Paper Mario: The Origami King is Out Now!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Check it out. If you dare.

Since Paper Mario: The Origami King was almost silently announced by Nintendo just a mere two months ago, it's felt like the game has been under a constant barrage of scrutiny that you usually wouldn't see from a just-announced Nintendo title. That goes to show just how passionate the Paper Mario fanbase is... and how divided we are.

Then we got a closer look in June where we learned more about the characters and the battle system. It was rather obvious to me that this wouldn't be in the vein of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, though a few people continued to think it would be despite no evidence of that.

By the way, quick correction: According to the official website, I apparently misheard Kamek being into cleaning as Kamek being into cream. Alternatively, he likes cream and cleaning. Multiple interests, you know.

Hey, I'm getting Captain Vul (Events of Star World) vibes from this.
Even if pretty much no one reading this caption will get that reference.
By the way, Kamek's getting married soon. Cleaning makes sense.

After that, we saw a semi-dedicated Nintendo Treehouse: Live... well, just last week. It wasn't very interesting.

Now the game is out and we get this scenery-filled trailer:

I would tell you my own personal impressions of Paper Mario: The Origami King, except my copy is going to be delivered on Monday, after the retailer claimed that it would arrive today. That's the only reason I ordered it instead of physically going to the retail outlet and getting it myself. Regardless, I don't want to keep contributing to the digital slide of the new normal.

I guess I'll use the rest of tonight's article to discuss an interview that gaming outlet VGC had with Nintendo EPD and Intelligent Systems. It's certainly making the rounds.

Tear Down the Statues—Replace With Bowser Statues Instead!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Superior monuments.

Once upon a time, in KoopaTV's first month (so expect Early Installment Weirdness), I wrote an article about people keeping Confederate States of America-era flags up. I made the point that the United States of America is guilty of many of the sins (plus more!) that the Confederacy was, yet people proudly fly the USA flag but disapprove of flying the CSA flag. My point was that it's either okay to fly both flags, or it shouldn't be okay to fly either. My intention was the former—but the latter is also logically consistent, so that is also acceptable.

At the time and for a while since, I've been bashed for this line of thinking, but it turns out that horseshoe theory is real and many years later, people have come to agree with me. Not only are protestors/rioters (inspired from the death of George Floyd) removing Confederate/pro-slavery statues and monuments, but they are also destroying American ones as well; even pro-Union/anti-slavery monuments. Even George Washington! They also tried to topple the Emancipation Memorial featuring Abraham Lincoln, and I'm infamous for my dislike of that guy, in a famous article comparing Abraham Lincoln to Mad King Ashnard. For the same reasons, by the way, that the protestors dislike Lincoln.

I also support the destruction/removal of the Mario-featured Mt. Rushmore, like some of these protestors (and Native Americans) do.

Therefore, I'm actually supportive of tearing down those American and Confederate statues. People against that claim that statues are necessary for people to learn history, as if the presence of a statue has a knowledge-boosting area-of-effect on the population of whatever town it's in. If the town doesn't have a statue about a given topic, then I guess the residents will never be able to know about that topic? Not like Wikipedia exists. Probably does a better job of teaching than looking at a statue and reading a plaque, anyway.

However, there are much better alternatives in statue manufacturing out there. Take a look at what Koopa Kingdom has accomplished with our momentous monuments:

Ludwig Got the Wooloo Plushie!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Wooloo is so fluffy...!!!

You may remember that I am among the thousands (or millions) of people who adore Wooloo, the Sheep Pokémon native to Galar. It should therefore be little surprise that The Pokémon Company has produced multiple types of Wooloo plush, and also little surprise that they've been sold out instantly whenever there is new stock. All of the e-commerce is on their Pokémon Center site.

However, before the start of last weekend, things were different. The smaller Wooloo Poké Plush had its listing adorned with an “ADD TO CART” button as opposed to, say, the Wooloo Squishy Plush's “UNAVAILABLE” unclickable button. Immediately I went into action to get the Wooloo Poké Plush! For whatever reason, there were uncharacteristic technical difficulties and even 404 errors, which for some reason gets you on the wrong side of a violent electric rodent.

What if Wooloo isn't actually available and the website is just glitching in a way that makes it look available?
What a cruel world that would be.

But I persevered and hoped my order would come through.

The Pokémon Company really wants everyone to know that you can buy Wooloo. Wooloo restocks aren't a secret.
This is from their newsletter.
(Act quickly or it'll be sold out again. As of publishing, it's not sold out.)

And...behold... it has!

The Black Knight Finally Gets His Own Spirit Event

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - As himself, not as a Mii Swordfighter.

