@boxyguy Well put! I’m trying to be like you and reserve judgement of the $80 bombshell until at least the MKW Direct on 4/17. The game does look like an absolute blast to play, just gorgeous looks, squishy expressive characters, and I’m intrigued by the explorable overworld. I’m hoping there’s some kind of enduro or rally mode where your kart can take damage that pit stops can repair.
I’m just feeling stung by the prices all around, mainly because I’ve always bought games physically and it seems I’ll be paying a real premium to keep doing so this gen. I just pray the whole game is on the cartridge. We shall see!
@Serpenterror Fair point, even if equating NintendoLand (a decent party game with intrinsic value) to this humble mini edutainment manual doesn’t seem like a fair comparison.
I find myself agreeing with you and others’ assessment here - maybe Nintendo has gotten a little overconfident following the Switch triumph, like after the NES/SNES, DS, and Wii generations.
But I still say that Sawada-san and Reggie were more willing (or more permitted) to communicate and make tough calls when needed. They made a great course correction with the 3DS, There were just too many problems with the Wii U to fix, though, beyond pack-in games.
This little novelty absolutely should have been given for free to console buyers - get people invested in their new purchase, create some good will, build momentum! Don’t nickel and dime people.
Mr. Sawada and Reggie would not have greenlit this, nor would they have stayed silent during all the pricing uproar we heard today. Has Nintendo changed this much?
Legalese is so annoying, but I’m even less fond of the big red banner on these S2 covers. I guess this gen the games will look better but the boxes will look worse. Ah well.
Do we know MSRP for Prime 4 and other non-Kart games? GameStop couldn’t tell me anything yesterday. Praying not everything is (gulp) $80. 😑
Hamster announced the Arcade Archives 2 series last summer, at their 10th anniversary live event. But the series debuted just a few weeks ago, starting with KOF ‘98 I think. AA2 was only announced for PS5 and the current Xboxes, so I’m glad to learn it’s coming to NS2!
If I remember right, AA2 games differ from original AA games in that they have online co-op / vs play, a speed run mode with online leaderboards, and other new settings. AA2 games cost a little more than AA releases, maybe $12 vs $8. As a kind gesture to the fans who already bought the original Arcade Archives version of KOF ‘98, Hamster allows you to upgrade to the Archive Archive 2 version for less, about $4, I think.
I’m curious now if OG Ake-Aka games will be playable on Switch Deux. I imagine so, but hopefully Hamster prez Hamada-san will share more details during the weekly Arcade Archives livestream tomorrow. This week’s game is another Namco title, Assault Plus, so I’m sure the Namco guests will be happy to chat about Ridge Racer, too. 😁
@OldGamer999 Switch 2 Pro Controller confirmed. Has a headphone jack, built in chat button, and a couple of custom buttons on the back, along with all the Switch One Pro Controller buttons. Didn't see a price or anything, though.
I’m happy for the voice chat, but maybe I speak for most peeps who’ve been gaming since before the NES — camera chat isn’t the most appealing feature. Save it for the young and attractive! 😅
Right on! I'm tuned in and ready to go, too! We'll have a couple months at least to discuss and ruminate before the console actually hits stores. After the Direct this morning, I'm actually going to drop by a pair of stores to see if preorders have opened up! Then it's off to work in the afternoon.
Val was such an idol for those who came of age in the 80s and 90s - he absolutely embodied everything cool about Jim Morrison in the Doors movie, and the NL peeps here are reminding me now of all the other fantastic roles he played.
I was sad to hear he was suffering from cancer, sadder still to hear he’s left us now. RIP Val Kilmer 💔
@Picola-Wicola What a treat - thank you for the kind response! It’s always nice to hear from you, and especially fun when we’re going through such exciting times together. A brief respite from the world’s worries!
I hope the Direct somehow lives up to the hype and sets the stage for another 5-10 years of success for our favorite company in Kyoto, and many entertaining and inspiring games for us to enjoy! Time will soon tell! 😁
Tomorrow! Tomorrow. It’s been a long 3+ months waiting for this Direct, and it’s finally imminent.
I decided to take a half day vacation and watch from home because there’s no way I could concentrate at work and squeeze this magnitude of a Direct into my lunch break.
We should have fireworks like nothing we’ve seen since 2017. Enjoy, everybody!
The biggest Direct since the original Switch presentation! 60 minutes should be loaded with many, many answers to our questions. And 2 Treehouse Live deep dives into I/O stuff and games for the rest of the week! It’s like that classic E3 feeling.
I can’t wait to finally hear about price, release date, backwards compatibility/potential performance boosts, hopeful lack of region locking, how to mouse about in games, the “C” button, Mario Kart and all the sweet new games that Nintendo and partners have been working on quietly.
Honestly, this possibility of buying NS2 Edition versions of games, or buying DLC which converts your OG games into NS2 Edition ones, doesn’t excite me that much. On a sequel console with (supposedly, hopefully!) robust backwards compatibility, I’m mostly going to be content playing the games I already bought.
