Mr-Paul

Thanks for the replies, think it's a really interesting one to consider. I think this is good advice and one I might need to indulge. I'm at my parents' house for the weekend and my brother was playing Sonic Adventure 2 on his Xbox One. Now this isn't a 'classic' by any means but it was a game we put hours into as we got it on the Gamecube launch, and it was fun to watch him revisit something that we held good memories of from over 15 years ago. Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask are certainly ones I like to revisit so maybe i'll fire one of them up. I was thinking maybe getting something like the Crash Bandicoot Trilogy for Switch will scratch that nostalgia itch but also the desire to have something new. You're quite frankly a machine! And fair play to you on that! I am by no means a 'splash the cash' kind of person, I try to be very thrifty, but I guess living in London over the years has altered my perceptions of what's an acceptable price for food/drink/social activities. Whereas with gaming, my price perceptions haven't quite shifted and i'm still stuck a bit in a previous era in that way. I think with this one I just need to get over it a bit, and continue being a bargain hunter Really like this point and I think it's a really good question. I have to say I don't really watch Let's Plays or anything like that, but enjoy watching things like Mark Brown's videos, Jim Sterling, and reading about people's experiences of games on here. But you're right - I'm observing the conversation rather than playing or being an active part of a conversation. I've been writing for N-E for many years now, but this year I've only reviewed one game. Part of this is as I've explained, I've not been playing anything! But also, I work full-time in journalism/social media, so part of it is maybe that I want to switch off from this kind of thing when home? I still very much appreciate and enjoy writing for N-E when I do, but it, along with playing games, has fallen by the wayside. I do often bring work home with me, and that is probably a little self-inflicted and I should be trying to switch off more. I'm single, I hang with friends a few times a week perhaps, go to the cinema once a week maybe. My flatmate and ex-flatmates are gamers but I don't really game with them. I think part of this is that I've never fully got into things like Overwatch as a regular thing - I've played it, and enjoy it, but not in a way to play it every night/whatever. I know a lot of the joy people get from online gaming is from the people they spend it with, but I've never felt able to make that 'commitment' to a game like that. I think the priority point is a very good one. It is like gaming has shifted down the list. But as you said, it's always there if I want to pick it up. This is just me coming to terms with the factors and thoughts behind it, and me trying to make my 're-entry'. I have to make my reshuffle and break back in. And talking through things like this certainly helps. This is certainly interesting. While with certain games and franchises I know I will completely love it due to the gameplay, I do get what you mean by things needing to be new/fresh or have an engaging story. I would say i'm a fan of Pokémon, but the last few main entries have left me uninspired as essentially, there's nothing new, it's the same game and the plot/story isn't holding my attention at all (I probably will be a mug and buy the new one coming out though). I definitely do think I value a strong plot these days a lot more highly. It's either got to excel at plot, or excel at fun, ideally both. I think this may be one of the reasons why Breath of the Wild, while being a game I enjoyed and excels for many reasons, isn't high on my list of favourite Zeldas as narratively, it didn't engage me as much as previous titles.

