N-E Café Podcast

[Londragon]

Another early release of the N-E Cafe Podcast, sterling work by @Nicktendo who left for a short holiday, and fair play was under a huge time contraint to get it edited in time before departing, so no Podcast Extras this week.

 

N-E Café [032] Legacy Legends is now live across all good Podcast Providers.

Episode 32 of the N-E Café has hosts Lee Davies, Nick Lone and Gregory Moffett discuss the latest Nintendo News; games they’ve been playing, featuring Old Man's Journey and The Gardens Between; and this week, a Listener Question from Ealdst on the forums relating to the size of our backlogs.

This is episode 32 of the N-E Café Podcast, an N-Europe Podcast. Enjoy!

⦁ Intro Music: Banjo-Kazooie - Click Clock Wood (Spring)

⦁ Introductions: 0:00:27

⦁ Nintendo News: 0:03:08

⦁ Best of the Forums: 0:31:23

⦁ Download Delights: 0:33:19

⦁ The Gardens Between: 0:42:06

⦁ Old Man’s Journey: 0:52:12

⦁ Backloggery: 1:00:04

⦁ Closing: 1:51:10

Can you guess what game the Transition Tunes come from?  If they ring a bell, get in touch with us, or if you have a Listener's Question you’d like us to discuss.

 

[Jonnas]

Looking forward to that Backloggery discussion. Until then...

Spoiler

It's F-Zero X, right?

 

[Ealdst]

Just finished listening to the latest episode, enjoyed the discussion and will add more thoughts later but one thing that I had to comment on immediately - As I mentioned in a comment a few weeks back I will be moving house soon and sure enough I have a big stack of consoles and about 3 boxes full of games to be transported (and I would say my collection is very small compared to some on this forum!). This still doesn't make me want to get rid of any of them though 😝.

[Jonnas]

Ok, so, I'll cut right to the chase:

Spoiler

 

While I have been tracking my Backlog in backloggery.com and the digital stores (where I categorise games in folders as "Unplayed", "Unfinished", "Beat" or "Complete"), I have recently decided this was too messy, and put all of this info on an excel sheet. When I include games on collections, Switch NES&SNES Online, and such, I come to the total of... 340 games. And that's before I include the 1300+ games from the itch.io bundle for equality (I only included about 10 games from there, the games I already had on wishlists, anyway. I didn't buy the bundle for the games, I did it for the donation)

I know, it's ironic, I could've spent some time completing a few games instead of wasting time categorising them, but doing this was eye-opening, and somewhat relaxing. I included information such as console, release date, developer, whether a game is part of a compilation, and even the average completion time from howlongtobeat.com. Doing so allowed me to realise some of the games on my backlog are more interesting than I had given them credit for (like finding out a handful of Spanish and Brazillian-made indie games there), as well as understanding which games I can burn through quickly, should I want to. Also, I still have a couple of games in CD-ROM. This is the stuff I ended up rediscovering with that activity

The way I play games is not very conducive towards completing a backlog, though. I like to savour games, explore them, take my time. I've spent the last couple of months exploring Three Houses and Bravely Default, and I don't regret my slow pace. And replaying old ones on occasion, too. If this means I accumulate games, then so be it

That said, if I want to move through my backlog, I make short-term goals. At the beginning of the year, I decided to burn through my physical backlog, and though those two RPGs slowed me down recently, I also finished several DS games I had lying around (some of which were lovely surprises, like Advance Wars: Dark Conflict). Easier to burn through a backlog when you reduce it to about 10-15 at a time

I personally find collections super chill for my backlog, too, because I don't care too much for completing each individual game. Trying them out is enough, and if they're good, they're quick to complete. Once I get to my Mega Drive & SNK collections, I should be able to burn 40+ games from my backlog at once

Finally, there are dozens of games I don't intend to actually play/complete right now (like Zelda II, or some of the free games I got on GOG). I'm not too fussed about climbing the mountain, let me just explore the hills I find pretty right now. For this reason, I'm also avoiding buying every cheap indie game that comes my way, I'm cool with what I have.

 

Phew. Regarding other subjects, I'll just say that I still regret selling my N64 games (I'm not the type of person to sell games, anyway)... and Greg, thanks for your views on Gardens Between (I've been eyeing that one for a while), it sounds pretty good, but after the backlog discussion, I can't just buy it in good faith right now!

