@waluigifan1 Rosalina at this point is a major Mario universe character: she is even a playable character in Super Mario 3D World, a game that doesn't feature Yoshi, another supposedly major character in the Mario universe. So I'm expecting her to appear in almost every Mario-related games. I personally don't think this is bad at all, expanding the major characters roster a little can create more interesting stories or gameplay.
@Souldin well, the yet to be revealed characters have been actually revealed: Toadette, Bowser Jr., Dry Bowser and the green Sprixie Princess. At this point I too am expecting at least Diddy Kong and Shy Guy, along with Birdo, as DLC characters.
@WaddleDeeWeegee Since there are only 4 characters to be revealed and the Koopalings are 7/8, unless they do a random selection this is mathematically impossible, at most I think they could announce Bowser Koopa Jr. and Larry Koopa who are the only ones who would make sense to have.
So 4 more characters, let's see if they add Shy Guy and... Larry Koopa! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYmeCpjNg-s P.S.: no, I am not expecting Larry Koopa, though it would be nice if they referenced Superstar Saga!
@gaga64 I don't think they will insert a timeline, as there are already inconsistencies in the Mario universe, and the people at Nintendo likely want to have the possibility of changing the role of characters. Since the encyclopedia is about the Super Mario games, they will likely treat each one separately from the others.
"Mario Kart 8 has also snuck back into the single format top 40, coming it at 34th place" WHAAAAAAAAAAAT???? I mean, despite being the Wii U's best selling game, having an higher than 50% attachment ratio, being released on the 30th of May of 2014 it's still in the charts? This is amazing!
@aaronsullivan Don't worry. I too am wondering how can Nintendo maintain free online services, especially online play. If I remember correctly, Mario Kart Wii has lasted for 6 years, and it would probably still last if GameSpy wasn't acquired and forced to close its servers.
@aaronsullivan Your point is fine, but I never stated that paying for online is ridiculous, it's quite obvious since online services have a maintenance cost. On the contrary I said that Nintendo approach is great!
@aaronsullivan In general, if the price is not unreasonable (and in the case of Nintendo games it isn't) paying once and for all for the games and its online services is much better for the consumer who uses them in the long term or wants to play them again after a few months. I started playing again Mario Kart 8 recently because I could afford a simple router with proper port forwarding (my ISP router was deliberately keeping some ports closed, even if I set it to open them). With a subscription based model I don't know if I would have paid the renewal of the subscription. It's like having something that is yours versus having something that is borrowed by you and you have to give back after a certain amount of time. This is one of Nintendo's selling points for the Wii U (literally: it's on their brochures and rightfully so, as you are perfectly right in saying that the cost of maintaining the servers is higher than what we think). It also helps building online communities that last.
To calrify a bit about the expected performance: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Carrizo-in-Review-How-does-AMD-s-A10-8700P-Perform.147654.0.html
At 15 W TDP, the 8700p is likely comparable to the Wii U on the GPU side, and it's not the most powerful AMD iGPU. Now, if they use Zen CPU and Arctic Islands GPU they will use also 14nm/16nm FinFET, which means power consumption will be mostly halved. If Zen and Arctic Islands are much more efficient in performance per Watt, a 5 Watt fanless system as powerful as the Wii U might be feasible.
@Luffymcduck @Raien Cartoon 2D games are of course what I would like too, I even had a discussion with user @Kirk as to whether pixel art or real-time vector graphics should be used. Anyway, Rayman Origins and Legends showed us how good looking 2D cartoon-style platform games can be, so I hope that Nintendo seriously consider this possibility.
Well, in the Mario games where I can choose a character, Mario is usually the one I choose the least, and I think this is a deliberate choice from Nintendo: after all he's one of the least appealing character ever conceived (a fat middle aged Italian American plumber is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about heroes), and in the last games he speaks as little as possible so his personality doesn't come out. I would guess that this way, you can really concentrate on the gameplay and on the other characters with which you should interact, while relating to Mario as he has no developed personality. Still, it's interesting how this somewhat anti-hero became an icon of videogames, it would be interesting to know if, apart from the obvious greatness of the Super Mario games, this lack of an appeal also has a role...
@Ogbert Well, that's the point of the Mario universe, and probably what Miyamoto wanted to say when he said that he views the characters as actors: there is no canon, each game should be considered in a different universe unless stated otherwise by the games themselves. If Peach alone is perfectly able to beat Bowser in Super Princess Peach and she is still able to do so even without using Perry the umbrella as we have seen in Super Mario 3D World, why was she kidnapped so many times? How many Bowser's Castles are there in the Dark Land, since each Mario Kart has one different from the previous, and we're not even counting the various Bowser's Castles seen in the platformers and in other games? Since the Paper Mario Bowser's Castle is visible in Mario Kart Super Circuit complete with Peach's Castle on top of it, should we suppose that Mario & Co. (including Bowser!) took a break during the events of Paper Mario to race on karts? As you said, the real point is what fit the games the best, not maintaing a coherent universe with a timeline. If sometimes it happens, well that's fine, but the developers surely aren't pursuing this goal.
