Sakura

Luigi's Mansion!

@Cobalt I have sort of the opposite situation. I only play one game a year on PS4 (only Horizon and Tomb Raider actually so far in the 3 years I've had it) with the majority of time going to Switch. Just a preference.

I love the massive variety that Nindies give the Switch library, but another indie-focused Direct might be overkill. As would another lengthy Smash segment.

Anyway, there are quite a few games that are coming soon that I'll pick up like Syberia 3, Asterix and Obelix, Town of Light, Starlink (maybe), Carcassonne, Flipping Death (physical), Broken Sword 5 etc

Actual Nintendo games that have my interest are few, however. Smash, Pokemon, Mario Party are not my thing, so would be nice to see something else - Pikmin, Yoshi, Animal Crossing, something about Metroid, maybe a remaster. I'm surprised Mario Maker for switch isn't a thing yet.

Shenmue would be nice too.

@BigKing Perhaps (probably, even, in a few cases) but not allowing crossplay with Xbone at all because it's not as good a place to play as Playstation does somewhat counter the idea of Sony providing a better experience since the 2 don't differ vastly in the Fornite stakes.

For Nintendo, there is perhaps some validity to the point that Fortnite isn't as good on Switch. Players themselves have asked for patches. I cant comment on Nintendo online because I don't play online.

The problem with the statement made is that "better" is subjective and anything subjective can be argued till the cows come home. Even objective facts are subjectively considered because that's the way humans work. "...better user experience" is a nebulous statement that is both meaningless and meaningful depending on who's listening. It doesn't really clarify anything on Sony's part, though, so it remains PR spin and that's something that should be approached with caution, however common it is across all large companies.

@BigKing I agree that that is a valid point for Nintendo, but for Xbox not so much, so still only part of the picture.

Not really buying that. More like Sony wants players to remain playing on Playstation and locking F2P accounts to their ecosystem is one way of achieving that. They don't want people to migrate to other (console) systems. Simple monetary decision that is completely understandable in that light. All the big companies make these kind of decisions and dress it up in PR. It doesn't really fool us.

@Vriess It will have to be a pretty deep discount, but I should be alright with the patience requirement. I've not got any great expectation, just want to see what it's like to play.

@Vriess If the price is right, I'll check it out. I tend to find low-rated games to be better than the scores suggest and high-rated games to be not as good.

"ugly giant bags of mostly water"

Still intrigued, but too expensive. Will wait for the inevitable sale.

While it looks to have great mechanics, I don't think it will be for me since it doesn't look like it will have an end point. There seem to be a gazillion ways to upgrade the gazillion elements shown. Continual evolution like that might provide challenge, but it also gives me the feeling of, "what's the point?" because it can never be "beaten".

@OorWullie Sorry, misread that. That's a good point.

@OorWullie I think not allowing the user any access to save data outside actually playing a game is an anti-piracy measure and, as such, it's unlikely that Nintendo will allow saving to an external drive.

The take down of ROM sites and implementation of server-side verification on 3DS shows they mean business. It's about time really, but it does mean inconvenience to the consumer as far as saves are concerned because we don't have direct control over them.

@gortsi It would be surprising (and disappointing) if Ubisoft hasn't learned anything from the other toys-to-life games. For the moment, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and wait and see.

@gortsi This seems to be the first toy-to-life game where everything has a digital counterpart for purchase, so it will be interesting to see what happens, how that affects demand for physical items and the earning potential of the game as a whole to Ubisoft.

It's already difficult to pitch extra toy-to-life content at a price that makes it worth it without devaluing the base game. If the value of the extra content in game is too little (just cosmetic), people can do without it, but if the value is too great (unlocks extra missions etc), the game becomes very expensive and discourages part of the target demographic (or at least, their parents). The digital pricing could hit a sweet spot, but we don't yet know.

It might not be much of an issue as you can level up ships, pilots and weapons like in an RPG, so this could well be a fair toys-to-life game, fair to Ubisoft and fair to the consumer.

@Koudai1979 It's still a little unclear at the moment, but it's definitely true that you don't need the toys because everything is available digitally. That doesn't mean that you don't have to pay for the digital unlocks, though there is no pricing available. I think it's unlikely that unlocking happens without purchase, but that hasn't actually been confirmed as far as I'm aware.

