S.C.G

Kirby and Pixel consoles? Do want! Hurry up with them Japan, I want my chance to snag them. 167 badges or something... still not a penny paid.

Happy Birthday to both of you fine gentlemen.

I would be completely OK with Nintendo packaging an ultimate controller out of the box which has everything you could possibly want with games being supported with it first and foremost to keep things simple for the average consumer. But then also having alternate control schemes which support all the older controllers - which we as more seasoned gamers would be aware about - plus have ways to either support a Gamepad or portable device with a screen for backwards compatibility with Wii U/Wii. Oh plus it should be able to support Gamecube controllers as an option - for the Gamecube VC games obviously which will surely happen when the console comes out of beforehand in the Wii U's last year - but the average player can opt to use the standard out of the box controller, that's even if they even bother with VC games... unthinkable I know but a lot of people who have been 'gamers' for a long time don't even know that there is a Virtual Console on the Wii U/3DS or that there even was one on the Wii! Then again I suppose Nintendo really should have been pushing the Virtual Console as a selling point waaaaay before now... I swear I'm the only person who even buys Nintendo Points cards at my place of work, they're almost on the verge of being phased out in our store! So yes... whatever happens, I definitely want to see some decent Virtual Console support with more available platforms - bring back TG-16 games! - including more obscure platforms as well, Sega Saturn would be perfect for instance; oh and obviously we need proper accounts which merge with all of your existing Nintendo network purchases etc so that if the worst happens you don't need to go to huge lengths to regain access to the digital games which you have already paid REAL money for. Otherwise... Anyway, let's just wait and see... I don't want to say that my above hopes and wishes are going to be completely crushed at this early point but... well, we'll see; I still have faith but I don't like these times of uncertainty.

Give us an update later on to let us know how many Tom's you have raided and whether or not they were obliging. In all seriousness though, are you playing Tomb Raider Definitive Edition? If so I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on it, I'm currently playing it but on the Xbox One as it was free with Gold, only reacently got back into it though, but hopefully I'll be playing the sequel within the week as I've had it since launch.

Good man! I'm personally looking forward to the day my Super Smash Bros. amiibo set is complete, then I'll only have to buy the ones from the series that I really love. Obviously buying the Twilight Princess amiibo, Starfox ones if they release Peppy and Slippy - or god help us, the whole team even though we've already had Fox and Falco in the Smash set - and of course any Metroid or F-Zero amiibo figures; but who am I kidding? We'd need the games to go with those first.

Which receiver is it? - if you don't mind my asking - I'd imagine it must be costing you around £40 to post it each time even at flat-rate insured postage, possibly more... these receivers tend to be rather weighty, mine is on the bottom shelf of a plastic shelving unit - believe it or not - and it's what keeps the rest of it balanced, just as well as my PS4 and Xbox One are on the shelves above it; my Nintendo consoles and retro machines are kept on another stand naturally. If you want me to capture screens for stuff in the meantime, let me know as I intend to get more into using my capture device, obviously I'm limited to the games which I own but I'll help if I can. Also, that's some set-up! I can understand why you're so frustrated at not having the main component which brings is alltogether at your disposal, as I said before I really hope they get it sorted for you this time though, if they can't fix it then surely they owe you a brand new one instead if it's under guarantee?

I'm sorry to hear about your AV receiver @Dcubed really I am. After having a receiver of my own for what feels like an age and a decent set of speakers, I can't imagine what it would be like living without it, the only time anything has gone wrong is my sub-woofer needed a capacitor replacing and very rarely my AV unit turns off and on for a split-second - because of the type of on/off switch it has most likely - but no real problems apart from that. Is it costing you much each time you send it away? Or is it under guarantee? I know it's not just that but the hassle of sending it and being without it... I'm guessing it's a unit that you can no longer buy? My particular unit is no longer manufactured I think though it has had successors... Would it cost much to replace? I know mine would be a few hundred easily, I used to have it insured for the first five years but not any more. Anyway, none of this is particularly useful I suppose, just thought I'd try to put across the fact that I possibly have some depth of understanding to your situation, I just hope that they are able to fix it for you properly this time I really do. : peace:

My New Years Resolution? 720 X 480 @60Hz It is related though because I have vowed in the 2015 Activity Log thread to play more games. Which for me means in addition to all my modern consoles I'll also be playing on my Nintendo Gamecube more - hence the resolution - which will mostly entail playing more Phantasy Star Online, amongst other games as well. : peace:

I've experienced online gaming with dial-up on my Dreamcast, dial-up AND broadband on my Gamecube, then Broadband all the way through the 360 era up until around a year or two ago going into the PS4/Xbox One/Wii U era when we finally got fibre broadband which is currently sitting comfortably at just over 73MB download with just over 21MB upload speed. Being that just before the upgrade we were way down to speeds of less than 1.5MB... I could not imagine going back to anything close to that now, even though I know it would be fine for online gaming. It's the download speeds mainly, being able to download 20GB games in as many minutes feels like black magic to me after having to wait nearly a whole day tow download a quarter of that previously If you don't intend on downloading many games though, the speed should be fine. : peace:

