Comments 952

Re: Nintendo Will Discuss Upcoming Switch Games "At The Appropriate Time"

Lyricana

@COVIDberry It's also confusing because another company puts out one, possibly two games in a year and if even one of them is pretty good, consumers are like "wow, Company B really nailed it this year, can't wait to see their next game in 5 years!". But Nintendo puts out 17 games ranging from ports/remakes/remasters and eShop titles to full AAA releases, dozens of big DLC packs, hosts special events, drops tons of merchandise, etc and people complain it's an off-year with no content.

Re: Nintendo Will Discuss Upcoming Switch Games "At The Appropriate Time"

Lyricana

@MS7000 Nintendo put out two Wii U games all year. A remaster of Tokyo Mirage Sessions, which is a good game. And a remaster of Pikmin 3, which is a fantastic game. Beyond that, they also released a major story expansion for Fire Emblem: Three Houses, several characters for Smash, two major Pokemon Sword/Shield expansions, four eShop exclusive titles (Kirby Fighters 2, Pokemon Cafe, Good Job! and Jump Rope Challenge), the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon remake, the Xenoblade remake, Clubhouse Games, Paper Mario: The Origami King, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, the original Fire Emblem from the Famicom, Super Mario 35, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, as well as more DLC and in-game events for a number of their online titles and Fitness Boxing 2.

To say that's "not much of anything" is just simply not true. They pushed out a ton of content, regardless of a global pandemic.

Re: Nintendo Will Discuss Upcoming Switch Games "At The Appropriate Time"

Lyricana

@BenAV I have to agree. Honestly, waiting years and years for every game you hear that sounds interesting is exhausting. It's refreshing to hear about a game, see a real gameplay trailer the moment it's announced and then know it'll be out in 2-6 months, instead of the all-to-common several years away, cinematic or header only sort of stuff most studios do.

And that marketing focus on upcoming releases you mentioned surely ups sales as fans are focused on what's coming out now rather than saving cash for unannounced games 6+ months out.

Re: Soapbox: Retro Nintendo Games Cost Too Much, But Nostalgia Is Expensive

Lyricana

@Mips Yeah, I mean, I know some people really want to own games (physically or digitally) and aren't down with the NSO versus Virtual Console, and that's totally fine, but I personally like this more. I can fire up any of a hundred old games on there and mess around as much or as little as I want and I'm paying $5 a year on a family plan with some friends. I owned probably 30 VC games on Wii and many more I considered getting but didn't because of cost. With NSO, it would take 50 years of the service (and it's more than just the classics) to cost as much as 30 SNES games on Wii VC.

But yes, the point being.. I agree, it's a good effort. More realistic and feasible than reprinting 20-35 year old game cartridges from defunct platforms.

Re: Soapbox: Retro Nintendo Games Cost Too Much, But Nostalgia Is Expensive

Lyricana

@KateGray You don't have to apologize about Sticker Star! It is kind of a frustrating game. The boss battles aren't even real boss battles because you either have the right "thing" or you don't. It just guts a lot of the fun of Paper Mario and fills it with an anxiety building disposable inventory system. I'm sure it's my own neurotic quirk, but I virtually never use attack consumables in RPGs and Nintendo was like "Gotcha, bitch! The whole GAME is disposable attacks!"

Re: Soapbox: Retro Nintendo Games Cost Too Much, But Nostalgia Is Expensive

Lyricana

I stopped caring about the nostalgia of holding on to old games I would almost never or actually never play about ten years ago and sold most of them. I made around $3,000 selling everything from NES/Master System games to PS3/Wii and everything in between.

I got some good deals. The two best sellers were Team Buddies and Suikoden II. And I don't regret it at all. Not one time have I wanted to play a game like that and regretted it. Some of the games I picked up digital copies of eventually, but for the most part.. I had my fill of them and was ready to move on.

As for blaming Nintendo for the prices.. it's not Nintendo's fault that buyers and sellers attribute these values to their games. And of course they're not going to reprint them. They likely no longer have the equipment or infrastructure to even do it without more expense than would be worth it. Better to just remaster, port, remake, etc.

Re: Soapbox: I Never Completed Breath Of The Wild, And I Never Will

Lyricana

@KateGray I definitely understand following your gut to know when you're finished with a game. I spent many years completing games out of a sense of obligation, but as I've gotten older.. I realize there's no value in wasting my time with something I don't want to play more, just to say I've finished it.

