kalosn

Ugh... Sometimes, I think even the economic business is waiting for Nintendo to release its new console.

Even if it could mean nothing, I have been thinking as of recently that an open-world Gold/Silver remake with the PLA mechanics would be a perfect rite of passage for Game Freak for a good modern Pokémon game, but then Palworld came...
To be honest I just want them to focus on one big game at a time, you have other devs to work on main games in the meantime.

It exceeded my expectations in many ways, but still no Silksong means it wasn't perfect...
Still, it's nice to see Switch's library expanding. When the successor arrives with backwards compatibility, just look at the amount of software

Honestly, there's something incredibly amusing about the 'Rare games coming to Switch online' announcement being a equivalent to "Mother 3 coming to NSO". I don't know what though.

Endless Ocean is a personal favorite, it's one of the deeper Wii experiences as an ocean life simulator. And it's technically a Nintendo IP since they published both games from Arika.
But while seeing it come back is a joy, there's something different here... this seems much more online focused. Well in any case, I hope it sells decently enough to warrant a special title for the Switch 2.

Both are great games, while one is a live service that must be very entertaining coming from Obsidian. Now in the same platform as Pikmin lol
Now we just need the other two games. Hi-Fi Rush could certainly come to Switch, but I hope there's a possibility for Sea of Thieves too, even if it's small.

One of the more pleasant announcements of the Direct. This one feels a long time coming ever since the need for that company to make Mickey cool again, public domain aside

Well this was a nice surprise. I guess waiting is worthwhile, but don't forget to update your progress maybe..

Now THIS is a very smart way to announce an exclusivity break.
It's a Persona 5 Royal case. Yours is mine...

No, no, no... As I've said before, releasing the successor will be mainly about Nintendo being up to date with the rest of the industry. You know, that feeling from 2017 onwards after the Switch came, and suddenly everything became in full-boom?
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/08/editorial_is_this_a_golden_era_of_gaming_absolutely

This should be the year the Switch 2 will begin its roadmap to release, Nintendo will likely have talked about the console before the end of the year, hopefully with games, price, release date, everything... at least that.

Ironic, after seeing a record-high thanks to Switch 2 chit-chat, they're now seeing a record-low for the same reason.
No doubt they have to talk about it sooner than later, the more its shares drop for the coming weeks. Rumors spoke about a reveal happening before GDC, even if it won't be coming for a year, it would still establish a roadmap for the company.

Aren't Nintendo Direct Minis about coming outta nowhere? The fact this was announced early shows it was indeed originally planned for last week, but a certain podcast paved in.
But after so many strange rumours recently, this is still way better than nothing. Especially for those longing for Silksong news.

A 2025 release to acommodate a "big" game lineup? I don't know, it sounds like they had plenty of time since 2021 already to think about tha, maybe even before when considering the Switch Pro plans.
This rumour sounds really unbelievable, and mostly seems to be about Nintendo not being sure about when it will be ready to properly make the 'proper generational transition' they have been very focused recently.
Basically, a delay isn't necessarily confirmed, but could possibly happen based on how they will position it since announcement, and a 'big game linup' is part of that of course.

Still, what matters most is when they will finally unveil it!! There used to be a time when consoles like the Wii U and 3DS were announced around a year and a half before release, but now? Nintendo would be very confident to use that strategy again. It's still the best thing to do for everybody though. GDC is coming soon, and considering how investors reacted to these reports, maybe it's time for Nintendo to unveil the NX (again )

I've seen the podcast and all their takeaways about the business and the industry. This actually seems like an expansion to the iniciative that began with Minecraft, and was then followed by games like Ori and Cuphead, don't expect too much AAA exclusives, except the ones from Bethesda and Activision that should come (hopefully). They won't be pulling a "Sega" anytime soon.

Microsoft's new strategy is actually very similar to what many media companies (especially WBD) are now doing in terms of their streaming strategy: bring profitability to their businesses and the whole industry. Even Sony has been doing their work with their device streaming and PC efforts. In fact, Nintendo is the only one of them that has yet to do that (or maybe their need to do it in the first place).
What I don't understand is why the need to change things now, if the "exclusive" strategy worked well (money-wise) for decades.

