo for me. GameCube was my secondary console to my PS2 from 2003-2009 when I got a Wii in late October. The virtual console (and a raft of affordable games) got me into Nintendo on a big way (I was SEGA at school and only dipped into Nintendo with the N64 and Gameboy line).
At the same time I also got into Xbox this decade two and between them the Wii and Xbox 360 were brilliant for the first half of the decade. Then I got the 2DS in 2014 (I missed out on the DS line completely the previous decade) and it was so good that I eventually went back and built up a decent library of DS games too, as well as a few systems...). Then I got the WII U in late 2014 and I supported it fully, buying as many games as I could but it never really matched the fun of I’d had with the Wii for the previous 5 years (I couldn’t even connect it to the internet to do the infamous day one update. The single lost annoying gaming experience ever!).
I upgraded the 2DS to a 3DS XL (uncomfortable to hold and bad 3D) and then to a New 3DS (big improvement) but honestly wished I had stuck with the 2DS and saved my money. My son now plays the 2DS regularly though, so it’s still in use.
I got the SNES and NES minis which were great, but shied away from the Switch, feeling burnt after the Wii U. Now my main go to system is the Xbox One but I finally have in and snagged a Switch Lite on sale recently and it is a good little system. Glad I didn’t pay out for a full Switch; as a console it pales in performance to the Xbox but as a handheld it is superb!
So my decade has started with Nintendo Wii and ended with Nintendo Switch . Here’s to another decade, hopefully of more highs than lows!
Comments 375
Re: PlayStation's Ken Kutaragi "Never" Considered Nintendo To Be A Competitor
@dimi yeah, that warrants some explanation. I actually had both systems but I have far more nostalgia for the Cube. I also have a much bigger cube collection than PS2 but I love both systems and have the both set up to play (though the cube gets more use).
Re: PlayStation's Ken Kutaragi "Never" Considered Nintendo To Be A Competitor
I was never interested in the PS1 at all back in the 90s. I had transitioned from Mega Drive to PC by 1995 and our home PC could do what the PS1 could but much better. Not knocking it, it had some excellent games, but I experienced things like Resident Evil 2 on PC first and nothing it had could really compare to games like Xwing Vs Tie Fighter or Doom/Quake. I got the N64 on a whim for my 16th birthday and the quality of games such as Mario 64, Ocarina of Time and Goldeneye (which admittedly I didn’t ‘get’ at first as I was used to using a keyboard and mouse for shooters) made it a much better choice, especially when it came to 4 player sessions every weekend. I’ve dipped into the PS1 library since and have the mini console but I just can’t really get excited for many of these games. However, funnily enough the PS2 became my main system in the early 2000s so it’s all swings and roundabouts really 😁
Re: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (The Movie, That Is) Has Officially Started Production
I took my now 7 year old to see the Sonic movie. I went with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised. My son loved Sonic and ‘Donut Lord. I was happy for the nostalgia filled SEGA logo at the beginning, filled with clips from old games, the nostalgic credits at the end and 1994 era Jim Carrey 😁
Re: Memory Pak: Looking Into The Light In Super Mario 64
Mario 64 was my second N64 game after Shadows of the Empire. The thing is, at the time, I don’t think I really appreciated how revolutionary it was; as a fan of the PC Star Wars games like Xwing I was more impressed at being able to fly in 3D but on a console with an analogue stick than 3D platforming. Plus SEGA was far more popular in the UK than Nintendo, so although I knew of Mario I didn’t get the whole massive step it was (as I never played Super Mario Land on SNES).
It must have been amazing for Mario fans to see him move in full 3D, whereas I just thought it was a neat platform game. Furthermore, with games like Tomb Raider so popular as well the whole 3D thing wasn’t quite as impressive. However, I was a teenager at the time; I’m guessing for those 5 to 10 years younger than me it must have been mind blowing!
Re: Feature: A Brief History Of Nintendo’s Home Hardware Add-Ons
I have had the Gameboy Player since 2003. Excellent add on. I recently completed Metroid Fusion through it.
