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deebormzone · 6 years

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Revving up the Disappointment Engines

Super Smash Brothers Ultimate.

There’s a presentation for it tomorrow morning. One character reveal is guaranteed. I am excited.

HOWEVER. I know from experience that it’s best to set one’s expectations real, real low. As such, here’s my take on who tomorrow’s presentation will reveal.

It won’t be too disappointing, no matter what happens. Generally speaking, any addition is a good addition. The only bad announcements would be a delay or something to do with microtransactions.

Much of the Smash Direct will probably go over different game modes, since we haven’t heard a single thing about those yet. Classic Mode, Break the Targets, Event Matches, that sort of thing. A stage maker would be big, but there are so many stages already that I don’t care much. A story mode would be HUGE, but pretty unlikely. Story or no, I’d love a platform game like Melee’s Adventure Mode, Brawl’s Subspace Emissary, or Smash 4′s Smash Run. Speaking as a monster who lives in a hole, single-player content is very important to me.

But a new character is always the big draw. One character will be appearing for sure, big animated trailer and all. One Echo Character is also fairly likely (and if we’re especially unfortunate, the one new character will BE an Echo). More than one new character seems pretty unlikely, so don’t count on it. I’m guessing there will be six new characters for a final total of 70 on the select screen, and even that might be too generous. Point being, Grandmaster Sakurai is going to draw these reveals out as long as possible.

So who will it be?

All my most wanted characters are completely ridiculous impossible choices, which I’ve accepted. My best hope is for somebody interesting. It’s a fair hope, since there are so many interesting options. Of course, there are also some uninteresting options, so I’d better get ready for one of them. Let’s go over some possibilities.

Man with spring instead of arm: SPRING MAN

Spring Man is the safest guess and also one of the least exciting. His punch extend, and that’s it, somehow managing to have a moveset even less interesting than an anime swordsman.

Really, I better get used to this possibility, because it’ll be him tomorrow for sure. Main character of a big new Nintendo IP for Switch, a character from a series about fighting. Plus, for the first new character reveal, they probably won’t go with a bombshell third-party. It’ll be someone safe and basic, and Spring Man is truly the safest and most basic.

I’m sure Soccer Guy will give him an interesting moveset. Maybe incorporating some stuff from ARMS. Like... those bombs that appear mid-game, or something. He can do it.

Part of the issue is that every other ARMS character is more interesting than the mascot. Slime creature Helix, metal gladiator Mechanica, karate noodle Min Min, and Master Mummy, who is automatically interesting by being a mummy. Even Ribbon Girl is a touch more interesting than Springo.

Anyway, Spring Man comes first here because I’m sure he’ll be the reveal. This is my Official Prediction. Of course, there are other lukewarm possibilities, like:

Gremlin who poke with stick: BANDANNA WADDLE DEE

This is a basic Kirby enemy who is incredibly popular for some reason.

Really, I shouldn’t be too hard on this guy. I just haven’t played the games in which he’s important, except maybe Kirby 64, and no one is sure if that was really him. It’s one of the problems of being generic, people have trouble recognizing you.

Plus, he has decent moveset potential thanks to his spear and other Waddle Dee tools, like the parasol. It’ll be a bit weird to me, getting such a basic dude in with so few character slots available, but if it does end up happening, I guess it won’t be so bad.

Mulched tree plumber hero: PAPER MARIO

Paper Mario has a lot of possibility, some good, some bad. He could easily be an Echo, but he has enough options to be a full character, too.

The most heartbreaking option would be a full character reveal based heavily on Sticker Star. That’s probably the worst possible reveal (does that guarantee it will happen?). Even if he’s not fully stickerized, there’s no way his Final Smash won’t be one of those Objects. Probably the fan.

Any content from Paper Mario one or two would be fantastic, but I almost don’t want to consider that because it definitely won’t happen. I guess I could stand the occasional sticker if he’s otherwise based on Thousand-Year-Door. I GUESS.

Girl next door, haunted mansion, etc.: ASHLEY

Ashley is okay. I’m generally pro-witch; there’s a lot of moveset potential there. Her personality (”I literally do not care about anything”) is alright, too. This would be coming off of the release of Warioware Gold, so the timing’s right.

The other fat reptile: KING K. ROOL

Now this is interesting. K. Rool has a lot going for him. He’s got a wacky fighting style including guns, thrown weapons, and boxing, and he’s a villain, which is always fun. Plus, I heard he’s inexplicably popular in Japan.

This could be a pretty hype guy to announce, but he hasn’t been seen in a while. That, and it might be a little weird to reveal another villain who’s similar to the Riddler.

Human-shaped energy squid: DARK SAMUS

This is a likely Echo Fighter. She’s not really that interesting- just a villain who eats a lot of blueberry jam- but actually being Metroid Prime is worth a point or two.

Secretary of cross animals: ISABELLE

Another possible Echo, although if they wanted to they could give her a unique moveset based on office work and building public works atop enemies’ heads. I’d like that.

Various Pokemon Representing the Most Recent Generation

Decidueye would be most likely. “Archery bird” has a lot of good moveset potential. Incineroar could be a cool grappler, but seems a bit basic. Primarina might be the most interesting due to not having legs, so they’d have to give it a really weird moveset. There’s also been talk of Lycanrock (boring), Necrozma (maybe TOO bizarre), and Mimikyu (I’ll take it).

It’s hard to get too excited about another Pokemon, though. Since they represent whole species, Pokemon characters don’t really have much personality of their own. Plus, it would feel like using a treasured Smash slot on a character who has to get in to meet corporate requirements, which is crappy.

Of course, a character like that is most likely to be revealed at the first Smash Direct. Ah well.

8.8.8

A few people have noticed that the date for this Direct has a lot of eights. Could be nothing, but it could also NOT be nothing. And, if it doesn’t mean nothing, here are three things it mightn’t not mean:

Echo Fighter Octoling. Octolings aren’t big-name, highly-requested characters, but they’re cool enough. They might not fit with the game’s release schedule, though; I hear the whole roster is decided years in advance, and Splatoon’s Octo Expansion was fairly recent.

Octopath Traveler content. That’s a big new Switch exclusive that sold really well. (I’ve been playing it in parts- it’s okay.) I guess it’s possible, but it’s third party. Plus, the game is about eight different main characters, so Sakurai might not be able to pick one, or to mash all eight together in one moveset. Still, a character would be cool if it was a wacky one like Merchant, and not a basic one like Soldier.

Heihachi, from Tekken. This would be because “hachi” is Japanese for “eight.” It’s a stretch, but you never know. Namco’s been on board for a while, after all. They made Smash 4, and might have helped make Smash Ultimate...? I should know this. Anyway, despite being a simple martial artist, I would be fine with Heihachi. I liked his moveset in Playstation All-Stars, combining simple attacks with stances, combination moves, and a few miscellaneous thrown objects. Also, I laff any time Smash Bros gets a big-name character who was, or was supposed to be in All-Stars.

DANTE

Some people have been saying Dante will get in. I don’t know why.

Sure, I guess.

in summary:

I expect a lot of talk about single-player content, one Echo reveal, and one new character. Probably Spring Man.

With that, my expectations are correctly tempered. Now, even if the announcements tomorrow are just okay, I’ll be able to play the prediction game.

Good luck to everyone! I hope that, even if somebody I don’t care for gets in, it makes somebody else’s day.

#smash bros #SUPER SMASH BROS ULTIMATE #man with spring instead of arm

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unwillingkomaedakin · 4 years

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Entry 1 - June 14th 2020

during school last week, one of my acquaintances (who i’ll refer to on this blog as s if i remember) asked if i wanted to go over to her house for a sleepover. i was sort of over the moon, but also really anxious. it was my first time being individually invited to a sleepover in years. if this makes more sense, when i used to be in a friend group (that was really toxic), they’d have group sleepovers for birthdays and stuff as well as 1 on 1 sleepovers without the rest of the group. i went to a few of the full-group sleepovers, but i myself was never invited to 1 on 1 sleepovers. i’m always the one who has to ask since no one wants to be around me, which is hard for me since i’m really quiet, anxious and shy. no, not shy, that makes me sound cute, nervous fits it better. anyway, so i was somewhat shocked that someone actually wanted to spend time with me outside of school. i was mainly anxious about it, since i have a hard time sleeping somewhere that isn’t my bedroom. my bedroom is like the room version of comfort characters, it’s my comfort room, the only room that makes me feel somewhat safe. i was also really scared it’d be really awkward. anyway, the day came for the sleepover yesterday. i went to s’s house, and it was really nice. her family was good, really nice. i really wish i had a family like her’s, one that got along, didn’t hate, yell at or abuse each other. they were really nice, and really funny, really supportive of s and her hobbies and dreams. her sister is also really nice. what i’d give to have a family like that.

the first thing we did was s showed me around the house, i ended up leaving my stuff in her room for a while. she had a really big bed. my bed is really small. i want a bed like her’s. her bedroom walls were painted different colors and had stripes. and omg, she had her own private bathroom. i really want a private bathroom, then i’d pretty much never have to leave my room. s and her sister made rice balls for us for lunch, it was my first time having rice, it was pretty good. we watched a bit of beastars on s’s phone, then we looked around in s’s room for a little. s got up her drawing program and told me about this multi-fandom project she was working on. she said she hoped it’d be turned into a tv series, and when i told her that’d be really hard to do due to copyright reasons, she didn’t really mind and remained hopeful. that really warmed my heart, though some of the things about her project confused me due to the amount of details it had. it was good though. after, we went outside to her shed to get blow-up mattresses to sleep on later. the shed was really big, but relatively clean and cosy for a shed. there was a game room with a tv, a couch and a wii. they had a really big caravan that looked cool. i hate travel, i’ve been on a trip in a caravan before, but it still looked cool. s told me that her family was planning on making an art studio for s in the corner of the shed. i wish my family cared about me like that. i should mention, she isn’t spoiled. she’s really nice, i mean she did invite *me* of all people to come to her house after all. she’s really talented, funny. i don’t really feel a lot towards her or have feelings for her or anything like that, but i sort of admire her. after we left the shed, she showed me their old mower which had exploded a while ago. it was really rusty. we saw a baby bearded-dragon outside, and s told me about how she almost stood on a wild snake when her family first moved into the house.

