Tag Archives: Nintendo

We won: On The Last Story and American release

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A scant two days before its European release, us Western RPG players got the best news we could hope for: The Last Story is getting an American release. The forces of good have prevailed.

We’ve now gone full circle on the saga of Xenoblade and The Last Story, having moved from full on depression at the idea that Nintendo of America would throw away the most critically acclaimed JRPGs of this generation to cautious, restrained optimism at the idea that Xenoblade would release as a Gamestop exclusive to now, finally, acceptance thanks to Nintendo and XSeed coming together to bring The Last Story to America.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that the JRPG has been at best mediocre across the board, at worst utterly decrepit on modern consoles. Sure, it’s experienced a renaissance on handhelds, with brilliant, top five JRPG of all time caliber games like Radiant Historia, but these games did nothing but reinforce the trope that the JRPG was a relic of the past. The “best” console JRPG of the generation, Mistwalker’s Lost Odyssey, felt like a good title lost at sea trying to find relevance in a market that didn’t desire it. By …

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After pressing start: Super Metroid and efficiency

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(After Pressing Start is a new series running on Nightmare Mode every Friday by resident narrative guru Tom Auxier. It focuses on beginning, on the stories that happen directly after pressing start, and how those stories influence the arcs of video games. A variety of games he’s totally never talked about before will be featured. This might be sarcasm. Previous Entries:

1.1 Dragon Age: Origins
1.2 Final Fantasy VI and VII
1.3 Planescape: Torment

Have a suggestion about a game to discuss? Post it in the comments!)

Modern games have and exploit their freedom to be inefficient. Given all the technological prowess of modern consoles, hundreds of staffers, professional scores, and micro management, how could they not lavish attention on these facets? Games spell things out for us, make sure we aren’t lost, and take pains to set us on the stage. Retro games and modern indies don’t have that luxury. They have limited graphics, limited sound, limited everything.

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Nintendo enters the digital age with ‘Nintendo Network’

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Nintendo has finally decided to catch up with the competition by introducing Nintendo Network. Nintendo Network is practically everything fans have dreamed of. It allows users to set up separate accounts on the 3DS and Wii U to purchase downloadable content, communicate with other users, and perhaps even buy digitally distributed software. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy will be the first game to implement this system by providing downloadable songs from the Final Fantasy series.

This is something Nintendo should have did a long time ago, but doing this after so long puts into question if Nintendo really knows what it’s doing anymore. I feel as if Nintendo is that old guy on the block who’s doing this just to be cool with the kids.  Nintendo is never like that though, they always try to be different from everyone else so I’m sure there will be some feature that will set Nintendo Network apart from Xbox Live, Playastion Network, and Steam. Also, how will this work on the 3DS with the already established friend codes? Iwata says that it is already “built into the design of the Nintendo 3DS”, so I’m guessing they’ll exist simultaneously somehow.

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Link’s next adventure is already in development

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Surprising no one, Skyward Sword was a huge success and the next big Zelda game is already underway. The hazy confirmation comes from the Hyrule Historia book via a quote from series producer Eiji Aonuma.

“The voices of those who’ve played it [Skyward Sword] from around the world reach us. We hear their admiration, comments and their criticism too. All those voices become energy for the next voyage. Well, to tell the truth, we’ve already set sail in a new voyage.”

Though Eiji Aonuma’s cryptic statement could mean just about anything (especially since it’s a translation) and it’s generally a bit of a faux pas to bring something like this up on a gaming site as news, I’m taking this opportunity to make a prediction. When Zelda comes to the WiiU, it won’t be anything like the demo video shown at last year’s E3. Why am I so sure of this? Well…

Remember that little video? Remember all the excitement that rang out from the gaming community after it was shown? Remember the pure, steamy Internet rage gamers everywhere felt when they saw the first shots of Wind Waker that was forgotten the moment everyone got to play it? I would bet money …

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Pokemon and samurai collide in Pokemon + Nobunaga’s Ambition [UPDATE]

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CoroCoro magazine recently teased the reveal of a brand new, “shocking” Pokemon title to be revealed in their January 2012 issue.  Turns out Jump Festa had other plans, seeing as they decided to showcase the game early.There is a chance this isn’t the game, but I doubt it. If the combination of Pokemon and Nobunaga’s Ambition isn’t going to shock people I don’t know what is.

There isn’t much to say on Pokemon + Nobunaga’s Ambition yet since we know little of it. The game seems to take place during the Sengoku period when samurai and armored generals still existed. Now imagine that era, but with Pokemon crawling about fighting alongside these warriors. Based on the screenshots posted on 4Gamer it looks like the game will be a SRPG. It’s set to release for the DS in Japan next spring with Tecmo Koei and Pokemon Company working together on it.

Via Adriasang

Edit: Pokemon fansite Serebii was nice enough to upload a trailer for the game, enjoy!

