@Kitsune-sayer I completely agree. F-Zero X and Lylat Wars will definitely become move on to my "well I've got a quick 10-15 minutes to kill" list once they're easily accessible via this service. They are perfect for this type of service - bloated collectathon's probably less so (though I'm sure plenty of people will play through them on it).
Agreed on F-Zero X too - as much as I love F-Zero GX I've always found F-Zero X to be a more satisfying game to just turn on and play. It feels so good to eliminate opponents in that game.
@NEStalgia Come on - the DeviantArt egg was broken from the moment it came out and the DoomSlayer yoke has definitely been all over Samus on there for quite some time.
@Dr_Lugae I'd actually see Pokemon TCG and Pokemon Pinball as more likely than the actual Pokemon RPGs for various reasons.
Honestly as well the people assuming that we'll never see top tier titles from Konami and Capcom might also be surprised. Capcom did nod Demons Crest (a sequel to Gargoles Quest, a prominent GB title) even though it's regarded highly and has a reputation as an expensive SNES game to buy. I tend to think that they'd have released the GB Mega Man games in a compilation already if they thought it would actually sell.
@huyi That's nice for you - I still have most of the really classic SNES & N64 games CIB (but only a modest collection of GB games). However I know from selling physical games on eBay that even second tier games can cost a fortune to buy these days.
It's also the case that not everyone today has or wants to use original hardware. The Switch has a much bigger (backlit) screen, a better (built in) battery, it's more likely to be "out" and in daily use and save states can smooth over some issues with games (or at least let me pause and resume at my own convinience). I won't dig out my GameBoy and batteries from the cupboard if I've got 10 minutes to spare and fancy playing through Mario Land but I might drop into it on my Switch.
Again - you may not like the subscription model but I'd still argue it's a bargin if you just want to drop in to a wide selection of games. For people who generally spend less on buying games it's a much better model than the old VC and gets us the release of games that might never would have been offered for single release.
@SwitchVogel That's clearly likely to be the case. They'll release 15-20 games (including probably half of the games people would actually like to play) at launch then slowly release the remaining "big name" hold outs alongside weaker games over the following year or two. Their model isn't great (though I have my own opinions and I think the big flaws I see are different to those that most others commenting online are hung up about)
In some ways I think that the GB app when it comes might actually prove to be more comprehensive than the NES and SNES apps. There are very few GB games that can realistically be sold successfully by third parties on modern storefronts and even those are - basically being sold on their franchise names and only then when packaged into a compilation with their NES/SNES/etc. equivalents (I'm thinking Castlevania, Mega Man, Gradius, Final Fantasy/SaGa, Mana etc. - excepting the Mega Man games most of the third party GB games with any "mindshare" today are all already available in that way).
I think that we'd get more of the better third party games on there because it may be the most profitable way for the likes of Capcom (Gargoles Quest 2, Mega Man) and Konami (Kid Dracula, Castlevania, various Hudson games) to make residual money from their GB back catalogues.
@TheWingedAvenger I'd suggest that it's because a remaster reaches a much bigger potential audience. We assume that everyone out there is excited about getting to buy 15 year old games (and they are clearly profitable to release) because we post in an echo chamber.
But I'd guess that the sales of retro software, VC etc. is negligible compared to new software for a whole host of reasons. Partly because of ROMs being widely and easily accessible but mostly because a new retail release is a bigger story to hang marketing around.
Plus a remake allows QOL issues to be addressed. Like the new Advance Wars remakes can use a few more buttons as shortcuts and allow a wider view of the battlefield.
All that said - I think the original Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2 are pretty much as close to being perfect games as you get. They still look very endearing and the graphics are very clear to read.
@SwitchVogel There's plenty of gems on the original GB (aside from Tetris, Links Awakening, Mario Land and Wario Land), e.g. the Kirby's Dreamland games (and Pinball Land), Mole Mania and DK94. They're all great games that should be available on a modern format.
I'd personally say that the best games for a modern audience on an NSO service though are typically games that would have been overlooked at the time because they were "too short" or "too easy". Today those games are probably judged to be about the right level of difficulty and really easy and fun to drop into (a general strength of the GameBoy library relative to other consoles).
@sanderev That hasn't stopped The Wonderful 101 or Miitopia (among others). Realistically first party ports from the 3DS are likely to be significant remasters with the second screen edited out (and sold as full retail releases).
To echo several other posts - in many ways I'd rather see a "GameBoy Mini Classic" dedicated device for GB. It makes more sense than the NES and SNES versions (where Switch paired with the right retro controllers now offers a better option).
That said I've always thought that GameBoy (OG and Color) is actually a better pick for NSO than GBA or N64. The games are for the most part instant, straightforwards and designed to get you playing very quickly. Some of that is obvious (like level selects) whilst other aspects are more subtle but either way they are games built for handheld play and generally better for dropping into for 5-10 minutes at a time than, say, N64 games.
Of course the reaction would hinge on whether or not they get Tetris on the service.
One question to ask though - would it have Super GameBoy built in or would it play things GameBoy Player style?
The price is too high - it’s beyond the “impulse purchase” threshold that it needs to hit by about 30-40%. The American system of retail cartels and manufacturers being able to dictate a set price is different from other places in the world.
I’m sure that here in Europe Nintendo is incentivising small effective price cuts through favoured retailers here and there in various ways (big rebates, higher margins on major software releases etc.).
There is one big misconception that I’ve seen a lot on this thread - the idea that “businesses only cut prices when a products sales drop”. This is nonsense - no business worth it’s salt prices products this way (although you may see them react convulsively to very flat sales with a price cut - like Nintendo did with the 3DS).
Businesses that are operating well look to maintain a range of products that hit different price points. Nintendo has overpriced the Switch Lite not just because it could but also because they had budget and super budget options positioned beneath it (New 3DS and the OG 2DS). You couldn’t price the Switch Lite beneath those two whilst they still existed and whilst they still existed Nintendo could always “downsell” customers on a budget to the 3DS family.
The business case for a price cut on the Switch Lite has nothing to do with “oh it’s not selling so we’d best reduce the price” it’s “oh we don’t have any entry level console less than £125 on the shelves any more, best tick that box so that we always have something to offer someone who comes in to the shop”.
To echo others - I think we’ll see a Switch Lite OLED next year (hopefully a compact clamshell design - but that’s just my wishful thinking) and that this will nudge the existing Switch Lite to a slightly lower price point (possibly in a bundle with a Mario game like NSMBU DX).