we went back inside, and she blew up the mattresses with a pump we also got from the shed in the theatre room. i stood there like the idiot i am, not doing anything like usual. i hate myself, i wish i could actually be useful. s brought in a ton of blankets and stuff and we covered our mattresses with them. we played splatoon on our switches for a bit, we played clam blitz on league, and we actually did really well. i actually contributed to my team quite a bit during it, which made me happy. when we had to charge our switches, s asked if i wanted to watch something. s has wanted to get into danganronpa, and i’m already obsessed with it, so i suggest that we start watching a non-commentary playthrough of trigger happy havoc. i love danganronpa, i can play or watch it a million times and still be engaged and never get bored of it. we ended up watching it for hours, with s lowering the volume whenever a character swore since her parents dislike swearing. while we were watching, we were on our mattresses, i was lying down on my back. out of nowhere, s lay down right next to me with our heads pretty much touching. i don’t have feelings for s or anything, but my heart was beating like crazy and i was so happy. i’ve become extremely sensitive to physical contact since i’ve been starved of it my whole life, and when i do get it, it makes me really happy. i think it might do the thing it does when you hug someone or something, where it releases those chemicals in your head that make you happy. that moment only lasted for a few seconds before she moved, but that was a definite highlight of the sleepover.

in the middle of chapter 1, before sayaka’s body is discovered, we had dinner. we had spaghetti bolognese, and the whole family sat at the table. they were all really nice. they were talking, making jokes and laughing almost the entire time. i want a family like that. i always eat my meals in my room by myself, so this was kind of new to me. after i finished dinner (i was last to finish because i’m a slow eater) we went back to watching danganronpa, and when we got up to the beginning of the class trial, i went to have a shower and s went to get changed since she wanted to have a shower in the morning instead. s let me shower in her bathroom, i’m not exactly sure why, but i accepted and went to her shower. her mom told me she left me a towel on s’s bed. i went into the bathroom, and i looked in her bathroom drawers for a little bit. there was just normal stuff like brushes, dental flosses and pads. i stopped and started getting ready to shower, and after undressing, i realized i forgot to grab the towel. the towel was on her bed, but i was terrified to go get it since i was already naked. after panicking for a bit, i grabbed my hoodie i had taken off (it’s big so it covered my lower regions) and quickly snuck out of the room, grabbed the towel, then went back into the shower. there was no one in the bedroom, but the bedroom door was open and i couldn’t risk being seen naked. i hate my body. her shower was a bit weird, but i liked it. she had a ton of body washes and shampoo bottles and such on the side. i didn’t know which one to use so i ended up using a random one. there was also a small figure toy thing of a goldfish beside the shower. after the shower, i realized there wasn’t a floor mat and the floor would get really wet. i stayed as still as i could while drying off with the towel, then put it on the ground to use as a floor mat. i picked up the towel after i was dressed and left. s was waiting for me on her bed, and after, we went back to the theatre room to finish chapter 1 of trigger happy havoc.

s said her favorite characters in the introductions were leon, toko and chihiro. when sayaka died, s was happy because she didn’t like sayaka. when i first played trigger happy havoc and sayaka died, i cried for a while so i couldn’t relate to her. during most of the trial, s was certain that toko was the killer since during the investigation, mondo says none of the boys used their toolboxes so s thought the culprit must have been a girl. s guessed pretty early on in the trial that sayaka tried to frame makoto but ended up getting killed, but she didn’t know it was leon, and completely forgot about sayaka’s dying message. during leon’s execution, she cried a bit, which really hurt me, despite me encouraging her to feel emotions during danganronpa earlier. i tried my best to comfort her, but i don’t think i did a good job. after that at midnight, s wanted to go to sleep. i wanted us to watch a silent voice and make popcorn since i had brought popcorn, but since she wanted to sleep, i decided against it. we went to sleep, though it took me ages to fall asleep. i move around a lot when i go to sleep and sleep, but the sounds the air mattresses made were annoying and loud, so i couldn’t move a lot. i have really bad insomnia, so it took me at least an hour to fall asleep. probably longer since i had grown a headache and felt sick from being anxious from not sleeping in my own bed in my bedroom. i kept waking up in the middle of the night. at around 8:30 we woke up, i was really tired. s wanted to make us pancakes, and since i’ve never eaten or made pancakes and knew trying to help would only annoy her, i decided to just sit on the side and play animal crossing. after a while, the pancakes were done, and me, s and her sister ate the pancakes while we watched beastars. i feel like i should mention i’ve already watched beastars, but s and her sister were in the middle of it. the pancakes were good, but i discovered i don’t really like pancakes. i was too scared to ask for toast, so i didn’t eat much. me and s kept watching beastars in the theatre room, and then my mom came to pick me up.

it was hot outside, and my mom and s’s mom were talking for ages before they decided to split, so me and s had no choice but to just stand there in the sun. after what felt like ages, s gave me a side-hug and i returned it, then me and my mom left. i enjoyed my time there, but i was happy to go back home. my room is my happy place. when i got home, the first thing i did was take a shower since i really felt like having one. i didn’t get to clean myself properly the night before because i was anxious about taking too long. after that, i just did a bunch of random stuff passing the time, like going through reddit, watching my favorite youtubers’ new videos etc. and all that brings us to right now, me making this page and writing this entry.

i have to go back to school tomorrow, but we only have 2 weeks of school left until a 2 week break. i have a math exam and history exam next week, neither of which i care for too much. i’m mad i have to take them though, i don’t want to. mainly history, i hate history. in my country, we learn about stupid stuff no one cares about in history. we learn the same stuff every single year, it’s stupid. knowing this stuff isn’t going to help us at all. at least in like america you’re learning about past events and presidents or whatever. all we learn about in history in my country is that the white people killed the natives a few hundred years ago. we learned this stuff in primary school, why are we still being taught it in high school? have they just run out of things to teach in history? in that case, just get rid of history as a subject. it’s that easy. oh god, i’ve gone off on a tangent, i’m sorry. i hate going to school. we never got to make popcorn, so i might make it tonight instead. the Komaeda jacket i ordered a while ago has finally been shipped, it’ll get here soon. i’m excited for that.

#diary #Komaeda #Nagito #Komaeda kin

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agent-7-at-your-service · 7 years

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Future Plot: Project Titanomachy - Chapter 26

(( Camille, her family, and Janine belong to @inklingleesquidly / @wonder-meathead

Nebula belongs to @myzzy and @agenttwo

Depiction of Agent 2 belongs to @agenttwo

Blueshift belongs to @myzzy

Celeste and Willow belong to @alpinesquid

Agent 0 and Suzy belongs to @son-of-joy

The Galaxa Gems (mentioned) belongs to @splat-tendency and @eiden-calamar

The Frosted Stars belong to @askvincent / @asktheseastars and @evora-flux

Nebulous and Arsenic belong to @a-demo-of-a-hero

Shadow, Nexus Corp, Kenny, and Neo nexus Corp belong to @alphadeathsquad

Agent 7, Agent M, Agent C, Justinian, Telemachus, Hera, Kitzeh, Calypso, Cassandra, Iruka, and others belong to me.

Today was the day; the final battle against the Titans is here.

The massive meteor in the sky was now over the city of Inkopolis, but instead of crashing into the city, it slowly floated towards a vast ancient plain out there in Inkopolis. It was like the meteors that crashed into Arowana Mall, Kelp Dome, and Blackbelly Skatepark, a floating fortress. But this time it's was larger than the others; it's was almost one-fifth the size of the moon.

The Argus Initiative, the alliance between Inkopolis, Octo Valley, and Leviathan, have identified the massive meteor to be over what were once the Kanto Plains. But due to an ancient flood, the place were now floodplains that are slowly returning to most of their natural states.

Agent Blueshift, Agent 2, Nebulous, Calypso, Agent M, Agent C, and Suzy were all on standby while rallying the Inkopolis's forces. The Galaxa Gems, the Frosted Stars, and a few other turf war teams offered help but were told to stay in the safe zones for their sake. However, they were encouraged to be the last line of defense if the main armies are forced to fall back to Inkopolis. Marcus and Theodora of Sea Angel Splatoon had to be left out as well with Justinian and Hera giving them a similar encouragement.

Shadow of the old Nexus Corp was offering to help the Argus Initiative in this final battle along with Kenny and Neo-Nexus Corp. Cassandra and Iruka took some Leviathan forces to Greece to help Holy Byzantium deal with the Sea Hare Cult summoning the Typhonians hordes. And Inkopolis Government has already evacuated everyone in Inkopolis to their designated safe zones one of which is Shee-Booyah. Lee, Callie, and Pac-Man had to follow the evacuation without Camille, and Callie was the most worried among the family. She prays that she's alright in another safe zone.

Olympus Meeting - Alexandria District, Inkopolis - 12:00 Midnight

Meanwhile back in the Alexandria District, most of the Olympic Champions have gathered back to the Olympus Meet Room: Camille, Nebula, Telemachus, Justinian, Hera of the Motherly Moon, Kitzeh, Agent 0, Anteros, and Hermes. Celeste, Arsenic, and Hephaestus were the only ones that came late since they were done putting the finishing touches to the passage between Inkopolis and Mount Olympus.

