mr_benn

@PewnyPL sadly, 1 player per Switch console: "Friends and family can also get together and enjoy multiplayer races for up to four players, so long as each player has their own Kart, Nintendo Switch console and a copy of the software."

I would absolutely be in for this, but looks like 1 car per Switch, and surely the real appeal here lies in multiplayer mode?

i have to say that the slightly Fall-Guys-esque Mario BR (where everyone was on screen at once) that did the rounds online a while ago was a bit more appealing... but Tetris 99 is amazing, so no doubt this'll be pretty slick.

I suspect this will be available for free until March for those with NSO, then there will be some sort of paid release after - they can't let this disappear, can they?

What on earth is happening in March 2021 that means that nice things have to stop?

Battle Royale Mario looks great - I wonder if they took inspiration from that one online that did the rounds a while ago?

Love the Game and Watch system though I bet it'll be hideously expensive and hard to get hold of.

Physical Mario Kart has got legs - but seems like you will need one Switch per car 'additional games, systems and karts required for multiplayer' so that can bugger right off.

Pins... available in US and Canada only. Sigh.

Anyway, the news of the actual games is brilliant

The further along we go with Just Dance, the fewer I've heard of any of the songs on here (though assume 'In the Navy' is a village people cover'.

But then they're not aimed at old me, and they're still fun, so power to them

De-Bondify it, get it into a nice state, mysterious patch appears not connected to developers after release.

Always a shame when this happens, but companies have a legal obligation to protect their IP or risk losing control of it, no matter how mean-spirited it seems.

Fond memories of this game though I don't know if I could really go back to it - perhaps a mouse and keyboard control scheme could sell me on it though!

I hate the eshop on the Switch - it's just lists and lists and lists...

I always use the online page instead via PC (which has the added bonus of making it seem like wizardry that when I get round to playing on the Switch the next time the game I bought is on there!

It's quite nice collecting new themes, but I tend to stick with the Gameboy theme as it's nice and clean, and the music looping round and round forever doesn't bother me too much!

I understand the point of the article, but I'd have been interesting to see a little more depth in the 'why you didn't like it today' bit.

Totally agree that slapping it with the 'Super Mario World' prefix didn't necessarily help expectations - it's a different sort of game (though one I should point out I enjoy!)

I fall on the side of coincidence rather than taking someone's ideas. There's nothing new in building a Lego NES (Indeed, one of the first ones that appeared was designed by Chris McVeigh, now working as a Lego designer), and these sort of scrolling picture mechanisms have been around a while too (though I can't immediately find any great example of it as all searches are dominated by the NES model). It's sort of an 'obvious idea', though only some people, such as the individual discussed here, had the potential to actually build it.

Lego is well known for having surprisingly long development cycles for products - part of planning for retail slots etc — there's little doubt that this would have been in development, if not had a completed design, by the time that the custom model came out. I expect for many models that Lego release, somewhere online you can find something similar that someone's built a model of already - more a consequence of the universal appeal and widespread use of the toy than anything else.

@YoshiTails - there is a Bowser's Castle set... https://www.lego.com/en-gb/product/bowser-s-castle-boss-battle-expansion-set-71369

So it seems here that the people who've actually got it have enjoyed it, particularly with their kids, and many of the people who are complaining about it haven't got their hands on it. I'd like to hear from someone who actually has this and has spent time with it and doesn't like it.

Me? I have it, I think it's quite pricey - but then so is everything really - and fun - I was definitely a skeptic, even after I'd finished building it, but then I played with the functionality and totally get it, and my kids enjoyed it more than I did.

This is quite nice, but slightly annoying that they don't work undocked, so can't use with the fabulous FlipGrip for some excellent vertical screen gaming.

I feel slightly ill just looking at the pictures. I get sick quite easily with VR type stuff anyway and just the awful contrast of red on black - why not green? - is a bit grim.

It's a shame that the failure of VB contributed to Yokoi leaving the company though, I'd have liked to have seen how he might have contributed to future Nintendo efforts.

@TJM - I do have these so can comment!

I'd say that this one: https://epoch.jp/ty/mario/super_mario/peachmeiro/ is pretty good for all ages, you can't really 'lose', only take a bit longer or fall down a level or two when you're going up the middle blue bit. I found an ad for it that shows it off better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBVgaAPp2zQ

The other one https://epoch.jp/ty/mario/super_mario/kuppa-castle/ is arguably a little bit more temperamental and likely to result in frustration. Plastic feels a bit cheap too, though if you can get a decent price on it quite diverting for a bit. Here's an ad for that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1GVueTEyu8

Neither as good as Screwball scramble though!

