brakeman90

@GoldenGamer88 Is there a reason that you'd buy this day-one despite not enjoying the Wii U original? I don't thing anything was changed aside from the addition of a few fighters. Well, the fact that it's portable and playable with a single joycon is pretty cool, actually. I didn't pick up the original, and don't imagine I'll buy this one either.

I was disappointed because it fell short of what I hoped (Pokemon Stars for Switch, of course). That said, it's hard to imagine blaming the rumors or online publications for that - nobody got hurt, and it was fun to speculate, even if that ended up being incorrect.

@Faruko I think it was reasonable to hope for a Pokemon Stars announcement, but I suspect your analysis is correct. Switch is having such a blowout first year, and heaven knows the console sales are great, so it would be a shrewder business move to hold off. Shame for us fans at the moment, but it's not like there aren't already enough Switch games sucking away my hard-earned cash, haha.

Quite disappointing for me, but not a bad release overall. I caught all the available Pokemon on Sun last year, and was really hoping for a Switch deluxe edition of the game, so I won't be picking this up. If I hadn't already invested 100 hours into this generation of games on the 3DS, though, I'd be excited.

Wow, this looks really cool! I'm happy that the cool critical reception to I Am Setsuna didn't dissuade SE from seeking to publish more Tokyo RPG Factory games, as this one looks like an improvement. The visual style is lovely, and it's nice that the studio is developing a distinct look rather than dramatically departing from the appearance of its previous game. The music, unsurprisingly, is gorgeous, and the cityscapes in particular stood out as an inspired setting.

I've really enjoyed my time with the game. It's an excellent complement to the more action-heavy, tactically light games in the Switch library so far, and perhaps even moreso once the next set of action-oriented games get published - ARMS and Spla2n. I'd disagree with the knock on the visuals, which I find to consist of excellent spritework, but I can understand that someone who prefers polygonal visuals over pixel-based visuals would not enjoy them.

This looks deliriously awful in the best possible way. Looking forward to hearing more, as the little bit of information here makes me interested in the same way that the bizarre Pocket Card Jockey did.

I'm a touch suspicious of the promo material, since it doesn't seem like Nintendo would promote its Princess Peach character as "badass" and there appears to be a typo - "turtle shelves" rather than the presumably intended "turtle shells." Of course, Nintendo could be offering a radically different approach to its promos, and typos in official content are nothing new.

Curious to see what comes next.

I'm planning on primarily playing with the Joycon motion controllers, but I'm genuinely impressed that so much customization is available - anybody can play this game! Much like the touch screen controls in Puyo Puyo Tetris, it really is a joy to see this level of control on a console game.

It's OK to complain about these things, but every consumer has the power to vote with his or her dollar. Would I like having 1-2-Switch to play with friends at parties? Sure, but I will absolutely not buy it at that price. Would a Pro Controller be great? Yes, but that's too much money for what I'd be getting (don't get me wrong, I think the competitor controllers are too pricey too). Is a charging grip a cool idea? Yup, but I'd rather plan to not use Joycons for more than twenty hours straight instead of spending $30 on an accessory to avoid it.

As this article makes abundantly clear early on, game enthusiasts are generally unwilling to exercise their rights in the market and just not buy something that has been either overpriced or under-tested. They enable this behavior from content creators by pre-ordering and buying but complaining afterwards rather than reviewing the information available to them and spending accordingly; this isn't to say that people shouldn't buy a dock for $90, but rather that a reasonable person should decide whether the convenience is worth that price and buy happily rather than begrudgingly.

The one exception, in my opinion, is a dual-pack of Joycons. $80 for what are, effectively, two controllers with a wide variety of applications, seems like a decent price. I think the Switch console is well-priced, but the accessories are laughably expensive. Looking forward to a reduction at some point in the years ahead, and if none is coming, I'll accept not having certain accessories.

I am happy that Capcom's slideshow abilities are roughly equivalent to my own, haha.

@DizziParadise It's hard to imagine getting around this issue with the market and Nintendo's internal direction being what they are. If they want to compete for the same money as Sony and Microsoft, they need a console with similar hardware and an architecture similar enough that porting games doesn't require significant effort on the part of publishers. I think third parties avoiding the porting of games to Switch at the moment is reasonable, given the fact that they will need to make them less visually appealing and more costly to reflect the smaller install base. Charging more for Switch games, given that developing for Xbone/PS4 effectively nets you sales on two devices with little modification, isn't something I see as unreasonable by companies concerned about their bottom line.

