Julius

In the WSJ quote I gave above, they cited other smartphone manufacturers as having difficulties getting parts, though no particular entities were mentioned. My feeling about this, though, is that your analogy is something of an unfair one: as far as we know, Nintendo did do their best to optimise units sold this year, and yet simply having a few components unavailable due to their scarcity across the industry has made this an impossible task. They could have planned to sell only 5 million units this year, but factors outside of their control - such as these - could have still limited them still. For all we know, Nintendo placed an order back in June last year for the components for 20 million units, with 5 million units prepared for their planned March launch, and yet Toshiba and other component suppliers might have only become aware of their inability to fulfill such contracts in December, hence the conservative in-house predictions for the Switch, as well as the conservative number of units estimated to be produced and sold this year. My own personal opinion is that these questions are far too rhetorical and without any solid basis for anyone to conclude - or not - that Nintendo is solely responsible for the scarcity of Switch units available right now, and this isn't aimed at you, @Rummy, but rather the industry - on both sides - as a whole; I don't see anyone pointing fingers at the component suppliers in this case.

It's actually an industry-wide shortage which is affecting both Nintendo's and Apple's plans for flagship hardware this year (the launch of a new hybrid gaming console and the launch of the embodiment of 10th Anniversary of iPhone, the iPhone 8, respectively). No-one saw this shortage coming except component suppliers - I'd hope - who have found themselves overwhelmed with the scarcity of such components in the consumer electronics business. From the WSJ:

That's what I thought too...in which case, couldn't tearblast arrows/the tearblaster knock off this component to release the cargo?

EA has promised more news on the game come Gamescom this August, and they've also dropped some news regarding the beta. From the game's official site:

I think the unfortunate thing is that this particular problem - if we can call it that - has been going on for nearly 30 years now; I was watching some old NES and SNES news reports just the other evening and analysts - along with Nintendo's competitors - questioned whether or not they were holding back stock. Though I ultimately believe that these notions are completely unfounded (this isn't aimed at @Ashley's comments, but rather professional analysts and journalists who are serious when they suggest such things) in the case of the Switch - this is a company that just two years ago lost its President unexpectedly and went through a massive organisational restructure, yet has still managed to successfully launch a new and innovative console worldwide in major territories with a great software lineup that has attracted a huge audience: I'm willing to give them a pass - and it simply seems to be a case of poor timing, if anything, of a shortage that no-one in the industry was willing to predict, I do wonder if Nintendo truly would have aimed to produce twice as many Switch consoles this fiscal year if the components were so scarce.

Been eyeing some of those games for a while; might pick up the ones I want most, even if only to go into my backlog for now, namely being Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Edition, Final Fantasy XV, and Yakuza 0, as well as possibly Persona 5, Tales of Bersaria, Valkyria Chronicles Remastered, Dark Souls III and/or Resident Evil 7 - never played a game in any of these latter franchises before. Also tempted by Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster, though I've heard conflicting things about it...

My PS4 doesn't take too long for downloads (~30GB for Horizon Zero Dawn took 20 minutes in total for both download and install) after I finally fitted an Ethernet cable and changed my DNS to Google's 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4. And, despite having a 1TB model, I cleaned up any games I didn't plan on revisiting within the next 6 months by deleting them, which relieved some 200GB or so!

The Deluxe Edition finally came to Amazon UK, so I pre-ordered that Also, some interesting news on Star Cards and Crates. Something that's been splitting the fan base, though, is the news that crates will be available via micro transactions, and many are pointing to this making the game "pay-to-win", and whilst I disagree that it ensures a win, it certainly increases the likelihood of victory.

Great video on what's coming up for the 3DS family; it'd be a shame if we didn't see something like this as a TV/YouTube advert.

Whilst I love what Nintendo are doing - having not yet got a Switch myself but planning to get one in September, with an incredible looking backlog quickly piling up - I can empathise with this viewpoint, even if it's not one I share. What I would recommend, however, is holding off judgement on whether or not this is your final Nintendo console until Year 3 of the Switch, or the end of Year 2 at the very least. My reason for this is to just follow the numbers: third parties are now taking a keen interest in the potential of the Switch, and if the console sells through 10 million units by next March - as it looks like it will - I have no doubt we'll see everyone rushing to the system. What's also worth mentioning is that a fair share of the publishers confirmed to be working on Switch titles/ports have yet to reveal what it is they're working on. Consoles are typically in their best swing - in terms of sales and ramping up game production in terms of sheer numbers - in their second and third years, and that translation in sales will no doubt mean a bigger push in game production too. I do think that third party publishers needn't bring AAA first person shooters and the like to the console, though. Team-up games with other developers/publishers like Mario+Rabbids Kingdom Battle seem like a great way to go (I mean, forget Mario & Sonic at Tokyo 2020 and instead imagine Nintendo All-Stars at Tokyo 2020 developed in partnership with EA Sports, for instance; this is purely an example and probably unrealistic at this point), as do a myriad of great indie games. Heck, I'm still confused as to why A Way Out isn't coming to the Switch, as it seems tailor-made for the Switch. I expect we'll see a Nintendo Switch 2018 Spotlight coming in December or January, so at the very least I'd wait until then before jumping off the bandwagon. Also, congrats @Sheikah!!

