Register now for NRL Fantasy and join the Panthers Verified League!
The NRL's big movers last season have a couple of genuine Fantasy stars in their ranks, plus arguably the best depth in the competition and some hugely talented youngsters waiting in the wings.
Josh Mansour ($450,000) – A Fantasy favourite from the past few years, Mansour is yet to play Origin but leapt straight into the Kangaroos side for last year's Four Nations after a stellar season. He's actually the most expensive winger/fullback in NRL Fantasy at the start of 2015, eclipsing even Greg Inglis thanks to a massive return of 7.4 tackle breaks per game. Those busts come at three Fantasy points a pop, and coupled with a huge number of run metres (170 per game), Mansour again looks like a great buy at the back this year.
James Segeyaro ($448,000) – One of the rare star Fantasy hookers who doesn't rely on huge tackle counts to net him big scores, Segeyaro is dynamite out of dummy half, with more tries and line breaks than any other No.9 last season. And in Fantasy, he can only get better. Segeyaro played the first eight games of 2014 off the bench, scoring about 33 points a week, before moving into the starting side as an 80-minute player and hitting 60 points a game for the rest of the season. His $448,000 price tag is based on last year's overall season average of 50, so Segeyaro appears to be an underpriced gun ahead of Round 1. The only risk – and it's a real one – is that new recruit Apisai Koroisau could take minutes off Segeyaro from the bench after arriving from the Rabbitohs.
Tyrone Peachey ($316,000) – A lock forward blessed with the dazzling footwork that made his uncle David a fan favourite, Tyrone Peachey could make the transition from impact player to genuine star this year. He showed he could handle both roles last season, grabbing two tries in an 82-point effort in Round 12 and following it up a week later with 218 run metres off the bench in a 77-point blitz, while also playing the full 80 minutes in the back row on two other occasions. Consistency will be the key for him though. He finished with a middle-of-the-road average of 35 points a game last season, and while his minutes should rise in 2015 his reliance on attacking plays means Peachey won't be as reliable in the back row as the genuine guns.
George Jennings ($128,000) – Michael's younger brother George is one of several young Panthers seen as having massive potential, and could be on standby for a spot in the outside backs, particularly if Jamal Idris or Dean Whare pick up injuries. The same goes for rangy centre Waqa Blake, who could come into contention later in the season. Neither are expected to be in the 17 come the start of the year, but they will be names to keep an eye on down the track.


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The Serious Side of Play
Lessons learned from the book: Play, by Dr. Stuart Brown
Janet Petitpas, Senior Associate, London
George Bernard Shaw said, "We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing," and Dr. Stuart Brown is in full agreement. Dr. Brown's recent book, Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, supports the idea that play is central to our being human and necessary in order to be creative, productive and happy members of our communities.
Dr. Brown is a medical doctor, psychiatrist, clinical researcher and the founder of the National Institute for Play as well as the producer of a three-part PBS series, The Promise of Play, and has appeared on NPR and in the New York Times Magazine.
In the book, Dr. Brown highlights play through biological evolution and gives examples of how play makes the brain more adaptable and smarter. He also give examples of how fun, purposeful play is important in developing social and emotional intelligences in addition to sharpening skills needed for everyday survival even in animals. He gives evidence of the correlation between brain size and the amount of play in different animals and play seems to be one of the most advanced methods nature has invented to allow a complex brain to create itself.
One of the most compelling stories in the book is that of the hiring managers at the jet propulsion labs in California. As their top engineers were retiring they were hiring young hot-shots who had done well in the best engineering programs, but found that many of these engineers couldn't solve complex problems as well as the older generation. The human resources folks began a study of why this was and conducted a vast number of interviews in order to determine factors that differed between the older engineers and the younger ones to improve their hiring decisions. What they found was that both the older and younger engineers who excelled at solving complex problems were those who worked with their hands in their childhoods – the ones who took radios and clocks apart, built tree-houses, and had an understanding about how things worked in a three-dimensional environment.
One of the types of play highlighted is that of physical play, including being able to play with, manipulate, and alter real materials in your hands, which connects to powerful areas of learning and creativity in the brain.
Other observations highlighted in the book include the study of animals that partake in differing amounts of play. Animal and human play researchers have found that animals that stop playing exhibit more compulsive, rigid and purpose-driven behavior whereas beings that include play throughout their lives are more open to change, exhibit sustained curiosity and are better able to incorporate new information.
Play is frequently used to provide relief when struggling with a big idea or when interacting with others where conflict may be present. A joke at the right time can relax and open people to being able to communicate and listen to another when that might not have been possible without a playful ice breaker. Group play encourages creativity and creates bonds, which is why corporations hold brainstorming sessions and off-site team-building days.
Dr. Brown makes the case that not only does play help our brains to function better, but that there is evidence that play increases our immune strength. Not only is play key to adaptation and survival but it is our culture: our music, art, sports, dance and festivals.