Willow was sitting by Camille who was still aching from her battle in Octo Valley despite the burn already gone. Willow provided her some healing treatments.

Agent 7 was also there to give them a summary of their final mission.

"My apologies if some of you haven't been having that much sleep and some you did get some sleep, but you have to bear with with what I'm assigning you all," Agent 7 spreads out a map of the plains outside Inkopolis. " A final battle in the Kanto Plains."

Agent 0 knew this could be his last chance to get his revenge. Just the death of Rhea might be enough for him to avenge his daughters, Sapphire and Emerald.

"We're going to kick their asses!" Celeste interrupted.

"Heck yeah!" Arsenic high-fives Celeste.

"I can't wait!" Justinian

Agent 7 points to the northwest part of the Kanto Plains. "Their fortress looms over the Gunma Prefecture, and their forces are planning to cross Saitama Prefecture and all way the to Tokyo Prefecture where Inkopolis stands. The terrain here is quite wet, but these rivers are shrinking, returning the floodplains back to normal plains. As for the cities here, some are ruins, but some are preserved and still in use. Overall, nature has been quick in reclaiming the plains.”

Agent 7 takes out a marker and put an "X" mark on the following cities: Honjo, Isesaki, Tamamura, and Fukaya. All those cities were near a river called the Tone River. Agent 7 continued:

"Agent Blueshift's Agents and My Agents will lure the Typhonian Horde across the Tone River and the border of Saitama and Gunma. That is when Agent 0's agents, the Nexus Corp, the Neo-Nexus Corp, and the Inkopolis City Defence will pass through and slam into the horde and try to push them back to the bridge in Honjo, right where the Tone River meets the border. The Blueshift's Agents and My Agents will then rally with the Argus Initiative's militia and surround this final Typhonian Horde."

Agent 7 marked three X's at three religious sites and marked bridge near it.

"Leviathan Forces and the Heroes will be reserved over here just in case." Agent 7 then looked at Camille. "As for those Fauns, Satyrs, Satyresses, Centaurs, Centurides, Amazons, Actaeon, his hunting dogs, Nymphs Dryads, Daemons, Nereids, Oceanids, Griffins, the horse hybrids, the Pegasus named Hippocrene, the Acephali, that phoenix, the Lapiths, and all those Greek animals are under your guys' command--" Agent 7 is cut off by Nebula.

"I think one of us should name these forces," Nebula suggested.

Celeste thought about the first name that came up in her mind, "The Greek Mythos Forces!"

Camille shrugs. "Works for me."

"Agreed," Agent 0 replied.

"No problemo!" Kitzeh agreed.

Telemachus rolls his eyes.

"Nice name," Justinian commented.

"Fine with me." Willow is still healing Camille.

"Sounds ridiculous," Anteros commented.

"Better than calling them by a longer and more confusing name," Hermes told Anteros.

"Don't forget about Aeolus, Dione, Harmonia, Hecate, Paean, Pan, Iris, and the Muses," Hephaestus mentioned the minor Olympians to Agent 7.

"....As I was saying." Agent 7 marks an X on the southern part of the Gunma prefecture and draws an arrow heading towards the mountains. "You'll all be heading to this fortress directly and face the titans. We'll call this final meteor fortress, the Titan Fortress!"

"......Can we call it.... nevermind." Camille facepalms.

"Overall, we're taking the risk of keeping the Typhonian Hordes busy, by taking the fight to the Tone River and later Inkopolis." Agent 7 regretted telling that to everyone in the room. "But this gives you guys the chance to fight the Titans directly."

With everyone understanding their roles, the Olympian Champions leave the meeting room to spend their last moments before going into battle. Agent 7 was the last to leave the room, but he ends up stumbling into an older Green Inkling down one hallway to his office. It was Janine.

"Madame Squidly." Agent 7 didn't expect her to come to his district. "What brings you here? Shouldn't you be in Shee-Booyah?"

"We need to talk about Camille," Janine requested. She has already figured out that Camille is still an Agent. She is also aware of the Sentinel Suit that's given to her granddaughter along with the role of an Olympian Champion. "How far is this, Jason?"

"....I'm sorry, Madame Squidly, but I've got things to do." Agent 7 adjusts his coat. "There's a final battle about to happen and the conflict will move to her."

Janine blocks Agent 7's way.

"We're going to talk about her right here, right now." Janine folded her arms, standing in his way. She had a concerned look that Agent 7 could tell is unpleasant.

Agent 7 has nod choice and he gestures her to come into his office. He sits at his desk, ready to listen to what Janine has to say.

"My granddaughter is not me nor my son, Gatz-ling Cassius," Janine began, "I must agree with my son's choice to not show what Agents and Heroes do, and--"

"I'm am aware of the risks, but this is my son's doing." Agent 7 didn't want to use Telemachus, his illegitimate son, as a scapegoat. He also had to take responsibility for this as well. "Yet, she decided to go on not just as an Agent and a potential Wonder Inkling but a Champion of the Gods."

Janine shakes her head. "How much longer until something bad happens to her?"

".....Take this up to Hephaestus," Agent 7 replied, "All I know is that she doesn't want our world to end like this."

Janine looks down. She has seen her son get into danger when he was playing the hero, but she doesn't have the heart to see her granddaughter end up the same way.

"Look, Janine...." Agent 7 gets up. "Just let her do this. Otherwise, she would regret deserting her friends like this even in death."

Janine looks at him and took a deep breath. "Just make sure she doesn't die." She leaves Agent 7's office quietly.

"I will..." Agent 7 already told Camille that before.

Tone River, Saitama-Gunma Prefecture Border - 1:35 AM

The forces were all at their designated stations.

Blueshift, Agent 2, and Suzy were near the Tone River, managing their Agents and Agent 7's Agents.

Nexus Corp, Neo Nexus Corp, and the Inkopolis City Defense remained hidden outside some city ruins until the plan goes into effect. Kenny, who was leading the Neo-Nexus Corp, felt a bit surprised his father -- the same inkling the lead the old Nexus Corp -- has come out of retirement to bring back his old team to fight with them. To Kenny, this might be the only time he'll see his father and the old Nexus Corp in action.

Calypso and her Levithan Army were stationed at three religious sites near a neighboring river, the Karasu River. Nebulous and the rallied Heroes were also with Calypso, making sure they're not exposed.

Camille and the other Olympic Champions were near the ruins of what was once a hospital. Agent 7 has them get on a military transport helicopter. The Greek Mythos Forces were waiting for them in Gunma, waiting for them to meet up and lead. Agent M and Agent C were with Agent 7 to tell Camille and Nebula good luck.

Camille finally got this chance to give Agent 7 something. Before she enters the helicopter, she gets out and takes out the empty scabbard made of Nemean Lion's Skin.

"Uncle Sev, before we leave, I want to say you should come with us." Camille hands the empty scabbard to Agent 7.

"As....?" Agent 7 knew where this was going.

Camille rolls her eyes. "As a Champion......There I said it. Just take this thing!"

Agent 7 looked at the scabbard and noticed the "VII" mark on it. He then took out an ink sword with a hollow frame for a blade, it was the flaming sword Surtr. He was safe-keeping it for Justinian. He gestures Camille to hand the scabbard to him, and he puts the blade in there. It quickly unravels into a cloak of light and it coils around Agent 7.

Soon, his Olympian form was revealed.

Agent 7 now wore the Nemean Lion Cloak for a cape. He still wore his usual vest, shirt, and slacks. The most distinct additions for him is a black tricorne cap, iron lion paw boots, and a dark green mask that covers his mouth. He had the ink sword Surtr on his left, and a unique automatic ink crossbow on his right. He had a belt that carried his duel N-zaps and his mini-inkbrush.

Agent 7 is now a Champion of Heracles. He assumed this was a gift, and he'll never forget this. He removes his mask to show his smile to Camille.

"Thank you, dear." Agent 7 looked to Agent M and Agent C. "You two are in command of my Agents. Now go!"

"Yes, sir!" Agent M and Agent C saluted, turn into a squid, and they super jump to meet up with Agent Blueshift, Agent 2, and Suzy to help lead the Agents.

Agen7 and Camille join the other Olympic Champions in the helicopter. The Helicopter takes off and flies over to circle the area so that Agent 7 can give a speech through the communicators:

"Alright everyone, this is the final battle.... sort of a judgment day when you think of it, but I assure you that if the Olympians can defeat these Titans, we can overcome this apocalypse! You've all seen what those Titans and their Typhonian Horde have done to this Earth, and now it's time we put them to rest again. This is our final battle, so what are going to do!?"

"KILL THE TITANS!!!!!" Everyone chanted overdramatically.

"Close enough! Execute Operation Olympia's Ascension!" Agent 7 granted.

Blueshift, Agent 2, Agent M, Agent C, advance with their Agents towards the Tone River to meet with the marching opposition. It seems the Minotaurs, the Lamiai, and the Werewolves out to fight the forces at the Tone River, but they were no longer themselves and were, instead, a collective Typhonian Horde. The Agents started luring them as the horrors crossed the bridge, retreating to the City Ruins.

Suzy led Agent 0's Agents to join with the Nexus Corp, Neo-Nexus Corp, and the Inkopolis City Defense. Blueshift, Agent 2, Agent M, and Agent C soon lead their Agents over the Tone River to meet with the Argus Initiative's military forces and flank the Typhonian Horde as it's pushed back to a bridge on the river.

The helicopter carrying Camille and the Olympian Champions moved along and landed near a forest where Greek Mythos Forces are already waiting. They can see smoke, inkstrikes, flying ink drops, and flying squids coming from the battle at the Tone River.

The Titan Fortress looming over the mountains in Gunma.

