Category Archives: Video games

The Right Way to Play Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

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Are you in a hurry to get to Deoxys in the Switch version of FRLG? Don’t worry, I’ve got a suggestion for a team to get you there!

The best way to enjoy these classics would be to play through with pokemon that you like. But if you’re the kind of person who would like to speed through the game with the most practical options, then this guide was made to help you.

The best team for a quick playthrough of FRLG would be a core of two Pokémon which have great synergy, and either can defeat many opponents.

While some players may find it strange to not play through with a team of 6 battlers, the core of two works as well as it does because of how EXP distribution works in old Pokémon games. Where EXP allocation is strict, that EXP that you get from battles spreads far more generously among two battlers than among four or six.

It’s better to have two battlers that can carry you through the game than to have six that struggle.

The rest of the Pokémon are for utility purposes, but the team leaves room for up to two of your favorites that you might insist on having, such as Raichu, if you like that one.

The choice of starter would be Squirtle. The reason why it’s a practical choice is because it does well against early opponents until you have the core team assembled. And once you do, it can still provide mobility in the long-term because it has access to HMs such as Surf, Strength, and Rock Smash.

Just be warned that if you pick a different starter, you’ll have to seek out different Pokémon that can learn these TMs.

At the outset, catch a weak pokemon on Route 1, and don’t level it. Just leave it in a box until you’ve defeated five trainers on Nugget Road. There will be a sixth before you cross. Rather than face him right away, first box your entire team except for this pokemon, then buy things at the PokeMart until you’re nearly out of money. Then, with only your weak pokemon in your party, repeatedly face that last trainer on Nugget Road, and repeatedly lose. Each time you do, you’ll get another Nugget from him.

I suggest going at this at least 32 times, with 48 to be safe. The reason being, once you get to Celadon City, you can straight up buy the coins you need to buy some TMs at the Game Corner. The important ones being Thunderbolt and Ice Beam, with Flamethrower being helpful.

Once you’re done, get your normal team back out, and get back to beating the guy. Depending on how long you’ve been going at it, you can get a lot of money, as each Nugget sells for 5000 pokedollars each. You might spend the rest of the game loaded.

On Route 3, you can catch a Spearow. There are other routes where you can catch a Spearow. The main point is getting one to trade for a Farfetch’d in Vermillion City. It’s purpose on this team isn’t for battling. It can learn Cut and Fly, making it easier to travel about.

Clefairy can be found in Mt. Moon. As soon as you find it, you can evolve it using a Moon Stone you can find in Mt. Moon.

Clefable is one of the two core Pokémon on this team. For one thing, it has high stats for the point in the game in which you can find it. What’s more, it can learn Mega Punch and/or Mega Kick from the move tutors which can be found just outside Mt. Moon’s exit. But if you prefer to preserve Move Tutor uses, you can skip them. Just know that Clefable might have trouble carrying your team for a little while.

But when you get to Celadon City, things really pick up. If you took advantage of the Nugget Bridge exploit, you may already have the resources to teach Clefable Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, and maybe also Flamethrower. In gen 3, the Bolt/Beam combo provides mostly  unresisted coverage, which is why many competitive sets of that era had Thunderbolt and Ice Beam. Including Flamethrower as well is generally overkill, but can take care of the odd Magnemite and such.

Clefable’s main weakness is Fighting moves, but the next Pokémon deals with those.

Abra can be encountered in grass just outside of Nugget Bridge. It only knows Teleport, so the best strategy for catching it might be to throw a ball, and see whether it works. Once you have one, it doesn’t learn moves by itself until it evolves at level 16. But once that happens, Kadabra learns Confusion, and becomes an offensive powerhouse for much of the rest of the game. And it learns better moves by level. Kadabra is fast and hits hard, and might wipe out most opponents that you face before they can even make a move. Just be warned that Kadabra can’t take it as well as it can dish it out, especially when it comes to physical moves. That aside, it can easily carry your team. If the opponent is a Poison type or a Fighting type, Kadabra is likely to just wipe it out.

If you can do a trade then trade-back, you can evolve Kadabra to Alakazam. While Kadabra can get you through the game just fine, Alakazam works basically the same, but with higher stats.

So, there you have it! The battling core of Clefable and Kadabra, with Farfetch’d helping with mobility, can get you through FRLG easily. There are two other spaces on the team, which you can fill up with other Pokémon you like.

Here are some popular choices, and why they work well:

Nidoking can be obtained early with a Moon Stone. Because you can find two Moon Stones at Mt. Moon, there need not be a conflict between both these early-game bruisers. The difference is, Clefable becomes more useful at about the same point that Nidoking’s usefulness starts to diminish.

Jynx can be obtained by trading a Poliwhirl at Cerulean City, and is relatively strong and can learn Ice Punch early on.

Lapras has great bulk and can learn diverse moves. The catch is that it comes late in the game at a somewhat low level. So if you play Lapras, it’s gotta catch up.

