@Grumblevolcano Yeah, that's going to be interesting to see what, if anything they have in store that's not just online GaaS trend cashing. It would be nice if things are less bleak than they sound. At least on the XB front the news has been dire, but we know EVENTUALLY of a bunch of things that look interesting, someday, they'll get there, maybe.
I honestly can't think of anything that really subs for a "classic" zelda alternative though. The old Dark Cloud PS2 games do it. The closest is Darksiders 1 and somewhat 2. Some indies. Definitely not anything PS exclusive though, and surely not GoW. Metroidvania-lite, sure, Zelda, no. Though as a fan of 1 I'd argue that BotW/TotK is more "classic" than Ocarina through SS
I still find it funny all the people that lament the style of the game "changing" with BotW. This isn't like what's happening with FF where a party driven turn based JRPG is being replaced with a lone wolf over the shoulder hack and slash action game. Zelda 1 was pretty much the original open world action adventure game. It was the games after that that changed it into something different (first an ARPG with 2, then the "Zelda formula" with ALttP".) BotW was a return to the original roots of the series, as a modern reincarnation of the original title.
I love that "ALttP" formula as well, it's unique, few games have managed to do something similar successfully, and I do hope they make something else like that again as well, I don't want ti to be lost, but to me that started with the first game, BotW was the proper Zelda 2 we never got in the 80's, and TotK continues it.
@Grumblevolcano "Guess I need a PS5 if I want new traditional 3D Zelda games, I've heard the GoW reboot and its sequel are like them."
Huh? There's nothing even remotely Zelda-like about GoW2018. I can't speak for Ragnarok yet, but 2018 is like.......God of War (PS2)......unsurprisingly. For all the change it has had going from fast, bombastic, and Bayontetta-ish to slow, plodding, moody and lethargic, it's really still GoW under the hood, a linear corridor slasher with "search the same area for 20 minutes finding the minipuzzle combilock" puzzles added in.
But....I could have sworn you already played GoW18 on PS4? IMO, despite the hype you're not missing much if you haven't, it's ok, but I always thought the hype was overblown. But it's just not a Zelda game. Like, at all. Maybe a few hints of Metroidvania here and there, but it's Metroidvania "lite" at best.
@Ralizah oh yeah, Ms is basically all digital, but they're almost niche in the market overall, Sony and Nintendo dominate and and have huge physical following, and Sonys 70 pricing I've always believed had much more to do with wholesale pricing and resale losses than actually needing that price, and digital buyers get screwed in the process. This seems like Nintendo making a strategic move to kill physical demand over time without just making digital directly cheaper and offending retailers.
I still wouldn't be surprised if switch 2 was digital only. Nintendo is like that... Though they depend on the retail footprint for advertising.
@Ralizah That's encouraging. I figured it would be Nintendo that began the end of physical media.... Seems sooner than expected, but the timing of this an reintroducing vouchers seems to coincidental to not be shots fired at physical.
@KilloWertz I was thinking about our conversations when I saw this. Poor you. Terrible time to try to get into Nintendo when they're pretty much rivaling their late NES-era arrogance. I've loved Nintendo games for a long time, and Iwata's era made me love the hardware too, but, they're really rock bottom as a business these days. Sony's trying to become them, too, so there's that. Roll on, ABK!
Although if MS/PS would have a rewards program for digital purchases like the vouchers, that could soften the blow.
@Ralizah Is there any word on if vouchers are permanent or time limited now? I can get behind vouchers and digital if they give real discounts with it. If they do this feels less like "Nintendo joining the $70 bandwagon" and more like "Nintendo quietly ending physical media with a mic drop instead of Matrick's equivocating." Makes me wonder how likely all-digital Switch 2 will be if MS is making a strong play to incentivize physical like this.
I still can't figure out what exactly E3 is now supposed to be if it doesn't actually have the major games companies. Sounds like an indie and PC event only. This one will be worse than 2021...
@Almighty-Koz E3 was always about games. It got started because games companies were treated as third rate by Consumer Electronics Expo (CES).
This is the most exciting thing on ages for switch! It was great when they introduced it and gutting when they took it away. Hopefully they're not going to take it away again!
@bimmy-lee Oh, I've been around, I've just been mostly on Push and PXB due to lack of interesting goings on in the Nintendoverse until recently for a while, and....eh, NL's feel has changed over the years and it's more...IDK...Twittery/Instagramy/Youtuber-y than it once was. I guess that's what the younger cool cats, or swell folks, or tubular gnarly radical kids are into these days?
@johnvboy I think anyone with a bit of sense and Nintendo history saw that.... but.... there was a least a compelling argument from Grumble about the BotW2 timing. That's well and out the window now though
(Again, unless Nintendo pulls a Nintendo and proves us wrong and announces in March Switch 2 is dropping in May with BotW2....which isn't the most un-nintendo thing for Nintendo to do, but I still don't expect it)
OMG it exists? I thought it was like Half-Life 3, MP4, Switch Pro, working Splatoon netcode, one of those things we pretend exists on the internet even though it never will.
