Monday, October 28, 2013

5 Scariest Movies You've Probably Never Seen

5 Scariest Movies Direct Link


Early Evidence Showing Batman: Arkham Origins Wii U Technically Superior To PS3/360 Versions

The Wii U (and almost every Nintendo home console) often gets the shaft when it comes to multiplatform games which is unforgivable when you consider that Nintendo's latest home console is technically superior to both of its current and most direct competitors, the PS3 and Xbox 360. Granted, next month will change things up since the Wii U led the next generation console race but it is pretty sad that ports from last generation are often inferior and this trend seems to be on purpose. While there are some exceptions where the Nintendo version is best, these situations come from either the game being built from the ground up for Wii U (Rayman Legends) or the development team has a true passion for Nintendo (Need for Speed: Most Wanted U).

Early reports suggest that Batman: Arkham Origins has the best home console performance on Nintendo's latest machine. While it's doubtful that this was on purpose, these results may come from the fact that the Wii U version was handled by Human Head Studios and not WB Montreal who was responsible for the other versions (as well as the Wii U version of Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition). Here is a quick rundown of what many NoeGaf members have found so far:
  • Best framerate of all console versions. All versions have some frame drops but Wii U seems to have the least.
  • No screen tearing on Wii U.
  • Better lighting on Wii U compared to PS3/360.
  • All versions have glitches, including game breaking bugs but Wii U has fewer glitches than 360, PS3 and even the PC with no apparent game breakers present.
  • Features Off TV Play.
  • Map on the GamePad (Unfortunately, the rest of the GamePad elements present on last years Armored Edition are not implemented).
  • Miiverse integration featuring Achievement Posting.
  • No Online Multiplayer (although this seems to be a non-issue due to reports of the multiplayer feeling tacked on and unnecessary).
  • Price is $10 less (Wii U version is $50 while PS3/360 versions are $60).
In the end, this is probably a fluke situation and a testament to Human Head Studios abilities with the Wii U hardware versus third party's putting forth a genuine effort to optimize their multiplatform releases (if they even bother to port them at all). Either way, if you're looking for the best home console version of the game, it seems the Wii U is the system of choice.


Source 1, Source 2


Sunday, October 27, 2013

Excellent Star Fox Medley Will Take You Back To The Lylat System

The groundbreaking Star Fox for the SNES cemented its legacy as the one of the first 3D home console games with its used of the Super FX chip. Almost as legendary is the games soundtrack which goes a long way to selling the sci-fi universe and story despite the rudimentary 3D graphics. Oddly, the series moved away from the original's soundtrack in favor of tunes closer to the N64 classic, Star Fox 64.

The series as a whole has a pretty iconic soundtrack but most fans focus on the SNES and N64 incarnations when creating remixes. This is the case with the excellent Star Fox Medley performed by On Being Human who has crafted a medley that both honors the iconic franchise while giving it a hard edge that would perfectly suite a modern version of the series (seriously Nintendo, where is our new Star Fox game?). Click here if you want to download the song which is available at Bandcamp for $1. Enjoy!


Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Batman: Arkham Origins Launch Trailer

Batman: Arkham Origins Launch Trailer

Unepic Wii U Trailer

Unepic Wii U Trailer Direct Link
"Unepic is a mixture of platform game, role game and joke that takes place in a huge castle of medieval fantasy. It is set in the eighty's style, but completed with the most actual features. 
The hero is called Daniel, a normal guy from today: great videogame player, big lover of sci-fi movies and novice player of role games. In the middle of a role game with his friends, he is teleported to a castle and he thinks that he is having a massive hallucination. So he decides to run his own adventure until the hallucination ends.
In the castle, he will be possessed by a shadow, however this shadow cannot control him (being able only talk). The only way of the shadow to escape from the Hero's body is by the death of the Hero, so the shadow will lie all the time giving false clues always looking for the Daniel's death." - Trailer description
Features:
  • 2D RPG with 200 rooms to explore
  • 7 bosses, 70 spells and 100 weapons
  • Funny story and dialogs with references to other films, comic...
  • Quests, challenges, achievements and pets.
  • Craft your own potions
  • 4 levels of difficulty with 3 different ends
  • English voices
Source

Super Mario 3D World October Overview Trailer

The Wii U has finally begun its upward swing with the help of the September price drop and a string of new high profile games such as Sonic Lost World, Wind Waker HD and Rayman Legends. While this is good news for the struggling system, Super Mario 3D World is the first really big system seller and you can expect a major boost for the console much like its 3DS predecessor. To celebrate the games upcoming release (November 22), Nintendo has released a new trailer which provides an overview of the game as well as a sneak peak at many of the new power-ups and features. The game looks fantastic and will be the perfect blend of casual and hardcore with a generous helping of multiplayer thrown in for good measure. Enjoy!


