Julius

I have to wonder if third parties going out of their way to bring us collections like these means that whatever Nintendo’s plans are for Virtual Console on Switch, or whatever form their back catalogue may take, means that they’re not in on it and Nintendo are aiming for a first-party centric(/only) service?

Mentioned this in the other thread, but seeing as this is a pre-E3 announcement, I’d have to guess that we’ll get this in Q3 — I’d guess July or August? Also, obligatory Huber: And awesome box art:

Well, just as Shenmue I & II is announced, I find that Capcom have recently registered some Onimusha trademarks ahead of E3. What Michael Huber wants, Michael Huber gets.

Man, I love video games. I think I’m just as excited for this as I am Spider-Man. I never played the original versions of the game, but I’ve been holding out for modern releases of the games since I learned about them, because I love storytelling, travelling and world-building in every media, and from what I’ve seen/heard, Shenmue was one of the first shining examples of how to nail that slice-of-life niche that so many other games (particularly SEGA ones, oddly enough) have since built upon, such as the Persona and Yakuza series. Oh, and I’ve listened to it’s soundtrack a lot, and I can’t think of a poorly written note. It’s great that this is a pre-E3 announcement, because it means SEGA are getting ahead of the curb so that they aren’t shoved under the table during E3 itself. It’s also great because it ever so slightly increases the odds of Shenmue III releasing this year: as this was a pre-E3 announcement, I’d have to assume that Shenmue III will be present at the main event (along with a Shenmue I & II reminder/gameplay trailer?). I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that this will come in Q3, because if Shenmue III really is dropping this year, I’d have to guess that that would be placed in Q4; the former in July/August and the latter in November/December, maybe?

I’m seriously thinking about getting out my PS2 to play through Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro and Spider-Man 2 over the summer. Way too many memories, and I’m really keen to make some more with this game. On a completely different topic, the second of the three pre-order bonus suits has been (unsurprisingly) revealed to be the Iron Spider suit as it will be seen in Avengers: Infinity War.

The combat looks insanely good...

I think if anyone should have a right to be annoyed, it would be Eriksen, who I assume honestly doesn’t care too much either way. I have to assume that because I can’t imagine Tottenham wanting to go behind Eriksen’s back just to please Kane over a single goal (and the fact that, as a creative player, Eriksen might enjoy having an assist just as much). If Kane genuinely believes it, because he is a talented and driven striker who keeps pushing himself harder and harder, I can understand why he might take this up with the higher-ups. He’s chasing goal-scoring records and is constantly self-improving, so if he really did touch it, I can understand wanting the goal accredited to him. I kind of have to disagree with this idea that we’d hang Ronaldo out to dry for doing something like this. He still occasionally lashes out and gets frustrated with his teammates when they don’t pass the ball to him, and just the other week (maybe in the first leg against Juve?) he took a shot when the ball was clearly possessed by Benzema. Both Ronaldo and Kane are driven players, though, so I can understand why the might act the way that they do. Because Kane’s so driven, I don’t think he’ll be leaving Tottenham until he either a) wins the Premier League with them, or b) beats Alan Shearer’s all-time goal-scoring Premier League record of 260 goals scored in the competition (which he seems well on his way to beating).

Man, quite a few possibilities are coming to mind now that you mention that, actually: • Persona 3 Remake • Project Re Fantasy • Virtua Fighter 6 • Shenmue I&II HD

I’m normally excited and optimistic going into these things, but I’m especially optimistic about this year’s show. I don’t think we’ll get bombshell reveals on the level of Sony’s E3 2015 conference (I honestly don’t know what could be so anticipated as to deliver that level of excitement - maybe Bethesda’s Starfield, if that rumour from last year really was true?), but I do think we’ll be blown away by what we learn/see about games that we already know about, such as Shenmue III and Cyberpunk 2077, and maybe even a look at Pokémon Switch or Metroid Prime 4, just to name a few. Unfortunately for me, though, I probably won’t get to tune in to any of the live shows besides whatever Nintendo does (which probably won’t be live, and assuming that it’s a BST-friendly time like it was last year), because I have five exams that week; I’ll probably have to resort to The Verge’s conference highlight reels or flick YouTube when I wake up during that week.

I’m going to go in believing it’s just some Shin Megami Tensei V news - something I’m excited for, but wouldn’t find anywhere near as exciting as Shenmue 1+2 HD... Really weird that they’ve only just tweeted this out, though. They were teasing this last week; that tweet’s been drafted for a while.

For sure, as I agreed with - and said - above. I think it being announced so soon, like I said above, just goes to show how keen Nintendo are.

