Burny

That's a good point, but doesn't have implications about the quality of the assets. If you are developing the game, you can play around with the camera as much as you want. You might argue that these are technically not screenshots because they're obviously staged. It's quiet visible that these aren't drawn "as is" though, particularly in the image with the ox. It's stretched compared to the other characters. You don't create 2D artwork and stretch it beyond it's original resolution. You usually go the other way round.

You mean the ridiculously compressed youtube kind of video? If it wasn't for the 720p footage, going by image quality from that video alone, this might as well be a Wii game tbh. The variable really is the resolution it'll render at on the Wii U. Everything else? Lot's of great High res art, but nothing out of the ordinary. Except the lightning on 2D characters, but even from the compressed footage is evident that is actually in the running game.

Screenshots anyone?

May I join in? FC: 3823-9719-1070 I haven't got any online games so far, as I'm waiting until MK7 is available as download. As it's Nintendo, that can only take half a decade.

Found a minuscule scratch on the bottom of mine. No idea how it got there, but I guess I can't avoid fine scratches on the outside. My DS Lite also collected quiet a lot of them over time. On a slightly different topic: What cases are you using for the 3DS XL? Before the release I've looked around a bit and found no "official" ones. The dimensions are quiet similar to the DSi XL though, so I went one of these DSi XL "wallets".

I'm pretty sure the card I got is formatted using FAT32, so this was a bit of a surprise. Discovered that Nintendo's FAQ actually tells you to use FAT16. Seems the 3DS is fine with either though.

You could've just found out though: Is there a gap between the upper and lower part when the unit is closed? If so, then it's obviously not going to collect scratches by itself or by being carried in a case. Sure enough, some neogaf user who's complaining is carrying the thing around in their trouser's pocket, which is sure to put a lot of mechanical pressure on it, if it's not a pocket the size of a handbag. How someone could carry even the original 3DS around comfortably in a pocket though is a mystery to me.

How does it do that? It doesn't even touch the top screen on my unit and it seems to be the same with Ike's. Have you got a bad pair of rubber feet on the top lit or is the whole device so contorted that the screens touch? Serious question, because the former would be fixable and the latter would be a reason to return it.

For the vocal communities on gaming sites and thus for a negligible fraction of the gaming population... Not that I would complain about a region free console.

Got one on Friday and had a closer look at how the upper lit and the bottom unit close together, knowing there are issues with the original model. Simply put: This shouldn't happen with the XL under normal conditions and if it does, you should think about returning it. The two little rubber feet at the top of the upper screen on mine rest exactly on the rim of the bottom screen when the unit is closed. They keep the top lit about a millimeter from the bottom part. It's still possibly to have the lit and bottom connect, if I apply enough pressure. That's not in the realm of what I would call "normal conditions" though.

Depends on what you consider that he very strongly implied. He implied they'd try to cater to both audiences, sure. That's just the exact same thing Moffit is talking about. He most certainly didn't say even once (assuming this is a good translation) that they're trying to "re-capture" the "depth" crowd, which would imply recapturing from the competition. Just that he'd like to satisfy them somewhat. Leaving it completely open as to ho he would go about doing so. Or that their "focus" is on them vs. the "width" crowd. But that's exactly what I keep hearing here and it's just not based on anything more than wet dreams. Not when Iwata is tiptoeing around who they're focusing on, the system is named "Wii" and was introduced with what Nintendo calls "lifestyle" videos of the controller first, rather than "dudebros" shooting each other in the face during an online game. Those are also very official statements btw. and some people seem to have been in utter denial when it came to reading them. They're doing exactly what Iwata has said btw.. They have the more "depth" oriented Pikmin 3 as the first thing in their presentation, the utterly "width" oriented Nintendoland last and in between the ultimate bridge game NSMBU. You think you're "depth" and are not satisfied? That's the thing about being so damn unspecific: He said he would like you to be satisfied. Never that he'd ever do more than getting a couple of high profile ports with "depth" to try and satisfy you. Or try to push any hardware limits with the new console when he sees other paths as more profitable. I was very much under the impression that people here saying Nintendo claimed to "re-capture" or focusing on the "core" crowd were referencing to that audience. And no, Nintendo still never claimed that. All they're ever saying, is that they want to cater to both audiences.

The functionality to end the game and go back into "3DS mode". The 3DS' system seems to somehow boot when you leave these games. Do you think Nintendo would bother, even if it were possible? It's not like they would get an immediate return out of it, just like they wouldn't with tinkering with the Wii U's backwards compatibility for "HD-Wii games". It would just cost them time developing the functionality and is unlikely to boost sales. AS a rule of thumb: If it would cost money/time to develop and seems unlikely to be a sellable or required feature, Nintendo won't bother.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/07/us-videogames-nintendo-idUSTRE7564TY20110607 Ctrl+F "hardcore" => not a single direct quote from Nintendo. Likewise for "core". Some Ricardo Torres from gamespot talking about them having "core" games, but not Nintendo talking directly. It's from last year even, so he is certainly not basing it on more solid information than "Darksiders 2 will eventually be coming, Alien is coming and the EA guy paid lip service on Nintendo's stage". http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2011/06/30/nintendo-hardcore-gamers-will-accept-wii-u/1 Sounds very much different from actively trying to recapture that crowd. Certainly not at the cost of focusing less on the more "casual" audience. Or in this context: The audience that bought ten million more copies of NSMBW than they did of both Galaxy games together. http://www.gamezone.com/products/wii-u/news/wii-u-still-aims-to-attract-hardcore-gamer-audience Much the same as above. Even the quotes from Moffit are the same. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117991-Nintendo-Wants-Wii-U-The-Preferred-Console-for-Hardcore-Gamers Now you're kidding me, right? That's the same article as the two above, written by "The Escapist" this time. For one, the last three articles seem to originate from this Gamespot interview with Scott Moffit. Reading that youll see that it says a very different thing from "we're trying to re-capture the hardcore market". Even more so, as Nintendo is obviously not doing so with their own games. What boxes did he mention that aren't "ticked" for you exactly? They've got "core" games, even if they're turning out to be late ports and maybe some of the annual sellers, although they're not all announced, yet. They've got at least one 1080p game, even if it's just Scribblenauts. They've got some kind of online network in place with Miiverse, even if we don't know all the specifics. It's just like I'm saying: It was all very unspecific and noncommittal. Nothing suggesting they'd be trying to focus on "core gamers" like some people have seemingly been thinking since last E3. Going by what Nintendo have said and done, I'm really not seeing how they could have possibly been thinking that in the first place. Unless those people have just freely interpreted what they've been wishing into what Nintendo have said. Please, give me specific quotes from anybody from Nintendo. Anything where they give an indication that they're actively trying to win back the "core", not passively trying to lay out foundations to satisfy that crowd somewhat ("ticking boxes"). Or even where they say they'd be focus more on the "core" than now, if you want. Not badly copied articles that twist an interview that said something very different, until it sounds like Nintendo themselves are turning towards that audience.

I've asked @Cube in another thread and didn't get an answer, I'll ask you the same question here. When have they stated that? Same thing I said then:

Not going to happen. When playing DS games the 3DS seems literally to be a DSi from a hardware point of view, probably downclocked processor and all.

Regardless of our personal opinions on GTA, we should care very much for the fifth game. If it won't be released day and date on the Wii U this damages the system as a whole. The people who are already lamenting that the system is underpowered, has no third party support and that they've already got about three systems they'll be able to play it on aren't the real problem. Those have made up their minds long ago anyway, but giving them confirmation for what they've been preaching for months (Wii U = Wii's level of 3rd party support, weaker than PS360) won't help the matter much. The people who'll find out that they can't get that one game they saw in all the ads for new Nintendo they got last Christmas are getting shafted. And that's a message that'll stick. This is the real problem, as those are likely the customers Nintendo has to gain or lose. The others are probably already lost or will have to be gained by other means, if at all. If it's not coming. But with those comments and reports from "confirmed" people on various message boards on a relatively weak CPU that might require devs to put more effort into optimizing, I can well see Nintendo missing out on the game.

