Honestly, I think they made the logical choice with the Switch really. One of the main touted features of the Wii U was off-TV gameplay. The Switch allows this. Most of the Gamepad functions in games felt tedious, tacked on, or were just somewhat convenient IMO. The gamepad itself felt like it needed to be more streamlined, hopefully the switch accessories are an upgrade here (the relocation of buttons and sticks is a good indicator of it).
In regards to DS/3DS, I don't mind it (dual-screeN0 being available and it is often far better used there, but the one problem I had is that in games like Castlevania DoS, they forced touch screen elements where they weren't really necessary. Im not too see dual-screen play die, especially if the power of the console is focused elsewhere.
I can understand some peoples frustration though. I'm fortunate enough to have 3 spawns within range of my house and always have at least one encounter at any given time (with a reasonable abundance of Bulbasaur and occasional Gastly and Squirtle), and my block has enough useful spawns. On the other hand, in some suburbs, theres rarely anything of interest and those spawns are much further from each other.
Pokestops are another matter entirely. My area has one down the road, and the rest of the suburb has none, and with surrounding suburbs having modest amounts. Meanwhile, suburbs way on the other side of town have like 7 on one neighbourhood block or an occasional park (some are just suburban signs). Kinda wish they'd allow a few more submissions to beef up the sparseness or something, but given that i can drive somewhere, its not difficult for me to stock up once a week. More pokestops would be good for kids though.
I wish nintendo would see the project for what it is and actually pick up the project or something. The guy did what a lot of people would have liked, and that is to modernise Metroid II. Clearly Nintendo felt it better to not put resources into making something similar, yet here we have this. Similar to the situation with Streets of Rage Remake; Sega should have taken the opportunity to work with fan enthusiasm. Sure you dont want to reward misuse or lazy attempts at making cheap profits and it may act as a bit of a deterrent for future projects, but in an instance like this, i think it actually warrants some degree of leniency and better acknowledgement than this. Thats my opinion anyway.
Post-game stuff, a return of the friend safari (or something similar) and removal of HMs as being un-erasable or doubling as moves (demote them into being TMs). Having key item tools would be much better and finally allow for a playthrough without wasting a slot or slots on a HM slave.
Oh, and it's a long shot but either i want a really big region with more varied encounters for wild pokemon OR the ability to go between 2 regions like Gold and Silver. While not really post game as such, i still think that johto and kanto connection was awesome which makes gold/heart gold my favourite in the series.
As much as I liked these games back in the day, playing them on VC just makes me miss the Gen II games all the more. Yes granted there is the option of playing Heart Gold (which I own) through DS mode, but it was the original Gold and Silver that blew me away even more than Red/Blue/Yellow.
Gold and Silver added a LOT of features we take for granted in later generations (a much better backpack, an visual XP bar, move deleter, Sp Def, Shadow Ball, breeding, and re-classification of move types (Karate Chop finally being Fighting, Gust = Flying etc - all logical choices). Not to mention (what I feel is the best feature to date) going back to Kanto and essentially having 2 (even if slightly shrunken) regions).
It'd be nice if they went back and did Gold/Silver/Crystal in a similar fashion before Sun/Moon.
@Ogbert "Plus I liked Sticker Star. Don't get the hate other than 'it wasn't Thousand Year Door'."
Part of my strong dislike for it is the mechanics and pointlessness of battles. They completely did away with levelling up (with only health upgrades being available) and the reliance of consumable stickers in battle for attacks (including the possiblity of 'no attacks') was annoying. They did away with most of the better RPG and/or story elements, yet still kept turn-based battling and then proceeded to ruin that.
Another aspect was the way in which they used the larger "real world object" stickers. I felt that was poorly done, since from what I remember, it wasn't so obvious in how to use/find them (and were also consumed) and boss battles heavily encouraged use of them also. Frankly, I felt it hit all the wrong notes so to speak and did away with a lot of the good. To me it was a complete disappointment, especially for how long it took to come out.
I think part of the problem (at least from my perspective) is that these days a lot of developers seem to want to make one game across many platforms, rather than trying to make the most of an individual console (which is really what the Wii U is about in the first place). The Wii U is intended to be unique yet one of its perceived short comings is that it doesn't directly compete with Xbox One and PS4 (and it shouldn't).
