Nintendo Wii U

[rgraves]

and Darksiders 2 for a tenner

If you've not already played it on 360/PS3/PC then I, personally, think DSII is well worth a tenner. I'm playing it through right now, and it's like a mash-up of Zelda, GoW, and PoP. It's not doing anything individually outstanding, but it's a good pulling together of ideas from lots of different places.

It's also just been pulled from the EU eShop (one presumes as a result of the THQ strip-down), so getting a physical copy from the current run is going to be the only way to go if you ever do want to play it on Wii U.

[DC Lemon]

That seems unlikely - how would it work without two screens? I played a vaguely similar game where you're a mouse trying to collect cheese and avoid cats, but it was shit and didn't have the thing where you have to compare the two screens, which is the whole point of the Yoshi game.

I'm all for Par Out Golf when it comes to the line drawing genre.

http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/iPhone/Par+Out+Golf/review.asp?c=29503&srch=Par+out+golf

[Dandy_Sephy]

It's also just been pulled from the EU eShop (one presumes as a result of the THQ strip-down

Yes, the rights for the franchise go on sale soon

[simms]

Wonder if darksiders 2 will get pulled from other digital services as well? Wonder why would it only get pulled from the EU eshop?

[Massive Invisible Dog]

I'm all for Par Out Golf when it comes to the line drawing genre.

http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/iPhone/Par+Out+Golf/review.asp?c=29503&srch=Par+out+golf

I just tried the demo. Yeah, it's similar, the cloud thing is an interesting way of doing it. It's fucking terrible though.

[Clipper]

I just tried the demo. Yeah, it's similar, the cloud thing is an interesting way of doing it. It's not on Nintendo though.

Fixed

[Dandy_Sephy]

Wonder if darksiders 2 will get pulled from other digital services as well? Wonder why would it only get pulled from the EU eshop?

I don't know if it's on XBL, but I imagine it will stay on PSN until the last moment. Depending who wins the IP rights, it might not be removed for more than a couple of days.

Can't speak for Nintendo though, they will have their own rules.

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

what arsepiece wrote that guff?

It's an embarrassingly bad letter, but this is the worst passage of all:

But at the same time, we saw a strange combination of greed, and arrogance, and childishness arise. We saw developers, both inside Nintendo and out, move from products that customers wanted, to products that they wanted to make. [...] We saw the Mario team put their most requested ideas, like Giant Land, and the like, get put into two Mario Galaxy games that, their sales combined, didn't come close to matching the sales of New Super Mario Bros. Wii

I mean, what? Is he seriously suggesting here that Nintendo shouldn't have made Super Mario Galaxy?

No wonder he wants to remain anonymous.

[Massive Invisible Dog]

Fixed

Played them both?

[squirtle]

The problem he's going on about (bar EA seemingly throwing their toys out of the pram for some reason (and let's not forget it was their CEO who was up on stage at the Nintendo conference promising great support for the machine, it wasn't just something Nintendo said)), that of dry launch periods affects every machine.

Anyone who thinks that the PS4/Durango will have a steady stream of original software from the get go are fooling themselves. There will be a big rush of titles for launch, a few exclusives, quite a few up-ports from 360/PS3 games and then it'll go quiet for a quite a while whilst we do the usual wait for the second round of games to appear. In that time, we'll get a few "launch window" titles like we always do. It happens every time, for every machine. It's the price you pay for early adoption.

[NEG]

...said an actual grown-up writing to a toymaker about their toys.

You see the whole video games industry as simply toys to be played with, then? How un-passionate of you on a hobbyist forum.

Reggie/anyone over at Nintendo needs to speak up about what's going on for sure.

[Clipper]

Played them both?

I have.

The point really being that by any sensible measure Par Out Golf isnt "fucking terrible"

[SMD]

Polygon Community Mailbag: An Open Letter to Nintendo

That's terrible, that reads like a NeoGAF rant.

First off, he had the machine for two months and mentioned 3 games he was really excited for. Two of them are out now and are the definition of 'games you can't get elsewhere'. Howard Lincoln is just some myth, like he's some sort of magic wand that made Nintendo great. Well, he wasn't. Unless somehow the N64 can be considered Nintendo's glory years. It just hearkens back to a time when Nintendo went and gave EA money, something they don't want to do again.

