Comments 511

Re: Surprise! Nintendo Announces Indie World Showcase For Thursday 7th August 2025

topsekret

I just hope there's some shmups.

Danmaku Unlimited 4 just got announced for PC, so I could see that also getting a Switch 2 version. Would be a great showcase for 120 FPS.

Kind of a longshot, but I'd also like to see a Blue Revolver port, though in the past the dev has indicated he isn't interested in doing console ports.

But let's be real--it's gonna be 80% "cozy" games.

Re: Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection Gets Proper Physical Release On Switch 2

topsekret

@Solid_Python I agree that digital should be cheaper than physical.

However if Nintendo or retailers demand price parity initially for physical and digital, then I think increasing the price to enable true physical is the better option.

If you don't care about physical and feel the digital price is too high, you can simply wait for a sale. For example, after almost 2 years, the digital version of Mortal Kombat 1 has gone on sale for 66% off. I'm sure it will continue to go down in price. Feel free to snag it at the price you are comfortable with.

If they took the other approach and put the game on a GKC, there is literally no solution for people who want physical.

Re: Video: Sega Unveils New Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage Trailer

topsekret

@RemyMartin A lot of the existing Switch 1 arcade sticks should work fine on Switch 2. I can personally confirm that the Mayflash F700 Elite is now fully supported on the Switch 2.

At launch the Bluetooth mode did not function with Switch 2 (though wired USB and the 2.4 GHz wireless adapter did), but Mayflash released new firmware to fix the issue with Bluetooth on Switch 2.

@DashKappei I'll also point out that if you want, you can use the Switch 2's built-in controller remapping to bind any button on the arcade stick to the C button. I did that when I was playing Guilty Gear Strive online with my brother.

Re: Switch 2 Has Sold "More Than 6 Million" Units, And Almost As Many Copies Of Mario Kart World

topsekret

@RasandeRose Nintendo invented Game-Key Cards to give publishers an option to cheap out. They didn't have to do that. That's why I blame them too for this mess.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, what you said isn't even really true. Nintendo HAS recently started implementing draconian policies to prevent certain games from releasing on their systems. For example, they blocked the recent Neptunia ports from releasing outside of Japan due to their new "content guidelines." Unfortunately, Nintendo cares more about policing dumb things like that than creating rules to prevent 3rd parties from enshittifying physical games.

Re: Switch 2 Has Sold "More Than 6 Million" Units, And Almost As Many Copies Of Mario Kart World

topsekret

@Haruki_NLI Fake physical releases on Switch 1 (like code-in-a-box, or download-required) were the exception, not the rule. On the Switch 2, it's reversed. Switch 2 is far far worse for physical collectors than Switch 1.

I put the blame on both Nintendo and 3rd parties: Nintendo is the one that created a terrible ecosystem that incentivizes 3rd parties to do fake physical releases so aggressively, and 3rd parties are using every exploit Nintendo makes available for them to avoid giving customers true physical releases.

Here's my simple solution: give people the choice to buy what they want. Release each game on both a cheaper Game-Key Card and a more expensive true physical cartridge. Casuals can save a bit of money with Game-Key Cards, and collectors can spend more money to get true physical games.

Might be a bit of guess work for the initial batches to figure out the market sizes for both formats, but they'd be able to refine it as they go. They could start out doing smaller prints for the real physical versions to minimize risk on their end and then do reprints if there's enough demand (like what the retailer Video Games Plus does).

Just give the people what they want. They can't force the market to do what they want. If they aren't going to offer products we want, then I and the other physical collectors can and will abandon them without remorse. Nothing personal, it's just business.

Re: Switch 2 Has Sold "More Than 6 Million" Units, And Almost As Many Copies Of Mario Kart World

topsekret

@Haruki_NLI You're also forgetting about the NS2 Editions for BotW and TotK in terms of 1st party games mixed into the remaining number.

@Yosti I wanna see a breakdown of total number of true physical cartridges sold vs. total GKCs sold vs Switch 2-exclusive digital games sold.

Seeing a list of the best-selling 3rd party games would be interesting as well. I hope that CDPR and Marvelous are being rewarded for their true physical releases and everyone else is floundering.

