tjhiphop

Japanese box art is much more well-composed to my eyes. There's something slightly cheaper about the EU illustrations.

@Owozifa Spot-on. I feel like a huge issue with Nintendo fans is this default expectation that every product should be purchased, like they're being forced. It explains the intensity of backlash to recent pricing decisions.

Like yeah, don't buy the roguelike DLC if you don't like rougelikes, don't purchase the Virtual Boy peripheral if you aren't interested in primitive 3D novelties. Maybe you've missed out on some precious precious content but you've ended up saving money where you might otherwise have spent some if Nintendo priced more aggressively.

For my money, the Galaxy games have the greatest soundtracks in gaming history. Could listen to them for hours.

@sixrings Free upgrades were predominately for internally-developed Nintendo games. I'm not saying that's right or wrong, but that's what the majority of those games all had in common.

Maybe it says more about the physical/digital split between platforms, but it's remarkable how healthy the Switch sales are in the UK in what is traditionally a very lukewarm territory for Nintendo.

This is looking into it too much. Lots of fandoms use the clown meme, it's just a general shorthand for getting your expectations up for something which likely won't be there. Not saying this definitely isn't Silksong related, but I wouldn't make the assumption.

No one is entitled to voice a character forever, nor physically can they. In this sort of industry it's great to see new blood come through and make a name for themselves.

From Nintendo's POV it makes sense if they were going to freshen up the Mario voice cast, to try and do it all in one big lump, even if it looks a bit shady from the outside.

Crossworlds doesn't look terrible by any means but considering the difference in price of the base digital game between this and MKW is only £2, the scope, polish and overall quality looks a lot lower here than in Mario Kart.

It's understandable that if you've been making use of this 'loophole' up until now, you'd be disappointed to see it go. However, I don't think it's that ridiculous or greedy to ask people to buy a 2nd copy of a game if they want to play it on 2 systems simultaneously. Anything you can't do with a physical cart seems fair game to me.

I do wish you could lend games over the internet though. There's already enough restrictions with your family group, only one game at a time, and the 14-day limit; why do I have to be in the same room as the person I'm lending to as well?

As long as sites like Nintendo Life are reposting and promoting content from the app, it's doing its job.

I'm hoping 3rd parties will make an ergonomic grip the joycon 2s can snap into to make mouse mode more comfortable. Otherwise I can't really see it being comfortable to use for more than short bursts like in the Mario Party minigames.

The lack of "next-gen wow" is just Nintendo catching up to the technological limits that Sony and MS have hit with PS5/Series (arguably even with PS4/XB1). Generational leaps are getting smaller and smaller as time goes on.

That being said, I was very impressed with the level of destruction and the number of particle effects in Bananza. No way that game could run on OG Switch. And that's just the beginning. Very excited to see what Retro, Next Level and Nintendo's core teams do with the hardware a year or 2 down the road.

They both look great, I hope there's an opportunity to go back to DKC DK in the future. I like how Kevin's design is more 'monkey-ish'.

Nintendo are definitely being overly-cautious so as not to confuse customers. Including this info on the back of the box simply wouldn't cut it. Hopefully the Switch 2 Editions come with reversible box art.

@Edward_J_Grug_III new or just previously unseen? I wouldn't be surprised if someone at NOA had access to key art that wasn't widely available, and used that in the direct.

Without a price point or a more in-depth look at the game there's not much to say here that isn't jumping to conclusions. I don't see myself spending a significant amount on this though.

The render of Samus is really nice but her pose is a bit limp and I find the overall composition to be slightly lacking. Nice use of colour but can't help but feel this could have been more.

Then again, I still wish that majority of box arts were hand painted so I could be behind the times

Why do people keep pushing the idea that Nintendo would secretly show Switch 2 footage and pretend that it's Switch 1. Whether it's Pokémon or Metroid, the notion is ridiculous. Nintendo would never do that.

Gold points were just a worse version of Club Nintendo points/Nintendo Network Premium (for those that remember) so I'm not too upset about this. Nintendo will definitely replace this with a new reward scheme, so I'll have to wait and see before judging that.

@TbobB if that's true then I was doomed from the start 🥲

Didn't get one. I wonder if it was truly random or if they had some way of checking social media followers etc. Surely it's in Nintendo's best interest to let people in who will post all about it online? Probably was just bad luck though.

Wow this is really cool, kudos to whoever built this behind-the-scenes. I'm sure it can't have been easy.

I love stuff like this. Reminds me of that game which asks you to put the joycon inside a loo roll. Will keep an eye out for this.

Hopefully Brothership is the new foundation the series needs to really prosper. That being said, with Nintendo's home and handheld divisions merged, it does seem funny to have 2 concurrent mario RPG franchises on the same system. Even though M&L and Paper Mario are firmly distinct.

Impressive platform split on Bluey, 126% sell-through!

I get having 1 release a week but I wish we got 1 Switch and 1 classic OST a pop. Still no Mario 64! How!

@Samalik That's true, and if people have ridiculously high expectations that's kinda on them. Nevertheless 8 years is 8 years, and I think it will be hard for MP4 to impress considering that.

As much as I trust Retro, I feel like the 8-year wait for this game is potentially too much to live up to, and a lot of people will be disappointed. I just hope that it sets a strong foundation for a Switch 2 Prime game that sets a new high bar for Nintendo visually.

