Comments 46

Re: Review: STAR WARS: Knights Of The Old Republic II: The Sith Lords - Always Two, There Are

Mark-number-12

I must say it is bewildering to read all the positivity toward this game. Too the extent that I am questioning whether people are actually talking about the same game that I remember playing. I played KOTOR 2 when it was first released on the Xbox and it was an extremely disappointing experience. A shell of a game really when compared to the first game. The problem is this, it starts ok, and will lead the player in to a false sense of security that things will get better as the game progresses. That just doesn't happen. At the time it was a running joke that the second half of the game had not actually even been made, such is the jarring, abrupt and disjointed nature of the second half of the game. As a player you will really feel ripped of. It isn't really about the game being buggy, that is not the main problem, the problem is that there is no coherent second half of the game. Here is someone else's review from back in the day, and it really does sum things up well I think. Anyway you have been warned, prepare for a massive disappointment, you will really grow to resent the waste of the time that you have put in to this game, it absolutely does not reward you. "All of the positive reviews for this game must not have come from playing past the first half of it, or else they would have run smack into the horrible, unfinished half. Actually, that's not quite right, the second half of the game was never made. Perhaps more precisely, I'm referring to the last third of the first half, in which they shoehorned the second half of the story and shoved it out the door for Christmas. The opening of the game is great. The midpoint of the game is interesting. And then, just as soon as things seem to start coming together, omigod fightthissithlord fightthatsithlord fightthethirdsithlord whatjusthappened whoknows gameover rollcredits."

Re: Xbox Boss "Trusts" Nintendo To Not Do Anything That Would Harm The Games Industry

Mark-number-12

Well, look what Microsoft did with/to Rare. Basically flushed the company down the drain until all the talent had left. If there are any genuine creatives at Activision/Bethesda, they will inevitably leave. My experience is that creative people loathe being part of such huge corporate behemoths and always end up leaving en masse, to set up independent dev studio's. Those people are the real talent, and arguably the real value, beyond IP, in Microsoft's acquisition. And they will quickly lose that value.

Re: My Nintendo Europe Is Giving Away Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Postcards - Just Pay Shipping

Mark-number-12

@BJQ1972 I well remember when justificationist reactionaries like you and Tony Blair took us into an illegal War in Iraq. You do always end up understanding things, but it is usually twenty years too late. Can't you just better educate yourself? What kind of a person could ignore such a democratic deficit? The most important issue is who gets to make a decision about UK laws. As Karl Popper pointed out in The Open Society and Its Enemies, Chapter 7, that is a question that makes the false assumption that there is a single person or group who has the knowledge required to dictate what everyone should do. A better question to ask is ‘How can we so organize political institutions that bad or incompetent rulers can be prevented from doing too much damage?’ How do the EU and the British parliament compare by that criterion? The short version of how the EU works runs as follows. The heads of EU states form the European Council. The European council picks a group of politicians called the European commission who are responsible for originating and writing EU regulations and that sort of thing. The European parliament is an elected body who can vote up or down legislation written by the European commission, or amend it, but are not allowed to originate legislation. So the people who are legally supposed to originate and write all the laws can’t be voted out of office by the public. The people who are subject to being removed by the public always have the excuse that they aren’t allowed to originate laws, so they can’t deliver any specific policy. By contrast, an MP in the British parliament can originate, amend or revoke laws and can be voted out for failing to deliver on policy promises. The competition for which set of institutions is better isn’t even close.

Re: Razion EX Launches On Nintendo Switch This Month, Here's Your First Look

Mark-number-12

@Aneira How do NG Dev know who supported or did not support Brexit? So, really, you are confirming that it is a petty and political decision by NG Dev to protest Brexit? Long after that particular horse has bolted? Every other EU based publisher has just said that they won't be doing pre-paid customs and therefore that the customer may just pick up those charges at the other end. It's a shame, because NG Dev initially appeared to be good guys and people were happy to support them. But in the end they just seem to have revealed themselves to be petty, immature and almost sadistic in their response to Brexit.

Re: Razion EX Launches On Nintendo Switch This Month, Here's Your First Look

Mark-number-12

From the NG DEV site https://www.ngdevdirect.com/policies/shipping-policy

"Minimal order value 135 GBP ~160 EUR for UK due to new bureaucracy by HMCR.

We recommend to do group orders or use mail forwarding Germany to UK.

At this point we regrettably can't comply with the new customs/tax bureaucracy of UK for export with a value below 135 GBP which require us to register with UK and forward taxes to a foreign country. We hope once we got our GB VAT registration approved to be able to ship again below 135 GBP orders.

With UK orders above a value of 135 GBP normal international export rules apply and the importer/customer pays customs and taxes."

No other EU based company has chosen so deliberately to exploit Brexit and "get their own back" on the UK, by inventing problems. So much for their loyalty to their UK fans.

Re: This Insanely Expensive Neo Geo Shmup Is Coming To Switch In Physical Form

Mark-number-12

Be careful with NG Dev though now. They went crazy after Brexit and announced that all UK buyers must make a minimum order of about £200 to justify the tax and shipping costs now. They really got angry about Brexit, and just decided to exploit the whole thing and now are intent on 'literally' making UK customers pay. So you will have to buy a minimum of two games in order to get your order through. Get the wallets ready. Here is the actual text from the NG Dev store

"Based on 1x Switch regular edition videogame

Deutschland: 6,18 EUR / DHL Paket 2 KG Altersichtprüfung 18 Jahre.

