#a switch 1/2 game is more comparable to a console game

[tuesziday]

I get being upset about the price of Switch 2 games (I already feel a crisis debating buying a $60 game).

...comparing it to the price of a Nintendo DS game isn't a fair comparison at all.

[everydayspamton]

How much longer do you think we have till chapter 3

I've been wanting to break something like this down all Deltarune-theory-style and this seems like the perfect opportunity! The release of chapter 3&4 also relates directly to this blog, so that's a plus.

In terms of development we're lucky that Toby Fox has been incredibly generous with sharing updates on where the game is, and whats left before launch.

Comparing the information we've been given in the last few newsletters to this timeline in the Summer 2024 newsletter, it's fairly easy to pinpoint where we are and what's left.

Public testing for the LTS update and game_change function has recently been completed!

As per the Autumn 2024 newsletter, the untested English PC version of chapter 4 has also been completed.

Chapter 3 has been translated to Japanese and the PC version has been bug tested.

Chapter 4 has just begun Japanese translation, and PC testing will begin when it is closer to completion (which according to Toby will take "some months" for the final pass of translation to be done)

The last bullet is a pretty accurate mark on where we are in the development. Somewhere on the "Console Ports, Japanese Version, and Other Stuff" part of Toby Fox's List.

We can also use the information from the Summer 2024 newsletter to know what's left on the To-Do list before launch.

Complete Japanese translation and PC bug testing for Chapter 4.

Create and bug test console ports (Nintendo Switch and PlayStation. Xbox is a maybe)*

Final Bug testing

Getting the game reviewed by rating boards.

Preparing soundtrack for release.

Creating marketing material and trailers in preparation for release.

"And more... ?" (I'm assuming this is just referencing the fact game development is unpredictable and anything could slow development, but who knows)

*⬆️It seems that it's not a big deal to make the console port, but instead bug testing will be. It also seems that they've begun work on console porting already, based on the autumn 2024 news letter ⬇️

SO...

Given the fact that we've never waited through all these end-of-development processes for a Toby Fox game it's hard to get an accurate time frame for it all. Although, Toby Fox has said Chapter 3&4 will definitely come out next year and I'm beyond ecstatic. I've yet to answer the question though... When do I think it's coming out?? I think we're getting Deltarune 3&4 around Q3 of 2025. (Q3 is just fancy talk for the months of July, August, and September). The main reason I think this is because Toby has put a "some months" time frame around completing the Japanese translation. PC testing for chapter 4 and Console testing for 3&4 is next, which will hopefully be relatively speedy given the fact they have outsourced a company to assist them. After that is a bunch of legal-console-game business stuff they have to get straight. I'm not predicting the end of next year because of how confident Toby Fox seems in releasing it in 2025, and because of the fact we don't have a trailer I don't think it's releasing in early 2025 either. But with the introduction of the frozen inu in the last newsletter, I think we're getting closer and closer to a real release date!

Toby has also been fond of releasing on special dates. Chapter 1 came out on Halloween of 2018. Chapter 2 was September 17th, 2021, which was the 6th anniversary of Undertale.

September 17th, 2025 will be the 10th anniversary of Undertale, and a date that fits well within the Q3 time frame I've predicted. If I were to put money on any date, it would be this one.

Let me know if any of y'all agree, disagree, or just have any thoughts about this... Or if posts like this are fun to read. Thanks for reading if you made it this far!!

Also... I like your gnarpy pfp

[splatsvilles-fashionista]

Splatoon 3 Version 10.0.0 patch notes breakdown

Took them a good while to get them translated to English, but the patch notes are here! Let's grab that list and take a look at it together, shall we?

First off, Switch 2 enhancements!

These come primarily in the form of higher frame rates, even in the hubs (which on the regular Switch runs at 30 FPS compared to the 60 FPS of multiplayer matches.

To ensure that the framerate is consistent in cross-console matches, the game is going to remove some background elements in ranked matches when played on the Switch. Which is a shame, but let's be realistic, we likely won't notice most of the time. Additionally, no changes will be made when in recon, so the backdrops for your photoshoots will be untouched.

Now, onto the new content!

As shown, Urchin Underpass is joining the fray, and from previews looks almost completely unchanged from it's Splatoon 1 incarnation. And then there's of course all the new Barazushi and Emberz weapons. Nothing surprising here. Let's move onto balance changes!

In terms of buffs and nerfs this is a very small, with the most notable change being some surgical-precision strikes against S-BLAST. It's currently THE go-to weapon in competitive play, and Nintendo's looking to take it down a peg with a big ink consumption nerf and increased endlag between shots so that the weapon has more windows of vulnerability.

Toxic Mist gets 5% cheaper, but also takes more time to begin recovering ink after use by about four frames (if my math adds up), which Nintendo mentions is because they want to avoid people spamming it, but that feels unnecessary to me since Toxic Mist is... not good. Regardless this is a net positive.

As for Specials, there's a lot of Crab Tank nerfs in here, I guess they didn't feel comfortable putting so many more Crab Tanks without that. Triple Inkstrike and Booyah Bomb are now going to more or less instantly destroy Crab Tanks, and Crab Tank's cannon shot does 10 less damage on a direct hit. These are not big nerfs, but as a Crab Tank you've now gotta be on the lookout for enemy Specials that can shred you.

Additionally, Wave Breaker is now 20% more durable, and all Splatanas now deal half as much damage as they used to. Stamper used to able to straight-up oneshot Wave Breaker with a single charged slash, and now it'll take at least two, maybe three, depending on how the math shakes up. Wave Breaker needed some buffs, and this is a good solid step in the right direction.

Now, let's talk about ranked changes!

