Julius

It's live:

So I've got a bit of a hot take on this, but I actually think it's a prime example of Grubb as a source of Nintendo "inside info", because I've found he's pretty good with everyone when it comes to rumours becoming tangible...outside of Nintendo. I think what's he's good at is trying to parse through current speculation and generally makes good educated guesses about what's going on; he might have a legitimate source or two, but they're certainly not at Nintendo, based on how hit and miss he's proven over the years. And I think this is one of those times where him not taking a better educated stab at what's going on here also makes it far less credible that he actually knows anything. Here's the actual tweet: Look, Nintendo could totally delay an event based on Xbox's business update tonight...but history shows they wouldn't, and it certainly doesn't suggest that such a delay would leak out ahead of time. Hell, we've had Nintendo and PlayStation events held on the same night before, and PlayStation are *actually* good at selling consoles and making games that sell those consoles (I'm sorry Xbox but yes that's a stray you're going to just need to catch and accept at this point), so from a marketing showdown POV, they actually pose a threat. "I heard", "they were discussing", it sounds like a total load of handwaving and face pulling when you consider that the only reason that Nintendo would move for Xbox giving a business update on a podcast - which by the way, can I just say, isn't even pinned on their X, formerly known as Twitter, account! In case I needed to highlight once again that they are hilariously bad at this marketing stuff - is because Nintendo's actual content plans have had to change as a result, like I said before, whether it be because they've had material get prepped for the potential introduction of Xbox games to the platform which isn't ready (this Xbox announcement was apparently planned originally for some time in spring) or because, well, it's Xbox's announcement, and not Nintendo's? So if there's Xbox news in the Direct relating to the Xbox announcement they obviously can't jump the gun? Obviously those are just educated guesses on my part, but then, wouldn't a legitimate Nintendo source suggest the exact same sort of thing, whether they know for a fact or by taking an educated guess themselves? That Nintendo are thinking of moving more explicitly because of related Xbox content potentially turning up? I also always find it weird when someone like Grubb doesn't share their actual take on the apparent leak, too. I mean, Nintendo delayed the Direct when the Queen passed away for the exact same reasons PlayStation delayed their PS5-unveiling Showcase in June 2020 (George Floyd and BLM): it would be in incredibly poor taste to do otherwise. This is Xbox we're talking about. It's being announced on a podcast for crying out loud. Even they don't seem to care all that much, so at face value, no, I refuse to believe that Nintendo are reacting to Xbox making an announcement on their future in a podcast; I do think that if it has been delayed (if it actually exists), it's because they want to do some cross-promo stuff in said Direct which will back up Xbox's news that can only work after the announcement has been made. I'll end there because I sound like I'm giving the sky a good old fist-shake... ...but man am I starting to get so tired of "insiders". I've said it before, but I'm already sick and tired of the Switch 2 news cycle, too is this newfound wisdom in my old age or am I just getting cranky?

Certainly seems that way. If the plan was for a Partner Showcase, I wonder if things had to be reshuffled following Xbox, well, needing to reshuffle themselves: either expecting a megaton from them (games coming to everything, everywhere, all at once) or just not having the material ready for Nintendo to show off if they were to, well, show things off. If Xbox stuff was going to show up in the Direct then I guess it makes sense that we'd need the Xbox showing out of the way first, and I can't imagine Nintendo - who actually can communicate well with their customers - leaving it to be announced and presented within a matter of hours. And hell, I'd bet on a shadow dropped video from Nintendo over that happening; it is worth bearing in mind that we have had shadow dropped Partner Showcases before (though I think the last one was in 2020? I'd need to check). Nintendo aren't against shadow dropping megatons themselves with little lead-up, and it's also the exact opposite of what Xbox would do, so that's definitely the smarter way to handle it Am I expecting it? Absolutely not. But if it is relying on Xbox news, I mean...maybe? An 23:00 shadow drop with no preamble would be very weird, but then, if there's any truth to these Xbox rumours that we're getting and we get confirmation on some of it tonight, strange things are happening: (sorry it felt obligatory) Yeah, it is exceptionally rare that we get an 23:00 GMT showing (considering most of Europe would be asleep at that time), so I'm not going to hold out hope. But then, we all know Xbox doesn't do great numbers over here or in Japan - so would Xbox stuff news coming to Nintendo Switch be bigger news best served and directed squarely at the US, with an appropriate time to boot?

Games for the Catalog in Feb: Resistance: Retribution is also inbound as a Premium game via Classics: Comes with a number of enhancements, too:

Can't remember the last time I saw something like this: the demo is getting a Performance Mode patch, and these same improvements will carry over to the full game's launch. Seeing the impressions come out with the demo it's not hard to see why, seems like the only consistent issue people were reporting was the graphical fidelity in Performance Mode mode. Still, this seems worthy of praise for me. S-E is one of the only big publishers still consistently dropping quality demos where they take on feedback, and now they're actually giving them meaningful updates the week before launch? Kudos to them!

