Hopefully the game would at least be worth the price.

 

We don't know if it was a mistake since its been taken down, if its all Nintendo games or if its just LoZ: TotK due to its size.

I could see it being a special case for LoZ: TotK, not only being a large game but possibly Nintendo trying to make a revenue off of it after its lengthy development time.

 

If the price increase is true, I'm not surprised. I feel like 69.99 USD MSRP AAA games have been a near inevitability for quite some time now, and that it's actually remarkable prices haven't risen long before in tandem with everything else. Not that rising prices are ever a pleasant thing, or that there isn't some degree of arbitrariness or gouging inherent in price hikes (there often is, and that's sort of what an MSRP is after all, otherwise we wouldn't see such regularities in pricing formats like "_9.99" for marketing purposes, and would instead see more irregular and fluctuating prices like, I dunno, $65.27   ) but it's all but inevitable and the fact that video game MSRPs have stayed 59.99 for essentially fifteen years (and the fact that that's lower once inflation adjusted than prior generations) without rising has always surprised me more than the prospect of a jump to $69.99 would.

Some articles on various reasons some have been expecting this for a long time:
The return of the $70 video game has been a long time coming
Are video games really more expensive?
The Real Truth About Video Game Prices - SVG

So I'm not too surprised to see this shift. Sony and MS have signaled they're headed that way too. Meanwhile, we have more options and access to games at lower prices on PC and elsewhere than ever too, so all this means is more selectivity which isn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself IMHO. I know it's not popular but it was going to happen sooner or later.

I will say though that if it's true, we might see a much larger focus on TotK in today's Direct than I initially was willing to hope for. If they're making this the game they make the move with, they will want to sell it hard. As they should for the followup to such an acclaimed and successful game anyway, of course. So now I wonder if we don't get much else particularly compelling and instead get half the Direct devoted to Zelda as opposed to just a new lengthy trailer which is what I initially figured we'd see.

 

Yeah, no one's ever really happy about price hikes (consumers, anyways), but we've enjoyed a very long period of price stability. I sometimes wonder if things like microtransactions, DLC, subscriptions, and "games as a service"-type stuff are the only reasons we haven't seen a major across-the-board increase in years (not that I'm a fan of many of those types of monetization, either).

 

Yeah, likewise. Not that I think those practices will stop once this price hike happens. Which is the one reason the hike will hurt more than it would have otherwise IMO. But if I had the option, I've always said I would have preferred an MSRP increase over them. And if nothing else, we have tons of options and competitive pricing through sales and indies today compared to the past. So for me it balances out, especially when many of my favorite and most satisfying gaming experiences have been those lower priced indie titles in recent years. Many of which are every bit as rich and deep in terms of design as many AAA games, just with lower production values and smaller teams. So it's not like we don't have options. The AAA's will have to deliver quality to earn those extra $10. Or maybe not, maybe people will just shrug and keep buying their games.   Either way, not a big surprise or seismic shift IMO for all of the above reasons.

 

DLC has never bothered me as long as it's a significant expansion (like the story expansions in Skyrim or extra tracks in Mario Kart), but if it's stupid stuff like skins or loot then I absolutely hate it

 

Mario party superstars has dlc slots set for it in datamine but we don't know if nintendo will use it.

 

T-minus 5 minutes as of this post.

 

More pikmin 4 is good way to start.

More Xenoblade 3 dlc news.

Apparently Samba is back.

Fashion xseed game.

Dead Cells dlc.

A Tron puzzle game? K.

Ghost Trick is back in HD.

DecaPolice looks interesting.

Bayonetta Origins. Eh.

Splatoon 3 expansion pass.

Disney illusion Island.

Fire Emblem Engage dlc.

Harmony Fall of Reverie.

Octopath 2 demo, Katamari remaster, sea of stars, omega strikers, etrain odyssey hd (of the first three games), Advance Wars (FINALLY)

Kirby return to dreamland deluxe new stuff.

Nintendo switch online…. Game boy stuff… And advance :O

Metroid Prime Remaster and pretty early too.

Master Detective Archives.

:O Baten Kaitos games remasters

New fantasy life game?

A new professor Layton game.

Mario kart dlc….

Third party reel.

And the last game is…. More Tears of the kingdom!

Overall, I’d say it was a pretty good direct better than the last one. Good thing there wasn’t a segment dedicated to the Mario movie again.

 

That Xenoblade 3 update...  

 

Xenoblade 3 DLC is the easy frontrunner for me. I can't wait to see how everything comes together in the story DLC later this year, plus the new update this month.