I'm not defending the Wii U launch schedule but it's common for the few months after launch to be barren. A software developer would know that. It's also really weird to see him criticise Nintendo of all companies for not developing new IP. It's there, it either gets the 'Wii' treatment or is on the eShop. Or does this person mean that there isn't any new IP that he wants to play? Because that's different.

Does he not think that all developers make the games they want to make rather than the games people ask for? Because the 'silly experiments and half hearted sequels' sounds an awful like how everyone described the Gamecube at the time, but now it's the little console that could. And that bit about an idea being put into Super Mario Galaxy, I can't quite understand if it's meant to be some sort of dig or not. Is there a list of stuff that shouldn't be set in 3D? Also does this not count?

Why should Nintendo, or any company, talk about its plans publicly? They used to get slagged off for announcing games that weren't coming out for ages. In fact look at the reaction to them pushing back the release date of Pikmin 3.

It's so incredibly American centric I wonder what this person would've done as a UK Nintendo owner before the Wii.

I'm not surprised people like Scott lurch to Nintendo's defence if that's the level of argument against the Wii U, "Nintendo promised us developer support and now they're not supporting it and why did I buy this right now instead of waiting for the games I want!".

Whoever it is already said they understand how it works so I'm not entirely sure what they want Nintendo to do - keep sending him Miiverse messages telling him it'll be alright?

I can't abide by the need for constant reassurance that the machine people bought isn't a lemon. It either is or it isn't in your eyes, they had a big Nintendo Direct that loads of people fawned over and Wonderful 101 aside, I don't see what's changed since then. Nintendo is a joke in the West because they don't make Western-centric games. Honestly, you'd think after 30 years people would know how Nintendo move. And I'm not saying they're perfect, because they're just a games company. Likewise, Western-centric companies aren't suddenly doing games better, because I've yet to play a Western developed game that has as much polish (that wasn't made by Valve at any rate). They're just more popular because that's where the dollars are at the moment.

I'd rather have a Nintendo that brings out a polished gem every 3 years than an Ubisoft shitting out janky technical mess every Christmas. I don't know where this person gets the impression that Nintendo is the 'nice guy' because I always thought the problem was them being too stubborn and saying no? They didn't let Origin become the backbone of their network, they've only recently relaxed their eShop rules for indies and they still make hardware that suits them than a loss making beast to attract third parties.

Polygon are clickbait and lacking in any sort of critical faculty, they're basically Kotaku with a terribly pretentious leaning.

You see the whole video games industry as simply toys to be played with, then? How un-passionate of you on a hobbyist forum.

Reggie/anyone over at Nintendo needs to speak up about what's going on for sure.

Speak up about what? I don't understand what people are expecting. They'll have a Nintendo Direct, people will start praising it and then Microsoft will announce the next Xbox and then there'll be the same demands to 'hear more'.

Between Iwata Asks and Nintendo Directs, what more do people want? Because if it's release dates, I thought we did this dance already.

[Massive Invisible Dog]

I have.

The point really being that by any sensible measure Par Out Golf isnt "fucking terrible"

By the measure of having played the first four or five holes and thinking it was fucking terrible. Line tracing games need a stylus, dragging your finger around is always awful. That's why that Ouendan clone wasn't any good. I also don't like that it's more of a memory test rather than a perception test like Yoshi. And the time it takes the clouds to appear was annoying. And the wind. I hated it.

Sorry if you're the guy that made it.

[Not Thread Owner]

It's still £179 in HMV Norwich. They had one left. They sold the last Premium on Saturday, but said they're getting more.

[Clipper]

By the measure of having played the first four or five holes and thinking it was fucking terrible. Line tracing games need a stylus, dragging your finger around is always awful.

Oh right , you are one of those.

I dislike most resistive screens. The Gamepad is the best one I have used and I still find it infuriating to use without a stylus.

Much prefer capacitive screens, you lose fidelity but you gain in convenience and usability.

Sorry if you're the guy that made it.

Nope, wish i was

[NEG]

Hearing about what happened to all the third party support they claimed to have with the Wii U would be 'enough' for me. I've stated before I'm fine with a games drought personally, got other things to play. But I don't like Nintendo lying/being arrogent/making mistakes until it dooms them out of the hardware market, either. True fans usually complain out of love.

