This Week in Games

In Which We Discuss a Nintendo Direct

Okay, I know exactly what you all are here for this week, but indulge me for a brief moment. I want to discuss a multi-year gaming console trainwreck that's been impossible to turn away from.

I haven't talked much here about the Intellivision Amico because its supposed target audience is completely different from that of ANN. But boy howdy, if you're like me and love watching ill-conceived gaming business ideas blow up spectacularly, its nearly four-year-long saga has been prime popcorn.gif material.

There's a summary of the Amico's disastrous history (though slightly outdated) on Kotaku, but the TL;DR version is: game music composer with inflated ego gets rights to old console name and library, cooks up an idea for an affordably priced “family” game console with cheap games without DLC or microtransactions, gets investors in on this idea, then manages to turn the company into a laughingstock through numerous delays, awful presentations, and really stupid internet flame wars. The latest Amico news is that, after originally promising a 2020 launch, the console might not even get released unless they get another round of funding from investors. (This is the fourth round of investment recruiting, by the way!)

I do recommend researching the Amico saga if you're interested in tales of business gone hilariously wrong. It's an amazing rabbit hole of misguided aspirations, hubris, and maybe even a bit of fraud. Retrogaming-centric YouTuber Pat the NES Punk has done a lot of discussion about the saga from the beginning, so check his stuff out if you want to learn more. It's a trip.

A FLURRY OF ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM NINTENDO STRIKE SOCIAL MEDIA! CRITICAL HIT!

It's time once again for another surprise Nintendo Direct drop! Nintendo at least had the courtesy to post this one the day before I have to turn in my column, so I'm not as overwhelmed scrambling to get all of the news together. The theme of this particular Nintendo Direct seemed to be JRPGs. In particular, “JRPG announcements that will make you very happy if you were a Squaresoft nerd in the 90s/early 00s.” As usual, we won't be covering everything from the Direct, particularly if it's a game or DLC that's already out like the Kingdom Hearts collections or the Metroid Dread DLC. Instead, let's look at the highlights that got folks talking.

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes: After I heard that Koei-Tecmo had co-developed Fire Emblem: Three Houses, I had a feeling that another Warriors spinoff would be in the cards if the game did well enough. Sure enough, Three Houses was a smashing success, so it's time to bring back the cast for an exercise in taking down a bazillion enemy grunts at once. I know plenty of folks would have preferred a new, traditional strategy FE game, but there's also a sizable audience who are happy to spend more time with the Three Houses crew in a new context.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC: Some may wonder why Mario Kart 9 isn't a thing yet, and the answer to that is easy: because Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is still selling like gangbusters. Why make a new game when you're still cashing in off the existing game? Besides, you can still add new content in the form of cheaper-to-develop paid DLC to keep longtime users happy. And that's exactly what Nintendo's doing.

Nintendo announced a whole mess of classic track DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which is slated to release in waves throughout 2022 and 2023. This will re-introduce a bunch of tracks from previous Mario Kart installments, including a few choice courses from the mobile game Mario Kart Tour. You can buy a DLC Booster Course Pass for $25 USD, which will give you access to all waves as they release, or you can get the content as a perk for your Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack membership. (I get the feeling that Nintendo's going to be using “free” DLC a lot in the future to push people towards that more expensive option.)

Speaking of vehicles…

Kirby and the Forgotten Land: The more I see of this game the more I really want to play it. I just don't get enough high-budget whimsical 3D platforming adventures in my gaming diet these days. Not only is Forgotten Land looking cute and fun as heck, it's also got this adorable abomination that nobody knew they needed in their lives until right now:

The memesters of social media were very quick to glom onto the absurdities of Kirby's new Mouthful Mode ability.

Nintendo had to know what they were doing here, right?

Mario Strikers Battle League: Well, that's another Mario sports title that hasn't seen a new installment in forever getting new life. Nintendo's recently-acquired studio Next Level Games is back in the developer's chair for this one, and they're keeping with the Mario Strikers tradition of a grittier look and lots of slapstick violence, now with more of a Rocket League-inspired futuristic slant to the character and arena designs.

Splatoon 3: The horde-mode-like Salmon Run coop multiplayer mode isn't new, but this trailer does give us a few glimpses into some fresh additions to Splatoon 3. I predict some sort of Splatoon Direct in the near future with a more in-depth look at the overall game.

Advance Wars Re-Boot Camp: Looking great! Four player online sounds like it'll be extremely fun with the right group of people. Personally, I want to hear more of the music, because Advance Wars soundtracks are filled with bangers and it'll be great to hear beloved songs in a far better quality than the iffy GBA sound system could produce.

Nintendo Switch Sports: The Switch has now outsold the Wii, which sold heavily on the strength of being an accessible console – which it demonstrated through its beloved pack-in game, Wii Sports. Nintendo Switch Sports is Wii Sports revamped for Switch-owning families, and I have a feeling it's going to do very, very well with that demographic. But come on, admit it – you don't mind doing some chill bowling from time to time.

