@Sylamp
I had to look that up, I never realised that the King of Yumland you briefly see in Battle Network 2 was an actual named NetNavi.
https://megaman.fandom.com/wiki/CookMan.EXE

Makes me hope that Yumland is an actual place in the classic series, too.

My Kickstarter GBA and Switch physicals should finally be arriving soon, after the debacle with First Press Games (for which I don't blame the two-man dev team).
The Switch (and Steam) versions aren't just a GBA ROM in an emulator, they're full native ports that run the original GBA code in a special way to expand the view area and deliver higher quality audio, so it feels like some kind of Super Game Boy Advance!

@KingMike
Regarding Link to the Past, yeah there was definitely an issue.
Trinex, the boss of Turtle Rock, is infamous for requiring the Ice Rod which is otherwise an entirely optional overworld discovery.
Once you're in the fight, there's a strict execution to defeating the boss with no magic upgrades or refills, and a new player is likely to spam fire / ice attacks without knowing they can land one hit to make the boss temporarily vulnerable to sword attacks.
Kholdstare, the boss of Ice Palace, is equally infamous for having a starting phase that can only be defeated using the fire rod or Bombos.

Since then, most boss fights will give the player a means to restock a necessary resource to continue the fight, or even rework the items to use a shared stamina resource like Link between Worlds did.
In Wind Waker, Gohdan, the boss of Tower of the Gods, is a boss fight that requires using the bow and arrows. If you run out of arrows during the fight, the boss itself actually gives you more arrows (since the fight is contextualised as a hero's trial).

@UpsideDownRowlet
They honestly went pretty gruesome about it in New Super Mario Bros.

This really seems to overlook the option of defeating Bowser using a fire flower, but what they decided upon was that you need to be able to progress the game in the event of lacking a means of conventionally defeating the boss.

Bowser can't be stomped, that's a consistent thing across every Mario series game, he has to be defeated by other means like tricking him into destroying the floor beneath him, swinging him by the tail, or otherwise using some part of the environment.

Even in New Super Mario Bros and Super Mario 3D Land, which use the iconic axing of the drawbridge to defeat Bowser, it remains true you can defeat Bowser with a fire flower if you managed to keep the power up.

@Haruki_NLI
You may be conflating the private keys issue here, that was a separate thing where a certificate authority negligently produced private keys that could be brute forced by consumer hardware in seconds, and allow attackers to impersonate sites that use those certificates.
The 4 meme is pretty funny, but it's tangential to the PHP incident.

The PHP issue amounts to remote connections being able to take full control of a PHP server and do anything they want, the timing of these two events were incidental, but the disclosure processes for the PHP vulnerabilities and notice period for patching them may've been negligent from what I understand.

@ImpromptuR
As it happens, Hookshot Media uses PHP for Nintendo Life and its sister sites.
As for Pokémon, I know at the very least that Pokémon Sleep uses the PHP powered Wordpress for its main site and news updates, and that the smart phone app appears to source its news via the same site.
Therefore, there was a potential vulnerability in a compromised Sleep site being able to attack Sleep app users when checking the in-game news.

@Cero
If only things were that simple.
Sometimes newer versions of web technologies can retire features that your web application completely depend upon, and if no alternative solution exists you are forced to remain on the older version, or possibly migrate to a new technology. We've experienced this at my workplace with one of our older web applications.
The turnaround on an upgrade or migration where large code and database changes are needed are not easy and need rigorous testing on a smaller scale. On a larger scale this may be infeasible entirely, especially if it's an essential operation that cannot afford downtime like hospital or banking systems.

Nintendo is its own ecosystem and there isn't necessarily much of an overlap in the communities of Zelda players and GTA / CoD players.
I do feel that when we look at Ocarina of Time retrospectively, that past the excitement of the honeymoon phase we'll remember it fondly but acknowledge it's no earth-shattering event, and perhaps saddled with modern Nintendo choices that can compromise the experience for the sake of broadening its audiences.

