Results tagged “nintendo of america”

Nintendo is bringing out the big guns in publishing Metroid: Other M in America. It's not surprising either, it's a game whose content is easy to advertise outside of Japan. Metroid has never been very popular in its home country, but has been much more well received in America. It's funny, because the original Metroid for NES sold a little over a million in Japan, but no other Metroid has come close to that. If Other M sells over 100,000 copies in Japan, it will be the third best-selling Metroid game ever -- though keep in mind that no record of Metroid II or Super Metroid's sales in Japan exist. Nintendo of America definitely knows who to advertise it to here.

But they seriously outdid themselves:


This is the Other M commercial making the rounds on various television networks, and yeah, it's pretty great. It's the best video game commercial I've seen in a very long time.

Nintendo's finally begun advertising games that are aimed squarely at gamers again. There was also a pretty good Sin & Punishment 2 spot aired a while back (though it didn't prevent it from being a sales bomb, sadly), which marked the first time Nintendo advertised a core-aimed game since Advance Wars: Days of Ruin back in January '08:


Speaking of that franchise, Advance Wars is also another series that's had a better time in America than Japan, despite being Japanese. In fact, Days of Ruin never saw the light of day in Japan. 

Both of these are pretty cool, so I guess I can forgive them for not publishing Last Window here and apparently passing on releasing Golden Sun: Dark Dawn by the end of the year. It is on track to release in Japan by the end of the year, however, according to its official website. You know what? Golden Sun is another franchise Japanese franchise of Nintendo's that has been more popular in America, though to a lesser extent than the aforementioned two. We seem to have quite a few of those, and they all make for interesting examples.

Metroid: Other M releases for Wii in every major territory next week. 

The most surprising aspect that stood out while playing through Glory of Heracles was that...well, I was actually playing Glory of Heracles. The mere existence of an officially localized version is proof the cynics were right: Nintendo of America has the most schizophrenic localization team in the industry. This was said well over four years ago, and it's even more accurate now.

Here we have a completely localized Japanese RPG from a company that's (1) been known to pass on RPGs before (ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat, Soma Bringer -- the former of which was apparently being localized but halted, given that the ESRB rated it once before) and has questioningly (and, might I say, moronically) passed on publishing some games already in English -- a recent example possibly being Last Window: Midnight Promise, recently announced for Europe but not for America.

And that's not all, either; not only was this game announced 14 months after its April 2008 release date in Japan, but they also fixed a lot of the problems present in its original release. Molasses slow battles? Gone, with there now being three choices for how fast you want the battle system to be. Unintuitive touch screen spell casting? Also eradicated, though it gets a little annoying when you're still tapping away in the same manner after 20 or so hours of play. The camera control is also more adequate, though it's still a little finicky. NoA actually went through the effort of making this game good, yet they won't publish games they'd have to put little effort into localizing. Mind-boggling doesn't even begin to describe this process.

Unless you're a connoisseur for old Japanese RPGs that were never localized, you may not know that this game is actually a revival of an old franchise. This is the first game to be localized, but it's existed in Japan ever since the original hit Famicom back in 1987. This was denoted by the subtitle accompanying the Japanese version, literally translated as "Proof of the Soul," which actually has bearing on the plot itself, and is the sixth game in the franchise (including the Game Boy spinoff). This is the first game since 1994 and that Data East wasn't involved with, though its developer, Paon, mainly consists of former Data East staff.


Having an amnesiac protagonist is an all-too-common trope for Japanese RPGs, but GoH takes this even further by giving all of your main characters amnesia. It is, however, particularly bad for the main character, who doesn't even remember his name. He happens to stumble upon a girl guy named Leucos, who says she's a guy but obviously isn't -- which is the butt of numerous jokes throughout the game. The forest nymphs identify him as Heracles, but is he really? This is but one of the plot threads that need to be resolved throughout the game.

GoH has a rather unique look to it, something that nearly resembles a 2D cel-shaded style. It's entirely comprised of polygons, but everything is given a thorough amount of shading in an attempt to resemble sprites. It doesn't quite pull it off with finesse -- there are a number of sprite based games on DS (and less powerful consoles) that look better -- but it looks good enough that it shouldn't give anyone who despises the DS's 3D capabilities any problems. Its look is eerily reminiscent of Treasure's Guardian Heroes on Sega Saturn (though it's not quite as colorful), which it coincidentally shares a character designer with: Han.

The battle system could be described as a typical turn-based system with a twist, but you could describe almost any RPG these days that way. GoH's system has two aspects that make it different. While it gives you the usual way to restore MP (items, resting at the inn, getting them from a flower in a town, etc.), you can also restore it via an "Overkill," which refers to killing an already downed enemy. Performing an Overkill will be necessary to get rid of undead enemies, but you'll also be using this often to replenish your MP. Interestingly enough, MP granted by an Overkill becomes more generous as the game goes on, and not just because. You'll only receive a little MP form one early on, but once you pass the halfway mark you can probably (depending on the expenditure) replenish a character's MP completely by using an Overkill on only one enemy, even though every character's MP will be well over one thousand.


The second unique aspect pertains to casting magic. This game couldn't get by with just casting magic spells regularly; it instead has you use the touch screen for a specific input to help make your magic attacks stronger. It seems fun and intuitive (unlike the Japanese version, apparently) from the outset, but it gets very monotonous when you're doing the same damned motions 25 hours in. Of course you can just use the "Auto" function to cast magic spells for you, but doing that will result in said spell doing less damage.

To further address an earlier point, you probably wouldn't be able to replenish all of your MP via an Overkill if you were using some big spells in random battles. But that's completely unnecessary because of how easy the game is. Though it does have some fierce battles at times --indicated by the screen fading red instead of white when a battle is triggered - the majority of GoH is pretty easy for its 20-40 hour playtime. Most regular enemies can be taken out easily with a few physical attacks.

The music, composed entirely by Yoshitaka Hirota (of Koudelka and the Shadow Hearts games), ranges from adequate to pretty good. It's not the best material Hirota has composed, but it gets the job done, especially when it switches up battle themes to prevent them from becoming stale. The overworld and battle themes are where it's best, but it's mostly nothing that will leave you reaching for the soundtrack. If it had a soundtrack.


Due credit has to be given to the excellent localization, which wasn't handled by Nintendo themselves, but given to the talented group at 8-4. They also handled Baten Kaitos: Origins and Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon for Nintendo. The text is full of Woolseyisms, including some pretty hilarious in-jokes and references to other properties, many of which are old Nintendo games. It's further proof of how talented they are, especially if Nintendo considers using them.

It's not the best RPG on DS, but you could do far worse. Glory of Heracles worth your time if you're looking for a rather lengthy (for a portable RPG) game to spend some time with, especially for the discounted price (of around $15) it goes for these days. It's well worth that price.

And the pointless babble continues with where I left off yesterday.