Re: Pac-Man World 2 Is Getting The Re-Pac Treatment

topsekret

@KayFiOS Agreed. It's so misleading that in the US direct they listed it as "Physical / Digital" on Switch 2. They should have said "Game-Key Card / Digital" to be transparent with consumers.

Looking at the game's entry on Nintendo's website, both the Switch 1 and Switch 2 versions are 4.9 GB. I'm willing to bet the builds are exactly the same except they bumped up the framerate cap and rendering resolution on Switch 2. This could have absolutely been implemented as a Switch 2 patch included on the Switch 1 physical cartridge.

But they're taking the path of greed and forcing people to choose between true physical ownership and improved technical specs.

I'll bet on PlayStation, Bandai Namco will offer a free upgrade path for the PS4 to PS5 version like they did for the first Pac-Man World.

3rd parties on Switch 2 disgust me.

Re: Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase Announced For Tomorrow, 31st July 2025

topsekret

Might as well just rebrand it to "Nintendo Direct: Game-Key Card Showcase."

Here's your chance to prove me wrong, Nintendo. Let's see if any 3rd parties learned their lesson that people don't want GKCs. I'm slightly hopeful Sega might have come to their senses now that they've delayed Sonic Racing CrossWorlds on Switch 2 to put it on a real cartridge. And maybe $70 "prestige" titles like Elden Ring or FFVII Remake will opt for a true cartridge.

But if it's all GKCs, I'll just continue not buying said games, neither the GKCs nor the digital versions, and Switch 2 will continue being mostly a 1st party machine for me.

Re: Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury Recieves Another Switch 2 Update

topsekret

@Lady_rosalina Yes please. I booted up Ultimate and tried playing online after not doing so for a couple years and the input lag online is unbearable. I don't know how I ever dealt with it. It's so much more responsive playing offline.

Apparently it's 6 frames of lag offline and 10 frames of lag online in ideal conditions.

Re: Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Will "Average" 30fps On Switch

topsekret

Sounds like it'll be an uneven 30 FPS on Switch 1 and a locked 30 FPS on Switch 2. Disappointing.

Even if they don't have Switch 2 dev kits, all they need to do is add an option to target either 30 or 60 FPS. Make 30 FPS the default and then Switch 2 users can manually select 60 FPS. There, problem solved. Hire me, Koei Tecmo.

Re: Mario Kart World Has Been Updated To Version 1.2.0, Here Are The Full Patch Notes

topsekret

Looks like Nintendo is just trolling us.

Random is still the same (75% chance to pick one of the 3 available options, and 25% chance to pick a random classic-style track that is not connected to the current location).

Seems like the only difference is now there is a slightly higher chance that one of the 3 available options is a classic-style track. But it's very slight. Like maybe a 10% higher chance.

Looks like we gotta go back to complaining.

If they're really worried about splitting the player base with more modes, they should just make it so that among the 3 options, there is always at least 1 classic-style track and 1 "intermission" track. Then people can always vote for whichever style they prefer. And they should also change random back to how it used to work. It's pretty lame how most of the time it now just ends up giving you one of the 3 options you could have already picked.

Re: Guilty Gear Switch Edition Update And DLC Arriving Fall 2025

topsekret

@Aventurier DBFZ was already a pretty good port on Switch, but Strive is even better.

The biggest improvement over DBFZ is load times. On Switch 1, DBFZ would take about 34 seconds to load into a match. But Strive on Switch 1 only takes about 9 seconds (assuming you skip the long-winded intro animation lol). It's even faster than the PS4 version of Strive, which takes about 21 seconds to load a match!

Main benefit of a Switch 2 patch would be higher resolution (like 1080p handheld and 1440p/4K docked depending on what the Switch 2 could handle) and maybe being eligible for cross platform play.

But even the current Switch 1 resolution looks solid, like it's not obviously blurry like some other Switch 1 games (though I don't know the exact resolution).

Re: Guilty Gear Switch Edition Update And DLC Arriving Fall 2025

topsekret

A shame it'll still be a bit of a wait, but glad they at least gave us a time frame.

They mention text fixes for certain languages, but it would also be nice if they fixed the looping videos that play to show the selected move when viewing the command list. Sometimes they freeze. And once or twice this has also resulted in a crash for me.

