Trick or Treat Splatfest — Splatoon and Halloween

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - My decision may surprise you. Or it might not. How well you do know me?

I do not like Halloween. I have written why I do not like Halloween in an article three years ago. That disliking for Halloween will colour my comments in today's article about Halloween, which is over two weeks away from Halloween.

Anyway, there is another Splatfest in Splatoon 2 this weekend! Yes, not even a month has passed since the previous Splatfest, and we already have another one. That's okay. I want another chance to understand the new Splatfest scoring system as of Version 4 — I was going to write an article about it after the September Splatfest, but it turns out I didn't understand it enough to write something coherent.

The theme? You've been discussing it for years... you just didn't know it. But enough talk. You must finally pick one by this FRIDAY October 19 at 6 PM:

“It's time to decide. Are you Team Trick or Team Treat?”

Trick or Treat? ...Really. That's the Splatfest theme. Well, if it's going to be a question asked millions of times every year, and it's an either-or situation, then sure, I guess Inkopolis needs a Splatfest to legally decide what's better.

KoopaTV's GameFAQs Character Battle X Index

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - X... index... Hm... Anyway, this will help organise our coverage.

A new grand gaming contest is coming very soon: GameFAQs Character Battle X, the 10th character battle contest in GameFAQs.com history! (Note the URL isn't actually GameFAQs.com anymore) You may remember previous GameFAQs tournaments covered on KoopaTV (their first rounds are hyperlinked at the bottom of this article), including Character Battle IX. We'll also cover this contest, since it's a very interesting exercise in the worth of characters in games, and a repudiation of anti-character philosophies. It's educational, in any case.

Character Battle X features 136 videogame characters trying to be crowned as the best, as voted by GameFAQs users. (Registered users’ votes count for double, while unregistered users count for normal.) 128 characters are distributed throughout the 8 divisions, while 8 Legends — Mario, Link, Samus, Cloud, Crono, Mega Man, Snake, and Sonic — await them after the division finals. (Sephiroth is usually in that group to make the Noble Nine, but he got demoted)

This article will provide links right below this paragraph to all of KoopaTV's coverage of Character Battle X, which begins October 19, with several matches a day. So please check back then for Round 1's article. Future rounds will get their own articles. As for this article, I'll also be providing what the 128-character bracket is here, for reference.

Nintendo Finally Explains To People How To Get Torna

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - And then proceeds to mis-explain to people which kingdom Torna even is.

Normally, RawkHawk2010 is the guy who is supposed to write about Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on this site. (Please ignore the fact that he hasn't done so for even one whole article.) He's the only staff member who cares about the game — he actually obsesses over it. The first thing he asked Witch Princess when she joined was if she cared about the Xenoblade series. She said yes, but I'm pretty sure she only said that to get along with her new coworker instead of being genuine.

Unfortunately, Rawk either still has a very weird sleep schedule (due to Xenoblade Chronicles 2), or Hurricane Michael pwned him where Hurricane Irma could not. In either case, it's up to me to cover what Rawk has identified as a problem for the past month (or more) — Nintendo had not properly explained to people how to acquire Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country. Rawk had once said,

“I think it's the most confusing Nintendo-published release of all time and it deserved a demonstration video way more than Nintendo Switch Online did. Most people are still going to think retail Torna is just a code.”

(Nintendo's mini-site dedicated to Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country seems to explain it pretty well, if you ask me, but let's pretend that Rawk has a point here.)

I wonder if this pair of Nintendo-made content satisfies his concern:

Special Save File Versions of NES Games in Nintendo Switch Online!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Another Nintendo Switch Online surprise benefit?

Just last week, I wrote about an unexpected and surprise gift from Nintendo's subscription service, Nintendo Switch Online — a 7-day free trial that lasted longer than 7 days.

Today, Nintendo offers another surprise: The Legend of Zelda SP, or The Legend of Zelda - Living the life of luxury! Alternatively, it's just The Legend of Zelda with a special hacked save file, and isn't another game at all so it shouldn't get italics or be treated as a new or different release. It's not differentiated at all on Nintendo's page for Nintendo Switch Online's NES games on their website. The Nintendo press release makes no big deal of it, but mentions that “[s]pecial save data for other NES titles will become available in the future, offering fun new entry points into fan-favorite games.”

