I am here with another year of reflection and prediction. I have done this for 2020, 2019 and 2018 as well: You can see those predictions here:
2020 mid-year: https://www.reddit.com/nintendo/comments/i3i7jm/state_of_nintendo_in_2020_7_month_retrospective/
2020: https://www.reddit.com/nintendo/comments/ee2xav/state_of_nintendo_in_2020/
2019: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/189706-nintendo-switch/77354321
E3 2018: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/189706-nintendo-switch/76268685
2018: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/189706-nintendo-switch/76150741
Keep in mind that this is meant to drive discussion, don’t be a hater. Predicting the future of company plans from a fan perspective is not a precise science and some may be correct and many may be wrong. State what you think will happen in the coming year and why to add to the discussion.

2020 Retrospective

What a year, this is definitely one that will go down in history if only for how the world was shut down economically. Not going into what should have been done, so with the global pandemic hitting many industries, programmers had work from home orders which in turn caused numerous delays to titles that were being prepared for release. Regardless we still saw a steady stream of high-quality titles and the completion of DLC for titles of previous years.
DLC releases
Fire Emblem: Cindered Shadows (February) final DLC with the season pass included new characters and a bonus story playable at any time focused on the catacombs below the school
Super Mario Maker 2: The final update included new snow mechanics and a world maker where you could create a full Mario game (April)
Luigi’s Mansion 3: saw the release of two multiplayer packs (April)
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The final expansion “Fantastic 4: Shadow of Doom” (March)
Pokémon Sword/Shield: Two expansion packs in one pass “The Isle of Armor” (July) and “The Crown Tundra” (October) for the first time in a Pokémon game, bringing back many favorite Pokémon
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: finished the first character pass with Byleth (January) and had previously announced a second waiver of character pass with 6 characters. Currently we have seen 3 – Min Min (June), Steve from Minecraft (October), and Sephiroth (December) and 3 more to go.
Major Releases
Super Mario time
Celebrating his 35th anniversary, Nintendo came out with a slew of products starring our favorite Italian Plumber. First was Paper Mario: The Origami King (July) which advanced past the previous two entries but was not quite back to its RPG routes like fans want. Next was Super Mario 3D All-stars (September) which included ports of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy. Adjusting control schemes to account for the lack of analog triggers and pointing controls, the ports were solid but not the best way to play the games. Also missing was Super Mario Galaxy 2 from the package and any extras like documentaries making the games. An MMO-platformer Super Mario 35 (October) was also released free to NSO subscribers where you compete to complete levels in the original Super Mario Bros. Lastly was a Game & Watch version of the original Super Mario Bros.
Pokémon Battle
As stated before, we got the first DLC ever for a Pokémon game and it came in two packages “The Ilse of Armor” and “The Crown Tundra” which added extra Pokémon (both new and old) and new areas to the game. Some criticism on the way the DLC was handled as if you bought the expansion for the wrong version, it would not work despite being the same content. Pokémon Home (February) final arrived on the Switch. The spin off Mystery Dungeon series came in the form of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX (March) which was an updated port of the old Mystery Dungeon games. A free puzzle game Pokémon Café (June) to little fanfare. Also promises of a new Pokémon Snap which was delayed into 2021.
Other notable releases
· Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore (January): port of the Wii U game with a few added extras and English voice acting.
· Animal Crossing: New Horizons (March): hit at the start of the pandemic, added features and a promise of evergreen additions made this game Switch’s best-selling game that has not been a pack-in (ie only beat by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe). This game allowed gamers to escape reality and build their own island.
· Streets of Rage 4 (April): Return of the 2D brawler
· Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition (May): a remake of one of Wii’s top RPGs with newer graphics, and a cleaner layout, it also included a bonus mission that connects the ending to the sequel.
· Bioshock Collection (May): A collection of all three critically acclaimed Bioshock games for the first time on an Nintendo console.
· Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (June): A collection of various minigames like Connect Four, various card games, Mahjong and more. Barebone options and quick online play for random or with friends.
· Jump Rope Challenge (June): A free exercise type game that makes use of the joycon to mimic jumping rope
· Burnout Paradise Remastered (June): An open world arcade racer that was critically acclaimed at its original release and updated for modern consoles. Also shows EA putting in more dedication to the Switch console.
· Kirby Fighters 2 (September): A fighting game starring Kirby and his power ups and nobody else.
· Hades (September): Rogue like game that tells the story as you die. Many different gameplay styles depending on which weapons you use.
· Ori and the Will of the Wisps (September): Metroidvania that is visually stunning and developed originally only for Xbox.
· Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (October): Not wanting to give up on the AR experience, Nintendo released toy RC cars that you control with the Switch and a free software download.
· Pikmin 3 Deluxe (October): not done porting all their Wii U games to Switch, this includes all the added DLC at no extra charge
· No More Heroes/No More Heroes 2 (October): Ports of the Wii games with better graphics and framerate and alternate control style to prepare for the upcoming sequel.
· Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (November): Based on the past events of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, this musou game changes up its formula but still plays like a musou game.
· Doom Eternal (December): competent port of the PS4/XB1 first person shooter by Bethesda.
· Among Us (December): Shadow dropped indie title that has taken mobile and Twitch by storm.
While not the best year, it was far from empty. Still lacking some key releases such as the sequel to Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Metroid Prime 4, Bayonetta 3 and Super Mario Odyssey 2. There are many Nintendo teams that we have yet to see titles. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic a lot of development has been postponed due to work at home directives set by government.

Current Release List for 2021

· Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game (Jan 14)
· Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy (Jan 26)
· Cyber Shadow (Jan 26)
· Little Nightmares 2 (Feb 11)
· Romance of the Three Kingdoms 14 (Feb 11)
· Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (Feb 12)
· Persona 5 Strikers (Feb 22)
· Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection (Feb 25)
· Bravely Default 2 (Feb 26)
· Harvest Moon: One World (Mar 2)
· Balan Wonderworld (Mar 26)
· Monster Hunter Rise (Mar 26)

First Party Software

Nintendo Entertainment Planning and Development Tokyo
Kenta Motokura
In charge of the team that was previously under Yoshiaki Koizumi (whom was promoted to Deputy General Manager of the Tokyo office). This team was previously the lead development group of Super Mario Odyssey and developed Super Mario 3D All-stars for September 2020. Due to ports being easier to produce. Now that has wrapped up and they have created an update to allow for inverted camera controls, chances are they have been placed back on developing a sequel to Super Mario Odyssey which will likely be seen in 2022.
Koichi Hayashida
The other team that helped with Super Mario Odyssey also did the port of Captain Toad: Treasure Trackers. They have been busy working on a port of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury for Switch due February 2021. They have been focused on implementing numerous changes to that title including: full 3D movement, online gameplay, and amiibo support with Cat Mario and Cat Peach. With all the extras being added, this game probably got pushed out of 2020 and into 2021 due to the pandemic changing the development lifestyle. Also, there is a highly likelihood was that they were working with Motokura’s group originally on Odyssey 2 but plans changed to get out more games for Mario’s 35th Anniversary. I expect them to fold back into Motokura’s group on Odyssey 2 when their port is completed.
Nintendo Entertainment Planning and Development Kyoto
Eiji Aonuma
Known as the “Zelda team”, there are two core teams. I believe both are working under Hidemaro Fujibayashi and Hiromasa Shikata to help develop the sequel to Breath of the Wild. Nintendo knows that Zelda sells consoles and what they have shown at e3 (2019) while stating the title is “in full development”. Nintendo know the popularity of the Breath of the Wild game and wants grow on that title. They have done so with the musou game Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity in which this team has assisted Tecmo Koei with development and the overall story. In September 2020 during an online presentation for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Aonuma stated that gamers will have to “wait a bit longer before we can provide more updates” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifm8tpcO4vw). With the 35th Anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series coming in 2021, I do expect this title to be a highlight for the holiday season as long as the game is not pushed back due to unforeseen circumstances in development.
Hideki Konno
This team is the team behind the Mario Kart series. Their latest endeavor was with Augmented Reality (AR) and developing Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit which was released this past October. Not having a full game released since Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in 2017, they have been developing something over the past 3 and a half years. The problem though is MK8D still sells incredibly well and if they develop Mario Kart 9 that will cannibalize any additional sales of their previous title. While chances are they could have altered their development to change it from Mario Kart 9 to another kart racer such as Donkey Kong Racing, I think gamers will probably see something from them when Nintendo showcases a newer model Switch (either the rumored PRO or an actual Switch 2) so I would not expect a full game release until 2022 at the earliest.
Hiroyuki Kimura
Super Mario Maker 2 and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe were developed under Kimura with the help of Takashi Tezuka. In April 2020, Nintendo released the final major update for Super Mario Maker 2 which included a World creator, where you can make your own full fledged Mario game. They also released New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe in January which is an updated port of the Wii U game. There have been rumors of a new Wario platformer being developed which this team has likely been developing. Chances are likely that we will hear about their new title this year.
Kosuke Yubuki
Previously worked on ARMS in 2017 and its DLC. This producer also worked with Konno so it is likely this team was folded back into the Mario Kart team to prepare something for this year or next. It is possible they are working on an ARMS follow up, but with the success of Smash and one of its main characters Min Min being the first of the second waive of Smash DLC, it is unlikely. Most likely working on something brand new which we may see in 2021 or the following year.
Hisashi Nogami
This is the young producer in charge of both Animal Crossing and Splatoon series. He worked with another young producer Aya Kyogoku on Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. With the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons taking an evergreen approach with constant DLC content, especially when it comes to special occasions. A more seamless online experience and a lot more to do, I am sure this group is still working on Animal Crossing. Its next game will be a while away while they focus on Animal Crossing in the current future. Do not expect anything new from this team for a while.

2nd Party Studios

Camelot Software Planning
Their last title was Mario Tennis Aces (2018) and its respective DLC. Being a smaller studio, it takes some time for development. The team was hit harder due to the pandemic. Now, with all the DLC on Mario Tennis Aces completed early 2019, they have likely been busy in full development on Mario Golf. Most likely will see Mario Golf sometime in 2021. It is likely they were probably aiming for a 2020 title buy delayed the development into 2021 – so expect a release this year.
Game Freak
They just released the 2 DLC packages for Pokémon Sword and Shield for the Nintendo Switch this year to mixed review. They typically have something Pokémon related out each year and they also developed their own title Little Town Hero last year meaning they have been hard developing some titles. Current rumors suggest either a Let’s Go remake of Gold/Silver or a full remake of Diamond/Pearl since Ruby/Sapphire were the last full remakes. Personally, I think we will either see Sword/Shield 2 or a whole new Pokémon game due out this year since they have been incredibly busy, are a larger studio that works on many titles at once, and have not had a big release in 2020.
Grezzo
This team just release the port of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening in 2019. Mostly known for their 3DS ports of Zelda titles and TriForce Heroes, chances are they are still working on the Zelda franchise. With 2021 being Zelda’s 35th Anniversary, there have been many rumors of a collection or ports of some of the older Zelda games to be released in 2021. Since 2018, there has also been rumor of a Zelda: Skyward Sword port (which was shot down by Aonuma) (https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-11-26-nintendo-fans-excited-by-zelda-skyward-sword-nintendo-switch-port-reports)
Good Feel
They released Yoshi’s Crafted World in 2019 and has likely they have started on the next Yoshi game as it tends to sell well and it is what they know. It is also possible that Nintendo has given them another 2D IP to work with such as Wario Land, however; I think that series might be in development by the 2D Mario team under Kimura. It is highly likely that we will see something from them in 2021 and depending on how the pandemic hit their development cycle it may have either a 2021 or 2022 release.
HAL Laboratory
Developer of all things Kirby, we have seen some smaller Kirby titles lately. Their last games were Kirby Fighters 2 and Part-time UFO both digital only eShop games. They have teased something for early this year but on the smaller scale (https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/12/kirby_developer_hal_laboratory_teases_new_projects_for_20211) . I think they may also have a full-fledged Kirby game due this year as our last one was early 2018.
Intelligent Systems
This team was hard at work as it finished the DLC on Fire Emblem: 3 Houses and released Paper Mario: The Origami King in July of 2020. They also continue to work on Fire Emblem Heroes on mobile as that is Nintendo’s highest grossing mobile project. Growing the studio in 2019 to be able to handle numerous projects at a time, they likely have a few titles in development. The biggest rumor is that Nintendo is readying another Fire Emblem game but a remake of an older title. Current rumors are remakes of Geneology (next one in line for a remake) or Binding Blade (the game that introduced Roy). If it is a remake, then we will likely see the release in 2021. If it is not a remake, then creating the scenario will take some time so we will likely see the game this year with a release for 2022. Chances are they are likely working on another title as well but that probably won’t be seen until 2022.
Next Level Games
Last responsible for Luigi’s Mansion 3 and its DLC that was released in 2020. They have also worked on Metroid and Punch-out! With actual 3D Mario titles being handled internally by Nintendo’s Tokyo studio, they are likely working on something new. Possibly a sports title, new Punch Out, or even a 2D Metroid (though I doubt this despite rumors of development). We may see what they have developed this year, but I would expect a 2022 release to be more realistic for what they are working on.
NDCube
Responsible for Super Mario Party in 2018 and they did Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics for 2020, which was a barebones release in the form of options. Considering the lack of DLC for Super Mario Party, chances are they are working on a sequel to the game that sold well. The single problem if they are working on Super Mario Party 2 is that the original is still selling incredibly well even 2 years after release with over 12 million units. Even if the game is ready this year, I think Nintendo will hold out on Super Mario Party 2 until 2022.
Monolith Soft
Responsible for help with Breath of the Wild and the Xenoblade franchise. We did not hear much from them in 2019 or 2020 with their only release being a remake of the original Xenoblade Chronicles in May. In 2017 they advertised jobs for a new fantasy action-RPG which likely was transferred to their help with the Zelda franchise. I believe we will see the sequel to Breath of the Wild this year and first glimpse of a new Xenoblade game for 2022.
Retro Studios
This year also marks the 35th Anniversary for the Metroid series. Unfortunately, the series is not as high priority as many other Nintendo franchises. With the sequel of Breath of the Wild likely coming out this year, it will be the focus for Nintendo in 2021; we probably will not see any development from Metroid Prime 4 until 2022. Nintendo knows that they need to make Metroid Prime a quality title so they will give Retro Studios as much time as they need for the title. As for the long-rumored port of the Metroid Prime Trilogy, I still have hopes that we will see some information on it this year, potentially in August to support the anniversary and prepare for Metroid Prime 4 the following year.

