The Nintendo Direct News And Discussion Thread

[Mellow Ezlo]

Haven't watched the Direct but from what I heard there was little in it that would be of interest to me.

I did watch the Zelda Tiktok trailer though and uhh, it was honestly really boring. Also the name sucks but I'm no less excited for it since it's Zelda.

 

[Ronin]

They have a ton that they can announce though. If they can announce and release Xenoblade 3 in the time that they did then theres no reason to think that they won’t be able to announce a new entry in one of the many franchises that they’ve been neglecting for years for a holiday release.

The fact that MonolithSoft has been able to release Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in such a complete state is a marvel. They've been busy carrying the weight of many flagship franchises such as Animal Crossing, Kirby, Splatoon 3, and Zelda to top it all off. XC3 got released in the middle of a drought ahead of the last two, received massive critical acclaim, and is well received by most who played it. They were able to achieve this in the midst of a pandemic, no less.

They absolutely deserve more praise than "garbage RPG company" or some other ill-gotten criticism.

And you think this is ok?

Given the context that XC and its fans have been shat on for years, yes, this small joke is absolutely okay. XC3 getting moved ahead two months and its own dedicated Direct is monumental since the series is finally getting mainstream treatment like any other regular Nintendo title would. This is a tremendous, justly deserved achievement.

And also, it's just funny to watch the tables turn on the JRPG haters.

 

[Chevywolf30]

YYyoooooooo TotK looking neato!!

Looks like Zant wearing Majora's Mask

Twili Master Sword????/


But that's probably just all coincidence

 

[Fraxinus]

Dunno where else to put this but I'm trying out the Harvestella demo right now and I wanna share my early impressions/thoughts so far.

It's... alright.

The gameplay is a little different and I'm not sure how I feel about it just yet. I'm not crazy about the world map thing. That kind of stuff is hit or miss for me in games and it kinda feels like it breaks the immersion a bit for this one. Equipping things is kind of warring with my muscle memory but I'll probably adjust to it.

Character models feel very Square Enix generic, but the character portraits are nice. Cool that your character has a portrait to match the artwork even with the small customization options. And I don't get the impression theres romance in the game which is also great. Scenery is gorgeous, although I'm playing on handheld and the game looks a little blurry from the downscaling.

Very Rune Factory in that the protag has amnesia and is sent to work on a farm also lol. Protagonist seems to be a silent protagonist however. I don't have an opinion on that but it seemed different enough from what I'm used to in my Rune Factory experience to mention it.
The plot actually feels mildly predictable though; like I feel like I already know exactly what's going on and idk if that's good or bad.

The big thing I'm really struggling with though is the time management. I couldnt even stand Stardew Valley having days end at 2am and Pioneers of Olive Town decided to do that too when it borrowed a bunch of stuff from Stardew. And now, days ending at 10pm in Harvestella is even more unmanageable for me. There's just not enough time to get anything done and in a farming game with a more rpg focus, that's really important you have time to tend your fields and explore instead of having to pick between the two. Not to mention the world map thing compounds the time problem big time cuz moving around on the world map is like the golem in Rune Factory Tides of Destiny and just burns through your clock like no other. I get the impression there may be fast travel as some point though so maybe that'll mitigate it slightly.

Overall... I'll probably get it? Seems like a good take on what Rune Factory should have been instead of evolving in the direction it did. And I'm a sucker for magic and crystal type stuff in world building so that's exciting as a world element.

 

[thePlinko]

The fact that MonolithSoft has been able to release Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in such a complete state is a marvel. They've been busy carrying the weight of many flagship franchises such as Animal Crossing, Kirby, Splatoon 3, and Zelda to top it all off. XC3 got released in the middle of a drought ahead of the last two, received massive critical acclaim, and is well received by most who played it. They were able to achieve this in the midst of a pandemic, no less.

They absolutely deserve more praise than "garbage RPG company" or some other ill-gotten criticism.

How is this a response to anything that I said?

Given the context that XC and its fans have been shat on for years, yes, this small joke is absolutely okay.

That context literally does not exist.

