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

ON THIS EPISODE: A discussion about Austin’s thoughts on Punch Out!! turns into a very extensive look at “top down” vs. “bottom up” development and whether hard games are inherently too inaccessible to be considered widely influential art.

PLUS: Laura says something that lights Austin’s fuse and an intense discussion about the morality of “free to play” games ensues. It’s a big’un, so get ready.

AND: The book club was delayed by a week! It’ll be here next week.

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

Download this episode (click this link)

Subscribe via iTunes by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Google by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Yahoo something-or-other by clicking this thing!

More: highlight, punch-out

Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 6 Comments

ON THIS EPISODE: It’s all Donkey Kong, all the time! Not only does Austin discharge his thoughts on Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze in spades, but Jack has been playing Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D all week so a bit of DK ping pong takes place as we compare the two games. Laura breaks the monotony with some talk of DS cult hit Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective though, so if you hate DK you’ll be okay.

PLUS: There’s not a whole lot of news, but listener mail supports the tail end of the show with questions about Wii U’s GBA Virtual Console, whether Nintendo should have an E3 press conference or not, and whether grinding in an RPG is inherently broken or not.

AND: We discuss and eventually select the next game to be our Book Club game! The winner? Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward.

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

Download this episode (click this link)

Subscribe via iTunes by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Google by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Yahoo something-or-other by clicking this thing!

More: Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, highlight, podcast

Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in 3DS, 3DS eShop, Book Club, Features | 2 Comments

Ah yes, that’s right kids: We’ve chosen Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward as the game to play for the next NintendoEverything Book Club! If you want to hear the reasoning behind it, check out the latest episode of the podcast, but otherwise feel free to pick up the game this week and start playing. The game can be picked up on the cheap via the Nintendo 3DS eShop; it’ll cost you $24.99.

We’ll have our first discussion about it on next week’s podcast, as per usual!

“How far do I have to get this week?”

The goal is simply to start playing. We’ll aim to get beyond any opening tutorial sections and a little ways into the story individually– plan to put in 2 to 3 hours.

“How can I participate in the discussion?”

If you have something you want to say about the specific section of Zero Escape that we’re going to be playing, send us an email! [email protected] is the place to do that.

Please refrain from discussing the game in general only– if you have a general observation, we’d love to hear about what specific parts of the game made you come to that conclusion!

More: Book Club, highlight, Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

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

A couple of weeks ago, Stick it to the Man was confirmed for Wii U. We caught up with Zoink founder Klaus Lyngeled following publisher Ripstone’s announcement to find out more about the game. We also asked about WeeWaa, interest in the 3DS, and more.

You’ll find our full interview with Lyngeled after the break.

Read More

More: highlight, Klaus Lyngeled, Stick it to the Man, top, Zoink

Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Reviews, Wii U | 22 Comments

System: Nintendo Wii U
Release Date: February 21st, 2014
Developer: Retro Studios
Publisher: Nintendo

Review transcript after the break:

Read More

More: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, highlight, review, wii u

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?

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

More: highlight

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

Download this episode (click this link)

Subscribe via iTunes by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Google by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Yahoo something-or-other by clicking this thing!

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