I think that both Nintendo fans and non-fans alike can agree on one undeniable truth—Mario and co. comprise a company that loves its franchises. Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, Pokémon—even Super Smash Bros. has become a franchise in its own right after all these years. And while it can’t be argued that fans don’t enjoy these series, it certainly can be asserted that Nintendo is perhaps a little too reliant on too few franchises. With the advent of the Wii three and a half years ago, we fans were expecting a huge influx of next-gen updates to our favorite games, but the disappointing thing (at least to this gamer) was that only a few series received those updates, a la Twilight Princess, Brawl, and Galaxy (even Galaxy 2 now—doesn’t Mario ever take a vacation that isn’t interrupted by nasty goo?).

So here’s my proposition, Miyamoto: Give these franchises a second look.

The greatest bad games ever: Monster Hunter Tri

Posted on 14 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features | 23 Comments

Most frustratingest game ever?

I really don’t understand Monster Hunter Tri at all. Everything that makes logical sense about the game says that it should not be good: The controls are archaic, 80% of it is grinding, the single player has a lackluster story, it’s unbearably frustrating, and it sucks up hours upon hours of your time to make any sort of significant progress in the game. Regardless, I have fallen so far in love with the game that I have spent all of my spare time playing it. I didn’t have a feature up yesterday. Any idea why? Yes, it was Monster Hunter’s fault. When I’m that addicted to a game, usually I can track the reasons why I love it. Zelda games, for instance, have fantastic gameplay, great atmosphere, and awesome level design. But Monster Hunter doesn’t have very much going for it, yet, for some reason I can tell it is going to be a game I clock well over 100 hours into. It really is the greatest bad game I have ever played.

Criminally overlooked Nintendo soundtracks

Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Features | 14 Comments

I don’t think there’s a single gaming website on the whole internet that hasn’t written a feature on the best game music. Usually it’s the same old songs from the same old games —Zelda, Super Mario Bros, Mega Man, Parappa the Rapper…. Yes, I know just as well as anyone that the Moon theme from DuckTales is one of the greatest things ever, but I wanted to take this time to draw attention to some of the more overlooked game soundtracks.

Interview with Renegade Kid

Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, Features, Wii | 7 Comments

Renegade Kid has created some of the most impressive games for the DS since the company was established in 2007. And just a few days ago, their third title for the handheld – Dementium II – made its way onto stores shelves. Renegade Kid owner and director Jools Watsham recently took some time to answer a few questions for us about his latest game and discussed other topics, which included the possibility of developing for Wii and his thoughts about the 3DS.

Nintendo Everything: Your most recent game, Dementium II, was just released last week and it looks like hands-down the scariest game on the DS system. What was the greatest challenge for actually bringing a tense, scary feel to players on a handheld system?

Jools Watsham: I think the most important thing, and one of the most difficult, is to create an authentically creepy atmosphere. We also pushed ourselves to produce a ton more variety in environments and enemies, which took a tremendous amount of work.

NE: Another thing that’s terrifying about Dementium II is the boxart – Who came up with such an awesome illustration?

JW: I agree, I think it is fantastic. This is very unglamorous, but SouthPeak hired a talented design company who came up with it. I expect SouthPeak’s PR Queen, Aubrey Norris, had something to do with it. 🙂 The image was sent to me one day and I was just blown away. I immediately thought it looked incredible, and I felt honored to have such a wonderfully disturbing image for our game.

Gaming love letters: Fragile Dreams

Posted on 15 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features | 3 Comments

Warning: This article contains intense, intense spoilers regarding the game Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon. If you intend to play the game, or simply have not played it yet, I highly recommend skipping the article altogether.

Preface: I’m not sure my feelings about Fragile Dreams really translated all that well in my review of the game for one reason or another, and I feel the need to really get this all out on paper. I realize it’s a very long read, but I hope some of you enjoy it and agree/disagree with me. If you do, be sure to let me know in the comments section!

Nintendo’s worst mothers

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Features | 20 Comments

Mother’s Day is a time for sitting back and thanking your mom for all the hard work she’s done. Unless she happens to be on this list. What better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than by looking at a few examples of terrible parenting to make you appreciate your own mom?

Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver review

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, Reviews | 8 Comments

Game Info:

System: Nintendo DS
Category: RPG
Players: 1-2 (versus)
Release date: March 14, 2010
Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Nintendo

Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver are the latest games in Nintendo’s hugely successful Pokemon series, though they are both remakes of Gold and Silver: two Pokemon titles that were released back in 2000 for the Game Boy. Gold and Silver were believed by many to be the best games in the entire series, adding many innovations that have become standard, like the game’s internal clock and Pokemon breeding. Do HeartGold and SoulSilver manage to do these classic games justice, or do they not hold up after ten years and 200-and-something new Pokemon?

Time Capsule: Harvest Moon 64

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Features | 7 Comments

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned as a gamer, it’s that I can be entertained by some of the weirdest things sometimes. By ‘weird’ I don’t mean bad or creepy or bizarre, I just mean unexpected. And perhaps one of the most unexpectedly entertaining games of all is Harvest Moon 64.

The Harvest Moon franchise is no stranger to Nintendo consoles, having had its start in 1997 on the venerable Super Nintendo. The setup is decidedly simple: The player’s grandfather has just died, leaving behind his old farm in utter disrepair. It is up to the player to reclaim this desolate landscape and turn it into the successful goldmine of produce it once was, all while meeting and befriending the local townsfolk along the way. You’ve got all the time in the world to make a life for yourself. There are tons of crops to be harvested, cows to be milked, and women to be wooed in this intriguing little simulation.

World Cup soccer, free running intensity, and fighting extinction: Retail Releases of 04/26

Posted on 15 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features | 0 comments

Every week Nintendo puts out a press release talking about all the great new downloadable titles that are coming out, but never something showcasing the occasionally-decent games that come out in retail. Well, I’m gonna change that. This week, Nintendo gamers are treated with world cup soccer, free running intensity, ruthless romans, and fighting extinction.

What do YOU think? A winning formula for selling third party Wii titles

Posted on 15 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features | 6 Comments

The last article I wrote, “What do YOU think? Wii is the best console for third party ‘core’ titles?”, discussed the idea of sales comparisons from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to the Wii as being unfair, because developers were comparing top-quality titles to mediocre titles and expecting similar sales. In that article, I stated that a game needs 2 things to sell well: Good reviews, and good advertising. Of course, it helps if the game isn’t a niche genre, but that is the least important of the three. In the last 2 months, two big Wii titles have been released, both of which have gotten pretty good review scores and a good amount of advertising; Monster Hunter Tri, and Red Steel 2. The latter of these two titles supposedly sold just 50,000 copies in its first month. Now, some people say that Red Steel 2’s first month wasn’t really a full month (12 days), and other sources report that the game has in fact sold more than 100,000 units, but based on the official numbers given to us by Ubisoft, it’s a solemn start for an (apparently) very good game.