As the knowledge economy is overtaken by the creative economy, play becomes crucial as our brain's ability to innovate is linked to play. Work can be play, as almost anything can be play if a playful attitude is present. As James Michener wrote:
"The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him, he's always going both. "
What part can Museums take in encouraging play for all? Museums of all types have the ability to encourage play in visitors of all ages. Children's museums can create playful environments that parents and grandparent can engage in and all Museums can find ways of allowing visitors to manipulate real things with their hands and experience with their whole bodies. Some of the tips Dr. Brown suggests lend themselves particularly well to the Museum environment:
1. Connect to an individual's play history. When interviewing adults about play in their childhood, many quote the opportunity to make something with their hands, using specific toys such as dolls, blocks and Lincoln logs and engaging with drama. Museums can encourage these connections by providing manipulative toys that allow generations to talk about their play histories while also providing things like costumes in adult sizes.
2. Expose your visitors to play. Create opportunities for visitors to slow down, sit quietly and listen, pick up a ball or sit on the floor with a child.
3. Give permission to play. Create an environment in the Museum where play feels welcome, un-judged, and people are given the opportunity to laugh at themselves in a safe place.
4. But also give permission to skip play if it's uncomfortable for anyone.
5. Be active. Museums can creatively present so many ideas and objects through innovative means and can include movement. One of my favorite programs at the Tate Britain was in conjunction with an exhibit of Francis Bacon paintings. They had a movement program called "bend it like Bacon," which invited visitors to mock the sometimes very strange positions of models in the paintings.
6. Create a safe environment. Free your visitors from the fear that they might fail or look silly when playing. Staff can model play and put visitors at lease and areas where visitors might make funny faces or do something silly might have some privacy walls.
Dr. Seuss' was an individual who never stopped playing or encouraging play in others through his many books. In honor of his birthday last month here is one of his quotes: "I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities." I think Dr. Brown couldn't agree more.
Click HERE to hear Dr. Stuart Brown talk about play on TED.
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Talking Point: Nintendo Successfully Wooed Some Wii U Doubters at E3
Its message of fun and innovation gets through
by Thomas Whitehead Thu 19th Jun 2014
As a Nintendo-centric site, it's pretty obvious where the interests of our team and the community lie. While we'll be critical of Nintendo, its games, systems or policies when we feel such a stance is warranted, we are inevitably 'rooting' for the company. To nick the big N's slogan of choice right now, we all 'Play Nintendo', perhaps as a priority over other systems and content; it's therefore no surprise that when we asked you what you thought of Nintendo's E3, you were full of positivity and pleased with the company's efforts.
Those polls showed that, among the NLife community members, there was much love for the Digital Event and the company's performance as a whole, The Legend of Zelda and Splatoon were favourites, while a majority of voters felt Nintendo had 'nailed it' at E3 and even 'won' the overall event. We did enjoy that fact that on the question of 'winning' E3, 10% of you did select the "Bleh, I don't like this question" answer.
Even setting flag waving and cheerleading aside, though, as we try to in our editorial content, it's hard to argue against Nintendo having a strong E3 and, as a result, achieving a vital shift in narrative over the Wii U and the company as a whole. Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime was as tireless as ever appearing in mainstream news outlets to plug its efforts, hitting up non-gaming outlets such as Bloomberg and The Seattle Times, among many others, but unlike in 2013 he had some positive weapons to tackle the toughest questions. As is his job there was plenty of spin and a little exaggeration taking place, but the message of prioritising fun above all else, utilising Nintendo's intellectual property power and bringing variety to the market all rang rather true. It helped that he could boast of a recent boost in Wii U sales courtesy of Mario Kart 8, too.
From that perspective the LA event couldn't have gone much better, but as a games site we naturally observed some seriously positive vibes around the company from major multi-platform press sites, a rarity after a low-key 2013 and mixed reactions in 2012 and 2011. Most impressively, Nintendo achieved this with its own approach, completely ignoring the tried-and-tested formula followed by Microsoft and Sony. IGN's review of E3 concluded that the Digital Event worked well, stating that it "worked out so well that I doubt we'll ever see Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime in front of a live E3 audience again". Though concerns were raised over some key titles being 2015 releases as other platforms and exclusives perhaps enjoyed the most coverage, Nintendo's overall approach — including the rolling Nintendo Treehouse broadcast — was described as "an incredibly savvy move" that others may imitate in future.
Two major players did declare Nintendo as the "winner" of E3, if you like the term. Our colleagues at Eurogamer focused on the argument that Nintendo had achieved the feat on its own terms, saying that it "addressed the gaming community directly in a way that made its rivals and their noisy live stage shows look old-fashioned and wasteful". EG's Oli Welsh concluded as follows.
Will all this "save" Wii U from its ignominious sales? Probably not. Does it matter? Not in the long term. What matters is that it saves Nintendo. In my decade as a games journalist, and during many preceding years as an amateur industry-watcher, I've had a consistent watchword: never write off Nintendo. The Kyoto company is tenacious, inventive, wealthy enough to weather a long storm, and it just loves making games. After E3 2014, I'm not going to be changing my stance.
The tone of GameSpot was similar in its stance, praising Nintendo's risk taking and lively performance, talking up the company's choice to follow its own path, concluding we're "all better off for it".
A write-up on Kotaku, meanwhile, balanced out various factors when posing the question, "you're buying a Wii U now, right?". Many of the views echo those above, while considering the format and praising the diversity of games on show; it also emphasizes that Wii U was creating a lot of buzz on the show floor with attendees. This piece highlights some problems that the Wii U still faces, though makes the fair observation that, all going well, the system can still achieve profitability and a respectable market position should it hit a critical mass of owners in the coming year. Again, the focus was on Nintendo's approach targeting fans, rather than the press.
