ToneDeath

I feel I should mention that the Angry Video Game Nerd movie should be having its premiere at the Los Angeles Egyptian Theatre. ...within the next three hours!

Friendly tip: If you're going to be reading cues, or directly from the script, avoid putting the camera too close to your eyes, because the whole thing will come across as unnatural and distracting to the viewer if they can tell too easily that you're pretending to look into the camera but really scanning words above or below it. In fact, you may have had both the camera AND script too close to your face, as you even seemed to be a little cross-eyed at times.

Really, if you want to appear physically in a video like this, you'll want to pull the camera back to have your entire head in the frame (with a little space above it too) and perhaps your waist-upwards too to allow for body language and expressiveness with your hands too.
As well as this, you could move yourself to one side of the frame (think about the 'rule of thirds') and present your footage in a box on the other. It's an approach common to many shows and videos covering all sorts of topics, so you won't have to spend long searching YouTube for inspiration.

I hope I don't come across as too negative, I'd just like to see the videos produced by Nintendo Life grow to be as top notch as the writing (and taste in video games, of course). So keep at it!

Also included with the Mercedes DLC pack: Geoff Keighley's Mii and two brand new courses; Dew Dew Mountain and Doritos Canyon.

@Tsurii897 I imagine that Nintendo's method of presenting DS games will vary depending on individual titles; Metroid Prime Hunters would require your TV for the top screen and the gamepad for the bottom screen and its stylus controls, whereas Mario Kart DS could allow you to swap the screens around at a click of a button because you can perform most actions without touch controls and once you're in a race the only thing you'd be missing playing off-TV is the map.

Sonic '06 the movie?

Smash Bros. will never sell as much as Mario Kart is going too; Ubisoft will just want to take a look at how the Wii U is doing in a month or so. Reactions to Nintendo's presentations tomorrow will will be important too.

Although I'd obviously grab any Mario Kart DLC I could right now, I don't think there's any rush to bring it out. Maybe something after the summer and/or before Christmas.
An extra cup or two would be nice (with at least one more retro SNES or GBA track) and a proper arena for battle mode fans (doesn't bother me though).

These characters would all be welcome, though I wonder if Plessie should instead be swimming about in a new track rather than shrunk to fit a kart...would've been nicer to have found out tomorrow though.

Done, with 310 points. I'd like to think that might put me in the top 100 :/

Good fun though! But if an F-Zero comes out with online races that play as well as this ( only more intense) then I may end up joining the "My controller exploded against a wall" club.

@ThomasBW84 @MegaWatts
Thanks very much for allowing us to show our appreciation for all your hard work by bombarding you with red shells (and red-shelling us right back!).

I'll have to keep an eye on this because there's no better 'A' button for Smash Bros. than what the Gamecube had.

"Watt!"
"What?"
"What Watt?"
"You mean which Watt, what-what?"

Is Donkey Kong as we know him now supposed to be DK Jr. grown up? I seem to remember Cranky Kong's dialogue hinting that he himself was the star of the original arcade games, now usually resigned to his rocking chair.

I wonder if Capcom kept all the original assets from Resident Evil on the Gamecube, and whether they could re-render the backgrounds for a HD version.

As pointless as it is I'll have to grab that Luigi wheel should they send it my way.

Nintendo should commission him to cover a track for the new Smash Bros.

Good to know that the frame rate has been prioritised; otherwise it would be falling at the first hurdle towards replicating the look and feel of a Japanese arcade game.

Western devs tend to worry more about wowing you with detail and realism, frame rate be damned. Another school of thought is that simple shapes, bright colours and characters that are free to move about in their space unhindered by sluggish refresh rates (or slow frame rendering?) can be just as attractive. A line can be traced from Pac-man right up to Super Mario 3D World today.

Hopefully we might at least get some of these games individually, should Nintendo get around to re-launching the VC Arcade. Best not hold our breath though.

@Discostew: I can picture something like that. We all know that you scroll left and right through the pages of the Wii U menu, but what if you could scroll DOWN to a new set where your Virtual Console Arcade games are kept (should they come).

