It is Friday and there is some random stuff I want to cover just to have it on record. Not that having it on record here is of any importance to anybody besides me… but my blog, my rules. Anyway, I started with three items for this post and then it just kept growing.
- Nintendo Tariff Refund Sale
- Aftermath – Nintendo Will Give Buyers A 30% Off Sale, But No Tariff Relief Money
- IGN – You Get Your Tariff Money Back… If You Give Them More Money
- Yahoo Tech – Nintendo Customer Appreciation Sale Draws Heavy Criticism From Everyone
Nintendo won their lawsuit against the government, getting back $300 million in tariffs unlawfully imposed by the Trump administration and they want to celebrate the win by… having a 30% off sale.
Nintendo Sale Time
This has upset some people because, as has been pointed out ceaselessly to our dumb president, the end users are the one who usually end up paying for tariffs.
Nintendo says that they actually ate most of the tariff costs so that consumers did not pay into that, even if prices on some things went up. The question is really why they went up. Given that the price of hardware has been going up pretty much constantly due to AI data center binge buying, if Switch 2 prices went up that was mostly likely the cause.
So I am not salty about not getting a refund. I bought a Switch 2 before the price went up, so I wouldn’t get a refund anyway. And who actually expects companies to pass that sort of thing on to customers these days. There are a few who will, but most will just grab the money and not let go. That is how Wall Street demands they act. So getting mad about that… well, there are a lot of other things more pressing.
I am, however, a bit miffed at the stuff Nintendo has put on sale. Sure, if you need a new pair of Joy-Con controllers, those are 30% off. Nice. And I am mildly tempted by the Switch Pro controller or a backup AC adapter… though a third party adapter is less than half the sale price.
But most of the stuff on sale… is the kind of slow sellers that should be in the bargain bin in any case. Or maybe I don’t understand the appeal of all those Amiibo figures. Certainly the software they have chosen to discount, and I am on the lookout for something to play on my Switch 2 besides Stardew Valley, is all pretty unexciting. Do I want the Switch remake of a Wii game I bought in 2007?
This is the problem with digital game sales. When inventory doesn’t take up space there isn’t as much incentive to mark it down to get it off the shelf and out the door.
- Monsters & Memories Early Access October 1
- M&M – The Early Access Overview
- M&M – The Early Access FAQ
The long peculating Monsters & Memories project will be entering early access at the start of October.
Monsters & Memories
I took a quick look at the game back in March… that was as much a vibe check as anything… and if you are looking for something that has the feel of early EverQuest but is a modern, supported game, then M&M is a solid choice.
And it is going into early access as a much more complete title than some space sandbox titles one could mention. It was pretty solid back in March and is no doubt more so now.
It really isn’t my vibe at the moment, though I could certainly sense what it had going for it. Also, I have too many things on my plate right now. But I would feel fine recommending it for what it is.
- Squadron 42 Delayed until 2027 or Beyond
- Massively OP – Squadron 42 has been delayed into 2027
Did I mention this already? Of course I did, because I picked it to troll people into a bidding war over getting it as a counter pick in Fantasy Critic League.
Squadron 42 – Launches 2026
I just want to bring this up one more time, not because the launch has been pushed off so many times that it is practically a bit, nor because I also don’t believe that it will ship whenever in 2027, as Chris Roberts is now claiming is the time. I don’t even want to say “I told you so” because it failing to ship was one of my New Years predictions. (10 points for Hufflepuff!)
No, I want to bring it up to point out that there are exactly zero consequences for not shipping Squadron 42. There are no consequences for any promise he breaks or date he pushes yet again, because people keep throwing money at him. The business model has never been about making a video game. It has always been selling a dream. A live service dream where there is a clunky, alpha quality video game attached, but it is the dream people are supporting.
And it has made Chris Roberts a rich man.
I am left wondering if choosing “42” was a joke or a taunt, being the answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything… but we don’t know the question. Also, somebody said recently that nobody under 40 understands a Douglas Adams reference anymore, so that one is for the olds.