[Ealdst]

So a few more thoughts from me:

Regarding the topic of buying games and sales - Don't misunderstand my comment about not buying games until ready to play them, I'm still not buying them at full price where possible but when I really want to play a game I will buy it the next time I see a good price. The exception to this is first party Nintendo games as even when these are discounted it's not usually by very much so I will not wait on these. Waiting for a sale is not too much of a problem as I will always buy the Xbox One version if I have a choice of platform where it doesn't tend to take too long for most things to be discounted somewhat regularly. One counter point I would also add to buying something because it's on sale is I have done this in the past and a few years later that game has never been touched - if I were to add up the cost of games like this then even at sale price you could argue it undermines the idea of saving money. In the long it may be cheaper to buy a game at less of a discount rather than a lot of cheap games that never get played.

The discussion about digital vs physical also I find interesting - on Xbox One I only have about 5 physical games and the rest digital but on Switch the majority of my games are physical (even Animal Crossing) - I would love to also go digital on Switch but past experience has taught me I can't trust Nintendo when it comes to carrying across games from one generation to the next. On the flip side Microsoft seem to be doing really well on this front, already confirming that everything currently playable on the xbox one will carry over to series x (unless it requires Kinect). This is one area I really want to see Nintendo improve on, I don't mind them being unconventional regarding hardware but the account stuff needs to be standardised to the levels already offered elsewhere.

Spoiler

Forgot this in my previous post but @Jonnas already got there anyway - F Zero X

 

Edited June 23, 2020 by Ealdst

[WackerJr]

I can completely empathise with Greg about sending time with your family & little one, and then only really being able to settle down to a game late at night when you’re absolutely exhausted!  It certainly does make gaming tricky at times.

Wow I thought my backlog was large, but I do feel a bit better knowing it’s nothing compared to the N-E Cafe team and many of the forum users!

The digital vs physical discussion was interesting and I like hearing what others currently do.  The proportion of digital games has certainly increased over the years.  I still enjoy physical copies mind, especially the joy of peel the plastic Nintendo seal off a case! 😃 I do like to sell & buy older second hand games too, so I won’t be sticking to a digital-only solution yet given the choice.

[nekunando]

I think last week's discussion about the backlog has got me thinking again about my purchasing habits and how it is often quite cyclical.

I've bought quite a few games recently on eShop due to how good some of the prices have been and, with the exception of Okami HD, I haven't had any regrets about anything I've bought

Despite that, I'm now having that feeling of almost being overwhelmed by just how many games I should play (I somehow keep forgetting that Luigi's Mansion 3 exists and that I could absolutely do with getting back to it) along with the games I would like to go back and play again (Super Mario Galaxy feels like a high priority )

There's nothing to stop me playing whatever I want other than feelings of guilt, really.. and, if course, being a parent all day 

I'm hesitant to buy Duke Nukem 3D now, despite being only £3.99. The simple fact is that I don't really have any desire to play it so probably shouldn't buy it, even with all the improvements and incentives.

Ultimately, I probably will, though.. even if I never, ever play it.. like Doom 1 and 2!

Edited June 29, 2020 by nekunando

[Jonnas]

Just now, nekunando said:

I'm hesitant to buy Duke Nukem 3D now, despite being only £3.99. The simple fact is that I don't really have any desire to play it so probably shouldn't buy it, even with all the improvements and incentives.

Ultimately, I probably will, though.. even if I never, ever play it.. like Doom 1 and 2!

You definitely shouldn't. Not only do you not actually want to play it, you'll be wasting 4 Pounds. That's more than 4 Euros! Play what you actually want to (re)play, instead.

[Londragon]

 

N-E Café [033] DownLoadable Checks has arrived at all good podcast providers.

Episode 33 of the N-E Café has hosts Lee Davies, Nick Lone and Gregory Moffett discuss the latest Nintendo News; games they’ve been playing, featuring Pokemon Cafe Mix and The Gardens Between; and this week our Big Topic, DLC.

This is episode 33 of the N-E Café Podcast, an N-Europe Podcast. Enjoy!

