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[Can Kirby Fighters Deluxe stave off a Smash fan until the Wii U version?]

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TalkBack / Yoshi-EGGS Answers A Smash Bros. Dilemma

« on: September 30, 2014, 06:04:17 AM »

Can Kirby Fighters Deluxe stave off a Smash fan until the Wii U version?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/mailbag/38615/yoshi-eggs-answers-a-smash-bros-dilemma

Don’t forget to feed the mailbag so Yoshi-EGGS doesn't go all maverick renegade on us and bust out of his Kuribo's Shoe and mess fools up.

Leo writes:

First, there's something you need to know about me: most of my gaming is done either by myself or with my wife and kids. In other words, I rarely play online with other people. With Smash Bros. coming out I was really hoping the 3DS version would have download play so that I could pay the $40 one time and the whole family would be able to play.

Since that's not the case, I'm considering getting Kirby Fighters instead for 3DS and Smash Bros. for Wii U. That way, instead of paying $160 to play Smash on 3DS plus $60 to play it on Wii U ($220 total for one game), I'll pay $7 for Kirby Fighters, which DOES have download play, so we can all play off the one copy, and then pay $60 for Smash (for a total of $67).

Will I be happy with this solution?

Well Leo, I’m certainly not a Yoshi who’s in the habit of telling people how to spend their money (though I can put you in touch with a Magikoopa who moonlights as a financial adviser—just don’t let Bowser find out). I’m also not a psychic, so I can’t say how happy you’ll be with any particular outcome, but I think your solution sounds perfectly sensible given your family’s circumstances.

The primary issue here relates to how you see the two venues for family brawling—console and portable—complementing each other in practice. At a glance, it does seem like Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U would make the better pairing for you; Kirby’s major deficiency relative to Smash lies in its much narrower range of content, but you’ll be getting that sort of stuff on Wii U anyway, while Kirby provides what Smash does not on 3DS: the chance to fight family battles using portables with only one unit of software being required. Taking into account the price disparity that you pointed out earlier, it’s hard to argue against this solution for you and your family.

Still, there is one reason why you may want to hold off a little longer before pulling the trigger on Kirby Fighters. You see, Nintendo has been a bit tight-lipped about what (other than stages) will make the Wii U version of Smash Bros. different from its portable counterpart. For instance, what will substitute for the 3DS-exclusive Smash Run mode? This lack of detail also means that there’s still uncertainty about how the two versions might enhance one another; some connectivity features have been confirmed (such as using a 3DS as a controller for playing on Wii U), but we don’t know the full extent of them yet, or how Amiibo may fit into all this. Not to mention that we still don’t have an official release date!

It is of course to be expected that Nintendo wouldn’t want to overshadow the 3DS game by talking about its big brother in the run-up to launch, though I suppose this could also be taken as an indication that the console version will simply sit alongside the portable one rather than complementing it in a meaningful way. In any case, if the projections of a pre-Black Friday US release for Smash Bros. Wii U are correct, we’re probably only a few weeks away from some of these details becoming apparent as the hype machine for the console version finally kicks into top gear.

Admittedly, there only seems to be a slight chance that we’ll discover something about the two versions of Smash Bros. that would make the 3DS game look more desirable to you than Kirby Fighters despite its lack of download play. Still, I think it might be worth waiting at least a few more weeks before making a final decision just in case; after all, stranger things have happened, right? (Duck Hunt Dog says “hi” and then laughs at you). Don’t forget, the free demo for Smash Bros. 3DS is now available to everyone and has no usage limit attached to it, so that could be used to settle any family quarrels taking place in the interim.

[Here's Yoshi-EGGS' first mailbag. Feel free to ask him more questions.]

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TalkBack / Yoshi-EGGS Responds to Your Questions

« on: September 22, 2014, 03:35:13 AM »

Here's Yoshi-EGGS' first mailbag. Feel free to ask him more questions.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/mailbag/38573/yoshi-eggs-responds-to-your-questions

Here’s Yoshi-EGGS’ first mailbag. The wily Yoshi just dropped this off to me this morning with a note saying “Post these or become an egg.” So, I’ll gladly oblige him and do so. Don’t forget to feed him questions so I don’t become an egg.

rcontra writes:

I have 55 games on my Wii U and I noticed that I have 25 spaces left. Do you think Nintendo will ever do a system update that can provide folders for each space like they did with the 3DS?