Now Microsoft says they're working on the "biggest technical leap" for their next-generation Xbox... as if we needed more reminders about you-know.

"Our developers can build the specs of the hardware"
Those words alone are the main excuse for the next-gen Switch to be powerful at the primordial least. It's important for devs and their visions to not have limits.
By the way, I thought there was going to be a Nintendo surprise for this week, but where we are right now probably explains some things.

I wonder if they will be using UE more for their next-gen games. They have a very well optimized in-house engine that usually did wonders for the Switch, but how their games will look for the next console is still a curious thought.

Well this leaves the Direct enigma resolved. Except, the week isn't over yet...
Fingers crossed for a TTYD remake release date soon!

@PoeTheLizard But the Wii U administration was like, many eons ago. And we all know that was one of their key mistakes to how the Wii U was handled, and a much bigger mistake than using a cutting-edge mobile chipset (for 2015) in a 2017 console, was also a different context.

Nintendo, during those "NX" years, was still recovering from the losses of the Wii U, of course they couldn't affort to risk more power (and a higher price) for their next console by increasing their Tegra X1 requirements. Except of course, increasing its RAM by 1GB by request from developers.

But right now, with the enormous success of the Switch in mind, and the ever-increasing competition in the mobile space, it suddenly doesn't feel like a no-brainer, does it? You have to spend your money on something worthwhile, listen to what the devs want and all that.

I hope the wait was worthwhile enough to classify those T239 rumours as outdated information. As years pass, tech moves forward, especially in mobile hardware.

Issues aside, the Joy-Con was an important revolution to the original Switch which should me mainainted in its successor. There are already many workarounds in case the controllers are too small for the screen.

Aren't those the 2003 turtles? lol

Those will be fun releases, but it's clear the bigger games they're making are being made for another system. And Metroid Prime 4, that's another topic for another day...

"Heading into"
"Heading into"?!
What does that mean?! Fans, analysts and investors alike are awaiting for Nintendo to at least confirm its existence!
Even they should know that it's best to both announce and release the console while its predecessor is still selling well, DON'T make the same timing mistake the Wii U went through.

The proper Sonic Generations experience is finally coming to a Nintendo console. It's very satisfying for me since I wanted this release to happen for more than a decade.
Also, what a curious name. What's that on your mind huh?

I remember me wanting this port 5 years ago. Remember the 3DS Ace Combat and its amiibo compatibility?
This is why backwards compatibility is a must-be for the Switch 2, to make these ports worthwhile in the long-term

What about the designers, artists and programmers who make all the hard work? Huh?! What about the HUMAN labor that goes into making these experiences? Use AI as an assistance, not a replacement.

GTA 5 isn't even on Switch, yet they're already talking about this?
I think the franchise coming to Nintendo hardware goes beyond tech capabilities. We only got the trilogy, yet GTA 5 could perfectly run on the Switch based on both PS3/PS4 era specs.

If Nintendo wants this kind of games for their next console, they could be there. Besides, those leaked specs must be like, outdated by more than a year ago. I swear sometimes it feels a forsaken stigma has grown with them against the Switch over time.

I don't like the fact this DLC adds a lot of content that should've either been part of the main game or simply a free update. Expansions are suppossed to be not only more areas (which this DLC thrived), but mainly about expanding the story, the lore, character development, and testing ground with new features for the franchise (which too, was also something this DLC gave, but few in between). Probably the best new feature is fact you can walk as your Pokémon in a special minigame.

They need to focus more on actually expanding with these DLCs, rather than cyclically returning features one by one. Basically, they do need more development time.

Good thing you didn't talked about the Wii. That'd deserve an entirely separate article lol.
And watch out for bootleg Mario Party DS copies, you know!

I know this was bount to happen soon, but......

