>>173561
>Am I the only one who thinks the art and coloring for penny arcade has gotten worse?
Can you give a comparison? They've changed the characters to be "softer", which was a bit weird but I've gotten used to. I don't see anything wrong with the colors.

>They sent a message to the Wii mail system to try to convince Wii owners to get a Wii U
I'm almost tempted to pull my wii out of the closet and plug it in just to see that...

Woo, we got gold!
If a Murphy challenge is awkward by yourself, then a non-Murphy challenge is awkward with friends.
At least, with speed-run happy friends who will find every trick there is to go faster and flawlessly execute them leaving me in the dust until the fire wall kills me
It's like geez, save that attitude for "as fast as you can", not "as far as you can".

Wii U gets another price cut in the UK:

http://wiiudaily.com/2013/05/wii-u-price-cut/

>>173600
I wish it was abysmally cheap in America too, so I could pic up Monster Hunter.

>>173602
But aren't lbs really expensive?
Like, $2?

>>173616
>Knifeistan monopoly money
>Inferring £199 would even buy a bag of Cool Ranch Doritooooooooos© in the land of freedom.

>>173616
$309 for the base model.

You know, I noticed the composite cable ports right away, but it had to be pointed out to me that the gunship also has stereo speakers.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/03/eternal-darkness-spiritual-successor-shadow-of-the-eternals-headed-to-wii-u-pc
>Eternal Darkness Spiritual Successor Shadow of the Eternals Headed to Wii U, PC
This is being pitched (not made, as they're going to do a Kickstarter to get funding for this) by a "Precursor Games", which I can find 0 information about and their own website (http://www.precursorgames.com/) appears to be slammed from this news

But if this works out, and if it's good (and makes good use of the GamePad), it will be a very nice addition to the Wii U.

The miiverse website makes it easy to get nice screenshots.
My trophies keep depreciating in value overnight.

Madden NFL 25 won't likely be the only EA game skipping the Wii U.

>>173830
I'm not surprised. I think we're seeing a cycle with Nintendo consoles emerge:
SNES > Wii
N64 > Wii U
Gamecube > Wii U 2?

So Nintendo's next great console will be part of the 10th generation, probably around 2021. And, just like the SNES>N64 path, Nintendo was complacent with their market dominance (Wii, SNES), held onto outdated tech and ideas, and screwed the pooch on the next console (Wii U, N64).

(NES > GameBoy line)

>>173831
Come to think of it, the 3rd console is usually the fuckup console. (N64, Saturn, PS3, etc.)

>>173831
I was actually reading an article today that said Nintendo messed up by going back to their Gamecube plan:

http://gengame.net/2013/05/nintendo-needs-to-focus-on-creating-customers-not-on-bending-to-the-industry/

>>173833
I agreed with that article until he started talking about Zelda. The more dialogue/story central focus began with LttP, not with the N64 or Gamecube era. And I also think it was the proper direction for the series.

I completely agree with his thoughts on the controller, though.

>>173838
>The more dialogue/story central focus began with LttP
Heck, even Zelda 2 was more story focused than 1.

>>173833
This article makes a lot of the same points that Sean Malstrom's blog used to. So does this one, by the same guy: http://gengame.net/2013/05/the-great-hardcore-lie-exposed-wii-did-not-lose-core-gamers/#more-35724

The tone of writing is kind of similar too, and the sense of disdain for the hardcore gamer is there. Malstrom is just a pen name so I'm wondering if the two are actually the same guy.

>The same goes for Metroid, which since the first Prime has cast aside its open-world structure for a more linear, plot-delivered format.

I disagree with this part. I really didn't think Metroid Prime was linear. The third one was, and I haven't played the second, and Other M is a whole can of bullshit I wont even get into, but the first was fine in this regard imo.

>>173838
>The more dialogue/story central focus began with LttP, not with the N64 or Gamecube era.
Eh, not really. LttP had more dialogue and story than the previous games did but I definitely wouldn't say the game focused on it. OOT had way more dialogue and cut scenes than LttP, though I might say Zelda didn't become a story game until MM.

I haven't played Link's Awakening, so I don't know how story centric that one is.

