Dcubed

So… this is basically the end of Xbox as a console manufacturer? Not much point in continuing to make consoles if you’re not going to have exclusive games. It’s just a big money pit that they don’t need if they’re going to transition into being a hardware agnostic 3rd party publisher.

Wait? Really? The scoring system is completely gone? Is there not even a best time saved? That’s a huge blow if so; aiming for high scores was one of the best parts of the original game!

Haven’t played this one myself, but I don’t think that arcade style rally games were all that common on the N64… (certainly there were plenty of Simulation style rally games… probably too many), so this would still be fairly novel within the N64 library; especially at the time of its release in 1997. The problem is that SEGA Rally already existed, and had already been available on the Saturn for well over a year by this point. Meanwhile, the later Top Gear Rally games would end up blowing this game out of the water.

I wonder if there's a chance that they might be able to retro-fit the Classic Sonic physics from Sonic Superstars into this port? Because Sonic Generations plays like complete shite in comparison to Mania/Superstars... That would actually make this a very worthwhile purchase if they could pull it off!

To be fair, much of Yoshi’s Story’s lukewarm reception also stemmed from it being a very unconventional score-attack game that bore little resemblance to the original Yoshi’s Island (and from being “beatable” in just over an hour). But yeah, 2D sprite games largely got a bum deal when it came to critical reception on both the N64 and PS1 (less-so on Saturn; but that console and its media had a much more hardcore/niche appeal anyway). Just for the record, Silhouette Mirage (the Japanese version at least) is better than Guardian Heroes @Hero-of-Time

So am I! I missed it when it first came out and was always expecting to come to the VC at some point, but it just never did. Should just pick up an N64 cart at some point, it’s not even all that expensive. I’m just being lazy at this point

This one’s still on my bucket list. Ridiculous that it has still never been re-released (I know that S-E generally don’t give a shit about Enix’s legacy catalogue in general, but come on!). Put this on Switch NSO already you bastards!

They finally learned how to use drones to deliver packages. Neat.

So it's literally Not Metal Gear. Gotcha. See you in 2032 on PS6 Pro.

The combat gameplay looks good... shame that it seems to be an open world game, I would've been interested otherwise.

Can't say that making an action combat focused trailer for Silent Hill 2 of all things was the best choice... The last thing people want is to see Bloober attempt to turn SH2 into RE4.

So... it's a game about cancel culture? This is gonna have some very right-wing political messaging, isn't it?

That's because Hexen is the direct sequel to Heretic. I'd be surprised if it didn't look so similar I should play this at some point. Never have, but I do like a good Doom clone

Decent showing, bit thin on the ground for first party games though... Seems like it's gonna be a pretty dry year for Playstation Studios overall.

Hey! Speak of the devil @Julius...

So... it's like a SM3DW + Bowser's Fury kind of thing then? A remaster with a new game attached onto it as well? Nice. Surprised that they're leaning into the characters and setting of Shadow The Hedgehog, would've thought that they'd try and distance themselves from that mess of a game... (I can hear the internal screams coming from @Glen-i already ).

Damn shame that it didn’t pan out. I guess Velan Studios (the staff from Vicarious Visions that splintered off after working on this cancelled DK game) was too small a team to be working on a game like this though, so I guess that’s how they got the Mario Kart Live gig following this then? Hope that rumour about EPD Tokyo working on a 3D DK game turns out to be true… they’ve been radio silent since they released Mario Odyssey in 2017; and I can’t imagine that they’ve been working on nothing but 3D Mario for Switch 2 for the past 7 years…

History has already shown that Nintendo can't win a head-on battle against Sony. They will always lose if attempting to compete on even footing in that red ocean, as 3rd parties will always politically favour Sony and they will never be able to outspend their competition. Nintendo's own IP isn't strong enough to overcome the tide (especially now that Sony's own first party output is pretty comparable from a commercial standpoint). Nintendo have to operate by offering something different. It's the fundamental, core part of their DNA that has kept them going. The gameplay evolution of their IPs also depends on them developing new hardware that allows for new types of gameplay mechanics to be made that couldn't be done before. Gameplay stagnation will eventually kill them.

