Salnax

So, in short, this is what NintendoLand should have been?

Sounds promising.

Probably a holiday title, if the last few Kirby games are any indicator, but its good to see that the 3DS is going to have some steam left next year.

And just like that, my interest in this game doubled.

It sounds like this is sort of testing the waters for changing the formula with Zelda Wii U. I hope this ends up being good, if only because the Zelda dungeon format has been a bit repetitive this past decade. High quality, but predictable.

@DarkAngel_17 They could make their own console. With blackjack and hookers.

I wonder if China would be more tolerant of the American Xbox or the Japanese PlayStation and Nintendo products. They don't have a historically good relationship with either country, and that may poison local attempts to expand.

Looking at this from another point of view, imagine a Chinese gaming console being brought to Japan and the West. Could that possibly be the next big thing in console gaming? A fourth competitor?

No surprise from the headline. Remember, five of the ten best-selling Sonic games of all time have been Olympic crossovers with the Mario crew. The best selling 2D Sonic since the Genesis was Rush for the DS. Secret Rings sold more than Sonic 06 for the 360 and PS3 combined, Colors on the Wii sold more than Generations on either system, Adventure 2 Battle for the GameCube sold more than either Dreamcast Sonic Adventure, and even the widely hated Black Knight sold nearly a million copies worldwide.

Damn, those are great bundles. With the PS4 and Xbone not coming out in Japan until 2014, this might give the Wii U the local edge it needs.

Mewtwo: "And this is not even my final form!"

According to VGChartz, a useful if occasionally incorrect website, Japan has already bought about 2.3 million 3DS's as of mid-August. That gives Nintendo 4 and a half months to sell the remaining 2.7 million. During that time, Japan will receive:

*Pokemon X/Y (Anywhere from 3 to 5 million sales in Japan 2013 alone)
*Monster Hunter 4 (2 to 4 million sales in the same time frame)
*Mario Party 3DS (1 to 1.5 million sales)
*Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (0.5 to 1 million sales)
*One Piece (Hundreds of Thousands of Copies)

In addition, games like Tomodachi Collection, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Luigi's Mansion 2, Ace Attorney 5, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, Monster Hunter 3G, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Mario Kart 7, NSMB2, and SM3DL should each sell thousands of copies.

Now, at this point in time, the 3DS has a physical software to hardware ratio of about 3 to 1 in Japan. So, assuming that a lot of people already own 3DS's and are buying new games for it, let's say that every 4 or 5 sales of these big games sells 1 3DS.

Pokemon X/Y alone sells a bit under a million 3DS's, a third of the goal. Let's say 800,000.
Monster Hunter 4 sells over half a million. About 600,000.
Mario Party 3D sells a quarter million 3DS's.
Zelda sells 150,000 3DS's.
One Piece sells, I dunno, let's go with a conservative 50,000.
In total, that's about 2/3 of the way to the goal of 5 million from the current point based on those FIVE titles alone!

EVERY GAME IN THE 3DS LIBRARY EXCEPT THOSE FIVE would have to sell under a million units.

I think Nintendo will be fine.

If this came out in February, I'd have bought it in a heartbeat. Today... I'm still getting my money's worth from Pikmin 3, and Pokemon and Wind Waker HD both come out in a bit over a month. That's not to say I won't buy this, but the delay didn't exactly make it more likely.

On the plus side, I'm glad this game is as good as it is. Great non-Nintendo platformers are a bit hard to come by nowadays.

Something is tremendous alright.

As something of a series noob whose only played the 3DS version of IV, which version of Street Fighter would be the best choice?

Thanks in advance.

Wii GOTY for 2014 confirmed?

$5 a character? Pretty steep.

Hmm... how many blocks is it?

@6ch6ris6 I honestly expected Miiverse to be ready in time for Animal Crossing's release. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say they're now waiting for the next big game that can push it as a feature. Perhaps Pokemon X/Y? If so, prepare to wait until October for that particular update.

@Grubdog He merely required reeducation. He knows his place now.

Too close to reality to be satire.

