After 2011 and 2012's terrible E3s, and last year's very safe approach, the Digital Event was a breath of fresh air. There were some hiccups here and there, but overall i think Nintendo had the best performance of the big three.
If there is a such thing as 'winning' E3 (there really isn't, but let's pretend), Nintendo did it this year in my book.
They cant do a big price drop, and already dropped it last year by $50. I could see them selling it at $250, which at this point i think would be a bargain for what is on offer. By mid 2015, Wii U will still have the best exclusive library of games out of the three big consoles, and it won't really even be close. If great titles like Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros, and Legend of Zelda U aren't enough to move a significant amount of units, then i have a hard time believing a price drop will help much either.
Wii U is never going to beat PS4/XBO in sales, but it can carve out its own place in the market by offering top notch games that can't be found anywhere else.
N64 games were confirmed to be coming by Nintendo in the January 2013 Nintendo Direct along with GBA games. And then they were never mentioned again, like Fire Emblem x SMT in the same Direct.
I don't get why people get upset when certain characters get put it these games. I want as many unique characters as possible, and would much rather have the Miis and Wii Fit Trainer in this game than just another clone of Star Fox like Falco/Wolf or whatever.
@PokeAl Not sure what you mean by that. The older i get, the less i find myself enjoying stuff like CoD, Halo, GTA, etc. I think i'm a very mature person, but hardly any of the games i enjoy playing have that M rating slapped on them. I loved playing that stuff as an adolescent. I played more hours of Halo, Mass Effect, Left 4 Dead, etc than i care to admit from ages 14-21. But now when i go back and play those games, they just don't stick the same way they used to. Also, the people i know that are in their late 20s like me that still do play those kinds of games are by far the most immature people i know in my age bracket. I don't know if there's any significant correlation there, but i dont find it surprising that those types of games seem to attract a very particular personality type. I prefer the games that Nintendo makes because anyone can play them. A five year old girl, her mom, her grandpa and her fourteen year old male cousin can all sit down for 4 player Mario Kart and have an absolute blast. But at the same time, Nintendo's games offer an insane amount of depth that most 'family friendly' games don't. Games like Pokemon, Mario Kart, and Zelda all have tons of depth and secrets that require mastering techniques and trial and error in ways that games like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed, who look deep on surface but are actually very shallow, can only dream of. I don't know what you meant by saying Nintendo doesn't offer good gaming experiences for mature gamers, but i think it was a bit off base. If people refuse to play games like Mario Kart 8 because they don't 'look mature' then i would suggest they have some embarrassing insecurities relating to their own maturity.
Super Smash Bros WiiU Legend of Zelda Hyrule Warriors Bayonetta 1+2 Kirby's Rainbow Curse Pushmo World Splatoon Star Fox Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker Yoshi's Woolly World Xenoblade Chronicles X Mario Maker Mario Party 10 Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric Devil's Third Amiibo
Add all that to the Wii U's existing library that includes Mario Kart 8, LEGO City Undercover, Rayman Legends, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Super Mario 3D World, Wii Party U, Pikmin 3, Wii Sports Club, NSMBU, Sonic Racing Transformed, Nintendo Land, two Arkham Batman games, Sonic Lost World, and more. Add all that to the great eshop offerings from VC titles like Super Metroid and Advance Wars to great indie games like Scram Kitty, SteamWorld Dig, Shovel Knight, Stick it to the Man, and Trine 2.
Surely everyone can find something on that list worth owning a WiiU for, and if you can't, then you, my friend, must really hate fun and/or video games.
If they just take the mask concept from MM, that's fine. I'd welcome it. But anything else (lack of dungeons, moody and depressing atmosphere, or the three days and reset formula), no thanks. My favorite part of Zelda games are the dungeons, which MM was severely lacking in. My two least favorite 3D Zelda games (TP and MM) are also the only two with dark, brooding atmospheres. And the three day formula was cool at first but eventually just became outright annoying.
Oh and when i say MM and TP are my two least favorite 3D zeldas, please understand that that simply means i still love them to death, but just not as much as the others. 3D Zelda games are right behind 3D Mario games as my all time favorites.
People aren't buying Tomodachi Life because they have no idea what it's supposed to be. From the Japanese title to the gameplay videos, most westerners see them and just wonder if Nintendo's devs have lost their minds. It's an overly Japanese game with very strange, quirky humor and it isn't going to appeal to everyone.
I haven't got TL for several reasons. The first is that even after reading reviews and watching videos, i still have no idea what the game really is all about (seems like it's about nothing in particular and gives you no clear objectives, but rather just gives you a bunch of random chores and minigames to slog through). The second reason is that it honestly looks like the kind of game one would play on a smart phone. And lastly, i already own what seems to be a much better life simulation game (one with clear goals and a less random-minigame kind of gameplay) in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. So even if TL was something that i thought i might like, that would give me two games i'd feel obligated to check in on daily, when one is more than enough for me. If TL were a $15 eshop game, sure, i may give it a go. But a $40 retail title is asking too much for a game that i can't even really get an idea of what it is.
On the other hand, for those of you that did buy it, i hope you enjoy it! It's just not something i feel i'd enjoy, nor something i think has really wide appeal for the reasons above.
My personal top 10: 1) Pikmin 3 2) Mario Kart 8 3) Super Mario 3D World 4) Zelda: Wind Waker HD 5) Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze 6) Sonic & Allstars Racing Transformed 7) The Wonderful 101 8) Rayman Legends 9) Nintendo Land 10) ZombiU
I have not played LEGO City though, and i would include MH3U but i prefer that series on portables.
Not really sure of this is my type of game, but i'm glad it's finally out for those who will really get into it! I may eventually get this for my wife, as it seems like the kind of thing she'd enjoy.
Gonna go ahead and wait til the game comes out before i start spewing hate. Its just one character and its not even that bad. This character is in no way as bad as Mario Kart 8 giving us pointless, stupid characters like Pink Metal Gold Peach and Baby Daisy. Let's let the game come out and maybe give it a go or two before we rage on it.
That looks hilariously strange. I'd drive it, simply because seeing a Mercedes fly throught the air using a glider shaped like a flying squirrel is funny to me. Especially if there's a baby driving.
