9/13/2022 Nintendo Direct (10:00AM (EST)/7:00AM (PST) VGS Live Discussion

[RH | 4,980]

*minimal clapping*

Well, that was fun but not much got me really excited.  GoldenEye is an amazing winner.  Sad to see Front Mission 2 was pushed back.  I was really hoping for a 1/2 combo physical.  FMII is a win though.

I might get into Friends of Mineral Town and Factor.io looks like a game up my alley, but nothing wowed me.  I could see why some others may have really liked this drop, though.

[ZeldaFreak | 3,619]

LET'S GOOOOOOOO BOTW 2! ...I'M STILL GONNA KEEP CALLING IT BOTW 2 EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW THE ACTUAL TITLE NOW, HAHA.

Honestly, Fatal Frame 4 and BoTW 2 alone were enough for me to be satisfied with this Direct personally, and I know there were plenty of announcements sprinkled in there that were exciting to a lot of people (Pikmin 4 in particular) that didn't personally excite me. So I'd say that was an overall solid direct, I think there was something in there for everyone.

[ZeldaFreak | 3,619]

We still know very little about BoTW 2, the trailer was very short, but honestly I'm completely fine with that, I want to go in knowing as little as possible.

[RH | 4,980]

11 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

Why do all the Japanese anime games look the same and all have the exact same gameplay lol

Yeah, I almost commented that this was a very "Japanese" Nintendo Direct. I mean, I get that a large number of console games are made in The East, but it would have been nice if there had been a stronger western showing.

I think it's a tell-tale sign that the west is ready to move on to newer/better hardware.  Granted, I think there's still a lot of money for studios to make on the Switch, but I think dev studios on this side of the globe prefer to make games that are cross platform, and making a cross platform game today for XBSX/PS5 and... the Switch just isn't feasible.

And I'm really not surprised that we didn't get a glimpse at a Switch 2, but I think this goes to show that probably past Q1, we're not even going to hear of the next device, which means at the earliest it might drop in Q4 2024.  This is just sad.  This type of delay could very well kill Nintendo.  They might be in a too little, too late situation by then.

[RH | 4,980]

5 minutes ago, ZeldaFreak said:

We still know very little about BoTW 2, the trailer was very short, but honestly I'm completely fine with that, I want to go in knowing as little as possible.

Yes, and I kind of get half points for calling something new, but we really didn't get an explanation of how the gameplay will work.  I was very curious about how the floating islands would work and I was hoping it wouldn't be a game where you fly from level to level and that's it.  I'm glad to see there's a standard world plus floating islands above.

Ever since the winged-hat Mario mini-world in SM64, I've not been fond with realms that are mostly bottomless.  It's less about falling to your doom, and more that having a sky-ground just feels so unnatural.  I know all levels in SM64 were just about that way, but you really got that feeling most in the realm where you got our flying cap.  BotW 2 was feeling that way at first to me.

[Red | 439]

None of the new game announcements really interested me.  This Direct really just reminded me that I still need to get around to playing Octopath Traveler, the Xenoblade games, the Fatal Frame games, the Bayonetta games, the Romancing SaGa games, and Breath of the Wild.  The sequels all look like they could be fun, but it's hard to get too excited for them when I haven't gotten around to playing the originals.

[fox | 1,681]

Glad Octopath is getting a sequel, hopefully the story and dungeons are better than the lackluster ones of the first game.  New characters, but doesn’t feel like they are mixing up the classes.  Seems like they are sticking to the formula of the first one.

Cool that crisis core remake is coming to switch.  Kind of forgot that was a thing.

There were at least 5 or so samey looking anime life sim farming rpgs.  I didn’t realize that was like the dominant genre on the switch.  
 

Cool N64 titles.  Somebody play Mario Party or Goldeneye with me, please?

Least Zelda has a title so we can finally stop calling it BotW2.  I don’t think it will make that release date, prob will be pushed back to launch with Switch 2.

Edited September 13, 2022 by fox

[MegaMan52 | 2,462]

It was alright. Not amazing, but there were some highlights. 

Pikmin 4, Kirby's: Return to Dreamland Deluxe, and Zelda: Tear's of the Kingdom are the ones I'm most looking forward to. I have the 3DS version of Kirby's Epic Yarn and missed out on Return to Dreamland, so I'm kind of glad it is coming out on Switch.

