Dcubed

I’m back on this game now after finishing up my play through of FE:POR... Just currently cleaning up the Green Stars I’ve missed before tackling the post-credits levels... and then just I pulled this sick stunt off! Genuinely shocked that actually worked!! Absolutely no way could you ever pull that off in the original Wii U version!

Oh yeah, I’ve had the SR/SL buttons go on a couple of my Joycons as well. Almost all of them now drift too. And ALL of them have wireless cutout issues too (some worse than others). I love the design of the Joycons on paper, but they are the most shoddily made controllers that Nintendo have ever produced. It’s a real shame, because they SHOULD be fantastic controllers, but unfortunately they just suffer from a myriad of design flaws that make actually using them IRL an exercise in pure frustration.

See, they balance that out with the copious use of archers & ballistas though (at least in Hard mode; can’t remember what the easier modes are like on that front). Half the challenge of each map is finding ways to take out the archers and other risks to your flying characters, before you can safely get them to swoop in and wreck house. Going in gung ho with your fliers all guns blazing is a very quick way of getting them killed in this game. Thing is though, the really wide open Crimean maps towards the end present an interesting challenge in of themselves though because they leave you wide open to attack. Like, take chapter 26 (Clash!) for instance... Unlike your typical FE map, there are very few places where you can hole up and there are basically no choke points that you can take advantage of. Meanwhile, you are hopelessly outnumbered in virtually every direction. So my key strategy here was to form a line going vertically & laterally, using the few trees available for cover; while having my fliers jump in and out of enemy lines (thanks Canto!) to perform hit & run tactics, particularly in getting rid of the long-range magic users. I hold the line with my bulkier characters while waiting for my foes to come towards me; while the frailer ones pelt them from behind the line with ranged attacks. There aren’t really any other maps like it throughout the game, but even these so called “empty” maps offer unique challenges that precipitate unique strategies! Heh, glad you caught that one It’s even more ironic considering the A Rank support conversation reveal... I don’t disagree, but it was pretty neat to play it again for the millionth time with a bit of a twist this time

