Zippo's Nonsensical Ramblings and Other Stuff

MonolithSoft is one of Nintendo's most talented, reliable, and consistent developers. I know this. You know this. Everyone knows this at this point. What we haven't known for a while is what the studio is up to, post Xenoblade 3 and Tears of the Kingdom. That is... Until now.  That's right. I'm hearing from sources familiar with the situation that MonolithSoft is developing a full remake of their underrated Wii U title, Xenoblade Chronicles X. Released in 2015, this title came at a time where the Wii U was already unfortunately winding down after two consecutive years of poor sales, so many missed out on the game, including myself.  From all accounts, the game is excellent, and is in actuality, the first Nintendo game in the modern day to go open world, even before Breath of the Wild.  Monolith has numerous titles in development for Nintendo's next system, and this is just scratching the surface of that. I'll have more presents throughout the day. Things are hea...

    Everyone's favorite jester is finally making a comeback, after a very long 17 years with no new installment.  While things are early and details are scant at the moment, the original creative team, Takashi Iizuka and Naoto Oshima, hot off the heels of Sonic Superstars, are once again reuniting for this adventure. Iizuka, very publicly throughout the years, has been very eager to make another Nights game, so he's finally getting his wish.  This is my own personal speculation, but given that 2025 is the 30th anniversary of the series' debut, I wouldn't be surprised if that's when this new installment releases.  Given Sonic Team's cult classic, Samba De Amigo, got a brand new game out of nowhere this year, and now we know SEGA are planning a smorgasbord of further revivals, it isn't that crazy of an idea anymore, is it? Expect to see Nights cameo in upcoming SEGA games once again in the near future as well.  When I have more, you'll be the first to know...

Welcome back to Zippmas, this time, instead of a present, this time you're getting a lump of coal.  Yes, the dreaded day is almost here. It's not something people want to hear, but it is happening.  Yes, Nintendo's next generation games will be priced higher than the last gen by ten dollars. There's going to be a lot of crying, bitching, screaming and moaning about this, but did you actually, legitimately think for one second that Nintendo wasn't gonna do this? Come on now. Microsoft is doing it. Sony is doing it. Capcom is doing it. Everyone is. This is just how it's gonna be. This is the fun part where Americans now find out that people all around the world have paying over 70 bucks for Nintendo games for YEARS now.  I'm not happy about it, mind you, but I understand that budgets and production values for Nintendo games are about to massively, and I mean, massively increase. Something had to give, and I'm actually surprised it took this long, honest...

Well, what do we have here?  Out of seemingly nowhere, a new piece of Super Monkey Ball merchandise is up for sale, and there's a few interesting things going on here.  It appears as if our little monkey boy has gotten a bit of a redesign, let's take a look, shall we?  Firstly, and this is the most noticable change, he's got a new shirt, and it's long sleeved, rather than his usual short sleeved design. No joke, pretty major change.  Next, he's now back to having pink blushes, rather than the flesh colored ones. He's had them in small minor things, like mobile games a decade ago, but now they're much more prominent on his cheeks.  Lastly, they've added little white dots to his eyes, to give off the visual depiction of irises. It's a small, but cute touch that rounds out the rest of the changes.  One other thing to point out is that it seems they've ditched his backpack, which was something he was constantly seen with since 2006, seemingly for goo...

Wow. I gotta say, I wasn't expecting to see this game again anytime soon but I'm so glad we did. The visuals look absolutely next level, this is  exactly what Dragon Ball should look like in 3D. The combat looks fast and kinetic as hell, there's also a much bigger emphasis on damage throughout the arena, which is a nice touch. The roster so far is pretty much what we expected, but seeing Super Broly there made me super happy. There's also a lot of chatter about the roster, and they're hyping this up for having the biggest roster in series history, which is pretty freaking mind-blowing, Considering the last installment had 150 characters.  If we're thinking about just the roster, just show me these: And I'm pretty much set. These games aren't high art or anything. They're just stupid fun that you can pull out and have fun with your friends over. They're an absolute blast to just vibe with. Hopefully we should be seeing more soon.  2024 is the 40th...

Welcome back to Zippmas, we still have a lot to talk about regarding the TGAs, so next up is the blue blur himself.  If you watched SEGA's TGA hype trailer, you'll notice that they teased five games throughout, but if you'll also notice that they used a very familiar "ring" sound. That wasn't there for no reason.  Thought everyone's favorite hedgehog was getting a break next year? Nope.  As a part of SEGA's "new era" initiative, a new, "traditional" 3D Sonic game will release next holiday.  I'm hearing that this game is being billed as a follow-up of sorts to Sonic Colors, Generations, Lost World and Forces, rather than 2022's Sonic Frontiers, which is a completely new branch for the series as a whole, and will sprout it's own follow-up in due time.  It's going to be on a much smaller scale, though.  This is going to be a more simple "run and jump" 3D Sonic game developed for next gen consoles only. No open...

