ilikeike

I know hardly anything about this game but that boxart alone is enough to make me want a physical copy, cuz hot dang that's gorgeous.

Obviously this means that Mother 3 is being localized for Switch as we speak.

This is simultaneously really impressive and not that surprising. It was easily the biggest game of December and the biggest Switch game all year so blockbuster sales were to be expected, but man it's great to see how it really went above and beyond in terms of sales. Well deserved too, it's a wonderful Smash game.

Ridley looks like a gothic gargoyle, it's really cool!

Indies are the absolute best, Celeste and Hyper Light Drifter are two of the most incredible gaming experiences I've ever had, so I'm excited to see whatever gets announced here!

This is my last weekend before college starts up again, so I'll be trying to make the best of it with what little time I have left. Sigh...

As always, Smash Bros. Ultimate will be the order of the day, as I continue my never-ending quest to get Ike into elite Smash. I might be working on that for some time yet!

I'll keep working through Phantasy Star 4 on the Genesis Classics collection. I'm really loving the game, although I hate that I've hit a random difficulty spike that requires grinding up a few levels. Hopefully I can get that over with and proceed with the story, which really is captivating.

Also started playing River City Ransom on NES Online. I must say, that game is surprisingly fun and charming. I love all the personality and wacky expressions on all the characters.

I think they need integrate Labo into more of their big first-party games. Adding Labo support for Mario Kart was neat and actually revived interest in it for a while. Nothing huge; just neat extras for people who've already invested in Labo. Adding functionality like this would help maintain long-term interest in Labo kits beyond the initial novelty factor, which admittedly gets old really fast. It would encourage people to hold on to their kits and make them feel like less of a waste of space.

@bluemage1989 I do understand the commercial reasons behind why publishers may be hesitant to go all in on Switch, but after the console's been on the market for two whole years and shown itself to be super successful even for third parties, it's annoying to see companies still treating it like a lesser platform by skimping out on the Switch release in comparison to the treatment received by other consoles.

@MsJubilee Given how much they've largely neglected the Switch version so far (no special edition, no beta, possible delay in Europe) it wouldn't surprise me if they'd outsourced it to some sub-par port studio at this point.

This will be the biggest fighting game of April, not like there's any competition...

@MsJubilee I didn't get it anywhere but my poor sense of humor. I was just trying to make a stupid joke, no one actually knows how MK performs on Switch yet.

So Switch is missing out on the collector's edition, beta, and possibly even missing that season pass and getting delayed in certain regions. That really sucks.
I know that Switch is trickier to work with due to less graphical capabilities, expensive cartridges and memory limitations etc., but it can't possibly be that hard to treat it as legitimately as other systems. NetherRealm is only reducing their own profits by neglecting the Switch release so much.
At the very least I hope it runs decently well on Switch, whenever it comes out.

Good gracious this game is brutal. I know it's Mortal Kombat so I shouldn't be surprised but jeez. Baraka's fatality is insane

Big Nintendo reveal: Switch version being developed by the creators of the Switch Port of WWE 2K18, runs at a locked 23 fps, 240p resolution.

Really hope they show some Switch gameplay tomorrow...

...and I hope it actually looks good.

It's impressive to see Nintendo Life publish a review with a score lower than 8.

@Agramonte Can't argue with you there.

The only things I can say about that are the old "Not everyone had a Wii U" and "Portability makes old games more appealing" arguments.

@Agramonte To be fair, Japan doesn't have as much incentive to go back to Vesperia Definitive Edition as we do in the West. Japan is basically getting the exact same game they got on PS3 ten years ago with slightly prettier graphics, making it much less exciting than it is for us in the West, where all that PS3 content seems brand-new.

Awesome review NL! I've read a bunch of reviews this morning but I think that this is the best of the bunch. I'm all about video games that provide memorable experiences even if they may be lacking in polish or gameplay, so I think this may be right up my alley. Also, as a lover of indie games, it'll be awesome to sport my favorites on the shirts in-game. Hope there's a Celeste shirt!

@rushiosan I can't think of anything that would make Smash fans happier!

Finally, some Fire Emblem representation in Smash! It's criminally underrepresented in the game, so it's good to see it get some love...

@MysticGengar Love trumps hate...

I swear, with all the datamining and leaking that's going on lately, there has to be some sort of big announcement - or dare I say it, a Direct - coming sooner rather than later.

Glad to see this finally being localized. Maybe now I'll finally get some semblance of an idea of what the actual game is like.

Honestly, I'm not sure I can agree that the fading-out of current-gen hardware will be a good thing for Switch. PS5 and the next Xbox will only make the Switch look even more underpowered as a home console in the eyes of the general consumer, effectively limiting its appeal to that of a conventional handheld console. Third party support will also likely be affected by this as well--it may be too expensive for developers to rework their multiplatform games for Switch alongside significantly more powerful next-gen hardware.

Of course, Nintendo can combat this if they release some sort of New Nintendo Switch or Switch Pro with more power and graphical capabilities, although this would raise questions about what would happen with the original Switch model.