I've always argued this; the Wii U has everything it needs to be a great console. It has enough power to pull of the great line-up of games that it has (key word "enough" - too much emphasis on power this gen when it should be on FUN with ENOUGH graphics-wise). It has everything the Wii had except Gamecube support (and this should NOT be a bad thing - just needed better marketing) AND a Gamepad/Touchscreen AND HD. Yet it's really quite stupid how the focus falls mostly on "power". It's pretty much been negative from the start (with devs dismissing it, not supporting it, and then gamers pretty much being given less incentive to bother - repeating a cycle of negativity for the console).
Honestly, I think it's lack of proper success is disappointing not just because of its potential, but because of what it means for consoles. I haven't used much of the PS4 (though i'm honestly not really impressed with the times I have) and the Xbox One (which I have also) is a frustrating console (has its own problems) with a poorly designed dashboard and issues all round.
Frankly the Wii U has provided the most fun and had the best philosophy of the lot. If it's all about power, then given the kinds of proposed changes made to gaming, such as the move from local multiplayer [e.g. games like Halo 5] and the attempts of change that Microsoft tried with the Xbone (always online, DRM etc), then we all may as well just have PC's. The main reasons for having consoles are slowly dying out and for me at least (we can just use controllers on PC's and they can do most entertainment things anyway), with one of the only reasons left being that first party games that are held hostage on them.
@DarthNocturnal If they end up succeeding (in getting Sonic 3 complete done) and then later releasing all three together in a collection with some decent extras then i'd be satisfied. Something extra like challenges or something cool like an NES Remix type mode would be awesome and more than make up for wait.
On the other hand it'd be such a shame if they never make it to anything outside of mobile devices at all (and I fear that's likely the case).
@EarthboundBenjy I agree. Personally I don't buy these games for the 3D anyway and was really hoping for the release of those "special" mobile ports of the Sonic game(s) for a platform that doesn't rely on touch screen controls. Even if not on 3DS I wish they'd have released that on some other console (like they did with the Sonic CD port).
Honestly, I don't think it'd be a bad thing to not be as powerful as a PS4 at this point, in the same way that I think the Wii U copped too much crap over "power" (granted the name still isn't helpful however).
It's no longer the 8-bit, 16-bit or early 3D days. Once upon a time there was certainly a push due to technological limitations (and in improving 3d graphics from the early ugly polygon type models), but I think it's silly to jump on the performance of the Wii U at this point, particularly when it can still pull off decent feats like rendering Mario Kart 8, Yoshi's Woolly World (the detail of the yarn itself particularly) etc. It seems the point of the Wii U, is to "have enough" power. And it does,for the sorts of games that should come to it.
The console has everything the Wii had (use of Wii-motes + nunchucks), plus HD graphics, PLUS a gamepad AND the use of dedicated Pro-Controllers. The Gamepad itself and HD may not seem like much of an upgrade on their own, the I'd say the entire point was to increase the possibilities or to remove some of the limits of what the Wii was capable of. There's enough hardware to work with and it probably wasn't (nor should it be) a "main choice of console" to replace a "new-gen" Xbox or PlayStation.
While the console is not perfect, the Wii U really had potential, yet it seems like reputation and this obsession with rendering power (both from gamers and developers alike) is what's killing it, and that's pretty silly. It may not have the power to match the requirement of all the lazy cross-platform games, but it does have enough power for different devs to tinker around with and to come up with something either creative or still impressive enough (e.g. most of the first-party games).
Meh, personally I'd rather that they'd found a way to simply upscale the wii games since the games already looked decent enough for the most part anyway, other than them being at a lower resolution.
On the other hand i'd much rather a game like the original Paper Mario receive a visual update (perhaps released with a higher res Thousand Year Door). and with a few tweaks from TTYD (e.g. the additional b-button defensive mechanic for instance). The game still looks decent, but it's amazing just how nice TTYD looks in comparison though.
