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@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.

@SpinEnDash Yes and no. When you answer a question off the record it can still be published as it is a non-blinding agreement between you and the journalists. Most journalists won't publish information you give them off the record to keep you as a source (and to maintain their own reputation). But, still people can and have been burned in the press by not being careful even when they were "off the record" as you don't have legal protection even when off the record. It is just a case of be extremely careful if ever approached by the press and you know you can get into deep trouble if you say the wrong thing.

Kids here is a piece of life advice. When asked to comment on something by anyone in the press about information you should not have access to (especially if it can get you or your sources into financial or legal trouble), do your CYAs. You either answer with "no comment," or "Is it okay if I run your questions through my lawyer first." You answer with those two phrases and you will never be caught with your pants down with a journalist. Even if you say this is "off the record" a journalist can still run and publish your answer as it is a non-binding agreement. Most journalists won't, but you never know and even then it can still get back to you if you're not careful.

NEVER and I repeat NEVER answer a journalist's questions about something that can get you into legal problems unless you speak to your lawyer first.

Not saying all journalists will do this, but you need to do your legal CYAs.

@-wc- now that is way better!!! I can cheers to that one! And yeah Konami during the SNES-PS2 released so much amazing games! A few stinkers like Zone of the Enders and Castlevania 64, but damn were they kings!

I think Rocket Knight could had been a real banger of a franchise too. Imagine a Banjo inspired platformer with the jetpack allowing you to hover or rocket up in the sky. Would had been awesome!

I just hope they never release another Metal Gear Survive again... Shutters... Hopefully Konami is turning a corner.

@-wc- That's fair. I read it more as like in comparison to other 16-bit darlings like Super Mario World, Sonic 1-3, Donkey Kong Country or Mega Man X, it was overlooked? I dunno I just remember Konami was really pushing Sparkster as a brand back in the day. But, it was pretty forgotten after that... maybe I'm just overthinking it at this point.

Real shame Konami never tried to do more with it, but if Castlevania or Metal Gear Solid is any indicator it might be a good thing they didn't. I dunno.

@WaveBoy I think you'll have a great time with the SNES version of Sparkster, the Genesis version has some issues, but the SNES one slaps!

@-wc- I think overlook as over the years Rocket Knight as a brand as kind of been forgotten. It was pretty big in the 90s, but outside of the odd Happy Video Game Nerd video, I can't really name a lot of love online for the series post the "Angry Video Game Nerd/Nostalgia Critic" internet reviewer-ear on YouTube. The video game reviewer scene of the late-00s and early-2010s pumped out a ton of recognition for the 16-bit gems of old... but today a lot people don't really talk about Rocket Knight or Gunstar Heroes sadly.

Though that is probably because big YouTubers now are kids from the 00s who grew up on the GameCube and 360 and probably only really focus on that era of gaming now.

@KoopaTheGamer In my opinion it is a good thing they didn't or they'd be locked into things they (Retro Studios) don't want. Go read some Final Fantasy XV interviews and you'll notice a trend of the director and staff being locked into parts of Versus XIII that they had to include because it was shown off in early builds. I'd much rather Retro being free to do their own vision than locked into what the original devs wanted to do and failed to achieve. It's unfortunate that Retro is bagged with the "long development cycle" even though they have hardly had anytime with the game in comparison to other comparably sized releases.

Realistically the game has only been in development for 4 years. And this is not the most outlandish wait for a game I've ever seen. Elder Scrolls 6 was announced in 2018 and it's still apparently no where near done. Dragon Age Dreadwolf was announced in 2018 and is only getting released now as Veilguard. Games take time to develop and I hardly count the first 3 years of Prime 4's development as it all got scrapped 4 years ago.

@Zeebor15 Good point... yeah in that case Just Cause makes the most sense.

@Keyblade-Dan He creates some pretty cracked IPs and stories. His games tend to be a mixed bag due to budget and scope, but he has made some insane franchises like No More Heroes, Killer is Dead and Shadows of the Damned. That and he is just an amazing writer when he actually wants to sit down and make an extremely engaging story.

I recommend checking out the The Silver Case as the story is just 10/10 chef's kiss! It is a lot more serious than his other stories, and far less whacky than what he is known for. After that you will probably understand the hype around him.

@Zeebor15 It could be a new Deus Ex or Legacy of Kain game. I think Embracer and Eidos expressed interest in going back to those franchises a couple years ago.

Would not be surprised to see a port of the 2008 Turok happening and not a new game. But, I don't fully expect much more outside of that as despite the excellent remasters I highly doubt we'd get a new Turok game as I don't think Turok has had a new comic in almost a decade so the franchise is pretty dormant. I could be wrong and would be pleasantly surprised, but I doubt it.

@gsilver they own the game the mod is modifying and legally mods are in a dubious grey area. Here's an article that generally explains the situation. https://iplaw.allard.ubc.ca/2023/11/24/legal-risks-for-modding-in-video-games/

@GoshJosh We can like and respect the individuals in the company or even how said company generally operates, but companies will never be your friend. At the end of the day the only people they report to are their shareholders and employees. But, realistically they only care about their shareholders.

I generally respect Nintendo for treating their employees well, being against crunch culture and generally releasing games in a humane way. But, I generally don't agree with their treatment of emulators and mods. Even though they're in their legal right to do so.

Not everything is black and white, but indeed companies are not your friend.

