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Post by Nester the Lark on Dec 21, 2023 11:31:42 GMT -5
I think there's pressure to regularly release new entries in popular series' just because publishers want to capitalize on a game's popularity. You want to sell things to people while they're interested, and at the same time, keep them interested.
It's a double-edged sword because on one hand, trying to maintain an annual release schedule means your games can suffer in quality. (Game Freak is slowly learning this.) On the other hand, giving fans too much of the same thing means they'll also get tired of it more quickly due to diminishing returns.
I think Nintendo finds a way around this with bigger franchises like Mario and Zelda by taking their time with "major" releases, and padding things out in between with side games and remakes/remasters. In the six years between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, we got Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, Cadence of Hyrule, Link Awakening remake, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, and Skyward Sword HD.
With the exception of a few major franchises, like Call of Duty, I think most publishers have learned to relax a bit when it comes to annual release schedules. Players are willing to wait two or three years for a sequel to a game they liked. (And as they say, it's hard to miss you if you don't go away.)
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Post by Nester the Lark on Dec 19, 2023 20:17:32 GMT -5
The choir group Anúna, known to me for contributing to the soundtrack of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (including an official music video for "Shadow of the Lowlands"), as well individual members performing on the soundtrack of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, recently released a new album called Otherworld. It includes new versions of all four of their songs from XC2. (Here's the remake of "Shadow of the Lowlands".) Unsurprisingly, they've also done a fair amount of Christmas music. So here they are singing "Jingle Bells".
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Post by Nester the Lark on Dec 15, 2023 9:32:11 GMT -5
Falcom has just announced the next Trails game, The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki -Farewell O Zemuria-. It's coming in 2024. No platforms were confirmed. Interestingly, I'm seeing people say that it connects to The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails, a game often considered to be Trails in name only. I don't know the details, as it's supposedly a spoiler, but apparently, it's now more canon than was originally thought.
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Post by Nester the Lark on Dec 14, 2023 17:24:03 GMT -5
The original PC88 version of Xanadu has been released on the eShop. Even outside Japan! It's pretty cheap, too. Not sure if I'll get it considering how archaic and difficult it's supposed to be, but maybe I'll consider it and use a walkthrough.
(EDIT: Apparently, this was already available in Japan. This is just the first Western release. It sounds like other old Japanese PC games will also be making their way to other regions.)
Meanwhile, I've been playing The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails. I'm a good bit through the game now. I'll post some impressions of it in the near future.
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Post by Nester the Lark on Dec 13, 2023 11:15:48 GMT -5
With E3 officially at an end, I thought maybe I would post some thoughts on it. As a gamer and a Nintendo fan, it was always something to look forward to. The actual show didn't always live up to expectations, but it was the surprises that were usually the best part. However, there were a few years when I came to view a "good" E3 as a bad omen due to tragic events tending to happen to me soon afterwards. (For example, in 2004, I was really excited when Nintendo revealed The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. A week later, my mom passed away.) Thankfully, this did not end up being a lasting trend. In more recent years, the various press conferences and online presentations were more just something to kill time with while waiting for the Nintendo Direct that always came last. Then there were the 2-3 days of Treehouse Live, which I think I'm going to miss the most. It was awesome to get all those gameplay demos and developer interviews all at once like that. It's a shame that Nintendo doesn't do much with it outside of E3. (Even Kit & Krysta have expressed puzzlement over why Nintendo doesn't use it more as a promotional tool.) Anyway, here are a few random memories from over the years: The reveal of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Like many people, I was taken aback at the graphical style, but it only took me about 30 seconds to warm up to, and I actually thought it was a very clever and "Nintendo" idea. The introduction of Reggie, "kicking ass and taking names," and all the silly memes that followed. In 2009, Nintendo announced both Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M. Between those high profile announcements, they randomly revealed the Wii Vitality Sensor, a peripheral that was never shown again, and only briefly mentioned a couple of times after (including its cancellation). What was the thinking behind this? I remember watching the Hyrule Warriors demo on Treehouse Live, and thinking how relaxed Eiji Aonuma seemed during the interview. Then I realized it was because he was not being interviewed by the press, but by other Nintendo staff. I think that format really helped put game devs at ease. The surprise announcement of Arcade Archives: Donkey Kong during Treehouse Live. This came out of nowhere. When I heard them announce it and shadow drop it, I was like, "Uh... what?!" Also, at that same E3, learning that Shulk and Fiora were part of the Xenoblade 2 DLC. I think it was the second day. I didn't see the beginning of the segment, but I tuned in while I was eating breakfast. I noticed they were showing Xenoblade 2, and figured it must've been the next part of the DLC. I only slowly realized as they were showing it that Shulk and Fiora were in it as Blades. I thought, "Xenoblade 1 characters are in Xenoblade 2??" I had not yet bought the DLC, but I got it the next day haha. Finally, here are some comments I've come across on X/Twitter:
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Post by Nester the Lark on Dec 8, 2023 10:41:14 GMT -5
Sega has announced a new Jet Set Radio, Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Crazy Taxi, "and more."
