Wheels2050

I'm interested in finding out more about the game - the trailer wasn't quite enough to sell it to me, to be honest. However, the Collector's Edition sounds nice, particularly since they don't happen very often for the DS.

I'll have to watch a few episodes to make up my mind, I think!

Take it easy - you'll be missed!

Doesn't sound like the most exciting Nintendo Direct. On the other hand, it may mean that Nintendo are going to use it more commonly, even if the announcements aren't huge, and that could be fun!

They're neat! Hopefully some get put up on eBay.

I don't think some people realise how a search engine is meant to work...

It's a pity Space isn't included. I enjoyed that a lot more than the original!

It'll be interesting to see what they charge for it, though, given that smartphones are so prevalent these days where it can be bought very cheaply (or free, on Android).

Congratulations James! Will be sad to see you go, but good luck with it all. Will you still take part in the community here, or is that not allowed?

Welcome to Damien in the editorial role also!

Interesting - I wasn't really expecting this to do that well!

Do players miss out on much if they aren't familiar with a lot of FF?

So, wait - you actually KEEP your coins if you get a Platinum reward?

As in, you get your reward and can also buy stuff from the Club Nintendo store?

If that's the case, then people complaining are even pettier than I thought.

I admit I'll probably have to see this in person to make a judgement, but doesn't it feel a little bit weird that this world 'exists' around you, but you can only see a little bit of it through the gamepad at any one time?

I just feel it might be a bit odd if you're looking at your loungeroom instead of the in-game surroundings if you're not viewing the gamepad screen - sort of immersion breaking, if you will.

Well, it's better than nothing - the Aussie Club Nintendo doesn't do a rewards program. Plus the catalogue in Australia is woeful.

It's OK to be disappointed in these rewards, but if you're buying games just to get Platinum membership then you're doing it wrong...

@Kohaku: That's a ridiculous comparison. Nobody has a Wii U tablet already, whereas many people may already have a compatible charger.

It's absolutely for financial reasons. No one is saying it isn't. It's just that I don't think it's quite the big issue people make it out to be.

If they had somehow tried to disguise the fact that a charger was not included, only for you to find out when you get home that you don't have one, then that would be bad. However, it is CLEARLY marked in several places on the box that it's sold separately.

I completely agree that a USB charger would be better, but that's not currently the case. I just think that, as long as you can buy a charger at the same time as you buy the console, this is a complete non-issue.

Cool, one more game to add to my list to get!

@Gumby: No, I'm not sure, but I'm making an educated guess.

The $1 figure was a guesstimate. I've really got no idea how much those things cost to the manufacturer, but I imagine it's in that ball park. That $1M is $1M they don't have to lose.

Sure, it's OK for you to wish that Nintendo would bear the cost, but you have to remember that businesses these days are looking to shave cents off unit cost prices - $1 per unit is not a small amount.

They obviously feel that enough people own a compatible charger that it's not worth it to include one. That's not to say that EVERYBODY will have a charger, but Nintendo wouldn't have made this decision on a whim.

@Gumby: I am seeing it from your point of view. If I was to buy an XL without a charger, I'd just buy a charger. End of story.

If we knew that the price would have been the same regardless of whether or not a charger were included then that's a bit rough. However, you would never get a charger for 'free'. Everything in that box is accounted for in the final price.

Besides, desktop printer manufacturers have been doing this for years. Most printers you buy don't include a printer USB cable, making it useless unless you get one separately. They just figure that enough people already have a cable to make one in the box redundant.

Also, if you watch an unboxing video you'll see that there is almost no free space inside the box. Adding a charger would increase the box size, waste space, and ultimately end up raising prices over the cost of the charger itself due to the extra shipping required.

@LztheBlehBird: It is an unusual move, I'll certainly admit that. I imagine, however, that the price of the box would go up if they included a charger. This way it's cheaper for everybody, and people don't end up with extra chargers. I don't imagine, IN PRACTICE, that it will be a significant issue.

I'd like to see an honest poll to see whether the people who are complaining about this already have a compatible charger. I imagine it's almost all of them.

@GumbyX84: To be honest, I think customers who get frustrated over this are being extremely petty.

The only way I can see this being a problem is if the store you are buying the console from has run out of chargers. That would be annoying. Anyone else would just buy the console, and grab a charger as well if necessary (which any store with an ounce of sense would have hanging up next to the consoles).

People are blowing it way out of proportion.

@GumbyX84: It makes perfect sense to me, from their point of view. If it costs them say $1 to include a charger in every box, assuming they don't change the price, then that's $1 less they make on each 3DS XL they sell. It doesn't sound like a lot, but once you sell millions of consoles it adds up.

If, like I'm pretty sure Nintendo are, you assume that many of the buyers will already have a charger, it makes little sense to throw away an extra dollar on each console. Making a small profit on the chargers that people will actually buy is better than cutting into revenue.

@Rect_Pola: It's exactly the same as the DSi and 3DS port.

