JohnBlackstar

@byllc Ok - you guys are amazing.

Looks really nice, but makes me bummed thinking of all those classic carts not getting played.

@Kirk I agree that it would be amazing to see a Mario game that looked like the old artwork. Cuphead is capturing the old 30's style animation in their game (and it looks amazing!!!). It would be great to see a 3D game that looks like vintage boxart!

I'll display on my wrist right next to this watch: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/11/random_check_out_the_most_expensive_super_mario_watch_in_the_world

2015 was really strange. It was an amazing year for Wii U games in my opinion. Splatoon, Mario Maker, Xeno, etc... 3ds fell by the wayside. I think the gloomy atmosphere was from uncertainty, the passing of Iwata, low sales compared to Sony and MS, and third party drought. 2015 was a renaissance year for Nintendo software on Wii U, but unfortunately the console itself is hanging on by a thread. I was more excited about 2014 and 2015 releases than I have been for along time (again - only for Wii U). I think 2016 is going to be amazing either because of the NX, or just to see what Nintendo is going to do for the Wii U/3DS swan song. I'm so excited!

I'm in the minority. I was really excited to see these old NES classics arrive. I've been with Nintendo from the start and these are some of my old favorites.

The last underwater game I picked up was on Wii U. It was Evofish. Terrible.... Terrible... It kind of ruined me on all future underwater purchases.

This year came out way better than what I expected. Splatoon emerged as a surprise hit, Amiibos took the market by storm, we ended up with XCX in the west, and a refreshing Mario game that received huge accolades. I think what makes everyone forget is that 3ds stayed stagnant even with a "New" system released. Also we leave the year with dismal Wii U sales, NX on everyone's lips, and an unclear future.

NOA is saving all the VC games for the Wii U revival happening in 2016. It's happening... The first sign is when Walmart stops carrying the Wii U due to slow sales. Wait my logic might be backwards here...

I'm always a skeptic. There haven't been any power outages in the past 20 years at either house? I wonder if they play the game ever or just leave it powered on without using it.

I know I should be flogged and stones for writing this, but I played Adventure Island more on my Game Boy than SML. I ended up beating the game too fast and had a hard time getting in to it for multiple playthroughs. Thanks for the article though!

I have been a long time reader of this site and just recently joined. This past week has been a cluster. Seemingly biased articles about employees being let go, and news about how to break the end user agreement. I was actually digging the 30 days of Super Mario too, but I might have to take my surfing elsewhere.

I understand making an article about why a game was removed from the e-store, but this update adds no value other than to encourage the hack.

Great article. My friend and I used to sit outside and draw Mario Bros. levels from morning until night creating our own new games around them. I don't think it is possible in the new game, but we would design new enemies too. It would be cool to see that feature out of the box or as an upgrade.

Most people either forgot or are too young to remember. Most of this hard core stance on locking down systems is what allowed Nintendo to revitalize the video game industry. I lived through the days you could find any Atari game you wanted for 50 cents at the mall. It also was developed after watching how prevalent copying became in the music and home video industry with VCR and Cassete Tape Decks. People will normally always choose to break the laws if it is easy to do and they feel they are not harming someone. Yet they are harming people's livelihoods.

When you import games with a system it is within the confines of your user agreement and working with the developers. You guys must have no experience with international sales. Most Nintendo games do not require the ability to read the language the game is sold in. This is very different from most of the other video game systems out there. Nintendo could potentially lose a lot of sales in each region if the lock is not in place. They use sales from other regions a lot of times to actually fund the expanded release of titles too. There is a reason that Nintendo has been able to weather the Wii U storm. It is because they have a well thought out business model that work to maximize profits and eliminate waste.

Also for those that keep arguing this exploit doesn't allow pirating or region free gaming - it is the equivalent of leaving the bank vault door unlocked and saying that all is well because the door is a pain to always unlock when you need in. Someone just takes the exploit to the next step and opens the door for everyone.

I remember how strange it was playing SM1 then SM2 and then SM3. I expected part 3 to be radically unique after the first two games in the west. Obviously once All-Stars came out it all made sense finally. I really enjoyed part 2 and played it alot more than the original.

P.S. I remember seeing The Wizard in theatres just for the SM3 preview.

