SpinEnDash

This is all great to hear as I knew from the jump I'd get the Switch 1 version. Maybe it's just that my TV is over a decade old or my eyes are too untrained and aged, but the visual difference is negligible to me and I'm already astounded by how the S1 version looks. Plus, as a physical collector, I want the version that doesn't have that wall of legal text on the cover. The loading times are a pity, but I can deal.

I really wanted some kind of connection between Pikmin 4 and Pikmin Bloom for a while, but I stopped playing Bloom when the news came out that Niantic was using it to scrape personal data for AI training (yeah, I should've known something like that was happening, but I was naïve). Still, new difficulty modes are cool: I like that Pikmin 4 is more casual, but there have been times that I wanted a challenge.

Side rant: While I was still playing Bloom, I lamented that I'd never get snow pikmin as a resident of Tallahassee, Florida. The AI story broke, I quit, and like a month later, Tallahassee gets three inches. I don't regret quitting Bloom or particularly miss it, but come on, how cool would it be to have snow pikmin tagged with Tallahassee?

I would've been happy to get these a few years ago, but I've got them digitally because that was the only option for years and it appeared it would remain that way.

Classics that they are and profligate that I can sometimes be, I can't justify double-dipping on these—or technically quadruple-dipping since I have them on Steam and VII & VIII on PS1, but I can't do twice on the same system.

This sounds exactly like my experience with the Pac-Man World 1 remake: a fun, light platformer most of the way through, but the terrible camera made it so that I just could not beat the final boss, and so I quit once I realized I just wasn't having fun anymore.

I'll probably get this too because it's relatively inexpensive and the first one was fun up until the end, but it sounds like I'll just give up on this final boss as well (I will at least give it a try, though).

I'm genuinely not certain which way I'll go on this. The best of its small library are only curiosities without a single must-play for me. On the other hand, I am interested in Nintendo's oddities, and the lipstick effect may well be at play. If I do get it, at worst it'll be a $100 thing that sits on my shelf, while my Mario and Zelda Game & Watches from a few years ago still get played.

Never played it, but I dig the trailer music (why yes, I am from the 90s; what of it?). I just may give it a try when I feel like a break from my backlog.

I generally find the X titles to be a mildly unlikable but not bothersome fad that will fade soon enough, but as both a holder of a mathematics degree and a professional editor, I am annoyed when they use X to mean "and." "And" is used for addition. If you're going the math route, X is "by" or "times": it wouldn't make sense for "Drag x Drive," but then again neither does using an X in the first place.

@HammerGalladeBro From what the internet tells me, I believe I sent in an OG (I bought it mid-2018 in the gray rectangular box) and received a 1.1 (serial number starts XKW). The serial number's the only reason I know it's a different Switch because I had to write the old one down before sending it in. Beyond that, the only noticeable difference between the two is the kickstand has a rougher texture, which wouldn't indicate anything since that's easily swapped.

Just a month ago I sent my Switch to Nintendo to repair the battery that only lasted ten minutes on a full charge and the fan that had become very loud and grindy. I got an email saying that repairs would cost more than they originally estimated, which I approved, and then found that rather than repair it they just sent me a brand new Switch without saying so.

I figured they would replace the battery and might replace the fan, but I guess repair is just so much of a hassle for them that it's worth just sending out a new console. I'd rather if they had told me first, but $100 US isn't a bad price at all for a new Switch with all of my data already installed on it, especially since it means my previously damaged kickstand is fixed too.

For, how long has it been, thirty years now (oh god), the scene from The Simpsons of Lisa cutting open the package of yearbooks and inadvertently slashing right through the cover of the one on top has played in my head every time I open a box.

I never expected that scene to have affected anyone else the same way, but I have generally expected people to think before taking a pointy thing to a box, particularly when the box is meant for someone else.

Hold up, Nintendo set up the Switch 2 to be unusable without downloading an update? What about those without an internet connection (I know they're fewer and fewer all the time, particularly among the gaming populace, but they're not zero)?

Nintendo's not wrong to want to prevent leaks, and yeah people capable of buying a Switch 2 can find public wi-fi to get the update, assuming that they know without internet access that an update is needed, but keeping a handful of people from playing games a few days early does not make selling legitimate customers hardware they can't use okay.

