ON THIS EPISODE: Austin brings to us full (but vague) impressions of the independent game The Plan and Jack talks about the worst Zelda temple ever made. (hint: it’s from The Wind Waker HD)

PLUS: We get down and dirty talking about Mario Kart 8 with our hopes, our fears, and how we feel Mario Kart needs to change or improve its formula for this entry to truly stand out.

AND: Finally, the Book Club discussions on Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward come to a close with an hour-long segment dedicated to the game. We all ended with a similar impression of it, so listen to us talk about the goods, the bads, and the uglies on episode 87!

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

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More: highlight, Mario Kart 8, podcast, Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

[Review] Pure Chess (Wii U eShop)

Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Reviews, Videos, Wii U eShop | 2 Comments

Hi everybody, I’m back with another video review for you! This time, we’re talking about this Wii U eShop game about the lovely age old game of King’s and Queens: Chess. Check it out if you have a minute.

More: highlight, Pure Chess, Ripstone, top, VooFoo Studios

[Interview] Leuvsion talks Twisted Fusion – Kid Icarus-like difficulty system, Kickstarter importance, more

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Interviews, Wii U eShop | 0 comments

With Leuvision’s Kickstarter for Twisted Fusion launching today, we caught up with creator Lewis Pugh to talk a bit more about the game.

Pugh shared more details about the Wii U eShop-exclusive, including a Kid Icarus-like difficulty system, additional weapons, enemies, and importance of the Kickstarter campaign. He also discussed the possibility of bringing Leuvision’s mobile titles to Wii U and working with the Nintendo Web Framework.

Head past the break for our mini interview!

More: highlight, Lewis Pugh, top, Twisted Fusion

Here’s a Podcast – Episode 86!

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

ON THIS EPISODE: Jack kicks off ‘what we played’ with some continued discussion of Wind Waker HD, Austin filled out the middle with his thoughts on Wii U eShop game Pure Chess, and Laura tells us why she’s now addicted to World of Warcraft.

PLUS: We have a discussion about the GBA Virtual Console on Wii U, which games we plan on purchasing, and what games we might desire to see in the future.

AND: Listener mail brings Zelda back into the fray (albeit less prominently) with some talk about it vs. Darksiders, and some nice discussion of whether comparing one game to its predecessors is a valid way to review or criticize.

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

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More: highlight, hightlight

Here’s a Podcast – Episode 85!

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

ON THIS EPISODE: Laura tried an interesting new game this week called World of Warcraft, and she’s… on the fence about it to say the least! Jack briefly talks about his experiencing listening to the Zelda: Skyward Sword soundtrack and playing more Wind Waker HD, and Austin primarily talks about a new game: Max Payne 3. He’s less than impressed by it.

PLUS: A sparse news segment means that we talk about Nintendo Downloads and that’s about it, but listener mail fills in with TONS of Zelda-related talk, including a defense of A Link Between Worlds and some more Ocarina of Time vs. Majora’s Mask discussion.

AND: The book club is delayed! Austin and Jack hadn’t the time to finish Zero Escape, so we’re giving them two more weeks to fully complete the game.

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

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More: highlight

[Developer Musings] Dealing with game feedback; Gaijin Games, Neko Entertainment, Goodbye Galaxy Games sound off

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Developer Musings, General Nintendo | 0 comments

We’ve brought in three more developers for the next entry in our new feature series, “Developer Musings”. This week, we have a few words from Gaijin Games, Neko Entertainment, and Goodbye Galaxy Games as they touch on how they deal with feedback from critics and players alike. Head past the break for their comments.

Unsure as to what Developer Musings is about? Check out our first entry here for an explanation.

More: Benjamin Cestac, Dant Rambo, highlight, Hugo Smits, top

Random Thoughts: Wii U’s casual appeal

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Random Thoughts, Videos, Wii U | 23 Comments

Finally had the time to put up a new Random Thoughts. It’s a short and sweet video, as I talk about the Wii U’s casual appeal through a personal experience.

More: highlight, Wii Party U

Here’s a Podcast – Episode 84!

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

ON THIS EPISODE:

Laura discusses the impressive (and sometimes genuinely frightening!) art style of A Hat in Time’s alpha release, Jack briefly touches on his first-impressions of Gunman Clive and some minor Wind Waker HD observations, and Austin rounds out “what we played” with a list of things he *likes* about The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds after beating it this week.

PLUS:

Not a whole lot of news leads into a listener mail segment dominated by one letter regarding Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, and how the two compare and contrast.

AND:

Our book club discussion of Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward gets heated as Austin, Laura, and Jack debate the merits of the game’s characterization, writing, and overall story. Regardless, all three seem to be finding the game getting more interesting as time goes on…

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

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More: highlight

[Interview] Nnooo talks Blast ‘Em Bunnies, escapeVektor’s future, eShop thoughts, and more

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, General Nintendo, Interviews, Wii U eShop | 0 comments

We were recently given the opportunity to interview Nic Watt, founder/creative director for Nnooo. Watt tackled questions about Blast ‘Em Bunnies, escapeVektor, the eShop, and more.

Head past the break for our full interview.

More: Blast 'Em Bunnies, escapeVektor, highlight, indie, Nic Watt, Nnooo

Here’s a Podcast – Episode 83!

Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 4 Comments

ON THIS EPISODE: ‘What we played’ focuses primarily on a discussion of the negative parallels between Pokémon X and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and Austin’s frustration with Nintendo’s recent focus on streamlined gameplay.

PLUS: The news section features a somewhat misguided discussion about tutorials in games courtesy of Retro Studios, as well as what sorts of games may simply need tutorials to exist; tutorials aren’t always bad, it seems!

AND: Our first week of discussing Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward gets pretty intense, with the fundamental agreement being that it’s not very well put together overall, but something about it is still engaging! Interesting thoughts for sure.