Comments 1,892

Re: UK Charts: Fire Emblem Out Of Top Ten While SpongeBob Sells Well On Switch

JohnnyC

@nocdaes End of year figures which included digital for European territories showed Sony had 8 of the best-selling titles of 2022 (either exclusives or where ps5 was the best-selling version). Painted a very different picture to the weekly boxed charts we were seeing throughout the year. Not that these charts aren't interesting but they're clearly not as relevant as they were a decade or so ago.

Re: Poll: Which Of Rare's Classic N64 Games Would You Like To See On Switch Online?

JohnnyC

I know it isn't their best franchise, but I loved Killer Instinct on the SNES back in the day. Jet Force Gemini was great too, so they both got my votes. Otherwise, I agree with the usual suspects of DK64, Perfect Dark, Banjo Tooie, Diddy Kong Racing etc. The DK games kind of belong on Nintendo consoles really, given they'll never see the light of day on Microsoft consoles. The others, I guess will be down to how friendly Microsoft and Nintendo are.

Re: Talking Point: In 2023, Do You Still Care About amiibo?

JohnnyC

I wish they'd make some of the unlockable content available for a fee if you don't own the amiibo and can't get them due to significantly less amiibo being made than there are copies of the game. A good example being the unlockable costumes in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Re: UK Charts: Switch Maintains Strong Representation In A Pretty Quiet Week

JohnnyC

@Dman10 I like to think we're at a point in gaming where we're starting to see the emergence of timeless classics that people want to keep buying and playing in large numbers. Film and music have had this for decades, but for a long time gaming was always about bigger and prettier games and classics were more of a niche thing for a relative few (e.g. Super Metroid and Super Mario World will always appeal to fans, but won't shift tens of millions of copies). The total sales figures for GTAV and MK8D still only make up a relatively small percentage of the global population, and people who either weren't old enough or didn't exist when those games came out are likely wanting to play what their friends are still playing.

Re: European Game Sales Fall, Switch Is Once Again The Best-Selling Console Of 2022

JohnnyC

@sanderev Doesn't appear to me to be an incremental improvement or yearly updated title though, which is why I don't feel it's success was predictable. I'm particularly happy to see praise and success given to exclusively single-player and story-driven games these days. As for GTA, that was always going to do well as in addition to its continued popularity, this year it had the next-gen releases which will have given it an additional bump. It's no more Rockstar's fault for making an excellent game that finds new fans years after its release in 2013 than it is Nintendo's for doing the same thing with Mario Kart 8 in 2014. For Call of Duty and FIFA, I agree those are predictable chart positions as there are many people (I know a few as I'm sure we all do) who only buy the yearly entries in those franchises and little else in terms of gaming.

Re: Platinum Teases Brand New Wonderful 101: Remastered DLC Update

JohnnyC

@MontyCircus I bought it on PS4. It was always designed for the dual-screen drawing capability of Wii U and that's really missed on the remastered version.

I honestly thought Platinum had shafted the fans on this and moved on, as I don't remember hearing anything about the story dlc for ages and I think this came out in summer 2020. Happy to hear it is still coming after all.

Re: UK Charts: Nintendo Continues Its Strong Performance Amid Stiff Competition

JohnnyC

@smithyo Agreed, and that's a multiplayer which is where publishers know all the money is. My point is that it's nice to see a game which is exclusively single-player do well as it sends a clear message to publishers that if a game is well-made and engaging, there is demand for those types of games and a place for them alongside multiplayer and/or freemium games.

Re: Bayonetta Origins: Cereza And The Lost Demon File Size Seemingly Revealed

JohnnyC

@Itachi2099 Based on previous instalments in the series, I'd suggest waiting 3-6 months and you'll probably get a physical copy with a 25-50% reduction. I often saw new copies of Bayonetta 2 on Wii U and then on Switch for £20 in shops. As was the case with Bayonetta 3, there's an initial rush by the loyal fans and then the sales follow (a quick search finds it new for £37 less than 2 months after release).

Re: Microsoft Enters "10-Year Commitment To Bring Call Of Duty To Nintendo"

JohnnyC

Hopefully this is for the Switch's successor, as otherwise this will be a very compromised port. I gave up on Call of Duty when Black Ops IIII came out and they abandoned campaign mode. I understand they've since gone back to it but I haven't missed it, and still got all the titles prior to that if I'm in the mood for that kind of thing.

Re: Best Wii U Games

JohnnyC

Completed BOTW on Wii U (all main quests, side quests and shrines, as well as Champions Ballad). Didn't finish Koroks or Trial of the Sword. Halfway through a second playthrough on Switch. Aside from faster loading times, I haven't noticed any major differences on the Switch version. Maybe side by side shows up performance issues more clearly.

Re: Poll: What Was The Best Wii U Launch Game?

JohnnyC

Overall, Arkham City is the best game on the list but it sucked as a launch game given most people who wanted to play it had already done so. NintendoLand is the exclusive I've played and enjoyed the most of the titles on that list, but this was overall a shocking launch and like many others I didn't take the plunge until Super Mario 3D World finally delivered a system-selling game. PSVR2 seems to be modelling it's launch on the Wii U for some reason, with no essential games and overpriced hardware that you can't do much with at launch.

Re: Poll: What Was The First Pokémon Game You Played? Nintendo Wants To Know

JohnnyC

Pokken Tournament. First and so far only. I toyed with getting Sun or Moon, and then again with Sword or Shield. Ever since Red/Blue, the games have always looked rubbish to me though. I know they must be good as many people seem to like them, including friends whose opinions I trust. Maybe one day I'll take the plunge. Too many great games and too little time to play them all as it is though.

Re: Sonic Frontiers Is Out Today On Switch, Are You Getting It?

JohnnyC

Still playing through Bayonetta 3 (key worker, family commitments etc) and can't afford to buy every game that looks good on the day it comes out just so it can sit on the shelf for several months before possibly getting played. Used to do that in the past, still got some games from years ago that have barely been touched that I paid £40-£50 for and can now be picked up for a few quid. When I've finished Bayonetta 3, my next purchase will likely be God of War Ragnarok.

This does look very good though and seems to have reviewed well across the board. Nice to see a decent 3D platformer being made by someone other than Nintendo.

Re: Switch Sales Have Only Now Surpassed The Xbox One In The UK

JohnnyC

I remember back in 2013/2014, quite a few of my friends and colleagues bought the Xbox One. Probably some of the loyal early adopters who'd had a 360 for the best part of the last decade. I still remember Sony's brilliant ****-take video on how to share games Vs Microsoft's DRM. Still funny, even though we now live in a largely-digital environment with very little actual ownership as the big companies wanted all along.

Re: Grand Theft Auto Trilogy's Latest Nintendo Switch Update Is Now Available

JohnnyC

I got this on PS4 a while after launch once a few of the patches were out and it played fine, with notable improvements in performance over the PS2 originals. If the Switch version has been similarly patched as I understand it has been, this is worth picking up if you were a fan of it 20 years ago. Particularly as you should easily be able to get it for £30 or less these days.