Tornado

Ha--funny, I just finished a replay of S3&K today, not realizing I was doing so on Sonic's (North American) birthday. How appropriate. Oh that Sonic would return to something like the glory of that game...

For me the biggest cons aren't listed in the article: (a) $$$ and (b) I want to play games without having a bunch of unnecessary plastic cluttering up my living room.

@Diddy_kong I agree. I'm 35 and really don't have a need for a bunch of toys with my games. Of course, I don't think I'm Nintendo's target demographic at the moment. This will probably be successful... but my part, after riding the Nintendo train for about 30 years, I think it's time to disembark.

QOL sounds like another funky peripheral that'll be an uphill battle to explain to the public. N doesn't seem to realize that the Wiimote's success hinged largely upon its simplicity.

Yes, it's illegal and I'd never ever download them.

That said--if I'm not mistaken, neither DKC nor the SNES version of the Mario games are available for legal download on any Nintendo platform. Making those games legally available would be a prime way to cut down the demand for pirated versions.

I always thought Myst was rather overrated anyway--at the time, a lot of style and a lack of substance (regarding gameplay--certainly the backstory and world have substance).

Definitely not my favorite. Disliked it so much I sold it. Too many parts of it are too tedious--e.g., killing all the bugs in the dark world. Much too linear, too--I miss the NES/SNES days when at least some dungeons could be completed out of order. Played it through twice, and the second time really felt like a chore.

I'll take OoT or MM any day... but to each their own.

@the_shpydar I'd obviously quibble with the word "necessarily" in your claim--I'd contend that the nature of digital media renders current copyright terms out of step with technological reality--but you may be right that this kind of forum is not the best place for this sort of conversation. In any case, I appreciate your reasoned consideration of alternative viewpoints.

Back to the topic at hand, it just shocks me that Nintendo seems so loathe to leverage their IP these days. For films, I get the sense that they still feel burned from the SMB movie way-back-when and don't want to go that route again.

@Taskui I understand that @the_Shpydar is an attorney. I am a professor of social media. It would seem to me that we both probably know a fair amount about copyright law.

But my claim is not one of the law, but rather of public policy. Regarding the law, there is no question--this fan project constitutes copyright infringement, and Nintendo is well within its rights, under current law, to defend their IP. I don't blame them for doing so.

But whether current law is best for society is a different question altogether.

On the whole, I favor a system that doesn't afford a small number of large corporations strong and perpetual control over our cultural resources. The Founders of the United States believed as such, too; that's why they established a 14-year copyright term in the Copyright Act of 1790 (with possibility for one, and only one, 14-year renewal). Of course, there are those who think otherwise, and I respect their right to come to differing, well-reasoned conclusions.

@ScroogeMcLz @the_shpydar Your argument against my position seems to be that my position is "ridiculous." That's not a particularly clear nor strong argument.

In the U.S., the 1790 Copyright Act established the term of copyright at 14 years. Maybe that's too short, but it's closer to what I think the term of copyright should be. Shorter copyright terms not only give the people some real degree of ownership over their own culture, but also foster greater innovation and competition in the artistic marketplace. Of course, I respect your right to have a different opinion, and many folks do.

Sigh This is why copyright law needs to change. As a nearly 30-year-old IP, Metroid should just about be public domain by now, IMO.

"irresistable value"? I wouldn't use that adjective for a bundle whose chief selling point is the inclusion of, essentially, a 10-year-old game...

Nintendo needs to:
1) Figure out a marketing angle for the gamepad screen (and "it works as a menu" won't cut the mustard).
2) Stop leaning so heavily on Mario.

#1 is especially critical--Nintendo can't seem to articulate to themselves what the screen "does," so how can we expect them to explain it to anyone else?

The review should've mentioned the inclusion of the old arcade games; for those of us old enough to remember the 1980s A New Hope arcade game, that's a definite bonus (that should bump it up one point at least, IMO).

Yikes. If this is Nintendo's vision for the touch screen, then it seems like it would have been best to release it as an optional peripheral--not the central selling point for the entire system.

Is there love for him outside the West?

Why tripping was such a big deal: You couldn't turn it off. Which was ridiculous in a game with lots of options for customization.

Glad to hear the game will be a bit more Melee-like.

Big deal for me--if the Wii U had not only Wii support but Gamecube support too, like the Wii, might buy one. That it doesn't is a big reason I'm not springing for one, probably anytime soon.

In this coming next-gen, I feel like all 3 companies are losing a focus on GAMING.

In other words, I want a console to, first and foremost, PLAY GAMES. Games with an engaging story and memorable characters. Games that provide the joy of exploring an open-ended world. Games with a linear sequence of increasingly-difficult levels. Games that produce that beautiful feeling of "flow," where you lose track of time and feel immersed in a world different than our own.

