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It's almost here!
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34456
Nintendo has released the launch trailer for Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which shows off some of the features such as designing clothes and shopping in stores.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf releases this Sunday, June 9, in stores and on the eShop. Check out our review here, and the trailer below.
I know you just didn't slam the iconic box art for Super Mario Bros. 3, the box art millions of people associate with their most cherished childhood memories...
We're still crossing our fingers for voice chat.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34444
During a recent Capcom event, a few more details concerning the upcoming Monster Hunter 4 were revealed:
Online - Similar to Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, users can create rooms that have specific goals, such as targeting a specific monster or type of quest.
Touch Screen - The bottom screen will show villages that the player is able to visit.
Weapons - The Charge Axe was shown more, which features the ability to charge up attacks in sword mode that can be unleashed in axe mode.
Monster Hunter 4 is still slated for a September 14 release in Japan, with no Western date announced. Check out the most recent trailer below.
Surprisingly close to its Japanese counterpart.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34440
Feast your eyes on the Western box art for Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.
The West usually gets the short end of the box art stick, just look at Super Mario Bros. 3! Luckily, this time we're getting a nearly identical piece with Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. Lucky us!
Tiny Cartridge noted the only difference between the two. "As expected, the Western artwork doesn’t have that weird Japanese trope with the nose bubble, but they replace it with a weird Western one: the use of “zzz” to represent sleeping noises."
Check out the Japanese box for comparison below.
Warning: More drama incoming.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34446
The crowdfunding campaigns for Shadow of the Eternals, the spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness, are being taken down by developer Precursor Games on June 6.
According to a statement from Precursor Games, the money people have pledged on Kickstarter will not be charged, and those who donated through their own crowdfunding on their site will also be refunded. They also state that they will be re-launching the campaign in "a few short weeks."
Many people were confused by the fact that they have been running two simultaneous crowdfunding campaigns, one on their site and one on Kickstarter, and this news will likely only serve to further raise eyebrows and confuse fans. Hopefully there is some good news coming soon.
Mutant Mudds isn't your only option for water cannon action this Summer!
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34445
WayForward just released a new trailer for their upcoming 3DS eShop title Mighty Switch Force! 2, and announced that the game will release in North America on June 13 and Europe on June 27.
Mighty Switch Force! 2 features the same block-switching puzzle action that fans of the first game will enjoy, but this time around the heroine, Patricia, is equipped with a water cannon that will help her solve even more dastardly puzzles. Check out the trailer below.
Mutant Mudds isn't your only option for water cannon action this Summer!
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34445
WayForward just released a new trailer for their upcoming 3DS eShop title Mighty Switch Force! 2, and announced that the game will release in North America on June 13 and Europe on June 27.
Mighty Switch Force! 2 features the same block-switching puzzle action that fans of the first game will enjoy, but this time around the heroine, Patricia, is equipped with a water cannon that will help her solve even more dastardly puzzles. Check out the trailer below.
The latest MegaTen game is starting with a bang.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34427
Shin Megami Tensei IV is sitting pretty at the top of Japanese charts, selling nearly 190,000 copies in its first week, according to Media Create.
This is promising news for Atlus' newest 3DS game, which is set to hit North American shelves July 16, and Europe sometime before October.
I'm still holding out for Disney's Boats.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34425
Disney Interactive has posted a new trailer for their upcoming game Planes, which will release exclusively on Nintendo consoles. It is currently slated for release in August, and this new trailer shows some short snippets of gameplay. Check out the trailer below.
Grab that Luigi 3DS pouch while it's still sizzling hot!
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34429
Several previously available Club Nintendo Rewards are back in stock, including:
-Hand towels (350 coins each)
-Luigi 3DS pouch (450 coins)
-Pink Animal Crossing fan (300 coins)
-History of Nintendo Handhelds cards (300 coins)
Be sure to snatch these up quickly if you're interested, as they could sell out soon. The Luigi-themed 3DS pouch, in particular, went very quickly the last time it was available.
Major retailers are ready to get their golf on!
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34424
Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop are now taking pre-orders for Mario Golf: World Tour, which is slated for release this summer on 3DS. Retailers haven't listed a date, however GameFly has shown a release of August 25.
Mario Golf: World Tour is being developed by Camelot Software Planning, and will add online elements to the popular franchise.
Recent Kickstarter success story and retro game lover.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/interview/34377/interview-with-anne-creator-mo-broots
We had the opportunity to speak with Mo Broots of Games By Mo about his recent success: a retro-themed game called A.N.N.E. Mo says that the game has been heavily inspired by some of the best classic franchises around. Titles such as Super Metroid, Gradius, and Mega Man, just to name a few. Although his Wii U stretch goal was not met, he's still dead set on bringing the game to the system, and we here at NWR love that kind of dedication to Nintendo.
NWR: Congratulations on your recent success on Kickstarter! How was your crowdfunding experience?
