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StarTopic Nintendo Direct Speculation |ST3| Speculate Chronicles 3

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Raccoon said:
welcome to the gamer zone

In broad strokes I thoroughly agree with this. There are some delineations to be made, though. When obsessive fan behavior slips into actual harassment, I feel like that falls outside of the marketing department of a gaming company. When we look at the obsessiveness of the environment that we're in, the unpleasantness that comes from hype culture, and the obsession with leaks and announcement timing, I think that definitely has been fostered, deliberately or not, by their marketing strategy.

Again, I can't help but feel that they very much want us to stop. Like someone said early, hype is now out of their control, which I think is bad for the company. Periods like this summer in which they hold their cards close to their chest and exercise careful spacing of announcements feel like an attempt to regain some of that control.
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Oh yeah, 100% on the harassment thing. Conditioning or not a company is not culpable for fans attacking others. I meant moreso that executives are apathetic to how the toxicity is in part an aftershock of their decisions, because it makes Number Go Up.
 
Raccoon said:
welcome to the gamer zone

In broad strokes I thoroughly agree with this. There are some delineations to be made, though. When obsessive fan behavior slips into actual harassment, I feel like that falls outside of the marketing department of a gaming company. When we look at the obsessiveness of the environment that we're in, the unpleasantness that comes from hype culture, and the obsession with leaks and announcement timing, I think that definitely has been fostered, deliberately or not, by their marketing strategy.

Again, I can't help but feel that they very much want us to stop. Like someone said early, hype is now out of their control, which I think is bad for the company. Periods like this summer in which they hold their cards close to their chest and exercise careful spacing of announcements feel like an attempt to regain some of that control.
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I'm with you, but seems like a strange way to try and regain control of the narrative if you ask me. If I was trying to regain control of it, I'd... create an actual narrative to control, lol.

Nintendo: wants to maintain total confidentiality and unpredictability at all times

Also Nintendo: is angered at the consequences of maintaining total confidentiality and unpredictability at all times
 
I imagine true insiders may already know if there is a Direct in September, but not the nature of it. I still think that, if Drake is not announced before or at it, it could very well be a Mini if Nintendo doesn't want to talk about games that will feature Drake versions and that they'll use to promote it, so they may just focus on 2022 games with a few 2023 3rd Party games. We may even see another Partner's Showcase if they REALLY want to keep their 1st Party stuff under wraps until Drake is announced (which if it isn't before or at the September Direct, I believe it'd be in January/February). We'll have to wait 1 more month to know, it won't be too long.
 
Sometimes I just can't understand this big fixation with Nintendo direct.
I mean I like them, they're fun and all but at the end of the day it's just a vehicle to show games. At the end of the day when I'll play bayonetta 3 in October it won't matter that the release date came out in a twitter drops instead of a direct.
And as far as Nintendo schedule for the year, in the end if they have games they will show them with or without a direct.
I don't need to see a game that releases a year from now, I can just wait and think about the current year.
And as far as clickbait youtubers and other stuff, I know they're annoying but just ignore them (unless they start harassment in that case fuck them)
 
Hello everyone! I’m back :D

Still waiting on my Xenoblade 3 copy to come in the mail. Very excited to try it out.

I have a question: is the game fully open world, like Breath of the Wild? Or does it consist of several smaller “open worlds” like Legends Arceus?

Before you say “uuuhhhhh Switchum, you know Google exists???” just know I have tried doing research on the topic but most sources seem to be mostly focussed on combat and story, rather than world exploration. So while I’ve seen the term “open world” pop up here or there, I’ve yet to find a definitive answer.

I want to know from someone who’s actually played the darn thing! 😂
 
karmitt said:
Sword Shield was a big let down for me, with my previous experience in the franchise being Silver. It felt incredibly cheap, not sure how else to put it. It’s like corners were cut all over. I enjoyed it enough, but that was mostly because my wife and I played at the same time and had a great shared experience with it.

My expectations for the franchise are now appropriately tempered, and what they’ve shown of Scarlet Violet has me looking forward to another holiday of Pokémon with the wife.
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It’s interesting because after playing Shield I thought my problem with the game simply stemmed from having not grown up with the franchise, but most Pokémon fans that I’ve spoken to have said that the game simply isn’t good. I’ve also struggled to articulate what exactly it is that I didn’t like about it, and given the much warmer reception to Arceus and Scarlet and Violet, I think I’ll chalk it up to “Pokémon had a rough transition to HD.” Hopefully the new generation gives us something we can all enjoy, and regardless I’m just looking forward to getting another taste of it on Wednesday.

