[Just a Chat] Devil’s Third, Zero Escape 3, Dragon Quest, and the Epic Indie Sale
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, Just a Chat, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
Brian and Daan are finally back for a new episode of Just a Chat. There was plenty to talk about this week, including the strange situation surrounding Devil’s Third in North America, Zero Escape 3’s announcement, Dragon Quest VII and VIII for the west, and the Epic Indie Sale.
Stuff:
[Let’s Talk] How do you feel about Devil’s Third?
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk, Wii U | 25 Comments
Let’s Talk #15: How do you feel about Devil’s Third?
Devil’s Third is in a very strange place right now. The game has been in development for years, and is finally launching (well, in Europe and Japan at least) next month. To say that things haven’t done smoothly for Devil’s Third would be an understatement.
Originally, Devil’s Third was being overseen by THQ, but we all know what happened to that company. Nintendo eventually picked up the project and it was re-revealed at last year’s E3. It surfaced once again in a video from Nintendo’s Japanese YouTube page, but skipped E3 2015 entirely. The game’s status is also slightly unclear in North America.
Development and release issues aside, what are your thoughts on Devil’s Third? To be fair, we haven’t seen a massive amount from it thus far, so there’s not a tremendous amount to go on. There was the initial appearance at E3 2014, and the video that came out several weeks back.
But let’s have a talk about Devil’s Third – the game itself. Were you interested since the initial reveal? Did the latest footage manage to capture your attention? Did you never care for it at all? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Highlights from last week’s topic: What are you playing? – July 2015
David Arkema
I’ve been playing SSB for wii u, playing a lot offline matches with Ryu and (FE) Roy (I also got Lucas, but don’t care much for him). I love (FE) Roy more than I thought, because he’s another swordfighter, but I like him more than Marth. Can’t wait to have my hands on a Ryu amiibo!
Just bought Stick it to the Man and played through some levels. and I never thought I would realy like this game, but I do. I it that every NPC has its own personality and the sticker mechanics/gameplay.
Playing sometimes Splatoon. Just completed the singleplayer, which is like platforming with a gun (or roller). Now I sometimes play a couple online matches (every 3 days).
I am planning to finish Super Mario Galaxy 2 (wii u e-shop). Never played it on the wii before, but I realize know that was a great mistake. This game is awesome!
Also planning to get back Mario Kart 8 (online). This game I used to play every day I power on my wii u. But lately I’m occupied with SSB for wii u.
On my nintendo 3ds I play mostly Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. Man, I thought after Monster Hunter 3 on wii u I would never play costs so much time (of my life), but then came MH4 ultimate (and for wii u Xenoblade Chronicles X 4/12/2015). MH4 looks amazing and thanks to the New nintendo 3dsXL it also plays amazing.
James Parry
Going on holiday for a whopping 7 week holiday in a weeks times in our holiday home in Corfu, Greece soon. I know, it sounds amazing; beaches twice a day, lovely greek food for every meal, beautiful weather the whole time, but I can’t bring my Wii U! No Splatoon until September! Ahhhh! (First world problem; I know!)
So, for me, summer is all about my 3DS (bar the beaches). This year I’ve got a solid line up including Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, which I put on hold since my brother got it as I was in the middle of loads of exams, Yoshi’s New Island (also been put on hold) Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Zelda: Spirit Tracks (a second playthrough).
The other day I also managed to pick up some second-hand Layton DS games which I plan to play during the summer followed by Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright; a crossover of my two favourite DS series.
So basically; my summer is a busy one. I’ll have to distribute my time between swimming, eating greek food, reading in hammocks under trees, hanging out with family members, cycling to the local bakery every morning, feeding the donkey living near our house, sun bathing, eating more greek food and playing a whopping library of fantastic 3DS and DS games!
gigamario
I have been alternating between Xenoblade X and Splatoon. I think they complement each other pretty well: X is more suited for longer sessions and Splatoon is just quick pure fun. I have finished the story of X and reached the level cap of Splatoon and although I intend to continue playing those games, I guess I will spend a little less time with them going forward.
Also due to recent thunderstorms around my area of residence, there has been situations when I wanted to avoid using electronics that is plugged into the power grid. I have started playing Last Window: the Secret of Cape West (Nintendo DS) for that reason. I have owned that game for years and it has been factory sealed for all that time, so I’m happy that I finally got to playing it!