Sony on the Move (continued)


Complaining aside, there are quite a few things that interested me about Sony's offerings. While the push for exclusive content and exclusive limited editions were actually nice I was ultimately indifferent toward them. What really interested me was the PlayStation Move which can be summed up by the words, "Wii HD." As with Kinect, Move didn't really show off anything that hadn't already been done on the Wii. Unlike its competitors Move is taking a more visually realistic approach to motion control gaming. The results were gorgeous titles like Sports Champions, The Fight: Lights Out, and Sorcery, all of which look pretty fun and already seem to appeal to core gamers turned off by the cuteness of Miis and Avatars.
 



The Move has already been priced but at its most expensive it will cost around $130 for the camera, the Move controller, and the navigation controller. Although gamers can avoid paying $30 for the navigation controller by using the Dualshock 3 instead. For the gamers who want a solo experience with the Move it is a better value over Kinect. If the Move becomes a family affair it can quickly become expensive at $50 per Move controller and $30 per Navigation controller. It'll be some time before we found out if Sony's bid for the casual fans pay off, but unlike the competition the Move seems to be generating buzz among many core PS3 owners.

As for the PSP no new hardware was announced. Considering the massive effort initially put behind the PSP Go the lack of a PSP successor is not surprising. However, it was nice to see that Sony is still supporting the PSP. Perhaps a more aggressive ad campaign and a steady release of new PSP games will help counter slow sales. But with the upcoming 3DS ready to dethrone the PSP as the more powerful handheld one can only hope that Sony has a proper PSP successor in the works.


Nintendo's Core


For the last few years Nintendo catered to the casual gaming audience and the move literally paid off. With a huge influx of revenue from new gamers many longtime core gamers felt ignored by Nintendo. For years fans begged for more franchise games as well as revivals of older games. As the games were slow to come many longtime fans began to feel jaded. All of that changed this year with the announcement of no less than six first party titles announced or further detailed at Nintendo's press conference. Additionally, several more third party titles were announced or detailed. And despite Microsoft and Sony's best efforts the biggest news coming from E3 is the 3DS and how it really works.

If Nintendo can be faulted for anything this year it would be a stunning lack of new IPs. Just about everything in their line-up consisted of sequels and remakes of familiar titles. The barrage of game announcements and live demos felt like a "take that" aimed at disgruntled Nintendo fans at worst. At best it can be said that Nintendo finally gave longtime fans what they wanted for several years now. Only a nitpicker or hardcore Sony/Microsoft fan could find serious fault with Nintendo's offerings.




Since Geoff has gone into detail about Nintendo's upcoming line-up I'm going to focus on what caught my attention. I was actually very surprised to discover a new Donkey Kong Country game is due out later this year. I actually cut my teeth on the series starting with the Donkey Kong Land games on the original Game Boy, and later moved onto the Donkey Kong Country series on the SNES. The games themselves were extremely challenging but rewarded the tenacious player. So when Donkey Country Returns was announced I found myself happily surprised. Retro Studios is now handling the franchise but video and reports suggest the game captures the feeling of Rare's work quite well. And the addition of two player co-op should be an interesting feature.




I was also pleased to see gameplay footage from Disney Epic Mickey, which is shaping up nicely. I haven't played a Disney game since the Sega Genesis days and everything since then (excluding Kingdom Hearts) hasn't really been worth a second look. My habit of abstaining from Disney games will change when Epic Mickey is released later this year. Another game I'm looking forward to is Kirby Epic Yarn. I can't say that I'm a Kirby fan because I've never really bothered to play the games since owning a Game Boy. Epic Yarn seems like a good place to start. As for the DS I'm looking forward to Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, and Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light. All and all, it's going to be a pretty busy end of the year for Nintendo fans.




The biggest buzz generator to come out of E3 was the Nintendo 3DS. The device itself wasn't the surprise as it was announced months beforehand by Nintendo. The big surprise lies in the fact that the handheld works as intended (affordable 3D without having to wear special glasses), and how much support third party developers have announced for the 3DS. Twenty two publishers have vowed to support the 3DS, and at least 50 games have been announced in some form. Of those 50 planned games, about 20 of them already have titles, early screen shots, and some were even demoed at E3. Even if half of those are launch titles the 3DS is bound to enjoy a variety of gamer support. With graphics as powerful as the GameCube, the ability to turn to scale down or turn off 3D effects, downloads in sleep mode, improved WiFi support, backwards compatibility with DS games, and 3D movie support, the 3DS seems poised to be one hell of a Nintendo handheld. As of this writing a price and release date have not been given for the 3DS, nor does it have a final look. I'm sure the handheld will cost $250 at the most, but here's to hoping it isn't priced higher than $200. Either way, it would be surprising if the 3DS doesn't sell well at launch and beyond.

E3 2010 will most likely be a memorable show. Microsoft and Sony catered to the causal gamers with their answers to the Wii. Conversely, Nintendo focused on more serious gamers by announcing or further detailing games to appeal to all fans. There's also no doubt that Nintendo's 3DS stole lots of momentum away from Sony's PlayStation Move and Microsoft's Kinect. It'll be interesting to see how all of this new hardware fairs once it hits the market. On a final note I'm sure gamers everywhere have one last thought for Microsoft and its pre-E3 show: We can all do without bizarre Cirque Du Soleil performances at future E3 shows, thanks.

You already know and have been taken into the upcoming 3DS lineup, but what about regular DS games? There are still plenty of them left, and Nintendo's press packet contained information on quite a few of them. Please note that both Golden Sun: Dark Dawn (coming this holiday season!) and Dragon Quest IX (coming July 11th!) were featured at the conference, and therefore won't be included in this post.

If you're unaware of what's coming up for DS from Nintendo themselves, I don't blame you. Amidst the plethora of games to cover from E3, it seems DS coverage has gotten a little lost in the shuffle. And that's not just including third-party titles; no, Nintendo has quite a few games being published as well. Two are expected localizations of games already released in Japan, but one was newly introduced at E3, albeit from a familiar franchise.

Nintendo continues their slow-though-admirable localization pace for the Layton titles with Professor Layton and the Unwound Future, the third game in the franchise. The story this time around involves Luke from the future sending both Layton and present day Luke a letter warning them about the troublesome future they face. It's up to the fearsome, puzzle solving duo to fix this problem before it's too late.

If you've played a Layton game before, you pretty much know what to expect here. The game releases in America on September 20th, 2010. Meanwhile, as noted a couple of days ago, the fifth game has been moved to 3DS, and was featured in Nintendo of America's press packet with Level 5 as the publisher. That game, known as Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle, is apparently releasing in Japan this fall, alongside the 3DS.

So where does this leave the fourth game? Got me. Level 5 opens their Santa Monica office in September, so they're easily in a position to localize the fourth game. We'll see what happens, and hopefully the end result won't be skipping over it for localization.

Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs, the third game in the series, was also featured in Nintendo's packet. This game released in Japan back in March, and hits America this holiday season. Like the last game, this one will have downloadable missions via Nintendo's WiFi connection. Unlike the last game, this one will also have four-player co-op missions. If you're of the audience, look forward to it.

