Dcubed

Nope and yes. VS SMB differs significantly from the original NES version of SMB (it incorporates some levels from Lost Levels for starters!). It’s generally a much harder version of the game and well worth checking out for a new spin on an old classic!

https://www.gonintendo.com/stories/298540-crazy-climber-set-for-switch-release-on-jan-11th-2018 Crazy Climber ACA comes out on Switch on Jan 11 2018.

Considering that I just bought digital copies of BD and BS on 3DS a few weeks ago during the eShop Black Friday sale, I think it’s safe to say that we’re getting a Bravely HD Collection for Xmas on Switch...

@RedShell lives up to his name sake. Homing in on all who dare to stand in front of him (and then continuously firing backwards in first place for funzies). Congrats! Looking forward to joining IN! again next year (with hopefully a better average this time!)

Lol! I used to do the same thing! Was a riot to see literally every CPU fail to complete the track

The F-Zero X gif is so beautiful! I love the X-Cup

Flying Tiger Entertainment’s pedigree doesn’t seem great, but we’ll see... Hopefully they don’t botch the emulation here... The more developers working to bring arcade classics to Switch, the better though!

Here're my highlights! A fun night to be sure!

Oh hey, I know this is old news (but somehow I missed it!), but it seems that Hamster got the rights to some of Irem's games and they're planning on releasing some (including R-Type Arcade) on Switch next year! http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/11/r-type_and_other_irem_arcade_hits_are_coming_to_switch

THE RESULTS!! GP1: GP2: GP3: It’s a shame that we couldn’t get Backwards Racing working tonight, but I had a fun time regardless! It’s not often that we get a 3 way tie for 1st place, but we got it tonight! As for me? I had a strange mix of beautiful skill and beautiful fail (you’ll see why when I post my highlights later on). It’s been a great League guys! Here’s hoping I see you all again next year here too! @Glen-i will post the results over the weekend. I can’t wait to see how things get shaken up!

Due to the game deciding to be an arse, we sadly have to drop the Backwards Racing theme for tonight. It turns out that the game automatically disconnects you if you try it, just as if you don't press anything. I know, I know, I'm as absolutely livid about it as you too Next League Night: Tonight 8pm Group 1 @BowserBasher is host @BowserBasher @martinist @punio75 @viceview51 @RedShell @S.C.G So we're going with the good ol' End of Month tradition! See you all at 20:00!

Lol! It kicks you out even if you’re the only person doing it! I’m now forced to spectate you two! Ahh well, it was a fun dream while it lasted.

Yeah, it’s definitely something built into the game that stops you doing it sadly... Sigh... Players Choice it is then... Hang on a tick...

Bugger! The game won’t let us do it Looks like we’re gonna have to change plans and make it a pure player’s choice night... Let’s do another test race to rule out connection issues anyway.

Damn... Do you want to try it one more time?

Next League Night: Tonight 8pm Group 1 @BowserBasher is host @BowserBasher @martinist @punio75 @viceview51 @RedShell @S.C.G Due to an unfortunate last-minute snafu, Glen-i cannot participate tonight (meaning that I get a full screen to myself! HUZZAH! ) Are you guys ready for the craziliest, ridiculousliest, most utterly stupid night in MK League history? I know I am! @BowserBasher I will take Glen-i's place here and do the test with you at 19:30 (Make sure you select the four courses me and Glen-i chose for tonight's GP)

https://gonintendo.com/stories/298386-arcade-archives-double-dragon-releasing-on-nintendo-switch-eshop The arcade version of Double Dragon comes out on Switch next week!

I have thought about that myself, but I reckon that it's more likely that Namco would be helping out here. Monolith are still working on Xenoblade 2's DLC, have just finished work on BOTW's DLC and have another project they're just starting of their own (not to mention are also probably providing art assets for other 1st party Nintendo titles, like Pikmin 4 and Animal Crossing Switch, as well). They're likely tapped out for resources. Namco are Nintendo's go-to partner for outside development assistance and also have quite a bit of experience with UE4 now (not to mention that they've worked on Pokken/Pokken DX, so they have some experience with the IP already). They also have plenty of manpower to spare, so they seem like the most likely partner to me.

