Zippo's Nonsensical Ramblings and Other Stuff

While the wait for Sonic news continues, (Origins, Frontiers, Prime), I decided to go ahead and make an article about why SEGA's current Sonic strategy is missing something...important. I couldn't do this alone, however, so I brought on my good friend, game reviewer, and fellow Sonic fan Chris (Mykonosfan) to co-op this article. Introduce yourself, Chris! Chris: Hello! Thanks for having me on, bud. Links to all of his stuff will be in the outro below.  It's no secret that Sonic Mania was and remains one of SEGA's most important and happens to be one of their most critically acclaimed games, ever. It's got a 91+ on Metacritic and I just wonder to myself, "Why? Why didn't they follow up on this?". These very thoughts have kept me up many a night now. It was announced by a majority of Mania's developers, Evening Star, just a few weeks ago that they were developing a new IP featuring a mascot in a 3D platformer. That news, if anyone knows my tastes, is...

Alrighty then, so... There's been a number of rumors coming from multiple proven sources including Nate Drake, Jeff Grubb, Emily Rogers and Bloomberg. I'm going to give my thoughts of all of this and throw in some little bits of knowledge of my own. Let's start with the rumors of an enhanced remaster of Metroid Prime: Here are the tweets about them if you want to read them yourself: https://mobile.twitter.com/EmilyRogersBlog/status/1440929893458616320?s=20 https://mobile.twitter.com/JeffGrubb/status/1443658850238795808?s=20 Check out this video featuring Nate and John from Spawn Wave, great video and great channel: https://youtu.be/I1tw1l3RQSw These are rumors that popped up right before the Direct, and they're extremely intriguing for a number of reasons: 1. I think this absolutely makes sense given the timing of Retro's previous game being cancelled. Working on a remaster of the game that made them a beloved studio from the ground up is a very smart idea. 2. While...

Okay, here we go. Going to do things a bit differently. So here's part two of this shindig. The remaining huge Nintendo announcements: Nintendo Switch Online Price Hike: This just happened, and I'll be frank here.  Absolutely not, Nintendo. A thirty dollar price increase just for some N64 and Genesis ROMS is indefensible, and anyone who bothers to defend this slimy shit is an embarrassment to this hobby.  No. fuck off. Anyway, off to more exciting, positive things. Bayonetta 3: Finally. Four long years arduous years of waiting, and we finally get to see gameplay of the game many thought was going to be vaporware. This game has had a  nightmarish development, let me tell ya. That's a story for another day.  Anywho, It looked pretty good. Combat looked as solid as ever, I'm really liking that it's going for a more technological vibe, and I'm digging Bayo's new look. This has truly been a long time coming, and I'm happy to see the witch back in action. Kirb...

Phew. This article has been taking forever, and I've had to rewrite it three times due to the sheer amount of games/rumors/announcements that have happened in the last three weeks or so. It just doesn't stop, not that I'm complaining. I decided to split this into two parts just because the aforementioned metric shit ton of things going on. First off, let's start with the Direct: We got our fabled Direct in September, and to me, it was pretty decent. We got a 3D Kirby that looks fantastic, the cast and release date of the Mario movie, a Monster Hunter Rise expansion, a new look at Splatoon 3, a major NSO update and finally, the return of Bayonetta. Where I feel the event was lacking was third party games, while Chocobo GP looked very pleasant, nothing else interested me at all. And I think that's a sign of a bigger thing coming, which I'll get to soon.  First, let's go through some of the major stuff: Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak: While I'm excited for an...

  Yes. That's a real render of Sora in Super Smash Bros.  Let this be a reminder, let this be living proof.  Anything is possible. Set your sights high. The only limit in life is yourself. Everyone is here.  Thank you, Sakurai.

There's been an awakening in the dong. Have you felt it? Oh, Nintendo.  They've once again got me. Here I am, just finishing up this nice, little DK article, when they just drop this megaton on us, on a quiet, September morning.  Well, a lot has happened in the last week, or so. A direct, with many cool new announcements came directly to us, a number of which relate directly to the big ape himself. Not only that, but I heard right before the Direct that Diddy Kong Racing is a title being planned for NSO. But wait. There's more. We need to talk about the expansion of the dong. More re-releases: Right after my article went up, two of my go-to contacts for Nintendo/DK information went and informed me of two more DK titles being planned for release on NSO, alongside Diddy Kong Racing, those being Donkey Kong 64 and Donkey Kong Land, which will land on Game Boy NSO at or sometime after launch.  Nintendo and Microsoft's strong relationship continues. You love to see it. ...

  Here's a cool scoop.  Folks who may have read my predictions article yesterday will notice that I made this frankly, ridiculous sounding prediction: I must now admit then, that was me being very sneaky, as that was actually information I was given prior to the Direct that I decided to throw into the predictions. So yes, I've heard that in addition to Banjo-Kazooie, Diddy Kong Racing, Killer Instinct and it's sequel are also being planned for the service, in the near future with the strong possibility of more Rare games. Nintendo and Microsoft's strong partnership is something that will continue, and that's something to be very excited about.

 Wow.  It's been 24 hours and I'm still gobsmacked. This is literally all I have thought about since then.  This may be the most incredible achievement in human history. I genuinely thought they were fucking around. When I woke up, I thought that shit was just some weird ass dream, or that I got hit by a fucking brick. Chris Pratt as Mario. This shit can't be real.  Charlie Day as Luigi. That's actually kinda based. Holy shit. Jack Fucking Black as Bowser. Un-fucking-believable but I'm all fucking about it. Kegan Michael Key is a really funny guy, so that fits, but oh fuck, he's not who I was expecting AT ALL. Seth Rogan as Fucking DONKEY KONG.  What. How. ...Yes? I'm happy my scoop about DK characters appearing in animation turned out to be the real deal, but this was not the turn I expected. Also, Kevin Michael Richardson is in the film as Kamek, and he is one bad motherfucker. He's done decades of amazing roles. Based and kinopilled.

  Hi! Alrighty! The fabled Nintendo Direct is no longer a fable. Hope everyone's having a great night.   A certain site and their evil, shitty, hateful staff got their just desserts. So, we're definitely in the best timeline.  Anywho... It's less than 24 hours away, so let's get it going. This will work like previous prediction articles, so without further ado...   Rational Predictions: Govnah: - "Fall Guys will launch later this year but if you're a member of NSO, you can claim a free Mario Fall Guy Skin when the game launches." Rivers: -"WarioWare: Get It Together! Free Updates are announced. The first update releases shortly after the presentation, adding 13-Amp with 25 new minigames focused on Music, and adding more new Prezzies". Romeo:  "Hey everyone. So, Direct predictions. So starting off I think we’ll see a few new nintendo exclusives revealed for the first quarter of next year, since that’s what they use their fall announces for. S...

    Hey all, I've got more articles to do than I know what to do with, so I'm just throwing 'em out one after another here. I have a feeling this week is going be rather busy, so this will be far from the last you see of me. *Ahem*  Without further ado... So, as you (probably) saw in the last article, Sony had strung out a multitude of deals with third party companies, including Capcom, Square and Bandai Namco. We've already seen some of those deals taking place at last week's showcase. One stuck out to many people though, myself included, and that was the appearance of certain blue hedgehog's collectable item:   SEGA's next big Sonic game, which is almost confirmed to be an open world title, has likely caught the eye of Sony, and that's a big deal, for not just Sony, but Sonic. I'll break down some reasons why. 1.) Open World IS The Hotness Right Now In terms of the gaming landscape, nothing is bigger than open world/sandbox games right now.  Breath...