  At the TGAS, this was one of the most pleasant surprises from the show. I'm an old school Mana fan, and I'm freaking psyched. This game looks absolutely gorgeous, the art style is lovely, and it feels like we're finally starting to see actual next generation games coming, after 3 years.  Speaking of which, I'm now hearing that this new installment of the Mana series will be coming to Nintendo's new console, alongside the other announced platforms. This will be one of Square Enix's first games released for the new system, so that's pretty damn exciting. And that's just the top of the iceberg. Square is planning an extensive support for their next system, with franchises, and small. I'm very excited to see more. More soon. 

I have a lot, and I mean, a lot to say about that game awards and how poorly it was done, but let's get to some games first.  Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.  I can't believe that SEGA actually did it.  Like, they actually fucking did it. Five full on game announcements.  Golden Axe is a getting a full-on reboot and it's looking a lot like God of War. I'm all in. Let's go.  Streets of Rage 5 is real, and it's a 3D game.  It looks great visually, but I'm gonna be real, I need to see more. It has a lot of potential, but I would have preferred a full on hand drawn sequel to 4, but I'm absolutely going to give this a fair shot. I'm ride or die for this series.  Crazy Taxi looks like a blast. I was absolutely obsessed with the installments on Dreamcast and GameCube. Let's fucking do this.  Shinobi, by FUCKIN' LIZARDCUBE? ARE YOU SERIOUS? HOLY SHIT. WE ARE SO BACK ! It looks so fuckin' good. The art style end the combat are absolutely sublime. Th...

The biggest night in gaming is less than 24 hours away, and a few things are still to get out of there. Nintendo has always been the Game Awards' biggest wildcard and that'll remain the case this year.  From what I'm now hearing, if you felt any need to to watch this solely because of Nintendo, don't.  I'm throwing this Public Service Announcement now so people aren't watching this and then getting brutally disappointed later on.  There will be no news about Nintendo's next console here and there will be no news regarding Metroid Prime 4 here either, and I also wouldn't expect any announcements of major new games either.  There will be, however, smaller announcements and updates on more mid tier games, such as Another Code R and Princess Peach Showtime. Nintendo is here to give updates on existing titles, not much more. Sure, there's a chance something like Metroid Prime 2 HD might get an announcement, but that's not something worth watching a th...

Hello all, welcome to December, or should I say.. Zippcember.  You like gifts? You'll be getting some from in the form of scoops all month as long as part of the holiday season.  First off, this is actually the first ever Smash Bros. scoop that I've ever shared on my blog. Which is actually hilarious to think about.  As you fine folks no doubt know, a certain humongous franchise is celebrating it's 25th anniversary in about a month and a half. Nintendo are apparently planning, and to quote the sources here, "Announcements, celebrations and events to commemorate the anniversary of Smash throughout the year."  The one thing that's already been ruled out is a new game. The next Smash Bros is something that's been planned in some way right now, but that's not gonna be for a bit.   Now, what it could be?  Let's speculate.  Some possibilities: Smash Bros. Concert Series: Oh my word, you guys have no idea how hyped this would get me. I would go insane. T...

Now that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass has finally come to an end, in spectacular fashion I might add, now the question being asked is "Well, what's next?"  Well, I finally have some more insight on that. The tenth (no, not ninth) installment of the Mario Kart series will release in 2025, which will be Switch 2's second year on the market. The intention is to release the title sometime before the system's second holiday on the market.  The title is being developed primarily by Nintendo EPD Production Group 9, with Bandai Namco Studios once again co-developing.  Additionally, Nintendo are sparring absolutely no expense with this game. This is apparently one of the most expensive games Nintendo has ever put into production. The next 3D Mario title is said to be "absolutely dropping" and this apparently looks even better. The game's visual fidelity is said to be a very high priority for them, meaning the game is gonna look good, damn goo...

This should alleviate some fears from yesterday.  A few months ago I and some other sources had  reported an animated Zelda movie being in development at Illumination, and that report is once again accurate. I had it confirmed to me once again yesterday that this is separate from the live action film.  Though keep in mind that this one is very, very early. Even earlier than the live action project.  Miyamoto is producing the live action project, while this animated film will be produced by Zelda head Eiji Aonuma and illumination founder Chris Meledandri. There is a director Nintendo and Universal have in mind, but they haven't hired one just yet.  If you're hoping for a Ghibli inspired Zelda movie, keep dreaming. This will be full 3D animation, much like the Mario movie.  Most of the creative team has already been assembled. Additionally, some of the people enlisted are hardcore Zelda fans, and there's even some artists and animators from Illumination's sis...

  So.  That happened.  The day that's been memed for over two decades has finally come. Nintendo officially announced a live-action Zelda movie. And it's safe to say, the reception so has been very, very negative.  The people involved are... questionable, to say the absolute very least.  Sony in general has had a very messy track record in film, Spider-Verse and Hotel Transylvania aside.  Let's start with the director, Wes Ball.  Take a look at his filmography so far: Woof. He's made mediocre at best YA fiction slop, and that's more or less all he has to his name.  Not promising at all.  Next, the writer, Derek Connolly: Yeah, no. These are bad movies. Detective Pikachu is not a well written nor entertaining film at all. Jurassic World was a shitty soft reboot of the franchise and it failed miserably in its attempt.  Even less promising.  Finally, and worst of all, the producer, Avi Arad.  First of all, just informing the peopl...

