Heh, yeah. It's a testament to how shockingly fun and content-rich Tour is, and how much I disliked World. I could write a book about why I feel World is subpar, at least in its current state, but it's probably a lot of the same arguments you've heard elsewhere, so I won't go into it.
What I will say, though, is that I used to roll my eyes when people talked about Tour being a mainline Mario Kart game. But now, having played it for myself, I get it. It'a a fully-featured game with tons of replayability. There's like 12 cups (maybe more?) to complete every season, and each season only lasts two weeks, so there's always something new to work towards. New seasons also means new challenge boards to complete. Online races actually let you rank up from F all the way to S+9 rank, whereas World has no such ranking system, making online matches with randoms feel pointless.
Way more tracks, characters, and vehicles to choose from than World with lots of great fanservice. At first, I really didn't like steering by rubbing my thumb on the touchscreen. Auto-accelerating, not being able to break, and even elements of smart steering that keep you from going into the grass I thought would be dealbreakers by making the gameplay too infantilized.
But, when I started seeing the game for what it was--less about getting first place and more about racking up points by chaining together combo moves, regardless of what place you come in (although, first place means more points)--it clicked. It's not the same as a traditional Mario Kart game, but it's still very fun in its own right. The coin item suddenly isn't annoying to get when you're in first, because coins contribute to your combo.
It's a really satisfying dopamine loop, and the game is honestly pretty generous when it comes to unlock able rewards. I'm doing the $5/month subscription, which after a year will still be less than the cost of World. By then, I'm pretty sure I'll have unlocked everything I would want from the game.
It's a fun time. Would recommend it to anyone who, like me, snubbed their nose at it initially.
I've felt for years that WarioWare would make a perfect mobile game. I intended to do a YouTube video on the subject but hadn't gotten around to it. Now, it's too little too late. 😢
Oh, well. I still had other ideas that would have been in the video, like mobile adaptations of the Kirby Canvas Curse / Mass Attack gameplay as well as Mario vs. Donkey Kong (the ones where you control the minis with the stylus).
I would have honestly preferred this to have been an actual WarioWare game, but I might still get it. I started an office job about 6 months ago and downloaded some mobile games to keep me preoccupied when business is slow. I always hated smartphone games, but I'm actually addicted to Mario Kart Tour and play it every day. It's honestly better than Mario Kart World. Super Mario Run was also pretty fun for a bit, though that one got old quickly.
It really upsets me there's no way to play Dr. Mario World, now that I'm more receptive to mobile games. Same with Crash Bandicoot: On the Run and the Rayman mobile games which have all been delisted.
Look, I dislike the commercialization of generative AI as much as the next guy. But dunking on somebody for sharing a post that was made with AI when they didn't profit a penny off it? That's just tacky. At best, this is a nothingburger that hardly qualifies as "news," and at worst, it's a deliberate attempt at engagement farming which I am negatively contributing to by commenting.
I've never played a Final Fantasy game, so I have no affinity for this person whatsoever. So I think I'm being pretty objective and not just an overzealous fanboy when I say, it's sad to see peopoe disparaging the creator of one of the most prolific video game franchises of all time because of one benign thing. As prominent games journalists, Nintendo Life should know better; this is a great way to burn bridges and lose out on future developer interviews.
Again, I strongly dislike when people use generative AI to generate a profit. I hate when people pass it as their own original work when it pulls from countless other assets made by human hands; it is, in essence, theft. But, if they're not making money from it, and they're upfront and honest about it being made with AI, I really don't see a problem.
People will say that generating an AI image/video has a negative impact on the environment. Sure, but so does your phone, your car emissions, the plastics you don't recycle, your hair spray. People love looking for reasons to shame others without ever looking inward. They also lack the nuance to understand that not everything is black and white.
A lot of the same people clutching their perils over someone sharing an AI image probably also laughed at the older folk who took the "Satanic panic" and "the Red Scare" too seriously. It's literally the same kind of paranoia and fear mongering, and this kind of over-reaction does more to hurt the cause against generative AI than help it.
There are real evils in the world to get upset about. There are predators in high positions of power who walk freely among us. Channel your energy on those things instead of making up problems.
I pre-ordered the game on Walmart's website after Nintendo Life posted about how you can get this game and Star Fox for $10 off. I don't know if Walmart has a glitch in their system or what, but I've gotten over 10 emails and text messages from them in the past couple days telling me my order has been delayed. (It's a delay of only 1 day, mind you--a minor inconvenience compared to messaging me every couple hours to tell me about it). Now, I'm getting an email saying my pre-order might get cancelled due to insufficient money being on my card. (Which is not true--I've checked my bank statement to make sure, and there's plenty.) I guess that's what I get for wishing on the monkey's paw for first-party retail games to be cheaper; I also have to deal with annoying automated customer service.
I'm sure someone finds this cool, but for me, I have no interest in putting this abstract monstrosity on my shelf. I'd much rather we get an amiibo of Ghirahim, Tetra, Medli, Skull Kid, Tingle, Groose, or any number of other Zelda characters who actually deserve it.
That's my biggest gripe with amiibo. Nintendo has this massive, 40-year catalog of characters to pull from with really neat designs, but then they're like, "This is our 10th rendition of the Inkling from Splatoon. Unlike the others, this one comes in chartreuse and the ink tank is only 1/4th full instead of half full."
I don't even mind paying whatever price Nintendo wants to sell them for, as long as the character is appealing.
Here's hoping it's a Tomodachi Life movie, and when you buy your movie ticket, they scan your face and juxtapose it onto the body of one of the Miis, making every viewing of the film completely different.
That, or a WarioWare movie, where every scene is only 5 seconds long and they get progressively faster.
It's only April, and we've already gotten three classic games compilations from Nickelodeon. Hats off to them for absolutely killing it lately!
This one feels more significant than the others, because we're actually getting 3D games now. This opens the door to so many more titles coming back, like:
•The NickToons Unite series •The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie •Fairly OddParents: Breaking Da Rules •Fairly OddParents: Shadow Showdown •All the Jimmy Neutron games (Movie, Attack of the Twonkies, etc.) ...And more!
Color me very excited for the future. When can we expect Cartoon Network to step up to the plate? Cartoon Network All-Star Brawl? Cartoon Network Kart Racers? Cartoon Network: The Dice of Destiny? Cartoon Network Tennis Next? (Okay, maybe we don't need that last one...) Maybe the Paramount/Warner will have an influence on their video game strategy. Playing Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy: The Mis Ed-Ventures on Switch would go hard.
Not sure if this game is really for me, but I have a lot of respect for it being a triple-A experience by a third-party dev team with realistic graphics that isn't M-rated. Would love to see more new IP follow suit. I tend to not play games with a lot of cursing / sexual themes. But, that often limits the games I have to choose from to either first-party Nintendo games or third-party games with cartoon graphics and a much lower budget. Because of my convictions about M-rated games, I may never get to experience what makes beloved franchises like Resident Evil, Metal Gear, or Assassin's Creed so great. I have to imagine there are others out there who feel the same. So thanks, Capcom, for not adding a bunch of unnecessary adult content so it can still be accessible to people like me.
I just completed the Erdrick trilogy, finally. I started Dragon Quest III in December, then immediately went on to Dragon Quest I. I took a short breather before starting the second game, which I just finished a few days ago. So, I've been binging these games almost nonstop for 4 months straight with around 100 total hours of play time.
I already downloaded the Dragon Quest VII remake some time ago, but haven't played it yet; I'm really looking forward to it, which I imagine I will enjoy more than the HD-2D games. But, I think I'll need to take a break from this franchise for several months, though. Don't want to burn myself out. I've hardly even touched the post-game content in 2 and 3 because I felt like I had my fill and was ready for them to be over. (Is it worth going back to? Am I missing some crazy story revelation by not continuing after the credits?)