The biggest change of all of these is that in Rank S and above, your weapons are now ranked individually, meaning they have separate power rankings, meaning that doing well with one weapon won't affect your rank when playing others. This means you can use weapons you're worse while playing ranked and not be judged by your strongest performances. Feel free to experiment and mix things up!

Additionally, ranked points earned and lost in Open have been massively increased, from 8 points per win and 4 points per loss to 20 and 10, respectively. Playing Open to rank up is still going to be slower than Series, but it's significantly more feasible than it was before.

Finally, and this is a bit of a strange change, in X rank lobbies, players will now be anonymized, with their names getting replaced by temporary "call signs" generated based on your gear (amongst other things), with your actual ID not being visible to the other players until after the fact.

This might seem out of nowhere to most of you, but it seems to be a reaction to a recent controversy involving the Japanese competitive player Chocopero. I'll fully admit I do not know exactly what happened, but to my understanding Chocopero was on the cusp of getting 5000 X Power, a tremendous achievement, when people in his lobbies began griefing his matches, intentionally throwing matches while on his team, and I've even heard other say he got DDoS'ed at some point. This new call sign system seems to be an attempt to anonymize players so targeting specific people for in-match harassment becomes harder.

And honestly it's kind of a fun way to go about it? I am really curious how many different call signs there are and what they react to. What call signs will my various outfits get? I'm really curious to see when the patch drops.

Rounding out this summary, we've got the other changes!

Weapon freshness now goes all the way up to 10 stars, with new badges to with the new freshness level. If you had previously hit max freshness on a weapon then any additional freshness you'd earned will be retroactively applied, so nothing goes to waste. Additionally there's now badges rewarded for having many weapons at freshness 4 and higher.

Finally, people you play with in Series and Splatfest Pro will not show up in the "Users You Have Played With" section of your Friends menu. This is likely another anti-harassment tactic, as there's been reports of people changing their account nicknames to rude and/or offensive phrases and sending friend requests to other players maliciously. This is why we can't have nice things, man.

And with that we're done with the patch notes! Version 10.0.0 should be releasing very soon as of the time of writing, so not long now until we get to try out all those new weapons!

[plaidos]

the steam deck would find it difficult if not impossible to run switch 2 games (i think they’re supposed to have quite similar hardware?) so it really isn’t an option

If it isn't a bother would you mind explaining more this please? I'm somewhat tech iliterate with this stuff so please correct me if I'm wrong, but Isn't the Steam Deck supposed to have the performance comparable to that of a standard gaming PC, so I doubt common minimun requirements are an issue (specifically graphics and size because lbh It's nintendo games they can't be that demanding when compared to the average AAA title). Is it because of exclusive controls the switch 2 has?

and whilst the Switch 2 is living up to the Nintendo legacy of underpowered hardware, it would still probably be very hard to run on a desktop at all

1. Damn it is not that better or different from the past switch? Or you mean like underpowered when compared to a PS5 and such? 2. Again I'm admittedly pretty tech ignorant on the nintendo subject but Is the reason nintendo games are hard to pirate bc the company since the 3DS era implement some sort of special barrier software that makes it more annoying to crack than other common games and/or bc they actively track down piracy?

no its just literally that “the switch 2 has much higher specs than the switch 1”. running stuff on an emulator is already harder than running it on the original hardware 9/10 times. the answer to the question “huh? why can’t your pc emulate a switch 2?” is because the switch 2 is, again, a lot more powerful than the switch 1 and thus its games are more demanding. the Steam Deck is meant to be as powerful as a gaming computer, but the Switch 2 is literally a new gaming console that didn’t even exist when the Steam Deck launched. i think modern computers are not as powerful as you seem to think they are! you said “it can’t be that demanding” but actually emulation is just very demanding. the reason the Steam Deck would find it hard/impossible to emulate Switch 2 games (although again it’s really too early to say) is because Switch 2 games were developed with the Switch 2 in mind whereas the Steck has an extra layer of work to do (emulation)

all of this is a moot point anyway because as i said, you can’t emulate the switch 2 yet because nobody has developed the tools to do that.

[luigiblood]

Virtual Game Cards, a detailed explainer, and other thoughts

As of this writing, we're a few days after the March 2025 Nintendo Direct, and a few days before the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct of April 2025, and in the last Direct, Nintendo announced a new optional feature that will apply to Nintendo Switch 1 & 2 systems starting late April 2025.

This feature is the Virtual Game Cards. Many people got confused about it, and to be honest, so was I initially. The video is not really well thought out, though, after watching more than one time, you might get it, but still, it's not a very good explainer from Nintendo, so first of all, we need to set things straight for anyone who doesn't get it and reads this blog somehow.

I also want to talk about what it means for the future, and my personal impressions of it.

The Current System

For explaining what this is about, we need to dispel one notion that I saw a few times: This new system has NOTHING to do with your physical game cards, and ONLY has to do with digital games and nothing else. And no, this is not evidence of Nintendo putting physical game cards away. Stop.

Now we need to talk about the current system that we've been using for playing digital games to this day, because many people can take quite a few things for granted. This system is also in place for PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

All digital games are owned by an account, and for the sake of explaning things, I will refer to that about your account and your games from there on.

There is a concept called the primary console, and it basically means the main console linked directly to your account. It has several benefits:

Your digital games can be played without an Internet connection to boot them.

Other accounts on that console can play your digital games.

If you buy a digital game from Nintendo's webpage, your primary console would automatically start the download.

Meaning, if you have a second, third or however many consoles you own with your account in them, that it doesn't have those benefits, you would require an internet connection anytime you want to boot your digital games, and other accounts on those consoles cannot play them.

That's the old system.

Virtual Game Cards

Now that we got the old system out of the way, we need to explain the new one. Now forget the old system entirely, this new system is a completely optional replacement, with its own completely different logic with different pros and cons compared to the old one.

