@mr12calvin You can snag up to 1TB microSD Express cards

Walmart. It was as messy a process as I expected. Took over an hour to actually get to the point where I could check out.

Mario Kart bundle, of course.

Not my thing (grabbed Fast RMX at launch and barely played it), but they're definitely real for releasing polished racers at incredible prices.

@JaxonH I knew I was leaving one out. I keep forgetting about it. Also Marvelous, so that makes sense.

Yeah, companies like LRG and other boutique physical publishers must be absolutely licking their chops over this Game Key Card thing. A gigantic chunk of the Switch 2's library is going to be open game for them.

Just makes it easier for me to prioritize games to support.

Since Cyberpunk 2077 and Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma (at least in the States) are supposedly all on cartridge, those are the ones I'd go for at full price.

Vote with your wallet.

My Steam Deck has largely replaced my Switch 1, and I expect that to mostly continue being the case going forward. PC gaming is unbeatable when it comes to value, and the Steam games you buy will be usable across a wide range of devices now and into the future. Plus, Steam's family sharing features, controller customization, and the freedom of use when it comes to handheld PCs is unbeatable by a console.

That said, the Switch 2 hardware is pretty awesome (certainly better than what the Deck is offering in certain respects), and it'll be a great platform for Nintendo's exclusive and timed-exclusive experiences.

Both can co-exist, and they will continue to for people who aren't invested in weird tribal conflicts between platform holders.

People keep not realizing that online outrage =/= mass public outrage.

The people really invested in others not buying this console are gonna need a support group when this launch breaks records lol

@Lizuka Eh. VLR has some perverted commentary from the main character, but that's it. Certainly nothing like using lingerie and porno mags to distract squadrons of soldiers. It's the stupidity of it all that annoyed me, and distracted from an otherwise fantastic story.

I actually love the elevator scene in 999. Young teenage boys would be interpreting things in horny ways, and the way the dialogue progresses is like a great comedy skit.

Yeah, considering the premise, I'm not surprised Punch Line is like that.

@Indielink Yeah, Shinigami is super oversexed. Doesn't bother me, since it's just her character, but I could absolutely see her rubbing people the wrong way.

@Hanabi99 Yes, these games are wonderful, and far better than the one you played.

Probably my most anticipated game of the year. Uchikoshi and Kodaka are inconsistent, but at their peak, they made several of my all-time favorite video games.

Have it preordered on Steam.

@Indielink Interesting. What I played of Rain Code wasn't too bad on that front, but AI: The Somnium Files was full of so much juvenile humor. Far more than any of his previous works like Ever17 or the Zero Escape trilogy. It really detracted from the game for me when every action sequence became an opportunity to set up a juvenile set-piece.

Also still have my PS1 edition goodies. Have Lucia's pendant hanging around here somewhere, actually.

A little salty these weren't made available to the public, though. The diorama is whatever, but those bromide cards are awesome.

@GameOtaku Nah. It sounded terrible in comparison with the PS1 boat song.

Glad they're drawing from the best version of Lunar 1

Incredibly excited to play a physical copy of this collection. Eternal Blue is one of my favorite games of all-time, so I hope I have a better time with the new English voices than this reviewer did lol

"Love is at the centre of these games, both thematically and in how they’ve been preserved. They’re about loving adventure, loving discovery, loving the world, loving its people and, most importantly, falling in love."

Pretty strong summation of why I enjoy these games so much. They feel wholesome and timeless in a way few games have then or since.

Metroid Prime 4 > Mario Kart World > Donkey Kong Bananza > Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma > Cyberpunk 2077

Unsure if I won't just get Rune Factory on Steam, though, considering it's $10 cheaper there. Heavily depends on if it runs well on Steam Deck, I think. I'm pretty sure RF5 didn't, but that game was sort of a mess all-around.

@JustMonika Out of interest, do you have a handheld PC? Because I think you'd get a LOT of mileage out of something that gave you access to the PC marketplace. Steam, Manga Gamer, JAST USA, etc. etc.

Playing it co-op on the weekends with the guy I'm dating and really enjoying it. Honestly, it kinda has Disgaea vibes, and dialing back the fanservice now that it's detached from the Gal Gun IP makes a lot of sense.

Definitely more of a traditional Metroidvania then the original was.

Eh. These companies would have gone the code-in-a-box route otherwise. It's a straight-up improvement on that.

That said, absolutely reward publishers who are putting the entire game on the cartridge if you care about this issue. CDPR shelled out a decent amount to secure those 64GB Cyberpunk 2077 physicals.

@AnonyQ At least in the U.S., the Switch version of BotW is $60... $10 less than the Switch 2 version.

TotK is $70... $10 less than the Switch 2 version.

