Community MetaSteam | April 2025 - The Tempest Principle: Midnight Viking Expedition

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The Last of Us Part II Remastered

Five years after their dangerous journey across the post-pandemic United States, Ellie and Joel have settled down in Jackson, Wyoming. Living amongst a thriving community of survivors has allowed them peace and stability, despite the constant threat of the infected and other, more desperate survivors. When a violent event disrupts that peace, Ellie embarks on a relentless journey to carry out justice and find closure.​



South of Midnight

From the creators of Contrast and We Happy Few, South of Midnight is a spellbinding third person action-adventure game set in the American Deep South.

As Hazel, you will explore the mythos and encounter creatures of Southern folklore in a macabre and fantastical world. When disaster strikes her hometown, Hazel is called to become a Weaver: a magical mender of broken bonds and spirits. Imbued with these new abilities, Hazel will confront and subdue dangerous creatures, untangle the webs of her own family's shared past and - if she's lucky - find her way to a place that feels like home.​



Commandos: Origins

ALARM! You have been selected for a mission which will shape the fate of the entire world. Witness the very beginning of the legendary elite WWII force in Commandos: Origins. The long-awaited sequel to the Commandos series brings you right back to the foundation of the real-time tactics genre. And to the days where Jack O’Hara, the Green Beret, and his five companions met to form the infamous unit sent to complete missions which no others would dare to accept.

In the hushed shadows of history’s most pivotal moments, where heroes are born and legends are forged, a new chapter awaits. Whether it is a daring raid, a covert sabotage, or a courageous rescue mission – the Green Beret, the Sapper, the Sniper, the Driver, the Marine and the Spy will need to combine their skills to meet the most challenging tasks. Your mission can only be achieved through well-thought planning and the smart combination of stealth and destruction that come with the unique skillsets of this elite troop.

From the icy plains of the Arctic to the vast deserts of Africa, from the western coastlines of Europe to the Eastern front, it’s up to you to lead your commandos to success in high-risk missions. Guide them in their fight against the growing Nazi occupation which is menacing the free world.​



Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days

Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is a side-scrolling shelter survival game that tasks you with guiding a desperate group of zombie apocalypse survivors to safety. Craft weapons, scavenge resources, balance your group’s needs, and try to get everyone out of danger alive.

Texas, 1980. Walton City is a sprawling, coastal metropolis in the grip of a scorching heatwave and crippling economic crisis. Everything changes when an unstoppable zombie outbreak reaches US shores. Walton City is soon overrun by hordes of the undead, the few remaining survivors cut off from any chance of outside help. Forced to band together, these everyday people must chase their only chance of survival by escaping the city.​



Hollywood Animal

In Hollywood Animal, you can decide to build a multi-billion-dollar monster that destroys everything in its path, with blockbusters made strictly according to formulas. But this is far from your only option. You might instead create a boutique studio, and conquer the festivals with avant-garde directors. You could build a trash factory, challenging "good taste" at every turn, filling the screens with blood and spit. This game doesn't tell you how to play or limit you in anything. Just have fun making movies while you try to keep the whole thing afloat.

We shouldn't forget the film industry is just one part of a much larger and dynamic world. Wars and social upheaval, censorship and corruption, strained relations with the authorities and criminal disputes. — Some will be buried in an avalanche of problems, while others seize new opportunities. Make your moves behind the scenes, form unexpected alliances, lie and betray. There are no magic formulas in Hollywood Animal. Only those who can adapt and negotiate survive.​



Crashlands 2

Return to Woanope as Flux Dabes, intergalactic trucker and disgruntled corporate employee. After years away from the planet under a lucrative (if morally dubious) spokesperson contract for the Bureau of Shipping, you return to visit some old pals and recover from corporate burnout. But before your vacation can even begin, a mysterious blast from the planet's surface sends you crashing into a new land, far from friends and alone in an alien wilderness.​



Blue Prince

Welcome to Mt. Holly, the mysterious manor with shifting rooms. In Blue Prince, you embark on a genre-defying experience, filled with a unique mix of mystery, strategy, and puzzles that weave together to create an unpredictable journey. Will your explorative steps lead you to the rumored Room 46?

