#At least in terms of console/handheld releases

[recusant-s-sigil]

If you want the kh fandom to think you have hot takes, say that Dream Drop Distance is a good game actually

[willowtron]

Is Mike Tyson a mascot for Western Apathy? The Age of Ad Revenue.

I have a really bad habit of trying to make my "first" posts really special and good, so this time I'm going to break that habit by talking about something I really don't care about.

Okay, so Paul vs Tyson; probably the least exciting boxing match that could be conceived, where a semi-competent novice takes an easy and gentle win against a heavyweight champion from thirty-five years ago - where said novice has gained fame purely from being a large enough dickhead on the internet that people started giving him money, and the fifty-eight year old former champ seems both depressed and in poor health. Regardless of who you thought might win, the whole point of this was quite obviously just for Jake Paul to be able to say "I beat Mike Tyson!" (who really seems like he actually, genuinely, couldn't care less about losing).

This is at the same time as president-elect Donald J Trump (part 2!) has announced some of the most brainrot cabinet choices possible. I'd like to say they're smart grift choices or whatever, but it's pretty clear a lot of them are just people that built their career on being loud and divisive - and, most importantly, are disliked by most everyone on the left. Elon Musk, a man who earned his wealth through a combination of inheritance from slavery, scams, fraud, and cryptocurrency is going to be in charge of a government department named after a meme that stopped being funny almost a decade ago - and he's not even getting it to himself, it's a shared position. Matt Gaetz, who alleges he is technically not a pedophile, will also hold a position in government; as well as RFK Jr, failed presidential aspirant, who is (supposedly) largely opposed to Trump's political stances and perhaps very existence, but likes the idea of being involved in government enough that he still endorsed Trump to be president in the 2024 election.

About a month ago, around October-November of 2024, YouTube (owned by Google and ran by CEO Neal Mohan) quietly updated the way it serves ads; "unskippable, longer, more" seem to be the three main elements of YouTube's new ad direction, and this most recent change appears to be one of the most aggressive yet. Even in minor territories like the Isle of Man, where licensing small print has previously lead to a small amount of ads served, the number of ads has dramatically increased - all while YouTube's copyright systems remain famously unequal toward actual content creators, and ads themselves retain a high probability of breaching YouTube's terms of service.

After a series of aggressive acquisitions lead by CEO & Chairman Satya Nadella that had EU, US, and Chinese governments regarding the merger as anti-competitive and monopolistic, Microsoft successfully bought ownership of Activision-Blizzard-King; while the ABK name is perhaps most famed for titles such as World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Overwatch, it is actually Swedish partner King who owns the title Candy Crush Saga and the infrastructure to make strides into the mobile gaming industry for Microsoft. While the ownership of titles like Call of Duty unofficially "ends" the console wars (with Xbox's Halo and (sort of) PlayStation's CoD now being under the same company), minor aspects like this haven't been major factors in the gaming sphere since the more wide-spread adoption of PC gaming and handhelds like the Nintendo Switch. even so, in my opinion ABK as an acquisition pales in comparison to the purchase of Mojang's Minecraft, now just over ten years ago, which to this day retains a chokehold on the market of "games for children".

Minecraft, initially released in 2011 by Swedish company Mojang, and created by now-disgraced game designer Markus "Notch" Persson, has made a lasting cultural impact that I genuinely believe to be impossible to quantify. To try and provide even a slight amount of perspective, the iconic Steve "oof" has not been present in the game since Beta - which was now around fourteen years ago. And hey, remember King? Markus Persson used to work there. Anyway, in 2014 Microsoft acquired Mojang, and Minecraft with it, and has now owned the title for a decade. Perhaps one of the most controversial changes to the game (perhaps second only to... voter interference in the Mob Vote? Okay. Sure.) is the introduction of Microsoft's global chat-report moderation; regardless of whether you are in a public or private server, players have the ability to report any chat message from any player, and if deemed appropriate, Microsoft will then temporarily or permanently "silence" this player across every server.

I have a lot of love for Minecraft. If you took my playtime from every other game I've ever played, combined it, and doubled it, you still wouldn't reach my playtime in Minecraft. I was a child during its Alpha, I helped my school friends bypass security on school computers so they could play it, some of my closest friends were met on servers in that game, and there'll probably come a time where I write all of my thoughts about it properly. For now, all you need to know is that I don't look down on the title by any means, when I say Microsoft, and the capitalist elite, have ruined Children's gaming.

Every now and then, I think about the "Decline of children's spaces online" Reddit post on r/tumblr - the comments I feel are worth including in this, so forgive the link to reddit. I don't disagree with any aspects of the OOP or Reddit OP's collation by any means, but I feel it frames the problem from the perspective of people very much... more terminally online than myself. Not once have I ever thought "grah, these kids are taking my space away!" when I see a badly censored swear word or my favourite content creators lamenting demonitisation, I just think "wow advertisers fucking suck". Because they do, and the need for increased "family-friendly-ness" in an endless quest to make ad revenue actually profitable is killing all forms of social interaction online, be it via social media, video games, everything.

Shortly after the full acquisition of ABK by Microsoft, there was a large wave of permanent chat and account bans for players of the game Overwatch, due to the sending of swear words in chat. This caused uproar on social media, but was also largely seen as so ridiculous as to be funny; in a game where one of the characters will say "wanker", out loud, in game, you can be permanently banned for saying "fuck" or "shit". To my knowledge this has been reduced, but is still technically punishable. In a game where you go around, killing people, blood flying off their model as you hit them with your fists or shoot them with bullets, or electrocute them to death as they yell in agony, saying the fuck word is a bannable offense now.

On January 7th 2023, YouTuber and Twitch streamer RTGame posted the video "Youtube is Restricting My Content" in response to a back-and-forth with the media giant regarding a subtle and ambiguous alteration to YouTube's Terms of Service, and monetisation guidelines. This was, at the time, the latest in a string of ad-restriction changes that included requiring content creators to not use any foul language at the start of the video, requiring content creators to not use excessive amounts or severities of foul language, not show real actual human death, gore, and mutilation (which is still apparently allowed generally, but will cost you ad revenue. ???), etc. Three years prior, on March 23rd of 2020, YouTuber Tom Scott uploaded the video "YouTube's copyright system isn't broken. The world's is." The video highlights how copyright law and systems of enforcement have been outdated for years, in no small part due to the ability for individuals to make a living for themselves creating content and uploading it, without any form of corporate support beyond host websites like YouTube and Twitch. Ad revenue is the driving force behind an entire industry of online content creation - even things that utilise regular payments as part of a streaming service do so, typically, for the purpose of allowing the consumer to avoid ads. YouTube, Twitch, Spotify; all allow for individuals to post their own individual content, as long as the services themselves get a cut.

And as more and more of our infrastructure has moved online, and ads have become a tolerated nuisance tightly integrated into using basically any online service, we've been hit by the emergence of the largest obstacle yet; AI.

"AI" is not just ChatGPT. I do not say the term "AI" and refer to DallE or Grok or whatever other nonsense environment-killer is the Monster of the Week for anti-AI proponents. In many ways, the insinuation that these even count as "AI" is offensive to me as someone who grew up with the belief that the only true AI is one that deserves to be recognised as sentient. ChatGPT is not sentient. None of them are.

AI is ChatGPT, but it is also the way mobs move in the game Minecraft; it is also YouTube's content ID system for copyright; it is also the myriad of bots that operate on the stock market. It has been part of your daily life for years, much longer than it's been used to generate soulless art from the stolen work of actual artists - AI has served to remove the human element from the things too tedious or too numerous for humans to actually manage. Ads and copyright are right up there on that list. Which ads to serve, who to serve them to, and automatic filing of copyright claims have all been part of YouTube for long enough that I'd wager most people don't even really know the term "Content ID" anymore

"oh but those aren't really AI" yeah neither is a thing that just collects sentences and tries to blurt out something similar. They all just do data collection and then try to find trends, and no that's not the same as being neurodivergent, we're getting off track just trust me that they're the same for the purposes of this post. All you need to know is that your ads are served by AI, and probably largely generated by AI, and the entire content creation industry (be it social media like Twitter, live streaming platforms like Twitch, or hosting services like YouTube) is built almost solely upon ad revenue.

Games like Overwatch haven't been sanitised because children are stealing the spaces from adults; people don't censor swear words on posts because they care about the children; RTGame isn't replacing all cursing on his videos with literally the word "YouTube" just because he finds it funny (it is, though). Sanitisation occurs because ad revenue demands no limitations; because corporations that pay for ads don't want to hear about how the videos they have their ads on aren't appropriate for certain audiences, they don't care about the actual content they help pay for. They just want their cut - for their ad to reach as many people as possible.

I really didn't want to have to, but... I have to at least mention it. In a world where user consumption, clicks, ads viewed, and time watched are the primary metrics for financial success online, TikTok is the primary driving force behind a lot of "foul language focused" sanitisation. Censoring of the words kill, die, fuck, shit, sex, etc, etc, etc. It's... depressing. And the permeation of these habits onto other sites does make it feel like the only internet spaces available are baby spaces for people who can't handle a swear word or innate parts of the human experience. TikTok drives a significant amount of online discourse, both niche and mainstream, and acts as both a means of escaping real-world issues like genocide, poverty, and the horror of having a meaningful vote in the world's leading democratic nation, as well as a source of news and information in a world full of unacknowledged bias, misinformation, and five-second attention spans. TikTok has made the dystopian vision of a humanity that is both apathetic and powerless seem closer than ever by proving that, given the choice, a significant proportion of the population will not resist attempts to misinform them and dull their ability to process long-form information. TikTok is evidence that if your algorithm is good enough, then morals, beliefs, and self-respect are all secondary.

