Dufniall

Updated the opening post, for those who want to join in post a reaction here, and let's aim for September 1 to gather up our thoughts. I'll take them into account later and make a front-page forum user infused Throwback Thursday out of it.

Indie Directs are always fun, curious to see what gets shown. Hoping for an Axiom Verge 2 date (he tweeted it will be ready and in time to finish it before Metroid Dread drops so can't be too long). Maybe Fall Guys, maybe Silksong? Did OlliOlli World already have a launch date?

Well, this is a pickle. The poll closed (set it to close at midnight) and I forgot to vote myself haha. Four titles ended with two votes; Ninja Gaiden got zero. My favourite game from the list is Elite Beat Agents, but I played through it already quite recently. So I'm going to vote for Kirby: Power Paintbrush. It's Kirby, it's touch, it's not too long. It's available on WiiU and Nintendo DS. These are my arguments. How long did we usually reserve for playing the game? A month or so?

For anyone who has Amazon Prime Gaming, Battlefield V is now free to claim there. Activates in Origin so yours to keep even after cancelling the subscription.

I was kind of hesitant if I should do a fixed poll or keep it open for politics, but let's see how this goes. In case of a draw we can always do a second vote between the winners. To be honest I would have picked Phantom Hourglass over Spirit Tracks as well (because it is less fresh in my memory, and it is the first Zelda DS game so the order would be more correct), but because @Jonnas preferred ST I went for that one. It's an interesting list, that's for sure! I don't know yet who will get my vote, as a couple of games would be fun to revisit. I'll... think about it a bit longer.

A couple of Dutch outlets had a hands-on session and they put some previews up online. They all kind of noted the same things: The colours of the OLED are a lot more vibrant than those of the original Switch. Higher contrast and colourful games like Mario Kart really pop. The screen can go a bit darker than the OG Switch, but also a bit brighter. If this is enough to make it playable outside can't be said. Viewing angles from the side are also a lot better, so if you look at it from an angle visibility is better. Useful in tabletop mode. The device looks a lot more modern thanks to the bezel-less design. The extra 0,7 inch is very noticeable. And although pixels are a bit more visible, it isn't disturbing. Speaker upgrade was not very noticeable during the hands-on for some, others thought it was a decent improvement. Kickstand is a big improvement. Much more stable, and the Switch can be set in any position from almost flat to almost upright. Buttons are different, the cartridge slot is a bit more difficult to open.

"Touch the bottom rectangle, you might like it!" ***For a general introduction to what the N-E Game Club is about click here. If you are unable to participate this round, but want to join in the future, then go ahead and post your ideas in that thread as well.*** For the glorious return of the N-E Game Club, it's time to dust of your good old Nintendo DS Phat/Lite and start scratching that bottom screen, because the theme for this round is touch-heavy Nintendo DS games. The dawn of the Nintendo DS led to two major things. First, the trend for publishers to come up with game titles that had DS in it (Deadly Silence, Dawn of Sorrow, Dual Strike...), and second, heavy reliance of the touch screen. Plenty of games went for a touch-only, or mostly touch approach and these are the games that will star in this month's poll. The biggest problem here is that a bunch of these titles are not widely available, so I hope we can still get some participants. Anyway, here is the shortlist: Elite Beat Agents (available on Nintendo DS) 2 votes Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (available on Nintendo DS, Apple iOS) 2 votes Kirby: Power Paintbrush (available on Nintendo DS, WiiU virtual console) 3 votes Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword (available on Nintendo DS) 0 votes The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (available on Nintendo DS, WiiU virtual console) 2 votes Get your votes up, I'll leave the poll open for a week so we can decide the winner on Monday August 9. Be sure to vote and declare yourself in or out! UPDATE: The game that rolled out as the winner is Kirby: Power Paintbrush. Let us know below if you are going to join in. Let's aim for September 1st to round this off and give your opinions if Kirby touched your heart (again).

Yeah, my plan was to just ask some input here and get about 5 titles and make it a poll. So I'll wait a day or so for a bit more input and I'll open up a poll tomorrow. So shout here if you want to put a DS touch-heavy game on the shortlist!

