ChristopherM

@BulbasaurusRex @Captain_Gonru - Many thanks for the recommendation. I don't believe MVP Baseball has ever been released in the UK, but fortunately I do still have a US-friendly Gamecube, so I'll be looking into it.

I do enjoy Wii Sports Baseball, but I'd prefer not to use motion controls over a full 9-innings game.

I also enjoy my imported Backyard Baseball 2006 on GBA, even though it includes non-realistic power-ups.

However, for a decent "realistic" Baseball sim of a full 9-innings game without power-ups or mandatory motion controls, I believe that UK Nintendo gamers have to go way back to All Star Baseball 2000 on the N64.

Can anybody remember the last time that Nintendo gamers in the UK got a decent baseball sim? On either a console or a handheld? You know, one that didn't require us to swing a Wiimote around in order to pitch or hit?

@TreasureFan - IIRC you can play the soundtrack to Panzer Dragoon by placing the Saturn game disc into a CD player. I believe it was one of the Saturn discs that used Red Book Audio for the music, so it should be compatible with most CD/DVD players. However Sega's game data is usually on track 1, so don't try to play that track on audio equipment.

I've already suggested this on another thread, but I'd like Nintendo to offer us downloadable soundtrack albums as rewards.

The soundtrack CDs were always very popular on Club Nintendo. I get it that Nintendoo wants to move away from physical rewards, but downloadable soundtrack music would be cheap and easy to provide, and greatly appreciated by many fans.

@dizzy_boy - I totally agree. I pointed out to Nintendo a while ago that the previous site wasn't fully compatible with the WiiU browser and I was told that the problems would be reported upwards. It's ridiculous that Nintendo still isn't testing its websites on its own hardware.

You also make a very good point that we should be able to claim and manage points within the eShop.

If Nintendo doesn't want to give physical rewards any more, like the very popular Club Nintendo soundtrack CDs, why doesn't it offer official downloads of game music?

It would be easy and cheap to arrange, and much more appreciated than these discounts.

The Switch's price in the UK will depend on how much lower £sterling falls against the Yen by the launch date. The more it falls, the higher the price.

From what I've listened to so far, this is a great collection though. It's particularly good to see some of the lesser known (and lesser covered) games being given an airing. Congratulations and thanks to all concerned.

@TreonsRealm - Like you, I enjoy the music at OCR & ZREO, and greatly appreciate Nintendo's relaxed attitude to the rights issue.
However, of the three "Goldeneye 007" tracks here, Uncle & The Bacon's "007" is a fairly straight-forward performance of the original Bond theme, rather than a cover of the music provided by Graeme Norgate, Grant Kirkhope and Robin Beanland for the game. If the (famously protective) film producers have any say in the matter, then that particular track might be removed.

Rivalry? As I recall, at the time Rare openly admitted that Nintendo collaborated with Rare, eg providing input on the course designs in Diddy Kong Racing.

Interesting that most of these tunes are from games developed by Rare.

Yes, even as someone who still owns all his '70s vinyl, I find it a little odd to see digitally performed/constructed music being redistributed in an analogue format. Having said that, it is a strangely compelling product, and it may even get the attention of a few DJs.

By the way, anybody who wants all three SoR/Bare Knuckle soundtracks on CD should seek out the triple disc set "Yuzo Koshiro Best Collection Vol 2" (which also contains Revenge of Shinobi).

"Port" used to be a derogatory term in videogaming, but M2's Sega conversions set a new high water mark that displayed genuine programming skill. As I recall, Sega didn't even think the SoR2 conversion would be possible. Also, the team's love for the original games continues to shine through in all the fine detail and different options on offer.

As Damien says, our thoughts are with Saito's family, friends and colleagues.

@Ricube - I completely agree. The WiiU always looked tailor-made for a Pokemon Snap remake.

The fact that there's a Megadrive decal as well as a Genesis one suggests to me that it will also be coming to Europe.

Mister_Wu - Thanks. I'm aware of the two different physical Mario Hanafuda decks (the newer deck looks pretty, but I consider the older one more playable, with just 16 redesigned cards). However, how do you know the new theme is based on the newer deck? Hopefully you're correct though.

Grumblevolcano - Good to read your comment about the Wii's MK64. I opened up Extra/Mirror on the original MK64 cart after I won Gold on the final 150cc course. Years later, when I downloaded the Wii version, I went straight to that course and beat it, but Extra didn't open so I assumed it had been left off. Perhaps I should have beaten the other 150cc courses as well? In the event, I didn't really enjoy using the Wii Classic Controller so I've still been digging out my N64 when I want to play the game. However, the WiiU pad feels good for Waverace 64, so I may upgrade my Wii download to WiiU and open Extra properly again

Hopefully this Mario Hanafuda theme will be based on a different deck to the one in the "exclusive" Club Nintendo Mario Hanafuda theme. The latter is my favourite 3DS theme (to the extent that I may never bother buying another) but it would be a bit irritating if we spent our last stars on something that became readily available for £1.79 so soon afterwards.