As I said earlier, you have been spoon fed Xenoblade content after Xenoblade content for years, while other franchises that are just as popular if not more so have gotten nothing on the switch, or in some cases nothing since the GameCube. Xenoblade has literally gotten more support on the Switch than mainline Mario has. Nintendo absolutely has the ability to manage what gets released, regardless of what its developers have been working on. Why should Xenoblade get 2 brand new games, DLC the size of their own games entirely for both of said games, a port of the first game with its own extra content, and a damn smash bros character, meanwhile StarFox has laid completely dormant for 5 years.

Complaining about the amount of support Xenoblade has been getting is more than reasonable, regardless of the game’s quality.

And also, it's just funny to watch the tables turn on the JRPG haters.

What’ll be funnier is eventually watching the tables turn on the entitled JRPG fans.

 

[Fraxinus]

The team that makes Xenoblade has literally nothing to do with these dormant franchises. Whether they choose to start a new project or not doesn't mean that a dormant franchise would return. Just cuz some series have developers that actively care on working on their series doesn't mean they're the reason Nintendo isn't paying attention to a series like F-zero or Star Fox. Nintendo would address that if they wanted to. It's not Monolithsoft's fault and making them a proxy for your anger with Nintendo's releases is actually kind of unfair. Unfair that you say fans of a series don't deserve to receive stuff from developers that want to make stuff, and unfair to the developers for actually caring enough to make stuff in their respective series.

 

[thePlinko]

The team that makes Xenoblade has literally nothing to do with these dormant franchises. Whether they choose to start a new project or not doesn't mean that a dormant franchise would return. Just cuz some series have developers that actively care on working on their series doesn't mean they're the reason Nintendo isn't paying attention to a series like F-zero or Star Fox. Nintendo would address that if they wanted to. It's not Monolithsoft's fault and making them a proxy for your anger with Nintendo's releases is actually kind of unfair. Unfair that you say fans of a series don't deserve to receive stuff from developers that want to make stuff, and unfair to the developers for actually caring enough to make stuff in their respective series.

When did I say that it was Monolith’s fault? When did I say that fans of a series don’t deserve releases? When did I say that a developer shouldn’t be allowed to make them?

I didn’t.

I said that Nintendo still has the ability to manage what gets released, and therefore it is their fault that we haven’t gotten an F-Zero game in 20 years.

In the mean time, they’re still the ones who give Monolith the budget for Xenoblade, while they can also be giving a bigger budget to literally any other studio instead, so yes, the amount of Xenoblade content is absolutely a contributing factor.

 

[Fraxinus]

You implied it right here

you have been spoon fed Xenoblade content after Xenoblade content for years, while other franchises that are just as popular if not more so have gotten nothing on the switch

Why should Xenoblade get 2 brand new games, DLC the size of their own games entirely for both of said games, a port of the first game with its own extra content, and a damn smash bros character, meanwhile StarFox has laid completely dormant for 5 years.

Complaining about the amount of support Xenoblade has been getting is more than reasonable, regardless of the game’s quality.

And said it rather blatantly, here

What’ll be funnier is eventually watching the tables turn on the entitled JRPG fans.

And I don't want you thinking I'm trying to remove your words from context, cuz that's not what I'm trying to do. But this is how your words are coming across, and while I get you're upset and you have a reason to be, being mad at people for being lucky enough to get what they want out of releases and announcements to the point that you're making the statements you're making... yeah, it's alarming.

I think instead of saying "<this release> should have never happened because it should have been <this release> instead," you should consider that both releases aren't mutually exclusive and both could exist if they were going to exist. Nintendo could load out their yearly lineup and they just dont. But the fact those series are remaining dormant is unrelated to games being released that are released. It just feels like a way to avoid admitting that Nintendo wouldn't work on those franchises even if Xenoblade 3--hell, Xenoblade as an entire series--didn't exist.

We all agree Nintendo should give more love to these franchises that have been without a game in years. Even JRPG fans can agree on that. I mean I'm not as hardcore into JRPGs as some other members here, but I agree with that sentiment too. But that doesn't mean we need to blame it on new franchises are getting some love. Splatoon is a thriving new franchise and I'm glad that it's taking off. I don't even play Splatoon that heavily but just because it's a new franchise that stuck, I'm happy for it. I think its a perspective thing and not every game will appeal to you, and I'm sorry if you've been a while without a release to look forward to, but since we're in an age where there are lots of independent studios who are making games due to similar frustrations with series they love dying, you probably could find quite a few games to satisfy you and tide you over. Games take too long to develop anymore that it would be unwise to have a "strict diet" on Nintendo games, honestly.