Well I just finished my newest game; time to update my tally for this year so far... New Super Mario Bros 2 This game was always destined to not be as good as NSMB Wii; but that's a really frigging high bar to clear, so let's be fair here. To be pithy about things? This game is basically a port/mod of NSMB Wii with a few new gameplay features thrown in and new levels made using the same base assets as in NSMB Wii. There are very, VERY few new actual level mechanics that were not previously seen in NSMB Wii (I'm pretty sure it's literally just two new enemies, two new platform types and then the Raccoon Leaf, Mega Mushroom & Gold Mario stuff and that's it - everything else has been ripped out of NSMB Wii), and even the soundtrack has been recycled literally wholesale from NSMB Wii. When Nintendo decided that they needed to pump out a new NSMB game for both the Wii U and 3DS at the same time? The 3DS game was always destined to be the one to draw the short straw in terms of allocated manpower & production values. So it comes as no surprise that the developers had little scope for building any truly new gameplay mechanics or assets that weren't already in NSMB Wii or NSMB DS. Though of course that incredibly limited budget WOULD go towards a brand new type of Boo... Nintendo's Boo Bias shines through any budgetary limitations! This gives NSMB2 a decidedly "ROM Hacky" feeling about itself. Less of a true sequel to NSMB Wii and more of a remix of sorts. Of course, as you all know, this game's main gimmick (and its main USP within the series) is the focus on coin collection... However, going back and playing through the main game? It really doesn't actually play into the coin aspect all that much at all! Coin counts aren't really that much higher than in any other Mario game throughout the main levels! No, what really seperates NSMB 2's main game from NSMB Wii is the pacing of its level design. Designed by younger staff members with Nintendo EAD, NSMB 2's levels are much more meandering, exploratory and contemplatentive than in the previous title. That isn't necessarily a bad thing mind you, it actually feels a bit more like Super Mario Land 2 than perhaps any other mainline Mario game; and I quite enjoyed the change in pace. That being said though? I wasn't able to stomach collecting every Star Coin this time around, as it ends up feeling like a bit of a slog here to find them all. The slower pacing is naturally not going to be to everyone's taste, and it's very different from what you see in NSMB Wii, but I dug it. It's a nice pallette clenser after the whiteknuckle action from the previous game. But of course... that's only half the game's tale. There's a reason why I've been specifying "main game" after all... And that's because Coin Rush is the REAL NSMB2 as far as I'm concerned. THIS is where the coin collecting gimmick really starts to shine, as every Coin Rush stage pack becomes a super fun high score challenge where you have to milk as many coins as possible out of each level! Personally? I kind of wish that they didn't really bother with the main game so much and instead focused on fleshing out Coin Rush with more level packs, as this is the best bit of the game for sure. Oh!!! Is it another Coin Rush Pack!?!?! Oh... never mind... Overall, NSMB2 is a strange little game. Like Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels, it kind of feels like a mod of the previous title that shrewdly remixes existing mechanics to give a bit of a different experience; but it doesn't really feel like a new Mario game. Kind of ironic, considering the name! But I enjoyed it anyway. I just wish that they had really dug deep into Coin Rush, even if it came at the expense of the main game, because it's definitely the game's standout mode. However, I think it's a great example of how to make something out of very little; as it's a much better 2D Mario game than it's much more lavishly produced Wii U counterpart. NSMB U might have had all the budget and manpower in the world, and tons of new gameplay mechanics and features thrown its way; but quite frankly? NSMB2 just has much more interesting & intricate level design, and that is what is truly king in a 2D platformer. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (MSU-1 Mod) Take the original Link's Awakening for Game Boy, chuck in the soundtrack from the Switch remake, and you get this... Yes it works! On real SNES hardware! Despite how surreal it feels to see it all actually work for realsies, and hear the soundtrack of the Switch remake injected into the original GB version? It's otherwise still the good ol' Link's Awakening that you know and love. This was a time long before the idea of what Zelda is was codified into immutable canon, and it arguably errs closer to the original NES Zelda than any other in terms of structure, as you are tasked with completing 8 dungeons and collecting their respective Plot Souvenirs to open up the way to the final dungeon and defeat the Big Bad. However, it's also the first Zelda game that does NOT allow you to complete its dungeons out of order, being decidedly linear in nature; something that would go on to become a series standard until A Link Between Worlds would challenge what would become the norm. Lots of other things introduced by this game would also go on to become series staples moving forward, such as the numerous songs that you learn throughout your adventure quest (sure, you had the Recorder in Zelda 1&2 and the Flute/Ocarina in ALTTP, but they never actually had different songs for you to learn & play!), the famous Trading Quest, Fishing and things like Bomb Arrows would all become recurring features in future titles. Good thing this guy didn't come back though! The dungeons throughout the game are all reletively simple. While much more complex than what you see in Zelda 1 or 2, they are a far cry from the complex architecture that you saw in ALTTP, or in future titles; really, only the last two dungeons begin to approach something comparable to what you saw in ALTTP in terms of their complexity. But then again, this was a handheld game, designed for play in short bursts; the dungeons needed to be completable in a bus or train ride's time. The notion of a game being specifically designed to be palletable to handheld play in short bursts might be a foreign concept to us in the modern era, but back then? It was absolutely a worthwhile design consideration. In return for this reduction in dungeon complexity and overall game scope though? You get a game that feels much more intimate and "alive". More slice of life than grand epic. And really, Link's Awakening is a very "considerate" game that does a great job of tackling the challenge of offering a real "adventure", while not allowing the player to get too lost at any point. It's the perfect train ride companion! While I loved what the Switch remake did with Link's sleepy adventure? I would probably argue that it feels more at home on the humble Game Boy than on the mighty Switch. Link's Awakening is fundamentaly a small scale adventure that doesn't quite feel right when blown out to a big, lavish HD production. As such? I'll probably always prefer the original GB version to the Switch remake. Pilotwings 64 It's the most stressful chill game you've ever played. It's Pilotwings 64! Much like its original SNES counterpart, you're tasked with completing various missions and achieving the best scores possible while doing so. Unlike its original SNES counterpart however, progression is no longer gated with score threasholds across each rank. Here you merely need to pass at the most basic level and then it's onto the next mission; so victory comes as an inevitablity this time around. While some will no doubt appreciate this change, it no doubt takes away from the challenge that made the original game what it was. Still, grinding for those top scores is still an option for those that want to put the elbow grease in in order to achieve perfection. Otherwise, it's a perfectly fine sequel to the original that basically anyone can enjoy. The controls perfectly walk that fine line inbetween super realistic simulation and arcade fun; offering up a gameplay experience that feels like a realistic sim, but really plays like an arcade score attack game. It's great fun! Oh and the soundtrack is absolute tops! Hard to believe that it came from someone who had previously never composed any music before, and would only ever go on to compose one other soundtrack in his entire career! (That's F1 Grand Prix for N64 BTW). Real shame that he didn't stick around in the industry, he had some real talent... Porn for the ears Brilliant sequel to the SNES original, sadly forgotten to the mists of time. How bizzare that it's one of the very few 1st party N64 games to never get a re-release of any kind! Come on Nintendo!! Get with it! (And bring back the Virtual Console!) Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & The Blade of Light Fire Emblem's humble beginnings, officially released in English at long, long last! Finally! The world can enjoy the adventures of the man who wears the shortest skirt in video game history (No, seriously; it really is outrageous!) While I have already made my thoughts known in the game's official thread, suffice to say that I loved my time with this NES strategy RPG. Yes it's slow and clunky by today's standards, but it was also incredibly far ahead of its time. It's shocking just how much is already codified here that would go on to define the series, right from the get-go. The huge & varied cast of characters (52!!), the basic unit movement mechanics, the various weapon types, the arenas, the permadeath mechanic, it's all here already! The game even has a suspend save feature! In 1990!! That's basically unthinkable! NO other game had a save anywhere feature for YEARS after this game came out! It's also a very lengthy adventure at a whopping 25 chapters long; it's quite frankly unbelievable that they squashed this game into a mere 3 megabit NES cartridge! The story is very simplistic, but it is told in such a way that it gives the impression of a grander tale that takes place off screen. It's a very clever choice that makes the game feel much more epic and its story more complex & interwoven than what is actually presented in game (Its DS remake would go on to fill in those gaps left throughout the story; arguably taking a bit of the mystery away in the process). This is helped by some absolutely A-grade localisation work presented in this modern Switch release; absolutely no way would we have ever gotten anything even remotely comparable if this game was released in western territories 30 years ago. Playing this game actually revived my love for the Fire Emblem series. For a good few years, I've just been completely turned off the series by the way in which it has been warped & distorted by Fire Emblem Fates and Fire Emblem Three Houses; now resembling a dating simulator more than an actual Strategy RPG. But this humble little NES game rekindled those fiery flames that used to burn so emblematically in my heart. I needed to follow up with another classic Fire Emblem; and @Glen-i was having a pop at me for not yet playing through Fire Emblem Gaiden's remake on the 3DS (Shadows of Valentia), so naturally my next choice of game would be... Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance I started playing this game again because I got pissed off when continuing to suck at Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 on Gamecube. True story. Anywho, I haven't played POR in years and was really in the mood for a good, proper old fashioned FE game. I previously wanted to do a playthrough of it again a few years back, but I couldn't stomach making the committment to what would ostenebly be a 50+ hour game... Well, 50+ hours later, I emerge victorious on Hard Mode; with nary a single character lost! Perfection (No! I did NOT reset as soon as one of my units died! How dare you insinuate that I really spent probably 150+ hours playing this game because I had to keep resetting! I did everything perfect first time!!). Seen it, done it, bought the T-shirt Gone are the outrageously short skirts of the NES game, and in comes fancy 3D graphics, tons of fancy new gameplay subsystems, fancy cutscenes & intricate storylines on the fanciest cube to ever play games. How far the series has come from its humble beginnings and yet how much it stays true to the roots of the original NES game. Despite all the modern embelishments, this is classic Fire Emblem through and through; including its absolutely brutal difficulty! Going through Path of Radiance's myriad of gameplay systems & subsystems would simply take far too long, and would probably bore most of you to death; so I'll stick with the short & skinny of it all. It's an expertly crafted Strategy RPG with perhaps the best map design in the series (contentiously contested with its sequel, Radiant Dawn, on that front), polished to near perfection; alongside complex new gameplay mechanics that are all interwoven in a way that presents each map as an elaborate puzzle for you to solve. Within the grander context of the series, I think the biggest standout feature of Path of Radiance is in its map design; and in the sheer variety of gameplay scenarios that Intelligent Systems managed to wring out of the base gameplay mechanics. Unlike most of the newer games, the mission objectives are wildly varied here. You have your standard Rout win condition of course, but you also have maps where you have to escape, escort missions, defence missions, timed challenges, boss killing missions; hell, there's even a legitimate MGS style stealth mission! Yes, really! A STEALTH mission, in Fire Emblem!! Solid Snake would be proud Every map is intricately designed and meticulously crafted to make you really have to think about what's the best way to proceed (and not get your comrades killed). There's a myriad of things to carefully consider (skills, biorhythm, the weapon & magic triangle, character weaknesses & strengths, items, weapon types; the list goes on and on) and every single map introduces new concepts and gameplay gimmicks that force you to rethink and change up your strategy; it's almost like the Mario Galaxy of Fire Emblem in that new gameplay mechanics are introduced and discarded at an incredible pace (even Fog of War only appears in one chapter!). For instance, one chapter sees Ike and co attempting to climb up a mountain, while the Daein army attempt to block your advance by using boulders that roll down the mountain when you are unlucky (or stupid!) enough to place yourself in their path; while another chapter sees your army attempt to cross a giant bridge... only that it is laid with invisible pitfall traps that stun your unlucky unit for that turn, should you fall afoul of one. Interesting gimmicks are sprinkled throughout each and every chapter, with none playing quite like the last. Another key new feature is the new Bonus Experience system.. By fulfilling certain hidden criteria in each chapter, you can earn Bonus EXP that you can then later freely distribute amongst your characters at your base. You can use this BEXP however you like; however, it's often a good idea to use it in small amounts to guarantee good growths from each character and to use it to power up benched characters that may otherwise fall behind the rest of your army (neatly solving a problem that has persisted within the series up until this point). The story is also far more intricate than most previous titles, and many will likely enjoy the political and racial overtones woven throughout (I know I sure did at least!), while characterisation is much more fleshed out; particularily with the support conversations. While the overall story beats aren't particularily complex, there are some neat surprises & twists along the way, and each character feels nicely fleshed out and memorable. Ike, ever the eloquent hero I love this game. While I'm not sure if I prefer this game over its Wii sequel, it no doubt stands as amongst the finest in the entire Fire Emblem series. It's the series' trademark tactical gameplay polished to near perfection. A shame that it came out so late in the Gamecube's lifecycle, when the console was already dead & buried, largely dooming this game to reletive obscurity (and high eBay prices these days), but between this game and its sequel? You are unlikely to find a better duo of strategy RPGs anywhere else. Despite the incredible frustration involved in trying to achieve a perfect Hard Mode run? I had a blast revisiting this gem of a game. Oh, and BTW, pro-tip for anyone attempting Hard Mode? Soren is an absolute monstrous BEAST! He is the best character in the game, and I have the stats to prove it! On paper? It's a tie, but in your heart? You know that Soren is No1 And that's my list so far. Had to put SM3DW/BF, THPS3 and Gn'GR on hold due to FE:POR taking over; but with my journey at its end? It's time to head back to the grinds!

