Grazza

That's the trouble with "New IP", in my opinion. It's become almost like a buzzword. Nintendo could make 100 New IP and people still might not like them. Look at it this way: Is it likely they can come up with better adventure series than Metroid or Zelda? In my opinion, not, and they are better off trying to make their existing series as good as possible, maybe making a new one when they have a very different idea. To me, the real issue is that they aren't drawing on enough of their existing IP. When I saw the Wii U, I wanted to see how much more thrilling it could make the mountains of 1080; how much more realistic the water in WaveRace etc. And yes, F-Zero. It's their best racing series, so why wouldn't we want a new one? As others have said, the first two years of the Wii U were characterised by Nintendo thinking the Wii audience was still there. Their teams are more used to HD development now - look at how amazing Mario Kart 8's graphics are. Maybe it's for the best that they practised on Donkey Kong and New Super Mario Bros, especially if they use that new-found expertise to make sure the next wave of games - hopefully Metroid, F-Zero, Zelda - are even better than they would have been earlier on in the machine's life.

Brilliant! I love this series more than I can explain.

WTF? One of the maddest things I've ever seen! Nintendo is being so cool at the moment. It's like the industry knocked them down for a while but they've woken up, scruffy and unshaven, and unleashed their full insanity. "You want a piece of me? Do you realise who you've picked on?!!"

I like it, Hogge. On a personal level I would just like a traditional pad (with analogue triggers), but if Nintendo was to redesign the GamePad, I think their only option would be to shrink the screen. That way they can say they still have it officially, and all previous games would still work on it, but we'd all know really that future games weren't meant to use it. And the main point, of course, is that it would presumably save a huge amount of money by having a much, much smaller screen.

Wow, this game really does look amazing (and prove a huge leap from GC/Wii to Wii U). I just hope there is some sort of "No Weapons" mode, because I really want to race around the tracks, but can't stand the weapons. It's just not fun for me, racing along then getting stopped by a shell. I just don't get it.

Stage shows are inherently better. If you have a good show, it'll still be good as Nintendo Direct, but will always receive a boost as a stage show. That said, I've enjoyed the better Nintendo Directs more than many E3s. That one with Wind Waker HD? Great. I couldn't have been more excited at that. What I'm noticing recently though is that the game reveals haven't been exciting enough to lift the Nintendo Directs. It's just seemed like one Mario/Luigi/Kirby/Yoshi game after another, which I wouldn't have been excited about if they were revealed on-stage either. The game-specific Directs, on the other hand, like last night's Smash Bros one, can often be better put-together. Regardless of whether you're interested in the particular game, they can make a good show out of it Basically, stage shows are much better for the big events (not just E3, but GDC as well - remember all those handheld Zelda reveals?) Nintendo Directs can be great for eShop announcements, localisation details and any other reveals, because let's face it, there's not a big games show every two months.

I think what they need to show this year are games that seem like you can get your teeth into them. With a Metroid, for example, I know there'll be moments when I'm alone in an alien environment, and I'm searching the walls for holes I can enter if I turn into a Morph Ball. Or things I can blast with the Ice Beam etc, etc. If they show a Zelda, I know that (if they do it well) there'll be a vast world to explore, lots of dwellings with strange people in them. Caves, dungeons, (hopefully) mountains and probably a big castle too. I'm also quite sure they could turn Kid Icarus into this kind of franchise too. Use Pit and his co-stars to scratch that itch. It's just that maybe a lot of the stuff they've done so far doesn't have that sort of appeal. I'm not expecting a great deal more than Smash Bros and Yarn Yoshi though, to be honest.

Was the reaction to last year's E3 genuinely negative though, or was it more a case of "Nice show, not all that exciting"? At that point in time, Nintendo had to thrill people, yet arguably they didn't. Did that spoil my day? Not at all, but most of us were just being honest that it didn't get our blood pumping. Let's forget about all the games that we already knew about, like the two Zelda games etc, etc. I also think most of us would agree that Mario Kart 8 looked every bit as good as we could have hoped for. The main two "questionable" reveals were Donkey Kong and Super Mario 3D World. So, let's take Donkey Kong first - was the disappointment just because it wasn't Metroid? Not really. I think it's just that many of us weren't really all that excited for another 2.5D platformer, and maybe were looking for something with a bit more thought, exploration and immersion to it (like Metroid!) As for Mario 3D World, I was genuinely confused when I saw that. My stream wasn't all that great, and when I re-joined the show, I saw Mario and three other characters running along. I genuinely thought it was another Mario Party, or another game along those lines. Regardless of how the final game turned out, that's why people were a bit underwhelmed on the day. What I'm saying is that just because people don't necessarily get excited by a particular Nintendo Direct/E3, that doesn't mean they're being negative. You can't fake excitement. Whether those trailers thrill or disappoint depends much more on how good the individual game looks rather than the series it comes from.