On the other hand, "more people taking the dust off their Xbox or PlayStation and playing again" is an admission that audiences may be falling away from Microsoft and Sony's home consoles and playing elsewhere; whether that be mobile, PC, retro handhelds, Nintendo, or possibly something else entirely or not at all.

Wow, that's actually a pretty remarkably low price for a physical release too, I wonder why so low?

Unfortunately, their definition of physical may include Game Key Cards, where a vocal part of the public rejects them as physical, whilst a significant part of the consumer base does appear to accept them.

@solarwolf07
Yes, I had that just arrive this week from Silver Lining Direct, lol.
At least it includes some of the previous de-listed (then re-listed) DLC like the Godzilla crossover.

The role of Johnny Silverhand will be performed by Shadow the Hedgehog.

@spottedleaf
The point was that Silksong's launch was very disruptive, and other publishers felt that.
Of course GTA6's launch is going to be far more disruptive, we're probably going to expect internet outages from the rush of downloads to game consoles or people jumping online to play, as well as people streaming the game online like on Twitch or Discord.

The launch of GTA6 is no doubt an event that'll eclipse Silksong's release, and how it overshadowed all of the other games that launched at the same time.

That said, Nintendo has always operated of its own accord and knows their audiences (plus GTA6 isn't coming to Switch 2).
Beyond that, the Ocarina of Time remake is quite likely a project handled by a second party developer, and probably had a far shorter development time and smaller budget than the behemoth that is GTA6.
The difference in focus and scope between the two projects is fairly evident, although both are huge names in the video gaming space.

@Lizuka
For some reason there seems to be decisions around what games to re-release or not, like if they aren't confident in the quality of the original games for a current market, or if there are possible rights or licensing issues.

For Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, they are available on Steam, but a console re-release might expose that these games haven't held up particularly well especially if you've never played them. That sentiment would compel SEGA or Sonic Team to develop a remaster.
Those games also had completely different voice casts to the recent games, and it would be impractical or impossible to record new lines due to worker contracts, or some voice actors having since passed away.
Hence why Sonic Generations was able to get an updated release, the game holds up pretty well with little changes, and any new voice lines they needed was completely doable.

As for the Sonic Advance titles (the trilogy and Battle, and maybe Pinball Party), I wonder if there's some sort of publishing rights problem due to THQ's involvement with the original GBA releases. There were the Wii U Virtual Console releases, but I'm not sure about the circumstances.
To be honest, I think the Sonic Advance games could really benefit from the Sonic Origins treatment. For how fast you go in those games, especially 2 and 3, the original 240x160 display area gives you a very small field of view.

@Moonlessky
SEGA already have, Sonic Colors Ultimate was handled by Blind Squirrel Entertainment.
That port was infamously bad though, loads of quality and technical problems, and an initial release marred by terrible visual seizure inducing bugs.

@UpsideDownRowlet
I can see that it's a modified version of the press release key art.
https://pokemon.gamespress.com/Pokemon-Legends-Z-A#?tab=artwork-7&scrollto=
In that artwork, the Zygarde cell hasn't been cropped out, but there's also a trainer arm in the foreground to the right side that's absent from the package artwork.
Noivern's and Mega Scizor's position is also altered, and a Vivillon is removed from in front of the Pokémon Center.

I'm wary of the EU packaging there.
A couple years back when I bought the Splatoon 3 physical that included the Expansion Pass, the package actually contained a download code for the pass instead of it being on the cartridge.
The product page on the Nintendo Store made absolutely no mention about that arrangement.

Looking at the Z-A EU packaging here, it explicitly says on the front that "This product comprises the Nintendo Switch game, the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade pack and downloadable content."
However, that statement is ambiguous enough that the downloadable content could be a download code, because they stated "product", not that the downloadable content is actually present on a game card.