The game passed the mark of 1 million units sold earlier this week: Feels good.

Yoshitaka Murayama, the creator of Suikoden and Eiyuden, sadly passed away last week This is the official statement from Rabbit & Bear Studios, who have been developing Eiyuden and preparing Hundred Heroes for its April release. I really hope that both Eiyuden and the Suikoden remasters release smoothly this year, as I don't think there'd be a better way to honour him. The first two Suikoden games are true gems and really deserve much more attention, and I know Murayama had shared in recent years that he wouldn't be against returning to the franchise at some point and continuing the story of that world. Rest in peace, Murayama-san.

New article from The Verge yesterday which talks about Xbox's plans to be everywhere: Only real news here, for me, is that Pentiment might be one of the games moving over - don't think it's been mentioned up to this point? Anyways, elsewhere, they've announced another limited edition Series S, this time for Dune: Part Two. Kind of nuts how many limited edition variants they've had compared to PlayStation, who seriously don't seem to care about branching out beyond their own IP. The LeBron collab is the only one that comes to mind?

Side Order DLC overview ahead of its 22nd Feb release: And Fresh Season arrives 1st March: Pours a whole lot of fuel on the fire that this week's rumoured/the next Direct is going to focus on partners, with how this was just so haphazardly dropped

Yuri Lowenthal has confirmed his involvement in the game: Knew I heard him so can we say that Helldivers II really makes you feel like Spider-Man? IGN, care to comment?

This seems just about the weakest way to do it – a podcast. Not fully going all the way with a video, not making sure you've got the wording right in a blog post – a podcast; it's serious, but join us on the couch! Which is honestly, at this point, pretty typical Xbox. As is having to wait nearly two weeks by the time this podcast goes up to address this topic? What, is Phil doing a live performance of Amazing Grace backed up by Bond and Booty or something? Not sure about "Time of Death", but the image for the podcast being all black except for the green in corners, with it more prominent in the top left and bottom right, certainly gives you the impression that they're viewing it in a very stark manner. Guess we'll wait to see how this all plays out

Completed the Face Shrine which means I can now say I've heard this masterpiece in-game! Little creepy how accurate a lot of this was. Yet another win for Dies Irae I guess Anyways, think that's my favourite dungeon so far. Sure, remembering where the crystals are to flick between orange and blue was a little annoying (by the time I got skimmed to marking them on the map I had them memorised!) but otherwise the atmosphere with the music, the dungeon layout, the bosses, and purposeful backtracking made it a fun one, albeit it a little long. Ventured around the island some more, finally dropped back into the Dream Shrine and cleared that out...so yeah. I know Zelda games are known for traditionally having eight dungeons and the map is almost completely uncovered, so I imagine I'm heading into the tailend of things now. Been a blast so far, hoping for a couple more awesome tracks to see the journey off!

First teaser for Deadpool & Wolverine: Poster: "A Hugh Hope", "Come Together", safe to say the tone has been set and thankfully nothing's changed

Probably a bit of luck and, as others have suggested, some things I perceived as "glitches" may just be really awkward-looking solutions or much too faithful carry-overs from the original game which for whatever weren't revisited when remaking the game. I think the reason it's flagging for me perhaps more than others, too, is simply because this is my first time playing Link's Awakening in any form; the BowWow weirdness I thought was a glitch seems like it might be just a faithful solution used in the remake. Besides that, I am pretty sensitive to frame rate drops and inconsistencies, as they can sometimes even make me feel a bit sick if it's inconsistent enough (often coupled with some visual design decisions which don't help, but this generally applies to third-person games and mostly to first-person, not so much top-down), and bugs/glitches/visual and audio weirdness I just tend to take quick notice of generally, too. It's actually a bit of a pain because, especially when playing new releases fresh off the production line (on the Switch or elsewhere), they're buggy as hell most of the time these days, and generally speaking are much worse from third-party developers. Nintendo-published games are generally fine, besides the last couple of remakes I've played developed by third parties (Grezzo for this and ILCA for the Diamond & Pearl remakes). Even in instances like Breath of the Wild, which has terrible drops in certain forested areas, it doesn't feel too bad for me because of the camera perspective generally being pushed so far back and wide, as well as the art style, whereas I remember wanting to hurl after my first session with Dragon Quest XI when running through tall grass didn't exactly help the frame rate, before a patch was released which fixed it. The Unfinished Swan was the absolute worst for this, though. You're surrounded by white nothingness early on and very little (or no) colour in first-person. Just, no thanks. I only played the first hour and though I'm sure I'd like it based on how much I enjoyed their other game, What Remains of Edith Finch, I'm never touching that game again. Maybe there's a further discussion to be had here about sensitivities when it comes to bugs/glitches, frame rate and visual design, because if nothing else it's interesting to see how others process these same things. I wish it was a case of me nitpicking (and it kind of is), but these things basically barge their way into my enjoyment of a game in some way because they're so apparent to me, which is often why they get mentioned at least once early on if I play a game with those sorts of issues.

