A Closer Look at Paper Mario: The Origami King

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Do I like what I see?

Just how does Nintendo react to Sony claiming the future of gaming?

With this video:
 

Hopefully, you remember our first look at Paper Mario: The Origami King from last month. Today, it's time to take a second, closer look, which hopefully answers several questions. And, I mean, look at that thumbnail. LOOKS PARTNER-Y, and the trailer even asks what kind of adventure it would be without companions to share it with. ...But this article is about a closer look, not just your first look. And Paper Mario: The Origami King is worth inspecting closely, since Paper Mario games have a documented history of having untrustworthy trailers.

Said partners include the amnesiac Bobby the Bob-omb, the curious Professor Toad the Toad, and KoopaTV staffer Kamek the Magikoopa.

KoopaTV Live Reacts to PlayStation 5's The Future of Gaming Conference

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Remember throughout that they are promising the biggest generational transition in the history of the videogame industry.

Unfortunately, we are living in an era known as FakE3 2020, where the week(s)-long succession of intense gaming news drops and coverage... doesn't exist.

However, one company, Sony, dares to have a legitimate conference (or Direct) during what would have been E3 2020. That's quite interesting, since they swore off participating at the real E3 2020 if it was going to actually happen, but they're also the only ones who are getting into FakE3 2020.

Sony promises to reveal many games and details about the PlayStation 5, of which we only really know it's coming out later in 2020 and it has a weird and offensive (to some) controller, the DualSense.

Join me and Heavy Lobster (and... Kamek...who flew in on his broom very late and then had his own set of reactions at the end of the log, which take a more optimistic tone) as we watched Sony's conference, which you can also watch a video-on-demand of here:

Toyko Out of Emergency. Implications? Where's PEGASUS DREAM TOUR?

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - KoopaTV has an exclusive scoop.

My apologies for not initially bringing this up (mostly because how little media coverage it was getting so I didn't know about it): At the same time the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo were announced to be delayed, the 2020 Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo were also delayed.

The reason why the Paralympic Games are of interest is that last year, we brought up a game called The Pegasus Dream Tour. It's a very stylised sports role-playing game around the Paralympics, brought to you by a former director of Square Enix, Hajime Tobata, at his new company JP GAMES. Seems very interesting. But we've heard no news on it since it was announced. Well, until now.

...But, first, let's briefly talk about the state of affairs on Japan in general. Japan has ended their nationwide state of emergency. This has some profound implications, including that Japanese companies like Nintendo can fully go back to work on things like fixing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's metagame. And, uh, making new games. Like a new Ace Attorney.

OR, like The Pegasus Dream Tour. I actually reached out to JP GAMES, the developer:

Nintendo Summer Game Sale of 2020... aka FakE3 Digital Game Sale

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - It's not even summer, but Nintendo won't let facts get in the way.

While Nintendo of America remains absolutely silent (so are their European counterparts, though this article applies to them as well), the Nintendo eShop is bustling with activity: over 1300 games have a discount deal right now, starting June 9 and ending June 16. Nintendo deems it the Summer Game Sale, despite summer beginning June 20, 2020. Of course, this is the same company that names a tournament after Spring even though Spring had not started yet, and then named a tournament after May despite it mostly taking place in June. At least, as initially scheduled.

Anyway, Summer Game Sale. Tons and tons of games are on sale, which you can see for yourself here. Even first-party Nintendo games that very rarely get discounted like Kirby Star Allies (which I strongly endorse), Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (for $42, just slightly below the Wii U original price!), Mario Tennis Aces, and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. (But not, say, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, or Splatoon 2, or Fire Emblem: Three Houses, or even ARMS.)

Dragon Quest XI S is $42, too, and that's Game of THAT Year 2019. So many games I could name-drop that have been covered on KoopaTV are on sale right now! Even games like Murder by Numbers, which... I won't get because the icky Picross is quite prominent.

Since this is KoopaTV, I'm obligated to point out that the Ace Attorney games are on sale for Nintendo 3DS and Switch.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is also 50% off on the Xbox One, but as of writing, not Steam or PlayStation 4.
(So are many/all of CAPCOM's other games, including Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection if you missed that two weeks ago.)

Let's be frank. It's no coincidence this sale exists now, and today. After all, today is when E3 2020 would have started, and Nintendo would have had a huge presentation. They usually do have giant sales (with first-party games) following E3. It's a hype-generator. The question for us now is... Will Nintendo actually do anything hype-worthy during this time period, or is this sale just a vestige of old times before the Chinese Communist Party screwed up Earth with its virus?