The last DS game in the packet was one previously unannounced: Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-land Mayhem. As the title implies, this is another Minis game like the second game and the DSiWare title, so anyone expecting them to go back to the Donkey Kong '94-inspired style (that includes me) like the first game on GBA is out of luck again. This game also drops this holiday season.

The 3DS may be looming in the shadows, but that doesn't mean the DS doesn't have any life left in it. I'm a little disappointed to see that Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem wasn't announced yet, but it's too early to rule that out. I am surprised to see no mention of Pokemon Black and White in the packet, but it might be a little too early to advertise that. Besides, it's not like they don't already have a Pokemon game in there. If you're wondering, Nintendo has already announced it for a spring 2011 release. This wraps up this little mini-series. Hope you enjoyed it! My apologies if you didn't.

Now, we can officially switch gears and talk about the Wii titles that are contained within Nintendo's E3 2010 press packet. Looking at the list, it's...well, it's pretty brief. Not to say that Nintendo doesn't have plenty of titles coming out for Wii these days -- and that's pretty much all that's coming out for it now -- but most of them were featured prominently at Nintendo's press conference last week. So yeah, I don't have much of a post here. Sorry.

But wait! It appears the press packet does contain information about each game. Info that hasn't made its way to too many video game websites yet. There's also been some new info on some games since then. So this post does serve a purpose. Really.

Kirby's Epic Yarn was one of the most fantastic-looking games unveiled last week. It's literally the kind of game no one's ever seen before. There have been some complaints about how its gameplay style is rather un-Kirby-like, but neither was Canvas Curse for DS, and look at how that turned out. The question right now is: who's developing this game?

It's not an internally-developed Nintendo game, but one handled by Good-Feel, who previously handled Wario Land: Shake It! for Wii. Shake It! was apparently good, but felt a little too familiar to the older, portable Wario Land games. Epic Yarn, on the other hand, is something entirely new for the franchise, and it should be free of that problem. The game releases this fall.

Mario Sports Mix pits Mario and pals in a multitude of sports events: volleyball, basketball, ice hockey, and dodgeball. And all in one game. I don't think anyone is seriously surprised to see Mario starring in more games that aren't platformers at this point. But your question might be the same as above: who's developing this one? This one isn't an internally developed title either; it's coming from Square Enix.

Wait, Square Enix? But they make RPGs! That might be what some of you are saying (or not), but it's not too surprising. They also handled development for Mario Hoops 3-on-3, which hit DS back in 2006. And it just so happens that this game also includes basketball. 3-on-3 wasn't too bad as long as you didn't crack your touch screen by tapping it too hard. This game doesn't release until 2011, so you'll have to wait until you're ready to flick your Wii Remote so hard that you'll break your TV screen.

Wii Party may not release in America until this fall, but it hits Japan on July 8th. Nintendo of Japan announced on the game's Japanese website that it will come with a Wii Remote, similar to Wii Play. Assuming Nintendo of America will do the same for our release, and they likely will, look forward to this being at the top of the charts for a long time. And unlike Wii Play, this game actually looks fun to play.

Nintendo's doing a lot to make sure the fall lineup is covered in America, whether they're publishing games from their internal studios or other developers. It's a pretty telling sign about how unfortunate the third-party situation is, especially in Japan. Now, hopefully Nintendo can fill the RPG void in America seeing that Namco can't be bothered to localize Tales of Graces.  

Yeah, that was a little boring, but the last entry in this mini-series, the DS list, will be more interesting -- mainly because they're not getting coverage anywhere. I wouldn't be surprised to see that people think the DS's lineup this fall is weak, but it's actually not too bad. Until tomorrow, then.

You can check out a better look at these games on Nintendo's E3 website. While it's there.

When a new console is unveiled, it's the first-party software that displays its potential power. In a surprise twist, this is not the case with the 3DS; in fact, it's the exact opposite. Upon observing most of the games unveiled, it seems that most of Nintendo's efforts are on the lower end of the technical spectrum. Not to say that's bad, of course, which would be lunacy. But there are a number of third-party games that really look pretty spectacular.

When Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said the 3DS was going to appeal to everyone at E3 last week, the easy conclusion to make from that was having the system appeal to people who don't usually play video games. In other words, this, like the DS and Wii before it, would have software to appeal to Nintendo's expanded audience and people who could be classified as gamers. That summation was incorrect. He was talking about the PSP audience.

The 3DS is definitely more powerful than the PSP, so it won't have a power disadvantage against its competitor any longer. Also, they already have a laundry list of third-party developers to take advantage of this thing; and some of them have worked on popular (or soon to be) PSP games.

Metal Gear Solid 3D: Snake Eater is one of the games showing off the 3DS's graphical prowess. This game, which itself looks like a remake, or updated port, of MGS3 (the best game in the franchise, and my personal favorite PS2 game), was featured in a fully manipulative tech demo at E3. Looking closer at the screen shots featured in Nintendo's press packet - with a few more being featured on the official website - it definitely looks slightly better than the PS2 version, thanks to the 3DS's shading capabilities.

But enough about the visuals. There are quite a few people confused as to exactly what this is. Some think it's just a tech demo, but that's hard to swallow when this was revealed as the third game being teased on Kojima Productions' E3 website. It was also implicitly stated by Nintendo of Japan President Satoru Iwata as being a game in development at E3. Also, it seems Kojima stated that it's a real game, and he's directing it. This won't be something like Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes.

The name "The Naked Sample" is apparently referring to the tech demo shown at E3. Shots from the demo are shown on the official website linked above.

Resident Evil: Revelations is, as Keiji Inafune says, a brand new game in the franchise for 3DS. The big debate over this in the past week has been whether the screen shots display pre-rendered CG footage or real time. Well, the trailer was uploaded to Capcom's website, along with various other Japanese sites last night (midday on Tuesday, in Japanese time), and it's definitely real time. Like the MGS3D one, the E3 demo also had this video with a manipulative camera. If you're still not convinced, just look at the water to see how poorly rendered it looks compared to everything else. But "compared to everything else" still looks pretty good.

Another question was (and is) who is shown in the video. Chris Redfield (in his muscle-bound RE5 self) was easily recognized, but lot of gamers, many of them dedicated RE fans, didn't know who the woman was. The trailer reveals that it's Jill Valentine. Her model here looks a little off compared to her RE5 iteration, but her face looks pretty similar to her RE3 model. No one has any clue who the guy with the Aussie accent is, but man does Steve Blum sure get a lot of work!

The last question here is: is this the manifestation of Resident Evil Portable that was announced for PSP at the Sony E3 Conference last year (but never shown)? Doesn't look like Capcom is answering that, but it's pretty possible. But it's amazing that the 3DS is getting a mainline RE game right off the bat (or close to it) while the Wii has only received two on-rails shooter spin-offs. Hopefully we'll see some gameplay footage of this soon.