I remember as a kid my first device was the SEGA Game Gear and going round the shops with my dad to see if there was a way to plug it into the TV (other than just buying a Master System and those versions of the games of course). When I spotted the Gameboy Player in Toys r Us one day, having never heard of it before, it was an instant purchase (even as a skint student!)
Re: Feature: Zelda: Majora's Mask Is A Testament To What Nintendo Is Capable Of When It Gets Weird
@jump Link between Worlds as a direct sequel to Link to the past obviously borrows heavily from it, but the twisting of Hyrule and Lowrule is very similar to Hyrule and Termina. Then again, Ocarina’s child timeline and dark adult timeline also owe a lot to the different worlds of Link to the Past. The recurring themes and moods of the Zelda games is something I love about the series. So either way, it’s all good 😊
Re: Feature: Zelda: Majora's Mask Is A Testament To What Nintendo Is Capable Of When It Gets Weird
Excellent article. MM has always been a bit of a thinker and the way that it twisted Hyrule and its people into a strange mirrored image seems to have laid down the tracks for a link between world’s two settings.
I remember preordering this back in 2000. I had only played Ocarina for the first time within the year before its release and therefore got to play both games as I transitioned from teen to adult. Whilst I’ll always love Ocarina more (it’s hands down the best Zelda for me) MM has a special place in my heart. It’s still probably one of the strangest, most uncomfortable at times, games to revisit.
If only Nintendo were a bit more willing to be strange more often...
Re: Random: Forget Fat Pikachu - We're All About Wide Link
Lunk 😁
Loved the old style art in the original Zelda manual back in the day.
Re: Xbox's Phil Spencer: 'I Could Have Never Designed The Wii... It Was Just Amazing To See'
I don’t remember anyone back in the late 90s not ‘getting’ the N64 controller. At the time I think most of us kids just thought it looked futuristic and different. I don’t get what’s so difficult about the concept of using it:
2D game or fighter (Killer Instinct Gold for example): hold the left grip and use the d pad. Both shoulder buttons are used. Totally ignore the centre grip, analogue stick and z trigger.
3D games: ignore the left grip and use the centre grip and analog stick. Z trigger replaced the left shoulder button. Ignore d pad and left shoulder button.
No game that I can recall used the left grip and dead in combination with the centre grip and stick (though I’m sure there was at least one).
I remember being more confused by the SNES pad shoulder buttons after being a Mega Drive fan back in the early 90s. Had to learn to hold the pad in a totally different way than I was used to. That and Sony’s weird use of shapes instead of letters on their face buttons!
Re: Anniversary: Nintendo Switch Launched Four Years Ago Today
@TheFullAndy you’re absolutely right; from a business point of view if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. People are still willing to pay the original price it seems so there is no motivation to change it. However, as much as I love Nintendo, everything in this generation just costs so much! I have always been able to get a good deal on their systems in the past (and to be fair I got a good deal on my Switch Lite) but not even a pack in game as standard whilst maintaining the same price puts me off upgrading, even though I could afford to 😕
Re: Anniversary: Nintendo Switch Launched Four Years Ago Today
@Marios-love-child I get what you’re saying but an Xbox Series S is £20 cheaper (if you can find one) and is a heck of a lot more bang for your buck, especially with Gamepass. No good if you want Mario/ Zelda though 😁
Re: Anniversary: Nintendo Switch Launched Four Years Ago Today
Any chance of a price drop then? Paying £279 for a 4 year old system (that is significantly weaker than the competition) is bonkers (I have a lite already but was hoping to pick up the main model eventually when there was a good deal...)
Re: Rare's Cancelled N64 Project Dinosaur Planet Has Been Leaked Online
@Zenszulu I saw some footage of the N64 build of Eternal Darkness (there’s a screenshot in the GameCube anthology book too). Even though it’s obviously a N64 game at heart even on the cube, the graphical difference is still really impressive today. Going back to something like Resident Evil 2 on the N64 shows just what a leap the generation was. I remember really wanting Resident Evil Zero on the N64 at the time.
