Tag: Talking Point - Page 17
Talking Point Nintendo's Ambitious Sales Targets Require Runaway Holiday Success
As the latest financial reports show, the time is now
Every three months we gain an insight into Nintendo's fortunes, with details on finances and sales information for different regions around the world. When it comes to solid numbers for hardware and software sales, the quarterly financial results reported by the Kyoto-based company can tell us...
Soapbox The Wii U Virtual Console Needs to Freshen Up
Tom Whitehead's frustrated at the untapped potential of the Virtual Console
OK, I'll join the club and say it. The Wii U and, to a degree, the 3DS Virtual Console are becoming rather frustrating, stale affairs. There's something odd that, years after working through the NES library on the Wii, we're now doing it all over again, despite the fact the...
Talking Point What Games Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue Nineteen
Some of us have to be a bit secretive
It's time for the WGAYPTW feature to stop goofing off and join the real world, as it prepares to leave the teen existence for a life or work and drudgery. Or it'll carry on in such a grey, oppressive world as a beacon of frivolous gaming, where weekends are lost in our favourite pursuit. Yeah, let's go for the...
Talking Point What Games Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue Eighteen
WGAYPTW is all grown up
Issue eighteen. It's been a long journey for this little feature, in which Nintendo Life staffers share their weekend gaming plans and the community does the same in the comments, leaving us with so many dreams laid out in front of our eyes. This series has now reached adulthood, bringing a tear to the eye. Fond reminiscing...
Talking Point Nintendo's Catch-22 With Retail Game Pricing
Go high, get criticised. Go low, get criticised...
This week Nintendo UK launched its own online retail store, stepping into the market typically occupied by the likes of Amazon, Gamestop, GAME and various others; even the bricks-and-mortar retailers mentioned have an increasing reliance on web sales. It's a more up-to-date, relevant proposition...
Talking Point Pokémon X & Y's Grand Global Release Plan Has, Sadly, Been Undermined
Leaks, ruthless retailers and impatient gamers suck away intended magic
The excitement was undeniable when Satoru Iwata, in a Nintendo Direct broadcast, announced Pokémon X & Y and confirmed that it would have a global release date. That's almost upon us, 12th October, meaning that aside from time zone differences 3DS gamers around the world...
Talking Point The Steam Gaming Machines Are An Unconventional Challenge to the Wii U
Sony and Microsoft aren't the only competitors
When considering the challenges and competitors that the Wii U faces in the months and years to come, it's becoming an increasingly cluttered and tricky space to manoeuvre. Much the same was said during the early days of the 3DS, as its struggles saw it stacked up against smartphones and tablets; at one...
Talking Point Marketing Wii U to the Masses
Time to spread the word
While we await a potential increase in hardware sales, even Nintendo would admit that the Wii U has underperformed in its debut year. With poor sales to date and a year’s head start over its next-gen competition arguably squandered, the Wii U is in the unenviable position of heading into its first anniversary with yearly...
Talking Point What Games Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue Seventeen
WGAYPTW (snappy, right?) gets closer to adulthood
It's been a long journey for the What Games Are You Playing This Weekend series of articles. What started with such excitable promise became an irregular, grumpy visitor to the Nintendo Life servers, before a stern telling to brought it around to its new regular fortnightly slot. After last time's...
Talking Point Considering the Methods and Means of Game Reviews
Andy Robertson suggests evolution, Tom Whitehead simply seeks standards
In this special Talking Point feature, we consider a question fundamental to one of the core aspects of Nintendo Life — game reviews. They're often a source of huge interest around the web on hundreds of websites, and also the potential cause of controversies that are, at...
Talking Point With Calls for Nintendo to Follow the Crowd, It Faces a Dilemma
Sony's Vita TV joins the noise of huge releases and lots of consoles
It's been a busy week of opinions on Nintendo, the Wii U and the 3DS. Whether you agree with some, disagree or are simply baffled by it all, it seems that games industry figures are only too happy to queue up and say what Nintendo should be doing to remain a key player in the...
Talking Point Nintendo's eShop Policies Deserve Both Praise and Attention
We break down the known details of eShop publishing
Just recently we reported on announcements made by Nintendo of Europe's Business Development Manager, Ed Valiente, who gave a presentation on eShop publishing at The Indie Games Collective event at the UKIE HQ in London. We picked up on a couple of notable revelations, relating to Miiverse coming...
