Cotillion

While I get where this article is coming from, this isn't the 90's anymore. Sonic and Marios rivalry is long since over and Mario won. Mario has been far more consistently good than Sonic could even dream of. Which is a shame, because Sonic was really good and fun to play, but sadly peaked with Sonic 3&K (IMO). Had they maintained that caliber of games going forward, this might be a thing now, but sadly it isn't.
Where Mario maintained, we know the chances of Wonder being a good game are pretty high. Sonics inconsistent games over the last 2+ decades makes this new one a crapshoot.

The only people this will affect in any meaningful way is the people who legitimately buy games already.

This stuff never stops piracy. If anything, it just gives them a challenge to beat, which they will. Remember when Sony launched Blu-ray with claims of it being unpiratable? It was like 3 days before it was broken. If it even took that long. Denuvo has been cracked and broken on at least half the games that had it on PC.
So all this will do is piss off legit buyers. But they're right about the launch window. This won't stop piracy, just delay it a bit. And the people who download pirated versions will just wait for that. So it's really accomplishing nothing.

The comment section reads as though he died. He's just moving on, and considering he's taken another 'new' position at Nintendo involving the character, I would assume it was amicable.
Yes, it's sad he's no longer the voice of Mario after almost 30 years, but maybe he just wanted to do something else. From everything I've seen of him, he is a very good person, seems to love the fans and interactions. I'm thinking (hoping), that tthis is what he wanted to do - continue being out there and interacting with fans. For all we know, he's just gotten his dream job. If that's the case, I wish him all the best and many thanks for being that iconic voice.

I don't envy the new person trying to fill those shoes, though.

I don't think this has ever happened to me with a game, but it did happen with Zelda ALttP. I got it way back when it released on the SNES (I was 11) and I played it through multiple times. One playthrough, I somehow triggered the Chris Houlihan room. I didn't know what it was, didn't know how I got there and could never get back there again. No one I knew had ever heard of this room and by the time the internet became a real thing, I had kinda forgotten about it and assumed my younger imagination made it up. But, more than a decade later, I saw it on a video game site I was browsing and it flooded back that I had found this room when I was a kid. It was cool to find that out that it was actually real.

I don't know what my percentage is, but I finished the game around 180hours.
As with all open world games of this sort, I keep going until I feel like I've done all I want to do that's fun. I did all the side-quests, all the shrines, found all the tears, lightroots, colliseums, Gleelocks and such and upgraded the armor sets I used most to max and then I went and then finished the game.
Stuff like Korok seeds or the Bubbul gems or finding all the sign posts is just tedious busy work to me and I stopped doing those once I got the upgrades to where I wanted. The signposts I only did the ones I came across naturally and didn't actively seek them out.
I did spend a lot of time just playing around with the building of things. Vehicles, weapons and such. That was great fun.
I like the freedom this type of game gives in that regard. Do as much as you want.

It's needs a big "everybody" game that's going to move systems - the next 3D Mario or Mario Kart 9.
Alongside whichever of those, Metroid Prime 4 to have a more mature game at launch.
And as a third, whatever game they make that uses the gimmick of the new system (like Wii Sports, NintendoLand, etc..)

Oh, that sucks. I quite enjoyed Fenyx Rising, I was looking forward to its sequel far more than Far Cry or whatever number Assassins Creed is up to now.
Given the comparisons between Fenyx and BotW, I do have to wonder if Nintendo following up with TotK and all of it's massive improvements, features and additions might have scared them off.
Cause we all know the Fenyx sequel would be heavily scrutinized compared against TotK.

Well that was extremely disappointing.
Previous guests were very well known and established, who even are these people?

@graviton This isn't really a fair question. The gaming industry itself would be vastly different if the NES and Mario didn't release when it did. Sure, it was a crucial time to do so, but it literally saved the industry.
Mario was the standard other games were then trying to emulate. Mario has done this more than once. Mario 64 wasn't the first 3D platformer, but it was the first to do it right and set the standard for what we got thereafter.
We wouldn't have Sonic, for sure, as he was created specifically to rival Mario. And I'm sure loads of other characters and franchises wouldn't have been created, either.

