That they’re making it action RPG instead of turn based does make all the difference indeed. Even though I loved Octopath 1 I have yet to play much of part 2, just because turn based battles are not my thing in the end. This here is very intriguing.
What a game. Even if it was running flawlessly and looked like a dream it sounds absolutely stupid (for my taste, to each their own. "Wasting Time" is my least favourite video game genre.).
You know what's funny... the other day I checked if "Gollum" was ever finished and released for Switch. It wasn't. I'd MUCH rather play that, even thought the reviews were harsh.
@Axecon Hm I’m not sure that’s realistic. I wish they’d all think ‘Mario’ but more likely they think ‘Minecraft’ or [insert phone game] or ‘hyper violent shooter’.
But my point was really something else: This is not the average age of gamers, but the average age of Nintendo gamers. And if Nintendo’s fan base ages with them that’s potentially not good news for Nintendo, because they need to connect with the young generation, over and over again.
Maybe it’s fine. I’m one of those who started in the 80s and is still playing. So we’ve come a long way from a stigma, just by the passing of time. For me it’s still ‘Mario’ though Always has been.
Wow the average age is a bit concerning (or maybe it always was that way). I mean, I'm older still, but a company like Nintendo needs to constantly reconnect with the next generation of kids... hope they're not all lost to phone games 🤐
Yeah, DK is going to sell less than Mario would have. Still I applaud when they put their best teams to work on secondary franchises, that’s the only way to eventually elevate them to A-list.
has anybody seen recent sales numbers for Switch 2? It has been quiet since the record-breaking first days.
as for Bananza, the early top spot means it has a chance to amass sales for many years. And it seems to be actually great, so the word of mouth should be that it’s a must-have.
It's probably me, but man these sidescrolling games look so alike and generic these days. Like they've been made with the same engine. That's it, they look like "engine". I was hoping for something original, but 3 seconds into the trailer I knew it was just another modern sidescroller.
I hate latency, really annoyed by this. I could tell right away from the file selection screen of Wind Waker. But Nintendo is not going to be anything about it.
I wonder: What’s the state with Switch 1 games? Since BC is emulation too, this time around?
I think this quote is not supposed to be taken literally, it's rather a display of humbleness and professionalism. The audience was shareholders, which is an important detail too.
I must say, as someone who doesn’t play online: I partially understand. Games that rely on servers (online multiplayer stuff) are not traditional games, they are services that continually cost money to operate.
The part that I can get behind is that developers should be required to perpetually make functional downloads (updates, fixes) available, so that when in several years you pick up the game it still works, offline at least.
I haven’t yet had the time to play it much, but for me the console is still missing the one defining single player game to lose yourself in. Mario Kart World is great but not that. I see myself playing a few rounds here and there, but that’s not the feeling you get from a new Zelda or mainline Mario.
Fantastic, just one possible complaint: I wasn’t so happy to hear that they’ve reduced the depth-of-field / tilt-shift effect on the two Zelda games. Could spoil the games a bit like the bloom spoiled Wind Waker HD.
If the Wii U game is the second best I haven’t missed much. That’s already a dull game and I skipped the Switch entry as a result. The Artoon / Arzest games were bad, that I remember.
You know what has to happen for Yoshi to become great again? Nintendo needs to take him back in-house. All these other games were outsourced and it shows. Hand it to one of their A teams and voila, great game.
Franchises or characters aren’t exceptional, developers are. It’s like a Beatles record written and performed by someone else. What’s the point?
Thanks for the list. Yeah not a lot of interest so far. Direct soon?
@Rob3008 Same here, 10 hours of Mario Kart according to the stats. I was busy, too, but had I had a fantastic single player game the number would surely be higher. Here’s hoping that Bananza is as good as you’d expect from the 3D Mario team.
The input latency is unacceptable. I opened up Wind Waker, tried the file selection screen, next thing was I cancelled NSO. I have zero confidence that Nintendo will fix this. Tried F-Zero X (N64) recently and that was bad as well, and has been out for years.
@sethfranum "Then doing homework must be really hard for someone calling using Nintendo name to mask their true identify as DF camp believers and nothing else." Haha sorry man, I'm not sure we inhabit the same planet There's no camp and no believers and no true identity. Lighten up.
