Grazza

They seem to have largely avoided female characters for this one, especially any that might be sexy.

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse. Loads of bosses, labyrinths and exploration. It's a just the best 2D platform adventure anyone has made for ages.

Some predictions for the Wii U: F-Zero UX - Uses the Mario Kart engine and is similar to 200cc mode (which will turn out to have been a test) Twilight Princess HD - A relatively easy remake by Grezzo that both gives us the TP style in HD (much desired ever since the 2011 demo) and makes up for the lack of the new Zelda Metroid Prime 4 - By Retro Studios. Even if it's not called that, it'll be close enough to be recognised as the 4th game in the series. And a cheeky hope for the 3DS: Metroid V - Finally, a true pixel art sequel to Metroid Fusion!

The day after the 2010 General Election, the Lib Dems held the balance of power (and at the time were very keen on voting reform). If I recall correctly, Gordon Brown offered to implement AV immediately, and have a referendum on PR. David Cameron merely offered a referendum on AV. Due to the arithmetic, they had to go with Cameron/The Conservatives, but that's the sort of situation in which enough MPs would agree to a referendum.

The plans were good, but it was replaced with a more "fun" Mario Kart coaster. Extra charge for sitting on a motorbike.

Well, we did get a referendum on Alternative Vote, but personally I voted against it as I think all forms of AV are overcomplicated. I'm in favour of full Proportional Representation like we have in the Euro elections.

I adore that art style - sort of "Mega Drive emulating anime". It takes me right back to my early teens.

Same. I just don't have faith in them to deliver anymore. What changed things for me was the Zelda delay. The biggest thing to look forward to this year was a fleshed-out Zelda trailer - glimpses of enemies, bosses and dungeons, all set to dramatic music. A delay is one thing, but the fact it's not going to be there at all just makes me see the company as extremely manipulative. I've seen Nintendo do this twice now - once in 2004, then again in 2014 - show an exciting new Zelda game in attempt to help their struggling console. How much they intend/intended to release each one on the console first announced for is/was extremely questionable. Add to this the fact there's been no sign of Metroid on 3DS or Wii U (and no real entry on DS), plus setting so many of their teams to make DLC for existing software, and they just seem like a company that's no longer willing or able to make big, interesting games.

Brill. Reckon we'll see Dwayne?

YEESSSSSS!!!! I absolutely adore Red Dwarf, and love the cast in a way that I don't with any other actors! The chemistry between them is amazing. I remember back in the '90s my schoolfriends told me how great the programme was, and so I watched it, my first-ever episode being... (consults Wikipdedia) The Inquisitor on 27th February 1992. Since then I've been hooked. I have been reminding myself of them on Dave over the past few years and they are so bloomin' funny. It's interesting to see the significant changes between series. This scene in Better Than Life (Red Dwarf II) cracked me up so much: Smoke me a kipper!

I remember we always used to have a thread about this (posted by @flameboy?) so I thought I'd start a new one so people can post their favourite acts in it. To be honest, BGT always makes my April and May - I come in on Saturday night and catch up with the main programme, then Stephen "Mullers" Mulhern always cracks me up afterwards on BGMT! The first thing that caught my eye was this brother and sister roller skating act. Not being lecherous, but Emily is one of the most attractive girls I've ever seen - beautiful face and stunning body: Biggest laugh was provided by this Yorkshire Terrier. If a dog is going to hate anyone in the vicinity, it's always me, so I empathised with Ant here!

