Qwiff

@CANOEberry It would be a stab in the back if Nintendo was the one to break the news first.

@mazzel In the early 90s, you didn't have too many games to choose from. (I assume for the moment that you played World back when it was new.) So basically once you got a game, you had to stick with it.

Children have much more games to choose from nowadays. So I can understand why they made the design decisions that they did with Wonder. That is, an easy path for most players and more challenge for those seeking it out. I.e. the Special World, which is, indeed, hard.

I must admit that the last 2 main worlds (Fungi and Magma caverns) and the Bowser levels are Wonder's best parts. All the normal levels before those are too easy, but the last sections left me thoroughly satisfied.

So, yeah, I think that, ultimately, Wonder deserves all the praise it received and I can see why it continues to sell.

The Reuters article is about Nvidia setting up a dedicated business for the AI market. The mention of the Switch successor is basically just a footnote at the bottom, so I wouldn't read too much into it.

Yes, it's extremely likely the Switch 2 will, again, contain an Nvidia chip. This time, it might be custom made for the console, rather than an off-the-shelf part like the Tegra.

@LikelySatan Back in '96, I only played Quake 1's shareware episode and dismissed it based on its brownish look. The remaster made me change my mind. The main campaign holds up very well. The new Machine Games expansions are also excellent.

Wrapping up Wonder, last 2 main worlds. More out of a sense of curiosity, because, so far, the game is too easy for me to really enjoy.

Also started cleaning up the backlog with Inside. If there was one game in particular for showing the advantage of OLED, it would be this one. I also like the fact that the game doesn't hold your hand.

Finally, some Quake 2 to test-drive the Split Pad Pros.

@LikelySatan After giving it some thought, I went for the Split Pad Pro. Getting them delivered today. Hope to play some Quake 2 this weekend.

@LikelySatan , @XiaoShao Thanks for the feedback! While I'm not a giant, for my hands, the Joy-Cons are too small and uncomfortable for longer play sessions, so the Nitro Deck might be a good replacement candidate. I'll give it some thought.

@LikelySatan In their review of the Nitro Deck, this site marked the right stick as a major flaw. What's your experience?

I like the green one. Fits well when playing as Luigi, which I do when given the choice.

One of the best "hidden" features of the OLED, is the more stable kickstand. Propping up the Switch on a pillow, in a lounge chair, with a Joy-Con in each hand, is the ideal way to play strategy games.

Making the Joy-Cons larger might be an opportunity to make them more ergonomic. EDIT: And also make them less prone to mechanical issues, since the small size makes them so densely-packed. The springs in my white Joy-Cons are starting to "squeak".

@sanderev It depends on the business model. There's nothing indicating that subscription services are guaranteed to be more profitable. Maybe in the very long run, provided services can retain their games (the good ones at least) and their subscribers. Taking Game Pass Ultimate as an example, extrapolating the monthly fee results in an annual revenue equal to about 3 full price games. (15 x 12 = 180)

The Horizon numbers I cited are from an accidental leak. I wouldn't be surprised if other big PS franchises like God of War make similar profits.

@Echtzeit Alone in the Dark often gets lumped together, because it's an obvious source of inspiration for the original RE, but you are right to point out that they're very different in terms of gameplay. Having played AitD back in '92, it always felt like an adventure game to me. (Those were still mainstream back then.) But even Wikipedia and the game's own Steam page say that it's survival horror, so I guess it's retroactive branding.

@sanderev While there is perhaps more money to be made for MS in services nowadays, Sony still follow the more traditional model of selling consoles at a loss and making up for that with games. I'm not sure what you mean by saying that games make little profit. For example, Horizon Forbidden West cost $200M to develop and made $1.5 billion in revenue.

The money is in software, especially for Sony and MS, who sell their hardware at a loss. They would be leaving money on the table if they didn't go multiplatform. For me, of this gen's Xbox console exclusives, only Forza Horizon made a good impression. I'm not sure if the PS5 crowd is missing out on anything with Starfield or Redfall.

Anyway, I really like XSS as a secondary console. It pairs well visually with the white OLED, lets you play SSX3, TimeSplitters3 and Dying Light (at 60fps) and is small, cheap and silent. And both Xbox and Switch controllers have my preferred asymmetrical stick layout.

Played the demo on XSS a few weeks back and was really enjoying it. The racing feels great, and, also important, has no AI rubber banding, with cars nicely spaced apart. Too bad it wasn't released yet, because I would have bought it there and then.

Great interview. Definitely a game I look forward to. I'll check out the other games by this dev as well.