Honestly, not sure I love Fox's design here. Despite all that game's flaws, I thought his look in the Star Fox Zero promotional art was pretty much perfect. Wish they had stuck to that.
I've never been a big fan of the on-rails arcade gameplay of Star Fox, but I've felt for a long time now like the characters would lend themselves very well to a movie adaptation. Hopefully, this is is a sign of things to come. A movie about anthropomorphic animals in space is seldom touched upon in kids media but has a lot of potential, I feel. Like Guardians of the Galaxy but targeting a younger audience (and the adults who grew up with it). I think such a movie coild succeed where the Ratchet and Clank movie failed and pave the way toward the future success of the Star Fox IP.
Nintendo with the Mario Galaxy movie is like when you plan a surprise party for someone, and you get really giddy about it, so you keep dropping hints to them about what the surprise could be, having them guess and guess until you eventually just tell them yourself and ruin the surprise.
After the recent Switch 2 update that lets you play Switch 1 games in handheld mode with the same fidelity as TV mode, one of the games I tried it out with was Battle for Bikini Bottom. The game looks super sharp now, but I kept thinking to myself how I would love a proper Switch 2 edition due to the hideous amounts of pop-in on Jellyfish Fields in particular. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come!
I'm pretty sure Avatar was supposed to come before Mega Man. I had a feeling things would get shifted around due to the new Avatar animated movie getting continual delays--it looks like that's exactly what happened. Ironically, though, we've finally gotten a new release date for the movie with an official look at the new character designs. So, hopefully, that DLC isn't too far off.
This game, Funko Fusion, Daemon X Machina, DC Super Hero Girls... how did these mediocre games nobody cared about get so much screen time during general Nintendo Direct presentations? How much money were they forking over? What will be the next Direct dud that has everybody rolling their eyes?
It won't happen, but I really wish it were Highguard or--better yet--Concord. Would be hilarious.
Since we just got the remake of Mario vs. Donkey Kong a couple years ago, I didn't think the original GBA version would ever come to NSO--at least, not within the next 5 years or more. Does this mean the SNES version of Super Mario RPG could be on its way soon??
Edit: This also means Mario finally says, "Come back-a here, you big-eh monkey!" in a Switch game. Life is finally worth living again.
As someone who never played this game back in the day, I don't have a frame of reference in terms of the original music. But for what it's worth, I think the soundtrack is fantastic.
Ehh, I already have the Hori GameCube split pad controller that does the same thing but better, imo. It slides into each side of the Switch like a pair of JoyCon--no need for that extra bulk on the back and bottom of the system since it doesn't fit like a onesie pajama.
Granted, it was made for Switch 1, but I plan on buying one of Hori's adapters that makes it compatible with Switch 2 in handheld mode. It'll make it a bit wider than it already is, but I still think it'll be a cool way to play.
@antonvaltaz That makes sense, appreciate the explanation! As the behind-the-scenes videos go into, Rayman was actually conceived as a 3D model first. From the early SNES prototype, it looks like the original plan was to do something similar to Donkey Kong Country and convert the model into a 2D sprite. But, the CD-ROM add-on to the SNES never saw the light of day, which was necessary due to the ambitious nature of Rayman, so they shifted development over to other consoles. I guess around this time, the art style changed to look hand-drawn. The bonus features are really interesting--they also explain how Rayman having no limbs was more to do with graphical limitations than anything and it being difficult to make fluid animations for one interconnected model as opposed to breaking it down into independent segments.
I usually don't care for stuff like documentary footage and high-res scans in games like this because it feels like a waste of storage space on my SD card when I could just watch it in a YouTube video.
But, I do think it's fascinating to learn about the history and development. I had no idea the name "Rayman" was in reference to ray-tracing. Which really confuses me as someone who isn't a tech guy, because isn't that the thing people wanted the Switch 2 to have because the Switch 1 didn't? You're telling me this technology has existed for the past 30+ years but has just never been in a Nintendo console before? I know I'm showing serious ignorance here.
Neat as it is though, I so still think that for digital consumers, bonus behind-the-scenes features for old game re-releases should be a separate free DLC, that way you can delete it off your drive once you're finished. I doubt I will be rewatching these a second time.
Some games do this for language options, and that's how it should always be, imo. (Granted, the reason is usually because those localization weren't available at launch. If I only speak English and I'm playing a meaty JRPG with hundreds of hours of sound files, why should I need all the VO files for 20 other languages?
This isn't really an issue for physical owners where the whole thing is on the cartridge. But, in an era where file sizes are getting astronomically larger, I wish these companies would thing of more space-saving shortcuts. It would be incredibly pro-consumer, and I can't think of any major drawbacks to this.
One thing they need to fix is that, as far as I can tell, enabling cheats like infinite lives/continues does not work if you already started a save file.
I've gone through all my continues, and as far as I can tell, there's no way to get more like you can in the Genesis Sonic games. I really don't want to have to keep grinding early levels for 1-ups.
Purposefully dying to get a game over in a level still leaves you with 0 continues and gives you however many lives you went into the level with. So, if you started a level with only 1 life and died, you start back with just 1 life after the game over.
I don't want to keep abusing the rewind feature, but it's one of those annoying quirks of games from this time that hasn't aged very well. Maybe someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong but, again, the enhancements just aren't working despite me turning them on in the middle of my playthrough.
I can only surmise it's because I didn't do it from the get-go on a new file. I really don't want to have to start all over, but that might be what I end up doing unless Ubisoft fixes this or someone tells me what I'm doing wrong.
It's a bit of whiplash going from Rayman Legends, which has no lives and tons of checkpoints, to this. Legends probably punishes you less for dying than any game I've ever played, and I think that's great.
I also wish you could map more than one button to the same thing. I made ZR the "action" button which is used for running, since you run with the trigger buttons in Origins/Legends. But now, I can't use A to select a level anymore and have to use ZR which is annoying.
I don't actually think this will be the plot, but what if Foreman Spike somehow gets transformed into the Spike we know from the Mario games and becomes one of Bowser's minions, with the same voice actor as the first movie? That would be a fun twist.
Very excited this has finally been officially confirmed--and releasing tomorrow!
This was honestly the best Sony presentation since the State of Play that came before the PS5 even released back in 2020, when they announced Astro's Playroom, Sackboy, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Bugsnax, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Little Devil Inside (which still hasn't released??), Horizons Forbidden West, and probably more I'm forgetting.
This one had Rayman, a Kena sequel, Metal Gear, a God of War trilogy remake and new 2D spinoff, Silent Hill, Castlevania, a release date for Beast of Incarnation, a Ghosts of Yotei DLC, and more besides. We also just had the recent announcement of a multiplayer Horizon game, and although I know the reception to it has been negative, you can't say the PlayStation doesn't have exclusives to play this year. It'll be good to dust off the ol' PS5.
I won't be playing all these titles, as I tend to stick with family-friendly games that aren't Mature-rated, but I can't deny they made a lot of announcements for highly revered game franchises. I feel like there was at least one game there for everybody.
Konami is really coming back with a vengeance, between the games I already mentioned and the Bomberman collection earlier this month. It's great to see these tone-deaf companies finally get the much needed hearing implants.
Rayman is definitely a game I'll be getting on my Switch, though. A lot of people in the comments say they'll be passing because of Ubisoft, and that's their prerogative. But, for me, if I were to stop doing business with every company I felt was unethical, I probably wouldn't even be able to have my basic needs met. I'll be picking it up at launch with no conviction.
Anyway, let's see if Sony can maintain this momentum. They piqued this Nintendo fanboy's interest for the first time in almost 6 years. Their 2020 presentation is why the PS5 is my first-ever PlayStation console I've ever owned. Try not to lose my attention again, Sony.
Feels like a bit of a clickbait title when we already saw that "iconic boss" in the first trailer, tbh. Made it sound like we were seeing somebody new.
