Koz

Nintendo either has to go dirt cheap to make it the obvious choice as a casual system (which will annoy gamers just like the Wii did) or it needs to become competitive with the Xbox and PS4. This middle zone doesn't appeal to casuals or core gamers, and the only audience left are the Nintendo loyals.

For some reason I don't think the NX as a home console is going to take off either if Nintendo keeps playing around in their weird corner of the market.

Give me a new Mario Strikers and then I'll consider adding a Mario sports game (or just a sports game in general) to my collection. Otherwise, I'll pass. Probably good games. Not for me.

I don't think Star Fox Zero was going to appeal to many people who don't already have a Wii U anyway. Heck, not even I planned on getting it, and I get just about every Nintendo game worth getting.

I don't think this will be a particularly strong Christmas for the Wii U, but I would also argue that releasing SFZ wouldn't have had the impact people hope it would.

Love this game. I'm not usually into Indies, but I'm addicted to Isaac. But I still seem to have bugs, even after the latest patch. For example the epilogue never unlocks even after viewing it.

In the video he has a gold base, similar to smash amiibo. Yet other images show off a purple base. Why they discrepancy?

Ugh... I didn't like shovel knight the game, and even if I had, I was hoping no Indies would get into smash. I just don't feel they deserve a place. Plus I hate shovel knight's character design. But that's just me being a downer, and I know my opinion is the exception, not the norm....

Companies like this have to be careful about the information they're sending out. Maybe they should be more open and less tight lipped. But thats not the issue. A lot of the info revealed isn't damaging to the company. The issue is in the one calling the shots. Should each of the hundreds of employees in the company be allowed to personally decide what to talk about and what should remain confidential, and represent Nintendo to the media? Or should it be handled by a professional PR team?

@Spike6958 I don't think so, an identical roster has always been top priority for Sakurai, so much that he cut functional ice climbers from the Wii U game because they wouldn't work on 3DS. He won't go back on that now.

This doesn't mean anything for the future of K Rool except that Nintendo is aware that he is popular (which is good for K Rool supporters). I personally would rather see other characters in, but this in no way deconfirmed him. Could be a tease as well.

I've been a Nintendo fan most of my life. I absolutely love my Wii U, the games are great. But I caved and bought a PS4 as well. The problem is that with my Wii U, I feel like at times Nintendo is trying to make me ignore the limitations of the system, including weak online infrastructure, forcing me to swap controllers repeatedly (really? No Wii U pro support for settings?), and obviously low power. I think the Wii U has fantastic games that utilize the system to its fullest and produce high quality games in such a way that the low power of the system is masked. But as great as the games are, they'd be better with more power. The 3DS could benefit so much from a screen rivaling pretty much any modern smartphone, Mario Kart 8 would be so much better if the frame rate didn't drop ridiculously low on 3-4 player local play, Hyrule warriors would be a lot more enjoyable if the resolution and frame rate didn't go to pot when you had a second player. Plus, I would like party chat, messaging, the ability open the home menu without closing my game, third party games, etc...

Nintendo does what it does well with low power, but they could benefit so much from a higher powered system.

All it takes is a ROM they already own packaged with the emulator they've already developed... Apart from toning down seizure inducing effects from games like DKC2 and EarthBound, how much work can it actually be?

Gyro controls are good for precise aiming. However, they're made better by control stick support as well. I would have stuck with motion controls on Splatoon if vertical movement with the right stick wasn't disabled.

This really sucks, but to be honest, I prefer this over tons of phallic images on the Miiverse stage in smash Bros. That was so ridiculous that I felt like I couldn't play that stage at all with my younger siblings, which is just sad for families with little kids and that expecting a safe, clean game.

@Bolt_Strike Haha yeah, innovation was the NES through the GameCube maybe? Maybe it stopped at N64? Then Nintendo confused the word "gimmick" with "innovation." But quality is still a thing!

