Transcript
neocharge: What's up everybody and welcome to Shapes of Gaming, the weekly conversational podcast all about video games that's unedited, unfiltered, and unhinged. I'm one of your hosts, Matt Stinson, NeoCharge on PSN.
neocharge: Joining me as always for episode number 12, number two of our four-part series is the Retro Gaming Encyclopedia, Bob Harriman, Leon Lion Hartley on PSN.
neocharge: What's up, man?
Leon Lionheartly: You know, it's just another day in paradise for this guy. I've been spending a lot of time playing a very fun game, getting caught up with Death Stranding and a few other things going on or and in life. How you been?
neocharge: I've been all right. I haven't been gaming as much, dealing with stuff. My gaming time will be opening ah very shortly, but I have been able to play a little bit of Death Stranding.
neocharge: And I also played ah another little game I'm going to talk about in our what are we playing section. So I'm excited to talk about that.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: Yeah, life's been life. i You know, just going through the motions, a lot of changes happening and getting through it. So that's... ah That's all there is there.
neocharge: And um we are drinking and podcasting on this beautiful Wednesday. I look forward to it every week. And you guys are hearing it on Thursday. And yeah. So what what are we drinking? What are you what are you drinking to today?
Leon Lionheartly: Well, see, I'll give you a little bit of the backstory, man. It's summertime. Everybody, because we you like our micro brews, as the the term goes, you know, a lot of them with summertime, we get the pale ales, we get the IPAs and and the sours.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: And don't get me wrong. I like a good sour. I love all beer. But just like, ah well, you know, and I'll not say that line. um But let's just say there are like Pokemon. I love them all. Right.
Leon Lionheartly: But some of them you love more than others. So I'm sitting on the store trying to find something, and it's another pale ale.
neocharge: Oh, yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: It's another sour. And I'm like, come on, give me a brown. or ah so And I found the it's from Woods Boss Brewing here in Colorado, the foothels a Foothills Fire Red Ale.
neocharge: Hmm.
neocharge: Ooh, that sounds awesome. And I love me a red and it looks awesome. Oh, my God. We're drinking out of the same glass.
Leon Lionheartly: Ah, yes.
neocharge: are our brewery that just shut down Metric. ah It's an awesome glass. And we are both drinking out of Metric glasses. Yeah, that that sounds amazing. you have to save me a can.
neocharge: ah Ironic that you you mentioned the IPA because I'm deviating a little bit this week and I'm actually drinking an IPA. i rarely drink IPAs, but it's a juicy.
neocharge: I can handle juicy IPAs. IPAs usually have a high IBU. If you ever go to a brewery and you see IBU, the higher the number, the more bitter it is because IBU stands for Imperial Bitterness Units.
neocharge: So that's fun little hack. If you ever go to a brewery and you're like, I don't like bitter beers, ah look for stuff under 20. So IPAs are usually pretty bitter, and but a juicy IPA usually has a lower IBU. And this is called Juicy Tempo, and it's from Odell Brewing Company, which is two hours north from, it's from Fort Collins, Colorado.
neocharge: You still live 15 minutes from this brewery. And this one is a ah some psychedelic hop notes of ripe pineapple and bright orange. And I got to say, man, it's ah very fruity and delicious. It is still on that bitterness side.
neocharge: And it was kind of like a, I don't know, a last resort because i'm I'm running low on my beer. I need to go on a beer run and restock my beer fridge.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, yeah, no, that sounds delicious. I'm not like you yeah I'm not a not big IPA guy. um But yeah, i'm I'm up for anything. And ah that sounds yeah that's good.
Leon Lionheartly: I will save you a beer, can of this beer though, um Matt, because these guys are out of Denver, but it is a traditional, very malty red, but it's got the smoky finish that goes with it.
neocharge: Yes.
Leon Lionheartly: um And it's great from what I read on the on the can. And what I'm looking into is like the proceeds ah go towards ah helping with fire ah firefighters and And getting, you know, whatever they need financially training and things like that. And that's a great cause always, particularly in our state here that likes to unfortunately catch fire sometimes.
neocharge: Right, right. Well, that's awesome. Yeah, dude, I love smoky beers. ah Best one I've had price from Zvi Brewing up in Fort Collins. It was a smoky porter. And sometimes they add smoke flavor, but this one, they actually did wood fire smoke.
neocharge: ah on their beer, boiled it in there. And then, i dude, beer is a whole science, right? And all I know is you get that that campfire smell taste in the in the back of the the beer on the finish.
neocharge: And dude, I love that. I just had a smoked one too. I forget what it was, but I paired beer with games and I paired the smoked beer with Silent Hill too.
neocharge: So it was...
Leon Lionheartly: Oh, that's that's beautiful.
neocharge: yeah Yeah, it was a very good pairing. I like pairing pairing specific beers with specific games. It's fun. So yeah, I can't wait to try that that red.
Leon Lionheartly: ah Speaking of ah the game or mean alcohol in games with pairings, we can talk about that in the live segment.
neocharge: Ah, yes.
Leon Lionheartly: Actually, and don't know about you, we can just move right into it What do you think?
neocharge: Get right into the life.
Leon Lionheartly: All right, well, um so I did put on to pre-order. Matt sent sent this link out for everybody here. ah You're going to have to correct me on where it comes from.
Leon Lionheartly: um
neocharge: Sure.
Leon Lionheartly: But as far as I know, it comes from... Excuse me. Sorry about that, guys. We're looking into it. But it is a ah spiced rum inspired from ah the greatest Assassin's Creed game in ah that came out of that lineup. Good old Black Flag.
Leon Lionheartly: um It's an Edward Kennedy spiced rum. ah You can find find it online. You can go look. um But it comes from Anthenum Spirits is from what I understand. They have it on pre-order right now.
Leon Lionheartly: um And ah I definitely, I'm telling you, Matt.
neocharge: Oh,
Leon Lionheartly: I waited till payday. You sent that link the day before paychecks hit. And I went, I'm going to do that tomorrow.
neocharge: yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Woke up the next morning, immediately placed that pre-order. So we'll be, I'm thinking maybe well maybe we'll have to do something because I love Black Flag. That's like the pinnacle Assassin's Creed game for me.
neocharge: oh yeah
Leon Lionheartly: So I think we can pair that together. Yeah.
neocharge: it was It was in my top 10 on that episode, episode 10. I absolutely love Black Flag. Edward Kenway is one of my favorite assassins, other than, of course, Ezio and you know all the all the assassins.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: I love Ezio, Edward, and Bayek from Origins. I also really love Eivor. from Valhalla as well.
neocharge: Some of my faves, but at CO is my fave at CO is my, yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah. abo was a
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: um
Leon Lionheartly: um Let's see. what else we got? Oh, you know what?
neocharge: but Yeah. That, that, that's from Tennessee legend distillery.
Leon Lionheartly: I got a... Oh, go ahead.
Leon Lionheartly: Hmm.
neocharge: It's a, an Assassin's Creed for black flag, limited edition rum. Now this comes out in July. You pre-ordered it. We'll, we'll probably be drinking it. Maybe we'll drink it on the the cast that it's a,
neocharge: whenever it comes out on that, the cast we record. But, uh, this makes me wonder, uh, our boy, Edward Kenway getting in this the limelight and they're bringing up black flag. Are we getting a remake anytime soon? It's been rumored.
neocharge: And oh, man, take my money. I would love, love a remake of this game. I mean, it was PS4, a PS4 launch title, ah multi-generational. So PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One. It was on all of them. ah But man, if they could do that in Unreal Engine 5 or Ubisoft's, maybe the Anvil engine they have.
Leon Lionheartly: that That's what I was thinking, yeah.
neocharge: Yeah, yeah. Oh, God. Dude, it's the it's the best. It was in my top 10, right? That's all you need to know. It's the best pirate sim ever. And it's an incredible Assassin's Creed game.
neocharge: Some of the best pirate ship gameplay you'll ever ah play. And Skull and Bones took a lot from it. But don't don't go play as Skull and Bones. It's a stripped down version of what Assassin's Creed 4 is. And man, ah if only we we could get an Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag. Maybe Gamescom coming up. Tokyo Game Show.
neocharge: Who knows? Game Awards, maybe we'll be there for the ah for the release. Who knows?
Leon Lionheartly: Ooh, that would be really nice.
neocharge: So, yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Dude, I'd look forward to that one. now that's You said that's one of them um that I keep going towards. But yeah, man, you know what else? ah you You mentioned Assassin's Creed.
Leon Lionheartly: I think back to Ezio. We've taken place in Italy and Europe. I got to bring this back, Matt. And I got to troll. or I'm not saying I'm trolling the community, guys, but I'm just telling you. The other night, sitting there trying to figure out what going do for dinner.
Leon Lionheartly: and my my son, Winters, goes, Dad, what about Little Caesars? And I'm like, yeah, let's fucking, let's do it. Knowing damn well, Matt, I didn't have any of that pizza that night.
neocharge: Oh, no.
Leon Lionheartly: but I threw it in the fridge and I woke up the next day. ah nice slice of cold pizza. Just saying, there is a time and a place and it is delicious, especially with the vegetables. one ah the one the I got the yeah Supreme with all the vegetables and you get ah those they start to crispin back up and you get that little snap with it.
Leon Lionheartly: ah Love it. It's top tier.
neocharge: Oh, yeah. ah yeah Hey, man, I'm not knocking cold pizza. I'm just saying it's not the preferred way to eat a pizza. yeah I love cold pizza. Dude, cold pizza in the morning, like a little, maybe a little tiny bit reheated, but not crazy hot or just straight out of the fridge.
Leon Lionheartly: Mm-hmm.
neocharge: Right. I am not knocking it at all, but it's not my preferred way to eat pizza. But I'm glad you liked it It's glad you liked it. ah Speaking of food, i came across a new thing ah this this week.
neocharge: I hate the name. I can't stand the name, but I'll say it anyway. It's called a slot dog.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah
neocharge: and Okay. Okay. All right, I hate the name, but I gotta say they're onto something. I thought it was like a fad, heard it on another podcast, did some research, okay? It's literally, you take a hot dog, right?
neocharge: i Preferably a good hot dog. We use boar's head and like all beef, make sure there's no filler, there's no lips and buttholes in there. And it's it's all beef and good and, you know, like lean.
neocharge: So we use boar's head and there's a tool. So just look it up if you're curious. Slot Dog. There's a tool that you press down ah about halfway through the hot dog and it makes a grid pattern and it cuts the hot dog into a grid on the top.
neocharge: What this does is it basically, I don't know, juliennes half the hot dog. And then you stick it the smoker. I so i stuck it in the smoker at 400 degrees ah with some hickory and maple pellets.
neocharge: And I smoked it on the slot side down ah for about six minutes, flipped it, smoked it another 400 degrees for another six minutes.
Leon Lionheartly: Okay.
neocharge: it changes the flavor of the hot dog and you get the smoke getting into the meat and where the slots are and it caramelize it, caramelizes it a little bit.
neocharge: And I got, and then it'll hold the condiments better because there it's like a grid pattern of the hot dog. ah It's a game changer, man. um I don't think I'm ever going eat another hot dog.
neocharge: Not that way. Again, slot dogs game changing.
Leon Lionheartly: So he's going to eat in that year, folks. He's only going ever eat slot dogs now.
neocharge: I hate it.
Leon Lionheartly: Dude,
neocharge: I hate the name.
Leon Lionheartly: i'm I'm looking at this online. yeah You're not kidding. It's like this red half-circle or half-pipe-looking device with basically somebody just said, oh well, let's just put a grid ah a grid over it and press it down on the hot... I'm not going to lie.
Leon Lionheartly: I believe you, and I'm willing to try anything once. But what I'm seeing from pictures, this looks demonic. Yeah.
neocharge: Oh, yeah, absolutely. It looks crazy. Maybe I'll ah send the picture I took in the Discord. Yeah, you got to try it. I'll make them. They're super easy to make. You just have to have the tool. I have the tool.
neocharge: And you just kind of cut a grid pattern into the hot dog and it just cooks it faster. It caramelizes it faster and it just adds more flavor. The smoke gets in the meat.
neocharge: it's It's crazy. It was awesome.
Leon Lionheartly: um I'm going to put this on the list of products that... ah I'm not trying to knock it, but I'm a little serious. I'm looking at this as the list of products that go on the top 10 list of products we didn't fucking ask for.
Leon Lionheartly: um Because that's exactly... Folks, for reference, it's on Amazon. You can find it on SlotDog. These pictures, the the box looks like a something that that you would see in the Walmart as seen on TV section.
neocharge: yeah
Leon Lionheartly: I don't know. I mean, I i believe you and the science makes sense.
neocharge: out
Leon Lionheartly: But but i there's i got to go now. I'm going to go look later because something tells me in the back of my mind this was on Shark Tank at one point.
neocharge: I bet, man. call Call now and you'll receive not one but two slot dog makers. ah Shipping and handling, not included.
Leon Lionheartly: ah yeah
neocharge: Remember those as seen on TV stuff?
Leon Lionheartly: Oh, did remember, there is an entire song from Smash Mouth that has the whole line.
neocharge: So good.
neocharge: Right. Dude, I could see this. If it's as seen on TV, I could see someone like putting a hot dog in a bun and it like slipping out. And they're like all because everyone acts basically retarded on the on those commercials.
neocharge: And they're like fumbling over shit and like falling into their grill. They're like tired of hot dogs slipping out of your bun. Well, introducing the slot dog.
Leon Lionheartly: ah You know, have you done that work professionally? Because you should probably get into it. That is Billy Mays here with the slot dog for you guys.
neocharge: Yeah. ah No, but maybe I should look into it. Yeah, dude. Game changer. Don't knock it till you try it. Look it up. It's demonic, but also delicious. So that's really all I care about. We'll have some.
neocharge: And it's just ah it's a quick and easy thing. you put You put the hot dog buns in the smoker for like three minutes before the hot dogs are done. Get those like a little hot and smoky. And then you throw some elevation ketchup on it.
neocharge: Not that high fructose corn syrup bullshit Heinz, right? And then you get the mustard, and not the yellow mustard. We don't do yellow mustard. get stone ground, real mustard.
neocharge: And then, of course, you got to have the sauerkraut. You got to have the finely chopped green onion. And you got yourself a meal right there. Have some potato salad or chips with maybe like a little side salad. Balance it out.
neocharge: you get You got yourself a fine meal.
Leon Lionheartly: Hmm. I think that could work.
neocharge: So...
Leon Lionheartly: I, that you say the infomercial.
neocharge: Yep.
Leon Lionheartly: Now I see it. The next infomercial is going to be the upgrade to the slot dog because they're going to be some person's going to be trying to press down the hot dog and it's going fly out and it's going to hit the dog in the eye and the dog's going to go running into the chair.
Leon Lionheartly: And yeah, I see it now.
neocharge: Yep. Yep. Those things were were crazy. um Yeah. ah What else? What else? Oh, my Game Informer physical issue finally came.