3rd Party collaborations

Bandai Namco
Collaborating with Nintendo on the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and its DLC, there are still 3 character-packages to go before they are finished with that game. Additionally, they are the development team behind New Pokémon Snap, which was originally due 2020 but delayed into an unknown time 2021 – so expect that title. The Tales team is busy on Tales of Arise which is not bound for Switch, so outside the DLC and Pokémon game do not expect much.
Bethesda
The parent company Zenimax was recently purchased by Microsoft. The sale included Bethesda and all its partnering companies. The last release was Doom Eternal released in December 2020 and was a digital only release. The move from physical to digital only was due to the fact it came 9 months after the main PS4/XB1 release. With no Switch games scheduled on the horizon and its recent acquisition and focus on next generation, I think we have seen the last Switch game from Bethesda
Capcom
They have ported many of their older titles (REmake, RE0, RE4, RE5, RE6, Rev1, Rev2 DMC 1,2,3) to Switch and have brand new games: Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Stories due in 2021. With the Capcom leak, there is a game due Q4 of 2021 called Biohazard Outrage which is rumored to be Resident Evil Revelations 3 and featuring Rebecca Chambers. There was also a leak of a new Dragon’s Dogma and Ace Attorney 7 which are rumored to come to Switch.
Electronic Arts
They have pledged 14 games from April 2020 to March 2021 fiscal year. EA has kept the games closely guarded and it is unsure if the global pandemic has postponed any of the planned games. Still waiting on Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 and some Plants vs Zombie games.
Koei Tecmo
Since Nintendo has invested heavily in this studio, they have worked increasing hard for Nintendo hardware. They finished the Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 DLC, assisted with Breath of the Wild in 2017, assisted with Fire Emblem: 3 Houses and released Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity in 2020. They co-own the Fatal Frame franchise with Nintendo and it has a game that is rumored to be in development. There is also a possibility of a port of the Wii U game to come to Switch. It is likely they are helping with the sequel to Breath of the Wild as well. Lastly there has been a year long rumor on the return of Ninja Gaiden and it seems that Switch would be likely candidate for that game considering how well their games are selling on Switch
Platinum Games
They are working on Bayonetta 3 and have a good relationship with Nintendo. Being in development the over the past 3 years, I do expect to at least hear something about the title in 2021 if not a release but I have been wrong before.
Ubisoft
I went out on a limb last year and said Assassin Creed ports and they are working with Nintendo on a new Star Fox game. We have seen ports for Assassins Creed 3, Liberty, 4: Black Flag and Rebel. New Assassins Creed games are a bit too much for Ubisoft, but I still think we will see another Nintendo collaboration and I am positive it will be a new Star Fox game. Ubisoft will also continue to support Nintendo with Just Dance and look forward to a lot of their smaller titles to also come to the Switch.
Sega
Their biggest releases were games along the Sega Ages line (which they recently discontinued https://nintendoeverything.com/sega-confirms-the-end-of-sega-ages-but-teases-more-plans-for-switch-and-past-titles/), Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, and Football Manager 2021. They also released Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo Olympics late 2019. They are likely working on a new Sonic game for Switch and while the Sega Ages line is gone, they are still open to port older titles on the system.
Square Enix
Bravely Default 2 has a release date of February 2021 after being pushed out of 2020. They have also released in 2020 a few collections of older games, Trials of Mana, and Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory which is a music game spin off for the Kingdom Hearts series. Rumored to have The World Ends with You 2 in development for Switch. I would also expect some more collections to come out (or at least ports) and a rumored new entry in the SaGa or Mana series.
Take Two Games
Released 3 collections for Switch in May of 2020 with their 2K Games development studio. I think they likely will have some more games in development, especially with the way EA has provided lackluster support in the sports games field. There has also been a long rumor of Rockstar developing Grand Theft Auto V for Switch but that seems to be more of a dream than an actual rumor as Rockstar is working on development of GTAV for PS5 and XSX. Ports and complication packages being quick and easy turnover, I am certain they will delve into their back catalogue and find a release for the Switch in 2021.

Smash Bros is truly an incredible celebration of gaming, and just in its playable characters represents a wide variety of genres, including 2D platformers (Mario, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Kirby, Ice Climber, Sonic), 3D platformers (Mario and Sonic again, Banjo-Kazooie) action-adventure (The Legend of Zelda), Metroidvania (Metroid, Castlevania), Shoot’em up/rail shooter (Star Fox), RPGs (Pokémon, Earthbound, Xenoblade, Final Fantasy, persona, Dragon Quest), racing (F-Zero), turn-based strategy (Fire Emblem), 2D shooters (Kid Icarus, Mega Man), third-person shooters (Kid Icarus:Uprising, Splatoon), minigame collection/party game (WarioWare), real-time strategy (Pikmin), stealth (Metal Gear), life sim (Animal Crossing), sports (Punch-Out), maze games (Pac-Man) fighting games (Street Fighter, Fatal Fury, ARMS), beat’em ups (Bayonetta). Sandbox/survival (Minecraft), and other games with non-conventional genres (Game &Watch, ROB, Wii Fit, Duck Hunt).
Yet, there are still many genres that are completely, or almost completely absent, whether they are lacking in Nintendo’s catalog, or simply because they haven’t got a chance yet. So I thought I’d take a look at some of them and try to give a few examples of characters, first-or-third party, who could fill that hole. For third parties, I’ll try to find the franchise that is to its genre what Street Fighter is to fighting games, or Final Fantasy is to RPGs, since I feel for third parties Smash usually goes with classic icons or games that have otherwise made a huge impact.
I’m also not saying any of these characters are even remotely likely, or even that I want them, in fact many of them aren’t. I’m also not saying these are the only characters that could possibly represent their genres, these are just my thoughts. I’ll try to find other things each characters have going for them, though. And hey, this could get you thinking about characters you didn’t know you wanted.
This list also includes some genres that are technically represented, but I feel not satisfactorily. Mostly those who are only represented as spin-offs from a franchise of different genre. You’ll see what I mean.
Puzzle games
Here’s an example. Yes, we do have Dr. Mario, but that’s just a Mario spin-off. 90% of Doc’s moveset is still taken from the platformer games. There isn’t even a Dr. Mario stage! So, if we wanted to include a pure puzzle IP, which could it be?
Well, for the Nintendo side, I think the best choice would be Lip from Panel de Pon, also known as Puzzle League. PL was a mainstay of Nintendo consoles for a long time, and was the premier first-party puzzler, and there’s still a lot of fondness for it now. References to it abound in the Smash series since Melee. Unfortunately, Lip is basically non-existent outside of Japan. NoA deemed the original too girly, so changed the games to feature more MANLY IPs like Yoshi. After a while even Japan stopped putting Lip in the games, and there hasn’t been a new full PL game since 2007. It did receive sort of a resurgence last year as Nintendo released the Japanese original worldwide through NSO.
Aside from Lip, there are several more recent Nintendo puzzlers that could get a rep. The Brain Age series is undoubtedly important and used to be huge. You could make the argument that it, not PL, is Nintendo’s premier puzzle series, and it is even still going. But its protagonist, Dr. Kawashima is already an At. Mallow from the Pushmo series and Box-Boy from the eponymous series are both acclaimed and popular with four games each. More recently yet are Snip and Clip, the stars of Snipperclips.
Now for the third-party side, the undeniable king of puzzle games is Tetris. Problem is, Tetris doesn’t have characters. I’ve seen people suggest a literal Tetris block as a character, and at this point, I wouldn’t put it past Sakurai, but for the sake of argument, let's keep looking. The other most iconic puzzle game series might be PopCap’s Bejeweled series, but that suffers from the same problem (Colorful gems for Smash?). Looking further still we have Sega’s Puyo Puyo series, which is very popular in Japan, and has been around since the early 90s. This series actually has identifiable characters, such as protagonist Arle Nadja.
Puzzle games aren’t just about matching 3, though. They come in a variety of formats. Usually they are quick and bite-sized, which makes them perfect for mobile, and the most iconic mobile puzzler (Other than Bejeweled-but-with-candy) is Angry Birds and the main bird Red could be a great mobile rep.
TLDR:
First-party: Lip (Puzzle League), Dr. kawashima (Brain Age), Mallow (Pushmo), Box-Boy, Snip and Clip
Third-party: Tetris Block (?), Arle Nadja (Puyo Puyo), Red (Angry Birds)
First-person shooter
Again, yes, we do have Metroid Prime reps in the game, but that is a spin-off of a non-FPS franchise. And there is debate over whether it is an FPS or an action-adventure game (I mean, it can be both, but whatever). If we wanted a pure FPS rep who would it be? Nintendo doesn’t really have its own FPS series, so let’s just skip to third-party.
There are two series that I think can be called the most iconic FPSs. The first is DOOM, represented by Doom Slayer, so influential to the genre they were at one point called Doom clones. The series dates back from 1993 and is still going strong with popular acclaimed releases. The series has a great presence in Nintendo consoles and is a popular request. Unfortunately, it’s not very popular in Japan. The other is Halo, represented by Master Chief, the Xbox’s flagship series and one that redefined FPSs away from Doom clones. Both characters are owned by Microsoft now, but they wouldn’t be the first or second Microsoft-owned characters in the game.
Other good candidates include Doom’s sister and predecessor series Wolfenstein (BJ Blackowitz), the highly influential Half-Life (Gordon Freeman), and the mega-blockbuster Call of Duty (soldier? I don’t know CoD), but these are series you add after Doom or Halo.
TLDR:
First-party: none
Third party: Doom Slayer, Master Chief.
Adventure games
In case you don’t know, adventure games don’t refer to games like Zelda, which is an action-adventure game. You might know this genre better as point and click adventure games, though of course, they don’t need to be point-and-click. They could be text based, have regular controls or be what you call visual novels.
Nintendo has a few of these, but none very well-known. The two most notable both released for the Famicom Disk System: Shin Onigashima and the Famicom Detective Club duology, both of which received a Super Famicom remake and then nothing more. Though Japan-only and short-lived, both are fondly remembered, and Nintendo actually references them both quite a bit, almost as much as other retro NES games. Of the two, FDC is the most likely to get a Smash rep. In fact, Sakurai even said he wanted to include FDC protagonist Ayumi in Melee, but thought she’d be too unknown in the West. What’s more, the series is being revived this year with remakes of both games coming to the Switch (but only in Japan). Other than those, Nintendo had a couple of adventure series on the DS, Trace Memory and Hotel Dusk, but they weren’t very popular, and they are in that limbo of not being old enough to be nostalgic retro classics, and not new enough to be relevant. Speaking of new, Nintendo published a new adventure IP just last week, Buddy Mission BOND, but it’s probably too new. It’s also, naturally, Japan-only.
On the third-party side, the adventure genre doesn’t have an undisputed king, but there are three series that I’d argue come close: King’s Quest, Monkey Island and Myst. This last one doesn’t really have a character, but the other two have quite memorable mascots: King’s Quest has the gallant King Graham, and Monkey Island has Guybrush Threepwood, a mighty pirate! King’s Quest is older, arguably more influential, has more games and is more relevant, with a fairly recent reboot, but MI is my personal pick. Unfortunately it’s owned by Disney, so… yeah. Not that it matters, because I don’t think either franchise was even released in Japan. Adventure games are heavily language-based, and especially in the early days, were very hard to localize. So just as we never got to enjoy Shin Onigashima and FDC, Japan never got to enjoy Monkey Island, though I think the new King’s Quest might have been released there. Anyway these would be “literally who?”s to Japanese fans, and frankly, to a lot of newer Western fans as well.
Luckily, there is one salvation for the genre. The Ace Attorney series is popular in both sides of the Pacific, it’s owned by Capcom, who’s already involved in Smash, it’s very popular with Nintendo’s fanbase and Phoenix has even already been in a fighting game. I wouldn’t call it the “Street Fighter of adventure games” but it’s probably the only one we’re gonna get.
TLDR:
First-party: Ayumi (Famicom Detective Club), Donbe & Hikari (Shin Onigashima)
Third-party: Phoenix (Ace Attorney), Graham (King’s Quest), Guybrush (Monkey Island)
Survival horror
Nintendo doesn’t have much in the way of horror games. Their only real foray into the genre was Eternal Darkness back in 2002. And though that was an acclaimed cult classic, it doesn’t seem Nintendo is interested enough in the series to do anything with it. On the other hand, we have the Fatal Frame series, which is in a weird spot. It isn’t technically owned by Nintendo, but Nintendo owns every game since the fourth, will continue to own every future game, and Koei Tecmo even said the future of the series is in Nintendo’s hands. Nintendo basically owns the series in practice if not legally. It seems to be in a similar spot to Bayonetta. Regardless, Nintendo is for sure more likely to use it than Eternal Darkness. It already has an AT!
Now for third-party this is easy: Resident Evil. Some of these other genres are pretty debatable, but there is no arguing over what series is the Street Fighter of horror games. No other horror series even comes close to it in terms of popularity, acclaim, influence, impact and even connection with Nintendo. I guess we could throw a bone to Silent Hill as a distant second, but if there is going to be a third-party horror rep, I think we can all agree on RE. It’s actually Capcom’s most successful series, far more than MegaMan or Street Fighter.
TLDR:
First-party: a Fatal Frame rep, Alexandra (Eternal Darkness)
Third-party: a Resident Evil rep
Rhythm games
Nintendo has quite a few rhythm games under its belt. The Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents series is great but kinda dead. The Daigasso! Series never came to America, but its popular in Japan, and has a recognizable main character in the form of Barbara the Bat. She is actually pretty popular herself, appearing in various merchandise and even had her own Twitter account. I wouldn’t discount her. But Nintendo’s biggest rhythm series is undoubtedly Rhythm Heaven. Many people actually expect it to be the next Nintendo Ip to be added, if there is one. It doesn’t have a real main character but there are a few possible choices, primarily the Chorus Kids and Karate Joe. Rhythm Heaven also has all original music, which sidesteps one very ironic big problem of rhythm games in Smash: despite being all about music, they’d probably be able to bring none, since most use licensed music.
On the third-party series, I feel the rhythm genre has two big icons: Guitar Hero from the West, and Dance Dance Revolution from the East. Good news: they both have characters that could rep them in Smash. Bad news: can you name any? Both series have the problem of the games themselves being super iconic, but the characters? Not really. Guitar Hero could be repped by Johnny Napalm, basically the series mascot. He has been in every game, was on the cover for the first one, and has a distinctive appearance. But how many people could tell who he is? Especially if Smash just called him “Johnny”. Can you imagine? “Hey guys, they added Johnny to Smash!” Dance Dance Revolution doesn’t fare much better. Its series mascot is Disco. You know… Disco! Super memorable character. I guess he’d be the first unambiguous black character in Smash, which is cool. Both series also have a problem of not being super relevant. Guitar Hero oversaturated the market, crashed and hasn’t been seen since 2015. DDR is still going, but is now mostly played by aficionados, the big new casual dance game is Just Dance which… doesn’t have characters, so it doesn’t help us either.
For an influential third-party game with recognizable characters we have to turn to Parappa the Rapper, which is actually credited as the first rhythm game, so it has the impact down. Unfortunately, its owned by Sony, who I doubt will collaborate. Actually PSASBR had Parappa, so I guess it beat Smash to the punch on the rhythm game representation. For a third-party game with recognizable characters that is popular and from a company that is willing to collaborate… uhm… Namco’s Taiko no Tatsujin and its mascot, Don-chan! I guess we’re stretching from my goal of finding THE rhythm game rep but, we have to work with what we got.
TLDR:
First-party: Karate Joe or Chorus Kids (Rhythm heaven), Barbara the Bat (Daigasso! Band Brothers)
Third-party: Johnny Napalm (Guitar Hero), Disco (DDR), Parappa the Rapper, Don-Chan (Taiko no Tatsujin)
Real-time strategy
“But hey!” You’ll say “Isn’t Pikmin an RTS?” Yes, it is! But it’s a very unconventional RTS. Most people use RTS to refer to the type of game that follows the template of Dune 2, so to cover my ass (and because I thought it’s be interesting), let’s talk about it. Pikmin is already Nintendo’s sole RTS series so let’s just talk third-party.
There are plenty of popular RTS franchises, and I’m not sure one stands too much taller than the others, but if I were to choose, I’d go with either Command & Conquer or StarCraft, both very popular and influential. Both also have popular, recognizable mascots, although interestingly, in both cases, not the hero, but the villain: Command & Conquer has Kane, and StarCraft has Kerrigan. C&C is not in a super hot place (though it just got a remaster), and I’m not sure if it’s well-known in Japan, but everybody knows what a sensation StarCraft is in Japan’s neighbor South Korea. Also fun fact: not only did both games receive a port to the N64, in BOTH cases, the port was published by Nintendo. So hey, it’s not the wildest idea in this post.
TLDR:
Kane (Command & Conquer), Kerrigan (StarCraft)
Also if you’re asking, why StarCraft as an RTS rep and not Warcraft, well…
MMORPGs and Western RPGs
MMOs are a huge part of gaming, and the undisputed king is World of Warcraft. WoW has quite a few characters like Arthas or Jaina, but it is incredibly difficult to really set one character to represent the game. Even a generic playable avatar wouldn’t work, since the player can have wildly different races and abilities. No one character could properly represent the game. Now, you could argue WoW is a spin-off of the non-MMO series Warcraft, and if I don’t count Dr. Mario as a true puzzle rep for this reason, then WoW can’t be a MMO rep. Fair, if we want a pure MMO series, the next best thing would be EverQuest, though I have no idea who could represent it.
Another important game in the genre is Ultima Online, although like WoW is a spin-off of a regular RPG, but since all RPGs in Smash are JRPGS, let’s use this opportunity to talk about the WRPGs. The Avatar or Lord British from Ultima would be great representatives. The Ultima series was at one point the most important RPG, and even influenced Dragon Quest, but it’s been quite dead for two decades. A more relevant and popularly-request option is the Elder Scrolls, particularly Skyrim’s Dragonborn. ES is no modern phenomenon either, it goes way back to 1994, so its both classic and relevant.
TLDR:
A WoW rep, an EverQuest rep, the Avatar or Lord British (Ultima), Dragonborn (Elder Scrolls)
Tower defense
Capping off this overly-long post with a genre for which Nintendo actually has a golden opportunity: Dillon from Dillon’s Rolling Western. DRW is one of the rare tower defense games that also features a recognizable player character that you can control like in an action game, and therefore, quite easy to put in Smash. Not sure if the series has a future, but the character seems to be one of the most popular to come off the 3DS-era eshop.
For third-party, I’m not sure the tower defense genre has a king, but the most popular might be Plants vs Zombies, and if we can get Piranha Plant, why not Peashooter?
Edit: Commenter suggested Crazy Dave for PvZ instead, which makes more sense
TLDR:
First party: Dillon
Third-party: Peashooter (Plants vs Zombies)
Well, I’m gonna stop here. Obviously there are many genres and sub-genres, but to me these are the biggest missing. What other genres do you want to see repped? Roguelikes? MOBAs? Hero shooters? Or do you think another character that I didn’t mention should rep these ones? Or do you feel like some of the genres already in Smash could use better representation? Do you think Animal Crossing is more of a social sim, so for a true life sim rep we’d need The Sims in Smash? Do you think Bayonetta is um ackshually a hack-n-slash so for a beat’em up rep we’d need someone from Double Dragon, Final Fight or Streets of Rage? Do you think Punch-Out isn’t really a sports game so John Madden needs to tackle the fight? Comment away

