S.C.G

N-E Café Episode 45 now available! Now up on the main page. Thanks for having me on the podcast this week, it was great getting to talk about games with you both. Also, even though I was part of this episode, the transition tunes are put in later of course, so I don't have any idea what they're going to be. As it turns out though, I know what this weeks transition tune is, so I can't not 'guess' at it. Great Podcast Extras section at the end there too. I think that calls for a shameless plug of Old Nintendo Gamer and Son because it's a great channel you've built up there @Londragon

This resonates with me so much, in recent times, whenever I have bought another 'bargain' to add to my Steam library, I usually have no desire to play any of the games, except for on very rare occasions, the same can also be said for some games I buy on the Switch when they are in the sale, but to a lesser extent, as it's usually Sega Ages games which I like to have there for when I choose to play them. The same is also true of a lot of games which have been obtained through either Games with Gold, or from Playstation Plus, which of course gives the odd new title for free which I might check out, but I wouldn't have otherwise paid money for those games, so that's almost the other end of the scale, but almost alligning with the Game Pass model, but on a very small scale, being that it's only the odd couple of titles a month which get 'given away' and they've usually already been out for a while. Game Pass is definitely turning games into a more disposable form of entertainment, not only that, but I believe that it is having a huge effect on physical game sales, to the point that very soon, I don't think there will be quite as many physical games manufactured, we're even seeing dedicated digital versions of both the PS5 and the Xbox Series S now as well, which demonstrates that there is clearly a market for it. Because I (also) like to invest a lot of time in a single, well made game as well, rather than chopping and changing between lots of titles, I won't support Game Pass, no matter how good a prospect it is, generally I don't even have any other subscriptions either, aside from Xbox Live, PS Plus and Nintendo Switch Online, but those are a yearly subscription and still seem to be just about worth it, for the ability to play online. I can still see Xbox Game Pass doing very well indeed, also... anyone going for that subscription model, for the console and the subscriptions, will probably be paying... £30 or so a month for so many months? So long as they are playing at least one new game every week, then the cost is probably justified for them, I can see from that perspective, that it's an enticing prospect. At this point, nothing would make me want to sign up for it, not even if they suddenly made every Xbox original game available for it, and to me, that would be a very good selling point, but a niche one for a lot of people. Though this makes me realise, it might be about time to dig out my original Xbox console again to play some classic physical games that I own for it.

Yeah, that could work. Mario Kart league at 8pm but... I don't think our Chess game will last an hour, I played a few games of it when I first got the collection and typically, the games were decided within a few moves, for all the variations in Chess, a lot of games seem to go a similar way once you get past the opening four moves or so, I've found. I'm not even seriously into Chess, I just used to play it a little bit when I was younger, it'll be great to play a game with you though.

About that port of Doom Eternal for the Switch... We should still get that, right? It just means that Microsoft will get a cut of the takings, just like with any Rare games which were made and released on Nintendo platforms after that acquisition. That's how I'd read into it, aside from that one game though, moving forward, this is a good move for Microsoft, in business terms. For Bethesda though? It must have been made worth their while, assuming that all their games are now Xbox (and PC?) only, they must have decided that the amount of sales they would make on other platforms, PS4/PS5/Switch to be not worth it for them, in light of what has been offered to them.

6pm will probably work, might be slightly later, see what happens on the day, will keep you posted.

Friday night's alright. 8pm? (earlier possibly, but play it by ear)

Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase September 2020 Roundup All up on the main site, N-Europe's Roundup of the mini presentation. Full press release and both video presentation embeds. Two new Monster Hunter titles? Expectations have been exceeded.

Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase September 2020 to be broadcast tomorrow Up on the main page. We'll have the full roundup article with the press release etc up on the main page shortly after the event airs tomorrow. Personal expectations? A release date for Doom Eternal, perhaps? I think that's likely, and a good shout from @Ganepark32 A new Monster Hunter game would be interesting but, I'm going to go with Streets of Rage 4 DLC possibly being announced, following its recent update.

