Grazza

Ah, that's very interesting, thank you. Of course there are the Sega 3D Classics too, many of which I believe use the arcade assets (an exception being Altered Beast). Being of a certain age, nothing makes me more nostalgic than classic era coin-ops, and the day there is a big selection of them on the eShop is the day I buy a massive memory card!

From Nintendo Life's review: http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/3ds/fantasy_life I'm still getting this, but am doubtful the RPG elements will be as good as I hope. In all likelihood, this isn't going to be a Dragon Quest substitute after all, but at the same time, I can't not get it.

Utter genius. This to me says she's nervous/scared, not 'can't be bothered' at all. I would trust your instincts that she's being dishonest with you, but not necessarily for any bad reasons. Be gentle; ease her in. Personally, I wouldn't give up on her and would stick with her for as long as you're enjoying her companionship (if that's the word), but then I don't get as much attention as I used to.

LOL, well you should have bought her one anyway. No seriously, I don't blame you for not realising she was asking you out (because she wasn't), it's just that the reality is you have to look out for subtle things like that. I was once extremely close to a girl but she asked me to do something I really didn't want to do (it was unreasonable, frankly, and she still had a boyfriend at the time who could have done it, even though she was drifting away from him). I laughed and politely declined, but she took it as a rejection and hardly spoke to me again. Now she's really frosty with me. Before that I knew another girl who flirted with me quite a lot. One day she asked me into the cupboard to "fix the printer". I thought "OK, let's go for it", and followed her in there. Once inside, I saw there was another chap in there sitting at the computer - she really did just want me to fix the printer!

Buy her a drink. I'm sure you were going to anyway, but definitely do that. Anyway, what @Serebii was saying, it's true. Women do make a move if they're interested but, like most of us, it takes quite a lot of effort to do so. So if you do decline something like "Come to the bar" you can totally miss out, even if it didn't seem obvious she was asking you out. This is why I'm not discouraged for S.C.G. that this girl has a boyfriend. Relationships fizzle out on their own. By bothering with you, it does show she finds you interesting/attractive as a person and wants to get to know you.

Hmm, tempted by that! I do like the arcade version of Donkey Kong. Out of interest, is this the only arcade game available on the 3DS eShop?

Good review from Nintendo Life. Doesn't sound like there's much that would put me off. http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/3ds-eshop/azure_striker_gunvolt

Just caught up with the Robin Hood episode and absolutely loved it. This was my favourite Mark Gatiss episode ever. We've always known he could do "dark + funny", but this was "light + funny", which I'll take over the former any day. Everything about this episode worked for me - the story, the humour, the action scenes. I loved the modern take on the Silver Arrow contest - a constant display of one-upmanship! Lovely one-liners as well from Robin, The Doctor and Clara.

Oh yeah, definitely, but that's quite normal when a girl wants to get to know you. Girls have even asked me this when they still had boyfriends, but - trust me - they were interested! It's also very normal not to know people's names in big workplaces. : peace: Beginning to think we're clones or something. If I'm honest I gave up going out with 'the lads' as I didn't get much out of it. It's worth putting in more effort when there's a particular girl you're interested in. Then again, presumably you'll be getting to know her a lot anyway, so I think you've still got plenty of chances to see how you get on with her.

How far are you through this, @darksnowman? I've started getting into it properly now, and am going for it. I've got through Stratum 2 and unlocked sub-classes, which give you 5 extra skill points just for having one. You have to be a bit more careful than in IV, as Resting sets you back 5 levels in this (as opposed to 2), but on the plus side, you can actually max skills in your sub-class! You can't put skill points into their unique class skill when used as a sub-class, but you can max anything else.

Honestly, S.C.G., you genuinely sound so much like me in your personal life. Well, I don't really get the offers any more, but I did when I was your age. Regarding the girl, I'm sure she would like you to go. I don't think there's much doubt about that, as she actually brought the subject up with you (instead of multiple mates asking you to tag along). I do sympathise with it not really being your sort of thing (as it's never been mine either), but personally my rule is to stick to pubs/bars, and not nightclubs that would deafen me (I really hate that!) Definitely don't worry about the age gap though, because at your age I reckon you could still go as low as 17-ish if you wanted! Young women may be young, but they're still women (words of wisdom)!

YES!!! I am far, far more excited about this than Shovel Knight, so I don't mind if it clashes (although I'm still getting both). That poster is lovely. Risky Boots' design looks just right, from what we can see of her. Etrian Odyssey Untold, Fantasy Life, Conception II, Shovel Knight and Shantae 3... Don't know how all of them will turn out yet, but it's been another great year for 3DS.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/09/preview_fantasy_life_is_waiting_to_become_part_of_yours Getting more hyped for this all the time. The job system doesn't sound too dissimilar to Dragon Quest IX, where you could retain skills (but not spells), yet there was still enough benefit in being a specific class for certain missions. Like DQ IX, I dare say I'll spend loads of time on all of them! Really think this is going to be the Dragon Quest IX of the 3DS.

