Brightstarbeing

The Ambassador has returned!

This is incredible! So many of Nintendo's properties could benefit from a quality CG animation or two!

HOLY CRAP! SOLD!!

@Luna_110 Not on a home console.

Personally, I wish English was at least an option. The battle banter is useless if you don't know what they are saying and I'm sure plot and detail will be lost no matter how weird it is. Plus I wish this was a traditional FE game. Lol!

Your Mii should do the banana stare when you type "banana" or maybe "Donkey Kong".

I had this game and it's brother back in the day. The only thing I can bash it on is it's sloppy control and very poor textures. But all N64 games had bad textures. It was my favorite Castlevania game since Super Castlevania IV and had the same scary, gritty atmosphere. I think it's been bashed more than it deserved and some of the elements in the game deserve a re-visit.

A delightful reveal and a welcome addition.

I won't hurt my brain trying to figure it out. It's just good to see any of the StarFox team in ANY new game. And Peppy seems like a good salesman given the StreetPass rabbit...

It begins...

@PAAppleyard From what I understand, the Wii U's CPU is slightly underpowered compared to previous generation consoles, but that is only because it was designed to allow developers to use the much more powerful GPU and CPU together to spread the processing load.

In the past, developers complained about the CPU because they were doing lazy ports from the Xbox 360, which technically has a slightly faster CPU, but a much slower GPU than the Wii U. Since the games were lazy ports, the developers didn't bother to spread the load to the Wii U's GPU. This meant that all the processing work had to be done by the Wii U's CPU while the GPU was all but ignored, and the games suffered for it.

Shin'en are obviously much more savvy craftsmen with the Wii U than most other developers, so they are using the hardware properly and obviously getting very good results, even when porting games. Much respect to the developers that put in the effort to understand the hardware they are developing for.

Already got my Wii U version pinned down as a backer of the Kickstarter. Couldn't be happier with the Nintendo focus.

I think I learned about this game here. I'm super excited for it! Although I'm no good at racing games, I still find them fun to play. I like arcade-style racers the most because they can get away with outlandish and fascinating scenery and mechanics that make racing easier for car-dummies like me.

Nothing Iwata announced was at all relevant to me as a gamer. The new health device is irrelevant to me. The release date wasn't a suprise. I don't expect much from any pricing scheme changes before they implement a decent account system. DS games on an HD console make zero sense. I could care less about anything on smartphones. As a gamer, I want three things from Nintendo: A powerful console, a decent online infrustructure, and GAMES. The first want is impossible to fulfill this generation. The Wii U is underpowered. The second want is completely doable. Ill settle for nothing less than feature parity with competing consoles or equivilent alternative features. The third want is also very doable. Maybe a future Nintendo Direct or E3 can fix that quickly. But at this point, I'm starting to loose faith in Nintendo as a video game company, sad to say.

@Nintenjoe64 "Please, please understand! I've been doing this for decades. You're clueless. Don't worry, I'll prove it to you... DIRECTLY" - Iwata

@Oubie a powered up Wii U would have seen broader third party support and better press. It would have swayed at least some hardcore gamers, especially with digital purchases not forward compatible from 360 to One or PS3 to PS4, and no backwards compatibility. Hardcore gamers would have nothing to loose.

@SCAR392 For the love of Pete! This argument is dead, sealed in a pine box. Not even the most delusional fanboy can suggest the Wii U can stand up to the power of either competing console. Both benchmarking and game results have proven this beyond the shadow of a doubt. And efficiency means nothing if it's too difficult for developers to program or port to.

@Oubie don't get me wrong, Oubie, I'm a Nintendo fan. But the sad truth is the Wii U IS COMPETING with the XBone and PS4. More so than the Wii was competing with the 360 and PS3. Casuals have horrible mobile games and don't care about Wii U. Hardcore has the More powerful and supported PS4 and XBone. The Wii U has no audience but die-hard Nintendo fans. And that's not going to pay the bills.

Short answer? No. There is no future for the Wii U without its most unique feature. Without the gamepad, the Wii U is an underpowered console with no advantage at all against its competition.

I already have the first three on Wii + DS. I was really happy with the Wii versions.

Still waiting on details about 90's Arcade Racer...

I've never been fully satisfied with a Castlevania game since Super Castlevania IV. But I'd really hate it if Castevania left Nintendo systems. I had Lords of Shadow on PS3 before I had a Wii U and I quite liked it. I'd love to see newer games on the Wii U, but we all know that third parties and Wii U don't go well together, despite the promises of Reggie & Co.

