Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Features, Videos, Wii U | 9 Comments

Over the past couple of weeks, Austin has been playing the heck out of Splatoon. The game has a bunch of neat details, and he’s picked up on a few of them that fans might be interested in.

We’ll be featuring the neater things in Splatoon over the next few days. Austin highlights the first couple below.

Look for our review of Splatoon tomorrow!

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Just a Chat, Videos | 2 Comments

I’ve been sick and Austin isn’t around to edit audio, but Just a Chat must go on! In this week’s episode, Daan and I talk about the announcements of Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon and Art Academy: Atelier, plus the Nintendo World Championships, Nintendo’s hiring of “Bowser”, and the Splatoon Iwata Asks.

Stuff:

Brian’s Twitter
Daan’s Twitter

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Let's Talk | 44 Comments

Let’s Talk #9: What is your favorite Nintendo franchise?

Nintendo has created a ton of franchises over the years. We’ve seen IPs like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, Star Fox, Kid Icarus… just to name a few. There are so many series out there that it’s tough to choose a favorite. But that’s exactly what I’m asking of you this week!

This week’s Let’s Talk is very simple. I want to have a discussion about our favorite franchises. What’s your favorite? Why do you enjoy it so much? I’m curious about your absolute favorite series, but you can name a few runner-ups as well. Sound off in the comments! You’ll find a few thoughts from me and highlights from last week’s Let’s Talk down below.

Choosing a favorite Nintendo franchise is incredibly difficult since Nintendo has a bunch of well-known and great series to choose from. At the end of the day though, I’d probably have to go with Zelda. I’ve previously talked about how Ocarina of Time truly jump-started my interest in gaming, and my experience with it is a big reason why Nintendo Everything exists today!

There’s a lot to love in Zelda. The epic adventures. The variety of art styles. The different types of gameplay. For me, there’s very little that beats riding Epona across Hyrule.

I do want to mention that I have a ton of love for other Nintendo franchises. If I were to rank them, Zelda would be first, followed by Mario, and then Metroid. Mario… well, not much explanation is needed there! It’s an absolutely classic franchise that can resonate with just about anyone. I started with the Metroid series late – Metroid Fusion was my first experience with the franchise. But I never looked back, and have loved both the 2D and 3D entries.

Highlights from last week’s topic: Your thoughts on Splatoon

Exy

I had my worries in the past that they’re not doing as much as they should to promote it, but they should be credited for identifying their internet fanbase and getting to them where it counts. Tumblr in particular is big on the game’s aesthetic and characters, and they’re actually using their Vine account for the first time since 2013 solely to promote this game. Before last month, they had only two Vines, both half-heartedly promoting the Wii U, but now there’s a good amount of videos on it all dedicated to Splatoon. They’re really going all out on the internet front getting this game known. Pity about those American television commercials though…

timfletcher1983

I’ve read a lot of complaints about the game pad being necessary to play online. I have to admit, I was a little concerned too, given I use the Pro Controllers almost exclusively with the relevant games that support it. However, the gyro + analogue stick controls of the game pad were absolutely, surprisingly comfortable when playing for 1 hour during the Splatoon Global Testfire. I gave it a good go, then turned motion control off to see how I’d fare with the typical analogue stick controls, but I have to say I preferred the gyro + analogue combo; it seems far more accurate.

I wonder though how this might fare for longer periods of playing. No doubt, the game pad may get a little heavy over time, and I still had a lot of tweaking (and skill development) to feel like I had the hang of it 100%. Nonetheless, I was super pleasantly surprised – two hands on the game pad make for some seriously accurate and timely aiming – much more than those one handed Wii remote motion aiming days.

Ant M.

I for one am REALLY excited for this game after getting my hands on it. It’s a new spin on a genre that DESPERATELY needed one & a polished one at that. That game feels SO good! Everything about it feels fluid and works together to make you feel immersed in the gameplay from the controls down to the sound design.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Giveaway, Wii U eShop | 50 Comments

Update: We have a winner! Congratulations to gabopr75. We’ll be sending your code shortly!

Our latest giveaway is Nihilumbra, a new Wii U eShop title that just came out this past week. To enter, simply leave a comment below telling us about your favorite moody game.

Please note that this giveaway is only open to those with North American Wii U systems. Also, we only have one code, so be sure to come up with the best response you have! We’ll announce a winner on Thursday.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Just a Chat, Videos | 53 Comments

No weekly Just a Chat, but you can catch up on the E3-specific discussion Austin and I held earlier this week. It’s probably a good thing we got that in on Wednesday since whatever I’ve come down with has taken a lot out of me. Being sick isn’t fun!

Nintendo shared some pretty big news about its E3 2015 plans today, so Brian and Austin talk about it all in this episode of Just a Chat. That includes the Nintendo World Championships and Digital Event. There’s also some discussion about what Nintendo may/may not show during its presentation and more!

Stuff:

Brian’s Twitter
Austin’s Twitter

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk | 14 Comments

Let’s Talk #8: Your thoughts on Splatoon

Splatoon’s release date is fast approaching. Actually, two weeks from today, the game will finally be out on store shelves. How exciting is that?!

Splatoon is a pretty big deal. It’s a new IP from Nintendo, and it’s something different from the Big N. Nintendo itself seems to be promoting it fairly heavy with various commercials in all regions, a dedicated Direct (though it’s true they do that for most games), and even a special demo.

Since we’re so close to Splatoon’s launch, I thought it could be nice to hold a discussion about the game. How do you feel about Splatoon? Has your opinion changed since the original reveal at E3? What’d you think of the Splatoon Global Testfire? Sound off in the comments below!