SortableShelf19
I’m currently playing Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. For anyone that didn’t know, I didn’t have a 3DS before. I was a Wii U-only owner until recently when I got a New 3DS XL for my birthday (but I didn’t get the game until a little later).
While it doesn’t have as much content as the Wii U version does, it’s still a very well-crafted game. I have a lot of fun playing this game on the go.
Top 4 Legendary Weapons
Posted on 9 years ago by Kirara Koneko(@KiraraKoneko) in Features, Game of the Month, General Nintendo | 6 Comments
What makes a sword earn the classification of an epic weapon? How do you know the sword you wield will help to change the fate of the world? Throughout many franchises across Nintendo’s systems, there have been numerous heroes, each of whom have generally had an epic weapon to aid them in their lofty quest. Whether by their choice or destiny, these heroes have been selected for a task that only they can achieve. Some must complete this task on their own, some guided by a higher power, and some are blessed with companions to help them along the way. But what all of these protagonists have in common is they hold the key to their fates in their hands.
[Let’s Talk] What are you playing? – July 2015
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Let's Talk | 26 Comments
Let’s Talk #14: What are you playing? – July 2015
Summer is here, and it’s the start of a new month. Given that – and the fact that we’re a games-oriented website – I thought we should host a “what are you playing” topic for Let’s Talk this week. It may actually be something that we do at the start of each month going forward depending on how the discussion goes this time around.
So tell us in the comments below: what are you playing right now? It’d be great if what you mention is Nintendo-related, but I don’t think it’d be fair to exclude others from Let’s Talk if they’re currently playing on a different platform. That means anything is fair game! I’ll start the discussion off below.
I’ve been playing a whole lot of Mario Tennis on the 3DS Virtual Console lately. Nintendo put the game on sale in North America a couple of weeks ago, and while it was only about $1 less than the normal asking price, I decided to grab it and jump right in.
I played Mario Tennis a ton back in the day on the Game Boy Color. I still have my original system and the game cartridge in fact!
I have so, so many fond memories of this title. It’s really as a good as I remember it, and it sort of makes me wish that the Mario Tennis games these days were a bit more like it. Mario Tennis Open on 3DS was alright, but this one is much better in my opinion.
The main draw of Mario Tennis on the Game Boy Color was definitely the story mode. You can play as either Alex or Nina (plus a partner of Harry or Kate depending on if you select doubles), and level up/improve stats along the way.
Thus far, I haven’t even touched that mode even though I loved it greatly. I’ve just been spending a lot of time in exhibition matches thus far. Something about the core tennis gameplay feels perfect. I have a feeling I won’t be putting the title down anytime soon!
Highlights from last week’s topic: Your thoughts on Nintendo’s E3 2015 performance
bakedapplepie
Overall I think it was a pretty good show. Ya a lot of what we knew already, but the Starfox reveal, interviews, and muppets/puppets were great. I thought the Treehouse team did a great job really showing the viewer more depth to all the games mentioned in the digital direct and showing some games that were not mentioned (Fatal Frame). Also the return of the Nintendo World Championship was a lot of fun to watch. The one thing that I was seriously disappointed in was their was no announcement for a new HD Zelda remaster for the Wii U. I truly expected that they would announce Twilight Princess HD, since they delayed Zelda Wii U and they did such a good job on Wind Waker. I’m still hoping that this comes true.
Kimite
I think it was the way Nintendo presented their games and some of the interviews were a bit long than they need maybe. Still am not too sure if it was a good idea too show all of the new upcoming stuff right before E3 ;^^. I mean they had their Nintendo Direct about 3 weeks ago and their Smash presentation last Sunday, and I think it would be better if they included some of those games in the Digital Event too.
Still most of the games Nintendo featured in the Digital Event is probably going to be good if not amazing ^^. I mean I am looking forward to 4-5 of the games they showed as I am a Zelda fan and I RPGer. (Really looking forward to Triforce Heroes ^^).
I mentioned it below in a comment, but I think the reason why Devil’s Third and Fatal Frame wasn’t shown in the Digital Event is because of a/the same law in Europe that forbid people to buy 18/M rated games before 11PM ;^^. (Don’t ask me why Europe has laws like that :-/).
The reason why I think there will be a Nintendo Direct in August is the amount of content Nintendo are releasing then. Like: The Match making mode for Splatoon (and Rainmaker mode), Tournament mode in Smash and Devil’s Third.
