NintendoWife

Well there you go 🤷‍♂️

This morning I read one particularly scathing review ("The Wrap") and I couldn't help but think that this is a (new?) category of movie / entertainment that just works differently. The author kept applying his standard expectations and known concepts to the movie where it supposedly falls short. But never for a second does he consider that.. HE.. might not get something.

He becries that the characters are static and not developing. I can imagine that this is true, but I'm certain that's a deliberate choice. They don't change within a game either, wonder how the reviewer would rate that? Maybe the Mario movies have more in common with "Let's Play" than a traditional movie: You're watching your favourite things move.

And tbh when I imagine the "character developments" that author likely had in mind I'm already bored. Yeah yeah good turns bad, bad turns good, out-of-character behaviour, dark turns.

But I should reserve my observations for when I've actually seen it

Uh-oh, the press really hates it. 37 at Metacritic. I’m disappointed to hear that it turned out as hectic and busy as everyone feared (I stand corrected). Kids shouldn’t be overwhelmed with fast-paced visual input.

I don't really care for the movie - the first was better than anticipated, quite good actually, but it's still an American-style animation movie which I'm just not particularly interested in. Not exactly target audience. I see why they do it this way and it's working and I'm happy for them, but personally I would have preferred movies made in Japan 🤷‍♂️

My biggest interest in the movie is that Nintendo might want to continue the game series... maybe... ?

I will definitely watch it eventually, but I wouldn't know who to go to the movies with (kids are still too young), and tbh I don't enjoy movie theaters much anymore as I'm finding the sound systems too loud 😳 Hurts my ears.

So I'm waiting for streaming.

Heey more multiplayer options 😐

I don't think I agree. In the end even leaks mean publicity, excitement, awareness, articles, forum talk.

And it's not coming at the wrong time either, because this is a bit of a lull.

#8 doesn't sound too crazy, but I guess it's fine for a re-release / touch-up. Going to be a steady seller, now that it has shelf presence as a dedicated Switch 2 box (and digital promotion of course). That's probably all they wanted to achieve.

Soo I did bite and bought the Bellabel upgrade.

Impressions:

• the 7 Koopaling levels are really nice and elaborate. But don't expect more than one hour overall
• the introduction seemed a bit chatty and convoluted to me
• not interested in the multiplayer things
• graphics look excellent
• mostly bought it for the expanded assist mode, for the kids

And as for Zelda: I’d be surprised if they reused the BOTW engine. It has its origins on the Wii U after all…

@OrtadragoonX But I’ve played and completed it. My profile says I played between 10 and 15 hours.

If the OoT remake is true that saves 2026 for me.

And one question:

” That means it'll have been almost a decade since the last new 3D Mario, with Super Mario Odyssey.”

I wonder, why is Bowser’s Fury never counted? Yeah it was shorter than the others but not insubstantial at all. Was it shorter than, say, 3D Land?

Hmm. Switch 2’s price pushed the limit of what a Nintendo console would cost, to begin with. Then again - it sold record numbers so far. With both competitors now having raised prices (and PC’s too, effectively) it’s not so much price hikes but an inflation adjustment across the industry I’m afraid :/ I’d be surprised if Nintendo don’t follow.

Crazy idea, but hear me out. How about a Mario and a Zelda game.

Hey I got something in common with Japanese teenagers apparently

@Strawblaze Well then it's really just semantics. In my view speed and scope and interconnection do make a difference. When I ask Gemini a complex question (asking it to assess some hypothetical economic situation) and it retrieves all the relevant articles and data and correlates it for a reasonable answer within two seconds, that's a new possibility in my book. Sure, all the data was preexisting, and you could have done the same by foot. Slooowly. That's kinda like saying a computer is just a very fast abacus. Not wrong!

@Strawblaze I don't quite get what you are trying to say. If your point is that AI isn't magic or alive - I was aware of that. If you're trying to say that AI has created nothing that traditional procedures couldn't, that AI chatbots are not more capable than a search engine, then you're mistaken. You don't need to be a fan to acknowledge that AI opens up new possibilities.

@Strawblaze I'm sorry but that's not true. I'm getting the impression that you have not yet used any recent AI-Chatbot. These agents don't act random, their training allows them to emulate a certain behaviour shockingly realistically.

To repeat this - I'm not in favor of generative AI in arts and video game design. Not at all. But NPC behaviour? That's an intriguing idea at least. Because it's kinda what you wanted all along: Believable little entities that act on their own. Possible that it doesn't work out or produces undesired results, but I can see why they'd try it. Nintendo wouldn't, because they like tightly controlled things (me too, I prefer linear games too), but more loose game designers / designs?

@RupeeClock I don't know... look at the history of NPCs, the quest has always been to make them behave more lifelike, right? Other cars, enemies, etc. The way has always been algorithms that faked it. And this is a new class of algorithms that can fake it way better.

I did however not realize that this is about an MMORPG, that's a bit more strange, I agree (because there should be human players already).

"dipping their toes into the genAI pool"

Is this genAI though? They explicitly stated that they don't us AI to generate assets, only to automate testing / quality control and now to create an assistant.

I don't think I have that much of a problem with this. QC was a tedious, non-creative task anyway - why not? If it saves time and makes products better? I thought we all agreed that computers should rather do the chores than the creative work. And these assistants are just a smarter version of game logic that has always been evolving.

