SmaMan

It's gonna be yet another classic Sega collection. Company mandate says they must start a new one every year.

Last year, at about this time, it was "SEGA Forever" which fell drastically short of its promise of releasing new games every month. (The ones that were released were re-packaged versions of mobile games they already released years ago that most people conveniently forgot about.)

A tech company plans for the future.

In other news, the sky is blue, and a new study shows that water is indeed wet.

IIRC Twin Galaxies has separate boards for emulated or otherwise ported versions of games. Billy could've been truthful from the beginning, and maybe placed at the tops of those boards, but instead he lied and tried to keep that lie up for decades.

Guy needs to get disbarred imo. Kick him and his cronies of the TG board, rebuild, and start fresh.

Hmm, was this the same guy responsible for "Super Mario RPG 2!" who tried to spin their cease and desist from Nintendo into outright lies?

Definitely a basic shooter, and definitely a hard one. I might get it, if only because that "Caravan Mode" that Hamster slaps onto every single game they put out was specifically made for games like this. (Unlike Neo Turf Masters... why?)

@ClassSonicSatAm
Heck, for all we know this could've been a Lego Fantastic 4 game, but since the Incredibles are worth more to Disney/Marvel atm, they told them "Hey, we love the game, but could you maybe turn their suits red?"

Reminds me a while back when a Call of Duty game coming out on a Presidential Election Day raised concerns it would keep younger voters at home.

Of course, today, none of this is a problem, since now when you buy a game you have to spend the whole first day downloading Day One patches, or sometimes the rest of the friggin' game! The servers now required for this game to function may have crashed due to all the sudden activity, or in Metal Gear Survive's case, Konami forgot to turn them on.

Considering the Super NT exists and is now capable of dumping your carts, now you can dump your own legal roms, and play them on the go with your favorite mobile gaming handheld, like the GPD XD.

Heck, that alone is probably more legal than Hyperkin's checkered history of violating GPLs and selling people's hard coding work in emulators.

Why is everyone so surprised that Microsoft wants to see Banjo in the new Smash game? That only means more money for them.

Btw, in case anyone is curious, the bugs this game had on the Super NT have been worked out and will fixed in the next firmware update! (Kevtris is a beast)

See, I came into this with my mind in a completely innocent place and I thought we were gonna have a fun discussion about what Luigi packed for lunch in between tennis matches or something.

Are we gonna have a video with Alex where he examines Luigi's "lovely people?"

I remember Streets of Rage making a cameo appearance in one of the episodes. If they go the WayForward route of making a "demastered" side-scrolling beat 'em up, I'd be all over this!

A reminder that you don't really need an adaptor to play Super Famicom games in your US SNES. Just take out the prongs (about 5 minute process) and you're all set!

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
Well if you simply must have EVERY Fire Emblem character...

Nice! Shouldn't be much harder to make a good cardboard SHMUP setup, eh? Playing Gunbird or Strikers 1945 would be awesome like this!

Sigh... if only it supported using your own music. Then it would be an insta-buy.

It's all about the money, people. They would port this game to the Atari 2600 if there was enough of a potential ROI for it.

@Thisismycomment
I already had a long-standing Hulu account before it came out on Switch, but that was a factor in my decision to cancel my Sling subscription and go with Hulu's Live TV service instead.

@AlienX

Huh, that's really interesting! Thanks for sharing.

I love these Japanese computer versions of Nintendo games. There's tons of them with quite a few odd differences. Like a version of Mario Bros. where you have to kick balls at enemies to defeat them.

Well if it worked for the Wii...

@ReanSchwarzer7

I'm pretty sure it still works on Wii. The app connects to the same servers that your current-gen smartphone/tablet/or Smart TV would. It just displays it differently, and with Netfllix's old logo of course.

If you mean the Wii Shop Channel, it's still gonna be up until next January.

@Trikeboy
If they do business in the U.S., (and since there is a Nintendo of America, they very much do!) that business has to adhere to U.S. (not to mention, international) laws. That especially includes copyright laws.

@NinNin
Mind explaining why? By your albeit generalized view, sites like this one should be forced to give up all their ad revenue since they use copyrighted images and videos from game companies.

Journalistic intents are some of the most basic, textbook reasons Fair Use laws (or Fair Dealings as the lovely people in in the UK call them) exist. It is essential for the ongoing discourse, criticism, reporting of information, from the big news corporations, to the one-man bedroom operations.

