Julius

Concerning Red Dead Online:

Huh. Maybe something soon?

I think it’s clear that Nintendo wants all eyes on Smash until the game launches, and rightly so, so it wouldn’t surprise me if we didn’t get one until after the game launches. At the same time, I expect that we’ll be getting something at The Game Awards the day before on the 6th (if anything, most likely Metroid Prime 4 - and the Prime Trilogy? - or Bayonetta 3), and it would be a strange move to have a Direct between the TGAs and Christmas (because you run into the same potential reason to avoid a Direct: they want consumers focused on what is available for Christmas). I’ll be happy if I’m wrong and we do get a Direct by the end of the week, but I don’t think it makes much business sense for them to come out with a Direct. Now, with that being said, Nintendo are the kings of the unexpected, so...

From Techspot’s recent article summarising the events of CDPR’s most recent conference call, in which it was confirmed that there was indeed truth to the rumours going around about the game’s entire campaign being playable — and it remains in the polishing stage for now: So, a 2019 release of Cyberpunk 2077 still remains a distinct possibility at this point, but I could certainly see CDPR polishing the game until the launch of the next generation of consoles — if they really are serious about chasing down Rockstar’s numbers in the sales charts, that would seemingly be the best time to launch.

Uh...

Just a heads-up: apparently cutscenes for World of Light are starting to show up on YouTube, with their typical spoiler-filled titles and thumbnails, as the release date has reportedly been broken by a number of retails (reportedly some stores in Mexico). So, if you care at all about spoilers for World of Light (which I think many here will), be careful on YouTube and social media. Go on media blackout if that’s your thing. Put up your Google filters. I’d have to imagine that Sakurai is not happy at all right now, if there is truth to this. The Brawl cutscenes being leaked ahead of the game’s release is one of the (probably many) reasons why Smash 4 didn’t have a similar story-focused mode. It’s a real shame that people go out of their way to spoil things for other like this — yes, it’s only a game/piece of media, but people should always have the choice of how they want to first experience these things.

“Parasite Eve” has been trademarked by Square Enix in Europe. As far as I can tell, and I’ve tried to check this, the original game hasn’t been released in Europe previously, so I think this trademark lends some credence to a port/remake of the game coming soon — there’s no prior trademark for the games in Europe, so it doesn’t seem to be a trademark renewal. I’ve heard and read a lot of good things about the Parasite Eve games, and would love to check them out, so hopefully there’s something to this perhaps at The Game Awards?

Some Gris gameplay:

Wasn’t exactly sure where to put this, so I guess I’ll put it here? Imran Kahn, editor over at Game Informer, revealed the following in Game Informer’s most recent GI Show podcast. His statements follow talk about a Zelda-themed Switch and the show’s host, Ben Hanson, speculating on the next Zelda game being a co-op game by the Triforce Heroes team. Here’s a timestamped video of the podcast (which I would highly recommend checking out — I only subscribe and listen to the Easy Allies Podcast and the GI Show when it comes to gaming podcasts every week, and it’s got a good balance of professionalism and fun): So...next Zelda in 2019, probably? I don’t think it comes as too much of a surprise, but still, it’s good to start hearing and seeing the nuggets out there.

It seems like PSX 2017’s sofa talks might have actually hinted at the possibility of this happening. Here’s how Shawn Layden responded to Greg Miller’s question about E3 2017 being open to the public: It just seems like there were simply far too many reasons for them to want out of E3 2019: overcrowding on the floor and in the conference; potentially not having much left to reveal as far as PS4 titles go (and supposedly having PS5 titles kept under wrap); the potential of a PS5 blowout being overshadowed here, etc. Plus, many of Sony’s first party titles (i.e. the remaining big PS4 titles) are seemingly quite heavy on the store front, which probably wouldn’t lend themselves to E3 demos. Gutting as it is that they won’t be at E3, I can only think that this will be a smart move for them. The only way that it potentially backfired would be to have Xbox reveal their next console/platform at E3 of next year to a lot of buzz, but even then, with the size of the PS4 install base, I think that would be salvageable.

No surprises to be seen here... It is official: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the best pre-selling entry in the Super Smash Bros. franchise, and is more notably the best pre-selling Switch title to date.

Saw those videos the other day, the contrast between the LGP and LGE reviews are too accurate when it comes to outlet reviews for the franchise

Definitely, though I do have to wonder if it will have any impact on the marketing campaign for next year’s Pokémon game. I could see them pushing the reveal of the games into the second quarter at the earliest, for instance, just to ensure that LGPE sell as well as they can do and neither games have their sales noticeable cannibalised (then again, these games are likely going to be different enough that that shouldn’t be too much of a problem).

Yeah, something crazy like a 10% increase, I think I remember reading somewhere. And that’s before a lot of the seasonal sales (in Japan and elsewhere) have come into full effect. Ah, I thought so, but didn’t want to misinform anyone, so thanks

Just clarify, I’m pretty sure that it was Creatures that worked on producing the 3D models, not Game Freak, though of course there were more than likely conversations had with them. I think they (the models) were first worked on for Pokédex 3D/Pro? So they’ve been around for a good while (since 2011/2012). The same models were used in GO, too, with the only real differences being shaders and textures, if I recall.

