Tdx

GBC: Link’s Awakening DX and a little Mario’s Picross

The only reason I’m holding on to my Xbox is for Skyrim/Fallout/Starfield at 60fps/4K.

One reason old Nintendo games hold up so well is because they’re 60fps.

GBC: Finished Wario Land 2 (100% all except treasures)

SNES: Picross

Switch: Neon Inferno with my partner

The amount of human life hours that will be lost to waiting for the NSO up-sell pop-up to load after accidentally hitting the button is incalculable.

Nintendo games were already too expensive at $60 - I think I bought 4 total over the entire generation.

Sure, inflation has made $80 the new $60 relative to 2017, but the gaming landscape has also changed. There is a glut of lengthy games, people have massive backlogs, subscription services and Steam sales make playing mid-tier games almost free, indies are getting better, etc.

The Switch 2 Direct seemed to be aimed at people who only play Switch - and for those people maybe MK is worth $80 - but for most, there are better options.

Charging for a tech demo.
Charging for resolution upgrades of old games.
Charging for chat.
Charging more for physical games that aren't on the cartridge.

In the post-SteamDeck/post-Switch world, the idea of playing AAA games handheld is no longer a novelty. People look to Nintendo for one reason: innovation. So while the presentation was solid, there was nothing to spark the imagination in a way we couldn't have already envisioned.

We loved:

• Door Kickers Action Squad
• Huntdown

Both have awesome soundtracks as well.

95% of story games have way too much non-interactive dialogue, cut-scenes, exposition.

Or as Dunkey put it: “Video games - why you always talking when you ain’t got nothing to say?”

Finished all the in-game achievements in Iron Meat coop. Really solid Contra-like we put dozens of hours into playing on Hard.

Have you guys played Conkers BFD all the way through on original hardware recently? I have - and it definitely doesn’t hold up like I remembered at all.

SMB3 is far more interesting and varied than SMW all the way through. SMW has no sense of moving through biomes and gameplay concepts like the other Mario games - and the soundtrack is very limited. SMB3 is too difficult for most people, and not having save files means a lot of players didn't see half the game.

Mario 64 is probably the best overall - most balanced and innovative. Not to mention how far ahead of its time it was for 3D controls/camera. After owning a PS1 for a year before playing Mario 64, it was mind-blowing.

Iron Meat with my partner. A really solid Contra-like, similar to Blazing Chrome. A lot of fun, but I highly recommend playing on Hard.

Same narrator as Void Bastards - I knew that voice was familiar.

This is the most polarizing indie I can remember since Edith Finch. Worth playing or no?

what an absolute legend

Would you recommend playing FF Tactics before this?

Is the DLC installed separately? I hate when rereleased games give you all this high level DLC at the outset that imbalances the game and doesn’t fit the story.

Talking about this all the time will encourage it - it's not interesting at all

If every human in the US subscribed to Game Pass for 1 year that still wouldn't generate $70B in revenue (not even profit).

I think you forgot the "Sponsored Article" tag

That's a damn good year

@Dethmunk It does almost look like a MS Calibri placeholder font. Those presentation details can help with atmosphere and immersion - see the Wipeout series.

The price, battery life and even aesthetics aren't that bad. It's the thought of dealing with Windows 10 on a mobile device - not to mention the cheap and soon-to-be-unsupported launcher and config app - that make me cringe.

@PJOReilly Thanks for the honest review - what a shame. Why didn't they just upscale the resolution, update the controls and call it a day?

If you watch 5 minutes of video for these games, all the above issues (FPS chop, blurriness, weird character models, pop in, etc.) are quite obvious, not sure what others are arguing about.

@MajinSoul GTA: SA is much more fun than IV or V

Everyone who paid $60 for Mario All Stars prompted this.

“new lighting and environmental upgrades” = cloud version?

Prime Trilogy should be on Switch. It’s easier to find PS3/360 ports than Wii ports on Switch.

Very chunky and 50% heavier. The minimalist in me can't do it until Steam/Proton proves that this is a frictionless experience.

Will Xbox release a handheld GamePass machine?

Splitting the software user base. Upscaling older games with machine learning. Asking developers to backport games to higher resolutions. All very un-Nintendo strategies.

Based on Nintendo's historical release cadence, the Switch 2 is a year away - but largely dependent on chip prices.

Turns out empowering indie devs usually means more generic stardew/minecraft/souls/metroidvania/roguelike mashups.

Epic released Shadow Complex for $15 (~$19 in 2021 dollars).

Microsoft released Ori Will of the Wisps for $30.

1. Read a niche nintendolife review
2. Sounds interesting: wishlist it
3. Realize I'll never have the time to play it
4. Re-read the review to find reasons for not playing it