ToneDeath

If (or should I say when) a Zelda movie happens it might help if she can actually join Link on the adventure. She should be able to hold her own with a bow, some ninja-skills taught to her by Impa and maybe even a little magic. Wisdom is obviously supposed be her main trait, so using her wits to get them both out of sticky situations gives her even more to do.
She could be tempted to stay in hiding and abandon her people, which is where Link would come in, inspiring courage in her. Her wisdom could in turn possibly influence a crucial decision Link has to make at some point.
Those are just vague ideas of how Zelda could be given a more active role than usual, which could also be applied to a game if it were designed around co-op (or how about taking inspiration from GTAV and switch between the two in another open-world?).

I've played Metal Slug 2 on the PS3, and that version had an 'overclock' option which drastically reduced the slowdown. Shame that's not an option here.

Who's their "source?" Deep Throat?

Somehow, February feels like the longest month of the year...

I'm kind of on the fence about buying Wii U/3DS Virtual Console stuff right now, nice as it is to see anything come out at this point. I'm waiting to see what the situation will be on the Switch. Guess I might as well get Hogan's Alley to play with the Wiimote pointer though.

Bait and Switch

Wonder if this means I'll have to pay again for the Switch version, now that the Wii U version I backed is vapour.

Interestingly, actual Advantage controllers apparently won't work with adapters designed to let you connect NES pads to Wii remotes, so I wonder if it has something to do with the physical size of the controllers. But then this EMiO stick supposedly DOES work with a Wii remote. Hmm. Perhaps someone with a NES Mini might also have a Wii compatible Madcatz or Hori arcade stick they could test.

When a group of friends gathers specifically for an evening of gaming (plus a movie) Nintendo consoles usually shine.

For a staff gaming night at a multiplex cinema, we had three separate screens with consoles hooked-up; a PS3, an Xbox 360 and of course, my Wii U. FIFA was the first thing most wanted to play, but gradually everybody ended up wanting a go on Mario Chase and Luigi's Ghost Mansion from Nintendo Land.
Lots of fun and laughter there. It had the novelty of being a totally new experience, but also simple enough for anybody to pick up and actually play competitively.

So while they might not have a place at full-on parties, Nintendo are pretty much the masters of the so-called 'party-game' genre. But it's those third-party single-player and online multiplayer games that will get people to actually buy the console as opposed to only playing it when it happens to be present at a living room gathering.

PS: Did anyone ever manage to actually get friends to 'play' Spin the Bottle (from the eShop)?

Interesting how many features that Nintendo themselves popularised are seemingly being left out for the Switch: a proper d-pad, dual-screen gameplay, a stylus, camera(s), glasses-free 3D and we still don't know about touch or motion controls.

I liked this a hell of a lot more than that live action trailer IGN put out a few years ago.
If a Zelda movie has to happen, Ghibli would be my first choice for the job, though if they're on hiatus Laika would be good too judging from what I've heard about Kubo and the Two Strings. Oh and while I'm assigning jobs to studios; Jim Henson company to make a Star Fox movie please

@Angelic_Lapras_King I'm sure there will be re-releases for the Rogue Squadron games...for every console but Nintendo, as usual.

I think the attitude towards console graphics was very different during that generation compared to now; we talked more about strengths (the water in Wave Race, the motion-captured animation of Link, Rare games in general) as opposed to focusing on shortcomings (frame rates and resolutions) as we tend to these days.

The more Nintendo comics and manga Viz can bring us, the merrier.

What I really want to see happen though is a collection of the best stuff from issues #7 to #100 of the British Sonic the Comic; Elson & Kitching's Sonic, Dobbyn's Knuckles and Tails in 'Zonerunner & The Flock.'

I thought the point of the Wind Waker timeline was to establish a new bloodline of heroes (the Link in Wind Waker has to prove himself in the Tower of the Gods) and a new version of Hyrule, which I believe is where Spirit Tracks is set (though I haven't played it yet).

For now I'm gonna guess Breath of the Wild happens after Twilight Princess.

Maybe once you can get decent VR headsets that are no bigger than skiing goggles for £100 or less, it'll really take off. To get to that point though these upcoming sets will need to do well for more than just their first year on sale.