The goal of this system is for accounts to use more than one console at a time, without a huge dependency on an Internet connection at all times, and I really wish Nintendo pushed these benefits in their video.

With this new system of digital game access, all of them would be considered as Virtual Game Cards that can only be inserted in one console at a time. Your account can only have up to two consoles linked this time around where you can access your digital games.

Because Nintendo insists on this system to not be abused: You would need to link both consoles locally (+ online for security), only the first time though. After that you can just freely manage what digital games you want access for on each console, and you can even use a website for that, so an internet connection is required to transfer games around both.

When you have access to a digital game in this system (as in, the Virtual Game Card was inserted), an Internet connection is only required the first time you boot it up. It won't be required in subsequent plays.

And all accounts on that console can also play it freely. This means it gives basically the same advantages as a primary console, but per digital game instead.

And then, on top of that, you can lend one of your digital games to another account in your family group (this is not just a Nintendo Switch Online thing, it's a free feature of your Nintendo Account).

Pros & Cons

To sum it up, here's the pros & cons of the old system:

Pro: You can have as many consoles linked to your account as you want, and access your digital games on all of them.

Pro: (Unintended?) You can share your account to another person to let them access your games.

Con: Only one console (primary console) can let other accounts have free access to your digital games.

Con: Playing a digital game outside of your primary console requires an Internet connection no matter what.

Now, the pros & cons of the new Virtual Game Card system:

Pro: On any console where the Virtual Game Card is inserted, the digital game can be played without an Internet connection.

Pro: Likewise, the digital game can also be played by anyone else's account on that console freely.

Pro: You can lend your digital game to another account from your family group...

Con: ...for 14 days, only locally, you cannot lend to anyone in your family online.

Con: You can only link up to two consoles (only locally) with access to your Virtual Game Cards.

Con: Extra Steps? You would need to virtually eject and insert digital games everytime you wanna use a different console to play the same game, and an Internet connection is required for these actions.

Con: (Intended?) You cannot share your account to anybody else to share your games without changing linked consoles.

As a reminder, you can choose between both systems, but they're really completely different systems.

The catch?

As you can kind of tell, it would look like the Virtual Game Card system has more pros than before, but that's kind of the catch here.

For me, this new system actually solves some problems I currently have, but this would bother other people with different needs. That said, I believe Nintendo is still right in assuming one person doesn't need more than two Switch consoles. I don't personally see the use of having even more, unless...

Unless, that is, you're sharing your account with friends to share your digital games. This system is totally made against this use, and I'm sorry to tell you: Nintendo completely forbids this. And maybe, this is happening too much for Nintendo's liking. So instead of banning people, they devised a system that punishes this use, without making everyone have an entirely worse system, solving other problems that the old system had in the process.

So let's be clear here: this kind of system proves how much Nintendo doesn't really trust their userbase to not abuse the system. But do I really blame them for that?

At this point I just have two questions:

Is the Switch 2 forced to have this Virtual Game Card system?

And how long until this new system is no longer optional?

If you're having a home console, and then a console to play on the go, this can solve the problem of the overreliance on Internet when you're outside of your home. The difficulty of doing a portable console is that you have to deal with the possibility of not always having an Internet connection, and this is clearly a response to that.

What this new system implies can also be the complete removal of the concept of "secondary" consoles. I feel like there would be only one primary console for an account, and linked locally to a secondary console, which, obviously, is supposed to punish those who does account sharing.

The good?

I spent a lot of time talking about the catch, but there is still I think good things about this.

On a personal level, I have two Switch consoles: One of them is purely for myself, the other one is for my mother/father. I could have made the other console my primary console and solve this problem, but for convenience, I would rather want my personal console to be my primary console. Also in this home, it happens that I get power outages or/and Internet outages (sometimes no mobile network in the slightest), so I'd like a solution that doesn't really punish anyone when it happens.

So this new system actually have some convenience for me. I could just switch games between both of them. And on top of that, I can lend my games (and viceversa) with my brother who has his own console. For family users, I think this is nice stuff.

Many people have compared this with Steam. I had to look up the new Steam Families system which replaces the old system I knew:

Nintendo's system is clearly worse than Steam's. Steam just lets everyone in the family freely share their digital library with everyone in the family, and now, there's even less Internet dependency. There's still the idea of only lending one digital copy at a time (meaning if two people in the family owns the same game, two copies can be shared across the family to play together), and it doesn't seem to have a limitation of how many PCs can be used. Steam probably trusts their userbase way too much but it sure is the most consumer friendly of the options.

On consoles, this kind of system doesn't really exist. Sony and Microsoft definitely doesn't, and Nintendo is essentially doing a small dabble, which is still nice, let's be fair here.

Conclusion

It's really hard to say if this system is better or worse to me, overall. It depends on your needs, but I think this is a clear attempt to prevent account sharing, first and foremost, while attempting to give a concept of digital game access in a sort of tangible way, while not requiring a permanent Internet connection.

This is already the beginning of a new Nintendo that will represent the Nintendo Switch 2, and I don't believe this is the only big "change."

[theviceenforcer]

Super Smash Bros 6 (SFM) - Possible Newcomers

Six or Six and a half Plausible candidates that I think will appear in a sixth Smash game as New Fighters or Echoes with the recent announced Switch 2.

1. Waluigi (Super Mario) - You got Mario, Luigi and even Wario himself so you got to finally have Waluigi as a playable character.

2. Crash & Coco Bandicoot (Crash) - You got Mario representing Nintendo and Sonic representing SEGA and both played an important role in the console wars of the 90s and 00s so Crash and Coco can represent the Playstaiton 1.

