ajcismo

Mario Kart 64. Aka "how I wasted my college years".
So many great memories, I could write a book.

Loved this game back in the early days of the N64. Highly doubt its held up, but it sure was a lot of fun back in the day.

Probably my favorite pure gaming system and by far my favorite controller. Happy birthday!

I was surprised with how not-complex the Dr.Strange table was compared with the other 3, reminded me of Zen's older more traditional tables.
That opening of Guardians, especially the first time you fire that table up, is just a mess. The table does grow on you, but trying to make sense of it at first is very odd. The concept is interesting, but execution seems random.
Enjoyed the Walking Dead and Deadpool tables, they're not up there with Empire Strikes Back as my favorite, but worth at least a demo try.

@Stu13
I'd say you sound pretty electric about this game. I was grounded at first myself, but now I might consider it because of its buzz.

@electrolite77
Gotta have some fun on the comment sections sometimes. People get a little too sensitive about replies sometimes. And a good day to you too sir.

@electrolite77
Bigfoot told me to say it, after he got off the UFO.

"There's no conspiracy here"
What's so fascinating about that statement is that it blindly admits to there being a conspiracy by 3rd party devs against the Wii U, Nintendo, and its customers. Almost as if certain other companies are pressuring developers into this sort of business practice.

I guess I'm torn on this one. As annoyed with how cruddy 3rd party devs treat the Nintendo customer in general, I can't get over the fact that Ubi has made some very good games on Nintendo's systems. EA & Activision are known for lousy, half-hearted ports at full price, but (at least to me) Ubi's games are usually pretty good, if not of a higher standard.
Absolutely love Beyond Good & Evil, found both AC3 & 4 a blast despite a few flaws and Child of Light is a gem worth every penny. Maybe Watch Dogs will be worth it, but it would be nice to know what we're getting in to before buying. Plus, getting treated like the red-headed stepchild as a Nintendo owner is getting old.

Danny DeVito would've been great, but considering the guy they wound up casting was by no-means a slouch in Mr.Hoskins (RIP), I fear SMB would've been doomed regardless.

@Ninhau
All valid points, and an excellent discussion. I am simply frustrated with the "blame the (Nintendo) consumer" angle we've been dealing with for the last few years. In all honesty, I believe many of these 3rd party issues could have been avoided with proper marketing campaigns. Also, having a CEO in Kyoto continuing to do nothing to woo back 3rd party devs isn't helping either. But thats a different topic for another day, since my stance on Mr.Iwata is already well documented and very unpopular.

@Ninhau
The gaming industry is the only industry I can think of off the top of my head that readily blames the consumer for its "problems" (ie: lack of sales) and punishes those who show loyalty to a product. Its unfortunate, completely backwards, and simply put, wrong. 3rd party devs have taken control in a shift of power as of the last few years, dictating the policies of the hardware manufacturers and literally holding the consumer hostage in the process. It wasn't like that for the first roughly 40 years that the industry has been around. Nintendo, Sega, even Atari dictated the policies until the late 90s/early 2000s when Sony and MS decided to build hardware and mostly stay out of the software biz. Literally designing their hardware to the specs that 3rd parties wanted them to build. Being loyal to a brand like Nintendo comes at a price: Great 1st party software and innovative hardware design, but a severe lack of mulit-plat games by companies who don't give a flying you-know-what about you unless you buy for a system they want to program for.

I'm confident it'll get cancelled. Iwata won't say or do anything about it, Ubi will use the "low install base" excuse despite the Wii U having better numbers than the Xbone. Its a load of garbage and we're getting punished this generation because Nintendo treated 3rd parties like crap for so long.

I'd buy it. Not that they care since most 3rd party devs hate Nintendo consumers nowadays anyways.

This is exactly the reason why Nintendo needs new leadership on top. Why isn't this abandonment from 3rd parties being addressed by Iwata? Instead its ignored, like the treatment we get from Ubi, EA & Activision. Using the Wii U install base excuse means nothing as it sells better than the Xbone and the 3DS has over 40 million, What a bunch of crap.

I love my aqua-blue 3DS I got at launch, it goes with me everywhere... but its quickly becoming a dinosaur. May have to upgrade soon.

I'm down with it. Worth $12 to me.

Its SM64 for me. The memories of playing it in college with my buddies are up there with Goldeneye and Mario Kart 64. We would pass the controller to the next guy every time you either died or got a star, keeping the pace fairly quick.

EA-bisoft? These big budget 3rd parties sure love to tout "business reasons" when its convenient not supporting certain consoles. But completely forget about business ethics when letting their general employees spout off on social media.

Great interview. I had no idea he spent time in Japan as an exchange student in high school, although it does make sense since he worked there for so long. Makes me wish I didn't sluff off so bad as a teen.

And I totally agree with him that the Wii U name is abysmal. That should've been the sentiment from day one at Big N HQ.

Great read, Darren, thumbs up.

I'd like to offer up a challenge for MS and Big N to come to an agreement on the RARE N64 titles to get them on the VC.

I also have bought AC3 & 4, and Zombie U. I swear the video game industry goes out of its way to punish its own consumer base.

