duffmmann

@JJtheTexan I'll give you simple, but consistent... eh not so much. If we started off calling Earthbound, Earthbound 2, and then we called Earthbound Beginnings, just Earthbound, then we could call it consistent. But as it stands, it's an inconsistent naming structure, much in the same way that calling the 3DS and Wii U Mario Karts as Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8 respectively, after 6 entries previously not numbering themselves (obviously 64 doesn't count as proper numbering here).

@AzzyC Considering the way it will likely release at this point (if at all), would be through a GBA service for Switch online, sales numbers of the game wouldn't really be a thing. Internally Nintendo could probably look at how many people played it, but there would be no public numbers for us to look at and see if it's a success or not in the modern day.

Earthbound Endings would just be too perfect. Plus the creator of the series has said time and time again, that he has no intentions of ever doing a 4th entry. Sure that could change in the future, but as things stand, the thought does seem to be holding true. And if it did eventually happen, they could just give the 4th game a clever subtitle that makes it clear we're in a new era of Earthbound.

I dunno, personally I was disappointed to see Mega Man 11 adapt a new modern art style instead of sticking to the 8-bit NES style of games 1-6 and 9-10. But with that series I feel like it's a little more understandable to feel how I do as there are multiple Mega Man series and I feel like a unified at style for each one helps each series in the franchise retain their own identity. The style of 11 would be better fit for a new Mega Man series entirely or maybe for a new Mega Man X entry instead.

@Nontendo_4DS what I don't like about Super Nintendo Switch is how it kinda shuts the door on Nintendo continuing down the Hybrid system path. If this concept continues to work so well, then I'm gonna want a Switch 3 and then later than that a Switch 4. I mean what do they do for a third model after the Super? What the Ultra Nintendo Switch? The difference between a word like Super and Ultra will only lead to Wii U levels of confusion for parents trying to buy the latest model for their kids.

Just keep it simple, Switch 2, and then if that's a big success, they can later do a Switch 3 and so on and so forth.

@Crono1973 the only time there was confusion with a Nintendo system was the Wii U. Call it the Switch 2 if it's a proper Switch successor I say, that sounds better than Nintendo 8 or the like (though I'm all for the successor to the next system being called the Ninetendo lol). The only takeaway is, just don't call it something like the Switch U, Switch I, or New Switch.

I mean the Xbox One was a dumb as hell name, but no one was truly confused by it. Had they called it the Xbox 360 U however, then that would have done that system no favors lol.

Well the smart money says, just do a proper Switch 2 and you'll continue to be golden.

But if I'm critical, the Wii U was essentially the Wii 2 and its sales were nothing compared to the OG Wii. Perhaps if they used proper 2 branding instead of U, it could have fared a whole lot better (which it honestly should have, the Wii U might be my favorite console thus far, of course the sales do nothing to represent that). Beyond some solid branding, the Switch isn't like the Wii where the Wii sold so well because it was just the gimmick we all wanted at that time, the Switch's hybrid nature is a feature that doesn't stop losing its appeal, we want it now, and we'll still want it in the future. So I don't think they're too poised to repeat the Wii U by playing it safe with a Switch 2 if that is the route they choose to go, which I truly do believe they should.

@somebread Does kicks, and that 'Lee' part of it's name obviously. True that his name isn't Hitmonlee across the world, which I guess begs the question, does this mean Hitmonlee's English name could be in jeopardy? Like I don't think the character's design is in any trouble of being removed from the Pokemon universe, but the name seems like it could in theory be subject to change.

It's been far too long since the last official custom designed Pro controller was introduced. Happy to see another.

The fan translation is excellent, and I have doubts that Nintendo could really do much to one-up the translation we have. On top of that an official release today isn't going to be a physical thing, it's either gonna come as a part of a probably GBA service to come to the Switch, maybe some sort of proper virtual console release, or MAYBE some sort of trilogy collection release for the Switch. Unless the release were the last one there, collectors aren't exactly going to care much about a digital only release, beyond just the satisfaction of knowing it was finally officially localized. And with both Beginnings and Earthbound available already in the online services, a separate trilogy release for the Switch seems all the more unlikely.

Would I welcome an official release? Absolutely. Is it as necessary as the biggest fans of the series would have you believe, no, not really at all.

@AugustusOxy I can get where the DK64 hot-take comes from, but I don't see why DKC 3 was particularly harmful, I mean it's probably the weakest entry of the original DKC trilogy, but it's still a fun solid game all the same, most people that liked 1 or 2 will still find a lot about 3 to enjoy.

I enjoyed Donkey Konga for what it was. It definitely came out at just about the right time when rhythm games with gimmicky controls were in their prime. So if they were ever going to do such a game, they probably couldn't have done it at any better time than when they did. And while I'm not clamoring to go play any of the Donkey Konga games again, I do absolutely enjoy going back to Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (the original bongo controlled Game Cube version), as I feel like that was a really brilliant implementation of the bongo controls in a video game, and it wasn't even really a rhythm game.

