Games Inbox: Has Nintendo lost their touch with Switch 2?
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Dragged down
I'm really pretty upset at how bad Drag x Drive is reviewing. It's on 62 at the moment on Metacritic, hot on the heels of the 54 that Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour got. These are not the sort of scores I expect from Nintendo, especially not as two out of only four games they've released so far for their new console.
Naturally I haven't bought either of them but why do they even exist? When the idea was pitched, who thought either of them sounded worth doing? A wheelchair basketball game that uses mouse controls is a fine idea but why did they stop there? Where are the different courts and customisation and tournaments that actually make it a game? How could you possibly have left that out?
Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza are great, so I'm not worried that Nintendo has lost their touch in terms of making games but I do think they've lost it when it comes to drumming up hype (all their Directs this year have been bad) and picking what projects to make (Hyrule Warriors 3 and Kirby Air Riders in year one?!).
I'll also say that I hope this shuts up the idiots always complaining about a Nintendo 'bias' amongst reviewers. The bias is towards good games, which Nintendo makes in abundance. But when they serve up tripe then they get called out on it, just like any company. I just wish that fact wasn't been proved at the moment.
Onibee
Ongoing celebrations
I am loving this anniversary celebration that the Amiga is getting at the moment. To get an actual new game, in a well-known franchise, is hilarious and not something I would've ever expected. If it's meant as a publicity stunt for the new game – which I never knew existed – then it's worked, because I will immediately look into it.
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I will also look into getting one of those mini-console Amigas as I would like to get The Settlers 2 but I currently have nothing to play it on. If I can pick one up for a reasonable price then I feel a major nostalgia burst coming on, that will hopefully take my mind off the current state of the rest of gaming.
Brightmere
Bottom tier
With Nintendo serving up another badly reviewed game I can't help but think what's going to happen when Hyrule Warriors and Kirby Air Riders end up with similar treatment. Both their predecessors are already amongst the lowest rated games Nintendo has ever published so I don't know what they're expecting form these new ones.
I've got practically no concerns about Metroid Prime 4, which means the Switch 2 is going to start having this weird two-tier system amongst its first party games: Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, and Metroid on top and stuff like Welcome Tour, Drag x Drive, Hyrule Warriors, and Kirby Air Riders on the bottom.
They feel like they're made by two completely different companies and while the bad ones are all low budget not all of them are cheap and I'm really not sure what the idea is behind them really. All I know is that when that Metacritic best publisher chart goes round this year, Nintendo is going to be nowhere near the top of the list.
Benson
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One egg, one basket
Considering how well they've usually got on it will be amusing if the success of EA's Battlefield 6 is what finally breaks the seal on Call Of Duty's invincibility. Because without Call Of Duty what is Activision worth? And without Activision what becomes of Xbox?
It's crazy that Activision has gone basically decades without ever bothering to create another major franchise. They had Guitar Hero for a while, before running that into the ground in a few years, and did the same with Crash Bandicoot, Skylanders, Spider-Man, and… well, that's it really.
With all that money and all those developers how is it not worth keeping a Plan B (and C and D) on the boil? They just don't seem to care though. All those games I've mentioned were milked to death within a few years and discarded the second they stopped making enough money. I'd say I've no sympathy for Activision but they employ thousands of people, that they'd gladly lay off at the drop of a hat.
Kimble
Gooners gonna goon
I have never heard the word 'gooner' to describe a perv before but I have noticed a lot more games leaning on sexy female characters than there used to be, at least in the last decade. Most of it seems to be coming from China and Korea, so I don't know if it'll become a trend in the West or not.
I'm not against it, if no one's being hurt by it, so I'm not going to call for it to be banned or anything, but it is kind of pathetic. When you're worried about playing a game when your girlfriend is the room, because it's full of impossibly proportioned women wearing less than a bikini, I think that's the sign that something's up.
Of course, companies aren't going to admit what they're doing but the fact that sex sells has been true for as long as there have been people. A Marvel game is a weird one to be one of the biggest examples of it, but I think the fact that it's free is the main thing. Because trying to sell sexy women as skins is one of the most lucrative things in live service games, as far as I understand.