From the stop-motion sketches to the goofy Iwata-v-Reggie fistfight to all of the games on show, Nintendo's E3 has been about fun. Whilst the usual conversations about gaming's problems with representation and reliance on violence go on elsewhere at the show, Nintendo had been floating about in its own world. It might be out of touch with the rest of the industry, but Nintendo seems increasingly in touch with what its fans want.
To finish with Polygon, another big name in the all-format stakes, we should also acknowledge that it's a site that has, some would argue, been heavy-handed in its recent criticism of Nintendo. The opinion piece linked above argues that Nintendo could be a big player in the home console space... in 2015. There's optimism over some titles shown, but an argument that the most important of them are coming next year and therefore do little for the system in 2014.
We think you know where we stand, and that's in the generally positive camp. It's been a harsh opening 18-20 months for the Wii U, with grim sales numbers, relatively sustained criticism from major outlets and mainstream confusion over the system being a new console. That said, there have been high points, such as Super Mario 3D World's impressive attach-rate and early indications that Mario Kart 8 has boosted interest and awareness in the console. We don't think those that have invested in the system have found it difficult to enjoy some fantastic games, but it's been convincing many to take the plunge that's been the problem.
If E3 did anything of vital importance, it contributed to changing the perspective of many towards the Wii U. Press coverage, mainstream and specialist, can filter through to the public, to both dedicated gamers and general consumers open to owning a console. For example, late last year we heard a father in a game shop make some rather confused comments about gaming when looking at a PS4 with his son; he didn't seem particularly in touch with the technology or the market. At one point his son started playing a demo of FIFA, however, and he uttered the words "oh, we should get you a PS4, I hear it has better graphics than the Xbox One". That narrative was everywhere last year, and it had stuck.
So Nintendo will try to grab the positive vibes around the Wii U being the system for fun, unique experiences and push them as far as possible. Just recently we saw a mum go up to an assistant in a GAME store, on Mario Kart 8 launch day, and ask "what do I need to play this game". Nintendo will need to continue to get the message out there about the Wii U as a system, but it'll also help that, during E3, the world's biggest game sites and mainstream press publications were often talking about Nintendo's performance; generally in positive terms, too.
E3 was a big step in the right direction in converting the Wii U's image from 'doomed' system to being a fun console with must-have games. Nintendo's job is to make sure that's still the message for the rest of 2014 and beyond.
Joeynator3000
Thu 19th Jun 2014
Took them long enough, lol
To be fair about all the news sources declaring winners of E3, all of their articles were published before Tuesday morning, before Nintendo had a chance for their event.
Most reporters are so used to E3 being a one-off event (and some unfairly excluding Nintendo).
ZurrrrBlattTron
After two pretty crappy e3's I'm happy Nintendo won e3 this one was very solid and pretty much spoiled us with all we've been asking for Zelda U, Confirmation on Star Fox U and a new Metroid,Splatoon,Amiibo, Hyurl Warriors and so much more while everyone else was pretty much GUNS! ZOMBIES! GUNS AND ZOMBIES! GUNS AND MUTANTS! HOORAH
Azikira
It just goes to show the naysayers, Nintendo is going to be around for a long time!
Ukulele_Wizard
I liked Nintendo's E3 a lot, and I do think they impressed most people more than Sony or Microsoft, but I am disappointed that most games are now 2015 releases, though I can live with that. My biggest criticism is simply that, while I loved the digital event, I think they should have used it to announce new games and IPs as opposed to mostly just updates on existing games. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but they instead relied on media outlets picking up on games on the show floor. Next year, I'd prefer it if they announced their new games in the main event (the digital event) and have updates about games during the Treehouse broadcasts or what have you.
Other than that though, this was a wonderful surprise from Nintendo. I went in with low expectations after three years of E3s ranging from meh to, in my opinion, simply pitiful, and I was really blown away with a lot of games (Zelda U looks GORGEOUS and Splatoon looks like it'll be a ton of fun).
EverythingAmiibo
They totally nailed it! Last year SUCKED and since they weren't having a stage show again, everyone assumed a repeat. But Nintendo seriously turned the tables, all I can do is thank Nintendo and wait for hyrule Warriors.
Ralek85
@torotoid64 Nothing wrong with guns, zombies or mutants. There were also Dragons btw! Nah, I think M$ had a good show, made me get a Box and I'm enjoying Titanfall and DR quite a bit, the real surprise though was Ryse. The review painted a rather dire picture of the game, one that I cannot reconile with reality. If you like Gladiator, it'S the perfect game, and the coop is alot of fun. Me and my buddy spent the whole weekend playing Ryse and Titanfall. Actually I'm enjoying the box alot more than I do the PS4, Infamous is great but it is also short and has no multiplayer. I hope with the release of KZ4 Intercept and the SP dlc für Infamous the PS4 will become more relevant for me.
But I'm getting off topic, I enjoyed what I saw at E3. I won'T argue that Nintendo might have had the best showing. Still there was little actual gameplay for Starfox and Zelda ... could be great, could be just o.k. Hyurl Warriors I didn'T care for though. What got me excited was STEAM and Splatoon, my game of the show. But we'll have to see what comes of it. COntrols have to be tight and precise, no wiggly stuff ^^ and as the tactical game I hope it turns out to be, it desperately needs voice chat. If I can find three buddies to play with me, we can work around it with ts/vent/skype etc. if not well .... I'm skeptical until there are reviews of the final product that these two aspects will turn out the way I hope. IF so I will be all over Splatoon and a Wii U purchase would become obligatory for me!
electrolite77
Nintendo did really well. 'Nailed it' covers it for me.
If the Wii U does indeed mount a comeback we will look back on the last month (including MK8) as when it started.
HeroOfTime32
Glad that Ninty did its own thing....CORRECTLY this time. I feel as though "being different" is finally paying off for Nintendo as the internet trends are suggesting that gamers are starting to grow tired of the same recycled garbage. Nintendo needs to keep a happy medium between listening to the fans and supporting their own vision and goals. If they only listened to fans, we would never have much for innovation, and If they only supported their own vision, gamers could potentially lose interest.
It will definitely be exciting to follow Nintendo over the next couple months leading into 2015. My only worry is that they won't be able to maintain momentum into all those great '15 releases scheduled ahead of us. IF they can maintain this enthusiasm into 2015, I'm confident that Nintendo will do just fine in the marketplace by appeasing old fans, and converting new ones too!
@LDXD they didn't announce a new Metroid. Reggie said in an interview after E3 that they have ideas for both 2D and 3D metroid games going forward... There was nothing actually announced.
BossBattles
Old school gamers know these cycles very well. Nothing shocking about the ups and downs in the console business, or the long waits for games.
It's never been different.
cfgk24
Well, after E3, all my friends now want to get a Wii U.
It also helps that The first thing that goes into my Tomodachi Life Miis' rooms is the Wii U level up gift. All the Miis then visit each others rooms more and I can snap my buddies playing Wii U and post directly to Facebook. Hell Yeah!
bezerker99
I find it hilarious that some media outlets don't even acknowledge Nintendo at e3. While they figured out which had the better show between Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo had already won
Its funny when nintendo obviously wins E3 there are some youtube channel said that the gamers won E3.
@LDXD they said they hope to have something to announce "in the near future".... So hopefully their idea of near future is the same as ours.
@DestinyMan Agreed about the TreeHouse Demos... I never thought developer demos/interviews would ever sway my own personal interests but I definitely invested some time into the Treehouse demos and gotta say.... AWESOME IDEA!! Gives the devs a chance to explain concepts and show the games more so than would of had a chance to prior.
Here's hoping they do more developer events in the future and continue to produce Nintendo Direct videos throughout the year as well
rjejr
I'm squarely in the "Nintneod won E3" camp, and I think a lot of fans of Sony and MS may feel that way as well, but...
Does a good vibe feeling translate into sales to those people?
Does this E3 just mean Nintnedo fans sitting on the fence are now ready to buy a Wii U?
Will word spread to the causauls so that they know enough to pick one up?
is this just a summertime blip that will be forgotten by the time the holiday shopping season arrives?
Nitnedo covered the world in MK8 ads and bundles and promotions. If they are able to do the same thing for a Nov SSB release that will certainly go a long way towards securing Wii U are sold, but if that 1 game gets delayed until next year, or Ntinedo forgets how to advertise, Wii U could still disappear behind PS4, X1 and 2/3DS which has even more Pokemon coming this holiday. Captain Toad isn't going to get it done.
Last year Ntinedo had the price drop and Zelda bundle announcement in Aug so I still feel like E3 was only the game news, hardnews news is yet to arrive. I would have bet on the 2nd Gamepad finally being released but that's gone. Maybe a price drop? SSB bundles w/ the adapter and and Gamecube controller? Wall to wall amiibo coverage?
E3 may have gotten the worlds attention, but Ntinedo still needs to find a way to turn that attention into Wii U sales, and I don't feel the consumer is there yet. Fortunately there's still a few months to go. Nintendo can't rest on MK8 gains.
Where's our Hyrule Warrior chests full of loot?
http://www.destructoid.com/in-japan-you-can-get-a-scarf-with-hyrule-warriors-276733.phtml
Jazzer94
Treehouse coverage of games really made this E3 great, I mean the digital event was awesome and left me really excited but wanting to see more of games like Splatoon, Xenoblade Chronicles X and Bayonetta 2 and Treehouse delivered plus the Smash invitational was brilliant until Nintendo began their E3 coverage I was seriously disappointed with this years effort but they definitely brought their A game.
Gerbwmu
Late September till January is a huge time for Wii U. With basically a release every few weeks and the holiday season plus Smash it will be interesting to see sales for the system. If the user base is on the other side of 10 million then I think all will be well for the next 3 years or so.
merph
I've been totally uninterested in Wii U until this E3. Now seeing a new Zelda has me thinking of buying one eventually, but not until the game comes out at least.
(I'm still waiting to make any new-gen purchases. I'm planning on eventually getting a PS4 when some games come out that I want to play. Until then, my PC keeps me entertained.)
Vrael
Next year Sony and Microsoft copies nintendo, guarantee it.
dumedum
Everybody is buying Wii U now. It's crazy.
Hope Amazon america starts selling it again. The console is pretty much leading in many other countries.
