gcunit

Performance issues = Sloppy devs

It is not your hardware's fault, or your hardware manufacturer's fault, if a software dev can't produce well-performing software for the hardware but tries to sell it anyway.

The reaction in the Comments above seems a bit harsh to me. I'm always grateful for a bit of old-fashioned openness and transparency, so the devs opening up about the process involved in this new version is much appreciated by me.

So this weekend was predominantly going to be resuming my years old Hollow Knight save (once again, **** Switch's activity log, currently saying 10 hrs when I've spent 40+ dragging my sorry ass around Hallownest), along with Tetris 99 tickets, but this week I finally pulled the trigger on the ever-so-cheap-when-on-sale, Railbound, a puzzle game I'd resisted getting for ages cos it looked too simplistic and repetitive, but it turns out to be very engaging to my aged mind and I'm rather enjoying it. Who knows how long that engagement will last, but it's got me for now.

Peace, love & pixels to all xxx

Flashback to when Switch launched and I said it was only a matter of time before competitors tried to muscle in. The amount of people disagreeing with me outnumbered those agreeing with me, visibly at least. Interested to see how this rumour plays out.

@Sylamp Have you checked recently.

Three themes I missed ages ago just recently (since the DK Bananza weekend) got added to my list for me to unlock them - Metroid Dread, Mario 35 and Monster Hunter.

"that PC game you may not have played but certainly heard plenty about"

Never heard of it actually, but I like the visual style and genre, so I'm gonna be playing this on Switch at some point. Thanks for the review.

@Truckasauras That sounds ****ing lush and has got my 80s/90s nostalgia horn aroused.

@Jayenkai Is this SmileBASIC on Switch? Been on my wishlist for ages but the cold hard reality of not having enough time or knowledge has held me back.

I'm gonna give a little PSA because I've not noticed it mentioned by anyone, anywhere. If you're a Tetris 99 player and have missed special themes in the past, some of those you missed might have recently appeared in your list of themes for you to unlock. I missed about 6 in total that didn't used to show in my list, but just recently I discovered that 3 of them had now appeared, so I'm back to earning tickets to unlock them (1 to go, then hoping my elusive 3 others will appear at some point).

Also back into Tears of the Kingdom. About 165 hours in and plenty more to do it seems.

I'm away this weekend, somewhere without wifi, otherwise I'd also be re-downloading Hollow Knight for a quick fix before Silksong. Might have to play Ori or Metroid instead.

Peace, love & pixels to all xxx

Edit: I'm using my mobile data hotspot to download Hollow Knight. I don't even know if I've got 5gb data allowance, I could be compromising my mobile data for the next month... Fuggit.

Update 2: Turns out I only have a 5gb data plan, that's only a few days into its current month, so Hollow Knight download will have to be postponed 😭

Comprehension around here could do with some attention.

Here is ESRB's basic summary of this age rating, which notes what a game under this classification may contain.

"Teen - content is generally suitable for ages 13 and up. May contain...

Timshel, people!

Even if I did have a Switch 2, I strongly doubt my TVs are built for 120 fps, but yay for the rest of you.

Not particularly my genre, but the comic book styling and the animation both look good in the brief footage shown, so I'll be keeping an eye on it.

When watching City Trial mode, the flat textures and rather large and ugly power-up icons did take some shine off the presentation for me, but overall it still looks a lovely gift to us old skool GameCubers.

@N00BiSH Probably due to the same reason Sakurai mentioned in the Direct - while Kirby is still the star of the show, there should be more emphasis on the fact that you can race as several other 'Riders' too.

Fuggen Kirbs - gets me every time 😍

Sakurai's attention to detail and the importance of distinguishing features between characters is crucial to making a timeless game. This the sort of presentation that makes me wanna get a Switch 2.

Kinda surprised, and yet unsurprised, at how stylistically similar the game is to Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Oh boy - cosy farm sims are going to run so sweet on the Switch 2!

@poyo_pie It may have released 'full price', I don't really remember (I ordered the Special Edition), but I ended up buying a second copy of the Special Edition because I found it going much cheaper later on, and I remember the amiibo were knocking about at reduced prices for a fair while. I seem to remember the base game going fairly cheap too, but I could be wrong.

Be interesting to see how they price it.

Recent Metroid pricing has acknowledged that the series is not a big seller, but that tactic doesn't seem to have made a big difference in popularity. So do they revert to pricing high to restore some prestige, but risk lacklustre sales, or do they maintain the b-tier pricing?

The town building segment got me wondering what a Minecraft x Dragon Quest Builders type game would be like in HD-2D style graphics, but with 3D exploration. The answer in my head was "****in' sweet".

