Dcubed

So I'm up to the halfway point of the 2nd world... Loving it so far! Already had more fun with this than any Sonic game since the MD days! That being said... I do have some issues with it, particularily when it comes to training the player how to use certain moves and master the controls... The main problem is that the game doesn't do a great job of teaching the player Sonic's moveset and doesn't give them a chance to get used to the mechanics being taught to them before thrusting a challenge upon them. There are hint bubbles throught that do teach you some moves, but they've VERY easy to miss - you can only view them by tapping a ? icon on the Gamepad's screen at certain times and the TV icon that indicates a tutorial message being available on the Gamepad is easy to miss and its purpose is never really explained to the player. I reckon that this might be a big part of the reason why a lot of reviewers have complained about the controls as a lot of Sonic's moves are only explained through these messages and are not necessarily obvious at first glance (like the ability to power up your spindash by repeatedly hitting B, rather than ZL as you might first expect - it's also a lot faster than the uncharged up spin dash, certainly NOT lacking in speed; and the kick move, which you need to kill certain enemies). Also, seemingly all of the wisp powers can be controlled with the buttons and sticks, despite the game never telling you that you can. The instructions that come up only list touch or motion controls, but all the ones I've seen so far allow for traditional controls too. Another tidbit that isn't explained that can be easily missed... As for the level design, it definitely takes a page out of Mario Galaxy's book - with it subscribing to the school of "unique gimmick in each level" of level design. It's fun, there's some really interesting ideas explored and really good so far - there's also a lot of potential for speed runs too (especially if you can master the parkour system, which I still haven't quite gotten the hang of yet). The controls aren't immediately intuitive, there's a pretty steep learning curve, but you get the hang of it fairly quickly if you pay attention to what you're doing. So far so good! Good fun

Wow! Reviews are all over the map! Considering its unusual play style, it's abandonment of the BOOST TO SPEEEEEEEEEEEDDD AND WIIIINNNN formula of the last 3 games (lol @ the IGN review, what a joke) and the Nintendo exclusivity (yes that will no doubt be significant factor amongst reviews on multiplatform sites, conscious or otherwise), I guess in hindsight it shouldn't be a surprise really Anyway, I already have my Wii U copy; so if you're looking for unbiased and impartial impressions, you'll get them later on

GTA5 isn't really readily available 2nd hand just yet because it's new. GTA4 took about 5 years to reach those sales numbers so it's not hard to see how people who bought a 2nd hand copy of GTA4 might end up buying a new copy of GTA5. As I said, we can't really tell if the audience has expanded until we see how the long tail does (and I would be shocked if it wasn't much more frontloaded than GTA4 was...)

Don't forget that a lot of GTA4's players would've gotten the game second hand, or may have just played a friend's copy. The actual playerbase would be higher than the number of people who actually purchased the game. Anyway, the long tail will be the true determiner of whether or not GTA5 has really expanded the audience for GTA over its predecessor. Personally, I reckon that it'll drop like a stone after its first month or so, as I don't really see it roping in many people who weren't interested in GTA before hand (the online part I suppose is different enough to potentially bring in some new people, but I can't see why the core game would expand the GTA audience, outside of maybe the UK's expanded population meaning that 2001-03 generation kids who've never played GTA before might pick it up...)

Well clearly it hasn't affected console sales significantly because the 3DS has continued to outsell both consoles handidly. It's just a matter of there being a bigger userbase for GTA5 than there was for GTA4. 5 will be much more frontloaded than 4 because everyone who had to buy a console in order to play 4 now already owns it. Simple really; GTA4 continued to sell over time as people picked it up along with their new PS360 consoles, but since they already own it now, they will all be jumping into 5 straight away.

Don't forget that this... and this... ...were announced about 2-3 weeks ago and are coming out at the end of the month. They basically sacrificed any potential sales they could've made over the last 3 weeks or so (however little they may be) by announcing those crazy bundles so early. Interesting to see Rayman Legends do better on Wii U than on PS3 or 360 in the US too (Wii U version did 38.85K, PS3 and 360 versions each did less than 20K). I know it did better on Wii U in the UK, but I had a bad feeling that this wouldn't necessarily translate to a similar win in the US. Glad to know I was wrong, even though it still didn't do well across all platforms regardless (and no doubt it would've done much better if it were released back in February like it was originally meant to...) Even though it did badly overall, at least it represents a victory for Wii U, if only a small one. That's something positive you can attribute to its sales at least Also, here's a a compilation of all the NPD leaks we've gotten for this month so far...

