Posted on 10 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 10 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 10 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 10 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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