MischiefMaker

Secret of Mana. Almost at the end now, and it's getting a bit repetetive but it's been a great nostalgia trip. My wife got me a mana tree print and an art book for xmas which are brilliant. So once SOM is done I think I might finally start the backlogged skyrim.

My main xmas game memory is Ocarina of time. The title screen with the view of hyrule field and the opening section in the forest... Such nostalgia.

Not much gaming time for me but have continued Secret of Mana.

Carrying on with Secret of Mana, reliving my teens. The combat can get a bit tedious at times but I still love it overall.

Bit late now, but i continued with Secret of Mana. Still loving it, even if my kids and wife don't appreciate the classic music and beautiful graphics!

Started on Secret of Mana on the Mana Collection. Love that game but not played it for soooo long, it's such a nostalgic treat. It's rare I get the Switch to myself these days, luckily my kids decided to play on their tablets this morning.

Also Darkest Dungeon on ipad, and probably resident evil revelations on 3ds if i don't get to go on the switch again this weekend.

As my son is obsessively playing the pokemon sword dlc, I once again don't have much access to my Switch. So I've charged up my 3ds xl and popped in RE revelations which I bought years ago on sale and never played. Quite enjoying it!

Love the Alan Partridge reference. That's the voice in my head when I read the words 'Juraissic Park' without context.

But the real question is how do you feel about the pedestrianisation of Norwich city centre?

Mario Maker 2 (loads of fun) and I also got the 3ds out and downloaded mario land. Completed it on the first go but it was a great nostalgia blast, back to when it seemed almost impossible to have a mario game that you could play in school.

On the last level of dkc snes online. Might do a bit of the splatfest if i have time. Also Kingdom New Lands on ipad.

Snes donkey kong which has aged pretty well and some mario maker if i get time. Been watching The Witcher on netflix which is batshit but pretty enjoyable, and making me want to get the game. Should probably play Skyrim first, which I've owned for almost 2 years now and yet to play.

I've started on Mario Maker 2 - really enjoying the creativity of the story mode levels and getting to grips with the course creator. As always with these sorts of things my imagination gets carried away far beyond what I'll actually create given how little time I have for games nowadays, but the ideas and plans are half the fun anyway.

Also a bit of DK on snes online and mario maker 35. A very ninty focused weekend all told

Surely that's just good coding practice. A tiny thing like that future proofs just in case. Doesn't mean they've given it any more thought than "let's do this just in case we get told to ecoand it in future." After the whole Y2K thing its a pretty standard approach to this sort of thing.

Transistor (sublime with headphones) and Mario 35, when I get the switch to myself.

I have fond nostalgia for this, but it really shows just how far game design can progress as developers get used to a machine. They obviously realised for sml2 that you didn't necessarily need to get as much on the screen, and by going for bigger sprites it gave tbem much more scope for graphics and gameplay design. And you see the influence of smw on the second game, while still retaining that more off-the-wall feel that handheld games seem to get

Not a lot for me. If i get chance I'll play Transistor - feels like I'm getting toward the end but not sure. If I finish it I might start dkc on snes online or doom 2. Also playing Darkest Dungeon in ipad

Transistor, loving it. The music, style, mix of action and strategy. Also some darkest dungeon, but ipad instead of switch.

Started the backlogged Transistor. Liking it, especially the general mood of the game. Not sure what's going on though, but I likenthe way it makes you speculate and try and figure out what's real etc

My son has decided to start zelda botw again so i doubt I'll get much time on the switch over the next few weeks. With that in mind I bought Darkest Dungeon for my ipad which I've only spent about half an hour with so far.

If I get chance I may play a bit of snes on the switch online service, or maybe start Transistor from my backlog

Reminds me of a website used for gambling odds - Odds Exchange. Or oddsexchange in the url

Finished starlink main story and can't be bothered to do any more in it so started one of my backlog games, Grim Fandango. Enjoying the story and characters although not sure I have the patience for the obscure puzzles in this sort of game. Already used a guide a couple of times.

If I get time might playca bit of Splatoon 2 as well.

Starlink again. Starting to get a bit repetitive so i might just mainly go for the story and starfox quests now and cut down on the busywork. But I have enjoyed it, and definitely got my money's worth.

