dartmonkey

Finally got this last week. Nothing to add to the praise chorus really. There are various little things to look forward to in updates or DLC (Super Mario Land skin maybe?) and I'd like to be able to link pipes in the same area. Also think Nintendo are missing a trick by not having an accompanying 3DS app - not the full thing, but it'd be great if they released Mario Player which allowed you to PLAY downloaded levels on the go. I've made 4 levels thus far. I tried a 1-1 and quickly realized it was more 2-1y. Same for 2-2 and 2-4 type levels. I'm pretty happy with them. I tried to provide a variety of things to do while keeping it simple. Two-Oney (E2F0-0000-0096-12B1) Two-Tooie (FFA5-0000-0096-1514) Two-FOREy (28BE-0000-0096-163D) Finally I tried a concept level where Mario must race across the city to the hospital at rush hour. Spent hours on it putting bits and pieces in and trying to simulate a cityscape. Had fun but have lost all objectivity. I think it'll be tough, but it's supposed to be. EMERGENCY! Paging Dr Mario! - A Rush Hour City Dash (E97E-0000-0096-21D4) Desperate to make one of those art covers for it when I've got time! Now to sample some thumby levels.

Well, I downloaded the Special Delayed Demo Without DRM from Humble this morning and played the first level. First impressions weren't great. It looks functional. The menus are pretty sharp. The pace of the opening is not good. The gameplay is interrupted by some slow, stodgy dialogue and cut scenes that would benefit from an edit. Beck controls fine, though I don't think my 360 pad suits it. My thumbs feel like they're too far 'around' the controller - I think it'd feel better on any other pad. I haven't tried anything else. I'll probably wait until they give me the 3DS copy to play more. There seemed to be an awful lot of empty screenspace on my monitor which should be reduced on 3DS. I dunno. Enthusiasm's kinda sapped. I've forgotten why I backed it in the first place. There are essays to be written on the waves these Kickstarters generate and specific graph points showing how and when devs either rode or squandered them. I think the 8-4 crew probably piqued my interest for MM9 but once they were jettisoned, things seemed to go steadily downhill with community communication.

Yeah, I have specific memories of spending ages reading about all the upgrade parts and really feeling their effect on the courses. The pods felt nuanced and dirty and distinct. A really 'pure' racer. I also remember using 2 controllers with it and feeling like a boss. I don't have that game anymore - can't imagine why I got rid of it. One more thing to add to the ebay list :/

Random thought: Episode I Racer was a bloody awesome.

That sounds like a nightmare! Personally, if I had the money, I'd buy the cheapest second-hand, beaten-up Xbone I could find and just have it be my Rock Band machine. It reduces the clutter of having two sets of equipment, you don't have to re-buy your DLC, and you've also then got an Xbone for the very occasional juicy exclusive.

If the arrow keys were on the left side of the keyboard, we'd all still be using them, no?

It's the same game. But for babies.

Won't have the game for a couple of weeks, but I love how the yellow packaging and the art book are hitting the same nerve from childhood when I would devour game manuals and pore over every detail on the box in the shop. I wonder what the ratio of digital to physical copies sold will be. Get a look at young Miyamoto and Tezuka and then change to the 2015 versions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=6&v=DLoRd6_a1CI

I've been playing MK8 a lot because it's going to be a couple of weeks before I can splurge on Mario Maker. If you're desperate to play with a GC pad, you can get adapters that make the Wii (U) think it's a classic controller. I've ordered one for the SNES pad. However, I've had zero problems playing with the gamepad. I've even taken to using the right stick to accelerate (and, very occasionally, brake) after doing the same in Most Wanted.The thing that most impresses me about MK8 is how substantial it feels, by which I mean it somehow conveys a physicality almost like a real toy or object. I realise how vague that sounds, think I've said it before too. But something in the culmination of the models and the animation and the sound gives me the sensation that I'm playing with something physical. 3D World has a similar feel. In fact, all Nintendo's Wii U output does. I remember reading reviews of Pikmin that commented on just how plump and juicy the oranges and strawberries looked. Woolly Yoshi and plasticine Kirby. Everything feels SO solid. And this Mario Kart turns everything that would normally be a frustration on its head. Hitting the minecarts in Wario's Mines doesn't slow you down now because they've got those boost pad things, likewise hitting other racers in antigrav mode. I'm really hoping for another 2 rounds of DLC (Pikmin/Metroid/Starfox stuff would be great. Even Kirby.) All that stuff about physicality is annoyingly vague, sorry. Even though I'm amazed at the clarity and 60fps, not once while I'm playing am I thinking about polys or clipping or draw distances. It feels chunky and satisfying.

I love the packaging and artwork for Super Mario Maker, but that pixel/voxel amiibo is big and ugly. My bank balance is thankful for this. Interestingly, I've noticed that here in Spain all the new Disney Infinity 3.0 figures have a big white sticker on the side saying they are distributed by Nintendo Iberica.

I didn't say good, I said sexay.

So, wait until people have reluctantly bought the big one, then release the sexy one... Clever girl.