Raccoon said:
but video games are hard

baseless speculation about corporate strategy is fun and easy
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To add to this, Super Mario World is very hard; I’ve never gotten past the world 3 castle.
 
switchum said:
Hello everyone! I’m back :D

Still waiting on my Xenoblade 3 copy to come in the mail. Very excited to try it out.

I have a question: is the game fully open world, like Breath of the Wild? Or does it consist of several smaller “open worlds” like Legends Arceus?

Before you say “uuuhhhhh Switchum, you know Google exists???” just know I have tried doing research on the topic but most sources seem to be mostly focussed on combat and story, rather than world exploration. So while I’ve seen the term “open world” pop up here or there, I’ve yet to find a definitive answer.

I want to know from someone who’s actually played the darn thing! 😂
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It’s zones, but the zones are huge! If you played prior games, imagine they stuck three levels altogether.
 
Kartina said:
Sometimes I just can't understand this big fixation with Nintendo direct.
I mean I like them, they're fun and all but at the end of the day it's just a vehicle to show games. At the end of the day when I'll play bayonetta 3 in October it won't matter that the release date came out in a twitter drops instead of a direct.
And as far as Nintendo schedule for the year, in the end if they have games they will show them with or without a direct.
I don't need to see a game that releases a year from now, I can just wait and think about the current year.
And as far as clickbait youtubers and other stuff, I know they're annoying but just ignore them (unless they start harassment in that case fuck them)
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I’ve explained my own take a million times but “blah blah blah, they’re usually seen as a big event, the last few especially I’ve had viewing parties for, and we all thought they were phenomenal shows. Twitter drops obviously aren’t the same, there’s no build up and announcements are instead split up across several weeks or months. I get people in the industry, as well as anyone in general who prefers them, but for me and the other Nintendo fans in my life, Directs are vastly preferred blah blah blah”
 
Paxie said:
Hello! First post here, will probably lurk a lot but the current topic interests me enough to say my piece. It's actually something I've been thinking about for a while ever since the Partner Mini fiasco, and I've personally come to the conclusion that Nintendo is indeed ultimately responsible for the shitshow that's resulted from the lack of news - and I would go as far to include the "obsessive" behavior of fans in this.

The most important thing is that said behavior is conditioned by marketing plans to form hype culture, so you're constantly anticipating something when they're doing nothing. Eventually, however, it's become something people respond to on a psychological level. Hype culture has contributed much to fans acting toxic and making reasonable discussion extremely difficult in news droughts, instead of trying to get something else to pass the time. Imagine if Nintendo instead chose to reveal all waves of Smash characters as they were announced instead of a dripfeed. Think all the "that's it? No Smash?" posting, dodgy rumors, and speculation wars the Smash community would have been spared.

Of course this does not remove responsibility from the fanbase themselves. Toxic behavior still has awful consequences to real people and fans could simply choose to log off instead of being jackasses. This also does not mean Nintendo and the game industry writ large are innocent of aiding and abetting this behavior - they have the ability to alleviate these problems (Nintendo themselves have admitted this, given how they started amending Sakurai showcases with a note saying there will be no further reveals) and choose not to most of the time.

TL;DR - The game industry's "hype culture" problem is a lot like its graphics arm race problem - unreasonable and toxic behavior is perpetuated by gamers over comparatively trivial bullshit, but a big reason it got so bad in the first place was because corps stoked these fires, and they let the shitshows happen because the frenzy is good for their mindshare and bottom line.
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Yeah I fully agree with that. The reason why this is now becoming more apparent is because of Corona plans changed a lot and many publisher couldn‘t keep up with their hype events of previous years. But with the hype culture you need at least to keep up with last year or to go even bigger. Because you are training your fans to expect always more.

In hindsight it didn‘t affect at all the sales of switch. Not even Switch Pro rumors. But I feel like it makes the discussion more toxic with time moving on. The feedback to certain stuff like a partner mini or the Wave 2 trailer would be less negative if people would just expect less.

Edit: Not saying that it is entirely Nintendos or other publishers fault some fans need a reality check and certainly no one has the right to be toxic/judging to marketing people just trying to sell a product.
 