Upon reaching a closed door in Mt. Holly, you decide what room appears behind it and each decision shapes your path as you navigate through the manor. Every door can reveal new and exciting chambers that contain their own unique challenges and secrets. But be careful how you draft, for each day the manor’s floor plan resets and the rooms you saw today may not be the same rooms you see tomorrow.

Your progress each day is shaped by the rooms you select to draft and the tools you find within them. Items in the game can be used in a number of creative ways to fuel your exploration deeper into the house, allowing you to adopt unique strategies to combat the challenges that each day brings. Yet, tread wisely – the house resets each dawn, erasing all but the permanent upgrades to your estate blueprint. That is, if you were clever enough to find one!

As the heir of Mt. Holly, you have been tasked to explore its shifting halls in search of Room 46. Yet as your journey takes you further into the mansion’s depths, you start to discover that there is more lurking under the surface than a missing room. Investigate a past woven with the threads of blackmail, political intrigue, and the mysterious disappearance of a local children’s book author. The deeper you venture, the more you realize that the past is closer than it appears.​



Monaco 2

Monaco is a city overflowing with luxury and greed, which makes it a perfect target for you and your international gang of criminal masterminds. The best of the best have been assembled, and they’ll need to work together using their unique abilities to rob the city blind. Do you and your friends have what it takes to bring the city of Monaco to its knees?

They say there’s no honor among thieves, but they’ve never met your crew! Team up with up to three other players in local or online multiplayer and plan your heist. However, nothing ever goes exactly according to plan in Monaco, so you’ll need to work together and improvise if you want to get away with your haul of riches.

New characters mean all new ways to play! Assemble your team from a selection of eight playable characters, each with their own unique abilities and playstyles. Need to adapt? Switch your character mid-run to overcome whatever obstacles stand between you and untold riches!​



The Talos Principle: Reawakened

Step back into a world of thought-provoking puzzles, philosophical intrigue, and breathtaking visuals with The Talos Principle: Reawakened. This definitive edition revisits the groundbreaking narrative of The Talos Principle, immersing players in an expanded and remastered journey through the world of the Simulation.

The Talos Principle: Reawakened introduces new content, enhanced gameplay, and a gorgeously upgraded presentation. Relive the critically acclaimed expansion Road to Gehenna and dive into an all-new chapter, In the Beginning. Discover the story of Alexandra Drennan as she faces profound existential questions while orchestrating the Simulation's first critical test, challenging players to think deeply about the human condition.​



Wild Assault

Welcome to "Wild Assault".

Whether you're a cool-headed marksman or a brave assault player, in Wild Assault you can always enjoy the most exhilarating shooting experience. All characters in Wild Assault have their unique abilities based on animal instincts. It's more than just shooting combat - help the characters unleash their primal powers to achieve victory! From capturing strongholds to frontline assaults and defenses, utilize characters' high mobility on all fours and unique abilities to secure victory. It's a test of skill and strategy! Unleash your wisdom and creativity to match different classes for the squad. Maximize the team's strength!​



Lunacid - Tears of the Moon

Lunacid: Tears of the Moon is a First Person Dungeon Crawler made with the Sword of Moonlight - King’s Field making tool from 2000. Explore various dungeons for powerful weapons and spells to forestall the previsioned end of the world.

The Kingdom of Lyria rests in darkness, surrounded on all sides by the vast poison sea. In ages long past, brilliant silver moonlight fell upon Lyria, leading to its accession as a great kingdom of magic. But this time of solace may soon end.

