Better than S-E's estimations of "everything will sell ever."

Sounds like you guys could use some more FREEDOMS over in Europe.

@Ndayday Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I still read this as Revelaitons, can't nor want to help it.

@PORYGON Hah, well you could always not pay Nook, although I don't know whether owning a house "triggers" other events.

I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE TOM

@SegaGamer93 Nope, you're made mayor the second you arrive.

@grimbldoo No matter when the timeline was created, Nintendo officially recognizes one. Several, in fact!

@ACK: I don't have a problem if you, or any other reader, aren't pleased with my analysis, but to have someone seemingly question whether I even performed the basic task required to remotely qualify for tackling the preview in the first place is, frankly, ridiculous. That wasn't directed at you either.

Well, it's not like there isn't a problem, because I want to be thorough and inclusive for the benefit of those not fortunate enough to have had access to that event yesterday. Having an opinion isn't a problem.

As far as the write-up goes, the demo was just the one dungeon and frankly doesn't feel very illustrative of the final game, so I wasn't prepared to toot the horn or sound the alarm on whether the game is on the right path or not. Previews are weird like that, especially if, like here, this is the first time anyone outside of Nintendo got their hands on the game. To me, it felt an awful lot like a standard top-down Zelda game, which I feel I made clear towards the end.

Perhaps it was a mistake but I wrote this with the assumption that the reader would already have some familiarity with LttP, or a 2D Zelda in general, because a lot of tropes carry over into this one, hence why I didn't go into great detail on that stuff. The dungeon had a big emphasis on verticality, which fits in with the first game's design. Other than that the dungeon didn't stand out very much — enemies and encounters were standard and a bit dull, all seen in LttP. Even the boss was a recycled standard Zelda-style boss.

My impression was that there seemed to be three things Nintendo wanted to actually show off with this demo, so that's what I wanted to focus on:

• It's a 2D Zelda that kinda looks like LttP, which, yes, it totally is and does.
• Link can turn into a hieroglyph and walk across the wall. I mention that the sample puzzles were simplistic but proved that the concept has promise.
• Verticality will be emphasized in the stage design. I climbed a ten-story tower. I think they nailed that one.

@Dark-Link73 Are you implying that I didn't actually play the game?

Maximum Velocity, go Martin!

Play Maximum Velocity! It's great!

I was so hyped for this at the time and am super excited to see this emerge. Crazy to think it's been 12 years since it got canned.

@FiveDigitLP The Ultimate Edition includes all the DLC from the other platforms, and among that is the Classic Suit — i.e. the Raimi suit — so you don't have to play with the new design if you really loathe it.

@RetrogamerFan It's $40 new, if that makes a difference.

@CoffeeWithGames If you mainline through the story it'll take like 8 hours or less.

@TheRavingTimes haha yeah my initial approach was pretty terrible, but I've since beat it using a sinolar tactic.

originally I figured since my team was mostly overpowering I could fight on two fronts, but that's a generally terrible idea unless your weakest unit is able to slaughter all opposition. Which mine wasn't (I thought it might be a good opportunity to grind).

I kept everyone together, recruited Severa and knocked it out. <3 Lucina.

Interesting how a plan like that would've backfired. I'm curious how February's numbers will stack up in comparison — given the dearth of new software, I wouldn't expect any movement until March numbers come in.

Also, this is the second time I've seen that show referenced today, which I had never heard of before being not-British. First was this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-21654930

Yeah that was fun! GG GG GG

Haha thanks! Pulled one out as Shy Guy on the Shy Guy stage, woo.

I'm panda.

@Syntax Nope, lost pretty badly!

I'm ready to lose badly. Let's do this!

Woo! Woo? Woo.

And the award for Best Avatar goes to Nintenzo.

Demos all around! I'll be yanking that AC DLC too so I'm set.

Not too keen on spending $30 to complete this DLC saga but as long as it's entertaining I'll give it a shot. Hopefully this first chapter is good!

I missed these somehow so I'm kindaaaaa excited.

I played through USM within the past 6 months, I can vouch that it's held up reasonably well apart from all the chase missions which shouldn't exist ever.

@Tech101 I haven't jumped back in since I wrote the blurb for the piece but I like it quite a bit. It's quirky and showing its age just a teensy bit but im excited to play more. Playing with a WaveBird makes me nervous about Dark Moon, though; it seems like the C-stick is being replaced with gyro controls to trap ghosts, which I think sounds not so fun.

I'm concerned that waving the 3DS around will affect the stereoscopic part and that happens to be one of the things I'm excited about for Dark Moon. The mansion and camera angles seem perfect for a diorama-style presentation, like what worked greatly in Sticker Star's favor, so the thought of having to sacrifice that for gimmicky motion controls sounds like a bad deal. Not too long to find out though!

@theblackdragon I used no less than three save slots for various reasons, so yeah there's plenty of room to share.

@ShinRPGfan4657 Nah, although the timing is kinda funny. Embargo was up today and we're very punctual.

@ultraraichu We play it year-round in my household, it's loads of fun.

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope y'all get quality family/freind time today if that!s what you're into.

@gingerbeardman There are no pointer controls.

@ajmetz Flat, practically non-existent. There's really little reason to turn it on.

Stupid deadlines.

I'll be diving into the Black Ops II double XP weekend and playing 007 Legends for review, and then hopefully trick some people into playing more Nintendo Land with me.

who watches the watchmen?

So a game that attempts accessibility is automatically bad? Is that what you're saying?

@DrMonk Holding down L brings up the weapon wheel menu where you can assign weapons to the D-Pad, if that's what you mean.

@Linkstrikesback That kind of information is typically found in the Game Overview side bar.

@Bluesummer yer face is a joke

I don't have cable so all these video apps are great for me, and I'm super psyched about TVii actually. Also love how I can control my TV input, channel and volume with the GamePad. Suck it, smartglass!

@DarkCoolEdge In English the expression is "house full of cards" but otherwise exactly the same.

I see that we're getting a little off-topic here; Batman is all well and good as conversation but more appropriate in the Dark Knight Rises forum thread. Pretty please (try to) stick with the article at hand!

high five

@FiveDigitLP There was a cut that didn't have so many plot holes and absurd events? Dammit.

@James To be fair, Rises was kind of a letdown.

@Sony_70 When we conducted the interview neither we nor they had any idea what the shop was going to look like.

"I hope you like toads"

YEP

@TeeJay No, it has some real arbitrary and obtuse puzzle design, which is far more of a blight.