Let Ludwig know about the sales you picked up and found... if you want. Or don't buy anything. He doesn't plan to himself. He was gonna have to write about this either way since there's Ace Attorney, which he doesn't expect any news about in the FakE3 2020 time period, though he wishes there was. By the way, Ludwig finished Mega Man 11. He still loathes Yellow Devil.



The last time all of the Ace Attorney games were on sale was the April 2020 CAPCOM Spring Sale, which actually was during Spring.
CAPCOM put eight of their games on sale by the end of June 2020, including two Ace Attorney titles.
Ludwig will buy Murder by Numbers next time it is on sale.
There's a sale like this for real E3 in 2021.

It Would've Been E3 2020 Now... But Here's FakE3 2020!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - What a sorry state.

In previous years on KoopaTV, we would already have our Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) schedule up for the year and have covered multiple company conferences with live reaction logs that would've taken place on Sunday and Monday. We would even have a temporary and unique logo for the occasion.

E3 2020 is cancelled, however, thanks to coronavirus concerns. Same ones that cancel everything else, including the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. (Well, almost everything. Riots/protests still happen.)

Does that mean the videogame companies that were going to show up to E3 2020 and make announcements there, will just make the announcements around this timeframe anyway, but for FakE3 2020? (Or IGN's FakE3 2020.) Well... that's unclear. Some companies are. Some haven't announced it. There's no Nintendo on any FakE3 2020 schedule. Meanwhile, Sony is doing their own thing on Thursday. I guess we'll cover it here. But it wasn't even supposed to be during this week. What a mess.

I guess you could argue if the videogame industry is going to move on and do well regardless, then E3 isn't even needed and should stay dead. Just have The Game Awards in December.

Oh, what a nasty fate that'd be, for that awful event to be THE annual event for the gaming industry.

Let's just make the Tokyo Game Show the new E3. And hope they actually announce USEFUL stuff there.


By the way, every E3 has a pre-E3 tragedy. This year's tragedy was obviously the killing of George Floyd. No one contests that! The tradition is apparently so strong or scheduled so far in advance by destiny, it happens even when E3 gets cancelled.


KoopaTV covered E3 2019 atypically, but here was its schedule article.
Here is Sony's presentation, the only one during the would-be E3 2020 time period, featuring the PlayStation 5.
Nintendo has an out-of-season Treehouse Live to check out.
And here is the Xbox presentation, which is quite like what a real E3 one would be like.
Turns out the Tokyo Game Show of 2020 was useless, too.
Here's the E3 Weeks 2021 Schedule next year, since E3 2021 is a real thing that happened.

Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics released today

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - ...But you wouldn't know it if you relied on official social media for your information. Fortunately, you have KoopaTV.

Today, a game that immediately piqued my interest back in the March 2020 Nintendo Direct Mini, Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics, released on the Nintendo Switch. It's a sequel to a version on the Nintendo DS with different classics on it that I never had, so I'm looking at Clubhouse Games with independent interest.

But Nintendo's social media has gone radio silent. Nothing on Twitter or Facebook. Nothing even on YouTube, which means that Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics lacks a launch trailer. Rest assured, the game is out. You can buy it right now on the Nintendo eShop for $40. It also has a press release and an in-console Switch News article. 

Apparently, no one is allowed to have fun while there are dangerous protests going on. Human life is more important than 51 clubhouse games that are reproduced beautifully on the Switch, with surprisingly satisfying sound effects and production values.

Nintendo should've posted this image on social media to acknowledge Black Lives Matter, as opposed to what they actually did.
It's a perfect topical message with perfect delivery, and it has a dual purpose of promoting a game that needs promoting!

However, if you do believe that you're allowed to have some fun in your life (whether that's an innate moral value or you're just exercising your “privilege”), check out the free demo, Clubhouse Games Guest Pass. Not only can you use that to play local multiplayer with someone who owns the full version of the game, but it also has four games you can play by yourself for free: Four-in-a-Row, Dominoes, President, and Slot Cars. Don't know how to play? The Guest Pass also includes the full set of instructions for all 51 games, along with the amusing fully voice-acted introductions between the NPCs that give the game immense flavour. That's a whole bunch of value all on its own, even if you don't intend to buy the game, and it's free.

You're turning a blind eye to the systemic anti-turtle behaviours in your society.
KoopaTV has covered these repeatedly on World Turtle Day, most recently a few weeks ago.

Ludwig figures that the game will be better with friends you know will get it (as opposed to a single player experience versus computer players), so he's going to poll around the KoopaTV staff and others to see if they'd be interested in buying the game. He does want to get the game physically, so either way he'll wait until game stores are open for everyone (without relying on curbside pickup or something). He does need to go refill his stash of eShop cards for future KoopaTV Loyalty Rewards Program rounds, after all. Waiting a bit before buying Clubhouse Games will also indicate if the game's appeal is a flash in the pan, or if it has staying power.

