Kyranosaurus

Not even gonna bother trying to reason anymore, but it's always absolutely fascinating how much Nintendo glazers will defend and defend, even if those very same people were happy to criticise Microsoft and Sony for it previously.

I was personally excited watching the Switch 2 Direct, but finding out the prices of the games afterwards completely put a damper on that hype.

Nintendo's better than they used to be, but being real, they're absolutely horrendous and miles behind Sony and especially Microsoft when it comes to accessibility.
Before people scoff at Microsoft, let's not forget they actually released their own adaptive controller technology to be free to use by other gaming companies. In this particular case, they're not the stingy ones for a change, and Nintendo hasn't really don't anything significant since, unless you really want to count the colour blind mode in Splatoon.

@dew12333 No, sorry but this is absolutely the worst and most privileged take you could have on such a topic. Work is work. Some people do not have the luxury to be picky and hope another opportunity is around the corner.
Next you'll tell me all retail workers should be happy with how they're treated because they accepted the job and ignore the fact that they needed to pay the bills no matter what. If you don't personally know the person in this article, then please refrain from making assumptions about their circumstances.

@Zisssou There's no high horse. You posted a flippant and quite frankly ridiculous comment and you think absolutely no one would take that as picking a side, especially one as snide as that? I'm not looking for a debate if one can't be helped but in this case I can only say "get real" to baiters like you. Have a good day.

@Zisssou
It's literally journalism. I'm going to assume since you have an account and have commented here on NintendoLife, you'll realise NintendoLife literally does the same that they "monetise other companies assets". Or is there a new double standard that's okay for some but not others now?

I'm getting caught in the trap again of responding and trying to reason with diehard Nintendo fans who thinks Nintendo will pat them on the back for taking the bullet for them.
I do miss the Iwata era of Nintendo, but of course no one can bring that back. His legacy will be stuck in the past until someone who values his philosophy steps up to the plate.

It's just a shame that some people truly feel that they have to keep making excuses for the big N just to save them face and ruin their own.

@McBurn I don't know if you're new to the internet, but problems like what happens on Youtube don't actually get solved until there has been large public outcry about it.
You can say whatever you like that comforts you, but the fact of the matter is that only those with the luxury of a larger audience have been able to resolve issues like these because big companies will not care about a single person complaining. Big companies only take action when they see that the issue is damaging their public image.
Telling someone to "solve something quietly" is akin to just telling someone to sit down, shut up and take it without action.

@KingMike
Hey, did you know? Did you know that the phrase "did you know" is a question? This means that you either know it or you don't.
If you already know the facts displayed in their videos, then that's great! But otherwise, you're running under an assumption that these videos should be tailored in a way which specifically caters to you and what you personally do not know. There are many people out there which don't know these facts, and Did You Know Gaming has always been the source of that knowledge for them. In the end, your comment only comes off as obnoxious just because you've discovered your favourite company was in the wrong or whatever.

@Rika_Yoshitake
Your mental gymnastics are worrying at worst and confusing at best. You're basically seeing that Nintendo did something bad and inexcusable so you're deciding to twist the intentions of the victim in order to make it sound like they want to cause harm one way or another. The multi-billion dollar corporation isn't your friend and I regret to inform you that no individual working at the company is being targetted. Try to understand the situation beyond "my friend nintendo is being attacked by bad press".

I'm gonna need Nintendo Life staff to go outside or something, these comparissons are getting ridiculous.
Next you'll tell me Big Ben looks an awful lot like the Mario alarm clock.

Have we learned nothing from WaddleDeeKnows and "accurate" rumours?

Korone's great. Very enthusiastic, loves to get as invested as possible with what she's playing.

There may be a few people who still don't "get" vtubers but take this for what it is: A videogame fan who is simply using another means of an online avatar to present themselves online just as we do with still icons.
She's grown incredibly close to the Sonic community since she started her journey with the classic games, I'm happy for her.

Not saying I don't agree to some extent with people on "why can't this run on Switch", but at the same time, I find it amusing with how many "X can do this, why can't YOU do this?" comments on this article.