And that's the really important part. People do not think critically about the information they consume because the internet bombards you with a constant stream of it; this isn't TikTok specific, or even particularly restricted to just online content. It's about how accessible good, reliable sources of information are; it's about how trustworthy megacorporations are in regard to humanity's best interests; it's about whether ads are trying to serve the consumer, or trying to manipulate them. And most importantly, it's about how much people care - how critically they think about the information they receive and the content they consume, and how parties who don't want that can disincentivise it as much as possible.

Being unable to traverse the sheer expanse of opinion, information, and style that exists across the internet is just one barrier for uneducated and uninformed westerners. Partisan and tribal politics, distraction techniques targeting minorities and scapegoats, a skew towards conservative and reactionary political leanings from most every major news outlet, as well as a general sentiment that the world is "speeding up" - no time to rest, no time to think, just have the right opinions and work work work! - all contribute to the hostility of nuance and accuracy. "These people hate you and want to destroy your way of life" is a lot easier to understand than "well they don't actually hate you specifically, they just have a built up resentment for the systems that support your way of life due to the disenfranchisement of minorities and the working class - and they don't so much want to destroy your way of life as they want to help you understand that your way of life is actually harmful to you as well, because it's designed to only benefit the ultra-rich capitalist elite" when the people you're talking to have intentionally been given a biased and low-quality education (if any at all). FOX news likes stupid people; but those people don't like being called stupid (understandably) - and unfortunately there's no easy way to say "your preferred news source appeals to the uneducated" without it being insulting, or failing to get the point across.

It is both a societal and an individual responsibility to be educated and provide education, but I digress.

Remember Paul vs Tyson? and Donald Trump's cabinet? It's been a little while since we started, but I promise I didn't mention those for no reason.

Twitter (or X if you're a loser) is currently seeing a mass migration over to competitor Bluesky - a mix of Elon's appointment to Trump's government, as well as some unpopular changes regarding the block function, have spurred people to move away from Twitter once and for all; but it remains the world's largest social media site.

Overwatch has had global chat, the "looking for group" system, and the "unfiltered" text chat option all removed from the game - things like the in-built LFG or "Guilds" were promised, but never delivered. They likely never will following Microsoft's acquisition.

YouTube's largest channel is currently MrBeast, with T-Series, Cocomelon, SET India, and Kids Diana taking up 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Three of these five are aimed at children (aged 15 and under, per my arbitrary definition); The remaining two are multimedia brands. While PewDiePie is a controversial figure, his dethronement from the top of YouTube in 2019 fully signalled the end of YouTube being a site for individuals and its transition to being a site for brands, with more focus on ads and marketability.

TikTok's parent company ByteDance reported a revenue of one hundred and twenty billion dollars in 2023. US$120,000,000,000. The "Usage" section of TikTok's wikipedia page makes for... enlightening reading. By all means, check the original sources, but there's a lot there.

As time has gone on, major corporations have killed human interaction online. Limits on video length on sites like TikTok, limits on characters for sites like Twitter, removal of "undesirable" (not advertiser friendly) kinds of interaction from online gaming, a continuous push for the most profitable content to be the most supported content. News outlets, media platforms, all of them exist as businesses with the sole driving motivation of making as much money as possible - quality, truth, and the betterment of humanity be damned. Scratch that, sacrificed.

In a pre-match interview with Jazlyn Guerra, posted to YouTube channel Jazzy's World TV, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson is seen scoffing in bewilderment - the five minute long interview between the fifty-eight year old and the fourteen year old is... awkward, pretty much the whole way through, as the interviewer does her best to empathise with the weight of nearly six decades of a life she could not possibly comprehend. She agrees with statements on adversity in childhood and throughout life, dressed in designer clothes at 14; she asks what Tyson thinks of Jake Paul, who responds that he just thinks "he's very funny". In a question about legacy, Tyson responds bluntly "who the fuck cares about me when I'm gone. - I'm dust. I'm nothing." Tyson does not care about who his opponent is, or why he's fighting, or even seemingly what comes next. When Mike Tyson stepped into that ring he stood for nothing at all; when Jazlyn Guerra heard his fatalism she simply accepted it; and Jake Paul can say "I beat Mike Tyson!". Apathy, marketability, a legacy of vanity. That is what we teach young people in the modern day.

So when you see Donald Trump choosing the most "memeable" people possible for his cabinet - when you see the most powerful person in the democratic world slotting their country in as a cog in the machine that is mass-media consumption - "brainrot" is truly the most appropriate word for his decision making. The President of the United States has been determined by how much money he generates for media corporations, while the populations of the Western world become less and less savvy to nuance and complexity; all while the concept of "legacy" is eaten away by a pervading sense of apathy present in every online space, even in spite of generation-spanning crises regarding climate change, the capitalist system, and global inequality.

None of this is coincidental. It has simply been determined that nuance isn't profitable; that even skill isn't profitable.

This is the age of ad revenue.

[hbmmaster]

Out of curiosity, where would you place the Nintendo DS (and optionally the DSi) in terms of console generations?

console generations break down as a concept if you try to be inclusive of things that weren't released as part of the main console launch cycle, hence the ambiguous placement of the nintendo switch.

the obvious[to whom?] thing to try would be to define "handheld console generations" as a completely separate parallel thing, but there have only been like, two? points in time where two competing companies both released commercially viable handheld systems around the same time. nintendo has basically always completely dominated the handheld console space, with the steam deck (which was released way too long after the switch to count as "the same generation" as it) being the first serious competition they've had on that front in at least a decade. so, any division of the history of handhelds into generations would basically just be fully defined by what nintendo's been doing.

that said, I think when using console generations as a lens to view the history of games, the normal thing to do for things that were released separately from the generation cycle is to just look at what it was contemporary with. for most of its run, the DS existed alongside the wii, ps3, and xbox 360, and the same applies to the DSi, making both handhelds "seventh generation", in a sense

[miloscat]

[Review] Lego Star Wars II (DS)

An amusing shambles.

I had long overlooked the fact that this standalone Lego adaptation of the Original Trilogy on DS is a totally unique experience compared to the later “Complete Saga” release which faithfully demade the double-pack console game to the DS’s lower specs. It was a Flandrew video that revealed to me its novelty, its goofy, abbreviated cutscenes, and its completely broken state.

Before TT Fusion was charged with handling the handheld companion Lego games, there were Java phone games by Universomo, isometric games on GBA by Griptonite, and this DS effort by Amaze (Griptonite’s parent company). I’ve played Amaze entries in the X-Men, Spyro, and Eragon series and was consistently underwhelmed. This one didn’t really change my opinion of their output.

But first, some positives. While superficially similar to its console cousin, with the same abilities and basic concepts, this game does its own thing with level design. I appreciate that it’s not just a rehash, and these bite-sized stages suit the DS. Some of the vehicle stages even turn out better than the main game since they don’t overstay their welcome, or because the Endor speeder chase is a strictly free-roaming affair this time. Also... Boba Fett has a more powerful jetpack, essentially giving you a super-double jump and a hover?

Whew. Ok, the bantha in the room is the buggy state of this game. Yeah, Lego games are often glitch-ridden, but Lego Star Wars II on DS feels like it’s barely holding itself together. Backgrounds and parts of the playable environment, even characters, often flicker and disappear. Slowdown is prevalent when multiple characters are active. Enemies run into walls, and your allies sometimes will shoot at you. Free Play mode seems like it was almost completely untested, with progression logic breaking or some rooms refusing to load objects, or the camera getting stuck. At least one minikit straight up refuses to spawn, so it is potentially impossible to 100%. The bottom screen’s optional camera controls have broken sprites most of the time (the character picker is a much more useful tool down there). It’s just really surprising that the game was released in the state it’s in... no doubt a result of rushing to meet a deadline set by the main game’s schedule.

Even ignoring the technical deficiencies, the maps are sometimes confusingly laid out. There’s also not much context holding the levels together; with no FMV cutscenes from the console game scrunched in, we only have tiny and awkwardly-animated in-engine scenes, along with text crawls for each level in addition to the scene-setting ones that start each movie.Not to mention the notable absence of a Dagobah level, with Luke going straight from the Hoth battle to Bespin in gameplay terms, which means Yoda exists solely as a Free Play character.

So with all that said, it can be tempting to write this off as an inferior product to be ignored. But naturally I found some charm in its awkwardness, in its clumsy attempt to replicate the console game unlike its handheld predecessors. The dumb cutscenes are part of its character! I could do without the playability-affecting glitches, but I still got a kick out of the distinct content that it brings to the table. That at least justifies its existence to me.

[twitterrefugeenick]

This person clearly has no conception of anything from before they were born but games have been $70 before. Take a look at MSRP for a lot of SNES games, especially late-era ones with lots of storage space and/or chips like the Super FX. Those games were even more unaffordable for children to buy with their allowance than they are now thanks to inflation and reduced access (I.e. no digital storefront keeping games around after their release window). The switch to discs initially reduced costs because they’re a much cheaper medium than carts but as the storage space increased dramatically so too did production costs, which means that games are priced higher to make returns. There are absolutely conversations to be had about what makes a game worth $70 (they ought to at the very least not be broken at launch) but video games aren’t just a medium for children, so making a hard line saying “games should never be too expensive because otherwise kids won’t be able to afford them” is a bad take seated more in nostalgia than any understanding of the video game industry.

