Messages

1

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch 2

« on: July 24, 2026, 01:31:56 PM »

That said, I know I'm going to be busy the first week of August doing anything but gaming due to the way things have worked out this year so if you want to take on the role of host again, M.K., then you are welcome to do it again. You did great with it last year as I once again flopped hard in doing any gaming or contributing much which wasn't my plan going in at the time. Just reply here if you want the job. Otherwise, I'll still get things rolling.

I am also busy in August so why don't you take the reigns this year!

If Kush is going to be busy in early August, I might take a crack at creating the thread this year.

2

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch 2

« on: July 22, 2026, 06:45:59 PM »

I found Bananza pretty "mid", myself, but the game really got on my bad side with just how many times I'd ping a Banana on my radar, dig down to it, and then turn around to find out that just casual exploration resulted in me skipping an entire crafted platforming section. Considering just how MANY Bananas in that game are just buried in the fucking ground and walls, it felt like really bad design to also put planned experiences in places you can just dig to.

But yes, it does have a pretty good final world or so.

I, like many it seems, had Splatoon Raiders set to arrive tomorrow, but Amazon delayed the order until next Wednesday. Guess that makes it a Backlaugust game, then.

3

TalkBack / Re: Octopath Traveler I And II To Come To Switch 2 On October 1, With No Upgrade Or Save Transfer

« on: July 15, 2026, 09:26:56 PM »

Is there a reason why so many third-parties refuse to offer upgrades? Is it a complicated process? Is it easier to do on PS5/Xbox Whatever?

There are several possibilities:

1. Nintendo is discouraging upgrade paths and save transfers compared to the likes of Sony & Microsoft.

2. Sony & Microsoft are providing incentives behind the scenes for companies to offer those upgrade paths and save transfers, but Nintendo does not.

3. 3rd parties (but especially Square Enix) are choosing to combat recent economic downturns by pulling up the drawbridge and removing any costly QoL incentives for users to cut costs and maximize returns. Nintendo owners aren't exactly known for buying 3rd party games as it is.

There's probably more, but the most likely reason is some combination of 2 & 3. With how quickly Sony is burning every bridge they can find lately, I wouldn't be surprised if we stop seeing upgrade paths/perks with games on their consoles as well.

4

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Star Fox (Switch 2)

« on: July 13, 2026, 08:58:32 AM »

Heh. Figures. I skimmed through the topic, but I didn't see that. Oh well. You may resume the pummeling, then. 

5

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Star Fox (Switch 2)

« on: July 13, 2026, 12:08:23 AM »

*deleted*

6

General Gaming / Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.

« on: July 07, 2026, 10:55:54 PM »

Whoever decided that the Dualshock 3 should only charge from a USB charger with an active data connection should be thrown into the sun.

It sure makes safely charging the things a gamble in one of the biggest lightning sites in the world in the middle of the summer storm season, that's for sure. Didn't think I'd ever miss Rest Mode this much.

7

General Gaming / Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.

« on: July 05, 2026, 12:27:25 PM »

Following this announcement, I brought my PS3 out of storage; hooked it up; and got it updated and ready to go again. Think I'm going to get some playtime in for Backlaugust in a month. Some words of warning to anyone else thinking of doing this:

1. Remember, the controllers used USB Mini cables, and the ones you have probably don't work as well as you would like. That's certainly been my experience trying to charge my Dualshock 3s back up.

2. Signing into PSN on a PS3 in 2026 is...an experience. You have to get a device code from your account manager to do it, and use that as your password to sign into your account.

3. You cannot buy games from PS3 PSN using a credit card anymore. You HAVE to use gift card wallet funds. Coincidentally, those seem to be a hot seller on Amazon right now.

4. As a corollary to 3, even if you DO add funds to your wallet with a gift card code, the PS3 PSN STILL won't let you buy anything because it wants you to confirm your CC details. Nothing I entered worked, so I had to delete my CC off my account before the PS3 would just bypass the CC check and use the wallet funds.

5. The PS3 is way, way, WAY slower than you remember to do anything online. You can basically watch an entire Extended Cut LOTR movie in the time it takes to download ONE PS2 game. And the PS3 store always was and always will be a colossal PoS with an incredibly clunky interface.