He's like this weird cross between David Bowie, Harley Quinn and Miley Cyrus. Only creepier.

Sweet! Love me some Walking Dead & some pinball. Its like pb&j to me. I'll be picking that up.

The debate will rage on for decades to come, but one thing is for certain....
Nothing beats the 80s gaming artwork.

Nintendo is probably letting it happen to grease the wheels with the Chinese gov to get their new region-specific console approved faster.

@hcfwesker
Frontline was awesome. We had the trackball with Slither too.

Colecovision was my first console. I'd love to see it on the VC since mines been packed away in a box for decades and probably doesn't work. Had some GREAT arcade ports from the early 80s that blew the 2600 out of the water and sported some really odd controllers too. Please tell me I'm not the only one who remembers the Super Action Controller with the 4-finger buttons. I'd be curious as to how well oldies like Zaxxon, Venture, Cosmic Avenger, Mousetrap & Popeye (amongst others) have held up 30 years later. Count me in!

Thank goodness the map is an option, my wife constantly complains about it. Myself, I'd like to see more tracks added, but everything else they're updating is of no consequence to me.

Come for the article, stay for the comments...

I'm happy with having the 'Cube version in my collection, although I can see why some people might be upset about the Wii U version being left out.

Well... guess I know what I'm getting for Christmas from the wife this year. Must feed my Zelda obsession.

Bill & Ted was a blast, especially if you grew up with those movies. Totally made my day today being reminded of that game.

I used to prefer the physical copy, but have changed my tune these past few years in going almost strictly digital. This is due to convenience and the fact we have a little one in the house who can wreck havoc on discs if not put away properly. Having options is a good thing for consumers.
However... I'm still waiting for the day when all of Nintendo's (1st party) past library, from NES on through the Wii, will be available via download. Like a VC version of iTunes. I think someday we'll see it happen, along with an account system that is much more consumer friendly.

Nothing like a little salt-in-the-wound reminder that BG&E2 will never see the light of day on the Wii U. Despite the gamepad being perfect for photo-centric gameplay.

I'm hoping for Darunia combined with some sort of N64 Ocaria on the Wii U VC surprise announcement to go with it.

Marketing makes the world go 'round. If Mercedes sells more cars and Mario sells more Wii U's, then good for them. Hopefully the Powers in Kyoto take note that proper advertising works and should continue.

I do annual play-thru's on Wind Waker (my personal fave), Ocarina and Twilight Princess.
Its a fun poll, but asking Zelda fans what their favorite game is in the series is like asking what their favorite ice cream is... you'll get a different answer every time.

3 certainties in life:
-Taxes
-Death
-Major 3rd party multi-plat games getting delayed and/or outright cancelled on Nintendo systems

Was unwinding last night with some DQIV, thinking to myself how great it would be if DQX made its way to the U.S....
Articles like this frustrate me, especially when my wife laughs at my suggestions we should move to Japan.

Its WiiWare, what did he expect? This is like a band making an album, getting it out on cassette and wondering why nobody is buying it.

That last guy must've missed the memo that Nintendo does more than playing cards these days.

Just when I think I've seen just about everything... I stand corrected. Really liked what I saw tho. Looking forward to this title more and more.

Its amazing the cultural philosophy of different gaming companies...

Mr.Miyamoto is a brilliant man, has seen it all and still claims that he (and Nintendo as a whole) need to continue to be more creative to help drive the industry.

Meanwhile, just days before, EA head Peter Moore goes on about how EA will no longer support the handheld industry, thereby being less creative and choking the industry.

Same planet, different worlds.

I abandoned EA long ago. Let them do whatever they think they need to do to keep their dudebro customer base happy.

Being charged twice for the same VC game on my Wii U and 3DS drives me crazy and I have expressed this to Nintendo on several occasions. If I'm paying for the Rights and License to run the game on a particular system, than that should carry over to any other system I own as long as I'm not violating the Fine Print (piracy, re-dist, etc...). Its difficult because I refuse to buy the same game twice, so I have to be careful as to which system I want a particular VC title to be on.

Other cars I'd like to see, if only for the fact it would really annoy some people:
-any late 70s/early 80s AMC Eagle or Pacer, with rust.
-Limo from Cannonball Run w/chimp
-Adam West version Batmobile
-Austin "Danger" Powers Jaguar E-type Union Jack model
and
-The scooter from Dumb and Dumber
(seriously, lighten up if optional, free DLC of an actual car upsets you that much... maybe set the controller down for a bit and try a funny movie, like Spaceballs)

If only the powers that be could somehow bestow upon us the RARE N64 titles we all deserve on the VC.

That being said... an HD version of Skies of Arcadia would probably cause me to use up all my vacation time. A man can dream.

As much as I love the VC and retro gaming, the amount of media backlash Big N would've gotten at E3 for spending time on "old" games with the VC would've been ridiculous. I'm glad they touted the new stuff.

To me, the whole point of Mii's are to make gaming more interactive. Why make it a unique selling point with the Wii U if its not being used in what might be the biggest game of the holiday season? I would've been more shocked had Nintendo kept Mii out.