Actually, you know a good game that wouldn't be harmed by slapping the Nintendo licence over the top? Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters (This one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01FLADSW0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) - it's a great co-op game, it got a Ghostbusters reskin and it didn't mess with the rules, it could totally work and would really fit the theme with a Luigi's Mansion version by going between the different rooms, zapping ghosts, and collecting jewels or portraits to win.

It'll never happen.

I'm unsure I've ever seen a classic game which has been somehow improved by adding a licence to it. And Monopoly is actually a fairly horrible game anyway, nostalgia aside.

If you want some fun/mad Super Mario games, these are quite fun: https://epoch.jp/ty/mario/super_mario/series/ (even if they don't always work as well in practice!)

(edit for @TJM above - some of the above games such as https://epoch.jp/ty/mario/super_mario/kuppa-castle/ and https://epoch.jp/ty/mario/super_mario/peachmeiro/ pretty much ARE Mario Screwball Scramble!)

SUCH a good game. SO flipping hard at the higher levels.

Absolutely love seeing the skills some people have. Good luck to him, I hope that he's able to do this for a long time to come.

@Shinobi1Kenoby This might give a little context to @devlinmandrake's comment... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-3dwjgoBts

@USWITCH64

10 GO TO "1990s"
20 $$$ AMIGA
30 RUN "SENSIBLE SOCCER"

As a casual football game (and I'm not really into football), I really don't think that it's ever been bettered, particularly in its Amiga guise.

Or get yourself a Neo Geo arcade stick pro with Magic-NS for pretty much the same price all in, and enjoy a decent arcade stick along with a proper Neo Geo loaded with (eventually 40) games! This thing will need to have some decent weights in it as well to slop it sliding around whilst you wrestle that stick around?

Thanks for the clarification about Ms PacMan (or lack thereof). Just went and found this - looks messy. https://www.polygon.com/2019/9/26/20886032/ms-pac-man-lawsuit-bandai-namco-atgames-rights-royalties

The continual insistance of inserting PacMan instead of the massively superior Ms PacMan into these compilations is rather frustrating!

It's so terribly cynical to release 4 different ones with 4 different games on each too. The memory size of each game is negligible - just put 16 games on each one and provide it in different colours rather than making people have to buy 4.

And yes... the size is ridiculous. Well done, you've successfully made it teeny tiny. Now make it a normal size again.

The Days of Thunder game that was released on the Amiga was really not great (I don't think any game about turning left only is going to end up great) - but what was of note is that Wikipedia says it was developed by none other than Argonaut

@Marioracer I think there's a better explanation as you why you were born in June!!

That photo with the cabinets and cheerleaders is pretty much how gamers are often still seen by some people....

Interesting article - though totally agree with the above poster - competitors can often seem so joyless. I imagine that any situation where you've trained and trained and can be ruined by a split second error is going to be nerve wracking and that's hardly enjoyable for me. Never a score chaser, I just like to see new content/areas/things to experience in games instead.

That said, we ended up having a Ms Pac Man competition last year at work and there was a curious amount of satisfaction about being briefly at the top of the scoreboard (and subsequently pushed off it) so I do understand the mentality... I really can't imagine gripping an arcade controller for so long though without needing extensive hand physio after!

Seeing as they are being nice enough to give these away for free, maybe just mention in the main article that the DLC packs are all designed to give revenue to charities as well as in-game items (Soul Soothing - UN Refugees Agency, Lydia - Fragile Childhood, Eqqo - WeForest).

Wow. The Wii is actually a lovely system especially once you softmod it to be able to do interesting things. Love a game of (Amiga) Sensible Soccer on it!

How long would those who have this game say it is, or how many different holes are there?

Reminds me a lot of the characters in the 'Reigns' series.....

Dabbler or Amateur. Usually miss them being sold... not too worried about it.

@Kimyonaakuma less corrupt? You HAVE met Tom Nook and that little art forger Redd haven't you?

Can you imagine that workshop to agree all the fish puns? Would have been absolutely painful. I totally agree though - it would be nice to have some variation, even if the jokes are terrible!

I would LOVE it if I could mark a game on the eshop 'never show me this again, in any lists, ever'. It would stop this sort of shovelware clogging up sales lists and stuff. I almost never use the one via the Swtich menu and always go via the online site - it's miles easier to use and navigate with a mouse.

