Smigit

As long as Kiddy Kong is there, I’ll be happy.

Star Fox 2 could also be seen as a case for not shipping a game late into a consoles life and holding out for releases on a new console. If anything the reasoning for it not shipping sort of goes against the messaging for potential of late Gen releases.

Preordered the set via Amazon Japan to get the edition with Famicon controllers.

In case it helps anyone

Standard Edition: https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/%E4%BB%BB%E5%A4%A9%E5%A0%82/dp/B0D2RZ8W7N/ref=tmm_acd_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Limited Edition: https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/%E4%BB%BB%E5%A4%A9%E5%A0%82/dp/B0D2RXXVCH/ref=tmm_acd_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

At the time I put that up, there are 4 listings. The two listings I’ve linked to include a bonus smart phone pouch and cost the same as the other two listings that do not. May be worth using Chrome and translating if you need to in order to make sure you get the best one for you.

Amazon JP ships to Australia and presumably many other countries, so (likely) no need to use a mail redirection service.

BotW for me.

I wasn’t especially taken by TotKs fusion stuff both to build vehicles and to speck up weapons. Think that in turn made aspects of the game a tad bit more of a grind than it otherwise would be. That’s on me a bit, but I liked BotWs more basic approach.

Also found TotK too big, with the underground bit not being overly entertaining to me. The ground was the more interesting environment but it was more fun running through that the first time in BotW than TotK.

Both good games, but BotW resonated with me in a way TotK never really did.

@Vaporeon_meme thanks for the thorough response

@Vaporeon_meme genuine question. Are tool assisted runs an issue for Mario Maker, and if so wouldn’t there be stacks of levels that were effectively unbeatable by humans? How’d we get to just this one remaining level?

I’d be happy with some DLC for the game.

As for a direct sequel, I’m not fussed whether we get a Mario Wonder 2 or we get something that borrows some of the design ethos from Mario Wonder but does something a bit different with it. I’d like to see the next Mario 2D game keep and ramp up the whole liveliness of the world (talking flows, etc) that made the world feel very alive and not static. Also like them to mix up the gameplay the way the Wonder seeds did and possibly bring over the badge idea also.

I’m just bummed that Blast Corps isn’t a standalone purchase, best I can see. Would like that on a portable console as an outright purchase.

As an owner of both Xbox and Switch, I’d note that Nintendo having the Donkey Kong Games means they have access to some of Rares most important games which aren’t available on Xbox, so it does go both ways. The Goldeneye release was odd, but Nintendo got online multiplayer out of that which Xbox also didn’t get.

So there’s some give and take there.

@Big_Fudge I believe I’m about 300km away from where MS had servers at the time I tried it, which was last about 18 months ago. Not 100% clear on the timeframe, but it was probably weeks after the launch in Australia which is where I’m based.

I’ll give it another go. At the time I recall reading somewhere that certain locations in AU were hosting XCloud, and while MS has a local presence (under 50km), at the time the local DC wasn’t used for gaming delivery so traffic had to go to the next city. Possible that has changed since I gave it a go.

In any event I could get through a game of whatever the horde mode is called with AI opponents, but it wasn’t a very smooth experience. For benefit of the doubt I’ll look to give it another go sometime. For all I said above, I’m very very keen on cloud gaming taking off as I am a Mac/Apple user and I see it as the most likely way for gaming to become broadly accessible on my Mac, more so than developers widely targeting Apple silicon for native gaming.

@Big_Fudge my experience where I live is that playing a game like Halo, there was a quarter to half a second delay between my pressing a button to the input being reflected on screen. It was certainly noticeable.

We have a reasonably ok 100/40 network connection (which is the max speeds we can get where I am), but if the MS datacentre isn’t near by that’s not going to save you.

If you have a reasonable connection and the datacentre is located such that latency isn’t a big issue, then I’m sure XCloud is great and viable. I’m sure there’s however a good reason cloud streaming for games is still a niche segment of the market.

@Toastmaster the streaming requirements for cloud gaming and Netflix are night and day in terms of different needs. You can’t buffer seconds or minutes worth of content when you’re streaming a game, and unlike streaming film or audio content, latency matters.

Perhaps you live in an area where network on average is good enough and the MS data centre hosting the servers are a reasonable distance away, but that’s not true globally for many millions of MS customers.

In regards to MS wanting services on PS and Switch, there’s many many references to this throughout the past 18 months with the CMA case concerning the Activision purchase.

@Toastmaster how many of those devices have the processing power to run 2/3 of GamePass games, on device? Until XCloud becomes more viable, low end hardware isn’t a substitute for something like a PS5 or even a Switch. Currently networking just isn’t there for XCloud to be the solution.

