S.C.G

I forgot about the whole Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal coming out on the same day... 'thing'. Wouldn't it be great to have a new trailer for Doom Eternal tacked on the end as a 'one more thing' followed by a release date for the Switch version? Or maybe not... as they'd have to change the age rating of the Direct just for that but still.

An Animal Crossing: New Horizons Direct will be shown on February 20th All up on the main site with the full press release. N-Europe will have a full Roundup article up on the main page, shortly after the presentation has aired. I'm looking forward to this one, it's always nice to have a Direct to anticipate and write an article on.

It seems 2019 is the year where I hit a new low for not really playing any games, it was all I could really do in order to contribute to the conversation or at least feel like I was adding something to the discussion, but I do understand as it's not really a good thing to do... ranking games you haven't even played; in my case I was going off what I'd seen from the game and how good I think the game would end up being for me and all I can say is that it's not good enough, I know this but I wanted to do my best to fit in with the format though I can see now that it does come across as forced. I will say that it was still fun though, both the Top 10 on the Podcast and the one we made for the main site which I think was more representative of what was played overall, we even added some honourable mentions at the bottom of the article, most of it seems like it's my backlog just from the past year. With all the games which are out at the moment, I don't even find myself wanting to play them 'right now' even though I know I should, games such as Dragon Quest XI are on my list but then again, it's the time it takes to play each game which is a huge factor and so I end up just playing something else from the backlog or just playing Phantasy Star Online yet again because it's the one game I can rely on and it has a fantastic community spirit which goes along with it. Community spirit is very important, part of me thinks that if I wasn't in the position that I'm in now, maybe I might have sidelined gaming alltogether... even though that seems unlikely, I do think about it but then I snap out of it and realise that it's just where I'm at right now which is making me think that way because I do have games which I want to play but I also have other things which I want to do as well; there's always plenty to do on the site even when it seems like there isn't in addition to stuff to do around the house and I think a lot of it is a case of somehow managing time a lot better which is easier said than done... but I think I just need to do more stuff rather than talking about it, this is something which I am working on. On the bright side, I did finally start Doom (2016) the other night, properly, after bumping the difficulty down from Nightmare... I actually made it past the introduction this time it's a small thing but I have to start somewhere and I'm not going to list all the games which I haven't played any more because that's all I seem to do these days inbetween site stuff (aside from today as the electric was off in the area for a bit plus no internet) so instead I'm just going to focus on what I have played and see where things go from there. Back to the podcast though, it's a really excellent show which I'm proud to have been a part of, either on select episodes or just helping out with music suggestions every now and then... (yes, it was me who suggested the music for this week because I just love that OST) and I hope there are many more episodes to come, which is why it's always great to get that all-important feedback from the N-E community. TL;DR - 2019 is gone, looking forward to 2020, more games to play, many more podcasts still to come and much more content and discussion on N-Europe with any luck. This place might not be anywhere near as active as it once was, but we've all got plenty to offer and I'm looking forward to seeing what this year will bring in terms of gaming, community spirit, interesting discussion, thought-provoking features and above all just playing games for the love of it. And if another year goes by and I somehow don't clear any games... well 2021 might be the year of selling most of my games, except for GameCube of course, playing Phantasy Star Online on repeat and rambling on about how games have never been as good since that era and probably never will be... *grumble* *grumble*

I'm potentially interested in this now that I understand a bit more of what it's all about. Super Mario Maker 2 is something which I haven't touched since it came out, I only played the single player campaign and have not tried anyone's levels yet. I'll give the Donut levels a play soon and who knows... for the next challenge I might even make a level.

Yep, it's good to hear that Analogue are on it, I just hope no ones Mega SG has been damaged in the meantime from any of these adapters. I started watching that My Life In Gaming video last night, fascinating stuff, though I only saw the first few minutes of it as it was late, so I stopped watching and intend to give it the attention it surely deserves later on today at some point as it's really interesting to hear about all these people who are keeping a lot of the retro scene going with these new products. @Dcubed I just finished watching it now, really fantastic video and very much well worth watching, I knew it probably would be as it's by My Life In Gaming but this video series in particular seems like it's on another plain entirely as it really goes into a lot of detail plus you get to hear from a lot of people who've put a lot of time, energy, research and enthusiasm into The World of Vintage Gaming which is really just very nice to see, especially right now in 2020.

