I don't really consider BOTW a traditional zelda game, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. Exploration was cool and the flexibility with the rune mechanics was super interesting. Though tbh, I'm honestly sometimes more entertained watching youtube videos of some of the most interesting ways to take out a bokoblin camp, etc. I'm not smart enough to figure out some of the coolest tricks!
Hoping TOTK has some more extensive dungeons and maybe a bit larger population/better incentives for side quests than just more kinda mediocre disposable items. Like maybe key items or some real interesting story ramifications for completing the quest. I just didn't feel myself motivated to do any of them after doing a few.
I seriously would have preordered this today, but this announcement makes me sad. It's my understanding they made high-def models of all the pokemon for XY to be future-proof. And seriously - by November, I wouldn't be surprised if Pokemon Go had a full national Pokédex, so there's not really much of an excuse.
And to all those people saying it will keep veteran players from being too advantaged - they can still transfer their pokemon over. The Galar dex is probably going to be fairly large and allow for a fair amount of legacy pokemon to be transferred - just not all of them. So they'll still have the same advantage over newbies.
I got burned buying Sun/Moon and then the Ultra came out a year later. I think I'm going to wait and see if there are going to be ultra versions of these that will allow the national dex. Pokemon home is the real ripoff here - really, you want me to pay for a subscription, but then I can't even transfer half of my pokemon into any games? They're just stuck in Pokemon jail indefinitely. It's ok, since I'm waiting on buying the games, I can wait on getting Pokemon Home too. Don't like this move - vote with your wallet.
@Hikingguy I mean. There's a slight difference. These vouchers could be used on any first party game. You can wait and read reviews. You can use them on games you've been wanting, but haven't purchased yet. You're basically just betting that Nintendo will release two first party games you'll want in the course of a year. For a lot of folks, that's a pretty sure thing, especially with pokemon coming out.
I was pretty happy with it. Smash is a big game, and I'm excited that it's dropping this holiday. The trend from last year is to really focus on the last 6 months of the year, so I expected that. I'm excited for Captain Toad too. And I wish I had time for Xenoblade, because that series looks boss (but I'm still playing BOTW and Odyssey).
I was a bit bummed by no update on Metroid Prime 4 (though I'm not surprised, given that they just showed a logo last year, probably nothing's ready for prime time), no update on main series pokemon (also not surprised, since they want to focus on "let's go" and we did in May get a 2019 release window, and some random teaser comments).
However, it would have been nice to drop a teaser for some project that has been greenly like Prime 4 last year. Don't really care which one - just like an Animal Crossing or Pikmin, or Star Fox or F-zero or WHATEVER logo, so we can get excited. Some Odyssey DLC would have been cool too.
Skipped Treehouse this year, and I'm kind of glad, b/c it looks like they didn't sneak in any new announcements like they did last year. They played Odyssey to death last year, and I had to stop watching so I could discover SOME of the game on my own. It sounds like it was similar this year w/Smash, so I'm glad I skipped it. I'm gonna go play some Smash 64 tho to get hype!
Such a bummer. Well, what do you expect from Nintendo? Luckily I still have my WiiU and 3DS. I'd love to have everything in once place, but since it would be tough for switch to do DS/WiiU games anyways, I don't mind keeping things on there.
I hope it's a sequel or if not a direct sequel, at least a completely different story. If it's just an improved third version, I'll probably skip (and be sad I didn't wait).
Already preordered a carrying case and have a new 200 GB micro SD ready. That's all I'm going to get for right now I think, because money.
I'll definitely pick up the pro controller when a two player game comes out (maybe for splatoon, esp. if they have good couch co-op). I'll get a USB charger the first time I go on a trip (probably this summer). Finally, I'll get the WiiWheel...oops...I mean JoyCon Wheel, when Mario Kart 9 comes out or they discontinue online on the WiiU and I'm forced to upgrade. I'm skipping Mario Kart 8 Deluxe unless it comes with like 12 new tracks or something.
I don't think any of this content was cut from the main game, since the first pack isn't until summer and the much meatier pack 2 isn't coming until the holiday season. It'll definitely be worth it if the included hard mode is like skyward sword's where you just take more damage with hits and have no hearts available, and the DLC hard mode is more like a master quest with actual rearranged dungeons.
I'll be waiting until the new story is released though to see if that's worth $20, because that's really the only part I'm interested in. For those complaining it's too expensive, that waits to be seen - but it could be worse - these features could be much more expensive, because they're locked behind like 10 different amiibos.
Not bad. $20-$25 sounds fair for what they've stated they'll be offering (e.g. voice chat, but you need an app; VC games that are only good for one month, etc).
WiiPlay was $50 WITH a wiimote though. That was a pretty good deal. This game looks like it has more content than WiiPlay...but how much do I really want to spend on a tech demo. I'm guessing this started as a pack-in, but when they got pricing and everything together they realized they would need to make it a standalone title and then maybe added more content to justify it.
I hope it autosaves the game. Glad I grew up in the era where you could use the excuse that you needed to find a save point for a little bit more time (but not too much, there was a button mom or dad could press when they had enough of you on the TV, and it was called the power button).