The giants were stationed to defend it. They remained the same and less affected by Typhon's influence with only a few minor mutations. Coeus and Theia were there to lead the giants. Coeus and Theia somehow merged into a massive brain with curtains of blood veins and a yellow diamond eye; It's still two titans but as one entity. Mostly Theia was doing most of the horror's control.

As Camille and the Olympian Champions meet up with the Greek Mythos Forces with Amazon Queen Diane bowing as a greeting. The minor Olympians were also there in their light armor, and they were waiting to lead these forces as well.

"We're ready for you all to lead us, Camille," Diane began.

Camille nods. She had never taken up leadership like this before. "I hate to say this, but Nebula, Telemachus, Justinian, Celeste, and Hera are coming with me to breach the fortress. I'm leaving it to Hephaestus, Anteros, and Hermes to lead." She looked at the three Olympian Gods.

"That's very wise of you, child," Hephaestus commented, "You six better go now. We'll handle things from here."

"We won't let you down!" Anteros assured.

"Down with the Titans!" Hermes shouted.

Celeste and Willow said their goodbyes while Kitzeh, Arsenic, and Agent 7 bid farewell to Camille and her party. Agent 0 was taken with Camille's party since he still has to take revenge on Rhea. Diane prayed that Camille's party would be safe, and she almost called Camille by the name of Camilla.

Soon Hephaestus, Anteros, and Hermes split the forces up and advance with caution, and they made a full charge when the giants detected them. Agent 7, Willow, Kitzeh, and Arsenic lead the minor Olympians to fight the fused Coeus and Theia. Kitzeh carried Willow on her back while tossing wine molotovs at the Titan Horror. Arsenic and Agent 7 were firing tempered iron and bolts of ink at Theia, hoping to dim her bright lights. Large drops of ink were flying in the air along with arrows and spears, swords, axes, and hammers clashed, and ink explosions were more massive than the battle going on by the Tone River.

Theia's blinding light and Coeus mind sabotaging sounds kept the Greek Mythos Forces at bay and those forces can't advance with that light blocking their sight. Agent 7, Kitzeh, Arsenic, and Willow were forced to fall with the minor Olympians. The giant army, being too large in numbers, had their eyes away from the light and sound, and they formed a huge blockade to prevent Camille and her party from infiltrating the Titan Fortress. They were stuck in the conflict with no way out. Camille's party covered their ears.

"There's too many of them!" Justinian was growing walls of tree root with Persephone's Staff to give Camille's party some protection from the giants and Theia's light.

"It's too bright!" Celeste did the same thing, holding Hestia's Heart up and creating a clay wall to protect Camille's party.

"But we need to keep moving!" Camille can barely hear her team; She didn't like the situation.

"How?" Hera questioned. She can barely hear the team either. "We can't keep moving without losing our sight, losing our hearing, or getting trampled into ink puddles."

"We're Champions! We have powers! Use them--!" One giant broke formation to kick Camille down.

"Camille!" Nebula glared at that giant, stops covering her ears, and sends some bubbles of ink into the giant's face with Poseidon's Trident. She covered her ear afterward.

Telemachus and Agent 0 charged in and cut the giant's legs and topple it down. Hera and Celeste run over to help Camille up. They all continue covering their ears before Coeus's high-pitched sound harm their hearing.

One giant may be down, but there were thousands of them still forming the blockade.

And that was where Calypso stepped in and brought her army over the Tone River. Her army of Octolings, fish-face droids called the Atlanteans, and Inkling clones had their ink-based weapons out, prepared for a charge. Calypso stood on the shoulders of two giant Octolings, carrying her charger-brush hybrid in one arm. She raised her hand for a moment and signaled the charge.

Nebulous and Heroic force must've made their decision to participate in the battle at the Tone River to help the Agents, Corps, Militia, and City Defense.

Camille saw this and waves to Calypso. "Do it! Do it now!"

Calypso points forward, signaling her Atlantean Droids to charge in first as they weren't affected by Theia's blinding light or Coeus's demented sound. They were quick enough to slice the ankles of most of the giants and get behind the blockade. The droids were all focused on the Coeus-Theia Horror, and they dim the lights and then dulled the sound,

This additional support was enough to get the Greek Mythos Forces to charged again with Hermes, and Anteros. Calypso sent the rest of her forces to strengthen the charge. Agent 7, Kitzeh, and Willow lead the Minor Olympians again deal with the Titan Horror, while Arsenic and Hephaestus used their fire and metal powers to knock down that Titan Horror like a lightbulb and pin them to the ground like a bird. A path is open now for Camille's party to squeeze through and continue their infiltration into the Titan Fortress.

Camille, Nebula, Celeste, Telemachus, Justinian, Hera, and Agent 0 rallied and got themselves out of the conflict and towards the Titan Fortress that loomed over the plains. When they arrived on the floating fortress, Oceanus stood in their way. He's covered in algae and kelp, the extra appendages on his back are crab legs. His arms were now lobster-like, and his head was that of a sea leopard.

"You shall not pass, Olympians!" Oceanus threatened.

"Let me handles this." Nebula looked to Agent 0 and Justinian. "Pierce through his armor."

Justinian began growing more tree with the root sinking into Oceanus began to wrestle in the entanglements. Nebula soon summoned Poseidon's Chariot and Stallions, and gets on the chariot and attacks Oceanus while he's distracted. Agent 0 took out his swords and started setting the trees on fire. Nebula gathered water from the tree roots and the bark forming it into an icicle. The fire Agent 0 set was catching up to Nebula.

Nebula keeps collecting water this time from Oceanus's body. She manages to escape the fires made by Agent 0, and she has a massive icicle in her possession. She sends it flying towards Oceanus and piercing his chest; there was enough force to push Oceanus back and break a door into the Titan Fortress.

Oceanus is finally eliminated.

"I'm already tired fighting that Titan, now let's go," Nebula ordered.

The War of the Titans ends between Camille's Party and the Titan Monarchs.

#Future #Plot #Project Titanomachy

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theredherb · 7 years

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Is the Nintendo Switch Launching Too Early?

Breaking Down the Info from the Hybrid Console’s Big Presser

When Nintendo finally revealed the Switch back in late October, I was left more excited about the company’s future in hardware than I have been in years. Granted, that initial trailer was the idealized vision of the console: it was direct in its messaging while shrewdly omitting any hype-strangling details like battery life, resolution, and, most importantly, price. What we were left with was the exciting prospect of console quality games (like the newest Zelda opus) on a handheld hybrid that features modular controllers; a machine that cobbles together what Nintendo is best at -- forward thinking portability and first-party games so good they stand head and shoulders with the best this industry has to give.

On Thursday, Nintendo began filling in the blanks, setting about to answer (at least some) of the questions fans have had circling in their heads since the system’s unveiling. You can watch the entire conference here but, coming from someone that sat through a livestream of the proceeding -- awaiting something, anything, that signaled Nintendo’s return to form -- I’d recommend just reading up on the cliff notes.

Though the affair was poised in the same fashion as one of Sony’s knockout E3 conferences, Nintendo couldn’t land the same blows. I began the show with more enthusiasm than Nintendo let me leave with. After the abject failure of the Wii U (a console that only managed to push slightly north of 13 million units -- the worst sales in Nintendo’s hardware history barring the Virtual Boy) the Switch needed to be touted as a reckoning. It was Nintendo’s chance to convince the fence-sitters to choose their side of the picket. We didn’t get that Thursday night.

Nintendo has always floundered in the stage show department, though. You’re asking the same company that thought this shit was a good idea to try and wow us in an hour and a half. Nintendo’s like that shy kid at the back of the class: he tests well and always turns in his homework, but the second you ask him to walk up to the board and present, he becomes a mumbling, incoherent mess. Of course they shit the bed. This is Nintendo we’re talking about. Credit to that first Switch video, though. I fell for it, too! I wrongly assumed Nintendo was trying to demonstrate they’ve turned a new leaf (no pun intended, Animal Crossing fans). At the presentation, however, it seems Nintendo isn’t just making its same old mistakes but brand new ones.

But I think it’s important to remember that a poor showcase isn’t enough reason to condemn the hardware itself. The tech, despite Nintendo’s aloof messaging, still looks cool. So let’s try to unpack what we learned at the showcase (and the info we gleaned in the days following) without having to suffer through awkward squid doctors and a translator whose probably looking for a new job right about now:

The Nintendo Switch launches March 3rd and costs $299.

I had it in my mind that if NIntendo wanted to blow some toadstools, the price would have been $249. However, this gives them some wiggle room if they wanted to make a $50 cut closer toward the holidays (or if it performs, shall we say, shittily?). Still, $300 is in bounds of reason. Base model PlayStation 4’s and Xbox One’s start at that price. While enthusiasts understand, and could potentially be irked by, the fact that they’re paying the same price for a console that has less horsepower than its contemporaries, we should look to the casual consumer’s mentality instead.

The casual consumer is likely to see this new system from trusty Nintendo --a brand so storied that there was once a time in my childhood where my parents referred to any video game console I had as “a Nintendo” -- see the similar pricing, and lump the Switch’s capability in the same bracket. Any cheaper and a casual consumer may begin to think of the Switch as a handheld: a complementary device that can’t do what a home console does. The very perception Nintendo doesn’t want, evidenced by their reminding us that it is a home console every chance they get.

If you don’t think that’s a genuine concern, keep in mind that the mainstream audience who made the Wii a massive success didn’t know the Wii U was a separate console. Sometimes, even retailers didn’t know what the hell it was.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a launch title. Mario isn’t.

Nintendo ended its ten-mile-jog-through-glass of a presentation with one of the only franchises in this industry that hasn’t been poisoned by cynicism. And goodness gracious does it look breathtaking (sorry, another dollar for the pun jar). Nintendo is well aware that a new Zelda game can pry wallets open -- especially the rare Zelda game that releases at a system’s launch. Unfortunately, Breath of the Wild seems to be the only compelling reason to snag a Switch on Day One.

