nocdaes

I've looked back on my Switch and I've averaged 5 Nintendo game purchases every year!

Except 2024. When it was zero.

So say what you want about Metacritic... they're clearly not wrong.

BUT does it even matter? This was a twilight year. The feast is just over the hill...

I played Crystal Warriors for the very first time ever on my Analogue Pocket in 2024. I thought it was a brilliant strategy game, for its time, and scored it 43/50. I gave the gameplay a perfect 10 and Sound and Replayability got 9's.

One thing I rarely see discussed with regards to Retro games and reviews of them is how you sourced it to play.

I researched Game Gear games, identified Crystal Warriors as interesting, did not look at any videos related to the game, sourced an original copy and set about playing it to completion.

I know not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to do this, but it really does make a huge difference on perspective when assessing the game.

Can ROMs achieve the same? Absolutely they can. My advice is to limit what you play, go in as blind as possible, and finish the game. Its really satisfying. ROMs can give you too much choice and can quickly devalue the overall experience as we quickly fall into the trap of not properly playing anything and moving onto something new. You have to be disciplined!

Buying cartridges helps as you can't just buy them all... (well, not without the other half having something to say about it anyway!)

Crystal Warriors is an excellent Strategy game. Don't let this 5/10 put you off!

@Medic_alert The Bond license changing hands definitely puts a spotlight on "things" potentially happening.

Personally I feel pessimistic in Amazon's ability to do anything even remotely half decent with the Bond license - be it film or gaming, past or present.

Also, I'm 99.99% sure that the rights do not come packaged up with the ability to do absolutely anything you want... There will be caveats all over the place and a certain Brocolli will still have a say on key matters. GoldenEye seems unlikely to do anything in my opinion.

Best bet is to pick up the Analogue 3D!

Oh and final point from me. There is evidence that Brocolli is behind a lot of Bond things not happening. The fa t the license has been sold to Amazon (with their frankly laughable knowledge at making blockbuster movies) is absolute hypocrisy of the highest level. Protecting the Bond license? She has sold it to the highest bidder. And we are going to receive absolutely bang average drivvle from Amazon.

I just don't understand this debate!

Wii U had a virtual console. We bought digital games. And now they just sit there locked on an obsolete machine you never even plug in let alone play.

Why do we need this for Switch? To buy them all over again until the Switch then becomes obsolete?

What's the point?

If you want the game... buy the original and play it on original hardware. Buying a digital copy on a console is just pointless. It will disappear. It always will. We can pretend we're going to get the Wii U out and play them all with all this imaginary time we have to play games... all the while our back logs tick into another 100 games!!

UNLESS/UNTIL Nintendo allow you to access them from ANY hardware past or future, but where is the commercial sense in that, exactly?!

@Jam78 I think the debate has moved on from what you have said. The main issue today is people want the choice. The choice to rent with a subscription, where things will come and things will go, or the choice to own it forever.

We are increasingly in a world where you own nothing. That's the issue. It is not entitlement. It is choice. More choice is only a good thing.

@mookoo I feel like T1 and T2 are really very different films. It's like Alien and Aliens which are also very different films. The first in each has significantly more suspense and a sense of dread. The sequels in each are more balanced on the nerves and also have more humour.

I agree that both are awesome in each case, but if I had to pick just one from each series... it would be T2 and Aliens all day long.

Also... Guns N Roses - You Could Be Mine. T2 has the soundtrack to go with it.

Oh and a FUN FACT for you all that I only discovered when watching the Aliens 4K film last year! These two films have 4 actors that are in both, my personal favourite being John Connor's Foster Mum who is also the very awesome marine Vasquez!

Some nice announcements overall, but it's very much so in the "more of the same" barrel and I can't help but feel disappointed by that.

Also, who comes up with the names?

Concierge? Cafe? Sleep? Z-A?

The lack of creativity and originality in the latest projects shouldn't come as a huge surprise when they can't even come up with a decent name.

Fingers crossed for something awesome on Switch 2.

I'm keeping Switch OLED until there is a Switch 2 OLED. Whether that's at launch or in 5 years time I really don't mind.