@BlatantlyHeroic I was actually referring to the time since Smash Bros Brawl had released as a comparison. I don't have the timeline perfectly in my head, but I'm pretty sure Platinum, HG/SS, BW/B2W2, XY, and ORAS are the main titles released since that time, which is 11 on two systems.

But yeah, I can totally see what you're saying. They'll get complaints of they change it up, and complaints if they keep it the same. But I don't really feel like I'm running on nostalgia fumes. I feel that if you look at every Pokemon game individually for what it is, they're amazing. Its just if you look at the time line and the other games in a series all bunched up together and very similar to each other, you start to notice that you're paying full pice for slight variations, and in the case of the special third, feature that often could have and should.have been present in the original.

Anyway, I guess part of my problem is actually the opposite. I consider myself a collector; I love going back to old games, and I still replay older Pokemon games. But like I said, features get pulled, event Pokemon are exclusive to a certain time frame (and region) and its just clear they really try to push you to upgrade annually. It's the idea of planned obsolescence. I can't enjoy what I buy to fullest because within a year they've already announced the next title.

To each his own, if you love the Pokemon games for all they are and don't want any changes, then you're free to feel that way and enjoy them. You're definitely not alone. But I still don't think that even you could deny that if they got rid of their focus on marketing and money making, the games would have more potential. Obviously that's ridiculous to suggest, since they're a business, but eventually every company seems to come to a point where quality and innovation take second place to milking customers for cash, which is why smartphone games dominate the market and microtransactions are a thing. I feel like Nintendo generally does a pretty good job of emphasizing quality despite their goals of money making... In most of what they do, with the exception of their partnership with gamefreak.

Dang, I feel like I wrote a novel here @_@. Thats what happens when I have a boring job where I can spend it on my phone all day!

@BlatantlyHeroic While there is truth to that, Pokemon tends to play it really safe, and stick to a very stable formula. And with games like smash bros, there has only been one released since 2009, and it was more of a modernization where people want the same. Its a new system, and it's been updated. Pokemon has released I think 11 main entry titles since that time, on only two different systems.

Don't get me wrong, even Zelda's formula is getting old, and you'll see that as a common complaint about the games.

I didn't mean to just fire people up or pointlessly bash Pokemon. I guess I'm just very frustrated with a series I used to really love, and I feel like they're totally selling out.

It took me until getting every game up through ORAS to realize they're all the same. They sell the same game 2-3 times every generation, its a yearly franchise, they all have almost he same story. I loved Colosseum and XD because it wasn't about becoming the champion, getting 8 badges, while thwarting a team. It was unique.

Pokemon has become unoriginal, uninspired, and the free-to-play games and annual releases are evidence that its just become a huge cash grab. I just realized recently how sick of this series I am. Plus, they're quick to pull support for one game and expect you to upgrade every year. I mean, tons of megas aren't even compatible with X and Y! Nope. I'm done. The games lost their magic.

I would be a lot more interested in this if it wasn't branded as a Mother sequel, but a tribute to the mother series/independent game. As it is, I can't help but feel like I'm reading a fan fic when I take this game seriously, and that's not really my thing.

I say let the Mother series live or die as it is, and honor it by publishing an actual game that serves as a spiritual successor/tribute. I'd happily pay for that. Don't honor it by attempting to turn your fan fic into canon.

But that's just me! To each their own. They aren't hurting anyone by doing it.

I've gotten every Paper Mario up until now. The original was great, thousand year door was amazing. Super paper Mario was fun and I liked it, but left me missing the original style, and sticker star had its moments, but failed to live up to the legacy created by its predecessors. There is no denying the series has been on the decline. I find it hard to be hyped for a new Paper Mario game when I know that the last one was close to being amazing, and Myamoto went through and killed all the mechanics and elements that the fans have been asking for... "It's fine without a story, does it really need one?" YES. Ugh. Doesn't give me much hope for the Paper Mario everyone wants.

