MontyCircus

I traded in my Shin Megami Tensei V copy at GameStop for Vengeance, because then at least it wasn't 2x the price. Plus I traded in for a new game, which gives you even more value.

I might have similarly double-dipped for this, but I bought the original version digitally.

Getting:

• Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 (I mean...I already have the first one from Super Mario 3D All-Stars, so I don't need to get them both collected...but...I think I'm going to anyway...I can't help myself...)
• Final Fantasy Tactics
• Dawnfolk Surprised to see everyone missed this one in the poll. Let me just give you Steam's genre description for it:
• Pixel Graphics
• Roguelite
• Strategy
• City Builder

Probably getting:

• Shujinkou Dungeon crawler and I get to learn Japanese at the same time? That's cool. But need some S2 reviews.

That's cool! Finally, those of us from far away can get a taste of what the Nintendo Museum is like without having to shell out thousands and fly all the way aro..........aaand it's only available in the museum.

Great.

It's straight to my wishlist because of its big historical importance:

• Namco's first video game
• Toru Iwatani (creator of Pac-Man)'s first video game

But the fact that it also DOES look at least "kinda fun", for a game from 1978 (that's Space Invaders' year!), is remarkable too.

And the added incentive of Switch 2 mouse control compatibility to replicate a spinner/knob controller? Great stuff!

Mina the Hollower gets Halloween to itself now.

She must have read Reggie's book:

"How I Became President of Nintendo of America,
...And How You Can Too!"

100% success rate!

Silksong was supposed to be the best indie game of all-time.

Turns out it wasn't even the best indie game of the month.

#ThrowingShadeOnAGameOfTheYearCandidate

We got the Castlevania collection a year before Japan?

That's a switch!

As the stand-up comedy joke went:

"Tourists to New York City always flock to...the M&M store! Because where else can you buy M&M's? Oh that's right, literally in EVERY OTHER STORE IN THE COUNTRY!!!"

Getting:

• Hades II
• Agatha Christie - Death on the Nile
• EA SPORTS FC 26
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

Still not sure:

• The Touryst: Deluxe (worth the upgrade? And it's cheaper for owners somehow? How does that work?)
• Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac (they say it's better than the first one...and I am a Pac-nut...soo...)

Getting:

• Street Fighter 6 (but it's very confusing that the Years 1-2 Fighters Edition isn't included in the sale? Maybe they're counting on people who waited 4 months to buy the base game on sale to then inexplicably buy the PRICEY DLC at full-price for some reason? I'm getting the base game 'cause it's pretty cheap, and waiting, probably not very long, to get DLC later on a sale).
• Capcom Fighting Collection 2

Yes.

Going for the cheap cardboard ones, to get my once-in-a-life fix of Virtual Boy, while I lie in bed with my hands over my head.

I found there is a top 40 to 45 Neo Geo games that are most unreservedly recommended.

If you're interested just in those top games...you'll need to buy all 10 of these collections!

These collections are for:

• physical edition enthusiasts
• people who want all the Neo Geo games, regardless of quality, i.e. "every Neo Geo game is a good game!"

Otherwise, it's much cheaper to pick and choose, and collect the top games as individual downloads.

For example, I found the physical collections go for about $52 USD, while eShop downloads are $8 (and on rare occasions go on sale for under $6).

So for example, with a collection full of 4 "top games", you're paying $52 for top games that would cost $32 (or less) individually. And most collections are not that bountiful.

A while ago I googled for lists of the best Neo Geo games. I looked for ranked lists at least 25 games long. I ended up finding 7 qualifying lists with 132 unique games and a total of 413 separate entries.

ACA NEOGEO Selection Vol. 9 collection has 4 of the top Neo Geo games:

• King of the Monsters
• Magician Lord
• Samurai Shodown II
• Street Hoop
  Plus Super Sidekicks 3: The Next Glory which has been delisted on the eShop in the West, presumably because it has a Taiwan team, and China didn't like that.