P.S.: to be honest, I'm incredibly curious to see what will be written in the Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia just to see what approach the writers will take regarding this lack of a coherent timeline.
To clarify, according to Nintendo UK (and other European Nintendo sites as well) in the "old" story the Koopalings are Bowser's offspring, i.e. biological children:
www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/NES/Super-Mario-Bros-3-279558.html
@WaveGhoul If you didn't play Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD, I suggest to try them on PC. I think they are the best Sonic paltformers (though in the case of Sonic CD, you have to make a good future, save the animals by destroying the Metal Sonic hologram and even try the good future in every level -bar Metallic Madness that doesn't have the Metal Sonic holograms- to fully enjoy it; they are all secondary objectives but just running towards the goal is much less entertaining).
@VanillaLake The Sonic & Knuckles Collection is a port of Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic 3 & Knuckles and the Blue Sphere minigame for the PC. It is notable because many music tracks, including those believed to be made by Michael Jackson and Brad Buxer, are repalced with original compositions.
@kupocake @VanillaLake I know, it would be very easy to just use the Sonic & Knuckles Collection music instead, unfortunately so far, after the 2011 release on Steam (which actually was the original ROM with an emulator to run it), Sonic 3 & Knuckles hasn't been released on any other platform, even though the Taxman and Stealth version's infrastructure seems to be already there:
Now, the M2 version would likely use the original ROM, so it is possible that the legal issues are not there, still I think that it is not as likely as the release of other games (Sonic CD is in a different situation, in this case a M2 version is more likely, however I expect that it would be the original version).
@khululy @VanillaLake While Sonic 3 & Knuckles is definitely a game many people want (even on mobile devices), remember that there are legal issues surrounding it, most likely stemming from the background music of Carnival Night Zone and Launch Base Zone being made by Michael Jackson (the ending credits music of Sonic 3 is also likely made by Michael Jackson, but it was removed in the full Sonic 3 & Knuckles).
@TheRealThanos Don't worry, only the WSJ article requires to sign in or subscribe. Thanks for pointing out the Market Cap metric, it's one I usually don't look at. Apple's market cap is constantly decreasing since June, while Nintendo's market cap pretty much doubled with the DeNA announcement and now it's quite stable, although it fell a little after the appointment of Kimishima as new President.
@TheRealThanos Sorry, you talked about loss and I thought you were talking about net profit. By the way, the article cannot be read if you don't subscribe, the Market Cap was relative to what period?
@Kirk Actually, in the '80s-'90s almost all that you said happened: there was a feature-length anime of Super Mario, a movie about Super Mario (yes, THAT infamous movie!), a three episode anime series, two series of Super Mario cartoons (those Koopalings were really unwatchable if compared to the original and the anime ones, though...), a cartoon series about The Legend of Zelda, comics about Super Mario and other franchises as well, Super Mario shoes and underwear (yes, underwear!). Even now, in Italy, I see Super Mario-themed diaries, bottles of water with a Super Mario promotion at stores (well, even first generation Pokémon backpack, but that is another story...), not to mention the videogame stores which have plenty of Nintendo merchandise (with Mario being the most represented, of course). The theme park is what was lacking and is lacking even now, though. Interestingly, almost everything disappeared in the 2000's: no more movies (which is understandable considering the Super Mario movie...), the cartoons series almost disappeared except for Pokémon, comics reduced to a few (e.g. Super Mario Kun, but this is Japanese-only). I think Nintendo wanted to make sure that its IP was used wisely and judiciously.
@rjejr Honestly, we all know that Nintendo representatives repeatedly said that the new Zelda is for Wii U and is slated for release in 2016, still I think that TBD is much better than any other promises because at least if the project turns out to be too ambitious (and it surely is ambitious!), the developers don't have to say that they delayed it again.
The news here is the reason why it is better for Nintendo not to release too detailed infographic on games which are not in the final stages of development.
@Lord as far as we know, Miyamoto is the producer, not the director, who is Yugo Hayashi instead from Nintendo's side, while the representative from Platinum's side (who should also be the other director) is Yusuke Hashimoto. Therefore it isn't really a game developed by Miyamoto.
@Lizuka Honestly, Star Fox Zero is one of the last big titles developed by Nintendo for the Wii U, so rushing would leave a bad impression at the end of Wii U's lifecycle, which would mean a bad start for the NX as well, so it's better for them to polish that game as much as they can.
@TobiasAmaranth Well, really the series started with puppet characters, and Miyamoto confirmed that the series was inspired by Thunderbirds, so the new design reflects that. Starfox Adventures was really going to be a Zelda-like title named Dinosaur Planet and developed by Rare, of course this means the art direction and characters' design was quite different as a consequence. Also remember what Miyamoto said in his so famous Game Informer interview of 2012 about the Mario universe characters taking different roles in different games:
Really impressive that the last of his tweets are about Super Mario Maker. But it's the person who is important. Condolences to his family. May he rest in peace.
@dariusq @Bolt_Strike Well, we don't know the internal structure of the EPD, there were quite a few EAD teams and I suspect there will still be more than one EPD team. Usually these moves are useful from a management point of view - as an example, you have less managers that do similar works, and simpler inter-teams communications.
