Henchdog

@Joeynator3000 Or dare we say: This is just like Dragon Quest Builders

How... How wasn't this a whole video or in a direct or something?

"Plus, there’s now a mechanic where opening a door or reaching for an item will trigger a brief sequence where you can often get jump-scared by an unexpected ghost." But... That was in the Wii version already? It's not a new thing?

Mario clash is lower than Tennis?
Huh weird.

Also, is it just me, or is it impossible to get the whole Virtual boy screen in focus at once? I can never get my head at a point where I see everything. I can always move it around a bit to see more up/down.

I might've missed it in the article, but what do you get from the final season? And what do you do to complete it?

I assume it's special spawns in the overworld, but what's the pokemon? From the serbei link I assume it's... the bike pokemon?

Man, I can never follow any of the pokemon seasonal rewards for any game.

Video games taught me a ton of English, and pokemon in general is amazing for learning a language.

I remember loading a German copy of Pokemon Yellow on my 3DS so I could get a better sense of the language.

@Zuljaras me outside Gabe Newell's house with a battering ram reading the last bit of the message
OH! Not the deck. Jeez, I'm embarrassed now.
(Recently with retroachievements on my 34XXSP and Steamdeck I rather play on those instead of my OG cartridges on my Analogue Pocket anyways.)

@Yosher Jeez, He-man and Thundercats are pretty nostalgic for me. I even had some hand-me-down PJs of both.
But yeah, that 4 non blondes song is also tightly wrapped for me in He-man, as well as CKY/Gnarkill 's Skeletor vs. Beastman.

Now I'm gonna have that Maximum Carnage song stuck in my head for the rest of the day:

https://youtu.be/8XJG8ywk7eQ?si=azm3jMpOW8a-ZpAD&t=37

If memory serves, didn't the Xbox 360 version of Peace Walker also include the Sony Walkman?
This isn't exactly new territory for em.
Apple though I imagine will be the most difficult about using the likeness again.
Kinda a missed opportunity to include MGS Touch in this collection as well.
I mean, it's not... Great, but it would've been novel. The Switch could've at least used the touchscreen.

Man, everyone got notifications for shipping of it already in Aus as far as I can tell, but mine is still being packed. Guess it's cause I added other stuff as well.

I'm keen to experiment with it with BOTW and so on.
I plugged my PSVR into the Switch 2, and wow is it a big step up at 60fps instead of 30.

Kinda surprised this is collection 2.

I suspected collection 2 would be all the handheld entries:

PSP portable ops + plus
PSP ACID 1 + 2
Ghost babel
Maybe the graphic novel on PSP?
And potentailly something silly like the mobile game, ios game, or hell, maybe special ops.

Then I'd see collection 3 being:

MGS4
Rising

With Collection 4 finally being:

MGS 5 + Ground zeroes... Maybe even survive for the hell of it.

Somewhere inbetween em they could pepper in Metal Gear arcade too.

I see it's in the Australian store too. Also see they added little calendars (modern and retro).

I gave this a go with the Switch 2 version. WAY better with 60fps. Although still not thrilled about the static position of the PSVR1.
I wonder if the Virtual Boy will help some of this.

@NintendoWife It is?

@AussieMcBucket Sounds like the three of us can solve a problem with each other... Now who wants to fly to Australia to play Mario Party with me!?

The Switch 2 version of this went for 9-20 AUD recently and I was legit considering it. If I spot it again for that price, is it worth picking up?

I liked the story mode of the previous game, but never finished it. I think I just got to one boss (a squid or something?) and I legit couldn't figure out how to get past em. I wanted to try it again, but then I got Mario Golf which... I'm kinda neglecting too...

@Nick2054 Kinda reminds me how easy it was to get a Switch 2 at launch in Australia. I heard from a few different people here that part of the reason was because Nintendo got skiddish of the pricing situation in the states, and reallocated a lot of units to Australia for initial sales.
Naturally this was only initially because of the tariffs and whatnot, but now of course AI has to make our lives heck.