Starmie has great typing, is fast, and can learn many moves. Its pre-evolved form, Staryu, is in LeafGreen and not FireRed. Thus, FireRed players who don’t trade would miss out on this one.

Zapdos can be obtained at a high level with a trip to and through the Power Plant. It’s very strong, but be careful, because it’s weak to Ice moves that Water types often have.

So, is it worth it?

That depends on your perspective. Deoxys doesn’t change forms in gen 3 the way it does in later generations. Instead, its form depends on the version it’s in. In FireRed, Deoxys has super-high attack stats and speed, but paper-thin defenses, to the point that a weak move might easily beat it. In LeafGreen, its stats are more balanced, but tends more towards its defenses.

If you’re looking for post-game Pokémon that are strong and tough, then it might be better to go for the Lugia and Ho-oh that are on Navel Rock. And, of course, the Mewtwo that’s in Cerulean Cave.

GameFreak reveals Pokémon Winds and Waves

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During today’s Pokémon Presents, GameFreak officially revealed the Winds and Waves versions, set for release sometime in 2027.

Trailer:

They cooked. And boy, did they.

Say goodbye to the grainy cliffs and landscapes of Paldea (unless you still want to play it, which is your choice). Because these new games look gorgeous.

And not just the landscapes, it seems the oceanfloor itself is explorable. Which was a thing in the Hoenn games, but those ones were a bit more limited.

The trailer revealed the new protagonists. But here’s the official art:

Definitely an adventury look. The appearances differ by version. I like the designs in the Waves version more, even if they remind me of Walmart.

There are new starters, as well, named (left to right) Browt, Pombon, and Gecqua:

Based on the above pic, I’d say that my choice might be irrelevant, as I’d probably just box it right after catching something else. They’re just so unappealing.

But here’s the official art for them:

Much, much better. That’s why your anime-style game should have outlines. For one thing, so it looks like an anime. But also so it doesn’t look uncanny. I’d probably go with the bird.

People are already factioning up by version and starter. But being a fanatic, I’ll probably get both versions, and somehow obtain each starter.

But here’s why I’m not getting too hyped: The games release in 2027. That’s a ways off. It’s great to know that they’re willing to put the time into this one to make sure it turns out great.

So, there might be a bit of a dry spell as far as Pokémon releases go, aside from Champions and re-releases like FRLG and XD. But after that, there’s going to be a lot of water.

Is this game for real?

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As an American, I’m so glad that we won our independence from the Brits. Not that I have anything against them today, but they’ve got a serious problem.

The British are in late-stage taxation. I’ll explain what I mean by that later in the article.

Before we celebrate too hard, we should know that we have a similar problem, even if we’re taking the first small steps towards doing something about it.

The British government has funded a pro-immigration video game, developed by Shout Out UK. But just because they made a video game doesn’t mean that they know how.

The game is called Pathways, and it’s a choose-your-own adventure. Already off to a bad start, because the whole reason we like video games is because they are interactive. Pathways is basically one of those turn-to-page-56 books, except on a glowing display screen, and somehow more on-the-rails.

Pathways stars a protagonist named Charlie, and players decide whether Charlie is a boy or a girl. This choice is ignored for the rest of the game as Charlie is referred to with they/them pronouns, which probably works as a metaphor for the kind of sterility that has become too common in modernity.

The game is pretty much a few short scenarios where the player makes choices for Charlie based on the information presented. Some choices are considered right, while the other choices result in brief scolding by the game, or somesuch. Whatever the choice, the game continues just the same.

In one scenario, Charlie is presented with information, and one of the selections is for Charlie to do his own research. The game considers this to be a wrong choice. Remember, this game was made by people who don’t trust you to think for yourself. They want you to dismiss anything that might challenge the official narrative out-of-hand, like an obedient little automaton.

Okay then, let’s get into everyone’s favorite character in this game. One scenario introduces Charlie to an anti-immigration activist named Amelia. She’s a cute goth e-girl who is pleasant to Charlie throughout their interactions. One choice the player can make for Charlie has him meeting up with her at a rally.

Because this game was made by globalist twits, it seems that the thinking is that “boy meets cute girl and then they go somewhere together, presumably getting in a snog sesh” would be a less preferable outcome. The game has designated the choice to meet up with her as a “wrong” choice.

If you expected the internet to embrace Amelia and make lots of fan art of her, then you know the internet. Because that’s exactly what happened.

Have Shout Out UK even played Super Mario Brothers? It’s a game where an everyman tradesman whose name is Italian for “manly” defeats a magical turtle dragon and rescues a high-status woman who appreciates his efforts. That’s a male fantasy, and gamers embraced it.

For a protagonist to fight back against an invasion and an oppressive government, and win a cute girl while doing it, would make an awesome video game, and I’d buy it for days. Especially if you get to blow stuff up.