The Gaming Historian Explores The Star Fox Series

While the Rageaholic offered an entertaining and personal look at the Star Fox franchise through his retrospective, YouTube user The Gaming Historian focuses more on the obscure behind the scenes details and history of the series. With 2013 marking the 20th anniversary of this legendary series, The Gaming Historian is celebrating with a series retrospective. He recently wrapped up his 4 part look back at the entire franchise which gives some love to lesser known games such as the Star Fox Competition Cart and the criminally underrated Star Fox Command for the Nintendo DS. A great series of videos and a must watch for Star Fox fans. Enjoy!



Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Mega Man Comes To Life In Fan Film

About a year ago, Treon's Realm posted an article about a fantastic Zelda film created by YouTube user FinalCutKing titled The Legend of Digital Zelda. The film was one of the more creative Zelda projects on YouTube and fans of classic video games loved it resulting in over 1.2 million views. FinalCutKing is at it again with his latest film titled Mega Man Comes to Life which takes things back to basics with stop motion animation. Once again, the impressive level of work has resulted in a great little short film that clocks in under 2 minutes but required over 10,000 photos and used over 1,000 small tiles that were painted and hot glued together. Enjoy!


Sunday, October 20, 2013

More Clues Surface On Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon For WiiU

It was recently outed via Newegg.com that the 3DS hit, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, may be getting an HD version on the WiiU. Nintendo has remained tight lipped on the existence of such a game but the evidence is mounting as dedicated fans scour the internet and continue to find more clues. A recent listing on Bestbuybusiness.com also lists the game with a potential $47.99 price (the Newegg ad lists the game at $39.99). Retail listings should be taken with a grain of salt but when multiple retailers begin listing the same thing, it becomes far more likely that the game exists despite what Nintendo would have you believe. If you are interested in the game and the evidence collected so far, take a look at the investigation trail so far over at NintendoNews.com. Personally, I would not be surprised to see Nintendo launch a surprise Nintendo Direct around Halloween to announce the games existence.

2DS Screen Repair Will Set You Back More Than $65

If you held off on purchasing the 3DS until the recently released 2DS, do yourself a favor and don't break the screen. As one unlucky girl found out after dropping her new system down a flight of concrete stairs, it would cost over $65 to have it repaired. For those who don't know, the 2DS system is comprised of a single large LCD screen unlike the clamshell design which is made of 2 separate screens. The girl contacted Nintendo and they quoted her a $65 repair cost which didn't include shipping and handling so be sure to keep your shiny new 2DS safe and secure. Since this story has begun to spread across the web, you can expect a flood of third party shells and guards to become available to protect the system (I have no doubt that a NERF shell will become one of the best options).

Friday, October 18, 2013

Treon's Realm Is On YouTube

When I started this site, I always planned on expanding to YouTube but various factor's seemed to prevent me from actually hitting that goal. Honestly, I struggled for a long time trying to figure out where to start and what should be the first real video posting (prior videos on my YouTube channel were all trailers and test videos). That all changes today as my son and I have completed our first video. Ultimately, my son (whom the site is named after) was the one who made the decision on what should be our first post and that largely came from our shared love for the Skylanders series. Enjoy!


Thursday, October 17, 2013

The Rageaholic Star Fox Retrospective

The Rageaholic has a uniquely entertaining way of looking at (and verbalizing his love for) classic Nintendo games, especially those on the legendary SNES. He has often cited greats such as Super Mario RPG, Mega Man X3 and Donkey Kong Country but his retrospective for the underrated Star Fox franchise perfectly sums up what is great about the entire series (yes, even Star Fox Adventures). Outside of the 3DS revamp of Star Fox 64, there hasn't been a new Star Fox game in over 7 years and I'm with xRazorFistx in terms of my love for the series, we NEED a Star Fox game for the Wii U something fierce! Enjoy!


Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The Smash Brothers Fan Documentary Chronicles The Rise Of A Fighting Legend

Super Smash Bros. was never meant to become a truly competitive fighting game, the series has always focused on being a fun party game over the more technical aspects of fighting giants like Street Fighter or Marvel vs. Capcom. The definitive GameCube system seller, Super Smash Bros. Melee, has become the most competitive game in the whole franchise going as far as being featured in this years EVO Fighting Tournament (EVO 2013). The game was placed against other major fighting games not yet featured in the tournament and fans were allowed to vote via a breast cancer donation drive to see which game would be featured. Super Smash Bros. Melee won the donation drive and ended up a major draw for viewers of the competition.

YouTube channel EastPointPictures has crafted an excellent documentary series which chronicles the rise of Super Smash Bros. (Super Smash Bros. Melee specifically) as a competitive fighting game featuring the major players in the competitive scene. The documentary title The Smash Brothers is broken into 9 parts clocking in at over 4 hours which may seem a bit lengthy but ultimately proves to be a very entertaining and fascinating look into a game never really meant to be played at a competitive level. With the upcoming 2014 release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, this series is a must watch for any fan of the series or fighting games in general. Enjoy!



Saturday, October 12, 2013

Is It Really Worth Supporting Third Party's On Wii U?...Part 2

Welcome back. In part 1 of "Is it really worth supporting third party's on Wii U?" we broke down Nintendo's current situation with the Wii U and its relationship to third party publishers. In part 2 we are going to look at Nintendo's approach to digital downloads and their console strategy while breaking down the current third party support and what companies deserve your hard earned gaming dollars.

Nintendo has never been one to follow the competition instead opting to blaze their own path in everything from hardware design to the current digital download push. In a surprising turn, the eShop has been one of Nintendo's biggest success stories for the Wii U (and 3DS) with its low entry cost for developers, ease of use and high profit margin which makes it quite enticing for indie developers as well as one of the stealthiest (and more effective) entries into the digital market. Nintendo has taken one of the more reviled concepts of modern gaming (digital downloads) and made it both easy and inviting while not shoving it down our throats. This is what people refuse to understand about Nintendo, they don't operate like a bloated profit driven American company and they have survived (and thrived) for over 120 years! Their focus on fun and innovation over tech numbers and "trends" has made them unlike any other video game company and a true leader in the industry. The other thing to note is that Nintendo's conservative approach to hardware means that they have little to no loss on hardware cost (unlike their competition) meaning that they can easily afford to sell less hardware and make money on their software which sells in the millions even with a small install base. This strategy made the GameCube (Nintendo's lowest selling home console) a financial success despite being "beaten" by the PS2 and Xbox. Put simply, the Big N knows how to make money but that is not the driving force behind their games. When Shigeru Miyamoto or Eiji Aonuma design a game, they don't approach the design thinking how much money the game will make or what demographics it will appeal to, they focus on whether it will be fun to play and what kind of new ideas they can introduce.

All of this brings us back to the original question, "Is it really worth supporting third party's on Wii U?". It is really hard to defend some of these companies when they seemingly go out of their way to show their disdain for Nintendo. The argument could be made that Nintendo's previous hardware (N64, GameCube and Wii) was in such contrast to the competition that these companies were justified in their treatment of ports to those respective systems. This belief falls apart with the Wii U however as the hardware is the most mainstream since the Super Nintendo. Multiplatform indie titles made by small teams have had no problems with the hardware and have actually praised what Nintendo has created. Nintendo fans have been burned so many times by major third party's at this point that it is little surprise that their games don't sell to that audience.

