Julius

Listings for the game at Canadian chain VGP have been updated with a release date of 25th September: Could totally be a placeholder, but September just seems right for a game like this...

Partner Showcase incoming (I'd rather have nothing so please don't be this I'm begging you Nintendo) I mean, I think it really just depends on how quickly Nintendo plan on closing the book on the OG Switch. If they plan to only support it as far as the end of 2025/the next financial year (March 2026) - and to be clear, by "support" I am referring to first-party releases - then yeah, I could see them probably wanting to just shoot their proverbial OG Switch load in a Direct ahead of the Switch 2, and said games could get focused Directs/events in select cases (Prime 4, Pokémon) or, perhaps more likely for other relatively smaller titles (Fire Emblem remake, Kirby), the Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition treatment of an entire marketing campaign without a Direct appearance, just relying on TV ads, YouTube trailers, and social media teams to keep the marketing ball rolling. Personally, I don't think they're going to want a repeat of the 3DS/Switch sort of split to Directs between the OG Switch/Switch 2 after the Switch 2 has launched, because I think it could get incredibly confusing as a Direct viewer if there's no clear delineation (which would be way tougher considering, well, they'll both be carrying the Switch name), but to play devil's advocate: while we are waiting on the long rumoured Fire Emblem remake that @Hero-of-Time mentioned and the very likely Kirby release to bow out the Switch that @Glen-i mentioned, 3DS titles of similar, relatively smaller fandoms were announced well beyond the release of the Switch, with Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story announced in March 2018 (releasing Dec 2018 for Japan and Jan 2019 elsewhere), and Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn announced in September 2018 (releasing March 2019, 2 years into the life of the Switch). If Nintendo plan to support the Switch beyond the end of 2025/the next financial year, then those games could well be announced at a later point. Like I said, I think a totally unexpected Direct dropping this week would just exponentially ramp up the hype and viewership for the Switch 2 Direct next week, so I'd have no problem with them dropping one, that's for sure

I was reading that Reddit thread last night and it's a strange one, but a lot more people have jumped onboard since, so for other people to have more context on why it seems to be gaining some traction now - from Nintendo Life: I feel like it easily goes both ways, right? Some are going to argue it's going to take attention away from the Switch 2 Direct next Wednesday. Others are going to argue that you get the OG Switch stuff out of the way now ahead of the Switch 2 Direct so that it doesn't take up valuable time there. I think a good example of this would be something like Metroid Prime 4 – if it's releasing on both consoles, any time you commit to it in the Switch 2 Direct, I think, should be focused on any enhancements specific to the Switch 2 version of the game and showcasing the Switch 2, more so than it being an advertisment for Prime 4. I would then make the argument you don't want to show Prime 4, period, because it isn't a Switch 2 exclusive, and if there's a way to talk about it outside of the Switch 2 Direct, I'd do that. Now, I'm going to be honest, I don't think there's anything that can be done to draw attention away from that event, and I think the only way you reach even more people than you do simply posting a Switch 2 video back in Jan and tweeting about it is to remind people in another Direct taking place the week before. I mean, it will have been 2½ months between the Switch 2 Direct announcement come its airtime next Wednesday, and Nintendo Directs regularly dwarf every other showcase this industry puts on in viewership, perhaps the only show coming close being the annual The Game Awards. All this being said, while I'm not going to say that I'm fully onboard with it being legitimate - it was just last month we were being told about a Switch Direct which never came - this sounds like something equally silly and smart enough that it seems like the exact sort of thing Nintendo would do. I've brought it up before but a Switch 2 Direct in April and potential Switch 2 release between the start of May and end of July doesn't really give them much incentive to have a typical Direct in June, so we could well end up with a sizeable gap over the summer between the Switch 2 Direct and a hypothetical September Direct proper – they're in a very different position now compared to where they were with the OG Switch, which released in March and then needed the E3 Spotlight to help build momentum with a whole slew of announcements; next week's Switch 2 Direct should be that show. And, once the proverbial Switch 2 cat is out of the hat, I don't think they'll go back in June to just do a Direct completely focused on the OG Switch. Saying all this, it also totally possible that they're just flushing out rats and fixing up any leaky pipes last minute before the Switch 2 Direct

Official trailer for Andor: Just one month to go! Me rn:

Confirmed for release on PS5 come April 17th, Premium Edition releasing 2 days earlier on the 15th: Welp. I've been looking forward to this for some time, but yeah, I'm not dropping £70 on this when Forza releases the following week. Think I'll save it for the summer and stick it in with a full Indiana Jones rewatch, as I still haven't watched Dial of Destiny. Anyways, speaking of lost relics... Where did I leave it? I swear it was around he– Oh, there it is! Someone out there better be screaming that it belongs in a museum

Towards the end of March 2020 I bought a PS3 as lockdown started to help me finally get into a series I'd wanted to for the longest time, because it wasn't available on modern platforms as its publisher decided to pop out and get milk. Fitting, then, that almost exactly five years later I find myself picking up the fifth and final numbered Metal Gear Solid game in the form of MGSV. This was actually the first Metal Gear Solid game I put some decent time into, checking it out back in 2016 and getting a couple of chapters in purely because of the hype, critical acclaim, and the fact it was the only MGS game I had access to on a relatively modern system (no, we aren't going to count the possibility of playing Twin Snakes through backwards compatibility on the Wii). I've heard good things and bad things about MGSV over the years - the good being the quality of the gameplay, and the bad generally being the story - but I figured it was time to return now that I have the other MGS games under my belt and see how I end up feeling about it; this was actually a game I very strongly considered putting on my Pledge List for the year, but instead I decided to go with The Witcher 3 because this always seemed like a locked in playthrough. I probably should've just stuck this on there anyways...ahem So far I've dusted off the hour-long prologue to open the game, the first few missions of Chapter 1, and a couple of Side-Ops. I just Fulton'd some puppies out. Yeah that prologue was...interesting. I think it's pretty astounding how much of it stuck from my first time around with the game nearly a decade ago, my favourite part probably being the customisation fakeout. That seems about as Kojima as it can get. It's less a tutorial and more the world's longest interactive cutscene. No complaints here, obviously. The game is simply stunning so far, in its visuals, sure, but especially in its audio design. I love the ability to mark something through your binoculars like you do in BOTW/TOTK, guess this is where the Zelda team might've got their inspiration from? Loving the variety of music so far. Kids In America and The Man Who Sold The World? Perfection! Mother Base has me...nervous. Obviously I already knew it was in the game but after the grating nightmare that was unlocking the true ending in Peace Walker? I'll probably need to look up if there's anything particular I should be investing in or know before getting too far in. Love the return of the Fulton system, of course. The guys screaming as they launch up into the sky. It popping if used indoors. Enemies noticing their buddy flying up to the moon....good stuff Already so many minor details I feel like I've uncovered, simple things such as doing something different to what Ocelot asks of you the first time you're at Mother Base, or doing it a different way, prompting what is clearly a unique response. And I thought MGS4 went a bit wild with Kojima's name being everywhere. Credits after everything is probably going to get annoying at some point, but it's fine for now! There's just this great tension and dynamism to every task I've attempted in the game so far which feels perfectly balanced. I'm really looking forward to seeing how far I can push things. So far I've just been doing the main objectives for missions and things I've stumbled across naturally, not sure how much replaying of missions I'll do just yet, think I'll need to see how much I gel with it all first. No doubt I'll be back with more thoughts as the playthrough goes on I do feel like there has been a hint or two story-wise about a certain character maybe not being a certain character, but I'll just need to see how that plays out.

I did start a new game today - well, kind of, I'll necro that thread in a bit - but RE2 wasn't it. I was thinking about it, hence the install, but yeah...that was just a post-install mis-click. Sorry H-o-T

Grubb is talking about what's next for God of War and it is apparently a return to Greece – but not in the way everyone seemed to be expecting (and recently reporting): I'll be honest, this is the first purported leak in a minute I've thought about throwing in a spoiler tag, but he says so little about it and I can't exactly picture what this would mean, so Prequel? Kratos returning home? Atreus visiting his father's old stomping grounds? No idea. If it's Santa Monica Studio, I'm in, no questions asked; if it's not, then I'm not too sure.

20th anniversary video for God of War: 100%. It astounds me how few studios and publishers capitalise on anniversaries in meaningful ways for their games. Taking the time to make the above video, put this effort into new skins for modern God of War games, position God of War as one of your biggest tentpoles, and then to not respect its legacy and origins by bringing back those earlier games for said anniversary? It's madness.