@WhiteUmbrella it’s not as simple as saying that there’s a “Nintendo home console user base” and a “Nintendo handheld user base” and that one growing cannibalises the other.
Many of the 90 million Switch owners have never previously owned a Nintendo console. Many of the “Nintendo handheld user base” who owned a DS are (sadly) literally dead. It’s always about putting out a compelling product that draws in new audiences.
Many Wii owners are still “Nintendo home console players” - they still play it, it still works.
@Cia I have basically next to no interest in the lore or storyline of games. Super Metroid told a fantastic story without cut scenes or talk boxes (that’s the ideal IMO) but I don’t need to know lore. The Castlevania games are fantastic Metroidvanias and their story is basically a one page “the castle is here, guess drac is back - grab your whip!”.
What I really liked about HK as a Metroidvania is that it has multiple routes through by design. It’s not a straight linear progression like most examples of the genre, if you get lost you can end up playing a completely different game than someone else but that’s all done very organically.
Axiom Verge has elements of that with the unknowable corrupted pocket worlds but it’s not as core to the game design as HK.
@MysticX You’d be surprised. I’ve watched Jeremy Parish’s Virtual Boy Works videos and they’re really good (more interesting than the SNES ones IMO). The games themselves are obviously not legendary classics but many of them were interesting and experimental.
In many ways the VB book would be a better buy because it’s a totally comprehensive review of a console library that probably no one else will ever do.
The only problem the sequel has is that there’s been so many Metroidvanias since (and upcoming) and that so many of those have been so great. The bar for a top class Metroidvania is now higher than it was when Axiom Verge launched. I think Hollow Knight completely upended what most people thought was possible with the genre and Metroid Dread is going to give us a high budget take.
To me personally a high quality Super Metroid clone with some very clever weapons and abilities wouldn’t stand out quite so much in 2021.
It's a great device priced to sell. But not to sell tens of millions of units. I'd see it as a flag carrier to establish a beach head for Steam handhelds that will ultimately be carried by third party OEMs (so comparing exact specs is stupid - there will always be a Steam handheld that's way more powerful than anything any major mainstream manufacturer will release. It's the general concept itself that's more interesting). I think that they will be successful with it - with Valve pushing a standard defining device - they should be able to easily devour dedicating Android gaming handhelds and stuff like the GPD whilst nibbling on Nintendo from both sides.
Nintendo should see it as competition because it will leach a lot of "whales" from their ecosystem and it changes the narrative and conversation surrounding the Switch.
Right now at this moment in time however the Steam Deck is something of a blank canvas onto which all of your desires can be projected. It can promise to address every single minor complaint that you might have with your Switch (and over 4 and a half years we've all picked up at least a few of those!).
What is being missed and overlooked, especially by those who don't play PC games regularly (and those who might not be comfortable touching PC settings) is that the handheld Steam Machine concept has a few big downsides.
1. Not every game is perfectly compatible with Steam OS. Some will run but not as well as they would on Windows, some might be glitchy in a way that you'd never accept in a game published on a console. Yes you can install Windows but that license costs money.
2. Most AAA games on Steam are really not optimised in any way for being played on a 7 inch screen. I'm sure you can do it and find it worthwhile if there's a game you really want to play portably but it will probably be annoying at times.
3. The Steam Deck itself is expensive. I keep seeing how it's "only £50 more expensive than a Switch" but this is disingenuous (and true only because Nintendo is stupidly trying to introduce the OLED edition at a higher price point) - the entry level Steam Deck is double the price of the entry level Switch Lite.
I'd expect to see someone try to get a Steam OS handheld out released at a Switch Lite competitive price but I'm going to guess now it won't be pretty.
4. Not every PC game is released on Steam - and yes I know that you'd be able to install other stores and that as a gaming enthusiast you will do this (possibly on top of installing Windows) - but general consumers will never do this and it's hard to see OEM's doing this if it means you have to ship with a Windows license (which would put them at a huge price disadvantage versus their immediate competition).
@Danrenfroe2016 well - from Valves perspective what will happen is that millions (far more than will actually buy the Steam Deck itself) will buy them and begin shopping on Steam.
It actually works out better for Valve if they can demonstrate a Steam OS handheld market exists for OEMs since they don’t need to worry about actually selling the hardware (on which they are probably making next to no profit - possibly even losing money by some measures), supply chains, consumer support etc. but they get the revenue stream.
Hence why it’s worth their while making this a flagship sold to make a point more so than to be a profit driver in and of itself.
Most of the OEM handhelds that will follow will be weaker or hobbled in some way (OEMs operate on extremely tight margins because they don’t get a cut of profits from the online stores where the real money is made).
I’d also expect that a small handful of clones will come out in the next few years that aim even higher at a premium price. It’s all down to how much Valve can demonstrate Steam OS fits that niche better than Android (which it clearly does IMO).
@victordamazio the Gameboy didn’t beat the GameGear and the Lynx because it had better games. It beat them because of battery life, because the price was much cheaper and because the console experiences on those handhelds weren’t actually well suited to short bursts of handheld play.
The same story was also true when comparing the Vita to the 3DS. Vita had some incredible AAA style games in its early days… they just didn’t necessarily turn out to be the games that people wanted to play on the train for 10-15 minutes a pop.
It’s telling (for a number of reasons) that Valve introduced the Steam Deck by showing it playing Stardew Valley - not one of the “not on Switch” AAA games that many of the prospective audience for the Steam Deck are fantasising about playing on it.
It is kind of a threat to Nintendo in the sense that it reduces the appeal of the Switch eShop to some developers and indie game sales might suffer if the indie buying “whales” migrate back to Steam. It’s not an existential threat though IMO like a Vita 2 rapidly hitting 20 million sales would be.
It is a death bell to the Android gaming ecosystem. Not necessarily with the Steam Deck itself (which probably won’t hit 3 million units let alone 10 million units) but with the cheaper OEM clones with more varied specs that will be encouraged to follow once Valve blazes a trail.
@Caryslan I completely agree. There are a few first party games left (often stuff that’s either weirder or had a SNES mouse focus) and a few likely easy “gets” from minor third parties (but then again most of those are either a- now owned by EA/Square/Konami or b- dead and possibly legally orphaned from a rights perspective).