Leon Lionheartly: I love it. I love it because I have Game Informer news too.
neocharge: Yep.
neocharge: Yes. Oh, yeah. ah I am so impressed with what they've done. You remember the early runs of Nintendo Power? Like the high quality gloss papers with the bounded spine and just a thick magazine just full of gaming news and content.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: that was ah You just described it in ASMR for all the book nerds out there.
neocharge: Dude, I got to say, I haven't read a gaming magazine in a while. Like ah but PSN Gaming Magazine went away. ah EGM went away. Game Informer went away. Nintendo Power went away. i actually have the the last issue of Nintendo Power sealed.
neocharge: ah And it's really great to hold a gaming magazine in your hands now. And it's Borderlands 4. ah flipped through the whole thing just to see like the add to content ratio.
neocharge: You know how many pages are ads out of probably 150? Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Jesus, 150? Holy shit. don't know. 30?
neocharge: yeah
Leon Lionheartly: my god.
neocharge: yeah
Leon Lionheartly: i don't know um thirty
neocharge: two
Leon Lionheartly: oh my god
neocharge: this This magazine is the real deal, dude. there are There's not a lot of ads at all. I think there's one on the in the front and on the back, but and it's just filled with content.
neocharge: um There are reviews, previews, like 5 or 6 pages dedicated to... um Actually, more than that, like 7 or 8 pages dedicated to Borderlands 4.
neocharge: And it's just high quality all around. And I am so impressed with it. I couldn't be happier. ah that I subscribed and we're not, we're not, uh, paid by a game informer or anything like that. We're not sponsored. I just, I love gaming magazines and I love reading them before bed. And I like physical, tangible, uh, reading material before bed. Cause I don't like a screen 30 minutes before bed. and So, and this was usually what I would read to help go to sleep.
neocharge: Man, I got to say, I had a sound sleep after I read about 10 pages of that magazine. You ever read and it like really makes you tired? It's crazy.
Leon Lionheartly: ah ge Yeah, absolutely. My, uh, my Cocoa Melon brain, dude, I'm telling you, it's, I'm going to get two pages in and be like, huh? Boom, gone. Uh, but i'm I'm also one of those people. I can't read in bed because I'm the kind of individual that when I get into bed, that's it.
Leon Lionheartly: Like, that's what my brain and my body is wired that way. So when I hit the pillow, I'm pretty much gone. This is my wife often. And when, because she fights and fights and then I just pass out.
neocharge: Yeah, I bet. um And it's digital too. You can go read it right now if you subscribe. ah The cost isn't that bad. I think it's like 50 bucks for the whole year.
neocharge: And I think you get 10 magazines and that's physical and digital if you want. ah But the next issue, they already... Is that what you wanted to announce the next issue that they're going to release?
Leon Lionheartly: No, god because I was just wanted to let you know. um I tried, but I couldn't when you had that sale. um But yesterday, I went ahead and got signed up ah for my subscription.
neocharge: Oh, yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: um So, do you give the the listeners here? It is, right now, with the promotion, it's $70 for the year, which, by the way, is less than your Nintendo, NSO, PS4, whatever, right?
Leon Lionheartly: $11 off.
neocharge: oh yeah
Leon Lionheartly: So, brings it down $59 for a year's eleven dollars off so brings it down to fifty nine dollars for years worth of of ah great, really great classic.
Leon Lionheartly: like these These are some of the OGs next to Nintendo Power in terms of game ah print material. I'm looking forward to it.
neocharge: Oh, yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: And it comes with your digital version if you really don't want to read them physical.
neocharge: Exactly. And they have archived every single episode or every single ah what? Magazine ah issue.
Leon Lionheartly: it Issue.
neocharge: That's what I was trying to find.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah
neocharge: Sometimes it's hard finding words. They are on issue number 369.
Leon Lionheartly: Holy crap.
neocharge: So they have been doing this a while. i Dude, I remember reading Game Informer 10 years ago. 20 years ago, i was reading, like looking up stuff on the GameCube.
neocharge: So Game Informer has been around a while. They used to be linked with GameStop and during their, uh, I don't know, you could call it end times where they were kind of, uh, going under their quality of their magazine dramatically changed.
neocharge: Uh, they, they had thin paper, like almost newspaper. There were a ton more ads. So now they are privately owned, not linked with GameStop. And I got to say the quality, this is probably the best quality magazine I've ever seen.
Leon Lionheartly: Yes.
Leon Lionheartly: yes
neocharge: Uh, Comparable. Yeah, comparable. I'll show you when you come over. um Comparable to the original, like, good quality Nintendo Power magazines. It's just incredible. I love it.
neocharge: And keep up the great work. ah we We love Game Informer. So, yeah. And their next issue is going to be on Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2. So if you're interested in that, that's their next issue cover art and cover story.
Leon Lionheartly: Oh, nice. Nice, dude. Excuse me. um I hope I can get the backfill to for the Borderlands.
neocharge: you know
Leon Lionheartly: We'll see. That would be really cool.
neocharge: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if you're subscribed, you can go read it digitally now. Uh, but if not, yeah, you might, I think they're still shipping them. Like, dude, I got this literally, i think Monday.
neocharge: So like two days ago.
Leon Lionheartly: Oh, shit.
neocharge: Yeah. Yeah. So you should, they should just ship you one and you should get it end of week next week. Maybe.
Leon Lionheartly: Oh, all right. Hell yeah, man.
neocharge: Yeah. Sometime next week. Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: and That would be cool.
neocharge: Uh,
Leon Lionheartly: I'm i'm hoping and I caught it right in that window. um And they're like, hey, by the way, as a ah thank you for signing up, here's the the previous previous one. Oh,
neocharge: I think you're getting current because the the new app the new issue is coming out July 22nd, which is in six days.
Leon Lionheartly: oh yeah, yeah.
neocharge: so
Leon Lionheartly: Six days from now, yeah.
neocharge: Or five days if you're listening to this on release. ah So yeah, I'm pretty sure you'll get the issue probably next week sometime. So let me know.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, absolutely. yeah Now I can actually have forward looking looking forward to, you know, checking the mail for the first time in forever.
neocharge: Can't wait.
neocharge: Right? Right? Exactly. it's It's very nostalgic. And it's all about Borderlands 4 and the the art on the cover. Awesome. So ah back to food.
Leon Lionheartly: Yes.
neocharge: we yeah We got a another question, another food-related question. which ah is interesting. We're getting a lot of food-related questions, and we want to read them on the cast.
neocharge: So this one is from a listener and a good friend of the show, ah Alex, Goatlord, Sreobix, Oracle, Mike on Discord and ah our guest that's going to be on the the next episode next week for the PC episode.
neocharge: ah But he asked on Discord and I'm trying to get there. He asked about, let's see, where is it? Questions.
neocharge: Okay. So he's like he said, okay, so I have another food question to propose.
Leon Lionheartly: Thank you.
neocharge: Last cheeseburger you'll ever have. Where would you go? How would you want it done? This is a great question. And he asked it on the Discord. and he Any of you can ask the questions on Discord. We'll read them on the show.
neocharge: ah So last cheeseburger you'll ever have. Where would you go? and how would you want it done? you want You want to take this first?
Leon Lionheartly: ah Sure, why not? I'm not going to lie, I had to think about this because everybody's got their there what do you call it? Their their favorite, right? um therere
neocharge: ah
Leon Lionheartly: Their preferred. It seems like, I want to say that aside, it seems like there's this burger war with all the major different franchises out there. ah
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: but if i this If we're talking about this, because this question is, where you know last one, am I last meal kind of burger, or is this the last burger I'm ever going to get and all the cows are gone, or ground beef or whatever?
neocharge: Right.
Leon Lionheartly: um so i don't know. I i think about that. But if I were to take this to the extreme and say this is my last meal, I'm I would not go with a fast... I'll give you two example the two answers. I would not go with a fast food one. run if you if you had If I had to and I had my gumption and I couldn't make this happen, my actual choice, I'd probably end up going to a Culver's because but ah the Butter Burger is so ah second to none.
Leon Lionheartly: um But My dad growing up made homemade burgers, and he made those things thick with double Cs, okay?
Leon Lionheartly: And it was simple. I mean, we're talking ah a full third-pound patty, that looks like ah like it was as thick as a novel, medium rare on the inside. and Keep it simple.
Leon Lionheartly: You don't need anything fancy. You just need a toasted bun. You need some onion. You need some mustard. You need some cheese. And boom, there you go. Oh, and pickles too. um to to help balance that out.
Leon Lionheartly: But that, that would be my go-to is just go get to my dad's burgers. I've tried to recreate, but I could never do it. I don't know what it was. Um, somehow he managed to do it with the simplest ingredients.
Leon Lionheartly: Um, and I'm thinking about it now going, man, cause one burger and you're like, I can't eat for a week. Yeah.
neocharge: Right. Gotcha. Okay. Yeah, I guess I can answer it in two parts too. Like where would I go? Because my ideal situation, I just make it.
neocharge: if i was If this was the last cheeseburger I was eating, this would be homemade, smoked on my grill.
Leon Lionheartly: Mm-hmm.
neocharge: But before we get to that, i favorite fast food, I'd say I'd go to Crave Real Burger. And get get my cheeseburger. um Just get that plain Jane cheeseburger, lettuce, tomato, onion, um maybe pickle on the side.
neocharge: Crave real burger. Some of the best. ah I wouldn't call it fast food. I'd say it's sit down. You sit down and order. yeah. so yeah
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, casual dining, I believe, is what they call that.
neocharge: Yep. But so if it was my last cheeseburger I would ever have, I'm making that shit. So, I mean, I assume we have infinite resources. I assume it doesn't need to be beef.
neocharge: So I'm getting 70% 30% bacon. thirty percent bacon And I'm grinding it up and i'm making burger out of it, right?
neocharge: Probably seasoning it. Just simple stuff. Salt, pepper, garlic. um'm Gonna make a patty out of it. Gonna smoke, cook it. ah Probably gonna smoke it on hickory.
neocharge: We're gonna have a Kaiser ah wheat roll. We're gonna smoke that a little bit too. We're gonna put gouda cheese on that. We're gonna put arugula. We're gonna put lettuce, tomato,
neocharge: onion and some sort of smoky mayonnaise aioli. And that's, that's the last cheeseburger I'm having.
neocharge: What do you think?
Leon Lionheartly: That sounds fancy. ah You know, it's funny you say that. You know what? i think of a of the yeah um Parks and Rec episode where they do the cook-off.
Leon Lionheartly: You're shaking your head. You already know what I'm talking about this, don't you, Matt?
neocharge: Oh yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: ah We're Ron...
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Uh, and I can't remember the other gentleman's name, but, uh, they're, they're going to do a burger cook off and you got the one that's the fancy it's got, it's all meat vegan and they're approved and it's got the arugula and the fancy toasted brioche bun and everything.
neocharge: Oh,
Leon Lionheartly: And then Ron comes out and says, yeah, here's a burger. I got the meat from food and stuff. You can put cheese and ketchup on it if you like. and everybody went for the real meat. So just because I'm cause I, I'm a slop for just that kind of food or I must, um, I will say slop.
neocharge: oh yeah.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: I almost said another way.
neocharge: hey um Yeah, no, the best meet I've ever had in my life. When I moved out here in 2011, I moved out with a military friend. He had another military friend with the house. ah Very early on, like a week or two later, he brings an elk in the back of his truck, hangs it in his garage and starts butchering it.
neocharge: And he's like, you ever had an elk burger? And I'm like, no, but I want it now. That sounds awesome. ah So yeah, he cut elk with bacon, ah pan fried it, and it was the best burger I've ever had.
neocharge: Granted, it was probably the freshest burger I've ever had because it was straight off the elk into the grinder onto the pan. Nothing else. So, yeah, I got a little fancy with it, but, oh, there's going to be meat.
neocharge: There's none of that vegan shit. Okay. I'm a meat eater.
Leon Lionheartly: Thank you.
neocharge: I'm an omnivore over here. All right. So and no no shade to the the vegans out there. You do you. But ah you're you're you better be damn sure that I'm going to have meat.
neocharge: in my burger and, uh, it would probably be elk. So elk is very lean. It's very lean meat. So that's why you have to cut it with bacon, uh, to get that fat content and that, that flavor, but you get that gamey elk flavor as well.
neocharge: And dude, I, I don't know how I'd ever make it again, but I want to, I really want to.
Leon Lionheartly: Ooh, yeah, but I've had Elk before. um
neocharge: All right.
Leon Lionheartly: Not ground Elk. Not like that. um I'd be really interested. You're right. It is very gamey. um
neocharge: yeah
Leon Lionheartly: But, and I mean, if you're going to go with it, if we're going to talk about the fancy stuff, just give me a venison burger, and i'll call and we'll call it a day.
neocharge: yeah I mean, elk is very, very similar to venison. It's just, it's a bigger deer, let's be honest. So...
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, did it's tangentially there. I'll give you i'll give you that much It's not quite the same as a whitetail, but I'll give it to you.
neocharge: it's the It's... Right, right.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, you...
neocharge: It's in the middle of a deer and a moose. Right? Maybe more of like a reindeer.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah
neocharge: I don't know. Elks are huge. So, but yeah. oh Oh, I had a lot of deer in the Midwest. So I hear you there. Venison is one of my favorite meats. So...
neocharge: Yeah. ah Great question. Keep them coming. We're going to read them off on the cast. We love food questions. As you can tell, we're both foodies and we love food. ah We live to eat. We don't eat to live.
neocharge: And yeah, i'm ah I'm a big home cook, but I also love going out and trying new places. So if you're ever in the Springs, I'll tell you 10 of the best places for every food group.
neocharge: So we love the food questions.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, yeah it's it's funny you mentioned that. era This kind of question came up because I had a lunch, ah a social lunch, if you will, with a bunch of ah friends today. And we were in, don't know if you've heard of it, Matt, here in downtown Colorado Springs. It's like a food court kind of area ah called COATI, Cody.
neocharge: Yep. Yeah, I've been there.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, found a burger there, the My Boy Blue, with a blue cheese crumbles and caramelized onions. Oh, yeah. I'm a blue cheese enjoyer, aficionado, if you will.
neocharge: I love blue cheese and it goes very well with beef. I highly love a, like a wedge salad with blue cheese on it ah mixed with the steak. I'm a huge fan of blue cheese.
neocharge: So yeah, that sounds awesome. There's so many good burger places around here. Yeah. yeah So speaking of asking questions on the discord, and ah if if people want to join the discord, where where can they do that, Bob?
Leon Lionheartly: Ah, see, there you go. I know you can find our link to the Discord as well as all of our socials and where you would love to hear this podcast on other services of your choice by going to our link tree.
Leon Lionheartly: um You'll find that at https colon whack whack l-i-n-k-t-r dot e-e slash shapes of gaming. If you go to that little landing page, um you will find not just ah the Discord link, but you'll find the link to all our socials. You find but both of our podcasts, YouTube, which we're hoping to send out and go to video soon.
Leon Lionheartly: um Still in the works. I know that question's come up a couple of times, but absolutely. Join in. ah The Discord's there. We've had a couple of new members join us in the last couple of weeks.
Leon Lionheartly: ah Join the conversation. Matt and I on there as much as we can. um And we definitely look forward to having you come be part of this community. So once again, you'll find us at HTTPS, call in whack whack, L-I-N-K-T-R dot E-E slash Shapes of Gaming.
neocharge: Yes, and we appreciate everyone that's joined, um everyone that's on there keeping the conversation going because that's what it's all about. Keep the conversation going. Keep talking about video games or food or Magic the Gathering or Pokemon, whatever the hell you want to talk about.
neocharge: ah We love it. so Yeah. As I was saying, we are doing a four part series on in the next month.
neocharge: And we are going to dive into the state of all four of the main players in the gaming industry. So we kind of ranted about Xbox last week.
Leon Lionheartly: here
neocharge: And today on the eve, when you're listening to this, you can pick it up right now, today, on the eve of Donkey Kong Bonanza for the Switch 2. We are going to go into the Nintendo stuff.
Leon Lionheartly: Thank
neocharge: ah So that's going to be our main topic. um It looks like Donkey Kong Bonanza is getting really good reviews. And I'm very curious to see how it runs. I'm curious to see that Digital Foundry video that that will inevitably inevitably come out.
neocharge: Are you, you, you didn't pre-order. I canceled my pre-order. I need to see how this runs. What are you, what are you thinking?