Mo Broots: It was pretty intense. I got 60% of my target in the first week and then it took two weeks to get the extra 40%. You go through all kinds of emotions and it eats up a lot of your time and sleeping hours. For me it was really deciding my fate, whether I should just get back to working full time and doing A.N.N.E as a hobby or get the chance to work full time on my project. I am really happy that the project got funded and that I get to live the dream and passion on a daily basis.
NWR: How did you get started in the industry?
MB: I started as a 3D modeler in the film/television industry back in 2001. But I was already fiddling with a bunch of different gaming engines at home for a few years already. My goal was to work in the industry with no real specific company or project in mind (well besides some Japanese studios…). I just wanted to have the opportunity to see how games were made. I got my big break in 2004 working for a small studio in Montreal. I met a lot of cool people including two of the pillars behind Chrono Resurrection which led me to join the project. From that point on I evolved pretty quick artistically and career wise. I became a lead environment artists and kept the title until I was offered an Art Director position at Beenox in 2010.
NWR: You've recently stated that a Wii U version of the game would be made regardless of whether or not you reached your Wii U stretch goal. Where does your dedication to Nintendo spring from?
MB: A very young age. Super Mario on the Nes is really what got me obsessed with gaming. I already had some consoles like the Atari, Coleco and stuff like that handed down from uncles and family, but it wouldn’t really stop me from playing outside with my friends but the Nes did. I was obsessed and would be playing all the time, renting two games every week end… Having my game on a Nintendo console would definitely be crossing off a dream that’s pretty high on the list. I actually already started looking into it. I definitely want to get A.N.N.E on as Many console as I can eventually.
NWR: What does A.N.N.E stand for?
MB: The name is originally based on the acronym A.N.N.E. which means Artificial Neurone Network Enssemble. A fancy way for saying A.I. I modified it a little (minus a period) and made it the girl robot’s name in the game.
NWR: How big is the world in A.N.N.E?
MB: It’s pretty big. I divided the planet into 5 areas. A space shooter stage separates each areas and each area has multiple themes. I like to refer as areas as “worlds”: they are huge opened space in wich there might be ruins, some caves, a crashed ship, facilities and other different sub areas to explore.
NWR: I know it's a long way off, but do you have any plans for how to utilize the GamePad on the Wii U version?
MB:Right now the quick answer would probably be map and menus on the bottom screen. But I haven’t gotten too deep into that yet. Looking forward too though. Would also be fun to make the game playable on the controller only.
NWR: You mention a lot of influences in your Kickstarter video, which game most heavily inspired A.N.N.E?
MB: It is hard to only name one. But In terms of gameplay I guess that Mario stands out. Holding the shot button will make you run, emphasis on platforming etc… But obviously Super Metroid, games like Life Force, Axelay. Games in which you would find some innovative twists like changing the camera angle between stages. I always loved that stuff. Or Blaster Master, when you find out that you can get out of the truck and explore. Really inspiring stuff.
NWR: A.N.N.E looks to be very informed by classic games, how does this apply to the difficulty of the game?
MB: I definitely want the game to be challenging but at the same time alleviate the short comings of the games it is inspired from. Having frequent checkpoints and the ability to level up makes the game a bit easier for people that may not be hardcore gamers. So if the game is hard you can level up and upgrade your gear, and frequent spawn points eases the frustrations of redoing difficult moments in the game. I am also working ona teleport system that lets you teleport back to your ship. This is useful when you end up at a dead end and don’t want to walk all the way back.
NWR: Would you ever consider a 3DS port of the game?
MB: For sure, but it’s not in the plans as of now. All I want to focus on right now is making a great game and then I am sure that a 3DS port will happen.
NWR: What can you tell me about the game's protagonist and his girlfriend?
MB: No25 and A.N.N.E both end up affected by the love virus and thus must be disposed of since it is against the laws for robots to love each other’s. A.N.N.E is taking away to planet Gomi where all “outlaw” robots are disposed of. The goal of the game is essentially to retrieve every parts of A.N.N.E and reassemble her while discovering a huge planet with many secrets.
NWR: Even though the Kickstarter is over, is there still a way to contribute to the project?
MB: Yes I am working on setting up the Humble Store. But until then it is possible to pre order the game through paypal by visiting the Kickstarter page. A pledge of $15 and above will allow you to choose between a Steam key or a console key.
NWR: Lastly, if you could take over any one classic gaming franchise to mold to your vision, which one would you choose and why?
MB: It would be Final Fantasy. I am sad to see what happened to the franchise over the years and would love to do it justice. I like the believe that I would really be able to bring back the elements that made me love it so much in the first place. That may be me just sounding arrogant but FF is my favorite JRPG series ever and it has been a big influence in my life. Big respect to Sakaguchi and the original FF team members.
E3 flash mobs and marketing failures spice up this months issue!