Really though, i would love paid DLC for this game. New tracks would be awesome but what i'd really want are arenas. They don't even have to make new ones, just upgrade retro arenas into HD and that'd be enough for me. I'd totally buy Block Fortress HD to play with all my friends.
Just wait until the big name JRPGs hit PS4: Final Fantasy XV, Kingdom Hearts III, etc. WiiU will be left in the dust when that happens in Japan since neither of those titles are coming for it.
On the bright side, the chances of Xbox One outselling WiiU in Japan are slim to none! I don't even think Japan knows what an Xbox is.
Why don't they do the same cross platform discount?! What a wasted opportunity. Although now that the first two games are on sale, i'll probably still pick at least one of them up.
I won't buy Watch Dogs until one of two things happens: it hits WiiU or it is on sale for $20 or less on Steam. If neither of those happens, there's a very slim chance i'll get it when i get a PS4 next year, but by the time that happens my hype for Watch Dogs will probably have expired in favor of other upcoming WiiU/3DS/PS4 games like Monster Hunter 4, Final Fantasy XV and Star Wars: Battlefront 3.
@DestinyMan i live about 45 min from Castleton. I can't go to the one during the week because of work, but i'll be at the one on Saturday. Definitely excited to try out the new Smash. I hope we can play as any character. I'd love to try out Little Mac.
Minecraft won't sell WiiUs, as its already on everything else, but it would be a great addition to the software library. I'd download it for sure. I've played the 360 version at my brother's and its pretty fun. I think it'd be even better on WiiU using the GamePad.
I have only two memories of the Wifi on Wii: playing Mario Kart Wii at my parents' house (i never bought the game myself) with my family over Christmas break one year, and attempting to play Smash Bros once with a good friend from high school who had moved across the country.
My first experience was Smash Bros. My good friend and I had been waiting for the game since it was announced, but we graduated high school the summer before its release. Both of us were from Indiana, but i moved to Tennessee for college and he wound up on the east coast. When Smash Bros came out, we got in contact over the internet to exchange friend codes and quickly hopped online. We had spent hours and hours playing Smash Bros on N64 and GCN since we met in 7th grade, so i was so excited our tradition could continue even though we were now miles apart. Unfortunately the online multiplayer is Smash Bros Brawl was a laggy, pitiful mess. We tried over and over again that day to connect properly and get a coherent game going, but couldnt. It was awful and aside from that Christmas break in which my family played Mario Kart Wii for hours and hours, i never used the online capabilities of my Wii again except to download some VC games.
Man i wish Nintendo would just get with it already and give us a worthwhile online gaming experience. I feel like it really shouldnt be that hard, since every other gaming company seems to have figured it out.
Mario Kart and Smash Bros will both give the WiiU a nice boost, but there is no saving it now. It's too late now. The WiiU has become a joke in the media, and that perception (whether true or not) has sunk into the public mindset. The WiiU will be lucky to sell as many units as the Gamecube, and Nintendo has no one to blame but themselves for making an underpowered, gimmicky (although fun) console that they marketed terribly and didn't make it friendly for 3rd parties to use compared to its competition... All of that is why the WiiU has sold less than 7mil in 18 months. By the end of this year, it may not even have sold 10mil. That's awful. That's Sega Saturn level bad. Unless they can pull some kind of crazy magic trick in the very, very near future, the WiiU won't sell close to the 22mil the GameCube sold, making it Nintendo's biggest failure since the Virtual Boy.
Lol at whoever said OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire will likely be the last main series Pokemon games on 3DS. They make new ones or remake an old one every 2 years on average. I doubt the 3DS gets shelved in 2016. Nintendo's handhelds (except for the GBA) generally last at least 6-7 years. I don't expect a new handheld in the next 2 years, but i definitely expect Gen 7 of Pokemon by the end of 2016.
It'll probably sell 1 million worldwide. I probably won't get it though. Don't really like the Dynasty Warriors games, and if this game is just one of those but with a coat of Zelda paint on it, count me out. I'll just wait for the next real Zelda game to come out.
It won't be Majora's Mask 3D. I don't think they'd give a remake its own dev discussion since it'd be being ported by a 2nd party with Nintendo just overseeing it. And we can rule out Pokemon since that was announced already.
More than likely it's a Mario game or a new IP. Those are the only two games i can see Nintendo giving that much time to.
I hope though, that it is a new Metroid game. I'd also take a new Wario Land or a new IP so long as it isn't something casual/oriented like most of Nintendo's new IPs since the Wii came out.
Sick of this idea going around that Nintendo is racist because they don't have many black or hispanic characters. Newsflash everyone: Nintendo is a Japanese company. They are located in Japan, which is 99% Japanese. They aren't culturally bound to the inclusion of all races in their games, anime, manga, movies, etc because there really is no diversity over there. No one gets offended over there when there are no hispanic people in Naruto, because there are virtually no hispanic people to offend. Japanese people don't feel the need to shoehorn in characters pf varying races because it just isn't culturally relevant for them like it is to us in the west. Over here, if we don't include characters of every race (sometimes whether it makes sense or not) in everything we create, we're labeled racist. That's not an issue over in Japan. If Nintendo really was even remotely racist, there would only be Japanese people in Mario Kart. Guess how many Japanese people are in the game? Zero. It's all Italian or White people, with some turtles and monkeys and mushrooms thrown in. It's not a racist thing, it's just a cultural difference in the way they make games. If anything, those accusing Nintendo of being racist are just being culturally ignorant themselves. They need to actually investigate why there are no black characters in Mario games instead of lazily jumping at the chance to pull the racist card.
Oh, and Nintendo did ruin battle mode. Most people i've talked to who have had the chance to play it say it's not tha fun anymore and it suffers from the lack of arenas. I loved arenas in the other games, so it is definitely a disappointment to me that they didn't include them. Maybe DLC can fix that but i doubt it, because that would mean Ninty admitting they made a mistake, which rarely happens.
And duh MK8 won't sell as much as MKWii. The award for 'Best Article Written for Click Bait in May 2014' goes to... Polygon! Great job, guys!
@SamirMalik 15million? Nintendo wishes. Only 6.17 people on earth own a WiiU. If i were a betting man, i'd put money on PS4 and XBO hitting 15 million units sold before WiiU hits 10 million. Sad considering WiiU had a year's head start.
