Nintendo at E3

Here on the final day of Nintendo's E3 showing, let's take a look back at what just happened. Because there was some crazy shit going on during that Nintendo Spotlight. Here are my grades for all the announcements.

"I don't care" tier

Xenoblade Chronicles X 

Fire Emblem Warriors

Skyrim on Switch 

"That's mildly interesting" tier

Kirby

Yoshi

"Hey, that's pretty good" tier

Rocket League on Switch

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Breath of the Wild Expansion Pass

Might have peed my pants a little bit tier

Pokemon RPG coming to Switch

Metroid Prime 4

Super Mario Odyssey

The Switch is really shaping up to have a strong finish to 2017, with ARMS tomorrow, Splatoon 2 in July, Mario + Rabbids in August, Pokken Tournament in September, and finally Super Mario Odyssey to close out the year in October. Fire Emblem Warriors and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 are also slated for a 2017 release. This is really exciting news for anybody who can afford all of those games. Me personally, will probably only end up getting Splatoon 2 and Odyssey. 

However, with this strong finish to 2017, it leads one to wonder what Nintendo has in store for Switch support in 2018. All that we know of for now is Kirby and Yoshi, and although those are both solid franchises, they are also both just platformers which is really deflating to see after the more open-world success of Breath of the Wild and now Super Mario Odyssey.

Best case scenario, we might see Metroid Prime 4 and the Pokemon RPG on Switch come out next year as well, but these are not guarantees as both of those games have just been announced with no sort of gameplay or even trailer available.

Overall, Nintendo had a strong E3 showing and it looks like its gonna be a hectic close to 2017 with all the games that Nintendo is rolling out. It's also great to see Nintendo working with Microsoft on Minecraft and Rocket League cross play (which is another post I'll have up later).

Make sure you keep up with Nintendo on YouTube and check out all of the gameplay they have for their various games, because seriously that gameplay for Odyssey is really impressive.

Until next time, kcduckling out.

Pokemon News!

The other morning, I dragged my ass out of bed at nine in the morning because I wanted to watch the Pokemon-centered Nintendo Direct live. Was I disappointed? No. But many people were. Here's what went down.

Before this Direct was even announced, Pokemon fans everywhere were theorizing that Game Freak was working on a new Pokemon title for the Nintendo Switch: Pokemon Stars. There was never any evidence to back this up nor was there any reason to believe that Game Freak would be so quick to support the new Switch console with a mainline Pokemon RPG.

However, people were still immensely let down when Game Freak revealed that their Pokemon game on Switch was actually a deluxe port of their fighter Pokken Tournament. This is a great fit for the Switch, as it adds yet another competitive game to Nintendo's summer lineup alongside Splatoon 2 and ARMS.

Tacked on at the end of the presentation was a little snippet of a new 3DS game in the works: Pokemon Ultra Sun and Pokemon Ultra Moon. Very, very, very few details were given about this new game other than a few pictures of what Solgaleo and Lunala look like now, presumably under the influence of Necrozma.

No more details given. Hopefully we can see more of both of these games come Nintendo Treehouse at E3.

Oh yeah, Pokemon Gold and Silver are coming to Virtual Console on 3DS and are compatible with Pokemon Bank.

Until next time, kcduckling out.

Nintendo Switch Online

Nintendo recently updated their Switch website to have a more recent page for the Nintendo Switch's online play format. Here's what we've learned:

• Nintendo's new online format isn't coming until 2018
• The price for the online play and connected smartphone app will be $20/year
• The classic games collection, previously thought to be only playable for one month will actually be playable as long as the user maintains their Nintendo Online subscription

Great news, all around, except for the delay.

$20/year is chump change and is considerably less than either Sony or Microsoft.

The collection being for the lifetime of the subscription is huge news, as this was probably my biggest concern about the new approach.

Nintendo's still got a lot to figure out in the world of online gaming, but hopefully they can figure it out. Although all signs point to 'not anytime soon'

Until next time, kcduckling out.

Mario + Rabbids

Usually, I don't look that much into rumors, but in this case, the rumor has so much backing it that it almost certainly has to be true.
A little while ago, someone said that Ubisoft was working with Nintendo on an RPG for the Switch that featured eight characters: Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Peach, alongside four Rabbids dressed like the four aforementioned heroes. The game would be lighthearted and feature the crew wielding laser guns and other wacky weapons. Well now, this image has surfaced among a few others.

I mean, holy crap, right? This could be fun, right?
Hopefully E3 will showcase this game so we all have a better idea of what the gameplay will look and play like, but I'm pretty excited already. It's gonna be a good E3 this year.

Until next time, kcduckling out.

E3 Expectations

E3 is about a month away, and I can't help but wonder what kind of show each company will put on this year to hype fans for their upcoming releases. Reggie has already promised a big E3 this year and Microsoft is going to unveil their Scorpio console, so it should be an exciting one. Here is what I am anticipating and hoping to see.

Excited to see:

Super Mario Odyssey - Nintendo's gargantuan announcement when the Switch was first revealed was this new 3D Mario game to follow in the footsteps of Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario 64 before it. I am even more excited for this game than I was for Breath of the Wild. This is huge and I cannot wait to see more of this incredible game.

