Welcome to the New Look Nintendo Life!

...and the beginning of a new one!

"Q: I hate this change! Why have you ruined my favourite site?"

Taken the words right out of my mouth.

People fear change, but change is inevitable.

I'm pleased. Now I only need one bookmark!

I hate this change! Why have you ruined my favourite site?

Oh, right. You already said why.
The 'site looks pretty snazzy, but it'll just take some getting used to.
RIP WiiWareWorld

One more question: what does this mean for the YouTube channels? Is WiiWareWorld officially dead?

RIP WiiWareWorld

I second that. Oh and RIP VC-Reviews as well.

i like this the tab system is really nice and visually appealing D:

Makes sense. Now to get rid of a couple bookmarks

Oh well, that's a shame, another decent site (www) merged and turned into the corporate ugly, rounded-edges blog look. Was hoping the date is relevant to this article but somehow doubt it.

looks great and more efficent i 4 1 welcome the change

Oh well, that's a shame, another decent site (www) merged and turned into the corporate ugly, rounded-edges blog look.

We've got to pay for our Ferraris and Penthouse apartments, now don't we?

Looks great! Like the new site.

Not sure about the design but I never liked when Wii-ware split off from VC reviews, so sticking everything back together is a good idea.

Nice work guys! It really makes so much more sense to do it this way. Looking forward to being able to waste my time better with more content

The one thing I don't like is the coming soon and out now lists, which take up a lot more space than before.

One question though guys: what is the exact difference between the Retro and Virtual Console sections?

Retro will include all classic Nintendo systems and games, regardless of whether or not they've been released on the Virtual Console or not. You might have noticed that the Banjo Kazooie review just went live a short while ago.

Plus we have some other retro goodies coming soon as well.

Hey dudes, I'm new here. What's this site about?

@Corbie: I did notice it, but I thought I'd better check. Is the retro page the new space for your own Retro Rated 'site, or is it something completely different? Also: the Banjo review is also posted in the Virtual Console section, despite not being out yet on the system. Silly you.

@Chicken Brutus: Don't you work for these guys xD - anyways: try looking here.

VC/WWW mesh into this NL is a nice combo. A little fancy lookin but not bad. O, in coming soon and out now list doesn't have a filter for US/EU. Unless I overlooked it. I like to see what we don't have and EU does and vica versa.

Well for the time being, Retro is as close as we'll get to Retro-Rated. That's been put on hold as we've been working on this new site fusion. Who knows what will become of it someday. But don't you worry, we'll be putting plenty of new content up in the Retro section that should keep you plenty busy in the meantime.

I don't like the name of the site much, but I come here for the content so having it all merged up is great! Designs are bigger and fill my screen more. Although I miss the blue, white from WWW, change is always healthy.

It has became a really awesome site! @[email protected]

In general, I don´t mind the new design.

But Banjo Kazooie had me confused. Why is the review posted in the Virtuual Console section when the game has not been released (and probably never will be) on VC? I suppose it should belong to the retro- part of the site instead.

As long as you don´t lose focus on the VC / WiiWare coverage I´m pleased with the redesign

Q: OK guys, very funny. This is an April Fool's joke, right?

You wish!

If it were, it'd be the most elaborate AF joke I've ever seen.

Q: OK guys, very funny. This is an April Fool's joke, right?

You wish!
I was actualy going to ask this. WHy did you choose to do it today of all days then? I thought it was gonna go up when the DSi cam out in Europe? Or is that today? (Or IS IT? The most elaborate AF joke ever-Europe doesn't really get the DSi before the US!)

@That Guy from Faxanadu: I said that. Stop copying me.

Yeah, was gonna ask exactly the same thing OB... people might think it was a joke heh...

what a poor choice of days to unveil the new design though!

I thought at first that it had to be an april fool's joke, but clicking around the site with the new layout and everything, there's no way you guys made all that new content and stuff just for an april fool's joke but if you did, you certainly will have tricked us all.

but anyway, I rather like the new layout. although I will miss the old vc reviews layout :[

Nice layout, also that search bar at the top of the page is excellent with suggests and mini-images (Is that some kind of AJAX technology or perhaps magic ) Anyway it works great. Keep up the good work!

Awesome, now I only have to go to one page, you guys did well!

So will all the comments still be here?

@mrPlow: I believe they call it the ancient art of wizardry - not "magic". And that was featured on all three of the sites before anyway.

