FiveDigitLP

Man, that's a lot of screens! Also, that image of Mario taking off with the Koopa Troopa's shell is quite reminiscent of Mario 64!

I can certainly testify to this issue being true! I was just in Wal-Mart the other day and some kid was trying to convince his grandma why the Wii U is better. She kept saying, "But why is this one $130 and the other one $300?" The best explanation he could come up with was that the Wii U had a controller with a screen--not that it was also an upgrade with more advanced hardware. So it seems even the consumer who wants one doesn't completely understand the differences...

I love the Iwata Asks series.
Everyone: (laughs)

Definitely going digital with this game. I did that with Fire Emblem and it was quite nice to have. (Though I do miss having a box for the game.)

@theadrock13
No offense, but that seems like a pointless reason to have two Gamepads. By the time you synced the second Gamepad to replace the one that died (only one can be synced at a time), you could have plugged in the existing one and just play with it plugged in. Surely your money would be better spent on buying that larger battery that's coming out soon, no?

Ah. This is one of the reasons why I appreciate what Nintendo does so much. They don't really play the game of "Follow the Leader" like everyone else.

@bro2dragons
Who said these things won't end up happening? They've just been drip feeding us information. I mean, it wasn't until a few weeks ago that we even knew there was going to be the possibility for two different Mega forms depending on the game. Maybe we'll find out that any Pokemon that can Mega-evolve will have two different forms? Or maybe we'll find out that EVER SINGLE POKEMON can Mega-evolve? (Nah, probably not.)

All I'm trying to say is that we really have no idea at this point. Just because they haven't said something is going to happen, doesn't mean it's not going to.

The house party mode reminds me of what I've seen of Spin the Bottle: Bumpy's Party. It looks to really utilize the GamePad in unique ways.

I didn't see it when I checked earlier, but I'll try again now.

@Cohort
Amen! I bought a Gamecube for super cheap a while back because the disc drive on my Wii stopped working, but it's certainly not as pretty as my Wii + component cable. :-/

Man, everything I've seen about this game looks so good. The mechanics look great and the visuals are gorgeous. I've been looking forward to it ever since I first heard about it.

I've debated back and forth on whether or not I want to get this. It sounds like it could be a lot of fun, but neither I nor my friends are the types to get drunk and just lose our inhibitions, so some of the up-close-and-personal games might be a little awkward without that. I read somewhere, though, that you can go into the options and disable certain games. If that is the case, then that would certainly encourage me to get it. I just watched a "Let's Play" of it, and there were some pretty funny games.

@Trululu You and I are of the same mind, friend! The reasons you gave a pretty close to the way I feel.

I'm actually quite interested in the Steam Box, er, Steam Machine (as it's called now, I guess). For quite some time, I've been considering making the switch to PC gaming for third party games that don't come to my Nintendo console, so if this is a reasonable price, it will definitely make the switch easier on me. I'm getting tired of MS and Sony's bull crap (so I don't have a huge interest in their next gen systems) and Valve really seems to have things in order.

@ricklongo It seems like the problem IS due to Rare, but it just doesn't really make sense to me. I mean, they had all three of them up on the Wii VC for the longest time, so what changed? When they took them down, I assumed something else was going on and they'd be back up eventually. I wish I'd snagged them at the time.

Man...at first I read that as Donkey Kong Country 3 on the VC. I thought, "Nintendo is putting the DKC games back on the VC?!"

Tis a shame...

That's a really cool idea for an infographic. I'd like to see this done with the SNES or N64. I'd be able to recognize more games on those...

I'm one of those that is getting a physical copy. I also intended to get the limited edition with the Ganondorf figure (as I already have a Wii U), but I didn't preorder in time.
So I'm just going to end up waiting for a little while before picking it up since I am in no rush to play it again. (Though I am certainly looking forward to it.)

I actually remember reading this somewhere when the news of the Pokemon Bank was first announced. I think on the Pokemon website or something it mentioned it in the fine details. I guess this will suck for those friends of mine who were wanting to build up a team of various starters...

Everyone over-hyped it. If you go back and look at the original tweet, it really makes sense that it was nothing big. They posted it on the Pokemon Twitter account which states in its description that it is the official account for Pokemon in NORTH AMERICA. Also, they only listed a US time zone. If it's something that is going to be US only, then it's likely NOT something game-related.

I can't say I didn't get my hopes up a little bit as well, but in hindsight, it's not really surprising what came from this "announcement."

@AlexSora89
I see nowhere that says that they're planned for Wii U alone. I only see that it says Wii U is all that has been announced. They could easily be working on GBA titles for 3DS and we do not even know it.

@Shadowkiller97 I'm right there with you. All three of the evolved forms of these starters looked much better in action.

Personally, though, I think Tyrunt looks pretty awesome. A nice mix between cuteness and toughness.

