Josh64

I could never properly get into that game but really really love the theme tune

I have just started Ocarina, I'd been meaning to for a while but just hadn't got around to it and then heard they'd fixed the graphical gliches and took the plunge. Its been years and I forgot just how cosy this game is, I absolutely love the feelings it gives me, there's a real charm similar to Shenmue 1 that I can't put my finger on. I just had my first encounter with Zelda and am off to Death Mountain now but was sure to dip into the Market at night to see all the dogs - it was as adorable as ever.

Apart from the obvious GameFreak staples like terrible textures and no anti-aliasing - this upcoming game looks gorgeous! I love how vibrant it is and it's nice to see lots of architecture and points of interest because as much as I loved Arceus it was 95% random hills/fields. I'm really surprised by the release date, it seems so soon considering Legends ARSE released just last month - before the direct I would have put money on them releasing some kind of DLC in October time and pushing ARSE again for Christmas - especially considering it came out in January so hasn't even had chance to enjoy a holiday season yet. I know ARSE is classed as a non-main game but it's certainly of higher popularity and production than something like Snap or Rumble so seems weird to me they would release what are basically two main Pokémon titles in one year. From a business POV I almost feel as though they might be cannibalising their own sales but I'm sure they know what they're doing so whatever. I'm looking forward to it, especially as I loved ARSE but felt like it was missing a little something with the lack of gyms and other towns/cities to discover. Edit: also I really like the design of the main protags but haven't seen anyone else here or on twitter be fond of them yet!

Physical delay! Sauce

I took the plunge on this too! Enjoyable for the short amount of time I've played, really wanna dig in more but also really wanna sleep so will hopefully get some proper time with it over the weekend

Man that played Mario Kart 8 on launch day for WiiU relives the good old days on Nintendo Switch

I'd like to see the sales numbers on this and whether or not the big negative online reaction has trickled its way down to the casual buyers who would pick this up on nostalgia that don't have much exposure to the gaming world other than the respective online store front they occasionally buy from.

It has been saved! And I don't know about Pokemon but this at least makes Sonic look like much less of a disaster. Colours Ultimate seemed awful on Twitter but my personal experience with it was great with just the odd audio glitch. It gave me a false sense of security thinking many of the GTA problems/glitches were rare or infrequent so I was really disappointed to play it and actually feel as though the Twitter response was forgiving - It is absolutely awful on my Xbox One S. I'm sure it's not as bad on Series XSPS5 but the frame dips and awful shaders make it feel like I'm playing on a Wii U.

Deary me, that rain is dreadful! Between this, Sonic Colours and Pokémon DP, 2021 seems to be the year of remakes that seemingly should be simple get spectacularly messed up.

I'm getting PTSD from this gif It didn't help that the last save point before him was a few corridors away from the actual battle so I always had to slog through enemies before getting there. In defence of SMT3 they did have the option to lower the difficulty but I didn't out of stubbornness having spent the first 10 hours on normal, alas I had finally lost steam by the time I thought maybe I should drop down a level. And thanks I will, after the fight with the TMS Shadow Dragon in the arena I know how obsessed this series can be with buffing and debuffing lol I most likely will still pick this up but I think I will wait a bit until it's a bit less than the standard 49.99!

Matt has found work post Wii Sports at least

It's a shame it has ended up in quite a state but I did start to get suspicious when we got closer to release with no new Switch footage. I would say I'd wait for a sale but given this is Rockstar and Nintendo who knows if/when that will happen so for now I will make do with San Andreas on GamePass!

I'm surprised to see they kept the Tokyo Mirage Sessions UI, I definitely thought that would just be a placeholder. In regards to the game I'm really on the fence havingg loved TMS but I got SMT3 a few months back and enjoyed it initially but hit a road block pretty early on (some pirate skeleton) and it has put me off a bit.

I completed Story Mode last week and it was a great time! I wish they had an equivalent story mode for Monkey Ball 1 as honestly I can't see myself doing the 3rd challenge mode of Monkey Ball 1 in one sitting even with endless lives lol. Unless I just keep putting my switch to sleep and commit to not playing any other games for a week or something. I unlocked the DX levels from Monkey Ball Deluxe and I'm having a fun time but I noticed something with the design of these stages. In Monkey Ball 1 and 2 you'd get extra bananas for going harder ways but it's to the extreme in the DX levels - The harder ways have so many bunches of bananas and in literally every level! And some levels are super easy just going the normal way but insanely hard going the optional banana way, it's a very different feeling to the levels from 1 and 2 but then again the DX levels from Deluxe are just levels from the cancelled 3 AFAIK? Like they got that far into development and the merge with SEGA happened and they slapped them in a DX bundle instead. From what I've seen so far, EVERY level has an optional way with tons of extra bananas, unlike 1 and 2 where it was just an occasional level giving you that option. It got me wondering about the cancelled number 3 and I found the only image from the cancelled game which is a patent. It has the subtitle Banana Crazy and this was before the Banana Blitz/Mania naming convention so it makes me think they were central to the gameplay. I wonder what the gimmick was? My best guess is unlocking levels with a certain banana count as the amount of bananas is just so excessive even in levels that aren't hard that it makes me believe there must have been something besides 1up's attached to them.