Loved the music, but the game itself is not for me.

@CharlieZee Unlikely, but definitely the funniest name I've heard so far. Marketing will speak for itself. "U on PlayStation? Switch, please..."

I would say Sniper Elite 4 (on Authentic or Authentic Plus) is the best stealth experience you can get on Switch. Alien Isolation is also great, as long as the Alien is present. The boring "android" sections bring it down.

Hopefully we'll get a Nightdive-style Thief 1 and 2 remaster some day. An MGS 5 port would also be welcome.

Starting again with Wonder. Played bits and pieces of it since release, but will dedicate some real time to it this weekend.

@JaxonH Yeah, you're right, a move to 16:10 is unlikely, that would make the aspect ratio differ from docked mode. And 1080p is too power-hungry for handheld. If the bigger screen stays at 720p then I hope the new model will have enough power to deliver native output or at least better upscaling.

@KingdomTears No doubt that Nintendo put in a lot of thought into the design of the Switch, but there's always room for improvement. For one, they might have come up with solutions for better using the available bezel space, just like they did with the redesign of the OLED. Secondly, smartphone sales indicate that people don't seem to mind their portable devices being a little bigger. (I'm not a fan of the trend personally.) Finally, the screen could have a minor resolution bump, in the range of 800p, like the Steam Deck.

Sales-wise, a size increase could be a reason for users to upgrade, maybe also compensating for the relative loss of not having OLED.

It's fun to speculate!

@RupeeClock Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Yeah, generative AI would not be the first time laws need to catch up with tech developments. It's a hot-button issue exactly because there is no legal clarity. And it might be years before the smoke clears, but you have to start somewhere.

Maybe the outcome of legal proceedings would be that companies have to clarify the exact use of AI in their products. Nothing wrong with that, if you ask me.

@RupeeClock Even if the claims of generative AI use turn out to be baseless, which they might very well be, a potential case helps uncover that. I do see this statement by Pokemon Co as a shot across the bow.

I hope Pokemon Co take legal action, if only to help further clarify whether training generative AI on copyrighted content constitutes "fair use". Rather than have Big Tech continue developing generative AI as they see fit, I think it's about time to have legal limits in place first.

Right now, generative AI is making headway in many aspects of life. The consequence of applying generative AI in the workplace might cause junior-level positions to become less valuable. I.e. AI might be doing a good-enough job at that level already.

@RadioHedgeFund Considering that Zelda is the bigger franchise, and TP and BOTW were both cross-gen and launch titles, I wouldn't rule it out for Metroid.

@Ryu_Niiyama I get what you're saying and I agree. Maybe they were expecting the improved version to complete lot check in time for review? Who knows? The decision to push an incomplete version for review may have been out of their hands. I'm sure that with the benefit of hindsight, they would have handled things differently.

@Ryu_Niiyama Devs have to time their review codes with the planned release date, while development is still ongoing. In this case, the lot check took longer than they expected. Most likely, the publisher set the release date, or maybe they went over budget. But, yes, you only get one chance to make a first impression and a poor initial review score does not look good, no matter how much effort you put in afterwards.

@LikelySatan Hahaha! Very true. I did have a PC until 2005 or so, but got tired of upgrading and having to tune performance settings. Playing on PC feels like "work" to me. The holy trinity, Burnout, SSX, Wave Race, is only on console.

Enjoy Prince of Persia!

@LikelySatan Thanks for the recommendation. Yeah, I love arcade racers and Nitronic Rush looks interesting. Unfortunately, for me, it seems to be PC only and I'm on Mac.

Indie arcade racers. Rise Race the Future on Switch and Hydro Thunder Hurricane on XSS.

@Sequel Thanks for mentioning Yoku. Just bought it, after playing the demo for 5 mins. It's on sale right now, so easy decision.

@riderkicker Having played HotShot and the New Star GP demo, I can say they differ quite significantly. Both have arcade race handling, but the main GP events are quite a bit longer than HS races. GP seems to be more strategic, with pit stops during the race and custom perks during a season. HS suffers from rubber band AI, which GP does not seem to have.

Just played the demo for half an hour on XSS and enjoyed it. The game has its own identity and they made the most of the low poly style. However, I can imagine not having analog triggers being a problem for gameplay.

The only time was when I traded in Link's Awakening vanilla edition for the limited edition.

For a layperson, it's not easy to tell which game is the sequel when you put them side by side. Maybe if it had been called "Mario+Rabbids 2" it would have fared better?