Message for whoever picked up the Mega SG cartridge adapter set... Do NOT use the Game Gear adapter several of the units Analogue sent out are defective and may damage your Mega SG. Read about it here... https://support.analogue.co/hc/en-us/articles/360039868671-Mega-Sg-Game-Gear-Adapter-v1-0-PLEASE-READ You need to update the system firmware in order to use any of the adapters in the first place but being that the adapters only started arriving a few days ago and that I've only just found out about this myself online via an Analogue group, I'm making sure I share this info here in case @Dcubed @Ike @Happenstance or anyone else with a Mega SG has ordered the cart adapters and might be thinking of trying them out soon. Mine arrived the other day and I only got as far as partially unsealing them but I was tempted to test out some Game Gear games soon, I'll be waiting now though. Analogue are sending out replacement Game Gear adapters only, the other adapters are NOT affected, they advise getting rid of the old adapters (I'll probably just put a red sticker on mine as I don't like the idea of throwing something like that away, the shell at least might be useful) and they are hoping to have new adapters shipped out to everyone very soon.

Now that @Hero-of-Time has added some more context to the ending... I don't know what to think. It doesn't sound like a bad film overall... I'd only bother watching it if it got a general release though, on a disc... and even then I wouldn't buy it as soon as it comes out. Though it really doesn't sound like something they would want to release on disc, except in Japan of course, where you can get everything on a disc I assume, especially when it's something related to Dragon Quest.

Wow... you're right @Glen-i that is a really dumb way to end a film like that, it would ruin it for me as well, I think I'll just appreciate Gifs and clips from the film as they crop up. I'll just go and play Dragon Quest V instead, that'd probably be a better use of my time. It's a shame though, sounds like it could have been a perfectly good film aside from that.

Nope, I don't have Netflix, probably never will and so I've just accepted that certain things which are exclusive to it I just won't watch until they become non-exclusive, if at all. Knowing this and also wanting to know whether this Dragon Quest film would be worth my time or not if I did get the chance to watch it, I clicked the spoiler box. I'm still none the wiser as to what the spoiler actually is really but from what I understand from the reactions so far from those who have seen it is that the film seems to be one of those cases where you're either going to really like it or hate it depending on what your perspective of the Dragon Quest series is. Would it be accurate to say that it's a good thing that this Dragon Quest film exists but if it didn't... that would be fine too? I mean, clearly it's a good thing for the franchise that it does exist and I get the feeling that it mostly comes from a place of love but equally, there wouldn't really have been a way in which this could have been made and made in such a way that the film and the ended would have pleased everyone, it's just not possible. Anyway, I am curious... @Glen-i let me know when Gif's featuring that character start appearing, I can appreciate those in the meantime.

Some great matches tonight, thanks for the games everyone.

Sonic Adventure 3... believe!

I've just finished listening to this weeks Podcast, excellent stuff @londragon and @Nicktendo I very much enjoyed the segment about Animal Crossing, very fair and balanced on the topical stuff about the upcoming game but what I really enjoyed was the discussion about the earlier Animal Crossing titles, especially Nick recounting tales about having multiple towns on various memory cards, trading the fruits between the towns and having a 'best' town plus a 'reject' town based on which animals were in it...because we might as well admit it, we all have our favourite Animal Crossing residents. Also, you got a laugh out of me with the Podcast EXTRAS! again so well played. Keeping with the theme, I'm going to ask a question for next weeks podcast as I think this deserves some deeper discussion... Which are your favourite animal residents from each of the Animal Crossing games you've played? You could even turn it into some kind of game if you really wanted to, as certain residents were introduced across different games, it might be interesting to see which ones you remember from the various titles... I'm mainly referring to mainline titles as well, not really counting the spin-offs or anything mobile-based unless you wanted to include them.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate spirits event themed around Cuphead launches this Friday The latest spirit event for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate goes live on Friday, from February 14th for five days you can get spirits from Cuphead. I really need to play Cuphead... and I will, just as soon as they release the physical version after all the DLC.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, new details and trailers Nintendo sent out a Press Release with some new info on the game and two trailers which are well worth watching. I particularly enjoyed the first video with the Makuhita dojo training backstory, another example of why these games are so great with the details. Is it March yet?

