Your Nintendo Direct HOT TAKES - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast: "Your Nintendo Direct HOT TAKES"

Episode Date: February 6, 2026
Host Panel: Blessing Adeoye Jr, Greg Miller, Andy Cortez, and “Master of Hype” Mike
Theme: The panel reacts to hot takes submitted by the audience about the latest Nintendo Partner Direct, offering both critical analysis and honest opinions about Nintendo’s strategy, third-party support, and the state of Switch and Switch 2’s line-up.

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Episode Overview

This episode is all about the community’s hottest (and sometimes mild) takes regarding the most recent Nintendo Partner Direct. The Kinda Funny crew reads and reacts to Patreon submissions and live chat thoughts, giving their own often unfiltered feedback. Topics covered include the expectations for Nintendo Directs, third-party support (or lack thereof), art style fatigue, optimization woes, and whether Nintendo gets a pass for "WNDs" (Weird Nintendo Decisions).

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Direct Expectations vs. Reality

• Several listeners wrote in urging the panel to reset expectations for Nintendo Partner Directs, noting they're primarily for "Switch-only" audiences who might not own other consoles ([05:21] Seb, Blake Wilhelm).
• Greg Miller: Pushes back, saying it's fair for industry and dedicated fans to want more, as the audience who watches these Directs is "terminally online" and invested.
  • Quote: “I don’t think our scores were off. I think they were the honest opinion of where we’re at... I don’t like the out a lot of Nintendo fans give of like ‘guys, this is for the Switch gamer that only has a Switch.’” [07:10]
• Blessing: Acknowledges perspective matters, but as a reviewer, he can only react authentically from his own multi-console, hardcore background ([09:32]).

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2. Third-Party Support & Optimization

• Multiple hot takes addressed disappointment over ports and optimization concerns (Fallout 4, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Monster Hunter Stories 3, Pragmata).
  • Notable submission: “People paved the way for more and more mediocre showcases by just accepting any and all sloppy ports…” [11:23] (Paul)
• Mike: Argues Nintendo gets a free pass due to first-party clout, but if Mario weren’t exclusive, “you would not be buying the Switch.”
• Andy: Third-party optimization is always a mixed bag — echoes that issues are usually on the developers struggling to port to unique hardware, but “Nintendo could do more to help with that, though” by providing dev kits in a more timely manner [15:34].
  • Quote: “Sometimes you’re going to get some games that look like dog, sometimes you get good ports... It’s always going to be a mixed bag.” [14:32]
• Blessing & Greg: Call out the inconsistency and consumers' need to wait for reviews on performance, even after a game is highlighted in a Direct.

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3. Duskbloods, Elden Ring, & the Absence of System-Sellers

• Listeners lamented the lack of updates on much-hyped third-party exclusives (Duskbloods, Elden Ring), seeing this as a “Red Flag” [20:37].
• Andy: From Software's optimization troubles across platforms likely mean Duskbloods isn't ready to be shown yet.
  • Quote: “It’s a come to Jesus moment for FromSoftware... We can’t really get this thing running or looking awesome on this hardware.” [21:04]
• Mike: Expects those titles (like Duskbloods) to headline a June “summer showcase,” not a February Partner Direct.

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4. Art Style Fatigue: HD-2D Gone Stale?

• Jordan Rowan’s hot take: the HD-2D art style is overrated and ugly ([28:18]).
• Andy: It’s all about taste, but wishes more developers put a unique spin on the style. Cites games like Sifu and A Short Hike as examples where creative art direction trumps technical muscle.
  • Quote: “When games have bad art direction... your game looks like shit. That’s just how I feel.” [30:37]
• Blessing: Feels Square Enix’s implementations are getting cookie-cutter. Wants more artistic risk-taking.
• Greg: Still loves HD-2D, calling it a modern realization of how SNES-era visuals felt to play ([33:37]).
• Indie up-and-comer Threads of Time cited as a fresher take.

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5. The (Lack of) Human Touch in Partner Directs

• Several panelists agree with Travis Gaikowski’s take that Nintendo’s partner presentations are overly sterile and lack the personal touch seen in Xbox/Playstation events ([40:03]).
  • Mike: Praises Xbox’s Developer Directs for putting creators front and center.
  • Greg: Thinks Nintendo intentionally keeps things “reserved and corporate,” preferring a uniform, safe presentation, but ultimately it’s “all just marketing... a 30-minute commercial.”
  • Quote: “This isn’t for the art... It’s all just figuring out how to make you buy what they want you to buy.” [43:46]

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6. The Reality of Partner (and Indie) Directs

• Audience and panel agree: Nintendo’s Partner Directs have always had a much lower ceiling of hype, and that’s unlikely to change ([46:11] Mathuris).
• Greg: Confesses even with low expectations, this Direct didn’t meet the modest bar he had set, lacking at least three games to get excited about ([47:21]).
  • Quote: “I did. I personally, Greg Miller, did not come in expecting... Metal Gear Solid Volume Two... But I still expected to see a bunch of games here that I was like, ‘oh, yeah, I can’t wait to play’, and I really didn’t get that this time.”
• Mike: Feels Nintendo is not delivering the “wow” factor that the Switch 2 marketing implies.

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7. Nintendo's First-Party Direction & Critique

• Ongoing when/if debate about “heavy hitter” titles for Switch 2. The early 2026 line-up includes Mario Tennis, Fire Emblem, Pokemon—solid, but not industry-shifting.
  • Quote (Greg): “In the grand scheme of Nintendo’s 2026, this is a mountain out of a molehill. This didn’t do good or bad; this did nothing to Nintendo’s reputation for the year.” [53:12]
• Blessing: Expresses uncertainty in how to talk about Nintendo anymore—critiquing feels like “punching down,” praising feels like blind fanboyism ([60:21]).
• Greg: Nintendo makes “toys”—they’re masterful, but aimed at a younger or mainstream audience, and may feel frictionless and sterile to those seeking deeper or more mature content ([65:35]).
  • Quote: “Eventually you outgrow toys. You hit up against barriers, like, ‘why the fuck are Pokemon people not talking?’ That’s stupid. Why is this not dealing with more mature subject matter?” [65:35]
• Despite this, all agree Nintendo’s true magic is in its biggest first-party releases (Zelda, Mario), which continue to set a high industry standard.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Andy, on Switch graphics: “Why does it look like there’s Vaseline on the screen?” [07:03]
• Mike: “If Mario was sold on any other ecosystem, you would not be buying the Switch. Your excuses is because you love Mario.” [12:10]
• Greg: “It sucks to be... where... everything else, I’ll never play there. I like the idea of being able to play [third parties on Switch], but then... see that Resident Evil runs great, but Pragmata doesn’t—what the fuck, you know what I mean?” [14:17]
• Blessing, on Partner Directs: “If a man comes into my room three times a year and fucking bores me to death for an hour every single time, at a certain point, I’m like: at least entertain me a little bit!” [47:23]
• Andy: “Pokemon could be called Pokemon shit and piss and it’s gonna... sell 30 million in the first three days.” [57:08]
• Blessing, closing take: “I don’t know how to talk about Nintendo anymore. If I say something positive, it’s ‘Nintendo bum.’ If I critique, people get mad... Maybe I’m just running out of patience for it.” [60:21]

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Key Timestamps

• 05:21—Direct expectations, arguments for and against “resetting expectations”
• 11:23—Critique of “accepting” underwhelming third-party ports
• 14:32—Discussing optimization, comparison of Switch/Switch 2 hardware
• 20:37—Listener: “This felt like a red flag showcase” (Duskbloods/Elden Ring absence)
• 28:18—HD-2D art style debate
• 40:03—The Partner Direct’s sterile “corporate” presentation style
• 46:11—Partner Directs always setting a low hype bar
• 53:12—Does the lack of big first-party announcements raise disappointment for Partner Directs?
• 60:21—Blessing’s existential crisis on reviewing Nintendo as a platform

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Episode Vibe & Tone

• The conversation is lively, irreverent, and occasionally self-deprecating.
• The cast blend critique with nostalgia, personal anecdotes, and a nuanced understanding of Nintendo’s market position.
• The panel is candid about their frustrations, but also appreciative of Nintendo’s unique strengths.

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TL;DR Takeaway

The crew and the community overwhelmingly feel this Nintendo Partner Direct didn’t bring the “wow” factor. The panel calls out persistent issues with third-party optimization, stale art direction, and a sterile presentation style, but recognize that Nintendo’s greatest strength continues to be its top-tier first-party output. While expectations for Partner Directs are low, both fans and critics agree — it’s not wrong to hope for something more.

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Additional Noteworthy Discussions

• Art vs. Tech in Visuals: Several minutes spent dissecting how great art direction can triumph over pure tech.
• June "Big" Showcase Expectations: Consensus that E3/summer directs are when true heavy hitters and exclusives drop.
• Nintendo’s Magic—But For Whom? The idea that Nintendo now most delights newcomers or younger/casual audiences, and that long-time fans may feel “aged out” of the core experience.

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For fans and fence-sitters alike, this episode is a crash course in how to (and how not to) judge the expectations, reality, and future of Nintendo Directs.

Transcript

[A]

Go to boot.dev and use the code kinda funny to get 25% off your entire first year on the annual plan. If you want to get our shows

[B]

ad free and our exclusive shows go

[C]

to patreon.com kinda funny.

[B]

Yo, what's up? Welcome to the Kinda Funny Gamescast for Friday, February 6, 2026. I'm one of your host blessing Addy Oye Jr joining me is the legend, Greg Miller. Where is that coming from? That's my phone.

[A]

You're all over it. Hey, bless, how are you?

[B]

I'm doing good, Greg, how are you doing?

