I think that Nintendo would be smart to do a limited release of the base New 3DS XL here. Sales data shows that North Americans generally prefer the bigger screen of the XL (by a wide margin) but it seems silly to not provide at least one limited edition SKU that would allow the people who really want the changeable face plates to have them. If that SKU also included a few NA exclusive face plates I think that would go a long way toward smoothing the waters.
For my part, I am happy that none of the big 3DS retails games require a New 3DS. I just got my regular 3DS XL not long ago. Its way too soon to be upgrading.
I don't have a Wii U, but for 3DS I am looking forward to the following games that we know about:
Zelda Tri-Force Heroes Mario and Luigi : Paper Jam Chibi Robo : Zip Lash Fire Emblem Fates Bravely Second Etrian Odyssey Untold 2 Steam World Heist Mighty No.9 Monster Hunter Stories
There are other games that I have as "Wait and See" including Federation Force, Stella Glow and that other Atlus RPG whose name I cannot remember right now.
3DS has more games coming than I have time to play.
However, the only game on my list that I consider to be AAA, must have it on day one is Fire Emblem Fates. I think that is the same problem that most people have with Nintendo's showing at this E3. Lots of good games but very few games that would cause me to be over the moon with excitement.
I hope that by the time this game launches next year heads will have cooled and people will be more willing to judge this game on its own merits as opposed to just being furious that its not a "real" Metroid Prime game.
I am sure that this game did not start its life as a Metroid game. Nintendo are bad for taking a game that could probably stand on its own and the tacking on a familiar IP to try and raise its profile (Star Fox Adventures anyone). I feel sorry for Next level Games on this. I'm sure they were eagerly waiting to see how Metroid fans would react and they must be pretty gutted.
On the one hand, this is not the Metroid game that fans were hoping for.
On the other hand, the extreme negative reaction is so over the top as to be juvenile. I can only shake my head at how angry some people are about a flipping video game. If you don't like it, then don't buy it.
Personally, I am going to wait and see what the reviews are like. If its stands up well as a single player experience then I will buy it. If co-op is the only way to really enjoy this game then it will be a pass from me. I have a feeling that after the reaction from Metroid fans Next Level Games will be told to refocus some of their effort to raise the quality of the single player experience. At least I hope that is what will happen.
Its too bad that Nintendo did not have any of the main game levels for people to play at this E3. Nintendo were hoping that we would all be over the moon simply because they have a new Metroid game coming. However, the focus on multiplayer seems to have turned many people off. It may be that the main game campaign is actually really good as a single player experience. However, we cannot know since it is not playable at E3.
I bet that many people will mentally write this game off, and then start to change their minds later in the year when videos and impressions start to surface and they find out that the single player campaign is fun.
A good analogy for this game is how Microsoft fans reacted to the announcement of Halo Reach. There were lots of people who were very upset that MS would create a Halo game that did not have Master Chief in it. However, when the game actually came out it sold fine. It may not be the most beloved game in the franchise, but it was still good.
The Animal Crossing board game will probably be popular in Japan. Not so much elsewhere.
I think Super Mario maker will be a sleep hit for Nintendo, especially if the big N releases lots of level packs for it (ie. the complete Super Mario Bros 3 recreated in Mario Maker) and it has a vibrant community of people creating custom level packs.
Core gamers still have the holy triumvirate of Star Fox, Zelda and Xenoblade to look forward to on Wii U. IMO that is three AAA games. Everything else in the Wii U line-up is gravy compared to those three.
This is the kind of E3 that you get when a company is in the process of moving to new hardware. They probably have a significant percentage of their development staff already at work on projects for NX and the obvious result is a thinning of the line-up for existing machines. I suspect that Star Fox and Zelda Wii U will be the last big first-party games from Nintendo for Wii U.
As a 3DS fan, I felt that the line-up was OK, but not great. Mario and Luigi Paper Jam is my personal highlight. I love both Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi. I am sure this mash-up will be fun. Zelda Tri-Force Heroes is intriguing but I will have to wait for reviews to be sure that it is actually fun as a single player game. Glad to see that Hyrule Warriors is not exclusive to the New 3DS. That one is on my list. So far the new Metroid Prime game looks like it is not my thing. I don't buy handheld games that are multi-player focused.
The biggest disappointment for me is that the 3DS line-up is too heavy on the RPGs (in general) and this E3 did nothing to change that. I was really hoping for a new Mario 3D Land game. Perhaps Nintendo are planning to do that as a once-per-generation kind of franchise. At least I have Chib-Robo Zip-Lash to look forward to!
