ERIC_MACK

@jimnorman I believe the orange footer on the japanese box art is actually the base of the music box, not an extra graphical element covering anything up.

@batmanbud2 I assumed it wasn't on the list because general consensus (at least in recent years) seems to be that it is way better than 1 and therefore, appropriately rated. I see it on GB Top 10 lists all the time, but it's much more rare to see SML1 on there.

I agree with MP8 btw, great mario party that I never hear people talk about. Fun minigames, and even had that cool monopoly-like level!

My other two "underrated" favorites though would be SML1 and SML3D. Both are heavily representative of their respective consoles to me and they always put a smile on my face.

EDIT: oh, and mario baseball on gamecube! It's been well over a decade since I played so maybe it's just the nostalgia talking, but that was one of the rare games that my parents could enjoy with me as well.

@Ryu_Niiyama Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification!

@Yoshif3 Out of all of the gamers that I know personally, none of them pirated wii games, at least, not until well after it was a dead console. I also don't agree with sales being cut in half because of the requirement of the Motion + because many folks had it from other game bundles or just from buying a new wii remote since they started to build them in.
Regardless, the hardware requirement and potential turn-off of motion controls is a good factor to keep in mind

@Yoshif3 I'm not talking about the ports (neither on the Wii U or the Switch), only the sales numbers of the original releases. Skyward Sword on Wii in 2011 sold less than Wind Waker on GameCube in 2002.

@Yoshif3 While I agree with the idea of a sort of "switch buff" being applicable here, I don't think that there is a strong correlation between console units and sales for its games.
Just look at skyward sword - it sold less on wii (101 million units) than Wind Waker sold on GameCube (21 million).

@Ryu_Niiyama It was indeed meant as a response to your comment about the dungeons in TotK where you mention that "One thing I think that was addressed by ToTK that people overlook is the tailored dungeons".
It sounded like you felt it was adapted nicely into the open world of TotK and that not people might not be giving proper praise for that. So I figured I'd share my perspective as someone who was excited for a new form of Zelda dungeons but felt like it fell flat ultimately.

@Ryu_Niiyama I haven't finished TotK and have only played through the Fire Dungeon, so I could be totally off. But personally, it really didn't do it for me as a dungeon. I barely remember it, and it felt more like just kinda going through some some-what structured areas until it was time to fight the boss. Which also felt kinda underwhelming as it felt like it was kinda just there. Other Zelda games (not all of the time) have had some really awesome bosses where you feel like it's all been leading up to that moment and the boss really feels like the keeper of that temple. All of that kind of stuff is done through the characteristics and design of those dungeons, but with TotK (for the fire dungeon at least), that tight design and character of a dungeon was traded off for the more open-air approach that resulted in it feeling more like a half-built dungeon placed in the world and not a unique special place that bleeds out into the larger environment.

Again, my thoughts might change upon playing more, but that's my feelings on it as of now.

@LadyCharlie Would you play again if they reverted to a more traditional game-style? Or if new creative leads took over? Just curious

@Lady_Galadhiel Still haven't completed TotK but I remember this being a decent letdown in BotW.

I found one of the last memories early on because I scaled the castle with only 6 hearts (which was freaking awesome). The context gained in seeing that memory first nulled most of the other memories I collected and basically spoiled the small bit of narrative offered (not so awesome D: ).

@N8tiveT3ch I agree with that idea - I'm all for the Zelda series to keep expanding into new territories. But I disagree with the way Aonuma puts it that suggests that the older style is somehow outright worse by it's setup

Anyone know if this interview was through a translator? I like Aonuma and am hoping that the tone got skewed in translation because as @-wc- states, it comes off as condescending and frankly ignorant of players's experiences.

I like "both" styles of Zelda games. Experiencing BotW for the first time contained some core memory moments for me as a gamer. That being said, I don't return to the new Zelda games the way that I do the old ones.

It's not a matter of nostalgia, it's because the more linear setup allows for more designed/crafted experiences. Going through dungeons, towns and storybeats in games like OoT and WW are so enjoyable to me. It's like a movie or play that you get to both be entertained by AND partake in!

That's my reason for "want[ing] to go back to a type of game where you're more limited or more restricted in the types of things or ways you can play". To suggest that, automatically, restrictions = bad is like saying that free-form jazz is by default better than Bach. You can like both, neither is inherently above the other.

