Grazza

Does anyone know what those images are at the bottom of the page? It looks like Hero and Jessica (plus the dancers) from Dragon Quest VIII, but I don't recognise the costumes. It looks like Jessica has a microphone and she's singing.

Yep. I've only played a couple of Castlevanias, but these tunes seem to be in the same style.

I'm sad to hear this as Satoru Iwata was just so likeable. He made sure Nintendo Directs were basically entertainment shows - if I have one memory of them as a whole, it's laughing through them (at running jokes like the fruit), all the while hoping for Iwata to say "One more thing...", the best of which (in my opinion) was Wind Waker HD. That not only made my day, it made my month. It's a credit to the man that only last month he took part in the E3 presentation, the "puppet" styling of which I thought was genuinely very funny. Satoru Iwata's greatest achievement was, I think, the 3DS. From the unveiling at E3 2010, it had such amazing potential - great graphics, full-on line-up of games and (amazingly) 3D graphics without glasses. From the moment it was released in 2011, it was a true vision - not only the great games, but also when we got the Letterbox application - still Nintendo's best, in my opinion. I have to thank Iwata for all the enjoyment I got from that. Rest in Peace Satoru Iwata.

Awesome games, as long as you like puzzles + platforming. They're very difficult. I recommend those and Shantae 3, but then I'm a massive WayForward fan!

You just need to already own one of them on your Wii U.

That's a fantastic price for Shantae 3. I wonder whether I should try the Trine games.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/07/the_square_enix_teases_for_dragon_quest_3ds_localisations_ramp_up Does sound promising. Unless Square-Enix somehow puts a stop to it, I think it's pretty safe to expect them both to be released over here now.

Seeing those images of Nintendoland and Mario Kart just shows how much Nintendo mastered the Wii U's graphical capabilities over a couple of years. I know that's pretty normal for a console, but the difference is impressive. I do think it's got huge potential. There's been a lot of progress with understanding what the mind is thinking, and so this could be applied to RPGs where you form relationships with several characters. Could cause a few crossed wires in Fire Emblem.

I still think the first version of NX will be a handheld and therefore sub-Wii U. If this is the case it's possible that something not yet shown (like a new Metroid Prime) might have to be a downgraded a bit, same goes for Zelda if it's a dual release.

Excellent! As far as I'm aware, Dragon Quest VII has never been released in French, so this points towards a European release (which is why H-o-T posted it, of course). Could possibly be iOS, but is hopefully 3DS. Might have to take back my "Etrian Odyssey is the best RPG series" statement.

