Forum - View topicThis Week in Games - Nintendo September Direct 2025
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Greed1914
 Posts: 5363 |
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I guess I have a pretty different take on the pricing discussion coming out of that Direct. Some people are off the mark about whether a game "looks" worth a AAA price, but the gaming industry played a major hand in that by sticking to a basically universal pricing system. People are bound to compare what they get when they are priced the same. Also, I don't think Steam sales did that much to affect perception there. A year old game will still be sold for mostly full price. The deep, deep discounts are on things that have been out far longer.
As for the Virtual Boy: sure the Labo thing is an alternative, but those other retro games with compatible controllers didn't need them to function. Virtual Boy is something subscribers will now technically be paying for, but using it depends on buying something else. I guess my position is that if Nintendo didn't think it was worth reworking it, then it might not have been worth doing at all. It's still $25 to make use of part of a subscription. |
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cyberdraco
Posts: 664 |
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Honestly the $70 price tag for the Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 bundle isn't that bad, your getting two great games for the price of one Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Plus this isn't a limited release like 3D All Stars.
The return of the Virtual Boy is odd, but I'm game for it. Also, Capcom announced Mega Man Star force Legacy Collection, which was in the Japanese Direct but not English one. |
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LinkTSwordmaster
 Posts: 816 Location: PA / USA |
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It frustrates me, as someone that lived through the prime days of SNES vs Genesis discourse, that I don't see a "proportional amount of value" happening now in (2025) Nintendo's games the way I used to. There has always been an ebb and flow during each console generation - Wii has some pretty big hits, the WiiU has some pretty big awkward ducks - but I always look back on my times with the SNES and Genesis (I had the luxury of owning both) in the 90s as the metric by which I value games.
As much as Sega loved to champion their console being a better technical powerhouse in the 90s, there's no reality wherein anything they had on their system comes close to the scale and depth of Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy 6 (and I'm saying that as a BIG Phantasy Star fan). I would probably classify Sonic 3 & Knuckles as a game that went beyond defining a genre and say it defined an entire generation, but then if I flip back over to the SNES, Donkey Kong Country 2 in particular is probably standing a good 20 or 30 years now with its art direction, music, the precision of its controls, etc.... as possibly THE greatest platforming game ever made, in my mind. TLDR? Every Sega collection that includes Altered Beast in it kills me just a little more inside - I will never fathom how people paid money for a cartridge of it. If a new Genesis Collection of games comes out, then barely anything beyond Sonic 3 and Shining Force are particularly easy to recommend people try. Meanwhile, in the various NSO classic libraries Nintendo has, it's hard to pick a random game and not suddenly lose an entire weekend with nostalgic joy.... just avoid the Gameboy Castlevania, it's bad, it's an exception to the rule here. So using that perception from 90s Nintendo as a metric here in 2025, the Nintendo of today is an unrecognisable chimera comparatively. The citing of issues with Switch controllers, re-releasing WiiU content (and now Switch 1 games) as "new", and now Switch 2 has bricking systems and game cards that only have DRM keys on them.... all of these are things that if you went back in a time machine and told me about in the 90s, I'd ask if you were talking about a different company entirely. |
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ZakuConvoy
Posts: 15 |
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Virtual Boy::
The thing that's getting my goat about this is that we can clearly see that they have some way to play these games in 2D. Because, we can see that these games are running in 2D in the actual trailer. In the trailer, the games do not look blurry or double-screened, like they would have to be in order to make the 3D work. No, they are crisp and clean! So, we basically know that Nintendo has some way to play these games in 2D, at least for their developers. It's just that they don't want to give the players that same option. And that's probably because they're using a emulator. And Nintendo HATES acknowledging that emulators exist. Because, if they do, they have to admit that they're kind of hypocrites for going after so many fan-made emulators. Emulators are okay for THEM to use, but not US. If Nintendo gave us the option to play in 2D, that would be publicly acknowledging that it's pretty easy to alter the original versions of