Pak-Man

@gojiguy I think a better summary is it's a game where your goal is to not have to focus on the game so much so you can focus on the metagame of unlocking neat stuff and getting big achievements and combos. There is strategy and rolling with the punches to get yourself into that godlike state, and then you can focus on finding coffins or racking up kills.

The game itself is just brain-candy, but the games within the game are some compelling stuff.

@dskatter Hope springs eternal for a Legends collection. Tron Bonne would have to be there too. Maybe throw in odds and ends with stuff like Mega Man Soccer and Power Battles.

I wanted it to be good. I was prepared to buy season passes and everything, but after a couple hours I realized it just didn't have anything I wanted. I don't know how they managed to top "You're a summoner who can summon any character from any Fire Emblem Game. Sometimes in different outfits!" as a fan-servicey story gimmick, but "You happen to run into furry versions of Fire Emblem characters" is so much worse.

I got a car this year that's capable of streaming music from my phone, so I've been listening to a lot of Nintendo Music while I commute. (87 hours worth!) Lots of Mario Odyssey and Fire Emblem songs. They go real well with a long drive.

The Nintendo Calendar has been a treasured addition to my desktop ever since they introduced them a few years back. Switching to a new game each month (I never peek!) has become a fun ritual. I don't want them to ever stop releasing them.

I loved Shovel Knight and Link's Awakening is still one of my favorite Zelda games, so a Yacht Club game inspired by Link's Awakening is totally for me. Can't wait.

I still remember downloading Vampire Survivors after hearing it called the best game ever and being completely underwhelmed. "So this is it? You just kind of move around and whip enemies?" 135 hours later, I have to admit there might be something to the formula.

If they can make lightning strike twice, I'm there.

I was there, 10,000 years ago. You kind of had to be there to really appreciate what a gamechanger the original Dragon Quest was. Up until then, we'd had some PC RPGs that were sort of close, but all of the conventions we'd come to associate with JRPGS - the Top-Down perspective, the random encounters leading to turn based battles, the little convenient interface that makes it all work (Even if you had to choose it to go down stairs back then) all started here.

Katamari, Power Wash, Simon the Sorcerer, AND Two Point Museum? It's like they honed right in on my most niche game interests!

I got myself a repro cart and my Hyperkin Supaboy ready to play in all its unofficial glory, but I haven't sat down to take the big plunge yet.

I had submitted my entry through the Contact Us section when there wasn't any open call out for reviews. I'd remembered they were a thing and wanted to get it in while I was thinking about it, but couldn't find any of the articles with instructions. So I was unaware of the character limit. Thanks for putting it up anyway!

I wouldn't say I'm "Price Insensitive" but when you have a hobby you budget a little bit for it.

If I know my Nintendo, this is going to lead up to months of speculation and finally the announcement that this was the short that will play before the new Mario movie.

I keep forgetting that game exists and I need to get it. The same fate befell Super Princess Peach back in the DS days.

There goes a perfectly-named Nintendo President.

So is "Free to start" the same as "Free to Play?" Does it mean there's a literal game with a beginning, middle, and end, and I have to pay to see the end, or is it just another way of saying, "Play all you want for free, but if you want the good stuff it'll cost you?"

I would just like to note that Nintendo Today notified me of this game before any of my fan sites or game sites. It actually works!

I was there 3000 years ago. I bought the Virtual Boy with high hopes when it came out. The gimmick itself was sort of headache inducing, but the games were actually rock-solid. The system flopped because nobody wanted to try it. I've been wanting a second chance at them for years. I'm legit excited.

Oh, this is a sequel to Strange Horticulture? I had no idea and now I need it.

@Dramlin The news blurb on Nintendo's website says the preorders will be available "at a later date" and gives you a link to be notified when they become available.

Nintendo, you absolute maniacs.

I'd love a Sunsoft Looney Tunes collection. If they could get that licensing.

There's a whole '90s gaming vibe about all of these that I dig. Ground Zero Hero looks like a fun Survivorslike. Super intrigued by Pixel Washer. I'd give any of them a shot for $10.

Fire Emblem also had a recent anniversary...

I get Fridays off and I don't wanna wake up that early on a day off! I'm just gonna have to wake up with the knowledge that something big may have went down while I slept.

