Dcubed

Not that the word of Emily Rogers makes this any more or less likely (she misses as much as she hits really - still waiting on YouTube 3DS!), but I do reckon that the big Autumn system update is indeed due this week. All the signs point towards it (extended maintainence, Nintendo Direct due any time from this week onwards - bolstered further by the mysterious appearance of the specially themed Mario AR Photo App eShop cards on Amazon last week, Wind Waker HD's retail release happening this week in the US and EU) and they did actually say that the update would be due around the end of September/early October, so it would actually be right on schedule if it indeed happened this week...

It's sad to see it end like this. Just goes to show that in the world of crowd funding, trust means everything. I just hope that Nintendo don't look at this the wrong way and think that nobody would want another game like Eternal Darkness...

Yeah, it's a funny turnaround seeing as how Atlus used to publish all of NIS' games in the US back in the day Glad it's finally happening though. Overall, the localisation record for Atlus games (and other niche 3DS JPN games in general) in Europe (and even the US!) is much better than back in the DS era; so despite the region lock, we're actually getting the chance to play more of these games than ever before I just hope that SEGA's acquisition doesn't mess things up...

The Nights DLC stages might not even be ready yet, considering that they'd effectively be day 1 DLC. Be grateful that you have the game you greedy sods :p

Yeah, I hope that the demo isn't indicative of the full game experience (it's the same demo they showed at E3, so the game has probably changed quite a bit since then). I can imagine them focusing on the cinematic parts for the sake of the demo, wanting to stop players from getting lost and making the game look "cool", but I hope the final game keeps them to a minimum, cause they're totally boring as hell to play... I did! Great game, very unique, keeps throwing new ideas at you at a constant pace and just all around great fun! Funny I actually saw quite a few people with Vitas, especially in the PS4 queue where I actually saw more Vitas than 3DS'! (Ok that was the only place where the 3DS numbers didn't decimate the Vita ones, but still!) But yeah, nobody bothered playing the Vitas in that queue. Tearaway saw quite a lot of attention mind you though. Always a sizable queue for that one!

Yeah, the drought sucked balls, but that doesn't really have anything to do with how they budget their advertising

It's certainly an innovative approach, but it looks to be suitable only for FPS', RTS' and other PC focused games - screw any action game that is designed around a traditional controller (good luck playing a fighter, or a platformer on that thing ) I suppose that's kind of the point though, trying to bring the typical PC game into the living room. Still I don't reckon it'll be suitable for PC console ports, thanks to the dodgy face button placement (good thing that you can still use other controllers on Steam machines though!). Either way, I'd love to give it a go!

Tried out the demo at Eurogamer (only very briefly - didn't want to spoil too much) It's the dog's bollocks! DAT EXPANDED FIELD OF VIEW! S3D looks lush too (it's more of a subtle effect than in the Mighty Switch Force games, but very nicely layered still - very pleasing to the eye ) Didn't play it for long, but there are some well done environmental puzzles that make good use of the abilities Shantae acquires (like the pistol that activates switches out of reach). Feels great and opened up FOV makes the world feel much bigger and less cramped (much appreciated when it comes to enemies that scroll in from off screen ) Yeah... All of my want! (The rep also said that it's still on track for a 2013 release).

Back from Eurogamer. Tried out the eShop games they had on display... Tengami: BRILLIANT! Utterly beautiful and utterly clever little game. The papercraft world is used for some really clever environmental puzzles, where you have to flip over parts of the environment in order to create pathways for your character to progress through the world. It'll definitely make you think; along with the beautiful atmosphere, this one's a real winner! Scram Kitty & his Buddy on rails: Another great game! There's a nice mix of puzzle solving along with the shooter gameplay. You have to put some thought into how you progress and how you tackle the various enemies you encounter. It's more action based than something like, say Mighty Switch Force, but you have to think a lot more about how you progress through the levels than in something like Nano Assault. Physics feel very nice and satisfying and the various enemy types, weapons you collect & stage hazards you encounter seem to promise a lot of fun variety as the game goes on. Looking forward to this one QUBE Directors Cut: Think Portal mixed with Pullblox and you've got the right idea. Takes place in 1st person, with Portal like puzzle chambers, but all the puzzles involve you pushing and pulling blocks out from walls in order to progress (there are other things involved as well, like walls that can be rotated and balls that need to be rolled onto switches, but everything involves the block pushing/pulling mechanic). Puzzles are cleverly done and offer a good amount of player freedom to explore and discover their own solution (some puzzles have more than 1 solution). I do feel that it would benefit from Wiimote & Nunchuck controls, though one of the devs were there to take feedback and notes (and they did mention that they might take my suggestion for Wiimote & Chuck controls onboard, so here's hoping!). Looks to scratch that Portal itch very nicely (much better than Quantum Conundrum did!) So yeah! I liked all three of them. Supposedly Scram Kitty is coming out this year, while Tengami and QUBE are due in Q1 2014. I want all three! (and so should you )

No point advertising it if they didn't have software to sell for it. They waited until they could relaunch it (funnelling all the money they saved from the advertising that they would've done before into one big massive Xmas campaign).