3. Amy Rose (Sonic) - I think each character of the main cast for the Sonic series is worthy of being a playable character but if I had to pick one I'd pick Amy her iconic hammer would be a change compared to other fighters using swords plus she also expierenced in martial arts like kickboxing and boxercise showing that she can fight even without her hammer.

4. Lucy (Ninjala) - Ninjala being exclusive on Nintendo along with the fact that it's still ongoing gives the IP a good chance for a rep. Lucy in my opinion is a perfect fit since she's more violent and competitive compared to the other main cast.

5. Octolings (Splatoon) - Octolings could be echo fighters but if made separate characters they could use different weapons that their inkling counterparts don't like ones introduced in Splatoon 2 & 3.

6. Viridi (Kid Icarus) - Smash could always use some more villains plus we could see her team up with Dark Pit to take down Pit, Viridi or anything that isn't nature.

[vhsgrrl]

its honestly become so hard to become excited about anything nintendo related because like. its so clear how mask-off corporate greed they've become. at least early 2010's nintendo had whimsy.

instead now we're told that we have to pay for a tech demo, pay $450 for a console with basic improvements and a dedicated button for a feature that you cant use unless you pay for it. we're told games are $80 now, and you have to buy upgrade packages and dlc to get the full experience. we're barely struggling to stay afloat but we're supposed to shill $450 + $80 for 1 game + bonus packages + online subscription service???

the switch itself was already so underutilized, and pretty barebones compared to other consoles with more personality. i can't see them improving on their usage in any way with the switch 2.

[dr-spectre]

Damn, only one more month until the Switch 2 eh?

You know, compared to other console launches, this is probably the least excited I've felt for a new console. Not because I think the Switch 2 is gonna be a terrible piece of shit that's gonna crash and burn. But more so I know exactly on what to expect going into it. I know that the console is gonna be more bigger and powerful and be on par with a PS4 pro or slightly better, I know the joy cons are gonna be better, I know Mario Kart World is at least gonna be pretty good.

It's not like the original Switch where when I got my hands on it, I was actually blown away and freaking out because it was so revolutionary, and that's fine. The Switch 2 is what i wanted the next Nintendo console to be anyway, a better Switch with QOL improvements.

I'm more interested in what the future has in store for it and how Nintendo can really squeeze every drop out of the better hardware, cause they are already showing us that they aren't focusing on massive graphics jumps but instead gameplay ideas that could not have been done before on Switch 1, Donkey Kong Bananza could not have run on the Switch 1, an open world Mario Kart game could not have run on the Switch 1.

So I'm really excited to see what the next 3D Kirby game could do, the next Splatoon, the next Zelda game, third-party titles etc etc.

Still absolutely sad about the price though, it sucks that gaming is becoming more of a luxury, really, really sad. I won't be able to experience the hype of a new console launch with friends sadly... man...

[a-bit-too-much-of-a-zelda-fan]

I feel like a kid on Christmas. I'm finally making some real use of my 3DS being homebrewed. I figured out how to install my 3DS cartridges onto the console so I don't need the carts to play. I also figured out NDS game forwarding, so I can have icons for those too. What you're looking at is every mainline Zelda game that the 3DS can run. Every one from Zelda 1 to Four Swords, and the handhelds from there onward. It's only the Wii U and Switch ones that I can't play here on my little ol' gold Zelda New 3DS XL. This is so epic. Mind you I've owned all of these since 2015. It's just having them all here without needing the carts that makes me so excited.

I've also packed Ocarina of Time 3D and Majora's Mask 3D full of mods for quality of life and to make them just a bit more faithful to the N64 releases. Read below for the mods I've installed! They all work on 3DS, not just Citra!

Nerrel on YouTube has an excellent review of MM3D that points out its severe shortcomings as a faithful remaster of the original. Thankfully, there are multiple mods that fix both gameplay and aesthetic problems.

Project Restoration by Leoetlino, which fixes every gameplay issue and adds even more quality of life features.

N64 OST to 3DS by DeathWrench. Gets rid of the reverb that Grezzo slathered on the soundtrack.

Classic Texture Packs by Solt 11, based on Citra-only mods by Loch Ness Hamster. They make Link's transformations look much more faithful. (I deleted the file for Hylian Link though because I like Grezzo's take on him)

Even if you don't care for the texture packs, Project Restoration easily makes MM3D the best way to experience Majora's Mask, whether on Citra or original hardware.

OoT3D is a much more faithful remaster, with virtually no changes to the gameplay while only enhancing visuals and adding optional QoL features like motion aiming. There are still some areas where it fell short, like how some of the game's horror elements were sanitized. So I threw on a bunch of mods for that too. Most of them are just aesthetic, but two are really game changing. First, the aesthetic.

Invisible Sheikah Stone by Takeshre. They're still there if you need them but don't visually distract anymore. There is a MM3D version, but Citra only.

Art-Faithful Fairies by Takeshre (3DS port by JoesephMother in comments). This one is just neat. Pointy wings!

N64 Dialogue Font by Takeshre. The original font has so much character compared to what Grezzo replaced it with, and now it's back!

Original Dead Hand by Loch Ness Hamster (3DS port by JoesephMother in comments). Finally some of the horror back.

Now the gamechangers.

Standalone Free Cam by Roberto-Nessy. Goodness this breathes some fresh life into the game. As far as Nintendo is concerned, OoT is still the only 3D Zelda to not have free cam. The original 3DS couldn't support one, but the New 3DS and Citra certainly can. Boom bam, free cam!

Unmirror Master Quest by HylianFreddy. Okay so maybe this is just huge and gamechanging to me, but listen. I'm left-handed. I identify so very strongly with Link's character, and it makes me very happy whenever he is left-handed. That said, I dislike that OoT3D and TPHD mirror the game world in their respective hard modes simply because they make Link right-handed. This mod completely fixes the issue for me in OoT3D at least. I actually want to play Master Mode now.