I find it funny how the recent statements (the Koopalings' one in part, as Miyamoto carefully and wisely used the words "current story", and the Yoshis' one explicitly) go against something the company itself is still telling to us in its sites. This is why I am a bit "scared" by Nintendo's brand and IP management: they say everything and the opposite of that.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 was developed at EAD Tokyo Software Develoment Department, although it looks like a different team, the one responsible for the Super Mario 3D series:
So they always were an EAD team, although they had a more complex name.
@amiiboacid What those dirty It wanted to say is that in Europe Nintendo didn't even leave the benefit of the doubt, daring to use the term "offspring" so that the Koopalings are effectively Bowser's natural children and not even removing that term when they updated the page of Super Mario Bros. 3. Not even NOA went that far!
Needless to say that in Europe too the Koopalings were known as Bowser's children since their introduction in Super Mario Bros. 3.
FINALLY! It's much better to at least have a polished game than to have another '06! Lost World in this regard was quite good, but Rise of Lyric, judging by the opinions and the videos, was not. Then, of course, being without obvious glitches is just the first step, but at least this step has to be taken!
The biggest change here is the Business Development Division, Nintendo is probably aiming at using their IPs more broadly than ever and to ensure that every new hardware releases is profitable (the Wii U must have been a very bad surprise on this regard). Let's hope they don't go crazy with their IP management as already now we have seen many "interesting" changes in their characters (Koopalings who are "currently" not the children of Bowser, Toads who are no longer males and females, Yoshis who are no longer dinosaurs).
@VanillaLake Ah, ok! Now your point is clearer! Double Dash!! is in my opinion the most polished and complete Mario Kart in that there are no aspects of it which feel rushed. Even if some basic game mechanics have been oversimplified with respect to Mario Kart 64, there are many new ideas which are well executed, and the tracks are amazing in art direction and execution, with only two Lakitu-based shortcut glitches discovered so far. Regarding the driving style, I still prefer Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8 200cc because the manual charged Mini-Turbo is great from a competitive point of view but it also inevitably leads to Mini-Turbo spamming which is not something I really like.
@VanillaLake I would agree on everything except the physics, now that 200cc with its patching of firehopping and slides is out. If you watch the speedometer, you'll see that Double Dash!! has a terrible flaw in its physics in that everytime the vehicle is airborne, a huge amount of speed is lost, to the point that even just going on wooden bridges makes you lose much speed. Furthermore, the grip tend to be quite low, so that often you miss items or go out of the track even when on asphalt. The bumping physics on the other hand tend to be quite good, in my opinion even better than in Mario Kart Wii, the only problem was that sometimes collisions with track borders result in the vehicle completely stuck instead of a bump. Still, for the time the physics of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is really good and a step up from Mario Kart 64, it is surely better than Mario Kart 8 before 200cc in that it only has debatable aspects but not gameplay-breaking bugs such as firehopping and slides. Now that 200cc is out I would say that Mario Kart 8 handles bumps and airborne situations better and also has a new feature on land sections that allows four-wheeled vehicles to tilt, so I would say it's a bit better.
@CB85 @Kirk I would too say this man is one who has to keep the company alive and well financially while they train the people who will become the new management. After all, it's really easy to crush a company with bad decisions, so it's a good move to have at the head a man who knows how to move in this delicate field, while Miyamoto and Takeda will make the decisions on the creative (mainly software, I think) and hardware side. Still, we'll see, maybe this president will surprise us! For the moment, I wish him good luck!
@Blue_Blur Well, 200cc has other changes as well: there is a complete subtiering of the acceleration so that now each increase in the acceleration value results in an increase in acceleration (although the biggest increases in acceleration are still found when you increase the integer part of the value), and when you brakedrift orange sparks come from the vehicles in the points connected with the driving wheels. 200cc is more than just a class with a 50% increase in speed!
I would say the main problem of Sunshine is that it is the direct sequel of Super Mario 64, offering a bit "less" than that game: less moves, with the "B" button moves almost totally eradicated and no long jump, less variety, with all levels in Isle Delfino, and a more rigid structure, without the possibility of getting Shine Sprites other than the one selected except when exploiting glitches.
Of course now, several yers later, we can appreciate some of its aspects which were not developed further in the subsequent games, such as how realistic the various settings were (in many levels you you could see other levels or even Delfino Plaza!), how much you could explore the levels and the original story told with voice acting featuring memorable scenes such as the reveal of Bowser Jr. and all the memes it created (how many people humorously still say that Peach is Bowser Jr.'s mother?).
The real problem i have with 3D world is that i played it only in single player, missing its most remarkable aspect. I would guess that its main point is that it has a limited scope: no earth shattering environments and epic cutscenes and fights, but rather something more simple and immediate and very clean in the graphics. There are some nice details, but the levels almost feel abstract in certain parts, sometimes even simpler than New Super Mario Bros. U in the presentation. Also, gameplay-wise, not many earthshattering innovations, but some nice little ideas and a very good experience without obvious flaws except in the last levels, namely the Great Tower and Champion's Road, where the limits of the "diagonal" point of view and some debatable choices in the controls emerge (having the same button combination for the long jump and the stomp worked in SM64 but that game was quite different from a level design point of view...). On overall, it's nice to see Nintendo exploring new approaches, but as I said before, in my opinion Super Mario 3D World by design doesn't aim to offer the experience of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy.