The game has to actually support Smart Delivery for this to work. EA just (as you rightfully said) suck. Any game that has the Smart Delivery moniker should just work, as far as moving save files from one machine to the other goes.

That IS what Smart Delivery does though. You don't really have seperate Xbox One and Xbox Series SKUs of games (Unlike on PS4/PS5); it's the same SKU, only that it just downloads the assets that are actually used by each respective machine. That's why save files work seamlessly on Xbox.

That’s... honestly a reasonable explanation! Kudos!

Puppeteer is a very underrated little gem. Shame it came out on the PS3 at the very very tail end of its life; if it had been shifted to PS4, it would surely have garnered a much bigger audience. Very cool little platforms that reminds me a lot of Dynamite Headdy, but with a neat Cut Out twist that is kind of reminiscent of Paper Mario Color Splash in some ways.

But then how can there be more than one Mario!? Plus... you know... The original Mario still dies!

Wow! It’s not vapourware? It might actually release!? Well blow me down!

Yeah, he’s bonkers! I was like “WHAT THE HELL!?” when I first saw him! There’s one big problem with him though... and that’s that using him before the final chapter is a straight detriment to the strength of your overall army because EXP is totally wasted on him. He’s basically Ditto, and he copies every stat (including HP!); so any kills he achieves are literally just wasted EXP that could’ve gone to someone else. And given the way that the EXP system works in this game? (EXP is fixed per character defeated and does NOT scale up or down depending on relative level); that’s a problem that mounts up very quickly.

