Wexter

As someone who grew up in the 90s and saw stickers on N64 games as high as $100 this does not shock or surprise me that we've crept back up to those prices. Gaming has been stagnant at the $60 range for a bit too long and probably indirectly lead to predatory practices of monetization. However, that does not mean as consumers we need to like the prices either... I know I'll be more selective with my purchases. However Nintendo games being $70 is not a shocker.

As someone who grinded for Achievements on the Xbox 360... I kinda don't care if they ever go to Switch. Like it's neat, but feels like the trend has fallen off a cliff in recent years unless you're a Completionist... But even then like when the online match making servers go offline or just abandoned it becomes impossible to 100% Achievements... So kinda don't care if they ever come back.

@Thomystic nah Integrade is just the PS5/next gen upgrade version. It has the Yuffie DLC that takes place during Remake..

@JohnnyMind I concur! Reprints are good for consumers, collectors, players and the Pokemon Company. The only people it harms are scalpers who caused the problem in the first place.

@The21zonz emulators are not illegal. But, to release on during the life cycle of a console is a little dirty because we all know it will be mainly used for piracy let's not pretend it won't. But, it does not make something illegal.

I will never understand how a studio thinks laying off hundreds of employees will create good products. You just end up creating slop and gamers know when they are getting slop. When an interesting and passionate team creates a well reviewed hit, they toss it into the bin instead of giving it another go. If Ubisoft did that was Assassin's Creed 1 they wouldn't have the cashcow they have now... It just doesn't make sense.

@OorWullie that kind of leap just does not happen anymore. Going from SD to HD was massive for gaming... The leap from each HD console to each other has been minimal. Like yeah, comparing a PS5 game to a PS3 game is pretty huge, but between PS4 to PS5... Ehhhhhh.... I expect the same between Switch to Switch 2, it will be noticeable, but not WOW like it used to be.

@AnnoyingFrenzy I can see games like Baldur's Gate 3 supporting, same with RTS game ports like Age of Empires and Civ6/Civ7. I think it a nice to have feature. It might get used with shooters too depending on how it's implemented.

@Zeebor15 It is pretty common for musicians to not even file paper work to renew their music. It was probably done by this lawyer at some point over the years. I mean the timing is a bit, sus, but it isn't unreasonable for him to be not aware Live and Learn was being used in other not directly Sonic related media like Smash Bros or even on a TV show that aired through 4kids in the West.

@Pigeon You're saying I assume a lot, while you're also assuming a lot. You can work in the industry and not keep track of everything Sega does. This is also not the first time Sega has ended up in hot water over music from their games in the 90s (or even after the 90s in the case of Bentley Jones). He says pretty explicitly it was fans who told him his song was in games/shows he didn't sign-off on. It seems like a pretty reasonable explanation due to the film suddenly popularizing the song into the mainstream. Music copyright is also an extremely wonky area so this being a simple misunderstanding is also quite possible.

I don't want to color the artist with malintent when his explanation is pretty reasonable for people not consuming every game Sonic appears in. He is also apparently not much of a gamer according to fans that met him so it is not that unlikely once that factoid gets added in there.

@Haruki_NLI This, all this. Sega in the 90s was really bad with locking down their music catalog. And considering their collaboration with the likes of Michael Jackson on Sonic 3 they don't even own all the tracks in that game either. They've also collaborated with other notable musicians on other titles they have always been in a bit of a pickle when it comes to Sonic music in particular (Sonic CD I think has a few tracks that are not owned by Sega either).

@Pigeon Not really. Apparently he already gave Paramount permission to use the song and so did Sega. So, it really is a nothing burger there. This seems to be more so who has ownership of the track and considering the wild west that was Sega in the 90s I would not be surprised if this is just fallout of Sega not properly securing their eggs at the time and are now just licensing the song without his permission as it sounds like he owns the rights to it based on what is reported to the article. What it really comes down to is how his contract on the game was written and if it was as "work for hire" or with the explicit condition that Sega owns the music he makes while working on the title. It was very common at the time for game companies to use music not owned by them in their games as main themes such as Ozar Midrashim in Soul Reaver. So, it really comes down to how his contract was written.

As for the timing... probably just case that the song has renewed popularity and thanks to fans reaching out to him he has only now found out about the other games the song was used in without his knowledge.

@glennthefrog Nintendo has been extremely intelligent. While their games are gorgeous they don't seem to break the bank. Even more ambitious games like Xenoblade 3 can be modest successes selling about two million copies and still be profitable. And even when their games do crack into the tens of millions of unit sales Nintendo hits record breaking profits again and again which seems to be funding their more experimental whacky titles.

