blecch

Too bad this isn't the real P5 RPG, but a used PS3 isn't too expensive.

@ItsOKToBeOK I think Hulu still works on the PS3, and that didn't seem to hinder the PS4.

Hmm, does Netflix still work on the Wii U and 3DS?

@Ooccoo_Jr Gotta catch 'em all!

So many Pokémon, so little time/money/trips to London!

Though shouldn't it be "Pokémon Centre?" Hmm....

I also wouldn't mind visiting Nintendo New York (formerly Nintendo World) and/or Nintendo Tokyo/Pokémon Center...

The (dual)shocking thing is that the game actually came with a printed manual in the box!

> It doesn’t look good, and often feels like you’re playing an off-brand, free JRPG you could download on your phone’s app store.

@Silly_G Indeed - actually the Pokémon Co. includes Nintendo, who apparently specifically owns the trademark. Feel free to add more clarifications/details if you feel they are relevant. I could have been more specific but I was referring primarily to the mainline Pokémon games like Sun/Moon, Let's Go: Pikachu/Eevee, Sword/Shield, etc.. Nothing against Pokémon Go but the "real" Pokémon games are great, as is Astral Chain. (As are the "real" versions of Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing.)

@Silly_G True; maybe almost a second-party exclusive although Platinum makes games for other companies (e.g. Nier Automata for Square Enix, exclusive on PS4.) And I guess Pokémon is Nintendo exclusive but is actually owned by the Pokémon Co./Game Freak. I guess the point is that there are other great Switch games that are exclusive and not made by Nintendo proper.

@Swizze You won't regret it – the Switch is a great system and the Nintendo titles alone are worth the price of admission. Add some other games (a few third party exclusives/timed exclusives like Astral Chain, Octopath Traveler, MUA3, tons of indie games, some third-party current-gen games like Overwatch and DQXI, tons of last-gen ports like Skyrim, etc.) that you can now play on a handheld system and it's even better.

@AtlanteanMan Nintendo's not exactly a mega-corporation; they are a ¥1.2 trillion company, but they only have like 6,000 employees. Activision/Blizzard, EA and Ubisoft (and Take Two if you count its subsidiaries) each have more employees than Nintendo.

Sony, Microsoft, and Apple are much larger than Nintendo, though obviously they do more than games.

@BenAV Maybe you're right - instead of draining the cesspool of mobile gaming perhaps Nintendo has decided to swim in it.

@Knuckles-Fajita It's a perverse system, I agree. It seems that the mobile game market has spoken and the best way to make bucketloads of money is to have a "free" game combined with a variety of noxious monetization schemes.

I know Nintendo probably doesn't dislike making bucketloads of money, but didn't they say at one point that gameplay and a high-quality player experience were more important than profit at any cost? Nintendo has a reputation for making great games, and that reputation has been built on many years of delivering quality gameplay and a delightful player experience, not on making bucketloads of money via microtransactions.

Hahahaha, such clickbait but the pricing is indeed bizarre. And to get the 200cc mode which MK8 comes with, you also need to purchase a Gold subscription, which is also triple the price of Nintendo Switch Online (but it doesn't come with any SNES or NES games, sadly.)

Well, I do already have the real Mario Kart 8 – no play-and-wait, no pay-to-win, no gacha, no subscription for single player/local multiplayer, no fiddly touch controls – on a handheld device. It's a great game that is fun in both single and multiplayer mode. MK7 may not look as good (except for the 3D part which I like) and the controls aren't as comfortable, but it still is more appealing to me than Tour.

I hate subscriptions to begin with, but charging triple the price of Nintendo Switch Online (which offers dozens of SNES and NES games and also enables online multiplayer for other games) for a single mobile game seems like a poor value. Apple Arcade may also be $5/month, but it offers 100 games (some of which are probably good) and should be largely free of annoying mobile monetization schemes.

@NintendoByNature Unfortunately Amazon often does a very poor job packing items for shipment, resulting in crushed game boxes, bent book corners, etc.. It's annoying with limited editions because it's often impossible to get a replacement. If it's still in stock (much more likely with non-limited editions) you can usually return it for a replacement. Other companies seem to do a much better job packing, but they don't offer Free Prime Shipping...

I liked Puzzle Quest on the PSP except that it had some fatal bugs which never got fixed. Also the AI was insanely, ah, "lucky."