Considering writing an article on this for the site, but thought I'd ramble on here a bit so I can just splurge some stuff down with less structure and see what others think. I consider myself a gamer. I grew up loving Nintendo, and still spend a lot of my time reading stuff on here, other forums, gaming news sites, Youtube etc. However, I spend infinitely more time reading about games than actually playing them. I got a Switch last November on Black Friday, for Mario Odyssey. I then got Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for Christmas. I haven't bought a game since. I've got tons of hours out of both of these, Mario I binged in the month after purchase, while Xenoblade has been on and off, with a large chunk of it played (and completed) in a week off I had at the end of July/beginning of August. I love the Switch hardware, it's a fantastic piece of kit. But for some reason, my game library for the console doesn't go beyond two game cards, a couple of indies, and some demos. I'm feeling a little sad about this Is the PS4 taking my attention away? While yes, I do use my PS4 every day, that's for Netflix, iPlayer, Sky TV. The only piece of software I've played this year on there is Beyond: Two Souls, which I downloaded through PS+. What are the reasons? Have I 'grown out of gaming'? There's a couple of factors I've been considering, some, perhaps, more legitimate reasons, some, more irrational personal hang-ups? Time Adult life. It's busy, isn't it? I technically work 40 hours a week, but realistically it extends beyond that. I work hard. I want to go out, see friends, see movies, watch TV series, read, watch sport, try and fail to stay fit and healthy, do things. Yes, I have free time that I could be playing games, but I generally don't anymore. I don't have the free time that I have when I was a teenager, when I was at uni, when I was working in retail. I have more commitments. If i'm at home with nothing to do, I tend to watch TV and read the internet. I feel like I don't have the time to truly 'enjoy games' like I did before, beyond Pokémon Going on my 25 minute walk to work. I'm an indecisive being. If I buy a game, I want it to be 'worth my time.' I don't want to be wasting my time. Money/Prices This may be a 'personal hang-up' one. Working full-time in my chosen career, I've got more money than I ever had before. I have disposable income. Surely that should make me able buy more games, right? Well, it seems like it's not working that way. Games have got more expensive. Yeah, yeah, I know, inflation and all that, they cost more to make, etc. etc. But I miss the days where you could go online and buy a game for £30. Or even £30-40. Now the new normal for a retail game is £40-50. Linking this to my 'worth my time' point above, I struggle to justify spending this much unless I know it's a game I really want, because I know I go through periods where I'm just too busy to game, or can only find an hour or two here and there. I don't want to waste money. I want to get value. And this brings me to a related point. Nintendo's pricing on Switch. Three pertinent things creating a barrier of entry to me: 1) the software is expensive to start - as explained above. 2) Nintendo games don't decrease in price - no discount for being 'late to the party' as is pretty standard across entertainment media 3) The ports are frickin' expensive - I've got Mario Kart 8 and Breath of the Wild on Wii U. I'd happily play them again on Switch. But not at £45 a pop. And this complaining about price seems a little silly because I'll happily go for a day out with friends and spend £20-30 on food/drinks, yet my perceived value of gaming, with my lower amount of time, makes me find it harder to justify £50 for a game. Because i'm finding my main sources of entertainment elsewhere, and gaming is just supplementary now? The Switch is a success - but not quite for me yet? While the Switch has been undoubtedly a success commercially, and I think it's fantastic that we're seeing third parties support it more, albeit often with late ports/remasters. However, as a big fan of what Nintendo themselves put out, I'm not quite sure they're quite there in creating a fantastic line-up of first party games, especially in the single-player realm, yet they're also lacking in the online multiplayer department. Odyssey is fantastic, as is XB2, and of course I would be throwing Breath of the Wild in there had a I played it on Switch rather than Wii U. There are of course a few games beyond that I'd like to play, and in previous times would have no issues forking out for, for example the likes of Splatoon 2, ARMS, Mario Tennis etc, but the factors above of time/price, plus other factors like them being lacking in single player content, and Nintendo's online being pretty crappy. I'm not a big online gamer, but Nintendo's online offerings being subpar does nothing to make me more of one. I loved the first Splatoon, but it was released at a more budget price, and knowing my time issues, I can't bring myself to pay £45 for it. Maybe i'm being silly and irrational. But I feel for that money, I should be getting the real blockbuster experiences. The Marios, the Zeldas, the Metroids. Not ports of games from previous generations. Solutions - how to get out of the rut? "Get over it Paul! You're being a spoilt brat about prices, there are some fantastic games and you should fork out for them. Stop watching so much crap on TV, spend less time on your laptop and the internet and play a game instead" Maybe it is as simple as that. Are indies the solution? I have to admit, I haven't embraced the indie community as much as I maybe should have. These are generally lower in price, and require less commitment. They are shorter so would fit more into my busy schedule, while still giving me something 'worth my time.' But then part of me feels with less time for gaming, I should commit it to the big blockbuster, 'AAA' and big Nintendo games that I love. The PS4. I've got a ton of unplayed PS+ games from over the past three years of membership. They're literally there on my digital shelf, so it's an easy way back in. There's quite a few games I've missed available at a more budget price tag that I would like to play, Horizon, Tomb Raider, Uncharted 4 to name a few. I want the new Spider-Man game, and there's a possibility I might buy that in the coming weeks. But that doesn't solve my Nintendo/Switch woes. The solution probably does lie in a mixture of all of the above, but I can't help but feel that while Nintendo have done well with their hardware this gen, they haven't quite nailed it on the software front. Maybe i'm holding too much nostalgia for past times as well? I've rambled on a lot more than I intended! Suggestions welcome of what I should buy to get me back into the Switch/find me a bargain! But does anyone else feel the same as me? Have you been through a gaming rut? How did you get out of it? Or have you 'grown out of gaming'? Or can you not comprehend at all how i'm feeling and think i'm being ridiculous? All chip in!