Suddenly, the lights go out in the wara wara plaza and the screen on your television is pitch black. You tap an icon on your gamepad and look back up to see a little 3D model of the selected game's arcade cabinet fall from the sky, its CRT screen flicking on as it lands with a thud near the top of the plaza. The glow from the cabinet reveals the silhouettes of a mob of Miis, who all crowd around your own chosen avatar as it runs up to the machine, inserts a coin and begins hammering buttons and wrestling with the joystick to the appropriate sound of bleeps and bloops...and then I suppose the speech bubbles containing Miiverse posts about the highligted game would start to pop up too.

Games from Nintendo, Japanese studios and small/indie developers; keep 'em coming and I won't be losing any sleep over Western 'AAA' titles that skip the Wii U...more Virtual Console games are always a good thing too of course.

@vattodev: I was just thinking out loud...with a rather bloated comment; sorry guys.

You've given me another idea though! A Wii U exclusive co-op mode where player one controls the main character and his bike with a Pro controller, whilst player two controls a character that rides on the back using the Gamepad. They CAN move their camera around to assist with taking out the extra enemies the mode throws at you, even ones driving up behind you. An alternative method would be to have P1 steer on the Gamepad and P2 shooting on the TV with a Wiimote & Nunchuk. Also, the P2 character should be a female with long hair so we can see it flap in the wind, just like Outrun.

Oops, there I go again!

Steering your bike and aiming your gun by moving the camera at the same time always felt a bit awkward to me in games like GTA, so I wouldn't want want to buy a game that revolves entirely around that concept.

I'd say simplify it and keep the camera locked behind your character, and have a bit of auto-aim applied to your shots. The player only needs to control whether they fire left, right or straight ahead, and time it right so they don't lose ammo (the guns should be temporary power-ups that your character tosses away once the clip is emptied...I suppose you could drive into ammo crates on the sides of the road to reload).

Two basic button layout ideas:
A to accelerate, B to brake, R or ZR to shoot right, L or ZL to shoot left, L + R or ZL + ZR to shoot ahead.

R or ZR to accelerate, L or ZL to brake, A to shoot right, Y to shoot left, X to shoot ahead.

Using the right analogue stick to shoot twin-stick style might also be fun if there were a bonus mode with a Micro Machines style overhead camera and more enemies swarming around you...of course all these ideas sound like I'm stuck in the early 90's.

@Kyloctopus I was thinking yesterday that Nintendo should give Shin'en the keys to Mach Rider.

It might also be nice to see Next-Level do another Mario Strikers, and maybe even a new Battalion Wars from Headstrong Games. FIFA? Battlefield? Who needs 'em?

Judging from what appears to be Yoshida's Japanese Miiverse profile, he definitely has been enjoying a bit of Super Mario 3D World, and has even nabbed a few stamps on his travels.

I've always felt like I was part of a minority group being a fan of Nintendo games, but this just makes me feel like an alien on my own planet.

"Mario games? I think I've had enough of those." says the UK gamer, who recently stood in queue for the midnight release of the latest Call of Duty, the 8th entry in the series to be released this generation alone.

I can understand people being excited about the PS4, but still can't fathom that more people wanted to play Knack than Super Mario 3D world! Clearly, video game enthusiasts remain a minority despite the current massiveness of the industry.

It feels like pop culture in general has just settled into a state of such mediocrity that anything not mediocre (such as the best Nintendo games) is outside of most peoples comfort zones...I dunno. I do think Nintendo deserve recognition though for still being as great and passionate about what they do after nearly 40 years in the video games industry. I know it's ultimately a business, but the innovation and sheer quality of the latest Zelda and Mario games says to me that they haven't 'sold out' just yet.

I'm genuinely shocked that no 3DS game managed to at least win the handheld prize.

Okay, I've read the GameCentral review as well now. Here's a snippet:

"In Short: It’s depressing that the one modern game that shows the most effort is also the least satisfying to play, but if Sonic is ever to work in three-dimensions Lost World gives no clue as to how it might work."

Score: 4/10

Oh, Sonic
I guess a 60hz version of Sonic 3 & Knuckles is the best I can look forward to (fingers crossed) from this series on the Wii U. At least don't screw that up Sega, PLEASE!

