All the more proof that Nintendo needs to do more with Mario Kart. Technically we haven't had new Mario Kart courses since 2014. I love Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but most of us were under the impression it was a stop gap release with the launch of the Switch until a unique Switch entry was released. Now it's looking more and more like Mario Kart 9 won't be released on the current Switch but rather the Switch 2.
@Morrow A Halloween release is great, but just one more thing for us to have to do in picking up amid costume parties, gatherings, etc. (personally I would have preferred a week or two sooner). Still happy to see it won't be any later.
Still looking forward to it, and plan to pickup tomorrow to fill the gap after the Splatfest and wait until Fire Emblem. Still I want to sink a bunch of hours into this one and level up characters prior to the expansion pass content coming.
We have two Switches in home with one that only sees docked play using a Pro controller. Still it's the oldest and it's joy-con's were used earlier on and do have some drift to them. The other Switch is used by the family and has drift to the joy-con's that is hit or miss but rears it's ugly head frequently. We do have a Pro controller and a few wired Power-A controllers for Minecraft sessions but most of the kids prefer the joy-con anyway. To top that off I do have three more sets of joy-con that are rarely used to try and preserve them in a way. I'm fine with replacing joysticks one day, but I'd really prefer something better than we have. For that reason I tend to just go straight to the Pro controllers.
Grabbing the game on Friday, but will hold off on the DLC until the first pack releases. Alternate color skins aren't reason enough for me to buy in on day one.
@koekiemonster It's been reported there will be no HD rumble. Motion is included so you'll be good in games like Splatoon 2. Automatic lighting is probably not supported as well since the bezel doesn't show the sensor that the original has hidden in it's black screen bezel. Labo Support isn't there either as you have to detatch joy-con to have it fit the Labo VR headset. That and the fact that it's a smaller screen size means that the lenses aren't calibrated to work for the smaller screen size. So while you could disassemble and reassemble your Labo VR headset to fit the Switch Mini, it's not going to look right and the image will be slightly cropped. As far as changes in the Tegra chip, I would imagine it's just a slight variant of the original chip and the main power savings are from the lack of HD rumble and smaller screen size.
My take on the Switch Mini is that it's intended as a mobile only Switch for those that want to use the Switch as a handheld or add a second Switch to their house.
@Arbor The $20 HDMI cable you bought (actually likely $30) and probably the Hyperkin or another brand are nice, but not perfect. I was really interested at first but after seeing many reviews on Youtube it seems they have issue displaying colors, specifically reds correctly. Most people seem happy with the Dreamcast version, but the PS1/PS2 version darkens the picture. Some reviews also said their devices started having very distorted audio after a few weeks. The overall output is close to S-Video through an HDMI cable which is good but this is better. I'm not advocating $150 being a good value but it seems you get what you pay for here. $20 - $30 isn't bad for what it is but keep definitely keep your expectations in check.
@PBandSmelly I agree the Wii U is still one of my all time favorite consoles. Dual screen play in games was great when implemented. The Lego games all used it and it was better co-op. Most of the Switch's library and success can be attributed directly to the Wii U. Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8, New Super Mario Bros U, Captain Toad, DKC Tropical Freeze, Splatoon, etc. all came from the Wii U.
@Aurumonado UltraHDMI is better and costs the same IF you do it yourself. Though you have to have some major soldering skills or you'll likely need to pay someone to do it with a total cost of $300 to $400. The benefits are that the image is never converted to analog but is straight digital from the system. This allows less artifacts and native switching of features like enabling or disabling antialiasing for example. You can also have features like scan lines among many other things. This on the other hand line doubles over the $30 Hyperkin cable giving you 480p which modern televisions handle better than 240p. So in all this is pretty cool but its processing an analog signal so keep you expectations in check. But even with the UltraHDMI there is only so much you can do with N64 picture quality.
@Yosher Nintendo has always been concerned about hacking and if you look back at the Wii, it's probably biggest exploit for modding the console was in it's Smash Brothers level editor save file. So I'm sure they are concerned about the Switch, hacking, and online gaming with unfair advantages. Pushing Nintendo for features we want has gone well lately with Super Mario Maker 2 and I heard that in Luigi's Mansion 3 they looked at forums features players wanted. So our lamentations in forums don't always fall on deaf ears.
@Bunkerneath True, but we had physical memory cards that were apart from your console and you could copy between them if you wanted. So if your console died or you replaced it you could keep your save files.
If your Switch dies your save files go with it. Even recently on the Wii or Wii U you could save to the SD card and then back that up on a PC if you wanted. Not so on the Switch.
I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the modding community creates a program where you can connect your Switch to your PC and easily backup save files. It's just too bad that some will likely exploit that to cheat in online games though.
@Redax I agree cloudsaves should be there. It doesn't affect my decision to buy the game if they aren't there. But again if manipulating time is a pillar of the series then why exactly should doing so prohibit you from saving? As an example Breath of the Wild has cloud saves, yet I've changed my system time to pick up some in game items from amiibo more quickly. Doing so obviously the timestamp on save files reflects this and so you have to remember which one(s) are relevant. But even with that the usefulness of adjusting time and slight annoyance of remembering which save file to use has never been a deterrent for me. The bigger problem I would think would be time keeping between consoles online where if they are too out of sync then it could prevent the connection. But again there are ways around this and I would think it's still possible.