@variableman The PS4 works the same way. It isn't great, but it's OK. Lots of players manage to make it work and it's nice to be able to play games on two consoles.

Nintendo probably fears what happened with the PS3 where the original 5-console policy resulted in extensive game sharing coordinated via web sites (which players loved, but Sony hated because they felt they were losing money.) Sony backtracked on that to 3 on the PS3 and to the primary/secondary console scheme on the PS4.

Ha I was just asking whether this is like the PS4 primary/secondary console system and can you do game sharing the same way, and the answer seems to be yes.

@Bondi_Surfer Sure, I do prefer Apple's scheme for iOS games (5 devices, family sharing, no login requirement), but Nintendo's system looks basically identical to what Sony does with PSN on the PS4: to share games, you need to log on to the secondary console with the account the game is registered to, and then on to the primary console with a different account.

I would suggest considering getting a second Switch anyway and using the standard game sharing workaround. The advantages of gaming together are too much fun to miss even if you don't like Nintendo's DRM policy.

@BlueOcean Ha I was wondering about the weight - 24 grams seems like an almost negligible difference:

> It measures 91.1mm x 208mm x 13.9mm and tips the scales at 275g. In contrast, the original 2017 Switch measures 102mm x 239mm x 13.9mm and weighs 297g.

@BlueOcean Apple does reasonably well allowing games to run on 5 iOS devices either on a single account or with family sharing. Sony started out great on the PS3 but then backtracked.

Well at least Nintendo has sort of sorted the eShop thing, though it looks like they have taken a page out of the PS4 book, for better or for worse, with the "primary" console thing.

On the PS4 you can play on two consoles simultaneously - even with online games like Overwatch or Final Fantasy XIV - as long as it's not the same account PSN account logged in. I wonder if you can do the same thing on the Switch?

Although I mainly play on console and PC rather than phone/tablet, I do like Apple's approach of installing on up to 5 devices and using them all simultaneously, as well as "family sharing" across multiple accounts. IIRC PSN also originally allowed you to install and run on 5 PS3 consoles, but then Sony cut it to 3 in response to game sharing sites. Still it's better than the PS4 approach, as you can share games across 3 consoles without needing to be logged into PSN.

IX and Tactics would be nice. And as much as I like Crisis Core as a PSP exclusive it is another obvious choice.

I do wish that they would add back the analog control and vibration from the PS1/PSN version of FF8. The PS1/PSN version also has a helpful tutorial screen showing the game controls, but that is missing from the Switch version. And I hope they can fix the music, which sounds a bit muddy and off-pitch on the Switch version.

I realized something interesting which is "Final Fantasy VIII Remastered" doesn't include "HD" as in the "HD Remaster" versions of other games, which seems fair given that it's mainly the character and monster models and UI that has been upgraded (though Squall does look a bit different now that his face texture has more than 20 pixels.)

Incidentally, as I understand it, the FFVIII port is "remastered" in the sense that it was recreated in Unity.

@Crono1973 Have you played the VII and IX ports? The backgrounds seem to have gotten the same filtering/blurring treatment that VIII got. I find the contrast between the character models and the backgrounds to be a bit less jarring in VIII than it is in IX though, and VIII doesn't have the awful mobile-style menus or ugly sidebars that the IX port has.

If you want an excellent HD remake of a PS1-era Final Fantasy game, I recommend checking the Final Fantasy VII remake next year, though it looks like it is currently a PS4 exclusive.

Seriously though, it is nice. The game looks beautiful, the revamped battle system seems to work well, and it has voice acting in cutscenes.

@aetios I think I prefer the PS1 version of FF9. But I am playing the FF8 remaster at the moment.

It actually seems a lot better than the FF9 port:

• better typeface
• closer to original menus
• no ugly grey sidebars

For handheld play I think it compares favorably to playing the PS1 version on the PSVita. The Vita seems to have better sound though.

@Moroboshi876 If you like Dragon Quest, I'd suggest giving Final Fantasy a try! Having just played DQXI myself, I might suggest FFIX, or XII maybe? If you like the 2D Dragon Quest games then obviously Final Fantasy VI. I also like IV quite a bit.

@Bunkerneath They might have been trading off control of the game. It's a nice way to enjoy a single-player RPG (or other game) with a friend.