That's pretty bad. Sonic's always been one to try to hard to find catchphrases - but that kind of fit in with the early 90s when he first came out (and couldn't talk in games). I haven't really played through a sonic game since Sonic Adventure 2. While the voices in those games are annoying, I get a kick out of them now for campiness, and the speaking is pretty much confined to cutscenes at least. I didn't realize it had gotten so bad....does Sega have nobody play-test their games prior to release?
I kinda hope they have buttons on the final version...otherwise what's the point of playing games on an actual system and not a tablet? It also looks uncomfortable to hold. Perhaps it's just a shop or something.
Seriously? What's the point of creating a new account system if we can't get crossbuy or at least discounts.
If they were releasing GBA games on the 3DS, I'd seriously consider upgrading, especially now that you can get the smaller size in the US. I haven't bought any of those on WiiU - if I have to pay full price, I'd rather get home system games on WiiU and portable games on the 3DS.
I'm guessing it probably won't work this way - but it would be cool if you could use pokemon bank to trade between two versions of the VC games on your 3DS. That would probably convince some people to buy all three VC versions so they could trade with themselves.
Sounds like a good plan - since you could save pretty much anytime in a pokemon game anyways, I think you don't lose anything from not having save states, and I can see how the features they removed would be a problem with glitching/trading. I just wish I knew people to trade with...can't "catch 'em all" by myself.
Personally, I have an ambassador system, and I would be perfectly happy to have the GBA games released to the general public (because it would probably mean that more games I want would be released too). I know they said the games were exclusive - but I still got the games for FREE, years before everyone else, that's more than enough for me. If other people could buy those games now - it literally does not hurt me at all. Also, I don't care that there are no additional features beyond what was available on the GBA - by the GBA era save systems were pretty decent. I wish Ninty would be willing to compromise a bit on "quality" in these cases - I'd much rather have GBA games (even without all the bells and whistles) on the 3DS than the WiiU.
@strongest_link Yes! That! I also would be forgiving of a few bugs in releases when transferring systems. Nintendo has really strict quality control standards, and I think that has kept games that would be perfectly playable off of systems. Nintendo just has to develop a working emulator for each system and test the games for MAJOR issues (e.g. are colors showing up right?). Additional bugs could be reported by gamers and patched as needed. This frees up QA testers from testing parts of games that AREN'T issues. Yes, users are beta-testing, but if that was made clear as part of the system transfer process, and games bought were free (or very very cheap to transfer), I doubt people would have a problem with it.
For example, ambassadors got GBA games on 3DS. However, because the system has to go into DS's old "GBA mode" to play them - they won't release them as VC titles, since they can't overlay the VC's features on them. However, I would say that things like save state and button mapping our less needed on GBA games, since by the GBA era native save systems were pretty good and the button layout is not too different on the 3DS. I'd rather have the games without the features than no games at all.
One of the issues that needs to be solved is the ratings issue. Games that have no content changed (e.g. all VC games) should not have to go through full re-rating every time they're released on a new system; it's time consuming and expensive. Once a game has been rated on one system, there should be a cheap and quick process to carry that rating onto a newer system even if it's years later.
I actually really like how they're using the smash amiibo - they're cute bonuses for people who bought them for smash (the Ganondorf one is really cool), but completely unnecessary to enjoy and complete the game.
I'm a pretty big completionist with Zelda, but even the wolf link dungeon sounds fairly missable and something I could ignore. It's not like I was ever struggling to have enough rupees in the original game, so the item is kind of a waste of time. It really just depends on how cool the dungeon is...I'd be pissed if they locked the only cool new addition that makes the game worth buying behind an extra $10 amiibo (that's the cost difference between the digital game and the bundle), but if it's just a couple easy rooms, who cares. It would also suck if it was intrusively advertised throughout the game.
I like to have everything digital, so I think locking real content behind physical (and somewhat expensive) toys sucks. If I wanted to have collectible figurines, I would have bought a bunch of happy meals to get toys whenever McDonalds is featuring Nintendo characters and gotten something for about the same quality appearance-wise for $5 (plus food). I really don't have a problem with little bonuses like costumes, smash-style character saving, etc. - those are really great value bonuses for people who would want the figures anyways. However, it's 2016 - substantial content needs to be available in some form digitally (and it'd be great if it wasn't a ripoff, but Nintendo's not the only one who abuses DLC).
@emploso Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles are a bad example. Each cartridge was a full game. The game was originally designed as one game, but was too big for one cart, so the broke it up into two regular sized games. That's like being angry about having to buy two DVDs to enjoy Kill Bill. Together 1&2 make a full story, but each part is as long as one movie (and both together would have been really long to sit through in a theater), so you're still getting an appropriate amount of content with each purchase.
Definitely see a difference, although the regular 3DS version is still certainly playable, unless you're obsessive about framerate, in which case you probably already bought the new 3DS anyways for the extra oomph, most likely - or you will buy it for this game - and isn't that really what Nintendo wants?
@khaosklub - this is what they should do. However Ninty fans complain every time a game comes out they don't like (see whining about amiibo festival).
Personally, I'd be ok with an amiibo line of games. I'd skip it completely, but folks who love amiibo could get value without making it difficult for me to access meaningful content in games I do want to play. Different strokes.