these games. And if people start realizing that it's really easy (and fun) to alter their games without their express permission, maybe those same people wouldn't have to buy all their overpriced stuff. Plus, Nintendo sometimes just HATES giving the players options. Sometimes it's like pulling teeth to even get simple button remapping for your controllers. They like to try and force the players to play their games their way. No other options. So, honestly? I think Nintendo probably could give us the option to play these in 2D. And probably even turn them black and white, just to prevent the red-on-black eyestrain. It' would probably be the simplest thing in the world to just give us a couple of togglable options in a menu. The in-house emulator they have can probably do both those things pretty easily. They simply won't, though. Because why give us options, when they can force us to pay $25 for pair of cardboard glasses that we have to put together ourselves? Pokemon Legends Z-A DLC: I honestly expected DLC eventually. I just didn't expect it before the game even came out. If only because I thought maybe they'd try and extend the life of this game out a little longer. Just to give themselves more time to spend making Gen X. I honestly don't mind it myself, too much. At the very least, this is a way for them to give us new Megas that haven't been spoiled by leaks. I just wish they would have told us a little more about what the DLC actually got us. Are we getting a whole new map? Some sort of alternate universe Lumiose, or a new wild area, or a return to the Ultra Megaopolis? Or are we just getting a few new missions? How extensive is the new story? I wish if they were going to announce it now, they would have at least said how big it was going to be for the price. I'm probably going to end up biting, because I'm part of the problem. But, I'm not thrilled that they just showed us two pretty similar Megas and just asked for $30 NOW. We still don't even know if the game is going to run fine or if it'll be broken at launch. Locking some of the new Mega Stones behind the multiplayer was a bad call though. You give people something they've waited a decade for, Megas for the original Starters, and then lock it behind a optional mode? No. Especially since it's all timed. It'd be one thing if you just had to play, 10 then 20 then 30 ranked matches anytime. But, making it seasonal on top of it all? You're just penalizing people for playing more multiplayer outside of the season, because you need to rank up in order to get the Mega Stones, because ranking up becomes harder the higher rank you already are. Bad call. Bad move. Bad design. Especially since it's hard to say if this will actually have decide online play or not. It's a Nintendo game, it's always a question of how well it's actually going to play online. I'm not really surprised by the backlash. There's been a lot of resentment in the Pokemon fandom ever since Dexit. Maybe even since the move to 3D with X and Y. Or maybe ever since Black and White "removed" a lot of fan favorite Pokemon. Fans have not been happy. And it really doesn't take much to set people off now. People have been criticising Gamefreak for a while and their new game for other consoles (Beast of Reincarnation) looking so much more detailed than most Pokemon games isn't winning them any points. It just shows that Gamefreak is burnt out on Pokemon and really wants a chance to do literally anything else. The only real "creative" success that Gamefreak has had with Pokemon, that the fans loved too, was Legends Arceus. And now, they're milking that sub-franchise for DLC, too. When Legends Arceus didni't really have any paid DLC. All I can say is, if Legends Z-A ends up broken at launch, there's going to be no end complaints about it. And given it's releasing on both the Switch 1 and 2 at the same time. I think there will turn out to be a few major bugs, for one system or the other. I doubt Gamefreak gave this the playtesting it likely needed. So, honestly? This recent wave of complaints is likely going to be the calm before the storm. Because I can see it getting a lot worse, once the game actually releases. I just have a gut feeling about this. |
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The_Outsider
Posts: 136 |
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Maybe some people prefer to buy games for cheaper because they only have a little money to spend on something superfluous like video-games? Or maybe because games are too expensive at full price when converting to another currency? Not all of us are privileged to be paid in dollars after all. Or to have high paying jobs.
Steam sales have never impacted sales figures (or even consumer behavior, but feel free to provide some evidence to the contrary), new releases (GOOD RELEASES) still shoot up to the top sellers list regardless if the game goes on a deep discount a year later. And somehow indie developers still deliver better quality games at much more affordable prices than any slop AAA devs have been releasing in the last 10 years so... maybe the trick is making smaller, less expensive games with smaller teams and stopping the unsustainable yearly dev cycles?