@Dazza: Good thinking - if you'd have put the new site up tomorrow, people would've been too busy fretting over the fact that everything's different instead of looking at the new reviews. Will there even be any new games for Australia tomorrow anyway? I'd have thought that games would still get released on the Friday, like the rest of Europe, but I suppose that it's anyones guess really.
Also, your baby is a joke... right?

@Toddr: Yarp.

Happy Birthday Emma! And yes, all comments are still here.

@ BahamutZERO

So, I guess you were wrong about how they were going to do this.

I guess I'm the conservative type, as I'm also "shocked" by the changes. I hate change when the old ways were so good and happy.
But let me give it to you guys, it makes total sense for this to happen, and in the end, it does make everything easier and better.
Give me a few days, and I should be fine too.

Great work on the new site Bossman! Give yourself a biscuit, or two!

@reekon Yeah, all new interfaces will take a little while to get used to, but NL has been evolving for over 3 years now and it's a format that works well IMHO.

Also, don't forget to hook up the old RSS so the news and reviews come to you... although the comment RSS will have gone crazy when I am home tomorrow!

Not so sure about this...

You've got to love the two ads at the top of the page.

Corbie: "We've got to pay for our Ferraris and Penthouse apartments, now don't we?"
True, true, I mean whatever works really, I'm just not a fan of that whole Windows XP rounded edges look really. Still the same content, perhaps even better, so whatever. And tbh I wasn't even aware there was a sister DS site anyway, so that's good, although I have zero interest in DSi but the VC bit interests me.

Provided a portion of this whole redesign doesn't turn into some elaborate April Fool's Joke (I trust not a single website on this day for anything, albeit this update would turn out to be quite the extravagant joke)... I like it. It's a solid redesign and the tab system works very nicely. Well done. ^_

Aww, the VC-R aesthetic was so much better cries

Looks amazing.

It all looks too generic for my liking and for that reason alone I think you'll turn off future internet surfers. To be honest I'd might as well just go to ign or one of the countless others now. You've lost the simple charm that you had before.

WTF? What have you done with my beloved WiiWare World and Virtual Console Reviews?!?

Don’t panic.

Don't tell me not to panic! I'm panicking! I'm panicking! huff huff wheeze I hate this change! Why have you ruined my favourite site?

Sorry you feel that way, but sometimes change has to happen for things to get better.

Stop reading my mind! I don'ts likes it! I don'ts likes it! I'm going to curl up into the fetal position and suck my thumb until I awaken from this bad dream!

There's no telling where that thumb of yours has been.

Stop it!

/me runs off screaming...

(Congrats on the upgrade! Jerks. You've had your fun. Now change it back! Change it back! Arrrggghhh!! )

@Luigi La Bouncy, Well, we've still got the by the gamers for the gamers vibe that IGN don't have, and the sites a lot clearer than the IGN mess. I love the integration; it means more opportunity to natter on about geeky things!

Awesome site guys!

I actually like the change. I've been visiting nintendo life for a while now. I dont see what the problem is

EXCEPT for the annoying ads "her IQ is 105 can you beat that?"
.......who cares?!?!? I understand that advertising on websites is important, but please have some intelligent ads. Ads for more games or something relevant to the site. I don't think many gamers care if they are smarter than Brittany Spears.

"...it didn’t make sense to have three different sites - all focusing on Nintendo - running separately. By fusing them together we will create a strong base from which to expand even further..."

So you think putting all your eggs in one basket is a stronger approach?

...I approve the change. A bit startled for a second, but I approve.

Whoa. Way to confuse me guy! Never mess with a guys head when he just gets up.

I loved some of the questions in the article...Funny stuff.

Well I guess I've got to go explore this place.

@Dazza - Happybirthday to Emma.

Edited-The Featured reviews title box has it's words mixed together. Anyone eles see this? I'm using my Wii to view this.

I love it - looks great!

Awesome. I had a feeling you guys would do this and I must say it was well worth waiting for.

Looked odd at first sight, but i'm starting to like it

Good work!

This makes it so much easier to stay updated on both VC & WiiWare news Especially when thinking about all the upcoming stuff on DSiWare!

Changes my Home-page settings

@jangonov, sometimes the advertising doesn't always fit in with what each individual is looking for - I find that from time to time. But it is what funds the site and keeps up moving onwards.

@Ian Daemon, I certainly think so: risk and reward. By pooling our resources together we are no longer a disjointed hodgepodge of staff members, we have become a well-oiled (in the non greek sense) machine. I can't really see any dissadvantages to bringing the sites together.