@ShadLink @Markatron84
The differentiation here is that CD Projekt Red is running a promotion that grants a digital license to either the system or to the account (not sure which).
With Game Key Cards, the license lives on the physical item and only functions whilst inserted into the Switch 2 system.

Whilst I'm sure that sort of mechanism might technically be possible with Switch 1 game cartridges, for the purposes of running Switch 2 software titles that are not in the form of Upgrade Packs, CD Projekt Red are famously very pro-consumer and it's their MO to just be generous like this.
It's also subject to whatever implementations Nintendo has provided to publishers.

Publishers like Square Enix and SEGA should really take a hint here and not punish Switch 1 software owners (both digital and physical), and make them re-purchase Switch 2 versions of the same software with no available upgrade paths.

Every Switch 1 game cartridge has a unique key that identifies it, so I'm surprised by the reports that a single Switch 1 game card can be used to claim free Switch 2 software downloads across multiple systems.

I would've thought that they might enforce something like only allowing one claim per game card, or revoking the previous system's digital license if a new system claims a new digital license.

@EarthboundBenjy
Surprisingly, they actually still are a Banjo Kazooie developer in some capacity as of this year.
Rare were very involved in the Evercade releases of Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie, and are not just simple ROMs or rebuilds, but are proper source ports that include new previously unused content, improved QoL changes, and a sound test that includes previously unreleased music.

If they weren't directly involved with the development, they were at the very least still very involved as the licensor for Blaze's new releases.

My special edition pre-order was through Nintendo Store, but my brorther's pre-order was through Very.
I'm hoping his order isn't among those cancelled.

I got that card yesterday and chose "they treat him as one of their own", since I wasn't sure about their choice of "they surround him".
To "surround someone" can be interpreted either way; to gather around with interest, or to intimidate and threaten.
That both answers were entirely plausible though didn't make it fair.

Physical copies of Banana Rumble go for pretty cheap, and the digital version seems to go very cheap too.
This triple-pack release might still be cheaper than buying the three games individually though, but Banana Rumble is the best of the bunch.
Banana Rumble also had a lot of cosmetic and character paid DLC, shame that none of that is included in the re-release; SEGA never seems to bundle DLC any more.

@Otoemetry
It's the first time I've needed to modify a Nintendo Store order like this, and purely because I accidentally ordered something I'd never want to buy lol.
But I'm glad it ended up being pretty easy to do, outside of the annoying queue system that ideally should only apply to placing new orders, not managing your orders or your account.

@Lord
Very's special edition listing still appears to be in stock, my brother was able to secure a pre-order from there after missing the Nintendo Store listings yesterday.

@Otoemetry
When I first went to modify the order directly through the site, I didn't see any options to cancel the order.
Then when I checked later, a "Cancel Order" button was available on my orders page.
Clicking it opens a modal which asks you "select which products you'd like to remove from your order", and I selected the Hyrule Warriors order.
Viewing my order now, it shows "Status: Cancelled" for Hyrule Warriors, "Status: Shipped" for one in-stock item, and "Status: Pre-order" for two other games.

I didn't hear back from customer support yet, but I was already able to modify the order before they responded.
It's possible that there is a grace period between placing the order, and when you're allowed to modify the order, maybe to prevent system abuse.

@JohnnyMind
Yeah, broadly this is a positive for anyone that bought systems long before the tariffs nonsense, but it's still a bad look on Nintendo's part.

Nintendo really doesn't want to part with any of that refund money huh. Not even like, put the difference into account funds or something.
Just, ask you for more money instead.

It's a Game-Key? I didn't notice that whilst pre-ordering on the Nintendo UK store.
I better double check that, and cancel the order if it's true.

Edit: Yup, it's Game-Key Card, which I overlooked on the product page (it's only visible on the package image which wasn't the primary product listing image, and also not mentioned in text).
I've reached out to Nintendo support on their contact page about modifying my pre-order to remove Hyrule Warriors, explaining that the Game-Key Card is unacceptable.