@TheRealThanos
No worries, man. I completely understand. I actually rarely play online myself, and when I do, it's usually just so I can play with friends who live out of town. You should consider creating a Backloggery account sometime, though. It hasn't really helped me decrease the size of my backlog...but at least it does help me keep track of everything I own. If you ever do join there, feel free to add me there.

@TheRealThanos
Thanks for the recommendations, man! I've been meaning to pick up Advance Wars at some point. I've heard very good things about it. I picked up Battalion Wars thinking it would be of that style, but later heard it's actually more action based. Of course, I still have yet to give it a try myself as I have such a giant backlog. Lol.

As for the other games you mentioned, there's actually several in that list I haven't heard of. I'll try to look into them, though I can't guarantee I'll ever get to play them! I do have Dragon Quest IX already because I found it on sale. I've always gotten the impression it's a standard party-based RPG much like Final Fantasy (never actually played, just watched!) or SMT. Is that accurate?

Anyway, feel free to add me through one of my many contact methods under my profile. I'd like to continue to talk to you about games in the future! It's always nice finding like-minded gamers...

@ThomasBW84
I'm curious what triggered this talking point. I noticed a few people discussing this topic on Twitter yesterday, but one that really caught my attention was JP Kellams (@PG_jp) from PlatinumGames. He had this really long rant about how reviews in the game industry are quite irrelevant and shouldn't even be considered on the same plane as criticism produced my movie critics.

If you haven't already, you'll want to read the whole thing to get a full sense of what he was talking about, though.

@Peach64
I don't always agree with what you have to say on here, my friend, but I definitely agree with you here. I prefer reviews without scores, but I can certainly see the advantages they provide.

As you suggest, I've actually discovered certain reviewers that follow my tastes and are very critical. Sometimes they don't always have the same opinion as me, but it's still interesting to read. (One of my personal favorite reviewers is at www.reviewtimes.net)

@TheRealThanos
Oh yeah, definitely! That's mainly what I was referring to when I said I like tactical RPGs. It started with me getting Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars at launch with my 3DS. It's not a true TRPG, but it certainly has plenty of strategy involved! I'd heard of Fire Emblem for a while, but didn't know what it was like. When I discovered it was similar to Shadow Wars, I decided I was going to give it a try. Luckily for me, about that same time the ambassador games came along and I got Sacred Stones for free!

Needless to say, I picked up Awakening at launch and have spent over a hundred hours on it.

@TheRealThanos
Yeah, man. Growing up I always thought I didn't like RPGs because I associated it with turn-based battles and I could never understand the appeal to it (I perfered the action!) Later, I realized that RPGs covered a wider spectrum than just turn-based games, so I would say that (for the most part, as Pokemon was an exception) I just didn't like turn-based RPGs.

These days, I'd say I still prefer RPGs that aren't turn-based over ones that are, but I own Xenoblade Chronicles (although one could argue it's not exactly turn-based) and have been going through SMTIV. Also, I've really grown to enjoy tactical RPGs. They're generally turn-based, but their larger scale makes them a really satisfying experience for me.

@sinalefa Ah, thanks for responding! I have Punch Out for the Wii (and the original for VC) and like it alright, but I'm not a huge fan of the way the gameplay works so I doubt I'll get this.

Wow. This is really beautiful looking. I love the watercolor effect and how it reminds me of old children's books like the original Winnie the Pooh books.

Also, I think the turn-based gameplay looks fascinating. It has a very organic and fluid feel, unlike most games of this genre where you go through various menus. Not that the traditional method is wrong, mind you, but I think this looks quite refreshing!

Has anybody played this on Wiiware? It looks somewhat interesting, but it doesn't have me convinced.

The sound effects sound kind of lame and like stock sounds. Also, the game reminds me of the combat from Skyrim--that's neither a good thing or a bad thing to me, just something I thought I'd point out.

Wow. It's so weird seeing that barebones version of the snow level from Timesplitters 2! That was such a great game and I have so many memories of playing multiplayer (both co-op and competitive) with friends. I'd definitely pick this up if it came to the Wii U as I don't plan on getting a PS4 any time soon and I don't have a gaming PC.

It's also nice to see that Crytek is allowing them to create this since they're unwilling to invest in that sort of risk right now.

@Einherjar I certainly understand! I just beat the game a couple weeks ago and I've had it since release day! I love Zelda games, but for some reason I did get quite distracted with other games (and just life in general) while playing this.

Also, I agree with you about the DS games! Well, that is PH. It was meh (for a Zelda game). I still haven't played Spirit Tracks yet, though. I'd say Minish Cap is the best handheld Zelda game!

@sinalefa Haha. Yeah, I didn't know what was in store, but I thought to be safe that I'd acquire the Hylian shield before going to the last battle. Glad I did, though beating the eight bosses to get it was a challenge and quite nerve-racking. I must say I got really good and conserving my hearts and finding new ones, though.