Kartina said:
Sometimes I just can't understand this big fixation with Nintendo direct.
I mean I like them, they're fun and all but at the end of the day it's just a vehicle to show games. At the end of the day when I'll play bayonetta 3 in October it won't matter that the release date came out in a twitter drops instead of a direct.
And as far as Nintendo schedule for the year, in the end if they have games they will show them with or without a direct.
I don't need to see a game that releases a year from now, I can just wait and think about the current year.
And as far as clickbait youtubers and other stuff, I know they're annoying but just ignore them (unless they start harassment in that case fuck them)
Click to expand...
In addition to enjoying Nintendo Directs, I like to know what's coming for planning purposes. These days I account for this by being very reserved in my game purchases, preferring to assume that Nintendo has something right around the corner
 
Raccoon said:
These days I account for this by being very reserved in my game purchases, preferring to assume that Nintendo has something right around the corner
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it's probably worth acknowledging that this is exactly what Nintendo wants
 
I feel like it would help sometimes if they’d state obvious facts like saying „we’re working on the next Mariokart Game“ or „our development team xy has a unannounced project in the works.“ Much more like in the film industry.

I know many would disagree with this, but I actually think that the early announcements of Shin Megami Tensei V, Metroid Prime 4 and Bayonetta 3 were a good thing. Just that maybe direct like shows were the wrong venue and a press release would have been better in those cases.
 
Finished watching Nate’s episode.

The thing about the Directs is the huge amount of excitement when one is announced, because of the sheer amount of wild things that can be announced, and the way the community comes together with predictions and reactions.

Me and my cousins all have dinner, make a bingo card, speculate and watch together on a direct day, it’s like a tradition.
It would be a shame if Nintendo starts just doing twitter drops, but they will just do what gives them more exposure.. at least I believe.

Nate seemed really angry to the clickbaity type videos, but that’s what moves a lot of random smaller YouTube channels, even some big ones… The best way to punish them is just, unsubscribe and remove the channel from the recommended vids.

During the smash DLC era, there were some crazy content creators, they would do multiple videos each day on something stupid such as an unbelievable 4chan post
 
Maybe it's just me, but I've never really had a problem with "clickbait" outside of a few select channels (FUCKING SWITCH FORCE AND DEMEECH). It's not great don't me wrong, but it's almost never a reason for me to unsub. I just migrate to other videos/channels.
 
0
I know new month time to get meta discussion going, but I think we are in a great spot right now. We have a big news thing expected practically every week this month. We got Pokemon up first, Splatoon should be up next, probably an Indie World the following, and then perhaps even a General Direct a week or two after that.

We also just got a colossal, possibly best in the series game with Xenoblade 3 last week and new Mario Kart tracks this week. Nintendo fans shouldn’t sleep on Blossom Tales 2 hitting in two weeks either. The first one was a fairly solid Link to the Past-like indie game and hopefully the sequel will be a step up.

I love my big Nintendo events, but it’s important to keep an eye out on what’s actually happening. We had some great news spread out last month and plenty of exciting news and games ahead. Let’s start building up some hype this month :)
 
Paxie said:
Hello! First post here, will probably lurk a lot but the current topic interests me enough to say my piece. It's actually something I've been thinking about for a while ever since the Partner Mini fiasco, and I've personally come to the conclusion that Nintendo is indeed ultimately responsible for the shitshow that's resulted from the lack of news - and I would go as far to include the "obsessive" behavior of fans in this.

The most important thing is that said behavior is conditioned by marketing plans to form hype culture, so you're constantly anticipating something when they're doing nothing. Eventually, however, it's become something people respond to on a psychological level. Hype culture has contributed much to fans acting toxic and making reasonable discussion extremely difficult in news droughts, instead of trying to get something else to pass the time. Imagine if Nintendo instead chose to reveal all waves of Smash characters as they were announced instead of a dripfeed. Think all the "that's it? No Smash?" posting, dodgy rumors, and speculation wars the Smash community would have been spared.

Of course this does not remove responsibility from the fanbase themselves. Toxic behavior still has awful consequences to real people and fans could simply choose to log off instead of being jackasses. This also does not mean Nintendo and the game industry writ large are innocent of aiding and abetting this behavior - they have the ability to alleviate these problems (Nintendo themselves have admitted this, given how they started amending Sakurai showcases with a note saying there will be no further reveals) and choose not to most of the time.