@Bulbasaurus Rex: yes, I too was very happy to see a slightly different story at last, which Peach and Toad directly fighting Bowser! I have yet to see a 3D Mario game with the Koopalings and I would really like to see one, but honestly, since Super mario 3D World is totally missing Yoshi (which would have been a great addition gameplay-wise!) and Bowser Jr. I cannot expect it to feature the Koopalings...
Comments 269
Re: Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash Details Revealed, Including amiibo Support and Rosalina
@waluigifan1 Rosalina at this point is a major Mario universe character: she is even a playable character in Super Mario 3D World, a game that doesn't feature Yoshi, another supposedly major character in the Mario universe. So I'm expecting her to appear in almost every Mario-related games. I personally don't think this is bad at all, expanding the major characters roster a little can create more interesting stories or gameplay.
@Souldin well, the yet to be revealed characters have been actually revealed: Toadette, Bowser Jr., Dry Bowser and the green Sprixie Princess. At this point I too am expecting at least Diddy Kong and Shy Guy, along with Birdo, as DLC characters.
Re: Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash Details Revealed, Including amiibo Support and Rosalina
@NintyMan Green could be Bowser Jr., he's in Mario Power Tennis and Mario Tennis Open.
Re: Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash Details Revealed, Including amiibo Support and Rosalina
By the way, the Bowser and Toad Wii Remotes will be available the 20th of November as well:
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/News/2015/October/Mario-Tennis-Ultra-Smash-for-Wii-U-serves-up-mega-multiplayer-fun-on-November-20th-1061991.html
Re: Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash Details Revealed, Including amiibo Support and Rosalina
@WaddleDeeWeegee Since there are only 4 characters to be revealed and the Koopalings are 7/8, unless they do a random selection this is mathematically impossible, at most I think they could announce Bowser Koopa Jr. and Larry Koopa who are the only ones who would make sense to have.
Re: Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash Details Revealed, Including amiibo Support and Rosalina
So 4 more characters, let's see if they add Shy Guy and...
Larry Koopa!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYmeCpjNg-s
P.S.: no, I am not expecting Larry Koopa, though it would be nice if they referenced Superstar Saga!
Re: Nintendo of Japan Has Just Published a 30th Anniversary Super Mario Bros. Complete Encyclopedia
@gaga64 I don't think they will insert a timeline, as there are already inconsistencies in the Mario universe, and the people at Nintendo likely want to have the possibility of changing the role of characters. Since the encyclopedia is about the Super Mario games, they will likely treat each one separately from the others.
Re: Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and Super Mario Maker Maintain Decent UK Sales
"Mario Kart 8 has also snuck back into the single format top 40, coming it at 34th place"
WHAAAAAAAAAAAT????
I mean, despite being the Wii U's best selling game, having an higher than 50% attachment ratio, being released on the 30th of May of 2014 it's still in the charts?
This is amazing!
Re: Talking Point: The NX Hype Will Ramp Up as Nintendo Steps Into a Vital New Era
@aaronsullivan Don't worry. I too am wondering how can Nintendo maintain free online services, especially online play. If I remember correctly, Mario Kart Wii has lasted for 6 years, and it would probably still last if GameSpy wasn't acquired and forced to close its servers.
Re: Talking Point: The NX Hype Will Ramp Up as Nintendo Steps Into a Vital New Era
@aaronsullivan Your point is fine, but I never stated that paying for online is ridiculous, it's quite obvious since online services have a maintenance cost. On the contrary I said that Nintendo approach is great!
Re: Talking Point: The NX Hype Will Ramp Up as Nintendo Steps Into a Vital New Era
@aaronsullivan In general, if the price is not unreasonable (and in the case of Nintendo games it isn't) paying once and for all for the games and its online services is much better for the consumer who uses them in the long term or wants to play them again after a few months. I started playing again Mario Kart 8 recently because I could afford a simple router with proper port forwarding (my ISP router was deliberately keeping some ports closed, even if I set it to open them). With a subscription based model I don't know if I would have paid the renewal of the subscription. It's like having something that is yours versus having something that is borrowed by you and you have to give back after a certain amount of time. This is one of Nintendo's selling points for the Wii U (literally: it's on their brochures and rightfully so, as you are perfectly right in saying that the cost of maintaining the servers is higher than what we think). It also helps building online communities that last.
Re: Talking Point: The NX Hype Will Ramp Up as Nintendo Steps Into a Vital New Era
Plot twist: the NX is an handheld that sends an HD stream to the Wii U that has an hardware decoder and sends it to the TV...
Re: Nintendo Network ID Going Offline Next Week During General Maintenance
Pokémon Global Link as well will be down for maintenance:
http://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/maintenance/
Re: Sources Suggest Nintendo NX Is A Fusion Of Home And Mobile Hardware Powered By "Industry-Leading" Tech
To calrify a bit about the expected performance:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Carrizo-in-Review-How-does-AMD-s-A10-8700P-Perform.147654.0.html
At 15 W TDP, the 8700p is likely comparable to the Wii U on the GPU side, and it's not the most powerful AMD iGPU. Now, if they use Zen CPU and Arctic Islands GPU they will use also 14nm/16nm FinFET, which means power consumption will be mostly halved. If Zen and Arctic Islands are much more efficient in performance per Watt, a 5 Watt fanless system as powerful as the Wii U might be feasible.