[A]

I am excellent. I'm excited for this episode of the show.

[B]

I'm excited for this episode as well. We're also joined by the master of hype.

[C]

What up big cats? I am very excited for this episode. Yeah, I'm looking forward to people's hot takes because I think they're gonna be mild.

[B]

You don't think they're gonna be hot enough.

[C]

Quick Mike, hot take.

[D]

You.

[C]

You go too easy on Nintendo audience.

[B]

I mean of course you're gonna say that. You know what I mean?

[C]

I just want you to know, man.

[A]

Over here.

[C]

Yeah, I have a Nintendo hot take for next week when we do hot takes.

[B]

We're on the hot take. Give me the Nintendo hot take right now.

[C]

Oh well, no.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

For our collective hot takes. Because yeah, we're doing that next week. Of course the audience is gonna give us their hot takes today about Nintendo and Nintendo direct yesterday. But next week the crew, the panel are gonna bring three hot takes each. Going to talk about him also, Andy Cortez, the rifles are joining us. Andy, how's it going?

[D]

Hey, I'm great, man. I'm great. I'm great.

[A]

Dude, he's great.

[B]

You don't sound like you're doing great.

[A]

Didn't hang out with his friend Mike last night. That's the problem.

[C]

I watched, I was a part of it.

[B]

I'm sure you're great.

[D]

Well, Greg popped into my chat and was like, why aren't you playing with Mike? And Mike wasn't playing overwatch.

[C]

I was.

[A]

Yeah. Cuz you didn't invite him?

[D]

He was spectating.

[A]

Yeah. When we were playing, sitting there on the side, nobody wanted to come play with Mikey did that.

[C]

Yeah, we.

[D]

The new hero is awesome though.

[C]

We played a lot of watch with the community last night. It was a ton of fun. Bless. Yeah, yeah, I had a good time. Andy had a good time.

[D]

Yeah, the new hero is awesome.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I cannot wait. You know what I was doing last night Went to First Thursday.

[C]

I was so happy I saw this.

[B]

Let me tell you. You were out there. They let them tell you. They're throwing so much ass in San Francisco.

[C]

I don't know.

[B]

Especially because, I mean, Mike knows, and I guess we all know super bowl weekend here. And so everybody's in town. There's a dj.

[C]

Hold on.

[B]

I need to find the name of the dj. This dj.

[A]

Explain First Thursday, too.

[B]

First Thursday is a block party that happens every first Thursday of the month in San Francisco. It started off as more of an East Bay thing. East Bay does first Fridays, and they've been doing that for a while. First Thursdays only started, I want to say, maybe in the last year or so. And every single month, it's been getting bigger and bigger and bigger to the point where the big deal. I accidentally ended up at the first one, and I was like, oh, cool. This is the. You know, people are outside, there's vendors. You know, there's. There's a wrestling ring. People are wrestling. Oh, cool. Okay. This is fun. Last night, it felt like the entire city was outside.

[C]

I love that you.

[B]

I felt alive. It was awesome. And then I got home and I listened to the entire hour and 40 minutes of the new J. Cole album.

[D]

Oh, wow.

[B]

Yeah. Fantastic night last night. Fantastic. Fantastic way to spend a night. But you're not here.

[D]

Finally. Not.

[A]

I wish I could say I had a fantastic night as I've already recapped the mic, but I need Andy's eyes to see it.

[C]

All right, Andy, give us your eyes.

[A]

Andy, play this for two seconds. Just run around.

[C]

Look at this.

[A]

Just run around. Just run around. Move around circles. Of course, if you're an audio listener who's playing the Monster Hunter Stories 3 demo on my Rog Ally.

[B]

Oh, I was looking at this for fantasy critic.

[D]

Oh, okay. What am I looking for?

[A]

Oh, hold on. Yeah, the art styles, embracing it.

[C]

Take a look. Near, far.

[A]

That's good. Go do your intro. Because this got me into a battle. One of us. I'm coming somewhere. I'm going somewhere.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Of course, like we just mentioned, this episode is going to be about your Nintendo direct hot take takes. Of course, I pulled from many Patreon comments. Greg posted a free post over on Patreon that I believe.

[A]

Anybody can come patreon.com kind of funny if you're not over there with a free account. I understand you. You do the podcasts, you like, the YouTube. Go over there because it gets you just better access to us with questions and comments and concerns.

[B]

Exactly. A Free account. You can go over there, comment. And so I pulled a bunch of those. Of course, if you're watching live, you can also super chat in with your hot takes and we can get them read on the show.

[D]

But.

[B]

But, Greg, what do you have going on?

[A]

All right, unpause this and play on this.

[C]

Unpause this, please.

[D]

Unpause this and play on this.

[A]

Just run around.

[D]

Motion blur.

[A]

Yeah. What the. Man? You know what I mean? Why the can't the switch? They advertised it during this direct Monster Hunter story.

[D]

Turn it off.

[A]

And look at how this is bubbly.

[B]

This is what the settings. Andy. Yeah, he's getting old.

[A]

No, it's not. No, it's not that. This is out the gate. This.

[D]

It's definitely blurry.

[A]

The Rog looks great. Chris.

[B]

He wasn't first Thursday's throne ass.

[A]

I wasn't there throwing ass. Nobody invites to throw ass anymore. I gave Pink Ey one time.

[B]

Oh, well, never mind. Actually, remember, we couldn't do this without our Patreon producers. So shout out to Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster, and Delaney the Psalm twining for now. Let's begin with topic of the show. We're talking about your Nintendo direct hot takes. And here's the thing, Mike. Last time we did a hot take episode, it was about Xbox.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And I had the complaint. I feel like the. The hot takes weren't hot enough there. And so my challenge this week is for y' all to come with the hot or hot take. So let's see if they do it. Starting with some takes about the direct itself, I'm bringing in a couple of satisfied customers. Oh, whoa.

[A]

You rarely see that.

[B]

Yeah, we got Seb, who writes in and says hot take. The industry's expectations for partner directs are way too high. Just as the panel mentioned, we got dates and demos of third party games that would have skipped Switch 1. These directs are meant for Switch gamers who. Who don't have other consoles and the ones who. Who are gonna play or who are gonna go play where it looks the best or if they want a handheld experience. What average person owns both a Switch and a Steam deck? We should be celebrating that Switch is getting games we would have missed last gen. I'm very happy with this direct. As someone who is primarily using Switch as their main console and their only handheld, I'm gonna bundle that with another one. We got in from Blake Wilhelm, who says, I think y' all need to really reset your expectations. But when it comes to partner directs, these scores were abysmal. And there's Honestly, no reason it should have scored less than. Okay, what do you guys think about that?

[D]

I think you need to watch your attitude. Bl.

[A]

Yeah, you know what I mean? I mean I don't. I don't agree with the scores being miscalibrated. I think of course we're talking about a show overall and what you not even expect because I don't think anybody. We joked around in the pre show about what your expectations were. Yeah, but like we weren't expecting E3. We weren't expecting it to be Fallout 3 Remastered. Like these are all like crazy hopes and dreams you throw around. I was expecting just a solid show again for Nintendo to continue doing these third party directs. Right. And. And what Tim always wants them to do this commitment that their switch to can be your third party console. And then here I am playing Monster Hunter through, you know. But no, no, no. I keep want to say Cellophane. That's not it. The. The jelly.

[D]

Vaseline.

[A]

Vaseline on the screen. You know what I mean? It's like. No, that's it. That I feel like I was. I was sold a false bill of goods yesterday. The game doesn't look as good as it looked out there on that. And people are saying Monster Hunter Stories three looks better docked. Great. But you're not. The system can do both. And so if I'm on the go, why does it look like that? That sucks. But anyways.

[D]

Well, I mean you're talking about a $1,000 machine versus a $450 machine. One's way more powerful.

[A]

Do you want to get in the hot takes? Come at me. You want to write your own little hot take in here?

[D]

I will very much.

[A]

I know. It's just.

[D]

He should have known the word Vaseline.

[A]

I should have. You know, I still have been off since that one time we did Howard the Duck and I came in and couldn't pronounce any word. And it is still shaking me as a performer. I want you to know I don't think our scores were off. I think they were the honest opinion of where we're at. And again, I don't think it's expectations that we need this to be this highfalutin. E3. It's Space World 2001 again. No, we just want to you to show what you're bringing to the third party customer. I don't like the out. A lot of Nintendo fans give of like guys, this is for the switch gamer that only has a switch. This is what it's. It's like. Well, no that's not the world you exist in. And I think again, directs are not like, you know, my. I was talking to Kyle Hayes last night. I have a wild hair up my ass.

[B]

All right, okay.

[D]

You got to pluck wild hair up your ass.

[A]

That's also saying. That's also a saying.

[B]

Wild. Have you all heard this?

[C]

Never heard of it.

[D]

Like a. Like a hair rabbit. Like a rabbit.

[A]

It's just a hair hair. But I don't know.

[D]

A wild hair rabbit. I assumed. H A R e. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Like a rabbit up your butt.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

I hit a pace.

[D]

I feel like that's more like a wild rabbit.

[A]

I've never thought about what it is.

[D]

It's like a bull in a china shop.

[A]

Thank you. Twitch Chat, you're with me.

[D]

Twitch Chat's there bull in the china shop sort of thing.

[A]

Yeah, exactly.

[B]

Sure, sure.

[C]

I gotta wrap it up.

