Big_Al1

There was a DS game that was a lot of fun; if they get multiplayer going, I'd give it a whirl.

I really don't find their games appealing. They're competent, but uninspired.

If anything, they could try getting more, or rather different creative talent in their ranks.

If you have the right expectations this can be a great app.

If you want it to be Manga Studio you will be disappointed, but if you take the time you can do fun stuff with it, even for publishing if you tinker with the files.

Come on, we all know he charged her for it.

I'll get the Lego games for my daughters when the price drops.

@Hy8ogen I am not aware of any app that has lessons similar to Art Academy, but I can recommend a couple of apps you should definitely have in it:

1) Layerpaint HD: The most versatile, lets you customize pretty much everything and draw in enormous canvases, I routinely draw in 3300 x 2550 with tons of layers without a problem. If you get Cloud Alpaca for your PC you can continue what you started on your phone seamlessly.

2) ArtRage: It's a "natural media" app, that is, you paint with pencils, pastels, watercolors, etc. Like Art Academy. It's great, but it limits max painting size to 2048x2048. It's a joy to use, though.

3)Painter Mobile: Another "natural media" tool. The brushes behave a bit more "digital" than ArtRage, but still pretty good. It has the same 2048x2048 limitation.

You can see samples of artwork created in all three, and in Art Academy, in my deviantart: mrbigal.deviantart.com

Any other apps have problems or irritants that made me decide they weren't worth it.

@AVahne I have several Samsung Notes and they are, indeed, much superior in terms of input. There's an app I use almost exclusively that will let you draw/paint in 4K resolution, and a few limited but fun "natural media" apps.

Still, there is nothing like the Art Academy apps in terms of foundation building. I draw a lot and I still look forward to the lessons because they make you solve problems with a beautiful toolset, even if it's low resolution.

@Squidzilla That's wonderful news!

@RegalSin Some of the iPad apps are wonderful, but none have the precision afforded by pen input. Even the best pens available are hilariously imprecise. For didactic purposes AA is a better value because the results and the progression will be more natural.

And really, digital art and traditional art are only different because of the tools used, painting a masterful piece requires equal effort and skill either way.

So it's a service? The GHTV thing can't be free, can it?

PAZUZU??? D:

I'd love having it in portable form. Also, isn't it time Square did the same thing with Tobal? Tobal 3D needs to happen.

Someone needs a hug. Probably a new wardrobe, too.

@Sceptic Believe it or not, a resistive screen is very precise when compared to a capacitive one. I am not a pro by any stretch of the imagination, but I can get better linework out of my 3DS than out of my Android tablet; for the price I think you are getting a lot of bang for your buck.

Here's a drawing I made with Colors 3D:
http://colorslive.com/details/121019

And another one with Art Academy 3DS:
http://mrbigal.deviantart.com/art/Vanellope-351771177

@0-172 Thanks for confirming! Now I can dive in with zero regrets!

When you import your party from the first game are they deleted in it?
Or can you still open the first game and play it? I haven't finished the last dungeon.

Looks like crap. If I could get a 3DS with smartphone functionality, I'd be all over it.

And knowing is half the battle. Thanks!

I'd totally buy it, without thinking. But I think we need a futuristic tactical game too.

I have the impression that latter games have been more popular. I never played any of the first three, so I'd give this one a whirl for sure.

So he's doing damage control because he lost a lot of internet good-will. I say he deserves it for behaving like and idiot; insulting a potential platform for his games is dumb from any angle.

You just don't casually crap on a demographic who may pay for your stuff.

I need to sell a kidney... Any takers?

So Batsu graduated high school and went to study law. Still, brawling habits die hard, it seems!

I have to read reviews, as I live in a developing country and I have to either pay a premium or import (and pay the corresponding import expenses) to get a game I want. I basically can't afford spending money on bad games, where bad is something that doesn't work or I won't like.

What I look for are info on the game mechanics, the story (if any) and if there are any game breaking bugs. That's why I like the reviews on this site; I know the reviews are pretty straight forward and "journalistic", in the sense that the information is presented with minimum bias (or the bias is clearly explained), and several relevant aspects of the game will be analyzed. Other sites are pretty juvenile, and add a lot of posturing and snark to their comments rendering the reviews useless to me.

I remember a mag I used to read when I was a kid, where a dvd that interested me was being reviewed. One of the reviewers in the panel just said "It's not (name of thematically different movie)". I decided right then that if the editors let them do that lazy crap and let it pass as a review I was not going to buy the stupid mag anymore.

To conclude, I read the reviews to understand what the game is about and how it works. All the other drama surrounding scores is a waste of time to me, and is basically another case of confirmation bias rampant in the internet.

Given my lack of gaming friends this sounds pretty sweet to me.