I’ve actually enjoyed sampling some of these more obscure games - in many ways it feels authentic to the set of games we all experienced “back in the day”. It’s a more authentic presentation of what the NES and SNES actually were than a “top 20 games on SNES” list tends to be (especially since said lists are typically RPG heavy and hardly any RPGs were launched here in Europe and very few people bought the ones that were).
Sparky’s Quest is great - I’ve enjoyed that a lot, a Parasol Stars like arcade game I’d never previously heard of.
All of that said - I do think that the third party compilations occasionally (not always!) present their games with a bit more context and a bit more reverence for the content. What both the NES and SNES apps need IMO is a series of NES remix style short challenges for every game added that can be jumped into as an alternative to playing the whole game.
That would be IMO more important than “better games” because if you want to play MMX or Castlevania 3 on your Switch just buy the relevant collection.
@Sszx09 Ive never played the game myself but I believe that there’s even a level that reads “Zzap 64” after a C64 magazine (the SNES game is a very literal port).
The Lord of the rings game on SNES was actually a game I played loads of. It was a fairly rare example of a long involved game for 5 players (if I remember rightly- we only ever had 4), multiplayer makes up for a lot of sins if you have the players for it.
In terms of flawed games (not necessarily bad) that I still have fondness for - I think I’d put up things like Festers Quest on NES. The Blaster Master team made it and it’s fun to play - even though the lack of saves and continues was a clear mistake even then. An auto save every five minutes would make it much more palatable (seriously - that’s the type of compromise between old school and save state scumming that I’m surprised we don’t see).
I also enjoyed Doshin the Giant - it’s a strange game and very limited but you can see the seeds of something interesting there. A strategy or god game doesn’t need to have a million sub menus to click through to be satisfying.
@fox_mattcloud I’m not so sure about that. The shortages probably hurt PS5 and Xbox sales over Christmas last year but they seem to be readily available for those who really want one now.
From a software perspective I’m not sure I’d expect PS5 games to be dominating the sales charts (even here in the UK) yet because the software released simply hasn’t been exciting enough.
Switch wise you’d probably say the same (and the sales charts right now are probably reflective of low sales across the board) but Switch now has a vast install base and strong retail presence.
It will all get a lot more difficult for Nintendo after this Christmas when there are a lot more PS5s in the hands of consumers and genuinely exciting next gen games become more common but - either way it’s a huge turn around for Nintendo in the UK. Remember when Asda refused to stock Nintendo products after the Wii U?
When F-Zero comes back it should be as an arcade experience.
I mean that literally - don’t release it on Switch - have it be a premium large scale arcade machine running off an ultra powerful pc. Have most of the cabinets be full sized sit in deals with glasses free 3D screens.
No one would ever actually get to play it but it would be legendary.
@BloodNinja I tend to agree with you but some people just want more with new levels and a slightly refined game built on the experiences of making the first game. An iterative sequel can also (sometimes) have a tight focus.
It’s light on stats and has an unconventional levelling system but...
...you have the option to play the game with completely different setups (that affect the underlying statistics of the character).
Link can be a stealthy ninja with 3 hearts who runs across half the map without taking a breath before sniping a distant enemy with a long range bow or he can be a dark shadow of himself with 20 hearts who kills up close with brutal scythes.
It’s an RPG. Yes the levelling is unconventional and the battle system is action based but outside Dragon Quest every traditional RPG series has been bending at the margins for decades now anyway.
Older Zelda games however are not rpgs. Also the question of whether it is satisfying as an RPG or even any “good” when viewed purely as an RPG... these are different questions (& I’d suggest that the answer to both is leaning towards “no”).
Honestly they should have supported the hardware with a powerful box that can run games natively. Much like Microsoft is doing with the Xbox brand (series S in particular)
They could even have blurred the edges, made it all digital and had games run on the console itself only if the connection was good enough (or if it was a game built around that). They could still have sold a “cloud only” option (or just run from Chromecast) but reviewers would probably play on and cover the “console”.
To be successful they had to pull gamers away from the other consoles. Their heart wasn’t really in the game though. To be in it you need to cultivate a lot more than just a relationship with Ubisoft.
More generally - MK 8 is a great game. I don’t think Nintendo should do a MK 9 on Switch even though a tiny but very vocal minority of the fan base is agitating for it - it’s just the sort of game that most people only need one version of per console - the majority of MK 8 DX would pass on a MK 9 (on Switch). I’d rather see them iterate up on ARMs with a sequel or do something entirely original with their time on Switch.
The lack of DLC is perplexing though. Maybe the DLC on Wii U just didn’t sell well?
The attach rate that the game has is just incredible.
Grinding is dreadful game design. If you want to give me the option to cheese the game in an overpowered way then just make it a cheat switch I can flip whenever I feel like it.
That’s all that grinding really is - a cheat switch that takes hours to move.
I’d also say that many features of RPGs (including levels and excessive loot) are dreadful design features too. They’ve got worse since the 16 bit era as modern RPGs have layered complex sub systems on top of each other. “Oh but you don’t have to grind if you set up your team in exactly this relatively unintuitive and undocumented way DUH” is not an argument in favour of keeping grinding - it’s just highlighting a different way in which the game is badly designed!
A battle system with genuine strategy is what’s needed but very few have that.
I suspect in most cases the reason we’ve not seen those series on Switch is the fact that they’ve pivoted to online heavy modes and the portable - not always online- Switch sees a lower return from that model (though there have been successes).
With remasters of older games I think the publishers want to align them to release on all platforms simultaneously so it can be an issue of timing.
Most importantly though NL, Ridge Racer is an indulgent pick for this list. Fallout, ME, Dragon Age, Yakuza and Farcry are all much (much) bigger series MIA on Switch in 2021.
@GTHOLLAND orders from LR games take ages to arrive. But everyone knows that - they’re up front about it!
On a more general level the collectors editions and various other tat they try to upsell you on give the game away - these carts are collectibles. Items to own if you’re an enthusiast. They’re not instant gratification but honestly - if you even know they exist and you want one of the games they’re selling then you’re 99% of the time either ok to wait or willing to pay and have the game digital as well today.
By definition these are not games that would comfortably sell a hundred thousand physical copies. Scott Pilgrim is at the very top end of their scale.
