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This Week in Games - The First Nintendo Direct of 2023


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b-dragon



Joined: 21 Apr 2021
Posts: 430
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 10:48 am Reply with quote
Man, Rex grew up nicely. Anyway, I completed XC3 back when it came out, but I always thought I'd replay it when all the DLC was released. I'm glad that seems to be inching closer to reality.
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Unculturedman



Joined: 01 Apr 2022
Posts: 57
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 11:18 am Reply with quote
b-dragon wrote:
Man, Rex grew up nicely. Anyway, I completed XC3 back when it came out, but I always thought I'd replay it when all the DLC was released. I'm glad that seems to be inching closer to reality.


As far as I’m aware, the base game is finally done as of next week’s DLC, which is really exciting. Now I can finally do deep dives into all three games and torna to do everything I haven’t done yet before this epic standalone finale dlc comes out later this year. I still have a bunch of things I need to do in all three games, like quests in 2 and 3, affinity, heart to hearts and colony 6 in 1, postgame and dlc hero quests in 3, challenge battle in all of them, and a crap ton of stuff in 2 from blade affinity to farming for cores and blade quests. These games are so great.
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wolf10



Joined: 23 Jan 2016
Posts: 898
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 11:27 am Reply with quote
A new Direct is always a lot to process. I'm going to need at least the weekend to process most of it. Especially that Xenoblade trailer. I can get Level-5's offerings out of the way, though.

A new Fantasy Life was long overdue, and bringing in Dark Cloud mechanics feels like a no-brainer (or Akihiro Hino trying to update the ideas that put him and Level-5 on the map to begin with). DecaPolice already got me on aesthetic (as Level-5 games usually do), but I'll have to see more of how it plays. A new Layton? With Hershel, and not Katrielle? Are game-onlies like me ever going to get any kind of closure for Millioniere Conspiracy's tease of an ending? Probably not. (And no word on the new Inazuma Eleven until later this month, but the gameplay footage finally looks exactly like it should. I think it's in good hands.)

As for Nintendo's big surprise:
Quote:
Full credit to the original Metroid Prime, but I had to look closely to see any visual improvement. The GameCube original is a beautiful game and has aged amazingly after all these years; there are improvements, but it's easy to miss them because the base game was that pretty.
The base game was indeed very pretty, but I popped in the Metroid Prime Trilogy disc just to fact-check myself on the following wall of text. I'll break down what I've noticed in the few hours I've played, because this game got a hell of a face lift for a game turning 20 this year:
- Full pixel-shaded graphics and completely redone environment textures/shaders. The original areas were vertex-shaded (which is hard to explain concisely but you can look it up), and only had diffuse textures (but were very good at faking it). The new areas look like a game made in 2022, and probably were.
- Boss enemies redesigned from scratch. I've only fought Flaahgra and Sheegoth so far, but both had entirely new models and textures. Flaahgra is much greener and actually looks like a plant now. On that note, Samus and her ship were redone as well.
- Volumetric lighting. The same big graphics touch-up Skyrim got with Special Edition. Also hard to explain concisely, but colors sort of... hang in the air in a way they didn't before. Phendrana is very moody now.
- Too much post-processing to list. Think of your favorite ReShade or ENB presets and you won't be too far off. Water now has ripples, reflections, and distorts light that passes through. The lava effects especially are quite different, and you can even see distortions from the heat rising off of it.
- And more, probably. This is just what a rank amateur like me was able to pick up in a few hours with it. I'll have more to say on the water effects once I get the Gravity Suit.
- Most importantly, the music is entirely untouched. Why change perfection? The only notable difference from the original NA GameCube release so far is Flaahgra's boss theme using the correct loop timing, which was fixed in every release after (including Trilogy, which used the EU version as a base), a relic of the days before you could just deploy a patch.
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FinalVentCard
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 28 Oct 2018
Posts: 483
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 11:39 am Reply with quote
wolf10 wrote:
A new Direct is always a lot to process. I'm going to need at least the weekend to process most of it. Especially that Xenoblade trailer. I can get Level-5's offerings out of the way, though.