6. Consult these wikis to see what PS1 and PS2 games we're going to be losing once these stores shut down:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_downloadable_PlayStation_games

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_downloadable_PlayStation_2_games

There are a LOT of PS1 & PS2 digital games I bought back in the day and completely forgot about. For instance, I forgot I owned Fatal Frames 1 & 3 and both Parasite Eve games. That ****'s never getting re-released; remastered; or remade. I have both Digital Devil Saga games. Those might get remastered...someday...if Atlus can give a damn, but it's not likely.

8

General Gaming / Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.

« on: July 01, 2026, 09:28:02 AM »

So, Sony's just having a winning week.

First, they yanked hundreds of digital movies from customer's libraries due to expiring licenses.

Second, they're shutting down the PS3 and Vita PSNs in 2027, with owners temporarily able to redownlod games for now.

Finally, they announced no more disc games for PlayStation after next year.

https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/01/physical-disc-production-ending-in-january-2028-for-new-games-releasing-on-playstation-consoles/

Well, I guess the PS5 is my last Sony console. I understand that these companies want to go digital, but physical options give the consumer options and Sony is so far the ONLY console manufacturer with a history of stealing digital content from people who purchased them. I don't trust them AT ALL with my digital games.

**** you, Sony. I hope the crash takes you and Xbox with it.

9

Nintendo Gaming / Re: What's Next For The N64 Expansion Pack?

« on: June 30, 2026, 07:14:26 PM »

I didn't know Donkey Kong Racing was on the box for the GameCube. Do you have an image of that?

While we're at it, we might as well go mop wild and have them release whatever was completed for Conker before all the raunch was added. We can never have enough of these scraps!

Ask and ye shall receive.

10

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: June 29, 2026, 11:25:06 PM »

Kirby Air Riders - Traded in a bunch of games I was never going to play again (little did I know at the time Mario Kart World should have been one of them), and grabbed this one on a whim for basically free.

Let's get the bad out of the way first: this game makes an extremely poor first impression with how it basically gives the player homework right at the start with a lengthy serious of generally pretty terrible tutorials that somehow break the game's mechanics down on an incredibly granular level while teaching the player next to nothing useful about the actual process of playing the game. I did all the tutorials in a row, and then went right into the SP Air Ride mode and proceeded to get my ass handed to me by the CPU over and over again despite doing what the tutorials drilled into me to do. Time after time, though, I'm still getting at best 2nd place.

And that's really the part of the game that frustrates me: I really enjoy this game's sense of speed when I CAN get boosts of speed, but I feel like I'm really bad at this game and I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. I'm boosting on turns; I'm drafting behind opponents; and I'm attacking where I can. And yet I can never seem to get the consistent blasts of speed I KNOW the game wants me to do. It certainly doesn't help that attacking is relegated to either holding the Boost button (which also slows you down) or wiggling the stick. Why couldn't this have been an optional button press? I wish that acceleration was the feature mapped to the one button instead of what's basically the brake doubling as a boost. When I'm not boosting the game feels very slow, but when I hit the brake to boost it feels like I'm not making meaningful speed. Again, I feel like the game could make it a lot more clear what I'm doing wrong here. It really doesn't help when some challenges and entire courses feel like they were designed for only 1 vehicle to be viable, and it's never the one I'm using.

However, where I somewhat turned a corner on this game is when I started dabbling in the other modes, particularly Top Ride; the Stadium challenges; and now Road Trip. I'm surprised at how much I'm really digging the Road Trip mode, though I wish I could tweak the AI just a little bit more. After how the AI was routinely kicking my ass on the default settings in Air Ride, I kinda wish there was an middle ground setting between "Casual" and "Normal" in Road Trip. "Casual" just feels like the game's giving you a pat on the head and an automatic win, but I'm wary about dialing up to Normal until I'm remotely better at the actual racing. But with the constant cycling of modes and challenges, this is definitely the part of Air Riders that appeals to me and I'm glad I gave the game a chance.

Currently also making my way through Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but I'll save my thoughts on that...mess...for another time.