While I agree that Ubisoft is shooting itself in the foot with their discount policy, putting a game on sale does keep it in the spotlight. Cash flow is important for any business. People have too many games to choose from and the Nintendo e-shop doesn't lend itself particularly well to game discovery.

Completed the demo and am seriously impressed with the general feel and polish. For me, it feels too similar to the Ori games (especially Will of the Wisps) to make me want to play the full game right now. Not a criticism on the game, it's abundantly clear why it's reviewing so well.

According to the Digital Foundry video, the Switch version does not require you to sign up for an Ubisoft account in order to play. (Other platforms do.)

It already looked right up my alley (I love Middle Eastern settings), so, yeah, now I'm definitely interested. At the same time, I still have to finish Rayman Legends, so I think I'll get to that first.

EDIT: Completed the demo. While I think it does an excellent job of selling the game, it also makes me feel like I'm playing the second Ori game again. Both movement and combat (melee and ranged), and its general Metroidvania-ness, feel very similar.

@Donutman As someone in the same age range as you, I can relate to what you're describing. Life is too short to waste on what is essentially just a hobby. Excessive gaming is less visible than other types of addictions, like gambling and drinking, so there's less potential for social intervention.

Interested in Prince of Persia, since Middle-Eastern(-like) settings are right up my alley. What makes me hesitate, is recent Ubisoft games requiring you to sign up for a separate account. At least that's my experience on other platforms. I hope they don't enforce this practice on Switch as well. Not paying with my e-mail address after I already paid for the game.

@Ogbert I didn't want to sound too negative with my first comment, but the increase in movement speed in SM3DW has a noticeable effect on gameplay. As the level layouts are left untouched, the faster movement results in a tendency to overshoot jumps. Maybe the change is related to online play, who knows? If you ask me, the original plays much better.

@Ogbert I'd say, no, it's not worth it at that price, although I did enjoy it back then and am actually hoping for 3D Mario moving in this direction. Caveat is that it runs at 30fps in handheld mode and 60fps docked.

Worth mentioning is that the Switch port of SM3DW increases movement speed, so it plays somewhat differently. I prefer the Wii U version.

@AstroTheGamosian Maybe he doesn't work full-time? Demographically, people are getting older in most places in the world. Japan is a particular case, because it has had a birth deficit for decades.

@Maxz To say people are "deluded" for wanting to map out their life plan over a longer time period is a bit harsh, I think. I'd say some amount of "delusion" is a necessary state of mind in overcoming the inevitable setbacks in life.

I guess Miyamoto's 5-year time frame is based on his experience developing games. Yoshi's Island was in development for 4 years, for example, and that was back in the 90s.

Personally, I wouldn't mind another year without a successor, since I bought an OLED two months ago.

The only advantage that I can think of would be to keep up with third-party AAA games. Nintendo has anticipated this for years by focusing on third-party indie games in their Directs anyway.

The few AAA releases last year that I was interested in (RE4 Remake, Starfield, Dead Space) were underwhelming anyway, so, personally, I couldn't care less about the lack of third-party AAA.

The original GC version was my favourite game ever, so I voted Metroid Prime shadow drop. Because money was tight back in the early 00's, I had to sell my copies of MP1 and MP2, which I deeply regretted. Replaying the game 20 years later just confirms that it was still the best game ever. That is, until TOTK. This year was just excellent for Switch. If next year brings the Switch 2, then we can say this generation went out with a bang.

Weapon degradation was my least favourite feature in BOTW, but I like how they addressed it with Fuse. They really did listen to the feedback. But instead of taking the suggestions literally (i.e. remove weapons degradation), they incorporated it into the gameplay.

Browsing the back catalogue brought me to Red Faction Guerilla. The destruction physics hold up well. Completed the main campaign back when the game was new, so now just playing the bonus missions for a few hours of mindless, but incredibly fun, entertainment.

Also playing Teardown on XSS. So far, it feels more like a tech demo, but later levels are supposed to expand the gameplay more.

Thanks for mentioning Norco. Never heard of it, but looks right up my alley. Whispers of a Machine, another point-and-click by the same publisher, is also not available on Switch. I guess it's too much a niche genre?

The awards that really matter.

Good call on Dredge, it's in a class of its own. Looking forward to the DLC next year.

@Ryan_Again I can only echo your comments.

@Anachronism You're missing out if you dismiss TOTK based on superficial similarities to BOTW. They really did listen to criticism, but the way they integrated the more guided approach into their design only becomes apparent after playing the game for a longer time.