That this review seemed to be embargoed until 9am of the release day was the first sign that something had gone wrong...no, actually it was a video of the Japanese eShop demo where I noticed a poorly designed bit where you were supposed to line up your shadow to land on a cloud; "Oof, that doesn't look quite right (having played Mario games for years)."

What's also a bit worrying is that most reviews, and the scores in particular I think, are going to be just a little bit too generous because anybody that remembers Sonic in his Mega Drive heyday is going to want so badly for this game to be great, the be the ONE...but unfortunately the chances are that this should have been a 6/10, the kind of game you're going to want to enjoy more than you actually will, and may end up trading in before even finishing it.

I'll wait for Gamecentral's review to pop up before I make my decision; 8 or higher and I might buy it today; 7 and I'll wait for a bargain price; anything less...well Sonic, I guess I'll see you in Smash Bros. then.

Nintendo's special designs have been hit or miss recently; this Zelda one is definitely a hit!

Bloody brilliant update! Especially this for me:
"Users can choose to output sound through an HDMI cable, non-HDMI cable, or both cables at the same time"
We had a gaming night at the cinema I work at a while ago, but because I didn't have the foresight to buy something to split the HDMI signal into phono cables beforehand...we had to play the Wii U in silence (except for the GamePad audio that is, but that didn't exactly fill the screen).
The Wii U turned out to be more popular than the PS3 and 360 in the end anyway I'll have to see if I still have some cables from the old Wii that will fit; if so in future we'll have the glorious Nintendo tunes to match the massive HD graphics!

I've ordered Rayman Legends this time, but I'm pretty sure I'll be downloading Giana Sisters next pay day

The Wii U is shaping up to be the best place to play 2D platformers since the SNES and Mega Drive...or if you throw the Virtual Console into the mix, the best of all time!

My initial reaction to this was much the same as everybody else here: "It's not even the first of September yet, never mind April!"

I get it now though. I wonder if they could have made the design even more kid friendly, but then I guess this should also be an option for those that don't want to spend the extra money on a 3D effect they either don't want or can't see.

Bundle this with the new Pokemon games and advertise it in the right places, and I could see the 2DS doing VERY well this Christmas.

These stories make me feel a little guilty for not buying the games I want as soon as they release. Problem is though, in addition to a massive backlog of games to play there are games like Luigi's Mansion 2 that I still haven't gotten round to even buying. (I still need to get an external hard drive for my Wii U too).
I ordered Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate the other day, but that doesn't do anything for the opening weekend sales they care so much about.

@SideScreamer & @wasf

I'm in the UK and I can see the dlc now (there's a 'View Add-On Content' button on the game's eShop page).
UK prices are £3.99 each for the new characters, and £2.39 each for the zombie mode and costume packs.

Seems like we've got the update but no DLC in Europe just yet.

I look forward to being able to play the Monster Bash table again, as well as trying out some of the more recent ones that have come out since my PS3 died.

I get the impression that a lot of developers (western studios especially) just aren't as disciplined anymore. In previous generations they have had to work within some serious limitations, but the best devs have turned out hugely impressive results (Donkey Kong Country, Conker's Bad Fur Day and Rogue Squadron II are examples).
Nowadays too many seem to think it beneath them to work with anything less than the best technology at the time, when really a lot of the time it just looks like they need it to compensate for the their relative lack of skill and standards. Few games are as technically polished or even as much fun as Nintendo's own, and I think it should be required of anybody who is serious about working in the games industry to study Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel real hard (it's obvious that Shin'en and more recently Sonic Team have been doing their homework).

NST and Monster Games both have experience with the racing genre; with a bit of guidance I'm sure they could make something decent, but without a stroke of genius happening the series will never be a huge seller, so a medium priced (£17.99?) eShop title with a strong online multiplayer but no story mode and possibly less tracks than X and GX (bringing back the X-Cup random track generator could help make up for this) might be the only way.

@dumedum
Yes, doing some or all of that right now would be unwise, but I'd imagine that maybe 4 or 5 of the titles I suggested will be announced by spring 2014 at the latest, once everything we've seen at E3 is either out or has a release date.