Leon Lionheartly: Um, it's, yeah, you're right. I need to see this, uh, how it runs, right? Digital Foundry, uh, their preliminary reviews are out, uh, looking great.
Leon Lionheartly: I will admit everything I saw ah looking great. Uh, the question is when it's not a matter of if I play this because let's be real. I played Legend Zelda Echoes of Wisdom on Switch one uh,
neocharge: Thank you.
Leon Lionheartly: still had a great time. okay It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when I'll get around to it ah this year. ah But it definitely has my interest. I think some of those new mechanics ah are definitely... they're they're They're bringing breathing fresh light into, quite frankly, ah stale IP. Wait. Wait. What?
Leon Lionheartly: i p
neocharge: I mean, we just got Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, which, yeah, yeah, it got 77, whatever.
Leon Lionheartly: wait yeah wait
neocharge: I was robbed.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah and No, no, no, not that.
neocharge: What? What?
Leon Lionheartly: Donkey Kong Country Returns HD.
neocharge: Yeah, no, I know, yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: donkey That's a remake of a remake or remaster of a remaster of an original.
neocharge: It's not a... Right.
Leon Lionheartly: We're not doing Last of Us stuff here, folks. I'm not doing that, okay? I want something new. Before that, it was Tropical Freeze.
neocharge: It's true.
Leon Lionheartly: And that came out, what, 15 years ago?
Leon Lionheartly: ah years but
neocharge: don't know. Look it up.
Leon Lionheartly: ah
neocharge: But yeah, no, I, I, I'm just saying the IP has been a little bit in the limelight, but yes, I am very excited. It's still on my list. It's a must play for me. It's just a matter of fucking when, right? We, um, we're playing a game. That's going to be like an hour, are like a hundred and 50 hours.
neocharge: And I'm only like still 30 into it, taking my time, Uh, I just don't know when I'm going to get to this game. I couldn't be more excited though. And it it looks great. I hope it runs great, but I'll play it regardless. Just like you.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, absolutely. I'll be on there. And I'm glad if you get to it before me, I expect a full book report ah written up on my desk. Okay.
neocharge: Yep. Title page and all. Uh, did you see when it came out? Tropical freeze.
Leon Lionheartly: a Yeah, February 2014. thinking
neocharge: yeah
Leon Lionheartly: so but still
neocharge: originally Originally for the Wii U, and then they remade it for the Switch.
neocharge: So, yeah, there's ah very few games on the Wii U that were not ported or or remastered on the Switch.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah
neocharge: I own two Wii U games, and those are both also remasters or even ports. Wind Waker HD, Twilight Princess HD. It's literally the only two games I own for the Wii U.
Leon Lionheartly: ah shit Shit, dude.
neocharge: Crazy, right? Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: i got um I got a few. ah But ultimately, i threw I didn't finish them, and I ended up playing the ports on the Switch anyways. so
neocharge: Yeah. yeah ah Yeah. Let's get into the news before we get into the main topic. What's ah what's happened this week? what are the What are the cool new things that have been announced?
Leon Lionheartly: um oh let's see here what do we got um honestly it's been a pretty pretty slow week outside of donkey kong um uh bonanza sorry my brain went well i we're talking so much about donkey kong that uh i immediately was like yeah that's that we're talking about country returns right um
neocharge: What did
neocharge: yeah
neocharge: Right.
Leon Lionheartly: ah No, we're talking or is it tropical freeze? ah No, ah there's honestly, it's been a pretty, pretty quiet day or quiet week.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: A couple of small things ah with updates to other platforms.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: What where do you what have you heard?
neocharge: ah Something broke today. Small gaming-esque related. Referring to the casting for the Legend of Zelda movie.
Leon Lionheartly: oh
neocharge: Live action movie, unfortunately. And they announced the ah the actress and actor er for Link and Zelda.
Leon Lionheartly: so
neocharge: So Zelda is going to be played by Bo... No, Zelda... Yeah. Bo Bragginson. Uh, and then link is going to be played by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth.
neocharge: Uh, These actors are very unknown. um They aren't credited for a lot of things. They're very young. ah They look like kids. And I couldn't be more happy that they are the lesser known actors.
neocharge: And we don't know who they are. And they're going to be our Zelda and Link. I still am very cautiously optimistic for this movie. I don't think it should be happening. I think you should leave Zelda alone.
neocharge: Link literally doesn't even talk in the fucking game. So are is he going to talk and in the movie? Probably.
Leon Lionheartly: Hey.
neocharge: so yeah, like I, um dude, I hope he's silent in the movie. I don't know how they're going to do this. I don't ever think it'll meet my expectations because Zelda is my favorite IP of all time.
neocharge: And I just love the game so much. ah I like that they're bringing this out for the modern audience and kind of expanding the IP to people that don't game.
neocharge: ah I'm wondering what storyline they're going to follow. i hope they make a new storyline. I don't want it to follow really any game because it's not going to be better than the game ever. Hands down.
neocharge: Uh, so I don't know. Like, it looks like he's going to be, he could be, he's like young teenager. i don't even know how old he is, but they look pretty young.
neocharge: So they're going to go the young route. I just don't do Ocarina of time. Just don't do it. Don't do it.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah i Yeah, that's fair. I will give you that one. hey How do I put this? i This Zelda live action movie is the slot dog of video game adaptations.
Leon Lionheartly: Nobody's asked for this, okay? I don't know a single person that asked for a live-action Zelda game or a movie. um the Now, the young, unnamed actors, this is brilliant. I love this.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah my My concern is we are going to get another Minecraft or Borderlands where it's Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Terry Crews.
neocharge: Thank you.
Leon Lionheartly: ah you You see where I'm going with this? Here, we're getting something different. which is, i you know what? what the The status quo has only only worked so much.
Leon Lionheartly: Let's fucking shake it up, folks. ah So i I'm cautiously optimistic. i will I'm not a big movie person anyways in the last and i am i my middle years here or my middle-aged life.
Leon Lionheartly: But, you know, if the kids want to see it... or the wife wants to see it, or hell, if you want to see it, Matt, if somebody wants to see it, I'll go along. I'm not going to go down the hall kicking and screaming, but I don't think I'm going to actively go out and hunt for this movie on lunch night.
neocharge: um you know I might see it on launch week on the discount day, Tuesday. um I will probably see it in theaters. i mean Illumination, they've done some good stuff with Mario, but it was animated.
neocharge: and Now they're doing live action, and you just should have kept it animated. um I'm holding my breath, and I'm holding my opinions until I see more. don't know. I it'll never be better than the game, no matter what they do. It just you just can't like do the Uncharted movie. the Last of Us TV series.
neocharge: Nothing is better than controlling your character. That's just me. ah Some people think the series is better than the game. Hey, man, that's why art is subjective. And you think your way, I'll think my way. I just think, i you know, controlling the character gets you in the shoes of the character and relates you with the character better.
neocharge: So I would love to see Zelda take off as an IP. I mean, it's already a huge IP, but give it, you know, expand it. Let's get the Zelda attraction area in the theme park that we're going to try and go to in December.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: Super Nintendo world. get Go in that DK area, which looks awesome. um Yeah. I mean, I love seeing the IP in the limelight. It's one of my favorites and,
neocharge: Yeah, I just, I hope they don't fuck it up. That's all.
Leon Lionheartly: please don Please, whatever you do, don't don't just stick to the source material. Don't give your artistic piece of advice. People at the video gaming community, um in a whole, and I hate to generalize, but this is just the way reality sits, is they're very, very specific. I say we because I'm part of that community. Duh.
Leon Lionheartly: about timelines, okay? About the little things. So if you change up certain levels of dialogue, you need to understand that the way that gets interpreted, the messaging that gets put in gets skewed and you do not want to do that with a game that has been out since the eighties.
Leon Lionheartly: Remember this folks since 1987. Oh shit. We're coming up on that, that big anniversary. Um, might explain why the movie launches that year. Uh, But do not do that.
neocharge: Exactly. Mm-hmm.
Leon Lionheartly: This is a beloved franchise. Just stick to what you know. Go read the manga. There was manga out there. coach ah go look at anime Go look at animated series.
neocharge: huh
Leon Lionheartly: Go play a game or two. But for the love of God, do not try to put a message behind this and twist it and make it more modern for general audiences. Please don't.
neocharge: Right. Yeah. I couldn't have said it better. So, uh, we're, we're hopeful. We're cautiously optimistic. We'll, uh, report the news as it comes. So that is the casting. Hopefully we see who Ganondorf is and Impa and Tingle.
neocharge: ah Who knows? Who knows who's going to be in this movie, but the main two, right? Link and Zelda were announced and I'm glad they are lesser known.
Leon Lionheartly: Sorry, I just had a thought, Matt.
neocharge: Actors. that's an a Yeah. Oh yeah. Jack Black is Tingle.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah No.
neocharge: What?
Leon Lionheartly: We need to make it Danny DeVito.
neocharge: Yes. I'm sure AI can.
Leon Lionheartly: ah
neocharge: ah
Leon Lionheartly: yeah ah but yeah But he only gets to play as he does... ah um I can't remember the name of his character, Charlie, I think, in Always Sunny.
neocharge: Frank.
Leon Lionheartly: Frank. that's he's got ah He's got to do it as as Frank.
neocharge: I'm a huge... Yeah. Yeah.
neocharge: Oh, yeah. I love Holly Sonny. ah He's brilliant. Brilliant in that.
Leon Lionheartly: Right.
neocharge: It's a brilliant TV series. If you haven't watched it, you should go watch it. ah Yeah, that's some Nintendo news, which is relevant and appropriate for our Nintendo episode. News has been light.
neocharge: And yeah, we'll ah we'll keep an eye on stuff that ah gets announced and anything for this movie. So, consciously optimistic, like I said.
neocharge: uh, let's get into what we're playing and then we'll get into the main topic, which is going to be the state of Nintendo hardware wise and software wise. But, uh, before that, what are we playing, Bob?
neocharge: Hmm.
Leon Lionheartly: ah So, right now, I got two things that are on the on ah on the platter right now. okay um So, I just downloaded. I haven't started yet, but it is on the list.
Leon Lionheartly: My son came to me and asked me to play ah play Risk of Rain 2 with him. um This game came out in 2021 Gearbox. as a
neocharge: Yep.
Leon Lionheartly: take of it if think of it as a teambased rogue light kind of procedurally generated game. where you're good. There's other goals, but objectively you're just there to survive as long as you can.
Leon Lionheartly: Um, I played a little bit of it and then now all of a sudden, for some reason, it's gotten a resurgence in the last couple of year, a couple of months. Um, so I'm all bored, uh, for that one.
Leon Lionheartly: Um, and but let's do it right. Um, let's see. Oh, before we get to the big one, new Astro bot DLC.
neocharge: Yup.
Leon Lionheartly: ah
neocharge: So, uh, I, I recently played that and you played it, uh,
Leon Lionheartly: Yes.
neocharge: So they they they just keep releasing all this DLC for it, completely free. And I think this might be the last one because I'm going to tell you right now.
neocharge: they They created a new galaxy, right? And it's the... I don't even remember the galaxy name, but it's a brand new galaxy with some time challenges and some ah skill-based platforming. Just everything Astro Bot is specific to abilities you get in the game. We're not going to spoil any of them.
neocharge: our And this last one that shows up in the middle when you complete all the, I think there's 10 of them, ah It was insane, dude.
neocharge: This was some very tough, precise platforming for Astro Bot. like there There are some pretty tough challenges in Astro Bot, but this is by far ah the hardest one.
neocharge: And i got to say, so without spoiling anything, the bots you get, i was very happy about. Let's just say that. I'm not even going to... say the excitement level.
neocharge: I was very happy with the ah last few bots you get. ah If you're a fan of PlayStation, you'll love them. Let's just say that. at what can Dude, Astro Bot is incredible.
neocharge: It would have been my game of the year if it weren't for Rebirth. It got game of the year. I'm so happy it got game of the year. It's 3D platforming at its best, ah at its most ah technologically advanced.
neocharge: And it's just an ode and a celebration of PlayStation and everything they've done the last 30 years. 25 years. So yeah, this this last ah this last level got me pretty pretty good.
neocharge: it was It was tough. It was very challenging. And I got to say it Bob. I'm sorry. But I did beat your time by two seconds.
Leon Lionheartly: ah You know, i will say, I would go back and beat those two seconds.
neocharge: do it
Leon Lionheartly: But I'm so glad to hear the the bright side that you had trouble because i was like, is it just me and I'm getting old? Are these fucking levels legit? but Um...
neocharge: that is That is always a concern of mine. Am I am i getting too old for this? or i' Are my reflex reflexes like waning? And I thought the same thing.
neocharge: And it honestly, it's all about persistence. You got to persist through it. You got to be dedicated. You just got to keep trying and trying. Don't make the same mistake twice.
neocharge: ah Keep learning the level. Keep learning the patterns. You'll eventually get it. Dude, when you get to the top and that little challenge puzzle with the block, oh my God, it got me almost every time.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, dude, that that last one, the last segment in the marathon, I was ready to throw my controller because I i i was just, every time, for a sense, of folks, when every time you complete a little segment in these levels, you're like, oh, that was tough.
neocharge: Mm-hmm.
Leon Lionheartly: All right, let's see what else they got. And they keep ramping it up. And you can tell because you look forward and you go, oh, how am I supposed to do that? And they they make they make these challenges in just a way to where they're segmented out.
Leon Lionheartly: So you can go slow and take your time at certain points, but there there are there are sprint points where you have to go and there's no stopping. You have to be precise.
Leon Lionheartly: You have to do it a right a very specific way and you don't get to break. Oh, and by the way, the worst part of this, if you die, there are no checkpoints.
neocharge: Start up. Yep. No checkpoints. You start all the way over. And that's that's the thing, right? You get through one section, get through the second section, get to the third section. Oh, shit. You died all the way back. ah I was determined to finish this because I actually did probably one of the hardest platforming challenges on the PS5 ever.
neocharge: It's on Sackboy's Big Adventure, and it's called the Rip Snorter. And there's a trophy for it.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah
neocharge: So the challenge in Astro Bot was what? Two and a half minutes? About the same?
Leon Lionheartly: I want to say something like that.
neocharge: Ish. The rip snorter is basically think that gauntlet. I'd probably say 10 times harder. You can only get hit twice. And it takes fucking 10 minutes to do.
Leon Lionheartly: doo-doo-doo.
neocharge: i I can look up the trophy percentage, but it's insane. And it's a platinum killer. And I probably studied this entire course, I'd say for two months and practiced a total of 15 to 20 hours just to do it.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah
neocharge: And I finally did it. I got hit once, ah but thankfully you can get hit twice. And I finally did it. And I have that platinum for Sackboy's Big Adventure.
neocharge: Did you ever play that game? It's an awesome game.
Leon Lionheartly: um Let's see. I played one of the Sackboys. um i don't yeah It was actually Big Adventure because that's it came out on PS4, right?
neocharge: Yes. ah No, PS5.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah. All right. Then maybe...
neocharge: It might have been it might have been multila ah multi-generational.
Leon Lionheartly: Okay. But yeah, I do remember it. It's funny you say this because Sackboy died so Astro Bot can rise from the ashes, um which is a, it's, it's a pity.
Leon Lionheartly: I liked Sackboy. It was a good game. um I had a lot of fun, lot of good community ah aspects to it where they're creating their own levels, skins, things like that. Stickers um kind of like, ah I don't know.
Leon Lionheartly: um Another game that's ah we've we've been playing this week, huh?
neocharge: Oh, yeah. ah Just to wrap the Sackboy stuff up, the the platinum trophy on this is a 0.4% rarity.
neocharge: So that that rip snorter is a platinum killer for sure. It was nuts.