That's just the thing, they have used emulators very recently. The NES Classic and Super NES Classic are both emulation machines based on a Linux OS. Last edited by The_Outsider on Fri Sep 19, 2025 12:10 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Mizlude
 Posts: 78 |
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Yeah, comparing the mandatory VirtualBoy shell to completely optional and superfluous controllers seems like a very weak argument. You don't need the N64 controller to play Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo Switch... although admittedly I do think the N64 and GameCube controller form factors makes a lot of those games better and easier to play which is why I got replica controllers for PC for emulation. Maybe it's just muscle memory from when I was a kid playing these kicking in though. The NSO release of Wind Waker completely ignores the Tingle Tuner function and makes it unusable since you can't hook a GBA to the system which is perfectly fine to be honest. If actual gameplay functions being removed is fine then playing VirtualBoy in 2D should be a non-issue. Honestly it's probably the best way to play it. Emulators have made VirtualBoy games a lot more palpable by not only removing the cumbersome headset but also allowing you to play in greyscale which is a lot easier on the eyes than the searing red. You can play them just like regular Gameboy games at that point which is great for Wario Land. It would have been great if NSO offered that kind of option but I suspect they might not. I don't think they let you choose a color palette for Gameboy emulation. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Last edited by Mizlude on Fri Sep 19, 2025 12:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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FishLion
 Crazy Fangirl Posts: 861 |
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I'm excited about Galaxy, it is pricey but when you compare the reworked graphics to the original or the upscaled 1080p in 3D they look measurably worse than this and the motion controls barely worked.in 3D. Compared to the old versions it seems to have actual changes that justify some increase in price tag more than the $20 cost on the Wii U and the inclusion in a colllection at the very least. Not bothered by anyone not buying it themselves or disliking the price because the changes aren't enough, but saying that its a rip off mainly because pre remake versions were cheaper is not an honest way to evaluate if the changes made are worth the additional cost. I would much rather everyone complain about the work done on this version and how the changes aren't worthwhile than say it's a rip off because they threw an upscaled version on a collection a few years ago. When I see the extreme reactions to topics like this (just more generally on the internet, yours wasn't bad), I understand why Nintendo no longer discounts older games or sells classics cheap, because then when you put out a remake everyone is going to instantly devalue it because you sold them the game at a good price when it didn't have improvements.
I am excited about the Greco-Roman setting of Fire Emblem! I was just reading about classical history and that time period so it feels perfectly aligned with where my interests lie latey. I am a little confused by the medieval armor of one guy though, does that mean it's a time travel situation or is he from an far off and advanced land a la elves in LOTR? Is the entire world Greco-Roman or has this one group of people started a Colosseum and they happen to be in the style of Greco-Roman architecture, clothing, and weapons? Lots of questions to ask, I hope we get more info soon! I also thought the MP4 footage looked really neat. Still need to play the Prime series to catch up, but I love the 2D ones to death. Still need to get through Silksong before that though so this could take awhile... |
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Joe Mello
 Posts: 2560 Location: Online Terminal |
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I think there's validity in voicing concern about the video game industry as a whole, especially in the context of a world that seems increasingly overbearingly cruel with few avenues for respite.
I also think that we need to be upfront about how so many people who self-identify in public as "gamers" are people who openly hate video games. It's also worth reinforcing what Jean-Karlo said in the article that people are only being angry now because the company people reflexively associate with all video games is doing it when acts of similarly or greater heinousness have been happening for 20 years. Companies wouldn't do it if it wasn't consistently succeeding. |
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groovysunbeam
 Posts: 82 Location: Belgium |
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Are people really calling this kid "an ostensibly Black young man"? I know people have a habit of trying to claim every character under the sun as black and I'm sure people are already gearing up to harass Japanese fan artists for not subscribing to their head canon, but really? Usually people at least try to do this for characters who actually have somewhat darker skin or non human-colored skin like Piccolo or Mina. Cai's not even as tanned a Petra was from Three Houses.
Well the SNES came out after the Mega Drive/Genesis so this makes sense. The Mega Drive/Genesis was made to compete with the NES, not the SNES.