@Grumblevolcano - I already have both games. Though as I said, i'm 'personally' still waiting on them myself regardless (I generally don't like the 8-bit versions of the games, and felt the updated versions were much more appealing). I didn't mean them as an general example though (they were subjective examples). My overall point and what i'm commenting on is just releases in general (not the 'half a game part')
But as far as as THAT goes, the fact still remains that we had our own frustrations. I can understand the annoyance they're having with Golden Sun (that basically goes hand in hand with MMBN2 I guess). But to me I only have to think back to how frustrating it was waiting for Castlevania. While I understand that the US had their own grievances with the lack of DKC, at least they got them consecutively roughly around the same time anyway, we had to wait a month between Castlevania games. To me that would still be similar situation with Zero Mission (none of them are truly "halves of a complete game", but moreso vital and memorable parts of their respective GBA series.
The overall point i'm making (to reiterate) is that nevertheless, there's frustrations on both sides. And i'm sure there's also that frustration over the fact that Japan generally gets tempting games that either of us other regions won't get for a good long while (Sonic Advance 1 as an example).
@ikki5 We've got our own fair share of titles that we're still waiting on also. What sucks is that Europe didn't even have a release the last few weeks (we finally got Super Circuit, but outside of that it was about 3 weeks of absolutely nothing), and now we finally play catch up with Yoshi's Island DS this week.
Basically both regions have their own frustrations right now. Personally i'm still waiting on MMBN2 and Super Mario Advance 1 & 2 to drop (in addition to Paper Mario that is). I wish they'd just release those ("bigger") sorts of games closer between regions (and while we're at it - would cease with the 50hz versions which probably just wastes more development time anyway)
I'm kind of on the fence (in regards to quality). There are things I like, but it's also disappointing that the process seems difficult enough that the pace is slow and (apparently) that Nintendo have to help do a lot of the work to get the games running in the first place - I see that as being quite a big issue in itself and wish they'd find a way to simplify the process (making it easier and more attractive for other devs).
i'm also disappointed that a lot of the other systems that were on Wii VC aren't focused on. I know they're "readily available" on the Wii Mode, but personally i'd prefer having these games on Wii U (and not being bound by Wii peripherals/batteries).
One final thing is that I am disappointed with the region differences. 50hz would be a nice novelty AS AN OPTION (as in M2's 360 retro "ports"), but not as the only choice! Also (most importantly) i'm not a fan of the differences in releases between Europe/US. IIRC 3 out of the 4 weeks, Europe's received nothing - we even miss out on Paper Mario (ugh and we'll probably just get the 50hz version anyway.
@nono6400 I'd also like to see World of Illusion and Sonic CD. Also Toe Jam & Earl would be nice.
One major disappointment with the previous release of Sonic the Hedgehog though, was that it wasn't Taxman's re-release of Sonic that was released on iOS (complete with extra's like Tails and Knuckles). I was hoping it was and it was one reason why I took a chance in buying it in the first place.
So in a way i'm also disappointed that this upcoming release of Sonic 2 will also likely be the vanilla version more or less (the iOS version had Hidden Palace Zone "restored" as well as Knuckles again). I'd very much like a way of playing them without having to do so on my phone/touchscreen controls.
I didn't care for Pac-Attack on the GBA Collection. As a stand alone release, it almost feels like some kind of "filler" release. This is my last week until I start my studies again and I was hoping for Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow or Mega-Man Battle Network 2 (US had that I believe). Hell, even one of the first 2 Super Mario Advance games (which the US also supposedly received) or Super Circuit would have been nice!
@ryan3ds - I believe my 3ds is the same. Not sure about others, but it hasn't really affected mine negatively at all since I got it last November.
Finally! About freakin' time we got Circle of the Moon. Hopefully they follow up with HoD and AoS. Still a bit annoyed we had to wait this long AND missed out on other games such as Mario Kart Super Circuit, Super Mario Advance 1 & 2 (though at least there's already SMW on VC) as well as Megaman Battle Network 2, so I kinda hope Nintendo makes up for lost time.
I was fortunate enough to get Metroid Trilogy on disc when I bought my Wii a few years back, but good to see others getting a chance who may otherwise have missed out.
@JoakimZ @Cloud02 Glad to see i'm not the only one disappointed/frustrated with the lack of GBA Castlevania for Europe/Australia. I honestly wish I knew what they're thinking in regards to when they release these games.
Haven't bought a VC game since DKC2 (and as much as I like DKC games, I honestly would have taken some of the other games they released for the US since then like even one of the Mario GBA games)..
I was a bit annoyed at first that we were getting it so late in Australia, but I got over it pretty quickly since we're still getting Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire more or less on time and i've got the new 3DS XL on preorder. Still, glad to hear they've closed the gap a bit.
