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Everything posted by Julius
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Darkest Dungeon releasing January 18th (next Thursday).
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Yeah, I think the fact that GameStop posted and deleted that tweet, coupled with the fact that Nintendo JP’s Direct website currently has a free spot (15 Directs down from the “full” 16; typical indicator that there’s a Direct incoming) definitely seems to point to it being on its way. @Glen-i part of me wants them to round it off by just shadow-dropping the damn thing in the middle of the work day. They've played the trolling card expertly up to this point, this is way too funny I wonder if they’ll do anything for April Fool’s this year... EDIT: on a side note, Red Hook Studios just announced that Darkest Dungeon is releasing next Thursday. I wonder if we could see any other release dates for Nindies announced prior to the Direct? EDIT 2: Nintendo tweets! They definitely know what they’re doing... ...Chibi-Robo for Switch confirmed?!
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Typically, yep, or at least based on last year’s announcements. Last year’s Nintendo Direct (April), ARMS Direct (May), Pokémon Direct (June), Splatoon 2 Direct (July) and other Nintendo Direct (think was the indies one? - September) were all announced ~15:00 GMT/BST. The Fire Emblem Direct (January), Animal Crossing Mobile Direct (October) and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Direct (November), however, weren’t announced during that time frame. It’s pretty random. And I agree, I don’t (normally) care too much for the announcement of something, but especially when it’s announcing that comes later that very week or day.
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The ARMS Direct and Pokémon Direct were both announced only one day before they were aired, so they’ll just have to wait and see. However, my inside sources and extensive research (I asked my uncle who worked at Nintendo) have exclusively confirmed to me that we will definitely be hearing about the January Direct within the next 22 days.
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General Gaming Sales/Charts Discussion
Julius replied to Hero-of-Time's topic in General Gaming Discussion
Sony sold over 5.9 million PS4s over the holidays (down from 6.2 million last year) and 20.2 million units from January 2nd through December 31st (a record for the platform in an annual year). The console now sits at over 73.6 million units sold worldwide. With the games they have coming later this year - heck, even just later this month - and next year too, 100 million seems a formality, so long as they don’t start talking about the PS5 too soon. I have to wonder if they could even pull it off this year, seeing as they have the line-up to potentially back up such a surge, though it admittedly seems unlikely (but not impossible), as the 26.4 million units they would need to sell this year to cross the 100 million unit threshold would be a record for any platform within an annual year. Elsewhere, software sales reached 645 million, with 243.9 million units being sold in 2017 alone. The PS Store recorded its largest ever monthly sales of content in December 2017, and the number of PS Plus subscribers crossed 31.5 million. PS4 console annual sales: Year — annual — holiday — cumulative 2013 — 4.2M — N/A — 4.2M 2014 — 14.3M — 4.2M — 18.5M 2015 — 17.4M — 5.7M — 35.9M 2016 — 17.5M — 6.2M — 53.4M 2017 — 20.2M — 5.9M — 73.6M -
So, a tour of the 5.0 update for the Switch has potentially been uploaded to YouTube, and will supposedly launch in February, according to the potential leak. Key features of this purported update are: • Custom themes/theme shop. • Cloud storage. • Game sorting. • Party chat. • Media apps (YouTube, Twitch, etc.). • Virtual Console. • System-level microphone support. • Internet browser. However, there are some discrepancies: • The YouTube logo seen in the video is outdated. • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a digital purchase, which takes up 6.8 GB of system memory. However, as seen in the storage menu, only 2 GB of system memory, less than 3.2 GB of SD card memory and 0.9 GB of cloud storage is taken up (totalling 6.1 GB). Some have argued that the game might have been archived, but there is no icon to download the game back to the system (note: this could be something which changes with such an update). • Such a massive update which ticks a lot of the fans’ wants across the board would seem a strange move from a company as conservative in decision making as Nintendo (at least when it comes to this sort of thing). I’ll believe it when I see it. There are certainly a lot of things I’d love to see which were in this video (namely Virtual Console), but at the very least, this person seems to have a very good idea of how to map out a convincing Switch UI in the event it turns out to be a fake.
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High-res version of some leaked promotional art: Elsewhere, LEGO set leaks for the film have already begun (despite them supposedly not launching until April), and the film will be known as Han Solo: A Star Wars Story in a number of territories (which, in my opinion, is a better title). I’m actually starting to get excited for this...
