Nintendo Download: 5th January (North America)

POKEMON

"This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper."

Well, Pokemon Snap is fun, so maybe not that dire, but once the Wii U finally dies, there will be a certain peace in seeing the old girl finally rest.

I've been looking forward to seeing the Quiet Collection on 3DS, so probably I'll get that if nothing better happens to be on sale.

And yet, there is still no Pokemon Stadium, despite the fact they could patch the Wii U version to connect to the 3DS RBY games. Now THAT is a wasted opportunity. I mean, I still have my cart with all my Pokemon and everything on it, and have been playing it a lot lately, and thus would not re-buy it, but they had the perfect chance to re-release Pokemon Stadium as it was intended to be played, but...

Wow, 3DS owners have it rough this week.

Wrong spelling of "plane" in the Spheroids write-up. Watch those homonyms!

I love how Pokemon Snap VC comes out after the 20th year.

@allav866 meh we all have a massivr backlog to work with, so we're set.

Quite please should be the headline theme of this topic, literally!

@EmmatheBest
Yeah that would be cool. But I think I read somewhere that the Stadium games were partially made so that you could see your Pokémon battle in 3-D environment stages and models, which you can now do with the later generations of games on 3DS so they probably won't be making new Stadium games or spending resources on the old ones. Which seems silly because I'm sure a lot of people would pay to download the N64 games just on nostalgia alone. Plus there were some fun mini games and stuff too. Oh well!

Nintendo needs to do better. The VC releases are horrible and we have to re-buy the same game over and over and over and over and over and over and over......you get where I'm going with this. Nintendo has so many games that they could easily release on their current platforms. Yet, they keep on releasing the same titles..

I wonder why Quiet Please has all but Candy Please in it.

@dublae

Don't worry; once Switch is out you can start collecting them all over again when VC requires a small price to upgrade.

Kind of like Pokémon.

2 dollars for a Wii U upgrade for Pokemon Snap Yes Please.

After that massive sale last week. My wallet can rest!

Lol @Zach777. I will be getting the Switch though. Hopefully, the games we own and re own will be discounted not just for 15-30% as on My Nintendo or full retail prices...hopefully Nintendo gets it right with their upcoming platform. I really want it for BOTW since I have every Zelda game (not including CDi games)...yea...I'm a Zelda head. I would really like to see games from the NES made into new IPs. Too many games to name. I would really love to see another side scrolling Zelda like Zelda II though. That game is very challenging

Hey. Maybe My Nintendo will give out a discount for Pokemon Snap. Maybe they'll give out discounts to games people don't own yet.

I can only hope that VC for Switch is handled with a far less "let's reach into a hat and pull a number" methodology, but not holding my breath.

@allav866

Us 3DS owners have it rough nearly every week, especially if the VC is your primary reason for gaming on the go. I will never understand why Nintendo treats 3DS VC as an afterthought while offering Wii U VC on a 1-2 game per week basis. The Wii U failed, even though it was a good system, so why wouldn't they pump more resources into the 3DS's twilight year(s)? I've said it before, and I'll continue driving the point into the ground: Where are the missing NES games on 3DS that appeared on the Wii U (Double Dragon 3, Bayou Billy, Startropics), or on the3DS in Japan (Final Fantasy 1, Shadowgate)?

The SNES side of the 3DS VC has me worried. Though Japan is starting to get support from Square Enix, I'm not seeing any sign that NA will receive any support from anybody beyond Capcom and Konami. Don't get me wrong, their games were some of the strongest for the system, but I would love to have Final Fantasy II/III, Chrono Trigger (I do have the DS rerelease, but I love having a digital library), and Secret of Mana/Evermore (?).

Oh Snap!

Sorry to interrupt the gloom and doom, but I've been hoping for this!

Pokémon Snap came a little too late for me, I'll personally be holding off until I have confirmation on whether or not it ends up on the Switch. A few months ago I would've likely picked it up right away.