It's actually really difficult to determine, but I would go with World and almost compare them to Wolf3d and Doom.
Super Mario Bros 3 (Wolf3d) was certainly the pioneer for a lot of concepts (e.g. the world map compete with fortresses, Koopalings, multiple power-ups as well as a host of other things). Plus apparently quite a few other games "drew inspiration" from the game.
On the other hand, SMW (Doom IMO) added its own fair share of features (star world, Yoshi, multiple advanced paths/abundance of secret exits, ghost houses, coloured switches), and just like Doom. Most importantly of all, they really did a fantastic job with the physics of the game especially with the way Mario controls.
They're both really awesome and highly influential games, but I think SMW simply has that ever so sllight edge, but that's very difficult to say given just how awesome the jump was to SMB3 in the first place.
I'm in a PAL region and I'm very disappointed. Last week we got Street Fighter Alpha 2 (which feels wasteful to me since there are arcade ports on other consoles and I very much prefer Alpha 3 anyway - granted other people may have liked that). This week we got some lame NES game instead of COTM though. And it looks like it will be the same trend next week also.
I wish Nintendo would seriously just synchronize releases between US and Europe(/Australia). All things considered, it just shows the annoying side of "region differences and locking". I can sort of tolerate Smash Bros Wii U coming out round 6th December here (since at least we have Pokemon Omega Ruby round the same time as elsewhere, and I MIGHT trade my XL in for the new 3DS XL) but this is starting to become very annoying again. Wish I knew Nintendo's thought processes with this kind of thing.
It looks pretty cool. But i'd be interested to know if it's going to be kept as simple as it is in the footage shown so far or if there's going to be a few more advanced options (e.g. more than the basic enemies or different environments and music like caves/castles included) or if it's just the standard "grassy" level theme. Granted they said there'd be additional graphical styles, but would they just all be based on one environment or contain several sets of graphics?
The other consideration is things like slopes. There's a good chance that they may not implement more advanced objects in keeping it "compatible" between the different graphics (i.e. there weren't slopes in SMB so potentially no slopes for all versions), but it'd be nice if they do include slightly more advanced objects.
In some ways I would've liked a setting that would simply split up the 2 screens; have the "top" or left screen in the case of this game on TV and the other on the gamepad.
In fact they might have to implement a few different settings depending on potential future games.
I got a Wii U first (mainly because it was in a good deal at Big W, otherwise might have waited at the time). My intention was to have my Wii U on the side for exclusives and have my Xbox One for the cross-platform games and its exclusives (similar to what I did with the Wii and 360).
Have to say though for a while now i've (surprisingly) been playing mostly on the Wii U. It helps that this generation there's these U Pro Controllers which I prefer over the Classic Pro (and especially classic) and more support for them also. The part that always limited my interest was the over reliance of wii-motes and a lack of play + charge. Wii U addressed those issues for me, just a shame it's rather underestimated by gamers and especially devs.
Ugh! After all the momentum Nintendo started to regain with the release of the GBA titles they have to go and release something like this on VC.
Wish they'd just release more than 1 within a week and get the garbage out of the way rather than having dedicating a whole week to ONE game and likely wasting more weeks in future...
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Re: Poll: Nintendo Switch Delivers Single Screen Gaming - Will You Miss the Dual Screen Concept?
Honestly, I think they made the logical choice with the Switch really. One of the main touted features of the Wii U was off-TV gameplay. The Switch allows this. Most of the Gamepad functions in games felt tedious, tacked on, or were just somewhat convenient IMO. The gamepad itself felt like it needed to be more streamlined, hopefully the switch accessories are an upgrade here (the relocation of buttons and sticks is a good indicator of it).
In regards to DS/3DS, I don't mind it (dual-screeN0 being available and it is often far better used there, but the one problem I had is that in games like Castlevania DoS, they forced touch screen elements where they weren't really necessary. Im not too see dual-screen play die, especially if the power of the console is focused elsewhere.
Re: Random: Disgruntled Young Pokémon GO Fan Makes Satirical Game About Playing in the Suburbs
I can understand some peoples frustration though. I'm fortunate enough to have 3 spawns within range of my house and always have at least one encounter at any given time (with a reasonable abundance of Bulbasaur and occasional Gastly and Squirtle), and my block has enough useful spawns. On the other hand, in some suburbs, theres rarely anything of interest and those spawns are much further from each other.
