metaphysician

I know this might be a stupid obvious statement for most people, but just in case: be aware going in that this is very much a stealth game. Its typical genre labels like "real time tactics" might make you think your getting into a smaller scale version of an RTS. You aren't- you are doing something closer to "team Mark of the Ninja".

@Vyacheslav333

No? Why would it be?

( If your thinking "endlessly charging a battery is bad for it", that's technically true but not in a way that is relevant much these days. The Switch, like most electronics for quite some time, has smart enough charging circuits that it doesn't just blast the battery with maximum voltage whenever its not at 100%. It will just trickle a bit of charge to keep it topped up in as efficient and life-extending a way as possible. Which it can do, because when docked the Switch doesn't actually draw on the battery at all. It powers itself straight from the outlet. )

@Jeronan

1. Nintendo rightfully doesn't assume that a Switch in handheld mode will be connected to power. Given that the whole point of handheld mode is to be handheld, and thus the reasonable assumption is that the user won't be tethered to an external power supply, nor will want to be.

2. Cooling is absolutely a concern. Passive cooling still has a finite ability to eliminate heat. Also, not only are you actually holding the device ( thus making the heat output a much bigger usability issue ), but running in a hacked "handheld docked" mode would have greater heat output than even normal docked mode ( because in addition to running the chips at full power, you are also running the screen and speakers, which generate their own heat ).

@ronnande

It also threatens to force them to acknowledge that the Average Consumer cares far less about exact technical and performance specs than they do convenience and price. Specs matter, but mostly in a "good enough" sense. And once the graphics and performance are "good enough", a lot more people would rather prioritize a console with, say. . . a large appealing library of first party exclusives, over one that simply offers slightly better graphics and performance. Especially when that alternate platform is much more expensive and less convenient ( ie, not a hybrid that can be used portably ).

TLDR: A lot of people are the video game equivalent of audiophiles, and just like audiophiles they hate being reminded that the majority don't care about their priorities.

@Mgalens

Especially ironic given the Trails games have plenty of content that really should fit the term "Mature Themes". Even though it doesn't, because that's only ever used as a code word for "Naked people having sex on screen". Having characters dealing with the trauma of being a child soldier or cult survivor, who cares. . . wait, there's pretend gambling?! Sacrilege!

@The_Nintendo_Expat

That's only fair, seeing as the movie itself doesn't demonstrate any evidence that Verhoeven ever read or understood the book, either.

@Axecon

There is a difference between "would be nice to know" and "would be reasonable to demand". Currently those sales figures exist in public, not because its some law of physics that they have to exist. . . but because the relevant data sits in the hands of multiple parties, with multiple incentives, and thus little interest in trying to keep it super secret. If the status quo changes such that its no longer the case? Nothing mandates the sales data has to remain public.

@Axecon

Silly question: why?

Which is to say, the reason these sales charts currently exist is because of third party retailers dealing in third party retail. Nintendo doesn't report anything in the first place, because they have no need or desire to reveal sales data. Outside their own investor reports, anyway.

@larryisaman

And who gets to decide that, and what happens when they wildly disagree with your own taste?

@JohnnyMind

It wouldn't really "solve" anything, it would just trade one set of problems for another. In particular, while end users might be happy with publisher-level blocking functions, the publishers woudn't be nearly so happy. And not just the ones you don't want on the shop, because different people have different preferences and biases. Your "why is it so hard to find this awesome title" game, is another person's "why is this trash even on the eshop" game.

And while, in a perfect world, this would be a "tough *****, end users need sorting tools" issue. . . we don't live in a perfect world. We live in a world where Nintendo has to cajole and finesse developers into supporting the best selling console on the planet, since apparently just accessing a market of 150M customers isn't good enough. I guarantee you, if there were publisher blocking options? At least one of the big AAA studios would complain to Nintendo and threaten to withdraw support. "Why should Ubisoft bother releasing a game on the Switch 2, if you let your customers just block themselves from ever seeing it?" And if they make a block-exception for big companies, that would generate disgruntlement amongst the smaller developers. Its lose lose.

The real optimum solution? For end users to accept that they need to do due-diligence in their own shopping, and not rely on the store to curate their experience. How do you "find" a game? By typing its name into the search bar.

@Dman10

More like they are too afraid that actually enforcing good behavior will anger too many readers and lose out on advertising dollars, because tragic reality: a non-trivial percentage of video game consumers are terrible human beings.

@Shepdawg1

Nevermind console users. PC users don't chase specs, either. Not going by the annual Steam Survey and the data it turns up consistently year after year. The percentage of users with top tier CPUs and GPUs is tiny. Clearly even the majority of enthusiasts only bother with "good quality off-the-shelf" rather than chasing after annual $1000+ GPU updates. Most are fine with "potatoes".

@TripleJump

Why would their second hand price be relevant? Everything is cheaper when its bought used as opposed to new ( assuming a current retail item ). The lower price is what the reseller offers in exchange for "not getting an item in factory mint condition".