⦁ Intro Music: Borderlands - Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked

⦁ Introductions: 0:00:34

⦁ Nintendo News: 0:02:50

⦁ Best of the Forums: 0:34:07

⦁ Download Delights: 0:35:39

⦁ Pokemon Cafe Mix: 0:38:53

⦁ Steam Sales and The Gardens Between: 0:47:05

⦁ Topic of the Week - Thoughts on DLC: 0:53:35

⦁ Closing: 1:33:10

⦁ Podcast Extras: 1:34:38

Can you guess what game the Transition Tunes come from?  If they ring a bell, get in touch with us, or if you have a Listener's Question you’d like to discuss, contact us right here.

 

[Jonnas]

I'm around the 47 minute mark. Interesting podcast so far (definitely have a few things to say about the Pachinko business later today)

As of right now, I definitely recognize the transition tunes:

Spoiler

Civilization VI

This is an OST I'm really fond of, so I recognized that Bronze Age America the Great immediately. Also, good choice on using the Russian Medieval theme, it's literally the Tetris theme after all  

 

[Nicktendo]

2 hours ago, Jonnas said:

I'm around the 47 minute mark. Interesting podcast so far (definitely have a few things to say about the Pachinko business later today)

As of right now, I definitely recognize the transition tunes:

  And the game is... (Reveal hidden contents)

Civilization VI

This is an OST I'm really fond of, so I recognized that Bronze Age America the Great immediately. Also, good choice on using the Russian Medieval theme, it's literally the Tetris theme after all  

 

Spoiler

Damn! I was hoping the Russian theme would throw people off and make them think Tetris 

Although Kalinka has been featured in Tetris, it is actually Korobeiniki which was used in the Game Boy version and went on to become the Tetris "theme". They sound pretty similar though. Check out the originals on YT, they're both amazing. When I lived in Russia, I lived on a street named after the composer of the Korobeiniki poem, Nikolai Nekrasov. Cool factoid about how my love of Russia and Vidya collided in an unexpected way. 

 

[Londragon]

2 hours ago, Jonnas said:

I'm around the 47 minute mark. Interesting podcast so far (definitely have a few things to say about the Pachinko business later today)

Why? Are you thinking of moving into the Pachinko business? 

[Jonnas]

12 hours ago, Nicktendo said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Damn! I was hoping the Russian theme would throw people off and make them think Tetris 

Although Kalinka has been featured in Tetris, it is actually Korobeiniki which was used in the Game Boy version and went on to become the Tetris "theme". They sound pretty similar though. Check out the originals on YT, they're both amazing. When I lived in Russia, I lived on a street named after the composer of the Korobeiniki poem, Nikolai Nekrasov. Cool factoid about how my love of Russia and Vidya collided in an unexpected way. 

 

Huh, I thought these were two parts of the same song. I guess the similarities threw me off.

12 hours ago, londragon said:

Why? Are you thinking of moving into the Pachinko business? 

Not while my sports-betting websites remain lucrative.

But seriously:

• I just wanted to complement that section with something that's not usually talked about: according to this article (geez, from 2016 already?), legal restrictions are making things harder for Pachinko businesses (and gambling institutions as a whole). As with any gambling-related business, I expect they remain lucrative, but it does mean it's growing more unsustainable by the day (and likely harder to enter, too). Investors might think current trends are lucrative, but they don't usually have access to the hard data when making such suggestions. While Nintendo might refuse to participate out of principle (it definitely feels like SNK left early due to their stronger connection to traditional gaming), they may also have concrete, financial reason to justify their refusal to engage in it ("uncertainty" is definitely a strong reason).
  I just wish I knew of a more recent article regarding this situation, but that was the one I had in mind when listening to that casino part;
• Anyway, I'm glad to hear Pokémon Café Mix is fun. I always enjoy these spin-offs. For whatever reason, it reminded me of a more wholesome version of Huniepop (a game where each jewel colour also represented something specific in-setting);
• While your thoughts on DLC aren't much different from mine, I should say I strongly disagree about Smash Bros. DLC. While MK tracks can be played once per session, fighting game characters are likely to be played several times, possibly being one of the few characters you ever use. In that sense, one good character brings a lot more value than one good racing track, and I think simply looking at total character number is erroneous. Furthermore, each character also brings an extra stage, extra music, and extra spirit battles, all while being priced the same as other DLC of the genre: by all means, among modern fighting games, Smash provides some of the best value per buck when it comes to DLC characters.
  • Regarding Mii costumes, there's no completionist incentive there, as there's no activity to collect these in Ultimate. They're really just individual cosmetics (and imo, regardless of price, a decent way to feature characters/franchises that otherwise had no chance to appear). That said, Sans and Cuphead brought an additional song each with them, and weren't priced any higher. Just saying, that part wasn't taken into account ;
• To clarify, the Three Houses DLC isn't an entirely new storyline or path. Rather, it's a side story that can be played on any path, and brings four new, fully voiced and realized characters into the cast, while fleshing out the world some more (the DLC does introduce a new House to the lore, which I suppose is where the confusion comes from). It also brings 4 unique (very much needed) classes/jobs into the game, which add significant depth to the game, so it's still quite a substantial addition. The DLC has been generally well received among the FE community, at any rate.

