StarTopic Nintendo General Discussion |ST5 Feb. 2022| Xenodelayed Chronicles 3

[Procheno]

Posting this in this thread as well for anyone curious about the technical analysis of Monolith Soft and Xenoblade 3.

Not sure if this would interest anyone but I was comparing official screenshots to the trailer footage. It's interesting because the gameplay screenshots on Nintendo's website are taken right out of the trailer but the cutscene screenshots are from what looks to be a newer, higher quality build of the game. Monolith Soft does not do bullshot screenshots for their games. They do however do wallpaper super-samples of their environments which is different to what they're posting now.

One thing you'll notice is all screenshots, though only 720p, are much sharper than the footage of the same clips. This isn't YouTube compression either, this has to be a new build with higher fidelity/resolution because not only is the image just sharper, but textures and other details are better/different too

Example 1:
Trailer

Screenshot

Despite the same cloudy daytime environment, it has a different hue shade. The rock structure behind them is entirely different. The IQ is sharper. The character models/clothing is cleaner with higher fidelity texturing especially on Noah's red jacket which is now producing a reflective material. There's also less contrast on the skin, faces, and Mio's hand.

-
Ex 2: Trailer

Screenshot

Sharpness/texture quality is up. Also slight lighting change in the BG on the right side

-
Trailer

Screenshot

Lighting change on the face. Stronger side lighting hitting the face, nose, and left shoulder. Background vegetation has also been altered/thinned.

-

Image is much sharper, more detail in everything. Lighting is slightly darker/less bloomy and a shade greener?

-

Face shade softening has been toned down, more hard lines. Sharpness is up.

-

Huge BG lighting adjustment. Much more contrasted with more shadow detail. Also MUCH sharper. A lot of character clothing detail was added or now visible due to the higher resolution compared to the trailer footage. Again this isn't just from YouTube compression, this drastic adjustment is probably resolution, engine, fidelity polish since recording the trailer footage.

-

Another big BG lighting adjustment. More contrast, better detailed environments, more vegetation in the foreground. Less drastic but still noticeable sharpness boost.


Nice overall improvements imo. The resolution and texture clarity boosts are essential and appreciated after their previous games having trouble in those departments specifically. Thanks for coming to my analysis post. You have yourself a good day

 

[Derachi]

I’ll buy Switch Sports once it has Baseball

 

[Derachi]

Hmmm what if I got into Densha De Go

They have a DDG controller for switch

 

[chocolate_supra]

E

 

[Suswave]

if we’re violating NDAs all willy-nilly

 

[mazi]

 

[Party Sklar]

Hmmm what if I got into Densha De Go

They have a DDG controller for switch

If you're willing to sank hundreds of hours trying to drive trains as precisely as possible while trying (and failing) to explain to your friends and family that yes, it's actually fun, go for it

 

[MisterSpo]

Sleepy Saturday Theory:

Donkey Kong is going through its Metroid 2010 to 2016/17 Phase (or, alternatively, Metroid's 1994 to 2002 Phase)

No new mainline title for 8 years
No clear public plan for the franchise's future
No clearly assigned development team

Despite the DoomsDay scenarios and pessimism that was easy to find regarding Metroid in the early to mid 2010s, it was a franchise that had a clear future once Nintendo were happy they had the right development arrangements in place. Indeed, in interviews around 2015, I remember Kensuke Tanabe was insistent that both 2D Metroid and Prime had a future. That obviously wasn't a straightforward procedure, given the very public failure of Bamco's Prime 4, the negative reception of Federation Force, and the fact that, before Dread could happen, MercurySteam needed to prove themselves and the working relationship through Samus Returns. It clearly takes time to get these things right and that is probably especially true of Nintendo's classic, first generation IP.

Given the travails Nintendo went through with Metroid, I am increasingly convinced (and increasingly convincing myself) that things, potentially big things, are afoot with DK.