- EVE Vanguard Paid Alpha on Steam November 10th
- CCP/Fenris – EVE Vanguard Alpha Arrives 10 November
- Steam – EVE Vanguard Store Page
Speaking of space games where the company is planning to charge players to pay for alpha level quality, we have another first person derivative title looking to embarrass itself. Yes CCP/Fenris is going to go to Steam for paid alpha early access.
EVE Vanguard – Alpha Coming Soon
Yes, my opinion on this whole venture is sour. I have noted in the past that, in over a decade, the company has yet to demonstrate that it has what it takes to make a viable, profitable, fun first person shooter.
But now the rubber will meet the road. If you had to pick one for long term success, would it be Squadron 42 or EVE Vanguard? Our would you be asking why you can’t bet against both?
- RuneScape Dragonwilds Exits Early Access
- Jagex – Dragonwilds 1.0 Release is now live!
Well, that was quick… relative to Valheim at least. Just 17 months, from April 2025 to September 2026, and RuneScape Dragonwilds officially launched.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds
I mention this title because I bought it during the Steam Winter Sale last year and then put it on my possibilities list for 2026. And I even played it… for 39 minutes. That was a test to see what potential it might have for the group. But then Planet Crafter came up and Stardew Valley and now WoW Forever, so it feels like it is not going to make the cut this year.
But when its time comes, it will be a full fledged release title to play… or just another one of those in my Steam backlog if its time does not come. (Also, don’t put your console into sleep mode while logged in and playing.)
- Outbound Wildlife Update Coming
- Steam – Outbound Store Page
- Steam – Outbound Fishing Update
- Steam – Outbound Wildlife Update News
Outbound, the cozy camper van simulator that Potshot and I tried a while back and which launched to pretty modest reviews back in May… Bhagpuss regrets that particular pick in Fantasy Critic League I am sure… has not been daunted by its slow start and is continuing to put our updates.
There was a fishing update back in June, and coming up is an update to add wildlife to the game.
Outbound – Wildlife Update
While there isn’t a launch date yet, there is a teaser trailer and some basic info about the plan available. The Steam reviews are “Mostly Positive: at this point, with the downsides being that there isn’t a lot there yet and that they made “finishing” the game somewhat grindy, no doubt to make it feel like there was more game there than there actually was. I didn’t buy it at launch, but it might be something worthwhile if it pops up on a Steam sale.
Or maybe it is something for the Switch 2. We’ll see.
- The NEW Dune: Awakening comes with 1.5 Next Week
- Funcom – The New Dune: Awakening Is Here
Funcom is coming to town next week, on the 22nd, with their big 1.5 update. It will be here soon… unless you own the Ultimate Edition, in which case you somehow get early access to the update. I don’t know. That’s just what they said.
Dune from another era… I was too lazy at this point to upload their logo
At the top of the list is a new, fully fleshed out, single player mode. The desert of Arakkis is a crucible already without having to deal with dickheads griefing you with ornithopter exploits while you’re trying to keep an eye out for worm sign.
Also coming is the expected console support, so the game will be available for PlayStation 5 and XBox One, as well as being certified for Steam Deck and an option for GeForce Now.
No word on the Switch 2, but Nintendo’s little walled garden isn’t for everybody.
There is also a metric ton of other updates in the update linked here, so many that I can’t even get a handle on what they all mean.
I own this game, having bought it at a Steam sale at some point after launch, and played it just just long enough to create an account to link to Twitch so I could collect drops for it. But I have yet to actually jump in with both feet… and with all the other stuff I am playing now I am not sure when that will happen. Yet another idle title in my Steam library.
- EverQuest Legends – Rulers of Kunark
- Daybreak – EverQuest Legends Producer’s Letter
- Chasing Dings – Kunark News!
I have such a post backlog at the moment that I am just throwing everything in here. Normally I might take time to dissect something about new content for EverQuest Legends, but not this week!