I've been toying with the idea of choosing a Nintendo DS game with the theme: "Touch the bottom rectangle, you might like it!" Basically, games from classic series that went all-out with touch controls on the Nintendo DS. Think stuff like Yoshi Touch&Go, The Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass or Spirit Tracks, Kirby: Power Paintbrush, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. The biggest issue with these games is that they are not that widely available; most are only on DS, and some are on the WiiU virtual console. Still, I would like to test the waters for this theme. So let me hear your yays or nays, and suggestions for other titles if yay so we can get a poll going.

Joe from serebii seems to suggest that (some of the) DLC was supposed to be in the base game, as fragments of it were already present in the first trailer but not in the game when it came out: If so it might mean they kind of had to get it out of the door, but it's great they are offering the extra content for free so nothing to complain about there.

I haven't been very consequent lately, so time to pick up this thread! I played quite some games on and off, but haven't finished many. Still, got some stuff to talk about. First: Rocksmith+ beta (PC) After the Ubisoft E3 show, I asked for access to the Rocksmith+ beta program, and a couple of weeks I got an email that I could try it out. So installed it and gave it a try. Very short introduction, the Rocksmith series is a rhythm game where you use a real guitar or bass guitar. It's more of an education tool than a game, although the previous title (Rocksmith 2014) had more game elements than the new Rocksmith+. Being a beta the song list was not that extensive, but I'm guessing that will be fixed in the long run. It looks a lot less like a game than Rocksmith 2014, with more focus on tutorials, and less on fluff like arcade games (which is bad cause I liked the fluff). Overall presentation is pretty good though and looks modern. There are some good new functions like a guitar tab view, the ability to not only use the Ubisoft cable, but use an app or your own audio interface as well. A bunch of niggles were encountered, like my cable freaking out on occasion while tuning, and an empty menu where I could only get out by hard quitting. There was a support/feedback forum but that was only people shouting complaints, and none of the devs responding so pretty useless. The big difference with Rockstar 2014 is the payment model. Where the first one was a one time purchase plus DLC songs, Rocksmith+ will have a monthly/yearly subscription fee. I can see why they are going for a subscription service. First of all, no hassle with buying separate songs. Also it will probably mean they have more budget for educational videos and the likes. But I think the most obvious reason was that via an exploit, it was pretty easy to add all DLC to Rocksmith 2014 for "free", so I'm guessing they missed a lot of DLC purchases that way. The suggested prices are pretty steep (I think I saw something like €14,99 a month), for what is in it now I don't think it will justify the price and I'll stick to Rocksmith 2014. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 Remastered (Nintendo Switch) So here I am, doing everything I can, Holding on to what I am, Pretending I'm a superman! What a game this is! I've always loved the Tony series, and this remaster is hitting all the right notes. It feels like I'm playing the old games so job well done on the physics, and they put in a couple of skills from the later games (like wall plants and spine transfers) to give you a bit more options to extend your combos. From the intro movie to returning to classic levels such as School II and Venice, accompanied with a great soundtrack, it all just feels right. The Switch version runs pretty adequate at 30FPS and looks good enough. I'm glad I waited for this and not went for the PC version as it's a great game to pick up and play a couple of runs in handheld. New are the different challenges, an extensive build-a-park mode and new skaters of course, as well as more custom options for your custom skater. But the biggest fun is still going through all the levels with the different skaters. It baffles me how true they stayed to the old games with the objectives etc, I'm curious how newer players will experience it as it feels pretty old-school. Can also imagine it being pretty hard for newcomers, but my muscle memory did serve me well. Roll on THPS3+4 Remastered please! Castlevania: Bloodlines (Castlevania Collection, Nintendo Switch) Another title done from the Castlevania Collection, this time it's Bloodlines. While @Jonnas started out as John with the whip (as can be read a few pages back), I felt more like playing as Eric and use the spear for a change of pace. It is definitely one of the better 2D Castlevanias that I've played, although it still has the classic niggles (such as knockback after being hit, often resulting in me falling in a pit). Needless to say I used the save state option aplenty... Level design is good, quite varied as you visit multiple locations in Europe. One thing that I noted though was the sheer lack of recovery items. Either I didn't find any (bar during the final boss fight) or they are just not there. I'm guessing it's probably the first. Playing as Eric feels good, he has quite a range with the spear and a funky pole-vaulting high jump. Some quirky bosses and enemies keep it interesting. Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle - Donkey Kong Adventure DLC (Nintendo Switch) After the announcement of Mario+Rabbids 2 during E3, I knew this was the time to finally play the Donkey Kong DLC. The playable cast here is Rabbid Peach, Rabbid Cranky and Donkey Kong, so your team is the same during the whole adventure. Donkey Kong is a beast, great range and a very cool moveset as he can pick up and throw enemies/friends, lure foes in with his bongos and groundpound them, and has a multi-hitting boomerang. Cranky is a bit more straightforward with a shotgun and a grenade, and Rabbid Peach plays the same as in the main game. The battles are great, with a couple of fun twists that are not in the main game. The game still looks gorgeous as ever and the humour and cutscenes are there as well. The only minus would be the abundance of block sliding puzzles, not my favourite and they are found aplenty. Mostly to find collectibles though, so you can bypass most if you don't like them. All in all it's a great bit of DLC, I think it's even on discount now (and is pretty often) so if you liked the main game don't sit on this, as it's an amazing continuation of the game and well worth the +/- €10 it is while on sale. League Of Legends: Wild Rift (mobile) So, time to shatter all my accumulated scene points in one go. But I have been playing League Of Legends: Wild Rift quite a bit on my phone. It is the mobile adaptation of the PC version of LoL, and as such has had some changes to the main game. Items work a bit different, matches are a dash shorter (about 15 minutes on average while on PC it's more towards 20-25) and obviously touch controls. But I can't believe how well it plays. It doesn't feel like a compromise at all. The touch controls have been implemented pretty intuitive, and the game runs smooth and looks good on the mobile screen. It does help if you know how the game works, but I think for newcomers this is a lot more friendly to step into than the PC game due to the easier use of items, and the lack of runes et cetera you need to pay attention to in the PC game. It does have the obvious niggles that every online game has (people AFK or not playing cooperative), but luckily typing on mobile is more difficult than on keyboard so there is a lot less flaming and harassment than on PC. All in all a fun game to play in a lost 15 minutes or during a boring meeting. Resident Evil 6 - Jake and Sherry's campaign (PC) Finally I finished Resident Evil 6 a while ago. I've talked a couple of times about it already so I won't go into it again. Time for Resi 7!