Re: Rare's Cancelled N64 Project Dinosaur Planet Has Been Leaked Online
@Zenszulu as interesting as that would be, the graphical leap from the N64 to GameCube means they wouldn’t be more than a curio. Don’t get me wrong, I was a N64 fan back then (still have it set up now) but the leap from gen 5 to 6 is astounding, especially with games like Resident Evil. I’d love to see a play through of these games but I wouldn’t bother playing them. The GameCube versions are classics.
Re: Star Wars: Republic Commando Is Landing On Switch This April
Great game. Played it on PC in 2008. The banter between the squad is great and some levels (such as boarding the abandoned cruiser) are especially memorable. It’s also the grittiest SW game I’ve played (and I’ve played nearly all of them!)
Re: Rare's Cancelled N64 Project Dinosaur Planet Has Been Leaked Online
@Zenszulu I agree. I even remember reading about it as an upcoming game in the Official Nintendo magazine back in 99/2000.
Re: Rare's Cancelled N64 Project Dinosaur Planet Has Been Leaked Online
@Zenszulu yeah, that’s my understanding of it too. Pity, it could have been an epic title if they hadn’t been rushed by the Microsoft buy out. The fact that we got it at all is a blessing, as Microsoft have done nothing really worthwhile with Rare in 20 years and even if you count the excellent Rare Replay, nothing that compares to their heights on N64.
Re: Rare's Cancelled N64 Project Dinosaur Planet Has Been Leaked Online
I finally got round to finishing StarFox Adventures on the Cube last month. It’s a great looking game but does feel unfinished and the final boss feels very tacked on. That being said it’s a perfectly good game in and of itself. Bit of a slog at times but I’m glad I finally got around to ticking it of my list.
Re: Soapbox: Zelda: Skyward Sword Is Good, Actually
I got this in the special edition with the soundtrack CD and gold Wii more for Xmas 2011 from the missus. At the time it came out there was a lot of hype; it was the last major release for the Wii and for those of us who had stuck with the machine after the novelty of motion control games it was really anticipated.
That being said, I tired of it very quickly. I could handle the controls but the first time I had to fight the boss who keeps catching my sword if I was only slightly off I quickly got tired of it. However, I was always under the impression that I was in the minority as most people seemed to love it. It’s only in recent years that the view seems to have changed for the worse, mainly for the controls, which is amusing considering motion control has been a thing ever since the Wii for Nintendo. However, I think they went too far with the over reliance on motion control (desperate to push the Wiimote Plus) when the best Wii games with motion controls (Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime Trilogy for example) used the motion controls to great effect as they were fairly simple to learn and remember. Skyward Sword just seemed too complex at times. I also didn’t like that fact that your shield would wear down and get destroyed (I hated that in Breath of the Wild’s weapons too).
I think playing with buttons will make it much more enjoyable (just as Twilight Princess on GameCube was more fun than on Wii) but for £60? Not a chance!
Re: Rumour: Zelda's 35th Anniversary Will See The Return Of Wind Waker And Twilight Princess
@JimmySpades I totally agree with you about Wii U owners not bring the target audience (the fact that these games sell like hot cakes to a new audience on Switch shows that it’s good business for Nintendo and they don’t owe fans from the Wii U era anything anyway) I wouldn’t call those of us who supported the Wii U idiots; after all, we got to play these exact same games years ago for about a third of the price ....
Re: Ori Director Criticises "Snake Oil Salesmen" Behind No Man's Sky, Cyberpunk, And Fable
This is why I never, ever buy a game at launch or pre-order. With patches and updates it’s just an excuse to rush something out to make money quickly and then fix it later. I’m going to sound old but before the 7th gen (Xbox 360/PS3/Wii) a game was ready at launch or it wasn’t. If it was buggy and crappy then everyone knew and avoided it like the plague, even if the hype had been huge. Even now you can track down a PS2 or GameCube game and if was good then it’ll be good now. DLC and positive updates to an already good game are great but I wouldn’t go watch a hyped up film, pay full price to see it only to be disappointed and have someone say ‘come back in 6 weeks it’ll be better!’ so I won’t do it with a game either <climbs off soapbox>
Re: Feature: What's The Best Way To Play Super Mario Bros. In 2020?
