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TalkBack / Re: Next Nintendo Direct To Air September 12

« on: September 14, 2025, 04:49:37 AM »

That was one of the most content packed directs filled with one of the largest variety of Nintendo published games.  The fact that many people are acting like nothing was shown, has just once again shown how badly the internet has rotted the minds of many gamers. 

Over 10 years ago we would have been lucky to even see half the number of games in a single direct, and most Switch era Directs didn't have this many games.  Yeah at this point I need to stop even lurking message boards because there's nothing worth reading.  It's nice to see a few reasonable people try to talk sense, but they sadly get drowned out by the never ending wave of cynical assholes who'll never be satisfied, or just blatant trolls that have nothing better to do with their lives.

I'm not sure I'd attribute it to just internet brain rot. I think it's more likely a symptom of like tribalism and/or entitlement. And what I mean by tribalism is sort of like sports. You could ask a person if they are a sports fan and they may say yes but that doesn't mean they like all sports. They may like baseball and hockey but hate basketball and be disinterested in tennis or golf, for example. Likewise, people watching the Direct may say they are a gamer or even a Nintendo fan but that doesn't mean they then like every game that's made or care about every Nintendo game that the company develops. Even the sports fan who likes baseball and hockey may then only really care about a handful of teams which they root for or consider themselves a fan of. If a game is played with other teams they don't care about then they very well may not bother to watch that game because they just don't feel much interest in the outcome. Even though there could be 10 to 12 baseball games being played during the day they may likely only be interested in watching or seeing the outcome of 1 or 2 of those games and sort of write off the rest of those offerings.

Most gamers commenting probably have a couple genres or series they gravitate towards more and are bigger fans of than other genres and series out there. Thus, for them, when they are watching a Direct, they are looking for those specific games that line up with their specific taste. Let's take the scenario of a gamer that's heavily into something like Call of Duty, Destiny 2 and Overwatch. They've spent hours and hours on those games. Watching this Direct and seeing a trailer for Tamodachi Life is probably not something they are going to care about or an announcement that lines up with their gaming interest. It's going to be a tough sell to try and open up their mind into giving that game a chance or make it seem worth their time. That's where the entitlement part comes into. What was shown that interests me specifically.

And I'm guilty of that mindset too. There were times when a game or news item was being shown in the Direct that I was immediately writing off because I just did not have interest in it for whatever reason. So, then you just feel a sense of waiting for the announcement to be done with so that it moves onto the next thing in the hopes that will give the dopamine hit you are looking for. After a few times of having that waiting feeling, it begins to seem like there is more of stuff you don't care about than stuff you do and then you get comments of people saying there nothing shown. (But seriously, if you want to see a Direct with hardly anything shown, revisit the 2020 Directs. Bakugan, anyone?)

And to me, it feels like two things can be true. When watching the Direct, I acknowledged what Luigi Dude is saying here regarding the amount of games in the Direct and even the amount of third party content being shown. With this Direct and the one in April revealing the Switch 2, it's kind of wild to see this much software being announced and brought to a Nintendo console. Back when the Switch was first launching, some people were throwing out predictions it could be Nintendo's last console because how were they ever going to win third parties back to their hardware after so many had seemed to abandon their hardware. There was some merit to that question. To go from that point to where we are now with the Switch and with what things are like for Switch 2 is quite incredible.

Watching this Direct combined with the April one, I had this impression of just seeing Nintendo being to really dominate the videogame landscape or at least the non-PC side of it. The Resident Evil news at the end brought back GameCube era comparisons when Nintendo got the same type of third party releases as Sony and Microsoft. We've hashed out before how in the past 30 years, the GameCube has been looked back on a bit more fondly because of the some of the third party support it got compared to the other Nintendo home consoles during this time. Now, at this present moment in time, I feel that third party support on GameCube has been blown away with how much third party offerings have appeared on Switch and Switch 2 is already looking like it could surpass what Switch 1 was able to accomplish with what it has been able to show already.