>>173848
>I haven't played Link's Awakening, so I don't know how story centric that one is.
There are actual cut scenes (a memorable one is Marin talking to Link while they stand on the beach), but there are far less characters and dialogue than LttP.

>>173849
I should specify that a "cut scene" for this game means they change the camera from a top-down view to a third-person ground view, and it's a fairly static scene with a few animations it loops through while text boxes scroll normally on the bottom. Still, it tries to be more cinematic in these important moments (like revealing the Windfish and purpose of the island)

Lost another one:

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/14558/article/wii-u-dev-kits-collecting-dust-at-just-cause-development-studio/

>>173903
The neo-crash is upon us.

>>173830
15 EA games will skip the Wii U, to be exact:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-05-08-wii-u-to-miss-out-on-15-ea-games-using-frostbite-engine-3

>>173904
How do you get developers not supporting one mid-gen, low sales console to be a neo-crash?

>>173905
>EA games
"And nothing of value was lost!" - The Critic
except, you know, sales.

>>173585
The faces look a lot lumpier and the eyes a lot more off-kilter, which is OK if they're trying to go for a more zany look, but otherwise it seems sloppier compared to the orderly way faces used to look.

Found a good deal for some stuff Lego Batman 2 Snake Eater 3D and Fire Emblem Awakening for 25 each .

>>173929
Why.

>>173931
See, if these sort of rumors were flying around before the Wind Waker screens got revealed, people would be saying "why" to that too.

>Dear Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata,

>I write to you not as a know-it-all tech analysis pontificator or even a hardcore gamer. I'm just a guy who spent his childhood Saturday afternoons hunting for 8-bit Warp Whistles and Tanooki Suits in Super Mario Bros 3 for Nintendo. And I have a simple idea.

>As you know, Nintendo hasn't been doing so well lately. Your recently-revealed plans to bring smartphone-style apps to the Wii U represent a step in the right direction. If you want Nintendo to truly thrive in age of mobile computing, however, I'd suggest a willingness to go even further: bring Super Mario to my iPhone.

>That is to say, Nintendo should let casual gamers like me have the option of downloading old NES and Super Nintendo games to our iOS and Android devices. Mario. Zelda. Kirby. Metroid. Charge us a few bucks for them. We'll pay. And you'll have our undivided attention on the devices to which we're already glued. Those of us who are semi-serious enough to consider buying stand-alone gaming consoles would be even more likely to do so. Just delight us. You see, competition for our collective attention span has never been more fierce. Now's your chance to grab a chunk of it.

http://readwrite.com/2013/05/07/dear-nintendo-give-me-super-mario-on-my-iphone

>>173932
But Wind Waker was good. Sunshine was not.

>>173936
It's ok to remake good things into bad things but not try to remake bad things into good things.

Galaxy>Sunshine>64DS>64

I'll never get the hate for Sunshine. Never.

>>173938
I don't hate Sunshine, it's a great game. But it's a bit harder to replay than SM64 and especially Galaxy.

I just today found out that AC New Leaf has that dying grass "feature" which made City Folk so frustrating. I can't say I was super hyped for the game, but this still takes my excitement down considerably.

>>173931
Because remakes are easier, faster and cheaper to make than new games. I don't know if "remake" is even really the proper term here. It'll probably be closer to a "remastered edition" kind of thing, since that seems like what they're going for with WW. They're probably going to use the same game engine, though it might be slightly modified.

>>173935
Nintendo releases on non Nintendo properties is the of a fantasy of the ignorant and foolhardy. Nintendo already has a portable system to sell their old games. They are not in a position so desperate that they have to look to sacrificing the mini monopoly they have. The fact that this is even an article on a major site speaks more for the gaming journalism community than anything about changing consumer interest.

>>173942
What feature is that?
The one where you start to create dirt paths out of your frequently travelled routes?

>>173955
Here's the article, btw:
http://www.consulgamer.com/nintendo/these-nintendo-franchises-sell-systems-and-some-dont/1189/

>Mario Kart Wii moved 34%.

Thats because it was just sold in a bundle at a time when Wiis were both popular and hard to find. Granted, Mario Kart is way bigger now than it was in the Gamecube days.

