burndive

It's too bad they didn't actually integrate the updates into the main game. I'm not getting the DLC, since it all looks like gimmicks I'll play maybe once, and not have much fun with.

If the DLC and game are this separate, they could've just released it standalone like Super Luigi U.

The thing about Link and Zelda is that there are many different Links and Zeldas. Some incarnations are clearly in a relationship (SS, BOTW/TOTK), but many are not, or are left ambiguous. Nintendo in any case has the freedom to shape their relationship differently for each game as it occurs.

With Mario and Peach, Nintendo wants the narrative flexibility to hit the reset button to fit the narrative of each game, and since there's only one Peach and Mario (or perhaps only a few generations of Mario) they gave to keep them perpetually in a will-they-won't-they state. There can be hints, but there can never be commitment.

Just like Age of Calamity, I expect that someone will record all of the cutscenes and make them available as a YouTube video.

I played the demo, and the gameplay isn't my jam, but I'm curious about the story content.

They had me at headphone jack. The back buttons were intriguing and the ability to power on the system would have been annoying to go without.

But playing on the couch late at night without the speakers on was a selling point for me.

The smooth joysticks are fine. Nothing to write home about in my opinion. They get the job done and feel nice. Hopefully they last without drifting.

I like the controller for the most part, but I did get a silicone cover grip, since its slipperiness was causing me to grip it extra hard and giving me hand muscle fatigue.

I suffer from Banana fever: I want to play this game at all times.

I'm curious about GameShare: how it performs and how it affects performance on the main display. I decided to keep my Switch OLED around, and I want it to be a good experience to use for multi-screen multiplayer.

I don't have super high hopes that it will work well over the Internet (GameChat), but local casting to a Switch OLED could potentially be as seamless as the Wii U gamepad.

I would love a GameShare port of NintendoLand.

@Khwarezm89 For me it was between this grip and the Satisfye one. The latter was much more expensive, and not shipping until later. I got this grip with case for $45 (including taxes and shipping).

I have one of these (with orange and blue grip thingies), and the little clip piece fell out almost instantly. I've been very careful with it ever since. There isn't really a good way to store it when it's not in place.

Other than that, it's been a very good grip. I don't play much in handheld, but I got it mostly for travel, and the fact that it (optionally) comes with a case that fits the console with the grip on was a must-have for me.

Maybe missing some context here, but why would 'sexualization of children' be in the same category as 'political statements'.

Are political statements prohibited?
Is sexualization of children allowed?!?

For me it depends:

Digital games are a lot more convenient to switch in and out of. I typically only buy physical if it's (1) heavily discounted or bought used and/or (2) a single player game that I will more or less dedicate my cartridge slot to until I've finished the game and moved on to another one.

Anything I want to be able to drop in and out of quickly (Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Splatoon, etc.) I will heavily prefer digital. Same with games I want to add to my library permanently (anything Zelda and a lot of the AAA Mario games).

I don't see much value in video games as a physical collectible/displayable object, though I do collect amiibo and sometimes other figures.

If you're going digital, remember that NSO Game Vouchers still work on Nintendo-published Switch 1 games, and then you can separately purchase the upgrade pack for Switch 2. This saves $10 over the price of buying the digital version outright (whether or not you get the upgrade).

I purchased a pair of NSO game vouchers the day before they stopped offering Gold Points for digital purchases, so I got a $5 discount for my $100 in addition to saving $10 per game for the two games I'm redeeming the vouchers on: Pokemon Legends Z-A and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.

The more options we have, the better. Any magnetic solution will need to deal with the magnets on the console when in handheld mode, but I'm sure they're accounting for that.

I'm glad Nintendo is still (apparently) offering their free repair/exchange program for the Joy-Con 2 also.

I know the frequency of the issue has decreased over time with the Switch 1 Joy-Con, but I've had drift issues with other controllers as well (PS5 DualSense, multiple times), and I had to deal with it myself with a soldering iron.

My Switch 2 plays Switch 2 games WAY better than my Series S does.