I will reserve judgment on this game until I see a detailed description.
If it has a proper single-player campaign with levels that are designed for exploration then I will be happy. That would make it a proper Metroid Prime game. However, if the single player consists of a progression through multi-player arenas with the computer controlling the opponents and a story that is just tacked on, then I will stay well away from it.
The only thing about this game that worries me is the "dress up" aspect. If it is just a matter of acquiring outfits to gain abilities then OK. That is no different than acquiring new items or armor. However, if it ends up being a big fashion mini game that detracts from the quest then I will be miffed.
I expect this year's E3 Nintendo Direct to be a really good one. Nintendo just breathed new life into the 3DS with the new hardware, now they need to make all those people who bought one happy that they did. I expect at least 2 games to be announced that are exclusive to the N3DS. However, most of the holiday releases will be for the entire 3DS line.
On the other side of the fence Nintendo delayed Zelda into 2016 so now they need to convince Wii U owners that there is still lots of great software to look forward to this year holiday season. I expect that Star Fox Wii U will finally get a proper unveiling and there will be at least one big surprise game for Wii U (F-Zero maybe?).
P.S While we are talking about Mario's 30th anniversary ... I am personally hoping that Nintendo will announce plans to celebrate the anniversary at E3. I am personally hoping for an announcement of Super Mario 3D Land 2 on the 3DS.
I have the two Hori fight pads (Mario and Luigi) and they are great. The reviews that I read indicated that the PDP ones were not as well built as the Hori ones. However, I would consider picking this up if I ever come across one. On a different subject, why does Japan have six Mario themed Wii-motes and we only have three in North America?!? I want that Toad Wii-mote. I am sure that I will eventually break down and import one on EBay. However, it would be nice if Nintendo of America would be more proactive about bringing cool products like that to the West.
My guess is that Nintendo will announce the localization in their Nintendo Direct and then Square will provide more details at their event.
With Bravely Second, Etrian Untold 2, Fire Emblem IF, Stella Glow etc there are lots of RPGs coming to the 3DS. However, I hope this does not become like the PSP where 2 out of every 3 games were RPGs toward the end of its life. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE RPGs. It is my favorite genre. However, I would like to see some variety as well. Hopefully Nintendo will announce at least 3 great games that are not RPGs at E3.
I predict that the next generation will be digital only and that will be the end of me buying new consoles. I currently own way too many games. I could stop buying games right now and still I would have enough games to go the rest of my life without running out of stuff to play. I have a collecting bug. However. once the shiny packages are gone the collecting bug will be gone too. I will be left with the games that I already own, lined up in their storage containers, and having the problem of deciding what to play next.
I sometimes buy games at full price if they are niche games in a genre that I really like. I bought Codename Steam on day one.
However, like many others, I have a massive backlog of games waiting to be played. I sometimes feel guilty about how big that backlog is. When I see a full-priced game it is easy to say no because I know I will not have time to play that game any time soon. It will just go on the pile with the rest.
However, if I see a good game at a really good price then it becomes much harder to say no to myself. Thus, I tend to buy a lot of games during Steam sales (like most Steam users).
That is the reality of the modern day game industry. There are tens of thousands of games out there. The sheer volume of games available to be purchased at any one time is staggering, and many gamers already own hundreds in one form or another. Tt has never been easier to get good games than it is now and it is a buyer's market. Developers have to figure out how they are going to get their game noticed and how they are going to ensure that they can rack up good sales in the limited time before the public attention wanders away to newer titles.
I would love to see both this and DQ VII get an official western release. However, it is more likely that I will someday be playing these classics via fan translations. There is no way that that the fan translation scene would leave these two games alone.
There will certainly be lots of 3DS games announced. There is no way that Nintendo released the New 3DS this year only to ignore it for the rest of the year while they focus on the Wii U. My guess is there will be at least 3 big games announced for fall launches on the 3DS and at least one of those will be exclusive to the New 3DS.
The last I heard, you were not required to pay double to get both sides of this game. If you want both sides as boxed games, then yes you have to pay full price for each of them. However, you also have the option to buy one game at full price and then the add other side as DLC. I believe the price for the DLC amounted to about $16 US. That assumes that Nintendo will use the same strategy for the game in the US.
