World

It could be interesting, but the PS3-PS5 era Sony brand strategy won't work. As others have said, Sony's market now is very much in selling the cinematic, gigantic budget, big and loud experience. A handheld is just fundamentally not that, and their current main customers likely won't want it. Or, maybe more accurately, they will buy it but then won't do anything with it.

That being said, with the Vita they went all in on visual novels and quirky JRPGs so if they went in that direction again it could be good! Really hard to say at this point.

I'll probably play more Star-Crossed Myth: Department of Punishments. I haven't really had time to play it in a while and I'm aiming to finish a route (Scorpio) this weekend.

I'll give Burger Shot a try! Sat-Box games are all pretty barebones in terms of options, but they're solidly made and fun in multiplayer so I assume this one will be the same.

I think this is a really interesting one to take on! I liked it at the time, but I feel like a lot of the elements now would feel pretty dated. Not just the gameplay itself, but also the things the game was doing when your sanity was low (which honestly was a mechanic so heavily hyped in the ads that I went out of my way to take zero risks the entire time I played so my meter would never get low under normal circumstances).

Also they should've just made another game with the Canadian fireman character.

I definitely have mixed feelings about this. The idea is really cool and inspired, but seeing it in action...it frankly looks terrible also.

Also, why isn't Sokka (currently) playable? Of the Avatar cast, he seems like the one who'd unironically be up for being in this game.

Japan wins for me (and that's actually the version I own, so a bit of bias), but the US boxart was where baby me first developed her crush on Master Higgins lol, so it gets one nostalgia point.

I had the week off and I had been hoping to catch up on my TBR before summer is over, but I haven't made as much progress as I had wanted on that.

So I will be "playing" reading books mainly and perhaps some UFO 50 (current favorites are Porgy and Star Waspir).

I haven't played every game yet, but a big surprise for me was Star Waspir. It felt kind of like Recca to me, and then I got a powerup that was like the side gun from that game. Pretty neat as that's one of my fave STGs.

What I found interesting about the "feel" of this compilation is that it reminded me more of what European devs were up to in this era, than either Japanese or North American devs. It felt like a much more polished version of those Codemasters NES compilations.

Just the most bonkers ideas tossed onto a cart, and it works.

I'm excited for Brandish Renewal as I think it's the first Brandish game on Switch. And Iwakura Aria, but it's going to be a while before I have time to actually play that one.

@Luigivaldo Ooh, could be! I honestly wouldn't complain about a reskin.

And yeah! Those two games were great too!

My thought seeing it in the Direct was "who is this for?" and I see now that there's nothing really wrong with it and it's a creative idea but my question still stands.

This looks slick! I love the wood block Amiibo; I honestly didn't think much of the Amiibo line when they first introduced it, but I can't believe the staying power it has!

I probably won't buy any of these as I don't have kids nor am I a kid at heart (ha), but I love seeing this sort of innovation from Nintendo!

I normally dislike this steady stream of re-releases and in this case I think the original graphics look fine, but this is one of those where enough time has passed without any re-releases that there's probably some people out there who want to play it that can't access the original so I think a remake is fine. It's definitely the best Pac-Man World game, and I'm happy to see it making its way to Switch!

One thing I'm wondering though is the original had Ms. Pac-Man as an unlockable and presumably this one will not because of Namco not wanting to pay royalties for anything involving that IP. Will they replace it? Will it just be locked? It was one of my favorite parts of Pac-Man World 2 back in the day, so kind of disappointing if it's not there.

This is a great week! For me, UFO 50 and Gradius Origins but then some of the smaller games look good too! I'm looking at Pokettohiro (which I thought came out last week?), Torree Saturn (love these games!), and Dreaming in Cherry Blossoms (definitely intrigued by a new OperaHouse game that isn't an otome and seems to be yuri?).

Very excited for this! I held off on the Steam release because I wanted the game on what I felt to be its natural home and now it's really happening!

The special edition looks cute, but I think it's one of those things where it doesn't resonate with me but I might double dip after I play the game itself.

I think video game timelines are silly and especially, outrageously so for Donkey Kong, but I also like fanfiction so this is one of those different strokes situations for me.

While this seems to have been made with love, and I enjoy how sassy they are about it not having AI, I struggle to think how I would personally use it. I have barely any time to play more than one game at a time, let alone sit around and think about what to play next. And even then, if I was stuck I'd just ask a friend for recs.

Oh neat! I love the original Pilotwings OST; Soyo Oka's compositions from this era are all excellent. And then of course the N64 OST has the Birdman theme.

I didn't like the Resort OST quite as much, but it does have that Wii-era sheen to it, so it's charming in its own way even if the individual compositions aren't quite as strong as the other two soundtracks.

Seems like a decent week! I'm interested in Pockettohiro, Yosei Wars, and the Organized Capy God.

@FishyS I've bought a few of them! The QoL features are good, but they vary (so you can sometimes start at a designated level, or have power-ups, etc.) and emulation is good. The only caveat I would say is that many of the games are only in Japanese.

North America by default. I love a little 90s kitsch, but one thing that will never be retro cool to me was the trend of random phrases on the covers back then.

I also like the lighting on the NA cover! Super bright and you can see the vehicles in action. I've never played this game, but the cover makes me want to give it a try.

Looks great! Hopefully this is the start of a trend of more VNs and similar experiences coming to Switch 2!

So Earth Atlantis 2 was a huge surprise for me??? I found the original game a bit too subdued for my taste, but this looks a bit Darius and a bit Amiga STG---very cool!

And, of course, I'm waiting impatiently for Earthion.

Oh, this is super cool! I love that this collection keeps adding more games!