Hello everyone,
I hope you are all doing well during this Covid-19 crisis and take care of all of your family and friends!
I have been a gamer since my young childhood, and I love them since it is a good way to relax when I am stressed. I will always defend video games for the positive effects they can have on our minds.

Why I am writing this?

I have noticed something really severe: most people now care only about graphics. They want to know which is the most powerful between PS5 and XBOX Series X. And they will buy only games with beautiful graphics. I am playing newer and older games, and I feel like why people care about graphics. I have been playing Super Mario World and Super Metroid on the Switch's SNES Online, and it was more rewarding and satisfying than most nowadays games I have been playing. By seeing how the gaming community behaves, I believe it tends to focus only on graphics and nothing else. When I want to buy a game, I don't even care about the graphics, and I have the feeling I am the only one who focuses on gameplay, music, art style, etc. Am I the only one?

The Delusion about FPS/Graphics

At least 20 or 30 FPS is good. I understand if someone wants to play at 60 FPS, but this should not be mandatory in my opinion. And then who cares about 120 fps or 240 fps? Your eyes don't even see the difference. I know sometimes games need some precise input so my best compromise would be 30 FPS for offline and relax games, and 60 FPS for online games with tournaments for example. I don't understand when people tend to buy the best resources for their PC. Games don't need 8K and 240 fps to be enjoyable. But yeah, this is your money and you do whatever you want with it, I am not your mother ;).

The most powerful is NOT the winner

If you look at each "war" generation console, the most powerful console always failed. But remember that there were never console war. Only one during Nintendo and SEGA during the beginning of the 1990s. Sony VS Microsoft is nothing compared to what happened then.

• NES and Master System were a bit equal and during this period we didn't care about the power of a console.
• SNES won against Megadrive (Genesis). Sonic The Hedgehog for example was more beautiful and smooth than Super Mario World. You can even add the Neo-Geo which was really really expensive but wasn't successful. And even the PC-Engine (TurboGrafx-16) if you want to be exhaustive.
• Playstation won against N64 and Atari Jaguar. Playstation is 32-bit and less powerful than N64 and Atari Jaguar that were 64-bit. It won most notably because of the usage of the CD that could store 1 GB instead of a cartridge that can't store more than 100 MB. N64 games are more beautiful than Playstation games but it lost. I don't even count Saturn, because it was a mess during the commercialization of this console. I think it was as powerful as the Playstation but correct me if I'm wrong.
• PS2 won against XBOX, Gamecube, and Dreamcast. Dreamcast won at the beginning because it was the only 128-bit console, but when PS2 came, it led this whole generation, at the expense of the Dreamcast. Gamecube and XBOX were more powerful than the PS2, they "survived" because of their exclusivities.
• Wii won against PS3 and XBOX 360. I think this one is the most relevant. If you were living during this period, you can totally relate to what I am saying. This was Gameplay (Wiimote) versus Graphics (transition to HD), and Gameplay largely won. The Wii was largely criticized for being just a copy of a Gamecube.
• PS4 won against Wii U and XBOX One. PS4 was less powerful than XBOX One, and yeah I know the Wii U was less powerful than PS4. The failure of the Wii U was because of its marketing and how Nintendo sold it. They didn't make the same mistakes for the Switch. For the Switch, I don't know where I can put it since it was released in the middle of a generation. But anyway, XBOX One was the most powerful and didn't win.
• For the handheld consoles, this will be really quick... Game&Watch won but no rivals. Then someone who will tell me the GameBoy didn't win against Game Gear and Atari Lynx... GameBoy was monochrome and ugly compared to them, but it won easily. GameBoy Advance didn't have any concurrent (there was Wonderswan or the N-Gage but do you know them?). DS easily won against the PSP, and again the DS was less powerful than the PSP. Same for the 3DS and PS Vita, don't tell me PS Vita won against 3DS.

Graphics is different than Art Style

Don't confuse graphics and art style. the Pokémon series, or Zelda: Breath of the Wild, has awful graphics but an awesome art style. The games have bad graphics, but the character design, the level design, the way everything is drawn is beautiful. However, we are not talking about art style here.

People who tell me Graphics are important

If you are going to tell me graphics are essential because when you play, you need to look at a fantastic landscape. A video game is something you play through. If you just sit and look at the landscape, I'm sorry but this is not a video game since you are not playing, this is just panorama. This is not playing, you just watch beautiful pictures. Photography is different than video games, even both are considered art. I would ask you what is a video game for you? For me, a video game is the gaming interaction between the human and the video of a machine. No questions about graphics. This is called a video game, and not video watching or anything like that. If you need to look at beautiful backgrounds, you can go on Google Images, and look for high-resolution pictures (Settings > Advanced Research).

Games with bad Graphics are Bad?

My favorite question to beat the people who only care about graphics is: Why retrogaming exists if graphics are so important? This is not nostalgia or anything like that, I am born during the Gamecube/PS2 era and I didn't even know how the 1980s or the 1990s were in terms of video games. (I wish I could have been here when Final Fantasy VII and Pokémon Red/Blue were released). And can you tell why Minecraft is the best selling game of all time?

Conclusion

To conclude, of course, I agree this is cool if you have good graphics, but people need to stop worship graphics and giving all of their attention to this instead of focusing on gameplay, music, etc. This should not be a criterion to define the quality of a game in my opinion. Can someone tell me this is just me who is a toxic hater, or if someone feels like me? Maybe I am just stupid so I would like that someone can correct the wrong things that I believe in.
Thanks a lot for reading my very long message and have fun playing the wonderful video games we can have in 2021! Remember video games are the most prolific media, far ahead of the cinema or the books.
TL;DR: Am I the only one who is noticing people only care about graphics? I want to know if I am just a toxic hater who doesn't understand what the gaming industry needs right now, or if I am on the contrary smart enough to understand video games are not based only on graphics.

This dreadful year isnt quite over yet I dont think I am planning on buying/playing anymore games so I figured I might as well make this post now. A few years back, I started posting these type of end of the year reviews on here and it started a bit of a trend on this subreddit that people seemed to enjoy so I'm back! Unfortunately, I didnt keep a list this year so this is all off the dome piece. I might have forgotten a few.
Doom (1993): I tried playing Doom on PC many years ago and while I found it enjoyable, I just didnt feel compelled to finish it. However, I bought the Switch port for 3 bucks and it was absolutely incredible and perfect for me to play in bursts (Switch ports are going to be a common theme). I found it quite refreshing to play a game that was purely devoted to fast paced action. No filler, no fat. My only gripe was the labyrinthine levels getting kind of tiresome after a while. I also wasnt a fan of the chapters that were added after the original release. It's not a steep drop in quality but you can tell that those last two episodes or whatever they're called were developed after the fact. They play very differently and are a little obnoxious in terms of enemy placement. The base game however is really damn good.
Animal Crossing New Horizons: The most interesting aspect about this game will be the time it came out in. I honestly think this is something people will be citing for decades to come, about how a relaxing game with cute animal villagers and calming tasks offered some true escapism during a very weird time, yadda yadda yadda. I had a lot of fun playing with my friends. It was refreshing to have so many people, especially a lot of my girl friends playing online. Added a nice social dynamic and it was so much fun designing and checking out everyone's island. Personally, I kind of lost interest around the Easter update. It just isnt my kind of game despite the fact that I can appreciate a lot about it.
Spyro Reignited (Spyro 1): I havent played the other two yet. Let's just say, this game is absolutely beautiful, like a DreamWorks movie you can roam through. The platforming is fun, I actually like the methodical collect a thon element to the levels. They could have easily gone overboard but managed to keep everything straightforward and fun enough to stay entertaining. I do think this game becomes a bit of a slog in the later levels but I'm hard pressed to find a 3D platformer that doesnt suffer the same issue.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3: Absolutely incredible game. I was initially complete ass at it and still dont consider myself that good but I ended up really enjoying this one. Ngl, I was working from home and every now and then I would take a break to decompress and just do some tricks. It was an absolute blast. Soundtrack was dope too.
The Last of Us Part 2: i'm in the camp that thought this game was incredible and I really wish there wasnt such a nasty discourse surrounding it. I can definitely see people's issues with it, but I personally thought Naughty Dog knocked it out of the park.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 and 2: I swear I usually dont buy games full price, but 2020 made me say what the heck. Having only played THPS3, I thought this remake would be perfect for me and it absolutely was. The soundtrack was so good, all the courses were loads of fun and a game like this is sorely missed in the modern era.
Bulletstorm (Switch): Never did I think I would be playing this game on a handheld. What on earth. It's absolutely surreal for me because I still consider Bulletstorm as a modern title in my head. I opted out of playing the OG and decided to just do the Duke Nukem campaign. It's easily better than the original. Theres just something so compelling about Duke Nukem deciding to help people he doesnt know. I thought the original was eye rolling and cringe but the Duke Nukem campaign is actually one of the funniest games I played.
Star Wars Episode 1 Racer HD: Even more surreal than Bulletstorm is playing a childhood classic in crisp HD on a handheld with better performance than ever had before. I managed to beat this game in 5 hours on Switch, whereas I had never been able to beat the N64 version in my 20 years of playing it. Yes, the performance and improved textures made THAT much of a difference. A beautiful and fun high octane racer that suffers from being either brain numbingly easy to trivially hard. You often wont see any other racers because you're so far ahead. And on the off chance you fall behind, theres no way to catch up. Trust me. The rubberbanding is ridiculous.
Uncharted Lost Legacy: This game was just sitting on my shelf 70% completed for a long time so I decided to finally finish it up. It's a nice spin off with a really fun last level. It's more of what was great about Uncharted 4 but reduced to a smaller scale. And that's completely fine.
Sonic Forces: Complete ass. I really thought the whole 3D Sonic sucks stuff was blown out of proportion for the longest time, but oh my lord, what an abomination this game is. Terrible story, baffling tone and bland level design. You have these vapid kid friendly characters running around fighting an apocalyptic war and it doesnt work at all. You can create your own character which was goofy fun but these levels are a chore compared to the Sonic ones. Thankfully, this game was free on PS Plus so no real skin off my ass.
Donkey Kong Country: After 10 years I have finally beat this game thanks to Switch Online. Such an absolute blast. I loved the secrets, the music is just masterful and will be played on my deathbed and the level design had a lot of charm. I played a little bit of DKC2 as well and wow, what a step up. Both games ooze style and feel "cozy?" Sure they are difficult and frustrating but they also are fun and charming enough to be relaxing.
Super Mario World: Same story. Finally beat this game after being introduced to it over a decade ago. I really wanted to love this one but the 2D Mario games just dont do much for me beyond a nice fun barebone distraction to kind of turn my brain off to. I am glad I finally beat it, I respect its place in history and I had fun with it. The art style has aged so well too. But I have little to no desire to really play through all of it again.
Dark Souls: I didnt think I would ever be able to say "I beat Dark Souls." I first got the game on 360 for free and put maybe 15-20 hours into it. Rung the first bell, got to the depths and just stopped playing it. I realized these games just weren't for me and I dont know, I just associated them with depression and a "gluttonous" waste of time. Well, 2020 came by and I'm hella depressed and got plenty of time to waste so hell yeah, let's beat Dark Souls! I bought the Switch version and exclusively played it in handheld mode which was amazing. I cant believe I missed so much of this game. I thought it ended kind of abruptly tho. I really wish there had been something a bit more conclusive. It took me about 50 hours to beat and I had a lot of fun. I never summoned other players on 360 either so doing that here on Switch for the first time was pretty cool. I am currently doing NG+, something I never do in games, but my curiosity just got the best of me. In about an hour or so, I have already managed to ring both bells. It's just a testament to how tightly designed this world is that From developed where you can struggle for 60 hours and then later breeze through the same game in 4. Aside from one or two of the late game areas, everything here felt very tightly designed and woven. Definitely among my all time favs now.
Minecraft: Never played Minecraft in my life lol. I remember when it came out and thinking it looked kind of neat and then a few years later it blew up bigger than before. I have never seen a game come out and then perpetually get super super popular 3-4 years after release like Minecraft did. Like Dark Souls, I associated Minecraft with being a waste of time and pointless. However, playing with my friends has made the experience very fun. I have gotten lost for hours already just designing my home. I can see why this was and still is so popular.
Crash 1 (N-Sane on Switch): Prior to owning the NSane trilogy, the og Crash 1 was the only game in the series I played. I dont even have childhood nostalgia for it, I played it on PS3 in 2018 and just fell in love with it. The difficulty, the charm, the music just all felt nice. Clunky, frustrating and sloppy but nonetheless fun. The remake was a great way to get back in. Yet again, the novelty of a handheld Crash remake was just too good to pass up. While I do wish the originals were included as a bonus, the remakes seem really well done. I like how you can redo bonus stages now. ALSO despite this, is it me or is the remake actually a tad harder? Particular those Road to Nowhere bridge levels induced a lot of rage in me that I havent felt with a game in a LONG time. I remember it being a hard level but I just got annihilated here and watched almost all the lives I accrued dwindle to single digits. That being said, it's still the same fun game I remember. Controls smoother in most ways. I also restarted mid-playthrough once or twice for no real reason. I just really like those opening levels and stocking up so many lives so I didnt even mind it. I am still on Crash 2 as of now but since I never had the OG, it doesnt have the novelty of being comparable to anything so it almost feels like I am playing a really good DLC with a few tweaks in presentation. So far the level design is much more streamlined.
Star Wars: Jedi Outcast (Switch): If you're gonna play this game on a console, get this version. Just do it. This game is absolutely insufferable if you aren't able to play with gyro controls or a keyboard/mouse. Aspyr didn't bother to add autoaim and instead of being true 16:9, they stretch the image and chop it. It just seems like such a lazy port which is weird because Episode 1 Racer by them was so well done. I havent even got a lightsaber yet and I just got tired of it. It's not a good FPS. The gunplay is not satisfying and the level design is pretty bland. And I am just gonna say it, I dont care about Kyle Katarn at all. He's a fan favorite BECAUSE he was specifically written for these video games in a time where there weren't any new Jedi in the Star Wars universe aside from Luke. He's just really a tame mix of Han and Luke. I got this game for 5 bucks so it was whatever, I had some fun with it and got a few levels in but I just dont feel compelled to continue much.
Doom 64: Another Switch port. I actually like this better than the original. It may not have that bombastic soundtrack but the gunplay feels so much more impactful and visceral. I also like the new art direction and the level design. The enemy placement feels a lot more focused too.
Super Mario 64: Played this with 3D All Stars. It's still a masterpiece in my book and it feels nice to have a portable edition of the OG game. Wish Nintendo at least made it 16:9 but whatever it's not a big deal for me. I have noticed a lot of newcomers are dismissing this game as archaic and that's it aged poorly which I get where they are coming from but that still just makes my blood boil tbh lol. SM64 is still a masterpiece in 3D design, structure and platforming. The movement is some of the most fluid to this day. The camera isnt good? No, you just need to adjust it. That's all. That's a mechanic of the game and it's been that way since 96.
Bastion: I heard Hades was real good so I decided to buy one of Supergiants previous games first. At 3 bucks, this was a steal and absolutely gorgeous in handheld mode. I love the art style and narration and I like how many weapons and abilities you can swap between. I also appreciated the ability to make the game more challenging along the way with different quirks. Very rarely do games let you set the difficulty in interesting ways like that, especially through the use of in game items like that. Certain items make enemies more aggressive, better at blocking, land more critical hits, etc. Easy to pick up and play.
Halo 3: I played this on MCC through PC and it was an absolute blast. I played Halo 3 online in 2009/2010 and while that wasnt late or anything, many people had already transitioned to MW2 and later Reach so the online community was just a little tiny bit past its peak. Being able to play in 2020 with so many active users, interactions and fun moments. I felt like players were willing to do more risky maneuvers than I ever saw on 360. It was really really cool and it kind of saddens me that this game is 13 years old which probably seems absolutely ancient to kids and teens today. Just for reference, when I first played Halo 3, Goldeneye 007 was the same age as Halo 3 is now and not a single kid in my class knew or cared about anything from the N64 era. It might be showing its age, but it's still a beautiful game. Also while I thought the story for Halo 3 was a step down from the first two games, the campaign is an absolute blast and looks gorgeous in full HD and high framerate.
So that's it. Those are the games I played in 2020. My goal is not to buy any new games next year and just finish/revisit games that I've being meaning to for a while now.