Yorumi
The treehouse was a great idea. I didn't initially think it would be that great but I was at work turned to it the first day after the digital event and just put it up on a second monitor all day. By the end of the week I was sad when it was all over and I wouldn't have a stream to watch. It was great to see the games actually being played for long periods of time. An hour long demo gives you a good idea what the game will be like, short 1-5 minute clips really don't. It's very difficult to hide things in an hour long live gameplay session.
Of course the smash tournament was just plain epic. I was at home by then, and cheering like I was watching the super bowl or stanley cup finals. I hope next year they do a tournament every day of e3. Smash, mk, splatoon, pokemon, they have plenty of competitive games.
bizcuthammer
After 2011 and 2012's terrible E3s, and last year's very safe approach, the Digital Event was a breath of fresh air. There were some hiccups here and there, but overall i think Nintendo had the best performance of the big three.
If there is a such thing as 'winning' E3 (there really isn't, but let's pretend), Nintendo did it this year in my book.
aaronsullivan
Nice write up showing some wider opinions. Really enjoyed E3 and there's no way Nintendo won't do something similar next year.
So, strategy:
Nintendo should release a Splatoon beta during the Holidays. I've suggested it before, but now I see Microsoft is having a Halo beta during that time... how awesome would it be to have Splatoon face off against Halo. Sure there will be those who scoff, but it would be a good story and make for some people arguing which is more fun and really give Splatoon a bigger spotlight and highlight how the game play and fun is the important part.
c1pher_c0mplet
Personally, I think Nintendo's Digital Event was the best out of their's, Microsoft's, and Sony's pressers: I really enjoyed it. But it's still not enough for me to get a Wii U. Yet. While I really enjoyed what I saw on-tap, that's just it: a lot of games are 2015 releases (and I wouldn't be surprised at all if Captain Toad slips into next year). I guess it's difficult to suggest Nintendo revitalize older franchises and create brand-spanking new ones (although I'd be ecstatic if they did) because they're having to go-it alone either the entire or majority of this generation by themselves (e.g. no third-parties). That wouldn't be so bad if they were bigger or had more "internal" partners.
DarkCoolEdge
Sadly I now am sure that it'll struggle. Not only has its biggest seller, Mario Kart, moved less systems than needed but they haven't show any game that will shift the focus to the console.
I love what they have shown and probably buy all or most of the games but they are not system sellers. Does anybody believe that Captain Toad is that kind of game? Or Yoshi? We know (sadly and unfarely) Bayonetta and Xenoblade aren't. And Smash? It is great, it is shaping up wonderful BUT the 3DS is getting it too and the GC also had a a great one...
Right now WiiU's only hopes are:
A price drop that ain't happening
A system defining game we haven't seen yet
The new Zelda really kicks a**.
Meanwhile I'll just enjoy all the great games it has on offer.
Tobiaku
Nintendo won me over, again ^^
Oaf7724
Love this article. Great job!
I can't agree with this more. Nintendo needed this E3 to be big, and let's face it, they've failed to live up to standards in previous years at the Expo. But this year they more then nailed it. They stormed in with such swagger, they gained a lot of interest into the system, and they left E3 with their wheels fastened back on track. Bravo, jolly good show.
EDIT: P.S. LOVED the continuous coverage from Treehouse! Sure, some titles felt a bit dragged out, but it was 15+ hours of non stop gameplay demos, of pretty much everything they announced! The team did a great job.
DropDash
They did an amazing job with E3. I'm hoping they still throw us some curve balls between now and all those future releases. I love surprises and i don't want to see them coming
0utburst
PS4ExtremePatriot in the IGN comments section even said while he is a PS4 guy and will never buy a WiiU, he said Nintendo clearly won. He is an extreme PS4 fanboy.
SleepyCrossing
A friend of mine, who recently declared the Wii U a "worthless piece of crap not worth 50 bucks," is considering buying one after E3. The event generated some buzz in the gaming community, but more needs to be done to spread the word about the console. I mentioned to non-gaming friends that I got a Wii U and they asked if you could "play it on the Wii."
@DarkCoolEdge
It's not necessarily one game that sells a system. Each individual has their own tipping point whether it's e.g. one must-have, or here, or six. Everyone game pushes people closer. The challenge for Nintendo is to keep the games coming until people reach that point.
That they refer in another article to being close to a 'tipping point' shows they know it isn't selling well enough yet (despite another poster on this thread bizarrely claiming 'everyone' is buying a Wii U now), but they believe it will soon. The momentum from E3 will be a big part of that.
FJOJR
I know I was glad to have them make games outside of the bald-space marine, car racing, and sports copypasta genre that the dude-bro gamers seem to not notice the difference in.
Well Junes NPD will show if it translated into sales. Though I expect Nintendo may have an amazing Holiday period boost with both consoles.
@LDXD
It's not exclusives that usually sell a system to someone buying their first machine of a generation. At the minute the consumer has a choice between two machines that have all the big third-party games (and a smattering of exclusives) and one that doesn't. Gamers cling to exclusives because they're looking for reasons to buy every machine but they aren't that big a deal and their worth is greatly lowered when the machine offering exclusives is lacking all the big non-system exclusive games
hYdeks
Nintendo at this years E3 showed that video games should be about having fun, and that you dont need a super powerful console to experience amazing looking games, something that seemingly all those "hardcore" game companies and gamers have forgotten.
FilmerNgameR
@vamkar lol awesome gif!