I’m a fan of original hardware (as long as it’s affordable and not a ridiculous hassle to set up and use) but seeing I no longer have a NES and cart (dang) I’d say the best way to play is on the NES classic mini with either a Wii classic controller + cable extension (the home button in the controller will seamlessly take you back to the game select/save screen) or for a few quid more the pinnacle is using the 8bitdo N30 wireless controller. This is great on a modern tv (the Wii U eshop version is also good). Nothing wrong with the Switch online version, but I only have a lite, so no tv play for me!
However, aside from the original hardware, on a CRT TV the Wii VC version run through a RGB SCART cable feels quite authentic (even more so if you want to plug one of the NES mini controllers into the Wiimote). I’ve got the Super Mario All Stars Wii disc which is great, but my nostalgia is for the original 8 but version.
I have bought the Game & Watch for my Mario obsessed 7 year old for Xmas. I’m interested to see how SMB runs on that, purely for the nostalgia (the thought of playing SMB portably when I was his age in the 80s would have been mind blowing at the time!)
Edit: gah! Totally forgot another option! SMB DX through the Gameboy player on GameCube, played with a GBA through the link cable!
Tldr; on a modern tv NES mini with 8bitdo N30 controller or Wii classic controller with extension. On a CRT tv either original NES cart or Wii VC through RGB SCART.
Re: The Wii U First Launched Eight Years Ago Today
I have all my systems dating back to my mega drive from 1993 set up in the man cave and the Wii U is no exception. I really supported it and have a vast majority of the games physically. However, it was a SLOW machine and I had a nightmare connecting it online and doing the day one update back in 2014.
Still, it has some excellent, gorgeous looking games. My son loves playing New Super Mario Bros U and Captain Toad and I have many more games sitting, unplayed in my back log.
VC is also excellent on it (not quite sure what some people are on about with the emulation on NES, SNES and N64 titles; I’ve literally swapped the image between the two mini consoles and the same game on VC and seen no difference whatsoever. As for N64 it looks a hell of a lot better than my original N64 running into a crt tv through component (plus save states are a godsend!)
Was it perfect? No. Did it have frustrating droughts of games? Yes. Was it fun to play regardless? Oh Yes!!!
Re: Where To Buy Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros.
Ordered from the UK Nintendo store for £45 free delivery. Nice little Xmas present for my Mario obsessed 7 year old son 😁
Re: Switch Is Getting A Brand-New Dizzy Game, And It Was Coded During Lockdown
Dizzy was my first video game ‘hero’ back on the Spectrum ZX. I still have Fantastic Dizzy on Mega Drive too! I’d love a collection on Switch, with modern updates like save stated or rewind function. Some of those games were punishing!
Anyone remember the PAC Man clone Fast Food?
Re: Soapbox: An Ode To The 3DS, Nintendo's Workhorse Console
I got the original model 2DS in early 2014. What a great system! Really comfy to play for extended sessions. I eventually bought a 3DS XL but never really liked it as much. A while later I got a regular sized new 3DS replace it and as good as that model is I really wish I’d never transferred my games from the 2DS in the first place.
The 2DS is still going strong (mainly played by my kids). In fact one of the reasons I haven’t upgraded from a Switch Lite to a full Switch (apart from the cost) is the regret of upgrading from the humble 2DS: it did exactly what I wanted it to and the additional features just weren’t really worth it in the end (for me at least).