11

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: June 29, 2026, 11:08:44 PM »

Alright, how about a trio of Racing games?

Mario Kart World - Well this game is just utter trash. I'm not here for the online, just for the Grand Prix experience and boy is that lacking here between the lack of multiple laps on all but the 1st track and the general underwhelming nature of the tracks in general. It really doesn't help that the tracks are as wide as they are to accommodate the expanded roster count. I was just kind of bored racing through the Grand Prix races, though not nearly as bored as when I dabbled in the extremely empty open world full of nothing of value to do.

This game is the very embodiment of that "I don't know what I expected" meme.

Sonic Racing Crossworlds - Been holding onto this one for a while now, basically waiting for Sega to finish making the game, but now they've announced an entire 2nd season of DLC content so that'll be a while. Played through the first 3 or so Grand Prix tracks, and I have to say I really dig this one. Compared to something like Sonic Racing Transformed, the roster is pretty bad since it's largely Sonic & his terrible friends. But roster gripes aside, the tracks I've experienced so far have been pretty stellar...aside from this one Crossworld track I've seen a few times that's really hard to read beyond just being an explosion of neon color. The rubberband AI is pretty damn tenacious, too, even on the lowest difficulty. Been a while since I picked that one up, but I'd definitely recommend it. And the DLC tracks are surprisingly excellent so far.

12

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: June 29, 2026, 10:59:10 PM »

Might as well add some cents of my own...

Pragmata - Not too much to add to what's already been discussed about this game, but I 100%ed it and found it a perfectly charming little game. It does a good job of keeping things fresh between the game's hacking gimmick and a determination to throw a variety of different enemy encounters at the player. That final boss can seriously **** off, though, on Lunatic Difficulty. As much as I enjoyed it, though, I kinda hope it doesn't get a sequel. This feels like a perfectly great one and done.

Yoshi & the Mysterious Book - Finished the game with all flowers collected and all but one discovery obtained, and that's the discovery related to completely the absolutely infuriating final bonus level of Chapter 12. Overall, I quite enjoyed the game outside of some really annoying auto-scrolling stages or ones with annoying movement gimmicks. Incidentally, that last level is one of those. It has a very strong "pick up and play" portable design sense that makes it easy to plug in 5 minutes here or there between doing other things. REALLY could have done without the game being as long as it is, though, complete with a fake-out ending; a true ending; and a pretty substantial post-game.

13

Nintendo Gaming / Re: What's Next For The N64 Expansion Pack?

« on: June 28, 2026, 10:32:38 AM »

Since we got Turok 1 and 2, I would think 3 is also on the table at some point. There's actually good reason to put it on here, as the remaster totally axed the multiplayer mode. It would also be nice to see Turok Rage Wars, which will likely not see a remaster.

Why no remaster of Rage Wars likely?

Consider how many people in the world likely care about the Turok games. Now consider the subset of THAT that care about a mostly MP-only spin-off. And you're going to have to build online into the game and host servers for that remaster to have any value whatsoever, since local shooter MP seems to be something only the Halo community cares about these days. The numbers just don't add up to the project being worthwhile.

Frankly, it's something of a miracle that we even got pretty good remasters of the original 3.

14

Nintendo Gaming / Re: What's Next For The N64 Expansion Pack?

« on: June 26, 2026, 07:09:17 PM »

On that note, who currently owns Midway's properties? We need the Rush games to return! Though this one would be complicated if they didn't emulate the Controller Pak.

I would imagine the first stop for those rights would be Warner Bros., since WB bought Midway back in their Mortal Kombat days. Who knows where the rights are now, though. Atari's been scooping up the rights to all sorts of obscure games these days. I wonder if WB still owns the publishing rights to stuff like the Shadow Hearts series that Midway owned back in the day.

15

Nintendo Gaming / Re: What's Next For The N64 Expansion Pack?

« on: June 24, 2026, 07:28:57 PM »

Banjo-Tooie hitting the app now.

