Dcubed

Oh, here's some good news! http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1333551 Looks like they're planning on adding USB HDD support to the Switch dock at a later date. It's not gonna be there for launch, but they're apparently looking into it currently. (They also confirm that 2TB SD cards do currently work, even if nobody is gonna have them yet, for those that doubted that they'd work for whatever silly reason) Well I suppose that USB 3.0 socket is there for a reason

That's the US price though. I seriously doubt that £279.99 was the price they were aiming at.

This game absolutely should be bundled, it's an enormous mistake to sell it separately. Reggie can compare it to Wii Play all he likes, but if this thing doesn't use 4 joy-cons then there's no point in bundling them together. And times have changed, Switch is not Wii. Switch is shockingly expensive and comes with no game, Wii was cheap and came with a blockbuster seller. THAT's the difference here.

The funny thing with the online aspects of Switch is that they're actually pretty forward thinking really. It's a completely bizarre way of going about things compared to the past, but it's certainly not backwards. I'm still of the opinion that we may well see Streetpass and Miiverse return through mobile apps and integration with Switch games. Nintendo have clearly gone all-in with smartphone integration in a way that nobody really has done before (it's basically a requirement for anything that involves online with this thing!) and they have conceded that almost everyone on the planet has a smartphone and carries it around with them everywhere they go. So why not take advantage of that? The logic is there, but it all comes down to how exactly they integrate it... It did take a really long time to get there though. The first year of the PS4 and Xbone really were shockingly anemic (and that's not through lack of support, but simply because games just take too much time and manpower to make these days). It probably is using quick charge technology, considering that it's using USB C. The battery just so happens to be honkingly massive.

Personally I'd just wait until you need the storage. The longer you wait, the cheaper the SD Cards will become. 256GB ones will probably go down to the same price as a 128GB one within the year, as 512GB ones become common (and take the place of the 256GB ones). I reckon that was the original plan, before the pound tanked hard.

I'm getting it day one, but I'm not gonna lie. The price is too high and the launch day lineup is pretty anemic. If MK8 and ARMS were coming out on day 1 instead of in April and the price was £40 lower, I'd feel much better about it. As things stand though, I don't fancy its chances. While I do think the concept looks great and that it has tons of potential, both in terms of keeping the push for new and ground breaking gameplay concepts and forms of gameplay alive and well (thank Christ for stuff like 1,2,Switch and ARMS! I really thought we might not ever see stuff like that again) and in terms of potential mass market success for Nintendo, I can't help but feel that they've really shot themselves in the foot with that pricepoint and launch day lineup.

Trailer was absolutely amazing. But screw that crazy collectors edition. No way am I shelling out that much.

Sonic Adventure is literally the first thing I thought of when I saw the first part of the trailer, so it doesn't surprise me to see it trend. It also looks hilariously wrong. So very, very wrong... Otherwise, the game looks pretty cool. But semi-realistic humans and Mario don't gel... at all.

Are there any Switch pro-controllers there to try out? How do the shoulder buttons feel on those? Analog? Oh yeah, also is the screen glass or plastic?

http://www.famitsu.com/news/201701/13124782.html NeoGeo games coming to Switch (not as VC though, but as part of Hamster's Arcade Archives series - the same one as on PS4).

It's really too expensive. It has potential sure, but at that price? They're gonna really, really struggle...

On day one? That's really, really weak... I really expected MK8 to be on day one. That's a big shocker and a huge blunder on their part. Likewise, ARMS really should've been a launch title alongside 1,2,Switch. And who's gonna want a port of Skyrim on anything other than day one? Nintendo really blew it with the initial offering. The future lineup looks promising, but it's too far away. They really should've had much more available out of the gate (and where's Retro's new title!? That should be done and dusted by now!)

I'm really glad to see 1,2 Switch and ARMS making use of them in a fundamental way from launch/near launch. That was one thing I was really afraid that we'd lose, new kinds of games and new ways of playing. Couldn't be happier to see the sight of them! ARMS not being a launch title is a big mistake though. That's gonna really hurt its chances...

http://www.nintendo.com/switch/ Lol @ the parental controls video. Of course Bowser's lock screen image would be Peach

Oh! So THERE'S Bill Trinen! Why the hell has he only just shown up!? We needed him instead of that doofus who did Suda 51's translation!