There's a certain lack of self-awareness when you claim something is so straight-forward despite not being a games developer yourself lmao.

Honestly, the character switching (especially mid-battle) is a HUGE QoL that I'm excited for. Not only does it actually mean that all characters can get a chance in the spotlight during battles, but it simply means more strategy is open to you before letting the AI take over. This might also mean that you can "avoid" death in certain moments and that it perhaps wont immediately mean game over when your lead party member dies with no party gauge. We'll see how they've rebalanced for that, though.

@SteamEngenius I often over-levelled myself by accident due to being a very thorough person when playing most RPGs. Xenoblade in general is designed in such a way that if you do at least some of the side quests as you go, and you aren't just trying to skip past every enemy on the way to your next destination, then you're essentially at the point that the devs expect you to be when you get to a boss.

"Grinding" doesn't really exist in the first game unless you've tried your hardest to avoid enemy encounters that your normal path takes you, which I see a lot of people do. The fights don't take that long either if you master the break, topple, daze system too. If you play well enough, sometimes you don't even get the chance to topple an enemy before you kill them.

Not gonna "cancel" Reggie or anything but I am aware that he is a businessman first and foremost. Just because I like Reggie as the funny "Body Is Ready" meme man, doesn't mean he's suddenly gained enough respect from me to think he holds an unflawed view on the state of our industry.

@Lizuka While the logo is indeed "eh" and I don't feel too much need to feel outraged about it, saying that logo design doesn't matter much is probably one of the most misinformed things you could say in regard to literally any company--

I was about to go on but I just checked again and can see that someone's already told you exactly why so I won't repeat it.
But yeah, logos have a HUGE importance in a company, it's structure and possible success. That's a historic fact.

Hmm, isn't it interesting how companies always promise change when it becomes public knowledge?
Also I always get a laugh when I hear that the people in charge of all the horror claim that they'll "investigate it".
Perhaps I'll ask my cats to guard the fish tonight.

There always seems to be a weird overreaction with certain people that they can't fathom the idea of english accents existing outside of standard american ones.

Xenoblade 1 had great voice acting from most of the main cast and more shaky acting for side characters.

Xenoblade 2 was fine for me until Rex got to his first action scene and couldn't scream for his life unlike Shulk. though that's more the actual voice direction than the fact that they used european accents at all.

Xenoblade 3, I can't really make a proper decision yet based solely on the first trailer. There's always much better acting in the context of the actual game as opposed to when the trailers are always shown, I don't know why.

@Wexter I don't dislike shonen or vibes similar, and I didn't particularly "dislike" what Xenoblade 2 did either. I know what they were going for. However I just feel as something named Xenoblade 2, and being a fan since the original Wii game, I couldn't help but feel that whiplash in tonal change with the light-hearted moments and general characterisation being far different to the prequel.

I'm not saying it's wrong to try something new either, but it was certainly something that... took me a while to get used to.
But don't get me wrong; I'm not saying "no fun allowed" or anything silly like that.
The original Xenoblade still had it's strong moments of playfulness, hell a lot of it was in the post-battle dialogue and who could forget Heropon Riki's debut???

I suppose all I'm saying it that I hope Xenoblade 3 balances that playfulness a little bit better. The last thing I want is characters that are devoid of humour, but I don't want comedic tropes to overshadow how people see the characters either, because although the gang in Xenoblade 2 are far deeper than people give credit for, the game unfortunately has a built reputation of surface level generic anime tropes to that of the games that came before it. It's hard to describe what I mean without going fully into each example with an essay.
But I do still love XC2 just so we're clear.

@Troll_Decimator I'm right up there with you. Of course I can't stop my disappointment of simply wishing it was the new one, however I'm well aware and can only anticipate what this means for the actual next entry. I'll hold my hype until we see something, but it's certainly hell of a thing to think about.