I like the Japanese design, but not for a cover. I'm not sure what it could be used for instead (apart from a magazine ad, but that'd be too fleeting), but I would like it for something else.

That being said, Silverstorm is such a better title; I'm annoyed it wasn't called that here.

@Stwert
Heck, even just online multiplayer.

I generally applaud Nintendo's aversion to making the same game over and over, but I'd like them to hear that if they can't come up with a brand new idea for a sequel for the next console or the one after that, after several years it's okay to just make a new iteration of a well-received game with new levels/courses/settings and better graphics (shout out to the F-Zero, 1080, and Kid Icarus fans).

Not to be the guy with the Wave Race avatar who wants a new Wave Race, but come on: you spend so much of your new console's presentation focused on its hardware, and you're not going to put out a new entry of the series whose main purpose has historically been to show off what your new hardware can do?

Also Star Fox: it's inconsistent, but when Star Fox is done right, I'll take it over Wave Race (but for real, make a new Wave Race).

About a year ago, when that patent for a detachable screen was in the news, I thought Nintendo Join could work for a name. And the more I thought of it, the more sense it made, to the point I was convinced that I had it: join the screens; join your friends; it's a total Nintendo name. Even now with the new chat function. But yeah, Switch 2 also works.

I'm certainly not happy about this, but as an old man (by gamer standards), I remember when SNES games retailed for $80, and $80 today ain't what it was then.

Still, after so long of $50–60 games proving to be sustainable, I question whether going all the way to $80 is a wise decision.

6/10, which I'll mention is better than average in this scoring system.

My criticisms: the technical features are nice in theory, but I don't come to Nintendo for tech, and how many cool-in-theory technical features has Nintendo introduced over the years that were quickly ignored? There was kind of a dearth of games that I can't get elsewhere, and none of those got me super excited.

My positives: I'm more interested in Mario Kart now that I see it's Diddy Kong Kart: Blue Storm; it may not be a system-seller for me, but I'll of course get it when I do get the Switch 2. Donkey Kong Bananza looks like a good time: I'll need more info, but that may be what gets me in the store to buy a Switch 2. And I like that the GameCube library will include Fire Emblem, because I was broke when it came out, and secondhand prices are just outrageous.

Of course I'll get a Switch 2, I'm sure we'll learn more before it releases, and naturally there will be more games down the road, but just with the information we have now, I might get it when DK comes out. Otherwise I'll wait for a game yet to be announced.

Okay, Ring Fit Adventure can still be played: I'm happy.

While we're in these final hours of not knowing, I have to get off my chest that I've been perplexed as to why people have focused so hard on this button. Not to be an "I don't care" commenter—when i don't care about something, I usually don't comment and just move on with my day—but apart from not being a standard game button, there's no indication of what it's for. Perhaps we'll find out tomorrow that it's something awesome and then I'll be incredibly hyped for it, but until then it's just been a button.

It's felt like this to me:
Internet: "The Switch 2 is going to have a brand new feature!"
Me: "Yes, more than one, I'd wager. Has there been news on what it'll be?"
Internet: "It'll be a new feature! With a button!"
Me: "Okay, and what will the button do?"
Internet: "...It'll be a button! You can press it!"

Not to be a grouch: I just needed to say how confusing for me everyone's focus on this has been.

I'll see you all in tomorrow's comments when I can't shut up about how awesome the thing this button does will be.

To be fair, I only remember the date it came out and thus that it's been five years because quite a few things happened that day:
1. I turned 35.
2. I was sent home from work early because my office decided everyone would work from home for the next two weeks while this covid thing sorted itself out.
3. I came home to a package on my stoop with my copy of that Animal Crossing game everyone was talking about, so I was able to fill my sudden fortnight of free time seeing why everyone was so excited.

I of course understood the hype before long, though to this day I still wonder what could possibly have been in the 15-minute preview at PAX East earlier that month that people thought was worth waiting in line all day (literally: I tried getting in line one morning and was told the line was closed because it would take all day to admit the people who were already there). It's a great game, but it's too slow of a burn to get much out of 15 minutes.

