Comments 155

Re: Feature: "Demoralisation Is A Strong Word, But It Accurately Describes The Situation" - Why Do So Many Games Get Delayed?

sportymariosonicmixx

@metaphysician: My point is there were so many things that could have went wrong with the Wii remote controller, but they still announced it over two years out.

I remember my casual gaming friends being so floored that the motion controls were so accurate and that they expected it to be bad.

There was nothing that could go wrong with Switch 2. All they did was make the screen bigger.

If you want to laugh, they probably already had the Switch 2 made when Switch 1 was made and saved it for a poor sales period and then never launched it because Switch 1 sold so well.

As for Donkey Kong, simply announcing that the launch game was going to be a Donkey Kong 64 successor would have been enough to make me start replaying the series in preparation.

I did not need any screenshots or gameplay demos.

If they cannot even do that, then why bother announcing anything in advance at all?

Re: Feature: "Demoralisation Is A Strong Word, But It Accurately Describes The Situation" - Why Do So Many Games Get Delayed?

sportymariosonicmixx

@calbeau: Part of the problem is the majority of games go unreviewed, so they get away with being so bad.

Just recall the recent article about "Cory in the House" for DS having its price inflated in Ebay sales and the main premise being that the game sucked.

But only one review site gave it a review and it was from an incredibly lazy reviewer named Jack DeVries who routinely ruined "Nintendo Voice Chat" podcasts during the Wii era when he was the fill in for a regular.

As an example, Craig Harris used to read off a Wii Points Card during the podcast to encourage people to listen to the whole thing. He would read half the code at one random point in the podcast and half the code later on.

Jack DeVries thought it was fun to shout random numbers as Craig was reading the real code so frequently that Craig blasted him on the air for being so immature.

I never cared about the code as I never listened live.

So, we are told the game sucked, but how do we know that? The game could be a 9/10 and none of us would know.

Re: Feature: "Demoralisation Is A Strong Word, But It Accurately Describes The Situation" - Why Do So Many Games Get Delayed?

sportymariosonicmixx

@RumandCohibas: Switch 2 was the first console since the Nintendo 64 I did not buy at launch or the Christmas of the launch year.

The best reason I could give myself for getting a Switch 2 is I would have a backup Switch 1 in case my normal Switch 1 had a problem.

The problem is the Switch 2 name is a lie. It is a Switch 1 XL.

There is nothing new about the Switch 2. A bigger screen is not enough to make people buy a whole new system when 95% of people just connect it to their television to play anyway.

Re: Feature: "Demoralisation Is A Strong Word, But It Accurately Describes The Situation" - Why Do So Many Games Get Delayed?

sportymariosonicmixx

@somnambulance: A great example of the communication problem is the Switch 2 launch.

With Virtual Console available now, I like to play all previous games in a franchise before buying the next one, as you really notice how the gameplay changes over time in a franchise if you play the games back-to-back.

The Donkey Kong Bananza game was announced with just two months notice, when most previous console launches were announced 18-24 months in advance.

The Donkey Kong franchise only has about six core games, but each one is super hard to 100%. If each one takes just three months to 100%, that is eighteen months to play all six games.

With just two months notice, it made me not buy a Switch 2 at launch because it and Mario Kart were the only games I cared about and I save Mario Kart to play with my cousins because my uncle only likes racing games and Mario Kart is the only game the four of us all like.

Re: Feature: "Demoralisation Is A Strong Word, But It Accurately Describes The Situation" - Why Do So Many Games Get Delayed?

sportymariosonicmixx

This article is exactly the tone dead split between the site writers and the fans.

I remember pitching a weekly column idea to the site about digging into a game in depth and creating new challenges for a game we all enjoyed, but finished what Nintendo gave us and it got flatly rejected that "it was not meant for this site, but if I had a release date for a game, they would pay for that."

No one seriously cares about release dates since the Virtual Console started with the Wii. There are hundreds of games you can play at any time.

I do not even follow the updates of a game anymore. I just scroll through the new releases over the past 12 months and add a few games to my Christmas wishlists.

The funny thing is the times when gamers hung on release dates so hard was all pre video game website days: Nintendo 64 and Gamecube era.

Re: PSA: Switch 2 Visual And Performance Improvements Included In New Rocket League Update

sportymariosonicmixx

@Captain_Qwark_B-Job:

1) Regardless of being able to redownload all the games, you would still lose all the save data associated with your games.

