molkom

Some comments:

"Moon Studios' almost entirely remote and "anti-corporate" culture has supposedly led to cases of casual racism, sexism and bullying."

Lots of businesses run remote, and being "anti-corporate" to me suggests a more flat, transparent organisation and could easily be seen as a positive. I don't see how remote and anti-corporate has anything to do with what makes a workplace toxic. There must be other factors that have led to these things otherwise someone needs to write a book warning about this organisational setup The blame must surely lie elsewhere.

"The founders also allegedly used an "open and honest" workplace structure to openly criticise the work of employees, and would very rarely praise work."

First, this should be viewed separate from the sexism and racism since the two are not related.

Second, this seems cultural (apart from the lack of praise which I'd say is individual), since Austria and Germany are known for open, direct communication that other cultures can see as rude. Read e.g. Hofstede, Trompenaars or the Globe study on culture. This doesn't mean these founders are bad people (which they might be, how would I know), but more likely other cultures clashed with their type of communication and saw it as a negative (where others would see it as simply honest).

My semi-educated guess would from above have been that the remote and anti-corporate structure led to less governance (nice for me) but with the added risk of not having as much insights/control/transparency of interactions between coworkers. If you then hire a few bad eggs they would have an easier time operating with bullish, sexist comments and spreading toxic feel. This is why recruitment is such a key factor for a company: mess up there and you can mess up the whole company culture no matter your intentions (good or bad, likely good since it doesn't benefit a founder to have a non-working environment).

At least above was my guess before reading this in their letter:
"We are not perfect but we deeply care about our talent"

The way they phrased this suggests to me they care more about the performance of their coworkers rather than them as human beings. Then again, maybe they tried to be nice and call their coworkers "talent", but to me it implies how you view your coworkers: as people that should perform or they're "waste", or as people to help have a fulfilling work environment where you help get their life balance right and care for the individual.

Edit: I wrote, "If you then hire a few bad eggs".... After reading the original article on Gamesbeat, the founders seem to have been the bad eggs. I still stand by the points above in general, but in this specific case they seem to have been the main perpetrators of the toxic culture and their behavior had gone beyond the cultural norm.

To me, "to finish" a game is to get to the credits, but that's also when you finish the main quest so I couldn't distinguish between those two options.

I mean, in Zelda the main quest is to beat Ganon and save Zelda, if you do that in 30 min or 200h who cares. (But I doubt anyone playing the game for the first time would do it in a short time.)

However, for a game to "be finished" (to me I see a difference between to finish and to be finished), that's totally subjective in most cases, but should be agreed by most that if you've 100% a game then yes it's finished. But still, some games have high replayability by other means and are they thus ever finished? At least you as a person are not finished with them (you still say you've finished the game, but you're not finished with it).

BotW to me took maybe 180 hours but I did the full story and explored the map to find all shrines etc before almost reluctantly realising I was out of things to do and then went to beat the final boss.

And to me, I could never say to someone I've finished a game and not having beat it, but I CAN say I'm finished with it. Peace.

OK, this game just dropped to a few bucks. I'm gonna jump in, never tried this game series before. Thanks for the review and comments helping me decide.

And here I thought this would be a great gift for my son to run around with. Then I saw it wasn't a shield to pick up and play with... Pity

Funny, I had an exact 50/50 split of portable and docked.

Most played game... Sky. Apparently almost 10 times as much as any other game this year haha. I think I've left it on a lot to collect "light".

Second/third game: Metroid Dread with 20+ hours and Super Mario Deluxe likewise (playing with son). Quite a gap.

Those are good suggestions. I still have a hard time with the grays (strong yellowish tint) of the OLED however compared to the old version that nailed the gray. Just check out the base menus in dark theme and you'll see what I mean.

Huh, that's a tough sell. Whomever thought up the pricing wasn't in touch with reality it seems.

I'd way prefer old VC pricing, but that's the same for most on here I guess, but becomes even more obvious now; I don't care about Genesis/Mega Drive games etc and would normally purchase max 3-5 N64 games (only 2 of the ones on offer here), but I already have Mario 64 from the Mario Collection so the value for this is low for me.