As an aside, all big publishers are looking for ways to get more money out of each game these days. Development costs have skyrocketed over the past few years, especially for HD games, and many games struggle to make a profit. That is why so many games now have paid DLC and higher priced special editions at launch. Those of us who love handheld games have benefitted from playing high quality games at fairly low prices in comparison to consoles. If the technology gaps between handhelds and consoles closes in the next generation (which I think it will) then we can expect that the price gap will close as well. Nintendo is not going to sell the exact same game on a handheld for $30 less than it charges on a console. Same game ... same price. That is something that we will all need to get used to when it happens.
I am old enough to recall the launch of the SNES. I was a big fan of Sega at the time and I was insanely jealous that Nintendo had several big exclusive games from Konami announced for the first year ... Super Castlevania 4, Contra III, Gradius III, TMNT Turtles In Time. In those days Konami was a power house publisher. They were a power house on the Playstation as well with Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill and Castlevania SOTN.
As for what went wrong, I think that Konami became too risk adverse. They stopped innovating and just spun out new entries in proven series. It is the same story at Capcom, Sega, Namco and pretty much every other big 3rd party publisher these days.
I have no doubt that the western localization is already well underway. My guess is that they will announce a western release at E3 and it will be out this fall.
I am a relatively recent 3DS owner and so far I have ignored Indie games because I have been catching up on the first party releases. The 3DS actually has an awesome line-up of first party games. I have drained my bank account quite a bit collecting them. However, I would like to start getting some indie stuff. Shovel Knight and Steam World both look pretty good. Are there other must-have indie games in the current 3DS line-up?
Now I understand why Nintendo needed to bump up the processor power. They want indie games available to fill out the 3DS release list over the last few years of its life cycle. The original 3DS simply doesn't have the juice to support Unity thus the need for a hardware refresh. I had planned to buy a second 3DS at some point anyway so it is now skin off my nose if I need to pay a bit extra to get the New 3DS instead.
Right now every game publisher is looking for ways to get in on the smart phone cash grab. From a business perspective you can't blame them. From a gaming perspective it sucks to see good console franchise going mobile only.
@Kogorn733 I agree 100%. People care too much about whether or not a console is selling well compared to other machines. Oh No! The PS4 is a runaway success therefore everything else is a failure! I think it has something to do with not wanting to be a fan for a team that is not winning.
Some of my favorite machines are ones that did not sell very well. The Sega Saturn and GameCube rank right up there. I love the Neo Geo Pocket Color and it was an abysmal failure at retail. However, it has great games! That should be the true measure of success for people who actually love games. Does it have games that you love to play!
I understand that better market performance usually means more games coming to the platform, however, Nintendo fans do not need to worry so much about that. The games that we really love, the Nintendo first party games, are not going to be on any other system. If you own a Nintendo machine, you will get great games. If Nintendo puts out a new machine you can buy it with confidence knowing that it will have great games too.
I definitely think that the Wii U will end up being cut short. My guess is that NX will hit in the spring of 2017, so 2016 will be the last year in which Wii U receives any meaningful support. I think that Zelda was delayed partly to spread out the remaining first party releases on Wii U while the company quietly shifts their internal resources to NX development.
Why did Wii U struggle? The confusing name and poor marketing are not the real reason. Wii U struggled for the same reason that the Xbox One and PS Vita are struggling. The video game market has changed drastically over the past few years. Most people own multiple devices on which they can play video games. The Wii relied heavily on casual gamers and most of that crowd seems happy to play on smart phones and tablets now. The 3DS still does well because there are still lots of parents who would rather buy their kids a 3DS than a tablet. However, I think the market for dedicated game machines is much smaller now than it was in 2010. Nintendo knows this and thus they are shifting their strategy to ensure that they will not be caught clinging to a shrinking market.
The Playstation made it cool for adults to play video games and that grew the console market hugely. The IPad provided a fashionable way for adults to play games without having to use a console. That caused the console market to shrink again. The PS2 and the DS were the peak of the console bubble.
I will reserve judgement until I see details on how the campaigns differ. If it is just a matter of having a different back story to the same battles then I will be disappointed. On the other hand, if they do a Shining Force III and give us two completely different campaigns that intersect with each other then I will absolutely buy the game and the DLC. Shining Force III was three different games that could each be played on their own, but you only got the full enjoyment when you completed all three campaigns. Sega charged full price for each of the 3 parts because they were all full games with their own story and unique battles. They just happened to share the same overarching story. It worked very well and was very popular. If Nintendo is doing the same thing (for much less) then I will applaud that.
