Dcubed

Funnily enough, not really. I kind of expected that I might do, but no. I think the 3D might be part of the reason for that though (gives you a wider field of view and a true 16 x 9 aspect ratio, but only when it is turned on) Plus I was always a big fan of the GB Micro anyway :p

The alternative is to make games with reasonable budgets (with projects that have been managed well and not just littered with wasted time and staff, ALA Rockstar and Team Bondi) that sell themselves on their gameplay, instead of their flashy graphics and lavish production values.

Pretty much. The name might still exist in some fashion, but they're gonna go the way of Acclaim and Midway. Might be a good chance for Nintendo to pull a Bayonetta 2 here and "steal" some Wii U exclusives...

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=504815 Clearlake have bought the company, but there's basically no chance of them keeping them running. They've almost certainly bought them for the purpose of selling off their assets upon their bankruptcy. Didn't even last the rest of the year. It was always inevitable, but I thought that they might at least be able to hold on a bit longer. Now there are only 4 major Western 3rd party publishers left (Activision, EA, Ubisoft and Take Two) Very sad to see them go

Two new packs, supposedly the final ones to be released... OMG @ the Impossible Pack!!! I love how they just list the difficulty as "Danger" Hope they do another batch of DLC packs later on down the line...

Some positive words about the eShop from Shinen here http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/12/developer_interview_shinen_multimedia_on_the_first_days_of_the_wii_u_eshop But more importantly... A Wii U sequel to F.A.S.T? Yes please!

It's neither version, but rather an all new port from the ground up. It's the only way they'd be able to add 3D (since there's no way to get depth from emulating a 2D console game) You can also notice this by the fact that the game's native aspect ratio isn't 4x3 like the SMS version...

Isn't that the Assist item? If so, it prevents you from mastering a level.

Bit more info (hold onto your butts, this one's gonna be good!) JPN release date: 12/26, Price: 600 yen. Includes a "moving cabinet" mode that replicates being inside an arcade cabinet and makes the screen adjust to the player's movement (screens demonstrating this below). Also features environmental sound settings that were used in Space Harrier's cabinet, with a full equaliser setup. Supports d-pad, circlepad, and the touchscreen for controls. Harrier movement range has 3 stages to it that can be adjusted. B button set to rapid fire shot. Input 3 credits for consecutive play. Can select stages after playing them once. Includes a time trial mode where lives don't decrease for 60 seconds after starting. Supports savestates. Can save 1 replay, as well. 4 different aspect ratio settings (Original aspect ratio, 4:3 aspect ratio, full-screen, and cabinet mode with realistic tilting) Talk about going all out! That rotating cabinet setup better also be used for Afterburner. No way will they waste that on one game only!

Good! Now I wont feel so bad about getting MH3U at the same time that Japan get MH4

Yeah, it's a really weird style for a Paper Mario game! I was a bit sceptical at first, but it's growing on me quickly The battle music and the Decalburg music in particular is really catchy!

I've yet to play Spin Cycle (waiting till next month before I buy it), but the 2 big main differences between the original and its 3DS sequel are the full 360 degree tilt controls on the 3DS (with levels requiring you to twist the system fully upside down, unlike the Wii one which only used limited tilt angles) and the shift away from the Mario 64 style level structure from the Wii one to a level based structure, with small linear levels instead of big open ones. BTW, if anyone here has never played the Wii game, absolutely do so! It's a great game!

