JJtheTexan

I get the sense that this was some weird pet project / idea that some Nintendo executive had and pushed through to completion, expecting to be showered with praise for artistic achievement and instead being met with bewilderment and even disgust because nobody wants or expects their video game publisher to be making banal, saccharine animations like this.

Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Miyamoto-san himself signed off on this.

I liked Ion Fury, though probably not enough to buy the DLC. I was looking forward to Phantom Fury, but it reviewed poorly on other consoles and there's never been any mention of a Nintendo Switch / NS2 port.

I got this on a 90% off sale, so I don't feel too bad about losing $3. Pac-Man 99 was better

I was much more excited until I learned the game won't be available physically. A shame, but I guess it's understandable, considering the PS4 game is about 84GB, quite a bit larger than the (supposedly) largest available cart size. It's just a shame for collectors like me.

I'm not railing about game preservation or corporate greed or whatever. I just want to save storage space on my microSD Express card, and have something nice to display on my shelf!

I played this a little bit when it came out. It was... fine. It had a few decent ideas. My biggest gripe was the lack of actual Star Wars music.

"And nothing of value was lost"

@Mariotag the FDS music has more "sound channels" (I forget the precise technical term), and sounds much richer; similar to some MIDI music in games for the SEGA Mark III or Mega Drive / Genesis. There are FDS versions of The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Kid Icarus with similar differences in their soundtracks, compared to the NES. I like them a lot!

One thing I've always been able to say about Nintendo is it offers EXCELLENT customer service. I haven't needed to contact them often, but they have ALWAYS been fantastic. Just this month, an order I placed was "lost" by UPS. I contacted Nintendo customer service and they sent me a replacement at no charge, no questions asked.

Back in 2012, I pre-ordered a Wii U for delivery on launch day. It worked for a week, then bricked. I called customer service and they sent me a replacement while paying all expenses for shipping the defective unit. I got the new one in a few days.

I hope the days of Nintendo's best-in-class customer service are not numbered.

@Polvasti I had the same thought! I'd prefer just the grips for each Joy-Con.

I bought the physical version but haven't started playing yet, as I was hoping for this sort of thing. Great news for sure

I was a teenager when the original "slow Super Mario World vs. Sonic the Hedgehog with BLAST PROCESSING" ad they're referencing here was first shown on TV. I love the new version! I hope CrossWorlds lives up to the hype, especially on Nintendo Switch 2.

Mario Kart has been basically unchallenged for decades as the best kart racer. Nintendo could use some solid competition to inspire even better games (and improvements to MKW)!

Agreed with so many others - this absolutely belonged in the North American version of Nintendo Direct. What a miss by Nintendo and Capcom!

I begged Nintendo to bring Virtual Boy games to Nintendo 3DS, which should have been a no-brainer.

I bought the Nintendo Labo VR Kit for Nintendo Switch, thinking they might bring Virtual Boy games to that gadget.

I guess I'll settle for this!

About time. They've been working on it for what seems like Forever

They're both bad! I would have voted Japan since the option of no box art at all is the best one

Remember when Rayman was a drug-addicted TV host in that Netflix show a few years ago? This is kind of like that.

I've been listening all day. Awakening was my first Fire Emblem game and remains my favorite. It's the only one I attempted to 100% complete and played all DLC content. I love it so much! Perhaps we'll see a remake someday.

My dumb reason for being excited about this: I picked up a sealed copy of this game several years ago for $10 U.S. I never opened it. It's not really worth all that much, but I'm glad I can finally play the game without breaking the seal on my boxed cartridge!

It's great to see so many former Limited Run exclusive games getting "traditional" physical releases for anyone who missed out the first time (or who lives outside of North America, for that matter).

Incidentally, I recently restarted playing Rayman Legends. It's still really great and deserves more love.

This is very promising news, especially given the apparent state of Elden Ring.

How about Project X Zone and Project X Zone on Nintendo 3DS? The official pronunciation was "Cross". Weird

Very interesting, exciting, and informative Direct (and entertaining to boot!). My only minor complaint is that it went on a bit too long. I know they had a lot to cover, but save some for the actual game!

As a free game for NSO subscribers? Great idea.
As a pack-in with the console? No-brainer.
As a mode / DLC to something like Nintendo Switch Sports? Sure.
As a stand-alone game for $20? Dead on arrival.

@vio Scott the Woz is a YouTube personality who does a lot of Nintendo comedy videos, and Chibi-Robo! is one of his favorite games.

