Okay, so I admit it. I completely and utterly admit that I was unequivocally wrong about Xenoblade Chronicles. If you missed my rant a few weeks ago, I went on a binge talking about how there’s a good reason why games like this never sell in America, so we should stop whining and get over it. One of my points was that (despite rave Famitsu scores) the games would end up getting mediocre reviews upon arrival in the west, and fade away into obscurity some months later as “those games that everyone wanted and no one bought.”

Monday Stuff – Gameplay vs. Atmosphere: Which is More Important?

Posted on 13 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, General Nintendo | 0 comments

The way I see it, there are two parts to making a game: Making the gameplay, and making the atmosphere. These two parts are integral to any great game design, but each one encompasses a totally different set of things. Gameplay includes things like controls, level design, etc, while the atmosphere can encompass everything from the graphics to the music, to the sound effects and character animations. Both are important parts of game design, and when a developer can bring together a perfect balance of the two, we get games that are so full of magic and wonder, we feel like we can never put them down. These, in my opinion, are games like The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Banjo Kazooie.

That One Show – Otakon 2011, The Public Opinion of Nintendo

Posted on 13 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, General Nintendo, Videos | 0 comments

Unlocalized: The Nintendo games we didn’t see (Part 2)

Posted on 13 years ago by Patrick(@Patricklous) in Features, General Nintendo | 8 Comments

If you missed the first part of my look at all the games Nintendo of America and Europe ignored, you can check it out here. For everyone else, you already know the drill by now: obscure games, justification for Nintendo’s actions, and mandatory Reggie images.

OpRainfall Isn’t Nintendo’s Fault: My Responses to Your Comments

Posted on 13 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, General Nintendo | 0 comments

I have no idea how long I have until I have to leave again, so I may have to stop this post short and come back to it later. Sorry! To read the original article and read the comments I am replying to, click here.

Anyway, let me start off by reiterating a point I made at the beginning of the article, though clearly not strongly enough: I’m in support of OpRainfall. I want these games to come here as badly as you all do, and I’m very sad Nintendo has decided (at least for the time being) to forgo their publication in North America. If anything, they could take any number of alternate sales routes to minimize risk- limiting quantities or selling it on a demand basis like Demon’s Souls- and so really, one could just jump to the conclusions that Nintendo is either lazy, mean, or doesn’t care about us at all.

The purpose of this article was not so much to question the validity of arguments against Nintendo because I do not believe they are valid. The purpose is to say “Hey you guys, I know this sucks and it shouldn’t be this way, but let’s take a look from Nintendo’s perspective for a second.” Their behavior in this situation, while unfortunate, I don’t think is nearly as unfair and people are making it out to be. If people are making it out to be, say, a 10 on the unfairness scale, I’d like to say it should really only be a 6 or a 7. We aren’t being treated horribly and unfairly; we just haven’t given Nintendo a reason to trust us with “core” titles on Wii.

Which NES/GBA games do you want to see on the 3DS eShop?

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Features | 0 comments

Ultimately, if you’ve purchased a 3DS at this point and you have access to the Internet, hopefully you won’t feel as though you’ve been ripped off by the time we move into 2012. In the end, the digital downloads that Nintendo will be offering for the “3DS Ambassador program” later this year probably totals more than $80. I understand that not everyone will be happy with the selection of games and some folks will be displeased with this type of compensation, but when you really think about it, Nintendo didn’t actually have to create this program in the first place.

Plus, keep in mind that NES games on the Wii Shop Channel cost $5. And while a cost standard hasn’t been set for the Game Boy Advance in the past, they’d sell for at least $5 – probably $8 or so actually. So you’re technically getting more bang for your buck – even moreso if you’re interested in the games that will be offered.

Time Capsule: Sonic Pinball Party

Posted on 13 years ago by Patrick(@Patricklous) in Features, GBA | 0 comments

Over a year ago, a former NintendoEverything writer started a series of “Time Capsule” articles taking a look back at games we have fond memories of. While others might choose to take a look at something like Star Fox 64 or Super Metroid, we all have different ideas of what qualifies as a “classic” game. And that’s why I’ll be taking a look at game that no-one but me would ever call a “classic”: Sonic Pinball Party. Yep, It’s definitely an unconventional pick, since —let’s be honest— the title makes it sound like shovelware riding on the persistent popularity of Sega’s spiky mascot, but I swear it’s one of the best titles for the Game Boy Advance.

Stop Blaming Nintendo for OpRainfall’s Failure

Posted on 13 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, General Nintendo, Wii | 0 comments

Don’t misunderstand me; I’m just as upset over the lack of localization for The Last Story, Xenoblade, and Pandora’s Tower as you are. I don’t want to dismantle the entire argument behind OpRainfall because I’m an evil overlord or because I hate fun and all things good- I want to dismantle the entire argument behind OpRainfall because, let’s be honest; it’s only fair. Everyone and their aunt is ganging up on Nintendo over this situation, and Nintendo (being the ones who are trying to make a living off of this “gaming industry” thing) are coming off as total jerkoffs because they’re telling us “no” when we’re begging for candy that we don’t deserve.

Unlocalized: The Nintendo games we didn’t see (Part 1)

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Features, General Nintendo | 0 comments

There has been a lot of fuss lately about Nintendo —specifically Nintendo of America— slacking off when it comes to localizing Japanese games like Xenoblade and The Last Story. This made a lot of game-centric websites, including IGN, compare Nintendo-published titles that were exclusive to either Europe and America in an attempt to pin the blame on Nintendo of America “dropping the ball.”

That’s all well and good, but what about the games we never got to play in English? What about all the games that neither international branch attempted to translate? That’s why I thought it was worth taking a look at all the weird and wonderful games that never left Japan at all. Obviously there was a ton of stuff that was never translated, but I’ll be limiting it to Nintendo-published games released over the last ten years and leaving out a few unremarkable games (unless you really want to read about virtual Japanese dictionaries). As well as a brief overview of each game, I’ll speculate as to why they were never officially translated and then weigh up how much of a loss it really was that the game was never localized. This will be measured in the only unit that can accurately portray an amount of distaste towards Nintendo of America: Reggies.

What is the “Nintendo Difference”?

Posted on 13 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, General Nintendo | 2 Comments

It’s a pretty simple question, but for those of us who have been with Nintendo games for years, it can have anywhere from one simple answer to a millions of vague and undefined ones. For me, I find myself more on the latter side of things, which is why I’m coming to you: I’m going to be putting together a massively pro-Nintendo piece of video soon in the feature, and I want it to include not only the opinions of one lone “journalist”, but the thoughts of many Nintendo gamers young and old.

So what is it for you? Is it their focus on things like frame rate and graphical consistency over technical prowess? Is it their attention to little details like easter eggs? Their innocent-yet-deep nature? Or maybe something as simple as “they make their games fun to play inherently– not fun to play because you want to see the next cutscene”?

Whatever it is, I want to know what you all think so I can take them and make a massive list that we can all use the next time someone asks us why the hell Nintendo games are better than anyone else’s. Not to say that there aren’t other great games, but there’s just something about games made by the big N that have a special ring to them, and I think a lot of you agree!