Games Inbox: Was the Nintendo Direct a disaster?

The Friday letters page worries about Nintendo’s third party support for Switch 2, as one reader is unimpressed by Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

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Worst. Direct. Ever.
What the hell was that? All that talk about the Nintendo Direct and that may be the most disappointing one of these livestreams I’ve ever seen, including from Sony and Microsoft. I can’t say there was a single thing that took my interest, out of any of the ‘big’ games. Definitely not Monster Hunter Stories 3 and those two 2D-HD games.

I mean, two of them?! And then they both turn out to be multiformat anyway. I think Square Enix and Nintendo are completely overestimating how popular that art style is, as I’ve always thought it was ugly and boring. I’m sure others must like it but I’m also sure that those games are not big sellers and that nobody’s going to run out and buy a Switch 2 to play The Adventures Of Elliot (I thought I’d made that name up at first, but that really is what it’s called!).

An absolute disaster as far as I’m concerned, in terms of showing the Switch 2 had good third party support and giving an update on games that have already been announced. Where the heck was Elden Ring? How hard can that be to port to the Switch 2? It was on PlayStation 4, so it’s not even a current gen game.

Nintendo are being far too comfortable about all this at the moment and every time a games company does that it ends in ruin. I have a horrible feeling the Switch 2 is going to end up being Nintendo’s PlayStation 3.
Campbell

Direct delay
I was mostly disappointed by the Direct on Thursday. Nothing hugely exciting or impressive, or even release dates for a lot of already announced games like Elden Ring.

The new Katamari looks good, though why it only said Switch not Switch 2 is a mystery, especially as it seems it’s coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox, and PC too.

I think if there’d been a not-E3 Direct, this one would have felt less disappointing. But the lack of big presentations from this Nintendo has meant any sniff of news has a higher bar to cross.

This one was nearly as bad as a typical State Of Play.
Euclidian Boxes

GC: A lot of games being released at the moment are Switch 1 only (Once Upon A Katamari is out in less than three months) and that will continue to be the case for some time, given how long a game takes to make and how many developers have had trouble getting Switch 2 devkits.

Dead service game
This Monster Hunter Wilds situation is pretty crazy. I’m reading that Capcom’s share price has taken a hammering because it’s taken a nose dive, and they were doing so well before (there goes my Dino Crisis remake).

Once again we see just how unpredictable and unreliable live service games can be. We’re talking about the best-selling game of the year here and now it’s doing so badly it’s tanking the entire company. This madness has got to end. Just make a game and release some DLC if you have to, it doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that.
Focus

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Pre-deforestation
After waiting for a price drop I’ve finally got Assassin’s Creed Shadows. I don’t know what your review said but if I’m honest I’m disappointed in it. Whenever you’re running in the open you either can’t see in front of your nose, because of the 20 million trees and bushes they have put in it, or you’re sliding back down a hill you can’t climb.

It’s like they went to Japan, counted the trees and bushes, and timesed them buy a 100 and said that’s how many is needed. It’s not the worst Assassin’s Creed, all the others I’ve 100% but this one I might give it a miss. Also, if I’m honest, it’s boring. The best one I’ve played has to be Assassin’s Creed Origins with the DLC. I don’t know what it is but I love ancient Egypt and that game ticked all the boxes.
David

Never beaten on price
Vampire Survivors on the Switch must be the best value for money I’ve ever spent on games.

Still playing the base game months after buying it, the more you play it the more things unlock. Just bought the Ode To Castlevania DLC, which is really good as well.

Full credit to the developers, no microtransactions or any other rubbish.

Long story cut short, it’s just a really good game if you like the old games like Smash T.V. and Robotron 2084 (yes, I’m old).
Chevy Malibu (PSN ID)
PS: The base game and the Ode DLC cost me about 8 quid… not even two pints nowadays.

Super Pocket change
I pulled the trigger only last week on the Evercade Neo Geo Super Pocket and it was by sheer accident that I found out about it whilst I was browsing online. The 14 games included are Metal Slug X, Fatal Fury Special, Samurai Showdown 2, Alpha Mission 2, Blazing Star, King Of The Monsters 2: The Next Thing, Last Resort, Mutation Nation, Over Top, Sengoku 3, Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad, Soccer Brawl, The Last Blade, and Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy.

Personally, three of my standout favourites are Over Top, Soccer Brawl, and King Of The Monsters 2. I’d never played any of these before, never mind heard of them? There all so addictive and simple to play. The 2.8″ screen is very clear and bright even for my late young 50s eyesight.

The built-in rechargeable battery last approximately four hours on a single charge and the build quality is pretty decent too. In all honesty, I think £50 with 14 games included is an actual steal especially in this day and age.
HAJ

GC: King Of The Monsters is fairly well known, for a Neo Geo game. The underrated Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee always felt like a spiritual successor.

New outlet
Animal Well is getting a physical release from the new game shop site Lost in Cult, based in the UK. It is £29.99 plus £6 postage, which is a lot cheaper than buying the Limited Run version from eBay like I was thinking of doing, until I saw this release. I’ve pre-ordered a copy at that price. There are a choice of two covers for PlayStation 5 or Switch physical standard versions.

They do take the money up front though when you pre-order. Amazon.com take the money just before dispatch and they have the games listed but not available to pre-order yet.

Lost in Cult also have Thank Goodness You’re Here! and Immortality standard physical versions to pre-order too.
Andrew J.
PS: I have been avoiding the game sites today, so when I watch the new Nintendo Direct I watch it without any spoilers.
Currently playing: The Last Campfire (PS4 version on PS5) and The Messenger (PS5 physical version)

Hard memories
Definitely a great anniversary to celebrate the Amiga 1000 and all the versions of the Amiga that came out after. My first gaming machine was the Commodore Amiga 500 Plus with the Cartoon Classics package, including The Simpsons: Bart Vs. The Space Mutants, Lemmings, Captain Planet, and Deluxe Paint 3.

All of these were varying in quality but Lemmings was the exceptional one, with it becoming a super classic game. I found a lot of these games very challenging and very old school, with not many mechanics which I enjoyed as much as the later SNES and Mega Drive games. Bart Vs. The Space Mutants was so difficult, with extreme precision jumping and some not too obvious puzzles and was something I had to admit defeat on.

To be honest, the amount of games I completed on the Amiga was so low in comparison to ones I failed at, though not through lack of trying. I think games were still being designed like the Spectrum and old Commodore games and were harder than FromSoftware’s games.

I think that’s why I preferred the later 16-bit consoles. As hard as games were they weren’t as hard as the retro games of this home generation of gaming computers in the ‘80s and ‘90s. But games like Turrican, Mega-Lo-Mania, Chaos Engine, Monkey Island, Canon Fodder, Speedball, North And South, Zool, Shadow Of The Beast, Wolfchild, and Jim Power. All or most where graphically amazing at the time, with some awesome, memorable tunes.

Overall, it was a great system, with Lemmings being the best at adapting difficulty and making it a fair learning curve. But the memories were great and got me interested in gaming and set my course for my gaming hobby into console gaming and on into the present day. So there’s a lot to celebrate the 40th anniversary of one of gaming’s finest bits of technology.
Alucard

Inbox also-rans
I don’t know what to say about that Pikachu with breasts story except… wow. Actually I do know what to say: can I have someone of what those marketing execs are having.
Lobo

I’d never dream of playing an online shooter for any stretch of time, so I have no real interest in Battlefield 6, but I’ve got to say, those are some nice graphics it’s sporting.
Gangrene

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