Last year I went on the hunt for a golf game actually made this century since as we all know Tiger Woods PGA Tour hasn’t been a thing in years. Luckily I stumbled on to The Golf Club 2019, which is a pretty solid game as well as a very realistic round of golf.
It can be a little too realistic at times though and just as frustrating as actual golf is sometimes. Think Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge.
So I would like something a little more casual as it pertains to the laws of physics. Hell I’d love a new Mario Golf platform game, which Nintendo has kept locked away in its IP vault since 2003 for some reason.
Well out of nowhere 2K sports just announced they are coming out with PGA Tour 2K21! Talk about some much needed good news during this never ending quarantine. This is huge because despite its solid gameplay, one of the biggest drawbacks to The Golf Club 2019 is that it doesn’t have the full PGA license so there are only a couple of real courses and zero real golfers in the game. Well PGA Tour 2K21 seems to have no such issues as the teaser shows off the gorgeous 17th green island at TPC Sawgrass.
PGA Tour 2K21 will actually be developed by HB studios too, which is the group that made The Golf Club 2019. 2K teased the fact that more info will be released next week. So help me God if this game isn’t coming out real soon because without actual golf or actual anything happening right now, I think we are all going a little stir crazy.
Take my $60 right now and let me and Brooks Koepka CRUSH the competition as we go for the Tiger Slam.
Video Games Chronicle – Multiple sources have told VGC that the platform holder is planning to hold an event to coincide with this year’s anniversary, which marks 35 years since the start of the mainline Super Mario series in 1985.
As part of its anniversary celebrations, Nintendo will reveal plans to re-release most of Super Mario’s 35-year back catalogue this year, remastered for Nintendo Switch, VGC was told.
As VGC’s network partner Eurogamer reported in a follow-up to our story, these remasters will include 1997’s Super Mario 64, 2002’s Super Mario Sunshine and 2007’s Super Mario Galaxy.
Nintendo will also release several other Mario titles in 2020, including a new instalment in the Paper Mario series and a Deluxe version of 2013’s Super Mario 3D World.
LETS GO! Finally some good news after all the doom and gloom we hear all day every day on the TV right now. If theres one thing thats gotten a lot of us through the Quarantine (get off your cross, I know), it’s been video games. All the money I’ve saved from not going out has gone right back into buying new video games. However, one thing Papa Giorgio and I constantly bitch about is how Nintendo is just sitting on a gold mine of IP at a perfect time in history when everyone is home all day and refuses to open the Disney Vaults. You know how much money I would spend re-buying old Nintendo games if they just ported them to Switch? A lot.
So now comes this report that Nintendo is apparently planning to not only re-release, but *remaster* “most of Super Mario’s 35 year back catalogue.” Porting a game is great, but for Nintendo to go back and actually remaster an old favorite is WELL worth my $60 bucks.
Just the other day I pulled my N64 out of the closet and, after about 10 minutes of furiously trying to connect technology that was never meant to be connected, I hooked it up to my flatscreen TV.
Now a remastered Mario 64 would be incredible, but there’s also a ton of Mario games I missed over the years because Switch was the first Nintendo system I actually bought since N64. So the bevy of titles from Gamecube, Wii, and Wii U is the real gold coin here.
Just think of all the Mario games this could potentially include? There’s obviously a laundry list of titles, but lets run through the most likely candidates from any Mario game that was on a console. The titles in bold were ones mentioned in VGC or Eurogamer’s report as specific games to expect.
Super Mario 64 – N64
Paper Mario – N64
Super Mario Sunshine – Gamecube
Super Mario Galaxy – Wii
Super Mario Galaxy 2 – Wii
New Super Mario Bros – Wii
New Super Mario Bros U – Wii U
Super Mario 3D World – Wii U
Super Mario Maker Wii U
That’s a list of console games pre-Nintendo Switch, not including handheld games or anything prior to N64. A lot of the NES and SNES Mario games you can play right now with Nintendo Switch Online too.
However, as we saw with 2019’s The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Nintendo is not against remastering even old Game Boy games.
