dartmonkey

I've had the trilogy disc sitting on the shelf for a year but have only gone through the tutorial. The idea of scanning everything in sight is a massive turn off after two Arkham games. Should really go back to it.

It would make sense as something for the gamepad that they could get the NES Remix guys to knock up. Perhaps it'll work something like the Pushmo/Pullblox puzzle maker - make a level using a library of bits, complete it to prove it works, then upload/share. Race modes where the gamepad player has to complete a course before others reach that part in the level. Or they have to find other players and imprison them with blocks or something. I think they riffed on similar stuff in NSMBU? Doesn't sound like killer app material, but could be fun.

Agreed - it is such a luxury. Your use of the word 'curate' reminds me of a thread I made about presenting historically significant games to kids in an engaging way. In the UK I have a nephew around 18 months old who I don't see very often (I live in Spain). He waves at me via skype most weekends and I'm pretty sure he thinks I live inside an ipad screen. I'm thinking a lot about his introduction to games. I agree with comments earlier in the thread that Kirby's Epic Yarn would be fantastic for a 3/4 year old and an adult (I think Yoshi's Yarn is coming and hopefully that will offer something similar). I like that it promotes teamwork and that the barrier to entry is low - my sister might be inclined to play with him and enjoy it. Curating his experience remotely will be challenging though. I've been thinking about the consoles I have boxed in the attic at my parents' house and how they could perhaps provide an introduction to games, and also basic video game history. I could hook up a NES or a Mega Drive and leave 4 or 5 games for him to tinker with, as he likes. There will be a short window when he's young enough to not be influenced by what his friends have got and this feels like a good time to let him play with older stuff. Has anybody had a good experience dusting off a retro console with young children or do they simply make a beeline for the ipad? I've met 8/9 year old kids who are mad for Black Ops 2. Fair enough - I understand its attraction - but it is just one flavour of the delicious video game pie, and single-figure years feels a bit early for it.

So playing 150CC unlocks everything from the lower cups? Now that's what I call next-gen! Seriously, that's an excellent feature! 4 player was possible on Super Circuit if you had the gear. I didn't. I played MK8 at a demo station a couple of days ago. I went round Mario Circuit twice. Nintendo have pulled off a weird trick that makes my brain put it into the 'BEST GRAFX EVA!!!11' category. I know stuff looked this good years ago on 360/PS3, and I know the Xbone and PS4 could do it in their sleep...but... They're pulling some black magic here. My head KNOWS it's not, but my gut says this is one of the best looking games I've ever seen. How are they doing that? Simple art direction? Is it because I don't get a boner over particle effects or I've been spoiled with what's being squeezed out of last-gen consoles? Am I just lapping up HD Nintendo after 8 years in the (dry dry) desert? They exited the graphics race and now they've psyched me with, of all things, MARIO KART??

I respecced to Pyromancy just to beat him. Nightmare. My special trick was shitloads of fireballs and rolling rolling rolling. Very 007 :/

For me singleplayer Mario Kart is always a damn slog - I plough through the cups to unlock circuits and characters but it's a grind. MK8 is dredging up my Double Dash nostalgia. Is MKWii really hateworthy? With 4 players it's a blast, like every Mario Kart, no? It felt a bit unbalanced and slow after Double Dash, like they had shrunk the karters by 20%, increasing the width of the tracks and also slowing everything down. But garbage?? Double Dash>64>Wii>Super Circuit. My theory is your preference correlates with the amount of time you spent playing local 4-player with it. Test my theory thumbs.

I bought ZombiU new for €4.99. I don't have a Wii U yet, but from what I've heard it's still one of the best arguments for the Gamepad. It'd be rude not to for the price of a pint. With Mario Kart being released I'm getting pretty jealous. Think I'll have to wait until xmas but the games are coming, slowly. I want E3 to be packed with weird gamepad shit. And I want them to release a red one. Or matte purple.

