SillyG

@HammerGalladeBro : I'm just glad that the original Australian ratings are still binding, because if these games were to be classified from scratch today, they would jump from their original G8+ ratings (superseded by PG in 2005), all the way up to an R18+ rating due to their moronic, asinine new rules regarding gambling.

Actual gambling (lootboxes and gatcha mechanics) with actual real-world money? Unrestricted to all ages!

Make-believe gambling with no real-world consequences? Legally restricted to over 18s!

It should damn well be the other way around! I even contributed to their stupid public consultation on the change in guidelines regarding gambling, which evidently fell on deaf ears.

@thepaulcutts : There are other (cough free) ways to play GBA games on your phone, and I certainly wouldn't recommend paying $20 for zero effort ROM dumps. If you can play it elsewhere, I'd certainly recommend it.

While I wouldn't necessarily recommend the Let's Go games over the far superior Sword/Shield and Legends Arceus (the latter being by far the best Pokémon game on Switch and the best overall Pokémon game in years), I would nevertheless recommend Let's Go to those wanting to experience the original Kanto adventure for the first time.

AU$60 for both versions is far too absurdly expensive to justify when I can play the games on my DS (or phone), and especially when there isn't a physical cartridge for the price. I could be tempted on sale (or if Gold Coins were still a thing), but it's a pass from me. And why FR/LG when we already have Gen I remakes on Switch?! Where the hell are the GB/GBC games at?!

@Lizuka : The size is irrelevant. There's plenty of physical Switch games that could fit on a CD-ROM several times over. The key here is ownership.

It's only "wasteful" if people dump it in landfill, which I assume the overwhelming majority of people won't.

AU$30 for this crap? Seriously?!

I'll happily pay AU$60 for a physical with both games on a cart (hell, I'd pay more than that, but I don't want to give Nintendo any ideas), but this is just obscenely overpriced for a download exclusive.

I mean, yaay for it being purchasable, but of course Nintendo had to do it in the most obnoxious possible way.

And why FR/LG?!!! We already have the Let's Go games FFS!

The only AI voiceovers that I think would be reasonable are for custom character names so that we can finally hear our own names uttered in games (or custom place names, phrases etc.).

Virtually anything else is a cheap cop-out.

This generation was a bit sparse, with the fewest new species introduced to date. Dragalge is probably my favourite overall (and it's so sweet that it got a mega too!). Honourable mentions to Dedenne, Swirlix, Helioptile (got a soft spot for our native frill-necked lizard), and Hoopa.

I love the Mega concept, though the designs don't really scream at me as they amplify the features of existing designs. Mega Slowbro is so adorably goofy, so that, or maybe Mega Pinsir might get my vote for best mega (and megas really should have been included as part of the survey).

@PolitiClank : Even if so, I want the physical edition with the actual Switch 2 Edition data on the cartridge (along with all software updates to date). I want the most complete physical version, always, so saving a few bucks on an inferior product isn't an incentive where I'm concerned.

The higher speed Switch 2 cartridge may also yield some benefits (faster loading times, perhaps?).

Oh, beautiful!

Now I'm especially glad that I held off on buying the Switch version. 😁 Who would have thought that this would get a Switch 2 release so soon into the console's lifespan when we had to wait 10 whole years for a Switch 1 port.

Now if only we can get XC3 Switch 2 Edition with the DLC on the cart as well.

The 3.0 update has been quite underwhelming, and I'm not crazy about tourists flooding the island (especially as they're forced into "uniforms" as opposed to their default attire). The fact that former villagers "remember" you is a nice detail, but it's just generic dialogue from thereon (e.g. no use of former custom catchphrases or mention of villagers who lived on the island while they did).

But it did get me back into the game after a 3.5 year absence.

If only the Switch 2 version were optimised to the extent that loading times were almost virtually done away with, so that you can almost seamlessly enter and exit buildings without seconds-long pauses. That might have made the update feel a little more substantial in the absence of a new instalment this generation.