Basically, I guess I'm just saying that I'm not excited for a new entry in the series. And as someone who normally gets games at release, thr next paper Mario will be one I'm very cautious about. I'll wait until I see reviews and see that it's actually worth it. I just lost confidence in the brand name...

@Yorumi Yeah... Plus, I never owned Star Fox 64 until after I had played adventures, so my only experience with the IP was in Super Smash Bros. I thought the game was fantastic as a kid, and I actually felt that overwhelming disappointment that everyone felt with Adventures when Assault was released.

Looking back, I recognize the issues with taking a game from an established genre and inserting it into a completely different game and quickly making small adjustments to fit in with the story and universe. But since I didn't have a pre-Adventures bias as to what star fox was supposed to be, I was able to really appreciate that game.

I guess my ideal Star Fox game would be a combination of the slower atmospheric ground gameplay without sacrificing the iconic and amazing aerial combat from other games. Though now I'm just getting ridiculous, huh?

I bet I'm the only one who would love to see a sequel to adventures. It will obviously never happen because of the fan backlash toward that game, but it had an atmosphere, music, and gameplay style I loved that caused it to be very different than a Zelda game, even if it was essentially just a Zelda clone.

I love how enduring Nintendo games are. I mean, when I buy a game by Nintendo it instantly becomes iconic and something worth collecting. I love my PS4, but I have so many sequels on it to games I've never even bothered looking at, the artwork is all the same, (striving for as realsitic as possible) and games only satisfy my need in the moment, until I get bored of the game and never play it again. With some exceptions, they aren't enduring classics like pretty much every game Nintendo spits out.

While I wish I could settle with just one system for first and third party games alike, Nintendo maximizes its underpowered hardware to its full potential and creates amazing games, and at least it's cheap enough that I can pretend it's a secondary minor expense to my main gaming console (even though truthfully my Wii U is my main gaming console)

As much as it sucks, at least you dont get banned by messing around with friends. Also, remember that if one player idles, it kills the game since he becomes an easy target, and in a game based off of kills, it would basically be a contest to just kill the idle player. First one to him enough times wins. You aren't the only one who pays when you're idling.

I always go back to my retro games. That's why I've always been hesitant to go digital. I know some day I may come back to my Wii U in the same way I go back to my GameCube or SNES. It's why I'm not in love with DLC and digital updates, if you miss the distribution period, unlike SNES and GC, it's impossible to acquire the "complete" game. I know it's paranoid and an unfounded fear, but I like having control over my stuff. And I like actuslly having stuff.

My biggest fear is that thr NX or big video game companies go purely digital, essentially what microsoft almost did with its prelaunch DRM policy. I will always prefer physical as long as DRM practices exist.

Motion controls were great for aiming on the 3DS in games like Majoras Mask, but the screen moves with you. The gamepad movement is too hard and awkward, especially since the TV doesn't move with you. That's how I felt at least.

@AJ_Lethal The achievement system is usually separate from ingame unlocks. It doesn't mean they can't do a system like NFS Carbon, all it means is that when you actually "achieve" something it's recorded on your profile and you get that "gold star" on your online profile.

I'm not arguing that the acheivements are meaningless. Whether or not you like them, my point is just that they are a big incentive for people, and if Nintendo actually gave meaning to them via a rewards program or something, then they would carry a lot more value. If they were really completely pointless and no one cared, Nintendo probably wouldn't try to imitate it on a game by game basis.

@Hy8ogen Exactly. Plus, its obvious that many of Nintendo's games have tried to create one (medals in Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta 1 and 2 have their own achievements, stamps in Mario Kart, and more) but if the achievements don't follow you, or don't register to your NNID/online profile, they're completely meaningless, and there is less incentive to do them.

I don't get why anyone would complain about an achievement system. If you don't like it, don't participate, you're not really losing anything by having them exist. It's really only a good thing that adds to the system...

Rewarding you based on your gameplay history and interactions... Hmm...

