Dcubed

My number 1 pet peeve. Virtual Console. Ramp up the damn bloody rate of releases! Localise the massive list of JPN only games! You have a huge drought and a desperate need for high quality exclusive software; but you also don't want to break the bank in getting it... Here is a massive repository of incredible games (that are exclusive in this day and age) right at your fingertips! JUST BLOODY RELEASE THEM ALREADY!!!

Obviously the Wii U's 4.1 update is Nintendo's idea of a timely April Fool's joke

Zero Mission had it, but not Fusion. It was only from 2003 onwards that you started seeing Sleep Mode in GBA games (I think that SMA3 was the first game to support it IIRC).

Make custom map, take screenshot, post on Miiverse for people to copy. Done

Advance Wars. Miiverse is gonna be fantastic for sharing custom maps!

About damn time that Smash Luigi got the Poultergust! I like how it's the Poltergust 5000 from LM2 as well Would've thought that they'd make it part of his moveset though (like how FLUDD became Mario's down-b). Wonder how many other Final Smashes are getting changed...

Someone once described this as crack cocaine in digital form and they were absolutely spot on! It is horrendously addictive! It is just soooo gooooooodddd! Ahh the memories of playing this in school classes, passing the GBA around after taking a turn A wonderful and masterful game, wrapped in an utterly ridiculously silly package (how the hell did Andy ever get a job in Orange Star when he doesn't even know what a bloody continent is!?) The deep and engrossing gameplay, the awesome music, the colourful and charming visuals; it's got it all! This is probably THE defining game for the GBA. Looking back on it, I do have to say that the game is really unbalanced in comparison to its sequel though. Max is a goddamn beast in this game (150% + direct attack!? And that's before be uses his CO Power! HOLY SHIT! ) I do think that most of the balance tweaks with the COs made in AW2 were indeed for the better... But it's still an utterly brilliant game and a different enough experience from it's successors that it is still just as unique and enjoyable as the day it was released

My Wii U is in hibernation until Mario Kart 8, then I play catchup with the huge backlog of games I have not touched properly ever since early November last year (including SM3DW) Likewise I'm doing the same thing with the 3DS, not because there is a big drought there per say (it was more out of necessity last year since I just didn't have enough time to play them all!) but because June feels like a good time to go all out on playing games on my Nintendo consoles So if there is another drought after Mario Kart 8, I'll have more than enough 3DS and Wii U games to keep me entertained for the rest of the year from my backlog alone! (Mario & Luigi DT, DRW The Last Ranger, Denpa Men 2, Bravely Default, Ace Attorney DD, Layton 6, LaytonvsAA, SM3DW, NES Remix, DKCTF, Deux Ex HR and many more!) In the meantime, I'm taking the chance to catch up on some retro Sega games (Saturn and Dreamcast) and a few PS1 and PS3 games that I haven't played yet (oh and there was South Park TSOT, which is utterly brilliant BTW!)

Oh I thought you were talking major sweeping changes, instead of the usual small stuff. I'm sure we'll still be seeing some of that here... Sometimes those kinds of changes are necessary in order to preserve the developer's original vision though. To take an example from Wario Ware Twisted itself... The middle picture is a good example of a perfectly sensible change. The original JPN version of this microgame is based on the story Journey to the West. The idea behind this microgame was to be a Warioware take on an ago old fairy tale that anyone playing the game would be instantly familiar with; this however doesn't work in the west as almost nobody outside of Asia is familiar with the story at all, so they reworked it to be based on Jack and the Beanstalk instead. Both the intended gameplay and gag now makes sense for us outside of Japan. Likewise the reoccurring Poo sprite in the Wario Ware games is another play on a typical gag in Japanese culture (it's also an Emojii symbol), of which we don't really have an equivalent; so they change it to money, because that's a re-occurring gag with Wario himself and how he has eyes for nothing else. Otherwise some changes like the shape of the glass of wine in that other WWT microgame are required in order to be able to hit that desired E/3+ rating. The only real unfortunate change I see in WWT is that microgame where the wrestler appears in your bed; again somewhat understandable given the possible connotations involved, but still a bit of a shame Ness' nakedness in Earthbound is another cultural thing as semi-naked children aren't really treated in the same way over there as they are here. It's a popular trope in anime and such, where they show scenes of enlightenment involving children. Obviously that wouldn't fly here, so they had him with his pajamas to show that sense of innocence that he had starting off, juxtaposing that with how far he has come. The rest are changed for obvious reasons... Not all changes are bad and indeed are often necessary to keep the original vision intact. It's not just blanket censorship.

