The original was a lot of fun; one of WiiWare's hidden gems that I rate up there with World of Goo, Lost Winds and MotoHeroz.

Not happy. The Wii U has been out in the US now for less than 6 months. I actually use the News Channel slideshow every morning while getting ready for work. My daughter just had a question that she submitted used on the Everybody Votes Channel (the one about travelling/staying home during vacation). I understand that nothing last forever, but to shut it down mere months after the new system is released AND while the Wii is still being sold rubs me the wrong way.

I was glad to see it released on WiiWare, and picked it up right away. Then again, I haven't bought a Wii U yet, so anytime there is a new Wii game that looks decent, I feel like it's Christmas again. I'm surprised at how low the number of WiiWare sales is, especially after all the attention it got on enthusiast sites like N-Life. I would have thought there were lots of people still looking for a good game, but apparently I underestimated the degree to which the Wii has already faded. If the sales numbers really are that small, I doubt it will ever break 5,000. At least the Wii holdouts in the US still have Pandora's Tower to look forward to!

I ran across Hang-On in an arcade recently. I have a Ducati track bike in real life, and thought I would impress the hell out of my daughter and her little buddies. Nope. In the game you turn the handlebars in the direction you want to turn, in real life you press them opposite of the direction you want to turn. Couldn't overcome the instincts ingrained by years of adrenaline and brief moments of terror, so I just muttered something about being fast on a real bike and slunk away to a dark corner.

I just picked up this game for next to nothing, since I have pretty much every decent Wii game and haven't spent the $ for a Wii U yet. It's a lot of fun, I think it is underrated. It's not a pure FPS, which is kinda refreshing. I haven't completed it yet, but after 8-10 hours I would give it a 8 or possibly even higher. I think the controls are fine. It can be a little linear, but not so much that it isn't fun.

As a somewhat older guy and father of a 10 year old, I was irrationally pleased when one of my friend's told me his son refers to me as "The Game Master". I don't see any reason to stop gaming now or ever. Why would you really?

The voice over sounds like the Little King's Story trailer. I'll probably get this, I'm a sucker for most games published by Natsume, and I since I finished Tides of Destiny (170+ hours), I've got a Natsume hole to fill.

One of the most exciting days of my life was getting my 2600 and Yar's Revenge when I was a kid. No kidding.

I'm a little more forgiving because I can still use (apparently) my balance board, 4xWiiRemote, 3xNunchucks, 2xClassic Controllers, 2xClassic Controller Pro....oh, and all of my rechargeable batteries. So that is a couple of hundred dollars US that I won't have to spend just to play with friends. Still, US$300 is about all I would be willing to pay, and even then I might hold off for a little while. This is the golden time to buy all of those good Wii titles that have slipped by over the years, although since I own about 120 WiiWare/VC games and 64 full release titles, there aren't THAT many I've missed.

If there was a better web browser and a way to integrate email seamlessly into the device, it would make an acceptable (and less expensive) tablet substitute. You can use some of the titles like mario calendar, calculator, note books to actually put a veneer of practicality on the 3DS as is. I work in public relations and marketing at the moment, so I can get away with being a little odd, and I sometimes take my 3DS to work and use it for notes/scheduling. It's clunky for that though, and I usually just switch everything over to my smartphone. The XL would be great if you could realistically use it for work though. Which would be great, because it would fit in my briefcase a lot easier than it would my pocket.

White, because it drives me crazy trying to keep "fingerprints" from becoming the color of my black Wii remote. I hate having fingerprint covered things sitting out in my living room.

Never noticed James has an EU flag. Granny was right, you do learn something every day. About the game: I would have been more likely to buy this before Pushmo came out. It makes it harder to justify $40 for Crush, especially when I can spend that on RE.

Hahah, I just scared my cat when I saw Navi and yelled, "HEY!"

a/k/a League of Ordinary Gentlemen - The Video Game

My money is still on NOA releasing Xenoblade and The Last Story in 2012. What else is in the pipeline to generate excitement after the release of Skyward Sword next month...and I guess perhaps the new Kirby? NOA still has to move Wiis in 2012 and probably wouldn't mind selling some software to boot. With minimal cost compared to development of a new title, build up demand (see above posts) with a perceived scarcity of product, a free year long advert campaign o/k/a press attention and gamer forum discussions, it's an easy bet for release.

Haha, nice Blinx poke - I still have a copy on my X-Box shelves. But Blinx had time shifting AND cell shading, although it could be a little hard to fit an X-Box in your pocket.

I was thinking how it would possibly burn calories using the DSi when I read the title; maybe by using the touchpad like a mini Wii Balance Board? What? Another puzzle game?!? I guess I will have to put off my dream of amazingly fit, muscular fingers for a while longer.

