Super Mario Odyssey (Peach as Penelope Confirmed)

True, SMO would be a hint more magical. But I'm expecting both to be bloody amazing.

I seen someone joke that this was Yoshi in 4K.

That stick-on moustache! God it looks wonderful.

Aye it's so good that it does that for everything you take control of.

I'd have loved the dinosaur if it didn't feel like Nintendo deliberately trolling me about not getting a Monster Hunter.

Also:

@The_Jaster wrote:

I seen someone joke that this was Yoshi in 4K.

Drunkalilly wrote:

I'd have loved the dinosaur if it didn't feel like Nintendo deliberately trolling me about not getting a Monster Hunter.

It got me like that too but I also thought it was a new Jurassic Park game.

Did you know there's no actual evidence the dilaphosaurus had a frill like in Jurassic Park, the filmmakers added that to look cool.

@The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

This actually looks better than Sonic Mania and Yooka-Laylee.

Hahahahahahahahahaha. ha. Yooka-Laylee.

Definitely my highlight of the Spotlight. That trailer constantly surprised me, but it looks familar enough for me to know how it'll play. Prediction: this will be better than Zelda. Actually, bollocks to it, new prediction: this'll piss all over Breath of the Wild from an almighty height.

I've always preferred Zelda to Mario, but Cappa might be on to something here. This looks ace! Brimming with character and will no doubt play a treat.

If anyone is going to top Zelda as GOTY (for most people) it is going to be Nintendo themselves.

The "Zelda or Mario" one is a weird one for me. I love them both in very different ways. With Zelda, I love the world and characters and the sense of heroism and adventure. The music makes me so emotional, and by the end of each game I'm massively invested in saving everyone. Mario, on the other hand, I just enjoy. The feel of movement, the constant bombardment of inventiveness, the jolly tunes . . .

The thing is, they both do both of those things to a 10/10 level. I love playing a Zelda, and the sense of humour in those games, and I love Mario, Peach and Rosalina. I'd probably get just as teary-eyed at a Super Mario Galaxy conference as I did at the Symphony of the Goddesses. I think it's all just psychological. In the space between Galaxy 2 and Odyssey, or even since 3D world, we've not been short of Mario Karts, sports, parties, spin-offs, RPGs, cameos, 2D games and so on. Between Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild, we had a masterpiece in Link Between Worlds and one experimental multiplayer titles and that was it.

Nintendo have deliberately maintained the specialness and mystique of Zelda, while Mario is pimped out as a mascot much more. When you sit down to play them a true 3D Mario and a true 3D Zelda are so utterly at the pique of gaming, debating which is better feels a little meaningless. I'd argue Zelda is better on the initial playthrough, but Mario's playfulness gives it more legs.

Mario throwing his hat? That's not a Mario game.

Drunkalilly wrote:

The "Zelda or Mario" one is a weird one for me. I love them both in very different ways. With Zelda, I love the world and characters and the sense of heroism and adventure. The music makes me so emotional, and by the end of each game I'm massively invested in saving everyone. Mario, on the other hand, I just enjoy. The feel of movement, the constant bombardment of inventiveness, the jolly tunes . . .

The thing is, they both do both of those things to a 10/10 level. I love playing a Zelda, and the sense of humour in those games, and I love Mario, Peach and Rosalina. I'd probably get just as teary-eyed at a Super Mario Galaxy conference as I did at the Symphony of the Goddesses. I think it's all just psychological. In the space between Galaxy 2 and Odyssey, or even since 3D world, we've not been short of Mario Karts, sports, parties, spin-offs, RPGs, cameos, 2D games and so on. Between Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild, we had a masterpiece in Link Between Worlds and one experimental multiplayer titles and that was it.

Nintendo have deliberately maintained the specialness and mystique of Zelda, while Mario is pimped out as a mascot much more. When you sit down to play them a true 3D Mario and a true 3D Zelda are so utterly at the pique of gaming, debating which is better feels a little meaningless. I'd argue Zelda is better on the initial playthrough, but Mario's playfulness gives it more legs.

GOTY

I think this one will have the nostalgia points for me, being what looks like the SM64 formula dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century (with a bit of Banjo-Kazooie thrown in).  But BotW was completely unlike anything I'd played before and so will likely edge it.

One thing it does look like they'll have in common, incidentally: fighting basically the same boss(es) ad nauseam.  A minor quibble, but still a quibble.

I mean, SM64 was in the same boat and all...

Bowser gets a pass. The world bosses were all different, apart from the Bullies maybe.

Sunshine had you fight Blooper and Petey Piranha umpteen times too - all I'm saying is that recurring boss fights aren't anything new for Mario.

That was a quibble with SMS too.

IN FACT, to take this even deeper...

So bits of this game are basically hybrids of Super Mario Land and Super Mario 64.

I'm sorry, BotW. I think you might have been overtaken.

Taking a moment to appreciate how creepy Cappy actually is.

I presume we're all buying this launch day apart from Drunka? Submitted my pre-order yesterday.

My pre-order is in the bag, literally. Cappy looks like a Boo with a hat pulled over his face, to be honest...

Secret plot twist: Cappy was bad all along corrupting Mario's soul by giving him the ability of "transforming" into enemies/objects.