IDK, I may have to play this since I barely touched 5 and it's 15fps slideshow. Shame it seemed like a great game, but I just can't get myself to play it.
So many people saying they never knew they were called donut lifts, I wonder if it's a geographic localization thing? In the US/NA SMB3 manual they were explicitly called donut lifts.
@sixrings Reggie's the reason XC1 was never fully released in the US outside a belated limited print for GameStop exclusively, and is the reason the series has a UK localization because he refused to spend localizing budget on it, convinced it would not sell in the US. I'd say both positive and negative, he had more influence on what happened than you give him credit for.
XC1 sidequests were a (bunch of) joke(ers). Nothing but MMO fetch quests that never felt like they were worth doing, and the affinity chart was a mess. Antiquated and bad even for antiquity.
XC2 did a lot better, the quests themselves were actually good, it's just that you got quests in the first 2 hours you didn't even get to the location of until the last 2 hours. Most of the game was picking up quests you couldn't actually do until the end of the game, or not even knowing the quests existed because you had to chance upon them by being in the rigtht spot at the right time of day unless you looked up a list online to find them all. And several quests had multiple parts where you had to complete one or two quests before taking on another, and you might not even have one or two of the requisite quests yet, and you might not be able to finish them until late game, so you spend forever trying to solve a quest that can't be solved until you solve another quest that you don't have yet and can't do until the final act. The quests themselves were great, but they were delivered so badly that XC1's MMO fetch seemed better at times.
XC3 finally seems to have (mostly) figured out how questing should work, which is weird considering the pedigree of Monolith that it took so long. Some of it is still a bit off at times, but it's leagues better.
@Ralizah I can't tell what counts as "overleveling" and doing too many sidequests or not. I'm level 30, I keep finding sidequests from the colonies and doing them, I think I've finally ran out of available sidequests (that I've found?) that are near my level, and my next main quest is level 17 recommended, yet on my way there I keep finding more caves, canisters, and husks that I go brush up against lv35's to get.... lol
It could be the the devs have some magical perspective that makes these two totally different games seem like one big project. Or it could be that they're using flowery words and waxing poetic about two completely different games that had very different business objectives.
@SwitchplayerJohn @acNewUpdates This is the rare case it's not just special edition stuff. It has a 2-tone gradient on the color plus a screen print on top of that. It definitely had to go through extra machines for that which isn't free. The regular shell is just solid color injection mold, so it actually does cost more (maybe a lot more) to apply this finish.
The 2-tone gradient doesn't look like paint so they had to inject two colored plastics into the mold which is more of a process or a different mold machine, and then the screen print goes on top.
@shgamer Honestly with -=NEW=- Nintendo being who they are I'd expect them to release MP4 on Switch only, and then sell a remaster again on the next console. Nintendo started it, Sony's followed it. They'll milk it.
They have a rock and a hard place right now though. Economically they simply can't release a new console in the next year or two, it would be a disaster, but they also have to hold back content for said new console when it arrives. MS and Sony have FAR more manufacturing purchasing power than them and can eat giant losses easier to shore up market share and they can't even get the job done over 2 years, and their market isn't as budget conscious.
@JetForceGemInEye I'm one of those 7-8 people! And it's awesome! lol. Except I end up playing on Switch most of the time since the screen is bigger YsIX was the final straw for me. That game runs so so bad on Switch, so I decided to build the streaming setup so that games that are on both platforms I can buy the XB/PS version and run it handheld that way. Still waiting for a Rune Factory 5 port because that is so, so bad on Switch.
Only thing with handheld is that most "console" games don't play well to me on handheld as pick up and play short bust games, so I tend to play more specific games that work best handheld which, naturally tends to be more on Switch.
@BiscuitCrumbsInMyBed People have been declaring that there's a new Switch on the way "this year" since 2017. It's just full-on memery at this point, but it's that much more ridiculous given the economic and supply issues currently that anyone would even seriously believe that this is when Nintendo, not an ultra-premium luxury products brand but as mass market as mass market gets kind of brand, that has an impossible time managing supply chain even during ideal conditions, would actually attempt to bring out an all new piece of luxury priced hardware.
There's a difference between "I'd like to have new hardware" and "I'm entirely oblivious to the collapsing world around me, I've got spare cash, and I'm looking for something to throw it at."
The energy cost alone would make any company baton the hatches and ride it out until distribution and production becomes more affordable if they intend to make a profit and not price a product as an extreme luxury before rolling out a massive new product launch unless they have no other choice for profitability. Sure we've had other recessions over 30 years, but fuel was still $0.94 a gallon, and while wages are higher now, housing, energy, healthcare, etc. etc. etc weren't consuming nearly all of the majority of customer's income back then. The cost of living has skyrocketed as a portion of people's income over those 30 years, and back then it was common for women to stay home and not work at all.....so factor the 2 income family in with most of the income siphoned to non-discretionary and it shows just how backward we've been moving economically per capita and per-household.
