Posted on 10 years ago by Jack Johnson(@tupachologram96) in Features, Reviews, Wii U | 20 Comments

System: Nintendo Wii U
Release Date: October 29, 2013 (NA) – October 18, 2013 (EU)
Developer: Sonic Team
Publisher: Nintendo/SEGA

Author: Jack

In a normative sense, Sonic as a platforming archetype ultimately aims to achieve one goal: create a constant chain of ephemeral pleasure via the utilization of perceived velocity the controllable gameplay object reaches in gameplay. While such a vision, an expanded AudioSurf if you will, perennially begets hedonistic intrigue, that seemingly one-dimensional objective for some dang reason hasn’t really ever come to fruition for Sonic Team over the past few console lifespans. A definite, tangible goal as such seems easy enough to reach, right?

Unfortunately, a granular obstacle to that simple speedy sentiment exists prohibiting fulfillment of that thought: the more the design team over at Sonic Team’s vision rides off in all directions (Sonic Unleashed’s Werehog levels being a prime example) as opposed to finding one meaning around which Sonic should revolve, the more plodding and forgetful each subsequent entry in the series gets. How can one ever hope to solve that ever-nagging dilemma?

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More: highlight, review, Sonic Lost World, top, wii u

Posted on 10 years ago by Patrick(@Patricklous) in 3DS, DS, Famicompendium, Features | 3 Comments

Hey everyone, how was your Valentine’s Day? Maybe you spent the day with your loved ones; maybe you spent it devouring chocolate. Personally I spent the day slaving over a Word document, trying my hardest to convey my true feelings on a truly bizarre romance. No, I wasn’t writing some kind of love letter – I was musing on Konami’s hella heteronormative “girlfriend simulator”, LovePlus. Games tend to stay away from handling romantic relationships, especially when compared to other mediums, so I was curious to see if this Nintendo DS title was really as original (and weird) as I’d heard. So can love truly blossom between a grown man and a DS cartridge?

The answer to that question is no. Absolutely not. But as someone who is fascinated in the potential of games to blend narrative and gameplay in developing fictional relationships, LovePlus is an incredibly interesting, albeit flawed take on interactive romance.

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More: famicompendium, highlight, loveplus, top

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, Interviews | 6 Comments

With Yumi’s Odd Odyssey’s North American launch just on the horizon, we spoke with Natsume’s Graham Markay and Kiyoshi Sakai, one of the series’ original developers. Topics include the game’s digital-only release, returning to the franchise after it had been dormant for so many years, and more. We also asked Natsume about a few other things such as Virtual Console and Wii U support.

We’ve split up the interview into a couple of pages – you’ll find Markay’s comments below and Sakai’s remarks on page two.

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More: Graham Markay, highlight, interview, Kiyoshi Sakai, top

Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Book Club, Features | 1 Comment

Well guys and gals, it’s time once again for another NintendoEverything videogame book club! This time up we have a trio of fairly interesting games that will likely breed a lot of discussion regardless of which is picked, so take a look at the poll below and take your pick. It’s worth noting that sheer number of votes will not be the only determining factor when we’re considering which game to play and discuss on the podcast; another large factor will be which game has the strongest case made for it in the text answer within the poll, so do your best to rationalize which one of these three is most worth discussing in a serious sense.

Unsure what the NintendoEverything Book Club for Videogames is? It’s simple: Just like a real book club, we get together every week and discuss a game chronologically in great depth with the goal of promoting and enjoying some genuine discussion of games on a deeper level than you might find elsewhere. Listeners are encouraged to send their thoughts along to our podcast email to potentially be read on the show.

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Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 1 Comment

ON THIS EPISODE: A return to normal quality sees us talk about how impressive Portal is and how Valve achieved such a cohesive sense of place in a relatively minimalist game, and a discussion of Persona 4 turns towards the analytical with some exploitative discussion on more complicated games and what elements might help and hurt such ambitious experiences.

PLUS: We go through every announcement in the Nintendo Direct and give our thumbs up or thumbs down, in addition to general discussion about all of the games/features shown.

AND: Listener mail has a few really great game-design-driven questions that have us analyzing screenshots from Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and speaking on the subject of redundancy and teaching in games, and how this might separate the good games from the great games. Here are the two screenshots we refer to in the segment: Image 1 Image 2

This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura

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More: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, highlight, Super Mario Bros.

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, General Nintendo, Interviews, Wii U | 3 Comments

Circle Entertainment recently revealed to Nintendo Everything that the publisher will be bringing Quell Reflect to the eShop. The company’s Chris Chau (producer) as well as FK Digital developers Mickey Lin (director) and Aloner Chiu (assistant director/planner) shared more details about the game in a recent interview. 

Head past the break for our full discussion. Along with Quell Reflect, we asked about Wii U, interest in retail, and the Chinese market.

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More: Aloner Chiu, Chris Chau, Circle Entertainment, FK Digital, highlight, Mickey Lin, Quell Reflect, top

Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 1 Comment

ON THIS EPISODE: It’s up late, but we still have Laura talking a tiny bit about Broken Sword on iOS, Austin discussing the great boss design of Oracle of Ages, Jack brings up Super Paper Mario yet again and talks about Umihare Kawase for a second.

PLUS: We have a brief discussion about whether games should always be fun or efficient, as well as going over regular news and a bunch of listener mail!

AND: We’re really sorry about this episode. You might just want to skip it.

This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura

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More: highlight, podcast, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, Umihare Kawase

Posted on 10 years ago by Patrick(@Patricklous) in Famicompendium, Features, General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments

Have you ever bought a game based on nothing but the title? I sure have and that’s why I’m now writing about Jesus: Ky?fu no Bio Monster (or to use the fan-translated name – Jesus: Tale of the Dreadful Bio-Monster). Don’t go into Jesus expecting some kind of insane Japanese take on Christianity, though, as it’s more about researchers fighting space monsters and anime girls rocking out on synthesizers – or sometimes both at the same time. It’s hardly the most exciting game to play, but it still manages to be crazy in its own way.

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More: bio-monster, famicompendium, highlight, jesus, top

Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 0 comments

ON THIS EPISODE: Jack re-fills us in with some love of Papers, Please, Laura causes a long and hearty discussion about Little Inferno, and Austin continues to berate A Link Between Worlds while praising Oracle of Ages.

PLUS: A lot of news about Nintendo’s future and their new “Quality of Life” business strategy— a discussion ensues.

AND: Plenty of listener mail about achievements, Nintendo’s future, and our favorite sequels rounds out the show.

This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura

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More: highlight, Little Inferno, podcast, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Reviews, Wii U eShop | 5 Comments

More: EnjoyUp Games, highlight, top, Unepic