Titbit is the real word. Tidbit is the American version.

Now they've changed the character design: http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/04/subtle_character_design_changes_spotted_for_north_american_version_of_azure_striker_gunvolt Just seems a bit silly to me. I hope they don't actually change any of the in-game sprites, as the way the ponytail falls about is all part of the animation.

I don't know, but I hope there is one. There are quite a few pre-E3 European release dates we need, aren't there? Shantae and the Pirate's Curse was meant to be Q2, as was Shovel Knight. They could also promote Etrian Odyssey Untold (2 May).

I thought the specific reason given for not showing Zelda last year was not necessarily that E3 was too packed, but they were working on another Zelda they had not yet released (Wind Waker HD). By not showing Zelda Wii U, they supposedly gave WW HD a better chance to shine. That's the story, anyway - I hope it's true and that we do see Zelda this year.

They sure as heck know how to put on a show when they want to. :awesome:

I much prefer a stylus. It's hard to explain, but I find most touchscreens slightly uncomfortable. Much nicer to press a stylus against a DS/3DS type screen that it is to press my finger against glass and try to get it to react.

Well, in all honesty, I haven't got round to playing the Wii U yet (apart from a demo here and there), so I'm going to say... The 3DS Last year had some fantastic games - Fire Emblem, A Link Between Worlds and Etrian Odyssey IV - but I especially loved the 3DS in the early days. I was excited ever since they announced it. Glasses-free 3D - was it really possible? And the intial games (the ones they showed in 2010) looked like they had so much effort put into them. It took a few years for all of them to be released, but it was the ambition that counted. Getting my 3DS a day before launch was magical. I played about with the Augmented Reality, and all the little characters popping up from my table seemed amazing. It was the most incredible piece of technology I'd ever owned - the launch model even seemed high-res. Then I spent all night flying about in Pilotwings Resort. The stereoscopic 3D really pulled me into that world. Ocarina of Time followed shortly, and it was just a perfect remake. The colours, textures, character models and smoothness - all 100% right. I'd walk about in local towns, and when I got a StreetPass I'd think "Someone else on the same wavelength!" Then there was the eShop, and the early 3D Classics seemed so special (a feeling Sega is still managing to create with its own 3D Classics) and WayForward gave us Mighty Switch Force. If there was someone I wanted backing the eShop, it was them. I'd take my 3DS on holiday with me, playing the eShop titles everywhere I went. Perhaps not very wisely, I boasted about my 3D camera to a girl in the Eden Project (she was very nice and pretended to be impressed!) Nintendo Video seemed worth bothering with. Letterbox allowed us to send friendly little scribbles (and some great artwork) to each other. So, whatever people say about Iwata, thanks for the 3DS.

Oh yeah, I love WayForward for bringing back one of my favourite genres - not just a platformer, but specifically one in the Wonder Boy/Monster World style. By amazing coincidence, I've just learned of another planned game in the same genre - Flying Hamster II. Actually, this one looks even more like Wonder Boy: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/612975670/flying-hamster-ii Now what we really need is for Sega to get in on the action and actually bring Wonder Boy back! This style of game sat out the polygon era, but thanks to download-only games, it finally seems to be coming back!

Quite likely, I think. Whilst I'm not sure of the graphical comparison regarding 3DS vs. PSP, the 3DS is lower-res than the older machine (PSP = 480 × 272, 3DS = 800/400 × 240 - not a massive difference, but 3DS is 7 years newer). Nintendo doesn't automatically try to better the competing handheld, unfortunately.

If you don't mind me saying, I don't there's anything strange at all about not liking certain genres. Both those games you mentioned are strategy games, which (apart from a select few) is a genre I can't get into myself. The problem for me is that they get on my mind too much (like puzzle games). I want to go to sleep afterwards but can't stop thinking about which units to move where! The only one I loved was Fire Emblem Awakening, as you could play it on Normal/Newcomer and not care whether you didn't do each mission perfectly. I'm with you there! Retail games, I can sell. Downloaded games, however, I feel like I need to keep in case I need to prove my ownership later on (eg. a system transfer). But do I really want all those NES games, or even the lesser eShop titles I've downloaded? Not at all!

I've got a feeling they're going to announce a "Quality of Life" handheld at E3, but it won't be a successor to the 3DS. It'll probably be very low-quality, graphically, but have pulse/blood pressure monitors, that sort of thing.

OK, a few more thoughts that I didn't have time for yesterday: Dual Screens - I can't criticise dual screens too much (heck, they surely inspired the whole Etrian Odyssey series) and I think it works well enough. However, I do suspect Nintendo will be ditching it. My prediction is that the 3DS will be the last "DS", and that the next handheld will be the start of a new era. No backwards compatibility with previous handhelds, apart from via Virtual Console. Look at how Nintendo has DS running on the Wii U - that's how I think they'll emulate it (and, when they can, the 3DS) going forwards. Resolution - I've always said resolution is important, but I'm not getting my hopes up for anything other than 853x480 (ie. 480p in 16:9). This links into screen size. People have been debating whether there's any benefit to going single screen... well, it's cheaper and means you can put the cost towards better resolution on the main screen. Controls - I really, really hope it has all the buttons of the 3DS + dual analogue. In my opinion, dual analogue is very important, even on a handheld. There are so many occasions when I'd like to give the right-hand stick a nudge and change the view... only it's not there.

Oh yeah, I don't think there's any chance at all it will have stereoscopic 3D. Don't get me wrong, I was absolutely amazed by it when I first got the 3DS, but I haven't used it (the 3D) for years.

I'm going to guess 2016. The way I see it, Nintendo's support of the 3DS is really slowing down now (that's not a criticism). 2014 has a lot of games I'm interested in - and that's fine for me - but at this point in the past Nintendo could hand over the machine to 3rd-parties. That doesn't seem feasible this time. 2015 could be a reasonable year for the 3DS, with maybe some "easy-to-make" games, like another Zelda based on the Link Between Worlds engine, or even Majora's Mask 3D, but I don't seem them putting in a huge effort for anything going forwards. So, by Spring 2016 I think we could all be ready for a new handheld. A lot of it must depend on when Nintendo can free up resources from the Wii U. Considering what they've said, I think it'll be similar to the Wii U, but weaker. The Wii U Virtual Console will probably now be the base, and so the next handheld should be able to run all the emulators they've built for Wii U (and therefore, your GBA games etc).

I forgot to mention that. They actually keep saying "go east" when you're meant to be going left!! In the end I just said to myself "Forget the fireflies, forget the squids." I'm glad I did as I'm done with it now. Even if I'd learnt the Firefly (heart-replenishing) dance, it apparently costs money to use anyway, and I didn't want to earn any more at that stage. You definitely don't need that dance. As I say, even though I don't love this game, it's nice to know WayForward realised all the issues themselves and (in my opinion) fixed them all. Really looking forward to the 3rd one.

I probably make it worse for myself by playing RPGs, which take months to complete, but hey, that's what I like more than anything else, so I won't change that. I'm actually doing well at clearing my backlog now - have just finished Etrian Odyssey IV and Shantae. When I've completed Oracle of Seasons and Etrian Odyssey III, I won't really consider myself to have a backlog. One thing I do is sell almost everything when I've completed it. Sure, I've kept a few games here and there, but I wouldn't consider myself to have a collection as such. Also, I don't play a broad variety of games in all honesty, so wouldn't have something like Quake laying around to play. Basically, I don't think you can help a backlog building up here and there, as there are so many games released, but I try not to have one across multiple systems and generations.

...And completed (finally!) It's hard to review the first entry in a game series when (in my opinion), the developer fixed every single issue with it in the sequel. I love Risky's Revenge - to me it's a clear 10/10. In all honesty, though, I found this one a tough game to play. The thing that struck me most is how difficult the overworld is to move about in. If it was just big, then it could be balanced-out by having easy enemies and a map. If it was just that the enemies were hard, it could be balanced-out by being small. The trouble is, it's big, it's hard and there's no map! The funny thing is, I found the dungeons much easier and enjoyable. When I was in the dungeons, I was thinking "Ah, this is why I love the Shantae series", and then I'd go into the overworld again and spend a few days getting anywhere (an exaggeration, perhaps, but the journeys are tough)! The bosses, too, are surprisingly easy and usually just require the animal transformation you got in that particular dungeon. To add to the sense of uneven difficulty, the first dungeon actually has the most difficult jumps, even when you go back to it at the end. Unlike the 2nd game, Shantae's physical attack (in human form) never actually gets stronger (although she can buy special moves). Later on in the game, you're better off using the attacks you gain when in animal form, or just completely avoiding enemies. Items like the Storm Puff and Pike Ball are present, but need to be re-bought every time they run out (in Risky's Revenge they used a magic meter, so you could use them more freely). As such, I never knew when to use mine and just conserved them. All in all, I wonder what it'd be like to play, as intended, on the Game Boy cartridge. Thankfully, Restore Points help a great deal in this VC edition, and so it is quite possible to complete, even if (like me) you need to take it step-by-step. It's nice to have played this one, and there is actually one thing I think it does better than Risky's Revenge - the in-game sprite of Shantae herself is better-proportioned. Can't wait for Shantae and the Pirate's Curse now - bring it on!