@Bankai:
1) This is a public gaming forum, not the Wall Street Journal.
2) This being the internet, people will express all kinds of opinions, reasoned or not. As a Journalist you have to learn to deal with "New Media" and it's idiosyncracies.
3). As a Project Manager I KNOW that talking doesn't solve anything. Period. Specially overnight.
4). It doesn't take a degree in Business, which I have, to notice there are common threads among the comments. In fact, a focus group behaves like this.

To answer your original question, Square Enix is ailing because:

A. They are unfocused, their product strategy is all over the place.
B. They are wasting money and time in lieu of graphic fidelity.
C. They invested a lot of money on western developers, which is pretty smart given the value of the yen, but they have yet to see the return they were expecting.
C. Since I am not auditing their financials, no matter how much I reason my arguments, I'm still talking out of my butt.

@Bankai I have a background in business, IT and Project Management. It doesn't mean I won't take cheap shots every once in a while, just for fun. Lighten up, this isn't homework we're discussing

Also, where's Tobal 3D??? They literally missed out on the fighting game renaissance. Idea Factory or not, that game was excellent and deserved a follow up.

How's about getting decent writers/plotters for their games? That should help TONS. And get rid of the bullcrap titles, they're unmarketable.

Wasted opportunity. Should have been rebranded to FOXY BROWN, all caps.

I download from the US store, where games cost HALF of what I'd have to pay at retail in my country.
Got a big fat 32 gb class 10 waiting for this and Animal Crossing.

I would kill to be able to play Culdcept and Puyo Puyo 20th Anniversary in my US 3DS, but meh, you can't always get what you want.

@Samholy The name of the game was already registered in Europe. I think this one has better chances than most.

@Schprocket In fact, Hasbro started the Transformers line licensing and recoloring several animé toy lines.

Perfect for stuffing stockings.

Bring it to 3DS with an export function! Pretty please!

I really wanted to love it, but I found it too easy and the artwork was horrible. The concept art was beautiful, but the game was all shades of gray and beige, and the character models... meh. Also, the gender locked classes were a turn off.
The online was well implemented, it's a shame they won't be able to leverage the knowledge they gained with a follow up.

Denpa love!

Please partner up with Amazon. I would kill to have my books available on the 3DS, the music would be gravy.

@Mahe: Anyone who knows how the stock market works knows that it responds to perception. (Also I wasn' questioning his method of analysis, just his need to be a diva)
I'd look up the quote and the author, but I'm pretty bored with the discussion as all you're doing is rehashing the same argument.
It's probably a sign of the Mayan apocalypse or the NPD numbers.

@Ducutzu: I know, right?
Quote sources, variables and statistic analysis used and I'll believe anything. Otherwise, I'd be careful to qoute a guy who has been caught saying half-truths and outright lies before.

@Mahe: Pachter is paid to be a wet blanket, because he has to ensure his customers see a return on their investments. Right now the safest bet for a quick buck is mobile (a few months ago it was mobile and social, but social imploded). He basically has to keep the self-sustaining myth of Nintendo doom going because they are the riskiest propositon and a direct threat to his pet stocks.
It is logical that aggregate sales of DS/3DS are going down because guess what? DS is phasing out and 3DS is ramping up.

@Mahe: Repeating Pachter word for word is hardly in depth analysis.

@Windy: Ok, I think I understand you now. For impulse buys you definitely get more value for your money from iTunes. And since stuff is so cheap, there's hardly any buyer's remorse.

We also agree there's no comparison between the experience offered by most apps and retail games.

Thanks for explaining your point of view!

@Windy: I'm typing this on an iPhone, and pricing aside there's hardly a reason for me to consider gaming on it. I'm not 12 either.

The enormous glut of crap, runners, tower defense games and "physics puzzlers" can't hold a candle to the replayability and polish of Nintendo games in general. In fact, the way money is made on both platforms guarantees that from the very start of project design games are going to be different. Not to mention that their input is tailored to different experiences.

It's great you find iOS gaming so likable, but as compelling as you find your argument, it's still based on taste (much like mine).

@kesley4884: It's a matter of taste, really. I have both. I drew my avatar with Colors!3D as well.

Sometimes I want to do pure digital, sometimes I want to do faux analog.

@k8sMum: I'm not particularly gifted in any technique, but I can try out layering colors and share the result with you. Which colors would you like me to try? Primaries?

@-Max-: Nuthin'. I suppose the press release is all we have.

@ouroborous: This Art Academy is completely new, with additional tools (colored pencils, pastels, paper textures, etc) and sharing options. It certainly isn't what you think.
Depending on the amount of time you put into it, it's well worth the money. I used the original to sketch and I would finish using the computer. I intend to do the same with this one.

@Henmii: Denpa means electro-magnetic wave, radio wave, or nonsense.

I have no clue what Pikmin means.