The Giant Elephant in the Nintendo Direct Room

Nintendo unveiled yet another Nintendo Direct making tons of big announcements, including Cloud being in Smash Brothers (this seriously bears repeating, and will be the focus of a future article), Pokemon’s 20th anniversary resulting in a 3DS re-release of the first gen Pokemon games, updates to surprise-success stories Splatoon and Super Mario Maker, and a slew of other things----including that Star Fox game that is going to suck and is going to flop miserably. It was overall a very fun Direct, and a slightly somber one since it’s the first one since the passing of Satoru Iwata.



But there’s a major Nintendo product that has not been fully discussed for an extremely long time: the Nintendo NX.



It is totally understandable that discussing the Nintendo NX would harm some of the momentum of the WiiU (which may or may not even exist at this point). Totally understandable that discussing the NX would demean some of the games currently making money like Smash, Mario Maker, and Splatoon. Totally understandable that if we totally neglect the WiiU, then that long-anticipated Zelda game will be brushed underneath the hype of Nintendo’s next console.

But here’s the thing: the WiiU is over. It’s all over. It will never create mammoth sales (barring an awesome bundle like Smash Bros. U with ALL the characters), it will never escape the last place hole, and the third-party support for the system is all but over. Can you announce the NX and keep the fans in the loop for the WiiU? Of course you can.

WiiU owners have been rewarded for their loyalty in recent months; with Smash Brothers’ lineup becoming more and more beautiful, Splatoon fixing itself many times, Super Mario Maker becoming bigger and bigger, and overall more games being available in the WiiU Shop. But it’s time to hype the NX, Nintendo needs to go all-out on their upcoming console---whatever it is.

They already have the support of Square Enix with Dragon Quest and maybe (MAYBE) a Final Fantasy VII remake. EA and Ubisoft have also (cautiously) voiced some support for the upcoming machine. Nintendo should continuously reward the few that chose to purchase the WiiU with tons of goodies, surprises, and updates, I am not against that. As a matter of fact, it would be nice to see some more Nintendo Store deals and more HD remakes (F-Zero GX, Star Wars: Rogue Leader, MELEE). However, it’s time for them to look ahead and start giving the NX some attention as we veer closer to what might whether be the tail end of the eighth generation, or the beginning of the ninth.

We need details, we need explanations. Nintendo’s secrecy does help them sometimes, but it also damaged them in the eighth generation as they withheld so much about the WiiU that it became generally assumed that it was an add-on to the original Wii system---leading to its dismally slow start. But gamers are now more informed than ever, and demand information now more than ever. You can’t keep us in the dark for so long. We need to see more. We need to see something.





Give us the Nintendo NX. It is time for it, and we are already waiting.

How Melee Needs the Street Fighter II Treatment

Super Smash Brothers Melee was recently part of the mega-popular EVO fighting game event.


Yes, Nintendo Gamecube’s Super Smash Brothers Melee

Let’s keep in mind by the way. It is 2015, and Melee is still a major player in the professional gaming community. That game is over a decade old and has just as many fans and has just as deep a community as your modern Street Fighters and your modern Mortal Kombats. What was originally brushed off as a fun yet hypersensitive brawler has blossomed into one of the most cherished games in the history of all gaming. Melee (a sixth generation game) hanging out with the eighth generation games is the equivalent of a team of 40-year-olds outplaying 20-somethings in basketball. The sheer longevity of Melee in the social gaming circles is beyond impressive.



And Nintendo needs to continue capitalizing on this, especially when the machine it originally came out on is becoming obsolete and slightly harder to come by. We need to preserve this game and transform it into a high-definition and online-friendly component. Whether it be through the WiiU or the NX, or whatever system Nintendo decides to throw for the ninth generation, we need the House of Mario to take a page from 90s Capcom and create a Turbo Edition, or an Alpha Edition to their gem. And this wouldn’t be some cheap way to make extra cash, it’s a way to expand the options of a rapidly growing community of Melee enthusiasts.

In my vision, Super Smash Brothers Melee Tournament Edition would take every single spec of gameplay from the 2001 masterpiece (yes, everything, including the physics and the advanced techniques and individual stats of each fighter) and give it a polish. Remember the re-release of Street Fighter II for the XBox Arcade? That’s exactly what they should be looking for. Do not try to fix perfection (new characters wouldn’t hurt, but at the same time wouldn’t be necessary), just try to give it a facelift. In this day and age, Melee is just an HD facelift away from standing even closer to the modern fighters.