I don't like amiibos in general, but I generally understand why people like them. However, help me understand how this isn't a shameless money grab:
1. Take game that everyone can already play on their current system and smooth out some graphics,
2. Charge full retail price for game (based in WW, I assume that will be the case)
3. Lock any actual new content that would justify paying full price for an old game that you likely already have as on-disk dlc you need to pay for separately.
Sorry - I just don't see any argument that this is a good things (except for maximizing profits for minimum work for corporate). This is the sort of thing that makes you believe the internet rumors that game company executives sit around calling their fans "stupid" as they look for sinister ways to microtransaction them to death.
If this is the case, I'll be firing up my Wii copy of the game and ignoring this release completely. I can't encourage this type of lazy business practices-but I'm afraid probably enough people will.
I just wish they'd put up everything on the VC as opposed to remasters. I don't want to pay full retail price for updated graphics. Nintendo did games well the first time around, so even if the graphics are dated, older games still generally play well (and if that wasn't true, nintendo wouldn't be able to get away with full-priced remasters that are 99% graphical upgrades and 1% actual game changes/improvements). It also takes a lot less time and resources to make VC games than completely remaster them. The whole dream with the VC was I wouldn't have to buy disc complications of my favorite games every generation - I could just transfer the digital files. Even the $1-$2 transfer fee is fine with me, since we did get a lot of new features when upgrading to the WiiU versions of VC games.
I guess I must be the odd one out though, since Nintendo seems to pretty much ignore the VC as much as possible....
Nintendo surely did alright this year, but for me, this year was disappointing.
For the WiiU, just so much unfulfilled promise. No real must-have games for me. Splatoon I would buy in an instant, if it allowed two people to play online at the same time. However, the local option just didn't seem meaty enough to justify buying on it's own. It's a shame that the option to buy a second gamepad and play with two people never materialized. Super Mario Maker just isn't my thing. I would like to pick up wooly world at some point, but it's just not high enough on my priorities list given my backlog. Xenoblade I know I just won't have time for. At least I've been super busy otherwise this year, so the lack of games doesn't really matter to me. The only games I'm looking forward to in 2016 are star fox and zelda, but I'm looking forward to those a lot at least.
3ds was also a meh for me. Probably will pick up Paper Jam, but otherwise there's not really a whole lot I'm interested in.
VC was pretty crappy too all around. I'd love to buy more games to play on the gamepad and on the 3ds, but ninty doesn't want to give me any more (and neither to many third parties either, unfortunately).
Overall, unfulfilled promise and wasted potential was the name of the game in 2015...hopefully NX will sell enough to live up to it's potential when it releases.
It would be a bummer if there was NO backwards compatibility. It also would be sad for me if the gamepad went away too...all I want is to play VC games on the gamepad...but I guess my Nintendo dream is not popular enough to be profitable.
This was a really great handheld Zelda...I was skeptical about the stylus controls, but they really worked flawlessly. Interesting characters too. Not the biggest or the grandest Zelda game, but it's on a handheld. It was just pure fun the whole time. It's a shame they aren't doing a DS VC on the 3DS like they're doing a Wii VC on the WiiU, because I think this game is really best suited for a portable.
What is wrong with your WiiU? Did you hook it up to a potato? Sure, VC games are a little dark, but they certainly don't look that bad on my TV. However, I do mostly play on the gamepad, and I think they look much better there than on an HDTV, since the gamepad resolution matches older TVs (480p).
Not too surprising if they did give us link cable functionality - you know how ninety hates doing that kind of stuff. The price could also be a placeholder too, if they're selling preorders. Amazon does do that sometimes and then adjusts the price when they get the real $$$.
If it was for WiiU, I think they would have said that and not been so secretive. While it's possible they haven't decided yet, my guess is it'll be on NX. I doubt it'll be a smartphone game (though it would actually be the big franchise that's most compatible with smartphones), but maybe it will be cross platform - home, NX, and maybe smartphones as well.
I'm surprised this hasn't been shut down yet, since it comes preloaded with some amiibo figurines' data. That's what will open them up to legal trouble from Nintendo. It's like how emulators and devices used to backup games are legal, but distributing rom dumps isn't. If they were smart, they'd just sell the device blank, and let the savvy find amiibo data on the web.
If Nintendo let me just download amiibo locked content as dlc, I'd have more sympathy for them. Not everyone wants crappy figurines cluttering their house.
Meh, not everyone wants to shell out extra $$ for a plastic figure (i.e. clutter) to access game modes already available on the disk they already paid $60 for. There haven't been any amiibo features/modes that I've found super compelling yet, but if there was something I wanted locked behind amiibo, I'd be pretty pissed if buying an overpriced toy was the only way to get it (and a different overpriced toy for each game at that).
If they had a way to just pay an extra couple bucks for the things that amiibo would unlock on the eshop, I'd be happy to do that (cards are nice because they're cheaper, but I don't want to mess with losing them; I want to be all digital). If that doesn't happen, I could definitely see myself owning one of these to enjoy one-stop shopping.
