Talking Point News, Talking Point Features

We speak to successful crowdfunders

Kickstarter, as regular readers of Nintendo Life have no doubt noticed, is becoming increasingly visible in the gaming media. It's not just here that the crowdfunding site is gaining a lot of web space, as increasing numbers of fundraisers begin to emerge, gain significant support and, of interest to us here,...

Games are a bit less 'final' than they used to be

It's not so long ago that Sony and Microsoft's platforms began to drown in DLC (downloadable content) while, for Nintendo gamers, it was largely restricted to the occasional Guitar Hero or Rock Band track on Wii. Nintendo had an attitude of adopting online trends and practices in its own sweet...

Oh for the days of that Revolution reveal

The Wii U Virtual Console is well and truly up and running, which its greatest supporters will say is a more-than-welcome boost of old-school goodies to fill out the Wii U lineup, and the greatest cynics may say it's another example of Nintendo mastering the art of selling very old rope. Based on the...

Jon gets recruited as an early Mayor, sadness ensues

If you follow us on twitter you may have noticed that our Editor-At-Large, Jon Wahlgren, has in his enviable, clammy hands an English-language digital copy of Nintendo’s newest quaint life sim, Animal Crossing: New Leaf. In fact, a few dozen people have received early copies — not only the...

Won't somebody think of the children?

The past week has brought us a couple of stories around the localisation of Fire Emblem: Awakening that, depending on your viewpoint, may be considered either funny, quirky or a disheartening example of censorship. We had the Nintendo of Europe translation of one conversation remove a rather juvenile reference...

It's what we do

The weekend is upon us, dear readers, and rather than relax our weary minds with some rest we plan to exercise our thumbs and senses with some gaming shenanigans. And why not? A sharp mind is always important, whether it's planning strategies for turn-based battles or assessing an environment before charging in with guns blazing,...

Fresh approaches can avoid repeat scenarios

So here's the deal, Wii U owners. The next notable exclusive for the platform isn't due until late June — when Game & Wario hits North America — and then Pikmin 3 hits the same region on 4th August. The eShop DLC-exclusive New Super Luigi U comes in the summer at an undefined point; if you're in...

Small price, lots of space

When the 3DS was launched, it didn't even have an eShop to enjoy, and even after the online store arrived the pack-in 2GB SD card seemed perfectly adequate. With a mix of Game Boy Virtual Console titles, the odd 3D Classic and the first flashes of download-only titles from third parties, the number of blocks offered up...

Old games seem to sell

The start of a new console generation is always problematic for fans of older titles, as with each passing system backward compatibility becomes an increasing issue, and older titles risk being lost to the ages due to damage. Nintendo’s recent policy has been one of allowing backward compatibility for the previous...

Abandoning the big presentation

So here's how the E3 game is supposed to be played by the three major game manufacturers. They appear at E3, talk up how exciting it's going to be, and then hold a high-profile press conference that's viewed by thousands of gamers before being mercilessly dissected. At that point senior figures conduct interviews to...

Muddled messages aren't helping matters

Let's start this with some clear points, to head-off accusations before they're made. No, we don't think Nintendo is doomed and no, we don't think the Wii U is doomed. While critical of some aspects of the Wii U since release, in general we've maintained a line that the system cannot be judged yet, and that...

Another step forward

This week it was announced that Nintendo of Europe had established an agreement with retailer GAME, for it to exclusively sell select download codes from the high street and its website; it's the first serious move to match up to similar download cards already available in Japan. The GAME retail group has stores across Europe...

Classic or Casual - which mode do you play?

Fire Emblem: Awakening is finally available in Europe after a couple of additional months of waiting. The series itself is now 23 years old, and is arguably one of the more 'hardcore' franchises that Nintendo owns. One element Fire Emblem is known for is its punishing levels of difficulty, which has...

Yet more evidence of the vital role of smaller studios

If you go back even a relatively short amount of time, for example ten years, most gaming was locked down by fairly high profile releases from the great gate-keepers of the games industry, such as Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Capcom, EA, Activision, Ubisoft and more. These names are all familiar...

Yikes, we're up to number 11?

So, OK, we've done some seasonal issues of this jolly series of features, so this isn't actually the 11th entry in the series. But the idea of shamelessly riffing off a Hollywood movie only came to us when typing out "Issue Eleven", so it is what it is. What we do have is another collection of weekend gaming plans from...

Pwnee Studios gives its perspective on the publication deal with Ubisoft

If you go back just a few years, the idea of developers raising funds for non-existent games from the consumer marketplace may have seemed to be a wacky proposition. The thinking may have been along the lines of "ask consumers to pay for a game that isn't even in development...

Graphical differences and consumer budgets continue to shrink

If you'll forgive us, let's delve of into a faint whiff of politics in this introduction. In most major industrialised countries — whether in the West or Japan — national economies aren't exactly in rude health. After spells of prosperity and golden toilet seats for all in the...

LEGO City Undercover had problems in North America, too

There's a strange dichotomy at work right now with Nintendo, Wii U and its games. We endured an undeniable retail software drought, with game retailers probably weary of trying to sell the same old launch titles week after week. We then had two diverse, high profile games arrive near each...