Comments 342

Re: Video: Nintendo Treehouse Plays Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition

Lofoten

I don't understand how people are expecting this to include full versions of the NES games.

1. Nintendo never said the full games would be part of the “Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition”.

2. Nintendo World Championships (1990, 2015 and 2017) was never about playing the full versions of the games.

3. The full games are part of Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) which is a subscription service. Nintendo want people to subscribe to NSO.

4. Nintendo has never really been that into doing retro port collections, like Sega and many other publishers are doing.
Nintendo has sold retro games in physical and download form, but mainly one by one, and they pretty much stopped after the Wii U and 3DS.
There are a few exceptions, Nintendo has released a few collections, but they are mainly just a few games, by series and usually have updated versions of the games.

Re: Poll: Box Art Brawl - DK: King Of Swing

Lofoten

If I were going to have one of these as a poster on the wall I would pick the Japanese one. No contest.

It looks great.

Second place: North America.

The European one feels a bit cluttered with info and text.
And I'm not thrilled with the white glow around the logo og characters.
Also it looks very strange with those handles hanging in mid air.
I get that they do so in the game, also that things hanging in mid air is rather common in platformers - but here it looks extra strange. I think it is because the angle of the bacground and the handle Diddy Kong is hanging from and the handle of Donkey Kong is hanging from does not seem to align at all.

Re: Shigeru Miyamoto Addresses Concerns About His Age And Role At Nintendo

Lofoten

Would be fun if Shigeru Miyamoto had an idea for a totally new Nintendo IP!

Creating new game series is not part of his current roles at Nintendo, but at the same time: this is a creative mind, it would not surprise me if he has ideas for new games now and then, and I am sure everyone at Nintendo would listen if he wanted to share his ideas.

Re: Talking Point: Is Shovel Knight Now A Retro Gaming Icon?

Lofoten

Are 10 year old games retro?

NES JP 1983, NA 1985, EU 1986
SNES JP 1990, NA 1991, EU 1992
N64 JP/NA 1996, EU 1997
Gamecube JP/NA 2001, EU 2002

Well, maybe (around) 10 years were enough to make the NES retro.
But in 2024 - I don't think so.

Shovel Knight is not retro, but neo retro.
And he was that already in 2014.

His first game was an homage to retro games. How can it ever be something else?

Re: Review: Luigi's Mansion 2 HD (Switch) - The Best Version, But Lacks Extras To Make It Essential

Lofoten

@YunoboCo
"Each Luigi’s Mansion game has it’s own unique style, it would be a disappointment if they made it look exactly like 3"

I was thinking mostly of improving lightning, textures and deitails.
2 HD seems to look a bit flat compared to 3.

2 is one of the best looking games on the 3DS, but 2 HD is not pushing the envelope on the Switch.

How would you describe the different styles of Luigis Mansion 1, 2 and 3?

Re: Talking Point: Could Another Nintendo Series Take Over The 'Traditional' Zelda Template?

Lofoten

"Which Nintendo IP would you like to see take over the 'traditional' Zelda formula?"

I would not like any IP to take over the traditional Zelda formula.
I hope there will continue to be traditional Zeldas.
And by traditional I mean the top down Zelda games with traditional dungeons.
Can still be sort of open world like "A Link between Worlds".

But for other Nintendo IP or new Nintendo IP to use the traditional Zelda formula or be inspired by it? For sure!

I think a Zeldaish Mario game would be very interesting.

Mario has been in so many genres by now:
https://www.mariowiki.com/Genre

Maybe it’s time for "Super Mario Adventure".
A sort of top down action adventure, action RPG.
Exploring, dungeons, puzzles, and so on - but no turn-based battles.

I mean - Mario has 3 different RPG series now with turn-based battles:
Super Mario RPG
Paper Mario
Mario & Luigi

A Zeldaish Mario has been done to a smaller degree in Super Mario 3D Land, World 5-2.
The whole course was made like a top-down mini Zelda dungeon.

"Super Mario Adventure" could take gameplay inspiration from:
Zelda: A Link to the past
Zelda: Link's awakening
Zelda: A link between worlds
And the Mario series as a whole.

