Wolfcoyote

@McHaggis Well, thank you very much for showing me that in return for a legitimate question, I get slapped in the face. Perhaps you're right, and maybe this site isn't for me.

See ya.

No offense, but shouldn't this news have been saved until the devs announce tentative plans to release the game outside of Japan? Us readers may be getting our hopes up for nothing by viewing this piece.

Nothing against NintendoLife, but this has been something I've been thinking about lately. Why can't journalists leave Japanese announcements for Japan until confirmed plans for overseas releases come to fruition?

Oh my God! Finally! I finished my high school education by slaving away at my internship and playing Kirby's Block Ball with every free moment that I had, and it's awesome that it's finally available. It's enough to make me forget my Steam library to be able to lie on the couch and play this game. Downloading it and the Rayman Origins demo now.

I'm also a huge fan of Guardian Heroes (and still has a Saturn with which to play it). Here's hoping that a not-so-greedy publisher picks this up.

Today's the day. Picking it up right after work. Apparently I bought my 3DS just in time...

I'm more than happy that Nintendo stuck by their guns. I've been brought up by devout Christians and while I'm nowhere near as devout as many of my relatives I tend to draw the line when it comes to certain games and media twisting religion to suit themselves.

I honestly don't see what the problem is; it's Nintendo's service, therefore Nintendo has the right approve or disapprove the content. As a previous poster stated, parents and critics won't be looking at Team Meat, they'll be howling for Nintendo's downfall. And the fact that TM seems to be chiding Nintendo when the other console makers aren't allowing the game on their services either makes me more than annoyed at TM.

Off-topic: their port of Super Meat Boy for the Mac was one of the most laziest ports from an indie dev that I've ever seen (shows Xbox controls on the interface...hello...it's on a Mac now!). If that's the quality that TM willingly allows regarding desktop ports of their software, then all the more reason why Nintendo shouldn't allow tBoI.

Sadly I'm going to be at work, so I'm going to miss the live feed. I'll just have to race home after work to follow the RSS feeds.

This couldn't have come at a better time; I'm heading to the NWS in NY to pick up my 3DS in a couple of weeks. In a sense, they're giving me additional motivation to choose 3DS over an iDevice.

This BETTER come out for as many territories as humanly possible.

This one is a definite must-have. This one and Wario Land II are in my top five GB favorites.

This is good news seeing as how MobiClip-enhanced opening videos made a large difference over early DS opening movies (remember the Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow opening vid? X[). I think the real question that everyone above is asking is how Nintendo plans to use MC's technologies...

I loved this game and couldn't stop putting this down during high school graduation practices. Here's hoping that the title comes out before the end of March.

@NintyPuristZack: The Game Boy Pocket is alive and well in my house, and the DSi XL is my main DS unit. So there's still hope.

Re topic: I might just pick it up anyway as (if my huge DS library is any indication) sooner or later I'll run into more than a handful of games which require the addon. Plus, it's only $20.00 and 500 hours of power from a single battery; it's more than enough value. And yes it's not the most attractive-looking piece of hardware but that what briefcases and bags are for.

@JimLad: Why in HEAVEN'S NAME should video chat be included? Isn't the premise of voice communication enough?

I mean, PSN and XBL have video chat features but (for good reason), most core gamers don't use these features. Why would anyone wish to see and speak to the person that they're playing against? Please forgive my bluntness but discontinuing friend codes is a GREAT thing, but enabling video chat would cause circumstances which would prompt Nintendo to put the friend codes BACK IN.

This looks rather intriguing; I'd pick it up when and if it becomes available in the West.

Add another one when I purchase my 3DS from the Nintendo Store in March.

@unmannedrobot: you know that they meant that Guardian Heroes was the Sega Saturn release, right?

This looks really good. I haven't played a Rayman-based game since Revolution for the PS2; I may pick this up later this year. My friend is really addicted to it, though.

There was an old Retronauts episode (1Up podcast) related to the Mario Kart series and glitches that could be exploited; the resulting debate in the middle of the episode was whether glitches like the one explained in this post were specifically created for players to take advantage of or if the game was unintentionally broken. My first reaction when reading this article was "oh great, I didn't even purchase the game yet and someone figured out a way to break it". Upon remembering that Retronauts episode, I decided that if hardcore Nintendo gamers were savvy enough to find such a shortcut, then more power to them.

This isn't like the snaking exploit found and used on MK DS (I never even tried to use it because I felt that it was unfair), but it's an actual environment shortcut found and used by more skilled gamers. I applaud and support these kinds of gamers because they pay more attention to their gamers than average players.

@Lordlz: Crap, I forgot about Rhythm Thief! That game looked awesome! Yet another reason why we shouldn't worry too much about the software holes. There's probably at least a dozen more titles that many others forgot.

I haven't posted here for a long while, but this feature is a good reason to begin posting again. Great feature guys and here's hoping for many more.