 

[Dinoman96]

Sleepy Saturday Theory:

Donkey Kong is going through its Metroid 2010 to 2016/17 Phase (or, alternatively, Metroid's 1994 to 2002 Phase)

No new mainline title for 8 years
No clear public plan for the franchise's future
No clearly assigned development team

Despite the DoomsDay scenarios and pessimism that was easy to find regarding Metroid in the early to mid 2010s, it was a franchise that had a clear future once Nintendo were happy they had the right development arrangements in place. Indeed, in interviews around 2015, I remember Kensuke Tanabe was insistent that both 2D Metroid and Prime had a future. That obviously wasn't a straightforward procedure, given the very public failure of Bamco's Prime 4, the negative reception of Federation Force, and the fact that, before Dread could happen, MercurySteam needed to prove themselves and the working relationship through Samus Returns. It clearly takes time to get these things right and that is probably especially true of Nintendo's classic, first generation IP.

Given the travails Nintendo went through with Metroid, I am increasingly convinced (and increasingly convincing myself) that things, potentially big things, are afoot with DK.

It's pretty much back to where it was after Rare's departure and before Retro took the reigns.

But at least back then there was DK Jungle Beat and the Paon games, as well as the DKC GBA ports keeping the flame alive.

 

[MisterSpo]

It's pretty much back to where it was after Rare's departure and before Retro took the reigns.

But at least back then there was DK Jungle Beat and the Paon games, as well as the DKC GBA ports keeping the flame alive.

At that time the series had immediate spin-offs, and a title developed internally at EAD, within a few years of Rare's departure. There was a 4 year gap in terms of new games, so DK's absence this last decade is more notable, I'd say.

In terms of new titles, the level of activity around the IP has probably never been this low since the mid 80s to early 90s, when the initial arcade boom ended and before DK started to get games on GameBoy and SNES.

 

[xghost777]

I have a lot of time for games this weekend and I’m bouncing between four of them at least. My main goal is to finish Zack and Wiki (which I’m liking, but not loving) and then I’m also playing Super Mario Advance 4’s e-reader levels (8 at a time), Picross S7, and F-Zero X. I bought both Super Mario Advance 4 and F-Zero X a few years ago and hadn’t played either until now. Yo they are so good. The e-reader levels are just a gauntlet of extra tough Mario levels which is obviously unlike anything else they put out (maybe 3D World’s post game comes close?). They have coins to collect like the New Super Mario Bros games and some of the puzzles are quite clever especially as they break the rules and bring mechanics/enemies/items from future games. F-Zero X is the only other 3D F-Zero like its successor, GX. Just so darn rad and gets tough as heck quickly. Drove off the roads a lot of times already trying to go as fast as possible lol. F-Zero X is coming to NSO+ but if you have a Wii U I think both of these are super worth snagging forever if you haven’t.

 

[Party Sklar]

my experience of Switch Sports so far :

 

[Xaltmas]

Just five hours between me and watching my Stone Age internet try and download Forbidden West. It’s at 75% now so it should be done in 24-30 hours lol.

 

[Zellia]

I'm on a friend's NSO family plan and he upgraded to the Expansion Pack at some point so been playing Paper Mario. It's pretty fun so far (just beat Chapter 5) but these Peach stealth sections after every chapter are kinda meh.

 

[Mirev]

Posting this in this thread as well for anyone curious about the technical analysis of Monolith Soft and Xenoblade 3.

Not sure if this would interest anyone but I was comparing official screenshots to the trailer footage. It's interesting because the gameplay screenshots on Nintendo's website are taken right out of the trailer but the cutscene screenshots are from what looks to be a newer, higher quality build of the game. Monolith Soft does not do bullshot screenshots for their games. They do however do wallpaper super-samples of their environments which is different to what they're posting now.

One thing you'll notice is all screenshots, though only 720p, are much sharper than the footage of the same clips. This isn't YouTube compression either, this has to be a new build with higher fidelity/resolution because not only is the image just sharper, but textures and other details are better/different too

Example 1:
Trailer

Screenshot

Despite the same cloudy daytime environment, it has a different hue shade. The rock structure behind them is entirely different. The IQ is sharper. The character models/clothing is cleaner with higher fidelity texturing especially on Noah's red jacket which is now producing a reflective material. There's also less contrast on the skin, faces, and Mio's hand.

-
Ex 2: Trailer

Screenshot

Sharpness/texture quality is up. Also slight lighting change in the BG on the right side

-
Trailer

Screenshot

Lighting change on the face. Stronger side lighting hitting the face, nose, and left shoulder. Background vegetation has also been altered/thinned.