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/34412
Download Nintendo World Report: Powered Off Issue 6
We have a variety of great content this month. First up is an exclusive article from Kimberly Keller, she talks about the time she was lucky enough to get into E3 without being a member of the press. The second exclusive article is from James Jones, he talks about failures in marketing related to console names and other such things. Comments from the NWR community have also been included again, this time the discussion point was what people want to see Retro Studios working on.
Blogs and features include articles on Game Ratings, Sonic the Hedgehog, Waluigi, Earthbound, our second Staff Sez and a Retro Revival! We of course have another interview, this month we have part one of an old interview with Julian Eggebrecht from Factor 5.
Aside from all that, we have a good mix of reviews along with mailbag, fan art and a cool Mega Man Match-Up game.
You can send your mail in here. Thanks for reading!
Complete with a silhouette guessing game!
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34408
Nintendo has launched a website counting down the time until their Nintendo Direct on June 11 at 7 a.m. PT, and it confirms that the presentation will be one hour long.
On the left of the website are random silhouettes of various characters that likely represent games that will be shown during the event. Going by those silhouettes, the games will include:
Check out the site for yourself here, and be sure to mark your calendar!
An in-depth look at Animal Crossing: New Leaf, another round of NWR Jeopardy, and more playoff hockey.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/34406
Episode 88 of Connectivity is here, but we can't simply give it away for nothing. So while you enjoy this week's episode, be sure to run some errands around town for us. Also, buy stuff from us with the money we pay you.
Kicking the show off, Andy, Daan, and Justin sit down to talk about Animal Crossing: New Leaf. The trio discuss the new responsibilities of being mayor and where the series can go in the future. To hear the full segment, you'll need to go collect some seashells for us.
After that, we have our first ever round of NWR Jeopardy featuring three listeners! Scott and Zach host an epic match between listeners BJ, Daniel, and Chris, who fight tooth and nail for the crown of "best Connectivity listener." Zach is losing his touch, though, as there are zero questions about Primal Rage. Zero!
After the show, stick around for another NHL playoffs bonus segment, featuring Scott and Donald. The duo glosses over the boring Eastern Conference series and sink their teeth in to the much more compelling Western Conference. Oh, and scroll to the bottom of this post to see Donald's amazing comparison between Nintendo and Maple Leafs fans.
That's it for this week. Be sure to click here to send us your listener mail. How about some predictions for E3? We'll read them next week when we preview the upcoming event. Until then!
***
Now, Donald's comparison between Nintendo and Maple Leafs fans:
As I watched the Toronto Maple Leafs actually make the postseason for the first time since Metroid could crawl, I began to notice a lot of similarities between my hockey team of choice and Nintendo. And not just in the amount of heartbreak they presented on the week of May 13, but in their history and even elements of how they operate today.
Don't believe me? Let's break it down. (Stick tap to Sean McIndoe of Grantland, aka @DownGoesBrown, for the inspiration.)
Maple Leafs: Originally started as the Arenas, dabbled in being Irish.
Nintendo: Originally started in toys, dabbled in love hotels.
Maple Leafs: Were dominant in an era where the competition was artificially limited known as the "Original Six".
Nintendo: Were dominant in an era where the competition was artificially limited known as the "NES Era".
Maple Leafs: For many years were owned by a capricious, evil crotchety old man named Harold Ballard, who saw fit to destroy priceless relics such as the gondola where the first hockey broadcasts occurred. When he died, many Leafs fans were prepared to dig a hole deep enough to hand him over to Satan personally.
Nintendo: For many years were owned by a capricious, evil crotchety old man named Hiroshi Yamauchi, who saw fit to destroy priceless relics such as the goodwill of third party developers. When he dies, many Nintendo fans will be prepared to dig a hole yadda yadda yadda
Note: As far as we know, Yamauchi never allowed child abuse at the Kyoto headquarters. So he's got that going for him.
Maple Leafs: The longtime public face of the team is former GM Brian Burke, a large, boisterous Northeasterner. At his introductory press conference, he endeared himself to fans by promising to bring "pugnaciousness, tenacity, testosterone, and truculence" to the team.
Nintendo: The longtime public face of the team is soon-to-be-former NOA president Reggie Fils-Aime, a large boisterous Northeasterner. At his introductory press conference, he endeared himself to fans by promising to "kick ass and take names".
Maple Leafs: Burke caused a riot when at an NHL Entry Draft, where young players are selected, he was caught on camera in the following exchange before drafting current top scorer Nazem Kadri:
Burke: "That's the kid you want?"
Bryan Murray (general manager, Ottawa Senators, had the next pick): "Yeah."
Burke: "Cool. We're taking him."
Needless to say, Senators fans (who already have reason to hate Toronto) were... displeased. Colorful language followed.
Nintendo: Much of that same language was used when Bayonetta 2 was announced as a WiiU exclusive.
Maple Leafs: Fans can usually be enraged when taunted with three words: "Plan the parade". (Recently applicable: "Thank you, Kessel.")
Nintendo: Fans can usually be enraged when taunted with three words: "Nintendo is kiddy." (Recently applicable: "Please understand.")