The visual style could be "Chubby Mario" and take inspiration from:
Zelda: A link between worlds
Zelda: Links awakening - Remake / Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Super Mario RPG - Remake (But not a diagonal style.)

I would not want Mario to have a sword though.
Oh, and Link could have a fun cameo somewhere in the background.

Nintendo, are you there?
Can you pretty please make Super Mario Adventure?

Re: Talking Point: Could Another Nintendo Series Take Over The 'Traditional' Zelda Template?

Lofoten

"The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom shares the stylized look of the Link's Awakening remake, but it appears to be putting a fresh spin on the tried-and-true Zelda formula, and we’re here for it."

"For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the ‘traditional Zelda’ formula boils down to these key elements:

  • Linear game structure
  • Themed elemental dungeons
  • Key items which open new areas or are required to defeat certain bosses
  • Side quests and collectibles"

Well, "Zelda: A Link between worlds" (the head picture of this article) did not have a linear game structure.
One could lend the items from the purple bunnyman and do the dungeons and areas in any order one wanted to.

But still it leaned more to the "classic" Zeldas than BOTW and TOTK.

"Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom" seems to be set in the same world as "Zelda: A Link to the past" and "Zelda: A Link between worlds".
A sort of trilogy perhaps.

As of now, we don't know if "Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom" will even have "traditional" dungeons, dungeons at all, "traditional" items or if the order of areas and possible dungeons will be linear or not.

All Zeldas have elements that are not linear: areas, secrets, items or side quests that are optional.
Also often different paths one can take to reach the same area.

Personally I enjoy both the more linear Zeldas and the less linear Zeldas and think there are room for both going forward.

Re: Soapbox: 'Switch 2' Is Nintendo's Chance To Adopt The PC Feature It's Desperate To Take For A Spin

Lofoten

@fradom43

The Switch 2 is rumoured to have two scroll wheels.

3 July 2023:

https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/nintendo-switch-2-console-scrolling-wheels-feature-leak/

https://arch.b4k.co/v/thread/642791354/

"Hey, not really a “leak” per se, but something interesting.

I work for the TSA at a fairly large airport on the west coast. A large pelican case came through the X-ray and got pulled for screening, and when I asked the guy questions about the case, he asked that he get a private screening for the contents. He and a coworker ended up going into another room with me and a supervisor, and they popped the locks on the case.

Inside was what looked like a large horizontal computer looking thing, almost like a giant internet modem if I had to describe it. The weird thing is it had a controller with it, and it didn’t really look finished (almost like a busted 3rd party little brother controller), but had the normal ABXY buttons, triggers, sticks, etc. only weird thing about it is it had like 2 mouse scroll wheels next to the triggers.

After screening the machine and controller, our machine alarmed, so we had to do a check of the guy’s personal backpack and pat down etc. only reason I’m making a post here is that he had Nintendo business cards stating that they were some sort of hardware developer/engineers. (I forgot the exact title) in Research development.

Idk, the actual machine seemed about the size of an Xbox One or so, so it seems like Nintendo might be out of the portable console business. Who knows if this is actually their next console or what, but it was exciting and I couldn’t really keep it to myself. That’s all."

If true - could have been a dev kit and a prototype pro controller.

Ofcourse if the Switch 2 has indeed two scroll weels, they will be present both on the pro controller and the joy cons.

Re: Feature: 25 Things You Might Have Missed In The Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Reveal Trailer

Lofoten

@JimNorman

Tri has triangles behind that indicate how many echoes one can make. Some echoes cost 1 triangle, others more.
When an echo is made, the triangle/triangles move over to the echo.
Monster echoes seems to cost the most: In the trailer they cost 1, 2 or 3. While the items all cost 1.
3:03 The cost of each echo is shown in the echo menu.

2:19 When Tri shows up in jail with the tri staff, Tri has 3 triangles hanging behind.
Later Tri is shown with 4 triangles. So it seems the maximum number of echoes one can have at the same time increases through the game starting at 3.

2:25 "New" items that can be echoed have many glittering triangles above it that are sucked into the Tri rod to learn a new echo.