It is really impressive how their development philosophies don't just protect their profit margins, but also their staffing as Nintendo has been pretty anti-crunch. This is in comparison to other publishers where crunch is common and a few million units sold is a financial disappointment. It really makes you wonder what Nintendo is doing internally that other publishers have not figured out yet.

@fenlix While I'm inclined to agree that Shadow of the Erdtree is excellent... this is such a weird ruling. I get remakes (to an extent) as film also allows those to be Best Picture. But, allowing remasters? That be like if Terminator 2, The Godfather, or The Wizard of Oz got a 4k remaster and now became eligible for best picture. We'd be laughing at the Oscars if they allowed that. I get DLC acts somewhat different than a sequel, but in essence it is still just more of the same game that won last year... same mechanics, same hook, same engine, even the same story just more of it... just such an odd decision especially when games like Dragon Age Origins Awakening, Xenoblade 3 Future Redeemed and many other grade A expansions have been subbed in the past.

EDIT: Also when I say remakes should be allowed, I'm referring mostly to games like Resident Evil 2/4 Remakes, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth etc that completely reimagine the original titles with new combat mechanics, new art-styles, new story elements, new everything for the most part. They hardly count as the original anymore.

@nessisonett she can put on weight and muscle. Look up Linda Hamilton from the 1st Terminator movie then compare her in T2. She put on major mass. Let's give Sophie Turner a chance first to put on size

@HingryHuppo I don't blame you for not knowing about that regarding some board components. I didn't know about it till around 15 years ago when Clan of the Grey Wolf got their hands on an Earthbound Zero prototype cart. Apparently on prototypes they would flash UV light on the carts to delete data off them and to put new data on. Very interesting, but also does raise a concern of what if someone didn't know that and accidentally erased a 30+ year-old beta off a cartridge. I doubt Nintendo would be that careless, but you simply never know what's on some of these prototypes or how flash can interact with them.

Interesting video and worth a watch https://youtu.be/6j8NWSrNTJ4?si=xTwBGUqFFi48V8cp

@HingryHuppo I have not looked over the photos of the prototypes themselves, but if there are exposed boards flash can be very harmful to them. If there are no UV stickers on some of the chipsets it can potentially wipe the carts. So, without looking over the prototype catalogue I can't really comment too much. But, that is one reason why they may just not allow photos is to protect the sensitive components of some of these prototypes which in some cases are probably 40 years-old.

As for the Sistine Chapel I was told explicitly by the both my guide and security that no pictures at all were allowed inside the chapel not just flash (here is a link bellow that states it is no photos at all if you were curious). it was to both to preserve the art and to avoid noise as the chapel is meant for religious contemplation and to enjoy the art. It was just a recent example I had on hand of people not respecting the general rules.

SOURCE: https://www.vaticancitytours.it/blog/are-cameras-allowed-in-the-vatican-city/#:~:text=Sistine%20Chapel&text=The%20real%20reason%20for%20the,companies%20to%20fund%20the%20project.

@NinChocolate You're now playing a semantics game. This is a museum not a "property attraction." You are playing a semantic game. And how can Nintendo "accommodate photographers" in a part of their museum that they don't want pictures taken in, that is an extremely common practice in museums. It is so common in fact that I guarantee you can go to your nearest museum and find a part of the museum they do not want pictures taken in.

Don't try to weasel this one you know exactly what you're doing. To the point your last comment highlighted that fact pretty clearly now that you refuse to use the term museum and are using "property attraction" a term so obscure that the first article on Google is in an insurance article and next one is for magnetism. You can't find a reference for it in both Webster or the Oxford dictionaries.

@SilentBluntman This right here is the reason I think museums should embrace the virtual tour model. I don't think it would be hard (and rather would be very profitable) to strap a few staff members with GoPros and have them tour the museum with a guide for those who cannot physically go.

@NinChocolate No, still not how that works. This is a museum not an "attraction." If we want to treat games as a form of art we need to play by the same rules any other museum would. That includes some sections will require you to not take pictures and be respectful of the pieces. People unplugging controllers and checking for "emulators" is not "shareable as stories by people who buy into them" or taking pictures of sensitive prototypes when told not to, to content chase is also not "shareable stories." It is just disrespectful. That would be like going to an art museum and randomly touch paintings because you want to feel if it was painted on real canvas.

Notice how there is a disconnect here between sensible behavior and just being rude?

