So, Steel Battalion is another Kinect disappointment - here's @DamienMcFerran's verdict. "A glorious failure" http://t.co/MITp3Mi2
Do not adjust your sets
Your eyes do not deceive you: the gallery below does indeed feature photographs of renowned birdwatcher Bill Oddie and pop group The Saturdays. No, we haven't finally lost it and decided to turn Nintendo Life into a celebrity gossip blog — the famous faces came out to support Nintendo UK's Another Dimension photography events that took place earlier this month. Bill Oddie took a select group of photography fans to Battersea Park Zoo, TV presenter Rick Edwards walked with dinosaurs at Bristol Zoo, street artist Pure Evil looked at graffiti and The Saturdays dressed people up in space suits. A more varied palette of life you couldn't hope to find. Nintendo's panel is now judging the entrants of the 3D photography competition, with the winning photos to be displayed in a London gallery from early July. [image:1] [image:3] [image:2] [image:4]
Mushroom magic?
[image:1][/image] It's OK to say you were disappointed that New Super Mario Bros. U is Wii U's first Super Mario game. You may have wanted something groundbreaking like Super Mario 64, and Nintendo revealed a shinier, sharper version of a Wii game from 2009. You're entitled to be disappointed. Your excitement for Mario's next home adventure all depends on how much you enjoyed New Super Mario Bros. Wii. If you loved its chaotic multiplayer and new power-ups, this HD sequel will already be near the top of your want list; if the whole thing left you colder than an Ice Flower, though, there probably isn't a lot in U to change your mind. The addition of the GamePad means five players can now tussle at once, four using Wii Remotes and one using the GamePad to place platforms and stun enemies with a tap. Imagine the co-star mode in Super Mario Galaxy 2 with added platform-building and you're about there. Of course, GamePad play is optional; four players can play with Wii Remotes just as they can on Wii, and it's as big a riot now as it was in 2009. Symmetric gameplay is still big. [embed:image2] NSMBU is one of the few titles you can play entirely on the GamePad, and we found this very comfortable and precise; the screen is clear and bright enough to do Mario's world justice, with no 'ghosting' or streaking when things get fast. In fact, despite being stood in front of a 32" HDTV, we were happier just using the controller's 6.2" screen. It's really not about size after all. Only three levels were available in this preview and each felt familiar yet just different enough, with the spinning stars of course 3 being the nearest we got to encountering truly new ideas. Of course these are three early stages, and if our previews of past Mario games have been anything to go by the final designs will be different. The two new power-ups, the flying squirrel suit and inflatable Yoshi, both felt like slightly adapted versions of the propeller suit. Flying squirrel Mario (the three best words ever?) can glide and catch a gust of air under his wings by shaking the controller, giving him a little boost upwards for a touch more height. The red Yoshi inflates like a balloon, with multiple inflations possible for extra lift, but the advantage to both forms of getting high seemed to be a power-up and a nudge back on track. Don't expect stacks of verticality; it's all about the left-to-right dash. [embed:image3] Three levels isn't anywhere near enough to assess NSMBU, but we didn't see anything that suggests this will be anything other than another enjoyable Mario game. It might not be the incredible leap we've come to expect from the famous mascot, but we thought the same thing about Super Mario 3D Land before that arrived and turned out well, from most perspectives. Some of you may be disappointed now, but look at the bigger picture. Wii U will have a Mario game at launch, and not just any Mario game: a follow-up to two of his biggest-selling adventures. New Super Mario Bros. U might be a move motivated by sales instead of pure creative inspiration, but as long as it's enjoyable along the way, everybody wins.
Really original and interesting DSiWare software on the way to the West soon. Something I thought we'd never get. Happy days!
Back and forth
The first part of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow — Mirror of Fate's subtitle should be enough to tip you off that this is very much part of the series' modern lineage, linking as it does to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow on PS3. Series supremo Dave Cox has told Siliconera while there's plenty of exploration, the new title isn't the "Metroidvania"-style adventure we've come to expect from Nintendo handhelds. Cox said the 3DS game borrows most from NES classic Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, with branching paths lending the element of exploration. Cox explains the decision:We didn’t want to do a Metroidvania because one of the things about the Metroidvania series is the games start out bloody hard because you haven’t gotten anything. By the end of the game, you have everything and are super powerful. We really want to have a game that starts out really easy and gets tougher, tougher, and tougher. Exploration has been beefed up for sure, but we don’t want to have a game where you run around collecting loads of things. We want to tell a story. We want players to enjoy the adventure.Would you enjoy it more if there were more things to collect?
Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor (Xbox 360 / Kinect) review - Kinectaku http://t.co/MITp3Mi2 via @kinectaku
Great analysis of Nintendo's first HD games - Digital Foundry: Hands-On with Wii U • Articles • http://t.co/1wSBWFFl http://t.co/gcRpr1kq
Highly decorated
So many Legend of Zelda games open with Link waking up in bed that a Zelda-decorated nursery makes perfect sense. Cole Bradburn and friend Wes spent three months decorating a nursery to greet Bradburn's newborn son, taking the cel-shaded adventures of Link as their inspiration. The hand-painted room features art from The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and took over 150 hours of work over the course of three months. Seems like the perfect setting for that Zelda bedtime story. [youtube:CRMwOd_Sn5M]
My name is James Newton, and this is my website - a collection of my writings about
videogames, music and all my other thoughts.