Vanilluxe.

My dad ran a stationary ice cream truck at an indoor market during Pokémon's heyday in the late 90s through to the early 2000s, so Vanilluxe is an especially sentimental one for me, naysayers be damned.

There's a lot to love in Gen V, even though many of them (perhaps too many) seem to have obvious Gen I counterparts. Honourable mentions to Reuniclus, Bouffalant, Hydreigon, and Cinccino.

Also love how they'd perfected Pokémon on the DS with its vastly improved engine too. If only HG/SS had been held back to see its benefits. Then they could have been the greatest Pokémon games of all.

I love sea angels, and I'm such a sucker for MarineAngemon, so naturally, I love Manaphy and, to a lesser extent, Phione as well.

I have no earthly clue why they haven't yet been released in Pokémon Go after all of these years. It's not as if they're particularly strong.

Trust Ubisoft to screw up a collection of ROM dumps.

This is putting me off from ever picking it up at all. Constant backlash shouldn't be necessary to hold them to a bare minimum standard, yet here we are.

I'm confused. It looks like an Odyssey movie (Rosalina's inclusion aside), and yet it's branded as a "Galaxy" one. 🤨

Gen III is home to my least favourite species of the entire series. Relatively few are particularly memorable, and others were derivative, boring, and in some cases, just plain ugly. Never cared much for the starters either. They weren't necessarily bad, just... meh, given how awe-inspiring Gen II was.

The legendaries and mythicals are okay, and I especially appreciated the air of mystery around the Regis. The games are great though in spite of my indifference to most of its designs.

But I do love the Clamperl line, and Gorebyss is my favourite Pokémon of Gen III. It's a tragedy that the deep sea concept was criminally underbaked as there were almost no deep sea Pokémon beyond Clamperl and Relicanth! And considering how long we spend surfing/diving in those bloody games, IGN's infamous critique isn't as petty as some make it out to be.

Honourable mentions to Milotic, Shedinja, Masquerain, and Vibrava.

The best generation.

Porygon2 is my favourite Pokémon of all, maybe followed closely by Dunsparce (and now its evolution, Dudunsparce).

I also love all the babies, the new evolutions (especially Slowking), even the early route stuff is GOATed in Gen II with the adorable Sentret and Hoothoot, which never seem to wear out their welcome in the same way that other common early game spawns do.

The legendaries are all cool. Even weaklings like Sunflora are so damn loveable. I only wish that the Gen II Pokémon were incorporated better into the actual games (and all of them actually available in mainland Johto).

I'm still disappointed that a Let's Go Gen II game never materialised (even though I would have preferred a proper reimagining/expansion of Johto), especially as half of the game was kinda already right there.

Playing Pokémon Go all weekend. Therian Enamorous débuted today. No hundos. Got the Luvdisc I was after though, and ditched my only shiny Shadow Ho-oh, which I had traded for a costume shiny Cottonee. 😅

Gigantamax Meowth débuts tomorrow, so we're looking forward to that for some reason, even though it's going to be completely useless. 😅 Gimme that shiny!

Since the free update, I've also gotten back into the routine of playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons after a 3.5 year hiatus. Funnily enough, the new content doesn't really appeal to me at all, and I don't even particularly care for the island being overrun with tourists (males dress like Wario, females dress like Princess Peach; and I had underestimated just how quickly the novelty would wear out).

I normally don't like repeating jokes but...

Still cheaper than a PSA 10 graded copy of Pokémon Pinball GBC. 😅

Damn. Ironically, the GBC game is now the most appealing part of the package, but it's gate-kept behind an overpriced collection without a proper physical option. 😞

I suppose I can play it on the ol' phone though.

Otherwise I'd consider downloading it from the eShop if available separately.

It's kinda pathetic that these ancient games aren't running natively in UHD on Switch 2 (or elsewhere), but yaay for baby steps, I guess.

sigh

I so looked forward to the first "collection", until they pulled this crap on us. No surprises that Konami dished out sloppy seconds here. And what a crying shame that the first "collection" did well enough for Konami to repeat these sh***y practices.