@OorWullie

Not exactly your idea, but I've had the idea for a while that the best possible sequel Castlevania game post-Sorrow? One set a century later, in the city that now exists on the moon. The villain of the game is taking advantage of the moon being an inhabited locale, to attempt to liberate and take control of the chaos entity trapped within the lunar eclipse, from the other side of the said eclipse. Which would coincidentally give an excuse to make sci-fi flavored versions of classic Castlevania enemies.

@Broch83

Its because when someone complains about "Nintendo never putting on sales!", what they really are complaining about is Nintendo not selling their games for $5 because a year has passed. They want to buy the game at an arbitrarily low price, and get really angry that Nintendo's answer is "No, we're fine with you not buying it."

@Zeebor15

Yep

https://www.gog.com/en/game/blood_omen_legacy_of_kain

@Serpenterror

"Easily" is quite a stretch. Yeah, a VB Mini could be done, but it'd be quite a bit more expensive. You'd need at least the same chips and silicon as an SNES Mini ( which would itself cost more these days than when the SNES Mini was made ). . . only you'd also need screens and optics, as well as a generally larger and more complex form factor. My guess is that a standalone VB Mini would have to retail at about twice the cost of an SNES Classic, and that would almost certainly doom it

@Zeebor15

My cynical guess is "Because Blood Omen is a 2D game". Either because making a "shinier" remaster would be harder, or they have no confidence that a 2D game would sell, or both.

Which is a pity, since Hot Take Time: Blood Omen 1 is the best game in the series.

@Lizuka

Sure. . . as long as its the one with "Tactics" in its name.

@GoldenSunRM

I don't know, that feels like it'd be awfully fast turnaround for a trend chaser. At least, if it were chasing after FF16, as opposed to independently following the same inspiration.

@arkanjo29

Um, I did. And the most relevant spec I already named: its price. Which is to say, this laptop isn't a comparable device to a Switch 2. Its a far more expensive one.

@AJWolfTill

I credit lingering trauma from their partnership with Philips

@arkanjo29

Which, on googling. . . retails for somewhere between $750 and $1000 new. Which, while I definitely appreciate you naming the hardware rather than making vague claims. . . is exactly why I insist on getting actual hardware specs. Because you are offering as proof a device that costs twice or more that of a Switch 2.

@rjejr

To put it bluntly, nothing you've said has any relevance to the issue of whether a Switch 2 Lite would be practical. You can want it all you want, its not going to magically make the parts needed to make a smaller, lighter, and more power efficient Switch 2 magically come into being.

@kmtrain83

I mean, they could in the "its not impossible" sense, but I really have a hard time seeing Nintendo actually making a $600 OLED model. That would be a major price upgrade over what is already a higher price than they'd probably prefer console; and for a feature that would only be of potential appeal to a minority of their audience. Especially since there is a sizable overlap between "handheld only users" and "price sensitive users".

@kevinm360

Bonus, optional, and unnecessary. If you can't complete the dex, you can instead. . . just play the game, as a game.

@HauntedMasque

The problem is that "vocal video game anti-censorship advocate" and "people who want to be bigoted, misogynistic, and otherwise terrible to their fellow human beings" are two circles that almost completely overlap. Thus "don't be a jerk" is condemned as 'censorship', because the whole point to them is to be free to be a jerk.

@cylemmulo

Eh, worse sure, but historically Pokemon has been a very effective mover of hardware. I suspect an exclusive new Pokemon generation will sell closer to the Switch 1 sales levels than you'd think. After all, its not like the Switch 1 Pokemon games sold MK8 levels- they have high attach rates but only "normal high" rather than 'unthinkable OCP high'.

@rjejr

That would require the Switch 2 Lite to be a thing that existed. Which it almost certainly doesn't and won't, due to the lack of the necessary parts at the necessary price to make it feasible. Even in the best of circumstances, a Lite model would need a power efficiency-improving die shrink in order for the thing to be smaller without a crippled battery life, and AFAIK no such die shrink was on the horizon. And we aren't in the best of circumstances, we are in an AI bubble making even basic components balloon in price, such that even keeping the existing Switch 2 at $450 may be a struggle.

I can understand why it doesn't have the Capcom or Sega games ( since they are bigger and likely have their own plans and interests ), but that doesn't change how this is a really weird medley. Konami, Data East, Acclaim, and LJN- these certainly aren't all from under one roof.

Its probably worth the money, mind. At least if you like beat em ups.

@hXcBoomstick

I suspect its nothing of the sort, and is simply a case of supply catching up with demand over time. Insofar as "nobody can get a devkit!" wasn't exaggerated in the first place, which I strongly think it was. Demand for devkits was always going to be far higher than for the Switch 1, simply because the Switch 2 was coming off a massive success rather than "the Wii U".

