Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk | 49 Comments

Let’s Talk #7: Do you care about amiibo?

Yesterday, Nintendo confirmed that over 10 million amiibo have been shipped worldwide. That’s a big number. A large majority of figures have made their way to the U.S. and Canada – a whopping 66 percent. Europe is second with 20 percent.

amiibo only just debuted last year, but we’ve already seen some extensive plans from Nintendo. A whole bunch of Smash Bros. figures have been released, with more on the way. Splatoon amiibo are due out this month, followed soon by Yoshi plushies. Animal Crossing amiibo cards are coming this fall.

While amiibo sales have been strong, not all has gone well. Many figures are tough to find in stores at the moment, and scalpers are taking advantage of that situation. There are many instances in which retailers open pre-orders only to sell out of stock within a matter of minutes.

All of that said, do you care about amiibo? Did you once care, but stopped after figures became difficult to find? Were you never interested in amiibo at all? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

So. Here’s my situation. When Nintendo initially announced amiibo, I didn’t care about the figures too much. I wanted Link, but that was about it.

… But I couldn’t help myself. I ended up ordering a few more amiibo from wave one after they launched, and once I started hearing that certain figures were becoming harder to find, I got caught up in the craze. I eventually told myself that I’d pick up every figure from the Smash Bros. line and likely stop there.

Well, now I don’t really have a game plan! I ended up purchasing Toad from the Super Mario Bros. line, and I secured the gold Mario as well. Something tells me that I won’t be able to resist the Yoshi plushie either. I suppose you can say that Nintendo has me hooked! I’m not even entirely sure why I’m collecting amiibo – figures and the like have never appealed to me much in the past. The stock situation has definitely been frustrating, yet I still have interest in amiibo – for now anyway!

Highlights from last week’s topic: Which character do you want to see in Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS?

There were lots of fantastic comments and choices about last week’s topic, so it was really tough choosing a few highlights. Thanks for your participation – the discussion was great!

ronin4life

Isaac from Golden Sun. Nintendo’s GBA RPG has no reps whatsoever in Smash, even though Isaac was an assist in Brawl.

LordDisco

I still think the Mushroom Kingdom could be represented more amusingly. Waluigi, Daisy, and Toad would all be great additions to Smash Bros, in my opinion.

Waluigi would be hilarious. If they keep him the way he’s been developed over the years, he’ll be wildly interesting and much funnier than the toilet-humored Wario. Waluigi’s moveset can just be a crazy combination of his weird obsessions, and as long as he does the “suck it” gesture from Mario Strikers, he will become my favorite Smash character. hahaha.

Daisy is great too, because she’s basically a sassy and unprofessional princess. He’s basically the opposite of Peach personality-wise, and giving her her own Smash character can open up new possibilities for her as a character in general. She can be kind of a cheating character, which lots of funny moves, like pimp-slapping, headbutting, and throwing turnips like baseballs. I would love for her to be better represented than a simple skin for Peach.

Lastly, Toad would be awesome! His skins could be like Bowser Jr, where each skin is a different Toad, like Toadette, Captain Toad, and Toadsworth. He could be exceptionally small, too, like how Servebot was like in Marvel VS Capcom. And if Nintendo wanted to be really funny, they could just intentionally make Toad the weakest character by a long shot (Again, like Servebot) so people can brag heavily to their friends if they happen to win matches as Toad.

I would love for any one of these characters to be added in, and it’s not like it would be too difficult for Nintendo to pull off, honestly.

AquaBat

King K. Rool, of course!

link2metroid

I’d like to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Their moveset would be brilliant and they’d fit in well. Who here is old enough to remember TMNT: Tournament Fighters for the SNES? I thought that was a brilliant game. And more recently, TMNT: Smash Up, while not as good as Smash Bros. it too was a decent game. The different colours could be the different characters though having 4 characters could be a lot of work even though they’d have a lot of common moves. The only thing is deciding which style would be best. I prefer some of the older versions going back to their image rather than some of the more modern looks.