I like the theme for the screen, but I'd be hesitant to actually use it: classics though they are, NES sounds seem a little harsh for a pleasant awakening.

I also played MGS for the first time on Switch, and I'm largely in line with Jim. After hearing decades of hype and finally playing it, I came to the opinion that the gameplay is good enough to justify the story, and the story is good enough to justify the gameplay.

Yet another reason for me to actually follow through on sending mine in for the battery that dies after 25 minutes, the grindy fan, and of course the drift.

I personally have no difficulty finding games I like, but I'm into this as a concept. If they make one of these for music, I'll be on board: I have an undying faith that music that I'd absolutely love is being made all the time, but I just don't know how to find it.

@Astropez

There are a few reports around complaining of LRG releases bricking Switches and damaging PS4's optic drives, with LRG admitting that the quality of their releases is overall bad on purpose . . .

Could you direct me to one of these reports? I've done a few searches, but all I'm getting are articles on this particular instance, forum complaints, and the LRG website itself.

Three thoughts on this:
1. When it says, "studio heads Paul Flanagan and Arthur Parsons wanted to be upfront about the layoffs and claim public responsibility for the job losses," is it really good business practice to hang on to studio heads who are responsible for job losses (he asked knowing full well the point would be lost on those who need most to hear it)?
2. Every time I see the above image for the game, for just a fiftieth of a second before recognizing that it's a game about Funko Pops, I get excited because I think there's a Ramona Flowers game, and honestly I'd love a Ramona Flowers game, but not a toy-of–Ramona Flowers game.
3. An ex of mine collected Funko Pops (not to an unreasonable degree, but she had a few), and once at a convention I searched the booths that sold them for her one fandom not yet represented in her Funko collection: the Bride of Frankenstein. I couldn't find it, and I was bummed about it. But now I'm glad I didn't because stuff like this leads me to believe that they don't have whatever appeal they once had, and so that's perhaps one fewer piece of detritus she has to get rid of.

23/24, because today I learned that MM 3D completely redesigned a mask from the N64 version.

Towards the latter half of the quiz, I kept thinking of the Robot Chicken M.A.S.K. bit: "Why do we call these masks? This is a helmet, not a mask."

@dudujencarelli I'm not normally a speedrunner, but now that I've heard that I might have to give it a try.

I of course have my criticisms of Assault, but it's second only to Star Fox 64 in the series, so I'd love it on Switch 2 as well. And even though I disagree, it actually does my heart a little good to see several of the above commenters say that it's their favorite. Star Fox has had a massive range in quality, but the highs are way up there, and I was disappointed by how Assault was largely ignored.

It's been a while since I played MM 3D, so I can't remember what it was exactly, but they changed something specific about how the game functions that made the game just not worth playing for me, even with all of the other QOL improvements, so I didn't even finish that version. I want to say it had something to do with how the save system works, but it's been years and I can't remember.

I'm all for whatever drums up business for Amtrak so they can expand their network (preferably including my town with a disused station), but I do hope not too many people take them up on this specific example. I feel uncomfortable enough getting up from a window seat to use the lavatory and climbing over someone in the aisle seat who's just reading a book. The seats on Amtrak are quite roomy, but passing even a 9" monitor would be a nightmare.

Village first, but cruise ship, Isle Delfino, and New Donk City are all settings I'd love to play.

Ironically, up until maybe a year ago, I thought the original Okami was a Wii exclusive, and I had a PS2.

Is there any word on what Ubisoft's C-level employees' salaries are or whether they've been reduced at all before they went with these layoffs?

Twenty years ago I saw a TV show where a computer manufacturer voluntarily instituted a precautionary recall of something like ten million computers because a fatal error was observed in one. The company's president said, "I won't take any salary for a year; my VPs will take half pay and possibly reduce further before we lay anyone off." I recognized then that it wasn't standard operating procedure and was an example of idealistic television, but now I see it as science fiction.

I checked the VGC article linked above to see whether it had an answer to my question, and I read this:

Citing people familiar with the situation, Bloomberg claimed [Tencent] and Ubisoft’s founders are thinking of creating a new entity, which they will then move certain Ubisoft assets over to in an attempt to boost Ubisoft’s value.