Just a few quick thoughts from me since I’ve been feeling sick the past couple of days!

I feel like this isn’t the popular opinion, but I’m actually looking forward to playing the single-player campaign more than the multiplayer modes. Don’t get me wrong: I’ll definitely be trying out the various multiplayer offerings. However, I’ve always been more of a lone gamer. That’s just the way I tend to enjoy games!

Everything we’ve heard about Splatoon’s single-player thus far sounds very interesting. I love hearing that it has a lot of variety, and some people have even compared it to Super Mario Galaxy in a way – which is certainly a good thing.

Obviously multiplayer is going to be what carries Splatoon forward. I managed to get in a few rounds last week, and I think what I played managed to sell me on those multiplayer aspects more. I just need more time with the game.

Highlights from last week’s topic: Do you care about amiibo?

Diortem

I care about amiibo! I’m sick of hearing people complain about them. They’re not DLC- they’re figurines. If you don’t want it for your shelf, DON’T BUY IT. I love the way a lot of them look and I think the in-game bonuses are fantastic and not even CLOSE to DLC. I have a nice collection of the ones I love the most and I have the Splatoon 3-pack pre-ordered.

By the way- just spent the hour playing the Splatoon demo- WOW! They hype is VERY real. That was amazingly fun.

Garrett Austin Boyle

I have 18 on my shelf with seven preordered. I think I kind of like them.

??

In a strange ironic twist, I have only one amiibo and no real motivation to complete a collection, despite being a completionist (in collections as well as games) to a debilitating point xD

I think several things turned me off from it, namely the modeled appearance versus the actual thing. Of course it was too much to actually assume every factory model one would appear in such a lovely way. The other thing was the one-file-at-a-time functionality makes it a little limiting…

Seeing other comments, I am more than happy to let others who truly enjoy Amiibos buy them (at non scalped prices none the less) rather than buying them and trying to convince myself that I need or want them.

ArsonDoctor

I do, though it didn’t really start until I bought a Peach amiibo for my niece. At first, I decided I was only going to get amiibo for my mains in Smash Bros., Captain Falcon and Shulk, and Sonic since I grew up playing his games, but then my nieces got interested, and then a Pikachu amiibo happened, and then a Zelda, and then Samus too. I’m only really interested in the Smash Bros. line as of right now, but of course that could change in the future. I want a Mewtwo amiibo really, REALLY bad though.

I got the Captain Falcon and Shulk ones BTW, my Gamestop is awesome!

Locky Mavo

I’d love to see Nintendo make a Amiibo game, like Disney Infinity and Skylanders,
Amiibo-land maybe? (seeing as Nintendoland is taken). Give Amiibos more of a use, instead of just unlocking costumes, weapons, abilities and Smash AI saves. Maybe even have it so they can be added into the Nintendo version of Disney Infinity, Skylanders and Lego Dimensions, that’d be awesome!

Maybe something will be announced at E3?

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Posted on 9 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 9 Comments

We weren’t going to have a show this week, but then Austin played Splatoon and he really wanted to talk about it so we decided to have a show. Additionally, Brian did a site survey and asked many of you about the podcast, so we decided to do a little navel gazing and read some of what you guys had to say, both good and bad. And weird. The nice image you see above was found on Neogaf!

Chapters today:

Opening Shenanigans

4:57 – Quiz – Tetris
5:28 – GAME OF THE WEEK – Yakuman

What We Played

8:05 – Austin’s been splatting folks left and right. (Mega Splatoon TALK)
46:43 – Everyone played 200cc. (Mario Kart 8)

Secondary Shenanigans

51:24 – Freetures
54:21 – Splatoon music break
55:47 – Touch My Navel – Your thoughts on the podcast

Listener Questions Mail

1:13:24 – Where to find New 3DS XL cases.
1:16:00 – How do you argue with a “hardcore” gamer?

Ending Shenanigans

2:25:02 – Ending fun
2:27:43 – QUIZ TIME
2:30:00 – Austin realizes something about DK64

Download this episode (click this link)

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Just a Chat, Videos, Wii U | 0 comments

There was a great deal of Nintendo news last week, and Daan/I talked about it all! That includes the Splatoon Direct, the Universal partnership for theme park attractions, and latest financial results (including related tidbits).

Stuff:

Brian’s Twitter
Daan’s Twitter

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Developer Musings | 4 Comments

Nintendo’s entry into the mobile market through its partnership with DeNA is a natural fit, but moving forward it does beg a lot of questions. When you combine Nintendo’s notoriety for doing things their own way with the unforgiving nature of the mobile market outside of the already flooded free-to-play space, its not as simple as making a Mario endless runner and calling it a day. Nintendo has an interesting set of challenges put forward to them, as the kind of investment they make in this space could have some unprecedented consequences for their own handheld platform.

We reached out to developers Springloaded Software, Joost van Dongen, Rawkins Games, and Yazar Media Group for their take on the best way for Nintendo to get some of the mobile limelight and use it as a way to get more consumers back where they really want them – on their own systems. How can the two spaces co-exist without diminishing what’s already there with the 3DS? Is it possible for the mobile titles to exist as both good standalone products as well as a good entry point for Nintendo systems? Will Nintendo finally have to follow the trend rather than setting it when it comes to working on a platform that’s not their own? Having existed in both the traditional console and mobile spaces themselves, our guests this week offer some insight into some of the possibilities Nintendo has going forward.

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Posted on 9 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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