It's no secret that Microsoft and Sony have basically gone all-in on PC, but for now, Nintendo is going on with its usual ways of working and releasing its games exclusively for Switch. They seem completely uninterested in PC, and many believe that it will stay that way.

And sure, Nintendo's games are often different and adapted to their hardware. Games can switch between camera control to mouse and controller, as well as motion-sensitive Joy-Con in each fist - and more. This doesn't work well to release to other formats, and many confidently believe that it will therefore stay this way.

But if there's one thing we've learned, it's that you shouldn't be confident in this business. What a console is has changed enormously over the years and strategies have shifted. Exclusive games today is a concept so loosened that it is often completely synonymous with time exclusivity or that one or possibly two formats of all available are excluded.

If I had told a Playstation 3 player in 2012 that Sony's exclusives a decade later are coming to PC and that they have also started releasing games for Nintendo's consoles and Xbox - I would have been laughed at. And when Microsoft opted for the strategy in the late 2010s, people thought it was over for Xbox... who instead make more money than ever before and also have more exciting hardware in the pipeline than before.

So do I mean that Nintendo will start releasing games for PC? Yes and no. Nintendo does everything slowly. They are conservative to a thousand and want to be sure that it is a working strategy before they embark on it. It's 2025 and the Switch 2 has just gained an online functionality that in many ways is behind what Microsoft offered with the Xbox 360 in 2005.

But Nintendo is not immune. There were many who raised their eyes when they suddenly started releasing games for smartphones when it became clear that the format had exploded in popularity at the same time as their own portable Nintendo 3DS took a beating. The smartphone venture was a bit of a mixed bag, largely due to Nintendo's high prices and the fact that their Mario and Mario Kart games are not as good without a proper controller.

Now that it's clear that PC has won the so-called console war (yes, I know it's not the same as console, but consoles today are PC whether you want it or not), I think Nintendo is following it with great interest. They would probably like to launch their own store and combine it with the Switch 2.

That all games would come to PC, however, seems unlikely, it would hit the Switch, but a selection of games still doesn't seem unlikely. Maybe even dedicated ones, like a 'free to play' Mario Kart with a curated selection of tracks from different parts of the series, or an Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem - which I think would work better for PC than smartphones. 

After all, it's about potentially hundreds of millions of potential customers who could make Nintendo's money rattle even more. They can eat their cake and still have it, and I think that could lead to them taking the step in a year or two.

<bild>

What do you think, will Nintendo release games for PC in the foreseeable future (the image is of course AI-created)?

I had high hopes for Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, and the series is one of my absolute favorites from the Mega Drive era, with Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master in particular being one of my best feel-good games (one of those titles I routinely play through every two years).

Attempts have been made to release the modernized Shinobi, but generally speaking, it has not been very successful. It's kind of those incredibly small nuances that make the series so unique, and it's hard to replicate. The gaming world has moved on and today people like to cram modern elements into games, and countless comics have died trying to make two-dimensional games become three-dimensional.

High expectations are usually a recipe for disappointment, but Shinobi: Art of Vengeance immediately proved to deliver. Its reptile-fast game control makes it a joy to just jump around and hit debris dots. With this in place, the loop is there that makes you want to play on, and that's exactly what I think developer Lizard Qube has succeeded so incredibly well with.

Nothing has been added if it does not actually add. Games from the past were often only a few hours long after you mastered them, often under the hour. However, since the gameplay loop was there, they could withstand being played over and over again.

Once is not a time, but the fact that Shinobi: Art of Vengeance turned out as incredibly good as it is (seriously, read my review) still gives me some hope that more upcoming Sega ventures may be up to scratch. The old gaming giant has had a huge flow with quality games in recent years (Sonic has found its form, the Like a Dragon series has never been better and titles like Persona and Metaphor: ReFantazio are top class through and through), something that means that a Sega logo on the intro screen today creates hopes in a way I haven't been like since the Dreamcast was retired last year. At the same time.

We've already seen a very promising Virtua Fighter and know that Ecco the Dolphin, Golden Axe, Jet Set Radio and more are on the way. If Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is the slightest indication of what's to come, then we can look forward to a plethora of super-intuitive and entertaining games that are as far from dull realism and excessive violence as you can get. And that's how I want it.