@-wc- I don't think he knows, either, and I assume that's why he's so adamant about putting new features or some stupid forced gimmick in "his" games.

The only thing surprising about this is that it took this long. A Survivor game in the 2000s based around mini-games would have done well.

About time. Nintendo is going to be affected by this, yes, but I highly doubt they were high on the list that brought this move about. Apples garbage moves is likely where it all stems from, which then spread to other portable phone manufacturers.

@ancientlii It doesn't have to affect form factor. There's a battery in there already, so it's not like they'd have to make more room, just design them around being able to access and remove it.

@Kasparius I agree, I hate the way they do these. Multiple versions of what's essentially the same game. Like Majoras Mask, just list the better version and mention the other in the blurb with it.

@AstroTheGamosian The PS2 sales record is sketchy at best. Released when DVDs were new at half the price of other DVD players. I remember a poll in Japan way back then that revealed 60% of people (in Japan) that bought one was primarily to use it as a DVD player. There's never been another situation like it for a console and it was a great decision on Sonys part to take advantage of the new DVD market for penetration, but to me, it'll never count as the best selling console on the merit of being a console.
Unfortunately, there's no real way to differentiate the sales figures, but I'd wager anything that number would substantially lower had the PS2 not been an incredibly cheap DVD player.

@Expa0 I agree. I don't really care how well the character fits within the franchise, I'd rather see more MK characters return.
These are nice bonuses, but they seem to have taken priority over MK's own.

@CharlieGirl Yeah, I love MK and other games that do this, I just don't buy them at launch anymore. There will be a definitive edition at some point with everything included for less and I'll get it then.

I lost interest in Final Fantasy after I played 10. It just wasn't the same for me and I had to push myself to even finish it.
I prefer the old school when it comes to FF. 4 and 6 I have played and repurchased several times over (the nostalgia is strong with those)

@Selim The Zelda number is more impressive, considering they only release on Nintendo consoles. FF releases on multiple brand consoles, mobile and PC, has more re-releases and 2 MMOs in the mix. Still an impressive number, though.

@GamingFan4Lyf While they did have their reasons, the n64 and GCN still seemed like Nintendo being stubborn for the sake of it.
n64 they stuck with cartridges, and to their credit it was a big factor for me getting it over PS1 (besides being a rabid Nintendo fanboy), cause I couldn't stand the load times. But that choice hurt the n64 and then with the GCN it just seemed like they got in a snit about it and said "fine, we'll do optical, but not yours. We'll make our own". And that hurt them again.

This is one of my top games for a port.
It was excellent, except the control scheme was terrible. This was one that actually caused pain if played more than short bursts.
Its a fine example of Nintendos forced gimmicks going too far and this game deserves far better, so I hope they do eventually port it with more traditional controls.

@ModdedInkling That's pretty well all I'm reading here in the comment section. People hear Metaverse and knee-jerk react to it like it's all bad, all the time. Some companies would be more likely to do it right, Nintendo being one of them.

Can we get a better comparison list?
I mean, Nintendo isn't a direct competitor to Sony, so we need some different metric here...

Exclusives seem to be their answer to actually doing something interesting. Nintendo comes out with e new console, sure it has their exclusives, but it also has their ideas (Wii, DS, Wii U, Switch...) that offers something new.
PS and Xbox both are boring. It's just here's some games we bought exclusive rights to, so you'll have to buy our new console that's essentially the same thing again only it makes things look a bit prettier.
And even then, most of those get PC release....so whats the point of them? Not much, IMO. I have a Switch and a PC and that covers everything I want.

Scorpion is the poster boy for MK, he's the obvious choice.
There's still no reason they couldn't add an MK character or two. Just don't add the blood and gore. Scorpion could still bring his spear, teleport and even flame breath. All just at an appropriate level for Smash. Which I'm sure a select few would give flak about, but who buys Smash expecting blood and gore? Noone, so I think most would be fine with it.

Maybe a counter argument should be made that Playstation isn't a direct competitor because of the sheer amount of cinematics (FFXVI has 11hours worth?!), they're actually in the movie industry.

