teko

@ShadJV I'd be surprised if it doesn't come with the dock. I think that article is just saying how it functions.

Does anyone recommend steamworld Heist even for a person who doesn't really like turn based strategy? I'm still not sure whether to get it.

Maybe the latest offerings are NoA's response to the people who got free coins from the free skunk bundle. "You want free coins? the joke's on you! There's nothing to spend them on! mwahaha!"

@Wolfgabe I think you're missing the point. A loyalty reward program exists to give customers more of an incentive to buy a company's products, in this particular case, to encourage Nintendo customers to buy more digital downloads. Well mynintendo completely and utterly fails in that regard. It does nothing to encourage more purchases because its rewards are useless. This has nothing to do with entitlement.

If it's true that mynintendo was designed mainly for their mobile games then it would do better to focus only on that and not even bother offering anything else, because what they are offering is pathetic.

@ElementSponge hahaha, the very next comment after my reply to you would seem to prove you right

@ElementSponge I see it more as "I told you so" than schadenfreude.

@electrolite77 That's a great quote!

@aaronsullivan
The simple fact of the matter is gamers are spoiled for choice now. If FF were the only game released this year I might think, "well, it doesn't really look like my kind of game, but I'll give it a chance." As it is though there are so many other games that do look appealing to me that I'd rather spend my money and limited gaming time on. I'm a big Metroid fan but FF doesn't look interesting to me, so I won't give it a chance just because Nintendo made it and it has Metroid in the name. There are so many other games that I'd rather take a chance on.

@ricklongo I was on the fence with getting Axiom Verge now because it seems a bit expensive for an indie eshop game, but you've convinced me to get it.

@JaxonH I was responding to your comment that "it's about the journey". For me the pacing of progress in Generations has killed any sense of journey, and I don't want to have to look up which are key quests. That's just poor game design in my opinion.

I agree Generations does a lot of things well, and improves in many ways on past MH games, but I just can't understand why the single player campaign is so horribly designed. It's just destroyed any sense of enthusiasm for me.

Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying it.

It's not that the story was anything great or memorable in 4U, it's more about the pacing of progress, (and the story did help a bit in giving a sense of progression in the solo campaign). In Generations I've now done all 5 star quests available and no urgent quest appeared. I went back and did all 4 star quests that I had skipped and still no urgent quest. So I guess I've gotta go back and do some boring gathering/kill 10-20 small monsters/egg delivery quests in 2 and 3 stars, and I just can't be bothered at this point.

I guess I could find out online somewhere which are the required quests, but I'd rather be able to just play, without needing to consult a guide to tell me how to progress.

@JaxonH @Yoshis95 I put in hundreds of hours into Mh3 and 4 and I was excited for generations, but after around 50 hours I don't feel much desire to keep playing.

The problem with Generations is that there is no journey. The solo campaign is horribly tedious with absolutely zero story and way too many easy yet time consuming quests. I'd honestly rather go back to 4U than keep playing Generations. Progress in generations is not at all well paced. How many hours do I have to put in before I find anything remotely challenging? Even multi player hasn't grabbed my attention. Maybe after a few months I'll come back to generations and enjoy it, but so far I found 4U a far more entertaining experience.

Oh, I just remembered Rock n Roll Racing. Man I loved that game and I played it a few years ago and it's still awesome! "Rip is dominating the race. RIP IS ABOUT TO BLOW!! Tarquin lights him up! Rip fades into last..." Just thinking about it gives me so much joy.

@aaronsullivan I was just thinking the same thing! How come no one's mentioned Super Metroid yet?

Anyway, among classic consoles I think the SNES has more games that remain as much fun today as they ever were, and I don't think that's just nostalgia speaking. The visuals were appealing and the controls were perfect. I never had a Sega console so I can't comment on those, but I would say most NES games, and even most N64 games, have aged badly, but the SNES never gets old.

@happylittlepigs Thanks for the info. To be honest I never really saw the point of the Poogie, but it's all part of Monster Hunter's quirky charm I guess.

