@Bunkerneath by “now days” you mean the past 15 years? Since the mid 2000s if you wanted to ensure your physical copy of the game wasn’t missing patches your safest bet has been to pick up a GOTY release or some other edition that ships 12 or 18 months after release and is almost guaranteed to have everything included. It’s been a very very long time since you could buy a physical copy day one and not expect patches to ship at some point.
For PC gaming you can go back further to the mid to late 90s where consoles it became the norm with the 360/PS3 given they were generally online systems.
Not saying this title or Bloodstained should have shipped as they did, but you can’t buy a game day one and expect it won’t get patches at some point post release. Ideally the fixes would be more minor than Zelda and Bloodstained require.
Train wreck of a release and I regret backing them on kickstarter. Was a mess pre-release when it became apparent I'd paid $100AUD almost (local currency) for something that was releasing for $60 retail (and some stores had for $50) locally as they decided late project to make it a budget retail release with no real benefits added to the physical $60USD tier backers. Not only did we get shafted but I haven't touched the game and won't for almost 6 months post release given the universal reports it shipped in a bad state and there's been a long running promise of fixes.
Lesson learnt and while I wouldn't outright dismiss a sequel or other project from 505 or Iga, I certainly would not back either party again. Happy to deal with delays common to kickstarter projects but some decisions and communications by the project were verging as completely dismissive of the backers which I think was rather terrible and inexcusable.
Interesting that the Australian release has the same contents in its collectors edition but the packaging is slightly different. My copy doesnt have that pull out cardboard insert that has the game and steelbook side by side. They're arranged that way in the case but you just pull them out of the outer box rather than sliding the cardboard drawer out that then has string to lift the items.
@Heavyarms55 I have the full sized case for my original Switch and the switch is more than protected enough in it. It’s not a hard case but the materials are thick, well padded and well constructed. It’s not hard but the case holds its shape and doesn’t flex readily.
As for the size argument, someone else addressed it but an original switch case is still larger. The smaller consoles also as much about being lighter when in actual use (outside the case)...it’s still too big to be pocket friendly so in transit will likely warrant a bag.
Handcrafted leathers at a premium isn’t for everyone but personally I have no regrets with my case over something that absolutely would feel cheaper if I was to buy based on price. Not to say the cheaper options are bad, but this one is super nice and if you are buying this console to be portable maybe one can justify the cost for a nice travel case as a once off for a console some people will keep for years, maybe decades. I know I can.
@MrBlacky Recordings. My understanding is there is a very subtle difference to how the original arcade machine would load screens versus how an emulator would. Something like one would load the display in left to right and the other the other way. The recordings of the record were looked at and weren't consistent with how an original Donkey Kong board would work.
The issue then with emulators is the game has some random elements to it. An emulator not only isn't 100% identical to a standard unit, but in theory could have the random number generation tweaked to benefit the user.
It's worth noting in all this that if he was on an emulator and if it was tweaked to provide an advantage (no guarantee it was that I'm aware), then it doesn't remove the fact it still took a lot of skill to get where he did even on the emulated copy. It's not like god mode was turned on, and he has subsequently broken the million point mark in other attempts. That said, cheating is cheating and apparently those with a lot of knowledge have proven that he wasn't on legit hardware when he got the record.
There is from this an argument or accusation that an emulator couldn't have been accidentally used and it would have to have been deliberate, although I'm not privy to how that was determined. I vaguely recall that one of Billie's arguments is they people disputing his record don't have evidence of him switching boards as thats not in the recordings, although others point out that even if he hadn't swapped them himself the record itself would still be invalid.
@teixeiras I don’t think a 10 should require the game to be one you could recommend to anyone. That’d rule out most games and most genres of titles. Some of the most critically acclaimed games of all times will be in genres that aren’t universal in their appeal like strategy (including turn based - Civ comes to mind), RPG, simulators etc. I don’t think that should instantly prevent them getting a 10.
Such a rule probably means BotW would lose its 10 from this site among other titles too.
A 10 should be a title that’s at the top of its genre and is an exceptional title as far as gaming overall goes.
@TheAwesomeBowser There's one listed on Amazon AU currently for $33, which is a $10 markup of retail but I guess isn't too crazy. Is a Japanese one apparently so the box won't match local if thats important to you.
@theiRiS Fair enough. As the owner of 100+ Amiibo personally I don’t need exclusive DLC to justify them. Given the number of Amiibo I have it’s not like I’m missing content from games due to Amiibo exclusivity, but I can see that others are. The other issue is in 24 or 36 months time certain Amiibo become hard to find via first party channels so unlocking that content becomes expensive and/or difficult. There’s some Amiibo that are just prohibitively difficult to track down now if you didn’t get them at launch. For example the alternative colour Splatoon 1 set.
I think there’s a better balance to be honest than a permanent lock to a physical toy, or at least make the content purchasable for $5 or similar for the people going digital only. I think fast tracking content ect is a good middle ground. The Switch for many a portable system and Amiibo aren’t great for taking on the road either.
Not that I’m too upset, I’ll be getting this Amiibo also, just think there’s better ways to make DLC available or that they could have alternative options. I do think it’s a bit anti consumer just like having store specific DLC is where different retailers get different content, meaning the only way to get everything is to buy multiple copies.
I can see why some would like the Amiibo to unlock content however and do respect that view.
@JayJ I do think there’s ways they could make everyone (or more people) happy. For example make Shadow Link an unlock for beating something, the game or some challenge, but available instantly for the Amiibo owners.
@sixrings a quick google seems to show that the original 360 release was around 140MB. Xbox Live Arcade that this was part of had some very limiting restrictions around the size of games allowed into the service early in the Xbox 360s life. The file size slowly increased over time.
