Julius

Four new Game Boy games added to the service:

Clean and official upload of the full opening directly from Konami: WHERE THE HELL IS THE EXPLORERS REMAKE GLEN I NEEDED IT INJECTED DIRECTLY INTO MY VEINS 3 YEARS AGO

Love a dedicated series thread, thanks for starting this one @Happenstance! Honestly, I'm a little worried what the Switch 2 could mean for me, most JRPGs, and whether or not I'm playing them on PlayStation (oh, and trophies!). I've recently started winding down with the occasional game before bed as I'm in a bit of a reading rut, and the idea of just chipping away at a JRPG every night before bed sounds so cosy. I know Dragon Quest would be perfect for it, I imagine most modern JRPGs with quick saves would probably be perfect for it too. So it's very tempting for me to go the same way and just make it a dedicated RPG (+ Nintendo first-party) machine. I mean, this is all assuming I don't pick up a Portal...which I really don't want to do...but trophies!? We'll just need to wait and see, but I mean isn't it technically a DualSense? And as we all know, I do love a DualSense pick-up Anyways, yeah, I'm really hoping the remake of the first game is able to deliver on the love the original gets. Most of my exposure to Legend of Heroes and Trails is from people like Ben Moore going off about them on podcasts, and besides that it's been the music sneaking into my Spotify and YouTube recommendations, and it just sounds gorgeous can't wait!

Opening sequence was showing off for the first time as part of yesterday's MGS Legacy Series Part 4, with Kyle Cooper confirmed to be returning to create the sequence. Cynthia Harrell has re-recorded Snake Eater, but a number of people have pointed out that she sounds auto-tuned in places? So, visually, I think it looks stunning. I also think it shows a damn lot more than the original opening. And I probably prefer the original. It feels like it's serving people who have enjoyed the original more as a bit of fan service, but I'm curious if it's just one of those anime/Yakuza opening situations where newcomers are going to be totally oblivious until they rewatch it after rolling credits? I certainly hope so, because I've got a friend who will be popping into this as his first MGS, and it'd suck to get it spoiled. Bit annoying because now I need to not mention/draw attention to the opening...

Super Nintendo World at the Orlando site is now officially open! Wonder if they'll do anything cool on/around the Switch 2 launch at these parks?

2 WEEKS TO SWITCH 2

Damn, yeah, that has taken a good while to come down! But just as well, as a SteamDB update from a few weeks ago suggests DLC (Born From A Wish?) is on the way: Love a database slip-up. Let's hope there's some truth to this! An announcement for Not-E3?

Nikke DLC coming 11th June: Shift Up also confirmed a few days ago that a sequel is in the works:

Bahahahahaha

Ironically, I think had he stayed, they'd both likely still be trophyless: Spurs probably would've finished in 4th last season instead of Villa thanks to Kane's goals (only 2 points adrift), they'd have then qualified for the UCL this season, and they probably would've then bowed out in the early stages of the UCL (earlier than Villa did, anyways, surely!) and finish mid-table at best in the league Very funny it took both of them another trophyless season to get their hands on one, old habits die hard and all that. Funnier yet is Spurs managing it while being very fortunate that they didn't find themselves in a relegation battle

As someone who works at a bank, I always find it interesting when people have an aversion to utilising credit, because used smartly, it can go a long way in making things easier and simpler, such as with pre-orders like this. I noted it elsewhere but I stick pre-orders like this on a credit card and have the funds kept in dedicated spaces elsewhere, then transfer the funds over to the credit card as and when I see that the payment has been made. Saves me needing to check on and keep available funds in my current account. Not to say that it's wrong or anything like that, it always just makes me curious, I guess because of my job; but whatever actually works for you is almost always best. I've seen "more privileged" customers be excellent with managing credit, and others with ample funds being absolutely dismal at managing their credit (because they're too proud to set up a Direct Debit). I mean, anecdotally, I've got colleagues who also dodge using credit every chance they get (some who refuse to even use things like eBay) despite being fully aware of its potential importance in terms of building a good credit score, but some of them are also in a position where they have no real need to build up their credit file (traditional households from other cultures), so

Yeah, honestly it reminded me of that community fair play function the console launched with and was demised after very minimal use. Just seems like such an afterthought. Bit of a shame, as well, because with so many of these Xbox-published games making their way over as digital-only releases, I was finally starting to rack up some decent points! Need to make sure I remember to cash out. Honestly, I think they should take a page out of Nintendo's book when it comes to the Platinum points. Let's see some unique PlayStation IP avatars and Welcome backgrounds, let's see some official merch made available for legacy IP, heck let's go beyond that and have the points be able to go towards hardware or have earn double points when spent on PlayStation first-party games, weekends/periods where points go further (I think LEGO has something similar), and have a similar approach where points go twice as far when buying Classics available through subscriptions (also make way more Classics available, lol). There's so much they could do, honestly

Starting to see some reports of Pro Controller pre-orders being charged... We're getting there, folks. Slowly but surely, we're getting there

The PlayStation Stars loyalty program is officially winding down, with qualifying points redeemable until November 2026. They're now looking ahead to what form a loyalty program could take next on PlayStation.

As H-o-T shared in the PS5 thread, this is coming to PS5 this summer. Enhancements included in this version will be coming to other platforms for free. This release will also include support for DualSense haptic feedback and be enhanced for PS5 Pro. Bit of a shame this will very likely be digital-only like most Xbox games coming over, maybe even more so because this didn't get a physical release on Xbox in the first place. Curious to see how this is priced, seems like an easier pill to swallow playing a game like this on Game Pass – I don't know if it can shift units if it's more than £40 after Forza was £55 and Oblivion Remastered was £50? Feel like £35 would be a sweet spot.

Crazy how many things are coming to PlayStation from Xbox before Halo, really makes you wonder what their plans are for that franchise on PlayStation. Anyways, sure, I'm in for this. Good excuse for me to finally play the first game too.

Ask the Developer interview for the game is up! Including how Cow got involved in the racing scene... Love the little sketch The lowdown, stolen shamelessly from ResetEra:

Seems like some retailers, such as Smyths, are having trouble fulfilling orders for the 512GB microSD Express cards and have delayed delivery of pre-orders of the cards until the end of July. Might just be something worth keeping an eye on, as I struggle to imagine them being the only ones with potential stock issues for the 512GB cards.

Three waves of icons based on classic Nintendo systems will drop across the next three weeks leading up to and around the launch of the Switch 2, with the N64, GBA and GCN icons requiring that you're an Expansion Pack member to unlock: Pretty cool stuff!

Oh shoot – Neil Druckmann is guesting on Sacred Symbols+ this week?! Surprised to see this, but always listening to Neil, so no need to twist my arm!

Official trailer for The Bear S4:

Performance details for the game: Shinen have also confirmed that a free content update is already in the works: Good stuff!

Just been charged for my GameCube NSO controller pre-order by the Nintendo Store...

Confirmation that Battle Engine Aquila will have trophies.