V8_Ninja

I'm not too surprised. Despite seemingly building their consoles around gimmicks, Nintendo doesn't want to force them on players. Whether or not that means Nintendo is a hypocrite or something else is up in the air, but ultimately it's better for everybody.

...This is interesting. Although I'm of the opinion that F-Zero GX is the pinnacle of futuristic, high-speed racing games, I would have loved to see what Criterion Games would have done with the series. Out of all of the developers in the world, Criterion Games would have had the best chance at coming close or even succeeding GX. It's sad to see a project with a lot of potential just slip through the fingers of everybody involved.

I'm not going to lie; this preview makes the game look really promising. An actual party-based system sounds like it would be really fun provided it doesn't get out of hand and the return of what appear to be actual RPG mechanics is great. I'll definitely pay attention to the game when it releases.

As much as I like the novelty that unique hardware provides, Nintendo's problem isn't stale hardware; it's getting third parties to developer for their systems. If this new system is going to try and ride off of its gimmick, then Nintendo will be doing the exact opposite thing they need to solve their problem.

For those curious; OlliOlli is really, really good. It's so good that my thumbs are starting to hurt after several long sessions spread over a few days.

This seems like a really sloppy categorization for the "Dimensions" of the different Pokemon games. From what I gather, the biggest difference between the dimensions is the technology, which is a really poor way to distinguish entire planes of reality from each-other when technology has always shown to improve upon itself.

Wow, I was expecting around $10 US per pack. $12 US for both packs seems like an absolute steal. That's pretty awesome, Nintendo.

With pricing out of the way, two questions remain; how balanced are the extra carts/characters and how are the DLC tracks being handled online? While I'm fairly confident that I know the answer to the first one, I simply can't guess what Nintendo will do for the latter.

Also, @BensonUii ; I like that gif, I'll keep a mental note of it for future use.

Huh, I didn't expect to see this when I opened up my web browser.

Anyways, my initial opinions are that this is pretty neat. However, my final opinion will hinge on the answers to the following three questions;

1. How expensive are these DLC packs? To me, $10 US would be an absolutely perfect price.
2. How balanced are the extra characters and karts? Because if they crush the standard characters and karts, then Nintendo would accidentally convert Mario Kart 8 into a pay-to-win game.
3. How are the DLC courses being handled in online play? Because if the new courses boot those who didn't buy the DLC, then Nintendo would have emulated the worst aspect of multiplayer games that have tons of DLC. (See; the Call of Duty and Battlefield series.)

While I really like Super Mario 3D World and I absolutely adore the Galaxy games, I'm going to stick to my guns and say that Super Mario World is the best Mario game. It blends some of the best platforming of the Mario series with a sense of adventure and mystery that only a great overworld map can provide.

Ignoring the fact that this is Ubisoft continuing to be Ubisoft, I have to agree. The designers of Mario Kart 8 went to great lengths to create engaging content regardless of the size or importance of that content. Having what is extensively a real-life advertisement alongside fake advertisements diminishes the appeal and genuineness of the product. I'm hoping that this is a one-time things for Nintendo.

@johndevine Takashi Tezuka actually had nothing to do with Yoshi's New Island. It was handled by Arzest, a company formed by ex-Artoon staff. Artoon is most known for handling the 2006 Yoshi's Island DS. Unfortunately, it seems that when Artoon became defunct in 2010 all of the talent went to places other than Arzest.

As for the main topic, I'm happy that Tezuka is working on Mario Maker rather than another New Super Mario Bros. game. To me he has always seemed more like a behind-the-scenes type of guy, so him working on what is (mostly) a tool seems to fit the strengths I imagine him having. That and his philosophy when it comes to the New Super Mario Bros. games probably doesn't work in favor of the series in the long-run.

It's kind-of weird that there's a lot of female characters being announced for Hyrule Warriors. I wonder if it's an active design decision or just coincidence.

Anyways, Hyrule Warriors is looking to be another Warriors game, which I'm Okay with for the most part. I mean, the Warriors games have always come off as the ultimate evolution of those late 80s/early 90s beat-em-ups, so I'm not too insulted by their existence. Granted, Tecmo Koei could cut slow down the release schedule to the point that a new one doesn't come out every season, but other than that they look slightly enjoyable.

While there were some things that I really liked, I'm going to go with the popular pick. Nintendo showed and hinted at a lot of new stuff for Super Smash Bros. 4, all of which looked really cool and extremely enticing. Not to mention that the Smash Bros. Invitational was pretty awesome.