Pokestops are another matter entirely. My area has one down the road, and the rest of the suburb has none, and with surrounding suburbs having modest amounts. Meanwhile, suburbs way on the other side of town have like 7 on one neighbourhood block or an occasional park (some are just suburban signs). Kinda wish they'd allow a few more submissions to beef up the sparseness or something, but given that i can drive somewhere, its not difficult for me to stock up once a week. More pokestops would be good for kids though.
Re: AM2R Developer Encourages Players to Support Metroid II On the eShop and to Avoid 'Hate' Against Nintendo
I wish nintendo would see the project for what it is and actually pick up the project or something. The guy did what a lot of people would have liked, and that is to modernise Metroid II. Clearly Nintendo felt it better to not put resources into making something similar, yet here we have this. Similar to the situation with Streets of Rage Remake; Sega should have taken the opportunity to work with fan enthusiasm. Sure you dont want to reward misuse or lazy attempts at making cheap profits and it may act as a bit of a deterrent for future projects, but in an instance like this, i think it actually warrants some degree of leniency and better acknowledgement than this. Thats my opinion anyway.
Re: Talking Point: What Would You Like to See From Pokémon Sun and Moon?
Post-game stuff, a return of the friend safari (or something similar) and removal of HMs as being un-erasable or doubling as moves (demote them into being TMs). Having key item tools would be much better and finally allow for a playthrough without wasting a slot or slots on a HM slave.
Oh, and it's a long shot but either i want a really big region with more varied encounters for wild pokemon OR the ability to go between 2 regions like Gold and Silver. While not really post game as such, i still think that johto and kanto connection was awesome which makes gold/heart gold my favourite in the series.
Re: Review: Pokémon Red and Blue (3DS / GB)
As much as I liked these games back in the day, playing them on VC just makes me miss the Gen II games all the more. Yes granted there is the option of playing Heart Gold (which I own) through DS mode, but it was the original Gold and Silver that blew me away even more than Red/Blue/Yellow.
Gold and Silver added a LOT of features we take for granted in later generations (a much better backpack, an visual XP bar, move deleter, Sp Def, Shadow Ball, breeding, and re-classification of move types (Karate Chop finally being Fighting, Gust = Flying etc - all logical choices). Not to mention (what I feel is the best feature to date) going back to Kanto and essentially having 2 (even if slightly shrunken) regions).
It'd be nice if they went back and did Gold/Silver/Crystal in a similar fashion before Sun/Moon.
Re: Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Will Support 18 amiibo Figures
@Ogbert "Plus I liked Sticker Star. Don't get the hate other than 'it wasn't Thousand Year Door'."
Part of my strong dislike for it is the mechanics and pointlessness of battles. They completely did away with levelling up (with only health upgrades being available) and the reliance of consumable stickers in battle for attacks (including the possiblity of 'no attacks') was annoying. They did away with most of the better RPG and/or story elements, yet still kept turn-based battling and then proceeded to ruin that.
Another aspect was the way in which they used the larger "real world object" stickers. I felt that was poorly done, since from what I remember, it wasn't so obvious in how to use/find them (and were also consumed) and boss battles heavily encouraged use of them also. Frankly, I felt it hit all the wrong notes so to speak and did away with a lot of the good. To me it was a complete disappointment, especially for how long it took to come out.
Re: Talking Point: Wii U Gamers Have Been Treated Poorly By The Third-Party Retail Scene, But The System Still Brings Joy
I think part of the problem (at least from my perspective) is that these days a lot of developers seem to want to make one game across many platforms, rather than trying to make the most of an individual console (which is really what the Wii U is about in the first place). The Wii U is intended to be unique yet one of its perceived short comings is that it doesn't directly compete with Xbox One and PS4 (and it shouldn't).
I've always argued this; the Wii U has everything it needs to be a great console. It has enough power to pull of the great line-up of games that it has (key word "enough" - too much emphasis on power this gen when it should be on FUN with ENOUGH graphics-wise). It has everything the Wii had except Gamecube support (and this should NOT be a bad thing - just needed better marketing) AND a Gamepad/Touchscreen AND HD. Yet it's really quite stupid how the focus falls mostly on "power". It's pretty much been negative from the start (with devs dismissing it, not supporting it, and then gamers pretty much being given less incentive to bother - repeating a cycle of negativity for the console).
