Honest Nintendo reviews from Australia 🇦🇺 Switch, Switch 2 & retro deep dives Full reviews on Squish Turtle Switch FC: SW-4504-4427-4511
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Zelda fans love the classic dungeons because of the immense sense of satisfaction they get after completing them.
It’s a different feeling to getting through a puzzle by brute forcing physics engine. That can be satisfying too.
But I’ve always believed Nintendo fans love games that push their intelligence over the games that can feel mindlessly simple.
BoTW was fun because it was designed around “making your own fun”. Ocarina is fun because it’s designed around “use your spatial awareness skills to solve complex problems”.
Both are Zelda, but I understand why true fans prefer the feeling of figuring out the water temple over figuring out you can run straight to the final boss in 5 minutes.
There are certain fans of game franchises that have a misplaced sense of self-righteousness, Zelda fans are a perfect example.
There are a number of fans who think of themselves as appointed arbiters and get to dictate what is or isn't considered "Zelda".
I remember a time after Skyward Sword's release when Zelda fans were complaining that Zelda was stale and needed to evolve and be more like Skyrim.
BOTW comes out and changed a lot of the typical Zelda conventions for the better of the franchise and made Zelda more popular than ever and now you have Zelda purists bitching that BOTW & TOTK "ruined Zelda" and they aren't "real Zelda games".
All I can say is shut up.
Every franchise needs to evolve and can't stay the same forever, why do fans just want to essentially play the OOT Model (which is actually the LTTP Model) over and over, when devs don't take risks you end up with more of the same scenarios like Metroid Prime 4 which I don't want.
Ocarina of Time on Switch 2 looks gorgeous and expansive, they’ve added a lot of new content and some surprises.
I wonder if we’ll come to consider this the “definitive” version, or will the N64 original always stand out as the best?
Biggest question on my mind: do we get Master Quest or not?
When I was a kid I did some work experience with a local web design business (remember those?). The owner had me create a simple webpage and caught me in Notepad writing the HTML.
She asked what I was doing and when I told her I was writing the webpage she said explained that all code is already written, it’s a waste of time to write it out manually. That’s why we use Dreamweaver to make the webpages. The software deals with the code, we have to do our best to tell the software our best ideas.
Her lesson that stuck with me was do whatever you can to stop wasting time on problems that are already solved and spend all that time on creativity.
This applies to using SI in game development. But I also think people confusing “development” and “design”. Arranging code (language) in a logical way to be able to express an idea in a game isn’t the same thing as coming up with the idea and moulding it into something that is unique and interesting.
SI won’t ideate, but it will and should help build.
I interviewed Nintendo 3DS game Code of Princess Producer Yasuo Nakajima back in 2012, posted here if you’re interested.
The game is well worth a play through, an awesome little gem worthy of a revisit!
Interview: Code of Princess Producer Yasuo Nakajima
Code of Princess is a fantastic action role-playing game developed by an expert team of developers, released in Australia exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS eShop.
The developers include talent from Sega Saturn classic Guardian Heroes, and the game’s whimsical world is the brain child of famous Street Fighter artist, Kinu Nishimura.
The man who brought this talent pool together and produced Code of Princess is Yasuo Nakajima.
The game marries sexy, ditzy Princess Solange with side scrolling brawler action with RPG undertones. Nakajima revealed to us that the game was well into development before Nishimura brought in the idea for the characters and game world.
“Originally, we were trying to develop a game for core game users. We had game play and other elements decided.” he said.
“Then, we met Kinu Nishimura by chance. She had an idea for original characters and the game setting, so we put the story on after, on top of the gameplay.”
Developing a core game in a studio most known for its family friendly titles such as Drawn to Life was met with some challenges, from both development and marketing perspectives. Thankfully the team were well versed in developing for the Nintendo 3DS and working with Nintendo hardware systems, which lead to the decision to make Code of Princess an exclusive title.
When asked what some of the challenges were, Nakajima quipped “All the procedures…”
“We are well known for kids titles in Japan,” he continued.
“we have a cumulative knowledge for kids titles, but a game with an original IP starting from scratch is a totally new experience for us. From the development side to the marketing side, it is a totally new experience for us.”
