GrailUK

I think this needs saying

Beating a record breaking console by offering huge discounts during the LOWEST November in 30 years across the board is a much bigger problem than key cards.

What does my head in is people playing the blame game. Which would be fine if they were blaming the right person. Nintendo is doing great in other terrertories. Putting America first means you aren't a signal for the rest of the world, you are just a signal to yourselves. But it seems to be falling on deaf ears intent on lining the pockets of a disgusting greedy man's family who manufactured some weird PR fuelled divine right to be where he is.

Pray this is a blip, else you'll be playing unofficial immitation consoles, bootlegs and haking other countries to see what's going on in no time (much like Trump's favourite countries.)

The entire world needs to make the mega rich more equitable and contribute vastly more. Trickle down economics doesn't work when the wealthy go out of their way to avoid paying as much tax as possible through off shore investing, loophole etc. And anyone still of the opinion that billionaires leaving is scary...well a) if they have their money abroad and live on a private island, they have already left and b) Doesn't that create opportunity which capitalism is all about. Pickles my brain how we regard mega rich as hard working, yet they pay people to do all the hard work for them. (rant over lol.)

Blimey, when I'm not even bothered about a new KotOR game, it makes me realise how Disney have absolutely mishandled the franchise. Besides which, didn't they basically disown all the expanded universe stuff? Or are they cynically having to back track.

@FrenchVaniIIuxe Oh, what was up with it?

Amazing! This was a highlight for me of a previous XBox erm...Direct thingy a while ago. Great news!

Bloody hell! Metroid Prime 4 is incredible. I'm having to stop every section just to admire everything. Wonderful contrast between the Federation Outpost and alien world. Already feel out of my depth lol!

What on Earth was the internet moaning about???

Everything I wanted it to be. Hell, I'm way past caring about gane key cards I don't buy them and my bank account has never been healthier lol! (Although, I'll be picking up Star Wars Outlaws at some point soon.) Cyberpunk, Metroid Prime 4 and Donkey Kong are keeping me busy over Christmas (with sessions of Mario Kart!) I also have Breath of the Wild I like to revisit inbetween. I'm doomed once we get Xenoblade Switch 2 versions lol. Anyhoo, it's been a solid six months. Next year as we start getting into it's stride, we are going to see A LOT of games. Plenty of new features whilst not leaning heavily on a gimmick. The Switch cemented the hybrid concept as anything but a gimmick! Of course there is planty of scope for a revision to improve on what we have now...but that's the magic of Nintendo. Giving us something great that inspires everyone to make something better (if not different..or popular...or actually better lol) Grab your popcorn because this holiday season is going to be record breaking.
4/5

Once again, I couldn;t care less about this back slapping ritual, but happily catch all the reveals the morning after.

Pre-ordered on Switch 2. I didn't understand all the drama. Anyone that knows Nintendo / video games could see a tutorial from Miles away (pun intended)! Even said as much earlier. So, the lower reviews getting annoyed etc aren't really worth listening to. Game looks lush!

Video games are not films!

I can't wait for this. It looks stunning.

Playing the FOMO card with licensed characters. Nice one SEGA.

I just don't get the negativity surrounding this game. Do they not have eyes? It looks bloody gorgeous!

See companies! It's fine to charge less for digital (or more for physical) when we can see why that is. Digital should be cheap as chips if any company has the decency these days to pass savings on to customers. Feels like those days are gone.

Good lord! This is better than I hoped for!

Max Headroom vibes! Blipverts used to give me nightmares!

Totally guessing here, but if the game involves you having to locate other trapped troopers, I don't think he'll outstay his welcome. I don't find him as annoying as some seem to but if you can't tell the exploration looks as deep as any other Metroid, then there is no helping ya.

Hopefully, this guy is in the opening level and serves as a kind of tutorial. I'm hopeful the game becomes more what we love as you progress.

Composition. It's perfect.

Age of Calamity is going to be my next game. Shou;d keep me going until the next Zelda game. I do hope they go back to a more structured adventure like Ocarina of Time, but I don't want a remaster or indeed a remake. I want a retelling. It's all Legend. They have a licence to add content, change mechanics, as long as the whispers surrounding what happened remain pretty much the same

Aw you guys aren't teenagers anymore. Happy Birthday everyone Thank you for such a lovely site.

