This Week in Games

Stuck On A Whole Different Planet

Welcome back, folks! I have a bit of a "behind the scenes" bit for you guys from last week's column; while writing about Poncle (the creator of Vampire Survivors), I had apparently flubbed up the spelling at one point. So until my editor caught it, I had written: "Poncleoncle doing what Konamisn't." I'll let Poncle take that one for free. It'll make for a few good T-shirts, I think.

We care about game preservation here at This Week in Games. I mean, think of all the old games we've talked about in this column. Let's ignore Izuna for a minute, think about the original Shadow of the Ninja, Wizardry, or moon. Think about Super Robot Wars OG: Endless Frontier, which is a prequel to both Project X Zone games—just this past weekend, I was speaking to someone who didn't even know that was the case. There really isn't a viable way to play a lot of these games, with current consoles being what they are. For all folks who complain about how many games get remade, there are still countless more trapped on older consoles—the Video Game History Foundation states that 87% of all games produced before 2010 are lost. That means there aren't any practical means to play those games outside of patently illegal means. Fighting game fans know this well, you guys probably already know how much of an issue this was for Marvel vs. Capcom 2. This includes games lost due to rights issues, like old licensed titles that are trapped in legal limbo, or games bound to failed consoles (like Sticky Balls or Momma Can I Mow The Lawn? on the Gizmondo).

This is why the Video Game History Foundation has been working alongside the Software Preservation Network with a petition to allow the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) to allow an exemption for video games. The idea is that libraries would have access to a shared digital archive that would share access to old, out-of-print video games. Old ZX Spectrum games, licensed fare like the Da Vinci Code video game, and long-lost titles like Blue Dragon all would theoretically be available to libraries and researchers. The one thing standing in their way is Section 1201 of the DMCA, which prohibits breaking copy protection on games.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Copyright Office refused to grant the exemption. This decision was backed by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), who have gone on record that they refuse to ever support such an initiative. Being that the ESA is a lobbying organization that mostly supports the needs of the corporate side of the industry, and not literally any other part of the vast video game industry at large (especially not games media, given their refusal to keep journalists' data safe), this is disappointing but not surprising. What does surprise is the reason given behind the refusal of the exemption: they're worried researchers would play these games for fun. Nevermind that researchers are people who are likely to care about their field of study, let alone enjoy it (hey man, some kids want to grow up to be dentists), nevermind that libraries already loan out texts and films for recreational purposes—heaven forbid researchers enjoy a round of American McGee's Alice.

The sad part is that the decision also cites possible harm to the industry, given the market for what is dubbed "legacy games." Y'know, the ports of older titles that we don't get. People indeed snap up these games almost sight-unseen when they get a chance because we don't know when they'll stop being available. And nobody in the fighting game community wants to wait another 14 years before they have another legal method of playing Marvel vs. Capcom.

We've needed solutions for game preservation for a long time. Buying physical copies of games sadly isn't enough because, unfortunately, physical media degrades over time. We're already seeing the failure of older games stored on floppy disks, and there's only so much that historians can do to preserve those titles (let alone keep them playable on modern hardware). The problem is only going to get worse as time goes on, with more and more games being lost to store closures, rights expiring, and companies getting bought out and sold for parts (especially with how keen most are to just squat on IP). The Video Game History Foundation and the SPN are trying to continue the fight for game preservation; one thing we can do—as silly as it sounds—is write our representatives concerning the matter. I know it sounds dumb, but the squeaky wheel gets the oil. It also helps to frame this matter as educational—and let's face it, it is. With the billions of dollars in value that the game industry represents, games are a major part of modern-day culture in one way or another. In the same way that we need old films like M or Modern Times preserved, effort needs to be put into ensuring that old games like Dangerous Dave or Jetpack are also preserved.

I'm tempted to dedicate this one to the Animal Crossing crowd, but there are a lot of people who love Animal Crossing, so that wouldn't be very specific. At any rate: Nintendo announced the shuttering of the beloved Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp app a few months back. The game was quite popular, allowing folks to play a pared-down version of Animal Crossing on their phones, complete with all their favorite villagers—and the all-important Froggy Chair.