“We have been working with Nintendo handhelds since the GameBoy Advance days, so we have knowledge of how-to use their platforms which is why we developed for Nintendo 3DS.”
One of the ideas to break down the barrier of entry into the “core” gamers collection was to develop a multiplayer element. Above all, however, multiplayer came into fruition because it was fun.
“We are an unknown publisher to core gamers. If an unknown publisher starts a new IP, they need to get attention.” he explained.
“Having an online multiplayer mode is a great way to get attention!”
Yasuo Nakajima has been working in the video game development industry for a while, however Code of Princess was the first game he worked on as a producer. When deciding to persue a career in video game development, Nakajima drew inspiration from classic arcade games.
“I was a big fan of all arcade games of 80’s and 90’s, like Gradius, Genpei-Touma-Den and others. So when I start to create a concept, it is easy for me to come up with action games.”
Video games have come a long way since the early days, Nakajima told us that the biggest challenges with new gaming styles is the marketing: letting players know how unique features work.
“Hardware itself.” he replied when asked about what he feels has been the most revolutionary advancement in video game development since he started his career. “On top of that, the computer languages and tools. The development environment changes rapidly even now.
“For the marketing side of things, the way of introducing new titles has become more complex. Nowadays, due to the unique gameplay ideas, we are interested in checking out indie developers.”
Nakajima says there may be a future for the Code of Princess series thanks to the excellent material Nishimura has come up with.
“Yes, there might ba a chance. Kinu Nishimura already explored the world more deeply, and we would like to make the world come into life.”
Immediately, though, the publisher is busy working on Sayonara Umihara-Kawase — a sequel to a popular Japanese platform game that featured realistic rope physics on Super Nintendo Entertainment System — on Nintendo 3DS.
It will be the first game in the series to launch outside of Asia. The main character uses a fishing rod to grapple around the level and reach the end, avoiding enemies and pitfalls along the way.
“We would like to present Sayonara Umihara-Kawase at E3 this year, an N3DS action title.” he said. “This is a sequel of 20 years old game released on Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is a famous title in Japan for its rope gameplay.”
Nakajima also wanted to give AussieGamr readers a special message:
“We might be an “unknown” Japanese publisher however!! we will develop titles for gamers. So, please stay tuned to us! Thank you very much!”
Code of Princess EX, a remastered version, is available on Nintendo Switch.
Note: This interview was originally conducted in 2012 prior to the launch of the Nintendo 3DS original version. I'm eternally grateful to Agatsuma Entertainment General Manager Rica Kuno Matsumura who not only was extremely generous with her time setting this chat up but helped with translation and some interesting photos including an exclusive look at a prototype statue!
#Nintendo #Nintendo3DS #NintendoSwitch #CodeofPrincess #CodeofPrincessEX
Satoru Iwata started a program of work at Nintendo to catalog and document the design documentation of ALL Nintendo published titles so that they can re-release them on modern consoles, either through platforms like Virtual Console or through full scale remakes like Ocarina of Time.
I believe what we’re seeing lately is Nintendo 3DS games getting the remake treatment, rather than Nintendo 64 games. I expect Majora’s Mask, then, but also wouldn’t be shocked to see Metroid: Samus Returns showing up
I am going out on a limb here but I think Nintendo is going to remake every 3D Zelda in the same way Capcom is remaking every Resident Evil game.
Majora's Mask makes sense since its an asset flip, there are times in the OOT trailer where the art looks like Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword definitely needs to be remade cause that game is mediocre, the only anomaly is Wind Waker.
Wind Waker's art style is timeless.
In the post BOTW era for Zelda, new entries will be even more ambitious and take longer to make so it makes sense to have these remakes released in between them.
Capcom put three Resident Evil remakes on the Switch 2 eShop this morning. The boxed versions turn up on 29 January 2027, roughly fifteen weeks later.
The digital launch comes with a sweetener.
On the Aussie eShop, RE2 Deluxe Edition is $47.21 (down from $62.95) and RE4 Gold Edition is $62.36 (down from $77.95).
Capcom is paying people not to wait.
The January boxes look set to be Game Key Cards, judging by the retail listings so far. So collectors who hold out until summer could end up with a case holding a download key anyway.