So if Nintendo wants to really get nuts, there are a TON of Mario titles to pick from over the last 35 years. Aside from some of the heavy hitters mentioned above, there is one game that I think we all desperately need back in our lives. Yup, thats right. Mario Golf.
Which Mario game do you want to see remastered for Nintendo Switch?
As much as we blog about the Bruins, and the Patriots, and grown men beating the hell out of each other in the octagon; at the end of the day I am an unabashed nerd. You may have picked up on that from the 20+ Marvel movie reviews we did this year or the 2,500 word dissertations on each Game of Thrones episode. Well, the highlight of every nerd’s year was this week with the annual E3 Convention showcasing all the latest and greatest in the world of video games. The Electronic Entertainment Expo is something on my bucket list as I’ll need to make the mecca to Cali for this event one year. Without further ado, here’s everything you may have missed from the conference.
Halo Infinite
I’ve had an on again off again relationship with Halo over the years due to its platform exclusivity. Back in the days of the original Halo I was a PS2 guy so I would play in my buddy’s dark basement with the chunk black controller. Then I got an Xbox360 and played Halo 1/2 remastered and Halo 4 (3 got lost in the shuffle). Then I moved onto PS4 out of spite after I got the red ring of death so I have not played a Halo game in a minute. So needless to say I don’t know what the hell is going on here, BUT if this game continues to look as awesome as it does already, I could be tempted to pick up the Xbox 5 or whatever the hell Project Scarlett name they ultimately call it.
Platform: Xbox One, Project Scarlett
Release Date: Holiday 2020
Final Fantasy VII Remake
I didn’t get into Final Fantasy until FFX, but obviously FFVII is one of the most popular games of all time. This remake is something they have been talking about for YEARS with it first being announced back in 2015. So while I’m not particularly hyped for it, it looks beautiful and is a great opportunity for people like me to play a classic updated.
Platform: PS4
Release Date: March 3, 2020
Marvel’s Avengers
This is a game that I’ve been very cautiously optimistic about because its a perfect concept for a video game, but there have been so so many bad superhero video games over the years. I know Spider-Man was a massive hit last year and the recent Batman games have been well reviewed, but I still cringe just thinking about the old N64 Superman game or anything that has to do with the Hulk. Theres been next to no information available about this game, but we got our first trailer at E3 this week and I like what I’m seeing. Sure it looks a little wonky because the studio didn’t want to pay the licensing rights to use the actual actors, but other than that it looks pretty awesome so far. What’s most exciting about this game is that we’ll have an ever expanding roster of Marvel characters allegedly. I don’t believe the Marvel movie rights of who they could and couldn’t use applies to video games, but even if they did, don’t forget that Marvel just re-acquired the X-Men. Plus they don’t have to worry about the overarching movie storylines so we could get characters like the Punisher, Daredevil and maybe Deadpool dropping in? But that might be something they tackle in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 instead…
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Stadia, and PC.
Release Date: May 15, 2020
Pokemon Sword and Shield
Everything you thought you knew about the world of Pokémon is about to change…in a big way.
Here’s the latest on the exciting new adventure that awaits in #PokemonSwordShield!
This is something I am stoked for as I haven’t bought a Pokemon game in years, but have been quietly watching from the sidelines. I basically got to a point where I refused to buy another iteration of the Game Boy (because I’m an adult damnit) so I have been waiting, and waiting, for Pokemon to finally enter the world of 3D open world platform gaming. That has arrived with the introduction of Sword and Shield. Not to mention they’ve got a gigantic direwolf looking dog with a sword in its mouth? Just take my money right now.
BEND THE KNEE TO YOUR ONE TRUE KING, KEANU REEVES. I have to say I’m a bit of a Keanu hipster since I’ve been pumping his tires since I first saw The Matrix in 1999. The Matrix, Point Break, and John Wick are some of my favorite movies. It seems like out of nowhere Keanu has become the most beloved man in America and I totally get it (especially with all the stories of his generosity), but it is weird to see a guy I’ve been stanning for years all of a sudden become a mega celeb. Anyways, Cyberpunk looks pretty sweet. Its important to note that this footage shows exactly *zero* gameplay so lets not get too excited. We’ve all fallen for that too many times with Fallout 76, Destiny, Anthem, and No Mans Sky that show incredible hype footage only to release a subpar game.
