Glen-i

I think you're putting more thought into it then Nintendo have. That's DK, and his face is horrible. I will continue to hate it.

"Weird" was meant to be in context, you rube!

Nintendo Today! has a slightly edited version of the trailer that shows Cranky. At least he doesn't look weird.

Oh don't worry, even with a GameCube controller, I can't play that game properly. Far too difficult...

Granted, I haven't played Rebirth yet, but you are right. "Remake" is quite the clever name. See also, Bravely Default. Looks like nonsense word salad that Square Enix are usually very guilty (What the actual hell does Birth By Sleep even mean!?) of, but it makes so much more sense when you see the central mechanic.

Mappable back paddles is great because it means you can use them to replace the worst controller input ever devised. Clicking the Stick I hope whoever came up with that idea was fired. However, no mention of Hall Effect Control Sticks anywhere. Which concerns me...

No Switch 2 Direct is gonna stop me talking about a Pokémon most of you wouldn't give the time of day. Cloyster isn't glamourous, or even well-known. Honestly, it's biggest claim to fame is being paired up with an Onix in a Double Battle at one point. And yet, it joins Machamp as the second of only 2 common Pokémon from Generation 1 to get banned to Ubers without the help of Mega Evolution. Yeah, Generation 1 Pokémon are generally not very good. Cloyster (Water/Ice Type) is one of those Pokémon that has one amazing stat, at the cost of pretty much everything else. That Defense is kinda let down by the atrocious HP, though. So, when a Pokémon with bad stats gets banned to Ubers, it has to be the Ability, right? Wrong! Sometimes it's a set of moves... in conjunction with an Ability. Skill Link: Moves that attack 2-5 times always hit 5 times. You lapsed Pokémon fans out there might recall "Fury Swipes", a typically useless move that hits an opponent multiple times. It was never worth using back on the Game Boy because it was incredibly unreliable. Skill Link means that moves like this always hit the maximum of 5 times. But Fury Swipes has a base power of only 15. Multiply that by 5, and it's only 75 power. For comparison, Strength is stronger then that. Luckily, Cloyster doesn't learn Fury Swipes. Icicle Spear is another multi-hitting move. Except it's Ice type, so Cloyster gets STAB from it. It's also 25 power. Which means that Icicle Spear always has a power of 125 (187.5 after STAB). Stronger then Hyper Beam. The Ice type is a great offensive type, as it hits a lot of weaknesses. And if Ice won't cut it, then Cloyster can also learn Rock Blast, a Rock type alternative that does the same, although it is only 90% accuracy. OK, so Cloyster has some good attacking options, but so what? Stats like that, it's not gonna be able to do much. Well, Cloyster has one more trick up it's... sleeve? Shell Smash is a quite extreme move that raise the user's Attack, Special Attack, and Speed stats by 2 stages, but it also lowers Defense and Special Defense by 2 stages. The general strategy is to utilise the Focus Sash item, which prevents a Pokémon from fainting in one hit, as long as it has full HP, in order to use Shell Smash safely. After that, you use the doubled Speed and Attack stat to rain relentless multi-hitting moves on your opponent. If Icicle Spear and Rock Blast aren't ideal, then Hydro Pump (120 Power, 80 Accuracy, Special Water Type) can still leave a dent. Quite frankly, I can vouch for this Pokémon, because it was one of the three I used to get a 50 win streak in the Battle Tower on Shining Pearl. And it was by far the most useful. There's just not many Pokémon in the first 5 generations that can deal with that. Does that mean it's good in casual play? Hmmmm... It depends. Skill Link isn't a Hidden Ability, but Cloyster can't learn Icicle Spear or Rock Blast easily in the first 7 generations. It can learn them through breeding with particular Pokémon, which isn't easy to do in a casual playthrough. Thankfully, in Gen 8 (Sword/Shield), Icicle Spear can now be learned upon evolution, and Rock Blast is a TM. Same for Gen 9 (Scarlet/Violet). So you can make this work in most of the Switch titles. However, Focus Sash disappears once it's activated, so you can't rely on that in a normal playthrough. So yeah, Cloyster can absolutely wreck a CPU trainer, but it hasn't got the staying power to do multiple battles without liberal usage of potions.

Yup, pretty much the only arcade fighter I've ever enjoyed. And it's not because Link is incredibly OP, shut up! I'm wondering how the hell Nintendo got Namco to agree to this.

Theme night tonight. The theme is mostly based on the icons. They depict no-name characters that are playable in Mario Kart World. Except Sky-High Sundae, out of all the tracks from Mario Kart 8, they decided to bring that one back! See you at 8pm.

Scanning through the trailer for no particular reason, and I noticed some new and returning items. The Mega Mushroom returns. Get huge, go faster, squish people you drive over. There's a ? Block. Seems like you can hit it multiple times and get a coin for each time, but whenever you do, it drops 2 coins behind you for the players trailing to pick up. Hammers! Yeah, like the ones Hammer Bros (Who are playable now) throw. Kinda similar to the Fire Flower, except they fire in a spread shot, and an arc. Seems to be an item that summons Kamek to go and do... something. No idea what.

Oh boy, if you think that was dumb, wait until you hear what they said about where Tears of the Kingdom fits into all this!

Yeah, I got that one just now. Seeing as I know I'm not eligible, your chances aren't looking great.

They see them as spin-off games. Therefore, not as valuable. For that reason, I don't expect you to be able to transfer Pokémon there to HOME. In fact, I'd be astonished if Wind Waker lets you use the Tingle Tuner.

Mario Party somehow making you want to slap that star-stealing jerk even more than usual!

Going by the Japanese pricing. It seems like games that don't have new content (BotW, TotK) will be around 10 quid, and games with extra content (Mario Party, Kirby & the Forgotten Land) will be around £20.

Select Switch 1 games will get a free update instead of a "Switch 2 Edition". https://www.nintendo.com/en-ca/gaming-systems/switch-2/transfer-guide/games-with-free-updates/ It says these updates may improve performance or add Switch 2 features.

Would be the two games I don't give a toss about, wouldn't it? I guess games with actual new content will have a higher upgrade price.

No, it's a glorified guide that reacts to what you're doing in-game.

I didn't purchase the Family Membership, so no. Not that it matters, I can't afford that next week.

This was my game of the Direct, right here! Given the setting, I wonder if Link won't even show up here?

I'm all in. Love this mental game! ...Once I get the Switch 2, that is. Definitely can't preorder it.

Soul Caliber II!? Wow!

SOLD!

Yeah, I'll play Bravely Default again!