@Groosenator Well, rupees may have not been scarce, but I still feel like they appeared less often than in other games. Also, it seemed like things cost more and there were more things to spend it on (with upgrades and what not), so I was low on rupees fairly often.

I think I only saw a game over screen once or twice, but that's only because I'm really on top of making sure I have enough potions and fairies. In previous games (at least 3D ones), I could beat a lot of bosses with only using one fairy at max, but in SS I had to use several potions...especially on the final boss levels.

@Einherjar That's a shame. I finally beat it the other day and it was a wonderful game. People always claim that Zelda games have gotten too easy, but I thought this provided plenty of a challenge...especially towards the end. That final boss fight was pretty epic.

I have yet to get a street pass relay myself. I never bothered with Nintendo Zone before this because it didn't seem to offer anything special, so the last couple times I tried to connect to a Nintendo Zone at Best Buy it gave me an error. It sucks because I doubt the providers at these locations even care, so it's likely to continue unresolved.

EDIT: Also, Best Buy is one of the most likely places I'd be getting one of these hits. I don't like coffee and eating McDonald's makes me sick. When going through Taco Bell the other day, I had a notification saying a Nintendo Zone was nearby, but when I tried to connect I got an error. :-/

When I first read this, I thought of NSMB2 and how the focus was actually on getting the coins. Doubt there's actually any real similarities, though.

@Einherjar I take it you haven't played Skyward Sword? I was blown away by how much rupees were needed in that game and how rare they were. I found myself not only being excited to find rupees, but actually collecting green rupees when they fell on the ground!

"There are also moments when you're able to ignore the pointless fetch quests and get a feel for what it would be like to journey through The Shire on your risky mission."
Dude, this line made me wonder how cool it would be if they made an open world Skyrim-like game that was set in Middle Earth. How cool would that be??
At any rate, I think most people will agree that the best LOTR games that have come out are the ones released by EA on the Gen 6 consoles. Although, what little I've played of Battle for Middle Earth was fun.

I just bought Rayman Legends digitally, and after seeing how many points I got from that on the deluxe program, I'm certainly contemplating buying more of my games through that manner...lol.

So sad that such a wonderful and unique game is doing so poorly. And here I thought the style of W101 would be something that would attract Japanese gamers. Shows what I know...

I'll be downloading this later on today. I'm greatly looking forward to it. I hope we don't have any more sour grapes from February and anyone that is interested in the game still buys it.

I, for one, don't regret getting a Wii U and paying the initial price...even if I don't get any sort of "ambassador" compensation.

Dunno if anyone else saw yet, but the digital version of Wind Waker HD will be released on September 20th alongside the bundle...meaning we'll have to wait a full two weeks for the physical copy!

Maybe I'll ask my wife to get this for me for our anniversary. It's October 3rd!
Lol.

@gatorboi352
O. M. G.

Is this THE gatorboi from Joystiq? The Nintendo fan who constantly goes head-to-head with trolls in death-defying battles? The one who fights the fiery flame wars started by Joystiq's very own staff?

Can I have your autograph?!

Goofy sarcasm aside, I saw this username on here and figured it had to be you. If it's not, well...completely disregard this post...

@ThomasBW84
No, I realize that you're distinguishing between the two...I just thought I remember seeing a portion of the game being installed, but in hindsight was thinking it may have been an update.

Personally, what I'd really like to see is a triple-A game that is download-only and see how it performs on the Wii U. I've heard the download version of Splinter Cell still has issues, so maybe it's because it's still running off the same code that is limited to the speeds of the optical drive...? Or, as some have suggested, maybe there's still a bottleneck on the read rate with the Wii U's hard drive? It's hard to say...

@ThomasBW84
You mention that there haven't been any installs required by games on the Wii U, but I was sure that I had some games require it. Perhaps it was just an update install, but I thought I remember that the first time I've booted up several of my games that it automatically started installing something much like the way my PS3 does.

On a related matter, the constant wear and tear on the Wii U optical drives is worsened by the fact that it always runs when the system is on. Has anybody else notice that? No matter what you're doing--wandering around Wara Wara Plaza, browsing the Internet, or playing a downloaded game--the drive runs if there is a disc in it. It's absurd and completely pointless.

I liked it overall, but kind of think they should have just stopped at the end of the documentary part. I feel like the parts with the guys looking for Luigi were kind of forced and the acting wasn't that great.

What drives me crazy is all the reactions I've seen to the launch lineup for these consoles. I haven't seen many that were "OMG this is amazing," but most aren't bashing it...yet it consists of mostly the same kind of stuff as the Wii U launched with: ports, reiterating franchises, a few indies, and not many new IPs. In fact, I feel that the Wii U offered more variety in genres than these consoles are...but I guess that just reflects the audience that each of these companies are going after.