IF, and it’s a huge IF, Nintendo sells NS2 Ed games physically AND complete on cartridge, THAT is how I would be tempted to bite. I would want the base game with all its DLC, patches, and NS2 enhancements present on the physical cartridge - like Criterion Collection versions of games. In that scenario, I’d be happy to rebuy physical editions of Smash Ultimate, Odyssey, MK8, and some others.
I’m comfortably sunk into XCX:DE and at the pace I play games, my backlog will probably grow by another 10 or 20 titles by the time I earn my skell license!
Honestly, while I’m on Mira trying to live my best mecha life, I should change the topic of my post here every Saturday from “WAYPTW?” to “How Much Worse Is Your Backlog this Weekend?”
For instance, newly arrived on the shelf this week and waiting to be played are Tiny Thor, Taito Milestones 1 & 2, and PS1 Klaymen Klaymen flew in from Japan, too.
Otherwise, it should be an exciting week of reveals for everyone! Here’s hoping the Switch Deux Direct doesn’t crash Youtube and that somehow I’ll be able to secure a preorder by this time next week. If not, well, God knows I have plenty of games to coast on for a while.
On the one hand, >YAWN<. On the other hand, at least they cleared this chaff out so we could have a nice focused Switch Deux Direct on Wednesday.
MP4 looked fun, I’m all for a decent Gradius collection, and I was mildly interested in the Marvel beatemup.
With that half-hearted attempt at family account sharing I will keep buying physical games almost exclusively, that’s for sure.
And I won’t be spending any of my phone’s memory installing another dubious app. If I want Nintendo news, I’ll keep relying on NL with a dash of the Switch news boards. Unless this new phone app means there will be no news boards on the Deuce?
I’m quietly wishing for UFO 50 and Mini Shoot Adventures. Those are indie games I’ve wanted to play for ages, and they’re perfect fits for Switch Uno.
A few friends here are talking about a Skies of Arcadia Remastered port. I kindve gave up on that given the current Sega president’s opinions, but what the heck, I’ll root for that!
Oh yeah, speaking of Sega, maybe we’ll see some of those Crazy Taxi and Golden Axe new games? Shinobi’s been revealed, after all.
I guess I'll wait for a possible physical release but really, I really do not want to have to play Breakout or any brick-breaker using a conventional controller/analog stick. Like @cyrus_zuo says, I need a spinner/paddle. These games are designed for that peripheral. Where have all the hardware makers gone these days? Taito is the only company who's taken pity on us classic gamers, with the combo trackball/paddle controller for their Egret II Mini console. I'll stick with Arkanoid and its sequel there, for now.
Well this is certainly strange. I guess Nintendo really wants to clear the deck for the Switch 2 buffet, just one week away!
Hopefully we'll see those really cool indie games Mini Shoot Adventures and UFO 50 inbound for the Switch Uno. And more news on Metroid Prime 4 and it's June release together with the Switch Deux hardware would be cool.
But Nate the Hate nailed this prediction again! He's going to wind up with ninjas parked inconspicuously outside his house.
I liked the looks of this enough to put down $5 on a preorder, and I'll be curious to give it a try someday, after I've had my fill of XCX. Hundred Line seemed like it might give me a taste of what everyone enjoys about Danganronpa, but with enough gameplay to keep me engaged.
That was a nice read this morning! I’ve only played a few of Jeff’s games (his Tempest and Akka Arrh remakes) as I wait for my copy of the Llamasoft Collection to deliver, but I love his style. Jeff and Co. seem to simmer these old arcade gems down to a potent concentration and then add Robotron psychedelics with a few other fun flourishes to whip up some absolute mind trips! I, Robot is in good hands, and I can’t wait to add it to the shelf someday.
May the Atari and Llamasoft partnership live long and prosper! You know, in a more perfect world, Atari CEO Wade Rosen would have already bought the rights to the Midway arcade games, so that Atari or Jeff or somebody could actually DO something with them.
It’s a busy dual-birthday weekend with a cake to bake and a play to attend, so I won’t have much gaming time, but I’ve taken my first steps back on Mira and it’s even lovelier than I remember it being on the Wii U! My Wii U has now officially become my NintendoLand and Affordable Space Adventures machine.
So yes, I’ll be joining many of you in Xenoblade Chronicles X: DE this weekend, and I’ll probably be there for a couple months or until the Switch Deux arrives! And what a send off for the Switch Uno!
But I am thinking guiltily now of my sinner in Freedom Wars Remastered, still with 650K out of 1 million years left on her sentence, abandoned in her cell without me. I’ll come back for you!! See, I left the cartridge out in a prominent spot on my shelf to shame me!
Wishing everyone a sunny spring weekend! 🕹🌤️🌷
(Serene fall weekend for our neighbors Down Under!)
I wavered but this hype trailer seals it - XCX is gonna be one of those drop-everything games for me. I’ll finish the game this time, like I should have years ago on the Wii U (it was BOTW’s fault).
As usual, I completely agree with Sakurai-san. Homogenized culture is so dreadfully bland. Keep on keeping it real and don't listen to the shareholders.