@NinChocolate not how that would work. When you're visiting a foreign country you should still respect the local customs and expectations. Japan is an entertainment titan between Anime, manga, video games, film and novels to expect Japanese people to just excuse ignorant behavior from foreigners is pretty bold just because Japanese media is internationally consumed. Maybe you didn't mean that and I'm just misunderstanding your comment. However, I don't think Japanese people should put up with people being ignorant just because they're foreign. The general norm when visiting a different country is to do some research before going on what is, vs. what isn't acceptable locally.

@JohnnyMind That is an extremely fair take that I can agree with. I think in general that especially larger publishers like Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft (add Activision and Bethesda there), EA and Ubisoft should have a ton of behind the scenes information available. I think that would be a net positive for the industry. I do think some discretion should be used as it has been revealed over and over again that Nintendo reuses old scrapped ideas in new games (dungeons in Zelda and beta-Pokemon in well Pokemon), so I don't think we're entitled to everything, but more transparency would for sure keep some of these clout chasers (and legit criminals) at bay to an extent.

@JohnnyMind While I'm inclined to agree, I don't think that will stop anyone. At the end of the day I think a certain level of respect is in order because whether we agree with Nintendo's decision to not distribute photos of these prototypes online (I think it would be a great idea to do it) we have to respect their decision not to. Ripping controllers out of consoles, taking photographs of consoles when told not to, it is all just disrespectful when Nintendo didn't have to do this in the first place. This is a huge step of transparency for Nintendo to even do this museum in the first place and flaunting the rules will only push them to not do something like this again.

With the recent hacks on Gamefreak and the bizarre righteous indignation around the idea that "Gamefreak deserved this" because these files should had already been online for "game preservation" is a little sickening. So I really don't have patience for the people who think doing this stuff for quick and fleeting "internet clout" have much moral ground to stand on.

Should Nintendo have photos of these online? Oh yeah that would be awesome. Should people deliberately break the rules to stick it to Nintendo? Oh hell no, especially when the purpose of this museum in the first place was for game preservation and staff training.

@JohnnyMind I'd like to say this is unique, but this happens in every museum. I was fortunate enough to go to Vatican Museum in well... The Vatican City and people were taking pictures and videos of the Sistine Chapel even after being reminded multiple times by clear signage and reminders from security. It's not like the Sistine Chapel is not photographed and distributed by the Catholic Church online either, people just flaunt the rules because of pure selfishness and ego. If Nintendo put photos of the prototypes online, people would still disrespect the rules the same way people take pictures of the Sistine Chapel when told repeatedly not to. People just simply lack respect and self restraint...

@Toastmaster Nintendo is notoriously secretive about decisions like this and even on the Rare side they've never given a definitive answer. It was probably more that Nintendo's pride got in the way and didn't like how Rare conducted the affair. Let's not forget this is the same Nintendo that burned bridges with longtime partner Square.

Even Rare's founders have no idea why Nintendo didn't buy them so anything we say on the matter is spitballing. Probably the only person who knows now is probably Miyamoto and he probably won't ever say why out of respect. Hiroshi Yamauchi passing we probably won't ever know why.

@thedicemaster Okay... Thanks for the correction? I believe people understood what I meant; that this case is specifically not about copyright/trademark rather just patents, which is odd in cases like these.

@JohnnyMind that makes sense. Thanks for the clarifications! My general knowledge is in American law, so I try keeping my nose out of Japanese law because I've been burned one too many times just applying my knowledge of one on the topic of the other.

I'm interested to see how this case turns out because I'm curious what mechanic or code was used in Palword that upset Nintendo. While Shueisha is intensively protective of the anime, Nintendo (despite shuttering fan games), tends to be more laissez faire with other monster catching games. They never went after Temtem, or other "Pokemon-like" games before... So I'm curious where this will go for sure, especially as this is not an IP issue, rather a patent issue.

@JohnnyMind hard to say. Japanese law is a different beast from North American and European law. It may be that a patent is implied over there if it is a unique mechanic. I personally think any information we follow with this case should be from Japanese pundits rather than us in the Western peanut gallery considering this is a Japanese case.

@FirstEmperor anyone who still believes Digimon predates Pokemon either is purposely misinforming people or doesn't know how to Google. Outside the fact that a tamagotchi-like toy does not even remotely compare to a 8-bit Gameboy RPG in similarity outside of the the concept of a monster in your pocket.

@HammerKirby shhhh don't bring facts into this. Plus Pokemon and Digimon have no similarities in their early forms outside the mon at the end of their names (even their anime are vastly different). Digimon's first video game came out in 1998, Pokemon Red & Green came out in 1996.

