WhiteUmbrella

If it were possible to just turn off the NPC characters and the excessive handholding, I'd be more interested in this game. As it is, I'll maybe get it discounted or not at all. What a letdown after such a long wait.

It seems a strangely delayed demo, but perhaps it's meant to promote sales of the Limited Run physical release, next year? I'll be buying that on Switch and PS5.

I don't see why anyone would have a problem with this article, especially in light of all the conservative leaning editorials that have been published here.

As per Nintendo's report, the figure of 10 million is sell in, not sell through. Nintendo aren't reporting how many units have been bought by customers (which is somewhere between 10 and 6 million), but how many units have been sold to retailers.

I find the pushback against DK not being a system seller to be odd. It's not about the quality of the game. DK is just not as popular as Mario, and never will be.

@Bass_X0 Ok ... you're just another troll. Got it.

@Bass_X0 I understand what you said, but fundamentally, what you are suggesting is using a 3DS to play 3DS and DS games, something that the hardware can already do, but paywalled to paying for an online subscription and buying a Switch 2. That is just a really stupid idea, I'm not going to sugar coat it. It's a terrible idea.

@Bass_X0 A 3DS that can only play 3DS games while it's connected to a Switch? Whatever you've been smoking, it might be time to ease up on it.

@Metazoxan I'm not ignoring Mario Kart. Firstly, Nintendo didn't invent karting games, they just popularised the genre. They also didn't invent grabbing pick-ups by traversing over them. The U.S. government definitely infringed, but Nintendo didn't go after them, likely because they have too much to lose.
You need to go to the ignore list. I suggest you calm down, stop trying to make things political, but most of all, let go of your urge to compulsively defend and deflect for Nintendo, at every turn.

@Metazoxan The two examples I cited are different. Name any games that predate the games that those two patents stem from, that included the mechanics that were the subject of those patents. You have also claimed (to someone else) that there is an example of the Nemesis system from Shadow of Mordor being the subject of litigation in its defence. What case were you referring to?

"you take ONE CASE where they appear to use a game mechanic in a suit, and suddenly you act like that's the norm".

Where, in my previous comment, have I claimed that Nintendo normally sues routinely over game mechanics? I never claimed that, you are using strawman arguments. Whether Nintendo will or will not sue over the use of a gameplay mechanic, there is no valid argument to be made, that Nintendo should be able to hold patents over gameplay mechanics that they had no hand in creating. Using patent law in this way may encourage/force other companies to patent every aspect of their games to avoid Nintendo holding legal rights to competitors ideas, and can stiflr competition, without litigation, because the threat will always be there for a smaller game company that can't afford to get involved in litigation.

It doesn't really matter what you or I think Nintendo will or won't do. Nintendo doesn't avoid suing out of the goodness of their hearts. They only pick the battles they can win. This was most clearly delineated recently, when the U.S. government openly infringed on Nintendo and the Pokémon Company with their "gotta catch 'em all" video.
No tinfoil hat is needed. Nintendo are notoriously litigious. Everyone knows this. Nintendo is a law firm that makes games.

@Metazoxan
"Besides, we all know it wasn't really the game mechanics that started the Palworld suit. That was just the angle their lawyers chose to go from. It doesn't mean they are going to suddenly start sueing everything that plays like any of their games."

So, you're arguing that Nintendo should have unlimited power, because we can trust them not to use it? Go and look in the mirror, and take that Mario hat off, while you're at it.

@Metazoxan "You people"? Patent troll companies don't win in court. The only way they win is when companies would rather pay than litigate the issue.
Nintendo specifically are patenting gameplay concepts they didn't create, that existed in games before Nintendo even used them. That isn't right. Don't pretend this is an industry wide problem. There are a few obvious examples of patenting, for example the Nemesis system in the Shadow of Mordor games or Namco patenting playing a mini-game in a loading screen. Far from protecting those ideas, it buried them.
Nintendo specifically are going too far, trying to take possession of ideas that don't belong to them, stifling competition rather than just competing. This will hurt independent developers the most, since they won't have the money to compete.

Nintendo needs to stop doing this. It's bad for the industry as a whole.

@PJOReilly I daresay you don't care what I think, but I greatly admire the nerve of a man that would play a rival kart racer, on a PS5, and then write that he finds it better than Mario Kart World, on Nintendolife, no less. I doff my cap to you, sir.

If you're considering buying Switch 2, it would be hard to choose a retailer worse than direct from Nintendo. Their return policies are atrocious. Just go to Target, Gamestop, just anywhere but Nintendo themselves.

It's sad news about David. I'm pretty sure he was in my maths class. People used to pick on him a bit, mostly for his surname, but he was a great guy. Such a loss, to us all.

More proof, as if any were needed, that modern Nintendo is run by bean-counters.

@PopularCorpse "Bad faith arguments are not good."- Then why use them, yourself? Game Key cards are obviously, categorically NOT a solution to trade and share digital downloads. This makes literally no sense. If this were true, there would either be three formats available for most games (physical, digital, game key card) or just key cards and physical. The launch line-up and beyond has made it clear that key cards are being used to replace traditional physical releases, not being added as a third option. Being able to share games bought as downloads wasn't really a problem in the first place, since anyone who wanted the option to trade their games would just buy traditional physical releases anyway. Do you really believe that Ubisoft wants to damage their own profit margins by adding a resale option to downloaded games, rather than that they are trying to erode traditional physical media? It's not credible. At all.