@The_Nintendo_Pedant To be fair: Is there a critic that is a fan of the Bubsy series? And if there is, should we trust their judgement about ANY video game?

I wanted to like these games so badly. Much of my childhood was spent with the idea that a video game should be as close to an interactive cartoon as possible, and Bubsy embraced a sort of cartooniness I loved. Fortunately, I was smart enough to rent from Blockbuster first. I was a very forgiving child, but even I could tell they were duds.

Bubsy is proof that Mario could have gone as fast as Sonic if Nintendo wanted to, and a lesson in why they didn't.

Do we know if there's going to be a Switch 2 upgrade?

So stable, I'm gonna start keeping horses in it.

Do they KNOW that people would have happily paid $40?

For some people, it's fishing. If the game includes a fishing minigame, it gets extra points. For me, it's city-building. It doesn't even have to be super-deep. Just getting Terry Town going in Breath of the Wild was one of my favorite little moments in that game.

Hollow Knight is one of those games where I start playing it, and I'm enjoying it, and then something new comes along and it just gets pushed aside. Gonna try to commit to it now!

It's totally possible to be mostly oblivious to the dark stuff happening in the background. (It does push to the foreground here and there.) Just do your Chibi Robo job! It's when you start peeking between the lines and looking at the clues that you see the broken family you're REALLY trying to fix. Things you dismissed as goofy sitcomy silliness become little cries for help.

Did Gamescom just put up a more exciting show than the Nintendo Partner Direct?

What's the over/under on an "Out NOW!" announcement?

Oh heck yeah! My PC isn't quite up to snuff, and I've been itching to get my hands on this one.

All of my nostalgia buttons have been pushed. I think I have to.

Dang. More people planning to get Tiny Bookshop than Drag x Drive. This may not be Nintendo's next big IP.

Yay! Chibi Robo! I hope the inclusion in NSO gives it the exposure it always deserved. It's legit one of my top 5 Gamecube games.

"For clarity, Gradius is a series built around a one-life clear..."

So I'm SUPPOSED to feel hopelessly outmatched when I die around Stage 3 and lose everything? All this time I just thought I sucked at Gradius. (I do suck at Gradius. Still love it, though.)

The description for Chillin' By the Fire appears to have snuck into the poll as its own choice. Either that or those cheap knock-off games are getting even weirder about their titles.

@Bentleyma But Romancing Saga 2 has been out since before the Switch 1. (I already own it.) Again, if someone bought it because it was out pre-Switch 2, they want to provide an upgrade path. They don't want people to buy any games that came out post-Switch 1 with plans to upgrade to Switch 2.

@Orpheus79V It's a pretty easy pattern. If the game came out before Switch 2, they give it a patch because they know nobody's gonna double-dip for a small performance upgrade. They want to discourage people buying everything on Switch 1 and upgrading because it impacts their Switch 2 sales numbers. (And we all know people will if they can, because Switch 1 doesn't have Game Keys.)

The thing about Nintendo Systems is their biggest draw is Nintendo Games. Partner showcases are always kind of "eh."

I'm excited about Katamari and the Square 2DHD titles. It was fine. It's the next Nintendo direct I expect to blow me away.

Highlight of the show for me. Can't get enough of that rolling gameplay loop.

Come on, Square. Where's your usual bonkers-naming-guy? Call it, "Vallient Stopwatch Unhinged" or something.

There are too many signs. This is gonna be the Silksong Direct. I wouldn't hope for an "Out Later Today," but I wouldn't rule it out either.

I want to hear that a bunch of Switch ports are gonna get Switch 2 patches.

Capcom: You are out of history to dig up. It's either Mega Man Legends collection, a new Mega Man Game, or a New Ace Attorney game. I'll be happy with any of those.

Square Enix: You're running out too. How about a Chrono Trigger HD announcement?

Konami: If you're out there, it's time to bring Symphony of the Night back. Remake, remaster, re-release. Doesn't matter. It's the missing Iga-vania right now.

Sega: Give us something baffling!

EEH! Ha ho ho YA ho ho ho. EEH! Ha ho ho YA ho ho ho. Mario Paint!

He was prepared to pop the question at the end of Odyssey. He's not THAT competitive with Bowser is he?

(Also Nintendo AAA titles never go on sale.)