I honestly don't understand all the comments about this.

It's clear that the box doesn't include a charger. It's plastered all over the front, back and sides of the box. It's really quite easy to pick up a charger at the same time you buy your console, if required - however, and I think Nintendo feels the same, there's a pretty high chance that people buying the XL will have a DSi charger already.

Get over it. It's not like you'll come home to find they omitted a charger without telling you. Buying one extra item (that's cheap as chips) isn't the end of the world, and it's also better for the environment. Less unnecessary plastic floating around.

It feels like people are being the typical 'gamers outraged and anything and everything' just for the sake of it. Name me ONE good reason why this is a major problem.

It seems to be working so far - to my knowledge, no-one has managed to pirate 3DS games as yet.

It'll be interesting to see if Nintendo can manage to hold the pirates at bay. They seem to be relying on automatic updates to cover security flaws, but I imagine that anyone who can hack the system will be able to prevent those updates from being downloaded. Pirates are a clever bunch. (Well, the people who hack consoles and crack games to begin with, at least).

@Nintendokim: Well, yes, I do have to ask. You say that gameplay is all that matters, but then claim a platform that provides great gameplay is crappy. Note I'm not mentioning graphics either.

@BobbiKat: Yes, pricing is an issue. However, note that we still don't know the Wii U pricing. For all we know, it could be quite high (particularly due to the addition of the gamepad).

@EvansLegends: I don't know - it's not like there are new PC games coming out or anything! (end sarcasm).

@Nintendokim: If, as you claim, gameplay is the be all and end all, why does it matter what you're playing the game on? How is your Xbox 'crappy' if it facilitates you playing your 'amazing' XBLA games?

Come on, people. I know this is a Nintendo fan site, but blindly running to defend Nintendo isn't helping anybody.

• There are many ways to increase the quality of graphics without changing the resolution. I don't know why you're even confusing the two. Better textures, higher polygon counts, all that can be improved.
• Also, greater power allows different game experiences, which I've argued before and others have argued here. Graphics are a reasonable metric of a console's power, which can indicate the console's capabilities in other areas. More RAM allows more detailed game worlds, perhaps with things like destructible environments, better CPUs allow more complicated AI. That sort of thing.
• "Catching up" to the 360 IS a bad thing. You know, since Microsoft is expected to release a new console within a couple of years. What happens to multiplatform titles then?

If the Wii U really is only as powerful as the 360 and PS3, the lack of future proofing will hurt it in a few years' time, and it'll be the Wii all over again. I think Nintendo struck gold with the Wii, and managed to increase their audience by an amazing factor, but I don't see it happening with the Wii U. This time around they need to focus on the people who are going to upgrade from their Wii, and I dare say they are in the minority. They're also an entirely different market.

It'll be an interesting few years. Nintendo may have backed themselves into a corner with the Wii U, but it remains to be seen what happens.

@shinesprite: Well, then you also have to count digital games on XBLA and PSN. I've got no idea how that would change the picture.

@Phocks5: You've just completely contradicted yourself there.

Personally, I'd like to see some more IPs. Bringing out new entries in an existing franchise is fine - it's smart business, and the continuity is nice - but it can be overdone.

Having grown up a PC gamer, I have little attachment to Mario as a character. The games are great, but I'd find them just as good if they existed in a different universe with different characters and themes. I don't feel that excitement at the announcement of a new Mario game that some other people do, as I generally really only get excited when I start playing the game itself.

I like delving into new game worlds, with new background stories and characters and the like. As a result, new IPs hold a lot of appeal for me, and often I'd prefer that to a sequel.

I'd agree with him. I think more characters for the sake of more characters isn't a good thing. If more are brought in to cover different play styles and the like then that's fine, but you really don't want to have too many characters that are effectively reskins. Also, balance is important and becomes exponentially more difficult to achieve with more characters.

It's good he's aware of that!

Sounds like a cool little package!

I wonder what it's like using the keyboard - I imagine that might get frustrating after a while. I'd be interested to see what people manage to come up with (I often think that the most interesting part of these sorts of programs is seeing what people come up with within the limitations of the software).

Of course, it won't replace full-on programming on a PC, but the learning curve is probably much larger there!

I'll be jumping back into Custom Robo Arena. Hopefully I can finish the story off this weekend!

I've also been playing some Hammerfight on my laptop, which is turning out to be a fun distraction.

@Waltz: Haha OK I should have looked up the definition of grand strategy!

I've read reviews for the Hearts of Iron games but never played them. Mayhaps I'll check them out!

@James: I know you were joking, but I think that says more about the incredible rate at which computing technology has progressed than your age!

We got a 286 when I was 5, which was later upgraded to a 386. I remember being absolutely blown away when I saw screenshots of Quake II in a PC gaming magazine - I had never imagined graphics could get that good!

(To be fair, if you had a 3D accelerator it had coloured lighting and some other pretty spectacular effects like transparent water!)

@Skotski: Thanks, but unfortunately I don't have any systems that the Romance games are on!