• A lot of remakes/remasters that I both didn't know about before, and also ones I'd heard about, but the priority is that they all captured my interest. Let me point out the ones in particular below:
• Klonoa remasters! I had heard and seen this series years back, but never was lucky enough to get my hand on them! I plan on making this my first forage into the series as I love the colourful character and charm it presents itself with! Can't wait!
• Front Mission remakes. I never actually heard of these before and honestly didn't think I would be interested when the CG trailer was creeping up, but once the gameplay kicked in, I actually shot up my interest a lot! Definitely willing to dip into another strategy game.
• Live A Live! Never EVER heard of this one before! But after looking into the history of it and the pedigree of devs that worked on it originally, it appears to have been a hidden gem that westerners never knew they wanted until now! It looks amazing, and with the HD 2D treatment, even moreso.
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe... I was initially neutral/leaning on disappointed with this announcement. New tracks, cool, but way too late into the Switch life cycle.
  That was until I realised this is 48 REMADE TRACKS.
  That's essentially a whole extra Mario Kart game in itself bundled into the the main game. I understand these are "old" tracks, but people need to remember that Mario Kart 8 REALLY makes all these feel brand new. It quickly rose to my top ranking announcements for this Direct due to the sheer content this introduces.
• Finally, Xenoblade 3.
  I have far too much to say about this series, so I'll try to keep this short: Best announcement for the entire Direct for me.
  I am in LOVE with how Monolith Soft builds both worlds and their stories. Whether it's a new IP or a continuation into the Xenoblade name, I will be excited for it if Monolith Soft is charging the helm.
  Absolutely in love with the first 3 games plus their extras/expansions. September can't come soon enough. I'm ready to see more already.

(2/2)

Giving a summary of my proper thoughts on the Direct, I think it was solid. You'll never be able to please everyone, but even before my personal favourite announcement, it felt like a fair and varied assortment of things for someone somewhere to get pumped about.

• FE: Three Hopes was a bit deflating at the start for me. It's cool if you're huge on Three Houses alone, but I think I was more wishing to see the next mainline game.
• Still excited for Advance Wars. Was a classic back in the day, and I hope that some day, it gets the same treatment and recognition that Fire Emblem managed to get with Awakening (a big ask, I know)
• A new Mario Strikers! I never actually played the original but that sketchy graffiti style was iconic to look at. I've never been a fan of football but I'd be lying if I said that Mario Strikers never once interested me, so I'm fully aware that seeing this game brought back was a huge deal to many fans!
• Splatoon 3 Salmon Run new was neat. Didn't do much for me, but it was cool to have a small burst of new info.
• New Kirby info was amazing. Ready to play this game moreso than ever before (though mouthful mode is admittedly a tad disturbing)
• Triangle Strategy. A game I'm still interested but by god I loathe that name. It worked for Octopath Traveller because despite being a project title, it still had a mysterious air to it and sounded like a legit title from the get-go.
  "Triangle Strategy" was a project title that sounds like a project title even today and I can only imagine that they thought it would work just because it worked for Octopath.
  That aside, it still looks like good fun, so I suppose that's all that matters in the end.

(1/2)

@Mattock1987
Xenoblade 2 has some hiccups to get over including a very jarring tone compared to the first game, a slow introduction to the mechanics at the start of the game and a "gacha" mechanic introduced that was frustrating to say the least.
However, it's still a joy to experience once you've fully invested yourself.

I'm personally a bigger fan of the first game (Definitive Edition now) as its story and characters are much more grounded, yet still with those enjoyable light-hearted moments to enjoy and a battle system that feels good once you've learned the ropes.

Xenoblade 3 to me looks like a return to a tone similar to the first game as opposed to how anime the 2nd game was, which is a plus in my books. I'd definitely play through them all if you have the time.

The fact that I've never heard of them before is probably why they're getting into NFTs just so they can have that promo material they needed from sites like Nintendo Life publishing it

I'm convinced it's just purely for publicity at this point. There's no way you wouldn't expect this backlash then make a U-turn this quickly.

@BLD I'm also terribly concerned that they waited 4 hours for me to respond. I almost feel bad that they assumed I was at my PC for that long. For someone with a lot of research time on their hands but no care to share it with the class, patience is apparently not on the menu.