In a world where it’s sometimes getting hard to even find physical shops that sell physical games anymore I think LR are doing a good job of getting niche games out for a niche audience. Everyone who really wants this physically will get a copy of they order - which is not the case with other similar companies.
@Maxz honestly it doesn’t matter whether he said “nah nah na nah nah Nintendo is for poohie baby kids”. At the end of the day it doesn’t change anything. Nintendo does skew younger than Sony or Microsoft and some “mature” franchises are far less successful on Nintendo hardware (for a number of reasons).
Personally I think Nintendo often underserves its younger audience.
But it does often hack away at the Nintendo fan base to be told it. Partly because many of us (though much older now) remember being teenagers and the peer pressure to not play Nintendo games because of that.
My advice to anyone would be: grow up and have fun.
@Damo I think we all appreciate that there are times when you venture BTL into the comments section. It's an important part of a community.
Sometimes it's not a good idea though.
Like when you're trying to get between the community and its 5 minutes of hate shouting at the screens against our ancient enemies EASegsia. We have always been at war with EASegsia.
More seriously though. Of course it shouldn't be taken as a slight and probably wasn't meant as one (plus Nintendo should be targetting younger players - all major developers have neglected to properly do this for years) but you should certainly understand why many Nintendo fans will inevitably take it as one.
@HXLXIII the original PSX is still a gorgeous piece of technology. The tiny PSOne revision was cute but not on the same level.
The PS2 was always ugly and the media coverage of its appearance at the time was not good (it was widely compared to an 80’s VCR). The slim PS2 was much more attractive.
The PS3 was the second ugliest PlayStation (after this new one - which shares some of the same design sensibilities).
The original PS4 was very attractive - I’d put that a close second behind the original PlayStation.
@sketchturner Even the level that's literally unbeatable?
I think it was a decent game with some good ideas but - personally - I've never been a big fan of it. It's just badly made in places (exhibit A: collectables mandatory for progression that can't be collected) and some of the robots are just not fun to play as.
The central idea is very strong though. I know Mario Odyssey basically stole it outright but I think there's still a lot of untapped potential there in the whole "living" ecosystem. It felt like it they were caught between making a taut puzzle platformer and making a much more ambitious open world ecosystem that the N64 just wouldn't have been capable of.
He just genuinely doesn't understand Nintendo. For him (as for the top execs at companies like EA and much of the gaming press), Nintendo doesn't fit neatly into their schema of understanding of how the games industry works/how they would personally like it to work.
We all have our blind spots but his is so big that he shouldn't be earning a career analysing the industry. It's that simple.
Then again - good luck to him and good luck to the investors that follow his advice. Spread the wealth guys - hope you're not investing my pension fund!
@Noid plays OK the mgypsies could maybe be a little bit offensive but I don't think anyone would really flip if the text is sympathetic...
gets to the underwater bit OK, I can see that would be broadly seen as offensive in 2020 but that could be amended slightly and I'm sure the game will immediately go back into safer teritory...
walks out of the water onto the beach with no health. Sees some mushrooms to eat Oh...
Comments 652
Re: Every Nintendo Switch Online N64 Game Ranked
@Kitsune-sayer I completely agree. F-Zero X and Lylat Wars will definitely become move on to my "well I've got a quick 10-15 minutes to kill" list once they're easily accessible via this service. They are perfect for this type of service - bloated collectathon's probably less so (though I'm sure plenty of people will play through them on it).
Agreed on F-Zero X too - as much as I love F-Zero GX I've always found F-Zero X to be a more satisfying game to just turn on and play. It feels so good to eliminate opponents in that game.
Re: Bethesda Congratulates Nintendo On Metroid Dread's Launch With Special DOOM Artwork
@NEStalgia Come on - the DeviantArt egg was broken from the moment it came out and the DoomSlayer yoke has definitely been all over Samus on there for quite some time.
Re: Every Nintendo Switch Online N64 Game Ranked
F-Zero X and Lylat Wars are the real winners here.
Arguably they never got better than on the N64 (also GX is also very great).
Re: Feature: Game Boy Games We'd Love To See On Nintendo Switch Online
@Dr_Lugae I'd actually see Pokemon TCG and Pokemon Pinball as more likely than the actual Pokemon RPGs for various reasons.
Honestly as well the people assuming that we'll never see top tier titles from Konami and Capcom might also be surprised. Capcom did nod Demons Crest (a sequel to Gargoles Quest, a prominent GB title) even though it's regarded highly and has a reputation as an expensive SNES game to buy. I tend to think that they'd have released the GB Mega Man games in a compilation already if they thought it would actually sell.
Re: Talking Point: If Nintendo Switch Online Adds Game Boy, Why Not Throw In GBA, Too?
@huyi That's nice for you - I still have most of the really classic SNES & N64 games CIB (but only a modest collection of GB games). However I know from selling physical games on eBay that even second tier games can cost a fortune to buy these days.
It's also the case that not everyone today has or wants to use original hardware. The Switch has a much bigger (backlit) screen, a better (built in) battery, it's more likely to be "out" and in daily use and save states can smooth over some issues with games (or at least let me pause and resume at my own convinience). I won't dig out my GameBoy and batteries from the cupboard if I've got 10 minutes to spare and fancy playing through Mario Land but I might drop into it on my Switch.
Again - you may not like the subscription model but I'd still argue it's a bargin if you just want to drop in to a wide selection of games. For people who generally spend less on buying games it's a much better model than the old VC and gets us the release of games that might never would have been offered for single release.
Re: Talking Point: If Nintendo Switch Online Adds Game Boy, Why Not Throw In GBA, Too?
@SwitchVogel That's clearly likely to be the case. They'll release 15-20 games (including probably half of the games people would actually like to play) at launch then slowly release the remaining "big name" hold outs alongside weaker games over the following year or two. Their model isn't great (though I have my own opinions and I think the big flaws I see are different to those that most others commenting online are hung up about)
In some ways I think that the GB app when it comes might actually prove to be more comprehensive than the NES and SNES apps. There are very few GB games that can realistically be sold successfully by third parties on modern storefronts and even those are - basically being sold on their franchise names and only then when packaged into a compilation with their NES/SNES/etc. equivalents (I'm thinking Castlevania, Mega Man, Gradius, Final Fantasy/SaGa, Mana etc. - excepting the Mega Man games most of the third party GB games with any "mindshare" today are all already available in that way).