That said, I am hoping that indies continue to focus on the Switch, and that major third parties offer unique games that take advantage of the Switch's hardware. It is largely competing for an alternative market to the other giants in the industry, and I think that's what has cemented Nintendo's consistent place in so many fans' households (mine included).

I'll be picking up Disgaea 5 and ARMS. Both look excellent, though of course they're radically different games. I haven't completed a Disgaea game in years, and it seems like the type of game to shine in portable mode. ARMS is very exciting, and I love everything that I've seen so far. Not placing any pre-orders - why bother? - but I will buy both of these upon release.

That would be quite the bummer - I owned the Steam and 3DS versions of the original release, and found that it played a bit better on the 3DS. That console is made for side-scrollers, given its excellent d-pad, so I'll remain optimistic for a portable version.

If this had been out before I bought my original 3DS XL in 2013 or my New 3DS XL in 2016, I would have bought it. As things stand, it wouldn't offer anything I don't already have, but it will likely be a gateway into the DS/3DS library for anyone who didn't have one already. Good move for Nintendo.

All I want is a fix for the online mode's lag. It's so much fun that I still manage to play in spite of the issue from time to time. Still, this game would be a classic online multiplayer if they would just sort out that problem.

This will be a nice feature for especially young players and their families. I have no doubt that anybody seeking to improve their skills past a certain point, or wanting to participate in the more competitive online components or single-player modes, will graduate beyond the feature once they're ready. The more options, and the most inclusive a title is, the better as far as I'm concerned.

@zionich Hahaha, agreed - the Switch already has more compelling games than I have time or money to play! I just picked up Shovel Knight and Snake Pass, but Wonder Boy will join the ranks of Snipperclips, Blaster Master Zero, and Fast Racing RMX as the next games on my wishlist.

I'll buy this game if they fix the framerate issues. It's certainly not a game that should have those problems on any modern hardware; heck, the Wii U should be able to run this game! In any case, I was disappointed with the answers from the dev team, but if they put their efforts into resolving the technical issues, I'll still back them with a purchase.

@xxAcesHighxx Something about the genuine kookiness of Ramen Girl really sealed the deal for me as well - I was already anticipating this game, but yesterday's Direct will have me buying it Day One (which is not as far away as I'd feared!).

Thanks for highlighting this! I've been very happy with the character designs (and for that matter, everything else) in ARMS so far, and it's heartening to know that a few more will be revealed. I don't think the game needs any more than ten fighters, and indeed too many characters might dilute its impact. Glad to see that there are more than just the six revealed, in any case.

The biggest hits to me were Ever Oasis, which I remain quite excited for, along with ARMS and Splatoon. Outside of that, I liked the look of Nintendo new flipping colors multiplayer game, the Pikmin amiibo, and Miitopia.

My wife was quite excited for the Namco Collection and the Sonic games, surprisingly! It would make it the first time I've owned a Sonic game since... 1994? We'll see how that shakes out.

I was disappointed with the Link and Splatoon amiibos, largely because I'd really like a Judd and a Hetsu amiibo, rather than variations on figures that already exist. I was already a guaranteed buyer for Goodbye Boxboy and Disgaea 5, so those weren't necessarily thrilling, but they continue to look fantastic. Quite a number of the games were ones that don't interest me (Payday, Yokai Watch, and Minecraft) or are ones that I'm still very much waiting for the reviews (HEY Pikmin and the Kirby games), but I can't expect to like everything published on the consoles, haha.

The biggest surprises for me were Monopoly, which looks bizarrely good for a game I've never had any interest in, along with Sine Mora EX and Battle Chasers: Nightwar, neither of which I'd had any awareness of but both of which received very compelling teasers. I'll wait for reviews, of course, but both look quite promising.

There's a good chance I'll be buying both, but I have some minor reservations:

(1) Concerning ARMS, I'm more excited but less certain. Knowing more will help make my decision, but I suppose it hinges a bit on how much content we know to exist. Will the online mode be robust? Will there be more than five characters? Will there be a single player mode like Splatoon, or something more arcade fighter-esque?

