Wexter

This seems questionable. It will be a marketing nightmare to casual buyers (a core PS market) as it's not a Switch, and will be hard to communicate what it actually is. I can see a few selling to parents thinking it's a portable PS5... The Wii U struggled because of that as well and due to poor communication. I'm also wondering how performance will be over Wifi. As I've stated before outside of South Korea and Japan, North America's WiFi infrastructure is lagging behind and in more rural areas a playable connection will be hard to find.

Hope the best for it, but this thing will probably either flop or have mild attachment.

@LiquidNinja I can't see why the collection can't run on Switch... Even MGS4 should be doable (though way more complicated to port due to never having a 360 or PC port). But, the only way I see this not coming to Switch is Konami being Konami as the Castlevania, Contra and Arcade collections sold really well on Switch. But, on a technical level a a PSOne game and two 360 remasters of PS2 games should be more than portable.

Not sure about Twin Snakes ever getting rereleased due to the amount of Nintendo easter eggs (and the portraits of Nintendo, Kojima and Silicon Knights staff)... Plus do we know if Nintendo has the source code as SK has been defunct for over a decade... It would be a difficult project to greenlit. The only way I see the game seeing the light of day is Nintendo Online if GCN ever gets added on Switch 2.

@ComfyAko indeed. Anyone who condemns NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina as "America is the bad guy" needs their head checked. That was a ***** show and the UN Peacekeepers could not handle it on their own hence why NATO finally got involved. The the reason the US intervened in Kosovo was to try to avoid another Bosnian War level catastrophe.

Though the War on Terror very well can be criticized rather openly without much complaint by me.

And it's super easy to pull a similar list of theirs but about the USSR and Russia... And it be just as globally involved and disgusting.

@ComfyAko don't engage with whataboutists. I will gladly s*** on the American military industrial complex, but compared to the **** we've seen happen in Butcha, Lyman, Kherson, Mariupol and Bakhmut is disturbing to the core. This is ***** we haven't seen since the Yugoslav Wars. The level of extermination, deportation, and genocide will scare people just watching videos captured by civilians. And even the inhumane way they've treated their own troops is next level **** up.

The US is no saint and have done awful things... But Russia within a year and a half have performed the war crime Olympics in far less time than the US has in 20 years in their "War on Terror".

@bluemage1989 100% agree. The average Russian allowed this war to happen by plugging their ears and ignoring the problem in the Kremlin. And while I refuse to erase the humanity of those Russians fighting both outside and inside Russia to end the war, I also cannot ignore the mushy middle of political Russians hoping things just go back to normal if they ignore the problem long enough.

This article and video is tone deaf considering what's going on.

@Itachi2099 really hope that some day you get a government that actually represents the values of Russians who want freedom and to end this pointless bloodshed. God bless friend.

@claybirds the thing is while the Putin government is the aggressors in the war, there are still Russians against it and not all of them should be generalized as supporting it. There are Russians fighting for Ukraine under the Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian politicians have been jailed speaking out against the war like Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza. Let's also not forget about people like Alexei Navalny who has been trying to expose corruption in the Russian government and opposes Putin's war even in jail. A large portion of young Russians have even exited Russia for Georgia, Finland and Kazakhstan to escape the oppressive rule of Putin and to avoid killing Ukrainians. A large number of them even use online platforms to battle Russian misinformation.

While yes the article is tone deaf to a degree, not all Russians deserve to be labeled as "brainwashed sadists." We need to also keep our perspective clear to not generalize all Russians under Putin's yoke as that is exactly what he wants us to do to push his "Russophobia" narrative.

@SalvorHardin They'll have Reptile. He's a Klassic character and the first hidden character in the franchise. If they don't have him I'll have some major concerns. Smoke is a big question mark as he's not been in an MK since MK9 and not a part of the story since MKX. We'll see. He's been my main since MK3, but I also been burned by Midway/NeatherRealm before.

@Zidentia it's Mortal Kombat when has the gore ever been logical? In MK2 Liu Kang turned into a dragon and ate a guy. This is a series of the illogical gore filled fun.

@KaiserGX thank you for saying it!! Patches have been a thing on PC since the 1990s, but for consoles it really wasn't a thing till the Xbox 360. Some of the greatest games of all time we're not "complete" example: Ocarina of Time had massive amounts of cut content. Nintendo planned to add a lot of that back into the game with Ura Zelda, but due to multiple reasons (the lukewarm reception of the N64DD in Japan, Nintendo's own devs not feeling engaged to just make more OoT) we got Majora's Mask (which was made in exceptionally tight deadlines to the point Aonuma had nightmares about the game). I don't think anyone would say OoT is incomplete and I highly doubt people would downplay Majora's Mask as a rushed product. Despite both being accurate statements about both games. Nostalgia goggles for a "simpler time" makes fools of us all despite the same complains we have now were also true then.