[A]

Anyways. I hit up my friend Kyle from college where I was like. Because I'm on this tear right now. The Animal Crossing, where I'm like, I know the answer to this, but you don't have the GameCube and Animal Crossing and your memory card from when we all had an animal crossing village in college in our house. And he's like, I might. I'm going to check in the attic. I'm like, oh, fuck out. But it was this idea of like, Kyle's daughters have a switch too, and that's their only system. They weren't watching the fucking direct, right? This is a direct that's made for gamers, is for the terminally online people, we all are, that are going to go consume, get excited to watch a 30 minute commercial that. Go watch a 30 minute commercial. Right? Like, I just feel like they didn't bring the stuff here to make us go, oh man, they really are taking third party seriously. Or, hey, here's what's exciting about it right now. Like, I. The games that I saw that I was excited for yesterday, I'm still excited for, but I already knew that I was excited for them before I even saw them.

[B]

I feel like, yeah, yeah. I mean, I. It's the thing where I. In terms of our reactions or our expectations, my thing is I can't react from the perspective of somebody that doesn't have multiple consoles and somebody who is a casual game, you know, Like, I had to react from my own perspective of my own who I am as Blessing adioa junior, somebody who loves video games. Right. Like, I can't put myself in other people's shoes that strongly to be like no, this is fantastic because I had third party games. Therefore it's a great showcase. It's like. No, I. I'm somebody who grew up on Nintendo. I want Nintendo to do. To put out fantastic things that excite me. If I am looking at a showcase that is starting the year and I'm like 99% of these games are games that I do not want to touch, then that's just where I'm going to land on it.

[A]

And that's another thing to throw into it, right? Really where I think we're talking. I know we're combining two different statements here, right? Of like the industry needs to reset its expectations and then are also our thing. But I would go back to like. I never had a problem with it being like, oh, here are old game. Old game is old. No, you're getting Valheim. That's great. That's. You guys love it. That sounds awesome.

[C]

Whatever.

[A]

It's more of like Tokyo Scramble. Look like dog shit, right? And then there this arcade archives thing pops up and we're like, what the fuck even is that? You know they did.

[C]

Oh yeah, they got after me for that one.

[A]

It's just this idea of like, okay, cool. Like you're showing and then the games you're showing that I think are already in the conversation of a hey, here's Pragmata. And it doesn't have anything new to it. Like, it's not like, this is what was really cool. I guess the demo is out and that's cool. Okay, whatever.

[C]

That, that.

[D]

That was nice.

[A]

Resident Evil again, here's some amiibos and a controller. Okay, but I mean, like, I've heard a lot about Resident Evil. What was I. I don't like being as dismissive as this could have been an email, but this really was a. What was the benefit to showing up here? What did you get out of this? How did you spend your 30 minutes of time watching it to.

[B]

To bring up another hot take from an unsatisfied customer named Paul. They say hot take. People going, oh, well, what did you expect from a partner direct or it's a handheld. Truly paved the way for more and more mediocre showcases by just accepting any and all sloppy ports thrown our way. It's okay to expect better from Nintendo.

[C]

I like that.

[B]

Mike, speak on it if you like that.

[C]

I mean, I'm on that side, right. I think we need to expect better from Nintendo. I think we give them the out because of their first party outage and like how good those games are and how well they run on their platforms. But there is a glaring air here and it's the third party games that just don't run well and don't look good. And there are problems here that like we kind of just give the pass to because it's like he's got Mario. If Mario was sold on any other ecosystem, you would not be buying the Switch. You would be done with this. Right? Like we would be moving on because you'd be buying Mario on any other platform that you could get your hands on because it would, that game would be there and all the third party games would run better. You just, your excuses is because you love Mario.

[B]

To counter that point, Mike, Mario isn't on any other ecosystem.

[C]

That's the problem. But they have us.

[B]

But I don't think that's the problem, right. I think that's by design. Like I, my, my thing is I don't give a fuck about third party games on the Switch. That's where I'm at. If the third, and this is me speaking for me, obviously not me speaking for people who only solely own a Switch. I know this is a different perspective, but if The Nintendo Switch 2 had zero third party games, it would mean no difference to me. Absolutely zero difference to me. I am picking up my Switch 2 to play Mario, to play Zelda, to play Pokemon, to play the games that are exclusive to the system because those games are fantastic to me. I, I, my ideal perfect live in a utopia world would be for the third party games to look fantastic and as good as they do on my other consoles or PC or whatever. But I'm, I'm buying a Switch because I know what it is.

[A]

You know what I mean?

[B]

I can't expect those games to look like a PS5 Pro because it's a handheld thing that I'm taking places.

[A]

I'm excited that this year I'm using my Switch to more than I ever use my Switch one and I'm going to see how long I can ride this little joke I'm doing of I'm playing everything on Switch right Where it's like, yeah, this is cool that this stuff's there. You know, somebody in the chat caller, I think it's cool that Pragmatic and Resident Evil are coming day and date. It is cool. It is awesome. It's cool. As you were saying off your New York hands on impressions that apparently Resident Evil runs great on it. Like I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna get Resident Evil on this. You all can get the PC and the PlayStations and I'll jump and play on Switch and see what it's all about. Right. Like that is cool. It's just this idea though that like it sucks to be what we're talking about here where it's like I don't want this to be what the Switch has been to me in the past. And then that which is a device that yeah, first party lineup is what matters and everything else, I'll never play there. I like the idea of being able to play there, but then to get there and see that okay, Resident Evil runs great, but according to you in a preview, Pragmatic doesn't like what the fuck, you know what I mean? Like, I don'. The Monster Hunter. I think Monster Hunter stories could look definitively better on Switch right now than it does based on the two side by side. Even though one machine is way more powerful. I just don't know if this turn based RPG was I run around this world is drawing that much.

[D]

Well, I mean that's on the developer. Sure that, that, you know, that's more on the developer for trying to optimize a bit better. But we, we knew this going into the Switch to you know, all right, Switch 2 is here and we are aware that if you want more power, you're not looking at 450 anymore. You're not looking at the 400 or 350 that we were. That was kind of rumored at the time or what we were hoping for. You're. If you want more power and more visuals, you're looking at 7 and 800 bucks. And that's not what Nintendo's interested in doing now. It really is on the developers though to make things look better and run better and optimize a bit more. But sometimes it's like you get the notice from on high that like we got to get this port out, hurry up, ship that out and you're going to get lazy ports. Sometimes you're going to get some games that look like dog sometimes and sometimes you're going to get really good ports because whatever they already, they already optimized for a spec that was close to what the Switch 2 delivers. Like I, it's. It's always going to be a mixed bag, unfortunately.

[A]

Yeah. And I think Nintendo could do more to help with that though. You know what I mean? In, in terms of.

[D]

Well, the dev kids was definitely an issue, of course.

[A]

And that's, that is my. One of my big questions. This, in this fun conversation is at what point do we see it possibly catch up where we get it to. Is that for me? Thank you.

[D]

Cool.

[A]

Greg. Thank you, Nick. He's always taking care of me. That's why I call you Daddy. Daddy.

[D]

Oh, man.

[A]

Do we catch up where it's like, okay, enough dev kids have been out there, enough people have learned the lessons, shared their information and now we are there. Daddy wants to talk.

[B]

It's actually Daddy Daddy, not Daddy comma, Daddy.

[D]

Yeah, he calls me Daddy. Oh, Daddy.

[B]

It's like sister, sister.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Okay.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

I think that has a come.

[A]

If they'll ever catch up and if it'll be something that this is something that could have been fixed or gets patched or whatever down the line or if that monster story is four is fine because they figured it out or did whatever because it hasn't had it for enough.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

For it.

[D]

I mean.

[A]

And it's also the dev kit issue

[D]

was definitely like, that's something you can't defend Nintendo for the fact that there were so many of these developers out there going, we're just putting out a Switch 1 version. We're putting out a. We're putting out a release right now that is spec for the Switch 1 because we don't have a Switch 2 that we could develop with right now. And that, that is on Nintendo. That does suck.

[A]

And I think again to. This is direct related. Right. I don't think it falls into the score or whatever. But part of the problem with the Switch and then part of the problem with Nintendo and part of the problem with third parties is in the chat there. It went by already. You all are being very active. Thank you so much. Somebody said it's the inconsistency that hurts. And that's the truth where it is like, I gotta wait until somebody plays the game. Yeah. And even me with the demos. Right. Somebody's got to play this game to tell me if it's. It doesn't matter that Nintendo is showing it at a showcase. It might still not be the best version of the game or not up to par on the game.

[B]

We're talking a lot about third party optimization. So I'm going to jump forward in some of these because we have quite a few write ins here about third party games and optimization. Starting with one from Austin. Rossborough. Rossborosboro.

[D]

Rossborosboro. Oh, it's like Rossboro.

[B]

You can't trust what you read in Rossborough. Rossborough.

[D]

Is it Worcester or Warcester? Who knows?

[B]

While I'm excited about Fallout 4 coming to Switch 2, I'm concerned with optimization so far. It feels like the Only truly next gen, whatever that means. Game that has delivered an exceptional experience on Switch 2 has been cyberpunk. I understand the limited limitations of the handheld, but a lot of the ports have just not run smoothly enough for me to enjoy playing them. And I'm going to bundle that with one from Easy Rip the rapper.

[A]

He's back and he's talking to us.

[B]

He says the most exciting part was finding out the Pragmatic demo was on console so I can play it on my PS5.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

So yeah, a couple ones about optimization there for you guys. When we get a Fallout 4, for example, announced, is your immediate assumption that is this, this thing is going to run bad? Like are you. Do you air toward the more fearful side of how it comes out?