In fact, it’s way cheaper to game as a young person now than it ever was because there are so many games that are literally just free. When I was 13 if a game was free it was either flash garbage or illegally downloaded, but today a 13 year old can download literally the most popular game in the whole world and start playing without paying a cent. Again, there are conversations to be had about exploitative payment models in F2P gaming but it’s insane to think that kids are getting priced out of video games when Fortnite and Minecraft are making it so much easier than it was. Phones have approximately infinity games and a vast majority of them are less than $10 if they cost any money at all.

Also, there’s a difference between a DS (a pure handheld meant for younger players meaning cheaper) and a Switch (a console meaning production costs for games are higher). Handhelds were designed to be more affordable. The Switch is playable portably but in terms of design philosophy it’s a console.

ok I got into an argument with someone in my media class yesterday so I’m just gonna say it:

No video game should cost $70.

I’m sure the new Zelda game will be great, but no video game should cost $70. “But if you adjust for inflation, this is actually less than what the Wii games were,” cool. No video game should cost $70.

We no longer live in a world where a kid could save up their allowance for a couple months and then be able to buy a video game. Just buying one has somehow turned into such a grandiose adventure it takes all of the fun out of getting a new game.

The only possible benefit might be that, with games being so expensive, people might be more likely to pick up an indie game because those companies can’t afford to sell those games for a lot.

This is becoming normal. I used to be able to buy four ds games for $70. What the hell.

And you know damn well that Nintendo can afford it.

[blastoisemonster]

Patlabor: The Mobile Police

I got back from Novegro Comics Festival with the best revenue I made at a convention so far- and a couple of Game Boy imports for good measure. XD I stayed there at the retrogaming booth before the con would open to the public checking each and every cartridge while chitchatting with the seller. I love when cons have that "calm before the storm" where booth owners can actually talk with eachother and share passions!

Anyway, here's one of the new additions to my collection: I managed to get another anime tie-in, though Patlabor is known to be so much more. Created by the mangaka collective Headgear, Patlabor was a prominent media empire of the late 80s/early 90s spanning from a classic manga and anime to several OVAs, games and toys. It's a cyberpunk mecha saga, different from its contemporary counterpars Mazinger and Daitarn as it focused much more on the daily lives of human protagonists and the world around them, the Labor mechas only costituting a series of machines of in-universe contemporary technology and therefore not as special. So yeah it had a slow plot… but the visuals were something else! Italy loves giant mecha anime (we even have our own term for it) and couldn't pass up on the occasion to bring Patlabor to our screens. Both the OAV and the anime got translated in their entirety, although while the OAV quickly got a broadcast in 1994 on local channels, we had to wait until 2012 for the anime, which got distributed in DVD.

Videogames are another story, we didn't get a single one of them for the usual reason that translating a cartridge game in italian, no matter how popular, would always result in a loss due to extra manifacture expenses. Geeze, the more I look for new games, the more I realize it was a miracle we at least had Pokèmon translated! The Game Boy chapter, subtitled "The Targeted Street", was the second game dedicated to the series and got published in 1990 directly by Headgear. Being this an early title of the series and also an early release on the handheld console, I can maybe excuse its overall simplicity; however, it is also true that Patlabor looks so barebones in its gameplay to become rather boring and apparently, reviews of the time also weren't really pleased by it. The game lets the player move their mecha in some sort of top-down view board with the objective of defeating every other enemy Labor robots. Once in combat, the view switches to the side and the player selects a series of attacks which will be executed in turn with the adversary… and that's it, rinse and repeat. There's some minor RPG elements in the form of new skills and more resources for the player's mech, but that's really all there is. Which is sad because considering how refined the world of Patlabor is, you'd at least expect some more depth to its interactive adventures.

[gadgetsboy]

Project Q: What we Know about Sony's Upcoming Handheld

Sony's been making headlines again - the Japanese gaming giant, responsible for some of the best-selling console systems in gaming history once again stole the spotlight at its recent PlayStation showcase, giving fans the chance to get an idea of what to expect in terms of upcoming software and hardware products. With regards to the latter, Sony recently showed off a some new products including a pair of PlayStation-branded wireless earbuds, but what really got people's attention was "Project Q," Sony's newest entry into the handheld gaming market. Not much info was given regarding the product at this point, but the presentation does give us something to expect - let's take a look! Design and Hardware Sony has doubled-down on the PlayStation 5 design language with the Q, which should be obvious at first sight. The handheld comes with controller grips on the left and right, which look a lot like a PS5 controller that's been split in half. In addition to the same design, the controls will presumably come with all the controls as found on the more "standard" PS5 controller as well. It's worth noting that these controllers flank a large display, not unlike the Nintendo Switch. The display is specified as having a width of 8 inches, putting it in league with other compact tablets out there, such as the iPad Mini. One difference from the iPad Mini though is the Q's aspect ratio, which should be more in line with what we usually see on TVs, as that's how Sony wants you to play games on the Q - this now brings us to our next point of discussion. Software In terms of what we can expect regarding games on the Project Q, Sony has stated that the device is intended to be a streaming companion to the PS5 itself, meaning that it won't come with its own library of games. Instead, the Q will stream the titles that you already own on your PS5, and will of course require a constant internet connection. At the moment, Sony has kept mum on the software and UI that's running inside the Q. We're still waiting to see if the device runs on a forked version of Android, similar to other recently-released handhelds out there. With that being said, it's definitely a far cry from older Sony gaming handhelds, which come with their own proprietary OS and library of games. There's also the fact that you can already set up an Android phone and third-party controller to use as a PlayStation remote play device, which does bring a bit of questioning to the Q's existence. Is it the Next PS Vita? At this point in time, the Sony Project Q doesn't look like it's meant to succeed the Vita or the PSP in any way, other than the fact that it is a portable PlayStation-branded gaming device. The reliance on streaming, unconventional design, and mysterious software - at the moment, at least - shows that Sony has a different objective in mind this time around. Of course things can still change as we get more information at the device, but for now it looks like the Project Q has its sights set on devices like the new Razer handheld and Logitech G handheld. Read the full article

[five-rivers]

Auction

For @skellagirl

.

“Hey, Jazz,” said Danny, leaning into Jazz’s room, one hand on the doorknob, the other braced against the jamb. “Wanna help me mess with Vlad?”

“Do I?” responded Jazz, pushing her chair back. “What’s the plan?”

“Well,” said Danny, “Vlad left one of his creepy spy bugs in the kitchen again, and I was thinking we could have a loud conversation in front of it about how Mom’s going to that charity bachelor auction.”

Jazz frowned. ��But she isn’t. She’s married.”

“Yeah, that’s the point. Vlad’s delusional.”

“Ah, I see,” said Jazz. “Yeah, let’s do it. Should we write a script?”

“Maybe just a backstory. I work better with improv.”

“I’ve seen your fights, Danny. You definitely do not.”

“That’s cold.”

.

Maddie was not here, and Vlad was going to commit murder. Just a little bit. The victim was already half dead, after all.

His teeth squeaked as he forced himself to smile at the vapid, crowds of rich single women below him. He could not, unfortunately, back out now without losing quite a bit of face. The only consolation he had was that he had already communicated the need to eliminate the wealthier bidders, so that Maddie’s bet would win, to his ghostly servants. If only he could get away from the crowds and duplicate himself to take care of the others…

But that would be suspicious too, wouldn’t it? He had to let at least a few bids go through. And some of them had to be high, otherwise he’d never hear the end of it from his ever-aggravating business associates.

Curse them and their golf-playing buffoonery. He didn’t even like golf. It took so long.

When his name was called, he went out onto the stage like a man expecting to be hung. Why did anyone think this kind of thing was a good idea? This was humiliating. Ninety percent of the people bidding were after his money one way or another, he was sure.

Not like Maddie.

He sighed and refused to make eye contact with anyone in the crowd as the auctioneer called higher and higher values. Finally, the number stopped climbing, and Vlad lowered his gaze to see who, exactly, he would have to waste a day with.

Well. At least it wasn’t someone who was after his money.

.

“So,” said Harriet Chin, not even bothering to hide the recorder she held in her hands, “Vladimir Masters. Do you have a statement regarding the Whole World Mission scandal?”

“Harriet,” said Vlad, “please, we’re supposed to be on a date.”

“Yes, and I get to decide our activities. And I want an exclusive interview with the elusive Vlad Masters. That’s what I paid for, after all.”

“And here I was, thinking that it was my ravishing, good looks.”

Harriet snorted. “Maybe for someone who didn’t see you and Jack in that ridiculous hot dog eating contest. Although,” she leaned back appraisingly, “you did fill out since then. Actually… I’m sort of surprised at how early the bidding topped out. Was the room filled with bitter exes, or is there some scandal I don’t know about?”

Vlad rolled his eyes. “I confess, I’m as surprised as you.”

“Now, that’s a lie,” said Harriet.

“Excuse me?”

“You still have that tell from college,” said Harriet, smugly.

“Excuse me? I do not have a tell.” If he did, he had to identify and get rid of it as soon as possible.

“You do,” said Harriet, still grinning.

Vlad weighed the pros and cons of simply overshadowing her and making her lose the day. She’d probably claim that he drugged her or something. Curses.

He sighed, heavily. “At least let me take you out to a restaurant instead of,” he flicked his fingers at his surroundings, “just standing here.”

“Oh, I don’t know. A person’s house can tell you a lot about someone. Didn’t your Wisconsin home blow up? What was up with that, anyway?”

“I released a statement regarding that some time ago,” said Vlad.

“Wasn’t it also raided by the government?”

“That was a misunderstanding. And I also released a press statement about that incident. It shouldn’t take you more than, oh, an hour to look it up online.” This wasn’t entirely true. Once it was out of the immediate spotlight, Vlad had spent quite a bit of money to have the whole story scrubbed. “Dinner? I am paying.”