For phones MS has the same issues as other companies have had too where an Apple 20-30% cut hurts economic viability of selling GamePass or XCloud on Apples devices.

I don’t interpret the statement in that conversation to be MS wanting to keep it exclusive to their platform, but rather they do not yet have a way forward to publish it on Switch and PS. If they had a way to do so, I believe they would in an instant.

In the same call MS was very clear they want their games to be available across multiple platforms and that Xbox is a platform, not a device.

I’d like coloured cartridges as long as there’s not a cost associated with it (or it’s in the region of cents). I don’t know what the production processes looks like for cartridges and whether there’s significant cost savings to doing all one colour due to efficiency and reduced logistics, or whether switching in other pigments would have relatively low impact on production costs.

Odd response. Mario Maker was perfectly playable by people that just wanted to run through Nintendo and other peoples levels, and didn’t require people to make content of their own. Engaging with the design aspect was optional in Mario Maker, and those that weren’t interested could just consume other people’s content.

In regards to freedom while playing levels. TOTK and BOTW still forced you to solve strict puzzles in all the shrines and approaches to those were often limited, and I don’t see how maps for a Zelda Maker would necessarily differ from that, or the past 30 years of 2D Zelda titles that had puzzles with prescribed solutions. TOTK and BOTW gave a lot of freedom in the overworld, but shrines were not that different to the typical Zelda dungeons that a Zelda Maker would see.

Are we due for Super Street Fighter 6 yet?

Regarding the union comment, it probably isn’t a bad idea for staff to be in one to help fend off or get more reimbursement for the likes of crunch that the industry is known for. It also probably helps when a massive company like EA decides it wants to slim staff to save profits by helping to get better packages for staff impacted.

I dont however see how unionising will help staff in a situation where a company such as Telltale has a long run of financial issues and been on the brink of bankruptcy. The company probably isn’t in a position to support these staff, even if they wanted to, given what we know of the companies state over a prolonged period.

I also think the entire industry know the trouble Telltale has been in and one has to assume that staff sticking with them knew there was a risk of layoffs or bankruptcy.

Not saying that’s grounds to not unionise, not at all, but I wouldn’t link this to telltales woes.

“With the Switch now over halfway into its seventh year, many of us have upgraded and have multiple Switches in the house. Unlike its bulky home console brethren, the rigmarole and inconvenience of digging one of these out to play some Breath of the Wild is negligible.”

I think storage space isn’t that big a concern for most people. It’s that those clamouring for backwards compatibility are quite likely to sell their previous console to help finance the new one and without BC they can’t do that while retaining their games.

Also the Switch and presumably Switch 2 are also portable systems. If you’re travelling then carting two generations of the console is 100% an impediment.

@Thomystic I consider open worlds and Metroidvanias quite distinctive personally.

Open World titles for me allow broad exploration of a world and don’t inherently or necessarily put in place road blocks from you going where you want to. A game like GTA or Zelda BOTW may give you all the tools up front that allow you to by and large go anywhere from the outset. Some will gate progression for sure, but it’s not a core part of the genre and often that progression is tied more to story.

Metroidvania titles to me are more controlled and focused on gatekeeping parts of the map behind a progression system, one that usually includes unlocking abilities that allow the world to be traversed. They also are built around a core loop or backtracking to open up previously inaccessible areas. The gating and progression in these titles is a core element.

There are open world titles that may also have progression elements similar to a Metroidvania, but I do think they’re unique and that a Metroidvania isn’t necessarily a “2D open world”, and in some regards blocking progress can be the polar opposite to what some open world titles set out to do.

My, not Nintendo Exclusive, top three are

1) Zelda TOTK
2) Resident Evil 4 Remake
3) Metroid Prime

I expect Diablo 4 would have been on the list if it hadn’t shipped so close to Zelda. As it did, I’ve so far only played the beta, but thoroughly enjoyed that. It’s sitting there ready to be the next game I hit up.

@FlashmanHarry Agreed, especially when the art is marketing material/renders and not in game.

They already used CGI to remove Cavills moustache for Justice League. Maybe they can replace his entire face in the previously shot seasons 1-3

Picked up my copy in Australia from EB Games today, so our regions fine.

I really hope they don’t focus so much on making a game that tries to relive the N64 days and instead try do something more modern this time around. Mario Odyssey which came out at the same time felt so much better to play because it wasn’t rooted in the past.

At the very least I hope the maps aren’t massive for the sake of being massive. The first game had a weird scale issue, especially evident in the Casino level.