We can even take it a step further and make some arcade machines out of Smash Brothers Melee to give that 90s king of the mountain feel that we used to experience when heading to the arcades to take on the local legend in whatever big game was out at the time. We don’t need the Melee machines everywhere, just in your gaming hotspots like Las Vegas, Orlando, New York City, etc. I can see Nintendo nabbing even more cash by going retro and simultaneously re-introduce Melee into the gaming stratosphere. Honestly though, wouldn’t any university be bursting with excitement upon seeing a Super Smash Brothers Melee arcade machine in their campus?

Throwing Melee into the online gaming world would make it easier for bragging rights, tournaments popping up left and right, qualifying matches that can be held around the world, and much more. Imagine a ranking system that can be viewed at any time in a Smash Brothers Melee Tournament website. Imagine racking up points and rising up your position as you take to the online world and take on fighters from around the world in between major gaming tournaments and conventions. Technically you can pull this off with the other Smash Brothers that have released after Melee, but for some odd reason no matter how many characters and changes you throw at the franchise we just keep coming back to Melee and reminisce its glory.

And on the off chance that you might argue that re-releasing Melee might take away from the sales of the mainstream-friendlier current editions, look at the sales of the Mario games on the Wii:

=========================
Super Mario Galaxy/Super Mario Galaxy 2 (More hardcore titles): 18.71 million
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Family-friendly): 28.05 million
=========================


Both hardcore and casual can definitely exist hand in hand, because everyone wins---those seeking fun have their game, and those seeking to enter a cutthroat world of fighting that we could never have imagined back in 2001 get theirs too. Honestly this would strengthen Nintendo’s relationship with the hardcore crowd and also give gamers of today to experience the sheer mayhem we experienced when we first started playing and loving Melee.

Personally, I believe catering to the still-rampant audience of Melee fanboys would be great for Nintendo, great for the fans, and great for potential new fans. Giving an HD remake to the masses as well as crafting a deep, engaging, and committed online functionality would send Smash Brothers Melee to new gaming heights, and would potentially allow it to progress even more in the professional gaming community. Look at all the revenue League of Legends draws in, as some of their tournaments draws prizes of over 2 million dollars. Dota 2 has tournaments that shell out 10 million in prizes. Games that can develop enough money to warrant such prizes has to be rolling in eternal cash. Not saying Melee can match the PC competitive gaming universe, but can still make a big name for itself with the increased exposure and increased accessibility.

You couldn’t find me a fighting game fan or a Nintendo fan that finds a Melee: Tournament Edition to be a bad idea. It is a gold mine of an opportunity, where the rewards will justify the spending no matter which way you spin it. Make this happen Nintendo, and I will be among the first in line at the door waiting to purchase my copy. Just don’t expect me to fight with the big boys. But don’t worry, there will be plenty of people guaranteed to want to be the King of Smash. And you’ll make millions along the way.

Super Smash Brothers WiiU: Nintendo's Biggest Game in Nearly 10 Years

Hear me out, and this is the truth:



Super Smash Brothers for the WiiU is the most important video game in Nintendo’s long history since Wii Sports. The entire future of Nintendo is riding on the success of this game---which is shaping to be potentially the biggest triumph since Mario Kart Wii’s 32+ million rundown back when the Wii was king and Nintendo was raking profits like there was no tomorrow.

We all know that Smash Brothers will become a success, but the question is just how much hardware can it move? Can it make the WiiU more relevant and push it towards the crown currently being held by PS4? Can it remove the bad stench of the WiiU’s slow start (and seemingly constant denial from Nintendo)? Just what exactly can Smash Brothers accomplish? Nintendo is banking everything on this one game, with the 3DS counterpart being its sneak preview (which will also deliver plenty of sales, especially with the cool-looking Smash 3DS coming out).