Ah OK @Nicktendo now I understand the reference, for some reason I either completely forgot about that video or haven't seen it in a long time. I might check out that Super Mario All-Stars video later, it's really great to have a lot of the contents of those old videogame VHS tapes available online now.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Fighters Pass commercial Check the article for a video showing off the five fighters from the Fighters Pass. It's a lineup which is no joke(r) so pick your hero, grab your Banjo & Kazoo(ie) and prepare for a terry(ific) fight, byleth(ve) the hype! (nope, I'm N-Ever apologising for those puns either)

Thanks for the reminder. I found it out a few weeks ago but The Game Collection still had copies of the Day 1 Edition in stock at that time, so I didn't want to risk pre-ordering and them sending me the steelbook like they did with Monster Hunter World: Iceborne and then having to buy display box art for the collection, a minor issue but still, I was just thinking that if it happened with Yakuza Remastered Collection then it would be even more of a hassle as the case will have to be a specific one with extra disc inserts. Anyway, I have now ordered it... I don't really have the cash for it but it completes the Yakuza Collection and I do want to play all the games plus there isn't a lot of other games I really feel like I need on the PS4 now, aside from The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima.

I'm looking at the clue and thinking how you can get from Craig Charles to the game that the music is from, unless I've missed something. Anyway, I'll say no more all I know is that the plot thickens with the introduction of this latest clue.

I are Sir Rick of house 'Hamster' I has sword and green hat, I can has Smash invite now?

Ah OK, I had no idea that the stats were linked to badges/progress, I clearly need to play the game more. It's not like I don't want to play the game either, I love Pokémon and when I do get a good play session in on it, it's great... I just need to get into some kind of play routine with it.

What would I need to do in order to help? Just run around the Wild area at the start of the game until I find Toxtricity at one of those red beacons? And then, signal to you to join somehow? The only time I've really partaken in them is when yourself and @Ugh first aid were running them and I happened to join. I don't know a huge amount about these raids really, I'm around only 10 hours in and my team is around level twenty-ish with no badges yet. If I'm of use though I'd be happy to help as I do have Pokémon Sword.

Oh damn... I've just figured out what it is, well played @Nicktendo well played indeed. I'll say no more but I will PM the answer to @londragon now anyway. I'm just glad to finally figure out what the games is as it's one of those which would have driven me mad if I couldn't have figured it out. It's like @nekunando's videogame track guessing podcast game all over again.

I agree, also the clue only makes it trickier I think as even though it's narrowed down to a SNES game which Rare was involved with, I'm pretty sure that they were involved with a lot of SNES games beyond the ones which they developed themselves. I might have a guess if no one else does but I'm not even confident about guessing at this point.

N-Europe petitions Rick the Hamster for Smash! Everyone has that one character which they really want to be included in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, from the 'dead cert' third-party representatives such as Dante from Devil May Cry, Crash Bandicoot and Rayman to the forgotten Nintendo characters who have only appeared in a handful of games yet have an endearing charm such as Chibi Robo to others who only really got that one game and a handful of cameos yet still have a solid fanbase who would love to see another villain in the roster such as Wart. (you know... from Super Mario Bros. 2 and that recent Nintendo employee leaflet) But there is one character who clearly would boost the popularity of the Super Smash Bros. series by 64,000% absolutely guaranteed, a character who has been as supportive of Kirby as Yoshi has of Mario (despite the rather unfortunate dismounts over the abyss) and most importantly, is a character who is instantly appealing due to being a Hamster and let's face it... probably paved the way for Hamtaro's success in the videogame industry; but we all know that there can only be one Hamster in Smash and his name is Rick! Come on Sakurai, how can you say no to THIS? Now more than ever, we need Rick the Hamster to make an appearance in Smash, of course we know that there will be other characters as evidenced by the second season pass but what about that mysterious extra sixth slot on the roster? That's right... it's Rick's time to shine because you know it makes sense, he would be an asset to any videogame but particularly to Smash being as it is a celebration of some of the greatest characters ever created but even more than that; here at N-Europe we've been officially campaigning for Rick for years now and perhaps most importantly of all, it would really make @Ashley's day and today is his birthday, so how about it Nintendo? (please) Happy Birthday Ashley! I hope you have a fantastic day (what's left of it) and are enjoying taking some time out.

Good games indeed! I was using a SNES controller, that's why I get that fancy icon but I also lose the ability to perform the sarcastic clap. I think you did enough clapping for the both of us though, so all is well. I need more practice at Super Mario Kart... at the start of the first race I was holding down the 'A' button.