@Retroman78 Monster hunter is not really an rpg. You don't level up your character and there are no experience points or anything like that. You craft better armor and weapons as you progress. It's really an action game. The battles are real time, but the mechanics are fairly complex.

I feel like this game is coming out just a bit too soon after 4U. I've been playing that fairly steadily since it came out and have only just finished (more or less) everything I wanted to do in that game.

Nevertheless I can't help but be excited for Generations. I suppose my gaming time will continue to be taken up almost exclusively by Monster Hunter!

My only complaint with this series is that the stories are so paper thin. I can't help but feel like they could integrate an engrossing storyline to fit alongside the game mechanics. Even something as simple as making 'urgent quests' actually urgent would help, (meaning you have to beat them before you can continue with anything else, or else just don't call them urgent). Anyway, I've just come to accept MH as a straight up pure action game with story being irrelevant. By the time you get to the end quests you've spent so much time having fun just playing you really don't care about story.

Speaking of which, I heard that there's no G rank in Generations, and no apex monsters. Can anyone confirm this, and if true does this make the endgame less difficult than 4U?
@ThomasBW84

@SavageGM Yeah, you're right. I actually I feel less inclined to buy Nintendo products because of this joke of a rewards program.

I know Club Nintendo was not well liked by many but I was pretty happy with it. I got several full retail games for free (Pikmin 3 and DKC Tropical Freeze). Why would they cancel it only to replace it with something much worse? I still see no reason whatsoever to sign up for mynintendo. and it hasn't even simplified their account system either. You still need to have multiple accounts. Shouldn't having a Nintendo Network ID automatically make me part of this program? Not that I would use it anyway.

@FadedSun If you're interested in trying out Monster Hunter before the next one comes out MH4U would be a great place to start. It does a pretty good job of explaining the mechanics to newcomers (better than 3U did). Bear in mind that getting a feel for how the controls and mechanics of the game work takes a considerable time investment. I was introduced to the series with 3U and 50 or so hours in I was still learning new things and only just starting to feel like I had a decent grasp of how the game works.

If you've got plenty of free time in the next few weeks I would say try out 4U (the full game, not the demo). Otherwise maybe just wait until Generations comes out.

Monster Hunter isn't for everyone but if you like intense action games with fairly deep and complicated mechanics, it provides almost limitless entertainment.

@Nin10doh @ShadJV I was just thinking , I wish the demo would let you transfer your progress to the full game. I was introduced to the series with 3U. Typical story, I tried the demo, hated it but was convinced by a friend to buy the game anyway, and I've been hooked ever since. When the demo for 4U came out I was interested in trying the new weapons but other than that playing it felt pointless because none of the materials you gather could ever be used for anything and that's such a huge part of the game.

I actually backed this project on a whim. One of only 2 kickstarter projects I've ever backed. The other one was a project I was very interested in, La Mulana 2, which I didn't hesitate to back, but I also noticed this one and thought "why not?" 10 bucks isn't much of a risk. It was clear that the developers were inexperienced and I sort of half expected things to go this way. I do still believe the game will eventually be released, although maybe not on wii u. At least backers did already get something out of it (a completely different game than the one they backed). I suppose if I had put hundreds of dollars into this I'd be pretty upset, but then again, I can't understand why anyone would put a substantial amount of money into a project like this.

Nope, don't like it at all. The old design was so easy to use and probably a big part of what made this one of my favorite sites. I could easily see the latest articles in order and just scroll down to where I left off the day before. To find specific topics I could use the search if I so desired.

This new design just feels hard on the eyes. I'm sorry to say I'll most likely be checking the site a lot less often now, and probably just to look for specific reviews. It's a shame cause through this site I've discovered some great games which I otherwise probably wouldn't have. And now I guess I'll miss out on some, but coming here is going to seem like a chore when before it was so convenient.

Battletoads was one of my favorite NES games (possibly my favorite, no wonder since I use it as my avatar). I got to the tower, I think it's the last level, but I never had enough lives left to beat it. I wish I had never gotten rid of my NES way back when and could still play this game.