I watched the trailer several times before really noticing these connections

I wonder how the echo function work when you have reached the limit.
Could be different things, maybe:

  • they only last some seconds
  • they disappear when they go off screen
  • there is a delete option that removes a spesific, the first or all echoes

I was thinking maybe the first echo will disappear when you make an echo over the limit.
But this might not be the case, because Tri seems to be the indicator of echo-power, and when the echo power is empty (no more triangles behind Tri), it would perhaps make the most sense that the echo power is really empty.

Re: Feature: 25 Things You Might Have Missed In The Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Reveal Trailer

Lofoten

@JimNorman

10 other things that I noticed:

0:26 Links weapon is bluish turquoise and emits blue attacks. In contrast to:

0:33 The purple rift seems to start emitting from Ganons weapon.
Notice also the purple color of: his weapon, his attack, the vapor of himself and the crystal Zelda was trapped in.

0:45 The written language on the stones and walls seems to be inspiresd by morse code.

0:59 The first dungeon of "Zelda: A Link to the past" is visible in the upper right corner.
So.. This game might have dungeons.

1:12 A pillar to the left. This area also has pillars in "Zelda: A Link to the past", shorter ones though.

2:48 A cat on the roof.

2:52 A boat that floats in the purple air.

3:53 A blacksmith. Seems he has a shield laying around.

4:00 A rather big and strange fish is swimming in the background.

4:29 The promotional art:
There is a treasure chest half buried in the ground. Thats very Breath of the wild / Tears of the kingdom-ish.
How will Zelda get this chest out of the dirt? Will she have some sort of lifting ability similar as in those games..

Re: The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Appears To Have amiibo Support

Lofoten

Even though Nintendo have not released any new amiibo for new games for a long, long time, this could possibly be the exception:

1. All the mainline Zeldas released on cart on Switch did get amiibo so far:

  • Breath of the wild
  • Links awakening
  • Skyward sword
  • Tears of the kingdom

2. Links amiibo for Links awakening is the only amiibo in this style. Poor lonely Link. A Zelda amiibo in the same style would go very well with it and probably boost sale for the Link-amiibo as well.

If there is an upcoming Zelda amiibo for Exchoes of Wisdom, would it be her classic look in the start of the game or her desguiced look?
I would guess her classic look, as it is more iconic.

Re: The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Appears To Have amiibo Support

Lofoten

@Scarmucci
"But Super Mario Bros Wonder never had amiibo support to begin with - which is probably why we never got a Mario Elephant amiibo."

Well, I don't have an uncle who works at Nintendo, so I can't say for sure, but I would imagine amiibo support and new amiibo are probably discussed and decided upon around the same time - not too late in the development of the game. (If they hadn't already decided "no more new amiibo for Switch" by then.)

What comes first: the amiibo idea or the amiibo functionality idea, who knows, maybe it differs.

If they wanted to have new amiibo for Mario Wonder, I think they could have easily added some sort of amiibo support to the game before release.
The amiibo support is usually not earth shattering functionality.

I have a hard time imagining a meeting going like:

Nintendo person 1: We should really have a Mario elephant amiibo!
Nintendo person 2, 3 and 4: Wowie zowie!
Nintendo person 1: But, what kind of amiibo functionality can be added to Wonder?
Nintendo person 2: Hm.
Nintendo person 3: Hmm.
Nintendo person 4: Hmmm.
Nintendo person 1: Seems we have run out of ideas. There will be no Mario elephant amiibo.

Re: The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Appears To Have amiibo Support

Lofoten

(A continuation of my previous comment.)

I think it was somewhat strange that Pikmin 4 did not get any amiibo either.
Oatchi would have been a nice amiibo.

Here are some of the bigger Nintendo releases of later years:

Did they get new amiibo?

YES - Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (Febrary 25, 2021)
YES - Zelda: Skyward Sword HD (July 16, 2021)
YES - Metroid Dread (October 8, 2021)
NO - Mario Party Superstars (October 29, 2021)
NO - Kirby and the Forgotten Land (March 25, 2022)
YES - Splatoon 3 (September 9, 2022)
NO - Metroid Prime Remastered (February 8, 2023)
YES - Zelda: Tears of the kingdom (May 12, 2023)
NO - Pikmin 4 (July 21, 2023)
NO - Mario Wonder (October 20, 2023)
NO - Super Mario RPG (November 17, 2023)
NO - Princess Peach: Showtime! (March 22, 2024)
NO - Mario vs. Donkey Kong (February 16, 2024)
? - Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (September 26, 2024)

(Did not include the sport games in the list, as Nintendo does not seem to make amiibo-figures for their sport games. Well, not counting Super Smash Bros.
Also did not include Paper Mario, as i think maybe its a bit too flat for amiibo figures, the Game and Watch man did get one though..)