I'm in the mood to do another round of Video Game Club, just to play something retro or left wing and because I've kind of stopped posting longer posts in the gaming threads and the Gaming Diary. So getting together with you guys might get my writing mojo back! Anyone here who wants to come up with a theme and 5 or so games to vote on? So we can get this baby back on the road.

For those who haven't seen it yet, @Dcubed wrote a review for Dicey Dungeons, it's up on the frontpage. It piqued my interest, and I just noticed it is currently 50% off in the eShop for those interested!

Some battle royale games on the Switch are: Fortnite Spellbreak Realm Royale Apex Legends Then you also have titles that are a bit of a twist on the battle royale such as Tetris 99 and Pac-Man 99 (both included in the Nintendo Online service), and Worms Rumble. And on other platforms (PC, XBox, Playstation) you have titles like: PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) Call of Duty: Blackout Call of Duty: Warzone ...just to name a few. And a lot of smaller titles.

...or make your desk the PC! Like this:

They mentioned in one of the interviews with IGN that they are going to share the specs and the OS as free license for other manufacturers. So everyone who wants to can make their own Steam Deck, and that will probably increase interest and decrease pricing. And the obvious reason is a new product that sells games for them. Same way as Microsoft tries to create new markets every now and then, first with the Surface leading to detachable and the Surface Neo that should lead to dual touch screen devices. Not that they want to shift hardware but create more platforms and form factors to sell software for. Same comment as above goes for this. It's more of a showcase, same as with the VR. Show how to make a VR platform, hope other brands pick up, sell more VR software. Again Microsoft did it as well with their Mixed Reality. And the reservation system is a great system, creates plenty of buzz while keeping scalpers out. You don't need an official dock, any USB-C dock will do. And every controller will work so it's quite cheap to go full screen. Anyway, still on the fence about getting one. I don't need one but I do want one. The one thing that holds me back for playing more pc games is that I would have to sit upstairs and the misses is downstairs, so that's not really a fun way to spend evenings. That's why I play my Switch 90% handheld, we can both sit on the couch and do our own things. But, my PC is upstairs so I would be much cheaper off investing in a good controller for the smartphone and just stream all my games from my upstairs PC. I don't see me using it out of the house. So for now I'll just hold, let's see if I can stay strong haha.