Oh neat! I read I Have No Mouth and some other stories by Harlan Ellison back in college. It’s been decades! If I remember correctly, it’s a relevant story for us humans rightly fearing the uncontrolled plague of AI these days. We didn’t ask for it, but boy, are we gonna get it.
Anyway, I recall hearing about a game based on the short story, so I may check this out at some point. Or not. The news headlines about AI are depressing enough on their own. 😑
I played an hour of Suikoden 1 Remastered last weekend. but guiltily put it away for now, to keep my offline campaign going in Freedom Wars Remastered. It’s time-consuming and grindy but fun, and I can’t just leave my player character stuck in jail! Though there’s still 670,000 years left of her million-year sentence, so I have zero hope of finishing this game before picking up Xenoblade Chronicles X: DE on Thursday. I shall give it a good try though!
Wishing everybody good progress in our battles for backlog freedom this weekend! 🕹🕰️
I still buy amiibo when the impulse strikes - if it’s a character I like, I just can’t resist the little buggers. I’m glad they’re sticking around.
The most use I’ve gotten from them in the Switch era has been in Breath of the Wild, where you scan a Zelda amiibo and meat and items drop from the sky. I wish we had some more amiibo-heavy apps like in the Wii U days, though - Mario Maker, amiibo Tap!, and Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge all made fun use of the figurines.
So I’m an adult - well, allegedly, but I definitely have 2 kids and responsibilities and limited time to game - and once a year when you disintegrate an hour of my gaming/sleep time for some arbitrary reason of dubious worth despite most people’s protests, well, I’m gonna have beef. Yes,, it’s time for us misguided Americans to all set our clocks ahead one hour tonight for “daylight savings time.” How I loathe it.
So I’ll have one less hour this weekend to decide whether to keep going in Freedom Wars Remastered. (where I rolled credits but I feel like the game isn’t even half finished) or jump over to my long-awaited copy of Suikoden I & II Remastered. I last played Suikoden 1 back in the mid-90s, and loved it. Meanwhile, Nintendo reunited me with Donkey Kong ’94 this week, another great I haven’t played since the 90s. So yes, I’ll really lament that missing hour.
Wishing everyone time enough to enjoy your favorite games this weekend! 🕹🦧🛢️
I saw T2 in the theatre back then and yeah, it was a sensation! I think it predicted Skynet would become self-aware and nuke most of humanity in 2025, actually. Fortunately for us, that prediction is way off and humanity today is in no risk whatsoever of being dominated by AI. Right? RIGHT??
Sounds like I was lucky to have skipped the home console games and spent my money on the excellent T2 pinball table and arcade gun game instead. I will definitely pick up this Bitmap Bureau game, though.
@Thwomp_Stomper Wow that is one nice gif! Like HD 60FPS quality Waluigi! You are the gif whisperer. 😁
Time really does fly, made all the more dismaying when you’ve got young kids in the house and then you blink and then they’re nearly in high school. 😅
But yes, hopefully his Waaness makes the cut finally in the inevitable Smash game for Switch Deux. Maybe the big reveal will even come this summer, on Waluigi’s 25th bday! Hope springs eternal. See ya again in the comments section then! 😉
@Justifier The Nintendo website lists XCX DE as supporting like a dozen languages, Japanese included. Hopefully the language is selectable in-game, but we'll see!
Now I'm trying to remember if the Wii U release was monolingual or not...
@AstroTheGamosian Ooo yes, “The Key We’ve Lost” is probably my favorite track in the game, too. Just right for dramatic mecha action! 😆
Since you’re so fond of the tunes, why not pick up the OST on CD? I think it’s a 4-disk set, IIRC. Amazon JP still has copies available: https://amzn.asia/d/3EjJqNj
I was just thinking I have to dig out my copy of the soundtrack to listen to during my commute. Only 2 more weeks till release day!
Sounds like my preorder last year was justified! I’m just hoping Suikoden 1 draws me in as completely as when I last played it, almost 30 years ago! 😵💫
Glad to hear it's a decent port of this duology! It's been such a long wait. I have fond memories of playing Suikoden 1 during college in the 90's and now I'll finally have the chance to play the sequel, too. What a treat to have this high quality series revived on modern consoles! I'm hoping they bring out more Suikoden remasters, based on the praise I've heard from other readers here on NL.
Publishers were already phasing out physical games at a rapid pace, to cut cost and sell us a distribution model that favors them, not customers.
On top of that I imagined Herr Trump and Herr Elon's agenda would have negative impacts on console and physical game prices, just like on most other aspects of life for us non-billionaires.
But as they say, vote for a clown, expect a circus.*
@Thwomp_Stomper I was trying to remember for a while now how long I’ve had this Waluigi Tennis avatar and I couldn’t remember who’d given it to me. And I just randomly came across this article, and it was here in the comments where you gifted me the gif. It was the great and generous Thwomp Stomper I have to thank! I’m glad I stumbled across this old exchange so I could say thank you again, almost 5 years later. I’m glad we’re both still on the NL website, and I hope it’s been a good 5 years for you! 😄
Touching story! Thank you for sharing @Shiryu ! I had no idea you were dealing with such hardship and I certainly am glad that you fought your way through it. Your enthusiasm for a wide range of games really shines through in all the writing you've done here on NL, and for I while now I've thought that we really are birds of a feather.
