Tag: Talking Point - Page 20
Talking Point Claims of Wii U Third-Party Development Troubles Shouldn't Be Dismissed Lightly
Problems may have been resolved since, but are nevertheless still relevant
Over the weekend there was an interesting article published by Eurogamer's Digital Foundry, in which a "secret developer" shared their Wii U development experience. It made tough reading for anyone loyal and committed to the Nintendo and Wii U cause, but did provide some...
Talking Point Is The Castlevania Series Finished With Nintendo?
Fangs for the memories, but is it time to move on?
Ever since it began in 1986, Konami's Castlevania series has been closely associated with Nintendo. The vampire-slaying lineage started life on the Famicom Disk System in Japan and shortly afterwards found worldwide fame on the NES. Since then, the franchise has seen some of its most famous and...
Talking Point New Year Resolutions for Nintendo
We can all improve
With 2014 now here, it provides an opportunity to take stock and consider ambitions for the year, as well as identify areas of improvement. We can all do better things and improve ourselves, but what of major corporations? The same rule applies to them, so below are some suggestions for Nintendo, which brought us so much to enjoy...
Talking Point Miiverse Can Promote System Unity And Serve As A Powerful Wii U Advertisement
Tens of millions of Nintendo fans can now interact
This week Nintendo finally delivered Miiverse, along with the Nintendo Network ID and shared eShop fund support, to the 3DS. While it has its flaws — which we'll cover to some degree this weekend — that's to be expected with any launch, especially one such as this that fundamentally shakes up...
Talking Point Moving To Smartphones Is Not The Answer For Nintendo
The numbers don't add up
It seems that a month can't pass by — in the past couple of years — when investment analysts, games industry figures and Nintendo's own investors aren't saying that Nintendo needs to expand and release games on alternative platforms. It's creeping into discourse around the Wii U due to the hardware's struggles to date,...
Talking Point What Games Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue Twenty
So long teens, hello more awesome games
It's finally happened, the WGAYPTW series has left its teens, and the emotional crisis it prompted led to it missing its normal schedule — that's right, it was nothing to do with the features editor forgetting to organise it, no way. But it's fine, this little series of game-related tittle-tattle is ready...
Talking Point The GamePad and its Role Defining the Wii U
Strong concept or pricey issue?
We're stepping into a vital period on the market for the Wii U. It's certainly far too early to say it's the definitive moment for the system, as releases such as Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. will also be maximised by Nintendo to achieve notable sales and momentum. With that in mind, it should still be...
Soapbox Super Mario 3D World's Playful Whimsy is Refreshing, But Faces a Vital Commercial Test
Will an overwhelmingly positive critical response and buzz deliver success?
Something slightly surprising, to me at least, happened yesterday. Super Mario 3D World had a wonderful series of reviews that went live, on any major outlet you'd care to name, bang on the embargo. I'm not talking about the scores — which were excellent — but the...
Talking Point The Nintendo Network ID Creeps Ever Closer to Being Fit for the Modern Age
There's still some distance to go
Since the Wii U launched with its shiny new Nintendo Network ID system, we've been both pleased and frustrated with its implementation. The fact it's tied to the home console hardware has led us to be critical, on occasion, to the point where we once rather cruelly equated it to the abomination of its equivalent on...
Talking Point Nintendo's Resilience Against Wii U Criticism Emphasizes Its Longevity
As the critics attack, Satoru Iwata simply looks ahead
It's been, overall, a tough couple of weeks for the Wii U's image in the online land of gaming enthusiasts. The focused attention of many outlets is, unsurprisingly and quite correctly, on the upcoming launches of the PS4 and the Xbox One, with Super Mario 3D World just about grabbing some...
Talking Point Regional Online Multiplayer Misses the Point
Wii Sports Club keeps it local, unless you're in a PAL territory
Nintendo can work in mysterious ways at times, especially when it comes to online modes. Some will feel that the company doesn't actually deliver enough online gaming — with many titles committed to local multiplayer only — while we have others serving up regional online play. The...
Talking Point Nintendo's Safe and Family-Friendly Focus is Integral to Its Fortunes
While heavy handed with Swapnote, providing a clean environment is crucial
Nintendo has made some interesting headlines recently here on Nintendo Life, as it's acted proactively to avoid potentially embarrassing issues with Nintendo Letter Box / Swapnote and the Japan-only (so far) Flipnote Studio 3D. The company disabled SpotPass communication...
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...