30°

The Sound Strategy Behind 2DS Points To A Switch Mini

Nintendo Life: “The Switch Mini rumours have been coming thick and fast over the last week or two. Despite Nintendo plainly stating that the E3 2019 Nintendo Direct would not feature a new hardware reveal, it was half expected there might be a cheeky announcement. We’ve heard multiple stories from respected outlets for a while now, as well as manufacturers and retailers listing accessories for the as-yet-unannounced hardware revision. It almost feels that the sheer force of the internet is willing this thing into existence, whether Nintendo planned it or not.

But of course it surely has planned for the revision. There’s a 3DS-sized hole in the market that the current Switch isn’t quite filling. As a budget option the 3DS (and 2DS) is still a fabulous device, but any parent knows that only the latest and greatest will do in the playground. Give a six-year-old a choice between a full, mint-in-box NES library or a Switch with Smash Bros. and Fortnite and it’ll be bye-bye retro quicker than you can say "Stadium Events".”

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nintendolife.com
70°

Tomb Raider is coming to Evercade!

The first three Tomb Raider games are coming to an Evercade Cartridge!

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evercade.co.uk
darthv721d 9h ago

Their newer giga cart tech should make for even bigger games coming to the platform. I'm hoping for a Resident Evil collection with the first 3 games.

140°

With Larian Out Of The Picture, Will The Baldur's Gate IP Be In Safe Hands?

Huzaifah from eXputer: "With Larian Studios washing their hands of the IP, what is the ultimate fate of the legendary Baldur's Gate series?"

RaidenBlack9h ago

If anybody's gonna mention BioWare, then look at Archetype Entertainment, they're the new BioWare
or else
Obsidian is still a good choice but not independent anymore.

anast9h ago(Edited 9h ago)

No, WoTC is pivoting to mobile. They can use Larian's work to justify DnD Go and everyone will accept it.

RiseNShine9h ago

Short answer, nope. Long answer, f*ck nope.

Christopher9h ago

Honestly, we're talking completely new engine and none of Larian's built-in stuff with regard to environments and the like that they had from their past divinity game. No one is going to have that just ready to go. So, they need to shop for a dev studio that has a past game that shows what they want.

Obsidian doesn't have that, maybe the closest being Dungeon Siege 3 or Pillars of Eternity, but those are very basic, not as open, very little environment related and altering capabilities. So, we're talking a step way back on what Larian delivered. Zero scene experience to line up with what was done in BG3. Okay conversation tree designs, but still needs more complexity.

inXile has Wasteland 3 as a base model engine, and I think that's better than Pillars of Eternity from Obsidian. But, still needs to be more open world, more environmental effects, and a much heavier rules set adaptation. But, not a bad overall engine as a base, but still a ton of work. Zero scene experience to line up with what was done in BG3. Needs a ton of work on that entirely.

Tactical Adventure did the Solasta game. Really good and more accurate as far as 5e rules than BG3. But, again, if the expectation is similar to what made BG3 a big hit, engine isn't designed for moving the camera, is a bit outdated in graphics, doesn't have in-game scene elements, and needs much better writers/voice actors.

Owlcat of pathfinder games is another choice, even though they've recently moved on to WH40k licensed games. Again, though, the engine is the biggest issue here to match up, but it's a much better option overall than Tactical Adventure. Another question is writers/story telling, as much of their overall story telling bits are very limited with a lot of random worldbuilding elements that are just +\- of some attributes.

TBH, no matter who takes over, it's just not going to be like BG3 much like how BG3 isn't at all like BG1/2. And BG3 was so successful because of how much Larian was able to put in with their engine and how focused they were on players having ridiculous control over the story being told. I just don't see the next BG being the same and depending on what it is, it might be good but I'm not as big of a reach as BG3. It's way more likely players are going to go into BG4 (or its spiritual successor if it moves away from Baldur's Gate and into Neverwinter or something like Plansescape) expecting much of what is in BG3 with more options, new and older characters, and the same level of control over what they're doing. If it doesn't have that, regardless of who makes it, it won't be as successful, IMHO.

CrimsonWing698h ago

Probably not, but maybe… just maybe…

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70°

New hardware, new lower price! Introducing Evercade EXP-R and Evercade VS-R

We’re delighted to announce a refresh of the Evercade line of retro gaming consoles that not only provides a simpler and more accessible way to get into Evercade and its physical cartridge ecosystem but also brings the price of the products down to under £100/$100.

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evercade.co.uk
darthv721d 8h ago

Evercade is a great little platform. Im surprised more dont know about it.

Vits1d 8h ago

It's a great idea, but I feel the execution could have been better, particularly concerning the quality of the consoles themselves and the fact that those carts are likely not going to last long, given the cheap, bottom-of-the-barrel flash memory they use.