JumpnShootMan

Was really surprised to see Mind over Magnet here since I hadn't heard about a Switch port. For those who don't know it, I highly recommend Mark Brown's GMTK. It's is my favorite channel on game design (or anything else); and the series "Developing" goes through the whole design process on this game. It's just really good stuff.

I have a Zadii case for the OG Switch that I really like. It has molded foam slots for the system, dock, pro controller, an extra joy-con grip, and the wrist straps + space for game cards and an extra pouch up top. Have a new one on the way and their travel case too. Might update when they arrive, but the original has been really good, and they aren't too pricey.

Anyways, no one ever talks about them, but I think they're worth it. Here's the whole-system one for Switch 2: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F4WLKWQH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

I feel like the thing that is missing in the conversation is that Game Chat works even when you're playing different games. Right now when I play Switch, I see a friend hop online, and I can see what they're playing, but it's rarely the same thing I'm playing, and I play a lot of single-player anyways. So I don't try to connect with them. But I'm excited that now I can say, oh hey, my niece is online, and I can chat with her while she plays Minecraft and I'm playing Zelda. So I'm really excited about the possibility of connecting more with absolutely no coordination between friends / family.

@OorWullie Yup, Okami was also Kamiya. Funny thing is I thought "Okami" before I realized that. I haven't played the demo, but if the similarities are more than just the look, I'm here for it.

Anybody else getting strong Okami vibes from this? (And that's not a complaint at all!)

I'm floored. I'm not sure I'll buy it (but that Piano is soooo tempting!), but I think it's great how they've completely elevated the toys to life concept. The one thing that got me about toys to life is that the toy was never really necessary--it just unlocked digital content. But this just REALLY makes sense that they applied the concept to the console and built the games around it.

I'm still figuring out my best gear, but I have one tip: if you are playing with the dualies, don't bother with the super jump drop roller. You can get the same effect by shooting and rolling right on impact, and you can roll in any direction too. I use stealth jump instead to cover my tracks (even though it was nerfed in Splatoon 2).

@gatorboi352 If you're thinking you need the armor to hunt the guardians and get the ancient gear, check out the Tu Ka'loh Shrine on the Lomei Labyrinth Island. Once you complete the shrine, instead of just leaving, there's a hole right in front of it that you can drop down (you'll see the updraft). There's a chest there with the diamond circlet, which has guardian protection. (It's a mad sprint to get it from the chest, and guardians WILL shoot you, but put the circlet on immediately after grabbing it, and you should be able to get back up the hole using the paraglider even if you get blasted once.)

My connection was really bad--like almost unusable--when I first set the Switch up. The dock was basically touching my amp/ receiver, so I moved it 4 inches to the right, and whaddya know, problem solved, zero issues since then, not even from behind my back.

Games guide online still says April 28th. $60.

@OzHuski The Switch website confirms it: screen resolution 1280 x 720

@NIN10DOXD The Switch website says: "Subscribers will get to download and play a Nintendo Entertainment System™ (NES) or Super Nintendo Entertainment System™ (Super NES) game (with newly-added online play) for free for a month." Wait... does this mean they're adding online multiplayer for NES and SNES games!?

@Darkwario1 I've been experimenting with these this Halloween. It's not too hard to find the stencils online. Just print them, tape 'em to the pumpkin, and use something to poke holes around the parts you need to cut out--then start carving! The ones where you have to scrape the skin off the pumpkin are harder, but I just finished a Samus one like that that turned out pretty cool (that was my first time; this is the stencil I used for that: http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w295/kodadra/Pumpkin%20Stencils/Metroid-SamusAran.jpg)

@GoldenGamer88 I know what you mean. I squirmed my way through every spider encounter and almost shut the game off instead of finishing it. If someone ever posts spiders on my facebook, I also freak and throw my phone up in the air (by accident obviously, it's just a reaction I can't help, lol)

@GoldenGamer88 Are you afraid of deer? .... Maybe someone understands my terror at all the spiders in Twilight Princess...

@JpGamerGuy90 I think the innovative part of this game is that you can take a "dungeon" approach to the overworld and problem solve your way through Hyrule. I think we can all assume the dungeons will be good, but I'd rather not see them much now, because that will give too much away. So it make sense to focus on Hyrule IMO

I was happy to see multiple melee weapons. I'd love to be able to carry around that spear / ax and use them whenever (instead of just when an enemy drops it)

MY question is, do I get Xenoblade on 3DS or on VC now. I had plans to get it on 3DS and play it while on vacation over the summer. Any thoughts on this? Is it basically the same game no matter what?

I might actually buy this. I'm not sure about if I REALLY need it for the NES. Maybe for the SNES. Yes, please for N64. I'd be a lot more inclined to hook my old systems up to my living room tv if I also had a wireless controller that works well.

