CM30 on September 18, 2017
Over the years, 3D platformer levels have generally gotten bigger and bigger. You had Super Mario 64, with fairly compact stages where everything was within walking distance.
There was Rare’s N64 games, where levels were enormous to the point they often needed the Expansion Pack to run at all.
And then where games like Yooka-Laylee and Super Mario Odyssey are concerned… well stages are even bigger still. New Donk City and Tostarena alone are bigger than just about every Mario 64 level put together!
But it seems like the original game may still be able to beat them all. Why?
Because thanks to a new mode by SKELUX (creator of Super Mario Star Road), levels in the game can now be almost infinite in size! Yes, you’re now able to port entire worlds from current gen games to Super Mario 64 and have them run like expected. For instance, here’s Wuhu Island from Mario Kart 7 running in the game’s engine:
It’s incredibly impressive really. Certainly, a far cry from the days of Bob-omb Battlefield and Whomp’s Fortress, that’s for sure.
So, stay tuned to SKELUX’s channel if you want more info about it. Because it seems like the next big revolution in Super Mario 64 modding is just around the corner!
CM30 on September 18, 2017
Ever since Dusk Lycanroc was revealed, we’ve been getting more and more information about the differences in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. We found out that existing Pokémon have new forms and Z-Moves.
That additional areas would be added to the game:
Heck, we even got a surprise when new Pokémon were announced as exclusive to the new titles, in the form of UB Burst and UB Assembly:
As a result, it’s certainly looking more substantial than we initially imagined.
And it seems there’s even more surprises to come too. Why? Because a new poster for the game has been spotted in Japan, and this one holds some very interesting secrets. Have a look at it below:
Obviously, there’s quite a few confirmations of things we already know here. Like say, Gladion and Hau making reappearances. And there are some minor changes too. Like Lillie holding a Poke Ball (hinting she’ll be an actual trainer this time around).
But then there’s those people. Those ominous looking figures in front of the giant vortex.
Who are they? What are their goals?
It’s pretty obvious they’re up to no good. They dress like a hybrid of Team Galactic and the Aether Foundation and holding things akin to the Snag Machines in the Pokémon Colosseum series. So, it’s rather likely these are our new villains.
I mean, there’s already an unused music slot for a third villain team theme in the source code for Sun and Moon:
So, it seems like the song is for these guys. Additionally, we also have at least some idea about who one of the people is. That’s because it appears to be Faba from Sun and Moon, the mysterious Aether Foundation ‘branch chief’ who clearly had his own agenda throughout the game’s storyline. You can see what seems to be him on the left.
However, he’s not the main character here. No, those are the mysterious taller figures in front of him, who don’t match any characters we’ve seen as of this point in time.
This indicates the new antagonists are from outside Alola. Or at least, don’t have an immediate counterpart in the original titles.
And that’s not all it indicates too. No, it also indicates that Lusamine and Guzma might have a less important role in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
We know this because in the trailer for the game, Lusamine looks identical to how she did in Sun and Moon:
That doesn’t jive at all with the new uniform style shown by the new antagonists, and proves she’s likely not connected to them in any direct way.
Add Team Skull’s lack of presence here (Guzma aside), and it really does make you wonder what Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon have in store on a story level.
So, what do you think of it? Who are these new villains in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon? How do the existing villain teams factor into the whole deal?
Have your say in the comments below or on the Gaming Latest forums today!
CM30 on September 18, 2017
When it comes to strange hidden content in video games, there’s almost no end of crazy examples. You’ve got Mario Kart Arcade GP, which has photos of a hostage crisis on the disc. There’s GoldenEye 007 with its built in ZX Spectrum emulator.
Heck, there’s even an old Datel mini game collection with a pirated copy of Metroid Fusion in it! In case you feel like pirating a Metroid game by buying a shovelware mini game collection. For some unknown reason or another.
And it seems the Nintendo Switch hardware only continues that trend. Why?
Because as the title suggests, a full NES emulator has been found in the system! This emulator comes with a modified version of NES Golf, which has been edited to add Joy-Con support and multiplayer options.
Here are a few screenshots of it from the Switchbrew wiki:
As you can tell, it’s pretty much done. So why isn’t it available yet? Why is this version of NES Golf sitting unused in the Switch’s files under the name ‘flog’?
Well, it’s likely down to Nintendo’s testing practices. You see, a while back, Nintendo announced a Virtual Console style subscription service for the system.
This service would let you access various classic games on a rental basis by paying for the system’s online subscription service. It was an interesting idea, and one that was quite heavily promoted early on.
However, Nintendo then decided it was better to give people a free trial for their online systems. As a result, said ‘rental’ service was put on a backburner instead.
So it’s quite likely this version of NES Golf was meant to test NES emulation for that service. That’s the most likely possibility here.
But there are others, and those include:
- The game being part of an easter egg accessed by pressing certain buttons/activating hidden menu options. It’s unlikely, but it has a precedent given the Luigi Bros mini game hidden in Super Mario 3D World.
- Or that it’s part of a Virtual Console service. Like the retro games service, this might also have needed a bit of testing, especially when it comes to new functionality like Joy-Con compatibility or motion control implementations for older games.
Either way, it’s an interesting little secret, and one I suspect we’ll find out more about in due time.
So what do you think about it? Are you intrigued by this random copy of NES Golf that Nintendo left lying around in the Switch’s code?
What do you think it’s there for?
Tell us what you think in the comments below or on the Gaming Latest forums today!
