Akane

The sad truth is that after watching the European Direct live, I was only interested about two things:

1) The Wolf Link amiibo. That looks really good. I already have LoZ:TP for the Wii and I don't really feel like paying for it all over again, but the Wolf Link amiibo looks so good I really want to get one.

2) The compass watch revealed as part of the collector's edition for Hyrule Warriors Legends. Seriously, that looks awesome. I once again have Hyrule Warriors for the Wii U so I doubt I will buy the 3DS version but man, that watch would look nice on my wall, right next to my framed 25th anniversary Legend of Zelda poster.

Sure, Linkle is a fun new addition and some of the games they presented looked fun. Hearing about new stuff for Splatoon also warms my heart, just like the new Super Mario Maker website. But those weren't really anything that got me excited.

You know something is not right when the only things that get you excited in a Nintendo Direct are non-games. The problem may be at my end, I don't know.

I'd like for them to finally give us an European release date for Moon Chronicles.

Kid Icarus Maker could work since the original NES and GB games feature "short" levels. However, due to the series not being as popular as Nintendo's other franchises, I doubt it would even become a reality.

@shani In my opinion Other M is only good gameplay-wise and even it has its fair share of problems. When it comes to the cutscenes, they are just painful to watch. They were so far away from the movies that inspired the creation of the series.

@LUIGITORNADO Fair enough.

@LUIGITORNADO @shani Considering how Nintendo has treated Metroid fan films and fan film projects in the past, I would not be surprised if this got pulled.

That added to the fact that the series co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto has stated that he would support a Metroid film only if it was directed by Ryuji Kitaura, the director for the cutscenes in Metroid: Other M, makes me iffy. Granted, that does not mean that it's going to get pulled nor that there won't be a Metroid film without Kitaura being involved but it also makes me wish that there never will be a Metroid film, not at least with Kitaura involved.

I'm glad I was able to watch this before it's undoubtedly pulled down by Nintendo.

Any news if My Nintendo will work in the countries that were not included in Club Nintendo? I'd really like to find out if I should get excited about this or not, especially since they decided to give out the Flipnote 3D only for those who register for the new scheme in Europe.

I actually bought Animal Crossing: New Leaf as a physical release because I was new to the series and wasn't sure if I'd like it. I thought could always just re-sell it if I didn't like it. Having spent hundreds on hours on the game I feel like I should have gone for the digital release only because swapping game cards isn't always too much fun.

The same thing happened with Happy Home Designer, although I don't have hundreds of hours under my belt in that game and I do not plan to have either.

Oh, it is just a 3DS game display stand. I just noticed the logo. Cool stuff.

This is real by the way, those items are included in a sprite sheet ripped from the game and I saw it a week ago already.

What I'm interested in however is the stand that looks like a mobile phone but with a 2DS type screen. Is that just a display stand for 3DS games or could it be something more? A hint towards NX? I doubt the latter since it would be too early though but I love to speculate.

I also hope that these won't be GAME exclusive since I don't live in the UK (nor are there any GAME stores in my country) and I haven't been able to get Homepass work in a way that would let me do the GAME exclusive design challenge.

The addition of single player is good for people like me who do not have friends who owned the 3DS. Local multiplayer is thus no-go for me.

However, I'm more than sure that when I get the game next week I'll be playing online multiplayer only and thus focus on playing other games when on the train.

This only makes sense from a marketing point-of-view since ALBW is still the latest Zelda game before TFH. By saying it's the same hero than in ALBW means they can get new fans to the series buy ALBW too in order to get the full story, not that there was any clear connection between the two in the first place.

It really makes no sense otherwise, especially since Nintendo already confirmed the game takes place in another dimension/world where there's no clear single hero. Nintendo definitely should have kept TFH outside of the time line or treat it as a parallel dimension game.

@MitchVogel Yeah, I know I'll be waiting for a new Kid Icarus game for a while but I will never give up hope. Kid Icarus Uprising was such a good attempt at revitalising the franchise and the growing support for the series in Super Smash Bros makes me believe that it's possible we'll be returning to Angel Land someday.

As much as I love Zelda and hope that Nintendo will celebrate it's 30th anniversary next year, I also hope that the big N will celebrate the 30th anniversary of Metroid and Kid Icarus next year as well. Metroid Prime: Federation Force should be coming out next year but the least they could do is announce a proper sequel to the series next year.

I also will never give up on a new Kid Icarus game and the 30th anniversary year would be a good time to release one.

I'm not sad about this at all. A good decision by Nintendo.

The DK barrel looks nice but leaves the game cards open for dust so it's not ideal. I'll stick to my current plastic 3DS game card case that can store up to 22 games.

@mjc0961 Once you have input the level code though you can click on the creator's icon to see their other levels. You can also add other creators as your favourites so that you can find their levels more easier in the future.

