V. Amoleo

It makes me sad that they've taken all the colour away! It was totally expected that we'd get a traditional successor but in a world of Steam Decks, they've got a lot more competition than last time. I went from buying pretty much any third party game I wanted to play on the Switch to just buying first party games again since I got a Steam Deck a few years ago. Obviously I'll still buy it because Nintendo but I think they might struggle to get the 'western gamer' segment this time and fall back on just the fans and families again. Though catching families will be massively dependant on price.

I wonder if that's over them taking Namco off of in-flight projects. We know they were taken off of Smash Bros and Metroid Prime at the very least.

For those interested this is live now. Just remember to take all the usual Kickstarter precautions if you're interested in it.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oscarbown/an-unendorsed-anthology-of-club-nintendo More pictures here: https://www.oscarbown.com/ This is interesting from a historical point of view. Even if it is just the tat we used to get from Club Nintendo. I'm actually shocked it's not one of our old regulars putting this out 🤣

Just tried this on my Pocket and I love it! Will try on Game Boy Player or MiSTer at some point too.

Is there a good reason to get this if I already have the second one?

I love these games. I really hope we get the Leslie Philips and Danny John-Jules voice tracks though. In a perfect world we'd able to chose between those UK tracks and the american Dana Gould ones. So strange to see that logo at the end because I thought they had sold Gex along with all the other IP.

Excited for this! Though it's strange that it's based on the SNES original and not the enhanced port to the PlayStation.

That's so strange it made you wait the full 24 hours, including DST, while I only had to wait around an hour. I think buying Wii games is fairly safe as I can't see us getting any GameCube or Wii games as part of NSO (despite us seeing that it's possible with the Mario collection). Some final VC purchases: Wild Gunman Shining Force Sword of Hajya - I still want the Game Gear Micro that includes this but it's super unlikely I'll be getting it any time soon Devil's Crush Trip World I'm really confused why they need to shut the stores down. I get shutting it down on device because of all the SSL/TLS issues, it's why it's not accepted payment for ages. But the web store is all secure, why can't I just buy things there and redownload on device? It's basically what I've been doing the past couple of days anyways. Goodbye 3DS and Wii U, you've been great.

