Vineleaf

I guess, on the plus side, had they spent time talking about Bravely Second or Stella Glow or Project X Zone 2, I could again have claimed that there were no surprises. That's three games that I want that are coming relatively soon. It's fine. The Wii U is a dead console walking, though, and that's really a shame. I hope this isn't in the general public's conscience so much that it dampens the Splatoon hype.

I thought it was Animal Crossing DLC for Mario Party 10.

If we're throwing wish lists out there, I'd just want to know that Rhythm Tengoku The Best + is being localized and perhaps a new Pilotwings for the U. With the gyro controls on the Gamepad, I'd have a lot of fun with this title returning. Maybe some love for Wuhu Island along with it.

Awesome. Now I don't need a new Wipeout or F-Zero. Well done!

I'm 16 months into New Leaf, and I still don't want it to stop. I would wait before buying.a console version - I'm also less likely to play it on a console.

@ShadJV A bundle for this would be perfect. Makes great sense. So there's no chance of us getting it.

The situation with stock may be good for Nintendo's bottom line, but I worry what the ill will can cost them down the road. There are three more forthcoming amiibo I want (Olimar, Zero Suit Samus, blue Yarn Yoshi), and I'm already dreading trying to get them.

Pokemon on consoles: dizzying heights. And a smaller install base.

@kepsux Fee was using a shortened version of "because".

Feeling rather old this morning. I still don't get the point of Miiverse.

@SuperAlex12 I've seen a few people suggest Splatoon on 3DS is a conservative prediction. I just can't see how it would work well.

@RantingThespian applause

I don't think this will replace my Splattershot Pro, but I'll give it a whirl.

This will be nice. Hopefully everyone looks at Europe gets to play it.

Odd that this isn't up for preorder on Gamestop yet, really the only store I have within 100 miles. Did I miss a memo somewhere on the proper release date?

I do also like the idea of giving a female character more agency. Both Zelda and Mario fell onto the side of saving the princess, a concept—if it maintains the old gender roles—is a bit dated.

Eh, the concept art barely looks different from Link. Mostly just adjusted the bottom half of the wardrobe.

The number isn't surprising since the 3DS, like the Wii U, hasn't become the popular-culture phenomenon that it's predecessor was. My parents, my grandmother, and a bunch of other friends and family I would never call gamers owned the DS. And I just don't think it's realistic to bring that audience through hardware iterations as it is on mobile, where there's less change overall. You mean I have to buy all new games? It's a different charger? To us it's not a big deal, but to them, well, I have a couple of spare DSs now.

I'll buy it, but I won't essentially preorder 2 years in advance. And it isn't an investment.

I'm a bit wary of the approach where Nintendo has third parties drop Mario and the gang everywhere to allegedly make games more appealing. I hope that's not what he means.

@Quorthon I figure Ubisoft has enough experience working with all of the hardware that a port isn't rocket surgery. Makes sense to put in small effort for a game that's already done and see if it makes a ripple.

Not really getting why anyone's mad at Ubisoft about this. They didn't promise us any additional games that don't show up (Hi, Capcom!), and I can't believe that most of us Wii U enthusiasts are pointing at ZombiU as a reason to get the system.

@andyg1971 That's how Sony is treating the Vita in North America anyhow.

Oh heck yes. I was just trying to think of what would make me lose it as an E3 reveal, and this one didn't even occur to me. Very, very excited.

They've made a game that is great fun, simple to learn, bright, welcoming to new players, and cool: it sounds like such a simple formula, but Splatoon is definitely that one game the Wii U needed. It also feels like the perfect summer game. Makes me happy, this. My Wii U was already worth it to me based on the games I like, but this, this is brilliant.

@StarDust4Ever Just being pedantic to start the day.

@Tsurii It feels like an enforced tutorial to me, where we learn certain stages and weapons up to a point, and then increase the complexity.

Not defending it, but seems like plausible reasoning from them.

Not really a surprise. If they have an opportunity to turn a loss into breaking even without having to reinvent the wheel, it makes sense.

The zombie genre, like survival-horror in general, isn't for me, but it was cool that we had a third-party exclusive for a couple of years.

Besides: we got Bayonetta. Fair's fair.

@StarDust4Ever You had to rescue Daisy, not Peach, in the original Super Mario Land.

@Yorumi When you mention escort and dogfight options, you're making me want a Star Fox flavoured TIE Fighter.