The Tier-3 game + bundle idea can work if they just get the system's price down. I can imagine them selling 10 million WiiUs during the holidays with a Mario Kart 8 bundle.

http://www.consulgamer.com/nintendo/these-nintendo-franchises-sell-systems-and-some-dont/1189/

Good article on the type of games Nintendo needs to drive up Wii U sales. Surprisingly, Smash Brothers only move 12% of consoles, while Mario Kart Wii moved 34%.

>>173957
Can't believe I screwed up that link. Damn, I'm getting sloppy.

>>173953
Yeah.
The concept's interesting but you usually end up with a dirt town.

>>173942
>>173970

I heard that the concept, while still there, has been nerfed. It's both harder to trigger and easier to fix.

Of course, removing it entirely would have been preferable.

With the recent news of devs dropping support for the Wii U, it's good to hear Sega is still in it for the long haul:

>The solid market share of SEGA titles on Wii U and 3DS seems to be set for a reward with software support in the coming year. SEGA says it has seven SKUs — which could be a full seven new games or, alternatively, less games but including additional planned special editions — due for release on Wii U in the coming year, the same number that's planned for PS3; the Xbox 360 is only being supported with four releases. The 3DS is also in line for decent SEGA support with six SKUs planned for the coming year, though no releases are planned for the DS; in the case of both Nintendo systems, the company is estimating results of just under one million software sales on each platform. That's nearly two million planned sales on Nintendo systems, a vote of confidence for the consoles, coming in a little behind Sony (which also has PSP games helping out PS3 and Vita) and SEGA's most valuable platform, PC.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/05/sega_planning_seven_releases_for_wii_u_in_the_coming_year

>In a sign of the shifting dynamics of the videogame industry, the market capitalization of GungHo Online Entertainment Inc. — known for its addictive mobile Puzzle & Dragons game — surpassed on Monday that of Nintendo Co., which has ruled the industry for three decades with its iconic titles such as Super Mario Bros. and Pokemon.

>Fueled by the runaway success of its hit title, GungHo’s share price jumped nearly 29% to 1,342,000 yen in mid-afternoon trade extending gains following its strong earnings announcement last week. That pushed its market cap to 1.546 trillion yen ($15.2 billion), past Nintendo’s 1.539 trillion yen. GungHo’s split-adjusted stock price has increased by more than 15-fold since the start of 2013, while Nintendo shares have risen 20% during that period.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/05/13/puzzle-dragons-gungho-market-cap-passes-nintendo/

>>173905
http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/14/frostbite-go/
>It appears that while EA's making claims that its Frostbite 3.0 game engine (which powers next-gen's Battlefield 4) can't run on Nintendo's Wii U, the game publisher is also working on bringing "true Frostbite experiences to all major mobile platforms."
So they can't get FB3 on the Wii U, but they can get a close cousin on major mobile platforms. Right.

So they're probably just making excuses for not publishing on the Wii U. It would actually do more good if they would come out and say "we don't think it's financially feasible to develop for the Wii U based on adoption rate." And, you know, make EA a tiny amount less of a shit company.

>>174163
Well, that and publishing for Nintendo is a nightmare in and of itself.

>>174164
While they've been notoriously hard to deal with for a long time (like that BS where if you want to make an N64 game you also had to make a Virtual Boy game), they loosened up a lot for the Wii, and it seems like they are really trying (and failing) to court third parties because they realize no one will buy their console without them.

They even did the thing for the eShop where devs can name their own prices and do sales and so forth.

RIP in peace Wii U.

Wii U Burial

I should see if there's a TVii taggable show I can watch with TVii and see what that's like.

>>174192
Really, it's only shaping up to be gamecube 'bad'. Great first and second party, minimal 3rd.

And honestly, I'm okay with that. Would I prefer better 3rd party support? Would have I enjoyed not having to buy another console for exclusives? Yes, definitely, but I can live with Nintendo only games on a Nintendo console. That's the main reason I get them in the first place. It won't kill Nintendo or the console, but it's not going to help them either.

>>174192
The point behind this display of autism is?