The good news is that Nintendo isn't going to leave a ton of money on the table. While Nintendo is still sundowning Pocket Camp, they're giving players an offline option instead! Starting December 3, fans can purchase an offline version of Pocket Camp to play. The whole thing is a bit of a good-bad scenario. All of the online features will be stripped—so no more marketplace. Anything involving friends will revolve around a new QR code system (which, thankfully, is a lot easier to use these days). All of the previous seven years' worth of content will be available off-the-bat, in addition to an additional 10 months of content through September 2025—but none of the collaboration items or villagers will be available due to rights issues. Sadly, this includes the Sanrio characters—they'll only transfer to your offline campsite if you already have them in your game and transfer your data over.

With the game going offline, the secondary currency (Leaf Tokens) will also be retired, as well as any of the bonuses for subscribing to the game—now, "most" of them will be made available to all players off the bat. This includes the Merry Memories Plan, the Happy Helper Plan, and the Furniture & Fashion Plan. You'll also be able to earn in-game Complete Tickets, which can be used to acquire items from the extensive Complete Item Catalogue. And all this for the price of $9.99! ...Er, that's "$9.99 for the first two months"—the game will go up to $19.99 after January 31, 2025. I'm not a fan of that; $10 is a perfect price for a mobile game of this caliber. $20? That's way too steep—for that price, you may as well sell it as an app on the Switch. And even then, it might be too expensive. At the very least, you've got two months to nab the game at a premium price. And I'm pretty sure that anyone who loves Animal Crossing will be sure to jump in long before the discount ends.

It's not the first time that Nintendo has shuttered one of its apps, but it feels like the first time they've put so much effort into ensuring that the game can continue to be enjoyed in as complete a form as can be offered without needing any online support. For sure, a lot of Dragalia Lost fans (myself among them) are a bit stunned that this effort wasn't shown for that game. But also, it's just nice to see a mobile game get something more than just a blank "Thank you for playing!" screen after the game goes dark. Countless mobile games have been lost over the past few years (alas, poor World Flipper), and there's nothing to soothe the wounded hearts of those who have invested in those games beyond the monetary level. But the other thing that makes people squint a little is how Nintendo is showing so much prolonged support for a game they're discontinuing when Animal Crossing: New Horizons is right over there; that game was poised to be the Switch game of 2020 (especially with it releasing right before the pandemic), but Nintendo didn't give it much support. A quick check on Google reveals that the last update for New Horizons was slated for November 5 of 2021. (Xenoblade Chronicles 3 hadn't even released yet! I wasn't even writing for this column yet!)

I don't get it either; with Animal Crossing being as beloved as it is, you'd think Nintendo would've leaped at the chance to make more DLC for the game. Provided, the pandemic likely threw a ton of Nintendo's plans into the circular file. And it's not like Nintendo hasn't given major updates to Animal Crossing years after the fact; back on the 3DS, Animal Crossing: New Leaf received the "Welcome Amiibo" update four years after its release. And hey, just around the corner, we have Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which has received almost an entire game's worth of levels once over as DLC. Who knows—maybe once Nintendo's new console is out, and its backward compatibility is confirmed, Nintendo might try to sweeten the pot for New Horizons with new DLC. On the one hand, Nintendo likes playing the long game. On the other... hey, I don't blame them for having bigger fish to fry at a time like this.

Let's just take this as the victory it is, for now; a lot of games wish they could get offline modes on the level of Mega Man X DiVE and now Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. Let's hope this becomes an ongoing trend for the industry.

... Oh, merciful Jesus, it happened.

The Wii U was a failed console, but it nevertheless had some great titles that were sadly stuck in its format. With the Switch being an entirely different format, there was no way to transfer Wii U titles onto the Switch. The good news is that over the past seven years or so, pretty much all of the Wii U titles you could've hoped for have made the jump and are now playable in other formats. The Wonderful 101, Bayonetta 2, and plenty of games have been freed from "Wii U Jail." But sadly, one notable game was trapped on that console: Xenoblade Chronicles X. Not quite a sequel to the original Xenoblade Chronicles, it was nevertheless an impressive title, more akin to a single-player Phantasy Star Online with giant robots: you and a crew of humans crash-land on an alien planet named "Mira." Founding a colony city named "New Los Angeles," you are tasked with exploring the nearby planet. Aiding in this are your Skells: giant mobile suits that can be customized for the environment, expanding the map you can explore or the heights you can reach and making it easier to fight massive monsters. It was a huge game on the Wii U, and sadly, one that got overlooked, both for being on the Wii U and because the "Xenoblade" name wasn't what it is now. Besides the handful of true believers who loved it upon its original release or newer Xenoblade fans who have reevaluated the game in the wake of the Xenoblade series' recent success, it was both overlooked and trapped on the Wii U.