I also think Nintendo should revisit cloud saves on Splatoon 2 as they should really be apart of that game. There are other ways to prevent cheating, I don't really see someone loosing rank and restoring from backup frequently just to maintain a high rank advantage (although thinking about it there would likely be a few). Maybe the game sees that you restored from backup and if you do it frequently it lowers your ranking from say A to B or something of that nature.
Personally I just don't like that without cloud saves we can loose our gear and level status which for me is in the hundreds of hours.
@NintendoByNature Exactly, Reggie seemed about the same way in his role earlier on, but grew into it perfectly. I'd say Doug Bowser is doing great so far and I'm excited to see where NOA and Nintendo go under his influence.
@jockmahon NOA has always always had little sway in what decisions Nintendo makes. Typically things like translations, localisations, and marketing for North America are what they are involved in. The President of NOA can push corporate Nintendo for what games will be popular in North America but again it's a somewhat limited influence.
@tseliot GCU is dead for anyone that doesn't have an existing membership. It's likely that Walmart or Amazon will put this on sale around release though.
@Joekun Yeah I locked in my copy of the Mana Collection at Best Buy when the page was available.
As far as Mother 3, I've been halfway tempted to pickup a fan port to the GBA but with all of the talk around the game I'm sure it will show up at some point. Nintendo has already released Earthbound Beginnings, and I would assume Mother 3 is likely down the road. For a standalone game I would think $10-$20 would work well for me. But I would also love to see a collection release with Beginnings, Earthbound and Mother 3 possibly for $20-$40.
@kuliddar I agree that their is nothing they are doing that is illegal. If Nintendo offered the product themselves then no one would bother buying Hyperkins solution. But for now they provide a solution for some, I just don't think their quality is nearly up to Nintendo's standards.
@Vicki_S I think the biggest benefit of this project would be to have an affordable option for playing the N64 on current HDMI equipped televisions. Most modern televisions don't scale the image from older consoles well, and adding a good scaler or modding your N64 with a quality product like the UltraHDMI can cost hundreds of dollars. If they can improve the emulation and add some options this may be a nice product, though their past history doesn't have me convinced yet. I would love for Nintendo to come forward with an N64 mini to fill the HDMI connection gap. But I'm with you and don't plan on parting with my original N64 console and game collection anytime soon.
@Cosats Hyperkin is a fairly well known company at this point, but most of their work has been with 8 and 16 bit consoles like the NES. I bought their more current NES emulator but returned it as it had sound issues. I'll keep half an eye on this project, but the quality of the emulation shown at this point is nothing impressive. If they can come up with a decent HDMI version of the N64 I'll be very interested. The other thing they didn't have going was any anti-aliasing that was pretty heavy on the original N64. With the footage shown it wasn't there so hopefully it's available at least as an option. For me it's just part of the look that makes N64 games and I would want the option to turn it on and off.
I'll wait for it to hit physical media mainly because I have 20% off through Best Buy with GCU, plus having a physical copy will allow for lending to friends. Maybe Konami has spoiled us with reasonably priced $20 compilations, but I feel that would be a more reasonable price while also being a steal of a deal. At least it's not the price gouging of Capcom re-releases on Switch.
So Atari is a bit before my time and I never technically owned one or rather played one. Still I have good memories of a friend having an Asteroids arcade machine in their house and it was pretty awesome. I was bit by the nostalgia bug and grabbed the Arcade1Up machine for $150 and really enjoy it. Still I don't see the huge appeal of this machine. It's difficult to see who this is intended for. The specifications seem to lean on that it will play newer titles yet they show off older content. I could see an Atari Mini selling fairly well, although they've already had several Atari Flashback consoles release. But I think the appeal of the Mini consoles is that you get a good selection of games that play back on a current HDMI TV connection at an affordable price point.
@PBandSmelly Yooka Laylee was advertised as a nostalgia game. Most people either loved it or hated it as such. In a way it was kind of what the next Banjo Kazooie game might have been like had Rare stayed with Nintendo. I played the game after it launched on PS4 and then finally received my Kickstarter redemption on Switch. The version that released on Switch was almost night and day better than the version I played on PS4. They spent a loooong time tweaking the gameplay and camera systems to make it run better.
@Heavyarms55 Picked it up for my kids around the holidays on Switch. I double checked and the Switch version did release late enough that all content is on the cartridge, so despite it not being listed as the "Complete Adventure" season two on Switch does have all of the episodes without need of individual downloads. For this reason the Switch version may end up becoming the most valuable of the Minecraft Story Mode Season Two physical releases. https://www.amazon.com/Minecraft-Story-Mode-Season-Nintendo-Switch/dp/B07HZD7S92
@Trajan If you want to consider the GameBoy Color a mobile platform then yes it didn't get it's own Mario Kart. I consider it an extension of the GameBoy with a short lived library. Nintendo themselves only developed FOUR titles for the GameBoy Color (Super Mario Bros Deluxe, Wario Land II, Links Awakening DX, and Tetris DX).