-

Image is much sharper, more detail in everything. Lighting is slightly darker/less bloomy and a shade greener?

-

Face shade softening has been toned down, more hard lines. Sharpness is up.

-

Huge BG lighting adjustment. Much more contrasted with more shadow detail. Also MUCH sharper. A lot of character clothing detail was added or now visible due to the higher resolution compared to the trailer footage. Again this isn't just from YouTube compression, this drastic adjustment is probably resolution, engine, fidelity polish since recording the trailer footage.

-

Another big BG lighting adjustment. More contrast, better detailed environments, more vegetation in the foreground. Less drastic but still noticeable sharpness boost.


Nice overall improvements imo. The resolution and texture clarity boosts are essential and appreciated after their previous games having trouble in those departments specifically. Thanks for coming to my analysis post. You have yourself a good day

This is really cool

 

[Gartooth]

Sleepy Saturday Theory:

Donkey Kong is going through its Metroid 2010 to 2016/17 Phase (or, alternatively, Metroid's 1994 to 2002 Phase)

No new mainline title for 8 years
No clear public plan for the franchise's future
No clearly assigned development team

Despite the DoomsDay scenarios and pessimism that was easy to find regarding Metroid in the early to mid 2010s, it was a franchise that had a clear future once Nintendo were happy they had the right development arrangements in place. Indeed, in interviews around 2015, I remember Kensuke Tanabe was insistent that both 2D Metroid and Prime had a future. That obviously wasn't a straightforward procedure, given the very public failure of Bamco's Prime 4, the negative reception of Federation Force, and the fact that, before Dread could happen, MercurySteam needed to prove themselves and the working relationship through Samus Returns. It clearly takes time to get these things right and that is probably especially true of Nintendo's classic, first generation IP.

Given the travails Nintendo went through with Metroid, I am increasingly convinced (and increasingly convincing myself) that things, potentially big things, are afoot with DK.

Thankfully I do think the attitude around DK's hiatus online has been more chill than Metroid's, because Metroid had left off on a sour note with Other M before the hiatus whereas TF is a celebrated game. Not to mention there was more doom posting because the sales argument which doesnt apply to DK so much.

That said DK's hiatus does feel long in the tooth at this point. DK's guaranteed to go longer than the Super Metroid --> Fusion/Prime gap given what we know is releasing this year. Which itself is longer than the Other M --> Samus Returns gap.

I guess if we play around and say Other M--> Metroid 2 remake doesn't count, then Other M--> Dread was an 11 year gap. Hopefully we don't wait until 2025 for DK. lol

 

[MisterSpo]

Thankfully I do think the attitude around DK's hiatus online has been more chill than Metroid's, because Metroid had left off on a sour note with Other M before the hiatus whereas TF is a celebrated game. Not to mention there was more doom posting because the sales argument which doesnt apply to DK so much.

That said DK's hiatus does feel long in the tooth at this point. DK's guaranteed to go longer than the Super Metroid --> Fusion/Prime gap given what we know is releasing this year. Which itself is longer than the Other M --> Samus Returns gap.

I guess if we play around and say Other M--> Metroid 2 remake doesn't count, then Other M--> Dread was an 11 year gap. Hopefully we don't wait until 2025 for DK. lol

Yeah, given how popular DK has been, it's odd to me we're looking at nearly a decade without a new title. I wonder if, as DKVine suggested, an attempt at outsourcing DK to a different studio failed at some point after Tropical Freeze launched. That would help to account for such a lengthy gap.

 

[MMXZero]

To the people breaking NDA over Switch Sports:

Does the game mention who developed it? I know people were speculating that it was Scamco due to the character designs.

 

[Nathan Little]

I wish insiders knew more about DK than they do. Considering how deathly ill I'm feeling right now, I could really use the Metroid and Fire Emblem levels of reassurance right about now.

 

[Deleted member 1676]

Tried to be a normal person and bought Horizon Forbidden West. I enjoyed the first game years ago. I played about an hour or so and I just...cant get into it?

I just don't find that I care as much as I would have years ago, maybe. I dunno. It's just not hitting me right.

Regardless; to stay semi on-topic, I'm going to play some Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze today instead.