I was pretty surprised to see some English screen shots for Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle in the press packet. In case you're wondering, this is the fifth game in the series and the second game in the second trilogy - which all take place before the first three games. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future, releasing for DS in America (and probably Europe) this fall. Also interesting: Level 5 is listed as the publisher of the fifth game, which means they'll be putting those newfound international publishing duties to work.

Moving the fifth and sixth Layton games to 3DS is better for Japan and the system itself, but it's much better for America and Europe. Originally, they would have been releasing five and six in Japan in fall 2010 and fall 2011 for DS, respectively, which is OK. But given the localization schedule NoA was on, they'd be releasing these games, regular DS games, well into 2013. Not a chance in hell would that happen, and it's traditionally not NoA's style to play catch-up like Capcom did with the Ace Attorney franchise a few years ago.

The one worry here is that by listing the fifth game in the packet, it could imply that they're skipping the fourth game. But I don't think that will happen. While the 3DS will be busy penetrating the market next year, there will still be a market for DS games. The question right now who will be localizing it.

(And hope I don't have to eat crow on that.)

Honestly, I meant for this post to be just as long as my last one on 3DS titles, but somehow it got pretty lengthy. Whoops! Make sure to check out Nintendo's E3 site for a look at more third-party titles like Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition, and Ridge Racer, though the screen shots are smaller than the 3DS's native aspect ratio.

Anyone who follows Nintendo during E3 intensely knows that they bury some of their excellent material within their press site/packet. But that goes double this year, since a good portion of the conference was dedicated to the 3DS unveil and detailing exactly what it does. Because of that, Nintendo's press site is packed with info and glimpses at games they have for 3DS, DS, and Wii. I'll start with 3DS software here. There's so much of it that I'll have to make two posts about it. That's pretty cool!

No one really expected Nintendo to reveal too much of what's in development for 3DS yet, especially given past precedent. Nintendo's lineup with the DS unveil in 2004 was pretty underwhelming, and its launch was more underwhelming. But looking at what they have for 3DS, they certainly don't intend to make that mistake again, and the result is a lineup that only fans could have dreamed of. They've clearly been saving all of these games up after not unveiling too much in 2007 and 2008.

OK, so I mentioned Kid Icarus: Uprising before, but damn if it doesn't look incredibly good. This is the first new installment in a long time, and given the genre it was in before, it probably shouldn't be a surprise that its style takes after another Nintendo franchise (albeit Treasure-developed): Sin & Punishment - whose second installment releases in America a week from today. It's one of the games in Nintendo's arsenal that really displays the 3DS's power, because a lot of people (me included) thought it was a Wii game when the video began rolling. There's no clue as to when this releases, unfortunately; that goes for every game here.

I was thrilled to see that a new Paper Mario game was on its way. And this one is an actual RPG, unlike the 2D/3D hybrid platfomer Super Paper Mario for Wii. This will be the first RPG title in this series in about six years (depending on when it hits store shelves), and the screen shots indicate that this is definitely a new game. It's only being known as Paper Mario for now, but I'm sure they'll have a proper subtitle in the near future.

Nintendo also wants to tingle your sense of nostalgia with some remakes. They officially announced Star Fox 64 3D, which is a remake of...well, you know. The 3DS has all of the controls to do everything the game will offer, and it will definitely be better than the sadly mediocre Star Fox Command.

Another remake is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, another game many people reading might be familiar with. I'm not sure if this game was supposed to be announced yet. A clever individual changed some words in the universal image html for the screen shots on Nintendo of America's E3 website, and found some images of the game. Nintendo then confirmed its existence at a roundtable for journalists later that night. But the fact that they were in the E3 image section could mean they definitely planned on revealing it then. We'll never know the real details.

In addition to what's listed above, there's also a new Mario Kart game -- graphically the least impressive game; and who wants to bet that this will be Nintendo's big game for Fall 2011 - nintendogs + cats (mentioned at the conference), an Animal Crossing game, Pilotwings Resort, and a game called Steel Diver. Looks like Nintendo has a lot of bases covered, and that's not including third-party titles.

For a further look at these games, check out Nintendo's E3 site. Preferably before they pull it down.

The overall effect of Nintendo's press conference this year? Holy crap. What a show.

I didn't know what to expect with Nintendo this year, and how the flow of their conference would go. That's thanks to how they like to keep everything under lock and key, though a few details about some of the games and hardware they had to show trickled out early on. But despite us knowing about some of it, actually seeing everything was very impressive. And funnily enough, while Sony and especially Microsoft tried to woo us with their own "new" motion-reliant technology, Nintendo's conference contained...well, almost none of that.

No, Nintendo's concern was you, the gamer. Their previous conferences of the last few years were concerned with either appealing to either both you and your parents (E3 '09), or just your parents (E3 '07 and '08). Nintendo realizes they have that new audience they were going after, and this year the focus was on keeping the core audience. And they did an excellent, but not perfect, job of that.

They hooked us immediately by starting with the new Zelda for Wii that they'd only previously teased: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. It looks like they've actually found something to use Wii Motion Plus incredibly efficiently. I say "looks like" because the stage demonstration was unfortunately janky, despite both Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo of America Treehouse's Bill Trinen best efforts. As for the game itself, it looks like a cel-shaded version of Twilight Princess. Reports around the internet from the press are saying the game handles fine, so that demo was just unfortunate.

But they made up for it. The Disney's Epic Mickey demo, which featured a demonstration narrated by Warren Spector, showcased the new look and features for the game. And it all looked absolutely fantastic. Some of the scenes looked like one of Disney's Golden Books come to life (you know, through polygons), and there was a 2D platforming section based on Steamboat Willie. It may not completely have the steampunk vibe given off from the concept art (from what we've seen), but it looks nice. It was also reaffirmed as an exclusive, putting those rumors about a PS3 and 360 version to rest.

Those were the only actual demonstrations, but there were plenty of trailers. Though it was delayed from its prior release date, Metroid: Other M was given another trailer. Oh, and another release date: August 31st. Nintendo also showed Mario Sports Mix, which features Mario and friends participating in multiple sports events. That's due for release next year. And lastly, though word of it was spilled a little while ago, Nintendo finally announced Wii Party. That's due this holiday season.

They also showcased the remake for Goldeneye, which had its trailer released yesterday (and whose existence was leaked last week). It features Daniel Craig as Bond instead of Pierce Brosnan, and has templates of many Bond villains for mutiplayer. I don't know whether to take this as a retcon of Goldeneye or not, honestly. That releases in September. They also sold the sequel to the critical flop/commercial success: Just Dance 2. I'm sorry, but Dance Central for Kinect totally outdoes that game in everything it wants to attempt. JD2 is coming this fall.

After this, they showed the trailers you really wanted to see. The existence of a new Donkey Kong from Retro Studios (of the Metroid Prime games) seeped out a few days ago, and Nintendo confirmed that today in the form of Donkey Kong Country Returns for Wii. The game is, uh, the return of a Donkey Kong Country-style game from the SNES days that you all knew and (hopefully) loved. They also announced a new Kirby game for Wii, and it's not that forgotten Gamecube game that never released a while back. No, this one is a 2D game that sports a look made of yarn, Kirby's Epic Yarn. It looks brilliant, too. Both of these games release this holiday season.