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release Date: April 16, 2020
Fallout 76 (again)
Speaking of the most panned game of the year, Bethesda is doubling down on the half-assed cash grab they put out last year. For a franchise as beloved as Fallout that relies on single player experiences, open world exploration, character development, and in depth storylines to release a multi-player online only skeleton of a game was heresy to most fans. Well Bethesda said how about we add a battle royale Fortnite mode! Guys lets just accept the L and start working on Fallout 5.
Platform: PS4, Xbox One
Release Date: Coming soon…
Dragonball Z: Kakarot
I’m 30 years old and I still love Dragonball Z. Hell I’ve even debated getting a DBZ tattoo, so needless to say I will be picking up this little gem. Dragonball games have been pretty hit or miss over the years and Dragonball Fighter Z looked pretty slick, but I couldn’t see myself playing a side scrolling fighting game for that long. So for an RPG that looks awesome though and focuses on the storylines that we all (read: I) remember so fondly? Swipe. Swipe.
Platform: PS4, Xbox One
Release Date: Early 2020
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild [unnamed sequel]
LETS GOOO. Breath of the Wild is truly one of the greatest games of all-time. It created a massive open world that you could literally do anything and everything. Infuriatingly frustrating at times, but fun as all hell once you figured out what you were doing. So to hear about a direct sequel to the first open world Zelda game has me sweating. I had heard rumors that Nintendo was going to re-use the Breath of the Wild engine so they could pump out a sequel quicker, which I am more than ok with. Use the exact same mechanics, reskin the game to create some new maps and environments, and give us some new storylines and we are in business. Unfortunately there was no release date given whatsoever so this game could be a ways off…
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: Currently “in development”
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
I missed a lot of the earlier Zelda games as I was a bigger Sonic, Mortal Kombat, and Pokemon guy before getting baptized by fire with Majora’s Mask. So games like Link’s Awakening were never really on my radar, which was originally a Game Boy title. The graphics of this updated version are gorgeous and the gameplay is clever as hell where it gives you the same Game Boy birds eye view with an updated flair. Very excited to check this one out.
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: September 20, 2019
Luigi’s Mansion 3
This is another franchise I missed entirely since I never had Game Cube or Wii. I’m still shocked that Nintendo hasn’t opened up an e-shop to download, or at the very least rent, some of their former classics. I know they did it on Wii and as Papa G says, Nintendo basically just tricks people into buying the same game 4 times. While I did miss the first two Luigi Mansions, I’m sure I’ll be able to figure it out. Either way this looks like another entertaining Nintendo romp and gives Luigi some much deserved shine.
IGN – Researchers at Stanford University have discovered that people who played Pokemon as children in the 90s might share a small region of their brain where all of that information is held, according to a new study.
…When shown images of Pokemon from the original GameBoy game mixed in with other stimuli, a specific region of Pokemon players’ brains lit up consistently in response to Pokemon. That means that the information is stored in the same part of the brain across all (or at least most) people who had that similar experience…He compared that to when you look at something like the room around you, which will go across more of your retina. “Because they have different locations on your retina,” Gomez continued, “they have different locations in your brain, and it turns out that the Pokemon region emerges in a part of your brain that responds to information from the center of your retina.”
Umm could? Thats the understatement of the century buddy. I first played Pokemon over 20 years ago and I still vividly remember very specific experiences like when I first caught a Magmar while eating at UNO with the grandparents. Sorry grandma, but theres no time to chat over deep dish pizza, I’m on a mission here. So to say theres a part of my brain that has the original 151 embedded into it is the least surprising thing science has ever taught me. No shit. I put 100+ hours into a game that I played on a cylinder block with a green dimly lit 3 inch screen. My eyes were trained from a very young age to identify which pocket monster had appeared and then doing the on the fly analysis of their type (fire, water, ground etc.) in between Bagel Bites and whether it would help me enough to beat the Elite Four.