Another trailer, courtesy of last night's Future Games Show:

Kyle Bosman with another interview, and this time it's the one and only Shuhei Yoshida! 70 minutes, that's a big boi. Looking forward to diving in at some point over the weekend

Launch trailer: Quick start guide:

Ken Kutaragi has a Nintendo PlayStation in his closet which is in far better condition than the one which sold for $300,000 a few years back. Does that thing self-clean or...

So what your saying is that I should buy another copy, right?

Makes it genius marketing, though. It looks terrible, so people are talking about it. It clashes horribly, so it'll be impossible to not notice when watching the games. (And yes the logo is still crap)

Most recent thread relating to Persona 4 and probably pertains to Switch 2, too, so uh I'm going to drop this here: a potential web domain for a Persona 4 remake has been registered. Potential Switch 2 Direct attendee, or will it be saved for Not-E3 and probably turn up at Xbox or SGF?

Still remember my first time at Village Bridge in Pokémon White and then just standing there for 15 minutes to soak in the music and the vibes. Reminds me quite a bit of Suikoden II's Secret Village of the Ninja, now that I think about it: Both such excellent tracks

ASL versions of S1 and S2 are in the works, which is awesome! The ASL release of S1 will drop March 31st, giving people time to catch up, before the ASL release of S2 drops day-and-date from S2's premiere on 13th April. Per IndieWire: So great to see that Naughty Dog's best-in-class in-game accessibility is now being applied in some way to its shows, too!

I might need to jump on one or two of these before they leave, namely Kena and Animal Well. Shocked in myself not getting to Kena before but, eh Also, fully read 'Stray Blade' and thought it meant to say Stellar Blade or Stray. And now I'm just imagining Eve dressed as a cat, surrounded by cats, modded into Stray. Is there a cat outfit in Stellar Blade? That'd seem on-brand...

As others have said, it totally depends on how it's done. Also depends on if it's a proper theme (I imagine it will be, but who knows?) or just a limited anniversary thing, but making the swap from Mega Bloks to LEGO seems a silly thing to do if it's just for a handful of sets. I think if I were to make a bit of a wishlist... Microscale dioramas Pokémon's grid-based design for many of its region going back to the original Game Boy games means it's a prime candidate for me to have some microscale dioramas, like the one of Pallet Town above. I'd buy the hell out of some of these. Bonus points if they then sell every town and route so you can fit them all together to recreate an entire region. Let me dream, damn it! Please don't forget the other regions Yeah, yeah, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Charizard, Eevee, the Eeveelutions and the starters are all nailed on to be included in some way...but as it often goes with Pokémon, I hope they don't just go back to Kanto and call it quits. You can start there, but with it starting in the year of the 30th anniversary, it feels like we should be celebrating more than just Kanto. And speaking of which... Let's do it all Pokémon goes off in every direction imaginable, but similar to me not wanting them to just do Kanto stuff, I hope they also don't just focus on the main series games – again, you can probably start there, but branch out. The anime honestly has so many more setpiece-worthy moments which could be made into great sets. Mewtwo with the clone Charizard, Venusaur and Blastoise vs the real things from the first movie comes to mind. Please mix it up Yeah, let's see a proper mix of things here. Dioramas, big builds of Pokémon, some minifig-scale stuff with unique molds, Brickheadz, smaller and medium builds, etc. I think my biggest worry is they're going to just go HAM on Brickheadz, make a big build or two of Charizard and Pikachu, throw in a PokéBall set somewhere and call it a day. Biggest media franchise in the world, so I think if Star Wars gets everything, then Pokémon should get everything (if this is a full theme) too. Not all at once, mind you, but that first wave of sets is going to really set (heh) the tone and people's expectations.

Some details about the long-rumoured Final Fantasy IX animated series have purportedly leaked from a series pitch presentation, and it sounded pretty awesome. So it was a IX sequel series?! Could totally get behind something like this. I remember no-one liking the sound of a French-made animated series when it first got mentioned a few years ago but this sounded worthwhile. Cyber Group Studios filed for bankruptcy last year and so this is either now cancelled or being handed off to someone else (/in development hell).

2 weeks remain.

Releasing April 2nd: You know, I feel like there might just be something else going on that day which completely overshadows this...

Once I've transferred everything over to the Switch 2 maybe I'll factory reset my OG Switch to hear it again just to feel that rush