Here we go! 2015 activity log 3DS Play Time 35 titles / 175:14 Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate 85:10 Miiverse 19:16 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D 13:40 3D Streets of Rage 2 11:34 Pokémon Alpha Sapphire 6:32 Nintendo Badge Arcade 5:21 Xenoblade Chronicles 3D 3:36 3D Sonic The Hedgehog 2 3:35 MH4U (Demo) 3:08 Nintendo eShop 2:58 System Settings 2:24 Super Smash Bros. 3DS 2:05 3D Gunstar Heroes 1:56 The Legend of Zelda Tri Force Heroes 1:26 3D Classics Kirby's Adventure 1:16 Tetris Ultimate 1:14 Friend List 1:06 Pokémon Picross 1:01 Shin Megami Tensei IV 0:54 Game Notes 0:54 3D After Burner II 0:53 StreetPass Mii Plaza 0:50 Internet Browser 0:49 3D Sonic The Hedgehog 0:47 Notifications 0:46 3D Out Run 0:42 Activity Log 0:40 3D Streets of Rage 0:09 Tetris 0:07 Nintendo 3DS Camera 0:07 Other 0:18 Wii U Play Time 41 titles / 308:44 Balloon Fight 0:04 Devil's Third 43:57 Donkey Kong 64 5:45 Dr. Mario 0:01 EarthBound Beginnings 0:41 Electronic Super Joy 6:35 Event Preview Freedom Planet 0:14 FAST Racing NEO 7:33 Final Fight ONE 0:14 Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon 8:04 Freedom Planet 3:48 Hyrule Warriors 5:02 Hogan's Alley 0:17 Internet Browser 0:18 KONAMI KRAZY RACERS 4:56 Kirby: Mouse Attack 10:47 Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards 10:34 Kirby: Power Paintbrush 0:46 Kirby: Rainbow Paintbrush 4:27 Mario Kart 8 4:04 Mario Kart DS 0:19 Metroid Prime Trilogy 1:26 Mii Maker 0:11 Miiverse 28:35 Nintendp eShop 7:11 Paper Mario 15:11 PIKMIN Short Movies HD 0:28 RESIDENT EVIL REVELATIONS 0:19 Splatoon 33:25 Super Mario Maker 13:45 Super Mario 64 21:23 Super Mario Galaxy 2 0:23 Super Smash Bros. Wii U 10:10 Wave Race 64 0:30 Wii Fit U (promo) 30:29 Wild Gunman 0:41 Xenoblade Chronicles 1:35 Xenoblade Chronicles X 11:15 Yoshi's Wooly World 2:25 YouTube 0:23 Zelda: Ocarina of Time 1:20 Verdict: Though I've enjoyed various Virtual Console titles, a slew of Sega classics, numerous new experiences and have racked-up some reasonable retail reviews; I simply feel like I need to dedicate more time to gaming overall.

It gives new meaning to the "Final Day" labels on the Majora's Mask badges. Oh well, no more for me, I got the five mask set with the Fierce Deity mask so that will have to do, damn practice catcher wasn't kind so no free goes for me. And I'm not paying for any... even though I sort of want to... but not really. You'll never take my Real money rabbit! :awesome:

I'm sorry to hear that you seem to be having a rough time lately @Animal it really sucks that anyone who calls themselves your friend would do that without any explanation. Best wishes to you and your best friend as well, I hope things look up for you soon, you always seem to be so decent around others it's only right that you should have some goodness in your life.

The Amazon deal sounds like a fair enough price for the console, that size hard drive and Star Wars Battlefront. As for Plus... not sure, I think you can share it on the same console... that might be Xbox Live Gold though... pass. If you're going to be playing the PS4 a lot more in 2016 which I'm sure you both will be then... go for eeet! : peace: It's either that or buy an Xbox One for the same price in order to play Rise of the Tomb Raider early plus play some other exclusives but really... Tomb Raider will be multiplatform soon so if Playstation is your main platform then you really can't go far wrong with each having your own console. :awesome:

Serebii... you have no idea. So I intended to visit the Badge Arcade earlier in the day as I knew we were to go out visiting shortly on in the day, that didn't happen... it was time to go and I just managed to load up the software before leaving the house. *3DS goes into sleep mode* On the way there I open it up again and then I discover that it's time for the Majora's Mask badges! Eager to redeem my free plays I attempt to press A but because I'm not connected to an access point, I can't redeem them until I get back to within range of one... then I think well I already have the WEP key for the router to where I was going so it'll be fine. It turns out that it doesn't work like that, so instead of actually getting to play something while in the car there and back I had to keep my 3DS in sleep mode because you have to use your free plays there and then or lose them if you exit out of the catcher so as soon as I did get back home I used the "try connecting again" option in the software, all was good and I managed to get three mask badges including Fierce Deity Link which I really wanted. Let this be a cautionary tale to everyone else though, you have to be within the range of wi-fi even to redeem your Free Plays so don't do what I did and caught between access points while actually in the catcher as it means you can't really use your 3DS until you get back home, lest you wish to lose your free plays... well played Nintendo. I still haven't paid a penny towards this software but I'm damned if I'm going to lose any free goes on it!