A lot of commenters on the previous article were saying Nintendo Life has the right to censor comments they deem offensive, as private institutions don't have to honor free speech.
If that is your opinion, we should at least be consistent and say Nintendo also reserves the right to restrict problematic content.
I just saw someone the other day posting about how this game would probably have an online Mii sharing feature, and if so, they predicted a certain person whose death became a meme last year would become the most popular one.
I, for one, am glad people will have to go through extra hoops if they want to do that.
Because of my religious background, I have a more "traditional" view on things like marriage and gender. I believe God ordained things a certain way for a divine purpose, but I also believe we are called to love everyone as fellow children of the Most High.
You articulate yourself very respectfully and with no animosity toward the person you're responding to, which is a godliness a lot of people who profess Christianity lack. I wish more people conducted themselves that way--whether online or in person--and would be honored to call you a friend.
You may not believe this, but I understand exactly how you feel. In this day and age where the social climate has changed and people face the very real risk of cancel culture, doxxing, harassment, etc. for expressing their opinions, the thought of "outing" ourselves can be a very scary thing. It has, at times, made me feel I need to "closet" myself in fear of scrutiny, rather than live authentically as a Christian with socially Conservative views.
At the end of the day, I really think we all--regardless of religion, sexuality, ethnicity, or ability--have more in common than we realize. We all experience a shared human struggle for acceptance. I don't know if you would have me as a friend or not, knowing where I stand; it's nothing to do with you as a person any more than someone else's disdain for religion doesn't have to be a personal attack on me.
In my view, I think people on both sides like to make harmful and bigoted generalizations like "all LGBT+ people are cultist child-groomers" or "all Christians are cultist child-groomers." It's two sides of the same coin, in my opinion. But, you haven't demonstrated that kind of behavior, so I respect you a lot more than not just the "dark woke," but bad-faith actors masquerading as Christians as well.
I'd say there's a strong likelihood this comment will get deleted--which is a shame because you've displayed a real willingness to talk, which is the only way to find common ground.
Keep leading by example. We may have very different views, but our approach in expressing those views is not dissimilar. Much love. ❤️
This has got to be the most densely-packed January ever in terms of gaming news.
Does that concern me for the prospect of getting a February Direct? Honestly, not really. Nintendo gonna Nintendo.
There have been multiple times in the past we thought a Direct wasn't coming because we had a string of announcements prior. There have also been periods when Nintendo announced nothing and we thought a Direct was inevitable, only for nothing to happen.
I think one is for sure still coming. We're still in the launch year of their newest system, and I'm sure Nintendo is aware of the negativity concerning their first-party lineup.
I'm so glad I'll finally be able to sniff a Koffing.
Glad they're continuing to expand Super Nintendo World, even though I'm not the biggest Pokémon fan. Hoping we get a Luigi's Mansion attraction and Hyrule park sooner rather than later.
During the Wii U era, I used to think no company could make as many bafflingly tone-deaf decisions as Nintendo.
I owe them a huge apology.
I feel like this at least the third "restructuring" Ubisoft has done in less than a decade. I'm genuinely baffled how they've lasted to this point without completely going bankrupt. I know Assassin's Creed is a big deal, but I don't see how that alone can carry a business. Do people even still buy Just Dance every year? I never hear anyone talk about it.
It's equal parts hilarious and sad Ubisoft is investing all this money into generative AI when we're starting to see the first signs of that bubble bursting. Apparently, ChatGPT is struggling to keep itself afloat financially. It's only a matter of time before the rest of the industry follows suit. It doesn't matter how many billions you invest; you can't force the consumer to accept something they don't want.
That's not to say AI doesn't have its place; ChatGPT helped me set up a solid, long-term financial plan, so I'm very grateful it was able to dumb down the complicated world of stocks and IRA investments for me in a clear, concise way. If I'm able to retire with a large nest egg, it will be all thanks to AI.
But the commercialization of generative AI is something not a single soul wants outside of corporate execs who want to save money on paid labor. I've always said it will go the same way as NFT's, but it's unfortunate it's taking so much longer.
I don't understand why Ubisoft continues to chase trends that have already proven themselves to be a disaster. Concord flopped and costed Sony hundreds of millions they invested in live service games; didn't that raise a few eyebrows at Ubisoft and make them consider this was a sinking ship? No?
Honestly, it feels like they're trying to deliberately sink the company in some sort of money laundering scheme, because I can't fathom that any leadership would be this incompetent. It's like watching someone burn their house to collect the insurance money. Anyone with an IQ of 70 could understand why this is a bad idea.
Edit: I forgot to even talk about the low blow that is the Sands of Time cancelation. The Lost Prince was my first Prince of Persia game, and I really enjoyed it. Was so looking forward to this one, as I've heard nothing but great things. This doesn't bode well at all for my confidence Ubisoft will deliver on the new Rayman project they've been hyping up.
While this is a cool free update and I appreciate it, I think it's very disappointing this game still doesn't support online co-op. It's especially weird now that they've added local game share. Why can't I do that online like I can in Mario 3D World?
I want online to be the standard for all Nintendo's co-op games moving forward. Go back and retroactively update Kirby's Return to Dream Land DX, Tropical Freeze, New Super Mario Bros. U DX, Luigi's Mansion 3, Pikmin 3 DX, etc. to support it.
My cousin who lives out of state recently got a Switch 2, and he and I have been reconnecting after 13 years of not seeing each other. We used to do DS Download Play all the time back in the day when he lived locally. Just the other day, we were talking about how great it'd be if more first-party Nintendo games supported online. (Third-parties like Rayman Legends and Cuphead as well.)
I hope this isn't the last update this game gets, but I'm not expecting anything more, honestly. Now would've been the time.
@Ham-n-jam I had to Google the alternate meaning of agnostic, cause I thought you were saying New Horizons neither believes nor disbelieves in a framerate god.
It honestly seems completely backward that this is a paid upgrade, yet all the extra content like the hotel and everything is free. Would make a lot more sense if it was the other way around. Switch 2 is already so expensive, so being able to get the graphical upgrade at no extra cost down the road would be a great incentive for people who haven't gotten the console yet but plan to down the road. But, Nintendo could have still make money off Switch 1 users by giving them something cheap to buy that gives them a substantial amount of new content.
Something I forgot to say in my initial comment is that I could very well see this collection getting officially announced in a February Nintendo Direct. Would be a cool stealth launch game with a physical edition coming later.
Then the Nintendo Direct narrator says, "And..." as the screen fades to black.
Nice! Was just thinking about NES Ducktales specifically the other day and how it's weird it still isn't available on Switch. I've never actually played it but have always heard great things and as a platforming aficionado, its impact can't be overstated. Shovel Knight and Cranky Kong probably wouldn't have their pogo bounce moves if not for this game.I would much prefer the HD remake but this is still really cool. Can't wait to experience it for myself for the first time.
The moon theme is overrated, though. I said what I said.
Good to see they're working on patching the issues. The DLC definitely felt a bit unpolished compared to the base game. It crashed on me once toward the end of a dream session, which was annoying as it meant all that grinding was for nothing. And oftentimes, when I get the head-bang power, my character inexplicably just starts moving backwards or not moving at all, thus wasting the effect. There's also been other janky elements, like two different randomly-generated objects spawning in the exact coordinates and sort of flickering back and fourth between each other, or the minimap icon not going away for an object I've already harvested.
While I'm certainly not complaining about a relatively meaty expansion released at no extra cost (this is basically the equivalent of Emerald Rush being free in DK Bananza), it felt like it could have used really another month or so in the oven to iron out all the kinks.
As someone with OCD, I usually live for this kind of stuff, but being able to view play times now via the Nintendo Store app now makes this a little redundant, admittedly.