Actually, they haven't given any sort of date at all. Nobody from Nintendo or TPC has mentioned a date at all (same goes for Fire Emblem Switch and Metroid Prime 4 for that matter). Any rumblings of it coming in 2018 are nothing more than people making assumptions. I wouldn't expect Pokemon Switch to hit until November 2019 at the earliest (We might see a new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon this year though). I also wouldn't say that the game design of Pokemon is "outdated" either. There's nothing else to compare it to really. Limited in terms of the scope of the world and the camera system? Sure. Outdated in terms of the rest of the game design? By what standard? Turn based games are not "outdated" at all. Not every game has to be a contemporary open world game, with a free moving camera, that is a clone of The Witcher or GTA. In fact, for a Pokemon game that is supposed to have a wide audience, that actually might be a detriment. That being said, Pokemon has always largely been an "open world" game, ever since the beginning. It was only with the 3DS games that they had to really take a step back here. I would expect it to be designed more like Monster Hunter World or Super Mario Odyssey in that regard; with a decently sized, crafted world, but delivered in a seamless fashion without loading between areas. More like the original games, but in full 3D (and hopefully without the utterly ridiculous genwunner pandering! Please!!!). Probably with a behind the character view, but I'd expect camera control to be limited - think Mario Galaxy - in order to make it accessible to kids and people not used to using cameras in 3D space. I expect something grander in scale than Sun/Moon, but certainly still an evolution of what they were going for with that game. Pokemon doesn't need to change what it is, but it probably does need to back up on the linearity of the newer games, get rid of the loading screens and get back more of that "open world" feel that it used to have. If that means much fewer cutscenes, then so be it. Correct. They have 118 staff in total (and not all of them work on one game at a time). I don't see any way they can make a HD Pokemon game without outside help.

3D models do not equal a game engine. Those same models run perfectly fine in Pokedex 3D Pro (and while running in S3D to boot!). Game Freak's engine runs terribly and I say that as a long-time fan of the series. It doesn't even support basic texture filtering on 3DS for pity's sake! (Even the N64 could do that!) and they're being expected to basically jump two generations in one go with the Switch! I agree that the 3D models for the Pokemon are probably good enough as they are. I don't see them going back and remaking all 800+ Pokemon models again. Like you say, I expect them to reuse the models but with better shaders, lighting, textures etc. You know who else used to struggle with making 3D games until recently? Intelligent Systems. But look where they are now! Game Freak could get to that point if they get the outside help that IS currently do... Very true, but I think it's a sensible choice to move to UE4 and if Creatures are moving towards using it, then it's a strong sign that they're going to be using it for the next mainline Pokemon too; given that they co-develop the games alongside Game Freak. They wouldn't even be the first Nintendo affiliated studio to abandon their own in-house engine in favour of UE4. Good Feel actually had their own engine that they employed on both Wii U and 3DS (and it even ran really well on both consoles too!) and they've switched to UE4 for the new Yoshi game. Nintendo EPD and Monolith also use various middleware packages in their own engines, like Autodesk Beast and Havok; so it's hardly a sacred cow that they're killing here. Given Game Freak's current position, it seems far more sensible to me to make use of an established engine that already runs well on Switch than to spend years flailing and struggling to make something of their own from scratch (it also means that they may be able to get the next mainline Pokemon out on Switch much sooner than they'd otherwise be able to).

https://www.resetera.com/threads/the-best-selling-switch-games-of-2017.12046/ So Nintendo of America just sent out a list of the top 20 best selling Switch games in the US of 2017! And it includes both eShop AND retail titles combined! Here’s the list... @Glen-i, you lost the bet about Sonic Forces outselling Sonic Mania! (Sometimes, good things DO happen ) Thrilled to bits to see PPT and Xenoblade 2 make the list as well!

Game Freak have struggled to keep up with their contemporaries on all platforms since the GBA. And they now have to transition to HD development. They’re not equipped for the job (hell, not even Nintendo’s own developers are even able to make HD games on their own anymore; how do you think Game Freak are gonna manage it?) and while the 3D models of the Pokemon might be of high quality, their game engine suffers from serious performance issues on 3DS. Switching to UE4 makes a lot of sense. It’s a mature engine, is relatively easy to use, capable of a wide variety of art styles (just look at DQ11, Octopath Traveller or the new Yoshi game!) and runs well on Switch. It would give them a huge leg-up on making the transition from 3DS to Switch. It doesn’t mean that their games have to look like the “realistic Pokemon” fan mockups, UE4 is very flexible and has great Japanese documentation too! (Meaning that they can not only learn it fairly quickly, but also employ programming support from outside the company effectively too. Companies that could reasonably co-develop the game, like Namco or Orca, already have plenty of experience with the engine). I think it makes a lot of sense; and this job listing does imply that it’s a very real possibility. It would be great for helping Game Freak in getting off to a flying start and also break away from the limitations of their aging engine.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/nintendo-power-is-back-as-an-official-nintendo-podcast.12098/ First episode is pretty good. I like how they acknowledge the Switch Home Menu Icon Fiasco

https://www.resetera.com/threads/media-create-sales-week-50-2017-dec-11-dec-17.11944/page-12#post-2354235 Not strictly US/UM related, but this seems to be the best place to put it. Looks like Creatures are hiring people with UE4 and Unity experience, and interestingly have shown what seems to be a Pokemon related prototype in UE4! Creatures make their own spinoffs like Poke Park and Detective Pikachu, but also help to co-develop the mainline games (in particular, they're responsible for all of the Pokemon 3D models in the 3DS Pokemon games). Could Game Freak be ditching their own engine and moving to UE4? (Oh good lord please!)

I'm a touch disappointed that they could only ship 221k Switches for Xmas... A far cry from the 3DS' insane first Xmas. Doesn't bode well for future supply going forward if that's the best they can muster for Xmas... At least it should outsell Wii U's LTD by the end of the year!