Re: Takashi Tezuka on Mario's Success and His Hopes for the Future of the Character
@Luffymcduck @Raien Cartoon 2D games are of course what I would like too, I even had a discussion with user @Kirk as to whether pixel art or real-time vector graphics should be used. Anyway, Rayman Origins and Legends showed us how good looking 2D cartoon-style platform games can be, so I hope that Nintendo seriously consider this possibility.
Re: Takashi Tezuka on Mario's Success and His Hopes for the Future of the Character
Well, in the Mario games where I can choose a character, Mario is usually the one I choose the least, and I think this is a deliberate choice from Nintendo: after all he's one of the least appealing character ever conceived (a fat middle aged Italian American plumber is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about heroes), and in the last games he speaks as little as possible so his personality doesn't come out. I would guess that this way, you can really concentrate on the gameplay and on the other characters with which you should interact, while relating to Mario as he has no developed personality.
Still, it's interesting how this somewhat anti-hero became an icon of videogames, it would be interesting to know if, apart from the obvious greatness of the Super Mario games, this lack of an appeal also has a role...
Re: Video: The Game Theorists Explain Why We Should Go Easy on Bowser
@Ogbert Well, that's the point of the Mario universe, and probably what Miyamoto wanted to say when he said that he views the characters as actors: there is no canon, each game should be considered in a different universe unless stated otherwise by the games themselves.
If Peach alone is perfectly able to beat Bowser in Super Princess Peach and she is still able to do so even without using Perry the umbrella as we have seen in Super Mario 3D World, why was she kidnapped so many times? How many Bowser's Castles are there in the Dark Land, since each Mario Kart has one different from the previous, and we're not even counting the various Bowser's Castles seen in the platformers and in other games? Since the Paper Mario Bowser's Castle is visible in Mario Kart Super Circuit complete with Peach's Castle on top of it, should we suppose that Mario & Co. (including Bowser!) took a break during the events of Paper Mario to race on karts?
As you said, the real point is what fit the games the best, not maintaing a coherent universe with a timeline. If sometimes it happens, well that's fine, but the developers surely aren't pursuing this goal.
P.S.: to be honest, I'm incredibly curious to see what will be written in the Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia just to see what approach the writers will take regarding this lack of a coherent timeline.
Re: Video: The Game Theorists Explain Why We Should Go Easy on Bowser
To clarify, according to Nintendo UK (and other European Nintendo sites as well) in the "old" story the Koopalings are Bowser's offspring, i.e. biological children:
www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/NES/Super-Mario-Bros-3-279558.html
Re: SEGA and M2 Reflect on 3D Classics Series and Name a Project for the Wishlist
@WaveGhoul If you didn't play Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD, I suggest to try them on PC. I think they are the best Sonic paltformers (though in the case of Sonic CD, you have to make a good future, save the animals by destroying the Metal Sonic hologram and even try the good future in every level -bar Metallic Madness that doesn't have the Metal Sonic holograms- to fully enjoy it; they are all secondary objectives but just running towards the goal is much less entertaining).
Edit: 7.8/10 too much advertisement.
Re: SEGA and M2 Reflect on 3D Classics Series and Name a Project for the Wishlist
@VanillaLake The Sonic & Knuckles Collection is a port of Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic 3 & Knuckles and the Blue Sphere minigame for the PC. It is notable because many music tracks, including those believed to be made by Michael Jackson and Brad Buxer, are repalced with original compositions.
Re: SEGA and M2 Reflect on 3D Classics Series and Name a Project for the Wishlist
@kupocake @VanillaLake I know, it would be very easy to just use the Sonic & Knuckles Collection music instead, unfortunately so far, after the 2011 release on Steam (which actually was the original ROM with an emulator to run it), Sonic 3 & Knuckles hasn't been released on any other platform, even though the Taxman and Stealth version's infrastructure seems to be already there:
http://hcstealth.tumblr.com/post/100311283757/sonic-3-knuckles-20th-anniversary
If you want to know a little more about the possible issues you can read here:
http://www.sonicretro.org/2015/02/regarding-sonic-3-guest-post-by-stealth/
Now, the M2 version would likely use the original ROM, so it is possible that the legal issues are not there, still I think that it is not as likely as the release of other games (Sonic CD is in a different situation, in this case a M2 version is more likely, however I expect that it would be the original version).
Re: SEGA and M2 Reflect on 3D Classics Series and Name a Project for the Wishlist
@khululy @VanillaLake While Sonic 3 & Knuckles is definitely a game many people want (even on mobile devices), remember that there are legal issues surrounding it, most likely stemming from the background music of Carnival Night Zone and Launch Base Zone being made by Michael Jackson (the ending credits music of Sonic 3 is also likely made by Michael Jackson, but it was removed in the full Sonic 3 & Knuckles).