There are a few exceptions.. like it it's the end of a game in a narratively driven series with sequels I'm excited to play, then I can usually truck my way to the end if it's not far off. But there's no shame in simply losing steam. Still, it seems to me that maybe there's more to your quitting of Breath of the Wild than meets the eye. Something fear based about what you might lose. If that's the case, you might find it freeing and rewarding to actually finish, if you can screw up the courage. I've been in a similar place before (with the original Final Fantasy VI on SNES) and I think I was better for having finished that one, because it was something truly special to me.

But then again, maybe it would ruin the fun for you? What do I know, anyway. Games are for enjoyment and as long as you get that, that's what matters.

Re: Soapbox: I Never Completed Breath Of The Wild, And I Never Will

Lyricana

If you don't ever actually finish them, how do you know it's better for you? It's all well and good, your article. Flowery and articulate, even. It paints a nice picture of how your experience is different and special.. how it's just for you. But.. I what if it all just represents a fear of commitment and change?
It could be a way for you to avoid closure because growing and moving on can be hard in the real world.. so maybe you feel that extends to games as well.

Maybe do yourself a favor and go back and see how good it feels to eventually close a chapter and move on. You may find it freeing and that it actually allows you to go back more easily and experience it again, even. Just a thought.

Re: Bravely Default II Producer Was Both "Ashamed" And "Relieved" By Player Feedback To Demo

Lyricana

I played the first demo for Octopath and I had a number of complaints. I filled out the survey and literally every single issue I had was addressed, so when I saw they were doing the same thing with Bravely Default II, I was excited. It's great seeing developers get this kind of feedback BEFORE the game launches (take notes, CD Projekt) so that the game is actually complete when it launches.

Re: Feature: What’s The Sexiest Nintendo Console Ever?

Lyricana

"The Game Boy Advance SP solved that issue with the addition of a backlight..."

Why claim it had the addition of a backlight, which is patently false, only to go on and explain that it's actually a frontlight? Why not just say, accurately, that it had the addition of a frontlight? What possible sense does it make?

Also, the GBA SP is one of the ugliest, most awful systems ever and it's far worse than the original GBA. Furthermore, the frontlight you erroneously called a backlight, was absolutely HORRENDOUS. Because of the way it angled the light in a crossing beam pattern, it created a permanent glare effect and visual disparity where the screen was oddly darker at points and brighter at others. It was worse than using a clip on Gameboy light and those were terrible, too.

Not to mention the tiny form factor of the boxy system was painful for large hands and unwieldy, as well as easy to break because it had substandard hinges.

Re: Looks Like Nintendo Accidentally Used A Fan-Made Mario Render On Its Website

Lyricana

@Minfinity I think you're misunderstanding the issue. The image on the right, the official Nintendo one, is not the problem. Nintendo made the official image on the right before uJidow ever did anything. It's a NSMBW render. However, uJidow did a render recreation of it and "enhanced" it with different lighting and textures. What most likely happened is Boss A told Employee B to use Image C of Mario. Employee B lazily Googles it instead of finding it in their archives and accidentally gets someone's customized render rather than the original official one. Does that clear it up?

Since uJidow used an official render as the basis for his recreation, he likely has no legal claim to it, yet the alterations mean that Nintendo probably doesn't either.

Re: Industry Analysts Are Still Confident We'll See A Switch Pro This Year

Lyricana

Industry Analysts are always confident of everything they say, no matter how off-base, accurate, insane or obvious it is. Industry Analysts were "confident" the Switch would only sell 2-3 million in its first year before it launched. Then they were confident it would sell over 20 million. Then they claimed Nintendo was a failure and was "losing steam" when they sold 17.7 million.

They also have claimed a Switch Pro was coming every year since launch. They claimed about sixty different things would kill the Switch's momentum and Nintendo would be in "big" trouble. So.. yeah. Their confidence means nothing.

Re: Feature: Nintendo Switch Ports We'd Love To See In 2021

Lyricana

@BeyondKnight This. I'd pass on virtually all of the third party games on this list for some Xenoblade X, Wind Waker and/or some other great Nintendo titles. Not that I don't like the third party stuff, but I already have all the ones I want playable on PC or PS4/5 anyway. I'd rather see stuff that won't come to other consoles I own.

Re: Feature: Nintendo Switch Ports We'd Love To See In 2021

Lyricana

@Miyamotosan I suppose there's a slim chance XI could see a Japanese release, though still unlikely. XIII is more likely but since it's kind of maligned and unpopular, it's probably not at the top of their priority list. Still, Square needs some filler content for the next few years and they've released plenty of other FF games in general on Switch.