Anyways, I played my Switch/Switch 2 for a whopping 1,327 hours this year across 87 different games. In my defense, I have a YouTube gaming channel I post to regularly, so you could argue I was technically working... 😬
My top 3 most-played games were as follows:
1. Fantasy Life i - 280 hrs. 2. Super Mario Maker 2 - 209 hrs. 3. GameCube NSO - 116 hrs.
If you're wondering why I played so much Mario Maker in the Year of our Lord 2025, it's because I finally completed my 40-level Mario World "sequel" I started years ago and even made a whole Mario 3 themed course world as well. Was a lot of fun.
Oh yeah, I'm definitely doing stuff for the fun of it! 😃 I started my own YouTube channel about a year and a half ago called "Nintentrovert" and have already uploaded around 400 videos in that short amount of time. It's mostly let's plays, but I also do a podcast irregularly and other miscellaneous types of content like movie reactions. I'd love for it to one day boom into something I could make a living off of--or at least some passive income--but even if that never happens, I'm still having fun doing it as a hobby. Now that they've hired someone for the job, I've been thinking about uploading my video application to the channel.
Content creation is something I've always wanted to do, and while getting the Nintendo Life job would have been great for networking and gaining industry exposure, I definitely would have missed the liberty of just doing my own thing. I even draw all my own channel art in Adobe Illustrator and edit together thumbnails in Photoshop! So, if nothing else, it's taught me real-world skills and helped me build a portfolio of work that may come in handy someday--as well as helping me work through insecurities about being on camera.
Like I said, my editing is pretty amateur-ish right now, and while I'd like to learn more and get better at it, video editing is not something I enjoy as much as recording videos themselves and making the channel art. So, there may come a time when I could use your services! I'm not in a position right now to be able to pay a freelancer, but in the future that might be something I explore.
I always try to phrase my NL comments (as well as my posts on any other site like Twitter) as respectfully as possible, without hostility and showing a genuine open-mindedness and willingness to be proven wrong. But, despite that, I've had dozens of comment removals at this point and actually got temp-banned for a couple weeks a few months back. (This isn't me criticizing the moderation team, I'm just stating what happened.)
A lot of this came down to me either refuting someone else's political comment or bringing politics into the discussion when it wasn't a part of the original article. My intention was never to stir the pot--it just really hurts me to see all the hate and division in contemporary western society, which affects all spaces including the gaming community, and I wanted to bridge the gap by trying to find common ground between both sides. But, that wasn't always received warmly.
Anyways, thanks again for the words of encouragement! I really appreciate it. 😄 Best of luck on your continued ventures, and I hope it opens up lots of opportunities for you.
I know as part of the Microsoft acquisition, they committed to supporting Call of Duty on Switch for 10 years... I'm wondering how binding that is. Like, did it start back then? Or does the 10 years start from the moment Switch gets its first CoD game? And are they obligated to release them on the original Switch 1 for that long, as was the initial statement, or does Switch 2 count since it's in the same family of systems?
I threw my hat in the ring, but I didn't get the job (obviously). There's probably a myriad of reasons why--I live much further away, my editing skills are pretty novice, and frankly, I'm not sure how much the NL staff likes me due to some of the divisive comments I've made in the past.
I watched a couple of her videos, though, and her editing is definitely much better than mine. She has a better studio setup and more professional equipment, and he has a likeable persona on camera.
Definitely a stronger candidate than me and the better person for the job.
I'm not too upset because I knew it was a long shot and had the lowest of low expectations. I would probably pass on hiring me, too, if I were Nintendo Life for all the above reasons.
I'd like to continue honing the craft, though, and maybe someday when I've learned more video editing techniques, I'll be a good enough candidate to land a job doing something I'm passionate about--if not with Nintendo Life, then somewhere.
Can confirm my local GameStop has already closed down, which is unfortunate, as I live in an incredibly small community which has a difficult time keeping businesses as it is.
The nearest Target or Best Buy is about an hour and a half away, so that only really leaves Walmart in terms of retail stores that get games on launch date.
There is going to be an independent games store that will be opening soon, though, which will have collectibles and retro games and stuff, so I'm excited about that as we don't have any other stores in that space, either. I hope it will be successful, but I'm pessimistic it will last longer than a year or two.
For perspective, my hometown lost our bowling alley years ago, and during the pandemic, we also lost our movie theater because they weren't generating enough revenue. Also, our only Chinese restaurant is shutting down. Someone opened an Indian restaurant a few years ago, but it didn't last.
There are only like 10 restaurants to choose from within a 50-mile radius. No Chick Fil-A, Popeyes, Zaxby's, Bojangles, Burger King, Chili's Cheddar's, Domino's...you get the picture.
Yet somehow, we have three different Mexican restaurants that share the same owner and offer the same menu items, yet are all very successful.
Case in point, don't move to Appalachia unless you can live without everything except Mexican food. (I forgot to mention, our hospital also shut down its delivery room, so unless you have your own personal midwife, you'll have to drive 50 miles for that, too.)
That's nice, but I'm only just now getting around to playing the DQ3 remake and haven't even gotten to 1+2 yet. Really enjoying 3 so far, although I wish I could turn down the frequency of random encounters, which can get annoying. (Apparently, I can get a skill later on that will help with this, but I don't have it yet.) I'm pretty sure DQ7 has enemies in the overworld you have to touch to initiate a battle, which is vastly how I prefer my turn-based RPG's. Still having fun, though.
Comments 3,818
Re: Surprise! Nintendo Has Announced A New Mobile Game
@Game_n_Watch_it_pal
Heh, yeah. It's a testament to how shockingly fun and content-rich Tour is, and how much I disliked World. I could write a book about why I feel World is subpar, at least in its current state, but it's probably a lot of the same arguments you've heard elsewhere, so I won't go into it.
What I will say, though, is that I used to roll my eyes when people talked about Tour being a mainline Mario Kart game. But now, having played it for myself, I get it. It'a a fully-featured game with tons of replayability. There's like 12 cups (maybe more?) to complete every season, and each season only lasts two weeks, so there's always something new to work towards. New seasons also means new challenge boards to complete. Online races actually let you rank up from F all the way to S+9 rank, whereas World has no such ranking system, making online matches with randoms feel pointless.
Way more tracks, characters, and vehicles to choose from than World with lots of great fanservice. At first, I really didn't like steering by rubbing my thumb on the touchscreen. Auto-accelerating, not being able to break, and even elements of smart steering that keep you from going into the grass I thought would be dealbreakers by making the gameplay too infantilized.
But, when I started seeing the game for what it was--less about getting first place and more about racking up points by chaining together combo moves, regardless of what place you come in (although, first place means more points)--it clicked. It's not the same as a traditional Mario Kart game, but it's still very fun in its own right. The coin item suddenly isn't annoying to get when you're in first, because coins contribute to your combo.
It's a really satisfying dopamine loop, and the game is honestly pretty generous when it comes to unlock able rewards. I'm doing the $5/month subscription, which after a year will still be less than the cost of World. By then, I'm pretty sure I'll have unlocked everything I would want from the game.
It's a fun time. Would recommend it to anyone who, like me, snubbed their nose at it initially.
Re: Surprise! Nintendo Has Announced A New Mobile Game
I've felt for years that WarioWare would make a perfect mobile game. I intended to do a YouTube video on the subject but hadn't gotten around to it. Now, it's too little too late. 😢
Oh, well. I still had other ideas that would have been in the video, like mobile adaptations of the Kirby Canvas Curse / Mass Attack gameplay as well as Mario vs. Donkey Kong (the ones where you control the minis with the stylus).
I would have honestly preferred this to have been an actual WarioWare game, but I might still get it. I started an office job about 6 months ago and downloaded some mobile games to keep me preoccupied when business is slow. I always hated smartphone games, but I'm actually addicted to Mario Kart Tour and play it every day. It's honestly better than Mario Kart World. Super Mario Run was also pretty fun for a bit, though that one got old quickly.