Going to paste in the specs just for convenience: It looks to be an impressive piece of kit, and I'm glad they chose to go for a 1280x800 resolution and not force a higher resolution on the 7 inch, probably would have been bad for the battery time. It's on the heavy side, about double the weight of a Switch so train up those muscles Take into account that the base model only has 64GB eMMC memory. Plenty of PC games already go over the 64GB, plus eMMC is slow compared to the other options (256-512GB NVMe SSD). So I wouldn't even consider the base model. There is quite a price gap to the middle one though, and the most expensive option also comes with a non-glare screen. Also immediately thought about the Game Gear I have the Steam controller, and while the track pads are a clever invention, I find it really tricky to work with them. I can see the right one here working though as a more accurate option for FPS games instead of the stick, but it'll never be a mouse. The thing does look crammed though. Buttons pretty close to the edge, and the sticks are very close to the buttons as well. Wonder if it's ergonomic, combined with the weight. Rear buttons are great though! I'm curious if this will be a hit. There have been Windows-based handhelds before, but I don't think they ever took off. Valve and Steam are well-known so that may help, but I wonder if PC gamers are interested in a handheld, and running games on a lower resolution. And if you're going to stream a game to it from your PC, a phone+controller is the cheaper option. I think would it have been Microsoft or Sony releasing it, there would have been more leverage behind it. I can imagine a handheld XBox with GamePass would be the dream. But Microsoft is focussing on streaming so you wouldn't need these specs. And Sony, well, games like Horizon: Zero Dawn and Death Stranding are already on Steam so basically this is already an unofficial Sony handheld.

Oh, didn't know there was a Monster Hunter animated series on the way! The kid is annoying, but the rest looks entertaining enough. I finished Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness this week, and the last episode was the weakest. Without spoiling anything, it was a bit of an anticlimax.

The Switch version is releasing next week: Still strangely excited for this. Will definitely give it a go!

A physical version is coming September 10th:

The fact that one of the ships is shaped like a giant knob says it all, doesn't it? Anyway, still quite interesting to see what the private sector can accomplish. The Virgin flight was a success:

Bump! The Switch version of this has been out for a couple of weeks now, and I'm absolutely loving it. Despite the cut in graphics and framerate, it runs pretty well and stable on the Switch, and since I play mostly handheld it hasn't bothered me yet. If it ever makes it to PC on Steam I might double dip, but for now this version is more than capable. I've 100% THPS1 and 2, and have full stats on one character. So I'm guessing now it's time to play some different characters and try to get all of the achievements and unlock the hidden characters. Control-wise the game plays almost exactly like THPS4 (for as far as I can remember), with stuff like reverts, wall plants and spine transfers included but not the get off your board stuff that was in later games. It immediately felt familiar which helped getting through it quite fast. I wonder how it feels for new players though. Love going back to the classic levels, especially those in THPS2. School II, Warehouse, it's a blast. Add to that the soundtrack (which could have been a bit more extensive imho) and the vibe is definitely there. Anyway, this is a remaster/remake done well. Plenty of content, a bunch of QoL and new content, but the feel of the old games is definitely there.

The new Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness series is up. Watched 3 out of the 4 episodes yesterday, and it is pretty enjoyable. It takes place around 2 years after Resident Evil 4, and follows Leon and Claire. It looks to be a pretty standalone story, although there are some callbacks to the events in Raccoon City and Resident Evil 4. Don't expect a deep story, just 2 hours of popcorn fun. Also watched The Serpent, a series about a jewel smuggler who took advantage of, drugged and murdered travellers in the East in the 70s. Pretty dark, it makes you uneasy knowing these kind of people exist. The story does jump around in time a lot so you have to keep a bit of attention to follow the timeline, but it was definitely worth watching. Only comment is that the Dutch guy in the series is played by an English actor with a bad accent, might as well just casted a Dutchie for it.

Curious to see how many units they can ship in October. One shop in the Netherlands only took pre-orders in their physical shops because of the small amount of units expected, and they were gone within a day. Other shops also sold out in a day. There's one shop still taking pre-orders but they require full payment in advance. So I think I'll just see down the line if I can get it somewhere in stock, even if that's more towards the end of the year.