That aside, although I doubt I'll ever actually change my stance on all this, I usually do have very educating debates with people I disagree with where I learn something that wasn't before brought to my attention. The exchange we just had earlier was sadly not one of those and funny enough is one that's only happened with regards to NFTs.
Baffling, that.

@fafonio I came to the discussion late because I had things to do...? Is that a problem now? Do I need to make sure my personal schedule matches up with you? Sorry sir, I'll be sure to ask when you're free next time. Perhaps I'll bring the formal-wear.

Thanks for your complete disregard for my points. It wasn't nice.

@fafonio No, not looking for a trophy but thanks I guess.

Sorry to break it to you but no, you didn't suddenly crumble my entire case by telling me that 3D and animation exists.
Those are still things that exist entirely in harmony without NFTs.

>defends NFTs without a reason
>tells people to do the research themselves
>refuses to refute the points made

You might think I'm trying to be smart, but I'm honestly just trying to get a comprehensive answer out of you.
It's you who has entered this discussion with the intent to waste time if you only wish to plug your ears and "move on", then fine, go ahead.
Just don't expect to think you're making yourself look good doing it. It always plays out the same from you people.

Amazing coincidence that you just happen to not want to give better reasons that apparently exist.
Sorry for the sin of trying to squeeze lemon juice out of a rock, I should've known better.

@fafonio And so you do nothing better than essentially admitting defeat in your "refute".
As mentioned, many people here who dislike NFTs HAVE done their research. Google, Youtube, what-have-you, etc...
The fact that you think that people are uninformed simply because they heavily dislike them is absurd.

>Art collecting and art auctions have been a thing in this world for AGES. If you’re not the target, you’re not the target. You don’t understand what people see in art collecting. “How can someone pay millions of dollars for a wall painting that’s just paint splatters on a canvas? I could just take a picture of it with my phone and print it.”<

I think what amuses me is that you've taken this stance that being a "graphics designer and content creator" has given you this awakening right to have a bigger understanding on it than anyone else. I didn't need to preface my argument with it but unfortunately, as coincidence would have it; So am I.

I create art, I create content, and yes; most of it digital. I love technology and adore the future where it can further enhance the lives of everyone who uses it.
NFTs certainly are not "it".
There's nothing in their introduction that has revolutionised art. You can be an "art collector" and not have to resort to NFTs for that to ever be a hobby.

The physical paintings comparison barely even COMPARES to how you're trying to spin this.
When you buy a physical painting, you know for a fact that the original in your hands is the true original. You can try to recreate the painting yourself, you can try to snap a photo of it (even though that objectively gives you a lower quality version of that very painting, literally not comparable), but the truth is that a physical object has personal history and precision. Everything from the brush that was used to create it from the canvas and paints combined to equal the piece you own, is something with both imperfections and sentimental value etched to create only one of those things that experienced that process to be made.

Now, as a digital artist, I'm not gonna let you refute that by then accusing me of devaluing the hard work put into digital art. I'm aware of that far more than you'd like to think, however it's irrefutable that while digital and physical are both capable of producing beautiful artwork, the two are just simply not the same in terms of sentiment.
You can make money through digital art via commissions or sold prints.
A PSD file of digital artwork objectively holds higher value than a jpeg or png on the "blockchain". It's a file that is capable of holding the layers an artist worked with as well as the original quality it was created in too.

Now tell me, what EXACTLY about NFTs are more valuable than that, other than the artificial scarcity that they are advertised with supposedly having, which has already been refuted - might I remind you - by the actual creator of NFTs themselves.

Try to understand this:
The literal creator of NFTs, in regret of even making them, have came out disproving pretty much anything NFTs are supposed to be good for.
If you like your research so much, go research that. Thank you.

@fafonio Every time I see your type, you're too afraid to explicitly show your full support for NFTs, and yet for some asinine reason, you can never actually personally inform people yourself on why something ISN'T bad.

It's always the same: "Do some research", because let me tell you; far more people against NFTs have far more knowledge about them than those who continue to defend them.