@sethfranum Can you name examples? I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve been following DF for years, there was no ‘slamming’ I can recall.
DF are a high end tech focused channel, so of course Nintendo doesn’t always play a huge role in their discussions. But they’ve always appreciated the way Nintendo is going, Richard Leadbetter in particular is always praising Nintendo for their second-to-none content and art.
@Dee123 That’s complete nonsense. I watch the show every week, they have huge respect for Nintendo, save for one host (Alex) who doesn’t care for Nintendo, but even he is being professional.
You clearly didn’t listen to the episode, they are full of praise for the system, but criticise the display. Fair enough I say.
Great, not 🫤 But you know what? I’m part of the “problem”. What can I do, both Cyberpunk and Hitman are surely good games but too violent for my liking. I can’t go and buy games that do nothing for me just to help their parties.
The large number of “day one” versus “already preordered” illustrates that many people are still waiting for a better deal. In France it’s been lowered to 60€ across the board, in Germany vendors still ask 75€.
@DaGoldenBoo That’s true, but if MK8 showed anything it’s that a game doesn’t need to accumulate the majority of its sales from its primary release. Translated to this situation, Nintendo might want to keep BOTW and TOTK selling on Switch 2 like MK8 sold on Switch 1 even though they originated on the respective previous playform.
(Not a straight comparison, I know. Cause MK8 hadn’t met its sales potential on Wii U whereas the Zelda’s have largely saturated the audience already).
@Grumblevolcano I don’t know if anybody was referring to that (ever confusing) fiscal nomenclature in this case. But I just checked the official trailer, you’re right, Nintendo said “winter”. Only secondary outlets gave it a “2025” date.
@DaGoldenBoo Yeah I agree that’s been true historically (Skyward Sword sold really badly late on Wii). Although you can tell Nintendo are trying to uncouple game sales from console cycles recently, with the various types of re-releases. Probably something they observed with the competition (GTA, The Last of Us, …)
I'm in the camp of those who don't immediately repeat one course (or level or world in other games) until 100%. If you want to get the most enjoyment out of a game that's wiser I think.
Take 2D Mario levels - they're so well made, but if you go for all there is to do right away you'll be done with them forever after 10 minutes. I finish them once, then on to the next. And days or weeks later I get to experience them fresh once more.
@Dhaladog I’m afraid the next 3D Zelda is quite a long way off. They will probably tease something next year, aiming to release 2 years later, and then miss that deadline by another year. That they’re currently seeking to extend the life cycle of BOTW and TOTK is an indicator of a long wait.
They’ll certainly release something in the meantime though. For this year the Zelda focus is on Hyrule Warriors.
Next up could be:
straight re-releases of the Wii U versions of TP and WW (not sure)
remakes of the remaining 2D Zelda games in the Link’s Awakening HD engine (Oracles, Minish Cap)
something new altogether
or they could finally attempt a modern remake of OoT and MM. But with the success of open world Zelda I’m not sure that’s a priority anymore
Comments 1,399
Re: Hands On: Forget The Name, Square Enix's New Action RPG Is A Lovely HD-2D Take On SNES-Era Zelda
@The_Nintend_Pedant Afaik it contributes to the “miniature world” effect. Which these games seem to go for.
Re: Hands On: Forget The Name, Square Enix's New Action RPG Is A Lovely HD-2D Take On SNES-Era Zelda
That they’re making it action RPG instead of turn based does make all the difference indeed. Even though I loved Octopath 1 I have yet to play much of part 2, just because turn based battles are not my thing in the end. This here is very intriguing.
Re: Review: Tales Of The Shire: A The Lord Of The Rings Game (Switch) - The Hobbit, Or "There It Crashed Again"
What a game. Even if it was running flawlessly and looked like a dream it sounds absolutely stupid (for my taste, to each their own. "Wasting Time" is my least favourite video game genre.).
You know what's funny... the other day I checked if "Gollum" was ever finished and released for Switch. It wasn't. I'd MUCH rather play that, even thought the reviews were harsh.
Re: Poll: So, Will You Be Getting Super Mario Party Jamboree For Switch 2?
