Messages

126

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Amazing Deals!

« on: April 25, 2014, 04:35:57 PM »

Amazon is matching...picked it up there instead since I have Prime.  Been looking forward to this game since shortly after it came out but wasn't willing to pay anywhere near full price since I knew the price would plummet quickly...happy to see that my prediction of being available for under $20 before the weather got warm would come true...less happy that it's the end of April and the weather is still miserable, but you can't win them all.

127

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Amazing Deals!

« on: April 13, 2014, 02:53:59 PM »

Assassin's Creed IV on sale at Best Buy (and currently being price matched on Amazon) for several systems, including Wii U.  $20 in points with Mario Kart 8 deal is back at K-Mart again this week.  And Best Buy has eShop points for 10% off.

128

TalkBack / Re: Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, Wii U Release Windows Revealed

« on: April 08, 2014, 08:48:23 PM »

Not that surprising that the Wii U version isn't coming until later, they've only got two major Wii U releases scheduled for the year at this point so I couldn't have seen them releasing Smash Bros this summer.  I wonder how they're defining "winter" because by the calendar winter would imply that it probably won't release until 2015.  But I'm hoping their definition is more like November.

It really is starting to seem like the 3DS is the Wii U's worst enemy.  Mario, Mario Kart, Smash Bros all having Wii U releases not that long after their 3DS counterparts and people not having a need to get a Wii U as a result definitely isn't helping its cause.

129

TalkBack / Re: Super Mario World Leads April's Club Nintendo Games

« on: April 07, 2014, 09:53:24 PM »

Nice, I think I'll pick up Super Mario World, I don't think I've played that game since playing it back on the SNES.  Since it's for Wii U, that means it can be played on the gamepad, right?

Mario Golf 64 is tempting but after how awesome Tiger Woods for Wii was, I don't know that I could go back to playing a button based golf game.  And I have the Gamecube version which was a blast back in the day, maybe I'll give that a try and see if it's still fun now.

130

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Skipping PAX East 2014

« on: March 28, 2014, 02:17:54 PM »

Gamers think E3 is for them which it isn't. And a press conference is named after exactly who the audience is.

Maybe 20 years ago that was true, but I'd say it's a stretch to say that's true now.  There's a reason they're broadcast on TV, that every website live blogs/tweets them, and the companies put so much effort into the presentation.  The press is still definitely a large part of the audience (the lack of coverage on non-Nintendo sites last year seems to suggest that without a press conference Nintendo was largely ignored by some) but the companies know that the consumers are getting the information directly now, too, and they're a large part of the audience as well.

131

Nintendo Gaming / Re: What new game do you hope to see Nintendo announce in the next year?

« on: March 27, 2014, 08:21:04 PM »

I don't know if it would work out in practice, but at least in theory the idea of a Mario paintball game sounds pretty interesting.

132

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Sales Thread

« on: March 26, 2014, 09:53:23 PM »

The Wii U sold better but had no games in the top 20?  Weird.

I thought the same thing but then I noticed that every single hardware platform had a sales increase.  Must be a holiday or something causing a universal increase in sales.

133

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Amazing Deals!

« on: March 25, 2014, 11:45:23 PM »

Wow, that's a steal.  Had $5 in surprise points expiring tonight, so it was $55 before tax, with the $35 in points coming, which will definitely get used, maybe on Smash Bros. if they have another crazy deal like this, if not, on things I actually need.

134

TalkBack / Re: Big Sale on Ubisoft Games in the eShop on Wii U, 3DS

« on: March 25, 2014, 11:17:57 PM »

Agree with what others have posted, the "deals" on the retail games are very underwhelming.  Assassin's Creed 4 is on my list of games to buy but it's already down to $25 at Amazon and is bound to be under $20 by summer.

135

Nintendo Gaming / Re: NFRIT 1st Round: Okami (2) v Mother 3 (7)

« on: March 22, 2014, 04:01:55 PM »

The art style of Okami was beautiful, the game had a good sense of humor, the motion controls weren't perfect but they were generally good enough, and personally I thought it out-Zelda'ed Zelda.

136

Nintendo Gaming / Re: NFRIT 1st Round: Luigi's Mansion (1) v Harvest Moon 64 (8)

« on: March 22, 2014, 03:57:25 PM »

Harvest Moon 64 definitely deserved it.  I'd be among those to consider it the best in the series.  The characters were better than any in the series, the bar was definitely the best in the series, and I played more of Harvest Moon 64 than any other game in the series by far (possibly due to the fact that I was in school at the time and had a lot more time for gaming back then).  Like some other series, they've definitely made improvements with newer games, but I don't think they've managed to quite capture the magic that made Harvest Moon 64 so special.