Scott the Woz is losing his gosh darn mind right about now

I'm amazed Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom hasn't been announced yet. Seems like it would easily find an audience on NS/2

I bought the original game for my niece, but never picked it up for myself. I guess now is the time!

If I had a nickel for every World War II-inspired vertically-scrolling arcade shoot-'em-up that released in 1984, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

I'm glad I read this post and watched the full trailer. I saw the fleeting glance we were shown in the Indie World presentation, and thought, "Oh, a Roguelike that looks a LOT like the very first Rogue." This is clearly a much more interesting game. I think I'll check it out!

This is better news than almost anything in the last Nintendo Direct (no shade on Indie World, I'm excited for Mina the Hollower).

I watch a lot of hololive (mostly Japanese Vtubers), and I've seen some of them play Bokura Planet. It has a very weird, almost creepy vibe, and I think it's a great fit for NS2. I fully expect an international release, eventually.

文字遊戯 "Word Game" looks interesting and seems almost impossible to localize.

I love the idea of the Super Mario Maker 2 update posited above.

I never forgave Nintendo for delisting and shutting down Super Mario Bros. 35. It was an absolute blast. Equally inexcusable was making Super Mario 3D All-Stars a limited release, both physically AND digitally. Limited physical copies, okay, fine, I get it, but removing it from digital sales??? Why??!?!

I got my copy, but still! What if I lose it? I'm just... out of luck??? There is no good reason or explanation for it. Preposterous.

@FishyS I have! They are definitely a product of their time, but absolutely worth checking out if you are familiar with their respective series or just want to try something different in a given genre.

My favorite so far is Silpheed. It looks and plays astonishingly well given its age and original hardware.

I wish I understood Nintendo's thinking in replacing so many longtime voice actors. Is it just about money? It can't be saving them THAT much, can it?

I mean no disrespect to the new VAs. I just think it's terrible how Nintendo has discarded quite a few talented actors after decades of service to these beloved characters.

Already pre-ordered Earthion. Impatiently waiting for Hades II. SacriFire and Earth Atlantis 2 look compelling. Great stuff from BitSummit, Lowell!

It's worth noting this only shows the data of who actually took the survey, NOT all Nintendo players. Pokemon has millions of young players, but survey companies typically do not poll children, for legal and ethical reasons. Without knowing the methodology behind this survey, we can't really draw any accurate conclusions about the total demographics of Nintendo players in Japan.

Iwata-san's Nintendo wouldn't treat voice actors like this - firing / replacing beloved voice actors without any notice. The company is slowly getting worse before our eyes.

I would love to see this become a regular feature on Nintendo Life!

Cheers and applause to all the great cosplayers featured here.

We can still vote with our wallets. Don't buy games on Game-Key Cards! Buy physical whenever possible.

I am lucky enough to own both a NS2 and PS5. This may very well be the first generation in which I buy more multiplatform games for PlayStation than Nintendo, if a PS5 disc version is available and a true physical Nintendo Switch / NS2 version is not.

@koopababble ?????

Nintendo has released 14 console platforms in 40+ years. More than 20 if you count variants / hardware upgrades. I can think of... two that had performance problems with first-party launch titles.

What am I missing?

I do not think the passing of someone I never met has ever affected me as much as Iwata-san's did.

@sketchturner I know, right? That's great he's so talented and all that, but spending enough money to buy a house in some cities on what amounts to a hobby project is kind of insane, I think

@Woops just here to say I appreciate the Fauna avatar

I really hope I am wrong about this, but the art in the game icon / header image on this page looks A.I.-generated to me.

@kmtrain83 that's fair! It's like the old Jerry Seinfeld bit where he complains about consumerism and how everything we buy just ends up getting thrown away eventually, so why not cut out the middleman and just throw things away immediately

I'm paraphrasing ModernVintageGamer here: Game-Key Cards are plastic waste.

They have no game data, thus making them useless as a means of game preservation and / or reducing the data storage burden on the NS2. They require an internet connection and full game download, eliminating the convenience of cartridges in situations without fast / reliable internet. And they must be inserted in the console every time you want to play, eliminating the convenience of a digital download.

The only benefit is that you can trade or sell one to someone else when you're done with it. For me, at least, the hassle makes Game-Key Cards a terrible deal.

I still don't have one, still can't find one. It sucks, frankly.

I reeeeeeeally hope for a physical release, even if it's just the original Nintendo Switch version. This game looks fun!

My principal complaint with the Nintendo Switch 2 is that I have not been able to buy one

GRID is still among my favorite Nintendo Switch racing games, and easily the best "realistic" racing sims on the platform, so this is great news.

If only we'd gotten a physical release of GRID...