Right now I think the best thing we can do is wait for the good games to come and we are actually getting both Legend of Kay and Art Academy this month, so I don’t think we should be bitter for too long as there are plenty of games that are coming with are really good :-).
LittleLynn
Nintendo’s Digital Event was kind of completely terrible. There was entirely too much fluff. I totally zoned out when Miyamoto blabbed on about the inspiration for Star Fox for entirely too long. And I actually passed out while Reggie was asking how Donkey Kong and Bowser got into Skylanders (only to wake up and find them still talking). Whoopie. I thought this was supposed to be about games?
I’m sure that kind of stuff is interesting to somebody, but I think even they’d agree it’s not really the time or place for it. One of the things I tend to appreciate about Nintendo’s presentations over the others is that usually Nintendo doesn’t spend so much time patting itself on the back. This year, not so much.
That and a lot of bizarre game choices. From the weird Metroid sports thing to two new Animal Crossing games that did nothing but offend Metroid and Animal Crossing fans alike. And I’ll probably just skip Triforce Heroes, as someone who really couldn’t get into Four Swords. I’m not into Star Fox. I’m not into Skylanders. I’d play Mario Tennis at a friend’s place if they had it, but I couldn’t imagine myself getting and playing it on my own.
I think Hyrule Warriors Legends was probably the best new(ish) announcement. I’d been waiting for a price drop before I picked it up, but a new portable version, with all the DLC, at the price of a 3DS game? Good enough price for me. I just wish it weren’t spoiled beforehand.
But seriously, no third version for Pokemon XY? I thought for sure they’d announce that.
It’s not to say everything out of Nintendo sucked though. Rather, all the games they showed that I’m looking forward to, are ones we’ve already known about for a while: Yoshi’s Woolly World, Super Mario Maker, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Fire Emblem Fates, and Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem (or whatever they’re calling it now). That’s a lot of games to be excited for actually, but I already knew they were coming. And the new videos mostly offered next to no new real information about any of them (excluding Mario Maker, which actually got a lot of new details). For the most part, there weren’t really any surprises. Honestly, I think they should’ve saved both the Micro Direct from a few weeks back, and the Smash Direct (and maybe even Earthbound Beginnings) from last weekend for the Digital Event. It’d have had a lot more substance if they did.
Exy
I think it would have been a better show if they didn’t sabotage themselves in the six months leading up to it. The Nintendo Directs, the Nintendo World Championships, and the DeNA announcement and the NX reveal accompanying it all took away things that could have been much bigger deals at E3. They should have put, say, Metroid Prime: Federation Force in some Nintendo Direct if they had a clue how people would react to it, but they didn’t because they absolutely had to have a surprise game in the championships. For each big reveal and deconfirmations leading up to E3, expectations went higher and higher and they just made it impossible to get anything other than the reaction they got. That said, they’ll be fine, even if the show did feel oddly 3DS-centric. They’ve survived a few “losses” and this one is being blown out of proportion.
As for me, I went in expecting only a ton of Mario Maker stuff and that’s what I got, so I was satisfied. And they showed a bunch of gameplay whenever possible, unlike some other shows this year as usual. Also Muppets.
Boss Jelly
Underwhelmed as a whole, it just seemed like variants of things we already knew about. I think Paper Jam, Star Fox and Tennis look pretty cool though. I’m not INCREDIBLY angry about the Metroid game but I’m a little disappointed after 5 years that this is the return of the series…Amiibo Festival on the other hand…
Here’s a Podcast – Episode 121! (F-1 Race)
Posted on 9 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 4 Comments
I do not know what the hell happened to this episode, but the audio is an absolute mess, and for that I apologize. You’ll notice Laura’s audio cutting in and out, her microphone quality was totally mangled, and there are a few weird snags here and there. It’s still listenable, but it’s not perfect and there are some awkward spots here and there. In any case, here are the chapters for this week:
Chapters today:
Opening Shenanigans
00:00 – Intros, greetings, hello
02:54 – Game of the week: F-1 Race!
What we played
06:14 – Jack tests his nostalgia for Super Mario Sunshine.
21:40 – Laura is a Mojave Monster in Fallout: New Vegas.
37:01 – Austin says Star Fox: Assault is like a sneeze on a wall.