   The Hero of Time will return in the very near future.  That's it. That's the post. 

Not the game you expected to hear about next, is it?  We'll get to Wonder soon, but this is a very important game to talk about.  Today marks the thirty fifth anniversary of one of Nintendo's most popular, important and most cherished titles. Super Mario Bros. 3 is where the Mario series established it's core formula, so  to speak. Numerous famous power ups, the world map, minigames in order to said earn power ups, the brothers wearing blue overalls, all of that originated here.  It's also an absolutely incredible game. It's controls, physics,  level design and soundtrack are just fuckin' immaculate. This game hasn't aged a single day since it released, and I'll fight just about anyone on that.  The fact that this game released just a mere three years after the original Super Mario Bros. game in Japan is absolutely astounding. Mario 3 feels like it could just be on a different console. The jump in quality was freaking absurd and not something you see ver...

Ugh. The negativity continues.  You know, when this was announced, I was pretty excited about it. I was like "hey, this isn't Mania 2 of course, but this looks pretty cool!"  Then, as the months went on, I got less and less excited. I just got a feeling, and it continued and continued on.  Now we're here.  I'm not gonna mince words. This game is a huge disappointment, from top to bottom. It's a hot mess. It's got absolutely no rizz, as the kids say.  It's okay in some spots, but there's a lot here that just doesn't work for me. The level design is good, for the first five or so zones. Then... It drops off of a fucking cliff.  I don't know what happened in the second half but I did not like it. At all. Some of the bosses are some of the worst I've ever played in a video game, I fucking swear to Christ, autoscrollers should be banned from ever being in Sonic, what the hell.  And my god, some of the bosses go on for fucking ever. What were...

Man.  Do you guys ever have that thing where you have literally zero expectations for, and it just still somehow disappoints you? This is pretty much that one for me. Sonic Frontiers is not a game I liked very much from the start, and this has soured me on it even more, to be honest.  I mean, yeah, it's cool and great and awesome that Tails, Knuckles and Amy are playable in 3D again for the first time in ages, but when the actual game design there is not up to snuff, it kinda takes the wind out of my sails.  So much here just doesn't feel like it wasn't well designed, there are logical inconsistencies in the actual level design, and some of the stuff there is just janky. Tails is good. But, Knuckles and Amy...woof.  What happened? Knuckles flat out fucking sucks. Nothing about his combat, sections or general control worked for me. Not a one. That was a complete misfire on their end.   Amy is better, but still not great. Why in the worldis her hammer not her...

  Hey! If you've read my blog for any amount of time, you'll know that I'm a huge, huge fan of the original Super Monkey Ball games for GameCube. They're some my favorite games of all time, and they're still incredible games that I can pick up and play anytime, and I still do every few months, they're just nice, cozy, comfort games, ya know?  You'll be happy to know then, that the next installment starring SEGA's favorite simians is in the works at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. That studio is a true workhorse, I tell you what. Two Like A Dragon games and then a brand new Super Monkey Ball game in a full twelve months. They're madmen and that's exactly why they remain the shining beacon of the company.   You'll be even more happy to know that this gane will be on every platform under the sun, that includes PS5, Xbox, Steam and of course, Nintendo's new console. In fact, I'm hearing that this new game will most likely be one of the first games ...

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is less than a month away now, and while Nintendo is ramping promotion up for that, you may be wondering (HA!) what's next for mainline Mario. Well, you've come to the right place.  Let's get into a few details: -Firstly, it's going to be our very first open world 3D Mario game. It's been six long years since Odyssey hit the scene so we knew they were cooking something big. Given Zelda and Pokemon have taken the plunge, it was only a matter of time before the portly plumber did as well.  -This game will NOT be a sequel to Odyssey, so if you were expecting that, don't. This is going in an entirely different direction.  -I've been told the game looks "Absolutely jaw dropping." If you thought Mario Vs. Donkey Kong looked good, then you haven't seen anything yet. EPD Tokyo are about to blow people's fuckin' minds yet again.  -Lastly, this will be THE GAME for Nintendo next year. Mario will be a day one Switch 2 gam...

This game  seems  like a surprise, but it actually shouldn't be. Nintendo EPD Tokyo And 3D Mario head Yoshiaki Koizumi has apparently long pushed for Peach to star in her own game once again, and he's finally gotten his wish. Not only that, but Peach finally has her very own arch-nemesis. Oh, if you're still skeptical about this being EPD Tokyo developed, here's some more evidence. Here's Peach's castle from the opening cutscene:  Here's the castle from Odyssey: They're exactly the same.  Notice the grass on the castle structure. That's something only Odyssey's rendition does.  If this game is a big success, expect to see more elements of it show up in the greater Mario franchise. Exciting stuff.  This is an excerpt from my most recent article, I've cut it into parts for people who only want to digest certain segments of it. You can read the rest of it here:  https://zippospeaks.blogspot.com/2023/09/report-2024-is-year-of-nintendo-epd.html?m=...