Calamis Cerulean was granted a vison of this macabre future, the Great Old One who sleeps beneath the earth will soon awaken from it's slumber and plunge the world into another dark age. He must venture into dangerous lands to gather magics of light and dark. Only then can he coax the silver moonlight to fall upon the Great Old One and lull it back into a deep sleep.​



Night is Coming

Night is Coming is a survival strategy game set in a fantasy world inspired by Slavic mythology and the nature of Eastern Europe.

The Darkness is relentlessly devouring the lands, forcing survivors to hide in the woods, where each new day is a battle against death. You are to lead a group of those humbled by impending dread: build and develop your settlement, gather resources, and protect your people from monsters that lurk in the dark. Take care of the settlers, make them learn crafts and military skills so their next sunset is not their last. Over time, you will have to leave the lands you developed and look for the new ones... Who knows, maybe there you will find out how to repel the inevitable danger and save the world.

Will you be able to do all that is needed before the sunset?​



Stygian: Outer Gods

Set in the universe of Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones, the game lets players witness and influence the events preceding the Black Day. Immerse yourself in a unique world full of dangers, unexplored dark corners, and looming evil beyond mortal comprehension.

Accompany an old friend on her voyage to the foggy settlement of Kingsport to uncover the town's dark secrets and find your missing father. You survive a shipwreck, but soon realize that it was just a prelude to the nightmare that awaits. Using your strength and wits, guided by your friend's knowledge of the occult, can you prevent the coming of the Outer Gods? Or is the descent into madness inevitable?​



Chains of Freedom

Step into a thrilling turn-based tactics game set in a fictional, dystopian Eastern European state. Lead an elite military squad as you navigate perilous missions filled with danger, deceit, and moral dilemmas.

As you delve deeper into a conspiracy threatening your nation, engage in high-stakes tactical combat that demands precision with every move. Arm your team with a variety of weapons and gear, adapt their skills to meet ever-changing challenges, and confront intense missions that push your resolve to its limits. Uncover the truth in a world where the nation’s fate lies in your hands.​



Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree

Create your Inquisitor from one of six unique Classes, and wield blades and magic to battle nightmarish creatures. Craft hundreds of weapons and items, and learn powerful Talents to define your combat style. Explore a vast, interconnected world and unearth its secrets across 60 quests that will push your skills to their limits.

Faelduum teeters on the edge of ruin. Dark forces seep into its reality through tears in the fabric of existence, unleashing monsters upon it.

You are an Inquisitor. Tasked with rooting out heretics and enforcing the King Priest’s will, your devotion has never wavered… until now. One fleeting moment of defiance sets you on an irreversible path that leads to the heart of Faelduum’s unraveling fate.

From the towering majesty of Crimson City, through festering darkness, and into the horrors of Entropy... what will you become at journey’s end?​



LUNAR Remastered Collection

It’s time to journey back to the stars!

Dive into the enchanting worlds of LUNAR: Silver Star Story Complete and LUNAR 2: Eternal Blue Complete, two beloved JRPGs that have captured the hearts of gamers for generations.

LUNAR: Silver Star Story introduces Alex, an aspiring Dragonmaster who bands together with his friends to combat the perilous emergence of the Magic Emperor and stop him from taking over the world.

LUNAR 2: Eternal Blue picks up a thousand years later, and follows Hiro and his friends as they set out in search of the Goddess Althena alongside an enigmatic girl named Lucia. On this grand quest, fend off enemies like Borgan and White Knight Leo, who hunt down the group to eradicate what they deem to be the "Destroyer of Lunar."

This definitive remastered edition features enhanced graphics, audio, and quality-of-life improvements that will satiate that hunger for 90s nostalgia--better than you remember! Embark on these two adventures with updated language support, now available in English, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, French, and German.​



The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-

Takumi Sumino is a totally average teenager living in the Tokyo Residential Complex, a place where every day is much like the last and nothing bad ever happens. All that changes when freakish monsters attack the town and start wreaking havoc. A strange creature calling himself Sirei appears and offers Takumi the power to protect those he holds dear... All he has to do is stab himself in the chest!