It's such a shame this will probably never come to the virtual console.

@Xenocity I'm guessing the majority of readers on this site are people who (myself included) have completely rejected all that stereotypical macho, manly bs, and who actively avoid associating with those kinds of people, and that's why you get such strong reactions to your posts. But I want to apologize. I think I called you a troll in response to one of your posts a while back, because I thought that you yourself identified with this market research definition of what a "real" gamer is. I gather from what you posted here that you are simply citing market research stats and that you don't fit into that mold of their definition of a "real" or "hardcore" gamer.

I wonder though if market research is trying to discover what 15-35 year old males like, or if it is trying to confirm that years of cultural conditioning is working. After all, the military industrial complex always needs fresh recruits of insecure males who need to prove their manliness. Is it a coincidence that war, an absolutely horrible evil thing, is so glorified in our culture?

@maceng I've never been much of a PC gamer but I might have to see if I can find a way to play the original Deus Ex. I believe the wii u one was a port of the 3rd game and I think it got really good reviews. Might have to check that one out too. Also there's a new one coming out next year, probably not on wii u though. I just watched the trailer and it looks amazing.

Fascinating interview, even though I never played the Epic Mickey games and don't really care about them. But I'm very interested in playing Deus Ex now, after reading this.

@Ryno His response to that last question also jumped out at me. I was surprised by the reference to the Illuminati. Generally the mere mention of "the Illuminati" will get you dismissed as a "crazy conspiracy theorist". I wish more people bothered to think about these kinds of things though, how they're affected by them, how those who control the banking system control the world. Sure, we have a certain amount of freedom in the West, but there are so many things that we have essentially no control over. Why are all these senseless wars being fought? Spectre says "...but things are pretty ok now." I'm not so sure the Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans etc. would agree with that. Anyway, perhaps this isn't the place to discuss these issues.

Fusion never stood out to me as being particularly memorable, probably because I much prefer to figure things out for myself, and the hand holding, telling you where to go mechanic pretty much completely eliminates that sense of exploration. Especially since the game is so linear, most of the time I would be thinking, "Well, I knew where to go next without the game having to tell me." I think Prime got it right by giving the player the option to turn the hint system on or off.
I certainly don't consider Fusion to be a bad game but it doesn't come close to Super Metroid and Metroid Prime 1, two of my favorite games of all time.
Maybe I'll have to give Fusion another play through though, after reading some of the comments here.

@sWiTcHeRoO From about G2 and up (or guild quests 86+) the quests become extremely difficult to solo and by the end they're pretty much impossible to beat alone. Monster Hunter is definitely at its best when played with friends, especially together in the same room. However playing online with randoms can still be a lot of fun. It's usually not too hard to find good people to play with, although it can be hit and miss. I still play it pretty regularly so if you ever feel like getting back into it I'd be happy to do some quests with you

I guess everyone who voted for Majora's Mask and Xenoblade 3D in the 3DS category voted for Splatoon and XCX in the overall poll while everyone who voted for MH4U in the 3DS poll also voted for it in the overall poll.

Not enough people appreciate the brilliance of Monster Hunter!

@Wouwter My thoughts exactly.

@Chaoz @sWiTcHeRoO It does seem odd to me to give 3DS retail game of the year to a remake, especially when they specifically state that they left out VC games "in order to focus on new experiences." Ok, so MM3D isn't a VC release but it's apparently basically the same game as the original (haven't actually played it since I never bother with remakes if I have the original.) I love Majora's Mask too but I don't see why MM3D should even be considered for game of the year.

For me MH4U is hands down, no contest, 3DS game of the year, and it's funny how it's in their overall game of the year list above MM3D.

Surely xenocity must be trolling, with such asinine comments.

The 400 plus hours of enjoyment I've gotten out of MH4U easily make it my game of the year. For WiiU I chose Xenoblade even though I haven't played it yet, because it's honestly the only thing there interesting to me and maybe someday I'll get around to playing it. I'm glad others are enjoying Splatoon and Mario Maker but they just don't interest me at all.

