ejamer

By far my least favorite of the GBA Castelvania releases... but still a fun game. Surprised the score is so high but nice to know all three GBA games are easily available now thanks to Wii U Virtual Console.

(Now if only they'd find a way to get them onto the 3DS too...)

I'm a big fan of the games Curve has developed, and very glad to see them throwing some support to Wii U. My one complaint is timing: I'm broke, so why are they releasing these excellent games now? (One day, they will be mine!)

Wow, the VC offerings this week are pretty awesome. Lots of love for Firebrand!

Stealth Inc and Costume Quest sequels are like icing on the cake. You can do cake for Halloween, right?

Still hoping that 3DS themes show up on Club Nintendo before long.

I enjoyed this game much more than the "real" Final Fight. One of the best NES beat'em-ups, even if it's not one of the most well known. This is exactly what Virtual Console should be for: exposing long forgotten gems.

A few people have comment that this game is overrated/overhyped. Not a popular opinion... but I totally feel the same way.

It looked good (back in the day) but I've never understood why people felt the controls or level design were that good. Neither compare to a Mario platformer, for example. Maybe that's not a fair comparison since Mario pretty much sets the bar, but since it comes from the same publisher on the same platform it's impossible to ignore how much tighter and more creative one series is compared to the others.

That said, I did enjoy the sequels more than the original and the recent Wii/Wii U updates are pretty decent games. Nowhere near a 9/10 for me personally, but worth trying I guess.

@foobarbaz
Great. As I said before, my opinion differs from yours. I'm not saying your evaluation is wrong - just that there are scenarios where people might buy at an inflated price, and he only needs to find one person to make the listing worthwhile.

People complaining here that it's overpriced aren't wrong about the value of loose carts... but it doesn't seem like a bad value all things considered.

Think of it this way: if someone was going to spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on an "instant" video game collection, then that person would probably be rich enough to care more about convenience than getting the lowest possible price. (At least, that's my guess.)

Tempted to buy Guacamelee when it's on sale, but already have so many unplayed games (including the Steam version of Guacamelee) that's it's hard to commit...

Purely as a board game, didn't look awesome.
As a piece of fantastic fan service, doesn't get much better.

Did anyone from this site back the KickStarter project?

They look nice, but still don't seem to do much.

I'm interested but not keen on the pricing given how close to useless they are (and how poorly Nintendo has traditionally supported optional accessories).

@ekreig Should point out that my 3D slider broke off because I dropped the 3DS XL - not due to normal usage. I've actually heard of it happening to at least one other person under the same circumstances, but this shouldn't be an issue for normal people.

No biggie. My 3D slider broke off so I can't adjust that setting anyway - my 3DS XL is permanently in 2D mode now. (Yes it kind of sucks. But not enough to pay for getting it fixed.)

I'm still amazed (in a good way) that Nintendo funded this game. Doesn't seem to fit their MO at all.

I'd be more likely to complain about a flood of clones if the original IP owner had any interest in publishing on Nintendo consoles.

Mojang has clearly indicated they aren't going to do it, so it looks to me like there are other developers hoping to help fill that hole. Hard to tell yet if any of these clones will be worth playing. Very unlikely any will be as well developed as MineCraft... but them's the breaks.

(Disclaimer: I think MineCraft is an interesting novelty that has far outlived it's value as a game. Obviously others feel differently.)

NoA didn't bother to bring the (already translated) Fatal Frame 2 Wii game over, they didn't care about Fatal Frame IV, so I fail to see how this is a surprise either.

Disappointment? Yes, it's a huge disappointment. But not a surprise. On the upside, at least it's easy to get both Wii Fatal Frame games running if you care enough to make the effort and import the games. (I did.)

Purchased this on my original 3DS and found it difficult to play and not very enjoyable. But upgrading to a 3DS XL has changed things considerably... Wow the upgraded screen size makes a HUGE difference! And with fixed leader boards suddenly this game is easy to enjoy and recommend.