@AVahne

Thank you for insulting my intelligence. I do know the difference. Playing games from a different region is theft. It was not how the creator wanted their creations to be sold. We here in the west have in our mind that if we want something it should be allowed and no one can tell us no. I love playing import games and that is why I bought Japanese systems. It is the only legitimate way of playing them currently

My guess is that most people who are providing pro comments for the hack have never created anything of true value in their life or they would probably see this in a very different light. Since my wife quit her job so she could stay at home full time with our kiddos it has been hard finding any cash for stuff I want. I even sold off my brand New 3DS so I could afford a vacation for my family. I never felt I had the right to steal others property though.

@plywoodstick
My guess is that their localization team is currently working on other projects. I don't think any of them are showing up to work everyday and twiddling their thumbs. So to be able to localize more games they would need to hire more people, onboard them, provide health care and benefits to them, along with any other orientation and set up that is needed. They then need to get them assets (computers, software, etc..). Nintendo would need to get them in touch with other people in the company to provide them what they need to be successful (contacts in Japan, people who have already used the software, a manager to supervise them). After all of this they can finally start to localize Captain Rainbow that will net them a grand profit of $5 a copy if all goes smooth and people actually want to buy the game. Now if they localize enough games under the Nintendo umbrella parents will start buying these games for their kiddos and then say, "This game isn't for kids", or "Another lame game - where are all the AAA titles?" etc. etc. etc.. It is a losing battle for Nintendo is my guess.

@plywoodstick
The reason Atlus and other companies can bring over niche games and make money is because any profit is good profit for smaller companies. A company as big as Nintendo needs larger profits to make it worth spending time and energy on little profits when they can spend time and energy to make big profits. It would be good to see Nintendo license the rights to someone who can turn those games for western audiences.

We actually don't even know if what he said in the podcast was even accurate or true. That could be another reason why he was let go. Perhaps his estimates or anecdotes are just those although he passed them along as Nintendo truth. As I said before in a comment - I feel bad for the guy. This is a terrible situation all the way around.

@pandaman
"Are investors seriously hinged on import statuses of niche titles so much that it's worth the goodwill of your consumer base? Just make the general difficulties of localization common knowledge, and you avoid looking like an evil corporation."

Investors don't want to read about anything negative with a company. They don't want to read stories about employees saying, "That game (Xenoblade Chronicles) is not the type of game that just pulls in enough to justify the costs on that. So that’s like, we got it in the States by luck, that NoE decided “Oh, we’ll take the fall. We’ll localize that.” Okay, cause someone is going to have to eat the costs somewhere, because that game is guaranteed to not sell enough to justify how big that game is." This is how people get scared and start pulling their money out.

@BlatantlyHeroic
proves the point of how damaging some of these comments can be to a company. If there was any investor that thought Xenoblade was going to be a boon for the company now they have inside information that Nintendo doesn't expect it to do well and NOE is actually looking to write the project off as a loss. I can't imagine saying anything remotely like that about who I work for.

Another thing people are missing is that this is a publicly traded company. Any comments can and will be used by the media (as we have already seen) in and out of context and can actually drive real consequences for the company's stocks. I worked at a former company where an employee was interviewed by a local paper and was asked about two different people being considered for the new CEO position at our company. They gave positive information regarding both candidates, but the paper only posted her stance on one of the candidates which made it sound like that was the one she only supported. She had a really hard time around the company after that article ran. Media/News will take quotes and do what they want with them. Look at this story about Mr. Prangar. Do a google search for Nintendo news right now and the headlines alone show opinion more than just stating the facts.

What people are forgetting is that even if Nintendo loved this employee and wanted to keep him (regardless of what was shared) they really can't. If they set the precedent that it is ok to speak openly and don't terminate him then it means the next employee can get away with it. Even if the next employee really bad mouths them and shares all their secrets their lawyer could claim discrimination because they didn't do anything to Mr. Prangar. Nintendo is caught in a catch 22. They are darned if they do and darned if they don't. I really do feel bad for Mr. Prangar - this is a terrible story all the way around, but I'm not sure if Nintendo has any other choice.

I didn't get a chance to play this game until SNES, but I remember reading/hearing about it before then. I remember rumors that in Japan they had Super Mario Bros. 7 while in the west we still had only 1-3. Now with the internet I found that most of those stories were totally false, but it was fun and added such intrigue to the games.