There was a Link's Awakening manga that came before any of the Akira Himekawa stuff; it would be nice to see that get an official translation.

How about a Picross game for smart devices, with themed downloadable puzzle packs released ahead of games for Nintendo's own platforms. Not amazing, but at least you've got a promotional tool in the form of a game you can keep playing.

P.S. The last puzzle in each pack could be of something from a screenshot of a trailer of the game being promoted. Completing that puzzle unlocks the trailer (which Nintendo fans will have seen on YouTube already, but this is a way to bring it directly to other audiences).

@MadAdam81 Looks like North America gets Pinball Arcade...tomorrow!
http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/pinball-arcade-wii-u

I'll still be waiting in the UK though.

@Damo You could follow this up with a 'Top Ten Motion-Control Moments' or round table discussion about the Wii remote.

Top three that come to my mind are the effortless headshots with the pointer in Resident Evil 4, strangling and headbutting in The Godfather and of course using the sword in Skyward Sword (though with that one you really need to get into the habit of tapping down on the d-pad every so often to keep your sword straight, much like tapping Y to re-center the camera in Splatoon).

I thought Lor San Tekka was supposed to be George Lucas for a second there.

The biggest positive I take from this controller is the further indication that SNES-coloured buttons are here to stay.

The SNES-style speech sounds were a fun extra for Lylat Wars, but the 60hz of Star Fox 64 is more important (oh, and 'rumble' too, of course!), and I can always go back to the European version in Wii mode if I want anyway.

Personally, going forward I think the English language title for any remake or HD versions should be Star Fox: Lylat Wars.

AND if Nintendo makes a ton of money off its mobile games I hope they use some of it to buy up whatever rights they need to bring back the original Star Fox (aka Starwing).

I have an adapter that lets you connect a PS3, PS4 or USB controller to the Wii remote, so if I get this pad I may be able to use it for other games, albeit in a needlessly roundabout way.

Anybody know if the GamePad gyro is used for the fishing game?

While flicking the Wii remote to swing your sword always felt tacked on, using the pointer to aim your bow whilst on horseback was pretty great, I thought. It's nice if the GamePad let's you do the same thing, though with a different feel due to the size and shape of the thing.

I just hope they don't remove the motion control from any future versions of Skyward Sword, seeing as the game was built around it.

"You mean you have to use your imagination? That's like a baby's toy!"

Stealth tribute to Lemmy of Motörhead. Cool

Imagine a world where everybody is wearing a Super Mario t-shirt, but nobody remembers the games (like what's happened to the Ramones).

shudders

Linkle should probably remain as just a bonus character for spin-off games, but for the main series, sure, just let the player add a ♀ symbol to their name which gives their 'Link' a slightly different character model and set of vocal sounds. The character model for the game that's in development is probably androgynous enough to represent either sex actually, so you just need the female vocals (which should sound gutsy rather than high pitched and cutesy) and swap the in-game text 'he' for 'she.'

Don't know if anybody's suggested this already, but...Wild Gunman for October 21st, 2015 anyone?

@Gerbwmu "You're a kid now, Splatoon's updating now, you're an old man now..."

I'd love to see Nintendo revive their Game & Watch games as something to do while you're waiting for the NX to update (Splatoon lets you play simple games during loading screens, so I could see them expanding that idea across a whole OS). Mr. Game & Watch could even become something of a mascot, along with a tagline: "Don't just watch...Game!"

When I eventually get around to buying Splatoon I think I'm going to have watch the longest update ever; there's been so much added since day one!

That looks genuinely very nice.

Odd...almost as odd as the Super Star Wars games on PSN.

Finally! Question for those who've already played the Wii U version though: does it have classic controller support?

In other AVGN related news, his new series of horror movie reviews, Monster Madness begins on Cinemassacre.com today!

I didn't think much of the campaign in this, in fact I didn't even bother to finish it. The multiplayer was the main appeal, but I don't know how long fighting bots will be fun for.

It might've been better to give free download codes for this to people who buy Federation Force during the launch period. 3DS owners without a Wii U may wish they had one so they could redeem their codes, and anyone playing Hunters on their Wii U will come to appreciate Federation Force for what it is: a multiplayer game that lets you play with other people!