Re: Switch Has Now Been The Best-Selling Console In The US For 22 Consecutive Months - That's A New Record
The Switch seems to be harkening back to the 80s Nintendo; massively popular with a huge install base (just like the NES) loads of quality titles from many third parties as well as Nintendo’s own offerings (just like the NES) along with exorbitant prices for the games themselves (just like the NES). 😁
On a serious note, I’m not surprised that it’s done so well. Nintendo of today is not the Nintendo of old. Back in the 80s/90s most people could only afford one system, so Nintendo needed you to choose their system instead of a competitor’s. Now they are in the perfect position (that will probably stick with them for the foreseeable future). They don’t care if you buy a PlayStation or Xbox; if you want to play Nintendo exclusives you need a Switch. That, combined with nostalgia for older gamers, family friendly games and accessories, plenty of mature games for the ‘hardcore crew’ (which although don’t look as nice as on the big systems it means you can play on the bus!) means they have A unique corner of the market. Sure, Microsoft are going to muscle in with their play anywhere, but the appetite for a dedicated portable console is clearly there. It remains to see how much of a dent this makes to Nintendo, but as a parent if I was looking at buying a console, then a tablet and a controller for my kids to play mobile I would probably just choose the Switch anyway (as it does it all out of the one box).
After the dark days of the Wii U (which I love and supported heavily) it is nice to see Nintendo back on top again. Long may it last. Gaming without Nintendo would be like cartoons without Disney!
TLDR; Nintendo today are in as strong a position as the NES days of the 80s, with a unique position in the market not in direct competition with Sony/Microsoft and that’s a good thing!
Re: Hardware Classics: Sega Game Gear - The System Which Spawned The Game Gear Micro
Oh the Game Gear! My first SEGA system. Some excellent games, Master System compatibly and most importantly a colour, back lit screen. Honestly, the mini sound and blurry screen were never an issue. The battery life though.... I was so jealous of my friend’s Game Boy. 4 AA’s gave 30 hours on the GB whereas you were lucky to get 90 mins on the Game Gear (3-5 hours, similar to an original 3DS is nonsense, it never lasted that long)
I remember going to the US on holiday. 9/10 hour flight. One set of batteries. Total boredom for 8 hours plus. My little sister on the other hand, got a Game Boy at the airport and could play for as long as she wanted...
Re: Perfect Dark Was Supposed To Have Push Button Cheats, But They Accidentally Got Deleted
You could also gain 4 cheats if you had a copy of the Gameboy Color game and inserted it into the transfer pack on the controller (the divide came with Pokemon Stadium).
Re: Nintendo Switch Has Now Sold 55.77 Million Units Worldwide
After the disaster (in terms of sales) of the Wii U it is heartening to see Nintendo back on top (yeah it’s a company there to make money but nostalgia gives me warm feelings towards them; I’d no more want to see them disappear than Disney or Star Wars).
I will admit that I’ve not been blown away by the Switch (I’ve got the Lite model, so to me it is a replacement for my 3DS as a handheld; I mainly play Xbox One so as a console the Switch just seems weak in comparison, but as a handheld it’s ace).
If it out performs the NES it will be impressive, not sure it’ll hit the Wii’s sales level. Regardless, Nintendo do best when they offer something unique:
NES - solid, reliable with great quality games (after the lack of confidence caused by the crash of ‘83)
SNES - most powerful system, unique effects along with innovative titles.
Gameboy series - full portablity, huge library, great battery life.
DS series - touch screen, dual screens well implemented with titles
Wii - accessible for all, great for non gamers, virtual console
The Switch does offer something no one else can do. It is not competing with the Xbox or PS4; it’s main competition is smart phones and tablets and it’s focus on pure gaming and real controls (ever tried playing on touch screen tablets? Yuck!) makes it stand out. More power too ‘em.
It will be interesting to see what they’ll do next. A switch 2 or something completely different?
Re: N64 Star Wars Title Shadows Of The Empire Is Getting A Soundtrack Release
I’ve got the soundtrack on cd (along with quite a few SotE stuff). It’s a nice listen, recommended.
Re: Video: Digital Foundry Delivers Its Verdict On The Switch Version Of Streets Of Rage 4
Excellent game. Exactly what I wanted from a modern sequel since playing the original back in 1991. The soundtrack is still growing on me, though sticking on the classic tunes whilst playing is also great. The online multiplayer (at leat in my Xbox) is fantastic. The new characters are fun, the extras and unlockables good and the the nods to all games in the series (including a few cheeky ones to the excellent fan remake) are nice. The controls are brilliant (even better if you choose to change the controls to the legacy settings so it plays just like the older games). After SOR 3, which was a let down after 2, it’s nice that the hits feel solid once again (3 felt far too light).