The next thing he knows, Takumi is in Last Defense Academy, a school in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a wall of otherworldly flames. He and 14 other students have been drafted into the Special Defense Unit, a team tasked with keeping the school safe for the next 100 days. How much are they willing to sacrifice to take back their normal lives and save the world from the grotesque school invaders?

The curtain rises on 100 days of war and despair...​



Viking Frontiers

A series of unfortunate events has brought you to an unknown shore, and it is your task to transform it into your new home and fortress.

Can you unite the remnants of your clan? Can you withstand the challenges of nature? And most importantly, will you prove worthy of the honorable title of Jarl? The fate of your people rests on your shoulders…​



Dolls Nest

Dolls Nest is a 3D action game where you control a mecha girl as she explores the gigantic factory world of Hod on her journey to uncover the truth.

Hod, the world which you inhabit, is a massive crater crawling with armored units. Broken machines and ruined buildings are strewn across its landscape.

But fate can be cruel. You must scavenge the land for resources if you wish to survive in this ruined world.

Make use of the parts and items you find on your journey, and overcome the trials that lie before you.​



Old Skies

Time Travel is real and history is up for grabs! In this point-and-click, you play Fia Quinn, a time agent for the ChronoZen agency. Your job is to keep close watch on seven travelers who have the desire (and the bank accounts) to sightsee in the past. Some are simply curious. Others have unfinished business to resolve. And they’ve all put down a lot of money for the trip, so it’s vital that you keep them happy while ensuring they follow the rules. But what could go wrong? It's only time travel, after all.​



Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Once a year, the Paintress wakes and paints upon her monolith. Paints her cursed number. And everyone of that age turns to smoke and fades away. Year by year, that number ticks down and more of us are erased. Tomorrow she’ll wake and paint “33.” And tomorrow we depart on our final mission - Destroy the Paintress, so she can never paint death again.

We are Expedition 33.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a ground-breaking turn-based RPG with unique real-time mechanics, making battles more immersive and addictive than ever. Explore a fantasy world inspired by Belle Époque France in which you battle devastating enemies.​



Tempest Rising

Classic RTS action meets modern production and performance in Tempest Rising. Inspired by RTS greats of the 90s and 2000s, Tempest Rising is a classic, base-building real time strategy game set in a modern day alternative history war scenario. It features 3 unique factions, each with its own approach to combat and economy and offering a variety of strategies for players of all stripes, deep and rewarding gameplay that keeps a focus on strategy while rewarding skill, and built-in customization options that allow players to approach the game their way in both single player and multiplayer game modes.

Take on the role of Commander in the highly mobile and advanced peacekeeping corps of the Global Defense Forces or the hard-hitting and desperate Tempest Dynasty in 2 11-mission campaigns that allow the player to customize their army for each mission, as both armies seek to understand and control the mysterious but beneficial Tempest vines that grow unchecked across the war-torn planet Earth. Other dangers wait in the shadows, as the origin of the Tempest is revealed...​



FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves

SNK’s beloved Fatal Fury series first hit the market in 1991, spearheading the fighting game boom of the 1990s that swept the industry thereafter. GAROU: MARK OF THE WOLVES (released in 1999) has, for some time, served as the franchise’s most recent installment. But that is all about to change: 26 years on, a brand-new entry—FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves—is set to arrive on the scene!​



Days Gone - Broken Road DLC

Days Gone – Broken Road DLC is an expansion to Days Gone, an open-world action-adventure game set in a harsh wilderness two years after a devastating global pandemic. Days Gone – Broken Road DLC features all new content and features that will enhance your Days Gone experience as you fight for tomorrow in this brutal relentless world.​



Badlands Crew

As a protector of The Citadel, the last outpost of the surviving innocents, you must journey into the lawless Badlands to conquer crazed factions of marauders and defeat their evil chief, The Orator. To succeed you must construct and customize your ferocious battle wagon to adapt to the lethal threats you will face.