ACA NEOGEO Selection Vol. 9 collection has 4 top Neo Geo games:

• Magical Drop III
• Metal Slug 3
• Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers
• Samurai Shodown V Special

These are much better collections than the most recent prior collections, which only had 2 top games out of 10.

Getting:

• Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter
• Earthion
• LEGO Voyagers
• Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition

I was confusing this with the Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls upcoming anime-style fighter.

I definitely need to pick up Galaxy 2.
I already have Galaxy 1 on 3D All-Stars physical.
I'm not a "must-have-physical" guy, but I'm still unsure if I'll get the physical combo or not.

Adding trophies/achievements to the NSO would do so much for the games. For example:

• beat SMB1
• beat SMB1 without warping, rewinding, or using the 1-Up trick
• beat SMB in under ___ minutes
  etc.

It would make them much more interesting to me, and give me recordable goals to go after.

I gave it an "8". It was loaded with SO much, from old games, to new games, to books, to movies, to gadgets and gizmos galore, that even if you didn't like "this" or "that", when it was time for "the other" you can't help but be happy with it.

It didn't have that "Fist-pumping-while-jumping-around-the-room" moment for me, like a Symphony of the Night or Chrono Trigger type of reveal would do to me, but this is a LOT better than the weak little Directs so far.

Yeah same here. My family & friends don't like games to be too serious. Especially sports games. They like it wacky.

30 different wacky "fever rackets" is perfect.

What a sorry list of games.

Luckily we got such a good Direct today, showing us better days are ahead.

@Trewman360

The word was that Star Wars Outlaws was crap on S2 (there's still a link to an article on the front page about it!), but it turned out!

SWITCH 3 CONFIRMED!!!!!

My Top 3:

• New 3D Mario
• Elden Ring
• Final Fantasy VII Remake

Mario is the "break the Internet" entry. But I'm itching to play the Game of the Year winner and the other finalist.

For most of my life, Basketball was a game where people ran up and down a court, scoring and then letting the other team score. There was no discernible defence, no strategy...

Reminds me of when my Canadian dad would join to me to watch England's Premier league or Champions League or World Cup soccer games, and he would say:

"Wow, when we were kids we didn't know you were supposed to pass backwards!"

Cronos Sees Weak Sales On Switch 2

I'm interested in the game, but of the Switch 2 reviews so far I see:

...the Nintendo Switch 2 version has some visual downgrades and minor technical issues...

and NL saying the S2 version has:

... a rather unpleasant bug...

So I'm not buying it until I get some "green light" information.

The first BOKURA game is rated "Overwhelmingly Positive" by over 4,000 users on Steam (the highest possible rating).

A while ago I found a poll (800 voters) of the best puzzle games, with top ones being Tetris, Bust-A-Move/Puzzle Bobble, Dr. Mario, etc.

Puzzle Quest made the top 10

Yeah that question tripped me up too. I (nearly) ALWAYS wait for SOME kind of sale.

But since Nintendo published games NEVER go on sale (I mean, I'm not going to wait 5 years!), I happily snatch them up on release. If possible I try to have a used game ready to trade in at GameStop, so it FEELS like I got a deal.

Only other time I buy a game full price is if I'm getting it for a game night with friends and family and don't want to miss the opportunity for some couch party multiplayer madness!

Getting:

• Fear Effect (a very good PS1 game)
• The Exit 8 - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (the S2 upgrade pack, already have the S1 game)

Probably getting:

• Hollow Knight: Silksong - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
• NBA 2K26 (Switch 2)
• Star Wars Outlaws Gold Edition

Just need some reviews.

I picked up:

• Monster Train 2
• American Arcadia
• 30 Birds
• Pilgrims
• and Dicefolk DLC

PS5 Pro is already $700 USD
PS6 is going to cost more (gotta push those graphical power boundaries!)
PS6-in-your-hands is going to cost even more than that.