Note that these two are both implemented using a file called "code.ips", so they cannot be used together unless they are merged into one ips file. Which you can do easily with the tool in method 2 of this guide.

So yeah I'm a happy camper. If you use any of the guides or mods I shared and found them cool or helpful, you're welcome! I found them all either by searching for them specifically or combing through the games' pages on Gamebanana.com. Enjoy!

[implausiblyjosh]

Showing magazine ads for prices of the N64 and doing basic inflation calculation, all to be like "games used to be more expensive", as a defense of the Switch 2 price just... isn't useful.

At a 1997 minimum wage, you'd have to work ~30-32 hours for a N64 (it was $4.75 or $5.15 at different parts of the year). In 2025, you'd have to work ~63 hours of minimum wage for a Switch 2. Now, to be clear, the games seem to be about the same. In 1997, it would take you ~11-15 hrs of minimum wage work to get an N64 game. In 2025, you're looking at ~9-13 hrs of minimum wage work.

But you see the problem here, right? To get a Switch 2 and Mario Kart World you're looking at ~69 hours ($499.99 at $7.25/hr), compared to ~47 hours for an N64 (w/o pack-in game!) and a game.

In 1998, you're looking at ~28 hours for an N64 and Zelda!

And this is the best-case scenario. If you want the Switch 2 and Donkey Kong, you're looking at ~74 hours of work. A whole paycheck. In 1997-98, you spend half your paycheck on an N64 and a game you might be able to pick up one more! Some snacks for your awesome game night! Who knows!

This whole thing is more expensive. Doing some more math, the N64 only gets as comparatively expensive to the Switch 2 if you're buying the console and 10 of the most expensive games in early 1997. You're looking at 179 hrs of min wage for the N64 compared to 173 hrs of min wage for the Switch 2. To go into the weeds a bit more, the federal minimum wage in the US went from $4.75 to $5.15 on Sept 1, 1997. It looks like there were only 21 N64 games in the US by that time, according to Wikipedia. I doubt that half of them were $69.99 by that time, so it's unlikely you'd be paying $849.89 for the system and 10 games.

All this to say... it is more expensive! And even if the games aren't strictly more expensive, you're not buying Mario Kart World by itself. You have to buy the system to play it! It's all very pricey! And when these companies are making record profits, while the workers making the games are treated so poorly, the expense eats away at you. It's more expensive and benefits seem to only go to the top, not to any worker in the chain. It doesn't feel good!

[toshio]

Oh man I LOVE the PSP, it's absolutely bonkers how extreme this console was. As much as I love the DS, the PSP was lightyears ahead of the DS when it came to graphical parity - you could buy a PSP port of a console game, and there'd be differences and cut corners and stuff to make it work, but it was often shockingly close to what you could get on consoles.

That's not to pit two bad bitches against each other - I loved the DS. It's moreso to express amazement at how huge of a leap the PSP was. It was only slightly less powerful than a PS2, and the graphics were only a moderate step down from PS2 graphics. Ridge Racer, one of the launch titles, is my favourite game of all time - the way this game looks, sounds and performs is nothing short of magical. It's one of the best arcade racers of all time. I recently went down a rabbit hole looking into how every WWE game on the PSP compared to its console counterpart; they released SEVEN WWE games on the PSP between 2006 and 2011. And they weren't perfect, especially as time went on and the ports got lazier, but the fact that they were ported like they were and that they were as feature complete as they were is nuts.

And on top of Square Enix's awesome output on the console - including Final Fantasy 1, 2 and 4 with all of the additional GBA content and more - the console was an absolute powerhouse for RPGs. Lunar, Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics, Brave Story, Persona 3 and so many more that I could list here. And when a console game couldn't get ported, some companies would just custom-make a PSP version of their games. SoulCalibur 4 came out with SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny as a sidegame, and it had Kratos from God of War as a guest character! They released a custom-made Burnout game for the PSP!!

I LOVE the PSP. Before the Switch, I honestly think the PSP was the closest that we got to actual console parity on a handheld. The Sega Nomad doesn't count, it was just a Sega Genesis in a portable shell and it ate through batteries like a motherfucker - the PSP was custom-made hardware that very much stood on its own. Again - the DS slapped. But holy crap, the PSP was incredible.

OMG LOL. sheesh. this is a literal wall of text but i had to publish this because you were CLEARLY so passionate about the PSP, and i love that for you. let me yap back at you since we're both nerds born in the 90s.

my friend let me borrow his PSP in middle school and it was a huge part of my childhood (shoutout to diego, you legend). i had dissidia 012 [duodecim] which was essentially just a final fantasy x smash bros, only had final fantasy characters and you could fight each other. the battle system was amazing, there were so many cutscenes and lil movies (final fantasy is huge on story, so we love that) it was the best game on PSP honestly. i remember playing lightning, terra.

another honorable mention is of course kingdom hearts: birth by sleep (BBS) it's the prequel to KH1, takes place 10 years before. centers around 3 besties: ventus, terra, and aqua. one of the best games ever, if you played this you had an amazing childhood! some of the best music i've heard, and this was released in 2010. ugh.

and one of the best final fantasy games IMO is crisis core, amazing story, great characters, 10/10 soundtrack (it's on spotify HELL YA). this game had amazing graphics, we were so spoiled in the 2000s.