I think you can probably reliably expect the difference in price between MSRPs for the Switch and Switch 2 editions will also be the upgrade price.

In terms of purchases?

Metroid Prime 4 (might play on Switch 1, though)
Mario Kart World
Donkey Kong Bananza
Upgrade pack for Kirby to play the expansion content

That's all atm. I'll have access to BotW and TotK's upgrades anyway via the Expansion Pack, so I'm not worried about listing those.

Any non-exclusive third party stuff will be better on my Steam Deck.

@thenikdavies

"I really want to play Split Fiction, but I don't know if I've got a friend to be able to play the whole thing with (which sounds super depressing)."

LOL Not necessarily. Maybe your friends don't play games. Maybe your schedules don't line up.

Just saying: not being able to wrangle friends for a game like this doesn't mean you're #foreveralone

So two From Software games, but one doesn't even have a real physical version, alienating a lot of potential early purchasers, and the other is some weird multiplayer thing and not a real Soulslike.

The monkey's paw curls.

What I thought every time I heard people mentioning the mouse mode.

Joycons aren't mice, and they won't feel good being used like mice.

Touchpads like on the Steam Deck would have been much better.

This isn't anywhere near a mid-range PC specs-wise. And that shows in the performance of games like Cyberpunk.

My current PC build is VERY outdated and mid, but it still runs circles around this thing, even when docked.

It's fine. It's a small portable console. Expectations should be kept in check, though.

@AlonditeFE ❤️ Thanks, Mr. Stalker. It felt right in the moment.

It's like a lot of people's brains stop working when it comes to electoral politics in this country. I guess that's what rampant tribalism writ large gets you!

Americans getting what they deserve, honestly. 😂

Just too bad the rest of the world has to suffer with us.

@Not_Soos Honestly, dude, no, this ain't it. The Democrats sucking is never an excuse to vote for something unfathomably worse.

Like, if I order a piece of chicken and it's undercooked, I won't enjoy it, and I'll definitely complain, but I definitely wouldn't eat out of the nearby dumpster instead.

540p on a 1080p screen is rough. 😬

Hopefully they can boost that up a bit in the retail release when it comes to handheld play.

Seems like Switch 2 will be kind of like base PS5 in terms of how it's a great place to play last-gen titles with superior performance.

The thing is that people want to explore lonely, dangerous worlds filled with secrets and wonder in From Software games. Not play "matches."

I won't write this off entirely yet, but this feels like a VERY wasted opportunity for Nintendo to have its own cool Souls-like title.

The off-screen footage looks surprisingly sharp. Really hope it holds up well in handheld form as well.

Lunar is a day one. Probably on Switch.

So are Last Defense Academy and Fantasy Life i... on Steam.

@Mgalens Nocturne wasn't a great port technically on any platform, although the changes to the fusion system still make it the only way I'm willing to (legally) play the game.

Kinda wish it'd been a remake instead. Although I suppose, in some respects, they already attempted that with SMT V, whose exploration is a little closer to the original concept for Nocturne, as I recall.

Very cool.

After Raidou 2, I suppose that just leaves Digital Devil Saga, doesn't it?

Already pre-ordered on Steam. Haven't really been thrilled with the Too Kyo games I've played thus far, but I'm hopeful this one will capture my attention again the way their work with Spike Chunsoft did (Danganronpa, Zero Escape, and AI: The Somnium Files are all fantastic series). If nothing else, the demo was pretty fun.

@BenAV Nintendo almost never fully dumps support for the previous gen right away, and it's difficult to imagine Switch 1 releases like Metroid Prime 4 won't be enhanced on the newer hardware.

Based on the wording, cross-gen games should still be good, so vouchers will likely still be useful for at least a couple more years.

@TenEighty You and @Anti-Matter should become a power couple and stream yourselves burning M-rated video games or something. I'd watch it.

It's hard to imagine Microsoft won't be on Switch 2 in launch year with games that they couldn't port to the previous hardware. When a new platform releases, you want stuff to play on it, after all.

@Anachronism Picking a fight with Valve? All of their games are on Steam, and it's even looking likely that you'll be able to play your Steam games on the next Xbox hardware.

@shining_nexus I only buy at launch now for Nintendo games (since there's virtually no point in waiting for sales) and the odd third-party release I'm really excited about (like the upcoming Lunar remasters). Everything else only makes sense after price depreciation has maxed out. You get a more polished version of the game at a fraction of the price.

Yeah, I'm trying to buy games more consciously. They know gaming people with sales, launch discounts, etc. can make it harder for us to resist, even when we have multiple years worth of games in our backlogs and buying much of anything doesn't make a whole bunch of sense.