So that's why my RSS feeds went crazy with 20 new updates. Well it'll be nice to converge it into one. I like the change! At least I'm not alone in thinking this was this was an April Fools Joke.

This is a lot better than the crap the Fanboy sites turned into. I still don't like the name "Nintendo Life" though...

I have to say I like how VC-R and WWW are now just a TAB away.

@Popyman, it grows on you, like something that grows really well

I do like it better, although it doesn't really affect me that much since I mostly just use RSS feeds to keep up with VC/wiiware stuff anyway

which reminds me, I have to change the rss feeds on my other computer...

I always liked the WWW colors, but i was starting to shift over to NL anyway. i welcome the change and the ease of navigation

Edit: if this was an April Fool's joke, it would have been great

I had to retype the address into the browser a couple times, thinking I had gone to a different site.
The redesign and merger looks great to me.

Sweet!

@jangonov - <pedantic>Doesn't it claim that Brenda Song's IQ is over 120 or something? 105 would be easy for most visitors to beat.</pedantic><cynical>Of course, it's a scam ad anyway, so it really doesn't matter what it says.</cynical><evil>Not that anything should stop you from clicking on it. If they want to give money to the website-formerly-known-as-WiiWare-World so you can laugh at their site, more power to 'em! </evil>

Glad everythings unified and both of the site's cast survived. Wouldn't be the same without them . The only thing I don't like is the fact I still can't use my hotmail account on here! .

Now I hope this ain't an April Fools prank but I doubt it since you guys are all here to enjoy this miraculous change!

I'm not that big of a fan of this new look. Give me VCR and WWW back!

Man I hate change....seems like every time I go to my favorite web sites they have changed something....if it is not broke......

Hrmmm...

It's also weird to see WWW and VC-R people together... Some of us just stuck to one site or the other...
~ Come on, people now... Smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another right now... ~

The first two comments in this article reminded me of the Death Arcana...

Anyways, I actually like this! There is no more need for a DSi Ware/Virtual Handheld World!

This better not be an April 1st joke! This is AWESOME! And there's a forum! I feel like a kid with a brand-new playground!

Ohhhh, I really did think it was an April Fool's Day joke when I typed in my favorite web site's address and was greeted with a splash of new colors! It's going to take me a bit to get used to the new design, but it's already starting to grow on me. Good job guys! ^_

I really like this new design. Thanks to everyone for their hard work to make this happen. This will really open us all up to an even bigger crowd for even better topics and responses. I do have a question. Who are all the moderators? Is there a place to find all the names of who does what? Thanks again.

This does look pretty slick. I like it so far.

LOL, "new talented writers" — by merging with one of the most poorly written sites on the 'net. This is a great prank idea guys.

Sniff goodbye Wiiware World and VC-Reviews...

Actually, after getting over the shock of the changes and sucking my thumb for a little while, I'm actually starting to think this is better than the old site(s). I no longer have to flip between 3 sites repeatedly all the time, and don't have to see 3 related sites at the top of my Firefox search history all the time.

It also looks a lot more professional than VC-Reviews. I hope it's actually real.
But if it's is in fact an April Fool's joke, that just confirms that you guys have far too much time on your hands.

@Dazza. She's adorable! Tell her I said happy birthday!

How do we read the most recent messages of news, reviews and games like before?

Thumbs up on the change!

@greyelephant, check the About Us page for a bit of information on who the mods are (essentailly, it's all us writers).

@Jogurt the Yogurt, Criticism is good to hear, if it's constructive.

@Bass X0, Our RSS feeds can be used to view the latest content.

I am liking the new site design. At first, i thought it was an april fools joke but i'm glad it's not. It works quite well

i had to make sure i was in the right place i click back to google to make sure i had clicked on the right thing

Great job guys, the new site looks great!

Best summed up as:
"I know that there is pain. But you hold on for one more day and break free the chains. Yeah I know that there is pain but you hold on for one more day and you break free, break from the chains..."

I like the new site too. You's obviously worked hard on it and it's appreciated. Thumbs up!

I love the combined site, the navigation is a lot easier and it looks really nice. Good job guys, though I will miss the stand alone sites too.

Never thought you'd actually combine all 3 sites. I clicked on WiiWare World in my favs and it came up here and I thought I accidentally clicked NintendoLife XD

It's great. Just better not be an april fools joke. Just kidding, this is alot of work to go through just to trick your loyal fans .... right?