I get that some people don’t like the art style, but it is entirely appropriate in 2020. The originals are available in HD on multiple systems, so there is enough out there for all types of fans. The only thing I’m missing Out on is local multiplayer. I can’t imagine I’ll ever get more than 2 player (only got 2 Xbox pads) but I can’t wait to try it out with a friend.
I’m going to wait for a sale on Xbox/switch before buying it; Gamepass is good enough for now.
Re: Review: Streets of Rage 4 - A Perfect Modernisation Of A Beloved Franchise
I’m so glad that it has managed to live up to the hype. I loved the original trilogy on the Mega Drive back in the 90s and have played all three to completion this week in preparation for part 4.
This is going on Gamepass on Xbox One day one, so I will play it there, then get it on sale later on. If it’s that good I may double dip on my Xbox and switch lite...
Re: Feature: Zelda: Majora's Mask At 20 - The Enduring Appeal Of Nintendo's Strangest Game
This was the very first game I pre-ordered online from Amazon back in 2000 (!). I loved Ocarina and could t wait for this game. I still have the gold cartridge and whilst I didn’t like it as much as Ocarina it is still a great game, though much more challenging. I think I had to buy a guide to finish it back in the day. I have the 3ds remaster but have never gotten very far with it. One day...
.... if only I had more time....
Re: UK News Outlet Calls Animal Crossing's Nature Day "A Farce", Says It "Teaches Kids Toxic Lessons"
A. ‘Video games cause violence because video games are violent’’
B. ‘There’s no scientific correlation between video games and violence discovered in 40 odd years of games being popular’
A. ‘Oh....well they cause .... erm, .....’
B. ‘I’m waiting.....’
A. ‘Damage to the environment!’
B. ‘....here we go again...’
Re: FDG's DuckTales Joke Was Actually A Real Pitch To Disney, But It Never Got The License
Love Quackshot on Mega Drive. I got it for Xmas 93 I think (along with Alien 3, Street Fighter 2 Championship Edition and Aladdin) Good times. Was disappointed it wasn’t included on the Mega Drive mini along with Castle of Illusion and World of Illusion 😐
Re: Talking Point: Jargon-Heavy Xbox Series X And PS5 Reveals Vindicate Nintendo's Approach
To me a system’s power is important for its potential, but time and time again it is playability which wins out:
3rd gen - NES - weaker than some competitors, clear concept, excellent games, huge variety, run away winner.
4th gen - SNES/Mega Drive - parity in power, excellent exclusives, everyone’s a winner.
5th gen - PS1- weaker than competition but easy to use format, huge library, run away winner
6th gen - PS2 - weakest contender, easy to use format (which it massively helped to popularise), massively library, run away winner.
7th gen - Wii - weakest contender, original concept, universal appeal, run away winner.
8th gen - PS4 - parity of power (sort of), clear concept (games, games, games), exclusives, run away winner (and I say this as an Xbox player) HOWEVER Switch - weakest system, clear concept, unique selling point, universal appeal, storms into 2nd place after releasing 4 years later.
Compare that to Wii U - weakest, unclear concept, little broad appeal, flop (and I say that at a Wii U player!)
Conclusion: power is one thing but a clear concept, unique selling point and appeal to a broad range of players wins every time. Same with handhelds the OG Gameboy was about 10 years out of date (In terms of technology) when it launched in 89. The game gear and lynx could run rings around it. However, it was simple, efficient and cost effective. Winner by a landslide. The Switch owes a lot to the Gameboy, as it is like history repeating itself 30 years on.
Re: No Link Between Violent Video Games And Violent Behaviour, Says American Psychological Association
Although shootings are not the only type of violence it goes without saying: you can’t shoot anyone if you don’t have a gun! You can play all the violent games you want to, but with no access to firearms you are not going to be shooting anybody.
Re: DuckTales: Remastered Returns To Digital Storefronts, Includes The Wii U eShop
I have this on Wii U, Xbox 360 (and therefore backwards compatible on Xbox One). Great game for 80s children and really nice to have alongside the Saturday Afternoon Collection. My kids love seeing the two games side by side to see the changes.