Want more proof of Nintendo’s pure and utmost dependency on this game? Namco is working on this, and Nintendo rarely ever allows third-party companies to work on their first-party franchises—even though I have mentioned how this strategy should be explored more often. They took a proven company that has a popular and successful fighting franchise to lend their touches on what is now the top fighting franchise in the entire game industry. The amount of third-party characters has even increased, as Pac-Man, Mega Man, Sonic, and maybe even Snake will make an appearance. You can make your very own character to use in the game. Over six different composers have worked on the soundtrack, and the CD is available for free as long as you register your two Smash games.

The controllers that are being issued. You can use the Wiimote, use the Wii Pad, use the Virtual Console controller, and then we have a special Gamecube throwback controller being sold prior to the game’s release. We already have tournaments on this game and it’s not even out to the public yet. The game seemingly has taken note of every request fans have made, from customizable characters to new third-party characters, to enhanced online system, and even a (sort-of) ranking system.

The marketing. Nearly every week there are new announcement and updated news about the game, and Nintendo is usually extremely hush-hush about their projects. It has had its own Nintendo Direct conferences online to maintain the exposure in the gaming world. It had a tournament in the middle of E3. The upcoming game is also tied to downloadable content specials that are being shown in the WiiU and the 3DS. You cannot escape this game. If only Nintendo applied this amount of marketing to its other games.

So the question, what is left? Nintendo’s final step has to be bundles---lots and lots of bundles. We are talking bundling Smash Bros. 4 with WiiU systems in different colors, with different features, different memory sizes, and maybe other options like music CDs, Gamecube controllers, etc. Nintendo needs to guarantee that you can’t breathe the WiiU life without having the game close to you. Smash Brothers is notorious for reviving franchises (See: Earthbound, Fire Emblem, Kirby, and to a lesser extent even Metroid) so it would be extremely beneficial for new owners to have this game to see the different gaming worlds Nintendo usually offers. Who knows, maybe Mega Man can once again rise to the prominence it used to have in the NES/SNES days.

Everything is being thrown to make Smash Brothers 4 a success. Depending on the impact it makes this holiday season will determine whether or not the WiiU can ever churn out Wii-like profits, and whether or not Nintendo has to re-evaluate the way it makes and distributes games. It all boils down to this game, this holiday, and the world’s reaction.

Smash Brothers 4 will determine whether the WiiU can go down the path of the 3DS (slow start, ferocious run) or the Gamecube (sustains minimal sales, with few hits here and there).

How Nintendo Conquered E3 2014

E3 2014 will be known as the E3 that was dominated by Nintendo.


Let’s start with Sony and Microsoft. Both did a great job maintaining their audience happy thought their conferences. Neither unveiled too many surprises, but had a steady flow of games and good news to keep the console war interesting. Microsoft kept the FPS community totally enthralled after their news about the upcoming Halo game that features all 4 games and all the multi-player maps. Sony brought out their big guns with Uncharted and Little Big Planet. Both companies also displayed third-party games and how good they will look on their representative systems. Lastly, Grand Theft Auto 5 being released on all platforms was just great news for the gaming community altogether.




But Nintendo delivered the big guns, the big surprises, and came out swinging wildly from the first second on.


With the help of Robot Chicken, an extremely over-excited commentator, a successful Smash Brothers tournament, a cool action sequence featuring Nintendo presidents, and the ability to stretch out the good news over more than just one day, Nintendo single-handedly brought the fight on and pretty much all but guaranteed 2015 domination.They didn't throw any numbers, didn't apologize, didn't preach hope. All they did was hand out new game after new game after new game.



The new (remake) Pokemon games. The Nintendo figures that each carries its own distinctive stats. Smash Brothers WiiU. Smash Brothers 3DS. Pac-Man being in Smash Brothers. The ability to put your character as a fighter in Smash Brothers. Star Fox reveal. Zelda WiiU revealed and displayed (beautifully). New Kirby game. New game featuring Toad. New “X” trailer. 3DS RPG by Level 5 with help from Studio Ghibli. And a few surprising exclusives to round it all out. Nintendo needed software, and it delivered software by the droves. There was an infinite amount of attention given to the fleeting WiiU, and yet focused the second day on the 3DS to even up the love.