Okay, late-stage taxation. I said I’d explain it. Basically, the government has discovered that it can actually make plenty of money just by having more government programs to justify increasing taxes to fund them. And the fastest way to do that is by putting more people on the government dole.

Some amount of tax money goes to people who don’t produce value, and a huge chunk of it is scraped away by those who perform the administrative task of allocating it. As more people join this non-productive class of worthless eaters, more money enters the stream, which means more money for administrative clerks.

As the process continues, more and more value is extracted from the people who produce it.

Speeding up this process is unchecked mass migration, which is a dream come true for worthless government bureaucrats, as it means a pretext for extracting yet more value from the productive. And when these migrants get the opportunity to vote, they are expected to vote in line with their incentives, which is for the extraction of value which favors them to continue. Because the political establishment that favors this benefits from it, there’s no expectation that they’ll put a stop to it. And as their political power increases, the likelihood that anyone could overcome them dwindles.

It’s as though the brain that is the UK government has a protein that folded in on itself. As the condition progresses, their brain stops working properly, and the expectation is that they’ll soon die.

But, it gets worse. Most of the migrants are Islamic. They are famous for discouraging the pursuit of anything outside their own religion, and multiplying out of control.

Knowing all this, it’s easy to see that Brits who oppose mass migration are actually fighting to save the UK.

The establishment prions of the UK have made a video game in a sad effort to trick kids into keeping their value-extraction scam alive. And we know why they’re going this far. They’re scared. Younger people are figuring out what’s going on, and they are fighting for their own future.

The kids are turning more to the right. Establishment leftists are scared to death that they’ll have to let go of the power that they’ve held for so long, and that they might be held accountable once the boomers have aged out of voting.

This image is fanart, and not from the game.

The UK government funded an anti-extremist video game, and ended up with a white supremacist dating sim. What a time to be alive!

Is Xbox losing out of consoles?

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When it was announced that Halo was coming to Playstation, it didn’t really come as a shock. We’ve been seeing it coming for weeks. What’s more, the news comes weeks after Microsoft announced their new pricing for Game Pass, which faced immense backlash for how high the price was for what was offered in return, and was an obvious attempt to keep the Xbox financially steady.

And through it all, there have been rumors going around of retail outlets no longer stocking Xbox consoles, though it seems that may have been a bit exaggerated.

But still, it seems as though Microsoft is quietly looking for ways to allow Xbox to fail out of the console war, while keeping Xbox alive as a brand. The first not-so-subtle hint was with the “This is an Xbox” ad campaign, which touted the ability of non-Xbox hardware to play Xbox games, which kinda renders an Xbox system itself superfluous.

People are speaking of the console wars as though they’re over, but that’s technically not true, as Sony and Nintendo are still in the race. But the two are so different from one another that they aren’t much seen as direct competitors.

But what’s potentially vexing is that old media, particularly news outlets, might take the Xbox failing out to mean that no one is interested in consoles anymore, even though Playstation 5 has an install base in the tens of millions, and the new Switch 2 is still flying off shelves.

While this can be chalked up to old media being out of touch, the likely reason why corporate media would use Xbox as a bellwether for interest in consoles is because the American company Microsoft is more likely to be a corporate sponsor than Japanese companies such as Sony or Nintendo. It’s another example of the world making more sense when you factor in incentives.

Yet, in the history of video games, a bias against Japanese companies is sadly relevant. When video games were invented, they were an American invention. And for a long while, the American company Atari was the market leader. However, a bunch of poor business decisions on the part of Atari had led to a crash in the video game market, and it was the Japanese company Nintendo, and later the Japanese company Sega, who would step up to the plate.

However, the timing wasn’t altogether great for Nintendo, as Japanese companies, particularly those that made electronics, were widely regarded with suspicion by American lawmakers. The reason? The Japanese economy was thriving, particularly due to Japanese electronics, to the point of Japan briefly becoming the world’s number 2 economy. And there was concern that Japan could have unseated the U.S. as the world’s dominant economy.

This turned out to not be the case. But at the time, it got to the point that American lawmakers expressed their displeasure by publicly destroying Japanese consumer electronics. They also accused Nintendo of price fixing, an accusation which was repeated by the corporate information media, even though the accusation had no weight to it.

By now, you could probably guess it was Democrats.

It was into this environment that Sony came along with their Playstation, further cementing the console market for the Japanese.

By the time Microsoft came along with their Xbox, it was a valid question whether an American company could thrive in a market which was dominated by the Japanese. And, as it turns out, they were able to carve out a niche, for a while. Except in Japan, where Xbox consoles basically just participated.

As far as my opinion of the Xbox goes, it depends on which of their consoles we’re talking about. The first one didn’t interest me. For one thing, it didn’t really have much to play, and while it was consensus that Halo was a great game, it seemed like people said so just because so many other people said so. Microsoft put a lot into Xbox’s X-treme brand image, including partnerships with Mountain Dew and Taco Bell. Coming from any other brand, the cringe would be unreal. But because it’s Microsoft we’re talking about here, the “hello fellow children” vibes were off the charts.