I'd caution those that are all broken up and cynical about the new look. It's easy to assume that there was some towering skyscraper with a Nintendolife logo on top where top executives in suits bought up the tiny struggling sites of WWW and VC Reviews run by guys in their basements and forced them and their families into submission, but it's really a lot simpler than that as far as I know and I think Damien was pretty clear about it. The sites had already been working together and no one is getting rich at anyones' expense. Knowing this and seeing how clean and easy it all is to use is exciting. I think it looks fantastic and I'm glad it's done. (sure I have a place in my heart for the old WWW, too, but it was a pretty simple website folks, lets keep our pants on about it). Thanks everyone, I love it here. Now I'll never get anything done.

Hey, nice job ya did there. Place looks good.

2 thumbs up. I couldn't care less about the DS and now I don't have to sift through it to find wiiware info. good job

I am fairly impressed with the web design of this site. I'm looking forward to reading more various Nintendo news. Now, any news on Zombies Ate My Neighbors? Because they're acting weird lately...

@Nanaki: Yeah, I've provided detailed constructive criticism to the staff of VCR and WWW in the past. I kept the responses they sent me.

But as for the retained NintendoLife content, if I have any constructive criticism, it's simply that I'd like to see news blog posts and reviews be proofread before they're posted.

Sorry if my first comment came off as rude. I legitimately thought this merger was a joke.

I think its a great idea. No more website flipping!

takes some getting used to but it works

As far as I know, this all started from VC-reviews; a place where you could find out what games were good on the Virtual Console and which were best avoided, wriiten by independent gamers.

Now it has come to this. And I'm sad

why is the DSiware section pink btw lol

Because pink is pretty!

Despite the fact that I'll mainly be posting in the DSiWare section, I'd like to point out that I did NOT choose the color scheme.

doesnt make much of a differance 2 me, i still get 2 keep this pepper image and now the forums are easier 2 get 2, and there is only one site!

I do like the colour schemes in the different sections, especially the DS one as Green's my favourite colour

@Chicken Brutus
It's ok, No one's judging you (In my house anyway)

"pink is pretty!"
Reminds me of a song i've heard before.

Don't listen to Chicken Brutus. He pushed the hardest for the pink. In fact, he wanted it to have little white polka dots all over it but we managed to talk him out of it.

It loses so much without the white polka dots. I threatened to quit!

Great, now that its one site I have like 50000 comments to read. I liked WWW better.

Plus, I thought you said this would never happen due to traffic stares at Chicken

Next, Dazza got a MadWorld avatar! Perhaps I shall change mine for the new change

And good ol' Corbie skeletons back

Also, Im with Chicken. PINK FTW!!!

Awww, my avatar didnt change

Why? It was epic ;(

@Dazza: Thanks. How do you like my new avatar

Wikipedia will be annoyed since they quoted wiiware-world article a bunch. Will they have to change all that? lol.
Anyway, a late happy birthday to Emma!

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
What have you done?! JK! Thats what I get for waking up late on April Fools day. I'm wondering what surprises await us next week since we got the SD card play/Arcade console update last week and a new and improved Nintendo Life website this week. Time for Earthbound! Combining these sites together into one all powerful entity makes Nintendo Life the ultimate site for all things Nintendo!

Good idea. i like it all on one website!

Oi, can't you get a better default icon?

Just yesterday I was wondering, "Why don't vc-reviews, wiiware-world, and nintendo life merge? Wouldn't that make more sense than having 3 sites?" and bam here we are today. Very cool. Thanks.

Please tell me this is some kind of elaborate April Fools' joke.

Change it back. Now.

(I really hope this is an April Fool's Day joke, and if it isn't....WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO CHANGE TODAY? STOP MESSING WITH MY MIND!)

Thats a good point actually. WiiWare World and Corbie got plugged in the Official Nintendo Magazine by 2d Boy. And now people won't even be able to find WiiWare World cos it doesn't exist anymore.

I copy that Tides. I want my good ol' vc-reviews back. And this BETTER be an April Fools Joke.

While we did put the site up to totally blow your minds today, it is NOT an April Fools Joke, I assure you.

Normally I'm not fond of change, but this I don't mind. Better start refamiliarizing myself with the site.

"People won't be able to find Wiiware World cos it doesn't exist anymore."

Click on that tab at the top of the page that says "Wiiware".

And also, the entire staff and all the virtual console news remains intact, with some new members coming, so there's really nothing to worry about.

@Corbie. Finally got sick of that 'ol witch hat, huh?

at least i can see the hot forum topics again

Relax guys, when we wake up tomorrow we will see that everything is back like it used to be, they're messing with our heads.. O_o

Anyway, like all changes it takes a while to get used to but I come here for the content and as it hasn't changed this is a good thing.