Various impressions of non-Nintendo related stuff... PS4 controller: BIG improvement over the PS3 one! The analog sticks are waaaaayyyy more accurate (they're much tighter and with nearly no deadzone), the triggers are much more comfortable, the D-pad is basically like the Vita's but not clicky (it's a Nintendo style d-pad, despite the look, and much better than the PS3's), face buttons feel like the PS3's and everything is within easy reach. Didn't get the chance to try out anything that used the touch pad though... Xbone controller: Not a fan. I think it's better than the 360's controller, but while it fixes a lot of the problems I had with the 360 controller (including the analog sticks, which are MUCH more accurate and no longer drift to the left on their own, the D-pad, which is basically EXACTLY like the GBAsp's D-pad now and the face buttons, which are now like the Classic Controller/CCPro's buttons but flatter - MUCH more comfortable than the 360's jewel buttons), it introduces some new ones. In particular, the bumper shoulder buttons felt very hard to reach - the ergonomics feel more similar to the original Xbox controller S than the 360 controller and it feels too bulbous for my liking. Also the analog sticks feel kinda small and knobbly, like a larger version of the Vita's analog sticks - as do the replacements for the start and select buttons (their placement feels a bit uncomfortable for me to reach). Killer Instinct: CCCCCCCCCOMBO BREAKER!!! Could not figure out any of the moves for the life of me, but I had some good fun with this. It's fast, responsive and feels good to play. Looks great (if a bit blurry), sounds great and Sabrewulf is OP (Glacius can't run lol!) Zoo Tycoon: A total POS, runs like a dog (seriously, it's like 15FPS at best. Only played it cause the line was tiny and I wanted a go with something that used the sticks Resogun: PS4 game of show! Super fun! (and I didn't like Super Stardust at all!), looks amazing and plays great. Feels like Defender on crack and the forward dash move feels great to pull off Knack: Crap. A poor man's God of War, totally boring and uninteresting gameplay (it's both a poor brawler with not much in the way of moves, while beating up enemies feels unsatisfying & weightless and a poor platformer, with floaty controls and dull level design). It's also not much of a looker and runs like a dog (sub 30FPS a good chunk of the time). Driveclub: Looks great, plays nicely. I'm not big into these kinds of racing games, but I reckon that racing fans won't have much to complain about. Tearaway: Lovely looking game, with some nice ideas involving tapping the back touch pad and the camera - but the core gameplay (walking around, grabbing & throwing enemies/objects etc) seems very simple and uninteresting. It feels like the kind of game that will get dull very quickly as soon as it runs out of neat gimmicks that involve the Vita's hardware features... Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate (Vita. 3DS version was not on show): Couldn't get past the first 5 minutes as I just got bored senseless of the cutscenes, the game-basically-plays-itself traversal and the combat sections that are basically just like the console games transferred into 2D. Didn't see anything that I didn't already see in previous demo videos, so I just gave up. Not impressed with anything they've shown so far (where's the exploration and platforming that you'd expect from ex Metroid Prime leads?!) and the demo did nothing to change my mind... Octodad: Hilarious! It's basically 8 legged QWOP, but with the additional challenge of trying to not look suspicious by knocking into stuff (cause an octopus, dolled up in an outfit couldn't possibly be mistaken for a normal dad ). Good fun, both to play AND to watch Eyes on impressions... Kinect Sports Rivals: Seemed to have no problems keeping track of the guys playing the game. Very impressive, especially considering the big crowd of people in the queue waiting behind the guys playing! Assassin's Creed 4: Looks like Asscreed, runs smooth, looks crisp and sharp. Killzone Shadow Fall Multiplayer: When they said that it runs at 60FPS most of the time, they weren't kidding! Did notice some framerate drops when it got crowded, but it did indeed run at 60FPS most of the time. Overall a good time. Managed to skip the bigger queues (glad I found the secret PS4 section near the Oculus Rift booth - which I'm gutted that I didn't get a chance to play ) and I'm pretty unimpressed with the PS4 and Xbone visuals in general. Their games just look like good looking PS3 and 360 games to me. GT6 and Puppetter were set up next to the PS4 booth and honestly, they look about as good as those next gen games really Also, almost everyone's TVs were setup FUCKING HORRIBLY! UGH! Almost none of the displays were calibrated at all, with most of them having Sharpness WAY UP (ARGH MY EYES - you should NEVER have any artificial sharpness turned on with HD content on an LCD!) - The Nintendo booth in particular had some disgustingly poorly set up TVs (they probably had sharpness on max - utterly decimating the image quality - with games like The Wonderful 101 looking far worse than on my own TV at home ). Thankfully a couple of the PS4 displays were properly set up (for Resogun), looks lovely on a decently calibrated HDTV Still, a good show overall That was running on PC (I saw them setting it up)