It is nice that Resident Evil 2 remake, Resident Evil 3 remake, and Resident Evil Village are finally being released on Switch, but somewhat disappointing that they're Cloud versions like Resident Evil 7. At least they're getting an American release. A few years ago in 2019, I played and beat the RE5 and RE6 Switch demos. I'll try out the demos for RE2 remake, RE3 remake, and RE Village before I decide to buy them.

Oh, and it's great that GoldenEye is on Switch and can be played online.

Edited September 13, 2022 by MegaMan52

[ZeldaFreak | 3,619]

14 minutes ago, RH said:

This type of delay could very well kill Nintendo.

Well OK let's not get ahead of ourselves here, Nintendo survived the Wii-U just fine, haha. I don't think the Switch 2 being released a bit later than would perhaps be ideal to them is going to be the end of the world for them. I wasn't expecting anything Switch 2 related, nor am I expecting anything this year and honestly probably not even for most/all of next year.

[fox | 1,681]

@MegaMan52the recent RE games have been killer.  Idk how a cloud version is going to look and play.  I’d pick them up on any other system unless switch is your only option 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,592]

Jesus, too many new games now on my wishlist.

Pikmin 4, Front Mission 3, Theatrhythm 3, Octopath 2, Symphonia, Kirby, Radiant Silvergun, Fire Emblem, Ryza 3...

Not to mention the stuff we already knew about 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,592]

Lots of complaining on the interwev already I see.  I totally called that yesterday 

Don't worry, we've still got a Sony State of Play later today, where people can complain about all of the new open world SoulsRogue-likes that get announced.

Feels like good games come out faster than we can play them, but maybe that's just me 

[ZeldaFreak | 3,619]

Just now, Reed Rothchild said:

Feels like good games come out faster than we can play them, but maybe that's just me 

That's a pretty good problem to have though, to be fair.

[spacepup | 2,412]

I'm pretty excited about the games being added to the N64 lineup hahaha!   

I've gotta go read up on all the games discussed, but I will say, if you haven't played Factorio or It Takes Two, those are both really awesome games!

I also really enjoyed Crisis Core on PSP, so I'm curious to read up about that release.

@Reed Rothchild People always complain about these things - I don't know if they just get too hyped in advance or what, but

I'm just happy for Goldeneye and XB3 Expansion Pass whenever that comes out.  I'm about 60+ hours into XB3 and I'll def be getting the expansion.

 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,592]

Oh, right, It Takes Two.  It had been rumored, so I was holding off on the PS4 version, since I own 4 pro controllers.  Looks like I made the right call.

[RH | 4,980]

9 minutes ago, ZeldaFreak said:

Well OK let's not get ahead of ourselves here, Nintendo survived the Wii-U just fine, haha. I don't think the Switch 2 being released a bit later than would perhaps be ideal to them is going to be the end of the world for them. I wasn't expecting anything Switch 2 related, nor am I expecting anything this year and honestly probably not even for most/all of next year.

I'm not really trying to "get ahead of this", but typically companies release info of their new systems about 1 year ahead of launch.  This is so that the third party devs can also start dropping trailers and teasers for their games and help hype the system.  A Q2 info drop for a Q4 system is likely and pretty MO for Nintendo.  However, I do not think that that system will meet the specs of the PlayStation or the Xbox just because, well, Nintendo.  That also gives those guys a 3 year head start to grab market share.

So, if Nintendo doesn't even make that time frame, then they will have a system that's almost certainly weaker in comparison to two systems that will be in tens of millions of homes and will be underpowered, all things considered.  If this is pushed back to 2024 and, heaven forbid late-2024, I just see that being something that too few people will care about.

I mean, I get it.  Some of us buy Nintendo because it is Nintendo but at that point (again, early/mid 2024) we might even see a PS5 Pro, and even price drops.  I don't know for sure, considering parts shortages and all, but within a year plus time frame, I think it's possible.

1 minute ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Lots of complaining on the interwev already I see.  I totally called that yesterday 

Don't worry, we've still got a Sony State of Play later today, where people can complain about all of the new open world SoulsRogue-likes that get announced.

Feels like good games come out faster than we can play them, but maybe that's just me 

I'm not really complaining, but I don't see how anyone can/should.  This release didn't really strike me as much I am into, but I can see a lot of Grade-A stuff in their for a lot of people.

[Red | 439]

11 minutes ago, ZeldaFreak said:

That's a pretty good problem to have though, to be fair.