Just got this, thumbs up on the music. The game feel is a little reminiscent of the old TRON arcade game with the vector style graphics, even though it doesn't play the same. Obviously there are some thematic similarities as well. Glad there was this development feature on N-Life; It adds something to my gaming experience to have some understanding of the people and process that created a game, makes it more personal and "real" if that makes any sense.

I thought Nnooo's earlier game Pop (underrated in my opinion) had a nice clean art style and music that was well suited to the gameplay, and it looks like escapeVector has somewhat the same traits. Bonus points from me for any game with music inspired by Kraftwerk and Air. At 500 points, this is a probable buy for me tomorrow.

Well, I had been kinda wanting Faxanadu, and with 0 points, this mandates that I spend $20 to get 1500 points, so looking on the bright side, glass 1/2 full, sunny day and all that...I guess I'll let Nintendo squeeze $20 outa me when I only really want a $15 game. Even though it is Finnish (just kidding Luffymcduck, keep up the good Finn games and I'll do my part to increase the USA's trade deficit.). Yet another game that I would not have been likely to purchase but for a great N-Life review.

The water dripping off the plants is a nice touch.

Well, there goes my next year or two...

@28 - LOL. I do some things that are can be fairly exciting in my spare time - track days on my sportbikes, rock climbing, off-trail back packing in wilderness areas, etc. I keep my love of AC to myself, don't even want to think of the laughs at my expense should my secret AC compulsion be revealed. Just the thought of sitting in the pits wearing full race leathers between track sessions while doing a little fishing and looking for fossils makes me grin like a lunatic.

I just hope they dropped the Runey system from Frontier, or at least gave it a major overhaul. If not for being forced to nearly constantly babysit those little buggers, R.F. Frontier would be my favorite Wii game.

If it says "undetermined", make sure that you are including the letters that precede the numerical serial number.

Build-a-lot actually looks like (potential) fun. But since my internal 3DS memory is filled up with DSiWare already, and I'm no-way-in-hades going to start bouncing games back and forth between internal memory and SD card,,,,it will stay a mere potential and I'll have an extra pint at the cafe tonight.

In 1.5 days, I've already played 6 hours of Mario's Picross. I picked it up basically because I had $5 left over from past purchases, and thought it was worth a shot. I can't stop playing it. It's perfect for a quick game to pass a couple of minutes, but that turns into a "just one more" time after time. I'm shocked to say this, but other than OoT, Mario's Picross is my favorite game on the 3DS (including Link's Awakening, which I like and recognize as the "better" game). Every single time I solve a puzzle, I catch myself grinning at the revealed image. Black/White, Green/White, whatever - this is a fun little game.

After reading the amount of the price drop from what I paid, all I got out was an angry, "Son of a.....," before I saw the bit about my new diplomatic status and the 20 games, forcing an unsatisfactorily placid concluding, "....oh, fair enough."

@24
I have both the Sensu fan and pouch. They are both OK.

The pouch (I think it may actually be like a Japanese bento box baggie), is of nice quality and I used it recently during a 2500 mile motorcycle trip to keep my charger, bud earphones and 3DS. The only downside is that it is pretty bulky, to the point that it can't really be used while carry the 3DS around in pants/jacket...unless you roll like an MC in 2003, uber-baggie style. While it is not cushioned, it is soft and thick enough to provide at least some limited protection against softer impacts.

The Sensu is quite nice. I got the Mario one for my daughter. In the end it is just a paper and wood fan, but the printing is nice, the wood has nice detailing and I think it actually uses gampi (the correct paper for Japanese fans). It uses back paper to cover the frame and has end guard sticks to add durability and improve appearance. A fabric storage pouch is included.

While I use the pouch more (mainly because I do a lot of motorcycle touring), I think the Sensu is a much nicer item. The pouch is functionional, the Sensu is more "art-like" for lack of a better term. So it somewhat comes down to the utilitarian vs. the aesthetic.

Next on my list is the messenger bag. Anyone that has one have any input on that item?

@4 - Yeah. Enjoy Your Massage. It got a 2. So if Microforum adds the review scores of all its games together, they still only manage to get 6 crummy stars.

@17 - I'm old enough. EA wanted to pay less for licensing, so they reverse engineered the Genesis, pirated Sega's development kit, using those pirated development kits and developed games for the Genesis, then demanded a reduced fee structure from Sega for the games they developed using pirated development kits. Some very good games I own(ed), in fact, Madden Football, Populous, Road Rash come to mind.

Looks like he took some of that Digital Chocolate money, took a trip down to the local mall, and got him some Glamor Shots. AND he payed a little extra for the bonus halo (not Halo, the good kind with Master Chief). Makes it perfect for his profile picture on Match.com.
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@ #33:

Thanks a f&$*^g lot! I'm just about 1/2 way through my first play-through of OOT. I guess I know who to expect pretty damn shortly,

Well....there goes my hearing.

