Grazza

Wow, that's the exact point I got bored and stopped playing when I downloaded it via the Wii's Virtual Console. Completely agree with your verdict on it.

Be careful with that one - it sounds like the sort of thing that might devalue your town. Do you not get a new suggestion every day? You just have to walk past a villager and they'll stop you to suggest something.

Did you know Cyrus can make you Mini-Fossils if you take him a full set? If I'd have known that, I'd have kept all mine!

Top 3 so far... Mighty Switch Force 2 Just a great little game. As usual for WayForward software, the graphics, music and controls are all perfect and it makes me want to see what they could do if they made a game like this but without the puzzles. Fire Emblem: Awakening I wasn't actually anticipating this game very much, but it was just done so well. Presentation was amazing, but it's also a massive improvement in terms of accessibility and ease-of-play. Thought it'd be Game of the Year until... Animal Crossing: New Leaf Crazy, just crazy. I played the GameCube original for a short while, but this has me hooked. StreetPass and online features help make this the best in the series so far.

GameCube and PS2 were the last consoles I really enjoyed. I started to prefer handhelds with the DSi XL, and that continued with the 3DS. Consoles seem more hassle than they used to. Handhelds have their own screen and you don't have to give it any more thought, but consoles require you to choose a TV, sit in the right place etc. To be fair, maybe this is just because I didn't choose my last TV all that carefully. Controllers are always wireless now, which is something I dislike. At best they need recharging, but the Wii was just awful how I had to keep swapping the batteries every few minutes. Although to be fair, the PS3 solution is perfect, so maybe this is another thing I'm making too much of a fuss about. The bottom line is that I'll still play consoles, but handhelds are so good now there are hardly any drawbacks to them (if any at all). Graphics are good, resolution is decent. Maybe I just need another experience that I enjoy as much as certain PS2 or GameCube games, but for now I'm happy if everything's on handheld.

Nintendo could survive but I don't think we'd get the same games. At the moment they spend years making titles like Zelda and Pikmin, but only because they know they need a few games like that to sell the console. Reading between the lines, this type of game has become expensive, time-consuming and even difficult to make. They still do it because they need to, but without the need to sell hardware...? Every single thing would be low budget and feature characters from the Mario universe. They might take risks, but they'd probably be "Angry Birds" type risks. On a personal level I'd have no problem playing Nintendo games on non-Nintendo machines. I just don't think the reality would be as good as we'd like.

Few weird things since I've been playing my 3DS last night... 1) Shantae kept freezing in a similar place. Colours went funny and displayed lots of numbers. "Just a glitch", I thought. 2) Got a StreetPass today (actually saw the lad with his 3DS). Looked in the Plaza - no one there. Only record of the StreetPass is data for New Super Mario Bros 2. "He might not have his settings right", I thought. 3) Got another StreetPass. Had data for Mario 3D Land, but did not get to "meet" him. Looked in my StreetPass Plaza and he was already there, "via invitation" (I don't understand what that is in this context). Is my 3DS going wrong or have I just had too much sun?

OK, I'll admit it, I've deleted my save file and started again. I underestimated Shantae and it kicked my butt! I'm going through it again, but preparing better this time. For example, did you know there's a heart piece you can get quite early on? I'm also going to earn as much money as possible before I leave Scuttle Town properly. Get as many items as I think necessary.

This is reminding me of the rumour that they could have shown it at E3 (they almost said as much). Part of me thinks we'll have to wait until E3 2014 but I do hope we see it in a Nintendo Direct shortly after Wind Waker has been released.

Got two StreetPasses today and both had been playing Animal Crossing. I have to say, StreetPass alone must surely make this the definitive version. One of the two people had been playing it to the max and had themed his house out extensively. Thanks to this feature, I was able to order some more of the Sleek series and will be able to order some of the Modern Wood series tomorrow (it's five items per day) - unless I StreetPass the same person tomorrow and he's removed that furniture in the meantime!

I keep doing that too. On another note, I've just seen an interview with Matt Bozon:

Just from playing Mega Man 9, I think it is actually the hardest game series I've played.

My only grumble is that Altered Beast should have been the coin-op, not the Mega Drive port. And yes, they should have coin-op Golden Axe too.

I just know I'm going to buy all these!

Anyone started Shantae yet? Some early thoughts on it: * Graphics. I've noticed Shantae takes up more of the screen than in Risky's Revenge. The character of Shantae also seems to have been fully-formed from the beginning - they always had a clear vision of her. Scuttle Town is viewed from behind Shantae and when you select a building to enter she runs into the screen. On the gameplay screens, I'm having a little bit of trouble knowing which platforms I can jump on (quite big levels too - you never know how high you can go). * It's hard. Much, much harder than Risky's Revenge, and feels more like a platformer of its time. Even the introductory stage feels like a real "level". I'm not saying this is particularly good or bad, but I'm finding it harder to get into than the DSi game. * Music is funky. At night, it even turns techno and you can hear the roots of Jake Kaufman's Mighty Switch Force themes.

As long as the notice is there "New for 18 July", I expect it to arrive later on in the day. Same thing happened with Oracle of Ages/Seasons.

Ah, forgot about the Campsite! Spent ages wondering where to put it, then never built it! Haven't built the Coffee Shop either. There's no getting round it, I'm going to have to demolish my "Fence", because that's where I want it. Club LOL isn't a Public Works project. The person who wants to build it comes and finds you when the time is right (although I don't know what the criterion is).

How much interest do you get though? Isn't it 5,000 Bells for every 1,000,000? The way I see it is you could make up for that with one beetle. Everyone's different, but I prioritised ones that had some sort of function, plus house expansions. By making my house bigger, that's more room to put furniture. As for Public Works, I stuck to shops and bridges, things like that, as long as it wasn't a duplicate type.

No, definitely not. This game is scaled to expect you to earn that sort of money. High house prices, high value bugs! Best ones are generally on the palm trees (banana or coconut): Goliath Beetle - 6,000 Bells Cyclommatus Stag - 8,000 Bells Horned Atlus - 8,000 Bells Horned Elephant - 8,000 Bells Horned Hercules - 12,000 Bells Golden Stag - 12,000 Bells http://uk.ign.com/wikis/animal-crossing-new-leaf/July_Bugs ...But the fruit trees are worth keeping an eye on too, as they have the Giant Beetle (10,000 Bells). And of course, sharks are worth even more. I aim for 300,000 Bells each Island trip, but of course sometimes you just have to cut it short because of time. I've maximised my house now so am in a comfortable zone where each trip pays for a Public Works project.

I've not played it, but I'll do a review ASAP. The DSi game is absolutely brilliant and the 3rd is my most-anticipated 3DS title!

Ah, I haven't got that yet.

Wow, I am actually amazed at how good the graphics look now. The screenshots are only 800x450 too! If ever I had any doubts about the Wii U's graphical ability, I don't now. If all the big games look as good as this from now on, that'll be plenty good enough!

I didn't really want Galaxy 3. What I was hoping for was something like Sunshine, where you would at least have full camera control (with the right-hand analogue stick) and levels that could extend in every direction. I enjoyed Super Mario 3D Land a great deal, but that was on a system with certain limitations. Whilst I expect Super Mario 3D World to be a great game, I don't expect any tall mountains, deep valleys or intricate tunnel systems.

The others wouldn't stand a chance!