Might grab it when it’s half price. Enjoyed it on the Xbox 360 but I already have it digitally there, or can get the remaster for my Xbox One for less than this.
@the8thark The real kicker with the BotW Collectors in Australia is I ordered in the first few hours and EB Games had the case listed. It was removed the following day with no changes to price or anything. I probably could have imported a US copy initially but by the time EB de-listed the case 24 hours later, the US had sold out of the edition at all major retailers.
Australia also got it. Picked it up today. Very much considered cancelling as it set me back $130 and I could have got the game on its own for half that, but no regrets right now.
@ParasolStars Regarding other regions I'd say the US wins out as much as it loses out. Someone mentioned BotW which is one example, but besides that there's plenty of games that have had editions ship to the US that haven't made it to my local region for whatever reason (Nicalis has a number) and I believe theres a few I've been interested in where the US got carts and we got digital codes or eShop only here as examples (Mega Man 11 is one case).
Not that I want the US to miss out, it'd be good if the releases were more consistent globally however in all ways.
I’ll likely grab it when it’s 70% off or so. Interests me but the price is too high and I’m fairly sure I have an Xbox One copy available via Game Pass or Games with Gold so while I’d prefer to play on the Switch, I won’t spend a heap to do so.
Endless mode won’t interest me for those looking at the game from a value perspective. I’m a “play the campaign and move on to the next game in my stack” sort of player.
@NEStalgia It looks like they did release a US edition at 20% more and it’s still managed to sell out. Can’t explain why it’s missing other goodies.
The situations very frequently reversed though with the US getting better items. The BotW collectors edition didn’t have the Switch case in other regions, so it’s not like the US is necessarily worse off overall. In terms of adding value the UK seems to get it best by my observation by virtue of the UK Nintendo store throwing in extras for first party titles sold directly through Nintendo. They miss out here and there but the Nintendo store often seems to have something other places doesn’t. All in almost Nintendo logistics can be a bit baffling.
Outside of limited editions the US has also had issues for stock with Amiibo and things like the 3DS XL (reportedly) that didn’t seem to reflect my own market here in Australia. It’s odd how independently different regions are treated in this respect.
@Reigestugatensho I've only played Half Genie Hero and wouldn't recommend it. It's not a particularly good game. It's a kickstarter and it feels like it. Unfortunately the more the game goes on the worse it gets as the levels become less inspired (after a pretty good opening 1 or 2 levels) and you have to keep visiting them over and over. I suspect a lot of the people that loved the game went in after having played other games in the series and thus had more investment in the character and world.
Not to write the series off though, just start with Pirates Curse or one of the others which seem to be more highly rated, even by those that did enjoy HGH. If you enjoy those I think that high will carry on and elevate HGH a bit if you decide to eventually get into that one.
What a crap move. It wouldn’t even be so bad if they were upfront about the plans, but that statement neither confirms or denies that multiplayer will come at a later date. TBH if I’ve learnt anything from PR speak, if you want MP for this title do not buy it now as there’s a good chance you’ll be disappointed. Wait until it’s delivered. Unfortunately lost sales may only encourage the team not to put effort into the feature, but there’s no point an individual taking the chance that others will skip the game and their money’s gone to waste despite ones own support and optimism.
Really really bad look that the developers aren’t owning the narrative by being upfront about the plans. The biggest news now isn’t the game itself being released but the uncertainty around its future state. Hardly the way you want to launch a title as a small developer and I’d argue it’s quite disrespectful to the customers.
@PBandSmelly As others have said board games are far from dead and have made a very strong come back in recent years. I’d suggest swinging past a dedicated shop if that’s of interest and you’ll find the shelves are mostly full of products released in the past decade. Some places still just have Monopoly and the like, but if you can look a bit deeper there’s dozens of far better games out there covering all different markets.
This isn’t the first one based off an indie game either...got the Binding of Isaac earlier for example. Plenty of other game tie in also.
Can’t say I’ve experienced the issue but it looks like many others have and are out of pocket for replacing their JoyCon, so whatever gets Nintendo’s attention and a resolution is good for consumers.
@AlexOlney When it comes to Zelda I’ve generally preferred the Nendoroids myself, Majoras Mask Link in particular, but each to their own. The figmas are good too though.
@BacklogBlues "But DLC is usually if not always region locked."
As before I think it's a bit of a trial and error scenario. Here's some reddit threads where some individuals claim to have been able to get DLC from regions other than that for which their physical cart originates.
Each time it comes up some people say its outright unsupported but given the number of people that claim it has worked on occasions for them, I tend to believe it's just luck of the draw and some people lucked out with certain games.
I wouldn't necessarily count on it if it is super important to you to have all content on one region, but it seems some people are having luck with DLC specifically across regions. I guess one could email the publisher and ask if they wanted to know about the games in this article specifically.
Follow Up: I won't rewrite all the above but I have half a dozen imported games. I've just had a look and Megaman 11 for which I have a US copy (since my local region didn't get a physical release from memory so I imported from Amazon US) and it had some free DLC in the eShop for my region (Australia). I've downloaded the free DLC under my AU account (I don't have a US region account) and upon starting the game the title has said the DLC was detected and I can activate it in the options...so yeah, I have been able in this instance to use content from the AU eShop with a US physical copy of the game.
I'm also certain it won't work in all cases, but it has in the run I just did then. Of the other 5 or 6 games I've imported I'm not sure which if any have DLC at all so can't comment on those ones.
Note I've never been able to redeem Nintendo Points from other regions though for physical purchases.
