Shepdawg1

@mlt The symmetrical sticks isn’t one of my issues with this product. It’s that the face buttons on the right side of the deck are directly beneath the right stick as opposed to being off-center. If you look at the Switch Pro Controller, Xbox Controller, Dualsense, and even the Wii U Pro Controller and GamePad, you’ll notice that the face buttons and DPads on all of them aren’t centered directly over/under their side’s respective stick. The reason for this is ergonomics. If the sticks/buttons were directly above/beneath, it leads to either you having to cock the palm of your hand off the controller to keep your thumb straight or keeping your thumb sharply bent at all times when using them. It’s not ergonomically sound. In fact, if you read Nintendolife’s own review of the first version of Nitro Deck, they note pretty strongly that the right thumbstick’s placement directly under the face buttons was wildly uncomfortable to use on games that require heavy use of the right stick (mainly shooters); so much so that they didn’t recommend it to people who played games that made heavy use of the right stick. Sure, it mimics the JoyCon, but the JoyCon were also designed to be played sideways, hence why the sacrifice to ergonomics was made. Without needing to be played sideways, it makes no sense to me why the Nitro Deck would mimic the Joycon so closely when all it does is be needlessly poorly designed.

Of course, the first version of the Nitro Deck gets away with that design flaw because of the Switch itself. The Switch’s library is prolific, but not so much in terms of games that require heavy use of the right stick (mainly shooters). Hence, it makes sense why the face buttons take the more comfortable spot on the right JoyCon and Nitro Deck: because they’ll be used more than the right stick. With this revised Nitro Deck, however, they made the horrible mistake (imo) of swapping the positions of the right stick and face buttons while keeping the face buttons directly beneath the right stick. That sounds like a nightmare. To show this, ask yourself: do you enjoy using the DPad buttons on the left Joycon for extended periods of time or does it get uncomfortable? In my experience at least, keeping my thumb bent to be in the optimal spot for those buttons is not comfortable. My thumb will cramp up and feel stiff after a while. Now imagine that discomfort on your right thumb as it strains to hit the face buttons. Sounds miserable, yeah? Well, my guess is that’s going to be what happens to people who buy this product.

Anyways, I’m with you on the game controllers talk. I need to stop. I blame Scott the Woz for doing this to me. Heck, I cut some text from this comment because it was too long.

@SearchingS The difference there is that it’s the right stick that’s on bottom of the right JoyCon. The games that benefit the most from having the right stick in the more ergonomic position are shooters. The Switch isn’t exactly known for shooters, meaning the right stick, in most games, is hardly going to be used outside of brief camera control. The stick placement on the right JoyCon isn’t ideal, but with how little the stick is usually used in most Switch games, it being in that spot isn’t the biggest hassle. Not to mention, it was designed that way so that the stick and buttons would line up when the JoyCon is used on its side.

On this Nitro Deck, it can never be used like a sideways JoyCon, so it makes no sense to keep that same form factor. And since the right stick is not going to be as widely used on Switch as it would on other consoles, why waste the more ergonomic position on the stick rather than the face buttons?

@larryisaman The difference here is ergonomics. The Wii U GamePad and Pro Controller were designed so that your thumb never needed to bend when jumping between stick and buttons, with the buttons being diagonally off-center from the stick. With this Nitro Deck, however, it looks like the buttons are directly below the right stick. What this means is that, in order to use the buttons (which are going to be used more frequently than the right stick in most games on Switch), you’ll need to keep your thumb bent to hit them (or pull your palm away from the shell to keep your thumb straight, which then tweaks your wrist). You can even see this in action in one of the promotional photos on their website.

For a comparison, imagine you’re playing handheld on your Switch with the standard JoyCon. Do you enjoy using the D-Pad buttons on the left JoyCon for extended periods of time, or do you find your thumb cramping up or getting stiff? If so, I imagine this shell will do the same thing, but to your right thumb.

Now granted, this thing hasn’t been released yet, so only time will tell. But, based on what I’m seeing, it appears that they’re simply repeating the same design issue that Nintendolife themselves criticized with their first version of this product, only with the much more important face buttons.

This is why I don’t think this product will be very comfortable and why I’m critical of the stick’s placement.

Edit: I mistakenly wrote that you could see the bent right thumb in action in the trailer. I intended to say you could see it in a promo photo on their website for this product.

I’m sorry…right thumb stick ABOVE the face buttons? Who thought that was a good idea? That sounds so uncomfortable for the right thumb.

I really hope people aren’t bothering him about this…

Come on, Nintendolife, That is NOT a hint.