My two cents regarding the 3DS in 2012: it's true that third-party support is a little lacking but there should definitely be a huge plethora of announcements coming upon E3 2012. The issue will be the third-party development community splitting resources between the 3DS and the Vita, with many of the developers wishing to test the limits of the Vita rather than devote more resources than necessary for 3DS development (NIS and Nihon Falcom being the chief among them).

Despite this, if Nintendo and their partners work harder to push the eShop and it's content then that should help to assuage 3DS owners' fears during the "dry months". While I'm not blind to the gaping holes in their software offerings it still won't stop me from traveling to NY and purchasing one in early March. SM3DL, MK7, OoT3D, Kid Icarus and the upcoming Tales of the Abyss along with games that I grew up with like DK '94, Wario Land 3 and others will be well worth it until newer experiences become available.

And I'm sure that many of us have huge DS libraries to supplement the scant offerings of physical 3DS software...

I've stopped purchasing WiiWare titles (though I think I have over twenty) not only because I've stopped searching everywhere and reading up on releases but also because I'm afraid of Nintendo's attitude of "oh well, your loss" when my Wii finally dies. I was also tired of navigating the store, which shouldn't be chore if you're trying to give Nintendo and third-party devs money.

.........wow.

Thank God we're now getting games on the opposite end of the spectrum (meaning good) like Shantae and Cave Story to circumvent atrocious releases like this. I just can't stop laughing at the comments! I can see if you were trapped in a mine or something then yeah, but you'd have the sense to have a heavy-duty flashlight and some form of communication. This DL just...just...sucks.

I had purchased Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, and Silver and STILL didn't bother getting a Mew. I was thinking of starting a new Pokemon SoulSilver save file this weekend anyway so, great.

I read about this topic via 1Up. It's not as if Epic was planning anything for the 3DS anyway (or even the PSP/PSP2 for that matter). I consider this statement nothing more than an attempt to make press coverage for Epic and their upcoming next-gen games.

We get it, Rein. The dozens of FPSs that you produce cannot or will not be recognized within 3DS's hardware constraints which have yet to be realized. I'm no Nintendo fanboy (I like Steam better nowadays more than the console makers at the moment) but it's people like Rein, Cliffy B, and others who bask in their self-endowed...well...I'm done.

@PunnyGuy - if only they had come up with this method when switching between DSi and DSi XL. My DSi was out of warranty when the shoulder buttons refused to work. I bought a TON of DSiWare that I lost when I updated to newer hardware and was afraid to purchase more DSiWare games. Now I can repurchase Mighty Flip Champs, buy Shantae and Cave Story and not lose any of them when I purchase the 3DS next year.

That's great that they're attempting to accurately gauge demand and adjusting supply accordingly. There's been too much in the form of good news surrounding this handheld that I'm more excited for this than the original PSP back in 2005. A Virtual Console with GB and GBC support. Backwards compatibility with DS games. A better DSiWare interface. Updated graphics with and without 3D effects. Adjusting supply to meet rabid demand is a must in order to avoid the mobs.

Darn it! My copy of MFC was in my old out-of-warranty DSi with the malfunctioning shoulder buttons. When I got my replacement DSi XL I thought about buying MFC again but didn't. If I had known about this offer I wouldn't have spent money on PSN yesterday!

Next payday I'll definitely grab MFC again and add enough points for Shantae. We've all been waiting God knows how long...

Mind-blowing technology from Nintendo is certainly something to look forward to, but it looks like the future is moving more towards portability and Nintendo's upcoming 3DS will have that sewn up in the coming year. I have to ask: who really has time for non-portable games in this day and age besides school-age children or for adults on vacation or days off? In this economy everyone's being overworked or under the pretense that their jobs will disappear.

Not to put a damper on potentially exciting hardware announcements/releases but with the world economy the way it is, Nintendo can't afford for the new machine to not have a sizable audience to play the console as well as the games. This goes for any potential upcoming hardware at this point in time.

@Bass X0: You're kinda asking a lot for a console that has one foot in the grave by now. Then again, SMW and SMW2 re-drawn using NSMB's engine would be INSANE. However, only experienced old-school gamers would purchase it due to the nostalgia factor unless the control scheme is the same as NSMB.

You know what? I purchased SMB, SMB3 and SMW for Virtual Console already but should this package be released in NA I'm still going to grab it. I loved playing All-Stars back in the mid-90s (I was late to the SNES party as I was a Genesis/CD/32X owner); that compilation was so fun that it inspired me to go searching for more SNES games before they were cleared from shelves. It's because of All-Stars that my new N64, refurbished Saturn and all of my old Sega junk gathered dust.