The only way I know to play bit.trip games is with the volume at 11.

I'm stuck on the "naughty purposes" bit.

That's it, I'm moving back to London!

I want me some Kirby TV.

I would freak out, probably in a negative way, if NA got the entire catalog of Super Mario Brothers Super Show instead.

Ya know what annoys me about touch screens? Fingerprints.

Dudes, that just blew my mind.

I did not want a Wii. I had multiple original X-Boxes at home linked for Halo and Forza LAN multiplayer nights, played PC FPSs, and still kept my PSOne busy, there is even a working ColecoVision around here somewhere. I had little interest in any Nintendo franchise, which I considered mostly kid stuff, with the possible exception of Metroid. But then I became a dad, and when I looked at the PS3 and X360, there weren't a lot of titles that I could play with my daughter, so I "settled" on a Wii to at least be able to share gaming with her.

I was wrong. I have over 100 WiiWare titles and about 80 retail games at the moment. What blew me away was the fantastic game design of titles such as the Metroid series, SMG, Zelda series, and NSMBW. Later, I found other gems: Okami, Fragile Dreams, Rune Factory Frontier, etc. There is so much originality in so many Nintendo titles, even performers which I generally detest. First party titles tend to have very tight controls, and make gaming an experience of physical extension of one's self.

Nintendo is a bit of a different world in gaming. It has a sense of humor about itself (Paper Mario made me laugh aloud many times) that is mostly absent with PS3/x360 gaming. I miss not having the latest Fable/Halo/GOW/Elder Scrolls game, but not as much as I thought I would. I mean this in a good way, but Nintendo is kinda the weird, fun, successful uncle of gaming that also happens to know how to make friends with everyone...almost. It IS a different kind of gaming experience.

If you pick up this game, remember two words: CLASSIC CONTROLLER! It is really fun using the CC, it is really frustrating (for me at least) using the Wii Remote & nunchuck. This game was a good buy for me, pretty amazing graphics for WiiWare.

MDK2 last week, Chrono Trigger this week. I'm just waiting for a late 90s version of Elle McPherson to knock on my door next Monday, then I'll have to mail my Genie a thank you card for a job well done.

It doesn't support the Classic Controller, but the Wii Remote works well for aiming and turning. I did slow it down quite a bit using the control options from default to soften it up and make it smoother for me to play, but that's just to fit my preferences. I would have liked CC support, but the control is ok as is. Except for having "B" to jump and "Z" to fire. O

Oh, and #66, let me restate, "the game is certainly fun."

It's like getting an official announcement from Santa Claus Corp., "Ho, ho ho! We are pleased to announce that Christmas will no longer be held on an undetermined date in late November. In light of the volume of calls and emails to Santa's customer service department regarding when Christmas will occur, The Man in Red has decreed that December 25 will be the Christmas release date. For more information, visit ToyHo.com."
Yeah....it's just like that.

I've played MDK2 for about an hour, definitely worthy of a buy. The only significant issue I've had is with the control mapping, which has the fire button on the nun-chuck and uses the B button to jump. It's like shooting a pistol goofy-hand, and I find it surprisingly difficult to get used to my right trigger finger relegated to leg control. Especially since the left hand controls movement (with the exception of jumping) and the right hand uses the Wii Remote to aim...but not fire...the weapon. Whatever. I'll get used to it eventually, and the game is certainly fun, and looks pretty darn good to boot.

Hahaha! Step 1: Read "...tired of portable palindromes...." Step 2: Change shirt because of laughter related coffee stains.

Most of us aren't the type of "gamer" that may find this game compelling. That said, my daughter loves doing word searches and is a gamer as well, so I bought the non-deluxe original Word Searcher on release day. Now I have less word search books littering my bathrooms, and I don't get hit up as much to buy new $2.99 word search books while checking out at the supermarket. Good that DigitalLeisure provided an alternate control scheme, but too bad the jittery WiiRemote controls weren't improved.

It reminds me of Rez a lot, and I LOVED Rez. When music is played via gaming, the experience can be immersive like nothing else, as shown to the unwashed masses with the Bit.Trip series. This is one I am looking forward to...but I have to agree that the video doesn't make it look that great. That said, Okamiden didn't look so hot in one vid demo I saw showing a boss fight, but I love it more than any other game I have for my 3DS.

"...they also work in men to prevent stress incontinence.."

Finally! A solution to those "awkward" moments during boss fights!

Great game, I actually bought a 3DS because of this game, having not owned a handheld since the GB. There is so much subtle humor in this game. Things like the imps masks actually being Hana-Fuda cards, which gave me a good chuckle when I noticed it. I hope this Okamiden sells well, it deserves to be a huge success.