I'm glad Nintendo Life brought this up, because something about that last Nintendo Direct really did feel a bit "off" to me. More sad than bad. I basically believe in free market economics, so if Nintendo believes there's a demand for something, it can charge whatever it thinks it can get. Mewtwo in Smash Bros? Honestly wouldn't make a difference to me whether they charged £10, £20 or £50. And as many people have pointed out, Nintendo was never going to reveal loads of games two months before E3. It's more the apparent shift in focus that bothers me. With any hobby, there's a need to believe the companies you follow are working on something great, and I'm less and less convinced that's the case with Nintendo. It's also an accumulation of things. None of this was terrible on its own, but add it all up - extra fighters in Smash Bros, costumes in Smash Bros, amiibos, amiibo cards, StreetPass Premium, extra games in StreetPass Plaza and (the least controversial, admittedly) new tracks and vehicles in Mario Kart. Taken as a whole, it felt like a hard sell. It's as though they've decided to take advantage of their most loyal fans, who will get the biggest kick out of having, for example, Link on a bike in Mario Kart or an Earthbound character in Smash Bros. Nintendo seemed a more generous company not long ago in 2011. I got so many free things on my 3DS, it felt like I hardly ever had to pay for anything! Excitebike, Kid Icarus, Four Swords, Letterbox, Ambassador games... of course, this is because we were early adopters of the hardware, but this felt like a more natural way for me - get people to shell out for genuinely-exciting hardware, then reward them for doing so. This also comes hot on the heels of the Zelda news, and with that I think the thing that's really disgruntled people is not the delay in itself, but that they're not going to show it at E3. It feels like they don't want us to get any ideas about it until they've decided what they're doing with the game. Nintendo is a pretty crafty company at times and knows what to show people to give their console a boost - Twilight Princess for GC in 2004 (not yet named back then), Zelda at E3 last year, or even that amazing Zelda demo from E3 2011. Yeah, it was just a tech demo, but the intention was clear - get people excited, make a strong suggestion about what's going to be on the platform. Four years later, I don't think we've had anything that even nearly fulfils the potential of that tech demo. With this in mind, the mountain of DLC for simpler titles can seem even more frivolous. Many of us were drawn to Nintendo because of the deft way they pushed both the technical and the artistic - dramatic sunsets in Ocarina of Time, hostile snowscapes in Metroid Prime, a vast sea to explore in Wind Waker and horse-riding through the melancholy fields of Twilight Princess. I actually don't think they've done anything in that league since the GameCube. Heck, look at the ideas we've had on here for a revamped Ice Climber. Compared to that, when they introduce a new fighter in Smash Bros, all I see is bash-bash-bash! They all look the same! Anyway, as I say, I don't object to Nintendo making a bit of money. E3 is coming soon. Maybe there'll be Metroid, F-Zero... who knows? I don't want them to lower their DLC prices or stop making amiibos, I just want reassurance that their heart's still in the right place.

OK, fair enough, this is what I didn't understand. I thought it was a forum (albeit members-only) rather than a social network. Well that would be quite ridiculous. I haven't sent him any private messages, and let's not forget the code of conduct on Miiverse is extremely strict. If I had done anything even slightly wrong, the mods would be onto me in no time. Let me clarify: I was banned from what I thought was a public thread despite being entirely polite and not breaking any rules. The "thread owner" censored what I did say, and then put words into mouth (for all to see). I now don't have a right to defend myself. Honestly, I'm past caring now but it was annoying at the time. Serebii and Zechs have explained it fairly, so as far as I'm concerned that's the end of the matter.

This is one of my biggest issues with the game - the levels are designed not knowing which abilities the player has (apart from the very basics). You can forge accessories that allow you to Air Dash, Air Dash multiple times, Air Hop (double jump), Air Hop twice etc... and others that combine them. Whether you can obtain the materials for these, though, is almost completely random, meaning that if you do want them, the game becomes a grind. I actually found one of the mandatory levels difficult before I'd obtained Air Hop. Also, there are seven jewels to gather, finding some of them makes me want more abilities than I've currently got. My opinion is... unfortunately not. The mini-bosses aren't bad but soon descend to palette swaps. The main bosses are basically endurance tests that require you to be invested in the story.

Ugh, even in 1996 I hated Shifting Sand Land. Nowadays, when a desert level in a 3D Mario is swift and simple, I think "thank goodness that wasn't like Shifting Sand Land!"

Yep! Been playing it since Thursday, but finding it quite hard to form an opinion on. One thing's for sure, the 2D graphics are some of the best on 3DS. Stylistically, it's absolutely spot on: You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse Azure Striker Gunvolt plays and controls naturally - the main game mechanic involves tagging an object with your blaster, then unleashing your main weapon. There is also a certain amount of platforming that requires a reasonable amount of skill - jump between DKC-type boosters, for example, or use magnetic platforms to your advantage. The story and tone is very Japanese, with (not meaning to be rude) many of the clichés you may have seen in various anime films - "adepts" with special powers, female singers who can bring peace to the world with their voice and, er, some of the more peculiar conventions as well. Overall it feels like a classic Sega (or maybe Capcom) game from the 16-bit era, albeit one that's smoother and faster than we really had back in the day. I'm not sure how satisfying the "tag + unleash" gameplay actually is, but at least they tried something new. The game feels somewhat chaotic, with a difficulty level that's hard to define. Boss battles, for instance, often feel like standing in the only part of the screen with nothing going on, and hoping you can keep your charge going before you get hit by too many projectiles. If you do fall, however, you might get resurrected by the aforementioned singer-with-special-powers... but then again you might not. Add to that a Castlevania-style levelling system, plus many different ability accessories (which you can't use simultaneously), and the game can feel like it just needs to be blundered through. The phrase "style over substance" keeps coming into my head, although the game is so agreeable on most levels, thinking that feels rather mean. At moment I'm thinking the game is "Good", but it's hard to enthusiastically recommend until I'm sure there's more to it.

Twitter, maybe, but not Facebook. All your posts are visible on Miiverse, and anyone can comment on them (unless you block someone, but that's pretty childish just because they disagree with you), making me think it was a public forum. Anyway, that's me told.

Some little git has blocked and censored me on Miiverse! I was under the assumption that Nintendo's mods were in charge of the posts, but you actually have authority over your own "threads" - you can censor someone else for any reason whatsoever. Now he can say stuff about me in his thread and I don't have a right to reply (I can't even see it now) - doesn't seem like a fair system.

Arguably, designing it to absorb the Wii U architecture could be seen as a concession. If they were starting afresh, they could use PC architecture, which in theory could be easier to develop for and encourage multiplatform games that have been designed for exactly the same architecture. I don't have a strong opinion about it, but focusing on the past does have the potential to be a constraint.

To be fair, I remember Reggie saying that many, many years ago. M-rated has been allowed for ages.

I love cats and this is a very sad story. All I can say is that kindness is the best human quality and cruelty is the worst. By trying to help the cat, Murr, it at least shows you have the qualities that count.

Absolutely. It cracks me up that at first Nintendo was defended as a purveyor of "morally-acceptable DLC" (if you like). Now it feels like every Direct is about adding bits onto Smash Bros, Mario Kart and Hyrule Warriors. Yes, it's optional but it takes up resources. Why are they using their staff for this when (apparently) they can't even show us Zelda at E3? Completely agree with this as well. I feel that to fully enjoy Nintendo in its current state, you have to like the mascots. Whereas NES, SNES, N64 and GameCube felt like they were at the cutting edge of gaming, for the past couple of years Nintendo has seemed like it's just for existing fans. To put it another way, someone who was drawn to Nintendo by Ocarina of Time and Metroid Prime may not see any attraction to the character-centric way the company behaves today - amiibo figures, Pokémon and Earthbound fighters in Smash Bros. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but as I say, they still haven't got Zelda or Metroid out for the system - or anything like it. As far as I'm concerned, the Nintendo that launched the 3DS (in 2011 - not that long ago, really) was a really great company, but they are very quickly becoming something I'm not interested in at all.

Yeah, good point. It looks very much like an Atlus game with them simply given permission to use some Fire Emblem characters. I don't know the history of Metal Gear Rising/Conker's Bad Fur Day, but this does seem very much like a "Give them the licence" job.

Yeah, I basically completely agree with Serebii. Nintendo's problem has been that one console can be successful, the next a flop. It's more important to make the platform successful rather than any one, physical machine. They need continuity. Specifically on the subject of Virtual Console, I think people do still want all the 2D Mario games on one device - one of my workmates bought a Wii U mainly for that (and the physical Mario games)! Personally, I think it's crazy that I have to enter Wii mode for some things, Wii U mode for others and if I want to play something older, plug in my GameCube! It's time for a database of games that Nintendo can easily keep updated. On a side note, I have a feeling that no future Nintendo machine will have backwards capability with the 3DS, and the 3DS will take some time until it can be emulated. Another thing to consider is development times - it's no one's fault, but they've become much longer. Yes, Nintendo has struggled to get out a Zelda for the Wii U, but no wonder really when games have become so huge and detailed. Square-Enix has also dropped the ball with Dragon Quest, in my opinion, and most Japanese developers have found it difficult to match the GC/PS2 era. In this climate, we may have to forget about games being so strictly linked to certain machines. So yes, I welcome a family of Nintendo machines where things become more consistent and continuous.

So, I can't say I was in a great mood last night. On a positive note, Box Boy looks intriguing and really made me sit up and take notice. It's the sort of thing I'd love Nintendo to make more of - small, relatively low-budget eShop games that allow them to be experimental and not necessarily use their normal mascots. On the other hand, as I've said before, I'd also love them to use this approach to make true 2D (pixel art) entries in their bigger series - using this method, I think they could surpass the greats like Super Metroid and A Link to the Past without feeling the pressure to use the sort of textured polygons associated with retail releases nowadays. Fire Emblem If is bound to be good, and I can't wait for Azure Striker Gunvolt. The other thing I found most interesting was the 200cc in Mario Kart 8, and not because I'm a fan of the game. Random, was it not? Rather than make an F-Zero less likely, I'd say it makes one far more likely. I reckon Nintendo were experimenting with getting F-Zero running on the MK8 engine, and are simply throwing us the results as a bonus. So that's my prediction for E3 - if Nintendo has a big new Wii U game, it could be F-Zero.