Ronnie

I'm not expecting much from Sony after they went all out the last couple of years. So tired of them revealing games that are years away from release, which basically accounted for the majority of their 2016 show and a big chunk of 2015 as well. Hopefully they have something big for people to play by the end of the year, maybe God of War or Detroit?

A cartridge tax, fine, but £10 is taking the piss

Spotlight is Switch only, no 3DS at all.

Figured now was a good time to start a thread on their presentation. Tuesday 13th June, 5pm (UK time) To get the discussion started, five predictions: 1. Breath of the Wild DLC - they won't go into too much detail, but a short trailer for the new story out at the end of the year 2. Project Octopath Traveller - I really hope they keep that title. 3. Animal Crossing - Releasing 2018. A social game people play every day sounds ideal to get the Switch word out 4. Virtual Console - NES, SNES and N64 only. New name for it. 5. Metroid - it's time. I think they'll finish their show with a teaser trailer. Releasing 2018. Bonus prediction: I don't think they'll mention Arms or Splatoon 2 at all. Didn't bother including Odyssey, Mario+Rabbids or an indie game reel as those are a given, but the above + Xenoblade 2 and Fire Emblem Warriors would make a pretty great show IMO.

Not sure how you can say that given the amount of re-releases and third versions the core games have. I played and enjoyed X, but have no desire to play another Pokemon game. They're all 90% the same experience just in a different wrapper. And that's between gens, let alone same gen updates. And yes, given Stars would have been the same game as Sun and Moon with a few tweaks, I don't think it'd be asking THAT much for them to have it ready by the end of the year. I certainly didn't expect a new gen on Switch. Hopefully that's what we'll now get late 2018.

It's not Pokken 2, it's just a port of the Wii U game. Get fucking hyped!

Gamefreak must be the laziest big name developer in the industry. Their lack of ambition is just depressing. They've got one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world and they do so little with it. What basically amounts to the same game gen after gen, remakes, incremental updates etc I know they don't need to do anything more because their games sell millions regardless, I just think it's such a shame.

To open before the 2020 Olympics

I'm still debating whether to pick this up, I had a lot of fun with the Testpunch but fighting games aren't really my thing. I'm glad it's getting good reviews though and more importantly I'm just glad the game EXISTS full stop. In a AAA industry that plays it very safe (arguably out of necessity), I'm glad something like Arms can come out and do something different, similar to how Splatoon was a breath of fresh air for shooters.

It's probably the least impressive thing they could have announced. You also made reference to the Switch in your hype posts?

You've never been proven right on here. Congrats on hearing about the Direct less than two minutes before Nintendo announced it on Twitter.

If the best you can do to prove you knowing insider information is announcing a Direct less than two minutes before Nintendo doing so on social media, then that says it all. So no, it doesn't prove anything. You play games on here and pretend to know things but are wrong 90% of time, and even that's being generous because I still can't figure out when you've ever been proven correct. Now, if you don't want to leak information and spill beans because you're worried about a backlash from Nintendo, then that's absolutely fair enough, just don't act all high and mighty about 'knowing things' the rest of us don't.

You didn't say anything this time, just that people should get hyped, AFTER the Direct had already been announced. The reaction from yesterday's Pokemon Direct is almost entirely negative. The last time you "informed people of imminent news" was for the Switch reveal and you got that wrong week after week.

I'm looking forward to the Rabbids game as well, I'm sure it'll be fun. I was also thinking this and certainly don't remember him getting anything right.

I really don't think we're going to see Arms, Splatoon or Pokken at the Spotlight. Nintendo have just released their a Summer games trailer

It's Switch only, unlike the last two E3 Digital Events which were 45 minutes but covered Wii U and 3DS. If it's the same format as the last Direct and the Nindies presentation, it'll be games games games at breakneck speed.

Mario Kart and Pokken (those are the only two ports as far as I'm aware?) are too good to leave stranded on the Wii U.

Oh Serebii.... Two ports and a let's sell you the exact same game with minuscule extra features for full price.

It sounds to me like Sony are going more and more towards what Nintendo do at E3. I can easily imagine in a year or two they'll just pre-record their E3 show and broadcast it at a conference. It's the best of both worlds really, they can produce a nice video with no awkward moments or bugs and also get the audience reaction.

Really hoping for a Switch exclusive, but it won't be

£20 a year is a great price, probably be a couple of quid cheaper too.

Not just you, I think the visuals are pretty bland as well. The water Can't decide whether to pick this up. My big fear is that, similar to Yooka-Laylee, I think the gameplay will feel extremely dated.