(2) Concerning Splatoon 2 (Spla2n!), I love the original game, and the Testfire was fun, but the whole thing feels rather like getting a second helping of the same food - you know you'll like it, but it might be more exciting to try something new. I'll wait to find out how different everything feels, and how much content is being added, before deciding whether to be an early adopter or not.

Of the two, I'm certainly more excited for ARMS, especially with the great press from early players, but I'm open to either (or neither).

Argh, too many great games on Switch with too little time/resources to engage with them all, haha. It's a good problem to have, I suppose.

Too cool! I've been enjoying Super Bomberman R, and free DLC is always a nice thing for developers to offer, particularly where the game was not lacking at release. As for hopes, I would love to see other Konami characters added as unlockables in the multiplayer modes - Goemon/Ebisimaru and Solid Snake are at the top of my list, of course.

I was surprised and happy to see the patch, along with the rumors of framerate improvements. Humorously, I only have about an hour left in the game, as I'm headed into the castle this evening for the final confrontation. Womp womp, haha. Still, it'll be nice for new players, and while the issues were hardly catastrophic before, it will be cool to further improve this masterpiece.

@BenAV Agreed, steadiness is the main thing. One thing I find intriguing is that games designed for a steady 30 FPS sometimes seem to look better than games that can alternate between the two - Zelda looks great at 30, but I found Hitman or The Witcher looked rather stutter-y at 30 FPS on my PC. In any case, I also find the difference between 720 and 1080 to be reasonably small, especially compared to the jump from 480 to 720; playing the Splatoon testfire, I would have sworn it was 1080 but this is evidently untrue.

I'm really looking forward to buying this game, though I can't help but be slightly disappointed that it couldn't manage either 1080p or 60fps on a new piece of hardware. Does it really matter? No. Will it keep me from buying? No. Do I wish it was operating at a higher level? Of course.

Wow, this is very cool. Thanks to Sligeach for finding it and Nintendo Life for sharing it.

Glad to hear the screen scratching is less common than I'd feared. I've been very cautious with mine, but when examining it from the side, it's hard to see how the screen would even touch the inside of the dock. I also haven't experienced the joycon issue, even while (very briefly) trying to replicate it using the GameXplain example.

My only beef with the console so far is that I got a bit of wrist pain from playing it in handheld mode, which was discouraging since I expect this'll be my preferred method of playing over the next few years. I suspect a grip or something could resolve the issue.

@River3636 For a multiplayer session, I don't know if anything could be better than this game. It's even decent playing against the AI! Enjoy

Having purchased this for about $30 with some judicious discounts and gift card usage, I can say that's it's well worth that investment.

I'd heard that the visuals were rough, and that the pace seemed a little sluggish at 30 FPS, but that's not been my experience at all. My wife and I are playing the campaign co-operatively, but the battle mode is where it really shines. I played a couple of matches there after completing the campaign's first world, and it is delightfully hectic. Great music, too!

In any case, I see this being a pretty reliable multiplayer game over the next few years, either in-person or online, so I'd strongly suggest buying it if (1) you enjoy multiplayer games and (2) the price is a little bit lower.

The Nintendo Switch is effectively shaping up to be a platform even more geared towards my interests than expected - a portable machine that plays the best indie games, along with Nintendo first party titles. Don't get me wrong, having more AAA third-party stuff would be good for sales, but I haven't sought out a major AAA game in years - for me at least, the Switch is already moving into perfect console territory.

@EternalDragonX This is what I was hoping to hear about. They are said to be working on a fix, so I think we can remain optimistic. This Day One update was likely compiled before awareness of the Joycon issue was widespread. Not ideal, but not damning either.

@ThatNyteDaez This is good to hear. Our wi-fi in the US is a bit of a joke compared to the UK and Ireland, so people continue to rely heavily on 3G/4G here. I'm not expecting to get any significant wi-fi Switch play in, but you never know.

@KirbyTheVampire Agreed - canceling a pre-order feels like a premature move, though on the other hand, I feel like it would be inadvisable to place a pre-order right now for the same reason - waiting to see how Nintendo addresses this will be key. It would, of course, be a bigger issue if the Switch wasn't also a portable system.

@Ralizah This is promising. I got an Xbox 360 a couple years into its life-cycle (as I have any console until now, haha), so I was unaware that this is the kind of problem that has precedent and may be fixable with a patch. Still not something that should occur, as QA/QC should have caught it miles ahead of release, but I'll remain optimistic.