EU: 8,57 EUR / Deutsche Post Warenpost International EU Tracked

USA: 8.49 EUR / USPS and Deutsche Post Warenpost International Tracked

World: 8.49 EUR / Deutsche Post Warenpost International Tracked

UK (Brexit): 26.90 EUR / DHL

Minimal order value 135 GBP ~165 EUR for UK due to new bureaucracy by HMCR.

We recommend to do group orders or use mail forwarding Germany to UK.

At this point we regrettably can't comply with the new customs/tax bureaucracy of UK for export with a value below 135 GBP which require us to register with UK and forward taxes to a foreign country. We hope once we got our GB VAT registration approved to be able to ship again below 135 GBP orders.

With UK orders above a value of 135 GBP normal international export rules apply and the importer/customer pays customs and taxes."

So, if you want to purchase just a £30 or £40 game, you must spend a minimun of 165 Euro + 26.90 euro shipping and then the huge tax when it arrives in the UK, because they forced the value of the order to be 165 Euro. It's basically criminal. No other European based retailer is doing this.

It is deliberate, uneccesary and perhaps also a little sadistic if you ask me. And a real slap in the face to their loyal UK customer base.

Re: Gallery: Unboxing Samurai Shodown's Japanese Limited Edition

Mark-number-12

@Synthatron_Prime

My strategy will be to pick up the Switch port for now, just for the versatility and also for the neat physical copy of the Neo Geo Pocket Colour title. I will then pick up the PS4 version when the inevitable 'complete' version gets released (because both vanilla versions are a little thin on content (story modes etc) at the moment).

Re: Gallery: Unboxing Samurai Shodown's Japanese Limited Edition

Mark-number-12

@geox30 "Will there be a physical release in Europe? Pre ordering the digital version is the only way to get the Neo Geo Pocket game?"

There is a physcial cart release of Samurai Shodown (2019) in Europe. And there is also a physical cart release of the Neo Geo Pocket Colour game, Samurai Shodown 2, for the Switch in Europe. I have both pre-ordered. The one caveat is that the two physical copies will come as part of a bundle, similar to that showcased in the article above. (March release, I think).

Re: Limited Run Pre-Orders For Turok And Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil Open On 16th August

Mark-number-12

As someone who was there and buying these games when they were originally released on the N64, I must say that I am genuinely baffled by these releases. Both games were slow, chugging and had very foggy draw distances. the shooting was extremely generic, a real fps by numbers affair. These games were not held in high esteem at the time, in fact they were a bit of a joke. I can only assume that the fuss being generated about these two games is some kind of fake nostalgia, for those who know no better, being generated by an exploitative Limited Run games, who have now become expert at exploiting gamers and hijacking the hobby with their wares. Such a shame. The real games that everyone loved at the time and appreciated were the likes of the very clever Space Station Silicon Valley, Paper Mario, Rocket Robot on Wheels etc. Not Turok, which quite frankly was generic and lame upon original release. Similarly, the Limited Run release of Shadows of the Empire is just another branded cash grab. That is hands down the worst Star Wars game on the N64, I really hope people actually play that game once it has been repro re-released and see this for themselves. Don't have fake nostalgia imposed on you. You will just end up purchasing a rubbish game, and a fake collectible that has a fake rarity. What a time we live in.

Re: Limited Run Games Releasing Outlast And Sequel In Physical Form On Switch

Mark-number-12

@VinylCreep

Why do they number their releases then and always talk about people maintaining their run? They know exactly what mindset they are exploiting. P.S. I doubt they aspire to be Middle-Class or Bourgeois, that has always been un-cool. I think they fancy themselves as failed rockstars or something. The point is, Limited Run put out too many games. The proof is in the current lead times. I waited months for Thimbleweed Park, similarly I received notification that my Tribute Treasure Box was shipped only 3 days ago. I think I have been waiting about 3 months for that, (or at least it has felt like that). And those were releases 1-2-3. And what number release are we currently up to?

Re: Limited Run Games Releasing Outlast And Sequel In Physical Form On Switch

Mark-number-12

I'll never understand why Limited Run release so many games with such frequency. It is possible to have purchased and paid for 20+ Limited Run releases at the moment and yet you will still be waiting for all of them for three months or more. So you will probably miss out on genuinely quality normal retail releases since all your funds are tied up in Limited Run games. And when you do get around to picking up the normal retail releases that you have missed out on, you find that they are now Limited Run prices on ebay. It's lose/lose. I too much prefer the release schedule of super rare and I also appreciate the quality and uniqueness of their releases. I really don't appreciate that kind of US Hipster-irony when it comes to releasing (it's so crap it's good) Night-Trap for the tenth time. Super-rare releases are much more cerebal.

Re: Diablo III Will Run At 60fps In Docked And Portable Mode On Nintendo Switch

Mark-number-12

This release 'HAS' to come with 'EVERYTHING' on the cart. No downloads, no compromising. Please take note of this Blizzard. If there is any kind of off cart content or download required, this release will crash and burn and you won't understand why, and you will think that Switch sales are poor. Please don't under-estimate us. Please give us the complete content on cart, out of the box.