No platforms or other details were confirmed.
New Shinobi looks good. The graphics look like they were done by Lizardcube (Streets of Rage 4, Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap remake).
I like that Sega is bringing back more legacy series, but I feel skeptical.
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Post by Nester the Lark on Dec 7, 2023 10:56:06 GMT -5
^ One inaccuracy in the video is that SVC Chaos was not the last game of the original SNK. IIRC, it was The King of Fighters 2000. SVC Chaos came out during the SNK Playmore era. SNK's bad localizations were quite infamous back in the day. The explanation I once heard was that SNK knew their games would be niche in the West, so they didn't want to spend a lot of money on localization. Who knows what the real reason was, but the awkward English persisted well into the '00s until other publishers, like Atlus, began localizing SNK's games for them. I used to wish that modern SNK games would include a "bad English" option just as a self-reference, but I realized that that would probably be in bad taste.
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Post by Nester the Lark on Dec 3, 2023 9:27:03 GMT -5
I wonder if any of these other players realized that they were beaten by the creator of Captain Falcon.
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Post by Nester the Lark on Dec 1, 2023 15:12:32 GMT -5
Concept sketches of "Wapeach" have been posted online by her creator, Fumihide Aoki (who also created Waluigi). You can find them on his Instagram, as well as this article on Nintendo Everything. Wapeach was created for the game Mario Tennis, but ultimately rejected. It's interesting to finally see what she would've looked like, but personally, I don't think there need to be "wa" versions of every Mario character.
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Post by Nester the Lark on Nov 27, 2023 11:04:58 GMT -5
I've never been a big Mario Kart fan. I bought Super Mario Kart when it came out, and I played it a lot, but I never liked it as much as F-Zero. It was slow, and the controls always felt too slippery.
I rented Mario Kart 64 once, but like a lot of N64 games, it seemed more focused on multiplayer without leaving much for the single-player experience, so it didn't hook me.
I bought Mario Kart DS on a whim. At the time, reviews were saying it was the best in the series, so it was kind of the "last chance" I gave the series. I think I enjoyed it most, and I remember playing it a good bit, but it still didn't make me a fan. In fact, I keep forgetting I own it haha.
Aside from that, I've played some of the arcade games a couple of times. They're fun arcade racers, but don't feel much like Mario Kart.
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Post by Nester the Lark on Nov 27, 2023 10:43:01 GMT -5
Someone recreated a Godzilla movie in Tears of the Kingdom:
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Post by Nester the Lark on Nov 14, 2023 12:26:52 GMT -5
Pretty typical Indie World Showcase. The only thing that I was interested in was Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution. (Although, I still haven't played the previous Shantae game.)
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Post by Nester the Lark on Nov 13, 2023 9:28:21 GMT -5
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Post by Nester the Lark on Nov 7, 2023 17:20:45 GMT -5
Sounds like a joke post, but it's real. Here's the English press release. Nintendo Co., Ltd. (HQ: Kyoto Minami-ku; Representative Director and President: Shuntaro Furukawa, "Nintendo" hereafter) today announced that it will develop a live-action film of The Legend of Zelda.
The film will be produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, Representative Director and Fellow of Nintendo and Avi Arad, Chairman of Arad Productions Inc., who has produced many mega hit films.
The film will be produced by Nintendo and Arad Productions Inc., and directed by Wes Ball. The film will be co-financed by Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., with more than 50% financed by Nintendo. The theatrical distribution of the film will be done worldwide by Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.
By producing visual contents of Nintendo IP by itself, Nintendo is creating new opportunities to have people from around the world to access the world of entertainment which Nintendo has built, through different means apart from its dedicated game consoles.
By getting deeply involved in the movie production with the aim to put smiles on everyone’s faces through entertainment, Nintendo will continue its efforts to produce unique entertainment and deliver it to as many people as possible. This is a bit unexpected. I think we all assumed that Illumination/Universal would continue doing animated Nintendo adaptations, but this is live-action and with a different studio.
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Post by Nester the Lark on Nov 7, 2023 10:24:10 GMT -5
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