EverQuest Legends
I read some worries about what happens when EQL runs out of content, which seems an odd thing to say like just two months after it went live. Do we consume content that fast? Can we savor nothing slowly?
But Game Jawn has you covered I guess, because in the producer’s letter they are talking about an update, a new expansion to put on top of what is already there. However, since EQL is its own timeline now, you will not be going to your father’s Kunark. No, the next stop will the the Rulers of Kunark which will see “factions battling at the peak of their power” on the continent.
The update will also increase the level cap to 55 and add aliases, collections, an Auction Houses, and “much more!” This will be worth exploring when there are more detail for sure. Also, I have no time to play EQL with everything else on my plate.
- LOTRO Subscription Price Increases Land October 14th
- LOTRO – VIP Membership Price Adjustment
- TAGN – A Subscription Price Increase for LOTRO
- TAGN – A Brief Survey of MMORPG Subscription Prices in 2026
Remember back in June when LOTRO mentioned they were going to “adjust” subscription prices? Yeah, I forgot too, but I wrote a couple of posts about it, which I have linked with the bullet points as a reminder… more for me than you, but the survey of subscription pricing still seems relevant.
Lord of the Rings Online
On the one hand, to be fair to the team, they are not raising the base subscription price. They are just reducing the discount being offered on the three and six and twelve month plans.
Here is the price increase in US dollars.
Old per Month New Per Month Old Total New Total % increase 3 Month plan $9.99 $13.99 $29.97 $41.97 40.04% 6 Month plan $9.99 $12.99 $59.94 $77.94 30.03% 12 Month plan $8.33 $11.99 $99.99 $143.88 43.89%The change also only applied immediately to new subscribers. Anybody currently on a multi-month plan will be grandfathered into their old plan until the next billing period after December 31, 2027.
So it isn’t at all like when CCP raised the base subscription price for EVE Online to $20 a month.
On the other hand, while the increases mostly put them in line with other MMORPG subscriptions, hitting the long term subscription plans is also hitting their most loyal base of users. Somebody who commits to your game is a special snowflake who should be nurtured. Or, to put it another way, anything that makes your subscribers question your pricing has the potential to make them unsubscribe.
I would have, for example, kept paying Zwift $15 a month without much thought. But raising that to $20 a month made me think about what I was really getting and unsubscribe.
So it is not obviously correct that raising the price will get them more money. It probably will. Anybody subscribing for 12 months is also deeply invested in the game, so they will most likely just eat the upcharge and move on.
None of which applies to me because I bought a lifetime subscription back in 2007 and they can’t raise the price on past transactions… I mean, I bet they could try, but that wouldn’t end well.
- Ship of Heroes Sails into the Sunset September 22nd
- Ship of Heroes – Closing Announcement (archived)
- Massively OP – Ship of Heroes will officially sunset on September 22
- Massively OP – Would Ship of Heroes have succeeded if Homecoming didn’t happen?
Ship of Heroes will soon be no more.
I feel like I was a bit on the excessive side of snarky in my post back when Ship of Heroes released last year, though I stand by what I said. The devs launched with unreasonable expectations when it came to pricing; buy the game and pay a subscription was a plan viable in 2005, but not in 2025.
I see no ship, only heroes
I did come back with some potential options for the title in a second post, back when the devs were determined to stay the course, but I fear that fate was against them.
In the end, what seemed like a good idea back in 2012, to jump into and try to fill the gap left by the closure of City of Heroes, did not remain so in 2025. The whole video game market has shifted. In 2012 there were 303 new titles launched on Steam. In 2025 there were 21,299 titles spamming the site, or nearly 60 a day.
Who can find anything in that mess unless it has an advertising budget and some stellar reviews?
That said, I suspect the fact, while they were working on Ship of Heroes, City of Heroes reemerged as Homecoming: City of Heroes, was the real death knell for the game.
Somehow NCsoft relented
The title they aimed to replace was back and available before they could launch.
Or that is one theory of the case. There were some comments on that second MOP article that felt it never had a chance. But we’ll never know for sure.
So it goes.