I think that we'd get more of the better third party games on there because it may be the most profitable way for the likes of Capcom (Gargoles Quest 2, Mega Man) and Konami (Kid Dracula, Castlevania, various Hudson games) to make residual money from their GB back catalogues.
Re: Talking Point: If Nintendo Switch Online Adds Game Boy, Why Not Throw In GBA, Too?
@TheWingedAvenger I'd suggest that it's because a remaster reaches a much bigger potential audience. We assume that everyone out there is excited about getting to buy 15 year old games (and they are clearly profitable to release) because we post in an echo chamber.
But I'd guess that the sales of retro software, VC etc. is negligible compared to new software for a whole host of reasons. Partly because of ROMs being widely and easily accessible but mostly because a new retail release is a bigger story to hang marketing around.
Plus a remake allows QOL issues to be addressed. Like the new Advance Wars remakes can use a few more buttons as shortcuts and allow a wider view of the battlefield.
All that said - I think the original Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2 are pretty much as close to being perfect games as you get. They still look very endearing and the graphics are very clear to read.
Re: Talking Point: If Nintendo Switch Online Adds Game Boy, Why Not Throw In GBA, Too?
@SwitchVogel There's plenty of gems on the original GB (aside from Tetris, Links Awakening, Mario Land and Wario Land), e.g. the Kirby's Dreamland games (and Pinball Land), Mole Mania and DK94. They're all great games that should be available on a modern format.
I'd personally say that the best games for a modern audience on an NSO service though are typically games that would have been overlooked at the time because they were "too short" or "too easy". Today those games are probably judged to be about the right level of difficulty and really easy and fun to drop into (a general strength of the GameBoy library relative to other consoles).
Re: Talking Point: If Nintendo Switch Online Adds Game Boy, Why Not Throw In GBA, Too?
@sanderev I agree - that's exactly what I said they'll do (remaster them and sell them as full retail releases).
Re: Talking Point: If Nintendo Switch Online Adds Game Boy, Why Not Throw In GBA, Too?
@sanderev That hasn't stopped The Wonderful 101 or Miitopia (among others). Realistically first party ports from the 3DS are likely to be significant remasters with the second screen edited out (and sold as full retail releases).
Re: Rumour: Nintendo Will Expand Its Switch Online Service With Game Boy And Game Boy Color Titles
To echo several other posts - in many ways I'd rather see a "GameBoy Mini Classic" dedicated device for GB. It makes more sense than the NES and SNES versions (where Switch paired with the right retro controllers now offers a better option).
That said I've always thought that GameBoy (OG and Color) is actually a better pick for NSO than GBA or N64. The games are for the most part instant, straightforwards and designed to get you playing very quickly. Some of that is obvious (like level selects) whilst other aspects are more subtle but either way they are games built for handheld play and generally better for dropping into for 5-10 minutes at a time than, say, N64 games.
Of course the reaction would hinge on whether or not they get Tetris on the service.
One question to ask though - would it have Super GameBoy built in or would it play things GameBoy Player style?
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo's Business Remains Strong, But Is The Bloom Off Switch Lite?
The price is too high - it’s beyond the “impulse purchase” threshold that it needs to hit by about 30-40%. The American system of retail cartels and manufacturers being able to dictate a set price is different from other places in the world.
I’m sure that here in Europe Nintendo is incentivising small effective price cuts through favoured retailers here and there in various ways (big rebates, higher margins on major software releases etc.).
There is one big misconception that I’ve seen a lot on this thread - the idea that “businesses only cut prices when a products sales drop”. This is nonsense - no business worth it’s salt prices products this way (although you may see them react convulsively to very flat sales with a price cut - like Nintendo did with the 3DS).
Businesses that are operating well look to maintain a range of products that hit different price points. Nintendo has overpriced the Switch Lite not just because it could but also because they had budget and super budget options positioned beneath it (New 3DS and the OG 2DS). You couldn’t price the Switch Lite beneath those two whilst they still existed and whilst they still existed Nintendo could always “downsell” customers on a budget to the 3DS family.
The business case for a price cut on the Switch Lite has nothing to do with “oh it’s not selling so we’d best reduce the price” it’s “oh we don’t have any entry level console less than £125 on the shelves any more, best tick that box so that we always have something to offer someone who comes in to the shop”.
To echo others - I think we’ll see a Switch Lite OLED next year (hopefully a compact clamshell design - but that’s just my wishful thinking) and that this will nudge the existing Switch Lite to a slightly lower price point (possibly in a bundle with a Mario game like NSMBU DX).
Re: Switch Hardware Sales Reach 89 Million Despite Facing A Year-On-Year Slump
@WhiteUmbrella it’s not as simple as saying that there’s a “Nintendo home console user base” and a “Nintendo handheld user base” and that one growing cannibalises the other.
Many of the 90 million Switch owners have never previously owned a Nintendo console. Many of the “Nintendo handheld user base” who owned a DS are (sadly) literally dead. It’s always about putting out a compelling product that draws in new audiences.
Many Wii owners are still “Nintendo home console players” - they still play it, it still works.
Re: Switch Hardware Sales Reach 89 Million Despite Facing A Year-On-Year Slump
So the Wii will most certainly be overtaken this year and the Gameboy should now be passed - whether next year or in the “budget zone” of 2023.
The DS is probably uncatchable though.
Remember in the early when everyone laughed when an analyst suggested that Nintendo would sell 100 million Switches?
Re: Axiom Verge 2 Update Data Has Apparently Surfaced On Nintendo's Servers
@Cia I have basically next to no interest in the lore or storyline of games. Super Metroid told a fantastic story without cut scenes or talk boxes (that’s the ideal IMO) but I don’t need to know lore. The Castlevania games are fantastic Metroidvanias and their story is basically a one page “the castle is here, guess drac is back - grab your whip!”.
What I really liked about HK as a Metroidvania is that it has multiple routes through by design. It’s not a straight linear progression like most examples of the genre, if you get lost you can end up playing a completely different game than someone else but that’s all done very organically.
Axiom Verge has elements of that with the unknowable corrupted pocket worlds but it’s not as core to the game design as HK.
Re: Limited Run Games Is Publishing SNES And Virtual Boy Retrospective Books
@MysticX You’d be surprised. I’ve watched Jeremy Parish’s Virtual Boy Works videos and they’re really good (more interesting than the SNES ones IMO). The games themselves are obviously not legendary classics but many of them were interesting and experimental.