@BacklogBlues I was of the impression some games DLC was region free and you could buy a physical title wherever and download DLC in your local region, while other games required the DLC and physical to be in the same region. I don’t think it was 100% one way or the other and was based on how they handled the eShop listings.
@vitelus “you're going to kill 3rd party developers with 3 modes to optimize for”
Nothing to say this won’t have the exact same processor and display resolution as the current Switch, meaning there’s little need to do special optimisations. It honestly looks like the savings will be in physical build with fixed controllers and what looks to be a 1” or so smaller display.
Anyway, game developers can optimise for multiple hardware sets...they’ve been doing it for decades.
@YANDMAN the file sizes for games vary drastically from 100s of megs to many GBs. Depending on the games he could easily fill a 200GB card while someone with different titles will have stacks of space left.
Also believe screenshots and captured video go to the card from memory so using that function could play a part.
@sanderev “The Switching mechanic (removable controllers) however IS required by MULTIPLE games”
It’s not required. What is required is support for wireless controllers which you can still do even if the console had one pair of affixed joysticks. They can simply state that some games may need an extra pair of JoyCon to function, which will mostly be relevant to docked mode.
No different to how you can dock a console with the JoyCon attached and use a Pro controller. Very few games force JoyCon and motion controls on the player and those that do have already made concessions anyway in that it prohibits portable play, so this one extra scenario where second controllers are required isn’t that big a deal for many I suspect. Nintendo has shown itself that it’s willing to not support every mode the Switch is capable of with its software, so what’s asking for a seperate controller for some small selection of titles.
In fact if this console supports docked mode, which I assume it would still, the overarching assumption will be that extra controllers are required for obvious reasons, and therefore Mario Party and the like could be supported still. Out of the box this would be aimed at portable play though, something Mario Party and potentially a few others don’t support anyway, at best requiring tabletop mode.
@Mikemario Ocarina of Time having a not-at-all subtle nod to Mario is in no way proof that this extremely subtle link that has a pattern that only vaguely resembles the Zelda one is an Easter egg for the Zelda release.
No ones disputing the Zelda reference to Mario. That doesn’t make the reverse true. If anything it works against this belief given how blatant the Reference in Zelda is compared to the Mario one. For two games sharing development they havent been consistent in this regard as one might reasonably expect.
@Morph Almost certainly not. As before, the stars don't match the pattern properly (both horizontal distances which aren't equal and vertical placements with the second star being low where it should be just below the third) and the clouds, colour and style of the picture have nothing to do with Zelda, including any pre release footage from the game.
All there is is three dots that only really link to the Zelda's three dots in that each successive one is higher than the other, but even that pattern has big differences. Nothing else in the image is relevant unless one stretches even further and wants to use the fact Zelda games have clouds in them is some sort of link also. Thematically the picture has more in common with a 2D Mario game or perhaps one of the pastel like Yoshi titles.
The “song of storms” also has no relevance to the painting or it’s placement.
@Morph there’s heaps of pictures hanging up in the game that serve no purpose if you’re looking for something functional from them. More likely than not it’s purpose is to be a decoration and break up a bland wall a bit.
That’s a stretch if I’ve ever seen one. If they were going to do that surely the spacing would at least be consistent and the rest of the picture would have a slight relevance to Zelda or the song in question.
Interested in Turok 1 and 2 but I’m guessing they’ll be $30 USD each as normal so I’ll likely pass given the cost per title plus shipping. If both games were on one cart then maybe.
If it’s not a sequel the I sort of feel it’s a missed opportunity to try some new IP. Yooka Laylee as characters and the world from the first game was so incredibly bland and uninspired and I do believe using the same IP will hurt them as much as it’ll help given the lukewarm at best reception the first game got.
Happy to be proven wrong but I’d have been more interested if they’d dumped the Yooka Laylee characters and introduced something new and ideally more fitting today’s market.
@Varkster Why would it be nearly impossible to make a sequel to a rare title, assuming it’s an IP they still own (Banjo, Conker etc). If anything having fresh staff rather than Rares original team could be a good thing if you asked me. I mean sure, the team were the pinnacle of the industry 20 years ago but things have moved on. We saw some of those staff try their hand with Yooka Laylee which was a mess so perhaps fresh perspective would be good.
In terms of viability I think Mario Odyssey shows the platforming genre has potential if the developers are prepared to bring in some modern day game design sensibilities. Crash Remastered, Spyro etc shows there’s still huge interest in 90s platforming IP also.
I’d say it’s an ok offer if you are digital only, but that’s only because the eShop pricing for Nintendo games are poor. If you will buy physical then it’s easy to get titles far cheaper than this promotion offers.
Here in AU they’re charging $135 for this promo. Pretty much any Switch game, first party or not, can frequently be had for $60 or less and pretty much any new release will have introductory pricing at that level across multiple retailers. As such for this promotion to actually net a gain you’d need to be buying older releases and doing so when any number of retailers aren’t running sales and not be prepared to import. Otherwise at least through retail channels you can probably get any 2 of the titles on this list for under the $135 AUD they’re charging quite readily.
If you are 100% committed to digital then this promotion makes sense, it that’s less about this promo offering great value but the first party eShop titles being over priced, particularly compared to retail channels.
If you don’t want two games right away you’re also locking your money away in the hope titles you want get added. In contrast other systems would offer straight discounts on games with no need to bank credit.
Some people are talking about stocking up because the vouchers are only available until June. I’d be weary that post June they may not add many new titles to the program, so I’d probably caution against jumping in like that if your banking for future games. If they planned to continually add titles there’s no reason they’d cease selling the tokens.