Just wanted to ask a few questions about formatting posts with the new software, as I just had a little bit of a frustrating time attempting to post over in the Core Pokémon RPG thread, specifically with a post making use of numerous quotes throughout. I formatted the old way with [Q U O T E]quote[/ Q U O T E] but soon found quotes and comments embedding themselves within other quotes. After a while I found that by turning my screen landscape, as opposed to portrait, that a quote option - symbolised by the speech marks - was available in the toolbar, and I managed to cut and paste my post accordingly. Would it be possible for you to look into making this option available whilst in portrait mode? Also, I can't seem to find a "delete post" option, and didn't realise this until I had attempted to auto merge my messy post with another in an attempt to fix my aforementioned problem with quotes, and shortly thereafter also found that auto merge was no longer available. Would it be possible for one of you to enable the "delete post" feature, or more specifically, delete my clone post? Other than what can only be described as my own shortcomings and misunderstandings, I have to say that I love the new layout guys! Greatly responsive and intuitive design and it looks extremely clean, thanks!

Been doing some digging to clear up the solid information that we currently have available to us on this game. It's scarce for now, but I think it's worth bundling together. September 2016 Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, president and CEO of The Pokémon Company, Tsunekazu Ishihara, revealed that Pokémon games will indeed be making their way to the Switch (at the time still labelled the more mysterious NX). A month prior, UK-based publication MCV revealed that sources close to them had heard that new main entries in the Pokémon, Zelda and Mario franchises would be on their way within the first six months of the NX's release (which proved false for our yellow electric mouse and Italian plumber friends, though these games, as we know now, are on the way). What is worth noting, however, is that they also reported that the main entry Pokémon game would indeed be worked on by Game Freak. November 2016 Eurogamer reported that a third version to Pokémon Sun and Moon would be released exclusively on the Switch in late 2017; titled Pokémon Stars, this game would return to the Alola region in a similar fashion to how previous entries, such as Crystal, Emerald and Platinum, had, with a somewhat updated storyline and other minor changes throughout. However, they did also report that roughly 20 new species of Pokémon would be introduced to the region in this third version, which would have been a first for the series. Whilst we now know that Stars is more than likely never going to come - after the recently revealed pair of 3DS exclusive titles Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, which seem, at least at face value, to be third versions of Sun and Moon - it's entirely possible that Game Freak may have been testing porting over the engine and assets of Sun and Moon, some of which we know are down-ressed from their HD model counterparts, as opposed to outright developing a third version for the Switch, though this latter point is speculation on my behalf. February 2017 Early in the month, two job listings - for a 3D CG game designer and character modeller - for Game Freak were found on the Japanese version of the job listing site indeed, which seems to be pointing towards a new Pokémon game, with references to the creation of "deformed toonian persons, monsters and items" for a "globally popular RPG" throughout the two job summaries. Other points that catch my attention are the requirement to be "capable of using MAYA [3D CG software]"; having experience with "Wii U and PS Vita class models" for the character modeller, who will also serve as a "motion modeller"; "texture, joint and weight" modelling is also required, as well as debugging; "the platform is a console"; and "since it is a franchise that has been known for a long time, the development environment is also very well prepared". Sounds like Pokémon to me. Also worth noting is that the initial contract is dated as lasting from the same day (i.e. as soon as possible) until May 2018, which could give us an idea as to the release period of the games. Later in the month, talking to Japanese publication Toyokeizai, Tsunekazu Ishihara spoke about the Pokémon franchise coming to the Nintendo Switch, and there seems to be a hint of something different - at the very least - coming from the franchise's switch to the Switch. Speaking to his impressions of the Switch, Ishihara revealed that he's known about the development of the console for years and, interestingly, highlighted the HD Rumble feature in particular. June 2017 During Nintendo's E3 Spotlight, Ishihara revealed that a core Pokémon RPG was indeed in the works for the Switch.