I don’t know why anyone complains about the voice acting; it is literally the same cast as the original cartoon and from what I could tell they sound like they are putting in just as much effort. Also nice as the chap that voiced Scrooge passed away since, so this game is a great swan song.
Be warned, it is a bit glitchy on Wii U. I recommend the Xbox version myself.
Re: The Witcher 3 Polish Language Pack DLC Is Now Available On Switch
@charlieonholiday I don’t remember any adverts on TV (I didn’t watch much tv when I lived there; a combination of actually having a social life in my 20s and not being brilliant at Polish 😁) but I remember a large number of DS games available.
Actually I’m quite annoyed with myself looking back. I went over there with a Gameboy Advance but totally missed out on getting a DS Lite due to not thinking to check if the DS games were in English (of course they are!) and not realising how good the backwards compatibility on the DS Lite was.
Still, my PS2 did get a lot of play (Resident Evil 4 was particularly moody in a long, dark and extremely cold Polish winter!)
Re: The Witcher 3 Polish Language Pack DLC Is Now Available On Switch
@charlieonholiday I have a very similar story but I lived in Poland 12- 15 years ago. During the Wii/DS era Nintendo was present in stores like Empik and MediaMarkt (especially DS). It was during the Wii U era that it practically disappeared from stores (the 3DS appeared but was gone from nearly all retail shortly afterwards).
It’s funny, there’s a guy on YouTube called Adam Koralik who does videos about games and he actually visited Poland a few years back and talked about the complete lack of Nintendo. He pointed out that there was only one product in the stores (literally one product) a boxed set of Disney infinity for Wii U. I messaged him that I had literally just seen the very same boxed set in the same shop a few months later; it was still there!
Now Nintendo is back, but Xbox and PlayStation are far more dominant. Switch seems easy to find though. Pity the prices are roughly the same, so no cheap games for me when I’m on holiday there...
Re: Review: SpeedRunners - Move Over Sonic, These Guys Have Some Serious Pace
Great on my Xbox, gets a lot of play multiplayer. Wouldn’t pay full price for it though, great with game pass.
Re: Comparing The Witcher Games To The Books Is Like Comparing "Spaghetti Carbonara With A Bicycle", Says Creator
I’m from a Polish family and am married to a Pole. There is a certain bluntness to Poles (we joke that if you hire someone to come and fix something in your house, Poles will tell them how to do their own job 😂) . However, I look at his replay a different way; he spent years writing these books and works building and most people are more familiar with them due to other projects that have used his ideas. He probably would rather that the books were recognised and the games and books were seen as good too. Compare it to J.K.Rowling; the HP books were already a sensation before the films. She probably feels comfortable that she gets recognition as a writer first, then the other aspects of the HP media. It is the other way around for the Witcher, so I can see a little resentment there. I wonder if songwriters who write massive songs that are more famous by other artists feel the same way (‘I sang it first, you know!’)
Re: Unleash Hell With This Officially Licensed DOOM Eternal Pro Controller For Switch
Can’t wait to play Doom Eternal....
On my Xbox One😂
Loving the original Doom (1993) on my Switch Lite though.
Re: Square Enix Collective Reveals First-Person Puzzle-Shooter The Turing Test For Nintendo Switch
I really enjoyed playing through this on Xbox gamepass. Exactly the sort of game that would otherwise have passed me by. Managed to complete it in a couple of hours, but was really satisfied. Not all games have to be long (I can rattle through sonic 1 in 50 mins). Some really nice nods to AI philosophy, like the Chinese Room argument too.
Re: New ESRB Rating Suggests The Wii U Isn't Done With New Games Just Yet
@WiltonRoots I got the same deal a couple of months before Xmas 14. So weird that I got the system when it was already a flop; most systems are hitting their stride a couple of years in. Certainly got my money’s worth; even if you focused exclusively on Nintendo ips and virtual console/eshop it was more than enough to keep you going. However, the third party offerings (bare in mind I have 70+ physical games for the Wii U was terrible compared to Xbox and Playstations offerings in the two generations the Wii U ‘straddled’. Some good ones, but the way they played was no where near as good as on rival systems (Avengers Lego runs poorly for example) which is a shame as first party games from Super Mario 3D World all the way through to Breath of the Wild run great.
