Some GREAT News Just Arrived for Nintendo Switch 2!

Well, everyone, how we doing? Welcome to today's news video. I want to remind you that we are giving away a Nintendo Switch 2 right now. You can enter through the link down in the pin comment or the description. Uh the only requirement to enter is to be subscribed to the channel. And uh look guys, we'll be drawing that winner on October 1st. Uh so I know like it sounds like the winner is being drawn here in about a week. I'm actually updating that today. We're drawing the winner on October 1st, meaning the final day of September will be when you can enter and then we'll draw the winner and we'll get it all sorted out from there. And you'll see an announcement, folks, eventually once everything is confirmed behind the scenes with the winner. That being said, folks, we're going to dive into a bunch of news today. I did get to go hands-on with the Dusk Bloods over the network test weekend, and I have some thoughts and impressions on that. can't show you any gameplay from myself because we weren't allowed to record even though yes, we're aware the entire internet has clips and stuff everywhere if you want to see it. We're not here to promote that stuff. They had an NDA. Uh guess what guys, I'm following the NDA. So any footage you do see when I'm talking about it will just be from the preview coverage which was footage provided by From Software to the media. They didn't provide it to us. So is what it is. But I am allowed to talk about my impressions on it. Uh, and we'll go over a couple pieces of news related to the number test as well. We have a look finally at Stellar Blade, a brand new look of it running on Switch 2 coming directly from Shift Up. And look guys, it looks really good. It's targeting 60 fps. There's some crazy stuff with it. Uh, we're going to go ahead and take a look at that. Uh, more than that, uh, it looks like Metaphor Refontazio might be targeting uh, 60 fps as well. This is according to a fellow content creator, so we'll get dive into that. Oh, wait. 60 fps. We have another story on that as uh it looks like customer support has promised or at least has indicated that the NBA 2K 27 uh game is going to be 60 fps. Not sure I believe this one in terms of the not not the person who's sharing it uh like publicly, but I I the support specialist. I'll talk about why I'm not so sure if I buy it, but hey, I have some hope. Uh, we also have some hope, if you're a Pokemon fan, hoping for major changes to the battle system at some point in the future because uh, GameFreak did tease something about the future of Pokemon and the battle system in a recent interview with Famitsu where they were talking about Pokemon champions and why Pokemon champions exist. So, we're going to talk about that. Also, a former uh, Pokemon staffer has returned to Pokemon after seeing some success in the indie world. We're going to talk about that and how neat that is to see it come sort of full circle. Well, then we're going to end with the Famitsu's most wanted games. And yes, folks, you're going to see Zelda on that list. So, really excited for that cuz it is my most anticipated game uh for the rest of this year. All right, guys. Let's go ahead and dive into this first one and talk about the Dust Bloods because of the crazy stuff going on. Uh, and this is one thing we're going to do right now. So, the Dust Bloods notes here. Please share your notes and impressions of the Dust Bloods closed beta network test with us via survey form, which I will be filling out my survey to get to them. Says, "All are welcome to fill out the survey regardless of participation in the test." So, even if you didn't participate, I guess they know stuff's gotten out there. So, if you have thoughts and you'd like to share it with them, go right ahead. Survey respondents will receive a digital wallpaper. Uh, thanks for your support. So, yeah, I will respond. Probably have that wallpaper. Maybe I'll throw it up on one of my monitors or something. Uh, we'll see. I don't know what it looks like right now, but they're saying please submit it by September 4th uh at the basically the end of 7:59 Pacific time. That's when it ends on that day. That is a Friday. Uh we got a a couple weeks here basically to try to get that stuff uh submitted in here. And look guys, uh I'll throw some footage up quickly because I want to give some of my uh impressions here and then we're going to go over a really interesting stat. Uh but one thing I want to note here is my impressions on this game are that this is fantastic. Uh the tutorial it offered I thought was really really good. It slowly introduced in a compelling way each kind of core system and mechanic in the game. Everything from summons to the virtue system to uh you know defeating players and how all this stuff kind of works. The whole PvE PVP aspect and I felt like the tutorial did a really good job. Now once you get into the actual multiplayer action, okay, yeah, uh once you bring all the mechanics together, it's a lot to consider. But if you're a From Software veteran, I think you're going to understand it. And then just kind of focus on some of the new stuff