Mirai Akemi

The one I really, really want is Simon Belmont. I think he’s the one missing legend from the NES era. There’s other iconic characters form back then, but he’s the biggest one. There’s so much potential for his moves, a stage and definitely music. A very close second is Bomberman, also a gaming icon and a classic, and he also has potential, though not as much as Simon.

Realistically speaking though, and with Konami being, well, Konami, my most wanted character that actually has a chance is Isaac. I half expected him to be there from the start and still have faith that Sakurai removed him as an assist because he knew that even if they couldn’t work on every character they wanted for the release, DLC could still happen and he saw potential in him.

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Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk | 62 Comments

Let’s Talk #6: Which character do you want to see in Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS?

During last month’s Nintendo Direct, it was announced that there are a bunch of plans for DLC in Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS. Along with Mewtwo and Lucas, Nintendo will be adding even more fighters to both games down the line. The company went as far as to open a Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot so that fans could voice their opinions about which characters they want to see on the roster.

That brings us to this week’s topic! I’m curious about the sort of characters you guys would like to see added as DLC. I’ll get the discussion started.

I’m not too sure if I have an absolute standout character that I’m pulling for in Smash Bros. Adding the Inkings from Splatoon would be a nice choice! And it’d be very neat to see Amaterasu from Okami in the game (though I know that will never happen).

Honestly, I feel like I had my dream fulfilled with Shulk – that’s someone that I never actually thought would make it into Smash Bros. When the initial leak happened last year, I felt like it was too good to be true. Some people say that Shulk is a dull character, but I believe that he is a really great representation of Xenoblade, and I never had a problem with him.

Those are just a few quick thoughts from me. Now I want to see what you all have to say! What would be your dream character for Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS? Sound off in the comments, and read up on some of your highlights from last week’s Let’s Talk below!

Last week’s topic: Your thoughts on Mario Kart 8’s new DLC and 200cc mode (highlights)

Kallumsmarties

I didn’t think it would be better than the first DLC pack to be honest, but it would still be pretty darn good. They definitely proved me wrong lol. They just keep getting better. 200cc also helped get me hyped up it for as well.

Purple3DSXL

I hate Cheese Land. I just don’t get it, and I had played the old version long ago. I didn’t like it then either. These new tracks don’t stick to me like the first DLC pack did. They shouldn’t have shortened Baby Park (seems a little smaller than it used to be) and given it more laps or something. Like Bob said, Wild Woods seems to be the best. I feel it has more to offer than the other tracks do for the latest pack.

gurdurrlv34

I just got both packs of the DLC last week, so I’m going over the most notable tracks. Cheese Land is hard and lame. Wild Woods is cool. The F-Zero courses are bae. Animal crossing is meh as a racetrack. Hyrule Circuit is cool, but I just don’t see Zelda in it. Why couldn’t you just ride through shop town in majora’s mask or ocarina of time??? Ribbon Road is cool. Ice Ice Outpost is LAME! Excitebike arena is cool. Baby park is fun on 200cc and nothing else. SNES rainbow road is, oddly enough, one of my favorite rainbow roads and I like to see it in HD (finally some background scenery 🙂 Wario’s Gold Mine was my favorite course on my favorite Mario kart game, and I’m really happy to see that the mine carts are now GOOD to run into. The rest are just forgettable.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk, Wii U | 13 Comments

Let’s Talk #5: Your thoughts on Mario Kart 8’s new DLC and 200cc mode

Mario Kart 8’s second wave of DLC has finally arrived. Players now have access to eight additional courses, three new characters, and four more vehicles. Plus, let’s not forget the new 200cc mode that can be obtained through the latest update! Given all of the new content that Mario Kart 8 has added, it seems like the perfect topic for this week’s Let’s Talk.

Unlike previous Let’s Talks, I don’t have much to say about this one… yet! That’s largely in part because I just haven’t had any time to give the new DLC a go yet. I’m hoping to change that sometime this weekend. That being said, I absolutely love the courses in this latest DLC batch. Ribbon Road might be my favorite based on what I’ve seen due to all of the little details.