I would not be shocked if there turns up a Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom amiibo, but I don't see it as very likely.
It seems Nintendo stopped making amiibo to their own games after Splatoon 3 and Zelda: Tears of the kindom. Not counting completing the Super Smash Bros collection.

Re: The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Appears To Have amiibo Support

Lofoten

I think we might not get any "Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom" amiibo.

Mainly becasue we did not get any amiibo for Super Mario Wonder.
And come on! Elephant Mario was such an obvious amiibo!

Amiibo release statistics: number of figures, cards and compatible games by year.
https://amiibo.life/releases
2024 is looking slim.

As we did not get an elephant Mario amiibo I think
something is going on with the amiibo production.

Maybe one of these:
1. Nintendo are focusing on amiibo for Switch 2 games and there will be no more amiibo for Switch 1 games. Maybe even some sort of amiibo 2.0
2. Amiibo sales might be dropping and Nintendo is phasing out the whole amiibo production.

Re: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Box Art Has Been Revealed

Lofoten

For me the most interesting game of the June 2024 Direct.

We haven't had a NEW top down Zelda for 11 years!

After watching the trailer and seeing the cover art:
I wonder what part Link will have in this game.

Will we just see him in a cutscene in the start and end of the game?
Will we see him sometimes before the ending?

Will he be playable in the first few minutes of the game?
Will he be playable later in the game in the purple place?

Will he be part of the last boss battle as a playable or not playable helper?

Link is rather prominent in the cover art - which could mean he does have a larger part in the story than the first trailer made it seem.

OR he is simply in the cover art to:

  • Make clear that the figure in front is Zelda, and not Link in a purple robe.
  • Show visually that Link is "in the back" this time.
  • Show Link, as he is a very recognizable figure.

Re: Reaction: A Direct That Delivered, And Shows That Switch Still Has Plenty Of Pep

Lofoten

"How would you rate the June 2024 Nintendo Direct, on a scale of 1-10? (833 votes)

(...)

5 - Average
2%
16 votes

4 - Poor
1%
12 votes

3 - Bad
0.1%
2 vote

2 - Terrible
0.1%
1 vote

1 - Abysmal
0.1%
1 vote"

How is this possible.

If one like Nintendo games, and I would asume that is the reason for reading a site like nintendolife.com, how can one think this Direct was 1-5 out of 10?

I would asume there was something for any Nintendo fan in this Direct to be excited about.

If you rated this Direct 1-5, please write an explanation as to why.

Re: Crazy Taxi's Axel Joins Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble This Fall

Lofoten

How is this Crazy Taxi (mostly) staying at the bottom of this ball while the ball is rolling around..

Physics where are you?

The wheels are not even touching the ball.

Maybe it is super heavy and has greazy corners.

Somehow it made a lot more sense with the monkeys walking and running inside these balls.

Re: 'Master Key' Is An Intriguing Monochrome Take On Classic Zelda Gameplay

Lofoten

@Olliemar28
"We're also quite fond of the visuals here; it's almost like a cross between Gato Roboto and Zelda: Link's Awakening."

Don't forget the lovely little game called Minit (2018)

Gato Roboto (2019) is a fun and pretty little catroid.

Links awakening (1993) is one of my favorite games ever!

Master key is doing good on metacritic so far:
https://www.metacritic.com/game/master-key/

I will wait for some more reviews.

Re: Hands On: Luigi's Mansion 2 HD Delivers More Than Just A Hi-Def Upgrade

Lofoten

@PJOReilly

The 3DS screenshot in the "3DS vs. Switch version" comparison in the article does not do the 3DS justice. It looks like a blurry mess, which it was not: Luigis Mansion 2 looks very sharp on the 3DS.

The blur problem is noticeable both when viewed, as is, in the article and also when it's clicked on to be enlarged.