@wal to be honest a track editor doesn’t appeal hugely to me either. Moving forward I’d like to see them ship the base game with a good number of tracks (as they did with 8) but to then really ramp up the post release support with say a new track every month or new cup quarterly which could be made up of either remasters of old tracks or new ones. Maybe also add a character each 3 months or so and maintain that support for 2 or 3 years which would give you an absolutely terrific amount of content.
Also feel like every single Mario Kart ever releases has had maybe 1/3 of the number of battle arenas as I’d actually like to see. Given how simple many of those are I’d really love to see a release that had a high number of those arenas in it.
@RadioHedgeFund I really don't think Apple is a potential buyer. They haven't shown great interest in gaming for decades, they've literally let Windows run away with that market without lifting much of a finger.
Nintendo is pretty old school and much of their focus for the time being will rely on hardware. Given Apple has cross domain products in computers, tablets, mobile devices and TV Media Boxes, the current shift towards gaming over cloud services makes more sense and while Nintendo's gaming IP would be valuable in such a situation, their hardware and services devision (which hasn't shown much in the way of cloud gaming aspirations) wouldn't be. As soon as xCloud and Stadia hit the market, all those Apple products overnight become viable gaming platforms.
If Apple wants to build a games lineup I'm not sure buying Nintendo is the way to go as your paying a big premium for a company dealing in hardware that I honestly don't think fits Apples ecosystem, and they then still need to actually build the cloud services. It probably makes more sense to wait for the next big indie game and to just buy them out before MS, Sony, EA, Google etc do so. Rinse and repeat a few times and they can quickly build a very strong catalog without needing to spend the huge volumes on Nintendo, and they can still attract third parties to any service.
That approach also doesn't exclude them buying established companies or entering partnerships. It also dodges a LOT of headaches that will be created by the cultural differences between Apple and Nintendo. We've seen how MS absolutely failed to make the Xbox work in Japan and there's a high risk that an Apple and Nintendo partnership could sour for similarly not being able to hit that cultural balance correctly.
We seem to be talking vanilla Mario Kart 8 and not the Switch Deluxe edition. Given that it’s not overly surprising and both were only seeing modest sales.
I mean the Wii U only sold something like 13 million units from memory, so with the game having already been sold to well over half of the console owners and given it’s not being supported, who can be surprised it only sold 20k units. I think this specific scenario says more about how poorly the Wii U did than Nintendo’s backlog importance.
I replayed the Xbox live re-release in the past 24 months and boy has the original aged badly. Great graphics for the day but the gameplay is incredibly rough by today’s standard. Also completed the entire thing in 2 or 3 hours. It seemed so much longer when I was young.
Comments 336
Re: Hold On Tight As Digital Foundry Tries To Nail Down Zelda: Link's Awakening's Performance Hiccups
@Bunkerneath by “now days” you mean the past 15 years? Since the mid 2000s if you wanted to ensure your physical copy of the game wasn’t missing patches your safest bet has been to pick up a GOTY release or some other edition that ships 12 or 18 months after release and is almost guaranteed to have everything included. It’s been a very very long time since you could buy a physical copy day one and not expect patches to ship at some point.
For PC gaming you can go back further to the mid to late 90s where consoles it became the norm with the 360/PS3 given they were generally online systems.
Not saying this title or Bloodstained should have shipped as they did, but you can’t buy a game day one and expect it won’t get patches at some point post release. Ideally the fixes would be more minor than Zelda and Bloodstained require.
Re: Bloodstained Switch Updates Expected To Launch By The End Of November
Train wreck of a release and I regret backing them on kickstarter. Was a mess pre-release when it became apparent I'd paid $100AUD almost (local currency) for something that was releasing for $60 retail (and some stores had for $50) locally as they decided late project to make it a budget retail release with no real benefits added to the physical $60USD tier backers. Not only did we get shafted but I haven't touched the game and won't for almost 6 months post release given the universal reports it shipped in a bad state and there's been a long running promise of fixes.
Lesson learnt and while I wouldn't outright dismiss a sequel or other project from 505 or Iga, I certainly would not back either party again. Happy to deal with delays common to kickstarter projects but some decisions and communications by the project were verging as completely dismissive of the backers which I think was rather terrible and inexcusable.
Re: Guide: Zelda Link's Awakening Walkthrough: Part Two - The Mysterious Forest And Tail Cave
@CurryPowderKeg79 I totally agree. Ruins one of the puzzles for that stage and it’s completely unnecessary.
Re: Gallery: Unboxing Zelda: Link's Awakening Limited Edition On Switch
Interesting that the Australian release has the same contents in its collectors edition but the packaging is slightly different. My copy doesnt have that pull out cardboard insert that has the game and steelbook side by side. They're arranged that way in the case but you just pull them out of the outer box rather than sliding the cardboard drawer out that then has string to lift the items.
Re: WaterField Unveils New Premium Cases For Your Nintendo Switch Lite
@Heavyarms55 I have the full sized case for my original Switch and the switch is more than protected enough in it. It’s not a hard case but the materials are thick, well padded and well constructed. It’s not hard but the case holds its shape and doesn’t flex readily.
As for the size argument, someone else addressed it but an original switch case is still larger. The smaller consoles also as much about being lighter when in actual use (outside the case)...it’s still too big to be pocket friendly so in transit will likely warrant a bag.
Handcrafted leathers at a premium isn’t for everyone but personally I have no regrets with my case over something that absolutely would feel cheaper if I was to buy based on price. Not to say the cheaper options are bad, but this one is super nice and if you are buying this console to be portable maybe one can justify the cost for a nice travel case as a once off for a console some people will keep for years, maybe decades. I know I can.
