jariw

I've read other reviews supporting this reviewer's standpoint. I will get this, once it's available in Europe! A pity that you can't train against AI players though, but another good local multiplayer game is always welcome.

@Yorumi I believe the different versions of a character are interchangeable, such as the Smash Mario and the standard Mario amiibos would work the same in the games they support. A bit like Link and Cartoon Link functioning in the same way in Hyrule Warriors.

@NbaJunkie Pikmin 3 uses it for much more than a map. It's a true asynchronous device in Pikmin 3. MK8 uses it as a steering wheel, has the racing standings on it, displays the racing map there, and has it as a horn. What things do you think Tropical Freeze would benefit from by using Gamepad-specific features? After all, it's a traditional platformer. Some titles (like Nintendo Land) relies much on the Gamepad, others don't.

@JonWahlgren I was going to post about the error in the review about the stage uploading which has been already been confirmed by Nintendo (as well as other future features), but both @Cosats and @SuperCharlie78 beat me to it.

@Quorthon I' a bit confused why you discuss titles by Ubisoft and other large 3rd party companies in connection with this article...

So, how many NL visitors now discovered that there are actually WORDS in a review? Credits to NL, IGN and the other sites that wait for online for the numbers.
(BTW, IMO this review was a bit too much centered about the differences to the 3DS version.)

I wouldn't be surprised to find this in the US top-20 eShop list (just like The Letter did) while fantastic eShop games like Stealth Inc. 2 never reaches the top-20 list.

@3MonthBeef Don't you think the stage editor in SSB U and the co-op in Stealth Inc 2 is "revolutionary", regarding the Gamepad? And I personally think that games like Lego City: Undercover and Pikmin 3 used the Gamepad in great ways gameplay-wise as well.

@Swiket They reproduce with Kinopio-spores, commonly found in Mushroom Kingdom and at the Tokyo EADs.

@Todd102030 What do you mean by "unnaturally smooth"? Since MK8 runs at 60 fps, isn't it better to have it displayed the way the gameplay is supposed to be displayed?

@TheWPCTraveler True, but it's not the 3D models that requires the high resolution in 8-player Smash. If a player would cover only 1/20 of the screen height in SSB U, that would mean a 9 pixels high character on 480p while it's a 22 pixels high character on 1080p. To provide any visual information regarding pose/movement/etc to the player for a character that is around 10 pixels high would be almost impossible. (The old Mario sprite was 16 pixels high.)

@Will-75 Shovel Knight is not HD. It's a retro game that displays in the virtual resolution of 400×240 (which is the same as the max resolution of a 3DS screen, BTW).

SSB U is a 2D game (although without pixel sprites) that would had been unplayable in 8-player Smash at 480p.

@mystman12 If the rumor with Diddy Kong Racing 2 arriving is true, they probably want to tone down the Donkey Kong references in MK8.

@rjejr The Wii U YouTube app seems to have supported 1080p from the start:
http://www.polygon.com/2012/11/23/3682950/wii-u-youtube-app

However, the app doesn't support the 60fps format that Chrome (and apparently Safari) now supports. eShop is 1080p AFAIK.

@6ch6ris6 It was 59 fps when driving online (60 fps offline), but that might be fixed since 1.0.0. But OTOH MK8 is only 720p as well, so the spec mentioned in this article is only related to the Youtube spec.

@accc What is so greedy about the price they have set? Perhaps they want to get payed back for the costs of the SDK and the working hours they put into porting the product to the Wii U? If you are comparing with the iPad eShop, please compare the number of hardware units sold as well.

Bought this as a David Wise soundtrack with beautiful art. I never bought it on the iPad because I wanted it displayed on a big screen. Experienced about 10-15 minutes of it so far, and I agree with the reviewer that it's probably best enjoyed in short sessions inbetween other things. A really beautifully crafted game.

@OneBagTravel The SD card slot can't be used for Wii U game storage (it works in Wii mode). Wii U can only store externally to USB.

Most comments seem to interpret it as if they are afraid of the competition from MK8. To me, the "They've got Mario Kart, so is it really in their interest to do this, I'm not entirely sure." quote seems to indicate that they believe that Nintendo would refuse a Wii U port of the game?

I've planned to get this since I heard it was arriving to the Wii U. Nice to hear that the Gamepad implementation is good! Also nice to hear that Curve Studios made the Wii U port, since Stealth Inc. 2 is one of the absolute best Wii U game implementations.

@Folkloner Since there is currently only 1 game that writes to the amiibo at the moment, a backup/transfer feature isn't necessary in the OS. IIRC, Nintendo always make the OS updates for a functionality close to when it's actually needed. (For example: the amiibos were announced at E3, but the OS update to support it arrives just one week before it's needed.) But it would sure be nice to get a backup/restore feature confirmed by Nintendo in advance.

@Kirk Correct, but this is a thing that could easily be solvable through an OS update when indeed a new game with amiibo write support appears, as @Kaze_Memaryu suggested above.

In fact, since an amiibo is connected to a specific user, I would even say that the amiibo system is already prepared for back-up or swapping between different game data. Since the NFC technology is very fast and the amount of data is low, the process can be made pretty quick.

@Kirk There is no point of a Mario Kart Amiibo set, since Mario Kart doesn't write data.

The issues described in the article are just potential future issues, if there will be future games that will write data to an Amiibo. Huryle Warriors and MK8 don't write data.