Over the weekend (and for some residual days after, including today), the Square Enix Japanese RPG Octopath Traveler is celebrating its Nintendo Switch two-year anniversary with a Spirit Event in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with four spirits based off its eight main characters.

Starting from the top left and then clockwise...
Olberic & Primrose as the Black Knight and red Bayonetta.
H'aanit & Ophilia as blonde Pit and Palutena. (They also have a small pet Wolf, not shown.)
Alfyn & Therion as black-coat Dr. Mario and black outfit Sheik.
Tressa & Cyrus as pink Villager girl and Robin.

Why am I bothering to write about a game I've never played (despite the free and extensive demo featuring Olberic and Primrose) getting new spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate? Because something very special happened: The Black Knight, previously recognised on KoopaTV (with a whole memorial article) as “an absolutely amazing soldier”, finally gets his time to shine in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Note that he appears in the artwork above!

Ace Attorney's Takeshi Yamazaki Leaves CAPCOM... But That Doesn't Mean Ace Attorney is Dead!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Evidence and logic suggest the series has no reason to disappear.

Boy, do I hope this article does not age poorly.

CAPCOM's director for the DS-era and 3DS-era Ace Attorney games (think the two Ace Attorney Investigations games as well as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney–Dual Destinies and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney–Spirit of Justice), Takeshi Yamazaki, is retiring after 15 years on the job. He's not leaving the industry, but he does want to do some other things besides work at CAPCOM. Pretty much his whole résumé, according to Giant Bomb, is around the Ace Attorney series.

Popular coverage and speculation are saying things like, “Takeshi Yamazaki has left! Ace Attorney is cancelled!”

A few reminders. One, Yamazaki has been employed at CAPCOM all of this time since the release of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney–Spirit of Justice back in 2016. CAPCOM, if they ever intended to continue the Ace Attorney series (and they've provided indications that they do), probably has the whole “Ace Attorney 7” already written and well into production. If that is the case, then “Ace Attorney 7” should be revealed at the Tokyo Game Show 2020 ONLINE (thanks, CCP Virus) at the end of September 2020. Takeshi Yamazaki has had to be working on SOMETHING for the past several years, right? Or else he would've left some time ago.

Two, Yamazaki is far from the only guy writing stuff. Sure, he's the director, but unlike previous director Shu Takumi who wrote the first four games basically by himself, Yamazaki had staff and a lot of help (both in and out of CAPCOM). See a list here. For example, Masakazu Eguchi was the main guy who worked on Turnabout Storyteller in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney–Spirit of Justice.

This is the note we found when trying to get further answers about the future of the Ace Attorney franchise.
I guess we'll have to come back on this topic in two and a half months.

Let me know in the comments section if you've found any contradictions in my logic. The Ace Attorney series will live on. It isn't tied to one man. If you need proof of that within CAPCOM, see Takeshi Yamazaki being Ace Attorney director to begin with after Shu Takumi, and see the existence of Mega Man 11 after that imbecile Keiji Inafune left. (Thank you, Koji Oda.)


It's sort of nice to write something about Ace Attorney besides advertising that CAPCOM has once again put the series on sale. ...By the way, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is on sale for the next 7 days on the Xbox One at 50% off. That's three great games for $15! While Takeshi Yamazaki didn't direct those (Shu Takumi did), he does still have credits “planning” their DS incarnations.


It turns out that there was no Ace Attorney announcement at the Tokyo Game Show 2020.
Though CAPCOM did randomly—not at an event or anything—announce that The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles would be a thing.
If you look at the timeline for The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, it's clear that CAPCOM was working on it while this very article was being written in 2020.

KoopaTV's Live Reactions to Nintendo Treehouse: Live | July 2020

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Are they acting like they normally do this?

We haven't seen a Nintendo Treehouse: Live since E3 2019, and that one was an error. With E3 2020 cancelled and us getting a FakE3 2020 instead (but with no Nintendo presence), I suppose this event is the closest we're gonna get.

Nintendo of America is going to show us some gameplay of Paper Mario: The Origami King, as well as “a first reveal and gameplay for a title in a franchise new to developer WayForward”, which doesn't appear to have anything to do with the main event. (Spoilers: It's called Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia.)

By the way, I'm the main KoopaTV staffer here reacting, because I'm kind of the only one looking forward to Paper Mario: The Origami King. Hmph. Few others wanted to show up. Check out the replay below and follow along with our log:

What's the deal with Deadly Premonition? 2 Is Out

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Explain it to me like I'm fiv-... like I'm 17+. ESRB, you know.