I love the GamePad. I live in a one-TV household, so if it weren't for the Gamepad and off-Tv play, i'd barely get any play time for my console games. The GamePad may not be as intuitive or innovative as the Wii Remote was, but i like it more.
I will agree, though, that it has yet to be used properly. Its uniqueness goes mostly unused except for in a few select titles like Nintendo Land, ZombiU, Wii Party U and Game & Wario. Most key first party games offer no meaningful GamePad features other than off-TV play. Mario Kart 8 and SM3DW make little us of it, and DKCTF just flat out shuts the second screen off completely. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for your product there, Nintendo.
Good news is that Ninty seems to know this, and GamePad featured games are coming. I doubt they'll save WiiU, but that doesn't mean they won't be fun and interesting, which is all i care about at this point.
Scram Kitty, Moon Chronicles and probably at least one of the discounted Atlus games for me. Probabky won't get all of thise this week, but will get em all eventually.
While i'm still getting the game, i'm very disappointed in the battle mode lacking arenas. Using the standard tracks instead is just lazy by Nintendo and makes it look like the game was rushed a bit to help WiiU sell (which it won't do well enough anyway).
The game still looks fun either way, but i'm a huge fan of battle mode and this entry looks pretty disappointing in that aspect. Luckily everything else about the game looks fantastic.
@SecondServing it's comments like that that make me wish reviews didn't give numerical scores. You know, so that way people would have to actually read through a few reviews (which btw are simply opinions of a single person) and then based upon all the information given, use their own brains and decide for themselves if it sounds like a game they would be interested in.
Using a single number as the ultimate determiner as to whether or not a game is good is lazy and just one of many things that are wrong with the majority of gamers today.
I laughed a bit when i read you encounter a dude named Tsukigami. Tsukigami can mean Moon God in Japanese. Wonder if that's forshadowing...? Anyway it sounds like an interesting game, so i may pick it up once i have the time to do so.
Cool. At $9, i'll try it out later this summer when i have more time and stuff. June is so packed for me that i'm not even sure how often i'll be able to play Mario Kart 8, let alone get to all the great eshop and VC games that have come out lately and arr coming soon. Too many games to play, not enough time or money.
I will always have a soft spot for Sega and especially Sonic. They aren't what they used to be, but i'll still keep supporting them, especially as long as they keep putting games on Nintendo consoles.
New Super Mario Bros U and 2 selling more than games like Link Between Worlds, Luigi's Mansion 2, and Pikmin 3 should be considered a crime. It's no wonder Nintendo has been making safe sequels lately... Thats what people keep buying. NSMB is Nintendo's Call of Duty. Keep churning out the same, uninspired stuff, but gamers keep buying it in droves.
The Wii U is a failure guys. No need to candy coat it or try to ignore it. It is important to accept, because this has to be a learning experience for Nintendo. The fact is that when it comes to home console gaming, they've been slowly drifting away from what gamers want since the N64 era. They were able to justify that with the fluke success of Wii that was brought on by casuals buying it for fitness games, but now that market has moved on to mobile, and many of the once loyal core gamer fans Nintendo had during the NES/SNES/N64 days left a while ago for consoles that better fit their wants and needs. Nintendo should learn a great deal from this, and should rebrand their consoles and start catering to core gamers again. Instead, it sounds like they're going to keep trying to appeal more to the flaky, unloyal casual audience with this new QOL platform rather than use their resources to build a gaming console that people actually want. They are so ridiculously out of touch with their demographic that it is a joke to people now.
Looks great, though it'll have to wait. I've still got to finish up DKCTF and Xenoblade Chronicles (on the home stretch on both, but do want to get 100% on DK), and i'm also playing to crap out of Mario Golf: World Tour right now. I still haven't even downloaded either Child of Light or Stick It to the Man yet either. I just haven't had the time or free cash to spend lately and it's been a busy last month (with even more busy to come until the end of June).
@CrabGats even if thats the case, i don't see it happening anytime soon, and definitely not in the same form. It's not like they just missed their target... They didn't even get 10% of it. It was a complete failure. A failed KS communicates to the developer that there isn't enough interest in the project to justify a release. Why make it if they'd only be able to make back 10% of what they spent on it?
Sucks they don't get to make Cult County, but they do have other titles in the works. Treasurenauts, Moon Chronicles and Mutant Mudds 2 all look/sound great, and with CC off the table, maybe they'll get more focus.
@HappyHappyist it isn't selling for various reasons. Great first party games are only one reason out of many that people buy consoles. Nintendo nails 1st party games, but WiiU is deficient in just about every other major category consumers want in a new console:
High Powered Graphics Robust Online Features Third Party Support
All three of those are just as important to gamers today as 1st party games (sometimes even more so). The WiiU is severely lacking in those departments when compared to its competition. And it's not like WiiU is the only console with good 1st party games either. PS4 will have great ones in stuff like Uncharted, God of War and LBP. Xbox has Halo, Fable and Gears (not my taste, but they clearly have a decent sized audience).
The biggest complaints i hear from gamers that dont own WiiU is that it has a terrible online, and that it has no third party games. Whenever i say "yeah but the games it does have are some of the best out there," they don't disagree, they just tell me the other factors are more important to them.
If it's new hardware, its just gonna be a new model of 3DS. They'd be foolish to try anything else. The QOL thing will be completely aimed at casuals and sounds like it won't have much to do with gaming, and so i doubt it gets announced at E3. If it does and they spend more than two minutes on it, it will only further the notion that Nintendo has completely lost touch with the core gamer demographic.
Some really good stuff this week. I'll be getting Mario Golf: World Tour tomorrow, and probably Stick It to the Man at some point soon. Abyss also looks interesting, especially at $2. I'll wait and see the review on that one before i decide though.
The NA offer blows compared to the UK one. I already own three of those four games and don't really want Wii Party U. I'd love to download Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate or The Wonderful 101 instead. Oh well. I guess if it's free, there's no harm in getting Wii Party U as a reward for buying a game i was going to buy anyway.