And while I like the ideas being presented in Zelda U, maybe more so than the entirety of Super Smash Bros. 4, we didn't really get to see any of them in action. For all we know, that open plain could have been a cleverly-disguised 3D skybox. I'll get hyped when I can see hype-inducing features deliver on their promise.

Unless this exploit happens to make some carts go way faster than they should, I say keep it in. This trick only seems useful when items are removed from the equation, and last I checked Time Trial is the only mode where items don't factor into the experience.

If someone didn't call this, I would be seriously disappointed.

I'm surprised that people are thinking SSB4 will be releasing in Summer 2014. Knowing that Nintendo is extremely hesitant to release unfinished games, I doubt that they'll rush a release to keep Wii U interest afloat during the Summer. I'm expecting Q3 releases to be announced at E3.

As for my predictions? My most confident guess is two or three new characters to be revealed. Every time SSB4 has been showed off on a Nintendo Direct, there's always been a trailer for a new character. Considering that SSB4 is supposed to be the showcase of this Nintendo Direct, I expect a good amount of reveals. As for other guesses, I would imagine new items and the reveal of the single-player mode are a good bet. There might be some special modes shown off, but I doubt we'll see anything specifically pertaining to the online features. As for special pricing, I don't expect anything but I would be pleasantly surprised if that were the case.

Eh, I wouldn't say that Bravely Default succeeded because it was aimed at the JRPG crowd. There are tons of games aimed at the JRPG crowd, and most of them aren't the most profitable ventures for their respective companies.

As for my guess? Judging from the Metacritic page, I would say that Bravely Default succeeded because a company respected for its talent in one area (Square Enix and the JRPG) made a product that accentuates their talent. In other words, Square Enix has been known for making good JRPGs, and they made another good JRPG.

While this is certainly nice, I just want to see account-tied Eshop purchases before I commit to Miiverse. I can deal with some usability issues, but Nintendo really needs a surefire way to make sure Eshop purchases are not lost when the hardware goes bad. Sure, Nintendo makes consoles that can survive a decent amount of wear and tear, but that isn't enough in this day and age.

While it's a bit sad to see the people responsible for lots of great Japanese video games leave the companies that they found success with, it's probably for the better. From what I understand, Japanese game development heavily leans toward the two extremes of triple-A boxed products and extremely niche, low-grade doujin (read; fan-made) products. There are certainly exceptions (see Grasshopper Manufacture), but they're exceptions. Hopefully these more experienced individuals leaving the big game developers/publishers will be able to create a healthy middle ground between the two extremes.

Interesting. From what I've read and seen, Little Inferno appears to be more naturally fitted towards criticizing/commenting on cheap free-to-play games. Then again, the cheap F2P commentary doesn't go against the original intent.

EDIT: Also, yes, climate change is a thing and the people who deny it are throwing away the thousands of unbiased scientific studies done by hundreds of legitimate, professional environmental researchers.

Finally! Now people can stop complaining about how there hasn't been a Nintendo direct for a few weeks.

Anyways,Mario Kart 8, DKC: Tropical Freeze, and Kirby Triple Deluxe seem like the obvious titles that will be mentioned. I wouldn't be surprised if Sakurai shows up to deliver more info on SSB4, as I doubt Nintendo wants to stop reminding everybody about the game. I'm sure there will be some quirky thing thing to remind watchers that it's Valentine's Day, whether that be a small app/game or a visual gag. As for new game announcements? I'm not sure. I wouldn't be too surprised if a new downloadable game was announced (whether or not it be related to Valentine's Day). We might see a new retail game announcement, but my guess is that the game would either be part of a second-tier Nintendo property (NOT Mario, Zelda, or Pokemon) or it would be a small tease for a game that would be fully revealed at E3 2014. Once again, I'm not really expecting anything groundbreaking or earth-shattering, but I would say that's alright at this moment in time.

So Super Mario 3D World doesn't have online because Nintendo thought it would reduce the experience, rather than the fact that lag can throw a huge monkey wrench in collision detection-based platforming games? While I get why Nintendo would want to emphasize couch gaming, removing an additional option wouldn't invalidate the couch multiplayer the game has. If Nintendo's ideology is the only reason why Super Mario 3D World doesn't have online multiplayer, I simply can't agree with that train of thought.

Nice to see that the creators of Retro Game Challenge and Electroplankton are still alive and producing good games.