Gauntlett
Thank you letter
Thank you for everyone's advice on buying a new gaming PC in the Inbox and Underbox. It has been really helpful. I will let you know what I have decided to get when I do. I am going to call PC Specialist and speak to them about what I want and also put forward the build that Magnumstache recommended (thank you Magnumstache).
I forgot to say in my original letter, that my current PC is 13 years old in January 2026 and it cost me £1,500 back then. I have been planning to get a new computer for the past year or so in August/September 2025, but in the past month my current computer has had multiple issues and something in it is failing.
I am backing up my current computer every day, or every other day, in case my current PC fails. I haven't had any computer problems with it in the past 13 years, until now.
Andrew J.
PS: On a slightly different topic, on the Fangamer website you can pre-order a physical version of UFO 50 for Switch and also a 116 page guide to all about the games in UFO 50. You can purchase the game and guide separately or together as the Deluxe Edition. The guide and game come out in February 2026. I am thinking about pre-ordering the guide as it looks very good. The YouTuber Physical Paradise highlighted the guide on his YouTube channel.
Budget constraints
I'm very excited about the prospect of Square Enix talking to the makers of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and hopefully making more games with turn-based battles. My biggest hope would be that they make Final Fantasy 17 turn-based and lower budget.
I don't mean a 2D-HD game, but I really don't think Final Fantasy works as a gigantic AAA epic, because to justify spending that much money they have to make it too mainstream friendly and Final Fantasy 16 was such a bore because of that. I'm still shocked Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy is turning out so well, but I guess they at least realised that one was dependent on nostalgia.
Hinkle
The real Resident Evil 3
The rumour about Resident Evil Code: Veronica having a remake is definitely something I have been hoping for quite a long while now. I remember it was originally released on the Dreamcast, I believe, and then was released for the PlayStation 2, which was the version I completed.
Now Resi 1 and 2 were terrifying back on the PS1, me being a younger gamer not used to horror game types back then! But Code: Veronica was definitely something special and new again, due to the graphical styles between the older pre-rendered static artwork and newer backgrounds that moved and zoomed into the scenery as the character moved about.
Being a big Albert Wesker fan, seeing the evolution of his character, who most people thought was killed by the Tyrant in the Spencer Mansion, was great. Him being able to move swiftly and reminding you of a Metal Gear Solid character cemented Wesker as the most iconic villain in gaming history.
The story of Veronica also propelled the lore of Resident Evil, creating an even more intriguing and horrifying mythos for the evil pharmaceutical company Umbrella! So the possibilities of more insight into the Code: Veronica storyline will definitely be a plus from me. Especially when the previous remakes had added twists and character development going on.
So if Code: Veronica is to be released within the next two years, then one of my gaming hopes would have come true. I agree that evolving Resident Evil may need to happen, but you do need the past to get the future to work, which is why Resi's 7 and 8 have advanced the series with new characters and plotlines but kept the homage to the past. So the next few years should potentially be more exciting times for us Resident Evil fans.
Alucard
GC: Yes, Code: Veronica was originally a Dreamcast exclusive (and was intended to be Resident Evil 3, with the actual Resident Evil 3 conceived as merely a spin-off) but was ported to PlayStation 2 a year later.
Inbox also-rans
I would absolutely play a game called Crap Dungeon. If I were them I'd change it back to that in Japan and in the West!
Cardigan
I'm not sure how many people will care in the UK but the rumour is Tales Of Xillia is getting a remaster and it'll be announced at Gamescom. I'm looking forward to it!
Benjy Dog More Trending
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Just contact us at gamecentral@ or use our Submit Stuff page and you won't need to send an email. MORE: Top 5 video game developers that have wasted their talents - Reader's Feature MORE: Road Rash Is the best Sega Mega Drive racing game – Reader's Feature MORE: Why is Nintendo trying to make the Switch 2 seem so unexciting? - Reader's Feature