2) Yeah it is free now. They could easily change that at any point. Like the way they just changed it from a retail game to a free download.

3) Why do we need to "get used to it at some point."

So the companies make more money?

They already make enough money.

4) There is no benefit to digital downloads for the user.

All the benefit is for the company.

And I do not play games to make the company more money over the billions in profit they already make.

Re: Switch 2 Predicted To Follow In PlayStation And Xbox's Footsteps This Year With "Global Price Hike"

sportymariosonicmixx

@MamaSymphonia: If you look here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:New_Nintendo_3DS_games

there are only 15 New Nintendo 3DS games that are not playable on older 3DS systems out of 1,300 3DS games.

All Switch 2 games are not playable on Switch 1 games.

That is what I mean when I say Nintendo should have just made the Switch 2 a "New Switch" instead.

Offer the graphical upgrade for people who want it and games that actually use it and stop forcing people to pay $500 for the system and $80 for the games for games that run at 15 frames per second.

Re: Switch 2 Predicted To Follow In PlayStation And Xbox's Footsteps This Year With "Global Price Hike"

sportymariosonicmixx

@MamaSymphonia: Does Nintendo's president have a crystal ball?

How do they know component costs are going to rise indefinitely?

If no one buys them, component costs will fall.

If component prices raised indefinitely, we would still be paying $300 for Wii consoles.

What Nintendo's president is doing is trying to bully you into accepting the $450 price point because "Ha, we could charge $700 soon, so you better buy it at $450!"

Re: Switch 2 Predicted To Follow In PlayStation And Xbox's Footsteps This Year With "Global Price Hike"

sportymariosonicmixx

@MamaSymphonia: The "New 3DS" only had a handful of exclusive games.

If you remember the original Wii, the number of games that used the Wii Balance Board was about the number of games that only "New 3DS" could play.

98%-99% of games were playable on all 3DS and the "New 3DS" was NOT more expensive than the original 3DS when they were launched. Nintendo simply cut the price of the older 3DS when the "New 3DS" launched.

No Switch 2 games are playable on Switch 1. How can you remotely say that is the same situation as "New 3DS"?

Re: Switch 2 Predicted To Follow In PlayStation And Xbox's Footsteps This Year With "Global Price Hike"

sportymariosonicmixx

@MamaSymphonia: Most people already had the Switch 1, so if they just stuck with Switch 1 during the expensive parts period, most people would not have been impacted.

Also, did you miss the "New" 3DS?:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Nintendo_3DS

It had better hardware and better graphics/faster loading times in games, but ALL 3DS systems could play the same games.

There was also a 3DS XL. It looks like the New 3DS XL was Japan only.

So, they could have done a "New" Switch 1 XL with better graphics and a bigger screen, but ALL Switch 1 systems could still play the same games.

Of course, they would then be unable to extort customers for $500 for the same console. My guess is this is the doing of Nintendo of America.

American greed is the worst, but the American branch has been exerting more and more influence on Nintendo's decisions. This nonsense would never have happened ten years ago.

Fortunately, Nintendo of Japan still makes all the games, so the game quality has not yet been impacted.

Re: Switch 2 Predicted To Follow In PlayStation And Xbox's Footsteps This Year With "Global Price Hike"

sportymariosonicmixx

@Mommar: The companies probably purposely invented the AI hype as an excuse to raise prices.

No normal person gives a damn about AI.

Most AI talk is not even real AI.

For example, I had these insanely persistent hiccups a few months ago where I hiccuped every 5 seconds for TEN hours!!!

I typed into Google if it was normal to have hiccups for ten hours.

As soon as I saw the response, I could immediately tell it was "AI" generated and tested different numbers of hours and the reply is exactly the same no matter how many hours you put in from 1-47.

That is NOT AI!!! That is an answering machine that could have been done in the 1980s.

Re: Switch 2 Predicted To Follow In PlayStation And Xbox's Footsteps This Year With "Global Price Hike"

sportymariosonicmixx

@MamaSymphonia: The reason your analogy fails is they could have just waited a few years for storage prices to drop and keep selling the Switch 1.

The Switch 1 sold over 100 million units.

If they were just coming off the Wii U's major disappointment, then your example might apply, but they rushed in the worst console ever just to raise the price.

The Switch 2 is NOT a new system!!! It is a Switch 1 XL that they are trying to scam consumers into paying an extra $150 for.

The "New" 3DS had a graphical upgrade over older 3DS, but 95% of the 3DS games could be played on any 3DS.