I agree 100%. If Zelda has been delayed to 2016 then "needing more time" is only half the reason. The other half is that Nintendo's focus internally has shifted to the NX and they need Zelda to be their big Wii-U game for 2016 because they have no comparable games planned beyond that. That is my guess.
I am torn on this one. I really want the game, and want to support Atlus. However, I don't care about sound tracks and art books. If they had another SKU that was $10 cheaper and had no extras, I would buy that day one.
My interest in this game is increasing over time. It looks like it could be a decent blaster. However I will definitely wait for review scores before I get too excited.
On the one hand, I know this is a smart business move for Nintendo. On the other hand, I fear that over time it will change the company's entire focus. Suppose that Nintendo makes a Mario endless runner game that costs about 100K to develop and then does 100 million dollars in business on I/OS and Android. Suppose them manage to make a cheap mobile Pokemon game that does over a billion in sales. On one hand, it would allow Nintendo to be a ridiculously profitable company. On the other hand, it could cause Nintendo share holders to put considerable pressure on the company to stop making expensive Zelda and Metroid games on dedicated hardware that are nowhere near as profitable, and focus more on the big-money mobile market. Will share holders accept that Nintendo's best games are not going to the most lucrative market available to them?
I could be out to lunch, but I do not think that NX will be a specific device. Rather, it will be Nintendo's equivalent of IOS. It will be a unified development environment that can be used to create games that will run across a number of different devices either created or licensed by Nintendo. With this model Nintendo can provide different devices that can all run the same games with some compromises made for the quality of a particular game on a particular device.
I don't think it is possible to make one device that can meet the expectations of both console gamers and handheld gamers. It would be better to provide two devices that run the same software and can sync data between them. Start playing the latest Mario game on your home NX machine which is connected to your 4K TV. When it is time to go, you sync your save data with your handheld NX device and head out. Later that evening you sync again so that you can continue at home.
Early on I expect that Nintendo will want NX games to also run on the Wii U and New 3DS. I think that is why the New 3DS has the extra controls added (C-stick and extra shoulder buttons) and the upgraded processor. It needs to be able to play games that are designed for both it and the Wii U. They will launch the NX platform on their existing hardware first and then bring out more powerful devices that use NX down the road. Of course, there will still be games that are developed from the ground up for either Wii U or 3DS. On those platforms NX will mostly be a good way to entice more indie and 3rd party games, which will have the added benefit of being available from day 1 on dedicated NX devices when they start to appear.
Comments 387
Re: Reggie Fils-Aime Hints at Smaller New Nintendo 3DS for North America
I think that Nintendo would be smart to do a limited release of the base New 3DS XL here. Sales data shows that North Americans generally prefer the bigger screen of the XL (by a wide margin) but it seems silly to not provide at least one limited edition SKU that would allow the people who really want the changeable face plates to have them. If that SKU also included a few NA exclusive face plates I think that would go a long way toward smoothing the waters.
For my part, I am happy that none of the big 3DS retails games require a New 3DS. I just got my regular 3DS XL not long ago. Its way too soon to be upgrading.
Re: Editorial: Cheer Up, There Are Some Exciting Games on the Way
I don't have a Wii U, but for 3DS I am looking forward to the following games that we know about:
Zelda Tri-Force Heroes
Mario and Luigi : Paper Jam
Chibi Robo : Zip Lash
Fire Emblem Fates
Bravely Second
Etrian Odyssey Untold 2
Steam World Heist
Mighty No.9
Monster Hunter Stories
There are other games that I have as "Wait and See" including Federation Force, Stella Glow and that other Atlus RPG whose name I cannot remember right now.
3DS has more games coming than I have time to play.
However, the only game on my list that I consider to be AAA, must have it on day one is Fire Emblem Fates. I think that is the same problem that most people have with Nintendo's showing at this E3. Lots of good games but very few games that would cause me to be over the moon with excitement.
Re: Metroid Prime: Federation Force Producer Explains Why Samus Aran Isn't In The Game
I hope that by the time this game launches next year heads will have cooled and people will be more willing to judge this game on its own merits as opposed to just being furious that its not a "real" Metroid Prime game.
Re: Talking Point: Metroid Prime: Federation Force and Entitled Fury
I am sure that this game did not start its life as a Metroid game. Nintendo are bad for taking a game that could probably stand on its own and the tacking on a familiar IP to try and raise its profile (Star Fox Adventures anyone). I feel sorry for Next level Games on this. I'm sure they were eagerly waiting to see how Metroid fans would react and they must be pretty gutted.