PSP had so many amazing titles, i bought one but then quickly returned it because handheld gaming is just not it anymore. it's 2025 and we deserve bigger immersion. they eventually and inevitably port most of these banger games onto bigger TV screens, like for example you can just play most of the kingdom hearts games on switch. :P

[mfporky]

I feel like people forget just how many Nintendo IPs got proper revives on the Switch, so I made a big fat thread about some

The biggest one in my eyes, a series that holds strong importance to me, is Pikmin. After getting a pretty damn good game on the Wii U back in 2013 the series was propelled into a limbo-like state with Pikmin 4 being "On My Way!" for a decade straight. Mainline wise, nothing, we don't talk about Hey Pikmin. Absolute crickets for awhile and then almost overnight it became THE system for Pikmin games. Pikmin 3 Deluxe, which is way more than just a port, with a bucket full of new content and an alternative campaign, released October 30th 2020. Back to crickets for a few years until all of a sudden, Pikmin 4 and ports of Pikmin 1 and 2 released on the same day of July 21st 2023. All incredible games in their own right, the supreme ports of all, insanely proud Nintendo treats their small fish franchise with such delicate care; if you're using this list as a game suggestions list, check out Pikmin you will NOT regret it.

Famicom Detective Club, which was one damned to eternal obscure Nintendo fanatic knowledge hell, has arose from its grave and is unironically making strong waves. The last original game being made in 1989 and then having "Super Famicom Satellaview Remasters" in the mid 90s, which are damn hard to find proper info on. Other than that, tombstone. Only real thing of note being that it was the first project Yoshio Sakamoto sunk his pen into, other than that it was doomed to niche oddity and a footnote in gaming history. The Switch changed all that, with remakes of the first two games being bundled together and released May 14th 2021. That's not all, a brand new game in the series, "Emio - The Smiling Man", is currently set to release August 29th 2024 as of writing

F-Zero, technically got a new game! It's pennies compared to everyone else's quarters and dollars, but after a 20+ year hiatus its worth a mention. With the last game in the series, ironically called F-Zero Climax, released on the GBA there were crickets after that. Gone but not forgotten, it got the occasional rerelease onto the latest system's virtual console, and it still had a spot in Smash Brothers. Granted if you were me growing up you'd figure that Captain Falcon was just some wack original character, but shit the representation matters. It was like that until September 14th, 2023, when a brand new game in the series with online got announced and released later in a Nintendo direct! Sure it was just a battle royale game, another drop in the bucket with the 99 subtitle, but it counts for this list.

Metroid, the series infamous for its dry spells, has been an oasis of new content recently. The last chronological game in the 2D Metroid series was Fusion, released in 2002, with the Metroid Prime game getting its third installment in 2007. In terms of original games, that was it. There was a remake of Metroid 1 on the GBA, and a remake of Metroid 2 on the 3DS, and there were spinoffs here and there (Metroid Prime Pinball is my GOAT baby); other than that, nothing. That is until the Switch came along, with Metroid Prime 4 being announced within the same year of the Switch's release. It took literally 7 years to get more info about Prime 4 but its with confidence to say that the game is coming out, sometime in 2025. 2D Metroid, long dormant and stagnant and almost two decades without a game got a surprise announcement in a Nintendo Direct; the highly anticipated and teased Metroid Dread, long thought to be a cancelled DS game but emerging in the flesh brazen as ever. Released October 8th, 2021, Metroid is officially back after what felt like centuries of wait.

2D Mario has been stuck in a rut of unoriginality for a decade and a half now. Since the release of New Super Mario Bros for the DS in May 2006, 2D Mario was stuck in a loop of distilling the same damn game over and over, with it getting stripped more and more of what once was in such a short time. It hit a boiling point in November 2012, with the release of "New Super Mario Bros U", the second New Super game to release that year. After that, nothing. People were sick of what felt like the same damn game, sure they were passable but it felt emblematic of everything 2D Mario shouldn't be. Then, almost like an angel from the heavens, came Super Mario Bros Wonder; the antithesis of New Super, it had original concepts in boatloads and felt like a proper evolution of 2D Mario. New concepts in spades, so much extra content, brilliant new artstyle in a new kingdom. It feels like going from store bought freezer pancakes from Walmart to a French chef from a 5 michelien star restaurant making you your breakfast.

The Mario & Luigi series, although a cult classic series, never quite got the mainstream attention it deserved. Even with classics like Bowser's Inside Story, Dream Team, Superstar Saga, the financial backing from the public and internal was just never quite there. After Dream Team (sleeper hit, if you're interested check it out!), it was the beginning of the end with the release of Paper Jam. Reused assets, real basic baby story, padding aplenty, dialogue that hits the senses like pulling teeth (fuckin leave Luigi alone), there's no way this was anything other than a cash grab. A collaboration with Paper Mario too, another cult classic series, it was insulting to both Paper Mario fans and M&L fans. After that, no new original games. Alphadream pumped out two remakes, which are pretty alright, and them they went bankrupt. God bless Alphadream, but the writing was on the wall when they kept making 3DS games long after the Switch came out. It was a dark time, felt clear as light that the M&L series will remain to be past tense and just a footnote in the large conglomerate that is Mario now. Until recently, with the announcement of Brothership; a new spanking game in the M&L series releasing in November of this year.

Genuine generational run Nintendo is going on right now. List could've droned on for easily triple the length, and I might make a sequel to this one day. Could've been even more if i talked about new Nintendo's new IPs or just how much better everything's gotten. It rules we live in this time now, especially after the dark ages of the Wii U.