Ultimately the answer is "it depends on the situation" but it would make more sense to look at each individual company. This list includes every major Wii U third party in the industry today, whether you should support them and a brief synopsis of why.
  • Sega - (Should you support: Yes) Since going third party in 2001, Sega and Nintendo have had a great relationship. Sega has thrown a lot of support behind every Nintendo machine since this move and has been rewarded with great sales. Sonic has always done best on Nintendo machines and Sega has been responsible for bringing some of the better sleeper hits to the GameCube (Skies of Arcadia) and Wii (Madworld & The Condiut). Expect this relationship to grow on the Wii U as Nintendo will likely bring Sega closer to help support the console.
  • Electronic Arts - (Should you support: No) EA has pissed all over Nintendo and its fans for years and has justifiably been shunned. Sales for their games have declined steadily since the N64 and the Wii U situation feels like the "straw that broke the camel's back" for many fans. With the exception of the excellent Need for Speed: Most Wanted U (which developer Criterion, not EA, was responsible for), EA's Wii U games were all lazy or inferior ports of the 360/PS3 versions.
  • UbiSoft - (Should you support: Maybe) UbiSoft started out strong but recent decisions have put them on seriously shaky ground. The turning point will come in 2014 and it is likely that UbiSoft will drop a lot of support for Wii U (unless they see some major sales from their fall lineup). Rayman Legends is a must have for Wii U and despite some shaky reviews, ZombiU is a must for true survival horror fans.
  • Warner Bros. Interactive - (Should you support: Maybe) This one really depends on your tastes, their family friendly games like Scribblenauts and the Lego series are great on Nintendo systems while they have made some questionable decisions with Batman: Arkham Origins and Injustice: Gods Among Us. Expect them to continue supporting the Wii U but they may focus more on their safer family friendly titles in the future.
  • Capcom - (Should you support: Yes) While support is light, Capcom has actually been good to the Wii U. Resident Evil Revelations has the same features across all home consoles and even has some nice Wii U extras while Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is exclusive and loaded with content and excellent online play. It's far more concerning when looking at Capcom as a whole, there is a very real possibility that they may not exist in a couple years due to a slew of stupid business decisions and turning their back on fans.
  • Activision - (Should you support: Yes) Activision has been pretty good on Wii U support with a solid selection of games. Skylanders continues to do quite well on Nintendo systems (the Wii versions are by far the best selling games in the franchise). Call of Duty is also continuing to make its way to the Wii U and development studio Treyarch always impresses with its work on Nintendo machines. Much like UbiSoft, this situation could change dramatically in 2014 so stay tuned.
  • Square Enix - (Should you support: No) Square Enix is struggling to regain its once great position but the core of the company has made some downright poisonous decisions. The Deus Ex situation shows this off in spectacular fashion. Being their first Wii U effort, it started as an exclusive with full integration of the GamePad to going multiplatform and charging $20 more for the Wii U version for no reason. The game may turn out great for the system but there is no excuse for this kind of customer treatment. Support at your own risk.
  • Namco Bandai Games - (Should you support: Yes) They have a couple games on the Wii U and they are good games handled with care and this looks to hold true with their future releases. Namco's relationship with Nintendo is strong and they have even crafted a few of Nintendo's own games in the past so you can expect this to grow in the same way as the Sega relationship for Wii U. It should be noted that Namco Bandai is helping to develop the new Super Smash Bros. which will be a major system seller in 2014.
  • Disney Interactive Studios - (Should you support: Yes) Disney likes Nintendo quite a bit and shows this with their software support. In all honesty, Nintendo has often been considered the Disney of video game companies so their relationship makes a lot of sense. It should be noted that while Disney owns Star Wars now, their decision to use EA as the exclusive developer of future games means that the Wii U is not likely to see any future Star Wars games.
So there you have it, some good and some bad but in the end people buy Nintendo for the Nintendo experience. The Wii U will end up a major platform for Nintendo's own stellar software and a major showcase for the growing indie scene which has a LOT of games coming to the machine. This whole situation could also drastically change in 2014 after the release of the PS4 and XBone. While everyone wants to look at those machines as the "saviors" of the industry, 2014 will see 5 active home consoles on shelves as well as 2 dedicated gaming handhelds and a flood of mobile, tablet and PC/Android based consoles all during a down economy with no sign of real recovery. Development costs have ballooned out of control for major third party games and the market is very crowded meaning less money to go around. Nintendo has positioned the Wii U to weather the storm while remaining profitable by keeping development costs cheap and offering a selection of fun games. Hopefully, this article will help current Wii U owners while giving future Wii U customers a better idea of what to expect from the the machine. What are your thoughts on this whole situation? Please comment below and thank you for taking the time to read these articles.


