GalacticMario28

I'll never understand some of the categories that come up in these awards; Audio Achievement, Music, and Performer? Do you really need Audio Achievement when you have the other two? And GTA V for Game Innovation? For having an open world, I presume? It's not like it's the first open world game ever made, or even close to it for that matter.

The lack of 3DS games saddens me. I figured ALBW at the very least would be popular enough to get a nomination, even if it didn't win, but apparently not.

I say is that sales =/= quality. As long as Nintendo makes enough money to continue making consoles and good games for those consoles, I don't think it should matter if they "win" the console war, especially since 1) they've "lost" the war more than once before despite having consoles and games that were well-received and 2) Sony and Microsoft struggle to so much as break even, let alone make a profit. The Wii U could sell the worst of the three consoles this generation but still be loved by Nintendo fans and still make Nintendo enough money to keep on doing what they do. As far as I'm concerned, that's more important than outselling Sony and Microsoft.

It's nice to see an article that actually addresses the details of what it would be like for Nintendo to go the smart device route rather than just saying they should put their games on smart phones already.

It's Rayman Legends all over again; well, I guess not, since that game was originally designed specifically for the Wii U. Still, while it makes sense from a business perspective, it still feels really unfair to me, especially after the Rayman Legends affair. There are Wii U owners who want to play this game on the Wii U when everyone else plays it on other platforms.

Sonic Boom looks very ambitious to me. I really hope the people at BigRedButton know what they're doing.

Diablo 3 beat out Pokémon X & Y? I'll admit I don't know much about Diablo, but to me something just feels off about that.
I respect The Last of Us for its storytelling, but Adventure Game of the Year? Really? Over A Link Between Worlds? I'm not even the biggest fan of that game, but I'd still say it represents an adventure better than TLoU does. I can agree with most of these awards, but some of them just have me scratching my head.
At least Super Mario 3D World won Family Game of the Year; if not for that, I'd have some choice words for the people who voted in these awards.

I was a little uncertain about Shovel Knight at first, but based on what I've heard recently, I think I've changed my mind; I'll buy it once I have some money to spare.

That was sooner than I expected. I'll download it once I post this comment.

Those of us in NA may not be getting it quite yet, but it looks like we won't have to wait too much longer. I've been eager to start my second playthrough of Pokémon X, but I've been waiting for Pokémon Bank so I don't lose the 400+ Pokémon I've collected; better late than never.

I don't think it would be good to have more price cuts; the more price cuts Nintendo makes, the more price cuts people will expect, meaning fewer units sold until multiple price cuts happen. I don't like the thought of that.

I've thought for a while now that the media seems to want Nintendo to fail; I really get the impression that the authors of the negativity articles are quite happy to have anything negative to write concerning Nintendo, even to the point of exaggerations. I'm glad to see someone else is thinking along those lines.

Awesome! Lucario was my main in Brawl, so I'm delighted to see him return, and even more dangerous than before.

I think I'm officially rooting for the Broncos in the Super Bowl now.

Just downloaded it. I'd only heard about this game recently, so this will be my first time playing it.

Playing more games = cheaper games in the future? Yes, please! That is exactly what I need. I'm a little worried about how Nintendo plans to avoid losing money from this, but if they can find a way, I think they should definitely do it as soon as they realistically can.

I don't entirely understand what Iwata has planned, though I'm starting to think that's the point; Iwata wants to do something completely different from anything that's currently out there, but wants to do it in a way that is very much Nintendo and which ties in with Nintendo's gaming business. I think it's only natural to be a little confused simply because it's something completely new, and we don't see many completely new things anymore.

I personally find this very interesting; I am a bit skeptical about the health aspect, but I've loved all of Nintendo's innovations to date, so I may very well end up loving this one, too. I guess only time will tell.

Getting rid of the Gamepad or making the Gamepad optional to appeal to AAA developers would be the first step to making Nintendo a clone of Microsoft and Sony. Yes, Nintendo's games would likely sell better, but at the cost of going back on everything the company is known for and completely alienating the fans who stick with them through hard times like these because we love their approach to games. The Wii U is still just getting started. If Nintendo doesn't make interesting use of the Gamepad in any big 2014 games, then we can talk about getting rid of it.

I'm fine with Nintendo doing some advertising via mobile devices as long as the games themselves don't start coming to those devices; the occasional demo wouldn't be too bad either, though I still want to see demos on the 3DS and Wii U E shops as well.

