Toms_Den

@Xtremetdifan The data includes only home consoles, and not handhelds.

In one sense, it's not like demos are really necessary for Nintendo's really bit retail titles. You don't need a demo for the latest Mario Kart or Smash Bros, because you pretty much know what to expect.

In another sense, this is precisely why I think Nintendo could benefit from more demos. As a consumer, I want to know why I should buy, for example, Mario Kart 8 when i already have Mario Kart Wii and MK7. Playing a demo would not only get me fired up to play it, but might entice me to buy it!

I'm loving this decision. Better to make an excellent Wii U port of Watch Dogs and release it later than release some medicore port that doesn't even take advantage of the system's capabilities.

AWESOME GAME! The arcade version is better than the NES one though...I don't understand why Namco doesn't just release those...

The UK version is a little bit cheesier, but also the funnier one.

Good for Wii U, terrible for 3DS. But the 3DS version is kind of terrible, so it's all good.

Sonic is a western brand, so it makes perfect sense.

@DarkKirby Some of the most hardcore gamers that I know thought that Wii U was a tablet add-on for the Wii: they had no clue it was a brand new system.

This closed down in Canada a while ago already!

I don't really care for VC. I used to, but the libraries are incomplete and I don't feel complete ownership of the original titles with these cheap downloadable copies. They have their benefits, and they do lots of good for some, I understand, but even though it's far more expensive, I prefer gettin the original consoles, games and controllers. More nostalgia, and I feel like I actually own the game more.

That and owning the game on a retro system is WAY cooler!

GAIN GROUND!

And just about every other SEGA Genesis game ever made...they're all so good!

And I hope they succeed...Nintendo needs a wake-up call on selling this thing.

I like the idea, but I've built up a great library of physical Wii titles, and I'm buying a Wii U soon...so it would be useless to me, and all the other Wii U owners out there. Bad idea and good idea.

ITS ABOUT FRICKING TIME.

It could be great if they put more effort into doing it properly. Then again, like I said, it'll take a lot more effort...

I wonder how "Green" will be changed to "Blue" for international audiences?

GHOSTBUSTERS!!

Very true! If you have a bad flow while playing any of the Genesis games, or even the newer ones, the game isn't very fun.

Once you do get into the flow though...that's a whole other experience

Now if only we could get word on that new Yu-Gi-Oh ZEXAL game on 3DS getting Western release..

Maybe Ninty should just buy SEGA...or at least a portion of it.

HIlarious! I've been playing Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine at school during Lunch for the last 2 weeks, and everyone kept saying it looks like Tetris! XD

I hope these pages feature some of the retro stuff! GBA, GameCube, NES, N64, that would be a pretty awesome page!

I wouldn't say that's true. If I put an iPad and a 3DS next to each other, I'm sure the kid would be psyched about both.

@Macarony64: Basically, let's say you wanted to promote your game on the eShop and attract lots of people to it. A PAID SLOT means that you can pay Nintendo money to feature your game on the front page. Nintendo, however, just said that they won't be doing that, which is a good thing, because usually, the big companies with lots of money will heavily advertise their games, while the poor indie games barely get any spotlight.

I agree, the situation is very different this time!

I have it! It's a decent game really, with good online multiplayer, surprisingly! $30 is a bit much compared to how much you could probably get it used...but FINALLY, it took SEGA way too long to get this on the eShop!

Nintendo does have a strategy, and they've mentioned it many times: GAMES WILL SELL THE SYSTEM. That''s what sold 3DS when it was performing horribly, and that's what has sold every other Nintendo console ever made.

Listen: consumers aren't stupid, and Nintendo has learned that lesson. People are not going to fall for false marketing: Nintendo knows this. I don't know if anyone has ever seen the old North American SEGA Saturn commercials, but here are a couple:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoYyztfOc-0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cIvo8flaBc

I'm not saying that attacking the competition in commercials isn't a good idea, because the SEGA Genesis did the same, and it worked. But the Genesis had the right to attack the Super Nintendo, because it had good, solid proof to back it up! Genesis had TONS of great games, and yes, "Blast Processing" was real, and people knew it, because all it took was one good solid look at Sonic 2 to see that! Genesis did what Nintendidn't because Nintendo was 8-bit, and CLEARLY Genesis was 16-bit.

The problem with the Saturn, was everybody KNEW that the commercials were full of crap because PlayStation had TONS more games than Saturn, and overall, Saturn was really nothing compared to PlayStation or N64. I'm not trying to diss the Saturn, as I love its games a ton more than those on PS, but I think the moral of my story is that before Nintendo goes up against the competition and starts marketing about how great the Wii U GamePad really is, it need great games to show people that yeah, it is worth owning.

