So long as NintendoLife is around, Nintendo's doom-level will remain minimal.

Fantastic. And I want that stylish shirt.

@ChunkyDroid

Indeed, the songbook is crucial. I wish they'd partner with a classic Karaoke company like SunFly and put up their entire backlog online, perhaps even allowing an all-access pass for a single evening at a fixed price, for when you're hosting a party.

It's criminal that such a thing doesn't exist, and I personally despise games like SingStar that too often leave in the original vocals or only partly remove them (though that got a little better in later versions); real karaoke demands reproductions of the original songs without a trace of the vocals, else it's just lazily singing along to the radio.

Shattered Memories was fantastic. If time permitted, I would gladly play through it again this year.

This article is darn cute.

I love this game and am unashamed.

These have been great fun, and I'll gladly buy more.

However, I'd also like to see DLC levels that aren't rush based, a bit more like the excellent eReader levels for SMA4. I love the Coin Rush mode in general, but it's not the best way to experience new Mario content; for me it's more of a second run kind of thing.

It's a wonderful game. I'm saddened a bit that the Galaxy series (particularly in the sequel) has all but abandoned the massive, free-roaming "playground" areas you get in Sunshine. Trying to reach the top of a complex structure is one of the original joys of 3D Mario games as first established in Mario64, but now it has taken a back seat to linearity.

I particularly love the way Sunshine never worries about hurrying you along to the next goal, and if anything encourages the opposite. Every stage is filled with things to play with, so that I can spend quite a while on random tasks and exploration before even thinking about the next Shine. The blue coins, much maligned, are just a reward for finding hidden nooks and reaching difficult places; if you don't worry about collecting all of them (and I never did), they make the exploration a bit more fun.

So... retro visuals, but without the wonderful design of something like XScape.

Excellent, excellent. Now bring on that sequel, Miyamoto.

To the haters: you're missing out.

I'd prefer to see more of a hybrid of "pure" code writing and the more rapid management of triggers and actions that you can get out of something like WarioWare DIY. I'd love a game that functions like DIY on the user end but also lets you drop into code in order to script your own custom events, actions, etc.

Curses, I forgot to call in sick this morning.

I didn't make this, but it sure is beautiful. I'd buy it immediately.

I won't rank or order Wario Land games because they're all too good to be subjected to even that minor potential insult. If it's a genuine Wario Land (ie., not Master of Disguise etc), just buy it immediately.

Perfect, I've had this one on my to-buy list for ages.

^ Actual cardboard box that plays Mario

Doesn't matter, has Kirby.

@Wheels2050

Agreed. Reading these searches makes me sad for the state of internet literacy. Given how crucial searching online has become in our daily lives, I'd have expected a little better understanding of how search engines work. If you just type in questions and hit enter, you're doing it wrong. By now all schools should probably be teaching a basic understanding of how content online operates.

@RR529
Thanks for that info. It's strange that the trailer has those severe 3D issues, but good to hear that they aren't reflected in the actual game.

"Pit stop"

No joke: I spotted this article's tagline on the front page, laughed, and said to myself, "Oh, maybe I was wrong about Newton's departure meaning the end of great taglines." Then I came here and saw the author. Dang you, Newton!

The 3D effect on the trailer was downright broken. Many visual elements were out of sync between eyes and various UI bits were lodged deeper than their background, causing a heck of an uncomfortable mess to stare at. I'd recommend anyone at least watch the trailer before jumping on board... a smooth 3D effect matters to me, so there's no way I'd pick this one up.

@Birdo
Actually, upon further research, he did not marry Miyamoto's daughter. This adorable wedding pic does show that Miyamoto attended the ceremony, however, as did many Nintendo rank and file. But the daughter bit was evidently just a misread of the photo (the young Japanese woman and Miyamoto are not related).

@Vintage

Haha, perfect.

Leaving us?! That's what you think!

I just collected all your pro-SEGA remarks from the past several years into a devastatingly devious manilla envelope and mailed it over Nintendo of Europe so that you can stay with us forever and ever and ...

Hold on, I have a reply from NoE. "The cold war between Nintendo and SEGA is over. Mario and Sonic have been headlining sports games together for years. Please stop mailing us." AW CRAP. When did this happen?!

Fine, I guess I'm out of options. Enjoy NoE, as I'll try to enjoy the coming dearth of clever taglines. ; (

Why wouldn't they use the incredibly smooth control style of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories? Using the flashlight in that game was pure joy.

Anyhow, I need this one, NoA.

@19Robb92

Agreed, this is the kind of game I'm much more likely to purchase as a download, since it would then always be on my menu for a quick song. Switching out carts for games like this one is just a little more annoying than necessary.

Some people don't seem to understand the trade-offs inherent in portable device design.

Perhaps you're looking on the right side, below the face buttons, and thinking "why not add another slider in all that empty space?" If that's your logic, you are terribly wrong about the hardware. That space is where the battery sits, filling the right side. Look up teardowns of the original 3DS to get an idea.