The three games come to about 56GB combined, which probably would have fit on one cart.
I'm fine with Capcom testing the water digitally first. Their own press release says the goal is to expand the user base.
What bugs me is the message it sends Nintendo players, plenty of whom still care about owning the cart.
Show up early and get the discount. Wait for the box and pay full price for a key.
Im supportive of Game Key Cards because it gives the best of both worlds for most people, something sits on the shelf to display and gamers don’t miss out on third party titles (it seems file compression is a magic only Nintendo has access to anyway). But launch delays between digital and physical puts us collectors in an annoying position.
Are you grabbing these on the eShop today with the discount, or holding out for the January boxes even if they're Game Key Cards?
Raccoon City this weekend if the discount gets me. My Switch 2 Friend Code is: SW-4504-4427-4511 if you're surviving it too.
The Crew Motorfest on Switch 2 is a fun racing game. It tries to be Forza Horizon and is respectful of cars and car culture, though the dialogue seems out of step with the target audience.
Unforgivable, though, is the game crashes when you open the Home menu, or put the console in standby.
This is likely because you need to be always online to rank against other players. A fun feature, sure, but its 2026. I’m playing on a hybrid console. I should be able to put the console down and eat without being booted out of whatever I was doing.
The UI is also cumbersome and confusing, you need to invest a lot of time into understanding what all your options are for racing, driving, customising, or shopping.
The player avatars are horrible, like the developers forgot what humans looked like or, designed the characters via a committee of doorknobs.
Fun, expensive, annoying and painful are all accurate descriptions of this one. But we don’t get Forza Horizon on Switch (yet) so it’ll have to do.
Nintendo’s QA process is something devs seem to fear. Not sure why - sure, it’s lengthy but Nintendo tend to find bugs that would otherwise go unnoticed.
The problem comes from the project managers who don’t scope the budget properly. Marketing 100% want this game on the best selling console.
Played all the way through? Probably Eternal Darkness. Played casually at friends house or arcade? Resident Evil or House of Dead.
Unless you count Majora’s Mask… or maybe earlier games like Castlevania or Dracula 🤔
Sydney Symphony Orchestra has emailed Australia Zelda fans warning the upcoming 40th anniversary concert is expected to be extremely popular.
Compared to Nintendo 64 the Switch CPU 2 is 300x the speed and the GPU is 30,000x faster
任天堂 岩田さん「「明らかに違う」と知覚できるソフトを作るにはCPU10倍、GPU処理速度100倍必要」
switchsoku.com/ds/125809
・100倍は言い過ぎだけど数倍程度じゃ明らかに違うとはならんわな
・もう据え置き機作れよ普通に、昔みたいにDSとゲームキューブ同時出ししてたでしょ
・昔みたいにソフト足りなくて共倒れしそうになるだろ
・WiiUの時はPS箱がこれ以上性能上げても無意味って言ってたな
MMOs have a scaling problem where the game doesn’t become more interesting as you get better at it, but what bugs me about a lot of games in the RPG genre is how there’s thousands of armour or equipment to choose from yet the characters appearance doesn’t change regardless of what you equip.
I get the oldschool limitations, but in today’s landscape it breaks immersion. It’s worse when the “outfit” is decoupled from the equipment - I can have my character running around in her underwear but she still has the defence of iron armour…
This is why I finally gave up on MMOs.
Years ago, the Demon Invasion expansion came out for World of Warcraft. It added a whole new world, lots of new areas, and amazing demon monsters. When I got to a high enough level I immediately traveled to the mighty demon gate to the new world, fought my way past the many horrors, and found a goblin standing by a ditch. He had a quest for me.
He wanted me to collect 12 hot wings. It was the exact same quest I'd seen at level 1. And level 5. And level 17. And level 50. Argh.
And don't get me started about the "postman quests". I.e., "Take this item to this other place."
I once dropped my Nintendo GameCube controller into a full bucket of water that was inexplicably sat next to the couch.
Still works.
October is Majora’s Mask month in Nintendo Today! The collectable cards feature wraps up Breath of the Wild and moves onto the Nintendo 64 classic from midnight