With that said, here comes the but. But..... for myself, Resident Evil games have never interested me. Much like how I am disinterested and probably prejudiced against the vast majority of horror films made and released, that series and type of game has mostly no appeal to me. I've never even tried Resident Evil 4 after all these years despite it often being considered the best GameCube game by some critics and fans. So, on the one hand, the announcement kind of felt like the end of this long-time sort of separation by third parties of skipping Nintendo consoles with their current and new offerings to the benefit of Sony and Microsoft and yet, on the other hand, it also didn't mean much to me and sort of felt like nothing. I did think how there were a couple people I know who play RE may be anticipating the game but then it was kind of forgotten until talking about it now and seeing this post.

Overall, there weren't many game announcements that highly excited me. I'll make another post in regards to my personal highlights. In comparing the two Directs of April and September, Donkey Kong Bonanza and Mario Kart World remain at the top of my Switch 2 wishlist for when I get that console. The question of whether to get Prime 4 now for Switch or save it for Switch 2 also looms. Meanwhile, Sakurai has gotten me more hyped up for a Kirby Air Riders game than I expected to be. I'm looking forward to spending another fireside chat Direct to hear him expound on the game. Been really thinking of taking my GC copy of Kirby Air Ride and giving it another go to really dig into what it contains after last trying to do so at least some 15 years ago. With Silksong now out also, that was another hyped game that was kept from this second Direct. Based on those first reveals compared to the first reveals we got in this Direct, I can see why this Direct may have a more mixed reaction although I also don't mind feeling like it may be easier to keep waiting a bit longer before plunking down some money and jumping into the Switch 2 ecosystem so I'm not going to complain about it that much either.

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TalkBack / Re: Next Nintendo Direct To Air September 12

« on: September 12, 2025, 02:35:22 AM »

Anyone else find themselves in an odd state of contentment?

Yeah, I'd say so. With MP4 footage shown and the game soon releasing along with the hype of a 3D Donkey Kong game for Switch 2, those are a couple long time game wishes being fulfilled. At this point, the only dream request would be a fully realized sequel to F-Zero GX and its 3D racing world. And yet, I'm not losing any sleep over it or pining that hard about it.

I agree it isn't that winning lottery feeling of like, say, a new Chibi-Robo game in the style of its GC debut but a new 3D Mario game is probably the top of my wishlist right now. Odyssey was about 8 years ago so it's been a while. Yeah, there was the Bowser's Fury mode when they released 3D World which also disappointed me in being bundled with a game I'd beat thoroughly on Wii U so still have yet to get it. I just have a hard time considering that as an offering comparable to Odyssey. So, at this point, I'd definitely welcome a new 3D platformer as I consider it to be currently the longest gap in-between Mario 3D platformers.

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General Chat / Re: I’m very very sorry

« on: August 25, 2025, 05:03:41 PM »

LOL! It's just the nature of spambots. Nothing was weakened. Security just always been that terrible.  ... 

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Music

« on: August 22, 2025, 05:19:29 AM »

They better add Wind Waker's full OST soon. That's the one I've been waiting on. The ocean themes in that game are still some of the best music Nintendo has ever made.

Really? They're missing stuff for it? I listened through that whole OST a couple times when it had first dropped and thought it was complete. What all are they missing?

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I'M BACK / Re: Quick! Let's poison the machine learning models lurking the forums.

« on: August 22, 2025, 05:17:50 AM »

LucarioGirl69 is a real person.

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TalkBack / Re: Hollow Knight: Silksong Reveals September 4 Release Date

« on: August 22, 2025, 05:16:39 AM »

Was not expecting this to be launching in just a couple weeks. Wowzers! First played the original in 2022 so the wait time has been less for me than other gamers but it also means if I do end up hoping for another sequel than it will likely be a much longer wait time for that one unless they decide to expand their staff.

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TalkBack / Re: Kirby Air Riders 2 Getting Direct August 19

« on: August 18, 2025, 05:04:18 PM »

It's going to become Super Smash Riders instead!

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TalkBack / Re: The Missing Items From The Partner Showcase

« on: August 06, 2025, 07:19:40 PM »

Person A makes a statement. Person B says I disagree with Person A. Person C says I agree with Person A. I think we've now covered all the takes on that topic and can move on.

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I'M BACK / Re: Great "Report to Moderator" Reports in Forum History

« on: August 06, 2025, 07:17:44 PM »

Welp, allow me to explain my stance a little bit more. I haven't talked about this with any of the other mods so the view is my own and they can feel free to counter or override my take but here it is.