@BanjoPickles I think we need to accept that SNES VC was a major scam to sell their mid-lifespan hardware.

Over here, I'm still wondering where Vs. Excitebike went. Even if the Wii U WAS a financial powerhouse, it's not like people buy consoles for a handful of old games. Making them suddenly console-exclusive was nonsense.

well,this is a crappy way to start a nintendo download year

I've never played Pokemon Snap and I don't think I'll enjoy it, but I think my kids will and I know my wife will so I'll buy it.

I'm really hoping for Star Fox 64 next week. Does Europe already have that one?

@World

You're probably right. Unfortunately, I got roped in because I've wanted a portable snes library, without having to rely on faulty emulators, for a long time. Granted, it's nice having a near comprehensive first-party library (save for the games that we won't see, such as Starfox, Yoshi's Island, etc.), but it'd be nice to get Square Enix, Natsume, etc. on board.

What I can't figure out is why Square Enix would throw their support towards the Vita, a handheld that has sold a fraction of what the 3DS has sold.

Well, here's Pokémon Snap. Heard alot of people saying they wanted this one

Pokemon Snap! The Wii U is now ready to rest in peace.

@BanjoPickles Yeah, I definitely hear that. I think most of us wanted it, but Nintendo seems to have only been interested in selling its Top 10 list to get a few more N3DS sales.

I actually have no idea either, but Square Enix's PS Classics output has definitely been an example of how to release a back catalogue at a reasonable price and with variety (i.e., not ALL AAA masterpieces, getting some hidden gems in there too).

No idea why Nintendo waited this long to release a Pokemon game but since its out for $10 I'm guessing my kids will chip in their allowance this week to pick it up. We've been having fun looking at Promtpo's photographs each night in FFXV so this is actually pretty decent timing for us.

@World

Exactly! They have essentially released their entire PS1 library, save for Dragon Quest VII. Luckily, I have a Vita (primarily for the classics), and I have every 32-bit Square Enix game downloaded to it.

Nothing for me this week

@leo13 You Will enjoy it! Spent 100s of hours on it back in the day. Beating scores, perfect pics.

..since I have Cube Life: Island Survival, getting Zombie Brigade for Free is a no-brainer...

@SH007ME I had to work early or I was getting this and Snap.

Cube life has been a lot of fun. Kids and I spent many hours playing and even more with the major update.

@spurgeonryan ..yea, same here, today's my Monday, I'm setting it up to download now from my phone..glad to hear Cube life's fun, I won a copy from here a while back, but have had only a little time with it, I forgot about the updates, thanks...now get back to work, lol...

@BanjoPickles Nice! I wish I had a Vita, but only for that reason which is why I don't have a Vita.

I'll be snapping up Pokemon Snap at a later date.

@World

It's a nifty system if you temper expectations. You'll get some awesome oddities/indies (Hotline Miami is awesome), PS1 Classics, Some great rereleases (Persona 4, Final Fantasy X/X2, Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3), and some fantastic remakes (Grim Fandango, Day of the Tentacle Remaster).

Sony never figured out how to properly do handhelds. I remember when they first announced the PSP, they claimed that they were going to lift handheld gaming "out of the gutter." Honestly, if handheld gaming was ever in the gutter, Nintendo themselves were the ones who lifted it out of said gutter with unique handheld experiences. As much as I enjoy the occasional console experience on the go, that isn't what sells a handheld and that was Sony's biggest failing.

If you ever see one on the cheap, though, I would recommend it for the wealth of classics and awesome oddities. Also, if you're a fan of JRPG's, it's even better!

@World @BanjoPickles
I agree with both of you. SNES VC being only on new 3ds is such a scam. And where are the rest of the NES, Gameboy, Gamegear and tg16 games? Personally I'd love to see Castlevania Legends (best Gameboy vania)

And vita is better than 3ds. Sony failed miserably in its marketing and that's really the only reason it's not selling well.

