-wc-

this looks like RSG to me, where is the Ikaruga?

that said, bring it on! if it looks like RSG but without the color matching shenanigans, I am completely onboard! 👍

@Martijn87

i too was hoping for a new Duck Hunt in the wii era. Alas! 😔

looks like you are shooting at ducks with a Glock 😂

@Bu1ld0g

I'm aware! Theres always a minority opinion and taste is not a democracy 😊✌️ cheers.

(ps glad you and others liked it, truly! but it has neither the nostalgia of the old games nor a compelling new take on the series so i played it a bit and quit. it was a competent sonic game, and I'd rank it somewhere in the middle of the field personally.)

the notions that super metroid is fully one half the "metroidvania" story, and that it shares that status with SOTN equally, are an assault to my sensibilities and factual reality.

don't game journalists ever get tired of this narrative? it's a word, and it never was a very good one.

@Bu1ld0g

"Sonic Mania?"

did you love it? I didn't.

@Scollurio

off the dome, I can think of exactly two consoles that have one analog stick out of the box, and for neither is this device well suited otherwise 🫤

The analog sticks on these types of devices so often feel like "checklist engineering" rather than thoughtful design with purpose. too bad, as the latter would really stand out in the field. ✌️

@Azuris

"at least the d-pad is parallel to the action buttons."

here, here!

"For some games, as shoot em ups, a analogue one is quite nice."

you know, with a well spec'd, tight feeling stick I might even accept just a stick on something like this. i think having both is a luxury that a device this small doesnt need, and cant afford. ✌️

@GravyThief

"Wonderoid?"

Mamma Mia! 😅

thank god they crammed that analog stick on there 🙄

Yeah, and my boss and I are "working together" to buy him an even bigger house.

This is one of two genesis carts I still own.

IMHO:

III, super IV, bloodlines, and SOTN are the essential 'Vanias. 😎👍

"Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (which popularised the Metroidvania genre)"

Super Metroid popularized the genre.

SOTN popularized the term "Metroidvania." 😆

this is gorgeous!

Eventually, SOMEONE has to make a truly great Sonic game that lives up to the playground hype, right?

"What are you waiting for, SEGA to make one?"

this looks great!

.... but it's not "Super Mario Sunshine [running] on an N64."

I was looking at the port on my NES and pondering the possibilities just yesterday! So timely, as usual 👍

PS - the Capitalism Bros always attack the strawman of communism, while pretending as though Democratic Socialism isnt by far the more popular, realistic, and pragmatic alternative.

I wonder why? 🤔 lol no I don't 😅

@swankyone

It is in fact the drive for more and more Capital that has brought us to this particular first world problem. There is nothing "communist" about it, that makes zero sense.

@robr

"Panasonic went from making the best cordless drills in the industry to just giving up on their power tool division (coincidentally, a decade ago),"

I've been a professional finish carpenter for going on 10 years and i dont think ive ever seen a panasonic drill or heard mention of one until now. 🤔 maybe its just because i work in the US?

that said, color me skeptical that Panasonic power tools would be better than Festool, Metabo, Bosch, Hilti, or even Milwaukee (what I use, best value for money IMO.)

I'm a big fan of Panasonic electronics going way back, incidentally.

Anyway I know it was an offhand comment and not an earthshattering revelation, but your comment stood out to me ✌️ cheers.

that's cool but i just want a new way to play the gamecube one 😆✌️

if this is the annual pace of inductees, i just dont see how this isnt a hopeless endeavor. induct all these games right now.

EDIT - not Neopets wtf gtfo of here.

@louiethebat

you nailed it, they are signalling that it can emulate console games of beyond ~1995, but its just not the form factor for that imo. ✌️

2 turbo (snes) for the music and feels 🥲
alpha 3 (DC) for the gameplay and extras
third strike (DC) for the visuals
MvC (DC) for maximum fun times

honorable mention:
EX plus alpha for something different

Vidjagame Apocalypse.

does anyone else remember when NUON was announced originally as Project X? I read about it and Dreamcast (and "ray tracing") in the same issue of Next Generation and I was pretty pumped for both!

Something no one mentions anymore but I like: NUON stands for "Nobody Understands Our New technology."

I might have to finally get a NUON, thanks article!

been waiting years for something like this, can't wait!

switch is really becoming a "bucket list" console for me 😊✌️

ive said it before and ill say it again:
$99 playdate, and wc's in.

(this game looks amazing)

@MysticX

youre not really reading my comments, then. I covered all of that and had an actual point beyond blindly defending Nintendo. which I havent really done here besides to make a historical correction, with citations. 👍

TLDR - "quality over quantity" was coined by Hiroshi Yamauchi the day 64 was announced. When they still had plenty of 3rd party support.

@JackGYarwood

hey, sorry for being overly salty. that's my bad, you're doing a great job. 🥴✌️ I tend to be a bit OTT with my critique at times, which probably cuts against the effectiveness of my message, even when I have a valid point

Of course it's interesting overall, and I appreciate the article, and the new insight. 😊👍

I do think the article misses an important point, that I have mentioned here. "quality over quantity" is not something Nintendo came up with in hindsight to save face. it was their bright eyed optimistic approach, before the race even started. Respectfully, I believe your article is "reframing" this mantra from 1995 as something else in 1997. Ironic.

True, "quality over quantity" kind of blew up in their face by then, but reframing it was not.

thanks for your reply, and for being civil, even when I was somewhat less than.✌️

@Damo

I definitely didn't touch on the "cart issue," as it is clearly inarguable. 👍 furthermore I am not at all saying that the strategy was particularly effective (see my second comment, I pretty much lay out my case that it wasnt.)