[D]

Well, I, I don't even think I was when I was reacting to the visuals in Fallout 4. I think that's just Fallout 4. I don't know if Fallout 4 has ever looked awesome like there, there. There have always been moments where, you know, the lighting just looks bad and I think that's just been Bethesda's M.O. yeah, I mean it's an older game. It, you know, unless it was Fallout 4 Remastered that got a brand new lighting engine. And yes, it's still the same models and textures and stuff, but they're making things look a little bit better. But I think that's just how Fallout 4 looks like. I haven't really played a whole lot of it, but I wasn't surprised that it looked that way because that's kind of how I have always seen Fallout 4.

[B]

Yeah, I think I have the same thing as far as Fallout 4. I think for me, 2016 game.

[D]

Yeah, right.

[B]

Yeah, right. 20. Yeah. 2015. For me it was more so Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which honestly I was dogging on it yesterday, but it does look appropriate to even good for Switch to like knowing what a switch 2 is versus what a PS5 is. The fact that they have Rebirth running period on switch two. Yeah, impressive to me.

[D]

Rebirth is not on PS4. You know, Rebirth's not on, you know, the prior gen Xboxes or whatever. Like it's. It's a current gen video game that's going to hopefully get some more optimization, but I'm surprised that it's, you know, looking and running that way. It's still Unreal Engine 4, but there's going to be a lot of tuning that has to happen in order to get it to run on the switch too.

[A]

To the question, yes, not Fallout 4 necessarily. Again, it popped up and it was like I Platinum Fallout 4. But I platinumed it a lifetime ago, right? A console generation ago. I don't remember how it looks, but I do expect these games that are being ported over from the bigger games or whatever to have some kind of problem. Whether it is Shadows aren't going the right way. You know, I don't expect them to be broken, but I do expect them to have interesting switch issues and not be up to par with what I'm seeing on PlayStation.

[B]

Want to bring in some Dust Blood takes here Duskblood. Daniel May writes in and says this felt like a Red Flag showcase. I'm shocked. The only big reveals were either previously confirmed or already on other consoles. I get that few people have multiple consoles, but there could have been at least some teaser for Duskbloods. Argoff also writes in and says old games are old. I don't need to know about ports from better systems. Where is the Duskbloods? Is it even still coming this year? Andy, Where's Dust Bloods?

[A]

Is it even coming this year?

[D]

Dude, the fact that there was no Elden Ring has me just really, really worried. But also maybe it's a. What I'm hoping it is is a come to Jesus moment from software. Because from software, Nintendo issues aside, has always been super, super inconsistent with optimization. And even on the best rigs possible, you know, you struggle to get 60 frames in some parts of the game and it's it. Their games have never ran the best that they possibly could and there's always like some sort of tech limitation there. So it's like to me, the fact that we saw Elden Ring running really, really badly and then I played it and it ran real badly. And then apparently the next convention that happened, people said, oh, this is a newer build. And yeah, it did run a little bit better. There have been some improvements. But I think it's kind of a come to Jesus moment right now for FromSoftware going, damn this. We can't, we really can't get this thing running or looking awesome on this piece of hardware. You know what? But we're gonna have to keep on optimizing in order to hopefully get this working. And I see likely the same issue with Duskblads because I assume it's running on their same engine.

[A]

They.

[D]

They use the Havoc engine and I. Or their version or however else they've, you know, modified that engine. But it's. I gotta assume they're dealing with a lot of optimization issues there as well. You know, can we even get it running at a steady 30 frames per second.

[B]

On the other side of the coin, I think I look at it as. All right, is Dust Bloods one of the lead premiere titles of the year for Nintendo? If we're talking about it that way, are we just saving it for a bigger and better showcase?

[C]

Yeah, I mean, I said it at the beginning of the show and I'll continue to ride it. Like duskbloods is a June summer showcase. It is a showcase title. A console exclusive with fromsoftware. Like, that is a big deal. Right? So, like it's not a February showcase. It is a June showcase. And also like, I will continue to ride. It's going to be Elden Ring first and then Dusk Bloods. Right. Like you will release Elden Ring first and then we'll get the Dusk Blood. So I don't think coming into this February direct, like I said before, I'm not expecting Dust Bloods to be here. If anything, we should be seeing an update on Elden Ring and then we can get the Dust Bloods. But that's their. That's a premier showcase title. Bless.

[D]

Yeah. When I think of partner showcase, I mainly think of like ports, not necessarily exclusives. I feel like the exclusives are usually meant for, but like much larger presentations.

[B]

I feel like the, the medium in there. Right. Would be third party new games. Third party. Like I. I feel like to the. To some of what they're talking about here. I think Daniel May was the one that said it. Right. Like the fact that, that I'm shocked. The only big reveals here were either previously confirmed or already on other consoles. I'm kind of in a place where I'm like, that's. That's hella boring for a showcase. Like that is.

[D]

You're not wrong.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's where I come back around to like, again, the Greg thing of. I hate saying this could have been an email, but this could have been an email. Right. Like, if we're just talking about these games coming over that have existed elsewhere. Again, I understand the idea of talking to your audience who might only own a switch, but when I think of who that person in the audience is, I'm like, how many of those people are, I guess, on the hardcore enough side that they're locked into watching a direct. Like, the people that I know that only own a switch are also the people who I know that wouldn't watch it direct.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

You know, there are people that casually game that are like, oh yeah, I play, I buy Pokemon and I might buy a Hogwarts Legacy or something.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Like maybe two or three games a year and I only own my Switch.

[D]

Yeah, I don't. I don't think you're wrong there. I think I. I think it can be. I can see both sides being true. Where the. The people watching this direct are hardcore fans of the gaming industry, therefore likely have more than one console. But then on the flip side of things, it's like, well, they're Nintendo also needs to show Nintendo fans that you don't need to go anywhere else. You should stay here. And I don't think it was. They showed anything yesterday that it was super convincing for people going, man, I've seen trailers of that game running on other stuff and it looks way better. And obviously it's going to be more money. And you know, then we can get into the conversation about just the state of the world economy and how tough everything is monetarily. But it's, you know, I don't know, it's all just kind of a big mess right now. And I don't know if there's a right answer to anything I want to bring. I think the rightest answer would have been like, don't do this.

[A]

Like, I agree. That's the thing.

[D]

Wait for something else.

[A]

You know, people are talking in the chat. One of the comments that went by of like, you we did get new games and you know, you guys shat on the one of them. I forget which the one it was. Yep. Thank you so much. I got excited for Turok, but it's the idea of just like you need new games of note. Like, I think again, like we're talking about Orbitals isn't new. I know, but it was a new look at Orbitals at least and a reminder of how cool Orbitals. Orbitals. I don't feel as has played out as Resident Evil or the three Bethesda games. Like we needed something strong to open and strong to close and hopefully something in the middle that's strong as well.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, good opening.

[A]

I feel like this game, yeah, Orbitals was a good opening, but then from there on out we just didn't have anything to boost.

[C]

I mean, I think you had the expected right. Orbitals is the good opening. Resident Evil and Capcom are the middle that we already know about that you expect a large title and Capcom to come support. Right. That is what you expected. And then the finale was just a lackluster part of this with having Bethesda games, which is great if you're a Bethesda Die Hard and having that catalog there. But it just didn't have the punch to go walking away going, that was worth my time. That was good.

[A]

Yeah. I don't think Capcom bring in brag Mod and Ari is enough for that. For that to be the middle.

[B]

I agree.

[A]

The middle.

[C]

Even though I think I'm saying the middle because it's the. It's the expected. We already know this. I don't think you need more than those two. Everybody's excited right now. If you're talking about February and partner directs to say, hey, this month you're getting a new Resident Evil game on your Switch too. That should be enough to sustain the middle of this 35 minute broadcast. Part of me, I think it's the ending.

[D]

Part of me also feels that if Tim were here, he would have reacted very enthusiastically to the Rebirth news, because the Rebirth use is just something that I think all of us assumed was already confirmed. And that was the first time they were announcing. Oh, yeah. And confirming it. And so that likely changes the tenor of things.

[B]

It's the tough thing where I called that out. Rals, Like, I'm pretty sure this is the first time we're seeing Rebirth because remake was the big talk of the town last year. But it's also the fact, again, I can't react from the perspective of somebody who's going to play Rebirth on Switch because I played Rebirth on PS5. And so that's where I come back to like, who is this for kind of thing where, again, you're speaking to your audience. I understand that. But for me watching, as for us watching on this panel, I think we just can. We can only react authentically to what that is. I'm excited for people to play Rework though, right on Switch. That's cool that you can do that. I want to bring in one about the HD 2D art style. This is Jordan Rowan. Jordan Rowan writes in and says, am I alone? Everyone hypes up the HD 2D art style and I don't get it. I think it clashes way too much and frankly, I find it ugly even in the only game I love with this art style. Live A Live. I like that game, despite the HD2D. Am I wrong here?

[D]

Yes, that's a question of taste. I think that it could look more awesome in some points. Like, I think when it first came out, it's this novel new thing. It's awesome. You're like, holy shit. I want everybody to make a game with this.

[A]

Yep.

[D]

And then I think you can quickly kind of start to see the seams and where you know, visually things don't always match up and there's kind of like some things that throw you off visually, but some people also have some wild takes. That God awful screenshot I showed from Neo3, somebody, someone in the YouTube comments said, I think that looks kind of cool. I was like, well you're, that's a horrible thing to say. Like, but like, people just, you know, have different tastes for what works visually. And it's why, you know, I saw some people in the YouTube chat yesterday saying you can never, you guys aren't allowed to say, I want worse looking games made.

[B]

Oh yeah, that's Mark Starvaggio, let me tell you that. That was like custom out. He was in the Patreon thing too.

[A]

He like wrote a book.