I didn't realize IVs were passed down without any external influence; that explains a lot. I've been breeding like crazy for Battle Maison, but I just haven't had the time to try and get perfect or near-perfect IVs on any Pokémon. I do have a Leafeon with "outstanding potential overall," so maybe I can make use of it in the future. I should also get the power items from the Battle Maison; those sound like they could be pretty helpful.

This is looking pretty good. I'll have to make sure I have some money to spare once February 7th comes around.

I think Jaffe has a really good point about failure, one which I would never thought of myself. Many successful companies have had some serious failures along the way; I see no reason to believe Nintendo will be much different.

I'll be spending time in Pokémon X raising a team for the Super Rotation challenge in the Battle Maison. I have a lot to do this weekend, so that's probably all I'll have time to play.

I like articles like this one that point out trends that are more than two weeks old. It would be nice if more people would pay attention to these trends and realize that what's happening now has happened (albeit to a lesser extent) before; Nintendo has "lost" before, but they're still around today and still making games their fans love. Unfortunately, I don't think that many people care about what happened 10-15 years ago, or even what happened 5 years ago; people will still wake up in the morning, see that Nintendo hasn't sold millions of units overnight, and proclaim that Nintendo is doomed. I guess we just have to live with the negativity while we wait for the situation to improve.

I see no reason for Iwata to step down right now. The Wii U's sales have been disappointing so far, but there are so many big-name games coming in 2014 that it's too early to say that Iwata's way of running the company will cause the Wii U to fail. If the Wii U is still struggling by the end of this year, then it may be time for Iwata to step down.

I'm surprised Super Mario 3D World isn't nominated for overall GotY like it has been almost everywhere else, but I suppose ALBW could do with a bit more love. I like Nintendo's odds of winning a few of these, especially Handheld GotY.

Trying too hard to be perfect can backfire. Sometimes you just have to know when what you've got is as good as it's going to be.

I think this could be a good idea, but it would require some serious management. They'd have to have sales on some titles, but not others, and they'd have to make sure the sales wouldn't be too frequent. Otherwise, people would soon become spoiled and might never buy a certain game because they're waiting for a sale that will never come, or they might begin to feel that the full $60 is a rip-off and refuse to buy a game at that price even if Nintendo came out and specifically said there would never be a sale on that game. Needless to say, that could significantly hurt sales. But if Nintendo plays its cards right, this could work out for everyone.

Miyamoto + Retro? That almost sounds too good to be true; I hope it's not because I'd really like to see that.

I definitely support Majora's Mask 3D. Aside from that, I think I'd like to see a new IP, specifically an RPG. I like how the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series turned out, so I'd like the new series to take some inspiration from the battle systems in those games. I'm not a fan of RPGs where you can just button-mash your way to victory; I like more strategic battles.
Edit: I just thought of something else: a remake of Yoshi's Story with an additional difficulty level in which you have to earn a certain number of points from eating fruits in order to clear a stage. This would force players to be much more careful about which fruits they eat, making the game more of a challenge. I think this should be limited to an optional difficulty level, though, so those who really like the original game the way it is can still play the game the way they remember it.

I didn't know Cosmo's record was beaten. I wonder how long it will be before he sets a new one.

I feel that most of 2013 was poor for the Wii U, seeing as the really big games only started coming out in the second half of the year, and pretty slowly at that; but now it's got plenty of games for Nintendo fans to enjoy and has even more coming in 2014.
It seems like 2013 was an amazing year for the 3DS, though I can't say much from my personal perspective since I just got a 3DS in October for Pokémon X/Y. Hopefully 2014 will be just as good for the 3DS so I can have the same experience in 2014 that earlier adopters had in 2013.

I think Nintendo's likely to win best handheld game. I'm not sure about the others, though. I just hope these awards won't be like the VGX awards; that's the last thing I need.

@Baum897 I've noticed that reception to the stories in Pokémon games has been weird in recent years. When Black/White came out, a lot of people really liked them for their story and their approach to Pokémon; then Black 2/White 2 came out and everyone loved them and preferred them over B/W, but suddenly everyone stopped caring about the stories in B2/W2 and B/W and acted as if the story in a Pokémon game never really mattered to begin with ( I personally felt the story in B2/W2 was kind of generic, especially compared to B/W). Now X/Y are out and people are complaining about the story. I don't get it.

I've thought for a while that it could be fun to participate in one of these tournaments, even if I get destroyed in the first match, but they never hold one anywhere near where I live, and I'm not about to spend money on a plane ticket just for a video game event.