in this game, like the aerial moves and all of that. So, uh, I do think that people were picking this up. Obviously, not everyone's going to enjoy this game. Not everyone enjoys every game, but this looks like a really, really good From Software title. And honestly, had a lot of people on the internet who don't own Switch to a little perturbed that it's even exclusive. And then they started going out of the way as it got shared around about how beautiful the footage looks. So now people doing like zoom in shots and cropping the character and being like, "Oh, look at this character in handheld. Oh, he looks blurry." And it's like that is literally not the point. Like when you're playing the game, that's not really what you're staring at. You might go, "Well, you are staring at the character." You are, but you're taking in the world and the combat and always looking moves ahead. You're not really, you know, paying attention to pixel counts and all of that. So, I think it's a little disingenuous and maybe a bit of jealousy coming out uh when some of these platforms talk about this cuz they don't really understand why this game is exclusive to the Switch 2 despite the fact that Miyazaki has already explained this in the creators voice interview. Despite the fact that Miyazaki has already explained this in the creators voice public interviews like these are public, they're public knowledge. we know why it's here and it's basically Miyazaki did not think he could sell the concept of this game to everyone at From Software to get it, you know, green lit and pushed forward and funded. So, he decided to instead pitch it to Nintendo who happens to like new ideas and new takes at things. And Nintendo absolutely loved it and that was it. From that point forward, it got green lit. Nintendo helped them. And one thing Miyazaki noted Nintendo helped him with is understanding that players on Nintendo and just gamers in general do appreciate optional tutorials and would like to have mechanics actually explained to them rather than just thrown into the fry and figure it out, which is typically how From Software games work. And Miyazaki talked a little bit about how he actually appreciates how Nintendo opened his eyes to it after thinking that that stuff was unnecessary or uh not really additive. and then Nintendo kind of helped explain to him the benefits and obviously drawbacks to such a thing. And yes, there is a a really nice tutorial section. There's clearly a lot of story going on in this game that the network test really skirted around, but it it definitely heavily hints at and references, especially throughout the tutorial. So, there's definitely something going on there with the story that we don't know about. But honestly, look, the game looks gorgeous. It plays at 60 fps. I felt like in handheld it felt a smidge better. It was bouncing between seemingly from what I could tell again no frame rate counters 60 and 40 fps which with variable refresh rate that actually ends up being a rather smooth transition. So it works out okay for the gamer. Obviously in docked mode you don't have variable refresh rate support. So that doesn't feel quite as smooth. But let's just be honest. It's relatively smooth. It played really well. I'm going to be honest. I didn't think about the frame rate till after I was done playing. It wasn't like when I played the Call of Duty beta and there were moments I could feel that frame rate dip. I just didn't even really notice it until I started looking at the footage after and paying like close attention. I'm like, "Oh yeah, that might have been a frame rate dip there. Might have been a frame rate dip there." And I can't show you guys that footage. It was just for my own personal review. And honestly, guys, uh if I'm not really noticing it while I'm playing, then does it really matter? Probably not as much as you think, cuz we're all dealing with the same sort of frame rate restrictions. Now, setting all that aside, like the gameplay was just really fun. I look, they have different classes, they have different summons, different crazy things. Some people were kind of confused that the best way to, you know, gather up uh valor and and other aspects to make it to the the the rounds, right? Like you're trying to survive and get to the final two. Although the game is sort of set up in a way where like the best of the best end up in the final two uh one-on-one battle. Uh there's some interesting aspects with that. And look guys, even despite this network test, it has left us with a ton of questions about the game. And uh those questions just aren't going to be answered. We we need a dedicated director for this game, I think, to explain a bit more, not just about the story, but um a bit more understanding on the mechanics and obviously uh just a bit more understanding on the game in general. But one thing is very clear, the number test ended last night. They did do an extra test last night to make up for the one that we talked about previously uh wasn't functioning. And that's cool, but now I kind of miss the game. That's that's really my takeaway right now is that was a lot of fun and it's a very