[D]

Yeah, I, I, I hated that take because we're not. When I'm like, you know, criticizing these games, it's not from an aspect of. I want every game to look like the Last of Us Part two. I want every game to have that level of polish. No, it's like, I want games to have good art styles that are paired well with the hardware they're expecting them to run on. And when you're trying to reach for the stars, but you don't have either the skill or the art direction to do it, or you don't have the tech to back up what you're trying to reach, it's gonna look like 100. And I, I can't defend that. To me, that's not a, like, when I can look at something as basic as looking as a short hike and think that game looks beautiful as hell. When I can look at something stylistically like Sifu and go, that game is beautiful as hell. That game. I, if you zoom in on Sifu's face, I'm not seeing every pore and divot. Yeah, I'm not seeing like where it's. People are crunched to make every fucking nostril flare look accurate. No, it's like, that's a great art style. That's a great art direction.

[B]

Valheim yesterday, I was like, this looks

[D]

good, but when games have bad art direction, like, I'm gonna make fun of that because I don't think your artists are doing a good job or I think that, you know, your game looks like shit. And that's just how I feel like, I don't know. That's, that's not a, you know, we want cheaper games made quicker. It's like, no, that's just a bad looking game. Like, that's not, that's not a. You know, if people were to put more time into this, you're not going to fix this. You're not going to give me the solution that I think is required here.

[B]

Now, this is. This is why I like Jordan Rowan's hot take. Because it makes me feel safe. Because I did have the thought as we were watching the Elliot. Yeah, Elliot, Elliot and Philadelphia game right. As we're watching this trailer. I did have the thought where I'm like, man, we've seen this our style a lot now. And I know it's sacrilege to say like, I know. Like, okay, yes, people love this our style. It's excellent. However, I feel like Square Enix has gotten into a flow state where it is. We don't really got to do much with this anymore. Like, we're just going to make all our pixel art games look just like,

[A]

oh, we're doing Dragon Quest remake. Just do that.

[B]

Just make it look like this. But I was the game Star Ocean. Star Ocean, our second some. Some. That game looks gorgeous. I don't know if that's Square Enix. It might be Square Enix, but that game, I like how they translate that into something that feels a bit more inspired. I don't like it when it's just default octopath Elliot. Like, you know, we're just doing HD2D.

[D]

I think it's. We only feel this way because we've only really ever seen the approach from Square. We haven't seen a whole lot of developers take a hack at this and say, like, here's our take on it. And then you could go, oh, their HD2D is actually really, really cool and. And much better looking than that other developer.

[A]

Yeah. Which one's this?

[B]

So I think this is Star Ocean.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[B]

Yeah. Star Ocean is Square. I was looking up as I was talking there was.

[D]

Well, I. I'm.

[B]

I don't.

[D]

Oh, I hate this way more than the other.

[B]

Oh, really?

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Maybe I just like it because it feels a little bit.

[D]

I don't like the realistic trees with the pixel art or the realistic, like environments with the. I. I enjoy when it all. That's an art direction thing. That's more of a. I like when it's all sort of like pixel rd.

[B]

There's one that I like or there's one that we've seen coming from, I think an indie developer actually that's making it a chrono trigger like game. Greg knows the one.

[A]

Yeah. That we talk about it. I have it on my Steam wish list. I'VE been championing it for a while. I'm just waiting though.

[D]

Yeah, that is. Yeah, that's.

[A]

I think I'm booting Steam. Hold on.

[D]

That was on one of those games you need, you know.

[A]

Exactly.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Super small.

[B]

It's like something of time for it store. But yeah, I think we're gonna start seeing that. Threads of Time.

[A]

There you go.

[B]

Threads of Time.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

I think we're gonna start seeing that more from different developers or at least I hope we start seeing it more, I think from the indie side. Because this game, I think looks gorgeous as well. Right. I just, I want Square to take more inspired approaches as far as like distinguishing these games from each other. Because when I look at Elliot and I look at Octopath and I look at triangle strategy, I kind of see the same game.

[A]

Yeah. And that's understandable. I don't think you're wrong about that. I think it's more to, you know, want to swing over here on Jordan of like not liking it at all. Like, I love it. I think it's so good. I think it's such a great like,

[D]

dude, this looks amazing.

[A]

Is the truth, man. I just, they. I mean this is a small team, so set your expectations. Yeah. But I can't wait for this fucking game.

[D]

This looks so damn good.

[A]

I love it so much. And I understand not liking an art style because that's how it is. It's just for me, it's like such a classic way of looking at a game. Honestly, I think why people like HD2 or 2D. HD2D so much is that it feels like what you remember the games looking like right in this modern way. Like when I went back and did Chrono Trigger and started that up and it wasn't that, but it was Pixels and it was like, ah, man, like this would hit so much harder if it was HD2D, which is like, where's that fucking remake Now?

[D]

I know with this game you can walk in multiple directions and you can't necessarily do that in the game. Replaced but replace is another one. That, that is a. That is a stellar art style. That is the star of the show. So it's, it's possible to make things look great without like needing the seven years of Naughty Dog development time. We've seen plenty of devs do that. And when games look ugly, I'm going to say they look ugly. And that's not a tech thing. You don't need latest and greatest cutting edge tech to make a game look awesome.

[B]

Absolutely. We got a whole lot more hot takes coming from y'.

[C]

All.

[B]

But before we get there, I want to tell you about patreon.com kindafunny and YouTube.com kind of funny games where you can go and get the kind of funny membership which allows you to get shows ad free. Speaking of ads, let us tell you about our sponsors.

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[B]

And we're back. I want to bring one in from Tim Eats Corn the long way.

[C]

Right? That's lit. That's lit. That's A good one is you.

[B]

Bless. No.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

What do you think?

[C]

I remember yesterday, I was like, you put in fake names that I didn't

[B]

know I didn't get around.

[D]

Hot take. That's the best name we've had.

[A]

Yeah, that's a great name. That's a Patreon name registered as that.

[B]

Tim eats corn the long way, writes in and says, no Resident Evil 9 demo. We got demos for 7, 8, and 4 remake. Everyone. Everyone wants to know how it would run on Switch 2. That would have been a good time to show it off, other than a trailer that we have seen before.

[D]

Completely agree.

[C]

Yeah, That's.

[D]

That was a. Now that we end the direct, I'm like, oh, I didn't even consider. We didn't get that demo, which is something that they often do, and maybe it does just need more time to cook.

[B]

The fact that you released the Pragmata demo. Pragmata, Pragmata, Pragmata. The fact that you released that demo, not the Resident Evil demo, Stigmata, that was your. I think it's nuts considering that the Pragmatic demo doesn't run. I think as great as you'd want it to, like, it's fine. But like, Resident Evil, that'd be a showcase.

[A]

You know what I mean? Sure, sure.

[C]

Is there a current Public Resident Evil 9 demo at all?

[B]

No.

[C]

Yeah, I don't. I don't. Crazy about that. Is it crazy, though? I get that, like, there's a nice tease, I think, like, when I go back to seven, right. It's easy to see the kitchen and what that demo is. Right. When I go to nine. I didn't play the beginning. Maybe you did bless on your demo.

[B]

That's my thing, is I go with the area.

[C]

I don't know if you're letting the public jump into that because it is kind of in the middle of the game.

[B]

My demo, I played multiple. Multiple times now. Right. Because I played it once during gamescom time, and then I played it again at Nintendo last week and the one

[D]

that everybody played at Pax west as

[B]

well, I believe it was the same one. That demo would be perfect. I think you just take that bill out. Of course, it's more difficult than this, but take that build, upload it.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Bada bing, bada boom. We got a demo.

[B]

Make it happen.

[A]

Everybody got a bing.

[D]

You got a demo.

[B]

It's such a good portion of the game, and it's like 20 minutes long. It's not that long. It's a great showcase of how scary it is. The vibes the settings. I'm shocked that they did not release that demo.

[D]

Yeah, I think Capcom's usually really good about that sort of thing as well. So that is kind of surprising where if we got a hey, it's available demo today, available on Switch, but it's also available everywhere else. Like I could have seen that being a reality, but that's.

[B]

That would have been the same duck, in my opinion.

[A]

Well, I forget how many days away from the Release are we? 27, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean there's the rumor of the PlayStation State to play next week. We know how tight Capcom and PlayStation are. That could be where you finally demo.

[B]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[A]

Show it one more time. Again, again. More us evil.

[B]

Let's bring in one from Travis Gaikowski who says hot take. The sterile matter of fact and false corporate cheery attitude that these Nintendo partner directs are presented with makes a bunch of good games look and feel really bad. These presentations lack a human element that Microsoft and Sony often use to great effect. Ditch the voiceover guy and have developers from studios present their games themselves. Okay.

[C]

I mean, I do like what the developer Underscore Direct has done with Xbox. Shining a light on the developers, having them front center. I think it is fun when you have a different voice there, a different appeal than just the hey, here's the splash screen with some voice in the background that could be anything. And it, it does lead to those moments that Andy always teases of, like, hey, we got a really intense moment. Okay, now here's Mario. Let's have a good time. So it wouldn't hurt them if they tried to have some fun with it. Also iconic characters. Make the characters just be the ones in front.

[A]

Hi, I'm Mario and I'm here to talk to you about this fucking weird paranormal fucking Nightmare about the PlayStation.

[B]

Already got the patent. I mean, we can't have the Mario characters.