That's going to happen, isn't it. Two point O. *sigh* Harmonix should acknowledge the Kinectless SKU with a joke. Someone needs to - it's not going to be Microsoft. I'm betting on Star Wars: Canon Management, a meta mobile experience where you assume the role of an up-and-coming hotshot director charged with integrating the Expanded Universe into Episodes VII, VIII, and IX.

Ah. It's a knee. Of course. Not one of these.

Now that Next-Gen is This-Gen, it's difficult to argue that it's not just Last-Gen with a new shirt. I can't pin down anything to define the new wave. Kinect still doesn't work too well and the voice stuff is patchy. When the first one came out I assumed it would augment the controller experience and allow players to lean around corners with their head, issue orders to squadmates via hand gestures, etc. Nope. Nintendo have yet to demonstrate anything to make their gamepad more than a bell/whistle. There's potential there but they've shown nothing and bungled the marketing. Sony seem happy to just throw RAM at the problem, which seems to be working well enough for them, at least financially. Oculus looks interesting, but it isolates you so much I think it'll have a slow start, especially with the masses. There'll be shock stories in tabloids about houses being robbed while the owner had his face in a Rift, toddlers wandering out into the street while their parents..., etc. Anyway, this thread is for ideas - innovations you think we should have seen by now, or potential additions or tweaks to existing tech. They don't have to be revolutionary or CHANGE VIDEO GAMES. I'm just having difficulty remembering the last rumble pak or shoulder button. Maybe the biometric pulse pad will fit the bill, but until that turns up I've got a couple of smaller examples: I saw/heard the following video YEARS ago and thought it was an area video games had yet to explore. It still is, but it seems it would be a natural fit for Oculus. The video must be listened to WITH HEADPHONES. This stuff is made for horror but the potential for directional info relayed via sound is massive across the board and remains relatively untapped (to my knowledge, although maybe something's passed me by). Hearing doors open in stealth games, footsteps, enemy fire, NPCs barking orders or 'PSSSSST'ing you from some hiding place, fighters approaching from .35, Cortana whispering seductively inside your helmet. You could really simulate the claustrophobia of Samus' helmet and make players choose whether to use it for targeting/scanning/protection/etc or sacrifice those advantages for improved peripheral vision, hearing and comfort. Something else I thought we'd see this gen is light-up buttons on control pads. Onscreen instructions ('Press X to open') could be replaced or complimented by the illuminated button. They could help clean up the HUD. They could be used to signal notifications when the console is not in use (a la the 3DS). They could be used for puzzles themselves, or whack-a-mole style code QTEs, or covert communication between teams, or signal affiliation with different colours, or flash as warnings if you're about to stall or can be seen. Obviously there's battery life issues, but tiny LEDs don't suck too much juice. It seems like an easy little addition that could have some useful UI applications.

Funny you should mention that because I picked up a Move controller cheap just this weekend for that very reason. Sony are playing smart by getting indies involved, not only to fill the massive post-launch deadzone but also to showcase these other experiences. Nintendo should have been all over this. Only a handful of people have a Move controller - everyone and his cat has Wiimotes clogging up their bottom drawer. Has anyone tried the Xbone controller and felt the rumble triggers? Not groundbreaking, sure, but they sound interesting. I guess they'd be cool for charging plasma weapons or jamming the brake, but they could be used to transmit simple morse code or a teach moves in a beat em up. Again, gimmicks in isolation, but I'm sure some of these could catch on, especially tutorial/UI additions. Although tangential to video games, some company MUST be working on putting a camera inside a monitor (one that can actually see through the screen). The disconnect you get in video calls between looking at the camera and the screen is getting very old now. I want to look people in the eyes when I'm talking to them. However, I suppose that would take the whole 'Kinect is spying on me' narrative to a new level.