Re: SEGA and M2 Reflect on 3D Classics Series and Name a Project for the Wishlist
@Raien In reality, the Taxman and Stealth remasters are actually rebuilt from the ground up, they are true ports, not emulated software:
http://christianwhitehead.com/?page_id=23
And if you were wondering, yes, Taxman was able to run their ports in a New 3DS
https://twitter.com/CFWhitehead/status/633961149327773696
but recommended supporting the M2 versions instead
https://twitter.com/CFWhitehead/status/633961581651492864
Re: Nintendo Drops Out of Interbrand 'Best Global Brands' Top 100
@TheRealThanos Don't worry, only the WSJ article requires to sign in or subscribe. Thanks for pointing out the Market Cap metric, it's one I usually don't look at. Apple's market cap is constantly decreasing since June, while Nintendo's market cap pretty much doubled with the DeNA announcement and now it's quite stable, although it fell a little after the appointment of Kimishima as new President.
http://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/market_cap
http://ycharts.com/companies/NTDOY/market_cap
Re: Nintendo Drops Out of Interbrand 'Best Global Brands' Top 100
@TheRealThanos Sorry, you talked about loss and I thought you were talking about net profit. By the way, the article cannot be read if you don't subscribe, the Market Cap was relative to what period?
Re: Nintendo Drops Out of Interbrand 'Best Global Brands' Top 100
@TheRealThanos Really, the Apple figures are a bit different:
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2015/07/21Apple-Reports-Record-Third-Quarter-Results.html
Quarterly net profit of $10.7 Billions
Re: Totaka's Song is in Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer
@Sanicranfast
No it isn't:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwyp09J9Z2U
Re: Weirdness: Mario Kart 8's Yoshi Bike Found In Japan
Now, the owner should just add the moving arms and hands and it would be perfect (well, sort of, the tongue doesn't give a sense of stability...)
Re: Editorial: Nintendo is a Toy Company, and That Will Be Vital in a New Era
@Kirk Actually, in the '80s-'90s almost all that you said happened: there was a feature-length anime of Super Mario, a movie about Super Mario (yes, THAT infamous movie!), a three episode anime series, two series of Super Mario cartoons (those Koopalings were really unwatchable if compared to the original and the anime ones, though...), a cartoon series about The Legend of Zelda, comics about Super Mario and other franchises as well, Super Mario shoes and underwear (yes, underwear!). Even now, in Italy, I see Super Mario-themed diaries, bottles of water with a Super Mario promotion at stores (well, even first generation Pokémon backpack, but that is another story...), not to mention the videogame stores which have plenty of Nintendo merchandise (with Mario being the most represented, of course). The theme park is what was lacking and is lacking even now, though.
Interestingly, almost everything disappeared in the 2000's: no more movies (which is understandable considering the Super Mario movie...), the cartoons series almost disappeared except for Pokémon, comics reduced to a few (e.g. Super Mario Kun, but this is Japanese-only). I think Nintendo wanted to make sure that its IP was used wisely and judiciously.
Re: Rumour: New Report Suggests That Konami Has All But Abandoned Console Development
@Artwark Food for thought: Wario Blast
http://www.mariowiki.com/Wario_Blast:_Featuring_Bomberman!
Re: Rumour: New Report Suggests That Konami Has All But Abandoned Console Development
@Ryu_Niiyama Well, also no other Bloody Roar games but that series is dead since 2003 anyway...
Re: Miyamoto: Star Fox Zero Has Been Delayed, "I Am Very Sorry"
@rjejr Honestly, we all know that Nintendo representatives repeatedly said that the new Zelda is for Wii U and is slated for release in 2016, still I think that TBD is much better than any other promises because at least if the project turns out to be too ambitious (and it surely is ambitious!), the developers don't have to say that they delayed it again.
The news here is the reason why it is better for Nintendo not to release too detailed infographic on games which are not in the final stages of development.
Re: Miyamoto: Star Fox Zero Has Been Delayed, "I Am Very Sorry"
@rjer Well, according to this page (I can't find the US page, by the way):
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Wii-U/The-latest-title-in-The-Legend-of-Zelda-series-working-title--893260.html
No, there is no U in the name, and the release date is "TBD", so not even 2016 is certain...
Re: Miyamoto: Star Fox Zero Has Been Delayed, "I Am Very Sorry"
@Lord as far as we know, Miyamoto is the producer, not the director, who is Yugo Hayashi instead from Nintendo's side, while the representative from Platinum's side (who should also be the other director) is Yusuke Hashimoto. Therefore it isn't really a game developed by Miyamoto.
Re: Miyamoto: Star Fox Zero Has Been Delayed, "I Am Very Sorry"
@Lizuka Honestly, Star Fox Zero is one of the last big titles developed by Nintendo for the Wii U, so rushing would leave a bad impression at the end of Wii U's lifecycle, which would mean a bad start for the NX as well, so it's better for them to polish that game as much as they can.
@TobiasAmaranth Well, really the series started with puppet characters, and Miyamoto confirmed that the series was inspired by Thunderbirds, so the new design reflects that.