That's a good list, @Julius. A lot of cross over with what I've bought or already had purchased. Incuding Catrap which I thought would only be on my list I had to trim my list hard too, it still managed to get into the hundreds across the UK and Japanese eShops but I've been planning for this since it was announced. I decided to focus on games that were native to the 3DS/DSi or Wii U, that either would be prohibitly expensive to buy physical or just unavailable. Next was the last Fire Emblem DLC that I needed. The remainder was used on VC games that I thought would not show up on NSO or are much more expensive to buy physically. Just a heads up, the cool down period isn't actually 24 hours! I hit that limit and panicked but I waited an hour or so and I was able to add more. Here's what my list ended up being 3DS UK THE DENPA MEN: They Came By Wave - 3DS Exclusive THE ''DENPA'' MEN 2: Beyond the Waves - 3DS Exclusive THE ''DENPA'' MEN 3 The Rise of Digitoll - 3DS Exclusive THE STARSHIP DAMREY - 3DS Exclusive, part of Guild02 Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars - Comes with Wii U version LIBERATION MAIDEN - 3DS Exclusive, part of Guild01 Hydroventure™: Spin Cycle - 3DS Exclusive Langrisser Re:Incarnation -TENSEI- - 3DS Exclusive Dedede’s Drum Dash Deluxe - 3DS Exclusive BUGS vs. TANKS!™ - 3DS Exclusive, part of Guild02 Aero Porter - 3DS Exclusive, part of Guild01 3D Classics TwinBee - 3DS Exclusive and the only 3D Classics I didn't already have 3D Classics Urban Champion - 3DS Exclusive and the only 3D Classics I didn't already have ATTACK OF THE FRIDAY MONSTERS! A TOKYO TALE - 3DS Exclusive, part of Guild02 SADAME - 3DS Exclusive, cheap and looked alright Go! Go! Kokopolo 3D - 3DS Exclusive Pokémon Dream Radar - 3DS Exclusive YO-KAI WATCH BLASTERS: Red Cat Corps - 3DS Exclusive, physical is super expensive 3DS UK DLC Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Season Pass - Expensive but only FE DLC I was missing DSiWare UK Aura Aura Climber Bomberman Blitz Paper Plane Boxlife A Little Bit of… Dr. Mario 3D Space Tank PiCOPiCT Face Pilot Art Style: Aquite Art Style: Code PictureBook Games™: The Royal Bluff Mighty Flip Champs Mighty Milky Way Pinball Pulse - Made by the same guys who made Metroid Pinball! Reflect Missile 3DS UK VC Catrap Adventure Island Forified Zone Avenging Spirit The Sword of Hope II QIX Pinball: Revenge of the Gator - Probably shouldn't have gotten this one as it's NSO fodder but I really like pinball Rayman - Ubisoft have never released anything on NSO Toki Tori Xtreme Sports Recca Wii U UK NES™ Remix - Wii U Exclusive NES™ Remix 2 - Wii U Exclusive Game & Wario - Wii U Exclusive, prohibitely expensive physically Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars - via purchasing on 3DS Wii U UK VC Picross 3D Super Mario 64 DS Mario Party DS Donkey Kong Jungle Climber Spelunker Hogan's Alley - Has Wiimote support Duck Hunt - Has Wiimote support Donkey Kong Original Edition - Has an additional level compared to the standard, not released on NSO Pac-Man 2 The New Adventures - Unlikely to show up again because of Ms Pac-Man Romance of the Three Kingdoms Uncharted Waters New Horizons Nobunga's Ambition Ogre Battle 64 Person of Lordly Caliber - Square Enix have never released anything on NSO A Shadow's Tale - Prohibitely expensive physically Beat the Beat Rhythm Paradise - Prohibitely expensive physically 3DS Japan Medarot Girls Mission Kabuto Version - Japan Exclusive Neko Atsume - Kitty Collector Little Battlers eXperience W Super Custom - Japan Exclusive Lost Heroes 2 - Japan Exclusive Inazuma Eleven GO: Galaxy - Supernova - Japan Exclusive Final Fantasy Anniversary - Japan Exclusive 3DS VC Japan Zoids Densetsu Fortified Zone 2 Nekojara Monogatari The Sword of Hope Pokemon Green - Likely to come to NSO JP, but I wanted the final one I was missing on 3DS. Maru's Mission Glory of Heracles: The Gods Began to Move - The Snap-Story DSiWare Japan The Tower - Japan Exclusive Wii U VC Japan Final Fantasy I & 2 - Square Enix have never released anything on NSO Final Fantasy IV - Square Enix have never released anything on NSO Final Fantasy V - Square Enix have never released anything on NSO Final Fantasy VI - Square Enix have never released anything on NSO The Quest of Gaia Guyframe Dragon Egg! Bahamut Lagoon The Glory of Heracles III Silence of the Gods The Glory of Heracles IV Gift from the Gods Lufia: The Ruins of Lore - Square Enix have never released anything on NSO Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice - Square Enix have never released anything on NSO Albert Odyssey - Square Enix have never released anything on NSO I really want that to be it now

Today should be the last eShop update day. I wonder if it'll bring anything interesting. Update: Last Thursday store update has happened. If you like word searches you'll be happy. If not, there's nothing worth picking up.

Yes we're very much going to be in the 'exclusives are king' world for a while with VR but I do hope it pushes the whole industry to keep making quality titles. I really enjoyed your write up on the Pico4, if I wasn't already in the Quest ecosystem I would have been all over it. Talking of Resident Evil, I'm still really happy with how polished the VR mods are at https://github.com/praydog/REFramework.