By the way, I wonder if the WiiU's Mario Kart 64 download will reinstate the Mirror Mode that was missing from the Wii download?

@Steve_Bowling Assuming your review is based on the final build, please can you let us know the download file size? Thanks.

I'd be interested to learn what background music/sounds are included on each of these.

Mister_Wu - Yes, the new deck remains a recognisable Hanafuda deck at heart.

Some might find the older, less adorned deck to be more playable. However, anybody who prefers every card to be customised should certainly be looking at the newer deck (assuming of course that the quality of manufacture is comparable).

Mister_Wu - Thanks. That's the one

Gridatttack - Thanks for the video link. Yes that's the same theme that I've downloaded via UK Club Nintendo. I agree with you that it's the best theme around by far.

Although the art styles are similar, the cards in that theme are actually lifted from the old Club Nintendo "Mario" Hanafuda deck, and not the new deck shown above.

Some of the older cards are illustrated at:
http://www.hanafuda.co.uk/2013/04/nintendo-hanafuda-cards/

I just wanted to point out that anybody who wants to buy cards that closely match the Club Nintendo 3DS theme might prefer to track down a copy of the older deck.

(NB - Unlike the new deck, the old deck includes many traditional Hanafuda designs that do not feature Mushroom Kingdom denizens)

Just noticed that this new deck does in fact provide the design for the opposite (ie top) side of the forthcoming Hanafuda 3DS plates.

@Gridatttack - I don't know about the Japan Club Nintendo 3DS theme, but the recent UK Club Nintendo 3DS theme was based on an older Mario Hanafuda deck.

Similarly, the forthcoming Japanese 3DS cover plate features the "Shy Boo" pampas card from the older deck, rather than the new "Scary Boo" design shown above.

But yes, both deck designs are awesome. And yes, DS Clubhouse Games (aka "42 All-Time Classics" over here) does contain Koi-Koi, complete with illustrated instructions.

To anybody thinking of picking up a cheap game in order to get 250 extra Stars - my £6 copy of Arkham Origins from Amazon UK did NOT include a PIN voucher, despite the game being listed on the Club Nintendo site. Presumably that copy of the game had been packaged after the scheme had closed(?) Caveat Emptor.

@manu0 - Thanks, that's interesting about the German description.

Club Nintendo's UK description (not fully repeated in the article above) says "Please note: the coin is silver-plated only". If anybody received one without any actual silver on it, then I'd say they would be entitled to a refund.

Of course, a refund would be pretty worthless if the stars were no longer valid by then.

@manu0 - The description says the coin is "silver plated" but I can't see any mention of plastic as a base. Have you seen it listed as plastic anywhere else? I'm interested because my wife is considering picking one up with her remaining stars. Thanks.

Looking at my account, I have seen thousands of my Stars expire during the life of Club Nintendo Europe. That was because, at that time, there was simply nothing worth getting. Any decent physical goods were snapped up within minutes by the lucky few (I myself managed to snag the Hanafuda cards), leaving worthless digital wallpapers etc for everybody else.

However, if I remember correctly, at that time the North American Club Nintendo had far better gifts than Europe!

Nice tribute Thomas, although you neglected to mention that a big difference over the previous SNES version (and the subsequent GBA and DS versions) was the analogue steering.

For myself, I love this version. The course designs were perfect for three-player family games, both racing and battles. The Block Fort and Double Deck battle stages in particular have never been bettered (although DKR's subsequent castle and pyramid arenas came close).

There were also some wonderful details in the presentation, such as the aerial views in the end credits, and the unnecessary-but-fun ability to visit the Mario 64 model of Peach's castle.

For a second I thought this was "Qubed" - ie the Lumines/E4/RezHD collection

@Clipo - Nice to see I'm not the only one reminded of Extreme-G.

Could anybody afford to take over Disney? Well, you might argue that Pixar already did, in essence. When Disney "bought" Pixar, the deal meant that Pixar's owner - Steve Jobs - joined the Disney board of directors as the biggest shareholder. Also, John Lasseter - the creative head of Pixar - gained huge creative control at Disney.

Seriously, I don't see any reason why Disney and Nintendo couldn't enter into a corporate partnership, if not a full merger

Anybody in the UK trying to find the new Streetpass games should first update the Streetpass software by clicking the icon on the far left. You will then get a new shopping option.