Finally, if I'm allowed to go on a tangent, Intelligent Systems really likes to reinvent itself with each entry in a franchise, whether that franchise is Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, or Paper Mario. While they do have DLC plans for their games, I don't think they've ever extended them beyond whatever initial plan they had. Despite Awakening's success, they preferred to work on Fates instead of showering that game with more DLC. And though Fates was horrendous with how monetized it was, IS still decided that, before moving to the Switch, they wanted to try something new with Shadows of Valentia (a smaller project to pass the time, they called it) instead of coming up with more Fates DLC.

My point is that, ultimately, it might not be that rewarding to support the same game for so many years. Not only can it be tiring for the developers themselves, but surely, a shining new game is more marketable than "more DLC for that one game from 5 years ago". Just saying, maybe something like Super Mario Odyssey 2 really is a better option for everybody involved than a lot of DLC for Mario Odyssey 1. Sure, the model might work for staples like Mario Kart or Smash Brothers, but for games that are primarily single-player, I think sequels are still the way to go.

Edited June 30, 2020 by Jonnas

[Nicktendo]

@Jonnas I'll respond to the rest of this later, but for now...

9 hours ago, Jonnas said:

Huniepop

[Nicktendo]

20 hours ago, Jonnas said:

• While your thoughts on DLC aren't much different from mine, I should say I strongly disagree about Smash Bros. DLC. While MK tracks can be played once per session, fighting game characters are likely to be played several times, possibly being one of the few characters you ever use. In that sense, one good character brings a lot more value than one good racing track, and I think simply looking at total character number is erroneous. Furthermore, each character also brings an extra stage, extra music, and extra spirit battles, all while being priced the same as other DLC of the genre: by all means, among modern fighting games, Smash provides some of the best value per buck when it comes to DLC characters.
  • Regarding Mii costumes, there's no completionist incentive there, as there's no activity to collect these in Ultimate. They're really just individual cosmetics (and imo, regardless of price, a decent way to feature characters/franchises that otherwise had no chance to appear). That said, Sans and Cuphead brought an additional song each with them, and weren't priced any higher. Just saying, that part wasn't taken into account  

That's fair enough regarding Smash characters and value. I know a lot of work goes into them, and Greg did bring up the task of balancing everything, to be fair. Can't be a simple process! Smash Bros. is insane value getting 70+ characters at the base price, but then again, I guess most of them have been largely balanced in previous games. This is already a 20+ year old series after all. I appreciate the fact they throw in a stage and remixed music with every one, but still 5 or 6 pounds still feels like a lot. The pass is better value, of course. But getting the 2 passes is 50 quid. You're talking the price of a full game there for 10 characters! Maybe good in comparison with other fighters like MK or SFV, but still a lot of money to drop.

I've got Sans and Cuphead, so I guess it's true that the completionist incentive doesn't really apply here. People will drop a small amount of money on the things they specifically want. These are two of my favourite characters of the past 5 years, so it makes sense that I bought in. I still think the price is a little steep, but the music definitely sweetens the deal. The rest of the costumes don't really interest me (bar fallout guy), but I do think it would be wise for Nintendo to offer a bundle of all of them for a massively reduced price. I'd pay a fiver, for example, to get them all. 