I was thinking about picking up a custom Switch anyway, so I *might* wait for the inevitable complete NES Edition of the Switch. Those are some beautiful Joy-Con though EDIT: also, @punio75, I've just found that they've recently added Pro Controllers too; hopefully not too long before an NES version of that, either!

Not surprising considering everything that's gone down between the MCU's TV and film head honchos (Perlmutter and Feige). Inhumans mess seems to be born from their difference in opinion to begin with, and I doubt it will come out without some sort of controversy, be it critical acclaim or something else entirely.

Some cleared up info from the recent Nintendo Switch SDK leak (courtesy of Neogaf): Save data transfer; Guest login; Also, a bunch of great images were found in the SDK leak too (like the one below); here's a link to all of the images found (for those interested).

The Switch has sold over 1 million units in Japan, according to data released by Famitsu, in just 17 weeks. For comparison it took: Game Boy Advance: 3 weeks DS: 4 weeks PS2: 5 weeks Wii: 6 weeks 3DS: 13 weeks PSP: 14 weeks Switch: 17 weeks GameCube: 17 weeks N64: 29 weeks PS1: more than 30 weeks WiiU: 34 weeks PS3: 36 weeks PS Vita: 43 weeks DreamCast: 45 weeks PS4: 49 weeks It's also worth noting that Japan, like many other territories, has had issues with Switch stock, with plenty of fans still unable to get their hands on the hardware. Platinum Games developer Hideki Kamiya recently shared his attempt - and failure - to get a Switch, revealing a raffle system which has been put into place due to the limited stock. Winners of the raffle will then be able to purchase a Switch. Famitsu also revealed key sales figures for the best-selling Switch games in Japan: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: 501,614 The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild: 460,480 1-2 Switch: 200,807 ARMS: 154,845 Super Bomberman R: 92,112

