Tag Archives: nintendo

Video Game Review: Pokken Tournament (Japan Arcade)

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Look at this smug guy. He was a pushover in the anime with all the skirt chasing, but he knew the outcome of the video game match in Yellow Version...

Look at this smug guy. He was a pushover in the anime with all the skirt chasing, but he knew the outcome of the video game match in Yellow Version…

It’s no secret that after watching the Pokemon anime, kids around the world were wishing for a game that really simulated what we saw in the 90’s (Heck I wish I could have a game like that now!). People desperately wanted to know how exactly a Pikachu could beat an Onix. Because he was next to garbage in the Gameboy games when fighting Brock.

So when I heard that Bandai Namco Entertainment was in the works with Nintendo to make a fighting game, you can imagine my anticipation over a whole new way to play Pokemon. (We all know that if there was a Pokemon MMORRPG, that’d signify the end of the world. Nintendo is just sparing us the pain right now.)

So on my trip to the Land of the Rising Sun, I had to try Pokken Tournament out, because how could I not? So after running around through Tokyo like an otaku in a hobby shop, I went over to one of the many arcades to try the game out. While there was a bit of a language barrier, that didn’t stop this fan from getting on the game and button mashing my way to victory!

The game itself is pretty much like a hybrid of Smash Bros. and Tekken in terms of controls. You have a 3D arena you can run around in and the maps are decently sized too, giving players enough room to bait their opponents if need be. The controls are pretty basic too. You have a light combo button, a heavy attack, a special button that lets you use all their powers, a jump button, and a block button in order to withstand your enemy’s attacks. Like Tekken, the fighting mechanics are pretty smooth with plenty of options to take down your opponent with all kinds of strategies.

The characters, while not many, have quite a different range of skill sets and play styles to give players a lot of options for fighting. You’ve got speed types, heavy hitters, combo oriented and technical characters that all have their balances to keep some from being too overpowered. Like Smash Bros, any character is heavily player dependent, so while some appear to have more of an edge, with a little practice, anyone can get good with whoever they choose (With the exception of Gengar. That’s pure cheating all around…).

This guy is pure evil and he knows it!

This guy is pure evil and he knows it!

Players build up a gauge through their matches that can allow them to enter their character’s special stance. For some it’s a mega-evolution that was introduced with Generation VI’s era, while other Pokemon simply enter a more powerful mode with an aura. This also allows you to activate their ultimate attack that enters a cinematic if players are able to hit their opponents with it.

Pokken Tournament also features a support character function that allows you to pick a Pokemon from a list to use a single time per round to help you against your opponent. This can vary from a stun, to an extra hit that can allow you to chain more combos you couldn’t normally do without more time. These supports can easily turn around a match in your favor, so using them with caution is key!

I’ve never been the type to really care for stories in my fighting game and probably won’t ever, because who plays these for the story? So, having a language barrier didn’t really bother me, as I play a fighting game for one thing and one thing only- the action!

The graphics were pretty amazing for this title. Anyone can see that a lot of detail was put into the game, as even the hair textures for the furrier Pokemon are visible. I do enjoy nice graphics to compliment smooth gameplay!

Seeing the videos on YouTube for quite some time now, I came in having some decent expectations of the title. Unfortunately, while the game seemed very impressive, I didn’t find it as enjoyable as I hoped. The lack of a large roster really hurt the game’s performance for me, despite the wide array of styles. When it comes to fighting games, I like having options for playable characters. One of the other things that really bothered me was the fact that despite this game being an arcade title, players had to use a controller to play.

I honestly felt like an arcade joystick/button combo would be been better.

I honestly feel like an arcade joystick/button combo would be been a better choice.

I read a review that stated this title wasn’t generating a huge amount of buzz despite the initial hype, and seeing the machines generally unused while I was there proved to me that this was true. While the game is entertaining and has potential, I feel like it’ll definitely be better suited for it’s home console release later next year. Giving fans the ability to play this title at home, Nintendo can play this out like the latest installment for Smash Bros. and simply add more characters through DLC.

All in all, while the game wasn’t necessarily the highlight of my video game experience, I’m definitely glad I tried it out and would recommend it to anyone who is interested. I have a feeling that despite the arcade’s lack of popularity, the home console version of this game is going to be even better. Especially with the options to play with your friends.

Pokken Tournament debuted in Japan’s arcades July 16th and it’s scheduled to release for the home console March 18, 2016 for Japan, and Q2 on the Wii U.

Any questions or comments about the game? Please feel free to leave your thoughts below and thanks for reading!

Gameplay: 7 Graphics: 8 Story: N/A Characters: 5 Overall: 7

Review: Super Mario Maker (Wii U)

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Super_Mario_Maker_ArtworkSuper Mario is to video games as David Bowie is to, well, everything. They’re both icons in their respective fields, they, they’re both timeless, and they’ve both had movies that have done terribly in the box office. Sure Labyrinth is a considered a cult classic while people try really hard to forget the Mario movie, but needless to say, both Bowie and Mario have inspired several to follow in their footsteps.

Nintendo helped shape how video games are commonly made today, be it a 2D platformer, to expanding into the Third Dimension with our Italian-Japanese hybrid plumber. Sure the general consensus now is that Mario titles are geared more towards a younger audience, but at the core, Nintendo has achieved more with Mario that any other video game company has with their respective titles (no offense, other video game companies).

