PlayStation 5 Preorder Nightmare

Next gen gaming consoles are right around the corner and even amidst a raging global pandemic, hype for Microsoft and Sony's new systems is in the air. That being said, there's some bitterness in the air mixed with that hype as one company has not done a good job handling initial preorders. Can you guess which one? Here's your hint: rhymes with pony.

During the PS5 live showcase, much about the console was revealed, including the price tag, $499 for the disc drive version and $399 for the digital version. We also got the release date, November 12, 2020, world wide, which isn't far off. With so many eyes watching the showcase, you would think Sony would give gamers a date for when preorders would open. No date was given and this had the unfortunate affect of causing several retailers including Best Buy, Target and Walmart to begin taking preorders and the result was wide spread chaos with a hefty helping for frustration. 

Image by ExtremeTech.com

Back in July, Sony said via video chat between Geoff Keighley and Sony marketing's Eric Lempel, that they would not wait until the last minute to issue a preorder date for the PS5. Gamers would be given plenty of notice. What gamers got was silence from Sony and blindsided by retailers. Anger, ranting, scalpers; this more than likely would have happened anyway, but that is besides the point. Sony said one thing and did another or in this case, they said nothing at all. Yes, retailers are to blame for opening the doors on preorders but I've seen responses to justifiably angry gamers in Twitter and YouTube threads stating "It wasn't Sony's fault," as if they are innocent in this entire debacle. Sony is totally at fault here. 

As the one supplying the product to retailers, it is on Sony to communicate to them when the preorder date will be. No communication can be just as, if not worse than bad communication and because Sony said jack, we have a nightmare scenario that was allowed to play out for days. You need only look to YouTube to see a plethora of gamers venting their frustration in videos or comment sections of how they failed to secure a PS5 preorder. At the end of the day, the PS5 preorder mess is due to Sony's complete and utter lack of communication, which flies in the face of what gamers were told back in July. Sony screwed up and to exempt them from blame is fool hearty. 

Sure, PS5 preorders are legit live now, but ha ha ha, good lucky getting one. Sony did issue an apology on Twitter but the fact remains that Sony could have prevented this whole mess if they were upfront as to when PS5 preorders would go live. Sony promised more PS5s would be available for preorder but keep in mind, we are still facing a global pandemic that has significantly impacted the gaming industry. If Switches are hard to get a hold of, it doesn't take much imagining to see what the pandemic will do on securing a PS5. Also, Sony said they give us plenty of notice on when PS5 peroders would go live annnnnnnddddd, well we all know how that turned out. I wouldn't blame anyone for having trust issues after this fiasco. If you are trying to preorder a PS5, good luck and if you can't get one, just remember, it isn't the end  of the world.

EDIT: Annnnd the Xbox Series X preoders were no better than the PS5. 

Nintendo Shadow Drops BOTW Prequel, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Nintendo: Maaaaaan, it sucks that our Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection got leaked. But while all eyes are on our upcoming collection, let's stealth drop an announcement for a prequel to Breath of the Wild. We'll even announce that the release date is this year. 2020 has been terribad so fans will welcome this unexpected, but pleasant surprise.

Fans:

OK, so that probably isn't how the plan to reveal Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity went, but none of us were expecting this. It came out of nowhere and I, like many of you, am very excited for it.

I don't mean to come off like a BOTW super fan, but I loooooove that game. The world, the art style, the exploration; I ate it up as if I were at an all you can eat buffet. The sequel to BOTW is a ways off and more than likely due to COVID-19, development has been hampered, which is totally understandable. I was actually considering playing through BOTW again. I've yet to play my Switch copy nor did I ever complete all of the DLC. Age of Calamity coming along will have me holding off my second play through of the game, not that a mind.

If you've never played a Warriors game, they are hack and slash based titles on a grand scale. You run around, thrashing enemies in droves in pretty stylish fashion. The gameplay is very repetitive but I love beat 'em ups so I can do some repetitive games. Also, I enjoyed Hyrule Warriors and finally got around to picking up Definitive Edition on Switch a few months ago. I thought about opening it up buuuuut, Age of Calamity is on the horizon so I'll get to scratch the Warriors AND BOTW itch.