Re: Billy Mitchell Threatens To Take Legal Action Against High-Score Sanctioning Bodies
@MrBlacky Recordings. My understanding is there is a very subtle difference to how the original arcade machine would load screens versus how an emulator would. Something like one would load the display in left to right and the other the other way. The recordings of the record were looked at and weren't consistent with how an original Donkey Kong board would work.
The issue then with emulators is the game has some random elements to it. An emulator not only isn't 100% identical to a standard unit, but in theory could have the random number generation tweaked to benefit the user.
It's worth noting in all this that if he was on an emulator and if it was tweaked to provide an advantage (no guarantee it was that I'm aware), then it doesn't remove the fact it still took a lot of skill to get where he did even on the emulated copy. It's not like god mode was turned on, and he has subsequently broken the million point mark in other attempts. That said, cheating is cheating and apparently those with a lot of knowledge have proven that he wasn't on legit hardware when he got the record.
There is from this an argument or accusation that an emulator couldn't have been accidentally used and it would have to have been deliberate, although I'm not privy to how that was determined. I vaguely recall that one of Billie's arguments is they people disputing his record don't have evidence of him switching boards as thats not in the recordings, although others point out that even if he hadn't swapped them himself the record itself would still be invalid.
Re: Review: Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition - A Pure Work Of Magic
@teixeiras I don’t think a 10 should require the game to be one you could recommend to anyone. That’d rule out most games and most genres of titles. Some of the most critically acclaimed games of all times will be in genres that aren’t universal in their appeal like strategy (including turn based - Civ comes to mind), RPG, simulators etc. I don’t think that should instantly prevent them getting a 10.
Such a rule probably means BotW would lose its 10 from this site among other titles too.
A 10 should be a title that’s at the top of its genre and is an exceptional title as far as gaming overall goes.
Re: Yacht Club Games Officially Reveals The Shovel Knight Gold Edition amiibo
@TheAwesomeBowser There's one listed on Amazon AU currently for $33, which is a $10 markup of retail but I guess isn't too crazy. Is a Japanese one apparently so the box won't match local if thats important to you.
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07K4CDV8Z
Re: Prepare To Fight Or Run When You Summon Shadow Link With The Link's Awakening amiibo
@theiRiS Fair enough. As the owner of 100+ Amiibo personally I don’t need exclusive DLC to justify them. Given the number of Amiibo I have it’s not like I’m missing content from games due to Amiibo exclusivity, but I can see that others are. The other issue is in 24 or 36 months time certain Amiibo become hard to find via first party channels so unlocking that content becomes expensive and/or difficult. There’s some Amiibo that are just prohibitively difficult to track down now if you didn’t get them at launch. For example the alternative colour Splatoon 1 set.
I think there’s a better balance to be honest than a permanent lock to a physical toy, or at least make the content purchasable for $5 or similar for the people going digital only. I think fast tracking content ect is a good middle ground. The Switch for many a portable system and Amiibo aren’t great for taking on the road either.
Not that I’m too upset, I’ll be getting this Amiibo also, just think there’s better ways to make DLC available or that they could have alternative options. I do think it’s a bit anti consumer just like having store specific DLC is where different retailers get different content, meaning the only way to get everything is to buy multiple copies.
I can see why some would like the Amiibo to unlock content however and do respect that view.
Re: Prepare To Fight Or Run When You Summon Shadow Link With The Link's Awakening amiibo
@JayJ I do think there’s ways they could make everyone (or more people) happy. For example make Shadow Link an unlock for beating something, the game or some challenge, but available instantly for the Amiibo owners.
Re: Castle Crashers Remastered Brings Cartoon Beat 'Em Up Action To The Switch Next Month
@Doktor-Mandrake people have mentioned a few, but Diablo also got its own Amiibo. It’s not common but it happens.
Re: Castle Crashers Remastered Brings Cartoon Beat 'Em Up Action To The Switch Next Month
@sixrings a quick google seems to show that the original 360 release was around 140MB. Xbox Live Arcade that this was part of had some very limiting restrictions around the size of games allowed into the service early in the Xbox 360s life. The file size slowly increased over time.
Re: Bulletstorm Just Blew Up On The Switch eShop, And Here's What It Looks Like
Might grab it when it’s half price. Enjoyed it on the Xbox 360 but I already have it digitally there, or can get the remaster for my Xbox One for less than this.
Re: This Official Switch Lite Flip Cover Looks Perfect For Keeping Your Console Safe
I feel that this would be better if it folded back and sat flush on itself and used magnets to stop the flap moving and hanging there when in use.
That or if it could be securely used as an alternative to having no kickstand built in.
Re: Gallery: The Astral Chain Collector's Edition Is From Another Dimension
@the8thark The real kicker with the BotW Collectors in Australia is I ordered in the first few hours and EB Games had the case listed. It was removed the following day with no changes to price or anything. I probably could have imported a US copy initially but by the time EB de-listed the case 24 hours later, the US had sold out of the edition at all major retailers.
Re: Gallery: The Astral Chain Collector's Edition Is From Another Dimension
"Europe-exclusive Collector's Edition"
Australia also got it. Picked it up today. Very much considered cancelling as it set me back $130 and I could have got the game on its own for half that, but no regrets right now.
@ParasolStars Regarding other regions I'd say the US wins out as much as it loses out. Someone mentioned BotW which is one example, but besides that there's plenty of games that have had editions ship to the US that haven't made it to my local region for whatever reason (Nicalis has a number) and I believe theres a few I've been interested in where the US got carts and we got digital codes or eShop only here as examples (Mega Man 11 is one case).
Not that I want the US to miss out, it'd be good if the releases were more consistent globally however in all ways.
