S.C.G

Thanks Glen, I meant to trade with you yesterday but I wasn't in a position to as I didn't start playing Sword version until late last night. I did make enough progress to get the Y-Comm though, so I've got that far and then a little bit further in the story after that. I'll catch some extra Pokémon in a bit so I should be ready some time in the early afternoon if that's good for you? I'll keep you updated and thanks again for this.

Here it is... A Smashing Cast Episode 1 Hosted on my YouTube channel for now but this is essentially the finished article which we intend to put up on the N-Europe YouTube channel. Everything seemed to go pretty smoothly, the captured footage is of excellent quality so thanks to @Dcubed and @Glen-i for handling that, the conversation went well so thanks to Glen again for contributing in addition to @Vileplume2000 @Jonnas @Nicktendo and of course @LazyBoy for hosting as well as organising most of this. Fun was definitely had in the battles, this week it's Smash 64 themed celebrating the origins of Smash, so only original characters and no final smashes (mostly) in this episode. Let us know what you think, as we'd be happy to hear your feedback so please check it out if you've got the time to watch and/or listen to us play Smash and talk about games for a short while, it was deifnitely a lot of fun to put together either way but it you've got any suggestions on what we could add to the show or improve on for next time, that would be appreciated. (I've now reuploaded the video again after various improvements; I synced up the video with the audio again which is a lot closer this time, then adjusted the game audio to be a bit lower to balance things out, then after I got that far I went looking for the best way to render in at 1080p 60 and I found a useful video which showed me how to do that, also I found that I had some extra options in my rendering resolutions due to my graphics card, so now I can render a full 1080p video at 60fps but cut down the render time from nine hours to just two and a half hours)

Yeah, I noticed this... especially annoying as I disabled wireless because I use the Switch exclusively in wired mode unless forced to do otherwise by the game for whatever reason. Monster Hunter Generations did this and thankfully you could turn it off moreorless immediately but in thid game, it's tied to getting a certain item. Once you get the Y-Comm apparently there is an option in there which will let you switch back to online mode or something similar to that to make it how it was before.

Oh snap! Nicely done to you both. I guess I should get to the part in the game where I can actually trade, I only ended up putting an hour or two last night as I've been sorting out video and audio stuff, all good though. I tell you what... I only really need a Sobble and Scorbunny for now please, my brother will need two starters as well at some point but... if I already have three starters then I can just get to the point in the game where you can breed them and capture a Ditto, right? Especially as he likely won't be starting the game until December. I'll try my best to make some more progress before this evening then, also are there any Pokémon either of you need from Sword version in return that I could be looking out for?

Sega Lord X with a video titled Saturn vs. Playstation Round 2 - X-Men Children of the Atom which is a really interesting comparison between the two versions. I've had this game in my Saturn collection for a little while but it's one I need to check out in more detail at some point I reckon as it looks fantastic for a 2D fighter of its era.

My backer copy and sleeve have been sent out as well. Will probably have to wait a little longer for that capsule toy and the other stuff though... But erm... Shenmue III will soon be available in physical, playable form... I donlt think it will properly sink in until I have the game. Looking forward to it though.

Ah OK, thanks for the tips. Yeah... it won't be until December though so that's why I was going to start my main file on Sword (for keeps) and then on the same Switch and ID start Shield, do the trade and restart as many times as required (trading all the starters to my main file on Sword) and then I'd wipe the data one last time so that Shield would be ready for him to start for real and then I'd trade him the extra starters. But I haven't even started playing Sword myself yet so let me know when you get to the breeding part if you get to it soon because that would probably make more sense, I still intend to start for keeps on Sword and get the extra starters from Shield though... with the earlier Pokémon games generations ago my brother and I used to trade for extras of the starters locally but being that we don't see him that often now and that neither of us have been quite as into the games in recent generations the tradition has kind of fallen by the wayside, but I'd love to bring it back with Sword and Shield as I reckon he'll probably play Pokémon again this time and it's a chance for me to get back into the series as well a bit.

Ah right, I thought that might be the case. If you could do that for me, that would be awesome thanks I was thinking about doing it a few times depending on how long it takes until you can get to the bit where you can trade. I got the Dual pack and was going to start Sword with the intention of using Shield which is technically my brothers copy but he won't need it until he has his Switch later this year. So I was thinking that I was going to choose Grookey, he'd probably choose Scorbunny so that would mean I'd need to reset around four times on Shield to get another Grookey and Scorbunny plus two Sobbles, then transfer them to my copy of Sword and then I'd trade him the other two when he starts his game for real. I'd also do some extra restarts if either yourself, Dean or Hazel wanted any of the extra starters as well? (Unless you've got your own arrangements of how to get all three starters) I'm just thinking of the time it would take as I know you'll be wanting to progress through the game but if it's not too much trouble and if I can do that later or over the weekend at times which suit you then that would be much appreciated.