I wonder what percentage of the Hollow Knight profits they've burned through on the beach all these years.

The poll question asks whether we've tried it 'yet', but the poll doesn't allow me to vote 'Not yet, but I am interested'.

Immeasurable. Ruined.

https://youtu.be/hJ04pcbszDo?si=JPeZW3lssQLV0HP8

"One other potential explanation is that by the time Super Mario Odyssey launched in October 2017, Nintendo had sold a lot more Switch consoles since its release in March the same year. We're looking at between 14-15 million Switch consoles sold by the time Odyssey launched."

So it turns out people aren't buying two copies each. Stay tuned for more earth-shattering revelations as we get them...

Last week's Splatfest has given me a bit of a taste for punishment, so I'm back on Splatoon 3 this weekend, until I get fed up with the lack of arena rotation, at least.

Gonna be getting into Shadow Labyrinth as well at some point.

Ooh, and I've just finished Return to Monkey Island, which was a nice way to close off a 35-year circle.

Peace, love and pixels to all xxx

"And here comes Level-5... Some people are on the pitch, they think it's all over...

... It's not yet!"

Miyamoto doesn't just DK around, you know.

It's interesting to see how many people assume that what was in the first playtest was basically the final product.

It could well be close to the final product, but there could also be an element of decoy to what we've had access to.

Curious to see how this pans out.

I've got this inbound for Switch. Nothing quite piques my interest like a novel twist on a classic IP. And while I haven't read this review in detail, to see Hollow Knight referred to, even if not particularly flatteringly, only increases my interest.

Wouldn't surprise me if the slight framerate issues mentioned are just because this game was built for Switch and has had no Switch 2 optimisation built-in.

@Markatron84 I'm not trying to throw muck or tarnish any reputations, but there are 'rumours' about David Jason that might put off people from involving him in a project nowadays.

Congratulations to both actors. I hope they're suitably thick-skinned and media savvy to protect themselves from the deluge of ***** that's coming their way for the next few years. I wish them the best for this project and beyond.

I have this physically.

No, I haven't played it. Never watched the films and always intended to watch at least one to get a proper feel for the IP first.

Are city builders generally associated with story?

@Denoloco Piracy affects everyone, because the companies that invest in the entertainment we consume have to divert resources to defending their IP and combating piracy, including through applying restrictive counter measures that can impact everyone.

No piracy = a healthier gaming industry

That's the thing about Miyamoto-san, he's a complete DK guru. There's nothing he can't tell you about DK.

3/10 denotes legendary status, reserved only for the very special games out there.

Congratulations, Tamagotchi Plaza, for you have ascended to the same throne occupied by the beloved Vroom in the Night Sky

And only 5 years after the game released - get them while they're hot!

Interesting times. Interesting variety of user comments. Interesting to see what games get announced over the next couple of months and how the hardware sales figures look in September.

As much as I'm quite satisfied to have held off buying one, it could just take one game to change my mind. I'm sure Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza are great, but my arm just hasn't been twisted yet.

Looks kinda nice and maybe has potential, but that trailer gave me no hope for variety in terms of music and stage backdrops. So while the gameplay looked cute and fun, I'm worried I'd get bored with it quickly without them mixing up and the sound and environments.

These are not the themes we're looking for.

Move along.

Photo mode is what I'm most excited about when I eventually get this. Always really wanted MK8 to have camera control during those beautiful slow-motion replays. Though, from the little I've seen, MKW is not blowing me away in terms of the environmental graphics. Yes, it's got a great range of character models and animations, but MK8D is still better looking to me overall on some tracks.

@DiamondJim You're right, I overlooked that when I wrote my post, but hey, I'm trying to save money here 😆

I think I have War of the Lions (digital) on my Vita.

I'll still probably be down for the Switch version, but I'm not going to scramble a hasty PlayAsia order for it.

I've got the GBA version so not a disaster if I miss out on this, so I'll try not to be too concerned about PlayAsia orders. This has got to get a wider release, surely. Anyone heard a release date?

Yo! What about NG+++?

This is cool 'n'all, but why the heck is nobody reporting on what impact it has on Vroom in the Night Sky's performance? Surely that's the first news everyone is looking for.

I love Switch. Ain't no iFixit score gonna change that.

The only grumble I've really ever had has been the ribbon cables for the rail lights and buttons wearing out prematurely on the earlier joy cons.

Alex unpacking his unit... the video we've all been waiting for.

Tl;dr?

"Everything sucks. Buy my game again."

That, Sir, I will. As long as the Switch 1 version is not gimped.