It was against our own better judgment that the original Xbox outsold the GameCube, even if just barely. People really will fall for shallow marketing.

When Microsoft made the Xbox 360, it actually seemed respectable. I still didn’t get one. Putting aside what Nintendo made, which you would go for if you’re a fan of what they do, Microsoft was up against the PS3. Microsoft didn’t do much to differentiate the 360 from the PS3, the latter of which seemed a better choice, even if from the perspective of finding an established brand safer. Also, as much as we picked on the PS3 back in the day, after the slim model was made, it became a great system.

Then there’s Xbox One. It had a great controller, which I’ve used to play PC games up until recently. That’s about it.

And that brings us to the current Xbox consoles, the Xbox Series X/S. I kept forgetting that those ones even existed. Even when talking about video games, it just hardly comes up, even as Xbox failing out of consoles is topical.

As choices, we have Nintendo, who delights us with imaginative interactive worlds and novel hardware features, and we have Sony, whose console is a multimedia powerhouse. Compared to them, Microsoft with their Xbox Series systems are about as fun as an ESG score.

So, what is the future of Xbox? Who knows? Even if it’s hard to imagine them attempting with another console, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t going to do so, anyway. Remember that Microsoft is the company that got rich, not by making something innovative, but because Bill Gates thought like a lawyer and got a big idea from Xerox. As they are now, Microsoft has a lot more money than sense, and there’s no telling just how much more investors are willing to put up with.

I might have made this comparison before, but Xbox is kind of like that guy who stays seated at a poker table for a long time, not because he’s any good at it (because he’s not), but because he approached the table with an immense pile of chips, and the intermittent victory allows him to convince himself to remain around for just a little while more.

When a Halo game was announced for Playstation, it was as though that poker player started to think he was playing Go Fish, and he let another player take the best card in his hand.

PETA made a sound again.

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Nobody really takes PETA seriously, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t occasionally pipe in an effort to remain relevant.

This time, it’s about Mario Kart World, specifically, the Cow character.

From their tone, it doesn’t seem as though they object to the character itself, just to it’s choice of accessory, as indicated in their recent letter to Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa:

Dear Mr. Furukawa:

Greetings! I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). PETA entities have more than 10 million members and supporters globally. We herd there’s a new star in Mario Kart World: Cow! She is already winning hearts everywhere—including ours. But one detail has us hitting the brakes: The brass ring in Cow’s nose. Would you please show empathy towards bovines and remove the nose ring? Here’s why this is so important:

Nose rings are used by the meat and dairy industries to exploit, control, and even drag animals to their deaths. These brass rings are crudely stabbed through the sensitive septum of cows and bulls, which can cause lasting pain and discomfort. The dairy industry will also clip spiked nose rings on baby cows so that the comforting act of nursing from their mother causes her pain and the baby is rejected and kicked away. To control bulls, a chain might be fastened from the nose ring to the bull’s horn for even more pain-driven control.

The brass ring in Cow’s nose glosses over real world violence and cruelty to animals. That’s why we’re asking you to give this beloved bovine a small but meaningful upgrade: Remove the nose ring and let Cow race freely- without any painful reminders of the industries that treat animals like profit-making machines.

Every animal is someone. So leave the rings to Sonic and let Cow breathe free!

They also made a graphic:

While we’re banning nose rings, let’s ban having women wear nose rings, as well. I’m kidding. Women are free to make themselves as unattractive as they wish.

But on that note, has PETA considered the opinion of the Cow on this matter? Maybe the Cow wanted to wear a nose ring. Maybe it considers nose rings fashionable. Or maybe it likes them.

For that matter, has PETA considered that the Cow in MKW is just a made-up character, and therefore can’t actually suffer? Besides, the Cow looks like it’s having the time of it’s life, riding around on motorcycles with a big smile on its face.

Personally, I doubt that Furukawa will even see PETA’s letter. But if he did, it would probably come off to him as another attempt by someone outside of Japan to influence Japanese media. And I suspect that the Japanese are getting sick of this.

When it comes to PETA and groups like it, you can’t give, even a little bit. Because if you do, that’s just going to encourage them to keep going with this kind of stuff. What you do is ignore them.

Or you ridicule them. That would definitely be a correct way to answer them.

Nintendo Switched Something They Shouldn’t Have, Then Things Went Wrong

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To get right to it, something is going wrong with attempts to play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate online using Switch 2 systems.

The problem might occur when a player attempts to use one character in specific: the Mii Fighter.

In SSBU, the Mii Fighter is a customizable character. In fact, you can use a Mii that is associated with your Nintendo account. This gives the character a personal element.