Super Mario Odyssey, a brand new adventure that sees the Italian reptile stomper leap between dimensions (including an analog for NYC called “New Donk City”... let that settle inside you for a moment), won’t hit the launch window. It’s tentatively set for Holiday 2017. I’m not trying to gloss over the power or draw of a new Zelda title but… that’s coming out on Wii U as well. If you wanted a surefire system seller that tickles the fancies of the mainstream and hardcore, young and old alike, then you sell it alongside a Mario title. So why not wait until your flagship game was ready?

One gander at the launch lineup only underlines this point: there’s only three other games releasing on day one besides Zelda. You have the gimmicky 1-2-Switch that relies on the motion sensors within your Joy-Con controllers to play party games (you can see shades of Nintendo’s belief that the Wii wasn’t a hugely successful fluke in this game); then there’s two third-party offerings from Ubisoft and Activision -- Just Dance 2017 and Skylanders Imaginators, respectively. That’s a paltry showing, even taking into account launches tend to be historically thin.

Beyond that, our confirmed launch window games are either ports of games that have been out for years already (like Skyrim, I Am Setsuna, and Lego City Undercover) or updates to existing Wii U games (like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Splatoon 2… don’t let the 2 fool you, this sequel feels incremental rather than substantial). There’s some standouts, though. Super Bomberman R looks good, as does Arms which is said to be a surprisingly engaging fighter despite its stupid, stupid name and Nintendo’s obvious attempt to make it A Thing.

The accessories cost an arm and a leg and the other leg too.

This one truly boggles the mind. It’s like Nintendo is trying to offset the money they lost on the Wii U by taxing the shit out of us. Here’s the breakdown:

-Left & Right Joy-Con Controllers: $49.99 for one/$79.99 for both. Okay, I get that there’s all sorts of fancy tech shoved into these little guys. They feature “HD Rumble” which offers impressive feedback, letting you feel like you’re rattling a real cup full of ice or fondling a cow. Then there’s the IR sensor capable of spatial detection so precise, it can detect your very hand gestures. Awesome. Except… will that make a difference when you’re playing a traditional single-player game like Breath of the Wild? Motion controls and playing virtual rock, paper, scissors are decidedly not why I’m excited about a console/handheld hybrid.

-Pro Controller: $69.99. Now you’re off your fucking rocker, Nintendo. The way in which traditionalists and hardcore gamers will undoubtedly favor to play is more expensive than a PS4 or Xbox One controller. Granted, they couldn’t resist tossing in that “HD Rumble” and amiibo functionality. I’m sure that drove up the cost. But goddamn. Imagine wanting to play Zelda with a Pro Controller at launch. You’re out $430 and you only own one game.

-Joy-Con Charging Grip: $29.99. If you’re skipping out on the Pro Controller but still wish to play on your TV, you’ll have to snap off your Joy-Cons to go wireless. Ah, but the charge on those babies drains. Enter the Charging Grip, a peripheral that serves as its own controller while it juices up your Joy-Cons. Ostensibly the only other reasonably priced accessory besides the $14.99 set of Joy-Con Wheels.

-Nintendo Switch Dock Set: $89.99. And we’re back into the clutches of greedy insanity. Now, this bundle -- which includes the dock, AC adapter, and an HDMI cord -- is paired with every Switch out of the box. But, say, your toddler decides to feed your dock some peanut butter or subjects it to a water level in your bathtub, this is one pricey replacement. It looks like a hunk of plastic (and very well could be) but the fact games run at a higher resolution when the Switch is docked could point to more intricate internal components. Still, a $90 price gouge dashes most gamers’ dreams of buying a dock for every TV in the house for convenience's sake (don’t act like you didn’t think about it; deep down, we’re all that lazy).

There’s going to be a paid subscription service for online play, and it already sounds bad.

It’s astounding Nintendo hasn’t figured out an online ecosystem. Nintendo struggles with requisite features companies like Microsoft figured out fourteen years ago. I don’t even mind that they’re charging for the service. Feels like an inevitability in the console space -- though I will argue they have a serious uphill battle ahead to prove the service is worth the coin. What bothers me is that there has been no information on the continuity of service when it comes to transferring Virtual Console games over from the Wii U. There’s also been no word if we’ll finally see a system-wide Achievement feature -- another failing of the Wii U that fans have been pleading to see.

What we do know is that the online service will be free to Nintendo Account holders until the Fall -- when the feature is launched in proper. They’re also offering a free NES or SNES download every month. That’s cute, and they’re incorporating online play to these retro titles, too, but the sour little caveat is that these games are free and playable only for the month you get them. Nintendo, buddy, you’ve already allowed yourself to get meat-checked by the competition, and your system isn’t out yet.

It gets better. They’re attempting to launch a “dedicated smart device app” that “will connect to Nintendo Switch and let you invite friends to play online, set play appointments, and chat with friends during online matches in compatible games -- all from your smart device.”

Are you seriously telling me the console that you’re launching in 2017 doesn’t have native voice chat? That I have to use an external device to play with friends? Nintendo’s been vague when it comes to online-play. Hell, Nintendo’s vague in general, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt until they clarify the matter… Otherwise, I’d have to call them out for being hopelessly fucking antiquated and warn them that their clownish decision making is a self-paved death march out of the hardware business.

Listen, I want to eat crow. I hope Nintendo makes me choke on my own words. I hope, as I always do when they release new gadgets, that Nintendo succeeds. The company is how I first broke into gaming, and those early days with the Super Nintendo are some of my fondest. Of course I want to see Nintendo score another win. In a year’s time, I want to feel like the Switch is an integral, oft used part of my gaming life. The device is interesting and the most appealing piece of machinery Nintendo has shown us in years. But a system is only as good as its games, and this March, there’s only really one title I can hang my hat on. I sincerely hope that changes and that 2017 isn’t as dry as looks right now.

Something stinks about this launch lineup. It stinks of Sega Saturn. The Saturn launched before developers were ready for it, having very little in the way of games prepared for the new console, and Sega suffered the consequences. Again, I’m behind the concept of the Switch 100%. But, from this outlook, it makes little sense for Nintendo to launch in two months. It doesn’t feel ready.

Sure, Nintendo has survived abysmal launches before. The 3DS launched with a nigh empty catalog and that little bastard has been kicking for five years now (managing to smother the Vita along the way). But for as much pull as our favorite Hyrulian has, Mario’s your bigger draw. And what happened to that Pokemon game supposedly in development for the Switch? If Nintendo waited until the Fall and launched with the holy triumvirate of Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, and a new Pokemon, the Switch would sell like gangbusters.

Even the company’s shareholders are having a tough time believing the Switch can reach a wide audience. Just a day after the big conference, Nintendo’s stocks dropped 5.75 percent. It feels just as dismal on the game dev side. The Game Developers Conference released the results of a poll where 50 percent of developers think the Switch can outsell the Wii U. I know, predictions don’t necessarily dictate reality. No, what has me distressed is that, of those who were polled, only 3 percent were actively working on a Switch game.

I’m… trying to remain optimistic. Consoles can make turnarounds. The PS3 famously pulled away from the faulty, downright arrogant decision making that plagued its early years and fought to close the gap Microsoft had forged with the Xbox 360. It’s just that I’d hate to have to wait four years for the Switch to really find its step -- in the same amount of time, the Wii U expended its entire life cycle.

#nintendo switch #nintendo #the legend of zelda #breath of the wild #joy-con #gaming #editorial #featured #super mario odyssey

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entergamingxp · 4 years

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a colourful, confusing clash of Fortnite and Splatoon • Eurogamer.net

I can’t even begin to imagine how a developer attempts to shoehorn another battle royale onto the market right now.

In developer GungHo’s case, it seems, they’ve taken the last-person-standing fun of Fortnite and fused it with the neon-hued mayhem of Splatoon. The result is frenzied free-to-play Ninjala, a new title that successfully, if perhaps inexplicably, apes much of its magic from other titles, yet somehow manages to cultivate a curious charm all of its own.

Ninjala review

Developer: GungHo Online

Publisher: GungHo Online

Platform: Reviewed on Switch

Availability: Out now on Switch

While it looks and sounds similar to the games it draws inspiration from, Ninjala’s quirky fighting mechanics admittedly stand out. To maintain its PG veneer, our pint-sized ninjas don’t fight with guns or swords, but instead use foam katanas and yoyos and novelty bats to inflict damage, utilising their, er, ninja gum to pull off ultimate attacks and trick shots.

Now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.

There are three PvP modes up for grabs; a “quick battle” eight-player battle royale, “Ninjala battles” which let you set your own scene – and rules – for unranked fun, and “room battle” which is precisely the same as the battle royale, except you play 4v4. With just eight ninjas in each lobby it may sound like a more sedate affair than you’d typically expect of a battle royale, but Ninjala’s tight maps and truncated time allocation – you’ll only get a few minutes each match – promptly dissolve any fanciful notions of a stealthy encounter.

Rule of gum.

Trouble is, too much goes unexplained. Yes, there is a tutorial mode and opportunities to experiment with weapons and special abilities, but some of these learnings come from watching in-game links to grainy YouTube videos, while others simply come via trial and error. The game teaches about the importance of smashing drones, for instance – they’ll top up your S-gauge, which in turn allows you to mould a bigger weapon from your ninja gum – but fails to inform you of the prompts that pop up should you and an enemy attempt to pull off the same move at the same time. It makes your first few battles bewildering, overwhelming affairs.

