James McGeachie

The fact there hasn't been a single 2D Metroid in the entire "DS" era is one of Nintendo's greatest failings in my eyes. Why? Because there's probably no BETTER series suited to the system and they are completely ignoring that potential. Annoyingly too I'd have rathered a DS one than 3DS, because I wanted it to be dual screen gameplay. I had vivid images of walljumping up 2 screens, or using the shinespark to blast up them. Or perhaps something like a 2D version of the falling Ridley fight in Prime 3, but falling down both the screens while fighting (shooting Ridley in the top screen for example, see Sonic Rush Adventure extra zone boss). I'm split on the touch screen being used, but it probably COULD be used well with the type of exploration based items Metroid is known for (I have ideas, I just don't want to drag this post forever). The very fact they don't consider an entry like that important is representative of Nintendo's apathy towards the hardcore fan. Super Metroid is considered one of the finest games in history. A DS Metroid could take that type of design to a new level, but they just don't seem to care at all. I enjoyed Metroid Blast in Nintendoland, but the fact that's all that Nintendo seems to think Metroid is good for lately is sickening. Super Metroid to be honest is already a fine example of survival horror. You're completely isolated on an alien world. There's all sorts of moments that were actually genuinely scary at the time too. When you fall into the room with Crocomire and you haven't worked out how to kill him yet and he's pushing you towards a wall of spikes. When you eventually kill him by dropping him into a pit of acid and literally sit and watch his skin melt off. Then there's what happens next. I mean sweet Jesus, that was a Nintendo game. Metroid Fusion was on the right track with the SA-X, but the narrative stripped the game of the feeling of isolation.

A very sad day for Nintendo. Unfortunate too that he passed with Nintendo in a problematic state of affairs. It would have been nice if he left the world when they were on a high note.

*parent walks into game store* "So, the 3DS, is that a 3D version of the Nintendo DS" Assistant: "No, it's a 3D version of the Nintendo 2DS." "Oh, the Nintendo DS isn't a 2D DS?" Assistant: "It's a 2D DS, but not a 2DS." "My son said he wants a 3D Nintendo DS." Assistant: "You can't get a 3D Nintendo DS but you can get a Nintendo 3DS. He might want a Nintendo 2DS too."

Fire everyone in the system design team. Everyone.

I don't think I could ever complain about all the dialogue scenes. They got Scrooge McDuck's 93 year old voice actor (Alan Young) back. I mean, when you bring in someone at 93 to reprise a role, being realistic you're understanding that this is probably one of the last, if not the last, time you'll ever have this opportunity. The game is a combined tribute to fans of the original game and the TV series, so I'm glad they made quite a lot of use of the voice acting talent.

Nintendo are obsessed with wasting plastic aren't they?

So last year my friend had the idea he wanted to build a throne out of games to make a Game of thrones reference. We did it. It took him a long time to get the video out though due to PC issues, so the joke is a little old hat now. However, I still think it's neat so I thought I'd post it. You may spot some interesting titles and peripherals in the close ups if you keep an eye out/switch to HD. If you'd rather just see a full panning shot, then t=1m48s :P

I wondered if anyone on forums I go to would have saw it there. I know this is maybe excessive, but I want to post this one too, this was me on the throne. Got to get your Throne pose on when sitting on a Throne of Games.

Does it feel weird to anyone else that the best looking game on a technical level is also running at 60 frames? Does Konno just have the best team or something?

So, seeing Nintendo Directs does make me think "Oh, these games look a bit better than I initially thought". However, that's still a problem. They need marketable games for the system to succeed. If a sizzle reel style video showing off highlights of all the games coming on the system ISN'T making people excited, that's a big problem. They need to counter the wave of negative publicity. They need things that are impressive on first impact. Also, even after seeing some more on Mario, Smash, etc and thinking "Yeah, these look okay", I can't shake the feeling in my gut that if there's no more games announced (and there probably wont be), it'll be both disappointing and kind of depressing. There's still nothing I'm actually really excited and hyped for. It'd be nice to have had at least one left-field title. F-Zero, Starfox on Wii U, a new Metroid or an exciting new IP. Something like that.

This game looks pretty bogging to me to be honest. The bloom is nasty and there's something off about the lighting on the models. The original's visual style is tightly refined. It's basically perfect. You don't take something so finely tuned and just go whizz bang look guys shit be glowing now.