With this kind of pricing I'd expect GameCube on there or at the very least discounts on normal games.

Not buying.

Wired? Is that still a thing?

I liked the designs, thought it was an official Pro controller... Bummer

For startup sounds on actual console I have to go GC, but I feel the Switch has the perfect soundbite for starting commercials that's short enough but very distinct.

I remember covering the launch for an obscure trade magazine (Insert Coin) and for IGN at the time. I know many of you dislike the outlet, but I liked it a lot there back then.

My highlight was attending ECTS in London and getting to play Wave Race, Star Wars, Luigi's Mansion, Pikmin etc for the first time. The games blew me away and it surely was a hit for me even if the general public didn't celebrate the console as much. Eternal Darkness might have been on display at the launch event as well but I could be mistaken... Loved that game too at the time.

Later nostalgic moments are playing Donkey Konga and that Jungle Beat (or what the platformer was called) with kongas. So unique and fun without feeling gimmicky to me. Ahhh... and winter spent with Animal Crossing with an ex, and Resident Evil 4 kicking a$$. Good times.

I just want Nintendo for the love of gamers to please let us file/label our games somehow. Folders would be the obvious and supposedly easy way. Can't believe it's not been done yet It's such a mess when you get past a certain number of games.

With that many options you could have included some lower I think, felt skewed very high.

But of course, that's because I'm in the mindset, "not to be purchased as an investment/being resold but to own myself." It felt like you asked the Q like that. If so, depends on availability of the game but I wouldn't pay more than maybe a few dollars more than another version just because I like "new" a bit more than "used", if maybe 10 bucks or so would be price for the generally available versions then 14$?

If it was as an investment that becomes like predicting the future and I don't try to do that much. Max 1000 or so.

Not a collector as such, but have 100s of games (500? Never counted.) and also platforms like Dreamcast and odder ones like Nokia N-Gage beside the regular Nintendo/PS/Xbox.

I missed the option "Buying what I think would be games I enjoy, keeping them around after in case I want to replay them or find the time to finally try them out"

I stopped buying as many "whatifs" games, meaning I try to only buy games when I actually wanna play them as opposed to "sometime in the future when maybe time for it", which rarely happens so a waste of money and space.

Wasn't sold before (well, would have bought it still ), but this trailer was just terrific and showing off way more ambition than I expected for this title. Cool

I’ve always wanted to play the original, but this will do nicely instead. Glad to hear it has reviewed well.

Also glad that a less favorable review was included; I like to read those to get a different perspective on a game before buying when on the fence.

Less happy to see such a trading of insults on here, what’s up with that… come on peeps. First what I personally feel was overly harsh criticism of the writer of the article and the IGN quote (I think it is an OK quote to sum up the IGN view, and a 7/10 does imply the reviewer was indeed less impressed overall), and then a retort that was overly defensive. Nothing wrong with “standing up for the writer/article” on here, but hey keep it nice please

And while I normally try to steer clear of commenting on such: calling out if someone knows of a game from 1983, influential game or not, is not a mark of “being a gamer” to me. To place such importance on it in a conversation like this feels misplaced, and not to be rude but feels more “gamer snob” than inclusive of all gamers.

Hope to see us all play more “nice” in other threads

I sold some GameCube games a few years back while moving. Can't say I'm happy about selling off Path of Radiance etc and not realising the games were worth quite a lot more than I was charging. Sucker = me

I loved Octopath, finished all the paths and directly wanted to play more. Gimme

@Crono1973

I get the disappointment. To me, it's still an "updated model", the naming "Pro" comes from the press and speculators since Nintendo never has mentioned such. To me this is the rumoured "Pro" one, but of course I am as likely to be wrong as those who say the opposite. And the 50 bucks: you got a shiny new screen, gotta charge for that somewhere

This is a "Switch Pro" as far as I see it. Pro as in a new version with a more expensive screen.. not my cup of tea but yeah. If we by Switch Pro mean "a more powerful SKU" instead then, yes, that's a possibility in the future, but I don't see it as a given. Are we sure there's no expansion slot for RAM like on the N64 though?