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Well colour me hyped. My body is Reggie.
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Whilst John Powell (Bourne, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon) will still serve as the film’s primary composer, he has asked John Williams to compose Han Solo’s theme, which Williams has gracefully accepted. Speaking to Variety recently about his most recent work on The Last Jedi, Williams said that:
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Some two hundred or so new threads (which are still being added to as I type this, by the looks of things) over in General Gaming. They've been at it for a few hours now, according to their profile pages. Titles look to be in Korean, and it’s @sebeyusika and @jafuxez who have been adding them.
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I could see them releasing that Story Mode that we never got for Smash 4 as part of a Smash 4 Deluxe for Switch. I always disagreed with Sakurai’s reasoning for that getting cut out... I really, really hope that we get Virtual Console sooner rather than later too. Smash 4 Deluxe + Melee is a deal I’d be happy to pay for
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Got given this on Saturday as a birthday gift. Had I known it was coming I might have asked for something else, but it’s Star Wars so I can’t complain too much. Campaign is meh. It’s extremely repetitive, and doesn’t really do much to further anything in terms of canon lore. It’s a huge missed opportunity. The crates and cards system are terrible, and become extremely evident in Heroes v. Villains. It really does ruin the balance the game and it really does make it feel unfair if you come up against someone and lose simply because they got better cards from the loot crates than you did. The visuals are amazing, and it’s great that there’s more great Star Wars music in this one. This had the potential to be a great game, but the poorly executed campaign, micro-transactions and consequent balancing issues really tarnish the experience.
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Yeah, with regards to getting Pokémon in 2018, I agree with @Hero-of-Time and @Glen-i: as much as I would love to get the game/s next year, I’d much rather wait until 2019 if it means that the game will be objectively great, and not just better in comparison to previous entries. I wouldn’t be surprised if we got our first glimpses at it in 2018 at E3 with a teaser/trailer, though. That announcement at E3 earlier this year could have easily been used in the Pokémon Direct a week or so before which revealed Pokkén Tournament DX, as well as Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, so the announcement being saved for E3 suggests to me that they really want to push this game out there with regards to consumer awareness. Also gives Nintendo time to come up with a budget Switch option and to introduce a price reduction to the base model.
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I have to say, I have nothing but faith in Kimishima when it comes to Nintendo's sales projections. Even then, though, 20 million consoles sold in only their second complete fiscal year with the system is nuts; in comparison, Sony only achieved this with the PS4 in its third complete fiscal year, which ended March 31st of this year, and the numbers for PS4 sales already seem to be in something of a decline, with “only” 10 million consoles being sold from May through earlier this month. I think that there are actually a few ways in which they could achieve this lofty goal, but I agree with @Ronnie: the most straightforward way to achieve this is through the launch of the core Pokémon RPG on Switch. That, coupled with no major supply issues and a price reduction of some 10%-20%, could certainly push the console to some 20 million sales, so long as momentum is kept up elsewhere as has been the case these past 9 months. Another alternative for launch of Pokémon on Switch would be the introduction of a budget option mini Switch (smaller screen, no dock included, etc.) for around £150 (similar to how the 2DS was introduced as a budget option for the 3DS family when Pokémon X and Y came along), as well as a 10% or so reduction in the original Switch model. However, this could certainly be achieved without Pokémon. As @liger05 pointed out, most consoles of course will do better in their second fiscal year, though I think it’s worth pointing out that the Wii U actually did worse in its second fiscal year from the little research that I just did to check. The already announced console exclusive titles for 2018 - such as Yoshi, Fire Emblem, Kirby Star Allies and Project Octopath Traveller - seems to suggest that Nintendo and third parties will continue to support the console with tentpole releases on a regular basis throughout the console’s second year, so I think that there are plenty of methods which could be used to achieve their ambitions.
