N00BiSH

@SalvorHardin I think people are overdramatic about that tbh. It was never really an issue for the most part.

[sigh] You never know you had something good until it was gone...

It's nice to Sonic branch out his footwear choices after years of holding on to those tacky red shoes.

A triple helping of Pilotwings? Don't mind if I do.

Also, I really like the "distributing multiple games with smaller tracklists all at once" method here. Same with the NES tracks last week. Hope that becomes standard.

@foursider so have you just not played any other games besides BotW, because I assure you, games like Mario Odyssey, Mario Wonder, Kirby and The Forgotten Land, and Splatoon 2/3 still rely heavily on strong melodies for their music.

Here's what I think: they're skipping Mario's 40th to celebrate Donkey Kong's 45th next year

Truly it was

A Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase 7.31.2025

Don't care for the remake, but it's worth noting that Pac-Man's talking again - I think it's Martin T. Sherman reprising the role from World 3.

they've got a real obsession with this style, don't they.

If this one manages to get on the level of the first two, then we are well and truly back.

@Olmectron this ain't about you specifically. besides, even if they're not abusing employees that still doesn't change the fact that they're engaging in some rather anti-consumer business practices.

@nuff64

• Continued collaboration with Limited Run, who's been monetizing Shantae and other WF games in their usual skeezy ways(e.g. charging 60 bucks for a GBA cart in 2025)
• recently started partnering with ModRetro(run by right-wing arms dealer Palmer Luckey) on some licensed GBC Sabrina game(see here)
• Making the Digital Deluxe version of said GBA an independent purchase that you can't upgrade to if you have the base version, meaning you gotta pay $10 extra just for a bunch of costumes

Yeah, they've been pretty much shooting themselves in the foot recently and making some pretty bad business decisions and it's made anticipation for any of Wayforward's output less enticing as a result.

I'd be interested if not for Wayforward throwing most of their goodwill into the gutter lately.

I'm expecting a lot of people to still winge on about Game Key Cards.

In terms of games, I don't have any high expectations. Maybe Mega Man 12, maybe Gravity Rush(if we're lucky), maybe something I don't expect. Who knows.

Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12 Mega Man 12--

Oh hey. Don't mind me, just trying to manifest Mega Man 12. Move along.

@vio baby steps

at least the music will be very good

"Increased the frequency of lap-type courses appearing in the selection when choosing the next course in “VS Race” and wireless races."

Damn, sometimes bullying can work.

@Tempestryke "The built in mouse is a pad. There's nothing to disconnect."

Most PCs have USB mice that can be disconnected from the unit with minimal issue. Unless they changed how that works, what the heck are you on about?

Well that's weird...and unfortunate. A 2D pixel platformer shouldn't really have this kind of an issue running well.

@YunoboCo "the redesign poisoned my water supply burned my crops and delivered a plague unto our houses"

(Brushes off salt)

Anyways, I'm down for this. Haven't played it in a long while but I'll do anything to hear that amazing Ostrich Bananza theme.

@The_Nintend_Pedant would be genuinely impressed if they could find a way to make that work.

@Tempestryke I mean, can't you just disconnect the mouse from the computer? Or alternatively, find a good cheap mouse to use?

@Tempestryke Genuine question, why is this an issue here?

STABILITY BANANZA

@Joeynator3000 I think they consider Mario Maker the sequel, in a spiritual sense.

With this and DK Artist, the Switch 2 is now the definitive gaming system for 2D and 3D artists.

Surrrre it will.

@Anti-Matter Unfounded concern. They don't really have issues with projects like this.

@Not_Soos I wouldn't get too hyped up about this.

Now let's see if we can get Gravity Rush onto the Switch next

We might get a dedicated Prime 4 Direct, if MKWorld and Bananza are anything to go by. A regular Direct? I dunno at this point.

@BAN You know what? Forget this. I've given myself enough headaches with people in regards to their pre-conceived notions on what Donkey Kong should be, and I'm not going to give myself another one here. Life is short, and I just wanna hang out with my friend Donkey Kong again.

I'll at least say that writing off Bananza as just a "rock-punching tech demo" or "Mario Odyssey with a Donkey Kong skin" that won't leave any major impact on the franchise is being deliberately ignorant in regards to what it's actually doing in the context of the greater Donkey Kong franchise(which, last I checked, is far more than just three solidly made 2D 90's platformers that don't define DK as strongly as they did before).