Talking Point The Wonderful 101 Provides Some Rare Family Friendly Thrills
Falls nicely into the PEGI 12 and ESRB Teen bracket
In this Talking Point, our colleague Andy Robertson — who runs FamilyGamerTV — explains why The Wonderful 101 is a game perfectly suited to families and, in particular, the young teen audience; it's an age group rarely catered to directly. Andy regularly works with families and appears on radio...
Talking Point The Wii U May Be Playing Catch-Up With Some Developers, But Money Always Talks
Some third-parties may never be on board, however
The challenges facing the Wii U, like those that faced the 3DS before it in 2011, are numerous. It's seeking to reverse stalled momentum that was, perhaps strategically, allowed to happen in exchange for a busy lineup of games in the second half of the year. This is being done against the backdrop of...
Talking Point What Games Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue Sixteen
Sweet, sweet games
It's party time, Nintendo Life readers! Or should we say PARTAY? It's the sweet sixteen celebration of the What Games Are You Playing This Weekend feature, which we're sure is a thing because we saw it on MTV once. The idea is that we find some wealthy parents, get followed around by cameras while acting like spoiled brats because...
Talking Point Nintendo's Low-Key Approach to the 2DS and Wii U Price Cut Reveals Wasn't Surprising
When going Direct isn't the right call
Yesterday may have brought huge Nintendo news, giving the company coverage on any technology or gaming site that you'd care to mention, but how that news was disseminated was interesting. With major releases we've become accustomed to short-notice Nintendo Direct broadcasts, which build hype and then drop the...
Talking Point The Wii U's Limited Hard Drive Space and Future Install Headaches
It's not just about installing eShop games
Splinter Cell Blacklist, on every platform but Wii U, has install options either mandatory or optional. According to analysis from Digital Foundry there are possible trade-offs on Nintendo's system as a result, with longer loading times and some weaker textures that are improved with an optional install on...
Talking Point Gamescom Announcements Raise the Stakes for the Wii U and 3DS
Nintendo yet to reveal its full hand
In a typical year Gamescom is a vibrant show, undoubtedly, but not necessarily one that draws a mini-E3 level of headlines. Yet if you're following Microsoft or Sony, this year's show has certainly delivered. It's all about circumstances, and with the two companies launching new hardware no high-profile...
Talking Point What Games Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue Fifteen
It's been a while...
Oh dear, we've been rather tardy of late. Despite the fact that we indulge in plenty of gaming every weekend we haven't actually shared those expected shenanigans for a good while. Things happen, weeks drift by, but this week we get back to the serious business of revealing our weekend plans to you, dear readers. Last time we...
Talking Point The "Indie Spotlight" Was A Bright Point of Nintendo Direct, But More is Needed
Both sides of the Atlantic should make noise for the Wii U eShop
Last week's major Nintendo Direct, by which we mean the full-fat multi-game broadcast on 7th August, served up the odd surprise and some release dates, with plenty also left in the tank for future presentations. What was certainly surprising, and one of the most popular news articles...
Talking Point The Wonderful 101 Direct and Demo Set the Standard for Wii U Marketing
Removing confusion and doubt
The Wonderful 101 has had a slightly peculiar route to the Wii U, in terms of visibility and awareness. At E3 2012 Nintendo used its live conference to make peculiar jokes about zombies liking French food and provide a rather thorough walkthrough of Luigi's Ghost Mansion in Nintendo Land. That presentation had good...
Talking Point Wii U and Third-Party Inconsistencies Pose Questions for Console Owners
Is Nintendo's system enough on its own?
It's been a slightly bruising week for the Wii U, though some positives have also emerged. From a first-party perspective there's the notable positive of Pikmin 3 hitting the valuable North American market, a game generally considered to be of excellent quality and an opening salvo in Nintendo's bold plans of...
Talking Point Nintendo's Financial Results Tell a Tale of Two Systems and Bold Ambition
The company builds wealth amidst negative Wii U news
Nintendo has announced its first quarter financial results, which brought some notable headlines. The company made an operating loss, but ultimately posted a net profit; despite hardware and software business struggling overall, Nintendo had boosted its coffers by roughly 8.6 billion yen ($87.8...
Talking Point The Download Games Battle is Just Beginning
So where does Nintendo and the Wii U eShop stand?
As a sign of the increasingly busy — or perhaps that should be frantic — times in which we live, it took a matter of hours for an element of a news item from yesterday to become comprehensively out of date. We're referring to an article where small 'indie' developers outlined Nintendo's approach...
Talking Point F-Zero GX HD Could Boost the Franchise onto Wii U
We're ready
While Nintendo makes great efforts to release high quality Mario, Zelda and Kirby games on a regular basis, the development of games in the Metroid, Star Fox and F-Zero franchises, for example, is approached more cautiously. In the case of F-Zero, Nintendo's reluctance to create further sequels seems to stem from fears that the series...