Nintendo should have just done that as Switch 1 XL.

Re: Random: Disney's Terrible DS Game 'Cory In The House' Is Now Selling For Hundreds Of Dollars On eBay

sportymariosonicmixx

@Duncanballs: Jack DeVries though is an incredibly stupid reviewer.

I used to listen to him on IGN's "Nintendo Voice Chat" back in the day and I used to wonder how he even got hired.

He was the replacement when one of the core trio of Matt Cassamassina, Mark Bozon, and Craig Harris were unable to do it that week and the podcast was significantly worse anytime he was on.

Additionally, if you read the review, a lot of the complaints were stupid. For example, he compares the game to Keenan'n'Kel. I never watched that show, but it was a top show of its time for comedy and he thinks that show is an insult.

In another topic, I said I wish this site would hire kids to review all the games who go unreviewed and I was told that kids would not have the experience to do good reviews. The fact that Jack the professional has no idea that Keenan'n'Kel was a top comedy show of its time does little to bolster professional video game reviewers credentials.

And he complains about the graphics, but has NO SCREENSHOTS in his review!!!

How can you be that lazy?

The review claims "All we are doing is walking from Point A to Point B to talk to people." Isn't that every RPG ever that scores a 9/10?

Additionally, if you go here:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ds/945094-disney-cory-in-the-house/faqs/68417

the walkthrough claims some of the game's secrets can only be found if you play the game a second time.

IGN gave Luigi's Mansion a 7 seven years earlier on a Gamecube and the game was 5 hours long. The DS is only on the level of the Nintendo 64 and the game complains the game is too short. If you have to play the game twice to get 100%, I doubt the game is shorter than 5 hours.

This review is a fantastic example of a game not having the proper reviewer for the target audience.

Re: Nintendo's 'My Mario' Toy Line Adds Three Fisher-Price Playsets

sportymariosonicmixx

@Nep-Nep-Freak: How old are you?

If you had Nintendo Power around 2002, Nintendo Power sold tons of normal size Mario universe plushies.

I actually bought like $300 worth of those plushies including 6 different colored Yoshis.

I actually used to sleep with a Yoshi plushie and Luigi plushie next to me on my bed until I had a scare where both of them were nearly permanently lost because they nearly slipped between my mattress and the wall.

Re: Nintendo's 'My Mario' Toy Line Adds Three Fisher-Price Playsets

sportymariosonicmixx

@Misima: So you would rather have more money than great memories as a kid?

Also, you could have bought more shares of Amazon and still spent $7,000 on video games.

In fact, if you have good creative ability, you could get 1,000-2,000 hours of gameplay for every Mario game for just $50.

Video games are the cheapest form of entertainment out there.

Re: Nintendo Switch 2025 'Year In Review' Is Available Now

sportymariosonicmixx

@Yalloo: But if most articles post several times, then you get no actual boost in visibility.

And the fact they deleted my post only fuels my anger.

Why is it "unconstructive feedback" to explain how to properly write an article?

If there were no actual news, that would be one thing.

You just said yourself there is tons of news, so why the need to make every article have multiple posts?

Re: Nintendo's Investors Are Reportedly "Spooked" As Stock Slides

sportymariosonicmixx

The thing is though this struggle is going to continue because you can easily read the data and conclude that only hardcore fans bought it and now no one has no reason to buy a Switch 1 XL as Switch 2 for 40% more money for Switch 1 ports.

If any of you follow baseball, it is like if a batter goes 4 for 4 with 3 home runs on opening day and then proceeds to go 0 for 12 with 12 strikeouts in the next 3 games.

The home announcer will still probably say, "I know Batter X has struck out in 12 straight plate appearances, but Batter X is still on pace to hit 162 home runs, so nothing to worry about!!!" (The MLB record is only 73 home runs.)

What the announcer and what the article claims about Switch 2 are both technically true, but the 3 home runs were likely all off the same pitcher that the batter is unlikely to see again for 6 weeks, so saying he is on pace for 162 home runs is a completely irresponsible statement, even though it is factually true through the 4 games of data I gave you.

Re: GameStop Kicks Off 2026 By Reportedly Shutting "Hundreds" Of Stores

sportymariosonicmixx

The sad part is I could do a better job making a business model for these gaming stores.

They should do 3 things.:

1) Duplicate a grading service in store where the game gets processed in 1 week and cut the surcharge from $100 to $25.

I love the idea of grading games, but sending my game to an unknown location for 12-24 months is insane.