Games have that unique transportive power that absolutely sings to the soul of some of us and can affect our lives profoundly.
Through all the ups and downs, these eight years with the Switch truly have been a privilege. I've been in love with games since Pong, Pac-Man, and the Atari 2600, and often thought no console could ever surpass the years of fun I had with the NES, but I think the Switch is right up there with it!
I love and fully support what Hamster is doing. Every week without fail, Producer Hamada and his small team bring us a well-emulated port of a vintage arcade title. Some are must-buys for me, some are new discoveries, but it’s remarkable how they’ve gotten multiple publishers like Taito, Namco, SNK, Konami, Jaleco, Data East, and others to come together under their label. Even Nintendo joined the party! (Except I wish Popeye could get a release.)
It’s been an absolute treat each week to see which game will join the mix, and then learn all about it on their Wednesday night (Japan time) livestream which often invites the game’s original devs to come discuss their work and take us back in time.
Hamster even collaborates lately to give us some physical collections of their titles - thus far, three collections of Taito titles and four collections of SNK titles have already been announced or are already out. I won’t miss a single one!
I went to the midnight launch at my local GameStop (since shuttered) just to get my pro controller and BOTW - I had to wait a few days till my Switch console delivered from Target.
No single game console has given me this much joy since the NES.
Happy 8th Birthday, Nintendo Swith!! (as my daughter used to call it). 😄
Agree with everyone here - Sakurai-sensei truly earns the accolades! Each of the Creating Games episodes that I’ve seen has been a fun and illuminating look into his art.
He’s in good company with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Japan’s AMD (“Association of Media in Digital”), too - Shigeru Miyamoto won that award last year!
As for me, I’ll keep going in Freedom Wars Remastered. I’ve worked off 100,000 years of my prison sentence, so I’m 1/10th of the way to freedom! It’s been fun grappling around, rescuing people, sniping baddies, and sawing off robot parts with my trusty chainsword. I’ve got to hurry though, with Suikoden I&II Remastered coming next week and Xenoblade Chronicles X just 2 weeks after that. I think these 3 games alone could occupy me for a year, and yet, here comes Switch Deux! The backlog crush has never felt crushier.
Comments 2,857
Re: Mario Kart World's Character Select Screen Teases Absolutely Huge Roster
@boxyguy
Well put! I’m trying to be like you and reserve judgement of the $80 bombshell until at least the MKW Direct on 4/17. The game does look like an absolute blast to play, just gorgeous looks, squishy expressive characters, and I’m intrigued by the explorable overworld. I’m hoping there’s some kind of enduro or rally mode where your kart can take damage that pit stops can repair.
I’m just feeling stung by the prices all around, mainly because I’ve always bought games physically and it seems I’ll be paying a real premium to keep doing so this gen. I just pray the whole game is on the cartridge. We shall see!
Re: Hands On: Should 'Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour' Be A Pack-In Game?
@Serpenterror
Fair point, even if equating NintendoLand (a decent party game with intrinsic value) to this humble mini edutainment manual doesn’t seem like a fair comparison.
I find myself agreeing with you and others’ assessment here - maybe Nintendo has gotten a little overconfident following the Switch triumph, like after the NES/SNES, DS, and Wii generations.
But I still say that Sawada-san and Reggie were more willing (or more permitted) to communicate and make tough calls when needed. They made a great course correction with the 3DS, There were just too many problems with the Wii U to fix, though, beyond pack-in games.
Re: Hands On: Should 'Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour' Be A Pack-In Game?
This little novelty absolutely should have been given for free to console buyers - get people invested in their new purchase, create some good will, build momentum! Don’t nickel and dime people.
Mr. Sawada and Reggie would not have greenlit this, nor would they have stayed silent during all the pricing uproar we heard today. Has Nintendo changed this much?
Just another sign of the times, I guess.
Re: Yep, Metroid Prime 4's Box Art For Switch 2 Is... Corrupted
Legalese is so annoying, but I’m even less fond of the big red banner on these S2 covers. I guess this gen the games will look better but the boxes will look worse. Ah well.
Do we know MSRP for Prime 4 and other non-Kart games? GameStop couldn’t tell me anything yesterday. Praying not everything is (gulp) $80. 😑
Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Includes Support For Variable Refresh Rate Technology
Hamster announced the Arcade Archives 2 series last summer, at their 10th anniversary live event. But the series debuted just a few weeks ago, starting with KOF ‘98 I think. AA2 was only announced for PS5 and the current Xboxes, so I’m glad to learn it’s coming to NS2!
If I remember right, AA2 games differ from original AA games in that they have online co-op / vs play, a speed run mode with online leaderboards, and other new settings. AA2 games cost a little more than AA releases, maybe $12 vs $8. As a kind gesture to the fans who already bought the original Arcade Archives version of KOF ‘98, Hamster allows you to upgrade to the Archive Archive 2 version for less, about $4, I think.