Funny you should mention that... http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/nintendo-teams-up-with-tesco-for-wii-u-fight-back/0121777 Nintendo just announced a new co-marketing initiative with Tesco for Wii U (as part of the beginning of their relaunch Xmas campaign). Their new Xmas campaign starts this month, from "half-term to Xmas", focusing on Wii owners, kids, parents and long time Nintendo fans (hello Wind Waker HD' Ganondorf figurine ).

Great to hear! especially about the short loading times (the demo video made it look to be almost instantaneous, so I'm glad to see that carry over to the final game!) So far, so good.

Kinda lame trailer, but the game still looks good regardless. No subtitle though? Isn't it supposed to be Bravely Default: Where the Fairy Flies? BTW, Nintendo UK reconfirmed that it's still coming out this year

I think it was the promise of its premise. But subsequent videos and hands-on impressions have showcased nothing new or really interesting since then. Press A To Hack isn't very exciting really...

Well... we've heard a few tracks so far and so far it's... err...

No clue, not a ruddy. You know as much as I do

Looks like the game is being made by Namco! WTF!? That was unexpected! (I thought it would be HAL). Nintendo turning to them for netcode expertise? I suppose it's still possible that HAL is making the game, while Namco deal with the netcode (as that's something that Namco's programmers are actually very good at - their fighters have fantastic netcode!)

Oh no! Looks like I was wrong. It turns out that Wii Sports Club was actually developed by Namco!? Woah! I was waaaaayyyyy off! Why Namco? Online netcode expertise perhaps? So why the hell was HAL's name mentioned at the end of the video? Wii Street U? Co-developing Wii Sports Club?

Just let us know if the whole game is as creative and interesting as the demo levels they showed off so far, or if they run out of ideas before it's over. Oh and if the controls hold up and if the level design keeps with the Megadrive concept of multiple-paths-with-different-rewards-that-lead-to-the-same-exit that all the demo levels have shown so far, across the whole game. And of course, ultimately if you're just really enjoying the game (jammy git...) Also, did you get the 3DS version as well? Really curious about that one as it looks WAY too good for a Dimps Sonic game, looking suspiciously lacking in the BS enemy encounters, BS spikes and BS bottomless pits that their games are known for...

Cheers. I'm not surprised one bit (plenty of time to play my 3DS then!) Ahh well, Should be enough time to at least have a go on each of the consoles anyway. Glad to hear about the Wii U & 3DS indie queues though. Looking forward to copping some quality time with Tengami, Qube and Shantae & the Pirate's Curse! BTW, I don't suppose you know if the PS4 and Xbone queues are for the console sections or the games themselves? I ask because I was thinking I might look for the PS4 indie games section instead of stuff like Killzone or Titanfall (I'd imagine those queues are shorter and I'm more interested in those games than the retail stuff anyway).

I think it's the same one (it looks the same and has the same dimensions & weight, so I'm pretty sure it's the same as my one). That's probably the best price you're gonna get it for right now, so I say go for it. Works a treat!

I'm going tomorrow for the 2PM opening. Oh God I'm scared to think of what the PS4 and Xbone queues are gonna be like. Anyone who went today, please tell me that the queues aren't as horrifically terrible as I'm imagining that they will be (cause I'm not gonna really be playing any of the Nintendo stuff apart from some of the indie titles - I'm gonna be buying everything they've got on show there the day they come out anyway :p )

Almost all games that use celshading don't use it everywhere. Even Twilight Princess used it selectively (on the Twilight enemies) as does The Wind Waker (characters are celshaded, the environments are not). Also Toon Link is WAAAAYYYY better than normal Link. He's much more distinctive than Young Link was in Melee, so to dismiss him as a mere "clone" doesn't do him justice. Out of all the clone characters, he's definitely the most distinctive of the lot!

No you're right. They've all got a very nice sort of "real toy" look to them. It looks lovely. Wind Waker HD has a sort of similar quality to it (as does Pikmin 3). Everything feels very "solid" to look at