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Pokéjungle have published some rumours about Pokémon Switch, and I want to say beforehand that I don’t buy into this at all, but I do think that it could catalyse some more discussion about the game regardless of whether or not any of these rumours are true. Take this all with a few lumps of salt. They are reporting that this information was gathered from Chinese sources; in particular, it supposedly comes from some of the same people who shared knowledge of Rainbow Rocket in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. The rumours state that: This reminds me somewhat of those Plus and Minus rumours from a few years ago, which stated that Game Freak were working on a hybrid console game which planned to “completely overhaul the basic systems of battle, simplifying the process” and that the theme is “old tradition vs. new exploration” (i.e. tradition vs. innovation, as in the Pokéjungle rumour). My personal thoughts are that it’s way too soon for the Chinese localisation to have already started, yet alone be completed. If the games were set in a region based on China, then sure, maybe I could believe that, but this seemed a bit off to me, because if that localisation was already completed, it would suggest to me that Game Freak are hoping to make a big impact in China with this game, and so why would the region not be inspired by China? The thought of scrapping Mega Evolutions has been on the cards for a while now, since Gen VII didn’t introduce any new ones, but it will be a shame if that idea was just a flash in the pan. Then again, they did introduce something of a tremendous power creep (as do Z-moves, but to a lesser extent), so it’s not too surprising that it could be binned so soon after its introduction. Personally, I’d love regional variants to be explored further, and for Mega Evolution and Z-moves to become a thing of the past, but maybe that’s just me. The theme of the central plot sounds interesting, but I wonder how it could be applied to an Italian or Spanish inspired region. Perhaps an evil team consisting of modern day Romans or Conquistadors holding onto ideas buried in the past? Or perhaps just a mostly rural region become urbanised, and some rebelling against that? The reported release date doesn’t come as too much of a surprise, and it falls into that 2018/2019 window, but considering that a fair share of the main games have been released in November as of late, I’d personally be surprised if it came out in March. On a completely different note, after playing a little Chrono Trigger around a friend’s house lately, I think that something this series could really benefit from is a seamless transition from overworld interaction with a wild Pokémon to the battle screen. This game, like any other in a long standing franchise, would greatly benefit from relatively smaller quality of life improvements, but that’s just my take.
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Hey guys, sorry for bumping this thread, but I have a question to ask. I’ve never played a Dragon Quest game before, but after extensive research, I’ve decided to start with VIII (please chime in if you think I should start elsewhere?), and plan to play through it next year as I begin to plough my way through an enormous gaming bucket list. My current plan is to have played the game prior to XI’s western release so that I have some (albeit limited) context and history with the series, before circling back and playing IV - VI, and venturing off from there. Having a fully functional PS2 and New 3DS XL, my question is: which version of this game should I purchase and play through? As someone entirely new to the series, I’m a bit lost, in all honesty. For instance, the western 3DS version lacks an orchestral soundtrack (unless added with custom firmware) and, due to physical screen size, makes it much harder to appreciate Toriyama’s art style, in my completely uncertified opinion, and these are two things which I would love to enjoy in the game. However, on the other hand, the 3DS version features many quality of life improvements, such as quick saving, re-balancing, speed-up options and instant alchemy, as well as having new playable characters, scenarios, items, and dungeons. The portability aspect of the 3DS console is a moot one for myself, as I rarely ever use my 3DS outside of the comfort of my home. Personally, I’m leaning towards the PS2 version of the game, but I would greatly appreciate any input and direction with regards to which version to get
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As someone who loves the MD series, I couldn’t agree more. It really achieves the sort of balance I’d like to see: simple gameplay mechanics with a lot of depth, if you so desire to use them (which the main series already utilises very well), and a story filled with character arcs which respect the player and isn’t afraid to take chances. So yeah, Game Freak, listen to @Glen-i. Please? I think that the real problem with the main series games is that, ultimately, the pacing has been off with their plots for over a decade - take this as a constructive criticism from someone who loves the franchise much like the rest of you. Gen I’s plot was paced very well, in my opinion: we run into Team Rocket more and more the deeper we get into the game, and, ultimately, our conflict with them runs parallel to, and comes to a head with, the final gym challenge. No world-changing event takes place, but, instead, we get a climax to both our gym challenge and conflict with them against Giovanni at the Viridian City Gym. In Gen II, once again, Team Rocket have returned and we run into them more and more throughout the game