That being said, I do like the way FF4 and FF6 (at least?) allow you to use multiple controllers so that two players can control different characters in combat.

@NEStalgia Hahaha. Persona and Final Fantasy are my favorite JRPG series, but not everyone likes JRPGs or those series. If you can't stand various recurring aspects of the series (or genre) then you are probably not going to enjoy them.

@Xelha I think you are right - the games have different features and flavors which may appeal more or less to different people. But I really liked Vivi's story in FFIX, as well as the fantasy world and character designs.

Squall: "......"

Final Fantasy VIII is vastly underrated. It's probably my favorite game in the series, and I've played all the numbered entries except 3 and 5 (both of which I will get to eventually!!)

As @Farseli noted you can refine items into spells to avoid drawing, but even manual drawing isn't bad at 3x speed. I like the mechanic of spellcasting making you weaker as the battle progresses unless you replenish.

"The story is utterly insane" - is that really a con for a Final Fantasy game?

It's hard to explain some of the greatest bits without spoiling it, but suffice it to say that Final Fantasy VIII has interesting explanations for some traditional RPG tropes, and an amazing range of environments.I am particularly fond of Esthar city. FF8 also has pretty good public transportation, and SeeD pays reasonably well. And unlike many FF games, your whole party is visible on screen!

And two words: Angelo Cannon.

Played the original on PSP and I seem to recall it being kind of broken/buggy and some of the buffs (?) not working properly. Also enemies level up as you do so you don't want to level up too high. And the AI seemed unbelievably lucky.

Most games do seem to use the same size UI in handheld, tabletop and TV modes, usually either too small in handheld or tabletop mode or too large in TV mode. It would be nice if you could have multiple settings.

Poor PSVita. At least it can drown its sorrows with Xbox.

Ha, Sakurai is my idol. Maybe it's all part of the deal with Microsoft but I like how Sakurai and others seem to understand that we are all on team video games!

Yes, cross-play (and cross save/progression) would make sense (at least for consoles) and players want it.

Trash Cream Racing is an excellent game that is now on the Switch. Not to mention Giana Sisters, Brawlhalla, etc.. It doesn't seem like Nintendo has too much of a problem with clones of their games as long as they don't use Nintendo characters.

Wow, he was serious - that's a PS4 pro!
miHoYo is a great name that translates well in American slang at least.

Visit Shanghai for our popular ChinaJoy Digital Entertainment Expo! This year featuring a legendary (if not Zeldariffic) PS4-smashing competition, sponsored by miHoYo (makers of the new and very original game Genshin Impact), Sony Interactive Entertainment, and nintendolife.com!

Is the main advantage for Nintendo that these can't easily be jailbroken?

Have they fixed the USB C implementation so that they are less likely to be bricked by third-party USB C chargers?

Nintendoroids: Rise of the Nendoroid Nintendo Droids

@westman98 Also harder-to-jailbreak. ;-/

Switch has sold more than PS4 in Japan, which is interesting though not surprising since it's also a handheld system.

3DS may be end-of-life, but I will still be playing it!!
So many cool 3DS features that never really made it to Switch:
3D. Dual Screens. Stylus (e.g. Art Academy.) Streetpass. Streetpass Mii Plaza/minigames. MiiVerse. Download Play. Swapnote. Flipnote Studio 3D. 3D camera. Virtual Console. Web browser. VR cards.
Not to mention tons of great games (including a bunch from the Shin Megami Tensei/Persona series) and even Netflix.

@Yorumi Physical isn't dead yet on the Switch at least. I like those little cartridges, which you can easily loan/borrow/resell, and 1TB memory cards are still too expensive!

On the other hand, having stuff installed on internal media is pretty convenient.

On PC you used to have the option of running directly from a game disc (to save space) or installing on your hard drive (for faster load times) but typing in long serial numbers was a pain.

I already have a Square Enix subscription. :-/
I guess it would be OK if they added Final Fantasy I through XIII to it.

Finally!!! Square Enix remembers Final Fantasy VIII !!!

Don't believe the haters – FFVIII is an awesome Final Fantasy. It's my favorite in the series, and I've played every numbered entry except 3 and 5.

As Squall would say: "..."

IV is good too, and also has a pseudo local co-op where multiple players can control different characters in battle.

I wonder if anyone else remembers FF7 Crisis Core?

@construx I kind of liked Redout and Fast RMX.