@Grumblevolcano I think they are still in the process of building a second building. This has obviously been lomg term thinking. I don't think they are going to become Microsoft overnight. They'll recruit folk who are a good fit. Western thinking just looks at ip (I mean, check this comment thread out lol!) Once again, Nintendo don't operate like Sony and Microsoft (who cynically emulate it.) Third party suits third place. Maybe even second place if you have over bloated the cost of actually creating games. Nintendo are a) on top (despite what Twitter says lmao!) and b) much more conservative with their budgets. Now sure, game development will take longer *they have explicitly said as much) and they will be looking at keeping up a game a month, but it would be more like Nintendo to aquire studios that can facilitate their games, as opposed to simply buying a studio for theirs.

I wouldn't be surprised if they aquired teams we have no idea who they are lol. But fit in with Nintendo's plans / philosophy in an organic way (that they referred to.)

@Grumblevolcano I need to know your reasoning behind this theory so that I can explain why it's not going to happen. Playstation games on Switch 2 is more likely.

Holiday season accounts for something ridiculous like 80% of total sales for the year. The Switch 2 is about 4 months old. I don't think folk realise how crazy this period will be!

Oh god...it's so close to the Gamecube version now. I'm in trouble! lol!

This topic is really nuanced and to be blunt CEO's aren't worth a cup of cold piss. XBox and Playstation consoles are barely distinguishable from PCs. Between those two companies, they have standardised gaming and bloated development costs irresponsibly to the point where such a sentiment makes sense...in their sphere. Nintendo doesn't dwell in the same sphere.

Nintendo make games to suit their hardware. They have a totally different business model to the other two.

Besides, I have to spell this out because some people are so short sighted. Third party suits third place. But don't think for a moment XBox will stop making hardware, because if the day comes where they can capture mainstream imagination (and let's be fair, that's doubtful under current leadership) then every single game and i.p. they own would be exclusive in a heartbeat. They have so much leverage owning the industry, they'll cash in using everyone else's eco-systems, but lol, they are never going to give up chasing their own. That's Microsoft's own risk and reward game (cynical as it is) and why their messaging is so at cross purposes.

Looking forward to playing both XBox and Playstation games on my Switch 2. But Nintendo won't put their games anywhere else. They don't have to, they are number one and the most successful I have ever seen them. No offense to Halo, but Mario is waaay bigger.

Not fanboy spiel. Capitalism spiel. Nintendo have simply steered their ship vastly more responsibly than the big companies that have to rely on pretentious nonsense to get people to invest in their 'essence of what makes us human' horsecrap.

This...this might have to be my first game key card.

Hmph.

@jsty3105 Yes it was. An it's more than reasonable.

@jsty3105 Dude, folk scoff at rampant profits. CEO's giving themselves 40% wage rises whilst the workers in real terms have a depreciating quality of life. In the 80's a 20% mark up was considered the norm. Those days are well and truely over. Nintendo president earns like $2.4M dollars a year (I'd taje that!) The CEO of Activision was on like $156M so please...SPARE ME! Non profit hahaha, they aren't even close!

It's tracking closer to selling twice as many units as the Switch did than the same. That was during a quiet period of the year. Now we are approaching Christmas, you can apply the usual percentage increase every year and recognise it's going to be a record breaking holiday for them.

As for issues, I believe GKCs is a real issue, but one that is predominantly a third party one. Brands like Fifa and Call of Duty are a consumerable experience and as such their target audience doesn't really mind digital. Most people who play Fifa probably love football more than video games. Same mentality as me downloading music because I just listen to it. But Nintendo are prolific enough to not let this be an issue if you really want to. I mean, I can't afford to buy every game Nintendo make in a year. Most people only buy 2 games a year. Those 2 games can easily be physical still. Not sure of my point. Maybe it's that the industry's greed tends to outpace Nintendo's. And every so often, Nintendo has to try and keep up whilst maintaining their integrity. Otherwise, they get left behind and we all know who would want to be buying them out like vultures...