until, ultimately, their story comes to a head in Mahogany Town and, consequently, Goldenrod City. I think that this is where some of the problems with pacing ultimately began with the franchise: Team Rocket is effectively disbanded prior to our eighth and final gym challenge, and besides a rogue grunt over in Kanto who didn’t get the memo, that’s all there is to the plot. In both Gen I and Gen II, our rivals have progressive character arcs which I’d say are rarely touched upon, but are certainly evident, in Gen III (with Wally), Gen IV (with Barry) and Gen V (with Cheren, N, and Hugh). The problem is that, at this point and beyond, we’re thrusted into world-saving mode and Game Freak seems hellbent on serving us with friends more than fleshed out and realised rivals. I think that a change certainly needs to be made with the next games, and again, I’m not asking for Shakespeare in Pokémon. My suggestion is to give us a number of rivals, each with a unique battle style and perspective on things. For instance, our rivalry with our neighbour is a friendly one, and their growth throughout the game reflects our own. In a similar vein, we can have another rival who begins his arc in a pure state of rage, for whatever reason, who primarily uses Pokémon aggressively with high attack stats, and his arc has him and his team become more balanced throughout the game. A rival attached somewhat to the past/present of the evil team (such as Silver or Gladion) is always an interesting perspective to see too. Focus primarily on the gym challenge until the end of the main game. This gives us time to see individual character arcs play out and focus on the aspects of travelling and Pokémon battling, a bit like a season one of a TV series, if you will. We run into the evil team sparingly throughout the course of the game, mostly taking out grunts and scientists, and are almost always one step behind the evil team. We and everyone else have very little idea as to what their true intentions are, before they come out in full force during our celebrations after beating the League. Whatever their goal is, make it so that we lose to their leader (scale levels above that of our team), who challenges us during these celebrations to prove a point: we still have a long way to go. And thus, season two of the game begins, and, as the Champion - and having lost to their leader - we now have a convincing reason inside the universe to take the battle to the evil team, all in the post-game. This can reveal truths about certain characters, take some of our rivals in unexpected directions, and also add some more depth to the world that we’ve already travelled through (i.e. remember that energy research facility? They’ve selfishly been carrying out tests on how to utilise the energy of Pokémon). That got quite long-winded, but yeah: if Game Freak are ever going to take a chance with the engine, or with the plot, or with some of the gameplay mechanics beyond the core ones, now is the time.
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Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (December 2017)
Julius replied to Dog-amoto's topic in General Chit Chat
Let’s see... • the film has hadone of the best opening weeks of all time at the box office. • it is critically acclaimed. • more and more fans will likely come back around to it - and enjoy it - in the coming weeks, months and years. If we want to say that Rian f*d up, don’t we need to determine what, exactly, constitutes a f*k up when it comes to films in the first place? Who, exactly, decides whether it has, or hasn’t, “f*d up”? Forgive me - and I have a fair number of problems with the film, despite loving it - but I’m struggling to understand why fans are acting like their gut instincts from their initial viewing of the film are right above all else. To each their own, and I respect the subjectivity of film and other such media, but remember how TFA was widely adored, both critically and by the audience, only to see that initial adoration wane in the following weeks, months and years? As a Star Wars fan, I knew going into the film that it might take a few viewings to fully appreciate the positives and negatives about the film, and apply that to every new Star Wars film that I watch. I know that I’m not just going to watch the film a few times in the cinema, and that my appreciation of the film might change, for better or worse, well beyond its theatrical run. For example, I enjoyed the prequels growing up, went through a phase of not enjoying them, before coming around to enjoying them again, understanding the directorial and musical context of the films. Sure, the execution still isn’t the best thing in the world and it has a ton of problems, but the films are never going to be changed, so why not just appreciate the best moments that they have to offer? Likewise, I watched ANH and ROTJ prior to TESB, and enjoyed all three of those films, but they fell by the wayside when I was younger thanks to the rapid pace and theatricality of the prequels. Of course, now, understanding them in a greater context, I can greatly appreciate them, flaws and all, as arguably the great film trilogy of all time; yes, even the special editions. I really enjoyed TFA. I really, really enjoyed TLJ. Do they have problems? Sure. But does that change what I enjoy about them? Absolutely not! I’ve learned to just try to take these films in as they come, and whilst I might lean one way or the other on them, I rarely ever have an informed opinion on them - in the context of how my opinions about the other films were formed - until months or years down the line. Its difficult to understand where you and many others are coming from without context: how has Star Wars changed your life, if it has at all? What were your expectations and mindset going into this film? Did you enjoy The Force Awakens and it’s characters? Why/why not? What are the worst - and best - parts of The Last Jedi, to you, and why? -