It really upsets me there's no way to play Dr. Mario World, now that I'm more receptive to mobile games. Same with Crash Bandicoot: On the Run and the Rayman mobile games which have all been delisted.
Re: "That's Amazing!" - Final Fantasy Creator Approves Of FF6 Video Created By AI
Look, I dislike the commercialization of generative AI as much as the next guy. But dunking on somebody for sharing a post that was made with AI when they didn't profit a penny off it? That's just tacky. At best, this is a nothingburger that hardly qualifies as "news," and at worst, it's a deliberate attempt at engagement farming which I am negatively contributing to by commenting.
I've never played a Final Fantasy game, so I have no affinity for this person whatsoever. So I think I'm being pretty objective and not just an overzealous fanboy when I say, it's sad to see peopoe disparaging the creator of one of the most prolific video game franchises of all time because of one benign thing. As prominent games journalists, Nintendo Life should know better; this is a great way to burn bridges and lose out on future developer interviews.
Again, I strongly dislike when people use generative AI to generate a profit. I hate when people pass it as their own original work when it pulls from countless other assets made by human hands; it is, in essence, theft. But, if they're not making money from it, and they're upfront and honest about it being made with AI, I really don't see a problem.
People will say that generating an AI image/video has a negative impact on the environment. Sure, but so does your phone, your car emissions, the plastics you don't recycle, your hair spray. People love looking for reasons to shame others without ever looking inward. They also lack the nuance to understand that not everything is black and white.
A lot of the same people clutching their perils over someone sharing an AI image probably also laughed at the older folk who took the "Satanic panic" and "the Red Scare" too seriously. It's literally the same kind of paranoia and fear mongering, and this kind of over-reaction does more to hurt the cause against generative AI than help it.
There are real evils in the world to get upset about. There are predators in high positions of power who walk freely among us. Channel your energy on those things instead of making up problems.
Re: Yoshi And The Mysterious Book Charms And Delights With New Trailer
I pre-ordered the game on Walmart's website after Nintendo Life posted about how you can get this game and Star Fox for $10 off. I don't know if Walmart has a glitch in their system or what, but I've gotten over 10 emails and text messages from them in the past couple days telling me my order has been delayed. (It's a delay of only 1 day, mind you--a minor inconvenience compared to messaging me every couple hours to tell me about it). Now, I'm getting an email saying my pre-order might get cancelled due to insufficient money being on my card. (Which is not true--I've checked my bank statement to make sure, and there's plenty.) I guess that's what I get for wishing on the monkey's paw for first-party retail games to be cheaper; I also have to deal with annoying automated customer service.
Re: The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom 'Mineru's Construct' amiibo Is Finally Getting Released
I'm sure someone finds this cool, but for me, I have no interest in putting this abstract monstrosity on my shelf. I'd much rather we get an amiibo of Ghirahim, Tetra, Medli, Skull Kid, Tingle, Groose, or any number of other Zelda characters who actually deserve it.
That's my biggest gripe with amiibo. Nintendo has this massive, 40-year catalog of characters to pull from with really neat designs, but then they're like, "This is our 10th rendition of the Inkling from Splatoon. Unlike the others, this one comes in chartreuse and the ink tank is only 1/4th full instead of half full."
I don't even mind paying whatever price Nintendo wants to sell them for, as long as the character is appealing.
Re: Talking Point: Will You Be Getting A Switch 2 Before The Price Goes Up?
@Divide_and_Wander Erm... I'm not sure how to tell you this, but there aren't any upcoming unannounced titles for 2025. 😅
Re: Nintendo & Illumination Are Releasing An Untitled Movie In April 2028
Here's hoping it's a Tomodachi Life movie, and when you buy your movie ticket, they scan your face and juxtapose it onto the body of one of the Miis, making every viewing of the film completely different.
That, or a WarioWare movie, where every scene is only 5 seconds long and they get progressively faster.
Re: Rugrats: Retro Rewind Collection Will Bring PS1, N64, & GB Favourites To Switch This May
It's only April, and we've already gotten three classic games compilations from Nickelodeon. Hats off to them for absolutely killing it lately!
This one feels more significant than the others, because we're actually getting 3D games now. This opens the door to so many more titles coming back, like:
•The NickToons Unite series
•The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
•Fairly OddParents: Breaking Da Rules
•Fairly OddParents: Shadow Showdown
•All the Jimmy Neutron games (Movie, Attack of the Twonkies, etc.)
...And more!
Color me very excited for the future. When can we expect Cartoon Network to step up to the plate? Cartoon Network All-Star Brawl? Cartoon Network Kart Racers? Cartoon Network: The Dice of Destiny? Cartoon Network Tennis Next? (Okay, maybe we don't need that last one...) Maybe the Paramount/Warner will have an influence on their video game strategy. Playing Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy: The Mis Ed-Ventures on Switch would go hard.
Re: Pragmata Has Already Shot Past Its First Major Sales Milestone
Not sure if this game is really for me, but I have a lot of respect for it being a triple-A experience by a third-party dev team with realistic graphics that isn't M-rated. Would love to see more new IP follow suit. I tend to not play games with a lot of cursing / sexual themes. But, that often limits the games I have to choose from to either first-party Nintendo games or third-party games with cartoon graphics and a much lower budget. Because of my convictions about M-rated games, I may never get to experience what makes beloved franchises like Resident Evil, Metal Gear, or Assassin's Creed so great. I have to imagine there are others out there who feel the same. So thanks, Capcom, for not adding a bunch of unnecessary adult content so it can still be accessible to people like me.
Re: Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined Has Received An Update For Switch 1 & 2 Today
I just completed the Erdrick trilogy, finally. I started Dragon Quest III in December, then immediately went on to Dragon Quest I. I took a short breather before starting the second game, which I just finished a few days ago. So, I've been binging these games almost nonstop for 4 months straight with around 100 total hours of play time.
I already downloaded the Dragon Quest VII remake some time ago, but haven't played it yet; I'm really looking forward to it, which I imagine I will enjoy more than the HD-2D games. But, I think I'll need to take a break from this franchise for several months, though. Don't want to burn myself out. I've hardly even touched the post-game content in 2 and 3 because I felt like I had my fill and was ready for them to be over. (Is it worth going back to? Am I missing some crazy story revelation by not continuing after the credits?)
Re: Fox McCloud Blasts Into The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Honestly, not sure I love Fox's design here. Despite all that game's flaws, I thought his look in the Star Fox Zero promotional art was pretty much perfect. Wish they had stuck to that.
I've never been a big fan of the on-rails arcade gameplay of Star Fox, but I've felt for a long time now like the characters would lend themselves very well to a movie adaptation. Hopefully, this is is a sign of things to come. A movie about anthropomorphic animals in space is seldom touched upon in kids media but has a lot of potential, I feel. Like Guardians of the Galaxy but targeting a younger audience (and the adults who grew up with it). I think such a movie coild succeed where the Ratchet and Clank movie failed and pave the way toward the future success of the Star Fox IP.
Re: Fox McCloud Blasts Into The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Nintendo with the Mario Galaxy movie is like when you plan a surprise party for someone, and you get really giddy about it, so you keep dropping hints to them about what the surprise could be, having them guess and guess until you eventually just tell them yourself and ruin the surprise.
Re: Investor Who Urged Nintendo To Monetise Mario's Jumps Acquires Shares In Kadokawa
A lot of people seem to not realize you can pay to upgrade your stats in Mario Kart Tour...
Re: Epic Mickey: Rebrushed Joins A Trio Of THQ Nordic Titles Getting The Switch 2 Treatment
After the recent Switch 2 update that lets you play Switch 1 games in handheld mode with the same fidelity as TV mode, one of the games I tried it out with was Battle for Bikini Bottom. The game looks super sharp now, but I kept thinking to myself how I would love a proper Switch 2 edition due to the hideous amounts of pop-in on Jellyfish Fields in particular. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come!