And it's not like the level codes are the only way of accessing user-created levels... I agree though that it's not ideal to have the level codes as the only way of finding a particular level but it works.

@AlexSora89 Done. You had some good levels there too. If you don't mind returning the favour, I'd appreciate it.

@TheLobster Good luck to you as well. I went ahead and played all your levels to help you out.

You can find my levels here if you're interested: https://www.nintendolife.com/super-mario-maker/users/Nego

@TheLobster I have the same problem. I haven't added new levels I've made for a while because I haven't seen the point in doing that but I guess this changes things.

Has Dementium Remastered been confirmed for Europe yet?

I would have included Moon Chronicles on the list since it's (hopefully) coming out in Europe this year and I've been excited about it ever since it was first announced to be in the works.

Otherwise I'm sad to say but I'm only interested in Tri Force Heroes and maybe SmileBasic.

I already bought the GB games I wanted (Kid Icarus, Metroid 2, and some others) so I'm not terribly sad, although this definitely is not the right choice Nintendo could have done, considering fighting against GB emulating should be in their interest.

But what does this mean about the lifespan of the 3DS? Could it be possible that Nintendo is not releasing any GameBoy games on Virtual Console because they are focusing on the next handheld? The NX is due to be revealed next year afterall so it's possible the 3DS has a shorter lifespan than we originally thought.

This reminds me of the character creator tool in 3D Dot Game Heroes. While I love the game, I could never really design a cool character of my own. I'm going to pass.

I used to own this for the DS back when it was first released but I sold it after beating it. Since I'm only now gotten into the rest of the Metroid Prime series, I might buy this again when it comes out for the VC in Europe.

The trailer leaves me baffled though. Is there not an option to use the TV screen as the top screen while using the Gamepad screen as the lower screen?

@jahasnell It's 39AD-0000-0060-9194. It might be a bit hard but it's definitely not unbeatable.

If you found that too difficult though, you might want to check out my other levels which are more like your typical Mario levels. Here's the code for three wall jump levels to get you started:
000E-0000-001F-75A1
DCD6-0000-0032-DAB4
5F99-0000-0064-8F03

I'll give your levels a try the next time I'm able to play (which sadly might not be before next week).

@jahasnell I totally agree with you. The automated levels in 100 Mario Challenge prompted me to make a parody of them in which you actually have to push buttons in order to clear the level.

That's pretty fast although it won't help me much since I never even experienced any of those bugs, if you don't count dancing and fooling around right after beating Mole Knight, leaving the game in a limbo as the last bug mentioned in the list.

I've already completed the game and collected all the cipher coins and music notes. I'm currently on my Game+ run (second to last stage) after which I will try to tackle the speedrun feat. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that though considering I still haven't had the will to speedrun the game as Shovel Knight either.

@cloakedbolter I'd agree normally but since this level is inspired by the stealth section of Metroid: Zero Mission, it goes with the territory.

I have no problems with Plague Knight's controls. I do die a lot but I don't blame the game for that. Controlling Plague Knight may not be easy to learn at first but once I did I felt really satisfied.

@ZachBeacon You will have to finish the game as Shovel Knight before you can play it as Plague Knight. There is a code for unlocking Shovel Knight though but I'd recommed you play it as SK first.

@SanderEvers I thought it was more like free DLC but that explains it. Thanks!

Isn't Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows coming out this week for Europe as well? Or has there been a change of plans?

@RupeeClock Miyamoto has actually previously stated that Dr. Mario isn't necessarely a "legit" doctor. So in reality I doubt Miyamoto would let Dr. Mario treat any illness he might have or get.

I've been playing Mario games for about 20 years now and I can easily say that the 3D series (both 3D Land and 3D World) are really good. They cannot really be compared to the 2D and 3D masterpieces (SMB3, SMBW, SM64, SMG) but they are definitely way more fun than the NSMB series, for which I have almost no interest.

I've cleared SM3DL with 100% three times now and I still occationally get back to it. Best portable Mario game.

With only one game released so far, Yacht Club Games confirms they are taking their non-American fans into consideration, unlike some other developers that develop multiple games in a year but fail to bring half of them to the Old World.

I better get working on the speedrun achievement of the regular Shovel Knight in order to be fully in the mood when Plague of Shadows hits the eShop.

I don't see any problem with the way things are right now. I have no trouble getting to over 1000 points in any match I play, no matter what nationality my opponents or team mates are and no matter if my team ends up winning or losing. I have rarely experienced any lag even though my connection is not the best one ans the placement of my Wii U compared to the router is not optimal.