I guess I've been watching a bit more legal shows or something of late but what it made me think of is that in some court cases one side may want to introduce some evidence or an argument but the judge rules it is inadmissible for some reason such as it not being relevant to the matter being tried. However, it may be later that during testimony, a witness broaches the matter or brings it up. In which case, now that inadmissible evidence can be admitted and used since it has now become relevant and pertains to the matter at hand.

Likewise, I would say the no politics rule would be like that inadmissible evidence. As soon as a user may bring it up then as the mod/judge we strike it down. Can't post that here. Not relevant to the forums purpose. However, in this case, since it is, let's say, a high ranking staff member (the News Editor) who has been the one to broach that topic and introduced it into the discussion, I can't exactly censure that comment as it is above my paygrade. Now, I doubt the intention was to have that topic become what the first comment of the thread focused on much like how a person's testimony may now lead to evidence that they didn't want becoming part of the case now being allowed. But since they brought it up, I decided to let the comment stand in this case as a sort of fairness. If the staff member is going to broach the politics topic then I suppose it is fair to let a user comment on it in return. Hence why I made the "not my problem" statement in that picture.

With all that said, I'm also not interested in seeing that subject become a long chain of posts with all manner of people commenting and arguing about it as though it is now open season on political and religious discussion. (Not that I expect a lot of comments with the state of activity the forum now sees these days.) Thus, I've made a quick post to touch on the matter and I think should now let it be put to rest.

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I'M BACK / Re: Great "Report to Moderator" Reports in Forum History

« on: August 05, 2025, 01:33:20 AM »

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I'M BACK / Re: The Drunken Lucario

« on: August 05, 2025, 12:59:55 AM »

Gotta love revisiting old forum antics!

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2025 - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

« on: August 01, 2025, 02:05:06 AM »

I know that the main thing I'm playing and looking to finish going into the event this year is XCX:DE. Getting close to completing it all. Storywise, I'm about to start Chapter 13 Act 2. Also have around 15 missions/quests to complete and nearing 100% of Mira. Cauldros is currently 100% done. I have one segment left in Oblivia, two in Noctilum, three in Primordia and a bunch to do in Sylvalum.

After completing XCX, not really sure what I'd want to do after. I'll admit I've been leaning towards diving into XC2 finally to see what that's all about but also not sure I want to do a dive into another long game again. Starting playing a bit of Metroid Fusion on the Switch GBA app because of it being a Mission for the Switch Online Icons and was really enjoying revisiting and diving back into that game having not played it in maybe 8 years. Perhaps I tackle some of the Switch Online Library games. We shall see.

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2025 - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

« on: August 01, 2025, 01:57:33 AM »

While we are still waiting on a final count from last year 

Yep, that has been on my to-do list for 11 months but I finally checked that off tonight. Does completing the hosting of a forum event count from a year ago count for Backlaugust? Maybe I should have waited one more day....

I've actually had Backlaugust on my mind from last week and was wanting to post something then to try and drum up support early. But then I remembered I still needed to tabulate things from last year so I wanted to get that done first. And now, M.K. Ultra has gone ahead and taken charge of the 2025 event just when I was about to tie pokepal148 for most hosted Backlaugusts.    

It's all good. If I don't have to host it then maybe I can just focus more on actually playing games this year.

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General Gaming / Re: BacklAugust 2024! (Forums Are Dead Edition)

« on: August 01, 2025, 01:52:15 AM »

After coming in about second through the first three Backlaugusts, it felt good to finally be the top performer in 2023. But my, how the mighty have fallen as I followed up that performance with a big fat 0. I must do better next time. 

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General Gaming / Re: BacklAugust 2024! (Forums Are Dead Edition)

« on: August 01, 2025, 01:35:54 AM »

Congrats to all users who were able to check off some games from their backlogs! For those interested in a few numbers, the total games checked off by players in August 2024 was 18. Which is half of the 2023 total. Definitely was drop in participation this year. Who knows what the 2025 turnout may look like?  After being a big participant in all the other Backlaugust events, I'm afraid I just ended up never really playing any games this time around and just did not find myself being able to align my schedule with the event. Here's what the records now show:

Backlaugust 2020 - 44 games beat
Backlaugust 2021 - 39 games beat
Backlaugust 2022 - 56 games beat
Backlaugust 2023 - 36 games beat
Backlaugust 2024 - 18 games beat