Harriet looked thoughtful. “Alright, but I’m picking where we go.”

“Of course,” said Vlad, graciously.

.

He regretted everything.

“Harriet, I know Amity Park is small relative to, say, Chicago, but, really… There are good restaurants here.”

“Yes,” said Harriet, “but I wanted to eat here.”

Vlad grimaced and tried not to look at the booth where Daniel and his juvenile delinquent friends were sitting and filming him with a handheld camera.

“Of course,” said Harriet, apparently unbothered by the stickiness of the booth bench and the screaming of children in the other part of building, “if you wanted to go back to a more private setting so that we could continue our interview—”

“No, no, this is quite alright. I said I would get you dinner, and here we are, eating…” He glanced at the menu with derision. “Food.”

He could, just barely, call it that. Even if he’d discovered during his short-term ownership of the chain that certain of its condiments could be used as mid-grade explosives. He didn’t know how Daniel could stand it.

(On the other hand, he had to admit he was enjoying this. Just a little. He so rarely got to match wits against a competent adult.)

(Maddie didn’t count—He was trying to woo Maddie, after all. They were practically on the same side.)

Valerie Grey, looking intensely weirded out, brought their order to their table. Harriet, unperturbed by the grease leaking through the paper wrappings, began to sort though the offerings for the cheap chicken burger she had ordered. Vlad, meanwhile, stared down at his sandwich.

Someone had put an ectoplasm antagonist in the dressing. He glared at Daniel. He didn’t know how the boy had done it, but he was going to pay for it. Along with setting him up for this ridiculous ‘date.’

“Aren’t you going to eat?” asked Harriet.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Oh, stop being such a snob. I remember you and Jack living off of instant ramen.”

“That was then, this is now,” said Vlad.

.

“Seems to be going well,” said Tucker, adjusting the lens on his camera, “all things considered.”

“Kind of surprised they’re here of all places, though,” said Sam.

“I think Ms. Chin’s just trying to get a rise out of Vlad, to be honest.” He’d stopped looking at them, though, instead frowning at the kitchens. “I think Valerie put something in his food. Do you think we should do something?”

“Not really,” said Tucker.

“Yeah, I’m going to choose Valerie every day over the old rich white guy who wants to kill your dad,” said Sam. “Even if she has some slightly homicidal tendencies regarding you.”

“Fair enough,” said Danny. “Want to stalk Vlad and his date until they drive home?”

“I don’t have any other plans,” said Sam, easily.

“Same,” said Tucker.

“Cool,” said Danny.

.

“Are you frequently stalked by teenagers?” asked Harriet.

“No,” said Vlad.

“And isn’t that Jack and Maddie’s son?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Oh ho, there’s a story there, isn’t there?”

“A private matter, I assure you.”

“When you’re as wealthy as you are, Vlad, nothing’s a private matter anymore.”

“I fear I must disagree with you on that count. Where are we going, anyway?”

“It’s a surprise,” said Harriet. “Unless you want to give me that interview.”

“Ugh. No.”

It was a miniature golf course. Of course it was. He could never escape from the accursed ‘sport.’ At least the miniature version was marginally more tolerable. Or it would be, if Daniel and his pack of friends weren’t able to follow them in.

… Or maybe they wouldn’t follow them in. The trio veered off suddenly right before the exit. Vlad smirked. Not enough cash for the little badger to get in, hm?

This assumption was disastrously disproven when a ghost fight tore through the Astroturf that covered the third hole.

Harriet was very nearly thrown into the pond, but Vlad managed to catch her at the last moment.

She was blushing.

Butter biscuits.

.

“Well,” said Harriet, “that wasn’t the interview I wanted, but it wasn’t a total waste of time. Same time next week?”

“Fine, fine, whatever you want,” said Vlad. Then what he said caught up to him. “No. One date. One date was all you paid for.”

Harriet pretended not to hear him.

[siverwrites]

Video game asks: 7, 10, 13

(Love this list by the way! Full of great questions)

7. A series you’ve lost interest in

Fire Emblem... at least in terms of new entries. At some point I'd like to go back to replay older entries again and rekindle things a bit. But, for newer stuff, yeah, it lost me.

10. A console and/or handheld you’ve never played but would like to try

Vita! It totally passed me by when it was released, but learning more about it more recently, it seems like such a nifty machine. Sony did it dirty.

13. Quick, name the first song from a game that comes to mind

'We're the ants! Led by King Antony! ...'

sigh.

I did just play this section yesterday, but yeah, gonna be stuck.

Thank you! Ask me about games

[repentantsky]

5 Companies That Have Too Much Hype Around Them

Look, we all love our favorite games with a passion, and to an extent that’s fine, but when that passion becomes obsession and that obsession becomes forgetting our own moral compass for the sake of entertainment, it does feel like it’s gone too far. It’s one thing to love what a company releases, it’s completely another to ignore every problem they’ve ever had. Not all of the companies on this list have done horribly un-ethical things, but they’ve at least been anti-consumer, and the fact that people don’t question that enough has led to them sometimes, making horrible mistakes. I am RepentantSky, I love making lists that trash on things that are popular, and these are 5 companies, that have too much hype around them.

5. Nintendo

Already I can hear people getting angry, and in a way I get it. Nintendo is for many people the place where they either begin to play games, or the place they go to keep on playing them when everything else let’s them down, and of course, they put an end to the flipping video game crash of 1983, and no one else will ever be able to claim that from them. That’s all wonderful, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be critical of them. I’ve talked about a number of things they’ve done wrong before, so let me quickly run down the list of some of their anti-consumer practices. They, charge too much for remasters and ports, they don’t drop prices in games, they used to charge for fixing Joy-Cons and now completely deny it’s a problem for legal reasons, despite everyone pretty much having experienced drift, they haven’t been good at getting stock for their items in at least 20 years, and oh yeah, they sell all the content for a remake for $115 on the 3DS, the system and the fans that helped them get by while the Wii U was massively underperforming, all while handing owners of the, at the time, unproven Switch, free content. Nintendo has a tendency to still think like a toy company, and they even used that idea to present the Nintendo Entertainment System as a toy instead of a console when they first game to the West with it, but they aren’t a toy company, their a gaming company that also sells toys, just like everyone else. I get they’ve done amazing things, I own over 150 physical handheld games from them, and a ton of digital games besides, but when they start charging twice what they are worth for SD cards, while releasing games that absolutely won’t fit on the limited space of the Switch, and they simply don’t care when costumers complain, it’s time to at least question their motives.  

4. Bethesda

Boy I used to really rip on this company back when I posted lists on Facebook, but I haven’t done it in a while, so let’s do it again. Bethesda has absolutely spent at least the last 10 years lying to people, Todd Howard, has become famous for it, but I think I might have been the only person who wasn’t shocked when Fallout 76 was the disaster that it was. There were so many things wrong with that game, that I don’t even have time to go over every little thing, but lying, you know the thing that will get another company on this list very soon, was a big thing they did with the game. They promised at one point that they weren’t ever going to charge for items in the game that gave in-game benefits, and they did, allowing ammo and other items to be bought with real money for a time, they promised new, specialized servers if you paid for a yearly service that was way too expensive, and that wasn’t true because people found proof of things missing from what would have been a freshly made, private server, and there’s no excuse for that, games in early access do that correctly, and they aren’t, at least supposedly, even finished yet. I wish I could say that’s all they’ve done, but they also bullied an indie developer over their game Prey, a game they may have bullied the original developer for so they could get cheaper, but we’ll never know because they refused to comment on that when asked, they also refused to update their outdated game engine for years, which caused something they spent over a decade fixing, games releasing with glitches, some of them game breaking. Yet somehow, they have such a fan base that those who love their games will claim the glitches are just part of the charm. That kind of fierce loyalty led to Fallout 76, and even though we make jokes about it even now, the horse DLC from way back in the day, was an indication of everything they’ve done, including trying to charge for mods made for free, meant to be consumed for free, twice. Bethesda is a bad company and they do not care. 

3. Activision/Blizzard

You know one of the worst things Nintendo does that I didn’t really mention directly in the first entry, is limit the amount of time a product is available, instead of just letting it be there for consumption as long as it’s selling (that was what the toy company reference was about if it wasn’t clear). However, Activision/Blizzard are the Kings of doing this, as they not only limited things while they were in control of Destiny 2 to the point where you pretty much had to use real money to get everything, and never mind everything else they did to it, because we’d be here all day going through it all, but they also don’t support games as a service titles long enough for dedicated fans. Crash Team Racing Nitro fueled, is a prime example of this. People weren’t done with that game, and when fans thought for even a split second that an update was going to come to fix an issue, their hype (mine to) was so explosive, it was almost like we were getting a new game, but then nothing happened, because they didn’t care. A lot of companies that do yearly release titles as a service have this problem and nothing exemplified that more for Activision, than Skylanders, a series originally made off the back of Spyro, who didn’t even wait for a year to release new games, as technically between October 21st and November 20th of the year the first game came out, they released three of them, and I’m not even kidding. Two of them, were mobile games! You might have thought I was going to go after Call of Duty, for this, but that horse has been beaten to ground, somehow, more than Skylanders was. They also, for whatever reason, released each expansion on different generations console generations, at different months throughout Fall, like somehow the season of Fall, they needed a release every month, if not two, and so off they went. I didn’t even get into Blizzard, but all I need to say is “Blitzchung” and all the memories will likely come flooding back. There’s also the fact that in two separate years, after gaining massive profits, they dropped hundreds of employees, and hired more than they’d let go, but I guess that doesn’t really matter to some of you, because when they did it this year, with so little warning, most employees found out via the news articles about it, but we all made such a little stink this time around, it didn’t create any media buzz, so I guess that doesn’t matter, you’d all rather play flipping World of Warcraft, like better MMO’s don’t exist. 

