Brain Full of Games

I had a long travel weekend and extreme jet lag have made playing Crystal (or anything, really) and yeah this is a little late. But we need to quickly discuss the Nintendo leak from last week, since I sort of missed all this while I was on vacation.

I’m sure you already know about it, but Nate the Hate’s podcast broke the news that Ocarina of Time is getting a remake this calendar year. Well, it is not really news as much as it is a leak… This is not a report from a Nintendo Direct. Maybe it isn’t real- I don’t know anything about the source, I have no idea if that podcast is trustworthy but I did listen to it. But other people seemed to think, when Nate the Hate teased the new podcast episode, that there would be a Nintendo Direct and that is what he was going to discuss. There was not, and frankly, there is not one scheduled (though, again, people are convinced there is one coming. I might even be one of those people. I think that Zelda needs a specific themed Direct because it was its damn 40 YEAR ANNIVERSARY AND NINTENDO DID NOTHING. Ahem. Might still be angry about that.

We have received some information about the Switch 2’s year 2 line up of game releases. There is a Yoshi coming out in May. I think some release dates for 3rd party games like Resident Evil and FFVII Rebirth have been announced, but, again, these aren’t big Nintendo titles. Holding their cards close to the chest seems like an odd strategy when- at least anecdotally I can say this about my friends- people are wondering why to buy a Switch 2. We really only have Pokemon Wind and Waves confirmed, but they were revealed to have a 2027 release. The Switch 2’s library is filling out, certainly, and I know there are other 3rd party games getting Switch 2 releases but no Zelda and no Mario games confirmed and scheduled is…. odd? Right?

Anyway, I’m just saying all this because I think Nintendo’s been weird. Total vindication to the leakers. Surprises are fine but when sales are low and people clearly need a reason to upgrade to the Switch 2, you gotta put in on their calendars.

Personally, I think that Nintendo should not be giving out this information piecemeal, drip-fed, on social media. Obviously I understand the importance of social media as a news reporting function, but as a source it is a little… disappointing. Socials are limited. People want something big and official, we are waiting desperately for that big announcement so we can give ourselves permission to spend a stupid amount of money on a new console.

The less frustrating thing is knowing there are some big Nintendo titles coming. The unknowns are Fire Emblem, Splatoon Raiders: trailers and announcements, weird appearances, but no exact release dates. Having these teased multiple times but without a date is annoying, but not as annoying as radio silence. But in a way it kind of reminds me of that Game Cube demo that Nintendo did that included that gritty, dark footage of Link and Ganondorf fighting (to showcase what the Game Cube was capable of) and then people were expecting that to be gameplay. And then Wind Waker was released.

So are we getting a June direct? Expectations are personal and hard to comment on, but why do certain games get an announcement like Pokemon games for Pokemon Day? Why was Zelda’s anniversary ignored, even as we are all expecting something in the lead up to the Zelda movie next year? According to Nate the Hate, a general direct is coming in June. but too many games to communicate Switch 2 dates. It is kinda late. And anyway, if these leaks are true. I have all the information I need.

I’m not going to use this post to comment on Ocarina of Time or what I would want to see in a remake, but I think I will get to all that soon.

And while I have everyone’s attention: while I was away, one of my favorite games, The Long Dark, had a long awaited update: the final chapter of the story mode, Wintermute, was finally released. This game has been in development for more than a decade and people were promised a story mode from the beginning. Personally I have never played it and don’t care at all, but a lot of The Long Dark fans are (hopefully) very happy with this and I am glad they will stop complaining on the subreddit. I jest! Well.

Anyway, there is a big sale on Steam if anyone is interested. I have hundreds of hours in this game and really recommend it if you like perma-death survival games, beautiful art style, and Canada.