@kirk Its not illegal for him to say what he wants about the company, that's true. He got fired. - he's not going to jail or getting sued. He's certainly able to talk with his friends privately, but companies are certainly within their right to fire someone for speaking publically about the company if it's against their policies.
Anyone who's held a corporate job knows that they cannot speak publically about the company without clearing what they're going to say with their communications/PR department. I would have totally expected to be fired from my last job if I did a public interview without notifying them. We were instructed to send all media requests to communications and they had to approve them. I'm sure nintendo's policy is similar and clear (otherwise, we'd see employees doing this stuff all the time). While it's sad to see someone lose their livelihood, they need to be consistent with their policy, so the next employee doesn't spill secrets or badmouthing the company, thinking they can get away with it. While it would be nice for Ninty to be more open, letting rogue employees say whatever they want isn't the best way to do that.
Too little too late. NX has been announced, so the only thing that will convince people to invest in a WiiU at this point is a major price drop. If people didn't buy a WiiU for NSMBU or or 3D World, Mario Maker isn't going to sell it to them. I love Star Fox, but I also have to agree that it's probably not going to be a system seller.
Personally, I think they gyro controls are going to be a bit too complicated/imprecise for Star Fox. And looking at two screens wastes time when I want to shoot the baddies as quickly as possible - so it seems immersion is a tradeoff for gameplay here. I'll give them a spin, but I'm not optimistic.
Unfortunately, I DO love the gamepad, mainly for off-tv play. I hope that feature doesn't die and the gamepad is usable on the NX (though I appreciate devs don't want to waste time on a feature perhaps few will use). I love it for VC games especially, so if at least those retained off-tv play on the NX, that'd be sweet!
The 3DS could very well still be profitable, especially for smaller companies a year or two after the NX releases. It's got a large enough install base, I wouldn't be shocked to see it still supported (if not with major 1st party releases) for at least a little while after NX releases.
Ooh, I love the N64 stages. I feel like the new ones have too much stuff going on all the time. The N64 ones were simple, but you could just get in there and fight without worrying about the stage falling out from under you.
Are people seriously freaking out about a game being released on 9/11? It's been 14 years. Nobody freaks out when business goes on as usual on Dec. 7. I'm old enough to remember 9/11 vividly, so it's not something I take lightly. However, the world moves on - I don't think 14 years is too soon. For those of us who remember 9/11 - you may also remember what we were told to do the next day - if you don't go shopping, the terrorists win.
Comments 1,298
Re: Talking Point: What Is A 'Traditional' Zelda Game, Anyway?
I don't really consider BOTW a traditional zelda game, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. Exploration was cool and the flexibility with the rune mechanics was super interesting. Though tbh, I'm honestly sometimes more entertained watching youtube videos of some of the most interesting ways to take out a bokoblin camp, etc. I'm not smart enough to figure out some of the coolest tricks!
Hoping TOTK has some more extensive dungeons and maybe a bit larger population/better incentives for side quests than just more kinda mediocre disposable items. Like maybe key items or some real interesting story ramifications for completing the quest. I just didn't feel myself motivated to do any of them after doing a few.
Re: Random: These Colourful And Retro-Themed Switch Lite Concepts Look Amazing
They should have done a translucent purple GBA themed one. Though I love the SNES one.
Re: You Cannot Have A Complete National Pokédex In Pokémon Sword And Shield
@Silly_G
I feel like if it was a translation issue, Nintendo would have made a press release correcting this already.
Re: You Cannot Have A Complete National Pokédex In Pokémon Sword And Shield
I seriously would have preordered this today, but this announcement makes me sad. It's my understanding they made high-def models of all the pokemon for XY to be future-proof. And seriously - by November, I wouldn't be surprised if Pokemon Go had a full national Pokédex, so there's not really much of an excuse.
And to all those people saying it will keep veteran players from being too advantaged - they can still transfer their pokemon over. The Galar dex is probably going to be fairly large and allow for a fair amount of legacy pokemon to be transferred - just not all of them. So they'll still have the same advantage over newbies.
I got burned buying Sun/Moon and then the Ultra came out a year later. I think I'm going to wait and see if there are going to be ultra versions of these that will allow the national dex. Pokemon home is the real ripoff here - really, you want me to pay for a subscription, but then I can't even transfer half of my pokemon into any games? They're just stuck in Pokemon jail indefinitely. It's ok, since I'm waiting on buying the games, I can wait on getting Pokemon Home too. Don't like this move - vote with your wallet.
Re: Talking Point: Does The Nintendo Switch Game Voucher Programme Offer Value For Money?
@Hikingguy I mean. There's a slight difference. These vouchers could be used on any first party game. You can wait and read reviews. You can use them on games you've been wanting, but haven't purchased yet. You're basically just betting that Nintendo will release two first party games you'll want in the course of a year. For a lot of folks, that's a pretty sure thing, especially with pokemon coming out.
Re: Miyamoto: Nintendo's Universal Resort Theme Parks Will Be "Really Worth The Wait"
@Lionyone Yeah, I agree. I'm down for a field trip too! (but not during the olympics).