@Zombie_Barioth A lot of people are buying PS4s and XBOs simply to play prettier versions of games available on last gen consoles. The problem with WiiU is that it has no third party games support. And it doesnt have that because it isn't selling for various reasons and bad decisions Nintendo made in designing it. Last gen, Wii was a very cheap, affordable second console for people at just $200. It worked really well alongside a 360 or PS3. Wii U isnt as affordable, and if people have to pick just one console to own this gen, it isn't gonna be Wii U unless you're a diehard Ninty fan. PS4 is selling well because it is 1) what gamers want in a next gen console (power, speed, great online features), and 2) it is the cheaper of the two true next gen consoles and 3) it has all the indie and 3rd party support gamers could ever want.
The only thing PS4 doesnt have that Wii U does is Nintendo games. For many of us (me included), thats a big deal. But for most gamers, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Madden, FIFA and the superior online features of PS4/XBO will trump Mario and Pikmin every time.
Don't like their approach, but i'm starting not to care. At this point, as long as they show us some great games for Wii U and 3DS at E3, that's all i care about. However they do that is up to them. But if we get an E3 like 2011 or 2012, where they show games we already know about and tell us almost nothing new, i'll be mad. It should be easy this year... All they have to do to make me happy for Wii U is show me Zelda U. Of course i want more than that, but even if that's all they show, at least there will be something i can cheer about.
Hoping we see Metroid appear in some form. Maybe a 3DS game? A 3DS Wario Land would be nice to see. And maybe stuff like Animal Crossing and Star Fox for Wii U? I don't care... Just as long as Wii U finally gets some great games that actually use the GamePad and isn't a mini-game collection.
Renegade Kid is asking backers of they only had one console to put Cult County on, which would they choose. I hope they end up getting to make this game as a Wii U exclusive. Putting it on just the one console would make it a bit cheaper to fund, and most of their fans are Nintendo platform owners anyway.
I like RK and all, but cancelling the 3DS version (a platform that holds a major chunk of their loyal fans) in favor pf releasing the game on platforms whose owners may not have ever even heard of them was a bad first move. All my Nintendo console owning friends know about RK. Few of my PS4 friends do. None of my XBO friends do. Also not having any footage to launch with the KS hurt as well. By the time they announced the 3DS would get the game also, the damage had been done to the momentum of the KS. I'm not saying it'd have reached the $580,000 anyway, as that goal is too high in my opinion... I just think it would have started off with more momentum had it stuck with the 3DS as its platform and added the WiiU and other versions as stretch goals. Then it'd have a lower initial funding cost, yet if enough interest was there, the console version would've been funded too.
I may end up getting this if it is good. The Wii U needs more RPGs. I'm not a huge fan of the art style, but if the gameplay is good enough, i can get over it.
From what i've heard about the online mode, it sounds awesome, and ot should only add to the great stuff mentioned in this review. I just upgraded to an 8GB SD card for my 3DS so that i can download this one and all its DLC. I can see this being a game i constantly return to even years from now.
I'm fine with DLC as long as the game i'm paying for initially comes with a full experience. DLC should always be for players who loved the game so much that they want to play even more, and so that option is there as extra content. DLC should never be something that must be purchased in order to access content that should just have been part of the game.
For example, i hated it in Halo on Xbox Live when they'd release the map packs, and if you didn't download them, then you couldn't play certain modes online anymore until you bought them. They practically force you to pay for what is supposed to just be extra content, or else you can't enjoy the game as it was meant to be played anymore. That's crap. But that's not what Nintendo is doing here. The Mario Golf DLC is by no means necessary, and the full game comes with enough content to justify a retail price point. The DLC is extra fpr those who want it, but isn't mandatory for enjoying the game for those who aren't interested in it.
This type of DLC is the kind i'm ok with. I get why some people may not like that it's Day 1 DLC, but i personally don't care as long as thr main game is substantial enough.
I don't care so much about the new characters, and the pricing is a bit much imo. If i still feel like i need more Mario Golf after i've seen everything the regular version has to offer, i'll consider downloading these. Til then, i'm sure the initial game courses and modes will be enough.
Comments 563
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo Successfully Wooed Some Wii U Doubters at E3
After 2011 and 2012's terrible E3s, and last year's very safe approach, the Digital Event was a breath of fresh air. There were some hiccups here and there, but overall i think Nintendo had the best performance of the big three.
If there is a such thing as 'winning' E3 (there really isn't, but let's pretend), Nintendo did it this year in my book.
Re: Nintendo Needs To Cut Wii U Cost To Capitalise On Mario Kart 8 Success, Says Ubisoft CEO
They cant do a big price drop, and already dropped it last year by $50. I could see them selling it at $250, which at this point i think would be a bargain for what is on offer. By mid 2015, Wii U will still have the best exclusive library of games out of the three big consoles, and it won't really even be close. If great titles like Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros, and Legend of Zelda U aren't enough to move a significant amount of units, then i have a hard time believing a price drop will help much either.
Wii U is never going to beat PS4/XBO in sales, but it can carve out its own place in the market by offering top notch games that can't be found anywhere else.
Re: Nintendo 64 Titles Heading to the Wii U Virtual Console
N64 games were confirmed to be coming by Nintendo in the January 2013 Nintendo Direct along with GBA games. And then they were never mentioned again, like Fire Emblem x SMT in the same Direct.
Re: Guide: The Biggest Wii U and 3DS Retail Games Coming In 2014
Definitely gettin both Smash games and AlphaSapphire. Might get Hyrule Warriors and/or Captain Toad depending on wwhat the final product looks like.
Re: Talking Point: Mii, Myself and I - The Arguments For and Against Miis in Super Smash Bros.
I don't get why people get upset when certain characters get put it these games. I want as many unique characters as possible, and would much rather have the Miis and Wii Fit Trainer in this game than just another clone of Star Fox like Falco/Wolf or whatever.