@FX102A the banner says "Nintendo Store app" specifically, but yeah seems like if you want to be in-first for collector's editions etc, you should have that app installed with notifications ready.

Any other sane site would just put the listings up in advance with a notice for when they will accept pre-orders.

@Otoemetry
Right? I've had so many complaints with them over the years, especially when they changed providers from The Hut Group.
The Xenoblade 3 collector's edition was an absolute pain to get, but other items afterwards were much easier to order with a "register your interest" system.
I had forgotten about that, but it still exists, but currently only features Ocarina of Time.
https://store.nintendo.com/en-gb/register-your-interest
They still shadow drop too many things, and the Ocarina of Time listing day was a total disaster with hour long queues and the site falling over. Nintendo may have anticipated the sheer demand and chose to give the Zelda direct its own separate day for this reason.

@Otoemetry
Years back for the Metroid Dread pre-orders, my pre-order failed because they didn't accept Paypal pre-orders at the time (only for in-stock purchases).
I was in the same situation with a payment card that was going to expire between placing the order and the game's release date, so that was a total service failure on their part.
I managed to get the collector's edition through GAME at the time, thankfully.

@FX102A
I haven't used it, but there's a dedicated Nintendo Store smart phone app (separate from the NSO app, Nintendo Music, Nintendo Today, etc).
I'm trying it now to see if it can serve notifications for when new items go live.

Wow, looks like I was pretty close to missing the special edition pre-order.
I'm confident it will restock later today though, the OoT stuff had a restock yesterday too.

Just snagged the special edition, Samus, and Chozo statue amiibo.
This was nearly painless this time, a few site hiccups but it didn't prevent me from ultimately ordering.

Waaay more excited about this than the Ocarina of Time remake.

VRR video output is big, but not something I'll be able to use.
Handheld boost updates on the other hand are welcome, if you boot a Switch 1 title that requires touch screen and need to quickly toggle it without suspending the game to dig in the Switch system settings.

I was a lot more interested in this when the Switch 2 launched, it feels like they missed a trick by sitting on this for so long.
I might finally get around to playing this one now.

Guess those pre-orders are gonna open tomorrow morning, like with Ocarina of Time this morning.
Hope the Nintendo Store site doesn't fail again, I absolutely wanna grab this!

So, the focus was just the voice commands, and the new "Dandori Academy" content where you're playing on their schedule?

All I care about are performance and graphical improvements for the main game, that Dandori Academy stuff where you actually have to participate on a schedule is not welcome, it's more FOMO.

After a morning of tech issues on the Nintendo UK Store, I was able to place an order for physical game with the Ocarina pin badge and the spiritual stones bonus item. They had gone out of stock, but got restocked.
It also looks like they've restocked the console, controller, and carry case.

The queue system right now will likely make you wait around an hour though, just to look. I had to wait through that queue system twice to get my order in.

Edit: collector's edition console already out of stock moments after I posted this comment...

It seems like Nintendo UK store has restocked all of the games, systems, controllers, and carry case accessories, as well as the pin badge options.
It's still not functioning properly, prompting you to log in even if you already have, but it seems like you should be able to order now if you get past the queue system.

I only wanted the physical game, I've managed to at least secure that.

So the Nintendo UK Store is listing the physical game as out of stock now.
I was able to add it to my cart earlier, but site errors prevented me from completing the check out process, and I got stuck behind the queue system again for another hour and missed the chance to order the physical from there.

I'm sure they'll list additional stock sometime, but this was painful. Their site wasn't operational and kept erroring just trying to navigate it.

Edit: Ended up placing a pre-order with GAME (their site seems to have gone through yet another revamp and forgotten all my previous order history, again), and the confirmation email gives a November 12th latest delivery estimate. That's not great, but I'll take it.