Nintendo insist on a slow release rate on their major games so I'm honestly very happy waiting until they wheel out all the goods before I purchase. I've already got, no exaggeration, hundreds of games to play in the meantime.

@Duncanballs Haha yea maybe 😅

Still, eleven years without a new Donkey Kong game is diabolical from Nintendo.

It suggests there are problems at the top because let's be honest here, the creator of Donkey Kong isn't going to be happy with that. These two Returns game re-releases are appeasement at best.

Eleven years without a new entry is just bad. It's actually made worse by the fact they've put DK in a hugely successful film. They've given him a theme park!

Where is the game to back all this up? It's disappointing at best, but utterly poor from Nintendo.

I've already picked up a copy of the original for the N64 ready and waiting for when Analogue ship the 3D! I remember seeing it back in the day, especially in magazines, but never played it so I'm looking forward to it!

Not really interested in a Switch port. I actually really, really dislike the disjointed "these N64 games are on NSO" and "oh, sorry these ones arent". I already feel like I got stung by buying Turok, which turned out to be a bad port, and which eventually landed on NSO anyway...

I think the gaming community put up with too much of this kind of rubbish to be honest. I'm done with that.

Happy to wait and play the original on my own terms.

This is awesome! I've recently played Shinobi for the Game Gear and it was awesome. Already have the second game lined up to play late this year, but I'll have to bring it forward with this arriving in August!

Great to have Shinobi back, but it has to be said... it never should have gone away and SEGA still have a lot of work to do to restore any good faith with me!

I'd be a lot more excited about Nintendo's non-game announcements if they could actually announce some games too.

I know the growing assumption is that we're going to get a load of great game announcements in April, but seriously, Nintendo need to spend some of their mountains of Switch cash on some developers...

Eleven years since a new Donkey Kong game is too long. Star Fox is MIA. Mario Odyssey feels like a lifetime ago. Mario Kart does have something lined up, but it's still coming way, way too far down the road after the Wii U release of 8.

Consider this. If Nintendo release a new Donkey Kong game every 11 years... how many more Donkey Kong games will you get to play in your lifetime?

Meanwhile Call of Duty serves up new dross every frigging year. Doesn't seem fair to me!

Tales of Eternia is great. Always surprises me how little love it receives in these votes, but then, it was a PSP title - I guess a lot of people didn't have a PSP? Highly recommend it.

It's really difficult to know how to price these sorts of things. There seems to be an assumption that a wealthy person could come along and just buy it as it's so rare.

The thing is though, wealthy people don't really like spending their money... and this is priced way off what it could actually make.

Personally I'd be surprised if it even sold for 10,000.

I'm also surprised they are using eBay...

Try your kids on the first level of Super Mario Bros 3 for the NES. It has a fire spitting piranha plant, a flying goomba and at least 2 perilous jumps.

Mario has always been tough at first. Once it clicks, it's fine. I don't see any value in kids playing "easy modes". It's a completely different game that way.

I picked up a copy of RE Gaiden for Gameboy last year. Not played it yet, but it's one of the titles that made me leave NSO. The Gameboy library is so vast, I just couldn't stand how uninspired the selection was. Its not impatience... I don't mind the volume of games or the drip feed releases... I mind the fact we simply won't see so many games due to Nintendo's inability to negotiate!

@PinderSchloss well you've made me feel bad and sad now...

But I stand by my comment. That really IS a nice horse!

Well there goes my new year's resolution of only saying something if you have something nice to say...

Jokes aside, clearly they failed to convince their Dad to dress up as Ganon.

Wait, I said jokes aside... Nice horse!

@Alpha008 that's a good point. Inflation in the UK has had a significant impact, so you're absolutely right, Switch is cheaper today than at launch in real terms.

@Toastmaster Don't forget there's a couple of Banjo games on the Gameboy Advance too. Grunty's Revenge is good fun - I finished it a few months ago and gave it 37 out of 50!

I've not played Banjo Pilot yet, but I've got it lined up for later in the year.

...and when exactly have Nintendo lowered their Switch hardware pricing?!

That's some shoddy analysis from the analyst. Nintendo will launch Switch 2 at a price, and that price will remain the price for years.

One thing we can all be confident on is that Switch 2 is obviously not going to be too expensive.