Maple Leafs: Controversy erupted this season when beloved defenseman Jake Gardiner was confined to the bench for several games, his agent going so far as to start the #FreeJakeGardiner hashtag on various social networks.
Nintendo: Controversy erupted this generation when beloved RPG Xenoblade Chronicles was confined to Japan and Europe, one developer going so far as to support the Operation Rainfall fan campaign on various social networks.
Maple Leafs: In 1993, players would gleefully spinkick opposing goalies in the head during games.
Nintendo: In 1993, players would gleefully spinkick the schlub with controller 2 in the head during games.
Maple Leafs: Had a run of success - but not too much, not winning a Stanley Cup - in the last decade with a style of play that led to multiple articles calling them the dirtiest team in hockey.
Nintendo: Had a run of success - but not too much, not able to dominate like the PS2 - in the last decade with a style of play that led to multiple articles calling them the worst thing to happen to video games.
Maple Leafs: Thanks to a botched high sticking call in a key 1993 playoff game, Kerry Fraser's name is still mud in Toronto.
Nintendo: Thanks to a botched "unprecedented partnership" after E3 2011, EA's name is mud in the eyes of Nintendo fans.
Maple Leafs: Have an outlet for team news on a regular basis with LeafsTV.
Nintendo: Have an outlet for team news on a regular basis with Nintendo Direct.
Maple Leafs: Everything was looking so good for the team, up 4-1 with just under 10 minutes to play in a game 7, then came four unanswered goals. The big question is, how will the team respond this summer?
Nintendo: Everything was looking so good for the WiiU, tracking ahead of PS360 sales pace, then came four months of increasingly farcial sales. The big question is, how will the company respond this summer?
(Donald Theriault is the host of Nintedo Free Radio - the unofficial podcast of the NWR forums - and can be heard on Connectivity episodes 84, 86, 87, and 88. His Twitter is @DonaldMick, and he amazingly managed to stay out of Twitter jail that fateful Monday night.)
More finger pointing and monster hunting than you can handle!
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34401
In a Nintendo Direct presentation shown in Japan today, Nintendo released new details about two upcoming Capcom games: Ace Attorney 5 and Monster Hunter 4.
Ace Attorney 5, or Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies as it will be called in English territories, is set to occur one year after Ace Attorney 4. In it, Pheonix investigates the destruction of the courtroom with the help of Assistant Kizuki and a new prosecutor. A demo will be released in June, and the game launches in Japan on July 25 for 5,990 yen.
Monster Hunter 4 will introduce two new weapon types - the Bug Staff and Charge Axe - as well as many new monsters and areas. There will be two limited edition 3DS consoles released to coincide with the game's launch on September 14.
If your Japanese is up to snuff you can check out the video for yourself below.
Mean, green Luigi machine.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34403
Nintendo Japan has announced that the upcoming Luigi themed 3DS XL will come to Japan on July 18, and will be bundled with Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.
The bundle will cost 22,800 yen ($225.77), and come with the standard 4GB SD card.
Get your GIF on this summer.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34404
Flipnote Studio 3D will be coming to the Japanese Nintendo 3DS eShop on July 3, and will feature six colors, three layers, and exporting options of AVI or GIF filetypes for short animations.
The North American release of the game is still slated for this summer, although no specific date has been announced.
You could be creating infinite Batmen in September.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rumor/34400
5th Cell's newest game, Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure, is slated release later this year on September 24, according to a source close to publisher Warner Bros. However, the source noted, this date could change.
The game, coming to Wii U and 3DS, will feature DC Comics characters, and will be published by Warner Bros. Interactive.
A long overdue addition.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34394
A member of the Developer's Room has announced on MiiVerse that an upcoming update for New Super Mario Bros. U will add Pro Controller support. The patch will go live before or on the day New Super Luigi U launches.
Additionally, players will be able to purchase New Super Luigi U within New Super Mario Bros. U instead of having to go through the eShop.
Get your jet pack ready!
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34396
Renegade Kid has confirmed that Mutant Mudds Deluxe will hit Wii U on June 13, and has revealed a new trailer. This is great news considering the delay of the game earlier this year.
This version will feature 20 new ghost levels and the DLC from the 3DS version. Check out the trailer below.
After watching the debut trailer, are we excited for the return of Sonic and friends?
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/roundtable/34397
The first trailer for the Wii U and 3DS exclusive Sonic Lost World was released today. And with a promising debut, the Sonic Cycle has started again and at least some of us are interested and mildly hyped for Sonic’s next big adventure.
More news will be spilling out about Sonic Lost World between now and E3, and hell, we'll even get to play it at E3, too! Prep your chili dog and check out what the Nintendo World Report staff has to say about the blue blur, and be sure to add your own thoughts in the comments below.
Neal Ronaghan, Director: For the first time since the failure that was Sonic Unleashed, I am kind of interested in a Sonic game. It looks primarily 2D, and the new additions seem to be implemented to make the game flow better in 3D, which is something that always seemed to hold up even the best 3D Sonic games.