It's the same game, but with a SPECIAL ribbon on it.

To be exact, the special save data provides for Link to start the game with the White Sword (second strongest sword), the Magical Shield (the best shield), the Power Bracelet (not a big deal like in other The Legend of Zelda games), and the Blue Ring (pretty big deal, raising Link's defence substantially), and a full rupee count. That essentially makes it an easy mode, which isn't a comment meant to be demeaning in any way.

Are People Angrier At Spin-Offs Now Than Before?

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Or is this a case-by-case basis?

Now (or, you know, months ago) is a good time to clear the backlog of KoopaTV article requests. ShinyGirafarig asked (back in... June) about...

“Why have gamers gone from accepting Mario spin offs like Mario Kart, the Wario series, Donkey Kong Country, Yoshi and Luigi's Mansion or Pokemon spin offs like Pokemon Snap and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon to being angry at spin offs like Hey! Pikmin and Metroid Prime: Federation Force?” 

(Let's not... consider Donkey Kong Country to be a Mario spin-off, okay?)

Is that actually true? If it's true, why is that the case? 

Hm, where to start with that claim...?

Well, to start, I think the premise is false, and I'll provide counter-examples.

Wendy is Live-Streaming A Hat In Time: Seal the Deal Right Now

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - She's busy streaming, so I'm stuck writing the promo.

Want more indie game coverage? Wondering if Wendy O. Koopa actually exists as a staff member? Alright, let's solve both of those problems. She's live-streaming A Hat In Time (Seal the Deal DLC) right now on Mixer (main stream) and Twitch (secondary stream). Say hi. (Pick one. Twitch lags behind Mixer, but the staff is in Twitch.)

She is also playing with modifications.

She has made three save files in A Hat in Time... but she doesn't know why.
Which she'll play, I don't know (as of writing this).

Now that the stream is over, here are some videos on demand. First, Wendy got trapped in the elevator during the walrus captain's fetch quest, which I likened to the DL-6 Incident:

Watch Welp, I fell through the elevator. :( from Capt_Murasa on www.twitch.tv

And here's the whole stream:

Watch 110% GREED :D from Capt_Murasa on www.twitch.tv

HI KOOPATV.
“Oh, of course, HI KOOPATV. I remember now, having seen it written down earlier. On my ticket.”

Lots of really cute seals on-board the cruise ship.

“Egg.”

Oh, one more bug. Drowning and not dying, so you're stuck... alive.


Watch Invincibility Frames????? from Capt_Murasa on www.twitch.tv

The crows have excellent taste. Do you?
“I have family in HI KOOPATV. I am very glad that this is where we are going.”

Wendy said it was a lot of fun streaming for us. Let her know what you think in the comments section!


There is a pretty big contrast between when Wendy streams and when Kamek streams, like he did for Yooka-Laylee.

FIFA 19 Releases; Box-Art Athlete Cristiano Ronaldo Accused of Rape

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Electronic Arts isn't in a good position, so they better hope it really is FAKE NEWS.

Last week, FIFA 19 released, to critical anticipation for people who enjoy playing Electronic Arts's sports games, which happens to be tens of millions of people. Personally, I don't care for soccer (or association football). In fact, I dislike it, as you'll find out if you click that hyperlink.

Anyway, a Portuguese guy named Cristiano Ronaldo is on the front cover of FIFA 19's box art, and he's a central focus of EA's marketing of the game (besides Alex Hunter — but for Nintendo Switch buyers, it's just Cristiano Ronaldo). He's among the top two soccer players in the world, next to Lionel Messi. As far as I can tell, Cristiano Ronaldo is the only reason why people around the world even know that Portugal exists.

Let's get my Nintendo Switch victimhood out of the way for this article:
Why is the “Nintendo Switch Edition” considered an alien?
Why isn't it on the Compare Products table?
Anyway, victimhood aside, the point is that Ronaldo is on the cover, and there's a “loan” benefit about him if you pay more money.