>>174215
I would imagine it's a joke.

>>174198
I don't trust Nintendo with their first party support anymore. Mario has been reduced to unoriginal boring reskins of the previous games, the last Zelda game was one of the worst in the series, and the last Metroid game WAS the worst in the series. They focus more on casual Wii Sports style games now, a lot of their IPs are dead in the water with almost no attempt made at making a new one, support from well-regarded third party developers keeps getting thinner and thinner, I do NOT have high hopes for this generation.

>>174217
This is going to be a learning generation for Nintendo.

Let's just hope they don't forget all these lessons again in two or three generations.

>>174217
>the last Zelda game was one of the worst in the series

>>174217
Wait, you mean Skyward Sword?

>>174221
Yes. Yes I do.

Skyward Sword was a giant fuckup yeah, but it's not like it's the first fuckup in Zelda history, they've been doing that since the NES.

Nintendo is Nintendo, it'll bounce back as always. The DS launched dead in the water, but it built up an incredible library, and the 3DS has started chugging along too. The WiiU will follow suit, just be patient.

How...is Skyward sword a fuck up?

Like I'm not versed enough to know how.

>>174227
Probably because it had more emotion, prettier graphics, more interesting dungeons, and better writing than any previous Zelda and the people complaining about it live in Bizarro land.

Seriously, the only real complains I can level against Skyward Sword were that the sky was boring (but still an improvement over Wind Waker or Ocarina), and that the companion character wasn't as fun as Midna, Tetra, or Spirt Tracks!Zelda.

>>174228
Not to mention one of the best supporting characters the franchise has ever seen.

>>174226
The gameplay wasn't as good or interesting as I was hoping, and most of the things I was looking the most forward to ended up being lackluster, but it was far from a fuckup. It might not have been the next Wind Waker, but it was at least better than Twilight Princess.

>>174228
>Spirt Tracks!Zelda

Why the fuck do people do this? Putting exclamation marks after adjectives and the like, I mean. I keep seeing it everywhere.

>>174236
To differentiate between the various Links/Zeldas in a quicker fashion.
>Spirit Tracks!Zelda
>Zelda from Spirit Tracks
>Spirit Tracks's Zelda

Although I prefer the big-endian (most important part first) way, so I'd say Zelda!Spirit Tracks. But I'm apparently alone in this type of thinking, so oh well. Of course, this all works better when you're not dealing with spaces, so Zelda!Young, Zelda!Old, Zelda!WW, etc.

>>174237
>>174237
what's the point of the exclamation mark though
it works the same exact way if it was just a space

>>174239

Its just a fandom convention that's become pretty standard over time.

>>174239
While I have nothing to back this up, my theory is that the ! takes the two ideas and makes it into one word; because of this, it can be processed faster by the brain, where someone reading quickly will only look at the beginning and end of the word and deduce the rest, meaning you can take in more words at a time. Someone types "WindWaker!Zelda" and your brain sees "Win" and "lda", which with context fills in the rest of the word so you don't have to read every letter.

It also puts more emphasis on the subject, and is similar to some tagging systems (#hashtag).

>>174241
I thought it was a math or programming thing.

>>174217
>Mario has been reduced to unoriginal boring reskins of the previous games, the last Zelda game was one of the worst in the series, and the last Metroid game WAS the worst in the series. They focus more on casual Wii Sports style games now, a lot of their IPs are dead in the water with almost no attempt made at making a new one, support from well-regarded third party developers keeps getting thinner and thinner, I do NOT have high hopes for this generation.ario has been reduced to unoriginal boring reskins of the previous games, the last Zelda game was one of the worst in the series, and the last Metroid game WAS the worst in the series. They focus more on casual Wii Sports style games now, a lot of their IPs are dead in the water with almost no attempt made at making a new one, support from well-regarded third party developers keeps getting thinner and thinner, I do NOT have high hopes for this generation.
The galaxy games brought a lot of originality to the Mario series and the 3DS one was an interesting experiment in spite of its simplicity. The NSMB series is just an attempt to please fans of the original style and it sells well for them; I got no beef with it.