[turtlemagnum]

NINTENDO DIRECT PREDICTIONS !!! 4 2MORROW !! ! !!

new smash brothers game with only male characters and it's yaoi so it's smash brothers yu'knw

super mario 64 2 redux dehydrated HD

mario kart 7 rerelease where every character is birdo, except the mii which has been replaced by Fucked Up And Evil Birdo. it's called mario cart trans flag except instead of being the words "trans flag" there's just a trans flag in the logo

the switch 2 is confirmed to get a physical release of every arcade archives that's flooded the switch eshop

koikatsu party 3

vampire: the masquerade: bloodlines is confirmed for the switch 2 despite the fact that it could run fine on the switch 1

every good call of duty game is confirmed to release on switch 2, meaning zero call of duty games are gonna come out on switch 2

zelda 2: the adventure of link gets an HD2D remake and it's the most gorgeous thing anybody's ever seen, blinding everyone fortunate enough to see it as their eyes know nothing else will ever compare

silksong is determined to be a switch 2 exclusive

super mario party 64, a new mario party game intentionally styled after the N64 aesthetic

UNDERTALE DX, a rerelease of undertale that removes the 30 FPS framelock and combines all console content into one edition

nintendo finally starts putting their games on PC, but they fuck it up somehow

the nintendo switch 2 has a romanceable virtual assistant named waria, she's wario's bisexual loser sister who only got the job because of nepotism, she's really mean to you and is openly racist against spaniards

Skyrim Super Special Mega Awesome Edition For Nintendo Switch 2, it's like normal skyrim but even more epic !!!!

super hornio bros reboot

and finally.... cock reveal of Every Nintendo Character.... ganondorf's will Surprise & Shock you ! ! !

[cooledtured]

Nintendo Exceeds Sales Projections For The Switch 2 By A Long Shot

Nintendo is known for a lot of things - innovative control schemes (see the Wii, the Nintendo 64 controller, the original Joy-Con controllers, etc.), fan-favorite first-party series (Mario, the Legend of Zelda…there are a lot, okay?), and record-breaking sales numbers (the DS series of portable consoles, the Wii, and the original Nintendo Entertainment System). However, the Switch 2 has seemed to blow all of those consoles’ numbers out of the water, and has shown no signs of stopping thus far.

We’d like to do some research and compare some of the numbers that the Switch 2 has put up with some other of the most best-selling consoles and see how Nintendo’s newest baby holds up. Without further ado, let’s dive in!

Price Comparison

It’s kind of weird to make some of these comparisons seeing that the Switch 2 is both a traditional console and an on-the-go device, but we’ll do it anyway. Here’s a breakdown of some of the consoles that we’ll compare it to price-wise, adjusted for inflation.

For reference, the Switch 2 was slated to release for $450:

Sony PlayStation 2: $548 (21% more expensive)

Nintendo Wii: $394 (13% less expensive)

Nintendo Wii U: $484 (7% more expensive)

Nintendo DSi XL: $279 (38% less expensive)

Nintendo 64: $402 (11% less expensive)

It’s hard to compare and contrast with such wildly different numbers, but in terms of pure consoles we can say that the Switch 2 pretty much hangs within 20% of every other console in terms of price. Of course, the most comparable console to the Switch 2, other than the original Switch, would have to be the Wii U, by which the Wii U was only 7% more expensive on release. Pretty good numbers so far.

Sales Numbers Comparison

We’ll use the same consoles to compare what their sales within the first week were in the United States, since the Switch 2’s only been out for that long and it’s a good comparator of “hype” for each console, so to speak.

For reference, the Switch sold over 1.1 million units (wow) in its first week:

Sony PlayStation 2: No weekly numbers, but sold over 500,000 units on its first day alone

Nintendo Wii: 600,000 units (46% less)

Nintendo Wii U: 400,000 units (64% less)

Nintendo DSi XL: 435,000 units (61% less)

Nintendo 64: 350,000 units (69% less)

It’s pretty easy to see that the Switch 2 has been on a killer run with its sales lately, and people have been noticing.

Reasons for the Hype

There’s no denying it - Nintendo’s Switch 2 launch has been nothing short of historic. But what exactly is fueling the hype and these record-breaking numbers? A few factors immediately stand out:

1. Backwards Compatibility

One of the biggest selling points has been the Switch 2’s ability to play original Switch games right out of the box. For a console with one of the richest libraries in recent memory, this means that new buyers immediately have access to hundreds of polished, high-quality titles - no waiting for a game drought to end. 

2. Improved Hardware

With enhanced graphics, a smoother OLED display, better ergonomics, and improved battery life, Nintendo focused on refining rather than overhauling. Those who didn’t originally purchase the first Switch get to relish in its robust library as well as the new hardware that the Switch 2 offers over the original.

3. Pent-Up Demand

Let’s not forget that Nintendo held off longer than expected to release the Switch 2. With whispers and leaks stretching back over two years, fans were more than ready. It’s also been hard to believe that the original Switch design dates back to over seven years since its release - pretty crazy to think now.

Conclusion

The Switch 2’s launch has been nothing short of a phenomenon. With a competitive price point, strong first-week sales, and a refined hybrid experience, Nintendo has once again proven its unique ability to balance innovation with accessibility. While it’s still early, all signs point to the Switch 2 becoming another major pillar in Nintendo’s long history of hardware success.

What did you think of this article? Let us know by reaching out to us on our social media!

[luigiblood]

Comment about Did You Know Gaming's video "Price Hikes Could Cost Nintendo Big Time"

For posterity, I made a YouTube comment for this video, and I want to copy it here. You can watch the video here... if you want:

I hate this video. Not because it tries to debunk the whole "it was not cheaper in the past" argument because I'm really glad we're on the same page and I think this argument was never really good to begin with. I just hate how this video is essentially shilling Iwata and Yokoi all throughout with tons of dishonest cherrypicking and insane shortcuts.

I'll just deal with the most egregious parts regarding Iwata:

The whole "Respect The Value" thing is something Iwata pretty much said in clear words. And I don't remember people agreeing with him about that.