different sort of multiplayer game than I've ever actually played before and it's really entertaining and it runs really well. Uh the only thing I didn't really like about it was having to press in the right stick uh to sprint. I'm just not a big fan of having to press the right stick in to sprint. I know it's common in a lot of games and you do a lot of sprinting in this game. Thankfully on the Pro Controller you can just, you know, remap it to the back button. And you can obviously remap it to other buttons as well on the JoyCons. But yeah, guys, uh I'm really excited about it. It's a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun. And we have one little piece of news uh we got to drag you guys into for this. And this involves the network test because this is what's crazy. So people are wondering like, hey, is this game actually going to sell well on Nintendo Switch 2. Is there really any interest in it? And look, I can show you right here that look, Elden Ring is not even out yet and it's number one on the eShop. So, uh, that's obviously showing something here that it's ahead of Nintendo's own games before the game even comes out. That is huge. Pre-sales must be doing well for Elden Ring. So, yeah, it does appear there's an audience for From Software games. Not that they didn't know that cuz we had Dark Souls back on Switch. That being said, uh, the Dust Buds closed number test had more applicants than Elden Ring Night despite being a Switch 2 exclusive. And that comes from from software lead. Uh, so let's go ahead and close this little advertisement here. And it says, "The Dust Bloods might be a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive game, but one from software lead said that more fans signed up for its closed network test than they did for the multiplatform Elden Ring Night. Between Elden Ring Night Reigns release last year and the Dust Bloods coming this year, From Software is truly in a multiplayer era right now. It's not that the studio is changing its trajectory to ditch single player games. Mind you, as Hideki Miyazaki said, both of those ideas just coincided with being multiplayer games. It's not necessarily some big reveal, saying that this is the direction we plan to go moving forward. Perhaps though, the success of last year's co-op and rogike flavored Souls game left more folks excited to see what the studio is cooking up for the Dust Bloods. In a live stream hosted by Famitsu and translated by Games Radar Plus, from software producer Yoshihiro Kao reveals that the number of applicants for the Switch's games closed network test exceeded that of Night Reigns. We were really surprised, he notes. It is surprising given the Switch 2 is a single platform and one that only launched last year. It's bound to have a smaller install base than the combined force of PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, X ands, and Xbox One as Night Rain had. Kaio acknowledges this, saying that from software questions if there really will be more Dust Blood players come launch and noting that it's probably going to be Night Rain that comes out on top. Even so, it's a positive early sign for the Dust Bloods. So, first up, Miyazaki has committed to their, you know, they're probably going back to single player with their next game, which makes a lot of sense after doing a couple multiplayer games. And he noted Dust Blood's development has kind of gave him that itch to get back into single player stuff. Cool. That's really great for a potential Elder Ring 2 or another Dark Souls, Demon Souls, whatever they have coming next. Or maybe they go with a brand new IP again. Uh setting that aside, it is interesting because they do suspect that, you know, at launch maybe Dust Bloods is like doing bigger numbers than Night Rain potentially, but they think over time Night Rain is obviously expected to be the more successful of the two because it's multiplatform and on a bunch of different stuff. And heck, maybe they're even considering bringing it to Switch 2. But at this time, it's not there. Meanwhile, Dust Bloods is coming out. And I guess what they're shocked about is the interest level in Dust Bloods. how many people just wanted to see the game, let alone how many people are enjoying it. The positive reception online. They're kind of shocked at how fervent the Nintendo fan base is for their game. I don't suspect Dust Bloods is going to do a higher peak or do better numbers than Night Raid. It's really hard to do that when you're on a new platform, one platform, and not on all the others where most of the players for these games seem to exist. But maybe it'll be shocking to them and maybe it'll continue to grow. Maybe there'll be some little evergreenness with it. Uh if they continue to do updates and content additions over time, uh this could be something that ends up being really successful for them. And what it might convince them of is one, obviously, we should be day and date with all our games on Nintendo Switch 2. And two, maybe we shouldn't close the door on other ideas we might have that Nintendo would be willing to fund because uh hey, look at what Nintendo's fans are doing. They're