As I said, I play the Total War series, which probably could be classed as 'grand strategy'. Rome: Total War is one of the best games I've ever played, and I've also got Shogun 2 and Medieval (I'm yet to really play either of those).

EDIT: Scratch that. I had a closer look on Wikipedia, and they were released on PC. I'll have to have a look into them!

@Waltz: Fair enough. I wasn't sure if you thought that it was shallow, or just shallow compared to Nobunaga (which I haven't played).

I'll keep thinking about it. If only I could understand Japanese, I'd grab a proper Nobunaga game - all the factors you need to consider make it sound right up my alley. (It sounds somewhat like the Total War series, which I absolutely love).

@Waltz: how would you feel if it had not had the Nobunaga name attached? (That's not a rhetorical question, I'm actually interested).

There's already a thread discussing this here:

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/06/amazon_uk_lists_wii_u_at_p19999

Feel free to continue discussion there if you like! :3

Did it have the price guarantee?!

It annoys me when he seems to feel like he has to deflect questions like that. People are going to find out right away what the battery life is like - why not just come right out and say it?

I'd have more respect if he just said, "Yeah it's a 3-5 hour battery life but that has been found to be sufficient in testing - remember, the tablet can be recharging during play" rather than skipping around the answer like he has.

I've noticed it in other interviews as well. PR spin only works if it's not completely obvious that it's spin.

Graphics are a useful, and highly visible, metric for the power of a system. It's something people can look at and use to make a reasonable comparison between systems.

No, graphics aren't everything. However, they ARE somewhat indicative of the overall power of the system - power that can be used for other things such as better AI, better physics, larger and less static environments (e.g. destructible terrain) etc. All of those lead to better game experiences.

If the Wii U isn't capable of displaying fantastic graphics then it's fair to say that it will have trouble handling cutting-edge routines that are somewhat hidden from the user. If that is truly the case, then I'd be a bit worried.

As for the gamepad resulting in poorer performance overall - I'd say that's inexcusable. If you're going to push that as the selling point of a new system, you should damn well make sure it works flawlessly.

@pastasauce: Nintendo has become self aware?

AARGH! We've created Skynet!

I've preordered it for PC - hopefully it comes out soon. It'll be one of the things my laptop can actually run! (I'm waiting to build a new gaming PC).

We're discussing this in the forums, too.

Surely a parental lock is a better way to go? How does Nintendo expect to be able to pay enough staff to moderate these messages?

Let's do a back of the envelope calculation. Assume that Wii U expands to an install base of 25 million at some point in the future. Let's also assume that 75% of those consoles are connected to the Miiverse. Take an example, on average of two messages being sent per user per day. Assume it takes an average of 10 seconds for a Nintendo staff member to read a message, decide if it's OK and click 'accept' (or whatever they need to do).

That then requires:

25x10^6 * 0.75 * 2 * 10 s = 3.75 * 10^8 man seconds to review a day's worth of messages. That's 4340 man days.

So, according to that estimate, HOLY CRAP THEY NEED ABOUT 4500 PEOPLE ON 24/7 MODERATION TO WATCH OVER MIIVERSE!

I don't think they thought this through...

That Darksiders II screenshot is gorgeous!

I think that making such a big deal about getting Arkham City was a bit revealing. In the gaming world, it's old. It'll be even older by the time Wii U comes out. In addition, the demo didn't really show off any unique use for the tablet. It just seemed they moved a few things to the second screen that would work just as well on the main screen.

It's great that it appears the Wii U looks like it might get some good 3rd party support, and I know Nintendo wanted to prove that after it was so lacking on the Wii. I just don't think a slightly enhanced version of a game from last year (that, let's face it, many people will have already played by the time it's released for the Wii U) is the way to showcase that.

@warioswoods: If I held Nintendo stock, I'd be a little worried too - and I follow this stuff very closely.

I think the worst indictment is that the loudest the crowd got was when Reggie referred to the whole "my body is ready"

I wasn't that impressed with it, to be honest. I've just finished watching the recording, and found myself skipping through more than one section.

It wasn't terrible, but Pikmin and ZombiU were the only things that really got me excited.

Nice impromptu video! It'll be an interesting wait to see what happens tomorrow.

@Captain_Hookey: "Crappy engine"? What on Earth are you talking about?

While it wouldn't be unprecedented, I'd be a little surprised. Particularly since the CCP would be incompatible with it.

That is, of course, unless the larger model has 2 circle pads built in...

@nimH37: Oh wow, in addition to living an unfulfilled life I'm repressed also! Screw paying a shrink, I can just come to Nintendolife comments for help!

@aaronsullivan: thanks for assuming I live a life unfulfilled. I never knew that's what was wrong with me!

Seriously, I'm passionate about many things. I just never got the whole yelling and screaming about stuff thing - I mainly just find it annoying.

Honestly, the reaction to the Zelda reveal is way over the top. It's like Apple conferences - people go absolutely nuts.

I don't understand.