Came to post something similar from kotaku. This helps explain the difficulty ramp up I had at the end. I probably didn’t KO enough people so that badge multiplier really hit me.
So since I know a lot of you care deeply about this thing, let me make a quick comment. The way I constructed this story was very deliberate, and it was very heavily couched because I wasn’t nearly as sure as I usually am when I report on these things. When I have confirmed something firsthand with my own sources who have direct knowledge of information, you’ll see me be a lot clearer. (ie: “Sources: Watch Dogs 3 Is Real And Set In London.”) When I’m sharing something that I think is true but can’t confidently confirm (which is fairly uncommon), you’ll see me be a lot more careful with my words, like this:
A piping hot new E3 rumor suggests that Retro Studios, the Nintendo-owned developer behind the Metroid Prime trilogy, is making a Star Fox racing game. These rumors have been floating around gossipy Nintendo fan and writer circles for at least a few weeks now, but they’ve only gone public today, suggesting that Retro’s new game is called Star Fox: Grand Prix.
We’ve heard the same from a source plugged into goings-on at Nintendo, and we’ve also heard from two other sources that the Austin, Texas-based Retro had a separate project that went through a rocky development cycle and may in fact be canceled.
The second part of that statement I am still very confident in. Retro has had a troubled last few years, from what I’ve heard.
But today I spoke to the person I referred to as “a source plugged into goings-on at Nintendo” in that article and they are no longer confident that Star Fox Grand Prix is real. I won’t burn my sources or say anything that could possibly identify them, but it’s very, very possible that this is one of those rumors that never had much air in the first place. A lot of Nintendo rumor-mongers talk to each other, a lot of things get lost in translation, and sometimes what appears to be coming from multiple sources might actually be coming from a ring of people sharing information with one another. That’s why I try to be very careful when it comes to reporting on Nintendo-related gossip that comes my way. So much of that stuff has turned out to be bunk, even from extremely reputable reporters.
Ultimately, I don’t know if Star Fox Grand Prix is real or was ever real. I’m not as interested in that question as I am in the question of how the recent Metroid Prime 4 deal came together (and just what’s been happening at Retro over the past few years), but that’s a story that has proven difficult to tell. Hopefully one day!
Ah, only 6 new games to buy between now and summer.
Ay.
Man… They are doing really good at picking stuff.
Tried out the new demos last night, but neither did much for me.
Daemon X Machina is really invested in its own lore, spending a lot of time on backstory, character creation, and one-note-caricature talking heads. And the actual gameplay wasn’t particularly impressive, with no sense of weight or scale to these giant robots, and a very disconnected, floaty feeling for an action game, just needing to move your cursor over an enemy once for your robot to lock on and start auto-attacking it. The first mission after the tutorial was lots of floating around while auto-attacking, occasionally ducking behind a building when the target fired back, and then some NPCs came in and looked like they had a lot more fun in their cutscene. Then mission 2 consisted of twice in a row shooting a bunch of popcorn tanks and then getting shot from offscreen and killed within a couple of seconds, after which I decided I’d had enough.
Yoshi’s Crafted World fared a bit better. The aesthetic is totally charming, but I don’t know if it’s enough to carry the rest of the game, which otherwise felt fairly standard.
The Tetris idea is clever. I thought it would be stupid & I was wrong.
Am I the only one that still hates the joy-cons? Before the Switch came out I thought, “Man, those look dinky, non-ergonomic, and fragile”. Early adopters told me, “no, they’re great”. I’ve owned one now for a year or so, and having used them myself, I think they’re dinky and non-ergonomic. And mine now won’t center, can’t be calibrated, and cost $80 to replace. Yes I’ve tried cleaning them.
Don’t get me wrong, the system is great and I’ve had a ton of fun with the handful of games I own. But the joy-cons are even worse than I imagined they’d be.
I’m the only one, aren’t I?
Did you try adding thumb grips? Won’t help the centering and calibration, but it does help the ergonomics.
I think they’re OK when inserted into the holder that kinda makes it like an XBox controller. Not as good as a real one, but not bad. I’m not a fan of them when they’re separate.
I like playing dual sticks games with one in each hand, especially in bed, where i can hide my hands under the warmth of my cover that way.
I had a slight drift on a control stick, but recalibrating solved it ok - what happens for you? I’d maybe look into getting Nintendo to repair it if calibration is failing.
But otherwise - for the larger-handed of us, at least - I’d very much recommend the Satisfye grip for playing undocked. Without it, I found playing the twitchier games like Celeste very uncomfortable.
I have a love/hate thing with the joy cons. On the switch, good. Using both, one in each hand, surprisingly good. Using one? Eh, it’s ok in a pinch on something like Overcooked 2, but it’s sub par.
And mine got the drift issue and were repaired by Nintendo.
I have the pro controller and it’s spiffy. I want to get a Smash pro controller as my second one, but the scalper market…
Put me in the “dislike” camp. My thumb hurts after using the left joycon in portable mode for any length of time. The pro controller is great, but I can’t easily use that in bed.
Since I picked up a Pro controller (can’t recommend enough), I keep my perma attached to the sides of the console, and when I undock it they come along for the ride and are how I play in hand held. I actually think they work very well like that, but I’ve never liked holding them while they aren’t attached.
Hunh! I expected to get excoriated, but it sounds like I’m not alone. I’ve been wanting to try a pro controller, but haven’t quite gotten myself to pay for one yet.
Recallibrating the controller helps a bit, but by the next day you have to hold it way off to the right to stay still. I looked it up, Nintendo will only repair them in the first year. So I’m basically out $80 there, which is why I’m so annoyed.
Call Nintendo. I was out of warranty and they fixed my drifting joycons for free anyhow. YMMV
My right joycon stick is stuck in the click-in position. I’m not sure how to fix that, any ideas?
I find using one joycon in each hand quite comfortable, but my hands are tiny. I could imagine someone with actual man hands not liking it at all.
I have big bulky hands and I find them very comfortable that way too. But I don’t use the silly plastic extra parts.
Nah, I don’t use those either.
Agreed – the joycons are fine when attached to the system, and I’ll sometimes use them with one in each hand (though for the most part I wind up gravitating to the SN30+ instead). Using one by itself is barely acceptable in a pinch for multiplayer when there aren’t enough controllers to go around, but I still wound up buying a few cheap USB controllers instead for that.