[A]

I hear you. This is just textbook Nintendo. Like you're talking about. Like I think in our space in terms I'm being. That's too broad a brush. But yeah, maybe not in terms of the place. I don't know what is my throat today. PlayStation, Xbox, you know, the big three, right. Nintendo is still the most Japanese and the most reserved and the most. Let's get this out and let it speak for itself kind of thing. I love, you know, PlayStation State of Plays. We see, of course Sid pop up all the time. We see Sean pop up all the time. I love the developer directs that are, hey, we're going behind the scenes. Let's talk to these devs. These are multiple things we're talking about that are all very different. A developer direct, right. Is four, maybe five games like that makes sense to go do that PlayStation State of Play again. They want that in there. But it's not like Sean and Sid introduce you to everything. They're usually got a segment they talk about of like here's what this is and what we're doing or whatever and Nintendo doesn't want I'm sure to give off that much space again like you know, there's this push and pull of what we're talking about here. Like this false. What was it? False corporate cheery attitude, right? No, no, it's a true corporate cheery attitude. Again these are deals that Nintendo is signing with these developers, slash publishers that say we, we will market your game. You will appear in a direct, you will do this thing. Like they have to contractually I'm sure and I'm again not in on these conversations. I would assume for most of these games they have to contractually honor these agreements and go do this. So that's why you are getting a 30 minute commercial like we're talking about and why in the long run I really don't think Nintendo was somebody early. Way, way, way earlier was like we can critique all we want. Nintendo won't listen. Yeah, but it's fun to critique and that's what you, that's what you tune in to do is Nintendo doesn't care about the reaction to this. I don't think, I don't think they care because they get the views and they get the thing and they don't. The comments are mad about everything. They can have a 10 out of 10 direct. Yeah, comments would still be fucking mad that Princess Zelda picked up a sword. You know what I mean? Like it's whatever it's going to be. So it is this push and pull of what you're doing here. But like this isn't for the art and I don't even think for Nintendo it really is about. We talk about like these grand plans we want of, you know, oh well, you put the indies in here and you put the big things there so that they come for the big thing and then they see the. It's all just marketing. It's all just figuring out how to make you buy what they want you to buy.

[B]

Yeah. I mean the voice isn't my favorite. Like the dude narrating isn't, isn't my favorite.

[A]

That said, when Andy makes fun of him, I like it.

[B]

It Strikes me as like a very market, market tested voice. You know what is so what, what voice? What kind of like delivery that we can direct our host to have is going to feel safe and feel appropriate, but also feel a little bit like it has personality, but not too much personality because we're still Nintendo. We don't want the voice to overtake what we're doing here.

[C]

What directed they have, what they actually had. It was like one of the, one of the voice actors that we known from like big iconic animes. It was pretty recent.

[B]

It was very.

[A]

Jennifer English did when I thought I

[B]

know what you're talking.

[C]

You know who I'm talking about.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Like a sweater on. He was really Pokemon. I think that might have been Pokemon, but there was someone where they. They had someone on front and center and they did a good.

[B]

It was the Japanese state of play. Okay, was that a state of play? I forget what that was.

[C]

There's something recent though.

[B]

I think it was a Japanese state of play.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

I will say I feel like the Pokemon presents tend to have like the personality they always have. The dude who like is dressed up real nice with the gray hair, he

[A]

shows up even like to jump to like you know, a true Nintendo direct. Like a first party Nintendo direct, right? You have people on screen there snapping, talking, you know, it's the president. Then of later on it was Doug Bowser. Like it's peppered in that these are people. But I think for Nintendo with a third party direct, right, A partner showcase, there isn't a face of the partners. And like, you know, that's the thing. And I in Nintendo in the same way, PlayStation I think no longer wants a Gio Corsi out front, a Adam Boys out front, somebody who's a person that's representing the brand. They don't want to then have whoever their third party team is surface to that go. And I know who their third party team is. I'm just not naming names.

[D]

I'm looking at past partner directs. And I really feel like if there was just one to maybe two things, our, our opinion would be a lot higher.

[C]

100.

[D]

But like, man, a lot of the past ones are. You know that one cozy campfire game where you just sit by the campfire and so that was like in July of last year.

[A]

Which one right where I write by the campfire or where, where you just

[D]

hang out with somebody with the camera. Like you just kind of like you just. It's called chilling by the campfire or something like that, you know, like it's that one it.

[A]

I forgot about that game.

[D]

It's Star Wars Outlaws. It's Kronos.

[A]

Like, apparently Outlaws was one. We. When we were talking about third party games, everybody in the chat was like, remember, Outlaws is great. People has ray tracing. Oh my God.

[D]

Yeah. People love Outlaws on Switch. It runs and looks really, really great. But.

[A]

And remember we watched this. We're like, oh, it'll be free. And then it was like, no, you got to pay for like, what the fuck is going on?

[D]

Yeah, I think it was like 15 bucks or something. We're like, oh, that should be five.

[B]

Like, to what Andy saying. Mathuris writes in and says of Nintendo's three regular showcases, Nintendo directs partner showcase in the indie world, the partner directs have always been the least exciting of the three, at least to me.

[A]

Agreed.

[B]

As far as. As far as partner directs go, this is one of the better ones. But that's also not a super high bar to clear. Expectations should be low for these. You shouldn't expect to see anything on the level of Dust Bloods at one of these. No Shade to Elliot from Philadelphia and Octopath Traveler 0. But those were the biggest announcements at the last partner direct in July. That's the ceiling for these things.

[C]

I'm right there. I mean, Greg will remember games Daily right before this. He said, mike, how you feel about this night? What did I give you? I gave you the side. I said, we're gonna have a good time.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

That. That's what I go into these with.

[B]

This is what I'll say because I agree with this. I agree with setting your expectations as far as what you're gonna get. Is it wrong to want more?

[A]

I just feel like to desire more. My expectations were set that way for like the Octopath or whatever kind of thing. And I don't even think they met that bar. That's my whole thing with this is. I. I did. I personally, Greg Miller did not come in expecting. When somebody earlier was like Metal Gear Solid fucking Volume two, I'm like, no, we're not. What are you talking about? No way. But it's like I still expected to see a bunch of games in here. I was like, oh, yeah, I can't wait to play. And I really didn't get that this time. I walk away from any direct, any showcase, and I'm like, hey, here are three or four games. I'm really stoked for not to get

[B]

into a fight with Chat. Here's my thing, right?

[A]

The people get them.

[B]

The people saying that it's wrong for wanting more. My thing is, if a man comes into my room three times a year.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And is like. And fucking bores me to death. Fucking bores me to death for an hour every single time he comes to my room, right. At a certain point, I'm like, listen, at least entertain me a little bit, you know, I. I just want more. It's not that I expect you to stop boring the fuck out of me. Just try, you know what I mean? What's wrong?

[A]

Basketball on your finger while you tell us.

[B]

Yeah, put a basketball on your finger. Maybe show a little bit more of an exciting game. What are we doing here?

[C]

The reality is you always held to what new partners have and what you will show, as Craig said. Yeah, I guess for me, I come in with a little more higher expectations on this time around. And maybe because we're early in the life cycle, I really want you to start wowing me, right?

[A]

And this is a big part of

[C]

it cycle right now where it's like, wow me with what is. And I know Bear brought up of like, I don't need a bunch of Switch 2 versions, but, like, those are things that could wow me, right? These are things that's like, hey, get me excited about having this console year one and year two of its lifespan to show me why I'm making this purchase.

[A]

And that's what I think is a big part of this one, and why expectations might have been a little bit higher as people are. Nintendo is marketing the Switch 2 as it can be your only system. We're not as far behind anymore, yada, yada, yada. And so you come here, you're like, okay, cool. Show me some of that, right? Show me the reason that I could get away.

[D]

Because we're talking that talk. Fucking walk that walk.

[A]

Yeah, exactly.

[D]

Who are you working with?

[C]

Who are you calling and picking up and saying, you gotta build your games for this.

[A]

And back to your point. Like, your great point, Mike, of bringing that out. And then, yeah. Even though Barrett was like, yeah, we don't need more Nintendo Switch 2 editions for a lineup this week. Why not? Why not Dragon Quest 11, Nintendo Switch 2 Edition? Well, you know what I mean, like, and I know I'm just on that shit right now, but I'm talking about that level of Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. I'm not saying fucking Madden or whatever.

[D]

I think you're looking at Bear.

[A]

But. But even I'm just swinging my head. Oh, swinging my head around. I saw Kevin leave. I see the Megalodon. I see it all I see the

[C]

entire planet Megalodon so much.

[A]

Oh my God.

[B]

C Pasra writes in with a super chat and says in a broader scope, it's wild that we just got a partner showcase when we don't really know if Nintendo has any heavy hitters for this year. Is it just Pokemon? I really hope it's not just Pokemon. No, I mean you have Mario Tennis that's out in like a couple weeks. You have Fire Emblem. Fortunes weave.

[C]

Well, you know, I always ask a question because I'm covering more the Xbox side of things of like we talk about that first half of the year kind of being light for Xbox and then they go second half. What is the first half of November or Nintendo for the year.

[B]

Right. Yoshi as well.

[C]

I'm waiting, I'm waiting till June to get these big ones. Like what is the first half?

[B]

Mario Wonder, Bella Bell Park. I don't know if that's announced for first half, but I assume that's first.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

What is that?

[C]

That should play with four players.

[B]

Yeah, it's their Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. The Bellable park is like the added DLC. Oh wait, I can talk about it. Because I played it for a second. I was like, I don't know if I can say anything. I can. It's added. It's like an expansion pack but with like a lot of multiplayer stuff. Right. It's kind of like a hangout area where you can go play different co op and competitive games with friends. Sick Was really fun when I checked it out. Had a really, really good time.

[D]

I'm really pumped to boot up that game because that was like another showcase of God. Nintendo so good at making the most out of this piece of shit hardware. Like for the, for the Switch one being as old as it was and out as outdated as it already was. And for Mario Wonder to look as good as it did, it's like, oh man, I can't imagine how this thing's gonna look on Switch 2. Like I can't wait to see like at its full potential, maybe 120 frames per second.