Nah, I play alone
(the kids are still too young for screen time)
Re: Xbox Will Reportedly Announce "More Game Ports" For Other Platforms Soon
Indiana Jones! Would buy in an Instant.
Re: Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment Has Been Rated For Switch 2
Is it reasonable to hope for a 2025 release? Would love a Zelda game for the holidays.
Re: Japanese Charts: Donkey Kong Bananza Sells A Bunch, But Can't Beat Mario Kart
Wow that’s a shocking distance between Switch 2 and everything else. Basically only Nintendo sold consoles last month.
Re: Nintendo's LEGO Game Boy Officially Revealed, Releasing October 2025
I preordered right away 😶
Re: Nintendo's LEGO Game Boy Officially Revealed, Available 1st October 2025
Awesome! And not even that expensive*
(* haven’t checked € pricing yet)
Re: Prominent YouTuber Doubles Down On Belief That A Nintendo Direct Is Due This Month
Oh yes please! I'd love at least one big reveal, even if the game is a year away... something to look forward to.
Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Is Getting Its Very Own Switch 2 Bundle
ERMAHGERD PERKEMERN!
Well they know what they’re doing, it’s surely a smart move.
Re: Gender Split & Average Ages Of Japanese Nintendo Players Revealed Via New Survey
@Axecon Hm I’m not sure that’s realistic. I wish they’d all think ‘Mario’ but more likely they think ‘Minecraft’ or [insert phone game] or ‘hyper violent shooter’.
But my point was really something else: This is not the average age of gamers, but the average age of Nintendo gamers. And if Nintendo’s fan base ages with them that’s potentially not good news for Nintendo, because they need to connect with the young generation, over and over again.
Maybe it’s fine. I’m one of those who started in the 80s and is still playing. So we’ve come a long way from a stigma, just by the passing of time. For me it’s still ‘Mario’ though Always has been.
Re: Gender Split & Average Ages Of Japanese Nintendo Players Revealed Via New Survey
Wow the average age is a bit concerning (or maybe it always was that way). I mean, I'm older still, but a company like Nintendo needs to constantly reconnect with the next generation of kids... hope they're not all lost to phone games 🤐
@Axecon Is it?
Re: UK Charts: Donkey Kong Bananza Is A Hit, But Sells Less Than Half Of Super Mario Odyssey
Thoughts:
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (19th July)
Mine is still en route from France… but hey I got it for 49€ instead of MSRP 80€ 🤷♂️
Re: Review: Shadow Labyrinth - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - Sometimes 'Good Enough' Is Just That
It's probably me, but man these sidescrolling games look so alike and generic these days. Like they've been made with the same engine. That's it, they look like "engine". I was hoping for something original, but 3 seconds into the trailer I knew it was just another modern sidescroller.
Re: Super Mario 3D All-Stars Updated To Version 1.1.3, "Improves Gameplay" On Switch 2
Yeah they aren't going to invest into a resolution upgrade when they've already taken the game off the market :/
Re: Donkey Kong Bananza Gets Short Clip Celebrating Three Days Until Launch
@gerebris Same here, mine is going to arrive late (if at all) cause I preordered it from a questionable French vendor. But the MSRP of 80€ is insane.
Re: Video: Digital Foundry Tests Switch 2's GameCube Emulation
I hate latency, really annoyed by this. I could tell right away from the file selection screen of Wind Waker. But Nintendo is not going to be anything about it.
I wonder: What’s the state with Switch 1 games? Since BC is emulation too, this time around?
Re: Donkey Kong Bananza's Director And Producer Have Been Confirmed
That seems to be Nintendo's favourite way of doing it - successful director doesn't get to direct the next game, but is instead promoted to producer.
Re: Donkey Kong Bananza, Like Mario Kart World, Was Initially Planned For Switch 1
"Times change" - more like, "deadlines pass"
Re: Miyamoto Views Games As 'Products', Not 'Works Of Art', Says Ex-Nintendo Dev
I think this quote is not supposed to be taken literally, it's rather a display of humbleness and professionalism. The audience was shareholders, which is an important detail too.
Re: Amazon Prime Day 2025 - Best Deals On Nintendo Switch Games, Controllers, 4KTVs, MicroSD Cards, And More
I’d like to echo that it would be great if Nintendolife didn’t support Amazon. Not a cool company.