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo's E3 2018 Went Big On Smash Bros. But Left Us Wanting More
I was pretty happy with it. Smash is a big game, and I'm excited that it's dropping this holiday. The trend from last year is to really focus on the last 6 months of the year, so I expected that. I'm excited for Captain Toad too. And I wish I had time for Xenoblade, because that series looks boss (but I'm still playing BOTW and Odyssey).
I was a bit bummed by no update on Metroid Prime 4 (though I'm not surprised, given that they just showed a logo last year, probably nothing's ready for prime time), no update on main series pokemon (also not surprised, since they want to focus on "let's go" and we did in May get a 2019 release window, and some random teaser comments).
However, it would have been nice to drop a teaser for some project that has been greenly like Prime 4 last year. Don't really care which one - just like an Animal Crossing or Pikmin, or Star Fox or F-zero or WHATEVER logo, so we can get excited. Some Odyssey DLC would have been cool too.
Skipped Treehouse this year, and I'm kind of glad, b/c it looks like they didn't sneak in any new announcements like they did last year. They played Odyssey to death last year, and I had to stop watching so I could discover SOME of the game on my own. It sounds like it was similar this year w/Smash, so I'm glad I skipped it. I'm gonna go play some Smash 64 tho to get hype!
Re: We Know There's An Appetite For Virtual Console On Switch, Says Reggie Fils-Aime
Such a bummer. Well, what do you expect from Nintendo? Luckily I still have my WiiU and 3DS. I'd love to have everything in once place, but since it would be tough for switch to do DS/WiiU games anyways, I don't mind keeping things on there.
Re: Feature: Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - What We Know So Far...
I hope it's a sequel or if not a direct sequel, at least a completely different story. If it's just an improved third version, I'll probably skip (and be sad I didn't wait).
Re: Nintendo Approached Cyanogen For Switch OS, But Was Told To "Stick It"
@Tsurii Just start a video game website and post a clickbaity title and you can make $ whenever some rando says they like nintendo.
Re: Guide: Essential Nintendo Switch Accessories
Already preordered a carrying case and have a new 200 GB micro SD ready. That's all I'm going to get for right now I think, because money.
I'll definitely pick up the pro controller when a two player game comes out (maybe for splatoon, esp. if they have good couch co-op). I'll get a USB charger the first time I go on a trip (probably this summer). Finally, I'll get the WiiWheel...oops...I mean JoyCon Wheel, when Mario Kart 9 comes out or they discontinue online on the WiiU and I'm forced to upgrade. I'm skipping Mario Kart 8 Deluxe unless it comes with like 12 new tracks or something.
Re: Talking Point: The DLC Expansion Pass for Zelda: Breath of the Wild is Both Surprising and Inevitable
I don't think any of this content was cut from the main game, since the first pack isn't until summer and the much meatier pack 2 isn't coming until the holiday season. It'll definitely be worth it if the included hard mode is like skyward sword's where you just take more damage with hits and have no hearts available, and the DLC hard mode is more like a master quest with actual rearranged dungeons.
I'll be waiting until the new story is released though to see if that's worth $20, because that's really the only part I'm interested in. For those complaining it's too expensive, that waits to be seen - but it could be worse - these features could be much more expensive, because they're locked behind like 10 different amiibos.
Re: Nintendo Outlines Pricing Range for Switch Online Service
Not bad. $20-$25 sounds fair for what they've stated they'll be offering (e.g. voice chat, but you need an app; VC games that are only good for one month, etc).
Re: Nintendo Switch Lacks Pack-In Title Because It's $299, Says Reggie Fils-Aime
WiiPlay was $50 WITH a wiimote though. That was a pretty good deal. This game looks like it has more content than WiiPlay...but how much do I really want to spend on a tech demo. I'm guessing this started as a pack-in, but when they got pricing and everything together they realized they would need to make it a standalone title and then maybe added more content to justify it.
Re: Nintendo Switch Parental Controls to Utilise Smartphone App, Shown Off With Awesome Bowser Advert
I hope it autosaves the game. Glad I grew up in the era where you could use the excuse that you needed to find a save point for a little bit more time (but not too much, there was a button mom or dad could press when they had enough of you on the TV, and it was called the power button).
Re: Legendary Pokémon Zygarde, Shiny Xerneas and Shiny Yveltal All Coming to the US as Gifts
@DESS-M-8 No harm in trying, but I doubt it. When I was overseas, I could only download NA events on my NA DSi back in the day.
Re: Random: Someone Hacked The Original Sonic To Include Sonic Boom's Annoying Chatter
That's pretty bad. Sonic's always been one to try to hard to find catchphrases - but that kind of fit in with the early 90s when he first came out (and couldn't talk in games). I haven't really played through a sonic game since Sonic Adventure 2. While the voices in those games are annoying, I get a kick out of them now for campiness, and the speaking is pretty much confined to cutscenes at least. I didn't realize it had gotten so bad....does Sega have nobody play-test their games prior to release?
Re: Rumour: New Nintendo NX Controller Images Surface and Set the Web Alight
I kinda hope they have buttons on the final version...otherwise what's the point of playing games on an actual system and not a tablet? It also looks uncomfortable to hold. Perhaps it's just a shop or something.
Re: Review: Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures (Wii U eShop / SNES)
I had this game on my sega back in the day. I may pick it up if it comes to NA for a stroll down memory lane.
