Jack_Goetz

I wondered who'd end up pulling the short straw on reviewing this. 😅 As someone who's got no interest in adding a camera to my Switch 2, this has zero appeal to me. I'm struggling to imagine anyone buying this as a way to hang out with friends.

Did the training section and got fed up with it. Perhaps I need to find a better surface to use the joy-con on, as the controls felt inconsistent to me. I'll try again later. Maybe.

Who knew Alarmo would be such a hit?

In all seriousness though, this isn't too surprising. Nintendo has been bowing to the shareholders a lot more since the post-Iwata/Switch-era. I'm honestly not such a fan of the overly corporate Nintendo we've been seeing recently, as it's seemed less about creativity and fans and more about keeping the shareholders happy.

Yes, every business is in it for the money, I just feel Nintendo has got the balance wrong in recent times.

Bithell has always struck me as one of the good guys in the games industry. I hope the studio survives these tumultuous times, and that those made redundant find new jobs in the near future.

Not usually my type of game (I hate jump scares), but this video has definitely piqued my interest. It looks like it could be a very cool story.

I'm happily retired from the amiibo collecting game, thankfully. Sora finished the Smash Bros set and my nervous system has been in a much more stable place ever since.

Certainly not what I was expecting.

A lot of games appealed to me in this presentation, which is more than I can say about the last couple. So no complaints here, other than finishing on a super rushed sizzle reel.

I think I'll pick this up digitally and buy the UFO Companion book to go with it. Looks like the EU Fangamer website doesn't have the deluxe edition, which makes things a bit easier for me. 😅

I imagine AoI's absence probably points to it releasing in 2026.

Anyways... Why hasn't the most important news of the day been shared here yet? A Donkey Bananza Theme lyric video has been uploaded on Nintendo Today.

Tanuki: Pon’s Summer is now firmly on my radar!

78.5GB?! Pass. EA? Double pass.

@Metazoxan Quite simply, I've found the Switch 2 to be quite the disappointment so far, and bar Bananza nothing has really justified my purchase of an S2. So, again, for me, there's a lot riding on this one, as I use my Nintendo consoles mostly for first-party and indie games. Anything else you want to try to convince me of?

@Metazoxan For me, there's a lot riding on this one. How are you going to argue with that?

Well, there's a lot riding on this one.

I honestly don't expect Nintendo to do anything other than maybe a couple of limited discounts and some new NSO icons. There's more chance of Capcom celebrating the next Mega Man anniversary.

Shinobi and erm... Nope, that's it.

I'll either wait on a Switch 2 patch (currently locked at 30fps, apparently) or leave it. I'm not buying this at full price when it should be able to at least hold 30fps at the bare minimum on Switch 1.

Shuten Order (which isn't listed here) is my most anticipated game for September, currently.

That should have been "a huge (Ed) boon for physical collectors". 😅

It appears the Deluxe Edition is mostly cardboard tat, so I'll be avoiding that. The pre-order exclusive slipcases look decent though.

I imagine the idea is to use Switch 1's price increase to offset money lost on Switch 2's profits due to the tariff stuff, as the last thing Nintendo will want to do is up S2's price any further while it's already deemed too expensive for many. And slowing down S2's sales by increasing its price wouldn't go down well with the shareholders.

Anyways, I'm surprised the comments are on for this one...

I'm struggling to see where the system sellers are outside of Bananza. Yes, yes, people love Mario Kart, but MKW is seriously underwhelming, not to mention incomplete, in my eyes. But this showcase was the opportunity to show some heavy hitter third-party AAA titles, which it failed to do.

Anyone who's not upgraded to a Switch 2 yet must be laughing all the way to the bank. I wish I'd waited to get mine.

Incredibly lame decision. Look how much better the Switch 1 box art looks. And now Square Enix have the audacity to ask for $230 for the collector's edition, which also features the Game Key Card.

Nothing in there for me really. Today's Hitman: Absolution announcement was the most exciting thing about today and it wasn't even in the Direct. I was hoping the Partner Showcase would give us a good insight into third-party support for Switch 2, but overall it was very disappointing.