How many of you have gone hands-on with the new DLC? What’s your favorite track? How are you liking the new characters? Have you tried out 200cc yet? Would you be interested in seeing even more Mario Kart 8 DLC? Sound off in the comments below!

Last week’s topic: The future of 3D Mario games (highlights)

Vigilante_blade

I personally want a Super Mario 64 more open game. While I think there is some merit in Super Mario Galaxy, (apart from the Wiimote controls), I quickly grew bored of the extremely linear level design. Besides, I think it’s been a while since we had a 64-style Mario game.

sonicfan1373

I think we need a balance between linearity and exploration. I think that is one of the things Super Mario Sunshine did well, at least conceptually. Much of the shine collecting occurred in a walled garden setting, whereas there were also linear courses (albeit they were somewhat dull).

I would not mind something like that in future Mario games, having exploration based worlds where you collect stars by completing missions, collection red coins, searching for hidden coins or star parts, and competing in races but also having these worlds connect to more linear courses that really test your platforming, though unlike Sunshine’s somewhat dull courses these could be more like courses from Super Mario 3D Land/World or Galaxy.

FrostedFireFly

I don’t want another Galaxy game because I think the Galaxy mechanic would lose it’s wonder after a 3rd game. I’d still buy it if they made one though, but I’d prefer they didn’t.

I don’t want another 3D World either though… The games felt fun, but extremely underwhelming, making it not really feel like a main Mario game in the series. A sequel to Sunshine would be nice but if possible, I want a completely new Single Player experience using a newer mechanic for the overall game perhaps.

I doubt it’d happen, but I’d like a new 3D Mario game that mixes it’s elements with the Super Mario RPG game back on the Snes… Yeah I guess you could say I just want a new Super Mario RPG but imagine jumping around like you can in Galaxy in actual inhabited Mario places. Have you seen the villages used in the background for Mario Kart 8 tracks!? Why can’t we explore a world like THAT in video games???

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Let's Talk | 97 Comments

Let’s Talk #4: The future of 3D Mario games

3D Mario platformers have done quite a bit since Super Mario 64 launched for the N64 back in 1996. We’ve seen Mario leap into paintings, explore a tropical island, and even travel through space. Super Mario 3D World, the series’ latest entry, also allowed for four-player multiplayer for the first time in a 3D Mario game.

So what’s next? Where do new 3D Mario games go from here? That’s the topic for this week’s Let’s Talk!

If I’m being completely honest, I’d want to see Super Mario Galaxy 3 above anything else. I absolutely adored the Galaxy games on Wii, and would be very interested to see what Nintendo could do with the idea on another console.

That’s not to say I’m against other possibilities! Actually, I’d also be open to another game like Super Mario 64. I feel like a lot of people would love to see a sequel to that game, or something that follows a similar sort of path.

The one thing I absolutely don’t want is another game like Super Mario 3D World. I did like Super Mario 3D Land on 3DS (a lot!), and thought World was pretty good. But now I’d like for Nintendo to move on from that overall type of game.

And now it’s your turn! Where do you want to see 3D Mario platformers go from here? Do you have any ideas for new titles? Sound off in the comments section, and be sure to check out some of your highlights from last week’s topic below!

Last week’s topic: Which Wii games do you want to see on New 3DS?

IndigoRift

If Kirby’s Return to Dreamland happened, I might consider purchasing it. Otherwise, if the Wii game isn’t something that’s hard to find, I really don’t care to see any ports. They need to catch up on N64 and GCN first.

mofi

Something that allows for short intensive bursts gameplay wise. I don´t know maybe Galaxy, MadWorld, Muramasa or something like that

Hexodious

If they make a port of Pandora’s Tower and The Last Story, then i’ll buy the New 3DS in a heartbeat.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk, New Nintendo 3DS, Wii | 76 Comments

Let’s Talk #3: Which Wii games do you want to see on New 3DS?

It’s a big day for the New 3DS. Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is available in North America (though it launched last week in Europe in Japan), which means the system has its first “exclusive”.