[A]

I've talked about it in Greg way. Patrick Klepik has, has been chronicling the whole update and it was at New York as well and got and put out a crossplay about it. And it's got me so incredibly excited to go back to Mario Wonder with Ben because we play it a lot but there is a skill ceiling we've hit where it's like Ben isn't able to keep up with where we're at and yeah. He could go be the rab. The. The rabbits or whatever they. The rabbids, not the rabbits or whatever, where they're invulnerable. But now there's a bunch of new assist stuff. Anybody can be invulnerable, et cetera, et cetera. Awesome. Awesome. Yeah. That's what I'm.

[C]

When you look at it. Bless you. Like you said, you have Mario 10 fever. You have Poke. Right. You have Toma do life. So like April, you got something. You have something here in March and then another one here in February. So that kickstarts you almost up to that summer showcase in June. So that gets you moving. What is the heavy hitter? I'm for the first six.

[A]

Looking forward to that.

[C]

Just Mario Tennis.

[B]

Does Fire Emblem not have a release?

[C]

I don't think it has a date, no.

[D]

What I'm crossing my fingers for to be a massive sort of like out of nowhere surprise hit, Splatoon Raiders. God, I want that game. Just a single player approach. Let's just make a single player game and like make it a real big deal. I'm pumped for that.

[C]

Oh, I believe it's tomodachi.

[D]

Tomodachi.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

That's right about it.

[A]

A lot of people said it wrong. I've been. I've been there the entire time. Tomo Dachi nailed it.

[B]

Scott Bethel writes in and says people need to stop thinking that Mina the Hollower will have a shadow drop. Reason being it is a Kickstarter game and the backers like myself have not gotten the final surveys yet. With the shipping address, platform of choice,

[D]

etc, it's a good call.

[C]

Yeah. Are people screaming about stealth drop?

[D]

I have no idea.

[B]

I'm sure. I'm sure. It's something we predict every single time.

[C]

Really. Okay.

[A]

I said it for a prediction on

[C]

this one for sure. Okay.

[D]

Okay. Oh, okay.

[A]

Not like I'm putting my foot down that I was like, we're calling out

[C]

what could possibly see in the game is one thing. Yeah, but I didn't know people were clamoring to get a stealth drop of it.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

I don't know. Yeah.

[B]

Jake Bakes Cakes writes in and says this partner showcase would have received a lot. Would have been received a lot better if Nintendo's first party slate was more robust, with Nintendo's current slate a little less exciting than normal. The disappointment here was heightened.

[A]

You're not 100 wrong on that. I could see. Yeah. If we would have gotten them, you know, there's rumors of the next Nintendo Direct, yada yada yada. If we would have gotten a first party direct to start the year. Here's Mario Tennis, here's Copia, here's Wonder, and then here is Ocarina Remake. I know I'm dreaming, you know what I mean? But blah, blah, blah. And then of course, at the end of the month, here's Pokemon Day. Here's Pokemon Generation 10. Like, there could be a thing to fill in. I don't think we would. It would. I mean, again, this is us having fun and talking about games as we always do. In the grand scheme of Nintendo's 2026, this is a mountain out of a molehill. Like, no, this didn't do good. Good or bad, this did nothing to Nintendo's reputation for the year. Nor did that, I think, do much for people's excitement for the Switch to this year. I mean, with the exception of coming out and being like, here's Todd Howard, we do have the remastered Fallout 3 exclusively. Like, none of that would move the needle in terms of like, holy shit, I got to pick up a Switch. Like, I think they show you stuff here like, okay, cool. And yeah, that fills in the gaps between the big ones. But I'm expecting big ones from Nintendo because again, back to blessings point. That's what I bought the Switch to for. I'm delighted and what is it? Surprised and delighted that I'm using my Switch so much in playing old games and new games and non Nintendo games as it is. But then I get excited for Copia and I get excited for Mario Tennis and I get excited for whatever else I'm gonna get this year.

[C]

I am still tuning in for the partner aspect of it though. As much as we can say, like, hey, first party can get you excited to carry that. It's like it does say partner across this and I'm tuning in for your partnership.

[A]

And it's so it's also the other one too. Like, I'm, you know, I don't. I. It happens still every year. Right. Where we should get an indie direct right before gdc. Right around gdc. They've got one last year. Right. They stopped calling them Indie World. Right.

[D]

I think.

[B]

No, I think now they call them Indie World.

[A]

Now they call them Indie World.

[B]

Stop calling them indies.

[A]

That's the one.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's always an exciting one that I like a lot and I think it's a great placement with gdc. And here are a bunch of small games and you talk about expectations being sent.

[D]

Sure.

[A]

But that's also what I'm like, ah, here are a bunch of cool Games are going to fill in gaps between the big ones and between double.

[D]

I also. Yeah, I mean, yeah, Mike bringing a great point up with just like the whole partner aspect of it. And I, I want these to be more than just what ports are we getting? And I don't know if that's necessarily. Yeah, you can't hope realistic. You can't go for more, you know.

[B]

Wrong.

[D]

Yeah. Was Harvest Stella a. I think that

[B]

was a direct but. No.

[D]

But was that a, an exclusive Nintendo Switch thing?

[B]

I don't think it was.

[D]

No. Okay. Because I feel like Squeenix will always like pop up with the this is exclusive for Switch.

[B]

Although that was the same. I, I, I get the mixed up because that that came out the same year is like every day like everyday life or like one of those games, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

They had like a handful of games where it's like these can't be real. And they came out.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

We never heard from them again. Bringing in one from Mesh who writes in and says as things currently stand, Nintendo are set up to the to be the losers of 2026. Between themselves, Xbox and PlayStation with big hits like Soros, Wolverine, Fable, Forza and both platforms getting GTA 6. Nintendo does not currently have anything announced that can contend with those. Even if you account for the Nintendo Magic Fire Emblem won't bring in new fans and Gen 10. Pokemon will always have doubters. They need to, they need to have something big planned for games like Splatoon Raiders and some unannounced secrets in order to save their year.

[A]

But that's February.

[C]

Yeah, you say that now that it's,

[D]

it's such a, it's such a quick like nothing thing to say of Pokemon will always have doubters, man. Who gives a fuck? They don't give a fuck. They will sell 30 million in the first three days.

[B]

Look up the first three day sales of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, which was the most broken Pokemon game in the franchise. It all it outsold God of War, Ragnarok maybe like by multiple times in the same, in the same time period. Yeah, it's insane. It'll be fine.

[D]

I think you're talking more just from the public's perspective. Public, you know, but it doesn't really matter on the Pokemon aspect. It could be called Pokemon shit and piss and it's gonna, you know, I

[A]

would get pissed version.

[D]

I'd get shit.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

I mean it's year two of this console. There will be something big, there will be something important on in the fall. Whether it be Pokemon and Something else. No, we're gonna get year two of this, of this console. It's gonna be.

[D]

We will get a. I guarantee we will get a surprise Zelda game this year. I don't know what it is. Like, we will get a surprise out of nowhere Zelda game this year.

[B]

Well, when you say Zelda game, though,

[D]

I mean in the same way to, in the same way that we had never ever heard of the Little Links Away. Well, I mean, Links Awaken remake is another good one, but to think about. But the Zelda top down one. Fortune's Weave. That's not what it's called, you know.

[B]

Oh, the one.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You're playing as Zelda.

[D]

There's always a surprise out of nowhere thing that has wisdom. You were. Yeah, echoes of wisdom. You were working on this.

[A]

Whoa.

[D]

None of this was ever sort of rumored anywhere. Like there will. I, I, I know it in my bones. There will be a surprise out of nowhere Zelda game coming this year.

[B]

I almost want a pizza bet, but I don't know if I got it in me.

[A]

Come on.

[B]

Because I think, I think there's a chance Pizza bet.

[A]

Pizza.

[D]

Either way.

[B]

But like, okay, we're saying it has to be either that top down 2D or like 3D Zelda. If it's like, like Zelda Cadence of Hyrule or something like that.

[D]

No, no, no, no, no, no. I, I, There will be a, like a core Nintendo team working on a, like, I'm not saying a follow up to Tears of the kingdom 2. I'm saying like, it'll be a. Or some. Yeah, all right. Bet made by Grezzo by any of their tees.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, I like that.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Katie, write it down, write it down, write it down.

[D]

Put it on the dock.

[C]

We have a doc now.

[D]

Google dock it.

[B]

Huh?

[C]

We have doc.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, we got a Google sheet that we're trying to keep.

[D]

I know where it's at.

[A]

How's that going?

[B]

I think so far so good.

[A]

Okay, good, good, good.

[D]

Yeah,

[B]

I feel like we got time for one more.

[A]

One more hot take.

[B]

Let me look at the super chats. Let's see what y' all are saying in the super chats. I won't close on this one, but I'll throw this one in here. Shadow Killer 955 says Nintendo gets away or, sorry, Nintendo gets way too many passes for WNDs.

[A]

I mean, what do we define as a pass? If you're calling out that it's a wnd. What a weird Nintendo decision. What an eye roll. I can't believe how far behind they are.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Online gaming or this that the other. But like what's the. I mean is the. Giving a pass. Giving a pass would be brilliant.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Chat. What a brilliant addition. I'm glad that I have a fucking dedicated button to this thing I will never use.

[D]

I think we. We laugh and make fun of them enough.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

I think maybe they are like well you should boycott or something like that.

[A]

I mean that's.

[D]

Yeah. But wow.

[C]

They added Bluetooth headphone finally.

[A]

That's like fucking.

[C]

That's hell yeah.