I readily admit that I'm not fluent in finance/business-speak, but please someone tell me if I'm wrong when I say that it sounds like they're going to loot everything of value from Ubisoft before letting it burn down and leaving the employees to twist.

I won't say anyone's wrong to prefer digital—the pros and cons of each have been done to death—but I'll stick with physical whenever it's available because I'm old enough to have seen media in the first digital marketplaces go from "These'll be available forever!" to being unavailable for redownload.

Oh God, I'm old enough to have said "I'm old enough to have" done something.

Having been there when the original Banjo-Kazooie came out, I wouldn't have bet on it as a rival to Mario, but I could see it potentially happen with time and a few more games. But Microsoft bought Rare and the rest is history.

I've adopted a policy of not buying anything from Microsoft if I'm at all able to avoid it—for reasons I won't go into here because NL isn't the place for them—but even if I hadn't and they made a new BK for Switch 2, I'd be super skeptical of it simply because Microsoft's history with games like this has left me rather cold. Sure, if they make it for Switch 2 and I hear from everyone that it's just fantastic, I may very well break my policy and get it, but I expect any new BK will leave me thinking about what could have been.

If it's just a style choice for specific games, like Mario's dots-only eyes in Paper Mario, I'm good with it; I believe this has been the design in other spinoff games. But also like Mario's dots-only eyes, I really wouldn't want this to be a permanent redesign.

On the one hand, I'm bummed because I expect Ring Fit Adventure will be among the incompatible games, and a couple years ago while playing RFA, I actually thought "I hope the next system is just an updated Switch so I can keep playing this."

On the other hand, if RFA is incompatible but was deemed worthy by Nintendo of being one of the original five represented on its alarm clock, that's a pretty good indicator of a sequel, right?

Regardless of the leaks—none of which I sought out but just couldn't avoid—the hardware updates are all good moves that I'll surely appreciate once I have it in my hands, but they're not what I'm interested in.

I wasn't expecting full-on game announcements, but I was hoping for glimpses, like the Switch announcement's "We won't give you titles or details, but here you can see new Zelda, new Mario, and new Splatoon." Sure, we got Mario Kart, but at first watch I couldn't even be sure that wasn't Mario Kart 8, and if ever there was a game I didn't need to be told was coming to a new system, that's it. Even a few seconds of Mario versus Link in Smash Bros. would've been more informative.

So it wasn't bad by any means, but even for those who successfully avoided the leaks, it was essentially "Thing you already knew was coming out is coming out." It's good to have a date for the Direct, but that basically leaves this as a commercial for a commercial in two and a half months.

"Please refrain from using such services as they may pose unexpected security risks."

From their use of "may," I'm taking this as Nintendo not actually having a problem with people using these services but covering themselves in case anything goes awry as a result. Basically saying "We told you not to do this, so if something goes wrong, it's all on you."

I'm becoming convinced that as I approach 40, the fates are conspiring to give me all the neuroses of old folks past that I'd successfully avoided up until now. "Oh, that mortal with the graying hair dares not fear the newfangled pocket gadget that is increasingly necessary in modern society? Let us plant the seeds of paranoia and distrust of technology through data mining as described by PR speak!"

I mean, I've never even played Pokémon Go, but I have been enjoying Pikmin Bloom, and while skeptical by default I'm not against all usage of AI, but "spatial planning and design, logistics, audience engagement, and remote collaboration"? I'm a professional editor—a.k.a. a knows-words-all-good-and-stuff guy—and I have no idea what that means. Or more accurately, I understand all of those words, but that language is so vague that it's almost meaningless.

I'm not yearning for a side-scroller Zelda, but never say never. I thought EoW had exactly the right amount of side-scrolling areas, in that I quite enjoyed those that were there but I probably would've disliked if there was even a little more. That said, while I wouldn't want another game in the vein of Zelda II, I could see someone at Nintendo having a great idea for a Zelda that would best be done as a side-scroller.