That's it? That's how you say goodbye to one of the most influential, generation-defining, all-gathering events in our entire lives? I say this announcement deserves a huge article, something that doesn't leave us in this blank state, after what felt like abrupt years for the event.

E3 may have lost relevance over the years, but video game gatherings will NEVER disappear. Summer Game Fest is its official successor, but can it reach the same heights of E3 on its best years? And more importantly, will Nintendo finally adapt to these changes and bring all their guns to these new events?

I know, we will still have Nintendo Directs, but remember, those times with all their booths and reunions with demos on their newest games... that is something only a physical event can bring.

I will truly miss press conferences though, they still got their charms.

@Workcomesfirst
I simply described your desire to join the site, the natural behavior of the internet explorer, mainly to take back what I said about you joining out of nowhere. It's just that

If you look at it in a deepeer way the film is much more than simple mediocrity. Even as "brutally honest" fans, there is a better way of giving feedback than using harsh words that don't help all the artists and directors who worked on it. Trust me, when you reach a more mature and contextual level of experience in judging audiovisual works, you will learn to differentiate those works that do deserve criticism, those who deserve acclaim and those who simply need commendable feedback, always in the great scheme of things, or in this case, industry. That's how we can help them evolve and progress, even if we don't work for them.

Anyway, that's all I want to talk about. Besides my hopes about these creative industries, there's not much more need for me to write more here.
As a final note, there are many ways to appreciate (or at least tolerate) Illumination. But instead of talking about the studio itself, I could talk about Moonlight:
https://deadline.com/2022/09/illumination-mike-moon-netflix-moonlight-1235125865/

@Workcomesfirst
Nothing wrong with creating an account to finally speak up. I know how it feels that, after exploring it for so long, you decide to create an account on the site you like to finally say how you feel about many things. That's a perfectly normal thing to do and naturally, after the first nominations came by, it also felt like the perfect moment.
However, think about this: After creating an account, the first thing that person does is harshly speaking an unpopular opinion in front of everyone, it feels like energy was finally unleashed, but maybe a bit unfairly.

But you sound like someone that has an honest, disappointed view in the film. Ugh.. please ignore those strong words I used before and please, please give me your biggest, most detailed criticism about this film so I can at least understand your view about a film I found more than enjoyable, albeit not perfect and maybe not worthy enough to be nominated.
And I wouldn't underestimate Illumination now. Maybe they known to infamously not be as artistically inclined as other studios and only pandering to the "lowest common denominator", but I think things are finally changing after the SMB movie. There are some new facts about the studio you may not know.

@Workcomesfirst
I see you just created an account to tell us about your cynical thought on a very decent movie like this... pretty good to me in fact.
What do you know about Illumination? Likely the surface, clickbait-worthy opinions.

There are so many things to think about here... maybe first and foremost the snubs. TMNT and at least one Netflix film (preferably Nimona) should've been there, maybe in place of one of the two Disney films (surprisingly Wish).

Best of luck for the SMB movie, but I honestly think both Boy and the Heron and Spider-Verse deserve to win here. It was incredibly popular with the fans and public, but not so much with official critics. We won at the end and owe for the film's success, but does it really deserve to win?
Well at least I hope it wins for best original song lol

For families AND fans. Just as with video games, these companies must never ignore the fans when it's about animated projects. That's how we all contribute to the franchise's performance.

I don't think there will be another Smash like the previous ones. See? that's why the Switch 2 needs backwards compatibility!
If there will be another Smash game, I think it's going to be something completely new and different, kinda like the competitive battles in Kid Icarus Uprising which somewhat felt like a 3D Smash Bros game. And maybe Sakurai can remain as an advisor at least.

Actually it makes sense to leave this game as unique as it is for the time being, the next game should be different enough to establish a new identity and leave the previous game as its own worth.
But there are no limits to imagination! There are so many things that Zelda TOKT could still have to feel even more complete, I still can't believe they are not planning DLC for it, and after this interview I feel it deserves that even more.