I’m curious now if OG Ake-Aka games will be playable on Switch Deux. I imagine so, but hopefully Hamster prez Hamada-san will share more details during the weekly Arcade Archives livestream tomorrow. This week’s game is another Namco title, Assault Plus, so I’m sure the Namco guests will be happy to chat about Ridge Racer, too. 😁
Re: Switch 2 Games Cost A Bit More Than You're Probably Expecting
$80 for a game cart? This kind of bubble-era Japanese pricing isn’t going to fly in the States.
That’s like JPY15,000! UGH.
Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Priced At $449.99 For The Base Console
@OldGamer999
Switch 2 Pro Controller confirmed. Has a headphone jack, built in chat button, and a couple of custom buttons on the back, along with all the Switch One Pro Controller buttons. Didn't see a price or anything, though.
Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Priced At $449.99 For The Base Console
Not altogether unexpected. I'll visit a couple game shops before work today just to make preorder inquiries.
Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Camera Puts You Into The Game For Multiplayer Fun
I’m happy for the voice chat, but maybe I speak for most peeps who’ve been gaming since before the NES — camera chat isn’t the most appealing feature.
Save it for the young and attractive! 😅
Re: Nintendo Expects You To Pay For Its Switch 2 "Welcome Tour" User Guide
This really should have been a free app. One of the downers of the Direct today.
Re: 'Mario Kart World' Looks Absolutely Awesome In Debut Switch 2 Trailer
This game looks amazing. Star of the Direct for sure! It’ll be 130% adoption rate for a while! 😂
Re: The Duration Of Tomorrow's Nintendo Switch 2 Direct Has Been Confirmed
@Picola-Wicola
Right on!
I'm tuned in and ready to go, too!
We'll have a couple months at least to discuss and ruminate before the console actually hits stores. After the Direct this morning, I'm actually going to drop by a pair of stores to see if preorders have opened up! Then it's off to work in the afternoon.
Enjoy the Direct, and talk to you soon!
Re: Val Kilmer, Acting Legend And One-Time Video Game Voice Artist, Has Died
Val was such an idol for those who came of age in the 80s and 90s - he absolutely embodied everything cool about Jim Morrison in the Doors movie, and the NL peeps here are reminding me now of all the other fantastic roles he played.
I was sad to hear he was suffering from cancer, sadder still to hear he’s left us now.
RIP Val Kilmer 💔
Re: The Duration Of Tomorrow's Nintendo Switch 2 Direct Has Been Confirmed
@Picola-Wicola
What a treat - thank you for the kind response! It’s always nice to hear from you, and especially fun when we’re going through such exciting times together. A brief respite from the world’s worries!
I hope the Direct somehow lives up to the hype and sets the stage for another 5-10 years of success for our favorite company in Kyoto, and many entertaining and inspiring games for us to enjoy! Time will soon tell! 😁
Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Direct: Time, Where To Watch, What To Expect
Tomorrow! Tomorrow. It’s been a long 3+ months waiting for this Direct, and it’s finally imminent.
I decided to take a half day vacation and watch from home because there’s no way I could concentrate at work and squeeze this magnitude of a Direct into my lunch break.
We should have fireworks like nothing we’ve seen since 2017. Enjoy, everybody!
Re: The Duration Of Tomorrow's Nintendo Switch 2 Direct Has Been Confirmed
My bladder is ready! 😂
The biggest Direct since the original Switch presentation! 60 minutes should be loaded with many, many answers to our questions. And 2 Treehouse Live deep dives into I/O stuff and games for the rest of the week! It’s like that classic E3 feeling.
I can’t wait to finally hear about price, release date, backwards compatibility/potential performance boosts, hopeful lack of region locking, how to mouse about in games, the “C” button, Mario Kart and all the sweet new games that Nintendo and partners have been working on quietly.
Re: Nintendo Shares New Image Of Switch 2 Ahead Of The Big Day
Right now, the “C” button obviously stands for “Chugga chugga choo choo.”
All aboard the hype train! 🚂😆
Re: Talking Point: Which Switch Game Needs A 'Nintendo Switch 2 Edition' The Most?
Honestly, this possibility of buying NS2 Edition versions of games, or buying DLC which converts your OG games into NS2 Edition ones, doesn’t excite me that much. On a sequel console with (supposedly, hopefully!) robust backwards compatibility, I’m mostly going to be content playing the games I already bought.
IF, and it’s a huge IF, Nintendo sells NS2 Ed games physically AND complete on cartridge, THAT is how I would be tempted to bite. I would want the base game with all its DLC, patches, and NS2 enhancements present on the physical cartridge - like Criterion Collection versions of games. In that scenario, I’d be happy to rebuy physical editions of Smash Ultimate, Odyssey, MK8, and some others.
Re: Switch 2 Pre-Orders Expected To Sell Out "Day One" Due To Limited Unit Allocation
If they didn’t sell out day 1, I would be shocked.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (29th March)
I’m comfortably sunk into XCX:DE and at the pace I play games, my backlog will probably grow by another 10 or 20 titles by the time I earn my skell license!
Honestly, while I’m on Mira trying to live my best mecha life, I should change the topic of my post here every Saturday from “WAYPTW?” to “How Much Worse Is Your Backlog this Weekend?”