@KirbyTheVampire To be fair, it's not a problem that should exist or need players to modify their behaviors to fix it. I've never had a problem with my Xbox controller or my Wii U controllers when sitting ten feet away from the console, so I certainly don't think I should pay $300 to experience less reliable connectivity.

This is a very disappointing issue, though I'm quite glad to hear that the company is aware and working on a fix ahead of release day. It really isn't the kind of problem that should be occurring, especially with a hardware designer as good as Nintendo. Given that Zelda is the only title being tested so far, problems with the Joycons in horizontal mode has not been reported (as far as I know), but this could be an even bigger issue - hands wrap around most of the controller when used in that fashion, and that could further obscure reliability of the signal.

I'm really hoping this gets worked out, ideally by a software update, but, as this is the first time I've bought a console at launch, it should act as a cautionary tale for me in the future.

Wow, this costs less than I would have expected. Looking forward to the review.

In general, I'll take a 10 to 30 hour game over a 100 hour one every time. I'm glad that both options exist, and I'm excited as everyone else for Zelda, but focused experiences that last 10 hours (or less!) are not inherently less valuable than longer experiences. Heck, Firewatch was one of my favorite games in 2016 and I finished that one in two evenings.

This is a nice take on the DLC issue, and I'm reasonably sold. I'll not be buying it Day One, since I would like to know, specifically, what I am paying for, but I'll likely purchase the pack once the story content is released this holiday season.

I will absolutely be buying this game. Can't wait for May - that'll give me just enough time to complete Breath of the Wild before jumping into another rather in-depth experience.

@rjejr Oh no, there's no online?! I figured that was the point. Well, my interest in the game just plummeted. This doesn't look like the kind of game my wife would enjoy.

Holy crap, this game looks awesome! It will be a day-one buy for me. I've been looking for a cool multiplayer game on 3DS. Visuals are nice - it looks like some long-lost Nintendo 64 game.

This guy is a treasure.

@allav866 Nintendo becoming more modern such a double-edged sword, right? And we all have conflicting ideas about what parts of modern gaming culture that we'd like Nintendo to adopt, and which parts we'd like them to eschew.

For me, microtransactions, overly cinematic narratives and unfinished or un-QA/QC'd games are the scourges of modern gaming. DLC, while not something I'm crazy about, isn't something that I'm overly concerned about either. Heck, I even bought the controversial on-disc DLC for Mass Effect 3. There's part of me that loves the (for lack of a better word) 'purity' of a Zelda game - it plays perfectly out of the box and is an entirely self-contained experience, Oracle games aside. I think, if it doesn't contribute significant new content, shunting Hard Mode off to paid DLC is my biggest beef with the Season Pass; this feature was included automatically in Twilight Princess HD and Link Between Worlds, among other titles in the franchise.

That said, I'm willing to be entirely wrong about this. The first portion of the DLC, featuring largely whimsical cosmetic additions, is the kind of thing that offers additional value but which won't keep someone from feeling like they have the full product. Similarly, if they find ways to add expansive new content to what is already a solid, complete game (a la Mario Kart 8 or Hyrule Warriors DLC), then I think the consumer benefits.

This is pretty disappointing to me. I liked that these games remained a singular experience that could be enjoyed by all players without an additional investment. It's not the worst thing in the world, but I hope it doesn't represent (along with microtransactions in Fire Emblem: Heroes) Nintendo becoming more attached to the industry's broader trends.

@Mega_Yarn_Poochy This is pretty much what I paid for it, between a coupon and a pre-order discount at Best Buy. $30 feels exactly right, though this game may be the one that convinces me to buy an extra set of Joycons, so my wife and I can play this game with our neighbors!

@Exy This is good to hear - the Wii U Pro Controller is my favorite gaming input mechanism (enough that I even have a program set up so I can use it on my PC!). I like the look of that one better than the new one, but I'm glad to hear that the build is not a step down.

Eh. It would be nice to have something fancier, but Nintendo published extraordinary software on the Wii U, and I expect we'll get plenty of excellent content on the Switch. Its primary selling point is its portability, rather than being a cutting edge home console. In some ways, I think it's wise for Nintendo to be carving out a niche as an addition to a home with either a PS4, Xbox One, or gaming PC, rather than a competitor to those markets.