I got a PSVR2 and I’m a bit underwhelmed. Caveat is that I only have Horizon Call of the Mountain and Gran Turismo. And for full disclosure here is the list of VR headsets I own: HTC Vive, PSVR, Valve Index, Quest 2 and now PSVR2. The screens are nice. No screen door effect and excellent colours. I like the rubber gasket, it makes a nice seal. Overall as massive improvement over the original PSVR… but that is a very old piece of hardware (and one that didn’t really win me over at the time). Now for the reasons I’m underwhelmed: Do I feel like Horizon is a massive jump over anything I’ve played on the Quest 2? Not really, no. Visually it is of course. But not to the point where it makes the Quest 2 look outdated. And the gameplay is basically on par. Unfortunately there are no racing sims on the Quest 2 and there are none as big for PCVR, so Gran Turismo is a really nice experience. I seem to have to reset the IPD every time I play it and I think this is contributing to how queasy it’s making me feel when playing. That and the movement system in Horizon is a bit naff. Can use analogue stick or arm swinging. I’ve only ever experienced VR sickness with the original PSVR before. I’m just glad I can put the PS5 on standby. Because the PSVR2 is tethered I have to rearrange the room where the PS5 is so it’s not just plug and play for me. This applies to all tethered VR headsets. It is more plug and play than any PCVR headset which I find always takes a few goes to make it all get recognised by Steam. Weirdly I find the controls really strange. I found it a bit awkward to put the them on with the headset on. It’s difficult to tell their orientation when you can’t see them. I’m hoping a third party comes out with wrist straps so they can stay attached to your hand (like the Valve Index Controllers). It’s worth noting that, unlike the PSVR, you can not watch 3D Blu-rays on the headset. Ultimately I think the Quest 2 has spoiled me. The wireless nature of it just works for me and seems to be the biggest consideration I have for VR.

Lots of good choices there, @Jonnas

My second favourite game of all time (first is Super Metroid!) and I'm struggling to justify picking this up as I've already played it to death. I will get it at some point though. The GameCube game was already beautiful and really pushed the boundaries of the hardware. Probably only second to the Factor 5 games in terms of that. That's not me putting the remaster down because I really like the new texture work and models! Plus native widescreen! Fix the doors though please, Nintendo. Gah I need it.

The Nintendo Switch Online news has changed my buying list a bit. The addition of Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance to Nintendo Switch Online now means all the likely suspects for release on there have been drastically lowered on the priority list to pick up on the VC.

Choo chooo! I reckon Advance Wars will get a release date.

I think this is the most suitable place for this. You have less than 24 hours to pick up these games from the Xbox 360 Marketplace before they're gone. Gone Forever Digitally For This Platform https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Assassins-Creed-Brotherhood/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025553085d https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Assassins-Creed-III/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802555308ae https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Assassins-Creed-IV/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802555308c2 https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/COD-Advanced-Warfare/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80241560914 https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Call-of-Duty-Ghosts/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802415608fc https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Product/Dark-Souls/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024e4d083a https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Darksiders-II/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80254510896 https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Left-4-Dead/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80245410830 https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Left-4-Dead-2/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802454108d4 https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Product/Prince-of-Persia/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025553080c https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/RUSE/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802555307f6 https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Skate-2/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024541087f https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/The-Stick-of-Truth/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802555308c5 https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/The-Orange-Box/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024541080f Gone Forever For This Platform https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Assassins-Creed-Liberation-HD/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802584113fc https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Blood-of-the-Werewolf/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025841142e https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Castle-Crashers/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802584108b7 https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Counter-Strike-GO/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025841125a https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Product/DAYTONA-USA/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258410b1d https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Defense-Grid/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802584108cb https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Product/Eets-Chowdown/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258410825 https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Product/Final-Fight-DblImpact/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802584109dd https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Iron-Brigade/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258410a95 https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Jeremy-McGraths-Offroad/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802584111da https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Jet-Set-Radio/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258411247 https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/MONOPOLY-DEAL/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258411458 https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Mutant-Blobs-Attack/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025841143d https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/N/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025841085c?cid=search https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Sega-Vintage-Collection-Alex-Kidd-Co/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258410b70 https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Spelunky/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802584109be https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/The-Raven-Episode-1/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025841140a

Isn't this one of those N64 games with a hidden one player - two controller mode which plays more like modern FPS? Yeah it is. It's a shame this can't be activated with the two Joycons.

Just a reminder that there's only two months left until the 3DS and Wii U eshops close forever. There's also only a month left to buy Fire Emblem Fates. Anybody's long lists down to a short list yet? The sales for both the EU and Japan seem to just be rotating now between the same set of games. So I think it's time to start buying.