Furthermore, the matchmaking feels unnecessarily uneven. In my very first encounter, I was matched with competitors that were ranked levels 6, 9, and 11. In my second, it was with level 12 and level 14ers. This wouldn’t matter if Ninjala was a traditional battle royale that levelled the odds, so every player kicked off with the same equipment (or lack thereof), but as a lot of your combat strategy is learned on the fly, and you’ll unlock more stuff the more you rank up – enabling you to find a weapon that best matches your own playstyle – an inexperienced player pretty much doesn’t stand a chance against those that have already discovered theirs.

Consequently, this can make some early (or even later, sadly) rounds feel incredibly un-fun, a dull rinse-and-repeat of spawning and being knocked out without ever getting a chance to try out your skills and special moves to build a little momentum.

That said, kills – whoops, I mean knockouts – aren’t the only way to clock up points. At the end of each round, the players who destroyed the most drones, as well as the players who pulled off the most IPPONs (a knockout executed in a particularly fancy way) get a weighty point bonus, too. This makes experimenting with your loadout critical, as the more impressive your combos, the higher the chance of securing that all-important bonus at the end of the match.

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As for the story? There is one – kind of – but the brief, 45-minute-ish story mode is locked behind a paywall. Admittedly it’s not a big one – at the moment, £3.49 will unlock the prologue and all four 10-minute episodes that boomerang between visual novel exposition and fighting sequences – but it’s such a shame this small slice of single-player action is gated away. Despite spending a good chunk of time with the tutorial and AI battles, its only in the story episodes that I began to get to grips with the control scheme, as well as exploring Ninjala’s bright, bold backdrops – something that’s hard to do during a battle royale fight.

While not particularly adventurous – one episode had me guarding a school bus, another gated areas off until I’d destroyed all traces of pesky space ninjas, only to move on and do precisely the same thing again – the final boss fight was a delightful romp, packed with colour and chaos. You take on an enormous cola bottle – think Ghostbusters’ Mr Staypuft and you’re pretty much there – with a long, snake-like, blue tongue that trails along for several city blocks. It’s a frantic, frenzied fight, and full of opportunities to sprint up walls and sneak around to get a tactical advantage. It’s a shame you’re forced to play as default character Van and not your own personally-customised Ninja, though.

Gum and bass.

I’ll admit that everything’s a bit too noisy for me, though. The colour palette. The sound effects. The UI. The battles themselves. I appreciate the game hasn’t been fashioned for the likes of me, of course (you’re looking at someone who’s currently transplanting every black flower that blooms on her Animal Crossing: New Horizons island to create a bespoke goth garden), but I wonder how Fortnite-hungry kids, who will no doubt be tempted by the cartoon visuals, jaunty score, and zero price-tag, will be able to manage the complex UI and combat systems.

Couple that with the erratic matchmaking, and it’s difficult to recommend Ninjala without slapping on a whole load of caveats first. Yes, it boasts a gorgeous aesthetic and a cute conceit. Yes, the entire idea of a secret ninja school with ninja gum is original and intriguing, too. But despite all its promise, beyond the highly truncated story-mode that’s currently locked behind a pay gate, for all its polish and neon paint, Ninjala is sadly a shallow experience that isn’t as much fun to play as it looks.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/07/a-colourful-confusing-clash-of-fortnite-and-splatoon-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-colourful-confusing-clash-of-fortnite-and-splatoon-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

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coolblue40 · 6 years

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Yoooo should I play splatoon or animal crossing first? Or draw instead? Or find more ask memes? I don’t know what to dooo I can’t dye my hair yet so I can’t do anything

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thisisbud · 6 years

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All the numbers coward

Oh goody, I was beginning to think no one was going to ask me to do any :)

1. First game you played obsessively?I think the first game I played obsessively was Pokemon Ruby. This was before I actually new anything about strategy (like 3rd/4th grade) or even how to swap out pokemon, but I remember running through the whole game with just my trusty Swampert, up until the Elite Four beat my unbalanced ass ; u ;

2. A game that has influenced you creatively? Writing, drawing, etc.I don’t draw or write much now, but I do remember really liking the boxart of LoZ: Link to the Past enough to try doodling it and a few items.

3. What did you play as a kid?As a child I was like exclusively nintendo. Pokemon Ruby and Emerald, Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga, like every single Pokemon Mystery Dungeons Game, and LoZ: A link to the past

4. Who do you play with now?Mostly League of Legends and indie games on the PC. Shooty Bois on the XBox one and a few games on the Switch

5. Ever use cheat codes?Yes because my child self is a degenerate. 6. Ever buy strategy guides?nope. Any money I had went to games, if I needed strats, I begged to use a computer.7. Any games you have multiple copies of?I have Skyrim on my ps3 and computer, and boarderlands 2 on my computer and xbox. not because I really like boarderlands, but because it was on sale for steam, and then my friends wanted to play on the xbox instead :)8. Rarest/Most expensive game in your collection?I still have my original Pokemon Emerald cartridge, and a link to the past gba cartridge9. Most regrettable purchase?oof. Probably Splatoon 2. Great game, wonderful aesthetic, but I realized I spent $60 for a game that held my interest for like a week because of my friends.10. Ever go to a midnight game release or stand in line for hours?Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire release. It was just a really good time with friends and then a bunch of nerds playing pokemon together after.11. Have you ever made new friends from playing video games?Video games is like the reason I have any friends today.12. Ever get picked on for liking games?just the usual snide comment from some family members, but not like stereotypical school bullying.13. A game you’ve never played that everyone else has?Sims, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Sports games 2Kyear14. Favorite game music?Persona 3 and 5 soundtrack15. If it was a requirement to get a game related tattoo, what would you pick?probably some kind of arcana card from persona. yeah, that sounds neat.16. Favorite game to play with your friends IRL?Smash is #1, but The Jackbox games are a close second.17. Ever lose a friend over a game?ummm I think golf with your friends got close, but no.18. Would you date someone that hates gaming?I’d date @kamichamachu-iloveyou19. Favorite handheld console?nostalgia: GBA, Currently: 3DS. switch doesnt count20. Game that you know like the back of your hand?Modern Warfare 3 but like exclusively multiplayer21. Game that you didn’t like or understand as a kid but love now?League of legends technically.22. Do you wear game related clothing/accessories?I have pokemon pajama pants and a really nice D.VA backpack that one of my bestest friends got me @the-giant-made-of-stone but that’s it.23. The game that you’ve logged the most hours into?either COD Modern Warfare 3, or Black ops 2. Hit master prestige in both of them.24. First Pokemon game?either red or blue, but I was too young to play them or even remember.25. Were you ever an arcade game player?I went hard in peterpiper, but these days I’m a tiny bit smarter with my money26. Ever form any gaming rivalries?well more like salt driven blind rage from smash, but that only lasts like an hour or two27. Game that makes you rage?League of Legends.28. Ever play in a tournament?I played in like one smash tournament and got bm’d so I stopped going.29. What is your gaming set up?I have a dual monitor pc setup, but one of the monitors is bigger than the other, so it also doubles as the screen I use for my xbox, switch, and ps430. How many consoles do you own? 5 if you include the 2ds31. Does the 3DS and/or Virtual Boy hurt your eyes or give you headaches?never played the Virtual boy, and I’ve never used the 3D setting long enough for it to do anything weird.32. Did you ever play a game based on your favorite show/cartoon/movie/comic?when I was a smol babby, I had Power Rangers Light Speed Rescue for the nintendo 64.33. Did you ever have any bootleg games or plug-n-play games?when I was in middle school, a family friend hooked us up with a fancy ds cartridge that had a slot for a microSD card that we could put roms onto. it was lit. I also had a lot of plug and plays as a bby34. Do either of your parents play video games?my dad has a playstation something, but idk what he plays35. Ever work in a game store? Or do you have a favorite game shop?I want to work at gamestop, but they hate me or something. Gamestop is also my favorite game shop because it’s the only one that still exists.36. Have you ever shed actual blood, sweat or tears over a game?sweat and tears sure, I think I picked at a scab while playing a game, so technically blood too I guess.37. Have you played E.T. for the Atari 2600? Do you think that’s the worst game ever, or do you have another nomination?I’ve seen those articles, never played it.38. A game you’re ashamed to admit that you like?like the entirety of my H-Game collection.39. A sequel that you would die for them to make?eh don’t really have any, if they remaster modern warfare 2 and 3, that would be pretty neat.40. What to you think of virtual reality headsets or motion controls?sounds like fun, but I don’t think I’d ever buy any until I have my own place and a lot more room.41. A genre that you just can’t get into?sports games that involve real sports teams (not including tennis)42. Maybe it wasn’t your first game, but what was the game that started you on your path to nerdiness?Pokemon Mystery dungeons series was like the first games that actually made me feel anything emotionally.43. Ever play games when you really should have been concentrating on something else?When I was still in school that’s pretty much all I did.44. Arcade machine that has consumed the most of your quarters?that one that’s like a half a bubble and the inner rim is a ring of light bulbs, and you have to hit the button on jackpot otherwise you get however many tickets is on the number you stop at. You feel?45. How are you at Mario Kart?I’m decent. definitely not the best.46. Do you like relaxing games like Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon?I need to be in the mood for it. I played like 30 hours of stardew valley but now that game makes me sleepy.47. Do you like competitive games?love em, unfortunately.48. How long does it take your to customize your player character?not crazy long. I just try to make the cutest girl possible, but really I just want to start playing.49. In games where you can pick your class, do you always tend to go for the same type of character?I lean pretty heavily towards the stealthy classes. with the stereotypical paladin/fighter as a secondary50. If you were a game designer, what masterpiece would you create?bitch if I had enough creativity to think of a gaming masterpiece on the spot, I’d be writing or something.51. Have you ever played a game for so long that you forgot to eat or sleep?League of Legends.52. A game that you begged your parents for as a kid?Pokemon Platinum. It was really good.53. What’s your opinion on DLC these days?I don’t care for it. If it’s a game I like, I might drop a bit (every month) on microtransactions, but as for solo games, they need to be really really good for me to spend another $20 on it.54. Do you give in to Steam sales?oh god yeah unfortunately. Speaking of which… the stream summer sale is up right now…55. Did you ever make someone you hated in the Sims and did mean stuff to them?never played the sims, and I’m glad to say I’m not that petty.56. Did you ever play Roller Coaster Tycoon and kill off your guests?never played Roller Coaster Tycoon57. Did you ever play a game to 100% or get all of the achievements?only once, and it was Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds.58. If you can only play 3 games for the rest of your life, which ones do you pick?League of Legends. and that’s like it. I can’t think of any other game that will hold it’s value for the rest of my life.59. Do you play any cell phone games?I played a lot, and honestly had a problem, but now it’s kind of like a rotating roster for me. Used to be those Gacha pay to win RPG’s now I have basic games to play on my breaks at work because I get no signal in the break room.60. Do you know the Konami Code?up up down down left right left right b a start cha cha real smooth two hops two hops - - two hops two hops - - hands on your knees hands on your knees61. Do you trade in your games or keep them forever?my games are constantly rotating. When I stop feeling it for a game, and it still has value over $15 it goes towards a new game.62. Ever buy a console specifically to play one game?Technically I got the switch just for breath of the wild, but I am enjoying the other titles coming out for it.63. Ever go to a gaming convention or tournament? I went to a tournament and got bm’d so I never went back.64. Ever make a TV or monitor purchase based on what would be best for gaming?no but I kind of want to one day.65. Ever have a Game Genie, Game Shark or Action Replay? Did it ever mess up your game’s save file?I had an action replay because I wanted to cheat in pokemon pearl, and it let me for a bit, but I kept accidentally erasing all the data on the action replay itself, so yeah.66. Did you ever have have an old Nokia with Snake on it?I actually did. When one of my old flip phones broke, I needed a cheap replacement.67. Do you have a happy gaming-related childhood memory you want to share?for this question, we’re gonna pretend “childhood” encompasses freshman year of college. I remember telling my best friends about a smash tournament that was going on while I was away, and that I would be back for the last half of it. They were telling me about how well they were doing on the way back and I got more and more hyped. Then when I got there for the grand finals, I asked the guy that everyone considered to be the best player there to play some casuals with me. and I absolutely obliterated him. I could go more into detail but yeah, that’s like my most memorable gaming moment.68. Ever save up a ton of tickets in an arcade to get something cool?god no, I really wish I learned to be that frugal, but anytime I went to a place with tickets, those tickets would be gone literally the same night, no matter how cheap the prises were.69. In your opinion, best game ever made? I think my personal favorite is Pokemon mystery dungeons: Explorers of Sky. story line, gameplay, music, everything about it made me so happy.70. Very first game you ever beat?I think it was pokemon ruby, but honestly, I’m not super sure.