TL;DR - The game industry's "hype culture" problem is a lot like its graphics arm race problem - unreasonable and toxic behavior is perpetuated by gamers over comparatively trivial bullshit, but a big reason it got so bad in the first place was because corps stoked these fires, and they let the shitshows happen because the frenzy is good for their mindshare and bottom line.
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Hello @Paxie, welcome! Feel free to keep jumping in. The thread can get full of raccoon nudes and other nonsense, but we all mean well! Real good points too!

Kartina said:
Guys, I think you should play some videogames instead of thinking about Nintendo direct and marketing plans of Nintendo.
Can I reccomend super mario world, a fine choice of a game.
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Real good game! I thought that those bats (sweepers?) only had one eye for the longest time, haha! :ROFLMAO:

Legion of Primes said:
Taking breaks from playing to rest hand from hurting from playing them is easier
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Hey bud, how is your hand doing? Any better?

Cyrus said:
To add to this, Super Mario World is very hard; I’ve never gotten past the world 3 castle.
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Aaah, keep on trying! Well worth it to see the later levels too! Some of these earlier Mario games can be tricky, but you can do it!

NateDrake said:
And the type of discussion found here is exactly the purpose of the podcast. You aren't meant to agree with all of it. Its intent is to spark discussion on a grounded level.
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Thank you, cause I'd much rather here discussion like this that you put on there than the mindless YouTube shit some of these channels do, haha! :ROFLMAO: Appreciate it!
 
Eradicate said:
Hello @Paxie, welcome! Feel free to keep jumping in. The thread can get full of raccoon nudes and other nonsense, but we all mean well! Real good points too!


Real good game! I thought that those bats (sweepers?) only had one eye for the longest time, haha! :ROFLMAO:


Hey bud, how is your hand doing? Any better?


Aaah, keep on trying! Well worth it to see the later levels too! Some of these earlier Mario games can be tricky, but you can do it!


Thank you, cause I'd much rather here discussion like this that you put on there than the mindless YouTube shit some of these channels do, haha! :ROFLMAO: Appreciate it!
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Not had any issues with it for a few days. Thank you for asking :). May attempt to play one of only online games I can play with my internet on switch tomorrow but I will take it slow and steady
 
Nate's latest ep really did speak to me haha

I honestly, at this point, just can't be bothered to care as much for what boils down to "decorum" when it comes to commercials. Direct, Twitter drop, a Reddit leaker with access to YouTube uploads hours/days ahead of time, cryptic hints dripped from the usual (and ideally, trustworthy) sources, random shit found on a Chinese forum...to me? News is news. That's all I want!

And the SECOND I get a mere modicum of info that showcases something I really care about is on the way, I'm there. If not, the wait continues.
 
Raccoon said:
I do think this thread is great fun

but in actuality I'm kind of over speculation itself
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I was over speculation the moment XB3 was announced. Everything after that was just a community rollercoaster for me. Throw your paws/hands up and go weeeeeeeeeeeeee
 
I've got a couple regulars I watch on YouTube, having them on in the background to give my ears a rest, and YouTube is just hellbent on pushing the clickbaity channels no matter what. There really is something to just shoveling this garbage out as fast as possible that their algorithm likes I guess?

xghost777 said:
I know new month time to get meta discussion going, but I think we are in a great spot right now. We have a big news thing expected practically every week this month. We got Pokemon up first, Splatoon should be up next, probably an Indie World the following, and then perhaps even a General Direct a week or two after that.

We also just got a colossal, possibly best in the series game with Xenoblade 3 last week and new Mario Kart tracks this week. Nintendo fans shouldn’t sleep on Blossom Tales 2 hitting in two weeks either. The first one was a fairly solid Link to the Past-like indie game and hopefully the sequel will be a step up.

I love my big Nintendo events, but it’s important to keep an eye out on what’s actually happening. We had some great news spread out last month and plenty of exciting news and games ahead. Let’s start building up some hype this month :)
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Oh man, I'm so hyped for this month, and your post just reiterated all the reasons why! Blossom Tales WAS a great game, and I didn't realize a sequel was coming! Thank you!

