Dcubed

I never bother with screen protectors, but I would never even consider taking my Switch outside without a carrying case. The protruding sticks are just begging to get snapped off without one. It's not like a 3DS, where you can just close the system and chuck it in your pocket, the Switch basically requires a carry case and a bag/backpack to actually be portable. So naturally I preordered the official case along with the console.

Written article version of the information… https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2025-nintendo-switch-2-final-tech-specs-and-system-reservations-confirmed 3GB and two whole CPU cores is a crazy amount of RAM and system resources to cordon off just for the OS! I think they will have to give developers the option to deactivate Game Chat and non-essential OS stuff to claw back system resources; especially with later life titles. That’s way too many system resources being allocated to non-game related operations. They did it before with the 3DS, they can do it again here. Even Switch 1 had a special OS mode that clawed back a good 350mb of RAM for games or so by deactivating the video recording feature. They can then put out an enhanced OLED model that adds the extra two cores and RAM needed to re-enable these features later on. Similar to what they did with the New3DS. Not having VRR support while docked essentially makes the feature useless as well (not to mention making 120FPS support basically worthless for most games; since almost nothing will be able to flawlessly sustain such a high framerate). Hopefully they can find a way to fix it post-launch (IIRC, VRR didn’t work on PS5 until it got a post-launch update, so there’s precedent for this).

New English Q&A is out https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2025/250509e.pdf It's basically 6 pages of investors hounding Furakawa about tarrifs

Great stuff, glad you got it sorted

That’s something that Nintendo have generally been pretty good with, the idea of variable game pricing. Even on Switch, you get physical retail games across the whole spectrum of pricing, from £59.99-£19.99. Hopefully that continues on Switch 2.

Man, what a tragic fall from grace for the ISS series. Though of course Konami would go on to far greater success with the Pro Evolution Soccer series (which was birthed from the ISS Pro series on the PS1), it’s such a shame that the mainline ISS series on the N64 died on the grapevine with ISS 2 and 3 (which we’ll see later on). I always much preferred the arcade style of somewhat unrealistic football, so it was tragic to see it fail to properly make the transition from the N64 to 6th Gen consoles, while the market consolidated almost exclusively into realistic Football Sim titles (which of course coalesced exclusively into just PES and FIFA, before eventually just FIFA/EA Sports FC).

Guilt by admission here. Nintendo will probably argue it in court even. Making this change after the legal action was announced proves that they knowingly infringed on their patent.

Yup. S/S’ soundtrack is amongst the series’ better ones for sure. Far better than Gens 6, 7 and 9. I’d put it a step below Gens 1-5 overall though, despite having some real select bangers (like the Gym Leader music).

That's kind of the point though. The music is purposely dissononant... I mean... it's literally in the game's title! (Yes, I know that the Japanese title translates directly as "Concerto of the Midnight Sun", but it too is an oxymoron; that's the point). The music is purposely composed to be uncomfortable to listen to; lacking a harmony to latch onto. It's a brave creative choice, and I do appreciate what the soundtrack is going for; but the music is let down by the awful sound quality of the audio driver the game uses. I have no issue with the compositions themselves (in fact, I actually quite dig what they're going for), but the actual audio quality is pretty rough; even by GBA standards. Of course, that's something that Aria of Sorrow would address directly, but that also goes for a more traditional style of Castlevania music.

Holy necrobump Batman! Surprised it hasn’t already happened TBH.

Man, GCN really did get a LOT of N64 up-ports didn’t it? It’s almost enough to make the Switch blush with its army of reheated Wii U titles.

VF5 Revo was just announced for Switch 2 during the Virtua Fighter Direct. Nice.

Well that's bloody terrifying! That does not look like a happy battery (The crack on the right-side of the top of the unit tells me that it's not just coming loose, but it's the battery bulging). Luckily iFixit have a ready-made battery replacement kit for £35, which should be a pretty easy and straightforward job, even for a pleb.

