Happy Monday, everyone and welcome to today's episode Joe's Segues. We have a couple of things to talk about today. And before we get started, I am gonna announce in advance that today's episode will not have SML Happened because the simulated league is on a hiatus and it will be back in the future. Now with that out of the way, on to the episode.
We'll start this off with the elephant in the room; the announcement regarding the Nintendo Switch port for two of Hi-Rez Studios' games Rogue Company and Paladins. First Watch and Evil Mojo both posted their statements regarding the Nintendo Switch version. It stated that the Switch version is not performing well on both of them. They were dedicated to fixing Switch-specific issues and coming up with workarounds for countless hours. Regretfully, the significant technical challenges have prevented them from continuing support on the platform and they couldn't provide the level of support players deserved. That's why both games and their DLC are no longer available on the Nintendo eShop and all in-game purchases have been turned off.
It's a step forward in discontinuing support on the Nintendo Switch version of both games in late June and Midnight Masquerade will be the final update the Switch version of Paladins will get accordingly. The Switch port will be discontinued after 58 Champions and 25 Rogues after that. This shift benefits providing better support and having more flexibility and frequency on how they deliver updates on PC, PlayStation and Xbox going forward, including the ones that introduce new characters. I have a good feeling that teasers for Paladins' 59th Champion and Rogue Company's 26th Rogue are gonna kick in on social media in the future after the update.
They have to do this because the Switch ports of Paladins and Rogue Company couldn't perform well despite all of their best efforts to make it healthier as possible and the technical challenges are the cause of it. Paladins and Rogue Company are great shooters of diversity, evolution and friendship where you can kill people. Hi-Rez Studios worked with both developers to bring them to life. I am sorry that both of their games and their DLC are no longer available on the eShop and their journey as Switch players of these games will end this way the moment the update slated for late June drops. This might also benefit fixing more bugs than before, including the ones that have been lingering for years and adding some in-game dialogues that I want to hear.
Fortunately, there are other Hi-Rez games still available on the eShop and still having in-game purchases on the platform. There is SMITE and all of its DLC on there and its in-game purchases are still available. Titan Forge is highly likely to continue support on the Nintendo Switch version because they are still keeping track of the 1-month update cadence and the Switch port is still performing well on it. There is also Realm Royale. But it is now called Realm Royale Reforged because it is back after its two year hiatus and that's one of the things that made 2022 the best year. Switch players can link to any other platform of their choice to pick up where they left off.
There are other free to play online games that are performing well on the Switch version so far, like Fortnite, Overwatch 2, Brawlhalla, Apex Legends and many more. I'm sure that they can stay supported.
This reminds me. I was thinking of a new Hi-Rez game where the SMITE and Paladins characters clash each other. That would be godlike since Mortal Kombat. But it has to be third person.
Now, we are down to the next topic. Now, this year, E3 is back and better than ever after being stymied by the COVID-19 pandemic for two years. However, console companies Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft have all dropped out of E3 this year and that means that we get to see only third-party games. And then, Ubisoft followed suit to drop out of E3 and just like that, E3 is officially cancelled following withdrawals and people were ticked off at that cancellation. It's because they have other plans in digital game showcases. Nintendo has Nintendo Direct, Sony has State of Play, Microsoft has Inside Xbox and Ubisoft has Ubisoft Forward.
But the good news is, there is a general game showcase that is still being scheduled and that is the Summer Game Fest hosted by Geoff Keighley, the man who does the Game Awards. What made the situation worse is that he was the reason why E3 is cancelled after all three console companies and Ubisoft withdrawn themselves from it to deliver their own digital game showcases going forward. Mightykeef has two videos about E3 2023, so go check them out.
And last but not least, one of the online only games I played that is so much fun to play, Crash Team Rumble. Activision and Toys for Bob are developing a new Crash game where heroes and villains of the Crash Bandicoot universe clash it out in 4v4 battles. I pre-ordered it digitally to get access to the Closed Beta. Overall, the game is fun and the action is wild and wacky. That previous match was a nail biter, but I managed to win that one. Holy crap. I even pulled a 1smash18 when I enjoyed it, like when he enjoyed Super Smash Bros. CMC+ because of what I've experienced on that, like the Numemon fight. Neat stuff.
The Closed Beta test is over and the full launch is less than two months. However, since Crash Team Rumble is online only and it's gonna be a paid game, you need a PS Plus and an Xbox Live Gold membership to play. Great game. I can't wait until the full release and it's gonna be a blockbuster like the Super Mario Bros. Movie.
And hey, since Crash Team Rumble is a thing, I think Nintendo should make a new Mario game similar to that, but it can't be called "Super Mario Team Rumble" because of copyright concerns, so it had to be called "Super Mario Fever 4 on 4". The Mario franchise has sports games, racing games and party games, so the only thing that it doesn't have yet is a 4v4 online multiplayer. I really thought that it's gonna have characters across the Mario universe. Imagine Mario as the Scorer, Bowser as the Blocker and Peach as the Booster. Nintendo better make this one.
That's all I have to say for today's episode and thank you all for listening. I'll be looking forward to the next one. And Switch players of Rogue Company and Paladins, my condolences to you and I am sorry to hear that your journey will end that way once the update is released in late June and that's when both games are gonna continue to be supported on PC, PlayStation and Xbox going forward to benefit having more flexibility and frequency on how they deliver future updates and fixing more bugs than before. Especially the lingering ones.
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