Admintendo XXIII: Twenty-Three is Number One!

Balladeer: (Ahoy there!  Ready for another funfilled Admintendo?)

JayMoyles: (Ready and prepared! Skype is offering me suggested responses to what you're saying... tempted to have a full chatbot edition of Admintendo!)

Balladeer: (I know, it's creepy.  Stop that Skype...)

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Balladeer: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... which must mean it's time for another Admintendo, the quarterly review that's starting to look awfully half-yearly. I'm Balladeer, and joining me to look back over 2018 and forward into 2019 is Mr. Jayseph Moyles Esq.  Good afternoon sir!

JayMoyles:Festive greetings to you, good sir! I hope you're all set for Christmas. I suppose we ought to address the change from quarterly editions of Admintendo to biannually before we get things going.

Note: this admin absolutely didn't need to Google the difference between biannual and biennial there. Nope, definitely not.

Balladeer: I'm as set as the perfect jelly.

Yes, the change to biannual is primarily because... er... well it's because time is lacking, primarily.  I've struggled to make time for four Admintendi a year in the past, and wasn't originally going to do it at all when I joined the admin. team again.  We've made it biannual so that I can.

So basically, we've changed to biannual because I'm rubbish.  Sorry everybody!

JayMoyles: For what it's worth, I think we were retreading the same topics every few months as well. This might keep things a bit more fresh. Well, either that or we'll just be retreading the same topics every six months instead.

Balladeer: Maybe.  Hopefully we'll be able to get some more of y'all involved again next year, and that might freshen things up!  But for now, it's just the two of us, talking about the forum.

Shall we talk about the forum, Jay?

JayMoyles: Indeed we shall!

Balladeer: (Aside: 'Andros' is trending on Twitter right now, and I got all excited, and then I realised it's some bobbins football person.)

(Andross would be furious.)

(I mean, because that's his default emotion mostly.)

JayMoyles: ("I'll make those fools pay!" etc. etc.)



JayMoyles: Do you fancy kicking us off with some forum thoughts over the last six months, Mr. Kielty?

Balladeer: Now that I've worked out how to get rid of Skype's new helpful predictive text feature that I'm pretty sure nobody asked for, I'd be happy to do just that!

And I'd like to start off with one of the forum's favourite hobbies (depending on who you ask): voting!  We had another fine voting thread, in the form of Drunkalilly's 'I Want To Vote The Very Best...'  As with most votes 'round these parts, I enjoyed it hugely.  Even if Pokémon XD was robbed of glory, again.

Obviously another voting thread has just arisen, but it'll be quite some time until that's fully underway...

Apart from that, we had my favourite forum game since Pokédix, in the form of 'Abort Or A Port'.  It didn't get the traction I'd hoped, but I definitely did enjoy it while it ran!

JayMoyles: Yep, I enjoyed the Pokémon vote! There was a moment of pure dread for myself when I thought that D/P/P might have won the day - sorry Gen IV fans, but those were the games that actively turned me away from the series - but a solid game took it home in the end! Cheers to Drunka for running that in excellent fashion.

Balladeer: Platinum's not so bad, but yes, the original two were pure mince.  I think we reflected that also in the build-up to Let's Go's release, when we went through the different generations of Pokémon designs, and got to Gen. 4... I enjoyed that as well!  But I would say that, wouldn't I.

JayMoyles: That was a fun couple of weeks looking back at each generation as a whole. It was good to look at it as a whole as there's usually a focus on individual Pokémon - shout out to LLP - as opposed to the whole generation itself.

Balladeer: Sometimes, you've got to look back at most of a generation, and Just Say No.

JayMoyles: Whilst it's not a thread, I'd be remiss not mention this year's meetup. I had an absolute blast spending the weekend with some good folks down in Manchester. I found having our own space to give us that bit more freedom to make the weekend even better, and I think we found some better bars than our jaunts in Newcastle. The Sunday was a struggle thanks to said bars, mind you!

Oh, and big thanks to Jackbox for fuelling some great gaming sessions back at the flat after we were all very merry.

Balladeer: (hums Predatory Loans jingle)

'Merry'.

JayMoyles: I'd like to keep a calm and professional demeanour, thank you very much.