Shenanigans II
51:18 – Freetures
55:14 – Star Fox Zero music break.
55:49 – Question of the day: How would you like to walk 600 feet?
58:00 – SMTxFE music break.
58:56 – Book club, moving advice, etc.
Listener questions mail
1:03:09 – Using Splatoon’s girl characters for marketing, other questions about female characters, etc
1:11:57 – Do you have more fun with games if you stay up to date on news?
1:20:21 – How long should a game be? (“It depends”)
1:27:11 – A nice email from a nice person.
1:30:56 – Briefly touching on E3 2015.
Ending Shenanigans
1:37:16 – Nonsense time.
1:38:37 – F-1 Race QUIZ
Download this episode (click this link)
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More: E3 2015, highlight, podcast, Star Fox, Super Mario Sunshine
Monolith Soft: From A to Xeno (Part 2)
Posted on 9 years ago by Patrick(@Patricklous) in DS, Features, Game of the Month, Wii | 8 Comments
As June draws to a close, I’m back with a second look back at the history of Monolith Soft and the games they created over the last generation of Nintendo consoles – with the exception of the actual Game of the Month. This was a period of change for the company and saw the release of several more experimental titles. Bandai Namco sold the majority of their stock in Monolith Soft to Nintendo in 2007 and while they wouldn’t become a first-party developer until later, all games from this point on would be on Nintendo consoles. Despite this, Monolith would still keep close ties with their previous owner, who took on publishing duties for some of their more niche games. Following the release of Baten Kaitos Origins there was a gap of two years before Monolith Soft’s next title – Soma Bringer.
[Just a Chat] Nintendo Digital Event @ E3 2015 reaction
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Just a Chat, Videos, Wii U | 0 comments
Jon and I are a bit late on this, but we’re both back to discuss the Nintendo Digital Event that took place during E3. That includes talk about Star Fox Zero, The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Metroid Prime: Federation Force, and lots more!
Stuff:
[Interview] Zordix shares new details about Aqua Moto Racing Utopia, talks New 3DS
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, Interviews, New Nintendo 3DS, Wii U eShop | 10 Comments
Zordix announced Aqua Moto Racing Utopia for Wii U last February. We haven’t heard much about the game over the past year, so we reached out to the studio for a status update. Larsson revealed that the game has made the jump to Unity 5, discussed DLC plans, teased a probable New 3DS exclusive, and more.
Read on below for our full interview with Matti Larsson, CEO and creative director at Zordix AB. You’ll also find an exclusive new screenshot showing how the updated UI looks.
More: Aqua Moto Racing Utopia, highlight, indie, Matti Larsson, top, Zordix
[Let’s Talk] Your thoughts on Nintendo’s E3 2015 performance
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Let's Talk | 42 Comments
Let’s Talk #13: Your thoughts on Nintendo’s E3 2015 performance
Well, that’s it! Another E3 is in the books. Now it’s time to talk about it all.
Just like last year’s E3, Nintendo did quite a bit in conjunction with the show. The Smash Bros. presentation kicked things off on Sunday morning, followed by the Nintendo World Championships later that night. The Nintendo Digital Event was on Tuesday, and the Treehouse Live streams lasted for three days.
As it was where the big announcements were made, I’ll be focusing on the Digital Event. You guys can feel free to discuss any part of Nintendo’s E3 presence, however!
To recap, below were the big announcements from the Nintendo Digital Event:
Wii U
– Star Fox Zero revealed, PlatinumGames working on the project
– Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival announced, out this holiday, amiibo figures revealed
– Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash announced, out this holiday
– Skylanders SuperChargers is getting Bowser and Donkey Kong figures that also act as amiibo
– Super Mario Maker: out September 11, new amiibo officially revealed
– Xenoblade Chronicles X: out December 4
– Yoshi’s Woolly World: out October 16
– New Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem trailer, reconfirmed for 2016
3DS
– The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes announced, out this fall
– Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam announced, out spring 2016
– Metroid Prime: Federation Force revealed, out in 2016
– Hyrule Warriors Legends confirmed, out Q1 2016
– Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer: out September 25
– Yo-Kai Watch: out this holiday
– Fire Emblem Fates gets its final name, reconfirmed for 2016
So that was the big stuff. Looking back on everything, how do you guys feel about what was shown? I’ll kick things off with my own thoughts below.