Andy Goergen, Reviews Editor: I’m happy that the video isn’t just sizzle. The gameplay being shown looks promising, and although I’m physically incapable of getting my hopes up over a Sonic game, I’m at least interested. The best thing for Nintendo right now would be for Sega to hit a home run with a new Sonic game.
Justin Baker, Staff Writer: I’m really hoping Sega has learned their lesson with Sonic, because I haven’t been excited for a Sonic game in a long time either. It looks like they’ve taken design cues from the Galaxy series, but I’m a little worried about the new villains. Although we haven’t seem much of them yet, it’s been quite a while since they added a new character to the Sonic mythos that was actually interesting. That said, did anyone else’s heart rate jump when Sonic ran through that half-pipe and the gravity shifted? That was awesome.
Neal: The villains do look kind of dumb. It kind of reminds me of the throwaway villains from Metroid Prime 3 ran through a Sonic Shitty Friend filter. Can’t we just bring back the chicken and drill robot from Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine/Sonic’s stupid cartoon show?
Justin Baker: If they added chili dogs and the cartoon characters this would be a day one purchase for me. I don’t think the kid in me could resist!
Neal: Same here. But seriously, It’s no surprise that Sonic Team is handling this game’s development. With their spotty track record, I hope that Nintendo is doing more than locking down exclusivity with this game. Though I have heard good things about Sonic Generations on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3...
Josh Max, Staff Writer: I enjoyed Generations on the 3DS. It may have been short, but it was fun. The PS3 version was a little longer, and still fun. After Black Knight, I had lost all hope in the Blue Blur, but after Colors and Generations, I’m starting to think he can make a comeback. The game looks simple enough that it could be a straightforward fun game. No werehogs, no gimmicks. Just new moves and new enemies. Which could be considered gimmicks. And while some people may shout hooray for a solo Sonic game, others may shout that they wished for his supporting players to make an appearance. Essentially, there’s no way Sonic’s coming out of this uncriticized. Poor guy. For what it’s worth, I’m pretty excited about the new game.
Carmine Red, Contributing Editor: Instead of continuing to try to take Sonic into a sort of pseudo real-world setting, I'm intrigued to see how Sonic Lost World might follow in Mario Galaxy's footsteps. Mario previously escaped gravity (and any sense of a realistic setting) in order to rediscover a less encumbered brand of Nintendo-style platforming. Maybe that's what Sonic Lost World will do here too: a return to simple joys, classic platforming, and abstract levels designed with actual gameplay as their first, and maybe only, priority.
Neal: The whole setting reminds me more of the worlds in the Genesis Sonic games, which I always kind of dug. The settings in those games are fun.
Tom Malina, UK Correspondent: I don’t have nearly the history with the Sonic the Hedgehog series to be affected by the so-called “Sonic cycle”. I’ve played titles both good (Sonic Colours) and bad (Sonic Heroes), so I’m going to approach Sonic Lost World like I would any other new game - that is to say, based on this one debut trailer, I’m not ready to commit either way, but the brief glimpses into the level design are intriguing and show a lot of promise. It is quite surprising that it’s taken this long for another studio to tackle the challenge of building platforming levels around spherical objects the way that Nintendo did with Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2.
One observation I did have looking at the gameplay footage in that trailer is that I wasn’t especially impressed with the graphics. Considering that 3D Sonic games are often about presenting a visual spectacle as you blaze through the stage only somewhat in control, it didn’t seem like Lost World was up to all that much in that department, especially now that the game is on a HD platform. Again though, it’s probably too early to say; maybe Sega is still has plenty of work to do on fine-tuning the visuals.
Nicholas Bray, Australia Correspondent: I was pleasantly surprised by the debut trailer this morning. I had expected this Sonic game to basically follow the Unleashed/Generations mold, I am very happy that they are changing the gameplay up yet again, whilst also further tweaking the gameplay from those other two games.
Graphically I like it, I prefer it when Sonic’s worlds are simple and colourful. This trailer instantly reminded me of the cancelled Sega Saturn game Sonic Xtreme. That came mostly from how the levels are constructed and how the camera was positioned in some segments of the video.
My main complaint with the recent Sonic games is that the character still felt unwieldy sometimes when moving him around. I hope he feels more grounded and stable in this. I like the idea of holding down a run button now, that should help whenever you do need to move at a slower pace.
J.P. Corbran, Staff Writer: I was a Genesis kid. I remember one of the best Christmases of my youth was the year I received Sonic 3. The first game system I ever bought at launch was the Dreamcast, and alongside it, I purchased Sonic Adventure. No matter what this series does to me, I can’t help but be optimistic every time they take a new angle at it, but for once it looks like this time they might actually have done it right
A lot of people are comparing what we saw in the video to Super Mario Galaxy, and my question to Sega regarding that is “What took you so long?” Those games showed how to do what amounted to 2D gameplay in 3D space, and if you’re going to steal, you damn well better steal from the best. The game looks like a Genesis 2D Sonic game brought into the modern day, and I hope and pray that Sega doesn’t let me down again like they have so many times.