Re: Talking Point: How Often Do You Make The 'Switch Sacrifice'?
I’m sticking to exclusives (Smash), puzzle games (Namco Museum), retro on the go (Mega Drive Collection) or nice little cheap re-releases (Jedi Knight 2, Grim Fandango) on Switch. Anything else is on my Xbox One; either it is significantly cheaper and a much better experience (Doom, Wolfenstein) or effectively free through Game Pass. Switch games are ridiculously expensive.
Re: More Than 40% Of Switch Owners In The US Have Another Video Game System
Nintendo has been a complimentary system arguably since the GameCube era. I know that’s when it became that way for me. I went from N64 only to PS2 (at first just because it was a decently priced DVD player and later really got into the games). I got the cube a year later and only bought the handful of exclusives I wanted to play. I more than got my money’s worth from both systems.
I have a lot of systems and tend to play a bit on each. However, as nice as the switch is it is a glorified handheld (a very good one) but cannot compete with my Xbox one in terms of power and content. I have a huge library of digital games, both from games with gold giving me 4 games a month and backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games. Add to that game pass and it is clear why it is my main console. The ridiculous pricing of switch games means it will end up like my cube; used regularly for the handful of exclusives I get for it (I only have Smash, Mega Drive Collection, Namco arcade double pac and Jedi Knight (nostalgia!) and because I supported the Wii U last gen, a lot of other games I already have for that system so, unless I find them really cheap at some point, I won’t double dip.
Re: Best Of 2019: In Praise Of Save States, Rewinds And Walkthroughs
You weren't there man .... you don’t know what it was like! Sometimes you’d leave you Mega Drive on for days at a time, didn’t want to have to beat that boss again <shudders>. Sometimes the console would crash, sometimes it wouldn’t. Sometimes you’d hear the dreaded call ‘turn that off and get down for dinner’ or ‘you’ve played enough of that rubbish today’. I can still hear those voices, at night, calling out in my nightmares. The horror ... the horror.... <states off into the distance>
On a serious note, save states, rewinds and save files are the single greatest advantage of playing old games today. I’ve done my time; now my time is precious and save states mean I can enjoy it properly. Not going to be told I’m less of a gamer by someone who wasn’t around for the Console Wars 😁
On
Re: Feature: 2010-2019 - Nintendo's Decade In Review
This decade has started with and ended with Nintendo for me. GameCube was my secondary console to my PS2 from 2003-2009 when I got a Wii in late October. The virtual console (and a raft of affordable games) got me into Nintendo on a big way (I was SEGA at school and only dipped into Nintendo with the N64 and Gameboy line).
At the same time I also got into Xbox this decade two and between them the Wii and Xbox 360 were brilliant for the first half of the decade. Then I got the 2DS in 2014 (I missed out on the DS line completely the previous decade) and it was so good that I eventually went back and built up a decent library of DS games too, as well as a few systems...). Then I got the WII U in late 2014 and I supported it fully, buying as many games as I could but it never really matched the fun of I’d had with the Wii for the previous 5 years (I couldn’t even connect it to the internet to do the infamous day one update. The single lost annoying gaming experience ever!).
I upgraded the 2DS to a 3DS XL (uncomfortable to hold and bad 3D) and then to a New 3DS (big improvement) but honestly wished I had stuck with the 2DS and saved my money. My son now plays the 2DS regularly though, so it’s still in use.
I got the SNES and NES minis which were great, but shied away from the Switch, feeling burnt after the Wii U. Now my main go to system is the Xbox One but I finally have in and snagged a Switch Lite on sale recently and it is a good little system. Glad I didn’t pay out for a full Switch; as a console it pales in performance to the Xbox but as a handheld it is superb!
So my decade has started with Nintendo Wii and ended with Nintendo Switch . Here’s to another decade, hopefully of more highs than lows!