Julius

Director's Cut of the NSO + Expansion Pack + Switch 2 additions overviews: I feel like it's pretty hard to argue against the Expansion Pack having become one of the better value propositions in gaming when it comes to experiencing such a strong catalogue of classic titles unless you find yourself in a position where you've already played it all and are waiting for the next games to drop, maybe then it wouldn't be so great

Well that was nice 6th! The Super Cup totally counts with how long it eluded us

Some more pre-order details for the UK! There'll be some bundles available via My Nintendo Store UK for the game: Worth remembering that the Pokémon Centre pre-orders come with a starter plush. The Switch version of the game will be £49.99; the Switch 2 Edition of the game will be £59.99. Pre-orders will also be opening on 5th June for digital versions of the game via the eShop (a Switch 2 launch day pre-order!), and physical copies will be available for pre-order from My Nintendo Store UK from 11th June.

Same reasoning to share this update, seems the most appropriate topic – Yuri Lowenthal, who VA'd in the original game, has all but confirmed the remake's existence by saying that he won't be returning to voice Yosuke in the Persona 4 remake. I mean firstly, yikes. But also: roll on the Xbox Not-E3 Showcase premiere, with them and Atlus acting like no other platform is getting this game for a few days, before it gets confirmed for other platforms and everyone buys it elsewhere instead (also Day 1 on Game Pass)

Oh shoot – is that Emma battling the trainer, the girl using the Mega Lucario? The eyes, the hair(cut), the outfit she has on underneath the very Looker-esque coat looks like that suit... On the right that could be the cuff and hand of a generic Pokémon trainer, but it could also be Looker? So many Mega Evolutions crammed into this, like Mega Salamence flying off way high in the background, or Mega Steelix on top of that building. Most other Pokémon battling in this image being a Mega implies to me that Noivern might be getting one? There's also a shady guy chilling by the satellite dish...could be Vinnie given the double-breasted suit jacket, but it also looks like the jacket might be white? Might just be the lighting suggesting that, though.

Confirmed for 06:00 PST (that's 14:00 BST) on Tuesday 22nd July by the official Pokémon US Twitter account: Weird that the time wasn't included in the JP or UK accounts announcing the event? What games do you have in mind? As Scarlet & Violet have their free patches coming at the time of the Switch 2 launch, I'd imagine just the core series games will be getting similar performance patches, and maybe we see Switch 2 Editions for New Pokémon Snap, maybe Pokkén if it needed it (I have no idea) or they had content to add, right? Actually, putting it that way, the spin-off output on the Switch for the series has been abysmal. Hopefully it picks up on Switch 2! EDIT: oh wait, are they going to announce a Z-A themed Switch 2? First limited edition Switch 2 coming just 4 months after launch maybe? Or will they stick with the Switch/Switch Lites? Or do any and all of the above?

Oh, this is pretty funny – the US Pokémon site shows the launch details as being published on the 19th (last Monday), so I'm guessing that might be when it was added on the backend? Elsewhere, a new Mega Evolution page has gone up on the official Japanese site and it's a beaut, with some great new artwork for a number of Mega Evolutions, as well as some art further down for each Mega Evolution to date. To show how all-in they're going to be with Mega Evolution marketing this year, take a look at just how many product lines/events/tie-ins were announced! Good stuff, can't wait

Per the Pokémon JP Twitter account: Announced close to 2 months out is wild! What gives? I imagine we'll finally get a bit of a deep dive on Legends Z-A (meaning it likely doesn't turn up for a potential Nintendo Direct in June) with pre-orders apparently going live in Japan the following day, but this seems so far out that it's hard to not wonder why. My first thought was Worlds, but that's 3 weeks removed from this. NSO updates? We know Colosseum and XD are coming to GameCube Classics, so maybe we get one of those. Maybe other NSO games or classics being released on the system with next year being the 30th, do we dare dream? A look at LEGO Pokémon? An update on Champions perhaps? Explorers of Sky remake for me and @Glen-i?

Releases 16th October! And yes, that key art makes up the box art – Switch > Switch 2 Edition box art once again: Very surprised this isn't taking the November slot every main series Pokémon game except Legends: Arceus has since X&Y, but then there it is – we're returning to Kalos in October 2025 like it's October 2013!

A digital set of the remade Erdrick Trilogy, consisting of Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake and Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, will be available from launch. I've got to imagine a physical trilogy release is planned but being delayed to get people to double-dip, right? The Octopath Traveller I & II bundle was available digitally first before its limited physical release (only in Asia so far).

Probably none. Probably. Honestly at this point I think I'm just waiting for the inevitable (right..?) Ghost of Yōtei-themed Dualsense to be announced, beyond that I'm still humming and hawing over picking up the Helldivers II one or importing the FFXVI one from Japan. The Switch 2 arriving next week and being indecisive about whether or not I want to pick anything else up for it, or figuring out when I pick up Clair Obscur, is definitely making it a bit easier to let the sales pass me by We've also recently upgraded our internet to the point I'd be comfortable picking up a Portal (so I can get trophies during my evening wind-downs, also makes the prospect of grinding out some of Infinite Wealth when I get back to it a lot easier to deal with), which is a DualSense in its own way I guess, but I feel like if I do go for that eventually it's probably smarter to wait until Black Friday/Christmas sales. I'm honestly a bit surprised it isn't included in the Days of Play sales as it is! But then there's also all those rumours of PlayStation releasing a handheld capable of downloading the games rather than just streaming in the next few years, and that sounds much more enticing to me, so I guess we'll see

100% agree, I just think the Game Key Cards and Switch 2 Editions somehow make it even worse. Which is really saying something. So long as Switch 2 Editions release and their base Switch releases get upgrades, I'll be buying the original Switch release purely for the case aesthetics The wraparound image is nice at least, but that's about it. Why that Switch 2 border at the top needs to be so thick when they're clearly pushing people towards digital with the moves they're making is beyond me, because that would imply they're expecting/planning for less of an in-store presence. I've said it before but just invert the red/white scheme of the Switch to white/red for Switch 2 and you're golden! Because they don't care for plastic waste and aren't happy with how quickly the world is burning up. The image of Chibi-Robo burning was a threat, not a meme

I've cancelled my pre-order for this ahead of the Switch 2 launch next week. £25 is a great price to get it at, but I also don't doubt it'll drop lower than £20 come Black Friday...around the time DQ I & II HD-2D drops. While I'm certainly not a fan of the whole Game Key Card direction, to make it even worse for me as someone who collects physical games is the horrible chunk of text placed at the bottom of the front cover is simply disgusting (same goes for Switch 2 Editions). The main reason I've cancelled it though is because I can't help but feel like other JRPGs deserve my attention more, and I don't want this game to end up just replacing another on my shelf for a few years before I finally get to it, so

Splatoon has been added to the service to mark the game's 10th anniversary. That's right, folks: Splatoon has entered the double digits!

Hold up, it's out of stock for now, but how am I only just finding out that a physical copy that bundles together Octopath I & II (both on the cart, seemingly!) was released in Asia back at the start of last month?!?! It's multi-language too?! SQUARE ENIX HOW CAN YOU DO THIS AND THEN SKIMP OUT BY USING GAME KEY CARDS ON SWITCH 2 WTFBDFJAJNEKF If you're wondering why and how I found this out, yes, I've been mulling over picking this or the first Octopath game up as a game to pad out my Switch 2 launch line-up...but I'll probably wait is the general consensus that if I'm going to play just one to play II? But if I'm open to playing both at some point probably just start with the first because the QoL additions to the second game might make it a bit tougher to go back to?