Michael “TYP” Cole, Senior Editor: Sonic Colors always gave me a slight Super Mario Galaxy vibe, and is my favorite 3D Sonic game since the flawed but charming Sonic Adventure 2, so I’m glad to see Sonic Team pursue the Galaxy 3D platforming style more overtly. This game definitely has an appealing, retro world design, but I wouldn’t expect the entire game to look like what was shown. The first zones of many Sonic games are designed to resemble Green Hill, Emerald Hill, etc.--so don’t read too much into the checkered motif and simple level architecture. The success of this game ultimately hinges on its controls. Some of Sonic’s 3D outings have buggy collision detection where Sonic will inexplicably run off the edge of a platform to his doom or instead go from 60 mph to a full stop to avoid that fate. If such woes can are averted--and the planetoid gravity mechanic may help--this could be a keeper. Of course, Sonic Team is very, very good at teasing and demoing the best parts of its games, so keep that in mind.
Also, I agree with Neal. Bring back Grounder and Scratch! Though I wouldn’t expect chili dogs to show up until Casino Night Zone.
Neal: So we all agree that Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine on Game Gear will be the most important Sonic-related release this year, right?
Jonathan Metts, Contributing Editor: I saw the trailer last night. It seems like a rather shameless imitation of Galaxy, but you could do much worse for inspiration. As far as concerned, making Sonic more like Mario is always a good move. It looks a bit slower and more controlled than other 3D Sonic games, also positive qualities. The new villain designs are poor, as are the graphics overall, though I definitely prefer the cleaner, simpler color scheme compared to Sonic Colors or the quasi-realistic ones from years past. The biggest obstacles in every Sonic game are controls and camera, so I'll be paying special attention to those attributes at E3. There is definitely some promise here, as the franchise continues to struggle back into quality and relevancy.
Not one, but two Zelda games!
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34393
We've got it all this week: time travel, weather control, bodysuits, robots, and demons. Break out that 3DS, because you're going to be saving the world for quite some time if you pick up both the the Oracle games. There's something for everyone this week. Hopefully Nintendo keeps this download momentum going!
3DS eShop Sales:
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons are both $4.99 (normally $5.99) until June 20.
Wii U eShop Sales:
Just Dance 4 - 30% off until June 4
Toki Tori 2 - 25% off until June 6
Ghosts 'N Goblins and Mega Man X are buy one, get one 50% off. Since Mega Man X is the more expensive of the two, you may want to grab Ghosts 'N Goblins first. This offer ends on June 6 at 9 a.m. PT.
3DS eShop Demos:
Project X Zone: Imperial Demo (Available June 4)
3DS eShop Games:
The Denpa Men 2: Beyond the Waves - $11.99
We know what you want: bodysuits. Say no more, Denpa Men 2: Beyond the Waves is here! Venture forth to save the world with these cute, cuddly little men captured right from the radio waves filling your home. Despite it's goofy demeanor, this is not a game for the faint of heart.
So, I know what you're thinking: "Why would a gummy bear play mini golf?" Well, there are lots of reasons. For one, he may have a hot date with a lady gummy bear. Or maybe he just likes to relax after a long day of watching his friends being eaten. See? Being a gummy bear is hard. I'll let you ponder that over the 30 holes, four environments, and five games modes featured here.
3DS Virtual Console:
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages - $4.99
Still can't enough time travel in your Zelda games? Oracle of Ages is for you. Tear it up Back to the Future style in the land of Labrynna, and be sure to pick up the sister game, Oracle of Season, to unlock all the extra content the game has to offer.
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons - $4.99
Time travel not your thing? Well then how about harnessing the power of nature to change the world at your fancy. Enter the dying world of Holodrum and put a stop to the evil forces once and for all with trees and leaves. Or your sword, that's pretty effective too.
Wii U Virtual Console:
Dr.Wily is so last century. Mega Man X broke the mold for Mega Man games, taking place hundreds of years after the death of Dr.Light. X, his final creation, is discovered and he's freaking awesome. Go smash some bad guys, get some new powers, and track down those missing armor pieces. You won't regret it.
If you've never thrown a controller in frustration and feel like you're missing out, then get up from the computer and buy this game immediately! In Sir Arthur's first adventure you'll find yourself fighting fits of rage as well as demons to save your girlfriend from the big blue furry hands of Satan himself.
Cute and cuddly meets hair-pulling frustration.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/34390
The Denpa Men 2: Beyond the Waves has a lot in common with classic RPGs, specifically the Dragon Quest franchise. It's a mixture of a strange, cutesy aesthetic, infuriating mechanics, fun-loving dialog, and downright diabolical dungeons. While in their own right, each of these things can be handled well, the experience felt like a strange mish-mash of uneven design. For the uninformed, Denpa Men are small men of varying physical attributes (in bodysuits!) that live in the radio waves filling our everyday world, and you can catch them right out of the waves (read: WiFi signals) and accrue them into a party to tackle the evil forces that threaten their world.
Our hero, a randomly generated Denpa Man, finds himself on a quest to rescue his family and after some upgrades in the early stages of the game, he is able to take up to seven other Denpa Men along for the ride. The gameplay is comprised of mostly traditional RPG elements, with some nice additions to make managing such a large team easier. For example, you have the option in combat to tell your Denpa Men to "Go for it," and they will simply perform what they deem the best course of action or "Heal" and they will dig through items and powers to get the party in tip-top shape. The AI is really quite good, and is even able to predict certain things.
These concessions make the game easy to pick up considering the party size you’re dealing with. Other simple touches like being able to fast-travel to any location from the very beginning and having very plainly laid out stats for each character make the game easier and more enjoyable. Unfortunately, for all the forward-thinking features that the game has, it has an equal amount of strange and, frankly, terribly designed portions.
Even with the precognition the AI seems to have, you’re facing a terribly uneven difficulty curve. In any given zone that you’re appropriately leveled for, usually one or two monsters can kill your whole party in just a couple of hits, and if you wander too far where you’re not supposed to be, then you’ll likely get wiped out even faster than that.
Every time your party is wiped out or a party member dies outside of a dungeon, you have to go individually resurrect each one for a fee, and if you have Denpa Men summoned from QR codes or imported from the first game, they’re permanently deleted. This leads to a frustrating issue: if you can’t catch Denpa Men with the right skills for the area you’re in, then you have to summon them from QR codes, but one bad move and they’re deleted, forcing you to summon them again and start from level one.
The secondary features do help with the toil of drastic difficulty spikes and the fear of losing party members. Fishing, planting, coliseum battles and some fun StreetPass features serve as fun distractions from the main game. Plants take time to mature and the plethora of bait make seeking out rare fish addicting.
Despite its issues, I did enjoy a fair amount of my time with the game. Perhaps it’s the weird attachment I found myself having to these little tiny men in bodysuits, or maybe it’s the great dialog. Either way, the most frustrating part of the game, even above deleting party members, is how difficult it is to experience what is truly a fun and light-hearted story. Overall, the game feels like a missed opportunity. This could easily have been either a punishing hardcore RPG or simply a cute, fun game for a lazy afternoon, but the mixture of these two conflicting styles feels strange and unbalanced.
Denpa Men 2 isn’t without its charm, and those who still hanker for the punishing RPGs of old may still find something to love here. In the end, the game is simply unbalanced, a problem that some older gamers are used to battling against. While I can’t recommend it to everyone, if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t mind a punishing grind and some badly designed mechanics, there’s a lot to love under the surface.
Did Crowdfarter warm our icy hearts?
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/roundtable/34382
Nintendo started their PR/marketing campaign for Game & Wario with the humorous Crowdfarter concept recently. The game is due out in North America on June 23 and in Europe on June 28. It has been out in Japan since March. It's coming out at a lower price ($40) and is different from the typical WarioWare games, as it is a collection of mini-games instead of microgrames.
Are you excited for the game? Will you buy it? Do you think it will fare well as the next big Wii U game? Do you think it will just be ignored? What do you wish this game could have been? Watch as our staff answers those questions, and let us know what you think in the comments section below.
J.P. Corbran, Community Manager I like what I played of it at E3 last year, but even at $40 it doesn't feel worth it for the amount of content it seems to have. If it were ever on sale I'd definitely consider it.
Andrew Brown, Australia Correspondent: Hell yeah. The WarioWare series has always been deceptively entertaining and complex despite being a collection of random strangeness doled out in tiny packages. These new "not quite micro" games all look as brilliantly designed and fun to play as anything the franchise has offered before, I'll be picking this up for sure.
As for "the next big Wii U game", it's hard to tell. This has the potential to be a smash hit at parties and really push the Wii U's image among the newer social/casual game crowd, but it feels like it could fly under the radar unless Nintendo really manages to push demos and content into the hands of consumers.
I'd love to see another marketing campaign for this game in the same vein as the Crowdfarter idea, perhaps poking fun at other, offline aspects of gaming communities and news coverage; the mainstream parent probably doesn't know what crowdfunding even means.
Justin Baker, Downloads Editor: It looks like a great collection of games that showcase the GamePad well, and for just forty bucks it's a definite buy for me. From what I've seen they went for fewer high quality games instead of overloading players with tons of smaller games. I can definitely see this one being broken out in lieu of Nintendoland when I have company over.
Alex Culafi, Contributing Editor: Im a bit tepid towards the whole thing, and not for the sake of cynicism I'm all for talented developers doing something new (and WarioWare is a bit overdue to change it up), but everything I've seen of this game makes me feel like they made this because it would be easier to make this instead of WarioWare rather than them actually making an innovative twist on the franchise. Aren't a chunk of these games just re-purposed tech demos anyways?