I'll grab these collections on GOG if they are ever released there for PC, but it's the hardest of passes on Switch 1/2.

@Viator_ : The price is what I expected it to be on the conservative side (though I wouldn't have put it past Ubi to high-ball it either).

I'll still hold out for a physical release, otherwise, I might just download the PC release.

Sucks that there aren't more games, mainly just variations of the first game. This would have been a great opportunity to include the neglected Learn With Rayman games. Would have preferred those finished games over a prototype.

In any case, I'll consider this if a physical release materialises. The digital price will probably be too absurd to justify an impulse download.

@JJtheTexan : It did get a wider retail release. 🤨

I want this almost more than anything else, and although I don't care for the Game Corner stuff, I still want the games fully intact. Australia can get away with simply reusing the existing classifications for these games (despite the idiotically illogical rules around gambling now), but if a local physical release materialises with a big fat R18+ rating on the cover, I'll probably import the American or Japanese releases just because of how ridiculous it would look.

Also, physical, eShop or bust. I'll sail the seven seas if they paywall this behind NSO.

I'm keen if a true cartridge release ever materialises, but unfortunately, being a Nintendo-published title, it won't drop in price significantly enough to warrant a purchase in spite of the GKC. For AU$30, a disgruntled reluctant maybe (and even then I would never want to indulge Nintendo for taking the GKC route). For $100, not on your life.

I'm already annoyed as hell that the Switch 2 physical release of New Horizons doesn't include the Happy Home Paradise DLC either. What was even the point in issuing a new physical release without it? It would have been the easiest double-dip otherwise.

Yes, whenever I pick up a Switch 2.

LRG, you know what to do.

@Vyacheslav333 : US$70 is fine had it been properly physical (completely obscene for a GKC though!), but I would agree that the digital release should be priced a little lower considering the type of game that it is.

Providing a cartridge with nothing actually on it while trying to bait customers with useless trash. Oh, how I love "progress".

Still cheaper than a PSA 10 sealed Pokémon Pinball cart. 🤪

@Dimjimmer : What's even more baffling is why the hell aren't they including the Switch 2 upgrade on the freaking cartridge?!

I assume that some combination of miscommunication on Nintendo's part and stupidity on both sides (other being Bandai) have lead to idiotic decisions like these.

There should have just been one physical release with the S2 improvements baked in. How difficult would that have been?! Upgrades are universal between the Switch 1/2, so there's no reason why the "upgrade" couldn't be included on the cart. We'd have happily waited another couple of months if that meant the difference between having everything on the cart and a compromised physical release with a forced patch (given that it's already a late port).

But yaay, I guess, for there being a Switch 1 cart at all, but I absolutely hate how clumsily Bandai is handling the physical releases for their cross-generation releases. I've skipped Shadow Labyrinth and the second Pac-Man compilation for that reason, but I will pick up Digimon.

My only hope is that the update is universal and not a "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" style DLC update, which would essentially lock you into playing the game on only one console if you happen to have multiple Switch consoles.

sigh I hate this industry.

This is quite possibly the most bizarrely useless-sounding update ever.

@BloodWolfe : I still want the amiibo, but I'm gutted that none of the games are physical, so it's a hard pass from me... 😞

A few RE games have released on GOG recently, so there may come a time when I'll be able to properly own these games should more recent entries in the series eventually come to the platform. Not buying Capcom's GKC slop though.

@countzero : It's uncommon as third party publishers know that their sheepish customers will eat up their install key disc slop.

I was never particularly fond of them, but I don't have some kind of visceral hatred for them either. I'm just indifferent. And I don't mind Pokémon throwing us these left-field designs every now and again, though the Sugimori style will always reign supreme.