Seems it's been upscaled in a way that does not preserve the pixels.
Can it be fixed?

If the website software used for nintendolife.com does this automatically with lower resolution images, and there is no option to preserve the pixels, then the image can be upscaled in a program before it's uploaded to nintendolife.com

For example, in my (not at all new) edition of Photoshop:
Image Size
Resample Image: Nearest Neighbour (preserve hard edges)

Pixels should be enlarged in steps of 200%, 300% and so on in both hight and width to keep them square and crisp.
For example, if you have an image that is 100x150px and upscale it to 200x300px, then each pixel will be represented as 4 pixels.
The file type and compression can affect the sharpness of the pixels as well.

The 3DS/2DS Screen is 400x240px.
(The 3DS screen is actually 800x240px, but that is because it’s used to display two images at once, each image is 400x240px.)
Retaining the pixels in 3DS pictures can cause another little problem: It looks pixelated when viewed big on larger screens. It should be said that games on the 3DS does not look very pixelated while playing them, because of the smaller screen sizes.
3 different screen sizes:
3DS / 2DS: 90mm
New 3DS: 99mm
3DS XL / New 3DS XL/ 2DS XL: 124mm
Luigis Mansion 2 has a bit harder pixelated edges when playing in 3D-mode as opposed to 3D switched off. But the 3D looks really nice.

The pixelated resolution of the 3DS in screenshots is always more true to the console than blurry enlargements though.

Here is a comparison that retains 3DS resolution with sharp pixels:
VGC: Luigi's Mansion 2 HD - 3DS vs Switch comparison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkxYbBlGPFo

Here is another comparison that makes the 3DS version looks like a blurry mess:
GameXplain: Luigi's Mansion 2 HD Intro - Graphics Comparison (Switch vs. 3DS)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC_CkonPfXY&t

Re: Talking Point: amiibo Were First Revealed 10 Years Ago Today, And We Still Want More

Lofoten

@dartmonkey

Maybe Nintendolife could reach out to Nintendo and ask if they can release updated sales data for amiiboo figures and cards?
Numbers by year or just total numbers.

Could be worth a try.

If they do not want to release these numbers it could possibly be a sign that sales are falling dramatically.. and that we might not see amiibo on Switch 2..

I think they are probably doing ok though, as they have continued releasing new amiibo even in 2023 and 2024.
And also rereleasing older amiibos.

But where did the Elephant Mario amiibo go?

Re: Talking Point: amiibo Were First Revealed 10 Years Ago Today, And We Still Want More

Lofoten

I found some amiibo release statistics:
number of figures, cards and compatible games by year.
https://amiibo.life/releases

That it's been less figures, cards and compatible games the latest years does not have to mean they are phasing amiibo out, it could also be related to the fact that Nintendo is focusing on games for the Switch 2.

It is a little strange they did not make amiibos for Super Mario Wonder though. Elephant Mario anyone?

Re: Talking Point: amiibo Were First Revealed 10 Years Ago Today, And We Still Want More

Lofoten

I think Nintendo will continue with amiboo as long as it earns them reasonable money.

And as for now I think it does indeed earn them reasonable money.

The latest sales data I have been able to find is from 2022 (and the source was Nintendolife!):
"By September 2016, Nintendo reported that 39 million amiibo figures had been sold, along with more than 30 million amiibo cards.[4] By September 2022, total sales reached 77 million toys.[5]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiibo

That is alot of amiibo.

Is everybody tired of it as of 2024? Probably not.

Re: Talking Point: amiibo Were First Revealed 10 Years Ago Today, And We Still Want More

Lofoten

@dartmonkey

"Do you think we'll see new amiibo in the future?

  • Absolutely! Love 'em, want more
  • Sure, why not? I'd probably buy a few
  • Don't know
  • Hmm, seems doubtful
  • Absolutely not. Begone, vile wallet drains!"

Seems 3 different polls fell into a pool of radioactive material and came out of it as one.

These 3 things does not have to be related:
1. How strongly one think there will be new amiibo figures (or cards) on Switch 2 not
2. How much one likes amiibo or not
3. How many amiibo figures (or cards) one is going to buy or not