@lockelocke
Your points are valid regarding Nintendo's initial marketing towards the casual audience, but for myself I don't see a problem with the Wii's lineup (and I say this as a well-rounded gamer) with the exception of few choices for JRPGs. But for GTA and FPS games, that's what my PS3 and Steam is for. I'm in the same boat as you in wishing that Nintendo tried a little harder in creating an environment for third-party developers (better marketing, more tech, better quality control regarding software) but keeping on topic with the article, the main point is that despite ALL of it's shortcomings, Nintendo has sold over 30M units.

Just the fact that the "weakest" console on the market with the least software support managed to not only succeed in the dog-eat-dog gaming industry, but to do so in the most harshest, most critical section of the global market speaks volumes. Think back to the early 1990s when everyone in the industry harshly ridiculed Nintendo's Game Boy in the face of more advanced competition (Atari's Lynx, Sega's Game Gear, NEC's Turbo Express). With Game Boy's yellowish-green screen with weak contrast and tinny speaker everyone thought that there was no way in heck that the thing could compete. And then Tetris came. Then Mario Land 2. RC Pro Am. Mega Man. Final Fantasy Legend. Kirby. Fewer batteries to replace. Longer portability. And on and on.

My point is that despite the Wii's shortcomings it has beat the odds. As gamers, if one console doesn't satisfy our needs, then we pick up another and enjoy the best of both. And despite the fact that I'm more interested in my Mac nowadays than my consoles, Sin & Punishment 2 and Metroid will be joining the other twenty-eight Wii games (all non-casual BTW) in my library.

I'll wait and hear it straight from Iwata's mouth, thanks.

@47: If it'll support all that, you better hope that it comes with a competitive price point.

As for me, I think I'm finally reaching the point where I won't need a non-portable console, especially if the 3DS will be as awesome as every journalist makes it out to be. I'm only 32 but after twenty-five years of playing games I'm getting worn out, I think it's time to go to handheld gaming with PC/Mac games for my high-res fix.

Surely the new Nintendo (Iwata era) will consider this series a compliment to their Mario series and allow a limited release in NA without prosecution. Unlike the Yamauchi-era Nintendo, who probably threatened to send in the Yakuza, the Russian mob, the Sicilians, et al. when this game originally released in the '80s.

Maybe I should import this? This should work on a NA DSi XL, right?

Not only was Rare good for creating complex graphics tools and engines that unlocked unknown powers in Nintendo's previous consoles, they had the freedom (as a second-party developer) to take advantage of Nintendo's or other franchises and develop new ideas. It's this talent that the old Rare had that made games like the DKC series a standout in the fading 16-bit era and killed the early 32/64-bit consoles (3DO, 32X,Jaguar) even as Sony's PlayStation and Sega's Saturn launched. Their Goldeneye, Banjo-Kazooie and DK64 games gave the N64 an excuse to exist as others were enjoying FFVIII and Sonic Adventure on other consoles. As for Gamecube's SFA...meh.

Sadly, I just don't see any reason to support Rare either as they've lost themselves by moving away from Nintendo. Without them unlocking the innermost powers of an "underpowered" console and using this power to develop fun games by bankable franchises, Rare can't be the developers that they once were. Rare was more of a technology company than a game developer in their later years, which may be the reason why they have no "muse" to draw inspiration from at the moment.

I gave Tetris DS to my mother with my old DS Lite and bought Tetris Party Deluxe for the DS. I should have gotten the Wii version as there's probably more players online as the DS lobby is rather empty. What's weird is that the original Tetris Party lobbies are still active, leading me to assume that there probably isn't that many willing purchasers of Deluxe due to already owning the WiiWare game.

I'm going to stop reading 3DS-related posts until E3 as this is starting to get out of hand. Reading these piques my excitement but I just realized that if it won't be released for another year then what's the point of getting excited?

I have to agree with many of the above posts stating that NOA just doesn't try hard enough concerning marketing the best of the third-party to their core audience, but I'm thinking that with the Wii, the definition of the core audience has been skewed now that non-gamers and casuals have purchased the units more than anyone else. I'll also go out on a limb and say that the attempt to correct North America's more experienced gamers' perceptions of the Wii's library has been "too much, too late" in 2010, especially with the PS3 and 360 as competition.

I agree with the criticism regarding some of the two-tone color schemes as some of them go great together while others cause the landscape to be painful to navigate or are just visually displeasing. Still, not bad at all for 800 points.

The blue one really jumps out at me, but I've just purchased the brown DSi XL five days ago. In my opinion I would have loved either a white one or a black one for the simple reason that I'm used to those colors for handhelds. Still, it's the XL and as long as the shoulder buttons don't malfunction then any available color would be fine.

@WildPidgeyAppears: if it makes you feel any better, I NEVER liked Chrono Cross. I purchased the game thinking that it would exceed all of my expectations and it turned out to be a boring, slow-paced game unworthy of the original's fame.