@Harmonie Fairly Oddparents are a rights issue. You would think it's strictly a Nickelodeon property, but apparently, it's not as simple as these other characters. This is why Danny Phantom is in the game, but no Fairly Oddparents characters are yet.

@rjejr I have to imagine at this point that the game has probably started over. And my money says, its because they looked back at what they had only to realize that Pikmin 4 was really little more than more Pikmin 3 with little innovation from the game before it. Or perhaps, he was actually talking about Hey! Pikmin for the 3DS at the time, and the proper Pikmin 4 was only very early in development or hadn't even started yet.

@The_BAAD_Man "This is the equivalent of the US promoting Target/Walmart exclusives etc."

I think you're missing the point, it would be equivalent to that if the US had ads where Martinet has Wario, Mario, or Luigi, etc. actually do all the voice acting for the ad, but genuinely, I don't remember ever seeing that once in an American ad, be it for a specific chain or otherwise.

Why did they go from Wario talking and entertaining us all in Gold to making him audibly silent in Get it Together!? Having him speak in Gold was genuinely a joy that I immediately missed in Get it Together!

Oh I had no idea the Octo Expansion was added to the service recently. That's friggin awesome, I always wanted that expansion, but not quite enough to purchase it. But I have been paying for the Expansion Pass online service, so now I can play it, and that's pretty cool.

Yeah this makes sense, for purely motion controlled games, 2 players right next to each other, focusing on a small screen while getting physical is a recipe for disaster.

Something like this feels like it'd be a separate trilogy release that Sega will inevitably do for all modern platforms. I'd love if we get a GBA Online service on the Switch, and these games were included, but my gut says that's not gonna happen (these games launching on the service that is, not the GBA Online service, i do think that will happen), maybe like Genesis online, one of the three games would be included, but the rest wont in order to encourage players to buy the full collection.

I'm not sure him working more closely with this game could have saved it. From it's inception it just seemed kinda doomed.

I wish they would go back to the Genesis Classics and add Sonic 3 and Knuckles into the game now that they seem to have worked something out to be able to reissue those games again. And it would really help bring that collection together, pretty annoying how it has pretty much every Sonic Genesis game, except those 2.

@YoshiF2 totally, all 2 times that's worked out lol. While on the subject I genuinely want to see the Lord and Miller cut of Solo, I bet it was pretty hilarious.

@shinesprites is just an answer to what the big core releases are this year outside of Splatoon. We may get a lot of Pokemon, but that doesn't make the next entry any less of big deal for the franchise. And Xenoblade is getting more popular by the day, the more Nintendo promotes the franchise, the quicker its becoming Nintendo's Final Fantasy series of their own.

@shinesprites Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are the big ones that come to my mind.

@Shepdawg1 True, but keep in mind Illumination wrote those films' stories with their team. I kinda imagine that Nintendo had a script of their own and were mostly just shopping for an animation studio that would be able to bring their story to life. Especially after the abomination of the Super Mario Bros. Movie that they had no input on the script of.

Now I don't think Illumination are the best at 3D animation either, however their style does seem like a totally reasonable fit for the simple but vibrant art style that 3D Mario has embraced in recent years. Would I have preferred Pixar or Dreamworks, of course, but for Nintendo's needs I really don't think Illumination is a bad choice. Plus, by avoiding Pixar, we avoid Disney getting their grubby paws all over Nintendo, I'm still uneasy enough that Sora is Smash, let's not put more fuel on that relationship.

Definitely take your time with a movie. Unlike a video game, you can't patch a film after it's been released (unless you're George Lucas, or the film adaptation of Cats).

Seems like it'd be a lot of work to fake, having to go so far as to develop 2 separate emulators that are brand new and not based on already existing GB/C and GBA emulators. I really don't doubt the legitimacy of this one. Nintendo has left unannounced content to be datamined in their games and systems before, wouldn't be surprising to see it happen again. Though you'd think they'd have learned to better hide or simply not include this kind of content so early by this point.

@Silly_G When the sport not launching at launch already has a solid alternative from Nintendo on the Switch as it is, complete with optional motion control (I'm talking Mario Golf), I can kinda get why that sport wasn't rushed to make it at launch with the rest of the game.

It makes zero sense that Capcom would release all 6 NES Mega Man games to the service, when they sell all 6 games together as a single package, with literally no other game as a part of that package. Now if they gave us 1 or 2 Mega Man games, I could see that, but all 6 just doesn't add up in my mind.

@BenAV It's fine, I can certainly use it effectively, but I absolutely prefer the original's method at the end of the day. And the way I held the GamePad when using the feature, meant I never actually looked away from the main screen, I just had a view of both at once, not unlike a DS or 3DS.

