BubbleRaven

Maybe? If they can do something interesting beyond better graphics and performance, I might be intrigued. Simply pushing graphics has plateaued, so if they need to take more time to produce a more unique console then I'm ok with that.

As an agent of chaos, Kamek sounds really fun and I can't wait to see what crazy effects they might bring.

The hammers look oh-so-satisfying to klonk people with, and I think the Feather could add some really interesting emergent gameplay opportunities to the new traversal mechanics.

I vaguely recall, correct me if I'm wrong, that generational price increases *were* a thing up until around the Wii-ish era. I remember expecting that games on each new console would be about £5-10 more expensive. This seemed to stop at some point, and I think for a while as gamers we've had the opportunity to buy games that are vastly more expensive to create for roughly the same price.

Of course, that exponential development cost doesn't always lead to higher quality, but it is something that collectively the majority have clamoured for over the decades, begging for hyper realism in graphics and animations, and generally buying into the 'bigger is better' idea. We asked for bigger, more realistic games and we got them at, by and large, the same price.

So yeah, I think that Layden is making some fair points that we all kind of know, deep down. However, the other side of the argument is that if Nintendo (for example) is creating a product that *is* worth £80, then they're transitioning into a high-end luxury product for many. The global economy is tanked, belts are tightened and a large portion of folks who enjoy this hobby feel they are getting priced out of the new experiences. I think that's partly why there has been such a vocal backlash.

So from a raw inflation and cost to develop the product, yes it makes sense to increase the price and perhaps it would have stung a little less if there had been generational price hikes instead of a big jump. But from a real life economic standpoint, taking into account the average Joe's current finances, this is a real kick in the teeth.

My finger-in-the-wind guess would be a new Mario game, but perhaps not with Donkey Kong Bananza 🤔. I would hope for something unique and interesting using the new features of the NS2, maybe a re-imagining of one of their IPs using mouse controls. Like a Starfox game using twin mouse controls for firing, or F-Zero using the mouse-gyro hybrid to steer the engines.