Also consider the last major recession that compares to this one was in the 70's in waves through 82. About when the gaming market crashed in fact. Nintendo salvaged it with a very particularly limited product, as a pseudo-monopoly, as the recession ended. With a budget priced product.
The next major recession was in '08, and while video games somehow survived that, it is also the reason both PS and XB limited the PS4/X1 so severely with weak hardware because they were afraid consumers would not spend on them and they were not willing to take the usual subsidy loss even 5 years after the recession, and the market has changed considerably since then.
Bottom line is Nintendo has a very well selling product that can only shakily produced, and a time when consumers are not feeling spendy (electronics are piling up in retailer warehouses), are pulling back to spending mostly on food, and discount brand food at that, while electronics parts are expensive and unpredictable, manufacturing is at an energy and labor driven high cost, and distribution is at an energy and labor driven high cost......what rational company would disrupt their current sales for the exceptionally expensive and messy transition involved in that.....let alone the ultra-conservative Nintendo?
Given the price of OLED, the price for parts, and the price of distribution, we'd be looking at a $400-500 Switch 2. At that price we can assume it'll be a nice WiiU accessory and there'd be no point even considering putting Pokemon on it.
@johnvboy But, but, but the middle of a recession during the highest inflation since Pong was a system seller in the middle of a eurasian food shortage when retailers are discounting electronics to get them out of their warehouses is precisely when you want to release new, premium even more expensive discretionary entertainment products! There's SO many enthusiasts with no life that don't care WHAT the price is, they'll pay it just to get the best and the latest that money can buy, and you can't stop progress!!!!!111!111~~~~
What is it with all these Japanese producers jumping ship to NetEase, a company that has put out nothing of note and specializes in predatory mobile games? I get the that payout must be good, but, do these guys have no pride?
@RPGreg2600 Each of these games has its ups and downs, really. 1 does feel more like an empty MMO server more than 2/torna. Not that 2 doesn't share a lot of the world mechanics, but it feels less MMO. OTOH 2's questing system and the Pokeblades suck. The quests can be good but managing them can be impossible, and while the battle system is fantastic it never actually tells you how to use it, properly. Yet it's a great game (and I don't get the newfound hate for it.)
If it helps, there's a story driven reason for the whole backs of two titans thing, it's not just random, but you don't actually find out the huge plot twist, until, technically the "true ending" post-game. That plot twist comes back in the last 1/4 of XC2. And I presume will make a play somewhere in 3 because it's the story theme that relates all these seemingly unrelated worlds. There's an overarching story behind the XC universe but it's not revealed until the "true ending" of 1.
Great, so they're going to take the best game ubi has made in years and change it into something else.... Botw was good but fenyx took the formula and made it better. And the dad joke humor was fun. Idk what people want in humorous video games but I wonder if the people that think this isn't funny thought the pot jokes in g5av were hilarious.
@rjejr Sad, but true! I have to say Samsung to Samsung makes it easy. Pretty much push the buttons and you're most of the way there. Copying files from SD to SD is separate, re-installing some apps is separate, and any apps with unique migration requirements like the email client I use where I have to back it up separately and transfer it, or some security software I use that obviously needs to be manually configured for encryption reasons, recording new biometric profiles ,etc etc, still takes time. But at least 80% is push button automatic.
I just wish paying for it was also push button automatic........... They weren't Apple-like, when I started with them, and most of their competitors like LG have since exited the market entirely.
@rjejr Samsung and Apple tend to be close enough on cameras. Apple is hamstrung for doing most things I need to do, and, originally they were ridiculously expensive vs normal priced everyone else. Then Samsung decided to price match them which remains infuriating. Honestly, though, I'm still stuck in 10 years ago, so my perception of what phone cameras do is based on then. I admit though having actual telephoto lenses on the newer big phones isn't nothing.
But yeah, RAM is the thing. I'm usually switching between apps, and my browsers usually have a ton of open tabs, and anything without a lot of ran stutters, chops, and closes things. Maybe now it's not so bad...again I'm stuck years ago. But even 2 phones ago I find unusable because of that. Heck I remember when Apple didn't multitask at all. I still have iTouch's around. Sad to see those go. Before phones, I used those. I still have things that require them as an accessory to use, so if those break I have to buy an iphone to leave permanently in a dock and that just sucks.
The other thing with Samsung is the instant copy over to a new phone. It just copies over 90% of everything automatically as you had it, and I have a LOT of configured things installed If I switched it would take weeks to sort that all out. I actually don't use it for placing calls much though They're pocket PCs. I had Palms before the iTouch's before the phones. (Dear kids, Palms are like phones before they could place phone calls.)