But a minor complaint in an otherwise extremely solid port. That said, I wouldn't say "no" to a potential Switch 2 patch!

Re: NIS America: Trails Beyond The Horizon Switch 2 Game-Key Card Release Is "Most Beneficial Option" For Fans

topsekret

@AlanaHagues It's actually already been confirmed via retailers like Amazon and Best Buy that even the standard Switch 2 version will cost $10 more than all other versions (including PS5).

I think it would be worth updating the story to reflect this.

Also, if you are able, I think this would be a good question to ask NISA: why does the Switch 2 version cost $10 more despite releasing on a Game-Key Card?

Re: NIS America: Trails Beyond The Horizon Switch 2 Game-Key Card Release Is "Most Beneficial Option" For Fans

topsekret

Okay NISA, please explain how a Game-Key Card is more beneficial for me compared to a true physical release.

With GKC, I have to waste very limited storage space to fit the game on my system. If my built-in storage is full, I have to a purchase an expensive Micro SD Express card.

With GKC, I will no longer be able to redownload the game when the servers shut down in the future.

On top of that, you are not offering an upgrade path for owners of the Switch 1 version. And you are charging customers $10 for the Switch 2 version compared to all other version (even PS5!) What's the reason for these things? Is this also for my "benefit?"

Re: Pokémon Champions Gameplay Trailer Reveals 2026 Launch Window

topsekret

Being forced to grind for in-game currency to "fix" your characters in a competitive multiplayer game is horrible design.

Imagine if in a fighting game all your characters started out with reduced stats, and you had to grind battles with an underpowered character to max out their stats before you could compete on a level playing field. Just horrible.

This also really discourages experimentation. Cause each time you wanna change something about your team, you'll have to pay V-Bucks to do it. And then if you find out your idea didn't pan out after a few matches, you'll have to pay more V-Bucks to change it back.

Looks like the unofficial Pokemon Showdown will remain the ideal way to play competitive Pokemon.

Re: More Switch Games Reportedly Receive Switch 2 Compatibility Fixes

topsekret

I own 9 of these, so I'm very happy.

Though I'm curious: what's the source of this news? Nintendo Life cites Nintendo Everything, but they didn't cite a source. And if you look at Nintendo's official page for backwards compatibility, they haven't updated it since June 5 (at least, at the time of this post).

Did the author at Nintendo Everything just search on social media sites for people talking about fixes after the last system update? That might have been how they found out about Gunbird 2 getting fixed cause I posted about that on the shmup subreddit as well as here the day the update came out. If that's the case, it's not necessarily a comprehensive list, so there could be more games fixed that people haven't noticed yet.

It's a bit disappointing how Nintendo isn't really communicating both backwards compatibility issues and fixes very well. They seem to have abandoned their own page made for this purpose.

I also know from both personal experience and reading forums that there are many more games with backwards compatibility issues that are not listed on Nintendo's site, so it's unclear if they'll be fixed. For example, my brother is playing Ultra Age right now and it crashes basically every 10 minutes on Switch 2. And I saw on the forums here that the digital version of Klonoa crashes on boot, and in Trails from Zero you get crashes when watching videos in the video player.

Nintendo really should really have a dedicated way for users to report issues. Sure, you can tell customer service, but who knows how effective that is? Will that info make it from customer service to the devs working on the backwards compatibility?

@Spider-Kev What are the issues with Diablo II & III on Switch 2?

Re: Mailbox: Ninty Getting Its Freak On, Area Codes, The 'Discourse' - Nintendo Life Letters

topsekret

"Normally, I'm a glass half full kind of guy (I loved Pokemon Scarlet despite its flaws) and trolls, attention seekers and mis/disinformation doesn't really faze me, but now, with the launch of a new system from my favorite publisher, I can't help but feel less enthusiastic and even kind of worried about the Switch 2's future."

Have you ever considered the possibility that most people criticizing things about the Switch 2 are actually big fans and simply wish Nintendo would do better?

Despite the somewhat higher than expected price point of the Switch 2 (I was hoping for $400 instead of $450), I felt it was justified when we saw during the reveal how the console supported 4k docked & 1080p handheld, 120 Hz, HDR, and VRR. It felt surprisingly technically advanced for Nintendo. But then we started learning all the bad news (VRR doesn't work in docked, the screen has subpar HDR, the screen has a worse response time than even Switch 1 (50% longer), almost every 3rd party game is on a Game-Key Card, etc...), and now it feels like Nintendo over hyped and under delivered.