Re: Nintendo Collabs With Starlight To Roll Out Hospital-Safe Consoles Across America

Lyricana

As someone who spent three months in the hospital when I was a kid after a terrible car accident, this is something that can make a big difference. For me, it was many decades ago and something like this wasn't really possible, but the hospital I was in did have three arcade machines with the coin slots set to infinite and it helped a lot being able to just play and get my mind off things.

Re: Nintendo Collabs With Starlight To Roll Out Hospital-Safe Consoles Across America

Lyricana

@tendonerd I'm sure lots of kids and even more teenagers would still like Cuphead. It's also not like they had a hard upper limit of games and Cuphead prevented something else from getting in. No reason to deny them choice. Also, even little kids can like Cuphead. Some are actually good at games but even if they're not.. being bad at a games doesn't mean it isn't fun. My 6 year old nephew loves Cuphead.

Re: Best Of 2020: How Nintendo Killed The Best Version Of Tetris

Lyricana

@Tim_Vreeland Zelda 2 was critically panned by a number of news outlets at its release and was frowned upon literally decades before AVGN even existed. There's a reason Nintendo didn't replicate that style. Honestly, it's not a bad game. It just didn't feel as much like Zelda and it wasn't as good as the first. But a lot of series have those odd sequels that end up having cult following fanbases anyway.

Re: Best Of 2020: How Nintendo Killed The Best Version Of Tetris

Lyricana

Nintendo was a bit draconian with their tactics, but is Atari forgetting that they literally crashed the console video game market just a few years before (1983) and that Nintendo, through Herculean efforts, forced console gaming into a rebound? Atari allowed the market to be flooded with an endless supply of overpriced shovelware that consumers had no way of even knowing what they were buying before they'd made their purchase.

Nintendo came along and set some real standards. Did it prevent, occasionally, good developers from putting out their products at the rate they wanted? Absolutely. But it also prevented a second crash of the console market. This article makes Atari and Logg seem a bit like victims, but it doesn't mention the thousands of companies that were trying to sell nearly non-functional games for the NES to scam customers and make a quick buck. Nintendo rightly believed they had to defend their stance on quality control because it was otherwise looking forward to a sea of endless trash and scamming.

Tengen/Atari knew what it was doing was illegal. They knew they may lose in court. But they hoped if they got the games out to market, it would be too late by the time the lawsuits finished up.

Also, it's worth noting two other things. The first is that while it's certainly possible and maybe even likely, there is absolutely no direct evidence beyond general suspicion that Nintendo threatened stores about stocking their games. Toys R Us and other retailers as well as Nintendo vehemently denied these claims. So while they still could be true, taken it as known fact is just.. ludicrous.

Second, tons of fans far prefer Nintendo's Tetris. Tengen isn't largely regarded as the better Tetris. And by the reading of the article title, you'd think it was the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail, the greatest Tetris iteration of all time, lost to the ages. I had Tengen Tetris and didn't play the Nintendo version until many years later. It was a solid game, but I ended up preferring both Nintendo's NES iteration, as well as the Gameboy version. The visual design and music really sell a puzzle game for me. Tengen had such an unappealing visual design and the music was bland. It didn't encourage me to play for hours.

Re: Best Of 2020: How Nintendo Killed The Best Version Of Tetris

Lyricana

@Ironcore Atari was mad that Nintendo was very careful about quality control. They wanted to make more games than they were allowed to, so they hacked the lockout chip and started illegally manufacturing games for the NES. Surprise, they lost in court and had to recall their illegal copies of Tetris.

Re: Feature: Nintendo Life's Switch Game Of The Year 2020

Lyricana

@JohnnyC I've had some serious nerd ragers mad at me for claiming Super Mario 3D All-Stars is a great value, but for my money.. it's one of the best things I've played in a long time. I have 55 hours in it so far and I haven't even cracked open Galaxy yet, which I'm insanely excited for. I love 3D platformers and no one does it quite like Mario. I understand some people have their reasons for being disappointed, but for my money.. I got two games I love (hadn't really played Sunshine, though it's growing on me), many hours of fun and visually they all look better than I've ever seen them. Sunshine is surprisingly nice looking in HD. And Galaxy almost looks current gen Nintendo. I'd probably have paid $40+ just for Galaxy.