While the Backlaugust event has never been framed as a contest with other users (aside from maybe being an us vs them of NWR vs Negative World in the launch of the event) and has always been framed as one's own personal challenge to just see what one can accomplish on their own, there is a bit of a competitive undercurrent to the proceedings. Thanks to RABicle's participation in the first Backlaugust in which he wanted to talk about how he was winning the event with the amount of games he was completing, there has been a bit extra pride in seeing if one can be the user to beat the most games in the month out of all the participants engaging in the event. Here's the shortlist of top Backlaugust performers:

Backlaugust 2020 - RABicle
Backlaugust 2021 - Mop it up
Backlaugust 2022 - Mop it up
Backlaugust 2023 - Khushrenada
Backlaugust 2024 - Broodwars


Congrats to Broodwars for conquering the most games for Backlaugust 2024. Probably not a name people would have expected as usually it would seem to be RABicle, Mop it up, Luigi Dude and myself as the players in the mix for most games getting completed. It just goes to show that the month is open to anyone who wants to get serious about getting through some games for the month.

And for a little more stat info, to date, no one has recorded more than 16 games beat during the month. A number accomplished by both RABicle (2020) and Mop it up (2022). If you want to really go for the gold then that's the number to challenge yourself with.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase To Air July 31

« on: July 31, 2025, 03:58:53 AM »

On one hand, it's good to see a showcase like this.  It will probably have a fair amount of Switch 1 stuff so it probably has more relevant content for someone like myself who doesn't have a Switch 2.

But as a partner showcase it will not have the one thing I want to know and that's the Metroid Prime 4 release date.  Or frankly the release date for any Nintendo first party games for the rest of the year aside from Pokemon.  Is there a reason they're not giving us these dates?  Has everything fallen so behind that the rest of the 2025 lineup is up in the air and could move to 2026?  I'm especially worried about Metroid because not only do I not want yet another delay but I fear that if it moves too far into the future that they'll decide to not bother with the Switch 1 version.  Another delay is a potential cancelation.

So hooray for the Partner Showcase but at this exact moment that isn't what I want, which hurts my enthusiasm for it.

After the whole announcement of how they scrapped the original MP4 development and gave the game over to Retro, I think Nintendo is probably sick of having to deal with MP4 talk for over 8 years now thanks to that infamous E3 2017 logo reveal and also want the game to come out this year and be done with. Moreover, I'm pretty sure that means they'd be aware of how another delay in the release would kick off further negative fan reaction so they were likely very certain MP4 would be able to release this year and thus finally show it action now and start that hype train with that expectation in mind.

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I'M BACK / Re: I'm ankle.

« on: July 04, 2025, 04:39:11 PM »

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General Chat / Re: Hockey Discussion: The Leafs Would Like To Borrow Taylor Hall's Horseshoe

« on: June 24, 2025, 09:32:34 PM »

Ha! Yeah, of course, I'm still here. I'm still banning spambots every once in awhile.

I've thought of bumping this thread a few times. Like in back in 2023 when the Penguins playoff streak came to end and for the first time in almost 20 years (specifically the lockout year), neither the Ducks or the Penguins were in the playoffs so I didn't really have a team to follow. And now that has continued with neither Ducks or Penguins in 2024 or 2025.

And you know what? I've kind of found it to be a relief. The amount of hockey I was watching say back 15 years ago in which I was subscribed to Center Ice and watching most of the regular season games for those two clubs and then all the playoff games to now in which I watched like 4 games in the past season is a big change. I'd say COVID was sort of the catalyst that accelerated the change. Sure the NHL did a playoff format of some kind but, to me, that was alost season and one wonders what might have been had it been able to continue uninterrupted like that. Then the bubble season the following year was just so-so and awkward. 2022 got me kind of excited again but then the playoffs began in which Penguins faced off against the Rangers and it was just so aggravating as the Rangers proceeded to injure like a third of the Penguins team through the first 4 games. The Penguins were forced to use their third string goalie and they were still dominating and winning with a 3-1 series lead. Finally, the Rangers were able to injure and concuss Crosby and that finally allowed them to start winning and they won the series thanks to their work of depleting the Penguins line-up. I was so glad to see the Rangers implode this year and those players sent packing all over the league.

