Talking Point News, Talking Point Features - Page 2 of 11

Whether we like it or not

Let's say something right off the bat — we expect a number of readers will have read that headline and scoffed audibly, confidently saying that this article is deranged and already wrong. EA isn't exactly flavour of the month, and is at the time of writing a semi-final candidate to once again be crowned as the "worst...

What a difference a delay makes

At the start of the year we published a list of our biggest Wii U games of 2013; despite the beginning of a software drought on the system, we felt that the list showed the promise of the software lineup to come. There were eight exclusives at that point, either with fixed release dates or windows that we're...

Questions for a young industry

As a Nintendo website, we often treasure and talk the most about games that are based in fantastical and, often, family friendly lands — an Italian plumber running and jumping, miniature creatures assisting a stranded rocket man, an adventure played out by LEGO characters and so on. Occasionally we get edgy and...

The fact it's actually scalable for Wii U should surprise no-one

A number of articles on Nintendo Life really got the community talking last week, one of which was our April Fools for the year. In terms of stories that were real, however, we had high profile comments from Epic Games' Mark Rein, who essentially stated that developers on Wii U...

A true Nintendo social network

We think that many Wii U owners are likely to agree on one key point: Miiverse is a welcome and excellent new feature on the system. Nintendo was clearly aware that it'd be a major feature and selling point, giving the platform its iconic pre-E3 demonstration and reveal with the viral star, Non-Specific Action...

Insert your own egg/Easter bunny pun here

It's the Easter Holidays which, whether you observe the religious aspects of the occasion or not, often means a long weekend of basking in the Spring sunlight and having a well-earned rest. That said, there's still snow on the ground for some of the Nintendo Life team, so staying inside and playing video...

A Wii U owner's plea to the company they love

Even the most dedicated Nintendo fan will admit that the Wii U hasn't had the best of starts. The console has struggled to shift units in the way that Nintendo expected, and although we've seen some quality software of late — including Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, LEGO City: Undercover and Need for...

Do you download?

In moving from the Wii Shop and DSi Shop to the Wii U eShop and 3DS eShop, Nintendo has shown a desire to compete head on with the Xbox, PlayStation and Steam online marketplaces and offer full retail downloads. It's amazing to think that downloads from the Wii Shop were limited to a meagre maximum of 40MB, yet now we can download...

Room for no more

We're all more than a little familiar with video game droughts by now. Until a few years ago, it was tradition to suffer a lack of software in the summer, surviving only on the ever-faithful backlog and the revitalising elixir provided by E3 info dumps. It's common in the months following a console launch too: we're sure you...

Oh baby, it's cold outside

First of all, we should apologise for using a tagline specific to those of us in parts of the world enduring a long Winter — a lot of the NL crew can see snow outside their windows right now, when they should see flowers in bloom and overly-chatty birds that won't stop tweeting (as birds do naturally, not on the social...

Nintendo's digital strategy continues to evolve

This week it was confirmed that a sale on Ubisoft's retail Wii U downloads, which arrived in North America in mid-February, will hit Europe this week. It's the latest small landmark in what's become a regular series of subtle evolutions in Nintendo's download platform strategies, and one that...

The classic catch-22

So, it looks like Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut is coming to Wii U, with a ratings board classification and the common knowledge that Australia-based studio Straight Right has been working on a high profile Square Enix franchise for Nintendo's new system. Although still in rumour territory until announced at PAX...

We discuss the casual dismissal of Wii U in some quarters

In a regular series of features, we're going to take a rather strong statement or opinion expressed about Nintendo, and give our own take. These opinions aren't those of the site as a whole, but rather of a collection of your humble Nintendo Life writers. This time around we're looking at a...

Sell, sell, sell, say the retailers

Earlier this week we saw a bit of a Wii U price war break out, in the UK at least, with Amazon UK joining Asda in slashing the price of both Wii U models by £50. At the same time, a number of US retailers are being rather creative with their offerings, not necessarily going for a full-blown price reduction but...

Just how important are review scores?

Last week we published our Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate review; we liked it, despite some flaws that we outlined, and gave it a strong recommendation with a score of 8/10, which counts as "very good" in our review scoring policy. Such was the reaction to the review here, elsewhere and to the...

History and pedigree in the industry are vital weapons

This week brought some interesting and, perhaps, unexpected news. Nintendo's stock jumped a little over 7% on the Osaka Stock Exchange, a boost attributed to factors such as a weakening Yen being a benefit against trade in the U.S., while positive economic news from the big N's most valuable...

Because that's what weekends are for

The weekend is upon us, so it's time to break out the good-stuff — by which we main games, obviously. There are always more games to play, even if none of them happen to be new; if you haven't bought anything this week just play something you already have, unless it's a recently released online-only single...

The features that time forgot

Remember the augmented reality (AR) games on 3DS? Go on, check your handheld, they're still there, quietly sitting on the home screen waiting to be enjoyed. Built into the system for all to experience whenever they like, taking an established technology and adding a hefty dose of Nintendo whimsy and charm. They were...

It’s not all about the LA expo

Nintendo has often been one of the most secretive companies in the world, and while that prevents any unwanted information being leaked ahead of schedule, it means that at times it’s infuriating to follow as a fan. Up until a few years ago, the only chance we got to look inside the hallowed grounds of Nintendo HQ...