I've already given up on the hope of getting Moon Chronicles published in Europe so I won't be getting excited about Treasurenauts either (or Dementium). :

@Lastar Do you think that Nintendo is going to keep their eShop line-up the same for decades? I don't personally expect to see the Wii Shopping Channel still functional ten years from now, and even that is most likely way too long a time for it. Once they are done with the console (and Wii U), I doubt they'll keep the service up and running. Keeping up games on the server that are being bought seldom is most likely not ideal from Nintendo's POV in the long run so I wouldn't be surprised should they choose to take down older games in favour of newer games if they are going to keep the eShop up for the next couple of console generations, should there be more than one for Nintendo anyway.

At that point the older games become abandonware but emulating them on a PC will be annoying due to Nintendo's chosen path with controllers. Obviously someone's going to make a plugin for them and a way for them to work but ultimately it's going to be a pain for those who want to use them but just can't make them work (I still haven't been able to get my Wii U Pro Controller work on my PC after many attempts).

Obviously there's no relation with consumer's rights and game downloads apart from the fact that a company can some day deny the consumer from accessing the digital product they sold them. When I complained about downloading software I treated it as a separate issue but I guess I was not clear enough about that.

@Lastar First of all you can play physical games in the future if you have the game disc and the console. Buying the game discs online from second-hand sellers is not too hard although it's expensive. However, it's still an option. Once a company closes it's digital store and thus makes you unable to buy their digital-only game things get worse as there's no way you're going to play the game anymore. I support abandonware: if the publisher/developer is not keen to sell a game any more, you should be allowed to get it on your own in some way, be it to downloading it "illegally" or buying it from someone else. Once they pick up the interest to sell it once more, things obviously change. However, this does not work with digital-only games made for a specific console, especially when it comes to Nintendo being protective over their consoles and games (I'm talking about the homebrew scene being shut down and the fact that Nintendo's new ideas of controls do not make emulators on a pc very interesting). With physical copies of games being available in some form there is no problems like these.

As to your other point, yes, Nintendo does update physical games. I have a problem with that as well when it affects the time I have for playing the game. As much as I love Splatoon for an instance, having to download an update (even if if takes only five minutes with the install) does put me off when I only have a couple of hours time to play during a week. And yes, there's always the stand-by mode but I always keep my home consoles unplugged when not in use.

But the problem is more present when talking about digital copies. If I have a long day at work and I've been waiting for a game that is launching that day, I'd rather spend time in a shop getting a physical copy on my way home and launching it right away when I get home than waiting for a digital copy (with possibly even day 1 update!) to fully download when I get back home, especially if downloading and installing the game takes longer than actually buying the game in a store.

@Lastar One thing is the ownership of the digital copy of the game. If you own a digital copy, you don't really own it. It's on your account and on the console but once Nintendo decides not to support the console or just plain pull out the copy away, there's no way for you to play the game anymore. You could argue that the same applies to physical copies and while you may be right, a physical copy is still a physical object that you own no matter what the company owning the rights for the game decide to do.

Another thing is the pricing. Over here digital copies are sold close to the same price as physical ones which definitely has not made them appealing for me, especially since digital copies don't end up in the sale bin often enough. The price more or less stays the same when it comes to first party Nintendo games.

Granted, with digital downloads the company does not have to spend money printing the game but in my opinion that should also effect the pricing, especially when you can get a physical copy with it's all showcase and resell value for the same price, some times even for a lower price.

I also have a high speed internet so downloading in general is not a problem. However, when I use my home consoles, I am looking for playing a game right away. Downloading updates can get annoying when I only have a few hours a week to play on my Wii U.

@Baker1000 I agree with Nintendo having to step up with the storage capabilities. I don't have many digital games installed on my premium version of the Wii U but it still complaints about the HDD being too full when downloading demos or dlc.

They also need to work on how they handle with the digital downloads in the sense that the consumer should have better rights for them.

@shani Before the revamp I could effortlessly go through the right-hand side "balcony" all the way to the opposing team's base and wreck havoc, keeping the enemy at bay while the rest of my team took care of the central part of the stage. The update made that more difficult thanks to the third opening and the non-inkable section right on top of the wall you can swim to get up there.

I wish you asked opinions regarding the revamped Urchin Underpass.

I prefer the earlier version since the sides of the stage were more easy to take control of and getting to the enemy base was much easier. Now the matches seem to be held withing the central part which I guess is a good thing. I just enjoyed dominating the opposing team's base.

If they wanted to improve speed they should have deleted (or at least made optional) the annoying "users with similar interests" feature. I've always found that making me unwilling to check the activity feed, especially since the posts being shown to my face are uninteresting and have nothing to do with my interests.

What I'd like to know is if they are going to add more countries under this new program. Thus far if you happen to live in Europe you have only been able to register to Club Nintendo if you happened to live in one of the bigger countries. I don't personally mind the physical rewards but not living in one of the Club Nintendo countries has made me unable to get some digital rewards like the SSB Mewtwo DLC for free even though I own both versions of the game.

So until Nintendo announces if this new program will be available outside the borders of the Club Nintendo countries I will not get hyped up by any news regarding the service.