Recently there was a sale on Murder by Numbers and I picked it up - been having a lot of fun with it so far, highly recommend it!

@Daniel36 You might have come across some GB Studio made games and not known it! For example, the new McDonald's GB game was made with GB Studio.
In fact, the artist/designer of that game wrote two articles in this magazine!

@Simon97 $20 per magazine, of which there are 4 volumes a year.

@JohnnyMind the shipping is already included for the price of the physical mag! It'll ship internationally, no extra cost.
Though, the digital version is a good option as well

While this seems to be a matter of course at this point, I will miss the old days of E3 (should they truly be behind us).
The Nintendo Direct format has garnered its own appreciation from me, but it is undeniably different from the jam-packed event of E3 having live stage presentations from all of the major companies and reporting from custom made sets that show off upcoming games and hardware .
It was exciting, and I'll always look back fondly at moments like Miyamoto holding the sword and shield or Reggie showing off the prototype DS. But, unless by some miracle E3 revives itself, I look forward to the evolution of gaming announcements to bring in new tradition

I'm surprised that they used the gyrados for the pack art - I think it would have been good to use that for a Team Star set (since it would mirror the gyrados packs of the Team Rocket and Rocket Returns sets)

I like the legendary cards, especially the Moraidon (even though I'm team Koraidon >:] )

@Ogbert The never-fully-canceled idea was my first thought at a potential reason why. I don't remember where I read this (might've been the Iwata book or a 1101 article or something), but supposedly Miyamoto was invested on developing software for the famicom of face/character creation which ultimately got brought back up over time until it was actually turned into Mii's on the Wii. Similar thing with Yoshi being drafted up during (I think) SMB 1's development but not implemented until SMW.
I'm really curious to hear if the ex-Retro employee who spoke with DYKG actually broke an NDA or not. I could easily see a game with as unique of a premise in both mechanics and story being shelved by Nintendo to use bits and pieces of for later Zelda games (which would open another can of worms of do they own the work done by Retro and can they implement elements of it into new games without further compensation or credit?). My guess is that the NDA was indefinite and the ex-Retro employee just kind of figured it's been long enough, though I could be wrong.

I'm also quite curious as to why they didn't take down the Metroid one as well. Was this Zelda takedown faked like other ones recently? Is there a whole process to confirm a takedown and the Metroid one will be gone soon?

Max Oakland is a great developer in the the GameBoy scene (particularly GB Studio)!

This is very exciting to see a physical launch for Ruby & Rusty.

It's neat to see, but personally it has an uncanny valley effect for me.

It's odd to see such unrealistic shapes/textures have such a realistic lighting source.

@LuigiBlood Thanks! This is my first time hearing about Flagship

Was HAL involved with The Minish Cap or was he part of Capcom at the time? Or perhaps was under HAL but worked with Capcom (as opposed to enough of HAL working on the game to be considered a co-developer?)

@mystman12 Pre-orders just went live and you can ordered it to ship directly to you! (bit pricey though)

I just snagged my preorder so that I can listen to DJ KK all day just like my original AC house

@Not_Soos That's great! I'd love to hear updates on it, is there some sort of online prescence that I could follow?

And as far as Turning Red, it's definitely different from other Pixar movies but in my eyes, if there was one thing that had the top-notch sign of Pixar skill, it was the art/animation. So I think going in it'd help to know that a lot of the discourse around this is, to me, mostly because it's different.

WOO! It's back!!

NA easy on this one

@Nontendo_4DS nice username & profile pic

First got mine in the summer of 2018, it's been holding up fine since (although it hasn't gotten a lot of use lately).

That being said, I was safe from joycon drift UNTIL LAST MONTH! I was starting to think I was blessed enough to make it through the console's life cycle without issue but when playing Arceus in handheld mode I noticed a heavy drift on my blue joycon that came with my switch.

This is the first time since gen 4 that I would be happy with any of the starters!

@Zuljaras Nice art! Though it might be good to post a content warning with it since this is a family friend site for the most part

@Anti-Matter Looking good!

@Anti-Matter Thanks for sharing - I've seen some bootlegs myself in person, but never anything that extreme

I've always loved the different character designs of Donkey Kong throughout the years; it is one of my favorite things to watch evolve with each DK release!