@AlphaElite Every Nintendo console and handheld since the SNES has had it's own release of a Mario Kart title (Virtual Boy excluded because it wasn't around long enough). And that said each has only received one release. It just seems like the success of the Switch is in large measure of the games that released originally on Wii U. It's a shame that the Switch only received a (good) port of the Wii U release in 1080p with battle courses that should have been on the Wii U to begin with. If MK9 doesn't come out as a surprise E3 title, I'm calling that Switch won't get it's own unique game and MK9 will end up a Switch 2 game. It's a shame as the current Mario Kart 8 engine would allow for some great new and retro courses just using it in a new game. The team that makes Mario Kart made ARMS for Switch and supported that for a very short time, I would say they have to have been working on the next game since then.
@RyanSilberman Here's the rest of the list of great Switch original games
-Bayonetta 2 -Captain Toad Treasure Tracker -Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze -Hyrule Warriors -Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild -Lego City Undercover -New Super Mario Bros U -Pokken Tournament -Rayman Legends -Runbow -Scribblenauts Unlimited -Scribblenauts Unmasked
@PBandSmelly I agree that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the best iteration so far, largely because it was so great on the Wii U. It would be nice to see a F-Zero installment at some point, though it doesn't sound like Miyamoto will likely be heading the project. It would be nice to see Nintendo contract out Shin'en Multimedia or even Sega to work on it. As far as Mario Kart 8, I see so much of it in Team Sonic Racing from it's anti-gravity tracks to suits of armor swinging weapons in it's haunted course, etc, etc. Team Sonic Racing is great but it seems to borrow a lot of it's best design elements from MK8.
@Heavyarms55 If we get DLC it would likely be another maybe two cups, whereas a new entry would likely provide eight and some new battle courses. I love Mario Kart 8 but personally I think the Switch needs a new entry. If we just get DLC I can almost promise that this will be the first Nintendo console to skip having it's own unique Mario Kart game. At that point they might as well just move on to the Switch 2 that we know is likely coming in a year or two. And at that point it would hopefully be a launch title.
@Luigi_Skywalker I would be okay with new DLC tracks, but really we need a new entry. If we just keep getting a couple new circuits here and there we won't get as much content as a new entry would provide. I'm fine if they use the current engine, I just want a lot more content including new and remastered tracks as well as a few battle maps (please Nintendo give us Block Fort). Personally I've been saying that this (Mario Kart) is the surprise fan favorite game coming to E3 that was mentioned back in an investor meeting earlier this year. The Switch deserves more than just Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
This game looked halfway interesting back in 2012, kind of almost as a God of War clone. I ended up giving it a pass back then after it went to discount racks and will likely do the same again now. It's too bad they apparently didn't try to fix the issues the game had.
@Realnoize Having played the beta I've never felt the need to want to make a purchase. There isn't even anything shown in the app that would indicate you can purchase anything of consequence. The only things in the shop are driver, cart, and parachute stat boosts that I do fine without. As far as timed unlockables and stamina I don't see a way around it even with purchases. As it stands you get a prerequisite number of stars by performing well in races that have timed unlocks of new cups. You can play any currently unlocked race at any time without a need of stamina. It reminds me of the friendly Nintendo reminders of Wii Sports to "take a break" more than what you are referring to as a pay to continue feature the app doesn't have. I think Kotaku got the wrong impression from the game.
@icerzerocool It won't matter because at least at this point there is no online multiplayer. I've tried several races where I lock my phone in the middle of a race and then come back maybe 20 minutes later to resume at the same point of the same race with the same players.
So I'm one of the lucky beta testers. I don't want to ruin the game for anyone anxiously waiting the game's release or break our apparent NDA. Apparently when you race you are racing against bots. Despite racers having what would look like player names from around the world there will be no multiplayer in this game. You can see this when the gameplay slows and so do all of the other racers. Even with this the game is fun and I would easily pay $10 for it when it releases (if it has a base cost like Super Mario Run). As far as micro transactions, don't worry about them as they will likely all be unnecessary.
@Justifier Considering the game seemingly is still running at 1080p (or somewhere near that realm, come on Digital Foundry) the game performs well at 30fps without any drops, stutter or overall quality issues that I can observe. The sole difference I have seen in side by side footage is that on one stage you race on a wall where water is spraying from some pipes and on the Switch version the spraying water effect was missing. There was a day one patch and I will have to race that section to see if it has since been added. I haven't played but have seen some video footage showing that on Switch the game does dip down to 20fps with it's four player multiplayer, so it does take a hit when running more than two player split-screen.
It would be nice if similar to games like Fire Emblem Warriors that the game offered a 1080p 30fps and a lower resolution 60fps mode. But side by side with the base PS4 the only visual difference is the framerate, all effects and visuals otherwise seem to be there. I grabbed this on Switch and am happy with my purchase though I also own an Xbox One X and could be playing it at 4K 60fps or 1440p 60fps on PS4 Pro, the Switch version performs well enough and on par with it's Sonic Racing Transformed 30fps legacy.
It makes no sense at all why the movie would be missing. I mean it's a what 30 second compressed video file that even at 1080p we are talking would only be maybe 10MB, yes megabyte or 0.01GB. Even at bluray H.264 compression and 30fps this would have only been 46MB (0.05GB). So it's exclusion is just utterly bizarre and should be patched in.