I've got Fusion waiting on my 3DS but I want to play Super first. Still waiting for a controller adapter off ebay - it's been 2 months! I just finished Resident Evil on the DS. I went through in Classic mode, so pretty much got the vanilla PS1 experience. I used youtube a bit in the second half. I wanted to try an original tank-RE but I've got an aversion to tank controls. I tried years ago with REmake on Gamecube and couldn't stand it. The game was a lot more generous with ammo and supplies than I was expecting, which gave me the confidence to plough ahead. There's enough ammo to kill practically everything so long as you don't Wiggum it away. Ultimately I enjoyed it, and was surprised to see just how much has been carried through to the sequels. I now need to read up on how the hell that script and voice acting came to be. They sounded like American actors but I don't understand how any actor could give a reading like that! All. Of. A. Sudden. Every. Single. Word. Is. Fully. And. Unnaturally. Enunciated. It's entertaining now, and the novelty of voice acting at all must have been incredible at the time. But jeez.

Shovel Knight amiibo half-confirmed. http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/08/game_confirms_shovel_knight_amiibo Yooka-Laylee amiibo starting to seem less far-fetched!

Finished Majora's Mask 3D! I thought about why I like it and it's because it's the most interesting and thought-provoking Zelda. Sometimes it's tough to get through, but the story that it tells and the questions it asks are far in advance of the standard good/evil light/dark dualities. Really wonderful.

I'd say that an electronically produced image makes it a video game. A cover system would make it a good video game.

Proteus is an evening game. And FTL, though I've got about 45 hours logged on that thing. And I'm still rubbish, but quickly rubbish. Edit. Ooo, and You Have To Win The Game. That's an excellent amuse-bouche.

How about if we instigate a new phase for the gritty reboot by ditching the 'The' and moving the colon BACK... Hit:Man. Bat:Man. Pac:Man. Such potential!

Talking of Ogre Battle, this popped up on my Twitter feed this morning. https://instagram.com/p/6OGg7CA5MF

Pray tell, what brand of foul witchcraft is this?Seriously, is that the case for all Wii VC on Wii U? Do Xbone and PS3 do that for 360/PS2 games?

I remember Ogre Battle 64 popping up in old mags but never played it. Just wikied it...and discovered it has the Thumbiest colon-subtitle. Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber. In other randomness, I saw Wave Race Blue Storm and snapped it up on impulse. I used to have it but must have sold it. It takes a while to get into but it's really rewarding once you do. It still holds up really well. I think it's time for Nintendo to crack out one of the deep 'realistic' racing games from that stable after skipping the Wii. Probably too late for Wii U now, unless they've got something in development already, but definitely for NX. Just think how pretty a next/this gen Wave Race would be, or a new 1080. Actually, it's probably time for an Excitebike. The N64 one was so good and overlooked, like most from late in that system's cycle I guess. Another thought: this and SGDQ got me thinking about time trials and the league tables I used to look at in old mags. Do you think a Thumbs time trial leaderboard could work? Nothing serious, just simple tables for the top 3 times for a few games, verified by a screenshot or something. I know the modern consoles log all this but maybe we could choose a few retro or VC games. Thoughts?

Jeremy Parish usually makes a point of not commenting on price, which I admire. I think some reviewers may do so because that's what's expected of them by their readership. Misguided or no, the 'value' of a game is usually measured by the number of hours it takes to complete, and generally reviewers give their readers what they want. Most of the things I've read/listened to about Rare Replay finish by commenting on the price and saying that 'you can't go wrong' and that it's a 'great-value' package, even if you hate most of the games. Although I (and, I think, most people here) would prefer to play the 6-8 hour version of Alien Isolation for several reasons, the vast majority of players would feel like they hadn't got their £40 worth. It feels like 99% of people trot out the 'quality>quantity' adage (much like 'gameplay>grfx') but change their tune once they've crit-pathed through Ground Zeros in 40 minutes and feel short-changed. Interestingly, I forgot to mention a game I paid full price for just the other day, perhaps because it wasn't a £40 proposition. 3D Streets of Rage 2 was £4.49. Cracking game, that.

By that precedent, you'll be buying Dark Souls 3 three times, no?

Not wanting to drag the debate out, but I'd be interested to hear the recent games people willingly payed the full £39.99/€49.99/$59.99 launch day price for. The last ones for me were Dark Souls 2, Mario Kart 8 and Mario 3D World.

Is it? I really don't see it. I think the idea it's an expensive hobby is residual from when we were kids who had to wait for birthdays and Christmas for new blood. Yes, of course there's an outlay for the console, much like there would be for football boots or tennis rackets or club membership, but £40 for a game you get 10-15 hours of fun out of seems good value, no? Perhaps you play it more than that. You keep the product afterwards or you can get rid of it. And I can list the times I've paid £40 for a game in the last 10 years on one hand! I don't know. Yes, there are craploads of games I'd like which I don't have, but I'm not as time-rich as I used to be and that tends to be a larger limiting factor, I think. I'm certainly not money-rich and I get by with a good amount of games, far more than I have time to play. Then again, I don't chase AAA+DLC preorders or anything like that.