If Nintendo wasn't a direct competitor, he wouldn't be so worried about it.

As a one-off novelty, I don't mind stuff like this. Stuff like the NES Zapper, where only select games used it.
The Wii era was good for Nintendo, lots of people loved it. I hated it. It was the worst era and console, for me personally. I loathe forced gimmicks. Coming home from work and just wanting to sit and play a game became a chore. I didn't want to wave my hands around to play Zelda or Mario. Couple that with nerve damage and joint pain, the Wii became unplayable besides short bursts anyway.
I skipped a lot of, what I assume are otherwise great games, simply because of the forced motion controls.
The Switch does it 100% better, because it's not forced. You want gyro, turn it on. Don't like it, turn it off.

It looks cool, the animations are still pretty stiff. Reminds me of early Flash animations, which I'm not a fan of. Regardless, I'll probably still give it a go.

It's funny a new 2D Mario game gets this question, but the 3D ones can be just as bad. Odyssey didn't deviate much from the Mario 64 path, IMO (if anything went backwards).

2D Mario, I don't care a whole lot about the animation, art style, lighting....I just want a fun platformer. Mario3/SMW were the pinnacle, with inventive levels.
Even still, revisiting old ideas could be a fresh coat of paint for 2D Mario. Mario 2 USA is something they could revisit, with those mechanics returning. Wart would be a nice change up from Bowser too and those other enemies and bosses we've never seen again since. I mean, I know it wasn't originally a Mario game, but even still it'd be cool to go back to that and shake up Mario a bit again.

Wow, people are really passionate about a giant corporation that doesn't know they exist fighting pirates who also don't know they exist.

NA, definitely. This pic doesn't even really show that the entire box has the jungle leaves going all around it, sides, top and bottom included, making the whole box part of the artwork (this pic makes it look like the standard black)
As opposed to the Japanese one that just put awful solid green borders and has worse CG.

The original. It was so good when it came out and still is to this day.
I will say the DX and Grezzo remake versions are both top-notch, especially what Grezzo did with it, but as someone who grew up in the 90s with the original version, nostalgia wins.
Nostalgia isn't always accurate, with rose-tinted glasses sometimes, but having replayed the original as an adult (a few times), it still stands and is as good as I remembered it being.

Minor point, but Cuccos predate OoT. They first appeared in ALttP, in two forms no less (skeletal in the Dark World). They were also in LA.

Is this the section where bitter people put down someone elses hobby and projects? Ah yes, it appears so.

Like many others have said already, I'm not too keen on this. Link would be given a voice and personality (which, of course, has happened in Manga and animations), but even still, I feel like it'd be too far removed from the games.

Someone was surprised a game engine got used in a different game? Or is the surprise that it's the same one Splatoon uses (aka, an actual Switch engine and not Wii U as BotW was)?
Either case isn't surprising at all, and all I have is a glimmer of how these work.

This was a very clickbait article. It worked, obviously, but c'mon this is not what people associate as gacha in games at all.

They don't need remakes IMO, just adjustments.
Zelda 1 needs a retranslation and a bit of the cryptic stuff fixed (perhaps a better overworld map). That's about all I'd change for it.
Zelda II, about the same. It has a reputation far worse than it actually is. Fix the translation, so hints mean something. This is the biggest issue with a lot of games from that era. Hints, clues, dialogue can all be pretty useless, so that needs to be addressed.
One other thing in this one, though, is the difficulty spike in Death Mountain, I'd tame that down a bit and the other thing would be not respawning at the freakin start when you game over. Put the player back a the start of the dungeon or the last town/cave they were in, if they died out of a dungeon.

But, when you look at it, BotW was, to me, what Zelda 1 wanted to be. A sprawling world you're just dumped in, with little gear or knowledge and you just go out and explore it.

Both are pretty bad.
The NA one looks like someone just slapped whatever images they could from the movie and threw them on there.
The Japan one, Catwomans pose is horrible for cover art of a game and Batman looks off (something is wrong with his arm I can't put my finger on, like it's twisted too far or the wrong way or something) and the pose.....blegh.
The Penguin and the back art on the Japanese version are the only good part of either of them, so I guess Japan wins.