Leon Lionheartly: Fuck that, man. That's a...
neocharge: I know.
Leon Lionheartly: that's ah what What is that other... Fuck, I'd have to go look it up. I'm thinking of another game that was like that where you had to do a gauntlet and you could not get hit or die.
Leon Lionheartly: hey Yeah, that was it.
neocharge: Uh, Ukulele in the Impossible Lair. Yep. I planned on that too. umm I'm a, I'm a masochist.
Leon Lionheartly: but Okay, buddy.
neocharge: I do. I do love my platformers. I'm just saying I do love my platformers, but yeah, the, the sack boy, big adventure is crazy, but the Astro bot last level, dude, if you're any sort of a PlayStation fan and you haven't played Astro bot, what are you doing?
neocharge: Astro bot's incredible. It played off of the Astros playroom that came ah bundled in to the PS5 for free completely. And it dude, it was one of the the best launch titles, I'd say.
neocharge: And then they made an entire long 25-hour adventure from that. And yeah, it's incredible. what One game of the year last year. So it was awesome.
Leon Lionheartly: Dude, that's awesome.
neocharge: Yep.
Leon Lionheartly: I know, because I was like, it's going to win game of the year. It's going to game of the year. Nothing against Rebirth, okay? But yes.
neocharge: Rebirth was my game of the year. i was concerned that the Elden Ring DLC was going to win game of the year, which that has no business even being nominated. ah So, yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: Or was that the last year?
Leon Lionheartly: and
neocharge: I know. And then Black Myth Wukong, Stellar Blade should have been in place of Black Myth Wukong. And yeah, I think it was Elden Ring.
Leon Lionheartly: Thank you.
neocharge: Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. And then Black Myth Wukong was great, but it wasn't Game of the Year material. Stellar Blade was. And that's this is all subjective, of course. But ah yeah, I think there was Elden Ring, the Tarnished or whatever, DLC, Shadow of the Erd Tree.
Leon Lionheartly: Shadow of the Urchery.
neocharge: That's ah how much I know about Elden Ring. I feel like... Silent Hill 2 should have had its place. So.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, i did I would definitely could agree with that one. um Damn, man.
neocharge: Yeah. But regardless, I'm glad Astro bought one.
Leon Lionheartly: Yep.
neocharge: And if you haven't played it, go play it. It's an old PlayStation and just an incredible 3D platformer. One of the best on the system and and one of the top five games on the system easily.
Leon Lionheartly: ye
neocharge: So. All
Leon Lionheartly: All right. Well, um I'm pretty sure for this next one, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm further than you. I have put a lot i put a lot of effort into this game.
neocharge: right.
Leon Lionheartly: So I'll tell you what, Matt, I'm going refill my beer and I'm going to let you take this one away and tell the great audience all about this.
neocharge: All right. Yeah. ah I had just hit chapter six. I don't know how much further I am than I was on the last episode. i have some family visiting and I've been preoccupied with other more important stuff, ah but I have been thoroughly enjoying Death Stranding 2.
neocharge: ah Man, I hit this part recently, and apparently this game doesn't have ray tracing, which is insane because I don't know how they're doing it, especially the part I ah just hit and experienced.
neocharge: No spoilers, of course, um but the particle effects, the graphics, ah it just is running at a beautiful 60 frames a second. And um we're playing it on the pro. We're playing it on performance mode.
neocharge: And I got to say, man, I can't believe this game isn't ray traced.
Leon Lionheartly: ah you're but I would agree with you. um And just based on that comment, I had a feeling I'm farther.
neocharge: You know.
Leon Lionheartly: I know where you're at, which means um if that's what you just finished, I'm farther.
neocharge: Yeah.
neocharge: Well, okay. I can say I'm on episode six.
Leon Lionheartly: Same here.
neocharge: Are you further? Okay. And.
Leon Lionheartly: it
neocharge: Right.
Leon Lionheartly: But the problem with Death Stranding is chapter four is like 15 minutes. Chapter five is like 20 minutes.
neocharge: hey
Leon Lionheartly: Chapter six, I've been on it for three days, folks.
neocharge: here Yep. You got to build all the things. And dude, I'm telling you, like if you progress the main story, the golden path, you're going to get tools. like You saw what you got in episode or chapter three that you can go back to the original place and then just... yeah You know what I'm talking about, right?
Leon Lionheartly: Yep.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: That's why I was like, just just keep progressing story. You can go back there. You're going to have a ton more tools. And if there's any indication, ah they are kind of staying true to the original. They're giving new tools, but they are bringing back a lot of the original tools we had ah in Death Stranding 1.
neocharge: And if they they give us the the ultimate thing that we got in Death Stranding 1, I just want to get there and then use those things to go back and do all the deliveries.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah
neocharge: ah So, yeah, i'm I'm a little more compelled to follow the the golden path in the story. But damn, man, you'd be cruising. You see a package. You're like, I got to go get that package.
neocharge: I got to go get it.
Leon Lionheartly: ah I'll tell you even worse.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: I'm not going to not. and So this is how I know. yeah I'm a little bit beyond that. There's a so there's another, um how do I say this? at point There's another one of those ah shelters.
neocharge: Yeah.
neocharge: Mm-hmm.
Leon Lionheartly: And you eventually get to the point where you get a, ah let's just say ah the possibility or an adaptation for one of your tools.
Leon Lionheartly: I find myself with one small problem. I built roads and I built all the rails and I literally drive around and I will not get out of the vehicle.
Leon Lionheartly: And I'm just sitting there going, boop, boop, boop, package, package, package. And I'll just drive around. And then I look and I go, oh shit, I've got 15 packages for this place. I need to drive. So I'll start driving that way and I'll get there.
Leon Lionheartly: And then I'll pick up more packages along the way. I'll get to the shelter, drop everything off. And then I'll go, hey, what other packages are dropped off by porters? And then I start planning routes into my head and I'm going in a big circle around the continent.
Leon Lionheartly: And I am just literally in my little vehicle, just going like, the just drive it around listening because that, the, the ability to, to, um to do the, the, the ambience, I think is the best way to put that.
neocharge: Yep.
neocharge: Oh, yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Um, it, I get lost.
neocharge: Yep.
Leon Lionheartly: I literally get lost, Matt. I did it today. I was playing for two and a half of three hours and I was like, I hit a story beat and I'm like, cool. but I know what the next story beat is. i'm going to go do this real quick and I'll be right back and i'm going to knock it out.
Leon Lionheartly: three hours later, I'm now finally at that point because I got lost again.
neocharge: Yep.
Leon Lionheartly: and
neocharge: I believe, ah Bob, they call those mules.
Leon Lionheartly: Yes. 100% do.
neocharge: You got deranged package syndrome, where you have to...
Leon Lionheartly: and ah a hundred percent too
neocharge: You have to deliver packages.
Leon Lionheartly: Dude, I'll stop. I'll be like, oh, look, there's a... ah I'm going to call them bandits. There's a bandit camp. I'm going go raid that place um because I got really cool new weapons that make this a breeze.
Leon Lionheartly: And then I'm going to raid them and take all of their stuff, which includes the materials and packages. Oh, wait, I got packages. I better go deliver them.
neocharge: Right.
Leon Lionheartly: i am i am the i am the, as you would say, the man who delivers.
neocharge: Yep. ah Not to mention the main orders that the shelters have that you can you ah
Leon Lionheartly: yes
neocharge: can get. And you have to do those main orders. ah there's There's side orders. And then there's just the, I don't know what they call them, the aides.
neocharge: They're like just all kinds of side missions. And every shelter has their own order.
Leon Lionheartly: i' say
neocharge: It's crazy.
Leon Lionheartly: Yes, yes, yes. Aid requests. That's it.
neocharge: Yes. Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: which you gotta look for. You don't get those on in the shelters.
neocharge: Right.
Leon Lionheartly: You gotta go into the to another menu. um
neocharge: Right. Yeah. And then I guess I can talk about quality of life thing. Maybe.
Leon Lionheartly: and I'd say this this game has a the short answer is has a lot of quality of life.
neocharge: now
Leon Lionheartly: um And every corner of it, it is jam-packed.
neocharge: Yes.
Leon Lionheartly: ah
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: i My problem is I want to go for the Platinum, but this is a if I go for the Platinum, this is gonna be a game that I'm going to get dug into for 250 hours. And can't do that. and i ah can't do that
neocharge: Yep. There is a lot in this game. The map is probably three times bigger than the original one. And lot of quality of life stuff.
neocharge: Just man, Kojima nailed it again. It's so fun to play. It's gorgeous. If you follow the golden path, the story is so engaging. The performances are top tier and the meat of this game, the gameplay loop, the delivery. It's a FedEx UPS simulator and it fucking works, man.
neocharge: i don't Kojima did it again. He's like, oh yeah, this is Death Stranding 2. You know why you like Death Stranding. And I know why you're here. So I'm going to give you Death Stranding.
neocharge: But you're also going to be like, what the fuck is going on still? Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, yeah du you're right. and i i but kid that's a classic That's the classic Kojima, right? But I think we um the best way I put it, I was talking to some people like some friends of mine today um about the game.
Leon Lionheartly: Death Stranding 2 is Death Stranding 1 but it's a little bit more video gamey. And I don't mean that in a bad way.
neocharge: Mm-hmm.
Leon Lionheartly: I mean that in a really good way. Death Stranding one is an experience and Kojima realized he had the core of what he needed. He just needed to refine the video game elements around it to keep the player, the player base engaged the entire time. And mean and I mean, him and his team have fucking done this. it's It is a phenomenally beautiful, well-executed game.
Leon Lionheartly: and, This is, it doesn't beat Claire, but this is easily my second game of the year.
neocharge: Yeah, ah i'd I'd say it's easily my second favorite game of the year as well. It doesn't be clear. It might, but man, I don't know. i There's so many more games coming out. We got Metroid Prime 4. That hits home for me. So I can't really say what my game of the year is going to be.
neocharge: All I know is I'm going to be and we are going to be at the game awards And all of the game the game of the year nominees are probably, this is the first year that I'm to like, if any of these win, I'm cool with it.
neocharge: Because it's probably, I mean, Donkey Kong Bonanza, it might be in there. Metroid Prime 4 will probably be in there. Ghost of Yote, Ghost Yote looking fresh, looking good.
neocharge: that'll probably be in there. Maybe. Who knows? But right now, our Game the Year contenders are going to be Death Stranding 2. You know it's going to be in there. Claire Obscure, probably going to win. Hopefully going to win.
neocharge: And then, ah what? Kingdom? No, ah Split Fiction. Split Fiction is going to be in there.
Leon Lionheartly: ah No, no, no. You were right. KCD2. i'm not
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: I don't play it, but from my understanding, is fun it is a great game.
neocharge: Yeah. Oh, yeah. But he's going to have his boy, Yosef Ferris, in there. And that that's sitting at a 91 as well, which Bonanza just got.
Leon Lionheartly: but
Leon Lionheartly: Okay. I could see that. I think it'll win multiplayer for sure. all A thousand percent. It's going win multiplayer.
neocharge: Oh, easily. Yeah. um Claire is probably going to win game of the year, but dude, this game of the year lineup, I feel is going to be personal. My personal best lineup, because I probably won't care which wins game of the year because I'm going to love all of them.
neocharge: Right.
Leon Lionheartly: Yep.
neocharge: And that's why we're going to be sitting near the front VIP game awards, baby. We're going. Can't wait.
Leon Lionheartly: i ah it is on my It is on my list, man.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Absolutely on my list.
neocharge: Yeah. Yeah. ah So yeah, we we've been playing Astro Bot. Well, I've been playing Astro Bot. And yeah, the level is called Mega Mix Mastery. And it's the hardest level in the game. And you get one of the coolest characters in the game. We'll just say that.
neocharge: Coolest bots. um And then we've been playing Death Stranding 2. How many hours are you in? I'm still like 30-ish hours in Death Stranding 2.
Leon Lionheartly: Um, I'd have to go look, but I'm probably, embarrassingly, I'm probably pushing close to 50 or 60 hours. Um, my dashboard probably says 60 to 68, but I'm really at probably at 50 because I, I gotta to get up.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: I gotta take care of a kid. I gotta take care of an animal or whatever.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Right. Um, but I'm probably a good 50 hours into it.
neocharge: Right.
Leon Lionheartly: Um, and I'm just a little bit further than you.
neocharge: Heck yeah. yeah
Leon Lionheartly: That's how bad I've got this drone duration system.
neocharge: Damn!
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: I mean, I don't ever pick up packages from other players. I should, lightly, but like, damn.
Leon Lionheartly: I have, I'm chapter six.
neocharge: That's dedication.
Leon Lionheartly: I have 140,000 likes already.
neocharge: Holy crap. I think I'm like 60 or 70,000.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah Yeah.
neocharge: Maybe I need to start picking up those packages every once in a while. The ones I like.
Leon Lionheartly: I can't help pivot it, man. It's just like, ooh, piece of candy, piece of candy.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: I bet this is absolutely, ah yeah, it's going to take something to break this this cycle.
neocharge: Oh, yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: So we'll see.
neocharge: it's yeah It's part of the reason I canceled my DK pre-order. I just, I don't want to put Death Stranding 2 down. I'm taking my time with Death Stranding 2. I don't want to rush Death Stranding 2 and i don't want to play anything else unless it's like these Astro Bot levels I've been meaning to play. Right.
Leon Lionheartly: Mm-hmm.
neocharge: But I don't want to start another game, another story. I want to see Death Stranding 2 through. i don't know if I'm going to platinum it before I get to another game. Maybe I might go on a fucking 24 hour binge. Who knows?
neocharge: But that's one of the reasons I probably won't get to DK Bonanza on launch. So yeah, Death Stranding 2, incredible, incredible game. One of Kojima's best.
neocharge: And out now. Go play it. If you haven't played Death Stranding 1, don't play it.
Leon Lionheartly: Go play that first.
neocharge: Go play that first.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: Because you got to play 1 first. And they are time investments. I'm i'm telling you right now. The platinum for DS one is about 130 hours and I wouldn't be surprised. I haven't looked it up. I don't look up times until I roll credits.
neocharge: I wouldn't be surprised if the DS two platinum is 200 plus. So yeah, maybe more, maybe more.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah I wouldn't be surprised. i wouldn't be surprised. Actually...
neocharge: i haven't even looked at the list. I haven't even looked at the trophy list. Like I don't usually look at the trophy list until I roll credits. Cause sometimes you can get some spoilers in there.
Leon Lionheartly: ah You're right.
neocharge: Um,
Leon Lionheartly: i i' looked So I looked at the trophy list. It's easier than um Death Stranding 1.
neocharge: It is.
Leon Lionheartly: ah
neocharge: Okay. Easier, but more time consuming. I don't want to know.
Leon Lionheartly: you I think it's very similar. just some of Some of the other like more annoying ones, from what I can tell, do not exist anymore.
neocharge: Okay.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Or are not there.
neocharge: Gotcha. Typically, I check out um on games around 40 to 50 hours. If I absolutely love the game, like Rebirth, Horizon, Forbidden West, Death Stranding, right?
neocharge: ah I start checking out around 100 hours. ah But then if I really want to push through to the Platinum, I'll break that 100 hours and 130 hours for DS1. But usually...
neocharge: but usually 100 hours is like my max. Unless it's like a living game. Fuck Destiny.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah I was going to say, we've all got their games.
neocharge: Destiny's 2,000 hours. Yeah, yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: i
neocharge: We all get that game.
Leon Lionheartly: According to how long to beat Death Stranding 2, you don't want to know?
neocharge: I don't want to know. I don't think our listeners... Our listeners don't want to know either. Yep. Nope.