rewarding us in a way that maybe even Bayonetta and other games Nintendo have funded in the past. you know, Astral Chain, etc. didn't. So, those were obviously Platinum Games games games, which it seems that From Software is on a whole different level than Platinum Games when it comes to popularity of their IP. So, we'll have to wait and see. Obviously, we're really curious to see how many players don't own a Switch to that might buy one to play Dust Bloods. I think that's an interesting thing to pay attention to if there's any boost in sales in any territory from Dust Bloods when it comes out. It also will be the holiday period. So, that could be really interesting as well, assuming that it's not like coming out next month, which I guess it could. It's kind of weird that we haven't had like a full gameplay reveal trailer and like this beta test was all like network test was all like you can't show footage whether you are media or like just public people getting in even though again footage is everywhere guys. It's not that hard to find. Yeah, guys. Uh I'm just really excited for this one and I think we can probably get ready to move on to our next story. And this one I'm going to play right off of YouTube. This is actually a brand new player for Stellar Blade and we're going off of YouTube just because it's 2 minutes long and it's in 4K. We're recording in 4K and we're having some issues getting this downloaded due to the Mr Rating stuff, but without the audio, they usually will leave it alone. So, we're going to go over here and just play the trailer. And I just got to say here, Steller Blade was announced for Switch 2 a bit ago. This is another look at it, and it looks really, really good. People have already been like comparing this footage from this trailer to other consoles, showing that it actually looks pretty favorably. Uh but more than that, it seems to be running at 60 fps, although not a lock 60, so there are obviously some dips, but hard to see in this footage, but it does exist. More than that, uh the image quality seems to be pretty top tier. I'm assuming DLSS is involved or something. Might be in 4K. I'm not sure. They haven't confirmed the full resolutions, but uh what they have said though is that the game will support Joy-Con, um you know, motion control support and stuff. So, that's really interesting how that's going to be, uh involved in this game. And frankly, it just looks really good. This is a known property. People either really love this or it's not their cup of tea. It's totally fine. Uh but this being available in a portable format on Switch 2 running this well, looking this good. Obviously, I assume most of this footage is docked footage, if not all of it. Yeah, guys, this is looking incredible. I truly think that uh you know, this is just another shining example of a third party being able to successfully port their game to Switch 2 with minimum compromises. And we're seeing this more and more as more games come over. And I'm hoping that this is just a sign of things to come as the Switch 2 is kind of that little engine that could uh that's what it seems like right now anyways based on the games we're getting. At this point, I'm not really shocked about anything other than that Call of Duty somehow looks, you know, significantly worse than a lot of these other third party ports. Uh proving that they probably need to put some more time into porting the Switch to. But that just might be something that unfortunately due to the timing isn't until next year. Still, this trailer is looking amazing. We're watching obviously uh lots of great combat going on, lots of uh skin action, of course, and well, if you play the game or you've seen it, it's it's well known for the certain camera angles under which it follows its uh primary character during certain parts of the game. But uh you know, it doesn't shy away from that. It accepts what it is. It knows what it is, and you guys either love it or you don't. Uh but she is definitely a badass in this game, and that is definitely something that no one debates. So, uh, Stellar Blade Complete Edition is obviously coming later this year. There is no official date or anything. They did give an official title, though. We, it wasn't called Complete Edition before, it is now. So, that's really good news to know that it's going to include all the DLC. That's right. Every single piece of DLC is being included for the game. So, this is literally the true version. There is no other things that you are buying when you get this that don't exist elsewhere. You're getting everything. All right, guys. Uh more than that, off of this news, uh we actually had something interesting pop up with player essence. He almost never puts anything out there, but he's out here on X and he responded to someone said, "Generally, what are they doing over there at Atlas?" as you know, Shift Up is talking about how great the port looks and he says, "Meter refund targets 60 fps on switch 2. From what I'm hearing now, I haven't heard anything. Of course, I don't have a lot of sources in contacts with any to do with metaphor refundasio, but player essence is out here saying that