Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

This comes from an interview I did with those cool guys at n-Space. I asked them what else might be brewing (as is mandatory if you are interviewing someone!) and they replied with this:

“Just keep your eyes on the official n-Space Facebook page and you’re sure to see a surprise sooner rather than later.” – n-Space’s invisible collective of answering interview questions

There’s truly lots of other really awesome information in the interview (SW:Battlefront talk, Heroes of Ruin tidbits, development process details, etc), but you’ll have to wait until later tonight for me to properly type it up! This, however, I felt was worth posting independently.

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in 3DS, Videos | 0 comments

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in News, Wii U | 0 comments

This is going to take a minute to explain, but I’ll do my best to sum it up and add pictures:

– At its most basic level, it’s split-screen multiplayer as we know it, only instead of splitting the screen, one person uses the TV screen and one person uses the Wii U gamepad as a “TV”.

– Each player would use a Wiimote (potentially with a nunchuck) as a controller, and it appears as though you can use the IR pointing capabilities regardless of whether you’re using the gamepad or the TV as your viewing screen due to the gamepad having a built in sensor bar. (Thanks, Invader Quirk!)

– Could be used to shoot arrows at each other from across the room, explore a location on two screens at once, or any number of other applications.

Via NWR

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 0 comments

So I’ve been waiting on some interview answers from n-Space for a week or so that I was GOING to post soon, but since they haven’t gotten back to me I’m holding off on my ‘Heroes of Ruin’ review and the interview until I can post them both at the same time. In the meantime, we’re trying podcasts again! Seemed to go okay, but it’s currently fairly generic and “oh, here’s another podcast”, you know? Eventually we’ll get to being more unique and entertaining, but for the time being we’ll just feel our way through the stuff and try and offer some interesting opinions on things! Here’s the first episode, available for streaming or download:

Left-click to stream, right-click + “Save As” to download

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, General Nintendo, Interviews | 0 comments

It’s an interesting thing to “work” (it’s hardly work- more of a hobby I suppose) in the video gaming industry. All of the things I had questions about five years ago- how people got free games, whether you ever get tired of free games (you do), whether people gouge review scores intentionally, and so on and so forth- have now been answered. And you know what the most striking thing that I’ve learned over the last four years is? How difficult it is to give a game a bad review score. You have no idea how much I struggle with it, or how much I’m willing to bet others struggle with it.

When you’re someone “on the outside”, you just sort of assume that if YOU were in a position to review games you would be brutally honest and never let anything sway your decisions into bias. But it’s not that simple. It’s really not.

I’m getting ahead of myself though, because what I really want to talk about are things I think a lot of gamers ponder: How honest are review scores? Do outlets ever fudge them to get favors from a publisher? Do publishers ever discriminate against certain outlets to avoid getting bad press? I don’t think I’ve seen anyone come out and just tell it as honestly as they can, so (hopefully!) I can do an okay job of just that.

What follows is some insight- as honest as I can put it- from my limited perspective (along with some helpful commentary from the other side, courtesy of our good friend Jools Watsham!), to hopefully answer some of those questions you’ve discussed on message boards or with friends, angrily coming to the conclusion that the reviewing system is biased and unreliable.

And guess what; it is! Sort of.

Onwards to page number 2…

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in General Nintendo, News, Wii | 0 comments

What?

The last time I heard the headline “Wii out of stock” was probably two years ago, so seeing this come up in my browser was understandably something of a surprise! Apparently it’s true though; several online retailers are reporting that the Wii is in backorder, despite the fact that it appears to be readily available in physical stores nationwide.

No idea why, but it’s true.

Via NWR

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in 3DS, News | 0 comments

So normally when we see patents from Nintendo, they have to do with bicycles to ride while playing Wii or footballs you can pretend to throw while pretending to be Brett Favre playing pretend quarterback in a pretend football game. This time, however, some (relatively) neat and potentially useful features for the 3DS have been patented.

1) System Updates via Download Play

The first patent filed would allow you to download system updates from another 3DS that has more contemporary firmware than you simply by checking a box before playing a game via download play. This is especially useful for kids who can’t access the internet on their device, or others who perhaps don’t have or have trouble connecting to the internet on the 3DS.

2) Hidden Storage of Download-Play Titles

Patent number 2 relates to download play as well, but this time it’s regarding the games. The idea is that, when you’re done playing a game via Download Play with someone, the data is actually continually stored on your 3DS in the background so that next time you want to play, you need not re-download the whole thing. Of course, I doubt you’ll be able to access the game short of actually playing with someone who owns it, but some games have terribly long download times (cough Plants vs. Zombies), so this will definitely come in handy if it’s ever implemented.

No word on whether these will ever happen or even if they’re actually in the works, but here’s to hoping!

Via NeoGaf

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Reviews, Videos | 0 comments

Dear Internet,

Two things. Number one, I actually do know how to pronounce the name of the game. Number two, stop telling me to do ‘regular’ and ‘informative’ reviews. Information about the game is on every other video game website ever- including this one. You don’t need me telling you things that you can find elsewhere more easily. Number three, I’m getting a new camera that isn’t crappy.

~Austin

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in 3DS, Features, Reviews | 0 comments

Game: Bomb Monkey
System: 3DS (eShop)
Developer: Renegade Kid
Release Date: June 27, 2012
Price: $5.00

———————————————————————————

It’s games like ‘Bomb Monkey’ that make me wish there wasn’t so much pressure to add a numbered score to game reviews. Admittedly, I hold none of this pressure myself because I have nothing to lose by doing things differently, but in general you’ll see a game like this come along and it’s going to score 6s, 7s, and a few 8s. Maybe even a 9 or two if it’s lucky. You can tell this just by looking at it for three seconds, or from hearing someone describe it.

It’s destined to these scores of “decent-but-not-great” not by value of its production or design, but by virtue of the fact that it’s a casual puzzle game. Like Mario Party or Just Dance, its score doesn’t stand among others in its genre, but rather among those like Zelda or Skyrim; games so grand in scope and lengthy in execution that they deserve the highest industry praises.

‘Bomb Monkey’ neither tries nor needs to be like this. It’s a puzzle game whose objective is simple and if it were anything else would be a worse game for it. Does this mean it’s fair to bound it to scores below 8 or 9? Just because it’s a different kind of game? Should I rate it a 7.5? 7? 6.5? Some might say yes, because it’s not as good as Zelda. Some would say no, because it’s not as good nor worse than Zelda- it’s merely different.

Read More

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in News, Wii | 0 comments

“There were a whole lot of requests from Mario Club. All the requests that we got were spot on. They really know what they’re talking about, because they have a lot of skill and knowledge. In a way, what we created was fine, but it was still rough around the edges. But I think by going through Nintendo, it really took out the unnecessary parts and refined it as a game.

Refinement is one of the most important aspects. The Nintendo influence was big, in a good way; at the same time it gave me confidence that if I really pushed my boundaries harder, then I can get to this level on my own.” ~ Takuya Matsumoto

It doesn’t surprise me at all that Nintendo lent a hand, given that a lot was expected of this game and they NEEDED something good to keep the Wii going even a tiny bit. Not that it’s really going at all, anyhow…

Via NintendoLife