Etrian Odyssey HD collection is an easy pick up for me. About time we heard something regarding this series. Wonder what it means for the new game they supposedly started making years ago. I just wish I had the patience/time I had back when the games originally came out. I don't know that I'll be able to enjoy them like I used to.

Metroid Prime Remastered is another easy buy, of course.

Tears of the Kingdom... *sigh* I'm not as excited as I should be for a new Zelda since BotW was not at all what I would have wanted and this, at a glance, looks like more of the same as far as what I didn't like. And I didn't really see much of interest for me in this. I really don't care about those awkward looking vehicles. What I really wanted to see was an indication we were getting really substantial dungeons again.

 

In for We Love Katamari and Metroid Prime.

Good to see Samba de Amigo back as well.

 

Tears of the Kingdom is officially $70 USD:
The Legend of Zelda™: Tears of the Kingdom for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

 

METROID METROID METROID

 

Summary written on the fly while watching:

Spoiler

• Pikmin 4. Some cutscenes and basic gameplay including Pikmin varieties are shown off. Oatchie, a dog-like creature is shown. Bosses and exploration are shown. July 21, 2023.
• Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Vol. 3 Expansion Pass DLC. A new hero with crafting abilities. More challenge battles. Feb 15, 2023. Vol. 4 also teased.
• Samba De Amigo Party Central. 40 songs are included. Summer 2023.
• Fashion Dreamer. Some sort of fashion influencer RPG. Thousands of design options are touted. TBD 2023.
• Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania. (DLC for Dead Cells.) 12 original songs and 51 classic songs. March 6th.
• TRON Identity. Narrative adventure. April 2023 on Switch.
• Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. Summer 2023.
• Deca Police. A detective RPG with turn-based combat elements taking place in two worlds, one of which is virtual. TBD 2023.
• Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon. March 17, 2023. Preorders are up now.
• Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass. Will have two waves. Wave 1: Inkopolis. Wave 1 launches in spring 2023. Expansion Pass "Side Order" is wave 2. TBD. Expansion Pass will go up for sale later today on the eShop.
• Disney Illusion Island. July 28, 2023.
• Fire Emblem Engage Expansion Pass DLC. Wave 2 includes Hector emblem of strength, Sren emblem of acumen, Camilla emblem of revelation. Wave 3 includes Chrom and Robin, Veronica, and new missions. Wave 4 is story DLC called Fell Xenologue. Wave 2 launches later today.
• Harmony: The Fall of Reverie. Narrative adventure. Branching narrative paths. June 2023
• Octopath Traveler II. A demo is available on eShop. Save transfers will carry over to full game. February 24 2023.
• We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie. Remastered version of the game with additional content. June 2nd 2023. Online members can a free game trial.
• Sea of Stars. Retro style turn-based RPG. August 29th 2023. Free demo later today.
• Omega Strikers. F2P online multiplayer with air hockey style sports play. April 27th 2023. Preorders available today. (Not sure how preorders work for a F2P game.)
• Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection. Remasters of the early Etrian Odyssey dungeon crawlers. New difficulty options and automapping functions. June 1st. Each game will also be available separately. Preorders today. (Small semantic nitpick: I would call this more of a remake than a remaster. Entirely new assets including new hand drawn artwork for every character were done apparently. To me a remaster would just be improving the fidelity of existing assets or recreating them in exactly the same style upscaled, with some quality of life additions thrown in. Either way this looks great for Etrian Odyssey fans.)
• Advance Wars 1+2: Reboot Camp. Design and share maps with local and online play. April 21, 2023. Preorders up today.
• Kirby's Return to DreamLand Deluxe. Includes Magolor's Epilogue additional content. Over 20 new stages. Four payer local co-op. Content unlocks after story mode. Demo available today. Game releases February 24, 2023.
• NSO Gameboy announced. Gameboy coming to the standard tier. Available at launch: Tetris, Super Mario Land 2 6 Golden Coins, Link's Awakening DX, Gargoyle's Quest, Game & Watch Gallery 3, Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, Metroid 2 Return of Samus, Wario Land 3, Kirby's Dream Land. You can switch between GB, GBP, or GBC screen filters. 2 player local or online play. Future games also teased: Zelda Oracle of Ages and Seasons, Pokemon Trading Card Game, and Kirby Tilt'n'Tumble. Probably more, obviously. There's a trillion GB games they could add.
• Gameboy Advance announced for NSO +Expansion Pack. Launch games: Super Mario Advance 4 with e-reader levels. Warioware Inc: Mega Microgames. Kuru Kuru Kururin Mario Kart Super Circuit. Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. Zelda Minish Cap. Local and online play up to 4 players in compatible games. Future games teased: Metroid Fusion, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, Fire Emblem, F-Zero Maximum Velocity, Golden Sun. All this launches today.
• Metroid Prime Remastered. New dual analog controls. Moving and looking simultaneously. Or recreate the original controls. Launches TODAY on eShop. Physical February 22nd 2023. (This honestly strikes me as more of a remake than a straight remaster too, but I'm thrilled to see it.)
• Master Detective Archives: RAIN Code. Gameplay overview of previously announced detective JRPG game. June 30, 2023.
• Remastered collection Baten Kaitos I & II. Summer 2023.
• Fantasy Life: The Girl Who Steals Time. Life sim meets action RPG where you rebuild an island as you see fit. TBD 2023.
• Professor Layton and the New World of Steam. No further details or date.
• MK8 Deluxe wave four booster course. Yoshi's Island, Birdo character, available TBD Spring 2023.
• Sizzle reel of various games. Minecraft Legends April 18 2023, Blanc Feb 14, Mega Man Battle Network Collection April 14 2023, Have a Nice Death March 23, WBSC eBASEBALL POWER PROS available today, Disney Dreamlight Valley new realm update April 2023, Tales of Symphonia Remastered February 17.
• Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. A brief but very revealing and epic trailer is shown. May 12, 2023. Collector's Edition will also launch, and a new Amiibo of Link.