Edit 2: And now the Nintendo UK store has stock again, and the checkout just works now? Good grief.
If I end up getting two copies, I'll gift the other one.

There's something I couldn't help notice.

Increased player speed during races by the equivalent of one coin.

Doesn't this have major implications for time trials?
All previous records are now beatable due to the maximum speed at 0 and 10 coins being slightly higher.
Or, does the phrasing "during races" mean time trials remains the same but now feel slightly slower compared to race modes?

This came from a period of time where the European Mega Man releases all had uniquely terrible cover art, and the problems continued when you opened the manual.
Mega Man Battle Network 3's manual features artwork from the Mega Man X series, very little care went into it.

And that's without getting into the hilariously bad Mega Man Zero 3 European cover artwork.

This looks like it's going to be the biggest Mega Man game in the classic series.
If each Robot Master's stage is broken up into three areas that each features its own end-boss, and includes "R" versions of past Robot Masters like "Astro Man R", that's a huge amount of content before even starting Wily's Fortress!

@progx
The original creators don't have control over James Pond any longer, all the dreck you're seeing is coming from System3 and another company called Gameware.
There's an article on Time Extension about it.
https://www.timeextension.com/news/2025/07/i-hate-almost-everything-they-do-with-a-passion-james-ponds-creator-isnt-a-fan-of-gamewares-ai-focused-sequel

There's really no question that AI is being used here, and I even suspect that the claim of "redrawing in Illustrator and Photoshop" is a lie.
They can easily debunk that by showing actual PSD documents with layers, or by showing 3D models in software before any 3D rendering occurred, but they won't because this is so plainly obviously input images processed and output by AI. At most, some draft corrections may've been made in Photoshop to then be finalised by an AI, like the last-pass detailing of the "3D render".

Sweet, grabbed the free upgrade pack right away.
I've got the physical and it's been in my backlog for some time already.

@SillyG
It doesn't appear to have been clarified if Pokémon Home is checking for a completed regional dex (Kanto 150 only), or a completed national dex (full 386 Pokémon in generation 3, including mythicals).

It's most likely going to be the former since you would need a means of getting Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, and Deoxys in Fire Red and Leaf Green somehow.
That also raises questions about possible event distributions for the Switch releases of FR/LG, and Home connectivity if third generation Pokémon can freely move between third generation games on Nintendo Switch, so long as they aren't migrated up to the 8th or 9th generation games.

This is the end of an era, Pokémon that could be migrated up from Ruby and Sapphire, through to the 4th and then 5th generation Pokémon games, and then through to 6th and 7th using Poké Transporter, will no longer be able to transfer to the 8th and 9th generations on the Switch ecosystem.
Historic imports will still be able to make it to 10th gen, but niche cases will be locked out.

It's not so bad if the back catalogue of Pokémon games get Home compatible re-releases as Fire Red and Leaf Green did, but that carried issues like having to purchase a single language option as its own title, and the total lack of historic re-releases of the DS games so far (excluding the remakes Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl).

It's an interesting examination of the Switch 2 Edition physical release model.
The majority of Switch 2 Editions have come long after the original releases, meaning the digital upgrade pack is a far more enticing option for existing customers that already owned the Switch 1 version either physically or digitally.

Pokémon Legends Z-A, and Metroid Prime 4 Beyond, are some of the few Switch 2 Editions to launch simultaneously with their Switch 1 counterparts, so it being a primary purchase option makes a lot more sense.
It provides a forward compatibility option for Switch 1 owners that have not yet upgraded to a Switch 2 system, but this is a selling point that may not be understood by many consumers.
It's also an indicator of how poorly Metroid Prime 4 performed, given there was a large Switch 1 install base atop of a smaller Switch 2 audience.

Myself, I like to buy the Switch 2 edition physicals even though I already own the Switch 1 physicals, but collector customers like myself are an outlier where most people will just pay the nominal upgrade pack fee.