Skywrd Sword was a far cry from the worst and my only real complaint seems to be getting addressed in the next one (linearity having a vice like hold on progression) that and it brings a lot of changes to a series many where complaining to feel stagnant.

Metroid was a screwup. I didn't mind the game mechanics, but there's a mountain of other issues I had with it.

Nintendo has experienced with tons of new IPs in the past 10 years and have used other popular IPs for other experiments (kirby anyone?).

The only Wii sports style game I can think of at the moment is the one released with thw Wii U to show off what it can do. Other than that I dont think they're concentrating on that sort of game.

>>174236
Started on LJ I think. I generally avoid using it since it's unnecessary and over the years I've come to associate its use with the really obnoxious kind of fangirls on LJ/Gaia/Tumblr, even if its use is more widespread than that.

>skyward sword
>fuckup
nigga do I even need to say it. It had its problems in that they could've afforded to do more with it, but it's a solid game for what it is.

>>174227
Bad dungeons (only one I liked was the time travel one with the little robots)
Shit controls (especially the beetle/flying controls)
Artstyle that makes everyone's face look pretty awful (NOSES)
Fi Fi Fi Fi Fi Fi Fi Fi Fi
Extreme linearity
Overabundance of fetch quests, even in the main storyline

Groose and Ghiharam are the only good things about it really. SS is an insult to the crown jewel that is Wind Waker, and not only does it not measure up to the also pretty great TP and MM, it doesn't even match the hilariously basic OoT. It's a bad game. It's not the WORST Zelda, but it's definitely bad.

>>174251
>Bad dungeons (only one I liked was the time travel one with the little robots)
>Shit controls (especially the beetle/flying controls)
>Artstyle that makes everyone's face look pretty awful (NOSES)
I know everyone's entitled to their own opinion
...but...eugh.

>>174251
Now, I can't agree to those first 3 things. But the bottom 3 especially.

Not to mention the STUPID amount of backtracking, the 1:1 controls making it more difficult than necessary to hit enemies and not being implemented as well as it could've been, the sky having fuck-all in it, the handholding OH GOD the handholding, and the writing sucks because we already know how it ends because Nintendo likes to focus on the story and timeline WAY more than necessary and Fi is the WORST. FUCKING CHARACTER. Worse than Tingle. There, I said it. I have nothing, NOTHING but hate for her.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed Skyward Sword for what it was. It definitely had a lot of good aspects, namely the items and dungeons as well as the graphics and characters. But everything else I hate so much that I honestly don't want to pick it up again. I can't say that about any other Zelda game, not even Twilight Princess which I beat 3 times.

>>174251
I agree with the last ones, but what the fuck to the first three. SS may not have had the best dungeons overall, but most of them were fairly decent and better than Twilight Princess's mediocre to awful ones (ice mansion full of LttP tier block puzzles and confusing beam layout to artificially pad out its length, that whole Oocoo level where all you get is a second hookshot). Not to mention this was the first time a Zelda had a water dungeon that was actually somewhat enjoyable.

And I don't get why people keep shitting on SS's controls compared to Nintendo Land Zelda's. I never actually had much of a problem with any of them, and aside from sword jabs if I fucked up it was usually my own fault.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAJfDHq3XDw

>Bad dungeons (only one I liked was the time travel one with the little robots)
>Shit controls (especially the beetle/flying controls)
>Artstyle that makes everyone's face look pretty awful (NOSES)

Oh lord what's wrong with you
Those were the parts of the game that made the annoyances (Fi and the skyworld) worth it. Skyward Sword's Ancient Cistern is a high point for the entire series, the art style is beautiful, and the beetle and flying controls are if anything too EASY. Ghirahim and Groose are high points, but they sure as fuck aren't the only ones.

>>174251
>Bad dungeons (only one I liked was the time travel one with the little robots)
If you'd said "a few dungeon bosses were junk" I'd agree. I didn't find the dungeons bad.

>Shit controls (especially the beetle/flying controls)
what.