Unfortunately I've got the game physically I say unfortunately, but I did get the game for free through a work rewards programme, so it's hard to complain too much That's kind of crazy to hear about it potentially being a data streaming issue, I guess it's still a drawback with physical media in the modern age but it seems like such a rare occurrence that, man, it just sucks and is kind of unfortunate if that is the issue here!

Universo Nintendo are reporting on some details from Brazilian gaming podcast PH Brazil that the Switch's successor will feature both physical and digital backwards compatibility, with devs having the option to enhance their original Switch games. I think we all agree this would be the smart move when it comes to potential backwards compatibility - physical BC going missing doesn't seem Nintendo's style and punishes early adopters during the transition period; digital BC has been heavily teased by Nintendo themselves when talking about online accounts carrying over to their next system - so I think the real news here (if true, grain of salt and all that) is the apparent option for devs to release updates which enhance previously released games. Would definitely be welcome in BotW's forested areas, that's for sure

The game may have been delayed a little bit? From Q1 2024 to Q2 (calendar year), so nbd. Per Eurogamer: Thought the trailer was stellar but man, weird vibes from how this has been handled, just with announcing a showcase so far out and seemingly wanting to release the game in early access at that time too, that seems a lot to commit to. Oh well, less than a month until we find out more – unless the Showcase gets delayed too

This is being delivered (heh) on 23rd Feb:

Figma figures are coming for TotK Link, Ganondorf and Zelda! Look lovely (well, Zelda pending):

Who's that Pokémon? It's... Chameleon!

Finally got back to this today, completed the fifth dungeon. I'll admit I think that's probably the weakest dungeon I've completed so far; it's not bad, by any means, it just felt like so much of a chore to traverse compared to the four earlier dungeons because it felt like each room had an obstacle which was placed there purely to slow you down, which is fine the first time through, but not so much when you're backtracking as much as you (rightly) end up doing in some of these dungeons. Yeah, some of the stuff they seemingly decided to keep in the transition from 2D to 3D continues to be pretty odd, I agree with the idea @Jonnas that they've perhaps chosen to be too faithful to the original game in some regards, so it feels a bit weird when the GB-ness of it all comes to the fore when there are so many QoL improvements made, like how a certain enemy which looks like a Bidoof with a rock tied to its head needs to be hit from behind, so you hit it from behind, but you go for another hit when it still hasn't turned around and – suddenly, it has turned around, and it's rock tied to its head has protected it also encountered a bug where the music from the overworld followed me into a cave and both tracks decided to duke it out in a cacophany of confusion, only happened once, but again, it just jumps out purely because its Zelda and this feels below the level of polish I've come to expect from these games. And yes, the frame rate issues have persisted; no, it's not the end of the world, but it is a bit annoying. Elsewhere, the overworld exploration just keeps getting these layers added to it with every new item unlocked, and while it's not my first Zelda rodeo, it being my first 2D Zelda, I feel like you have a much more explicit sense of when and where to start using these new tools after getting them, purely because the game is, obviously, smaller than, say, Ocarina of Time. It's the condensed nature of the game that I'm liking quite a lot, actually, because it just helps to keep pushing you forwards – in fact I think it's because of this that the fifth dungeon feels comparatively weaker than the ones before it, it just doesn't feel as well paced. Anyways, game is great. But the real highlight for me so far has been the soundtrack. Oh. My. Word. (that picture he got sent has me dying btw) What a soundtrack. It just feels so intimate and diverse in how silly it allows itself to get, which is very different to the subtlety of the music in BotW and TotK, and the very delineated OoT score, which has plenty of nuance but is much more traditionally bombastic, heroic, and, well, legend-evoking. I realise I've still got a good bit of the game left but, well, I know thanks to placing a phone call that the Face Shrine is next up, which I have heard before and am very much looking forward to experiencing in the game, and with the game mentioning it so much, I'm expecting a nice payoff when I finally get to hear the Ballad of the Wind Fish in all its glory. Feels obvious where this is all going and has been for some while, but to put pen to paper (pixels to screen?)... No-one confirm that, obviously, I don't want to be spoiled but I would also like to be wrong and have it noted for all eternity if I am

Per Collider, The Acolyte is set to release this summer: Feels like it's been virtual radio silence on the show since Celebration last year, and even that was just an event-exclusive trailer and a handful of interviews. It was a pretty damn good trailer, mind you! Would be reeeeeeeeeally smart of them to put a trailer for this in front of the TPM 25th anniversary showings, could really lean into setting it up with "100 years before The Phantom Menace" (so it's almost certainly not going to happen )

I haven't read the manga but I have watched the two seasons of the show released so far, and it's been superb. It's one of those lovely cases where everything I've heard about the manga compared to the anime suggests that any differences are miniscule, and so it really is just a preference for how you'd like to approach experiencing such an awesome story!