Leon Lionheartly: you don't You don't want to hear it? Alright.
neocharge: and nope I don't want to hear it. Thank you, though. Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: I can tell you. um But yeah, man. no Go play it. That's all I got to say.
neocharge: Oh, yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Just go play it if you if you played the first one.
neocharge: Yep. Go play it. Love it. ah Enjoy the wild ride. Enjoy delivering packages. And let us know what you think. Hit us up on the Discord. Tell us what your favorite aspect of Death Stranding 2 is. so um We're going to keep talking about it. We'll probably keep talking about it for four more episodes.
neocharge: ah So we are loving it and we're going to keep playing it. I think I'm going to binge it at some point. I haven't got around to it because of recent events and family visiting. But yeah.
neocharge: ah Death Stranding 2. Amazing. Go play it. Main topic. Main topic time. We're going to get all in the they bowels and innards of Nintendo.
Leon Lionheartly: Thank you.
neocharge: What have they been doing? They just released a new console. We'll talk about that. ah But this is part two of our four-part series of the state of the gaming industry.
neocharge: What's happening with the big four. Of course, we're saving PlayStation for last. And... But with Nintendo, where we already talked about Xbox. we It was kind of more of a rant on Xbox. Sorry.
neocharge: um We actually tried to find a Xbox centric person in our community to join the cast, but we couldn't. There.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: not Not many people are heavy on Xbox anymore. But we ranted about Xbox. That was last episode. Go check it out if you want to hear an awesome rant by both of us. ah And now we're going to go into Nintendo. You're a huge Nintendo fan. I'm a huge Nintendo fan. We both bought the Nintendo Switch 2 on launch.
neocharge: And we talked about all all of that on, I think, episode one. We kind of kicked off this podcast around when Switch 2 launched, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah. And yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: ah And then we're gonna we're going to bring some guests on for the PC episode next one. And then we're going to have another guest on. Hopefully, we should probably ask him about it before we say anything on ah the PlayStation podcast.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah
neocharge: you know yeah
Leon Lionheartly: You know who you are.
neocharge: You know who you are. We're going to have you on. I need to... shoot you message. Uh, you're going to love it. So i think for the Nintendo portion of this, Nintendo is heavy on the IPs. They have some of the best IPs in the industry, some of the best first party games in the industry.
neocharge: We're going to focus on the first party IPs, maybe go through the top 10 main popular IPs of Nintendo. Uh, and we're going to talk a little bit about the hardware that just came out, maybe a little bit about our experience with switch to,
Leon Lionheartly: Thank you.
neocharge: ah like a month and a half in from launch. Uh, yeah. And it's just going to be Nintendo centric. So, let's just start with, uh, the switch to have you, have you been playing yours any lately?
neocharge: mean, no, right.
Leon Lionheartly: and Unfortunately, no, I haven't. but it's not right So I will say this. I haven't played it as much as I'd like to. That is not the fault of the Nintendo Switch 2.
Leon Lionheartly: What I have played out of it and what I've touched with ah between Mario Kart and my backlog of games, checking out what they look like, right? Um, some of them are got the update, got cool updates. Some of them, not so much, but I play, I have obscure games. I say obscure, but they're not mainline games that I play on the, uh, out of the Nintendo series, uh, lineup.
Leon Lionheartly: So yeah, I haven't played as much as I'd like to, but that's not the impact that has nothing to do with anything about the Nintendo switch to other than that. It's pretty cool. Um, yeah,
Leon Lionheartly: I mean, I got things i got things i can I was going to say.
neocharge: Me too.
Leon Lionheartly: I got things I could talk about that have been discussed within the community because I've got some thoughts. But take it away, man. What about you? how How's your Switch 2 experience been?
neocharge: Yeah, me too. I haven't really been playing it. It's been docked for a while. Death Stranding 2 just came out.
neocharge: It's interesting because the first game I really dug into was Echoes of Wisdom, which is a Switch 1 game. I still haven't scratched the code for Mario Kart World.
neocharge: And that's the, that's the, that's the marquee title for the Switch.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah
neocharge: I'm just, I don't, it's just the time, man. That's it. we We played it. We beat it And I'm not like, I don't have friends over a lot. And when, when I did have friends over, we were firing up doom, the dark ages and Claire obscure and death stranding too, and selling our other friend, Alex, a PS five pro, which I think we did.
Leon Lionheartly: All right.
neocharge: So his eyes were like glazed over like, Oh my God, this is awesome. Um, But yeah, it's interesting because Game Informer actually had an article on this that I recently read in their latest issue, 369. And it one of the ah articles was, what to play next on your Switch 2 after Mario Kart World.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah
neocharge: And it was Tears the Kingdom. It Breath of the Wild. It was Cyberpunk 2077. It was Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet. It was Bravely Default, ah they're the remaster.
neocharge: There's nothing else new, except today. You can play Donkey Kong Bonanza, okay? But... on launch two months after launch, there's really nothing new and there's just remasters and patch titles and we're getting Kirby next month, which is cool. But like, where are the new games?
neocharge: Uh, But this, usually Nintendo is ah software first, hardware second. I feel like they were hardware first, software a second on this launch. And I think the Switch 2 is one of the most technologically advanced Switch 2 or so Nintendo systems to date.
neocharge: ah And I was more impressed with the technology than I was the actual first party launch games. what ah What do you think? I haven't really been playing my Switch 2, and I don't think I will for a while because Death Stranding, I got fucking package delivery syndrome. Okay.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, you're you're right. So the the Switch and I have always... Nintendo has been my secondary council Oh, I mean, if I'm being honest, for a very long time, um we're talking the Nintendo GameCube era. um It's been a secondary console.
Leon Lionheartly: During the Wii and the Wii U cycle, ah it was beat out by 360, and then you go into the PlayStation 4, because I jumped...
Leon Lionheartly: um ship on the PlayStation 3 and then into the PlayStation 5 now. It's kind of been a secondary console. So it's, I still will buy it because at heart, I still love my Nintendo games.
Leon Lionheartly: um They're great to play with the kids. ah But at the end of the day, there's always going to be that one game. And Nintendo only always has one game that I can't get anywhere else.
Leon Lionheartly: I.E. a la Xenoblade Chronicles. As soon as that gets announced, I'm out. Like, good, bye. I'm going to go play with my Switch 2 and have a great time. There's 120 hours of my life I'm not getting back.
Leon Lionheartly: ah yeah But i yeah I don't know. You're you're right. yeah i the i My concern with the Switch 2 is we've seen this we've seen this before. History...
Leon Lionheartly: has a rhythm to it. and You know, it rhymes as they say. Um, then Nintendo 64, man, as much as yeah I loved it, I knew you loved it. I have some very fond memories of of playing a lot of the good games on there, but for the first six months you had Mario.
Leon Lionheartly: And then the next thing that finally came around was Ocarina. But in between that, it was very dire. And I, I'm seeing that same thing happen with the switch too. And I've got concerns.
neocharge: Oh, yeah. ah The last time a Nintendo console was my primary console is the GameCube. GameCube is one of my favorite consoles of all time. Nintendo 64 had some very impactful games, but it was one of the weakest console other than the Wii It didn't have a lot games.
neocharge: We didn't get a Metroid on Nintendo 64. It had weak console.
Leon Lionheartly: Mm-hmm.
neocharge: ah weak ah life lineup ah when it comes to quantity, right? The quality of games, some of the best of all time, right? Ocarina of Time, Banjo-Kazooie, all those, Goldeneye.
neocharge: But there wasn't a lot and there wasn't a lot of software there. ah But yeah, Nintendo has always been my secondary console. I call it my Metroid Mario game. Donkey Kong Pokemon box.
neocharge: I get it for the first party exclusives. ah You know, we have Xbox over here just putting their shit on everything when Nintendo's like, no, no, no, you're going to get our console to play our games. And that's how it's going to be probably till the end of time.
Leon Lionheartly: Mm-hmm.
neocharge: And, they don't need to. They, they, their games sell. They're awesome. Sometimes they run poorly, but they're triple a amazing experiences. I mean, what don't keep on Bonanza sitting at a 91, like when it comes to review scores, every single experience I've had, excuse me, everything, single experience I've had with a Nintendo first party IP has been stellar.
neocharge: The gameplay is always awesome. Uh, Zelda is one of my top favorite IPs of all time. And yeah, I get this box to play their games. I'm not getting it for game chat. I'm not getting it to chat over games at 50 or 15 frames a second.
neocharge: I'm not getting it to like, I don't play any third-party titles. And we're going to see a lot of third-party stuff from the PS4, Xbox One era come over to the Switch 2 with a, this is a new edition.
neocharge: And I'm not interested in any of it. And if you haven't played them, awesome. Go play Remake on the PS5 if you want the ultimate version. Final Fantasy VII Remake if you want the ultimate version. you want it on the go, play it on the Switch. It's just not for me. I've already played all these games and I'm i'm here for the first party exclusives and the game that's a system seller for me that I will put everything down when it releases, including even if it comes out when Yote comes out, which I think it might, is Metroid Prime 4.
Leon Lionheartly: you
neocharge: that's going to be That's already a system seller. i would have I probably wouldn't have got the Switch 2 on launch if I wouldn't have been able to finance at no interest. And I probably would have got it when Metroid Prime 4 comes out.
neocharge: But that's my system seller. And that's why I'm here for the first party games. And that's what we're going to talk about.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah. You're a you like you said, the first party games are what sells. um I just, I, I, I look at this intersection and I'm going to take you back on the time machine um back in my day as ah the young ones would make fun of me.
Leon Lionheartly: Um, you you You look at when Nintendo always decided to do the arms race, the technological arms race, which is we need to keep up with everybody else in the industry.
Leon Lionheartly: That's when they tend to struggle with the with the complementary software and getting sales out the gate. 64 was that competition, right? a It didn't, it ultimately was not a good, see I have fond memories.
Leon Lionheartly: And I think some of the best games of all time come um come out of there.
neocharge: Mm-hmm.
Leon Lionheartly: Like so generational games come out out of that system. But outside of that, it didn't sell. Not comparatively to what you had with Sony PlayStation, right? um Which was a 32-bit system, by the way.
Leon Lionheartly: ah yeah and not compared to, and then you you look at when they tried to keep that up. GameCube was another one. GameCube was technically more powerful. by that But the PlayStation 2 ended up being a system seller because the DVD player, um whenever they kept that, and then they changed this up, and they go back to Gunpei Yokoi's idea ah Blue Ocean and rethinking, essentially rethink unilat sideways thinking, using older technology in your yeah creative ways um to to generate like you revitalize the the the old beast, as as they say.
neocharge: Right.
neocharge: right
Leon Lionheartly: The problem is, that's when they so that's when you had the sixty the the n NES. That's when you had the SNES. um The SNES didn't come to the US um until after it was released in Japan, and that was mostly because people on Japan were talking about this, and and the the North American market was like, dude, give us the fucking 16-bit, right?
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah. But then you look at what they did with the Switch. You look at what they did with the, and i by they, I mean Nintendo, with the Wii. Sideways thinking, the Wii was a not a powerhouse.
neocharge: Mm-mm.
Leon Lionheartly: Your Blue Ocean strategy, catch as many people as you can. The Switch 2, they're trying to do something similar, but they just made a big, they they went with a more powerful version of the Switch, ah the base Switch, which makes sense.
Leon Lionheartly: Nobody else is doing this. but the games aren't there. Now, as a person who's looking at, ah with history of Nintendo, not the business owner, but the fanboy inside of me is starting to sweat bullets because the signs are there, Matt. matt They pay $10 for the equivalent of the to welcome tour that you can't complete unless you have all the accessories.
Leon Lionheartly: The upgrades... We're not going to get do PS4 to PS5. We're going to give you the PS5 version because you own the PS4. No, you need to pay the $10 upgrade path. yeah ah Not for a remaster.
Leon Lionheartly: Not ah a Horizon Forbidden West kind of thing. But for a fucking next version on the console just to download.
neocharge: Right.
Leon Lionheartly: We're going to give it where you're going to have to pay $10. I'm starting to see those little things leak in with Nintendo. And I'm starting to get a concerned because they had now now the now the guy now the company that was the central, that's the central point for and focal point of who I am as an individual with my hobby, I'm starting to see them get rewrote away for profits and I'm crying inside.
Leon Lionheartly: i'm just I see that on the horizon and I i just scream and, no! um But I don't know. Maybe maybe I'm rambling. What do you think, Matt?
neocharge: No, I completely agree. They're getting real greedy. ah I mean, they're a business. They're there to make money, right? But not packaging that welcome tour in and charging $10 for it ah or even charging the $10 for the upgrade on a game you already own.
neocharge: i I even think they're not even given an upgrade path for some of the third-party titles, which are key games, by the way, which means they aren't even on the cartridge. they you it's It's a cartridge. It's literally a license.
neocharge: It has probably a hundred and twenty eight bit a key string on it. You put it in the system, then you download the game and you have to have that cartridge to play the game.
neocharge: Uh, Sonic X shadows. I don't even think has an upgrade path. If you own the switch version that you just, there's no upgrade path. You have to buy the switch to version. Um, So yeah, they're not doing consumer-friendly stuff.
Leon Lionheartly: Thank you.
neocharge: ah they john they They have some competition in this space now with Steam Deck and ah Portal, maybe. But yeah, they're kind of getting more ballsy. They're getting...
neocharge: ah greedy, and a little pretentious, honestly. So, I mean, their their technology is awesome. And got to say, i'm the the Switch 2 is a technological marvel, especially with the magnetic stuff.
neocharge: But... Yeah, they're making some really interesting decisions, and I'll be very curious to see what the next Nintendo Direct has in store ahs to see why the hell I bought this console.
neocharge: And give me a Metroid Prime 4 fucking release date, please. Now, I would very much like that.
Leon Lionheartly: um ah yeah that The fact we haven't gotten that release date scares me. ah
neocharge: It's concerning. Mm-hmm.
Leon Lionheartly: It is concerning. I think Nintendo got cocky, is what it is. um And they need to be taken down a peg. That's okay.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: and We do not need an Xbox situation where they completely... I don't want to say implode. I'm sorry. Xbox's brand is doing fine with its publishing arm. But... would They need to be taken down a peg.
neocharge: yeah
Leon Lionheartly: They need to be shown that, you know what, you can do what you want to do and nobody's going to stop you. Go for the grandmas. Go for the guys like me who are now starting to get old enough to have um kids who are graduating and things like Go for that generation.
Leon Lionheartly: Get as many as you can. But you got to do it with more than just, hey, go ahead and buy this because it has our name on it. You got to give us a reason to buy it. and ah And effectively, in the what last two, three months that it's been that system has been out, I just don't see it.
Leon Lionheartly: Hold off, guys. Unless you absolutely have a reason, a deal, a situation in your life. don't yeah What I'm saying with Switch 2, do not let FOMO conquer you because the grass is not greener on the other side.
Leon Lionheartly: Point blank.
neocharge: Yep. Yeah. Cocky was the word i was looking for. ah It's not all negative, though. And I know i i know we're we're bitching about stuff, and this is just our experience.