Starfox Adventures was really going to be a Zelda-like title named Dinosaur Planet and developed by Rare, of course this means the art direction and characters' design was quite different as a consequence.
Also remember what Miyamoto said in his so famous Game Informer interview of 2012 about the Mario universe characters taking different roles in different games:
http://www.screwattack.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/588/img021.jpg
I don't think you should aim for the story in most Nintendo titles, although admittedly their characters are really interesting.
Re: Scottish Indie Dev Stew Hogarth Passes Away Aged 34, Super Mario Maker Levels He Created Get Shared Online
Really impressive that the last of his tweets are about Super Mario Maker. But it's the person who is important. Condolences to his family. May he rest in peace.
Re: Nintendo Is Merging Its Prized EAD And SPD Teams Into A Single Group
@dariusq @Bolt_Strike Well, we don't know the internal structure of the EPD, there were quite a few EAD teams and I suspect there will still be more than one EPD team. Usually these moves are useful from a management point of view - as an example, you have less managers that do similar works, and simpler inter-teams communications.
Re: Nintendo Is Merging Its Prized EAD And SPD Teams Into A Single Group
@DESS-M-8 Of course he is a dinosaur, it was again Nintendo who said and still says that:
http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/6eq5TQqkuX7MT0MnGZSTXocyEQmweSe-
I find it funny how the recent statements (the Koopalings' one in part, as Miyamoto carefully and wisely used the words "current story", and the Yoshis' one explicitly) go against something the company itself is still telling to us in its sites. This is why I am a bit "scared" by Nintendo's brand and IP management: they say everything and the opposite of that.
Re: Nintendo Is Merging Its Prized EAD And SPD Teams Into A Single Group
@Blastcorp64 Well, Super Mario Galaxy was developed at EAD Tokyo:
http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/super_mario_galaxy/0/0
Super Mario Galaxy 2 was developed at EAD Tokyo Software Develoment Department, although it looks like a different team, the one responsible for the Super Mario 3D series:
http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/supermariogalaxy2/1/0
http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/super-mario-3d-land/0/0
http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wiiu/super-mario-3d-world/0/0
So they always were an EAD team, although they had a more complex name.
@amiiboacid What those dirty It wanted to say is that in Europe Nintendo didn't even leave the benefit of the doubt, daring to use the term "offspring" so that the Koopalings are effectively Bowser's natural children and not even removing that term when they updated the page of Super Mario Bros. 3. Not even NOA went that far!
Needless to say that in Europe too the Koopalings were known as Bowser's children since their introduction in Super Mario Bros. 3.
Re: Nintendo Is Merging Its Prized EAD And SPD Teams Into A Single Group
@the101 This statement about the Koopalings is incorrect!
Here's the Super Mario Bros. 3 Japanese manual transcription:
http://www.geocities.jp/frnyanko/setsumei/famicom/supermario3/supermario3.html
They are Bowser's children, even in the new 3DS Virtual Console version manual, of course:
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/3ds/eshop/vc/tabj/man_tabj.pdf
But maybe you would also like a pamphlet stating that, be my guest:
https://7a5b8882-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/marioguttsupurohyirugongesaito/marioguttsukorekushon/fc00003_1.jpg?attachauth=ANoY7cqUAG6oZFIpcWHSyNDlnRFzslCxnefZW_gkmqpmQ_iIEwDaP_-9nNXvt-diN8u4hN-ZhhHIw_Evj2pBXkL7Va6gJNADRxhHHvDChp2Gq7I_fz4LI0tXZQ-nIzfOaNWl70D6yDVDPEsKaPp-4jhWubZ6Sbxw-tVk_4CUDCUasEgcvUBFa_LE8FAsmAT9l-bZSvr_juNILi2ijdbJD6wNnDzyXTJyWXg8imd3DNSwzXitnB_ZFPbSn0ohNs1LWZ1nmOkohUQ-ZD3UKZOLKGWeLSOfgdtFKw%3D%3D&attredirects=0
or even a video of the time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov8A5tz8MU0
And this isn't really a NOA thing, we in Europe are more "advanced" and use the term "offspring" to state they are natural children:
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/NES/Super-Mario-Bros-3-279558.html
EDIT: sorry for the tone, I toned it down a bit.
Re: Nintendo Is Merging Its Prized EAD And SPD Teams Into A Single Group
@link3710 @World
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-reveals-the-toads-gender-secret/1100-6423610/
https://microsite.nintendo-europe.com/nintendokidsclub/en_GB/read_and_discover/yoshi_facts
Re: Nintendo Direct Broadcasts Will Continue Despite Iwata's Passing
I too think Miyamoto could be presenting the general part with regional parts directed by usual Shibata, Reggie/Bill and Morimoto.
Re: 3DS Exclusive Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice Slips Into Next Year
FINALLY!
It's much better to at least have a polished game than to have another '06! Lost World in this regard was quite good, but Rise of Lyric, judging by the opinions and the videos, was not. Then, of course, being without obvious glitches is just the first step, but at least this step has to be taken!