@CoastersPaul If Mario Kart 8 becomes a service with new paid circuits, etc I'm fine with that. But we are over two years into the Switchs life with no original Mario Kart content and we are overdue. I can also see a Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 9 co-exist for online. Either way something needs to happen, consumers and Nintendo shouldn't be okay with no new content from Mario Kart on Switch. Most like myself assumed Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was a stopgap until the next entry was ready.
I would love to see it this summer, but I seriously doubt it. It still only has a working title and it seems more fitting for Nintendo to take it's time and release around say Halloween this year. Luigi's Mansion for 3DS released at that point and I would assume this is the same.
I know Nintendo will have some surprises for us at E3 but I doubt this will be one of them. With the Mario Kart app releasing this July I would say one of those surprises will be Mario Kart 9 this summer or Fall. Mario Kart 8 will be five years old at the end of this month, it is long overdue for a sequel for this generation. I would love to see more Mario Kart 8 anti-gravity courses as well as a slew of retro courses. It would also be nice to see the option of Double Dash two man carts as well. E3 just can't come soon enough.
It's a shame that Avalanche Software was let go by Disney. The Disney Infinity series had a good run though Disney over committed on the figures. It would have been nice if they could have continued the series with existing figures or option of digital figures instead.
@SilverFox798 I have to agree on that one, though the MCU actors are likely expensive to bring in. Still from Rocket it sounds like they have a few good doubles for the MCU counterparts.
@Riderkicker It means the look and voice of each character is more based on the MCU films than maybe the comic material past games have been sourced from. Obviously there are exceptions like Scarlet Witch who looks like the comics over the movies, and Captain America who sounds more like the comics. I think the MCU inspiration is the way to go on this one as it will draw in more fans and hopefully lead the way for more DLC and both MCU and non-MCU characters as well.
As soon as Virtua Racing hits North America I'm in. It just seems like SEGAs numbers are likely skewed with so many downloading from the Japanese eShop.
@okeribok I don't think they announced the end of the game, just the toys. They had mentioned late last year they hoped to put out a continuous source of content. I doubt they are finished yet. Just the value proposition on the $50 of season 2 content doesn't seem there. I bought the most expensive digital pack on Switch when it launched, followed by the Switch Starter Pack and then all ships, characters, weapons, and store exclusives last year as well. I even just bought the Star Fox DLC, but $50 for the second wave of content is even too pricey for me. $30 might have been easier to swallow than $50 for what's offered.
@quinnyboy58 it's not mentioned in the article for some reason but it's the second wave of DLC character content that would have also been physical toys until the early April announcement.
@Yodalovesu I think most people who bought and played the game are okay with the $12 for extra Star Fox content characters and missions. The bigger problem is the second wave of DLC on top of that for $50. It's roughly four new characters, three ships, and half a dozen new weapons. I expected this and called it when the DLC was announced. It just feels they are asking a lot of their fanbase to pay that much when the rest of the actual game content is offered for free. I get that no one needs to buy it, but it's kind of a slap in the face for anyone that wants to support Ubisoft with the small amount of actual content you get in this second wave of paid content.
Comments 1,853
Re: Mario Kart 7 Is Still The Best-Selling 3DS Game Of All Time, Here Are The Top Ten
All the more proof that Nintendo needs to do more with Mario Kart. Technically we haven't had new Mario Kart courses since 2014. I love Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but most of us were under the impression it was a stop gap release with the launch of the Switch until a unique Switch entry was released. Now it's looking more and more like Mario Kart 9 won't be released on the current Switch but rather the Switch 2.
Re: Luigi's Mansion 3 Will Officially Haunt Your Switch This October
@Morrow A Halloween release is great, but just one more thing for us to have to do in picking up amid costume parties, gatherings, etc. (personally I would have preferred a week or two sooner). Still happy to see it won't be any later.
Re: Luigi's Mansion 3 Will Officially Haunt Your Switch This October
Will pickup day one but was really hoping for an October 18th or 25th release.
Re: Review: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order - Arcade Brawling Is Back, Baby
Still looking forward to it, and plan to pickup tomorrow to fill the gap after the Splatfest and wait until Fire Emblem. Still I want to sink a bunch of hours into this one and level up characters prior to the expansion pass content coming.
Re: Poll: Have Your Joy-Con Been Drifting?
We have two Switches in home with one that only sees docked play using a Pro controller. Still it's the oldest and it's joy-con's were used earlier on and do have some drift to them. The other Switch is used by the family and has drift to the joy-con's that is hit or miss but rears it's ugly head frequently. We do have a Pro controller and a few wired Power-A controllers for Minecraft sessions but most of the kids prefer the joy-con anyway. To top that off I do have three more sets of joy-con that are rarely used to try and preserve them in a way. I'm fine with replacing joysticks one day, but I'd really prefer something better than we have. For that reason I tend to just go straight to the Pro controllers.
Re: The DLC Packs For Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 Won't Be Sold Individually
Grabbing the game on Friday, but will hold off on the DLC until the first pack releases. Alternate color skins aren't reason enough for me to buy in on day one.
Re: Guide: Nintendo Switch vs Nintendo Switch Lite: What Are The Differences?
