S.C.G

I would like to play this remaster, but it's Activision... I can wait for a second-hand copy, or a new copy being sold as second-hand. Interestingly, I noticed The Game Collection are now selling pre-owned games, or at least are planning to, it would seem? There's no mechanism to actually "sell" games to them yet, and the pre-owned page just goes to a 404, plus you don't seem to be able to buy any game pre-owned yet. I would guess that this is something they will be rolling out soon, it will likely work the same as similar retailers, except there's no physical retail and you'd send them in. I just found it interesting, as this could be a good option for anyone who wants to buy a new game, but isn't too fussed about buying new from a particular publisher. It is only £2 difference between new and pre-owned currently, but it's good that the option is there, or soon will be. - - - - As for the actual remasters, both games look like they've had a decent amount of time, research and attention to detail put into them, to make them as good as they can be on a new modern-day engine. I can see this doing pretty well over the next few weeks/months, especially when word gets around... "Hey, did you know that the Tony Hawk's games got re-released?" "No way? Those games from the Nineties?" "Yeah, except they look loads better now and they have online leaderboards etc" "I'm going to buy that for sure, I haven't played those games in forever..." Nostalgia can be a powerful selling point. They'll also want to get that Switch version out as soon as possible.

So long as Saturday, 8pm is convenient for you, that's fine, as it's convenient for me as well.

Cheers for the games @drahkon I think this weeks set of games should have been titled... "Games which play automatically" There is strategy involved, and you played well though. I just seems like a lot of it is predetermined, so the game just plays out in a certain way after so many moves have been played. Anyway, bring on the other games in the coming weeks, they can only get better from here on. I got screenshots of all the results.

@drahkon well, Dot's and Boxes moreorless plays itself, well played though. gonna have to brb for a minute before setting up the next game, will only be a couple of minutes.

@drahkon I've made a Friend lobby.

Instead of in two hours time? That... could just about work. (they are quick games, as I understand) I'll set up now then.

No worries, it seems to be quite a busy weekend generally and it's a Bank Holiday as well. (here anyway) Tonight would be OK, 7PM should be alright as well, did you want to host or shall I? Looking forward to playing some games tonight, 'Four-in-a-row' should be fun.

My thoughts are with you @martinist I'm sending some positive thoughts your dad's way, I believe that he'll get better. Plenty of rest seems to be the best thing, along with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and keeping hydrated, according to a bit of research; just mentioning in case it helps. All the best to your family, and here's to your Dad's recovery. If you want to talk, send me a PM.

Nope, not as of yet anyway... I've just listened to the three tracks again, they're all so different, you'd have thought that would make it easier, or narrow it down but alas... Just to clarify, the game was either mentioned in this weeks podcast or a recent, previous podcast? I get the sense that it is a modern game... oh wait, I think I might have just got it. It probably isn't that, but I've got nothing else to go on.

I was pretty happy with that, especially for my first game of the evening... ...and what a way to finish the evening, that Smash Ball match was priceless. Thanks for the games, everyone.

Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase August 2020 Roundup All up on the main site, N-Europe's Roundup of the mini presentation. Full press release and video embed. The collection of Game Boy Final Fantasy titles looks good, plus Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 was a nice surprise. Same time, next month then, Nintendo?

N-E Café Episode 41 now available! Now up on the main page. Again, some really great game discussion in there this week, personally I enjoyed the talk about Ninja Gaiden and Bad Dudes. (hence the banner) Nice intro and outro music as well, it just reminds me that I really enjoy the OST to Tokyo Mirage Sessions, despite not playing the whole game, I should fix that. Does that mean that there's now only a week until the Podpals episode? I should get on with playing The Messenger... Thanks again for another excellent episode.

No worries, we could just rearrange for another evening perhaps? That'll work in this instance, right @Glen-i? Or shall we wait until a weekend when we can all play? I don't mind either way.

I've found that buying a grip for the Switch completely transforms portable play, no cramp and it makes the system a lot better to use overall. Yep, here's the link to the Skull & Co grip set... * https://skullnco.com/collections/switch-gripcase/products/gripcase-set?variant=22216281980976 And, here's the link to the Satisfye grip set... * https://www.satisfye.com/collections/switchgrip-pro-bundle/products/zengrip-pro-elite I'd recommened the Satisfye grip, but it's the only one I've personally purchased and have used for a fair amount of time. *Disclaimer - these are NOT affiliate links in any way, shape or form. Having said all of that... I would still very much like Nintendo to make an official Left joy-con (with better build quality) which has a proper D-Pad.