But anyway, to restate. Nintendo makes a lot of stupid decisions that we all hate, but when teams under Nintendo put out something nice, it's kind of unfair to have wishful thinking that it could have been a different release. Cuz it's really not that simple.

 

[Link&Midna]

Lmao no way I thought we finally let the xenosalt die

 

[thePlinko]

And said it rather blatantly, here

How is flipping what ronin said “blatantly” saying anything? By your own logic, you should be criticizing exactly what he said in addition to me.

being mad at people for being lucky enough to get what they want out of releases and announcements to the point that you're making the statements you're making... yeah, it's alarming.

Which is why I’m not mad at people who got what they want, I’m mad at the people who got what they want and use that to taunt anyone who dares to complain over the sheer amount of love that one franchise has been getting over all others. There’s being happy that you got something, and then theres being a dick to others because they didn’t.

I think instead of saying "<this release> should have never happened because it should have been <this release> instead," you should consider that both releases aren't mutually exclusive and both could exist if they were going to exist. Nintendo could load out their yearly lineup and they just dont. But the fact those series are remaining dormant is unrelated to games being released that are released. It just feels like a way to avoid admitting that Nintendo wouldn't work on those franchises even if Xenoblade 3--hell, Xenoblade as an entire series--didn't exist.

Except I haven’t said that. I stated that Xenoblade fans have no reason to act like they’re somehow an underdog in this scenario as Ronin was doing. They haven’t been “shat on” over the years like he said, if anything they’ve been getting more support than nearly every other Nintendo IP. Even in the Wii U era they got a new game and a smash character during a time where even Zelda was struggling to get something on the system.

But that doesn't mean we need to blame it on new franchises are getting some love. Splatoon is a thriving new franchise and I'm glad that it's taking off. I don't even play Splatoon that heavily but just because it's a new franchise that stuck, I'm happy for it. I think its a perspective thing and not every game will appeal to you

And would you look at that, I haven’t complained about Splatoon. I think that its one of the few Nintendo franchises that has been getting a reasonable amount of support recently, even if I’ve been confused with what the point of the third one was. You also saw me say good things about getting trailers for Bayonetta 3 and Pikmin 4 despite the fact that I’ve talked about how I don’t like them. On the other hand, there are also franchises that I don’t dislike that I also thing have been getting a but too much support recently like Kirby. It’s not about whether it appeals to me or not, it’s about the fact that theres such an oversaturation of it.

and I'm sorry if you've been a while without a release to look forward to, but since we're in an age where there are lots of independent studios who are making games due to similar frustrations with series they love dying, you probably could find quite a few games to satisfy you and tide you over. Games take too long to develop anymore that it would be unwise to have a "strict diet" on Nintendo games, honestly.

What do you think I’ve been doing for the past 5 years? Even just in the past year you’ve seen me play through dozens of games that I’ve never played before to fill the void of a new game in any of my favorite franchises, and for the most part it’s been working. That doesn’t mean I can’t complain when Nintendos output has been so lobsided recently.

But anyway, to restate. Nintendo makes a lot of stupid decisions that we all hate, but when teams under Nintendo put out something nice, it's kind of unfair to have wishful thinking that it could have been a different release. Cuz it's really not that simple.

Nobody is saying that every release should be something else, we’re saying that Nintendo has the ability to control what franchises get more support than others. They give monolith their budget, they could do the same thing to any team that wants to make any other game.

 

[Fraxinus]

Ok, I'm sorry. I don't want to antagonize you by any means. I just wanted you to understand how you're coming across in some of your recent posts. If that's not how you intended it then it was important you clear that up more and your reply does somewhat. So no hard feelings there.