1 soundtrack a week feels kinda slow at the moment since we're so close to launch. But I reckon Nintendo is thinking of the long game here. If they plan to run this service for the next 5 years at least, that's another 260 games to be added if they stick to a weekly schedule. Even a developer as storied as Nintendo I think will begin to run out of worthwhile OSTs to add. I hope by then we start getting some third party soundtracks.

The other benefit to weekly releases is the inevitable blogspam news articles (sorry Nlife) that keep them present in the news cycle.

I bet there are more rights issues than one might expect with stuff like this. I think even if Nintendo wanted to dump music from all their games at once, they probably wouldn't be able to.

There's also setting up a screenshot for each individual track (unnecessary, but a nice touch I guess) and the custom playlists for each game which also takes up time.

Still, I am hoping for weekly releases here, or a drop of 5 or 6 each month.

@SillyG It was!

As usual with Nintendo it's something that nobody could have predicted, which I think is fantastic. Interested to see where this goes.

Although I have to say I don't understand all the Minecraft comparisons. So anything in a game that involves blocks is Minecraft now?

I like the photo, but what would have been wrong with pairing the tweet with a plain Nintendo logo? Maybe displaying the date/time of the reveal? Boring, sure, but it would have taken 1/4 the time and not have caused any problems with NoJ.

Lack of AC annoys me a bit too. I wonder if by omitting a plug, they can sell exactly the same product in every territory, instead of having the exact plug design, or including adaptors to suit all regions.

I'm shocked that Astro Bot seems like it won't even hit 6 figures in Japan.

All Astro Bot proves is that more AA and AAA developers SHOULD be 'stealing' (read: taking heavy inspiration) from Nintendo.

For too long it's been made out that Nintendo have some kind of unreplicable secret sauce with their games, so other devs shouldn't even bother trying to compete. How many times have we heard that Nintendo "don't count" next to PS/Xbox? That they're not in direct competition?

The reality is that there's nothing magic about what Nintendo does. It's all about having those guiding design principles that place fun above all else and sticking to them no matter what.

I won't say it's easy, credit still has to go Team ASOBI, and Sony for backing them, but it's a lot more achievable than conventional wisdom suggests.

If we had more Nintendo 'copycat' games made with this much love and heart, and fewer soulless Overwatch knock-offs (cough Concord) then the industry would be in a much healthier place.

@nohr7 agreed. Link and Ganon in the background is also kinda awkward. The artwork feels like a 3D mockup using game assets that would then be beautifully illustrated in classic 2D Zelda style.

They've gone for the cheap option, which is fine, it is just a boxart after all.

If Pullblox was built in Game Builder Garage...

@RiccyBobby so true my dude

@roboshort exactly right! nothing untoward about it for me

We hear all these stories about things Miyamoto doesn't like, but 9 times out of 10 they're things that wind up in the final game. So either he's not as negative as it appears, or he has an open mind about including stuff that doesn't appeal to him in Nintendo's games.

In this instance, Elephant Mario is in the game and his design is terrific, and it sounds like Miyamoto is partially to thank for that. I'm so tired of the lazy George Lucas comparisons when for anyone actually in the games industry, there are scant few figures more respected than Miyamoto.

It's quite clear from that first trailer it wasn't Martinet doing Wario's voice. Unlike the Mario voice from Wonder which is spot-on, this feels like it has some way to go before matching Charles' performance.

@TSR3 The Special holes from Resort actually are in the game. You can access them in single-player by selecting '3 Holes'. Online they only appear as a final round (I think only if the final 3 have a particularly high score, but it might just be random).

From a pure gameplay standpoint, Switch Sports is fantastic and really does feel like a culmination of 15+ years of the Wii Sports franchise. Such a shame then that the single-player aspect was neglected, ultimately leaving things feeling slightly hollow.

Considering the game mechanics are light years more complex than they were in Wii Sports, it's baffling that there are no training mini-games to teach you expert mechanics. Instead relying on you reading the relevant loading screen tips.

Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I love games where you chase your own high-scores, so it's sad that there's no way of to do this outside golf and bowling. A points-based skill system and challenge stamps would help enormously.

Game could also do with a couple extra sports at least. I think baseball, table tennis, archery and basketball would round out the package (bin volleyball if you have to). Hell, I would just take a new 18 holes for golf.

EsquireBob did this exact parody 8 years ago, even down to the some of the same jokes: https://youtu.be/U593bYo0IGw

I'm sure it's just tangential thinking, but surprised it didn't come up during the writing process.

Now to go through the comments section and 'ignore' each and every last person who is upset by this getting removed!

@Baker1000 Everybody needs to read this comment. Spot on!

@LegendOfPokemon This has nothing to do with the online system

@JHDK Miyamoto is not Nintendo and vice-versa.

"Right now, the only real reason to play is purely for fun"

I stopped reading after this. How on earth are you trying to paint non-predatory tactics as a bad thing? I'll play a game if I think it's fun and I want to, not because of some focus-tested skinner box construct designed to keep me hooked against my own will.

I don't want to call this a disgusting article because I didn't read the whole thing, but that one line really put me off. It seems irresponsible.