On the one hand, this is not the Metroid game that fans were hoping for.
On the other hand, the extreme negative reaction is so over the top as to be juvenile. I can only shake my head at how angry some people are about a flipping video game. If you don't like it, then don't buy it.
Personally, I am going to wait and see what the reviews are like. If its stands up well as a single player experience then I will buy it. If co-op is the only way to really enjoy this game then it will be a pass from me. I have a feeling that after the reaction from Metroid fans Next Level Games will be told to refocus some of their effort to raise the quality of the single player experience. At least I hope that is what will happen.
Re: First Impressions: Kicking Off With Metroid Prime: Blast Ball
Its too bad that Nintendo did not have any of the main game levels for people to play at this E3. Nintendo were hoping that we would all be over the moon simply because they have a new Metroid game coming. However, the focus on multiplayer seems to have turned many people off. It may be that the main game campaign is actually really good as a single player experience. However, we cannot know since it is not playable at E3.
I bet that many people will mentally write this game off, and then start to change their minds later in the year when videos and impressions start to surface and they find out that the single player campaign is fun.
A good analogy for this game is how Microsoft fans reacted to the announcement of Halo Reach. There were lots of people who were very upset that MS would create a Halo game that did not have Master Chief in it. However, when the game actually came out it sold fine. It may not be the most beloved game in the franchise, but it was still good.
Re: Reaction: Nintendo's E3 Digital Event Brought Franchises We Wanted, But Not The Blockbusters
The Animal Crossing board game will probably be popular in Japan. Not so much elsewhere.
I think Super Mario maker will be a sleep hit for Nintendo, especially if the big N releases lots of level packs for it (ie. the complete Super Mario Bros 3 recreated in Mario Maker) and it has a vibrant community of people creating custom level packs.
Core gamers still have the holy triumvirate of Star Fox, Zelda and Xenoblade to look forward to on Wii U. IMO that is three AAA games. Everything else in the Wii U line-up is gravy compared to those three.
Re: Reaction: Nintendo's E3 Digital Event Brought Franchises We Wanted, But Not The Blockbusters
This is the kind of E3 that you get when a company is in the process of moving to new hardware. They probably have a significant percentage of their development staff already at work on projects for NX and the obvious result is a thinning of the line-up for existing machines. I suspect that Star Fox and Zelda Wii U will be the last big first-party games from Nintendo for Wii U.
As a 3DS fan, I felt that the line-up was OK, but not great. Mario and Luigi Paper Jam is my personal highlight. I love both Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi. I am sure this mash-up will be fun. Zelda Tri-Force Heroes is intriguing but I will have to wait for reviews to be sure that it is actually fun as a single player game. Glad to see that Hyrule Warriors is not exclusive to the New 3DS. That one is on my list. So far the new Metroid Prime game looks like it is not my thing. I don't buy handheld games that are multi-player focused.
The biggest disappointment for me is that the 3DS line-up is too heavy on the RPGs (in general) and this E3 did nothing to change that. I was really hoping for a new Mario 3D Land game. Perhaps Nintendo are planning to do that as a once-per-generation kind of franchise. At least I have Chib-Robo Zip-Lash to look forward to!
Re: Metroid Prime: Federation Force
I will reserve judgment on this game until I see a detailed description.
If it has a proper single-player campaign with levels that are designed for exploration then I will be happy. That would make it a proper Metroid Prime game. However, if the single player consists of a progression through multi-player arenas with the computer controlling the opponents and a story that is just tacked on, then I will stay well away from it.
Re: The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes
The only thing about this game that worries me is the "dress up" aspect. If it is just a matter of acquiring outfits to gain abilities then OK. That is no different than acquiring new items or armor. However, if it ends up being a big fashion mini game that detracts from the quest then I will be miffed.
Re: Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
I am surprised that Nintendo would do a mash-up of these two franchises. However, I think it will be fun.
Re: Hyrule Warriors Is Slashing Its Way to 3DS
So long as it is playable on all 3DS models it will be a guaranteed purchase for me. If its N3DS only then I will have to skip.
Re: Reggie Fils-Aime Promises 3DS E3 Reveals While Being as Vague as Possible
I expect this year's E3 Nintendo Direct to be a really good one. Nintendo just breathed new life into the 3DS with the new hardware, now they need to make all those people who bought one happy that they did. I expect at least 2 games to be announced that are exclusive to the N3DS. However, most of the holiday releases will be for the entire 3DS line.