That experience also brings me to another point in why no playoffs has been a relief. The realization of how invested I'd become. All these highs and lows over something that I have no say in or can affect the outcome in anyway. The playoff losses would leave me feeling down for days. And ultimately, the longer you are a fan then the more losses you are going to see. The Penguins made the playoffs for 16 years. 4 of those runs made it to the Finals with 3 wins. 25% of the time, the team made it to the Finals. Yet they were also knocked out in the first round 8 times or 50% of the time. In a way, that seems right for the odds. Technically, every series is 50/50 of whether a team will win or lose. Overall, the Penguins lost about 82% of the time they were in the Playoffs. That's a lot of time spent watching a team lose. That's a lot of time I had committed to watching a negative outcome and be disappointed or upset at the result. Even if you go by the regular season, a team making the playoffs may usually win around 45 games. In an 82 game season, that's about 55% of the time they are winning but it's still 45% of the time they are losing which is close to 50/50. Following the regular season of a team and it will likely be about half the time you are watching them lose which, again, seems like a lot of time spent on something just to get a negative outcome. (And for some quick Ducks math, let's start with 2003 to present. They made the playoffs 12 times and won 1 cup which means they lost in the playoffs about 92% of the time.)

And I haven't even touched on the whole referee situation and how the NHL is unable to find consistency in its rulings which is further frustration in being a fan. In any case, by drifting away from hockey more and using that time watching games doing other things like playing games or watching movies or reading or whatever else has felt like better time spent. As a further aside, instead of the NHL Playoffs, I actually got more excited about the Ice Hockey World Championships when it turned out Crosby was going to be playing with Fleury and MacKinnon for team Canada. That seemed like it could be a fun event to see Crosby reunited with Fleury and maybe winning one more championship together along with his Nova Scotia buddy in MacKinnon. Instead, they got upset and knocked out in their first quarterfinal game. Cue the Futurama quote!



Now with all of that griping and wall of text information you didn't ask about done, let's actually get to the question Insanolord did ask. How do I feel about the trade? It's a mixed feeling. Honestly, I've watched very little of the Ducks play in the past 5 years. Like maybe 3 or 4 games of theirs. With them having been basement dwellers for so long, its' been hard to care much about the team. That said, when Zegras first joined the team, he brought a lot of attention to the Ducks and it created a hope that maybe this team would be competing again in the playoffs pretty soon like in 2 or 3 years depending on some other future trades or other rookies joining the team. However, that hope soon faded and just didn't hear or see many stories about Zegras after that rookie year aside from trade rumours. Ultimately, my take is just that Zegras represented potential. Having not really seen him play much, it's hard for me to have an opinion on whether the Ducks should have tried to hold onto him longer or not. It's particularly vexing since it seems like the Ducks may finally be trying to take a step towards playoff contention again. It was a bit of a better season for them last year. The Quenneville hiring suggests management may be thinking there's a possibility that this team can get to the playoffs and is hoping his coaching experience can do that. I'd like to have seen what Zegras could do on a playoff contending team and a bit of a stronger roster. It's untapped potential now. No idea what difference he could have made with the team in the playoffs or if it was more of a contender. At the same time, he's gone through some injuries so maybe that could have an effect on him. I think of Matt Murray and how much his career got derailed from a couple concussions and injuries. Accumulated injuries can take their toll on a person and stunt their ability.

It's also been discussed how Zegras is more suited as a center but the Ducks have been playing him on the wing because they feel they've got two other players stronger as the first and second line centers. To me, that's one of the dumbest reasons to trade a player. That suggests a failing by the coaching of the team. You know what helped make the Penguins a dominant team during 2007 - 2012? It was having 3 top centers in Crosby, Malkin and Staal. Jordan Staal was their third line center but that wasn't a knock on his ability. It was just where he fell compared to Crosby and Malkin. Staal's been the top line center with the Hurricanes for like a decade after they traded him in 2012 which just shows the crazy riches the Penguins had during that time when it came to centers. After they traded Staal, they were much weaker. If Crosby was injured, they'd move Malkin to the top line and Staal to the second and keep rolling. If Malkin was injured, again, Staal could go to the second line. Having multiple talented centers is a good thing. The Penguins managed to find some good centers for their third and fourth line with Bonino and Cullen in 2016 and were able to get back to back Stanley Cups with them. When they lost Bonino and Cullen in those positions, they struggled again to find suitable replacement centers for those lines and its been diminishing returns ever since. Why the Ducks couldn't have Zegras as a third line center if that is his better position is beyond me. Just indicative of the team failing the player.