I'm kind of held hostage. I bought into a system when it was $400 and now it's $1200 and I don't have a way out. And it had replaceable batteries back then.
I miss E3 This was finally announced and I almost didn't even know it because it was a random drop and was already down on the news page by the time I loaded it! No fanfare for anything. It just....exists!
The internet would have exploded if this was June 6.
@rjejr $19.99 would seem fitting. Still too much, but not offensive like turning this into a retail game would be. It would be a fine price if Nintendo eventually did sales.
LOL, IDK what I'll buy next. They discontinued Note, rolled it into the regular Galaxy, and then upped the price..... The main requirements for me on phones are the biggest possible screen, tons of ram to have lots of things running at once, stylus preferred....and that's about it. Good camera matters too, but, generally it's not that I'm particularly picky about phones so much as they restrict one or two features I need into obscene $1000 (now $1200?!) models. When I started buying these things they were $400............... It's just obscene.
@gcunit Show me one publisher at all that declares a game "AAA" (Other than MS with "AAAA".) If it's a full price game it's a claim that it's on equal footing with games like BotW, Forgotten Land, AC Valhalla, SMTV, etc, etc, etc.
@alexybubble Silly, they don't port console games to arcades. They port mobile games. The one arcade around, which is a great one, but it has rows of Flappy Bird, Candy Crush, and Crossy Road, I kid you not. Who goes to an arcade to pay to play a game that's literally already available in your pocket AT the arcade?
If this were a budget priced title it looks pretty decent little minigame/couch coop distraction worth a few bucks. If it's a full priced retail title, only Nintendo could put together an indie mini game, slap a famous brand IP into it, and declare it an AAA retail game.
Comments 8,869
Re: Expect More Open-World Zelda Games Going Forwards, Suggests Eiji Aonuma
@Grumblevolcano Yeah, that's going to be interesting to see what, if anything they have in store that's not just online GaaS trend cashing. It would be nice if things are less bleak than they sound. At least on the XB front the news has been dire, but we know EVENTUALLY of a bunch of things that look interesting, someday, they'll get there, maybe.
I honestly can't think of anything that really subs for a "classic" zelda alternative though. The old Dark Cloud PS2 games do it. The closest is Darksiders 1 and somewhat 2. Some indies. Definitely not anything PS exclusive though, and surely not GoW. Metroidvania-lite, sure, Zelda, no. Though as a fan of 1 I'd argue that BotW/TotK is more "classic" than Ocarina through SS
Re: Random: Oops! Nintendo's Doug Bowser Makes Amusing Zelda Typo On Twitter
@SalvorHardin I LOLed a this. I mean I actually love Skyward Sword, but.....this is also so true.
Re: Expect More Open-World Zelda Games Going Forwards, Suggests Eiji Aonuma
I still find it funny all the people that lament the style of the game "changing" with BotW. This isn't like what's happening with FF where a party driven turn based JRPG is being replaced with a lone wolf over the shoulder hack and slash action game. Zelda 1 was pretty much the original open world action adventure game. It was the games after that that changed it into something different (first an ARPG with 2, then the "Zelda formula" with ALttP".) BotW was a return to the original roots of the series, as a modern reincarnation of the original title.
I love that "ALttP" formula as well, it's unique, few games have managed to do something similar successfully, and I do hope they make something else like that again as well, I don't want ti to be lost, but to me that started with the first game, BotW was the proper Zelda 2 we never got in the 80's, and TotK continues it.
@Grumblevolcano "Guess I need a PS5 if I want new traditional 3D Zelda games, I've heard the GoW reboot and its sequel are like them."
Huh? There's nothing even remotely Zelda-like about GoW2018. I can't speak for Ragnarok yet, but 2018 is like.......God of War (PS2)......unsurprisingly. For all the change it has had going from fast, bombastic, and Bayontetta-ish to slow, plodding, moody and lethargic, it's really still GoW under the hood, a linear corridor slasher with "search the same area for 20 minutes finding the minipuzzle combilock" puzzles added in.
But....I could have sworn you already played GoW18 on PS4? IMO, despite the hype you're not missing much if you haven't, it's ok, but I always thought the hype was overblown. But it's just not a Zelda game. Like, at all. Maybe a few hints of Metroidvania here and there, but it's Metroidvania "lite" at best.
Re: Yes, Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Costs $70, Collector's Edition Announced
@Ralizah oh yeah, Ms is basically all digital, but they're almost niche in the market overall, Sony and Nintendo dominate and and have huge physical following, and Sonys 70 pricing I've always believed had much more to do with wholesale pricing and resale losses than actually needing that price, and digital buyers get screwed in the process. This seems like Nintendo making a strategic move to kill physical demand over time without just making digital directly cheaper and offending retailers.
I still wouldn't be surprised if switch 2 was digital only. Nintendo is like that... Though they depend on the retail footprint for advertising.