@Arkantos2990 The eShop doesn’t care if it can detect you own the original game or not. You buy the DLC and it’s then launch-able from the game if or when you insert the cart and play the game. Being DLC implies this isn’t a stand-alone upgrade, so you’d need the cart in anyway to play it so there’s no need to do verification at the time of sale. If you buy the DLC and don’t have the original you’ve just wasted money on content you can’t access, but Nintendo will sell it to you still.

I have literally dozens of physical games that I own eShop DLC for.

@HotGoomba There is a 2005 PS2 release called “Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy”, so that may be why they added “Definitive Edition” here. As this contains extra changes etc it probably makes some sense to differentiate from that release. Not that people should get confused between the PS2 and current gen editions.

@BTB20 yeah just double checked not long ago and realised that. Just the sequel and that co-op spin off.

Interesting. From what I can tell Wolfenstein The New Order shipped for the Switch before Germany lifted the ban on the swastika being shown in video games. Was there any impact around that game due to Germanys laws that impacted other countries? I don’t recall any issues from the time, but I didn’t specifically follow that title or what censorship may have been applied to which markets.

I’m fairly sceptical that Sega license costs would be the main reason. If the costs were high, why would Nintendo feel they have to pursue an arrangement with Sega or why not split the N64 offerings and Sega ones. It’s pretty clear from the press etc that Switch fans are primarily interested in the N64 catalog, especially when some of the main draw card Sega games like Sonic are readily available in legal manner elsewhere already. Genesis support seems like a bonus, but still a foot note by and large, next to the N64 support. I don’t see why Nintendo would make a deal that financially hurts them by paying too much to Sega for these releases and forces a price that could be detrimental to uptake of the service or Nintendos margins. Sega support just doesn’t seem worth paying a huge amount for.

I suspect Nintendo just thinks the N64 library is worth that much to users.

If Nintendo needed extra content they also have the Gameboy family they could pull content from, so again paying too much to Sega doesn’t make sense to me.

Metroid and Animal Crossing both look great. The Zelda one doesn’t really scream Zelda to me outside the Link character. Could be any generic castle.

Think it’d be better to pick a more iconic boss battle or something. I’d actually love a mini scale map of Link to the Past, which I believe some fans have done.

White.

My preferred combination would have been a black dock with white JoyCon but. Never really liked the blue and red combo which is why I didn’t go with that and originally I had the grey unit but have been using either neon yellow or neon red JoyCon for the most part.

The games not worth porting. It’s not a particularly good game, even if the controls are addressed. The games too tied to its N64 inspiration and feels incredibly dated as a result.for a series that’s had so few games, it’s baffling they couldn’t do more than a glorified retelling of the N64 title.

What’s telling is one of the more well received uses of the GamePad was Zombie U where it was actually a baked in mechanic that using the pad would distract you from what’s on screen, and the game used this to build tension. The devs of that knew people couldn’t realistically use two screens at once effectively. Then along comes Star Fox that built a whole game basically requiring people do just that and it was almost universally panned as a result. It’s pretty shocking that the Star Fox devs didn’t reach the same conclusion that the Zombie U devs had well prior to Star Fox being released.

Great news given the doom and gloom that was surrounding them only a matter of years ago in terms of financial position.

Feels a bit sloppy to me to not have the corners in the same rainbow colours. That blueish colour track accounts for about half the course. Especially disappointing given how eye popping the rainbow pieces actually are, and look great for it.

Day one for me, and possibly on both Switch and Xbox thanks to the cross save option which will allow jumping between systems.

@noobish_hat think of it more as direct to customer presales, as many of the kickstarters are from established parties. It also allows the people behind it to interact with buyers and additionally the “fear of missing out” on the Kickstarter exclusive bits will drive more day 0 purchases than they’d likely get with direct to retail. The campaign and stretch goals also provide a bit of a end user social media marketing campaign where bonuses for the Kickstarter are tied to backers essentially promoting the product on their behalf.

Don’t like the loss of space on the side bar and also feel the folder icons, resembling physical folders, is a dated design trope that has no relevance on a video game console where we aren’t sorting “files”. Folders implies a hierarchy data structure where what is likely needed or intended is user defined collections or tagging capabilities.

I like the colours on the mock-up though.

Clearly Sideon is the character most deserving of a statue. A solid gold one should do him justice.

@Caryslan I think MS gains as much or more than Sony. It helps ensure they have a footprint for asia gamers that they solely lack in franchises such as Final Fantasy. MS also had exclusive agreements around the Tomb Raider series last gen and may want access to that franchise as their consoles best alternative currently to Uncharted (and an extent Last of Us) that Sony has.