137

Nintendo Gaming / Re: NFRIT 1st Round: Radiant Historia (1) v Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (8)

« on: March 22, 2014, 03:50:29 PM »

Hotel Dusk was one of my favorite DS games so I chose that.  I even ended up importing the sequel which was never released in the US, which I believe is the only import game I've ever bought.  Loved the art style, loved the story, loved the characters, especially Hyde.  I own Radiant Historia but haven't really put any time into it, I got away from doing much handheld gaming about the same time I bought it but someday I plan to give it a full play through.  But I can't imagine it will match Hotel Dusk as one of my favorite DS games.

I'm not sure if it can still be found online for a reasonable price, but the sequel to Hotel Dusk is very good as well, I don't think it's quite as good as the original but still definitely worth playing if you can find a copy of it.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: NFRIT 1st Round: Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon (3) v 999 (6)

« on: March 22, 2014, 03:44:28 PM »

I didn't think that having to go back and replay from the start was a big deal, once you had the puzzles figured out, going through a second time didn't take that long.  The story was so good, the atmosphere was brilliantly done, and I was more drawn into the game than any other game I've played in the past 10 years.  I can definitely see how it's not for everyone, but for people who enjoy this style of game, 999 and Hotel Dusk alone made owning a DS worthwhile.

139

Nintendo Gaming / Re: NFRIT 1st Round: WWF No Mercy (1) v Trauma Center: Under The Knife (8)

« on: March 22, 2014, 03:38:53 PM »

Trauma Center was a good idea to make use of the touch screen, but the AKI wrestling games on the N64 were as fun as video game wrestling can get.  From the first title in the series the gameplay was excellent and each game in the series added more and more features, culminating with No Mercy.  I still go back and play games from the series once in a while, still a blast to this day.

140

TalkBack / Re: Mario Kart 8 Coming Out with a Red Case in North America?

« on: March 20, 2014, 07:58:18 PM »

The different colored cartridges for N64 back in the day were actually kinda cool.  But specially colored cases or discs now just don't seem that interesting, at least in my opinion.

141

Nintendo Gaming / Re: What new game do you hope to see Nintendo announce in the next year?

« on: March 20, 2014, 11:59:41 AM »

It's probably a little early since the 3DS version just came out last year but I'd like to see an Animal Crossing game for Wii U.  I haven't bought any of them since the original and I think I'm ready for a new one.  It seems like the game would be a good fit for off-TV play and perhaps a game where Nintendo could put the gamepad to good use.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Why should Nintendo drop the GamePad?

« on: March 19, 2014, 07:40:45 PM »

Why Nintendo should drop the GamePad is to show how sturdy the device really is.

You sir just won this thread.

If you're going to do something as extreme as removing the pack-in controller then I think outright replacing the Wii U is the better move.  I think that needs to be done ASAP to give the PS4 as little time as possible to build an insurmountable lead.

I couldn't disagree more with that idea.  If Nintendo were to decide to bail on the Wii U now, I would not buy their next console.  And I'd imagine there's a fair amount of Wii U owners who would feel the same way.  To get something out quickly enough to not be too far behind the PS4 for it to matter they'd have to rush something out, there'd be a lack of games at launch, probably no third party support, gamers on other consoles would continue to ignore Nintendo, and the spiral would continue.  Maybe I'm wrong, but that seems like a bad strategy.

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TalkBack / Re: Why Wii U Needs Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball

« on: March 18, 2014, 11:35:46 AM »

I think they should just take the Wii Sports Club idea and expand on it.  Add in a bunch more sports and flesh the games out a bit more.  If that had 10 or so sports that were each a fairly in depth experience, it would at least give Wii U owners a decent sports experience.  I still don't understand how they don't have at least the original five sports from Wii Sports available yet.  They're obviously never going to have the full sports experience that the other systems have, but they could at least provide something that's different.

144

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Why should Nintendo drop the GamePad?