Had been looking ahead to next year (Revenge of the Sith's 20th and The Force Awakens' 10th) that I'd completely forgotten this year was the 25th for TPM! Man I really hope RotS gets a re-release next year and I don't need to wait another 6... Anyways, yeah, I'll be there, absolutely (assuming the re-release arrives over here, which I'm assuming it will). Going to see ROTJ in cinemas for the 40th last year was really special, but to experience Duel of the Fates in cinemas? Can't wait Absolutely an S-tier poster Matt Ferguson never misses with Star Wars, loved his ROTJ 40th one last year: ...and just like that, I find myself in a Star Wars mood again

Always love a @Glen-i Pokémon thread, so thanks for this! No question for me: it's Bulbasaur. First Pokémon I chose the very first time I actually played Pokémon - at a friend's house, LeafGreen on his blue GBA SP, got up to Mt Moon and evolved the little guy. It was also the very first Pokémon card that I owned, given to me with a few other cards by an older kid on the playground back when I was in Reception (pretty sure I got a Charmander, Chameleon, and bloated Pikachu, along with some other cards, from them, too). Did that card get pretty much destroyed when my parents threw it in the wash, not knowing it was in my pockets? Yes. Do I still have that kind of crushed and water-damaged card to this day? Absolutely. Bulbasaur was also my favourite Pokémon of Ash's, based partially on its look, but also it's personality. Weirdly one of the earliest instances I can remember of relating to an animated character. I just love him. Unfortunately, I think Ivysaur is a slight step down in design and Venusaur even more so from there, but Bulbasaur is definitely my favourite of the original trio. Second would have to be Squirtle. Again, just another great design, but also: Squirtle Squad. Urgh, someone give me a Squirtle Squad game in the style of Yakuza pleaseeeeee! Another one where I've got a memory tied to the card, too. While I had a base set version of Squirtle, my friend gave me his Team Rocket Squirtle... ...which his sister had actually gone over Squirtle's main lines with a silver glitter pen. It honestly still looks great to me to this day (yes, I still have it). I actually think Squirtle has the strongest line of the original trio overall in terms of design, as I'm a huge fan of Wartortle too, and though Blastoise is great, it's similar to Venusaur for me in that it's just kind of bit more ugly and blocky than it is cool. As for Charmander...yeah, I think it's the weakest design of the original three. I'm not a huge fan of Charmeleon's design either, actually, but Charizard is - and it is not close - by far the coolest of the final evolutions of the Kanto starters. To this day it's fight against it's clone is still one of my favourite in the entire anime: As for Pikachu...look, Pikachu is awesome. Classic design. I love Pichu and Raichu too (and Alolan Raichu is S-tier), but yeah, it's never been one I've really put side by side with the original three starters, despite them all appearing together with Ash and obviously being a starter in Yellow and Let's Go, but yeah...I think for me it's last when stacked up specifically as being a Kanto starter more so because it becoming a starter just feels like an afterthought, and it also just doesn't really fit in with the trio, as there was certainly a little theme going on when it was just them. It's one of those instances - and I know we still get them, but I don't think to the same degree - where it seemed like Pokémon just knew what they had. Gen IV Pokémon like Munchlax and Bonsly getting into the anime and marketing a year or two ahead of the release of Diamond & Pearl was great, and so many of the Pokémon shown off before that transition to Gen IV was awesome, but Lucario got SO much love even outside of Smash, and personally - as a Lucario lover - it's not hard to see why. Mystery Dungeon of course, but then being front and centre for Lucario and the Mystery of Mew – it was a surefire hit way before we first stepped foot in Sinnoh I'll argue it was one of the coolest bipedal Pokémon we'd had since Mewtwo, the aura/energy stuff around Riolu and Lucario seemed to lean more into shonen anime type coolness which we'd only occasionally get to see in Pokémon, and never for too long. So yeah, love Lucario I can't be too hard on you for this because of your love of Wii Music and Bulbasaur, but hey: Squirtle, Totodile, Mudkip, Sobble and Froakie are S-tier starters! S-tier!!