Regardless, however, Switch looks poised to have a landmark year on the software front. We'll just have to see what happens on the hardware side of things.

Man that sucks. At least it's not a Dark Souls-sized delay, but even such a slight delay will still probably be terrible for the Switch version's sales.

This video did the impossible: actually make me feel bad for dropping rocks on Koroks' heads every single time I find them.

Seeing more gameplay of NMH was the only thing that could keep me watching this cringefest.

That said, the gameplay looks fun, and after my initial skepticism I think I'm getting sold on it. Will be interested in the reviews.

@nessisonett I'm only slightly concerned.

Regardless of what you think about DLC, more DBFZ can't possibly be a bad thing.

"Oh I'm gonna throw you over there!"

This looks awesome. I've been wanting to get into the Tales series for some time now and it looks like this is one of the best places to drop in. However, since I'm currently busy with Smash Bros. and Phantasy Star 4 on the Genesis Classics Collection, I'll have to pass on it for now. However, since it's a Bamco game I'm sure it'll be on sale sooner rather than later, so I'll probably pick it up then!

It's great to see this finally get a release date, but it's so strange to see this be announced outside of a Direct. Taking that with all the other news released today, I'm almost doubting we'll see a direct this month at all.

Didn't think it was possible to be even more underwhelmed with this, but here we are.

Didn't see this coming but I for one definitely won't complain! Sounds awesome to have another big open world game on Switch.

If these are the big NES games Nintendo adds to Switch Online in 2019, then man...they somehow found a way to take an underwhelming prospect and make it even more underwhelming than it was before.

I'll be playing through more of Phantasy Star 4 on the Genesis Classics collection. It's a surprisingly fun and accessible RPG, although the difficulty can get a bit out of hand at times. At first it was jarring to play an RPG where you can't restore your magic points or revive fallen party members except only at inns, yet the game is designed around those mechanics so it all works together. I'm especially loving the aesthetics. The manga-style cutscenes are really cool, and the music is awesome too--I love the Genesis soundchip!

It's good to see Blizzard supporting the Switch version with all these cool features and extra content along with other platforms. If only other third parties could realize that Switch should be supported on an equal footing with other consoles...

@Retupmocnin Excuse me, Reggie is fun personified, for his body is forever ready.

"It prints money!"

I fail to be motivated by this playlist of the 2000's most boring and overplayed hits.

This DLC is way smarter than many people seem to realize. Dragon Quest is probably the single biggest videogame franchise in Japan, so it's surprising that it isn't represented already. It's a great pick, especially since Smash Ultimate seems to have garnered a much bigger Japanese fanbase than it has had in its history. The Persona representation will also be great for getting the JRPG/anime audience fully hooked on the game.

Just because you don't like JRPG's doesn't mean that these characters are bad picks

This song is so magical, due in no small part to Abby's fantastic performance. I'll never forget booting the game on for the first time, and hearing the song mixed with the awesome opening cinematic...man, I felt like a kid again. It was just incredible. Thank you Ms. Trott!

Can't wait for a Dark Souls speedrun using a single NES controller.

I don't see how these could ever devalue true, genuine first-print retro games. Just because we have authentic re-releases of a game's original edition doesn't mean that that first release is suddenly worthless.

It's like owning a facsimile of a famous novel's first edition. As a rare book collector, I own a few beautiful facsimiles of famous first editions. For instance, one of my favorite items in my library is a facsimile of the first printing of Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark", with a gorgeous gold printed illustration on the cover, crisp white pages, and a nice red binding. As great as this edition is, though, it doesn't change the fact that it's worth about $20 dollars while the true first edition is worth around $400.

I don't think retro re-releases are harmful for collectors in the slightest. Rather, I think they give them even more cool things to add to their collection, while also giving newer collectors more accessible options to fill out their own collections. They simply give people more options, which I don't believe is a very bad thing at all.

Personally I'd highlight the portable, definitive release of Tales of Vesperia, one of the best action RPG's ever made, over a glorified Wii Sports boxing wannabe as one of the biggest January games, but that's just me.

That said, this is already a very solid start to the year, and I can't wait to see what's revealed in the inevitable January direct. Here's hoping we get a full-fledged presentation this year and not just a mini direct!

Seriously, what is it with Japanese game devs refusing to physically age?! I swear both Suda and Sakurai look like they're in their mid-30's.

Awful hopeful of y'all to put Metroid Prime 4 at the tip of the list.

For most of the year I'd thought this goal was nearly impossible, especially with Nintendo's fairly meager first party output this year. Then the holiday season comes around, and Smash Ultimate and Pokemon Let's Go have both sold ludicrously well--even better than I'd expected them to, and I'd already thought they'd be huge blockbusters--so those sales numbers don't really sound unreachable anymore to me. If they can manage to release one more big first party game before the end of the fiscal year, I think they can reach that goal just fine.

I still don't understand this game very much (may have something to do with the fact that I don't speak Japanese or play many card-based games) but it certainly looks cool. It's also awesome for Switch to have its own exclusive Dragon Ball game. I hope to get a better look at it, provided it makes it to the West.