I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was when Nintendo announced Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. You see, the original Wii title ended up being one of my favorite games of all time. I also love being able to play games in a portable format so I can take them wherever I go. It was the perfect match! As much as I appreciate brand new games, ports/remakes here and there aren’t a problem I feel.

So here we are. Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, originally a console game on Wii, is now in portable form on New 3DS. That begs the question: could similar games receive the same treatment in the future? That’s where this week’s topic comes in!

Here are a few of my thoughts:

There are a few titles that I’d be interesting in seeing on the New 3DS. I’ll talk a tiny bit about my selections below.

– Okami – I was pretty disappointed when Okami HD was announced, only to see that Capcom wasn’t bringing it to the PlayStation Vita. So… how about the New 3DS?! That would give me an opportunity to play it on a handheld!
– Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 – Like Xenoblade, these two are among the best games I’ve ever played. I would totally welcome New 3DS ports/remakes!
– The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – right up there as one of my favorite Zeldas. Having it on New 3DS would give me another opportunity to play through the game once again.

Now I want to hear from you! Is there any particular game – or games – from the Wii era that you’d like to see brought over to the New 3DS? Sound off in the comments section, and be sure to check out some of your highlights from last week’s topic below!

Last week’s topic: Thoughts on the April 2015 Nintendo Direct

Jake

I was pretty pleased overall! I really appreciate that they keep adding on to the games that I already own. I’m really excited for both mario kart and smash updates and DLC. Splatoon is huge on my radar, and I can’t wait for either fire emblem game that was shown. I don’t currently have anything really like SMTxFE on my Wii U, so it is a welcome change from normal FE play style. The new amiibos are looking good, and I’m already so deep in that I can’t help but get them all (though I missed out on Greninja so far). Overall, I really enjoyed it.

kthanxyousuck

As a 3DS owner, I wasn’t really expecting too many announcements as I think majority of the 3DS library will be localizations this year and that would obviously be left for E3. There’s really not much left in terms of first party unless they come up with some more wacky stuff like Tomodachi (which would be awesome).

I like MewTwo’s new final smash and bringing Lucas back was cool too. That yoshi amiibo was too awesome and I like what I’m seeing from Fire Emblem if but I’m glad it’s not coming out until next year (It took me 50 hours to beat awakening and I’m a little burnt out). I’m glad they listened to the fans about Codename Steam and will speed up enemy turns.

I like the way SMT X Fire Emblem looks but that’s moreso because I am not familiar with SMT games. I’ve always preferred Awakening, Persona and Etrian Odyssey so I’m use to the anime style by now. People have said that they saw some Awakening characters in the trailer though and if you look at the battle parts, you’ll notice little symbols by the fighters which seems to dictate their FE classes.

I’m going to need a little information on that Animal Crossing game since I can’t really tell how big it’s going to be. on the one hand it seems like an eshop game but it might not be.

Overall it was a pretty solid direct considering E3 is so close. I’m looking forward to the Level 5 event Tuesday and this is usually the time of year developers start announcing games out of nowhere (looking at you Atlus). Am I the only one hoping we’ll hear about that Great Detective Pikachu game? I haven’t forgotten about that guys!

And here are a few highlights from last week’s topic! These all come from you guys.

Melatelo

It was pretty decent. People seem to be blowing it out of proportion though. Like it was good.. but not that good! Very weird to see nothing more on ‘X’ at all. No more on Devils
Third either!! In terms of new stuff / announcements there wasn’t much of it- but I agree with you Brian, all the new announcements will be made at e3 which is just around the corner. I also gotta say although I am mostly interested in Wii U…it’s disappointing to see the 3DS almost completely neglected. We’ve had a good pace of releases up until now but what’s coming next? We’ve got quite a lot of confirmed first party Wii U titles coming but virtually no 3DS ones.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk | 40 Comments

Another Nintendo Direct is in the books! After more than two months, a new presentation was finally delivered, and it covered a whole bunch of topics. We finally got our first glimpse at Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, and received a big update on the new Fire Emblem game for 3DS. There was also major DLC news for Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 8 (including the game’s free 200cc update!). Plenty more was shown of course.