Re: Random: Child Left Horrified As Parents Mercilessly Cut Into His Eevee Cake
“You can't eat Kirby, can you?”
Why not? He’s eaten everyone else. Karma’s a $&@%#.
Re: Elder Scrolls Online Director Says The Nintendo Switch Isn't "Powerful Enough" To Run The Game
Then stream it? It’s an online only title anyway.
Re: Review: Superhot - Super Fun, Sort Of Brief
I’ll likely grab it when it’s 70% off or so. Interests me but the price is too high and I’m fairly sure I have an Xbox One copy available via Game Pass or Games with Gold so while I’d prefer to play on the Switch, I won’t spend a heap to do so.
Endless mode won’t interest me for those looking at the game from a value perspective. I’m a “play the campaign and move on to the next game in my stack” sort of player.
Re: Behold The Metal Slipcase For Zelda: Link's Awakening On Switch Which You'll Never Own
@NEStalgia It looks like they did release a US edition at 20% more and it’s still managed to sell out. Can’t explain why it’s missing other goodies.
The situations very frequently reversed though with the US getting better items. The BotW collectors edition didn’t have the Switch case in other regions, so it’s not like the US is necessarily worse off overall. In terms of adding value the UK seems to get it best by my observation by virtue of the UK Nintendo store throwing in extras for first party titles sold directly through Nintendo. They miss out here and there but the Nintendo store often seems to have something other places doesn’t. All in almost Nintendo logistics can be a bit baffling.
Outside of limited editions the US has also had issues for stock with Amiibo and things like the 3DS XL (reportedly) that didn’t seem to reflect my own market here in Australia. It’s odd how independently different regions are treated in this respect.
Re: Behold The Metal Slipcase For Zelda: Link's Awakening On Switch Which You'll Never Own
@RazumikhinPG I believe you get both the standard case and the steel book. My AU listing showed both packaging for the collectors edition.
Re: WayForward Reveals Shantae And The Seven Sirens, The Half-Genie Hero's Next Adventure
@Reigestugatensho I've only played Half Genie Hero and wouldn't recommend it. It's not a particularly good game. It's a kickstarter and it feels like it. Unfortunately the more the game goes on the worse it gets as the levels become less inspired (after a pretty good opening 1 or 2 levels) and you have to keep visiting them over and over. I suspect a lot of the people that loved the game went in after having played other games in the series and thus had more investment in the character and world.
Not to write the series off though, just start with Pirates Curse or one of the others which seem to be more highly rated, even by those that did enjoy HGH. If you enjoy those I think that high will carry on and elevate HGH a bit if you decide to eventually get into that one.
Re: Turok 2 On Nintendo Switch Doesn't Include Multiplayer
What a crap move. It wouldn’t even be so bad if they were upfront about the plans, but that statement neither confirms or denies that multiplayer will come at a later date. TBH if I’ve learnt anything from PR speak, if you want MP for this title do not buy it now as there’s a good chance you’ll be disappointed. Wait until it’s delivered. Unfortunately lost sales may only encourage the team not to put effort into the feature, but there’s no point an individual taking the chance that others will skip the game and their money’s gone to waste despite ones own support and optimism.
Really really bad look that the developers aren’t owning the narrative by being upfront about the plans. The biggest news now isn’t the game itself being released but the uncertainty around its future state. Hardly the way you want to launch a title as a small developer and I’d argue it’s quite disrespectful to the customers.
Re: Trine 4 And Trine: Ultimate Collection Will Both Enchant Switch This October
@BenAV thanks!
Re: Trine 4 And Trine: Ultimate Collection Will Both Enchant Switch This October
@BenAV where is it $57 for the collection? EShop? Amazon has it at $77 and I think EB was $89.
Re: Soapbox: Should I Wait For Switch 'Pro' Or Is The 'New' Switch SKU Worth An Upgrade?
That’s a very long article to ask and answer a single question. Do you need the extra 30 to 40% battery life?
As for the remark about Forza updates, turn on your systems auto update feature so software is patched when you want to play it.
Re: Shovel Knight's Board Game Kickstarter Has Been Cancelled, Relaunching Mid August
@PBandSmelly As others have said board games are far from dead and have made a very strong come back in recent years. I’d suggest swinging past a dedicated shop if that’s of interest and you’ll find the shelves are mostly full of products released in the past decade. Some places still just have Monopoly and the like, but if you can look a bit deeper there’s dozens of far better games out there covering all different markets.
This isn’t the first one based off an indie game either...got the Binding of Isaac earlier for example. Plenty of other game tie in also.
Re: Class Action Lawsuit Officially Filed Against Nintendo For Switch Joy-Con "Drifting" Issues
Can’t say I’ve experienced the issue but it looks like many others have and are out of pocket for replacing their JoyCon, so whatever gets Nintendo’s attention and a resolution is good for consumers.
Re: Random: Grandma Finally Beats Zelda: Twilight Princess After 755 Hours, Internet Falls In Love
@Spoony_Tech maybe she dozed off a few times
Re: Zelda Is Getting An Adorable Breath Of The Wild Nendoroid Figure
@AlexOlney When it comes to Zelda I’ve generally preferred the Nendoroids myself, Majoras Mask Link in particular, but each to their own. The figmas are good too though.
Re: Can We Talk About Bloodstained's Tribute To Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night's Amazing Twist Yet?
@Morlock5K I certainly remember seeing something like this either in a trailer or as part of the Kickstarter.
Re: Pre-Orders Go Live For Three Beautiful Switch Signature Edition Releases
@BacklogBlues "But DLC is usually if not always region locked."