My evidence: the Dortmund Regional Championships VGC Finals match that they uploaded three days ago links to Pokémon Sword and Shield…when that game isn’t used (or even talked about in the video) at all. Same with the one they posted for the Knoxville Regional Championships Top 4 match between Luca Paz and Toler Webb uploaded 12 days ago.

The fact that such an obvious mistake happened twice leads to one conclusion: those game connections you cited are not applied by the uploaders themselves (or at least they weren’t in these instances). Not to mention, the music used in that short isn’t even from Gold and Silver.

And for crying out loud, the article from Nintenduo used as a source even mentions that YouTube applies those Game tags to help facilitate searching for videos and that it could be a mistake.

@Olliemar28 I would greatly suggest editing or even deleting this article.

Edit: Looks like an addendum has been added. It’s not much, but hey, it’s something.

@Satan Yes, I’ve played the original (a lot). This remaster doesn’t add substantial new content to justify the price point when 80% of the remaster’s content can be played for 40% of the price.

I’d say 7/10 as well. It’s by all means still a good game, and the remastered presentation is quite nice (albeit the music still isn’t super memorable).

But, the new content isn’t super compelling. It’s basically just 34 new stages (plus the 16 bonus levels which have unique stage designs for their micro bursts of gameplay). I admittedly haven’t tried Co-Op, but it does sound good for a playthrough with a younger gamer. The Time Attack mode isn’t really a new feature since they stripped out the score system of the original, which required fast level completion to get the Star rank for a level, and just repurposed the urgency aspect from that as Time Attack. The game is also easier as fall damage has been completely removed even in Classic Mode. And they toned down Mario’s characterization. In the original, he frequently expressed his frustration at DK and would laugh in his face at two separate points in the story. Here: none of that. Just standard, all-around good guy, kinda boring, corporate-friendly Mario. Makes this feel a bit sterile as a remaster.

The amount of content is also disappointing given that it’s a $50 game. 10-12 total hours of content is a bit light, especially when 80% of the game is recycled. I’m personally surprised they didn’t include level creation and sharing tools, which the series has prided itself on since the second game. Given how the game’s level design is grid and tile-based, I can’t imagine adding level design tools would’ve been too taxing.

So yeah, ho hum remake, but still a good game.

Rolled final credits on this game and perfected all levels (barring the Time Attack medals) after 8.5 hours. Very much a 7/10 game for me, and not worth the price tag. I’m not too bothered by the lack of difficulty and the presentation is very nice, but the amount of new content really does not justify the price tag.

Ugh, this limbo period when we’re just sitting and twiddling our thumbs is the worst. I know WHY Nintendo won’t announce it yet because why should they. But this is agonizing. Just put us out of our misery already!

Absolutely Japan. It’s more faithful to the actual characters and tone of the game as opposed to the North American box.

Honestly, what this game really needs is a custom level creator, much like the other MVDK titles. If it doesn’t have one, mods will definitely pick up the slack there. If it does have one, WHY HASN’T NINTENDO TALKED ABOUT IT?

@Bobb Well, Venomoth’s the man! (No joke, I actually dig Venomoth’s design)

@HeadPirate Ahh, I see. Good to know going forward.

@HeadPirate Why would Nintendolife be paying Pocketpair for writing articles about this game? If anything, it would be the other way around (i.e. advertising). Does every person in the world who writes about Mario, Halo, or Uncharted owe money to Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony now? If so, then I hope those late fees aren’t too egregious.

A fantastic read that really sums up my thoughts on Palworld as well. I knew from the get-go it wasn’t truly copying Pokémon in terms of gameplay and that the genre doesn’t line up with Pokémon per se. And this is where I think a lot of the Palworld defenders perceive the other side incorrectly. From what I can tell, most Pokémon fans don’t think it’s ripping off Pokémon from a gameplay perspective, but from a creature design perspective. And I 100% agree. A lot of the Pal designs are WAY too close to Pokémon designs that I personally can’t shrug it off as purely coincidence. Couple this with the statements from the Pocketpair CEO that he’s more interested in making games that will sell or are trendy rather than making something unique, as well as Pocketpair’s previous and upcoming efforts, and the only thing Palworld comes off to me as is a cynical, low-effort cash grab that is banking solely on controversy and trends to make money. Pocketpair just doesn’t strike me as a studio that wants to be artistic with their endeavors.

And I’m not saying games have to be deep or profound to be artistic. I like being able to feel the developer’s passion for their projects come through their games. Even taking a bad game like Balan Wonderworld. I can tell they were trying to make something special with that game. It was just poorly directed and designed. Going back to Palworld, I don’t see or feel the developer’s passion, which sours me from ever wanting to try it.

-Do I think this is plagiarism? Absolutely.
-Do I think a legal case will be brought about? Hard to say. I’m sure Pokémon would love to sue if they can get the evidence.
-Will this game kill Pokémon? I respond with another question: Did Yokai Watch or Temtem do it?