Different developer than the Wii U mess, and the cartoon seems to be doing well. It'll do fine.

There are times, with as good of a game designer as he is, when I wish Miyamoto was more interested in large-scale storytelling. I know putting innovative play first has given us some great games, but Star Fox just begs for something nearly cinematic.

They're welcome to take mine away in North America, too. No need for it.

Give me something with the scale and wonder of Infinite Space. Please.

Watch, they'll announce Metroid Warriors with Koei Tecmo.

@Rhydas I treat them the way I treat the players in Mario Kart 8's battle mode who weave about: I target them relentlessly.

I'm going to play with this all day tomorrow.

Metroid: Embarrassed
Sailor Rabbi
The Legend of Zelda: Greek Felony

Just based on what I've had the most fun with, I'd probably have to go:
Mario Kart 8
Hyrule Warriors
Bayonetta 1 & 2
Splatoon (this could be #1 in a few weeks)
Runner 2
Rayman Legends
Teklen Tag Tournament
Dot Arcade
The Wonderful 101
Warriors Orochi 3

Edit: Forgot about The Wonderful 101. Duh.

@andrea987 With Blatter running the show, the only way to get amiibo would be to slip some high-denomination bills to the right people. For the love of the game, of course.

It's that off-beat approach that makes them what they are. I just wish they would get what they are out there a bit more. I convinced someone I know with a Wii U to buy Splatoon. I told him he could borrow my amiibo if he wanted.

He looked at me very confused and asked what a me-bow is.

@Andyjm I was about to bring up budgeting, staffing, that sort of stuff. If the lads in Kyoto don't give them anything to work with—and I don't know if that's the case or not—then there isn't much to be done.

Marketing is all about momentum, after all. Nintendo hasn't had that momentum in the UK for some time, it seems.

Was the only one in line at my Gamestop before open who wanted the Splatoon 3-pack. Everyone else was hunting Fire Emblem amiibo, along with Pac Man and Ness.

Looking at that software chart, there's a lot of the systems I have: Wii U, Vita, 3DS. It's like a strange, alternate reality from North America.

Greatly looking forward to WiipeoUt. It looks amazing.

If you don't own Runner 2 yet, the price of the entire bundle would be more than worth it for that game alone in my opinion. Utter brilliance.

Eh, it would have been easy for developers, but I'm not sure it would have been the best route. There are other options, and I'm reasonably confident by now that they get they have to flexible and accessible with future systems.

"Do you have what it takes to raise your ranking to the coveted A+ status?"

Probably not, but I'll still play it.

@gcunit I absolutely agree with what you're saying, that most will choose not to carry two devices. But I can only see Nintendo working with DeNA to get even more of their games, including new ones, onto existing platforms rather than sinking a ton of money into making their own device.

I think the only way such a concept could work is with a home dock to make it a console. Almost no one I know carries a 3DS, even, because they're happy with the games they already have on phones and tablets. Nintendo needs to have a compelling reason for us to carry the device. If they don't take the huge gamble that is a phone, then they have to have a compelling reason for its use. I think that would be massive social integration and home docking.

You're bang on with the DS thing, too. That would have worked brilliantly. But I think that ship has sailed too far to try to get it back.

@gcunit That's a bit where I would see it going, yeah, to wearables. Assuming NX is portable, I feel like the only way that market segment can survive is with increased connectivity to social media. But I think they have to position it as a supplemental device to phones and tablets, one that also docks for home use. Video chat, etc., stay, but if you try to position this as though it were a phone, it dies right out of the gate.

That said, and actually on topic, I hope the OS is nothing like the Android we see on our daily devices.

@gcunit I'm saying I would be surprised if it had a traditional telephone number and operated as a phone. Nintendo would have no advantage trying to compete with Apple and Samsung. Here they get closer to that functionality while still being a games company.

This could make sense if the NX is more on the portable side, basically being a NintendoPhone without the phone part. In other words, they double-down on Miiverse, have a FaceTime like thing, heavily eShop oriented, and have agreements with mobile operators so it can run on either 4G or wireless. It could make sense as a super-powered smartphone with proper inputs and the ability to still read some form of physical media (I think they'll need that for one more generation).

The truth will ultimately be in the hardware results, as a game placed that highly on a system with a relatively small install base can't last months. Here's hoping it becomes the must-have thing this summer.