I've had that problem for years.  Actually, forget about wanting to play Xenoblade Chronicles 1, 2 and X before 3.  I still want to play Xenosaga 1, 2, and 3 before even starting the Xenoblade series.

[spacepup | 2,412]

I'm thankful I took the time earlier on to fully complete the Xenosaga trilogy on PS2 (I loved it).

I will say, that aside from loose thematic connections, the storylines are very very different, and you don't really need to have played any series before the other.  Even Xenoblade doesn't necessarily have to be played in order - although there are some references and connections that I'm noticing now in 3.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,592]

Nintendo is not in a rush to release a new system they won't be able to stock.  It took me 20 months to see a PS5 in person, and God knows how many tens of millions of units sales it has cost Sony.  The PS5 is going to end up with a massively shorter tally.

[RH | 4,980]

2 minutes ago, spacepup said:

I'm thankful I took the time earlier on to fully complete the Xenosaga trilogy on PS2 (I loved it).

I will say, that aside from loose thematic connections, the storylines are very very different, and you don't really need to have played any series before the other.  Even Xenoblade doesn't necessarily have to be played in order - although there are some references and connections that I'm noticing now in 3.

I basically went from Xenogears to Xenoblade Chronicles 2.  I couldn't have had a night-and-day difference between the two.  Xenogear--epic and even with it's flaws, it's a 10 of 10 because what it does right, it does perfect.  XC2-- eh... maybe a 4 of 10?  I like the open world and it's a beautiful game, but I have to have more than that.  It lacks in every other aspect for me.  (Apologies to those that love those games.)

[RH | 4,980]

Just now, Reed Rothchild said:

Nintendo is not in a rush to release a new system they won't be able to stock.  It took me 20 months to see a PS5 in person, and God knows how many tens of millions of units sales it has cost Sony.  The PS5 is going to end up with a massively shorter tally.

I know.  Weird times and it is a tough call.  Conventional wisdom simply isn't a thing anymore and demand for chips is so high, that even when the multi-billion dollar facilities come online in, what, 2025? to fab new silicon many of the best estimates are claiming we'll still have production well under demand.  I think we need new "conventional wisdom" on this.

That said, I think it's a tough call.  I do not think Nintendo needs to rush a new console, but I also think that the Switch is just becoming less and less attractive.  Even if all the units sold stay in use in many households, what matters are the development studios and their willingness to support the Switch.  Nintendo can't support a system on it's own.  I already pointed out that Square Enix seems to be keeping this thing alive, but first party titles and an upteenth RPG can only go so far in keeping a system alive.

Let's also not forget there's the Steam Deck.  I know it's not exactly apples to apples, but for people want portability, the Steam Deck could very well eat away at new Switch sales in the coming years.

I'm not speaking doom-and-gloom, but I am saying within the realm of unknowns, I think the more Nintendo delays launching/showing off a new system, the more damage it does than better. This parts shortage isn't going anywhere, so at some point they have to bite the bullet and do something and wow new/returning customers or they will become irrelavent.

I just hope it's not a push for gacha mobile apps. Yuck!

[Red | 439]

8 minutes ago, spacepup said:

I'm thankful I took the time earlier on to fully complete the Xenosaga trilogy on PS2 (I loved it).

I will say, that aside from loose thematic connections, the storylines are very very different, and you don't really need to have played any series before the other.  Even Xenoblade doesn't necessarily have to be played in order - although there are some references and connections that I'm noticing now in 3.

Yeah, I know they're not really related, but whenever I see mention of the Xenoblade games, it reminds me that I still have an unplayed copy of Xenosaga that's been laying around for nearly 20 years.

[scaryice | 597]

Lots of great games announced! I was planning on waiting for a Switch Pro/Switch 2, but I guess I should finally just buy one soon.

[B.A. | 1,139]

Finally Pikman 4!  Between that and a new proper Fire Emblem many of my boxes are checked.  Plus like a dozen farming simulators.  There was a lot in there that looked interesting.  I was about ready to move onto the Steam deck, but maybe not so fast...

Edit to add: Even a Fire Emblem special edition that Nintendo will make needlessly hard to get! 

Edited September 13, 2022 by B.A.

[a3quit4s | 4,127]

Goldeneye is coming to Xbox game pass too so now I don’t need to upgrade my NSO membership. Excellent.