What’d you think of it? Are you pleased with what was shown? What is your personal highlight? How do you feel about Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, which seems to be getting mixed reactions?

I’ll kick off the discussion with my own thoughts.

This Nintendo Direct really delivered in my view, especially if you kept your expectations in check. With E3 2015 only two months away, I wasn’t expecting much in the way of brand new game announcements. That’s why it made no sense to me that people were predicting that Star Fox for Wii U would be shown. Star Fox is the sort of game that you need to hold on to for a big event like E3.

Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem is one of the biggest game that appeared during Nintendo Direct. Even though it was reconfirmed at last year’s E3 that the game was still in the works, it was nice to finally see a visual confirmation of this. I’m actually a tiny bit surprised that it wasn’t revealed at this year’s E3.

There are a lot of mixed thoughts when it comes to Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem. Right now, I’m in the “positive” group. I do like what was shown. Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem is getting a fair amount of comparisons to Persona, and I don’t mind that at all personally – especially since I played (and adored) Persona 4 Golden last year. We still barely know anything about it, so I think it’s too early to make any sort of absolute judgment.

I could probably write up a whole bunch of thoughts about this week’s Nintendo Direct, but then this post would end up being way too long! That being said, the news about Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 8 was exciting. The Yoshi amiibo is adorable. And hey, the Wii U Virtual Console is still alive thanks to the introduction of N64 and DS titles! It’s about time.

Now we want to hear from you. Let’s talk about this week’s Nintendo Direct! Sound off in the comments below. Just like last week, I’ll be stopping by the comments section and replying to some of your thoughts. Let’s keep the conversation going!

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Let's Talk | 65 Comments

It’s been awhile since I last hosted a Discussing Everything session. There’s a reason for that: I’ve been thinking about how to proceed with it going forward. I believe I’ve found somewhat of a solution, though that means ending Discussing Everything to pave the way for something else.

This is where Let’s Talk comes in. I know – it’s another incredibly uncreative name for one of our features. Despite that, I’m hoping that we’ll be able to generate some interesting discussions with this new initiative.

The idea behind Let’s Talk is actually very simple. Each week, we’ll have one post dedicated to a particular topic – almost like a forum post. I’ll kick off the discussion in the main post, and then you guys will be able to follow up with your own thoughts in the comments. I’ll be replying to some of the responses, and other staff members may chime in as well. You guys can also respond to each other comments.

Basically, I’m trying to generate focused discussions. I also want Let’s Talk to be a place where everyone can interact with each other in a positive manner!

So why should you participate? Well, for one thing, hopefully you’ll find it entertaining! If you love talking about Nintendo like me, perhaps some of the topics we bring up will interest you. We’ll also be selecting at least one response per week that will be highlighted in the following week’s post.
With that out of the way, let’s move on to this week’s topic!

Let’s Talk #1: what is your favorite Nintendo game?

Note: we’re opening things up, so this can be any game made for any Nintendo system.

I’ll get things started. This answer tends to change for me occasionally. Sometimes I feel like I’d go with games like Super Mario Galaxy 2 or Xenoblade. But when it comes down to it, I’d have to choose The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Ocarina of Time is really what jump-started my interest in gaming. For one thing, it was the first console title that I truly owned and completed on my own. I’ll never forget going to Best Buy and picking up my GameCube, which included with a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Collector’s Edition (it also came with a CD player – random, right?). Even though it was technically a N64 title, my brain didn’t really know that, and I was very impressed with the graphics at the time. Getting immersed in the world, travelling across Hyrule, and taking on the various dungeons still fills me with plenty of memories. Like many players, it was amazing stepping into Hyrule Field for the first time!

Now it’s your turn. What is YOUR favorite Nintendo game? You can choose to do whatever pleases you with your response. It can be short, long, or anything in between. Whatever! Just go for it. Let’s have a nice discussion and talk about the games we love!

I’ll be checking up on the comments over the next few days. We’ll be featuring one of your responses in next week’s post, which will also include a new topic to talk about!

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