So... its the Wii version, but sacrifices some of the technical feats for a lack of waggle? I'm okay with this.

If we can get some sort of bundle for $15 including at least four new characters and new skins, it would be worth the wait. Or even better, if all eight suspected characters are released by then, give us ALL the DLC for $25 or $30. That way, they'd still be making almost $100 per copy sold and still buy some good will from Wii U owners.

I'm a very lucky individual indeed.

Why, do you ask?

Because I'm playing this for the First Time!

The 3DSi needs to have at least 32 GB of internal storage.

The lack of jumping makes sense. It wasn't in the previous Arkham games, and Batman already has a host of other similar abilities. So long as there are no VVVVVV-style 2 inch barriers, I'm cool with this.

That was surprisingly non-garbagey.

Hopefully The Last Ranger can fix the problems people had with the original game. It could be one of the best games for the 3DS this year if things turn out right.

If Mercenaries is a similar price in America, I know what my next eShop purchase will be!

Those are GREAT deals.

I can see his point. At least in KI:U, any player with at least basic skills could jump into the game and start playing, paying as much or little attention to the dialogue as they want. The story of KI:U was great, but when replaying it, it was nice to never be required to slow down for the plot to get ahead.

@idork99 I haven't seen a single review for the 3DS version. That said, I've heard the 3DS version sacrificed a few minigames and features for a more steady framerate.

More melee weapons would be welcome, but would have to be handled carefully. They'd have to be as valuable as guns, and as difficult and rewarding to obtain. Perhaps there could be some assortment of selectable melee weapons with strengths and weaknesses? Or maybe you can only carry one at a time? Perhaps more advanced weapons like halberds are harder to use until your character levels up a bit.

It's a great appetizer of a game he made.

@JustYourAverageBleh To clear a Canadian warehouse of spare Wii parts most likely.

$2.50 a game? Bargain!

@RupeeClock Call of Duty is actually a pretty big PS3 franchise over there, sort of like how Resident Evil is pretty big outside of Japan. Don't worry though; I have no doubt that Pokemon will have far superior legs.

@Zach777 That game doesn't even fit on the default SD card. I doubt we'll see it soon.

@HarmoKnight Those are some pretty hefty titles. How big is your SD Card?

I think they introduced a new Black XL this week.

@6ch6ris6 The same people who buy games presumably.

A service like this in the West would finally give me an excuse to retire the ol' iPod.

I'll watch a few minutes.

@DiscordedTeeJay It's a translation of the Japanese name. I don't think we ever got an official English name.

@DiscordedTeeJay There's no shame in that. The game has its merits. I just couldn't get into it.

I personally expect disappointment. The Wii U is lacking that one thing (a mainstream pricepoint, a 90+ exclusive, a trendy title) that will get a few more people to by it. That said, I expect the Wii U to possibly pass the Vita in at least some regions by April. That's a start.

@Falk_Sturmfels I found Zenonia to be bearable only by the low standards of DSiWare RPGs.

Honestly, I'd have thought DSiWare would be the home of lots of great RPGs, if only because you'd be able to port older and smaller DS games without a problem.

@WiiLovePeace They're probably basing it on Japanese numbers, which according to VGChartz are 7.7 million to 4 million.

@Bliquid There's Layton and a bunch of 3rd party titles like Zero Escape, Sylanders, Adventure Time, and Epic Mickey. But yeah, Holiday 2012 is not going to be remembered very fondly for 3DS owners.

Don't worry about the drop in combined DS and 3DS sales. Some DS games were still pretty big back in September 2011. According to VGChartz, Pokemon Black/White and NSMB1 sold at about 50 thousand copies each, and you had new releases like Harvest Moon, Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2, Kirby: Mass Attack, and Solatorobo adding to those numbers. In contrast, September 2012 was a dry month for both the DS and 3DS. Seriously, were any new games released for those systems?

If you're still worried, don't be. October sales are going to spike over last year, thanks to a couple of major releases: Pokemon Black/White 2 and the first 3DS Layton anyone?

It looks like the eShop is in for a second Golden Age.

I have class when this starts. -_-