The morning Inbox thinks Nintendo should make a Switch that doesnt switch, as one reader finds himself getting better at games with age.
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PLEASE NOTE: Were currently preparing special content to run over the Christmas and new year break, and as usual wed like this to include a number of Readers Features. So if youve been meaning to write one but never got round to it, now would be the perfect time. The topic doesnt have to coincide with the time of year, just anything video game-related that youre interested in and which you think others might be too.
Kill it with fire
Its a while since weve had a good laugh at a video game movie so I give you exhibit A: the teaser poster for the live action Sonic The Hedgehog movie. And my profuse apologies to everyone this gives nightmares to but, well… I didnt make it.
Im not sure what has to be wrong with a person to think the idea of a live action Sonic movie makes sense, unless something was lost in the translation and they were actually trying to make a horror movie. I mean… look at it!
Why is he so oddly proportioned? With muscles? He looks like some cosplayer fumbling for the light switch. Just what is going on?!
The funnies thing is this comes out just weeks after the Pokémon trailer which actually looked pretty good. But there it makes sense: the games have always had a mix of pokémon and relatively ordinary life so its not that much of a stretch. This looks like its going to make the Super Mario Bros. movie look like a masterpiece.
Royston
Better with age
I realised an odd thing yesterday: Im getting better at video games. Ive always loved games but never been especially good at them. Not comically bad or anything, but definitely below average. Id always lose at multiplayer games amongst my mates and get stuck in single-player. But I got through God Of War and Red Dead Redemption II this year with no bother.
I know theyre not considered hard games but I also beat Hollow Knight, which I was very proud of as I know it is a difficult game. And now I seem to be powering though Super Smash Bros. Ultimate pretty well, which is a game I was always rubbish it.
I dont know if my concentration levels have improved or whether the game have just become better designed but I feel Ive never been better now at 35 than anytime before. I might even give Dark Souls a go after this…
Flood2
Fake rhinoceros
Got to agree with the consensus: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is pretty amazing. I think Im about half way through World of Light now and the way theyve done the spirits is just so good. I just fought Rambi from Donkey Kong Country and they didnt have any fighter that looked anything like a rhino so they just used a grey Donkey Kong and put him on a Donkey Kong Country stage with the right music. But then they also made it so that he prefers to run backwards and forwards, charging players, just like the character would in his game. Everything seems so well though out like that its like youre getting thousands of characters and not just the 70-odd fighters.
Ive been maining Link and Samus so far, just because Im more familiar with them, but I really like the Inkling and am trying to get good with that as well. Not really ventured too much online but Ive got some friends coming over at the weekend so well give offline a go then and see how well we compete.
Only fault is what GC pointed out in their review: the lack of any explanation for how to play or who the characters are is really weird. Compared to the effort thats gone into the rest of the game this wouldve been the easiet thing in the world to do.
Fret0332all
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Non-switching Switch
With all the talk of what Nintendo will do next year, and whether theyll have a busier line-up, I wonder what part a new model of Switch will play in it all. I know its not confirmed but to me what makes sense is a handheld-only version of the Switch thats smaller and more like a traditional handheld. I know this kind of removes one of the key appeals of Switch, but considering the 2DS is basically the 3DS without its main gimmick I dont see it as impossible thing.
Nintendo need to ditch the 3DS and concentrate on just the Switch and I think that would be the sensible way to go around it. In terms of size and controls I think the Switch is just fine as it is. It could do with more storage but other than that I consider it to be pretty much perfect as it is.
Its expensive though, so a smaller version would help with that and help focus game development. I often feel that Nintendo purposefully shy away from obvious ideas but I hope they give this one a go.
Tackle
Tabula rasa
Count me as someone else that didnt really like Geralts voiceover, or more accurately I didnt like having to be Geralt. I much preferring creating my own character in a role-playing game and I felt this was the main reason I never really connected with The Witcher 3 (that and the combat).
So while having him do all these cameos doesnt bother me on one level I dont like that hes dominating the franchise more now, rather than less. Presumably The Witcher 4 will star one of the women as characters but Id much rather just have it be a custom character and give me full control over things.
This is why I prefer games like Skyrim, even though theyre not as good in most other respects. Mass Effect was always a good compromise though in that you were playing an already named character but got to change everything about them so that they were basically a blank slate.
Connie
Comfort zone
I totally recognised what that reader was saying about his mates and sales figures/being generally oblivious to whats actually happening in the games industry. One of my friends (well, a friend of a friend really) has an Xbox One and refuses to acknowledge that the console has not done well. He also betted me that Battlefield V would be the biggest game this Christmas, even though it obviously wasnt going to be.
Like you said, he just thinks because he likes something that that must be the case for everyone, which seems a very new age Internet way of thinking (which is to say not very healthy at all).
I guess it doesnt hurt anyone else but I do think that kind of general attitude tends to stop you from considering other games (or consoles) outside of your comfort zone and that is definitely a bad thing. Then again I wonder whether he really likes games all that much since he only seems to play three or four different franchises.
Hammeriron
Nintendo x Microsoft
Im still holding out for one or more of the Super Smash Bros. DLC characters to be from Microsoft. Steve from Minecraft seems such an obvious fit and so does Banjo-Kazooie. Id love Master Chief as well but admit thats much less likely.
I also remember Bethesda saying that theyve spoke to Nintendo about Smash and yet as far as I know theres nothing Bethesda-related in the game. So maybe theyd be a character? I think itd have to be the guy from Skyrim and Id totally be down for that.
Kreation
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Local support
Its kind of odd that Nintendos are basically making an advert for an exclusive for a game on someone elses format. But I guess Atlus arent complaining when it comes to Persona 5. I know theres this Persona Q game, but my understanding is its kind of a niche spin-off? Ive never played it but I assume thats not the reason why Nintendo included Joker is Smash Bros.
I hope that it means a Persona 5 port is coming and I would also welcome NieR:Automata as well. Nintendo are usually very good at supporting local Japanese developers and franchises and clearly do it simply because they respect the game/studio, most obviously with Bayonetta – which is never going to sell much but is critically acclaimed.
I could easily see 2B being another DLC fighter, although I think two third party characters is probably the limit. The third is presumably Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and then Id imagine someone from ARMS. The fifth is hard to guess and could probably be related to a game coming out next year. I just hope its nothing to do with Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
Puddin
GC: Persona Q is a pretty niche sub-franchise, yes. It features Persona characters but the gameplay is a crossover with Etrian Odyssey, which just so happen to be two of our favourite Japanese role-playing franchises.
Inbox also-rans
Heres an idea for a third party character for Smash Bros.: James Bond! Get the licence and they can finally do a remake of GoldenEye 007! Double win! (Its never gonna happen, is it?)
Reece
I always thought Resident Evil would be a good fit for Smash Bros., since the series has a pretty strong connection with Nintendo. I know its a horror game but its been treated less seriously in beat em-ups before thanks to Marvel Vs. Capcom, I think it would work.
Taylor Moon
This weeks Hot Topic
The subject for this weekends Inbox was suggested by reader Alberto, who asks whether you consider yourself loyal to anything in gaming?
Is there a particular console or console maker whose products you always buy? Is there a publisher or developer whose games youre automatically interested in just because of their involvement? Or is there a video game series or character that you almost always get regardless of what others have said about it?
Do you defend whatever it is online or do you try to keep quiet in front of others? How do you feel your loyalty is rewarded by the companies in question and have you ever given up on something you were previously loyal to?
E-mail your comments to: [email protected]
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The small print
New Inbox updates appear twice daily, every weekday morning and afternoon. Readers letters are used on merit and may be edited for length.
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