So, what’s the problem? When a player with a Switch 2 attempts to use a Mii Fighter in an online match, the match might immediately end. Why? I’m not sure, but it might have to do with a change to the customization options for the Mii avatars so players can no longer choose a gender for them.

Nintendo has given a provisional solution to the issue to players: by asking players to refrain from using the Mii Fighter in online matches.

Perhaps Nintendo is working on a patch. It’s hard to imagine that they’d want to leave things as they are.

As I see it, if the problem is with the change to the Mii customization option, that’s the problem to address, preferably by reverting to allowing for the option to pick between male and female. The issue shouldn’t be with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, considering that it worked online just fine on Switch prior to the launch of Switch 2.

If messing with the gender choices of the avatars is what’s causing the issue, it sounds like another example of messing with something that shouldn’t have been messed with, resulting in undesirable consequences.

Recent attempts to blur the distinctions between the sexes in competitive sports comes to mind.

Switching Up: My First Impressions of the Switch 2

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Nintendo’s Switch 2 has joined the list of things that have gone from urban legend to merchandise. And having spent some time with the new console/handheld hybrid in my hands, I can give a first impression of it.

The TL;DR of it is that it rules, but there’s some room for improvement. And that improvement will come in the form of software which is expected to come at some point in the future.

Nintendo’s latest lotus eater machine is basically the same as their last one, but with significantly improved performance, and some other quirks as well. This is basically what I would have wanted, and the safest move on Nintendo’s part to avoid alienating those who have built digital libraries on the Switch ecosystem.

My impression of the physical dimensions out of the box is that Switch 2 is kind of a big machine, as far as portables go. That means a bigger screen, but it also means slightly decreased portability. I think the Switch 2 has hit the sweet point with respect to screen size and portability. That sweet point would be different if the console/handheld were intended to fit in ones pocket, but for something to be transported in a carrying case, it’s just right. If Nintendo were to make an OLED model a couple years down the line, they’d be doing us a favor by not messing with the size of the device.

After a simple setup, I got into playing an updated version of a game I was really curious to see running on the new hardware, Pokémon Violet, which, along with Scarlet, became the first Pokémon games to run at 60 FPS since Pokémon Emerald on the GBA.

I was jarred by how significant the improvement was. I’m not new to high framerates, but when you’re expecting a certain game to run a certain way as a fact of life, when you see it running super smooth, it’s uncanny. And it’s not just the framerate, navigating the menus is snappy. While I did not measure it, it seems like loading from fast-traveling is a lot faster. Anyone care to confirm?

EDIT: It seems Centro LEAKS has an answer, but without video and with conveniently round numbers:

Then there’s the sheer amount of Pokémon that spawn in, even at a distance. For shiny hunters, this is a massive win. I had no problem finding a shiny Porygon 2 (which I nicknamed Switch 2), simply by leaving the spawn area then returning until I found a shiny one.

The caveat is that the grainy environmental assets still weren’t terribly impressive. But even with that, my current favorite Switch 2 game was an updated version of a game I already had.

The updated version of Pokémon S/V does put a new light on an old leak:

Speaking of updated games, I also played the two open world Zelda games in their Switch 2 form, BotW and TotK. I noticed the improved framerate, which again was uncanny considering my expectations. But because I’ve only played the Switch 2 versions of those games for a few minutes each, my analysis of those games would be far from comprehensive.

Then there’s was the Switch 2 version of Link’s Awakening. I didn’t notice any difference. But hey, it was improved in some way, right?

I also decided to try out a multiplatform, 3rd party game which was on the Switch, Made In Abyss: Binary Star Falling Into Darkness. I was expecting basically the same game, and that’s pretty much what I got. The best I realistically expected was far faster loading of areas when traveling, but the game still didn’t run the same as it does on my PC as far as that goes. I remember that loading on the PC version was nearly instantaneous, which made it my favorite version of Binary Star. It seems we can’t expect overly dramatic improvement from games which weren’t specifically optimized to run on Switch 2.

As for my first Switch 2 specific game, I went for Mario Kart World. After my first two grand prix, and some time on the open world, I’m left with a question: Is there a point in which this game is worth its steep price tag?

Nintendo’s strategy of not messing with what works has definitely been put into practice, here. MKW seems nearly identical to MK8, though the new feature of grinding on rails is admittedly pretty cool. There’s some new power-ups, and the races seem to have been mechanically changed to increase the possibility that players who fall behind could catch up, and it doesn’t come off as cheap (though that players that fall behind tend to get the better power-ups isn’t a new convention).

But then there’s the open world, which is supposedly MKW’s main selling point. It has challenges to clear with rewards, and lots of exploration with plenty of off-road. But MKW’s open world doesn’t seem to have a whole lot going on. Maybe we’re not supposed to compare it to the rich experience of TotK, where you can go in with no clear objective, but then get distracted by this, that, and the other thing, and soon have a mental list of things to do. But considering the price point, I think it would have been reasonable to expect some depth.