Nearly every problem the WiiU has presented over the years had been addressed, dealt with, and countered within the 48 hours of E3 so far. Lack of software? Not anymore. Pointless gamepad? Not anymore. Too much Mario? Not anymore, as not one Mario game was mentioned this year. Not enough indie games? Over a dozen Capcom games for Virtual Console in the upcoming year as well as its rising amount of low-budget games. Not enough new IPs? Well, we have Fantasy Life, Devil’s Third, and Splatoon around the corner. Nintendo managed to calm nearly all the criticism flames by unveiling the most diverse lineup amongst the Big 3 systems.

Some can and will argue that Nintendo had the most to recover amongst the three, as the PS4 is hitting record sales and the XBox One isn’t doing half-bad until you leave the Western Hemisphere. But Nintendo delivered the requirements and took it even farther. Although some will say it’s too little too late after the years of Wii neglect and the abysmal WiiU start, but for those that did indeed have hope this E3 should definitely make you a believer. The WiiU has a long, long way to go, but it is most certainly heading in the right direction.



Nintendo you needed to do something, fast, and you definitely didn’t disappoint.

Now time to make due with all the promises.

EVOGate and How Nintendo Pulled a Microsoft in One Afternoon

If there is the perfect video game that would cause the latest controversy involving Nintendo absolutely giving the cold shoulder to its depleting hardcore fanbase, it would be arguably one of the least appreciated spectacular game in the history of the company. Super Smash Brothers Melee was mixed in with a total travesty that resulted in a big company changing its mind the very same afternoon and once again inadvertently slapping the faces of the bigger Nintendo fans.


The story is simple: EVO, a fighting game tournament that raises money for good causes (LIKE CANCER NINTENDO!!!!) chose Smash Brothers Melee, a fighting game masterpiece that is over 10 years old and remains one of the most played fighters on the planet, as one of the main events. There would be a Smash Bros. tournament that would be streamed live online for everyone to see. After all, the respect of this game is so heavy that it won the player’s choice to be in the tournament and also remains the only game not from this past generation to be on the list.

Let me remind you that this tournament raises money for breast cancer---Smash Brothers Melee raised $94,000.

So Nintendo for no logical reason whatsoever decides to barge in and let EVO know that they don’t want Melee being streamed online.

Why Nintendo…why did this happen?

The outbreak, the controversy, the negative reaction, the pure anger was so baffling, came so fast, that Nintendo quite literally changed its mind in the course of an afternoon. But by then the damage had been done, and the anger had already been spilled.

For Example:



Why Nintendo?

Why on earth did this happen? Why on earth did you try to ban the streaming of a CHARITY-SPONSORED TOURNAMENT OF YOUR OWN GAME?!?!?!? And of ALL the games, Smash Brothers Melee, the one game that has not seen retail sales in the past 5 years at least. You know, that awesome fighting game that did not get any re-release love despite the overwhelming positive reviews, and despite being essentially the Gamecube’s version of Halo---that one game that pretty much saved the entire system. You know, the one game whose formula you tweaked so that it was LESS hardcore and more casual and mainstream with Brawl. Only God knows how disgusting the Gamecube launch and first-year sales would have been without Smash Brothers Melee at the helm.

Unlike most boneheaded decisions in recent months from all three companies, this one has no Devil’s Advocate argument. This one has no other side of the coin. There is no justification of deciding to not only cut the streaming, but potentially prevent the game from being in the tournament at all. Gamers donated oodles of money to see one of your old games from two generations ago re-enter the gaming spotlight along with the newer fighters like Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Street Fighter IV. Gamers were showing an amazing amount of love to one of your games and you respond with your heinous decision.

Smash Brothers Melee, the third best-selling fighting game of all-time, has not gotten the respect of a re-release in any sort when most of the classics have gone through a re-introduction. No Virtual Console, no remake for the WiiU (Would have been absolutely perfect), and now an attempted snubbing of some much-needed online love amongst gamers. This game is 12 YEARS OLD!!!! Can you honestly name video games that came out around that same time?!?!?!?!? Nintendo this was a stupid move from start to finish, and this is only going to enhance the notion that you are now beginning to lose touch with gamers.






Yea Nintendo, Earthbound was a nice touch (and one hell of a secret apology), but it might take more before we forget this ugly moment.

Just listen to the chant towards the end of this.

Nintendo, stop screwing up. Stop making us mad. Your WiiU is already a big miss. Stop adding salt to the wound.