It's one reason I suspect the Switch 1 and PS4 will continue to have more releases. They're still fairly capable, you can get em secondhand for pretty cheap, and their games can be played on newer systems.

The first time years ago I saw Star Stories I thought to myself I should get it.
When I moved overseas I again went: "I should get it." But then it sold out.
When it popped up last year again on a local gaming store, I ordered it. It took several months thanks to all the chaos of getting things from the states, but now I finally have it.
(To be fair, my hollow knight and hazbin hotel vinyls also took ages from the states)
10/10 would recommend.
Currently eyeballing a wii music fan made vinyl on etsy, but the shipping costs are nearly the price of the vinyl :/

@Scarmucci This has been on my mind as well. All the previous VR stuff would benefit greatly from a higher resolution screen and framerate. I see Odyssey still has the VR option listed on the menu on Switch 2, so it'll be one of my first things I give a go.

I went to World Square this weekend (where I picked up my Switch 2 at midnight launch) and found it didn't exist anymore.

It's not entirely surprising though. JB Hi-Fi, Target, and K-mart often have games for cheaper than EB games. It's especially frustrating when their games in the secondhand bin cost more than the same game sold new.

@Dee123 I mean, NoA is a huge reason Nintendo is as big as it is these days. They were very instrumental in setting up locations and making decisions that were huge gambles but got NES systems into stores. In fact there's a pretty interesting history in how one guy lying about being a big store franchise in Europe managed to snag the rights to Nintendo products too, and ended up making it a success.

@DTfearTheBEARD Where you can have it on another platform that'll require a download before playing.

@Spider-Kev Kinda unrelated, but I kept thinking Nintendo would release a SwitchTV revision. Basically a Nintendo Switch box that plugs only into a TV like a PSVita. It's silly I know, but it's kinda like your thing.

@Exerion76 I'm still playing the first octopath traveler since it came out... Starting to think I'm never actually finishing it. Mind that's probably because of my cravings to pedantically level everyone the same.

I gave it a go in person a month or so back. It's not a terrible experience, mind I've also played Fromsoft games going back to the PS1 era, so seeing framedrops feels kinda the norm by now with em. I'd say the only time it really bothered me for a bit is when I'd run outside from a place and feel a sharper decline. Truth be told if I got this on Switch 2, I'd probably 100% it again.

@LastFootnote It's funny, cause if I earned that out of university in Australia I'd be struggling. But if I earned that out of university in South Africa I'd be doing pretty well. 350000 Yen isn't impossible for a married couple to live on a month there. Like, you'd obviously want more, but it's doable. So I imagine if you're one person it's not bad at all. (Although my memory is very foggy based on old conversations with friends)

@datamonkey I Guess it's one of those things that since they're not getting paid that much to begin with, it's not that difficult to give them increases. Japanese salaries are low, compared to the "West".

@Friendly My steamdeck has a startup video that mimics the gamecube and then at the end says: Valve Gabecube. When I saw this console it was my first thought.

I'd love to see em start experimenting with things like 40fps modes and maybe 1440p or 1080p. Not that I've had any issues with the game, but it's always nice to have options.

For what it's worth, I still know tons of stores with this game in stock for its original price.
Mind these are the same stores where I would casually find Amiibos during that first shortage so maybe it's just the country.

Hey @Olliemar28 just a headsup: twisted voxel is famous for stealing from other journalists (as well as their sister sites).
Odds are they already lifted that from elsewhere, maybe worth providing a different source if possible.

@belmont I was bummed when I popped over after Gamescom in 2023 and they weren't selling copies anymore, but you could rent units with it installed. Sadly, none were available on the day. I went to Paris and all I got was to experience breathtaking art with no console in hand.