At least they can appear as anything but skins then. I can understand Nintendo not wanting to turn their characters into looting-and-shooting lookalikes, it would be exactly the same reason why many family-friendly characters are not seen there, no matter how popular the game is to give them some popularity boosts. Ironic considering that demographic is the one which most plays the game, or at least on par with late teens.
Certain characters like Samus though, would be fitting for the game. Heck, even a mature Link skin...

This wasn't right, you can't treat Aonuma like that, Kojima got what the others also deserved!
Apart from that, the trailer presentations are still an important part of what makes this a special award show and an example for other industries with such fan following.

Dang... Well there's always room for improvement.

I wish there had been a livestream in this site. But still, this edition was truly something, maybe the best one yet?

Seeing Zelda win in at least one category during a very close competition was satisfactory for me.

I wish this was coming to Switch, but if PS4 is the only last-gen platform to get it, you know the chances aren't very high..

Unless we gear up for another World/Rise situation for the Switch 2, this should be definitely coming to a Nintendo console soon.
The visuals look surprisingly not very stunning, but maybe we haven't seen enough of it yet.

I like afro-futurist aesthetics, so this one's worth a look.

I whispered to myself that it would indeed be a very very tough competition, tough enough to realize everyone was a winner. That fact is reinforced by Baldur's Gate 3's victory. A game that won that prize the same year it took the world by storm, and considering Zelda at least triumphed in Best Action-Adventure, it was still gratifying to see one of the most memorable Game Awards nights, maybe the best one in its 9-year history. Remember how things used to be 10 years ago:
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/12/soapbox_nintendos_appearance_at_vgx_underwhelmed_but_the_show_itself_was_far_worse

More importantly, the wild variety of creativity, quality, representation and gathering seen was a strong testament for the gaming industry, so much to serve as aspiration.
But then there's a worrying feeling about Nintendo becoming increasingly irrelevant on these gaming celebrations, up until they stay up to date with their hardware. The amount of games unveiled here is good reason to finally upgrade, please...

A "new era" for Sega.

This was definitely a bombshell, everything about this was simply overwhelming. The art styles, the gameplay, it's like a dream come true! (literally literally) I'm particularly interested in the new Jet Set Radio as well as the SoR4-like Shinobi game.

As for us Nintendo players, simply imagine Nintendo making a trailer like this one day, even if announcing 5 games at early development at once would go against their way. Like, if they went all out on announcements for the Switch 2...

Oh boy, it will finally be time for the Genshin Impact/Zelda fandoms to cross roads, I've been expecting this moment since 2020.
Seriously, this will definitely be a tough competition.

@DennisReynolds Batman Arkham Knight, more demanding than TW3? Show me the numbers to prove that statement is true and not a negatively unbalanced thought based on some kind of... preference.

Just remember, both games ran on almost the same equivalent settings on PS4 and Xbox One, while Arkham Knight's PC port was definitely unfortunate. Not only it was all about optimization there, it was the artistic direction that made it even more refreshing than the previous games in the series, and gave it more visual praise than Witcher 3's generally dull direction. Both games still had demanding engine features.

So many questions here.

Why does Arkham Knight look like a work done by Low Spec Gamer? Remember The Witcher 3, another AAA blockbuster from 2015 with equally the same demand as Arkham Knight, and an excellent Switch conversion.

The most baffling to me: Why are Arkham Asylum and City based on the 7th gen console versions instead of the Return to Arkham remasters? They were done by VIRTUOS, of all studios! The same studio known for their respectable Switch works and pushing the envellope of what's possible there (cough The Outer Worlds), they were expected to be pausible on Switch even years ago, that's how it was supposed to happen!
Maybe they both run better than Arkham Knight, but there is still a big loophole there.

Seriously, what happened here? There weren't any previous indications that it would turn out this anti-miraculously.
Now I wouldn't think too much about this, even if it all gets righteously fixed one day. If this was 2018 it would be a huge deal and would start countless debates about Switch's capabilities, but right now it's simply about fixing it because we all know it's possible, and considering the success of the platform and its future successor coming any time soon, it definitely deserves it.