@Jogurt the Yogurt,
Yeah, duly taken there. Proof reading is something that essential (and efforts are being made on that front). No worries about things taken as offense - I honestly do appreciate feeddback, and to know where things go wrong in the reviews is vitally important for making improvements.

Jeez, I go to a rugby match and another 50 posts have passed by ><'

Glad to see that the entire staff is still intact. Last thing I wanted to see is them pull an EGM/1UP.com on the staff here. Now that would have been a terrible April Fools gag. I like the reviews here because they're honest and unbiased so I will continue to support Nintendo Life for as long as they are around!

That sucks. I'm gonna miss vc-reviews.com. At least vc-forums is still alive.

I used to be a member of vc reviews and Wiiware world a while back but I forgot my login stuff. Oh well I still continued to go there, this place looks nice to me.

Looks good. Good job, guys.

This website looks so sleek and well designed! Thanks for the improvements!

Great job. It's nice to only have one bookmark lol.
It also feels good to see the sites evolve from the beginning.
I accidentally found VC Reviews a couple years ago, and then I was with WWW since the beginning of that. Love them both as simple sites, and it's kinda nice to see the evolution into something new. Thanks guys, and keep up the great work.

My beloved VCR has been taken over by IGN. Oh well.

I still see Air Zonk for Corbie. I've been on here for awhile I might finally get an avatar soon to go with the change. I was also wondering about the star thing too when new releases are out or coming. Also, Europe needs a Hanabi Festival, so hopefully tomarrow or Friday it will happen.

Wicked change, guys!

Hi guys. Couldn't find an introduction thread, so I'll post here:

I'm a LONG time reader of Virtual Console Reviews (and I mean a LONG time - long before The Virtual Console Archive had its name changed), reader of WiiWare World since its launch, a reader of Nintendo Life ever since sometime last year when I noticed the name at the bottom of the VC-Reviews page.

My name is XD375 and I'm a fan of retro gaming and the like.

I've communicated with the staff through email a couple times about news and stuff, and I always wanted to join this community. I recognize all the regulars as I always read the news comments as well as many threads, so I already have respect for [most of] you. -_^

Anyway, this change is as good a time as ever to jump into the mix. There's been plenty of times when I've wanted to comment and I'm glad I'll become part of one of my favourite communities on the 'net.

I'm a major dweeb (look at my display pic, I'm wearing safety goggles and eating a GoldenEye cartridge) but I love it.

I always wondered why all three sites didn't act as one - it makes sense and I don't have to view three different sites, and I happen to get on this site at least once every two minutes (more realistically, every half hour to an hour) as the Virtual Console is my favourite part of next-gen gaming.

Anyway, I hope to be able to hang out with you guys and stuff, as you are among the coolest on the 'net.

~Shane :]

YAY now i won't have to open 3 tabs everyday to see my Nintendo news

Wow, the site looks awesome! Good job!

Nice job on the new site guys!
I was lucky to find this, since I usually type in vc-reviews to seeing any info about the VC, but having multiple fraternities under one roof isn't bad (usually).

Well we certainly want to return the thanks to all of the readers who've supported the sites over the years. You guys make it all worthwhile and then some. We hope everyone will continue to be a part of the site for years to come. It should be an interesting trip.

Whoah! I love the new site! It's awesome having everything all in one place and it looks great. I'll miss the old sites but I think the real April Fool's joke would be if you only merged the sites for one day.

I was wondering if you guys would do this. This is now the biggest Nintendo site I care about ( so that throws IGN of right there. ). Nice work guys.

I may get use to this but VCR was better.If you are going to change things and merge others then fine.But make a different layout please don't make it anything like IGN or bigger media sites.Make the look and that stuff different.

As for me i won't be missing anything big from Nintendo i have Press Room access on Nintendo's Press Room and can get Non VC Stuff when i need it.

But hearing what Europe and Japan gets on the VC on different days is another story as they'd say in Sandlot and Sandlot 2 as the case maybe.

Not bad... but I'm really gonna miss the old sites , still I'm happy that I don't need to look all over the Dsiware news to get to a single wiiware new .
What I really don't like about this new site is that the text doesn't fit perfectly on my wii any more, so now I have zoom out and get closer to my tv, or zoom in and constantly move the page left and right with the pad, what can I say, I'm a lazy person , but really keep the site as wii friendly as you can, pleaaaase.
All and all, it looks like a cool new site, keep on the good reviews, information and articles and all the sites together will be as great as ever.