Re: Yes, Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Costs $70, Collector's Edition Announced
@Ralizah That's encouraging. I figured it would be Nintendo that began the end of physical media.... Seems sooner than expected, but the timing of this an reintroducing vouchers seems to coincidental to not be shots fired at physical.
Re: Yes, Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Costs $70, Collector's Edition Announced
@KilloWertz I was thinking about our conversations when I saw this. Poor you. Terrible time to try to get into Nintendo when they're pretty much rivaling their late NES-era arrogance. I've loved Nintendo games for a long time, and Iwata's era made me love the hardware too, but, they're really rock bottom as a business these days. Sony's trying to become them, too, so there's that. Roll on, ABK!
Although if MS/PS would have a rewards program for digital purchases like the vouchers, that could soften the blow.
@Ralizah Is there any word on if vouchers are permanent or time limited now? I can get behind vouchers and digital if they give real discounts with it. If they do this feels less like "Nintendo joining the $70 bandwagon" and more like "Nintendo quietly ending physical media with a mic drop instead of Matrick's equivocating." Makes me wonder how likely all-digital Switch 2 will be if MS is making a strong play to incentivize physical like this.
Re: Nintendo Improves Switch eShop's Search Function With Small QoL Update
Wow all of this at 56k. The future is now!
Re: Detective Pikachu's Second Movie Is Apparently Still In "Active Development"
This time it had better have Danny DeVito.
Re: Billy Mitchell Photos Emerge Showing Non-Original Donkey Kong Hardware Apparently Used For Disputed Scores
@Uncle_Franklin A Wild Sliggy Appears
Re: Billy Mitchell Photos Emerge Showing Non-Original Donkey Kong Hardware Apparently Used For Disputed Scores
OMG this story has been going on since WiiU was cool. How is this still a thing?
Re: Nintendo, Sony And Xbox Reportedly Skipping E3 2023
I still can't figure out what exactly E3 is now supposed to be if it doesn't actually have the major games companies. Sounds like an indie and PC event only. This one will be worse than 2021...
@Almighty-Koz E3 was always about games. It got started because games companies were treated as third rate by Consumer Electronics Expo (CES).
Re: Nintendo Switch Online Game Vouchers Might Be Returning To North America
This is the most exciting thing on ages for switch! It was great when they introduced it and gutting when they took it away. Hopefully they're not going to take it away again!
Re: Soapbox: If You Thought Last Year Was "Sad" For Switch, 2023 Might Be Hard To Handle
Not sure what people are thinking, this was the most loaded year on switch since fall 2019. How can people think it sucked?
If you didn't like 2022, you don't like Nintendo consoles.
Re: Random: Nintendo Confirms How To Pronounce Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
@bimmy-lee Oh, I've been around, I've just been mostly on Push and PXB due to lack of interesting goings on in the Nintendoverse until recently for a while, and....eh, NL's feel has changed over the years and it's more...IDK...Twittery/Instagramy/Youtuber-y than it once was. I guess that's what the younger cool cats, or swell folks, or tubular gnarly radical kids are into these days?
Re: Random: Nintendo Confirms How To Pronounce Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
@Deminox But what of the King of Pho? The Pho King.
@bimmy-lee Simple: かかりこ
Re: 'The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom' Launches In May 2023
@johnvboy Of course not. Switch Pro has to launch first. Duh!
Re: 'The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom' Launches In May 2023
@johnvboy I think anyone with a bit of sense and Nintendo history saw that.... but.... there was a least a compelling argument from Grumble about the BotW2 timing. That's well and out the window now though
(Again, unless Nintendo pulls a Nintendo and proves us wrong and announces in March Switch 2 is dropping in May with BotW2....which isn't the most un-nintendo thing for Nintendo to do, but I still don't expect it)
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC Introduces New Hero, Swimsuits, Wave 2 Out October
Swimsuits really doesn't fit the world of XC3....but I do love how Sena is in a full-on speedsuit. That's so Sena.
Re: Pikmin 4 Is Set For A 2023 Release, Following Years Of Speculation
OMG it exists? I thought it was like Half-Life 3, MP4, Switch Pro, working Splatoon netcode, one of those things we pretend exists on the internet even though it never will.
Re: Classic GameCube Action RPG 'Tales Of Symphonia' Getting Switch Remaster
My wallet! Whyyyyyyyy?!
Re: Rune Factory 3 Special Heading To Switch In 2023
IDK, I may have to play this since I barely touched 5 and it's 15fps slideshow. Shame it seemed like a great game, but I just can't get myself to play it.
Re: 'The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom' Launches In May 2023
@Grumblevolcano So....about that new hardware launch to go with BotW2................
I mean, sure it's Nintendo they can stealth drop a new platform between now and then, but that seems very unlikely at present.