Re: SNES Games Finally Arriving on the New Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console
Seriously? What's the point of creating a new account system if we can't get crossbuy or at least discounts.
If they were releasing GBA games on the 3DS, I'd seriously consider upgrading, especially now that you can get the smaller size in the US. I haven't bought any of those on WiiU - if I have to pay full price, I'd rather get home system games on WiiU and portable games on the 3DS.
Re: Pokémon Bank Support Confirmed for Virtual Console Releases of Red, Blue and Yellow
@SuperGustafson9
The VC pokemon games won't work with pokemon bank until they release an update to it - probably around the time sun and moon come out.
Re: Nintendo Download: 25th February (North America)
I hope the popularity of pokemon sparks a little more revival of the 3DS VC...I'd love to see more GB and GG games!
Re: Pokémon Bank Support Confirmed for Virtual Console Releases of Red, Blue and Yellow
I'm guessing it probably won't work this way - but it would be cool if you could use pokemon bank to trade between two versions of the VC games on your 3DS. That would probably convince some people to buy all three VC versions so they could trade with themselves.
Re: Weirdness: Super Mario 64 Expert Collects a Star in 0.5 'A' Button Presses
I understood all of those words individually....
How does one even begin to start figuring this stuff out - impressive, certainly.
Re: The 3DS Virtual Console Pokémon Titles Won't Support Restore Points
Sounds like a good plan - since you could save pretty much anytime in a pokemon game anyways, I think you don't lose anything from not having save states, and I can see how the features they removed would be a problem with glitching/trading. I just wish I knew people to trade with...can't "catch 'em all" by myself.
Personally, I have an ambassador system, and I would be perfectly happy to have the GBA games released to the general public (because it would probably mean that more games I want would be released too). I know they said the games were exclusive - but I still got the games for FREE, years before everyone else, that's more than enough for me. If other people could buy those games now - it literally does not hurt me at all. Also, I don't care that there are no additional features beyond what was available on the GBA - by the GBA era save systems were pretty decent. I wish Ninty would be willing to compromise a bit on "quality" in these cases - I'd much rather have GBA games (even without all the bells and whistles) on the 3DS than the WiiU.
Re: Talking Point: The Allure of the Virtual Console and How Nintendo Can Harness It
@strongest_link
Yes! That! I also would be forgiving of a few bugs in releases when transferring systems. Nintendo has really strict quality control standards, and I think that has kept games that would be perfectly playable off of systems. Nintendo just has to develop a working emulator for each system and test the games for MAJOR issues (e.g. are colors showing up right?). Additional bugs could be reported by gamers and patched as needed. This frees up QA testers from testing parts of games that AREN'T issues. Yes, users are beta-testing, but if that was made clear as part of the system transfer process, and games bought were free (or very very cheap to transfer), I doubt people would have a problem with it.
For example, ambassadors got GBA games on 3DS. However, because the system has to go into DS's old "GBA mode" to play them - they won't release them as VC titles, since they can't overlay the VC's features on them. However, I would say that things like save state and button mapping our less needed on GBA games, since by the GBA era native save systems were pretty good and the button layout is not too different on the 3DS. I'd rather have the games without the features than no games at all.
One of the issues that needs to be solved is the ratings issue. Games that have no content changed (e.g. all VC games) should not have to go through full re-rating every time they're released on a new system; it's time consuming and expensive. Once a game has been rated on one system, there should be a cheap and quick process to carry that rating onto a newer system even if it's years later.
Re: Rumour: Details of amiibo Features in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Emerge
I actually really like how they're using the smash amiibo - they're cute bonuses for people who bought them for smash (the Ganondorf one is really cool), but completely unnecessary to enjoy and complete the game.
I'm a pretty big completionist with Zelda, but even the wolf link dungeon sounds fairly missable and something I could ignore. It's not like I was ever struggling to have enough rupees in the original game, so the item is kind of a waste of time. It really just depends on how cool the dungeon is...I'd be pissed if they locked the only cool new addition that makes the game worth buying behind an extra $10 amiibo (that's the cost difference between the digital game and the bundle), but if it's just a couple easy rooms, who cares. It would also suck if it was intrusively advertised throughout the game.
I like to have everything digital, so I think locking real content behind physical (and somewhat expensive) toys sucks. If I wanted to have collectible figurines, I would have bought a bunch of happy meals to get toys whenever McDonalds is featuring Nintendo characters and gotten something for about the same quality appearance-wise for $5 (plus food). I really don't have a problem with little bonuses like costumes, smash-style character saving, etc. - those are really great value bonuses for people who would want the figures anyways. However, it's 2016 - substantial content needs to be available in some form digitally (and it'd be great if it wasn't a ripoff, but Nintendo's not the only one who abuses DLC).
@emploso
Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles are a bad example. Each cartridge was a full game. The game was originally designed as one game, but was too big for one cart, so the broke it up into two regular sized games. That's like being angry about having to buy two DVDs to enjoy Kill Bill. Together 1&2 make a full story, but each part is as long as one movie (and both together would have been really long to sit through in a theater), so you're still getting an appropriate amount of content with each purchase.