I'm only a recent convert from a website with an evil red directional pad that shall not be named. You guys showed up their Nintendo reporting too bad for me to stick with them. Good work in 2013!

Martin has a surprisingly good Arnold Schwarzenegger impression.

@Falchion I agree. I haven't heard much about Bravely Default yet except that it is supposed to be a very good RPG and that it's supposed to be the last of Square's "gibberish title" games.

There was such a glut of fantastic 3DS games that I'm surprised there were any clear winners at all. But glad to see Fire Emblem in the top three!

Wii U had a much more focused field when it came to good games, but seeing DuckTales in the top three makes me very happy. And at the price it's going for right now, the soundtrack ALONE is worth the price of admission.

Edit: Great choice on the 3DS eShop game of the year, guys! Phoenix had me literally laughing out loud more times than I could count!

Fire Emblem & Ducktales FTW!

@Godlike_Virus You win the interwebs!

Arguing these points is pointless. We have the Wii U. It's not going anywhere. Who cares if the GamePad was the right choice? The choice has been made. You can either look forward to the innovative titles for the Wii U, or try to dream up the next bit of hardware from Nintendo in another 6 years or so. Trust me, you'll never guess it. And you'll be missing out on some incredible games. I STILL regret sitting the Gamecube out.

Shockingly, last night I saw 3, count 'em, THREE Wii U commercials on TV. I was shocked as all get-out.

Way to throw out the baby with the bath water, Nintendo. Pulling down an entire service due to a minority of troublemakers is asinine. Reminds me of when Sony axed Linux support on the PS3 due to "pirates". Just airheaded.

This game is what made me a Castlevania fan. As a kid, I would make up stories about what the levels meant, why the enemies were the way they were, what they were before being ghost waltzers or zombie dogs... It was a masterpiece with detailed levels, background animation, mode 7, memorable bosses, fantastic music, gothic and dark themes, and some of the best controls for a platformer. If you've never played it, you should buy this as fast as you can get the eShop to load on your Wii U. 10/10

@Worthy You win the rationality prize for best logic.

This guy makes all kinds of FANTASTIC Nintendo mash-ups. Go to his channel to see them all! I really liked the Teenage Mutant Ninja Koopas!

@hypercoyote Then turn off Spotpass on your Wii U.

So basically, it was so badly coded they didn't even get the ESRB rating right...

The puns! The puuuunnnnsssss!!!

So THIS is what an online deathmatch mode in Star Fox would look like! Frankly, ANYTHING Star Fox would be welcome about now... especially on Wii U...

You can see a trailer of season 2 of the show here: http://youtu.be/_vNQfbXDSbY

I never got to play this on Gamecube, so I'm excited to get it. I think the only thing I was disappointed in (maybe unfairly) is that they didn't orchestrate the soundtrack. They kept the MIDI.

I can see Audrey from IGN... Toiling away at the next Animal Crossing with love and excitement...

Already put my money where my mouth is. Pledged $30. I loved the original Anime and am super stoked for the new English episodes in 2014. You can see a trailer for the new season here: http://youtu.be/_vNQfbXDSbY

I had two problems: I found it hard to start and maintain a pogo in certain situations. Also, I had the repeating audio issue twice during my first play-through. Had to quit to Wii U Menu to fix it.

There were so many hats flying, you'd think it was a graduation! But great video with great editing and great execution.

I've gone digital. Haven't bought a physical copy in a while. But to not even offer a cart after offering it in another region seems petty and money-grubbing. Especially with so many fans against a digital-only release, and the fact that broadband is not as ubiquitous in the US/Europe as it is in Japan. This news doesn't affect me at all. But I sympathize with the gamers that are affected.

This would have been a day-one had it been released at the beginning of the year. But as it stands, there are too many other games vying for my money. Sorry Rayman.

@V8_Ninja I hardly think doing flips over a concrete barrier is "efficient", but you might be right in your speed run comparison.

That was a lot of fun! If you really think about it, platforming in a video game is a lot like "free running" or Parkour. Plus, those costumes were epic!

@potomas As opposed to.....

I purchased the living heck out of this game and if there is ever a soundtrack, expect that purchased too. So far, I love the game. The only feature I'd add is being able to press any button to skip cut scenes.