Kids don't read enough as it is these days lol. Don't encourage it with voice acting!

@Anti-Matter And that's fair enough. I respect that viewpoint and indeed share it. I feel the exact same way about Sony in the UK charts. I just don;t go visit PushSquare every week to bang on about it (I mostly go to say I'm jealous of a certain game lol!) I would rather let folk be happy.

@WiltonRoots Well, that's one way of looking at it. But Switch is family, man! Sony are so far behind Nintendo over there that it's not even fair.

@StewdaMegaManNerd yep

@Anti-Matter Lol, it's a 2 horse race!

They aren't breaking the console market by slapping an X on it lol. If on;y it was that easy!

It looks like the future is bright for Pokémon, but it seems growingly evident the more mature fans are yearning for some sort of AAA effort.

@Samalik Oooh, you don't have your finger on the pulse at all!

Switch 2's three months were during 'off-peak'. PS4's wasn't! Honestly, this holiday is going to be record breaking (if they make enough!)

Erm...sorry, but being only able to see Pikmin through a smartphone is GENIUS!

I have been saying this for years and folk think I'm mad lol. Why on Earth do you think Microsoft came up with Gamepass. So the average Joe can be squeesed to pay more than 2 games a year.

Nope, I think it's a stand alone project from their animation team. Shame there isn't more of this sort of thing from the other industry giants.

Come on guys. Nintendo are literally making BABY STEPS into the animation industry. It's really poignant!

Anyhoo, to think this is un-Nintendo is rather sad to hear. It's right up their street. (Love the out of key piano when things go wrong.)

To look for easter eggs I think is obsessively fixated on Mario and I reckon is going to hamper them trying to break out into other entertainment media whilst folk just thinkeverything is a clue to a videogame lol. Oh, an anniversary? Must be a videogame. I dunno, when did everyone get so cynical and stop enjoying stuff for what it is. The way the internet reacted to 3D All stars celebration event ws very spoilt. Leaving money on the table etc etc,. Instead of just appreciating it for what it was.
Anyhoot, they bought an animation company if I recall. I wonder if this is what they were doing. Besides, long term Nintendo thinking suggests they are going to experiment and dabble until they can be self sufficient making their own Mario movies. There...how's that for cynical

Zion hasn't gone yet? Did he get lost on the way out?
It's left at the Yoshi plushie...

In all seriousness, you will be missed immensely.

It's funny to me how the internet basically envisaged the next Mario Kart to copy Smash Bros formula by having guest characters and season passes. It was pretty much a no brainer for them. Not like Nintendo to not use their creative brains lol.(And why Nintendo didn't do it and SEGA did - they must have been reading what everyone wanted from the next MK lmao!) The Kirby racer looks like it's going to deliver proper old school racing back. I honestly think if you are into kart racing, you are eating very well, and let's not forget MK8D. That game is still selling like hot cakes and firmly sat at the same table. I don't really want to get into which mascot is better. They are just mascots.

@BTB20 Dude, it's not nonsense. It's lierally nothing. Reproduced with a click of a button with zero manufacturing lol. And they charge full price for it. You in all due respect are deluded. I get you are still playing something, but I don't know if you think it's magic or something...

@Orwellian87 I will add, occassionally (and usually in Dogtown) the game seems to really appreciate a quit to main menu and the console being turned off (not sleep.) I noticed sometimes it can feel like it's starting to struggle (after bloody hours of playing lol!) and this sorts it right out.

@Suketoudara Yep, I totally see your point

@YAT I don't think you can set an infinite ceiling when the Switch has a definite user base (albeit increasing) (I think. I'm not sure what you mean by infinte ceiling lol.) Seems the ceiling is at $80 at the mo.

I get that it's expensive, and that's more than worthy of being mentioned...but should it reflect review score? And if it is a 5/5 game without taking into account how much it costs...doesn't that mean it's worth it? I dunno. Value for money is subjective and invariably comes down to if a company thinks it will sell at that.

Good luck on your future endevours, Zion. You were with us whilst Nintendo is at it's peak and in my eyes, were a part of that.
Farewell...try not to be a stranger around here