First post here, so it's probably safe to say it's going to be fairly long (considering it's got nearly six months of gaming to update on), but I actually don't have any major revelational thoughts on the majority of the games I've played thus far this year - especially considering most are classics, but perhaps I'll touch on this - so I'll try to keep it short and to the point! It's worth mentioning that I haven't completed every game here, but I've given all of these games what I feel is a good shake with a handful of hours at the very least, and might even deliver a personal rating on those I feel I've dug into enough to fairly rate. I think it's worth mentioning from the off that some clicked in great ways, and others, well... January • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PS4) - this is a game I bought quite a while back during a PlayStation Store sale, and I really gave this game all I feel I could; 10 hours in and I still just was so not into this game. I tried different types of side quests and errands, sticking to the story quests, and just trying to get into the zone for this world in general, and yet none of it was sticking with me. I found the story and characters intriguing, as well as the gameplay, but perhaps, when all is said and done, it was just down to my own personal engagement with this open world and how, at least for me, it didn't click. Solid visuals are always worth mentioning, too. Rating: N/A • Batman: Telltale Series (PS4) - another game that I'd purchased before the start of this year, but I finished up the story after an off month of gaming for me. Visually, I love this game, as the Telltale engine just so naturally portrays Bruce Wayne and Gotham in a way that seems so right for a comic book source. I've always been a big fan of Batman, and loved the choices on offer and the intrigue of some of the story being told. However, this is by no means a great game, in my opinion, with pacing issues, a constant sense of not being in control of how major situations in the game will turn out - which is bad enough in any game, let alone one with an emphasis on choice, and perhaps made even worse considering the protagonist involved - and, as always is the case with games such as these, the inability for the dialogue choice summaries to accurately represent the actions/words that will follow upon a choice being picked. A solid but flawed showing. Rating: 7.5/10 February • The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time (3DS) - the third game of mine that I've played from this franchise (following Spirit Tracks and the original NES game). I'm surprised I haven't played this game before now, and, despite not completing the game - something that becomes abundant in the months to follow due to reasons out of my own control, and hence why I've jumped from game to game on a number of occasions through this list without completing games, feeling that I'll be out of sync upon returning to them - I'm happy to have sunk in the 20+ hours I have into the game, and this game catalysed the classics spree you'll find I've gone on throughout much of the year up until now. Amazing score, gameplay, and story, this epic hero's journey did exactly everything I expected from a 20 year old classic and more. I look forward to one day returning to this one - perhaps on Switch VC next time? Rating: 10/10 • Mother (3DS) - another experience cut short for me, but this JRPG was a great change of pace after one of the greats, and it gave off so many different flavours - from character personality to enemy variety - that I fell in love with. Whilst Pokémon is, by all means, a JRPG, I thought this would be my first "typical" JRPG, but this is absolutely an atypical game, and an atypical JRPG at that, with bags of charm and the gameplay to go along with it. Rating: 8.5/10 March • Super Mario World (3DS) - continuing my classics spree, I went out and completed this game coming out with more than I thought I would, which is amazing considering that I'd been told beforehand that this was one of the best 2D Mario games of all time! Some of the best gameplay - and more specifically, platforming - that I've ever experienced, this one was an absolute delight. Rating: 9.5/10 • Pokémon Blue (3DS) - I've loved, lived and breathed Pokémon since I was little, and so I think it goes without saying that I throughly enjoyed completing this game again (if only to complete my Gen I PokéDex). What I do think it worth mentioning, however, is that the original version of this game is a couple of years older than I am, and yet these games have aged incredibly well. In fact, it's one of the rare instances where I'd argue that Pokémon's simplicity - albeit only at face value - pays off in dividends when compared to other JRPGs of the time, and the quirks that came along with them. Rating: 9.0/10 • Just Cause 3 (PS4) - a game I played to simply get through some tough times this year, and to break up the monotony of those tough times, this game is probably the most stupid yet fun game I've played this year. Absolutely solid game, and I owe it a lot for having picked me up. Technical issues in abundance, however. Rating: 7.0/10 April • Super Metroid (3DS) - as my first game in the Metroid franchise, I think this has set an incredibly high bar for what I expect when I play through the Prime games and other 2D sidescrollers. Love the vibrant colours, and the controls are incredibly natural and easy to become accustomed to for a game over 20 years old. Another classic I will not at all regret playing. Rating: 9.5/10 • Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (PS4) - fun free PSN game that I played with my brother for a few hours. Not much expected, and no expectations passed, but this was certainly a fun time. Rating: 6.5/10 • Inside (PS4) - my first critically acclaimed modern indie game blew me away. Excellent world-building in a world without much more than grunts and other noises, and it really leaves you wanting more. Dark matte colour palette is always a bonus, too. Rating: 9.5/10 • Firewatch (PS4) - following my first critically acclaimed modern indie game with another critically acclaimed modern indie game, this game has a great and interesting narrative and storytelling style. There are few better ways to world-build than to just let the player explore, which is both a plus and minus for this game: whilst it is great seeing the world for yourself, it feels like a very linear experience, as deviating from the path adds little to the experience. Also, a pretty poor third act which seemed rushed. Great art style, though! Rating: 8.5/10 May • Journey (PS4) - another critically acclaimed modern indie game! My only game of May was a great gaming experience, and it was surprising to be running into people online in this game years after its release. As with all of the indie games I've played this year, I adored the art style! Rating: 9.0/10 June • Flower (PS4) - fun little indie game I've been playing in my spare time between games, or just when in need of some reflection, and it makes for an interesting use of the SIXAXIS controls which I hadn't used up to this point in my PS4. Great colour palette; great vibes all around. Rating: 7.5/10 • Final Fantasy VII (PS4 port) - my first Final Fantasy game, and what I would describe as my first traditional JRPG. Excellent story - just completed the Temple of the Ancients - and great music, this game has convinced me to pick up some more JRPGs (looking at Ni No Kuni and Persona 5 for PS4 in particular) and other FF entries (looking at VI and XV in particular at this point) in the near future, this game has completely won me over. I'm invested in these characters, this world, the plot, all of it: I am all-in for the first time in a long time when it comes to gaming. Granted, I think I'm roughly half way through the game and it could all go down hill from here, but I have high expectations and hopes for the remainder of this game. The 3x speed has been extremely useful for my playthrough (because WOW does it take a while to complete a battle), and of course this game being 20 years old - and older than myself - I think it's aged fairly well, and I forgive any technical limitations it has shown to me thus far as a result. My biggest gripe at this point, actually, is probably just how difficult it is to control characters in the world's environments. I was tempted to try to platinum this game, but it seems extremely tedious to do so, so I'm just going to do what I feel is reasonable after completing the story. Going to give rating ranges for games I'm still playing through; Rating: 8.5-10/10 • Life Is Strange (PS4) - picked this up with PS Plus at the start of the month and I'm two episodes in. Interesting narrative, with respect paid to some very touchy subjects throughout, and a great core game mechanic which both the game and narrative centre around, this game is...very intriguing, to say the least, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out. Nice art style, too, but as with all dialogue wheels these days - and perhaps it's even more apparent because of the core game mechanic here - I'm not a fan as to just how far off summarised options are from the execution. Rating: 7.0-9.5/10 • Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4) - got delivered last Friday to shake me up a bit whilst playing through FFVII, and I'm a big fan of Guerilla's first take on an open world game (besides other things, such as colour - sorry Killzone). Again, dialogue wheel issues are apparent throughout, and I'm only 15 hours in but the story isn't gripping me, and, like The Witcher 3, I'm not buying into a lot of the side quests either. Beautiful world, great concept, and a better-than-expected execution, I'm looking forward to seeing this one through. Also worth mentioning that I'm playing on a 1TB PS4, not a Pro, and I've yet to encounter a single technical issue. Rating: 7.5-9.5/10

Not a fan of the drip feed of information this far out from a game's release. Hoping it goes quiet - and I mean, dead silent - soon...