 

[Gartooth]

Yeah, given how popular DK has been, it's odd to me we're looking at nearly a decade without a new title. I wonder if, as DKVine suggested, an attempt at outsourcing DK to a different studio failed at some point after Tropical Freeze launched. That would help to account for such a lengthy gap.

I blame the Wii U port situation mostly. It gave cover to NCL to put several IP on break.

Like DK is popular so it gets a lot of attention online. But we need to remember that this same situation is playing out for Mario Kart, Pikmin, NSMB, etc.

What makes this wait painful is that the Switch feels like it will be Nintendo's longest generation aside from the GameBoy. So a push to update their series in a new console library is still far out. That and they'd rather put out sequels to everything released in Switch's launch year rather than things still missing a new game on Switch.

 

[Sander RX]

Yeah I have a feeling there's at least 2 first party games in the fall that we don't know about.

The lineup we speculate on is

Xenoblade/Bayonetta/Prime/Zelda

Which is incredibly stacked towards core audiences. Though Zelda has a lot of general audience appeal. But I can see Nintendo wanting more things that play to the family demographic in the holidays.

Time for Mario to make his move… a jumping move

 

[Sander RX]

Hi.

A few wookiee based updates.

I love Peach's plane. Fantastic design.

Amazon forgot to ship my copy of Horizon so now I have to play more Mario & Luigi.

My wife is pregnant again - have to get to the bottom of how this keeps happening.

Congrats on becoming a father to one more child!

 

[merp]

Posting this in this thread as well for anyone curious about the technical analysis of Monolith Soft and Xenoblade 3.

Not sure if this would interest anyone but I was comparing official screenshots to the trailer footage. It's interesting because the gameplay screenshots on Nintendo's website are taken right out of the trailer but the cutscene screenshots are from what looks to be a newer, higher quality build of the game. Monolith Soft does not do bullshot screenshots for their games. They do however do wallpaper super-samples of their environments which is different to what they're posting now.

One thing you'll notice is all screenshots, though only 720p, are much sharper than the footage of the same clips. This isn't YouTube compression either, this has to be a new build with higher fidelity/resolution because not only is the image just sharper, but textures and other details are better/different too

Example 1:
Trailer

Screenshot

Despite the same cloudy daytime environment, it has a different hue shade. The rock structure behind them is entirely different. The IQ is sharper. The character models/clothing is cleaner with higher fidelity texturing especially on Noah's red jacket which is now producing a reflective material. There's also less contrast on the skin, faces, and Mio's hand.

-
Ex 2: Trailer

Screenshot

Sharpness/texture quality is up. Also slight lighting change in the BG on the right side

-
Trailer

Screenshot

Lighting change on the face. Stronger side lighting hitting the face, nose, and left shoulder. Background vegetation has also been altered/thinned.

-

Image is much sharper, more detail in everything. Lighting is slightly darker/less bloomy and a shade greener?

-

Face shade softening has been toned down, more hard lines. Sharpness is up.

-

Huge BG lighting adjustment. Much more contrasted with more shadow detail. Also MUCH sharper. A lot of character clothing detail was added or now visible due to the higher resolution compared to the trailer footage. Again this isn't just from YouTube compression, this drastic adjustment is probably resolution, engine, fidelity polish since recording the trailer footage.

-

Another big BG lighting adjustment. More contrast, better detailed environments, more vegetation in the foreground. Less drastic but still noticeable sharpness boost.


Nice overall improvements imo. The resolution and texture clarity boosts are essential and appreciated after their previous games having trouble in those departments specifically. Thanks for coming to my analysis post. You have yourself a good day

Huh...

That's strange.

I not only like the second versions of the screenshots.

I also like the designs here (after hating the ones from the previous game, though I admit I never played Xenoblade Chronicles 2...)

 

[Gartooth]

Time for Mario to make his move… a jumping move

They really need something to counterprogram. lol

Like there's even speculation we could get 1 of the 2 traditional FE games this holiday still. I get that the lineup is gonna play extremely well to Nintendo's core audience online but WTF are kids or families gonna even play this holiday when everything being put out has a T or (in the case of Bayo 3) M rating.