Don't get me wrong, I still love the Switch 2, but these are absolutely valid criticisms of the system and should be vocalized so hopefully Nintendo will feel pressure to improve these things in either firmware updates (where applicable) or a future hardware revision. If everyone just acts like everything is sunshine and rainbows, then there is no incentive for Nintendo to fix anything. Heck, they might not even realize some of these things are problems if people don't talk about them!

It's the exact same thing with the criticism towards Nintendo for the patch in Mario Kart World that made it even more difficult to play the classic 3-lap tracks online with random people. The people most vocal about this are the hardcore fans who play Mario Kart waaaaay more than the casual fans who just play single player to get gold on each Grand Prix, and then move on to something else and only come back to the game every now and then when they have friends over.

"With all the recent deductions about game key cards and digital games, I am increasingly feeling there should be a different definition between gamer and game collector like they are 2 different hobbies. There are so many comments saying 'if it's not physical I won't buy it' to me these aren't gamers who want to play and enjoy a game but are only interested in collecting, value and ownership of games."

This is classic "No True Scotsman" fallacy: "No true gamer would pass on a game just because it's released on a Game-Key Card."

I could just as easily say: "No true gamer prefers digital over physical. People who prefer digital games are just casuals who view games as disposable entertainment and don't care about actually owning and playing their favorites for the rest of their lives."

Re: Review: No Sleep For Kaname Date - From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES (Switch 2) - Fun Cast, Weak Twists In This Satisfying Spin-Off

topsekret

"Having played both the Switch and Switch 2 versions of the game, the latter’s graphical enhancements and load time improvements feel negligible."

Nice, so I won't be missing out on much by sticking with the true physical release on Switch 1.

Though it would have been nice to know the resolution difference in both handheld and docked. Guess we'll just have to wait for comparison videos on Youtube.

Re: Square Enix Rules Out Switch 2 "Upgrade Path" For Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake

topsekret

@Thomystic Mario Kart World and Cyberpunk are not "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" games. They can only be played on Switch 2.

You can play a Switch 2 cartridge on Switch 1 if and only if the box says "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" (like BotW, TotK, and Rune Factory). Those cartridges include the base Switch 1 version along with the Switch 2 upgrade pack. So if you insert them into a Switch 1, you will play the Switch 1 version. But if you insert them into a Switch 2, you will play the Switch 1 version with the Switch 2 upgrade pack (as opposed to just the raw Switch 1 version).

Re: Sonic Racing: Crossworlds On Switch 2 Will Feature The Full Base Game On Cartridge

topsekret

Finally some good news regarding the Switch 2 physical situation!

Was going to skip this, but now I'll pick it up day 1 physically for Switch 2.

The fact that the physical version is delayed suggests this is a last minute pivot from Sega. They were likely originally planning to do this as a GKC or code-in-box release, but made the switch to a real cartridge after all the backlash and poor sales for their initial batch of GKCs.

I had initially given up hope on all future Sega releases, but now I'm hopeful games like Metaphor and P3 Reload will get the physical releases they deserve on Switch 2.

Looks like we might be starting turn the tides here. Keep up the fight for physical, everyone!

Re: Rumour: Guilty Gear's New Game Has Been Cancelled, It's Claimed

topsekret

@YetAnotherLuna The Switch port is phenomenal, even on Switch 1. Very consistently hits 60 FPS. Snappy load times (though it's a bit slow to boot to the title screen due to the online connection stuff, but IIRC, it's like that on each platform). Visuals were translated over very well: less background animation and some reduced particle FX, but it's presented in a very solid resolution. One of the most visually beautiful games on Switch. I absolutely don't feel like I'm playing a lesser version of the game. Honestly, one of the most impressive 3rd party ports on Switch.

Only real drawbacks are that it's not up to date with the other platforms in terms of DLC characters (we're still missing Venom and Unika), and there's no crossplay, so it's a bit harder to find matches online. But I have had lots of good matches online and was able to find some people around my skill level.