There's so much...stuff. Every armoured pec-plate has 50 moving parts. All the overengineering and STUFF makes me feel like an old man and really pisses on my enthusiasm. I remember watching 15 minutes of the Transformers movie and it had the same effect - I couldn't really make out anything and it became a dirge of rubble and tech and lens flare. I liked how Rocksteady kept things simple in Asylum. This looks damn complicated and it feels like the iconography gets blurred behind all the superfluous doohickeys. I guess I'm not enamoured with the idea of fighting the Penguin, Two-Face et al again either. This Arkham Knight fellow will probably be Joker and Harley's bastard. Joker Snow. Or Zombie Joker. /grandad

What I'd like: Big new Nintendo game (new IP) Last Guardian New Valve game. Microsoft to stop saying 'choice'. What we'll get: Halo 5 takes Titanfall's place from last year. Destiny. Devs demoing their Kinect games enthusiastically while weeping inside. Disney Infinity+1 No Backsies. New Star Wars project teasers. Batman. Superman. Smash Bros. Wii U colours. Year of Birdo.

As a reader, this story could only be improved if you turned and fell into the lava Or walked into it, slowly sinking as your hand clenches to a thumbs-up. Cost me about 30 by the end. I've just started a NG+. Not sure how far I'll go with it as I've kinda had my fill.

What are you talking about??!!1 The MS Lords have seen the light and U-turned on their gimmicky albatross pack-in! Take note, Nintendo. Chinese market? Pah. Praise Honesty and Logic! Imagine for a second if Nintendo did bin the Gamepad. You'd be left with a modestly overclocked Nintendo-branded 360. 'No one' (by which I guess you mean 'no one on this forum') thinks this is a good idea because there is a significant difference between a Kinect-less Xbone and a Gamepad-less Wii U. If Microsoft had a killer app for Kinect, they wouldn't be doing this. They failed to make it vital so must move (begrudgingly) to plan B (or C or D or whatever they're up to now) and sell their current-gen box solo. Nintendo, too, have failed to make their device vital. By all accounts, people who've used it for off-screen play have said it's surprisingly handy, but it's not a system selling feature. The gamepad has needed a killer app from the start and the fact that it still hasn't got one after 18 months is a massive cock-up. Nintendoland was a speculative stab but by this stage there should be half a dozen games that require and demo the pad. People should have been hitting golf balls off it Day 1. Arguably the best demo of it is still ZombiU, a third party launch title. THAT is the problem, not the device itself. The market for an HD Wii is significantly smaller now than it was in 2009. And, seeing as wild speculation seems to be in order, I bet most people who wanted one already have a Wii U. It's going to live or die by the gamepad. They've fumbled it for a year and a half but they've got too much reserve cash and their fingers in too many pies for it to cripple them, and removing the pad won't regain those 'Nintendo-like profits' they keep banging on about. Only games that use the damn thing will do that.

Ow.Okay, after respeccing as a pyro and wasting about 30 effigies on it, I finally beat . The ancient dragon is the only thing I haven't killed but he's just chillin' and by all accounts he's a crap fight anyway. I've collected , various armors, etc. Think it's NG+ time. But should I chug the boss souls now or keep them to chug first thing in NG+?

I did. I was 25 at the time and I trekked across South London to buy an £80 set of scales. And despite the flak it gets (as does the Wii in general) it's a quality bit of kit. I really wish they'd release an app that would just display the weight on the board. The amount of times I've had to go into the daily evaluation process just to weight some luggage is embarrassing.I really couldn't care less what Nintendo do. A more robust online infrastructure would be great but despite the general feeling from the Internet, I really feel they've never stopped putting out fantastic software. The 3DS is just on fire in terms of variety and quality. The iteration with Mario and his series irks a bit but I'm not forced to play NSMB. And you can't argue with 3D Land and World. I just had a friend round for some Mario Kart and Rock Band but that seemed like too much energy and hard work so we fired up Wii Sports Resort for a round of golf. And then some table tennis. Then some archery. And finally, cycling. It's a great game! Trying to sync our pedalling on a tandem, our Miis in little vests gulping from flasks of water, had us in fits. I don't know. I guess my point is that they've never stopped churning out great games, even if the form they take isn't catering specifically to 18-30 year old males. Over-zealous tutorials and repeated unskippable dialogue aside (fuck you Animal Crossing) I'm quite happy for Nintendo to keep producing unusual joyous shit. Edit. Agree with Tegan's points, especially 4. Swapnote was great, and I miss its little green notification light

I need to stop playing. I'm not enjoying it and i've done myself a mischief. This morning I spunked a dozen effigies entering the Dark covenant area to fight the optional boss. I only reached the boss twice, the other times I got my novice pyromancer pulverised by the dark guys or I rolled him into a crevice. I turned and punched my sofa in frustration and caught an improbably hard bit with the frame underneath. Wasn't too bad at the time, but now in considerable pain! It's only a game, it's only a game...