@koekiemonster It's been reported there will be no HD rumble. Motion is included so you'll be good in games like Splatoon 2. Automatic lighting is probably not supported as well since the bezel doesn't show the sensor that the original has hidden in it's black screen bezel. Labo Support isn't there either as you have to detatch joy-con to have it fit the Labo VR headset. That and the fact that it's a smaller screen size means that the lenses aren't calibrated to work for the smaller screen size. So while you could disassemble and reassemble your Labo VR headset to fit the Switch Mini, it's not going to look right and the image will be slightly cropped. As far as changes in the Tegra chip, I would imagine it's just a slight variant of the original chip and the main power savings are from the lack of HD rumble and smaller screen size.
My take on the Switch Mini is that it's intended as a mobile only Switch for those that want to use the Switch as a handheld or add a second Switch to their house.
Re: Random: Was Shantae The Half-Genie Hero Just Teased For Smash Bros. Ultimate?
I can't think of anyone I'd like to see more in Smash than Shantae, given those characters already announced.
Re: Play Your Nintendo 64 On Modern Displays With The Super 64 HDMI Adaptor
@Arbor The $20 HDMI cable you bought (actually likely $30) and probably the Hyperkin or another brand are nice, but not perfect. I was really interested at first but after seeing many reviews on Youtube it seems they have issue displaying colors, specifically reds correctly. Most people seem happy with the Dreamcast version, but the PS1/PS2 version darkens the picture. Some reviews also said their devices started having very distorted audio after a few weeks. The overall output is close to S-Video through an HDMI cable which is good but this is better. I'm not advocating $150 being a good value but it seems you get what you pay for here. $20 - $30 isn't bad for what it is but keep definitely keep your expectations in check.
Re: The Wii U Just Received Its First Firmware Update For 2019
@PBandSmelly I agree the Wii U is still one of my all time favorite consoles. Dual screen play in games was great when implemented. The Lego games all used it and it was better co-op. Most of the Switch's library and success can be attributed directly to the Wii U. Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8, New Super Mario Bros U, Captain Toad, DKC Tropical Freeze, Splatoon, etc. all came from the Wii U.
Re: Get Your Hands On Real-Life Splatoon 2 T-Shirts And Posters To Celebrate The Final Splatfest
I live in the US but will hold onto my points in case. $3 game discount or free poster set... physical rewards are better than cheap discounts anyway.
Re: Play Your Nintendo 64 On Modern Displays With The Super 64 HDMI Adaptor
@Aurumonado UltraHDMI is better and costs the same IF you do it yourself. Though you have to have some major soldering skills or you'll likely need to pay someone to do it with a total cost of $300 to $400. The benefits are that the image is never converted to analog but is straight digital from the system. This allows less artifacts and native switching of features like enabling or disabling antialiasing for example. You can also have features like scan lines among many other things.
This on the other hand line doubles over the $30 Hyperkin cable giving you 480p which modern televisions handle better than 240p. So in all this is pretty cool but its processing an analog signal so keep you expectations in check. But even with the UltraHDMI there is only so much you can do with N64 picture quality.
Re: Animal Crossing: New Horizons Will Not Support Cloud Saves
@Yosher Nintendo has always been concerned about hacking and if you look back at the Wii, it's probably biggest exploit for modding the console was in it's Smash Brothers level editor save file. So I'm sure they are concerned about the Switch, hacking, and online gaming with unfair advantages. Pushing Nintendo for features we want has gone well lately with Super Mario Maker 2 and I heard that in Luigi's Mansion 3 they looked at forums features players wanted. So our lamentations in forums don't always fall on deaf ears.
Re: Animal Crossing: New Horizons Will Not Support Cloud Saves
@Bunkerneath True, but we had physical memory cards that were apart from your console and you could copy between them if you wanted. So if your console died or you replaced it you could keep your save files.
If your Switch dies your save files go with it. Even recently on the Wii or Wii U you could save to the SD card and then back that up on a PC if you wanted. Not so on the Switch.
I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the modding community creates a program where you can connect your Switch to your PC and easily backup save files. It's just too bad that some will likely exploit that to cheat in online games though.
Re: Animal Crossing: New Horizons Will Not Support Cloud Saves
@Redax I agree cloudsaves should be there. It doesn't affect my decision to buy the game if they aren't there. But again if manipulating time is a pillar of the series then why exactly should doing so prohibit you from saving? As an example Breath of the Wild has cloud saves, yet I've changed my system time to pick up some in game items from amiibo more quickly. Doing so obviously the timestamp on save files reflects this and so you have to remember which one(s) are relevant. But even with that the usefulness of adjusting time and slight annoyance of remembering which save file to use has never been a deterrent for me. The bigger problem I would think would be time keeping between consoles online where if they are too out of sync then it could prevent the connection. But again there are ways around this and I would think it's still possible.
I also think Nintendo should revisit cloud saves on Splatoon 2 as they should really be apart of that game. There are other ways to prevent cheating, I don't really see someone loosing rank and restoring from backup frequently just to maintain a high rank advantage (although thinking about it there would likely be a few). Maybe the game sees that you restored from backup and if you do it frequently it lowers your ranking from say A to B or something of that nature.
Personally I just don't like that without cloud saves we can loose our gear and level status which for me is in the hundreds of hours.
Re: Nintendo's Doug Bowser Shares Fun Little Anecdote About His E3 Direct Performance
@NintendoByNature Exactly, Reggie seemed about the same way in his role earlier on, but grew into it perfectly. I'd say Doug Bowser is doing great so far and I'm excited to see where NOA and Nintendo go under his influence.