@ShanaUnite @R_Champ I'm with both of you. I downloaded Mewtwo DLC only because I got it free from Club Nintendo.

Does anyone know if the automatic update can be turned off for Smash on wii u? Everytime I want to play the game it starts to download the update and I don't want it! (and the last one neither) I'm running out of space on my hard drive and I never play Smash online anyway. I keep having to cancel the download. I don't want to have to turn off my internet every time I want to play Smash.

@FernandoMachado I've been thinking the same thing. Maybe it's time I finally play Earthbound. I've never been into RPG's much but this is making me want to give it a try.

@Yorumi Nice. that made me laugh

@Kaze_Memaryu Interesting. Thanks for the info.

I've yet to do any of the DLC quests. I'm still busy progressing through the G rank quests.

So there were no g rank gold/silver rath quests? Does that mean it's literally impossible to upgrade my rath double swords to the highest level until this DLC comes? I just assumed I hadn't unlocked those quests yet.

@rjejr If you haven't already I'd say definitely get it. For 10 bucks I think you can't go wrong even if you already have some of the games. You can always give away those codes. I gave away codes for Steamworld Dig and Ollie Ollie to a friend and he was pretty glad to get them.

@rjejr Maybe Steamworld Dig as you kind of create your own path through the game. I haven't played Stealth 2 though or a few of the others so I'm not really sure either.

Anyway, great interview.

@ThomasBW84 Thanks for the nice interview and article.

I bought the bundle just to check out some games I didn't already have and would have otherwise not bought, (and give away codes to friends for ones I already had). If I really enjoy some of the games I will definitely be inclined to buy future games from the developers at full price. I was happy to pay full price for other games like Shovel Knight and AVGN Adventures, but with so many games available and limited gaming time I have to be pretty selective with what I buy.

I imagine the developers get a decent amount of money back from this too, considering these are games that are probably barely selling any copies at all at this point (at full price).

I'm always happy to pay full price for a game I know for sure I want. On the other hand I also purchased the Nindie Humble Bundle because, well, why not? Most of the games included I would have otherwise never bought, so I think those kinds of sales also have their place, as long as they don't happen too soon after the games were originally released.

I'm really tempted by this even though I have too little time to play all the games I already have.

I can understand why a lot of people are annoyed, but I never cared much about the physical rewards anyway and over the years I've gotten over 20 free games through club nintendo including Pikmin 3, Game and Wario, Pokemon X, Mario 3D Land and Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, so I'm definitely not complaining.

@Boidoh Did you manage to find a way to download Mewtwo? I still have a 3DS code and I remembered you were looking for one. I can send it to you if you want.

I had this game on disc but could never be bothered to finish it. It's not for me. There was always so much going on on-screen I couldn't figure out what would damage me and what wouldn't.

@Vineleaf Agreed. Link still seems out of place to me in Mario Kart. Animal crossing characters I don't mind though.

I'm loving the DLC, but I don't think they should add any more tracks at this point. It's already 50% more than any previous Mario kart. I think it's enough. If they must add more DLC the best would be a challenge mode and a few battle arenas, (although I don't personally care about battle mode so I wouldn't buy them).

@MrWalkieTalkie But with the age gate Nintendo would have done their part by pointing out that this content isn't appropriate for kids, and then it's up to the parents to pay attention to what their kids are doing and actually use the age restrictions. Let's face it, kids can look up anything they want on the internet so it's up to parents to be responsible. Nintendo shouldn't take away features from everyone just because some parents are irresponsible.

NL, thanks for this interview. This is a game I will definitely get at some point and it's really nice to hear from the developer.

That's odd that some are saying they can't get it to work. For me it worked exactly the way it's described in the article.

@Nico07 Thanks for the advice!

@Nico07 Actually I meant I connected a USB flash drive, which I know is not recommended, but I don't want to spend money on an external HDD.