N-E Café Episode 44 now available! Now up on the main page. Great episode, with some really interesting game discussion, especially the talk about Mario games. Probably best to save a lot of Mario game discussion until the fiftieth episode though, by the sounds of it. Of course, with a title like that for the podcast, the banner couldn't be anything else but a Sonic one, especially as it's only his 30th anniversary, next year. Thanks again for another excellent episode.

Everyone - Can we have an N64 / GC / Wii Virtual Console for the Switch? Nintendo - We are going to release N64 retail titles in 2021, GC retail titles in 2022, and *Wii retail titles in 2023... *But not Super Mario Galaxy 2, that'll be saved for Mario's 40th Anniversary collection

Indeed, more love and postivity is much needed right now, in this world. I'm sending some love and positive thoughts out as well, to everyone who is going through anything in life at the moment. May you all find the inner-strength within yourselves to make the right decisions, for you. I can remember not so long ago, I had spent a short amount of time in hospital, then not too long after that, I left my job over a year ago now... Not that I'm trying to compare, just that I remember at the time, I had support from many members of this community, which I'm grateful for to this day. These days, I'm really actively trying to practice gratitude every day, and if I can put out some positive energy which helps someone, then that's worth doing. With so much division going on, if we can help ourselves, and others around us, then I believe we can improve things. Right now, I just want to say "thanks" to this community, as while we might not agree on everything, I think that there's more that we agree on, than what we disagree on when it comes down to it, and there does seem to be a general shift in conciousness going on... I don't know if anyone else senses it, but I'll take it as a positive sign right now. If anyone wants to talk about anything, I know I mention it a lot, but I am happy to do so, be it via PM, Discord etc, or on here. Wishing all the best for N-Eone and everyoN-E, each and every day, for the rest of 2020, and beyond.

Sony have chosen 9pm on a Wednesday for this "showcase" though... I'll likely be playing games at that time, otherwise, I'd have joined you in the chat again. Enjoy the show though, and for anyone who does want to join the N-E chat... https://www.n-europe.com/chat

8pm start is alright, if the total play time of the game is likely to be 30-45 mins, that'll be OK. Just that I usually play Sea of Thieves at around 9pm on Friday. (Arrrrg!)

Friday at 8pm it is then. (so long as Vice is in) I understand these are quite quick card games, if there's an overall running time of around half an hour or so, then that'll be alright.

I've been playing Sea of Thieves every Friday for a while as part of a group of three, if there isn't anyone else interested, then you could join us on Fridays at 9pm, if you're available? If not, or if there are other N-E members who would also like to play, then we could organise a dedicated N-E crew perhaps, on another day?

Thanks for the games @viceview51 It was a clean sweep, Vice won, (7-0) Fun set of games though.

Digital Foundry showcase Graven on the PC, it's a modern day version of Hexen, which seems to be the next old-style FPS-type game to get a remake.

OK, we could keep it to Mario Kart time then... 8pm

Not related to this game, but it's definitely Shantae related... Shantae GBC re-release amongst other Shantae games for Switch, now available.* *not an affiliate link, only promoting because it's a significant re-release.

Hmm, maybe it's finally time for my name to be changed to "S.C.G." I've probably earned that extra grammatical point by now.

Let me know when you'd like to play these matches @viceview51 We could play them tonight some time between 7pm and 9pm? If not, a similar time at the weekend, if that's better for you?

Just in time by the looks of it, I think Will-Sama is the only fresh character I have saved.

Nicely done, Dennis. This game really does look good, I think this art style really suits this type of game, of course there's plenty of assets reused, but it all makes sense. I'm unsure if I'll pick this up when it comes out, I think I should at least try to put some more time into the original Hyrule Warriors first. But this does look like a nice exclusive title for the Switch, and what a game for November as well.

N-E Café Episode 43 now available! Now up on the main page. An excellent PodPals episode I thought, all of the talk about The Messenger just makes me wish that I had gotten around to playing it before now. The music from the game sounds really good, I think I will get aorund to playing it soon anyway, it has been on my list of games to play for a while. Of course, the banner couldn't be anything else but The Messenger, it was surprisingly difficult to find any clean .png images for this but I got a clean logo from the press kit. Thanks again for another excellent episode.

I really meant to play The Messenger before this weeks episode, that definitely didn't happen though.