No, Link definitely does not need to speak at this point. Some characters are better left with no voice for the immersion of the game. Gordon Freeman, Samus Aran, Link.....characters like this let you be them in their world, giving them voices and personality takes that away.

Just the one XL and I've kept it in pristine condition. That being said, I might get 1 or 2 more, just to have in case something happens to it.

The Switch is a massive success, so personally I'd like to see Nintendo just go with a more powerful successor and focus on getting their other stuff up to date. Their online is woefully behind, their shop is not exactly user friendly, stuff like that. Get caught up in the fundamental basics.

Unfortunately, I feel like Nintendo will instead go with some new forced gimmick to focus on instead.

F-Zero with online and Metroid Prime 2.

I'm fine paying more for a complete game. None of this $70 for the bones of the game and then multiple DLC and expansions to get all the content. They can't have it both ways.
Not too worried about that with Nintendo, though, they've been pretty good that way. The BotW expansions were trivial and not necessary to buy at all. They were fun, but you could not buy them and not miss out on anything.

NA. The Japanese one is cool and all, but it's way too busy. I find this tends to be the way with a lot of Mega Man games, the NA one tends to show one major boss and a few smaller ones with Mega Man there; while Japanese ones seem to want to cram every boss, mini-boss and as many characters as they can on it and it ends up being way too busy and cluttered.

I also had the same issue with Sonic 3 as a kid. Took me a bit to figure that out.
The DS was bad for me with this. Like in Zelda where it says a breeze will put of a fire or candle (I forget exactly), so I'm racking my brain trying to find and use items that might make a breeze, when actually I have to blow into the DS microphone. ****, I hated those forced gimmicks in those Zelda games.

Barely at all. There's a lot of games that still just aren't on there and Nintendos emulator doesn't offer the robust options others do.

These games are awful, but ya know what? This kind of stuff should be included in the ongoing efforts in game preservation.
Sales might not be stellar, but there's always the 'I saw this on AVGN and I want to see just how bad it is' crowd.
Hell, I'd get Plumbers Don't Wear Ties just because it's that bad.

They're all pretty good, except the Fusion Suit, IMO.
I like the bulky, heavy look of the suit, like in Super Metroid. It makes Samus look more intimidating and a walking arsenal. Samus is a tech contrast to the biological things she usually tends to fight.
I've always disliked the Fusion Suit (though the game was great). It just looks boring and tight fitting for agility instead of the arsenal aspect of others. I was so relieved to see the Dread one got back to a more tech look, though I'd prefer if they went back to her traditional colours.

GBA SP was ideal for true portability. The Switch is portable, yes, but can I just put it in any pocket, without worrying about scratching or damaging it? No. The SP could stand to be a bit bigger, as it's not exactly comfortable for those of us with larger hands, but as a functional portable it was great.
The DS/3DS were good too, but the form factor was too big for just shoving them in any pocket (The ones I had anyway, I can't remember if there was a smaller DS in that ideal size range).
In any case, clamshell is best for a portable IMO.

I find it so odd you guys put collections on these lists. Sure, notable mention them, but why give them a spot and then also give spots to the games within?
The collection should be #1, in this case, since it includes the #1 game plus many more.

@Giancarlothomaz The way I see it, Nintendo does work like that. The NES changed and saved gaming, but then had an improved successor with the SNES.
They then shifted into 3D and changed that with the n64. The NGC was a better 3D system follow up.
The Wii was a another shift, then the Wii U was supposed to be a better successor of that with unconventional input.
The Game Boy line follows suit with better successors before doing something new. GB to GBA. DS to 3DS.
Now we have the Switch. The way I view Nintendos history, they'll do a more refined and better Switch before moving onto their next shift.

Most of them are worth replaying anyway, if it's been a while.
Specifically for TotK? Just a BotW refresher. Zelda games aren't exactly known for their super-connected stories between games. You could jump into most of them with playing any of the others.
I've no doubt TotK will be the same (except directly connecting to BotW)