If you want to refute points, it's YOUR job to refute them with YOUR findings.
Now... it is a FACT that NFTs use up a lot of electricity. "Environmentally friendly" NFTs still use up electricity, even if it's "less". Producing oil barrels that plant 1 tree in the environment still damages the environment.
It is also a fact that nothing NFTs have done so far is actually unique to NFTs. For starters, there is legitimately nothing "unique" about a digital asset. It can be replicated with no drop in quality or inherent value. The "blockchain" has literally been proven by the CREATOR of NFTs themselves, to just be storing an image into nothing better than a URL.

Now, can one of you NFT defense squads please actually for ONCE come up with something better than "Uhhh, you're wrong because I'm not gonna tell you why, do it yourself..." ?

@inenai "But you cannot sell a digital copy of a game like at all"

Trading and selling digital goods is already a thing that's possible and has been done a long time ago before NFTs. You're not fooling anyone, bud.

The only reason you wouldn't be able to do it, is if the platform holder didn't allow you to do it.
NFTs are not a "new solution" or invention of anything. They are false scarcity and value in lies. If you can somehow prove that isn't the case then more power to you but that's simply the truth of it and why they are labelled scams.

@LzWinky That can already be done entirely without NFTs in the picture. Ubisoft is trying to make it sound like NFTs are the only thing that makes certain things capable but that's furthest from the truth.
Anything NFTs are advertised as being "capable of" is something that was already possible long before they came along.

NFTs are as "beneficial" for gamers as you (Ubisoft) selling microtransaction "timesavers" are. It's artificial solutions created by artificial self-made problems.

Ubisoft are not doing this "for the gamers" as much as they want to pretend it is. They're not even tricking their own abused employees that this is a good thing to get into.

I choose Hate.

NFTs do absolutely nothing that can't already be achieved by video games today. It's purely a capitalist move for people who want to scam other people.

Getting ready for the NFT bros who want to cry "lol people don't know what NFTs really are" and then proceed not to explain why they're apparently good themselves because big surprise, there are no good points to them.

@Dilly-Mick It is a bit, not to worry. That can be the problem with discussing something so subjective but as long as there's no toxicity, it's all good.

@Dilly-Mick Oh I understood that completely, don't worry. That's why I'm saying that to even the general public, there's worse that's been seen so not much "tracking" is needed by games that see the light of "casuals" for lack of a better word as stated previously.
Thank you for taking the time to establish the point he made though.

@Meteoroid "If best game of the year is a thing, why shouldn't worst be a thing, too? Best game by definition is the subjective and mainly triple A games are into consideration. Nobody has played all the games that came out this year, so calling anything best would be at best blissfully ignorant, too, by your definition."

That is quite honestly the point I'm making. If it's a popularity contest, then it's no problem that other people have pointed out far worse games. If we're truly arguing subjectivity, then there should be no issue with arguments against Balan being "worst game of the year" that aren't just simply parroting that a game is the worst just because someone said so.

If we want to actually draw attention to something in a similar situation, CyberPunk 2077 is actually "worst game of the year" because it's done the exact same thing (in principle) that Balan Wonderworld has done. A big name developer gave hope to the masses and strongly crushed their expectations of fun and quality design upon release.

The truth just is that Balan had a stronger stigma against it for being something that people hoped would breath more life into the 3D platformer scene outside of just Mario. Both Balan and CyberPunk are still updating where they can to try and fix these issues, but difference is Yuji simply isn't able to get the support anymore to keep doing that as the support was only an investment, not a continual relationship to help the game find solid states.

I do want to reiterate that I do think the game is bad though. I just simply don't buy that even amongst a casual crowd that anyone who's looked around could find something much worse like the GTA trilogy or eFootball. Balan actually functioned at the very least (less so on Switch to my understanding but still).

@Meteoroid Then yes, you would count game jam games into "worst game" titles.
Put simply, "worst game of the year" is probably not a title that should exist in the first place if people aren't going to take other games into account.

Game Jam games have managed to become huge hits in the past, earning themselves more prestige and recognition in the industry.
Perhaps not every game out there, but if a decent chunk of people are aware of its existence and pay real money to access it on a trusted storefront, then it's a contender in my opinion.