Interestingly, Nintendo Switch Sports isn't launching with its full game suite: things like golf will be added later in the year. I can see Nintendo potentially offering new games over time as an Expansion Pass perk, similar to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Klonoa Phantasy Reverie: This probably would have been more exciting if trademark applications hadn't leaked its existence. Oh well, the Klonoa series's PS1/2-era 3D platforming has aged very well compared to a lot of other games from that time period, so it's nice to see them getting re-introduced to a new audience.

No Man's Sky: This is nice to see on Switch, and interestingly, it's not a “cloud version.” At least, it's not being expressly advertised as that. I'm very curious to see how this performs on a stock Switch console compared to other platforms.

Portal: It's Portal. You know what you're getting. Come, take your consciousness back to the late aughts when “the cake is a lie” was the funniest thing imaginable.

RPGMAGEDDON ANNOUNCEMENTS

Front Mission 1 & 2: Remakes of two Front Mission games that were never localized? Yes please! Front Mission has been treated like an unwanted stepchild by Square for a while now, with ill-conceived action-game spinoffs like Front Mission Evolved and Left Alive completely missing the mark. Fans of Front Mission want turn-based mech strategy, and with these remakes, that's exactly what they're going to get. Hopefully this will be the fuel the series needs to come stomping back to life.

Chrono Cross Radical Dreamers Edition: Okay, so, like… I could write a whole novella about why Chrono Cross makes me irrationally angry, but y'know what? If you're happy about it, that's cool. I can't deny that the OST's excellent. And hey, it's really cool that the Radical Dreamers text adventure is getting a proper, official translation and being packaged with it. That gives me hope that some of Square's other lost Satellaview games could be preserved and released someday. But seriously, the next announcement is a lot more exciting.

Live A Live: Yesssssss! Live A Live is such a cool little game, and seeing it get a big visual revamp and an official localization makes me positively giddy. Live A Live is an exceptionally charming episodic RPG where you control a varied cast of heroes across various settings and time periods, with all of their stories being tied together towards the end. Both the narrative presentation and the combat change up depending on the quest line, as well. It's an overlooked gem, and I'm excited to see more folks check it out.

Triangle Strategy: I don't really have much to say here except “lookin’ good, guys!” There's a new demo out that will allow you to transfer save data to the full game at a later date, so give that a download if you're keen on trying the game out.

Earthbound: Nintendo, you have to stop doing this to the Mother fans. You had the perfect setup here for the announcement they've all been waiting for, only to crush hopes and dreams yet again.

But hey, at least you can play Earthbound (and its formerly-unreleased prequel) legitimately without spending a fortune, if you haven't already.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Ahhhh, here we go! The subject of many rumors over the past several months has finally emerged!

It's a very pretty trailer, though it honestly doesn't tell us much – who are these characters, and what are they doing? Who knows! We'll have to find out through bits and pieces of marketing reveals until the game's release. What we can gleam from the trailer is that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 ties together the stories of 1 and 2, as imagery from both games can be seen throughout. It looks lovely and sounds fantastic – I'm always a bit tickled to hear a primarily UK-based dub cast.

And that's the Nintendo Direct! My personal max-hype announcement was Live A Live, but it was a great showing overall, with a good amount of games I'm interested in playing. Nintendo's got a lot of momentum right now, and it looks like 2022's going to be another very good year for Switch stuff.

DO WE REALLY HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THE PLATINUMGAMES OUTRAGE, THOUGH

Before the Direct broadcast, the hot topic on gaming Twitter was beloved developer PlatinumGames. Famitsu conducted an interview with longtime producer and newly-crowned CEO Atsushi Inaba, where he talked about the company's future plans.

Unfortunately, the interview was quickly translated and summarized via social media, where a particularly odious paraphrasing tweet made it sound like Inaba was planning to dump Platinum's single-player offerings in favor of making only “live-service” type games going forward.

The article in question this tweet links to elaborates a lot more on the subject, where Inaba talks about wanting to make both the experiences Platinum fans have come to love alongside potential live-service type games. In particular, Inaba says he'd like to try and create new types of game design models and experiences.

But that sort of quote doesn't get the social media outrage machine running, does it?

Even the translation in that article has been called into question by former Platinum staff member JP Kellams, who posted his own take on what Inaba said.

My take on all of this? Besides saying “read the damn article” and “please research before reacting,” I don't necessarily mind Platinum diversifying a bit. Lots of fan-favorite developers take on projects to pay the bills while they work on other stuff that's less commercially viable but more pleasing to their core fanbase. (WayForward is a good modern example of this.) If Platinum thinks a live-service game will help sustain the company while they make their Sol Crestas and Wonderful 101s, then I'm fine with that. (Hell, if Platinum thinks they can make a new type of live-service game that will revolutionize the business, I want to see it!)

So relax. PlatinumGames is gonna do their thing, and we're still getting Bayonetta 3 and Project GG. And please just get over Scalebound already.

And that's all for this week. Oh, one more thing: you should watch Masami Obari's King of Fighters XV short, it's pretty rad. So what were your favorite announcements from Nintendo Direct this time around? Did you see everything you wanted? Are you upset over the lack of Metroid Prime 4 and the Breath of the Wild followup? Nintendo Directs are always good at getting folks talking, so share all of your thoughts in the forum with your fellow ANN readers (and me!). Catch you again soon!