Actually, this is almost exactly what ASDA did for a while - not quite sure what the cause was, though; from a few years back until the recent launch of the Switch, perhaps a little earlier, with the majority of Nintendo products, including 3DS games and Wii U games - possibly excluding amiibo, but I'm not certain about this - not being sold by them. Not sure if it was nationwide or just specific stores, but I had into certain Nintendo games at ASDA during this time and it was very clear, from the website to the store: we sell PlayStation and Xbox products, but not Nintendo's. Weird stance, especially considering the success of the 3DS family, and I have my doubts as to whether or not it was because of the Wii U's failure (in terms of sheer numbers of hardware sold alone). I 100% agree that there are alternatives, and I do feel that having the item be 1 per customer would absolutely make sense, but it's the retailer's prerogative beyond Nintendo's shipments as to whether this should be enforced. If the item were to become exclusive to a select group of retailers then it might be doable, but then again, this could ostracise a fair share of potential buyers simply because of its unavailability to them, whether that be a premeditated or impulse purchase. Pre-orders could, and perhaps should, be limited to 1 per customer, but as myself and others have mentioned, that doesn't limit the number of retailers with which one can pre-order. It's a tricky fine line, but I'm an optimist over this if we're comparing it to the NES Mini: I think everyone who desires to have an SNES Mini will, so long as they keep their ears to the ground, be able to get their hands on one. Whether or not that's on September 29th is another matter entirely.

Picked up a few games in the last few weeks for my PS4. Trying to go physical with AAA games where it's logical and reasonable to do so. In regard to the games themselves - a mix of indies, a AAA title and a 20 year-old classic - I've been having an absolute blast! Horizon Zero Dawn Final Fantasy VII (PS4 port) Journey Firewatch Flower Inside

I certainly agree with points made by both yourself and @Ronnie, but, at least from what I've seen in pre-ordering from a few places myself and poking around on some retailers' sites selling the SNES Mini in other territories, I ultimately think it's down to the retailer at this point as to whether or not it is 1 per customer, regardless of what Nintendo says, and I certainly expect to see Nintendo limit their official store sales to 1 per customer. It's perhaps made a bit more confusing with the statement that they have plans to stock more SNES Minis than NES Minis, yet for roughly only half the retail time the NES Mini was on sale. I think we'll see a lot of these "Sold Out" retailers suddenly have stock once customers have finalised at least one purchase of the microconsole (I mean, you've seen it here too, where because of the scarcity of the NES Mini, people are making 2/3 pre-orders of this thing!) in the coming days and weeks, and I certainly don't think any hardcore Nintendo fan - with their ears close to the ground - will be missing out on this Classic despite having a much shorter retail period.

So, I kind of want to get the Japanese Super Famicom Mini, just for the box... I can feel the 90's bleeding through my screen right now Also worth mentioning that Japan has 21 games included also, but with five games exclusive to their version: Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem The Legend of Mystical Ninja Panel de Pon Super Soccer Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers They get these games as opposed to the following five games, which are exclusive to the American and European versions of the microconsole: Earthbound Kirby's Dream Course Street Fighter 2' Turbo: Hyper Fighting Super Castlevania 4 Super Punch-Out!! Still surprised that Chrono Trigger is nowhere to be seen. If we do get Virtual Console for Switch, in whatever iteration that may be, I seriously do hope to see that game make its way onto it.

Got one pre-ordered and hoping for a price crash on the NES Mini's resellers (though I'm not holding my breath) upon release. It makes perfect sense, though, for this to be more-or-less a short-term thing every time, at least in my opinion; this tides over those fans who, for whatever reason, don't want/will be unable to get a Switch come this Christmas period, and it means that they won't be cannibalising a potential Switch VC, or, at the very least, the Switch Classics Library, when it launches next year. Makes for a great collectible; how long does reckon before we hear about an N64 Mini? Will we even get one? Are people willing to purchase a great system with the knowledge that it comes with an extremely off-the-rails designed controlled?

Well then, I guess it's time to go and delete that GAME pre-order...