I appreciate that GameCube games were added to the NSO+, especially considering that the initial collection includes Wind Waker and Soul Calibur, a couple of my favorite games from back when people unironically said “roxor”, which is something that those games certainly did. I’m looking forward to the Genius Sonority Pokémon games, and if they have the capacity to transfer the Pokémon that you catch, that would be even better.

In addition to the console, I scored a Switch 2 Pro Controller. It might become my favorite controller. I’m liking how quiet the controller is. I noticed how, when you fully push the stick in a direction, the sound is dampened. This decreases the potential to distract from the action on the screen, or disturb the people around you.

I was kinda concerned about those programmable buttons on the underside of the controller, but it seems like they’re easy to ignore.

The price of the controller was steep, but if it’s going to be at least as durable as the Switch Pro Controller, it’ll be worth the money.

When a new console launches, it often goes that initial enthusiasm for it hinges largely on the launch library. For GBA, the main day-one system sellers were Castlevania CotM and a Mario 2 remake. Great choices, but more than a few probably went for it anticipating a Pokémon game. GameCube had Luigi’s Mansion and Rogue Squadron. It was rough for a while, but we eventually got SSB Melee and Metroid Prime.

That’s often how it goes with day-one console purchases, in that they start out slow, but become worthwhile with time, as more software becomes available on the platform. But in Switch 2’s case, we have plenty to play on day one, even if much of it is upgraded versions of games that we may already have in our collections. And it was played in such a way to stoke legitimate enthusiasm. What’s more, we know that Donkey Kong Bananza, Metroid Prime 4 and Pokémon Legends Z-A are coming, all in the next few months. But even before then, we do have quite a bit to hold us over, such as Street Fighter, Cyberpunk, and Hogwart’s Legacy. Add this all together, and Switch 2 has a strong day one library and launch window.

And if you’re a digital player, there’s a  benefit to mention: the eShop runs a lot faster. But there’s another that would be significant if a report about it is true. Reportedly, reading from a Micro SD Express card is faster than reading from a game card. Perhaps most might not notice, but it might be a small benefit to digital bros.

EDIT: I found a comparison of bootup of Mario Kart World from internal memory, SD Express, and from the game card. For fast boot up times for games that you intend to play a lot, it seems like keeping a digital version on internal memory is the best choice.

To wind this article down, I’ll go on a very brief tangent about an accessory I didn’t buy: the Switch 2 camera. There doesn’t seem to be much of a point, and it’s hard to picture using it very often. Maybe the cameras would be great for a Mario Kart party. But if you’ve played with family members, it’s usually when you’ve gathered together. If you want to conference with people you know while playing an online game, it’s usually over the phone or Discord. The group chat feature is neat, but I don’t care much for it.

A new console is usually a step forward for what game makers can express. But the Switch was an odd case where it was far more popular than the other consoles of its generation, in spite of being about 2 or 3 generations behind in terms of specs. Compared to the current gen, as far as processing power goes, the Switch 2 is still one generation behind. Yet, it does change the game industry in a sense, in that game companies don’t have to hobble their multiplatform games nearly as much if they want to reach out to a huge portion of the market. Yay, progress!

Still, the Switch was an awesome game system, and definitely an excellent case in the point that gamers care less about their games being polygon-pushers than they do about games being fun.

And at this point, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if the Switch 2 continued Nintendo’s momentum, and continued to prove that point.

Adventures In Switch 2 Pre-ordering

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On the right: someone who secured a Switch 2 pre-order. On the left: the scene as people are still fighting for them.

I had my own idea of how it was supposed to go. I’d set an alarm for 11:45, get some sleep, then when it came time to do a pre-order, it would be over with in minutes, then it would be back to bed. Whether it worked or not, I’d know in minutes, and could then get some sleep and later consider a backup plan.

No points for guessing that it went differently.

I was prepared to descend into battle against a bunch of bots, scalpers, and fellow Nintendo fans, as well as some social media influencers (I’ll save it for the end). What surprised me was how long it took.

My online retailer of choice was Best Buy. My reasoning had to do with the fact that the location I visited a few weeks back had a pile of PS5 Pros just sitting out, at a time when they were hard to find. Seemed reasonable to think the same store might have a few Switch 2s to spare after they would launch, so I made my account, set my location, got a page open to refresh, and downloaded the mobile app, to be safe.

Best Buy didn’t just screw the pooch, they nailed it to the porch to be thorough. Pre-order links would not become available until a half-hour after the scheduled time. Not only that, but customers such as myself had to wait in a que that gave no indication of progress. As I entertained the thought that the que was broken, I considered backing out and starting over, but didn’t want to lose my place in a hypothetical invisible line.

Eventually, I got a pre-order link! I clicked it, but for some unknown reason, it didnt work, so it was back to the back of the line. So, in addition to having been screwed and nailed, the pooch was also staple gunned.

