Love how they look! I'll definitely be tempted to get a bunch of them, and the way some of these figures look I'll probably be tempted to buy more than just my Smash character regulars. I'm honestly more excited to have a budget way to get all these cool Nintendo characters and franchises in figure form and in my room than I am for amiibo itself, probably! But who knows, the feature may be even cooler than I realize.
Hope we'll get to see the other characters in the coming weeks! It'd be nice to see how the figures are treating the newcomers and the other characters.

30 bucks for a digital-only copy? Um... well. I was hoping it would be 20, but 30 seems a bit much for a digital game. I'll have to think about whether I want to buy or not. Would've been an instant buy at 20; 30 just seems too steep.

@WiiULoveSquid Yeah, it's massive. Guess the 3D/models must be really in-depth I will probably get an SD card from Walmart or something. Probably can find one cheap.

Actually, I don't think my 3DS even COULD have enough space to download it. It takes 2 gigabytes/16k blocks... wow. Guess I will have to buy another card. Dang.
Fair warning to those getting Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D! Make sure you got a big SD card or the six-20 dollars to buy a bigger one...

@edcomics eShop credit actually wouldn't make any sense, given that it would allow the users to potentially purchase third party games on Nintendo's dollar. Which Nintendo would no doubt have to pay for out of pocket, and with probably a few thousand people getting Platinum rewards that wouldn't be good. Sorry for yours and others bad luck, it's hard to help. You might be able to sell a code possibly or redeem one for more coins if not.

@WiiULoveSquid Got it while I was typing this!! Seems I'll have to get another SD card to download this... um. Hmm. Guess I should've checked the size before requesting... I'll have to figure something out I guess. Thanks so much still though!!

@Olmectron You're welcome!

@Olmectron If you need to find a code that you've already redeemed, you can log into your Club Nintendo account on the website, click Account & Coins at the top right, and click "Order Inquiries". From there, you should see Paper Mario on the list with "View Game Code". Good luck

@WiiULoveSquid It has been sent! Check your email. If you didn't get it for whatever reason tell me

@WiiULoveSquid I meant that I haven't redeemed the Gold reward for any game yet I can redeem for the SML2 code, sure! I can send you the code through email or whatever way you want.

@WiiULoveSquid I'd love to do that! I haven't used my code yet and would love to trade it for Returns 3D.

@Ikki5 That seems to be the usual for Club Nintendo NA compared to Japanese CN, but still, the rewards don't look too terrible to me. Getting Game and Wario or DKCR 3D, normally 30/40 dollar games, seems not bad and it's not like Nintendo is obligated to do this entire rewards website anyways. They're the only company that does. I can understand why you'd dislike it in comparison though. I'm glad to get a game at all, but man is that gap between Gold and Platinum cruel...

Anyone else feel the gold rewards are especially lacking though? Gold status is just half of Platinum status and is still "elite", yet Gold gets only 5 or 6 dollar virtual console games (all for NES or no-color GB...) that you could get any time from monthly game reward offerings, while Platinum gets 15-30 dollar recent games... I mean, the least they could've done was give GBA or SNES Virtual console rewards or something. I guess I have only myself to blame for forgetting about the cut off, though... at least I can use my coins to hopefully even better rewards this year

The one, single year I didn't make Platinum, and they give entire games? And I would've made it to if I hadn't forgotten the window was closing... meh. Oh well, at least I got gold so I can get something, woo. I know some are rightfully disappointed probably, but I would've loved to have Platinum and get DKCR 3D. A 30/40 dollar game is sort of a bit better than posters or playing cards like the last two years in my opinion.

There's no company like Nintendo for understanding that the primary purpose of games is to have fun and to feel good. They set themselves far apart from a lot of other game developers, and if the feel of Nintendo's signature magic is enough to separate it as an entirely unique genre, I'm all for it.