 

[Nathan Little]

They really need something to counterprogram. lol

Like there's even speculation we could get 1 of the 2 traditional FE games this holiday still. I get that the lineup is gonna play extremely well to Nintendo's core audience online but WTF are kids or families gonna even play this holiday when everything being put out has a T or (in the case of Bayo 3) M rating.

M rated Donkey Kong of course.

I hear Nintendo is committed to the expand dong meme for this new entry.

 

[MisterSpo]

I blame the Wii U port situation mostly. It gave cover to NCL to put several IP on break.

Like DK is popular so it gets a lot of attention online. But we need to remember that this same situation is playing out for Mario Kart, Pikmin, NSMB, etc.

What makes this wait painful is that the Switch feels like it will be Nintendo's longest generation aside from the GameBoy. So a push to update their series in a new console library is still far out. That and they'd rather put out sequels to everything released in Switch's launch year rather than things still missing a new game on Switch.

I suspect we'll see DK within the next couple of years, really. The same with traditional 2D Mario.

 

[CastletonSnob]

I don't get the fuss over the closure of the Eshop. I could understand why people are upset over the 3DS Eshop closing, but the Wii U wasn't exactly a massive success. This is probably the most relevant the Wii U has been since it launched.

 

[shoptroll]

They really need something to counterprogram. lol

Like there's even speculation we could get 1 of the 2 traditional FE games this holiday still. I get that the lineup is gonna play extremely well to Nintendo's core audience online but WTF are kids or families gonna even play this holiday when everything being put out has a T or (in the case of Bayo 3) M rating.

Switch Sports, Mario Kart 8 DX + Course Booster, Super Mario Party 2, any number of games that already exist, some stuff that's unannounced

 

[ngpdrew]

they actually have coober detection, it's been a whole thing today

it was just a short 45 minute session that ended an hour ago. there are more sessions this weekend

That Coober detection has been keeping me out of social gatherings for my entire adult life.

thanks

 

[Amadeus]

Still no Buddy Mission Bond localization? Still no Pikmin 4 ?
nintendo deserves nothing

 

[Sander RX]

They really need something to counterprogram. lol

Like there's even speculation we could get 1 of the 2 traditional FE games this holiday still. I get that the lineup is gonna play extremely well to Nintendo's core audience online but WTF are kids or families gonna even play this holiday when everything being put out has a T or (in the case of Bayo 3) M rating.

Jumpman and Donkey Kong used to be sworn enemies, but this fall, they will join to counterprogram with their games.

Believe.

 

[Gartooth]

Switch Sports, Mario Kart 8 DX + Course Booster, Super Mario Party 2, any number of games that already exist, some stuff that's unannounced

Switch Sports will be huge. Although if they really have nothing for the fall they shouldve waited on that game because it feels like its coming in hot when they don't even have the kicking motion control finished for soccer, despite selling a leg strap with the game. lol

Mario Kart though isn't anything new, it's the same evergreen selling every year. The DLC will be nice sure, but I think they need to have a new game at retail for Christmas shoppers besides the one they probably already own if they already have a Switch. I think releasing something like Tomodachi/Nintendogs/Yoshi in the fall would help is all. Doesn't need to be a huge game like Mario.

 

[Dardan Sandiego]

I’d be very surprised if they didn’t have a game for expanded audiences/children/families this holiday. Horse Stinker sounds like a H1 game so there’s gotta be something else later this year.

 

[HockeyBird]

I’d be very surprised if they didn’t have a game for expanded audiences/children/families this holiday. Horse Stinker sounds like a H1 game so there’s gotta be something else later this year.

They already have a family game for the holiday. Bayonetta 3 is good, wholesome fun for the kids, uncle Joe, grandma, the cats, everyone.

 

[MisterSpo]

Yeah, I've been saying it since before the Direct - the confirmed and rumoured line up is single player heavy at the end of the year and it skews towards older audiences. I'd be surprised if they didn't have something else up their sleeve, whether it's something huge - like 2D Mario - or some smaller titles like Detective Pikachu, Style Savvy, maybe an Animal Crossing spin off from NdCube.

 

[Dardan Sandiego]

They already have a family game for the holiday. Bayonetta 3 is good, wholesome fun for the kids, uncle Joe, grandma, the cats, everyone.