This is pretty interesting! I noticed that the Nintendo ones were more or less what I expected, but a few of the games surprised me. I figured Honkai Star Rail would be a bit more balanced (I don't know any men who play it personally); I also thought more men would play Hatsune Miku; but Twisted Wonderland's ratio is just right (bring this to Switch or Switch 2, Disney, come onnnn; it's the only game of yours I will even consider playing on console!).

Most of this weekend is taken up by friends and chores, but when I can squeeze it in I'll be playing more Star-Crossed Myth: Department of Punishments! It's a bit of a change of pace from the kinds of otomes I normally play in that you get a number of "episodes" (as opposed to just one route with some combination of happy/sad/neutral endings) and the romance is a bit more at the forefront than, say, your average Otomate title which often feature heavier plots with romance woven into them.

Ad Shoot looks a bit like Radirgy, so I'm interested in that. And Macross II seems promising. The score challenge aspect is neat, and the visuals are phenomenal!

Seems fine from a graphics perspective, but on the original Switch it probably would've looked even more like Mario Odyssey and drawn comparisons more easily to that game and thus would likely have felt like a pseudo-sequel to it.

Moving it to Switch 2 was the right choice as now it comes across as quite a bit more fresh of an idea and allows it to be more clearly its own thing.

Definitely the first one is solid and will hopefully take out companies like Red Deer Games who tarnish the value of their own (actually sometimes decent) games by releasing those awful "Super Deluxe Edition" type bundles. They won't stop, so might as well just ban them and hopefully they'll learn their lesson that way.

The second one...ehhh. It sounds good in theory, but could very rapidly be abused if the parameters are not clearly defined.

The "truth in advertising" thing sounds like a win, as does the prohibition on major changes to a game without due cause.

Star-Crossed Myth: Department of Punishments for me! It's one of the otomes I picked up in the summer sale (I also got the companion volume, Department of Wishes, but haven't touched it yet), and I've been really enjoying it. It's pretty fluffy, so a nice change of pace from some of the heavier otomes I've been into lately. There's also a ton to read for each route, with a main story, epilogue, sequels, etc. Also a progress tracker for each character, which is not something I've seen before and I think is kind of neat.

@DaGoldenBoo Aw, that's really nice of you to say; thanks so much!

@DaGoldenBoo Oh yeah! Derivative works isn't an angle I even considered, but you're right! I was thinking more of institutional/canonical definitions of "art," but fanworks definitely add to whether a piece survives and is considered "art," as well and you are right that Nintendo definitely fights against that.

I mean, I think both are true. Nintendo wants a game to be a good product as they wish to turn a profit.

But I don't think the definition of art always necessarily lies entirely with the intention of the creator either. It can, but the closest parallel is probably certain movies made by large studios. Like, yes, they are fundamentally commercial products and, yes, they are also art. I think that applies here as well.

Possibly hoping to finish Sympathy Kiss this weekend! I ended up buying a bunch of otomes in the eShop and Steam summer sales, so if I do finish it I'll start one of those as well.

Both the ACA and Eggconsole this week are pretty cool games!
Fray is a neat one; an action RPG that feels like a shmup, kind of like the second Valkyrie game in some ways. And Crazy Balloon reminds me of if you mixed Kururin and Balloon Trip.

Tamagotchi Plaza in #2!!! Congrats girl, you earned it.

(I honestly know nothing about Tamagotchi specifically because when I was a kid I found out they can die and so I avoided them forever, but that screenshot is sending me. 10/10 to those lovely little freaks.)

I like FFIX, but I don't know if I want a remake. It doesn't really have the extensive additional material that FF7 does, and the plot is tighter than FF7 so there would be less for a full remake to "do."

I'd put it in the same category as Chrono Trigger, where I remember it fondly and would maybe play it again, but I think an actual ground-up remake would be going too far and I probably wouldn't bother with it.

@brakeman90 It's a great game! And honestly we're far enough out from the PS1 generation that low-res just looks like a style of the time and isn't so bad (at least in my opinion).

This is such a shame. FM3 is one of those games they could've easily just ported as there was no real need of a remake.

I picked up Sympathy Kiss in the eShop sale, so I'll be playing that!

I'm not sure how I feel about the character graphics (although the sweets theme looks great), but it looks fun!

@DaGoldenBoo Ha, that is absolutely fair. But it would be nice!

I personally feel like the intermissions give much-needed new life to the Mario Kart template. But then, I just play Mario Kart games to enjoy them with my friends; I've never been one to find much fun in "perfecting" tracks or anything like that.

That being said though, I think choice is good. The game should just have both as options.

Oh wow! I guess I'm filing this as the first Switch 2 game I actually genuinely want!

This is such a weird decision, as the original art was iconic and really didn't need these kinds of changes at all, but they went and made it look worse anyway. Definitely disappointing, as I was sort of interested in this!

The voice acting (and car combat) is giving Jak X.

This looks super polished though; probably not for me as it looks a bit hectic, but I can't help but appreciate the output of this Atari revival. They really seem serious about bringing their old roster of games into the modern age in a meaningful way; I love it!

I never really cared about Mario Kart rosters before and would just choose whoever to play with friends, but this time I find the choices actually pretty inspired! I'm firmly set on Cow as my main, but I love racing and seeing, like, Fish Bone or Sidestepper. It's just really delightful and makes me smile.

I've never been an avid Mario Karter in the past and I've never had a main, but from the early screenshots and trailers I knew Cow would be my first-ever Mario Kart main. It's funny that she became a meme, but it's nice to finally have an MK character that speaks to my soul.

I also use the little stereo motorcycle (?) as her vehicle.

As others have said, these are all just ports on key cards so I don't know what they were expecting.

This are all great, but I voted Europe because its colour scheme seemed more quintessentially "Dreamcast" to me.