Seriously though: I suspect that it's roughly the same. Maybe the Switch 2 will have a lower native rendering with upscaling. We can compare Cyberpunk now, and we'll see how developers utilize it as ambitious multi-platform games get released: Star Wars Outlaws, AC Shadows, Indiana Jones, Call of Duty, etc.

But I own a Switch 2 to play Nintendo published games, mostly. I have a PS5 for power (and Sony exclusives) and a Series S for Game Pass.

I'm enjoying my time with BOTW again, and the Zelda Notes app stuff is excellent. I don't mind at all that it's on my phone. I just keep it on the couch armrest next to me, or mounted in a tablet stand where I can easily see and reach it. I use it mostly for the voice memos, and tracking down Koroks in the area. I've already completed the game twice--less getting all of the Koroks (regular and Master mode). I don't think I would ever simply wander the world in case I might find a stray Korok, but I'm happy to use the app guidance to find any in each area as I go through it. Sometimes I just see it on the map and go find it, other times I use the voice directions.

Let's face it: no one is going to find all 900 Koroks without some sort of guide. Not without constantly wearing the Korok mask and doing a grid search. And this guide is context aware. Personally, I didn't like wearing that mask because it prevents you from traveling with a full stealth bonus and you have to switch in and out of it all of the time.

It's cool that you can re-map buttons like that, but would it have killed Nintendo to put a patch in the original game to add an option for the camera controls? Do we need the game to be that authentic?

@Desy64 I've barely dipped my toes into Splatoon, but I watched the announcement, and it looks like they're using your win/loss ratio with a given weapon to match you up against "similar players", so hopefully that means if you keep losing, they will match you up against other less skilled players, and if you dominate, you will get matched with other highly skilled players. It also might encourage you to try out different weapons and play styles, since each one has its own rating independent of others.

@MeerkatSimples It's a per-game setting, so you have to access it through each game's menus.

@Bluelink45 What, you don't have Super Mario 3D All-Stars?

Great!

Now give us NintendoLand Deluxe on the Switch 2, you cowards!

I'm getting the digital Switch version with a voucher, and then getting the $10 upgrade for Switch 2.

Ditto with Metroid Prime 4.

The key to success for an arcade fighting game (which is what ARMS is) is for players who master the inputs to be able to succeed, and therefore be rewarded for their efforts.

ARMS has always had finicky inputs. They're based on motion capture, which is difficult to replicate from one match to another.

ARMS tries to be a hard core fighting game, but its inputs are best suited for a casual, low-skill high-randomness game.

But it's not a good party game, since it only has one minigame, and people will get tired of it quickly (both physically and psychologically).

According to Digital Foundry, LCD was the right move because (1) it looks great, and (2) 120Hz with VRR doesn't currently exist for OLED panels.

So if Samsung wants to make those, please, let them do so. I doubt it would be cheap.

One concern I haven't seen addressed anywhere is the fact that if you have a Switch 1 cartridge and a Switch 2 Edition upgrade, how much will the slow storage speed of a Switch 1 cartridge impact the load times?

This isn't really an issue for Link's Awakening or Echoes of Wisdom, but it's definitely an issue with BOTW and TOTK, where Nintendo has demonstrated a difference in fast travel times and other loading screens with the Switch 2 Editions.

What Nintendo could do to address this is pretty simple: they could make it optional to "install" the game on the console storage or SD card, basically treating the Switch 1 cartridge like a Game Key Card. As far as I know, no one has brought this particular issue up with Nintendo.

It's actually a useful feature. When you have 4 people at once trying to initialize their controllers, having different tones for each makes it easier to know when yours is definitely synced and you can stop mashing the shoulder buttons, so that others can in turn confirm that they are connected.

@ElkinFencer10 Clearly Nintendo has done the math and it works out, but right now 3rd party developers aren't willing to invest their money in increasing Nintendo's long-term manufacturing efficiency.

I wouldn't object if it were a slab of cardboard with the codes printed on it, but because it comes in a cartridge case, I don't like it.

The fact that it presents itself as physical media that can be transferred post-purchase, when it cannot, is the problem.