On the other side of the fence Nintendo delayed Zelda into 2016 so now they need to convince Wii U owners that there is still lots of great software to look forward to this year holiday season. I expect that Star Fox Wii U will finally get a proper unveiling and there will be at least one big surprise game for Wii U (F-Zero maybe?).
Re: Bravely Second End Layer is Heading to the West in 2016
I figured this would be announced at E3. Glad to see the localization is finally confirmed.
I hope that you have all signed the petition for a localization of Dragon Quest VII. If not, go here:
https://www.change.org/p/square-enix-localize-dragon-quest-7-3ds-and-dragon-quest-10-on-wii-u-3ds-pc-to-the-us-and-europe
Re: Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash and Its amiibo Confirmed for North America and Europe
I loved the original Chibi Robo on GameCube. This one will be on my "to watch" list.
Re: PDP Is Aiming to Sell the World's Shiniest Controller With Its Metal Mario 30th Anniversary Pad
P.S While we are talking about Mario's 30th anniversary ...
I am personally hoping that Nintendo will announce plans to celebrate the anniversary at E3. I am personally hoping for an announcement of Super Mario 3D Land 2 on the 3DS.
Re: PDP Is Aiming to Sell the World's Shiniest Controller With Its Metal Mario 30th Anniversary Pad
I have the two Hori fight pads (Mario and Luigi) and they are great. The reviews that I read indicated that the PDP ones were not as well built as the Hori ones. However, I would consider picking this up if I ever come across one.
On a different subject, why does Japan have six Mario themed Wii-motes and we only have three in North America?!? I want that Toad Wii-mote. I am sure that I will eventually break down and import one on EBay. However, it would be nice if Nintendo of America would be more proactive about bringing cool products like that to the West.
Re: Square Enix Has Trademarked Bravely Second In Europe
My guess is that Nintendo will announce the localization in their Nintendo Direct and then Square will provide more details at their event.
With Bravely Second, Etrian Untold 2, Fire Emblem IF, Stella Glow etc there are lots of RPGs coming to the 3DS. However, I hope this does not become like the PSP where 2 out of every 3 games were RPGs toward the end of its life. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE RPGs. It is my favorite genre. However, I would like to see some variety as well. Hopefully Nintendo will announce at least 3 great games that are not RPGs at E3.
Re: Talking Point: The Fragility of Buying Download Games
I predict that the next generation will be digital only and that will be the end of me buying new consoles. I currently own way too many games. I could stop buying games right now and still I would have enough games to go the rest of my life without running out of stuff to play. I have a collecting bug. However. once the shiny packages are gone the collecting bug will be gone too. I will be left with the games that I already own, lined up in their storage containers, and having the problem of deciding what to play next.
Re: Editorial: The eShop's Pricing Dilemma is the Fault of Many, But Damages Creativity and Risk Taking
I sometimes buy games at full price if they are niche games in a genre that I really like. I bought Codename Steam on day one.
However, like many others, I have a massive backlog of games waiting to be played. I sometimes feel guilty about how big that backlog is. When I see a full-priced game it is easy to say no because I know I will not have time to play that game any time soon. It will just go on the pile with the rest.
However, if I see a good game at a really good price then it becomes much harder to say no to myself. Thus, I tend to buy a lot of games during Steam sales (like most Steam users).
That is the reality of the modern day game industry. There are tens of thousands of games out there. The sheer volume of games available to be purchased at any one time is staggering, and many gamers already own hundreds in one form or another. Tt has never been easier to get good games than it is now and it is a buyer's market. Developers have to figure out how they are going to get their game noticed and how they are going to ensure that they can rack up good sales in the limited time before the public attention wanders away to newer titles.
Re: Square Enix Announces Dragon Quest VIII For The 3DS
I would love to see both this and DQ VII get an official western release. However, it is more likely that I will someday be playing these classics via fan translations. There is no way that that the fan translation scene would leave these two games alone.
Re: Nintendo's E3 Focus to Reportedly be on Wii U and 3DS, not Smart Devices or NX
There will certainly be lots of 3DS games announced. There is no way that Nintendo released the New 3DS this year only to ignore it for the rest of the year while they focus on the Wii U. My guess is there will be at least 3 big games announced for fall launches on the 3DS and at least one of those will be exclusive to the New 3DS.