It's still my favourite rendition of Call Me Maybe. God I was so hyped about the Wii U back then that I was genuinely so excited to get Wii Karaoke U. It was great fun to be honest, hundreds, maybe even thousands(?) of songs on that service. Nintendo definitely doesn't feel the same since Iwata left but arguably have much more output and third party support. It was like a monkeys paw trade off to lose all personality in favour of great sales and lots of software. Obviously the latter is better but still, what I wouldn't do for more Non-specific Action Figure and Miiverse in my life. And that kick ass internet browser with the cosy red curtains! And Tokyo Mirage Sessions! Man, they barely appealed to anyone back then but fuck did they appeal to me.

Stumbled across this new release and it looks incredible - Like if Monkey Target, Pilotwings and the gliding levels from Spyro had a baby. To top it off it has a City Pop soundtrack! I've added it to my wish list and will pick it up soon, I'm just too swamped in games atm to justify another purchase!

I don't know how to feel about this. A lot of the additions look cool but it all feels so disconnected. I wish they'd have given us more land mass and had the caravan park as part of the existing island and also allow you to move in these new designed houses to your island instead of that archipelago. As is it just feels like there will be so many loading screens and aeroplane/boat trips which is an especially harrowing thought knowing how bothersome some of the Animal Crossing load times can be. Price wise I would not be willing to pay for the standalone DLC, it definitely seems a bit too steep. It is a much nicer prospect as part of the NSO Expansion but then there is also the caveat that you have to subscribe for a minimum of 1 year meaning this would cost a minimum of £35 if I went that route. I'm really not sure what to think atm so I'll leave it on the back burner, I have plenty of other things to be getting on with anyway. Perhaps I'll see how much the free DLC engages me and make my decision from there.

I just noticed that too, it's a real shame. I'd have definitely tried this for a month or two to play some N64 classics and get some mileage out of the Animal Crossing DLC but doubt I'll pay for the year as I just know that given their track record the N64 releases will be small and slow and I also doubt I'd get knee deep in AC long term other than perhaps a nice few weeks checking out the new stuff.

This is NSO, you need to open the app and insert the money into your phones headphone jack instead.

I am very unsociable when it comes to gaming so the Switch is a godsend as there is no way of getting in touch with me or trying to coerce me into group voice chats which is often the case when I occasionally fire up my xbox - however I am sure that I'm in the 1% of people that feel this way, almost everyone is shocked/disappointed when they learn about just how barebones Switch online is so a price increase really is baffling. Even forgetting the lack of features there, I think this should have no price increase simply because their NES/SNES output has been pretty shit /non-existent the past year or so, so the addition of these consoles should just be seen as a necessity to continue the promise of bi-monthly retro games and not an extra. Oh you and your love of Beetle Adventure Racing I remember as a wee kid playing DKC2 on the 'extra TV' in my parents room, this tiny black and white thing. There's a level where the water turns red after a while at which point you must jump out to avoid death, this was so much easier when I was finally blessed with a beautiful colour CRT the following Christmas. Speak for yourself, Pilotwings 64 is a classic! Slightly related - An old friend from college that hasn't been into gaming since his childhood days on N64 got a Switch recently and has been talking to me all things related to it. He excitedly asked me if the upcoming N64 Switch Online might include Goldeneye. Oh my sweet summer child.

Also YouTube has fully given up on me, it only ever suggests videos I have seen before. If I didn't actively search for new things I'd be stuck in a constant loop. Then again it is 2021 and I find myself playing a Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2 collection and Sonic Colours Ultimate so maybe I'm just that predictable.

Twitter is awful! I love the music of Hideki Naganuma but his online presence is annoying to say the least, so I unfollowed him. A few days later I see his tweets again under the topic SEGA so I unfollow (especially because I actually like sega and the topic seems focused on their constant mishaps lol), then he appears again under another suggested topic 'Sonic the Hedgehog', then again days later under the even more vague 'videogames' topic. Just fuck off and let me read my followers only, Twitter!

I struggled with this massively the first time around on GameCube The first few goes on here gave me trouble too between the mix of the slightly different physics, using a joycon instead of cube control stick and just losing my edge after all these years. You really gotta hug those turns eh??

Nintendo also said they wanted the GameCube to last longer than a normal lifecycle and also denied the DS Lite (or was it 3DS XL?) literally days before announcing it so their statements are about as believable as those 1 megapixel UFO videos I find on YouTube in the early hours of the morning.

Haha oh man, what levels were giving you a hard time? I had a similar amount of fallouts thanks to one of the extra stages