Use deep and dynamic vehicle customization to equip your wagon with a range of components and weapons such as flamethrowers, sniper turrets, gatling guns, lookout towers, medical stations, wheels, suspension, fuel tanks, engines and exhausts. Build your battle wagon, your way…​



Skin Deep

Skin Deep is an immersive first-person shooter. We got sneezing. We got things getting stuck in your feet. Stalk through a vast non-linear starship and sneak, subvert, and sabotage to survive in this stellar sandbox. You're outnumbered, outgunned, and have no shoes.

Welcome to Skin Deep!​



Moroi

Moroi is set within the Cosmic Engine, a personalized hellscape designed to distort any semblance of normalcy. Truth is an illusion, paranoia is constant, and your humanity is an oddity.

You awake to find yourself a prisoner within a living nightmare. Your name, your past: gone, but not the record of your misdeeds. Your crimes: beyond comprehension. Your conviction: incontestable. Your sentence: eternal. The need to escape and set things right: undeniable.

Fight your way out of a living, twisting labyrinth. Hone your skills as you take on dynamic combat encounters and absurd puzzles. Meet the Cosmic Engine’s most disturbing and grotesque inhabitants, all with unique and nonsensical personalities, who are just as likely to aid in your quest as they are to deceive you.

Escape means freedom, and in freedom, the truth.​


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Games would sell 900k copies and were considered a great financial success. Fine for me if publishers want to go back to those numbers, but sure as fuck I'm never paying 90€ for a videogame.

Also mandatory Monkey Island.jpg
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Games would sell 900k copies and were considered a great financial success. Fine for me if publishers want to go back to those numbers, but sure as fuck I'm never paying 90€ for a videogame.

Also mandatory Monkey Island.jpg

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Those games also cost a fraction of the amount to create. Less staff, less time, less of everything.
 
So far TLOU 2 is running SIGNIFICANTLY better than the TLOU 1 port (even after the updates). Shader compilation is nowhere near as painful (for TLOU1 you had to compile that shit for like 30 minutes each time). I think after stumbling with the Spidey 2 port, Nixxes has done a great job again.
 
So far TLOU 2 is running SIGNIFICANTLY better than the TLOU 1 port (even after the updates). Shader compilation is nowhere near as painful (for TLOU1 you had to compile that shit for like 30 minutes each time). I think after stumbling with the Spidey 2 port, Nixxes has done a great job again.
 
I see a bit of an imbalance here. My costs are not their problem but their costs are my problem?
Fundamentally, games have gotten much more expensive to make. One way to finance this is to keep the upfront cost constant and introduce other revenue streams. The alternative to that will mean to increase the upfront cost, and I can understand that Nintendo is unwilling to change their model. A Mario or Zelda where you can pay for costumes and small little additions seems to be too gauche for their liking. So to offset rising costs, Nintendo increases the upfront cost. It all has its risks and downsides, and it will be interesting to see whether it works out for them, or whether they will course correct.

As for "imbalance", I am just saying that you are at that point conflating two topics that are not causally related (though of course the relation is clear as every little spending is felt in one's pockets). I deeply sympathise that workers should be better compensated, but that is a much more important topic that should be given its own priority and not be used as a "what-aboutism" in a discussion on game prices, affordability of titles and rising costs for game development, all of which are factors that influence each other directly.
 
Fundamentally, games have gotten much more expensive to make. One way to finance this is to keep the upfront cost constant and introduce other revenue streams. The alternative to that will mean to increase the upfront cost, and I can understand that Nintendo is unwilling to change their model. A Mario or Zelda where you can pay for costumes and small little additions seems to be too gauche for their liking. So to offset rising costs, Nintendo increases the upfront cost. It all has its risks and downsides, and it will be interesting to see whether it works out for them, or whether they will course correct.