But its not just another bullshit waste of time experiment like half the studies we blog about here because it turns out studies like this could actually help improve the way people with various disabilities learn.
While the fact that Pokemon players share some grey matter is amusing, this isn’t all just fun and games. The study makes progress toward actually figuring out how the human brain is wired and why is stores information the way it does, which in turn could be used to help people with visual deficiencies.
Gomez further explained that the “finding suggests that the very way that you look at a visual stimulus, like a Pokemon or words, determines why your brain is organized the way it is. That’s useful going forward because it might suggest that visual deficits like Dyslexia or face-blindness might result simply from the way you look at stimuli, and so it’s a promising future avenue.”
Thats why I’ve always railed against the Mothers Against Video Games or whatever nonsensical group thats been created. Video games aren’t just a time suck; they teach you multi-tasking, problem solving, and how to perform under pressure. Now they might actually help scientists understand how to improve education for people with learning disabilities? Your move, anti-gamers.
So maybe I am a 30 year old man thats overly excited for a movie about Pokemon, but hey it’s not just a game anymore; it’s brain science. Pokemon is basically like Jeopardy one could say.
This is not a drill guys, this is what we’ve been waiting for all these years. Nintendo/Game Freak is finally releasing an open world Pokemon RPG. It only took 21 years, but here it is; Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield.
I was super bummed last week when Nintendo unveiled its annual Nintendo Direct, which they use each year to tease everything they have coming up, because there was not a single mention of Pokemon. But a bit later it was revealed that Pokemon would have its own 7 minute Direct video and my brain was off to the races.
Sure you could argue they already did that with Pokemon Lets Go Pikachu and Lets Go Eevee, which looked great, but they were really just a port of Pokemon Yellow. This will be the first open world Pokemon game in 3D on a major platform.
If you have followed The 300s even a little, you know that I am a diehard Pokemon guy since the days of Pokemon Red back in 1998.
I think the last Game Boy I owned was Game Boy Advance, after racking up the original and Game Boy Color. So needless to say I missed just about every game between between Pokemon Crystal and this, not counting N64 titles. So anything from 3DS or the likes never made it into my home.
For over 20 years, Pokémon Trainers have embarked on many adventures through the various regions of the Pokémon world.
Along the way, you’ve met different Pokémon and battled against countless other Trainers.
It’s a funny story of why it took so long too. The Nintendo Switch has been out for just about 2 years, but we’re not getting new Pokemon titles until “late 2019,” nearly a full 3 years after the system dropped. Why would Nintendo wait this long into a system’s lifecycle before releasing one of its core IPs? Especially with Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild being monster hits on Switch? Well, the Pokemon CEO literally thought Switch was going to flop.
The man in charge of all things Pokémon says he specifically warned Nintendo about its latest console, the outrageously popular Nintendo Switch. He thought it was going to be a failure.
“I told Nintendo that Switch wouldn’t be a success before it went on sale, because I thought that in the age of the smartphone no one would carry around a game console,” Tsunekazu Ishihara, CEO of The Pokémon Company told Bloomberg in a recent interview. “It’s obvious I was wrong.”
Glad we got that cleared up Tsunekazu because I am jones-ing for some new Pokemon in my life.
Super Mario Odyssey was awesome, but Zelda Breath of the Wild was one of the best games I’ve ever played. It really showcased what the Switch was capable in terms of world building. I think they have as evidenced by the long delay in the game’s release, but I hope Pokemon takes that example to heart. With that being said, the new region, Galar, looks incredibly vast so fingers crossed.
In #PokemonSwordShield, you’ll explore the expansive Galar region, which is filled with idyllic countryside and contemporary cities—vast plains and snow-covered mountains. ⚔ 🛡 pic.twitter.com/ECtjU6K8kp
With a new region comes new Pokemon and they only introduced your new starting 3, but as usual its a grass/fire/water type sophie’s choice.
And heres a couple of mockups of how the game will actually look in your hand:
Now “late 2019” is a ways away so thats disappointing, but at least we’ve got Detective Pikachu to look forward to. A movie that has no right looking as good as it does. It also comes out on my 30th birthday. Coincidence? I think not.