On the DS front, Golden Sun DS lives! It's now called Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, it looks very good, and proves that not all 3D DS games look ugly. It's coming out this holiday season. Also, Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies was name-dropped to remind people that it's releasing soon. If you've been following the game, they didn't tell you anything you didn't know already.



Finally, they revealed the Nintendo 3DS, a console that you probably already know doesn't require glasses for 3D play. NoA president Reggie Fils-Aime made sure to rip the current 3D trend. The system itself looks nice, though I hope you're a fan of those dual-tone DS Lites they released a couple of years back, because all of the models sport that look. After seeing the third-party lineup that's in store, it's clear that this thing will be HUGE. Nintendo also had a game of their own to show off.

In continuing the trend of tinging your sense of gaming nostalgia, Nintendo announced Kid Icarus: Uprising. The game itself looks a lot like one of the Sin & Punishment titles. The trailer also proved that 3DS will definitely do 3D incredibly well. The game, like the console, does not have a release date. With its capabilities, it looks like it proved the rumor that this thing was about as powerful as the Gamecube to be true. I'll have more to say about 3DS in the next few days, because there's plenty to talk about. This post is already too damn long.

As you could guess, I thought Nintendo's conference was very impressive; definitely their best showing since 2004 (the Twilight Princess unveil conference). But like I said before, it wasn't perfect. They have plenty of time to announce that new Fire Emblem game for DS, but I was very disappointed not to see Xenoblade or The Last Story at the conference. It's not on their press site either, so I seriously hope they're not planning on leaving those in Japan. Nintendo actually had more "core" games at their conference than Microsoft. Meanwhile, I'll have my thoughts on Sony's conference early tomorrow. Though my full opinion will have to wait (because I'm already winded here), I'll say that I thought it was the epitome of blasé. Until then.

Be sure to check Nintendo's spiffy E3 site to check out everything I've mentioned above.

Nintendo definitely has a few tricks up their sleeve at the moment. While you could say this about most companies at this time, being a little less than two weeks from E3 and all, here we have a company on the verge of releasing their next portable system. So it would probably be wise to cut the prices to the previous iterations to clear out shelves and help sustain sales.

And cut them they did! Well, in Japan. The DS Lite, DSi, and DSi XL/LL will all receive price cuts in Japan on June 19th, Nintendo announced today. This actually makes logical sense, because DS sales have slowed down quite a bit in that territory. But there's also confirmation that Europe will be receiving price drops on their hardware as well, effective June 18th. It's possible that America will receive that well, given that  something is happening earlier in that week. Along with the price drops in Japan, three new XL colors were introduced, which are due for release on June 19th:

And man are they funky. They serve as a complete parallel to the existing colors. But this isn't the first time Nintendo has done this.

Can you feel the power emanating from this? They call it "the 90s," I hear.

This is basically an homage to the "Play-it-Loud" era, with the new XL colors seeming very similar to the then-new Game Boy colors. And just like those, these new colors are arriving just when a new system is coming along. And yes, I'm aware that it's not the exact same situation. No one in their right mind would consider the Game Boy Pocket a successor the Game Boy, but it's similar enough.

But there's no clue as to whether Nintendo is intentionally making these as an homage to Play-it-Loud -- though that won't stop us from acknowledging that as being pretty spiffy -- and who knows if these will even see the light of day outside of Japan (like the white XL, for instance). The chance of the latter point happening depends on when Nintendo plans to release the 3DS in each territory. The fact that they're dropping the price on the models proves that they didn't want to introduce it at a higher price than the XL in Japan, so there's a high chance that the same will happen here. Unless Nintendo of America and Europe are feeling gutsy...

By this time, you're probably already aware that Dragon Quest IX has been dated for North America and Europe for July 11th and July 23rd, respectively. This can only be described as "awesome." The American date is exactly the same day the Japanese version released last year, which is almost assuredly intentional. Talk about impeccable timing.

Dragon Quest hasn't been the most popular franchise in America, despite Square Enix's mostly brazen attempts; but this game will mark Nintendo's attempt at ingraining it into the minds of people its concept may entice. The serious has previously had success outside of Japan with Dragon Warrior I when it was being handed to Nintendo Power subscribers for free around two decades ago, and Dragon Quest VIII, which sold well with a great advertising campaign -- and a Final Fantasy XII demo in America. Despite that, it's still not as successful as it could be.

It may not become the next Pokemon on the grandest scale, but DQIX has the potential to achieve popularity if it's marketed well. The lengthy single player quest is still there, complete with you having the ability to customize all of your heroes for your party, gender and all. Given the templates seen in screen shots across the web, it looks like you'll definitely be able to make your team of Super Saiyans.

But the most important aspect of DQIX is the introduction of a social aspect. You no longer have to go through the quest alone, as the game can now be enjoyed with a partner, or partners, along side you. This was a template introduced back when the game was announced at the tail end of 2006, and from people who've played it, the execution of that idea is pretty fantastic. You'll also be able to share maps with strangers down the line. Unfortunately, while some of the social ideas work well within a tight-knit community like Japan, it will be a little harder to do in a country where its inhabitants are more widespread like America.

Some of us were hoping for online implementation to be added for the international release, but it doesn't seem like that will happen. That's probably because it would be tough for the DS/DS Lite to handle, with numerous WEP connections being held hostage because of massive map trading and cooperative play. The DSi, with its WPA capabilities, could have handled it, but it would have alienated much of the potential fanbase -- completely counter-intuitive to Nintendo and Square Enix's intentions.

Though Nintendo is publishing, Square Enix is handling the localization. So expect the script, which was outsourced to a group known as Plus Alpha, to have some of the same whimsical (or annoying, your mileage may vary) quirks that both Dragon Quest IV and V had on DS. It's not as if this franchise is one that takes itself seriously, so they should add to the charm it already exudes.


With its release being under two months away, expect the marketing campaign from Nintendo do begin any time now. The fact that they actually went though getting Akira Toriyama to draw new art for the international version should hopefully show how serious they are -- seen above and on the box art, the latter complete with the Angry Kirby effect. And since Nintendo is publishing, it's free of the utterly moronic Square Enix tax! Retailers are listing a price of $34.99. If you like portable RPGs, please look forward to it. Well, if only to ensure (or further ensure?) Dragon Quest VI and Joker 2's localizations.

P.S. I'm taking the fact that it comes out the day before my birthday as a sign. Thanks Nintendo! I should get to playing IV and V on DS now.

Not even a week after I made a post about a trio of Dragon Quest games MIA outside of Japan, Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies gets announced for North America at a press conference from Nintendo earlier today. It kind of makes that post fortuitous, and makes the DQIX part sound completely silly in retrospect. But I'm not upset about that in the least.