Honestly, I think it's lack of proper success is disappointing not just because of its potential, but because of what it means for consoles. I haven't used much of the PS4 (though i'm honestly not really impressed with the times I have) and the Xbox One (which I have also) is a frustrating console (has its own problems) with a poorly designed dashboard and issues all round.
Frankly the Wii U has provided the most fun and had the best philosophy of the lot. If it's all about power, then given the kinds of proposed changes made to gaming, such as the move from local multiplayer [e.g. games like Halo 5] and the attempts of change that Microsoft tried with the Xbone (always online, DRM etc), then we all may as well just have PC's. The main reasons for having consoles are slowly dying out and for me at least (we can just use controllers on PC's and they can do most entertainment things anyway), with one of the only reasons left being that first party games that are held hostage on them.
Re: Video: Watch Sonic Repeatedly Rescue Tails In 3D Sonic The Hedgehog 2's Credits Sequence
@DarthNocturnal If they end up succeeding (in getting Sonic 3 complete done) and then later releasing all three together in a collection with some decent extras then i'd be satisfied. Something extra like challenges or something cool like an NES Remix type mode would be awesome and more than make up for wait.
On the other hand it'd be such a shame if they never make it to anything outside of mobile devices at all (and I fear that's likely the case).
Re: Video: Watch Sonic Repeatedly Rescue Tails In 3D Sonic The Hedgehog 2's Credits Sequence
@EarthboundBenjy I agree. Personally I don't buy these games for the 3D anyway and was really hoping for the release of those "special" mobile ports of the Sonic game(s) for a platform that doesn't rely on touch screen controls. Even if not on 3DS I wish they'd have released that on some other console (like they did with the Sonic CD port).
Re: Rumour: Nintendo NX Won't Be As Powerful As PlayStation 4
Honestly, I don't think it'd be a bad thing to not be as powerful as a PS4 at this point, in the same way that I think the Wii U copped too much crap over "power" (granted the name still isn't helpful however).
It's no longer the 8-bit, 16-bit or early 3D days. Once upon a time there was certainly a push due to technological limitations (and in improving 3d graphics from the early ugly polygon type models), but I think it's silly to jump on the performance of the Wii U at this point, particularly when it can still pull off decent feats like rendering Mario Kart 8, Yoshi's Woolly World (the detail of the yarn itself particularly) etc. It seems the point of the Wii U, is to "have enough" power. And it does,for the sorts of games that should come to it.
The console has everything the Wii had (use of Wii-motes + nunchucks), plus HD graphics, PLUS a gamepad AND the use of dedicated Pro-Controllers. The Gamepad itself and HD may not seem like much of an upgrade on their own, the I'd say the entire point was to increase the possibilities or to remove some of the limits of what the Wii was capable of. There's enough hardware to work with and it probably wasn't (nor should it be) a "main choice of console" to replace a "new-gen" Xbox or PlayStation.
While the console is not perfect, the Wii U really had potential, yet it seems like reputation and this obsession with rendering power (both from gamers and developers alike) is what's killing it, and that's pretty silly. It may not have the power to match the requirement of all the lazy cross-platform games, but it does have enough power for different devs to tinker around with and to come up with something either creative or still impressive enough (e.g. most of the first-party games).
Re: Super Mario Galaxy Out Now on the Wii U eShop in Japan
Meh, personally I'd rather that they'd found a way to simply upscale the wii games since the games already looked decent enough for the most part anyway, other than them being at a lower resolution.
On the other hand i'd much rather a game like the original Paper Mario receive a visual update (perhaps released with a higher res Thousand Year Door). and with a few tweaks from TTYD (e.g. the additional b-button defensive mechanic for instance). The game still looks decent, but it's amazing just how nice TTYD looks in comparison though.
