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

More: highlight, top

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.

More: highlight, top

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 1 Comment

Gaming Boulevard has provided another look at the recently-released Zelda: A Link to the Past comic. Actually, you’ll be able to see all of the pages in full.

More: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Viz Media

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 7 Comments

Update: Target is now saying the opposite on the same Twitter account. I’m not sure where the confusion originated from, but at least the situation wasn’t as poor as we thought!

Target will be handling the launch of Friday’s new amiibo in a peculiar way. We’re not sure why this is, but customers will only be allowed to purchase two figures in total. That means you could go with a combination like Charizard and Wario, but that’s it. Just two.

The official “AskTarget” Twitter account posted the following earlier today, which has since been backed up by other employees:

I can absolutely understand limiting things to one of each character. Only allowing customers to purchase a total of two figures, though? That seems a tad crazy. If Target wasn’t offering the exclusive Jigglypuff amiibo, I doubt many people would be trying their luck there!

Source

More: Amiibo, Target

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Rumors | 7 Comments

A rumored internal memo from GameStop provides an update on the situation surrounding amiibo.

Like every major retailer, GameStop will begin selling wave 4 Smash Bros. amiibo on Friday. But sadly, the stock situation here doesn’t sound too encouraging… aside from silver Mario.

Here’s what was shared by Reddit user “gamestopinfo5678”:

Our shipments of wave 4 SUCK. plain and simple. from 0 robins/lucina to just one of each. 1,2, or no nesses. Surprisingly we’ll have plenty of silver mario’s for whatever that’s worth. Memo stated that we will not be re-supplying wave 4. Once we run out, we are out. you can camp gamestop if you want, but as a collector myself…I’m not. I can spend my time better at another store with much better stock. (this doesn’t mean there won’t be the abnormal store here and there that might have decent stock)

The one bright spot? We’re hearing that GameStop will post in hand stock on the morning of May 29 on the door. That means you’ll be able to see stock totals while waiting in line.

Read More

More: Amiibo, GameStop

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Rumors | 9 Comments

The amiibo situation has been out of control almost since launch. Nintendo hasn’t been shipping enough figures for a number of characters, and scalpers have been taking advantage of the situation to drive up the prices on sites like eBay.

Based on a rumored internal email stemming from GAME, it seems that Nintendo is starting to crack down on things. Apparently, Nintendo UK has sent new rules to major retailers, and the company is now actively enforcing the 1 amiibo per customer rule forcibly. That means consumers are only able to purchase one unit of each character. It’s all being done in attempt to cut down on the reselling market.

I haven’t seen the email myself, but this information comes from the trustworthy information-leaker Liam Robertson. Assuming it’s true, it’s nice to see Nintendo finally looking to address some of amiibo’s issues.

Source

More: Amiibo, top, UK

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Rumors | 5 Comments

A new Skylanders game is coming at some point this year. Much of the project has been shrouded in mystery, but the company did say back in February that it will be “innovative”. While Activision has been keeping quiet for the most part, we appear to have an important detail about what’s new in the latest Skylanders entry.

Liam Robertson, who tends to be in the know when it comes to cancelled games and titles that are in development, wrote on Twitter today that this year’s Sklanders will feature vehicles. Robertson also said that the game is planned for all major gaming platforms, which should (unsurprisingly) include Wii U.

Activision has typically announced its Skylanders games in the spring, but this one still hasn’t been officially revealed. Perhaps we’ll hear something at E3?

Source

More: Activision, Skylanders

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments

Target has started sending out an internal memo about next week’s Nintendo releases. A good portion of the letter is about the new amiibo, which launch on May 29.

The big takeaway here is that Target expects quick sell-outs (as expected), but figures “will not be replenished.” It’s also worth stating that there will be a limit of two amiibo characters per guest, and Lucina/Robin won’t be offered “in low-volume stores.”

You can get a look at the memo in full above.

Source

More: Amiibo, Target

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

The latest episode of Nintendo Minute has gone live, and it’s once again Splatoon focused. This one is also all about unboxings. Splatoon itself is unboxed, along with the new amiibo. Watch the new Nintendo Minute below.

More: Nintendo Minute, Splatoon

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 10 Comments

Reddit user “mast3r_sword” has come up with an incredibly impressive custom amiibo. The Ice Climbers have been created from scratch – box and all.

mast3r_sword obtained a base model in 3D, did some retopology, and modeled/sculpted it until he managed to get the Ice Climbers in a pose inspired from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Naturally, this original amiibo won’t work in any game, though the base can be opened and a chip from another figure can be installed.

I continue to be amazed by the original amiibo creations people are coming up with. I know I could never make something like this!

Source

More: Amiibo, fan project