Re: Fire Emblem's Two Versions Will Offer Very Different Challenges
The last I heard, you were not required to pay double to get both sides of this game. If you want both sides as boxed games, then yes you have to pay full price for each of them. However, you also have the option to buy one game at full price and then the add other side as DLC. I believe the price for the DLC amounted to about $16 US. That assumes that Nintendo will use the same strategy for the game in the US.
As an aside, all big publishers are looking for ways to get more money out of each game these days. Development costs have skyrocketed over the past few years, especially for HD games, and many games struggle to make a profit. That is why so many games now have paid DLC and higher priced special editions at launch. Those of us who love handheld games have benefitted from playing high quality games at fairly low prices in comparison to consoles. If the technology gaps between handhelds and consoles closes in the next generation (which I think it will) then we can expect that the price gap will close as well. Nintendo is not going to sell the exact same game on a handheld for $30 less than it charges on a console. Same game ... same price. That is something that we will all need to get used to when it happens.
Re: Konami Removes Its Listing from the New York Stock Exchange
I am old enough to recall the launch of the SNES. I was a big fan of Sega at the time and I was insanely jealous that Nintendo had several big exclusive games from Konami announced for the first year ... Super Castlevania 4, Contra III, Gradius III, TMNT Turtles In Time. In those days Konami was a power house publisher. They were a power house on the Playstation as well with Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill and Castlevania SOTN.
As for what went wrong, I think that Konami became too risk adverse. They stopped innovating and just spun out new entries in proven series. It is the same story at Capcom, Sega, Namco and pretty much every other big 3rd party publisher these days.
Re: Bravely Second Offers Over 100 Hours Of Gameplay, Producer Already Has Plans For Third Game
I have no doubt that the western localization is already well underway. My guess is that they will announce a western release at E3 and it will be out this fall.
Re: Unity Support Is Coming To The New Nintendo 3DS
@CreativeWelshman
Thanks. I will check reviews and buy a couple!
Re: Unity Support Is Coming To The New Nintendo 3DS
I am a relatively recent 3DS owner and so far I have ignored Indie games because I have been catching up on the first party releases. The 3DS actually has an awesome line-up of first party games. I have drained my bank account quite a bit collecting them. However, I would like to start getting some indie stuff. Shovel Knight and Steam World both look pretty good. Are there other must-have indie games in the current 3DS line-up?
Re: Unity Support Is Coming To The New Nintendo 3DS
Now I understand why Nintendo needed to bump up the processor power. They want indie games available to fill out the 3DS release list over the last few years of its life cycle. The original 3DS simply doesn't have the juice to support Unity thus the need for a hardware refresh. I had planned to buy a second 3DS at some point anyway so it is now skin off my nose if I need to pay a bit extra to get the New 3DS instead.
Re: Akihiro Hino on Why Fantasy Life 2 is Not Coming to the 3DS
Right now every game publisher is looking for ways to get in on the smart phone cash grab. From a business perspective you can't blame them. From a gaming perspective it sucks to see good console franchise going mobile only.
Re: Project X Zone 2 Crosses Over to the West For a Fall Release on Nintendo 3DS
I just picked up the first game this week. It can be had for less than $20!
Re: Analyst Thinks Nintendo Is Already Winding Down Wii U Ahead Of Nintendo NX Launch
@Kogorn733
I agree 100%. People care too much about whether or not a console is selling well compared to other machines. Oh No! The PS4 is a runaway success therefore everything else is a failure! I think it has something to do with not wanting to be a fan for a team that is not winning.
Some of my favorite machines are ones that did not sell very well. The Sega Saturn and GameCube rank right up there. I love the Neo Geo Pocket Color and it was an abysmal failure at retail. However, it has great games! That should be the true measure of success for people who actually love games. Does it have games that you love to play!
I understand that better market performance usually means more games coming to the platform, however, Nintendo fans do not need to worry so much about that. The games that we really love, the Nintendo first party games, are not going to be on any other system. If you own a Nintendo machine, you will get great games. If Nintendo puts out a new machine you can buy it with confidence knowing that it will have great games too.
Re: Analyst Thinks Nintendo Is Already Winding Down Wii U Ahead Of Nintendo NX Launch
I definitely think that the Wii U will end up being cut short. My guess is that NX will hit in the spring of 2017, so 2016 will be the last year in which Wii U receives any meaningful support. I think that Zelda was delayed partly to spread out the remaining first party releases on Wii U while the company quietly shifts their internal resources to NX development.