Leon Lionheartly: You know what's up?
neocharge: And if you have different experiences, please share. um But we're going to get positive now. We're going to positive with Nintendo. Actually, let's talk about the the the positive... ah on the hardware a little bit, right? Because, I mean, dude, I had an awesome experience with Echoes of Wisdom.
neocharge: ah Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom are like new games. If you're subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online plus Expansion Pack, you get them for free. If not, $10 upgrade. There is a lot here.
neocharge: There's the app integration with the Zelda Notes and you know the GPS, the TomTom built into Zelda. Um, I think that's all phenomenal experiences.
neocharge: And i have had a blast playing Echoes of Wisdom, Scarlet and Violet, man, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are brand new fucking experiences. If you haven't played those, and you have a Switch 2, now's the time to play them.
neocharge: Uh, So I i think the Switch 2 is going in the right direction. I i think Nintendo focusing on ah technological stuff like HDR, um frame rate, increasing frame rate of older games is awesome.
neocharge: And I hope they continue to focus on that frame rate going forward with new titles. I'm looking at you, Donkey Kong Bonanza. We're probably going to get that ah Digital Foundry review very soon, probably this week.
neocharge: And i really hope they focus on performance. ah So I think they're going in the right direction. They have stumbled along the way with this launch, in my opinion.
neocharge: But yeah, Mario Kart World looks phenomenal. it runs phenomenal if you're playing just ah two people on co-op. If you have more than four, it tanks the frame rate, I know, right?
neocharge: You said.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, if you get over if you go to over the two because it does the four-way split screen, army the i it definitely you can see the difference.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Let's leave it like that.
neocharge: Yeah. So this is an awesome product. um Like Bob said, though, I think you should maybe... Donkey Kong Bonanza might be a system seller for you. And if you have the time, i it it looks like it's getting amazing reviews. so And it's our first 3D action adventure...
neocharge: Donkey Kong games since Donkey Kong 64. We've usually had side-scrolling. so But what can what can we look forward to on the Switch 2? Why the hell did we get this system?
neocharge: What's the state of these popular Nintendo IPs? Well, we're going to start... low and go to their most popular, uh, which of course is Mario. Uh, but let's, uh, let's talk about Mario cart, right?
neocharge: Uh, we got Mario cart world. That's out. It's awesome. It's fun. If you have a lot of friends coming over all the time and like to play Mario cart, it's a great entry in the series. Uh,
neocharge: It's not where Mario Kart 8 is now, in my opinion. i like the anti-grav stuff, and this doesn't seem to have really any anti-grav stuff, but the courses are fun.
neocharge: the There's a lot of variety here. The music, I think, is some of the best in the series.
Leon Lionheartly: you
neocharge: I had a blast playing the three hours I did. And like I said, if you're if you're planning on playing this every once in a while with some friends, pick up and play. It's an awesome title bundled in with the Switch for 50 bucks. ah Standalone for 80, which is very steep for a title like this.
neocharge: But if you find the value in it, awesome. ah Yeah. did You had fun with Mario Kart, right? You you own it. How much have you played ah since we played the three-hour campaign?
Leon Lionheartly: I've played a couple hours. I really enjoyed it. so I'm going to put it this way. I really like the game. I think it is a lot of fun. This is the type of game that you got buddies coming over um and you need something to do. um and you guys don't want to you like like The best way to put it is my PlayStation is my primary single-player console.
Leon Lionheartly: um I don't play a lot of multiplayer on it if unless it's online. But this is my college co-op game. ah Pull up a couple of beers. Pull up a couple of chairs. Crack open a couple of of ah controllers.
Leon Lionheartly: Boom. Let's go let's go do it, right? um
neocharge: I think it's pull up some controllers and crack open beers. You don't want to crack open your We don't condone breaking controllers.
Leon Lionheartly: Damn it. Let me do it my way, okay? yeah You can't tell me how to game.
neocharge: I know. It's funny. I had to say something.
Leon Lionheartly: Oh, yeah, please.
neocharge: Don't crack open your controllers.
Leon Lionheartly: PSA, Bob was trolling y'all. Please do not do that.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: ah
neocharge: Right, right.
Leon Lionheartly: But in all seriousness, this a great co couch co-op game. um i love it. in turn Is it my game of the year or anything? No. um My only, I guess I could say the only negative thing is, and this is ah me trying to nitpick at it, is there's not enough innovation to justify why this game exists.
Leon Lionheartly: um It's more Mario Kart. Yay. There's more characters.
neocharge: Right.
Leon Lionheartly: Yay. But I think there's some things about it that are a little wonky, like taking away the customization. And then you have you'll have like more characters, but one's just a reskin of another. So it's like Wario, but it's Wario in a pirate outfit or or whatever, right?
Leon Lionheartly: And if you look, they have different stats, but... But what if I wanted to play Wario dressed like a pirate with the base Wario stats? Like, this doesn't make any... It doesn't add up.
Leon Lionheartly: um But overall, it's a beautiful game. It sounds good, and it plays well.
neocharge: Yeah, I attribute it to basically a roller coaster. It's super fun, super short and very exciting. But there's not enough meat on the bone in this title to justify the price and the fact that it's the only first party launch title for ah this next generation on the Nintendo console. So I had a blast in what I played.
neocharge: It's fun. But yeah, there's not enough meat on the bone there. So yeah, Mario Kart, we already got the new game. they're They're not working on anything i next that we know of. We already got the game. The game came out.
neocharge: So an aside that isn't on this list, but I do want to talk about it is Super Smash Brothers, right?
Leon Lionheartly: Oh, yeah, yeah.
neocharge: So we're not getting another Super Smash Brothers anytime soon. Ultimate, they they actually might bring an Ultimate Edition for Switch, right?
neocharge: Or Switch 2. they They could clean it up.
Leon Lionheartly: me
neocharge: They could patch the... They got to patch it. like Ultimate has everything in it. It's why it's called Ultimate. And maybe we'll get a Switch 2 edition, like patch or standalone title for people that don't own Ultimate.
neocharge: What do you think? They're not working on a new one from what I know. And I i think Ultimate might be the last smash we might ever get. What do you think?
Leon Lionheartly: No, you're right. i If I'm not mistaken, Sakurai is...
neocharge: Yeah. Zachariah's done. Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: He's done with it. ah He has gone through quite literally almost hell with his health and everything making these games. um I could be wrong. but i and And I think I've heard, or I believe, if my memory is correct, I've heard rumblings that Sakurai is working on something else.
Leon Lionheartly: um We don't know what it is. So if you're a Smash fan, um I loved Ultimate. I still play it every now and then just for the hell of it. But I think you're i think you're right up. You hit it right on the nose, Matt.
Leon Lionheartly: If anything, we're going to get a Switch 2 edition of Ultimate, but we're not getting another Smash Bros. probably ever. And if we do, it's probably not going to be helmed by Sakurai. And then at that point, I really don't consider it Smash.
neocharge: Hmm. Yeah. Super Smash Brothers Ultimate Ultimate Edition.
neocharge: um
Leon Lionheartly: No, they'll be so unoriginal.
neocharge: yeah
Leon Lionheartly: Super Smash Brothers Ultimate Switch 2 Edition.
neocharge: Right, right. ah I'll be excited when it comes to Switch 2. I would would love to see a better framerate on that game. It could heavily benefit from a better framerate, especially online.
neocharge: Maybe some game chat in there. ah as long as it doesn't take tank your frame rate. I love Smash. I played a lot of Smash. Cloud Link are my boys on there.
neocharge: And I would love to see this have a Switch 2 edition. So I just wanted to add that. ah Let's see. Next major IP, one very close to my heart, one I actually played last Halloween, Luigi's Mansion.
neocharge: Luigi's Mansion 2, Dark Moon, got a remaster on Switch. I don't know how it runs on the Switch 2. I played both these on the Switch. And then I finally played um Luigi's Mansion 3, which was incredible.
neocharge: I loved it. 1 is still my favorite. And I think this might be where they're going. I think we might get a 1 remake for Switch 2.
neocharge: What do you think? Did you play any of the Luigi's Mansions? You played 1, right?
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, I played one and three. I didn't get i didn't get a chance to play two because it originally came out for a handheld and then yeah and then their remake.
neocharge: One and three, okay.
neocharge: 3DS, yeah. Hmm.
Leon Lionheartly: I just never got around to it, right? um I think three is the pinnacle of the Luigi Mansion series. Yeah. I really enjoyed that game. i There was something about it.
Leon Lionheartly: It's level design is what really got me. um But I like where you're going with that. Maybe. Maybe. But you know what I think is more likely to happen?
Leon Lionheartly: um and
neocharge: Four. What?
Leon Lionheartly: No. I think this is going to be good i think this is goingnna be end up being dormant IP.
neocharge: but
Leon Lionheartly: We'll get a four, but I think it's going to be dormant for a couple of to years. And what they're going to do is they're going to give us, if it's not already, and correct me, ah you can check me, is Luigi's Mansion is going to get launched to the GameCube for and NSO.
neocharge: Oh, yeah, that'll that'll happen. And that'll increase hype for it. And I think this series has grown in popularity, especially... So 2 is the weakest of the series, of the 3, right?
Leon Lionheartly: Mm-hmm.
neocharge: ah And then 3 is phenomenal. Amazing gameplay. Added a lot of new elements. Way longer than the first. 1 holds a special place in my heart, but it could be argued that 3 is the best in the in the ah trilogy.
neocharge: Uh, I honestly think Luigi's mansion has grown in popularity as an IP and at, I think we're going to get one of two titles. We're either going to get Luigi's mansion four or the remake of one on the switch too.
neocharge: I think, uh, I think we're going to see in the next two years.
Leon Lionheartly: I would love to see that. um I love these games. there's something ah There's something about this the fact that it's supposed to... It has this horror theme ki mixed with like this Benny Hill skit that's going on.
Leon Lionheartly: I love it. just it's unique ah It's a unique... ah ombie I can't think of it. Theme thematically to it. And I'm all here for it all day long.
neocharge: Yeah, yeah. When i i I picked it up recently, like I said, last October, it was kind of like a Halloween game and I played two and then three. um It's just got a vibe, man. It's very fun.
neocharge: ah Very tight controls. i Three ran beautifully on the Switch. No problems at all. Performance wise, awesome. Fun gameplay.
neocharge: You're playing as Luigi. If you haven't played any of them,
Leon Lionheartly: Thank you.
neocharge: Man, I would i would check them out. Maybe wait for one coming out on the GameCube NSO, I'd say. you're You're probably right about that. And then maybe they'll they'll see the hype for for that. I mean, dude, Luigi's Mansion was one of the best games on the GameCube. It was a launch title with Wave Race.
neocharge: ah Bluestorm, I believe was called. And it just highlighted the the new graphic capability of the GameCube. And it just impacted me.
neocharge: like This was kind of going... It wasn't going from two d to 3D. It wasn't going from SNES to 64. But but it impressed the hell out of me. And I got the GameCube on launch.
neocharge: I actually, I saved my lunch money for the GameCube. Yeah, yeah. I was in high school at the time. Uh, cause it came out in 03, 04.
neocharge: And, yeah, somewhere around there.
Leon Lionheartly: Thank you.
neocharge: And I, uh, like my family, my parents weren't buying it for me and it was the first, you know, console I wanted buy myself. So I got three friends together at launch and I was like, Hey, uh,
neocharge: i So my dad gave me lunch money, right? I pocketed the lunch money for like two months or something. i don't GameCube is like 200, 300 bucks. It was like three bucks for lunch money, three or four bucks.
neocharge: Pocketed the lunch money. I said, hey, give me one fourth of your lunch to three other people. And I said, and if you do, you can come over and play my GameCube.
neocharge: And they're like, fuck yeah, dude.
Leon Lionheartly: Mm-hmm.
neocharge: That's awesome. Because no one was getting GameCube. I was getting it, but no one else was. This was, dude, in the Midwest. um People weren't buying systems on launch. I was 17, think. 16 or 17. Yeah.
neocharge: ah sixteen or seventeen And yeah, it was like a little ah business deal i had at a very young age. So I had them just give me a fourth of their lunch, which made me like a full lunch.
neocharge: And I just pocketed the lunch money and then saved all that money and got a GameCube with Wave Race, Blue Storm and Luigi's Mansion. that's That's how we did it back then.
neocharge: But yeah, fun fun fact, fun story.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: I love Luigi's Mansion. It's one of my ah favorite games on the GameCube. It's awesome. And I would love to see one remade. It would be... I think that's a a home run for them to remake it and put it on the Switch, too.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Well, let's see. Well, maybe.
neocharge: Yeah. ah The next IP, fun fact, I'm not into this genre or this series. Nothing against it. It's got amazing ah entries, but I'm just not into the ah series. I think you are, and that is Fire Emblem.
Leon Lionheartly: I knew you were going to say that.
neocharge: ah Fire Emblem. um We just got Fire Emblem Engage. Well, didn't just get. 2023 Fire Emblem Engage for the Switch. um Did you play that one?
Leon Lionheartly: Um, that one I missed, unfortunately. Um, but you're right.
neocharge: Yes.
Leon Lionheartly: Fire emblem is a, it's an interesting series. I love, and I'm a tacticals guy. Like there's one other game this year that's really going to be a put down everything, um, for the most part. And that's tactics advance.
Leon Lionheartly: Um, but yeah, and that or Sorry, tactic the Final Fantasy Tactics e-release Chronicles.
neocharge: yes
Leon Lionheartly: ah But Fire Emblem's really good. um This is the game that I think we're getting another mainline entry for in the near future. ah This is a... I don't want to say it's an annualized series, but it's a series that comes out on a regular cadence.
Leon Lionheartly: um And it always sells, no matter what. Because like there's a... it It's one of those you do not need to change anything up. you know You have a winning formula. All you have to do is craft a story around it.
Leon Lionheartly: And then, boom, ah but ah on your way you go. um I think this one's coming. It might be announced in a 2026 is what I'm guessing.
Leon Lionheartly: And if we don't see or hear anything, then I'm going to start getting concerned about the series where it's at. ah Because by now, we should have gotten one. Or at least some kind of an announcement.
neocharge: Oh, yeah, I definitely agree. Intelligent Systems is the developer. I mean, Nintendo is, of course, the publisher with other Nintendo devs. I 100% agree.
neocharge: And this is kind of like the exciting time, right, for Nintendo. This is the next generation. Like, this is the PS4, PS4 Pro era for Nintendo. Like, the next Mario 3D, we'll talk about that, ah we see is going to be gorgeous, and it's going to be Pixar, and it's going to rival, like...
neocharge: ah the Ratchet and Clank games on PS4, PS4 Pro. Like, I think the Switch is extremely powerful, and it's exciting seeing all these IP get their fresh coat of paint, next generation ah titles and graphics and performance. So, yeah, ah the next games we see, hopefully at the next Direct, man, hopefully they blow us away.
neocharge: Metroid Prime 4 is already looking amazing. But yeah, this is an exciting time. I've never played any Fire Emblem games. It's just not my genre. And I think Intelligent Systems is definitely working on a new entry that we could see 26, 27. Yeah, I would agree with you there.
Leon Lionheartly: Just don't let it be a warrior wheel game.
neocharge: Right. right I like WarioWare games. They're fun little ah little party games. But yeah, there're I think... Are we getting a WarioWare? No, I don't think we're getting one for Switch 2. We got a couple on Switch.
neocharge: um My favorite one's on the Wii.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah
neocharge: That's a really good ah implementation of the Wii motes.
Leon Lionheartly: I just thought about it, Matt. I didn't even and think about it until now.
neocharge: What?
Leon Lionheartly: You're right. Sorry, um keep up with my brain. ah I think I know why we haven't seen anything yet.
neocharge: Why?
Leon Lionheartly: is What came after ah Fire Emblem Engage that intelligence system made? Do you know what I'm alluding to?
neocharge: ah No.
Leon Lionheartly: came out the very next year. Paper Mario, the Thousand Year Door.
neocharge: Yes, which was awesome.
Leon Lionheartly: Which was awesome. So I wonder if that took up some other resources. um
neocharge: Could have.
