Dcubed

Tell that to Daisuke Amaya/Pixel, whose game (Cave Story) didn't get released in his own native country of Japan when Nicalis ported it to Wii and DSi...

Looks brilliant. Will enjoy playing this in 200never when Nicalis can finally be bothered getting their games out in Europe (yes I'm still bitter about Cave Story and Ikachan on 3DS)

Clearly someone hasn't seen the vast majority of the Xbox One launch titles (surely you've at least seen the Forza 5, Crimson Dragon and Ryse controversy!?) or almost all of EA's titles, or Sony's push for F2P style mechanics with Uncharted 3 and Killzone 3's multiplayer or with Gran Turismo 6, or the shit that Square Enix have been pulling with Sleeping Dogs and FF13-2 and all of their mobile games, or the bait and switch that Namco did with Jojo's Bizzare Adventure, or what Capcom have been pulling with Street Fighter X Tekken and the DLC explosion in almost all of their games, or the subscription-in-disguise that Activision get away with with their regular supply of COD DLC map packs that you pretty much require to carry on playing online with the rest of the community (cant be getting left behind!), or the F2P-in-disguise mechanics involved in Grand Theft Auto online (the money packs that can be purchased with real money and how the online game is tuned to encourage people to buy them to avoid the grind)... It's happening right under your nose and has been for the last few years. It's only going to get worse from here on too...

I've said this before, but I don't think that the reason for their slow VC software schedule comes down to technical reasons. If you look at their lineup of VC games in Japan, there are tons of games that are already available there that aren't available elsewhere (including games like Super Mario Kart, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy 6, Ogre Battle MOTBQ and loads more!). What is much more likely is that they're having trouble securing licenses for the re-release of 3rd party titles and as such, they don't want to run out of their own 1st party games completely, so they slow down the release of those too (but even then, they've been quick about getting their own NES & SNES games re-released on Wii U - they've released them much faster than they ever did on Wii). The conversion process from Wii-Wii U is relatively simple since the Wii VC games already run natively anyway. They already have the base emulators done, all they need to do is add the extra features like the new manuals, save states, button mapping etc and modify them slightly to support the new hardware functions/storage offered by Wii U). The fact that they already have re-rereleased almost all of the problem games from NES & SNES that were released on the original Wii VC like Pilotwings (DSP1-A chip) Super Mario Kart (DSP1-B chip), Kirby Super Star (SA1 Chip) and Mega Man X2 (the infamous CX4 chip - notorious for being one of the most difficult of all SNES enhancement chips to emulate properly) is proof enough that converting from Wii VC to Wii U VC is a relatively trivial process (and it's also why they can afford to offer the upgrade discount, since there isn't as much R&D and QA work that needs to go into these upgraded releases). Those games that I listed didn't get released on the Wii VC until well into the console's life, while on Wii U they happened to be amongst the first games that were re-rereleased. That's because they had already overcome the major technological challenges involved in getting them up and running in their emulators. GBA and DS are are different matter though since they'll be starting from scratch with these ones (and they'll also probably be chucking out their old N64 emulator code and starting from scratch there too as the Wii/GCN N64 emulator lacked a lot of features and didn't emulate any N64 game that used custom microcode - like Rare's games or many 3rd party ones like Turok 1-3 or Rogue Squadron).

Technically speaking, you can through the Wii U's "Wii Menu". The reason why Wii games require a seperate "Wii Menu" is because the original Wii hardware had no underlying OS/hypervisor that could manage security and other hardware functions in the background and the hardware was hardcoded to run downloaded games off of the built-in flash memory only (which is why the Wii's "SD Card Menu" worked by copying game files back and forth whenever you went to run a game off of that menu). Because of the lack of an OS that could abstract these functions, there's no way to force Wii games to run off of alternative storage without blowing the Wii U's security wide open (and even then there are lots of dodgy software compatibility issues with such an approach that Nintendo would want to avoid - looking at homebrew solutions in use on Wii, many VC and Wiiware games actually flat out do not work via USB or SD Card at all!) The Wii U and 3DS however do feature an underlying OS that abstracts these hardware functions and the games support every form of storage that you would need; meaning that Nintendo could just put their games on the storefronts of their future consoles unaltered and they would just work like their next generation games would do. No silly "Wii U Menu" or "3DS Menu" required - just like how BC works on Windows PC or iOS