Dang, and I was just in D.C. too! If only it came earlier Ah well, I'll just have to hope it's eventually held somewhere near me when I'm off school... this would certainly be a thing to see

I really want Kingdom Hearts 3 and Little Big Planet 3 (there sure is power in threes, eh?) but those are about the only two games I'd consider getting a PS4 for that are must haves (there are a bunch of Store titles & remasters that look good though). Doubt I'll be picking one up anytime soon if ever. I'm perfectly content with the Wii U and my PS3 for now, though I kind of want a Vita.
The fact that that "31%" (which I really doubt is an accurate number and wonder how they even researched it) is a merge of XBox 360 and Wii users says a lot here. The Xbox 360 is just behind the Wii in sales at 20 million less, and frankly, I'd bet anything that most of the users that make up that percentage were from Xbox 360. Let's face it, the Xbox One definitely hasn't presented itself very well since it's reveal, and it's no surprise that FP game fans (which the most hardcore Xbox fans usually are) are jumping ship to the superior PS4 which specializes in the exact same genre groups. In fact, I know a lot of people at my school that are huge fans of the 360 that criticize the One and talk about how much they want a PS4. It'd make far more sense than a casual Wii owner upgrading to a PS4 in my opinion.

Wanted to play the original before I played Bayonetta 2, and this makes that all so much easier. I will probably have to get this game now!

Alright! I was planning on getting into the series either through the iPhone app version or... other means, but I might just have to wait for this. I don't really use my iPhone anyway and I just feel it would be better to have it on 3DS. Will look forward to this if I can actually wait that long

Diddy Kong Pilot actually has an early ROM build floating around the internet that got leaked by a former RARE employee or something. It's actually a near complete build and a pretty decent game for the GBA's standards. Shame it didn't get released. I've never played Banjo Pilot (or any Banjo game...) but I can imagine it must've been pretty good. Never heard of any of these other racers listed besides Sonic & All-stars Racing (which I own and love both of- fantastic games )

This is the control method I was hoping this game would have on it's release! I've already beat the game, but I was already planning on replaying it soon now that summer's started again, and this just makes it all the better to replay it. Will definitely have to try this out!!!

But... Nintendo's big announcements are through Nintendo Direct, which is recorded separate from the E3 show floor itself. All she said was that she would be at E3, didn't even say who for. And since the E3 showing will be completely pre-recorded, this tweet means very little on if she is going to be used to reveal something Zelda-related, she'll just be at a booth or something. I wouldn't get my hopes far too high. For all we know, she might be revealing a game for another company, or hosting the Smash tournament thing or something.

Dang! I've been waiting to redeem my codes until near the end of the fiscal year, and they choose to do this right now? Well, thanks for the heads up, Nintendo...
At least it's just a demo... still sucks, though

The question I have for this, if it really doesn't have the characters on-cartridge, is what the game does when you're playing online/wireless against a character you don't have. I don't usually play fighting games and the like with downloadable characters and skins, so I wouldn't know how they'd handle it. Maybe it simply "appears" like another character that they're not, kind of like they did with the DLC classes in Awakening?

Remember two years ago where Nintendo said they weren't going to make a follow up device to the 3DS anytime soon and then revealed the XL months later? Maybe we'll be seeing a 3DSMicroLite soon now
I kid, I kid. I don't see why Nintendo really would need anything different from their current hardware, what with 3 3DS models and the perfectly fine Wii U. The most I could ever see them doing is them revealing that second Gamepads will now be sold in stores, since I believe I've heard the console does have that functionality, and they may incorporate it into one of their announced games.

FINALLY got finished with watching the Direct, after spending forever pausing over and over again to let the video buffer (whyyy internet). REALLY impressed with the game mechanics in pretty much every way, though admittedly I'm very disappointed in the character roster... particularly the lack of Diddy But hey, I still have Shy Guy, Luigi, and DK to play as I suppose, so I should be alright.

Sounds to me like all those people complaining about the Direct style need to lighten up a bit... I honestly kind of liked it myself. Perhaps a bit too much fluff over real info, but the direct style reminds me a lot of the Billy Nye show from my childhood, and I kind of liked the silliness of it

Now THIS is an amazing offer! I wasn't planning on buying Mario Kart 8 for a little while, but getting it with a free copy of WW HD is a HUGE plus and just might sell me over to pre-ordering! Too bad NA doesn't get as much selection as Europe, but hey, free is free! Guess Nintendo wants to rack up them sales eh?

I hope that they step up with their Best Buy promotion this time and don't just bring it to a few stores. I went to my local Best Buy on the day of E3 last year, and there was nothing there. So I looked around online a bit more and found out that the closest event location to me was 2 hours away, despite what the online "tracker" told me. Not really easy to do when I have to be driven everywhere by others and don't even know any huge Nintendo fans other than me
It's a shame that they're not doing a press conference. I feel that that may be a bad move for the press attention, but eh, at least us Nintendo fan's still will get a lot of what we want with the Direct and all the other cool events. Bet we're going to see some big reveals!