I made additional attempts with multiple instances of Best Buy open on desktop, my phone browser, and the app, but to no avail. Out of desperation, I decided to also try other retailers.

GameStop would have probably been pointless, as I don’t remember having an account with them, and I’d probably have been de-prioritized by reason of having a new account.

Target would intermittently show a pre-order link, but each attempt to click on it would result in a failure message. The way it happened made me suspect that pre-orders were being made available in waves in an attempt to manage the traffic. That would have been an interesting plan, but it wouldn’t have been so great for those of us who’d rather get some sleep than stare at display screens in the middle of the night, which we’d have plenty of opportunity to do once we have our Switch 2 systems!

Also, I’ve been hearing that Target has been arbitrarily canceling pre-orders. That sounds like a nightmare.

Then, there’s Wal-Mart. Oh, Wal-Mart. I’ve long had an account with you. I’ve been buying lots of stuff from you. You know that I’m human. There was no need for me to hold some silly button to prove that that’s the case with a pseudo-captcha.

Personally, I suspect that it’s was the means to manage the influx of web traffic. But if they wanted to keep me busy, why not load a cheap knockoff of Space Invader to keep me entertained? The pseudo-captcha was kinda condescending.

I didn’t expect it, but it was Wal-Mart that came through. And I have an idea of how it happened, which might help people who are still trying. At some point, I noticed that a Switch 2 Pro Controller was available. I wanted one, so I added it to my cart. Later, I noticed that a Switch 2 became available.

It might be that there wasn’t a causal relationship, but it’s possible that adding to my cart another piece of Switch 2 merchandise may have sufficiently demonstrated that I probably wasn’t a scalper. If that’s how it works, it might help for those who are still trying. And if you don’t actually want a piece of merchandise, you can just remove it from your cart before checking out.

I want to see my fellow Nintendo enthusiasts succeed. As for scalpers, not so much. At least, not until they’ve reevaluated their choice to damage some beloved hobbies for a quick buck.

But then there’s the social media influencers who have been complaining about anything about Switch 2 that they possibly could, thinking that the algorithm would promote their negativity. It’s funny how interested they suddenly are in being among the first to own a Switch 2, isn’t it? It’s funnier still how many of them are angry because they couldn’t secure a pre-order of the console they already decided that they hate so much.

They’re disingenuous hacks, and they don’t deserve to have Switch 2s. And they don’t seem so cool now, do they, now that it’s obvious that they didn’t believe what they’ve been saying?

The big N is going to make a killing.

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Did you hear the one about the guy who doesn’t know Jack about the games industry who is suddenly an expert on economics and geopolitics? You probably did, because there are so many such larpers shooting their mouths off. And you’re probably laughing just as hard as I am.

Days ago, Nintendo revealed the price point on their upcoming Switch 2 system, but have subsequently delayed pre-orders, as they reevaluate what they may charge for the system. This occurs as tariffs go into effect, and it seems reasonable to guess that there’s a causal connection.

While it’s easy to get ansey about how much the Switch 2 will cost, if you had the intention of buying one, you’re probably about two months away from having one, and three away from not caring what you paid for it.

How can I say that so confidently? Because I’ve been through this many times. On launch day for GameCube, I could have cared whether I had the $200 to buy one. But after that, I had one. I waited a bit to buy Wii, but after I got that, I didn’t even remember how much it cost. Same with Switch. Once the hurtle of initial expence is cleared, people are just going to move on to the next thing.

And if Nintendo is going to offer something of greater value than what they already have, wouldn’t it follow that they’d charge more for it? And if someone thinks the price is too high, they can decide not to buy it. No one is forcing anyone to make a purchase. It’s a free market.

And speaking of price points, it seems like fainting spells are on the uptick, because Nintendo is setting the MSRP for Mario Kart World at $80. People are used to paying $60 for a game, and here I’m remembering how much a new copy of Chrono Trigger cost in the nineties. Depending on where you looked, it would have been as much as $90.

Nintendo’s reasoning for the price point for Mario Kart World is that they put a lot of effort into the game. And this is reasonable. If I’m going to be getting a lot of game with lots of play and replay value, then it’s worth the money.

If you bought a new game with the complete DLC package, such as Pokémon Violet, then you probably spent $94.98 for it, before taking sales theft tax into account. Whether you would have gotten your money’s worth is up to you, but if that’s what you spent, then you were somehow able to justify making that purchase. Compared to that, to spend only $80 on Mario Kart World sounds a bit more reasonable.

But if that doesn’t seem reasonable to you, you don’t have to buy it. When it comes down to it, it’s the consumer who decides the value of a product, not the company that made it, regardless of inputs. And if you don’t want to pay the MSRP, you can just not buy the product. You might even find it at a more agreeable price later on.

But the temper tantrums are pointless. Nintendo knew that they’d hear screeching over any choice they’d make, and they’ve already figured out that they could just ignore it.