I liked the old sites and all, but this looks like a nice new Web site.

I approve. Good thing too, otherwise you would have been forced to change it back.

I wish they didn't change the site to nintendolife. The redesign is nice but now I can't go on vc-reviews anymore at work because the name nintendo is in the sites name. All the other sites like gamefaqs and ign are banned, but vc-reviews was so obscure that it never was banned.

well this sucks

WOO HOO I love this new site and lay out and such. I look forward to checking out this site 20 times a day for years to come. VC-R and WWW will be missed, but I'm sure everyone will grow to love this site who dont like the new layout and such. I know I don't post much, but seeing as everyone is in an avatar changing frenzy I may change mine as well for all the comment readers to enjoy... hehe. I love the site folks, keep up the good work!

I like the design of the new website. It's all clearly arranged.

But there is still one thing I have to criticize. When going to:
WiiWare => Media => Videos
all Videos are displayed, including Nintendo DS and Wii, and not only those related to WiiWare. So I quickly had to shut my eyes. Can you put a filter on it?

loving the the new site

You know what this site is still missing? Me as a reviewer! (Wink wink)

You know what this site is still missing?

The simple design that attracted people when the site originally started?

I've just been checking out your Wii games section and no offence guys but I don't think you've rated the games too well. I mean 9 out of 10 for games like Mercury Meltdown and Trauma Centre. I think most people would agree these games are no better than above average.

I don't plan to rely on your Wii game reviews as I do for your WiiWare reviews.

@Luigi La Bouncy, reviews are all subjective to opinion, which means that's not always something everyone agrees with. Personally, I say read the content of a review and see what the author has to say - then you can formulate your views on something a bit more substantial than score.

But if you just look at the bottom line, sneak a peek at the metacritic links on the side of the page to see what the general average press opinion is (in the two examples you provided, we didn't actually give it a far-off-the-mark score - certainly not an outlier in terms of the mean score). As I said, it all boils down to opinion, which is why we have comments - to invite discussions where people can articulate why they don't agree.

Also, the WiiWare reviewers do Wii reviews too

@Nanaki. So the score only represents the personal opinion of the reviewer, it does not reflect a consensus opinion of all you guys? Is this true for all reviews?

Ok, because I imagined that final scores would be run past the 'lords that be' before being posted. That would rule out the possibility of us fans being misled by extreme opinions and so on.

Also is there a way of checking latest comments for all games? Because I really liked this tool on WWW and VCR

@Luigi La Bouncy: In the ideal world that would be the case, but we do always make sure to play the games before doing the reviews so that our scores are justified and thought-out. We generally try to get the reviews out in close proximity to their release, and this means that most of the staff haven't played the game and are thus unable to contribute to the review – there’s simply too many games about for us all to play them.

Dazza is right though; there are sanity checks to make sure scores have not been given overzealously. We get beaten if we don't meet his standards

@XD375 - Welcome to Wiiware wor....um... Nintindo Life.

We get beaten if we don't meet his standards

Like if a game doesn't get 7/10?

Whoo. Thats better than average.

Oh no, now you've gone and angered him!

Its strange... I agree with all these new changes and it makes total total sense to me (enough to type it twice), But I just cant get used to it.
Better change it back just in case...
Ian Daemon was right (way way up there before I got bored of reading comments) you really are putting all your eggs in one basket. You know thats the quickest way to get an omlette... Luckily I love omlettes (nobody correct my speeling of omlette, Im too tired)

Omelette du fromage!!

The changes are nice I guess... but I liked the old one better. Then again I've never been one for change. It would have been nice to have been warned about these changes ahead of time.

Heck I gave out plenty of hints, even put the Nintendo Life Virtual Console logo on the four arcade VC release videos I made and no one caught that.

I LOVE IT.

I don't believe its the fact that there's been a merge or a name change that people are bothered about - its that the appearance of the site doesn't look as good as VC-Reviews or Wiiware World did.

If you changed everything you did but left the appearance as it was, nobody or very few people would have a problem. The new banner looks nasty and dull compared to the fun and colorful artwork from VC-Reviews.

You went with dark grey over a variety of color...

There were so many hints. BTW, Luigi, how can you not like the Trauma Center series?!

One of the main reason to integrate these sites was to have a common appearance and layout. That way everything remains consistent across all the various sections of the site now. Not only will that ultimately prove easier for the readers, it will also be easier for us to maintain that consistency as we add items to the site without having to constantly adapt to whatever section we're working on.