Re: "It Will Have A Chilling Effect On Game Design" - EU Group Responds To 'Stop Killing Games'
I must say, as someone who doesn’t play online: I partially understand. Games that rely on servers (online multiplayer stuff) are not traditional games, they are services that continually cost money to operate.
The part that I can get behind is that developers should be required to perpetually make functional downloads (updates, fixes) available, so that when in several years you pick up the game it still works, offline at least.
Re: Talking Point: One Month On, How Did Nintendo's Switch 2 Launch Go?
I haven’t yet had the time to play it much, but for me the console is still missing the one defining single player game to lose yourself in. Mario Kart World is great but not that. I see myself playing a few rounds here and there, but that’s not the feeling you get from a new Zelda or mainline Mario.
Re: Video: Digital Foundry Tests Out Switch 2's Free Switch Game Upgrades
Fantastic, just one possible complaint: I wasn’t so happy to hear that they’ve reduced the depth-of-field / tilt-shift effect on the two Zelda games. Could spoil the games a bit like the bloom spoiled Wind Waker HD.
Re: Best Yoshi Games Of All Time
If the Wii U game is the second best I haven’t missed much. That’s already a dull game and I skipped the Switch entry as a result. The Artoon / Arzest games were bad, that I remember.
You know what has to happen for Yoshi to become great again? Nintendo needs to take him back in-house. All these other games were outsourced and it shows. Hand it to one of their A teams and voila, great game.
Franchises or characters aren’t exceptional, developers are. It’s like a Beatles record written and performed by someone else. What’s the point?
Re: Feature: Every Switch 2 Launch Game, Ranked
Thanks for the list. Yeah not a lot of interest so far. Direct soon?
@Rob3008 Same here, 10 hours of Mario Kart according to the stats. I was busy, too, but had I had a fantastic single player game the number would surely be higher. Here’s hoping that Bananza is as good as you’d expect from the 3D Mario team.
Re: A Nintendo Subsidiary Helped Out On The Development Of Death Stranding 2
@Dman10 Yeah, and I think we need a Direct, period. Not enough on the horizon as of now.
Re: A Nintendo Subsidiary Helped Out On The Development Of Death Stranding 2
DS2 Looks much more intriguing than the first part, I’d probably play that (but it’s way less likely to work on Switch 2).
Re: Video: Switch 2's GameCube Emulation Apparently Has Underlying Issues Nintendo "Desperately Needs To Fix"
The input latency is unacceptable. I opened up Wind Waker, tried the file selection screen, next thing was I cancelled NSO. I have zero confidence that Nintendo will fix this. Tried F-Zero X (N64) recently and that was bad as well, and has been out for years.
Re: "One Of The Slowest Modern LCDs I've Ever Seen" - Digital Foundry's John Linneman On Switch 2's Display
Not much of an issue for me personally, as a 99% docked player. But I’m glad they’re doing their job, it’s journalism. And DF know their stuff.
Re: Poll: Box Art Brawl - Donkey Konga 2
Gotta be honest, while the Japanese is very typical (and fine), the American design is the tightest. And Europe's is nothing really.
Re: Digital Foundry Is "Happy" With Switch 2 But Feels The Screen Is "Problematic"
@sethfranum
"Then doing homework must be really hard for someone calling using Nintendo name to mask their true identify as DF camp believers and nothing else."
Haha sorry man, I'm not sure we inhabit the same planet There's no camp and no believers and no true identity. Lighten up.
Re: Former Nintendo Duo Fear We Might Be Waiting A While For A 3D Mario On Switch 2, Thanks To Donkey Kong
Pleeeeeease stop quoting these two like they've ever been influential at Nintendo. No, I don't dislike them, but let's be real:
They were young presenters / faces hired by Nintendo of America. You can't be much further removed from Nintendo EPD, Kyoto.
Re: Digital Foundry Is "Happy" With Switch 2 But Feels The Screen Is "Problematic"
@sethfranum Can you name examples? I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve been following DF for years, there was no ‘slamming’ I can recall.
DF are a high end tech focused channel, so of course Nintendo doesn’t always play a huge role in their discussions. But they’ve always appreciated the way Nintendo is going, Richard Leadbetter in particular is always praising Nintendo for their second-to-none content and art.