You guys are talking about how after Iwata Nintendo started putting microtransactions on mobile… are you guys conveniently forgetting Miitomo? Are you guys forgetting Pokémon Picross, Pokémon Rumble World and Team Kirby Clash Deluxe in 2017, known for their microtransactions, projects that were mostly under Iwata?

Why putting the current president in the light of "he's not doing Directs anymore" as if it is such a good argument, if he's not down doing it, shouldn't we respect that?

Now the other parts in how you guys kept going about Yokoi way of things:

The Nintendo DS and Wii were perceived as pretty high tech. They weren't necessarily powerful in terms of specs, but I sure do not remember using touch screens before the DS, and certainly not motion controls before the Wii. They weren't necessarily use of old tech here, they were tech that were still getting matured over time.

This might be wrong but I remember the Wii dropping off like crazy after 2008. I don't remember most people cared after that point. The fad moved on, so I don't know if this blue ocean strategy has paid off as much as possible.

The failure of the 3DS was not just because of the price, the game lineup was also very bad, and the Nintendo eShop wasn't even online yet! It was not very good all around. The 3D might also have been a factor in how most people probably didn't care.

I refuse to think the Wii U's failure was just because of the initial reaction. People laugh about the name but I still believe the name Wii U could have sparked curiosity from the casual audience.

But I think comparing DS and Wii with Yokoi's strategy is also pretty unfair: I consider that touch screens and motion controls were actual gamer dreams. As in before the DS and Wii, I totally remember having thoughts of how cool it would be to play games that way, and I highly doubt I was alone on this, else the DS and Wii wouldn't have caught on. For me this wasn't necessarily a "revolution", it was an alternate path for evolution and you all gobbled it up as a revolution. I totally believe these things would have happened no matter what: Case in point, these things are now "normal" on Switch 1 & 2. They didn't go away. The Wii U dabbled in the idea of what if the controller had a screen, which I totally think was something gamers were dreaming about in one way or another as well, but it didn't catch on as much because we still understood it's kind of like the DS in the end. I think they went overboard with it, and in the end tablets were a thing too. And I believe the Switch was the least revolutionary console of the bunch, but it did what I believe to be the final gamer dream: Bridging together home console and handheld. It was definitely a dream to have home console games on the go. The reason why I say "final gamer dream" is mostly because VR and AR already happened elsewhere… to more or less success.

And then somehow… you guys are asking Nintendo to do a "revolution" again. And I'm like, what can you do from here? The only thing I can think of are playing games with your brain, and I don't know whether I want to live in a world like that. But other than that… what else can you come up? I've tried coming up with ideas all the time, I see it in a point of view that Nintendo should "redefine gaming" but honestly… what does that even mean?

And there's one other thing that truly bothers me: Can't you guys just let Iwata and Yokoi die in peace instead of invoking them as a trojan horse for your arguments? This isn't just this video's problem, I think it's the problem of way too many people talking about them. Move on. They're not your friends, you seriously shouldn't feel for them as much as their family and friends, and I think that's a true sign of disrespect about people.

Direct Link to the comment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n025Gxn5GEM&lc=UgwRd72FInBF5GuuTsN4AaABAg

[psyf0rk]

im curious about the fandom video essay one bc for me, ive always viewed it as: aa gets ports. like a lot of them. as such, aa is way more accessible to play compared to layton, where youre either stuck with watching an old playthrough of the games, or trying to 1) get a 3ds if you dont have one, and 2) buying the games (which can sometimes be very expensive). plus, people probably vibe with the mystery solving aspect of one or the other differently. i’ve honestly been begging for pl ports for years, and not just for switch. but i think layton is definitely something thats like. a series that ppl look fondly back on. which is why you see so many people be excited when new world of steam was first announced.

anyway sorry for putting all this in your inbox it’s just been my biggest complaint for yrs that layton has not been ported over yet and the one game thats on switch kinda did poorly. i would love for the fandom to grow

HII !! firstly thank you so much for asking !! im really glad to know this sorta thing doesnt just bug me ,, and secondly i apologise for answering so late ,, i was travelling all day yesterday 😭😭

YEAH!! Ports was going to be one of my points that id put in the video if i were to make it ,,

I completely agree with your point , Ive already heard people say the 3ds is a “dead console” (and yeah it is i just cant accept it ) ((LMAO)) ,, making it inaccessible to SO many people ,, when they could have found out about it . Like , layton still has the potential to bring in new fans , Im an example of that ,, lost future captured my heart and bought every game like a week later ; The games themselves are masterpeices , and more people deserve to know about them.

Secondly yeah ,I know people may be used to the mystery solving aspect of one or the other ,, but thats another problem anyway I think the main glue that layton has is its story tbh (less so with prequel trilogy but thats another point )

They could port the first trilogy really nicely (like they did with aa1-3) and brand it as a mystery game could THE POTENTIAL IS THERE. !!!!. And id people probably dont look back on it fondly im so sad :( Theyre amazing games but idk i didnt play them in layton prime 😭😭🙏

Also ports not just for switch YES !!! Reiterating what you said ; Theyre only playable on decaying consoles , and the gaming industry is changing , level 5 should adapt to this and not stay stuck in the past !! If people stumble across layton and decide to look into it ,, it would be better for it just to be at least on steam r smth ,, so they can acc play it cause playthroughs are awful . Like can you imagine curious village with polished sprites ??? dude that would be so good .

And yeah !! lets hope NWOS revives layton ,, from what is seems it looks really polished but they were 3 games late to what AA did well ,, give a new protagonist focus . NWOS (from what ive seen) will center more around luke ,, which is what the prequel trilogy should have done . (AA made their second trilogy center around apollo, )

and dang it i rambled slighty off topic mb

😭😭