[D]

Right. Kyle, did you ever send through that update for Bluetooth? Oh yeah. I think in.

[B]

I mean one do. I'll say because I don't know if I agree specifically with the WNDs. I. I think I'm. I don't know how to talk about Nintendo anymore. I think this is a thing I realized in the last two days where I feel like if I say something positive about Nintendo games it's the thing of like Nintendo bum. People love Nintendo games. Whatever. Whatever. They get to pass or whatever. And if I critique Nintendo games it feels like urban Nintendo period. It feels like people get mad and I can't find.

[A]

Isn't that just everything we do?

[B]

It's everything we do. But like I. I almost feel like I'm. I'm falling out of touch with Nintendo and I think I'm feeling it strongly

[A]

because you're not a child.

[B]

I will maybe that but I also grew up so strongly.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

With Nintendo shit. Right. But like even for me with Switch 2 I hear about the. I hear the way I think you talk about Switch 2 or Tim talks about Switch 2 and I'm like man, I'm just not having that same experience this generation.

[D]

It's because the Steam Deck changed your life big.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[D]

Because PC gaming and Steam Deck and you've seen the light, you know, competition now and you're going to be looking at everything else going oh, things could be so much better.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I think an interesting conversation in wrinkle to it is the, the fact too of like for me coming to it with no real nostalgia. Right. Like my first game Nintendo System is a Game Boy great. Sure, whatever. I eventually buy an SNES just for Mario World but way after the fact and then my real I am concurrent with this is N64. Right. I am buying games for my N64 or whatever. So I don't have like this built in nostalgia. So so many times I feel like a new version of a game comes out and I jump into it and I really like it. But you, you the Nintendo fan have so many memories and versions of it in nostalgia. And how is definitive that it can never live up to that? If that makes sense. Where I feel like then I feel like as I play most of this stuff the Nintendo games we get now first party. So many of them are so corporate, so sterile. Awesome for sure. I'm not saying they're not but I think then people a great example. I'm reading Kelsey Lewin's Animal Crossing book right now which is so about the GameCube version and N64 version of animal Crossing, which of course I. I was there GameCube. I was right there with it, right? But as she writes about it and talks about it and shares all these memories and research from it, it's like I forgot how fucking weird and quirky Animal Crossing GameCube was in the way your villagers would be mean to you and they would insult you and they would do this and they would take things and it's like right. Like that shit does not happen in New Horizons. New Horizons is frictionless. I get there, everybody loves me.

[D]

The old one was an Extraction shooter.

[A]

The town revolves around me, right. Whereas like I feel like for some games when you talk about a Mario or this like not that Mario was ever fucking hardcore. I'm beating somebody over crowbar. But it was like there was more of a weird Nintendo. We're trying something here where now everything feels designed to be frictionless and non intrusive and to live up to what people think Mario is as a character. If that makes sense. And I know I'm saying Mario, but

[B]

I mean everything I feel that I think I'm still in a place though where you put out a new 3D Mario tomorrow I'll fall in love with it, right? Like Don Kong Bonanza was one that I still was able to fall in love with. But I don't know, there's something about like the overall ecosystem of Nintendo that's been I think losing me a little bit.

[A]

And I.

[B]

And I don't know, I feel like it's me feeling like I'm sane as I'm looking at these things like Mario Kart World and being like man, this felt. This felt like it felt sure. And like I look at the slate of even games this year and we list all these games and I'm like none of this shit really excites me. It's to the thing of yesterday. Watch the direct and feeling like the either Stan or Kyle one of them being like everything shit to me, like, I'm looking at this direct yesterday. I'm like, this is all shit. But then like, I don't know, it seems like not so many people do not feel that way.

[D]

I, I, okay, well, I think maybe that's a lot of it could just be the recess he bias hitting right now. Because they also did deliver arguably the greatest game of all time a couple years ago with, with Tears of the Kingdom.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And I think that, I think with how we receive games and how infrequent their releases can be, that if one misses, you're going to go, well, I gotta wait to see if they can come back in two or three years from now. Like the fact that Mario Kart World kind of missed for all of us not being maybe what we hoped it should have been. And maybe where we put our expectations going, oh shit, if they could fortify this video game, like, what a, what an amazing win for them. And when Mario Kart World misses, we go, shoot, we're not going to get another Mario Kart World for another, I mean, seven years or whatever. And so like that's, that's a much larger miss than, than when like, you know, maybe an actor putting out five shows a year is bad in one of them. Then they might be good the next time. But it's like, that's such a mag. That's such a. I mean, you take

[B]

that, you apply it to Metroid Prime 4 for me as well. Like, 4 was such a disappointment for me. I think you take it and apply it to even Pokemon Z to A where I started immediately was just like, no, like we can't. I. What's going on here, right? And I think there's a, A level of. I guess maybe I'm just running out of patience for it. Maybe it is the thing I'm so much a fan.

[A]

Well, I think again, because those are two great examples, right? It's the new voice of Pokemon. It's kind of funny, right? And only knowing what in reality the Pokemons that have come before, Scarlet and Violet, right? That was the one I invested the most time into. Like, for me to jump into Z to A and have it be well below the expectations of a modern video game in terms of voice acting, etc. Etc. But enjoy it and have fun with it, yada, yada. It's because I haven't played in 900 Pokemon games and I don't have so many years of where it should be. Metroid prime for my first Metroid Prime, I enjoy thoroughly until the fucking green Shit at the end, right? And the boss battles at the end. But I'm like, okay, cool. Like, that awakens something in me that I want to go back and do Metroid prime one. Because I never have, let alone go back and do Dread, which I skipped as well. Like, there's something to it. Where, again, I've said this over the years when I was so firmly just doing my PlayStation coverage of. Nintendo is a toy company. They make toys, and they don't want to go beyond that. I feel like in what they're doing, they're making things for you to enjoy and have fun with. But I think that means that eventually you outgrow toys. Like, I feel like you hit up against barriers, like, why the fuck are Pokemon people not talking? That's stupid. Why is this not dealing with more mature subject matter? And especially when you look back and talk to Tim about what the Pokemon games used to do with your rival. And this. It's another thing of, like, they've rounded off and sanded down all the edges to make something that can be as mainstream as possible. But so many of us at this table want the video games that are going to push you, whether it be narratively, whether it be gameplay wise, whether it be all that stuff. And that's not what Nintendo is trying to do. So it's a safe spot, but I think it's also a young spot for people who are coming in and playing games, family who want to play games and do all these different things, which isn't bad, but it's also like, it's back to what I. For years, on this very set, slash, all the other sets. I've sat there with Tim, where he comes out, talks about a Pokemon and why he's disappointed in it. I'm always like, but what did you expect? Like, it's always like this, but everybody expects and wants more. It just never delivers that way.

[D]

I feel that now.

[C]

I agree.

[B]

All the way. By.

[A]

Sure, of course. Yeah, yeah.

[D]

You know me talking about the most recent Mrs. When we talk about, you know, the more recent successes with every Metroid Dread was massive. Metroid Prime 4 a disappointment also a decade after the prior iteration. So that's always like, we've heard about all the shaky ground that that game had been on for a long time. They put out Tears of the Kingdom, one of the greatest. Mario Odyssey was a couple years before that or several years before that, 2017. And I feel like if the next Mario doesn't hit, then maybe we should have a discussion of, like, oof, Maybe it's just not for me anymore. Maybe I'm just not really. Maybe these games aren't resonating anymore with me. Maybe these franchises aren't resonating anymore with me. But until then, it's like I've boot up their games and I still feel that charm and it still makes me smile. And like, I don't think I'll ever outgrow Nintendo unless they consistently put out like bad first parties. I think that's when I'll be like, all right, maybe not for me anymore.

[B]

Yeah, I don't think I'll ever hit that point though. Like I, I. It's not even like the thing of Mario. Like I'm not playing me like Mario where I'm like, oh man, this isn't hidden for me, right? Like the same for like big Zelda when whenever we're putting out a new well, I guess there's some Zeldas that didn't do it for me. If I talk about a skyward sword or whatever. But Zelda tears the kingdom. Breath of the wild for me are for me kind of go against like the toy thing of Nintendo. I guess it maybe to the extent of it not having a lot of voice acting or deep ass story or whatever, but for me, these are monumental games that are industry shifting as far as how good, how well designed they are. And I guess that's how I view Nintendo. And I wish those things were rippled out into the maybe the business of Nintendo. I don't know. I just want Nintendo to do better in certain places where I feel like they aren't living up, but I look around and I'm like, maybe other people don't feel that way. I don't know. That might be the last hot take of the episode. That's the hot take I'll close this episode with. Let's get out of here because we're gonna do the next thing, which is what Party mode.

[C]

And we're going IRL with it.

[B]

Blessed.

[C]

We're moving the desk and we're setting up the table for beer pong. It's gonna be a really fun time. We got some fun teams as well that I can't wait to.

[B]

Oh, really?

[C]

In just a little bit. Don't go anywhere if you're watching live on twitch and on YouTube. But of course, bless. Where can people find us if they don't stick around for the live show?

[B]

I mean everywhere. The places that you just mentioned. You can also find us on socials. I don't know if you're trying to ask me for something specific?

[C]

No, I'm just gonna have you on the show.

[B]

Yeah, of course. You can find us right here on Spotify, if you're listening, or right here on YouTube if you're watching. Of course. This has been the Kind of Funny Games cast Each and every weekday we get together and talk about the biggest reviews, previews and topics in video games, live on YouTube, Twitch, and on podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, support us through the Kind of Funny membership on Patreon, YouTube, Apple or Spotify to get our shows ad free and get a daily exclusive show. Until next time, it's been our pleasure to serve you.