Waann

@KTT Hi! Oops, sorry, I forgot to reply last time X(

Yeah, Pixel Maker does support PNG I 've already got it for that reason, actually. The interface is easy to use, and it has layers, which is a nice bonus. Now I wish I hadn't bought Pixel Paint, but oh well.

Another alternative might be Butterfly Animation, if they still allow high quality exports like they did in Inchworm. Inchworm was confusing to use though… But with the higher resolution of the 3DS, maybe the GUI is better this time around.

Seeing as the Gen 6 games don't let you post screenshots to Miiverse, I'm not sure it'll be possible with Sun/Moon, even for New 3DS owners.

@KTT I did it! Though it is a little tedious. http://i.cubeupload.com/koNWDl.png

Here's how I did it using the GIMP:
Using the screenshot album export, I made myself a custom palette that included all the colors I'd used (had to pick the colors in the middle of the largest areas, otherwise they get muddy). Then I scaled the picture down to its actual resolution (80x60 in my case, no interpolation) and I converted the drawing to indexed colors, using my palette from earlier. After that the picture can be converted back to RGB (to tweak the colors) and scaled to whatever size you want.

So for small-ish pictures, it works. It wouldn't be that great for 320x240 drawings though, there's just too much detail lost.

@KTT Yeah, it's too bad really.

That might work as a workaround, using one of the big files then (since 1-pixel details tend to become gray or brown in jpeg, regardless of the original color). I'll give it a try and post the results here.

I got it because I thought the price was more than reasonable and I'd heard good things about the Wii U version. I'm mostly happy with it, except for a few tiny things (picking colours from the full palette isn't easy since you can't see what your previous colour was).

The Cut tool does work for me though. It's just that every time you make a transformation, you have to tap elsewhere to confirm it. It'll leave behind the colour you have selected at the moment.

EDIT: Okay, I hadn't tried exporting yet, and I'm not thrilled with the results.

I tried the three possible methods with one picture.

First, the SD card export function. It's the right resolution at least (though the huge white border is a bit weird) but the jpeg compression completely ruins the picture. Absolutely unusable for even moderately complex stuff.

Posting to Miiverse using the in game menu leads to a big, muddy drawing with tons of artifacts.

Posting to the Miiverse screenshot album seems to result in less compression, but it's still not what I'd call "good".

So in the end, your art is stuck on the system. If we could export it as uncompressed JPG files, it would have been fine, but if that wasn't possible, they should have gone with a PNG or GIF option. Flipnote lets you export your images as GIFs and for indexed colours stuff, it works well. Inchworm even lets you save bitmaps!

Pixel art is a special case where you really don't want any artifacts, and I wish the devs had realised that.

@TeeJay It's probably their way of differentiating those games from all the girly shovelware.

Edit: Not sure my first comment was clear. I know Style Savvy is not shovelware, but it probably looks like it to the uninformed , so that "Nintendo Presents" practically screams "this one is not like the others".

Is it just me or does that black and white cat in the third screenshot just... not look like a cat? At all?

Anyway, I'm still a bit amazed that they're selling this on the eShop, when the entire reason this "series" exists is to trick people into thinking it's Nintendogs. I mean, that cover, that font, that interface: how shameless can you be?

Thanks for telling us, I didn't know!

Indies need to find a way to promote their games in non-English-speaking countries too if they want to sell well in Europe. And they should remind everyone that it exists if it's taken too long to come out in one region, hype them up again.

I have very high hopes for Fast Racing Neo.

RIVE was my favourite "nindie@home". Hopefully the final version won't have the framerate drops when loading. I'm also keeping an eye on Hyper Light Drifter, Steamworld Heist, Mighty No.9 and The Next Penelope, but I still don't know on which systems I'll get them if I do.

A small correction: the engine used for making The Next Penelope is called Construct 2, not Concept.

@Windy It will run on the regular 3DS (it doesn't have a "New exclusive" box art http://koei.wikia.com/wiki/Zelda_Musou:_Hyrule_All-Stars ). I wouldn't be surprised if it made use of the New 3DS features though.

I don't think we're gonna see the "Old" 3DS in promotional material anymore, whether or not the games are exclusive.

@Jaunty I think there is. It's got an actual box art here at least, so unless they've changed their minds it should come out: http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Wii-U/Art-Academy-Atelier-893364.html

As much as I like them as characters, Tetra and Daphnes look so out of place with their unaltered designs.

Germany should really use PEGI like the rest of Europe does.

@SeniorDingDong It's a line from the series opening song.

I'll be getting Dedede's Drum Dash. I thought the Triple Deluxe minigame was pretty fun.

@MJKOP They're all great. Drawing on the Gamepad is more comfortable than on a 3DS, but the Wii U version doesn't have lessons (yet), so it depends on what you think she'll enjoy most. On the 3DS, there's New Art Academy, which is basically a complete art course, and Pokémon Art Academy, which is mostly targeted at younger children.