Re: Digital Foundry Is "Happy" With Switch 2 But Feels The Screen Is "Problematic"
@Dee123 That’s complete nonsense. I watch the show every week, they have huge respect for Nintendo, save for one host (Alex) who doesn’t care for Nintendo, but even he is being professional.
You clearly didn’t listen to the episode, they are full of praise for the system, but criticise the display. Fair enough I say.
Re: More Switch Titles Get Switch 2 Backwards Compatibility Fixes
Does anybody know if the emulation causes additional input latency?
Re: Third-Party Launch Games On Switch 2 Reportedly Sold "Very Low Numbers"
Great, not 🫤 But you know what? I’m part of the “problem”. What can I do, both Cyberpunk and Hitman are surely good games but too violent for my liking. I can’t go and buy games that do nothing for me just to help their parties.
Re: Poll: So, Will You Be Getting Donkey Kong Bananza For Switch 2?
The large number of “day one” versus “already preordered” illustrates that many people are still waiting for a better deal. In France it’s been lowered to 60€ across the board, in Germany vendors still ask 75€.
Re: Red Dead Redemption 2's John Marston Teases "Exciting News" This Week
Choo choo all aboard the Excite Bike!
Re: Switch 2's Best-Selling eShop Games So Far
@DaGoldenBoo That’s true, but if MK8 showed anything it’s that a game doesn’t need to accumulate the majority of its sales from its primary release. Translated to this situation, Nintendo might want to keep BOTW and TOTK selling on Switch 2 like MK8 sold on Switch 1 even though they originated on the respective previous playform.
(Not a straight comparison, I know. Cause MK8 hadn’t met its sales potential on Wii U whereas the Zelda’s have largely saturated the audience already).
Re: Switch 2's Best-Selling eShop Games So Far
@Grumblevolcano I don’t know if anybody was referring to that (ever confusing) fiscal nomenclature in this case. But I just checked the official trailer, you’re right, Nintendo said “winter”. Only secondary outlets gave it a “2025” date.
Re: Switch 2's Best-Selling eShop Games So Far
@DaGoldenBoo Yeah I agree that’s been true historically (Skyward Sword sold really badly late on Wii). Although you can tell Nintendo are trying to uncouple game sales from console cycles recently, with the various types of re-releases. Probably something they observed with the competition (GTA, The Last of Us, …)
Re: Switch 2's Best-Selling eShop Games So Far
@Grumblevolcano Hmm you think? Everywhere it is listed as Q4 2025.
Re: Poll: Do You Three-Star-Gold Every Mario World Grand Prix Before Moving On To The Next?
I'm in the camp of those who don't immediately repeat one course (or level or world in other games) until 100%. If you want to get the most enjoyment out of a game that's wiser I think.
Take 2D Mario levels - they're so well made, but if you go for all there is to do right away you'll be done with them forever after 10 minutes. I finish them once, then on to the next. And days or weeks later I get to experience them fresh once more.
Re: Switch 2's Best-Selling eShop Games So Far
@Dhaladog I’m afraid the next 3D Zelda is quite a long way off. They will probably tease something next year, aiming to release 2 years later, and then miss that deadline by another year. That they’re currently seeking to extend the life cycle of BOTW and TOTK is an indicator of a long wait.
They’ll certainly release something in the meantime though. For this year the Zelda focus is on Hyrule Warriors.
Next up could be:
Re: Review: Nintendo Switch 2 Piranha Plant Camera - Shocking Image Quality, But Its Cuteness Will Snare You
@GoldenBot I am, yes. I only remember some very bad third party controllers for the GameCube.
Re: Review: Nintendo Switch 2 Piranha Plant Camera - Shocking Image Quality, But Its Cuteness Will Snare You
Yeah that was a downer, finding out that it’s a) not made by Nintendo and b) worse than the (not-fun) Nintendo alternative.
Oh well I’d probably have bought it if it was both good and funny. Even though I don’t need it. So thanks Nintendo and Hori I guess?
Re: Switch 2 Helps Street Fighter 6 Achieve Five Million Global Sales
@JR150 "Fatal Fury COW" ?!?
