V. Amoleo

September 4, 2023

58 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

Oh this is badass!

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/8027/

Wario Land 4 now has native Game Boy Player rumble support! Works on real Game Boy Player hardware as well as other devices like the MiSTer and certain emulators (as well as the Analogue Pocket + DS Rumble Pak with an additional included patch).

This is awesome! First time that rumble has ever been newly added into a GBA game that didn't originally have it.

Hope the author of this patch now starts adding rumble to other GBA games, this is so cool!

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

September 4, 2023

On 01/09/2023 at 5:56 PM, Josh64 said:

Get it while you can! The original Fitness Boxing is being de-listed.

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

July 13, 2023

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.

7 hours ago, Dcubed said:

Hilarious that S-E considered the Gex IP more important to hold onto than Tomb Raider or Deux Ex.

Of all the hills to die on

So strange to see that logo at the end because I thought they had sold Gex along with all the other IP.

July 13, 2023

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

March 27, 2023

7 hours ago, Julius said:

Those heathens and their damn UTC - adding funds worked at 00:15 on the spot!

Anyways, Wii U games list purchased, so that's me done:

Wii U

eShop

The Swapper

Nano Assault Neo

Year Walk

NES Remix 2

Tengami

Chasing Aurora

Pullblox World

VC

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land

Golden Sun: The Lost Age

Advance Wars

Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising

Sin & Punishment: Successor of the Skies

Some of those VC games will probably be coming to NSO at some point, but again, it's Nintendo: it's worth exercising reasonable doubt and just picking them up to me. Advance Wars has really nice pixel art which I'd rather experience over the remake as someone that hans't played the GBA games before, and well, Sin & Punishment: Successor of the Skies just seemed smart because while the first game has come to NSO's N64 offering, I can definitely see there being some more obstacles getting in the way of SotS coming to Switch (it's not impossible, just seems unlikely). Oh, and the physical version goes for a fortune now, so there's that!

Anyways, totally didn't have me stressing there for a moment Nintendo

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.

March 26, 2023

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 :laughing: 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 :laughing:

March 23, 2023

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.

February 27, 2023

4 hours ago, ArtMediocre said:

Interesting read. A lot of youtubers and people praise it as the second coming, so it's nice to see some actual reviews with no bias. Even though, it seems like a proper good introduction to VR for new players though, and the more people who try VR, the more mainstream it will become. Hopefully it will spike a big surge of new VR software with actual quality behind it. Resident Evil Village is one that I'd love to try. A full fledged RE game with full VR support? Yes please! Only downside with the system is that we'll probably get an even more split market with more exclusives at Sony and Meta. I wish it was more "VR for everybody!" mentality, but money is money.

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.

February 26, 2023

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.

February 22, 2023

Lots of good choices there, @Jonnas

February 10, 2023

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.

February 9, 2023

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.

February 7, 2023

Choo chooo!

I reckon Advance Wars will get a release date.

February 7, 2023

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.

January 26, 2023

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.

January 23, 2023

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.

January 10, 2023

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.

January 10, 2023

Long may it continue!

November 22, 2022

On 16/09/2022 at 9:40 AM, V. Amoleo said:

Some exclusive Natsume games are on sale at the moment:

https://en.psprices.com/region-gb/discounts/?platform=3DS&sort=date&page=1

A-Train and the River City games. Ends on 27/09.

These are on sale again. Ends 30/11

November 21, 2022

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?

November 16, 2022

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.

October 12, 2022

A few more Japanese exclusives on sale on the Japanese eShop this week.

Kunio-kun Nekketsu Complete: Famicom Compilation 600円 No translation patch available but some of the Famicom games should be playable without knowledge of Japanese.

Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special 100円 No translation patch available. A remake of Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun.

Downtown Nekketsu Jidaigeki 500円 No translation patch available. I'd say this one is pretty much unplayable without knowledge of Japanese.

BlazBlue: Clone Phantasma 100円 No translation patch available. This was released in English, but only in America. BlazBlue Contiuum Shift II is also available for 100円, but had a worldwide release.

Jake Hunter Rondo of Revenge 500円 No translation patch available. This is a visual novel type game and would be impossible without knowledge of Japanese.

Stardust Amazoness 500円 No translation patch available. Looks like an RPG in the vein of games like Senran Kagura. I think it would need a knowledge of Japanese to play.

Ends 07/11.

October 6, 2022

I get that this film probably isn’t for me, a long time Mario fan. It’s being made to bring in new fans. But seeing that trailer made me more sad than I expected. I thought I’d at least be okay with Jack Black as Bowser… but I’m not.

September 29, 2022

On 23/09/2022 at 11:44 AM, V. Amoleo said:

Harvest Moon 3D The Tale of Two Towns (An enhanced port of the DS version.  Also known as Story of Seasons Twin Villages.  An enhanced re-release was released in Japan only) £3.59

The Japanese exclusive enhanced version of this is now on sale on the eShop too. But be aware there is no translation patch as far as I can find.

Story of Seasons Twin Villages+ 1480円

Ends 19/10.