Spiderman on PS4 - Another game that has me very excited, even though I don't own a PS4. The developers of Ratchet and Clank are hard at work on this and the result should be very promising considering the success of Ratchet and Clank and also, who doesn't love Spiderman?

Hoping to see:

Halo 6 - Halo 4 was announced in 2011. Halo 5 was announced in 2014. See a pattern here? This year should mark the debut of the final installment of the second trilogy of Chief's story. Expect a teaser for the story mode but not much else, any news will do so long as the fans know the game is on the way.

Pikmin 4 - Miyamoto said back in 2015 that Pikmin 4 was nearing completion, and I don't think Hey! Piknin is the game he was talking about (expect a post on Hey! Pikmin in the near future). We can only hope that the Pikmin of which Miyamoto spoke of is indeed a full fledged, true Pikmin game for the Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo's Big Twist - Nintendo just released a new console and have already supplied two wildly successful IPs in Legend of Zelda and Mario Kart. We know that Splatoon 2 and Super Mario Odyssey are on the way. Four big games in one year is a good year, but fans will be wanting something for next year as well. Expect Nintendo to debut a new Nintendo title during this year's broadcast and expect yourself to not see it coming. Nintendo loves coming out of nowhere and announcing some crazy shit.

That's really all I'm hoping for, I'll check back after the event for a little follow-up of sorts and in the meantime, I'm gonna get a few more posts out, so be checking back here soon. Until then, kcduckling out.

Mario Kart 8. Deluxe, indeed

So after my most recent update that my copy of MK8 Deluxe had been lost in the mail, I finally received it today. However, because I am impatient and was really itching to get going in Mario Kart again, I bought the game digitally before the package arrived and have played it for a few hours now. Here's what I think:

Everything I said about the game last time I reviewed it stands. But now that this has been released, a few problems have been addressed.
Firstly, item balance has been tweaked indirectly by creating a second item slot for the player so they can effectively cycle items so that you are never stranded with just a coin during a race. This is an awesome and very welcome addition to the game, and although you cannot switch the order of the two items you have, (like in Double Dash!!) the extra slot still adds another element to the game.
Another problem that has been addressed is the character roster. I am not exaggerating when I say that Mario Kart 8's original character roster was the worst in the series. The later DLC would add some more characters and now Deluxe adds a few more to the mix. Bowser Jr., King Boo, and Dry Bones were all left out of both the original game and the DLC and have now finally made it into the game. Additionally, the Inkling Boy and Inkling Girl from Splatoon have also made it into the game. The roster design team will never be forgiven for adding Baby Rosalina and Pink Gold Peach, but it is nice to see an effort made to try to outweigh the shit with some fun characters. Oh yeah, still no Diddy because fuck him, I guess.
The biggest new addition to the game is the revamped battle mode. Now, I personally have never been a huge fan of battle mode in Mario Kart, as I prefer straightforward racing, but the battle mode in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is an absolute blast to play. Across all modes, I still find Coin Runners, Bob-omb Blast, and Balloon Battle a little dull, but the return of Shine Thief is triumphant and the brand new mode Renegade Roundup is ridiculously fun. Shine Thief on Frantic Mode is the absolute most crazy, insane good time I have ever had with a Mario Kart battle mode.
A few other new additions were added:
Ultra mini-turbo adds a level of drifting beyond the blue sparks and beyond the orange sparks as well. Creating purple sparks, this level of boost grants a significant speed boost after performing it.
Two new features for beginners or low-level players are the auto-accelerate feature and the smart steering feature. These two new additions allow newcomers to stay competitive without granting them invincibility or making things too easy. This is also great for people trying to eat a sandwich with their right hand while steering with their left hand while the game accelerates for them.
The new Boo item adds something fresh to competitive racing while the Feather item adds a little craziness to battle mode.

Overall, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is indeed a deluxe version of the original masterpiece for the Wii U. If you did not own the Wii U version, there is no excuse in the world to keep you from buying this game, it is hands down the best Mario Kart ever made. If you did make the purchase for Wii U, I still do believe that there is enough here to justify buying it again. Most importantly, this is the first big game that can truly demonstrate the on-the-go multiplayer fun of the Nintendo Switch. If you still are weary about paying 65 bucks for this, head over to amazon.com and you can get this game for about 52 bucks.
I'll be back soon to give an updated list of the best courses in Mario Kart 8 and keep getting some articles out. Until next time, kcduckling out.

Quick Update

Hey there people, been a little busy of late picking up some extra hours at my work so I haven't had much time for extra stuff, including new posts. Just thought I'd pop in to give a quick little update on what I've got going on right now.
First of all, my copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which I had ordered through Amazon, was lost in the mail at some point so I still do not have my copy of that, but once I do, expect some article on what I think about the new additions and if the game justifies the "deluxe" moniker.
Secondly, E3 is coming up pretty soon, so I will also have a post at some point before that going over what I'm really hoping to see from that.
Lastly, expect some more opinion articles in the near future covering Splatoon, Call of Duty, and Pikmin.
Until then, kcduckling out.