Aww I feel so wuved! As for the handheld situation, I think you're also partly right here. Even longstanding entries in series like Zelda often go ignored (as what happened in this very thread), but it's not that strong really. Handhelds are at least treated with respect by Nintendo fans in general, but the media flat out pretend that they don't exist all together really. They never win any awards of GOTY nominations because the big media sites see them as lesser games. That undoubtedly has some influence on people's opinions of handheld games in general, but certainly not to the same extent as Sony's handhelds (where everything is seen as a B/Z Team effort, or certain 3rd party titles. As for your last point, that's also something that I consider myself. Kid Icarus Uprising is basically a new IP really. It shares almost nothing in common with the first 2 games in terms of gameplay and Pit is pretty much completely unknown outside of the real hardcore fantasy who've played the NES or (even rarer!) GB game. Also that's the way Nintendo generally work in terms of coming up with game concepts. They create completely disparate prototypes and slap on the character that they feel best fits it (KIU was almost a new Starfox game, but Sakurai had an attachment to the original Kid Icarus and wanted to re-invent the series with an all new cast of characters). So for all the complaints about them making sequels, a lot of these games could've just as easily have been new IPs (Kirby's Epic Yarn is another good example as it was originally an original IP called Fluff's Epic Yarn, until late into development when the team were stuck and were struggling to make the game fun. Adding in Kirby and the trappings that come with him turned out to be the shot in the arm the game needed)

Sorry, I'm so used to being sarcy that I start to do it unknowingly at times! But I do think that the downloadable part of it comes into the equation. Speaking as a marketing grad here (not to big myself up as an expert, but it's to do with the psychology of "products" compared to "services" - so it's something that is widely recognised in my field), a physical retail release has a sense of legitimacy that downloadable titles lack by nature of their delivery method. For many people, downloadable titles aren't "worthy" of attention in the same way that retail releases are. You only need to look at various top 10/25/whatever console game lists and see how little importance is given to downloadable titles (oftentimes even being relegated to a seperate list for downloadable titles only or with the game's commentary being more focused on the DD service itself, rather than the game's actual content). Likewise, having a game being given a worldwide release and a big marketing push also adds an air of legitimacy that lesser known titles may lack. While I personally think these factors are unfair to consider against judging these games, I also believe that they do matter to a certain group of people and should be considered when thinking about which games would "count" in the minds of these people.

They also did Baten Kaitos & Baten Kaitos Origins alongside Tri Crescendo as well. You might be familiar with that one (and if not, then fix that ASAP. They're great games!) To take the argument of Nintendo's influence a step further... They go over the influence of becoming a 1st party within Xenoblade's Iwata Asks... To read that and say that it's not a Nintendo game, where Nintendo had no influence over the title is ridiculous! Even just taking the first paragraph into account and looking at Xenogears (which was only really half a game, as they crapped out on the 2nd disc) and Xenosaga, the difference in terms of how successfully Takahashi's vision was realised in Xenoblade in comparison to those 4 games is immense!

Nope. Just like that other guy before, you're thinking of Disaster DOC. Nintendo bought the company in April 2007. Xenoblade's development started that very same month... http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Iwata-Asks/Iwata-Asks-Xenoblade-Chronicles/Vol-3-The-Development-Process/2-From-Caution-to-Trust/2-From-Caution-to-Trust-208861.html But as I mentioned earlier, that argument is flawed. The fact that people here continue to completely ignore the myriad of new IPs that have been released (even the 9 new ones released in just the past year here in Europe alone!) shows that it's not "new IPs" that you actually want. You want something that fits the 4 criteria I mentioned before and nothing else will do.

Monolith Soft is fully owned by Nintendo, a 1st party and hence ARE Nintendo now. Likewise Intelligent Systems is a fully owned 1st party subsidiary of Nintendo (founded by former members of Nintendo R&D1 - so these people have been around since the very beginning of Nintendo's VG making days, before Miyamoto even!) And FE created the SRPG genre, so FFT and TO are indeed FE clones (to use an unfair tone - because they certainly aren't the same at all!)

I can understand it just fine and I pointed out that myself on the last page even! All I ask is that people are more specific when they ask for something. Instead of just blanketly stating that "Nintendo's last original game was Pikmin", just ask for what you actually want; A new character driven IP (containing no existing characters whatsoever), developed by EAD (and ideally directed or produced by Shigeru Miyamoto), released worldwide in physical form at retail with a big marketing push. It's all well and good wanting that (hell I'd love to see it myself!), but to tar the whole of Nintendo with the same brush is doing everyone there a great disservice.