it's targeting 60, not lock 60, not running consistently at 60, but targeting 60. That's another major AAA game looking to try to go 60 fps on Switch 2, kind of like Pragmata was doing from Capcom. Very, very interesting. This also leads to our next story. This has to do with NBA 2K27 cuz the entire reason I haven't bought NBA 2K27 is because it's not guaranteed to be in 60 fps. Like that's my primary sticking point. Same reason I didn't buy it last year when it was 30 FPS on Switch 2. So, uh, according to Switch hands, who's been trying to figure this out as literally no information or gameplay of the Switch 2 versions been available publicly, which feels like they're just hiding stuff. So, he had reached out to customer support. Here's what they said. Hi Matt, 2K Farad here at your service. Thanks for contacting 2K support. I understand you got some questions regarding the frame rate of the game in Switch 2. Usually we aren't able to inform players about specifics, but I can assure you that the frame rate for Switch 2 is the same as for other consoles, which is 60 frames per second. I would also like to direct you to the NBA 2K Discord. You're going to be able to discuss the game with other players, get tips for gameplay, yada yada yada. Their typical uh spiel. Now, I'm just going to say this. I've talked to 2K support in the past about this same issue and other stuff. I've gotten very in like reports in the Switch era of 60 fps report that didn't happen. So, I'm really skeptical of anything from customer support. They don't really have like a direct knowledge line like that usually. Uh but that doesn't mean that the support person's wrong. The difference is uh a following um correspondence kind of didn't really erase the 60 fps comment, but kind of walked it back a little bit. So, here he says, "After allegedly leaking the frame rate on Switch 2, a new representative took over as I attempted to get more information." And this one says, "Hey Matt, this is Daniel from 2K support and I'll be filling in for Fared today. I hope you're doing well." Now, maybe he's just filling in and Fred's not in today. Or maybe Fared stated something that he shouldn't have. Anyways, thank you for your question. I understand you're excited to get a sneak peek. So, he says, "Will we see any switch to gameplay at 60 FPS before launch?" So, he's like, "Hey, are we going to see any gameplay before launch at 60?" So, thanks for your question. And I understand you're excited to get a sneak peek at how the gameplay will look on Switch 2. While we can't confirm whether a video will be available for before launch, we recommend keeping an eye on our social channels for the latest updates and announcements. Again, not saying the 60 fps isn't happening, but not even addressing the 60 fps and just straight up saying, "Hey, I'm not guaranteeing any gameplay before launch," which if it's running at 60 fps, I don't know why you wouldn't have that gameplay guarantee. I honestly think that this is a bit of [ __ ] to be frank. I think that we need to get used to this idea that um these support services aren't the best places to get information. Uh but I get as fans like we don't have a lot of recourse when they're not giving us like this is the kind of information they shouldn't be hiding from us and they are and I think that's the most frustrating aspect is they don't seem to care about the Switch to user base. Now I say this as hey yeah they're bringing the game over but if it's got at 60 fps that's a big deal you should advertise that. So, I I have a lot of skepticism with this story. Uh but hey, uh hopefully that customer support person is right and that content creator who asked him the questions uh is just breaking the news. All right, guys. We got to talk about Pokemon because uh it looks like everything's going to be changing with the battle system moving forward. Uh so, we have this article here saying GameFreak Pokemon battle system may start to change as the series moves forward. So, it says Pokemon video game developer GameFreak recently uploaded a behind-the-scenes interview on their YouTube channel. The YouTube video features both Shageki Moramoto, the series battle director, and Kazumasa Iwa, the director of Pokemon Champions. The two revealed that the Pokemon battle system we all know could start changing with future entries. Remember, Wind and Waves has already announced uh and that they made Pokemon Champions to preserve the classic battle system. Here's what was said. quote, "I think one of the biggest reasons behind it was that the battle system, the rules for competitive Pokemon battles that we've been using throughout the Pokemon series for too long may gradually start changing as the Pokemon series moves forward." And we saw a bit of that in Legends ZA. I'll just note that. Anyways, he goes on to say, "And when that happens, there are people who have been enjoying the existing style of Pokemon battles for decades, going all the way back to red and green, gold and silver, and so on." So simply saying the battles have changed now please go play the new version didn't really feel right either. There was something that had been