A new Fantasy Life was long overdue, and bringing in Dark Cloud mechanics feels like a no-brainer (or Akihiro Hino trying to update the ideas that put him and Level-5 on the map to begin with). DecaPolice already got me on aesthetic (as Level-5 games usually do), but I'll have to see more of how it plays. A new Layton? With Hershel, and not Katrielle? Are game-onlies like me ever going to get any kind of closure for Millioniere Conspiracy's tease of an ending? Probably not. (And no word on the new Inazuma Eleven until later this month, but the gameplay footage finally looks exactly like it should. I think it's in good hands.)

As for Nintendo's big surprise:
Quote:
Full credit to the original Metroid Prime, but I had to look closely to see any visual improvement. The GameCube original is a beautiful game and has aged amazingly after all these years; there are improvements, but it's easy to miss them because the base game was that pretty.
The base game was indeed very pretty, but I popped in the Metroid Prime Trilogy disc just to fact-check myself on the following wall of text. I'll break down what I've noticed in the few hours I've played, because this game got a hell of a face lift for a game turning 20 this year:
- Full pixel-shaded graphics and completely redone environment textures/shaders. The original areas were vertex-shaded (which is hard to explain concisely but you can look it up), and only had diffuse textures (but were very good at faking it). The new areas look like a game made in 2022, and probably were.
- Boss enemies redesigned from scratch. I've only fought Flaahgra and Sheegoth so far, but both had entirely new models and textures. Flaahgra is much greener and actually looks like a plant now. On that note, Samus and her ship were redone as well.
- Volumetric lighting. The same big graphics touch-up Skyrim got with Special Edition. Also hard to explain concisely, but colors sort of... hang in the air in a way they didn't before. Phendrana is very moody now.
- Too much post-processing to list. Think of your favorite ReShade or ENB presets and you won't be too far off. Water now has ripples, reflections, and distorts light that passes through. The lava effects especially are quite different, and you can even see distortions from the heat rising off of it.
- And more, probably. This is just what a rank amateur like me was able to pick up in a few hours with it. I'll have more to say on the water effects once I get the Gravity Suit.
- Most importantly, the music is entirely untouched. Why change perfection? The only notable difference from the original NA GameCube release so far is Flaahgra's boss theme using the correct loop timing, which was fixed in every release after (including Trilogy, which used the EU version as a base), a relic of the days before you could just deploy a patch.


Aw man, thanks for the comprehensive breakdown! I really wanna see the Volumetric lighting in action now. I loved tiny details from the original MP like the charged beam shot distorting space around itself, it's exciting to hear they were able to implement even MORE lovely details like those.
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Unculturedman



Joined: 01 Apr 2022
Posts: 57
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 11:49 am Reply with quote
b-dragon wrote:
Man, Rex grew up nicely. Anyway, I completed XC3 back when it came out, but I always thought I'd replay it when all the DLC was released. I'm glad that seems to be inching closer to reality.


As far as I’m aware, the base game is finally done as of next week’s DLC, which is really exciting. Now I can finally do deep dives into all three games and torna to do everything I haven’t done yet before this epic standalone finale dlc comes out later this year. I still have a bunch of things I need to do in all three games, like quests in 2 and 3, affinity, heart to hearts and colony 6 in 1, postgame and dlc hero quests in 3, challenge battle in all of them, and a crap ton of stuff in 2 from blade affinity to farming for cores and blade quests. These games are so great.
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wolf10



Joined: 23 Jan 2016
Posts: 898
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 11:59 am Reply with quote
FinalVentCard wrote:
Aw man, thanks for the comprehensive breakdown! I really wanna see the Volumetric lighting in action now. I loved tiny details from the original MP like the charged beam shot distorting space around itself, it's exciting to hear they were able to implement even MORE lovely details like those.
It was my pleasure! You're also right that it still looks like the same game, and that's kind of an achievement when they redid basically everything. An amateur graphics nerd like me is losing my shit over all the detail they've added without touching the overall impression of the original. My clear time is going to suck, but only because of how much time I'm spending just soaking in the atmosphere pretending I don't have the entire game memorized.
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Dark Mac