SwerdMurd
I'm still not like "run out and drop 300+ dollars" wooed, but I was really impressed by everything I saw. Honestly all 3 did a good job... I think MS was slightly in last place, but not by any wide margin. Nice, solid, consoles-are-already-out E3 with some great stuff on display!
2Sang
This e3 certainly wowed me. I am certain I will be purchasing a wii u sometime within this year. I'm hoping more third parties come to wii u though
@electrolite77 the momentum might not get to 2015 although I hope it does.
I don't want to sound like a hater or just too negative but after years of watching this industry I don't consider those signs of recovery that important.
And lets not forget that Far Cry 4, AC Unity, FIFA 15, Rainbow Six Seige, The Division, The Crew, The Witcher 3, Arkham Knight, GTA V, MGS V and many others aren't coming to WiiU. That is a HUGE handicap which I'm afraid Nintendo won't be able to overcome.
@LDXD it's mostly hype. Take X for example, it's a jrpg as we all know, and generally speaking a pretty standard one. Now you look at the sales of any FF game in the west and you'd think "wow jrpgs are pretty popular lets make more." And they do, tales of hardly sells, xenoblade could barely find a market, most people havn't even heard of any other jrpgs.
The reason is the average consumer is pretty stupid and just does what they're told. When asking most people why they like final fantasy 14, no one could ever give an answer that wasn't straight out of marketing spin for the game. They were basically repeating what they were told to say by the marketing campaign for the game.
Not everyone can afford the outrageous marketing budgets for some of these games for long, and when the general idiot isn't being told what to think, they don't. Of course you also generally can't market something like mario to this type of idiot. They're narcissists and generally want a movie with flashy graphics and little depth so they plaster epic cutscenes all over the internet. Is it really just a coincidence that skyrim dumbed down the forumal and then spent seemingly more on marketing the game than building it that it become the most popular ES game and half the players playing it can't even tell you why they like it? I think not.
That's the problem with pop culture, people don't want to think, they want to be told what to think.
What really got me in Nintendo's E3 was Reggie's statement of "We just want to have fun" which makes me feel grateful that Nintendo cares for no competition they're N it for giving fun to the world!
MrGawain
I question if Nintendo is doing anything really that radically different- is it more the fact that this year people are a little more realistic about how wonderful the PS4 and Xbox One actually are? Despite how pretty ACU and COD look, they really are rehashes AGAIN at this point- and I'm wondering if this is the same for Arkham Knight as well? Beyond that Halo, Last Of Us and GTA5 are being repeated... Where is the next gen?
Even if Nintendo isn't new to us fans, there must be a lot of Sony and Microsoft fans that haven't experienced things like MK8, or Smash Bros, or even Mario 3D World, or at least for a VERY long time. Even if it's supposed to be just for Christmas, Nintendo have a chance to remind people what fun and innovation is supposed to be like.
jakysnakydx
I'm actually not to worried about the 2015 thing, I mean realistically it's a wise move. Nintendo has ALOT of press and marketing to nail from now until the holiday season and obviously December is going to be about maximizing Smash Bros Wii U and probably one or two other side titles for the crows who is actually NOT interested in SSB Wii U. Why release all of these games side by side? Then have a 6 month drought in the early next year? I think it's obvious that Nintendo is spacing these the same way the 3ds took off last year with Luigi's Mansion, Fire Emblem, Shin Mengami, new leaf and donkey kong returns 3d all taking a month space to keep up momentum. If Nintendo plays this card the way they have intentioned we'll see consecutive releases from now until heaven knows when. That's a positive move!
Why does everyone say Zelda, Starfox and Metroid are rehashes but COD, Assassin's Creed and halo aren't? I'm REALLY confused by that one.
Jimmy_G_Buckets
@dumedum do you have a link for source?
Shadraw
First I would like to complement the article. It's very nice and well written.
Anyway, I enjoyed Nintendos digital event. It would be nice if we could see more gameplay with some of the other games shown by other companies. The way Nintendo handled E3 made it feel more like an "event" rather than a simple announcement. Nintendo likes to rock the boat, so to speak. Even if it doesn't always lead to good things, their methods seem to help them a lot and help to expand the gaming industry in a number of ways when things work out well. I hope there is always a "Nintendo" around to keep the gaming industry from going stale.
@LDXD The issue you raise in #53 is a really difficult one actually. When the wii was selling like crazy it was a bit more clear cut. The reason it's difficult is I'm not sure they should be going after that crowd, of course the immediate counter is "look at their sales." They historically don't sell well on nintendo consoles but I'm going to ignore that going forward.
The thing is if they go for those games they need to make a basically identical console. Do we really need an HD tripplet? My personal opinion is to have nintendo ignore those games, and work more closely with indies and such giving them all kinds of support, licenses, and even money to try to produce another, or multiple Rares. They should also diversify their own IPs a lot more. Monolith was one of the best purchases they made from the standpoint of jrpgs. Xenoblade is miles ahead of modern FF games, and to me competes very well with what I consider the best one, FF9. That fills in a great niche and hopefully X does better and we keep getting more monolith games.
Metroid can do a good job at telling a dark story, and can even very well cross into the horror genre. There are parts of metroid prime that are downright terrifying. You can also cover FPS of course with it, and though 3rd person it's a similar mechanic so splatoon is getting in there as well.