Re: Soapbox: Splatoon 3's Midnight Launch Felt A Bit Different
@Themilkman Oh, I'm near enough
And it was referring to the picture with the Splatoon hoodies pointing splatter shots at each other.
Re: Soapbox: Splatoon 3's Midnight Launch Felt A Bit Different
It just wouldn't be NYC without hooded youths walking the streets armed to the teeth....
Re: Random: What Do You Mean Super Mario's Donut Blocks Aren't Based On Donuts?
So many people saying they never knew they were called donut lifts, I wonder if it's a geographic localization thing? In the US/NA SMB3 manual they were explicitly called donut lifts.
Re: Reggie: Nintendo Was Working On A Device Like Xbox's Adaptive Controller
@sixrings Reggie's the reason XC1 was never fully released in the US outside a belated limited print for GameStop exclusively, and is the reason the series has a UK localization because he refused to spend localizing budget on it, convinced it would not sell in the US. I'd say both positive and negative, he had more influence on what happened than you give him credit for.
Re: Soapbox: Yes, You Really Should Do All Of Xenoblade Chronicles 3's Sidequests
XC1 sidequests were a (bunch of) joke(ers). Nothing but MMO fetch quests that never felt like they were worth doing, and the affinity chart was a mess. Antiquated and bad even for antiquity.
XC2 did a lot better, the quests themselves were actually good, it's just that you got quests in the first 2 hours you didn't even get to the location of until the last 2 hours. Most of the game was picking up quests you couldn't actually do until the end of the game, or not even knowing the quests existed because you had to chance upon them by being in the rigtht spot at the right time of day unless you looked up a list online to find them all. And several quests had multiple parts where you had to complete one or two quests before taking on another, and you might not even have one or two of the requisite quests yet, and you might not be able to finish them until late game, so you spend forever trying to solve a quest that can't be solved until you solve another quest that you don't have yet and can't do until the final act. The quests themselves were great, but they were delivered so badly that XC1's MMO fetch seemed better at times.
XC3 finally seems to have (mostly) figured out how questing should work, which is weird considering the pedigree of Monolith that it took so long. Some of it is still a bit off at times, but it's leagues better.
@Ralizah I can't tell what counts as "overleveling" and doing too many sidequests or not. I'm level 30, I keep finding sidequests from the colonies and doing them, I think I've finally ran out of available sidequests (that I've found?) that are near my level, and my next main quest is level 17 recommended, yet on my way there I keep finding more caves, canisters, and husks that I go brush up against lv35's to get.... lol
Re: Random: Masahiro Sakurai Reminds Nintendo Fans About 3DS & Wii U eShop Closure Dates
3DS remains my favorite system of all time. Just so much good content on that little gem, and such a nicely made piece of hardware.
Re: Kirby And The Forgotten Land And Star Allies Were One Big "Connected Project" For HAL Laboratory
It could be the the devs have some magical perspective that makes these two totally different games seem like one big project. Or it could be that they're using flowery words and waxing poetic about two completely different games that had very different business objectives.
Re: Fire Reported At Nintendo's Japanese Headquarters
DODONGO DISLIKES SMOKE.
Re: Where To Buy The Splatoon 3 Nintendo Switch OLED Model Console And Pro Controller
@SwitchplayerJohn @acNewUpdates This is the rare case it's not just special edition stuff. It has a 2-tone gradient on the color plus a screen print on top of that. It definitely had to go through extra machines for that which isn't free. The regular shell is just solid color injection mold, so it actually does cost more (maybe a lot more) to apply this finish.
The 2-tone gradient doesn't look like paint so they had to inject two colored plastics into the mold which is more of a process or a different mold machine, and then the screen print goes on top.
Re: Nintendo President Says Switch Production Is "Uncertain" Next Year
@shgamer Honestly with -=NEW=- Nintendo being who they are I'd expect them to release MP4 on Switch only, and then sell a remaster again on the next console. Nintendo started it, Sony's followed it. They'll milk it.
They have a rock and a hard place right now though. Economically they simply can't release a new console in the next year or two, it would be a disaster, but they also have to hold back content for said new console when it arrives. MS and Sony have FAR more manufacturing purchasing power than them and can eat giant losses easier to shore up market share and they can't even get the job done over 2 years, and their market isn't as budget conscious.
@JetForceGemInEye I'm one of those 7-8 people! And it's awesome! lol. Except I end up playing on Switch most of the time since the screen is bigger YsIX was the final straw for me. That game runs so so bad on Switch, so I decided to build the streaming setup so that games that are on both platforms I can buy the XB/PS version and run it handheld that way. Still waiting for a Rune Factory 5 port because that is so, so bad on Switch.
Only thing with handheld is that most "console" games don't play well to me on handheld as pick up and play short bust games, so I tend to play more specific games that work best handheld which, naturally tends to be more on Switch.