Leon Lionheartly: So maybe. maybe Either way, i I'd be, I'll pick it up.
neocharge: Yeah. Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: I would absolutely pick it up and take some time and while I'm traveling or whatever, play some Fire Emblem, man. It's a great pick up and play game. That's what I like about them.
neocharge: Yep. I won't. ah Not because it's a bad game, just cause it's not my jam. ah And this next one honestly isn't my jam, but it's a huge popular Nintendo IP. ah They released the third one, 2022, and we're probably getting a new one on Switch 2 or maybe an enhanced edition of the third one on Switch 2.
Leon Lionheartly: Thank you.
neocharge: Talking about Splatoon PvP. Uh, not my jam at all. I haven't played it ever. Uh, I'm not interested in the least bit. It just doesn't interest me at all, but I, I'm sure we have some listeners out there that are excited. They play Splatoon, uh, and they're excited for the next entry, which is probably coming. I, oh I'd say couple of years, maybe three years. Did you ever play Splatoon at all?
Leon Lionheartly: I played, uh, I, not enough to really make it a good, uh, uh, review out of it, but I definitely played a bit of it. Um, I think it's a really cool premise. I think it's really awesome.
Leon Lionheartly: Um, I think that the history of Splatoon and its creation, um, quite frankly, is more interesting than it's, uh, the, than playing it. And that's not saying it's a bad game, but I'm talking about for me as a, as the type of gamer I am. Right.
Leon Lionheartly: Um,
neocharge: Mm-hmm.
Leon Lionheartly: But yeah, maybe. i thought Splatoon... I get a sense ah that Splatoon 3 might be the last that there yeah ah we'll see for a while. um I would be pleasantly... I'd be shocked...
Leon Lionheartly: If they don't come back to this well, because it is a new ah it is one of their newer IPs um that that kind of launched. you know they They tried Splatoon and then there was ARMS. ARMS failed, but Splatoon just kept going.
Leon Lionheartly: um But my kids played it. um It's a great premise. Looks like a lot of fun. I just and don't have time to play an online arena shooter.
neocharge: Yeah, same here. It's ah it's a living game. ah I'm sure we're going to see a Splatoon 3 Switch 2 edition. That's a mouthful. ah Maybe even late this year, maybe next year, they' they'll probably enhance it. And I think that game would heavily benefit from a Switch 2 patched version.
neocharge: um It might have already gotten patched, but I didn't really pay attention to it. ah Maybe you can look it up. But I think, yeah, oh, they're they're definitely going to release a new one for Switch 2, especially with game chat and everything.
neocharge: um And they're really prioritizing community of, like they always do, multiplayer um and have the camera and everything. They're definitely, Splatoon is going to be spotlight for this stuff.
neocharge: But yeah, I'm I think at the least we're getting a ah switch to edition for Splatoon three. um I don't know. And I've never played Splatoon and I don't care, but it doesn't mean it's not a very popular IP on Nintendo.
neocharge: Did it get patched?
Leon Lionheartly: It did. and
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah They fixed the frame rates.
neocharge: Okay. Okay.
Leon Lionheartly: They fixed a lot of stuff, apparently.
neocharge: Gotcha. Yeah, I thought it was one of those pat one of the ones that got patched, but I didn't. like I might have glazed over it.
Leon Lionheartly: No, it was...
neocharge: I was excited about the Zelda and the Pokemon, and that's about it.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, apparently it was a huge patch, included a bunch of new weapons in and everything. So like they went full bore for it.
neocharge: Cool.
Leon Lionheartly: So, hey, you know what? That's our Splatoon 3 Switch 2 update.
neocharge: Yeah, there we go. um You don't have to pay for it. Free patch. Love when they do this. And it ah benefits from the new hardware. So if you played Splatoon 3 and you want to play it even better on the Switch 2, then go play it. it's It's a free patch. That's awesome.
neocharge: Love when they do that. Still not even the least bit interested. ah This next one, you know, it's an IP. don't know. um I'm a little interested, I guess. um They just released one in 20. I wouldn't say just 2022.
neocharge: Pokemon. I mean, I guess I'm a little interested.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah
neocharge: No, this is one of my favorite IPs of all time. Uh, so Pokemon, um we're getting a switch to edition of legend ZA. We got Scarlet and Violet, both incredible games.
neocharge: I love them so much. I played them back to back.
Leon Lionheartly: Thank you.
neocharge: I played Violet and then Scarlet. Uh, And then I played some of the DLC and then I waited to play a little bit of the DLC on Scarlet for the patch, which is also free, free patch.
neocharge: And I got to say, ah the color depth, the performance, ah frame rate, the resolution, all just night and day. This is a new game. If you haven't played Gen 9,
neocharge: uh, of, of the Pokemon entries. Now's the time to play it. They, it runs beautifully on the switch too. Um, I'm looking forward to playing the DLC teal mask,
neocharge: an indigo disc on Scarlet. I played them on Violet. They ran really bad. This game would tank to like 15 frames a second in the water.
Leon Lionheartly: oh
neocharge: Oh yeah, it's bad. It's bad. um But on the Switch 2, nothing. Runs beautifully. Draw distance is better. Color is better. Everything is just better. So Scarlet and Violet were solid entries in my opinion. They ran like shit.
neocharge: looked like shit, but the gameplay, dude, gameplay is king. And I loved every fucking second of it. I played 80 hours straight through 40, uh, 40 hours on one, 40 hours on the other.
neocharge: I'm a huge Pokemon fan. I probably looked through some of the performance issues. Uh, I'm a little upset that I didn't wait and play on the switch to, but that's all right. ah And we have Legends ZA.
neocharge: I don't know how hot I am on this. I didn't play Legends Arceus, and they didn't patch Legends Arceus, so I'm not going to play it. Talk about a shit show of performance. That game ran real bad.
Leon Lionheartly: Sure.
neocharge: ah And Legends ZA that follows Gen 7, the Kalos region, ah is coming out. That looks cool. I don't know how hot how hot I am on it. I'm I will be there day fucking one for gen 10.
neocharge: And that is 100% coming to the switch to either next year or the year after I'd even say next year, because they stagger the releases either next year. We'll get black and white remake or gen 10.
neocharge: Um, Gen 10 might be two years away. We might get at holiday 27 and black and white remake holiday 26.
Leon Lionheartly: Mm-hmm.
neocharge: Uh, I couldn't be more excited for both these games. Gen five black and white was one of my favorites. Uh, what Pokemon games have you played? Have you, have you touched, I showed you a little bit of violet and you were just like, that's cool. Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: i I mean this in the nicest way, Matt. Okay. So I played, out let me first answer your question.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: I played about an hour of shield um on the switch one. I mean this in the nicest way, folks. I am not trying to rip and throw shade, but I don't think I have that kind of autism.
Leon Lionheartly: Okay, for a Pokemon.
neocharge: I do.
Leon Lionheartly: ah Yeah, yeah. See, you see what I'm getting?
neocharge: Yup.
Leon Lionheartly: it just It doesn't try resonate.
neocharge: Yup.
Leon Lionheartly: um i will I do want to say there is a it is possible we get something because ah next week on the 22nd is Pokemon Presents.
neocharge: Yup. Yup
Leon Lionheartly: So maybe we get something more than just an update about ZEA because we've seen a lot of it.
neocharge: ah
Leon Lionheartly: What are thoughts?
neocharge: I, I think next up, uh, we're probably going to get black bolt and white flare. Uh, it's, I think that's going to be a next year release. They might surprise us.
neocharge: I don't know. We might get a teaser for gen 10, maybe like just a teaser.
Leon Lionheartly: Okay.
neocharge: Like we got for Scarlet and violet in 2018, 2019, like three like three years out um I think we might get a teaser for Gen 10. That's kind of shooting in the dark a little bit, but Black Bolt and White Flare are coming.
neocharge: It's just a matter of time. The set is releasing fucking tomorrow, this Friday. ah Black Bolt and White Flare. They already have the names. Yeah, I think we we might get that.
neocharge: I'm a huge Pokemon fan. I've played it since I was 10. I've played every single entry. I own every single entry, mainline title. ah And I couldn't be more excited for Gen 10. And we're getting it on the Switch too.
neocharge: I'm curious to see what direction they go, but it's going to be gorgeous. Hopefully it's going to run great. Probably won't, but it'll look gorgeous. And I'll still play it because I'm a sucker for Pokemon. I love it.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah
neocharge: ah Yeah, the Pokemon Presents. We'll report on it after that happens. What day of the week is that? You said the 22nd.
Leon Lionheartly: Should be Thursday.
neocharge: So, damn.
Leon Lionheartly: Oh,
neocharge: We'll present on it
Leon Lionheartly: oh I'm sorry, Tuesday. Sorry.
neocharge: Perfect. Awesome. We'll present on it the next day and we'll put it in the news because I love everything about Pokemon and it is ah Nintendo's most profitable IP of all time.
neocharge: Not Mario. It's Pokemon. They make everything. They make cards. They make games. It's the merch. My God. So I actually have my Black Bolt and White Flare Pokemon Center ETBs coming Friday.
neocharge: So... I don't know if I'm going crack them or keep them. So we'll see. But yeah, Pokemon, one of my favorites. Emerald was in my top 10. I'd say FireRed and LeafGreen are up there too.
neocharge: um huge, huge fan. Not sure how hot I am on ZA, but we'll see how it does. That's coming November of 2025. And that is originally a Switch game, and it has a Switch 2 edition. So the next actual next generation game is either going to be Black Bolt White Flare, the ah black and white remakes from Gen 5, or...
neocharge: or the gen 10. We'll, we'll see. So, uh, next up, I don't know if you play this or not either, but this is the last IP of the three that I don't really play. Uh, it's hugely popular though.
neocharge: Animal crossing.
Leon Lionheartly: So i don't I don't play.
neocharge: You play. Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: This is another one of those I don't have that type of autism, but I'm telling you my ah wife does.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: um When New Horizons came out, um Nintendo got all of my money. I had my base switch,
neocharge: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Leon Lionheartly: bought three lights, one for my wife, one for my young middle child, one for my youngest. And I bought, uh, another main, like a main full size switch, not a light, uh, for my oldest who was playing Pokemon. Right.
Leon Lionheartly: But they all played fucking animal crossing, except for me. Um, these are really cool games. Uh, I think they're really awesome in premise. I think they're cute.
Leon Lionheartly: They're cozy. Uh, But they're living games, Matt. you're you're That's what they are, right? um So i can't I can't dedicate the time to them.
Leon Lionheartly: um Maybe if Tom Nook was ah a little bit nicer to me, um I'd be more out onto it. But I know of the series. I haven't played it. It's not for me. But I absolutely recognize um the the power that is this game.
Leon Lionheartly: And they we should get a new who we should get a new one soon. I would i would suspect that it's coming.
neocharge: Oh, yeah. Yeah. New Horizons released ah during COVID, and it was the best time to release this game in 2020. um she maybe It was a massive success. ah Sold shitload of copies because everyone was you know doing going through the COVID stuff.
neocharge: I was the one playing Doom Eternal and ah Final Fantasy VII Remake while other people were you know playing... ah Animal Crossing New Horizons. ah I loved Harvest Moon.
neocharge: I tried. Harvest Moon is another sim game, which I'm big fan of.
Leon Lionheartly: Mm-hmm.
neocharge: Love Back to Nature on PS1. Never got into Animal Crossing. And I dabbled on it on the DS. Never got into it. Never hooked me. And I was looking into New Horizons until my friend told me, oh, I got to log in because weeds are growing and I have to clean them up.
neocharge: And I was like... So the clock keeps running when you're not even playing and weeds grow. And she's like, yeah. And I was like, nope.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah That's exactly it.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: ah People time travel in that game.
neocharge: Yeah.
neocharge: Yeah. Yeah. ah It's cool. ah If you're an Animal Crossing fan, probably going to get a new one either this next year or the year after. Won't get one this year.
neocharge: But yeah, 2026 and beyond, we're definitely getting a new Animal Crossing title. New Horizons was a huge success for them. And they're definitely working on the next one. So going to capitalize on that.
neocharge: Uh, the next one I know I love, I don't know how hot you are on it, but, uh, I drafted two of these, uh, games from this IP. One was very unfairly, very unfairly scored for some reason, but, uh, Donkey Kong, uh, the new one for the switch to releases today. You can go get it. Donkey Kong bonanza going back to 3d platformer Donkey Kong since the 64,
neocharge: Uh, we got the donkey Kong country returns HD for switch runs 60 locked. If I'm, if, if I yeah have anything to say about it, I played the whole game front to back.
neocharge: Didn't see a frame stutter once. And, uh, yeah, donkey Kong bonanza. We're going to see how it performs. Uh, this is one of the main switch to next generation titles so i love that they're returning to form from the nintendo 64 days and i am very excited for this game but uh i'm playing another game now which we talked about which is death stranding so i know we we know where you stand on this game to any other thoughts on on donkey kong or what you like to see them do next
Leon Lionheartly: I just, I mean, honestly, let this one, let this one breathe. Um, and then, and then we'll go from there. Right. Uh, Donkey Kong country. It is peak.
Leon Lionheartly: I love DKC. Uh, the, all three of them. Uh, they are some of the best SNES games out there. um but let, let this one, let this one cook.
Leon Lionheartly: Um, uh, I'm curious to see if it looks good. I'll get into it. DK64, which is the 3D Donkey Kong game, I played a little bit of, but let's be honest, I played my 64 for Smash Goldeneye.
neocharge: Yeah. I honestly think you'd love Donkey Kong Country Returns HD and Donkey Kong Country Returns Tropical Freeze. They're a return to form on the SNES games.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: ah And yeah, you you played a little bit of it when you came over i and you enjoyed what you played.
Leon Lionheartly: Oh, yeah, absolutely. um It looks good. I would love to get ah to play that one. um
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: We'll see. Maybe I'll get around to it on a sale. Wait, never mind. Nintendo never puts this shit on sale.
neocharge: Yeah, and time. ah but ah Black Friday. But yeah, it's the it's the time factor. I totally understand. I still need to go and complete some of the crazy hard challenges and returns. But I mean, returns HD. But dude, it's the time. like I'm going to drop probably five games next month alone because I'm playing Death Stranding 2.
neocharge: Like five like legit games that I had on my list.
Leon Lionheartly: Thank you.
neocharge: And I don't know, man, it, the, these, if anyone that says we don't have enough games to play is not a gamer. I don't know what the hell you're talking about. So yeah.
neocharge: Uh, Donkey Kong Bonanza, super excited for it. Go play it. It's out now. Hopefully it runs well, but I'm sold either way. Love that it's returning to the 3D platformer, ah like third person. ah This next IP is my third favorite IP from Nintendo and one of the system seller titles this year.
neocharge: course, I'm talking about our girl, Samus Aran, Metroid. ah Let's see, Metroid on the Switch. We got Metroid Dread, which was the my game of the year in 2021.
neocharge: um It beat out some of some crazy titles on PS5, but dude, they it's Metroid 5 following Metroid Fusion, and it's incredible.
neocharge: It's an amazing Metroidvania. ah I loved Dread. Did you play Dread?
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, I platinumed it, and I'm saying that in air quotes, folks.
neocharge: Yeah.
neocharge: Yeah. No, I...
Leon Lionheartly: I dove into it.
neocharge: Oh, yeah, that's that's impressive um because that is very hard to 100%. There's a lot of ShineSpark puzzles in there. And yeah, dude, if you love the old school metro two d Metroid 2D Metroidvanias, Dread is just an incredible title.
neocharge: ah Amazing. And I can't even believe we got this game. um It's crazy.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: But the... Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Go ahead.
neocharge: Go ahead.
Leon Lionheartly: I was going to say, the the Prime series, this is great. I love We're Getting Four.
neocharge: And
Leon Lionheartly: the i love i love the... kind What's really great about the Metroid in 2D, side-scrolling out of the Metroidvania, and then the Metroid Prime, the 3D, is...