If we're gonna go down that route then rightfully, only Nintendo SPD games should count then. They're Nintendo's oldest studio (previously known as Nintendo R&D1) after all. Hell even HAL pre-dates EAD! In no way, shape or form is Pikmin more of a "real" Nintendo game than Rhythm Heaven. That's complete bollocks.

Case in point

You're thinking of Disaster Day of Crisis, not Xenoblade (and it was always a Monolith/SPD co-production anyway, so either way it was always a Nintendo owned and co-developed IP, just like Golden Sun) As for people only being interested in a game if it has a sequel (I.e, the "it's not a franchise" excuse), I don't think it holds water. The likes of Rhythm Heaven, Denpa Men, Pullblox and Chibi Robo aren't counted by these people, despite having numerous sequels in each respective series. No, I think that to make these people happy, it has to meet four criteria or else it "doesn't count". 1: It must be a character driven game (and all characters in the game must be completely original) - So the different Wii____ series, Nintendogs, Big Brain Academy and Steel Diver don't count... 2: It must be released worldwide with a big marketing push - So Another Code, Disaster DOC and Tomodachi Collection don't count... 3: It must be released at retail (download games aren't "real" games supposedly...) 4: It must be developed by EAD/Miyamoto. Nobody else exists at Nintendo...

Well to start off with, you've already ignored the existence of two Zelda games (which were radically different in terms of controls and game structure/level design and puzzle design) Secondly, the "OoT format" (which is actually the ALTTP format to be nit picky), has only actually been used by 3 games in the series (namely ALTTP, OoT and Twilight Princess - you can also sort of count Wind Waker, but it abandons the structure after the first 3 dungeons) In addition to 1-1 motion controls, Skyward Sword abandoned the open world design and level design format that has defined the series ever since the first ever Zelda game. Dungeons and overworld are no longer seperate, enemies are now puzzles in unto themselves and the level designs are designed with multiple uses in mind, backtracking or otherwise (hell you don't even necessarily use the dungeon's specific item to kill the boss anymore!) It was absolutely original. I can't see how anyone can look at Skyward Sword and say that it's just another OoT clone Nah, you still have people going around believing that Retro is separate from Nintendo. Same applies to Monolith (hell you can see it in this very thread, on this page even - and that's regarding an actual completely original new IP to boot!)

TBH, I think that when people are asking for a "new IP" or a "new franchise", that's not what their literally asking for (since there have been loads of new IPs this generation). Instead they're, consciously or otherwise, asking for a new series starring new characters and not only that, they refuse to accept any new characters from any team other than EAD. While I believe it to be unfair to dismiss everything else that comes out of Nintendo, it's only when you are that specific that the arguments for Nintendo lacking new IPs makes any real sense (the whole, "Pikmin was the last original Nintendo game" argument). For me, I don't need to cling onto a new character in order to accept a new idea/concept from EAD (because there are plenty of games in long running EAD made series that could just as easily be all new IPs, starring all new characters. In fact, that's how they work! They make original concepts and slap on the characters that fit the game - if none fit, they make an original character) I can understand how others may feel differently on the matter though, even if they're not putting their point across succinctly. I do wish that the guys at EAD would get a chance to work on completely original concepts a bit more often (inside of outside an existing series) and that thy weren't so reliant on Mario to sell these concepts, but I don't just ignore all the new forms of gameplay that their sequels offer and everything that comes out of their non EAD studios.

Well these are seemingly not Virtual Console releases so who knows what features they'll have? As long as the emulation quality is good, I'm happy. That's all I care about. I don't expect it to be up to the same standards as the VC, but with Backbone out of the picture it should be done by someone who actually gives a shit about the emulation quality at least