>Artstyle that makes everyone's face look pretty awful (NOSES)
what

>Fi Fi Fi Fi Fi Fi Fi Fi Fi
Okay on this you have a point. They really dropped with ball with Fi, but ONLY because they tried to make her a gigantic nanny. If you strip away the "HEY YOUR HEARTS ARE LOW" and "HEY YOUR BATTERIES ARE LOW" there's really nothing to complain about here.

>Extreme linearity
do you even Zelda?

>Overabundance of fetch quests, even in the main storyline
Somewhat valid. Except it had fewer than Wind Waker.

>>174262

I agree with Ramses with most of the stuff here, but

>If you strip away the "HEY YOUR HEARTS ARE LOW" and "HEY YOUR BATTERIES ARE LOW" there's really nothing to complain about here.

I mean, I didn't mind Fi, either, but she had the habit of saying things that the player just saw in cutscenes. Show, don't tell, and whatnot.

I suppose I should clarify that I did like the sword controls at least, and of course the aiming is no different than it was in TP. I honestly don't know how you could defend the beetle/flight stuff though, it just felt awful.

The artstyle's flaw is in the faces. Almost every normal human character, and Zelda in particular, looks dreadful. Monsters/more stylized characters look fine. The environments tend to be bogged down with really terrible textures.

>>174262
>If you'd said "a few dungeon bosses were junk" I'd agree. I didn't find the dungeons bad.
I suppose not "bad" as in "Water Temple" but I struggle to remember many of them, the robot one is really the only one that sticks in my memory. Boring I guess.... so "Spirit Temple." The bosses varied, some were fun (I liked the Ghirahim fights, Koloktos, and Demise in particular) some weren't (Scaldera is one of the lamest in Zelda history).

>Ghirahim and Groose are high points, but they sure as fuck aren't the only ones.
You're right, Beedle is also a character.

>>174264
What was wrong with the faces anyway? I thought most of them looked perfectly fine and if anything was off it was due to the characters being drawn in an intentionally exaggerated style.

>>174264
>Zelda in particular

What.

Man I know you guys are entitled to your opinions but I really wonder if you SS-haters played the same game as I did.

>>174264
>The artstyle's flaw is in the faces. Almost every normal human character, and Zelda in particular, looks dreadful.

You have just forfeited any credibility. They went for a bunch of weirdos, but that's a good thing. The people were so expressive and each one had personality oozing out of them compared to earlier titles. It's impossible to praise Wind Waker's character design and condemn this one in the same breath for such a thing, when it's the major strength of BOTH.

>>174273
Hence why I said the more stylized ones look fine. Groose and co look fine because they stay well in the realm of cartoonishness, but I've thought Zelda and Link looked bad from trailer #1.

>>174276
I super disagree, but I think this has boiled down from legitimate complaints to opinion enough already.

>>174273
What's wrong with how Zelda looks here anyway? She's still pretty, even if she's not as beautiful as her TP incarnation (but then she's a grown up queen anyway).

>>174277
Alright alright.

Whatever the case, I've accepted, albeit with resentment, that they're never going to do another proper cel shaded entry (PH and ST pretty much killed the look anyway), so I'd like Nintendo to instead go back to the basic design strategy of my second favorite Zelda: "Let's be fucking terrifying/as fucked up as possible." There was a bit of this in TP with /that/ scene, but for the most part Majora was their one go at this. But that one go around showed that clearly, Nintendo is squandering their potential ability to make kids completely evacuate their bowels.

>>174285
SS was cel-shaded. It just used different renderers from Wind Waker's to make it a different kind of cel-shading.

>>174289
I was talking specifically about Wind Waker's look though.

>>174292
Oh, you want more Toon Link games.

>>174293
Well I'd like another GOOD one. I do genuinely think WW is the nicest looking game in the series.

Though again, I'd also be happy if they went full "let's make kids void their bowels" once more. Majora is awesome.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/16/ea-has-no-games-in-development-for-wii-u
>EA Has ‘No Games in Development’ for Wii U
>Major publisher not planning any new Nintendo titles.

And nothing of value was lost

I'll just leave this here.

>>174317
10/10, would rage again.

>>174318

>>174317
There is something to be said about being disconnected from people and forced to figure things out by experimentation..

Oh, it *does* have multi-player after all.