This is probably the most level-headed analysis of Nintendo's current situation I've seen. Yeah, the Wii U isn't going to sell nearly what the PS4/Xbox One will (at least it appears that way right now), but calling this the death of Nintendo consoles/Nintendo itself is just stupid. Nintendo has got the 3DS, their Wii reserves, and a bunch of high-profile properties that still happen to produce really good games. Nintendo ain't going to be shutting its doors anytime soon.

Now, if Nintendo comes up in a distant third place this console cycle and yet again fails to challenge the competition from both a technical and sales perspective in the next cycle, then I see some major changes happening.

YES, BECAUSE WHY NOT???

Seriously though, I am interested in reading what Daniel Johnson was to say. I just started playing the game several weeks ago thanks to the 3DS Ambassador program and I'm enjoying it despite finding it simplistic.

I'm sure the Wii U will at least survive another two Christmas periods. While I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo dropped the Wii U in favor of something else earlier than the standard 5-6 years, I doubt it would be within the next two years. I'm fairly confident that Nintendo knows dumping a console before giving it good shelf-life is a terrible idea, especially when trying to build consumer trust. Also, I'm sure Nintendo would want to finish that Wii U Zelda game.

I should point out that The Motley Fool probably isn't just one person. If it were I would call this reversal hypocritical, but I doubt the whole site is run by one individual.

I definitely would be interested to see what Masamichi Abe would do under a different IP.

I see the Wii U in an interesting position. While it seems like the PS4 is primed to win the next console cycle simply because it didn't have the downright horrible announcement that the Xbox One had, it has quite literally been less than 48 hours since the console launched (at least in the US). There's no way you could pull up sales data and make an accurate assumption about where's the console heading, even with the knowledge that the pre-orders of the console were maxed out days after its announcement. All of this still applies to the Xbox One as that console won't release until about a week from now. However, from what I've gathered by simply following websites and my faux-analysis it seems that the PS4 will have a good few years of being top dog while the Xbox One and Wii U will be competing for a time. Now, it won't happen immediately; The Xbox One will appear to do very well simply because, like the PS4, the pre-orders were maxed out. However, after the launch period I believe sales for the console will just stop. The announcement for the Xbox One really hurt Microsoft's customer loyalty, at least in the early adopter crowd. Unless those pre-order adopters convince other people of the Xbox One in the face of the hugely publicized criticism, I don't see Microsoft's console burning up the charts better than the Wii U. If Nintendo addresses their non-hardware issues (noncompetitive online, lack of game variety, etc.) I can definitely see the Wii U pulling some punches after this holiday season.

That's a pretty small size, especially considering that some games can go up to ~20 GB today. It's definitely a testament to how Nintendo crammed their games with content.

I won't be buying a 2DS but it does make sense; It's cheaper, opens up a wider market, and is landing on the same day as Pokemon X/Y. It's not as portable, but it can still be played on a bus or in any other vehicle.

While I absolutely loved the Wii U price cut and the Wind Waker HD bundle, I'm unsure whether or not it will light up the market that Nintendo needs to be more than a distant third place in the long run. Assuming the interest in the PS4/Xbone don't immediately die after the launch of those consoles, the Wii U doesn't seem like it will be in developers graces or stay in the publics interest. Having two consoles in a row that fail to garner a decent stream of content and have a large community is not held in high regard.

@BrightBeing Kind-of and kind-of not on the whole "Parkour is like Platforming games!" thing. While both involve movement through an environment, parkour is more about being efficient in the use of that movement while platforming games are more about the movement itself. Now, comparing the act of performing a speedrun of a game to parkour is a bit more apt, as they both focus on navigating an environment and efficiency.

@Gowap I noticed it mere moments after I saw the title. Admittedly, it's not so obvious to those who forgot about that specific Sh'mup.

Anyways: Video game. Sh'mup. Nintendo systems. Good.

That's really all I have to say on the matter.

I basically agree with @Phatosaurus ; If Nintendo doesn't expect the game to sell millions of copies, then there's no point in printing millions of copies. Budget appropriately and you'll be rewarded.

It's a bit rushed to think that a major company would hand over the rights to one of their big IPs so freely, but I guess there wasn't anything to be lost in asking.

I'm not too surprised by the Steam Greenlight vs. eShop comment. Greenlight has been criticized to high heaven and with good reason. As far as I can tell, the eShop has absolutely none of the problems that Valve has with their submission process.

Admittedly, this is a change of pace for Gamestop as they're selling a new game as used.

Company bashing aside, this is a very strange occurrence. I would love to hear the true story behind this. Seeing as I'm not a detective though, I have to let others do the investigating.

That's pretty cool. Luigi has been my main ever since Melee and I'm happy that his position in the roster has been preserved for SSB4.

Also, about this "They Should Change Things" argument; While we're talking about an iterative product, we're also talking about a competitive product that is succeeding another competitive product. For Sakurai this is a no-win situation as people will complain either way, so I come to the judgement that whatever makes the game more fun to play is the right decision. Carry on, Sakurai.

I've heard absolutely dreadful things about the 2009 Astro Boy movie, so I'm not too disappointed that this got shot out of the sky.

As for the character designs; the thing that really throws them into the ugly pit is the eyes. Besides the somewhat generic look of Ganondorf, everything looks completely normal. They got Link's outfit correct, Zelda's dress is striking, and the monsters/knights don't look bad. However, instead of going for more proportional eyes or the half-oval design that is in a lot of anime, the modellers grossly exaggerate the eyes to the point that, by the standards of reality, the eyes should be wrapping around the characters' heads. That's outright disturbing and I'm wondering why a SAW movie hasn't already done that creepy S***.

@LaytonAprentice If it was a localization then the teaser wouldn't be linking exclusively to Japanese websites. We can still be hopeful though?

What is interesting me more than anything else is the weird "Score-Boxes" right above the announcement. Everything else is stock fair for a new announcement teaser; abstract art, countdown clock, and slick fonts. For some reason my brain went straight to 'Virtua Fighter' upon seeing the 'V' and 'F', but that series is owned by Sega, so......I got nothing.

Shouldn't we all focus on whether or not BG&E2 will actually be a thing before the game is not ported to console X? It just seems like the logical step to me.

As Grackler said, the conversion rate of GB to bits rounds to over 30 billion bits from 3.85 GB.

@CanisWolfred Let's wait for some hands-on previews before go and declare this game to be rubbish and another Sonic 2006.

Anyway: As others have said, this definitely looks like Super Sonic Galaxy, which is a good thing in my book. That enemy design is quite atrocious though.

...Huh...

...I'm vaguely interested. Also, why does it seem that non-American cartoons, outside of some comedy shows, are always more interesting? I may be just over-simplifying, but anyone else have this sentiment?

This really isn't much of a U-turn, Damien. Maybe you should come up with a more accurate article tagline?

@citizenerased I assume that the idea behind the logo was a lightbulb (see the bulb-esque shape, the twirled wire, & the circuit w/ the bulb's base), but from how it's designed it has a striking similarity to a pacifier.

It's slightly disappointing that the logo for iDeame looks like a pacifier, but otherwise this is great. More independent game developers is never a bad thing.

I would be curious to hear what Adrian Covert's opinion on the Gamecube is, as compared to other Nintendo consoles the Gamecube is the least popular yet followed the most trends.

Confronting the actual issue, I think that Covert has some points...but also fails to acknowledge others. For example, Covert makes the point that Nintendo has been hypocritical in supporting a "Gameplay Over Graphics" stance by ignoring independent developers. However, if the rumors are true (and the evidence points more towards fact than fiction), Nintendo has been handing out free Wii U development kits to independent developers for a while now. There is also a throwaway comment about how Sony and Microsoft are attempting to create computers out their consoles, something I don't think many video game players actually care about as they probably already have access to a functioning computer. And if Covert was trying to say that MS and Sony are creating communities with their consoles while Nintendo is not, I would like to point the man to Miiverse, by far the most interesting and (from what I can tell) non-hostile system-wide community.

@Melkaticox At first, I that you suggested 'Super Dubai Land', which gave me very odd mental images.

While I'm all for the name change, Ubisoft is NOT "just like any small business." Otherwise, carry on, universe.

I'll admit, it's pretty cool how Nintendo was able to create a system-wide community that isn't solely defined by how annoying/aggravating it is.

@MadAussieBloke If so, then it wasn't a very good joke. It's pretty well established that Gearbox makes Borderlands and Violition makes Saints Row. And if you're commenting on the similarity of those two game series...well, you need to do some research.

On Topic: While I probably wouldn't do this, I completely understand why someone else would. Sega has been passing off alpha images and videos as the real product and it can be extremely aggravating to be so blatantly lied to.