Stuff's been happening | April 2025 Report (Patreon)

Hey there! Sorry, I've been 99% completing Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition.

(If you do want my quick thoughts before it gets included in NEXT year's games review: it's a less story heavy Xenoblade but is definitely chock full of things to do and explore. It's amazing how much a UI overhaul and QoL improvements can increase the enjoyability of everything!)

Okay, that's not the only thing I've done during April. My job has been picking up a bit (Even got to go on a work trip to mainland China for the first time!), but it's still been a fun process and I can't wait to possibly share a little more on the Discord server once more of it goes public! So yeah, I've gotten my hands full on multiple occasions, but there's been some work done on the YouTube side despite that! First of all...

All My Copies of Super Mario 64: An Addendum

One month after my MAR10 Day bonus video on the Plus video, I finally get to make the quick addendum that adds two new Mario 64 copies to my collection: The Taiwan NTSC-U release and the Germany PAL release! The rest is pretty self-explanatory. I suppose the only remaining Mario 64 copies I have yet to find are the remaining PAL versions in different regions and the Korean version. I don't think I'll be stumbling across those any time soon lol

Also, while I don't currently have a PAL N64, I did end up finding a way to test the German copy of Mario 64 and it does work!

The 25+ Games I Beat in 2024

This will hopefully be the last update I'll give on the 2024 games roundup! Here's the current editing timeline, right now 20 out of 25 sections are complete, and I'm aiming to have it done before the end of May so I can prepare for the Switch 2 and finally move on to my other backlogged projects! (Let's just say I still need to follow up on that tease at the end of the 3DS E3 2010 prototype video...)

While Expansion Pack patrons can watch two different preview sections of the video right now, I've also recently released a separate third preview of one of the segments publicly on the Plus channel!

Switch 2 stuff

So! As for what's coming up next for me (aside from work-related things), well, the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience event that's been going around is actually making one of its final stops in Hong Kong from May 17 to May 18 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (the same location where Nintendo Live Hong Kong was held)! And

This is the part where I completely replace what I previously wrote in this section to inform you all that I was probably a minute too late into the sign up process and did not get picked for either date. Well that's just fine Nintendo. I don't get to try the Switch 2 19 days early. Big deal. See if I care. Denial is the first stage of

WAIT, hold on, so yeah this is what happens when stuff constantly happens as you write a report. I have managed to get in contact with someone who may have an extra reservation I can use for the event, sooo let's see what happens! Unlike the Kirby Pop Up Store or Nintendo Live, I probably won't make a specific video about the whole experience because I'll probably be mostly occupied and there's plenty of similar videos for the other demo events anyway. I'll probably end up taking some photos or clips though if I do manage to get in, and will probably be sharing my experience either on here or in the Discord server, so fingers crossed and stay tuned!

Recent pickups

This is the CD soundtrack for the Super Mario RPG remake straight from Japan! I've said it before but this game has one of the best remastered soundtracks, and what's neat about this release is that the layout of the inserts inside actually kinda parallel the ones from the original soundtrack released in 1996, down to having Yoko Shimomura write down some commentary on some of the featured tracks (and in the case of the Switch soundtrack, her own commentary on rearranging them!)

I got a capture card upgrade, going from the Elgato HD60 S to the HD60 X! While it's not the highest tier of external capture cards from Elgato, this upgrade will allow me to capture and passthrough 4K30 and 1440p60 video in preparation for the Switch 2! It's not final yet, but I've been entertaining the idea of updating my YouTube output to 1440p during the Switch 2 era, so we'll see what happens!

Completely out of nowhere, this is the Nintendo Labo Vehicle Kit, the last Labo kit I have yet to collect! I found it in some local second-hand store, basically unused, buried underneath a bunch of random garbage (pictured here is the Robot Kit that they also had), for a little under 13 USD.

...I haven't built it yet, since I would kind of need to find extra space to store the finished products at the moment...

I got to continue my Game & Watch collection with the original version of Fire, originally released back in 1980! In my current quest to collect one of every Game & Watch type, this will be the representative for the original Silver series (not counting the 2010 modern reissue of Ball). It's kinda charming to see how small the earliest Game & Watches were even compared to their later wide-screen brethren, and the Silver series was so early they didn't even have any alarm functions yet!

Also, this first version of Fire reminds me of that one tidbit Nintendo mentioned in Game & Watch Gallery 3, where they revealed that the layout of Fire was initially reversed, but an issue with the LCD manufacturer caused it to be mirrored, and it was simply released as is. Interesting little factoid!

And finally, screw it, here's the Astro Bot machine.

That's it for this month's report! Sorry for getting it out a little late, as you can tell quite a few things have been happening. By the next report though, you'll hopefully have seen the 2024 games roundup, and I can talk again about what comes next!