Ultimately, whether this was a smart trade or not will be decided in the next few seasons on how things end up for the players. Did the Ducks give up too soon? Is having older Rangers players a better choice than keeping a younger player with more potential? Zegras seems happy enough about the trade and reconnecting with some friends of his on the Flyers. Maybe that gets him motivated and producing more. I don't know. Ducks have a weapon in cap space that they keep holding onto. At some point, they may finally make some moves and spend big on some other established talented players and a player like that may make up for whatever they would have had with keeping Zegras. I just don't get what the urgency was for the Ducks in needing to trade Zegras now.

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TalkBack / Re: Donkey Kong Bananza Announced for Switch 2

« on: April 11, 2025, 05:09:48 AM »

Honestly, it's been awhile since a game trailer made me smile so much and laugh a bit while watching it. Before the title reveal, I felt the game should be called Donkey Kong: Force of Destruction based on what was being shown. I'll admit that I'm still thrown off by the new DK look and, with all the different enemies and art style, part of me wonders if this could have been a new franchise instead but I can get over that from how wild this game looks to be with almost everything seemingly destructible. I was just sort of expecting the usual for Mario Kart but it also blew me away by taking it into an open world style format. With that and DK, Switch 2 looks to already have some bangers. And it feels like Nintendo is still keeping some games under wraps because they've got to have more Switch 2 games for the latter half of the year than just Switch 1 game add-ons. Curious to see what they might have that could top DK for the holiday season when it looks this good.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Adding Switch 2 Exclusive GameCube Library

« on: April 11, 2025, 04:55:27 AM »

F-Zero also likely suffers from the fact that it probably doesn't have someone championing it right now as a game or series they'd like to make a new entry in. We got a brand new Famicom Detective Game after about three decades and that series was given a new chance at life in part because there was someone that wanted to revisit it. We did get F-Zero 99 which was a sign of life for the series even if it again avoids the 3D of it all. I do think that has helped show there would be interest in a game. It's just a matter of when someone at Nintendo would want to retackle it. Kid Icarus seemed dead until Sakurai decided he wanted to make an entry for it and now he's bringing back Kirby's Air Ride. All of that tells me that F-Zero isn't dead with Nintendo. There will probably be a new game for it at some point. It just depends when someone will finally be willing to decide that's what they want to make.

Or else Nintendo finally does farm it out again. Keep in mind that F-Zero GX was really more a Sega game than Nintendo. Even then, F-Zero wasn't something that creatives inside Nintendo wanted to tackle. According to Nagoshi, who was the person who really developed GX, Nintendo was highly impressed with what Amusement Vision made which you can take a few ways. Either they didn't think another company could make a game at the Nintendo sort of level or they didn't see F-Zero as a big priority and were surprised to see what heights an F-Zero game could reach. They've said things about not knowing what else they could do to move the series forward after GX. Considering Nintendo just went back to 2D for the series twice more on the GBA, they just don't seem to want to make the jump to 3D internally aside from F-Zero X. If GX didn't exist, I wonder how many people would be asking for a new F-Zero game still or if we'd have just seen it as an antiquated old style of racing game and a minor part of Nintendo's history like Mach Rider or Excitebike. Don't hear people wondering when Nintendo will finally return to the Excitebike series. But since Nintendo didn't design GX, it leaves the series in an odd situation with the company. If Nintendo finally decides to take another crack at the series internally, it could end up looking rather different than expected. Sort of like how Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and now Donkey Kong Bananza are willing to take DK in different directions internally compared to what's been done by Rare and Retro with the DKC series and fan expectations of what elements make a DK game.