Reggie did mention it a whiles back, off the cuff of course, so I reckon it'll be their big 2014 second half game world wide (much like what Animal Crossing NL was last year). I don't see why you were so worried about them butchering it in localisation though. When have Nintendo ever done that before? (And no, Doki Doki Panic - SMB 2 doesn't count, they obviously weren't gonna use licensed characters from a Japanese TV show over here - and it was always intended to be a Mario game originally anyway :p) Edit: Ok I forgot about Panel de Pon, but that was a looooooong time ago...

Ahh, thought as much. Thanks. I can tell from the trailers that it's well optimised for it though (unlike DKCR 3D, which feels sluggish in comparison to the Wii version). Can't wait! I'm itching for a new adventure with The Pink Puff and if it's even half as good as Return to Dreamland then it'll be amazing!

A French language trailer has leaked! Looks like the voice synthesis system has made it over intact

I already know it's gonna be amazing so I don't really have any burning questions, but I was curious to know if it runs at 60FPS or 30FPS. Not that it really matters that much, but I would be shocked if they managed to pull off 60 given how amazing the game looks!

All of the GBA CVs are Metroidvanias. AOS is actually my personal favourite of the Metroidvania CV games (Dawn of Sorrow was a direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow - hence the similar name - and uses the same Soul gameplay system) AOS is fantastic and Circle of the Moon is brilliant too, but I'm not a fan of Harmony of Dishonance (by far the worst of the Metroidvania CV games IMO).

Yup, that's exactly why I'm interested in Climax. I'm sure there's some good fun to be had with that, even if the main game is pants

Probably, but not until years after Japan gets them knowing S-E :p

Speaking of Castlevania... Aria of Sorrow just got OFLC rated! Nice to see that Nintendo are wasting no time in getting the handheld CV games ready for release! (And they've even started with my favourite one! )

Nice! Never played GP Legend before (I hear that it's not very good, but I'm still keen to give it a try) Hopefully we'll get Climax as well (don't see why we wouldn't. AFAIK there's almost no important Japanese text in that game anyway and it's not like we haven't gotten similarly import friendly games released on the VC before...)

The 4th Two Tribes Classics game has been announced... ... surprise surprise! It's Swords and Soldiers for Wii U The features may come as a surprise though... Didn't expect them to keep the original Wiimote controls in this one so that's a nice surprise Being able to play multiplayer with one person on the Gamepad and the other on the TV is also a nice bonus too!

They're really keeping the name "Tomodachi Collection" and aren't translating the name? (Which literally translates as "Friend Collection") How strange and un-Nintendo like... That sounds more like something Level 5 would do! Maybe NOA will call it Friend Collection anyway and NOE will just continue to be weird?

That list is 1st party only and not even complete at that. Come on HOT, you can do better than that... (Not even Rhythm Tengoku, or any of the Castlevanias, really?)

Aww, I was hoping that they'd make it the Starfox 64 Andross this time

If you guys have never played the US version before, you're in for a hell of a treat! 60hz makes a HUGE difference to the way the game plays (for the better of course!) Don't hesitate to upgrade straight away! One of my greatest treasures from the US Wii VC and worth every penny!

No matter how you slice it; even after accounting for tax differences, the UK is still paying more than anyone else for these games... The price itself is not the issue for me, but rather it's the principle of getting ripped off in comparison to everyone else that stings...

Awesome! I've never actually played the DK Land games but have always wanted to Hopefully this also means that whatever issue that caused Nintendo to pull the DKC trilogy from the Wii VC has been dealt with and that we'll see the DKC series make a Return on the Wii U VC