I'm not a big online gamer by any means, and I know this is a moan that's been made by many, many times over, but I just still can't get over online features like voice chat and lobbies having to be managed through an app. Sure, have those functions available through the app if people want to use them. But have them on the console too! It's just creating unnecessary barriers to online play.

Sometime in the second half of September is too vague. If they were just launching online gaming, there hadn't been any before, fine, but that's when they're taking away online gaming from non-payers. I think it's a bit out of order to remove a service/slap it behind a pay wall without being specific as to when it's going to happen and without real notice. Sure, it's cheap enough, but when it's locking off previously accessible features, I think it's fair to want to know a bit more. @Hero-of-Timehas a list of concerns there that I think should be known by this stage.

I agree (and hope!) they will have some tricky years ahead due to the stadium. It is a massive outlay that will effect their ability to invest in their squad. However, while their stadium is more expensive than ours was, the amount of money in football has changed since we got the Emirates. Say they end up selling Kane/Alli. That's at least 70m/100m+ each in today's market sadly, which can help reinvest in the squad/pay off debt. We got £16m for Henry, a world class striker at the time (even if you could argue he was slightly past his prime, and Arsenal are shite at doing deals.) I think it's key to their future how they fare this season. They need to stay in the Champions League spots. And how long Pochettino sticks around for while money is tight. I can see his head being turned by a big club sooner or later.

You get all the DLC with the physical version though, so it's well worth it! Hope you enjoy!

Just quoting to say absolute YES to this. Underrated classic. Love the first too. My best friend introduced it to me when I first got a PC, which was a year or two before I played a Zelda. Definitely will make my top 10, which I need to have a hard think about!

It's partly that I really don't like Harry Kane (Arsenal bias) but I really can't get behind him as captain. It really pissed me off seeing the BBC/media saying he put in a "captain's performance". No he didn't. He shows no real leadership qualities. He did his job as a striker - scored goals. That has nothing to do with captaincy. Most of the game, he was completely anonymous. Cahill or Henderson should be captain. Regardless of what team they're from, I really don't rate forwards as captains. There should have been two penalties given to him though. Terrible refereeing, and Tunisia's pen was never a pen. Typical England though. Show some drive for the first 10/20 minutes, uninspiring after that. Completely wrong team selection - I get picking players on form, but we seem to completely change our side from qualifying to the competition every single time, which can't help. There's no real experience in the side. It's our worst squad in our lifetime, and Gareth Southgate has no real clue as a manager. Real improvement needed for our next two games.

Complains about ports, begs for Virtual Console games which are basically ports

You usually need to put your bank details on it. They already have their own bank details! Happy to send you an example of one I've used for freelance work if you need any help.

Fairly big change at work for me coming in the New Year. Not so big in that I'll be doing almost exactly the same job, and for the same client, but the client has moved the contract over to a new supplier, and asked that I move over to the new supplier. My current employer has obliged, so I'm technically starting a new job on the 1st January! Got a nice pay rise to go with it, though my current employer said I should have asked for even more (even though they were paying me peanuts!) Going to have Manager in my job title for the first time And it's likely that i'll be off to New Zealand for a month too!