It’s Arika, not Atari (close guess mind you!). Same people who made the modern Dr Mario games and the Tetris: The Grandmaster series (AKA Hardcore Invisible God Mode Tetris). True, AR isn’t new, and this could well have been a standalone toy that uses a mobile phone instead of a Switch to control the RC Kart. But hey! I’d say it’s weird enough to count as Weird Nintendo; who else would put that out as their big headlining Xmas game for their flagship console other than Weird Nintendo? Oh no, I don’t think MUA3 is a bad game or anything, but it’s a shockingly contemporary game for Nintendo to commission & publish (though that being said, the fact that they got Team Ninja/Koei-Tecmo to make a Marvel game of all things IS a very weird thing to do! Very strange choice of developer!). As you say, it’s very non-Nintendo.

Yeah, defo. I could imagine Nintendo pulling out of EVO and focusing more on other tournaments like Genesis in response... Will be interesting to see what happens going forward.

So with Sony buying EVO and Microsoft buying Smash.gg; does this mean that Smash Bros is now multiplatform?

Oh I totally agree with all of this, particularly the bolded bit. Nintendo’s output has changed drastically since Iwata’s passing. It’s much more conservative and much more in-line with wider industry trends (and the same is true with their mobile titles, which are now basically indistinguishable from the rest of the tripe you see on mobile; flying completely in the face of what Iwata wanted with Nintendo’s mobile strategy). BOTW is as contemporary as it can get really; it’s basically an Ubisoft open world game. Animal Crossing NH riffs heavily on Minecraft now (item crafting, terraforming), Mario Odyssey is a poor man’s Banjo Kazooie/open world wannabe, Fire Emblem Three Houses is more of a Persona knockoff than a FE game etc. And then there’s Pokemon Legends Arceus, the most pandery pandering game that ever pandered. You also have games like Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3; which Iwata’s Nintendo would NEVER have commissioned & published before. Nintendo is now starting to chase & follow standard industry trends and that’s a real shame to see as their uniqueness gets continuously chipped away... but that doesn’t mean that all is lost. We ARE still getting glimpses of the Crazy Nintendo we used to know and love. Things like Nintendo Labo, Ring Fit Adventure, ARMS, Mario Kart Live, 123 Switch are emblematic of the wild & experimental Nintendo of yore. While sequels like Mario Tennis Aces, Paper Mario TOK, Mario Golf Speed Rush and Luigi’s Mansion 3 aren’t afraid to push boundaries & conventions; they are certainly NOT conservative in nature! Even re-releases like Famicom Detective Club and Miitopia are big ball risks that are anything but safe! So while Nintendo has certainly been playing it much safer this generation than in those prior (particularly with their biggest titles like Mario & Zelda), there is still evidence that the old guard at Nintendo and the beating heart of their crazy, inventive & wild side is indeed still alive.

Star Fox Zero, Star Fox Guard, Kirby & The Rainbow Curse, Paper Mario Color Splash, Nintendo Land, Affordable Space Adventures, Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water, Game & Wario (The Gamer portion of G&W was ported to Wario Ware Gold on 3DS mind you), Xenoblade X, Pullblox World, Mario Party 10, Art Academy Atelier, Wii Sports Club, Wii Party U and Wii Fit U are the only remaining Wii U exclusives left now. Literally everything else has already been ported to Switch or 3DS.