<bild>

Do you dare to hope that Sega makes a serious comeback? Together with Capcom, they are the Japanese developer that is having the most success right now.

It has felt really rejected with superheroes for a long time. DC has treaded water and there have been more fights than produced good movies and series, and Marvel has lost its spark after trying to replace all the classic faces with new ones and completely failing at that part.

But... Surely it feels like 2025 might be the start where things start to turn? In July, as you know, it was the premiere of Superman, a movie I really liked, and sat and feel-good enjoyed myself in the darkness of the cinema. Spot-on casting, lovely characters (you want to see more Mr. Terrific and Guy Gardner) and just the right atmosphere. In addition, it was clear that a lot of tentatives were started in all directions that hopefully will also be able to become something.

On top of that, there's Peacemaker, which picks up somewhere where Superman left off, and we've only seen one episode, but it always feels promising. The fact that there is now a Lanterns series waiting as well as Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and the horror movie Clayface in the fall makes me look forward with confidence.

Whether it is due to the DC investment, I do not know. But at exactly the same time as DC got going, it seems that Marvel has also woken up. In the spring, Thunderbolts was released, which offered one of those classic Marvel action that recreated the feeling of the glory days, and just weeks after Superman, it was time for the Fantastic Four, which is also thoroughly enjoyable. 

If this is the standard they will both hold now to compete against each other, everyone will be a winner. We moviegoers who get better movies and DC and Marvel who sell more tickets. 

<bild>

For a long time, I thought I was bored with superheroes. I wasn't. I was just fed up with bad productions.

For my own part, it is clear that 2025 will be the best year ever when it comes to TV series adapted just for me. It's kind of just poured on with things that I like like like Andor, The Last of Us, Squid Game, Cobra Kai, Wednesday and right now Alien: Earth and Peacemaker.

We're currently three episodes into the former, and so far I think it's the best I've seen in Alien since part two from the early 80s (which unfortunately doesn't really say as much as you could wish because there are definitely more questionable characters a good Alien productions). Everything from the atmosphere of the series to the design of everything, and perhaps above all the sound effects feel absolutely spot on.

But with that said, there is one thing that bothers me. I've rarely seen such a powerful case of plot armor as Joe Hermit (played by Alex Lawther). He's the slightly mischievous medic who has already mastered melee combat with a Xenomorph in three or four scenes (depending on how you count), where people are torn to pieces in no time. But despite this, and despite the fact that there has been time, Hermit has managed to escape every time.

In the last episode, he even got corrosive blood on him, where a second before it was shown how it ate through metal gold in a few seconds. But Hermit gallantly solved the problem by taking off his thin medic clothes, whose textiles were apparently of such quality that not even Xenomorph blood could penetrate.

We'll see where it goes, it's still only three episodes in, and maybe Hermit will be deleted in the next episode and that's it. However, I assume that this is not the case and probably this clumsy and slightly anxious medic will continue to show that Xenomorphs are not at all as dangerous as one might think - and it is a damn shame for an otherwise so nice series.

<bild>

Throw yourself into the wall Ripley, Xenomorph really has nothing to gain compared to this player (image from FX/Hulu).

The summer holidays of 2025 are over. I've been charging batteries and had time to do pretty much everything I wanted and that I wrote about in my last blog. Except outdoor activities. Because if July had glorious weather, the same could not be said about August.

Among the highlights we find a trip to Berlin where my aunt and I went to surprise good friends who had a good birthday. It was a success, an unreasonable amount of planning and smoke bombs meant that we managed to keep it a secret.

Berlin is and remains a favorite in Europe for me, and a sprawling city is hard to find. Bullet holes in every single old building, pieces of the Berlin Wall here and there and tragic architecture a'a Soviet in large parts with contrasting hypermodernity in others. This, of course, is the charm and there is a lot to see, and a lot to eat.

I also had time for Gekås, something I know many people hate - but which I really love. It was driven there, about 100 miles in one sitting and I drank a couple of Sonic-PXL along the way and after a month or so of deliberation am willing to crown it the best cola-tasting energy drink I've tried. Phenomenal (although I still have the green one as my favorite).

Well. Up on the horse again, already in September begins an incomparably nice game autumn... and I really think it's high time for Nintendo to run a real Direct and talk about more about the future of the fastest-selling gaming device of all time.

<bild>

What did you do during your summer vacation?