In many ways the VB book would be a better buy because it’s a totally comprehensive review of a console library that probably no one else will ever do.
Re: Axiom Verge 2 Update Data Has Apparently Surfaced On Nintendo's Servers
I really liked the first one.
The only problem the sequel has is that there’s been so many Metroidvanias since (and upcoming) and that so many of those have been so great. The bar for a top class Metroidvania is now higher than it was when Axiom Verge launched. I think Hollow Knight completely upended what most people thought was possible with the genre and Metroid Dread is going to give us a high budget take.
To me personally a high quality Super Metroid clone with some very clever weapons and abilities wouldn’t stand out quite so much in 2021.
Re: Valve Responds To 'Switch Vs Steam Deck' Comparisons, Insists It's "Going After" A Different Audience
It's a great device priced to sell. But not to sell tens of millions of units. I'd see it as a flag carrier to establish a beach head for Steam handhelds that will ultimately be carried by third party OEMs (so comparing exact specs is stupid - there will always be a Steam handheld that's way more powerful than anything any major mainstream manufacturer will release. It's the general concept itself that's more interesting). I think that they will be successful with it - with Valve pushing a standard defining device - they should be able to easily devour dedicating Android gaming handhelds and stuff like the GPD whilst nibbling on Nintendo from both sides.
Nintendo should see it as competition because it will leach a lot of "whales" from their ecosystem and it changes the narrative and conversation surrounding the Switch.
Right now at this moment in time however the Steam Deck is something of a blank canvas onto which all of your desires can be projected. It can promise to address every single minor complaint that you might have with your Switch (and over 4 and a half years we've all picked up at least a few of those!).
What is being missed and overlooked, especially by those who don't play PC games regularly (and those who might not be comfortable touching PC settings) is that the handheld Steam Machine concept has a few big downsides.
1. Not every game is perfectly compatible with Steam OS. Some will run but not as well as they would on Windows, some might be glitchy in a way that you'd never accept in a game published on a console. Yes you can install Windows but that license costs money.
2. Most AAA games on Steam are really not optimised in any way for being played on a 7 inch screen. I'm sure you can do it and find it worthwhile if there's a game you really want to play portably but it will probably be annoying at times.
3. The Steam Deck itself is expensive. I keep seeing how it's "only £50 more expensive than a Switch" but this is disingenuous (and true only because Nintendo is stupidly trying to introduce the OLED edition at a higher price point) - the entry level Steam Deck is double the price of the entry level Switch Lite.
I'd expect to see someone try to get a Steam OS handheld out released at a Switch Lite competitive price but I'm going to guess now it won't be pretty.
4. Not every PC game is released on Steam - and yes I know that you'd be able to install other stores and that as a gaming enthusiast you will do this (possibly on top of installing Windows) - but general consumers will never do this and it's hard to see OEM's doing this if it means you have to ship with a Windows license (which would put them at a huge price disadvantage versus their immediate competition).
Re: Random: 'Switch Vs Steam Deck' Memes Are A Thing Now, Apparently
@Danrenfroe2016 well - from Valves perspective what will happen is that millions (far more than will actually buy the Steam Deck itself) will buy them and begin shopping on Steam.
It actually works out better for Valve if they can demonstrate a Steam OS handheld market exists for OEMs since they don’t need to worry about actually selling the hardware (on which they are probably making next to no profit - possibly even losing money by some measures), supply chains, consumer support etc. but they get the revenue stream.
Hence why it’s worth their while making this a flagship sold to make a point more so than to be a profit driver in and of itself.
Most of the OEM handhelds that will follow will be weaker or hobbled in some way (OEMs operate on extremely tight margins because they don’t get a cut of profits from the online stores where the real money is made).
I’d also expect that a small handful of clones will come out in the next few years that aim even higher at a premium price. It’s all down to how much Valve can demonstrate Steam OS fits that niche better than Android (which it clearly does IMO).
Re: Random: 'Switch Vs Steam Deck' Memes Are A Thing Now, Apparently
@victordamazio the Gameboy didn’t beat the GameGear and the Lynx because it had better games. It beat them because of battery life, because the price was much cheaper and because the console experiences on those handhelds weren’t actually well suited to short bursts of handheld play.
The same story was also true when comparing the Vita to the 3DS. Vita had some incredible AAA style games in its early days… they just didn’t necessarily turn out to be the games that people wanted to play on the train for 10-15 minutes a pop.
It’s telling (for a number of reasons) that Valve introduced the Steam Deck by showing it playing Stardew Valley - not one of the “not on Switch” AAA games that many of the prospective audience for the Steam Deck are fantasising about playing on it.
It is kind of a threat to Nintendo in the sense that it reduces the appeal of the Switch eShop to some developers and indie game sales might suffer if the indie buying “whales” migrate back to Steam. It’s not an existential threat though IMO like a Vita 2 rapidly hitting 20 million sales would be.
It is a death bell to the Android gaming ecosystem. Not necessarily with the Steam Deck itself (which probably won’t hit 3 million units let alone 10 million units) but with the cheaper OEM clones with more varied specs that will be encouraged to follow once Valve blazes a trail.
Re: Nintendo Leak Reveals Scrapped Wii Games, Including A Metroid Title From Intelligent Systems
It’s the crossover you never knew you needed: Metroid Emblem.
Just imagine the relationship options for Samus!
Re: Nintendo Expands Its Switch Online SNES Service With Three More Titles
@Caryslan I completely agree. There are a few first party games left (often stuff that’s either weirder or had a SNES mouse focus) and a few likely easy “gets” from minor third parties (but then again most of those are either a- now owned by EA/Square/Konami or b- dead and possibly legally orphaned from a rights perspective).
I’ve actually enjoyed sampling some of these more obscure games - in many ways it feels authentic to the set of games we all experienced “back in the day”. It’s a more authentic presentation of what the NES and SNES actually were than a “top 20 games on SNES” list tends to be (especially since said lists are typically RPG heavy and hardly any RPGs were launched here in Europe and very few people bought the ones that were).
Sparky’s Quest is great - I’ve enjoyed that a lot, a Parasol Stars like arcade game I’d never previously heard of.
All of that said - I do think that the third party compilations occasionally (not always!) present their games with a bit more context and a bit more reverence for the content. What both the NES and SNES apps need IMO is a series of NES remix style short challenges for every game added that can be jumped into as an alternative to playing the whole game.