My opinion is: bring on all the competition in the monster catching genre. More variety is good. But Pocketpair hasn’t done much to convince me that they aren’t anything more than a lazy studio content on ripping off bigger things for the sake of a quick buck.

I’m glad they’re continuing it. Now all we really need is a Ace Attorney Investigations compilation and then we wait for AA7.

I find the discourse behind this game immensely intriguing. You’ve got the people pointing out design similarities to the point that it appears to be blatant asset theft. You’ve got people who, if the asset theft is real, are fine with it as it’s a way to “stick it to the man” and let the big corporations and companies hurt. You’ve got people who are defending the game saying that being inspired by previous games isn’t wrong (which it isn’t). And above all else, it seems that the people who are playing this game are enjoying it, to the point that it appears to be going viral, especially with all the discourse surrounding it.

My opinion: I am fine with a game that is inspired by previous games in the genre, and I encourage it. Take Temtem, for example. It’s obviously inspired by Pokémon, but you can tell the devs want to make it a similar experience while also wanting it to stand on its own. In that game’s case, to say you won’t play it because it’s not Pokémon is short-sighted and a disservice to the amount of hard work the devs put into it.

Palworld, however, is way too obvious with what it’s doing for me to consider it anything other than a scam. It makes me ask, “Okay, these devs clearly know how to make a fun game, so why are the creature designs so similar to Pokémon to the point that I can easily name the Pokémon they are ‘inspired’ by? If they really wanted to make something unique and creative, why do they appear to be blatantly copying and tweaking assets?” The only answer to these questions, in my opinion, is that they’re doing it just to make a quick buck. With that in mind, their strategy becomes obvious. Create a game on the cheap, use elements that make people go “Wait, I recognize that!”, and all the discourse surrounding the game will market it for us. All press is good press. We don’t care what kind of reputation the game has. As long as people talk about it and promote it, we’ve already won.

To me, this game is a cynical cash grab that was cleverly crafted to be as clickbait-y as possible. And we, as the people who are making discourse on Twitter and engaging with articles like this one, are the ultimate losers because we’ve given them exactly what they want.

Subscription models can work, but as it stands, most of the current models really do not work. Give us reasons and incentives to subscribe and we will. Otherwise, Ubisoft better get comfortable with continuing to print physical media and sell digital copies or they won’t be alive for much longer.

I mean…they kind of brought it on themselves. A colorful team shooter where you shoot out non-conventional ammo with a bright, friendly, and inviting aesthetic. The comparison was practically guaranteed.

Ooh, I like seeing Game Freak try different projects outside Pokémon. Harmoknight and Pocket Card Jockey are both fun titles, so maybe we’ll get something new.

Common Pokémon W for donating to important causes.

Square Enix chasing the trends while not being aware if it’s what their fanbase actually wants? Who could’ve seen this coming?

@VoidofLight It most certainly is available. I’m playing it as I write this. And they changed the article title…

Or…you know…the update’s available right now…

The marketing for this game was kinda bad. When they first revealed it, I had no idea what kind of game it was, so I just immediately defaulted to “Oh, it’s just a new mode for Fortnite. Pass”. And I think a LOT of people had that same mentality. Now that I know it’s a survival sim game…I’m still not too interested since those games aren’t really my thing, but they just needed better messaging at the start.

A big reason I enjoyed dungeons pre-BOTW is because of the new toys they would reward you with. It got me excited to see how I could use it outside the dungeons. With BOTW and TOTK, due to the nature of those games, they can’t reward you with anything in the dungeon that makes a significant difference outside the dungeon.

I think the open-world approach is still best, but they need to bring back compelling dungeon rewards, like a Hookshot. And then, integrate those rewards into exploring the world. That’s a tricky balance to do with an open world, but I think it could work.

I don’t see why not. More games on more platforms is better.

@Munchlax Don’t consider. DO IT! Bluey is an amazing show (and this is also coming from a grown man with no kids). It doesn’t talk down to kids, there’s plenty of moments for adults to enjoy, and it tackles difficult subjects that most kids shows wouldn’t dare touch. If you interact with kids at all in your daily life, there’s plenty for you to enjoy.

I’ll probably get this on sale as I adore Bluey. But, I’ll admit I was worried that it wouldn’t have any content that adults could truly enjoy apart from being with the lovable cast. It appears my worries were correct. Oh well, the show’s still amazing.

I take umbrage with Question 3. Link doesn’t LEARN the Scarecrow’s Song. He creates it.

Hard disagree. For context, I never played either of these games as a kid, but I am a massive Pokémon fan and heard these games were legendary. I went into XD largely blind sometime around 2019 and was ready to fully enjoy it.