As for "imbalance", I am just saying that you are at that point conflating two topics that are not causally related (though of course the relation is clear as every little spending is felt in one's pockets). I deeply sympathise that workers should be better compensated, but that is a much more important topic that should be given its own priority and not be used as a "what-aboutism" in a discussion on game prices, affordability of titles and rising costs for game development, all of which are factors that influence each other directly.

To be clear, I don't have any issue with with what you posted specifically, I am just very annoyed by the discussion surrounding gaming costs because I think the industry is distorting facts to suit its agenda. Among those distortions is the fact that inflation is used as an argument to raise prices without any acknowledgment that the audience's buying power has not increased and especially now it nas decreased. The industry also routinely omits the fact that while costs have gone up, so has the size of the audience and the ways to milk more money out of that audience. I don't buy this pressing need to increase prices when almost all of them report absurd profits every year.
 
The industry also routinely omits the fact that while costs have gone up, so has the size of the audience and the ways to milk more money out of that audience.
This is actually an interesting question, which is whether non-mobile gaming audience is really growing or not. I think we saw a steady growth in total console sales (across all platforms) up until Wii era (which brought even more new people into gaming), but from that point onwards, it seems console sales are very much a zero sum game, where Sony's gain is Xbox's loss. Sure, the Switch is doing great, but let's not forget that Nintendo used to have a massive handheld audience (the 3DS sold like 120 million units) plus a massive console audience. While they did a great job regaining that audience after the dud that was the WiiU, looking at the raw numbers, it does not look like they really grew beyond the heyday of the late 00s.
It makes sense then that Nintendo is looking at ways to increase their revenue, since audience numbers are not there to make up the difference.
 
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Game budgets have went up but so has game scope and complexity too in turn
Inflation may be a thing but the market has grown significantly since the cartridge days
Also cartridges cost more than discs and downloads to manufacture

And while game prices keep creeping up, pricing variability (not to mention sales or F2P) of games available remains an option for buyers
Not to mention general consumer buying power in the wider economy at the current time

To just say “but inflation” or “but prices back in the day” is beyond missing the point
 
It makes sense then that Nintendo is looking at ways to increase their revenue, since audience numbers are not there to make up the difference.
If only there was a platform that has been growing steadily in the last gen and whose users have been proven to have no issue buying games (even if they release later), and where japanese publishers have found a new unexplored audience
 
There really isn't a way for nintendo to reaslitically increase revenue because they already performed so stupidly high on switch 1. Go look at the best seller list for that system, it's not easily repeated on any system. Dozens of nintendo games that have done millions and millions of copies.

But they're also not really facing the same struggles as everyone else either. You will never be able to convince me games like mario wonder or mario party or kirby cost even half of what high end AAA games cost these days ($200m+). I'm not even sure they cost a fourth of what those games cost. They have no VA, no extensive mocap, no expensive cutscenes or massive worlds full of detail. They're generally the smallest and least complex games out there, like you're not seeing a hundred RPG elements tacked on to kirby with 50 hours of loot grinding.

They're already a stupidly profitable company because these games cost next to nothing to make and they end up selling millions (often regardless of quality). All they had to do was keep the ball rolling.
 
I have stated a couple of times my thoughts on game prices, £40 is my general limit and maybe £50 on a handful of rare cases.

However I preferred the likes of Far Cry and assassins creed back when they were made by smaller teams. The seemed more interesting back then.

I think Rockstar games started getting duller and duller after Bully came out and was probably the last game of theirs I completed. Hell I think Call of Juarez Gunslinger is a better Wild West game than either Red Dead Redemption game (I know different developers/publishers but I like Gunslinger).

But what do I know, the next game I am looking forward to grabbing when I have some free time is either Balataro or Caves of Qud
 
I just bought TLOU2 PC for 36 euros. 30-40 is about what I am willing to pay for digital nonCE games.

For CE editions of games I am looking forward to for years (examples: Cyberpunk, RDR2, Kingdom Come 2, Witcher 4..) I am willing to pay 200 euros no problem. But these are rare, usually one every two or three years at best.