They've licensed out zelda to hyrule warriors and I say do more of that. That's where I saw try to produce another Rare, they don't need to outright buy a company just give them licenses, show them how to get the most out of the hardware and develop a very close relationship.
Given all that I think could successfully ignore the other big 3rd parties and just play their own game. I think a big part of the reason the wiiU struggled was not so much lack of 3rd party support but lack of diversity. It's first yearish was three and half 2d platformers(3d world is semi-3d but it plays mostly like a 2d platformer), a remake, a rts, and a few minigame collections. They showed a lot of diversity at this E3, given that the media defined "hardcore" gaming isn't going to give nintendo a chance ever, I don't think it's a good strategy to get these big name third party games.
A risky plan for sure, and probably wouldn't have much effect on the wiiU, but with a large diverse lineup of games you could probably start picking off a lot of people getting tired of the yearly CoD release.
One final point cause I know this is getting really long, they need to build a strong community that feels a solidarity with each other. This is where the smash tournament was great, you watched that and really felt like you were part of that community. They need to do more highly public, highly visible events like that. People watch that, or attend in person and feel the hype, feel the excitement of the room, and it has an effect on you. If you don't have the game you're thinking wow I really want to be a part of this. Showing people pastel colored clips and rendered cutscenes is one thing, getting someone to feel the energy of a crowd cheering on their favorite fighters with announcers that sound like they're covering the super bowl is quite another thing.
tldr: I don't think they should follow the conventional wisdom at all and should continue doing their own thing.
Robottiimu2000
What is this shenanigans!!
"We did enjoy that fact that on the question of 'winning' E3, 10% of you did select the "Bleh, I don't like this question" answer."
Oh come on! Don't be so goody-good-good.. Nintendo won hands down!
the nintendo problem is if they get great success with mario kart then get lazy and assumes they we make it on one title alone. the stream of games needs to be more steady. where are my metroid games?
@torotoid64 You gave me an idea... ZOMBIE SPLATOON!
Darknyht
Polygon has a serious issue with being just impartial journalists. They let their own personal feelings taint everything they write so that even the best Nintendo news has to have a small aside of doom and gloom included. It makes me wonder if someone tied Ben Kuchera and his staff down and forced them to watch Reggie torture and kill Nintendogs or something.
I think Nintendo did exactly what it needed to do at E3. They showed good games for their console and showed that they were just going to push products out with an attitude that it can be patched day one.
larry_koopa
With games such as Tropical Freeze, 3D World, and Mario Kart 8 it's your own fault if you weren't already wooed.
To me it's all about the games. I will not be part-taking in the amiibo craze and my girlfriend and I will be playing Smash Bros. with our Pro Controllers, however, if all this extra stuff helps Nintendo's profits then all the power to them.
JaxonH
@Ukulele_Wizard
Pretty sure they announced most of their new games during the Eigital Event. As far as brand new titles go, they announced Captain Toad, Zelda U, Kirby Rainbow Curse, Mario Maker, Mario vs DK, Splatoon, Mario Party 10, Yoshi's Wooly World got a PROPER reveal, and even Star Fox footage was teased at the end of the presentation. Oh, and they announced Amiibo.
The only new games that were announced after the Digital Event were STEAM and Devil's Third, and of course it was confirmed that the footage was indeed of Star Fox and that a game was on the way. Oh, and they announced Miamoto's projects (Guard and Giant Robot), but we don't know if those will be separate games or part of Star Fox.
@Diddy_kong those games are generally pretty replaceable and not terribly special. It doesn't necessarily mean they're bad but go to the indie section of steam and you'll find hundreds of platformers. This is especially true of TF since it was the 3rd 2d platformer from nintendo on the same console in just over a year. Nintendo released basically a bunch of rehashes for over a year. Acting as though we should all be fainting from excitement over that is rather unfair.
2d platformers are as old as gaming, and there's been a steady stream of them released for the past 30 years. There's nothing particularly new or interesting there. They wern't even really adding any new twists or anything to those games.
10-zx
Yeah...still don't have a U. Sorry, for now I still think my Wii and GCN are enough. (Not to mention I find much better games on them, and they aren't $299.)
IceClimbers
@Yorumi I agree 100%. More tournaments like that would be great. I felt more excitement from the Smash Invitational than I felt from this year's Super Bowl. Mario Kart 8, Splatoon, or even more Smash would be great for more tournaments. Kid Icarus Uprising would be a great choice for 3DS games. Oh, and publicizing the VGCs a lot more would be great for Pokemon.
Definitely want Nintendo to keep doing their own thing.
Nintendo had a great E3 overall but after E3, Super Smash Bros and potentially amiibo it basically has very little else for all of 2014 and to me that's what I finished E3 thinking above all else.
I wanted Nintendo to have a good E3 show and it did but I actually wanted that to also be because that show was a convincing argument for the Wii U as a genuinely compelling system going forward and Nintendo still failed to convince me the Wii U is worth spending my money on. There's just too many things it didn't address and didn't announce, too few BIG AAA games (it needed about 5 or 6 more of these imo) and a lack of adoption of certain services/features (like a proper unified account system, cross play for Wii U and 3DS or PSN/PSNOW subscription type services etc), that I think it needed to have for this to be a real turning point for Nintendo and Wii U imo.