Talking Point Pikmin 3 Shows the First Shoots of the Wii U's Planned Recovery
It's a marathon, not a sprint
For a number of months now we've reported on sales success stories for the 3DS and often had an accompanying Wii U line saying something like "X had a quiet debut week, hardware sales still struggling". Another common refrain, this time instigated by Nintendo itself, has been "the games are coming, the fightback will...
Talking Point The Famicom Was the Beginning of the Modern Gaming Era
Solid building blocks
We recently shared the landmark news that the Famicom has celebrated its 30th Anniversary, having launched in Japan on 15th July 1983, over two years before the NES made its way West. The latter version is that best known and most commonly cited, yet it was the original model's release — Nintendo's first dalliance with a home...
Your View Predicting "Brand-New Types of Games" for Wii U is Rather Tricky
Whatever they are, they'll be welcome
Following comments made to investors during a Q & A session, Satoru Iwata got Nintendo gamers talking by suggesting that "brand-new types of games" are coming to the Wii U during 2013 and 2014, not yet announced in order to have maximum impact and avoid rivals copying the ideas. Some may speculate that these...
Talking Point Why Interactive eBooks are a Perfect Fit for Wii U
They can include video, audio and even games themselves
So, new ideas for the Wii U, how about those? It's our topic for the community's next "Your View" feature over on the forums, and something we considered ourselves in terms of brand-new types of games for the system. Of course with Wii U it's all about games right now, as the
Talking Point The Wii U Has Plenty of Opportunities for "Brand-New Types of Games"
That "strong impact in the market" could be crucial
At the end of last week Nintendo released the official translations of Satoru Iwata's most recent investor Q & A, giving us an insight into Nintendo's current standing with that audience and providing some useful teases of information on what's to come. These meetings are intriguing as, in a...
Talking Point What Games Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue Fifteen
It's not all New Leaf, really!
It's time for our semi-regular whenever-we-get-around-to-it feature where a number of Nintendo Life writers share their weekend gaming plans. We may be getting further into the Summer months, but we still intend to spend a decent amount of time inside, curtains drawn, playing games. Unless we're on the road, which is...
Poll How Important is Dual / Second Screen Gaming?
A major part of Nintendo's strategy
Yesterday brought us some interesting comments from Ubisoft Managing Director Nicolas Rioux, who spoke about the potential prominence of "second screen" gaming, even going so far as to praise the Wii U as an innovative first step. As we observed in that article, it'd be a nasty piece of irony if technical...
Talking Point The Wii U's Third-Party Concerns Are Brushed Off By 3DS
Support for the handheld is modest, yet doom-and-gloom is minimal
The 3DS is hot right now, with positive vibes bouncing around the web as its major releases have enjoyed an impressive record of critical and commercial success. Simply mentioning games like Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Fire Emblem: Awakening and Animal Crossing: New Leaf justifiably...
Talking Point The Uncertain Collectible Future of Download-Only Game Libraries
Servers will surely shut down, but what about the games?
Just before the weekend, a number of Wii Channels were shut down. On 28th June most of the online enabled channels and services — such as Weather, News, Everyone Votes and Wii Connect 24 — went off air; low participation rates more than likely caused Nintendo to deem them an expense not...
Talking Point It's Time for Nintendo to Drop Region Locking
Microsoft and Sony have moved on
There are some realities that, despite their annoyances, are part of the typical life of a Nintendo gamer. For the second home console generation in a row Nintendo's offering is less powerful — in terms of raw graphical processing — than its direct upcoming competitors in the PS4 and Xbox One, with a focus on...
Talking Point What Games Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue Fourteen
It's obvious, isn't it?
It's the summer solstice in the Northern hemisphere, which means it's the longest day — in terms of sunlight rather than hours, because more hours would be silly — of the year. Ooh, all the more time for playing games with the curtains drawn because the pesky sun is making it hard to see the TV or portable screen...
Talking Point New Super Luigi U Opens The Door For Quick Expansions in Other Franchises
DLC and boxed copies can satisfy everyone
After a bit of a wait and a release lineup that, apart from the odd exception, has been drier than the Sahara desert in recent weeks, Luigi jumps to the rescue with New Super Luigi U. It's arrived in this week's Nintendo Download update as DLC for New Super Mario Bros. U, but will have a life of its own as a...
Talking Point The Effortless Social Charm of Animal Crossing: New Leaf
A perfect storm of platform and software?