Did Social Distancing Stop Being a Priority?

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Sure seems that way.

Some of you humans seem to enjoy killing each other. Then the rest of you humans burn your own communities down since you're upset. Several years ago, I wrote an “unbelievably offensive” article combining the concepts of Super Smash Bros. For Wii U being released during the Ferguson, Missouri riots. I reread it just before starting to write this article, and I noticed I spent the entire time being cheeky about the situation, rather than actually giving much of an opinion on the issue.

I'll put my opinion up front on the newest set of riots, around the killing of George Floyd by what appears to be the very long, lingering frames of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's Knee of Injustice. (I can't get the word “chauvinism” out of my mind while reading his name.) Well, riots and indiscriminately burning stuff with torches are often bad, sure. Protests against overbearing corrupt authority (and this is what I think of the police) are fine. I mean, they have to be. I support the protests in Hong Kong against the overreach and evils of the Communist Chinese Party. To the extent in Hong Kong the protests were violent, and I'm fine with those, well... I think that's justifiable.

I prefer movements that have actual goals. Derek Chauvin got arrested and charged with a degree of murder and manslaughter. Yet people are still protesting. Why? I guess to prevent more people from getting killed, unnecessarily, by cops. How will protesting prevent that? It won't. I mean, murder—even by cops—is already illegal.

But nevermind that. There's another issue I'm MUCH more bothered with, and I have a personal stake in it.

Not All Cops Are Bad. This One Stomped on Mario!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - ...Well, he might be bad in any other instance of his job that we don't get to see on camera.

Here is a Koopa's first experience with the police force on an Earth country, specifically the United States of America. It's not pleasant:

Three Koopa Troopas being chased by four (WHITE) cops, just for being green-skinned.
(Or at least, that's what it seems like. No one asked them why. Too busy running.)

We're definitely not friends of your brutal police force. I'm of the opinion that you Americans have a strong Second Amendment to protect yourselves from your police, which otherwise have a monopoly on force, which tends to be quite corrupting for humans. (That doesn't apply to the benevolent monarchy of Koopa Kingdom, which has no documented cases of law enforcement brutality on its own citizens.)

The police, after all, have no obligation to actually protect you or your property. That's up to you.

With the police being of little use to anyone but themselves (and they get to survive by the force of corrupt unions and their donations to Democrats), it was astonishing to see, on footage, at least one cop do a good thing:

Tauros and Bouffalant are back... See them at the Isle of Armor!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - There's also Galarian Articuno, and it shoots laser beams from its eyes. That's cool!

Displacing some non-videogame-related news today is The Pokémon Company International with a news drop on the upcoming downloadable content expansion packs for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield's Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra, first announced at the start of 2020. I called the existence of the expansion packs scumbaggy, but I won't let that colour my reactions to the news:
 

Two quick notes: One, don't let the length of the video fool you. There's even more information about everything on the official Pokémon website. Two, even though the thumbnail is of humans, I don't care about them, and I won't be commenting about the humans in this article.

KoopaTV's May 2020 Review Newsletter

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - May was hardly a month, but boy did KoopaTV go hard!

Does anyone want to read a newsletter going over May 2020 from KoopaTV right now? Well, at least a few dozen of you should want to. It'll be good, possibly uplifting stuff. Promise. Koopa's honour.

Let's start with great content: 

KoopaTV's Top Five Recommended Experiences of May 2020

Everything on KoopaTV is worth reading, and there were SO MANY GOOD CANDIDATES for this, but you should super-check these out (in chronological order...which makes my recency bias obvious):

1. KoopaTV's Seven-Year Anniversary: Seven Star Stamps for SUPERSTAR!  — KoopaTV's fantastic seven-year anniversary article, which you'll want to read if you're interested in either Mario Party 3, or me bragging about myself/this site.
2. World Turtle Day: Rescuing Fire-Attacked Turtles (from MARIO!) — This month's Enlightenment Movement article, from the important topic of World Turtle Day 2020 and Mario's impact on a cold case (involving a hot fire!) in 2016.
3. Memorial to the Fallen Robotic Operating Buddies — The tragedy of the underappreciated robots, last seen in Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Subspace Emissary story. They're wiped out now.
4. Team Ketchup WON the Splatfest? What timeline are we in?! — While I dislike Squidwig taking over my account and publishing an unauthorised article, I suppose he does raise a good point that I'm seeing discussed in other places about how the chaos of his world is causing things to be undone. Though he's quite rude towards me.
5. Xenoblade Chronicles: A Modern Classic — Heavy Lobster makes the case that Xenoblade Chronicles has a lasting legacy, despite its unlikely initial release situation. Now Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is out.