ZombiU on systems other than Wii U are just fundamentally different games to the Wii U original. It’s not the same experience at all; even though it is a port of the same game, the gameplay is radically different with its main USP stripped out of it (and I would argue? a much lesser experience for it). Just because a game can be technically ported, doesn’t mean that the original gameplay experience can be preserved. Take DKJB on GCN vs Wii; the Wii version is fundamentally a completely different gameplay experience compared to the DK Bongo powered original, and I would never want to play the Wii version instead. Likewise, 9 Persons, 9 Hours, 9 Doors was completely ruined in its transition from DS to PC/PS4/Vita; as was The World Ends with You when it was ported to Switch. Likewise, Skyward Sword HD is going to have to be completely gutted when played with button controls (I’m just hoping that the original gameplay gets preserved properly when the motion controls are used). Even Super Mario Sunshine felt just incredibly awkward and wrong to play when it was first released on Switch (before it thankfully got proper GCN controller support patched back in), because it was designed around the GCN controller’s analog/2 stage L&R triggers; and that’s a relatively minor feature compared to those other examples! Things like touch screens, motion controls and multi-screen systems are NOT mere gimmicks. The problem is that Nintendo is basically the only game developer/publisher out there that is genuinely pushing for genuinely new kinds of gameplay experiences. Everyone else is happy sticking to the status quo, because it’s so much easier to sell your games on lavish production values than on novel gameplay. And as far as the west goes? most large scale western developers don’t even consider gameplay to be anything more than a tertiary concern, with story/cutscenes/sex & violence and graphics being the main focus of development and the gameplay just being perfunctory enough to get people to engage with the game and buy their microtransactions (indie games are obviously an exception; but they have to be multiplatform and designed for the lowest common denominator in order for their developers to survive - meaning that they can’t be designed around novel control input methods). When there’s only one major developer/publisher pushing for new experiences? Of course you’re going to get people (both developers and consumers) who refuse to accept anything new. Meanwhile, the traditional video game industry will carry on contracting as it continuously fails to bring in new audiences. I barely even play modern games at all anymore because I’m just so utterly bored and tired of the utterly banal status quo. I used to have a belief that there were people outside Nintendo (and certain indie developers) that were actually interested in pushing gameplay boundaries and making genuinely new & novel experiences; how fucking naive was I!?

Traditional controllers have been holding back game design for decades. Heaven forfend that crusty, miserable old gamers allow anything truly new and unique to be made and at least even try to learn something new! The sooner we move beyond the traditional controller for most games, the better. The Wii & DS was the best thing to happen to this industry and the entire 3rd party development industry did their utmost to sink those ships to preserve the only thing the know how to do; make the same old games for the 10-25 year old male demographic.

Very interesting reading that old interview again, thanks for sharing that! You can really see how this was the turning point in Nintendo's history and how they really started to pivot away from the traditional industry mindset of appealing primarily to existing & experienced audiences. You can see the mental anguish that Miyamoto is going through and how he regretted a lot of his choices with making Mario Sunshine bigger and more complicated, alienating lapsed players and non-gamers. Even as early as 2002, you can already see him start to pivot away from the classic industry mindset and see him start to turn towards the Blue Ocean that birthed the DS & Wii!

Just watched through it myself. Absolutely incredible production!! Just amazing all throughout!! Incredible arrangments and fantastic performances! Can't imagine how much work went into this thing! Just superb! And Origami King absolutely deserves it. Easily the best soundtrack of this generation! Nothing even comes close

HOLY SHIT!! https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/03/16/coming-soon-xbox-game-pass-march-2021-wave-2/ OCTAPATH TRAVELLER ON XBOX!?!?

The gyro controls in MHR are amazing! It took a bit of tweaking to get them how I like them, but they’re really very very good once configured! It’s can be made very much like Splatoon once you dial in the correct orientation & sensitivity settings; you can even have separate Docked & Handheld settings! I’ll definitely be using them for quick camera control & the wire bug. It even makes the Bowgun viable! Something which I would never normally even consider using!

For what it’s worth, Panic Button were involved in this port... and while it’s clearly not up to their usual standards, I’d expect them to improve it over time like with their other ports. That being said? This is an EA game... on a Nintendo console... Don’t expect EA to give much of a shit.

I can’t see that happening with a Japanese publisher/developer though. There are huge governmental, structural & legal barriers in place that are specifically designed to block foreign companies from buying Japanese ones (The idea of Keiretsu in particular is a big blocking factor). It’s not absolutely 100% impossible to overcome, but it’s very unlikely to happen.

Another point to consider with Xbox’s Japanese support is the domestic market factor... long a point of contention with Japanese developers that is very quickly becoming much less of an issue and blocking factor. Playstation has very quickly slipped into near total irrelevancy in the domestic Japanese market; to the point where Playstation has basically cut off almost its entire internal Japanese 1st party development studios (only two studios remain now, compared to Microsoft’s one), and where PS5 software sales are so weak that they can’t even crack the Top 30 on release date. Playstation might as well be Xbox right now when it comes to the domestic market; and amongst those who continue to stubbornly refuse to support Nintendo (be it due to personal grudges, loyalty to Sony or what have you), your only realistic option is to focus on the international market; where it really doesn’t make much sense to make your game Playstation exclusive unless Sony are directly moneyhatting you. All of these factors play into Xbox’s increased share of third party Japanese games and this is only going to increase going forward. It ain’t 2013 anymore, that’s for sure!