Well, looks like I won't have to worry about what I'm going to play once I finish Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Didn't need a Nintendo Direct, didn't need anything. Good morning, Xenoblade Chronicles X is getting a Definitive Edition release on the Switch. Enjoy your Tuesday.

Jeez. Where do you begin? Okay, so obviously, the graphics have been upgraded plenty. Part of it is in the name of better visuals (the Switch is slightly stronger than the Wii U, if only slightly), but also in the name of bringing Xenoblade Chronicles X into stronger stylistic parity with the other Xenoblade games. Again: this game was released before Xenoblade Chronicles 2 solidified the look and feel of the series (especially with Masatsugu Saitō's character designs), so it featured Kunihiko Tanaka's stylings, which you might recognize from the Xenosaga series—Tetsuya Takahashi has been nothing but dogged in his attempts at making his Xeno-series work. Now, this is just a matter of taste, but I think Tanaka's art works better in 2D than in 3D; his designs come off as a bit uncanny in 3D, not to mention completely at odds with the current aesthetic of the series. So this new style tries to blend them into a happy medium; not quite as rounded and stylized as Saito's, not quite as wide-eyed as Tanaka's. It's a great look; fans have been thrilled with it. Fans have also been looking back at Monolith's 25th-anniversary music video with a knowing smirk since that video debuted Elma's new look. Those sly dogs had this waiting in their back pocket the whole time.

The other factor is that the port is also bringing the requisite expansions that we've come to expect from Monolith Soft's "Definitive Edition" releases. Bear with me: I've never played Xenoblade Chronicles X, so we're getting into somewhat nebulous territory here: much like Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition with the Future Connected DLC, Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition will also feature some expansions... I think.

Apparently, that final bit in the trailer of the shirtless dude meeting the renegade Organization XIII member calls back to a major cliffhanger from the original game. Apparently, a ton of cut content never made it to the final version of X, so maybe that stuff is back? Regardless, whatever they add might hopefully bring X back in line with the greater Xenoblade series. As my longtime readers may know, I haven't beaten Xenoblade Chronicles 3 yet, so the details are murky for me, but its Future Redeemed DLC effectively leaves X out in the cold or contradicts certain story beats. But again: Xenoblade Chronicles X predates a lot of storytelling from the Xenoblade series. While I'm sure some of the current plot points have been floating around in Tetsuya Takahashi's head forever (especially since he's been trying to make a massive sci-fi epic since Xenogears—and so many of the story beats in Xenoblade correspond to story elements from Xenogears), the plain fact of the matter is that X came out long before story elements like the Architect or the Trinity Processor (Ontos, Logos and Pneuma) were properly established.

Even Xenoblade Chronicles saw some aesthetic retcons to cement its ties to the greater continuity; famously, Alvis' necklace replaced the original key pendant with a gemstone that resembled a Core Crystal in the Definitive Edition. And those efforts have been extended to Xenoblade Chronicles X. From what I can tell, eagle-eyed players have noticed that Lin (a major story character in X) is missing one of her Monado-shaped hairpins. There could be other stuff, but I simply wouldn't have known because even though X's Elma made a cameo appearance in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 as a rare Blade, I never got her. (Though I was lucky enough to roll KOS-MOS!)

With Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition, there are now fewer and fewer Wii U titles stranded on the console. Notably, poor Star Fox Zero is still lost (that game definitely deserves a do-over). A few other beloved franchise entries like Yoshi's Woolly World or Kirby and the Rainbow Curse are sadly absent, and a lot of Zelda fans are quite keen on Wind Waker HD and the Twilight Princess remaster getting ported over as well. Hey, we just might see them! For all that people are begging Nintendo to reveal details on the new console, Nintendo is fully committed to supporting the Switch for as long as possible. I can't think of a single moment when a publisher happily announces major releases until the eve of its new console's announcement. And remember: Nintendo President Furukawa said that we'd see a reveal within the fiscal year (which, in Japan, ends on March 31). With Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition slated for a March 20, 2025 release, we might not see any news on the new console until after the 20th. And hey, if the new console is backward compatible and somehow played Switch games with better fidelity, the entire Xenoblade Chronicles series being on one family of consoles would be a massive flex. I mean, I doubt the new Nintendo console will be able to play Switch games better, I feel like that isn't likely given how many Switch games were programmed. But that's a topic for another time.