@Questionable_Duck All the GTA games from the PS1 era, right up to the PS3, included not only a manual, but also a map of the game world, even GTA5. You would have to be a much younger gamer than me, to not know this, I think.

Roadmaps are a red flag to me, every time. The only game I ever bought that came with a roadmap, was GTA, and it came in the box, with the game.

@PopularCorpse Pointing out that Steam games don't have physical versions isn't the win that you and others here think it is. It's not a validation of Nintendo eroding physical media with key cards. If someone plays on PC as their primary format, and also has one or more consoles as secondary platform, being able to buy physical copies of titles that they like may be the majority of their incentive to bother with that platform. Some people collect physical games, when they don't yet own the hardware to play them. No-one is going to create a digital library for a platform they don't own.
There are actually physical Steam titles from the Wii U era. RE7 had a physical release. I believe it came on something like 7 dvd discs. If I personally want physical PC titles, I can do that. I have an M-DISC writer. There are places to legitimately purchase games DRM free, something that I actually favour. GOG has Hollow Knight: Silksong and Cronos: The New Dawn, at launch, with price parity with Steam, and DRM free. The PC OS Kazeta works with GOG and Itch io, allowing games to boot from carts the user can just make. I have a strong PC. If I had purchased Cronos there, I would be getting better performance, but I bought it on PS5, at launch, because I prefer to buy physical media. If there hadn't been a physical disc, I would have just bought it on PC. If Sony and Nintendo were to ditch physical media, they would lose the sales they get that rely on it. Those people aren't going to be convinced by you pointing out your belief that, because physical media doesn't exist in one place, it shouldn't matter if it exists in the other.

@Dr_Awkward It's a bit too early to claim Switch 2 as a success story too, but here you are, doing it.

@Olmectron PC games bought during the Wii U era can be played on a brand new PC, brand new hardware, bought in 2025. Wii U games can't be played on the latest Nintendo hardware (Switch 2) without buying the game again. If you can't understand, maybe you need more school time.

@PopularCorpse Anyone who bought a Steam game during the Wii U era can still play that game, even on a brand new PC. Nintendo requires you to buy it again. If you buy a game on Steam, you can play it for up to two hours, and get a no questions asked refund. Nintendo doesn't do that either. PC gamers also have the option of buying games on GOG, drm-free. Where's the drm free e-shop? It's not the same thing at all.

@Dr_Awkward Firstly, Wii U was also Nintendo's fastest selling system, for the first three months. Secondly, many of the complaints about game key cards are coming from people who actually bought the system, so your claim that the system sales and key card sentiment should line up doesn't actually make sense.

@Dr_Awkward So, when people write positive things about keycards, do you complain about that too? What you are asking for is biased media. There is negativity around keycards that is proportionate to the number of people that feel that way about them, and the comments are a good barometer of the overall feeling within the community. If you feel great about them, you are surely free to write that. Opposing opinions are also valid.

"Not only is this a stutter-free experience 99.9% of the time, it's actually right up there and in the mix with other versions of the game in the old looks department."

I've been relying on Nintendo Life for Switch reviews for years now. That said, this review has me sceptical, when there have been so many reports of poor performance. I hope Digital Foundry pretty much line up with your assessment. We'll see.

@Ejadaddy Thanks for your reply. The fact that the Switch 2 release is a keycard raises another point. The Square Enix would rather steer customers away from buying the Switch 1 release and then upgrading (which is surely commercially viable) indicates to me that the profit margin on keycards must be higher.

The entire reason for an upgrade path is not to damage sales. If someone is on the previous gen, an upgrade path gives fans that don't have the newest hardware the confidence to purchase the game now, knowing that there will be an upgrade for the new hardware, and that they won't have to buy the game again for the new system. Cross generational dlc has been standard for much longer. If you bought, say, RE4/RE2 remake, Village etc for PS4, all the content including any dlc has a free upgrade to PS5.
No-one but the biggest fans of the series will buy everything twice, so Square Enix are looking to screw over their most ardent supporters. Please don't support these garbage practices, don't defend them. Send a message.

Sony have a history of releasing hardware and then not supporting it. It could be that, if they can sell that hardware at a profit, they release it anyway in order to at least recoup the sunk cost of R&D, and these are devices released with a lack of commitment to future support, even at the point of release. I have a suspicion that this may be the case, and that Sony also develop and release hardware because they have a habit of hedging, following a track of development because a competitor is achieving success in the same or a parallel market, and Sony can't predict what level of success this competitor will have, and that potential success' impact on their market share. I see PSVR2 in this light, as a response to the rapid growth of Meta Quest in the VR space. Also, even if long term support isn't intended, releasing competing hardware can, at the very least, dilute a competitor's market share. Nintendo have moved away from their 'blue ocean' strategy, after all, so they should expect at least some attempts at some red in the near future. If Sony did the R&D on a handheld, and they can sell that hardware at a profit, we will absolutely see it releasing.

