Nicktendo

I forgot to mention this in the podcast, but this micro-changes that Nintendo are making are really starting to bug me (no pun intended). I just don't see the point in it. I'm not one who's going after fish and bugs as I have no desire to spend time doing those activities and fill out my collection in a hurry, but the chances of me seeing any of the rare bugs have been drastically cut, and why? It's completely pointless. What are they even attempting to achieve with this? People will just find new ways of making money (if that really is what they're trying to curb). It's so unbelievably dumb that they need to go into the code and change these things as a reaction to what some people are doing. Why change the game for everyone because of a few isolated loud mouths on Twitter? It simply suggests to me that Nintendo lack confidence in their own product and prefer to dictate how people should play rather than let people organically experience the game they have built. The more time goes by, the less I'm finding enjoyment in this game. I honestly dislike the fact that everyone is experiencing everything at the same time, often on the same day. It feels too staged and far less of an individual, organic experience (which I would argue AC always has been). There was merit in both moving as quickly as possible or stretching stuff out over time. The fact that stuff is announced on Twitter and YouTube days before it goes live completely ruins the surprise and mystery that used to be commonplace with this series. Even if you try to ignore the new stuff, you always end up finding out about it before it's in the game. If this was new content, it wouldn't bother me as much, but the fact that we essentially have a fraction of what the game used to be and Nintendo are simply updating the game to include stuff that was more often than not already part of the series is annoying. Leif and Redd should have been in from the start. Gyroids should have been in from the start. I don't see the value in "23rd of April, Redd is coming to visit everyone". It's much more interesting when a couple of people get him and everyone else either has to wait or travel to that island. Maybe some will disagree, but that's how I see it. The game feels more like a live service than an Animal Crossing game. For me, that is simply disappointing. I do love this game and feel the new stuff they have added and the wealth of options you have is a good step forward, but the cut content and "events" are a huge regression in my book. Events are good, but it feels like there's one every week or two now. I'm almost tempted to put it down for a long time and come back to it when the element of surprise and wonder will return and the "pressure" (even though it isn't really) of playing on a certain day or at certain times will largely be gone.

Get ready for a 40-minute review of Xenoblade 2 this week. Two years too late, I know, but I'll definitely be interesting in hearing if the community shares my opinion on the game! Not right I'm afraid. I honestly think no-one will get it, it's far too obscure and a TERRIBLE game. @nekunando reveals all tomorrow...

I’m going to talk about this on the next episode of the cafe and will write down some thoughts here later.

Ugh, only 185 bells... If anyone does want to sell at that price, let me know and I’ll open up later.

Expecting a potential spike of up to 594 this afternoon. If it happens I'll open up from about 4pm U.K. time.

Sensible move. Real journalism. A far cry from the gaming centred niche which derives its revenue from hate-clicks, controversy and endless culture wars. Now that he's properly funded, so to say, I'll be looking forward to seeing what he comes up with.

New (not new) gameplay video dropped from GameXplain. Hadn't been posted yet, so here you are.

I've attempted @darksnowman's level a few times now and despite it being the "easiest", I have absolutely no idea what is going on at what I suspect is the end... Couldn't finish it. A visual and aural assault. But certainly some cool ideas on the way up! My vote is going to @Sméagol this month. I've now finished the level three times and each time it has become easier to pull off the tricky bits. I think I'm the only one who's finished it so far, right? I'm hoping for easier entries next month

Kotaku offices, Monday 20th April, 9:00am.

Jesus Christ... The lockdown is really starting to take its toll on people, eh?

So one guy in a discord server I’m in got his Nintendo account hacked and had £100 spent on Fortnite v-bucks. Checking Twitter seems to suggest this is widespread at the moment. Make sure your accounts are locked down with two-factor authentication and that you remove any payment methods you don’t really need from your Switch. PayPal seems to have been used in most cases. Also, a WiiU revival may be on the cards *prays in Fils-Amieish*

Buy and sell local produce! Agree with the sentiments in this thread. F the guys charging an entry fee, bells or real money. Absolute scumbags. I haven't used any of those "services" and don't plan on doing so, think we have a big enough community here. I think I'm going to have one more week of selling turnips abroad (to pay off upstairs) and then I'm going to chill on this game. I'm in no rush to do anything as I want to drag it out over time. I managed a whopping 8 points in the fishing tourney At that rate I'll be getting the gold trophy around the launch of Xbox Series ZX (81).