There is a Wii U VC game this week (NES Open Tournament Golf) Nothing on the 3DS though (VC or otherwise)

That's true. At the very least, Wii U BC is seemingly assured with the next console (and it also means that there's a possibility that a future handheld might even be able to play GCN/Wii/Wii U games natively depending on what kind of hardware configuration they go with!) DS/GBA/NES/SNES/N64 VC compatibility will also already be there from the outset too! (What a beastly lineup that would be. They could potentially have a device that is compatible with almost every single Nintendo console ever made right from the outset! )

They don't like doing that though because it's expensive to include two sets of hardware on the one console. The Wii U's BC works by downclocking the Wii U's CPU and using just one of the cores to run Wii games on (since the Wii U's CPU is actually a tri-core and upgraded, in other respects, version of the original Wii's CPU) and the GPU includes all of the original hardware features that the Wii's GPU did - it's binary compatible. Likewise the Wii's GCN BC works the same way, it just downclocks the CPU/GPU to match the original GCN hardware. I suppose that it's possible that they might include the 3DS CPU/GPU and put it to use for background processing tasks (much like Sony did with the PS2 - which included the PS1 hardware that took care of background tasks like sound processing), but that seems like a pretty expensive approach to take since it would significantly increase their BOM and motherboard complexity...

The surprising part is that it's gonna be based on the Wii U's hardware architecture and NOT the 3DS though. So will that mean that their efforts on the 3DS VC will be going to waste when the next handheld comes along, while their Wii U VC efforts will continue to bear fruit on both next generation machines even after the Wii U is gone? I'd suspect that they plan to emulate the 3DS on the next console/handheld in order to maintain backwards compatibility as it would probably not be cheap to keep both sets of hardware on-board (at least not on the handheld anyway...)

You people, bickering like children, are missing the really interesting points from this Q&A! This part is important as it really drives home the thought that Nintendo don't look at smartphones as a profit making venture for them to put out games and entertainment apps on, but rather as a major promotional pillar from on ongoing perspective. They're looking to move away from above-the-line techniques like TV and Print and shift their focus much moreso towards below-the-line efforts like online, SNS and (now here's where their upcoming official app comes into play!) mobile marketing. Based on what Iwata's saying here, this future app will probably include some form of free minigames/trivia etc that keep getting continuously updated with new content to entice people to keep coming back to use it (where they read about upcoming products too). Nintendo just made a big R&D investment into... something secret... Ooooh! Seemingly it's something that Nintendo is "not strong at". What could it be? Cloud computing? Protean simulation? Who knows! (but it's seemingly something important and something that we'll be seeing the fruits of soonish) They consider the 3DS to be a cash-cow that is capable of standing on its own two feet from this point onwards and they have enough upcoming software (both 1st and 3rd party) to keep their handheld business sustained for the next year or two at least. With the Wii U however, Iwata has no delusions of grandure; while he's not giving up on the console, he doesn't believe that it can realistically magically turn around to be anywhere near as successful as the Wii. As such, they're gonna make it their focus this year in regards to 1st party support and will focus on turning it into a platform that they can make a reliable profit out of - so in short, don't expect any kind of crazy pricedrops or promotions, expect less TV advertising and an increased focus on cost reduction and profitability (so more subscription stuff and high price/quality software - no insane discounting!) We'll be seeing the efforts of their new licensing endeavour sooner than you might expect and it might not be something completely crazily different to what you might expect... ... and it will involve all kinds of things that DO NOT conflict with their core business of integrated hardware-software games. So no having Nintendo characters in other people's mobile games or in PS4/Xbone games or stupid stuff that would damage their brand, but you might see stuff like Nintendo ringtones, soundtracks on sale, possible anime shows/OVAs etc and they may be using M&A to get their enhanced licensing business off the ground... ... but Nintendo REEEEAAALLLYY do not want a repeat of Mario Teaches Typing Now this part is reeeaaallllyyy interesting. It seems that, contrary to what I would've expected (and I imagine what most people would've expected) it seems that Nintendo's next systems (the ones that share the same hardware architecture) will actually be based on the Wii U's hardware architecture and NOT the 3DS! So it seems that they're not looking to use ARM for their next handheld and console but rather it might actually be Power PC based again! And while it wont be using the Wii U architecture wholesale, it sounds like it should be backwards compatible with Wii U (and by extension Wii and GCN as well). This means that they wont have to throw away all of their technology and knowhow and that they should have a fairly smooth transition from Wii U to whatever new machines that they make (not too unlike them going from GCN-Wii). It also means that all of their experience in developing Wii U software will not go to waste, so even if the hardware fails to recover; sticking with the Wii U will give their development teams a strong headstart with the next consoles that come after the Wii U and 3DS. So their "non-wearable" QOL device may actually a handheld... Comparisons were made with Game & Watch (watch + application) , Pocket Pikachu (pedometer + application) and Wii Fit (weight scale + application), so it seems that they might be focusing on taking an existing product and applying their game knowhow to it... (Vitality sensor + application? Nicotine Patches + application?) Basically no matter what Nintendo decide to do regarding M&A; holding onto their corporate identity and culture is their number 1 priority. Further proof that their M&A efforts will not involve videogame companies...