2. CD Projekt Red

I know this one comes off a little more fresh in the mind, and they technically only lied about one game, but man, what a series of lies it was. Also, let’s be honest, one major game, does not a great developer always make. CDPR’s previous two Witcher games did exactly what the author of the books thought they would, and that was almost nothing in terms of making a serious impact, and the reason is, they are kind of bad. They aren’t the worst games out there, but there is a good reason why The Witcher 1 and 2 haven’t been ported and/or remastered, despite how important they are to the story of Witcher 3, and that’s because they both suck. Cyperpunk 2077, was in a lot of ways, them just going back to being the developer they were before, the BIG ONE happened. They lied about nearly everything in regards to the game, including how the main platforms where consumers were going to buy it, were actually running well. I made those references to Witcher 1 and  2 for a reason, although if I’m being honest, they actually look better than Cyberpunk did on day 0, and that’s completely unacceptable. The budget for CDPR was basically nothing for Witcher 1 and 2 combined to what Cyberpunk got, but they were so focused on the PC versions because PC ran the game better, somehow (like maybe because they didn’t try with consoles) and they missed glitches that were so bad, the game felt like it was still in beta, if not alpha upon release. The fact that they’ve only released eleven games in twenty-three years, and only two of them didn’t have The Witcher on them, should have told us all we need to know, and yet the game, even after returns, which was another massive screw-job that led to Cyberpunk being removed from the PlayStation store, still sold Sixteen million units, all because of hype, and because apparently, some people don’t care if they’re lied to. Do you want to know what the other game they released is besides a Witcher title? It was flipping Saints Row 2, a fun game, but also one that’s too goofy for it’s own good, and yet suddenly makes Cyberpunk’s release, make sense, because it was all a massive joke, and a parody of good, well running, open world games. CDPR needs to seriously do something, anything different, and never release a game in this poor of a state ever again.

1. Ubisoft

I put Ubisoft at number one for a damn good reason, and that reason is, that everyone seems to hate the company, but loves their games, and I don’t know why. They haven’t been the overall worst company on this list, although they are pretty bad, but the major problem they have, and have had for at least a decade is that none of their games have any identity, they are literally all the same game, with different coats of paint. Sure, an occasional gem sneaks through like Assassin’s Creed IV, but all of the rest of their games have the same visual style (although ACII does seem to be the base for which they create their art let’s be honest), the shooting mechanics they have in all the games that have guns, all feel exactly the same, which is something even Call of Duty manages to avoid most years (guess I took a shot at them anyways) and yet somehow, someway, I keep seeing people getting excited for their releases, and it doesn’t make any sense. Sure, they throw a celebrity actor in from time to time, and the artistic style they use does look pretty cool, but everything is always the same with them, every single time, no matter what it is, and they still keep making money. It doesn’t really make sense either, because a lot of developers do make games that are very similar feeling, see the Life is Strange team or much as well all loved them, Telltale Games, but at least those titles told extremely interesting stories, and developed their mechanics at least a little, which is something most companies do just on principal, but not Ubisoft. They throw out a few Tom Clancy games every time they talk about what their releasing, the Trials and AC games are still mostly a yearly experience, and I’ll say it again, their entire list of releases since at least 2013, the year the previous generation kicked off, have pretty much all been the same. It would be nice if they made more games like Child of Light, but despite the fact that their games will likely never be as popular as Call of Duty, they keep churning out same-y shooters hoping that one day, maybe just one day, they’ll create their own CoD, and it’s just not gonna happen. The saddest part of all is that when they announce something different, something fans have wanted for years, we get The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake, which was literally delayed because fans said they wouldn’t buy it unless some actual effort was put into making it, why is this company so popular that it can keep doing this, someone please explain it to me. 

And that’s my list, can you think of any other companies that are too hyped? Let me know in the notes below, hit me up with a follow if you like my content, and give me a reblog, I’d really appreciate it. Have a wonderful life!  

[bryan360]

My reactions through my Nintendo E3 2021’s highlight picks

Hey guys! You know me from what been checking on E3 announcement last week. I even did my other posts to mention it of 🐰Mario + Rabbits sequel game and 🏁🏎Forza Horizon 5 as my interests picks.

June. 13th, 2021 - Link Here

June. 14th, 2021 - Link Here #2

Now it's finally time that I can talk through Nintendo E3 2021's announcement of games and content; after reveals back in June 15th that I should've bring this sooner, but due to working on my other tasks that I'm gonna save it til today. Hoping that I had time for free time to explain of what I feel for Nintendo E3 2021 Direct reveal for this month of June; especially which one that I finding most interested so I could added through my wishlist on eShop app. So today, here's my interesting picks for Nintendo E3 reveal this year; whether you agreed or disagree of how it goes when you suggest other was. I know if everyone so close to look forward the Switch Pro reveal, but it seems that it didn't happen anytime soon. Anyways, now get into my picks that I screenshot and edited through last week's Nintendo Direct I've managed.

First top left - ✊😈Kazuya Mishima joining Super Smash Bros Ultimate

First off, I knew that there will be at least one Super Smash Bros DLC Fighter reveal; before saving the last one for coming months this year soon. What's really unexpected to see though is a second Bandai Namco fighter after 👻PAC-MAN, but sadly its not Lloyd that if everyone hoping he would've upgraded from a Mii Costume to a true fighter yet. (Like we ever getting another sword fighter once again. 😒) No, it was actually ✊😈Kazuya Mishima from the Tekken series. My reaction was caught my attention since it started when he carrying Ganondorf to the lava pit and so does other fighters that is really dark. Except for Kirby that thankfully knows how to get away, but still. If I remember his origin through reading wiki site though, at time he used to be good until his father Heihachi sees him as his weakness. Later when Heihachi kills one of the family members that Kazuya been fond of and being thrown by his father in the cliff until he eventually climbs back up when his devil gene activates. Ever since then, Kazuya is now antagonist for the recent Tekken games so far and seeing him to match fight against Smash was an unexpected sight. I remember the time after hearing Masahiro Sakurai's interview where he consider Heihachi to be playable for Smash 4, but pass over due to implement his moveset to be difficult. But here we are seeing for Kazuya instead that it really sure takes time to deliver. After his moveset through his reveal could be challenging to work it out on command. Let's just wait to figure out once Sakurai will finally bring us his next presentation next week, but for now knowing this Tekken fighter joining Smash was a unique idea that Sakurai managed to work it out.

Second top right - 🌟Mario Party Super Stars

How about that when where seeing the next Mario Party game brings us? Despite the recent 2018 Super Mario Party, this will be the twelfth installment to be heading Nintendo Switch this year's 🎃October 2021; this time having 100 remastered minigames like I've seen them before on previous Mario Party games. My reaction was good to see how it continues on, but sure miss that time I remember from my childhood for the original first Mario Party game on the N64 console. So what's get me attention is the recognized boards such as 👑🎂Peach's Birthday Cake makes a comeback! It looks the way that I remember from playing the N64 game when the layouts off frosting goodness and the song to match as well. It was really something when it comes from Nintendo and their past N64 games I have memories fond of. 🙂👍🏼

I give this Nintendo a good move when trying to bring back Mario Party again as a E3 reveal, but maybe just maybe if it will be this good from previous Mario Party games in terms of selling copies. Who knows? *Shrug*

Third middle left - Metroid Dread

However, if you really looking forward a new Nintendo game coming to October 2021 early is a most recognized franchise making a return....meanwhile Metroid Prime 4 is still in development. At least knowing this game can take us time before the fourth prime game can be finished, but man that everyone went crazy after the reveal of Metroid Dread! It the return of 2D Metroid game in action after the success of Samus Return for 3DS back in September 2017. My reaction was surprised and impressive for the looks and feels about this game's tone; especially the haunting part where the robot named "EMMI" (but don't be confused with the word Emmy as an Emmy Award like if would funny. 😅) trying to catch up with Samus and it's game over....😵 I think I could add this into my wishlist and it would be the first time I'll be owning this Metroid game for my Switch system. Fact: Metroid Dread was originally plan as a Nintendo DS title way back in mid 2000s, but sadly being cancelled due to technical limitations.

Fourth middle right - 💣WarioWare Get It Together

I was hoping if Warioware could come back for the lastest Switch system and they finally called. However, this game will take a different approach than doing minigames of yourself, but with your characters do it for you. For this latest Warioware game of picking noses, it'll be having one of the characters such as Wario, Mona, Jimmy T, 9-Volt, and others to do on all minigames with their strengths and skills they can managed. My reaction was pretty good knowing that Nintendo is making this a unique idea than doing a same microgame gameplay style from previous ones, but in a fun way. Cross my fingers if I'll be saving this as a digital download version. Like that time I actually got "Warioware Touched!" for my 2DS/3DS handheld system back in April 2016, but sadly lost it of deletion unfortunately....�� Link Here #3

Fifth middle bottom - Game & Watch The Legend of Zelda

And finally is something that we're hoping to expect during almost halftime of their E3 direct reveal. Knowing this year is The Legend of Zelda 35th Anniversary, you probably hoping they can bring something to celebrate one of the most recognized series run. While it was shocking to know they won't be having plans to do; even for me that I finding baffling for Nintendo would do this. At least they wanted to make up for it by having to released the HD remastered version of Skyward Sword coming next month and giving us a second look for the upcoming Breath of the Wild sequel until it'll be released next year....eventually. What's my pick though is the Game & Watch version for The Legend of Zelda; the same thing of what it made for Super Mario and during its 35th Anniversary run last year. For this next one will have 3 related Zelda games: 1987 original, Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, and a special Game and Watch version of Vermin, but playing as Link as he trying to clobbered the octoroks instead of moles. Looks like it'll be a different take from what the Super Mario version have, but hoping it won't be the limited edition once maybe I could get one of those a try. So for my reaction was pretty alright. 🙂👍🏼

Overall:

Man that is the list for my interests picks I gotten, but after watching Nintendo E3 Direct for this year sure worth it at the end. It was very impressive direct despite of absent games not being showed like Bayonette 3 or Metroid Prime 4, but with other announcements such as Metroid Dread and Mario Party Super Stars does give us something for the win.