Nintendo can point to sales as a safe way out of not making a new F-Zero entry but, I think based on the history, they just don't really know what they want to do with the series or seem to see it as a 3D series. If Nintendo was going to stick by GameCube sales as justification for decisions then we wouldn't have seen Luigi's Mansion 2 or a new Kirby Air Ride game. Perhaps Mario Kart is also a factor with it taking up all their ideas and focus so that another 3D racer seems redundant. (However, considering the company has also got multiple series known for 2D platforming games, I don't think redundancy is that big an issue.) Still, if Air Ride can return then I do think we finally see another 3D F-Zero and I even think we see it in the next five years on Switch 2. The big question is how many franchises can Nintendo keep juggling? In the past decade, they finally got Fire Emblem to take off big. Pikmin 4 has helped boost that series power and justified making a Pikmin 5 and that there will be demand for it. Animal Crossing hit huge numbers with Switch. You've got the beasts of Mario and Zelda that need to keep churning out entries. Metroid Prime 4 may determine what Retro's making for the next few years. The future of Smash Bros. is currently in question of how to follow up Ultimate and who may do it if Sakurai really is stepping away from the series. If DK Bananza is a big hit, is EAD going to try and juggle Mario and DK games going foward? If F-Zero does come along and turns out to be a success both in sales and with fans then that will cause demand for another future entry. That's why farming it out is likely how we'll see a new entry. Find a studio willing to make the entries for that series sort of like Next Level Games has become the Luigi's Mansion and Mario Striker's dev. Pokemon company handles the Pokemon games. HAL handles Kirby. Retro and Mercury Studios have got Metroid duty. Monolith Soft has Xenoblade along with their assistance in Zelda. Mario Party by Hudson aka NDcube aka Nintendo Cube. Fire Emblem and Paper Mario are Intelligent Systems. They'd probably want to find a company to try it out and if successful then have them keep making more entries.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Adding Switch 2 Exclusive GameCube Library

« on: April 07, 2025, 06:39:39 AM »

Yeah, Soul Caliber 2 was big and the GC version was very popular with having Link. But it was the GBA and F-Zero GP Legend that I think was more of a factor as it seems to have tanked hard in sales at the time. As for GX, I've brought up my personal experience with it a few times but, to repeat it once more, I think it was a game that people didn't connect with at first and took some time to come around to. It made a bad impression on my the first time I played it with the cheesy story and combined difficulty. It took time to learn the courses and how to control the racing craft in the game. It wasn't as easy to jump into compared to something like Mario Kart (or Soul Caliber 2 perhaps ). I bailed on the game an hour after trying it out for the first time renting it. It was a few years later that I came back to it around the time the Wii was releasing or close to it. Picked up a used copy for cheap (like 15-20 dollars or so). This time, I was willing to give it more of a chance having had some more experience with the series due to the SNES game, oddly enough. This time, by be willing to take some time to get gud, I found myself hooked and addicted to the game and it remains one of my all-time favorite games. I came around to embracing the goofiness of the whole thing and the challenge it presented made the races in it some of the most tense and heart-pumping gaming experiences I've ever had. That careful precision needed for when just to turn, how much boost power to keep using and having your craft right on the edge of exploding was such a thrill. But it wasn't something a player would likely experience right away which I think is also why it took time for F-Zero GX to develop better word of mouth and create a cult following in which people finally began wanting a new 3D experience to follow up what GX started many years after GX first came out.

I'm very curious to see what the reactions to GX might be now 22 years later by many people who will likely be playing it for the first time. Will people be willing to meet it on its terms and accept the learning curve it asks of them? Or will they also bounce off it because of that or the dated and silly looking CGI of the story? I doubt there's going to be a rewind function and save states can probably only do so much to mitigate the difficulty. It will require practice and developing the muscle memory for the courses and how to control the vehicles. Also curious whether the game will work with the new Switch 2 controllers or if it will require the GameCube controller accessory? One reason I felt that has held back a lot of GameCube games from being re-released was the L and R triggers of the GameCube controller. They had two functions. You could sort of half-press them as the sensors would recognize that input or hard-press and click them down for a second input. Controllers after that never bothered with that dual-sensor. At least that's been my understanding. For F-Zero GX, those L and R triggers were important to the nuances of being able to race well particularly in cornering as they had to do with causing the craft to slide left or right on the racetracks.

Still I'm glad to see it's finally getting dusted off and re-released to the world. Hopefully it will lead to a new 3D entry in the series. Heck, Donkey Kong is finally getting his second 3D game after an even longer wait from DK64's release and Kirby's getting a new Air Ride game when even less people were asking for that. So, there's still hope for F-Zero to make a triumphant return as well.

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TalkBack / Re: New Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Footage Shown

« on: March 31, 2025, 08:38:00 PM »

This makes a lot of the negatively online right now look all the more embarrassing.

