Seems like there may be some Retro in this one. Lots of speculation that N64 and/or Game Boy Advance will be added to Nintendo Switch Online as well as N64 controllers you can order for Switch.
N64 is definitely one of the systems lower on my collecting list. I’m all cart only and most of my favorite games are the usual suspects like SM64, Ocarina of Time, etc. but I do have a soft spot for all those great 3D racers the system received.
As for Game Boy Advance, I loved it at the time, but I often struggle to go back to it for some reason? I’ve never been able to pinpoint what it is that makes that specific system less palatable to me in 2021, but it is.
If Nintendo is doing N64 Switch Online it sure will be like opening a can of worms. There’s so much that can go wrong with emulating the N64 and the Wii U’s implementation of it was really bad. Rereleasing the N64 controller as rumoured will be a good start, though, but I don’t have my hopes up for accurate pixel-exact image quality and emulation - it’s not marketable like 1080p rendering is.
Most publisher/platform holder streams leave me depressed at the state of gaming due to a tendency to only show blockbuster games or service titles. Nintendo Directs are still a beacon of hope in the sense that Nintendo is very much happy to stick a much wider variety of games in front of the audience’s faces, so I’m hoping for more pleasant surprise announcements. Pawapoke R was a big one for me from the June Direct, as were the Cave games.
Yes, Nintendo Directs are usually exciting because you are getting a larger variety and often new games in long revered franchises as well, even some that aren’t from Nintendo!
Looking forward to seeing what’s offered tomorrow for sure.
Assuming folks watched, but if not… lots of good retro and retro revival…
Actraiser Renaissance is probably the thing most will be most excited about.
$30. Completely redone in 3D. All new and Classic soundtrack all from Yuzo Koshiro. It’s also on PS4 and PC. Quite the announcement and immediately available too.
Castlevania Advance Collection is an excellent package for $20 too.
All three GBA Castlevanias, now able to be seen without bright direct sunlight as well as Dracula X from SNES. $5 a game for a couple best ever entries in the series and two decent ones? Seems like a bargain.
Late October addition of N64 and Sega Genesis to the Switch Online service but with an extra fee required. N64 and Genesis wireless controllers will be available for $50. Seemed like EACH but maybe $50 for two? It wasn’t really explained. Either way, the Genesis game selection is excellent and N64 is very good if mostly expected. More games will be added of course.
Lots more that’s on the way. Bayonetta 3 coming next year. Splatoon 3 looks phenomenal. Not their best show, but a good one.
I wonder if the Castlevania collection will come with an LCD filter. I have the games on GBA but I have the IPS display. The save state/rewind feature is awesome though and all the little extras…for $20.
Interesting, I thought it would be M2. Bit disappointed to see the games’ colour saturation has not been desaturated to compensate for modern displays having a wider colour gamut than all GBAs before the AGS-101. Harmony of Dissonance looks whack - in a bad way.
Some cool stuff in there, as @DaveLong mentioned, Splatoon 3 looks really good. I found 2 to be a step back from 1 since it was largely like a re-do of 1 for new hardware with multiplayer level designs that were more like battle arenas architecturally, presumably due to the lack of Wii U GamePad map. Bayonetta 3 looks interesting as well, though I am wary that the game designer on Astral Chain is directing. But it’s good to see they are trying new things with the combat.
I wasn’t expecting N64 emulation, happy to see those controllers going back into production. But will they be compatible with the rumble pak? And will there be a modular cable or receiver to connect it to an actual N64?
It was cool to see Chocobo Racing come back, even if it looked more boring than the cancelled 3DS game. ActRaiser looked pants though! Nothing against prerendered graphics but it’s a betrayal of the original game’s pixel art and just doesn’t belong in a remake, and shows authenticity wasn’t important to the developers. It’s also on Unity engine, which isn’t inherently bad but it certainly explains why the game can’t hit 60fps on PS4.
Yeah, same lol hoping the factory has spare parts that find their way to Aliexpress or something. I get the feeling they won’t be using the original optical sensors though, and I wonder even if the mapping will be 1:1 to the sensitivity of the original.
I guess the existence of this controller makes an N64 mini more likely…
I’m in for N64 and Genesis controllers - the latter of which will be perfect for Sonic Mania! (assuming the quality is good).
I only want the N64 controllers for the novelty of them in Switch games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
I’m not sure I’d ever actually play an N64 or Genesis game on anything but a CRT and original hardware. I really haven’t played the included NES or SNES on the service so far other than for like… a novelty for 10 minutes here or there.
Also, kind of odd they’re just skipping Master System altogether. That system gets screwed again.
I stand corrected. IGN has an article that says M2 also.
Released as a celebration of the Castlevania series’ 35th anniversary, Advance Collection has been co-developed with M2 (the studio behind the well-received Sega 3D Classics ports on 3DS) and Konami promises “the best possible recreation” of the originals. The new ports will also allow you to “record, replay and rewind” gameplay.
That’s a surprise since I think all those other collections before this were done in conjunction with Hamster, but maybe I’m misremembering?
Aye, it is M2 after all. But there’s no colour correction and - shockingly for them - no display filters of any kind. Which makes it a lesser effort than their work on the Wii U’s GBA Virtual Console.
Some pixel filters could have gone a long way toward preserving the intent behind the original pixel art.
Likely that Konami could barely find a couple coins in their couch cushions to pay for the ports, mainly because they want them to be as lucrative as possible.
no pixel filter is very disappointing. I can play these games on my Wii with scanlines, but even that isn’t really accurate to the original art. I’ll just wait for this to go on sale then
I own all these games already so I’m in no hurry. I have Aria sealed and new in fact. I played it on Wii U. It’s a good price for all of them together, though. These collections always get sales later so it’ll be at least as low as $10 eventually.
as well as Dracula X from SNES. $5 a game for a couple best ever entries in the series and two decent ones? Seems like a bargain.