A winner is you!

+1 to visit later please

SO stable

AMEN. I did Smeagol's level again and managed to improve my time from 21 mins to 1:58. That still includes dying (a lot), but I ALMOST had a perfect run. I've figured out how to get into the bonus room, but couldn't quite pull it off, so that's one for later. I've done RedShell's level this morning. A new (but very slow) world record of 3 mins something something. I haven't found the baby face yet, but will maybe have another go later to look for it. I liked this level, not too challenging until the final section, which is fun and frustrating in equal measure, but certainly doable. I kept hugging the wall as well which was annoying I liked the jumps with the jumpy mouse at the edge, required a bit of platforming precision. I also kept pressing R for a spin jump and ended up long jumping, that was irritating... I guess 3D World is my least played style. All-in-all, a fun level. I'm going to replay it again, and DarkSnowman's of course before I pass judgement.

Yeah I noticed the Ori thing but didn't correct Lee, it is a MS exclusive + Switch. I was thinking about Transistor but Lee put me off it a couple of weeks ago.. I may jump in though, because it's 3 euros on the Russian store. What didn't you like about the MM remake? I thought it looked much better visually and the diary stuff / save system was much easier to manage than in the original. However, I'm thinking purely from a graphics POV. Both remakes look stunning on the 3DS and run much better than the N64 versions. So maybe a hybrid of both would be better? I'm sceptical we'll see MP4 this year, but maybe a short FMV trailer at E3 could be expected. It has been a couple of years now since development started again. Saying that, maybe the Game Awards will be a nice time at the end of they year for a short clip. But as you say, everything is up in the air now thanks to Coronavirus... The intro and ending tunes are correct (YouTube is a goldmine for excellent Mega Man covers), but the TT is wrong!

I finished a @Sméagol level. I can't believe it myself, no. Started off playing in handheld. Big mistake. Joy-cons nowhere near comfortable enough. Switched to the pro-controller, still not quite good enough. Settled on the Pokken controller and had better luck. To be honest, as frustrating as it was (no surprises there), I thought this was an excellently crafted level. If you cobbled this together on a Thursday afternoon, I think it says a lot about how good you are at designing puzzles. Each puzzle was very well executed and required pixel-perfect precision to get right. Great use of Link's abilities in this stage, mixing bombs and arrows in a variety of ways. I struggled mostly with the bit after the checkpoint (fire an arrow backwards and then the other switch, piranha, bomb). It felt good when I'd finally mastered that. I got that bit down because the bit after it was really tough. I like the solution to this one and it took me a few goes to get it. Overall, very well-designed set pieces and genuinely challenging. My biggest criticism is, obviously, that it's way too hard for the average Mario player, and this is mostly down to the speed of the autoscrolling. I feel it would be much easier as either a standard level or with a slower scroll. I'm just not skilled enough to hit all the beats precisely. Saying that, however, the short length and well placed checkpoint do encourage giving it another go. So in contrast to other Smeagol Levels™, it's much more forgiving. I'll try the other two entries once my blood pressure reaches normal levels.

Having picked up Resi 4 on the Switch recently I can 100% confirm that the game desperately needs a remake. I had no idea the controls had aged so badly. The Wii version surely didn't feel this clunky...

Tune in this week as I attempt to buy turnips LIVE on the podcast. Absolutely painstaking experience.

Thanks @Goron_3 for opening up. Managed to get a hefty chunk of turnips. We were in the middle of recording the podcast when I came in, that's why I didn't stick around for long Didn't even realise I'd need a pole to get across the river, so I left everything at home. Thanks for lending me yours, I dropped it outside your house.

Anyone?

108 for me...

I dunno, I saw it in a video and assumed it was made form a recipe.