There's been a lot of negativity? Glad I haven't seen it. I was happy with what I saw for MP4. Sure, it didn't seem like it was doing much different from the previous MP games but that's alright with me. I still replay those games and enjoy them and getting more of that experience is all I was looking for which seems to be what this game will do also. Perhaps people were expecting some kind of BotW level game for MP4 but that's not what this series is.

There are times when it is easy to get bored of something or question if it is worth releasing so many similar titles. It can happen in games where you had 6 Professor Layton games in 6 years. But the same thing can happen in movies. There was 6 movies comprising of the "Thin Man" series made from 1934 - 1947. Sean Connery made 6 James Bond movies in 9 years. At the time, it would be easy to get bored with such things. Diminishing returns and such. Yet, now, years OR decades later, one wishes there were more things made of that type of media. You go from thinking it's too much to not enough. For those that discover these things after, they'll wish there was more of that thing. The similarity is now a plus instead of a negative.

That's why, I'm all for it if this game plays very similar to the previous Prime games. I'll still take another 6 games like that. The formula works for me. It is comforting gaming. Bring it on. I'm happy to still get another round of Prime. It took so long to get another one and who knows if we'll get another.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: What will Nintendo release in 2025?

« on: March 27, 2025, 10:03:47 AM »

Aw shoot! I was going to do this last night and now it's too late. Hoo-ray for me.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Airing Switch 1 Dedicated Direct Tomorrow

« on: March 27, 2025, 01:58:32 AM »

This makes me think the Switch 2 won't release until the Fall.

Yeah, the guess of a possible June / July release for Switch now feels too soon if they want to talk about a few more Switch 1 games. Of course, with Switch 2 being backwards compatible, perhaps Nintendo is ok with a few old ports releasing later in the summer and fall for those that can't get a new system right away as something to tide them over while Switch 2 grows its userbase. It's the Just Dance dilemma. Do you keep releasing software on an older system even when its replacement is out? That old system has a big userbase and if it is still purchasing games then wouldn't it be smart to keep supporting it until sales show its better to stop and move on.

This is Nintendo's PS4/PS5 test. Look at how developers keep releasing PS4 version games along with PS5 versions because that userbase keeps buying games for the system and has been slow to upgrade to PS5s. As a result, the PS5 has had a hard time with gaining an identity this gen and it has resulted in first party games getting ported to other systems to generate more sales since the PS5 userbase alone isn't enough anymore due to the cost. Nintendo should be looking to avoid that and make sure Switch 1 isn't hurting Switch 2's growth potential.

Nintendo tried keeping the 3DS going for a year after the Switch released. This may be that same strategy of giving the Switch a few more titles to give it a gentle ride into the sunset instead of immediately turning off the tap of software releases for the system like Wii U. However, if Nintendo is still making software for Switch 1 next year then I will be surprised and feel like that means Switch 2's growth hasn't been as strong as hoped.

All the big announcements are going to be held for the real Direct in a few months when Switch 2 can finally be discussed.

Months or next week on Apr. 2? I suppose it depends on the Switch 2 release date. If it is summer then there should be a lot of software and launch titles releases talked about. If later in fall time then they may hold back on software releases for a Direct during the ghost of E3 in summertime.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: What will Nintendo release in 2025?

« on: March 25, 2025, 06:31:55 PM »

If a Khushrenada makes a prediction but Order.RSS isn't around to accept it, does anybody care...? Really makes one think.....

Man, in about one week, it is the big Switch 2 Direct. Really got to get some predictions together but the February quick reveal really took some wind out of the sails by showing things about it and a Mario Kart ruining some of Safe Khushrenada's longtime safe bets that never paid off and finally could have. C'est la vie.

-Khushrenada will earn the most points in this.
What? That guy knows things! This is a safe bet, don't worry.

So, if Khushrenada purposefully gets stuff wrong then this prediction will be incorrect but then Khushrenada can't win because he'll have the least points so he'll have to get more points but then Mop it up will be correct and she might win but if she wins then she'll have more points than Khushrenada making the prediction incorrect which might mean Khushrenada will then have more points and a;aodfijvgoai 'pe' prgvaprm 'pr ERROR! ERROR! CAN NOT COMPUTE!! ERROR!