Hmm, so going by how trading works in this game, I take it that both trainers need to be online at the same time in order for it to work? I was toying with the idea of starting on Sword version and loading up Shield version, getting to the right point for trading, getting a different starter, starting again etc... I take it that I wouldn't be able to trade with myself on the same Switch using the same user on the Switch, just between the different versions?

I was as surprised as you both at that last match. Some excellent matches tonight, thanks for the games. Enjoy playing Pokémon Glen. Oh and speaking of Pokémon, that stage was spectacular.

I've had this on in the background but I haven't really been paying much attention to it. I get the impression that they want everyone to have Game Pass though... just a hunch. The new IP from Rare has potential but it just further cements that they aren't the same company they once were but there's clearly still a lot of talent there but I'm not sure if they're going in the direction I would have thought they'd be going in. Yakuza on Xbox is good... I have nearly all of them on PS4 though, playing them on Xbox would feel odd... to me anyway but if it lets more people play the games then that's obviously great. I'm not bothered about playing Xbox games on other devices or Game Pass but I get this is what they are pushing for and it lets more people play more games so it's good I suppose... but I don't see that many physical Xbox One games being sold in the future. I was hoping for maybe a solid date for Phantasy Star Online 2 but thery'e wrapping up now so I guess we'll hear more next year.

Streets of Rage 4 behind the scenes video A great video over on the Dotemu Official YouTube Channel which outlines some of the development process behind... Streets of Rage 4 Check the article on the main page for a short write up and the video.

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Just under halfway into listening to the latest podcast, good stuff so far. (I've reached the obligatory Wave Race mention) We'll of course promote the latest episode on the front page, the only reason I haven't yet is I didn't know if @Vileplume2000 was going to post it? You did a really excellent job of promoting it last week Dennis so I thought I'd leave it to you but if you want me to put it up then I can. Anyway, excellent to see you keeping the momentum going with the podcast.

Demon's Crest gets my vote. Great game, easily the most underrated out of those four SNES titles.

Well... at least we know it will be worth watching now at least. I heard of two things which will be announced at this X019 event, no titles were given and I won't say any more than that but I'm interested.

You only got six e-mails from Kickstarter? I got twelve... not sure why, did the game launch yet or something?

@Hero of Time yep that was a great episode of Achieve it Yourself I saw it about a week ago when it was an unlisted video so I couldn't share it but I loved watching it at the time. I thought you'd probably like these videos, some of the achievements have been pretty inventive as well but yes... the Bonk Episode will go down in Easy Allies history I reckon.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's next tournament is Pokémon themed Gotta Smash 'em All! Starts this Friday, lasts for three days.

Hamster Corporation celebrates 20th Anniversary Yep, the company responsible for what are arguably some of the best arcade ports on the Switch, has just turned two decades old. Happy 20th Anniversary Hamster Corporation and here's to many more years of quality conversions. Check the article for the company's message to their fans and a video featuring a montage of many great games worth checking out. Also, it's worth noting that there are several Neo Geo fighting games on sale until 20/11/2019 at just over £3 each they're a steal.

Raining Blobs is coming to the Switch eShop Raining Blobs by developer Endi Milojkoski and publisher Black Shell Media is coming to the Nintendo eShop on November 15th priced at £7.99 It's got Puyo Pop, Puzzle Fighter and Magical Drop influences and erm... anime girls, evidently. Check the article for details and a trailer.

Well, I backed the game and Fangamer haven't shipped it yet but meanwhile, the Limited Collector's Edition which I pre-ordered from Limited Run Games is scheduled for shipping. I wonder which copy will arrive first... I'm tempted to start playing Shenmue I & II on the PS4... I played them on the Dreamcast but it would be interesting to blast through them before Shenmue III arrives. Also... why does everything have to come out in November? Ah well, Ryo Hazuki-Shenmue III-Sailors-I see... hype!

I got the e-mail for that XO19 event, forgot about it though so thanks for the reminder. I've just realised, it's on this Thursday at 8PM... guess I'll have it on in the background while playing Mario Kart and Smash then. They'd have to show something pretty special to divert my attention though.

Yeah that's fine. If you end up warming to the game more and don't want to sell it then that's fine as well, I just thought that this way you'd get a bit more than trade value and then wouldn't have to worry about having credit to swap for something else plus I was thinking about picking up the game anyway and that's around what it's going for on eBay at the moment anyway. I hope you manage to get some enjoyment out of the game this week in any case. Also, I didn't think to ask... I just assumed but, it is the Switch version... right? Part of me is hoping that this game does still do reasonably well on all platforms, if only for the possibility that Sega might decide to port Super Monkey Ball DX one day...

I could be wrong but wasn't there a recently made fan-game which had that theme? Pokémon Uranium I think it was called. I'll admit that it would be nice if the developers would take some inspiration from some of the fan-made titles as I hear that they're pretty good.