Man, there is a whole lot to talk about concerning the Digital Event. The general impression, unfortunately for Nintendo, seems to be leaning towards the negative side.
Once the Digital Event ended, I was a bit disappointed myself. For a few reasons.
For one thing, there wasn’t much new announced for Wii U. Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival and Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash were the only games we didn’t know about before for the console. Both are due out later this year. What do we have to look forward to in 2016 aside from Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem? I hope we see some announcements later on in the year!
Metroid Prime: Federation Force is a strange thing for me. On one hand, I’m happy that we finally have a new Metroid. On the other hand, it doesn’t feel much like a Metroid game right now. I’m not personally liking how it looks currently, but I’m very much willing to give it a shot. Let’s see what happens as development progresses.
Looking back on it and really reflecting on things, the Digital Event wasn’t awful in my opinion. Don’t forget we had E3 presentations like in 2008, which featured a whole lot of Shaun White Snowboarding and Wii Music. It definitely wasn’t Nintendo’s strongest, and last year’s event was much more exciting by comparison.
Some other random thoughts: where was Devil’s Third? Did anyone else feel like the Digital Event was missing “one other game” or “one big title”? After the Mario Maker bit, I was hoping Nintendo would have one final title to reveal. The puppets were lovely, but some segments felt like they ran on too long. Considering Yoshi’s Woolly World was featured in last year’s Digital Event and is launching extremely soon in Europe in Japan, a trailer probably would have been enough.
Okay, that’s enough from me. I better stop now. My brain has melted from E3 coverage, so I’m probably just rambling on too much at this point. Let us know what you thoughts about Nintendo at E3 2015 in the comments below!
Highlights from last week’s topic: E3 2015 hopes and dreams
Timppis
In order of preference.
New IP – Large scale JRPG but with more fantasy settings than Xenoblade games. FF9 or White Witch -style.
Paper Mario – Have to have this. The rumors must be true
Star Fox open world game – Not going to happen unfortunately
New line of Mario Sports games, highlighted by Mario Strikers 3 with HUGE career mode – Also not going to happen.
Mario sports games in general – Baseball, Rugby/American football mashup, Basketball, anything. -Not happening
Super Mario Sunshine HD – Plausible
Resurrection of any of these franchises – Waveracer, Golden Sun, 1080 Snowboarding, Advance Wars, Earthbound… – Also not going to happen
Im going to be so disappointed this year… I just know it ;_;
AJK
A new Metroid is the dream really. Ideally a new Prime type game.
Also please please please don’t let Starfox be underwhelming. I have waited since Starfox 64 for a decent Starfox shooter. My fear is that they might try something gimmicky instead of sticking to what made the first 2 games so great.
My final wish would be a new Golden Sun game on 3ds.
Vorsun
I’m probably alone on this, but I really wanna see more of Devil’s Third. That game is shaping up to be a really fun 3rd-person hack-and-slashooter. And of course I want Nintendo to be playing another trick on me and show a trailer for Zelda U, even though I’m sure there won’t be one.
As far as games I want them to announce, I would love for Retro’s new game to be Metroid Prime 4/Dread/whatever, but I’m torn because I also want them to do their own IP. I want Platinum’s game to either be Vanquish 2 or Wonderful 102 or… dare I ask for God Hand 2? With Bayonetta 2 being Wii U exclusive, the possibilities are astounding. And of course, as always, my greatest desire is Custom Robo U/3DS. I will not be satisfied with some cardboard cutout trying to be Custom Robo. I need the real steel deal.
icecreamperson
So I want a couple of things….
An hd remake for zelda for wii u
a new big 3d mario game announced in the vain of galaxy, sunshine or 64 fr wii u
a new paper mario announced for wii u
diddy kong racing for wii u announced
Here’s a Podcast – Episode 120! (Balloon Kid)
Posted on 9 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 3 Comments
E3 2015 has come and gone. This is our E3-themed podcast where we were all really tired. I’m still tired so this is all I’m going to write on this post.
Chapters today:
Opening Shenanigans
00:00 – Intros, welcomings, etc
03:41 – Picture of the day
04:54 – Game of the week: Balloon Kid!
Other stuff
08:49 – E3 2015! Our gut reactions.
55:30 – Our secret E3 2015 predictions. How’d we do?
Ending Shenanigans
1:10:04 – Balloon Kid quiz + ending
Download this episode (click this link)
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