Unfortunately for Electronic Arts and their box art, Cristiano Ronaldo has been accused of rape by an American woman named Kathryn Mayorga, reported in the German paper Der Spiegel one day after FIFA 19 released. Kind of bad timing. It turns out that the rape accusation, which depicts the act as occurring in 2009, existed to the public as of last year, but there wasn't a name of the accuser until now. Between 2017 and a week ago, it was just an anonymous rumour.

To make things unfortunate for Ronaldo's credibility, he reportedly doesn't deny the sex took place... but that it was consensual. Therefore, he denies the rape allegation and has called it “fake news.” Ronaldo and Mayorga already had an out-of-court settlement in 2010 for hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for her silence (thus no one knowing about a rape until 2017), but now she's breaking the terms of the settlement so she can ask for more money.

October 2018 Ace Attorney Franchise Sale — Timely and Topical

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Exclusively on Nintendo eShop for less than a week.

We clearly have Ace Attorney on our mind at KoopaTV, with three Ace Attorney articles published just last month alone. (All of them are hyperlinked throughout this article.) And later this month (later this WEEK, on October 6), the second season of the Ace Attorney anime is showing in Japan. It's being “simuldubbed” by Funimation as of October 30, which doesn't sound very... simultaneous with October 6.

Funimation doesn't know what words mean, but, whatever, it's still getting it in English sooner than it otherwise would be.
(Something is weird about Maya and Phoenix's fingers.)

Meanwhile, CAPCOM is setting the Ace Attorney games at big discounts in the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS. But in North America. It's NOT on sale in Japan. Some Harvest Moon or Story of Seasons games are, but not Ace Attorney.

Ace Attorney Franchise Sale from October 4 to October 10.
“Defend the innocent with courtroom hero Phoenix Wright! Ace Attorney titles up to 70% off for a limited time.”

Let's try and figure out why CAPCOM would have the Ace Attorney games on sale in North America but not Japan right now. And, of course, compare how deep the discounts are!

CAPCOM, Don't Keep The Superior Mega Man 11 Soundtrack Hostage

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - They're going to sell the pre-order bonus later, right?

Congratulations to Mega Man fans everywhere (unless you're just in it for Mega Man Legends). Mega Man 11 released yesterday, and the reviewer consensus is that it is... good!

“Good” might not sound like much, but it's a significant improvement from Mega Man 11's nearest comparison point, Mighty No. 9. At launch, that game was considered... awful. Mega Man has returned to form, in a game developed by CAPCOM. No complaints.

Well, one complaint. The game's techno soundtrack isn't very interesting or captivating. I remarked after playing the Block Man demo that Block Man's music isn't catchy. It's forgettable, really. In fact, the instrumentation used throughout the entire game does the composition a disservice. This is problematic, since Mega Man games are supposed to have amazing music, but many reviewers commonly cite the soundtrack for Mega Man 11 to be the weakest part of the game.

Remember how I wrote in an earlier article that Mega Man 11 had pre-order bonuses, and I praised that CAPCOM was putting enough effort into the game that pre-order bonuses existed, but I dismissed what the actual bonuses were? Well, guess what one of those bonuses was...

The 7-Day Nintendo Switch Online Trial Was Longer Than 7 Days

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Well, that's awfully nice of them. Also, the KoopaTV Family Plan has started.

I said it to the universe: I'd be using the 7-day Nintendo Switch Online trial for the Retro vs. Modern Splatoon 2 Splatfest. (Once I fully understand the new Splatfest system, I'll write an article about it... but quite frankly, I still don't understand it.)

I got the free trial on Saturday, September 22, at 4:09 PM Eastern time. Apparently, the free trial expired Monday, October 1, at 1:09 PM Eastern. That's nearly nine days. That's more than a seven-day free trial.

Compare the Purchase History with Your Subscriptions. Longer than seven days.

 
This week is National Customer Service Week, previously covered here during 2015. Giving free extra days on the free trial is good customer service, right?

Still, that doesn't erase how I described the 7-day free trial in my article about how to stick it to Nintendo if you dislike Nintendo Switch Online.

“That's... really slimy and scummy of Nintendo if it's correct that the 7-day free trial will automatically convert to a $4 1-month subscription unless you go out of your way to opt-out.”