Is there any unambiguous and direct confirmation that it is from Ubisoft? If there isn't, I'd just consider it not an exclusive or a timed one at best (for Nintendo). Not so much for gamers on any other platform.

As you seem to agree now that it's not the use of 2,5D that makes the style of NSMB "not nice", I don't think we have to argue. :p

Funny you should say this considering Rayman Legends is a 2.5D game by your own definition. And the game owes some of it's coolest effects to that. The dragons flying smoothly in and out of the image works this well thanks to the fact that the dragons are 3D models, which are far more flexible to animate. Some other enemies (Large blob-like things with eyes) are also definitely 3D, although I don't understand how they decided which to render in 3D and which to do in 2D. It's really all about style, not 2,5D vs. 2D.

Red Ring of Death? At least you have some degree of control over losing or breaking your controller. The markup for a Wiimote (40€) is probably a lot higher in relation to its component's costs. The 3DS' markup also was higher, going by these estimations. That didn't go well, but considering it now goes for 170$/€, the markup isn't too far south of a 100% (with Nintendo losing money on it). And what Android Smartphones are 80£? The Samsung Galaxies SIIs/SIIIs or the old ones retailers need to get rid of asap, as they have a new wave of models about every six months that earn them actual money? (or the ultra low-speced models, where the components together are probably cheaper than the screen of the modern ones alone)

You answered your own question. Once the customers are out of warranty or it's reasonably save to assume the controller didn't break of its own accord, but was dropped down the stairs, they can ask money for the repairs. As I tried to imply, multiple screen local multiplayer would be interesting - if it was heavily supported instead of being an afterthought of the whole second screen concept.

Nope. If say, the component's aggregated costs are 40-50$(€) for Nintendo, you can count on the retail price to be about twice that much. Don't forget that Nintendo, retailer and the government (19% of retail price in our case) all take their share and there are more costs than just those of the components. Manufacturing (even quasi slaves at Foxconn - or wherever they put together our toys - do cost something), packaging, shipping... Edit: A Dual Shock 3 costs 60€ if I were to purchase it at one of our large electronic chains (Media Markt, Saturn) instead of ordering with an online shop, that pushes the prices down more aggressively. Great concept. It sure did materialize heavily at this E3. Reggie paid lip service and... Zombie U? No seriously. I don't see much of a market for such an expensive controller (if my guess isn't too far off the mark). Plus, as I've already said last E3, as long as Nintendo won't sell the controller separately, there will be no disappointed customers having bought what they assumed was a Wii addon just to realize that they were supposed to purchase a new console with it.

Have they? I see the concept of "get your friend to buy a Wii U and bring his tablet along" to be a lot more promising than "buy an extra 100€ controller, just so your friend can play along". Even more so with the "Gamepad Pro" and most games being build around these asymmetric controls.

No we haven't. The Wiimote didn't have the necessary hardware to receive a constant video and audio stream and do any computations that might be associated with it. It didn't have a near field communication technology or a microphone. Nor did it have a 6'' LCD or a rechargeable battery to support all these things. The latter two alone will drive up the price of the gamepad significantly. And I guess Nintendo isn't going to sell the tablet separately. If they did, I'd expect them to ask about 100€ for it.

For starters, there is no such thing as a "free" game when it's a commercial product that still needs to pay for its development costs. You get the odd exception like Team Fortress 2 or "get our game for free until...", but the former payed for its cost long ago and the latter is more a limited marketing campaign than anything. That means any actual Free2Play game needs to be build around mechanics that are aimed at motivating you to pay for something eventually. From my limited experience with free2play games, the scabs who don't pay would eventually have to pay to be competitive or spend disproportionately more time to achieve the same things as paying players.