Starlink. Getting into it now, it's fairly repetitive but addictive, exploring the planets, upgrading their facilities and my ships and weapons.

Weirdly it seems that the starter pack (physical) i got also gives a few digital weapons and ships beyond what you get physically. Not sure if that was always the case?

Starlink. Kind of enjoying the busywork although i suspect I'll get bored if it eventually.

Also playing a lot of Slay the Spire on ipad. So addictive, love it.

@Darknyht Yeah that's fair enough. Something's only worth what the buyer is willing to pay. My perspective comes from buying nes and snes games that costed the equivalent of probably 100 dollars or pounds in today's money, allowing for inflation. So when you can get something as expansive, entertaining and time-consuming (ina a good way) as BOTW for half of that my stuck-in-the-nineties mind boggles! Today if a software company wants to get that sort of money for a game it has to be through dlc, microtransactions, season passes etc.

It's hard to be scientific about it. A game might last me 5 hours and be fully worth 15 pounds for the experience. Another could last me 30 hours and feel overpriced at that same price.

My main issue nowadays is more time than money. I try and limit my game buying because i only get a few hours a week to play games, and i think that has a bigger impact on how I value a game. I do like a good sale though

The whole 'test and learn' approach they talk about is very popular in agile IT development and its clearly worked well. But it tends to very much focus on short term results. Try something, if it shows quick returns then do more of it, otherwise drop it.

I wonder if the longer term impacts get lost, i.e. devaluation of video games. It shows here with the number of comments from people saying that they only buy eshop games on discount, as we get conditioned into waiting for a sale. I do the same.

Having said that, the free to play model has probably done more to devalue games than anything else.

People complain that nintendo rarely drop their prices much, but I and many others will pay top dollar for a quality nintendo game.

I played some starlink yesterday, it's not grabbed me in the way that I'm desperate to get back to it but it's not bad.

At the moment my switch is unavailable to me since the kids are taking it in turns on pokemon sword dlc. I've bought Slay The Spire for my ipad instead and loving it.

If i get chance i might play starlink.

Starlink if i get any time on the switch.

I downloaded Terraforming Mars (digital board game) on my ipad and really enjoying that. Looking forward to playing the proper physical board game with bro when lockdown ends, as he has it.

On the nintendo front I'll try and get an hour or 2 on starlink and maybe a bit more super mario world - on the special world now.

Finally started Starlink which i picked up physical on sale a while back. Played a couple of hours so far, seems pretty decent. Not sure if its worth forking out for one of the digital packs for a bunch of extra ships, pilots and weapons or not.
Also a bit of snes online mario world, going for the 96 exits which i remember getting back in the 90s.

My son's 13th this weekend so I've busy setting up an escape room at home, bbq, pitching the tent in the garden etc. Had about half an hour of mario world though.
He got Mario Maker 2 from my dad so I'm looking forward to having a go on that at some point.

Played some splatfest this morning. Forgot how much fun that game is! Other than that I might play a bit of super mario world or maybe start something from the backlog.

I like the idea of this game, but with work, kids, other hobbies etc I only really get a few hours a week for video games. So if I played this and wanted to get the most out of it, it would mean not playing any other games for a few months, or giving up something else I enjoy. It's the same reason I haven't got Stardew Valley, even though I'm sure I'd enjoy it.

Glad its so popular though. Great to see different kinds of gaming experiences doing well, and while Nintendo sell consoles and make money from stuff like this it means they stay in the console business, which is great as I love so much of the stuff they put out.

Civ 6 for me still. Getting closish to a domination victory i think, although the game drags a bit for me later on so as much as I've enjoyed it I'm looking forward to starting something else. I'll deffo be back to civ again though before long.

@JasmineDragon Yeah I noticed! This is my 3rd playthrough so I'm still learning. Had a bad start I think though, spent most of the first 30 or so turns fending off barbarians and now find that I'm kinda hemmed in by Queen Victoria. Still enjoying it, mind. I feel like I've got hours and hours and hours left in this game before I even consider needing to get the expansions.

I had told myself i would play a backlog game before another go on Civ 6 but here I am starting a new game again. Something about the rhythm of the game really drawing me in at the moment.

My 12 year old son and 9 year old daughter have a couple of pokemon startegy guides plus a fee minecraft and terraria books and they love poring over them, learning about the games, planning what they'll do next etc. It's just a different experience to googling something when you're stuck in a game.