So... Pokemon did not copy Digimon

Considering this is a case between two Japanese publishers, this is something that I will leave to those familiar with Japanese law to debate. However since this is a lawsuit based on systems I'd assume Nintendo has a pretty decent case before they even brought this to court. Like what @VoidofLight pointed out these are a few similarities between Palword and PLA mechanics so unless the devs can prove they implemented the systems before PLA was unveiled this could get bad for them quick.

@ScalenePowers I dunno there are the Bomberman games (namely Hero and Second Attack), there was also Goemon 64, Wetrix was a really fun puzzler and I think Beatle Adventure Racing is a jam!

Not sure if you'd classify those as underrated,
But they are for sure under talked about N64 classics.

@mariomaster96 All good! I have no idea why they're not bringing Yakuza 0 over as well as it is on the same engine and is a fan favorite... That is an odd choice.

@mariomaster96 it is because Kawami 1 is running on the Yakuza 0 engine while Kawami 2 is running on the Yakuza 6 engine. Yakuza 6 was built from the ground up to run on PS4 while Yakuza 0 was designed to run on PS3 and ported over to PS4 mid development. So they would need to port Yakuza 6's engine to the Switch to bring Kawami 2 over... Odds are they're already doing that, but probably using Kawami 1 to test the interest.

Edit:
Porting an engine that was not designed with a console in mind is never easy. It is why Final Fantasy XV never came to Switch despite strong interest from the developers. Luminous just could not run on Switch and they'd had to port the game to UE4... Too much cost compared to profit. So porting two engines to Switch when they don't even know if the game will sell is a big ask.

@HeadPirate oooh now that was both insightful and educational! I was more just looking at how the large language AI would just be plugged in and no one would be able to understand what it's doing (we already generally have this problem with pre-existing AI at Google & Facebook). But, I'm also just stunned as the tech bros probably crashing our economy by forcing their large language AIs into critical infrastructure at mass scale... Granted what I am describing as you pointed out is already a thing, so hopefully it won't get worse.

Unfortunately as you pointed out this has already happened multiple times where the markets crash... Man I need a drink. When I think about how our entire economy hinges on the whims of a few hundred ultra wealthy individuals I want to become a hermit out in the woods.

Man I really need to get more educated on this topic, but the more I learn the more existential dread emerges.

I'd love Xenoblade X2, give the mainline series a bit of a break as Xenoblade 3 and Future Redeemed did give us a nice swansong to the Klaus saga. No need to jump into the next one right away. Or maybe cook a new IP? I'd be down for that.

Monolith Soft is the masters of their craft so I'll be happy no matter what they put out. If that be X2, Xenoblade 4 or a brand new IP

@HeadPirate It's only going to get worse when AI trading becomes mainstream. All an AI will do is notice that high value traders are trading off stock and not even understand the reason and just follow based on an algorithm and data training. I can see this kind of tech bro, vibe trading going to crash an economy harder than any politician or banker in our life time.

@JohnnyMind Indeed friend. Like I get why this happens, but is also so, so stupid. There is no real logic behind it outside of a bunch of investors panicking because they perceive something can happen. Just dumb. And as @HeadPirate pointed out we won't even be in a recession till October even if there was going to be one. Just a joke some days.

@Ironcore THQ was always a bit of a skeezy brand and their financial downfall did introduce some terrible AAA practices. But, THQ Nordic is not that bad of a company and are actually a completely different organization (based in Austria rather than the US for example). But, yeah their Switch ports are pretty hit and miss, and the fact that they bought up a bunch of older THQ and other obscure/mediocre PS2-era IPs doesn't endear them as a titan of game publishing either.

Their owner Embracer Group though... OOOOoh nelly now that is a company with some pretty bleak reputation.

@-wc- hahaha same. Nintendo gave some banger deals on the Wii U! Though I think I'm overall happier when they do well because most of time it's because they're killing it with their 1st and 3rd party releases.

Though yeah I miss snagging some 1st party bangers for $20! Nothing will hit harder than getting DK Tropical Freeze, Xenoblade and Metroid Prime Trilogy for $40

@-wc- same, but that ended with the GCN. Feels like only when Nintendo struggles they pull that out. Switch games will stay $60 for a while especially if Switch 2 is backwards compatible.

@DogDetective It does help that the base game is already excellent and this more or less a remaster/expansion. Granted the Colors remaster does have me a bit worried, but this is Sonic greatest hits remix, it would be kind of hard to screw up.

@Yousef- Ganon: it was not by my hands I was once again given flesh. I was brought here by Hylians who wish to pay me tribute.