Give me a system where I can affordably (that's a key word!) play games of today, AND games of the past, and I'm sold.

For me, the games of yesterday are more important than the (quite expensive) games of today. So far, the next-gen consoles have convinced me to simply hold on to my Wii and PS2. There's plenty in their back catalogs (which also includes the Gamecube and PS1, obviously) I have yet to play... which again, is what I most expect a console to do: PLAY FUN GAMES. Not manage every electronic in my house.

@rjejr: I think cutting the Wii off 3 years ago--2010--would've been too short for the lifespan of the console, especially given the depths of recession the world was in at that time. But I agree that the trend of devolving the Wii is odd. I could understand if GC compatibility were removed because N was going to move toward GC support on a download service--alas, not the case seemingly.

NES innovated; SNES improved.
N64 innovated; Gamecube improved.

Wii innovated...

... so I really think all Nintendo needed to do this generation was improve, not innovate. Put HD and much-improved online on the console--hype the fact that it plays Wii games and is fully backwards compatible--sell it at a reasonable price = BOOM, money factory.

By targeting both "casual" and "hardcore" players by half, I don't think Nintendo has successfully attracted either.

Didn't PS2 outsell PS3 for awhile, too?

Of course Nintendo can turn the ship around. But, I don't have much faith in the current management to do it. Nintendo needs some fresher blood at the top.

Great game. Underrated game.

Well, yes, of course Nintendo has a right. But I'm reminded of a quote from the Federation President in Star Trek VI:

"Let us redefine progress to mean that just because we can do a thing, it does not necessarily mean we must do that thing."

Nintendo gets much more by leaving these people alone than they do by going after them.

I'm a professor who studies social media. Understanding this kind of issue is my job.

And I must say: Bithell nailed it.

Put simply, any company--especially a media/entertainment company--wants an active Internet community discussing their product.

Running out and doing something to squelch that community is a completely backwards move. It tells me Nintendo doesn't understand much about marketing in the year 2013.

And yes, it is a cost-benefit analysis--if that fan community is producing a sequel to your game without permission, squelch 'em. But this has to be such a small amount of cash... yeah. Nintendo just looks desperate--and disrespectful of its gamers, in a day when they can't afford to be.

Love this game--lots of nostalgia. Underrated, IMHO.
But fer cryin' out loud, Nintendo... at these prices, and with so.many.re-releases already, frankly you just look greedy... I know you're a business, I know you need to make money to survive, but I question whether this strategy yields y'all the most profit. Recognizing supply/demand rules for pricing would be a good place to start; for example, differential demand would suggest not all NES games should be priced the same...

@Einherjar I can see how Nintendo would think it "fair" to charge a dollar for every device a game is on. But that standard of "fair" is thinking like the company, not like the consumer. Nintendo needs to become better at thinking like the consumer. Consumers today are used to downloading an MP3/movie/ebook/app once, paying for it once, and using it across multiple devices. Nintendo would serve themselves by meeting that expectation rather than fighting it, IMHO.

What I wish N would move toward is a more Netflix-type model. The back catalog of games is more than the sum of its parts. I'd pay $20 a month to play whatever game I want in that back catalog--and if I did that, in a single year I'd pay about as much to the eshop as I have in my last 7 years of Wii gaming.

Nintendo's approach looks awfully antiquated in the age of app stores. Let me buy the Super Metroid app once, and then port that across my Wii, Wii U, 3DS, whatever future product Nintendo decides to release. This purchase-linked-to-device approach makes Nintendo not only look old-fashioned indeed, but money-grubbing.

Frankly, this is one of the major barriers to me buying a Wii U. I have loads of old games on my Wii--that was one of the major attractions for me buying the Wii in the first place. Yes, I know I can transfer them over (albeit with loss of access to the Gamecube controller, which is consequential in some games). For now, I'm quite content sticking with the Wii VC, but if Nintendo got their act together I'd be more tempted to switch.

Sailing on the sea is great, but it would've been nice to get an upgraded sail at some point that would've made it such that you didn't have to stop and change the wind all the time. That animation sure gets old. Then add the three missing dungeons back in (pretty obvious where they were cut) and change the Triforce fetch quest, and it'd change a great game to an awesome game. Especially with the cartoon art style in HD--that will be utterly gorgeous, I am sure!

Disagree.

And, methinks the developer who couldn't get games about MICKEY MOUSE right has little room to tell us how video games should become more "adult."

What's sad about this April Fool's joke is that this is exactly the kind of thing that would generate the kind of excitement for Nintendo we haven't seen in awhile. And it probably wouldn't even be all that difficult for Nintendo to do.