The Other M stage just looks so epic in HD...it kind of hypes me up for the next Smash Bros. Even though the gameplay and style of SSB4 might be very similar to Melee and Brawl as far as we know (Which I'm not a fan of because I like to see NEW stuff, be it gameplay modes, gimmicks, or game mechanics, thrown into NEW games, not just "refined" gameplay with new levels and characters and some cool HD flash), the graphics in this stage really make this Smash Bros. look a lot more epic...or different! Exciting!

@animalzer0: That's what they did with GoldenEye and it became a console best-seller for N64! I think they should have the dev. team work possibly directly with the production crew to get the best out of the license, and still get a good 2 or more years of development time. In some ways, however, I think I might be fine with all of these crappy movie games. Less games that I have to buy! I mean, combine 3DS and Wii U and there goes all of my games money for the next 2 years...

I bought an N64 a few months ago and this game came with it. Haven't played it too much, to be honest.

lol'ing at Xbox 360's numbers. XD

@Erica_Hartmann Nintendo, Capcom, SEGA, ALL GAME PUBLISHERS need to get doing this!

Even though SEGA has been putting some stuff on iTunes recently...but many of their albums are missing certain tracks...get your act straight guys!

I've always kind of wanted to get into this franchise, everyone loves it, but I've never really played it...maybe with Wii U, I'll finally do it!

This actually looks fantastic! Wish I was still into Beyblade

INCONCEIVABLE!!!

I think Nintendo is going to do it. Remember when they revealed details about their next-gen stuff at around the same time when NL reported about them merging their Handheld and Home Console divisions into one? They also said that for their next-gen hardware, something they're going to focus on is making the next Nintendo home console and handheld with very, very similar hardware, so porting games would be a cinch. They also said that it would open up possibilities for more hardware products...possibly referring to a next-gen Nintendo tablet, ladies and gentlemen!

@Ibrahim77 With Mega Man in the new Smash Bros. and the old NES titles being a smash hit on the 3DS eShop, it would seem a perfect fit, eh?

This article literally made me smile. Iwata and Nintendo are fantastic!

It's great to see SEGA finally treating the franchise with the polish it deserves! Haven't seen this amount of it since maybe even as far back as Sonic 3 and Knuckles! I'm talking about all of the recent games in general. Ever since Unleashed, the amount of polish has been unreal!

Disappointing, but I vastly preferred Melee's Adventure mode, so I would LOVE to see that return over another Subspace Emissary. And besides, the dude's got a good point. Why put all that money into something that players don't need to buy in order to see?

I understand that many might think that, "Well, you know what? If this is such a big problem then why doesn't everyone do it with all their games? Then we won't have ANY cutscenes for anything!" I think that the main point is this: Smash Bros. is a game that didn't need cutscenes in the first place! It was all fan-service to begin with, really unnecessary to be honest, but then again, that's what half of Smash Bros. is all about!

WHOO! Very well said, Tom! Fantastic article full of truth.

I swear, when I got to the part where they started talking about how Nintendo was going to go multi-platform about half way in, I just, "Holy crap, this AGAIN??"

Just a thought, but did you ever think that maybe Nintendo made the hard drives so small because they wanted to promote buying retail games? Ninty loves their relationship with retailers right now, so it would make sense...

The real problem isn't region-locking, but localization. I really do feel bad for all the Earthbound fans out their that had to download illegal roms, which weren't even official dubs, but fan-translations, for use on emulators just to play the series' first and third entries. Ouch. I mean, they can play the game, but still...

Unless it's a straight-forward Mario-style action game with little to no text at all, you can't fully enjoy those text-heavy Japanese RPG games whether you have region-locking or not. Thank goodness Project X-Zone is getting localized, because even if the 3DS was without region-locking, the experience could not be fully enjoyed when it's in full Japanese and you don't know a single Japanese letter...or whatever the heck you call those symbols...

No point of bashing on EA guys, they're absolutely right.

They aren't insulting the Wii U hardware, but the problem is exactly how Nintendo has already explained it: lack of great first-party titles = lack of consumers = lack of third-party supporters. It's that simple.

The only song I know in that selection was the one from Melee.

Oops, and then I heard the boss music from Zelda 1. NM.

@OdnetninAges Great!

I've never owned Pikmin, but I hope to try it when number 3 releases. Hopefully it will surprise me!

All about fun! Love it.

@psuboy172 All of my yes!