No sign of Sawano? Ace + is back!? SOLD!!

First they remake Wild Gunman, now they remake the Ultra Hand! What's next?

Does 1,2,Switch come with free costumes? If not, no sale!

S'up dudes.

Does anyone know how long this Treehouse Live is going on for? (It does start right after the presentation, doesn't it?)

Now I know this sounds crazy, but bear with me here. I think... that there might not have been three Yoshis behind that 3DS at all times! I know I know, it sounds like pure insanity! But trust me! I have it on good authority!

You finished on Karate Man? That's just weird :p Good job though! Ascend with me to Rhythm Heaven now : peace:

Yeah, sorry, had my globe set up backwards. It's Friday 1PM in Japan and Friday 4AM here in the UK. So don't worry, you only need to lose sleep the once.

I decided to start off 2017 with a bang. Four games completed in as many days! Not bad going if I do say so myself! So let's get this show on the road, shall we? How about we start with... A game 10 years in the making and a write up 10 minutes in the making. So The Impossible Game actually came into existence after all! Pigs have flown, cats and dogs are sleeping together and Shenmue 3 is happening! The Last Guardian represents the literal hopes and dreams of a literal generation. But sometimes dreams are best left at that... We all know what happened with Duke Nukem Forever and Too Human after all; so naturally it shows that games stuck in Development Hell are best left down there... ... ... ... thankfully not in this case! The most adorable monstrosity you'll ever encounter. You'll want to protect her (him?) Trico is a living, breathing animal and is about as obedient as a Nintendog. Naturally this means that half of the people playing this game will scream in frustration as Trico refuses to listen to your stupid commands, while most of the other half will hone their trainer skills and learn that you have to work WITH your pet to get them to get you to where you want to get to. The remainder will probably trade the game in once they realise that you can't pick up Trico with the tug rope and fling him through the air like they did in Nintendogs. This game is otherwise basically Ico in reverse; with you playing the role of Yorda a mysterious young boy with a case of too many trips to the tattoo parlour without telling your folks. You are basically useless and can't do anything right, so you have to beg your trusty companion to carry you through the game. Sounds rubbish, but is actually bloody fantastic. The puzzle design is exquisite and will no doubt tickle the fancy of many a Zelda fan. Environmental navigational puzzles are the order of the day here as you are tasked with figuring out how to navigate the seemingly impassable environment; along the way you'll find spotty switches (no, not the Nintendo kind), charismatic chasms and perfunctory pits that impede your progress through the ruinous ruins. There is something to be said for the lack of a clear direction given to you, as the naturally designed environment can belie your senses and present a challenge in figuring out where the bloody hell you're meant to go. Some may find that part of the game frustrating, but it too, is part of the gameplay and makes for a unique kind of puzzle solving experience where finding the puzzle, is half the puzzle. Oh, there's a tiny bit of combat as well, but since you have all the stopping power of a limp puppet, you need to rely on guiding your adorable partner of dread armageddon and destruction to its prey (and of course you have a dedicated petting button to let him know that you love him; in fact, you actually have to do this to calm him down after he's finished disembowelling your helpless foes! Isn't he just so adorbs? ). Aww, I wuv you soooooo muuuccchh... KILL THEM ALL!!! And as you all have probably figured out by now, you have the ability to jump and climb the many edifices of the surrounding environment, as well as Trico himself (herself?). These clambering controls are basically the exact same as those in Shadow of the Colossus and SOTC's influence here is as clear as air. Needless to say, the boy controls exactly like the one in Ico and climbs and grapples just like how Wander did in SOTC. If you hated the controls and movement physics in those games, then you're in for a treat here, because it's almost exactly the same here! You are a helpless little boy and not a genetically engineered, super soldier, male power fantasy personification after all and chances are that if you are remotely interested in this game, you'll understand why Ueda and his team chose to design the controls the way they have. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the camera as it is far from ideal. It hates, loathes and detests your very soul as it constantly gets stuck and works against you while you fight to find your way through the (oftentimes literal) darkness. It's especially egregious in cramped spaces as it literally doesn't have enough space to manoeuvre around you and Trico, who themselves are taking up all of the space within the already cramped room. It's a real shame and really the only real blemish upon this very real game's face. It's hard to get too angry at the camera though when you consider that this is a game where this... (ignore the stupid alterations, it’s the only GIF I could find) ... is 100% playable gameplay and not a cutscene, or a quasi-interactive movie experience. You are in full control here and can indeed fail as this guy did… Sike! So yeah it's a masterpiece. It's every bit as good as Ico and SOTC and is an absolute must play experience. An absolute joy from start to finish. There's more to be said about the game's story and sound design, but I already went over much of that in the game's thread, so I'll spare the repeat. Besides, it doesn't really matter. The TLDR version of this post is basically, It's a Masterpiece, It's An Incredible Experience, Go Play It Right Now anyway :p   Shantae: Half Genie Hero Now these are what I call HD assets! It's Shantae! In Aiche Dee!!! Her long awaited console debut! (no, late ports don't count, smartarse!) And Wayforward's first foray into Kickstarter. A pretty important game all be told. A lot of firsts not only for the series, but also for Wayforward themselves. Built on the same engine as Ducktails Remastered, Half Genie Hero represents Wayforward's first original, full HD 2D title. Unfortunately, the jump to HD comes at a price... too great a price (no, I do mean that quite literally). Alas, Wayforward never managed to reach all of their stretch goals for this passion project; oh, but that's alright, they were just additional bits that would add to a finished product guys! They're not parts that would form the fundamental game! It will still feel complete! ... I and the final game respectfully disagree... Well at least we're still getting the one additional playable character... I'm gonna be blunt. This game is only half the game that Wayforward wanted to make. After playing through it, it's clear that Wayforward went into the project expecting to be able to make the game under the assumption that they'd reach all of their stretch goals; alas, they did not and as such, cuts had to be made. Unlink previous Shantae games, Half Genie hero is a largely linear platformer in the vein of Super Mario Bros or DKC. However, like previous Shantae games, you are granted new abilities as you progress through the game and are able to revisit previous areas to get to places you weren't able to before. It sounds good, but it's not. It quickly becomes very very annoying as you return to the first level for the fifth or sixth time to look for a stupid item you need to progress through the game and unlock the next stage. Quite frankly, the levels are not really built with backtracking in mind and it shows. There are also signs that they originally intended to keep the backtracking to a minimum and intended for more stages (most notably the fact that you find very important abilities and transformations just lying around in the most random of places; it's like the equivalent of being given Nayru's Pearl from Jabun in Wind Waker, you just KNOW that there was originally meant be a dungeon there instead of a cutscene that gives it to you...). It's a real shame because what's here is good, really good in places, but it just gets bogged down by all the backtracking that they added in to pad out the length of the game when they found themselves unable to make the full sized game they wanted to. HD visuals are lovely and all, but they came at too great a price here. I do hope that Wayforward get another chance at some point to make the game they want to make, but they clearly need a bigger budget and more time to work with to get that game made.   Rhythm Paradise Megamix Wubadubadub it’s true! So this is basically a Best-Of compilation that pulls in a huge selection of rhythm games from all the previous games in the series (including the Japan only GBA game) and comes along with some new additions of its own to offer up a whopping 100 rhythm games! Whoowee! That’s a big slice of Rhythm Heaven! Needless to say, it’s obviously brilliant. It’s particularly great to see GBA and DS rhythm games get upgraded to the same visual and audio quality as the Wii game (speaking of which, they’re all presented in S3D and look great! Especially the baseball ones!) and the new games are pretty great, with some particular standouts that stand amongst the very best in the series… Why oh why is there no Sumo Bros 2!? Unlike previous games in the series, which all had a similar structure whereby you played four rhythm games that would be followed up by a remix that put the games you just played into a blender and turned it into musical Wario Ware, this game replaces that with a new “Story Mode”… The game isn’t joking Naturally the “story” is completely stupid and that’s a good thing. That being said, it’s kind of a complete waste of time. I don’t think it really added anything or really took away from the game at the end of the day. That being said, the Story Mode does two things that are worthy of note. Firstly, it tasks you to play through four rhythm