For instance, newly arrived on the shelf this week and waiting to be played are Tiny Thor, Taito Milestones 1 & 2, and PS1 Klaymen Klaymen flew in from Japan, too.
Otherwise, it should be an exciting week of reveals for everyone! Here’s hoping the Switch Deux Direct doesn’t crash Youtube and that somehow I’ll be able to secure a preorder by this time next week. If not, well, God knows I have plenty of games to coast on for a while.
Wishing everyone an entertaining weekend! 🕹💥👾
Re: Poll: So, How Would You Rate The Nintendo Direct For March 2025?
On the one hand, >YAWN<.
On the other hand, at least they cleared this chaff out so we could have a nice focused Switch Deux Direct on Wednesday.
MP4 looked fun, I’m all for a decent Gradius collection, and I was mildly interested in the Marvel beatemup.
With that half-hearted attempt at family account sharing I will keep buying physical games almost exclusively, that’s for sure.
And I won’t be spending any of my phone’s memory installing another dubious app. If I want Nintendo news, I’ll keep relying on NL with a dash of the Switch news boards.
Unless this new phone app means there will be no news boards on the Deuce?
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo Direct Predictions - What Do You Want To See?
I’m quietly wishing for UFO 50 and Mini Shoot Adventures. Those are indie games I’ve wanted to play for ages, and they’re perfect fits for Switch Uno.
A few friends here are talking about a Skies of Arcadia Remastered port. I kindve gave up on that given the current Sega president’s opinions, but what the heck, I’ll root for that!
Oh yeah, speaking of Sega, maybe we’ll see some of those Crazy Taxi and Golden Axe new games? Shinobi’s been revealed, after all.
Re: Mini Review: Breakout Beyond (Switch) - A Thrilling Iteration On An Arcade Classic
I guess I'll wait for a possible physical release but really, I really do not want to have to play Breakout or any brick-breaker using a conventional controller/analog stick. Like @cyrus_zuo says, I need a spinner/paddle. These games are designed for that peripheral. Where have all the hardware makers gone these days?
Taito is the only company who's taken pity on us classic gamers, with the combo trackball/paddle controller for their Egret II Mini console. I'll stick with Arkanoid and its sequel there, for now.
Re: Nintendo Direct Confirmed For Tomorrow, 27th March 2025
Well this is certainly strange. I guess Nintendo really wants to clear the deck for the Switch 2 buffet, just one week away!
Hopefully we'll see those really cool indie games Mini Shoot Adventures and UFO 50 inbound for the Switch Uno. And more news on Metroid Prime 4 and it's June release together with the Switch Deux hardware would be cool.
But Nate the Hate nailed this prediction again! He's going to wind up with ninjas parked inconspicuously outside his house.
Re: Feature: "If The Game Does Not Sell Well, We May Be Done" - It's Do Or Die For Too Kyo Games & 'The Hundred Line'
I liked the looks of this enough to put down $5 on a preorder, and I'll be curious to give it a try someday, after I've had my fill of XCX. Hundred Line seemed like it might give me a taste of what everyone enjoys about Danganronpa, but with enough gameplay to keep me engaged.
Re: Koei Tecmo Is Bringing A Fan-Favourite Atelier Character To 'Warriors: Abyss'
Best taglines in the biz!
A thigh for a thigh, you could say.
Re: Feature: "It's A Perversion Of The Whole Thing" - Jeff Minter On Scam Games, Switch 2, And 'I, Robot'
That was a nice read this morning! I’ve only played a few of Jeff’s games (his Tempest and Akka Arrh remakes) as I wait for my copy of the Llamasoft Collection to deliver, but I love his style. Jeff and Co. seem to simmer these old arcade gems down to a potent concentration and then add Robotron psychedelics with a few other fun flourishes to whip up some absolute mind trips! I, Robot is in good hands, and I can’t wait to add it to the shelf someday.
May the Atari and Llamasoft partnership live long and prosper!
You know, in a more perfect world, Atari CEO Wade Rosen would have already bought the rights to the Midway arcade games, so that Atari or Jeff or somebody could actually DO something with them.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (22nd March)
It’s a busy dual-birthday weekend with a cake to bake and a play to attend, so I won’t have much gaming time, but I’ve taken my first steps back on Mira and it’s even lovelier than I remember it being on the Wii U! My Wii U has now officially become my NintendoLand and Affordable Space Adventures machine.
So yes, I’ll be joining many of you in Xenoblade Chronicles X: DE this weekend, and I’ll probably be there for a couple months or until the Switch Deux arrives! And what a send off for the Switch Uno!
But I am thinking guiltily now of my sinner in Freedom Wars Remastered, still with 650K out of 1 million years left on her sentence, abandoned in her cell without me. I’ll come back for you!! See, I left the cartridge out in a prominent spot on my shelf to shame me!
Wishing everyone a sunny spring weekend! 🕹🌤️🌷
(Serene fall weekend for our neighbors Down Under!)