Another question was also answered. In said DQIX part, I mentioned how curious it was that Nintendo had been the only company dropping the game's name in multiple interviews, and that Square Enix never mentioned it once. There was a reason for that: Nintendo is publishing the game in America (or "the Americas," as their press release states). Nintendo said they were going to help advertise the game in America since most games in the franchise had flown under the radar, and it looks like they're going to keep that promise.

Dragon Quest VIII may have had a modicum of success when it released in November 2005 here, but the same can't be said for every subsequent release. Not to say their sales were bad per se, but they could have, and should have been better. (Though you could make an argument about Dragon Quest V's sales being bad.) DQIX stands a good chance at being a game that can really make this franchise popular outside of Japan if Nintendo is capable of putting the entirety of their marketing prowess behind it.

Other good things about Nintendo publishing it are that they will definitely give it bigger distribution than Square Enix can, which means you might be able to find it easily after six months, unlike DQV for DS. Also unlike Square Enix, Nintendo won't price the game at an utterly moronic $40. They're also planning to release it this summer, so it should go without too much competition. I'm wishing it all the best, and I'm sure the other contributors here are as well.

Which just leaves the other games, now. I wouldn't expect to hear anything about Joker 2 for a while, but I wonder where and how Dragon Quest VI will fit into all of this.

P.S. By the way, this isn't the first time Nintendo has published a game in this franchise. They also published the original Dragon Quest on NES here under the name Dragon Warrior. But I think this one will sell good enough that they won't have to sell the remaining copies to Nintendo Power subscribers.

Nintendo's Wii has an...interesting conundrum. In terms of its software lineup, the potential of it seemed good initially since smaller developers would have a venue to have with the rising cost of development Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 software would undoubtedly entail. The initial third-party lineup was admittedly bare compared to the HD consoles, which raised some concerns. Since then, it's fluctuated between both extremes, with the software situation never settling into one comfortable position. Especially in America.

But that's not to say Japan and Europe have been perfect. When the third-party lineup was still distressing, Nintendo has plenty of fantastic software to provide to fill in the gap. But when they felt third-party developers were stepping up their offerings, they let their offerings lapse, and the system's overall morale suffered for it. Nintendo has recently promised to fix the problem, but with third-party games seeing underwhelming sales on the system, many of them are starting to leave. It's pretty bad in Japan, where no third-party Wii titles have been announced for months.

Yesterday, however, we saw a new lineup from Nintendo that showed promise for their future output. They're indeed keeping their promise to provide some titles that will appease the core audience. So yeah, there will be some games to play later on this year. Maybe.

You're already familiar with Metroid: Other M, a new Metroid title to be borne of a collaboration between Tecmo's Team Ninja and Nintendo's Metroid staff; the latter of which includes Yoshio Sakamoto, co-creator of the franchise. Given how both sides are talented, it should be pretty good. It also looks much more story-oriented than the previous games. The official Japanese teaser webpage went up in Japan yesterday, confirming that the game will release in summer 2010. The site also has a beautiful piano theme.

It took a while for Monolith Soft's new Wii RPG to resurface again, and it has in the form of a teaser webpage on Nintendo of Japan's website. Formerly known as Monado: Beginning of the World -- buried within Nintendo of America's press packet from E3 last year -- Xenoblade is going to be the final name of their new RPG. Yeah, Xenoblade. And the project is helmed by Tetsuya Takahashi too. And it apparently has mechs! This seems reminiscent of something in particular.

And before you conclude that the name is Takahashi's desperate attempt at recapturing the spirit of the good ol' days when the "Xeno" name was one of prominence, the final name was actually Nintendo's idea. We should be seeing more soon, as the game releases in Japan in spring 2010. Hopefully it's come a ways since its last appearance. Make sure to take in the music on the website too, because it's lovely. I've listened to it about six times now. I'm still trying to figure out who composed it.

We've known that Mistwalker's Hironobu Sakaguchi (formerly of Squaresoft) has been up to something for a long time, given his intermittent blog updates on Mistwalker's website. And now we know, as a site appeared on Nintendo's website yesterday revealing The Last Story. Interesting name too, as it's a little reminiscent of another name. Something representing finality. Subtle.

Both Nintendo and Mistwalker are being sparse on the details, but Sakaguchi said the theme of it will be "the universal theme of human emotion." The site also has some beautiful music, possibly composed by Nobuo Uematsu. The game releases in Japan sometime this year.

This is a pretty nice batch of games, especially when you also consider some of the other games from Nintendo that will appeal to core gamers, like Zangeki no Reginleiv (which releases in Japan on February 11th), Super Mario Galaxy 2, and the new Zelda. And while I'd like to think that all of these games will release over here, who knows what will come over with company so schizophrenic with whatever they release outside of Japan like Nintendo of America. Hopefully, they've changed their minds, but the skepticism remains.

Good news, everyone! Nintendo of America finally decided that they felt the Classic Controller Pro should be available to non-importers. In a press release early (like, early) today, they announced that the controller would finally be available throughout America in April -- despite it being available in Japan and Europe since August and . It will come in both black and white, and will release for $19.99, the same price as the older iteration. The PR doesn't mention the original Classic Controller at all, so they definitely intend on retiring it. Given the favorable impressions of the new controller, they're doing consumers a favor.

But that's not all: That press release was sent from both Nintendo and Capcom, announcing that the controller would also be available in a special bundle with Monster Hunter 3: Tri, which also releases in April. The controller that will be packaged with the game will be black, just like the Japanese counterpart. The bundle will be $59.99, a mere $10 more than the standalone game. This should help the game's sales, since the Monster Hunter games have the unfortunate habit of only selling especially well in Japan. You could call this the Dragon Quest Syndrome.

So I think it would be a good idea to promote it using the ad that helped push it in Japan. I also think it would be good to market it with the product behind them. Of course, I'm talking about...no, not the HDTV. Or the guitar. I mean the black Wii, which has still yet to make an appearance in America. I think NoA likes to tick off their fanbase every now and then for the sake of it. (

Word among various third-party developers (some of which are being discussed here) distressed about underwhelming software sales is that the hardcore base has abandoned the platform for the supposedly greener pastures of the 360 and PS3. With something like a black Wii and Monster Hunter 3, they could stand a good chance at reigniting the core gamer fanbase. That, along with a marketing campaign, which I'm sure Capcom is doing anyway since they're even giving one to Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars (out tomorrow!). Time will tell if Nintendo is really serious about this.

Today is the fifth anniversary of the Nintendo DS in North America. It was on this day in 2004 that Nintendo launched the first standard portable console that was quite a big departure from its usual series of Game Boy hardware, and its dual-screened format immediately drew comparisons to their beyond-standard and ill-fated Virtual Boy. It was also similar to Nintendo's old Game & Watch portables, though not enough of the gaming populace owned or even knew about those. These days, millions of DSs have been sold worldwide, and it's initiated people who didn't even know they liked video games into the medium. But it wasn't all sugar and rainbows, especially in the beginning.