I dled this on Tuesday and played for about 2 hours and like it a lot, but! The multiplayer aspect while charming hits an early ceiling for me when trying to interact beyond holding hands. Why? Typing on a docked Switch is a paaaain

I dled on phone and considering playing there instead just to be able to chat, but I really prefer my games on the tv, what to do... likely scenario: will try to play through on tv while ignoring the companionship, failing, becoming frustrated again, and stop

I tried to buy it almost a week back (Friday or Saturday) after an article and was already out of stock then. Bought another book there though so you/they managed with the marketing ploy

The SNES compilation looked nice but also out of stock for now.

This is odd: I never even heard of Newgrounds and was at the time a hardcore gaming editor. Shame on me 😅

Of course, even though I had all consoles I was heavily Nintendo biased in my consumption (I spent my days on Nintendoexpress, IGN, Nintendojo etc - thanks Nintendoexpress for publishing my first ever editorial btw, if you the founder is still around somewhere I owe you a beer or two.)

Metroid Dread did for sure pump me up as well. Hope it can live up to the hype in my head hehe.

@Loon_Call
I so miss the VC It would have been so so perfect for the Switch. Sad it didn't get the Wii U treatment. I also think they could have kept more of the Mii focus, was kinda cool and original but got mostly scrapped due to the obscurity of the Wii U I bet.

I loved these games on my old PS, can't wait to play!

Also glad to hear that the game is playable without a download, even if the big patch makes it sound like it won't run as well without one.

I'm both excited to see the sky opening up and slightly disappointed at the same time; I would have preferred dungeons etc being more "naturally" placed under a mountain, or behind a waterfall, playing a flute at a lake etc without having to go through an actual door/temple to load into. Seems the sky might just be a way to get lots of temples into the game without the effort of moulding them into natural locations. It's smart to bring down complexity for them, but not ideal for me

I couldn't find the preview on that Barnes & Noble page, hmm... Maybe me (on mobile device), maybe the link. If me, could anyone point out where to find it on that page?

"I have played NL", makes me think NintendoLife. Which game are you referring to? scratches head Personally I stopped playing New Horizons already after like the third mission or so from Nook. I loved the GameCube version to bits, thought maybe I've just grown old and dull since the game didn't grab me. In the old games one of my fondest memories was getting up each week to hear KK play songs, and I loved finding the hidden Nintendo games and interacting with Nook/paying off my debt. Didn't get the same vibe here.

Never heard of this. Will buy! Love water/diving games like Abzu but not sure I dig survival games. We will see

I don't understand the "wheezing just by booting up Picross" comment. Your Switch is damaged? Because mine loads stuff lightning fast and without a hitch. Very happy camper performance wise here, even though I wouldn't mind the ability to play higher fidelity games in the future.

Kudos to @Brownmonster for this game.

I don't mind the graphics of Sega Rally 2. Give me that instead of popups and draw distance hell any day (plus include a versus mode please) ;D

A Switch Pro is so 2019...

I'll be interested in hardware revisions the day they're officially announced by Nintendo.

@Silly_G I hear ya, but is physical card not available in your region? I bought physical "base" Starlink for nothing and completed the game 99% - there is just one mission in the game requiring a purchase of a different ship/weapon, which I never did & I will survive. The game was great for its run.

Oh, and the reason I don't replay it is actually the hassle of switching game cards haha so wouldn't have minded a digital version. But I play almost exclusively docked...

@TheFrenchiestFry

Nintendoland? I know, it's just me haha. Love the pick up the fruits game for multiplayer with non-gamers & gamers alike. Not that I have any multiplayer action during covid season...

The one game that surprised me very pleasantly Several interesting Square games, but a Final Fantasy Tactics/Tactics Ogre game like this would be amazing if the quality is up - which it looks like.

Would buy an Octopath Traveler 2 even faster, however, so hope such will come in a few years as well.

Other games in direct: I'm glad about Mario Golf getting a story mode, but won't get my hopes up for anything close to the old GBC (or was it GBA) mario golf/tennis semi-rpgs with this one (or golf story which was decent). Will await reviews.