I'm currently making a DK fan game for the GameBoy Color and based my own DK Design mostly off of the DK Junior era.

@ImDiggerDan Man, that is rad!!

@RevrsblSedgewick
I would think that some of the money would actually go to the original composers through obtaining a Mechanical License. I first learned about it from Insane in the Rain's FAQ about his video game song covers which states:

"Because these songs that I'm covering weren't originally composed by me, I have to get a license that allows for revenue obtained from my cover to be shared with the original composer / rightsholder (as it should be!) To obtain a Mechanical License using Compulsory Mechanical License provision of US Copyright Law, the song in question must be released on a commercial release in the United States. A good example of this for video game music is the Pokémon Super Music Collection series, which is released on iTunes for pretty much every main series Pokémon game. Because this is an official commercial release, I can legally cover and distribute covers from these Pokémon games."

There are distribution services that will set up the proper license (s) needed by the cover artist.
All of that being said, I have no idea whether or not this group is legally covered in that department, I just know that commercially available cover albums of video game soundtracks are not necessarily keeping a portion of compensation from going to the source creator.

@ImDiggerDan That's awesome! Was it signed in-person or perhaps one in a contest?

Personally I don't really care either way about froggy chair - I actually thought that it was in ACNH from the beginning. But I'm happy that others are excited about it!

Now if we REALLY want to break out the good stuff, they'd bring in the Modern Series.

I did NOT expect ACWW to be in the DS's top ten!

I guess I underestimated how many people played that game.

That's super neat!

@Broosh A classic!

@Edu23XWiiU Ah, gotcha!

@Elvie I loved the wii u but stopped playing games around 2015. So when the switch was announced, I glanced at it but thought that it looked like the Wii U as well in terms of marketing and potential sales, but to me it looked like it had even less Nintendo Soul.
I ended up getting back into games when I purchased my switch with BotW in 2018 though and am glad that the company is doing well again!

@Edu23XWiiU Sure - to be clear, the article is not about a leak but an official announcement from Nintendo about the structure of their company. I just thought it was funny that the article described it as "switching things up" since the name "Switch" wouldn't be used by Nintendo for several years to come.

@yuwarite I remember hearing so many rumors - I was pretty young at the time to so it was almost like a game for me trying to figure out what was true and not.
The only thing I knew was certainly official was from mentions of the mysterious "Revolution" in Nintendo Power!

Just read a short article from verge that was discussing Nintendo's announcement in 2013 to merge the console and handheld divisions in the company:

"It's not clear how exactly this reshuffling will aid Nintendo's operations, but the company appears to be serious about switching things up"

I thought the word choice here was pretty serendipitous in hindsight

EDIT: Here's the article:
https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/16/3881770/nintendo-to-unify-console-and-handheld-divisions-in-major

@BloodNinja I appreciate the heads up!

@OnigiriSan As someone who often favors atmosphere/immersion over pure gameplay, I feel the same way.

I'd much rather play a short game that develops nicely as opposed to it being drawn out in its mechanics.
That being said, I love longer games that keep introducing new ideas like LttP!
But a lot of RPGs, to me, feel like they could just kind of move along and finish up the story just fine but instead pad it out with a lot of same-y gameplay. But I'd imagine that something like that would only add to the fun if you really dig turn-based combat.

Not that it corresponds to quality, but to me, the border between a short game and a long game (while it shifts with genre) is generally the 8 hour mark.

Below 8 hours is a "short" experience while more than 8 is standard for me. Over 15 is when it start to get into long for my calibration.

Basically, a good marker for me is : did I beat it before falling off of it? I will often play a game consistently for a week or two before putting it down for another project. If I didn't beat it in that initial playing period and have to return to it, it'll most likely not qualify as a short game for me.

@SilentHunter382 Just to be clear, Mercury System's statement does say "sometimes exceptions are made when making exceptional contributions." So if someone's month-long involvement was deemed significant enough by the company's standards (of which I have no basis to know what that standard is), then they would be credited.

Also just want to say that I don't know what their reasoning for the 25% threshold is - I personally can't think of any reason not to give credit to all involved but I also don't have any experience with these companies. I only mentioned what I did to clear things up.