Re: Developers Weigh In On The Way Forward For Wii U
@PokeAl Not sure what you mean by that. The older i get, the less i find myself enjoying stuff like CoD, Halo, GTA, etc. I think i'm a very mature person, but hardly any of the games i enjoy playing have that M rating slapped on them. I loved playing that stuff as an adolescent. I played more hours of Halo, Mass Effect, Left 4 Dead, etc than i care to admit from ages 14-21. But now when i go back and play those games, they just don't stick the same way they used to. Also, the people i know that are in their late 20s like me that still do play those kinds of games are by far the most immature people i know in my age bracket. I don't know if there's any significant correlation there, but i dont find it surprising that those types of games seem to attract a very particular personality type. I prefer the games that Nintendo makes because anyone can play them. A five year old girl, her mom, her grandpa and her fourteen year old male cousin can all sit down for 4 player Mario Kart and have an absolute blast. But at the same time, Nintendo's games offer an insane amount of depth that most 'family friendly' games don't. Games like Pokemon, Mario Kart, and Zelda all have tons of depth and secrets that require mastering techniques and trial and error in ways that games like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed, who look deep on surface but are actually very shallow, can only dream of. I don't know what you meant by saying Nintendo doesn't offer good gaming experiences for mature gamers, but i think it was a bit off base. If people refuse to play games like Mario Kart 8 because they don't 'look mature' then i would suggest they have some embarrassing insecurities relating to their own maturity.
Re: Developers Weigh In On The Way Forward For Wii U
Super Smash Bros WiiU
Legend of Zelda
Hyrule Warriors
Bayonetta 1+2
Kirby's Rainbow Curse
Pushmo World
Splatoon
Star Fox
Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker
Yoshi's Woolly World
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Mario Maker
Mario Party 10
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
Devil's Third
Amiibo
Add all that to the Wii U's existing library that includes Mario Kart 8, LEGO City Undercover, Rayman Legends, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Super Mario 3D World, Wii Party U, Pikmin 3, Wii Sports Club, NSMBU, Sonic Racing Transformed, Nintendo Land, two Arkham Batman games, Sonic Lost World, and more. Add all that to the great eshop offerings from VC titles like Super Metroid and Advance Wars to great indie games like Scram Kitty, SteamWorld Dig, Shovel Knight, Stick it to the Man, and Trine 2.
Surely everyone can find something on that list worth owning a WiiU for, and if you can't, then you, my friend, must really hate fun and/or video games.
Re: Talking Point: The Legend of Zelda on Wii U Can Wear Many Masks
If they just take the mask concept from MM, that's fine. I'd welcome it. But anything else (lack of dungeons, moody and depressing atmosphere, or the three days and reset formula), no thanks. My favorite part of Zelda games are the dungeons, which MM was severely lacking in. My two least favorite 3D Zelda games (TP and MM) are also the only two with dark, brooding atmospheres. And the three day formula was cool at first but eventually just became outright annoying.
Oh and when i say MM and TP are my two least favorite 3D zeldas, please understand that that simply means i still love them to death, but just not as much as the others. 3D Zelda games are right behind 3D Mario games as my all time favorites.
Re: Mario Kart 8 Stays Second in UK as Tomodachi Life Has Modest Début
People aren't buying Tomodachi Life because they have no idea what it's supposed to be. From the Japanese title to the gameplay videos, most westerners see them and just wonder if Nintendo's devs have lost their minds. It's an overly Japanese game with very strange, quirky humor and it isn't going to appeal to everyone.
I haven't got TL for several reasons. The first is that even after reading reviews and watching videos, i still have no idea what the game really is all about (seems like it's about nothing in particular and gives you no clear objectives, but rather just gives you a bunch of random chores and minigames to slog through). The second reason is that it honestly looks like the kind of game one would play on a smart phone. And lastly, i already own what seems to be a much better life simulation game (one with clear goals and a less random-minigame kind of gameplay) in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. So even if TL was something that i thought i might like, that would give me two games i'd feel obligated to check in on daily, when one is more than enough for me. If TL were a $15 eshop game, sure, i may give it a go. But a $40 retail title is asking too much for a game that i can't even really get an idea of what it is.
On the other hand, for those of you that did buy it, i hope you enjoy it! It's just not something i feel i'd enjoy, nor something i think has really wide appeal for the reasons above.
Re: Feature: Our Top 10 Wii U Retail Games - Summer 2014
My personal top 10:
1) Pikmin 3
2) Mario Kart 8
3) Super Mario 3D World
4) Zelda: Wind Waker HD
5) Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
6) Sonic & Allstars Racing Transformed
7) The Wonderful 101
8) Rayman Legends
9) Nintendo Land
10) ZombiU
I have not played LEGO City though, and i would include MH3U but i prefer that series on portables.
Re: Review: Tomodachi Life (3DS)
Not really sure of this is my type of game, but i'm glad it's finally out for those who will really get into it! I may eventually get this for my wife, as it seems like the kind of thing she'd enjoy.
Re: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy Case Begins on 3DS eShop in Winter 2014
I've actually never played a game in this series, but have always wanted to. I'm definitely interested at the right price!
Re: Meet Sticks, The New Member of Sonic Boom's "Core Ensemble"
Gonna go ahead and wait til the game comes out before i start spewing hate. Its just one character and its not even that bad. This character is in no way as bad as Mario Kart 8 giving us pointless, stupid characters like Pink Metal Gold Peach and Baby Daisy. Let's let the game come out and maybe give it a go or two before we rage on it.
Re: Mario Kart 8 DLC Confirmed for Japan With Free Mercedes Car
That looks hilariously strange. I'd drive it, simply because seeing a Mercedes fly throught the air using a glider shaped like a flying squirrel is funny to me. Especially if there's a baby driving.
Really though, i would love paid DLC for this game. New tracks would be awesome but what i'd really want are arenas. They don't even have to make new ones, just upgrade retro arenas into HD and that'd be enough for me. I'd totally buy Block Fortress HD to play with all my friends.
Re: 3DS Tops Japanese Hardware Chart as Wii U Secures Home Console Crown
Just wait until the big name JRPGs hit PS4: Final Fantasy XV, Kingdom Hearts III, etc. WiiU will be left in the dust when that happens in Japan since neither of those titles are coming for it.
On the bright side, the chances of Xbox One outselling WiiU in Japan are slim to none! I don't even think Japan knows what an Xbox is.
Re: Nintendo of America Confirms Pushmo World Release Details
Why don't they do the same cross platform discount?! What a wasted opportunity. Although now that the first two games are on sale, i'll probably still pick at least one of them up.