Is It Really Worth Supporting Third Party's On Wii U?...Part 1

It's official, third party publishers have it out for Nintendo's latest home console. When it comes to support from the mainstream video game industry for the Wii U, things are beginning to look a bit bleak. Price, DLC and game features (for better or worse) have led the latest round of news showing many major companies giving the Wii U the digital middle finger. The question is whether we, the Nintendo consumer, choose to support these companies in a vain attempt to make them feel like they really matter to the Nintendo equation. To fully answer this question, we need to take a look at the bigger picture which we will explore in 2 parts.

Let's kick things off by looking at these companies and their recent business decisions reguarding the Wii U. Warner Bros. Interactive has made Nintendo headlines a few times this year with their exclusion of online multiplayer for Batman: Arkham Origins, the delayed reveal and slow release of Wii U DLC for Injustice: Gods Among Us and the recent revelation that Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition will skip the system entirely. The struggling Square Enix went from announcing Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut as a Wii U exclusive to making it for every system to ultimately charging $20 more for it (The Wii U version will cost $50 while the nearly identical PS3/360 version will be $30). Even UbiSoft (one of the bigger Nintendo supporters) has burned bridges with Nintendo fans by dropping offline Co-op from Splinter Cell: Blacklist, revealing that there will be no DLC for Assassin's Creed IV and their well publicized delay of the excellent Rayman Legends. All in all, it's rather disrespectful to both Nintendo and their fans considering that this has been happening since the days of the N64. Fans have finally had enough and are showing this with their wallets by not buying the games. After years of being pissed on by third party companies, it's about time Nintendo owners finally make a stand. Ironically, third party's will site these poor sales as the reason for not supporting the console not realizing that they shot themselves in the foot by releasing an inferior version of their game for Wii U and even announce that they are doing this.

While this may sound like doom and gloom, the last three console generations have shown that Nintendo really has no need for these companies. In all honesty, there has not been a Nintendo "system seller" from a third party since the days of the Super Nintendo in the early 90's. The N64, GameCube and Wii were all sold by stellar first and second party software (If you don't believe me, I challenge you to find a single third party game that was a system seller for Nintendo in the same way GTA III was for the PS2). There are some companies such as Sega who have jumped on this lack of competition and partnered with Nintendo to bring multiple exclusive Sonic games to the Wii U. It should be noted that the excellent Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed for Wii U managed to sell about the same amount of copies as the same game on both PS3 & 360, an impressive feat considering the massive difference in install base between the systems. This shows that Nintendo fans will support third party companies who treat them with respect. Even with all the drama surrounding Rayman Legends, the Wii U version is selling best despite the massive delay and loss of exclusivity. Sadly, even a month after its release, it hasn't even broke a half million in sales despite being released across 5 systems (Wii U, PC, 360, PS3 & PSVita). The funny thing is that this all really started with Rayman Legends back in February of this year. The game was originally a major exclusive for the Wii U and there were many people planning to buy the system for the game which would have given Nintendo's HD system the post holiday push it needed. I would not have been surprised if the game managed to sell over a million copies but less than 20 days before its release, UbiSoft announced their delay to move the game multiplatform and the result shot through the industry like a bolt of lightning. EA shut down all development for the system, UbiSoft pulled back support and companies such as Square Enix became unwilling to truly commit to the system outside of Deus Ex (this is baffling when you consider their insane level of support for Nintendo handhelds). So what is the future for the Wii U?

If history is anything to go by, Nintendo tends to be at their best when at their "worst". From a sales standpoint, the N64 was beaten to a pulp by the original PlayStation but the N64 had the most defining games of its generation (and possibly all time) with Mario 64, GoldenEye and Ocarina of Time. The GameCube was murdered by the PS2 in system sales but the GameCube gave us Smash Brothers Melee, Metroid Prime and Zelda: Wind Waker (a game so ahead of its time that 12 years later, its HD version STILL looks and plays better than many of today's games!). Despite being a sales monster, the "inferior hardware" of the Wii was shunned by the hardcore and still gave us 2 Mario Galaxy's, true motion control Zelda (Skyward Sword), Mario Kart Wii and Xenoblade Chronicles (a stunning JRPG that dwarfs many games on the "more powerful" PS3/360). Needless to say, Nintendo has big things planned for the Wii U and there is little doubt that said things will sell a lot of hardware. As for the rest of the Wii U library, Nintendo has seen the writing on the wall and is wisely not chasing the third party's for support seeing as there is an imminent crash about to happen if said companies don't change their development habits. Nintendo has instead opened their system to the indies and as stated many times before, the indies are jumping at the chance to support the legendary company.