This was the first real Nintendo console in my country in a long time (Due to sanctions and whatnot). I'd never seen it before and I had no idea what it did.
They broke into a store near me and stole random stuff, including the real charger for the Nintendo DS and the box of this castlevania game.
The store offered me the DS, with just the castlevania cartridge, and a battery pack charger for the DS at a discounted price. I rolled the dice and bought it on a whim.
Little did I know how many late nights I'd spend in bed playing this castlevania and wondering what else the DS's touchscreen could do. (Would also take a long time for actual stores to sell DS games, so I had only this game for ages)

@Mana_Knight Dammit, you beat me to it.

Love me some digital foundry. Always fascinated to hear nitty gritty behind things. I do hope they do some retro episodes again of multiplatform 6th gen games. I hope they do a timesplitters retrospective one of these days.

@N8tiveT3ch It was very likely made quite a bit after the game was released.
From my experience in one of the other countries, the stores often have to make due with their own kinda trinkets to keep users engaged. Postcards and such are usually pretty cheap to produce and falls in line with the points you spend.
There's xenoblade chronicles x artwork cards in the Australian store at the moment and I imagine that was cheap and quick to produce.
(Also as someone that regularly still sends postcards worldwide, I'm amazed how many people ask for them in promo items and just hoard em)

@GreenXIII I remember getting Balthier in the PSP version and just absolutely decimating everything with him. If memory serves his "sky pirate" class was unique and quite OP.

This is the first Donkey Kong game I've ever been interested in. The visuals and gameplay since the SNES era never gelled with me personally despite multiple attempts. (Always assumed it was a more American appeal?)
Plus it's a bonus that they've changed his appearance that it looks like you won't get Kevin Spacied being alone with him.

I still don't understand why they didn't just release ports of Mortal Kombat 2011 and in a pinch, MK vs DC.
Mind there were a ton of PS3/360 era games I was 1 million percent certain would come to Switch 1 that never did.

There's an issue where the Switch 2 won't turn on. You need to then plug the power into the top USB C port, and hold the "power" button. I wonder if there's a weird glitch with this battery issue where it's reading it wrong and not allowing the system to turn on... Hrmm...

ACMI is a genuinely amazing museum in Melbourne. When I visited for PAX I was blown away by it. Considering the timing, I might see it again when going to PAX this year if it sticks around.

Next year would be the 40th anniversary for legend of zelda so it would be a good release for then. A reminder that not only can these things still be released to keep supporting the Switch 1, but people will happily buy HD releases of anything that's already been or is coming to the Gamecube app.

@PikminMarioKirby Improved compression tech. The new Switch can unpack assets faster.

Was Nintendoland free? Cause that and 1-2 Switch were games that certainly should've been free.
Also important to remember that Wii Sports wasn't free in all regions.

Bring back the Game & Watch mini game from the DS family for the cellphone you cowards!

@KingMike I'd be curious to verify that information of Spike Chunsoft owning the catalog. It seems at best what I could find, is that the catalog rights got split up. Any details would be appreciated.

Also, with Sony having a stake in Spike Chunsoft's parent, parent company, I wouldn't be as quick to point a finger to that being the issue. I mean it's not impossible, all these big gaming companies are dicks, but it seems like it was more a licensing timing issue than anything else.

@JohnnyMind Basically the baseball team was suffering hard in the old days financially. The team was up for sale but that would mean they'd move out of Seattle. A bunch of people got together to organise a group to try and keep the team in Seattle, but they needed money.
A US senator that worked on IP protection (which would include video games) couldn't find local help, so took a stab at asking Nintendo.
Nintendo in part did it as a thank you to the senator, but also to be more appealing to American audiences.
It was a bit of an uphill battle as MLB didn't like the idea of non-Americans owning teams (oh how the times have changed).
They eventually lamented and let Nintendo purchase a large percentage, but on the condition they never have a say on how the team is run.
Yamauchi didn't care for the team and never went to go watch a match.
This did allow Nintendo to make a few games, and what would probably now be very rare Nintendo DS consoles and software for the Mariners.
When Yamauchi died Nintendo still had the shares for a while, but sold it during the Wii U financial woes.

Honestly if they could do something about the location spoofers with multiple accounts that fill up gyms, I'd be pretty jazzed.