End of an era. Much love for Martinet and I’m happy Nintendo is still keeping him around in some sort of capacity! Hopefully this was mutual; him being in a video about it with Miyamoto feels like it probably was.

I wonder if they’ll use this opportunity to sort of “relaunch” the games and include a huge performance patch at release. The DLC was the best part of Sword and Shield, and these look like they could be the same.

It’s also easier for me to get excited because I really didn’t have crazy performance issues. Definitely some bad slowdown in places, Pokemon battles occasionally had some interesting glitches, but I don’t think it ever crashed on me. I played mostly in handheld, so maybe that helped.

I completely forgot this was released! I have $33 in gold points, pretty sure I know what I’m using them on.

I’m not one to care much about graphics either, and I usually enjoy seeing Nintendo rise to the challenge in creating artistically pleasing games that are stylized to make the most of the hardware rather than pushing polygons and making everything look as realistic as possible. Games like Windwaker, Skyward Sword, and Super Mario 3D World are breathtaking despite being on comparatively under powered hardware.

However, there are other game play opportunities that show themselves with better hardware. Paths tend to be able to be more open, more enemies can be on the screen, and more actions can happen simultaneously. Even the lack of loading screens is huge! The freedom we get now in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom is so immersive, it’s easy to get sucked into the game without it needing to load and breaking up the action. Another great example is the newest Ratchet and Clank game on PS5, the different environments you hop around to in that game is incredible.

But you’re absolutely right - Nintendo isn’t looking to compete anymore, not really anyway. They’re content creating the experiences they want to bring to their fans at a price point that is accessible but doesn’t cost them money. As long as their bottom line isn’t suffering, they’re happy to just keep doing what they’re known for. The lack of innovation with their online service is more than enough evidence of that.

I completely agree! I’m just interested to see if Nintendo thinks they need to innovate and change the continuously change the wheel to compete with the new market it created, or if they’ll just think that their software will do the heavy lifting for them. Asus isn’t making games, and Steam might as well not be…so minus portability and otherwise PC exclusives, Nintendo still doesn’t have much direct competition.

At least Nintendo doesn’t seem to need to feel the pressure of an adversary to innovate other than keeping their company alive, for better (Wii, Switch) or worse (Wii U).

Love the parallels you made of the Switch releases vs. Gameboy releases! This is exactly what I want too - bonus points if they can add some personality back into the consoles though with themes, optional menu/eShop music, etc. Maybe the new gimmick could just be online that works well!

I absolutely adored these games! Download play was one of the coolest things back then when games were small enough it wouldn’t take forever to transmit ‘guest copies’.

Thanks for the heads up about the coins! I typically don’t care either, but if it’s for a game I’m checking out anyway…I mean, why not?

I’ve been playing Rogue and Sorceress! Both are a lot of fun; I’m using daggers with the Rogue so she’s my close-combat character and my Sorc is ice, so going ranged fighter with her.

Not that Nintendo would be any better, but the pricing for Etrian Odyssey is on Atlus. The good news is that if you opt to be patient, Atlus games routinely have a habit of going on pretty good sales since their titles often have niche appeal.

I still really want to pick that one up! I’ve been saving the demo for when I feel like I have enough time to really sink my teeth into it so I can get a jump on the story. Maybe next time it goes on sale if I feel like I’ve finished enough side quests in Zelda.

I’ve been playing a ton of Diablo 4, but definitely want to find some time to hop back into Hyrule and complete some side quests in TotK. I also want to play through Kirby’s Tilt ‘n’ Tumble on NSO; I never managed to pick it up when it was new on GBC, so I’m stoked that I finally get to play a game that has eluded me for so long!