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After Skyward Sword the Legend of Zelda ‘cannot go back to button controls’

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The motion controls tailored for the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword were generally well received, but not everyone was happy with them. Bad news for them, Nintendo plans on sticking with these controls for generations to come! “I honestly think we cannot go back to button controls now, so I think that these controls will be used in future Zelda titles, too” explains Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma. Strangely, Skyward Sword was originally going to be made using button controls. Right when the control scheme was being finalized, Aonuma demanded the title switch over to Wii MotionPlus controls à la Wii Sports Resort.

Motion controls are fine and all, but Nintendo should at least offer the option of a standard control scheme for people who don’t like motion controls. This is Nintendo though, they can get away with just about anything. Abandoning button controls will barely effect their audience and the resulting sales. Just look at Skyward Sword, it’s the fastest selling Zelda game in history despite the change in controls.

Via Official Nintendo Magazine UK

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Nintendo officially confirms Xenoblade Chronicles for North America

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This morning a mysterious image of Gamestop’s release schedule featuring Xenoblade Chronicles, as a Gamestop exclusive to boot, popped up. Later Nintendo themselves confirmed that the long awaited Wii JRPG is finally coming to North America in April 2012! Nintendo is finally doing it! After all of the requests and complaints Nintendo is finally doing it! The bad news is that Xenoblade Chronicles will be exclusively sold at Gamestop, otherwise you have to order online from Nintendo themselves. Who cares though? The game is finally arriving and that’s that. Nintendo was even nice enough to show off a trailer for the game, featuring the English voice acting retained from the EU version.

Operation Rainfall must be feeling pretty good about themselves now eh? They’re campaign played a huge part in this, now people just have to buy the game. Lets hope Nintendo follows up with The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower if sales turn out well.

Via Nintendo

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3DS beats DS’ first-year sales in eight months

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As far as hardware releases go, Nintendo’s 3DS got off to one of the more rocky starts in recent memory. An early reveal and a rushed release left consumers with an underwhelming list of launch titles earlier this year, not to mention a hefty asking price and health concerns from its 3D component. In spite of all this, Nintendo of America’s Reggie Fils-Aime revealed that the console has eclipsed it’s predecessor’s first-year sales in just eight months.

“3DS has been having positive momentum since the digital content came onboard with the eShop, the launch of Ocarina of Time and obviously the price reduction,” he said in a recent interview with Time Magazine. “In sales through this past Saturday—8 months—[the 3DS] has outsold the full 12 months of the original DS. During that 12 months time, the original DS sold 2.37 million and we just surpassed that this past Saturday, so we’ve got real good momentum going into the holidays.”

An impressive feat, considering the success of the DS over the past few years. Speaking of which, though its successor has been on the market for nearly a year, Nintendo are looking to continue supporting the DS for the foreseeable future.

“As we introduce …

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SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 – The Double Dip Awful Edition Review

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SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 is a videogame developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Wii. It was directed by KOICHI HAYASHIDA.

I’ve played Super Mario Galaxy 2 from start to finish. That was probably the mistake, as the more you play this game, the less you like it – and I believe the optimal stopping point would be somewhere before World 5. By the time the game opens up its Second Quest, where you must collect 114 Green Stars, my enjoyment of the game had already become a downwards slide towards an endless abyss.

This is not, like Tom has suggested, a good game whose main flaw is being too “artificially perfect”. Super Mario Galaxy 2 gives the impression it was “surgically assembled in a laboratory”, yes, but this doesn’t imply that the result was the Fifth Element (i.e. Milla Jovovich) instead of the Bride of Frankenstein (i.e. shrieking woman who will never love you back). So here is the bottom line: Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the Bride. It is schlock.

Let’s start with its greatest mystery: Starship Mario.

The goal of the game is to collect Power Stars in …

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Sequels that should have been: Doki Doki Panic

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Somewhere, if we ascribe to the comic book based theory of alternate worlds, in another earth we are playing Doki Doki Galaxy instead of Mario Galaxy. In America, we would have localized it to Heartbeat Galaxy, and we would be flying around with Mama, Papa, Imajin, and Lina on a giant, pulsing heart, doki doki, doki doki the only sound effects.

For the unacquainted, Doki Doki Panic is known as Super Mario Brothers 2 outside of Japan. It’s not really a Mario game—while Doki Doki Panic characters have migrated into Mario games (the Shy Guys, Birdo), mechanically it’s night and day to the traditions of Mario. Levels tend to scroll vertically, you kill enemies by picked up turnips and radishes, and if you’re not being chased by horrible floating masks count yourself lucky.

It’s also Arabian themed, as opposed to the Italian plumber and whimsey of the Mario universe. No Mushroom Kingdom, yes Prince of Persia.

Doki Doki Panic, however, would make a fantastic modern game. In terms of ideas, it might as well have been ten years ahead of its time. Originally, it was a multiplayer platformer where you could pick up and throw your friends.

This idea sounds familiar to anyone who’s …

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