80 or 90 euros for standard edition of a game is not acceptable - eventhough I can easily afford it, as a matter of principle I just refuse to support that. So I would become a patient gamer no problem, if that were to become the new normal.

I would hope most customers will not reward that and companies will reconsider though.
 
Yeah the switch to CDs with the Playstation lowered prices for sure.

Plus I'm sure the 30% digital cut is lower than the combined cost of manufacturing, shipping, warehousing, retail, and the console maker's cut for CD/DVD/Blu-Ray based games.

I'm not sure how much Switch game cards cost but I imagine they were pretty expensive per cart (probably many, many times that of a 4K Blu-Ray disk) since we saw a lot of games ship on smaller cards and have to download big patches. I'm sure Nintendo and Switch publishers want as many Switch users buying digital (which is funny because of how much of a shit show the Switch eShop is).
 
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Plus I'm sure the 30% digital cut is lower than the combined cost of manufacturing, shipping, warehousing, retail, and the console maker's cut for CD/DVD/Blu-Ray based games.

I'm not sure how much Switch game cards cost but I imagine they were pretty expensive per cart (probably many, many times that of a 4K Blu-Ray disk) since we saw a lot of games ship on smaller cards and have to download big patches. I'm sure Nintendo and Switch publishers want as many Switch users buying digital (which is funny because of how much of a shit show the Switch eShop is).
You make a great point, by which I mean did they mention anything at all about how the new eShop will function? I didn't watch the direct and that seems to be a very important subject matter.

If in general there is hardly any real improvement of any kind.... Oh boy.

By the way how bad is the discord like thing that Nintendo is adding?
 
If only there was a platform that has been growing steadily in the last gen and whose users have been proven to have no issue buying games (even if they release later), and where japanese publishers have found a new unexplored audience

Its the perfect opportunity for Nintendo to finally start releasing games on PC.

But the Switch 2 would have to be a serious failure for that to happen. I don't see them selling 15o million units again but I think they will still do like 80-100 million which will be good enough for Nintendo. The hardware and software being both more expensive is gonna hurt them. The OG Switch launching at 329$ with BOTW was kind of on incredible thing back in 2017.

Either way wtvr playerbase they lose...that playerbase will definitely be going towards PC gaming and mobile. I'm expecting PC to grow a lot over the next 5 years. A lot of Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo only diehards gonna make the jump because console gaming will become too expensive. It will become less and less worth it with how expensive games are to make (and how long they take to release).

Valve is in a very good position with both the Deck 2 and possible Steam console of some kind. This stuff has to be affordable tho. And I think Valve will make it affordable. The Deck 2 will probably have identical hardware features as Switch 2. I doubt handhelds go higher than 1080p screen and 120hz anytime soon.

And a Steam console with AMD parts should be affordable enough as well.
 
The “4K tax” is irrelevant to most people.

You can get a PC cheaper than consoles that plays on 1080p displays (which the vast majority of the world use) fine.

Under Iwata, Nintendo saw itself as being different from the “more is better” arms race that Sony and Microsoft soiled themselves in (and are now having trouble with), but they seem to have ignored his wisdom this go around.

This isn’t a system he would have released.
 
Game price variation these days is pretty wild. When I think how many PC games I could potentially get for the equivalent of one copy of Mario Kart. That's several months of bundles alone.

And this is the issue with Nintendo for me, I don't value them at that much a premium, I'd struggle to value any company at close to that premium even those I much prefer..
 
The “4K tax” is irrelevant to most people.

You can get a PC cheaper than consoles that plays on 1080p displays (which the vast majority of the world use) fine.

Under Iwata, Nintendo saw itself as being different from the “more is better” arms race that Sony and Microsoft soiled themselves in (and are now having trouble with), but they seem to have ignored his wisdom this go around.

This isn’t a system he would have released.

Iwata would have probably gone the Valve route and sell a dockless Switch 2.

