DrRandle

Honestly, they didn't support systems very well when they did sell. Instead of giving us a full on Dead Space with RE4 style controls, they gave us an arcade shooter. (Which, as a dead space nut job, I still enjoyed... but still...) The DS only received one game that I can think of that wasn't a super-downgraded port of an already existing and popular franchise, and that was Henry Hatsworth. They're just not interested in expanding their market base. All they want is to find new ways to exploit their current ones in Battlefield and Fifa.

@Shard1 Do you also not buy 3DS games or WiiU games? What games do you buy if $10 dollars for a $10 dollar game is too much?

@khaosklub I'm a Nintendo Fan too? So does my opinion not matter? It's 1/4th the price of a 3DS game and will likely have 1/4th the content. Where's the disconnect? The problem is that mobile gamers have zero concept on how pricing should look in a game. They spend way more money on way less quality garbage.

"10 dollars is too much money!"
Spends 8 dollars to have coins in Pokemon Shuffle that go away in 2 minutes
"Nobody would pay 1/4th a 3DS game for something just because it's on a cell phone!"
Whales spend thousands in Mobile Strike
"10 Dollars? What are they thinking!? That's so much money!!"
Spends 25 dollars on a sparkle pony in World of Warcraft that does nothing your other flying mounts don't already do

This guy is absolute trash, even for a streamer.

This just better not happen to the Switch. : /

I think they're trying to play it safe. At least that was my thought with Amiibo: They weren't quite sure that would take off at all, much less like it did. But yeah, this is becoming an increasingly frustrating situation with Nintendo. Amiibo, The GCN Adapter, Pokken controllers, now this.

I really, really hope this doesn't happen to Switch.

@Yoshi Okay, that makes sense then! I figured it had to do with the recording, but I wasn't sure what about that process was causing it. I guess I never took into account the 60 fps vs. 30 fps difference, and that causing the invincibility frames to be the only thing present. Thanks for that! : )

You too, @Alex0lney !

So, hey kind of unrelated question. Why does recording software show blinking characters go completely invisible? I'm not much of an a/v guy, so that's always bugged me.

Kinda figured this would be a thing. It only makes sense considering how well Smash usually sells and how low it sold on WiiU. (Probably because of the 3DS version, I think.) I wonder if they'll give it name like "Smash Bros. for Switch" or something better. Hopefully something better.

@faint Honestly, I've never played anything on the series out side of Pokemon Conquest, which of course, was an offshoot. But much like Hyrule Heroes, I just don't have much interest in the story and world they're creating with those games. My interest starts to come into play when they are using a world I do like. Granted, it's kind of easy when it's a world I already am heavily invested into (Pokemon or Zelda), but it's still (super?) effective. In any case, if Pokemon Conquest was some dumbing down of the series, which I could totally imagine, I was still just fine with it. I had a great time with that game, and I've been wanting a new one ever since. BUT! That's me. I'm totally happy for people who are getting a new one of these games! And I welcome anything on Switch. But for me? Gimme dem 'monz.

But it won't have Pokemon in it? Hmm...

Looooks like this is going to be a cartridge-based console, guys. Digital seems rather off the table for your primary games like Zelda and Mario.

I think this was just a joking tweet referencing the earlier picture of Mario poking his head out from behind a shower curtain. Much as I'd love more devices to play Hearthstone on, I don't think the Switch'll be one of them.

@shani So touch screens and motion controls, both of which were in the WiiU, Nintendo's biggest commercial failure of a console, are successful and imparative requirements, but Voice Chat, which has been around since the original xbox and PS2, and are widely lauded as a requirement for online play by literally everyone else when it comes to team coordination, is a fault and should be kept out of the package?

Everyone has their priorities, but I think yours are vastly different from gaming as a whole.

Amiibo support was confirmed by IGN in an interview with a Nintendo Representative. They said it would be available both locally and on the go. I imagine there's an NFC in either one of the Joy-Con's, or in the screen and joy-con controller dock, and maybe on the Pro.

@shani If you don't dock it, how will it connect to your TV screen? The dock isn't a streaming device, it's a connector.

@shani Where's the evidence? You can't have a touch screen when you're using it on your TV, which would eliminate all need/design for it.

I'm wholly on board. It looks like we've ditched the more gimmicky aspects of Nintendo's lineup the past 10 years with no touch-screen and no motion controls. It's back to basic, simple gaming, while still having the cool "Gimmick" of being both portable and a home console.

