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I watched it not too long ago. The series ends at the end of an "exam arc" So I ended up buying the manga to see what happens next. There are only 11 volumes so far with a 12th one comming out so if you want to read ahead then it shouldn't be too much, especually if you just buy it digitaly.

Yeah, I totally get that angle of letting the cream rise to the top but they can give developers access to devkits and still curate the eShop so it's not flooded with garbage. Nintendo always has the final say on what is allowed on the eShop - I don't think it would take a very big team to be able to sift out the garbage when conscious consumers and YouTubers can already spot the trash and scam games easily enough ETA: I just had a look at the number of games released for the Switch and it's about 11,500 so if you average it out across the 8 years since launch it works out at about 5 games released every day - seems like that workload would be manageable for a dedicated team to be able to do a bit of quality control

Given the state of the eShop and the amount of tripe on there now, it's probably best to withhold development kits. If you think back to when the Switch first launched, the eShop was much more curated and the cream rose to the top but once the floodgates opened it just turned into a mess.

I never thought I could finish and platinum a Monster Hunter game in a week but here we are. It's too easy, hands out drops at a stupidly fast pace and has very little content.

I think the wording of the article is a bit misleading really, makes it seem as if the launch will consist of purely first party releases but that obviously won't be the case - it's just about Nintendo planning on spacing out big releases so there is a steady release of big titles through the first few months. Everything about this sounds sensible although I do find it a bit odd that they would wait until launch to provide devkits to smaller publishers and indies - wouldn't it make sense to let them have access after the blowout on April 2nd? Surely there won't be any details about the hardware to leak once Nintendo reveals everything and it would give indies and smaller developers a chance to get things ready for launch

A trade-in a month after release… I never thought I’d see the day that Hero hangs up his hunting greaves so quickly!

Kirby & Th- I can recycle jokes from WhatsApp too, mate.

Kirby & The Forgotten Songs.

OH NO! BURN IT DOWN!

Wouldn't it be funny if they announced the Switch Pro

1.75 given they only released half of the Kirby one

Can't be licensing because they own the IP. Cost can't be a factor either because they are porting random PSP and PS2 games to PS+ and yet Chains of Olympus, Ghost of Sparta, God of War and God of War 2 are still absent from the service.

Whole lot of nothing for me. I was holding off trading it in to see if anything decent would drop. A trip to CEX could be on the cards. The long awaited monster is rumoured to be Lagi.

They gave us three on one week, so they had to rebalance the equilibrium. Comes up to 2 albums a week with that. Bargain!

Yeah, all sounds pretty reasonable. Only select key 3rd parties would currently have dev kits, while the smaller devs will likely have to wait until launch day. Pretty standard for a new console launch.

According to Insider Gaming, the Switch 2 will release in June, and with it comes a three-phased plan for the remainder of 2025: I've got to imagine that third-party studios getting access to dev kits in June is referring to smaller third-party studios and not big AAA studios, indie wunderkinds and long-time collaborators throughout the life of the Switch. All of this makes sense to me. I'll be honest, I'm not too clear on what the three-phase plan action is from the article, I guess other than perhaps an emphasis on first-party early on – it simply sounds like they're saying that they're curating the first six months of the Switch 2 down to the smallest games, and want these releases staggered rather than an all-at-once approach where one partner might be competing with another or Nintendo's own game, which makes complete sense to me.

Free Title Update 1 drops next Thursday: VOD of the Showcase:

Probably because they've done a bit of research and determined that it's not cost effective. With these things, it's always down to cost. Or licensing issues. Or the cost of licensing.

Maybe they just want to say "please note, there will be no updates on the Switch 2 during this Direct" one final time

Just spent last night doing Side-Ops, one of which involved bailing out a sheep, another of which went pretty sideways and so I went against my preferred stealth method to Kratos-level deliverance of death. Yeah...I think I'm just going to go back to the main Missions for now and tackle Side-Ops as and when I feel like I've got something to actually gain from them, or am open to the distraction. They're good fun but already feel just a little bit repetitive, also not helped by the fact that they just keep adding more every time I complete a pair of Side-Ops. The potential for emergent gameplay feels great, but yeah, these early Side-Ops all feel pretty similar, and honestly while I'm impressed with the world visually, there's a lack of interconnectedness to the rest of the open world as soon as you take out their relays/radios and the game feels incredibly narrowed in scope. They feel like Peace Walker Side-Ops spread across an open world, but without much to connect them besides a continuous open space – again, at least so far. Also, have me a good chuckle being referred to during recon for one mission as "the Head Hunter" (funnier yet as at that point I was just putting the guys on a snooze rather than on ice) and hearing that they're considering starting to wear helmets

Indeed. For me it was a superior version of the game thanks to being able to use standard controls. I imagine the same arguments for Star Fox Zero would pop up if it ever got ported. I think most of the ports have sold very well on the Switch. If there is a low cost but high return then I imagine Nintendo will continue to release them.