We're definitely at the end of the Switch's life but we're still getting really solid games. Up until 2022 I was using it for playing pretty much any game in it's portable form but the Steam Deck has taken that away from it for me. But that doesn't stop it being an amazing machine on the first party output alone and it's still probably my most used gaming device. The theoretical Switch Pro wouldn't have helped with Pokemon Scarlet/Violet's performance issues. If you overclock (more accurately: remove the underclock. Which is what the rumour was) the Switch, the performance issues remain. That game's issues stem from the engine itself. This wouldn't have entirely gone away even with a much more powerful machine to brute force it. Either way I'm past wanting a Switch Pro now, that ship sailed in 2021. Do I want a Switch 2? I guess yes but it does make me sad that it'll likely be a straight forward successor rather than something game changing.

Long may it continue!

These are on sale again. Ends 30/11

I've been playing this game over the weekend and I love it. I've done three gyms, two titans and one star boss. Seems to be loads of variety of pokemon, is it the most we've ever had in a game? This has been said a lot online but the performance is janky, visuals are a step back from Sw/Sh and it doesn't feel polished at all. When I'm back in the house I'll use my old switch to play it docked and OC'd to see if it helps. Some of the gameplay seems to be a step backwards from Arceus in places e.g. why no overworld catching and the crafting is now limited to TMs. Which, in world, doesn't seem to make much sense. How do bits of Pokemon end up being a disc?

Can't believe it's been 10 years. I remember being in my first job waiting for the pre-orders to go up. Then being on here with you guys on release day while I was working as a junior dev in a tiny office waiting for the notification that it had been delivered to my parents' house, where I lived at the time! If I remember right these are the games I bought at launch: Nintendo Land (bundled), Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, New Super Mario Bros. U, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and ZombiU. I loved the Wii U but here's some of my highlights: Nintendo Land = Great party game with lots of asynchronous games. Pretty sure this came bundled with my Black Wii U. ZombiU = A game that was supposed to show us the mature third party support. That never really happened BUT I still firmly believe the Wii U is the best place to play this and it still has a great local asynchronous multiplayer. Pikmin 3 = I think it was a title update that brought in Wiimote control for this game, and it was glorious. I still prefer this to the Switch DX version. Lego City Undercover = This was a great exclusive. No longer exclusive and I think all the Wii U specific features were ported to the Switch version. Super Mario 3D World = A mario game with solid mechanics. Better on Switch now though. Splatoon = I guess this is Nintendo's take on the FPS genre and it was lots of fun. Only let down because it had no real single player story and I'm not much of an online multiplayer person. Mario Kart 8 = This was an almost perfect game. Better on Switch. Super Mario Maker = This is the sort of thing I'd wanted for years. Really enjoyed it. Very much superseded by it's sequel on Switch though. The Zelda HD Remakes = A fresh lick of paint on already excellent games. Twilight Princess HD was basically the version we would have gotten if the Wii had joined the HD generation. Miiverse = I'm not one for social media but this little Nintendo style social network was so nice. I'm guessing it was costing too much money to moderate though. Pokken Tournament = A new look at Pokemon via the fighting genre lens. Better on Switch. The Wii U times were tough but there was shining gems in there. I know some people like to write it off as a prototype Switch but the asynchronous gameplay was great... when it was used. Plus it was the first time we got to see Nintendo characters in HD. As an aside here is a list of Wii U games yet to be ported to the Switch: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Xenoblade Chronicles X NES Remix 1 & 2 Nintendo Land - Unlikely due to using Wii U's unique features. Yoshi’s Woolly World Kirby and the Rainbow Curse Paper Mario: Color Splash Wii Fit U - Unlikely, seems to have been replaced with the more game-like Ring Fit Wii Party U - Unlikely due to using Wii U's unique features. Star Fox Zero - Tough one, this uses the Wii U's unique features but... did it need to? Game & Wario - Unlikely due to using Wii U's unique features. Splatoon - Has a sequel on Switch that has everything this game has and more but is still technically a different game. Super Mario Maker - Has a sequel on Switch that has everything this game has and more but is still technically a different game.