Got both the Gastrodon and Porygon 2, thanks. Also, I didn't check the Pokémon (I just confirmed that they were both in box 2) but I did check my progress... Play Time - 10:44 Pokédex - 44 Location - Motostoke City (no gyms/challenges beaten) It's probably about time I made a bit of progress in the game.

I might as well get those two Pokémon to add to however many I have in-game, which probably isn't that many as I didn't get very far. It has been nearly seven months since I last played Pokémon Sword, maybe it's time to give it another go inbetween other games.

*sigh* it's the first time I've loaded this compilation up, it seems there's stuff I need to do in order to be able to select online mode. I'll be right there.

Thanks for the games everyone. Some fun matches there, also plenty of fun had on that new(?) stage @RedShell I managed to stay out of the 'middle section of massive damage' for quite some time as Ridley there.

N-E Café Episode 40 now available! Now up on the main page. I really enjoyed the discussion in this weeks episode, it was interesting hearing about how to set up a secondary Switch account, useful info there. The game discussion was really varied too, nice bit of Ring Fit Adventure in there and the overlooked Platformers topic featured some really good recomendations. Two weeks to go until the Podpals episode... I'll hopefully make an effort this time to play The Messenger so that I can write down some thoughts about it.

Steets of Rage 4 is currently 15% off in the latest indie sale... not a huge discount, but it's £19.11 until 30/08/2020 https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Streets-of-Rage-4-1695263.html Also, I don't know who has the game on the Switch or other platforms but I now have the game on Switch, Xbox One and PS4 When the game first came out, I bought the Xbox One version digitally, but I've since obtained physical versions for the other consoles. If anyone wants a game of Streets of Rage 4 then let me know, if you just want to run through the game, or get through a certain stage on a harder difficulty. Though I've only reliably played through the game on Easy, Normal and Hard... Very Hard and Mania are quite brutal in terms of the amount of enemies and their attack frequency.

Nintendo Indie World 18/08/2020 Presentation Roundup All up on the main site, N-Europe's Roundup of the presentation. Full press release and video embed. Raji was the highlight for me, certain elements remind me of the Prince of Persia titles. Manifold Garden looks nice as well, I didn't know that you did the Russian translation for that @Nicktendo that's cool. (there's definitely a few games in the lineup which we may well try to obtain review codes for I reckon)

Indie World Showcase to be broadcast on Tuesday 18th August at 5PM UK time 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. As for personal hopes and expectations? If there's any Streets of Rage 4 dlc announced, I'd be pleasantly surprised.

Thanks for the games @Glen-i and @RedShell It's a shame that you weren't able to join us @Dcubed I wonder why your internet connection won't allow more than one Switch online at a time? It's an odd one that I can't work out, it was fine for ages and then, it just wasn't, I hope it'll start working for you again soon. I experienced probably my first ever crash in Monster Hunter this evening, it just froze on a loading screen, about five minutes into the Rajang quest that Red and I were doing, never seen that before. Hopefully, taking out those two Rajang on that last quest made up for it though.

Metroid Prime 4, vapour-ware until 2030 release date on the Nintendo Switch Pro confirmed. Metroid Dread will launch alongside it as an apology for the long development cycle of the game, it will have link-up features (via save file) similar to Prime/Fusion. Metroid Prime Trilogy HD will launch in 2024 at the end of the current Switch console's life-cycle. But this year is the 35th anniversary of the Metroid series, surely we'll get something which will coincide with that? Of course, we'll get the Switch port of the Metroid game on the 3DS which everyone has been clamouring for... Metroid Prime: Federation Force! (All joking aside, I would actually play that, chuck in Metroid Prime Hunters (somehow) and Metroid Prime Pinball, call it the Metroid Prime: Stopgap Collection)

Thanks for the games last night everyone. There were some really comical "Game!" moments at the end of certain matches. Some good match-ups as well, also, that's probably the first time I can remember winning a match as Diddy Kong.