What did you think about this list of my interesting picks for Nintendo E3, though? Give yourself some likes and reblogs for this post I bring. Anyways, I'm just gonna check on my P-Pal's secret art trade part for me that I should've done it early. Sorry about making this post that I took hours to finished, @murumokirby360

[sophistopheles]

Where’s Ace Attorney 7?

A few days ago it was the third anniversary of the most recent Ace Attorney game, Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2- which means we’re going through a 36-month hiatus; longer than any we’ve had before, excluding the gap between Trials & Tribulations and Apollo Justice.

So what gives? Why haven’t we seen AA7 yet? Will we ever see it in the future, or is the franchise dead? 

Well, I have a few theories for the first question, and some evidence concerning the second. This will probably get long, so I’ll put it under a cut.

Why is this hiatus so long?

Theory #1: Difficulties in porting the franchise to Switch

Ace Attorney has been on handhelds for its whole lifespan, so the sudden change to consoles may be slightly problematic in terms of gameplay- forensic evidence mechanics, the loss of a touchscreen, etc. The problem with this theory is that by all (w)rights, it should already be resolved; a port of the Trilogy already came to consoles last year, fingerprinting and all, and it worked just fine. It’s possible that creating a new AA game from scratch is difficult in its own way, and/or producing games for multiple platforms takes longer, but it doesn’t account for such a long delay.

Then again, Switch games might just take longer to make. I’d rather have a well-crafted AA game every three years than a rushed/poorly-made one every year.

  Theory #2: Difficulties in finding a new director for the franchise

As most people know, Yamazaki, the director for the AAI duology, AA5, and AA6, left Capcom about a month ago. However, he said all the way back when SoJ was released that he only really stayed as AA’s director because of the fans, and also had Fuse, the games’ artist, step up as co-director for SoJ.

Takumi, the original trilogy/Apollo Justice/DGS writer and director, should theoretically have been available since 2018, but he has stated that he’s done with Phoenix’s story, and given that his last games haven’t sold very well (more because of marketing and bad timing than any flaws in the games, but I digress) it’s not guaranteed that he will return for AA7. Maybe if he does, we’ll get some answers to the many loose ends and questions left by AA4, but given that Apollo’s relocated to Khura’in as of the end of AA6, that’s not guaranteed either.

This leaves the only other candidate, co-director of SoJ Takuro Fuse. Personally I think his involvement as a full-on director in the future is quite likely, for reasons I’ll explain later.

  Theory #3: We were supposed to get a game in 2019

This is just a pet theory of mine, but hear me out.

Dai Gyakuten Saiban was originally supposed to be a trilogy of games, until the Switch absolutely flattened the 3DS as the definitive Nintendo handheld, and Takumi decided to compress the remaining two games into just DGS2. This is why the third-case culprit and twists in DGS2 feel so sudden; the culprit was supposed to appear all throughout DGS2, and be arrested at the end, with DGS2-3’s big twist as a finale cliffhanger. DGS3 would have then completed the story.

My point is that DGS3 was likely slated for a 2019 release, given the release pattern of DGS (2015) and DGS2 (2017). That would have lessened the current three-year hiatus to just a two-year one, more standard for the AA franchise.

  Theory #4: The franchise is dead, there are no plans for more games.

I find this difficult to believe given that Capcom is still creating content, running café promotions, releasing ports, and has stated plans for more AA games in the past, but I have to acknowledge the possibility.

Is Ace Attorney 7 coming soon?

After the 2018 Kotaku UK rumour (suggesting that ports of all six games and a new game were going to be released on the Switch by the end of 2018’s fiscal year) was disproven, I almost lost hope for any future AA games- but this year, there’s been a lot to suggest something’s coming soon.

1.       The July 2020 Café

This one pretty much explains itself. If Capcom has decided to put money towards a café feature that promotes both the Trilogy and Apollo Justice- with Klavier and Apollo both featuring prominently on the café’s menu and in its merchandise- it stands to reason that they’re doing something with it. You don’t promote a franchise if there’s nothing to promote, after all.

2.       The Café Art

So, remember two months ago when Ace Attorney dropped this new official art of Phoenix, Edgeworth, Maya, Apollo and Klavier, and the fandom lost their shit to the point of Ace Attorney trending on tumblr for about half an hour? Well, what I personally found most interesting was the style of the piece- because it was new. A quick scroll through Capcom Café’s twitter proved that as far as I can tell, when non-chibi art is called for, the official artists of the brand in question are the ones to draw the art. So who drew this one?! I could rule out Iwamoto, Fuse, Suekane and Nuri by their styles (Apollo especially looks quite unfamiliar)- so unless there’s someone I’ve forgotten, it seems like there’s a new Ace Attorney official artist.

And, well… they don’t hire new artists for fun. This artist, whoever they are, probably weren’t hired for a one-time café promotion either; as far as I know, most of the old AA artists are still working at Capcom. They’re probably doing something for the franchise.

Remember when I said Fuse, AA5/6’s art director, was a candidate for full time director? My personal theory is that he’s become the main director, and this new artist has taken his role as art director. It’s all speculation, of course, but it stands up to scrutiny.

3.       Capcom X B-Side Label Maya Acrylic

Capcom have also had a recent merch collab with B-Side Label, and a certain merch image of Maya stood out to me… because it’s an entirely new design.

I could understand if it was only a discrepancy in the fact that she has four necklace beads while appearing to be an adult, or that she has arm guards but lacks an under-robe; they’re minor details. But to leave out her topknot, one of the most distinctive parts of her design?! Either the artist made a major mistake and no one called them up on it, or it was intentional- that this is a design meant to be an older and wiser Maya, who we’ll see in an upcoming game. I wouldn’t be surprised.

4.       The 20th Anniversary

This is more of a meta point than anything else, but it’ll soon be 2021, the twentieth anniversary of Ace Attorney. AA is usually very good with anniversaries; in 2011 (10th anniversary) we got Investigations 2, and in 2016 (15th anniversary) we got both SoJ and an AA anime. I think if they’re ever going to release AA7, they’ll do it next year: at the very least, we’ll have another orchestra and more official art. And with TGS 2020 hosted online and fast approaching, I’m hoping for news very soon!

Either way, the future of Ace Attorney isn’t as dark as it seems! Keep your hopes up!

[super-famicom-star-inactive]

Friday Special #3

November 13th, 2020

Welcome to today’s Friday Special!

For this week, we’ll be digging into some history of a country, a company, and how a little game called Tetris changed the international gaming landscape.

Okay so imagine this

The year is 1984.

In America, Van Halen had released their iconic album 1984 to the masses. Apple Macintosh introduced their first personal computer. The XXIII Olympiad is held in Los Angeles, California. The space shuttle Discovery makes its maiden voyage into space.

In Japan, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind hits theatres and would put Hayao Miyazaki into the spotlight, encouraging him and others to create Studio Ghibli the following year. NHK, the national broadcasting network, tests out a new type of satellite called the BS-2a. The Sony Discman is one of the hottest electronics to own as Compact Discs (CDs) had started to gain popularity.

What about the Soviet Union?

Besides a collision of Soviet submarine K-314 and the USS Kitty Hawk as well as the country famously boycotting the Summer Olympics that year, not much. 

Wait, what about Tetris?

Buckle up.

So the insanely popular puzzle game Tetris had its simple start in the USSR and was created by Russian programmer Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov. It was conceptualized and created during Pajitnov’s time as a speech recognition researcher at the Soviet Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. Pajitnov designed Tetris and similar puzzle games like it because he wanted computers to make people happy and believed that "games allow people to get to know each other better and act as revealers of things you might not normally notice, such as their way of thinking."

Tetris first saw life on the Electronika 60, a Soviet computer at the time and also a rare commodity even then, and was released on June 6, 1984. It was the result of Pajitnov trying to recall a favorite childhood game and it used the shapes of tetrominoes (geometric shapes that are connected orthogonally [at the edges, not corners] and fit like a jigsaw puzzle, Tetris calls them tetriminoes). The first version of Tetris had no score system or levels but it was popular amongst his colleagues for its addictive gameplay.

The game became so popular that Pajitnov enlisted the help of Vadim Gerasimov, a 16-year-old high school student with a knack for computer skills, to adapt the game to the IBM Personal Computer (released in 1981) and they were successfully able to do so, with Pajitnov adding color and a soundboard for the second version.

Although the Academy disliked the success that the game was getting, Pajitnov had a dream of exporting the game to the world. He got help from Victor Brjabrin to help with the publication of Tetris, where the first international copy of Tetris wound up with the Hungarian company Novotrade in 1986. The game would then be distributed all over Hungary and even reached Poland. It was in that same year and place that Robert Stein, international software salesman for the firm Andromeda Software (based in London, England) would be exposed to the popular puzzle game and he was so impressed by it that he faxed the co-creators directly for the license rights. 