On July 10, Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing In Disguise releases exclusively on Nintendo Switch, priced at $50. It's a sequel (and prequel) to the 2010 cult classic Deadly Premonition, which got a $30 re-release on the Nintendo Switch last year. Who is in the cult? Well, there's former KoopaTV staffer RawkHawk2010. That's sorta all I know.

My impression is that the Deadly Premonition games have poorly-executed gameplay, lopsided production values (there's voice-acting but not much effort put into...other aspects of the game, such as graphics and technical performance), and bizarre plots and cutscenes, featuring a dude named FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan. I wonder if that makes it like a combination of the Ace Attorney series (my favourite ever) and the No More Heroes series (which I also like). Though if I like them individually... that doesn't necessarily mean I'd like them together.

I also read that it's an open-world survival horror game, which I believe, since this dog terrifies me.
(I don't like open worlds or surviving horror, so...)

I don't know if this whole thing is some kind of inside joke/meme and I'm just not in it, or people genuinely enjoy their Deadly Premonition experiences. Like, there is part of the former with No More Heroes since a lot of it exists to satire other games and media. They both share being the result of the eccentricities of their oddball Japanese developers—Swery65 for Deadly Premonition and Suda51 for No More Heroes.

(Though since I mentioned it, Ace Attorney is fantastic and you can like it in an entirely legitimate manner on its own merits.)

But even my liking of No More Heroes has limits, given my disgust with Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes.

Is Deadly Premonition worth looking into as a series? Convince me one way or the other.


Ludwig has never watched Twin Peaks, so comparing Deadly Premonition to it doesn't help Ludwig's understanding of it at all. He's looking for your comments.

Donkey Kong Country for Nintendo Switch Online... isn't enough...

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Remember when you were happy with what you had?

I wasn't going to write an article about this—and if I was, I was going to wait until next week—but Nintendo put out a whole press release and everything today so I suppose I'm obligated to cover it. Starting next week, you'll be able to play Donkey Kong Country with your Nintendo Switch Online subscription, on top of Natsume Championship Wrestling and The Immortal. As you may expect, Nintendo's focus is on Donkey Kong Country.

My first reaction to hearing about this? “Alright now everyone can move on to begging for EarthBound, I guess.” ‘cause that's what everyone does on all of Nintendo's videos in the comments section. Take a look at this screenshot of the top comments from February 2020's update:

Nintendo Question & Answers: 80th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Didn't they just ask these questions?

Back in May 2020, for Nintendo's annual report, president Shuntaro Furukawa answered several questions from investors and shareholders about the state of the business, mostly about COVID-19 and its implications.

Then a few days ago (around June 26, 2020), Nintendo held THE 80TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS. They took more questions and delivered more answers, many of which continue to be about COVID-19 and its implications, or about mundane things that you should already know about if you're investing in Nintendo. Like, if those guys read KoopaTV (and knew English), they wouldn't waste time asking these. 

Here were the 11 questions, of which few are worth me commenting on.

1. Since it currently costs nearly 5 million yen to purchase one minimum trading unit of Nintendo's stock, making it difficult to invest, we would like you to consider splitting your stock. In addition, what is your stance on the fact that Nintendo is not yet included in the Nikkei225 Index?
2. Nintendo Switch is in short supply due to the huge success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I feel that Nintendo was not able to support this sudden increase in demand, which led to a major opportunity loss. Please tell us about your future plans for handling the production system, sales methods, and predictions for demand.
   

Fortnite's Black Lives Matter Event Experiment

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - They were doing it for clout, but it's also an interesting social experiment.

Did you have a nice Independence Day? Here at KoopaTV, we wanted to focus our independence energies towards Hong Kong. Epic Games, the developer of the uber-popular Fortnite, put their just-as-valid independence energies towards a We The People event in Fortnite's Party Royale mode, hosted by CNN FAKE NEWS contributor Van Jones, along with Jemele Hill, Elaine Welteroth, Killer Mike, and Lil Baby. They wanted to talk about systemic racism in media, culture, and entertainment, and unfortunately, Fortnite is a big player in all of those.

Just for a little background, Party Royale is a pretty new Fortnite mode that's being used to feature live shows/broadcast content, such as concerts and movie showings. Players get to sit back and watch, stripped of distractions like weapons and goals. Creative people have a big interest in wanting to showcase their work in front of the massive audience that Fortnite can bring. Previous showcased things include deadmau5, Diplo, Inception, and Batman Begins.

Videogame academics and researchers interested in games as social spaces will be very interested in how the Party Royale develops, if it continues to. It's definitely still an experiment, and I'd consider this specific We The People event to be... a failed experiment. You can watch the whole thing for yourself here if you want—I did to prepare for this article—but you can also skip it and just keep reading my thoughts and a complication the event faced. Warning: Contains some really awful (but safe-for-work) rap music: