Topics

251

Nintendo Gaming / Mario vs. Donkey Kong

« on: December 11, 2010, 02:53:35 PM »

Has anyone picked up the new game?  It's good fun, so far.

Curious though - several sites list the title as "DSi Enhanced" - any idea what the enhancement for this game is?  I can't seem to find anything listed on the package/in the manual...

252

Nintendo Gaming / Game and Watch-e: What was meant to be

« on: December 02, 2010, 10:57:00 PM »

As most of you probably know, I love Nintendo and I have a soft spot for trading cards - so back when Nintendo announced the e-Reader for the Game Boy Advance, I was thrilled.

During the e-Reader's brief existence, several collections of cards were released for it, including 13 different NES games, 4 series of Animal Crossing cards, several Pokémon cards and all kinds of neat little things.

But what wasn't released was the Game and Watch-e series.  This series was teased from the get-go, with a special promotional card given away at e3 advertising the series up until the very end.  I've taken the time (just because I love you all so much) to scan in some of the Game and Watch-e related stuff I've hoarded through the years.  Some of it, you've probably seen before.  One particular piece, though, is one of my favorites - an advertisement from Walmart featuring something I've never seen elsewhere...

Sadly, I was unable to find the Nintendo Power article that I *know* existed about the Game and Watch cards.  I've got several issues in storage that I just can't get up the energy to attempt to go through and drag out.  Apparently, I don't love y'all that much.

So, without further ado, here's some images and descriptions:


Here are scans of the only two Game and Watch-e cards to have been released.  Practically, they are the same card, with the same data on them - the card on top was given away at e3 the year the e-Reader debuted.  The card on the bottom was included with every e-Reader sold.


This scan features a section of a pamphlet that was distributed (mine came from Toys R Us) by Nintendo when the e-Reader was first released.  This pamphlet advertised several of the planned e-Reader releases, including the NES series, the Animal Crossing series, the first installment of the Pokémon Trading Game and some others.


Nintendo used to distribute (and still may?) these awesome, full color, 50-ish page booklets to retailers to give away featuring their line-up for the coming months.  This half-page ad gives us our first glimpse of what some of the Game and Watch-e cards would have looked like - very different from the released Manhole card.


In the Winter 2003 preview booklet, the Game and Watch-e preview was expanded to an entire page.  Unfortunately, the text and cards shown is the same as the previous catalog.


Perhaps in an attempt to clear out some overstock e-Reader inventory, GBA inventory, or both - Nintendo released a bundle that included the e-Reader and a Game Boy Advance.  The bundle came with your choice of Indigo or Glacier GBA unit (this was after the GBA SP was released) and the Donkey Kong Jr. version of the e-Reader.  Both items were packaged in their normal, retail packages (with a sticker over the individual bar codes) inside of a larger box.  This box featured this piece of advertising for the Game and Watch-e set on the outside...


...and this hidden gem on the inside.  Contained within the box (outside of both of the other packages) was a small little booklet with different sets of pages devoted to the different various types of e-Reader cards.  This ad features a few of the cards we have not seen before, the modern versions of Octopus and Vermin.

Finally, we have my favorite....


This is something I'd never seen before and have never seen again - the artwork for the Game and Watch-e package.

This scan comes from an advertisement distributed by Walmart.  The ad is dated "August 2003", the front cover features F-Zero from the GameCube, the three other pages feature various GameCube, Game Boy Advance and, of course, e-Reader games.  When you unfold the entire ad, there's a big poster for F-Zero on the back side.

This ad has me convinced that Nintendo had every intentions of releasing the Game and Watch-e series right up to the very end.  The booklet included with the e-Reader/GBA bundle is of interest as well, as every single other product advertised (Pokémon cards, Super Mario Advance 4 Series 1 and 2, NES Series, etc., etc.) in that booklet was released.  While we all hoped for more Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 e-Reader cards (as there were several more released in Japan than in the US), these and other Japan releases were not mentioned anywhere in this booklet.  Add in this advertisement which shows the finalized package design and a slash noting that they'll be available in October (in an ad that's dated two months earlier), I'm pretty much convinced that these cards were pulled at the last minute.

Anywhoo, I hope you enjoyed this little trip down Game and Watch-e lane with me.

253

General Chat / Nintendo Trading Cards...

« on: November 21, 2010, 11:35:56 AM »

Yes, I'm a consumer whore...

Has anyone else been collecting any of the recent trading cards for Nintendo products from Enterplay?
The new New Super Mario Bros. Wii set is kinda cool.  I've got my set completed, once my last two packages arrive.

...anyone?

254

Nintendo Gaming / Wii Three Kings

« on: November 04, 2010, 11:50:54 PM »

We got our Red Wiis in yesterday.  Man, they're sexy.  Like candy.

I really want one.  But I just can't come up with a reason for it.  Yeah, I have five GameCubes (and they must be equal!), but, aside from my first and my Panasonic Q, I pretty much picked up the extras cheap (one with a minty copy of Pikmin 2 on eBay for I think $40, one with a used copy of Double Dash with bonus disc for $30 at GameStop and one without a power cord/av cables for three bucks or something at a Game Crazy going out of business).

In this case, I paid full price for the original at launch and virtually full price for the second not that long ago.  Now, of course, with the GameCubes, I can do all kinds of fun things, like linking Mario Kart: Double Dash, Kirby Air Ride and the various Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance titles (also, connectivity titles like Four Swords Adventures).

The only thing I could do with multiple Wii systems is link on-line titles (Have there been *any* Wii LAN enabled games?).  This is neat, but kinda ruins the fun of getting to do something special.  Of course, the second Wii has the HBC with Gecko loaded for playing imported games, so there's at least an excuse for that.

But I just can't come up with a reason to justify the pretty red Wii.  I already have two copies of Wii Sports - I sure don't need another.  I already have New Super Mario Bros. Wii - no reason to have another one of those.  Now, if it came with All-Stars or, say, Mario Kart - then we'd be set - I could either get a game I didn't have that I planned to get or a game I plan to get another copy of at some point down the road (for linking the Wii systems together, of course).  Also, if it had that super-neat-o 25th Anniversary edition of Super Mario Bros., that'd be a midnight release for sure.

But... meh.  All it has going for it is that it's purdy red.  Unless I'm missing something?

255

Nintendo Gaming / So much for being able to re-download your games...

« on: October 31, 2010, 12:23:06 AM »

Just a minor note - while messing around, I was looking around on my black Wii to see if I could download any of those demo titles that Nintendo put up some time ago (Pokémon Rumble, etc.).  Couldn't find them anywhere.

Decided to try a different tactic... Booted up the white Wii.  Went into my downloads history, thinking I could select the title and choose to gift it from there.  No luck - the demos were no longer in my "Titles You've Dowloaded" section.  Shucks.  So, I went into my "Account Activity" section... sure enough, it shows I've downloaded the demos.  Clicked on one to see if it'd let me re-download and/or gift it... no go!  Got an error message saying the title was no longer available and that I couldn't re-download it.

Now, the demo still works (via SD card), and, right now, as far as I know, only demo titles cannot be re-downloaded.  But this is an icky precedent.  Wonder if there will come a day when Nintendo won't let us re-download titles we've purchased?  Good thing I've got them saved on my SD card... so long as I don't have to send my Wii in and get a different one back, I'm all good.

256

General Chat / What I spent my day doing..

« on: October 25, 2010, 12:14:47 AM »

So, I had a day off.  Yay.  I've been wanting to organize my entertainment center.  It's messy.  It still is, but it was pretty bad.  In addition to the mess that it was the last time I really dove into this task, I've added to GameCubes, a Wii a fancy switch box and an 8-port ethernet hub.

Well, anywhoo, I got it up and running.  In the process, I apparently killed my five-disc DVD/surround sound receiver.  Makes me sad.  I'm not sure what happened... it was working fine when I started tearing everything apart, wasn't working when I hooked it all back together... acts like it's not getting any power.

The small TV in the center is a loaner, as is the second copy of Smash Bros. Brawl.  Great thing though - no lag!  In most cases, controls are done by using one WaveBird with four receivers (I need to get a fifth receiver!).  This makes for interesting fun in Mario Kart: Double Dash.  Whenever I'm testing anything out with the LAN mode, I always go into Baby Park.  That's a crazy level.  An odd note, if I have a Wii wired in via ethernet, the GameCubes won't connect to each other in LAN mode.  They find each other, but they always error out.  I have to physically disconnect the Wiis' ethernet cables to get them to connect.  I could probably turn the Wiis off (as opposed to stand-by)... might try that.

So, this set up consists of

37" Flat Panel TV
One 15" Flat Panel (on loan)

On the right half
One 13" TV (coax only)
NES Top Loader (goes to 37" TV and/or 13" TV via VCR)
 VCR (combo VCR/RF Modulator for one of the 13" TVs that only has a coax port).  Goes to the 37" TV and/or the right 13" TV.
Intellivision (goes to 37" TV and/or 13" TV via VCR)
NES Top Loader (goes to 37" TV and/or 13" TV via VCR)
 NES (goes to 37" TV via small 4-port switch)
SNES  (goes to 37" TV via small 4-port switch)
SNES-mini  (goes to 37" TV via small 4-port switch)
N64  (goes to 37" TV via small 4-port switch)
PC/DVD player (goes to 37" TV via HDMI)
Small 4-Port switch box
DSL modem

On the Left Half
One 13" TV
Dual Tuner Satt/DVR box (Tuner 1 goes to 37" TV and the left 13" TV.  Tuner 2 goes to the 37" TV, the right 13" TV and the TV in the other room).
Large, 8-Port switch box
Black GCN with GBP (goes to right 13" TV and/or 37" TV)
Indigo GCN with GBP (goes to middle 15" TV and/or 37" TV)
Indigo GCN with GBP (goes to 37" TV)
Panasonic Q with GBP (goes to left 13" TV and/or 37" TV)
Indigo GCN with GBP and Mobile Monitor (goes to Mobile Monitor and/or 37" TV)
White Wii (goes to 37" TV)
Black Wii (goes to 37" TV and/or middle 15" TV)
8-port ethernet hub
Small, round, 4-port switch

All five GameCubes and both Wiis are wired into the hub via ethernet port (although, apparently, I have to disconnect the Wiis for GCN LAN mode).

All Five Game Cubes run to the 37" TV (via the large switch box) with Component Cables.  The White Wii is connected to the large switch box/37" TV with Component Cables as well.

The three smaller TVs are connected to the small, round 4-port switch via Video only.  On the first setting, the switch transmits the feed from the satellite receiver to the left and right TVs and the feed from the black Wii to the middle TV.  On the second setting, the switch sends the various GameCube feeds to the various small TVs.  When I return the 15" TV, the black Wii will be swapped out to play on the left 13" TV via switch option #3.

So, things I can do for fun...

16 player Mario Kart: Double Dash.  Oddly, because of the weird way the LAN mode was programmed, if I want all 16 players, I either have to use four or eight GCNs... nothing else will do.  Using all five GCNs turns split-screen mode off, limiting you to either 5 or 10 players (5 Karts).  I really want, at some point, the Japanese version of Double Dash to see if it works in LAN mode with the US version...  Two notes: for anyone wondering, no, you can't use Wiis to play Double Dash in LAN mode, even if the Wiis are wired in.  I wonder if that's even something Nintendo could tweak the Wii's firmware to do.  Second, I have some of the old GCN Kiosk demo discs... One of them has a Mario Kart: Double Dash demo on it.  While it won't let you select it, the main menu shows the LAN mode option, but only if you have the LAN adapter in the GCN.  Neat.

2-player Kirby's Air Ride or Avalanche 1080º via LAN.  In addition to the multiple copies of Mario Kart: Double Dash, I've also managed to pick up cheap second copies of the other two LAN titles.  My second copy of Kirby's Air Ride was disc-only (Hollywood Video close out - whoo!), so it shares an extra two disc case with my original.

2-4 player Game Boy/Game Boy Advance titles.  Including Four Swords and Mario Kart: Super Circuit.  I *assume* I could also do five-player Pokémon stuff with GBA Wireless adapters - however, I can't test this as I only have one GBA Pokémon title... and honestly, I don't have the drive to test it.

GCN Connectivity Titles.  Four Swords Adventures, Four Swords Plus, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, Pac-Man vs... got 'em.  Even Wind Waker with the Tingle Tuner.  That actually sounds neat... I haven't tried that yet.  Now, of course, I can use the Wiis as GameCubes, if I wanted to.  Until I got the Q and the four GameCubes, though, I was unable to play four player with Four Swords Plus, as the Wii wouldn't load it with the Free Loader.  However, I wonder if Gecko will load import GCN games as easily as it does import Wii titles...

Connect my Super Game Boy 2 in an SNES to a Game Boy Player in a GameCube for 2-player Game Boy titles.  Yeah.

And, of course, WiFi Connect titles on the Wii.  Lag-free Brawl matches.  Of course, that's nothing special, since both screens see the same thing anyway.  I borrowed a friend's copy of Brawl to try it out though.  Need a second copy of Mario Kart Wii.

Anywhoo, enjoy this video of my entertainment center.  It's not very exciting, as I'm trying to control everything with one hand/one controller.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BgiZY6B8Bo
 

257

General Chat / Whoo-Hoo! I met someone famous today!

« on: October 03, 2010, 07:31:58 PM »

The guy in the middle.  Got his autograph and everything.  Who's jealous?

258

Nintendo Gaming / Wii Remote Plus?

« on: September 24, 2010, 07:33:06 AM »

Stolen from CAG

http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=137126
http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=77606
Gamestop may have leaked one of the September 29th conference announcements. A box-art for a bundle of the game  was posted for the upcoming Wii Motion+ exclusive Nintendo title FlingSmash. On it, it says in large font "BONUS: Wii Remote Plus Inside!" The picture shows only a Wiimote, but there is a curved ring of small text below the Wii logo.

Since this game requires Wii Motion+, and the box art does not show the WM+ accessory, it is very likely that the Wii Remote Plus is an official Wiimote with WM+ built-in, much like the recently released third-party Nyko Wand+.

Interesting...

259

General Gaming / Place Yer Bets: Round 1: Super Mario All-Stars

« on: September 08, 2010, 01:12:56 AM »

Okay, here's the plan - For each round, anyone who jumps in will be awarded ten coins.  You can use these coins to bet toward any combination of bets offered.  After the round is over, you get to total up your coins (honor system) and will be allowed to use them (in addition to the additional ten coins) in the next round.

For Round One, the topic is Super Mario All-Stars.
Round one will last one month.

Odds - Outcome
3:1 - Super Mario All-Stars for Wii is not announced for a US release in the next month.
2:1 - Super Mario All-Stars for Wii is announced (in any form) for a US release in the next month.
3:1 - Super Mario All-Stars for Wii is announced for a US release in disc form within the next month and will not include any extras.
4:1 - Super Mario All-Stars for Wii is announced for a US release in the next month and will include the snazzy artbook but not the soundtrack.
5:1 - Super Mario All-Stars for Wii is announced for a US release in the next month and will include the soundtrack but not the artbook.
6:1 - Super Mario All-Stars for Wii is announced for a US release in the next month and will include both the soundtrack and artbook.
10:1 - Super Mario All-Stars for Wii is announced for a US release in the next month and will include Super Mario World.
10:1 - Super Mario All-Stars for Wii is announced for a US release in the next month and is released only as a normal Virtual Console title.
20:1 - Super Mario All-Stars for Wii is announced for a US release in the next month and is a limited Club Nintendo item (either exclusive download or physical disc via mail-order).

Point of Clarification: When I say "announced for release", I mean an announcement is made within the next 30 days that the game is going to be released in the US - *NOT* that the game is going to come out within the next 30 days...

Any questions?

260

General Chat / Forget extreme sandwiches...

« on: September 01, 2010, 01:04:02 AM »

Hell yeah.  Yes, that's a giant Tropical Sno/Hawaiian Shaved Ice/Snow Cone.  Yes, I ate it all.

261

Nintendo Gaming / Importing and playing from UK

« on: August 22, 2010, 12:34:37 AM »

Two questions - first, any of the soft mods allow you to play UK titles on a US Wii with no issues?  I've given up on getting a release of the second Trace Memory game in the US.  Second - any tips on sites to import from?

262

General Gaming / When is it okay to "steal"?

« on: July 08, 2010, 05:54:14 PM »

Good for you.  I'm not a thief.  Nice to know you don't think stealing is wrong.

I'm curious, when are you (not just vudu, open discussion) okay with stealing?

263

Nintendo Gaming / What an odd e-Reader find...

« on: July 08, 2010, 03:34:02 PM »

So, I was in some junky store called Fred's.  I was looking at their trading cards (still need some Mario Kart Wii cards) when I found this gem.



Several odd things about this.

First, the other 2 for 1 packs like this were things like Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokémon, some animated movie themed cards, etc.  This was the only one of these I found.

Second, these cards (as far as I know) were never sold as just packages. The Foil Packs were always on cardboard-blister packs.

Third, this 2 for 1 pack actually contained three packs.  Oddly, there were two packs of Baseball, one pack of Tennis.  I'm sure I saved some poor little kid some tears.

Finally, Baseball was released in NES series 1 packs.  Tennis was series 2.  I even had EasyCure double check for me (turns out, there's this awesome card list for the e-Reader on GameFAQs.).

Best $1 I ever spent.

264

Nintendo Gaming / Tired of all these cheap, plastic instruments...

« on: July 08, 2010, 03:29:26 PM »

I'm gonna start my own band!

265

Nintendo Gaming / Wii Games 2010

« on: July 01, 2010, 11:36:40 PM »

Is anyone considering going/registering for one of these?

http://www.wiigames2010.com/wii-event-home.aspx

I'm not really good at any of them aside from the Mario Coin challenge.  Very tempted to make time for one of these events though.  Wonder if they'll have 3DS demo units...

266

Nintendo Gaming / Playing online vs. via streaming webcam/capture card

« on: June 27, 2010, 03:10:31 PM »

Okay, let's try making this topic again...

Here's my idea - 2-4 people pick a game and a time to play.  They'll set down and play it while streaming the video feed (either through Webcam or capture device) live to, ideally, a website that can show all four feeds at once.

We'll be able to create different challenges against one another - stuff beyond "first to finish".

Anyone have any technical experience with something like this?  Anyone interested in doing it?

267

NWR Forums Discord / You say...

« on: June 21, 2010, 11:14:43 PM »

I only hear what I want to.
I talk so all the time, so?

268

Nintendo Gaming / Place Yer Bets: 3DS US Launch Month

« on: June 21, 2010, 10:37:35 PM »

So, hot topic of discussion right now - you get seven days to vote.  You can change your vote.  When it launches, we'll dig this thread back up and see how close we were.

269

NWR Forums Discord / Skittles?

« on: June 19, 2010, 02:13:45 PM »

Where are you Skittles?

270

General Gaming / Pricing of Wii Games

« on: June 17, 2010, 02:19:18 AM »

With Sony's aggressive $39.99 price point for Move titles and rumors that Microsoft is going to have a similar price structure for Kinect titles, do you see Nintendo getting more generous with their pricing of select Wii titles?

271

General Chat / Reggie vs. Mr. Iwata

« on: June 16, 2010, 02:07:40 AM »

No, this isn't an all out, last man standing, death thread...

I noticed, several times today, people would refer to Reggie by his first name, but generally refer to Iwata or Miyamoto as "Mr. Iwata" and "Mr. Miyamoto".

Then, while browsing the E3 press site, I noticed, in the left column...


Any idea why Reggie and Cammie are mentioned in a more familiar manner while the Japanese team is in the more respectful manner?

272

Nintendo Gaming / TRON: Evolution - Battle Grids from n-Space

« on: June 16, 2010, 12:18:28 AM »

n-Space is bringing a game from the new TRON movie to the Wii.

TRON: Evolution - Battle Grids

Hell yeah!

273

Nintendo Gaming / TRON: Evolution DS from n-Space

« on: June 16, 2010, 12:17:43 AM »

The makers of the portable Call of Duty titles are bringing TRON to the DS.

http://worthplaying.com/article/2010/6/15/news/74931/

Whoo!

274

NWR Forums Discord / Teh Bamtan topic of love...

« on: June 15, 2010, 03:05:27 AM »

Wow.

275

General Chat / Gimme yer codez Volume 2: Amazon MP3s?

« on: June 13, 2010, 09:31:39 PM »

Has anyone ordered a game from Amazon that's came with one of those free $5 MP3 codes that you don't care about?  I would like one.