It looks great, but less ads please. LOL

Wow! The site looks really good! I used to only check vc-reviews once a week, because Nintendo only updates the vc library once a week, but I'll have to come back more often now.

• a pleased fan

^ What he said!

I have to agree with bass, I just don't like the look of this site compared to VCR.

Also, I think combining VCR and WWW would have been ok, as they are both about Nintendo downloads, but I'm not sure I like the idea of NintendoLife being mixed in. Virtual Console Reviews just had a better ring to the name I guess...

Hi there,

I will just say good job on what I’m sure was hard work; even more so because I would never change ‘what is’ like you have done myself, even if greater opportunities could be acquired.

For my part, I am not extremely sad, nor extremely happy at this news, only disappointed in fact. I am obviously not sure about what you went through or what you weighed to come to this decision, but to let go of a thought: I would have been happy enough with a humbler status, even if expanding made it easier to grasp at greater chances nearby. I agree somewhat with the “Luigi La Bouncy” user, albeit in a less acute sense. That clean simplicity is now unduly done away with. It may be too early to say this, but my firm belief is that things are becoming too big budget, and come across as “cold” (partly as a result of this), rather than small/reserved and “warm”. I cannot quite think of another way to put it.

Please do not become like other game websites, with their ‘up market’ reporting (journalism, I suppose), seemingly vast arrays of yucky commentators, and bamboozling boat-loads of bothersome ADVERTISEMENTS (a number that I’ve seen here already have nothing to do with games, unlike VirtualConsole Reviews).

I don’t know how much you can change now, but can you differentiate the Virtual Console from the rest of this website? Such as making a background/tab style option (just one example: I liked the original website’s random banners – Super Mario Kart, F-Zero, Megaman, Mario, etc.) to replicate VirtualConsole Reviews; and perhaps even offering other ‘retro’ backgrounds for members.

I’m sure that I am not the only one that feels what I’ve written, but since you are fixed on this change, I really hope that there could be compromises. For me, (and possible those who visit for the first time) the site, while NOT all bad, it does come across moreso as another busy, murky videogame website. Virtual Console Reviews was different, and as such, for my part, it drew me and helped me actually want to keep visiting.

And so I have chosen to speak up like this. If this isn’t the right place to put this, or no one sees (I hope I didn’t post it up too late..), I could write it again somewhere else, but I hope that the right folks see it either way. I apologize if I came across as impatient or ungrateful – and I am not naturally pessimistic – as I didn’t intend to be so.

P.S. Most of the capitalized words I used because I couldn't use italics.

I'd have to agree with Damo on this one. This site looks a lot more sleeker and more professional than the old VC-R. The old VC-R was minimalist and dated-looking.Though the old one felt a little more independent than the new one, and the Mean Machines artwork was pretty nice...

Omelette du Fromage!

lol, love the reference!

eh, my favorite part is the extra Advertisement. sell outs......well, we have to live with the new design. I liked the simplicity of the old version. oh well. It must hurt the creators feelings because they claim to have worked so so hard for months, and then to recieve more negative feedback than expected.

p.s.

The name is so lame.

@ charco - messege # 150
"my beloved VCR has been taken over by IGN."

hahaha, i thought the same thing.

Actually we've received a LOT less negative feedback than expected. In fact the response has been overwhelmingly positive. And the advertisements are a necessary evil as it takes money to run these sites. Quite a bit of money in fact, when all things are considered. But if you'd like to send us a hefty donation each month, we'll be happy to remove all advertisements immediately.

We hope everyone will at least give the new site a chance, as it's here to stay.

I click in my internet favorites on VC reviews... & after rubbing my eyes in dissbelief, I click it again to see this is real after all?! Why I never liked or visited NintendoLife before... because I always liked VC Reviews & WiiWare World being sperate sites!!!
It's not that you ruinined it for me... I just think everything is soo mushed together now!!! It may be cool, & it'll probably grow on me... but things won't be the same!!

And OH MY FREAKING GOD... OVER 200 COMMENTS... people people people... you have to go crazy over at most everything don't you; why not stop it for once!!!

I really don't mean to whine, but I now know why I don't like the new site. First off, I loved VCR because it specialized in Virtual Console news and reviews. For regular game news, I could go to IGN or Gamespot. I hate to sound mean, but this site just seems like a lower quality knock off of IGN. R.I.P. VC-Reviews

The Virtual Console section of the site still functions pretty much the same way VC-Reviews did and still specializes in VC news and reviews. You don't have to visit the other sections if you don't want to. Just bookmark the VC section.