Balladeer: Aye, it's always a blinder, and this year was no exception.  I do think the bars we visited were better, agreed.  Shame about the footie being on!  Says me and only me...

I was going to call out Luke Plays Pokémon (as I am now obliged to call it ) next, and indeed last.  While it's been great fun to listen to, in no small measure due to the vocal stylings of one Mr. 949, it was even more fun to take part in!  Technical difficulties aside.  I'm looking forward to the Christmas episode, and hearing just what Andyman thinks Gen. 8 should bring.

Anything I've missed from this half-year, Jay?

JayMoyles: Well, I would like to add that getting hyped for SSBU with the forum really built up my own pre-release hype for the game. Sharing our thoughts on the game itself has also been brilliant - I think we've said it on previous Admintendos, but it's always great to see a big release gain traction on the forum and garner plenty of chat. Looking forward to you joining us in earnest with said chat in a few days time!

Balladeer: Ah yes.  I think I've been slightly detached from that because I knew I wasn't going to get it at launch - incidentally, for those people who question why anyone would buy anything at launch rather than waiting for a price drop, this is why.  The ability to chat about it with vigour at the time.

Having said that I can't wait to playing it in a few days!  And maining the heck out of Ridley.




Balladeer: So, that's what I haven't been playing: Jay, would you like to talk about what you have been playing over the last six months?

JayMoyles: I was hoping you'd pounce on that segueway there.

Well, it's been a quiet year for the Switch, but I've still played a few releases here or there. The summer was dominated by some online games of Mario Tennis Aces, especially considering that the single player content for that was somewhat lacking. I've seen that they've released some free updates, so it might be in a better state now. Octopath took up most of my time - it was certainly a good JRPG overall, but it did rely a bit too heavily on its almost episodic format. I appreciate it for trying something different though, even if it didn't exactly pay off. Oh, and Hollow Knight! Absolutely fantastic Metroidvania. It captured the atmosphere of Souls so well whilst still being its own beast - or should that be bug?

And of course, SSBU, although it's still early days for that one knowing my overall playtime on Smash 3DS! I won't dive into that too much for now beyond saying that it's the best Smash Bros. to date and I can't wait to while away hundreds of hours really getting to know each character fully.

Balladeer: And thrashing all of us online, I daresay.

JayMoyles: Items help level the playing field, as do the wacky stages. Nobody's taken my offer up of 1v1s with no items or stage hazards yet though...

Balladeer: That sounds fun, said nobody ever.

JayMoyles: I'll have fun, and that's what counts!

Any highlights on Switch for you, Balla?

Balladeer: I played a few of the same games as you, although I started the half-year on a completely different one: Sushi Striker.  It's a really fun hectic puzzler, let down by a slightly bobbins story.  You don't necessarily expect heavy story emphasis from a puzzle game, but when you get it, it has to be good!

JayMoyles:Ah, that's still sitting on my shelf unplayed. Mind you, you could say the same about over half of the games I own...

Balladeer: After that I played through Hollow Knight and Octopath, both of which I enjoyed and neither of which I enjoyed as much as you; getting distracted by the very interesting Metroidvania mood-piece that is Iconoclasts, and not getting as distracted as I should have been by Okami HD.  See also: Hyper Light Drifter, and...

(braces self)

...TWEWY. Some day.  Some day!

JayMoyles: To be fair, I'm in no major rush to finish off TWEWY either! I think the removal of the dual screen combat has hurt the game somewhat, although I still adore everything else about that game.

Balladeer: I've got a stylus now, but I haven't picked up TWEWY since acquiring it. Maybe that will help?

More recently, I played a game from a little-known franchise called Pocket Monsters.  My thoughts on that can be found elsewhere.

And now I'm playing Guacamelee 2!  It feels like the original, only with slightly more story focus, slightly funnier, and with your chicken form playing an integral part in the main plot.  This is a good thing, and it's already climbed up towards my top games of 2018.

Whether it makes that list... well, you'll have to see!

JayMoyles: Iconoclasts was a PS+ game this month, so I'll be getting around to it at some point, albeit on a different platform. And yep, Guacamelee 2 will be one for a later stage with myself - I enjoyed its predecessor, although that was quite a few years ago now!