Leon Lionheartly: That's one of the few games, and we're kind of to our IP, we're going to about another one here in a little bit, that may that can make a jump from 2D to 3D so smoothly that they're both entertaining, and i I'll play them.
neocharge: yeah uh yeah dread was amazing and then we got another surprise shadow drop uh from one of my favorite games of all time so my top 10 metroid prime remastered on the switch and that's kind of i still think we're getting echoes and corruption maybe a trilogy with the mouse controls switch to edition ramping us up for metroid prime 4 or ah I'd say holiday 2025.
neocharge: Hopefully still releasing this year.
Leon Lionheartly: ah
neocharge: The next, the next direct will tell us, I think we'll, I think we'll get another, ah the last trailer we'll get a release date.
Leon Lionheartly: Yep.
neocharge: Uh, we're going to try and do a live reaction, on that for Metroid database. We did it last time. Uh, hopefully you'll have us both on and we'll do a live reaction and maybe, uh,
neocharge: post it, uh, on the the discord or, I mean, ah it'll be live so you can tune in, but I'll talk to him about that. Uh, he loves doing live reactions, especially when, and he referring to Ryan infinity's end, uh,
neocharge: i he runs the biggest Metroid fan site on the web, Metroid database. Uh, and he, he likes doing live reactions. So hopefully we can both get on and, uh, do a live reaction for the Metroid prime for last trailer. I don't know how much more I want to see. I'm already sold in holiday 2025.
neocharge: twenty twenty five If I were to guess, probably going to be announced in the next month or so. I mean, we're getting close. It's getting concerning. So,
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah. Yeah.
neocharge: But yeah, Metroid Prime 4. Couldn't be more excited for that. ah This is my well favorite IP of all time and of Nintendo. And I know you love this IP as well.
neocharge: ah It's not Nintendo's most popular IP. We all know Nintendo's most popular IP, but it's my most popular IP. of course I'm talking about the legend of Zelda, uh, legend of Zelda. The last game we got was tears of the kingdom in 2023.
neocharge: um we just got switched to additions that released with the switch to launch. They're prettier. They run better. They're more colorful. They're basically new games. If you haven't played breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom, uh, they're incredible Zelda titles, not the best by, by all accounts in my opinion, but I mean, they're really fun games and,
neocharge: You're going to pick up tears at some point, right, Bob?
Leon Lionheartly: Uh, yeah, I'll end up grabbing it. Maybe it'll be a, I don't know. I get a sense tears feels like a Christmas holiday game. Um, so maybe, ah but we'll take a look.
neocharge: Yeah, there you go. um What excites me, though, what's next for Zelda.
Leon Lionheartly: Hmm.
neocharge: um what what the The next marquee mainline title that's going to be switched to exclusive, and I hope they go dark with this one.
neocharge: i want I want to see a Soulsborne Miyazaki level Zelda. How fucking awesome would that be?
Leon Lionheartly: dude, I would love something like that. Oh, especially since we've, we've gotten the tears formula.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Now we've got the echoes formula. Uh, what I would person, I like where you're going with that personally. went them to get to the minish cap and put it into that same engine as echoes and links awakening, uh, remaster.
Leon Lionheartly: um But I'm here for anything. you you did you as keep it away from the zo Keep it away from the tears stuff. I'll play it again. I just didn't catch my ah eye at the time because if they release it in that style again, I'm not going to be interested.
Leon Lionheartly: But um outside of that, I'm here.
neocharge: yeah
Leon Lionheartly: Or that and a live movie.
neocharge: yeah Yeah, no, cautiously optimistic for that one. Tears actually brought back the the dungeon ah formula, so you'll be happy to know that. But yeah, man, just just go back to the original formula. don't i don't want to see it like Elden Ring. i I kind of want to see it a little more linear. Give us a little bit of choice, but dude, just give us that Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess formula.
neocharge: You know, maybe let us choose our dungeons. I don't know. Put a lot of dungeons in there. Make it gorgeous.
Leon Lionheartly: Okay.
neocharge: um Make it a little darker, grittier. Put it in the hero fails timeline. Dude, that's what I want. Just give us a a tougher, give me maybe give us difficulty options, right?
neocharge: And I just want to see a more grittier, down to earth, of course, all the magic and everything like that. Zelda, third person, action adventure. None of this Minecraft building stuff. It was fun, but just we're done with that.
neocharge: We're done with that. Just give us a good narrative driven third person action. Zelda, please. That's what I want. Uh, and I can only compare it to, to a souls born game.
neocharge: So, uh, Another title I think is very close on the horizon, closer than we think. Zelda-wise is the next 2D top-down remake we're going to get. And boy, oh boy, it's one of my favorites.
neocharge: Please, please give us, in the engine of Link's Awakening and Echoes of Wisdom, because we know that engine runs beautifully on the Switch 2, give us the Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons.
neocharge: Please. How awesome would that be?
Leon Lionheartly: ah You're right. Those are some... those are What's funny is the Oracle games are, it's ah there's a good history. Go look at the Oracles. Look at the contract and the who actually made them and all this other stuff, right?
neocharge: Thank you.
Leon Lionheartly: And publish them. ah Go look at that stuff. These are very underrated underrated games. um I guess, yeah, i I would not be disappointed with it.
Leon Lionheartly: Let's leave it like that.
neocharge: Yeah, I'll do. This would be a ah day one purchase. Both of them i put everything down to play them because I loved how echoes of wisdom played. And if we get the Oracle games, which are my favorite top down 2D isometric, I believe they call it.
neocharge: I'm all in love those games and then let us link them to get the the secret ending. Fuck. Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Thank
neocharge: Love it. um what do you want what kind of Zelda would you want on the Switch 2 what would be your optimal ideal Legend of Zelda game next generation PS4 level graphics what do you want to see Bob
Leon Lionheartly: um I want them to go back to the 3D style, but of but not this Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom. I want them to go back to the roots of the Ocarina of Times, the Majora's Masks, the Twilight Princess.
Leon Lionheartly: You know where I'm going with this, right? I want the sense of adventure to be... in ah look going, hey, I wonder if there's something over there. And then i I look and I go, oh shit, there might be something to bomb.
Leon Lionheartly: and then Or whatever, right? There's a mini game. There's a challenge. And I go, oh cool, I got a heart piece. I got ah a silver rupee. ah Whatever that is. Not, hey, I need to get over to that other mountain.
Leon Lionheartly: Let me build a flying machine and I'm going to use it and I'm going to go up and over and look at me go. um Because yeah Sorry, that that is not entertaining to me.
Leon Lionheartly: that's because... ah but that's because let me but Let me put it this way. Miyamoto wanted Zelda to be the opposite or the the the the the antithesis to the other series that we're about to talk about next, um where instead of being tight in story and driven around a linear line, he wanted he wanted Zelda to be this open-world, adventurous thing.
Leon Lionheartly: I get where they're coming from with this new style of Minecraft-iness, but that's not the sense of a grand adventure. The sense of a grand adventure is stepping out of the Kuriko village. yeah It's coming out of the forest. And then you see the sky, and you realize that the world is much vaster than what you were you thought was there.
Leon Lionheartly: And then you go and you go look at that stuff, and you go have fun with it. I don't know. They missed the mark by a little bit, but that's my ideal setting.
neocharge: Yeah, it's crazy you didn't play Tears of the Kingdom as a huge Zelda fan, but I totally understand where you're coming from. And I think we're absolutely on the same page on that, and we want the same thing with Zelda.
neocharge: I would love to see that, and man, just just do it. I couldn't be more excited for it. ah Honorable mentions that I forgot to put on the list ah before we get to the main one. Star Fox. Let's see another Star Fox.
neocharge: let's Let's go. Love Star Fox. Let's see PS4 Pro level graphics Star Fox and and none of the dinosaur adventures, right? We don't need a 3D action and adventure Star Fox. Let's just give us a flying, maybe a shmup Star Fox. That'd be cool.
neocharge: What do you think?
Leon Lionheartly: oh Yeah, I mean, I would be more than happy to go with that. um I think what's missing from the Star Fox, and it e correct me if I'm wrong, Matt, but the last Star Fox that we got that was the on-rails shooter, what we were missing is what we got in 64, which is where all of a sudden we get to go into dogfighting mode.
Leon Lionheartly: Give me that.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: I would love that. Star Fox Avengers was dope, though. It just wasn't Star Fox.
neocharge: Oh yeah. No. Yeah. I loved it. It just wasn't star Fox. They should have named it a different game. I love adventures. It's on the game cube. Uh, just one of my faves, uh, but it's not your like actual typical star Fox, uh, Kirby. Of course you can't leave the the pink balloon out.
neocharge: Uh, Kirby's getting Kirby in the forgotten land. the star crossed world, uh, switch two edition is coming out in August. So we're getting that. Uh, then we're getting Kirby air riders, uh, the next entry in the air riders series for the switch to, they announced that, uh, might release this year. I don't think so though. I think that's the 20 early 26 title and we're, uh, we're going to see more from Kirby there. So that's already announced, but, uh, yeah, those were the two,
neocharge: honorable mentions. Can you think of anything else Nintendo IP wise that I missed out?
Leon Lionheartly: um I mean, not particularly, not off the top my head right now. There's probably something and I'm going to be like, oh yeah, that's right, this.
neocharge: Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: But that's going to be down the line. I mean, they've got a lot of good offshoots. The great thing about Nintendo is when their third parties hit, they hit hard. I think about ah Eternal Darkness. I think about Skies of Arcadia Legends.
Leon Lionheartly: Goldeneye, most notoriously. But the Days of the Rare and the Dream Team are over. So we got to depend on first party until, oh, Xenoblade Chronicles.
neocharge: Right. Mm-hmm.
neocharge: yeah
Leon Lionheartly: As a third party. i want I know it's monolith soft, but it only ever comes out on the so of the Nintendo platforms. Give me the next one, please!
neocharge: Yes. I never got into Xenoblade Chronicles. um I typically stick with the three main RPGs, Tales, Final Fantasy, and Dragon Quest. That's enough time for when it comes to RPGs.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah
neocharge: um I would love to check out Xenoblade Chronicles, though. um But yeah, they theyre their main mascot, the plumber himself, that this is their top one. Mario, right? Everyone loves the Mario titles.
neocharge: I personally love the 3D Mario titles, the 3D action adventure Mario titles, other than the 2D ones. um Mario Wonder was awesome, though. We got Mario Wonder in 2023 for the Switch. Incredible entry.
neocharge: Very fun.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: ah You played Mario Wonder?
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, absolutely. was ah It was a great time.
neocharge: Yep. Mario vs. Donkey Kong remake came out recently, 2024. Super short, really fun game. ah Remade from the ni Nintendo DS. But the big player here, I think we're going to get ah maybe announced this year, release holiday of next year. This is going to be our holiday marquee title for the Switch 2.
neocharge: ah we're We're getting the next Mario 3D game. Odyssey released in, what was it?
neocharge: 2020, 2019.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah.
neocharge: Look that up well. Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: No.
neocharge: um we're I think we're seven years out from the last 3D Mario title. um The 3D Mario titles are some of my favorite Mario titles. You got Mario 64, classic. I love Sunshine. Galaxy is one of my is my favorite Mario title of all time.
neocharge: And then Galaxy 2, of course. I would love to see them go Galaxy 3. how How would that be?
Leon Lionheartly: he I would love that. I just want 3D Mario. You're right. 2017, October 2017. Yeah.
neocharge: 17. Shit.
Leon Lionheartly: Yeah, dude, let me get a 3D Mario platformer. i love the plumber in all aspects. 2D, 3D, doesn't matter, right?
neocharge: Mm-hmm. Oh.
Leon Lionheartly: 3D, though, is superior in my opinion. i loved it. 64, Odyssey, Sunshine, Galaxy. Like, give me more of this, please. I want more. um Short of the RPG series. Yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: But, which is another topic. But yeah, give me 3D. I think we're due. We're beyond due at this point. And i my only concern, and I hope this doesn't end up being the case, is Donkey Kong Bonanza is your 3D platformer for now.
Leon Lionheartly: Hold off and please don't let that happen. um I would love to see Galaxy 3, though.
neocharge: Yeah. and
neocharge: Yeah. And it is part of the Odyssey team. I think I loved Odyssey. Odyssey got a free patch for the switch too. So you if you haven't played Odyssey, the switch two is a great place to play it. ah
Leon Lionheartly: you
neocharge: But yeah, we are due for the next three D ah third person you know, behind the shoulder mainline title. Uh, there are rumors out there. Mario, uh, Mario journey, super Mario journey.
neocharge: So I don't know. Uh, I know it's going to be gorgeous. It's going to be PS4 pro level graphics, which excites me. I hope it runs well. Uh, Mario art odyssey ran pretty good, but not optimal.
neocharge: Uh, I guess it runs optimal on the switch too. But yeah, ah I think that's going to be released next year for sure. um And it's going to be our holiday main Switch 2 marquee title.
neocharge: And it might even get we might even get a teaser announced this year, later this year. Who knows? Game Awards, i a... but No, they won't be the Game Wars. They'll do ah their own Nintendo Direct for it.
neocharge: But we might get it as a Nintendo Direct closer. And i I think it's ready. And I think we're getting that holiday of 26. But yeah, that's exciting. That's very exciting.
neocharge: A next-gen 3D third-person Mario. Hell yeah.
Leon Lionheartly: Hell yeah, man. Let's bring it on, brother.
neocharge: Yep. So yeah, that that was kind of the state of Nintendo. They they just and they just released their new console. ah We love it. it's It's lacking a little bit on the software.
neocharge: They're remastering and remaking a lot of games for it, but who isn't nowadays, right? So ah we hope to see more from them. We both got the switch too. We put our money where our mouths are We voted with our wallets. and my experience with Echoes of Wisdom and a little bit of Pokemon Violet and just a little bit of Tears of the Kingdom has been solid.
neocharge: I think it's going to be an awesome system, but I can't wait for the... to see what it has, right? we're We're in the early stages and it has so much potential. Can't wait to see what's next.
neocharge: And I think a lot of cool shit's coming. So um yeah, the state of Nintendo. any Any final thoughts on that, Bob?
Leon Lionheartly: Well, I mean, Nintendo, sort it out. You'll be fine. get ah but No, in all seriousness, um I think the final thoughts are, I think Nintendo, they've got the momentum.
Leon Lionheartly: They just need a lot of drive it ah through, and we will end up with another great so success. I don't think Switch 2 is going to outdo Switch 1 numbers, um but I think it could be a really good success and a something that Nintendo doesn't do really well, which is a follow-up to their systems.
Leon Lionheartly: ah So, please, please, you just heard you heard a list, a litany of games that we as core gamer gamers, as part of your core fan base that grew up with you,
Leon Lionheartly: Would love to see. So please deliver.
neocharge: Yep. I've always owned the Nintendo console. It's the secondary console for me now. It's my Metro Mario Pokemon Donkey Kong box. um But I'm always excited for Nintendo games and they're they're one of the best, if not the best first party developer out there.
neocharge: um And they've just hit time and time again ah for the last, what, 40, 30 years. Right.
Leon Lionheartly: yeah
neocharge: So we're always excited for Nintendo stuff. Let us know what you're excited for. Let us know what titles ah we may have missed, what IPs are your favorite we may have missed in this list. Right. Let us know what you're excited for on the discord. Let's ah let's talk about Nintendo this week.
neocharge: And let us know your Switch 2 experience. And hopefully you're all out there enjoying your Switch 2s. And let us know about it. So without further ado, thanks for listening. This has been the Nintendo episode.
neocharge: And, ah you know, keep on playing that Switch 2. Let us know what you think. Have a good day.
Leon Lionheartly: Colt Pizza Superior.