That would be IMO more important than “better games” because if you want to play MMX or Castlevania 3 on your Switch just buy the relevant collection.
Re: Nintendo Expands Its Switch Online SNES Service With Three More Titles
@Sszx09 Ive never played the game myself but I believe that there’s even a level that reads “Zzap 64” after a C64 magazine (the SNES game is a very literal port).
Re: Talking Point: Everyone Has A Bad Game They Love, So What's Yours?
The Lord of the rings game on SNES was actually a game I played loads of. It was a fairly rare example of a long involved game for 5 players (if I remember rightly- we only ever had 4), multiplayer makes up for a lot of sins if you have the players for it.
In terms of flawed games (not necessarily bad) that I still have fondness for - I think I’d put up things like Festers Quest on NES. The Blaster Master team made it and it’s fun to play - even though the lack of saves and continues was a clear mistake even then. An auto save every five minutes would make it much more palatable (seriously - that’s the type of compromise between old school and save state scumming that I’m surprised we don’t see).
I also enjoyed Doshin the Giant - it’s a strange game and very limited but you can see the seeds of something interesting there. A strategy or god game doesn’t need to have a million sub menus to click through to be satisfying.
Re: UK Charts: Monster Hunter Stories 2 Takes Third-Place Debut In Another Decent Week For Nintendo
@fox_mattcloud I’m not so sure about that. The shortages probably hurt PS5 and Xbox sales over Christmas last year but they seem to be readily available for those who really want one now.
From a software perspective I’m not sure I’d expect PS5 games to be dominating the sales charts (even here in the UK) yet because the software released simply hasn’t been exciting enough.
Switch wise you’d probably say the same (and the sales charts right now are probably reflective of low sales across the board) but Switch now has a vast install base and strong retail presence.
It will all get a lot more difficult for Nintendo after this Christmas when there are a lot more PS5s in the hands of consumers and genuinely exciting next gen games become more common but - either way it’s a huge turn around for Nintendo in the UK. Remember when Asda refused to stock Nintendo products after the Wii U?
Re: We Could Have Had A New "Ultra-Realistic" F-Zero On Switch, But Nintendo Turned It Down
When F-Zero comes back it should be as an arcade experience.
I mean that literally - don’t release it on Switch - have it be a premium large scale arcade machine running off an ultra powerful pc. Have most of the cabinets be full sized sit in deals with glasses free 3D screens.
No one would ever actually get to play it but it would be legendary.
Re: Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp Reimagines The Classics On Switch
Both games are as close to 100/100 as it gets. I’ve spent hundreds of hours on both - AW2 was my most played game on Wii U.
I can see myself dipping again.
Re: Inti Creates Shares A Fresh Look At Blaster Master Zero 3
@BloodNinja I tend to agree with you but some people just want more with new levels and a slightly refined game built on the experiences of making the first game. An iterative sequel can also (sometimes) have a tight focus.
It worked for mega man in the nes era.
It also worked for Mario Galaxy 2.
Re: Feature: Our Predictions For Nintendo's E3 2021 Direct
Back from the dead: Nintendogs. Switch has been slowly transitioning to a casual audience as it ages. Nintendogs time may have come again.
Re: Talking Point: Surely It's Time For Game Boy On Nintendo Switch Online?
Well duh!
Personally I’d say they’d be a better fit than N64. Those original GB games are designed to have you playing in seconds with short instant play loops.
Re: Talking Point: Is Zelda An RPG, Or Not?
BoTW is definitely an RPG.
It’s light on stats and has an unconventional levelling system but...
...you have the option to play the game with completely different setups (that affect the underlying statistics of the character).
Link can be a stealthy ninja with 3 hearts who runs across half the map without taking a breath before sniping a distant enemy with a long range bow or he can be a dark shadow of himself with 20 hearts who kills up close with brutal scythes.
It’s an RPG. Yes the levelling is unconventional and the battle system is action based but outside Dragon Quest every traditional RPG series has been bending at the margins for decades now anyway.
Older Zelda games however are not rpgs. Also the question of whether it is satisfying as an RPG or even any “good” when viewed purely as an RPG... these are different questions (& I’d suggest that the answer to both is leaning towards “no”).
Re: Soapbox: The Nintendo Switch Was My Companion As I Travelled The World
@pixelpatch also - if it goes badly she could write an equally good article about it too! It’s like the reciprocal of Catch 22!
Re: Cloud Gaming Service Google Stadia Shuts Down Internal Development Studios
Honestly they should have supported the hardware with a powerful box that can run games natively. Much like Microsoft is doing with the Xbox brand (series S in particular)
They could even have blurred the edges, made it all digital and had games run on the console itself only if the connection was good enough (or if it was a game built around that). They could still have sold a “cloud only” option (or just run from Chromecast) but reviewers would probably play on and cover the “console”.
To be successful they had to pull gamers away from the other consoles. Their heart wasn’t really in the game though. To be in it you need to cultivate a lot more than just a relationship with Ubisoft.
Re: Mario Kart 8 Overtakes Mario Kart Wii As Best-Selling Series Entry
More generally - MK 8 is a great game. I don’t think Nintendo should do a MK 9 on Switch even though a tiny but very vocal minority of the fan base is agitating for it - it’s just the sort of game that most people only need one version of per console - the majority of MK 8 DX would pass on a MK 9 (on Switch). I’d rather see them iterate up on ARMs with a sequel or do something entirely original with their time on Switch.
The lack of DLC is perplexing though. Maybe the DLC on Wii U just didn’t sell well?
The attach rate that the game has is just incredible.
Re: Mario Kart 8 Overtakes Mario Kart Wii As Best-Selling Series Entry
It never gets old to review this statistically illiterate 2014 article from Polygon...
https://www.polygon.com/platform/amp/2014/5/15/5718168/mario-kart-series-sales
Re: Japanese Charts: It's A Familiar Top Ten As Switch Gobbles Up The Competition
@SuperCharlie78 Monster Hunter is looming over that market like an asteroid heading for a direct collision. It’s going to be huge there.
Pair that with a new Pokémon (or remake) later in the year and it’s definitely easy to see how Switch could beat 2020.
Re: Japanese Charts: It's A Familiar Top Ten As Switch Gobbles Up The Competition
@nessisonett maybe they’ll put some of their other characters in as cameos.
Just imagine Snake on a train!
