Here I am just hoping that they managed to lock in the Japanese voice track option. Not that the dub for this is bad, but the original cast for the JPN dub is too good.
@Teksetter I'm 100% with you there. Thought the cutscenes managed to wring out a lot of character details and world-building with minimal time. Many have argued that BoW's story was lacking, but I quite enjoyed being able to piece together what happened and who the champions were using the glimpses into the past rather than being spoon-fed. Agreed about the English voice track vs. Japanese. The difference is night and day - hopefully this will encourage the kids to pick up Japanese as well!
And yes, what they've shown so far has me hyped on all fronts! If I didn't know better, I would've said that they'd planned this type of prequel from the start.
@Teksetter I think the in-game voice settings will be determined by your Switch's own language settings if there is not an in-game option to change the voice tracks. I had a similar thought when I bought Breath of the Wild originally in 2017 and was surprised when even the Japanese cartridge I was using played in English (this was before they patched in the multilingual settings). Changing my system language to Japanese did the trick then, so don't cancel your preorder just yet.
Overall indifferent about Minecraft, and I get it's cultural relevance, but man, that pixelated model juxtaposed against the rest of the characters in Smash is reaaaally rough. A walking glitch in the game that kinda ruins the immersion for me. Wish I could selectively remove characters from the Season Pass lol
@nessisonett I've seen this argument be made a couple times under the assumption that streaming services provide some form of financial cover for these indie studios to take risks, but I'm not convinced yet. Yes, if you put your game on a streaming platform, you're guaranteed to get a cut of the total pool of funds received from subscribers, but if the Spotify model is anything to go by, unless you are a slightly more renowned studio like Wayforward or Supergiant at the very least, your game will account for such a low percentage of total engagement that the payout would be negligible. Is that better or worse than setting an asking price of $5.99 for a title on eShop and getting sub-1K downloads? Not clear at this point, but I don't see enough evidence at this point to make the judgment that streaming WILL foster innovation rather than stifle it.
Great article! Regarding the discourse surrounding "beat" vs "finished" vs "completed," I think the system used by The Completionist makes most intuitive sense, at least to me. Finishing a game means you've beaten the main story / you've reached the point where the end credits roll. Completing a game means achieving every objective in the game and unlocking all rewards. And beat = finish.
@Nintendofan83 I think you raise a good point. Given what we know about Nintendo's rather old-school approach, it's not unthinkable that they didn't have the remote working capabilities in place to adjust to stay-at-home orders. I wonder if the recent Tokyo office consolidation has also impacted their timetables at all.
Wall Street analysts are quick to jump on the "hot" business models of today, the subscription model being the latest such trend. It's a folly in my opinion, a surefire way to cheapen your brand and IP while destroying the margins of developers.
Been a longtime reader of this site, but had to make an account to thank Roland for writing this piece. It does such a great job of addressing some of the major ills that have become part of the mainstream gaming industry, particularly the obsession with spectacle and set-pieces, spoon-fed narratives, and the homogeneity of gaming experiences. Where so many AAA titles feel like the same, endorphin-driven experience with new skins, New Horizons is almost the antithesis of that, focusing on the small details and rewarding consistent effort over a long time scale, and I love it!
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Re: Persona 5 Strikers Launches On Switch In The West In February, New Trailer And Screenshots
Here I am just hoping that they managed to lock in the Japanese voice track option. Not that the dub for this is bad, but the original cast for the JPN dub is too good.
Re: New Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Trailer Shows Breath Of The Wild's Robbie and Purah
@Teksetter I'm 100% with you there. Thought the cutscenes managed to wring out a lot of character details and world-building with minimal time. Many have argued that BoW's story was lacking, but I quite enjoyed being able to piece together what happened and who the champions were using the glimpses into the past rather than being spoon-fed. Agreed about the English voice track vs. Japanese. The difference is night and day - hopefully this will encourage the kids to pick up Japanese as well!
And yes, what they've shown so far has me hyped on all fronts! If I didn't know better, I would've said that they'd planned this type of prequel from the start.
Re: New Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Trailer Shows Breath Of The Wild's Robbie and Purah
@Teksetter I think the in-game voice settings will be determined by your Switch's own language settings if there is not an in-game option to change the voice tracks. I had a similar thought when I bought Breath of the Wild originally in 2017 and was surprised when even the Japanese cartridge I was using played in English (this was before they patched in the multilingual settings). Changing my system language to Japanese did the trick then, so don't cancel your preorder just yet.
Re: Minecraft's Steve Revealed As Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Next DLC Fighter
Overall indifferent about Minecraft, and I get it's cultural relevance, but man, that pixelated model juxtaposed against the rest of the characters in Smash is reaaaally rough. A walking glitch in the game that kinda ruins the immersion for me. Wish I could selectively remove characters from the Season Pass lol
Re: Talking Point: There's Never Been A Better Time For Gaming Consumers, Nor A Worse Time For Gaming Innovation
@nessisonett I've seen this argument be made a couple times under the assumption that streaming services provide some form of financial cover for these indie studios to take risks, but I'm not convinced yet. Yes, if you put your game on a streaming platform, you're guaranteed to get a cut of the total pool of funds received from subscribers, but if the Spotify model is anything to go by, unless you are a slightly more renowned studio like Wayforward or Supergiant at the very least, your game will account for such a low percentage of total engagement that the payout would be negligible. Is that better or worse than setting an asking price of $5.99 for a title on eShop and getting sub-1K downloads? Not clear at this point, but I don't see enough evidence at this point to make the judgment that streaming WILL foster innovation rather than stifle it.
Re: Feature: Video Game Vocab To Spark Forum Wars - Ten Of Gaming's Trickiest Terms
Great article! Regarding the discourse surrounding "beat" vs "finished" vs "completed," I think the system used by The Completionist makes most intuitive sense, at least to me. Finishing a game means you've beaten the main story / you've reached the point where the end credits roll. Completing a game means achieving every objective in the game and unlocking all rewards. And beat = finish.
Re: Expect More Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcases Throughout 2020
@Nintendofan83 I think you raise a good point. Given what we know about Nintendo's rather old-school approach, it's not unthinkable that they didn't have the remote working capabilities in place to adjust to stay-at-home orders. I wonder if the recent Tokyo office consolidation has also impacted their timetables at all.
Re: Feature: Which Portable Monitor Is Right For Your Nintendo Switch?
@Seananigans came here to write the exact same thing lol
Re: Famitsu Poll Reveals Readers' Favourite Fire Emblem Games
@Expa0 Feel you there. I still think Path of Radiance had the best gameplay in the series overall and am sad that it didn't make the cut.
Re: Nintendo Should Create An Apple Arcade-Style Subscription Service, Claims Analyst
Wall Street analysts are quick to jump on the "hot" business models of today, the subscription model being the latest such trend. It's a folly in my opinion, a surefire way to cheapen your brand and IP while destroying the margins of developers.
Re: Feature: 6 Things My Three-Year-Old Taught Me About Video Games, Via Animal Crossing
Been a longtime reader of this site, but had to make an account to thank Roland for writing this piece. It does such a great job of addressing some of the major ills that have become part of the mainstream gaming industry, particularly the obsession with spectacle and set-pieces, spoon-fed narratives, and the homogeneity of gaming experiences. Where so many AAA titles feel like the same, endorphin-driven experience with new skins, New Horizons is almost the antithesis of that, focusing on the small details and rewarding consistent effort over a long time scale, and I love it!