@Blueberry I actually like how Mario Kart DS looks on a TV, kind of like "What if Nintendo had made games for the PlayStation?"

I remember seeing Turok in Woolworths for £70, and later WWF No Mercy for £80!
The only reason I bought Ocarina of Time was because Electronics Boutique put it on sale for £20 on their website, which was practically giving it away (before that I wasn't interested in Zelda despite it scoring 98% in N64 Magazine as I thought it looked dull; of course I've yet to play a better game since then, so thank you Electronics Boutique and dial-up internet!)

I find it interesting how the 3DS seems to be ignored by most Western devs and publishers, despite the size of the user base.

I remember Nintendo being the only ones happy to release Manhunt 2 uncut, but Sony and the BBFC demanded it be censored first. Despite that you could still argue that the Wii played host to the most violent game of its generation as it had the player physically acting out the brutal kills with motion controls.

They should do one more update with some proper battle mode arenas, reissue the physical copies with everything on the disc and change the title to 'Super Mario Kart 8.'

@Taggsta Both are great, though I'd give the original the edge, even if it looks a bit more dated. The story and character designs are a bit more distinctive, the whole thing is reminiscent of 90's anime such as Gundam Wing and Neon Genesis Evangelion (there's a scene with an ocean of blood that feels straight out of the latter show), and you just can't beat the level where you're shooting fighter jets from atop a chunk of debris being piloted telekinetically by a psychic child over aircraft carriers off the coast of Japan.

An appropriate tag or description for this article could be 'N culture' 'Gamers' or even 'Nintendo life.'

Surprisingly strong looking bunch there, but still no sign of the AVGN game...

@9th_Sage I do actually have some adapters, from Mayflash, Raphnet and Bruno Freitas in Brazil (The latter allows me to connect a Mega Drive controller), but it's nice to be able to plug in a brand new pad without having to take it apart and clean it first because one or two buttons don't respond properly anymore. I also suspect there's just a hair more lag with some of the adapters.

As for the placement of those turbo buttons, I'm pretty sure it's inspired by the NES Max controller; they should make the sticks red too!

It looks nice, but wouldn't an adapter of some sort be cheaper and easier?

What I'd really like to see are more Classic Controllers that replicate actual classics, such as the Club Nintendo SNES pad. The only thing more exciting than Mega Drive games finally showing up on the Wii U eShop would be finding a Mega Drive controller (better make it the Megafire version) you can plug into your Wii remote for sale on the Nintendo Store.

Nintendo should sell a collection of the Iwata Asks interviews in book form, then give the profits to a charity of his families' choosing. They could even do the same thing with a special version of Balloon Trip on the eShop.

Final Fight One is a decent version, albeit single player only here. As good as we'll get unless the arcade version comes along.

The GBA version of Super Street Fighter II is rather more redundant here unfortunately, lacking both the full controls and multiplayer modes of the SNES ports (Shame they won't let us use the Gamepad to simulate a 2nd GBA and copy of the game to at least make 2 player possible).
I do like the character portraits in this one a lot though.

To be honest I'd rather pay a bit more to have an up-scaled port of the 3DS version; that's the version that should be considered definitive (at least until there's an even better remake). The N64 original should of course be kept around, but perhaps as a bundled extra with the Grezzo version. Sounds sacrilegious, but the remake really is a better version of the same game.

As for why Ocarina might be the best 3D Zelda? Majora's Mask had better sidequests, Wind Waker had better swordplay, Twilight Princess had a bigger world and Skyword Sword had better dungeons...but Ocarina of Time was very strong in all those areas; a jack of all trades that mastered them all, and it somehow managed to get the best soundtrack WITHOUT using the classic Zelda theme!

For years now I've thought the perfect Star Fox movie would look like The Dark Crystal with Star Wars style dogfights (models rather than CGI) and seeing this makes me wonder if Nintendo have been thinking the same thing.

@rjejr From the sounds of it you'll probably have similar feelings about Jurassic World as me. It's entertaining enough, but not put together anywhere near as well as the original.

Looks like an extremely generic 90's platformer, but if there's more music like what's in the trailer I may cave in and get it. Long live bleeps and pixels!