N-Europe Presents VC Weekly #364 Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom The Adventures of Bayou Billy After a rather hectic run up to Christmas followed by some much needed relaxation... VC Weekly returns in style with brand new reviews of two Ninja Gaiden titles by Dcubed. And some reminiscing from myself over Double Dragon III along with a bizarre encounter with Bayou Billy. With four 8-bit reviews to choose from, it's a NES extravaganza filled with nostalgia. Enjoy! : peace:

Finally! 1080 Snowboarding and Wave Race on a Nintendo console again. It's a start Nintendo, it's a start. : peace:

I've put in a rather pitiful 12 hours or so? I can't even remember... into this game, I really should put in the time but I'm having too much fun playing other games currently plus I have VC games to catch up with and review. I will say this though, it's definitely an enjoyable game even from the first few hours but I feel as if I have only just scratched the surface. : peace:

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have a fantastic day filled with food, fun and all things festive. Oh and plenty of gaming as well of course. I've got one of my Gamecube consoles setup, no doubt I'll be feeling nostalgic at some point during the day and I now have easy access to my Gamecube collection.

This is a really interesting discussion, I don't feel the need to grind through it at all. The same applies to games, if an RPG has a really well designed battle system which doesn't force grinding on the player but makes them want to grind then that's fine, I think you'll find that it really does come down to just how invested you are in the overall experience. For instance one of my favourite RPG's of all time is about the grind but in a way which breaks all the rules which previously applie in a way, because that game is Phantasy Star Online in which you can't help but grind because of the ludicrous amounts of exp required in order to advance to the next area and actually stand a chance but it doesn't just come down to that because if you have the right equipment then there really isn't much need to grind yet if you are a really low level character then the chances are that you won't have stuff which is that decent unless you transfer items over from another character. This is where things become interesting because when you create each of your character you get an ID assigned to you depending on what name you gave to them and all of the drops are almost entirely different for each of the section ID's... for instance my main character Dark Avenger is a Viridia in the Hunter class so he tends to end up finding swords sometimes but mostly ranged weapons which are practically useless to him. On the other side of it though I have Metal Mutiny who is an Oran in the Ranger class so those weapons are almost perfect for him and so on, essentially if you want to get the most out of the game then you need to have on the Gamecube version three seperate memory cards as you can have four character slots per card so if in theory you were to create a character of every class and race variant then you are likely to find the game more rewarding from the different drops that you'll get; this is why the game came into its own online as you could trade weapons yet offline you can either solo or play split-screen multiplayer on set missions and areas being that the best missions aren't available any more officially. I go back to it sometimes not only to continue the dream of getting my main character to level 200 but also because of the treasures I might one day find along the way, so yes it is a grind but a very rewarding one indeed and it's why I think one of my favourite games definitely deserves a mention because it doesn't specifically fall into one category or the other, for me at least. It also helps that the real-time combat system is as addictive as anything as well.

I've just got them all now, thanks! (grabbed them now as I remembered I'm going out for a little bit - something of a rarity for me - so they will be ready for when I arrive back later) I wasn't sure how to obtain the stages at first but a press of the miiverse icon sorted it out. And yes I do remember I can't wait to try that one out again in addition to the others.

What happens when Dr. Robotnik, Ganondorf, Bowser and Sephiroth come together to form a band. It should go without saying that this video continues years old spoilers for Final Fantasy VII... probably barely worth menthing at this point but you never know. Anyway, I thought it was pretty awesome. : peace:

Thank you very much indeed. Your timing couldn't be any better either as my brothers and I have been getting into playing multiplayer games over the festive period, last night was Conker's Bad Fur Day on the Rare Replay collection which will continue tonight, followed by Super Smash Bros. Wii U and hopefully FAST Racing: NEO as well. I'll get on it this evening or later this afternoon, after I've finished VC Weekly 364 of course. I can't wait to try them out. : peace:

That's awful Iun. I've never bothered going in for any Secret Santa, mainly because I just assume it will either go wrong or the gift will probably be naff etc... Anyway, I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling down about it; never think that you're nobody though because that's simply not true. You're still the stuff of legends personified to me. :awesome:

Just imagine all the shmup levels you could make with that Fire Koopa Clown Car!

How much did you have to spend though?