It would be nice to see an update or "second opinion" posted for this review, as I really believe the 6/10 score isn't fair at this point in time.

Yay. I don't really know much about Rive... but have enjoyed a bunch of stuff Two Tribes put out and thought Toki Tori 2+ was amazing. Looking forward to learning more.

Swords & Soldiers is a solid game and well worth $2.

Bumpie's Party is also pretty cool and worth the discounted price, although not a type of game that everyone will enjoy. (Try the demo and find out if it's your thing!)

But since I already own those games, the only thing this week that has me interested at all is Armillo. Looks cool, but I haven't tried the game yet...

Is Watch Dogs worth buying on Wii U? Probably not. It is being released much later than on other platforms, has no marketing behind it, has more limitations than any other version of the game, and received mediocre reviews. The only thing it has going for it on Wii U is a lack of competing software... oh wait, Smash Bros. Well, there you go.

@Grumblevolcano
Thanks! Sounds like it would convert to about 400 or 500 coins in North America. Not cheap, but a reasonable price for a nice physical prize.

Sure would be nice if NoA at least offered one CD through Club Nintendo to see how people react. So far the only soundtrack we've received is Majora's Mask as an end-of-year platinum prize, and quite frankly calling a collection of N64 short clips and sound effects a "soundtrack" is a real stretch.

How difficult is it to amass 2000 stars?

This is a pretty awesome reward. CD Soundtracks are my personal "most wanted" item for the North American version of Club Nintendo, but NoA doesn't seem interested in offering them. Getting free eShop games is never a bad thing though... so I'm not complaining.

My expectations for this game were low... but then the Treehouse showcase made the game look much better than I had thought. A middling review isn't a surprise. Unfortunately it doesn't help make up my mind about whether to buy.

Hmm... choices, choices. (On the flip side, Wii U doesn't have that many choices so I'll probably buy eventually regardless.)

Looking forward to it because SteamWorld Dig was such a fantastic little game.

The only question (for me) is the same as what WhiteTrashGuy is contemplating: buy on 3DS, or Wii U?

Very interested, but not looking for a game right now. Definitely adding this to my wishlist for future purchase though.

Played this on the original NES way back when it was originally released. Vaguely remembering thinking that the game was very good but had tough controls and a very high difficulty level. Expect that it will appeal to a very limited crowd today... but curious enough about reliving the experience that I'm considering giving a shot.

THIS IS A TRAVESTY. I'M OFFENDED AND I DON'T KNOW WHY!

Actually I think it's fine to release the game on Wii U, although it's not something that interests me so I won't be buying. It's cool that the developer is so open to discussion - especially when so many people seem to get upset so easily.

My dirty little secret? More games is always better, since I can just choose to ignore whatever doesn't appeal to me.

Aww... Hopefully they didn't cancel Kirby for good and it will come back into the lineup. But if it's gone, c'est la vie. They'll probably be another chance in the future.

Pretty nice month for me - I'm keen on both Kirby Super Star (assuming it comes back and the codes actually work) and Super Punch-Out!! Two new games at no cost to me? That's great news.

Shame that some people don't see anything they like or already own all the games, but the list isn't lacking in quality options. I'm curious about pricing though. Any guesses why Super Punch-Out costs 50 coins more than anything else?

If we can make our own themes, this is pretty cool news. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Yeah. So I just recently bought a 3DS XL and am kind of disappointed about the timing now. Oh well.

If Xenoblade 3DS comes out here I'll probably rebuy (again) anyway. sigh

Oh, awesome. I'll grab Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara at a discount.

I'm not a fan of backing video games on KickStarter for a bunch of reasons, but Hive Jump looks really good and the concept for Nefarious sounds really fun.

Hope they make the cut!

I'm interested in this game, but have given up any hope of it getting a western release. Would love to be wrong... but absolutely refuse to get excited at this point.

So which one sells better? Is this change in appearance an ethical decision, or a business one?

My take is that the changes made exist to increase appeal with a specific target demographic. That doesn't mean they are deeply considered, moral choices - they almost certainly aren't - but it's very hard for me to argue that Nintendo has done anything to damage the image of the character.

