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Hello, my major and minor league gym leaders! This week on NEP, we’re going over all the new Pokemon details—including the controversies… We also break down the AlphaDream bankruptcy story, and Oni Dino has dug through some Japanese language reports and is bringing that straight to your ears. We also muse on our ideas for Nintendo skins for Overwatch characters, thanks to some lovely listener mail.

If you’re enjoying NEP, please consider giving us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts, aka new iTunes. It’s incredibly helpful in getting us exposed to new listeners through algorithms, so we would greatly appreciate your help. Thank you for listening!

A new month rolled right on in earlier this week. Now that we’re in October, we want to know what you’ve been playing.

Have you been playing any of the new Switch releases as of late such as Dragon Quest XI S, Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Daemon X Machina, or Astral Chain? Going through something in your backlog? No matter the case, let us know in the comments below.

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Those that have played The Alliance Alive feel that its a standout RPG on 3DS. However, the game came out pretty late in the system’s life cycle, and may have been overlooked. It’s now getting a second shot in the public eye as FuRyu teamed up with NIS America to bring The Alliance Alive HD Remastered to Switch.

At the Tokyo Game Show, we were treated to a big interview with several developers involved with the new version. We asked about why The Alliance Alive is returning, what’s new this time around, and more.

Here’s our full discussion:

System: Switch
Release date: September 26, 2019
Developer: THQ Nordic
Publisher: THQ Nordic


Earlier this year, THQ Nordic treated us to a rather lovely Switch port of Darksiders – titled Darksiders Warmastered Edition – that proved, if nothing else, to be a bit of a technical achievement. Being a fast-paced hack and slasher that relies on precise inputs and visual cues, it gave Switch owners the choice of either playing the game at high resolution and 30 frames per second, or at a lower resolution whilst running at 60 frames per second. This choice, and the work that went into making it possible, resulted in a technically magnificent game that drew plenty of praise across the Switch community. As we near the all-important holiday season, THQ Nordic has decided to bolster its late 2019 lineup with a Switch port of the game’s sequel, Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition.

System: Switch
Release date: September 24, 2019
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami


Contra: Rogue Corps is a fever dream. It’s an unexpected revival of a long-dormant franchise in a new genre, one in which an cybernetic panda can tear through an alien horde while a shirtless soldier declares that “You know I had to do it to ’em” as he rides a rocket into said crowd of fiends. On top of this absurdity, it is also one of the blandest, ugliest, and most disappointing games I’ve yet had the pleasure of reviewing. But how did Rogue Corps go so wrong? Let’s review aggressively and find out.

System: Switch
Release date: October 1, 2019
Developer: Rebellion
Publisher: Rebellion


If you were lucky enough to first became acquainted with gaming during any decade earlier than the one we’re in now, then you’ll surely be familiar with a breed of game that has faded in prominence over recent years – “AA” or “Double-A” games. As budgets for both development and marketing have skyrocketed throughout the industry, little space has been left for plucky upstarts to cut their teeth alongside the EAs and Activisions of the world, no more so than when it comes to shooters. Developers often have to scale their projects and studios back, or submit to becoming a cog in the bigger machine through acquisitions and buyouts just to remain in operation. That hasn’t been the case for the rather aptly named Rebellion though, and their seemingly-ever-present tactical World War 2 shooter Sniper Elite. Over four main entries and a handful of spinoffs, Sniper Elite has managed to garner something of a cult following for itself, solidifying its position in the dwindling “AA” space – so much so that Rebellion has seen fit to bring not one, but two Sniper Elite games to the Switch this year. We now find ourselves treated to an “Ultimate Edition” of the third game in the series, but just how “Ultimate” it can be considered is ultimately up for debate.

Hello, my geese and goslings! This week on NEP we’ve got some controversial and complex talking points: Hero being banned then unbanned in official Nintendo France tournaments (and what constitutes an OP character or a ban), Mario Kart Tour and the success and failure of mobile games and how that affects genuine gaming, and the Switch Lite launching on the market. We then get some great listener mail sent to us and we blather on there, too, because complex issues require complex analysis.

If you’re enjoying NEP, please consider giving us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts, aka new iTunes. It’s incredibly helpful in getting us exposed to new listeners through algorithms, so we would greatly appreciate your help. Thank you for listening!

Long after it was announced, Nintendo released Mario Kart Tour on iOS and Android this week. The mobile game was originally revealed back in January 2018, and was at first expected by March of this year.

Now that Mario Kart Tour has been out for a few days, we imagine that at least some of you have given it a shot. What are your impressions thus far? What do you think about the series’ transition to mobile? Do you have any thoughts about how the game is monetized? Let us know in the comments below.

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If you watched the latest Nindies Showcase from earlier in the year, you may have heard about a little game called Neo Cab. The “emotional survival game about staying human in a world disrupted by automation” will be coming to Switch in just a few days – October 3.

Earlier this year, we caught up with Chance Agency creative director Patrick Ewing to learn more about the game. Ewing chatted with us about the story and gameplay, what to expect from the Switch version, and even the possibility of more content.

Here’s our full discussion:

Contra: Rogue Corps, the latest entry in the series, finally launched on Switch this week. At the Tokyo Game Show, we had an opportunity to speak with director Nobuya Nakazato to discuss the title in greater detail and chat about a few other topics.

During our interview, Nakazato spoke about Rogue Corps’ origins and more. We also asked about that Contra game Konami teased during its E3 2011 event, what it’s been like working on the IP for over two decades, and more.


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