Banjo-Tooie came to the app in October 2024. In the 21 months since that point, there have been 5 additions in the regular app. DK64, Tonic Trouble, Rayman 2, Killer Instinct and Ridge Racer 64. For the Mature 64 games, Shadow Man and Turok 2 were both added in October 2024. In the 21 months since just Forsaken 64 has been added. That's 6 games in almost two years. Things have really slowed down when it comes to N64 games. What do you think lies in store for the app at this point?

At this point, I'd say there are two major games in Super Smash Bros. and Diddy Kong Racing that people are likely still expecting to show up. With most other Rare games now available, I do think Conker's Bad Fur Day will likely show up for the Mature app at some point. Although Microsoft is now going through a shake-up with a new leader so maybe it doesn't.

Will we see more additions from third parties? I'd like to see Mega Man 64 show up as I'm curious to experience what that game was like. Capcom clearly didn't think there was much interest in the GB Mega Man versions to let them come to the service. Do they put much value in MM64 like they do the NES and SNES games which they keep re-releasing in various collections?

What do you think of the N64 app at this point in time? To me, it seems like the best collection of the N64 library since Nintendo started doing the Virtual Console releases with the Wii and a pretty good representation of the software that made the system special.

I feel like there are still some very notable omissions that could come to the service. You already mentioned Diddy Kong Racing, which just has to come to the service at some point if Rare games are on the table.

Some other ones that I'd expect at some point:

- Ogre Battle 64 - this was on both console VCs and is a very well-regarded game. Frankly, I'm surprised it hasn't made it over already.

- Resident Evil 2 - the N64 port of this game is renowned as a technical marvel, as well as being a port created by what's basically known as Rockstar San Diego these days. The question for this one is whether Capcom even still has the source code, as we already know they don't hold their back catalog in this series in high regard.

- Hybrid Heaven - Probably the best RPG on the N64 before OB64 released. It's a cyberpunk conspiracy action game with turn-based wrestling combat. It's a Konami game. It could happen.

- Beetle Adventure Racing - It'll never happen because of the Beetle car license, but one can dream.

- Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon + sequel - Another game I'm surprised we haven't seen on any Nintendo service at some point, being a pre-Ocarina Zelda-style action game. And we never got the 2.5D sequel in North America.

- Castlevania 64/Legacy of Darkness - I wonder if Konami's been considering some kind of collection of the 3D Castlevania games, and that's why we haven't seen these 2 yet.

Space Station Silicon Valley - Another notable Rockstar game.

16

TalkBack / Re: Rapidly Analyzing The United States’s 200 Best Selling N64 Games

« on: June 24, 2026, 09:04:20 AM »

Of course Ogre Battle 64 isn't on the list - I own the only English-language copy.

*Raises hand*

"We" own the only English language copies. I still have mine in storage. It's worth noting that OB64 was back when if you wanted copies of an Atlus game, you preordered them because the games usually got one print run and that was it. And Atlus' print runs were tiny back then. People forget just HOW boutique Atlus was before Persona. First game I ever personally preordered, too.

17

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Star Fox (Switch 2)

« on: June 23, 2026, 05:59:24 PM »

I have the game preordered due to the launch day physical price matching with the digital price, but I don't know how much time I'll invest into it. I just wrapped up Yoshi yesterday, and I'm currently playing FF7 Rebirth right now. I've been using my Switch 2 mainly as something to dabble with during my lunch hour at work, and after playing the demo it doesn't seem like the game works all that well as a handheld experience, just in how much of the screen real estate has to be shrunk down. Might go back to Engage or start up Xenoblade X first.

18

TalkBack / Re: The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales (Switch 2) Review

« on: June 20, 2026, 06:28:47 PM »

It's interesting that the game is often compared to Zelda. I can see why, but I feel like it should be compared to games like Secret of Mana just as much. For example, the puzzle elements feel lighter than Zelda, and instead of an "overworld setting ala Hyrule in LttP, the world I played, at least in the Prologue demo, feels more like mazes and corridors that lead to the points of interest. The focus on a improving a stable of weapons, their arrangement in a ring, and the "charge" attacks are also very SNES Secret of Mana Vibes.

The way people talk about the game taking place in "Ages" is giving me Terranigma vibes, myself.