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Launch Trailer Brings The Hype
I wavered but this hype trailer seals it - XCX is gonna be one of those drop-everything games for me. I’ll finish the game this time, like I should have years ago on the Wii U (it was BOTW’s fault).
Sorry, backlog! 😅
Re: Sakurai Says Japanese Developers Should Avoid Trying To Appeal To Western Tastes
As usual, I completely agree with Sakurai-san.
Homogenized culture is so dreadfully bland.
Keep on keeping it real and don't listen to the shareholders.
Re: Review: Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition (Switch) - An Underrated Gem Transforms Into The Series' Best
Wow a perfect 10! I’ll enjoy reading the whole review in detail during my lunch break today.
For now, I’ll rest easy knowing my hype and my preorder are justified.
PJ hasn’t steered me wrong yet! 👍🏼
Re: Chances Are You've Never Heard Of Nightdive Studio's Latest Switch Rerelease
Oh neat! I read I Have No Mouth and some other stories by Harlan Ellison back in college. It’s been decades! If I remember correctly, it’s a relevant story for us humans rightly fearing the uncontrolled plague of AI these days. We didn’t ask for it, but boy, are we gonna get it.
Anyway, I recall hearing about a game based on the short story, so I may check this out at some point. Or not. The news headlines about AI are depressing enough on their own. 😑
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (15th March)
I played an hour of Suikoden 1 Remastered last weekend. but guiltily put it away for now, to keep my offline campaign going in Freedom Wars Remastered. It’s time-consuming and grindy but fun, and I can’t just leave my player character stuck in jail! Though there’s still 670,000 years left of her million-year sentence, so I have zero hope of finishing this game before picking up Xenoblade Chronicles X: DE on Thursday. I shall give it a good try though!
Wishing everybody good progress in our battles for backlog freedom this weekend! 🕹🕰️
Re: Switch 2 Will Support NFC, According To New FCC Filings
I still buy amiibo when the impulse strikes - if it’s a character I like, I just can’t resist the little buggers. I’m glad they’re sticking around.
The most use I’ve gotten from them in the Switch era has been in Breath of the Wild, where you scan a Zelda amiibo and meat and items drop from the sky. I wish we had some more amiibo-heavy apps like in the Wii U days, though - Mario Maker, amiibo Tap!, and Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge all made fun use of the figurines.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (8th March)
@Shiryu
I didn’t see you in the Contributors section and I was worried for a moment there! 😅
The Suikoden pack is definitely my purchase of the week, too! I may just drop everything and play it right away.
Have a great weekend!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (8th March)
So I’m an adult - well, allegedly, but I definitely have 2 kids and responsibilities and limited time to game - and once a year when you disintegrate an hour of my gaming/sleep time for some arbitrary reason of dubious worth despite most people’s protests, well, I’m gonna have beef. Yes,, it’s time for us misguided Americans to all set our clocks ahead one hour tonight for “daylight savings time.” How I loathe it.
So I’ll have one less hour this weekend to decide whether to keep going in Freedom Wars Remastered. (where I rolled credits but I feel like the game isn’t even half finished) or jump over to my long-awaited copy of Suikoden I & II Remastered. I last played Suikoden 1 back in the mid-90s, and loved it. Meanwhile, Nintendo reunited me with Donkey Kong ’94 this week, another great I haven’t played since the 90s. So yes, I’ll really lament that missing hour.
Wishing everyone time enough to enjoy your favorite games this weekend! 🕹🦧🛢️
Re: Nintendo Expands Switch Online's Game Boy Library With Two More Titles
YES!! I’ve been dying to play DK ‘94. I think I borrowed it or rented it and played for only a short time back then, but remember liking it!
And Picross is always a chill and satisfying time. Nice additions! 👏🏼
Re: Opinion: It's Taken 30 Years, But 'Terminator 2D' Could Right A Childhood Wrong
I saw T2 in the theatre back then and yeah, it was a sensation! I think it predicted Skynet would become self-aware and nuke most of humanity in 2025, actually. Fortunately for us, that prediction is way off and humanity today is in no risk whatsoever of being dominated by AI. Right? RIGHT??
Sounds like I was lucky to have skipped the home console games and spent my money on the excellent T2 pinball table and arcade gun game instead. I will definitely pick up this Bitmap Bureau game, though.
HASTA LA VISTA. BABY.
Re: Waluigi First Graced Us With His Presence 20 Years Ago
@Thwomp_Stomper
Wow that is one nice gif! Like HD 60FPS quality Waluigi! You are the gif whisperer. 😁
Time really does fly, made all the more dismaying when you’ve got young kids in the house and then you blink and then they’re nearly in high school. 😅
But yes, hopefully his Waaness makes the cut finally in the inevitable Smash game for Switch Deux. Maybe the big reveal will even come this summer, on Waluigi’s 25th bday! Hope springs eternal.
See ya again in the comments section then! 😉
Re: Video: Nintendo Hypes Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition With New Batch Of Commercials
@Justifier
The Nintendo website lists XCX DE as supporting like a dozen languages, Japanese included. Hopefully the language is selectable in-game, but we'll see!
Now I'm trying to remember if the Wii U release was monolingual or not...