I agree that AC is better suited to handhelds, but off-TV play is a game-changer this time around (that and the possibility to buy the game digitally). Just having to take over the TV every time you wanted to play Let's Go to the City made it hard to have short, frequent sessions. So I think a Wii U version has potential.

I really don't get their line of reasoning for not releasing the original localizations as is. I mean, what did they imagine non-English speakers would think? What's better, playing a game in a version that, while not necessarily perfect, was deemed good enough in 2001 and is still better than most translations coming out today (I can attest to that, at least for the French market) or being stuck with a language you don't speak?

@Gamer-Jay Yeah, it's great news. Besides, it means a few more points before the end of the Wii U Premium promotion, and no need for uPlay.

I'm late, but that is simply not true.

For example, a PS One Classic costs €3 to 10 depending on how demanded a game is (most of them are around €5). That's not taking into account the frequent discounts you can get. For that price, you can play one game on the PSP, Vita and PS3.

Now if you want to get an NES game on the VC, it's going to cost you €5 per platform. So €10 for the Wii U and 3DS. As much as I like Super Mario Bros., I wouldn't say it's worth the same price as Symphony of the Night or Final Fantasy IX.

I was debating whether to get Child of Light on the PC or the Wii U… Well at that price, Wii U it is.

@cfgk24 It's a game based on the Asterix movie that's coming out in a few days. I'd be surprised if it was any good (the game, I mean.)

Seriously, making you choose between 3D and HD? I don't think many people are going to buy it twice (I hope so anyway), so what's the point?

Climax is really good, actually (much better than Maximum Velocity IMO). I wish it had been released outside Japan. Obviously you can't compare it with F-Zero GX, but I wouldn't call it disappointing for a GBA game.

@Starwolf_UK To be honest, I think most French people aren't familiar with him either. It's like those responsible for the collection said "Hey, can't we put some more French characters in there? We've got Rayman, Rayman's good, who else?" "Errrrr..."

Awesome! This reminds me of another collection France got in 2005, though the stamps definitely had a more "kiddy" look to them. Some of those were still pretty nice (here's what they looked like).

@JellySplat You have to realize there isn't one fanbase for all anime/manga... just like there isn't one fanbase for all American movies. It's not a genre, it's just "comics made in Japan". I enjoy watching the occasional anime and yet I have never watched a fanservice show, or one where there were no interesting female characters.
It's just Sturgeon's Law: "90% of everything is crap".
(Also, thinking someone is worthless because of their hobbies or sexual orientation ? Not cool.)

@XCWarrior and others who might be interested, there's a gallery where people can post their comics.

No Miiverse integration though (or at least no posting screenshots).

I do like the idea of drawing comics on the go, but the maximum image size (896 x 896) would make it suitable for storyboards and roughs, not really full fledged pages. I might still get it if it's released in Europe.

@Kaze_Memaryu That's weird, I could download it. Maybe they didn't release it in Germany for some reason? Before the last system update, you could have changed your region settings to get it, but now I don't think it's possible anymore...

@Kaze_Memaryu The demo is out. Check the bottom bar in the eShop, it's the second demo after Nano Assault. Maybe it wasn't there yet when you looked.

@MrL1193 I know you didn't mention it--I did because it's the only instance of Europeans criticizing American censorship I've seen here (correct me if I'm wrong). Generally, censorship is the same in both regions.

As a translator (not in the field of video games), the idea of censoring a work to make it comply with your own territory's values sounds completely unethical to me. A translator is supposed to serve the author and the consumers--censorship is disrespectful to both (it assumes the author didn't know what he was doing and you know better, and it underestimates the consumer's open-mindedness). A translator is supposed to bring the reader to another culture, not adapt that culture to their (supposed) tastes. We normally don't censor foreign books, movies, paintings or other cultural goods (even when the originals are offensive/completely stupid to many people), so why do it to video games? The answer is probably that it's a young medium and that publishers do their best to comply with local ratings boards, when those boards don't really know what they're doing (especially PEGI). Understandable. Not to mention they're much more strict than those that deal with other media, because games are still considered more harmful than them and because "games are for kids".

So yeah. Even when a series goes from an epic tactical game to a bad dating sim overnight, censorship is still wrong IMO.

@MrL1193 This is a general discussion on censorship, not one only about the "Tharja incident", and censorship on Japanese games generally affects all non-Japanese regions.

@Henmii Nah, it's just this one. I think there's been the occasional reference before, but they don't usually go for this type of fanservice. I'm honestly disappointed.

If you don't think healthy children's entertainment with nudity is possible, check the Kirikou movies. (GASP, bare breasts!) Incidentally, I think some American theaters refused to screen them for this very reason. Nothing sexual in them, of course.

Children don't give a poop about nudity. Only their parents do. And keep in mind there are/have been many cultures where the naked body is not considered "dirty". It's mostly a completely Western concept.

@Rod64 I did check it, otherwise I wouldn't have said it. From the PEGI official website:

"Fire Emblem: Awakening [www.nintendo-europe.com.]
Nintendo of Europe GmbH
The content of this game is suitable for persons aged 12 years and over only.
It contains: Mild bad language - Violence causing minor injury only"

Wait- "minor injury only"? o__o

@Rod64 I don't know about ESRB, but PEGI didn't give FE:A the "Sex" warning (which includes nudity and suggestive clothing), so maybe they'd have to remove it from any additional content.