Re: Soapbox: Grinding Is Poor Gameplay Design That Doesn’t Respect Your Time
Grinding is dreadful game design. If you want to give me the option to cheese the game in an overpowered way then just make it a cheat switch I can flip whenever I feel like it.
That’s all that grinding really is - a cheat switch that takes hours to move.
I’d also say that many features of RPGs (including levels and excessive loot) are dreadful design features too. They’ve got worse since the 16 bit era as modern RPGs have layered complex sub systems on top of each other. “Oh but you don’t have to grind if you set up your team in exactly this relatively unintuitive and undocumented way DUH” is not an argument in favour of keeping grinding - it’s just highlighting a different way in which the game is badly designed!
A battle system with genuine strategy is what’s needed but very few have that.
Re: Feature: 6 Huge Video Game Franchises Missing From Nintendo Switch
I suspect in most cases the reason we’ve not seen those series on Switch is the fact that they’ve pivoted to online heavy modes and the portable - not always online- Switch sees a lower return from that model (though there have been successes).
With remasters of older games I think the publishers want to align them to release on all platforms simultaneously so it can be an issue of timing.
Most importantly though NL, Ridge Racer is an indulgent pick for this list. Fallout, ME, Dragon Age, Yakuza and Farcry are all much (much) bigger series MIA on Switch in 2021.
Re: Random: You Know What Would Make Fire Emblem Even Better? The Gilmore Girls
@Daniel36 “your hearts are in the jars, your iron boots don’t touch the ground...”
Re: Scott Pilgrim For Switch Becomes Limited Run's "Biggest" Physical Release Ever
@GTHOLLAND orders from LR games take ages to arrive. But everyone knows that - they’re up front about it!
On a more general level the collectors editions and various other tat they try to upsell you on give the game away - these carts are collectibles. Items to own if you’re an enthusiast. They’re not instant gratification but honestly - if you even know they exist and you want one of the games they’re selling then you’re 99% of the time either ok to wait or willing to pay and have the game digital as well today.
By definition these are not games that would comfortably sell a hundred thousand physical copies. Scott Pilgrim is at the very top end of their scale.
In a world where it’s sometimes getting hard to even find physical shops that sell physical games anymore I think LR are doing a good job of getting niche games out for a niche audience. Everyone who really wants this physically will get a copy of they order - which is not the case with other similar companies.
Re: Random: You Know What Would Make Fire Emblem Even Better? The Gilmore Girls
@gaga64 “finish him” “no you can’t - we were on a break!”
Re: Random: Nintendo Extracts Customer's Missing Wedding Ring From Their Wii U
Surely if you’re going to offer a ring symbolising lifelong commitment to a games console the Wii U isn’t the console you should be choosing?
Re: Nintendo Kicks Off Huge Festive Sale, Over 900 Switch Games Discounted (Europe)
Horace is an amazing game.
So good that I don’t even feel stung having paid full price just a couple of months ago.
Re: Nintendo Consoles Are Aimed At "Kids And Teens" Says Sega's Toshihiro Nagoshi
@Maxz honestly it doesn’t matter whether he said “nah nah na nah nah Nintendo is for poohie baby kids”. At the end of the day it doesn’t change anything. Nintendo does skew younger than Sony or Microsoft and some “mature” franchises are far less successful on Nintendo hardware (for a number of reasons).
Personally I think Nintendo often underserves its younger audience.
But it does often hack away at the Nintendo fan base to be told it. Partly because many of us (though much older now) remember being teenagers and the peer pressure to not play Nintendo games because of that.
My advice to anyone would be: grow up and have fun.
Re: Nintendo Consoles Are Aimed At "Kids And Teens" Says Sega's Toshihiro Nagoshi
@Damo I think we all appreciate that there are times when you venture BTL into the comments section. It's an important part of a community.
Sometimes it's not a good idea though.
Like when you're trying to get between the community and its 5 minutes of hate shouting at the screens against our ancient enemies EASegsia. We have always been at war with EASegsia.
More seriously though. Of course it shouldn't be taken as a slight and probably wasn't meant as one (plus Nintendo should be targetting younger players - all major developers have neglected to properly do this for years) but you should certainly understand why many Nintendo fans will inevitably take it as one.
Re: Random: Wow, The PS5 Really Does Dwarf The Switch
@HXLXIII the original PSX is still a gorgeous piece of technology. The tiny PSOne revision was cute but not on the same level.
The PS2 was always ugly and the media coverage of its appearance at the time was not good (it was widely compared to an 80’s VCR). The slim PS2 was much more attractive.
The PS3 was the second ugliest PlayStation (after this new one - which shares some of the same design sensibilities).
The original PS4 was very attractive - I’d put that a close second behind the original PlayStation.
Re: Random: Crash Bandicoot 4 Dev Has A Cult Classic N64 Game On The Brain
@sketchturner Even the level that's literally unbeatable?
I think it was a decent game with some good ideas but - personally - I've never been a big fan of it. It's just badly made in places (exhibit A: collectables mandatory for progression that can't be collected) and some of the robots are just not fun to play as.
The central idea is very strong though. I know Mario Odyssey basically stole it outright but I think there's still a lot of untapped potential there in the whole "living" ecosystem. It felt like it they were caught between making a taut puzzle platformer and making a much more ambitious open world ecosystem that the N64 just wouldn't have been capable of.
Re: "Nintendo Isn't That Smart": Pachter Says Nintendo Should Scrap Switch And 'Only Have Switch Lite'
He just genuinely doesn't understand Nintendo. For him (as for the top execs at companies like EA and much of the gaming press), Nintendo doesn't fit neatly into their schema of understanding of how the games industry works/how they would personally like it to work.
We all have our blind spots but his is so big that he shouldn't be earning a career analysing the industry. It's that simple.
Then again - good luck to him and good luck to the investors that follow his advice. Spread the wealth guys - hope you're not investing my pension fund!
Re: Random: Thanks Fire Emblem, Mother 3 Is Now Trending On Social Media (Again)
@Noid plays OK the mgypsies could maybe be a little bit offensive but I don't think anyone would really flip if the text is sympathetic...
gets to the underwater bit OK, I can see that would be broadly seen as offensive in 2020 but that could be amended slightly and I'm sure the game will immediately go back into safer teritory...
walks out of the water onto the beach with no health. Sees some mushrooms to eat Oh...