I think the thing is, I don't think anyone (or at least anyone here) really actually feels entitled to gaming news. And if they're acting that way, they're probably just goofing around. And if they're not, then they're being disrespectful. So if you are seeing Ronin's behavior as entitlement then I can understand why that's making you more upset, but I didn't take his initial statement about the tables turning being in a fully serious tone. While you're response to him felt fully serious. I'm admittedly not the best at reading people so I apologize if I jumped to conclusions there, but I think maybe we all are jumping to conclusions in assuming anyone is unaware that a game they love is getting a lot of representation or attention.

Like as a Fire Emblem fan, I felt really uncomfortable about them adding Chrom and Byleth in Ultimate, because like, there's a self-awareness there that like, why are they adding more of these? Even if they're new characters, is this really the best choice for a hall of fame for gaming characters? But like, the hoes mad memes happened and like, I'm not even gonna try to justify that, but it seems like the go-to response to people who are gonna complain about Nintendo's decisions cuz the rest of use have just learned to deal with it. But even an annoying meme like that, most times I've seen it used at least, it's not even the same thing as saying the person is 100% okay with the announcement themselves. They just don't want to hear people complain about it. But I can't speak for everyone there, cuz I'm sure there are people who use it more to troll but fortunately here on ZD we don't really see that much these days.

And I'll be honest and I haven't looked super forward to games especially Nintendo games in a long time so I do kind of get a little sad that some people can feel so much hype for stuff but I don't think they're being entitled for having the privilege of being excited. I just think I've been let down too many times to really feel that way, even when its for games/series I love.

 

[thePlinko]

Ok, I'm sorry. I don't want to antagonize you by any means. I just wanted you to understand how you're coming across in some of your recent posts. If that's not how you intended it then it was important you clear that up more and your reply does somewhat. So no hard feelings there.

I think the thing is, I don't think anyone (or at least anyone here) really actually feels entitled to gaming news. And if they're acting that way, they're probably just goofing around. And if they're not, then they're being disrespectful. So if you are seeing Ronin's behavior as entitlement then I can understand why that's making you more upset, but I didn't take his initial statement about the tables turning being in a fully serious tone. While you're response to him felt fully serious. I'm admittedly not the best at reading people so I apologize if I jumped to conclusions there, but I think maybe we all are jumping to conclusions in assuming anyone is unaware that a game they love is getting a lot of representation or attention.

Like as a Fire Emblem fan, I felt really uncomfortable about them adding Chrom and Byleth in Ultimate, because like, there's a self-awareness there that like, why are they adding more of these? Even if they're new characters, is this really the best choice for a hall of fame for gaming characters? But like, the hoes mad memes happened and like, I'm not even gonna try to justify that, but it seems like the go-to response to people who are gonna complain about Nintendo's decisions cuz the rest of use have just learned to deal with it. But even an annoying meme like that, most times I've seen it used at least, it's not even the same thing as saying the person is 100% okay with the announcement themselves. They just don't want to hear people complain about it. But I can't speak for everyone there, cuz I'm sure there are people who use it more to troll but fortunately here on ZD we don't really see that much these days.

And I'll be honest and I haven't looked super forward to games especially Nintendo games in a long time so I do kind of get a little sad that some people can feel so much hype for stuff but I don't think they're being entitled for having the privilege of being excited. I just think I've been let down too many times to really feel that way, even when its for games/series I love.

Oh it’s certainly not Xenoblade or Fire Emblem fans in general that are entitled, but there are absolutely a select group of people who use the fact that their franchises are so well supported to put anyone who complains about it down under the excuse of them hating it for some reason, even if that excuse is simply incorrect. I’m not sure if anyone isn’t aware of how much support Xenoblade has been getting, but Ronin is sure acting like it hasn’t been.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

Lmao no way I thought we finally let the xenosalt die

But did you see how many rpgs they announced

 

[ExLight]

But did you see how many rpgs they announced

Yea, there were other announcements though, can't we just ignore those we don't care about?
Like, I even think it's perfectly fair to be annoyed by the overwhelming amount of RPG and Farming games, and make some brief remarks like you're doing. It's just when complaining and hating nonstop like some other members are doing that kinda gets out of hand.

.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

I mean yeah at this point I think it's funny and they're doing it on purpose