So what we'll be left with is a choice:
$550 USD for a Switch 3
$850 USD for a PS6-in-your-hands

Assuming you can't have both, you'll have to choose between:
Spider-Man, God of War, Horizon, Gran Turismo, Ghost of Something, Ratchet & Clank
or
Mario Kart, Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Legend of Zelda, Smash Bros., Super Mario.

@h3s

Switch sales in North America: 58,610,000
Switch sales in Europe: 39,370,000
Switch sales in Britain: lots less

Is there a reason?

She kills you when you're Ridley,
She kills if you're a Kraid,
She kills you if you're Mother Brain,
So be good for Samus' sake.

Oh!

Getting the "big 3" this week:

• SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance
• Kirby Star-Crossed World
• Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar

And:

• Boulder Dash 40th Anniversary (great early '80s PC maze/puzzle/action game)

I just need to have it run "good enough" docked.

1080p, 720p, 500p, I don't really care. Just want it to run smoothly.

I googled around found this:

Looks like 4-player local multiplayer split-screen City Trials confirmed.

As long as it runs "good enough" docked, easy purchase for me.

Looks like just Roadwarden this week.

The overall sentiment is so negative on this game. It was hyped up as much as anything I can remember, then the reviews were...fine.

The initial player reactions were that it was kind of a total bore. But they promised huge exciting DLC and content coming for the next decade.

Then the first big DLC dropped, and people just got angrier. And then it sounded like they were basically abandoning the game and all those promised future updates.

Really looking forward to playing Indy though!

@Orwellian87

Getting:

• Madden 26 (haven't played a Madden in many years)
• Heretic + Hexen (Quality "Doom Clones" from back in the day)
• Is This Seat Taken? (rated "Overwhelmingly Positive" from over 1000 users on Steam, the highest possible rating)
• OFF
• Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution ("lost" game curio)
• Tiny Bookshop (rated "Overwhelmingly Positive" from over 1,200 users on Steam, the highest possible rating)
• Toaplan Arcade Collection Vol.1&2 (old-school shmups)

MetaCritic has this as the 4th-worst Switch 2 game so far.

28th of 31.

With only Tamagotchi Plaza, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, and Survival Kids rated worse.

The Shmups Forum has been running an "Annual Top 25 Shmups of All Time" poll for 20 years.

64 shmups have made the Top 25 at least once.

R-Type Delta has made it in the past. The original R-Type makes the list nearly every year.

Reactions so far are: "It sucks." And: "It quickly tires your arms out."

And if you want to play local couch multiplayer? You'll need to buy another set of S2 Joy-Con! 'Cause everyone needs to use 2. And none of the 3 dozen S1 Joy-Con you already own will work with it.

I expect a MetaCritic score in the "60s" range, and after that point I will quickly forget that it exists.

On the Shmups Forum's "Top 25 Shmups of All Time" poll (which they've been doing for 20 years):

Gradius III and Salamander/Life Force have both made the Top 25 list in the past.

While the rest: Gradius, Gradius II, and Salamander 2 have all been honourable mentions in the past.

When it comes to old school, pre-bullet hell shmup series, you can't get more legendary than this.

This and Tiny Bookshop are both rated "Overwhelmingly Positive" by Steam users, the highest possible rating.

A while ago I googled for lists of the best Neo Geo games. I looked for ranked lists at least 25 games long. I ended up finding 7 qualifying lists with 132 unique games and a total of 413 separate entries.

Of its 10 games included, Selection Vol. 7 has what I would call 2 top Neo Geo games (Top 45 or 50 or so):

• Fatal Fury Special
• Puzzle Bobble (aka Bust-A-Move)

Of its 10 games included, Selection Vol. 8 also has what I would call 2 top Neo Geo games (Top 45 or 50 or so):

• NAM-1975
• Puzzle Bobble 2 (aka Bust-A-Move 2)