The Wednesday letters page thinks The Duskbloods was the worst part of the Nintendo Direct, as one reader worries that Zelda: The Wind Waker HD won’t be on Switch 2.
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Smooth sale
There has been some justified criticism of Nintendo’s handling of the Switch 2 launch, from unclear messaging to the decision to make the big announcement on the same day the global economy imploded, but I really want to praise them for how well the pre-order system went.
I signed in on my lunch break at work, needing just a link in the invite email and a confirmation code to my phone. This put me about 10th in the queue and I was signed in within a minute, then just a quick process to put in my order for a Mario Kart bundle and Pro Controller.
Compare this to the standard process where I have to get up at the crack of dawn, attempt to sign into five different overloaded websites, then get stuck in interminable queues before being told they all got bought by botnets two seconds after going live. If Sony and Microsoft are going to copy any of Nintendo’s ideas, please add the invite system to the list.
TGN Professor
Golden ticket
I’ve said a lot in the Underbox about price, but what an earth did you have to do to actually get a Nintendo invite? Our household has three Switches (bought from Nintendo at various times), 100+ hours on Animal Crossing, the Zeldas, Smash Bros., and Mario Kart, plus considerable play on a whole multitude of Nintendo games bought digitally (yes I know, I know).
I’ve been a member online since the programme started, had a Wii U, etc. I’m gutted not to have had an invite! Have you heard anything on the grapevine? I’ve got an Amazon invite but given how they send consoles (no packaging/missing innards/late) I’d really hoped to buy from Nintendo.
team_catcave
GC: Amazon and Argos got in new stock on Tuesday, but it’s gone now. Although that suggests they’ll keep getting in more at regular intervals.
Getting lucky
So, on a whim, I have just checked pre-order availability of the Switch 2 on Argos. I was able to pre-order the console with Mario Kart World, a camera, and a second Joy-Con controller with no issues.
This surprised me as I thought it would have already sold out – especially as I was just logging on at 15:00 on the 15th as an afterthought. I have an email confirming it will be delivered on release day ‘direct from their suppliers’, i.e. Nintendo. Given how late it is in the afternoon I didn’t expect to be successful. Even better I had a 10% discount code and £40 of Nectar points. Let the good times roll!
Does this mean that, perhaps, the Switch 2 will not be the mega hit we all expected? Is it because of the negativity around the Direct? Or did I just get lucky?
Who knows? But I’m not complaining.
Geoff
GC: The 15th? Do you have a TARDIS?
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Very odd
I was going to write in and say that’s another bang average game from Compulsion Games with their South Of Midnight offering (following Contrast with 65 at Metacritic and We Happy Few with 64), but the Metacritic score of 77 from 71 outlets, so far, says otherwise.
The three review sites I generally read are yourselves, Eurogamer, and TrueAchievements, who have given scores that equate to 50% and two 60% scores, respectively. Not a ringing endorsement. It seems odd how Microsoft kept faith with them, but shut down Tango Gameworks after they produced a critically acclaimed game…
NatorDom
Currently playing: Animal Well before it leaves PS Plus Premium/Extra on the 15th.
Non-definitive edition
It’s great that GameCube games are coming to Nintendo Switch Online on Switch 2.
This means we’ll be able to replay old classics such as Luigi’s Mansion, Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, and Zelda: The Wind Waker but why is no one else upset that it means The Wind Waker HD Version is now stuck on the Wii U?
I can’t see Nintendo releasing the same game twice on the same console.
As soon as I saw the GameCube reveal in the recent Nintendo presentation, I simultaneously exclaimed ‘Yes’ and ‘Oh no’ at the same time!
LeighDappa
GC: They definitely mentioned all the games running at higher resolution, so it’s probably not much different than the remaster. Who knows what Nintendo would charge for that though, if they ported the Wii U version.
Six out of 10
I was surprised by the comments from Shuhei Yoshida about the Nintendo Direct, as I always thought of him as very impartial and not a PlayStation zealot, despite working for Sony for so long. So, I found his remarks about too many remakes and ports to be very strange.
I’m not sure what he’s even really referring to. I guess the various third party games but that was hardly the focus of the Direct. Nobody’s going to buy a Switch 2 to play Elden Ring or Final Fantasy 7 Remake but knowing they’re there is a very good thing, and proof that it will have better third party support than previous Nintendo systems.
Very little time was spent on them either, so I’m not sure why fixated on that. If he’d complained about too many sequels, I could’ve understood that but It’s been over a decade since the last Mario Kart and Donkey Kong isn’t a sequel (I could’ve done without wasting time on Hyrule Warriors 3 though).
He didn’t seem to factor in Nintendo’s first party games at all, which was also strange considering that’s the main reason most people buy their consoles. And then he called the reveal of The Duskbloods to be the best part, when I found it the most disappointing. I was very excited at first but when I found out it was multiplayer only my interest vanished, and I know I’m not the only one.
Soba
Work of art
Last night I played and completed The Procession To Calvary on Switch. It’s a point ‘n’ click game that uses art from paintings for its world and characters.
It’s very funny, sometimes gory (you can draw your sword and ‘interact’ with people) and doesn’t outstay its welcome, taking just a couple of hours to play through it. It’s currently on sale on Switch for about a fiver and it’s well worth that, maybe not as much at full price.
Euclidian Boxes
Hold fire
I’ve recently been playing Sniper Elite 5 and have had a lot of fun sniping Nazis from across the maps. However, as fun as the main game is, it’s been the side quest to find and destroy the three stone eagles hidden within each level which I’ve been enjoying the most.
At first they were quite easy to spot, being perched atop a church or other official looking building, but in later levels they really are quite deviously placed, often requiring you to be looking through a specific window from a particular vantage point at some nondescript part of the scenery to spot them.
I’ve probably spent just as long hunting for them as I have been playing the main game but the satisfaction I get when I finally locate one of them, line up a shot, squeeze the trigger and see the eagle shatter to pieces in glorious slow-mo is very rewarding.
So with that being said, you can imagine my surprise and the big cheesy grin which spread across my face when I came across this little fella when I was on a bike ride recently around my local neighbourhood. The urge to hunker down in tall grass and start taking pot shots is strong. I must resist!
Heinz57
Inbox also-rans
I just licked one of my Nintendo Switch cartridges and I can confirm to you that nobody should ever think of licking a Nintendo Switch cartridge.
Lobo
I will never understand these truck driving games and other purposefully boring simulators. Why would you pretend to do a job where the most exciting thing that ever happens is stopping at a service station to get a bacon sandwich? And you can’t even eat a virtual sandwich!
Focus
That Marvel Cosmic Invasion looks great but I wish they’d do a DC Comics version, we fans never seem to get fun stuff like that. Or the dream of Marvel Vs. DC. I would love that so much.
Rem91
Would just like to agree with GC that the PC Engine is a sexy console, as is the non-American SNES. I’m also partial to the PlayStation 2. It’s a bit of a monolith but I think it looks better than other slabs, like the Xbox Series X/S. The Xbox One was pretty good though.
Winston
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