Sakuna:
Would like to try this game out in a demo

On physical versus digital:
The recent delistings of WiiU games have me worried about the availability of my Switch games say ten years from now. I only have Zelda, Starlink, Paper Mario, Batman and Ring Fit on physical while 100+ digital games, and Zelda doesn't work at times after kid spilled something on it. So...

• Physical copies need to be swapped & can break but otherwise are "forever"
• Digital copies can be delisted but can't break and don't require swapping game cards (a biggie for me)

My preferred option would be physical games that can be fully installed on the device. That way I could have my backup and also never need to bring it out of its case thus removing the "incident" potential and ruining the physical copy somehow. And I'd get the main benefit for me of tons of games with no need to bring games with me/swap them in the docked unit. This can't be done on unmodded Switch however as far as I know...

So as it stands, I can't decide if I should buy physical or digital going forward. I still tend to go digital due to the convenience...

@cheesedude
Thanks for this - glad to hear that's the case

And Moroboshi, that's a good point. I agree that some retro releases are great for that "couldn't get as a kid, now finally!" feeling. Or titles at the arcade that just cost too much but all you really wanted was to just keep playing (Sega Rally 2 was one such game for me and some other racing titles).

I really liked the article but could be tagged with something like "Business" and "not game related", alternatively make clear directly that Japanese Systems is not in the video game business. I spent reading the interesting article thinking Yamauchi's family office nr 10 were investing in a video game company and felt a bit tricked

I like the heavy 2-day discount. Cheapskates haha

I'm quite amazed by this display of creativity. Sadly I don't have the patience to learn how to emulate any of that, but if my sons were a bit older I might have tried to do it as a "father and son activity". (I actually don't even have the karts yet even if on my radar; waiting for a bigger house... )

I clicked the link to the first recommended Arcade Archives games out of two, City Connection, and saw it got a 3/10 review on here. Makes me wonder about the not recommended games Or is the version nestled within here a much better port?

Anyone tried this out? Thinking about suitable age to be able to grasp the concepts within.

I really loved that they included real voice acting this time. I liked most of the voices, including hers. Thanks to Nintendo and all voice actors for the effort!

Bought Horace of course But also a ton of others such as What remains of Edith Finch and other (for me) half hidden good games. Just hope to find the time to play any of them hah. (Loved "A short hike" with my son and now playing the Downhill: Lonely Mountains game mixed with Paper Mario).

Haha, incredible he still got a voice/has a job and that others post his drivel.

(Not important, but just as a note: I play 90% on TV.)

I've felt the same way. Repeatedly. Also tried it on different platforms but could never truly feel the love. I even collected all the red coins or what it was on each course to 100% the courses but I just didn't have fun with it.

Observe that Super Mario World also is up there as one of my top games of all time. * shrugs * I think it's a combo of playing mechanics, graphical style and lack of the map/world exploration vibe with secrets etc that I got with World.

I loved the first one, but for some reason this series no longer held any appeal to me after the release of number two For some reason I'd rather have a Wave Race & Excitebike 64 remake haha - or better yet new games with remakes included. But I can see Pikmin having more mainstream appeal so probably a good choice from a business standpoint.

Wow. That's some nice craftsmanship right there, and in just the right sweet spot for my Nintendo heart <3 I wish I enjoyed crafting and had the discipline to make something like this for my sons (they wouldn't care yet, though, but soon!). Hopefully I have other qualities

Probably stupid Q since I live in a cave, but are there prerequisites for getting the events? I'm online and on version 1.1.4 (well, there was a 4 in the version nr), but still haven't finished all buildings for new people to move in. I need to get further before seeing events? The bunny visited a week ago or so however.

Weird, I played for 1h today and no info about any fishing event I must be missing something, hmm...

Yeah I'm probably number 37,533 something, but own all their games except Quest. Would like to play someday but when have the time... Just archived a game I bought due to storage limitations and looked at when I had tried it = never. (And the game isn't alone in never having been opened.) That's what two kids at home while trying to work does to your ability to get through your gaming library. Doesn't help that I still buy games as if I actually lived in the past where there was this concept of "spare time"