Why did Wii U struggle? The confusing name and poor marketing are not the real reason. Wii U struggled for the same reason that the Xbox One and PS Vita are struggling. The video game market has changed drastically over the past few years. Most people own multiple devices on which they can play video games. The Wii relied heavily on casual gamers and most of that crowd seems happy to play on smart phones and tablets now. The 3DS still does well because there are still lots of parents who would rather buy their kids a 3DS than a tablet. However, I think the market for dedicated game machines is much smaller now than it was in 2010. Nintendo knows this and thus they are shifting their strategy to ensure that they will not be caught clinging to a shrinking market.
The Playstation made it cool for adults to play video games and that grew the console market hugely. The IPad provided a fashionable way for adults to play games without having to use a console. That caused the console market to shrink again. The PS2 and the DS were the peak of the console bubble.
Re: New Fire Emblem on 3DS Takes Shape as Two Separate Releases in Japan
I will reserve judgement until I see details on how the campaigns differ. If it is just a matter of having a different back story to the same battles then I will be disappointed. On the other hand, if they do a Shining Force III and give us two completely different campaigns that intersect with each other then I will absolutely buy the game and the DLC. Shining Force III was three different games that could each be played on their own, but you only got the full enjoyment when you completed all three campaigns. Sega charged full price for each of the 3 parts because they were all full games with their own story and unique battles. They just happened to share the same overarching story. It worked very well and was very popular. If Nintendo is doing the same thing (for much less) then I will applaud that.
Re: Talking Point: It's Too Early to Write Off the Wii U Over The Legend of Zelda's Delay
@earthboundlink
I agree 100%. If Zelda has been delayed to 2016 then "needing more time" is only half the reason. The other half is that Nintendo's focus internally has shifted to the NX and they need Zelda to be their big Wii-U game for 2016 because they have no comparable games planned beyond that. That is my guess.
Re: Etrian Odyssey Untold 2 Delivers an Artful Launch Edition
I am torn on this one. I really want the game, and want to support Atlus. However, I don't care about sound tracks and art books. If they had another SKU that was $10 cheaper and had no extras, I would buy that day one.
Re: Video: New Rodea The Sky Soldier Trailer Features Plenty of 3DS Footage
My interest in this game is increasing over time. It looks like it could be a decent blaster. However I will definitely wait for review scores before I get too excited.
Re: Editorial: Nintendo's Heading For a Period of Major Change, and We Can't Fight It
On the one hand, I know this is a smart business move for Nintendo. On the other hand, I fear that over time it will change the company's entire focus. Suppose that Nintendo makes a Mario endless runner game that costs about 100K to develop and then does 100 million dollars in business on I/OS and Android. Suppose them manage to make a cheap mobile Pokemon game that does over a billion in sales. On one hand, it would allow Nintendo to be a ridiculously profitable company. On the other hand, it could cause Nintendo share holders to put considerable pressure on the company to stop making expensive Zelda and Metroid games on dedicated hardware that are nowhere near as profitable, and focus more on the big-money mobile market. Will share holders accept that Nintendo's best games are not going to the most lucrative market available to them?
Re: Reaction: The Nintendo 'NX', and Why We Think a Unified Platform is the Future
I could be out to lunch, but I do not think that NX will be a specific device. Rather, it will be Nintendo's equivalent of IOS. It will be a unified development environment that can be used to create games that will run across a number of different devices either created or licensed by Nintendo. With this model Nintendo can provide different devices that can all run the same games with some compromises made for the quality of a particular game on a particular device.
I don't think it is possible to make one device that can meet the expectations of both console gamers and handheld gamers. It would be better to provide two devices that run the same software and can sync data between them. Start playing the latest Mario game on your home NX machine which is connected to your 4K TV. When it is time to go, you sync your save data with your handheld NX device and head out. Later that evening you sync again so that you can continue at home.
Early on I expect that Nintendo will want NX games to also run on the Wii U and New 3DS. I think that is why the New 3DS has the extra controls added (C-stick and extra shoulder buttons) and the upgraded processor. It needs to be able to play games that are designed for both it and the Wii U. They will launch the NX platform on their existing hardware first and then bring out more powerful devices that use NX down the road. Of course, there will still be games that are developed from the ground up for either Wii U or 3DS. On those platforms NX will mostly be a good way to entice more indie and 3rd party games, which will have the added benefit of being available from day 1 on dedicated NX devices when they start to appear.