I was intrigued and then just couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the price. This is so far from what I’d be willing to pay. Money is tight, not sure Nintendo has heard about that. They are going to sell in very low numbers.

@Rich_Uncle_Skeleton Right? I was going to say - these look fine, but awfully generic, no? Where's the difference to the hundreds of Pokémon licensed shirts you can buy everywhere already?

Hmm, but it doesn't feel like a game that starts a new legacy/series, does it? The gameplay got tiring before this game was even over, imo. You couldn't follow it up with more of the same.

I thought it was disappointing, mostly for being so same-ish throughout. Places and villages and NPC's were basically meaningless. Granted, it's closer to Mario than Zelda in that regard, but still - I had trouble telling stages or anything apart.

Not to sound mean, but my biggest concern is that DKB might have kept the 3D Mario team busy up until last year. Which would mean 3D Mario is a loooong way off.

I’m curious. So far the Lego Mario collab has really been a missed opportunity. You see all those sets on the shelve and end up buying none of them because they are merely expansion packs. Impulse buy -1000. That’s so stupid.

Wow, mainline Mario should be a no-brainer to me, the fact that it isn’t is really telling. The multiplayer content looks horrible. Assist mode (for the kids) is what I’ll eventually get it for, but man, this is unexciting.

@roy130390 I know there's a lot of other games. But here the curiosity is: It's a type of game (singleplayer, third-person, exploring and playing along some storyline) that could be any setting, but somehow all the releases I see are horror-themed.

Nintendo have really knocked it into the park.

Erm. Did you actually play Pinball? The delay between button press and the flipper moving is something like 250 milliseconds, I’d guess. It’s unplayable.

Ok nice. Maybe one for the kids.

Imagine if there were as many single player, third person action-adventure games as there are horror games.

Why is that? I’d love a good action-adventure, but instead they make like 20 horror games. Is horror the only setting and content everybody is interested in? And interested in making? I don’t get it.

We've actually started frequently using this app, as our 3 year olds love listening to Mario soundtracks I only noticed now how sparse the catalog still is. So, the more the better.

Got to make a playlist at some point, most full OSTs are a bit odd to listen to, mixing the actual great songs with little sound bites and such.

"Slop Fest" is this annual event with Geoff Keighley, right?

Literally got no opinion this time. They are.. effectively the same? This is a survey between blue and green.

To be honest I'm a bit bored :/ Probably my problem, but I really miss some substantial single player adventure from Nintendo. Can't remember such a long stretch with no Mario and no Zelda on the horizon.

@AllieKitsune Right, of course!

Super cool to see the appreciation for Super Mario Bros. 2, I've always had a soft spot for it because of how odd it was. So they've now brought back Birdo, Mouser and Wart Who's missing, Phanto?

@Diowine Incredible, it feels like they are making up new types of Direct only to avoid the proper one.

That said, I have no problem with the new movie receiving trailers, that's completely expected and necessary. It's just... whenever one you don't care for is announced, you know the real Direct is moving another few weeks into the future

The age of multiplayer, eh. Meh :/

Procrastinating their proper Direct

j/k, happy to see this as well

Quite a dry spell, from my point of view. But great if most others are happy.

Got my cardboard Virtual Boy yesterday, if I'll find some time that's what I'll play. First impressions: Great to experience a bit of history, glad Nintendo did this. It looks quite strange. Holding the cardboard version comfortably is easier than I thought if you sit in an armchair (one that reclines, even better). Pinball has absurd latency, it's unplayable. Tetris is bad. Wario Ware is surely the game with the most longevity, but it's not Mario quality.

@Mana_Knight Well there you have it! I was 11 already

Aah so the name is because you can finish it in an afternoon 💡

Not too far off, I remember getting Duck Tales (NES) for Christmas and was shocked and embarrassed to tell my parents that I’d beaten it like an hour later 😶‍🌫️

@Dr_Wright I think it's in the name, "4 figures"

Aww man I love Zelda. The best thing in gaming, for me.

Funny, I hadn’t even read that today is the anniversary, but this morning our three year olds asked to hear the Zelda music (they know “The Great Sea” from Wind Waker), and I ended up showing them the game for the first time ever We played the opening sequence of WW, they were glued to the screen, and threw a tantrum when I switched it off because enough screen time.

(Hesitant to show them more because imo they’re too young for the concept of “fighting”)

So, happy anniversary, Zelda!

@Eek132 You’re saying Nintendo isn’t spacing these out so that there’s several weeks between a Pokémon and a general Direct? I was referring to the anticipated February Direct. With Pokémon hitting end of February it’s guaranteed we won’t have that before at least mid to end March. That's regrettable cause right now things feel slow.

Do not want

So there goes our hope for a General Nintendo Direct.

„Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and it appears First 4 Figures will be joining in on the fun.“

I wish Nintendo would join in on the fun

RAMifications :/

Wouldn’t it be great if Nintendo could just buy one RAM manufacturer / factory? But I guess the economics of scale aren’t there, producing chips for just one device.

Such is the Norway man

I hope DF or someone will review the Switch 2 changes sometime soon. So far the reported poor / lazy state kept me from buying the collection (I've never played MGS).