You can probably beat the game without any extra purchase, but it will be easier or perhaps a better experience with the ships etc unlocked. The question at the moment, which probably won't be answered until after release, is how much not having the extra content impacts the game experience.

@gortsi I also have just seen that the starter packs include a poster of "wave 1" modular toys". So, pretty much confirmed to have more unless it bombs terribly.

@gortsi If it takes off, I can see the possibility of there being inclusion of the other Star Fox characters as purchasable physical and digital content, perhaps even DLC missions. They've already been seen in the game. They might need really good sales for that to happen, though.

The Wiki has a list of all known parts that might be useful. The ship packs also contain 2 weapons and a pilot.

http://starlink.wikia.com/wiki/Starlink_Wiki

The Startail pilot is available for pre-orders from GAME.

@Yorumi Fingers crossed. I'll be really pleased if it turns out great.

@ThanosReXXX I had a look at all the sets available and there are elemental weapons that don't feature in the starter pack, plus crew members and other ships with different abilities. If you can still beat enemies by using other weapons etc, then that's okay, but if a battle takes a long time just because you're not using a specific weapon, person, ship, that would be a pain. Would depend on how often too.

The battle I saw was very repetitive and wasn't over i by the end of the 16 mins section shown so I don't know how long the fight would actually last or whether the effort seemed worth it in the end. I don't yet know whether it's the design of the game in general or if it's because certain weapons weren't available or even if the player just wasn't any good.

I think I have to wait for a review to be sure or just try it myself. I don't really want to buy into having to buy everything to play a decent version, but it's too early to tell yet. If it's good, then great, but I'm not ready to commit to that opinion yet. I really hope it's good, though.

@gortsi I'm hoping that's true, but still need confirmation that elemental weapons will be unlocked through play and not just by extra purchase. Not all elements are covered by the starter pack. It might be that only a couple of weapons are needed, but that's not the pattern of other toys-to-life, which need multiple purchases to 100% a game.

I've worked my way through Lego Dimensions by buying the sets second hand, playing, then selling them on. It's a hassle, especially considering some abilities are used very little. Not sure I'm up for doing so with Starlink, if that's what it takes. Depends on the digital deal.

@ThanosReXXX I actually already looked at that, but being able to play the game without the extra toys/digital counterparts doesn't give any indication of the quality of the experience without the toys or digital counterparts. The gameplay, which might have been an early build since it was at E3 or shortly after, looked like a real slog to get through. Having better or elemental weapons might make it less of a boring chore. I think I need a review really, so wondering about that pre-order.

I'm playing Neo Atlas 1469 on the Switch.

I bought it when it was on sale recently, though I think they might have done better had they pitched it as a budget release at the out start.

They are many ways the game could be improved, but I really like it. It's definitely not for everyone, but I'm a sucker for niche games.

Although I have this pre-ordered, I'm still a little wary due to the toys-to-life/microtransaction mechanics.

I'd like to know how crucial it is to buy extra ships, characters and weapons in order to progress in the game. I'd rather have them digitally anyway, so the digital pricing would be good to know too.

"...your wife turned up missing one day..."

I love a terribly good oxymoron.

@Nincompoop Still better than G4S

Could do with a bit more on Starlink. It's going to have to be very good indeed for me to bite with the extra purchases involved.

I think I'll get Swords and Soldiers on WiiU. I was going to do some more Lego Dimensions, so have to set it up anyway.

I can understand streaming making sense for online AAA experiences, with or without new versions every year. Also for old games that otherwise are widely pirated.

Apart from those things, I think the value for the consumer would be massively impacted. Games as a service with constant upgrades and new content doesn't fit all genres of game. Pocket Camp's mechanics have reduced Animal Crossing to a mostly tedious collectathon within a forced time-frame for me. Really not interested in gaming like that. I'll stick with the games I already have if games as a service really means gaming is a chore.

@NEStalgia We're well on the way to that, mostly blindly. Ask for an update post March next year...

For the UK, shopping around has always been the better option in the main. Yoshi is £52.99 on Amazon and 39.99 at base.com, Starlink is £69.99 on Amazon and £52.95 on Coolshop. The £2 discount rarely helped.

I know it's a different case in the US, where RRP/MRP is the usual cost, plus taxes/whatever.

