Nuclear Monster

  • The June launch for the Nintendo Switch 2 that was rumored has been confirmed by today’s Nintendo Switch 2 Direct along with a heap of games and accessories, and a $450 price tag alongside more expensive games.

    Some standouts from the video for me were:

    A new From Software game that had me thinking it was somehow within their Bloodborne Remastered universe, but no, it’s The Duskbloods which I’ve got to say is an odd naming choice and is also oddly a multiplayer-focused pve/pvp game. Due out 2026, with only Nintendo Switch 2 as the confirmed platform. The Duskbloods video trailer is over here and the trailer is sick as hell. From Software sure are into blood. Who knew?

    The Switch 2’s mouse mode looks good, but the game they chose to show it off, Drag x Drive, looks like a demo though the wheelchair basketball representation is good. I look forward to hearing about vicious back-alley DxD battles. Still, there was no mousepad or other accessory to make it easier to use. You know there will be a ton of them designed for the couch by third-parties.

    The in-game voice/video chat and screen sharing features of the Switch 2 look impressive, and the videos of these features looked like they included realisitic demonstrations (low framerates for the gameplay video) will Nintendo screw it somehow?

    That nvidia is providing the system on a chip again is a little surprising given the incredible security foul-ups with the first hardware revision of the Nintendo Switch that allowed for the system to be jailbroken supposedly easily. Still, it got Nintendo higher framerates and more functionality in a low power environment. You’ve got to imagine Nintendo isn’t happy about the cooling system in the dock, but maybe they got a sweet deal on the silicon.

    The lack of an OLED or Mini LED panel in the Switch 2 at this $450 price point is extremely disappointing from my perspective as a writer and video games enjoyer, but may make sense if Nintendo need to achieve a certain amount of volume on the production for the hardware before a revision where the fundamentals are cheaper and they have enough headroom to add a second variation with the upgraded display. Who knows.

    Mario Kart World’s open-world gameplay looks like it could actually be a fun addition to Mario Kart, why not get a little Forza Horizon in your Mario Kart?

    Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games and DLC upgrade packs look like a mediocre solution to the problem of charging for higher resolutions and frame-rates. All you get with Breath of the Wild besides those graphical upgrades is a journal app on your phone? I see now why Nintendo was doing whatever they could to shut down Switch emulation.

    The Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour game looks like it should be free, like the delightful Astro’s Playroom is on the Playstation 5, but it’ll probably be under 10 bucks.

    Nothing today gave me any more trust in Nintendo’s eShop for the Switch and I am very suspicious of the longevity of this service. Will it still be up in ten or twenty years? How much of the games are on the new red Nintendo Switch 2 cartridges?

    Things are looking like they could get real bad for anyone who isn’t a billionaire and enjoys things like food and shelter. Who is feeling great about spending on a new console and games in this situation?

    Pre-orders from some retailers are already live, hopefully Nintendo made enough that there won’t be any price-gouging.

  • In my mind there are basically three different variations of Tetris that are the most important. The original for DOS and the Elektronika 60. The Game Boy version that so many people fell in love with. And Tetris: Effect, the modern re-beautification. Plenty of other great variations like Puyo Puyo Tetris, and wonderful rom hacks like Rosy Retrospection exist, but one that has been a little difficult to come by is Arika’s Tetris: The Grand Master and was previously only available in the west through imports or through Hamster’s Arcade Archives for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.

    The good news is that Arika is giving us the gift of Tetris: The Grand Master 4 – Absolute Eye on Steam for Windows on April 3rd. It’ll be $35 USD or 3,900 JPY. Here’s a trailer up on YouTube.

  • Game developer Terry Cavanagh of VVVVVV, Dicey Dungeons, and so many other great games has a new collection of five „reasonably substantial“ and 16 „smaller, messier‘ games out now called „Terry‘s Other Games“

    Terry’s Other Games is out now on Windows, macOS, and Linux through itch and Steam for $10.

  • I recently replayed Outer Wilds and loved it so much. It’s a first-person open-world adventure about a young person going into space for the first time, exploring their solar system, and finding out more about the other people that inhabited it.

    You can watch my entire play through on YouTube or just play Outer Wilds for yourself which is what I’d recommend. There is a lot of information that could spoil the mystery so I won’t say much more about it.

    Outer Wilds is $25 on Steam for Windows. I’d recommend getting it bundled with the Echoes of the Eye expansion for $38. Though the expansion is spooky in a way that the main game isn’t, it is worth getting spooked to explore the new experience.

    You can also find Outer Wilds on Xbox, Epic Game Store for Windows, and the Nintendo Switch which has the biggest discount right now for $15 for the base game and $23 for the bundle with Echoes of the Eye.

  • Microsoft’s Forza Horizon 5 from 2021 is the latest Microsoft game to become cross platform in the war on exclusivity caused by rising development costs and an overwhelming desire for profit. The driving game’s PlayStation 5 port doesn’t have a firm release date yet beyond “Spring 2025”, but it has already been on Windows and Steam for years.

    Forza Horizon 4 was just delisted from online stores last year, due to the same licensing deals for the cars and music that have taken out every other Forza game. I am very curious how long FH5 will be available on any platform given the licensing takedowns that often coincide with a new Forza game being released later in the same year.

    Maybe this means that Forza Horizon 5 won’t get a sequel any time soon, which would be unfortunate since this is in my opinion the best big arcadey driving game series out there unless the Burnout behemoth awakens. At least indies like Walaber have our back with the delightfully retro Parking Garage Rally Circuit.

    Microsoft already announced that Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, Grounded, and Sea of Thieves were coming to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch almost a year ago. Their other recent games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle are also due to come to the PS5. The time of Xbox exclusive games seems to be dead for this console generation at least.

    You can get Forza Horizon 5 right now on Windows through Steam, or the Xbox store which gets you the game on Xbox consoles and Windows on discount for $30 USD. Here’s the link for the PlayStation 5 version to wishlist it, no price has been announced yet.