I'm very glad Kid Icarus made the list! Wish StarTropics 2 had appeared, though.

"The day there is no single player experience is the day I will hang up my game controller."

You said it, @BestBuck123!

Definitely the price of the games. Yes, I know games cost more during the SNES era, etc. etc. But it isn't the 90s. The gaming industry and the worldwide economy are much different. I just can't justify dropping $60 on a game--I haven't purchased a new game at full retail price since 2008.

Soo... a bunch of Nintendo fans decide not to buy this game on the Wii U. Consequently, sales are weak on Wii U compared to the two other platforms.

This encourages Ubisoft to produce more Wii U exclusive games how, exactly...?

This seems like a classic case of a company making what they think the customer wants rather than what the customer actually wants. What makes it so sad is that they're sitting on a gold mine in the FF/DQ franchises. In the hands of many other companies, we'd have a remake of FF7 (and maybe 8/9) by now.

And I think maybe their worst mistake was making the online games actual, numbered FF titles. As a spin-off series, that would've worked fine--but having "missing" games in XI/XIV kind of killed the series' momentum, IMO.

Honestly--I think Nintendo's upper management has had a really, really good run. But I think they're running out of steam. Time for some new blood--new ideas. I'm not sure Iwata stepping down would be a bad thing at this point.

Inflation calculator says $270,000,000 in 2006 = $308,000,000 in 2012 (http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=270&year1=2006&year2=2012). So, after adjusting for inflation, the Wii U made less money at launch than the Wii.

Add that to the fact that each Wii was sold at a profit whereas each Wii U is sold at a loss = "ouch" for Nintendo.

I really do miss the "Nintendo Mondays" of 2007-2008, when the announcement felt like a big deal and 2-3 golden oldies were on the plate...

I didn't get the first one because of the mediocre reviews. I really thought this would be the kind of series where the sequel would fix the problems and turn out to be an excellent game. Disappointed to hear I was wrong!

MM7 is one of the most underrated of the franchise, IMO. I'm glad the article recognizes its high graphical quality. Also noteworthy that the final boss is quite difficult. All around a solid entry to the franchise--classic Mega Man yet in SNES style. Perhaps one possible template for an MM11?

That $60-a-game price tag is rough, IMHO...

The inability to change control options is one of my pet gaming peeves. Seems so easy to implement--obviously the code is there if Player 2 can use the remote/nunchuk. Why not enable that for Player 1 too?

$60 is too expensive for me. I have plenty of games from older eras (GCN/PS2/Wii) that I haven't played that are a tiny fraction of that cost. And someday the cost of those $60 games will come down to something more affordable. And I can definitely wait.

I know Mario games aren't chiefly about plot, but a word about it in this game: For what plot there is, the pacing of it is decidedly poor. The identity of Shadow Mario is the big "story question" and it's answered... what, about 10 shines into the game? Then the next major plot advancement occurs at the final boss fight? Combined with the poor voice acting during these segments, SMS is a case where the addition of a plot greatly detracts from the overall experience.

I also have mixed thoughts about integration of FB/Twitter/pick-your-fave-SNS... but from a business standpoint, I think this is a bad move. @ShellyDeKiller, good points.

Like it or not, integration of services across sites and platforms is the future. If it's possible using apps, not a problem. I'd rather have it that way versus FB/Twitter integration out-of-the-box, because it gives me, the user, more choice. But what I fear is that Nintendo wants to make the Miiverse a bit of a lonely island disconnected from the broader world of cyberspace. If they do, many folks (not just casuals) will see the site as "so 1990s"--not a recipe for online success. And given Nintendo's track record for online services, it's hard for me to be optimistic they'll get it right this time. But I hope so.

Whoa. I... just can't see a service with a 30-minute posting delay becoming popular in this era of the Internet.

This conference makes me feel like Nintendo's glory days are in the past. I don't think we'll revisit the halcyon days of old apart from a shake-up at the top. I'm not sure the current Nintendo exec really "gets" the current era of tech/gaming. And I think they might be running out of fresh ideas (e.g., see the current over-reliance on Mario)--but hey, it hasn't been bad for a nearly 3-decade run.

Hope N can recover. I've been a fan since the NES and, in many ways, to me Nintendo is gaming.

Y'know, I'm a Nintendo fan, for sure, and I don't want to rush to judgment. But as of late it does kinda seem like the wheels are coming off of their judgment (e.g., the second 3DS circle pad). I kinda wonder if some of the corporate leadership is past its prime and needs some shakeup. But I'm totally willing to be surprised once more details about Wii U appear.

Um... something Nintendo should've done years ago, no?