That shit cost 109$ and he would have forced the company to take an additional hit so that the starting price would be like 299$.

Basically not wait for the Switch 2 lite. or maybe go with an additional super small version for kids that most parents would likely be able to afford.

But from a hardware perspective I don't know what more Nintendo could have done. Its a 1080p screen with 120hz for 450$. You won't find anything cheaper or similar in the PC portable space by comparison so the hardware is still a good deal.

Problem is Nintendo hardware is also very locked down so its hard to make use of the specs like you can on Deck with so many TDP options and other stuff that truly only benefits PC gaming. With the Switch 2 you are basically at the mercy of devs and how they utilize the hardware. On top of all the bs upgrade pack stuff.

Nintendo cornered themselves into this situation by waiting so long with the first Switch. Long gens usually lead to these issues. The Switch 2 should have released 3 or 4 years ago with a 900p screen and near Deck specs. It would have been less of a headache for them and they could have avoided all the Covid manufacturing/inflation spikes too. Its a shit situation all around for the industry today.
 
The new Spin Rhythm XD update features better Steam Deck support (multi-touch, midi, Linux)

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Under Iwata, Nintendo saw itself as being different from the “more is better” arms race that Sony and Microsoft soiled themselves in (and are now having trouble with), but they seem to have ignored his wisdom this go around.

This isn’t a system he would have released.
To be fair, I'd find it hard to characterize the Switch 2 as part of any hardware arms race. If the rumors are accurate (and at this point, that seems very likely) the system uses a chip finalized in 2023 based on a GPU architecture from 2020. It's just as "low-end", HW-wise, as Switch 1 was when that was released.

Obviously Switch 2 is far more incremental / iterative in all other ways than its predecessor was.
 
Capcom definitely listened to complains about Monster Hunter Wilds being too easy because the new monsters are tough. Tempered Mizutsune can one shot you and it took me 5 tries to do the Zoh Shia rematch. The base release was raw but the Capcom cooks are working on it.
 
To be fair, I'd find it hard to characterize the Switch 2 as part of any hardware arms race. If the rumors are accurate (and at this point, that seems very likely) the system uses a chip finalized in 2023 based on a GPU architecture from 2020. It's just as "low-end", HW-wise, as Switch 1 was when that was released.

Obviously Switch 2 is far more incremental / iterative in all other ways than its predecessor was.

The thing is, Nintendo wants to sell a PS4-type of powerful console to PS5 prices.
 
Under Iwata, Nintendo saw itself as being different from the “more is better” arms race that Sony and Microsoft soiled themselves in (and are now having trouble with), but they seem to have ignored his wisdom this go around.

This isn’t a system he would have released.

what else was Switch's successor supposed to be? DS and Wii were huge successes in a world before smartphone gaming completely took over the casual market. it doesn't make any sense in the current market to radically change the design of the system around some new hardware gimmick when mobile has the casual market cornered, and Switch 1 gave them a stable base design to iterate on
 
Nevermind, pre orders are cancelled, they will now sell a PS4-type powerful console for PS5 pro prices


Well, for PS5 Pro prices before 2025, at least. These tariffs will make all existing consoles in the US (and possibly RoW, because greed) more expensive too, once existing stock in the country has been sold, and new units need be imported.
 
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Nintendo probably baked in tariff estimates to the "everywhere but Japan prices" they announced this week, and then got rocked when Trump slapped 46% tariffs on Vietnam (where Nintendo manufactures most of its stuff).

I'd be surprised if they raise prices outside of the US anymore, especially since they've already announced them and haven't said they're pausing pre-orders anywhere else. I see them doing one of two things:

1) Raise the US price and hope it still sells.
2) Hold the price and sell at a loss, but severely limit the supply in the US until they better understand the landscape (which could continually shift because Trump is a madman and may escalate tariffs even further), and use the freed up supply to stock other countries where they don't need to eat shit on each sale.