As before I think it's a bit of a trial and error scenario. Here's some reddit threads where some individuals claim to have been able to get DLC from regions other than that for which their physical cart originates.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/comments/9gm43o/how_is_dlc_handled_for_import_games/
https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/comments/ackr29/will_purchasing_dlc_from_a_different_region_work/
Each time it comes up some people say its outright unsupported but given the number of people that claim it has worked on occasions for them, I tend to believe it's just luck of the draw and some people lucked out with certain games.
I wouldn't necessarily count on it if it is super important to you to have all content on one region, but it seems some people are having luck with DLC specifically across regions. I guess one could email the publisher and ask if they wanted to know about the games in this article specifically.
Follow Up: I won't rewrite all the above but I have half a dozen imported games. I've just had a look and Megaman 11 for which I have a US copy (since my local region didn't get a physical release from memory so I imported from Amazon US) and it had some free DLC in the eShop for my region (Australia). I've downloaded the free DLC under my AU account (I don't have a US region account) and upon starting the game the title has said the DLC was detected and I can activate it in the options...so yeah, I have been able in this instance to use content from the AU eShop with a US physical copy of the game.
I'm also certain it won't work in all cases, but it has in the run I just did then. Of the other 5 or 6 games I've imported I'm not sure which if any have DLC at all so can't comment on those ones.
Note I've never been able to redeem Nintendo Points from other regions though for physical purchases.
Re: Pre-Orders Go Live For Three Beautiful Switch Signature Edition Releases
@mazzel Yeah I believe it’ll be intermittent on a game by game basis.
Re: Pre-Orders Go Live For Three Beautiful Switch Signature Edition Releases
@BacklogBlues I was of the impression some games DLC was region free and you could buy a physical title wherever and download DLC in your local region, while other games required the DLC and physical to be in the same region. I don’t think it was 100% one way or the other and was based on how they handled the eShop listings.
Re: Switch Mini Rumours Escalate As Spanish Arm Of GAME Lists Accessories
@vitelus “you're going to kill 3rd party developers with 3 modes to optimize for”
Nothing to say this won’t have the exact same processor and display resolution as the current Switch, meaning there’s little need to do special optimisations. It honestly looks like the savings will be in physical build with fixed controllers and what looks to be a 1” or so smaller display.
Anyway, game developers can optimise for multiple hardware sets...they’ve been doing it for decades.
Re: Deals: This 256GB Micro SD Card Is Dirt Cheap And Perfect For Your Switch
@YANDMAN the file sizes for games vary drastically from 100s of megs to many GBs. Depending on the games he could easily fill a 200GB card while someone with different titles will have stacks of space left.
Also believe screenshots and captured video go to the card from memory so using that function could play a part.
Re: Is This Our First Real Look At Nintendo Switch Mini?
@sanderev “The Switching mechanic (removable controllers) however IS required by MULTIPLE games”
It’s not required. What is required is support for wireless controllers which you can still do even if the console had one pair of affixed joysticks. They can simply state that some games may need an extra pair of JoyCon to function, which will mostly be relevant to docked mode.
No different to how you can dock a console with the JoyCon attached and use a Pro controller. Very few games force JoyCon and motion controls on the player and those that do have already made concessions anyway in that it prohibits portable play, so this one extra scenario where second controllers are required isn’t that big a deal for many I suspect. Nintendo has shown itself that it’s willing to not support every mode the Switch is capable of with its software, so what’s asking for a seperate controller for some small selection of titles.
In fact if this console supports docked mode, which I assume it would still, the overarching assumption will be that extra controllers are required for obvious reasons, and therefore Mario Party and the like could be supported still. Out of the box this would be aimed at portable play though, something Mario Party and potentially a few others don’t support anyway, at best requiring tabletop mode.
Re: Random: Have We Been Missing A Zelda Easter Egg In Mario 64 All These Years?
@Mikemario Ocarina of Time having a not-at-all subtle nod to Mario is in no way proof that this extremely subtle link that has a pattern that only vaguely resembles the Zelda one is an Easter egg for the Zelda release.
No ones disputing the Zelda reference to Mario. That doesn’t make the reverse true. If anything it works against this belief given how blatant the Reference in Zelda is compared to the Mario one. For two games sharing development they havent been consistent in this regard as one might reasonably expect.
Re: Random: Have We Been Missing A Zelda Easter Egg In Mario 64 All These Years?
@Morph Almost certainly not. As before, the stars don't match the pattern properly (both horizontal distances which aren't equal and vertical placements with the second star being low where it should be just below the third) and the clouds, colour and style of the picture have nothing to do with Zelda, including any pre release footage from the game.
All there is is three dots that only really link to the Zelda's three dots in that each successive one is higher than the other, but even that pattern has big differences. Nothing else in the image is relevant unless one stretches even further and wants to use the fact Zelda games have clouds in them is some sort of link also. Thematically the picture has more in common with a 2D Mario game or perhaps one of the pastel like Yoshi titles.
The “song of storms” also has no relevance to the painting or it’s placement.
So...
Re: Random: Have We Been Missing A Zelda Easter Egg In Mario 64 All These Years?
@Morph there’s heaps of pictures hanging up in the game that serve no purpose if you’re looking for something functional from them. More likely than not it’s purpose is to be a decoration and break up a bland wall a bit.
Re: Random: Have We Been Missing A Zelda Easter Egg In Mario 64 All These Years?
That’s a stretch if I’ve ever seen one. If they were going to do that surely the spacing would at least be consistent and the rest of the picture would have a slight relevance to Zelda or the song in question.
Re: Limited Run Announces Multiple Physical Game Releases For Nintendo Switch
Interested in Turok 1 and 2 but I’m guessing they’ll be $30 USD each as normal so I’ll likely pass given the cost per title plus shipping. If both games were on one cart then maybe.