I wanted to give it a couple of weeks to think about the game before putting what I thought about it into words. I played for 190 hours, one playthrough, taking my time, exploring a region fully before moving on, every shrine, every sidequest complete and about 300 Korok seeds. No pointless grinding for armour upgrades I'm never going to use. I was worried the hype from all those perfect scores wouldn't be justified, and that it could never live up to those insane quotes and comments from reviews. After having my fill of the game I can absolutely say the hype is warranted. This is a game changer in the industry, plain and simple. Every openworld game from now on will be judged on Breath of the Wild. I've read comments that talk about it being underwhelming because of the lack of story and the poor voice acting, which says a lot about where this industry has been led. High budget, cinematic games where gameplay is relegated to second priority. If I wanted an incredible storyline with amazing voice acting I'd have watched a film. Sure, I'd love a bit more present day narrative and a handful more story beats in the game, but as far as I'm concerned, the amount of things the game gets right far outweighs the negatives. It's far easier to talk about what the game doesn't do so well, rather than everything it does do well, but I'll give both a go naming five of each... Pros Climb anything: As mentioned before, a game changer, and makes a mockery of invisible walls and insurmountable 3 feet high barriers we've had to put up with until now. Being able to traverse the entire landscape in whatever way we wanted was just incredible. Not to say the level design wasn't of the usual Nintendo standard, the way the game subtlely leads you in certain directions or pointing you to the ideal course was masterful. Towers: I don't think I could ever play another Ubisoft openworld game. The way this game only reveals the layout of the land and doesn't fill it with checkboxes is fantastic and really makes you feel like an explorer. There's the added incentive of the high ground providing a perfect vantage point for your next suspicious area to explore. The Divine Beasts: Beautiful and epic. I've seen them described as four Shrines stuck together, but I think that misses the point. The way you can contort and manipulate the structure of them is really clever and they were a breath of fresh air in a series that has had about a dozen "Forest temples". Physics and systems based gameplay: The way everything interacts with everything else is just incredible. A guardian will attack a Step Talus, a fire sword will keep you warm in cold climates, a regular arrow becomes a fire arrow around death mountain, updrafts from fire, puddles appear during rainfall, submerging weapons in water will make them rust, swords can hold down switches, electric circuits can be completed using metallic weapons etc... Mostly everything else: The rune powers and the ability to mix and match them for combat/traversal/puzzle solving, the majority of the Shrines, the art style, the character design, the forgotten memories quest, the cooking, the armour collecting, Eventide Island, Hyrule Castle, Tarry Town, Kass' shrine puzzles, shield surfing etc etc etc What storyline there was, I loved. Zelda's characterisation and struggles with her duty, her interest in science and the way she resents Link at first then learns to trust him. The Champions I also really enjoyed, their banter was good (Mipha apart) and I would love to see more of them in the upcoming DLC. Cons Voice acting: I enjoyed the majority of the voice acting, with a few exceptions. My problem was there simply wasn't enough of it, especially from the descendants of the Champions. Sidon, Teba, Riju and Yunobo all needed far more and we should have had some from the leaders of the Rito and Zora tribes as well. Rain: It rained far too much. If it didn't hinder climbing then it wouldn't be a problem, but since it did it was a big issue. Lack of traditional dungeons: Whilst I loved the Divine Beasts, I feel as though having a couple of traditional dungeons in there to supplement them would have been a smart call. Maybe have one on the Great Plateau, and one in Korok Forest so they're tied to the story and could have helped the narrative. Rito Village and Goron City: A big problem I have with this game is that the same amount of effort wasn't allocated to the four races' areas. Zora's Domain and Gerudo Town were very impressive and full of things to do. Goron City on the other hand felt like it was designed and implemented in a few days. As for Rito Village, as GORGEOUS as it was visually, it was similarly lacking in inhabitants, content and the Beast quest itself was really disappointing. Especially when you consider that unlike the other three towns, it was very easy to get to the Rito. The Ending: I enjoyed the final boss a lot, and the ending was pretty good as well (provided you collected all the memories), I just feel like it could have been better. Another stage of Ganon and another cutscene or animated end credits. Something a bit more fleshed out than what we got. So yeah, overall I had a blast with this game. It makes you feel like you're going on an adventure, which is exactly what the original Legend of Zelda accomplished and what so few games these days manage. Your playthrough is YOUR adventure, completely different to someone else's and Nintendo deserve huge credit for how they accomplished such a big feat in such a huge world. My favourite Zelda game remains The Wind Waker, but this is a game I'll always remember very fondly and as mentioned I think it'll have a huge impact on the industry in a similar way that Ocarina of Time did.

It's been updated so much since the initial release now is the best time to jump into it. Fantastic game, deserves far more mainstream recognition