Oh wow, might be time to get that. Still a little bit pricey though.

Yeah, I think so. Hoping it's more like Dragon Quest than Animal Crossing, but I'll still probably give it a go as soon as possible. As I understand it, the life sim sections help the RPG sections (which I'm hoping is the main game). For example, the materials you might gather as a miner help you forge better armour as a blacksmith, which you can wear as a paladin when you're on your quest. That's how it seems at the moment anyway.

I very much agree with @Jonnas here. The Sonic games were marketed on the main character's speed, but to fully appreciate them you needed to learn much more than that (if you played them fast at all, which I didn't). Jonnas talks about physics, for example... Sonic's jump trajectory has just the right level of complexity, and is far more important to learn than just running fast through the stage. It's the difference between landing on a platform or not. You also needed to learn about taking the higher ground, which often offered more power-ups than at ground level. Then there are the various mechanisms throughout each stage. Yes, there are some completely unfair traps, but most are fair and just require careful watching. These games aren't perfect, but learning the gameplay of them does give you a fairer chance of getting through the levels than a lot of other platformers.

It's funny, isn't it Rez? Technology has come on so much since RCT 1 & 2, it's hard to know what a "true" successor to them would actually look and play like.

Personally, I think Metroid should be left to Nintendo R&D1 or, if they have to let someone else develop it, WayForward. The fact they were thinking of giving it to Next Level Games suggest it's going to be 3D now, even on handheld, which would be something of a shame.

No, don't think I did actually. Sounds interesting though. I forgot to say one thing - the reason I like the original, and then 3, is helped massively by Sonic 3 being the first game in the series with a save state. Sonic 2 not having one was the real reason I couldn't get through it, but Sonic 3 was nice because I could take it at my own pace.

Translation: "We want Shia in the next Zelda. Nintendo would never design a character as boobalicious aesthetically-pleasing as her."

Almost everything about the smaller model makes it more fun as a handheld. And yet... for actually playing games, I'd still take the XL every time.

I don't think you're being overly nostalgic at all - they were definitely overlooked compared to the first two. Thinking back to how it felt at the time, when Sonic 3 was on its way, people had simply stopped being hyped by the Megadrive. I remember how Sonic the Hedgehog was a smash hit, and many of my friends, even ones with very little interest in gaming, proudly told me they were buying Sonic 2 on Day 1. Fast-forward to magazine previews of Sonic 3 and... nothing. The hype had gone, even more so by the time Sonic & Knuckles was released. I do agree with you that Sonic 3 (either on its own or with Knuckles) is better than Sonic 2, which to me seemed rushed, with overly long Stages and a frustrating difficulty level. The mini-game alone is fairer and more enjoyable (and a precursor of Super Mario Galaxy!) Personally, it was very satisfying to play Sonic Mega Collection on the GameCube, complete Sonic 3 with all the Chaos Emeralds, bolt Sonic & Knuckles on and do that as well.

True, but the hullabaloo was before anyone knew it was going to be an MMO. It was just 'Dragon Quest X will be a Wii game'. At that point you'd be forgiven for thinking it would just be an awesome offline, single-player RPG like the others, with a reasonable chance of equalling VIII (ie. Wii, PS2 similarities). In my opinion Square-Enix massively complicated the situation by making it an MMO, lessening the potential audience for it even in Japan, let alone elsewhere. Even that's not the whole story, though, as it could be argued that Square-Enix is just not a good publisher anymore. Putting Dragon Quest IX on DS was highly questionable (excellent game, but still a backwards step after VIII). I could (and do) argue that putting Dragon Quest back on Nintendo was not a good idea at all, as (although this is subjective) the tone of the games has just not been 100% right since. Finally, Square-Enix has an offline remake of a main entry in the DQ series ready to go (Dragon Quest VII) but won't translate it. This is crazy! In an age when Atlus will bring over niche RPGs like Etrian Odyssey and Conception II, Europe has gone back to a stage where we can't have the mainline entries in a massive series like Dragon Quest! I'm only so passionate about it because I genuinely love this series.

I wonder if there's any truth in the rumour that New 3DS will be region-free? If so, I would at least hope Square-Enix make a North American version, which would presumably be cheaper regarding translation. It wouldn't be ideal for non-English speakers, but it's the only way I can possibly imagine playing it at the moment.