Here’s one thing to keep in mind, even a deal made over fax communication in the Western world is a legally-binding contract.

This is where things get hairy

Tetris would see its major American introduction in Las Vegas at the 1987 Consumer Electronics Show. After that and several negotiations, Stein gave the firm Mirrorsoft the European rights and the American rights to Spectrum Holobyte. With the rights in their grasp, Mirrorsoft released their version on the IBM PC in 1987 and Spectrum Holobyte version released in January of 1988. As a result, Tetris became an international phenomenon and became highly successful in both North America and Europe. The game itself was later ported to Amiga, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC.

Despite the good fortune however, Stein was left with an issue. See, he sold the license of the game without actually owning it. After some more negotiating, this time with the central organization for importing/exporting of the Soviet Union Elorg (Elektronorgtechnica), the deal was made that Tetris would be made available for all current and future computer systems.

So where is Tengen in all of this?

In 1988, Tengen, a subsidiary of Atari Games, received the Japanese rights from Mirrorsoft. Tengen then sold the arcade rights to SEGA and the console version to BPS (Bullet-Proof Software). BPS would go on to create a version of Tetris for the Nintendo Famicom System (The NES in North America) in 1989. 

Tengen the subsidiary was founded in December of 1987 and was Atari Games’ response of needing a firm to oversee the console gaming side of the company. The only licensed games that were released under Tengen were R.B.I. Baseball, Pac-Man, and Gauntlet.

Yeah, the famous Tengen version of Tetris was actually unlicensed. 

Under Tengen, Tetris went under the name Tetris: The Soviet Mind Game in May of 1989, although the arcade machine clones would read 1988. 

So at this point, at least a dozen of different companies held rights to the Tetris game, with Stein in particular holding exclusive home computer rights. Nintendo would be ready to go with their introduction of the Gameboy in 1989. 

AAAAAnd here’s where the problems arise.

When Henk Rogers, a Dutch video game designer and entrepreneur for Nintendo, was trying to obtain handheld console rights, he was unsuccessfully able to get in contact with Atari before trying to contact Stein. While relations were good at first, Rogers started getting suspicious that Stein had a breach of contract and traveled to the Soviet Union not only to investigate, but to contact the Elorg itself about handheld console rights. 

What he ended up doing was getting involved in a meeting that contained Stein and Mirrorsoft manager Kevin Maxwell over rights with the Elorg president Nikolai Belikov present. When Belikov was shown a Tetris cartridge by Rogers, he was surprised as he believed that Tetris was only licensed for home computers. Had not Rogers defended that the rights were sold to Nintendo through Atari Games thanks to Stein, and Rogers being on good terms with Pajitnov, Nintendo would have been sued into oblivion for illegal publication of the game. 

During the discussions, Belikov offered to null and void Stein’s rights to the game and instead offered Nintendo full rights to their home consoles and handheld consoles. Thanks to Rogers, Minoru Arakawa and Howard Lincoln, both Nintendo executives, signed off on the contract and Stein was left in the dust, losing all the console rights lost due to failing to read about the clause that defined the computer as “a machine with a screen and a keyboard” and not a console.

With this, Nintendo sent a cease-and-desist to Atari Games, demanding that they stop making the NES version of Tetris. However, Mirrorsoft was on Atari’s side, insisting that they still had rights. Nintendo didn’t give in on its stance however, and things got so out of hand that even the Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev had to get involved on Mirrorsoft’s behalf. 

Talk about pressure.

What then ensued was the legendary lawsuit between Atari Games and Nintendo, with Atari Games claiming that since the Nintendo Famicom (Nintendo Family Computer is its full name) had “computer” in the name and that it featured an extension input that can allow the console to be converted into a computer, thus it could not claim the rights as stated in the Elorg contract, since it was a classified as a computer. 

(While the Famicom does have a third-party extension on the bottom right side of the console, that was usually there for third-party controllers at the time. Down below is the extension input in question.)

Pajitnov testifed on Nintendo’s behalf, saying that the contract only affected computers and nothing else, and Belikov, also on the side of Nintendo, argued the same stance. 

Ultimately, the case was ruled in Nintendo’s favor as it was discovered that Mirrorsoft and Spectrum HoloByte never received explicit authorization for marketing on consoles. As a result, Atari Games withdrew the NES version of Tetris from the market by the hundreds of thousands.

So what about Pajitnov? Did he ever get any money out of this?

Nope.

See, because of the laws in place regarding ownership of property in the Soviet Union at the time, Pajitnov could neither patent or make money off of his product and he never received any of the royalties for Tetris, hence the existence of so many clones. Despite this, he remained optimistic, quoted saying “The fact that so many people enjoy my game is enough for me."

Don’t worry, the story does have a happy ending though.

Over the years since Tetris’ worldwide introduction, Pajitnov was routinely invited by journalists and publishers to speak and give interviews, giving him a reputation in the West. After being introduced to America for the first time in 1990 after receiving an invite to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas by Spectrum Holobyte, he began to study American culture by traveling to different cities of the United States. It was reported that he spoke of his travels often to his colleagues back in the Soviet Union. He was very proud of the game’s success and even called it “an electronic ambassador of benevolence.”

He and Vladimir Pokhilko, a friend of his, later emigrated to the West Coast of the United States in 1991 where Pajitnov settled in Seattle, Washington. He finally regained the rights to Tetris in 1996, exactly a decade as agreed by the Academy when the deal was made regarding rights, and in that same year, founded The Tetris Company to manage all rights after all other contracts had expired. It was then that he finally started making royalties for Tetris and also founded Tetris Holding after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Tetris Holding is responsible for taking unlicensed Tetris clones off of the market.

Recently in 2005, EA purchased Jamdat, a mobile game company that Rogers founded in 2001 to manage the Tetris license. They then held a 15-year license for all mobile phone releases until April of 2020.

So there you have it, one of the most famous lawsuits in history about one of the most famous video games in history.

[m39]

History of the Creed - Part 5: Assassin’s Creed: Liberation

This review would have been earlier if I hadn’t had problems with the Internet.

Before we start, here is a fun fact: This is actually the first time I played Liberation. So my opinion may end up differently if I’ll play it in the future. Also, I didn’t get every collectible, since everytime I play the game for the first time, I tend to skip around 50% of the optional stuff to see how the main story ends.

So, without any further to do, let’s get it started.

ASSASSIN’S CREED: LIBERATION (Original release in Europe: October 30th, 2012 (original version on PSVita), January 15th, 2014 (HD version on PC))

Played on the remastered version, released on March 29th, 2019.

Liberation is an interesting case of a game. As shown higher, it was originally released for the handheld-console, PlayStation Vita, as a side game along with AC3. It was later released on the main consoles due to the fans’ petition, adding some content into it, and changing some of the more irritating stuff in it. The remaster I play is based on the latter version. Time to find out if I liked this game.

STORY

Now the plot is rather… how to put it… kinda’ messier than AC3 due to the jump cuts in the Animus console or how the fuck this version of the Animus is called. Here’s how it goes:

You are Aveline de Grandpré, an Assassin and the daughter of the French merchant and the slave woman. She wants to free slaves and stop the local Templars and their leader, The Company Man, from doing... whatever Templars want to do.

So, uhm… yeah, that’s all I can understand from it. The (probably) only thing that stands out is how Liberation is also an in-game product created by Abstergo, but I’ll talk about it later.

CHARACTERS

Aveline is… fine, I guess? I can see why many people like but me? I’m not so sure about it. She wasn’t really annoying but I can’t really see her standing out.

Other characters were doing a nice job. Aveline’s mentor, Agaté, was the most interesting out of all of them, while captain Carlos Dominguez was the funniest character, mostly due to his drunken antics. Also, I liked Connor’s cameo in one of the missions.

As for the Templars, they were underwhelming. Surely, most of them were interesting but I feel like some of them didn’t have enough screen time. The Templar before the confrontation with the Company Man might be the best out of the bunch.

As for the Company Man, well, this character’s identity is kind of interesting but I’m not gonna talk further due to spoilers.

GAMEPLAY

One of the biggest cases of Liberation is that Aveline can change her outfits into three different personas. Each one has its own advantages and disadvantages. Assassin’s Persona will let you freerun, use bigger weapons, and have more health for the cost of constantly being at the first level of notoriety. Lady’s Persona will let you bribe or charm other guards to let you pass, but you can’t have any weapon outside of the hidden blades, your health is lower, and you can’t freerun. And Slave’s Persona will let you slip through the guards while carrying a crate and have a small weapon to defend yourself, but any suspicious activity like climbing will slightly increase your notoriety meter and you have the same amount of health as Lady’s Persona. The last Persona is my favorite one, probably because I can freerun and my notoriety isn’t constantly on level 1. Also, you can easily decrease your notoriety.

Speaking of notoriety, it’s almost exactly like in AC3 with three levels of it and the same ways to decrease it (however, the printers are replaced with the Witnesses). What’s different from AC3 though, is that in Liberation, notoriety is for each of the Personas, that is, it only increases for the Persona you are dressed as, and each way to decrease the former corresponds with the latters. So tearing down the wanted posters decreases the notoriety of the Slave’s Persona, bribing the corrupted magistrates for the Assassin’s Persona, and killing the witnesses for the Lady’s Persona. I’m not gonna lie, I kind of like the idea of it.

You also have a Whip. You can use it in combat to pull enemies closer and make yourself pass through some of the larger gaps. Honestly though, aside from traversal usage, I had no need of using it while fighting.

There are also Chain Kills, which, after filling up, will let you automatically kill up to three targets in a short time. I find this ability useless since you are easily capable of fighting even without it. I used it only once for the tutorial and that’s it.