Well, I have a coupon for a free happy meal that I'll never use, so I might as well take the chance if I'm ever near a Mickey D's. Will definitely be hoping for that Froakie or one of the Legendaries if I do

Seems that I might be one of the few people on this site that doesn't drive! Obviously this bonus wouldn't really benefit me, so I don't really think I'll take up this offer (unless I gave the code to a friend). I'll just continue hoping that a good bundle or pre-order trinket pops up somewhere. I need a reason to justify buying it early in my mind, dang it!

I kind of screamed a little when Greninja was announced. Greninja and his pre-evos have been my favorite Pokémon since X and Y's release, and I am absolutely ECSTATIC to be able to kick everyone's butt with him. So now, both my #1 favorite Pokémon and many of my favorite Nintendo characters are playable in the same game. This is FAR more than I could ever ask for

Christmas release will hopefully mean a ton of advertising hype, so I'm all for it. And it's well worth the wait if we get an even more polished console version

It doesn't look like the HD treatment did much to it to me (probably because of the low-res looking textures), but even so, that video makes me really want to play this game even more now. If only I could find it for a cheap enough price for once I hate how much rarity can affect a used/old game's prices. Used copies are going for the prices they were when new.. should've gotten it when I had the chance back in the day.

Hmm... I'm kind of tempted to get one of these, but I'm always skeptical of using my coins on things in case something huge comes by. ESPECIALLY so close to a Direct! Guess I'll just wait until the end of the month and make my decision then. Hopefully I'll remember

I really love how they updated Pikachu's Thunder move to be more like the animation that move uses in the X and Y games. It's super cool that Nintendo's still keeping character movesets and final smashes with the times, like with Pikachu and Luigi here
I gotta give my vote to Isabelle, though. I'm going to love seeing her adorable face in-game, and HD has already done her well

I've got some school work and drawing plans to cover over the weekend, so I'm honestly not sure how much playing I'll be able to do. If I have the time, though, I imagine I'll either be playing more Tropical Freeze, FE Awakening, finally starting Link Between Worlds, or maybe doing some training/catching/breeding in Pokèmon Y. So many games I want to play, yet so little time!

Woo!!! This is definitely something to get excited about! Hopefully, they'll have tons of new details and newcomers to announce, since it's a fully dedicated direct this time. I bet Sakurai must have some huge gameplay surprise reveal to give us
Since everyone else is posting their foolishly specific expectations, I'm hoping they'll take this chance to announce either a DK, Fire Emblem, or Pokémon newcomer, myself. Not going to get any of my hopes up, though. That's never a good thing with these directs

Nice to see that Shy Guy is back the game! He and the rest of the MK7 crew are looking glorious in HD, and it's amazing to hear that he's still playable even without download play guaranteeing his inclusion Here's hoping Diddy and some of the MK Wii/DD characters will come back as well, though I'm not really getting my hopes up too high so close to release. The roster's already amazing anyways

Whoa! This is only the first batch of GBA games, and they're already releasing three of the games I was hoping to see! Will definitely pick up Superstar Saga, Golden Sun, and Advance Wars at some point, as I haven't played any of them. I'm still kind of disappointed that there's still no 3DS versions/cross buy though. I'll probably have to buy one of them alone first just to see how they fare on the TV/Gamepad screen. Hopefully, they'll be worth it...

JUST saw an advertisement for this on TV, specifically advertising that they have Mario Kart too. Odd, especially considering there's not even a single one of those restaurants in our state....
Pretty cool that people are able to play it there, though. Plus, the advertisements help put Mario Kart back in the minds of consumers before 8's release. Hopefully I can play the arcade game eventually

I'm on board with the others for bringing Fire Emblem games to the english VC. So far all I have played are Sacred Stones and Awakening (both on hard mode, though I have yet to try Lunatic), and while I imagine a fully fledged Fire Emblem game would overwhelm me, I would greatly enjoy to play a classic-styled strategy game like the older ones in the series. It's always a great feeling when you pass through a difficult map with no deaths, especially one that takes a lot of restarts and planning. I imagine playing the older games like Thracia would be a fun yet anguishing experience for me.

A simple statue isn't enough to warrant an expensive special edition in my opinion, but the deals with the shirt + keychain too or the wheel bundle sound well worth it. I doubt I'll be buying Mario Kart 8 around when it comes out, but if either of those deals come to NA I may very well consider it.