Something peculiar is happening on social networks at the moment; lots of people are talking about a Nintendo game. We see bursts of activity on sites such as Twitter when a Nintendo Direct is taking place, of course, but there's a sustained focus on this particular title among various gamers. Whether it can...
Talking Point Nintendo's Curious Decision to Monetise StreetPass
The great social app is now tiered
StreetPass may not have been a technical marvel when included in the 3DS hardware, but it was a typically charming Nintendo move. The idea of simple data exchanges had already been utilised in the original Nintendogs on DS, but the built-in StreetPass Plaza app is accessible to everyone with a 3DS, while the...
Talking Point E3 Exposed the Strains of Nintendo's Development Workload
Delays have been common on Wii U
Nintendo and, in particular, the Wii U are in a tricky catch-22 situation; third-parties — including Ubisoft at E3 — are holding off on most additional support for the platform until sales improve, yet games are needed to boost sales. It's an issue that feels all too familiar, though the absence of much support...
Talking Point Nintendo's Wii U Lineup Makes Commercial Sense
Nintendo plays it safe, like everyone else
E3 presentations can be strange occasions, often prompting exaggerated reactions — either delight or dismay — immediately after the event, before a following hangover of acceptance and anticipation for the games on the way. That's the general sense within the Nintendo Life team the day after Nintendo's...
Feature What We Expect From Nintendo's E3 Direct
Quite a lot, actually
So after plenty of build up and waiting for all the other presentations to finish, the E3 Nintendo Direct is now a matter of hours away. It's a diversion away from the live presentations of past years, but as a pre-recorded and scripted video it has the potential to be a well-paced extravaganza; we hope it'll seize the day for...
Talking Point Nintendo's Biggest E3 Challenge is Getting Noticed
Up against a wave of new hardware
When Nintendo announced that it was foregoing the traditional live presentation at E3, a common initial reaction was one of surprise, with some interpreting the move as a sign of weakness in the face of big-hitting rivals. When considered with a bit more context and analysis, however, the argument could be made that...
Talking Point Looking Ahead to Nintendo's E3
Can you feel that tingle of excitement?
E3 2013 is now tantalisingly close, and 48 hours from the time of writing Nintendo will broadcast its pre-expo Nintendo Direct presentation, which will be focused on Wii U releases for Fall, Winter and beyond. It's a break from the usual live presentation, but nevertheless we can expect three days of...
Talking Point Nintendo Should Aim to Produce Mature, Genre-Defining Storytelling Experiences
The Last of Us sets a standard
Nintendo, when on peak form and producing its landmark titles, is capable of producing some of the greatest video games in the industry. It's the master of universal genres such as 3D and 2D platformers, adventure exploration games, and can make kart racing look easy — as mediocre copycats often demonstrate. What...
Talking Point E3 2013 Is All About The Games
Wii U games, specifically
For many, the start of a new generation heralds the beginning of a golden age for gaming, promising new IPs, a fresh approach, or simply an established franchise seen through new technology. It is a time when the sky is the limit, and gamers everywhere can come together to celebrate change. But this time, that hasn’t...
Talking Point The Wii U Controller Options Open Up PC Game Opportunities
Point and click, swipe and tap
While the Wii U was the first to kick off what will soon be considered the current generation of game consoles, we were left wondering what innovations Sony and Microsoft would be bringing to the table. With the Wii U we've had a major processor power upgrade over the Wii, which was expected, but the control innovation...
Talking Point Wii U vs Xbox One - Online Requirements and On-Disc DRM
A big deal, or a mountain out of a mole-hill?
Last week Microsoft unveiled its Xbox One, or the non-gaming aspects for the most part, and seemingly managed to confuse as many viewers as it hyped up. Those that opt for schadenfreude should tread carefully, however, as Nintendo's Wii U reveal at E3 2011 similarly baffled many in terms of what the...
Talking Point What Games Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue Thirteen
Here comes the Sun (doo-doo-doo-doo)
As we glance out of Nintendo Life Towers we see something a little unfamiliar — there's an enormous ball of fire in the sky, and it's bathing us in warmth. We would go and bask in its magnificence, but we've got some video games to play. Of course, as our team is scattered around the world — like...
Talking Point The Wii U's Next-Gen Challenge Starts to Take Shape
Microsoft, Sony and others start to show their cards
Yesterday, as we're sure most — possibly all — of you are aware, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One, the company's offering for the "next generation" of gaming. And so we finally have a situation where, piece by piece, the rumours, leaked design documents and outright fibs are making way for hard...