@NinNin
Not according to U.S. Copyright Law. Time for some learnin', son.

Now, it's a lot more nuanced than "making money from copyrighted works." In the case of the examples I mentioned in my previous comment, most YouTubers fall into the Commentary and Criticism categories that are protected by Fair Use. We're talking about reviews where select footage of the game in question is being used to describe certain points the reviewer is making. This hits upon a few (of several) points that can determine whether a copyrighted work is being used fairly:

Is it transformative? In the case of reviews, absolutely, since they are taking the work, adding their own expression/meaning to it. Value is being added to the work with insights and understandings from the reviewer.

Amount/Substantiality: This is a trickier one, decided on a case-by-case basis, but generally as a reviewer is using only certain choice bits of footage, they can get past this one.

Does it negatively effect the potential market for the copyrighted work? Given that criticism is protected speech under the 1st Amendment, that's not a factor here. The real argument here is would the creator of the original work lose income due to the transformative one? This goes a bit back to the 2nd point. If someone shows the whole game, will people still want to buy it and play it for themselves?

That brings us to the question of Let's Plays and the gray area they are in. While streams of entire games run afoul of the amount/substantiality tenet, you could also argue that a particular streamer's commentary/insight, not to mention the way they play the game, is transformative enough. There's a line to be drawn somewhere between a streamer who shows themselves drawing something original in Mario Paint, and a streamer partaking in a more linear experience like Five Nights At Freddy's. Unfortunately, since no streamer has been taken to court over this, we have no legal precedence on how something like this would go.

But you don't have to take my word for it. Do some reading about this very real, very serious part of Copyright Law for yourself.

So they're basically just conforming with YouTube's new (stupid, and extremely detrimental for smaller operations like the channel I run for a state government agency... but I digress) requirements? Yay?

I still believe that in most cases, this falls under fair use. Someone doing a review of a Nintendo game or reporting on Nintendo things is absolutely protected by Fair Use. Let's Plays are closer to a gray area but commentary is, again, protected.

Unfortunately, it's going to be hard for an independent video producer (who this program slyly targets) to fight back against Nintendo. And YouTube has their back, allowing the Hollywood studios like HBO, CBS, and NBC (who the aforementioned monetization requirements benefit most) to get away with it without having to share their ad revenue. (Which again, no one should have to do in the first place. It's fair freaking use!)

I need to actually play one of these. I've had this game since launch and have yet to ever play it online (aside from the Global Testpunch).

@youkoaoshi @tebunker @KingMike @Crono1973 people wondering about Necromancer. I reached out to Nintendo, and while they haven't responded to me yet, I did notice this tiny little line of fine print added to the game's eShop page since yesterday:

"This RPG is Japanese only and requires proficiency in the Japanese language to play."

So there you go. Still, probably better this gets put more up front, don't you think?

Might as well call this game "JRPG." Just print that on the box, erm, home menu logo.

Seriously, can someone at NL (or someone brave enough to risk $5.99) check if Necromancer is in English? There's no mention of language on the official eShop page description, nor any screenshots that show text. It's all quite sketchy if you ask me... especially since the Wii Shop was always very up front about import games containing Japanese text and the like.

That said, if it is in English, that would be huuuuuuge.

If they want Hulu to dominate the platform with its growing content offerings, including live TV on the go, then go ahead. It's Netflix's loss.

Did they fix the "shot timing" mechanic that never works and instead makes your Switch buzz so loud it can be heard in the next room?

NBA Playgrounds was the first and only game I ever deleted from my Switch. I've downloaded this new one for free, and trust me, I want to like this game, but the original version was like a high school team trying to take on the NBA champions without even getting their fundamentals right first.

I enjoy the SNES port of Doom, for what it's worth. But only with my WiiU pro controller hooked up via 8BitDo's Bluetooth adapter. (That analog stick makes a difference, even if it's just a placebo.)

If you are hunting this cart down, get the Japanese version. It lets you pick any episode on any difficulty unlike the US version which gates them off for some odd reason.

Looks interesting! I might have to get this if my friends/family get tired of Jackbox.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
I was thinking more of a hammer that could tell time, maybe as you're hammering something.
**BANG**
"The time is now 3:45 p.m."