It wasn't a huge feature, but that second screen on the Wii U being able to quickly jump anywhere on the map with a quick tap on the screen without disrupting the main screen gameplay really was the ideal way for such a feature to be implemented. One of the only features that was better in the original over the second. I don't believe any kind of trickery or patents will be able to replace the convenience and speed of the original game's implementation, unless the patent essentially gives the game a second screen.

Now I don't see that being the case, but it seems like a simple Joy Con adapter could hold your smartphone between the 2 Joy Con, looking like a thinner Wii U GamePad. Have the Switch app on the phone pair with Splatoon 3, and maybe it could display the map on the phone so that, like the GamePad you could quickly tap on a location and in the game immediately jump there. That certainly doesn't look like what this patent describes, but it could be a great way to get some second screen features back that were actually beneficial back in the Wii U days, and it could actually give that Switch app some more value than what little it currently has.

@yuwarite hell, even beyond that would be AR contact lenses, and at some point beyond that, some sort of surgery that builds AR vision directly into our brains, so pretty much once we're cyborgs lol. Of course all of that is far more in the future than a nice pair of thin AR glasses, those should be here fairly soon.

I'm surprised that they didn't continue to work with The Pokemon Company to make this a Pokemon Tamagotchi type of game. Surely this same idea but with Pokemon would be a huge hit. And while you could start off small with like 15 different Pokemon choices to raise as a virtual pet (I'm thinking they'd start with many of the starters, as well as Pikachu and Eevee for available pet choices from the start), the ability to expand the available pets would be vast without having to create any new designs from scratch, allowing to easily keep the game alive for years to come much like Go.

They should make a white version too, to truly match his earliest look on the boxarts and advertisements.

@daichi42 doesn't matter how they compare lol, point is Nintendo will happily outsource remakes, they've done it before, don't see why it can't happen again at all.

@daichi42 "I don't think it is Kid Icarus/Metroid Prime, there's no reason Nintendo wouldn't ask Sora/Retro Studios for that."

Absolutely there is, those devs are working on other new games. Grezzo didn't make the original versions of Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, or Link's Awakening, yet Nintendo put them in charge of those remakes, since they're just remakes.

I bet, it's Kid Icarus Uprising. That game is too good not to come to the Switch, but the graphics could definitely use an upgrade on the system.

Some of these are pretty bad. That FF2 one in particular is awful.

Nintendo needs to be more willing to translate previously exclusive games with these old system services. Sure we can say, "What about Eartbound Beginnings or Sin and Punishment?" Well the former had a translation ready to launch in the NES days but simply didn't happen back then, while the latter was already in English in its original version. These aren't really late translations they've returned to create all these years later, they were pretty much just sitting there waiting for Western releases.

These games however were never localized, so they'd have to be willing to do a new translation for these games all these years later, and I'm not sure Nintendo is too interested in that.

I really want another Pokemon Conquest

I like how Platinum both goof off with their April Fool's prank every year, while at the same time revealing exciting genuine information that isn't a joke.

@Jbuggydroid Give it time, the price will decrease as the tech improves and higher capacity cards are introduced. It's kinda crazy to watch the prices of SD cards from year to year, that same 128GB micro SD card for $15, used to cost like $100 only like 6 or 7 years ago.

Genuinely an all around solid selection of third party titles for these classic systems. I really would have thought that Earthworm Jim (2 or otherwise) would be held off for his own inevitable separate collection on the Switch, likewise, I'd have thought Dig Dug II would have appeared on some Namco collection instead of in NES Online.

Hopefully that isn't the final name, cuz I'd say it's not a great name. I always liked 'Death of the Wild' for a sequel name.

All I need is Wario Coliseum and Waluigi Pinball and I'll be a very happy man.

My money says, Xbox will see some sort of remaster and Switch will get the original version added to the N64 Online service.

I bet the date did come from someone on the team years ago and he just wasn't aware of it, or they've retroactively decided that the March 2022 date was no longer canon.

@RPGreg2600 The Razor was made by Motorola, not Nokia.

@MostHandsieBoy When you think about it, it's pretty much the only memorable Nokia phone model name in general. I don't think I could name another Nokia model, I assume they're all just random numbers or something like that.

So really, if Nokia ever wanted to make a name for themselves again, they would be smart to try and make a great modern smartphone and call it the NGage X, it could have an emphasis on gaming, but it wouldn't necessarily need to. The name recognition is what is important, plus games would certainly be playable on it regardless like any other smartphone.

That's pretty dang cool, I always liked the idea of a DS that only the screens close shut, as there just seems like there is so much empty space on the top half of a DS that doesn't look so great when playing (this isn't a problem the wider top 3DS screen).

But it obviously always made sense in regard to just protecting itself when not in use, which I think is a really cool feature of these new folding smartphones in general, how they just naturally protect their screens when not in use.