Re: Nintendo Is Merging Its Prized EAD And SPD Teams Into A Single Group
The biggest change here is the Business Development Division, Nintendo is probably aiming at using their IPs more broadly than ever and to ensure that every new hardware releases is profitable (the Wii U must have been a very bad surprise on this regard). Let's hope they don't go crazy with their IP management as already now we have seen many "interesting" changes in their characters (Koopalings who are "currently" not the children of Bowser, Toads who are no longer males and females, Yoshis who are no longer dinosaurs).
Re: Mario History: Mario Kart 8 - 2014
@VanillaLake Ah, ok! Now your point is clearer! Double Dash!! is in my opinion the most polished and complete Mario Kart in that there are no aspects of it which feel rushed. Even if some basic game mechanics have been oversimplified with respect to Mario Kart 64, there are many new ideas which are well executed, and the tracks are amazing in art direction and execution, with only two Lakitu-based shortcut glitches discovered so far.
Regarding the driving style, I still prefer Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8 200cc because the manual charged Mini-Turbo is great from a competitive point of view but it also inevitably leads to Mini-Turbo spamming which is not something I really like.
Re: Mario History: Mario Kart 8 - 2014
@VanillaLake I would agree on everything except the physics, now that 200cc with its patching of firehopping and slides is out. If you watch the speedometer, you'll see that Double Dash!! has a terrible flaw in its physics in that everytime the vehicle is airborne, a huge amount of speed is lost, to the point that even just going on wooden bridges makes you lose much speed. Furthermore, the grip tend to be quite low, so that often you miss items or go out of the track even when on asphalt. The bumping physics on the other hand tend to be quite good, in my opinion even better than in Mario Kart Wii, the only problem was that sometimes collisions with track borders result in the vehicle completely stuck instead of a bump.
Still, for the time the physics of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is really good and a step up from Mario Kart 64, it is surely better than Mario Kart 8 before 200cc in that it only has debatable aspects but not gameplay-breaking bugs such as firehopping and slides. Now that 200cc is out I would say that Mario Kart 8 handles bumps and airborne situations better and also has a new feature on land sections that allows four-wheeled vehicles to tilt, so I would say it's a bit better.
Re: Tatsumi Kimishima Named As New Nintendo President
@CB85 @Kirk I would too say this man is one who has to keep the company alive and well financially while they train the people who will become the new management. After all, it's really easy to crush a company with bad decisions, so it's a good move to have at the head a man who knows how to move in this delicate field, while Miyamoto and Takeda will make the decisions on the creative (mainly software, I think) and hardware side. Still, we'll see, maybe this president will surprise us!
For the moment, I wish him good luck!
Re: Feature: Nintendo Life's Top 10 Super Mario Platformers
@shyguylink I wouldn't mind a new exploration-based 3D Mario with a new theme rather than those two, to be honest...
Re: Mario History: Mario Kart 8 - 2014
@Blue_Blur Well, 200cc has other changes as well: there is a complete subtiering of the acceleration so that now each increase in the acceleration value results in an increase in acceleration (although the biggest increases in acceleration are still found when you increase the integer part of the value), and when you brakedrift orange sparks come from the vehicles in the points connected with the driving wheels. 200cc is more than just a class with a 50% increase in speed!
Re: Feature: Nintendo Life's Top 10 Super Mario Platformers
I would say the main problem of Sunshine is that it is the direct sequel of Super Mario 64, offering a bit "less" than that game: less moves, with the "B" button moves almost totally eradicated and no long jump, less variety, with all levels in Isle Delfino, and a more rigid structure, without the possibility of getting Shine Sprites other than the one selected except when exploiting glitches.
Of course now, several yers later, we can appreciate some of its aspects which were not developed further in the subsequent games, such as how realistic the various settings were (in many levels you you could see other levels or even Delfino Plaza!), how much you could explore the levels and the original story told with voice acting featuring memorable scenes such as the reveal of Bowser Jr. and all the memes it created (how many people humorously still say that Peach is Bowser Jr.'s mother?).
Re: Mario History: Super Mario 3D World - 2013
The real problem i have with 3D world is that i played it only in single player, missing its most remarkable aspect. I would guess that its main point is that it has a limited scope: no earth shattering environments and epic cutscenes and fights, but rather something more simple and immediate and very clean in the graphics. There are some nice details, but the levels almost feel abstract in certain parts, sometimes even simpler than New Super Mario Bros. U in the presentation. Also, gameplay-wise, not many earthshattering innovations, but some nice little ideas and a very good experience without obvious flaws except in the last levels, namely the Great Tower and Champion's Road, where the limits of the "diagonal" point of view and some debatable choices in the controls emerge (having the same button combination for the long jump and the stomp worked in SM64 but that game was quite different from a level design point of view...). On overall, it's nice to see Nintendo exploring new approaches, but as I said before, in my opinion Super Mario 3D World by design doesn't aim to offer the experience of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy.
@Bulbasaurus Rex: yes, I too was very happy to see a slightly different story at last, which Peach and Toad directly fighting Bowser! I have yet to see a 3D Mario game with the Koopalings and I would really like to see one, but honestly, since Super mario 3D World is totally missing Yoshi (which would have been a great addition gameplay-wise!) and Bowser Jr. I cannot expect it to feature the Koopalings...