Re: Nintendo's Doug Bowser Shares Fun Little Anecdote About His E3 Direct Performance
@jockmahon NOA has always always had little sway in what decisions Nintendo makes. Typically things like translations, localisations, and marketing for North America are what they are involved in. The President of NOA can push corporate Nintendo for what games will be popular in North America but again it's a somewhat limited influence.
Re: Review: Collection of Mana - Expensive, But Ultimately Worth Every Penny
@tseliot GCU is dead for anyone that doesn't have an existing membership. It's likely that Walmart or Amazon will put this on sale around release though.
Re: Review: Collection of Mana - Expensive, But Ultimately Worth Every Penny
@Joekun Yeah I locked in my copy of the Mana Collection at Best Buy when the page was available.
As far as Mother 3, I've been halfway tempted to pickup a fan port to the GBA but with all of the talk around the game I'm sure it will show up at some point. Nintendo has already released Earthbound Beginnings, and I would assume Mother 3 is likely down the road. For a standalone game I would think $10-$20 would work well for me. But I would also love to see a collection release with Beginnings, Earthbound and Mother 3 possibly for $20-$40.
Re: Hyperkin Isn't Quite Sure What Route To Take With Its N64 Clone Console Yet
@kuliddar I agree that their is nothing they are doing that is illegal. If Nintendo offered the product themselves then no one would bother buying Hyperkins solution. But for now they provide a solution for some, I just don't think their quality is nearly up to Nintendo's standards.
Re: Hyperkin Isn't Quite Sure What Route To Take With Its N64 Clone Console Yet
@Vicki_S I think the biggest benefit of this project would be to have an affordable option for playing the N64 on current HDMI equipped televisions. Most modern televisions don't scale the image from older consoles well, and adding a good scaler or modding your N64 with a quality product like the UltraHDMI can cost hundreds of dollars. If they can improve the emulation and add some options this may be a nice product, though their past history doesn't have me convinced yet. I would love for Nintendo to come forward with an N64 mini to fill the HDMI connection gap. But I'm with you and don't plan on parting with my original N64 console and game collection anytime soon.
Re: Hyperkin Isn't Quite Sure What Route To Take With Its N64 Clone Console Yet
@Cosats Hyperkin is a fairly well known company at this point, but most of their work has been with 8 and 16 bit consoles like the NES. I bought their more current NES emulator but returned it as it had sound issues. I'll keep half an eye on this project, but the quality of the emulation shown at this point is nothing impressive. If they can come up with a decent HDMI version of the N64 I'll be very interested. The other thing they didn't have going was any anti-aliasing that was pretty heavy on the original N64. With the footage shown it wasn't there so hopefully it's available at least as an option. For me it's just part of the look that makes N64 games and I would want the option to turn it on and off.
Re: Review: Collection of Mana - Expensive, But Ultimately Worth Every Penny
I'll wait for it to hit physical media mainly because I have 20% off through Best Buy with GCU, plus having a physical copy will allow for lending to friends. Maybe Konami has spoiled us with reasonably priced $20 compilations, but I feel that would be a more reasonable price while also being a steal of a deal. At least it's not the price gouging of Capcom re-releases on Switch.
Re: Atari's Take On The "Classic Edition" Trend Will Cost You At Least $250
So Atari is a bit before my time and I never technically owned one or rather played one. Still I have good memories of a friend having an Asteroids arcade machine in their house and it was pretty awesome. I was bit by the nostalgia bug and grabbed the Arcade1Up machine for $150 and really enjoy it. Still I don't see the huge appeal of this machine. It's difficult to see who this is intended for. The specifications seem to lean on that it will play newer titles yet they show off older content. I could see an Atari Mini selling fairly well, although they've already had several Atari Flashback consoles release. But I think the appeal of the Mini consoles is that you get a good selection of games that play back on a current HDMI TV connection at an affordable price point.
Re: Virtua Racing And Wonder Boy: Monster Land Arrive In The West At The End Of June
Glad I waited. Virtua Racing seems like a no brainer for some credit I have.
Re: Yooka-Laylee Dev Playtonic Games Teases New Game Reveal
@PBandSmelly Yooka Laylee was advertised as a nostalgia game. Most people either loved it or hated it as such. In a way it was kind of what the next Banjo Kazooie game might have been like had Rare stayed with Nintendo. I played the game after it launched on PS4 and then finally received my Kickstarter redemption on Switch. The version that released on Switch was almost night and day better than the version I played on PS4. They spent a loooong time tweaking the gameplay and camera systems to make it run better.
Re: Support For Minecraft: Story Mode Ends On 25th June
@Heavyarms55 Picked it up for my kids around the holidays on Switch. I double checked and the Switch version did release late enough that all content is on the cartridge, so despite it not being listed as the "Complete Adventure" season two on Switch does have all of the episodes without need of individual downloads. For this reason the Switch version may end up becoming the most valuable of the Minecraft Story Mode Season Two physical releases.
https://www.amazon.com/Minecraft-Story-Mode-Season-Nintendo-Switch/dp/B07HZD7S92
Re: Mario Kart 8 Is Now Five Years Old
@Trajan If you want to consider the GameBoy Color a mobile platform then yes it didn't get it's own Mario Kart. I consider it an extension of the GameBoy with a short lived library. Nintendo themselves only developed FOUR titles for the GameBoy Color (Super Mario Bros Deluxe, Wario Land II, Links Awakening DX, and Tetris DX).