Honestly, I could never buy another game for the next ten years and probably still have stuff to play in my backlog across the various platforms! I won't fully get off the new game bandwagon (no way in hell am I missing the next Shin Megami Tensei, next 3D Mario, next Ace Attorney, next Persona, next Zelda, next Animal Crossing, etc.), but it's time to accept there just isn't enough time to play all of the games I want to play in one lifetime and just make do with the ones I own already, by and large.

@Splash_Woman Even if you can't stomach the films, you can definitely appreciate how an unknown filmmaker with virtually zero budget behind his films (the original cost $35,000 to make lmao) basically created the first major slasher icon of the 21st century.

Also, the success of Terrifier 3, in particular, has turned conventional wisdom about the potential profitability and viability of unrated films on its head.

@Olliemar28 I just feel like starting with the first film could scare off potential fans. It's not terrible, but Terrifier 2 is leaps and bounds better. Like, it's crazy how much better it is. And Terrifier 3 is much closer to 2 both narratively and production-wise.

@OldManHermit Tonally, the films tend to approach their gruesome subject matter with a surprising amount of levity, and the hilarious character acting of David Howard Thornton, the man behind the clown makeup, makes it difficult not to giggle even when objectively horrifying things are happening on-screen.

The first film is probably the most grindhouse in terms of its approach, and you can safely skip it, but the second film is really just a blast to watch if you can stomach the tremendously, outrageously violent images on-screen. The third film is kind of a mix of the first two in this regard.

I'd say give Terrifier 2 a shot, and if you enjoy it, consider watching the others as well.

Exclusive remaster of a game in a fairly niche JRPG series coming in second to the mainline release of a powerhouse Western AAA series that's multiplatform? Not exactly shocked.

@shining_nexus Oh yeah, no FOMO or hunting here. I'll buy the exclusives I'm interested in physically near launch (after I get one, anyway). Everything else will be on Steam.

I do inevitably have a moderately large physical Switch collection, but nothing compared to my digital library lol. I really loved the system and supported the hell out of it, and I loved the little ways they incentivized digital purchases. I grabbed big games, little games, exclusives, third-party ports, everything.

Since they're going the $70 and no discounts route, my purchases will drop sharply.

Of course Monolith has worked on both my favorite 2D and 3D Zelda games, in addition to Xenoblade 3, my favorite JRPG lol

Honestly, they're as much, if not more of a draw for me now than the teams working on Mario and Zelda games. I am super excited to see what they do going into the future.

I'd preloaded XCX lol.

Gal Guardians is also well under MSRP atm due to a pricing error, which will be corrected soon. Might pay to preorder now if you're going to want to play it anytime soon.

Some people want to contribute to society and make a living doing what they love without being recognized constantly in public. I feel this dude.

I hope there's not too much running and hiding from this Horned Man, ugh.

Beyond that, it's promising looking. If a little too stylized to be scary.

Cool beans. I have one voucher and $5 in Gold Coins left. I'll use the Gold Coins to get a discount on Lunar, a voucher for one of the inevitably final cross-gen/S1 releases later this year, and then go 100% physical for any and all Switch 2 games I buy.

The base game of Xenoblade 3 and Torna: The Golden Country are definitely my favorite Xenoblade experiences.

XC1 is a slog in any form, and Future Redeemed felt more like a sequel to it than I cared for.

@LXP8 Nah. The way the exploration and world open up almost simultaneously combined with some of the best plot beats in the series makes Ch. 5 peak Xenoblade. XC1 has nothing on par with it narratively. XC2 might hit similar highs across its second half, but never in such close succession.

I've never seen a game pop off to the extent that XC3 did in Chap. 5.

XC3 is possibly my favorite game of all time. Just wonderful from beginning to end. Exactly the sort of experience I buy consoles to play. The expansion is excellent as well, although I very much prefer the direction the main game took with its story.

XC2 has some major issues, but I enjoyed it. Very much a 7/10, but it worked for me in the areas that mattered most. Torna is at least a 9/10, though: addressed nearly every issue I had with the base game, and is, to date, my favorite expansion in the series.

XC1 is... not my thing. I've played it across three different systems, and only managed to get through it on Switch, but even with all of the improvements, it was still a slog. Easily my least favorite game in the series. Haven't touched the expansion yet in the DE.

XCX had some annoyances, and I didn't get far enough in to judge it fairly. I'm going to play through it fully on Switch, though, so I'm definitely looking forward to that.

Overall, it's a series that, broadly speaking, improves from entry to entry, and to a pretty dramatic extent as well. Can't wait to see what Monolith is cooking up next.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 might be my favorite game of all time, so it gets my vote.

Breath of the Wild is also high up there. What a superb game to play alongside a brand new console!

I mean, that's still a pretty strong start for an expensive set of PS1 ports.

I feel like 18+ Princess Peach sets would go over even better.