@impurekind I think the dual stick using 2x controllers was a convenient work around implemented by Rare rather than it being something Nintendo necessarily set out to support in their design. Wouldn’t be the first hardware hack Rare had. They also famously had the cartridge swapping planned for Banjo Kazooie/Tooie to take advantage of how the console retained memory caches.

I liked the controller at the time, but I dont think it’s aged well from a design perspective and the fact the joystick wears so poorly doesn’t help it’s case. Having a single expansion slot that needed to juggle both a rumble pack and memory card also made it awkward if you wanted to use both. At the time the controller was revolutionary, but today it feels like a prototype that was built in service of delivering the final product which is the designs closer to what we have today where we have dual sticks and all buttons within reach.

Nowadays my preferred controllers the Xbox family. I also personally liked the Wii U GamePad as a concept, but the system not embracing users having more than one was a missed opportunity.

I know some people feel very strongly for it, but as someone that’s not hugely into Smash Bros, I don’t find the GameCube controller all that appealing. The Z button only on one side seems a waste and I don’t like the face button placement particularly.

I think it’s a “lite” RPG. You do level up a bit in terms of life and stamina bars, upgrade gear and do quests. Standard RPG stuff. You don’t really have much way to play link as yourself but with conversations being fixed etc.

The series just as easily falls into the action/adventure genre which are traditionally more on-rails affairs, which most Zelda titles largely are even if they mask that a bit in some cases.

@Fandabidozi I think the timing was just off for the unveiling. They were at a convention almost exclusively targeted at PC gamers who were dying for Diablo 4, and instead of delivering a PC title they showed the crowd a mobile game. If they’d held back the unveiling until they also had Diablo 4 ready to show a year later, I suspect people wouldn’t have been bothered at all and in fact might be happy to get two releases. The fact Immortals only entered early access late last year would further reinforce that they didn’t need to show anything as early as they did.

The same user base hasn’t always reacted well to things which are a step away from the core PC history. I recall skepticism over Diablo 3 shipping to consoles too and the feeling that could never work.

@Fandabidozi I’m one of the few looking forward to the game

@JasmineDragon You make it sound like Blizzard hasn't been racking up considerable amounts of criticism over the past 24 months or so. Even the Diablo franchise when it comes to Immortals, and there's a fairly decent number of people sitting on the fence regarding this release after Warcraft 3 Reforged was universally panned. Never mind their position on political issues.

There's plenty of criticism for Blizzard out there right now.

@MJF no, I don’t believe so. Overwatch goodies seem to, but Diablo ones don’t from what I’ve been able to work out.

@nebria it’s in the releases news that they’re for consoles, and the listing in console stores also mention it.

https://news.blizzard.com/en-gb/blizzcon/23606576/commemorate-30-years-of-blizzard-gaming-with-the-celebration-collection

Note however that if you own the game on multiple platforms, the Diablo items are only available on the platform you purchase for. Overwatch bonuses seem to be usable cross platform for linked accounts.

@Snatcher “Did anyone even like or care about Google stadia”

Personally I care, as I think opening up gaming to a broader audience without people having to spend $500+ on a modern console or even more on a PC is a great thing. Also I use a MacBook, so having access to a wider range of games without needing to dual boot would be a massive boon. It’d also be terrific when travelling. One day people will be able to play games with nothing but a TV and controller, with no need for any box. I think this is a good thing.

I think XCloud, Stadia etc hold a lot of promise and even for Nintendo’s console it’s allowing titles that otherwise wouldn’t run in the native hardware to be published to the system. Sure, infrastructure isn’t there globally, but it’s an area of great promise still.

That said, I don’t care about Googles first party development of games overly and I doubt many people do given they have no proven track record. I don’t think that’s a huge loss and if there was any surprise, it’s that Google started out with aspirations to develop games initially anyway rather than not just using the money to pay more third parties to adopt the platform. I hope they continue to expand and improve the platform, as well as MS and others with their own.

@SwitchForce “ Problem is they showed it on a Apple not a PC windows computer that only has either a DVI or HDMI only if you buy the latest Gaming Laptop would it have a USBC port”

Unsure exactly what you are saying, but if it’s that only top end laptops would have USB-C, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Non Mac laptops have had USB-C for ages. My several years old HP work laptop has it for example and that’s a business grade device, not a gaming one. My inexpensive desktop PC I purchased the mother board for several years back, probably around 3, also came with USB-C.

USB-C has been common for several years now across the industry. Definitely don’t need to own gaming or top end models either.