Its just a thought (probably wrong, too) but would be cool of they integrated an achievement system into their games, and maybe unlocking achievements could actually contribute to your points or rewards or whatever. Achievements are awesome, but Nintendo not having an integrated achievement system has always been a disappointment and a reason that many people by multiplatform games on other systems. But, especially if it had rewards attached to it, it could potentially be awesome for Nintendo, and even beat out Sony's and Microsoft's systems, which are literally meaningless (yet still great motivation for 100%ing a game). I'd prefer playing for rewards over taking surveys/registering 16 digit codes any day.

My only thing is that if I'm going to pay for a game, I'm going to download it/own it. I have a PS4 and the "free" games are free as long as you continue paying, and once your subscription runs out they are rendered useless. Basically, its just an indefinite rental for which you are chsrged monthly/yeadly. The only reason I even bother with them is becauss I have to subscrive to play online anyway. But I won't rent games, I won't pay to play from a library. If they go to a Netflix style based virtual console, then I'll just say it now, I'll play the originals or ROMs if I want save states.

$5 to play a game for as long as my system lasts (or longer if they turn VC into a platform) and even beyond the online life of the system is the only way I'll invest money into digital versions of old games.

@jariw
Good to know! Thanks for the response. This article and your clarification sold me. I'll download it today, then!

So I love funny/fun co op games, and this sounds like it could be pretty good, but would it appeal to an older crowd? Like, all the comments I see are people talking about playing it with their kids,which is cool and all, but it makes it seem like it might be a bit more simple than I had hoped.

@Quorthon No, you're right (though sandbox applies to much smaller games/modes as well, not always an open world game).

I think what I meant was more this was Nintendo's attempt to appeal to people who want a sandbox game that utilizes all of their amiibo in that way, like one app to house them all/play with them all, and the ideal would have been a sandbox game. And instead we got this.

I think something like Disney Infinity or Skylanders even if its much simpler would be awesome, something where I could play with my amiibo rather than just smash bros/digital unlocks. But instead Nintendo views amiibo as an opportunity to let us pay so that they can advertise to us...

@ThomasBW84 True! And all in all it boils down to the same thing: disappointment, haha.

@Rawk_Hawk Its NES remix without victory conditions, scores, leader boards, goals, the remixes, or anything that made that game fun.

While I think amiibo tap is a terrible app, I think this review kind of misses the point of the app. It's Nintendo's attempt at a sandbox game for amiibo, basically, the more amiibo you have, the more games you can play and the more content you unlock, giving each of your amiibo a purpose. If only one was needed to unlock all 30 games, why even bother with an amiibo in the first place? It would be stupid.

That said, the demos are boring and the app was a let down anyway. Plus I didn't like my demos, so I just deleted the amiibo tap data from my Wii U and when I booted it up it gave me new games for the same amiibo.

It's been advertised to the west, so it wouldn't make sense to advertise it here unless there was some plan to release it, and seeing as how arcades aren't really that popular here, obviously Nintendo has Wii U in its scopes.

So sick of 2D platformers.. So sick of crappy sonic games... Make Sonic Adventure 3, make it not suck, if you're going to include treasure hunting levels or other characters make it actually enjoyable. Honestly, to this day I find Sonic Adventure 2's Sonic and Shadow levels to be pretty enjoyable. But they still had that focus on speed and precision, sort of like the classics. But I won't go back to Sonic if they do another 2D platformer, the market is saturated with 2D platformers. Plus Sonic 4 sucked really bad.

Pretty much Sega has proven that they can't do anything successful with Sonic. Best sonic game in years is Super Smash Bros for Wii U.

The reason I'm annoyed by this announcement is simply this, mobile games are terrible. I hate them. The passion I have for hating them is very deep. If they aren't total money grabs, then they're loaded with ads, (or some times both) and if they aren't either of those things then they're plagued with terrible controls and frustrating mechanics. And if Pokemon shuffle is any indication of things to come, Nintendo's games will be just as bad.