There is a famous quote by George Lucas “I like to say that films are never finished, they’re only abandoned.” this is also true about video games. Game patches can help save a game that was rushed out the door, or it can allow for more content to be added post launch. It really is not an issue with patches themselves rather how they are used that should be criticized themselves.

@LikelySatan for the most part I think we agree. I love BotW I think the game is incredible!! But, there were a few elements I wish the game carried over from the previous game like a few of the staple dungeon items (hookshot/clawshot being one that I missed the most) as well as a more tailored dungeon experiences. The dungeons were a major sore spot as they did feel a bit like an afterthought and the Blight Ganon fights got a bit old by the 3rd one.

I did love the story as it reminded me more of the early Zelda's like Zelda 1, 2 and Link to the Past. They had a story, but most of it was told through the environment and I liked how Breath of the Wild did that more. I don't think you can really top Majora's Mask and Wind Waker for the best told stories in the series, but I don't think BotW had a bad story, anyone who says it did skipped it which you can do fairly easily.

I'm excited for Tears of the Kingdom as it sounds like it fixed most the gripes I had with Breath of the Wild and supercharged what I did love. I feel BotW will be looked back on more like a proof of concept for open-world Zelda games, but Nintendo is not abandoning the old formulas either as they did remake Link's Awakening and remastered Skyward Sword. So, even if this is not someone's jam I'm sure Nintendo has them covered in the future.

@LordBakemono for the most part it is. Complete control over your controller setup, gyro on every title even if it's not built in, scalable graphics and mods. Though you do get the odd bad port, but the Switch gets those as well. Overall though I love my Switch or else why would I even be here?

@Truegamer79 very fair. It would be nice to get some exposure for the rest of the series. Deadly Alliance being my favorite post MKU3, but before MK9. Though unfortunately outside of a few characters (Kenshin and Frost) seems NetherRealm wants to forget about the series post MK4 and pre-MK9... I wouldn't mind a return of those games though.

@AstroTheGamosian Boba would get pants by Samus. Boba would need Din Djarin to even make this close to a fair fight... Samus' weaponry and abilities easily outclass the Mandalorian bounty hunter.. And that is me just talking about the Prime-era Samus... Dread-era Samus would just completely outclass them by a galaxy...

@Truegamer79 Is the Trilogy version even available on modern systems? Last time I saw MK1-U3 available was on the 360 and PS3.

Really wanted to play this game!!! Loved the original, but the PC port is apparently pants... at least I have Future Redeemed to hold my TotK cravings at bay... though cute reference cannot wait to experience it when the game gets patched.

@JohnnyMind I hate that as well. I remember back in 2017 I think when the Last Jedi was hitting theaters and I was spoiled in a comment section for a hockey video of all things. I basically just avoid everything up to major releases now as while I'm okay with spoilers, I'd rather enjoy something blind then have someone try to show me the final boss before I've even removed the plastic wrap.

@LikelySatan that's interesting. What difficulty are you on? Playing on easy can do that, but medium and hard do require far more positional movement and party member switching.

Just curious as that majorly impacts how much of the combat you'll engage with. Also Xenoblade is more about preplanning encounters too, like switching Gems, accessories and the correct Job/Blade depending what game you're playing.

@MidnightDragonDX they also tried to buy Sega. This was when they were trying to enter the market in the late 90s/early 00s. I mean Microsoft prefers buying successful companies in emerging markets (like Skype and Nokia as an examples) rather than build in it was the steep investment costs and risks of failure. So it makes sense.

@Ryu_Niiyama with how friendly Microsoft and Nintendo are with each other, I would not be surprised if Microsoft already have dev kits for the next Switch. So odds are ports would be rather easy to make if the communication between the two remains warm.

@IronMan30 pretty much agree. They don't seem to understand the industry they're commenting on and making decisions for... Sounds like government bureaucracy to me.

@Cashews I think what they meant was more this closer to old-school expansions like StarCraft Brood War, Balder's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal, Fallout 3: Brotherhood of Steel and Dragon Age Origins: Awakening. Which I think it fits more comfortably in that category with other expansions like Blood and Wine (Witcher 3), Death of the Outsider (Dishonoured 2)... But that could be because our expectations of DLC are pretty low to the ground.