Balladeer: Speaking of years... I'm sorry, that was dreadful.  We've talked about the latter half of 2018...

JayMoyles: (Oops, I'm not finished with the games bit yet! Just a couple more.)

Balladeer: (Oh, okay!)

JayMoyles: Outside of Switch, I've played only a few releases on PS4. Spider-Man was a lot of fun and it makes me hopeful for a MGU or something of the sort in the years to come. For ages, the only Marvel games were gacha mobile trash, so it's good to see some full fledged releases heading our way now.

There was also Red Dead Redemption 2 which I'm almost sad to have finished so quickly. I felt I rushed it somewhat to avoid spoilers of its finely crafted story - that's a game I'll need to replay at a much slower pace, much like BotW, actually.

And lastly, to appease Andy, I finished Yakuza 0 at long last. Only 6 more Yakuza games to go...!

Balladeer: (Would've be fine to end it before that post, I think. )

[deadpan]Yes, those are some games that are out on other machines which I have heard are good.[/deadpan]

To be fair, I played a single other-format game recently: Deltarune!  If you played and enjoyed Undertale, you should play and enjoy this.  It's free.

JayMoyles: I concur.

Balladeer: (Also I started Simon the Sorcerer, but that's a rather different kettle of fish.)

Ready to segue on to 2018 as a whole, Jay?

JayMoyles: All aboard!

(That was a Skype autocorrect response, by the way!)

Balladeer: (Oh good, it's useful for something.)



Balladeer: We've talked about the latter half of 2018, let's talk about the bigger picture.  Jay, what was 2018 like for you, as a gaming and forum year?  And indeed as a personal year, if you fancy talking about that!

JayMoyles: I think the word of the year, at least for gaming and the forum in my eyes, has been "quiet". The forum's been a bit cosier this year, but it's still trundled along nicely and as we highlighted in the first section, there's still been some great threads and posts popping up regularly. The Switch has had a bit of a quieter year as well compared to its first year. Still, it's ended the year strongly and looks poised to claim 2019 as its own. It definitely needed the eShop to help things along though and fortunately we've had some blinders coming out from there in 2018, which is no doubt good for indie developers.

On a personal note, 2018 hasn't been the best, but 2019.... well, I'm hoping to claim it as my own too. Watch this space!

I'll return the same question to you, unless you've any thoughts on my ramblings?

Balladeer: I think I'd agree with your ramblings, mostly - including you claiming 2019 as your own.  You go Jay!

Yes, I think quiet's about right, Switch and forum both.  This was especially true of the first half of the year: in the second, I was drowning under a sea of eShop releases.  Still, as I've said before and will doubtless say again, I don't think it's been a bad year for the Switch in the bigger picture.  Early-days machines usually have an iffy year somewhere, I'm pretty sure they'll have used that downtime to work on bigger products, and Smash and Let's Go (in addition to a lot of other stuff) is not a bad 'iffy year' at all!

I do think it's been quiet on the forum.  eShop games don't cause the same level of chatter, not unless absolutely everyone's playing them (so, Hollow Knight then).  And we are missing Zero, I think.  Still, I think we've done a decent-enough job at filling the void.  Hopefully there'll be a late explosion of talk!

There have also been a couple of returning, or more visible forumites of late - yer Rum Raptures, yer Fronkheads, yer NintenDUCKs, yer Orange_Rakoons, and some I'm sure I've forgotten.  They've helped mightily, and many thanks to them!

JayMoyles: I think the Switch built up a lot of goodwill with fans after its launch year and whilst I can't speak for everyone, I personally was fine enough with the level of activity we saw from the Switch this year after its stormer of an opening year. That should have gave me some free time to work through my backlog too... in theory.

Yeah, HK and Celeste garnered some good chat, but that's about it for big eShop threads!

Balladeer: I agree, I think it had a bit of a buffer to work through in the first year.  You'll be astonished to hear that not all of the Internet agreed though! (Also I know I used the 'd' word a few times myself... )

As for the backlog, I'm sure you'll get around to it some day! (shifty eyes) Also both those games deserve their good chat, they're top titles.

JayMoyles: Including PS+ games, I've got 287 unfinished games. I'm not hopeful.