Polygon's main point (besides third party support not being there) is that they don't care about what kinds of games the fans want, which I'd only half-agree with personally (if anything they've been far more cautious in making truly 'new' titles) but nonetheless the only Nintendo games on the Wii I'll have fond memories of is Twilight Princess (GC port), Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, parts of Skyward Sword and maybe at a stretch (due to the bum slapping game alone) Wario Ware. Maybe Rhythm Heaven 3 if I get around to finishing it.

I dunno about you but thats kind a of poor amount. I've said for years that Nintendo's output seems slower then it used to be, and when they eventually do release, you kind of wonder if you should be happy about getting something like Nintendo Land out of them or not.

Edit: As for 'why' they should talk about plans publicly (they kind of already do with Nintendo Direct) it's just good to do so. Makes you look less like you have no idea whats going on, or that your arrogent and so on. Current Nintendo to me is very fluffy thanks to the Nintendo Directs and Iwata Asks over the years, but they do seem fairly clueless at other times, like right now. Waiting till E3 to tell us everything's a-ok, screw EA we don't need them, won't generate any more popularity towards Wii U at the moment.

[Calashnikov]

More G&W

Some tremendous art work in that game, as always seems to be the case with the Wario Ware series. I fucking love those games. I was worried the emphasis would be mostly on multiplayer party modes, as with the Wii game, but it looks as though there are some fun single-player modes in there. I love the idea of pushing the R-button on the GamePad as substitute for the clicker on a camera. That's gonna feel so right

[Massive Invisible Dog]

Oh right , you are one of those.

I dislike most resistive screens. The Gamepad is the best one I have used and I still find it infuriating to use without a stylus.

Much prefer capacitive screens, you lose fidelity but you gain in convenience and usability.Nope, wish i was

I'm not talking about resistive vs capacitive. It's dragging your finger around a screen vs dragging a stylus around a screen, even on a capacitive screen I don't like having to use my finger to draw/trace lines. It made the Ouendan clone unplayable, which was a shame because any new Ouendan would have been good.

[SMD]

Hearing about what happened to all the third party support they claimed to have with the Wii U would be 'enough' for me. I've stated before I'm fine with a games drought personally, got other things to play. But I don't like Nintendo lying/being arrogent/making mistakes until it dooms them out of the hardware market, either. True fans usually complain out of love.

Polygon's main point (besides third party support not being there) is that they don't care about what kinds of games the fans want, which I'd only half-agree with personally (if anything they've been far more cautious in making truly 'new' titles) but nonetheless the only Nintendo games on the Wii I'll have fond memories of is Twilight Princess (GC port), Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, parts of Skyward Sword and maybe at a stretch (due to the bum slapping game alone) Wario Ware. Maybe Rhythm Heaven 3 if I get around to finishing it.

I dunno about you but thats kind a of poor amount. I've said for years that Nintendo's output seems slower then it used to be, and when they eventually do release, you kind of wonder if you should be happy about getting something like Nintendo Land out of them or not.

Edit: As for 'why' they should talk about plans publicly (they kind of already do with Nintendo Direct) it's just good to do so. Makes you look less like you have no idea whats going on, or that your arrogent and so on. Current Nintendo to me is very fluffy thanks to the Nintendo Directs and Iwata Asks over the years, but they do seem fairly clueless at other times, like right now. Waiting till E3 to tell us everything's a-ok, screw EA we don't need them, won't generate any more popularity towards Wii U at the moment.

(laughs) so wait, Nintendo are the ones lying/being arrogant/making mistakes but other companies aren't?

All big companies do one of the three. Sony got so much gamer cream for their PS4 reveal but if you're going to be extremely cynical, you'd say that they didn't really show anything other than 8 GIGABYTES OF RAM (the good one) and high end PC visuals. All the talk is about how they're courting indies and developers love the tools but nothing about what it actually means for the consumer. How much will this new gaming world cost us? Can we trade in games? Is online gaming free?

These are all more important, immediate questions that were dismissed vaguely. It doesn't mean they don't know, I'm sure they have plans - yet the criticism is on a lower level.

Nintendo's output seems slower because they're supporting two high quality (stop sniggering at the back, I'm talking about fidelity of games, not the hardware or the actual games) platforms - the 3DS looks hot simply because Nintendo threw themselves into reviving it. If their reorganisation doesn't make it easier for them to do this, then Nintendo are in big trouble.

[NEG]

(laughs) so wait, Nintendo are the ones lying/being arrogant/making mistakes but other companies aren't?