Released on Feb. 27, 1996, Pokemon Red was the first game I put 50+ hours of my life into and it launched a billion dollar franchise. All you needed to complete your Pokedex was a friend with Pokemon Blue…or two Game Boys and a trading cable.
As it turns out, I have zero brand loyalty when it comes to gaming consoles. I might be the only guy you know that had a Dreamcast. What systems did you have?
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If you’re reading this then I assume you already know, but for those who don’t, E3 is the annual video game convention, Electronic Entertainment Expo, and its where publishers showcase new and upcoming games. Its where new consoles get announced, new titles are revealed, but most of all its where all the blazing hot trailers are released for upcoming video games. And Nintendo brought the heat this year.
To be honest, this is the first year I’ve been excited for Nintendo’s E3 announcements, probably ever. The Switch is the first Nintendo system I’ve owned since N64. As I’ve joked about before I have absolutely zero brand loyalty, so good luck marketing to me. I went from the original Nintendo to Sega to N64 to Dreamcast to PS2 to Xbox 360 back to PS4 to Nintendo Switch. So yea, not a lot of continuity in there. With so few console exclusives that are actually worth it theres little reason to stay loyal to just one system.
But I am back on the Nintendo bandwagon and they’ve crushed it out of the gate with phenomenal games like Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Outside of that though theres been a lack of great games on the new system. Nintendo gets accused of going to the well too often rehashing the same franchises over and over again like Mario and Zelda, but when the games are this good then who cares?
The most glaring absence had come from one of Nintendo’s most popular properties ever; Pokemon. Whats unique about Pokemon is that its never made the jump to home consoles for a standalone game. They’ve always developed core games for mobile devices like the Game Boy and the 3Ds. There have been random games like Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Snap to name a couple on home consoles, but no core games where you gotta catch em all.
That is until now.
Naturally, the news of Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Evee! leaked a few weeks ago so it wasn’t a huge reveal, but it was awesome to see the old Kanto region I grew up in as a fully realized 3D world. I am going to buy the absolute shit out of this game on Day 1.
Its essentially a remake of Pokemon Yellow, which dropped on Game Boy in 1998 and earned a 10/10 from IGN. But it won’t just be a port since they had to build this 3D world from scratch and it will also introduce new elements to the series such as adopting some gameplay features from the massively popular Pokemon Go iOS game. Then of course there’s this little guy.
Its a Pokeball controller that you throw to catch new Pokemon. Lets be honest, it doesn’t really matter what this costs because I am 100% going to buy it.
Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Evee! will both be released on November 16th so get your pre-orders in asap.
Super Mario Party was also announced, which will be the first game to really encourage playing the Switch with friends. You could say Mario Kart already did that, but that was a port of an old Mario Kart game rather than a brand new game so I’m giving the edge to Mario Party here. Plus this is the first game to really take advantage of the Switch technology, just check out the trailer below. This one drops on October 5th.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was announced and it looks glorious. They really pulled out all the stops for this one by including every single character thats ever appeared in a Smash game. Ever. The roster is gigantic. We got all the originals plus we got Sonic, we got Charizard, hell we got Solid Snake himself. This is going to be the best drinking game since Mario Kart 64. This one drops on December 7th.
Still no appearances by Fox McCloud though which is a goddamn shame because Star Fox 64 is one of my favorite games of all time and any Star Fox I’ve played since (Gamecube) was hot garbage.
For any Fortnite fans out there, the massively popular free title is now available on Switch too. So you can jump off the flying bus while literally riding the bus.
A couple of other freebies now available on the Switch include Pokemon Quest and Fallout Shelter. Quest is definitely a freemium type of game meaning you’ll likely have to put some money into the game to progress quickly, but I know Fallout Shelter has been out for a while to decent reviews. Both probably aren’t enough to be a great standalone game that you’d pay for, but as a free title you can play on the go? I’ll take that.
So if you were on the fence about buying yet another system, now is a pretty good time to jump into the Switch. Just make sure you get the Pokeball.
The 300s 