hi. so i've been a Minecraft player since forever, and recently i've wanted to get back into the game because i haven't played it in a while, but i'm not that clued in with everything about it anymore. i currently have an Xbox 360 with Minecraft bought on it that i discovered cannot get new updates (like bees, pillagers, campfires etc. - i don't know what the updates called lol) and i want to change that. i also can't currently play online with my friends that use IOS and i would love to. SO WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND I DO. should i buy a new console? like the xbox one or Nintendo switch or not. does/will Minecraft support Xbox one for much longer. i REALLY need help on this and didn't know where else to go, and seeing as this is such an amazing community i thought i'd try here :D

This happened about a month ago. I thought it'd be a good time for me to let this out for the world to know, because as of right now, I'm over it. Here goes... (Ages are at the time of this writing, names are 100% fake)
So I (m17) met someone (m18) at my school two years ago who I ended up being fast friends with, due to a common interest in (mainly Nintendo) games. For the sake of not having to reiterate myself, I'll call him Terry. Nothing worth posting on this rant happened between me and Terry for about a year, though we were best friends that would talk on the phone/Discord fairly often. Fast-forward to October 2019, where I had started developing a crush on him, I didn't tell him until it was already too late, but I thought it was worth mentioning. One day in May(?) 2020 I was at his house, and we were bored... as teenagers are. I had the idea of meming around on Omegle (for the uninformed, Omegle is basically a text-chat roulette that can match you based on common terms) me and Terry messed around with it for a while, and wouldn't you know... he met someone that he became fast friends with, for the time being, that is. Starting then he kept refusing to voice chat with me on Discord because he kept instead talking with "this girl." And I thought 'alright, not being able to chat at all times is totally understandable, I'll just wait until he's free.' Things kept on going as normal, until I asked if I could meet this "girl" myself, he was alright with it, and gave me Serena(16)'s Discord. I added her, and we talked... as people do... and then all of a sudden me, Terry, and Serena, were put into a group chat of us three, and it was then revealed that Terry and Serena were dating. So -- minus the ruthless stab into my heart considering I had a crush on him -- I was okay with it, although I thought it all happened a bit fast (the time between them meeting and me being told about the relationship was in the span of a week), especially since this was someone he met, and by relation, could only exclusively contact her, online. So I was basically assigned the role of the third wheel. Things kept going normally, I guess. That is until around a month into their relationship, I found something out. Terry told me that he's only in the relationship because he felt bad for Serena, who has been suffering with depression and suicidal thoughts... so the first thing I did after learning this? I contacted Serena to see if I could help, even though Terry kept trying to stop me for whatever reason. After talking with Serena, getting brickwalled over and over with replies like "ok" and "i dont need help, goodbye", I ended up when the blocked me on Discord. Terry was not happy that I tried to help Serena, and I didn't understand why. A small, but unknown amount of time later, I get approached by Terry with a pretty big question. Serena wanted him to send her nudes. Despite both of them being underage. Over Discord. I simply told him "No." Because it's both "illegal at your age(s)" and "wrong for it to be sent over Discord". He agreed and supposedly had to argue with Serena until they both agreed to not do sexual stuff for a while. (not before Serena sent him an unsolicited nude) Which was just another red flag for me. Nothing substantial for a while, until November 2020. This was when Terry came out to me as bisexual, which was a score for me. I was also glad that he supposedly told me first, so it was this time that I decided to do the difficult task of telling HIM that not only that I was gay, but also had a crush on him before Serena was introduced. This was also when it was explicitly revealed to me that Serena not only wanted nothing to do with me, but she didn't want Terry to associate with me, either. So I had to basically keep his friendship with him secret, it started with blocking me on Discord, so I was only able to text message him, then he blocked me on Nintendo Switch, which was really cool because that means we could no longer play online. I kept telling Terry that he doesn't need to choose, and that he should try to reason with Serena about the whole thing, he refused. So I went under an alternate Discord and tried to message Serena there, attempting to make up with her. She not only didn't like my attempt but also flat-out said she hated me. Serena ended up taking that out on Terry, and they broke up. During this period of break-up, Terry tried to get with ME, presumably out of desperation. I didn't want to be treated like some sort of "well if I can't have first class then this'll do" boyfriend, so I turned him down, but also told him to never contact Serena again, because she was nothing but toxic. He agreed.
...
Just kidding! He didn't agree at all! Not TEN MINUTES after they broke up, Terry gets a message from noneother than Serena... I have no clue what the conversation entailed, since I was just told that she messaged him, but after that conversation... something changed. Not only did Terry and Serena get back together, Terry kept telling me that he wanted to stay with Serena, because he still felt forced to choose between his best friend and his girlfriend, after a couple of days of bickering regarding this, Terry blocked my phone number, he blocked me on Twitter, blocked my Discord alt, blocked my Microsoft account and left the Minecraft realm we had, and it was all over. Looking back on the whole situation, I realized how much of a clinger I was, so maybe I'm not in the right for saying a good ol' fashioned "Fuck you" to both Terry and Serena, but at this point... I don't care.
Thank you for coming to my TedTalk, remember to stay in drugs, don't do vegetables, and eat your school. Mariostar, signing off

My kid plays Minecraft Bedrock on PS4. His friend on Switch. To do multiplayer both needs to get online subscription from PS and Nintendo respectively.
If both switch to linux and Mac can we simply buy Minecraft Java edition from Minecraft.net and use multiplayer without any subscription?
Are there any caveats which I should be aware off?
Can I buy with my (adult) account and sign in with kid account on PC?
Thank you

I just turned 19 today which is honestly unreal because it feels the same as the last few years even though I’ve hit some pretty big life milestones such as graduating from high school and moving out to college. Here are some random bits of knowledge I have gained over the years, feel free to take it or leave it:
(Sorry in advance for formatting, I’m on mobile lol)
-if your school is holding classes online via Zoom/Google Meet or Canvas or some other online alternative it can seem really optional and easy to put out of mind. I know I struggle with this A LOT. I’d recommend having a friend or 2 in each class that you do class work/homework with. This way you’ll hold each other accountable and can help each other out with motivation. This has helped me out SO much cuz I’m a lazy mf who wouldn’t get anything done without my friends
-I just recently (over the last 6ish months) started using Venmo/Cashapp on my phone and it’s honestly such a convenient way to exchange money. It’s a great alternative to cash, highly recommend.
-Gameboy/Nintendo DS/3DS emulators exist and they’re so fun to play. Most run on all operating systems but some can be really beefy and need adequate system hardware to run
-If you’re ever playing Minecraft in a server and not everyone can sleep, you can have the person closest to a bed sleep while everyone else logs off. Then, you can rejoin once it’s daytime again
-When buying LED strip lights, consider also buying masking tape. Put the masking tape up first on the wall where you want to put the lights and then run the lights on top of them. If you ever need to remove the lights in the future, this guarantees that the adhesive won’t damage the wall in any way. This was so helpful to me when decorating my college dorm because now I have an easy way to remove the lights at the end of the year.
-Not drinking in college won’t make you “uncool” or less likely to get invited places. I’ve never had a drink in my life and I still feel really valued by everyone I’ve met so far. I’ve taken up the role of the “mom” in my friend group and the fact that I’d never let my friends drive drunk and will go out of my way to make sure they’re safe and will drive them home at 2am has made me just as “cool” if not cooler to the people who surround me. And remember kids, you can still be the life of the party while still being sober 😎
-In my experience, I haven’t really seen much peer pressure to drink or smoke or do anything I didn’t want to from my friends. It seems to me as though most teens today are more tolerant and willing to accept that people don’t want to do things for a multitude of reasons and I’m so grateful to my friends for having this mindset. However, if your friends keep pressuring you to try things that you don’t feel comfortable doing and you have told them about your objections already, then it might be time for better friends :/
-Pick up some new hobbies! I recently got into a whole buncha stuff once I moved to college 2 months ago such as reading webtoons, skateboarding, playing League of Legends (I want to bang my head into a wall because of this), going to the gym a little more often (not really working out for me lmao, I’m SO lazy), and trying to watch new TV shows. I feel like I’ve just been a lot happier now that I have different interests I can switch between once I get tired of one for the day. Pick up new things!
-Anime is cool but hardcore shove-it-down-your-throat anime fans are not. Also, GOD DAMN there are a LOT more people in college who watch anime than I thought, I feel like most people are now lowkey anime fans who keep it under wraps haha
-Dark mode on your devices is superior. IF IT HAS A DARK MODE OPTION PLEASE USE IT. (You don’t have to if you don’t want to tho, it’s all you bro 😳)
-Keeping up streaks on Snapchat is such a commitment, it started to feel like homework for me so I stopped and deleted snap for a while. If you feel overwhelmed by it, it’s okay to take a break. The same goes for your other social media apps. It took me a long time to realize TikTok had to go from my phone. I finally did it and had never felt better. It’s been a couple months since then and I’ve redownloaded both Snap and TikTok, but this time I have way better self restraint and try not to spiral into my social media addiction again lmao
-I like beanies. Just got my first beanie 2 weeks ago. I thought I’d look silly in it but I’m actually really liking it, and it’s really warm which is helpful because I live in a place that’s cold in the winter
-Recently discovered the act of bringing speakers into the shower and playing music. HIGHLY RECOMMEND, I be a superstar all up in that bathroom 😎
-Drink water! Stay hydrated! I still struggling with making sure I drink enough water in a day but on the days that I do, I be GŁØWÏÑG up in this bih. I feel SO good.
-Wet dreams during NNN DO NOT COUNT 🤬 if you bust while you’re asleep, you can still participate. This rule has been passed into law by me with the highest authority in the council of NNN. Follow it 🤬🤬
-I use an empty Nike show box as a stand for my monitor. Why tf would I pay for a stand when I have a perfect good one right here?
-if you ever want to spice up your desk at home, buy a lamp! They made my room go up +10 in coolness points
-having a good headset/ear buds makes a world of difference in listening to ANYTHING on your devices
-I can’t tell whether I love or hate Yasuo mains in League.
-I know I mentioned parties and drinking and stuff before but please be mindful that that’s not a good idea right now because there is a pandemic going on. Please be responsible and wear a mask. I worry for you all.
-Lastly, make sure to take advantage of your teen years! I know that there is a pandemic going on right now but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. Download discord! Play games online! Screen share a movie! Have an online talent show! The internet has opened so many possibilities for interaction online that it wouldn’t make sense to NOT take advantage of them!
I hope this st00pid list was at least an entertaining read for some of you. I appreciate everything that teenagers has done for me over the last (almost) 2 years that I’ve been here in terms of entertainment. I can’t wait to see what big year 19 has in store for me.