We never got to actually see how the calamity that devastated Hyrule went down in BOTW. In Age of Calamity not only will we get to witness it, we'll get to play through it. And not just as Link. We'll get to play as best Zelda (fight me) the queen of thicc, Urbosa and the best water waifu of all time, Mipha! Daruk will be there to club fools and that bird Ravioli will be there too. Um, yay? Alright, I confess, Revali is the only member of the champions that I hated. He's so much of a smug jerk that he's insufferable. Even so, if he's powerful in slaying enemies, I suppose I could deal with his attitude.

Hyrule Warriors was made without working too closely with the Legend of Zelda team. For Age of Calamity, it will be different with the team being much more involved this time. So this Warriors title will have something of a different spin on it. November 20th seems close and yet so very, very far.

Nintendo's Disney Vault

On September 3rd, Nintendo dropped a Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct, detailing what we'd have to look forward to in celebration of the long running platforming series big birthday. And there is a lot to be jazzed about but one of the biggest reveals was the confirmation of the long rumored Super Mario 3D All-Stars compilation on the Switch. This collection will included touched up versions of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy, which is all kinds of awesome. Then, in a classic Nintendo move, they told us that Super Mario 3D All-Stars would only be available both in physical and digital formats until March 31st, 2021. Yeah, Nintendo pulled a Disney Vault on us.

For those not in the know, Disney was once notorious for re-releasing their acclaimed animated films for a limited time. If you didn't snatch up Pinocchio while it was available, well, you wouldn't see that sucker again for a good seven years. Back inside the Disney Vault it went. Most companies tend to make their films easily accessible. Disney, at least when it came to their animated films, was the opposite. With Disney's vault program, they restricted access to some very much loved films. It was quite infuriating for any animation collector or for anyone that simply dug Disney's animated flicks, which, regardless of what you may think of Disney as a company, was and still is a plethora of people. Nintendo is essentially doing a Disney Vault by limiting the availability of Super Mario 3D All-Stars and there is absolute zero reason for them to do this.

Image by Nintendo

The three games that make up Super Mario 3D All-Stars are Mario's first three 3D adventures. They are kind of a big deal. Super Mario 64 has seen several re-releases via Super Mario 64DS and the Wii and Wii U's Virtual Console. Super Mario Sunshine, however, has never seen a re-release of any kind, being stuck on the GCN since 2002. Despite the design flaws and glitches Sunshine has, a lot of people still adore that game, so good of Nintendo for bringing it back. The fact that all three of these games are finally coming to the Switch is huge. Annnnnd Nintendo is placing a time limit on how long they will be available.

I'm not sure if Nintendo's Disney Vault ploy is to drum up demand, but there is no need for such action to be taken. These are some are Mario's most well known games. Not only that, they are coming to the Switch, a system that has been printing fat sacks of cash for Nintendo since the day it launched. Nintendo doesn't need to place a six month time window on this release because they are going to make bank on it anyway.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made Switches harder to come by. Money is also tight for millions of people because of the job losses due to said pandemic. Some people would probably get a Switch just to play this game but can't right now due to the sad state of the world. By the time things improve for a lot of struggling folks, it could be too late to buy Super Mario 3D All-Stars both physically and digitally.

Nintendo's instance on boneheaded decisions continues to astound me. It makes no sense to sell such a coveted collection of games for a limited time. They didn't place a limit on Animal Crossing: New Horizons and the game has already sold over 16 million copies. It's like Nintendo just had to make a stupid move to go along with the good move they made.

Image by Nintendo

About a year ago, something amazing happen to the Disney vault program: it ended. Disney+, the company's streaming service effectively killed the much loathed practice of limited animated film releases by making nearly all of the entire back catalog available for anyone that signs up for it. Wanna watch The Lion King, The Jungle Book, or The Great Mouse Detective? No problem. As long as Disney doesn't decide to ax Disney+ (with all the money the streaming service gives them, they'd be foolish to do so) you never have to worry about access to Disney animate features ever again because Disney has never made accessing them so much easier.

Maybe Nintendo will hop off the stupid horse sometime after March 31, 2021 passes and realize that they can make way more money by continuing to sell Super Mario 3D All-Stars. Maybe. Then again, this is a company that still struggles to get their games working online correctly. Drumming up demand, creating FOMO (fear of missing out) when their isn't a need to do so is classic Nintendo. Great at making games, infuriating as a company.

Let's Discuss: Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Dicrect

On Thursday I'm on the verge of getting out of bed and after taking my Chromebook out of sleep mode, I see that Nintendo dropped a direct. And not just any direct, but a Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct. Yup, Mr. Video Game is gonna be 35 years old this month and the Big N is rolling out the red carpet for him and his buddies. With 2020 being the crappy year it has, I almost forgot what a big year it is for Mario and in spite of some qualms, I'm gonna take this as a very nice W. 