I think that AC is the perfect digital game - it's something I like to play for maybe 15-20 minutes a day, but I don't want to be swapping cartridges in and out the whole time. I have a good few games on cartridges, but those are real 'binge' games that I enjoy playing for hours at a time for a little while then I'm done with them (Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild).

MY EARS ARE READY

This literally looks like an April Fool that got left in, crazy times. Perhaps an article had to be bumped at the last minute and this was the first thing the night editor could lay their hands on?!

For as long as people can find a way to make a point, they will. Of course nobody thinks this actually deserves an absolute 0, but they say it to make a point.

If I were family member #2,3,4, whatever, I wouldn't be getting the same experience. Say Player 1 has played for a few hours to start. They do the 'island rep' stuff, but also find all the bugs/fish first, do a lot of fossils, etc. Now Player 2 rarely gets to be the one finding things first, quite annoying and definitely a different play experience (annoying) but might still do a few things. Player 3 joins a few weeks later, gets to make even fewer discoveries, fewer decisions, definitely a less enjoyable experience again from Players 1 and 2.

Just because it's always been the case in AC, doesn't mean it has to be now. Lots of things are different, but you don't hear the same people saying 'oh, it's never been like that, change it back to the old ways!'. Lots in the AC series actually had individual quirks that didn't go from game to game. I'd like both of my kids to at some point have that AC experience of running the island, of being in charge - but I won't be buying them a new Switch to do so, so unless Nintendo patches it in one day, it's not going to happen.

Don't see the new movie, it will take away everything you may once have liked about the old films and make you feel sad (and old!)

Lego and Nintendo will likely try and avoid using the 'Ideas' sets - if they've already signed a deal, they don't want to be giving an additional 5% of profits to the creators too. We saw this with the Ghostbusters firehouse and a Jurassic Park set too.
Hopefully we will see some classic Nintendo structures appearing - though I'm sure we'd likely see stuff that's a little bit more classic 'Nintendo' rather than a single structure that appeared in one single (albeit massively successful) game.

@Peterjr1 agree on the art and sea creatures stuff. I wonder how we might perceive this if this had been the first one in the series - rather than the 5th (?). I miss collecting the NES games, but that's long gone once they realised they can monetize creaky old NES ROMs!

I should think that players starting in 6 months or 1 year's time will end up having a very different experience to those of us starting now.

@Peterjr1 I totally get what you're saying. But I don't think that AC has ever really been a game for people who are desperate for things to do. I've been with AC from the very beginning and it's always been a game to do a few things every day and then move on, not something to be playing for hours at a time. I know it's new, and we're all under lockdown and people are trying to wring as much entertainment as possible out of their recent £50 purchase, but for me it's never quite been the attitude of the game. I would say it's much more of a game with a long tail then a few hours of bombast and then you're done - but then that really is just me.

I'm actually getting quite tired of everyone desperate to find out all the new and upcoming stuff in AC - and then NL splashing it all over the news pages every time. I don't want to stop coming to NL, but how about letting people explore all the things the game has to offer for a change rather than speculating about every single new thing?

I love how Sunshine all looks - as @EarthboundBenjy said the tropical theme really does make it stand out.

Too many times though I found myself high up somewhere and falling down... down... down... and just thinking no, I really can't be bothered to do that again. Coupled with the 'this is your task for this particular time you do the level' design, I remember giving up about halfway through.

Definitely pre-order from Lego given the bonus being offered.

They are pricey - and Lego is pricey to start with, though you're paying for quality - but I'd be confident (as we see with other licensed Lego stuff, such as Star Wars and Marvel) that there's an 'Nintendo tax' on here - Lego's own ranges such as Creator and Ninjago tend to be much better value for money.

With the Mario figure stuck full of components such as a QR reader (or whatever does that) and some LCD screens you're bumping up the price too - and then you have new molds for certain pieces on top of that, and new printed pieces (PLEASE don't be stickers!) on that too. All adds up!

NL liked the Touryst a while ago, so for 30% off picked that up (it's kind on the ever-decreasing memory card space too!). Surprisingly little else that I would want which I haven't already previously bought though. For others though, I would recommend:
Katamari Reroll is 50% off at £8,
de Blobs 1 + 2 for just over £5 each
Crypt of the Necrodancer for £3.50
Rogue Legacy for under £4
(Yes, I do like old ports!)

IT BELONGS IN A....

Oh! That's a good idea. I hope he achieves his vision.

What (pathetically) hacks me off about these (and pretty much all of these type of Christmas) 'sweaters' is they are simply printed sweatshirts rather than actual knitted things with the pattern embedded within them. BAH.