Re: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Version 1.3.1 Is Now Live, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
I'm pretty sure Avatar was supposed to come before Mega Man. I had a feeling things would get shifted around due to the new Avatar animated movie getting continual delays--it looks like that's exactly what happened. Ironically, though, we've finally gotten a new release date for the movie with an official look at the new character designs. So, hopefully, that DLC isn't too far off.
Re: Two More Kirby Air Riders amiibo Are On The Way, Out Later This Year
Marx and Magolor next, please??
Re: So It Begins! Cosy Lord Of The Rings Game 'Tales Of The Shire' Moves In On Switch 2 This Month
This game, Funko Fusion, Daemon X Machina, DC Super Hero Girls... how did these mediocre games nobody cared about get so much screen time during general Nintendo Direct presentations? How much money were they forking over? What will be the next Direct dud that has everybody rolling their eyes?
It won't happen, but I really wish it were Highguard or--better yet--Concord. Would be hilarious.
Re: Nintendo Expands Switch Online's Virtual Boy And GBA Library With Three More Titles
Since we just got the remake of Mario vs. Donkey Kong a couple years ago, I didn't think the original GBA version would ever come to NSO--at least, not within the next 5 years or more. Does this mean the SNES version of Super Mario RPG could be on its way soon??
Edit: This also means Mario finally says, "Come back-a here, you big-eh monkey!" in a Switch game. Life is finally worth living again.
Re: Pokémon Winds & Waves Announced For Switch 2, Launching Next Year
Curious what Nintendo's big Holiday, 2026 game will be, then...
Re: Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition Is "The First Step" In The Platformer's Comeback
As someone who never played this game back in the day, I don't have a frame of reference in terms of the original music. But for what it's worth, I think the soundtrack is fantastic.
Re: This Switch 2 Grip Might Be The Ultimate Way To Play GameCube Games In Handheld
Ehh, I already have the Hori GameCube split pad controller that does the same thing but better, imo. It slides into each side of the Switch like a pair of JoyCon--no need for that extra bulk on the back and bottom of the system since it doesn't fit like a onesie pajama.
Granted, it was made for Switch 1, but I plan on buying one of Hori's adapters that makes it compatible with Switch 2 in handheld mode. It'll make it a bit wider than it already is, but I still think it'll be a cool way to play.
Re: Ubisoft Reportedly Aware Of Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition OST Requests
@antonvaltaz That makes sense, appreciate the explanation! As the behind-the-scenes videos go into, Rayman was actually conceived as a 3D model first. From the early SNES prototype, it looks like the original plan was to do something similar to Donkey Kong Country and convert the model into a 2D sprite. But, the CD-ROM add-on to the SNES never saw the light of day, which was necessary due to the ambitious nature of Rayman, so they shifted development over to other consoles. I guess around this time, the art style changed to look hand-drawn. The bonus features are really interesting--they also explain how Rayman having no limbs was more to do with graphical limitations than anything and it being difficult to make fluid animations for one interconnected model as opposed to breaking it down into independent segments.
Re: Ubisoft Reportedly Aware Of Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition OST Requests
I usually don't care for stuff like documentary footage and high-res scans in games like this because it feels like a waste of storage space on my SD card when I could just watch it in a YouTube video.
But, I do think it's fascinating to learn about the history and development. I had no idea the name "Rayman" was in reference to ray-tracing. Which really confuses me as someone who isn't a tech guy, because isn't that the thing people wanted the Switch 2 to have because the Switch 1 didn't? You're telling me this technology has existed for the past 30+ years but has just never been in a Nintendo console before? I know I'm showing serious ignorance here.
Neat as it is though, I so still think that for digital consumers, bonus behind-the-scenes features for old game re-releases should be a separate free DLC, that way you can delete it off your drive once you're finished. I doubt I will be rewatching these a second time.
Some games do this for language options, and that's how it should always be, imo. (Granted, the reason is usually because those localization weren't available at launch. If I only speak English and I'm playing a meaty JRPG with hundreds of hours of sound files, why should I need all the VO files for 20 other languages?
This isn't really an issue for physical owners where the whole thing is on the cartridge. But, in an era where file sizes are getting astronomically larger, I wish these companies would thing of more space-saving shortcuts. It would be incredibly pro-consumer, and I can't think of any major drawbacks to this.
Re: Ubisoft Reportedly Aware Of Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition OST Requests
@beartown
"They probably get hundreds of emails, DMs and social media comments about it daily too."
I fear you overestimate the popularity of Rayman.
Re: Ubisoft Reportedly Aware Of Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition OST Requests
One thing they need to fix is that, as far as I can tell, enabling cheats like infinite lives/continues does not work if you already started a save file.
I've gone through all my continues, and as far as I can tell, there's no way to get more like you can in the Genesis Sonic games. I really don't want to have to keep grinding early levels for 1-ups.
Purposefully dying to get a game over in a level still leaves you with 0 continues and gives you however many lives you went into the level with. So, if you started a level with only 1 life and died, you start back with just 1 life after the game over.
I don't want to keep abusing the rewind feature, but it's one of those annoying quirks of games from this time that hasn't aged very well. Maybe someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong but, again, the enhancements just aren't working despite me turning them on in the middle of my playthrough.
I can only surmise it's because I didn't do it from the get-go on a new file. I really don't want to have to start all over, but that might be what I end up doing unless Ubisoft fixes this or someone tells me what I'm doing wrong.
It's a bit of whiplash going from Rayman Legends, which has no lives and tons of checkpoints, to this. Legends probably punishes you less for dying than any game I've ever played, and I think that's great.
I also wish you could map more than one button to the same thing. I made ZR the "action" button which is used for running, since you run with the trigger buttons in Origins/Legends. But now, I can't use A to select a level anymore and have to use ZR which is annoying.
Re: Mario's Joined By Some Familiar Foes In New Galaxy Movie Poster
I don't actually think this will be the plot, but what if Foreman Spike somehow gets transformed into the Spike we know from the Mario games and becomes one of Bowser's minions, with the same voice actor as the first movie? That would be a fun twist.
Re: Surprise! Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition Arrives On Switch This Week
Very excited this has finally been officially confirmed--and releasing tomorrow!
This was honestly the best Sony presentation since the State of Play that came before the PS5 even released back in 2020, when they announced Astro's Playroom, Sackboy, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Bugsnax, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Little Devil Inside (which still hasn't released??), Horizons Forbidden West, and probably more I'm forgetting.
This one had Rayman, a Kena sequel, Metal Gear, a God of War trilogy remake and new 2D spinoff, Silent Hill, Castlevania, a release date for Beast of Incarnation, a Ghosts of Yotei DLC, and more besides. We also just had the recent announcement of a multiplayer Horizon game, and although I know the reception to it has been negative, you can't say the PlayStation doesn't have exclusives to play this year. It'll be good to dust off the ol' PS5.
I won't be playing all these titles, as I tend to stick with family-friendly games that aren't Mature-rated, but I can't deny they made a lot of announcements for highly revered game franchises. I feel like there was at least one game there for everybody.
Konami is really coming back with a vengeance, between the games I already mentioned and the Bomberman collection earlier this month. It's great to see these tone-deaf companies finally get the much needed hearing implants.
Rayman is definitely a game I'll be getting on my Switch, though. A lot of people in the comments say they'll be passing because of Ubisoft, and that's their prerogative. But, for me, if I were to stop doing business with every company I felt was unethical, I probably wouldn't even be able to have my basic needs met. I'll be picking it up at launch with no conviction.
Anyway, let's see if Sony can maintain this momentum. They piqued this Nintendo fanboy's interest for the first time in almost 6 years. Their 2020 presentation is why the PS5 is my first-ever PlayStation console I've ever owned. Try not to lose my attention again, Sony.