Still haven't gotten around to playing the demo. Got a lot on my plate right now, and I'm not a big fan of the HD 2D art style. Feels like a whole lot of muted colors in nearly every game that uses it.

19

TalkBack / Re: Xenoblade Series Blowing Up On Switch 2 With New Game, Switch 2 Editions Of Original Trilogy

« on: June 09, 2026, 06:09:03 PM »

I still haven't gotten around to Xenoblade 2 and 3, so a new one doesn't excite me at the moment. I'll probably download the NS2 editions of 2 and 3 if and when I finally get to them; definitely 2 since I've heard the performance in that game is awful.

I played Xenoblade 2 recently on my Switch 2 (original Switch version), and the performance is OK but there's definitely some graphical shenanigans going on and the load times aren't great. I don't think the game is all that good in general, but if you're going to play it definitely wait for the Switch 2 upgrade.

You mainly play 2 so you can get to 3: the good one.

20

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Serves Up October 22 Release

« on: June 09, 2026, 12:39:14 PM »

Someone at Nintendo really thought we needed a deep dive on thumb wrestling in a Direct that was already struggling to justify its existence at that point in the show.

21

TalkBack / Re: Xenoblade Series Blowing Up On Switch 2 With New Game, Switch 2 Editions Of Original Trilogy

« on: June 09, 2026, 12:36:44 PM »

Can't say I'm all that excited for yet another JRPG centered around school life, but eh...we'll see what they show as we get closer to release.

As for the Switch 2 editions, I'm definitely in "wait and see" mode on those after what happened with X's Switch 2 edition. They're welcome additions if they're good, but I've already played all 3 of those games fairly recently and don't plan on playing them again any time soon.

22

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Switch Online Adding Special Challenges, Starting With Donkey Kong Series Including Ban

« on: June 09, 2026, 12:35:01 PM »

Considering that lack of content was one of the big complaints about Emerald Rush considering the price, this being time-limited seems a bit ridiculous to me.

23

TalkBack / Re: Zelda 40th Anniversary Release Is Ocarina Of Time, Launching This Year

« on: June 09, 2026, 12:34:20 PM »

The lack of any gameplay shown this close to release tells me this is probably, blatantly, obviously going to get delayed into 2027, whatever Nintendo says right now.

As for the game itself, Nintendo decided to remake IIRC still the top-ratest game in gaming history.

Good luck meeting those expectations!

24

Nintendo Gaming / Re: What's Next For The N64 Expansion Pack?

« on: June 05, 2026, 06:49:32 PM »

Obviously, I'm rather pumped about this. Immediately dove into yesterday and again today. Likely take up a lot of my weekend. Thinking about it, it's probably over 15 years since I have last played it. I just can't think of any time where I'd have played it in that span I'm ready to revisit this one again. Who else "is in the mood" and getting their walnuts, peanuts and pineapple smells on?

Tempted to, but from all accounts the minigames are still as broken as they've ever been since Nintendo started emulating this game. Not really in the mood right now for the 100% nonsense of that game.

25

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: May 30, 2026, 04:13:53 PM »

Last on the list, I'm currently playing my way through Yoshi & the Mysterious Book, a game that ended up being absolutely not what I expecting. I thought it was another Yoshi platformer and I was eager to play another Yoshi platformer, but what we got was...an adventure puzzle game about unlocking achievements. Yeah, I enjoy trophy hunting, but I really wasn't expecting an entire game based on that and I still think I would have preferred something like a Woolly World port over this.

It took me a while to start vibing with the game for what it is, but I'm enjoying the game in short sessions. It feels like Yoshi-meets-Winnie the Pooh. Like the modern Zelda games, though, it feels like this is meant to more be a collection of mechanics to just poke at and see what happens than an actual coherent game experience with goals and stakes.

I'm working my way through the Chapter 2 creatures right now, and I'm not sure what the actual point of this game is going to end up being. It really doesn't help that some of the hints towards Discoveries are very badly written, particularly the ones based on music. There were a few I had to look up online because even the Level 2 hints you pay 100 tokens to unlock can be extremely vague about what the game expects you to do.