Re: Video: Hyrule Warriors Legends Footage Shows a Stark Difference in Old and New 3DS Performance
Definitely see a difference, although the regular 3DS version is still certainly playable, unless you're obsessive about framerate, in which case you probably already bought the new 3DS anyways for the extra oomph, most likely - or you will buy it for this game - and isn't that really what Nintendo wants?
Re: Review: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (Wii U eShop / DS)
Its a shame they don't put DS games on the 3DS shop like they put Wii games on the WiiU shop... (also GBA games...but that's not as big a deal).
Re: Talking Point: Considering amiibo Features and the Reality of 'Physical DLC'
@khaosklub - this is what they should do. However Ninty fans complain every time a game comes out they don't like (see whining about amiibo festival).
Personally, I'd be ok with an amiibo line of games. I'd skip it completely, but folks who love amiibo could get value without making it difficult for me to access meaningful content in games I do want to play. Different strokes.
Re: Talking Point: Considering amiibo Features and the Reality of 'Physical DLC'
I don't like amiibos in general, but I generally understand why people like them. However, help me understand how this isn't a shameless money grab:
1. Take game that everyone can already play on their current system and smooth out some graphics,
2. Charge full retail price for game (based in WW, I assume that will be the case)
3. Lock any actual new content that would justify paying full price for an old game that you likely already have as on-disk dlc you need to pay for separately.
Sorry - I just don't see any argument that this is a good things (except for maximizing profits for minimum work for corporate). This is the sort of thing that makes you believe the internet rumors that game company executives sit around calling their fans "stupid" as they look for sinister ways to microtransaction them to death.
If this is the case, I'll be firing up my Wii copy of the game and ignoring this release completely. I can't encourage this type of lazy business practices-but I'm afraid probably enough people will.
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo Can Exploit Its Rich History With More Remasters
I just wish they'd put up everything on the VC as opposed to remasters. I don't want to pay full retail price for updated graphics. Nintendo did games well the first time around, so even if the graphics are dated, older games still generally play well (and if that wasn't true, nintendo wouldn't be able to get away with full-priced remasters that are 99% graphical upgrades and 1% actual game changes/improvements). It also takes a lot less time and resources to make VC games than completely remaster them. The whole dream with the VC was I wouldn't have to buy disc complications of my favorite games every generation - I could just transfer the digital files. Even the $1-$2 transfer fee is fine with me, since we did get a lot of new features when upgrading to the WiiU versions of VC games.
I guess I must be the odd one out though, since Nintendo seems to pretty much ignore the VC as much as possible....
Re: Poll: What Did You Think of Nintendo's 2015?
Nintendo surely did alright this year, but for me, this year was disappointing.
For the WiiU, just so much unfulfilled promise. No real must-have games for me. Splatoon I would buy in an instant, if it allowed two people to play online at the same time. However, the local option just didn't seem meaty enough to justify buying on it's own. It's a shame that the option to buy a second gamepad and play with two people never materialized. Super Mario Maker just isn't my thing. I would like to pick up wooly world at some point, but it's just not high enough on my priorities list given my backlog. Xenoblade I know I just won't have time for. At least I've been super busy otherwise this year, so the lack of games doesn't really matter to me. The only games I'm looking forward to in 2016 are star fox and zelda, but I'm looking forward to those a lot at least.
3ds was also a meh for me. Probably will pick up Paper Jam, but otherwise there's not really a whole lot I'm interested in.
VC was pretty crappy too all around. I'd love to buy more games to play on the gamepad and on the 3ds, but ninty doesn't want to give me any more (and neither to many third parties either, unfortunately).
Overall, unfulfilled promise and wasted potential was the name of the game in 2015...hopefully NX will sell enough to live up to it's potential when it releases.
Re: A 'Big' Nintendo Announcement is Coming on Monday
My vote is info on the new Nintendo account system.
Re: NX Won't Be The Next Version Of Wii Or Wii U, Says Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima
It would be a bummer if there was NO backwards compatibility. It also would be sad for me if the gamepad went away too...all I want is to play VC games on the gamepad...but I guess my Nintendo dream is not popular enough to be profitable.
Re: Review: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Wii U eShop / DS)
This was a really great handheld Zelda...I was skeptical about the stylus controls, but they really worked flawlessly. Interesting characters too. Not the biggest or the grandest Zelda game, but it's on a handheld. It was just pure fun the whole time. It's a shame they aren't doing a DS VC on the 3DS like they're doing a Wii VC on the WiiU, because I think this game is really best suited for a portable.
Re: The NES Joins The High Definition Era With This Awesome HDMI Mod
What is wrong with your WiiU? Did you hook it up to a potato? Sure, VC games are a little dark, but they certainly don't look that bad on my TV. However, I do mostly play on the gamepad, and I think they look much better there than on an HDTV, since the gamepad resolution matches older TVs (480p).
Re: Amazon Lists Pokémon Red, Yellow And Blue At 10 Bucks A Pop
Not too surprising if they did give us link cable functionality - you know how ninety hates doing that kind of stuff. The price could also be a placeholder too, if they're selling preorders. Amazon does do that sometimes and then adjusts the price when they get the real $$$.