@Chaotic_Neutral I'm okay with that provided the quality is good. What makes the Mario movie great is how it pays huge tribute to all eras of the plumber and just being a fun movie. If we get a film like this for Zelda, Kirby or even obscure stuff (by Nintendo standards) like Punch-Out or F-Zero I'm more than happy.

As for other game publishers... Well after the okay Mortal Kombat reboot, the abomination that was the live action Monster Hunter... I'm inclined to think the Mario movie, the surprisingly solid Sonic films and The Last of Us TV series will be more outliers than indications of where the industry is heading.

@fenlix @Emmerichcoal @Ryu_Niiyama thanks everyone! Really disappointed as I loved the two Untold games on 3DS... I prefer them over the regular choose your own adventure protagonists of the other games... Will still gives this a go, but I have Labyrinth of Galleria to keep me busy till I get these later.

Any idea if these will contain the "untold" versions of 1&2? I would love to get them if they did, but not going to rush out if they don't.

@Luckey there is the legalistic right then there is the moralistic right. I think you can make the argument of Nintendo being in the legal right as modifying their software tends to bypass DRM and Nintendo's proprietary software. But, in the moral sense it gets rather grey as these mods do not harm Nintendo directly and while we can argue it promotes the use of emulators (and by proxy piracy as most people are not equipped to rip their own ROMs) or even hacked Switches. However, morally modding is not a net bad for a video game. Mass Effect has been supported by mods for years despite EA not releasing a toolset and it has kept the trilogy fresh for over a decade. Same with Skyrim, Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Skyrim in particular benefits a ton from mods on PC to the point Bethesda made agreements with Microsoft and Sony to allow mods on their platforms. Even complete recreations of Oblivion for Skyrim while not actively supported by Bethesda boosts sales of both games.

So you see how this issue is not black and white and how an argument can be made that morally Nintendo is not 100% clean here even if legally they are. We have to create a clear distinction when discussing these two different ideas.

@Switch_Pro as someone who has worked on mods, I'm pro-mods! They're amazing in that they add longevity to a game (without mods Skyrim, Fallout 3 and New Vegas would be in the dustbin of history with other 7th gen titles). I know Nintendo is sensitive to mods and it is their right to be as the IP holder to decide if they will allow mods or not, but I do think being restrictive of them is rather petty. But, considering these tend to be used on emulators and hacked Switches I think that is the bigger issue for Nintendo than mods themselves.

I think mods are overall a good for most video games.

@Tasuki bro they have a reason, breach of contact:

"Grounds for Termination
Generally, employees employed on an “at-will” basis may be terminated, with or without cause or grounds, provided it is not for an illegal reason, notably discrimination on grounds of a category protected by law or protected “whistleblowing” activity (reporting certain employer activity where the employee reasonably believes that the information he or she provided relates to potential violations of specific laws).

The employment contracts of executives and other highly-skilled individual often incorporate a “just cause termination” clause, mandating that the employee may only be terminated for “cause” and lists the permissible grounds. In such cases, the grounds for a “just cause” termination are negotiated by the parties on a case-by-case basis."

Source: https://leglobal.law/countries/usa/employment-law/employment-law-overview-usa/07-termination-of-employment-contracts/

So unless Mike had a clause in his contract that mandated "just cause" they can terminate him whenever if he was in a "at-will" basis. However, leaking sensitive vendor information "maliciously" on the internet breaching either an NDA or confidentiality clause is grounds for termination. He could had gotten a written warning, but when you upset the client then that may not apply. If GameStop caught him that's one thing, but when the client does all bets are off and to avoid potential lawsuits or loss of contracts with the client the employee will lose their job for the sake of everyone else.

We don't have to like it, but Mike was terminated with cause. And @Ryu_Niiyama is right when you're "at will" employment in some US States you can be terminated for sneezing wrong in front of a manager. Provided the reason is not illegal like being based on race, gender, special need, or being a whistleblower (though if you suspect those are reasons for a potential termination find a different job, contact HR or your local government organization pertaining to your needs), but outside of that... you're kinda extra boned when you're at fault, like in this scenario unless you can find a crazy law or loophole in your contract.

@Xiovanni While we agree on most things there are a few points I'd like to add. Gamestop is not nearly as powerful as they were in the 00s, I would say they are now no more powerful than local mom-and-pop shops. Amazon, Wallmart, even Bestbuy all have far more reach to gamers than a dedicated game store nowadays. And, Gamestop has become more like a Hot Topic that sells games, as most of their shelves contain merch from anime, manga, model kits, and plushes and t-shirts galore. If Nintendo wanted to the put the screw to them they can do so without restricting games, they could lower the amount of Mario, Kirby and Pokemon merch going to them which would probably hurt Gamestops bottom-line far worse than not getting TotK (especially considering the smash hit the Mario Movie is).

