Dcubed

I thought you had the same Ultra Stylus that I did? Didn’t we get you one some years back?

It’s true, I did say that. And I stand by it. The Zelda CDI games had some genuinely good gameplay ideas, just held back by the shit console they were made for and all the janky controls, broken hit detection and busted programming that comes with making a game designed for a console engineered to run PowerPoint presentations masquerading as interactive software. I’m looking forward to getting stuck into Arzette myself. It looks to take all the good ideas and good concepts from the CDI Zeldas (including their funky fresh music!) and put them into an actual well made game

Heads up for anyone insane enough to pay LRG's price for a physical GBA copy, the pre-order page is up now. And a new mini trailer showing the GBA version... ... no? Just me? Ok then. Can't blame you TBH.

Here's a long overdue Wii U port for you... Surprised it took so long TBH.

Poor Swampert really does get overshadowed by his bretherin this generation... I'd also say the same for the mid evolutions, as Combusken and Marshtomp really are just kind of whatever after you see Grovyle; and I'm not even taking Mystery Dungeon into account here, Grovyle's design is just miles ahead in all respects. So much so that even Sceptile feels like a downgrade (and hilariously enough, Sceptile actually gets a stat decrease when you evolve Grovyle into it in the Mystery Dungeon games ) Grass did really deserve a lucky break though, especially after the way that it got done dirty with the Gen 2 starter line. Good for grass! Shame it would still end up getting beaten competitively by the fire starter line this time around though.

Rare saved Nintendo again with this one. Nintendo had nothing prepared for the 1997 Xmas season in the west as all of their internal titles got delayed (Yoshi's Story just barely squeaked out on Dec 21st 1997 in Japan, but would have to wait until March 1998 in the US and May 1998 over here), and Rare once again swooped in with this surprise release to save Nintendo's hide. And it would go on to be a massive success, selling more than 4.5 million copies (making it the 8th best selling game for the console). I won't bother going into all the development history, because you probably all know it already (started as RC Pro Am 64, morphed into a Timber Racing game, Diddy got shoved in at the last minute etc), but it's an important release not just because it helped save the N64, not just because it was a huge influence on the genre as a whole, but also because it was the start of Rare's Cinematic Universe. Banjo and Conker would get their starts here, and other characters would go on to cameo in other games. In fact, Dinosaur Planet was originally going to be based in the same universe, before being retrofitted into a Starfox title (yes, Tricky in Dinosaur Planet is supposed to be the same dinosaur that you race against here as a boss in Dino Domain!). But alas, the Rare buyout happened, the once great ship began to tear apart at the seams, and the studio's plans for the rest of the DKR cast would eventually be cast asunder... (and the less said about what happened with Bumper, the better...) But yeah, DKR is a masterpiece of a game. It's the best racing game of its generation and one of the best racing games ever made. Bloody tragic that Donkey Kong Racing on the Gamecube would never end up happening... and oh, what happened to you Bumper...

Strange Journey Redux was a remake though, not released for the same console. The mainline SMT series has only ever pulled this stunt once before, with SMT 3 Maniax (and that was also a unique case of an enhanced international version being back ported to Japan; since we never got the vanilla version at all in the west). I can understand not expecting them to do this with SMT 5, especially with DLC now being an option too.

FWIW, the game was originally £29.99 when it first came out on Xbox, so it’ll already be much cheaper than the standard RRP for a PS5 game anyway.

Game is out now, and... yup, apparantly it is indeed 30FPS on Switch; while it's 60-120FPS on everything else. Real shame, but that basically makes the Switch version a non-starter unfortunately. Hopefully it gets an enhanced version when Switch 2 rolls around. Will be getting this on Friday on PC when I get paid

New trailer! Looks utterly kick arse!

That's because it came out in Japan on Dec. 17 2015; just a little over a year before the Wii U got replaced by Switch. It was too late for them to release an English version of the game on that console, especially considering that Earthbound Beginnings had only just been released 6 months prior. Likewise, Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon & The Blade of Light was actually originally intended for release as a Wii U VC title (probably originally due for release in 2015, in time for the series' 25th anniversary), but was cancelled and held back for release on Switch instead, in time for the series' 30th anniversary; probably because they realised that wasting that game on a dying console was a stupid idea.

No, because Earthbound Beginnings was localised all the way back in 1993-1994. The English version was already done. That wouldn't be the case for Earthbound Endings however... it would be a similar situation as with Sin & Punishment and with Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & The Blade of Light. Also EB was sold as a VC release anyway, not given away for free as part of a subscription.

YYYYYYYYYEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!!! Thanks for saving me a cool £350! Can't believe it's finally getting a re-release!

The first ever Rare game to hit a Sony platform… history has been made. Surprised that they couldn’t seem to get a version running on Switch, but I suppose it’ll probably make for a good Switch 2 launch title regardless.

Worth noting that Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & The Blade of Light hit the Japanese NSO service in March 2019 and then got an individual English localised release around a year & a half later in December 2020… … a Japanese NSO release does not preclude a separate English release later. And I seriously doubt that Nintendo would just give away a brand newly localised 1st party title; especially one as high profile as Earthbound Endings.

The 3DS Picross titles are all getting ported to Switch as part of one package, where each 3DS title is downloadable as DLC (including the previously JPN-only Picross e9!)

@Julius They probably made some marketing deals with Nintendo & Sony respectively which meant that each platform holder had exclusive rights to having the first announcement of each respective game. Not uncommon amongst 3rd party publishers really.

Really? Fucking hell... Sigh... another one that I'll have to play on PC instead then. Come on Nintendo! Get Switch 2 out already FFS!

HiFi Rush is a great game, one of my favourites from last year. If you haven't played it before, you're in for a real treat. Well worth your time if you like Stylish Action games

For those who missed the now Privated video, HiFi Rush is coming to PS5 on March 19th. Seems to also include the DLC as standard. Surprisingly, no Switch version! Perhaps they really are saving it for Switch 2 then?

Another JPN Nintendo Direct exclusive... a new action RPG published by FuRyu (The guys who published the Cattle Call developed Legend of Legacy and The Alliance Alive). Coming to Switch, PS4, PS5 and PC on July 25th in Japan. Looks neat

Ahh shite! I just made a WOG2 thread on the Switch side because I couldn't find the old one there and thought we didn't have an N-E thread; I even posted in this one earlier!

New Denpa Men... ... Free... ... no thanks.

Seems to be focused on online play (though is not online-only), with randomly generated world layouts. Bit disappointed that it doesn't have a hand-crafted world like the original games, but still! Endless Ocean is back! Arika is also back as the developer (they developed the original two Endless Ocean games for Wii, as well as its spiritual predecessors Everblue & Everblue 2 for the PS2), as per NOA's website.

So... from what I can gather, this is essentially an updated version of the original SMT5, but with an additional story path that becomes available partway through. It's not an asset-reuse sequel like SMT4 Apocalypse was. Ooh... @Glen-i's not gonna be happy about this...