Legion of Primes said:
Not had any issues with it for a few days. Thank you for asking :). May attempt to play one of only online games I can play with my internet on switch tomorrow but I will take it slow and steady
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Ah, that's great! Really glad to hear that! Hope you can get some good gaming in and see how it goes!

totofogo said:
Lmao why is Metroid dread the only game not tagged

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Haha, not even #Metroid or something, just "Samus Edition," haha! :ROFLMAO: Come on!
 
xghost777 said:
I know new month time to get meta discussion going, but I think we are in a great spot right now. We have a big news thing expected practically every week this month. We got Pokemon up first, Splatoon should be up next, probably an Indie World the following, and then perhaps even a General Direct a week or two after that.

We also just got a colossal, possibly best in the series game with Xenoblade 3 last week and new Mario Kart tracks this week. Nintendo fans shouldn’t sleep on Blossom Tales 2 hitting in two weeks either. The first one was a fairly solid Link to the Past-like indie game and hopefully the sequel will be a step up.

I love my big Nintendo events, but it’s important to keep an eye out on what’s actually happening. We had some great news spread out last month and plenty of exciting news and games ahead. Let’s start building up some hype this month :)
Click to expand...
I agree, things are really good right now and should continue to be so for a while. Once we get past the September General Direct, announcements and big new stuff is likely to die way down, but then we also have all the massive fall games coming in not long after, and we'll get fed quite well with all of that up through the holidays.

There's a lot going on with this year's September Direct, too: Will it be the big BOTW2 blowout? There's lots of rumored games that kind of need to start showing up like FE and MP since Nintendo is rapidly running out of announced games, too. And there's still the lingering question of new hardware, and if there even will be a September Direct if that's involved somehow. So many fun and interesting questions that will all likely be answered one way or another in just 5 weeks or so.
 
Kartina said:
Guys, I think you should play some videogames instead of thinking about Nintendo direct and marketing plans of Nintendo.
Can I reccomend super mario world, a fine choice of a game.
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Phenomenal taste in games, listen to Kartina, everyone!
Cyrus said:
It’s interesting because after playing Shield I thought my problem with the game simply stemmed from having not grown up with the franchise, but most Pokémon fans that I’ve spoken to have said that the game simply isn’t good. I’ve also struggled to articulate what exactly it is that I didn’t like about it, and given the much warmer reception to Arceus and Scarlet and Violet, I think I’ll chalk it up to “Pokémon had a rough transition to HD.” Hopefully the new generation gives us something we can all enjoy, and regardless I’m just looking forward to getting another taste of it on Wednesday.



To add to this, Super Mario World is very hard; I’ve never gotten past the world 3 castle.
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I hope you like Scarlet and Violet! Alternatively, I hope they're good, lol. Sword and Shield were indeed rough and I hope the work on the Switch gets then better prepared for Gen 9.

Also it's funny, but I always thought Mario World was one of the easier ones. Guess it's harder than the NSMB games but it's easier than the NES games!
 
Vash said:
What are people's feelings on XB3 graphics?
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Personally, I'm very very impressed. Maybe it's just me comparing it to XC2, but it's amazing how good it looks (and performs) compared to that. The characters and cutscenes in particular really shine.

Now of course it's still a Switch game and it's not perfect, but IMO it's kind of a miracle this game runs this well on Switch.
 
Eradicate said:
Haha, not even #Metroid or something, just "Samus Edition," haha! :ROFLMAO: Come on!
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"Hey, what was the name of that game starring Metroid we put out recently?"

"... You mean Samus?"

"... I guess?"

"Honestly I don't remember. But she's in it, er... I think she's in it? It would make sense if she was in it. Just... Just put uh... Samus... Edition... Yeah good enough. Nobody buys that shit anyway"
 
Vash said:
What are people's feelings on XB3 graphics?
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There’s okay. It’s very similar to Xenoblade 2. Character models are much better tho. But the main issue which is why I don’t rate one higher then the other is that Xenoblade 3 (so far) is technically better but Xeno 2 use of colors and lighting has been waaayyyy better. Blades having a glow to them. Areas being a variety of colors makes the game look better then three has.

I have no issues with either game honestly. Just wish Xeno 3 could get some color, it’s getting boring right now. But only chapter 3. It’ll come. Xenoblade likes to keep you grounded until later.
 