Perhaps Nintendo would feel more inclined to include Retro Studios staff on the credits if the Retro Studios staff could actually release a game sometime?

It has been 11 years now since Retro Studios released a new game. That's 11 years worth of staff payroll, rent, utilities bills, expenses... is it really any wonder Nintendo left them off?!

Seeing new Mario Kart was a bonus!

Nintendo have a software release this week. That is all the evidence anyone should need to know there is no hardware announcement this week.

Ignore the "insiders" and trust your gut sometimes!

And don't give me that "it's just a remake" nonsense. When have Nintendo ever made a major announcement the same week as one of their game releases?

And trust me... I'm firmly in the "where the heck is NEW Donkey Kong it's been 11 years!" But it's still a Donkey Kong release... absolutely, categorically NO chance Nintendo announce new hardware when launching a Donkey Kong game.

@N00BiSH so it takes seven years to make a 3D Mario game, does it? Behave yourself mate.

And Donkey Kong last had a new release in February 2014. That's ELEVEN years ago.

There is no counter argument... Nintendo are too slow with major software.

Good! Get it done and then hurry up and move onto software!

Nobody's getting any younger here... it's frustrating how many years Nintendo will allow to go past without a new 3D Mario game or a new Donkey Kong!

Well i feel like you cannot argue with BotW, Hollow Knight, Animal Crossing (especially given AC's release alongside the pandemic!) and Hades.

But Fortnite, Witcher 3, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Pokemon Scarlet... I wouldn't pick any of those personally.

Pokemon especially I have found to be a huge disappointment on Switch.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a port. The DLC content, whilst impressive in volume, was diabolical in its quality.

It seems to me Nintendo don't really care too much about the leaks. Possibly because the hardware is going to "look and feel" very similar to the Switch anyway.

The reason to keenly await Nintendo's announcement is not really for the hardware at this point... it's for the software.

What is the follow up to Mario Odyssey? What is the follow up to Mario Kart 8? When can we play Metroid Prime 4?

And in terms of 3rd Party... what are Rockstar bringing to the table?

Err good? The new Dock had better be packing some extra power!

On the one hand I like it when videogames get decent broader coverage... but on the other hand why would anyone care what Rolling Stone thinks are the best videogames? Could not care less what they think!

@Axecon Yea I basically came to say the same thing. Household's used to have TVs all over the house - albeit smaller ones in places like the Kitchen or Bedrooms - but now we seem to be in a place where a lot of people will have 1 large TV and then a menagerie of "other screens" ranging from phones and tablets to laptops and gaming handhelds.

We'd save ourselves a whole of time, money and sanity just getting another TV!

It's a shame it looks so ugly but if the gameplay is solid I might check it out eventually.

The presentation is actually very similar to Horizon Chase Turbo... but it's like no-one realised HCT works with that look because it's basing itself on the old Top Gear games. The look doesn't make sense with Carmen - so it just comes off as a bit budget.

If Switch 2 really is just ticking the box of essentially being a Switch Pro, then Nintendo will be relying heavily on software to convince people to upgrade.

This game will help push the needle a little bit, but honestly, we need to see a whole lot more.

@Yosti There is no evidence it wasn't a thing, but you carry on pretending you know something no-one else knows! 😉

@Yosti I believe Switch Pro was a thing. The OLED model was a compromise as a result of the pandemic.

Also, that motherboard could easily be from the Switch Pro that never launched. The amount of time Nintendo have waited and waited with this "new" hardware it's surely extremely unlikely that the chip would be from 2020.

Think about it. We're in 2025 now...

Anyone else concerned Nintendo have waited too long? I'm genuinely not that excited about Switch 2 anymore.

Switch 2 is utterly irrelevant to this debate.

Nintendo need to hire some staff to manage the eShop. It really is that simple.

Heck, just hire a friggin intern and we will see an instant improvement at next to no cost for Nintendo.

Nintendo's handling of the eShop is a massive black mark against their name as far as I am concerned. Not only that, I can factually say my spend on the eShop has decreased every year that passes reaching a grand total of £0 this year simply because I value my time! I refuse to sift through the rubbish. I'm not doing it.

Plenty of others are not doing it either. All that money left on the table! It really is so incredibly poor from Nintendo.