I HATED IT SO MUCH! The gameplay is painfully slow (to the point that OG Diamond and Pearl are looking at it and saying “Damn, pick up the pace, why don’t ya?”), the graphics are terrible even by GameCube standards, the music is obnoxiously repetitive (I swear the tracks are so short that they loop after only 30 seconds, which would be fine if the music was actually good), and the poorly balanced difficulty makes grinding a necessity (add this onto the already plodding gameplay).

All taken together, XD is just awful, and from what I’ve heard, Colosseum is worse than XD, so I have no desire to ever play either game again. They can stay on the GameCube for all I care.

@Ryu_Niiyama I will die on the Color Splash hill with you, my friend. I love that game. It’s my second favorite Paper Mario game (behind TTYD, of course).

My personal ratings are probably not too different from the majority of other players, but I did have a few strange choices:

-M&L Paper Jam: 6/10 - I knocked this a few points down for missed potential. They could’ve done so much more with the concept of the two worlds mixing, but they really didn’t. Instead, it’s just a very by the numbers M&L game, and it has an astounding lack of polish with how many glitches there are.

-Paper Mario: Color Splash: 8/10 - I know this follows the Sticker Star style of Paper Mario games (which I gave a very deserved 4/10), which isn’t ideal, but I will die alone on this hill and say Color Splash is just flat out fun. I don’t even really consider this an RPG. To me, it’s more of a tongue-in-cheek adventure game with RPG battles thrown in to mix up the gameplay. Emphasis on tongue-in-cheek because holy crap, this game’s writing is so clever! So much funny banter with Huey and other characters that it just makes me happy. I consider this a hidden Wii U gem that PM fans refuse to play because it follows Sticker Star’s gameplay. Please give this game a chance!

-Paper Mario: The Origami King: 5/10 - I was so ready to like this game after Color Splash, and the trailers made it look super fun. What I took from it was that it was immensely boring. The battles take WAAAAY too long, and the ring puzzles got old. And the writing just wasn’t fun. Not bad, but not fun. It just feels like there was a decided lack of character with this game. I quit after the first boss and have no desire to finish it.

Happy to see both games get a nomination! Can’t wait for neither of them to win and for Geoff Keighley to award it to Spider-Man 2 because we all know this show is just an excuse for Sony to pay them off and look as good as possible.

And for today’s WTF moment…this!

I’m looking forward to it. While I think animation could suit Zelda better, I think the live-action route will definitely draw in the crowds more. I’m curious to see who they get for Link and even more curious to see how they characterize him and other Zelda characters. But, we’re probably not going to hear more from this project for at least two years, so we’ll just wait and see.

I was initially split on this. I can tolerate the direction buttons on the Joycon more than most, but even I’ll admit that they’re far from ideal. I like the Pro Controller, but the DPad on it is pure trash and using the analog stick for a 2D game is less than ideal.

And then I remembered I had the SNES Pad. It is perfection for this game. Absolutely top tier!

I’m convinced that the people who mute the flowers are the same people that have Moonlight Sonata as their life’s theme.

The flowers are just charming and add character. I really like them

So…when are you guys going to review it? You know…for science?

I’m honestly not surprised and not really upset by this. Yes, it’s a loss, but what percentage of Nintendo fans are actively playing online in 3DS and Wii U games right now? The biggest losses will be Mario Maker Wii U and the 3DS Pokémon titles, but not much else, in my opinion. I just don’t see this as a massive loss.

Seems my hype for this game is not misplaced. I was hooked at the first trailer and have been even more so with every subsequent look at the game. Roll on Oct. 20th.

I mean, any company in their right mind would want to own Nintendo. I’d argue that, barring maybe Disney, their brand is the biggest brand in all of entertainment and their IP is second to none. But I seriously hope Microsoft NEVER acquires them. Microsoft is trying to turn gaming into an Xbox monopoly, and monopolies are never good for consumers or business.

I just hope it’s more engaging character and story-wise than the first one. I was so bored by it. I know I’m not in for engaging gameplay, so they need to at least make the character interactions good.

As long as they keep the games coming, I’m okay with this.

I’m sorry…Pladean?

It was exactly what I expected, but that’s a good thing because I was already super hyped for this game. Roll on October!

If there was ever a mobile game idea that Pokémon needed, it would be this one. Granted, I’d much rather get a full blown game on Switch rather than a mobile game, but for Pokémon Pinball, it would be one time where I’d let it slide. I adore both Pokémon Pinball games and would love to see a new entry.

They took the stabilizer device from TOTK and super-glued it to the Switch. That’s how they made it 0.0.7 times more stable.

Welp…guess I’m buying the game twice because I am not waiting this long to play it just for physical.