Roderick

I have no idea how well ARMS is selling, but everyone I foist it on when they come over has a blast. And then usually tells me they won't buy it full price. Which I understand! But it's a shame because it is just SO MUCH FUN.

Most of the Arms playing I do is indeed local, whenever friends come over or with my partner. I can imagine that for Splatoon (2) it's way more essential to go online, since you need full teams to get the most out of the game. I'll be getting it, by the way.

That was my guess. And in any case, what happens on an anime convention flows specifically out of a love for Japan (or Korea, or US comics, anythign goes nowadays). It's a celebration and an attempt to partake in this communal joy. This alone makes it very different from snatching a visual thing and using it, without paying deference to its source.

Good for him. Good for the people who really enjoyed it or got something out of it.

Wouldn't that also imply that it'll be really difficult to tell from a glance when people are culturally appropriating and when they are doing it 'right', or respectfully? I mean, I run around on anime conventions a lot and boy, you could have a field day there if so inclined. I myself often wear a Japanese shinsengumi outfit (and give lectures on the topic), so I'd like to think I know where it comes from, but at the same time I'm not kidding myself: it's giddy cosplay wish fulfilment most of the time.

Yes, the Switch is virtually all virtual. It has almost no physical presence in stores, which isn't helped by hardware shortages. I frequently mused in the months after its release that if a non-gaming person would walk into a store to purchase the latest Nintendo for their kids, they'd wind up with a Wii U, which had 500% more presence than the odd barren shelf dedicated to the switch and its three available games.

I can see where 7/10 comes from, especially if the game doesn't click for you, or you look at it from a modern day perspective. This is really a case of the whole being better than the sum of its parts. BG&E was charming and surprising and I loved playing it. It's one of the few 'Zelda clones' that really shone on its own.

"The Switch has too much on offer" - alien sounds to the reams of people who cried out there is nothing on the Switch. Anyhoo, Miffy, I have somewhat more of an answer for you now that I've played ARMS some more. Whether it's a good buy is somewhat dependent on two things: do you like [this particular] fighting game, and do you have someone nearby to play with? Most of the playing I've done so far is either singeplayer to learn the ropes and versus mode against my partner. I can see the singleplayer side of that quickly dwindling in appeal, though I've had tons of fun, suprisingly, from the 'arms test' mode. To the people playing: if you haven't tried that out, you should! It's buried at the bottom of the versus mode and it appears a simple training game, but it's really really fun. You get a random selection of arms and a random arena, and you fight one on one in single matches. It's a great way to learn many combinations and since the point of entry if so low, you are inclined to experiment and take a gamble. Having said that, the most fun I've had is against my partner. It's a low-stress thing that's more about fun and friendly ribbing than competition, and a good way to test your tactics. I must say though, the game is getting its hooks into me, and I just wouldn't have ever guessed that when it was announced. The design is so good and some of the characters (Min Min!) are a treasure.

Embarrassment to start a new thread when the discussion might only span five to ten posts.

Neither have I, but Casino Royale (with Craig) is just an excellent Bond. Surpassing its own genre, in fact: it's a really good spy thriller. Moody, understated, heartfelt, and with a terrific poker scene in the middle. I love a good poker scene. It's why Maverick is so much fun.

It might be! I really don't know yet. I'm have a blast with splitscreen multiplayer though, it's really fun! I feel there's quite a learning curve and the possibility for some deep and intense matches.

Alright, let's talk Arms. Arms is great. But it's also tough. I have a rough time pummeling AI enemies, let alone real people. I feel I've yet to develop an instinctual understanding of the rhythm and systems, so I feel quite powerless. Are there any good ways to learn to play more deliberately? Or maybe some combinations of characters and arms that work well to learn the ropes? (Please don't say I need to start with Spring Man.)

Those are some spiffy Joy-Con, Twig. Is it the same as with the other colors that the yellow pops way more in real life than on photos?

Not out yet though, is it? Keyframes ep 14 is the latest one. It's not surprising that we share this feeling of disappointment. Perhaps I'll turn around as well, but it may just take a bit because I so dearly loved KADO all throughout.

That last one is a small improvement I'm very happy with. The Switch always switching the tv back on when I finish playing, or worse, takes over the screen when someone else is for instance playing on another console. It's a very aggressive little thing, the Switch! Good that it's learned some manners now.

URRRGGGHHHH, KADO!

"Without a battle... where's the fun?" I don't know, Reggie, perhaps in any of the million ways you can play games without a battle element? Pack up Firewatch, guys, it's just no fun without a battle. BigJKO, I hope so! Maybe when I'll see more of New Donk City, it won't be so bad. It's just - grey, muddy skyscrapers formed the first fifteen minutes of the Treehouse demo, which isn't a great first impression.