So you can imagine my sadness to see that Nintendo has fallen short in the console wars ever since the debut of their Gamecube console. Now hold on just a sec, Nintendo fans. I’m in no way stating that the Gamecube is a terrible console or that there aren’t great titles on there, but that was the point where Nintendo began prioritizing creating their own original games rather than allowing others to help them like they did with their previous consoles. Sony (the only other competitor at the time) was fine with allowing their console to be handled by whatever designer had a good idea, while Nintendo seemed to have more integrity saying: “Hey, I can do this myself. Just watch.” And it somewhat backfired.

Sure the Wii’s sales were off the charts, but once the appeal died down, people began to realize that Sony and Microsoft had all the games people really wanted to play, because there were simply more titles. I have a lot of respect for Nintendo, as they’ve produced some of my favorite series, but I can definitely see where they’ve made some mistakes. I’m desperately hoping things improve for them, as I would love to use my Wii U more often.

Sidetrack aside, Mario has been one of my favorite video game series for a long time now. Super Mario World was my first game, and continues to remain on my top ten list of games (Mind you, Super Mario World, is quite old now and the levels are a bit predictable after playing the game a thousand times, but I still love it!).

As a child, my biggest wish was that I could one day work for Nintendo to help design a Mario game for others to play. Since I don’t speak Japanese, have any real programming skills, or possess that special creativity they’re looking for, Nintendo decided to do me a favor and spare my feelings over a rejection letter, and gave me and everyone else the opportunity to be a part of the team with their latest title Super Mario Maker, and it’s amazing.

The title pretty much says it all. You have the ability to create your own levels that can contain whatever you want them to in your favorite 2D Mario platform titles. The styles vary between the original NES version of Mario, Super Mario 3, The New Super Mario Bros, and Super Mario World. The tool list has essentially every single obstacle you can get in those titles to allow creativity to flow through you as you make revisions to the classic levels you’ve always enjoyed, but want more from. Or you can devote yourself to designing levels of pure rage and despair. You can even submit your levels online for others to play, and try out levels others have created! Nintendo smartly implemented a system that forces you to beat your own level before submitting them for others to play, so nobody can be the ultimate troll. Needless to say, that doesn’t stop people from trying though.

While the game doesn’t start out with all of the tools or styles right away, through the use of the level creation, or simply waiting, one can eventually unlock all the tools to help expand their arsenal. One of the big things I wish Nintendo had added to the game however, was the ability to create more than just levels for others to play. Creating your own version of a world map with several levels to go through would have been another exciting way for Nintendo to help players get their creative juices flowing. Hopefully this is something they can eventually add to the game later, as I think it would only help expand the game’s awesomeness even further.

Since this is a title that focuses solely on the user’s inspiration, the lack of a story is perfectly fine, as you’re mainly purchasing this title to create an endless amount of levels, or play them. One can just imagine they’re trying to save the Princess from Bowser, rather than actually needing to see it. This also makes side-quests nonexistent too, as you’re tasked with creating secrets within your own level to help others get through them.

The fact that you can make as many levels as you want, or play as many levels as people have submitted, gives this title a high re-playability factor, as it’s essentially a Mario title with an unlimited amount of levels.

While I don’t own any Amiibos, because I think the market for them is ridiculous, I have seen that players have the option to utilize those to play as other characters. Allowing people to play as different characters is fantastic addition to the game. Sometimes you need a break from being a plumber!

I’m in love with the title and really hope Nintendo finds a way to expand this through DLC, as they wouldn’t need to make any additional versions of this. One of the other things I really wished for was the ability to dive into Mario 2 or even Yoshi’s Island. While both of those titles are completely separate from the traditional Mario platforms, and rely on a whole different kind of architecture in terms of programming, it’s still something that could definitely benefit Nintendo. If at all possible, I think Nintendo could also benefit from adding a handheld version of this game as well. Whether it simply allowed players to go online and download levels, or maybe a limited version of the home console version, it could give players the desire to take their creativity on the go, rather than just keep it at home.

So all in all, I would definitely recommend this game to others, and it’s a great game to play when you’ve got company over too. Any thoughts on the title? Please leave a comment and thanks for reading!

Gameplay: 10 Story: 0 Re-playability: 10 Side-quests: 0 Overall Score: 9

Miyamoto Pushing Back Star Fox Zero To Give Fans the Best Game Possible

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star_fox_zero_box_artIf there’s one thing I love, it’s a new game. That moment you tear open that evil plastic shrink wrap of death, blow into your cartridge and console to clear out all of that nasty dust, pop your game in and turn on that beautiful machine, and have the game be complete. Nothing like it, right? Alright, well maybe that reference is slightly dated, but still a new game is always a special treat! What’s even better than a new game is a new game that’s amazing.

I read a post on Nintendo’s Facebook page that explained how Shigeru Miyamoto (you know, video game <insert respective diety here>), is pushing Star Fox Zero’s release date back, due to the fact that he feels the game isn’t quite up to snuff yet. He made the decision with the intention of delivering fans a game that could truly be amazing. To this, I say: “Take as much time as you need!”

I come from a time where video games didn’t have DLC, there wasn’t an online source you could rely on for video game dates, and games needed to be complete before they could be distributed. Now I’m not going to say those were better times (yes I am, so deal with it), but the standards for video games were different back then. The online market wasn’t established, as most of us were using dial-up Internet (if we even had computers…). Games needed to be completely done because developers didn’t have a second chance. There weren’t any patches they could later release that could fix a game breaking bug. If your game had an issue, it was stuck there on that tiny cartridge forever. So naturally, developers had to be extra careful not to have super big issues. A lot of time and care was put into titles in order to prevent players from raging.

One of my biggest concerns for video game developers is rushing a title to meet the masses’ demands simply because they said they’d release it when they promised. While I’m sure plenty of fans are quite upset over the delay of this title, I can’t help but feel happy knowing that it means that much to Miyamoto that the game turns out well.

For me, it’s been 18 years since I got to play a strong Star Fox title, and I only say that because the other titles, while fantastic in their own right, don’t quite feel like true successors to the series. Now I know there are some of you out there who will disagree with what I’ve just said, and for that I sincerely apologize, but I’ve always known the Star Fox series to be a healthy dose of Arwingy goodness (The other vehicles are awesome too!).

Growing up with the N64, I played the living circuits out of Star Fox 64. To this day, it’s still on of my top ten titles, so when I heard Nintendo was rebooting the series, you can imagine me jumping around like an elementary school girl when the cutest boy in school asks you to the dance. Ok ok, maybe that analogy wasn’t incredibly accurate, I was a lot more excited.

There are plenty of titles out there that have been rushed simply to meet a deadline (*cough* Sonic Boom *cough*), and in those kinds of situations everyone is a loser. Why bother releasing a title if you know it’s going to be complete garbage? Sure it was one thing in the early 90’s to see a video game or action figure line release to promote the release of a movie, but this is 2015. We’ve got standards now! Plus developing games is expensive! Why waste all that money on a crap title, right?

Miyamoto definitely has a strong passion to deliver titles that fans can really enjoy, and hearing him commit to us fans is honestly the reason why Nintendo will always be my favorite gaming company. It always pleases me to hear developers have dignity and integrity, so thank you Miyamoto, and I very much look forward to this release whenever this title feels ready!

Nintendo’s New President Might Be Just The Man to Save The Mushroom Kingdom

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Congratulations Kimishima-san!

Congratulations Kimishima-san!

So the Internet has been buzzing lately about the new President of Nintendo replacing the late Satoru Iwata (I’m sure plenty of you have already read this online somewhere, so I don’t think I need to add any links). I know there were people expecting Shigeru Miyamoto to take over seeing as how he’s a major face of the company, but he’s a busy man! Running a company might be too much!

So now that Tatsumi Kimishima is taking on the position as Nintendo’s President, naturally information about the guy is surfacing on the Internet (I’m sure his address will be available soon too… Please stay tuned.). There was an article I read earlier that stated how in an interview Kimishima was apparently against the creation of the Wii U, claiming that it would be a failure, and it got me thinking that this guy might be the best person for the job.

Let's leave Miyamoto to do what he does best. Be a badass for Nintendo.

Let’s leave Miyamoto to do what he does best. Being a badass for Nintendo.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the Wii U and everything about it (aside from the fact that it never had a built in internet port…). I’ve even playing Super Mario Maker (and crushing it!) and am practically unable to put it down.

Let’s not forget Star Fox Zero! Needless to say, I’ll be in my hermit cave of a game room for a while stewing in my own filth. With how life can be essentially lived from behind a computer screen, I can just order food from my laptop or phone, so who needs to leave?

Between Final Fantasy XIV, Metal Gear, Mario Maker, Fallout 4/Battlfront(coming this Novermber), and writing my blog, this picture pretty much defines my current physical state.

Between Final Fantasy XIV, Metal Gear, Mario Maker, Fallout 4 and Star Wars Battlefront (coming this Novermber), and writing my blog, this picture pretty much defines my current physical state for the next 10 years or so. Good bye world…

Anyways, rant aside, it’s really nice to hear someone with a strong common sense about Nintendo’s business development is going to be at the helm of Nintendo. While I’m biased towards everything Nintendo, I do understand that the Wii U was a huge commercial failure. It has plenty of hardware and software limitations, the library is only now starting to get good despite the new system slowly approaching, and overall it’s not a worthwhile investment compared to the competition, or even Nintendo’s handheld product. Kimishima definitely hit the nail on the head, and that’s important to see. While video games are definitely about providing people with entertainment (and the Wii U has definitely done that for me) it’s also a business that needs to function properly in order to succeed.

When I was growing up (because let’s face it, I’m 26 and I’m only growing downwards now), Nintendo was one of the biggest competitors going up against Sony and Sega! (Alright, Sega is dead now, so that might not be a good analogy…) But even so, Nintendo used to make big waves before the Gamecube came into existence, and it was a force to be reckoned with. Nowadays, Nintendo isn’t necessarily known for their strong games so much as party-style fun kid titles and maybe it’s time to change that.

One of the big things Nintendo did right, that other companies haven’t really accomplished, was creating strong icons that they specifically own. Sure Microsoft has Halo and Master Chief and Sony has Sackboy/anything Naughty Dog produces, but none of these icons are as well known as Nintendo’s. And I’m pretty sure unless you’ve been living in a cave without any human contact for the last 30 years or so, you know who Super Mario and Link are. So with powerful icons at their disposal, Nintendo has an advantage they’ve only begun to tap into.

I might not be a fan of Domino's but ordering with an emoji also saves me time having to speak to anyone on the phone. Yes please...

I might not be a fan of Domino’s Pizza but ordering with an emoji also saves me time having to speak to anyone on the phone. Yes please.

Let’s not forget that Nintendo paved the way for video games! Mario 64 was one of the first titles that dived into 3D world on the Nintendo 64! While there are certainly other titles that have a place in the video game hall of fame, nothing has truly come close to what Nintendo has accomplished with our favorite Italian-Japanese hybrid plumber and several other legendary titles.

So I’m hoping that Kimishima will be a strong force that can help Nintendo hop back to the top where it belongs! While fans and players don’t necessarily see the business aspect, it does reflect the overall stability of the company, so I have a feeling Kimishima will be just the person Nintendo needs right now. No offense to the lovely Iwata-san! Please know you’ll always have a special place in our hearts. Only time will tell where Nintendo will go in the future, but I think things look promising!

Besides, my character on Final Fantasy XI was also named Kimishima. So I can’t help but be happy about that!

Any thoughts on Tatsumi Kimishima’s new role? Still think Miyamoto should be at the helm? Maybe neither? Feel free to leave a comment and thanks for reading!

Nintendo E3 Digital Event – Live Reaction

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Like the graphic update? Thank Nintendo for providing a banner that I borrowed. Today, E3 actually starts. Nintendo is going to kick things off with a digital press event. I will give you updates here.

This page will not automatically refresh. I will put the latest update at the top of the list, so if you join us late, scroll down. Here is the full E3 coverage schedule, so stick with us.

Update 14: You can check out Super Mario Maker in select Best Buys this week. Details at e3.nintendo.com. Fan videos of the mario theme and stuff. More dancing puppets. The end. Time for Square-Enix.

Update 13: Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash for Wii U is coming out this holiday. It is Mario Tennis. It will be fun. Now on to more on Super Mario Maker. There is a cool look into the history of how Mario levels were designed in the past and comparing it to the freedom of the new maker. There will be an 8-bit Mario amiibo that will make him big. There will be amiibo support- again costumes. Mario will appear as the amiibo character.

Update 12: Level 5’s new 3DS game Yo-kai Watch which has been out in Japan and has the potential to be a monster success here. You capture spirits and use them to battle others, like Pokemon. Now for a new Paper Mario for the 3DS except is Paper Mario and regular Mario…Mario and Luigi Paper Jam. Cool.

Update 11: Yoshi’s Wooly World time. This game looks so nice. We’re talking about the yarn yoshi amiibos. The difficulty is set by the player in that to make the game harder you can try and collect everything in the level. It does feature 2-player co-op. Amiibo support seems to be limited to costume changes. Releases October 16th.

Update 10: Wii U 3rd person RPG. Xenoblade Chronicles? It has the look and feel of that, yup. Release date of December 4, 2015. Awesome. Sign me up. Now for some Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer. A new AC title for 3DS. It looks like AC. Build stuff, collect stuff to put in the stuff you built, help with chores and decorating. Also an Animal Crossing board game on Wii U. It uses amiibos. Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival coming this holiday season. You know, because the amiibo releases have been so good so far.

Update 9: Now a very Japanese Atlus title that appears to be an odd J-Pop JRPG that is 1 part Sailor Moon one part JRPG, and all a little crazy. It is called FE and is set for release in 2016. *EDIT* Apparently it is a Fire Emblem Shin Megami Tensei crossover game.

Update 8: Another 3DS title: Metroid Prime: Federation Troopers this is a 3 player co-op game that includes Blastball which we saw at the world championships. That was a quick look. Now a video for Fire Emblem Fates. It looks gorgeous and for Wii U. 2016.

Update 7: 3DS version of Hyrule Warriors. It will include all DLC characters from Wii U version with additional characters and levels from Wind Waker. It is called Hyrules Warriors Legends. I don’t know how the 3DS is going to handle the draw issues for this game. There are generally a ton of characters on the screen that stress processing power. Maybe the new 3DS processor is more powerful than I thought. Release Q1 2016.

Update 6: The puppets are back to transition (with dancing) to The Legend of Zelda: TriForce Heroes, a 3DS title that appears to be a new iteration on the Four Swords concept (though it appears to be 3 now). There are different outfits with different abilities. Coming this fall. Communication appears to be done through a series of cartoons. So this is a co-op multiplayer game with real dungeons. It is built of the Link Between Worlds tech. There is a totem mechanic in which the 0players can stack to reach higher places. There is single player mode in which you can switch between your Link and two “doll-like characters.”

Update 5: Skylanders Superchargers is coming later this year. It is the new installment in the series. Cool, there will be a Bowser and a DK figure and vehicles that will work in the Skylanders game but will also work as amiibo. Activision with another interesting third-party special relationship.

Update 4: Regie Fils-Aime is up next talking about Nintendo’s theme this E3 is “transformation.” The Nintendo NX (the cross device platform) will be talked about more next year. 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Maker will be out later this year. More new amiibo and game interactions coming soon.

Update 3: Miyamoto is talking about his various inspirations. The gyro of the gamepad can be used to control. Ah, not co-op. The screen shows a wider perspective, and the gamepad has cockpit view. The R-wing can transform into a walker. There is also a tank-like and helicopter-like vehicle. It is called zero because it is not a true sequel, nor a remake.

Update 2: Puppet Miyamoto, too! Now they are turning into Star Fox and friends! Cool! Do a barrel roll! World Premier of Star Fox Zero for Wii U. It looks like the Wii U gamepad will allow for co-op play.

Update 1: We start with muppet-like puppet Iawata and Fils-Aime getting ready. This is awesome.

Nintendo World Championship 2015 – Recap and thoughts

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Our 2015 E3 coverage starts with the Nintendo World Championships. Nintendo brought their world championship back to E3 25 years after the original.nintendo-world-championship-trophy-2015

The show began with a Nintendo Treehouse program in which a new level of Yoshi’s Wooly World was demonstrated. The game looks like a lot of fun, and is visually whimsical. This game was introduced last year’s E3 and is slated for release later this year. It is very similar to Kirby’s Epic Yarn on the Wii

Next, we get a new announcement for the North America and Europe release of Earthbound Beginnings via the Virtual Console on Wii U. It is the original game released as Mother in Japan for the Famicom, but did not receive an official release in North America. It is available now only on the Wii U. This will make a lot of Nintendo fans very happy. Of course, if you didn’t already want this game, you probably are not that excited by this announcement.

On to the competition. Eight players were invited by Nintendo, and eight won their spot in the competition through regional qualifiers. Overall, the field was not very diverse and only two of the competitors were female.

Kevin Pereira hosted the evening. He was joined by other commentators through the evening. Including an eight year old during the first round. Pro-tip to Nintendo: in the future, do not have eight-year-old commentators. It almost made me stop watching. Instead, I just muted the stream for a bit.

Round one has 16 competitors, four will head to elimination. The elimination round, or “underground” allows one of those four competitors fight for survival through the underground rounds. Only one person moves on to the next underground round. Round 2 will send four of the 12 players to the elimination round, with 8 moving on to round 3, the 5 gamers (four plus the survivor from the previous round) in the loser’s bracket will fight for one survivor spot. After round four there will be one final underground to set the four competitors for the semifinals.

Round One was Splatoon. The 16 competitors are split into two waves of 8 players. Four teams of four in 2 out of 3 rounds. Double elimination with the last place team going into the underground round. Splatoon is Nintendo’s 3rd person team shooter. The game mode played was “Turf War” in which the team that covered more of the map with ink was the winner. As a spectator eSport, Splatoon is not that interesting to me. The match rounds were 3 minutes, but since the main focus isn’t on direct conflict but on painting territory, it is not all that interesting to watch. Oh look, that player is spraying ink on the floor. It is a lot like being a spectator for a Mario Party mini-game, except it lasts 3 long minutes.

The first elimination challenge, labeled the underground was The Legend of Zelda speed-run through the first dungeon. Lots of “It’s dangerous to go alone” jokes from the commentators.

Round two is the world premiere of Blastball. A first person game in which players in mechs use blasters to push a ball into a goal. It is mech soccer with blasters. This is a new 3DS title that was announced here at the World Championships. Each time you score a goal the goal, the goal shrinks. It is also possible to disable the mechs of your opponents. You have to manage your health and weapon energy throughout the match. Being hit by the ball does major damage, and if you take too much, you are ejected from your mech creating a power play for the other team. There are various power ups for the mechs and in the last 30 seconds of the match, the ball gets much more dangerous. It looks like a fun eShop game- at least I hope it is an eShop game and not a retail release (unless there is a LOT more to it than shown).

SMMBThe second underground features Super Metroid. They have to face Mother Brain and escape. First to defeat, or longest surviving moves on to play the final elimination round.

Round 3 is Mariokart 8. This was the most interesting round so far from a spectator point of view. The races were fast and exciting. The second group of racers in particular had some very close finishes. It was a custom 3 track race at 200cc. Even though there were still two rounds, those that advance were based on point totals from both rounds using a calculation including la times.

Final round of underground/elimination is Balloon Fight. Playing the Balloon Trip mode with the highest score moves on. Players could restart, but it was the highest single run score that counted.

The semi-final featured Super Smash Bros. Prior to the World Championship match, Regie came to the stage to make good on his promise at the Smash championship last year to take on Hungrybox. It went about as well as you would imagine a match between a pro-player against an executive would go.

As far as the semi-final, this was pretty fun to watch. It was a four player all item smash. It was frantic, and everyone had a pretty good grasp on the game. Setting up the final between John Numbers and Cosmo. John Numbers played as Shulk and Cosmo played as the newly re-introduced Roy.

The final is Super Mario Maker. The levels featured were made by the Nintendo team. The competition was the fastest clear time in the fourth stage would be the winner. Four stages, the winner of each of the first 3 stages gets a 15 second head start on the last stage. Each of the four stages is from a different Mario game, with those mechanics available to the player in the level. These stages were harder than anything from the lost levels. They were brutal. John Numbers destroyed that last stage. That was a lot of fun. Seeing something instantly familiar and yet at the same time new, was amazing.

Miyamoto came out to hand out the trophy as well as giving both finalists a signed new 3DS XL. John Numbers is the 2015 Nintendo World Champion. It would be really neat if they tweaked this a little and it became a semi-regular thing. I do not think it could be annual because Nintendo simply does not release enough games. Maybe next time we can get a new Power Glove.powerglove

Four in February – Week 4 Final Update

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Just joining us? Catch up with the previous posts: intro, week 1, week 2, week 3.

SteamLibThe month of February is over, my time to complete the challenge has come to a close. I started the month with the goal to complete four games from my Pile of Shame: Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Shadow of the Colossus, FTL, and Infamous: Second Son. Coming into this week, I had finished FTL and Infamous and had started the other two. So, did I finish? Well, not exactly. I did complete the challenge, just not how I originally intended.

Last week, I did not want to talk too much about Uncharted: Golden Abyss because I felt I was at a point in the story that would color how I discussed the game. I thought that I was just at the turning point and I needed to see the story resolve to give a fair read on the overall experience. It turns out I was only partially right. The story was at the beginning point of the resolution of the narrative. Unfortunately, seeing it through to the end did not improve my opinion of the game.

As I said in week 2, Uncharted: Golden Abyss had a lot riding on it as a launch title for a new handheld device from Sony at a time that the Nintendo DS was simply printing money and dominating the market. Even with a less-than-stellar launch of the 3DS, Nintendo was outselling Sony’s handheld in 2012. Sony was hopeful that a launch title from a flagship series would help boost sales. While the developers at Bend Studios deliver a solid gaming experience with Golden Abyss, I cannot help but feel that it falls a bit short of the series it was representing.

Uncharted_meleeMy earlier enthusiasm for the polish of the game waned as I continued my adventure with Nathan Drake. Golden Abyss lacks any real of the action-movie style, jaw-dropping set pieces that the Uncharted series is famous for. There is probably a bit of cinematic magic necessarily lost going to the smaller screen of the Vita, but that does not account for everything. Indeed, the two main battles of the game are little more than extended quick time events using the Vita’s touchscreen capability. Add on top of that sections which lock the camera in a less-than-ideal angle (and occasionally completely reversing perspective as you are trying to escape) leading to more accidental deaths than normal and a story that never quite captured my imagination, and the whole experience is a bit flat.

The pacing of the story is probably most problematic. In a couple of spots the flow of the narrative is completely derailed or the game experience is interrupted by a lot of narrative catch-up work. There are two sections of paddling a canoe using the touch screen, the entire purpose of which is to cram in a bit of exposition. It is jarring and feels forced. I would have rather just had a cinematic than this attempt to gamify the story telling.

While the plot is a bit lacking, in my opinion, the characterization is a strong point. The voice acting, as it has always been in the Uncharted series, is top-notch. The dialog is engaging and tried valiantly to get me interested in the plot. However, in the end, it just made me care about the characters, but not so much about what they were doing, nor why. Also, in terms of character development, this game is meant to be a prequel in the chronology of the series, yet I come away from the game with no new real insights into the characters that appear in other Uncharted games.

I do not mean to be overly critical of the game. I enjoyed my time with Uncharted: Golden Abyss, but if it were not for this challenge, I easily could see myself being distracted by another game. As it was a game I did not pay money directly for (I got it as part of the PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection), and because I am a fan of the series, I am glad that I finally played the game. I had an enjoyable time. Uncharted: Golden Abyss is like that movie that you will stop and watch when you are flipping channels on the television without any real plans. It is not good enough that you would watch it instead of what you were planning on watching, but it is good enough that you will watch it all the way through. However, if you are not already a fan of the series, I am not sure playing this game would make you interested in seeking out what are some of the finest adventure games of the last console generation.

The final game left between me and completing this challenge was Shadow of the Colossus. I had every intention of beating this game and reveling in completing the Four in February challenge. However, by Wednesday and defeating the eighth colossus I faced another quandary. I was playing the game wrong (some may say “cheating”) in order to complete the challenge- I was using a walkthrough.

If you are at all familiar with Shadow of the Colossus, you should recognize my problem. The entire game is about exploration and discovery. It is a sparse, beautiful world in which you have very basic tools to accomplish a relatively simple task- find the colossi and figure out how to beat them one-by-one. In many ways, the game is a puzzle game. Using a walkthrough is like simply looking up the solution to the puzzle. I did not want to complete the game like that, so I made the decision to stop playing.

HarmoKnightlogoHowever, I was not ready to give up on the challenge. I made this decision on Wednesday, which put me in a bit of a bind. I needed a game that could be beat in three days and regardless of the challenge I could stick to. Luckily, one of the newest additions to my Pile of Shame fit the bill perfectly: HarmoKnight for the 3DS.

If you have never heard of this game, that is not too surprising. It released in 2013 as a Nintendo eShop download only title. It is published by Nintendo, but the developer might be a bit of surprise. Game Freak, the developer most known for its mega-franchise Pokémon, created HarmoKnight basically as a side project for a small team of developers. It is a rhythm action-platformer in which you play as Tempo, a young apprentice who must use the power of a magic staff to help save the kingdom.

I am a sucker for rhythm games. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat? Sure. PaRappa the Rapper? I will even play the very flawed PSP version. Boom Boom Rocket, Every Extend Extra, Lumines? More please. Ouendan 1 & 2 are the only games I have ever imported. I own every incarnation of Rock Band and backed the Amplitude Kickstarter. Heck, I own DJ Hero 1 & 2. There is just something about the genre that works for me.

HarmoKnightstageHarmoKnight takes the rhythm core mechanic and adds in 2.5D platforming and is a lot of fun. There is not a huge song list in the game, instead each world is based around a specific rhythm- rock, march, baroque, etc. – with variations of the main song through different levels and challenges. This approach is very successful in the game. The changes in tempo and time signatures presents a great challenge even to rhythm game veterans. There is enough variation in the stages that it keeps you going.

The main story is fairly short. 8 worlds, approximately 45 stages, and you win. However, there are some bonus stages that are not unlockable until after you finish the main story. On top of which, any stage which you complete with a “Great” rating unlocks in a higher-tempo mode which increases the challenge. The replay value really depends on where you fall on rhythm game spectrum. If you are into the score attack/perfect run, then there is a lot to go back to here. If you are looking more from the platformer side, once you are done, you are probably done.

Visually, the game reminds me of a mix between Dragon Quest and Klonoa. I mean that as a compliment. Until the credits rolled and I saw that Game Freaks developed the title I did not get a Pokémon vibe. Upon reflection, the similarities in certain visuals should have been obvious. It is cartoonish and cute.

HarmoKnight was a recent reward for me from Club Nintendo. I was waiting for the new 3DS hardware to come out before I downloaded it, though. I played over a few days and beat the game and have had a great time with it. If you are a fan of rhythm games, I highly recommend it.

So I did it! I beat the Four in February challenge. I took 4 games from my Pile of Shame and beat them in the month of February. Sure, I had to sub out Shadow of the Colossus for HarmoKnight at the end, but that is one of the great parts about this challenge: there are no real rules. In the month of February, I completed Uncharted: Golden Abyss, FTL, Infamous: Second Son, and HarmoKnight. My Pile of Shame is a little smaller and I have honored in a small way what Joystiq brought to gaming journalism. Hopefully, I have also entertained you, too, dear reader. Thanks for following

The Return of Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past to Viz

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LegendOfZelda-LinkToThePast-3DVIZ Media has announced the return of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the first time in more than two decades. The celebrated full-color graphic novel adaptation of the classic Nintendo game returns in a special single-volume edition scheduled for May release under the company’s Perfect Square imprint.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is a unique adaptation of the internationally bestselling video game originally released for Nintendo’s Super Nintendo Entertainment System. This comic book version by manga and anime legend Shotaro Ishinomori was first serialized in Nintendo Power magazine and later collected into a graphic novel in 1993. Long out of print, this stunning, full-color graphic novel is now available once again for the first time in more than twenty years!

Also available from VIZ Media is The Legend of Zelda Manga Box Set, which collects a separate manga series created by Akira Himekawa. The set collects ten manga adventures featuring Link and the popular video game world of The Legend of Zelda, including Ocarina of Time, Oracle of Seasons and Four Swords.

BREAKING: Club Nintendo Being Discontinued, Replaced With Successor

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Unfortunate news has just been posted by Nintendo of Europe, and then by Nintendo of America soon after, for all Club Nintendo members. Club Nintendo is being discontinued as of June 30th, 2015 in America and September 30th in Europe and Japan.

These gray skies come with a bit of silver lining as they are working on a new program that will replace Club Nintendo and “launch later this year”, according to NoE.

American Club members will receive a free download code for Flipnote Studio 3D (For Nintendo 3DS) in February as a thank you, whereas Europe Club members will obtain it as a free sign up bonus during the launch period of the new program later this year.

Points will need to be used prior to the cut off dates below, with an assortment of rewards in their catalog being redeemable until June 30th, 2015.

UPDATE: During the writing of this article, Nintendo of America posted their official release, as well as a change to the prizes being offered on their rewards catalog. This article has been changed to reflect this.

Below are both of the press releases that have both appeared within the hour on Nintendo’s official websites.

Posted to the American Club Nintendo‘s main page:

Dear Club Nintendo Members,

Thank you for your continued loyalty to Nintendo.

We launched Club Nintendo 6 years ago in North America, and we’re grateful for all of the feedback that our members have provided on their experiences with our products.

In order to focus on planning for a new customer loyalty program for our fans, we’ve decided to wind-down the Club Nintendo program. We are deeply thankful to our members for being a part of Club Nintendo for all of these years.

We will share details about our new program at a later date. For now, please see the schedule below for information on the discontinuation timeframe for Club Nintendo.

All Coins will be deleted when Club Nintendo accounts are closed on July 1, 2015. As a result, to give our members the best opportunity to use their Coins, we will add dozens of downloadable games and a limited quantity of exclusive reward items to the rewards catalog in February. In addition, as a small token of appreciation for your loyalty, all Club Nintendo members will receive a free download code for Flipnote Studio 3D in February 2015. Please visit here for information on the software and how to get the download code.

Club Nintendo program discontinuation schedule

1/20/2015
Products released after this date are not eligible for registration with Club Nintendo
3/31/2015
Last day to earn Coins, register products with Club Nintendo, and sign up for new Club Nintendo membership
6/30/2015
Last day to redeem Coins or access you account on the Club Nintendo website. Club Nintendo program shuts down at 11:59pm PT on 6/30/2015.

Your Account and Coin Balance

The information in your Club Nintendo account will not be transferred to the new loyalty program. We are adding multiple items to our reward catalog, so please be sure to redeem your Coins before the deadline on June 30, 2015. Unused Coins will be deleted as of July 1, 2015.

2015 Elite Status

In order to reach Elite Status, you must earn 300 Coins (for Gold Status) or 600 Coins (for Platinum Status) between July 1, 2014 and March 31, 2015. Members who reach Elite Status will be able to choose a downloadable game from a wide selection of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U titles. Your free Elite Status gift will be available between April 1 and April 30, 2015. A list of the Elite Status 2015 gifts will be posted here once announced.

FAQs about Club Nintendo program discontinuation

  1. How long can I keep earning Coins?
    1. The last day to register products with Club Nintendo, take surveys, or earn Coins is March 31, 2015. Surveys in your To-Do list will be deleted after March 31, 2015, so please be sure to register products or take surveys by that date. Please note that products released after January 20, 2015 cannot be registered at Club Nintendo, and will not be eligible for surveys or Coins.
  2. But I have Club Nintendo PIN # that is valid past March 31, 2015.
    1. Products cannot be registered after March 31, 2015, regardless of the expiration date written on the PIN card.
  3. Will the games I download still be registered with Club Nintendo?
    1. Club Nintendo-eligible games that you download will continue to be registered to your account automatically until March 31, 2015 if your Nintendo eShop account is linked to your Club Nintendo account. After that date, games will no longer be registered with Club Nintendo. To find out which games you can register, please see Eligible Products. Click here to learn how to link your Nintendo eShop account to your Club Nintendo account.
  4. When is the last day to join Club Nintendo?
    1. You can join Club Nintendo until March 31, 2015.
  5. When is the last day to redeem Coins on Club Nintendo?
    1. The last day to redeem your Coins is June 30, 2015. Any unused Coins will be deleted on July 1, 2015. We are offering a large number of digital games, and select physical rewards, so we are sure you can find something you like. Limited quantities are available for the physical rewards, so please be sure to check out our Get Games & Rewards page for each item’s availability.
  6. What happens to my Coins if I don’t use them all?
    1. Any unused Coins in your Club Nintendo account will be deleted on July 1, 2015.
  7. When is the last day to get the download code for the digital games I chose?
    1. The last day to access your Club Nintendo account is June 30, 2015, so please be sure to get your 16-digit download code(s) for any games you’ve received before that date.
  8. Will the download code ever expire?
    1. Yes, all download codes redeemed from Club Nintendo will expire on July 31, 2015, so please be sure to download your game from the Nintendo eShop before that date.
  9. Do I need to cancel my membership?
    1. No, your account will automatically be cancelled on July 1, 2015, so there is no need for you to cancel your account.

Posted to Nintendo of Europe‘s site:

Important information about the discontinuation of Club Nintendo

20/01/2015

Nintendo’s first loyalty programmes, VIP 24:7 and Club Member, started in May 2002, and were combined in December 2007 to become Club Nintendo. Over the years, players have enjoyed the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS, Wii, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U platforms, and countless software titles across them all. We’ve also heard the feedback and opinions of around six million Club Nintendo members across Europe and South Africa, which we have used to help shape our business.

We’re working hard to create a new programme, which we plan to launch later this year. And as a special offer, users who sign up to the new programme during the launch period will be able to download Flipnote Studio 3D to a Nintendo 3DS system for free. Please stay tuned to the Nintendo website for further details.

This new membership programme will replace Club Nintendo, so we will discontinue Club Nintendo according to the schedule given below. Thank you for all your support.

As Stars in your account will expire on September 30th 2015, please make sure you use them before this date. There are plenty of unique and exclusive items already available in the Stars Catalogue, and we’ll keep adding more over the coming months, so there’s plenty to spend your Stars on before September 30th 2015.

Please stay tuned for more information about the new membership programme, including its launch date.

Club Nintendo Discontinuation Schedule

  • April 1st 2015: From this date, Nintendo will no longer include product registration cards with its packaged games, so such products cannot be registered in Club Nintendo. You may still find product registration cards in games that were in stock before this date, however.
  • April 20th 2015: Termination of the registration of digital products downloaded from Nintendo eShop. Digital products obtained from Nintendo eShop after this date will no longer appear in the My Registered Games & Systems page in Club Nintendo. In addition, surveys for download software titles will no longer be available.
  • September 30th 2015: End of Club Nintendo programme. All Club Nintendo features, such as signing up as a new member, logging in as a registered member, earning Stars, and exchanging Stars for items from the Stars Catalogue will no longer be possible from this date.

New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS XL

These new handheld systems, which will be released on February 13th 2015, are not registerable in Club Nintendo. However, hardware bundles will still include a product registration card for the included software until April 1st 2015, so software bundled with hardware can still be registered until September 30th 2015.

Stars

Please exchange any Stars in your account for items from the Stars Catalogue before September 30th 2015. Any Stars not used by this date will be lost, so be sure to use them as soon as possible. There are plenty of unique and exclusive items already available in the Stars Catalogue, and we’ll keep adding more over the coming months, so there’s plenty to spend your Stars on before September 30th 2015.

Seemingly, they are still honoring all prior obligations, including, what appears to be the Mewtwo DLC offer for Super Smash Bros Wii U and 3DS. No word on if final Gold and Platinum gifts are being sent out this holiday, though.

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