@BanjoPickles Thanks, I'll keep this in mind! I actually didn't know it got X/X2, so that's cool.

To be honest, what swayed me on the 3DS initially was the Vita's proprietary memory cards, but if I could find a unit cheap like you said I wouldn't hesitate!

@World

Oh, the price of their memory cards is attrocious! I picked up a 64 gig for $100, which is absolutely insane and is half of what I paid for the system itself! I have an equally-large sd card for my 3DS, that I snagged for about $30.

@GameOtaku

It depends on the type of game. I think that the first party releases on 3DS have been fantastic (Luigi's Mansion, Fire Emblem, Link Between Worlds, Mario 3D Land) and there have been some awesome games on the eshop (Shovelknight, Phoenix Wright, Pushmo), but third parties seem to have abandoned it, for the most part.

That said, I'm excited about the Switch, but also a bit bummed because this is probably the last dedicated Nintendo handheld, and I'll actually miss the 3D! When it was used in the right way, it was awesome (The M2 3D Classics, Link Between Worlds, Mario 3D, etc.).

Too late. It took Ninty four years to come out with this.

Holy cow. Some scraps of garbage, that's about it.

Mario Party 2 last week, Pokemon Snap this week. I'm loving all this nostalgia, I picked up both and had a blast with the GF playing Mario Party 2!

Just one new 3DS game?

Pokémon snap belongs on the 3ds.

Yawn.

@dublae People should confront them directly on social media.

@BanjoPickles If the Switch fails, they will come out with a dedicated handheld.

@Ralizah

I always thought that it was a boy.

I also always thought the Wii U was genderless because it's an effing (brilliantly fantastic) machine.

@Crono1973 I think people have done that already. Our opinions and concerns will only go so far sadly though

@iGen Handhelds were boys and consoles were girls. Now gender is pointless.

Pokemon Snap was awesome back in the day, especially using the kiosks where you could print out your photos... This VC entry is a few years too late, though. It was a huge missed opportunity to not have a new entry on the 3DS, with AR features. (Basically, Nintendo could have made their own, more complete version of Pokemon Go, instead of farming it out to Niantic as a reskin of Ingress...) Hopefully there will be a new Pokemon Snap on the Sandwitch...

@PlywoodStick

Instead of the Sandwitch, it should be the Sand(s)witch.

@iGen I was actually considering doing it that way, but I wasn't sure if that looked too awkward. I'll try that out for a while.

@dublae Nintendo just ignored them?

@DrDaisy

Gender was pointless from the beginning.

(For the record though, if you are a boy, all your systems are magically boys and if you are a girl all your systems are magically girls. That's simply how it is by default.)

Most of the times @Crono1973. But I can see from a corporation's perspective. You want to run your company internally, not external. It doesn't hurt to send them a letter of your dissatisfaction with a service they provide.

@dublae Customers shouldn't see things from the perspective of a corporation, it's why things don't change. You don't need to be understanding as a consumer.

@Crono1973 I agree but Nintendo is still going to do what Nintendo does...i'm just saying...

@dublae Nintendo is not an immovable force as is proven by Nintendo doing what they said they wouldn't in regards to mobile.

Atleast Jim Sterling did an episode about the absurdity of the way Nintendo handles the Virtual Console. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgpGMfVicu0&t

@ProjectCafe My console's genders are whatever I want them to be.

@DrDaisy

...Why would you want to date your console?

@ProjectCafe I wouldn't.

@DrDaisy

...What's with the late replies?

@ProjectCafe I don't come here very often.

@DrDaisy

...Why? You can set it so that you get email notifications. That's how I found out that you replied here.

@ProjectCafe I know, but I don't check my associated email very often and the emails get erased when I don't check frequently enough. That's Excite for ya. Besides, I'm not really invested in Nintendo right now, and I get annoyed when my posts get censored.