Name them. What major publishers do not insist on such a model these days.?

It's true. Time travel just makes everything better. No really. Name anything in existence and add time travel onto it; it is now officially better! (Only Fools and Horses + time travel = era hopping antique scamming gone wrong!) (toast + time travel = moldy burnt bread that has spawned life and enslaved humanity)

For what it's worth, I've actually played all 3 of these games and SLW Wii. U is by far the best (in fact I'd consider it to be the only truly "good" 3D Sonic game ever made ) But SGC is right here; SLW's greatest weakness is its complexity. It takes a series that was birthed on one button gameplay (+ d-pad) and over complicates it; making you have to use no less than 6 buttons! For however much they succeeded in finally adapting the traditional level design of the MD games to a 3D world with SLW Wii U, with how they bring back the linear focus with multiple branching paths of varying difficulty/reward/speed (barring the odd gimmick levels), they do abandon that simplicity in control and gameplay design that made the original games great. And yes there are some silly design choices throughout that left me scratching my head (One level in particular that comes to mind is one that comes very late into the game - All I will say is cubes. Coloured tubes and beat timing... It makes no bloody sense at all!). The game has a tendency to throw new mechanics at you out of nowhere with no explaination at all and no chance to practice or get used to it it before presenting you with a challenge (imagine playing the original Super Mario Bros and all of a sudden running into goombas gives you mushroom power while all normal mushrooms kill you for seemingly no reason whatsoever - that's what it feels like at times in SLW). But I still had fun with it. It's a good game with some notable flaws. That's much more than I can say about any other 3D Sonic game (which were either functionally broken or, from Unleashed-Generations, basically played themselves with their Boost To Win! gameplay)

I'd rather see M2 continue their Rebirth series with another Castlevania Rebirth and a Goemon Rebirth!

Everything he says it's true except for one thing... It absolutely IS my concern as to how well Nintendo does and it WILL affect my game experience because the current industry landscape is killing them. They might still be putting out some of the greatest games ever made, but that won't continue for much longer if they can't improve their financial performance In a world of corruption, Nintendo is the one big good guy still standing and that's a fucking miracle! But at this point it looks like a fight against time...

It's alright. It's ok for you to be wrong sometimes But really, that game is painfully misunderstood. To be fair though it is SEGA's own fault as the game does a terrible job of explaining it's mechanics and how they work...

I bet that they're counting from a year after the US launch (which would actually make it two years being measured since it came out in Japan a whole year before it did in the west)

Sonic Lost World on Wii U is better than both of those games combined!