The publisher wanted to sell something that could be played on a Nintendo Switch 1 or 2 (with an upgrade on 2).

Their options were:
1. A physical SW1 game cartridge, with a free upgrade. They want the upgrade to be paid.
2. A physical SW1 game cartridge, with the upgrade available on the eShop as a separate purchase. They want the prestige and sales longevity of a SW2 game release.
3. A 64GB "Switch 2 Edition" cartridge playable on SW1 or SW2. They don't want to pay for the 64GB cartridge.
4. A Game Key Card release of the SW2 version of the game, not playable on SW1.
5. Digital only. They chose this, but are selling the codes in a box. This sucks for consumers.

I don't know whether the SW1 can handle "Game Key Card" releases. It would seem not, though the reason for this is probably a Nintendo policy and not a technical limitation. If Nintendo wanted to allow them, they could simply update the firmware of the SW1. The technology for this is the same as for "Virtual Game Cards", which are now on SW1.

I've already got mine in hand. I ordered them a while ago. I think the grey Joy-Con 2s are too plain, so I'll be (carefully) replacing the side panels to add a bit more color.

I was planning to hold out for a prettier-looking game-themed Pro Controller 2, but the audio jack and back buttons, plus upgraded haptics, plus the fact that apparently the analog sticks feel really smooth, sold me.

The included C button is nice and all, but apparently you can just use the Home button and select Chat if you need to manage that from an older controller (although this will pause your game in most scenarios, whereas with a real C button it might not).

I also learned that while NS1 controllers will work with the NS2, they won't be able to power on the console with the home button. This is probably due to a change in connectivity, with the new controllers using an updated Bluetooth version (or something proprietary?--hopefully not that).

After seeing the reviews about the Pro Controller I went ahead and pre-ordered one.

I also got a console case and controller grips from AliExpress.

It's not glance-able. You have to watch a video just to find out what something is, and usually it's nothing worth your time.

So I imagine it will be as popular and successful as Miitomo.

I'm sure that all of the 'secrets' will be available on YouTube. If there is enough interesting or fun in the minigames and showing off of haptics, I will consider a purchase.

@NolandC Your TV still has the same number of pixels. If you display something at 1080, it doubles the pixels. If you display it at 1440 it has to double every other pixel.

Unless it displays it smaller at 1:1.

@DjinnFighter Personally I didn't mind the original bug quests, even though it did slow down the pacing. I wasn't very attached to them as they were anyway, so I hardly even noticed the difference when they simplified them in the HD version.

I liked the added quests and chests and the amiibo connection to BOTW with Wolf Link was awesome. They might need to do something different with the stamps--maybe that could tie in to the app sharing features like in BOTW/TOTK.

I think if they did something similar with the visuals to Metroid Prime Remastered, where the level geometry is the same, but the textures and models are all redone, it would preserve the feel of the game without changing what people loved about it. This is not cell shading, so GameCube textures will not look very good at 4K.

There are a bunch of quality-of-life features that the HD version introduced, and I think they would be able to add more without taking away from the experience.

@NolandC Let's say a game is rendering natively at 1080p. Is it better to scale that first to 1440 and then have the TV display it at 4K, or is it better to pass that to the TV at 1080 and scale it to 4K?

If there's one game I would HATE to see on GameCube NSO it would be Twilight Princess. It would mean that they are NOT planning to remake it for the Switch 2 any time soon, and meanwhile there is a better version on the Wii U.

Take my money, Nintendo!

@montrayjak The Switch 2 can run at 1440@120. It cannot output 4K@120 due to bandwidth limitations, since it sounds like they're using HDMI 2.0 speeds rather than 2.1.

This is a reasonable compromise, but I wish they had sprung for a full 4K@120 to avoid double-scaling: first from native rendering resolution to 1440, and then by your television up to 4K.

In some cases you might get a better picture outputting at 1080@120 than at 1440@120, since 1080 to 4K is just doubling along each axis.

At this point, we've gone past 'worried' to 'disheartened'. The price hike has basically happened across the board.