I first would like to sincerly apologize if i sound rude at any point of this post.
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For context. I am a person born with ADHD, Autism, I like drawing things, writing things, using imaginations to my fullest, or rather, i used to like drawing things and making art and things. My skill level is.... I would say a rookie? Maybe below rookie. (That is debatable) And so back then, before i really knew what copyright and trademark was really all about, i went absolute ham on just getting ideas after ideas out of my head for things, Fan Fiction, Tracing a drawing and so on.
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But now that i have grown, i have become more and more self-aware and self-conscious. (And thus past things that i have done has hit a mental toll on me). And when it comes to copyrighted materials. It has all went downhill. For example. About a year ago, i was really back into Pokemon. I bought pretty much all games (from gen 1 to the latest switch game). And i was so fascinated by the whole "You, the person, YOU are the main-character of the game". But due to the limited narrative and such, i wanted to explore and put out my own ideas. And so i started writing my own fanfic, started to get into drawing art (Which i was really terrible at prior to this, but as time went on, i started getting better at it. I even made my very own comic). But, the thoughts eventually hit me, "I don't own Pokemon. I am not Nintendo or Game Freak. And therefor. I should probably stop and never speak about my own ideas and imaginations about this particular IP to anyone or to myself" And i even googled up to see whether or not i am allowed to do these kind of things. But there were too many different answers, so i assumed the worst.
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(And note that, i made fanfic and drawing as a mean of exploring the narrative of the said IP in more depth, so i didn't want to make anything commercial anyway in good faith)
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And so it felt like i had already gotten a Cease and Desist from Nintendo but mentally even though i haven't even published or even posted anything on the internet. And so i stopped making anything that was related to Pokemon. But it soon hit me later. "But, if i am not allowed to make anything related to Pokemon, though i am not making a single penny of it, should i even be allowed to like Pokemon at all? Because if i like the games, the show, etc, then that will likely spark ideas and my own imagination about it and i probably want to share that idea to friends or family. But since i am not allowed to do that, i should not like Pokemon at all". And due to that, i stopped liking Pokemon completely because what i interpret is that we consumers who give in and observe to others expressive idea are not allowed to express our own interpretations and ideas of the others idea.
(My general basic knowledge of copyright and trademark is that; You can't just upload a DVD movie to Youtube. And i often am on the moral side and i agree with that rule. Or that, you can't just make a drawing of a mouse character with 2 round ears and cartoony eyes and red shorts and call it mickey mouse and claim you are the creator of the character and then attempt to sell it. Otherwise there would be a billion versions of mickey mouse on the internet already. I can sorta understand that rule, but.....)
But this is just the beginning, it is just the tip of the iceberg. It goes downhill from here.
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And so i moved on from Pokemon to Minecraft. Everybody loves Minecraft, right? I certainly do, And so i started playing Minecraft (I have a strong nostalgic value with Minecraft.) And so i wanted to "Make a world that would perfectly summerize my past and things that i liked." And i went absolute crazy with it, it was fun as heck. (It is over 1-2 GB on MCPE, Minecraft Pocket Edition/Switch/Phone). I made pixel art of Mario, Pokemon, Sonic. I maybe even went a little bit over the edge with merging my map with maps that others has created. Like, a island with a theme. Like, Mario Island, Skyrim Island, etc.
But, I may have breached copyright/EULA Contract by using the Template Worlds that are found on the Marketplace with the IP and merged it with my world, but i credited whoever made the map/island inside my own world. And i wasn't really thinking about that i breached EULA in that particularly way, all i was thinking about was that, "It would be so frickin awesome to have multiple worlds connected to one world and travelling to each one without having to go to the main menu, and i could build new things on the said islands". Yeah. I thought it was the smartest idea. Why exiting the game and scrolling through just to access the world when i can just Merge everything together so it becomes easier accessible for me just by going in-game. And i wasn't even thinking about publishing the world either. I just wanted to have fun. I even went as far as to build my own Apartment 1:1 just because i thought it was fun. I even built my local groceries store so i could show people and amaze them by the silliness of going to a building that's based off IRL but is in minecraft, or that i could at 5 seconds, travel from a Mario-themed island to Halo-Themed island. And i often mentioned to people that i didn't create those islands
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But then. Minecraft implemented or did a "Moderators are now better than before". And i watched a Youtube Video explaining what i can and can't do and what the consequences could be. And that got me legitimately scared. But people claim that Moderators are only for online multiplayer servers. But.. Whenever i start my singleplayer world and invite a friend through Xbox service. My world technically becomes multiplayer. And as for the possible consequences, if a Moderator decides that. "Yeah, you have breached Marketplace contract by merging worlds from marketplace with your own, you will now be permanently banned" then not only will i not be able to play online anymore, but due to the conduct and terms of use of minecraft being heavily tied to Xbox and Microsoft, if i get banned in minecraft, then according to Microsofts Terms of use and Conduct, my microsoft account would be suspended. Thus, Hotmail, Onedrive, everything else would be gone for me in the blink of an eye. And that is when i said "Alright, i'll never play Minecraft ever again, because trying to achieve dreams in the game that may be affiliated with others Ip is not allowed" So Minecraft essentially became a past thing that i would never bring up to people.
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Alright. If i can't use Minecraft without being in the risk of losing everything, then i'll just use stuff in real life because that can't be "illegal to use due to copyright". Like, Beyblades, for example. The ideas of spinning tops is such a generic thing that i should not be in trouble. And i used to LOVE Beyblades as a kid and i always used to carry around a special beyblade wherever i went because it was so important to me. (It holds so many memories that it would take over 800 A4 pages full of text just to retell everything). And so i got happy again i thought. I bought Beyblades off Ebay, even went as far as to join Beyblade Subreddit and post amazing discoveries and my purchases of beyblades and see what everyone else thought of the beyblades i got. I felt like "It can't get better than this" But it did get a lot better because i then had the splendid idea of writing a document about this one special beyblade i have and tell all the adventures and fun i had in the past with it. And i wrote so far about 20 pages full of texts and of course images for various contexts. Like, what did a Beyblade Launcher look like? And why things didn't work or why things happened and i felt like i had to put images on my document to explain what was going on and why things happened.
(Makes sense right? Essentially, imagine describing a topic to someone who has never heard of that topic.)
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I thought it was brilliant. And of course, in my mind i kept thinking "Even if i shouldn't be using images because it isn't mine, i can as easily describe the images with words" So it was like a Failsafe in case i would be starting to doubt myself. And then i later saw the potential of the document and started to think that i should maybe publish it. Commercial or non-commercial. It would be awesome to share my story of my life and past. (And i certainly was writing everything i could remember from my past with beyblades and how i overcome various difficult situations).
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But, the exact same thought i had when i was into Pokemon came right back to me.
I don't own Beyblade. I am not Hasbro or Takara Tomy (Japanese toy manufacturer, etc), so i am not allowed to make ANYTHING out of it even though if it would be for personal use and even if it were not profitable. But then i thought "Alright, maybe it is time for Plan B. I should try to obtain permission!" So i searched up for the Creator of Metal Fight Beyblade. And i got a hold of his twitter and sent him a message asking if i could get permission to just make a document about my life and beyblades and perhaps just sharing it to friends. The answer i got was neither a Yes or No.... but more or less closer to a No. As the Manga Author of Metal Fight Beyblade apparently doesn't have permission himself to make anything regarding Beyblades, I must contact the Beyblade Corporation, WBBA, or Takara Tomy. And then i thought "Alright, i give up. There is no chance in hell that is gonna work out. I don't think corporations gives any answers to any individuals like me who are classified as a nobody"
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And thus, i should cease all activity of writing and imagining, even cease all writing of my own real life. And soon everything started to crumble and spiral down into a pit of dispair. A majority of my life contains Copyrighted/Trademarked materials. And so.... Have i sold my soul to every corporation that i have laid my human-senses on? Am i not even allowed to make a dairybook? And you might be thinking "Try to contact a lawyer". Yeah. Show me where and how. I would really like to know. And especially in the time of Corona? Yeah. I don't think it will work. But it eventually got worse. As i was watching a video on youtube, i couldn't help but notice certain parts of various videos were blurred out. Particularly, someone was wearing white shoes and i was unsure what that kind of shoes was. But i soon saw in the comments about someone mentioning Nike. And that is where it hit me even more. "So.... i am technically not even allowed to wear branded clothing? So i need to pay a fee to wear clothing that i have already purchased? But how much would that fee be? Certainly i alone can't pay that, and even if i could, would Nike even answer my mail about permission at all? Very unlikely" And so i thought to change all clothes i had at home to empty shirts, empty pants. Like, there is not a single logo, branding, number, letter, nothing. Just plain old coloured shirt.
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And so ok. If i can't use any of others IP to at least tell my past, then i'll sure as hell am gonna make my own thing then.
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Because, during my time with this Special Beyblade i had, i wanted to make my own "Creature" of it. The thought process was that i wanted to make my own Monster that would appear out of the beyblade, like in the show. And so i designed a Dragon-Serpent with wings all on my own, all was my own original design. Though it wasn't immediately obvious to people that it was inspired by Beyblade so i had to keep mentioning the fact that in the show, there are monsters that come out of the beyblades whenever there are a battle going on. But i soon saw the importance of this creature i designed and i stopped associating my own creation with Beyblades. Alright! I finally got something that is mine and mine alone. I wanna make something that can replace that special beyblade i have so i no longer feel in the dangerous zone of copyright/trademark stuff.
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And then i had the brilliant idea! A Custom Made Coin!! Yes! I could order a custom coin with my own design! Splendid! And the coin could be double sided, so like, there are engravings and art on both sides. One with my dragon-creature and the other side would be a slight reminiscence of the Beyblade that my dragon was based off. Because there is nothing in the law that says i can't use inspirations right? I mean, a Hexagon in the middle and some spikey things around it wouldn't imply that it is necessarily a Beyblade but rather that it would remind me about it.
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And so with my knowledge of drawing and making art, i started to draw my own (Or making a technical mock-up of it) through GIMP. And i had the envision of how it would look like. Something in the similar fashion to one of those Military Challenge-Coins. And so i designed it with text, art and how i think it could look like. I did google up what Challenge Coins typically looked like so i had an idea of what it could be like. And i did like what most Challenge Coins are designed; A big circle with gold text around it and a engraved art in the middle.
Though my design may or may not be too comlpex, but i don't know how printing on coins work anyway, so i kept going along with it. I put some text, i learned through some tutorials on youtube on how to bend text around a circle. And yeah, i thought it was neat. But then i started to feel a little bit unease when i was making the back-side of the coin. I made a Big Hexagon in the middle with some spikes, but since the Hexagon thing was empty, i thought "I should maybe make a Insignia that would represent my Dragon?" And so i went on for hours upon hours, i didn't want it to be simple, yet i didn't want it to be super complex and not obvious that the insignia is refrencing my dragon, but also totally does. I went for hours and even days for making up different designs.
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And then. I was amazed by the amazing discovery. I drew like a U... or like a upside-down omega sign Ω. And then i drew a upside-down triangle ▼ and i slowly moved the triangle towards the center of that Omega Sign and then i noticed... It Looked like a dragon! WOW! Whaaa?! This is so cool! Omg! I am so happy now! I worked on it a bit further with 2 horns on the side because my dragon had it. And i was very very proud of it..... Only for it all to be crushed by realisation and reality. I started to feel like i maybe had seen the symbol i just created somewhere... Oh right! It looks very similar to Skyrim. And i mean the Dragon-Symbol that appears on Words-Wall in the Skyrim Game. I even went to look for comparison side by side and....... Well.... Let's just say that my happiness was a false sense of security. I thought i had done something incredible that i could feel proud of, but only for it all to be taken away by reality and facts. And so i broke down mentally about it. But after a day or so, i started to experiment and try a different route with designing insignia.
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So i made what someone pointed out, a Sigil that represented my dragon. And my friends even pointed out that it looked even better than the dragon-insignia i had previously made. So! alright! I'm back on track! Great! Now i should finish the rest of the coin design. I wanted to include various symbols of other things, like, things that i like. Video Gaming, Stars, Horoscope, Infinity. And it would all have a meaning to me. Like, a symbol of controller, it would be that i love gaming. Or that i think Stars are bright and nice. And my Horoscope is Leo. And Infinity for Infinite Possibilities.
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But.... It was then i started to think deeply again... "Are these symbols copyrighted? Can i really use these symbols?" And so i googled up and got a Question-Answer on Quora "Is Fonts/Emojis copyrighted?" And..... Yes..... They are copyrighted...... And i went everywhere on google to search up if i could use the fonts that came with Windows for Commercial use (In my head, Commercial use = Printing it on a custom coin for personal use) So i wanted to make sure if i could use.... And.... at first sight i found that Microsoft lets user do whatever they want with the included fonts..... BUT.....then when i scrolled down, i found that the fonts can't be modified. But then wait a second. If i use an eraser in like GIMP to edit the letter, like changing colour for example or to make room for more things, doesn't that qualify as modification? There are neither questions or answers on the internet for that and i started to be doubtful...... Can't i really use Fonts at all? Am i not allowed to even write? What about all these fonts that can be purchased? Well. The prices aren't cheap. So.... That means. Microsoft has given me a false sense of security again. Ok, but what about Public Domain? That should leave me out of trouble completely, right? That's what Public Domain stand for, "Right to use without limit". But boy was i wrong. Public Domain has a lot of strings attached to it to a point where i am not even sure if it is free at all. And all questions i have about these things, i don't exactly have a lawyer as a neighbor. And i started to break down mentally again. And it went more downhill. Like. What's next? Am i no longer allowed to use my eyes any more to see any copyrighted material? Am i no longer allowed to even mention anything? What about the apartment i live in? The architecture is probably copyrighted on a floor plan or something. So am i no longer allowed to have a home? But what about my life? Am i not allowed to live any more as majority of my life is copyrighted? Is it prohibited for me to live? And...... That is where i think i can't handle it anymore. And i am sure people are gonna say "Well, that is how the world works". Alright, if that is how the world works, then i don't think i should be alive. And i probably should commit suicide. like i said, i live in a apartment, i live on the second floor of the apartment and i am sure that my head first to the ground from that height would either A.) Kill me, or B.) injure me serverly to a point of almost not return but still keeping me alive.
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My interpretation about copyright and trademark has gone from a sensible standpoint of justice that makes sense to a dictator-like perspective. And since there is nothing that there can be done about it. I don't think i am fit to live in this world.
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Your argument may be "This stuff only applies to commercial intentions, like, you can't use someone's else work to make money". I will remind you that people have had art taken down, videos taken down, fangames, fanfics taken down and they didn't make a SINGLE CENT. (And that is what i only have heard, heck, there could be thousands of things taken down but have gone unoticed) And you might say that "Most companies don't take things down because it wil hurt the fanbase or their reputation, or they only take it down if it gets popular". Well. Just like a tiger. It might appear as friendly and calm, but it can at ANY point bite you and you'd be finished, and it doesn't have to give a reason to why. And you might be using Fair Use as an aurgument. Well. Tell me this then. What exaclty constitues as Fair Use? Let me remind you. Parodies, Reviews, Criticism, Journalism, Educational purposes are within Fair Use. Anything outside that? Anything you make that have SLIGHT connection to someone's IP = Derivative work. And even if Fair Use would be in my favor for whatever reason. If i got a Cease and Desist, do you honestly think i would be able to do anything about it even if it is Fair use? No. Unless i myself have a corporation that makes millions so i can get lawyers, i am nothing. I am a nobody, i am a stepping ground for others. I am nothing but a souless corpse that will do anything for others in the eyes of corporations.
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And maybe your argument is "Well, Why don't you just fucking read their license if you can use it". Trying to read license documents is like trying to read a completely different language.
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And trying to contact anything to get permission at all is almost impossible by today standard. I, who am a nobody would not get a respond at all from a corporation or even an individual for that matter
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And to clear things up. I am neither a youtuber or a streamer and i don't plan to become one either. But.... With all these crap that has happened to other people. I am sure as heck that i would be no exception to this. I would be treated exactly like all others. I have started to interpret that Copyright And Trademark is to silence freedom of imagination.
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And as other things, you might even say "Well, be original, make your own unique things, why steal others stuff for your own benefit?".....First of all. I am never in the intention of stealing or using without permission for financial gain. But i want to make a fantasy story and share it with friends or maybe family, i want to make something. Facebook it or whatever. But, no i cant. And that also implies i should invest in EVERYTHING and make EVERYTHING on my own from ground up. I would have to start making my very own clothes, making my own video games from ground up. No, scratch that, i would have to make my very own computer from ground up and then make my own coding language from ground up. Like. And if that is not all. My whole life has been nothing but a fucking mess. Bullies. Failures. Mistakes. I can't live with it.
And if things couldn't get any worse. If we say i do make my own things. Who's there to stop anyone from taking what i have done and then using it against me as if they had made it? Because i am not well educated within copyright, i am basically fucked as hell. And trying to fully educate myself within copyright is easier said than done. For that i would need a high level degree of english grammar and reading. But since i don't have that. I am a fucked up fuck.
THIS WORLD IS JUST SO FUCKED UP THAT I HATE IT WITH EVERY SENSE OF MY FIBER AND WORD. I FUCKING HATE EVERY COMPANY THAT HAS EXISTED TO MANKIND. I JUST WANT TO BE FUCKING HAPPY. BUT BEING HAPPY HAS A FUCKING PRICE APPARENTLY. I AM LEGIT GETTING DONE WITH THIS GODFORSAKEN PLANET. I HATE MY FUCKING LIFE.