Here's some VERY obvious IPs they should announce new titles for ASAP:
For retail: Wii Sports, Metroid, Mario Party, F-Zero, Star Fox, Zelda: Four Swords

For the eShop: Tetris, Bomberman, Pokemon Stadium for X and Y, Big Brain Academy (with a quiz show styled party mode), Pac-man Vs.

For Virtual Console: N64, GameCube and 90's arcade games...and Amiga!

Then further down the line when Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Pokemon X/Y have done their business, large scale console entries in their respective series are no brainers too...and they might even have it in them to reboot Battalion Wars and turn it into a COD/Battlefield beater

'Unique' might be a useful word here, because the abilities, objectives and viewpoints afforded to the player with the GamePad should differ from what any other player has...plus there happens to be a 'U' in the consoles' name.

More games like Pac-Man VS. and Zelda: Four Swords would be nice too.

Smash Bros. is the game I want the most, but new 'challengers' aside there wasn't much shown to distinguish it from the previous two entries, so I wouldn't call it the most 'impressive' game right now.
That would be either Mario Kart 8 (partly for the shallow reason that the graphics and in particular the quality of the shadows is surprisingly good) or X (the Monolith Soft game) which looks very interesting...y'know, I really should get around to actually playing my copy of Xenoblade Chronicles one of these days.

@GiftedGimp You're right about Nintendo still dominating the face-to-face social aspect of gaming. Recently at work (a cinema) we had a gaming night for the staff. There was a PS3 in one screen, a 360 in another and I brought in my Wii U to be hooked up to a projector too. Only the PS3 had sound as the other two consoles don't seem to be able to output their audio and video separately.
Predictably enough, I was sat on my own playing the Wii U at first, but it didn't take long for everyone to come in wanting a go at Mario Chase and Luigi's Ghost Mansion in Nintendo Land, while just a handful were left playing either Madden on the PS3 or FIFA on the 360. We also played a bit of Mario Kart 64, Bomberman '93 and Tank! Tank! Tank! (which is terrible really, but My Kong mode is good for a quick laugh).
If I get an audio splitter of some sort, and bring in games like Mario Kart 8 and Smash Bros. then I'm sure the Wii U will dominate any future game nights we might have, but I'm afraid I can't see any of my friends or colleagues buying Wii U's of their own any time soon unfortunately

Bowser could always kidnap Princess Daisy instead I suppose, or what's-her-face from Galaxy.

Another vote for Pac-Man VS. over here! They could recycle assets from Championship Edition to make it if they can't just use the GameCube original.

This is now the first Sonic game to have me looking forward to playing it since Sonic & Knuckles on the Mega Drive.
Also, is anybody else predicting that some of these playable E3 demos will appear on the eShop during the Nintendo Direct streams?

It seems to me that if a developer wants to know how to give their games the nicest graphics around (but not necessarily the most complex) despite working with an 'underpowered' console, they need only study the Super Mario Galaxies. It certainly seems to have worked for Shin'en recently (and by the looks of it the new Sonic too), and of course there's plenty else to learn about game design in there too.

Companies like the petulant EA and arrogant Microsoft are making the entire games industry in the west look like a bunch of greedy graphics whores, conditioning their customers to be a mass of drooling zombies with little else but "COD", "FIFA" and "Netflix" in their vocabularies.
At least the backlash to the Xbox One reveal shows we're not all ready to allow an Orwellian Hal 9000 breeze block into our homes just yet.

I know Nintendo want to make money like any other business, but they genuinely want to make great games too, and as it happens what the typical gamer wants to do is PLAY great games. With or without the likes of EA, great games ARE coming.

How many other companies can be as big as Nintendo, yet still maintain an artist's integrity? The investors might not be happy with him, but us gamers should be grateful that someone like Satoru Iwata is leading Nintendo to continue delivering experiences that impact, inspire and stay with us long after we've played them, just like our favourite books, films and records do.

I agree with rjejr (post #12) though, that it would be a little less frustrating if they held off on naming a date for releases until they're SURE!
Don't worry about us; Nintendo fans are a patient breed, and Zelda fans in particular know that GREAT things can come to those who wait.