#video games #ask #the-giant-made-of-stone

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hythememes-blog · 7 years

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top 10 things the switch needs

the switch so far has been somewhat successful, minus the endless hardware issues and unbelievably small amount of launch titles everything seems fine, breath of the wild is excellent and the controller and versatility of the console are great. But the switch may go on to fail if a few things aren’t adjusted or added.

#10

more games: let’s get the obvious out of the way first. If the switch wants to succeed and become the go to console it needs games, not just nintendo games it needs third party support from the big developers like rockstar and activision, after all, GTA and CoD are very big draws. Try and get games like overwatch on there, jeff kaplan says that it’s a possibility so go for it, overwatch is huge at the moment. at the moment there are only 8 games on the system and it’s been out for about 2 weeks, that is an extremely poor launch lineup, worse than the wiiu, and we all know how that turned out.

joycon alternates: the joycon are awesome controllers and you know what would be even cooler, giving them very shiny paint theme around their games, like for example a mario and luigi pair of joycon, right joycon has mario colors, left has luigi colors. This could be huge, imagine all of the different combinations there could be, i would buy some of those joycon just to hang on my wall with my amiibo. I did some of my own joycon alts over on my deviantart here http://psychowalrus.deviantart.com/.

virtual console: so the virtual console isn’t a thing on the switch at the moment and that is very bad. Classic titles could have been available at launch to bump up the amount of launch titles but that opportunity was missed. They could finally add the gamecube virtual console (which should have been around since the beginning) and add some new virtual console titles like smash bros brawl and melee, animal crossing, pokemon crystal and mario kart wii (the best one)

controller support: if the switch doesn’t have contoller support it’s going to annoy a lot of people including myself. The gamecube controller is the best and most comfortable controller to use to date, and i stand by that, if i can’t use it on my switch it won’t stop me using it but buying a gamecube adaptor for my wiiu only for a new console to appear 2 years later feels kind of like a waste. Not just gamecube controllers, wii controllers, they are similar to the joycon an could definitely be used to play games like 1,2 switch. The wiiu gamepad could be good for racing games and smash bros when it comes out for switch.

netflix and other streaming services: netflix is the app i have used the most on my wiiu, says a lot about me doesn’t it. The lack of it on the switch is going to be a deterrent to causal users, which might i add is what made the wii so successful, the fact that even the elderly could use it as more than a games console while still using as one. Netflix is the biggest tv streaming service and without it on the switch i just go back to my wiiu to use it, but thats going to get discontinued eventually, and if by then it isn’t on the switch nintendo will have missed out.

internet: there is not internet browser on the switch and i do not have to explain why that is stupid it clearly is one of the dumbest things nintendo have done.

third party exclusives: nintendo exclusives are great as is but getting third party exclusives from big developers will attract more hardcore gamers to the system and allow the switch to truly succeed. Get platinum games or a new bioshock game as an exclusive, heck maybe even a fifa spinoff as an exclusive, a new fifa street maybe?

old franchise revivals: nintendo have ditched some big franchises for no good reason, if all in one go they confirm that there will be a new metroid prime, f-zero, waverace and earthbound/mother game the dedicated fans would be ecstatic, we’ve waited so long it’s about time really.

smash bros, as soon as possible: smash bros is a big seller for nintendo and they know it, it saved fire emblem from being retired and could have saved chibi-robo had he been added, actually it still can. It’s the go to franchise for hardcore nintendo fans and i only bought my wiiu to play smash 4, it only makes sense that they’d want to do a special edition for the switch now and release another smash bros later on in it’s lifespan.

new IP’s: splatoon succeeded and we all know it, it boosted wiiu sales and has a huge fanbase, it was the first new ip since pikmin in 2001, that’s 14 years nintendo had relied on established franchises. with splatoons success i imagine nintendo will add at least one new series to the switch.

transfers: this is a given for any console, allow me to play games i’ve already bought on my new console. Since the switch supports cartridges and can’t use physical wiiu or 3ds games, just allow me to transfer my digitally downloaded games onto the switch instead of having to buy it again. This would be a great selling point too, with the xbox’s backwards compatibility being very poor and confusing and the ps4 having zero backwards compatability

#nintendo #nintendo switch #switch #games #gaming #video games

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viralhottopics · 7 years

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RIP Wii U: Nintendo’s glorious, quirky failure

Nintendo has ceased production of Wii U less than five years after its launch. What went wrong, and what will be its legacy?

In late January it was announced that Nintendo had ceased production of the Wii U console. The follow-up machine to the hugely successful Wii had sold fewer than 15m units worldwide since its launch in 2012. PlayStation 4 sold more in a year. Wii sold more than 100m in its lifetime.

What happened? How did Nintendo, one of the oldest and most respected companies in the video game industry, get it so wrong? And did anything good come out of the Wii U era? How will the machine be remembered, if at all?

Certainly, some believe the console was cursed from the start right from the first announcement at the 2011 E3 video game conference in Los Angeles. Before that, Nintendo had made vague references to Project Cafe, a new piece of hardware deep in development at the companys famed R&D labs, but the nature of the device was unclear. The E3 presentation was supposed to be the big reveal.

Then, there it was at the Nintendo press conference, in front of the whole games industry. Wii U. Reggie-Fils-Aim, head of Nintendo America, gave an obtuse introduction and showed the unique GamePad controller, with its built-in display. After this, came a showreel of gaming moments, then nothing. The crowd whooped, but when the lights went down, a few expressed confusion: was the Wii U GamePad an extension to the original Wii? Was it an entirely new console? That evening, in an interview with the Evening Standard, the late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated: Because we put so much emphasis on the controller, there appeared to be some misunderstanding.

The PS4 and Xbox One, high-powered machines arrived and changed the gaming landscape. Composite: Xbox One S v PS 4 Pro v PS4 Slim v Project Scorpio

A masterpiece of understatement. In some ways, that misunderstanding never went away. Even when it became clear that Wii U was a whole new console, with a unique motion-sensitive screen pad, consumers were nonplussed. There had been rumours that, with its custom AMD 7 series graphics chipset and IBM multicore central processor, the machine would be more powerful than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 especially as it was arriving years after those machines debuted. But before the launch, developers were already whispering to news sources that this was not the case driving the second-screen would eat up the graphics processing power and the CPU wasnt that special. It was all academic anyway: barely a year later, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One arrived to completely change the technological landscape.

But Nintendo wasnt competing with PlayStation and Xbox, and never really had. Instead, it needed to convert the tens of millions of Wii owners whod rarely bought consoles before; whod been seduced by the Wii Remote controller and the immediate, social experience it promised. Those people were now quietly migrating to other platforms: smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes … Thats who the Wii U was aimed at.

In the months following E3, it was at least picking up interest from the development community. I had done work on the N64, Gameboy, GameCube and Wii and I still maintain they were my favourite systems to work on, so when the WiiU was announced it had me excited, says Byron Atkinson-Jones of Xiotex Studios I wanted to see how far we could go in game design terms with the two screen setup. Were we going to get new game paradigms like we did with the Wii and its controllers?