Joined: 17 May 2008
Posts: 309
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 12:47 pm Reply with quote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xORZz58JAgA

You're definitely letting the nostalgia talk if you don't think the Metroid Prime remaster looks much better than the original. They did some amazing work here.
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Aura Ichadora



Joined: 25 Apr 2008
Posts: 2281
Location: In front of my computer
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 1:42 pm Reply with quote
Baten Kaitos' announcement was the only one that made me go "HOLY SH--". Like, literal screaming. I loved playing the original game (unfortunately never had the chance to play Origins), and I still have the copy my family had when my brother and I were kids. Actually saved it from being sold by my brother when he was unloading a bunch of the older game systems and such (it was one of the few games I wanted to bring with me when I moved out, but couldn't find it), and it's been on my shelf ever since. I've been wanting to play it, but haven't been able to get things set up for us to play on the GameCube or the Wii, but now I can just wait and play it as well as Origins on the Switch. I'm just so excited for it!

I just hope that it'll get a physical release, but I'll still be fine with a digital-only release. But physical would be amazing to put up against my original copy and my strategy guide for the original game.
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The Mad Manga Massacre



Joined: 15 Jul 2009
Posts: 1166
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:51 pm Reply with quote
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AiddonValentine



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 2201
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:57 pm Reply with quote
Ah, loads of news as every Direct week is.

-MS/ActiBlizz: This thing is still a hilarious circus. It's gotten to the point where Kotick is going on CNBC to whine about how they're just a poor widdle Western publisher and Microsoft needs them in order to fight again mean old Asia. Because if there's anything that gets people going, it's stoking fear of Asia. Pathetic. I hope this deal flops and Kotick loses so much money for the company that investors finally boot him.

-Pikmin 4: Bulbdog, that is all

-Samba de Amigo: Eh, why not?

-Splatoon 3: Good times

-Metroid Prime: Just like Nintendo to just shadow drop a remaster of one of the greatest games of all time. I definitely agree that the Prime games were so well made artistically that they genuinely require a side-by-side to get the full picture of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jaypbay8rt4

What I'm thankful for is that they didn't make it look TOO polished and lost a lot of the atmosphere the original had. And bonus points for having gyro aiming in. If this is what a Prime Remaster looks like, I shudder to think what Prime 4 is going to look like

-Etrian Odyssey: @FinalVentCard Remember how I was saying these needed to return? I claim making it manifest

-Ghost Trick: Everyone getting to meet Missile, the best boy around

-Baten Kaitos: Interestingly, there's no English dub. You're not missing much

-Game Boy/GBA: That's going to sell Expansion Passes for the NSO. And thank Naga we can use save states and rewind for Fire Emblem

-Level 5: After a few years of fumbling around, have they finally gotten their act together? A new Professor Layton is enough, but finally getting a new Fantasy Life is delightful. Looks like they added some Animal Crossing New Horizons stuff to it, so hopefully it's just as charming as the original

-Tears of the Kingdom: Why hello, Matthew Mercer, you finally get to live out your There Will Be Brawl dreams. And as usual, Nintendo still being cryptic because they know the experience is important

-Xenoblade 3: um...Holy crap?

Lots of stuff
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2242
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 9:47 pm Reply with quote
As someone who still owns my copy of Ghost Trick (and no idea how expensive those suckers had gotten, holy crap, y’all!!!), this and Fashion Dreamer sent me over the moon! Two totally out of left field announcements for two series (well, one spiritual successor) that I thought were dead and buried. *throws confetti* And now I finally get the chance to check out Baten Kaitos!
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WoodDude



Joined: 22 Dec 2022
Posts: 60
PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2023 1:49 am Reply with quote
I played Xenoblade 2 at launch and regretted it. By the time all the DLC came out I was already done with the game after going super try hard for the first month that I never actually went back to play any of the DLC. This time I skipped out on 3 and am waiting for everything to be out before I play it.
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zenprism