Yeah, but not significantly. It's not like it's really gonna rope in a ton of GTA fans who were holding out on a PS360 purchase, cause GTA 4 already did that 5 years ago. It's just an added incentive for those who had not yet gotten round to buying a PS3 yet, who may already own a 360 (or for those who sold their console and are rebuying it for GTA 5), so 3DS continuing to be the best selling console isn't really unbelievable, even without new software to boost it. If the Wii U's September sales represent a new weekly baseline (assuming that the first half of September's sales would've stayed at around 7k as it was in August would mean that it did around 36K in each of the two latter weeks of September), we could be looking at October sales of around 154K; possibly higher if the new software (like Sonic Lost World, retail Wind Waker HD and Wii Party U) and the start of Nintendo's Xmas advertising helps bolster sales further. That would be a decent result

3DS outselling PS3 and 360 isn't surprising. GTA5 isn't going to push console sales at this point (why would it? Who does GTA 5 attact that GTA 4 and other similar games didn't?) The whole 4 week/5 week thing also doesn't really matter since they only tracked 15 days worth of sales following the price drop (and considering that the bundle/price drop was announced back in late August/early September, it's safe to say that console sales would've been virtually non-existent for the first half of September). The Wii U's sales still aren't great, but when you look at where they just came from, you can't deny that it's a victory and a significant one at that. If they can keep the momentum going now, then it may just have another chance at relevancy. They've got a good lineup for October, with some solid sellers, so I reckon that it's possible that we'll see another increase in sales; then they move into the Xmas season with some potentially big hitters including SM3DW, Wii Fit U and Wii Sports Club. Combined with the end of year multiplats and the weakening of the Xbone & PS4 lineups thanks to the delay of Watchdogs and Driveclub, they may just have a chance at relevancy after all

Nintendo's NPD PR is out... http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=40757 And it's good news! Wii U increased by "over 200%" over August's sales. August saw the Wii U pull in 31k, so September's Wii U sales are around 93k-100k! That's a huge improvement! Granted, they're not great sales in of itself and it remains to be seen if they can keep the momentum going now, but guys! IT LIVES!!!

Yeah, that's something that Nintendo really undersell with the Wii U. It's really great that I don't have to buy another set of 4 controllers (and they're all familiar and comfortable for my friends to use when they come round - no need to "re-learn" controls for traditional style games ). It's a huge saving (both in terms of time AND money!)

The bundles will no doubt have an impact (not only are they crazy good value, they also come with two brand newly released games) and no doubt that anyone with half a brain cell would be waiting a couple more weeks until they come out before buying them right now... Then there's SM3DW and Taiko Wii U next month, plus the Xmas bump, so there SHOULD be a noticeable uptick in sales...

The good thing about the LTTP title is that even if you read it as "Link to the Past" it still makes sense!

Vita did a lot better than I had expected! Honestly surprised at its performance! Here's hoping that it can at least hang onto a semi-decent baseline of at least 20k now...

5 hours is very long for a Sonic game (in fact it's very long for just about any platformer outside of Mario Galaxy 2 or Banjo Tooie!). It's not exactly gonna be a "one and done" kind of game. If it's as good as it looks, it'll be the kind of game that you keep coming back to time and time again (especially for the time attack mode)

Goodbye GAME preorder, hello Shopto preorder? I'm so confused? I want that chest (but not having to deal with GAME would be a nice plus )

Man, I still only have three gym badges while everyone else I know has already beaten the Elite Four... Work life sucks On the plus side, the music seems to get better as the game goes on. I was disappointed with the OST at the start, but the later towns have some nice music (Coumarine's music reminds me of Fourside from Earthbound ) I really like Route 12's music too! Also I now associate the normal trainer battle music with Castlevania. I can't unhear it! Whenever I listen to that music and that church organ kicks in, I can't think of anything other than Alucard or Soma cracking the heads off of skeletons and zombies withing the hallowed halls of Dracula's Castle (does that make me weird? ) And now you guys see why New Style Boutique is bloody awesome

Shipped! The first Sonic game I've ever pre-ordered (was way too young to pre-order the MD games), so this had better live up to expectations. Colours and Generations were ok, but not great, however I have high hopes that the Wii U game will be the first truly great 3D Sonic game and as a long time fan of the classic MD titles (nay, a long time fan of SEGA as a whole!), this means a lot to me to see it finally happen. Don't let me down SEGA!