Thanks for the info Bjorn. My Soul Memory is at just over 3.5 million and I'm at Level 172. Don't have much to compare it to. My guess is it's pretty poor but it's my first Souls experience so not too worried.

The third smith ain't appearing. I summon her from her tombstone, she says thanks and that I should visit her in her new home but she's not moving. When you go to NG+, what do you retain? I've already so do the giant souls serve any further purpose in NG+?

Is there any reason not to swallow all the boss souls before NG+ if I'm not bothered about boss soul weapons? I'm on the cusp of downing them, levelling up and then hitting the button but I don't really know what will happen.

Use one. I estimated there were 50ish in the game, but I forgot that certain enemies drop them too. I'd revise that up by 10 or 20. Certainly don't sweat using them, just don't knock them back like estus

Playstation Plus does seem like some crazy unsustainable promotion. The only caveat is that those games are only yours as long as you subscribe. Which makes complete sense, but there's still that part of me that feels uncomfortable with the blurring between buying/renting/streaming. I like to keep the responsibility my end, if that makes sense. I can control my own discs and harddrives and backup saves/etc and make sure they're clean and functional. I can't control if some guy at Sony flicks the wrong switch or if there's an internet meltdown or the servers explode. It's an antiquated, paranoid mindset that I may grow out of. Over the course of a lifetime I'm sure the service would allow you to play many more games for much less money. But what if WW3 breaks out and millions perish and I can't play video games anymore to escape the horror!?!

No hole gag is below me Thanks for your help ninja & Bjorn. Bjorn, I checked the original place and, indeed, found a tombstone. I brought them back and they seemed grateful. Now to wait and see if they turn up elsewhere. I just had a really wonderful experience with PvP. Getting a little bored, I tried invading worlds of the guilty, but for whatever reason, they couldn't be found. So, tired of waiting and eyeing the red orbs I've had sitting in my inventory for the past 70 hours, I tried a couple of invasions in the Dragon Palace. The first guy struck me unsportingly mid-bow but I managed to finish him off (I really enjoy the comedy of bowing with my little Heide Sword in hand, then switching to my ridiculously overproportioned ) and got my token. Satisfied, I tried another. I walked calmly down the steps towards my foe who prostrated himself on the ground and did the 'No way' gesture. I praised the sun and followed him when he beckoned me. We went to the dragon's nests and he jumped on one of those zip lines. I tried to jump on too, but it wouldn't let me. Eventually I fell to the bridge below and made my way back. He was still there and I assumed we'd put up our dukes and be done with it. But once again he jumped on the line. I cracked out my Tooth and hit him. He was knocked from the wire and flattened, but in mid-air. When he rose he froze in the repelling animation and was able to float around in the sky. I finally understood what he had wanted from me! We played about for a bit before returning to the same platform. I remembered the phrase effigy things I'd purchased and released a Thank-You and a Very-Good to which he cheered. The tiny-but-positive interaction - one that runs completely contrary to the aggression and implicit violence of an INVASION - had me grinning, like we were gaming the system to mischievously spread goodwill and positivity against all odds. But then came the moment when we'd finished and there was only one way to finish our meeting. I regretted that violence was the only option. As I ruminated I watched my new friend wave to me one last time. He then ran and leapt off the cliff. Target Eliminated (or whatever the text says) and I was returned to my world. It sounds utterly stupid but that little digital sacrifice made me smile so much and seriously upped my faith in humanity. The multiplayer element really has made this game for me.

I did what I Wanted to do the other day but came back this morning to mop up. Finished now. I think. It's unusual for a game with such linear progression to leave you wondering if you're done or not. Anything else I shouldn't miss?