Re: Nintendo Shares Another Banger From The Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Soundtrack
@AstroTheGamosian
Ooo yes, “The Key We’ve Lost” is probably my favorite track in the game, too. Just right for dramatic mecha action! 😆
Since you’re so fond of the tunes, why not pick up the OST on CD? I think it’s a 4-disk set, IIRC. Amazon JP still has copies available:
https://amzn.asia/d/3EjJqNj
I was just thinking I have to dig out my copy of the soundtrack to listen to during my commute. Only 2 more weeks till release day!
Re: Round Up: The Reviews Are In For Suikoden I & II HD Remaster
Sounds like my preorder last year was justified! I’m just hoping Suikoden 1 draws me in as completely as when I last played it, almost 30 years ago! 😵💫
Re: Review: Suikoden 1 & 2 HD Remaster (Switch) - Two Of The PS1's Best RPGs Beautifully Preserved, For The Most Part
Glad to hear it's a decent port of this duology! It's been such a long wait.
I have fond memories of playing Suikoden 1 during college in the 90's and now I'll finally have the chance to play the sequel, too.
What a treat to have this high quality series revived on modern consoles! I'm hoping they bring out more Suikoden remasters, based on the praise I've heard from other readers here on NL.
Re: Analyst Fears U.S. Tariffs Could Spell Disaster For Physical Games
Publishers were already phasing out physical games at a rapid pace, to cut cost and sell us a distribution model that favors them, not customers.
On top of that I imagined Herr Trump and Herr Elon's agenda would have negative impacts on console and physical game prices, just like on most other aspects of life for us non-billionaires.
But as they say, vote for a clown, expect a circus.*
Re: Waluigi First Graced Us With His Presence 20 Years Ago
@Thwomp_Stomper
I was trying to remember for a while now how long I’ve had this Waluigi Tennis avatar and I couldn’t remember who’d given it to me.
And I just randomly came across this article, and it was here in the comments where you gifted me the gif. It was the great and generous Thwomp Stomper I have to thank! I’m glad I stumbled across this old exchange so I could say thank you again, almost 5 years later. I’m glad we’re both still on the NL website, and I hope it’s been a good 5 years for you! 😄
Re: Feature: These Past 8 Years Have Been A Privilege
Touching story! Thank you for sharing @Shiryu !
I had no idea you were dealing with such hardship and I certainly am glad that you fought your way through it.
Your enthusiasm for a wide range of games really shines through in all the writing you've done here on NL, and for I while now I've thought that we really are birds of a feather.
Games have that unique transportive power that absolutely sings to the soul of some of us and can affect our lives profoundly.
Through all the ups and downs, these eight years with the Switch truly have been a privilege. I've been in love with games since Pong, Pac-Man, and the Atari 2600, and often thought no console could ever surpass the years of fun I had with the NES, but I think the Switch is right up there with it!
Re: Hamster's Arcade Archives Celebrates Eight Years Of Switch eShop Releases
Happy 8th Switchiversary, Ake-Aka!! 😆🎉
I love and fully support what Hamster is doing. Every week without fail, Producer Hamada and his small team bring us a well-emulated port of a vintage arcade title. Some are must-buys for me, some are new discoveries, but it’s remarkable how they’ve gotten multiple publishers like Taito, Namco, SNK, Konami, Jaleco, Data East, and others to come together under their label. Even Nintendo joined the party! (Except I wish Popeye could get a release.)
It’s been an absolute treat each week to see which game will join the mix, and then learn all about it on their Wednesday night (Japan time) livestream which often invites the game’s original devs to come discuss their work and take us back in time.
Hamster even collaborates lately to give us some physical collections of their titles - thus far, three collections of Taito titles and four collections of SNK titles have already been announced or are already out. I won’t miss a single one!
Ganbaré, Hamster!!
Re: Anniversary: Nintendo Switch Launched On This Day Eight Years Ago
I went to the midnight launch at my local GameStop (since shuttered) just to get my pro controller and BOTW - I had to wait a few days till my Switch console delivered from Target.
No single game console has given me this much joy since the NES.
Happy 8th Birthday, Nintendo Swith!! (as my daughter used to call it). 😄
Re: Masahiro Sakurai Receives Award From Japanese Government
Agree with everyone here - Sakurai-sensei truly earns the accolades!
Each of the Creating Games episodes that I’ve seen has been a fun and illuminating look into his art.
He’s in good company with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Japan’s AMD (“Association of Media in Digital”), too - Shigeru Miyamoto won that award last year!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (1st March)
As for me, I’ll keep going in Freedom Wars Remastered. I’ve worked off 100,000 years of my prison sentence, so I’m 1/10th of the way to freedom! It’s been fun grappling around, rescuing people, sniping baddies, and sawing off robot parts with my trusty chainsword.
I’ve got to hurry though, with Suikoden I&II Remastered coming next week and Xenoblade Chronicles X just 2 weeks after that. I think these 3 games alone could occupy me for a year, and yet, here comes Switch Deux! The backlog crush has never felt crushier.
Wishing everyone a winning weekend! 🕹👾