Re: Switch Becomes The Best-Selling Console For 24 Consecutive Months Despite PS5, Xbox Series Launches (US)

Lyricana

@TG16_IS_BAE The $400-$500 is normal. And reasonable. Also, Nintendo provided countless more Switches at launch. Sony literally didn't put units in stores on launch day so anyone who didn't secure a pre-order didn't get one. Hundreds of thousands, upwards of a million, people were able to saunter into stores on launch day and grab a Switch with no fuss in stores across the world. Doesn't mean they didn't have shortages sporadically, but it definitely wasn't the same as the situation right now with the PS5. And maybe that's largely due to the pandemic, but getting a Switch at launch wasn't very hard.

Re: Nintendo Cancels Splatoon 2 NA Open Livestream, "Free Melee" Believed To Have Played A Part

Lyricana

@Tommy-and-Timmy Wow. What a crazy logic leap. If the government forced its citizens to commit suicide, I'm sure that's a law worth fighting back against. But if you think INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS where citizens of this country have the RIGHT to exercise control over something THEY created is a law you want to fight and it's an unjust law on par with FORCED SUICIDE, then there's no point in even trying to have a conversation because you're too far off the deep end.

The laws in place that let Nintendo do this are the same laws that protect indie developers, individuals, writers, etc who create something and don't want it stolen or tampered with. People just think it's their inalienable right to do whatever they want with something after it's a decade or two old if it's something owned by a corporation. Nintendo isn't hurting and doesn't have to do this and maybe it would be better for the community if they did do it, but denying that they have the right and legitimate reason for doing so is crazy.

Re: Nintendo Cancels Splatoon 2 NA Open Livestream, "Free Melee" Believed To Have Played A Part

Lyricana

@HeadPirate The issue is Microsoft can do all that and more but at the end of the day, they don't have the games many gamers want to play. You can have all the wonderful features and pro-consumer programs you want, but if your product isn't want the public wants to buy, it's virtually meaningless. And to be honest, most of what Microsoft has done in the last 5 years has nothing to do with giving people what they want for any altruistic reason, they were just scrambling to get business by any means necessary. Sometimes that just means being a better business. And no disrespect to them for it, it's a good idea and it has helped some. But gamers have always flocked to systems for the games, not for anything else. That's why EA can still be successful even when they're one of the worst rated companies in the world when it comes to customer satisfaction and support.

Re: Rumour: Resident Evil Revelations 3 Will Be A Switch "Focused" Release, Says Capcom Insider

Lyricana

I really love Resident Evil. I adored 7 and I really liked both Revelations games, particularly the first one. The setting was my jam and I loved getting to play as Jill. Honestly, the section near the end of 7 (you know the one) reminded me a lot of Revelations. That and Revelations was a hell of a 3DS title. I'm interested to see what a Switch-led title would be like. Likely a day one buy.

Re: 30 Years After Nintendo's "Operation Midnight Shipping" And Console Launches Are Still Fraught With Danger

Lyricana

@Damo The very first thing I said in my post was "OBVIOUSLY this sucks and no one wants this to happen to them" so I think I made it evident that I wouldn't like it. Still, though, unless they're making special changes just for PS5, it doesn't matter if something is out of stock, you can still request a replacement. I've had many out of stock items stolen from my front door, because my apartment building is notorious for porch pirates and Amazon has always allowed me to request a replacement. Sometimes it takes a while, which absolutely sucks and it's definitely frustrating, but the process isn't difficult or confusing. People are acting like they don't know how to contact Amazon support.

It just takes time. And if for whatever reason they aren't doing that as you say, because there aren't any, what good is it to ASK them on social media? I'm not saying you can't talk about it, but people are contacting them in social media asking them what they're supposed to do. If the only thing Amazon can do is offer them a refund and that OBVIOUSLY can't be done on social media, why are people asking on Twitter?

Just seems to me they're pretending to ask what to do, but in reality they're trying to get attention, not an answer, as they likely already contacted Amazon support. Seems silly to me is all.

Re: 30 Years After Nintendo's "Operation Midnight Shipping" And Console Launches Are Still Fraught With Danger

Lyricana

@k8sMum Maybe you don't use Amazon, but you don't have to prove anything. They'll replace or refund anything sold by Amazon (which all PS5s shipped by them are). It doesn't matter if it never arrived, it was stolen, it was the wrong item, etc. You could get a PS5 in your box and claim it never arrived and they'll refund it. If you make too many claims in a calendar year though they will get suspicious and could suspend your account, but otherwise they'll just replace/refund it.