Continued in Part 2

Monday, October 7, 2013

Club Nintendo October Rewards Update

Nintendo has updated their downloadable Club Nintendo rewards for October and for the remainder of the month they are offering 4 titles across 2 systemsThe expiration date for this offer is now November 3 and the price is between 100-150 coins for each title. Be sure to check back November 4 for the next reward update.

ThruSpace - WiiWare
150 Coins (Available Until November 3)

Super Mario Kart - Wii Virtual Console
150 Coins (Available Until November 3)

Touch Solitaire - 3DS eShop
100 Coins (Available Until November 3)

The Legend of Zelda 3DS eShop
150 Coins (Available Until November 3)


Click here to see rewards

Nintendo Shows Their Support For Independent Games

When it comes to indie games, the Wii U has become a serious contender and Nintendo is wisely beginning to advertise this point. While the mainstream industry discounts Nintendo as a lost cause, the indie community has rallied behind the Big N literally throwing support at the Wii U like there's no tomorrow. This is a result of Nintendo's insanely open (and welcoming) approach to the eShop that is in stark contrast to their very closed attitude with the WiiWare service from last generation. There is little doubt that by the time 2014 is in full swing, Nintendo's HD console will have as many (if not more) indie games than actual traditional retail games.

As part of their effort to get the word out about these excellent games, Nintendo attended this year's annual Indiecade Festival to show off some of the upcoming eShop releases. Most of the games on display for both Wii U and 3DS were playable and showcased the amazing talent of their respective developers. Nintendo recently released a bunch of new trailers showing the new games and even overhauled the Wii U eShop to showcase all of the new indie games. Enjoy!

Nintendo Wii U Trailers
Nintendo 3DS Trailers


Did Newegg Just Reveal Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon For Wii U?

Despite many complaints about the original Luigi's Mansion as a GameCube launch title, there is no denying the legacy and fanbase that has built around the game. Its success resulted in a sequel with this years release of the excellent Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for the 3DS. Both games are a slick blend of the adventure and survival horror genre's while taking place in the whimsical Mario universe. The series has managed impressive sales numbers as well with over 6 million copies sold between the 2 games.

A recent listing on Newegg.com has revealed that Nintendo may be bringing the highly successful 3DS game to the Wii U later this year. While there are doubts about the validity of this listing, Newegg customer service recently confirmed the listing when contacted by NintendoNews.com. It should be noted that there have been retail slips in the past which have revealed games for a Nintendo console before officially being announced (this years Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut is a good example). With the success of this new franchise and the similarities between the Wii U and 3DS consoles, it would come as little surprise if Nintendo decided to bring the game to the big screen in HD. This may also be a surprise title from Nintendo to both expand the Wii U's library (which was hurt this year by disingenuous third party publishers) and help compensate for the delay of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze which was set to be their major December release. While Newegg lists the game as coming out before the end of 2013 for a budget $39.99 price, Nintendo has yet to confirm or deny the games existence. What are your thoughts, would you buy an HD upgrade of this highly rated title?

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Experience The Awesome Voice Of Smaug In Latest Hobbit Trailer

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Trailer Direct Link

Donkey Kong Country Slips To 2014 While New Kirby Game Is Announced!

During today's Nintendo Direct, company president Satoru Iwata announced that Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze needed more development time resulting in a delay from its original December 2013 release. The game is now slated for February 2014 which should help the Wii U during the traditionally slow release period that happens in the first 2 months of the year. As much as game delays disappoint fans, this type of move ultimately helps the industry seeing as many big titles tend to get lost in the holiday rush which floods the market during the last 3 months of the year.