Iwata definitely said it was three Sonic games. Not just any SEGA game... It is still possible that the 3rd Nintendo exclusive game is indeed seperate from this upcoming multiplatform one, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Nintendo's long standing history of failing to hold onto 3rd party exclusives, combined with the Wii U's abysmal sales performance is enough for me to have zero faith in it being anything other than yet another lost exclusive

Olympic Games was indeed one of the 3 (as was SLW of course). But SSB4 is not a SEGA made game and definitely didn't count. Nintendo would've been very specific about what 3 games they wanted here (they wouldn't have been stupid enough to ask for any 3 games starring Sonic here). This upcoming one is obviously the 3rd game that was previously exclusive (and the fact that it's even coming to Wii U at all is proof enough of that). It's sad, but it's the way that almost all of Nintendo's "exclusive" deals go anyway so I'm not surprised. The only moneyhatted ones they've ever been able to hold onto since the GCN era were the Rogue Squadrons (which they almost lost actually! It was only thanks to time constraints and Lucasarts politics that the Xbox trilogy port didn't happen), Resident Evil Remake (still not quite sure how they've managed to hold onto that one. AFAIK it wasn't fully funded by Nintendo like MGS Twin Snakes was...), Resident Evil 0 (which was actually a carry over from the N64), Tales of Symphonia US/EU (they lost it in Japan and their exclusivity period had now expired - hence why we're getting TOS PS3. Course the joke's on them in the end since it's an utterly terrible port ), Monster Hunter 3, 3U, 4 and 4U (kept at bay for technical reasons - since the PSP couldn't handle the full MH3 experience and there's no way to do cross platform play between 3DS and Vita/PS3/PS4/smartphones so a port of 3U-4U is out; not is there any real incentive to do so anyway), Baten Kaitos 1 & Origins (probably leading up to the Monolith acquisition anyway), Epic Mickey 1 (who would've wanted a port of it anyway though :p ), ZombiU (requires Gamepad) and the Taiko Drum Master games (mainly because they have nowhere else to go really).

Well this is some pretty damning (if not conclusive) evidence here. Even if it's not coming directly from SEGA, the merchandise distributor here would be in the know about upcoming products. Also if you look at SEGA's teams who work on Sonic games, there's only 3 possibilities as to who's making the 3rd Nintendo exclusive Sonic game. It's either being made by the SLW/Sonic Colors Team (very unlikely, since SLW just came out of course), the Sonic Generations/Unleashed team (much more likely) or Sumo Digital and the 3rd exclusive game is a either a sequel to Sonic Racing Transformed or another spinoff (possible, but unlikely as that would probably be coming this year and there's no mention of a 2014 Sonic game here). So all signs point to it being a mainline title that was intended to be the 3rd exclusive game and if Nintendo's history with "exclusive" agreements is anything to go by (Capcom 5, Rayman Legends, NBA Jam Wii, Goldeneye Wii etc), it's a safe assumption to make...

Iwata already said that they secured three exclusive Sonic games. Those were literally the words that came out of his mouth back during the E3 Nintendo Direct; so yes, that 3rd game has already been announced. Obviously they lost exclusivity on it when the poor sales came in (there was probably a get out clause in that contract with SEGA). True, they were some pretty awesome games (and the GCN still got the best versions of all of them so in retrospect, they're still "exclusive" really if you don't want to play a gimped version!) But this is certainly the equivalent (plus SLW is a pretty fantastic game on Wii U - hopefully that one ends up staying exclusive like PN03 did!)

Nintendo can't even keep an exclusive that they paid for... It's the Capcom 5 all over again... (Sonic Lost Exclusive?)

The quote isn't coming directly from Iwata here, that's the WSJ writer's interpretation here; that's probably just his way of saying that Nintendo is still in the process of deciding how to localise the game and what things to alter to work on a cultural level (basically the normal localisation process). That being said, I wouldn't be surprised to see them just scrap the voice synthesis system... (Unless maybe they're working with Yamaha on using the English version of Vocaloid... Yamaha just released their first English version of Vocaloid, so they might use that for the singing... Plus it could also work for Band Bros P since that also uses Vocaloid!)

IT'S GETTING LOCALISED!!!!!!!!!! :o http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/01/29/nintendo-walks-fine-line-between-change-and-identity/ HOLY SHIZBALLS!!! I never thought I'd see it happen! Paging @RedShell You may now commence gloating mode