So I'm pretty sure when marketing 3D Land they talked about how it was designed around being a portable experience. It seemed appropriate I guess, shorter bursts of simpler gameplay. Good for a handheld, where as console gaming is often seen as a more "cinematic" experience. Bigger. Bolder. And so, we come to the problem. Where is the scale? Where is the wow factor? It's not there. Is that a bad thing in and of itself? No. Is it a bad thing RIGHT NOW when more than ever before Nintendo are in dire need of impressing their fans? YES IT IS. NSMBU was passable as a launch game because "Oh hey, it's not anything amazing but it's cool they got a Mario title out for launch, while they spend time working on a successor to Galaxy". Except they haven't, at all. We've got what feels like another distraction, except it's probably the next main Mario entry. This isn't a good thing at all. To stop this post being entirely negative though, I'll say something positives: I like that they brought back the cast of SMB2. If that's used well, then I guess that's nice.

I was hoping they'd do something to spruce up the visual style after the original reveal, but sadly they haven't. It just doesn't really work. I mean I'm happy with everything else, but it's like I have to wipe away a layer of shit to see the game under the visuals.

So much "meh". Super Mario 3D World - Pretty meh. I'm not saying it doesn't look good, it just has no Galaxy style wow factory. For the first flagship HD Mario title, it's not bringing the goods. Donkey Kong Country Returns 2 - Meh as fuck. Every change looks marginal, it's not a noticeable upgrade in any department and therefore has no wow factor. If this is Retro's work, then whoops, bad project allocation Nintendo. Smash Brothers - Lol. It looks like it's an HD Brawl. Nothing else. Yay, Megaman. Whatever. The issue with Brawl is it didn't feel very fresh post-Melee. This feels like the same mistake. 3DS version...well, I guess Japan will like having that. Mario Kart 8 - Oh hey, the one game that caught my interest. Antigravity stuff looks great. Visually actually looks like more than just an HD version of a Wii game. Nice job. Now let's see if the gameplay is terrible or not. Everything else: Wind Waker is a visual mess (the bloom is disgusting); X, Bayonetta & Wonderful 101 are nice but we knew about them ages ago; The drawing stuff is a nice idea but not particularly special; Wii ware games look decent enough and I'm glad it's getting Abe & Ducktales but nothing blew me away; Pokemon info was known already and the caring stuff is pretty gimmicky. I'm a bit worried for Nintendo. They just don't seem to get it. If we don't see examples of fresh thinking and bold decisions, there's nothing to energise the fanbase and spur a resurgence of interest in Wii U. They may have condemned themselves in the console market today, unless there's more to come than this.

So for those playing it who DID play the Wii one, is the drop to 30fps instead of 60 noticeable to you? Does it detract at all visually?

I don't find anything particularly exciting about the COD video. I was far more impressed by the Battlefield 4 video a while back actually. When I see this visually vs. say, Crysis, I'm not seeing any kind of obvious leap either. I get that they're all about 60fps gameplay, but meh. About the whole conference: Hopefully since they've had the TV/Dashboard stuff now they can focus on games in their E3 press conference.

That's it? Hmm, not much on the games front. EDIT: Oh right, some Call of Duty

"This is Rocket Science level stuff" is an amazing quote. Anyway the new Kinect sounds cool.

I do wish the black character's trailer wasn't just a collection of every possible stereotype. Yeah okay, I get it, they can spin it as he wants to get out of the hood and that's maybe a positive message. It would've just been nice if the black character didn't come from a gang background.

So.... What if there's stylus controls? I liked them in PH and ST.....BUT....

My bets would be on same Hyrule, but enough time has passed so that the Overworld will have different features. Therefore, probably a different Link. [sarcasm] And of course, classic LTTP Link had pink hair, so this is obviously a different one. [/sarcasm] :P If I didn't play LTTP in the 90's, I probably would've give much of a shit about it other than to say "Yes this is pretty decent." Playing it at the time though, goddamn. It brought so much of what is awesome about the series.

Yoshi's Island DS kept very true to the formula. It was good, but felt almost like the whole game was just an expansion pack of slightly blander levels. I'd prefer if they switched something up for this. So far it looks like very much more of the same, but with the art style slightly molested.

So, new features, but all we get to show it is throwing a giant egg. Still, that was nice, I guess. They've fucked up the visual style a bit though.

Man this just looks like a soulless burnout clone. Ridge Racer is about style!

Koji Kondo better be on the fucking music btw. So far I hear a lot of reused sound effects & music, trying to capture the same atmosphere as the original. If they want to nail the feel of the game, they need to take music seriously. Sad to say but I feel Nintendo skimp a bit on music production these days, so I hope they don't on this.