@WilliamRikerNC017

And what would be your response if the answer turned out to be "Not enough extra copies to make the lower price worthwhile"? Because when you hypothesize a lower base price, you don't automatically get higher total revenue. That only happens if there are enough extra sales to make up for all the customers who would have paid $60, who are now paying less.

@arkanjo29

Link to the page giving specs of your notebook?

@arkanjo29

Do they do better, on systems with comparable specs to the Switch 2? Because you can make anything run well if you throw enough processing power at it.

@dew12333

The bigger issue is that empty accusations of 'defending a corporation' are used as a substitute for actually providing a substantive argument. Apparently you are supposed to ignore factual reality if it happens to be on the side of a corporation in a given topic. "How dare you point out the limits of battery technology, stop defending corporations!" Or the like.

@topher6490

And just like stories about being hunted by serial killer Bigfoot, you should take them with a grain of salt. Just because a person claims Nintendo shut down their account for "asking for too many refunds", doesn't mean it actually happened in that way ( or at all ). Consider the cases where a youtuber claimed "Nintendo bricked my Switch for using third party peripherals!", and it turned out to instead be either "Nintendo didn't do a damn thing, your unlicensed peripheral broke the console" or "Said peripheral was a jailbreaking device, for which Nintendo banned your account rightfully, they didn't brick your system".

@ShooterMcGavin

They left it off because the game, The Legend of Zelda, is not AFAIK playable in any way on the N64.

They aren't asking about the franchise. They are asking about the specific game that is having its anniversary now.

@Uncle_Franklin

No, but some definitely do feel entitled to say "You should decide your own purchases, with your own money, based on what I think benefits me". Deciding that a given game at a given price point is worth buying, treated as an act of evil against the poster because it doesn't agree with their own judgement of worth. Hence "voting with other peoples' wallets"- they want to claim the privilege of decreeing what other people should spend their money on.

@Cyrax77

Some people ( far too many ) feel entitled to not just vote with their wallet, but to vote with other peoples wallets, too.

@1UP-HUSKY

Because, based on past evidence on the Wii and Wii U, there wouldn't be enough demand to make it worth bothering. Since, with rare exceptions, games on Virtual Console sold in minuscule quantities.

@EarthboundBenjy

Its not just a Nintendo Life problem. In my experience, the polls presented by almost all video game websites and forums tend to be dubious at best. "People who don't fit any of the options should just not vote!" would be the free space at the center of the bingo card, since its basically universal.

@jsty3105

Its not a simple thing, but yeah, that's the overall net result for the most part. If you regularly cut prices to 50% or less a few months after launch, you'll get a customer base that only will want to buy at that 50% price. And if you expect games to be 50% off six months later if you are going to buy them, then you'd best expect to get more of the kind of disposable game that can be discounted so severely.

@The_Nintendo_Expat

You need to provide evidence that:

1. There are a meaningful number of potential customers where "price" is the actual obstacle to buying it. As opposed to people who are not buying it for other reasons. A person not buying the Switch because they are a Sony fan, isn't going to be persuaded by a lower price- that's not why they weren't buying in the first place.

2. That the number of additional customers gained would actually be worth the hardware losses. Nintendo gains no benefit from selling to more customers if it results in less total revenue. Especially since the more price sensitive a customer might be, the less likely they are going to buy a ton of games for it.

@jsty3105

Its the mindset where not getting to play a game is unacceptable, so delaying purchase must therefore have some kind of value. "I offer you X years of delayed purchase, so you offer me Y dollars in reduced cost". Which is complete nonsense: games are not lettuce. They do not rot if left on the shelf. A developer may choose to discount a game, to chase after more and more marginal of customers. . . but they also may choose not. And that choices enraged certain people.

@Moistnado

Please post a link, so we can verify this rather dubious claim.

Re: this collection- it using a different OST is sad but likely due to legitimate reasons. That isn't the issue. The issue is that Ubisoft concealed this until release. Not cool.

Re: keycards- the issue with keycards is not that they are likely to lose support anytime soon. The issue is that there is no good reason to be using them in the first place, and the major purveyors are specifically pushing them to subvert and undermine ownership. In a hypothetical world where they were used strictly as a kludge for particularly large games, they might be acceptable, but that isn't the world we live in. We instead live in a world where games that could easily fit on an actual cartridge are shoved onto a keycard instead, and where big publishers lie and dissemble about their motivations in fairly transparent ways.

@citizenerased

"Exploration by sight" is theoretically a desirable ideal, but I'm not sure how practical it would be for AC without a complete revamp of the franchise's visual style ( or turning the series into a linear set of carefully choreographed sequences ). The fundamental conflict in play is that environments which are realistic and immersive, are also typically cluttered and ambiguous. If you expect the player ( as opposed to the character ) to rapidly and efficiently parse this for information, than it needs to be more simplified and stylized, so that there is less visual clutter and camouflage.

@Rhaoulos

I think MMOs have blurred the terminology, which carried over into other GAASes. "Update" being used for any content additions that weren't sold as a box in stores, whether they were free or paid.