Well I really liked it. I think I probably enjoy The Force Awakens more, but I think this is just as good a film. It's just completely different. There are lots of little nitpicks you could probably highlight, but overall I thought it was great.

I've got double-bill tickets for tomorrow night at the O2 Cineworld, then a ticket to see it again at 9:30am at the Science Museum IMAX (15/70mm). Slightly worried about the lack of sleep between, but looking forward to it!

Watch it! I didn't find it too bad. Just a little bit jarring as it felt out of place from the rest of the series. Loved this series so much though. I'd watched the first two episodes of S1 a long time back and then fell off the wagon due to being busy, but pretty much binged the rest of S1 and S2. So so good. If you don't agree Steve and Bob are the heroes of this story, I don't think we can be friends. And...

This game is a masterpiece. Haven't enjoyed a game so much for ages. I only got my Switch on Sunday, but have two days off work this week and I've been glued to this! I've seen the credits roll already, and I have no regrets, it's been so much fun! I've got 383 moons so far and looking forward to getting the rest!

That's the most baffling thing. They brought in the Nintendo Network ID on Wii U, which was a username rather than a friend code, just like everyone wanted. God knows why they didn't just keep those going - instead introducing a separate Nintendo Account, which you could link that ID to, and instead of just using the Nintendo Account or the Nintendo Network ID, they thought the best solution would be to introduce a hard to remember friend code rather than a username or search/add by email address/name! It's peculiar because the Switch can obviously access the NNID/Nintendo Account, it can find/suggest your Wii U friends and friends from the mobile apps, so what's the need for a friend code as well? Nintendo gonna Nintendo, I guess!

Well that was stupid of me! It's actually 5331-8300-3351! Damn fives and threes! Also, echoing Goron's explanation re: buying from different regions. Thirdly, Monzo doesn't work on the Mexican eShop. Went for the South African one instead.

Yep I was planning on using my Monzo! (and was using that site to check prices!) Good to see people are taking advantage of the Switch being region free! Guess I'll give it a go when I get home then!

Three days into owning a Switch and I'm loving it. Such a massive step up from the Wii U. Shame there are still concerns about the online service, but Nintendo absolutely nailed the console itself, and I'm actually really liking the minimal UI. And Mario Odyssey is just insanely addictive. Already about 200 Moons in! Have added a selection of people from here already, but if you'd like to add me my friend code is 5331-8300-3351. Has anyone here done the changing regions thing to use other the eShop from other countries? Read that Stardew Valley is only £6 on the Mexican eShop instead of £11 here!

Yeah that's fair enough. While I'm not completely overawed with the Switch library, I only have limited gaming time these days and knew I would want to play Mario Odyssey, Xenoblade 2, and perhaps get more into the indie scene too and be able to help out more with reviews for this site, so now felt the right time to jump in for me. Completely understand why it wouldn't be worth picking up yet for others. I do have to say though, it arrived today and I am loving Odyssey so far!

Thank you Black Friday on Amazon!

I declare myself second to finish this after @Glen-i! See what I thought of it in the official N-Europe review!

Arsenal fans are well behaved! Though I have now got further away from Tottenham, so maybe I am safer now!

I havent't been stabbed yet!

Here's a nice little story that shows just a little bit of the magic of N-E. 7 weeks ago, I moved out of my London flat, it was the end of my tenancy, and a week later went away on a 3 week holiday to Australia. I came back, and needed to find somewhere new to live. Thanks to being a member here and knowing @Ashley and @Daft, they let me know of a room they knew was going free, which they kindly arranged a viewing of for me, and which I've now moved into this past weekend! So just wanted to say a little public thanks to you guys and just share with the community how this place can bring big changes to real life as well as being just a place for us to piss about on the internet (if Flink and Eenuh weren't enough proof!)