Surely I can't be the only one thinking that Super Mario Odyssey looked rough? New Donk City has all the appearance of an early build with placeholder graphics - I couldn't believe my eyes. I am ALL for the weird stuff, make it as weird as you can, but I never expected Nintendo to make it look this unfinished. Just look at those skyscraper levels (tagged below)! With a release date of October I have a hard time believing they'll tweak any of this anymore. Maybe it'll be better in person, so I guess I'll wait for the post-E3 event to play it end of June. The E3 presentation was quite meh. Apart from Samus Returns, which looked like a ton of fun, there wasn't a whole lot in there. Cheap reveals of titles (Metroid Prime 4) and mentions like a Pokémon Switch game we'll hear more about in a year don't exactly get my heart pumping. More upgrades (Yoshi, Kirby) and announcements brought with fanfare that really weren't that interesting (name and footage for the Zelda DLC). The treehouse presentation afterwards consisted mostly of slumped people talking, though the footage was at least interesting there. Now that I think about it, there was something strange about the Nintendo presentation. They made a whole deal about Reggie coming in, blue-screened, and his environment suddenly disappearing. I think he made one more appearance after that, but did I miss something or did it never lead to anything? Basically, the things I am most exited for in terms of the Switch this E3 came from Ubisoft. Mario + Rabbids - I'd never have guessed that!

(I just saw the actual gameplay of Mario + Rabbids and, well, that actually looks good! I can imagine playing and enjoying that! Just don't watch the cinematic trailer, which is garbage.)

A bit confused about the Shadow of the Colossus remake. Why does it exist? There is a beautiful, eminently playable HD version that wanted for nothing. I mean, I see the improvements here, I just don't understand why you'd go to that length and not just make a follow-up? I loved the BG&E2 trailer. I mean, look, of course it's going to be a different game. The novel thing about BG&E back then was that it was a functional Zelda clone with a lot of charm and a really cool photography mechanic. You'd be sorely disappointed if they just reproduced that ten years later. I do agree that there's a tonal shift motherfuckerrrrr, but I certainly had a stupid grin on my face seeing that monkey, and it doesn't actually feel that different from rastafarian rhinos, to be honest. This actually gives me hope that BG&E2 will be a solid game on its own instead of a pointless endeavor in nostalgia. Regardless: props to Ancel for allowing his vision for that world to keep up with modern expectations. The toys-to-life scifi game, that was briefly teased in that Watch Dogs 2 'steal a trailed from fake Ubisoft' mission, looked awesome. I hope the gameplay is good too, but it's too early to say anything about that. The designs are great, the colors really do it for me. As for AC: Origins - I was briefly enthused by the Egyptian setting. Then they showed some gameplay and nope, I apparently have still had my fill of infiltrating mansions and temples in a way that's never quite stealthy or interesting enough. Assassin's Creed fatigue still in full swing, just by watching that trailer.

The Mario + Rabbids trailer was aggressively obnoxious. They really went out of their way to find the lamest stock rock song, and the "jokes", eeesh.

Yes! I'm watching season 3 now and the first three episodes are just non-stop laughs. They've really embraced the insanity of the characters and the show now feels like a delightful playground for them. I'm Lemonading.

Oooohhhh, I'm writing the review for KADO in AniWay (Dutch J-culture mag), so once I wrap the series up I'll have some thoughts probably. Do remind me when that time comes, 'cause I'm super busy and will 100% guaranteed forget to do this!

I never had a problem switching, because your fingers rest on the buttons to the side. You don't actually need to look to flick between opponents. I had some fun times in 3-player or 4-player free-for-alls, where I would first let two enemies soften each other up before swooping in to deal damage equally to the two of them. I stole a fair few fights when all I had to do was beat up whatever life remained between the two of them. I played mostly with the Chinese/dragon-inspired Min Min and the cool mecha girl Mechanica (that is a bad name though). For some reason, Ribbon Girl makes me angry because she looks like a daft cheerleader. The three 'main' characters (Ribbon Girl, Spring Man and Ninjara) share that problem: their design is very predictable, dull and samey-faced. Luckily the rest has more attitude and variety.

I have always held Resident Evil Apocalypse as a big guilty pleasure. It's such an insane thing, like an extremely poor Escape From New York, which gets increasingly unhinged near the end. BUT, it has a pretty effective finale, with a helicopter, hordes of zombies, Nemesis, and a killer 'horror' ending. The low budget appeal is what makes it fun to watch in my book. In fact I'm hungry to watch it again. The third one is arguably the "best", if only for zombie Elvis and zombie crows. The story of this franchise makes me very sad, because with a little effort this could've actually made sense and be good and filled with characters that, though inevitably flimsy, you could follow and care about and actually grow to popcorn-love. HEY, maybe they'll get that right in the reboot! I was initially guffawing at the thought of a reboot, but then I realized it has been a hundred years since the first one came out, and yeah, they arguably could do it a lot better this time around. HA OR NOT OF COURSE!