No, but to point out Sony, we've had on top of my head:

News of loads of great indie titles heading for the Vita. Maybe not new games, but titles that'll fit wonderfully on a handheld regardless.

News of allowing Minecraft-like alpha/beta builds of games you can pay for if you choose to. Sign of a great road to go in to be able to compete with Steam better.

News of the Vita suddenly picking up steam in sales in Japan due to Soul Sacrifice. Yeah you could say this is a year after the Vita's release but...

News of Playstation Plus generally making either the PS3 or Vita a joy to own thanks to the value it provides.

From a news prospective, Sony is blowing my socks off. All Nintendo have told me is third quarter or beyond release-wise. Not including 3DS titles which indeed they're doing a better job at.

[SMD]

There are loads of indie titles announced for the Wii U. Literally every week there's a new indie saying they're bringing a game to the machine. Their showing at GDC was actually pretty promising, if you consider that they're making it as easy as they can for indie games to be ported or compiled on the Wii U.

Plus is great and I'm glad the Vita is picking up but that's sort of ignoring how well the 3DS is doing, before Animal Crossing and Pokemon have rumbled into town. Sony are blowing your socks off with the Vita but you're not including the 3DS? I don't understand why there's a different yardstick.

Again, not saying Nintendo don't have problems, they're well documented - just no need to confuse their problems with their characteristics.

[NEG]

It was by my judgement of news, not the software, that's sock blowing. And it's the news, you could argue, that's doing the most damage to Nintendo at the moment. Luigi's Mansion 2, Monster Hunter, Pokemon X&Y and Animal Crossing can't stop the internet prospective of 'lawl wherez da gamez nintendo?!'.

Bad sounding/non-real news that, you know, could be settled with Reggie 'kicking ass and taking names' towards journalists and such. And confirming the support is indeed there, that we shouldn't give a rats ass about some current stuff not being ported over.

It may sound meaningless but from a marketing prospective it could make all the difference. In fact you could say Wii era had more upfront-ness about bad news/rumours from NoA/E then there is now.

[SMD]

Damage how? The people paying attention are the ones who will buy the games regardless. For all the wailing and gnashing of teeth on forums and games sites, as soon as Animal Crossing and Pokemon are out they'll get bought. And when the new Mario and Mario Kart are out on Wii U, it'll be the same. Most people will probably sell it on again but still, the marketing is more non-existent than bad.

Marketing is wasted on people like us, all we need is some good footage, a well worked demo and word of mouth. Even then we're more than likely to buy a game on the strength of its brand.

It looks to me like Nintendo know they haven't got a package ready for the casuals, the ones who need a good price and games that interest them. So they're not marketing it. And as much as I hate marketing, maybe the reason there's nothing in the press because there's a strategy. I'm willing to be optimistic on that front, though if E3 comes and goes and we're still here talking about Mario, Mario Kart and Zelda then yeah, it's incompetence rather than just biding time.

[Dandy_Sephy]

News of the Vita suddenly picking up steam in sales in Japan due to Soul Sacrifice.

The price cut has had arguably more impact given the sales spike started two weeks before the game was released, and the most recent figures show the system still doing well despite the large drop off in SS sales. Vita sales aren't tied to a single game as such, the price drop has just put it within more people's reach. The Vita and 3DSXL are much closer in pricing in Japan than before.

Not that any of this has anything to do with Nintendo, I just dislike seeing someone use an example to make a point and then get it wrong.

[Shimmyhill]

It's still £179 in HMV Norwich. They had one left. They sold the last Premium on Saturday, but said they're getting more.

Cheers, didnt know they were still open - was that the Chapelfield or other HMV?

[Not Thread Owner]

The other one, opposite the market.

[jonnyalpha]

Most people are blissfully unaware of all of this stuff. I'm amazed by how many of my friends had never heard of PS+ and had missed out on all the recent xbox live bargains. Normal people just don't follow gaming trends like we do.

[Massive Invisible Dog]

I don't know why Sony aren't advertising the shit out of PS+. Bundle a Vita with a 32GB memory card and a 3 month PS+ subscription for a decent price, make a big deal out of the instant game collection and assume they'll subscribe for a year. That's got to be a fairly easy sell for a lot of people, I'd probably jump back in if they did that.

[Liquid Myth]

(laughs) so wait, Nintendo are the ones lying/being arrogant/making mistakes but other companies aren't?

(chortles)

(sipping tea)

(thinks about using the toilet)