Final BUMP because... I have completed Etrian Odyssey III! The DS trilogy is finally at an end. I have completed the main story, traversed every floor and defeated the post-game boss of all three games. And what an epic it was! As I said before, Etrian Odyssey III has a great atmosphere from the start. It's generally easier to play than the first two and in many ways sets the form factor for Etrian Odyssey IV. Although there are a bewildering number of classes, the game is designed in a way that lets you play in your style... for the most part. I played most of the game with a Gladiator (for attack), a Hoplite (defence), Zodiac (elements), Wildling (binds + status effects) plus a Monk for healing. Ninjas, Princes and Buccaneers excel as sub-classes, whereas Farmers are highly specialist for gathering. Whichever you use, I highly recommend creating two of each class and leaving the ones you don't want in the Guild, with Combat Study gradually increasing their EXP. Let's get a negative out the of the way - Etrian Odyssey III has sea exploration which, in my opinion, just doesn't fit the game. It's completely rigid, with the player having to plot precise courses over the grid; therefore reaching the destinations can be very frustrating. Happily though, when you do so you are greeted with a boss battle, all of which are up to the Etrian Odyssey standard. You'll certainly want to fight them for the drops. A unique aspect of Etrian Odyssey III is that that are multiple endings for the main story - one good, two bad - and a choice of two different paths, each of which unlocks another class! Personally, I got both bad endings first, then the good one. It's easy enough to loop the game. And so, after seeing the credits roll three times, it was onto the post-game. Deciding I needed a bit more oomph, I introduced an Arbalist to my team. These are absolutely brilliant and great for fighting the dragons. The final stratum is a bit easier-going than the previous two games, and so my confidence was high. Then I met the post-game boss. Oh man, this chap's a nuisance. He's easily up there with Primeval, and makes EOII and IV's look weak. With his high defence and ridiculous heal, even my Arbalists weren't enough. Defeated and demoralised, I wondered if there was a way I could beat him. The great thing about the DS Etrian Odyssey games is that there is usually a strategy that allows you to overcome the immense difficulty of the post-game bosses... it makes them possible. But this time, the path wasn't clear. Then I heard about a strategy called Warrior Might. Basically you have one or two Gladiators with the Shogun sub-class, then two Shoguns with the Buccaneer sub-class. The idea is that the Gladiators use Warrior Might, which chases all normal attacks. The Shogun/Buccaneers have a passive ability called Swashbuckling, which (if you're lucky) follows up Warrior Might, and so you have a long ping-pong of attacks. Forging an ice Dragonbane and a fire Dragonbane, I trained up my Warrior Might team. They were powerful - it seemed to be working. I headed back to the post-game boss, hoping I was sufficiently prepared. Gladiator, Gladiator, Shogun, Shogun and a Hoplite for the elemental walls. Yes, that's how crazy this boss is - there's not even room for a healer! We executed our strategy, but it wasn't enough. Despite a plethora of buffs on our side, the boss kept healing and going back into defensive mode. Was it even possible to beat this chap? Thankfully, he does have one Achilles Heel - on Turn 40, he becomes entirely aggressive rather than defensive. With one last throw of the die, I had my characters defend until Turn 36 or so. Then, I spent three turns preparing my buffs. On Turn 40, he entered attack mode, and I blocked his offensive with a Limit Skill. Now was the time. We unleashed Warrior Might. Luck was on my side. I watched as Swashbuckling activated again and again. The turn ended and he unleashed his own attacks, leaving most of us with 1HP. I wondered how much HP he had left - only a tiny amount, as it happened. Sweating in the July humidity, I had my twin Hoplites (Ninja sub-class) Bodyguard both Gladiators. I set them to attack with Warrior Might and... ...The Abyssal God is defeated! It's nine years since I was introduced to Etrian Odyssey. At first I was baffled by its idiosyncrasies, but I have come to see it as the best current RPG series. By completing III, I am finally done with the DS trilogy, and indeed the DS in general. However long Etrian Odssey continues for, I will be there with my Landsknecht, Protector, Alchemist and everyone else in the Sherwood Guild, ready to obtain all the drops and explore the labyrinth.

Generations are always a thorny issue on Nintendo boards and can cause the most furious arguments. What I will say about this though is that I've accepted Nintendo's next console won't match the PS4. I think Nintendo have decided to set themselves apart and aren't measuring it against existing consoles, or indeed the PlayStation 5/Xbox 4. In other words, I think it will be neither Late Current Gen or Early Next Gen. All signs point to them setting up their own eco system, and seeing whether they can make a success of it when they have all their development teams supporting the same platform. To this end, their consoles may well be just incremental improvements from now on, using Wii U as a starting base. It's not my ideal scenario, but at least they might find a steady success going forward.

Starwing was by the far the most exciting, in my opinion. : peace: Those simple, untextured polygons... with a bit of imagination, you were in that Arwing! Star Fox 64 3D was fun and I also liked Command, but the only one that really has a place in my heart is that original entry in the SNES days.

Very true. I thought the 3DS had amazing graphics when it launched. Four years later and playing on an XL, it feels completely different. As @liger05 says, something at least 540p, IPS screen and better than Vita would be great. Personally I think it might be 480p and slightly less powerful than Vita, but I'm sure it'll look crisp. This would be brilliant - "Nintendo Sprite Division", I've always called it - a studio devoted to pixel art. It's the best way to keep the 2D Metroids and Zeldas going, in my opinion, rather than the textured polygons of 2.5D. There comes a point though where people don't see the writing on the wall. I remember all the credible rumours that Wii U was going to be Xbox 360/PS3-level and have a slow CPU, but many wouldn't accept it.

I completely agree with @Ronnie about this. As great as the 3DS has been, it's now at the stage where future releases - Fire Emblem Fates, Tri-Force Heroes, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam - are mainly re-using the assets from previous games. This is always the case, of course (ie. Spirit Tracks), but that's where we're at. Personally, I'm looking forward to a few more 3DS games, but I can't wait for a new handheld.