Gotta go with Diddy here. The effects they added to his barrel are looking pretty sweet, and it's awesome to hear his rocketbarrel attack will be more practical to use now. Diddy's face and the blown away figures of Villager and Mac are priceless.

Mario Pinball Land was one of my least favorite GBA games as a child, despite ironically being the first "Mario" game I've ever played (I think). I'll admit a big reason I don't like it is because of it's difficulty, though. It's always hard to launch Mario into (and then keep him in) areas past the first room. It makes the game more annoying than need be in my opinion.

Really great read, Dave. I played the DKC games as they came out with the GBA ports at around the age of four, and while I didn't have quite so much a wait after DKC3 to play another Country game as most others did, I am experiencing a similar transition to this with Tropical Freeze. I never did with Returns, for some reason; my guess is that it came out when I was still young and stupid, with the gameplay of the originals vividly fresh in my mind, so I was too stubborn to finish it.

But when TF was announced, during a time when the pressures of high school life have taken over my life, my passion and nostalgia for the series flooded back, too. I went back to replay Returns, as well as the originals, enjoying every single minute of them with a huge child-like smile on my face. They helped keep me distracted from my constant life of school work and anxiety during those brief moments in the weekends, as well as kept me hyped for what is sure to be a new classic. The nostalgia trip spiraled out to me regaining the same dreams and wishes I used to have, and I have since took up drawing more often and now once again dream to enter the video game industry. They helped push me in the right direction away from my depression like nothing else did at the time, and I love it for that.

David Wise is a huge inspiration to me, and definitely my number one favorite VGM composer of all time. The announcement of his involvement in Tropical Freeze gave the extra push for me to know I absolutely NEEDED this game day one. Every single one of Wise's pieces are catchy, atmospheric, and memorable, and even as I listened to the admittedly lower quality remixes in the GBA ports as a child each piece and rhythm holds an extreme amount of nostalgia for me, and helped me develop my love for music.
Thank you for everything, Wise! I'm really loving your music in Tropical Freeze so far, and I know I'll be replaying this game like with DKC2 for years to come.

Wow... this is a lot earlier than I expected. I respect that they had to do it eventually, but every single game including third party games at once? That's a pretty big action. Thankfully, I never use wi-fi much, so I'm little affected. But I understand some games still have huge communities, and there are quite a few games that are going to have important features taken away because of this, too. It's going to suck when I go back to replay Pokemon games and can't access the GTS or any other features anymore :/

@JaxonH Any of those things would get my money immediately, ESPECIALLY that figure idea! Nearly ANY merchandise related to DKC would, to be honest. It's really such a shame that they didn't make a single bit of merchandise to go with the game- not even a simple pre-order bonus. A game of such artistic and musical mastery deserves so much more than that, but I guess it just wasn't popular enough to warrant the money, which is extremely unfortunate. It seems all Nintendo is ever willing to do is make CEs for anniversaries and Zelda only I understand why, though it still sucks...

I guess we'll just have to hope and pray that Club Nintendo gives us some Country lovin', or that they do something for DK's 35th anniversary in a few years. Keeping my fingers crossed... >:]

Ah, I remember the days of driving around in my little motorized sports car up and down the driveway... until my parents gave it away to my cousin when I became "too old for it". Cretins!
Needless to say, I would've loved this as a child. Definitely too big for it now, unfortunately :[

@JaxonH I would kill for a TF Collectors edition like that! They're really missing out on that opportunity. Imagine if the game came packaged with a model of one of the Kongs or one of the bosses, with the same barrel-style base found on Funky's figurines- as if you had one of your own. It would've been the perfect tie-in!

Nearly all of the music I have on my iTunes is video game music, either from Steam games (legally) or from torrent rips when necessary. I really love listening to Nintendo music while I browse. I'm never one to pay too much for music, but if they ever were to release easily accessible soundtracks for the games I actually want to see I'd snap them up in a heartbeat. Heck, I'd buy a CD for some if they were still fairly priced, even though I would have to transfer em to USB since I have no disc drive Pokemon soundtracks are great, but most songs aren't really the type you can regularly listen to without tiring of them, besides a few battle and gym themes. I know I and many others would willingly pay for an official release of the Tropical Freeze OST especially. Dat Wise music, mm mm!