Grazza

I'd have to say "Not really". To me, "Nintendo" just doesn't mean what it used to. Specifically thinking of the N64 days, I remember a widely-phrase used in magazines: "Nintendo makes the best games"... I spent years believing that was true, but am not sure it still is. Their games are very, very polished, yes, but I don't think they offer what they used to. When I bought an N64, I was absolutely convinced it was the best hardware about, with software teams striving to make the best games. To me, what I saw on PlayStation just couldn't compete with Mario 64 or Ocarina of Time. The controller was unusual for the time, but I had the sense Nintendo designed it like that out of necessity, rather than a fear of the "Red Ocean" - and as we saw, analogue sticks (and rumble) did indeed become the industry standard. It was a similar story with the GameCube. I was perfectly happy that the hardware could hold its own against the others, and when I played the games I was even more convinced. Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, F-Zero GX - very little that generation gave me reason to think Nintendo weren't still the best. That all changed with the Wii. Of course, this is all old ground and I don't want to repeat myself here, but despite the quality of games like Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3, I suddenly got a sense that Nintendo weren't up there with the others. I like the Wii U a lot more than the Wii, but there are three main problems for me: 1) Hardware - For me, it's a big, big problem that Nintendo doesn't keep up with the wider industry in terms of power and architecture (and to some extent, controllers). If Nintendo's machine could play top-rate versions of current multi-format games, there would be less sense that "the industry is elsewhere" (which is my feeling at the moment). 2) The level of ambition in the software - When I played Mario 64, I knew that was as amazing as games could be at the time. When I played Super Mario 3D World, I thought it was a very polished and fun platformer... There's nothing wrong with "fun", of course, but I no longer feel inspired by Nintendo games. 3) Tonal range - This year's remake of Majora's Mask was a revelation, as it featured so many levels of emotion throughout. Often exciting, sometimes dark and frequently strange. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that Nintendo's games are wholesome (and not bloodthirsty), but I don't think they're allowing themselves a full tonal range at the moment. When every other game seems to be a colourful 2.5D platformer starring Luigi, Donkey Kong, Kirby or Yoshi, you know there are certain things that won't be in it. On the other hand, those feelings might have been in Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Metroid Prime or Twilight Princess. Overall, I feel the wider industry is always worth keeping an eye on. There is always going to be a genre somebody can do better than Nintendo, but generally I feel Nintendo is turning people away, rather than this being much to do with Sony or Microsoft.

My personal opinion on this - Fire Emblem was too obsessive before Awakening. I played Sacred Stones (one of the GBA games) and enjoyed it up to a point, but the unforgiving difficulty eventually ruined it. It's one thing to use planning skills, but when something can go wrong at the last minute and you need to start all over again, that leads to, as I say, obsession. Then along came Awakening - the most perfect strategy game I've played - and fixed all this. You still needed strategy, but one mistake wouldn't necessarily ruin everything. And if you did want the challenge, you could always use Classic Mode. You could have the personal satisfaction of completing it the hard way, yet still allow everyone else to have a more enjoyable ride if they wanted it. Regarding the "petting" aspect, I can see how they arrived at this point. One of the most engaging parts of Awakening was how you could build relationships and marry an (opposite sex) character of your choice. Whether or not stylus interaction is necessary I don't have an opinion on either way, but I do see the logic of following this path.

I'm making a lot of leaps and assumptions here, but assuming NX is an Android-based handheld, it's actually quite reassuring. Hopefully we're now past the era of Nintendo handhelds having small, custom resolutions. Don't get me wrong, it worked in the past, but I'm hoping for something more standard from now on. Assuming one point of NX is to run Android games without adjustment, then presumably they will display at the standard resolution. Does anyone know what the standard resolution is for the average Android game at the moment? Even if I'm off with my ideas here, I definitely like the idea of Nintendo's next handheld being a powerful, high-res machine - all the better for displaying the next Animal Crossing and Zelda! As long as it still has physical buttons, of course (which I'm sure it will).

My guess is the next Animal Crossing will be a "base level" entry in the series. Then, when the next handheld is released (presumably the NX), you will have to buy the next Animal Crossing, of course, but will be able to transfer your progress. I really loved New Leaf for quite a while, but at the same time, I can't see people wanting to collect the same insects, fish and furniture every single time, starting over again every time a new entry is released. For example, I really liked the Sleek furniture and spent ages collecting it - it seems odd that I'd have to do that again and again every time there's a new game out. The Museum too - the dinosaur fossils were great, but it'd be even better if, when you bought a new Animal Crossing, your completed dinosaurs were all there waiting for you, except graphically improved. Of course, there'd have to be new rooms and fossils so that there's something to do, but that's OK - there are hundreds of real prehistoric creatures to use. Overall, I was really enchanted with New Leaf and can see myself doing the same experience again (especially on handheld), but it'd be better if it had some future-proofing this time round.

Never and never. If I wanted to do it, though, it'd be local.

Funnily enough, I thought they cropped it out too. I noticed it in the semi-final and in the recap yesterday, but didn't notice it during the actual song (just a close-up of the two lead singers kissing). During the recap it went: 1) Wide shot of the backing singers kissing. 2) Close-up of the lead singers kissing. But to be honest, I probably just wasn't paying attention during the actual song.

Bah. This is one of the worst Eurovisions I've seen. Not enough glamour. Not good enough songs.

I reckon Australia will win and choose London.

Nor me. To be fair, Russia put on an awesome show last time (in 2009). Great stage, half-time show and (in my opinion) the best collection of songs I've ever seen in the contest - Jan Jan, Dum Tek Tek, Always and the winner, Fairytale.

Got my Brakspear Triple III ready! Will definitely be on here afterwards, but probably not during, as I'm geeky enough to concentrate on every minute!

Yes, it's awesome isn't it! This thread has been brilliant for reminding ourselves of some Eurovision greats. I've really enjoyed watching the 7-minute recaps on YouTube of the contests from 2008-2014 (the years I've been watching it). It's an effective way of remembering the whole night. Same. : peace: Ha! There's a serious point here. Whilst I don't expect every performance to be as outrageous(ly good ) as We Are Slavic, I do feel the overall contest is a bit lacking in glamour this year. Doesn't necessarily need milk churning, just something for the straight men who are watching!!

Well, steady on, old chap! I'd say Still In Love With You is not overly earnest, nor overly camp. Just a decent attempt at a good song, in my opinion, which is the best way to go about it.

I really miss Turkey. There's just something about that Eastern vibe that I love (as I say, Dum Tek Tek was the one that kept going through my head in 2009 - it gave me a feeling that the others didn't). Thankfully though, I've just read that that they'll be back for 2016! EDIT - Found a couple of videos I hadn't seen. I just find this irresistible:

Oh, I'm surprised! Sometimes I find I enjoy the songs more on the night if I've got the rhythm into my head first. but to each his own. : peace:

No one all that enthused by last night's 2nd semi-final? I thought Israel and Sweden were pretty good, and Switzerland should have got through. Georgia is still my pick to win, but UK and Australia might actually be my favourites this year.

2009 was a fantastic year, in my opinion - by far my favourite. Armenia. Really, really great beat! Loved the chorus for Azerbaijan's: And Turkey's was absolutely brilliant, in my opinion. The chorus just makes me feel a certain way. I do like the ones with an Eastern/belly dancing sort of feel: And then of course it was won by Fairytale. Great year. Enjoyed 2010 as well. Ukraine's was quite haunting. I love the way it builds: Romania's was like a piano duel! Great chorus: And as we say, we also had Apricot Stone and the winner, Satellite. Finally, looking at the recap of 2014, it was also a cracker. My favourite was not Poland, actually, but between these two: Ukraine. This was definitely my favourite. And Hungary's was one I kept singing after the contest too. Good ol' Eurovison!

Yep, Satellite is a genuine favourite of mine too. Fairytale was a worthy winner in 2009: Armenia from 2010. Think I just liked the singer, to be honest: Serbia 2011. Personally, I thought this was a really, really good pop song and wanted it to win: Greece 2013. Barnstorming! Poland 2014, of course . I always refer to this when I want to point out that Eurovision is just a very liberal thing, aimed at everyone: ...And my all-time favourite, the rhythmic brilliance of Rodolfo Chikilicuatre representing Spain in 2008. This was the first contest I watched properly and was hooked from that moment on: Ah, I love Eurovision! It's such a great night's entertainment.

Georgia is definitely my pick so far. The song sounds like a winner to me. Belgium and Estonia also stood out, so I'm glad they got through. Going by the previews, the UK and Australia are also pretty good this year, so should be a great contest!

Looks like the best racing game for years if you favour this style (which I do). Can't wait.

£11.63 for THAT?!!

Personally, I think a live stage show has the potential to be much better, even if you're not there. If that wasn't the case, they wouldn't make live TV. It depends what they show though. Last year's Direct was a lot better than the live shows put on during some of Nintendo's most successful times. On the other hand, I enjoyed the extended Zelda footage at the recent-ish game awards more than anything else I can remember. Reminds me of the pre-emptive shh:

Voted for two: Wind Waker HD - Remake or not, I find the scope of this game still exceeds anything else I've played on the console. It's sort of "The Best of Zelda", whilst remaining excellent and original in its own right. I enjoyed it a lot more than the OOT and MM remakes, which were very good themselves. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse - A joyful experience and by far the best platform adventure since the 2nd game in the same series. This game just has a perfect tone, which you might not get if WayForward had a publisher looking over their shoulder telling them what to do. I've played it eight times across both versions!

WTF?!! Dragon Quest VIII was one of the best gaming experiences of my life, along with Wind Waker and Landstalker - real "love and cherish" territory. The funny thing is though that I tried to replay it recently (on PS2) and found it could do with a lot of improvements. I used to think there was no point in it being on 3DS (and I'd still prefer it on their next handheld), but replaying it, I realised the polygon models are basic enough that the 3DS could probably cope with it, and still have room for improvement. It just needs to be made a little bit faster - things like menus, and the ability to cut short battle animations. Overall - will buy if it's released over here, but won't be gutted if it's not.

Fair point, H-o-T. : peace: To me, the line is crossed when a game encourages something illegal, like groping (I wasn't entirely happy with Senran Kagura Burst). But overall, it just makes me so sad that we can't appreciate a good body now without it being called sexist (and I speak as someone who's happy to see as many male physiques as female - it's not about my personal preference, I just think we're becoming less liberal).

Yeah? Personally I have no interest in the game but I'm sick of everything catering to Puritans, prudes and feminists (who definitely won't buy it).