And on the off chance that they actually produce high quality games, I always like to go physical games for the collectors' value sake. But you can't collect apps.

My bias aside, Nintendo would be ignoring an obviously huge market by not taking advantage of smartphones. And if they play their cards right, it could be the hook they need to get people interested in their consoles. I don't have to like it though.

The only games I would pirate are games that Nintendo has abandoned, that aren't available, or games I already own (some times in multiple forms) in favor of playing them on a more convenient device (like my phone. It makes no sense to put GBA games on a Wii U, they're handheld and should be on a handheld device).

I wouldn't pirate a current gen game. Plus, frankly, pricing aside, emulators tend to be higher quality than Nintendo's VC service. Nintendo loves giving the bare minimum. GB VC games have no multiplayer, they only just introduced save states (but they're limited to one). Games with added features when played on an Advance, like the Zelda oracle games, have those features blocked out. Nintendo 64 games on the Wii, despite the rumble compatibility of the GC controller, have that feature stripped from their games. Its like Nintendo doesn't care about the quality of the games, they just want to make money off of every use of the software.

Once again, I'm not supporting piracy, but if Nintendo wants to combat it, their service should beat the competition, or at the bare minimum, match it except obviously in cost.

Hm. I'm kind of bored of 2D platformers. I feel like the market is saturated with them, from both AAA studios and indie developers. I'll pass.

Does Zero mission still contain the original Metroid as bonus content? Or did they edit that out to not cannibalize their own sales?

I'm still on the fence. I know little about this game, but I loved the sonic Adventure games, so if it has similarities to those, great. (Having just read it's by the guy who is famous for sonic and nights) .NiGHTS for Wii was the most disappointing game I've ever purchased, so if its anything like that, no thanks. And being focused on flight, it kind of sounds like an updated NiGHTS. Or am I wrong?

I'm all for Nintendo getting better digitally, but I also hope physical games never disappear, or become DRM linked like Xbox One was originally going to do.. I mean, I'm all for the convenience of digital downloads and Nintendo expanding on the digital front, but frankly, I view games as adding to a collection, and an item of value, and digital games are valueless. I like having the freedom to do what I want with a copy of my game, even if it sacrifices convenience.

Do we know what the English dub of Xenoblade X sounds like at this point? Story-wise, the characters seem to come from America, so I would imagine they would use American voice actors. But maybe they'll stick with the English thing they've got going on in this game.

@crzysortagamer
The character models aren't great for the most part. The characters all have monkey faces, and Shulk's smash model is vastly superior to his XC model. But for a 3DS game the graphics are great, it just has ugly characters. And I'm sad to say the faces look arguably worse in Xenoblade Chronicles X.

As for the voice thing, I hate the English dub, but at least I understand it. I can't stand listening to Japanese (especially since I don't speak it), and I really dislike anime and certain aspects of Japanese culture and style, so I'll take the English dub over the Japanese any day.

@Tsusasi While I agree that the limited stock and exclusives is a huge mess, I don't mind variants. Functionally they are the same, and no one is forcing anyone to buy every amiibo and every variant. Its kind of cool to just have different options for each. That's what I think anyway.

These are cool, but I'm only dedicated to completing the smash collection of amiibo, and I'll buy any non-duplicate characters as well for functionality (like Toad). Making that decision has taken a lot of amiibo-related stress off my shoulders... As well as my wallet...

@reali-tglitch You sure about that? When I downloaded it from the eshop it said it only supported 480.

Ugh. Wii games like this and skyward sword just look so terrible on the Wii U and so grainy. I had hoped a digital version would be different, but it's just as bad. I'm using HD cables in 1080p, but does anyone have any recommendations to get Wii games to look decent on the Wii U?

Got codes. Do we know the criteria for getting them, or did they just send them out to everyone with a club nintendo account?

Mine were all reinstated, I received a different email. It seems to be based on payment type, paypal being one where they can't "legally reinstate" your order.