MK8 DLC and Tengami (if only just to enjoy the art experience to the music of David Wise). Will get Paper Monster Recut when a patch has been released.

@unrandomsam @JaxonH There's no date limits listed on the eShop. It's simply the price of the DLC(s).

I think the reason they had a pre-purchase campaign for this is to get as many as possible to have the DLC on day 1, so the online players wouldn't be affected that much by players who don't have the new courses.

By reading and comparing the 2 reviews, I can't figure out why this gets a 1/10 and Spikey Walls gets a 4/10.

@sam_robinson How about adding a bonus clip to your upcoming level editor video, where you describes the Miiverse feature? Or mention the Miiverse feature in a separate video about "some other things about Stealth Inc 2"?

Thanks for a fantastic game!

This game is AMAZING! I got stuck at one spot for a long time without being able to figure it out, but now I'm up to speed again. I enjoying it soooo much, even when I can't figure things out right away! It probably has the best Miiverse implementation of ANY Wii U game, and the Gamepad support is incredibly well-implemented as well.

This video includes a huge spoiler (the map). I'll use in my hunt to find the last test chambers. The map doesn't show all the secret test chambers though, which is good.

@Dipper723 Tropical Freeze was delayed to even out the large hole between the surrounding 1st party releases (SM3DW and MK8).

I don't think the release date is that bad. In my country, the schools start again around the 9th of January. It might also be a benefit to have a fresh new game release (at budget price) for those who get a Wii U as a Christmas present.

The number of great indie releases has really exploded during the last half year. Currently playing Stealth Inc 2, which is just an incredibly good game.

Good to see that NoA focuses on the indie developers that make an effort. (Unfortunately, not all of them are.)

@rjejr Yes, I pointed out the obvious hole at the 13th, but after that Tengami was announced for that date. But in the end, it was the correct date after all.

@3MonthBeef I also had that theory prior to E3. However, since then, Manfred Linzer had clearly indicated that a collaboration with Nintendo in that way isn't what they want.

@Mrclaycoat It's on the eShop. I believe you need to get the 2.0.0 update for MK8 first, then you can get the free Mercedes DLC.

@Bass_X0 Why do people buy toys?

@Kaze_Memaryu They could, for example, have dummy replacement visuals for DLC vehicles/characters (these might be clones) and just don't show Amiibo costumes?

@Kaze_Memaryu How do you know how online will work for non-DLC players? The DLC isn't available yet, and AFAIK Nintendo hasn't made any announcements of the implementation?

@Kaze_Memaryu If you don't get Amiibos or DLC, it's still Mario Kart.

@Ayronom Yes.

@ikki5 @Mega719 In the November Nintendo Direct 2013, they covered a couple of 3DS titles that had release dates in February 2014. However, I think all the products that they mentioned then had fixed release dates, so things like Starfox and Zelda U are extremely unlikely IMO.

Nice! Hopefully SSB U will not be covered by more than a additional reveal trailer or something - I think the game was covered fine already in the 50+ things Direct.
I wonder if this Nintendo Direct is related to the pretty large eShop maintenance they did yesterday? Perhaps that was a preparation for the MK8 DLC?

@Sadodi Just because you use the Sony definition for a word, doesn't mean that's necessarily the actual definition of the term. What term would you use for the type of discount mentioned in the article?

"...the game’s release was recently pushed forward a week in Europe..."

Wasn't the game release pushed backwards?

Really appreciate Wii U as a core goal for this project, and the game idea seems interesting. I'll back it!

@Jayvir Sorry to hear that you hadn't any luck with your kickstarted projects. I have personally not had that much problems with the kickstarted projects regarding the "quiet" part. The majority of them send out update info quite frequently (such as Hex Heroes or Red Goddess). However, I expect virtually all indie projects to get delays, based on the current Wii U indie history.

Surprising and excellent news!

...and there goes my theory that October 13th was free for the purpose of the MK8 DLC.

@BensonUii "Stealth Inc 2 was designed and built from the ground up with features specific to the Wii U hardware. We had ideas that utilised the GamePad in unique ways that we hadn't seen before, both in single player and co-op."
http://www.reddit.com/r/wiiu/comments/2kory6/we_are_curve_digital_developers_of_stealth_inc_2/

@BensonUii @readyletsgo It's not a timed exclusive, since it's tied to the Wii U hardware in ways that it doesn't make sense on other hardware. Look at their replies at the Reddit Q&A yesterday.

The developers said on Twittter that they will support as many controllers as they get the API for, so perhaps they will support the same set of controllers as SSB U in the end?

@ToxieDogg Sam Robinson (the level designer) said:
"Stealth Inc 2 has a much cleaner difficulty curve, deeper narrative and more diverse game play that the original.
Stealth Inc 1 is like a big DLC pack of levels in comparison to Stealth Inc 2! I would actually recommend playing 2 before 1!"
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/10/exclusive_join_curve_studios_on_an_exploration_of_stealth_inc_2s_overworld

ONM gave it 90%, but that's not on Metacritic at the moment. However, ONM didn't discuss the co-op mode or the level editor, and the same problem with the Eurogamer review. It's clear that the NL reviewer did a much more thorough work. I'll absolutely get this game.

@rjejr @dkxcalibur Nintedo has already picked a date, they just didn't tell us yet. November 13th seems like a good bet to me, since that date is suspiciously empty in the NoE upcoming release schedule.