@-wc- Anyone who claims Nintendo is even comparable to the evils Microsoft and even Sony are out for lunch. Nintendo may do some shady things or even anti-consumer practices at times... but Microsoft is in a different league. Even Sony themselves are much worse than Nintendo. Such as Sony basically parading around Michael Jackson who has been long dead to sell more singles of songs he never consented to publish... or how they tried to strong arm him in negotiations to scoop up his and the Beatles discographies. Or those really embarrassing leaked Sony cooperate emails from a decade ago showing the massive mistreatment and contempt they had for their own creators and IPs... yeah Sony is pretty damn evil.

@Cut3Panda-SNES64DD While Microsoft now owns some very strong IPs (they pretty much have always had strong IPs since the 360 generation with Halo, Gears and the Rare catalog) they've never been in a position to capitalize on it or keep a certain level of consistency with them. The fact that Halo Infinite crashed and burned and the really mixed reception around Gears 5 really shows the cracks in Microsoft's management.

Bethesda has been struggling with audiences in recent years and was not in a position to capitalize on the Amazon series success, not even with a Fallout 3 or New Vegas remaster. And while yes Id kills it with Doom, but Rage and Wolfenstein still struggle with audiences and critical reception.

Activision is a beast of a publisher, but we once again come to the issue of capitalizing on legacy IPs that are not CoD. The lack of Crash and Spyro games despite the huge numbers the remakes brought in is concerning. That and the disaster around Overwatch 2.

While I think Microsoft put out an amazing show with some amazing games, let's not pretend that Microsoft does not have an extremely spotty track record with asset management. The fact they closed down Tango Gameworks after the smash hit that was Hi-Fi Rush should be a massive example of this. Or even the criminal treatment of Arkane Austin which was tossed into development hell with Redfall and never given a chance to fallow-up on the critical smash hit or Prey is another highlight of IP mismanagement.

@AverageGamer Rareware was at their peek with the N64 KI2/KI Gold, Goldeneye, Banjo Kazooie & Tooie, Conker, Diddy Kong Racer, Donkey Kong 64 and Perfect Dark (plus the sprinkling of other neat smaller titles). It would be hard for any developer to keep pumping out bangers like those at that rare. Rare's first few years with Xbox was solid with Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Conker Live & Reloaded, Viva Pinata and Kameo. But, after the bungle of Perfect Dark Zero it felt like every title was in development hell... Sea of Thieves has been a success, but not near their 90s peek.

I'd argue if it were not for the sale Star Fox Adventures would had been a much better game. But that's really the only blemish on their time with Nintendo and it's not entirely the developers fault.

@Boston_J that is beyond beautiful! I'm beyond happy you got to experience that! I actually got teary eyed reading that. Love Mass Effect as well because it really let Shepherd be whatever you wanted them to be and it's beautiful!

@EVIL-C clearly you missed several of my follow-up responses.

1) niche titles with limited physical releases is extremely common. Try finding a copy of Xenosaga 3 for less than $200 or even the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collection for less than $120. These were not done by Limited Run. Or let's jump to the 3DS want Yokai Watch 3, that will $300, or Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright can run you north of $100 easy. So no, this isn't Limited Run exclusive problem.

2) if you read my follow-up comments you'd notice I'm also not a fan of Bethesda or Konami using Limited Run's services. But, is that Limited Run's fault or is it large publishers using Limited Run's service? And to be fair to Limited Run if they said no to those games, would physical copies even exist? Seems like Bethesda and Konami didn't really care to release the games physically in the first place and if they what would stop them from just doing what Square Enix did with Pixel Remaster? Or what Atlus does with every title not Persona or SMT mainline titles. Is your issue with Limited Run or the publishers who really shouldn't being using them.

Secondly as a Canadian myself I know your full or crap when it comes to Amazon. I can go get a copy of Ricky's Revenge for $60 (PS5) which is around the price I would had paid through Limited Run. Or even the Castlevania Anniversary Collection for roughly the same price after shipping through Limited Run (both the regular and collectors editions) instead I'm saving money with Prime shipping rates.

Yes, some games are going to be pricier than others, but that happens with every Physical game after their out of print. I've been a retro collector and trying to get a copy of Devil's Third (US) for less than $200 was like pulling teeth for years. That and Limited Run also does not make the digital copies disappear. You can still get these games off digital storefronts. Physical releases through Limited Run are more collectors items than mass consumer items just due to the nature of their business.

And if you think Limited Run is awful don't look at TCG games. Wizards of the Coast and the Pokemon Company make Limited Run look like saints.

@echoplex because the N64 had very limited memory and storage space so a lot of textures (and UI assets by proxy) had to be extremely condensed. This is different from GCN and Wii where they had more space to use higher-res assets. So a lot of UI elements like buttons and icons are just really fuzzy and pixelated when blown up on HD/4K screens exposing their low-res/compressed origins.

In the case of GCN and to a lesser extent 3DS there are a number of HD texture packs that focus on just UI elements that people use. Currently recomp projects don't have access to texture packs, but that will be ironed out in short order.

Hope this helps explain things a bit.

@Azuris I'm inclined to agree. I do think a lot of the people complaining about FOMO don't really understand Limited Run's business model. A LOT of these releases would had never happened without them as they take on the bulk of the costs. Doing physical releases is expensive, it is why so many indie and AA games are exclusively digital because the overhead is that much less when you don't have to ship a physical product.

Yes larger companies like Konami and Bethesda should not be using Limited Run, but if Wayforward or another company can't invest in doing a physical release Limited Run is fantastic for them.

@Thmystic you hit the nail on the head as to why Limited Run is better for the consumer than the alternatives. If you want to preserve games an arbitrary "only small batch of physical releases ever" is the worst way of doing things.

@EarthboundBenjy any game can be ported using this project. However, you'd still need to have an understanding now how to code in C to actually get the game working. This took just rapidly speeds up the process.