Videogame sales in the UK must be in the toilet, for a console with such a small install base to have the top two sales figures.

@kfflscnt Shawn Layden left around the time that Jim Ryan's tenure began. Herman Hulst is the name you were looking for.

I love the art-style in this new banner. I would settle for a physical re-release of the original trilogy, to celebrate the anniversary.

@GoldenSunRM It's nice to see a new fan that appreciates the original fixed camera style of gameplay, but sadly I don't think we'll see either a new game or remake made like that again, at least not from Capcom. A remake of RE2, in the vein of RE1 remake, was slated for production during the Gamecube era, but Shinji Mikami wanted all hands on deck for RE4, so ... it didn't happen.

It looks like this game is really pushing that Gamecube hardware to it's limit.

It's early days, but judging by the results of the poll, the future's not looking too rosy for Drag x Drive. I also think it's strange to applaud this game for it's 'representation', in light of the fact that anyone who requires accessibility controllers for gaming, will be unable to play it.

The answer to this is simple. Nintendo want you to buy the game, to have access to the music. This is just the way they are now.

It's a good thing it's global.

I already have these on Steam, but I will definitely pick up a physical release for these, if there is one.

I'm just going to respond to the PS2 as a dvd player here, since so many have mentioned it in response, one response being unnecessarily rude. I agree, but I don't agree that it invalidates the argument for Switch and PS2 being incomparable, to me it strengthens it. I'm old enough to have preordered a PS2 and I had one at launch. The launch hardware was crap. In my unit, DVD playback was fine, but a minority of early games were delivered on cd-rom, and my PS2 sounded like a sawmill when reading those discs. The slim was much better, and I still have one set up, which I purchased brand new just a few years ago.
At the time the PS2 launched, DVD was a new format, and standalone players were expensive, so many people bought one primarily as a DVD player. Of course, this effectively acted as a trojan horse, with people purchasing a game console that might not have purchased one otherwise. The PS2 had a much weaker software attachment rate than the Switch has today, I'm sure, although I don't care to search for the figures just now. Wii arguably had some degree of the same problem, as a Wii Sports machine. It was a different time, and a totally different market. PS2 also had some outstanding games, some of which are still playable on Switch today.

Sony achieved those PS2 sales in a market that was one third the size of the market Switch has sold into. Switch can't surpass PS2 without a time machine, really. The comparison is nonsense.

How can Switch 2 "storm past" 1.5 million sales in Japan, as of three weeks ago, and yet now be only at 1.27 million? I think some people were too busy massaging Nintendo's sales figures to bother with basic mathematics lessons.

A delayed game that is forever bad releases precisely when it means to?

@Anti-Matter I appreciate your commentary. and I personally hope you stick around and continue to express your views, whether I agree with all of them or not. Not everyone here needs an echo-chamber.

Mid-single digit could also mean 0.5%, which I think is more likely, since if it were 5% or more, why wouldn't they just state that?

Performance drops are fun?

@Yozora146_ Ok, but since you don't know the context, why are you replying to your own assumption on my position? I stated that Switch 2 would outperform Steam Deck while docked, but wouldn't be able to outperform Steam Deck as a handheld, in a majority of cases. My reasoning was the heavily restricted power budget of Switch 2 (10 watts) versus Steam Deck (28watts?). I don't remember the exact figure for Steam Deck, but is in that ballpark and much higher than Switch 2. The article above even validates this position, by bringing the power budget into the equation. The usual suspects rounded on me, and now you're challenging a fantasy position that I never held. Of course, it's possible to read users previous posts, if you so choose ....

Anyone who has ever had to deal with customer service departments knows that the result can really go either way, depending on who happens to be on the other end of the line, that day. If you buy a used game cartridge, you could end up blocked from online services permanently, presumably with no right of appeal. This is overreach.
My opinion is that this is not just about the MIG cartridge, but also is tied into digital game sharing, and the game key cards. In the case of the game key cards, a single online check has been claimed by Nintendo, on first boot-up, but this has never made sense to me. It was always clear, that the online check is for a unique identifier on the game key card, which is then checked against Nintendo's white list of verified keys. Such a system represents a security loophole, because if the security of the key were ever breached (and likely will be), the game key cards could then be duplicated, with multiples of effectively the exact same game key card being in existence at any one time. In response, Nintendo has implemented a surveillance system, one that stores device history even when the device is used offline, which then uploads the usage history the very next time that the system connects online. This is likely happening on all consoles, whether the software used is a download, game key card or physical cartridge. Any and all users, using software that has been duplicated, will instantly have their online access banned, punishing the innocent and guilty alike, leaving anyone punished at the whims of Nintendo customer service. This is really unacceptable and an indefensible course of action, although history tells us there will be no shortage of people defending it.

"If you only expand upon existing hardware, it's dull"
Satoru Iwata, 2015.

@DominionGamma People were complaining that the price was too high, and yet that didn't stop it from selling ... in the only market with an sku that was priced significantly lower than everywhere else? Genius.