So I know what you guys are thinking, so I'll just say it: Yeah, I'm gonna play Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition. Honestly, it's my fault for taking so long to beat Xenoblade 3 (I blame myself). But I was worried about missing a story from X anyway. In for a penny, in for another hundred-hour-long game. Screw it, we'll do it live. This is gonna be my 2025. Hats off to my Switch: I bought it to play Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and I'll retire it with Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition. Who knows, maybe I'll beat Xenoblade 3 this December, and I'll get a few weeks to play and beat something else in the meantime. Kudos to my readers, who were very encouraging last week, especially since I'm so close to beating the game.

A lot of folks are seriously on pins and needles for announcing the new console. We're talking "clawing at the walls" here. Like, I get it. I want to know how much money I gotta set aside for it before I purchase it. But also, come on, did you not see that Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition announcement? We'll get that new console announcement when Nintendo announces that console, not a moment sooner. In the meantime, Nintendo made another announcement in the form of a new excursion: Nintendo Music.

No, Nintendo isn't trying to patent the idea of music; Nintendo has released a new app featuring nothing but music from their own games. The app has a number of neat features that I think make it a bit more worthwhile than Spotify (provided, having this stuff on Spotify would be a hair easier). For one, songs are arranged in a number of neat arrangements based on themes like "calm music" (think a grab-bag of stuff like relaxing Earthbound music with some environmental Pikmin tunes), or "power-up music" (think boss themes or action-y tunes). The app also features the option to extend songs to specific lengths while you're listening to a song. So if you need a whole hour of Yoshi's New Island's The Yoshi Clan or Splatoon's Calamari Inkantation, the app has built-in options for that—no need to load up a longer "extended" version of a song. There are also options for avoiding tracks that spoil key moments in games, also pretty amazing. Finally, you can also download songs to the app to enjoy them offline.

The only catch? You need to be subscribed to Nintendo's Nintendo Switch Online service for the app. Which I think is fair; this helps sweeten the pot for the Switch Online service, which most folks would want anyway if they're gonna play their Switch games online. What are folks gonna do? Not race online in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe? Not battle online in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate? It's a good feature, and it's a show of Nintendo's increased inroads into "lifestyle goods"; Nintendo wants folks to not just play Nintendo games but enjoy Nintendo products. We're not gonna get Nintendo Fertilizer anytime soon, I don't think, but they're thinking about ways that folks can have some kind of Nintendo-branded gadget in their daily life (think the new Alarmo that was just released). There's also something to be said about the app not properly crediting many of the composers for these songs; Siivagunner, the noted YouTube channel that features comedic "high-quality rips" (read: remixes) of various video game songs, goes the extra mile to credit composers from every song they "rip." Yes, even the songs from the Phillips CD-I games. I would like to see Nintendo extend credit to their composers.

Currently, the app is promoting soundtracks from 23 Nintendo games from across their consoles going back to the Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom; these include Star Fox 64, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Pokémon Scarlet/Violet, Nintendogs, the Famicom Disk System version of Metroid, and the Wii Channels. That last one is how you know Nintendo has their finger on the pulse—they're giving you their own home-grown hour-long version of the Wii Shop Channel theme. New packs are promised to be released in the future; with Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition on the horizon, folks will be able to enjoy such tracks as "z16b2gu012ro09u1su4" or "z39b20co13mi01cal09". Golden Sun would also be nice.

That will do it for this week. Roundabouts this time last year, I had finished a column just like this one—and found myself taking more than the usual seven to come back to the column, as I had had my accident. Notably, this year I'm also prepping for Kumoricon—and I also need to get a haircut. One year is both a long time and not a lot of time; between the memory of my accident and the recent slate of massive layoffs across both the gaming industry and the gaming press, I'm finding myself in all kinds of moods. I'm not just lucky to have the opportunity to write this column, I'm lucky that I'm here. Don't worry about me, I'll feel a lot better when November 4 comes and goes (especially next week during Kumoricon). I ask that my readers take a moment to enjoy a video game this weekend; if there's a title that's been making the rounds in your head lately, this is your sign to jump back in and give it a revisit. And remember to thank the folks who made it, somewhere they might see it. I'm sure they'll appreciate it. Be good to each other, I'll see you in seven.