Also, Metroid Dread credit snubs, Switch OLED sales, and why Kingdom Hearts is cloud streaming to Switch.
Welcome once again to Rebecca's Nintendo Recap. This week, we got to see just how many people are unhappy with the pricing for N64 games coming to Switch, and The Pokemon Company showed off new Hisuian variants in a really clever way. Additionally, the Nintendo Switch was knocked off its perch as the best-selling console for the first time in years, but Switch OLED sales are going strong. We also learned why Kingdom Hearts games aren't coming to Switch locally and got some disappointing news about Metroid Dread's credit policy. With so much to talk about, let's dive in!
Pokémon Legends: Arceus found footage reveals new Hisuian variants
The Pokémon Company has started ramping up interest for Pokémon Legends: Arceus as we draw closer to the February release date. As part of this, found-footage-style videos were posted on social media that show a rather Blair Witch Project-like attack on an explorer in the mountains. The video ends by revealing Hisuian Zorua and Zoroark.
This video plays off of the idea that Pokémon can actually charge you in this more open-world take on the popular franchise. It also means there are likely other Hisuian variants still to be revealed.
Switch knocked off its thrown after 33 months, but Switch OLED will be a holiday hit
The September NPD report is finally in giving us an idea about how well specific games and consoles sold over the last year. Though, keep in mind that eShop sales are not included in these numbers. For the first time in 33 months, the Nintendo Switch was knocked off of its position as the highest-selling console in September and replaced with the PS5. The Switch is still the best-seller of the year, however.
Still, with the launch of the OLED model, it's likely that many people held off from purchasing a Switch during that time with the intention of grabbing the latest version. We'll have to see how these numbers stack in the coming months, but either way, being able to hold that position for 33 months straight is an impressive feat.
Now, the Switch OLED model has had the lowest-launch numbers of any previous Switch including the Switch Lite, but, according to a Famitsu report via Gematsu it was still the best-selling console in Japan last week, selling 138,409 units. It's worth noting that these numbers have been affected by low stock caused by consumer demand and supply chain issues. That being the case, this launch preview are promising and likely indicate that it will be an incredibly big seller this holiday season as long as stock can keep up.
If you're wanting to order the Switch OLED this year, I recommend using Stock Informer to keep an eye on online retailers. It can also send you notifications when the OLED model comes in stock. You'll want to jump on the purchase as soon as possible as these consoles have been selling out within minutes.
Sega Saturn emulator found on Switch
Modern Vintage Gamer (MVG), released a video, which you can watch above, detailing how players discovered that a Sega Saturn emulator was running on Nintendo Switch. Considering that Saturn didn't have the best sales, which inflated prices of the original games, and the fact that it's hard to find these games on modern consoles anyway, the thought of being able to emulate them on the Switch is appealing. With any luck, this will lead to some of these classics making their way onto the Switch in the near future.
Why Kingdom Hearts is only doing cloud streaming... for now
In an interview with Nintendo Life last Friday, Kingdom Hearts series producer, Ichiro Hazama, explained that the Switch's low storage capacity was one of the reasons the company decided to make the games playable via Nintendo Switch Cloud Streaming instead of locally. What's more, he said that it's still possible that the games could come locally in the future:
"At this moment in time, the production of a native version is undecided. We believe that the Cloud version is currently the best way to deliver the Kingdom Hearts series to Nintendo Switch players, but we are always excited to hear to [sic] feedback from our fans and want to thank them for all their support."
It would be kind of weird for there to be a cloud version and a native version of the games on the Switch and while the older titles could be brought over more easily, it's not likely that the Kingdom Hearts 3 would ever make it to local purchase. After all, it's far more graphically intensive than the other games and would take a whole lot more work to get it to be playable on Switch.
People are unhappy with Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack prices
You'll recall that Nintendo finally revealed the price for the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack during the Animal Crossing Direct, of all places. This service launches on Oct. 25 and gives you access to select N64 games, Sega Genesis games, and Animal Crossing paid DLC for either a $50 Individual Membership that covers 12 months or an $80 Family Membership for that same length of time. However, fans are not happy with this high price, as is evidenced by Nintendo's official overview trailer, which was resting at over 87,000 dislikes and only 16,000 likes last I checked.
The subscription does include the base Nintendo Switch Online plan that gives you online access and a library of NES and SNES games, but that means that the Expansion Pack costs more than double the initial plans. Considering that most people don't really care as much for the Sega Genesis games (many of which are already available on the eShop through various collections) this price seems pretty steep for just giving you N64 games and the Happy Home Paradise paid DLC that is only of interest to Animal Crossing fans. It's understandable why so many people are unhappy with the price.
In many cases, complaints only serve to show how well a Nintendo service or game will perform once it launches.
Still, if I've learned anything about the Nintendo fanbase, it's that complaints only serve to show how well a service or game will perform once it launches. Remember when fans decided to boycott Pokémon Sword and Shield over Dexit? Fat lot of good those claims were; Gen 8 ended up selling the third best out of any of the eight core Pokémon RPGs ever made. The same will likely happen with the Expansion Pack as well.
Besides, if you manage to play through all of the N64 games before your subscription needs to be renewed, you're getting access to nine classic N64 games for $30, which isn't a bad deal. The truly frustrating thing around the Expansion Pack centers on the N64 Switch controllers, which sold out within minutes of becoming available. Players are limited to only purchasing up to four per Nintendo Account, but that hasn't stopped several scalpers from already listing them on eBay and other sites. But more are supposed to come in stock during late October so keep an eye out for that.
Metroid Dread devs left out of credits
Metroid Dread made a huge splash its opening week and holds the record of highest-grossing Metroid game at launch by far. However, things aren't all power suits and rainbows.
Last week some developers from MercurySteam spoke out about bad working conditions and not being included in the game's credits. Instead of apologizing, MercurySteam confirmed that it has a policy where "developers who worked less than 25% of the game's total development time are not included in the credits." Since the game was in production for about four years, that means employees would need to have been involved for at least 12 months to be included.
This is really disappointing, but not all that uncommon in the development world. Not including people in credits prevents them from using those games as references to get further jobs, which is just despicable, especially given it doesn't take that much work to add people's names to the end of a game.
See you in two weeks
A year ago I scheduled a vacation for next week that takes me somewhere without an internet connection. Of course, this just happens to be the week that Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack releases. Sigh. But the gaming team here at iMore will be working hard to handle coverage while I'm away. I'll be sure to talk about it when I get back. Between now and then, I hope you all have fun playing some of these classic games.
Until next time.
- Rebecca Spear
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