Good thing you waited till April 2nd to post this update, LOL! I for one, actually think this is a good positive change, for three reasons:

#1: Hardly anyone from VC-reviews or Wiiware-World was even looking at the articles on Nintendo Life, judging by the relative lack of comments.

#2: DsiWare would have added yet another site for me to have to enter my login details whenever I use a public access computer terminal.

#3: They have now added a dedicated "Retro" thread

The only con to me, is that this whole time, I'd believed that VC-Forums was a subset of the VC-Reviews network??? I will still continue using VC-Forums.com regardless...

@Corbie: Whew! My fears are relieved - The ""Purple Dinosaur" avatar was just an April Fool's Joke

You mean you didn't like Barney??? I could always bring him back if you'd like.

Hrm.....

I'm going to have to opinionate on the side of what Bass X0 said in #192. I was hooked on VC Reviews pretty readily due to the look of the site and the group active there. The group may largely remain, but the death of the warm fuzzies I had for the VC Review site design took a little bit of my joy with it. It was a pleasant smaller site that still covered it's material well. I think I'll have to proceed to suck my thumb for a while longer.

@ Damo "I honestly don't know how you can say that WWW and VCR looked better than this site does now.":

Easy.............WWW and VCR looked better than this site does now. I can even say it three times fast.
Although not entirely sincerely, since I thought the VCR look was golden and the WWW was a bit cold. Alas, the Nintendo Life look feels even colder. I think professionality is in the quality, not the look. Even if the combo needed to happen (whether out of preference or necessity), you needn't adopt a sharp cold inhuman style to earn you cred as an elite/professional site. The content will attend to defining that.
(And don't knock a half decade old genius design there Damo, not if it's a crowd pleaser)

Oh well.......I'll sulk for a bit and peruse here and there. And then decide if too much of the beauty is gone.

And @Corbie #6's inevitible comment about the inevitability of change:
Indeed, change is inevitable..........we all gotta go sometime, but in some cases we can at least choose when (bad quote choice I suppose, since the follow up line is "Nobody chooses when...." ).

Change is neither bad nor good, it just happens. But people like what they like.
And when what they like becomes something else, people shouldn't be surprised if they find less to like. (Heh, channeling the Yogi there for a moment......)

The jury's still out to lunch.

If you do wake up and find a Ferrari in your driveway, can I at least take it out on weekends?

Omlette du fromage!
Dexter Reference FTW!

But I welcome the change, while others (gunshots heard in the background) preferred the old layout

No, don't get me wrong - the layout and everything is much better than it was before. I'm just fond of the old color scheme and banners over the new ones. You know whats funny - I actually don't mind the new banner for the other sections -- that cover the new games. But such a modern day look for such a retro minded section just seems odd to me. Maybe I'll get used to it, eh?

I don't like the new layout... i prefered the simplicity of VC-reviews

Good job on merging the sites, I love it. Now I don't have to go to three different sites now and I can just go to one site!

Oh love the additions of DSiware and retro as well!

Oh, goody.. Another super-overly-complex website to cause my Celeron to overheat a little bit more.

Wootsocks!

63 degrees!!!

Sweet! Im really loving the new site and i think its a great improvement!

I had WiiWare World bookmarked as my main site for info on WiiWare games. I have to say I LOVE that it's become part of the network.

I love this website and it has an awesome design!

Just read almost every single comment, and thanks to everyone who posted feedback of any kind. Among the many things I wanted to say that I've now forgotten (hey, there were a lot of comments!) was in response to the "corporate sell-outs" claim.

Nobody who works on any of these sites earns a single penny from it. We work on them because we enjoy them, not for money. We just prefer to do it on a nice-looking site!

im getting too frustrated. im pulling the plug on my VCR life support

well, i gotta say. the wiiware section is the best

Reader Ratings will be making a return.

......Wow.

I never knew N-Life before Summer this year.

Haha, that's too awesome; NL launched on April 1st.

This is indeed turning out to be one heck of an awesome site. Who wouldn't love this place? One of the few sites that I've been into that does require me having to hear fans bitch and bitch about Nintendo every day. I give this site an 9/10 and will remain here until the end.

We're now coming up on one year as the merged Nintendo Life site. Doesn't seem like it's been that long already. Well, maybe it does.

Times are still a changin'....

Thank You NL staff for an awesome 1 year of all Nintendo portals!!!!!

Happy anniversary!!!

Happy 1st Anniversary! You rock!

May many, many years follow!!! You're simply the best!!! <3 <3 <3

GREAT!!