Re: Poll: A Tale of Two Blockbusters as Mario Kart 8 and Watch Dogs Arrive This Week
I won't buy Watch Dogs until one of two things happens: it hits WiiU or it is on sale for $20 or less on Steam. If neither of those happens, there's a very slim chance i'll get it when i get a PS4 next year, but by the time that happens my hype for Watch Dogs will probably have expired in favor of other upcoming WiiU/3DS/PS4 games like Monster Hunter 4, Final Fantasy XV and Star Wars: Battlefront 3.
Re: Best Buy's 'Smash-Fest' Venues, Perks and Demo Details Confirmed
@DestinyMan i live about 45 min from Castleton. I can't go to the one during the week because of work, but i'll be at the one on Saturday. Definitely excited to try out the new Smash. I hope we can play as any character. I'd love to try out Little Mac.
Re: Review: The Denpa Men 3: The Rise of Digitoll (3DS eShop)
Probably gonna get this later in the summer when i'm burnt out on Mario Kart 8. Sounds like my type of game!
Re: Talking Point: It's Not Too Late for Nintendo to Join the Minecraft Party
Minecraft won't sell WiiUs, as its already on everything else, but it would be a great addition to the software library. I'd download it for sure. I've played the 360 version at my brother's and its pretty fun. I think it'd be even better on WiiU using the GamePad.
Re: Feature: Memories of the Wii and DS Wi-Fi Connection Era
I have only two memories of the Wifi on Wii: playing Mario Kart Wii at my parents' house (i never bought the game myself) with my family over Christmas break one year, and attempting to play Smash Bros once with a good friend from high school who had moved across the country.
My first experience was Smash Bros. My good friend and I had been waiting for the game since it was announced, but we graduated high school the summer before its release. Both of us were from Indiana, but i moved to Tennessee for college and he wound up on the east coast. When Smash Bros came out, we got in contact over the internet to exchange friend codes and quickly hopped online. We had spent hours and hours playing Smash Bros on N64 and GCN since we met in 7th grade, so i was so excited our tradition could continue even though we were now miles apart. Unfortunately the online multiplayer is Smash Bros Brawl was a laggy, pitiful mess. We tried over and over again that day to connect properly and get a coherent game going, but couldnt. It was awful and aside from that Christmas break in which my family played Mario Kart Wii for hours and hours, i never used the online capabilities of my Wii again except to download some VC games.
Man i wish Nintendo would just get with it already and give us a worthwhile online gaming experience. I feel like it really shouldnt be that hard, since every other gaming company seems to have figured it out.
Re: Nintendo Brand Manager Hopes Mario Kart 8 Will Serve as a "Catalyst" for Wii U
Mario Kart and Smash Bros will both give the WiiU a nice boost, but there is no saving it now. It's too late now. The WiiU has become a joke in the media, and that perception (whether true or not) has sunk into the public mindset. The WiiU will be lucky to sell as many units as the Gamecube, and Nintendo has no one to blame but themselves for making an underpowered, gimmicky (although fun) console that they marketed terribly and didn't make it friendly for 3rd parties to use compared to its competition... All of that is why the WiiU has sold less than 7mil in 18 months. By the end of this year, it may not even have sold 10mil. That's awful. That's Sega Saturn level bad. Unless they can pull some kind of crazy magic trick in the very, very near future, the WiiU won't sell close to the 22mil the GameCube sold, making it Nintendo's biggest failure since the Virtual Boy.
Re: Round Table: Let's Discuss Our Hopes and Dreams for Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire
Lol at whoever said OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire will likely be the last main series Pokemon games on 3DS. They make new ones or remake an old one every 2 years on average. I doubt the 3DS gets shelved in 2016. Nintendo's handhelds (except for the GBA) generally last at least 6-7 years. I don't expect a new handheld in the next 2 years, but i definitely expect Gen 7 of Pokemon by the end of 2016.
Re: Tecmo Koei Hopeful That Hyrule Warriors Will Tap Into Zelda Fanbase and Hit One Million Sales
It'll probably sell 1 million worldwide. I probably won't get it though. Don't really like the Dynasty Warriors games, and if this game is just one of those but with a coat of Zelda paint on it, count me out. I'll just wait for the next real Zelda game to come out.
Re: Nintendo Hosting Two Big Evening Presentations at E3
It won't be Majora's Mask 3D. I don't think they'd give a remake its own dev discussion since it'd be being ported by a 2nd party with Nintendo just overseeing it. And we can rule out Pokemon since that was announced already.
More than likely it's a Mario game or a new IP. Those are the only two games i can see Nintendo giving that much time to.
I hope though, that it is a new Metroid game. I'd also take a new Wario Land or a new IP so long as it isn't something casual/oriented like most of Nintendo's new IPs since the Wii came out.
Re: Reaction: Mario Kart 8 Accused Of Poor Sales Potential, Ruining Battle Mode And Racism
Sick of this idea going around that Nintendo is racist because they don't have many black or hispanic characters. Newsflash everyone: Nintendo is a Japanese company. They are located in Japan, which is 99% Japanese. They aren't culturally bound to the inclusion of all races in their games, anime, manga, movies, etc because there really is no diversity over there. No one gets offended over there when there are no hispanic people in Naruto, because there are virtually no hispanic people to offend. Japanese people don't feel the need to shoehorn in characters pf varying races because it just isn't culturally relevant for them like it is to us in the west. Over here, if we don't include characters of every race (sometimes whether it makes sense or not) in everything we create, we're labeled racist. That's not an issue over in Japan. If Nintendo really was even remotely racist, there would only be Japanese people in Mario Kart. Guess how many Japanese people are in the game? Zero. It's all Italian or White people, with some turtles and monkeys and mushrooms thrown in. It's not a racist thing, it's just a cultural difference in the way they make games. If anything, those accusing Nintendo of being racist are just being culturally ignorant themselves. They need to actually investigate why there are no black characters in Mario games instead of lazily jumping at the chance to pull the racist card.
Oh, and Nintendo did ruin battle mode. Most people i've talked to who have had the chance to play it say it's not tha fun anymore and it suffers from the lack of arenas. I loved arenas in the other games, so it is definitely a disappointment to me that they didn't include them. Maybe DLC can fix that but i doubt it, because that would mean Ninty admitting they made a mistake, which rarely happens.