They can't just glue a circle pad to the front; it would eat up the entire square region below it, just as the one on the left does (again, look at teardowns). To incorporate the CPP on the XL, they'd have had to do one or both of the following:

(1) much smaller battery, which would greatly impact the system given that these giant screens are surely power hungry
(2) thicker body, which would hurt the design of the system and would look clunky to most consumers

I'm not even talking about the shoulder buttons; those are the trade-offs for a new circle pad alone.

It makes sense, more or less. They don't want to give the Monster Hunter crowd or the very few other CPP devotees an excuse not to upgrade to the larger unit, so once again they're quietly releasing an add-on to a few retailers for that niche crowd. But once again, its complete absence from promotional materials and from the Nintendo Direct announcement of the XL sends a clear signal that the CPP is a niche device, an obligatory gesture.

Nintendo's quality control is unrivaled.

'tis sad that the Next Generation funding goal was not reached. :/

Games with a "deep" 3D effect (like Zelda) should look amazing on this thing.

Good to see that they still remember the RPG part, even if they continue to ignore it.

Meh... constantly obsessing over the demands of fans (and investors) is the path to the dark side of mediocrity. Nintendo is best when they do exactly what their own creative members are passionate about, not what they're asked to do by outside parties.

I would be quite satisfied on a deserted island with just Mario Sunshine and Wii Sports Resort... and a TV and a power source. Those are such wonderful, joyful summer games.

@GreenDream

Ha... took me a minute to recognize the balance board there.

@TheDarkness

"GB games already look bad, they will look 90% worse on the XL."

Um... we're talking about the unscaled mode, which is pixel-accurate. Using that mode on the XL model will look beautiful, because the small frame (with subtle 3D effect that I adore) will be close to the size of an actual GB on the larger screen.

@MarkyVigoroth

I agree that Miyamoto wasn't lying. This is not a redesign, it's just an alternative model. I don't know why anyone would even care about this thing unless it appeals to you directly; if you don't want it bigger, keep using the original. Neither is obsolete, they're just options.

lol_sega.gif

The CPP is dead, or at least resigned to niche status. If you couldn't read the writing on the wall before, it's time to pay attention:

• Out of all the upcoming 3DS games shown at e3 and on the Nintendo Direct (both 1st and 3rd party), there's only 1 single game (KH) that even supports the CPP, but still doesn't require it and hasn't even featured it in any promotional materials. Also note that KH was in development for ages, so it likely picked up CPP support back when the device was new and there was still a possibility of it being more widely adopted; I seriously doubt that a newly developed game from the same studio would even look at the CPP today.
• The device is still a GameStop exclusive. If Nintendo cared about the device or wanted it to be prominent in any way, they'd never restrict it to one retailer like that.
• Their messaging has been consistent from Miyamoto and others: we don't see dual analogue as appropriate to this system.
• If any 3DS model were to have 2 analog sliders, it surely would have been the XL. Now that it's out and doesn't have them, there will certainly never be a dual analog 3DS. Maybe the successor to this system (ie. 3DS2 / 4DS / GameBoy9000) will have it, but no 3DS ever will.

I bet the unscaled 3D-mode for classic Gameboy games will look amazing on this thing. I'm tempted just for that one possibility.

Looks fantastic. I always wanted a mode that would rank players based on a mixture of speedrun time and coins collected, so that you have to be strategic on both fronts rather than just rushing through.

Well well well. I missed Nintendo's thing last night and now I see this.

So when will all the reporters and commenter who insisted a dual-analog model was "inevitable" step up and admit they were horribly wrong? If even the XL model doesn't feature two sliders, you can rest assured that no 3DS ever will.

Just give me Mario Sunshine 2 and we'll call it even. I ain't even mad about analog triggers if they give me a proper sequel. Put Koizumi on it at once.

@Miss_Birdo

Ah, I didn't see that you beat me to the topic of analog buttons.

But even though the Classic Controller might be an option, as some have pointed out, that still means we won't be able to play these game directly on the gamepad, which is disappointing. I'd like a little portable GC in my living room on that screen. I suppose it won't be happening.

As I understand it, there's a big technical problem here that might be a tragic oversight by Nintendo: according to current reports, the Wii U's gamepad and Pro controller do not feature analog shoulder buttons. That would mean breaking key functionality on many GC titles, including my personal favorite, Mario Sunshine.

This problem has me concerned.

I thought the demo was truly awful... but perhaps it's just not my thing.

"But what we’re meant to be doing is bringing fun to the world."

Perfectly stated. Ideas for gaming should take more inspiration from the world of toys, less from the world of action movies. Miyamoto still understands this, even while the rest of the industry keeps losing its focus.

I just hope there isn't too much confusion over Motion Plus this generation. As far as I can tell, parts of NintendoLand require it (the Zelda game at the very least), and there may be quite a few people out there who try to use their classic Wii Remote to no avail.

I'm hoping that this great idea of a "basic" model (no Wiimotes, sensor bar, etc) comes to fruition given the fact that so many consumers already own Wii remotes and peripherals. Nearly everyone on the planet has these items by now.

Iwata gave me a bit of hope in his Analyst Q&A:

"There are 190 million Wii Remotes out in the marketplace around the world. As Reggie pointed out in our presentation at E3 yesterday, there are also quite a large number of Wii Balance Boards. We look at both of those as important assets that we would like to continue to leverage."