Re: Nintendo President Says Switch Production Is "Uncertain" Next Year
@BiscuitCrumbsInMyBed People have been declaring that there's a new Switch on the way "this year" since 2017. It's just full-on memery at this point, but it's that much more ridiculous given the economic and supply issues currently that anyone would even seriously believe that this is when Nintendo, not an ultra-premium luxury products brand but as mass market as mass market gets kind of brand, that has an impossible time managing supply chain even during ideal conditions, would actually attempt to bring out an all new piece of luxury priced hardware.
There's a difference between "I'd like to have new hardware" and "I'm entirely oblivious to the collapsing world around me, I've got spare cash, and I'm looking for something to throw it at."
The energy cost alone would make any company baton the hatches and ride it out until distribution and production becomes more affordable if they intend to make a profit and not price a product as an extreme luxury before rolling out a massive new product launch unless they have no other choice for profitability. Sure we've had other recessions over 30 years, but fuel was still $0.94 a gallon, and while wages are higher now, housing, energy, healthcare, etc. etc. etc weren't consuming nearly all of the majority of customer's income back then. The cost of living has skyrocketed as a portion of people's income over those 30 years, and back then it was common for women to stay home and not work at all.....so factor the 2 income family in with most of the income siphoned to non-discretionary and it shows just how backward we've been moving economically per capita and per-household.
Also consider the last major recession that compares to this one was in the 70's in waves through 82. About when the gaming market crashed in fact. Nintendo salvaged it with a very particularly limited product, as a pseudo-monopoly, as the recession ended. With a budget priced product.
The next major recession was in '08, and while video games somehow survived that, it is also the reason both PS and XB limited the PS4/X1 so severely with weak hardware because they were afraid consumers would not spend on them and they were not willing to take the usual subsidy loss even 5 years after the recession, and the market has changed considerably since then.
Bottom line is Nintendo has a very well selling product that can only shakily produced, and a time when consumers are not feeling spendy (electronics are piling up in retailer warehouses), are pulling back to spending mostly on food, and discount brand food at that, while electronics parts are expensive and unpredictable, manufacturing is at an energy and labor driven high cost, and distribution is at an energy and labor driven high cost......what rational company would disrupt their current sales for the exceptionally expensive and messy transition involved in that.....let alone the ultra-conservative Nintendo?
Given the price of OLED, the price for parts, and the price of distribution, we'd be looking at a $400-500 Switch 2. At that price we can assume it'll be a nice WiiU accessory and there'd be no point even considering putting Pokemon on it.
Re: Nintendo President Says Switch Production Is "Uncertain" Next Year
@johnvboy But, but, but the middle of a recession during the highest inflation since Pong was a system seller in the middle of a eurasian food shortage when retailers are discounting electronics to get them out of their warehouses is precisely when you want to release new, premium even more expensive discretionary entertainment products! There's SO many enthusiasts with no life that don't care WHAT the price is, they'll pay it just to get the best and the latest that money can buy, and you can't stop progress!!!!!111!111~~~~
Re: Veteran Capcom Producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi Joins NetEase Games
What is it with all these Japanese producers jumping ship to NetEase, a company that has put out nothing of note and specializes in predatory mobile games? I get the that payout must be good, but, do these guys have no pride?
Re: PSA: Are Your Switch Games Disappearing? You May Have Too Many - But You Can Fix It
Youtuber world problems.
Re: Back Page: How To Make Your Own Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Monster Name
Friends not enjoy tasty fried Gravy-Flavoured Crabcrabcrabcrab? Friends have not live until crunch cruncy tail of Gravy-Flavoured Crabcrabcrabcrab!
Re: Random: Mario's Nips Return For Summer 2022
This means Switch Pro Q4, right?
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Is Already Switch eShop's Top Seller, Unsurprisingly
@RPGreg2600 Each of these games has its ups and downs, really. 1 does feel more like an empty MMO server more than 2/torna. Not that 2 doesn't share a lot of the world mechanics, but it feels less MMO. OTOH 2's questing system and the Pokeblades suck. The quests can be good but managing them can be impossible, and while the battle system is fantastic it never actually tells you how to use it, properly. Yet it's a great game (and I don't get the newfound hate for it.)
If it helps, there's a story driven reason for the whole backs of two titans thing, it's not just random, but you don't actually find out the huge plot twist, until, technically the "true ending" post-game. That plot twist comes back in the last 1/4 of XC2. And I presume will make a play somewhere in 3 because it's the story theme that relates all these seemingly unrelated worlds. There's an overarching story behind the XC universe but it's not revealed until the "true ending" of 1.
Re: Random: Xenoblade Chronicles' Shulk Cutscene Was Originally 'A Little Creepy'
Nintendo: Touching Fioras cheek is creepy.
Also Nintendo: Incest petting games with Corrin is fine.