However, even before the launch, the games media was complaining about a lack of compelling first-party content. The machine would arrive with only two major Nintendo titles, the mini-game collection Nintendo Land, and New Super Mario Bros U, a decent side-scrolling platformer, but by no means a major Mario title with with little involvement from Miyamoto. There were intriguing moments: Nintendo Land has the clever asymmetrical multiplayer action of Luigis Ghost Mansion and the boisterous arena-battler Animal Crossing: Sweet Day. But there was also nothing as immediately compelling as Wii Sports or Wii Play nothing that completely crystallised the idea of the GamePad.

Veteran developer Rhodri Broadbent once worked for Q-Games in Japan, and met Shigeru Miyamoto while making Star Fox Command. He felt there should still have been a role for the Wii Remote in the new era. The fact that Wii U did not come bundled with a Wii Remote was really disappointing to me, he says. I felt that the identity of the Wii Remote was worth continuing, and that combining the jump to HD visuals with the jump to HD motion control of the Wii Remote Plus would have been a smart play. In terms of marketing, the Wii Remote was iconic from the get-go, whereas the GamePad sadly didnt really get to find its identity in either software, nor marketing. There were some truly excellent, best-in-class games released for Wii U, but very few of them gave life or character to the GamePad.

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The GamePad, as a unique selling point, was also a unique curse, an albatross around the neck of the whole project. Designers struggled over its multifaceted nature: should they support it as a standalone screen, a second-screen for the TV, or as a device to allow asymmetrical multiplayer experiences (the player with the GamePad is able to have a different experiences to others using Wii Remotes). It was a tough business proposition too. Games publishers like to be able to transition their projects freely between different machines most modern game engines are platform agnostic making this process easier. But Wii Us controller demanded a different approach, so including the console on multiplatform projects was complicated and expensive even if they were just going to use the GamePad as a mini-map, which many did.

Of the third-party games available at launch, most were quick conversions of familiar PlayStation and Xbox titles: Call of Duty, Batman, Fifa… few of these exploited the GamePad feature-set in truly innovative ways. The best was perhaps ZombiU, a fascinating survival horror title with a neat permadeath mechanic, set in a post-apocalyptic London that made inspired use of the GamePad as both an environment scanner and a cellphone. With its tense, gory action, it also brilliantly subverted expectations of a Nintendo launch title. But it wasnt enough.

The problem is, mainstream game development is all about confidence. Console manufacturers have to be certain that third-party publishers will support the device; third-party publishers have to be sure that consumers will buy it, and draw confidence from first-party titles; and consumers wont commit until they know there will be great titles from both first- and third-party studios. Its a vicious circle of reliance, and it often all depends on that launch week. Nintendo just didnt come up with the goods to inspire consumers, and because of this, the likes of Activision, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft were all backing off right from the outset.

Meanwhile, Nintendo was trying to make things easier for independent developers, noticing the huge influx of excellent indie titles on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. After the success of the 3DS eShop in attracting experimental games, the company set out to improve its digital store for the home console experience. However, its legacy was not good. On the Wii, support for smaller studios was patchy: the submissions process was, according to some studios, extremely lengthy, and there were sales thresholds that made it risky to commit to offbeat projects. Even after these problems had been addressed, Wii U had no support for the important multi-platform games engine Unity until much later in the consoles lifespan, strangling its potential with the indie community.

[The Wii U dev kit] was clunky and far more difficult to setup than its predecessors, says Atkinson-Jones. I remember opening the box it came in and there was a warning saying it was very easy to brick the machine so getting it setup was a terrifying prospect. Id love to say I got further than this but the reality is that even though Nintendo had signed So Hungry to appear on WiiU, Unity would not actually be ready for another year its because of this my other game Blast Em! came about and thankfully that game has kept my studio running. Once you got past all the problems of setup and getting a working build of Unity, it was just that much harder than doing any kind of cross platform work – the big difference being the two displays of course.

Nintendos Wii and revolutionary remote. Photograph: Andrew Parsons/PA

So the Wii U had a lot to contend with: a poorly conceived debut, a unique selling point that was difficult to describe, and a hesitant development community unwilling to commit resources to a quirky machine. But it did provide moments of genuine brilliance. The defining first-party titles Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros, Splatoon and Pikmin 3 may not have been top tier Nintendo originals (theres no Miyamoto Mario, no new Zelda), but they were excellent games, filled with interesting ideas and classic moments of design genius.

Pikmin 3 is one of the greatest games I have ever played on any system, says Broadbent. Its mission mode is so tightly balanced, with so many tricks and techniques to optimise battles, find new routes and shave seconds off your time that I can and often did replay the same mission for entire days without noticing that the my weekend had disappeared. Im a big fan of the oft-overlooked, but to my mind never bettered, New Super Mario Bros U, especially the challenge modes. And keeping with Mario, Super Mario Makers musical, whimsical user interface is a masterclass in hiding complexity and infusing character into menus the way the sound effects harmonise with the background music as you place objects on the screen is endlessly charming to me.

There were beautiful third-party games too, sparsely spread out though the machines lifespan perhaps, but certainly there. Cult Japanese studio PlatinumGames, best known for its demanding brawlers, was an unexpected hero producing two masterpieces for the machine: the extravagant Bayonetta 2, and the kookie super hero puzzler, Wonderful 101. Warner Bros brought us the excellent Armored edition of Batman Arkham City, but also the ludicrously overlooked Lego City Undercover, a hilarious Grand Theft Auto pastiche, which is now rightfully being remade for current consoles.

More importantly however, there were indie developers who truly embraced the idiosyncracies of the system and its development environment. We enjoy letting the quirks of specific hardware inspire new ideas and features here, so from a design point of view, Wii U was a lot of fun, says Broadbent. Gyros, a camera, a touch screen there was a lot there to use. For Scram Kitty, I had the idea of making the titular cat appear as a sort of sports commentator on the TV while the player focused on the GamePad action, and although in the end that element didnt turn out to be an essential feature of the game, it was a great source of personality for the game, and one which kept throwing up new ideas throughout development.

Highlights included DrinkBox Studios crazed platformer Guacamelee!: Super Turbo Championship Edition, the lovely retro platformer Shantae and the Pirates Curse, and the intriguing puzzler Art of Balance. Most were multiplatform, but lots used the Wii U capabilities in interesting ways. A key example was the engrossing Affordable Space Adventures from Danish developer KnapNok Games. In this interstellar puzzle game, the GamePad was used to monitor and interact with your crafts primary systems, including engines, anti-gravity controls and scanner, providing a great Star Trek bridge experience.

There were also thoughtful conversions of iOS titles, including Dakko Dakkos translation of the spooky narrative adventure Year Walk. We took a much more all-in approach to the machines feature set, combining the gyros, touch screen, separate displays, and even subtly altering the audio between the gamepad and the TV, to create very satisfying controls and puzzles, says Broadbent. The end result feels uniquely suited to Wii U.

Its also worth remembering Nintendos unique attempts to create friendly online communities around the Wii U. The Miiverse is a family-friendly social network in which players can chat about what theyre playing, draw and share pictures, and seek gaming advice, all within a safe, charming environment populated with customised Mii characters. It was a much more warm, human approach to networked play than Xbox Live or PlayStation Network and, as Jennifer Schneidereit, co-creator of luscious historical adventure Tengami discovered, it allowed unique relationships between developers and players:

It was possible to post to Tengamis Miiverse from within the game, to show level progress or ask other players for help, she says. As a developer I was able to interact with people in Tengamis Miiverse and help with puzzles, answer their questions and listen to their feedback. Because Miiverse posts are not only textual, players can also hand draw and incorporate stamps, it was a real delight to watch players using our stamps to create artwork of their own.

Wii U had a difficult start, with a difficult idea in a difficult era. The E3 presentation blurred what the machine actually was, and the GamePad was never an easy proposition to market unlike the Wii Remote that people could see was fun, just from the adverts. Meanwhile, with Xbox and PlayStation continuing their graphics arms race, and competition coming in from smartphones and tablets, the gaming audience seemed to be stratifying into two groups: the sorts of players who bought consoles and high-end PCs, and the sorts whod quite as happily play Candy Crush Saga for free on their phones. The idea of a console as the central focus of a party or family event, which had peaked between 2005 and 2010 with both the Wii and the rise of music games like Guitar Hero, had drifted out of favour.

Nintendos Shigeru Miyamoto. Photograph: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Now here comes the Nintendo Switch, a regeneration of the Wii U concept where the GamePad effectively becomes the console, with its own built-in controllers. If anything, it is a more flagrant attempt to seduce casual players away from their phones, while tapping into the family living-room appeal of the original Wii. Broadbent sees Switch as a reconnection with that machine: Im very happy that the joy-cons have so many little tricks in them, and encouraged to see games like ARMS push forward higher-fidelity motion controls right out the gate. But Im mostly happy that Switchs identity as a home console thats not tied to your TV is being communicated so clearly.

Communication, it seems, is key. The Wii did its own communicating: you just watched people playing Tennis or Bowling and you knew it was fun. Nothing Nintendo has done with its hardware since then has been quite so alluring. But to write off Wii U as a creative failure would be a gross disservice. The GamePad actualised a lot of vague entertainment industry hype about the second screen, and lots of games truly illustrated the magic of the concept. And lets not forget that Wii U also saw Nintendos entry into the toys to life market with its Amiibo characters little figurines that could be placed on the screen to interact with games. They sold over 40m of those.

In years to come, people will pick up the console second-hand, with a few games Super Mario 3D World, Bayonetta 2, Mario Kart 8 and theyll realise what it was that Nintendo had in mind, theyll understand the appeal of the hardware. Much too late, of course.