20 hours ago, Jonnas said:

• To clarify, the Three Houses DLC isn't an entirely new storyline or path. Rather, it's a side story that can be played on any path, and brings four new, fully voiced and realized characters into the cast, while fleshing out the world some more (the DLC does introduce a new House to the lore, which I suppose is where the confusion comes from). It also brings 4 unique (very much needed) classes/jobs into the game, which add significant depth to the game, so it's still quite a substantial addition. The DLC has been generally well received among the FE community, at any rate.
• Finally, if I'm allowed to go on a tangent, Intelligent Systems really likes to reinvent itself with each entry in a franchise, whether that franchise is Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, or Paper Mario. While they do have DLC plans for their games, I don't think they've ever extended them beyond whatever initial plan they had. Despite Awakening's success, they preferred to work on Fates instead of showering that game with more DLC. And though Fates was horrendous with how monetized it was, IS still decided that, before moving to the Switch, they wanted to try something new with Shadows of Valentia (a smaller project to pass the time, they called it) instead of coming up with more Fates DLC.

I'm not massively familiar with the FE3H DLC (still haven't picked it up), I guess I was too presumptive in the podcast, but I know it was fairly substantial and added a lot to the story. So like Xenoblade 2, it seems like it might be worth it even if the price is quite high. With regards to the 3DS games, I'd argue that development costs are substantially lower in that case, so making a sequel requires less of an investment. With the 3D graphics and assets etc. that can't be such an easy task. I know the bulk of the work is done building the engine and stuff, but FE in 3D is a perfect example of a game I'd take one iteration per gen + substantial DLC if I'd enjoyed the full base game. For me, I wouldn't particularly want to play through two games of the genre in one gen. 

20 hours ago, Jonnas said:

My point is that, ultimately, it might not be that rewarding to support the same game for so many years. Not only can it be tiring for the developers themselves, but surely, a shining new game is more marketable than "more DLC for that one game from 5 years ago". Just saying, maybe something like Super Mario Odyssey 2 really is a better option for everybody involved than a lot of DLC for Mario Odyssey 1. Sure, the model might work for staples like Mario Kart or Smash Brothers, but for games that are primarily single-player, I think sequels are still the way to go.

I agree with this on the whole. I said it in the podcast myself that I'd want a sequel to BOTW and Mario Odyssey. I think you're right about single player games (despite my earlier point about FE) that single player games are often better with a sequel. For me, bookending the gen is the best way to do this. Mario and Zelda at the start to attract the early adopters and the full sequels at the end of the gen to show "how far" they've come in terms of understanding the tech. Though this, I would argue, means it's less likely we'd start the next gen with these games. At the same time, I still believe though that one Splatoon, one Mario Kart, Animal Crossing and one Smash Bros. per gen is more than enough. I'd buy in to paid DLC and substantial support for any of these. As for more "obscure" single player games like Xenoblade and Fire Emblem, I'm also happy with one iteration per gen. + substantial DLC with minor improvements should I want to jump back in a year or two later. 

Edited July 1, 2020 by Nicktendo

[Jonnas]

32 minutes ago, Nicktendo said:

That's fair enough regarding Smash characters and value. I know a lot of work goes into them, and Greg did bring up the task of balancing everything, to be fair. Can't be a simple process! Smash Bros. is insane value getting 70+ characters at the base price, but then again, I guess most of them have been largely balanced in previous games. This is already a 20+ year old series after all. I appreciate the fact they throw in a stage and remixed music with every one, but still 5 or 6 pounds still feels like a lot. The pass is better value, of course. But getting the 2 passes is 50 quid. You're talking the price of a full game there for 10 characters! Maybe good in comparison with other fighters like MK or SFV, but still a lot of money to drop.

...I see the Fighter's pass is considerably more expensive in the UK. It's 45€ for both fighters passes here, and I think even cheaper in the US. It's also 4,99€ per character, not 5,30 quid (which is a price I literally just found after googling). Yeah, I understand the point better.

32 minutes ago, Nicktendo said:

The rest of the costumes don't really interest me (bar fallout guy), but I do think it would be wise for Nintendo to offer a bundle of all of them for a massively reduced price. I'd pay a fiver, for example, to get them all.

Probably at the end, they might do something like that (there are a ton of cool costumes I decided to skip, like the Mega Man ones).

Right now, I just don't want to miss out on faves like Goemon, or the costumes that allow me to create several Dragon Ball characters (Ryo gives you the orange Gi, the Dragon Quest 3 Fighter costume gives you the Chinese get-up). This recent pack will also allow me to do cool things with Fallout Boy's face (I can make a second Lucas now), and Heihachi's black Gi should also be useful.