Joined: 28 Nov 2019
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2023 1:15 pm Reply with quote
My first exposure to the Etrian Odyssey series was when the demo for Etrian Odyssey IV went up on the 3DS store. I made it as far as the character creator (naming all my characters after types of cookies, something I continued to do with each successive game), before I went and pre-ordered it. I've since picked up each new game in the series and loved all of them. I'm excited to finally play 1-3.
I did read somewhere that physical copies of Origins will come with a stylus. Maybe just early copies, but I'm all over that offering.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2023 4:57 am Reply with quote
AiddonValentine wrote:

-MS/ActiBlizz: This thing is still a hilarious circus. It's gotten to the point where Kotick is going on CNBC to whine about how they're just a poor widdle Western publisher and Microsoft needs them in order to fight again mean old Asia. Because if there's anything that gets people going, it's stoking fear of Asia. Pathetic. I hope this deal flops and Kotick loses so much money for the company that investors finally boot him.


It is a circus, and it doesn't help that the FTC is part of it. Do ya know what was said by the antitrust expert who actually successfully litigated the monopoly case against Microsoft in the 1990s? That the FTC head Lina Khan just wants to take antitrust cases to court, even with little evidence and a losing case, just to make an example to US Congress that the country needs new antitrust legislaton

In other words, these court cases are FTC political shows for Congress, and they can't let the EU or UK ruin it with a prior settlement. That's why the FTC quickly sued Microsoft before the EU or UK could talk about settlements with MS:

"FTC Case Vs Microsoft “Built Entirely On Anecdote,” Says Antitrust Lawyer Who Beat Microsoft In Court"

https://gameranx.com/updates/id/420578/article/ftc-case-vs-microsoft-built-entirely-on-anecdote-says-antitrust-lawyer-who-beat-microsoft-in-court/

Quote:

Antitrust expert who defeated Microsoft says FTC's Activision deal strategy is 'nutty' - FTC head Lina Khan is pursuing a stated strategy of bringing cases even with little evidence.

Lina Khan, head of the FTC, has publicly stated she wants the agency to bring cases forward even when the evidence isn't strong.

Many are casting doubts that the FTC has the facts on its side to win one or both of these cases against these tech giants. Among the skeptics is Douglas Melamed, dubbed the Michael Jordan of antitrust law. Melamed is a former acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice. He was principal deputy assistant attorney general when the DOJ successfully sued Microsoft over antitrust violations in the 1990s.

Melamed, who is now a professor at Stanford Law School, said FTC Chair Lina Khan is willing to lose cases to demonstrate to Congress that the country needs new antitrust legislation.

“I think that’s kind of nutty,” Melamed said. “I think if you lose cases, the most likely inference Congress is going to draw is either you brought bad cases or you don’t know how to litigate them.”

As has been reported before, FTC staff did not want to pursue the case against Meta but Khan reportedly overruled them. That said, Melamed thinks Microsoft’s case might be an even tougher challenge for the FTC than the one with Meta and Within. He said based on the complaint, the agency seems to lack rigorous economic analysis to back up its claims against the tech giant.

“In this case, the commission really doesn’t seem to care about economics at all. This seems to be built entirely on anecdote. And the storytelling about it – I think all good litigators tell a good story, but in antitrust, typically you back that up with some numbers and some rigorous economic analysis and there’s no indication of that in the complaint.


In fact, that major case against Meta where Khan overruled her staff, the FTC just lost that case last week:

"FTC Loses Antitrust Challenge to Facebook Parent Meta"

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ftc-loses-antitrust-challenge-to-facebook-parent-meta-11675272525

Quote:
FTC won’t appeal court decision permitting Meta to buy Within. The decision could spell trouble for a separate FTC suit challenging Microsoft’s purchase of Activision.


And the FTC won't even appeal the case because they knew they didn't stand a chance. Meanwhile, the Microsoft case is even tougher. But they're just bringing cases to court to prove a point to Congress, even weak cases to serve their purpose.