I'm not going to tell anyone that they shouldn't be bothered by whatever bothers them, but this is perhaps the fourth game in a year for which I'd hear complaints about the low frame rate at "only" 30 FPS, none of which I've had any issue with while playing. It could just be because I'm a barbarian who was born in the age of the NES. This is the first such game where I've noticed anything at all, but I wouldn't have attributed it to lower frame rate if it wasn't being talked about: when I ride a horse at full gallop, it doesn't seem slower, but it's just a little off.

9/10, and for context, I'm that guy who felt BotW & TotK were each 7/10. I'm at least three dungeons in (there are some dungeon-like areas, so I'm not certain of the count), and it's a huge step in the right direction of coming up with new ideas without abandoning what made the older games excellent. Before I write a whole essay about it, of anything negative I could say, about 10% of it is actual criticism (which is all very minor) and the other 90% is just a matter of taste (mostly that I prefer 3D Zelda to 2D).

Minor gameplay spoiler for an early dungeon: it really shows something that one of my complaints about the Tears of the Wild games was that the dungeons were all "get to these five points," and yet I recognized the same thing happening in one of EoW's early dungeons but was totally good with it, because getting to those points unlocked something more than just 20% progress to the boss room: they took one of my biggest complaints and made it work.

@HeadPirate Yeah, that's a really good argument, but like you said, the best solution is pretty bad. It's still annoying that the team scores come from an average of each player's score when one or two teams spend a long time prevented from playing, particularly because this one time the results will likely have an effect on the next game's design (in which case I probably would've felt a lot better if we lost to Future). They of course couldn't go by win rate because someone could log on, win their first match, and just stop with a 100% win rate, but perhaps there's some complicated way to weigh the number of matches played? Or maybe—and I'm just thinking through my keyboard here; I'm sure there's a good reason against this idea that may even occur to me later—have mirror matches give some (very) low percentage of clout?

Still, I'd like the option to wait for a match against the other team because my friend has moved nearly 1,500 miles away, and if we can't get a match that counts, I'd rather spend the time talking with her without dividing our attention.

Of course, my social life is not Nintendo's responsibility, and we already hang out weekly online, but the option would still be nice.

I know we're not the first to have had this idea, but as we started our fifth mirror match in a row, my friend said, "I wish they gave you the option to wait longer for a match against the other teams."

I'm a big boy and don't mind losing, but it's rather annoying that so much of our time was eaten up by matches with no effect on the outcome that we weren't allowed to quit (and seeing as Present cleared 50% of the vote, I doubt we were the only ones), especially since the outcome of this Splatfest will likely affect the form of Splatoon 4.

The Final Fantasy VII Remakes were my first thought, and after seeing that listed I thought Tekken 8, as mentioned under Street Fighter 6, but I already have those on PC.

I'm genuinely not sure whether I'm bending plausibility with this, because I'm not sure how the studio ownership works here, but I'd like to see Ghosts of Tsushima on Switch 2 and think that would certainly make people take notice (I know it's already available on PC, but at this point there's very little I want that isn't already available with Nintendo).

This is the first I even heard that there would be a Borderlands movie, and my first thought was, "Okay, but why?" as it is with so many other video-game adaptations. I will say in its defense that I appreciate that they cast actresses over 50 in their stylized action sci-fi movie. I just wish it had been for an original idea or even a ripoff of Borderlands: I'd be all about seeing Jamie Lee Curtis and Cate Blanchett in something like that. But I'm not confident that this had any ideas behind it beyond "Let's make a movie with the Borderlands IP" (I have not watched the trailer as of this writing).

It's kind of funny that they've shown that they're adapting all of the things I liked about the Breath of the Kingdom games to 2D and haven't shown any of the things I disliked but somehow that's tempered my excitement for this game a bit, because what are the chances that they'd include everything I liked but nothing I disliked? I mean, the new style that comes with playing as Zelda still makes this a Day 1 purchase for me (and for all my disappointment, I did still like those other games), but now I'm a little more concerned that the dungeons, if there even are any at all, will still be "Get to these five points" instead of the more intricate puzzles.

Opened the article all ready to vote for N64, but I had to give it to SNES: for the cartridge itself, the curved top and flat faces are the best way to go, but not having the label on top is an issue. Even if I have my N64 games meticulously organized (and numerous moves over the years means that I don't), it's still hard to track down the game I'm looking for in my collection.