So now that the eShop actually is delayed, are you eating crow about eating crow?

I think we can just regurgitate crow and be covered.

Why would you want to be covered in crow sick?

eShop is not officially delayed outside Japan, and even there, we're going on a Nikkei report (but they're almost always right).

No, it is:

"The first system update is scheduled for late May, at almost the same time around the world." - Iwata

I hate to say it, but if the May date is confirmed, I'm going to cancel my preorder.  I wouldn't have much to do with it until then.  Do they sell display cases?

You are only interested in 3DSWare? You aren't interested in playing the actual 3DS games?

Well, there aren't many interesting games to speak of until at least Q2.  Of course, who knows whether the system will be available in Q2.

I don't have a DSi (just a Lite), so I could use the time to catch up on DSiware, along with the 3DSware and Virtual Console.  If there is no online shop, I can wait until a 3DS game that appeals to me comes out.  I hope a number of those will be shown and dated at E3.

Spoiler alert: Episode 39 is titled "Retraction II: Retract Harder"

That directory of Nintendo podcasts sounds interesting... unfortunately, I can't access it because it's on Facebook and I'm kinda sorta banned for life from it. Help?

A person needs his/her Shantae.

I have to say that I share Andy's concerns about the 3DS.  Or rather, I share everyone's concerns, but for the same reasons as Andy.  It just seems like the current crop of games are basically console games, rather than handheld games.  Although I never thought traditional JRPGs would ever be primarily portable, so what do I know?


As for the contest, might I suggest that instead of having people just e-mail their entries, all the entries should be put here in the talkback forum?  I've noticed off other sites that photoshops tend to feed off of each other, so by putting them online for everyone to see you're more likely to inspire greater participation.

Andy, I truthfully have no idea what in the hell you were trying to say with Pokémon. The Game Boy was basically dying and then Pokémon saved its life. I think there's a reason why we don't see a full-fledged home console Pokémon game, because it works so well on portables.

Sir, as Director, I require you to play a Pokémon to completion, or at least until you understand the meaning of Pokéchristmas.

Do you get Lindy's parking spot, Neal? ;D

After the fumigation, I would think so.

So how long until everyone starts calling Neal the "Rona-Man"? (Unless Jon copyrighted it.)


Giving the conditions with the 3DS announced as of late, I admit I may hold off on getting one for a few months. Least until the robust features arrive along with some software that I'm more interested in than what will be available at launch. Certainly seems like Nintendo is rushing this thing out.

I don't recall what it was exactly that I said.  Refresh my memory?  (or point me to a time in the podcast to fast forward to...)

How do you get stuck on the seahorse boss in SML? That guy's a pushover, you've got infinite shooting in that level! Me and everyone else I knew got stuck in world 3 because it's pretty damn hard.

You said something along the lines of, "Pokemon wasnt that big of a deal on the game boy because it was portable"

Okay, relistening to that conversation now...


I think maybe I didn't quite articulate my point...  my argument was not to dismiss the greatness or success of Pokemon, but rather to contrast my theory that it's short-form gaming (games which you can pick up and play and put back down in a few minutes) rather than long-form games which have played the largest part in Nintendo's handheld dominance with the fact that Pokemon has clearly been a big part of the success as well.  On top of that, I've never quite understood the appeal of the Pokemon games, so I was unsure if the portability of the series has really been that big of a factor in it's success.


Did I explain it better that time?

Considering that trading and battling with other people is a big draw of the game, and how portability makes that so much easier to do, isn't it safe to say that being portable is a huge part of the series' appeal?  Perhaps it would be less important today,* with consoles being online, but back then doing something similar on a home console would have been near impossible to pull off successfully, and I don't mean that from a technological standpoint.

*I don't think it's less important today, myself.

*sigh* You just don't get it, Andy.

I agree with everything noname wrote, and also, Pokémon isn't exactly long-form gaming. Yes, there's a lot of game time to be spent with it (same with other RPGs and PICROSS! AND TETRIS!), but unlike most other RPGs, it's focused on shorter experiences. Notice, especially in Red/Blue, how quickly areas can be traversed. Yes, battles get in the way, but you can walk through most sections extremely quickly.

You can also save anywhere. Now that's a feature of many other games, but usually it's some sort of artifical quick save that's different from real saving (case in point: Dragon Quest games). In Pokémon, that is how you save. Just press start, select "Save," and you're done.

But seriously, Andy, you're writing an Extra Life on a Pokémon game. Or else I'm going to fire you. This is on par with Nate never playing Super Mario Bros.

I like this side of Neal, publicly threatening to fire people who disagree with him if they don't atone for their sins. It hasn't taken long for the power to corrupt him.

Be quiet of I'll ban you. :P

I was EIGHT.

I played a few hours of Pearl.  I thought it felt awfully archaic for a brand new $29.99 DS game.  I wasn't playing it for some sort of retro experiment, I was playing it to finally try to understand the phenomenon, and what I got was a game that felt distinctly rooted in 1998.

Yeah, me too. Maybe in Kindergarten you could have stumped me with that but I've been playing Katakis ever since we got that second hand C64 and upgraded to genuine R-Type and Nemesis once I had the Game Boy.

I was never good at horizontal or vertical shooters. :-(

Neal stop calling me Nate or I'll impeach you.

Well that answers a question I probably should've asked you months ago...

Actually you did, and I answered multiple times. Perhaps your ears were clogged with your directorly ambitions? ;)