I mostly liked the locations in this game. In terms of main ones, New Orleans was good but nothing special, while Louisianan Bayou was fine but more annoying. Good thing the trees are stacked up in such a way that it didn’t make me want to use canoes.

Oh yeah, there are canoes in Liberation… I hate canoes. It’s hard to get on canoes. It’s hard to get off canoes. It’s hard to control canoes. The canoes are ass, and I don’t want to talk about them anymore.

To put it in the nutshell, Liberation in terms of gameplay has some stuff that I would remove and many things are just the things from AC3 but still, I had some fun playing it.

ACTIVITIES

I think you already know the drill with this series. In terms of collectibles, there are Alligator Eggs on the bayou (collecting enough of them will give you a hat that scares the alligators away), Diary Pages of Aveline’s mother, Mayan Statuettes in Chicken Itza, and Pocket Watches that can be bought out of friendly smugglers. Also, each Persona have their own individual collectibles: Assassin has the Assassin Coins, Lady has the Jeweled Brooches, and Slave has the Voodoo Dolls.

As for the side-missions, like with collectibles, each Persona gets its own set of five missions. There are also missions where you recruit people for your ship crew, kill business rivals to later buy out their shops, help one of the slaves, heal people who are frenzy on bayou fever, and rob the camps that belong to the impostor’s acolytes.

There is also a matter of Citizen E. As I said earlier, Liberation is also an in-game product created by Abstergo itself, and while playing Aveline’s story you will notice the glitches during some of the cutscenes. These ones have been censored to convince the general public that the Templars aren’t as bad as they look at first. That’s when the Erudito comes in. After completing some of the main missions, in some places there is hidden the Citizen E. Killing them will play the rest of these cutscenes.

In my opinion, this stuff is fine, but I feel like in some places it becomes more obvious that it stagnates. I have mixed feelings on how some of the collectibles can be earned only by a specific Persona. I really enjoyed Citizen E stuff though, due to the award it gives.

GRAPHICS

The graphics, from what I’ve seen, are on the same level of quality as AC3 most of the time. Sure, in some parts is worse, since it started as a Vita game but still, it was good in other parts. As I said at the beginning of the review, this is the first time I played Liberation so I’m not gonna compare it to its previous version.

SOUND

The sound effects were on the same level as AC3 so, it was good. Although the enemies sound somewhat too loud which can get annoying.

The music (composed by Winifred Phillips) was fine most of the part. My favorite one was the one that played in Chicken Itza.

STABILITY

Framerate, for most of the time, was constantly running at 60 FPS except when synchronizing viewpoints for some reasons where it drops to 30 FPS.

The bugs I encountered during my playthrough were actually worse than in AC3. One time, Aveline didn’t appear in the cutscene, so all this time I was watching nothing but her voice. Other time when the game faded to black when I was changing my Persona, it didn’t return to normal, fixed only after I exited and returned back to the game. Another time it straight up just crashed (I think it was during one of the Business Rival missions)! Sure, Assassin’s Creed 3 wasn’t a diamond in terms of bugs, but at least those bugs weren’t so severe as the ones in Liberation.

SUMMARY

Assassin’s Creed: Liberation has many problems: some of its mechanics are redundant, the story and its characters could’ve been better, and the bugs that I’ve encountered were worse than in AC3. Did I still have fun while playing it? Yes, I still had some fun. And I can understand that this game was developed as the handheld console game first that was later ported for the home consoles and PC, but still, if I had to rate this game, I would say it’s just an okay game. Would I recommend it to the other fans? I honestly don’t know. There is some spoiler stuff about the Company Man in Black Flag, but I feel like you won’t miss that much if you skip Liberation.

But oh well, at least the next game on the list is better than this one. Better prepare some ship for the next game. It is the type of game that some certain Vaska will enjoy.

See you next time.

Bye!

[gascon-en-exil]

Honestly, I wonder if IS hired new ppl into the company, and instead of testing their abilities by putting them to work on a small project (like gamefreak does), they put them to work on 3h. That would explain all the "incompetent" answers in the Nindori interview, how they forgot to put actuall important lore into the game (The Claude true name thing), the low quality-pixelated textures, 3d models and animations... It isn't going to help future entries if they keep doing this, seein 3h sales.

Honestly I wouldn’t say that any of those things you mentioned are really what’s worth criticizing here. I haven’t read the full transcript of any of the interviews and my memory of them isn’t the best, but I tend to think of those kinds of things as more expressions of content creators’ visions than of the quality of the actual products. And FE16 is indeed a very arthouse-y, take-what-you-will out of it kind of game, with a heavy foundation in Jugdral so that part at least flies with me. As for the rest:

Claude’s real name is irrelevant to the plot(s) and tells us nothing about his character that we didn’t already know. At best it’s trivia. For comparison, it’s stated explicitly in in-game text that Yuri isn’t going by his real name either, and in his S support he shares that name with Byleth although the player doesn’t hear it. I cannot imagine a scenario in which it would add anything of substance if we were told at some point what that real name was, except again as a point of trivia. There are major issues with the lore and lore presentation of this game though, notably in the over-reliance on lategame exposition dumps and all the vague and sometimes contradictory backstories. Rhea, Edelgard, and Dimitri all get hit with that last one to varying degrees, and with Edelgard especially the dodgy writing has required people to reinterpret her as an emotionally manipulative liar in order to make sense of everything.

I said this before the game came out, but realistic graphical quality has never been a selling point of console FEs and - looking more broadly - of Nintendo’s library in general. You can’t look at Path of Radiance and say that its 3D elements don’t look awful for a non-launch Gamecube title, and it will never cease to surprise me that Genealogy came out the same year on the same hardware as Super Mario RPG or the third Donkey Kong Country game. Personally I was going to be satisfied with Three Houses’s graphics provided they were better than those of the last console release, and this game does in fact look better than Radiant Dawn (in terms of assets used, at least; it’s more a matter of opinion whether the switch from static portraits to models for cutscenes and supports is more dynamic or just clunky and awkward). If anything bugs me about the visuals here it’s the various uncanny valley CG art, not anything as technologically-involved as the models or textures.

I’m not one to ask about development cycles, or who was working on what projects, but I’m not overly concerned about FE16′s financial performance especially relative to the 3DS titles. It seems to be a general rule that console games don’t sell as well as handheld ones, a point that often gets brought up when addressing the terrible sales of the Tellius games compared to their GBA predecessors, and in any case I doubt IS cares very much when Heroes is their big money-maker for FE now and will probably continue to be for the foreseeable future. Mobile gachas are just more profitable for a much smaller investment of money and effort, and while I don’t play Heroes myself I don’t see anything wrong with the company leaning on the proceeds while they stick members of their team on “artsy” original pieces like Three Houses or remakes of older games. Remakes don’t seem to sell very well either, but they’re effective for feeding the nostalgia loop of Heroes.

Basically, Three Houses has its fair share of problems, but I don’t think you can attribute them to developer inexperience or incompetence. Well...most of the time anyway; some of the writing choices here are extremely questionable.

[hybbat]

I cannot reblog that post for whatever reason as far as I can tell I’m not blocked by anyone, but I did just have most my reply completely eaten and don’t feel like retyping that whole thing again so I’ll just summarize.  Yes this is the summarized version, and also from a nintendo fangirl who has spent around 700$ on the switch generation, and have regretted every last penny of it.

BotW was a mediocre game with least enjoyable Zelda in a long long long time, frequently boring and repetitive, plus all the other mechanical and graphical things everyone has already complained about such as the poor durability mechanics.

The switch is a subpar console with fake portability, does not compare at all to the DS, dies in an hour, is inconvenient and gimmicky in the worst “for the sake of it” way modern nintendo loves, designed specifically to resemble a tablet to sell it to modern mothers without the flexible use of a tablet or the durability of older nintendo consoles that made them good systems for children compared to their competitors, took several steps back in terms of mechanics, and is designed from top to bottom for the sole purpose of making money and profiting off of nintendo’s good reputation from their past practices of making solid, completed, and tested to hell and back franchise games despite being exactly as predatory and uncaring of qualities as their current competitors. The switch exists to cover up their mistakes with the Wii U while throwing out all of its good qualities, and to increase the price of the DS games it has forced onto what is essentially a home console whose entire body serves as the controller to increase sales of the console, alternate controllers, and accessories such as bags and screen protectors which were previously completely optional but are now absolutely necessary, while reducing the number of systems they have to produce and making it easier to create special editions that they can sell with every major and minor release. It functions neither as a competent handheld nor a decent home system, and is an excuse to kill off the DS which was their more popular but cheaper system and pretend like they were replacing it with another handheld but in fact is just a mediocre home console that technically meets the most bare minimum standards for a portable console with a subpar battery life, unwieldy chargers, a flimsy home docking station, and takes several steps back in gameplay potential in exchange for slightly better graphics the handheld franchises they forced onto it don’t take advantage of nor need in the first place. Also it has no built in pen and forces you to use your fingers to interact with the touch screen- when the games can be bothered to utilize its touch screen in the first place and the lack of two screens which made the DS line’s games so much better and more convenient to play than other consoles to the extent that they designed the Wii U around implementing this convenience to their home console. To be frank quality-wise every interaction of the switch is vastly inferior to even the first generation of DS its embarrassing they even thought it would suffice as even a partial successor but they built it around looking sleek and appealing in the most shallow ways possible by appearing like a more universal device and consolidating all of their franchises onto it to the majority of especially the handheld franchises’ detriments. So they can sell you a flat 40$ game for 60, 80, 120$ plus micro transactions and monthly fees.