Wahey! A happy ending! That's a rarity

The collections are very well done, but the DS games will naturally be compromised by the loss of the second screen and Resistive Stylus controls. M2 did the best they could with what they had (and the Switch version of the collection does still retain touch controls when played in handheld mode), but it’s still sub-optimal compared to real DS/DSi hardware. The rest of the modern collections though? Absolutely fine, ideal ways to play even. Keep in mind that if you’re planning on doing a full series playthrough, you would need to buy the Dominus Collection anyway even if you’re planning to play the original DS releases on DS/DSi hardware, because it includes a brand new game called Haunted Castle: Revisited (which is a Metroid Zero Mission style reimagining of the utterly godawful arcade game by the same name… which M2 somehow spun into gold!). As for SOTN? The ideal version is still the PS1 original; you can still get it on the PS3 PSN store if you still have a PS3 kicking around (just make sure you buy the US NTSC version for that 60hz support!). The 360 version is probably second best, but you do lose the FMV cutscenes (not a huge deal, but obviously not ideal). The PSP version (which is also on PS4 in emulated form, alongside Rondo of Blood) is not ideal, as they recast the voices and made some gameplay tweaks that are not ideal. Likewise, best version of Rondo if Blood is the TG16 original, which is available on the Wii VC (only available via piracy/2nd hand sales now) and the excellent TG16/PC Engine Mini console. The PSP version is ok, and even comes with an English dub, but it’s not quite as good as the original. Castlevania Chronicles? PS1 or Sharp X68000 is your only option, but the PS1 version IS still available via the PS3 PSN service for a vastly lower cost than the physical version. Again, be sure to get the US 60hz NTSC release instead of the PAL one. And the weird whip-based arcade game has no official home release, so Technoparrot on PC is your only option. There’s also the GB version of Kid Dracula, Vampire Killer MSX, and the PS2/N64 3D games which have never seen any sort of re-release ever. So physical carts/discs or piracy are your only options. Everything else? The modern collections and PC versions of the Lords of Shadow games are the way to go.

Aww man, sounds like I missed out on a fun night. Unfortunately my work schedule is utterly brutal this month (having to work quite a few extra shifts to pay for my Switch 2 stuff, amongst some other bits n’ bobs), so I won’t be free to join in for NSO Nights until June.

Now. Will SEGA be smart and put the game out on Switch 2? Or will they be dumb and ignore the clear, obvious winning platform in the main territory that actually cares about Virtua FIghter? Oh who am I kidding...

Keep in mind that he would also be playing the classicvanias as well, where starting with the OG NES game would actually be a very good choice!

Considering that the only Castlevania game you’ve ever played is Castlevania 64 (and its glorified DLC) for Christ’s sake? Yeah, you probably should.

Here’s another one I remember coming out much later in the system’s life than it actually did. Maybe my memory is being warped by the very late European release for the console?

That’s kinda badass, not gonna lie. I’d buy a Gex RPG for sure. Think of the outdated references it could have!

I reckon it will probably manage it after Xmas. Beating the PS2’s 160 million will be a very slow crawl though… It should make it, but probably not until early 2027 (and even then, only just barely when all is said and done).

To be fair, the title screen does say copyright 2024; so seemingly LRG took at least 5 months to get the carts manufactured and shipped… so… err… don’t cut them too much slack here

I don’t think there’s really a blanket answer to this question, it really depends on time, circumstance and the game in question. Switch 2 games are very expensive in general, but you do have to consider the cost of the media it ships on… in many respects, we’re back in SNES/N64 territory; with similar pricing and a similarity expensive storage medium. I can’t really say that it’s a ripoff or not worth the money, because you are paying for the hardware as well as the software in these cases. And digital versions do come with an accompanying discount. Same goes for limited release physical games, where the higher price is more understandable because of the limited nature of its print run reducing economies of scale. I bought the physical GBA version of Shantae Advance for £50 and I deemed it to be worth it, despite the fact that I could get the upcoming digital release on Switch/PC for much cheaper instead; because the limited nature of an aftermarket GBA cartridge release comes with an inherent cost. And the novelty of having a brand new release of a long-lost GBA game comes with inherent value attached to that. Not the same thing as paying £50 for a digital download of the same GBA ROM. That being said, the rise in prices for Switch 2 will have an impact on my spending habits. I’ve already heavily cut down on my 3rd party gaming purchases over the past couple of years or so, but there is no way that I am going to buy any 3rd party Switch 2 game (or game for any other current platform) at full price; unless it’s either an exclusive title, or TRULY an exceptional must-have purchase (like Okami 2 for instance). Because I know it’s gonna price collapse soon enough anyway. I also have to consider the SD card storage costs as well, which will severely limit what 3rd party games I buy, especially if Switch 2 really can’t support SD Express cards larger than 2TB. For first party Nintendo titles though? I’ll likely continue buying most of them on day 1, because I know they’re gonna be great, and I know that they’ll rarely go on sale anyway. That being said, I may wait on re-releases to have the occasional 33% off sale, we’ll see.

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2025/250508_4e.pdf Looks like Drag x Drive is digital only, as per Nintendo's latest Quarterly Earnings release documentation. This would make it amongst the largest scale first party eShop-only games that Nintendo have ever published. Certainly changes expectations about this game! Also means that it’ll probably be a lower-priced title, since it’s both digital and multiplayer only. Probably gonna be $39.99/€39.99/£29.99 now I reckon.