Re: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Gets A Brand New Teaser With An Iconic Boss
Feels like a bit of a clickbait title when we already saw that "iconic boss" in the first trailer, tbh. Made it sound like we were seeing somebody new.
Re: Super Mario Party Jamboree Updated For Switch 2 And Switch (Version 2.3.0)
Glad to see Nintendo is still...
Polishing up the game.
Re: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Fails To Meets Sega's Expectations
@TerribleTerabytes I would have agreed with you like a year ago. But, Crossworlds is significantly better than Mario Kart World.
Re: Nintendo Restricting Some Image Sharing Features For Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream
A lot of commenters on the previous article were saying Nintendo Life has the right to censor comments they deem offensive, as private institutions don't have to honor free speech.
If that is your opinion, we should at least be consistent and say Nintendo also reserves the right to restrict problematic content.
I just saw someone the other day posting about how this game would probably have an online Mii sharing feature, and if so, they predicted a certain person whose death became a meme last year would become the most popular one.
I, for one, am glad people will have to go through extra hoops if they want to do that.
Re: Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream Moves In On Switch 1 This April
@michellelynn0976
Because of my religious background, I have a more "traditional" view on things like marriage and gender. I believe God ordained things a certain way for a divine purpose, but I also believe we are called to love everyone as fellow children of the Most High.
You articulate yourself very respectfully and with no animosity toward the person you're responding to, which is a godliness a lot of people who profess Christianity lack. I wish more people conducted themselves that way--whether online or in person--and would be honored to call you a friend.
You may not believe this, but I understand exactly how you feel. In this day and age where the social climate has changed and people face the very real risk of cancel culture, doxxing, harassment, etc. for expressing their opinions, the thought of "outing" ourselves can be a very scary thing. It has, at times, made me feel I need to "closet" myself in fear of scrutiny, rather than live authentically as a Christian with socially Conservative views.
At the end of the day, I really think we all--regardless of religion, sexuality, ethnicity, or ability--have more in common than we realize. We all experience a shared human struggle for acceptance. I don't know if you would have me as a friend or not, knowing where I stand; it's nothing to do with you as a person any more than someone else's disdain for religion doesn't have to be a personal attack on me.
In my view, I think people on both sides like to make harmful and bigoted generalizations like "all LGBT+ people are cultist child-groomers" or "all Christians are cultist child-groomers." It's two sides of the same coin, in my opinion. But, you haven't demonstrated that kind of behavior, so I respect you a lot more than not just the "dark woke," but bad-faith actors masquerading as Christians as well.
I'd say there's a strong likelihood this comment will get deleted--which is a shame because you've displayed a real willingness to talk, which is the only way to find common ground.
Keep leading by example. We may have very different views, but our approach in expressing those views is not dissimilar. Much love. ❤️
Re: Disney Afternoon Collection Pops Up On Switch 1 & 2 eShop, Includes Two Additional Games
This is a good month for fans of retro licensed Nickelodeon and Disney games everywhere.
Re: Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream Nintendo Direct Announced For Thursday, 29th January
This has got to be the most densely-packed January ever in terms of gaming news.
Does that concern me for the prospect of getting a February Direct? Honestly, not really. Nintendo gonna Nintendo.
There have been multiple times in the past we thought a Direct wasn't coming because we had a string of announcements prior. There have also been periods when Nintendo announced nothing and we thought a Direct was inevitable, only for nothing to happen.
I think one is for sure still coming. We're still in the launch year of their newest system, and I'm sure Nintendo is aware of the negativity concerning their first-party lineup.
Re: Lego Teases Another Adult Mario Kart Set, This Time Starring Luigi
@MJF I called Nintendo and thanked them for all the "feet" games. 😏
Re: A 'World Class' Pokémon Attraction Is Coming To Universal Studios
I'm so glad I'll finally be able to sniff a Koffing.
Glad they're continuing to expand Super Nintendo World, even though I'm not the biggest Pokémon fan. Hoping we get a Luigi's Mansion attraction and Hyrule park sooner rather than later.
Re: Ubisoft Cancels 6 Games In Major Organisation Restructure
During the Wii U era, I used to think no company could make as many bafflingly tone-deaf decisions as Nintendo.
I owe them a huge apology.
I feel like this at least the third "restructuring" Ubisoft has done in less than a decade. I'm genuinely baffled how they've lasted to this point without completely going bankrupt. I know Assassin's Creed is a big deal, but I don't see how that alone can carry a business. Do people even still buy Just Dance every year? I never hear anyone talk about it.
It's equal parts hilarious and sad Ubisoft is investing all this money into generative AI when we're starting to see the first signs of that bubble bursting. Apparently, ChatGPT is struggling to keep itself afloat financially. It's only a matter of time before the rest of the industry follows suit. It doesn't matter how many billions you invest; you can't force the consumer to accept something they don't want.
That's not to say AI doesn't have its place; ChatGPT helped me set up a solid, long-term financial plan, so I'm very grateful it was able to dumb down the complicated world of stocks and IRA investments for me in a clear, concise way. If I'm able to retire with a large nest egg, it will be all thanks to AI.
But the commercialization of generative AI is something not a single soul wants outside of corporate execs who want to save money on paid labor. I've always said it will go the same way as NFT's, but it's unfortunate it's taking so much longer.
I don't understand why Ubisoft continues to chase trends that have already proven themselves to be a disaster. Concord flopped and costed Sony hundreds of millions they invested in live service games; didn't that raise a few eyebrows at Ubisoft and make them consider this was a sinking ship? No?
Honestly, it feels like they're trying to deliberately sink the company in some sort of money laundering scheme, because I can't fathom that any leadership would be this incompetent. It's like watching someone burn their house to collect the insurance money. Anyone with an IQ of 70 could understand why this is a bad idea.
Edit: I forgot to even talk about the low blow that is the Sands of Time cancelation. The Lost Prince was my first Prince of Persia game, and I really enjoyed it. Was so looking forward to this one, as I've heard nothing but great things. This doesn't bode well at all for my confidence Ubisoft will deliver on the new Rayman project they've been hyping up.
What a disaster.
Re: Donkey Kong Country Returns HD Gets A Free Switch 2 Update And Adds Dixie Kong
While this is a cool free update and I appreciate it, I think it's very disappointing this game still doesn't support online co-op. It's especially weird now that they've added local game share. Why can't I do that online like I can in Mario 3D World?
I want online to be the standard for all Nintendo's co-op games moving forward. Go back and retroactively update Kirby's Return to Dream Land DX, Tropical Freeze, New Super Mario Bros. U DX, Luigi's Mansion 3, Pikmin 3 DX, etc. to support it.
My cousin who lives out of state recently got a Switch 2, and he and I have been reconnecting after 13 years of not seeing each other. We used to do DS Download Play all the time back in the day when he lived locally. Just the other day, we were talking about how great it'd be if more first-party Nintendo games supported online. (Third-parties like Rayman Legends and Cuphead as well.)
I hope this isn't the last update this game gets, but I'm not expecting anything more, honestly. Now would've been the time.
Re: Donkey Kong Country Returns HD Gets A Free Switch 2 Update And Adds Dixie Kong
We got "Old Dixie Mode" before GTA 6.
Re: Review: Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - A Cheap Upgrade, But Lacking Substance
@Ham-n-jam I had to Google the alternate meaning of agnostic, cause I thought you were saying New Horizons neither believes nor disbelieves in a framerate god.
Re: Review: Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - A Cheap Upgrade, But Lacking Substance
It honestly seems completely backward that this is a paid upgrade, yet all the extra content like the hotel and everything is free. Would make a lot more sense if it was the other way around. Switch 2 is already so expensive, so being able to get the graphical upgrade at no extra cost down the road would be a great incentive for people who haven't gotten the console yet but plan to down the road. But, Nintendo could have still make money off Switch 1 users by giving them something cheap to buy that gives them a substantial amount of new content.