@okeribok
^ This guy gets it. Their design in this game is more akin to a falcon than a chicken. They are the predators, not the prey.

So yeah, cook up those gourmet chicken theighs. Kass might even ask you for one, no shame necessary.

@onex
Sony published it, (hence why it's a PS4/PC exclusive) therefore it's not really "indie" anymore as far as I'm concerned.

But I agree with you on the revamps. I bought that game for $15 used after those revamps happened. I'm certainly glad I didn't blow $60 on a pre-order for a game that's just now getting finished.

@EVIL-C
Look, the point is, why even pre-order in this day and age? It's not like running out of stock on launch day is a concern anymore thanks to digital downloads. Are carved-out unlockables or cheap plastic tat that may or may not live up to expectations really that big of a draw?

Pre-ordering, like loot boxes and other AAA trappings, is a gamble. You're putting up cash in advance on a game being worth it, and in this case, it was a total wash. We're lucky 2K is even paying attention and attempting to fix things this time.

All I'm telling people is to be smart with their hard-earned cash. You can wait until the review embargo lifts to see if a game is good or ridiculously flawed, then make your decision. In my opinion, you have far much more to lose on a bad pre-order decision than missing out on the chance to play a game on Day One-ish. But hey, it's your money.

/soapbox

@EVIL-C
Sony stuff? No Man's Sky would like to have a word with you...

I hope everyone remembers this situation next time they’re about to pre-order a game.

No thanks. I already bought Enter the Gungeon to scratch my Indie Retro Pixel-Art Infused Roguelike itch.

Seriously, how many more of this exact kind of game do we need? I'd wager soon we'll see yet another game made with the Oryx Fantasy Sprite Pack and more randomly generated levels because intelligently designing a game is sooo 2015 amirite?

Just add in a region switcher. There's maybe only a few MB of difference (if that) between the variations on these games.

Hell, if friggin' Hamster can do it for all their ACA releases, Capcom can do it too.

It's <current year argument>. Space isn't an issue anymore! Heck, I even did this with the limited space I had on my SNES Classic when adding in some of these very same CPS games!

What a great, digital week this is!

Even the 3DS got a game... from a certain all-caps developer who used to post here.

People have told me the SaGa series is something I'd enjoy. Curious how this one looks/plays.

I noticed the prices on this guide are a good bit lower than the actual Amazon prices that you're clicking through to. Super Mario Odyssey is $54.98 for example.

Also when it comes to SD Cards, don't buy SanDisk. Transcend and Sony are just as good (if not better) and are generally cheaper. I wouldn't call them the Beats Audio of SD cards, but you are paying for the brand with SanDisk.

@Kanbei
It's not that it's particularly offensive... it just never friggin' ends! Every article or discussion about the SNES Classic, or this, or some kind of retro collection being re-released on a major console, etc. has somebody in the comments trying to remind people that RetroPies are a thing that exists.

We know. We are aware. Move along.

I'm officially calling the practice of one constantly saying "Just get a RetroPie!" Pie-Facing.

As in, they never get out of your face as long as you're doing something different than what they've deemed the only way to play retro video games. :smh:

Reading these comments makes me glad I didn't pre-order this game.

You all should remember this too, the next time a company like 2k tries to coerce you into doing so.

I played this for a while a couple weeks ago over Thanksgiving break. It was actually kind of fun. Then I watched a few of those "featured" duels they mention in the press release and HOLY HECK does that game get complicated in the later levels.

Not sure I'll go back, but it'll be on a strictly casual basis.

What a great game! I'm not sure if they hold the rights to Battle Garrega also, but that's another super-expensive Saturn shmup in desperate need of a digital release.

@YamAsereht I won't argue with emulation quality but... it's Top Hunter.

As someone who has the means to play this game on real hardware, the differences between the SAC version and the real thing is not a game changer in the slightest. Combine that with the relative shortness of this game (it's an arcade shooter/platformer) and it's much more at home as part of a collection than in a big standalone release.

That said, Hamster's Caravan and Hi-Score modes that they add into literally everything they release might actually make a bit more sense in this one.

It's a fun little distraction, if anything. I already own it on Neo Geo CD and the Wii's SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 (which you can probably find for about as much as this one will cost in the eShop) so I don't really need to get this again.

Was gonna put his usual "animals" line, but this seemed more appropriate.