Re: Mario Kart 8 Is Now Five Years Old
@AlphaElite Every Nintendo console and handheld since the SNES has had it's own release of a Mario Kart title (Virtual Boy excluded because it wasn't around long enough). And that said each has only received one release. It just seems like the success of the Switch is in large measure of the games that released originally on Wii U. It's a shame that the Switch only received a (good) port of the Wii U release in 1080p with battle courses that should have been on the Wii U to begin with. If MK9 doesn't come out as a surprise E3 title, I'm calling that Switch won't get it's own unique game and MK9 will end up a Switch 2 game. It's a shame as the current Mario Kart 8 engine would allow for some great new and retro courses just using it in a new game. The team that makes Mario Kart made ARMS for Switch and supported that for a very short time, I would say they have to have been working on the next game since then.
Re: Mario Kart 8 Is Now Five Years Old
@RyanSilberman Here's the rest of the list of great Switch original games
-Bayonetta 2
-Captain Toad Treasure Tracker
-Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze
-Hyrule Warriors
-Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
-Lego City Undercover
-New Super Mario Bros U
-Pokken Tournament
-Rayman Legends
-Runbow
-Scribblenauts Unlimited
-Scribblenauts Unmasked
Re: Mario Kart 8 Is Now Five Years Old
@PBandSmelly I agree that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the best iteration so far, largely because it was so great on the Wii U. It would be nice to see a F-Zero installment at some point, though it doesn't sound like Miyamoto will likely be heading the project. It would be nice to see Nintendo contract out Shin'en Multimedia or even Sega to work on it.
As far as Mario Kart 8, I see so much of it in Team Sonic Racing from it's anti-gravity tracks to suits of armor swinging weapons in it's haunted course, etc, etc. Team Sonic Racing is great but it seems to borrow a lot of it's best design elements from MK8.
Re: Mario Kart 8 Is Now Five Years Old
@BensonUii If that were the case I would say it won't be coming to the Switch but to the Switch's successor.
Re: Mario Kart 8 Is Now Five Years Old
@Heavyarms55 If we get DLC it would likely be another maybe two cups, whereas a new entry would likely provide eight and some new battle courses. I love Mario Kart 8 but personally I think the Switch needs a new entry. If we just get DLC I can almost promise that this will be the first Nintendo console to skip having it's own unique Mario Kart game. At that point they might as well just move on to the Switch 2 that we know is likely coming in a year or two. And at that point it would hopefully be a launch title.
Re: Mario Kart 8 Is Now Five Years Old
@Luigi_Skywalker I would be okay with new DLC tracks, but really we need a new entry. If we just keep getting a couple new circuits here and there we won't get as much content as a new entry would provide. I'm fine if they use the current engine, I just want a lot more content including new and remastered tracks as well as a few battle maps (please Nintendo give us Block Fort). Personally I've been saying that this (Mario Kart) is the surprise fan favorite game coming to E3 that was mentioned back in an investor meeting earlier this year. The Switch deserves more than just Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Re: Review: Blades Of Time - A Wonky Action Title That Belongs In The Past
This game looked halfway interesting back in 2012, kind of almost as a God of War clone. I ended up giving it a pass back then after it went to discount racks and will likely do the same again now. It's too bad they apparently didn't try to fix the issues the game had.
Re: Mario Kart Tour Beta Test Details And Images Are Already Leaking Online
@Realnoize Having played the beta I've never felt the need to want to make a purchase. There isn't even anything shown in the app that would indicate you can purchase anything of consequence. The only things in the shop are driver, cart, and parachute stat boosts that I do fine without. As far as timed unlockables and stamina I don't see a way around it even with purchases. As it stands you get a prerequisite number of stars by performing well in races that have timed unlocks of new cups. You can play any currently unlocked race at any time without a need of stamina. It reminds me of the friendly Nintendo reminders of Wii Sports to "take a break" more than what you are referring to as a pay to continue feature the app doesn't have. I think Kotaku got the wrong impression from the game.
Re: Mario Kart Tour Beta Test Details And Images Are Already Leaking Online
@icerzerocool It won't matter because at least at this point there is no online multiplayer. I've tried several races where I lock my phone in the middle of a race and then come back maybe 20 minutes later to resume at the same point of the same race with the same players.
Re: Mario Kart Tour Beta Test Details And Images Are Already Leaking Online
So I'm one of the lucky beta testers. I don't want to ruin the game for anyone anxiously waiting the game's release or break our apparent NDA. Apparently when you race you are racing against bots. Despite racers having what would look like player names from around the world there will be no multiplayer in this game. You can see this when the gameplay slows and so do all of the other racers. Even with this the game is fun and I would easily pay $10 for it when it releases (if it has a base cost like Super Mario Run). As far as micro transactions, don't worry about them as they will likely all be unnecessary.