Thoughts:

Spoiler

This was a very strong Direct, imo. I guess my initial suspicion that we'd see a dedicated deep dive into Zelda in its own Direct later was true. I also wonder if the Pokemon Days events later this month will be when they talk about bringing Pokemon to NSO Gameboy. Because I mean... surely they have to right? That would be a criminal omission.   Maybe they want to get the transfer pack stuff working for Coliseum?

The big news here of course though is Metroid Prime. Holy cow. That's great for several reasons. First, modern control option confirmed. Which likely means MP4 will feature that option as well. Second, this probably likewise means MP4 is far enough along that they finally feel confident about dropping this. It's a shadow drop so it's basically a given that they've been hanging onto this for a while IMO, which also lines up with long, long, longstanding rumors of course. That suggests to me that 4 can launch holiday this year or early next year and that they are confident about that. I wouldn't expect more than a year's separation between this and 4, unless 2 and 3 are also ready to go and they plan to pepper them in as needed in a runup. Which I mean, hell that could be true. The whole trilogy was rumored at one point. We'll see.

The TotK trailer was short, sweet, and interesting. It looks like we'll not only be traversing the skies, but travelling through them. My only question is whether this takes place before or after BotW. We all assume after, but it seems odd that they'd just resurrect Ganon in a direct sequel. The other possibility is that the big bad isn't Ganon, but is using his malice somehow and the curse of demise to control Ganon's servants. That would be an interesting twist.

This will sound nuts but, the single thing I was most excited to see was... Tetris. Have you tried to find just plain, ordinary Tetris anytime in the last decade or so on a console? Not Puyo Puyo Tetris. Not Tetris Effect. Not Tetris 99. Not in a browser or on a mobile device. Just normal, plain Tetris, on a home console. Well I have, and it's been nigh impossible.   With the advent of Gameboy on NSO I can finally just play Tetris. It's about damn time.  

All in all really happy with this one. Something for everyone seemingly.

 

GB and GBA games exclusive to NSO?! Ehhhh... nice, but easy pass (dang, was looking forward to both Metroid 2 and Metroid Fusion)

 

A handful of things not featured in the Direct:

Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg announced for PS5, PS4, Switch, and PC - Gematsu

 

Minor thing: Etrian Odyssey HD collection will have additional character portraits if you preorder it. Specifically ones based on Persona and SMT (I think, I don't recognize two of the characters). They can also be bought separately in 2-skin packs for $3 a piece.

Also, that collection is $80 (individual games are $40 a piece), which makes the $70 Tears of the Kingdom price a bit easier to swallow.

And something I just remembered. I preordered Metroid Prime 4 years ago back when Amazon was doing 20% off most game preorders. If that game ends up being $70 and Amazon continues to honor that price, I'm getting a very nice deal on that one.

 

OMG, Metroid Prime is coming to the Switch!!!!!!!!

Day 1 baby!!! Of course, I won't be playing it right away since a new Yakuza game comes out the day before.

 

Direct download available now.
Metroid Prime™ Remastered for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site