Still waiting for Other M. I know it's divisive, but I got MP Trilogy on VC, and I'm playing through it now; so hopefully Other M will be there when I finish...

If they really wanted to encourage digital, they should go full force with cross-buy. I buy digital for the occasional WiiU title if it's something I think I'll want to play in short bursts, but with 3DS I prefer the digital for the obvious reason that it's more portable. If they gave me cross-buy, I'd by digital for all multi-platform titles.

@KTT Great! I should learn how to use the Googles I guess. (I saw it was from a conference presentation and assumed it wasn't published yet; didn't even consider conference proceedings).

The first experiment was within-subjects, and they only played "with adaptive AI" for two sessions. (So @Dr_Lugae, I think you're right on this one). The second experiment was between subjects and participants played 20 minutes--but there's no mention of how many levels that is. 4 maybe? They say they played a first practice level that took about 5 minutes, so that's all I can guess.

Looks like the results are based on questionnaire data and so it's more concerned with how players feel. They say in the abstract that the placebo effect "lead[s] to a higher level of perceived immersion". It would be interesting to see if it actually leads to better play though (i.e., fewer deaths, higher scores, etc.)

@Dezzy @Dr_Lugae I wish this were a published study, so we could look at the methodology. I suspect they used player opinion (self-ratings), which reduces some of the concern about unequal distribution of players--they probably also screened for this, but we don't know that. And we would know how many levels they played before giving their opinion; a high number of levels should control for the chance that harder/ easier levels were created randomly.

What I think is great about this is that, every time a level came up from the modders, you'd say "yeah, but they're using tricks". This shows definitively that some of these guys are REALLY good. And it shows that Mario is waaaay more super than I every thought he was (in my hands anyways).

I'm wondering if this has something to do with the collaboration between Nintendo and Sharp? https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/12/sharp_gearing_up_to_supply_free_form_lcd_screen_technology_for_future_nintendo_hardware If this were the case, I can imagine a full screen implementation with physical buttons and analog sticks coming out of that. With haptic feedback, you give developers the chance to put in their own controls on top of the base controller (like the "spawn point" super-jump button on Splatoon that I never think to use even though I can reach it OK with my thumb)

Sounds good. If you would, share your levels here if you would... Or actually, I just followed you, so I'll see 'em when you're done. Thanks for giving mine a try too! (I probably won't get to making a new one for a day or two, but you can follow me if you like my others.)

@OorWullie Got it! Very nicely done! I played it through both ways and starred it for you. I like the dual-route approach. It took me a few times to figure out how to navigate through the thwomps, but I got it first going the top route. The bottom route only took me one try since I already knew what I was doing.

I have a few levels too. One of them is a dual-route with easy on top and hard on bottom. If you would try 'em out and let me know!? Thanks!

Hmmmm. I couldn't find it. Did something happen to it?

@Bass_X0 @ Mr_Zurkon @MajinCubyan So much goodness in one comments section. This made my night!

I think this is a fine idea if you could be guaranteed a refund if the project isn't released within.... say 2-3 months of a promised deadline (recognizing that delays happen)

Honestly, I think the control issues are going to end up brilliant. I had a hard time with the twin analog sticks when I first played FPSs. Then I had a hard time with Splatoon's motion controls, and I got used to that. I played through an FPS yesterday and had a hard time with the fact that there were no motion controls. So it may be a lot to keep track of at first, but it'll probably be fine 2-3 levels in.

@Dizzard That's fair. I just think that the overhyped E3 cinematic trailer that does nothing to represent the game is a bad trend. I'm tired of seeing cinematic trailers that tell me nothing about what I will get to do as a player. Nintendo has stayed away from that for the most part over the last years. (The notable exception is Zelda WiiU). I'm always happier when I see gameplay, even if it's not what I expected.

What I don't understand is this: We're getting a new Metroid game in less than a year that looks like a fun game (esp. if you watch the treehouse demonstration), and everyone goes hardcore negative. But if Nintendo had released a cinematic trailer of nothing more than Samus and her ship flying around space, promising a (late) 2017 release date, Nintendo would be hailed as saviors. So you get a game, and you're mad. You get a trailer with empty promises, and it's amazing, Nintendo wins E3. What sense does that make?

@AVahne I watched the game-play demos again, and I'm still not sure I understand your criticism. Star Fox has always had a specific art style. It looks to me simply like they've preserved that through the models having a blockier design. As for the environment, I thought everything in the background was beautiful and added depth and character and scale to a game that needs it. I can see room for criticism on the immediate landscape--I didn't feel every blade of grass or every grain of sand (sand in particular). But a) this isn't the finished game b) I haven't seen every single model and landscape, so I think I'll wait till I see the game in person in 60 fps and c) I'm not going to pretend that these visuals would do anything to take away from my enjoyment of the game.