bothering us at Game Freak for quite a while. At the same time, we obviously want the series to continue taking on new challenges, but we also didn't want to neglect the battle system that we've had up until now. So we thought maybe it would be good to make one game that carries forward the existing battle system and lets people continually play it indefinitely. I think that was really the starting point for the development of Pokemon Champions. So, in other words, Pokemon Champions didn't exist to like replace Pokemon Coliseum and all this. It exists because they're looking to replace the battle system in the current Pokemon games. Upgrade it, change it, move it further and further away from what it's been for so long. Sounds like they have a lot of interesting ideas for the Pokemon battle system, and hopefully some of it plays out in Winds and Waves as we saw it play out a little bit in Legend ZA. Time will tell, of course, if it ends up being a good decision or a bad one. Uh, what's probably a good decision is that they have rehired James Turner. So, if you don't know who he is, he's one of the co-creators of Plucky Squire. He put an announcement out on his ex here saying, "Big news. I've started a new role as creative director of Pokemon Art and Design at Pokemon Company International. Want to note this isn't the primary TPC. This is the international version, and it feels great to be working in the world of Pokemon again with a lovely group of people. I'm very excited about what comes next." now, creative director of Pokemon art and design. He's probably going to have some say on future stuff here with the the design of Pokemon and the art direction and all that. But again, this is the guy who, you know, as we he says, "I work for Pokemon." Look, the Pluckucky Squire, like he literally was part one of the people, one of the primary people co-directing the Plucky Squire. So, um, I'm happy for him. I hope, you know, his his current studio that he was working at that made Pluckucky Squire is still at work on some new game. We presume a sequel to Plucky Squire. I have no idea. uh whether James Turner is still involved with that studio while taking on this new role that he hasn't really announced or addressed at this point. I would assume he probably had to step down from his role at that studio. Uh but maybe he hasn't and maybe he's still able to work there in an advisory role and then come over and do this creative director role at Pokemon. He used to work at Pokemon. He left to make the game. He came back. He seems to be pretty happy working there. Uh so more power to him. All right, guys. We got to get to our last story. And this one this one's got the Zelda in it. Although uh we got to give some props here. It's the Famitsu Most Wanted. We just talked recently about how popular Ocarina of Time has been worldwide. And look, that's also true in Japan. So, Famitsu's most wanted has Ocarina of Time at number two. Uh and here's the thing. It's time for that Fitzu Most Wanted Game Chart. Zelda Ocarine Time remake moved up another couple spots and is now at number two. It's right. It was at number four before. Uh that's the noteworthy news this time around because not much else has changed. So, Wind and Waves is up there at number one, which look, it's Japan. Pokemon's massive there. It's really hard to beat out Pokemon. But then Ocarine of Time is right there. I know about what 23 votes behind. And look, as we see more Ocarina of Time and win and weighs us further out, what if Ocarina of Time overtakes number one again? I think the only reason it hasn't is we need to see more of the game. But man, the hype for Ocarina of Time out in Japan seems to be climbing. And you might go, well, Famitsu's numbers don't really matter uh because, you know, it's only based on a few thousand voters. And I I get that. But we have seen correlation between the most hyped games on the Famitsu chart like the top three most hyped games and then actual physical sales uh when the data comes out from the Famitsu sales chart. So there actually has been some correlation there. Like we're even seeing a pretty strong hold there by Fireman Fortunes. We've obviously got to move up a spot there because Ocarina of Time moving up. So yeah guys, like we're seeing some strong stuff there. The hype for Zelda seems to be very very real uh in Japan and worldwide even though they're a little bit more anticipating Pokemon. Uh are you guys hyped as well? Because I know I am. I'm ready to see the Zelda trailer, the next 40th anniversary stuff. I'm ready for the next direct. All of which I suspect will be the second or third week of September. But guys, let me know your predictions on what week you think this direct and we'll finally see Acria Time uh is in the future. You don't have to give a date. Just tell me what week you think it is. whether it's this week, next week, the week after, the week after that, week after that, or maybe it's even later than that. Maybe we don't get anything till October, right? So, give me your predictions down below. Otherwise, folks, I am Nathaniel Robans from Nintendo Prime, and I'll catch you guys in the next video.