The PS5 Pro’s price didn’t come down, the Minecraft movie was still made, and Sonic from Sonic Boom still has blue arms. Nobody cares that someone from YouTube pretended to understand economics.

To get right to the heart of the matter, which I’m not hearing much about: Nintendo has investors, and Nintendo doesn’t want to upset them. To that end, they’d much rather turn a profit on the Switch 2’s first year. Pricing Switch 2 above cost would seem expedient to this.

Sure, Nintendo’s stock has fallen in the last few days, and this correlates with fans learning of the pricing of Switch 2 games. It’s also rebounded since yesterday, indicating that it wasn’t a lasting trend. But I suspect that sales numbers will play a larger role in stock valuation.

Care to guess whether millions of Nintendo fans, and way too many loathsome scalpers, would contribute to huge Switch 2 sales at launch even if it were to be priced like the PS5 Pro?

My Impressions of Pokémon Presents 2025

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Continuing with tradition, The Pokémon Company has dropped a Pokémon Presents show on the anniversary of the debut of the first Pokémon games.

As one might expect, the Direct initially focused on a bunch of mobile games, most of which most fans might not care much about. Cresselia and Darkrai are interesting Pokémon to bring to Pokémon Sleep, and that’s cool for whoever is playing that. Pokémon UNITE is bringing Alolan Raichu to the roster in April. I might check that out, considering I like Raichu.

Pokémon GO is running a Unova-themed event, which culminates with Pokémon GO Tour Global, but it doesn’t seem the announcement told us anything new about it. A new season, called Might and Mastery, is coming up, and it seems to be themed around Urshifu.

Also, an event is coming up in Pokémon Cafe Remix. I played the game for maybe a couple days when it first came out, but I don’t really care much for it, now.

A new mini-set is arriving for Pokémon TCG Pocket, and it’s arriving tomorrow. That doesn’t give us much time to save up pack hourglasses. The mini-set is themed around Arceus, and the appearance of a new Raichu card suggests that Pokémon in the set might work together well with Arceus.

I don’t know how many players still care about Pokémon Masters EX, but I sometimes peek back in to see what’s going on. It seems there will be new versions of Brendan and May who will have Groudon and Kyogre respectively, both shiny and both capable of Primal Reversion. I may spring for the new Brendan, so I’ll have a strong Ground type that’s ahead of the power creep.

It seems as though Scarlet and Violet aren’t behind us, just yet. There are a few new events planned for the current core Pokémon titles, including redeemable codes for in-game phone cases, with the case available depending on the game version, and an upcoming Mass Outbreak event themed around certain red, green, and blue Pokémon.

What has me excited in SV is the announcement of new upcoming Tera Raid events featuring Pokémon which have the Mightiest Mark. So far, I’ve caught each Pokémon featured in Tera Raids with the Mightiest Mark, some of which were quite challenging, and I’m looking forward to more!

In my opinion, the biggest announcement of the Presents would be Pokémon Champions, which shows itself as being the next generation of link battles! The program is coming to Nintendo Switch, Android, and will also be available to those who haven’t gotten around to ditching iOS.

Pokémon Champions focuses on battles, according to the gameplay mechanics of the core games. But Champions looks to be encompassing, as it will connect to Pokémon Home, allowing players to battle with their own Pokémon, and include the major gameplay mechanics of Mega Evolution and Terrastalization, in the same battle!

Consider the implications of that!

Will every Pokémon be eligible? Maybe so. Will other mechanics such as Primal Reversion and Z-moves be available? Perhaps. It’s looking like there’s going to be a lot of potential for new and old strategies to emerge!

(EDIT: It’s been revealed that not all Pokémon are going to be in Pokémon Champions, initially. Kinda disappointing, but the implications of this depends on which gets left out.)

It’s been one year since the last announcement about Pokémon Legends Z-A (hereafter ZA, because brevity), and GameFreak finally has something new to say about it!

We got a look at the three starters, which are Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile. Players are probably already forming factions. I’ll probably go with Chikorita this time, because I’d like to see a Pokémon that’s been getting picked on succeed, perhaps by reason of a great new form. And if not, then I’d probably be enjoying a challenging playthrough. If Chikorita doesn’t change, I’d at least have an idea of what to expect.

We got to see more Mega evolutions, but I didn’t notice any new ones. Still, it’s cool that we’re getting many of them back.

What I find interesting is the new battle style where moves have an RTS kind of element, where placement can influence outcomes, and moves have areas of effect. It’s interesting, and I look to seeing how it works in the game once it releases.

And I’ll have to be patient about that, as ZA is to be released late this year!

With Pokémon, it’s easy to be enthusiastic, as there’s usually a lot going on. This year’s Pokémon Presents reflected that well, and was easily among the strongest of them. But I’m still wondering how GameFreak will incorporate Switch 2 into their plans. Is it too soon to ask? GameFreak has historically been hesitant to develop for new hardware.