I initially posted this as a reply to a post by u/html_question_guy, but it got closed so I thought I'd post it directly since I think it's worth discussing at the very least:
The following is my take on the current rise of cloud gaming, as well as a review of sorts of the field's major competitors.
As a preamble, I've tried all the big cloud gaming services (pretty much) and I live in France which—like most of Europe and a rapidly growing portion of the world—has cheap, fast and actually unlimited internet. If you're in the USA and have data caps, vote with your vote!
I believe that with good internet conditions, cloud gaming is as inevitable as music and video streaming. You are just getting rid of the physical gear and getting the content directly via an online service at a completely different level of convenience. If you're attached to physical things and the concept of ownership (which is basically no longer true in most cases due to how modern licensing, platforms and DRM work), you'll be safe for quite a while: it's not like you can't get CDs (or even vinyl and cassettes) anymore.
Now for why I'm probably no longer going to bother with buying powerful gaming hardware ever again, and you probably won't either soon enough:

• The first, and main thing is convenience. Being able to click on a button on my phone, TV, computer or tablet and be in a game in less than 10 seconds (sometimes under 5 seconds) is kind of crazy. Now add the lack of downloads and updates and you have a pretty amazing shift in how/when you can play. For people who play all day long this one will be relatively small, but for most gamers it will be significant.
• No need for dedicated hardware. I can't understate this: my PC is due for an upgrade and the PS4 will be obsolete within a year. At best, this is a 550€ + 9€/month and at worst it would be around 2000€; both to be repeated 5-6 years down the line. With Stadia (which would be the cheapest in my case as I'll explain later), that's 0€ at best and 10€/month at most. That plus my living room looks cleaner now and heats up way less in the summer.
• Cloud-specific features. This one is mostly being ignored since most gamers have some sort of allergy to Stadia, but the concept of having multiplayer run as smoothly as if it were running on the best LAN network ever + being able to see other player's screens in a corner in a tactical game + being able to literally send a link to a friend so they can just hop into a game with you (imagine how that would transform Monster Hunter World for example)... I just find this sort of thing fascinating, and I can't wait for more of these features to come out!

I could go on, but those are the big ones. Now for the things people use as arguments against:

• Latency. Just do yourself a favor and try Stadia with its WiFi controller on a decent network. If you haven't, please refrain from declaring that latency will kill the experience. Unless you are a pro or near-pro level player in titles that require twitch reflexes, this just isn't an issue at all. The latency is barely more than that of a current-gen console (better in some titles). Have you ever heard people complain significantly about those?
• Quality. This is the one where there is, in fact, a bit of a loss with cloud gaming. Video compression is just the name of the game, and it's good but not perfect. A 4K60 stream on a 1080p monitor is nearly as good as something running locally, but if you're running 4K120 or even 1440p90, then yes, you'll be losing something. But for most people, this is barely noticeable, and for the others, it's probably an OK price to pay. That, and as internet speeds get faster, encoding tech gets better and stream resolutions get better, it will become somewhat of a moot point.
• Ownership. Ok, so let's make things clear: unless you buy exclusively offline DRM-free games or games which let you set up your own servers (like Minecraft for example), there is a pretty big chance that upwards of 70% of the games you "own" aren't yours at all. You have a license to play them, but some feature, server or platform may disappear one day and they'll be lost until someone hacks them (and then get sued for it and it goes down again). Even with Steam, unless the game is installed when it goes down or they remove the title, it's no longer yours. This is just how things have gone for quite a while. If this is a problem for you, then good luck, the upcoming decades might get a bit tough at times. And I'll add a special mention to Stadia here, who have it in their licensing terms that if a publisher pulls a game from the platform, it will no longer be sold, but current owners will be allowed to keep playing it! Edit: it looks like Steam mentioned something similar if the platform ever goes down, but I believe there is nothing in the rules at this point, so take it with a grain of salt IMHO.
• And even though it's specific to Stadia, "Google kills it's services". No it doesn't: it kills it's free services designed to grow the advertising business and it merges/rebrands it's paid services (2 of them were actually deleted I believe, after little investment). They're putting millions into Stadia, including tons of gaming servers which would be moderately interesting to reuse on anything else, and have been accelerating things since launch, not the reverse.
• Finally, a special mention for modding: For now, it's a loss, but cloud gaming is targeted more at console gamers than PC gamers overall, so it's not a huge issue. Stadia have stated they're working on a solution (with the Farming Simulator devs I believe), and if they get a platform-level solution implemented, I thing this will ba game changer for some.

OK, so the actual services themselves:

1. Stadia: best cloud technology, will probably take over the casual market. — Honestly, regardless of their lackluster marketing and how almost the entire gaming community has agreed that they are the enemy, it's by far the most mature, reliable and advanced cloud gaming platform. That whole thing where "it just works" is not a myth; if you've got a good enough network, it runs flawlessly with a surprisingly low bandwidth requirement. It's free (which is kind of crazy) and works on pretty much any device at this point. — Sure, the games catalog is not quite there yet, but it's constantly growing and will probably be on par with most other cloud services by the time things start to matter for the long term. — If you haven't, give it a try... it kind of feels like magic at this point. I believe Google are aiming at capturing the continuously growing "casual" gamer demographic first before any other cloud gaming service does by offering the simplest, most straightforward experience by far (and their marketing seems tailored just for that anyway).
2. GeForce Now: Power and games catalog, currently too clunky to grow significantly. — It's the service that offers the best quality overall, though I've noticed it is somewhat less consistent and often has more latency than Stadia. The concept is amazing, especially for people who have huge games libraries. I think they're going to get a lot of the "hardcore" gamers who inevitably end up transitioning to the cloud. The main issue is that the horribly clunky user experience and the odd "free with a time limit" business model will probably prevent it from growing into anything else than a niche enthusiast platform. — This is totally a case of "wait and see", but personally, I am not sure I'm willing to put up with the clunk anymore (even though I've been an avid PC gamer and a huge fan of modding... Stadia has just made it so easy that I'm no longer willing to bother with all that I guess).
3. xCloud: Not yet, not by far. — So the "Netflix for games" bit seems pretty amazing on paper, right? The issue is that currently, the tech feels like it's 4-5 years behind the other main contenders. I know that it's coming out of beta soon with 1080p on desktop and all, but if you compare that to the 4K60 of Stadia, it feels like they're trying to catch up. — Technology set aside, the 200+ games on offer as part of a subscription is pretty cool, though it caters to the type of people who play a lot of games at a pretty fast pase, otherwise it's not that interesting once you get down to it... contrary to TV series, I'd wager most gamers play a few online games a lot plus a few solo games here and there. So it might sound amazing, but I'm not sure it's actually the best model, not for me at least. — I believe Microsoft has the network infrastructure, the cash and the know-how to make xCloud one of the top cloud gaming platforms; but they're late to the game and until they've caught up, I'm not convinced. Hopefully their games catalog will keep them in the game long enough to get good tech.— And the last bit that has me doubtful is that they are probably not going to want to kill their console sales by offering the same level of quality on xCloud (imagine the pay $600 + $8/month to be able to play this game... or just stream it for $15/month and you're good to go sales pitch... not good for physical sales I'd wager)
4. Shadow: The future, but probably not for gaming. — Honestly, the tech is amazing. The value for the price is incredible, especially if you have need for a powerful computer as part of your everyday life/work. The thing is... it kind of negates nearly all the benefits of cloud gaming: you still need to download/install games on your Shadow instance, you still get Windows updates, you still have to deal with drivers and peripherals acting up if you ever plan on using some specific keyboard or microphone, etc. So is it probably one of the best offerings out there? Yes, if you do more than game on it. It will probably grow to the point of becoming one of the biggest cloud gaming services, but not just for games... I'd wager it will be most popular with people who use demanding software for work and want the convenience of a thin&light, a chromebook or a tablet.
5. PS Now: First to start, last to reach the finish line. — They were the first big company to invest into cloud gaming. The potential was huge... coupled with their good position in the mobile phone market, they could have been the first to make something great out of cloud gaming. But the "early adopter" problem means they sunk a whole lot of money into an infrastructure that is now outdated and massively under-performs when compared to the competition. — Even though they have Sony exclusives, PS Now feels pretty terrible (mostly due to latency), has some pretty bad compression; it's more of a "bonus" for people who own a PS4 than a viable platform at this point. Even the fact that AAA titles only stay available for a short time when they are included makes it feel like more of a demo + access to older games than a real subscription. — If their deal with Microsoft pans out and they properly join the race, they might catch up some day, but for now it's just not worth it.

Conclusion:
Stadia will probably pull off a Nintendo and get a huge market share by catering to "casuals" until they have enough weight to start moving into the "hardcore" space (think DS -> Wii -> Switch). GeForce Now and xCloud are going the other way around, leveraging their respective brands/communities to get their existing playerbase beamed into the cloud (^^). Both strategies will probably work, but in terms of tech and UX, Stadia is light years ahead of the competition, so I'll probably be using it the most until the others catch up.
Overall, cloud gaming is inevitable, practical and honestly just cool. Just how other media have gone digital/online, so will games. I mean even books have made the shift, and a majority of people I know seem to have some sort of fetish for the touch and smell of paper...
Give it 5–10 years and opinions will have shifted towards cloud gaming for most people.

Bear with me here I’m brand new to Minecraft! I recently downloaded Minecraft on my Nintendo Switch Lite and I have no idea what I’m doing (which I feel like is kind of the point). I like mining and digging little caves and finding shiny stuff and whatnot but how do you play online and see other people’s stuff? I need some basic Minecraft tips and etiquette so that when I do figure out how to play online I’ll at least have an idea of what I can and can’t do. So I’ll break down my questions: (again, sorry, I’m like a little lost puppy right now so these are really random)

1. What are Realms?
2. How do you play online?
3. Has anyone else’s game been glitching and crashing like mine?!?! It’s driving me crazy
4. When you die and respawn, where does all your stuff go?! Do you basically have to start over with gathering stuff?!
5. What are the iron ingot things and what do they do?
6. What’s the best way get rid off stuff you have too much of. I’ve just been shoving all my excessive amounts of cobblestone into a chest. THERE MUST be a better way!
7. Biomes? WhAt DoEs It MeAn?
8. The traveling trader—the noises...why.
9. How do you own and breed animals?

Basically any beginners guidance would be so great! The main think I know for sure I can do is hit stuff and pick flowers. But I want to know MORE! I want to know all the things so I can build cool stuff too!
If anyone has links to anything that might help me along—I’d appreciate it :)

I recently bought Minecraft on the Nintendo Switch and have been enjoying the game. When my friends learned I got it, many of them asked to play. One of them was on a different console, namely the Xbox One, so for Crossplay I had to create a Microsoft Account and send him a friend request. We’ve played a ton and it’s been super fun, but I’m a person who likes to play alone in my own world most of the time and practically every time I get into Minecraft he sends me a message asking to play. I love the guy, but I’m getting a little tired of always needing to talk and socialize with somebody every time I play, especially in a game like Minecraft that can be really good to chill out with.
I usually accept his request and end up playing with him, but he’s also the kind of guy who wants to play video games for 7 hours straight late at night, and I’m most certainly not. I’ll tell him I’m getting off and going to sleep, but in reality I just want to play by myself. The problem is that he can still see I’m online playing Minecraft, so I feel like I can’t play the game when I want to.
One option is to just not sign in to my Microsoft account, but that limits what you can do. I’ve already missed some achievements I was supposed to get because I wasn’t signed in, and I also can’t access any of my downloaded skins or worlds. I’ve been coming up with some excuses for why I can’t play, but they’re running out of believability. I don’t want to hurt his feelings, cause he is cool and I’m glad he wants to hang out with me, but I’m just not the kind of person who wants to be online with somebody 24/7.
My problem is that because I don’t own an Xbox, I don’t know how to set my profile to appear offline. I looked at a few sites and they all seemed to require the console. Does anybody know a way to set your Microsoft account to appear offline without owning an Xbox?