I can't speak for the SNES Mini but the NES Mini has particularly terrible input lag and poor emulation so they're not even particularly good emulators. 99.9% of every collection of old games that gets released by companies is just a collection of ROMS in an emulator. Video game companies are perfectly fine with using emulation for those things. |
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b-dragon
Posts: 630 |
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I'm glad DQ7 is being remade near completely. There is a great core to it, but the pacing- especially early on- was horrific. I've played through long rpg openings. This is one of the worst to me- by the time I got out of the intro, the class system was introduced (like 20 hours into the game or something like that,) I was just...done with it. The core is good, but rearranging some of the early
Early theorizing has the FE being in the same setting as Three Houses- certainly it looks like it borrows the troop mechanics from that. I'm tentatively excited about that if true, as there was effort made to fill out the backstory of that particular world. But I'm interested to see where they go with it. |
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AiddonValentine
 Posts: 2957 |
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-Switch Classics: The Dreamcast version of Mr. Driller has an obscene amount of ways to control it, including via the microphone.
-Nintendo: At this point complaining about Nintendo is basically "Boy Who Cried Wolf" and gets increasingly difficult to take seriously. It's boring, it's repetitive, it's ill-informed, and mostly based around innocuous nonsense. Anyway. -Mario Galaxy: Not gonna lie, I'm intrigued by the next movie being based on Galaxy. Now I wonder who Rosalina is gonna be played by. -Hyrule Warriors: It's interesting how the Warriors games outside of Samurai and Dynasty have become a testing ground for new features. Now we have everything from sync-strikes, to Zonai devices, and now we have a mysterious Construct warrior that can apparently engage in aerial battles. -Dragon Quest VII: Interesting entry to update, especially with how much that game can drag out. It seems even Horii agrees as the team has said they're cutting some stories. What I'm more intrigued by the changes to the class system because having it be per encounter was just bad design. -Virtual Boy: Say what you will, Nintendo are fastidious in their archiving. Also surprised they're putting in Innsmouth no Yakata. -Metroid: -Inserts Akira bike slide- -Fire Emblem: There's definitely a lot to support this being set in the distant past of Three Houses considering the existence of the Nabateans and the Crests. As for Sothis, who knows, especially when we know that she didn't manifest until Byleth in Three Houses.
Uh, YES? Light-skinned black people exist. And his hair is not something you see often outside of black people. Last edited by AiddonValentine on Fri Sep 19, 2025 1:40 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Greed1914
Posts: 5363 |
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Yeah, that is what strikes me as odd. Nintendo has previously decided older games are "worth" making adjustments to get them playable on the current system. I can even see offering optional controllers for those who want them since the games were made with those controllers in mind. I don't like the idea of Nintendo deciding a game is only worth adding if it can sell you accessories on top of it. It also feels like how subscriptions will justify price increases because they have added 'so much content' but in a weird one-time additional fee. |
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FilthyCasual
Posts: 2720 |
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*Chesnaught Pokemon has a long tradition of bonus mons being gated by various external circumstances. Mystery Gifts you can only get from visiting brick-and-mortar game stores, Pokemon that only spawn when you put Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald in your DS alongside HGSS/DPP, Pokemon from Pokemon Ranger, Pokemon from Pokemon Battle Colosseum, Ash-Greninja from the Sun and Moon demo, Pokemon that only spawn in Legends Arceus when you have BDSP and SwSh, and the metric ton of other Mystery Gifts and Shiny Legendaries and Movie Pokemon and so on. Bulbapedia has a list of lists of limited Pokemon distributions that doesn't even include Pokemon unlockable from purchasing other games. Even gating the XY starter Mega Stones behind PVP isn't new; Pokemon Shuffle did that years prior. And in the end, there's the foolproof method of getting something in Pokemon that you otherwise can't that's existed since Gen 1 - making a friend and trading with them. |
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NJ_
 Posts: 3409 Location: Wallington, NJ |
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Sacrificed for the already-revealed Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection in the English one, crazy. |
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EmeraldSaucer
 Posts: 942 |
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The setting of Three Houses and now Fortune's Weave varies a lot in technological advancement (you might notice the magical gun in the trailer), in part because the church actively suppressed the proliferation of things like petroleum and the printing press in an attempt to maintain control. So wherever Dagsion is might be a place where Nabatean control has been maintained even more than Fodlan, thus the Greco-Roman aesthetic instead of medieval Europe |
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