games per stage (one from each previous game and finally one new one), which is cool, but sadly, each stage does not end with a remix, which is not cool (but ok, fair enough. There’s no way that they were gonna make 25+ remixes!) The remixes are actually entirely absent from the game until near towards the end, which brings me to the second major thing that is worthy of note. The remixes are now presented largely all at once as part of a set of stages that you can complete in any order. While this is an interesting idea, I feel that it ultimately comes at a detriment to the game as each remix suffers from what I like to call, A-Link-Between-Worlds-Syndrome. Since you can tackle each remix in any order you like, there’s no difficulty progression; meaning that they’re all really basic and kind of easy. It’s not really until the very last remix where they finally do some really clever things and it’s a bit of a shame. There’s also a lot of medleys amongst these remixes, which is again a pity as it means that the rhythms of each game aren’t shaken up much; now I appreciate that mixing up all these games (which weren’t originally designed to be mixed together) is a huge task, but it’s still a little disappointing. In transferring over games from DS and Wii to 3DS, the controls had to see some changes. While they’re generally done as best as possible (more on that later), I can’t help that a lot of games feel less than at home on Nintendo’s three dee wonder. Games like Lockstep and The Frog Hop are absolute hell to play with buttons (thank God for the touch control option!) and even many Wii rhythm games just don’t feel quite right here. Packing Pests in particular is just all kinds of WTF!? (and not the kind that you normally think playing it!). That game always made fantastic use of the natural pinching motion you’d make when pressing A+B together with the Wii Remote and felt completely natural there; here though? A+B is replaced by just pressing B and it feels so very very wrong… Why the hell is B “catch” and A “slap”!? It’s like having Mario’s jump mapped to B and run mapped to A!! Oh and speaking of those touch controls… While it’s great that they gave us the option, sadly they only went halfway with them. Unlike the DS game, which recognised slides and flicks along with taps, here on 3DS? Everything is controlled by taps; even with rhythm games taken from the DS game that used flicks originally. Ok, this makes Rhythm Rally about a million times more manageable and I thank the Rhythm Lord in heaven for that, but it also makes other rhythm games like Dog Ninja completely rote and boring now. But really, it’s hard to complain about a package that feels this complete; oh and I haven't even mentioned the multiplayer! Tucked away are a series of challenge gauntlets that pit you against a series of rhythm games with minimum score requirements and various gameplay mods. At last! You can finally play with your mates and see who is the rubbishest at Rhythm Paradise! Hurrah! It's so complete that it actually includes the majority of rhythm games from the entire series in one game and that’s just nuts! It also makes the Perfect Challenge an absolute Hell Gauntlet, especially since they tightened the timing window and made it even harsher than before. If you thought that Lockstep was hellspawn before, whoo boy! You aint seen nothing’ yet! Did it though :awesome:   Tembo: The Badass Elephant This is Tembo. He is an elephant. He is badass. It’s made by Game Freak! It’s not on a Nintendo console and that’s hilarious. This is a game where you can destroy a helicopter by making a camo touting elephant do an uppercut. See, told you As you can see, it’s already off to a good start. It also helps that it’s a pretty good game too. This is basically Game Freak’s take on Donkey Kong Country. Imagine a DKC game where you played as Rambi throughout the whole game and you wouldn’t be far off, as the physics and core gameplay feel very similar (hell, even the sound of picking up a peanut sounds like it was ripped verbatim from DKCR!). The game is somewhat more combat focused than any of the DKC games though (modern or SNES) and the level design is much simpler, but that’s not a bad thing here as it’s a good fun ride throughout. It’s also a smart decision, in light of its small budget, to focus on what the game does well and not build the game in a way that stretches that budget too thin. The game is fairly short, but it’s just about the right length I reckon. There’s just enough variety on offer here to keep things fresh throughout and the game is very polished all throughout. It’s a good, fun and very silly ride all throughout. I’d love to see Game Freak get to make a more expansive sequel with a bigger budget in the future as it’s a pretty badass game, starring a badass elephant and really, what more could you ask for? And that’s 2017 for me so far. I’ve also finally started playing Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice again and I’m on the final case in that game, so hopefully I’ll be adding it to the completion list soon. Speaking of which…