The following description is not provided by this sub or any of it's contributors.
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The description of this deal was not provided by this subreddit and it's contributors.
Amazon
Are you sick of buying Nintendo video games and accessories you don’t like, or your kids won’t play? Then you need this complete Nintendo Switch guide by award-winning games journalist Chris Stead.- Written for parents, kids and gamers alike- Full overview of hardware, peripherals, accessories and Nintendo Online- Over 75 games reviewed with bonus family-friendly information- Chris Stead is a multiple award-winning, 25-year veteran games journalistNintendo Switch Gaming Guide: Overview of the best Nintendo video games, cheats and accessories.- Are you unsure which Nintendo Switch games are right for you?- Do you need help deciding between a Joy-Con, a Pro Controller or a Grip?- Is the Nintendo Switch worth it in 2020?- Are you a parent sick of buying the “wrong” games for your kids?- Do you want to find the best co-op games on Nintendo Switch?_Chris Stead’s Nintendo Switch Gaming Guide is as comprehensive an overview of the popular video games console as you will find. This is one of the best Nintendo gaming systems yet, offering the flexibility of a home console and a handheld in one machine, plus a range of games for all demographics. From Nintendo Zelda fans, to the best of Super Mario, Pokémon, Lego, Minecraft, Marvel, Fortnite, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros. and more.
As well as detailing the experience offered by over 75 Nintendo video games, Chris Stead dives into each of the core accessories, the Nintendo Online service, and the pros and cons of the Nintendo Switch gaming system itself. Stead started his career working on N64 Gamer magazine in the mid-90s, and has since run such notable brands as GamePro, Game Informer, Fortnite magazine and Gameplayer, as well as working for sites like IGN, Gamespot, Kotaku, Rooster Teeth and MCV.
Grab your copy of Nintendo Switch Gaming Guide and learn:- _The best Nintendo Switch games for kids and families.- Which Nintendo Switch games you can play online or co-op with friends.- Where to buy a Nintendo Switch and Switch video games at the cheapest price. - How to decide on which Nintendo accessories and peripherals you need.
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I have no idea how the rest of you long-haul chads can justify continuing to hope for Geno because of how long we've been hoping and getting burned, it's the ----ing stress point for me. I'd be less disappointed if I'd just jumped on the Geno bandwagon, sure, but the new blood shouldn't be strung along like we've been. They can look back on the history of this fanbase and see all of the empty platitudes Sakurai has thrown our way and all of the coincidences that we've had to endure and they sure as hell can decide for themselves that they don't want to be cattle led to slaughter like we've been. I commend them for it. Pick a horse that'll win, new guys.
I know I said I was going to wait until 12/17 to do this but ---- it, there is absolutely zero chance that Geno's costume doesn't come back with Sephiroth and if it doesn't, I stand by what I said that they're just sweeping him under the rug. Believe it or not, I do read almost all of the comments in this thread even when we accumulate several tens of pages in one night. I see the high and mighty, the self righteous, the bootlickers who come here and say that we should appreciate every ----ing table scrap thrown our way, that somehow we should be just fine with a costume, or better still a ----ing "deluxe" one, and to you, I say unkindly ---- right off and find a new hobby instead of trying to hold the moral high ground on the ----ing internet - I hear they're accepting at clown college and that'll probably fill your time.
Spoiler: I don't want this page to be 8 miles longTo all the people who want me to examine what kind of "fan" I am, despite the fact that you don't deserve a response, I can't help myself from putting at least 100 hooks in my mouth at any given time, I am a ----ing bait addict. I'll tell you what kind of fan I am, I'm the kind of fan that at age 9 picked up Super Smash Bros knowing good and god damn well that it was a multiplayer party game that I would likely never be able to enjoy as intended because I am an only child who, at the time, had 1 friend who was a stereotypical early 90s baby whose parents would not allow near a video game. I just wanted to know what it was about, how a game could possibly let me play as Mario and Link and Pikachu all in the same world, and I fell in love with it. I was introduced to Metroid, F-Zero and Earthbound through this game and because of the latter, I can say that Smash Bros 64 effectively changed my life.
I'm the kind of fan who bought a Gamecube on launch day and played Luigi's Mansion until Melee came out and then Melee almost never left my console. I had acquired exactly 1 more friend in those two years and this one played video games, so he and I played the everloving ---- out of Melee and I began to learn about tournaments and the competitive scene of Smash at this point and I learned that I was absolute garbage at Melee and so stepped my game up tremendously over the following years. I never went to a single tournament because I was still so young, but it's safe to say that for the second time in its history, Smash as a franchise changed my life.
I'm the kind of fan who was up bright and early every morning, checking the Brawl Dojo before school or in my morning programming class if I didn't manage to wake up early enough to do it at home. Every day, I rooted for Geno or Isaac or Lloyd to show up, and after Lucas, I hoped for his adversary, Masked Man. I rode the ups and downs of that release cycle like everyone else, had my mind blown by Sonic and had my expectations slashed by the generic "check out this character's down tilt" posts or "look at this cool new item" ----. I was out here in the trenches when a true all star cast of characters was soiled by the oh so creative addition of R.O.B. and Toon Link. Beyond all of this, what kind of fan am I? I didn't take a hot steamy dump on everyone who wanted to play Brawl competitively. I gave it a fair shake and my first Smash tournaments were playing this beautiful trainwreck. I sat around and endured endless ---- from Melee players because I enjoyed the roster over the mechanics. Did I switch to Brawl+ when it became available? ---- yeah I did, to hell with tripping... But I looked forward to the future of the franchise.
I'm the kind of fan who hinged his decision to purchase a whole ass Wii U because they said of course Smash Bros was coming to it. Like Brawl before it, I was there every night on the Smash Dojo looking out, once again, for Geno. I was happy to see returning characters, thrilled by the addition of Mega Man, confused by the waifubait inclusions of Lucina and Palutena, angered at the concept of Mii Fighters, excited by Greninja, Shulk and Robin and ----ing heartbroken by the cut of Wolf, Snake and Lucas. The DLC cycle for Smash 4 was truly an exciting time for me because for the first time in Smash's history, after the game had come out we could hold onto hope. They brought Lucas back despite being a trophy and Ness having all of his moves, truly anything was possible... But Nintendo wanted to turn heads more than they wanted to please fans after Mewtwo and Lucas. I'm sure Cloud did both for some, but not for me, and the Geno costume... I don't think I was too upset. It was, at that time, hope. Hope, once again, to look forward to the future of the franchise.
Finally, I am the kind of fan who, despite being burnt on the fact that Bayonetta was added to Smash 4 with zero semblance of care for balance, despite being burnt on the quality of some of the Wii U's late-life releases (Star Fox Zero hurts me in ways I didn't think I could be hurt by video games), and despite being burnt by the fact that the Wii U sucked absolute ass... I picked up a Switch. Well after release, sure, but I still got a Switch because I trusted the quality of the games, what Nintendo would do for their fans. Despite thinking that Ultimate was going to be a Smash 4 port with some more DLC, I still held out a little hope for it, and when it was shown off at E3 with every character returning, I was hyped up. The massive roster that I had dreamed about since Melee was really becoming a reality... Almost everything from this point is so recent there's no need to describe it.
So if the fact that I don't sit down at the table and say with excitement "itadakimasu" when Nintendo serves me ---- doesn't make me a fan despite all of this, then I don't want to be a fan.
You might be saying "how is Nintendo putting the most vapid antagonist of the most entry level Final Fantasy game into Smash 'serving [you] ----'", and all I have to say in response to that is that you simply will never understand how I feel. Sephiroth isn't ----, of course not. This is a massive reveal that pleases a lot more people than it disappoints and answers the question of "how do they outdo Steve?". But I didn't sign up to see Steve outdone. I didn't sign up to see ----ing Steve. There's a small handful of holes in Smash Ultimate that keep it from truly being "Ultimate" or even "Special" as the Japanese name implies, and those holes aren't filled by massive picks like this, they're filled by little guys that the Smash community has been requesting for over a decade. But fan polls mean nothing in the face of big money deals.
All of this DLC, even pass 1, has been mostly just head turning characters, nothing to appeal to fan requests. Joker? "Look at us, we got weeb garbage to join the roster before the fans got anything they asked for!" Hero? "Look at us we got the biggest RPG franchise in Japan to join the roster" Banjo? Banjo...
I'm ----ing bitter and I want to put these words on paper, and know that I mean them from the bottom of my heart - if you like Banjo then ---- you. I hate you for the fact that you got your dumb cereal mascot from a trashy knockoff Mario 64 before we got virtually anyone else. This goes beyond Geno, ----ing Waluigi would have been a better pick than Banjo. I'm glad that he's just a ----ty Mario semi-clone that'll never amount to anything competitively because I ----ing hate looking at him and hearing his sound effects and his music. He was added as nothing more than yet another "look at us, we went to our direct competitor and shilled their console so we could pretend to appeal to fans but actually we just wanted to turn heads and be a media sensation", but blinded by nostalgia for an objectively awful pair of video games you guys think they finally listened to the fans for once. It's sad. And for the record? Geno could be the next three characters and I'd still feel this way about Banjo. ---- him and ---- his fans.
Terry is a genuine enigma and I'm glad they added him. Byleth needs no explanation.
I've said so many times that the DLC for Ultimate is about characters who have mechanics that are really unique. Joker has a semi-uncontrollable limit gauge that turns him from Sheik to Ganondorf, Hero has a whole ass spells menu, Banjo has... nothing really special, honestly. I guess the neutral B is unique but not really useful. Terry has fighting game inputs with a meter equivalent built in and Byleth is a Fire Emblem character with blue hair without a counter (who finally represents the variety of weapons available in the game). Min Min is like what if Mega Man's projectiles couldn't be reflected and Steve is so far out of the realm of plausible that he literally doesn't fit in with the rest of the cast. It really did feel like this was the development mindset, to make experiences unique to each character and put something special in the game, "and where did that bring you?"
Anime Swordsman: Back to me.
Seriously, they went out of their way to get the most iconic Final Fantasy villain right next to ----ing Kefka, put him and the full length of his massive tool in the game only to give him a ----ing counter. They're out of ideas and they clearly don't give a damn about unique characters or characters that are pushing the limit of the game's balance. ---- me for being wrong about the one thing that would have spelt something good for Smash's future. They just want to turn heads or shill their own ----.
In the end, Ovaltine is right - this isn't on Square, this is on Nintendo. Nintendo didn't go to Square and say "gimme Geno" only for Square to say "Cloud first", they went to Square and said "gimme Cloud" and Square said "he's kind of old". This situation didn't happen with a single Square character. Nintendo asked for who we got and we got them. Nintendo ----ing hates the fact that Mario can be more than vapid platforming save the princess haha funny plumber fireballs go plt plt. They hate that Mario and his universe can be the vehicle of heartwarming stories with quirky dialogue that can evoke actual emotion from real humans, and above all, their pride as a company hates the fact that one of the most popular Mario characters of all time wasn't made by them. They never want us to be able to play as Geno again. Call it dooming all you want, it's the ----ing God's honest truth. If Nintendo wanted Geno, we would have had him three times by now.
That's what makes this ---- sting even more. I've brought it up in the past but I'll bring it up again - there was an interview, long ago, where Sakurai said that he doesn't like to string people along or play with their expectations. Well, that was a ----ing lie because it is undeniable that our expectations have been played with and we've been strung along. If this was the plan all along then just put the ----ing Geno costume back in the game with Hero and end our ----ing misery. Let us ----ing rest from this endless speculation and harassment from internet randos and ----ing paid professionals moonlighting as insiders. Whoever's making these decisions up at Nintendo can rot in the deepest pit in hell for playing with the emotions of this fanbase and letting us be the whipping boys of an entire community. Thinking about it, hell's probably too nice of a place for them.
I hope Wynn is riding high right about now, he's a king and should be exalted like one.
And why do I want to throw Ultimate in the garbage and delete my account? Because Smash has changed. The future I imagined back in Melee was one in which Nintendo characters and maybe third party characters relevant to Nintendo's storied history would be added in droves to make this perfect dream fighting game... But we've gotten almost the exact opposite. Characters that mean nothing to Nintendo and in some cases have barely appeared on a Nintendo console get added in and the world goes ape---- for them, just a byproduct of the corruption of the wish that everyone liked video games.
As it stands right now, I look at the roster and it makes me ----ing angry. Who the hell is Bayonetta? Corrin? Piranha Plant? Incineroar? Joker? Byleth? Why the hell did someone photoshop Minecraft Steve onto this character select screen and make me accept it as real? I just can't with this ----. The pandemic has robbed me of the joys that Smash brought into my life and they can't be replaced with the shoddy online, and even when it inevitably ends and things can return to normal, the damage of the character picks is going to remain. The world is give and take, and I feel like all I've gotten is the "take" half of it. All I have to look forward to in the Smash section of my life is going back to a tournament in which a bunch of zoomers are playing ----ing Steve and Sans Undertale and I've gotten a big fat goose egg when it comes to characters I want that can balance out this nightmare. I don't want to suffer hearing Steve's victory screen when I can't move that cursor on the character select screen over to someone that I genuinely begged to have added to the game. I just don't want to put up with it. Again, if you can't understand my sentiments here, whatever, you just won't ever understand it.
I just want to put all of this behind me and pretend I never cared. I'm tired of losing and I'd rather pretend that I won.
Once again, this image that I saved all the way back in the grinch days haunts me. It was real all along, obviously provided by a time traveler.