Re: Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair Isn't A Direct Sequel To The First Game
If it’s not a sequel the I sort of feel it’s a missed opportunity to try some new IP. Yooka Laylee as characters and the world from the first game was so incredibly bland and uninspired and I do believe using the same IP will hurt them as much as it’ll help given the lukewarm at best reception the first game got.
Happy to be proven wrong but I’d have been more interested if they’d dumped the Yooka Laylee characters and introduced something new and ideally more fitting today’s market.
Re: Support For Minecraft: Story Mode Ends On 25th June
@Spoony_Tech That is the game. This isnt the same as “Minecraft”.
Re: Former Rare Developer Shares New Details About Conker's Cancelled Sequel
@Varkster Why would it be nearly impossible to make a sequel to a rare title, assuming it’s an IP they still own (Banjo, Conker etc). If anything having fresh staff rather than Rares original team could be a good thing if you asked me. I mean sure, the team were the pinnacle of the industry 20 years ago but things have moved on. We saw some of those staff try their hand with Yooka Laylee which was a mess so perhaps fresh perspective would be good.
In terms of viability I think Mario Odyssey shows the platforming genre has potential if the developers are prepared to bring in some modern day game design sensibilities. Crash Remastered, Spyro etc shows there’s still huge interest in 90s platforming IP also.
Re: Talking Point: Does The Nintendo Switch Game Voucher Programme Offer Value For Money?
I’d say it’s an ok offer if you are digital only, but that’s only because the eShop pricing for Nintendo games are poor. If you will buy physical then it’s easy to get titles far cheaper than this promotion offers.
Here in AU they’re charging $135 for this promo. Pretty much any Switch game, first party or not, can frequently be had for $60 or less and pretty much any new release will have introductory pricing at that level across multiple retailers. As such for this promotion to actually net a gain you’d need to be buying older releases and doing so when any number of retailers aren’t running sales and not be prepared to import. Otherwise at least through retail channels you can probably get any 2 of the titles on this list for under the $135 AUD they’re charging quite readily.
If you are 100% committed to digital then this promotion makes sense, it that’s less about this promo offering great value but the first party eShop titles being over priced, particularly compared to retail channels.
If you don’t want two games right away you’re also locking your money away in the hope titles you want get added. In contrast other systems would offer straight discounts on games with no need to bank credit.
Some people are talking about stocking up because the vouchers are only available until June. I’d be weary that post June they may not add many new titles to the program, so I’d probably caution against jumping in like that if your banking for future games. If they planned to continually add titles there’s no reason they’d cease selling the tokens.
Re: These Custom Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Tracks Have Us Dreaming Of A Future Track Creator
@wal to be honest a track editor doesn’t appeal hugely to me either. Moving forward I’d like to see them ship the base game with a good number of tracks (as they did with 8) but to then really ramp up the post release support with say a new track every month or new cup quarterly which could be made up of either remasters of old tracks or new ones. Maybe also add a character each 3 months or so and maintain that support for 2 or 3 years which would give you an absolutely terrific amount of content.
Also feel like every single Mario Kart ever releases has had maybe 1/3 of the number of battle arenas as I’d actually like to see. Given how simple many of those are I’d really love to see a release that had a high number of those arenas in it.
Re: Nintendo President Comments On The Risks Of A Potential Hostile Takeover
@RadioHedgeFund I really don't think Apple is a potential buyer. They haven't shown great interest in gaming for decades, they've literally let Windows run away with that market without lifting much of a finger.
Nintendo is pretty old school and much of their focus for the time being will rely on hardware. Given Apple has cross domain products in computers, tablets, mobile devices and TV Media Boxes, the current shift towards gaming over cloud services makes more sense and while Nintendo's gaming IP would be valuable in such a situation, their hardware and services devision (which hasn't shown much in the way of cloud gaming aspirations) wouldn't be. As soon as xCloud and Stadia hit the market, all those Apple products overnight become viable gaming platforms.
If Apple wants to build a games lineup I'm not sure buying Nintendo is the way to go as your paying a big premium for a company dealing in hardware that I honestly don't think fits Apples ecosystem, and they then still need to actually build the cloud services. It probably makes more sense to wait for the next big indie game and to just buy them out before MS, Sony, EA, Google etc do so. Rinse and repeat a few times and they can quickly build a very strong catalog without needing to spend the huge volumes on Nintendo, and they can still attract third parties to any service.
That approach also doesn't exclude them buying established companies or entering partnerships. It also dodges a LOT of headaches that will be created by the cultural differences between Apple and Nintendo. We've seen how MS absolutely failed to make the Xbox work in Japan and there's a high risk that an Apple and Nintendo partnership could sour for similarly not being able to hit that cultural balance correctly.
Re: Mario Kart Wii Sold Five Times As Many Copies As Mario Kart 8 Over The Last Financial Year
We seem to be talking vanilla Mario Kart 8 and not the Switch Deluxe edition. Given that it’s not overly surprising and both were only seeing modest sales.
I mean the Wii U only sold something like 13 million units from memory, so with the game having already been sold to well over half of the console owners and given it’s not being supported, who can be surprised it only sold 20k units. I think this specific scenario says more about how poorly the Wii U did than Nintendo’s backlog importance.
Re: A New Earthworm Jim Is Coming, But There's A Rather Large Catch
I replayed the Xbox live re-release in the past 24 months and boy has the original aged badly. Great graphics for the day but the gameplay is incredibly rough by today’s standard. Also completed the entire thing in 2 or 3 hours. It seemed so much longer when I was young.