Top 10 Nintendo Click-bait Titles that suck

1. “We Need to Talk About”- Not so much “we” because it’s just the uploader talking into a camera.
2. “Nintendo...Weird/Strange/Bizarre...”- It’s probably not weird/strange/bizarre, but the uploaders’ perspective makes it seem unusual, probably so they can justify a click-bait video title.
3. “...Nintendo...LEAK?!..” - It’s not a leak, it’s a random post from someone who will delete their account in 24 hours or less.
4. “...Nintendo...SOON?!...” - Only saying soon because something probably happened around this time last year.
5. Any video with those dumb, red, little curved arrows point to anything in the thumbnail, universal click bait on YouTube.
6. “...HUGE Nintendo...” - Did Trump make Huge a thing? There are other adjectives for big, try “substantial”.
7. “...I Was Wrong...Nintendo...” - Double dipping makes Kirby sad.
8. “...Nintendo...Worried/Scared...” - I mean, I hope I’m never actually worried about a video game ever in my life.
9. “...Nintendo...This ONE THING” - Why do YouTube titles always have 1, 3, or 5? What’s wrong with 2 and 4?
10. “...WHY NINTENDO?!...” - Because they sat down and made a decision.

I know I missed some good ones but whatever.
 
SammyJ9 said:
Personally, I'm very very impressed. Maybe it's just me comparing it to XC2, but it's amazing how good it looks (and performs) compared to that. The characters and cutscenes in particular really shine.

Now of course it's still a Switch game and it's not perfect, but IMO it's kind of a miracle this game runs this well on Switch.
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DecoReturns said:
There’s okay. It’s very similar to Xenoblade 2. Character models are much better tho. But the main issue which is why I don’t rate one higher then the other is that Xenoblade 3 (so far) is technically better but Xeno 2 use of colors and lighting has been waaayyyy better. Blades having a glow to them. Areas being a variety of colors makes the game look better then three has.

I have no issues with either game honestly. Just wish Xeno 3 could get some color, it’s getting boring right now. But only chapter 3. It’ll come. Xenoblade likes to keep you grounded until later.
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I agree the cut scenes look really good and so do the characters up close. But some of the background mountains and stuff look rough to look at. Kind of like Skyrim mountains from 11 years ago. I'm playing on a 65 inch TV and some things are hard to look at. With that being said I'm enjoying the game much more than I thought I ever would.
 
0
I just read the last few pages... I am not sure if most of these are ironic posts or serious.

Takes like Nintendo could have prevented the "shitshow" that happened because there was no direct and the company had to announce and apologize if they don't release a direct in june because there was "always" a direct in this time frame.

I did not even understand what was the problem, than I realized a few YouTuber making clickbait videos, and that troubled some persons? I mean... that will always happen, with or without a direct. I looked at some of the channels mentioned, they have only a few followers and the videos have even fewer views, and the content in most of these channels is obviously bottom of the barrel. Why would anyone even subscribe to this? They are just not relevant in any way for a company like Nintendo or for the sales of big Nintendo/third party games. The thought that any big (or small) company should react to such videos is absurd.

There wasn't "always" a big direct in this timeframe, Directs are not even that old, unless you are 16 now and started seeing directs with 6, that could possibly feel like always.

Things change, e3 is no more, and a big marketing blowout in a period like summer is not necessarily a good thing. Anyway Directs are just not that big of a marketing tool now than they used to be. They will live, but they are not the best way to announce important marketing news anymore.
 
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SammyJ9 said:
Personally, I'm very very impressed. Maybe it's just me comparing it to XC2, but it's amazing how good it looks (and performs) compared to that. The characters and cutscenes in particular really shine.

Now of course it's still a Switch game and it's not perfect, but IMO it's kind of a miracle this game runs this well on Switch.
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They definitely stepped things up from XC2. I found that XC2 often felt really stiff and robotic. Wasn't much of a pleasant viewing experience. In this game it's completely different. The big cutscenes are very well animated. And the character models are nice to look at. A small touch that really draws me in are the eyes. They move around slightly just as eyes do in the real world. It gives every character just a little more life to them.
 
SammyJ9 said:
I agree, things are really good right now and should continue to be so for a while. Once we get past the September General Direct, announcements and big new stuff is likely to die way down, but then we also have all the massive fall games coming in not long after, and we'll get fed quite well with all of that up through the holidays.