@CroRock I think they also generally don't bother with reviews of games that are very poor. It's the better games that have garnered interest already and those that are good, but might slip under the radar that are the ones most worth reviewing. Or, I suppose, games that have been over-hyped and turn out to be worse than expected.

@Sakura7 Yeah, sorry about that

Oh, this is looking good! It's been good to hear the announcements for more mature games, but great to see this too. A choice is always nice.

I really don't understand the appeal of Halloween, but I'll get this game. I only have a few left now to create a really nice 3DS collection.

@Sakura7 I think that's reasonable. Syberia 1 and 2 will be released on one cart on 28 Sep (at least, I hope they're on the cart and there isn't a download). Not sure why they haven't done the whole trilogy, especially as 3 is not rated highly, but I'm supposing they want to sell as many copies as they can at the highest price and think that a separate release is the best option. That might be debatable as the whole trilogy at a decent price would be more enticing; sell more at a lower price, rather than fewer at a higher price.

The Switch version of 3 is supposed to be catered to the hardware, so I'm really hoping that's true, though it won't help with the other issues the game has.

@OorWullie Yeah, they are expensive on Switch. Other formats are much cheaper. Maybe there will be a sale at some point.

@OorWullie Syberia 3 is a 2017 release on PS4 and Xbone, so it's not that old! I was disappointed in the ratings, though, but I think it'll rate higher for me personally.

Yes! Glad I waited for the Switch version of Syberia 3. I know some reviews aren't stellar, but P&C adventures seldom get high scores and I have such nostalgia for the franchise that I have to play it.

I suppose this also means that eShop games can be more easily gifted for those parents/grandparents/others who do not want to just get eShop credit for whatever reason.

Finally!

Seems a bit odd that it hasn't been officially announced, especially if it's coming today. Maybe they're trying to cut down on the leaks and speculation.

@PanurgeJr There's a lot of personal validation that can be wrung from identifying strongly with a particular group. Or, indeed, identifying with an opposing group in order to criticise.

@the_beaver I'm delighted that for the Switch, I don't need to depend just on Nintendo titles anymore. I'm not into any of their holiday title franchises, but there's plenty more out there, even if Nintendo isn't pushing the idea very much.

I really enjoyed Snake Pass, even more than I've enjoyed Odyssey, which is a game that just doesn't click with me for a reason that I cannot define.

I'm playing Star Trek: A Final Unity on PC CDROM via DosBox. Finally worked out how to get the game to run with sound and without crashing at certain points. Maybe I'll actually finish it this time, 20 years after getting it.

Edit: Okay, so was it worth it? The game is not bad, typical Star Trek scenario Prime Directive stuff, a few interesting puzzles. It's the running of it that's the problem; it needs some tweaking to run at all with sound because of SB issues (diginit error) and core needs to be set to simple to avoid x86 spam error. The graphics don't display particularly well, so it's hard to find the objects/clues and the main alien adversaries are some of the worst looking aliens I've seen in long time - inspiration from Dizzy, it seems. If you really want to play it, the issues are solvable, but they'll likely discourage anyone who's just looking for some casual fun.

And back in a new Star Trek! I'm disproportionately pleased about that.

This game sounds interesting, but war isn't my favourite topic for a game. Could be worth a shot if it's well done, though.

@NEStalgia Thanks! I was a bit disappointed to find that they look rather generic. There is, of course, a ton of significance to the names and what the mascots represent. Maybe not as boring as they first seem.

https://tokyo2020.org/en/games/mascot/

I hope we get a lot of documentaries on Japan in the build-up. maybe even some gaming-related programmes.

What's with that one Pikachu with the scheming expression? X-)

These parades always feel rather menacing to me, like some kind of saccharine army, a lullaby played at slow speed and off-key. Impressive logistics, though, and I suppose you really have to be there...

Wonder what Japan is doing for the Tokyo Olympic mascots. Japan is the king of mascots. We're going to get a Mario and Sonic game too, right?

Oh! I was expecting the technical details of how the ships etc appear on screen.

A quick calculation of how much all of the toys cost, including starter pack, equals about £185 (oops! no, £220). I need confirmation of the digital pack cost(s) and more info overall. How much do the alternative ships, weapons and pilots improve the experience? Seems too expensive at the moment.

I can't believe that there are so many point-and-clicks now that I'm rationing myself. This one is on the list.

Btw, is Syberia 3 still coming? I know it was poorly-received, but I'd like it anyway.