CM30 on September 17, 2017
With many people buying games digitally, file size has been an increasingly important concern in the world of console games. It’s why modern video games using 50+ GB of space has caused quite a bit of controversy over the last few years. Or why Gears of War 4 being more than a 100GB in size almost caused the community to go into shock.
And now with Super Mario Odyssey being released on Switch very soon, fans have been wondering exactly big the title is. After all, it’s billed as Mario’s biggest 3D adventure yet. The ultimate successor to Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine with almost infinite things to see and do.
So how big is the game? How much space will you need on your hard drive to download Super Mario Odyssey from the eShop?
Oh, 5.7GB worth.
Which in Mario terms is pretty damn big. It’s more than double the amount needed to store Super Mario Galaxy 1 or 2. As well as triple the size of Super Mario 3D World.
But it’s not that big in the greater scheme of things. Yes, it’s bigger than ARMS (2.2GB) and Splatoon 2 (3.1GB). Yes, it makes older Mario games look tiny by comparison. It’s pretty big for a Nintendo game, sure.
Yet compared to many games in the industry nowadays, it’s incredibly small. Forget Gears of War 4 at 100GB, almost every triple A game of the last decade is about ten times bigger than Mario’s latest adventure where pure download size is concerned. Doom 4 is 55GB. The Witcher 3 is 45GB. Heck, even Just Dance is over 50GB!
Compared to those… this is a pretty small game.
And it’s not the biggest on the Switch either. Zelda Breath of the Wild dwarfs it at 13.4GB. NBA 2K18 on Switch uses 5GB for the save file alone.
Heck, on Wii U, Zelda uses 5GB for the Master Trials DLC pack!
So, it’s really all down to perspective. Personally, I’d say Nintendo’s done a good job keeping the file size in check myself, since they’ve managed to cram a giant open world platformer into size of your typical video game update. For a title with dozens of worlds, hundreds of enemies to possess and almost too many mechanics to name, that’s bloody impressive.
Add how little content many other Switch games have in comparison to this (ARMS is not exactly content packed), and 5.7GB is a good file size for this thing. It’s certainly manageable to say the least.
But what do you think? Have Nintendo done well fitting Super Mario Odyssey into 5.7GB of space?
Or could the company have compressed it even further?
Let us know in the comments below or on social media today!
Source:
Official Nintendo Store Page for Super Mario Odyssey (Japanese)
CM30 on September 15, 2017
A few days ago, a very interesting Mario Party game was announced during a Nintendo Direct. This title (called Mario Party the Top 100) is a collection of the best mini games from the series, along with a board map mode seemingly styled after the original games.
It’s a great idea, and despite a poor choice of platform, one I suspect will do.
But it also makes me wonder something. Namely, where could Mario Party go from here?
Cause let’s face it, Mario Party has been in a real mire this last decade or so. It’s being accused of rehashing itself over and over, it’s been seen as increasingly generic and New Super Mario Bros styled in its ideas and well, let’s not even get into what fans think of the car idea. Put simply, it was at death’s door prior to the top 100 game being announced.
And unless Nintendo thinks of something new… well it could still end up in the same situation. So, let’s think about the series’ future a moment, shall we?
Let’s think about where Mario Party could go to become a great video game franchise again!
Returning to what Worked
Starting with the most obvious thing in the world:
The car system needs to go. Now.
Really, it doesn’t work. The whole idea is just horrible in a board game, and completely kills much of the strategy involved in such. For example, could you imagine a world where say, Monopoly has four players travelling around the board together in a car?
How about any other really old-fashioned board game like Snakes and Ladders?
It just wouldn’t work. Players moving on their own is what makes things interesting in a game like this.
So, let’s boot out the car idea. It was an interesting way to liven things up after eight games, but it outstayed its welcome almost immediately after its debut.
And I think we should also get back to the non-linear board set up too.
Yes, I know it’ll make the game slower. But at the same, it’ll also make the game much more strategic too.
Again, think about it for a minute. What was the appeal of the board game aspect of the Mario Party series?
It was trying to outwit your opponents and use your dice rolls to your advantage. You weren’t just seeing who could roll the highest number every turn while avoiding landing on trap spaces. That’s Candyland or Snakes and Ladders. You know, the games most people get bored of playing after the age of five or so.
Mario Party (as luck based as it is) was different. You had to decide how you went for the star, weighing up the spaces in front of you, the number of coins you had/were likely to get and any traps people had laid down. You could interfere with other players, by using items/orbs/capsules to booby trap spaces that people might need to traverse. And with things with board events, random changes (like extra Bowser spaces being added/blue spaces changed to red ones) and systems like the day and night ones, there was a certain level of strategy you could take advantage of here. Mario Party wasn’t purely mindless luck, it was a mix of mindless luck and tactics.
Mario Party 9 onwards (minus Star Rush) has no tactics. It’s literally Snakes and Ladders, Mario edition. Or perhaps, Snakes and Ladders, Mario edition complete with an awkward car mechanic shoehorned in to take even more control away from individual players. Whereas old Mario Party is luck with some tactics, new Mario Party is pretty much 100% luck without anything else.
So, for Mario Party to get back to being good, it needs to scrap the cars and linearity.
But that’s not the only change it needs to make…
Bring Back the Mini Games
It also needs to bring back the mini games at the end of every turn. Why?
Cause let’s face it, mini games are one of the best aspects of the whole franchise. They’re the most enjoyable part of it for at least 80% of the series’ audience.
Which is why it’s so baffling that Mario Party 9 suddenly decided they’d be less common. I mean, why would you make that change?
Continue Reading…