I understand that the lack of online play can be very inconvenient for some people, but I personally like the local-only approach because I find that playing a game with another person who is physically there in the same room is a lot more fun than playing with someone online, even with voice/video chat, and because I doubt that more than a handful of people would bother to play local multiplayer if online multiplayer was an option, even if they felt it was inferior to local multiplayer, because online multiplayer is so much more convenient. I feel that part of the fun of local multiplayer has to do with not being able to get together to play the game on a moment's notice, so the experience doesn't get old very quickly. Nintendo wants to make sure players can experience what it (Nintendo) feels is the best the game has to offer; in this case, that's local multiplayer, and including online multiplayer would make that unlikely.

I don't mind waiting a little longer. I've been busy with the Bravely Default demo anyway.

I've never really been an 'anti-censorship' person, so I have no problem with changing the outfits to make them more appropriate; I actually prefer the new outfits anyway.

A lot of variety and big names this time around. It seems like most of my picks won; that's definitely a surprise. Sorry Animal Crossing fans, but I think it's only fair that Pokémon got some recognition this time; AC was already recognized in the staff votes (and at a higher position than Pokémon in these votes).
I'm a little surprised Sonic beat the Wondeful 101 given its less-than-stellar critical reception. Then again, it's hard to vote for something if you haven't played it, so I guess it makes sense that W101 didn't make it; or maybe there are just more people who think highly of Lost World than reviews would suggest.
I can't wait to try out the Bravely Default demo this Thursday.

I'm happy to see Super Mario 3D World get the awards it did; it's my pick for Game of the Year, after all. I'm a little sad that Pokémon wasn't represented here, but I can't say I'm surprised; it's one of those series that a lot of people play and like, but which hardly anybody really loves. But at least Game Freak got some recognition in these awards. Some of the eShop and Virtual Console winners were a little surprising to me.

I had to settle for just one retail Wii U game this year due to lack of money. I bought and absolutely loved it (just beat the final level last week), so I definitely don't regret choosing it, but if I had more money on-hand I would definitely check out Pikmin 3 and The Wonderful 101. I've always been interested in Pikmin, but I've never had much of a chance to get into the series; Pikmin 3 looks like it could be a good place to start. I love a good challenge, and seems like that's what The Wonderful 101 provides, along with a healthy(?) dose of insanity; I also like superhero stories, so there's that.
I think there are actually a lot of gamers out there who don't have a Wii U, but who would be very interested in Mario Kart 8 and Smash Bros. I think these people focus almost entirely on the here and now and don't think about what's coming out next year or next month; they look at the Wii U lineup today, see that it doesn't have what they want, and decide to spend their money elsewhere. When MK8 and Smash Bros. come out, they'll look at the Wii U lineup again, see that it does have what they want, and (hopefully) decide to spend their money on a Wii U.

All's well that ends well, at least as far as I'm concerned.

I actually just got my 3DS this year specifically for Pokémon X/Y. Don't get me wrong, I think a lot of the other 3DS games that came out this year look great, but I knew from the countless Pokémon news updates that I absolutely had to have X/Y, and I was not disappointed. Sure it wasn't perfect, but I really don't mind things like not having the entire game in 3D (I felt that all the important parts were in 3D) or having a less-than-ideal UI (I think it's been that way Diamond/Pearl). I haven't been so immersed in a Pokémon game since Gold/Silver, and for me, that's the bottom line.

And this is why I was planning to wait on Pokémon Bank. Anything involving multiple servers like that is bound to run into some trouble at first. As long as it doesn't take weeks to fix, I'll live.

This sounds potentially nice, but my gaming sessions don't usually last for more than an hour or two, so I don't really need this.

I did not see that coming. Wow. It's amazing how Rosalina manages to be elegant even when in the midst of battle.

I was going to use Pokémon Bank anyway, and now I'm very happy with my decision.

I'm expecting some info on Mario Kart 8 for sure, but as for other big games, I've learned not to have unrealistically high expectations, so anything as big as or bigger than MK8 will be a pleasant surprise for me.

Sometimes I get hits when I take my 3DS with me to school, but my permanent home is in the middle of nowhere, so I don't get any hits there. I think someone in my apartment complex near campus has a 3DS and Pokémon, though, so I sometimes get a hit from him/her.

I think I'll be using this, but I plan on waiting until sometime in January just to make sure there aren't any nasty glitches with it when it first becomes available.

Not the best news for the Wii U, but I suppose it could be worse. This at least looks like it could be the start of something.

I suspect Nintendo planned for this to be a nice surprise for DK fans, but that leaked box art a little while back kind of ruined that. I suspect they just couldn't prepare anything new in time for VGX. Personally, I'm satisfied knowing and seeing what Cranky brings to this game.