We can't just be like "oh, this small game is able to win best game prize but it doesn't count for worst game if it sucks", that's just backwards.
Either denounce the existence of the "worst" award as a whole, or treat the entire thing fairly between all platforms. We can't just keep making it a "when it suits me" situation because no matter your feelings on Balan, it's not the worst thing to come out of this year. And of course I'm not using that as a compliment for it either.

Most "disappointing" game of the year is far more appropriate as it actually more accurately takes into account everything you've just said without making it sound objective.

@SirKif 100% agreed on that. Balan was a huge disappointment but far from the "worst" in that half of the year let alone the year in its entirety. It had promise but delivered little to none of it, leading to it just being a huge letdown.

To be honest, anyone who claims Balan Wonderworld as the worst game of 2021 obviously didn't play or see the new Popeye videogame.

It'll only continue to haunt you, Ubisoft. You too, Activision. Wipe your damn slate clean and maybe you'll have something to be proud of again.
Good on the employees for taking the stand and I hope more continue to do so.

Man made a game for fun in his own spare time and of course the nature of people they still want to tear him to pieces like he killed their mother or something... christ.
Not here as much (yet), but lord I've seen it.

I don't normally question the motives for such grand scale projects, and I know he's technically already answered why but...
Why...?

Most people try to be remembered through grand projects like building a super long railway from one corner of the world to another, or making in-game pixel art so grand that you can really see that sense of accomplishment in the final product and...

I don't know. I find myself to often be quite an accepting person usually but I'm finding it difficult to understand this very one in particular.

I mean... as long as he's happy with it and isn't hurting others I guess. Props to him for that level of dedication.

@Greatluigi Quite a bit but it's heavier on the dark themes.
That being said, if you aren't in the position to decide for yourself which games are appropriate for you, then you probably shouldn't get this game until you feel you have that confidence and freedom.

@Jakiboy It's very much its own thing. But everything is inspired by something. Your beef is with the journalists who constantly compare it to what came before it, but it's not untrue either.

People want to pretend that stuff like this is "unoriginal" without seeing the fact that a lot of effort was put into it to very much stand by itself whether it has that inspiration or not.

So again, your beef shouldn't be with the game if seeing the word "inspired" is what ticks you off, because if it is, I highly recommend you just never touch another game ever again because there's a lot of "inspiration" out there.

EDIT: Apologies if this came off as harsh. The devs have spent years really putting their all into it, it can be frustrating to see people write it off so quickly based on one thing.

Interesting to see them but I'll always stand by it being inherently wrong to patent game mechanics. Shadow of Mordor devs did this too with their nemesis system and it only stifles creativity in the industry.

@Jackpaza0508 In all honesty I think we'll have to hear more lines from him in future trailers (or the full movie) to make that judgement. Some people might pretend they know straight away but truthfully just hearing one line isn't always enough as multiple accents can fluctuate between tone and inflections that easily get mistaken for others. It's all about how it comes together as a whole.

This is just an example but it's actually possible to mistake certain Australian accents for certain British accents sometimes if you make the assumption from minimal sentences. It's just how it is.

It's certainly different to what we've heard before but at the same time, there's a tiny glint of hope for something familiar after hearing that short line of Idris' Knuckles.

First of all, it's definitely the deepest we've heard Knuckles, but it's also good to actually hear a deep voiced Knuckles again. In the older games, when Knuckles wasn't tricked and ticked-off, he was actually quite a calm and mellowed character. He's naive for not having contact with many people before but he's not necessarily "stupid" which later games soon made him out to be.

I'm excited to possibly see the return of a Knuckles treated respectfully as the diligent protector he once was, taken seriously back to the level of Sonic himself rather than some side character that barely understands his own capabilities.

Cool...
Btw Ubisoft is still an incredibly abusive company that still deserves the same amount of spotlight ActiBlizz is getting right now but isn't because the tactic of "make people forget" is sadly working right now.

@SwitchForce PSX and XBox have been dealt with in seperate cases. This is a Nintendo article, I'm not sure what you're getting at.