This is the one physical VB game I currently own, and it’s worth the price of the console by itself. An EXCELLENTAH game, and one that was surprisingly highly influential! It was the first 2D platformer that really allowed your playable character to go in and out of the screen, allowing you to explore levels on different planes of depth. A mechanic that has since gone on to heavily inspire games like DKCR & DKCTF, Sonic Mania, Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Yoshi’s Crafted World, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge and countless indie 2D platformers like Mutant Mudds. You have this game to thank for pioneering the ability to go in and out of the scenery, but few games have ever pulled it off as convincingly as VBWL. The S3D effect is just such a natural fit for this kind of gameplay, and it really does help with judging depth, especially as enemies come forward from the background and into the foreground to attack you. The game itself takes mainly after the original Wario Land, keeping the same linear progression, but introduces keys that you need to find throughout the level to go through the exit. Like Wario Land 1, you also have the optional treasures to find that affect the ending, but it maintains a focus on action platforming in a mostly linear fashion. It’s very much the natural sequel to WL1 in that regard, before the series would go down the more puzzle platformer route. It’s such a massive shame that it didn’t get a 3DS port/remake; it really deserves the treatment, and it’s also a massive shame that it’s still locked to such an incredible failure of a console. But it would also lose a lot from the loss of S3D, so whichever platform will eventually go on to inherit this game really should have some kind of S3D support.

Virtual Boy Wario Land NA release: 27th November 1995 JP release: 1st December 1995 Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Often said to be the one shining gem in the putrid mess that is the Virtual Boy. While I disagree that the rest of the Virtual Boy’s library is as bad as people say, I will agree that Virtual Boy Wario Land is a great game, one that shows that the Virtual Boy could be used for, both in terms of gameplay and graphics. Like a few other Virtual Boy games, Wario Land starts off looking a little bit bland. I suspect this was due to helping people’s eyes focus, but it creates a poor first impression. After a few levels, though, the background and level design gets a lot more complex and the game looks gorgeous, even with the red and black colour scheme. It makes each level feel unique and the depth really adds to the style of the game. While you could play the game entirely 2D, you would be missing out on some of the impressive effects. Even character and enemy sprites have depth to them, which creates a really lovely look that’s hard to get across in screenshots. The gameplay is also really strong. It’s a very solid 2D platformer that feels nice to play, Wario’s jump is precise and easy to control. Wario can collect various hats which change his main action, which starts with a shoulder barge and can be upgraded to a short-range flamethrower or the dragon hat, which fires a longer distance and lets Wario fly for a short period. Another gameplay mechanic are sections that shoot Wario into the back of the screen, giving another layer of platforming that can be used for exploration and puzzles. Exploration is a key part of Wario Land, as the exit to the level is locked. You’ll need to find a key hidden in the level before you can progress, but there are also hearts and coins hidden everywhere, with some utilising hidden blocks or walls you have to destroy. Each level is also hiding a piece of treasure, often very difficult to find. While you can finish the game without them, if you want Wario to unlock the secret vault for the full treasure, you’ll need to hunt them down. And then for the best ending, you’ll need to know the game well enough to do it all in under two hours. It really is a great shame that this game is hidden in the Virtual Boy’s collection, and has never been re-released. It’s an immensely enjoyable game that feels long enough the first two times you play (once to complete and second to find the secrets), yet once you know the game, it’s also short enough for a quick blast. There’s also an extra unlockable difficulty that makes enemies more aggressive and adds extra spikes and obstacles. This alone is worth modifying your 3DS for. Great Remake or remaster? This really should have gotten a remaster on the 3DS. However, it will still make for a great remake (or perhaps as part of a Wario Land remake collection) with the right effects to pull of the style of the game.

If Nintendo sold their emulated games, I would agree that some things can be missing, but as all their retro games are now locked behind a subscription, they may as well not exist for me, making it very cut and dry.