Looks lovely. Nice to see that they're still making special edition versions of the orignal 3DS Funny that this thread got bumped today, cause yesterday I got a Streetpass from someone who also had the game (Jammy git...)

Wow! What a shocker! Nintendo must be beaming right now. That's a big part of Sony and MS' arsenal taken out of commission; giving the Wii U version a much better chance of not being crushed by the "next gen" hype. It should also help fill the Q1 schedule for them too (I wonder if they'll start pushing the Gamepad second screen features now that the Wii U version has a much better chance at retail...) And I know I said it before in the Other Consoles Watchdogs thread, but props to Ubisoft for delaying the game. The pressure to get it out for the PS4/Xbone launches and the Xmas season must've been immense (and we all know that they're usually not afraid of pushing a game out of the door before it's ready...)

No way! Wow! I would've thought that Ubisoft would want to push that out for the PS4 and Xbone launch no matter what! That's a lot of lost sales that they could've made off the hype of the PS4 & Xbone launches and the Xmas shopping season! Gotta give Ubisoft repect for delaying for the sake of quality when the stakes are so high!

VGChartz = BS Their numbers are completely made up. Don't believe them. The only valid sources of game sales are NPD, Media Create, Famitsu, GFK Chart Track and Dengeki; as well as the game publishers themselves.

For what it's worth, that Zelda 3DS includes a Download Code for ALBW, not a physical copy or a pre-installed digital copy...

Goodbye Shopto preorder! Hello GAME (can't believe I actually said that...) I said no to the Ganondorf figurine, but that's way too awesome to pass up. So much fun to be had with that little box

Surely if anything the controls in Skyward Sword were more complex than in previous Zeldas? (even ignoring the hugely increased complexity of the 1-1 motion controls, you also have the dash move, wall running, new 1st person actions, waypoint setting etc) And it's not like there wasn't a strong emphasis on exploration in the more recent Zeldas (except for Spirit Tracks, which was quite literally "on rails" ). The ground based areas in Skyward Sword for instance were large, largely open and devoid of typical landmarks or guided "corridor" areas (which is why they implimented the user made waypoint system, so you can set your own landmark beacons); this was done because they wanted to design areas that could be remixed and reimagined throughout the game, in order to pray on your knowledge you gain of each area. The only real issue is their increasing reliance of hints and handholding by ancillary characters and intrusive reminders (YES I KNOW THAT A FUCKING RED RUPEE IS WORTH 20 GREEN RUPEES, STOP REMINDING ME!!!). The game designs across the more recent games themselves is fine really, but seeing them put an end to those intrusive duur-brain hints is most welcome (especially now that we have things like the Sheikah stones, Miiverse and Super Guide; those things aren't necessary anymore).

Ironic that the guy with a Spirit Tracks avatar should complain that recent Zeldas are too simple. That game had some of the most brilliantly designed puzzles in the entire series! (so much so that it feels like you have to almlst "break" the game to do so!) TBH, I think that the more recent Zeldas like Twilight Princess, Spirit Tracks and Skyward Sword were complex enough. Sure, they can be a bit overbearing with the hints they give you (SHUT UP FI!), but they all have fantastic dungeon design, more interesting and evolved combat with each subsequent game and brilliant puzzles. Coming off The Wind Waker HD, you can tell that they definitely responded to the criticism about the game being too easy and the puzzles too simple in that game from Twilight Princess onwards (even Phantom Hourglass shows evidence of this, and that was designed to be an introductory Zelda game - I played it again only recently, so it's still fresh in my mind; the puzzle and dungeon design was a lot better than I had remembered actually!)