Setting expectations to "stun". It's not that I'm worried about a giant flop, although it's there too, I'm just prepared to not receive the media blowout I want of this thing 3 minutes to show it off doesn't sound like enough...

I wonder if FarFetch'd has any Z-Moves...

I feel mentally exhausted waiting for this thing to get revealed.

C'moooon Alolan FarFetch'd!

@nab1 I'm with you there, but (in my humble opinion) the WiiU has a -stellar- set of games that are some of the best in their respective franchise. And due to the WiiU's abysmal install base, it's a great way to get people who said "I want that game, but I don't want to get a lame duck console for it."

Speculation aside, I think it would be crazy if Nintendo didn't do re-releases for the NX from WiiU games. The WiiU had some -amazing- titles, like Bayonetta 2, Mario Kart 8, Splatoon, that would still be able to find a new audience on the console at launch. Also, if they're not doing some Smash Bros "Complete" featuring all DLC from the WiiU (and stages from 3ds, he asks hopefully?), they're missing a -huge- opportunity to pull in early adopters.

The fact that it exists in both the HD and the original versions of this game tells me this is an intentional secret. Whether for some sort of quick-pass for testing, or a deliberate secret referring to using The Deku's natural water against an unnatural parasite in the plants. Either way, this is a very cool find!

I think you and I think alike in terms of revisiting games. I've had plenty of busted games, burned out save batteries, and more that have forced me to start over on certain games. As it stands, I sort of accidentally lost my entire Wii save collection, so any of those games I've revisited have been from the start. And it's kind of nice in its own way.
But I like this article. There's a lot to love about the WiiU. It may not be as "perfect" as other systems, because it has a -lot- of problems, but at the end of the day I've bought and enjoyed way more games on the system than I have on any competitor's console. I think the rise in PC Gaming is making those kind of blanket console chases less unique and interesting. Why would I play a gimped version of a game on my PS4 when my Steam Link is right there, and runs off a more powerful computer? Nintendo doesn't really have that problem, currently.

Castlevania was always one of my favorites. Symphony of the Night had an amazing world, Order of Ecclesia was one of the best playing, and I still have a huge fondness for the original. Also, I was a big fan of the Genesis game. Bloodlines, I think? The GBA Castlevanias are also a bit underrated, I feel, especially the one with Sonya Belmont.

I would say there's definitely still a demand, especially from the developer side. Companies, specifically what I call "B Team" companies like Atlus, are still going to be more at home on a place like the 3DS than a phone or a big console. The development is much cheaper, but still allows for a large, expansive world to explore. To put a game like SMT 4 on the Wii U, or worst the PS4/XBOXone, would be prohibitively expensive, especially when you figure you're not making Call of Duty money back.
I worry that there won't be a proper handheld in a generation or two, because companies like that are going to have to start cutting corners to make their games.

Makes me wonder why they can't just put it out now? I get the whole physical retail bits, but if the game's done for digital, put it out for digital. They did that with Wind Waker HD, and I remember being so excited because I thought that was going to become the norm. Oh well.

@huxxny The same people said the same thing when Metroid Prime came out because it wasn't Super Metroid. "This isn't a metroid game! This isn't what we asked for! What is this FPS crap? Metroid is a 2D platformer!"

Metroid is whatever it wants to be because it's a flexible series.

I'm a fan of Metroid, too. I'm a hardcore Metroid fan. Fusion and Prime rank as two of my favorite games of all time. But Nintendo is a business, and those Prime games and Fusion didn't sell very well at all, especially compared to Mario, Smash, Zelda. So they're trying something new with the games again in hopes it will draw more people in. How? 1. It's a Metroid title, so that is (supposed) to draw people in, because people love Metroid games. 2. Keep the Prime gameplay, because people loved that. 3. Put it on the 3DS because that's the most popular system right now. Putting a Metroid game on the WiiU would be sending it to it's death, and Nintendo recognized that 2+ years ago when they started development on this game. 4. Make it Multi-player, because that draws in more people to the experience. Convincing my hypothetical friend to play Metroid might be a hard sell on it's own merits, if they've never liked/played Prime before, but telling them they can play it WITH me is a big draw to a lot of people, like myself. I look forward to playing this with my husband and friend.

@Kirk
Actually looking at those review synopsis, the average review is 70, which is a perfectly solid game. And the only common flaw within is that the single player feels stunted because this is a clearly multiplayer game. Which shouldn't even be a flaw, because Left 4 Dead did the same thing, and nobody complained about that "feature" there.
The worst review on there is basically something written by the comments section of an IGN article from when the game was first shown at E3, and Jose Otero doesn't remember how a Metroid Prime plays, because his complaint to that the main weapon is so weak fails to take into account that the basic weapon is always super weak in Metroid Prime games.