Re: An Overlooked Disney Collection From Digital Eclipse Has Been Rated For Switch
Something I forgot to say in my initial comment is that I could very well see this collection getting officially announced in a February Nintendo Direct. Would be a cool stealth launch game with a physical edition coming later.
Then the Nintendo Direct narrator says, "And..." as the screen fades to black.
Fade in on DuckTales Remastered.
...maybe that's a long shot, but a man can dream.
Re: An Overlooked Disney Collection From Digital Eclipse Has Been Rated For Switch
Nice! Was just thinking about NES Ducktales specifically the other day and how it's weird it still isn't available on Switch. I've never actually played it but have always heard great things and as a platforming aficionado, its impact can't be overstated. Shovel Knight and Cranky Kong probably wouldn't have their pogo bounce moves if not for this game.I would much prefer the HD remake but this is still really cool. Can't wait to experience it for myself for the first time.
The moon theme is overrated, though. I said what I said.
Re: Fantasy Life i's Latest Switch 1 & 2 Update Is Now Live, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
Good to see they're working on patching the issues. The DLC definitely felt a bit unpolished compared to the base game. It crashed on me once toward the end of a dream session, which was annoying as it meant all that grinding was for nothing. And oftentimes, when I get the head-bang power, my character inexplicably just starts moving backwards or not moving at all, thus wasting the effect. There's also been other janky elements, like two different randomly-generated objects spawning in the exact coordinates and sort of flickering back and fourth between each other, or the minimap icon not going away for an object I've already harvested.
While I'm certainly not complaining about a relatively meaty expansion released at no extra cost (this is basically the equivalent of Emerald Rush being free in DK Bananza), it felt like it could have used really another month or so in the oven to iron out all the kinks.
Re: Nintendo Switch 2025 'Year In Review' Is Available Now
As someone with OCD, I usually live for this kind of stuff, but being able to view play times now via the Nintendo Store app now makes this a little redundant, admittedly.
Anyways, I played my Switch/Switch 2 for a whopping 1,327 hours this year across 87 different games. In my defense, I have a YouTube gaming channel I post to regularly, so you could argue I was technically working... 😬
My top 3 most-played games were as follows:
1. Fantasy Life i - 280 hrs.
2. Super Mario Maker 2 - 209 hrs.
3. GameCube NSO - 116 hrs.
If you're wondering why I played so much Mario Maker in the Year of our Lord 2025, it's because I finally completed my 40-level Mario World "sequel" I started years ago and even made a whole Mario 3 themed course world as well. Was a lot of fun.
Re: Site News: Please Welcome Mai, The Newest Member Of Our YouTube Team
@Daniel36
Oh yeah, I'm definitely doing stuff for the fun of it! 😃 I started my own YouTube channel about a year and a half ago called "Nintentrovert" and have already uploaded around 400 videos in that short amount of time. It's mostly let's plays, but I also do a podcast irregularly and other miscellaneous types of content like movie reactions. I'd love for it to one day boom into something I could make a living off of--or at least some passive income--but even if that never happens, I'm still having fun doing it as a hobby. Now that they've hired someone for the job, I've been thinking about uploading my video application to the channel.
Content creation is something I've always wanted to do, and while getting the Nintendo Life job would have been great for networking and gaining industry exposure, I definitely would have missed the liberty of just doing my own thing. I even draw all my own channel art in Adobe Illustrator and edit together thumbnails in Photoshop! So, if nothing else, it's taught me real-world skills and helped me build a portfolio of work that may come in handy someday--as well as helping me work through insecurities about being on camera.
Like I said, my editing is pretty amateur-ish right now, and while I'd like to learn more and get better at it, video editing is not something I enjoy as much as recording videos themselves and making the channel art. So, there may come a time when I could use your services! I'm not in a position right now to be able to pay a freelancer, but in the future that might be something I explore.
I always try to phrase my NL comments (as well as my posts on any other site like Twitter) as respectfully as possible, without hostility and showing a genuine open-mindedness and willingness to be proven wrong. But, despite that, I've had dozens of comment removals at this point and actually got temp-banned for a couple weeks a few months back. (This isn't me criticizing the moderation team, I'm just stating what happened.)
A lot of this came down to me either refuting someone else's political comment or bringing politics into the discussion when it wasn't a part of the original article. My intention was never to stir the pot--it just really hurts me to see all the hate and division in contemporary western society, which affects all spaces including the gaming community, and I wanted to bridge the gap by trying to find common ground between both sides. But, that wasn't always received warmly.
Anyways, thanks again for the words of encouragement! I really appreciate it. 😄 Best of luck on your continued ventures, and I hope it opens up lots of opportunities for you.
Re: Rumour: Call Of Duty's Nintendo Release Is Apparently On Target For 2026
I know as part of the Microsoft acquisition, they committed to supporting Call of Duty on Switch for 10 years... I'm wondering how binding that is. Like, did it start back then? Or does the 10 years start from the moment Switch gets its first CoD game? And are they obligated to release them on the original Switch 1 for that long, as was the initial statement, or does Switch 2 count since it's in the same family of systems?
Re: Site News: Please Welcome Mai, The Newest Member Of Our YouTube Team
Congrats to her!
I threw my hat in the ring, but I didn't get the job (obviously). There's probably a myriad of reasons why--I live much further away, my editing skills are pretty novice, and frankly, I'm not sure how much the NL staff likes me due to some of the divisive comments I've made in the past.
I watched a couple of her videos, though, and her editing is definitely much better than mine. She has a better studio setup and more professional equipment, and he has a likeable persona on camera.
Definitely a stronger candidate than me and the better person for the job.
I'm not too upset because I knew it was a long shot and had the lowest of low expectations. I would probably pass on hiring me, too, if I were Nintendo Life for all the above reasons.
I'd like to continue honing the craft, though, and maybe someday when I've learned more video editing techniques, I'll be a good enough candidate to land a job doing something I'm passionate about--if not with Nintendo Life, then somewhere.
Congrats again, and Godspeed, Mai! 🫡
Re: GameStop Kicks Off 2026 By Reportedly Shutting "Hundreds" Of Stores
Can confirm my local GameStop has already closed down, which is unfortunate, as I live in an incredibly small community which has a difficult time keeping businesses as it is.
The nearest Target or Best Buy is about an hour and a half away, so that only really leaves Walmart in terms of retail stores that get games on launch date.
There is going to be an independent games store that will be opening soon, though, which will have collectibles and retro games and stuff, so I'm excited about that as we don't have any other stores in that space, either. I hope it will be successful, but I'm pessimistic it will last longer than a year or two.
For perspective, my hometown lost our bowling alley years ago, and during the pandemic, we also lost our movie theater because they weren't generating enough revenue. Also, our only Chinese restaurant is shutting down. Someone opened an Indian restaurant a few years ago, but it didn't last.
There are only like 10 restaurants to choose from within a 50-mile radius. No Chick Fil-A, Popeyes, Zaxby's, Bojangles, Burger King, Chili's Cheddar's, Domino's...you get the picture.
Yet somehow, we have three different Mexican restaurants that share the same owner and offer the same menu items, yet are all very successful.
Case in point, don't move to Appalachia unless you can live without everything except Mexican food. (I forgot to mention, our hospital also shut down its delivery room, so unless you have your own personal midwife, you'll have to drive 50 miles for that, too.)
Re: Surprise! Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined Gets A Switch & Switch 2 Demo This Week, Includes Bonus Reward
That's nice, but I'm only just now getting around to playing the DQ3 remake and haven't even gotten to 1+2 yet. Really enjoying 3 so far, although I wish I could turn down the frequency of random encounters, which can get annoying. (Apparently, I can get a skill later on that will help with this, but I don't have it yet.) I'm pretty sure DQ7 has enemies in the overworld you have to touch to initiate a battle, which is vastly how I prefer my turn-based RPG's. Still having fun, though.