The DS was revealed in its apparently most primitive form at E3 2004 to very mixed - but mostly negative - reactions. At the time, the system seemed like a desperate response from a company that felt their threshold in the portable gaming realm had been threatened by the then-behemoth that was Sony. This E3 was also the PSP's first big showing, and it awed people who never knew a portable was capable of that kind of power. Comparatively, the DS seemed awkward, complete with a display consisting of nothing but a bunch of tech demos to demonstrate its possible potential. Not at all convincing to anyone aside from the most die-hard Nintendo fanboy.


By launch, the system's design was fortunately more refined, but it still looked pretty hideous. Even worse was its launch lineup, which consisted of mostly test games. If the best Nintendo could come up with for its launch was an enhanced version of Super Mario 64 - complete with some awkward control options, since the DS didn't have an analog stick -- then they couldn't expect third-party developers to see much potential in it either. Unsurprisingly, the port was also the best game released around the launch period, and was the best on the system for a good while; that's mainly because it was the only one that felt like a complete game.

The first iterations of the hardware also came packed with a demo for Metroid Prime: Hunters, called First Hunt; the full version of which wouldn't release for another 16 months. It was panned because it felt nothing like a Metroid game, and was actually a realization of what fans of the franchise feared the console Metroid Prime games would turn out like.

OK, Feel the Magic: XY/XX wasn't bad either, but still, there wasn't much use for the system outside of it being a more comfortable and brighter-screened Game Boy Advance. In the advent of the much-anticipated PSP, this was not looking good.


But then, something happened. At E3 2005, both Nintendo and third-parties figured out what they could actually do on the DS. Present were games that were an amalgam of upgrades to GBA titles, along with games that actually used the ingenuity of the touch screen and made for an experience that could only be provided on DS. Games like Kirby Canvas Curse and Meteos, which both released in June '05, showed that the DS could provide games that used its features and provided rewarding gameplay. (Though developers did try to make Meteos work on other platforms, it really didn't.) Meanwhile, while games like Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Advance Wars: Dual Strike, and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time didn't use all of the DSs unique features, they were very rewarding games in their own right. They also provided one of their first non-gamer centric pieces of software: Nintendogs. Meanwhile, the PSP had a pitiful showing, following the stellar launch with a prolonged period of nothingness.

But everything still wasn't rosy for the console, despite the situation improving in Japan due to people who didn't usually game taking notice. DS and PSP sales were completely even in America and Europe for a while, despite the former's software lineup taking off while the latter's remained stagnant. There was one hindrance that was holding the system back, and that was because of - no, not the fact that the Brain Age games weren't out in the aforementioned territories yet - but its design. It may have improved over the monstrosity shown at E3, but it still wasn't a looker.


This was when Nintendo felt it was fitting to introduce the DS Lite, a sleeker (both figuratively and literally), more attractive iteration of the same system released in June 2006. This one also had a much brighter screen, improved battery life (on a similar brightness), and was far more portable because of its reduced dimensions. This was the version that attracted all kinds of people, not just gamers, and its increased popularity caused the software lineup to spiral. Some would argue that it has the best lineup of any console on the market.


Despite the success of the DS Lite, Nintendo has yet to abandon their tradition of making more iterations of a specific portable. The DSi released earlier this year, complete with an even thinner form factor, a matte finish (as opposed to the fingerprint and dust magnet of the shiny Lite's surface), a camera, and the ability to download games. It's also region-locked, which is so moronic that I can't possibly convey it in this feature. But this feature is supposed to be mostly positive so I won't go into it too much. But I will say that the DSi, even after all of this time, still has yet to prove its worth. Nintendo's handling of DSi Ware, one of the system's main distinguishing features, could be described as merely OK, which doesn't make it enough of an incentive to put down another $170 for it. Hopefully, with games like Shantae: Risky's Revenge, it can begin to carve its own niche.

(And, you know, maybe a portable Virtual Console too.)


The newest iteration of the DS, the DSi LL (XL in America and Europe), just released in Japan today. With a large 4.2 inch screen, this one should appeal to the older set or anyone who found that the other DS systems had screens that were too small. With the screens larger, that means the system itself is also much larger than the others. In fact, it's the biggest portable system so far this generation, topping the PSP-1000. It's probably not expected to sell as much, but there have been lines for it.

You have to give credit to a system that's able to get a bunch of people who didn't even know they liked video games to pick one up. It's also the only system that you could say is perfectly for anyone, complete with plenty of first and third-party titles that appeal to just about every audience. Sure, the system still lacks a number of viable sports games and fighting games, but chances are there's something you'll like here; and you really can't say that about any other system.

DSi and DSi LL comparison pic courtesy of Watch Impress, which also has more if you want to see them.

At this time, American gamers (of any variety) are playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii, with every other territory having their opportunity soon. You can play the game by yourself, sure, but the game is also an absolute blast with other players working with and/or against you. In fact, I highly recommend that any individual player experiences playing with other people, because there's no better time to gauge what kind of platformer you are. You may feel like you already know the answer, but it's actually something that can only be discovered through hands-on experience.

When I played through about five levels of NSMBWii at VGXPO, for instance, I came away with the realization that I'm actually a rather methodical Mario player. It's something I didn't realize while playing through any Mario game, including New Super Mario Bros. for DS. At points, I had to struggle to keep up with some of my accomplices/competitors as they pushed the screen along. Situations like that will create a unique environment among your friends for a short amount of time; something everyone involved will likely remember.

And of course, you'll need some of the hardest and most nerve-racking levels to determine where you are. When I was in a level that required jumping through multiple hoops and platforms, I found that I always wanted to line my jumps so that I could make it to the other side without sustaining any damage (or shrinkage, if you prefer). This required planning, which really isn't an option when either one of the other players is faster or, worse, someone else is also lining up their jump. When four of you are playing, you'll collide very often.

Not to say it all isn't in good fun, though. I have no doubt that anyone who doesn't hate the act of having fun will derive a healthy sense of enjoyment out of this. I'm surprised that Nintendo was actually able to craft a game that's just as good as a single-player title as it is multiplayer. It feels like the game will answer the "Who are you?" question Nintendo asked in one of their marketing campaigns during the Gamecube era, but in the context of what kind of player you are. A game like this only comes every once in a while, making it something that everyone should cherish.

Ever since its unveiling at E3 2009, gamers have been, well, ambivalent in their response to New Super Mario Bros. Wii. From its initial trailers and videos, it looks like an incredibly fun platformer that can be enjoyed by four people. On the other hand, it admittedly does look like it's only marginally enhanced over its DS prequel. But that's not what this post is about. This post is about its single player (which you could undoubtedly gauge from the tile), which has worried people for how well it could play when you don't have any people around to grab the controller. Most people frequently don't, so it's definitely a legitimate concern.

Many of us put our faith in Nintendo EAD and Shigeru Miyamoto, and believed that they would design their levels so meticulously that it would be playable in both. But could they? That sounds like an incredibly tough job to achieve, and it's not like Nintendo hasn't had any missteps. Well, earlier this week, we received video proof that Nintendo might have actually achieved that goal.