Can somebody who has already downloaded Mario Kart DS please confirm whether Nintendo has added analogue steering as an option?

Failing that, can NintendoLife please specify this in any review?

If analogue steering is not a new option, then I have no need to download a single player version of a game that I can still play solo and in local multiplayer on my 3DS.

Thanks

In the AC track, the seasons changing every time you play is a nice touch - I hope the ice and wet leaves etc impact the handling.

BTW, I’m surprised that the Nintendo broadcast didn’t show the Mute City DLC at 200cc. Or was it so fast that I missed it?

Did your research include looking at DeNA's security expertise? A quick Google suggests that accounts on its "Blood Brothers" game have been hacked.

GBA Pokemon Pinball transcends its franchise and stands as the best hand-held pinball game ever. Far more playable than the Mario pinball game and easier to follow than Zen's pinball games on 3DS. Plus the collection factor leads to obsessive "one more go" sessions.

Not sure what the frame rate will look like on a big screen, and the layout will probably appear a bit basic, but it'll probably be fine for playing on the WiiU tablet. A full-blooded remake would have been preferable though, for either 3DS or WiiU.

Perhaps this is being released to test demand for a remake, although those of us who love it still play the original cart. Also there's a danger it will be buried this week under the avalanche of Zen tables.

... unless 56cm is measured from left seam to right seam and is not the full chest measurement?

I was looking at the hoodie as a gift, but can anybody make sense of the size guide? Even on XL the chest measurement is only a tiny 56cm. Even worse, the same size guide appears on the Mario Kart T-Shirt and the (non-Sale) men's hoodie. 56cm? XL? Really?

Perhaps worth mentioning that Adam West has already provided the voice for a "Lego-compatible" C3 Batman figure - in the animated short "Batman: New Times". Mark Hamill voiced the Joker and Dick Van Dyke was Commissioner Gordon.

The DVD is long out-of-print, but the short can still be streamed from DAVE School, where it was made.

If Nintendo wants to improve sales momentum in the UK over Christmas then it needs to get stock on the High Street. The Wii U Fit Meter is not available in my local HMV, Game, Blockbuster, Argos or Asda. The staff I spoke to hadn't even heard of it.

shinobi88 / Kaine - I agree about the soundtrack. You may already know this, but the soundtracks for all three SoR/Bare Knuckle games - plus Shinobi - are available on the Japanese triple CD "Yuzo Koshiro Best Collection Vol 2". Not sure if it's still available though.

I'd love to see the 16-bit SoR on 3DS, but based on recent form Sega will first try to sell UK gamers the Game Gear version.

Just to clarify my previous post - the Simple DS series is the cartridge-based antecedent of the Simple DL series

"We're not convinced this'll make it West (as the series never has to date)..."

Actually Thomas, at least one of the Simple DS series has been released in the West. The Volume 4 cartridge was released here as "Break 'em All".

Thanks for the review Martin, but is there really "no dumbing down"?

I bought an earlier edition of Puzzler World purely for the Link-A-Pix puzzles but they were painfully easy, compared to the equivalent puzzles on Pic Pic.

Since Conceptis provided the puzzles for both games, I can only assume that Ubisoft deliberately set the bar lower for Puzzler World than 505 did for Pic Pic.

Very sad. Back in the '90s, Kenji Eno's name and personality lit up the game world in big, bright and bold letters.

His original "D" was a 3DO classic - original, innovative and in many ways ahead of it's time. It also featured tremendously atmospheric music, which he composed himself.

If you ever played the N64's New Tetris and enjoyed merging the giant gold and silver blocks, you should know that Kenji Eno had already created the concept in his own delightful falling block game "Trip'd" (also on 3DO, and a perfect candidate for an eShop remake).

Many on this forum would also have delighted in his very public anti-Sony antics.

RIP Kenji Eno. The world of videogames will be a shade more grey without you.

Three points about converting the US price to UK currency...

First - One could argue that we should be using Purchasing Power Parities rather than exchange rates. This would push the UK equivalent price closer to £135.

Second - I don't believe the $199 includes any sales tax, does it? (Perhaps the US readers can correct me if I'm wrong). UK Sales Tax is 20%

Third - Nintendo is obliged to let UK retailers set their own profit margins. Unless an aggressive retailer makes an early move, these margins will tend to start high and move lower over time, after the retailers have mopped up the early adopters.

American readers should note that any price advertised on Amazon UK will include the UK's 20% purchase tax. You should adjust Thomas's currency conversion for your own local taxes.

@Knuckles

You won't hear a price from Nintendo. Nintendo never sets a retail price for Europe. It sets a wholesale price and leaves retailers to set their own retail prices. It's been that way ever since Nintendo was fined by the EU for price fixing.