Re: Nintendo Download: 7th May (Europe)
@Grumblevolcano - I already have both games. Though as I said, i'm 'personally' still waiting on them myself regardless (I generally don't like the 8-bit versions of the games, and felt the updated versions were much more appealing). I didn't mean them as an general example though (they were subjective examples). My overall point and what i'm commenting on is just releases in general (not the 'half a game part')
But as far as as THAT goes, the fact still remains that we had our own frustrations. I can understand the annoyance they're having with Golden Sun (that basically goes hand in hand with MMBN2 I guess). But to me I only have to think back to how frustrating it was waiting for Castlevania. While I understand that the US had their own grievances with the lack of DKC, at least they got them consecutively roughly around the same time anyway, we had to wait a month between Castlevania games. To me that would still be similar situation with Zero Mission (none of them are truly "halves of a complete game", but moreso vital and memorable parts of their respective GBA series.
The overall point i'm making (to reiterate) is that nevertheless, there's frustrations on both sides. And i'm sure there's also that frustration over the fact that Japan generally gets tempting games that either of us other regions won't get for a good long while (Sonic Advance 1 as an example).
Re: Nintendo Download: 7th May (Europe)
@ikki5 We've got our own fair share of titles that we're still waiting on also. What sucks is that Europe didn't even have a release the last few weeks (we finally got Super Circuit, but outside of that it was about 3 weeks of absolutely nothing), and now we finally play catch up with Yoshi's Island DS this week.
Basically both regions have their own frustrations right now. Personally i'm still waiting on MMBN2 and Super Mario Advance 1 & 2 to drop (in addition to Paper Mario that is). I wish they'd just release those ("bigger") sorts of games closer between regions (and while we're at it - would cease with the 50hz versions which probably just wastes more development time anyway)
Re: Poll: Is It Time For a Fresh Alternative to the Virtual Console?
I'm kind of on the fence (in regards to quality). There are things I like, but it's also disappointing that the process seems difficult enough that the pace is slow and (apparently) that Nintendo have to help do a lot of the work to get the games running in the first place - I see that as being quite a big issue in itself and wish they'd find a way to simplify the process (making it easier and more attractive for other devs).
i'm also disappointed that a lot of the other systems that were on Wii VC aren't focused on. I know they're "readily available" on the Wii Mode, but personally i'd prefer having these games on Wii U (and not being bound by Wii peripherals/batteries).
One final thing is that I am disappointed with the region differences. 50hz would be a nice novelty AS AN OPTION (as in M2's 360 retro "ports"), but not as the only choice! Also (most importantly) i'm not a fan of the differences in releases between Europe/US. IIRC 3 out of the 4 weeks, Europe's received nothing - we even miss out on Paper Mario (ugh and we'll probably just get the 50hz version anyway.
Re: SEGA and M2 Are Happy to Continue 3D Classics "Indefinitely if Sales Are Good"
@nono6400 I'd also like to see World of Illusion and Sonic CD. Also Toe Jam & Earl would be nice.
One major disappointment with the previous release of Sonic the Hedgehog though, was that it wasn't Taxman's re-release of Sonic that was released on iOS (complete with extra's like Tails and Knuckles). I was hoping it was and it was one reason why I took a chance in buying it in the first place.
So in a way i'm also disappointed that this upcoming release of Sonic 2 will also likely be the vanilla version more or less (the iOS version had Hidden Palace Zone "restored" as well as Knuckles again). I'd very much like a way of playing them without having to do so on my phone/touchscreen controls.
Re: Nintendo Download: 26th February (Europe)
I didn't care for Pac-Attack on the GBA Collection. As a stand alone release, it almost feels like some kind of "filler" release. This is my last week until I start my studies again and I was hoping for Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow or Mega-Man Battle Network 2 (US had that I believe). Hell, even one of the first 2 Super Mario Advance games (which the US also supposedly received) or Super Circuit would have been nice!
@ryan3ds - I believe my 3ds is the same. Not sure about others, but it hasn't really affected mine negatively at all since I got it last November.
Re: Nintendo Download: 29th January (Europe)
Finally! About freakin' time we got Circle of the Moon. Hopefully they follow up with HoD and AoS. Still a bit annoyed we had to wait this long AND missed out on other games such as Mario Kart Super Circuit, Super Mario Advance 1 & 2 (though at least there's already SMW on VC) as well as Megaman Battle Network 2, so I kinda hope Nintendo makes up for lost time.
I was fortunate enough to get Metroid Trilogy on disc when I bought my Wii a few years back, but good to see others getting a chance who may otherwise have missed out.