Though, I do generally agree with most of the other things you've stated in your posts on the topic. Cheers.

@Herna Have you ever worked in a proper corporation? If this is shocking then I have doubts. I've seen people fired for less due to upsetting the client. In this case the dude deserved the sacking for not putting any safeguards in place. Never leak something with stuff linked to your geolocation that is just a Darwin award. And what proper conduct? The employee did not display any. So, I have to side against the corporation? You have not even cited what law they even breached.

So, yeah we won't see eye to eye on this because its very clear cut. As I've stated if this was because of a private conversation, or he took even the most basic of safeguards this wouldn't have happened. This is a case of don't be stupid... stupid. I think the firing was a bit of an overreaction, but the guy did violate Gamestop's policy and NDAs with a client so a terminated is pretty standard practice. Can't be upset with the corporations on this one as this is soft hands compared to the legal crap they could had put him through (and other companies have done much, and I mean much worse).

As for the Discord conversation I've not commented on that because I really don't want to. That is a very stupid thing too to leak and I understand Nintendo's perspective, but I also am not a fan of a company subpoenaing private information from another. That is a different kettle of fish and one, that is too complicated for me to personally have over text without having to write a three page essay on the topic.

@Herna Odds are Nintendo's legal team did a reverse image search through Google and just found the oldest post with the unmodified file. If you post something publicly you can't complain about your privacy. If the guy kept the photos on his phone and showed some buddies in person odds are they won't have gotten caught with their hands in the cookie jar. This isn't nonchalant behavior this is a realist. If this guy got fired for a private conversation with their mom and Nintendo bugged their apartment we can have that discussion of company overreach. This however, as I've stated multiple times is a very clear cut case of don't leak something so stupid and you won't get fired for stupid reasons.

@Herna well good news this person does not live in the EU. So unless you can cite the American law breached then this is a pointless hypothetical discussion.

@Herna I left my old job years ago and I'm still under NDA as one contract I worked on involved people's lives. While this is not comparable, if I leaked what I know I'd be facing far worse than the unemployment line. Don't feed me this garbage, while this is beans in comparison the person still violated company policy and the trust of a partner. This is as shut closed a case of valid termination even if Nintendo was minimally involved. This is a common practice that clients will get employees terminated if they breach contract. I've seen it and had to carry out the marching orders personally.

@Herna if you honestly think a client does not periodically scan through the social media of a partner's employees for leaks or violations of contracts you're a bit naive. It sounds gross and while I'm not a fan of Nintendo doing it there is a reason they do it. The more sensitive the information you're dealing with the heavier the scrutiny is. That is why your employer will normally say "don't post about your job on social media."

Not defending a "multi-billion corporation" when I say don't play stupid games if you don't want stupid prizes. There was no reason to leak this outside of internet bragging rights. If you're going to do something like this at least cover your tracks. As for Nintendo, while this might sound petty most companies would do the same. Don't go breaking NDAs over something so thick if you want to keep your job just that simple.

@GrailUK exactly! Next time you sign a contract with a company check to see if an NDA is in there. Though it's still very dumb to break one like this as it's really not worth it for something like this.

@Vil I think the word you're looking for is liable. Aka the company cannot protect you from a lawsuit if you broke an NDA. Companies will shield you from most things related to a client unless you really screwed the pooch. Breaking an NDA is one of those things and so you're now the liable party.

@GrailUK most companies have NDAs written into their contract when dealing with material related to clients. Odds are they signed one and if they didn't then the company they work for should have agreements in place with the client and they're in a lot of legal trouble. Either way Nintendo has every right to be pissed even if your pro leaks or anti leaks.

PS unless your NDA is with a government organization breaking them is not illegal. They do however make you liable to a lawsuit or being blacklisted in the industry... Rule of thumb is unless the company you work for is doing something illegal or extremely corrupt breaking an NDA is never a good idea especially over just leaking stuff in a video game.

@sketchturner and the 2.1 number is for the bare minimum to maintain population. The number you actually want is 2.5 as people can die young in accidents or crime related activities. So you actually want higher than the bare minimum to sustain population.

As for Russia... Well the current war is not helping their population recover as there already was a massive gap in age demographics due to WW2 and the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fallout from that (aka the 1990s sucked for Russia). As for China the one child policy kinda put theirs in a unavoidable tailspin. As for the rest of the West... Well we're pretty boned for other reasons... Japan is extra screwed as I think their median age is one of the oldest in the world (along with Germany and Hong Kong). This is a major world issue and we're doomed for a major economic crisis in 20 years... Millennials cannot catch a break with those.