Hire some staff to clean it up. Simple.

But the Sonic movies are absolute trash.

(That's not to say people can't or shouldn't enjoy them by the way. I love plenty of trash movies!)

They're deluded if they think the Sonic movies are some sort or justification for getting their hands on one of the biggest IP's on the planet.

@N00BiSH Mario Sunshine is another good example of a game Nintendo should revisit - and improve.

They had the chance with the 3D Allstars release, but they opted against it.

I stand by my original comment though. Nintendo are missing a trick with their retro content.

Announced in March released in May.

Hang about NL... you've jumped the gun here!

The ranking of Tetris games was supposed to be for when you'd ranked every other game series in existence.

...remember?!

Not sure Dbrand need to worry so much about the lawyers... I'd be worrying about potential customers avoiding your products.

I certainly won't be buying anything from them. Bad business practice catches up with you eventually. Not sure why anyone would want to work under a CEO like this.

Also, people labelling this a "leak". That's a bit generous isn't it? This is a company, who incidentally make a great deal of money via Nintendo's products, going on some power trip and behaving like absolute tools. I'd call it a "weak". Weak practice from a weak company led by a weak CEO! Haha

Hrmm that's a strange comment in a positive review... "almost makes me want to do it again". Ermm surely all decent rides DO make you want to ride them again?!

Anyway, the vertical drops reference instantly makes me think of that 13 ride at Alton Towers. I wonder if it's like that? That was a really cutting edge ride when it launched at Alton Towers... but it was a long time ago. Be interesting to see how this improves it/if it improves it.

@MontyCircus Precisely this! I assume they've delayed it so they can desperately try and find some more people that will buy it...!

It's not just about hiding the rubbish... people would buy more if they can find it. I got stung one too many times with utter rubbish so now I don't buy anything on the eShop.

I'm sinking all my spare cash into second hand games now, but that's another story entirely.

Fact remains though... Nintendo have lost my custom because they can't even be bothered to hire an intern to sort eShop titles into categories and lists.

If it plays GTA6 and it comes in under £400 then it has potential.

I can only assume Nintendo and Rockstar could not reach an agreement with regards to GTA Online and that's why GTA5 never showed up.

I mean they're both swimming in cash already so I doubt they even care, but it's still got to go down as one of, if not the, biggest missed opportunity of this console generation.

GTA5 on Switch would have put Switch at number one console of all time by units. No doubt.

I would not be at all surprised if that's what has tempted Sony back in. Nintendo never secured GTA, so Sony will make that an absolute priority I'm sure.

It's been a long time since GTA5 launched... I think we've probably all forgotten by now just how significant an event it was and GTA6 will be.

Eurgh I really hope there's more to the new hardware than simply a bigger screen and more power.

We should have already had both of those things years ago - we settled for the OLED instead.

If that's genuinely what Nintendo have lined up then it's definitely going to be interesting to see how they avoid a Wii U situation.

I'm not just doing the Nintendoomed - a Switch 2 that looks and sounds like a Switch simply will not appeal to the mass market.

Maybe this is why Nintendo have waited so long? Think about it. The longer you wait, the bigger your mass market audience will be versus the audience that already have a Switch/ multiple Switch consoles and don't see the value in another, significantly more expensive one.

No amount of Mario, Metroid or even Mario Kart is going to tempt that mass audience over. The Wii U had an excellent Mario Kart - no-one came to play...

Surely there's more up their sleeve?

@N00BiSH I don't think it's being dramatic. As others have, rightly, pointed out Nintendo either need more developers or they need to let other people make games with their IP. Eleven years without a new Donkey Kong game is poor but when you consider how successful Switch has been and how much money Nintendo are sat on... it's really poor on their part.

If people are happy with Nintendo's pace of releasing games then fine. I'm merely shining a light on some evidence that suggests Nintendo need to up the pace.

@anoyonmus Yes, we know that thanks. But also remember that Retro last released a game in 2014 - Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze.

So last game in 2014...

Metroid Prime the last 5 years...

Hang about? What did Retro do the other 5 years? 2015? 2016? 2017? 2018? 2019?

So yes. People are getting impatient - to put it midly!!