In the past, Nintendo has demonstrated an exquisite sense of timing in how it drags its feet on issues like this one; just when you’ve finally made peace with the idea that the improvement you’ve been waiting for may never materialize, Iwata announces the SD Card Channel for Wii at his 2009 GDC keynote speech.

Ergo, I do expect that such an update will happen eventually, but I also advise you to give up hope for Wii U folders as soon as possible in order to expedite the process. I know this sounds paradoxical, but let’s face it, what else is Nintendo waiting for? Folders came to 3DS just over a year after launch, so Wii U is nearly a year behind that pace at this point.

The only other possibility is that Nintendo will begrudgingly make folders available once global Wii U digital software sales pass a super-secret threshold known only to NCL top brass and Sakurai’s cat. In which case: buy more games! Don’t worry, once you fill those 25 spaces you have left, the Wii U menu will spawn additional pages to hold more icons (who says Nintendo doesn’t learn from its mistakes?)

TurdFurgy writes:

I desperately want to know who decided to put that yellow line on the Wii U game cases. It just doesn't make sense to me and it really doesn't go with anything. Because of this I keep my Wii U game cases locked in a cabinet and was forced to go digital.There are a dozen other colors that would have done quite well. At the very least they could have went with the design that's on the actual discs. So, again, I want to know who is responsible for this and how can I shame them?

When Nintendo set out its plans for successors to the Nintendo DS and Wii platforms, it decided that the new systems would retain the brand identities that had been built up so successfully over the past hardware cycle.

However, Nintendo was sensitive to the fact that some people might be confused about how these new consoles would relate to the ones they already had, so it took clear steps to nip any such confusion squarely in the bud; 3DS software cases would have the console logo moved all the way over to the right side from the left side, and Wii U software cases would be blue with that fetching yellow line you so despise arcing down over the top of the cover art.

So you see, the yellow color was chosen precisely because it’s incongruous with the rest of the case design, in order to subconsciously inform the consumer that they’re looking at something distinctly new and unique. This should all make sense to you now, and thus I won’t be naming and shaming anyone who might be responsible for it…please understand.

TheXenocide writes:

I'm trapped in a room. There are no doors or windows or openings of any kind. The only things in the room with me are a mirror and a table. How do I escape?

Let me get this straight: you’re trapped in a room with only a mirror, a table, and access to the internet….and you seek help from someone who openly admits to being stuck in an oversized shoe? I suggest you take a long, hard look at yourself in that mirror and think about all the poor decisions that have led you into this predicament. Otherwise, maybe you can use that great wireless reception you’re getting inside the vault to stream all seven seasons of MacGyver on your phone—he’s bound to have escaped from this exact situation at least 15 times during that run.

Having said all that, I’m now wondering if you sent this question to me because it’s some sort of metaphor for Nintendo’s current struggles in the marketplace, where the table represents Nintendo’s reliance on its own hardware, and the mirror is how Nintendo uses its own image. Even in this scenario though, the Michael Pachters of the world would only offer the same advice as I’ve already given you: use your phone to get out.

Hope you enjoyed the first of hopefully many weekly mailbags from Yoshi-EGGS! Please send him more questions so he doesn’t sneak out of Kuribo’s Shoe and start wreaking havoc.

[From deep inside of a Kuribo's Shoe, our top dinosaur is awaiting your questions.]

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TalkBack / Feed The Mailbag for Yoshi-EGGS

« on: September 16, 2014, 05:40:59 PM »

From deep inside of a Kuribo's Shoe, our top dinosaur is awaiting your questions.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/mailbag/38527/feed-the-mailbag-for-yoshi-eggs

Do you have a burning question about Nintendo that you'd like to be answered in textual form by a bastardized version of Mario's faithful dinosaur/dragon companion? Well we've got some good news for you! NWR's legendary Mailbag is returning from a lengthy hiatus courtesy of our new Mushroom Kingdom Insider, known to us only as Yoshi-EGGS.

Operating from a secret location deep inside a Kuribo's Shoe, Yoshi-EGGS knows and sees all (speaking metaphorically, of course—it's actually too dark in there to see much of anything). So, if you want to get the straight dope on anything that's going on in the world of Nintendo, FEED THE BAG today! Don't hold anything back now, for a Yoshi's appetite knows no bounds (unless you want to know the reasons behind Virtual Console release schedules...some things are simply beyond explanation).

In case you missed the other two links in this article, remember to go here to send an email over to mailbag (at) nintendoworldreport (dot) com.

Don't dawdle! And keep'em coming. Yoshi-EGGS knows no bounds.