I probably won't buy again... but wholly recommend the game to anyone who hasn't already played.

Scram Kitty and XType both seem pretty interesting. Not a bad week depending on what kind of games you enjoy!

@gage_wolf
Yep. Nintendo makes incredible games, but often comes up short with supporting materials and optional accessories. I've still got my e-Reader with a pack of Animal Crossing cards in my closet... sitting right beside the Kid Icarus AR promo pack distributed through Club Nintendo. Fantastic ideas, poor execution.

Here's hoping Amiibo does better than I expect.

I want to be excited about Amiibo, and am exactly the kind of gamer+collector that this should be targeting. The potential is there. It's all about execution at this point.

Unfortunately I have extremely little confidence in Nintendo - especially NoA - to handle the idea properly.

@unrandomsam
Are you gaming, with active bluetooth connections the entire time, when reporting that number? (If so, good for you!) The average tablet doesn't offer that kind of battery life, although I'm sure some do.

Regardless, that just affirms what I'm saying: if people are complaining about tablet battery life then they'd better be just as upset about the Wii U controller.

Does the hash tag worry anyone else? #thetimeisnow #asgoodasitsgoingtoget #alldownhillfromhere

(Don't take this too seriously — it's a joke, people.)

Although I feel like the franchise is wearing thin, this is a bold and interesting move by Activision. Expand the potential audience, reduce initial buy-in for some families, and keep the game intact by providing a high-quality experience on tablets? Could be a huge win for them.

Very interested to see how sales bear out. From everything I've seen/heard, tablet-only gamers don't tend to buy full-price games... but Skylanders is a massive franchise so maybe it's got the cachet to sell anyway? Will people who own both a tablet and a home console choose this version over playing on a big screen (portable, private screen might be appealing)?

Battery life might seem like a concern... until you stop and think about the Wii U gamepad battery life. Not so different, eh?

You can't deny that there is an on-going drought of original Wii U software. It's a fact.

There are still a handful of Wii U games in my backlog though, and a huge number of games in my Wii backlog. While the number of new games coming out is slim right now, I find claims that there is "nothing to play" on the system very difficult to believe.

(Also worth mentioning: I'm not seeing XBox One or PS4 release schedules that overwhelm me either. Do others feel the same way?)

Loved Toki Tori 2+ more than most, and am looking forward to Rive (if it comes out on Wii U eShop). Bset of luck to the restructured Two Tribes.

My preorder was made during E3, and Bayonetta 1+2 on Wii U is probably my most anticipated game of 2014. Probably won't sell well, but I'm glad they are making it.

Is there a retail version in North America yet? No? Don't care then.

I wish that Kid Dracula would come out on Virtual Console. Never played that game when the platform was still in stores, and would love to have a chance at trying it today.

@Gerbwmu
That's a good point. Retail shelf space is important if you want your console to get noticed... but right now Wii U has virtually no games being released and retailers have very little reason to reserve shelf space for the console.

As for physical versus retail releases, I'd suggest that Nintendo would be wise to cast the widest net possible and offer support for both. What I find problematic is the messaging that Nintendo is currently putting out. Physical releases aren't always available, aren't always announced in a timely fashion (NES Remix retail edition being announced shortly after that game was a Club Nintendo platinum reward is a prime example of poor timing), and sale pricing isn't consistent either.

It feels like they are inadvertently giving gamers incentive to "wait and see" instead of buying games outright.

Oh great! I'd rather buy retail, so am happy with this news.

(Obviously this assumes that pricing is similar for the two formats. If digital is much cheaper that could sway my opinion.)

Such a Nintendo thing to do. This news would've been awesome two weeks ago... before they encouraged many Nintendo fans like me to download the first game as a Club Nintendo platinum reward for being good customers. Now any interest I have in buying a retail release is (at best) cut in half.

I'm a huge "buy physical" fan, but will pass unless the game gets a ridiculous mark-down at retail.