Hello!
Sorry for the super long post but I had a terrible problem recently and just found a solution, and wanted to share in case someone else was having the same problem!
I am a Minecrafter who plays on Nintendo Switch. Recently, when Minecraft received an update that patched some minor bugs, I became unable to play on my Realm. Each time I attempted to join my Realm a prompt would appear telling me that Minecraft Realms would need to update separately to catch up to the software on my Switch. I figured I could simply download my game, continue playing until the Realms received the same update, then use the ‘Replace World’ function to add in the progress I’d made offline while waiting for Realms to update. A couple days later I was able to enter my Realm, and excitedly went to export the offline copy (where I had been continuing my progress) only to receive the dreaded “Export failed because an error occurred” message.
If you clicked on this post, you likely have had a similar experience and, upon trying to replace your Realm’s world, received the same message. I searched high and low and was unable to find any answers online, except some people who said the solution was to just keep trying until it worked. I did that for about a week until yesterday I found a YouTube video with the instructions for how to fix this in a more proactive way!
First, I should mention that I do not know if this is a solution that would work every time, but it is just the solution I found that worked for me. If you do not play Minecraft on a console it also may require different steps...
Here is how I was able to fix this issue: 1. Open your ‘Home’ screen on the Switch (or the equivalent on whichever console you use to play). 2. Hit the ‘+’ button to open the game’s options, and scroll down to the ‘Save Cloud Data’ tab. Make sure you have saved your game data on the cloud before attempting this process. You will know it is backed up when you see a blue check mark underneath the icon for the account you use to play. If you use multiple accounts, make sure you see a check mark under ALL the account icons. 3. Delete your Minecraft app entirely. This is done by going to the ‘Manage Software’ tab in this same options menu and hitting the bottom option; ‘Delete Software’. Do NOT hit ‘Archive Software’, as this is a different action and I cannot ensure the solution will work if you do not completely delete the app. 4. Open your Nintendo Store and search for Minecraft. Make sure you open the Store with the same account you used to purchase Minecraft, so that it is free to re-download. 5. Re-download the game, which will give you entirely fresh software and might require you to sign back into your Microsoft account used to play Minecraft. 6. Attempt the same ‘Replace World’ function, and this time it should work 👍🏽
I hope this helps someone out! If you try this and it still doesn’t work I can refer you to the Youtube video which may do a better job of listing the steps and has another method for getting it to work (which I tried before this method and didn’t work, but might work better in your case). When I was having this problem I was so immensely frustrated, and the internet/ Mojang provided no help at all in terms of solutions. If I can save even just one person that same hair-pulling, mind-numbing, head-banging-against-the-wall experience I will be happy 😊

For those that don’t know, I like to take the time and analyze Nintendo’s studios and producers and look at their past to see where the company is headed in the future. I typically do an analyzation in January and go out on a limb with predictions. That thread can be seen here: https://www.reddit.com/nintendo/comments/ee2xav/state_of_nintendo_in_2020
Typically, around e3 Nintendo showcases its titles for the remainder of the year and this is when I see where my predictions were right and where they went wrong. However, e3 was cancelled and Nintendo has moved on the last two months without barely a word on its upcoming gaming schedule. There were system shortages throughout the pandemic as the system was in high demand. Nintendo has had bottle necks in both development and distribution of the system and its games throughout the pandemic. This is likely why despite being almost 2 months after when e3 is typically held, we have not heard a word about Nintendo’s later half of the year offerings, being cautious incase of development issues.
Regardless, I want to take the time to look at my January analysis and comment on rumors and speculation.
Nintendo’s current release list for 2020
Not many releases for Nintendo so for in 2020, and what has been released has been a focus in the RPG genre meaning there has not been much variety in terms of Nintendo releases. Regardless, many are quality titles with lasting appeal.
Tokyo Mirage Session #FE encore (Jan 17 – Atlus)
- An expanded release of the Wii U title which features Shin Megami Tensei gameplay and aesthetics and mixes them in with Fire Emblem trappings. Being able to summon ‘mirages’ in the form of your favorite Fire Emblem character and catchy dance tunes to battle against monsters.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Mar 20 – EAD Kyoto/Hisashi Nogami)
- First major Nintendo release of 2020. Instead of having all the events preplanned, monthly updates add in events and extra features such as being able to swim and collect special event items. Being able to terraform your island and design it your way was one of the most features to be added to the series. Look for updates to the game throughout the year.
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (May 28 – Monolith Soft)
- Released with extra content featuring Shulk and Melia which is up to 12 hours long and can be played from the start. It connects to other games in the Xenoblade franchise and ends Melia’s character arc from the main game.
Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (Jun 5 – ND Cube)
- Surprise minigame collection and a sequel to the Nintendo DS game features local play for up to 4 players (depending on the game) and online play. Simplistic in its design, has 51 different minigames that use all the features of the Switch.
Paper Mario: The Origami King (Jul 17 – Intelligent Systems)
- Join Paper Mario in an all new adventure to rescue hidden toads and the Princess from the Origami King. Featuring an all new battle system where you have to line up enemies or traverse a board against bosses, this RPG is light on the RPG but very witty in the writing.
Nintendo DLC Releases
Nintendo has had a steady release of additional content for their older titles. Due to the ability to have quicker turnover and easier to program, the global pandemic has a less of an impact on Nintendo scheduled DLC releases as much of its DLC has released on time or early. Although we may feel the impact for the second season pass on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as it currently only showcased one of six characters.
Super Smash Bros Ultimate – Byleth (Jan 28)
- New character, stage and music featuring male and female Byleth from Nintendo Switch game Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Fire Emblem: Three Houses – Cindered Shadows DLC (Feb 12 – Intelligent Systems)
- The Final wave of DLC includes new added characters, jobs, and a brand-new story line dealing with an unknown house (ashen wolves) and underground catacombs. The most substantial and final update to the game adding approximately 12 hours of content which can be added to your main game.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order – The Shadow of Doom (Mar 26 – Koei Tecmo)
- The final DLC package featuring characters from the Fantastic Four universe. This update also included more Danger Room levels, new gauntlets and additional outfits and voice overs. Lastly, it includes a secret 5 character that you also need to unlock.
Super Mario Maker 2 – final DLC
- This free update added new enemies, the SMB 2 mushroom which changes how Mario acts in the game (rides enemies instead of jumping on them and can pick up and throw them), new hats for 3D World, and the addition of snowballs.
Luigi’s Mansion 3 DLC (Apr 29 – Next Level Games)
- The first DLC pack was released March 4th and the second pack was released by the end of April. Promised by the end of July and the last of it came early. The DLC content was for the multiplayer only modes and nothing added to the single player campaign.
Pokemon Sword/Shield – Isle of Armor (Jun 17 – Game Freak)
- The first of the two expansion dlc packages for the Sword and Shield games brings back some older pokemon, some new pokemon, a practice dojo and a new area to explore in the Galar region.
Super Smash Bros Ultimate – Min Min (Jun 29)
- New character, stage and music featuring Min Min from Nintendo Switch game ARMS
Other notable games released in 2020
Devil May Cry 1,2,3
Crysis Remastered
Streets of Rage 4
Ninjala
Deadly Premonition 2
Minecraft Dungeons
Borderlands Collection
X-Com Collection
Bioshock Collection
Mega Man Zero/ZX Collection
Notable upcoming games for 2020
*All upcoming games can be delayed and the 2020 release date is tentative
Doom Eternal
WWE Battlegrounds
The Survivalists
Axiom Verge 2
No More Heroes 3
Bravely Default 2
Skater XL
Pokemon Sword/Shield – The Crown Tundra
Currently, there is nothing big on the horizon from Nintendo and no major games officially announced outside the previously mentioned games. It is expected that Nintendo will have an official Nintendo Direct in August to showcase all their major releases for the remainder of the year, however; nothing has been officially announced yet. So we are going to look at the studios and EAD producers to see what they would likely be working on and whether my January predictions were accurate.
Nintendo Entertainment Planning and Development Tokyo
Yoshiaki Koizumi
- Prediction: Super Mario Odyssey 2
- Rumor: Super Mario 3D World/Super Mario 3D Collection
- Likelihood: all mentioned above
Coming off of a leak that included a Paper Mario game to be released in Summer, these two games were also a big part of the rumor. I have a feeling while they have also been working on Super Mario Odyssey 2, the fact that Peach’s Castle was highly praised for being in the first game means Nintendo is looking back on their heritage. For quicker turnover, I predict we will see the remakes if not a full remake collection (possibly sold separately) and SMO2 for 2021.
Koichi Hayashida
- Prediction: Super Mario Odyssey 2
- Rumor: Super Mario 3D World/Super Mario 3D Collection
- Likelihood: all mentioned above
Like with Koizumi’s team, they worked together with Super Mario Odyssey. It is likely they are working in tandem with the remakes/collection and the sequel to Super Mario Odyssey.
Takao Shimizu
- Prediction: Super Mario Odyssey 2
- Rumor: Super Mario 3D World/Super Mario 3D Collection
- Likelihood: Super Mario 3D World/Super Mario 3D Collection/SNES Online/NES Online
This producer helped create the NES Classic Edition and SNES Classic Edition. I am certain he and his team are responsible for the NES and SNES Online games. His team is smaller and they also assisted with Super Mario Odyssey to ensure they hit the holiday 2017. While I no longer think his team is on the Odyssey sequel at the moment due to it potentially being released after the 3D remakes, they are likely helping to finish off the 3D remakes
Nintendo Entertainment Planning and Development Kyoto
Eiji Aonuma
- Confirmed: Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 (under Fujibayashi)
- Prediction: 2D Zelda (under Shikata)
- Likelihood: only Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 (under both developers)
Due to the amount of development Zelda takes and Nintendo has the character designers work in tandem with dungeon developers and overworld developers, they require a lot of time to be on the same page. With the global pandemic, I think it pushed Nintendo to take more time with the title, despite being in development 3 years already and having help from Monolith Soft with this title (and the first Breath of the Wild) so we will likely see it in 2021. I think any other Zelda titles from this group will be put on hold for the time being to solely work on the sequel to
Hideki Konno
- Prediction: Donkey Kong Racing
- Rumor: Mario Kart 9/Mario Kart Ultimate
- Likelihood: Donkey Kong Racing
This is one of the times where I don’t believe the current rumor going around. I think Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is selling too well for Nintendo to pull the plug on the title which is what they would do if they came out with Mario Kart 9 or Mario Kart Ultimate. The Crash and Sonic Racers show that there is room for more than one mascot racer on the system (whereas having the same mascot would deplete sales) and Nintendo is one to always comeback to old ideas (Look at the GameCube 3D screen attachment that they developed with Luigi’s Mansion). If not a Kart Racer, then I think they may have been developing another racer in a dormant Nintendo IP.
Hiroyuki Kimura
- Prediction: Pikmin 4
- Rumor: Pikmin 4
- Likelihood: Pikmin 4
This team is responsible for Pikmin and the 2D Mario games that are not Mario Maker. With Nintendo’s expectations of Super Mario Maker 2 to do better and its extended life DLC getting a final release earlier this year, I think this team moved on to the much requested Pikmin franchise. There have been rumblings of Pikmin 4 ever since they were developing Hey! Pikmin. Nintendo is not deaf to fan demand (except with Mother 3)
Kosuke Yubuki
This team previously worked on ARMS and was folded back into a team under Konno to develop a title. No predictions for this team except what is posted under Konno.
Hisashi Nogami
- Confirmed: Animal Crossing: New Horizons
This team just released the latest Animal Crossing game in March during the pandemic and it has sold more in its first month than the rest of the series has total to date (which was a large number to begin with). There is a monthly roll out of updates so the team is focusing on this title and may be starting something else in the planning stages. This team is also responsible for Splatoon so it is possible they may be starting Splatoon 3 in early pre-development.
Other Nintendo Studios/Collaborators
Camelot Software Planning
- Prediction: Mario Golf
- Likelihood: Mario Golf
This team works on the Mario Sports titles and Golden Sun. With the success of Mario Tennis Aces, I expect them to be in the midst of the next Mario Golf game. The only question is whether it will be out in 2020 or delayed due to the pandemic into 2021
Game Freak
- Confirmed: Pokemon Sword/Shield DLC
I got a lot of hate when I first posted my prediction that Game Freak will only release the DLC for Sword and Shield and give the series a year off. So far, what has been shown and said seems to be exactly that. Adding in old Pokemon and new story elements, focus on the title for DLC their only other release is a port of Little Town Hero to PlayStation 4.
Grezzo
- Prediction: 2D Zelda akin to the Link’s Awakening remake
- Rumor: none
- Likelihood: 2D Zelda akin to the Link’s Awakening remake/other 3D Zelda port/new title
Responsible for the 3D Zelda remakes on 3DS, Four Swords Anniversary edition, Link’s Awakening Switch and Ever Oasis on 3DS, this team is likely to use their current Zelda engine for a new title or different 2D Zelda port. Hope to see the Oracle series but they develop what Nintendo plans for them and the 3D games sell better. Also with Shikata’s team rolled in with Fujibayashi, it is possible that this team may be preparing a port of a 3D Zelda title.
Good Feel
- Prediction: Wario Land/World
- Rumor: none
- Likelihood: Wario Land/World
Team behind the last few Yoshi games and with Crafted World still selling well, I foresee Nintendo giving this team a shot at a different 2D intellectual property. I think the Wario platformer series may match this team with their collect everything experience in platformers
HAL Laboratory
- Prediction: Kirby
- Rumor: Kirby
- Likelihood: Kirby
While I predicted a Kirby title in early 2020, they may have been taking their time and with the global pandemic things may have been pushed even further away. I expect to hear about a Kirby title at the next direct or for sometime in 2021.
Intelligent Systems
- Confirmed: Paper Mario: The Origami King
- Likelihood: Fire Emblem
I predicted this team was working on a Paper Mario game for 2021, it was correct except it was ready for release this year. This team works on Fire Emblem, Advance Wars and Paper Mario. I think their next game will be another Fire Emblem but will be a some time before it is released as they had two major releases back-to-back and major DLC for one of the titles that just finished. I say their next title will be a 2022 at the earliest.
Next Level Games
- Confirmed: Luigi’s Mansion 3 DLC
- Prediction: 2D Metroid or Punchout
- Rumored: 2D Metroid
- Likelihood: another Luigi’s Mansion game
They just finished the multiplayer DLC for Luigi’s Mansion 3 and have started their next title. They have worked on the cancelled Mario Spikers (volleyball with wrestling), Federation Force and Luigi games. With the success of Luigi’s Mansion 3, Nintendo is probably going to keep them on that franchise but they have expressed interest to return to Metroid or Punchout so they may be given a chance to develop titles in either of those IPs. Regardless do not expect to hear anything from this team until 2021 at the earliest.
NDCube
- Confirmed: Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics
- Prediction: Super Mario Party 2
- Likelihood: Super Mario Party 2
I went out on a limb and stated that we should hear about Super Mario Party 2 this year. With that title still selling incredibly well, even after a year after release, Nintendo had them develop a new game from an old DS game. Clubhouse games has been received quite well despite being very basic in the options department. I think with the quick turnover to develop Clubhouse games that the team is also working on Super Mario Party 2, but will see it next year rather than 2020.
Monolith Soft
- Confirmed: Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition/Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2
- Prediction: Xenoblade Chronicles 3
- Likelihood: Xenoblade Chronicles 3
One of Nintendo’s bigger 2nd party studios, they have just released Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition and are confirmed to be helping with the sequel to Breath of the Wild. While I originally thought BotW2 would release this year, the global pandemic and the amount of interaction a large Zelda game requires, looks like it will be a 2021 title. Additionally, they were working on a fantasy game like Zelda that they were hiring for in 2018 and that development has likely wrapped into the Zelda title they are assisting with. Regardless, some of the team will also be working on their next RPG in the Xenoblade franchise as well. Do not expect to hear about their developments until 2021 at the earliest.
Retro Studios
- Confirmed: Metroid Prime 4
- Prediction: Metroid Prime Trilogy
- Likelihood: both
It has been known that development of Metroid Prime 4 was handed back to Retro Studios in early 2018. I still believe they also developed the oft rumored Metroid Prime Trilogy and Nintendo is sitting on that title to use it to promote Metroid Prime 4. Either way, do not expect to see a title from them until 2021.
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---- I will talk about 3rd party studios in a future update