Nothing major for me i don't think. Been playing a bit of tetris 99 to get the theme and might play a bit more snes mario world. Probably some ring fit and a bit of just dance with my daughter. As the weather looks a bit rubbish tomorrow we might have a bit of 4 player family mario party or overcooked.

Might just play a little bit of some games I haven't played in a while, like Fast RMX, Splatoon 2, snes online etc. Or I might start one of my smaller backlog games like Old Man's Journey or Transistor.

Got a sort-of-IRL game of 'Taskmaster' over Zoom this afternoon so that should be fun, need to think up some tasks. And might try and convince the kids to play some board games and/or Overcooked or Mario Party. Especially as the sl-sr button thingy replacement I order a month ago is finally due to arrive tomorrow so, all being well, I should have 4 functioning joycons again.

Oh and some Ring Fit Adventure no doubt.

Civ 6 and loving it. So addictive. Although it's a bit frustrating watching the seconds tick by between turns in the later game as the ai figures out a million things. Also playing as my native britain is quite amusing. Bradford is a pretty costal city, liverpool docklands keep getting pillaged by barbarians, big ben is in bristol and the pyramids in london. Also being constantly told that Sheffield needs more housing, when I'm literally stuck in my real house in sheffield seems odd!

Civ 6 for me. My second playthrough and I've gone for standard map size. Wow, that's a whole lot of other countries and city states to deal with!

Might take a look at the eshop sale but trying to resist. In non-nintendo news i picked up Mystic Vale for ios after reading the switch review in this site. Not many games I buy for ipad but this seemed a good fit. Great value if you like deckbuilders and a lot of fun.

About to go out to the supermarket in real life so that should be fun...

Bizarrely seem to have had less time for video games since lockdown. Been building a climbing frame for the kids to give them something to do in the garden.

Still, played a bit of Civ 6. Second proper playthrough, playing as Queen Victoria going for a military victory. Brilliant game, weirdly peaceful.

Also played a bit of mario party with the family but annoyingly my blue joy con that i replaced the sl and sr button strip on has stopped working again so we could only play 3 players.

Oh well. Just glad we have things like video games and the internet in these difficult times!

Finished 1993 doom, might try some of the dlc or have another crack at civ 6.

Also played a bit of snes (switch) - mario world and smash tennis. Will likely rinse Ring Fit these coming weeks too.

Tempted to get some stuff in the sale, especially given how much time we're all likely to be at home now, but still got skyrim, mana collection, octopath and a whole bunch of other stuff to get through.

Hope everyone is safe and doesn't go stir crazy sat indoors!

Working my way through 1993 doom. Just finished episode 3 so onto the last one then will probably give doom a break for a bit before wading into doom 2. Enjoying it and its making me want to play 2016 doom again.

Also started super mario world on switch-snes, reliving my early teens. Both doom and smw hold up really well over 25 years later.

@Damo I guess it's like film-makers (or just about any type of artist) who do the big money-making projects to earn a crust and the smaller riskier ones for personal satisfaction.
Well it's articles like this one (and some reviews) that keep me coming back to this site every day, even if the ad revenue comes more from the other ones. And I'm sure I'm not the only one. Maybe think of it as a loss-leader...

I had no idea this was going on - I live in Sheffield so could have gone to his talk. (Shame on me - I haven't actually been to the video game museum yet other than to drop my son off at a party there - really should fix that).

Interesting article, shame when you see the number of comments on a piece like this versus one of those 'slow news' articles where a hundred people feel the need to comment about it not being news, or argue about politics. Us people, eh?

Doom! I mean at 4 quid it was a bargain but I didnt want to add to the backlog. But I just couldn't pass up the first 3 games for under a fiver. Don't think i ever played past the shareware first pack back in the nineties. Really enjoying it.

Almost at the end of Final fantasy adventure on secret of mana collection. I remember being surprised when i heard that in japan this was a prequel of sorts to Secret of Mana, maybe because of the different branding in the west. But replaying it all these years later I can see a lot of similarities, from the monsters and bosses to the charging weapons. Enjoyed playing it.

Then I might start a civ 6 campaign or maybe just some enter the gungeon.

Plus a bit more ring fit.

Well played nlife commenters, well played.