Game & Watch Super Mario Bros.

I've never owned any of the Game & Watch devices but I've always admired the sleek designs of the units. I also respect the history behind the Game & Watch line, being that they predate the NES and Game Boy and much like Nintendo's handhelds, the Game & Watch series was very successful. I'd love to own the Game & Watch Super Mario Bros. if only to display it on a shelf. The box alone looks really cool. Not the most hype thing of the SMB35th Direct but still pretty neat, nonetheless.

Super Mario Bros. 35

Super Mario Bros. basically got the Tetris 99 treatment but with far fewer players. This looks insanely fun and I am foaming at the mouth with anticipation for it. I suspect anyone familiar with SMB should be on good footing but as was the case with Tetris 99, players will have to learn how to best use the new mechanics. It looks like it will use the same "stiff" controls from the original SMB rather than the more fluid movement from Super Mario Maker. My one gripe is the limited availability of Super Mario 35. We'll be able to play the game on October 1st, but when March 31, 2021 rolls around, that's a rap. Why is this game being canned after 6 months? Super Mario 35 will no doubt be massively popular so there is no reason for Nintendo to limit the game's lifespan. Hopefully they have a change of heart. If not, we'll have to enjoy Super Mario 35 while it lasts.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

I was waiting for Super Mario 3D World to be ported to the Switch. With all the other Wii U ports that came over, it was only a matter of time. And yes, I will gladly pay $60 for this game a second time because 3D World is a beautifully made platformer that didn't have anywhere near enough exposure due to the system it was on. Thankfully, 3D World will now get the exposure it rightly deserves. I would have been just fine with a vanilla port but the extra Bowser's Fury has me intrigued. Some (more) super hard levels? I'm in.

Super Mario All-Stars

Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, 3 and The Lost Levels with updated graphics and sound. Originally released in 1993 on the SNES and then re-released on the Wii U in 2010 for Super Mario Bros. 25th anniversary. 10 years later, Super Mario All-Stars is back again. I've always liked these remade versions of these early Super Mario titles and this is coming from a guy who loves the 8-bit versions. Since these are on the Switch, we get that super awesome rewind feature. Still, even rewind is not enough to make me torture myself playing Lost Levels. I know to some people Super Mario All-Stars being added to the SNES Nintendo Switch Online isn't a big deal, but me, I'm about it.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars

I place zero stock into rumors. This way, if they are proven untrue, I'm spared disappointment. For months, we've heard that a Super Mario 3D collection was coming to the Switch. Turns out that rumor was true and I am so glad it was.

Super Mario 64 is one of my favorite games of all-time. I own it on the N64, the Wii and in a few weeks, I'll own it on the Switch and be able to play it anywhere! Yes, I also own Super Mario 64 DS and I like the added content that version has but the controls have always made me prefer the N64 version. Super Mario 64 just feels better to me with analog controls so even though I get less with the N64 version, it will always be the way I play.

I know Super Mario Sunshine is a game very much loved by many but to me, it has always been the odd duck. Not only is the game glitchy, it has some very questionable design choices that keep me from loving it. Still, I don't think Sunshine is a bad game. There's a lot I really love about it. The tropical island locals, the music, the Delfino residents. Sunshine may not be my fav 3D Mario but I'm happy that it's being included for those that do favor it.

I'm one of those weirdos that prefers Super Mario Galaxy to Super Mario Galaxy 2. The movement, the level design, the orchestral soundtrack; Galaxy hits so many of the right spots. To think that I'll be able to play it on the Switch in a higher resolution. I do think it's strange that Galaxy 2 wasn't included. Stranger still is Super Mario 3D All-Stars will be limited in both physical and digital release formats through March 2021. Super Mario All-Stars on the Wii was originally a limited release back in 2010 but Nintendo issued more copies and it went on to be part of the Nintendo Selects line of discounted titles. This is a collection of Super Mario games so the demand is gonna be pretty high but this isn't the first time Nintendo has sat on money to be made. Who knows, maybe the limited availability of Super Mario 3D All-Stars won't be so limited. We'll have to wait and see.

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It really is a great time to be a Mario fan. Sure, 2020 may be on some serious suck but fun times are ahead for Mario and company and as a long time fan, I've no intention of missing out on this Mario party.