I would never believe I am getting the game back.

2) Partner with local schools to let kid gamers assist store employees in writing Player's Guides for games.

The vast majority of serious gamers want a real Player's Guide and not some online set of dashes.

I was told this website has tons of guides. I checked two high profile Mario games and neither game had a guide.

I understand the stores would be on a 3-6 month delay in getting the guides out, but that would be an improvement over what they are doing.

Let kids contribute photos, which is super easy with the Switch's capture button, let staff handle the writing, and the schools will do the printing free of charge for letting kids get involved in gaming/photography from a young age.

3) Have a curated retro game collection by buying bulk collections and offering individual game sales at a reasonable price.

With a huge company, Gamestop can afford to shell out the money and sell the valuables. The average person cannot spend $2,000 on a sale for a $200 game they want and hope to recoup the other $1,800 in individual sales.

This plan would diversify their profit streams and be super easy to implement for anyone who is a serious gamer.

Why are they not doing my plan?

Re: GameStop Kicks Off 2026 By Reportedly Shutting "Hundreds" Of Stores

sportymariosonicmixx

I HATE Gamestop!!!

So, I am glad to see them doing poorly!

I signed up for their multi round, multi city Super Smash Brothers Brawl tournament back in 2008 for launch.

I read every line of their 10 page rules and nothing said you had to pre-register or get there early. My family called multiple Gamestops to confirm this fact.

The website claimed Round # 1 would be 64 person tournament brackets to lead up to a midnight launch and the tournament was supposed to start at 800 PM.

We get there on launch night and I was the 17th person on line and the manager says I am out of luck because "We can't be here all night, so we are only doing a 16 person tournament."

There were people behind me and they were doing a midnight launch. They easily could have done a 32 person tournament at least.

When I told them we called ahead to confirm, the manager claimed that person had been fired earlier in the day, so everything he said was wrong, but he had no answer for why multiple other Gamestops had given me the same answer.

Unless the guy tried to kill someone, no store would fire staff the day of a big tournament. I was so angry because now we were too far away from any of the other Gamestops to get there on time and I was looking forward to that tournament for two months.

I would have paid at least a $250 deposit to secure my spot or camp out 6 hours early if they would have just told me that in advance.

After that fiasco, I vowed never to buy from Gamestop again.

I did buy a $10 Playstation 2 game from them called "The Adventures of Cookies & Cream" afterwards though.

Even Amazon and Ebay had no copies. Gamestop was the only ones who had a copy and it was the only co-op platformer besides New Super Mario Brothers in that time period and I really wanted to play it with my cousin, so they got one final $10 sale from me.

They did not even have a manual or a box from it, so all I got was a generic Gamestop case with it and the employee complained that it would take an extra two minutes to find one.

I can see they did not learn their lesson in the few years that elapsed between those two Gamestop experiences.

Re: Review: Fire Emblem: Path Of Radiance (GameCube) - Aged & Easier Than You're Used To, But Still A Winner

sportymariosonicmixx

@Hwatt: You are welcome!

I imagine Nintendo will probably port all the first party Gamecube games at some point, so if you are OK with the way Nintendo forces you to rent the games, you should get a shot.

I hate the rental aspect of it, but if they add online for Mario Kart: Double Dash or something, I might eventually give it a go because that feature was not available on the original Gamecube and you would have to pay for online separately, even if you bought the game.

Also, is the picture on your profile of Wyatt from Paper Mario on Nintendo 64?

Re: Review: Fire Emblem: Path Of Radiance (GameCube) - Aged & Easier Than You're Used To, But Still A Winner

sportymariosonicmixx

@MjekuMati: If you want to laugh about the embarrassing things that get through quality control, in Pac-Man & The Ghostly Adventures 2 for Wii U, they max out the Globe Energy Orbs count at 99,999 in the hub world, but still let you collect up to 999,999 when you finish levels.

And the game still counts the Globe Energy Orbs you collect in the hub world after 9,999, but the on-screen meter does not tell you until after you play another level.

Re: Review: Fire Emblem: Path Of Radiance (GameCube) - Aged & Easier Than You're Used To, But Still A Winner

sportymariosonicmixx

@molkom: Did you sell your games because you wanted to or because your girl forced you to?

In general, even if the games are widely accessible, I would charge half retail for a good condition used copy.

Gamecube games were $50 back in the day, so if you had 30 Gamecube games to sell, you should have sold for $750 and then higher because Fire Emblem is pretty rare.