Re: Rumour: Immortals Fenyx Rising Spin-Off Will Be "Less Of A Copy Of Breath Of The Wild"
Great, so they're going to take the best game ubi has made in years and change it into something else.... Botw was good but fenyx took the formula and made it better. And the dad joke humor was fun. Idk what people want in humorous video games but I wonder if the people that think this isn't funny thought the pot jokes in g5av were hilarious.
@Ambassador_Kong So much truth in that.
Re: Kirby's Dream Buffet Announced For Switch, Looks A Lot Like Fall Guys
@rjejr Sad, but true! I have to say Samsung to Samsung makes it easy. Pretty much push the buttons and you're most of the way there. Copying files from SD to SD is separate, re-installing some apps is separate, and any apps with unique migration requirements like the email client I use where I have to back it up separately and transfer it, or some security software I use that obviously needs to be manually configured for encryption reasons, recording new biometric profiles ,etc etc, still takes time. But at least 80% is push button automatic.
I just wish paying for it was also push button automatic........... They weren't Apple-like, when I started with them, and most of their competitors like LG have since exited the market entirely.
Re: Kirby's Dream Buffet Announced For Switch, Looks A Lot Like Fall Guys
@rjejr Yep. And that's why I buy the 1k phones. I don't want to, but I'm held hostage
Even with them I end up spending time over days setting it up, but there's enough that's automatic.
Re: Kirby's Dream Buffet Announced For Switch, Looks A Lot Like Fall Guys
@rjejr Samsung and Apple tend to be close enough on cameras. Apple is hamstrung for doing most things I need to do, and, originally they were ridiculously expensive vs normal priced everyone else. Then Samsung decided to price match them which remains infuriating. Honestly, though, I'm still stuck in 10 years ago, so my perception of what phone cameras do is based on then. I admit though having actual telephoto lenses on the newer big phones isn't nothing.
But yeah, RAM is the thing. I'm usually switching between apps, and my browsers usually have a ton of open tabs, and anything without a lot of ran stutters, chops, and closes things. Maybe now it's not so bad...again I'm stuck years ago. But even 2 phones ago I find unusable because of that. Heck I remember when Apple didn't multitask at all. I still have iTouch's around. Sad to see those go. Before phones, I used those. I still have things that require them as an accessory to use, so if those break I have to buy an iphone to leave permanently in a dock and that just sucks.
The other thing with Samsung is the instant copy over to a new phone. It just copies over 90% of everything automatically as you had it, and I have a LOT of configured things installed If I switched it would take weeks to sort that all out. I actually don't use it for placing calls much though They're pocket PCs. I had Palms before the iTouch's before the phones. (Dear kids, Palms are like phones before they could place phone calls.)
I'm kind of held hostage. I bought into a system when it was $400 and now it's $1200 and I don't have a way out. And it had replaceable batteries back then.
Re: Bayonetta 3 Trailer Confirms Launch For This October
I miss E3 This was finally announced and I almost didn't even know it because it was a random drop and was already down on the news page by the time I loaded it! No fanfare for anything. It just....exists!
The internet would have exploded if this was June 6.
Re: Bayonetta 3 Has A "Naive Angel Mode" For People Who Don't Want To See Bums
There's a joke about drifting joycon to be had here.
And, I know others have said it, but "PS5 port confirmed!!1"
Re: Kirby's Dream Buffet Announced For Switch, Looks A Lot Like Fall Guys
@rjejr $19.99 would seem fitting. Still too much, but not offensive like turning this into a retail game would be. It would be a fine price if Nintendo eventually did sales.
LOL, IDK what I'll buy next. They discontinued Note, rolled it into the regular Galaxy, and then upped the price..... The main requirements for me on phones are the biggest possible screen, tons of ram to have lots of things running at once, stylus preferred....and that's about it. Good camera matters too, but, generally it's not that I'm particularly picky about phones so much as they restrict one or two features I need into obscene $1000 (now $1200?!) models. When I started buying these things they were $400............... It's just obscene.
Re: Kirby's Dream Buffet Announced For Switch, Looks A Lot Like Fall Guys
@gcunit Show me one publisher at all that declares a game "AAA" (Other than MS with "AAAA".) If it's a full price game it's a claim that it's on equal footing with games like BotW, Forgotten Land, AC Valhalla, SMTV, etc, etc, etc.
Re: Sega's Old Arcades Are Flourishing Under New Owners, Sort Of
@alexybubble Silly, they don't port console games to arcades. They port mobile games. The one arcade around, which is a great one, but it has rows of Flappy Bird, Candy Crush, and Crossy Road, I kid you not. Who goes to an arcade to pay to play a game that's literally already available in your pocket AT the arcade?
Re: Kirby's Dream Buffet Announced For Switch, Looks A Lot Like Fall Guys
If this were a budget priced title it looks pretty decent little minigame/couch coop distraction worth a few bucks. If it's a full priced retail title, only Nintendo could put together an indie mini game, slap a famous brand IP into it, and declare it an AAA retail game.