You say that, but the hybrid form-factor isn't going to be much of a distinct USP over the next generation as the likes of Valve continue to encroach on their space with the Steam Deck... The portable PC space is only going to get more and more crowded as time goes on; and with even Microsoft now reportedly moving away from x86 and onto ARM with the next generation? A standard "Switch 2" isn't going to stand out very much in the market as time goes on. Complacency is very tempting, but also usually what happens before a fall. The Third Console Curse is a thing for a very good reason, and it's usually because the market leader gets over-confident, arrogant and complacent. Nintendo also need to consider the creative needs of their developers, who are no doubt begging for fresh new hardware that allows for fresh new experiences (Don't forget that Miyamoto himself has already been expressing a desire for new control schemes and new forms of play as far back as 2019). The last thing Nintendo needs is to lose their creative staff as they grow unsatisfied with chasing the status quo (especially as Chinese companies continue to poach Japanese developers en-masse).

Bloody hell! Low Poly is back! Has been a long time since the last episode! Always appreciate a detailed look at proper artistry on display (save for the last one.. which I reckon is rather wasteful and poor looking by comparison to the rest of the Snake models)

Looks like you may well be wrong… Looks like there’s gonna be some substantial new content and not just a straightforward remaster after all! That certainly changes things significantly

Well, if things keep going as they are and nothing really new or exciting comes along? I may just end up dropping out of playing modern games altogether and just go full retro from here on out if they can’t bring out something fresh & interesting, and keep disappointing me… Zelda? Pokemon? 3D Mario? All of their new releases on Switch have left me tremendously disappointed. Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Metroid Dread are the big two first party single player games on the console that I unequivably loved; both of those games utterly blew me away and both offered meaty, hand-crafted experiences with expert level design and bold new gameplay ideas and concepts that they nailed perfectly. (Note that I haven’t played Pikmin 4 or Bayonetta 3 yet because I’m holding out for a likely performance boost on the next console at this point; we’re close enough now that I might as well just wait it out). Kirby & the Forgotten Land was also great as well. These kinds of experiences are becoming ever increasingly rare however; especially as Nintendo seem to be falling more and more in-line with wider industry trends and open world game design (which I can’t stand). If this continues? I may end up just giving up on playing new modern games altogether. As for the whole thing about OLED vs LCD? It would be disappointing if they moved back to LCD for me, but not a deal breaker. Given the choice? I’d rather the hardware budget go into the CPU/GPU guts and the specialist inputs/display features than OLED niceties that could be added later on with a revised model. Hell, I’d much rather see them go with an autostereoscopic 3D LCD display again than go for 1080p handheld or 4k on the telly. I have the Spatiallabs View autosteroscopic 3D display for my PC and it is, by far, the most next-gen and exciting display related thing I’ve experienced since the 3DS came out. If you ever see something like Octopath Traveller or HiFi Rush running on this thing? You wouldn’t give two shits about anything OLED ever again, it is a true revelation that I would kill to see Nintendo adopt with their next console!

Surprised that it has taken this long TBH. Though that being said, I wonder what they’d do with it on Xbox; considering that the BC 360 version already runs at a full 4k/60FPS on Series X as-is… Also, what about Sonic Lost World? We already have a PC version (which runs on the same engine) and have had it for a good few years now… Will that get an Xbox/PS5 port as well?

Bloody hell! Talk about a late port. How random, surprised that they wouldn’t just go straight to the sequel really. Should do well on PC though. The genre is right and the price is right.

What a fuck up of epic proportions. Insane just how much of the traditional video game industry is just getting destroyed as Embracer impodes on itself. The video game industry is so fucked. We're gonna be looking at the next great console market crash very soon. And not just that, but these idiots are also gonna end up taking down Middle Earth Enterprises and Dark Horse Comics along with them too. Crazy to think that both companies involved with the LOTR movies will end up getting killed by both Unity (Weta) and Embracer (Middle Earth Enterprises) both imploding at the same time!