Some of the comments here are really confusing. A positive birth rate and immigration are both good for countries. I'd you don't want kids that's fine, but in general even if you don't want kids you need others to have kids to continue the human race and to keep our economy from completely collapsing. And immigration is good because it can help an aging population and help develop the culture of the country their immigrating to. Overall both are good to promote...

@ComfyAko I think the only ones not on a Nintendo console is RE5, RE6, RE8 and Remake 2-4. But I'm sure that will change on the Switch 2 as Capcom loves RE ports.

@ComfyAko that and RE4 was also on GameCube and Wii. So RE4 is the most Nintendo related RE? 🤔

@Ryu_Niiyama I think you're right. I don't know why as Nier Automata is a certified success... Maybe they burned that PS4/PC/Xbox good will with Babylon's Fall? I think Nintendo fans generally eat their stuff up even if it sells only a million units (Astral Chain is getting a sequel). Feels like Platinum should just bite down on their pride and just because Nintendo 2nd party... It's more or less what they have been doing and does provide more creative freedom without the shady practices they get stuck with from other publishers.

I wanna try the Trails series, but it feels like such a high barrier of entry ... I really have no idea where to start.

@NinjaWaddleDee That is the point of why they do it. It is called set rotation and is commonly used in TCG tournaments. It is far easier to balance a game when you have a set quantity of possible combinations and helps limit power creep. Pokemon should had implemented this a while ago, but it is not a bad thing and is actually probably good for the long-term health of the games.

Here is a video explaining the benefits of set rotation for those curious https://youtu.be/JR2tVSC-sng

@DTFaux yeah. I don't get it either. I can't wait for Home compatibility, but there are logical reasons why they don't implement it day one. It allows people to play the game as they intended and keeps the competitive scene organic and for people to discover new Pokemon.

The Pokemon cycle continues. Honestly it is was okay. Pokemon is more than just the games so the fact that everything was touched upon was to be expected. The re-release of the Set 1 card series is nice, the Pokemon Go/Sleep functionality is cool, and even Masters EX announcement was nice. As for Scarlet and Violet that was what I was mostly expecting, we did not get Kalos, but a micro-region is nice world building and Paradox legendries being confirmed is rather awesome!

As for people expecting new spin-off games, or gen 1/gen 2 coming to Switch Online... well... it can still happen. Is this the worst direct ever? Not really. Is it amazing?: Not really either. Nor did it have to. This was a pretty mild Pokémon direct telling us what to expect generally from the year. That and I think we should be happy Gamefreak is focusing on the DLC for the next year rather than Let's Go Johto or a new Legends game...

I'm sure they'll be catchable on their own in the DLC, but I'm now curious if they're unveiling them now because the Legendary Trios this generation will be a Paradox Trio of previous generations... interesting.

Now you're playing with portable power

@Doctor-Moo You basically hit the nail on the head as to why I don't care much for physical media for modern systems. While Xbox has been big on keeping games available, and updates online for older games... eventually these files will be taken down. So, I'm okay enjoying the games as they come and just understand that when I show my kids how cool Mass Effect, Skyrim, Gears of War or Dragon Age was... I might just not be able to. This industry kind of sucks in that regard, but most industries are moving in that direction too, not just video games.

Publishers just don't care unless it means more sales. If the money men deem the broken game will make the same, if not more money then if they delay the game... they'll push it out.

@Doctor-Moo @Yosher sometimes it is a case that the publisher does not care. I remember an interview with former Silent Hill producer Tomm Hulett who stated that he had to playtest Silent Hill HD Collection while his wife was in the hospital because Konami was flipping out over the bad press the game was getting. He went over his notes while playing Silent Hill 2 and realized they were the exact same notes he had before he took the time off. Turns out Konami didn't listen to him at all and pushed the game out the door even though he knew the game had tons of bugs still and acted surprised by the bad press even though he said the game was not ready. Sometimes producers just don't care no matter how much QA is done they have to fill their release calendar.

SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc4Ucmuzgn0

EDIT: Not saying this is nearly as bad as Silent Hill HD Collection. This is clearly a competent remaster of the PS2 game, but it is still not acceptable to release a half baked remaster like this which is nearly identical to the PS3 version 10 years ago. This is just a cash grab, compared to a full blown incompetent nightmare of Sillent Hill HD. The remark was more about the peak behind the curtain when it comes to projects like these.