I sure do want it when it hits 20 because it looks funny and fun to some extent, but it just seems like a lesser quality Nintendo Land with a small batch of micro games stuffed in to balance it out.
Josh Max, Staff Writer: I think the fact that it was originally planned as a pre-downloaded title says a lot. Nintendo knows how to please the supporters from the minute they boot up their system. Just look at Wii Sports! I know this is just one minute detail about the game, but it really says a lot to me. When they started on this project they had so much faith in it. I played a bit of it last year at NYCC and had some fun with it. Who's to say that this game won't be a solid addition to the Wii U Game library?
Neal Ronaghan, Director: I can't say I'm super hyped, but mainly because there isn't much else, I think I'll be picking up Game & Wario when it comes out. The price is (mostly) right, and I've had enough fun with stuff like Fruit (a party game where one players uses the GamePad to sneakily grab fruit in a crowd and other players just watch the TV to try to figure out which character he is) that I'm pretty sure I'll have a good time with it.
I'd likely much prefer a regular WarioWare game, in a similar vein as Smooth Moves but for the GamePad, but this game seems like it has the potential to be a good time with friends. Will it have anything more than that? I'm not sure, and if you're someone who games by yourself, I'm thinking you'll be left in the cold.
As for the sales potential, I think this could be the worst-selling Nintendo-made Wii U game this side of Sing Party. I just feel like it's being pitched as something deeper for core gamers and everyone's cynical about it. This should be shown off to more casual folk, as the sense of humor seems to be pretty universal and silly. Crowdfarter won't do that.
Regardless, I'll be most likely buying this at retail, and then giving the copy to my 5-year-old niece to play since she will probably have more fun with it than me.
Zack Kaplan, Staff Writer: When I first heard about the game I said "huh." Then I played it at PAX East and was more along the lines of "meh." The whole Crowdfarter thing I think is kind of stupid and all it got out of me was a "heh." In total I might get it just to have something new and slightly entertaining to play on the Wii U, but after the high of LEGO City Undercover everything on the Wii U is kind of "bleb."
Justin Berube, Staff Writer: Honestly, I'm not very excited about Game & Wario. I was fortunate to play every game in last year's E3 demo, however, I walked away very unimpressed. I found the mini-games to be either boring or somewhat unoriginal.
Despite those feelings, I will be picking up Game & Wario when it comes out for two reasons. First, I'm the sucker that will purchase just about anything Nintendo releases. Second, there really isn't another retail Wii U game I'm interested in coming out until August. It will be nice to have something new to play with friends until then.
I don't think Game & Wario will be the next big Wii U title. Yes, it will have some time to shine since it's the only first party Nintendo release on Wii U during Q2. The problem is it will only appeal to users who are starved of things to play on the hardware. It won't be a system seller especially since new Wii U owners will have older, more interesting content to pick up for the platform.
Nintendo Land is a similar game as well and I think it will be seen as better game than Game & Wario. Considering Nintendo Land comes bundled with the Wii U Deluxe set, it may have already quenched the mini-game thirst of many Wii U owners.
I fully expect Game & Wario to be forgotten as soon as August hits. It's from that point on Nintendo will, hopefully, have a more consistent stream of compelling software releasing on the Wii U.
Tom Malina, UK Correspondent: Seldom has the Wii U GamePad received thoughtful, intriguing applications in terms of unique gameplay up to this point, so naturally, any game that gives it a good go naturally holds some interest to me. However, I've still got plenty of games to catch up on, so while I am moderately interested in Game & Wario, I'll pass on it for now. Nintendo Land is more than substantial enough to continue serving as the system's primary multiplayer game, at least for the time being.
Jonathan Metts, Radio Free Nintendo Host: Not excited. It demoed poorly, had a tepid reception in Japan, and seems to throw out the manic appeal of WarioWare in favor of... offline score attacks? The whole thing stinks of Wii Play.
Patrick Barnett: Like Nintendo Land, this game will game will come with some winners and losers in terms of its games. While the $40 price point may entice some random shoppers, dedicated Nintendo fans will most likely realize there is not a whole lot of depth here. I am sure it will be a decent little game, perfect to show those curious about the Wii U, however, the eShop would have been the perfect way to sell a game like this at say $20. This is not the game Nintendo needs right now to push their system, but it will have to do until Pikmin 3.
J.P.: I'd have been more interested if they'd offered some kind of a la carte option. This would have been a good title for Nintendo to experiment with Free-to-Play mechanics, giving away a set of demos of each minigame and letting you just unlock the ones you like. It'd make the price a lot more palatable.
Zach Miller, Senior Editor: They'd have to pay me $40 to take it off their hands.
James Jones, Senior Editor: I played it at PAX very briefly. I'm more excited about the fart-themed kickstarter parody than I am this game.