Balladeer: Man alive!

Obvious answer: neglect your PS4 until all your Switch games have been finished.  It's what I'd be doing, if I had a PS4.

JayMoyles: I'll hopefully be in a better place with my backlog come next year!

Balladeer:...I presume that was a segue hint?

JayMoyles: Was it?

Thanks Skype suggestions. Perfect poker face.



Balladeer: So yes: we've talked about 2018, let's talk 2019.  What are you looking forward to next year, both on the forum and in gaming in general?

JayMoyles: Looking at the forum, I'm looking at the near-future mostly - namely, the GNamer Awards results and seeing what everybody got each other for secret santa! The latter is always a heart warming moment and seeing how generous and creative other folks can be is brilliant. Anything you're excited for on the forum, Balla?

Balladeer: I'm always a big fan of votes, particularly when I'm running them!  Fair to say I'm apprehensive, too: they're a big event, and I want to do them justice.  Secret Santa's always good fun too: my present's beneath the family tree, although I'll open it away from them just in case there's rude sweets to be had...

JayMoyles: Usually a good idea to do that, yep!

As for games, we had some posts recently about the Switch's 2019 and if we end up seeing that full list of games actually hitting the shelves, then we're in for a cracker of a year, especially considering that everything is a bit quieter for the other platforms next year. I'm personally jazzed for some more new on MP4. Give us gameplay, Nintendo, please!

Balladeer: I'd love to see MP4.  Do you think we'll actually see it this year, Jay?

JayMoyles: I'd love to be optimistic and say we will, but I do think it's going to be an early 2020 launch. Either that or we'll get gameplay at E3 for a Winter 2019 launch. It's certainly not coming out until November at the earliest, I'd say.

Do you share my optimism?

Balladeer: I... don't know.  I'd like to say Winter 2019, and that Nintendo will pour the same resources into selling it as they have into SMO and Smash.  I think 2020 is more likely though.

I'm also really pretty keen for Daemon x Machina.  I love the art style, and I think the gameplay could potentially be great... or that it could be really unsatisfying/unfocussed.  Fingers crossed!

JayMoyles: Metroid's not really their third pillar anymore though. I think it's fallen behind Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing and Pokémon in terms of importance, so it might not get the same push as their bigger series.

I think the reviews will tell all for DxM. I do hope it's a good 'un though, especially with online multiplayer being a feature in the game. Co-op sessions on that should be a blast if it plays well.

Balladeer: Animal Crossing might come out in 2019, actually.  I think it's more a summer game, but maybe that's what they'll do the big push for?

I do think you're right about 'Troid, though.  Which is a shame.

JayMoyles: Indeed, poor Samus. Hopefully MP4 will be a solid return for 3D Metroid games.

Balladeer: Maybe it'll sell obscene numbers and they'll start to push it more?  Here's hoping!

JayMoyles: We can only hope.

(Thanks, Skype.)

Balladeer: (Who am I talking to here, you or Skype? )

JayMoyles: (I'm going to remove all the references to me using the Skype suggestions thing in the edit and let people guess what responses have been crafted by Skype. )

Balladeer: (Cunning, cunning.)

JayMoyles: (Indubitably.)



Balladeer: I think that's about brought us to the end of today's Admintendo!  I keep getting distracted by my sister playing BotW in the background anyway.  Any last words for our beloved forumites, Jay?

JayMoyles: Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!

And a Happy New Year.

Balladeer: Lovely festive wishes there from the Jay/Skype hybrid who will some day enslave us all, there.  Best Christmas wishes from me too, look forward to seeing you around into 2019!

JayMoyles: And with that, I bid you adieu!


Balladeer: (Right, I'll take this and do the first editing pass; then you have a look?)

JayMoyles: (Cool, thanks!)

(Sorry, couldn't resist using Skype again for that one )

Third member Skype is pretty decent.

Doesn't post a lot here though, which is a shame. I had way too much fun with that feature on this Admintendo.

He did.

Good read folks and nice to see the skype auto replies creep into admintendo.

Cheers Jas!

I would like to confirm that Skype Predictive Text is not eligible as a vote for Contributor of the Year.

That's just giving folk ideas.