There’s a Pokémon Switch thread (it was quite buried, but it’s there) to talk about this; I’m not trying to be rude, just thought I’d mention it in case the mods see this as getting off topic As for official word on a release date, during its initial announcement at E3, Ishihara stated that it “might not release for more than a year”, but Nintendo’s Earning supplementary info cites it as releasing in “2018 or later”. Personally, I gravitate towards the latter, simply because I think that Nintendo already has a lot up it’s sleeves hidden away for 2018, and I agree that November is the most likely month of release whichever year that it comes, seeing as the last three main series entries have all released in November. I also agree with the idea that other parties, such as Monolith Soft or Bandai Namco, could be involved in the process, though I have my doubts that the latter would be involved, but we’ll just have to wait and see. As for how the series could evolve, I do think that dreams of “Pokémon-BOTW” are unlikely to ever come to fruition, but I think it’s worth mentioning that there are a few parts of BOTW I would like to see influence the design of the game: complete control of the camera, (more) in-depth character customisation, a world open to the extent that it feels like it’s a true adventure, etc. I feel that the last point is the most important, at least to me, because of how X, Y, Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, and (Ultra) Sun and (Ultra) Moon all felt like a vacation more than they did an adventure? It would be wise for them to keep the simplicity of the games, which is what makes them so accessible to all ages, in aspects such as turn-based battles. However, random encounters are something in particular which I would like to see changed to overworld encounters, and more events where we meet Pokémon and befriend them or interact with them before capturing them would be a welcome addition. Another thing I’d like to see them do is to lean into some JRPG tropes, namely a focus on story. Sure, Pokémon plots aren’t - and don’t have to be - the greatest thing in the world when it comes to storytelling, but perhaps scale it back from world domination/world-changing events and focus on character arcs instead? Just my two cents (or maybe I should be saying pence? Idk) or so.
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Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (December 20th 2019)
Julius replied to Julius's topic in General Chit Chat
Michael Kaplan will once again return as the costume designer for IX, and principal photography has been confirmed to begin at Pinewood Studios (UK) next June. The film’s working title will be Black Diamond, in reference to the hardest ski slope to navigate and stick the landing on. An apt working title, really, because this is going to be one heck of a slippery slope. -
I’ve suggested before that any attempt by Gamefreak to deliver on an open-world front would likely call for some aid from Monolith Soft, and I think it’s probably the case that Creatures is taking on the task of bringing the CG models from Sun and Moon (which were all high quality, having walking and running poses, etc.) up to boot and detail (new animations, in additions to the new Pokémon, etc.) for Pokémon Switch, like they did with creating all of the models for X and Y, as you rightly pointed out. My main reason for believing this is for that game, as opposed to a spin-off game, is because of the window given by Gamefreak for Pokémon Switch being 2018/2019: getting Creatures to handle the potential upgrading of previous models for the new engine would certainly make the most sense if Nintendo and Gamefreak are serious about making a technological splash (which they should be, I think - in terms of the jump from 3DS to Switch, and beyond resolution) with this game, as well as having it out in the next 18 months or so. I personally don’t see Nintendo allowing Gamefreak to use the UE4, seeing as they love to use their own proprietary engines, but Miyamoto has previously stated that Nintendo has mastered the Unreal Engine. My best guess would be that Nintendo’s proprietary Switch engine is based on Unreal Engine 4, but who knows?
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Behind-the-music video. The music in this game sounds great!
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Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (December 2017)
Julius replied to Dog-amoto's topic in General Chit Chat
The film was locked in months ago, earlier than any other Star Wars film, so I think the director and Lucasfilm would have to disagree that it needed more time. If there’s any problem with the film to do with the editing process, it’s probably going to be how the pace was effected by what was left on the cutting room floor: 50 minutes were cut from this film, and - considering how the film lacks three traditional acts and just seems to flow instead - from the little we know about what was cut (from the Art of The Last Jedi and set leaks) the film might have once been very different to how it turned out. It seems that Rian filmed a few more threads than we got in the film (for obvious reasons), but, more importantly, it seems that he might have filmed entire alternative sequences which could have been interchangeable with what we got in the film. -
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (December 2017)
Julius replied to Dog-amoto's topic in General Chit Chat