32 minutes ago, Nicktendo said:

I'm not massively familiar with the FE3H DLC (still haven't picked it up), I guess I was too presumptive in the podcast, but I know it was fairly substantial and added a lot to the story. So like Xenoblade 2, it seems like it might be worth it even if the price is quite high. With regards to the 3DS games, I'd argue that development costs are substantially lower in that case, so making a sequel requires less of an investment. With the 3D graphics and assets etc. that can't be such an easy task. I know the bulk of the work is done building the engine and stuff, but FE in 3D is a perfect example of a game I'd take one iteration per gen + substantial DLC if I'd enjoyed the full base game. For me, I wouldn't particularly want to play through two games of the genre in one gen.

With Fire Emblem, they tend to reuse assets and design elements within each generation. It's pretty clear what they like to do is tell different stories in different settings, and that's one thing DLC really can't do. That said, Three Houses is exceptionally large (and long) by FE standards, so who knows what they'll do next this generation?

[Nicktendo]

4 minutes ago, Jonnas said:

...I see the Fighter's pass is considerably more expensive in the UK. It's 45€ for both fighters passes here, and I think even cheaper in the US. It's also 4,99€ per character, not 5,30 quid (which is a price I literally just found after googling). Yeah, I understand the point better.

Wait, I'm getting confused with all these currencies. I just checked and It's £4.49 per character in the U.K. and £22.49 for the pass, my bad. So £45 for both packs. It's not a massive difference, but still feels like a lot. I've got the first one and love three of the five characters, will probably get the second at reveal 3 / 4. Min Min is a great start. Give me Hollow Knight and it's an instabuy 

[Londragon]

Episode 33 is now up at our YouTube channel.

[Londragon]

 

N-E Café [034] PodPals (Doom 3) is available for a really in-depth look at, the 2004 released, Doom 3.

Episode 34 of the N-E Café has hosts Lee Davies, Nick Lone and Gregory Moffett discuss the latest Nintendo News; games they’ve been playing, featuring Blazing Chrome, Dirt Rally 2.0 and Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise; and this week our PodPals discussion of Doom 3.

This is episode 34 of the N-E Café Podcast, an N-Europe Podcast. Enjoy!

⦁ Intro Music: Super Mario 3D World - Title theme / Super Bell Hill

⦁ Introductions: 0:00:30

⦁ Nintendo News: 0:03:06

⦁ Best of the Forums: 0:40:39

⦁ Sales Data: 0:42:38

⦁ Download Delights: 0:45:03

⦁ Blazing Chrome: 0:52:05

⦁ Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise: 1:04:24

⦁ Dirt Rally 2.0: 1:10:31

⦁ PodPals (Doom 3): 1:18:10

⦁ Closing: 2:15:31

⦁ Podcast Extras: 2:17:20

Can you guess what game the Transition Tunes come from?  If they ring a bell, get in touch with us, or if you have a Listener's Question you’d like to discuss, contact us right here.

 

[S.C.G]

I've only just started listening to the Podcast now and I should have the latest episode promoted on the main site later today but...

Spoiler

Doom (2016)

I had to have a guess at the tune because it seems like a familiar one.

[Jonnas]

My feedback is unusually late this time. It's been a busy week:

• I totally understand the Latvian advert situation. It wasn't that long ago that Nintendo's home console presence was basically non-existent in Portugal. Their products were previously distributed by a toy company who saw the Game Boy line as viable, but saw no interest in marketing the Gamecube (and to be honest, I don't ever recall seeing any adverts for the SNES or N64, either. I did frequently see a Kirby Crystal Shards ad while in Venezuela, but that never made it to Portugal). When the Wii was released, distribution shifted to Nintendo Spain (later Ibérica), and the difference was very noticeable. We even saw some games translated to Portuguese during the Wii U era (wordiest game they translated was Mario&Luigi's Dream Team, I think), which was unthinkable in older times (unfortunately, they're no longer doing that);
• The number of scandals in the Smash Community may be entirely focused in the USA, but it has hit my local scene pretty hard. Nobody here was outed or anything (thankfully), but there's a lot of impressionable youngsters there who looked up to these outed pro players, some of which were popular streamers, too. Like, the Smash Bros. scene includes a lot of teens and pre-teens, and the vast majority of outed cases involve the older players mingling with them, which is particularly awful. It's ultimately a good thing that this cleansing is happening, the Smash community in particular should be careful about these things;
  • To my knowledge, the EVO organizer is no pedophile, he's just a regular harasser/scumbag. EVO administration replacing him so quickly is a positive sign, imo.
• Moving on to a cheerier subject: Doom 3! Hearing you talk about teleporting monsters and doors that slide open when you pick up health sure took me back... I do remember those things, as I remember the audio logs being at the bottom of the menu (of all details!) I'm wondering if my memory of the final level is embellished, because I remember that final segment being a breath of fresh air after a long, dull experience. Or maybe I was thirsty for anything positive at that point
  • Also, listening my own impressions, one gets the feeling I kept comparing Doom 3 to System Shock 2... It's actually the other way around, I played SS2 after Doom 3. As I was playing SS2, I kept thinking "Huh, this feels a lot like Doom 3, but actually good".

I actually have no idea about the transition tunes. I'm assuming Sam got it (I definitely felt like it was that series), but in case he didn't:

Spoiler

Enter the Gungeon

 

Edited July 10, 2020 by Jonnas

[WackerJr]

I was pleased to hear the honesty in the views regarding the joy-con drift issues.  I love Nintendo, but to continue to have this issue with a major component of their hardware is shameful.  I’m fortunate enough that it hasn’t affected me... yet!  Their console & controller builds are usually strong, but I was concerned when my 3DS has issues with the raised design around the bottom screen causes scratches on my top (3D) screen, which seemed a clear design fault that still wasn’t rectified when the ‘New 3DS’ was produced.  The Switch issue is a big one and I’m with you that I cannot see how Nintendo are going to win the legal battle over it.

[Londragon]

Forgot to post this here, but episode 34, our Doom 3 PodPals episode is now live at our YouTube Channel.

 

[Londragon]

 

N-E Café [035] Half-Way Around The Switch is now live at all good Podcast Providers.

Episode 35 of the N-E Café has regular hosts Lee Davies and Gregory Moffett joined by N-Europe’s very own Sam Gittins this week, in Nick’s absence, who has been blasted off to Mars to make sure he finishes Doom 3.  They discuss the latest Nintendo News; games they’ve been playing, featuring Sea of Thieves, Spyro 1 (Reignited) and TOKI; and this week’s Big Topic, a first-half of the year review of our gaming 2020.

This is episode 35 of the N-E Café Podcast, an N-Europe Podcast. Enjoy!

⦁ Intro Music: Title Screen - Punch-Out!! (Wii)

⦁ Introductions: 0:00:36

⦁ Nintendo News: 0:03:15

⦁ Best of the Forums: 0:40:51

⦁ Sales Data: 0:41:51

⦁ Download Delights: 0:44:29

⦁ Sea of Thieves: 0:52:49

⦁ Spyro 1 (Reignited): 1:00:48

⦁ TOKI: 1:18:38

⦁ Half-Year Review: 1:29:59

⦁ Closing: 1:55:14

⦁ Podcast Extras: 1:55:48

Can you guess what game the Transition Tunes come from?  If they ring a bell, get in touch with us, or if you have a Listener's Question you’d like to discuss, contact us right here.

 

[Jonnas]

I think the mistranslation from the Spanish actors might have to do with two very similar words: Sí = Yes ; Si = If

They're pronounced the same, but it's easy to tell which is which in context ("Sí" usually has a lot of stress and emphasis. "Si" has next to none). But when you take a voice clip out of context, then "If we did the sequel" sounds like "Yes, we did the sequel" to an untrained (or perhaps self-delusional) ear.

Other than that, I'm afraid I don't have much to comment today Today's topics were a lot of stuff I know very little about, or have little further input.

As for the transition tunes, I know exactly what it is.

Spoiler

Snipperclips

Fun fact: one of the things keeping me busy right now (and unable to respond earlier) is my little 6-year old cousin, staying with us for a couple of weeks. I've been playing Sonic and Snipperclips quite a lot with him... including today. Yeah, I went from playing Snipperclips last night, to sleeping, to listening these tunes again on the podcast, then eventually playing it again at the end of the day before making this post Very appropriate tune choice for me.