Re: Review: Team Sonic Racing - A Safe Effort Which Lags Well Behind Mario Kart 8
@Justifier Considering the game seemingly is still running at 1080p (or somewhere near that realm, come on Digital Foundry) the game performs well at 30fps without any drops, stutter or overall quality issues that I can observe. The sole difference I have seen in side by side footage is that on one stage you race on a wall where water is spraying from some pipes and on the Switch version the spraying water effect was missing. There was a day one patch and I will have to race that section to see if it has since been added. I haven't played but have seen some video footage showing that on Switch the game does dip down to 20fps with it's four player multiplayer, so it does take a hit when running more than two player split-screen.
It would be nice if similar to games like Fire Emblem Warriors that the game offered a 1080p 30fps and a lower resolution 60fps mode. But side by side with the base PS4 the only visual difference is the framerate, all effects and visuals otherwise seem to be there. I grabbed this on Switch and am happy with my purchase though I also own an Xbox One X and could be playing it at 4K 60fps or 1440p 60fps on PS4 Pro, the Switch version performs well enough and on par with it's Sonic Racing Transformed 30fps legacy.
Re: Hang On, Why Is Team Sonic Racing's Opening Movie Missing On Switch?
It makes no sense at all why the movie would be missing. I mean it's a what 30 second compressed video file that even at 1080p we are talking would only be maybe 10MB, yes megabyte or 0.01GB. Even at bluray H.264 compression and 30fps this would have only been 46MB (0.05GB). So it's exclusion is just utterly bizarre and should be patched in.
Re: Mario Kart Tour Beta Test Emails Appear To Be Rolling Out To Lucky Players
Got my email yesterday morning, can't wait.
Re: Korean Ratings Board Suggests Luigi's Mansion 3 Will Be Ready To Scare This Summer
@CoastersPaul If Mario Kart 8 becomes a service with new paid circuits, etc I'm fine with that. But we are over two years into the Switchs life with no original Mario Kart content and we are overdue. I can also see a Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 9 co-exist for online. Either way something needs to happen, consumers and Nintendo shouldn't be okay with no new content from Mario Kart on Switch. Most like myself assumed Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was a stopgap until the next entry was ready.
Re: Korean Ratings Board Suggests Luigi's Mansion 3 Will Be Ready To Scare This Summer
I would love to see it this summer, but I seriously doubt it. It still only has a working title and it seems more fitting for Nintendo to take it's time and release around say Halloween this year. Luigi's Mansion for 3DS released at that point and I would assume this is the same.
I know Nintendo will have some surprises for us at E3 but I doubt this will be one of them. With the Mario Kart app releasing this July I would say one of those surprises will be Mario Kart 9 this summer or Fall. Mario Kart 8 will be five years old at the end of this month, it is long overdue for a sequel for this generation. I would love to see more Mario Kart 8 anti-gravity courses as well as a slew of retro courses. It would also be nice to see the option of Double Dash two man carts as well. E3 just can't come soon enough.
Re: Warren Spector Thinks Disney Should "Absolutely" Be Involved In Video Game Development
It's a shame that Avalanche Software was let go by Disney. The Disney Infinity series had a good run though Disney over committed on the figures. It would have been nice if they could have continued the series with existing figures or option of digital figures instead.
Re: Video: 7 Minutes Of New Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order Gameplay
@SilverFox798 I have to agree on that one, though the MCU actors are likely expensive to bring in. Still from Rocket it sounds like they have a few good doubles for the MCU counterparts.
Re: Video: 7 Minutes Of New Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order Gameplay
@Riderkicker It means the look and voice of each character is more based on the MCU films than maybe the comic material past games have been sourced from. Obviously there are exceptions like Scarlet Witch who looks like the comics over the movies, and Captain America who sounds more like the comics. I think the MCU inspiration is the way to go on this one as it will draw in more fans and hopefully lead the way for more DLC and both MCU and non-MCU characters as well.
Re: Sega Ages Line Struggling To Appeal In Japan, Interest Overseas Better Than Expected
As soon as Virtua Racing hits North America I'm in. It just seems like SEGAs numbers are likely skewed with so many downloading from the Japanese eShop.
Re: Starlink: Battle For Atlas' Huge Crimson Moon Update Is Now Live
@okeribok I don't think they announced the end of the game, just the toys. They had mentioned late last year they hoped to put out a continuous source of content. I doubt they are finished yet. Just the value proposition on the $50 of season 2 content doesn't seem there. I bought the most expensive digital pack on Switch when it launched, followed by the Switch Starter Pack and then all ships, characters, weapons, and store exclusives last year as well. I even just bought the Star Fox DLC, but $50 for the second wave of content is even too pricey for me. $30 might have been easier to swallow than $50 for what's offered.
Re: Starlink: Battle For Atlas' Huge Crimson Moon Update Is Now Live
@quinnyboy58 it's not mentioned in the article for some reason but it's the second wave of DLC character content that would have also been physical toys until the early April announcement.
Re: Starlink: Battle For Atlas' Huge Crimson Moon Update Is Now Live
@Yodalovesu I think most people who bought and played the game are okay with the $12 for extra Star Fox content characters and missions. The bigger problem is the second wave of DLC on top of that for $50. It's roughly four new characters, three ships, and half a dozen new weapons. I expected this and called it when the DLC was announced. It just feels they are asking a lot of their fanbase to pay that much when the rest of the actual game content is offered for free. I get that no one needs to buy it, but it's kind of a slap in the face for anyone that wants to support Ubisoft with the small amount of actual content you get in this second wave of paid content.