At $20, I was willing to shell out for each of the 4 (or 5) new TOTK amiibo. At $30, I'm going to wait and see if the price drops due to no one buying them.

Maybe I'll get one a month with my GameStop Pro discount.

He's a marketing executive. "Stay tuned" just means "I don't have anything to announce right now, but the company reserves the right to do so at some point in the future".

It's not as if he volunteered the topic. Obviously there's going to be another 3D Mario game in the next 0 to 10 years. Nintendo wants us all to listen with bated breath to every announcement they make.

This statement means literally nothing.

Wow. It was already a price hike at $20 each for the TOTK Champion amiibo, but at $30 each I'm not sure who is going to buy them.

I was planning to, as a collector of all previous Zelda amiibo. Now I'm not, at least not at launch.

I remember when Animal Crossing amiibo were on clearance for one $5 for months on end, just sitting on shelves.

I expect at this price the demand will fall, and they will sit on store shelves until the price comes down.

You don't want Hall Effect sticks in the presence of strong magnets anyway. They would immediately drift when attached to the console.

I want to know what outfits we'll get for a dolphin to wear.

This 'Direct' could have been a tweet.

There's definitely a good business case for them to port to the Switch 2, but they may go the route of Hogwarts Legacy and re-release rather than provide an upgrade, even a paid one.

It's likely that the performance would land somewhere between a PS4 Pro and a Series S. I'm going to stick with my PS5 copy (which was a free update from PS4).

@Yosti MKW won't support the feature (at least not that I've heard.)

But in general if a game can render multiplayer in split screen, it can render it on multiple screens at a lower resolution each with the same resources.

@Yosti That's not correct. In the Switch 2 Direct, they showed playing a poker game where each player has their own screen displaying different cards.

It's like the Wii U GamePad: the main console renders multiple screens and streams the appropriate display to the remote devices.

For Split Fiction, yeah, it's the same screen, but if you were going to replicate NintendoLand on Switch 2 using a Switch 1 for the second screen, you could totally do that.

I would LOVE for NintendoLand to be ported to the Switch 2: I still play the multiplayer games with my kids: The Ghost game, Mario Chase, The Zelda sword/archery one, even occasionally the Pikmin game. Those are some great games, and the asymmetry contributes a lot to the fun.

Why can't Nintendo get a Bluesky account? I'm not checking Twitter.

Hall effect and magnets don't mix. Magnets make Hall effect sticks drift, because they function by measuring the magnetic field.

This is fine.

If you're playing the game, and want to take advantage of this, and you come across a weapon that's just perfect and you need it restored to its pristine condition, just SET IT ASIDE: put it on display in Link's house, or keep it unused in your inventory.

Then, in the coming days, spin the wheel, and when the repair bonus comes up, retrieve that weapon and repair it.

This is not intended to alter the mechanics of the game: it's intended to be a nice bonus that eases a frustration some may have, on average once in every two weeks of playing the game.

It's supposed to be fun and whimsical.

Reminder that in Tears of the Kingdom there is actually a weapon repair mechanic built into the game: once per Rock Oktorok (which respawn every Blood Moon) you can feed it a weapon and it will spit it back out in pristine condition and with a randomized bonus modifier.

In BOTW, you can also repair the Champion's weapons, or if they are destroyed, purchase a replica replacement.

Of course mine are all sitting unused on display in Link's house in pristine condition, because I'm a compulsive collector of such things.

The perfect is the enemy of the good. WW on NSO is... nice, but I don't think I'll ever play it that way, since the widescreen, fast-sail, tingle-bottle (Pretendo), second screen version is literally right there!

If you never played it on Wii U, you won't know what you're missing, and the upped resolution will be a bonus. It's nice for you. But I just can't.

Maybe it would be fun to screen share with GameChat? With who though? Maybe it will be fun to share video clips and screenshots with stamps and QR codes from the NS app.

@Kiyata Say that to any PC gamer. Or Xbox GamePass subscriber. Or phone gamer.

Yeah, it'll look different with no used market. Maybe worse. The used and collector markets are important to many gamers. But life (and gaming) finds a way.