Re: Feature: How Mario Kart Brought Two Soul Mates Together
Mario Kart may not have brought my husband and I together...but it has almost driven us to divorce a couple of times.
J/k...this is a really sweet story. Congrats on the engagement!
Re: Pikmin 4 is "Very Close to Completion", Though Its Platform is Unclear
If it was for WiiU, I think they would have said that and not been so secretive. While it's possible they haven't decided yet, my guess is it'll be on NX. I doubt it'll be a smartphone game (though it would actually be the big franchise that's most compatible with smartphones), but maybe it will be cross platform - home, NX, and maybe smartphones as well.
Re: The Smaller New Nintendo 3DS Model is Coming to North America
Oh nice - I hope they come out with a standalone version too. They bundled it with the one game I couldn't have less interest in.
Re: Talking Point: The Argument For And Against amiibo-Cloning Tool Amiiqo
I'm surprised this hasn't been shut down yet, since it comes preloaded with some amiibo figurines' data. That's what will open them up to legal trouble from Nintendo. It's like how emulators and devices used to backup games are legal, but distributing rom dumps isn't. If they were smart, they'd just sell the device blank, and let the savvy find amiibo data on the web.
If Nintendo let me just download amiibo locked content as dlc, I'd have more sympathy for them. Not everyone wants crappy figurines cluttering their house.
Re: The Piracy of amiibo Now Seems Possible With the 'amiiqo' Device
Meh, not everyone wants to shell out extra $$ for a plastic figure (i.e. clutter) to access game modes already available on the disk they already paid $60 for. There haven't been any amiibo features/modes that I've found super compelling yet, but if there was something I wanted locked behind amiibo, I'd be pretty pissed if buying an overpriced toy was the only way to get it (and a different overpriced toy for each game at that).
If they had a way to just pay an extra couple bucks for the things that amiibo would unlock on the eshop, I'd be happy to do that (cards are nice because they're cheaper, but I don't want to mess with losing them; I want to be all digital). If that doesn't happen, I could definitely see myself owning one of these to enjoy one-stop shopping.
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo's Dismissal of Chris Pranger Highlights Issues With Company Culture
@kirk Its not illegal for him to say what he wants about the company, that's true. He got fired. - he's not going to jail or getting sued. He's certainly able to talk with his friends privately, but companies are certainly within their right to fire someone for speaking publically about the company if it's against their policies.
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo's Dismissal of Chris Pranger Highlights Issues With Company Culture
Anyone who's held a corporate job knows that they cannot speak publically about the company without clearing what they're going to say with their communications/PR department. I would have totally expected to be fired from my last job if I did a public interview without notifying them. We were instructed to send all media requests to communications and they had to approve them. I'm sure nintendo's policy is similar and clear (otherwise, we'd see employees doing this stuff all the time). While it's sad to see someone lose their livelihood, they need to be consistent with their policy, so the next employee doesn't spill secrets or badmouthing the company, thinking they can get away with it. While it would be nice for Ninty to be more open, letting rogue employees say whatever they want isn't the best way to do that.
Re: Nintendo: Wii U GamePad Is The Only Real Innovation This Console Cycle, But We Didn't Showcase It Well Enough
Too little too late. NX has been announced, so the only thing that will convince people to invest in a WiiU at this point is a major price drop. If people didn't buy a WiiU for NSMBU or or 3D World, Mario Maker isn't going to sell it to them. I love Star Fox, but I also have to agree that it's probably not going to be a system seller.
Personally, I think they gyro controls are going to be a bit too complicated/imprecise for Star Fox. And looking at two screens wastes time when I want to shoot the baddies as quickly as possible - so it seems immersion is a tradeoff for gameplay here. I'll give them a spin, but I'm not optimistic.
Unfortunately, I DO love the gamepad, mainly for off-tv play. I hope that feature doesn't die and the gamepad is usable on the NX (though I appreciate devs don't want to waste time on a feature perhaps few will use). I love it for VC games especially, so if at least those retained off-tv play on the NX, that'd be sweet!
Re: 3DS Can Last For Another Two To Three Years In The West, Says NIS America Boss
The 3DS could very well still be profitable, especially for smaller companies a year or two after the NX releases. It's got a large enough install base, I wouldn't be shocked to see it still supported (if not with major 1st party releases) for at least a little while after NX releases.
Re: Video: Classic N64 Stages Make a Triumphant Return in Super Smash Bros.
Ooh, I love the N64 stages. I feel like the new ones have too much stuff going on all the time. The N64 ones were simple, but you could just get in there and fight without worrying about the stage falling out from under you.
Re: Dave & Buster's is Planning Location Testing for Pokkén Tournament in North America
Bummer - they just closed the D&B near me. Would totally be fun to try out.
Re: Nintendo Cancels Camp Miiverse in Honour of Satoru Iwata
Are people seriously freaking out about a game being released on 9/11? It's been 14 years. Nobody freaks out when business goes on as usual on Dec. 7. I'm old enough to remember 9/11 vividly, so it's not something I take lightly. However, the world moves on - I don't think 14 years is too soon. For those of us who remember 9/11 - you may also remember what we were told to do the next day - if you don't go shopping, the terrorists win.