Arsenal vs Atlético and Marseille vs Salzburg in the Europe League semi-finals. Bayern vs Real and Liverpool vs Roma in the Champions League semi-finals. Shaping up to be a great round in both competitions

For sure, which is what I was hinting at in my second paragraph. I think that the only difference when compared to other console manufacturers is that Nintendo released the Switch just over a year ago, and chose a video game awards show to declare that they’re already hard at work on their next piece of hardware; as far as I’m aware, neither PlayStation or Xbox have publicly announced the PS5 or Xbox Two, or even stated that they’re hard at work on it. Of course, these consoles are all on their way and are all being worked on to some degree right now, but I think that declaration by Takahashi is exciting just because Nintendo had such a hard time for quite a long while. This shows that they’re keen to move forward and get on with it. Honestly, I can’t - and don’t - want to see Nintendo take two steps back by splitting their focus between both a handheld and home console again. You’re right: it was such a natural evolution of where they’ve been heading, and it’s paying off for them in spades. I could see them venturing off into other pockets of the market like they’re doing with Labo, and maybe dipping into VR, but I think - and hope - that they stick with the Switch, especially because I think splitting their divisions up again could be quite a turbulent process.

At the Bafta Game Awards — where Nintendo was very successful, taking home three awards: Game Design and Family Game for Super Mario Odyssey, and Game Innovation for Breath of the Wild — Shinya Takahashi revealed that Nintendo is already researching new hardware. No surprises there, considering just how long Nintendo had been working on the Switch prior to its reveal, but it’s nice to know that Nintendo aren’t about to sit on their laurels and let their recent successes with the Switch distract them from looking ahead.

Monster Crown looks like a pretty fun GB/GBA era Pokémon-inspired game, but with some key mechanics that many Pokémon fans have wanted to see for a long time (such as cross-breeding), and it’s already met it’s baseline goal. Seems like it could be one to keep an eye on. Currently in development for Android, Linux, Windows, Vita (?!) and Switch.

Can’t help but feel sorry for Buffon. Obviously, you can’t go hunting down the ref like that (and Benatia HAD to make a challenge — not exactly sure what Vázquez was trying to actually do; chest it down?), but this was as good a chance as he’s had for him to get his hands on the trophy with the big ears, and to avenge previous losses against Real in Europe. If Real go on to win this, they’ll be the first team to retain the European Cup in three successive seasons since Bayern in the mid-70’s, and would thus be the first team to do so since the competition was rebranded to the Champions League. It really is crazy to think that only five years ago, Real were seeking La Decima.

For sure. That’s why I want to see them have a go at Real.

The way that ended leaves such a bad taste in my mouth. Juve have shown that Real clearly aren’t the force that they’ve been in previous years right now. That could change in the coming weeks, but right now I’d fancy any of the remaining teams’ chances against them. What draws do you want to see in the semi-finals? I’d love to see Bayern v. Roma and Liverpool v. Real.

This is nuts. The ball’s completely in Juve’s park now. One more goal could effectively kill off this tie. They need to try to finish the tie before the end of normal time, though, because Real are probably the fittest squad on the planet and have already shown time and time again that they have the legs to make the difference in extra time if they need. Man, I love football.

Yeah, I’ll be shocked if Real don’t respond. They’ve already come close. Kudos to Juve and Roma, though, regardless of if the former actually manages to make it through. This is the best Serie A representation we’ve had in the CL for nearly a decade.

They’re 2-0 up now!

Juve 1-0 up already. Another comeback on the way?

Only 15 days to go

Kotaku have just published Jason Schreier’s piece on what their sources have told them about the PS5. They waffle a bit, so I’ll summarise: • Of the dozens of contacted (including major third- and first-party developers), only two said that they were directly familiar with plans for the PS5. • Those familiar with the plans stated that it’s unlikely to launch in 2019, let alone 2018. However, they and Schreier do vehemently note that such windows are always subject to change by external factors (such as competitors launching their own next generation console). • Of those who were contacted, many who are developing games for 2019 and beyond told Schreier that if there is information regarding the PS5 at their companies, they haven’t heard anything about it. • Of those contacted, there has so far been no news regarding the next Xbox. • It is noted that there was roughly a 12-24 month known window prior to the PS4’s launch where studios got their hands on the dev kits; even if they have been sent out, we are likely still a ways off, as these are the first rumblings of them being out there. • At the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco last month, Schreier heard secondhand rumours that, in meetings between Sony and developers, 2020 was vaguely hinted as being a potential year of release for the PS5.