However, I do really like Guzzlord and Blacephalon. Odd, but goofy designs that appeal to me. Xurkitree's not bad either, and has a pretty nice shiny, though making it more tree-coloured, I think, would have taken it over the top.

I loved the Style Boutique games on 3DS. The first one was a freebie from buying a 3DS XL from the UK (as I'd already owned the physical editions of the free games), and I found myself really enjoying the game, and I proceded to grab the physical editions of the two games that followed.

Sure, it's "girly", but I really liked the more businessy side to the game, and it was so well made, cosy, and the graphics were beautiful. Definitely surprised me by how good the games were (the third one let me down by ditching stereoscopic 3D for no good reason).

Fashion Dreamer was such a crushing disappointment though, because despite it being developed by more or less the same team (and replicating the same aesthetic), it was an entirely different sort of game with no goals, which is fine for a young audience, but its predecessors were already quite accessible enough, so why mess with that formula?

A new proper Style Boutique/Savvy is all we want. I don't understand why Nintendo is letting an IP with three entries on the 3DS lay dormant like this.

Xenoblade Chroncles 3 + DLC + Nintendo Switch 2 Edition all-in-one cart, please.

If filth like Perky Little Things (?) can get an uncensored physical release in Europe, then just how bad is this?

That's the most generic piece of crap excuse for DLC I've ever seen, and Nintendo/GF think this is what will persuade fence-sitters into biting the bullet?

What a pathetic joke.

And don't even get me started on this being a AU$110 GKC either.

Can we get a complete Switch 2 physical release to match?

Absolutely loved the 3DS instalment, but this is sadly a hard pass from me. I was initially considering grabbing a few extra copies to gift to family members, but I will no longer be doing so either.

I loved the last game, but this is sadly a hard pass from me.

Separate physical releases are coming for both Switch and Switch 2 (appears to be full on cart on the latter).

Kinda wished it would have been a "Switch 2 Edition" though. We shouldn't have to default to the Switch 1 release for maximum compatibility when Switch 2 carts are capable of giving us the best of both worlds.

Or... you know, charge an extra tenner so we can own the GD games on the GD cartridges.

Requiem's base price in Australia is AU$130! And it's still not on the cart! [Expletive] Capcom.

@Res462 : No, it isn't, because such a version would contain assets for both builds (unless you just want a higher resolution version of the Switch 1 version, which has heavily scaled-down assets from the PC/console versions). What I'm asking for is a fresh port with higher quality assets/performance.

If they were to make a NS2 Edition instead of a NS2 exclusive build, they would have to pile the higher quality assets on top of the Switch 1 version, which will cause the file size to be even more bloated than it already is. A native S2 port would only contain each asset once, if that makes sense.

Should have just been black and white from the start.

@Kriandis : I've been saying that from the beginning. I have no interest in buying an expensive physical accessory for games that I'll never own. It's the same reason why I also refused to buy Mario Kart Live. I love the concept, but no cartridge for the actual game? A game that can be pulled from any time and render an expensive toy useless? The package was already around AU$150. What's another $10 for a cartridge?

@Don : This is getting an international release, so it's much more likely that you'll be able to pick up a cheap copy as it should be available in relative abundance.

Absolutely gutted that this is finally getting a Western release... but only as a GKC. 😭 Way to kill our enthusiasm.

This is one of very few GKCs I would reluctantly consider picking up, but only at a very heavy discount...

LRG can't get on the Switch 2 train soon enough!

@Corvus96 : I'm not even "hating" on LRG, so you're barking up the wrong tree with your misplaced indignation.

I was only pointing out the ludicrousness of wasting Switch cartridges on individual ROM dumps (the original Shantae is barely over 1MB) when they could have, at the very least, included Risky's Revenge on the same cartridge (at a slightly higher price) considering that they were released simultaneously instead of manufacturing two separate cartridges and unnecessarily bloating the cost.

I too would love a native Switch 2 port (as opposed to a "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition", which would only unnecessarily bloat the game even further).

We also need DOOM Eternal with the DLC on a cart.