And duh MK8 won't sell as much as MKWii. The award for 'Best Article Written for Click Bait in May 2014' goes to... Polygon! Great job, guys!
Re: Talking Point: For Better Or For Worse, The Wii U GamePad Is Here To Stay
@SamirMalik 15million? Nintendo wishes. Only 6.17 people on earth own a WiiU. If i were a betting man, i'd put money on PS4 and XBO hitting 15 million units sold before WiiU hits 10 million. Sad considering WiiU had a year's head start.
Re: Talking Point: For Better Or For Worse, The Wii U GamePad Is Here To Stay
I love the GamePad. I live in a one-TV household, so if it weren't for the Gamepad and off-Tv play, i'd barely get any play time for my console games. The GamePad may not be as intuitive or innovative as the Wii Remote was, but i like it more.
I will agree, though, that it has yet to be used properly. Its uniqueness goes mostly unused except for in a few select titles like Nintendo Land, ZombiU, Wii Party U and Game & Wario. Most key first party games offer no meaningful GamePad features other than off-TV play. Mario Kart 8 and SM3DW make little us of it, and DKCTF just flat out shuts the second screen off completely. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for your product there, Nintendo.
Good news is that Ninty seems to know this, and GamePad featured games are coming. I doubt they'll save WiiU, but that doesn't mean they won't be fun and interesting, which is all i care about at this point.
Re: Nintendo Download: 15th May (North America)
Scram Kitty, Moon Chronicles and probably at least one of the discounted Atlus games for me. Probabky won't get all of thise this week, but will get em all eventually.
Re: Review: Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)
While i'm still getting the game, i'm very disappointed in the battle mode lacking arenas. Using the standard tracks instead is just lazy by Nintendo and makes it look like the game was rushed a bit to help WiiU sell (which it won't do well enough anyway).
The game still looks fun either way, but i'm a huge fan of battle mode and this entry looks pretty disappointing in that aspect. Luckily everything else about the game looks fantastic.
Re: Review: Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails (Wii U eShop)
@SecondServing it's comments like that that make me wish reviews didn't give numerical scores. You know, so that way people would have to actually read through a few reviews (which btw are simply opinions of a single person) and then based upon all the information given, use their own brains and decide for themselves if it sounds like a game they would be interested in.
Using a single number as the ultimate determiner as to whether or not a game is good is lazy and just one of many things that are wrong with the majority of gamers today.
Re: Review: Moon Chronicles: Episode 1 (3DS eShop)
I laughed a bit when i read you encounter a dude named Tsukigami. Tsukigami can mean Moon God in Japanese. Wonder if that's forshadowing...? Anyway it sounds like an interesting game, so i may pick it up once i have the time to do so.
Re: Moon Chronicles Lands on the 3DS eShop in North America on 15th May
Cool. At $9, i'll try it out later this summer when i have more time and stuff. June is so packed for me that i'm not even sure how often i'll be able to play Mario Kart 8, let alone get to all the great eshop and VC games that have come out lately and arr coming soon. Too many games to play, not enough time or money.
Re: Sonic Lost World Hits 710,000 Sales as Sega Lines Up Significant 3DS Support
I will always have a soft spot for Sega and especially Sonic. They aren't what they used to be, but i'll still keep supporting them, especially as long as they keep putting games on Nintendo consoles.
Re: Here's an Updated Summary of Nintendo's Software Bestsellers
New Super Mario Bros U and 2 selling more than games like Link Between Worlds, Luigi's Mansion 2, and Pikmin 3 should be considered a crime. It's no wonder Nintendo has been making safe sequels lately... Thats what people keep buying. NSMB is Nintendo's Call of Duty. Keep churning out the same, uninspired stuff, but gamers keep buying it in droves.
Re: Nintendo Reports Financial Losses As Expected, Along With Modest Wii U Sales Targets
The Wii U is a failure guys. No need to candy coat it or try to ignore it. It is important to accept, because this has to be a learning experience for Nintendo. The fact is that when it comes to home console gaming, they've been slowly drifting away from what gamers want since the N64 era. They were able to justify that with the fluke success of Wii that was brought on by casuals buying it for fitness games, but now that market has moved on to mobile, and many of the once loyal core gamer fans Nintendo had during the NES/SNES/N64 days left a while ago for consoles that better fit their wants and needs. Nintendo should learn a great deal from this, and should rebrand their consoles and start catering to core gamers again. Instead, it sounds like they're going to keep trying to appeal more to the flaky, unloyal casual audience with this new QOL platform rather than use their resources to build a gaming console that people actually want. They are so ridiculously out of touch with their demographic that it is a joke to people now.
Re: Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails Confirmed For Release on 15th May
Looks great, though it'll have to wait. I've still got to finish up DKCTF and Xenoblade Chronicles (on the home stretch on both, but do want to get 100% on DK), and i'm also playing to crap out of Mario Golf: World Tour right now. I still haven't even downloaded either Child of Light or Stick It to the Man yet either. I just haven't had the time or free cash to spend lately and it's been a busy last month (with even more busy to come until the end of June).
Re: Renegade Kid Moving On To A "New Experimental 2D Game for 3DS" After Kickstarter Failure
@CrabGats even if thats the case, i don't see it happening anytime soon, and definitely not in the same form. It's not like they just missed their target... They didn't even get 10% of it. It was a complete failure. A failed KS communicates to the developer that there isn't enough interest in the project to justify a release. Why make it if they'd only be able to make back 10% of what they spent on it?
Re: Renegade Kid Moving On To A "New Experimental 2D Game for 3DS" After Kickstarter Failure
Sucks they don't get to make Cult County, but they do have other titles in the works. Treasurenauts, Moon Chronicles and Mutant Mudds 2 all look/sound great, and with CC off the table, maybe they'll get more focus.
Re: Rumour: Nintendo Will Reveal New Hardware At This Year's E3
@HappyHappyist it isn't selling for various reasons. Great first party games are only one reason out of many that people buy consoles. Nintendo nails 1st party games, but WiiU is deficient in just about every other major category consumers want in a new console:
High Powered Graphics
Robust Online Features
Third Party Support
All three of those are just as important to gamers today as 1st party games (sometimes even more so). The WiiU is severely lacking in those departments when compared to its competition. And it's not like WiiU is the only console with good 1st party games either. PS4 will have great ones in stuff like Uncharted, God of War and LBP. Xbox has Halo, Fable and Gears (not my taste, but they clearly have a decent sized audience).