Re: Nintendo Download: 8th January
@JoakimZ @Cloud02 Glad to see i'm not the only one disappointed/frustrated with the lack of GBA Castlevania for Europe/Australia. I honestly wish I knew what they're thinking in regards to when they release these games.
Haven't bought a VC game since DKC2 (and as much as I like DKC games, I honestly would have taken some of the other games they released for the US since then like even one of the Mario GBA games)..
Re: Super Smash Bros. for Wii U European Release Date Brought Into November
I was a bit annoyed at first that we were getting it so late in Australia, but I got over it pretty quickly since we're still getting Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire more or less on time and i've got the new 3DS XL on preorder. Still, glad to hear they've closed the gap a bit.
Re: Poll: Nintendo Minute Debate - Is Super Mario World or Super Mario Bros. 3 More Influential?
It's actually really difficult to determine, but I would go with World and almost compare them to Wolf3d and Doom.
Super Mario Bros 3 (Wolf3d) was certainly the pioneer for a lot of concepts (e.g. the world map compete with fortresses, Koopalings, multiple power-ups as well as a host of other things). Plus apparently quite a few other games "drew inspiration" from the game.
On the other hand, SMW (Doom IMO) added its own fair share of features (star world, Yoshi, multiple advanced paths/abundance of secret exits, ghost houses, coloured switches), and just like Doom. Most importantly of all, they really did a fantastic job with the physics of the game especially with the way Mario controls.
They're both really awesome and highly influential games, but I think SMW simply has that ever so sllight edge, but that's very difficult to say given just how awesome the jump was to SMB3 in the first place.
Re: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow to Complete GBA Trilogy on Wii U Virtual Console
I'm in a PAL region and I'm very disappointed. Last week we got Street Fighter Alpha 2 (which feels wasteful to me since there are arcade ports on other consoles and I very much prefer Alpha 3 anyway - granted other people may have liked that). This week we got some lame NES game instead of COTM though. And it looks like it will be the same trend next week also.
I wish Nintendo would seriously just synchronize releases between US and Europe(/Australia). All things considered, it just shows the annoying side of "region differences and locking". I can sort of tolerate Smash Bros Wii U coming out round 6th December here (since at least we have Pokemon Omega Ruby round the same time as elsewhere, and I MIGHT trade my XL in for the new 3DS XL) but this is starting to become very annoying again. Wish I knew Nintendo's thought processes with this kind of thing.
Re: Mario Maker to Include Additional Graphical Styles, Sharing Levels is "Really The Whole Point"
It looks pretty cool. But i'd be interested to know if it's going to be kept as simple as it is in the footage shown so far or if there's going to be a few more advanced options (e.g. more than the basic enemies or different environments and music like caves/castles included) or if it's just the standard "grassy" level theme. Granted they said there'd be additional graphical styles, but would they just all be based on one environment or contain several sets of graphics?
The other consideration is things like slopes. There's a good chance that they may not implement more advanced objects in keeping it "compatible" between the different graphics (i.e. there weren't slopes in SMB so potentially no slopes for all versions), but it'd be nice if they do include slightly more advanced objects.
Re: Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain Now Free on European Wii U eShop
In some ways I would've liked a setting that would simply split up the 2 screens; have the "top" or left screen in the case of this game on TV and the other on the gamepad.
In fact they might have to implement a few different settings depending on potential future games.
Re: Wii Owners Are Upgrading To PlayStation 4, Claims Sony
I got a Wii U first (mainly because it was in a good deal at Big W, otherwise might have waited at the time). My intention was to have my Wii U on the side for exclusives and have my Xbox One for the cross-platform games and its exclusives (similar to what I did with the Wii and 360).
Have to say though for a while now i've (surprisingly) been playing mostly on the Wii U. It helps that this generation there's these U Pro Controllers which I prefer over the Classic Pro (and especially classic) and more support for them also. The part that always limited my interest was the over reliance of wii-motes and a lack of play + charge. Wii U addressed those issues for me, just a shame it's rather underestimated by gamers and especially devs.
Re: Nintendo Download: 8th May (Europe)
Ugh! After all the momentum Nintendo started to regain with the release of the GBA titles they have to go and release something like this on VC.
Wish they'd just release more than 1 within a week and get the garbage out of the way rather than having dedicating a whole week to ONE game and likely wasting more weeks in future...