I was so excited for this game when it first released on the 360, but was shocked by all the changes that were made. Saying that, I did end up appreciating for what it was. The Contracts mode was especially fun. I'll definitely pick this up when it's released.

@USWITCH64 And organise the character select screen better.

I'm actually probably more interested in this than a regular Direct, as it'll give us an indication of how much AAA third-party support Switch 2 is likely to have over it's first 18 months or so.

I like that Nintendo put the lap-type courses change at the very bottom of the general notes, like it was super reluctant about adding it. 😅

Switch 2 enhancement patch (1.09) notes:

"Visuals equivalent to "Best" settings on PC. Which means:

• Additional SDF background effects on certain screens/the title screen
• Increased number of dynamic lights on screen
• More iterations when calculating fluid simulation
• More iterations when rendering bloom
  Back buffer is now upscaled to 1080p instead of 720p (handheld and docked)"

From the Animal Well Discord.

From Lost In Cult's website:

"Approved, tested for our preservation guarantee - no internet or downloads required, with the up-to-date final version of the game"

Nice.

Atari's been doing some wonderful stuff recently. I've got no doubt that this'll be a good thing for Thunderful.

Checks to see if Super Mario World is still where it should be

Ah... Good.

That release video was great! I actually want to try out Mario Paint now.

When was it delayed from, the GameCube-era?

@Ramouz Yeah, one of the pros of the Switch and Switch 2 not being region-locked. It's always worth double-checking just before you buy anything of the Japanese websites though. If you look on your regional eShop, you'll see all the languages each game supports under 'details', so if it supports English and Japanese you should be fine to buy it on Amazon Japan.

@Ramouz I believe the vast majority of games are both English and Japanese language on the eShop, bar some Japanese-only releases.

You can use eshop-prices.com to check if a game has any regional differences first though, and investigate from there. I can't think of one Nintendo AAA game that's Japanese-only though. 🙂

@Pillowpants It was just a joke because the Switch 2 looks a bit 'charred' in the photos.

Looks like the creator set fire to their Switch 2 in the process. 😅

Code in a box titles appear to be doing better than Game-Key Card ones, if I'm reading it correctly.

Also, Mortal Kombat 11 is back in the top 10 and MK1 is nowhere to be found.

So we're just going to forget about former NL contributor Martin Watts, who absolutely destroyed Mario Mart Wii's online competition with the Wii Wheel? 😅

My Frenchie is a lil' wanko. Mainly because he does a lot of the dumb stuff that this game is promoting. 😅

Someone's looking for over £400 for a sealed copy of Tipping Stars on Wii U. What makes it even more ridiculous is that it's a code in a box release. 😅

@BBBBBBBBBBB I don't disagree with you, I'm just stating the backlash it received at the time, which was before anyone had any real information about the 64GB Switch cards.

I'm most surprised about Bravely Default making the top ten. It's not much of a remaster, and the physical was the much complained about Game-Key Card, because the game is tiny.

I guess it was the cheapest 'physical' release though, must be why it sole so many units. 😉

YouTubers predicting Directs be like "60% of the time, it works every time".

I can't help but wonder how on earth Metroid Prime 4 is going to run at 120fps when FPS games like this max out at 30fps. Even DKB's boss fights are capped at 30fps. Yes, MP4 is an 'in-house' title developed for the original Switch, but 120fps just seems unbelievable really.

@Mocznik Duke Nukem 3D wasn't even out in 1991.

@Kidfunkadelic83 I'm with you on that, but I never got bored with 1000xRESIST, fortunately. I would try avoid reviews though, especially the one on this site, as it's a bit 'spoiler-y'.

@Kidfunkadelic83 I loved it. It's more of a visual novel than anything, though it has some interactive sections, dialogue branches, different endings, etc. The story is very much the central focus, but it's hell of a story.

Dear Yves, please stop talking nonsense and instead give us a 60fps Switch 2 patch for Beyond Good and Evil.

Kind regards