Back on topic: I really hope that a semi-intelligent (I'm assuming) SE writer like Kato-san would have the sense to rethink his stance logically and retract that statement. And shame on Kotaku for being so desperate for content that they had to go to the depths of Twitter to pull out something as illogical as this. I would point the finger at NL as well but for some reason I'm hesitant.

I've purchased X-Scape as the first title for my new DSi XL (long story about picking up a DSi XL instead of a DS Lite) and I've played it for almost four hours. I wanted to wait for a NL review but the game stirred up a few memories of the Mega CD/Sega CD game Stellar Fire (Sierra by Dynamix). Controls were rather touchy (especially flying) and there's a lack of variety in weapons, landscapes and upgrades. It doesn't detract too much from the entertainment factor and I can say that it was worth the 800 points and the chunk of storage space. I'll post more whenever NL publishes the review.

I'm sorry NL, but this wasn't worthy of posting. I just happened to visit AnandTech and read their in-depth review of the iPad, and included with the review were pictures of how iPad users would hold it or balance it in their laps. Seeing those photos made me give up on the iPad completely.

If tech-savvy people have trouble holding the iPad for long periods of time simply watching media or doing light web surfing then how the heck can gamers play full-featured games on the thing? Kato-san's comment is very misguided and makes no sense based on this fact alone. There's also the issue of price (paying $300.00 USD more just to play pretty yet cheap and unpolished games? Really?), controls (we all agree that we need buttons - as in more than one for gaming - unless we use a stylus [not fingers]) and distribution (too many complaints about Apple getting more than their fair share of revenue from game sales, plus too much control over the development kits and the approval process).

NL, your site is great and it's the only one worthy of being my home page, but while you've succeeded in opening up some dialogue using a not-so-great topic (and from Kotaku? Come ON) just...just...I can't say anything else.

@Jumbif: perhaps something akin to the unreleased Sonic Xtreme but with the special stages from the Saturn version of 3D Blast? That may be a little more popular with gamers than the isometric original.

To be honest, the music and the special stages of the Saturn version made the game top-notch, but the controls, the isometric view and the gameplay were the reasons why many people still disliked it. Looking towards the future, if this means more Sonic 4-like games then that would be good enough. Less gimmicks, more gameplay.

This one sounds really good. Cubello didn't disappoint me on WiiWare (my sister even tried it a few times when I wasn't around) and this one looks like another winner. The neon colors and the black background (the art style) would look great on a television.

@mushroomer:
Read the latest Iwata Asks interview; they stated that the original idea was to rerelease SMG with updated levels but the development team had so many new ideas regarding the physics that it became a completely different game.

And regarding the complaint about EAD Tokyo reusing the engine - some games benefit from from an engine's reuse. Valve's Half-Life 2 series (Source engine) says hi.

During the yesteryears of E3 (when commencing as May showings) I would take the day off to view the live coverage of both Nintendo and Sony's showings, but I can't do it anymore because I'm needed for closing the books for my office's fiscal year (July-June). Meaning: no "off" days in June...

I'll simply do what I've one last year and keep refreshing the NL home page and conversing with friends on PSN and the Wii.

It's very impressive considering they've been fighting against high-definition machines backed by a multi-billion dollar international consumer products conglomerate and an international software corporation with state, government and worldwide contracts (Sony and Microsoft). It's also ironic that attempts to compete in the high-tech race in the previous generation have nearly failed while taking the minimalist approach in the face of technologies such as the Blu-ray disc, 1080p, near-unrestricted collaboration between online gamers and massive internal capacities that we take for granted are classified as today's standards.

"Leave luck to Heaven" indeed.

@Pegasus That's exactly what I thought. I was keen on purchasing ModNation Racers but not being able to play TrackMania for a while really makes me want to purchase this game as a birthday gift to myself.

This game reminds me of an LCD game called Intelligence Counter from the mid-90s. In that game a stick figure pushed boxes around mazes and placing them in assigned areas while trying not to have boxes stuck against walls and corners. The gameplay had been done dozens of times before and dozens of times since by other developers.

I don't know, some may find appeal in this title mainly because it may be yet another handy game for gamers on the go, but after Alpha Bounce taking a more cautious approach to my DSiWare purchases.

I was a serious TM nut back in 2007 when I purchased my first 64-bit Windows PC, and even more when I installed Steam and several TrackMania games on my laptop. The music was sublime, the graphics were gorgeous and the gameplay kept me at the screen until I had a headache. I haven't been able to play since I switched to Mac (I haven't purchased Crossover or Windows 7 yet), and TrackMania DS was rather lacking because of the lack of online and crippled multiplayer modes. Seeing as how TM Wii will deliver a more well-rounded experience, I'm really looking forward to it.

Regarding the release date: one site says May 7th, another site says May 25th. I'm going to pre-order the game this week. What's going on? I have Trauma Team and SMG2 o worry about as well...