@shinobi88 "overweight people that live in their mom's basement"
Keep it classy.

Definitely a case of Unnecessary Censorship. Sort of relevant.

It's pretty well-known, but my "favourite" instance of nonsensical censorship happens in Link's Awakening. In the Japanese version, a nude hippo model has her breasts exposed, and a sheet is covering her lower body. In the western versions, she no longer has breasts, but the sheet is gone too, so she's completely naked. What. : |

@k8sMum, that's too bad. It's all the more disappointing for an art site, as you can't really learn anatomy without ever looking at naked people in your life... I've looked at your ACEO, it's beautiful (and honestly harmless).

Nudity is natural, the human form is beautiful, and it's the constant censoring of it that causes people to always conflate it with sexual themes, even when it's unwarranted (and anyway, there's nothing wrong with sex. Without it, we wouldn't be here to talk about this, would we?).

I do love how they use "dastard" in this game.

Anyway, the European version doesn't make sense. While I'm not offended by the other version, I am very disappointed in the writing in general. Most female characters aren't likeable at all, it's like they're only interested in talking about BOYYYS and combing ponies and being pretty, etc... Even the resident awesome person, Sully has her moments. There's way too much male-oriented fanservice, and nothing else--I mean, WTF is wrong with those character designs? No one goes to war half-naked!

Fire Emblem has never had stellar writing, but at least I've never felt excluded from the audience just for having... well, boingy bits.

(I haven't got to the second part yet, maybe it gets better. I hope so)

@Kirk The pose doesn't have anything to do with the context: it's the only one she has.

If anyone's interested in that, you can ask for a download version of a game you've already registered. I know it's a special case, but that's what I'm doing (I'm going to give a copy of AC to my sister). It says so in the FAQ.

For anyone who hasn't played DKCR yet, it's a great choice. It's very fun, challenging and well designed; I liked it better than NSMBW.

Wow, amazing promotion!

I'm going to be eligible (I'm getting Fire Emblem, Luigi's Mansion and Animal Crossing), but I'm still not sure what my fourth game will be. I already have DKCR on the Wii, I've finished Mirror of Fate but it wasn't my own copy (so no registering), and I don't like the Lego games. That leaves MH3, which I've tried on the Wii but haven't really got into, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. I guess I should give MH3 another chance. One thing's for sure, Animal Crossing is going to be the downloadable one.

@Morph Yes.

@Henmii I've been thinking the same thing. It's probably not their decision...

Most of those are good, though I understand why some people wouldn't like them. It's not only a case of They Changed It Now It Sucks; often, these games have objective flaws that are hard to overlook (especially if earlier entries didn't have them).

I did find the controls of Kid Icarus annoying in the land levels, but I got used to it (and the rest of the game is so good that it makes up for it IMO). It does have one flaw that hasn't been brought up here: if you need the subtitles because you're deaf, hard of hearing or not a native English speaker, you're gonna have a bad time. It's just way too fast, keeping up with it is a nightmare.

NSMB was very fun, but it just isn't memorable. Which is okay.

Skyward Sword was not perfect--the sky was boring and the music was a bit underwhelming, but it had a few memorable characters and scenes and I, for one, loved the controls. All in all, it just didn't have enough content for a Zelda game but it's not a bad game per se. Majora's Mask and The Wind Waker both got a lot more hate for being different from what had come before, even though they're much more polished than SwS.

As for Other M... Just thinking about that one makes me sick. The game itself is fine; I don't like holding the Wiimote horizontally and the "Where's Waldo" sections were annoying, but other than that it's a pretty solid platformer. But the story makes me really uncomfortable, and not for the right reasons. And since it's so prevalent, it's not like I can overlook it.

Metroid Prime: Hunters was also a base-breaker. Some people praised its multiplayer mode, while others thought it was the only thing the developers had focused on, so it wasn't a true Metroid game.

Other changes that many fans didn't like... Replacing Phoenix Wright with Apollo Justice (which was a way to prevent the story from getting too repetitive). Every single Star Fox game after Star Fox 64. Every Final Fantasy game ever. Some people apparently HATE Rayman Origins because the story makes no sense.
Not a reboot either, and not on a Nintendo system, but... Dragon Age II.

But yeah, don't automatically assume people hate sequels/reboots/spin-offs just because they don't like change. Sometimes, their complaints are valid, even when you look at a game as if it was stand-alone.

I think that Ancel has been pissed at Ubisoft for a while, even before the Rayman Legends delay. It would probably be good for him if he left, but yeah, I don't know what would happen to BGE...

As for future Rayman games without him... They'd probably be okay. He wasn't involved in Hoodlum Havoc and it was pretty good.

Finally!

As much as I love that game... I'd rather have a new one. :/

But Kid Icarus did sell. So did Metroid Prime Hunters. I don't think the control scheme is to blame.