@JohnnyMind I was referring to more generally Dub vs. Subs not all that mattering. I do think knowing Japanese helps determine which the better performance is. But, not knowing it will not make someone automatically not know a good performance from a bad one in Japanese... though I do think the generally dub vs. sub argument is heavily tinged in bias to begin with.

As for this one, it's a Sonic game, the characters will sound like the characters people are used to (more or less similar voices and performances to the ones established in the Adventures duology). That plays a major part in most of these arguments as which dub you heard first will dictate how you hear the characters. People who like Sonic dubs will like this dub, those who don't will prefer the sub. At the end of the day arguing over this is pretty pointless as I doubt they will change over 20 years of English VAs doing a David Humphrey's impersonation (more airy, reserved and subdued interpretation) for an English version of Koji Yuse (more arrogant, emotive and firm interpretation) for Shadow.

As for foreign dubs that are not English, apparently the German dub for Jin-Roh is quite excellent. Thematically I can see why the German dub could work for Jin-Roh due to the Brothers Grimm source material.

@JohnnyMind I think it can depend. Not knowing Japanese can cover up some pretty mid-performances while knowing Japanese can help you determine which performance was actually better (picking up on subtleties, certain inflections, if an actor is hitting their timings). I think it does matter to a point in these discussions to an extent.

Dub vs. Sub is a pretty pointless argument though because it really doesn't matter all that much as most English and Japanese dubs are pretty top-notch now-a-days you can't really go wrong picking either or. Yeah there will be some differences in performances, but that can be a cultural thing. For example kawaii voices just don't work in English. However, for English performances can feel more immersive when characters are canonically supposed to be speaking English like in Black Lagoon, or Baccano! (no one can convince me Bryan Massey is not fantastic as Ladd Russo). It just depends as English can hit HARD in some anime, but Japanese performances tend to be consistently good.

It honestly doesn't matter at ALL.

@DemonKow Indeed. Small companies that work on razor thin margins don't really get a say on who they partner with. If you're told you can help develop a Final Fantasy, Call of Duty or insert major franchise here you'll bite on it just to add the experience and name to your portfolio to attract interest in your next project.

I'm sure larger small studios like WayForward, Inti Creates, Mercury Steam or Yacht Club Games may get a say with who they work with... but small teams that namely work as a support studio with close to no public footprint are far more susceptible to being screwed. It is the risk of being the guppy playing with sharks... the sharks with chew you up if it means they get larger profits. It is also why you see so many studios deciding to be bought up in the first place as it gives them some security rather than being fully independent. Sure being just the studio that supports CoD probably sucks for your creative ambitions, but it keeps the lights on and pays your staff.

@GameOtaku I don't think Legends 3 is the best example for that. From the information available the paid Prologue/Demo was almost done, but the game itself still had a couple years or more before it would hit the market. Capcom really did a poor job communicating why the project was cancelled, and failed by not just releasing Prototype to actually gauge where fan interest was in raw sales. But, between Inafune leaving (he was a big reason why any Mega Man game released at all after X5 as he constantly championed the series in Capcom) and the 3DS struggles at launch making them question if another 2-3 years of development would be worth it... and with the massive failures of Mighty No 9 and Red Ash those same executives probably felt pretty vindicated. That is before we even talk about how the original Legends games sold on PSOne and N64, which was not great to begin with. It makes sense why Capcom cancelled it... still sucks though.

As for some really good examples well Star Fox 2 is a good go to as the game was done and only got cancelled because it would release too close the N64. I mean Hollywood are some of the worst culprits of this recently with Batgirl and Coyote v Acme which are complete films, but canned for a tax write-off.

Yeah big companies generally suck when it comes to undercutting art for immediate profits.

@AJWolfTill I don't think that is a controversial opinion to programmers or coders. AI has a place in development to off-load repetitive grunt work that can save time and resources to where they matter more. However, keep it away from areas where the human element actually matters.

Makes sense. Sakaguchi since leaving Square seems content doing one off projects rather than working on franchises. Blue Dragon (which had two small DS spin-offs), Lost Odyssey and Last Story all had franchise potential and yet Sakaguchi seemed content working on mobile projects till Fantasian (and that still has strong mobile roots as an Apple Arcade project first before coming to Switch). Even then I would not be surprised if he still holds bad blood with Square Enix despite softening his stance and his outspoken enjoyment of Final Fantasy XIV in recent years.

I suspect if he ever does another Final Fantasy it's going to be a small spin-off project not Final Fantasy XVII.

I think we need to remember this port is not for us (people who played it on Wii/3DS). This is for people who missed out on it or people who don't pay attention to Nintendo fansites. Let's remember all the Wii U ports that sold millions despite being more expensive than they were on Wii U.