Yes, thank you. The days of 3Dfx and Quake are exactly what I was referring to, I just couldn't remember all the terms from back then. That ties in with a mysterious comment by Square-Enix from before much was known about "Revolution". They said something like "Not just a console, not just a portable..." Then the Wii was released and it didn't make sense.

Because what I'm calling the Upscaler Unit would have more powerful graphics acceleration than the handheld...

True, but it could be a wired connection. Plus, the handheld wouldn't necessarily be the controller. All the data could be in the initial game, but the handheld deliberately runs it lower than its potential. I'm just thinking back to the early 3D games on the PC. You could be playing one version of a game with your PC's built-in graphics capabilities then, with the press of a button, could switch to the accelerated version running off a dedicated graphics card. If I recall correctly that instantly improved everything, including resolution and polygon models.

Here's one possibility (and I apologise if this has already been said): NX is a handheld, less powerful than Wii U, but similar graphics considering the lower resolution. It may not actually be able to run Wii U games, but can play anything that takes the NX into account (eg. I assume the new Zelda). Then there is a completely optional Upscaler Unit. This runs anything on the NX, but increases the resolution, framerate and possibly even things like polygon count. This way, NX would not technically be a hybrid - just a normal handheld that can be improved upon. I do realise I'm probably just repeating the Fusion rumour, but it makes a fair bit of sense to me. It would also explain these factors: 1) 3DS needs replacing 2) It's too early for a true next-gen console 3) Seemingly no big games in the planning as Wii U exclusives (eg. Metroid Prime 4) Nintendo could make use of any software they have in development, yet not be rushed to replace Wii U with a true console.

Let everyone, I say. Anyone in Europe might prefer the 60Hz version, even if it's not in their language.

Hmm, it does sound plausible - a Wii U with more RAM, faster CPU and a different (hopefully traditional) controller. Still wouldn't get multiplatform games, but I think they accept that. The only consideration is that the 3DS needs replacing even more than the Wii U (from a technical point of view), so surely a handheld has to come before a console, or at least the same time? I can't see a handheld being able to outperform Wii U anytime soon, so this backs up the idea of there being two machines. Handheld - Less powerful than Wii U, games run at 480p or 720p Console - Slightly more powerful than Wii U, games run at 1080p At this point, I really can see the Console NX being just an upscaling machine. Still, we'll probably get to play the next Zelda in 1080p.

Zelda Maker would be brilliant. There would be limitations - keep it 2D, dungeons only etc - but I'm sure it's possible. It would be hard to set up the puzzles, but like Mario Maker you'd still have to be able to complete your levels before you publish them. What they really, really need to do is keep the Link to the Past style though, but improved.

I haven't got time to watch the full video yet, but to quickly sum up my thoughts on the matter: I'm not a huge fan of schemes like this, as they keep the markets how they are. It's like government schemes to help young people buy houses - all that's doing is using public money to feed the existing market. The real problem with housing is that private individuals are allowed to buy up anything that gets built and make a living off the rent. It's a huge problem. The solution is surely to have much, much stronger government regulation - I'd actually make it illegal to buy-to-let - but unfortunately they show a complete reluctance to do that. Regarding Basic Income in particular, it is still handing out money to fuel the existing market. I'd rather governments actually took care of people - food, water, roof over your head etc - and made these things exist outside of market forces.

Yes, quite. The next time they really put full effort into making a proper Animal Crossing, they will surely aim much higher than this (assuming the hardware is Wii U level or better). Just the fur, for example. When you look at something like Donkey Kong Country Returns: Tropical Freeze, Animal Crossing would be the ideal franchise to apply that "realistic fur" to.

There's no way I'll believe them. We'll just have to look at the tech specs and see whether it's likely that the platform will have multi-format games. If it doesn't have multi-format games it probably won't have 3rd-party games in general. For NX, what they need is a showcase of forthcoming games like they did with the 3DS - Metroid, Zelda, Kid Icarus etc. If they do that' I'll trust them that they're on their way, but the intention needs to be there right from the start. Even today, if you pick up the GameCube controller, it just feels so right in your hands. The Wii U GamePad was useful for some things, but for just playing HD games on a TV screen, there's no substitute for a traditional pad with analogue triggers.