There's a lot going on with this year's September Direct, too: Will it be the big BOTW2 blowout? There's lots of rumored games that kind of need to start showing up like FE and MP since Nintendo is rapidly running out of announced games, too. And there's still the lingering question of new hardware, and if there even will be a September Direct if that's involved somehow. So many fun and interesting questions that will all likely be answered one way or another in just 5 weeks or so.
Click to expand...
Yup this back half of the year is going to be a lot of fun. I think new hardware won’t be at a Direct since the main message this holiday is open world Pokemon, but we are definitely seeing some 2023 games soon! No way January and February are both empty. Zelda could be anywhere from March to June with that Spring window, though I’m leaning towards March.
 
Raccoon said:
I do think this thread is great fun

but in actuality I'm kind of over speculation itself
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Think this is a product of August more or less being a known quantity at this point alongside the general burnout. Not much to speculate on when the schedule feels like a given at this point.

Probably for the best, let’s everything die down a bit before things inevitably heat up near the end of the month again once we’ve exhausted our expectations.
 
ElisaurusWrecks said:
Sure, and I agree they don't owe us up to the minute details on every single plan or release. But they do shape the discourse within their community through how they broadly outline plans - everybody expected a June direct because they have continuously done so and have made no indication to the contrary. Something as simple as an acknowledgement that it is a prior precedent that they have set, but that it isn't happening this year, would have done a lot to alleviate all the garbage "reporting" we were inundated with.
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It would have been nice to have, but Nintendo had a pretty consistent Direct timing prior to the pandemic and that didn't stop the garbage reporting. That's kind of my point, we've seen a Nintendo that frequently communicates before and it never prevented toxic people from being toxic. People have a mentality that they want an update on a specific game RIGHT NOW and if they don't get it, Nintendo needs to let them know they have nothing to share on said game.

Paxie said:
Hello! First post here, will probably lurk a lot but the current topic interests me enough to say my piece. It's actually something I've been thinking about for a while ever since the Partner Mini fiasco, and I've personally come to the conclusion that Nintendo is indeed ultimately responsible for the shitshow that's resulted from the lack of news - and I would go as far to include the "obsessive" behavior of fans in this.

The most important thing is that said behavior is conditioned by marketing plans to form hype culture, so you're constantly anticipating something when they're doing nothing. Eventually, however, it's become something people respond to on a psychological level. Hype culture has contributed much to fans acting toxic and making reasonable discussion extremely difficult in news droughts, instead of trying to get something else to pass the time. Imagine if Nintendo instead chose to reveal all waves of Smash characters as they were announced instead of a dripfeed. Think all the "that's it? No Smash?" posting, dodgy rumors, and speculation wars the Smash community would have been spared.

Of course this does not remove responsibility from the fanbase themselves. Toxic behavior still has awful consequences to real people and fans could simply choose to log off instead of being jackasses. This also does not mean Nintendo and the game industry writ large are innocent of aiding and abetting this behavior - they have the ability to alleviate these problems (Nintendo themselves have admitted this, given how they started amending Sakurai showcases with a note saying there will be no further reveals) and choose not to most of the time.

TL;DR - The game industry's "hype culture" problem is a lot like its graphics arm race problem - unreasonable and toxic behavior is perpetuated by gamers over comparatively trivial bullshit, but a big reason it got so bad in the first place was because corps stoked these fires, and they let the shitshows happen because the frenzy is good for their mindshare and bottom line.
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Had Nintendo opted to announce all the Smash characters in such a boring fashion, it would have been worse for those of us who enjoy the marketing of the title. Smash announcements are fun. Nintendo Directs are fun. Millions of people enjoy them without becoming toxic assholes. I don't think Nintendo should change the marketing because a specific group of grown people can't behave themselves. It's really not Nintendo's fault people act like that.

Let's look outside of Nintendo though. How many companies get crapped on for announcing games without showing gameplay. "It's just a title, why bother showing that!?" Look at how much toxic behavior Geoff Keighley has to deal with for his shows being full of announcements like that. How much crap Phil Spencer has taken over the years for announcing games too early with no substance. The millions of topics about Prime 4 and BotW 2 being announced way too early and it means something much be going terribly wrong at Nintendo.

Toxic people are going to be toxic regardless of how things are announced. Nintendo has the most fun means of marketing, to the point where the marketing became an event all by itself. Nintendo can continue to market in a way that millions of us enjoy, while the toxic crowd does what they do. Or they can start marketing in a more boring way, while the toxic crowd still continues to behave like children.
 
Nothing else to leak right now so they're taking a break. We don't and shouldn't need an endless dripfeed of insider comments anyway.
 
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