OTOH

"There's definitely a case of "reframing" that narrative in this interview to make out that it was all part of Nintendo's masterplan,"

I don't see that this is possible when the exact same thing was laid out with the same wording by the president of the company the very day that the 64 was announced, two years before the interview highlighted in this article. say what you want, but "quality over quantity" was not reframing in 1997 when it was a reiteration of the exact same sentiment from 2 years prior.

to wit, when "quality over quantity" was coined by Yamauchi in 1995, that was a full two years prior to "Dragon Quest VII's defection to PlayStation in early 1997" and also Fonal Fantasy 7's famous "give the cart guys a cigarette," ad, not to mention well before PSX had established dominance in the market.

@JackGYarwood

quoth the wiki:

"This trend [of a comparable smaller game library] is also seen as a result of Hiroshi Yamauchi's strategy, announced during his speech at the Nintendo 64's November 1995 unveiling, that Nintendo would be restricting the number of games produced for the Nintendo 64 so that developers would focus on higher quality instead of quantity."

"Ultra 64: Nintendo's Shot at the Title". Next Generation. No. 14. Imagine Media. February 1996. pp. 36–44.

@Poodlestargenerica

EDITED FOR TONE ✌️✌️✌️

the problem with N64 is that it was very heavy with 3D action games and light in any other genre I can think of.

I can't agree that PS2 games copied N64, except that PS2 was much better for 3D action games and thus had more than PS1. The PS2 had a very on-brand insane variety of games, that N64 can't come close to. ps2 had more great games in terms of sheer volume than N64 had in total, including many genres that N64 didn't have even one good example of.

Maybe the gg ratio is lower but unless you were forced to buy every game released on the console, or choose randomly from the entire library, that's more of an interesting factoid than a functional difference. ✌️ saying this as an N64 lover from way back.

in any case Dreamcast has the most stacked gg ratio of any console 😌

tetris in landscape hurts my feelings.

"For starters, it's pretty interesting to see Takeda try to reframe Nintendo's lack of software as a quality-first approach, as opposed to a struggle to attract or retain talent."

This was explicitly nintendo's official mandate for N64. I specifically remember much talk about "quality vs quantity" at the time, and specifically Nintendo as a company using it in PR situations, when I was ~10y.o. reading game mags.

(I remember this very well, because it was in fact how I learned of the entire concept of "quality vs quantity.")

In other words, this was not a retrospective sentiment, as the article suggests. just saying.

solar jetman vibes 😎

3 3/4" tall and 24 bucks a pop? y'all do y'all then. 😅

he also designed the cover of Uriah Heep's brilliant and best album, "Wizards and Demons" 🤘🤘

@veesonic

"when I think of handhelds I think of something pocket sized."

I think about this more and more. we need more/better terms to keep up with the technology.👍

(also I miss nintendo consoles and handhelds 😢)

I agree that the GBA is the greatest handheld of all time!

the rest of the list is highly questionable though, and seems to be force-ranked by exposure. gizmondo for example deserves to be dead last 😆

also, no r zone? how did i miss the vote on this? where's the bathroom? grampa's tired.

N64 should have been DD from jump.

thanks for the suggestions! ❤️

@Hikingguy
" If you do not have a Deck than then use Steam's Remote Play and use Steam Link (device or app)."

@farrgazer
"The cheapest would be to get a long HDMI cable."

I'm assuming you both mean to connect to a computer.

...what if I didnt have a computer? is the cheapest easiest thing, then "get a f*@#ing computer!"? 😂

what id rather have is a relatively cheaper, consolized device that is specifically used for playing steam games. is there such a solution/hack, or device on the market?

PS - I'm a bit perplexed that Steam Deck Is so popular yet Steam Machines never seemed to really get off the ground. It seems like a Steam Machine could be made for less than 300 dollars, and if it existed, I'd buy it on an upcoming paycheck 👍

(seriously, if we can have a hybrid machine, with a dock, and two fiddly little custom controllers for 300, where is my tiny little HDMI console on a stick for 199.99? "it seems so plausible! ahhhhhh!")

is there a way to play steam on my tv with the controller of my choice, inexpensively, that is as handy as playing switch?

@Magrane

that's the one game that comes to mind for me, too 😂✌️

even when I was 10 y.o. I knew this guy was full of it.

this article reads like his resume more than anything. 😒 hes a pedo, not a gaming legend who recently died.

@farrgazer @Poodlestargenerica

"There's definitely truth to this, but Mario Odyssey and Botw are both built for short burst gameplay too. But the line has definitely been blurred."

those games still need a relatively giant screen and multitude of buttons to play.

i agree that the line has been blurred but ive become dissatisfied with the compromise: not-quite-console experience on my tv, and not-quite-handheld gameplay on the go (and on a portable with rather short battery life, that wont fit in my pocket, that is relatively fragile, that i cant afford to drop/lose, etc etc.)

i know im stuck with the hybrid setup because money is more important to nintendo than anything now*, but i still think its important to remember and celebrate the past in hopes that some of that goodness can come back around in the future.

(*if this was always the case, they'd have copied the playstation model instead of n64, cube, wii, and wii u. ✌️)

@Mr_Monochrome

I want you to know, I got REALLY excited when I read your comment, only to be disappointed that you appear to be wrong. No shenmue on switch! 😟

Dreamcast was somehow both "Saturn 2" (read: the ultimate arcade home port machine) and "Xbox zero" at the same time. That is what makes it so special ❤️ I love mine to bits and I'll never let it go.

...what is this? A Dreamcast controller for ants?!

wonderswan was always so intriguing! I wish someone like powkiddy would make a clone of it.

handheld gaming used to be so interesting, especially as a counterpoint to the "full console" experience!

now its basically "AAA (hollywood games)" vs "mobile" vs "retro."

RIP gunpei yokoi. i remember the day you died ❤️ and ill never forget your impact on my young life.