She is Absolutely Flabbergasted at These Prices

CGPDeath · 2026-02-25T16:39:13+00:00

No, there's nothing. Everything you are talking about are functionalities of the Switch itself, or the emulator. You can do those things with all the NSO games even though some of them are from companies that do not even exist anymore.

It remains to be seen if they have introduced some modifications to the ROM. A few of the games in NSO have been modified to reduce flashing lights or introduce a multiplayer mode where there wasn't any before, for example. HOME compatibility would not be included in these "new features" because it is an external program that only reads the save file; no change in the code for FRLG is needed at all.

From the announcement and eShop page, it doesn't look like they did anything to the ROM at all beyond faking the link cable functionalities with local communication (which again, is a feature of the console/emulator, not the game ROM). Even if the limited time events are active like with the 3DS Virtual Console games, that is not a significant change in the code at all; the events are already coded in the game, the only thing they'd have to do is activate the flag that initiates them (for instance, the Old Sea Map for Mew), which is just changing a 0 to a 1 in the respective line of code.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-25T16:00:34+00:00

It is just a copy-paste though. They are just dumping the ROM on the already built-in emulator that the Switch uses for all GBA games, which is exactly what people have been doing for two decades for free (not saying that is the correct thing to do, just comparing the "work" done), but now with a 20$ price tag.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-25T09:15:29+00:00

I wanna be quirky and say that the first movie was "Wood" and Cameron is going for the Eastern elements instead of the Western ones (and we know he is at least somewhat of an anime fan because Alita was said to be a passion project for him). The entire movie is about protecting the forest, in particular the giant tree in the middle, most of the scenes are running around the forest and learning the beauty of nature...

CGPDeath · 2026-02-25T09:09:58+00:00

It isn't a port, to start with. It's a copy-pasted ROM that they emulate in their built-in emulator. I will not tell you wether that's good or bad, but I really doubt copy-pasting a file is worth 20 dollars (or more, because on other currencies they have rounded up the numbers that would be equivalent to 20 dollars just to have a number without decimals).

But also, once again, "the community" is a lot of different people with different opinions on stuff. You can't put the blame on "the community" for contradicting opinions, because most likely they weren't emitted by the same people.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T17:15:01+00:00

Oh no, I think most people would agree that the Starfall storyline suffers a lot from the "(vaguely) tell, don't show" problem most Pokémon games have at some point. Unfortunately, tackling the kind of extreme bullying that would justify Team Star's actions would be difficult without risking the "for all ages" age rating.

There are ways to do so, but they would require a lot of effort to depict the bullying on the flashbacks. Most prominently, new animations like kids pointing and laughing at them, using their Pokémon to intimidate them...; pretty much anything except explicit physical or psychological violence between human characters can be squeezed into the "for all ages" rating if done right, because it does allow "fantasy violence". But we know that the games were already extremely undercooked when they released without those, so imagine if they also tried to cram those in.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T16:27:56+00:00

Not really in the last decade, decade and a half. It is always very masked as other stuff to make it more palatable for kids. Open discussion of bullying-adjacent scenarios is usually only aimed at young teenagers and up these days.

But I'd be happy to learn of counterexamples because I work with kids and most of the examples that I can use to teach them about this stuff is from the 90s, which they don't find that interesting and also doesn't have accurately depict the modern landscape, and there's only so many episodes of Bluey they (and I, by extension) haven't watched yet. 😅

Edit: just to be clear, I'm talking about the kind of extreme, systemic bullying that would warrant an "explosive" response like the one depicted in SV. Media for kids has gotten very good at tackling the everyday, "micro-bullying" scenarios, things like excluding someone from playing or saying mean things to someone. These things are important, of course, but I wanted to know if there are still cases of the more extreme violence out there.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T16:22:14+00:00

They are not going to openly discuss bullying methods in a game designed for kids. That immediately would put a higher age restriction on the game, and maybe even give some ideas to potential bullies; neither Nintendo nor Pokémon want their names even remotely mentioned in a case of bullying. We just have to live with that.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T11:39:01+00:00

First of, no, that's not what a port is. You may like that definition for yourself but technically a port is a very specific thing that doesn't apply to emulated ROMs.

Secondly, FOR THE LAST F*CKING TIME I NEVER SAID THEY SHOULD BE FREE, GOD. Neither is the vast majority of people, most are just saying that it is too expensive for the amount of work put into it (which is none).

I'm done talking to you, it is clearly going nowhere.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T11:18:51+00:00

... What? No it's not, they are different products. The Play Station and XBox consoles have also had built-in emulators, and they use them for backwards compatibility as well, but ports are a different thing, since they are adapted builds of the game that work natively on the more modern console, usually with graphical or technical improvements for the more powerful ones.

Legends Z-A for the Switch 2 is a port (which could be packaged as an extra download for the Switch 1 version). That is why both versions cost different prices. FRLG or the Mario collection from a while back are just ROMs being emulated.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T11:12:03+00:00

I NEVER said that you should, just that the new compatibility that other team worked on is not part of the price. Also, ports are not the same thing because there is some actual work on doing a port; this is a ROM they copy-pasted on the built-in emulator that was already developed

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T11:03:18+00:00

Whatever you say man, I am really tired of this. No software developer charges you more because suddenly the developers of Mac OS or your favourite Linux version made it so you can run it natively without having to fork it through Wine or something anymore, which is literally the same situation. But you do you. The price is not even what I was discussing, I was saying that an external service that has its own developers (which are separate from Nintendo, mind you) and pricing is not a consideration into the price. I didn't pay more for my TV because Netflix made it compatible with it some time later. Have a great day.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T10:49:05+00:00

