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 @nintendolife alumnus @lukewestaway has fears about Wii U. Read about them here: http://t.co/ZsDAOGUz
Stock up on calendars
Masahiro Sakurai has told fans eagerly awaiting Super Smash Bros. on Wii U and 3DS there could be an even longer wait ahead than expected. The project was announced at E3 2011 but as Sakurai only finished Kid Icarus: Uprising earlier this year he's not had a lot of time to ponder the next brawler. Sakurai told Nintendo Power (via Nintendo Everything) excited parties should be patient:We’ve just taken what you could call the first step of the process. This is the first time I’ve ever had my next project announced before it’s even entered development, and because of that, I fear that players will be forced to wait even longer than they expect to. Please be patient.We're now taking bets on when Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS will hit shelves. We'll give you very good odds on 2015.
Find it very hard to believe MS has set a price for a console due out next year. Can it foresee economic changes?
My name is James Newton, and this is my website - a collection of my writings about
videogames, music and all my other thoughts.