This trailer (also available on the Nintendo channel) shows what's possible by more dedicated players in the game, and a good portion of it shows how potentially enjoyable the single player can be. Also, I think this might be a sign of things to come; with a plethora of super plays being available on Youtube probably not too long after the game releases. It also reassures my sentiment that it looks better than the way-too-rudimentary DS game. Portions of the demo at VGXPO felt pretty tough in a few spots (though that was sometimes because of the chaos with your partners), which is more than I can say for too many of the levels in the last game. That warms my heart.

Not too long after that video was posted, Wired uploaded contents of a round table session journalists had with Miyamoto, where he discussed, in detail, the vision of the final game. It really seems as if the game is really designed for everyone in mind. In other words, it doesn't feature any haphazard game design that's the developer's of catering to a more casual audience, something that marred the experience of the aforementioned New Super Mario Bros., along with Metroid Prime 3 and (pretty severely) The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. It's nice that Nintendo is seeing where to bridge the divide.

So yes, New Super Mario Bros. Wii will easily hold you off until Super Mario Galaxy 2 releases sometime next year.

I decided to look back at that Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks preview I did yesterday, and something stuck out: I could remove any mention of Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks and replace it with New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, respectively. Both of the games previewed are sequels to games that some felt were underwhelming compared to their predecessors, and both of them already look better with their sequels.

I sure hope the demonstration version is representative of the final game, because it feels much better than its predecessor, which was pretty good. The thing is, people expect more than "pretty good" from the first 2D Mario game in about 13 years. (I feel like I'm writing the same preview again.) The DS game harped on what its fan-favorite predecessors did best, mainly Super Mario Bros. 3, but the problem was that it didn't the same amount of ingenuity. It felt a bit too samey. Sure, incorporating some of the gameplay mechanics from the 3D games is nice, but the same variation of levels and powers was pretty disappointing. The new powers that were there weren't as fun as what was offered in previous games.

Enter New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which has much better level designs, and new powers that are actually fun to use (both the penguin and propeller suit). But perhaps its best new feature is the incorporation of four player co-op. Four players can get together and unleash chaos in the Mushroom Kingdom together while playing through the multiple levels it'll undoubtedly have. I'm pretty sure that chaos will also happen among the four people playing, as your partners will often cause you to make mistakes while they try to beat you to the punch in each level. For example, the first time we demoed the game, Angela got me killed by the first Goomba! Totally baffling when it actually happens, but I can't help but laugh whenever I think about it now. Those are the kind of experiences that will make this game worthwhile.

But there's another question to consider: how will the single-player game fare? I couldn't tell when I was there, but someone like Shigeru Miyamoto would make sure the levels are designed so that they're perfectly enjoyable in any mode. Judging that by the levels being demonstrated wouldn't be fair either; this is a demo, you know. The final levels could be completely different from what was on display at VGXPO, which I'm sure was the same demo from E3 2009 back in June. New Super Mario Bros. Wii releases in America on November 15 (and Nov. 20 and Dec. 3 in Europe and Japan, respectively). Look forward to it! Especially if you know people who are interested in Mario, and that's more people than you think.

Upon arriving to the demo station for The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, I was sincerely hoping that I would come away impressed. For as good as the implementation of the (mostly) touch screen-only controls its predecessor, Phantom Hourglass, had, the overall game faltered. What should've been an enthralling adventure from Nintendo's internal studio - which was their first portable Zelda outing since Link's Awakening (the others were developed by Capcom) - turned out to be the most rudimentary Zelda experience possible. It was, to put it succinctly, the worst Zelda game I ever played.

Not to say it was a bad game. It's still pretty good overall, but you have certain expectations from a franchise with a high pedigree; Phantom Hourglass didn't reach them, despite occasionally showing a feint glimmer of hope. Because of PH's quality, the anticipation for Spirit Tracks is frighteningly low, and it's because my top "please be good" game this fall.

Judging solely from the demo, Spirit Tracks already feels like a better game. There were three sections available in the demo: a dungeon, a boss, and a train section. The dungeon available felt more sophisticated than most of the incredibly rudimentary ones present in Phantom Houglass, and the same could be said about its boss. The train section is kind of new to this game, though its mechanics felt similar to the ship present in PH, though here things were much more refined.

The dungeon section has you guiding a Phantom companion as you make your way through it, and the two of you have to work in tandem to make it through to the end. Sometimes it'll require some practice, and some parts will force you to stop and think of the solution to a puzzle. I missed that in the last game, and it's good to see that even ST's early dungeons (assumingly, based on the number of hint signs scattered around) have some sophistication. Downing its boss also required some thinking and strategy, which quite a few people playing around me were couldn't figure out initially.

I will say that everyone who didn't like using all of the DS's features, like the microphone, is going to have a problem here. A portion of the demo required blowing into the microphone, and I wouldn't be surprised if the final version will have you yelling something into it at some point.

Upon playing the demo, I think it's now OK to anticipate Spirit Tracks, which releases in America on December 7th. (It's the 11th and 23rd for Europe and Japan, respectively, if you were wondering.) I'm not saying there's no possibility of it ending up underwhelming, but there's a good chance that it won't either.

Last year Geoff and I had a decent time at VGXPO, so the decision to return to the video game convention was a non-issue. As a rule of thumb Fridays almost always mark the start of a convention and are pretty slow, while Saturdays and Sundays are the busiest days. The first day of VGXPO was no exception as Geoff and I roamed around the rather sparse convention floor. Even with the shocking lack of exhibitors this year's VGXPO was already more interesting than last year.


 

So VGXPO officially kicked off in Philadelphia today, and with it came the inclusion of Nintendo's presence. Given how so many classic games were a draw last year in terms of being displayed and sold, I didn't want to expect too much from them. But still, the simple fact of merely having them there officially would be beneficial towards the convention's present and future notoriety. This is one of those times where I'm glad to be proven wrong.

Upon entering its doors, the main attraction was Nintendo's large display booth, which included both Wii and DS games. And more importantly, they were showing games that weren't available yet! There were plenty of demo stations for games like The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Angela and I made sure to go hands-on with a bunch of the games they had, not only for previews for this blog, but also because we'd have to fight to get to them tomorrow. Like last year, Saturday is bound to be the most crowded day, and I'm sure Nintendo's section will be the main destination for a lot of the crowd.


Seeing Nintendo here kind of warms my heart, mainly because it's proof that VGXPO's staff actually listened to the criticism from fans after last year. There are also plenty of other improvements given to the show in terms of it's layout and the location of everything, so we'll be sure to post more impressions in the next few days. It's too early to conclude that everything's great now since, if last year was any indication, VGXPO likes to shuffle around a few exhibitors between days. Hopefully that doesn't happen, because what they have in place now looks pretty nice.

Well, unless you came for the anime, whose presence thus far definitely lacking compared to it's already-small section last year. I wouldn't be surprised if that's running parallel to the downward spiral the industry has taken in the last few years.