Nintendo softened the news of the delay with the revelation of a brand new Kirby game coming to the Nintendo 3DS next year. The game looks like a continuation of the excellent Kirby's Return to Dream Land which hit the Wii in 2011. No official titled has been revealed but the classic 2D gameplay is sure to delight longtime Kirby fans. Nintendo also revealed an early gameplay teaser trailer for the game. Enjoy!


Feast Your Eyes On The Latest Super Mario 3D World Trailer!

Nintendo released a new trailer today (during their latest Nintendo Direct) for the upcoming Super Mario 3D World and the game looks every bit as great as its 3DS predecessor. This game (coming November 22) will likely mark the beginning of a new Mario series and it looks to maintain the high standard set by other games in the Mario family. Frankly, this is a brilliant move by Nintendo and will effectively create a traditional Mario game for every type of gamer. Here is a quick breakdown of the 3 core Mario series:
  • New Super Mario - This series retains the timeless 2D gameplay that began in the 80's while still offering new concepts such as the coin theme of NSMB2 on 3DS or the flying squirrel suit from NSMBU.
  • Super Mario 3D - The perfect hybrid of classic 2D Mario action with a 3D world while offering easier controls due to the fixed nature of the camera. This series is a great entry point for those who find the full 3D Mario games hard to control.
  • Super Mario Galaxy - The best in full 3D Mario for the hardcore Gamer's. This series started with Super Mario 64 in 1996 and has always offered excellent gameplay with sprawling worlds to explore.
While some would state that Nintendo has spread Mario too thin, this couldn't be further from the truth seeing as quality has not been sacrificed throughout his many video game incarnations. As much as people want whine and complain about the lack of "new franchises", the sad truth is that when they are given a fresh new game they don't support them (the excellent Wonderful 101 immediately jumps to mind). Nintendo has changed their strategy to creating fun new gameplay concepts and then find which existing franchise best fits the game design. This strategy works and with consumers afraid of change, I'm more than happy to support these excellent games that focus on fun/innovation over lifeless tech. Enjoy!


Special Update: It has just been revealed that the game will support every Wii U control option available. This includes the Wii U GamePad, Wii Remote(+), Wii Remote + NC, Wii U Pro Controller and Wii Classic Controller (Pro). This is excellent news for the games expansive multiplayer.

Major Wii U OS Upgrade Allows Off-TV Play For Wii Software

Nintendo has released its second major Wii U OS upgrade for 2013 adding a lot of new functionality to the console. Version 4.0.0 U, available via an Internet connection, includes the following improvements:

New Features:
  • The backwards compatible Wii Mode is now able to be output to the Wii U GamePad (This includes both video and audio). Users can choose to output to the TV and GamePad, or just the TV.
  • Players can now opt to automatically receive recommended software and demos from Nintendo using SpotPass
  • The Wii U now supports USB keyboards
  • You now have the option to disable use of a Nintendo Network ID on non-Nintendo hardware, such as PCs and smartphones
  • Support for Dolby® Pro Logic® II Surround Sound when playing Wii software
Changes to Wii U Menu:
  • Added a friend list icon to the Wii U Menu for easier access to the Friend List
Changes to System Settings:
  • An option to automatically receive recommended software is now available under “Internet”
  • A setting to select which cable outputs sound is available through “TV”
  • Users can choose to output sound through an HDMI cable, non-HDMI cable, or both cables at the same time. Click here for instructions
  • A setting to adjust the hourly interval in which standby functions are performed is available under “Power Settings” when Standby Functions are enabled
Changes to Wii U Chat:
  • Added the option to view a friend’s profile on Miiverse when sending or receiving a chat request
  • Users can now chat using a headset connected to the Wii U GamePad
Changes to Internet Browser:
  • Pressing the R or L Buttons on the Wii U GamePad will skip video playback forward/back a small amount of time
  • Holding the R Button will speed up video playback
  • Ability to save username and passwords for websites that require login
  • Ability to launch the Internet Browser during gameplay and upload screenshots
  • Added support for viewing PDF files
  • Added features intended for website developers that allow the user to enable developer tools and set user agent
Improvements to system stability and usability:
  • Further improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments have been made to enhance the user experience


Source