That's all the time I'm willing to give to this. Hope you turn around on Bananza(or don't. You do you).

@BAN just listing random elements of a game to make it look lesser than it actually seems is the lowest form of criticism you could make. Anyone can do that. Watch me do it with DKC 1.

"What exactly does that have to offer that makes it so unique? Jumping and rolling? Mario World Animal riding? Water levels? Mario-esque boss design? Jessica Rabbit but a monkey? Doesn't really seem all that interesting to me."

See what I mean?

@BAN everything you described about DK's identity is only really really applicable to the OG Rare trilogy, which none of the DK games after really felt beholden to in the exact same way(not even 64, which pushed aside the "moody atmosphere" in favor of a more jovial and whimsical adventure). And writing off Bananza as nothing more than a "rock-punching tech demo" feels disingenuous if anything based on what I've seen.

@BAN funny people say this when I've always felt the opposite - the Country games are fun but never felt like games made for Donkey Kong as a character - just solidly made platformers that happen to feature Donkey Kong.

Anyways, Bananza being at 1 is most definitely recency bias but I'll let it slide since A) I've not played it to fully judge, and B) as is it's probably the most important Donkey Kong game since Country 1.

@Fiergala I still wouldn't be thrilled about the news, mind you, but if they did a better job in finding a more capable actor(or multiple actors), it would take some of the sting off.

@rvcolem1 I get that it's commonplace for English VAs to be treated as disposable(which is another issue in and of itself), but I still don't feel like that's a good excuse to justify the way Nintendo's going about with this whole Mario recast in my eyes.

@ShieldHero "a bit off" is being generous.

@rvcolem1 Just because recasts happen doesn't mean they're always good. I don't get the dismissiveness here.

Toad sounds nice and Toad-y, as he should. Toadette sounds a little too Minnie Mouse for my liking, but I won't complain too much - both of their actors are doing relatively solid in terms of their performances. Can't complain too much about them doing their jobs and doing them well. Same with Paul Castro Jr.

Still, though, I find it peculiar that they decided to cast multiple VAs for the Toads(characters originally voiced by Samantha Kelly), yet they're still doubling down on having one guy _{(unsucessfully)} voice all of Charles' characters.

Did they add a "kooloo-limpah" message for Danny DeVito?

@KingMike does Family BASIC even HAVE music?

@Aurumonado That's the question, ain't it? Some will say it's because the actors are "gEtTiNg ToO oLd To VoIcE aCt(untrue btw)," but personally, I think it's because it's probably cheaper to hire newer, talent than it is to keep paying the old talent.

I wonder why Nintendo kept the VAs under such strict NDAs that they couldn't reveal the characters they were playing on launch. Why be so tight-lipped about it(Then again, they didn't tell Samantha Kelly she was being recast until launch day, so I guess it's just bad conduct on their part)?

Anyways. As for Courtney Lin herself, from what I heard, she's doing a good job so far. Her take on Peach isn't 1-1 with Kelly or Jen Taylor's takes(Lin is slightly lower in terms of the pitch), but the specifics of the voice and underlying personality of the character are still largely present - enough for me to not mind the differences too much. While the circumstances behind her casting are less than fortunate, I won't hold that against her - that's entirely on Nintendo.

I wish Lin the best of luck in regards to handling the voice of Peach - She's already doing a better job in her roles than Kevin Afghani is with his, that's for sure.

_{EDIT: I find it peculiar that they got multiple VAs for Samantha Kelly's characters yet they're still doubling down on having one guy (poorly) voice all of Charles' characters.}

Man, we oughta get these guys on the next Namco Museum.

I haven't played it, but from what I've been seeing/hearing, it's definitely shaping up to be one of my new favorite things. I'll give it a ten.

I didn't play this but I did see commercials of it when I was a young'un. I particularly liked the one where Bowser tackled a pitching machine.

If EPD 8 is the fire, then 1-UP Studio is their smoke. This team's been involved with EPD 8's platforming endeavors since Mario 3D Land, back when they were known as Brownie Brown(of Mother 3 fame).

they were cowards to not try and recreate the 3D Control Pad. That had a Hall-effect stick too, even!

He's not wrong - the jumping is pretty off in the remakes.