@holygeez03 I'm looking for the level design to be really expansive (esp. in all-range mode) since you can approach it from the ground or the sky and hover and sidestep and roll around. It means that every inch of the level will need to be taken care of in detail. Super psyched about getting a normal Star Fox game where you can explore too.

I don't get the criticism of the graphics. Is it because of the art style with the Arwing and other vehicles keeping its blockier design from the other games? I thought the game looked beautiful, especially in the backgrounds and landscapes....

While I would never complain about the DLC being cheaper, I think Nintendo's OK with what they're offering on SSB. For me the key is, is the DLC something that was originally planned or could have been implemented within a reasonable time frame? With the extra courses in MK8, obviously the game could not have gotten here close to when it did if all the DLC were included. With SSB, I have a feeling the costumes were an after-thought not planned for the original game. For Mewtwo, obviously them holding out was a marketing tool to get people to buy both WiiU and 3DS. So I'm OK with these. Not sure to make with the others though.

I wouldn't mind seeing toad. But Captain Toad can't jump normally, so he'd better leave the backpack at home I guess....

Actually just picked up a copy of the original Mario 64 cart for $35 last weekend since I lost mine years ago... so the timing wasn't the best, but it's not going to stop me from spending the $2 to upgrade from the Wii VC

I don't mean this negatively towards the guy at all, because I think this is pretty sweet--but it definitely makes me appreciate all the work that Nintendo has done in their HD games to texture the environments and give them some more life.

Didn't Nintendo recently state that Toads are genderless? Doesn't this kind of go against that then?

@mustbepbs You're from the US, right? Because it bothers me too. But you should realize that there are differences in the way American English and British English handle subject-verb agreement for collective nouns. As stated in the article you posted: "There is no firm rule about the number of a verb governed by a singular collective noun." The two dialects just differ in where they draw the line (and it varies by person too). It bothered me throughout the World Cup coverage too with the European and Australian announcers saying "Germany are marching down the field!" but that's just the way it works.

On the topic of mobile games, I still think Nintendo is missing an opportunity by not having some sort of cross-buy. I think that if you buy a VC title on WiiU or 3DS, why not give that title to iOS and Android users for free? Maybe make it built into a Nintendo hub-app so the experience is very Nintendo-centric and promotes console ownership.

It may be a pipe-dream, but I would like to see Nintendo make smart device versions of NES and SNES games. They could tie it to sale of the title on the Virtual Console. So, I buy Mario on the WiiU or 3DS VC, and I get it for free on Android or iOS. That way I get a smart-device version of the game I bought legally, and Nintendo doesn't have to feel like it's cheapening the experience or diminishing the brand.

LIke @Ryu_Niiyama said, it would be great if, instead of making a phone--which is potentially problematic for all sorts of reasons--they make a broad app that runs on top of Android. In addition to MiiVerse, they could make it interface with eShop so that you can do mobile buys. They could include an embulator and let you have the mobile version of a VC game for free if you buy on WiiU or 3ds. They could enable Street-Pass functionality that would transfer from your phone to your WiiU/3DS via NFC or your Nintendo ID. And they could integrate their QoL platform too. What about NFC Amiibo support for the app? The possibilities are really endless. And, once they prove success there, they can think about releasing bluetooth controllers or phones. But only AFTER they have proven success in the non-dedicated mobile arena

This was my first MegaMan game too--or at least the first one I remember playing for hours on end. I had a game genie cheat that made all the enemies turn into 1-ups after you paused it. It was perfect for 5-year old me!

No Mega Man V or VI like in the UK? C'Mon Nintendo/Capcom....I'm getting Blue-Bomber balls over here!

I really feel like it's on the tipping point too. It's kind of hard to ignore the great games already out AND the great games on the horizon. Plus, you won't find another system out there cheaper. Until Sony and MS (and 3rd parties) pull support for PS3 and XB360 and go full-on next-gen, I think (hope) more and more people will decide to put their console money into a WiiU.

As a consumer, I like the bundles. But I know that there are people out there that just look at the price tag. So why not reintroduce a base model without any bundling? The MK8 bundle was 330. Take out the game, the WiiMote, and the steering wheel, and it's probably around $225. Could it hurt to introduce this SKU and let people create their own bundles with the savings?

Sony thinks this is a good thing. Couldn't this also suggest that PS3 owners aren't upgrading? I mean, if 1/3 of your people didn't have your last system, and another 17% didn't have any console, that means that only half of your users are upgrading. And that means only 10% of PS3s 80 million users have upgraded. Maybe it's too early, but that doesn't sound like a win to me.