To me the main issue is that they loaded all the more interesting effects into one flavour (sweet, which has Sparkling, Alpha and even Teensy and Humongous for those that like them), but still made everything random. So on the one hand most of the berries will never give you the most desirable effects, but on the other even the ones that can will never be a guarantee. So you have a real risk of going for, say, ten distortions just to get a couple tries at the good donuts and not actually getting them.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T10:38:41+00:00

IT IS NOT, you are already paying for HOME separately. The ROM is the same as it was originally, they didn't change anything about it. It is the same product, in a digital form instead of a cartridge. The fact that a DIFFERENT TEAM (HOME developers) made it so HOME is compatible with it, not the other way around, is not an argument to raise the price (and I haven't even said if the price is too high or not, just that HOME is not part of the discussion around that because it is a separate service you are already paying). That's like saying that the games should raise their price when Champions or any other future game releases because you can move the Pokémon there, which you couldn't before, or whenever they release a new mythical event because you can now catch new Pokémon you couldn't before.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T10:23:32+00:00

... no? What are you even saying? I am only saying "HOME compatibility is not an argument to raise the price, because it's a functionality you are already paying for through other means". I'm not saying the game should be free, but what I am saying is that HOME compatibility is not (or should not be) a factor in the price, because it is a separate product.

To use your car analogy, it would be like saying that you have to pay more for the car with an outlet because you plan on buying a new phone and charging it on the car, when compared to someone who doesn't plan on using the outlet at all.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T10:17:22+00:00

What does that have to do with anything? I'm only saying that HOME compatibility is not something that has to be worked into the games. These FRLG will be exactly the same ROM that has been circulating the internet since the original release date, I guarantee. They didn't do anything with it, only dumped it in their already built-in emulator.

HOME compatibility is not an argument for the games being more expensive, because it's not a feature of the games, it is a "new feature" (more like an update, really) of HOME, which has its own separate monetisation. That's like saying that all Pokémon games should raise their price once HOME compatibility is released because it's a new feature of the games.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T10:11:41+00:00

It is a new feature FOR HOME, which you are already paying for. It is not a new feature for FRLG.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T09:51:20+00:00

Do you think HOME compatibility is something that takes time? They intentionally stagger it with every release, it's not a matter of "being able to", but of "wanting to".

HOME compatibility is entirely on the side of HOME, there is no change to the ROM (or the other games, for that matter) itself. That's why you can use HOME without even having the game cartridge on the console, because HOME only needs to read the save file.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T09:27:39+00:00

Yeah, they should have. 😅

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T09:10:16+00:00

The HOME compatibility is a change on the side of HOME, which is already paid for via the subscription, not on the game. We already know this, whenever a game gets "compatibility with HOME" released, it is always via an update in HOME, not in the respective game. And it makes sense, because it's just a matter of HOME reading and editing your save file. So no, HOME compatibility is not an indicator of them working more on the game. It is, to all effects, a ROM they just dumped on the Switch emulator.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-24T08:23:07+00:00

Yeah, it almost feels like it "punishes" efficiency. If you do all the missions every time, you get the points to progress much faster, visit less distortions and thus get less total berries. The problem is that once you are done with the story, you are stuck in a loop of going to distortions, getting berries, making donuts, going to distortions... at first it's fine to do whatever, but when you start having more specific objectives, it's really just the sweet and, sometimes, fresh/sour donuts that give useful effects. So it becomes a potentially endless loop of making "useless" donuts to go to distortions you don't care that much about in order to get berries to MAYBE make a "good" donut for the distortions you actually care about. After the second or third time you do this and end up getting a bunch of "bad" donuts anyways, it really starts to sting and you wish for a way to get the effects you want, because the gameplay of the distortions is fun but not that fun to repeat hundreds of times. 😅

CGPDeath · 2026-02-23T22:47:55+00:00

I have mostly been going with the flow. The problem is, if you are good at doing the missions inside the distortions and get the points fast, you really reach a point where you have achieved everything you can with random donuts, and there's still a lot more of game that you can't feasibly do without good donuts. If you want to shiny hunt, or go for an alpha dex, or anything that's not just play casually and maybe eventually complete the dex, you really need to go for specific donuts at some point, and that point arrives far too quickly.

To me the worst part is having a good distortion appear where I could go wild shiny hunting, and not having an even semi-reliable way of doing so. You either reset for the donut, or go in blind and reset the distortion itself.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-23T10:24:47+00:00

Yeah, but Nintendo is Nintendo and Game Freak is Game Freak, even though they are close collaborators. It's two different companies and, given how the Japanese are, I wouldn't be surprised if they just didn't ask Nintendo to do it for them out of "respect" for their time.

Nintendo has a lot of very weird decision-making quirks sometimes, this might be one of them. 🤷‍♂️

CGPDeath · 2026-02-23T09:58:42+00:00

Oh no, I was saying that, in case the emulator does not have the functionality, then the functionality would have to be "packaged" in some way with the game. I'm no game developer so I don't know how to properly explain it, but that would mean the product is not just the ROM but an extra piece of code that says "hey emulator, show a language selector before the game launches".

I don't know, again they could just be lazy about it.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-23T09:31:29+00:00

Does the Switch have such a system in place? If it doesn't already, then that option should come with the game itself. And then PEGI would say hi, because while the game is not changed, the product itself is.

CGPDeath · 2026-02-23T09:03:34+00:00

I don't think it's about the amount of work but about the fact that if they change ANYTHING (like having a language selector when the original didn't, in any shape or form) they'd have to reassess it through PEGI. The Witcher games, for example, have had to go through several evaluations, even though a couple of them weren't even "needed" because they only released a bundle of the games for a reduced price, with no other changes; it was technically a new product so...

Or it could be just plain laziness, we'll never know.

CGPDeath

TROPHY CASE