The biggest complaints i hear from gamers that dont own WiiU is that it has a terrible online, and that it has no third party games. Whenever i say "yeah but the games it does have are some of the best out there," they don't disagree, they just tell me the other factors are more important to them.
Re: Rumour: Nintendo Will Reveal New Hardware At This Year's E3
If it's new hardware, its just gonna be a new model of 3DS. They'd be foolish to try anything else. The QOL thing will be completely aimed at casuals and sounds like it won't have much to do with gaming, and so i doubt it gets announced at E3. If it does and they spend more than two minutes on it, it will only further the notion that Nintendo has completely lost touch with the core gamer demographic.
Re: Nintendo Download: 1st May (North America)
Some really good stuff this week. I'll be getting Mario Golf: World Tour tomorrow, and probably Stick It to the Man at some point soon. Abyss also looks interesting, especially at $2. I'll wait and see the review on that one before i decide though.
Re: Mario Kart 8 Club Nintendo Promotion Offers a Free Wii U Game
The NA offer blows compared to the UK one. I already own three of those four games and don't really want Wii Party U. I'd love to download Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate or The Wonderful 101 instead. Oh well. I guess if it's free, there's no harm in getting Wii Party U as a reward for buying a game i was going to buy anyway.
Re: Expansion of Nintendo Selects Range Confirmed for Europe
@Zombie_Barioth A lot of people are buying PS4s and XBOs simply to play prettier versions of games available on last gen consoles. The problem with WiiU is that it has no third party games support. And it doesnt have that because it isn't selling for various reasons and bad decisions Nintendo made in designing it. Last gen, Wii was a very cheap, affordable second console for people at just $200. It worked really well alongside a 360 or PS3. Wii U isnt as affordable, and if people have to pick just one console to own this gen, it isn't gonna be Wii U unless you're a diehard Ninty fan. PS4 is selling well because it is 1) what gamers want in a next gen console (power, speed, great online features), and 2) it is the cheaper of the two true next gen consoles and 3) it has all the indie and 3rd party support gamers could ever want.
The only thing PS4 doesnt have that Wii U does is Nintendo games. For many of us (me included), thats a big deal. But for most gamers, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Madden, FIFA and the superior online features of PS4/XBO will trump Mario and Pikmin every time.
Re: Nintendo Lifts The Lid On Its Plans For E3 2014
Don't like their approach, but i'm starting not to care. At this point, as long as they show us some great games for Wii U and 3DS at E3, that's all i care about. However they do that is up to them. But if we get an E3 like 2011 or 2012, where they show games we already know about and tell us almost nothing new, i'll be mad. It should be easy this year... All they have to do to make me happy for Wii U is show me Zelda U. Of course i want more than that, but even if that's all they show, at least there will be something i can cheer about.
Hoping we see Metroid appear in some form. Maybe a 3DS game? A 3DS Wario Land would be nice to see. And maybe stuff like Animal Crossing and Star Fox for Wii U? I don't care... Just as long as Wii U finally gets some great games that actually use the GamePad and isn't a mini-game collection.
Re: Feature: Kickstarter's Wii U and 3DS Campaigns - 27th April
Renegade Kid is asking backers of they only had one console to put Cult County on, which would they choose. I hope they end up getting to make this game as a Wii U exclusive. Putting it on just the one console would make it a bit cheaper to fund, and most of their fans are Nintendo platform owners anyway.
I like RK and all, but cancelling the 3DS version (a platform that holds a major chunk of their loyal fans) in favor pf releasing the game on platforms whose owners may not have ever even heard of them was a bad first move. All my Nintendo console owning friends know about RK. Few of my PS4 friends do. None of my XBO friends do. Also not having any footage to launch with the KS hurt as well. By the time they announced the 3DS would get the game also, the damage had been done to the momentum of the KS. I'm not saying it'd have reached the $580,000 anyway, as that goal is too high in my opinion... I just think it would have started off with more momentum had it stuck with the 3DS as its platform and added the WiiU and other versions as stretch goals. Then it'd have a lower initial funding cost, yet if enough interest was there, the console version would've been funded too.
Re: Video: New Child of Light 'Making Of' Focuses on Main Character and Narrative
I may end up getting this if it is good. The Wii U needs more RPGs. I'm not a huge fan of the art style, but if the gameplay is good enough, i can get over it.
Re: Review: Mario Golf: World Tour (3DS)
From what i've heard about the online mode, it sounds awesome, and ot should only add to the great stuff mentioned in this review. I just upgraded to an 8GB SD card for my 3DS so that i can download this one and all its DLC. I can see this being a game i constantly return to even years from now.
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo Must Take Careful Steps Into Paid DLC and Free-to-Play
I'm fine with DLC as long as the game i'm paying for initially comes with a full experience. DLC should always be for players who loved the game so much that they want to play even more, and so that option is there as extra content. DLC should never be something that must be purchased in order to access content that should just have been part of the game.
For example, i hated it in Halo on Xbox Live when they'd release the map packs, and if you didn't download them, then you couldn't play certain modes online anymore until you bought them. They practically force you to pay for what is supposed to just be extra content, or else you can't enjoy the game as it was meant to be played anymore. That's crap. But that's not what Nintendo is doing here. The Mario Golf DLC is by no means necessary, and the full game comes with enough content to justify a retail price point. The DLC is extra fpr those who want it, but isn't mandatory for enjoying the game for those who aren't interested in it.
This type of DLC is the kind i'm ok with. I get why some people may not like that it's Day 1 DLC, but i personally don't care as long as thr main game is substantial enough.
Re: Nintendo Confirms Mario Golf: World Tour DLC, Pricing and Release Schedule
I don't care so much about the new characters, and the pricing is a bit much imo. If i still feel like i need more Mario Golf after i've seen everything the regular version has to offer, i'll consider downloading these. Til then, i'm sure the initial game courses and modes will be enough.