Here's one aspect of US antitrust laws that FTC head Khan wants Congress to change, even when she knows she's going to lose court cases trying to achieve it:

Quote:
The FTC's course of action is incredibly rash and premature. While the commission's concerns about Activision Blizzard game exclusivity are understandable, it's hard to believe that the FTC truly cares about anything other than political grandstanding.

Ultimately, the contrast between the FTC's approach and the EU's could not be sharper. While the EU no doubt has its concerns, the fact it's actually trying to work them out with Microsoft signals that it's doing what a regulator is supposed to do: carefully considering the merger and working to ensure it will help, not hurt, consumers. Meanwhile, the FTC has clumsily barreled its way into a full-blown lawsuit, complaining about ZeniMax exclusives that Microsoft never said it would make multiplatform in the first place and manipulating the EU to try and keep a settlement from developing.

Microsoft Case Poses Crucial Test for FTC’s Fight Against ‘Vertical’ Mergers - Antitrust-enforcement agency seeks to block Activision purchase with arguments similar to those that have failed in the past

The concerns from the FTC are further diminished by the fact that Microsoft and Activision are not in direct competition with each other, but rather interact with the market at different levels. Vertical mergers, which see companies operating at different levels of production in an industry combine, are trickier to build an antitrust case against than horizontal ones that see direct rivals combine

It’s the biggest test yet of Ms. Khan’s effort to overhaul antitrust law. In recent decades, courts have tended to approve so-called vertical mergers, like the Activision deal, that unite two related companies in an industry, rather than putting together direct competitors.

Ms. Khan has acknowledged that the strategy may not win in the courts every time. But she has defended filing long-shot lawsuits if they expand the boundaries of competition regulation, including by persuading Congress to change antitrust law.

Still, some critics are unconvinced. These kinds of non-competitor transactions —“vertical” mergers — are difficult to challenge and have a long track record of success. Indeed, as Meta explained in a recent court filing, “there has not been a single successful antitrust challenge to a vertical acquisition litigated in 50 years.”


When regulators have discussions regarding settlements, they can extract concessions from merging companies. But if regulators take the case to court and lose, then the winning merging companies don't have to concede anything! So the regulators lose that leverage for mitigating circumstances - that's a consequence of taking a losing case to court.

As for Kotick:

"Bobby Kotick Will Reportedly Remain Activision CEO If Microsoft Buyout Fails - Kotick is rumoured to leave Activision Blizzard after the Microsoft deal concludes, but only if it isn't blocked by regulators."

https://www.thegamer.com/bobby-kotick-activision-blizzard-step-down-microsoft/

Quote:
However, in the scenario in which it falls apart due to concerns over market competition, it seems that we can expect Kotick to remain at the top of the company for some time. This is despite being implicated in several abuse and harassment allegations within the company, and heading it while many of these incidents were said to have taken place.

Despite this, Activision Blizzard's shareholders have continued to give Kotick their full backing, overwhelmingly supporting his bid to stay on the board of directors last year. So if the Microsoft acquisition falls through, it doesn't seem that there will be much internal pressure to oust the CEO, or at least not from those with a great deal of influence within the company.


And Microsoft has to pay Activision as much as $3 Billion if the merder deal fails. Kotick would be gaining Activision money either way, so of course how would Activision get rid of him

Really, the only practical way to get rid of Kotick as soon as possible is for Microsoft to give him a rich golden parachute. Because a lot of money is what it'll take to make him walk away, and Microsoft can afford it (Activision itself may not be able to afford such a price tag that Kotick wants)

Kotick owns 25% stake of Activision and has been its CEO since 1991 - if Activision can't get rid of him out of all that time, they'll never get rid of him! So if the merger deal fails, Kotick stays - and who would want that?
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 5887
PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2023 4:23 pm Reply with quote
enurtsol wrote:

Kotick owns 25% stake of Activision and has been its CEO since 1991 - if Activision can't get rid of him out of all that time, they'll never get rid of him! So if the merger deal fails, Kotick stays - and who would want that?


https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MortonsFork
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