 

[Amadeus]

Atlus is probably gonna release 3 switch games in the same year : Persona 4 Arena, 13 Sentinels and Soul Hackers. Imagine SMTV: Apocalypse next year and Etrian Odyssey.
We really are eating good.

 

[9-Volt]

Atlus is probably gonna release 3 switch games in the same year : Persona 4 Arena, 13 Sentinels and Soul Hackers. Imagine SMTV: Apocalypse next year and Etrian Odyssey.
We really are eating good.

I believe in Nate, we'll get Persona 4 Golden on Switch too. That makes it 4. I even expect them to bring all Dancing Persona games in one package too.

For EO, I hope there's a genre shift. I'm tired of mindlessly grinding for money. They should make the next game action RPG a la Diablo so that mindless grinding can be fun.

 

[Derachi]

THEY GOTTA STOP MESSING AROUND AND PUT PERSONA 2 ON SWITCH

 

[9-Volt]

THEY GOTTA STOP MESSING AROUND AND PUT PERSONA 2 ON SWITCH

Which one? there's two of them and one of them has Adolf Hitler (had).

 

[LoneRanger]

Atlus is probably gonna release 3 switch games in the same year : Persona 4 Arena, 13 Sentinels and Soul Hackers. Imagine SMTV: Apocalypse next year and Etrian Odyssey.
We really are eating good.

And hopefully Persona 3-5, the Dancing games and Proyect Re: Fantasy between these year to 2024.

At last, Atlus can become one of the best Switch supporters (if everything goes right).

Sadly, we don’t if other third parties will follow the same path.

 

[carlosfilho]

Sleepy Saturday Theory:

Donkey Kong is going through its Metroid 2010 to 2016/17 Phase (or, alternatively, Metroid's 1994 to 2002 Phase)

No new mainline title for 8 years
No clear public plan for the franchise's future
No clearly assigned development team

Despite the DoomsDay scenarios and pessimism that was easy to find regarding Metroid in the early to mid 2010s, it was a franchise that had a clear future once Nintendo were happy they had the right development arrangements in place. Indeed, in interviews around 2015, I remember Kensuke Tanabe was insistent that both 2D Metroid and Prime had a future. That obviously wasn't a straightforward procedure, given the very public failure of Bamco's Prime 4, the negative reception of Federation Force, and the fact that, before Dread could happen, MercurySteam needed to prove themselves and the working relationship through Samus Returns. It clearly takes time to get these things right and that is probably especially true of Nintendo's classic, first generation IP.

Given the travails Nintendo went through with Metroid, I am increasingly convinced (and increasingly convincing myself) that things, potentially big things, are afoot with DK.

I'm sure Nintendo has a plan for DK. It's a successful series and Retro's entries left some good groundwork. EPD Tokyo could carry on with it and add some of their own ideas.

 

[Amadeus]

I believe in Nate, we'll get Persona 4 Golden on Switch too. That makes it 4. I even expect them to bring all Dancing Persona games in one package too.

For EO, I hope there's a genre shift. I'm tired of mindlessly grinding for money. They should make the next game action RPG a la Diablo so that mindless grinding can be fun.

Please don't hype me with a diablo-like Etrian Odyssey.

 

[merp]

Still no Buddy Mission Bond localization? Still no Pikmin 4 ?
nintendo deserves nothing

Nintendo gets what Nintendon't deserve

 

[shoptroll]

Switch Sports will be huge. Although if they really have nothing for the fall they shouldve waited on that game because it feels like its coming in hot when they don't even have the kicking motion control finished for soccer, despite selling a leg strap with the game. lol

Nintendo doesn't usually announce many games that far in advance. Just the ones that are "early adopter bait" like Zelda and Metroid. We'll know what the fall/holiday lineup is starting around E3 and then late summer/early autumn. I don't think there's anything to worry about right now.

 

[Mr_No_U]

Nintendo gets what Nintendon't deserve

 

[merp]

Nintendo whenever they get away with it.

 

[Derachi]

Which one? there's two of them and one of them has Adolf Hitler (had).

BOTH
(They can edit him out or something idk)

 

[merp]

Please don't hype me with a diablo-like Etrian Odyssey.

You'll get NOTHING and you will STILL like it.

It's okay though. We'll get nothing together and all enjoy it.

Nintendo is the friends we made along the way.