I don’t think that it’s much of a question, to be honest (and that’s not to take anything away from Let’s Go). Next year the Switch will have a higher install base, the opening pair of games of a generation are generally the best-selling, etc. They will be the first core series Pokémon games on a home console (the phrasing has been strange from the beginning when it comes to this from TPC, but I think the intent is clear), and many are expecting to see some of the biggest changes to the core series games in these games — and/or for it to further implement some of the more positively received additions in Let’s Go. What’s more, next year’s games — assuming that they continue with their November release pattern, generally at the end of the third week — will be the first original games that the main series has seen in three years. Also, as @Glen-i mentioned, the game sold poorly by Pokémon standards in Japan — I can’t remember if the roughly 650,000 units sold was a figure for the first weekend or first week, but for reference, recent opening games for new generations of Pokémon have had first weekend numbers of around two million units sold in Japan. @Glen-i, I’d have to imagine that the capture mechanics as they are just don’t suit the handheld experience preferred in Japan, because it does seem like it would be rather intrusive when compared to other portable games when in a public setting.

The Pokémon Company has revealed that Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! have sold over three million units in their first weeks of sales, giving the games the highest first week sales of any Switch game. A record which will more than likely last all of the next two weeks, but still Those are some very, very impressive numbers, given the current size of the Switch install base and the fact that this is something of an experimental remake/GO hybrid on TPC’s part. It’s very hard to imagine how well next year’s Pokémon games will sell, but I think the short end of it is “very well”

I’m actually thinking of picking up God of War myself later this week — the price it’s at right now just seems too good to let pass, and it could be a while before it drops this low again. I’ve seen Spider-Man available for below £30 for the first time too; the complete edition of Horizon Zero Dawn is down to around £20; and plenty of other critically appraised games, such as Shadow of the Colossus, Nier: Automata, etc., can be had for around £15. It’s undoubtedly a great time of year to be a gamer

Very interesting interview with Sakurai-san over on Game Informer, during which he talks about Piranha Plant, Spirits, and 20 years of Smash Bros. I found this particularly crushing to read, though; it’s obvious some will be disappointed (and probably be very vocal about it) in some way with regards to the final roster, but all the same, it just doesn’t seem right:

I haven’t seen anyone mention it yet, but a Reddit thread was posted the day before this was confirmed: Sony is not going to appear in E3 next year, Official Announcement tomorrow (what an apt title ). In it, the poster went on to detail a lot of things which I haven’t seen mentioned in many places, so I’ll quote the stuff that I found more interesting below. Standard = user questions, Bold = poster’s answers

THIS. LOOKS. AWESOME. Sprite-based action-JRPG? It’s only been teased to be coming to Switch (it’s already on PC — and actually has a free demo), but this really looks like it could be the next big Nindie. It also seems like it would be right up the alley of a lot of people here. Next year, maybe?

I’m curious to see how it does, because it really feels like something that could go either way. If by new mainline entries we’re referring to the initial offerings of each generation, precedent indicates that it won’t catch them — but these games, at this point in time, are anomalies when it comes down to it, and could well be anomalies in sales too. On the one hand, every Pokémon remake (read: not enhanced third versions) to this point has sold better than the last: FRLG sold 10 million units, HGSS sold 12 million units, and ORAS sold 13 million units. So, following this, there’s reason to believe that Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee will surpass FRLG’s 10 million units. Also in its favour is that every initial offering of a pair of Pokémon games considered to be core series games on a new device have ended up with lifetime sales of at least 15 million units — again, perhaps another indicator that it could cruise past FRLG’s 10 million units. Every core series title released to this point which has us start our journey in Kanto (i.e. Red & Blue, Yellow, and FireRed & LeafGreen) has also sold a minimum of 10 million units — and let me take a moment to outline that while Red & Blue sold 31 million units between them, Yellow has sold approximately 15 million units on its own, meaning that it has higher sales than every remake and other third version, and is also the highest-selling standalone (i.e. unpaired) core series Pokémon game to date — so a remake of that game could sell particularly well. It’s also worth noting that the most recent pair of remakes prior to these games, Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, sold approximately 13 million units — ~80% of the sales of the original Ruby & Sapphire. If we were to forecast figures from this amount, then, Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee would sell approximately 12 million units — and considering the particularly high attachment rate of games like Splatoon 2 (7.5 million) , Super Mario Odyssey (12.2 million) and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (10.3 million) on Switch (23 million), I don’t think that’s too far of a stretch for lifetime sales. There’s also the question of whether or not TPCi will have succeeded in their business goal for this game: to get more of the GO crowd onto the core series games on console. It’s also Christmas season, and Pokémon games have been selling well in this position consistently for the last few years. On the other hand, there’s a lot that we just simply don’t know, and some things which could go against it. This is the second time that we have been reintroduced to Gen I Kanto since, well, Gen I; this is the first remake of a third version of a core series Pokémon game; these are the first entries in the Let’s Go subseries of core series Pokémon games; it’s the final core series game of Gen VII, and the final core series game/s of each generation to this point has had the worst sales of their respective generation; and so on and so forth. There’s also the question of whether or not the GO players this game is primarily aimed at converting will actually be converted. The biggest thing going against it is probably that this is the first core series pair of Pokémon games to be announced and released with prior consumer knowledge that there is another game in the works for the next year — and, more importantly, that those games have previously been described as being closer to the typical core series Pokémon experience. It’s with this in mind that I recall Pokémon Sun & Moon’s sales, which are astounding, at 16 million units to date; however, I do think that Ultra Sun & Moon released the following year cannibalised the sales of those games, as it broke a number of sales records for Pokémon games, and was likely well on its way to being only the third pair of core series games to surpass 20 million units sold. The question is, is Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee a unique enough experience to coexist with the sales of the Gen VIII juggernaut next year, or will their sales be cut short by it’s coming? I think that one way to work around that would be to have Kanto-based Pokémon remain exclusive to Let’s Go for the foreseeable future, and transferrable to next year’s games only via Pokémon Bank, as this would give the games a similar USP to the one which saw X & Y’s sales numbers continue to grow long after the release of ORAS. It'll be very interesting to see how it performs, because I think it’s more a question of how well these games will sell more than it is a question of if they will.