Switch

Does Pokémon need to be more Challenging?

Matthew Roys Opinions , , , , , , , ,

Pokémon Legends: Arceus represents the first major shake-up of the Pokémon franchise since its inception. Fans have been calling for an open world Pokémon game for years, but Game Freak has been careful to point out that Legends: Arceus is not a mainline game in order to curb expectations. Experimentation is great to offer innovation from older franchises, but is open world really the design element that Pokémon needs to appease fans?

All of the Pre-Order Bonuses for 'Pokémon Legends: Arceus'

While the sales numbers of Pokémon games reveal that Gamefreak and The Pokémon Company have absolutely nothing to fear, dissent has been growing among fans, increasing with every generation. A commonly cited issue is with the easy difficulty of the games, how much they hold players’ hands, and the constant introduction and abandonment of gimmicks. Pokémon Sword and Shield bore the brunt of these criticisms when it was announced that not every Pokémon would be available within the game, and when graphics and animations did not meet what fans expected from a Switch game. 

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Inclusion in games – More work is needed

Matthew Roys Opinions, Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , ,

Some of my earliest memories are of playing on the Sega Megadrive back in my old, tiny bedroom at the tender age of three or four. Games have always been a dominant part of my life, but they have been a core part of my being that I was never able to share with my parents.

My Dad was a lost cause. He is part of the old guard. A former miner with a love of gardening, he never really gave games the time of day. The few times I got him to sit down and play anything usually only enforced this division of our opinions.

On the other hand, my Mum has always been willing to watch me and my younger sister play, or take part when she can. And that is the trouble: She can’t play 99% of the time. You see, when she was born she suffered a stoke and lost much of the use of her right hand side. She can still walk and move her right arm but it is clumsy and she has no real control over its grip or independent finger movements.

As you can imagine, this is a problem for playing games because she can’t hold a controller. She certainly can’t manoeuvre her fingers to quickly and accurately press buttons. As such, she was never able to join in with our hobby no matter how much she may have wanted to. Continue reading →

The Nintendo Switch Needs to Switch up Nintendo.

Matthew Roys Foresight, Opinions, Uncategorized , , , , , , , ,

When Nintendo first announced the Switch I was excited. This kind of surprised me though since I have never really owned a Nintendo console. Sure, I’ve owned several handhelds from the Gameboy to the 2DS but they have literally just been dedicated Pokemon machines. We also had a household Wii that saw action with Wii Sports Resort and Link’s Crossbow Training but little else.

Image result for nintendo switch

The Switch was an interesting concept. A console/handheld hybrid sounded cool and the initial trailer was pleasantly devoid of any gimmicks beyond this portability. They were showing off Skyrim which suggested stronger links with third party developers and most of the actors were young adults instead of children. It looked like they were trying to market the Switch as a more matured console, still fun but aimed at the people closer to my own age who had grown up with Nintendo and still made up a massive portion of sales despite Nintendo’s drive to be a child-oriented company. Their move with the Wii U to add Bayonetta 2 to their exclusive list and include her in Smash Brothers was a step in the right direction so maybe they were learning. Continue reading →