« on: March 16, 2014, 11:06:13 PM »

How is it that Nintendo can't afford to lose money but Microsoft and Sony can?  Aren't Nintendo the ones with enough money in the bank to lose money for 50 years or something like that at the current pace and still have money?  Sony's the company that has several divisions bleeding money and Microsoft is the company with tons of people saying they need to spin off several divisions of their company.  Nintendo can survive a few rough years if they need to.  Not that it's ideal, but they're not Sega with the Dreamcast.

At what price could the Wii U start selling large amounts of hardware?  I don't think it's $250, there's been enough deals with gift cards that the system has been available for close to that without an increase in sales.  $200 maybe?  Even if they eliminated the gamepad, they'd be taking even more of a loss to sell it at that price, plus the price of completely changing strategy again.  And they still don't have that killer app.  The Wii didn't sell because it was $250, it sold because Wii Sports was a phenomenon.  And Wii Fit kept things going.  Wii U has some great games but nothing that's attracting the masses.

145

Nintendo Gaming / Re: The NFRIT - For the games NWR left out of March Madness

« on: March 16, 2014, 10:41:51 PM »

I can't believe I didn't realize that Okami didn't make it into March Madness.  That was one of my favorite Wii games.

How about Hotel Dusk and 999?  Both games had great stories, made good use of the DS hardware, and were very memorable experiences.

146

Nintendo Gaming / Re: What games do you think best use the Wii U GamePad and why?

« on: March 16, 2014, 01:44:16 PM »

We don't have space in our living room even if we wanted to have a second TV.  I'd like to use the gamepad more but the range on it is not good.  It's maybe 25 feet from where the system is setup to my bed and it doesn't work there.  The other problem is that games look so good on the TV, that a lot of times I just decide to wait until playing a game instead of playing on the gamepad, it doesn't look bad but it's not very good either compared to an HDTV.

I just started Monster Hunter and having the map and health bars down on the gamepad instead of up on the TV is great, I think it makes the game look better not having that stuff displayed on the TV.

147

Nintendo Gaming / Re: The NFRIT - For the games NWR left out of March Madness

« on: March 16, 2014, 01:32:34 PM »

I agree about Tiger Woods, though I believe I have 11.  That game was without a doubt one of the best uses of motion controls.

148

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Why should Nintendo drop the GamePad?

« on: March 16, 2014, 01:29:57 PM »

I think it'd be silly to drop the gamepad.  It's the only thing about the hardware that's unique in any way.  While there haven't been as many games that use it in creative ways as I'd like to see, hopefully Nintendo putting an increased emphasis will result in more unique uses.  Another problem is that they've had enough problems with confusion about what the Wii U is already without further confusing the market.  And while they could drop the price some by removing the gamepad, they'd also have to include a different controller (I'd imagine the pro controller) and I'm assuming the price to manufacture the gamepad has come down compared to when the system has first released, so I don't think removing it would automatically result in a $100 price drop like many think.

3rd party support is all but gone from major publishers and for the most part isn't coming back.  The difference between the Gamecube and Wii U is that the Gamecube was on basically the same level of hardware as the competitors so porting games wasn't a problem.  With the Wii U, games made for the other systems would need to be changed significantly to run on it.  And to make an exclusive for the system when there's a smaller number of users and those users are known for buying mostly games made by Nintendo, it just doesn't make financial sense.  So many people get mad at 3rd parties for not supporting the system, but why would they?  Generally, the people who own only a Wii U aren't likely to buy their games and the people who own another system are going to buy it on another system anyway.

Nintendo's only hope is to continue to attract lots of independent developers since that's the one area they are getting good support, it seems like a fair amount of the titles are successful, and many of the games appeal to Nintendo fans.  Beyond that, keep making partnerships like the Hyrule Warriors game using their IPs and keep the first party releases strong enough to satisfy Wii U owners so that there's a chance those owners will buy their next system.

149

TalkBack / Re: Pure Chess Coming to Wii U, 3DS Next Week

« on: March 14, 2014, 12:47:06 PM »

If the reviews on this are good, I may pick it up.  I've always wanted a good videogame chess game (I think I owned one back on the N64 that wasn't bad), and being downloadable so it's on the system and always available is a plus since it's definitely a play once in a while here and there type of game.  The trailer looks good, hopefully it plays as good as it looks.

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TalkBack / Re: Runner 2 on Sale for a Limited Time

« on: March 14, 2014, 12:44:10 PM »

The game is on sale through 3/17.  I think I'm going to pick it up, I enjoyed the first one but having to replay through the entire level if you messed up near the very end got frustrating.  Having checkpoints is a definite plus if you ask me.