This is where I think Nintendo might have the right idea. Rather than linking one game series with one set of toys, you get use across multiple games (hypothetically). There's more value to the toys with Amiibo than with things like Skylanders and Infinitey.

And the Amiibo integration is improving. Kirby's Robobot was a great use of the entire system, and I'm also really happy with the Wolf Link integration for Breath of the Wild.

I know Nintendo recently reported a downswing, and I think they're still looking for a 'killer app' with Amiibo, but all this cross-game/platform use is still working for me.

@GamePerson19 Actually, I was.

I was really hoping for a Sonic Generations 2, but here we are. This looks pretty...inoffensive? I guess it's like the, what, 4th try to 'recapture' that original Sonic glory?

Very well written article. I have a lot of the same concerns as you with most games. I still haven't picked up the last Xenoblade because I just don't have the time. But! Watching this game at E3, I felt that this would be the rare exception of an open world game that I could feel myself getting lost in. Bonus? I have a husband who will play the game too, so we can kind of compare notes and 'stories' to see what all is really out there.

But I love this perspective, and I'm glad to hear the demos alleviated your fears. It sounds like the 'best of both worlds' is exactly what I want.

I actually think a lot of these new pokemon are pretty cool looking! Tau Koko in particular is interesting, and I love the bus-bug!

I hope that Nintendo still has a digital broadcast showing off some new games for WiiU and 3DS to tide us over until the NX. I believe that the logic for only having Zelda is this:

They have limited space on the show floor, and they want to make sure it's all dedicated to Zelda as that's going to be the big crowd drawer. They want -everyone- to be able to play it.

Nintendo obviously won't have too much in the way of big games, saving them for the NX, and it's obvious to me that the NX is going to get it's own Direct broadcast so nothing get's spoiled ahead of the show, like Mario Maker was a couple E3's back.

And the WiiU isn't completely empty coming up, with a new Paper Mario and Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE coming out later this year. I have to imagine Nintendo has at least one more trick up its sleeve.

The difference between an M rating and T rating in sales is too vast for them to risk it. They make the changes to keep the ratings. it's that simple. That's why Persona gets away with it. They're going for an M rating.

@AlexOlney MORE ICE CREAM POKEMON!

I'm just going to say that if this was a man who was fired, IGDA wouldn't have stepped up to defend him as he wouldn't be a "diverse" member of the game development community. Somebody is trying to take a real world issue and use it for their soapbox, and that is wrong, and I will therefore not take IGDA's comment seriously. The phrase "especially more diverse members" should be read as offensive to both "diverse" people and "non-diverse" people a like. It says that "diverse" people need help and "non-diverse" people are bland and unimportant.

Speaking solely as a former customer service rep for a few different high-profile companies, I have no sympathy for this guy. "Other people do it!" Is not an excuse. You got caught, they didn't (yet.) Secondly, I hate -hate- hate people who record their contacts with front line customer service reps like he did. It's a violation of privacy, and it puts somebody who probably doesn't make more than 25k a year (depending on where they live) on a spot that they're not trained for. It's disrespectful to frontline folks.

I've never heard of this guy but he doesn't sound like much of a winner to me considering his attitude described in this article.

@Phantom_R I agree with you, but not being able to play the multiplayer battlemode with other people is kind of infuriating.

I love handheld consoles but if this transfer process between the 3ds and new 3ds is any indication, I may never use a Nintendo handheld again. This has been an unacceptably difficult process, and it looks like I've lost all of my save data for no identifiable reason, as neither my old 3ds or new one will read any of the 20 gigs of data. I've lost 12 years of pokemon collecting, 2 years of Animal Crossing, and countless hours of other games. If this is how Nintendo rules the platform, then it's no wonder mobile is taking over the mainstream.

@Azooooz If nobody said it already, keep your 3DS until you get a new one to do the system transfer, then trade it in or sell it or whatever you wanna do. : ) Hope that helps!

I wouldn't say I'm -Most- Excited for Scram Kitty, but that game looks like a hell of a lot of fun.

The gold on the inside trim may have cut my desire for it. I like a nice black interior... we'll see!

There's always money in the frozen banana stand.

Eh. I'll pick it up anyway. I never got around to playing much of the original so this'll be a good excuse to. I'm glad they fixed the boss fights that made me put it down to begin with.