Still, it had a great E3, I actually hope it does something similar next year and that it's competitors actually copy Nintendo's general approach to E3 too going forward, and I guess that's a major step up from the last couple of years at least.
Well, Who cares 2015 is still half a year away? There's good games now, there's a few great ones coming in that half year, and there's a lot more coming in 2015. When Nintendo delivers, they DELIVER! Never doubt that!
Nintendo is pounding us with bombers, and they will break down many underground shelters where the "haters" took refuge. Meanwhile, the fans jump from one falling bomb to another, liberating Hyrule as some of their favourite LoZ characters, and shooting arm cannons or throwing Bowser's fists at angels as two of the most "female playable characters" combined in gaming history, as a free bonus to a full game, given as a free bonus to a brand new exclusive full game with "content for 1,5 games" in the process. And at the end... They clash with Mega Man, Pacman,...
I think if someone declares a winner of E3, and it's not Nintendo, they're in the wrong business. This is the FUN business, not the guns 'n' monotone CGI movie business. And that's exactly the cannon Nintendo aimed at all their 'haters'. Through Reggie's eyes, it would seem.
Oh and of course, they didn't only fire LAZORRRS, their were guns loaded with ink as well. And giant robots, flying Foxes...
Nintendo just barraged the gaming world with announcements, demos, events, and friendly coverage that was a joy to watch.
After the digital event I was very impressed but thought "well that was cool and all, but I wish there was more"...and wow...I had NO IDEA there would be three solid days of cool stuff, or that I would enjoy the Smash invitational so much!
Special props go out to the Treehouse production team. Anyone who didn't walk away thinking Nintendo's 2014 E3 was a massive improvement is trying to hard not to have fun!
unrandomsam
@Shambo Anybody who wants something to play in the meantime. I got a Wii U 3 Weeks ago and have played everything I want to other than Tropical Freeze and NSLU. (With some secrets in Lost World that are not yet done and probably quite a bit of life left in it because there is something to it I still have lots of room for improvement).
3 Weeks and zero interest in touching 3D World / NSBMU / Mario Kart 8 ever again.
Still playing the NES Remix's and Scram Kitty (Soon to be joined by Shovel Knight).
I have been playing it more than usual because it is new but its going to be gathering dust. (Or I will end up playing stuff I don't even like which is something for other platforms I never do.)
"E3 was a big step in the right direction in converting the Wii U's image from 'doomed' system to being a fun console with must-have games."
Noooope. E3 made Wii U even more "doomed". Certainly not fun.
@Shambo What is there to play now? Mario Kart 8, and that's it for the whole summer. Rest of 2014? Very dry with some sprinklings of Hyrule Warriors and Smash. The 2015 announced lineup? Absolutely terrible save for Xenoblade X.
Nintendo knocked it out of the park this year! The Digital Event was entertaining and fun, the Treehouse 3 day livestream was a BRILLIANT idea, and the Smash Invitational was of course epic. The Robot Chicken intro and Reggie vs Iwata fight scene completely caught me off guard. The games shown look awesome and fun to play. Splatoon was definitely a suprise hit, and easily the "Unexpected hit of E3".
If I were to go back and change anything, there is only two things I would change: 1. Either not announce Code Name Steam at a roundtable or livestream the roundtable. The game would have gotten a better first impression I think. 2. Put the SmashFest @ Best Buy in a LOT more locations. Too many people got turned away, which is unfortunate. Other than that, Nintendo did fantastic.
On a side note, the introduction of Twitch did wonders for this E3 overall.
@Mahe Summer is lacking for all the systems this year, even the 3DS. Only thing noteworthy is Last of Us Remastered on PS4.
The rest of 2014 is NOT dry for Wii U. Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta 2 + Bayonetta 1, Sonic Boom, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, and Smash Bros. XB1 has Halo Master Chief Collection, Sunset Overdrive, and Forza Horizon 2. PS4 has.... Driveclub and Last of Us Remastered. Wii U has more than the other two.
2015's lineup (so far): Xenoblade Chronicles X, Splatoon, Yoshi's Wooly World, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Zelda U, Star Fox, Mario Party 10, Devil's Third, and more announced titles.
Just because you aren't interested, doesn't mean the Wii U is "doomed". E3 easily made the Wii U look fun. A lot of the Internet seems to agree.
Manaphy2007
best e3 from nintendo so far and loved robot chicken a-la-nintendo sony and microsoft must have poopiedoodled brick and assumed nintendo would not do something so epic
@Mahe To start from the beginning: I got the ZombiU pack, one of the best survival horror games I played in AGES. Great bundle also. Mario 3D Wolrd, Pikmin 3, Donkey Kong, Wonderful 101, LEGO City, Scribblenauts, Rayman Legends, Wind Waker HD, Monster Hunter 3U, Sonic Lost World, some amazing versions of multiplats (and some terrible or just regular 'okay' versions also, to be honest).
2014 brings Bayonetta 2 as well, which is one of my most anticipated games ever, to name just one. And given that I have yet to complete some of the earlier mentioned games, along with some others both on my Wii U and on my 3DS as well, and many indies also coming up...
2015 looks amazing with many great titles, much more varied, original, exclusive,... Than anywhere else.
Well, to each his own, they say, but it's pretty clear you're either trolling or CHOSE to hate Nintendo.
@unrandomsam If you finished all those games in such a short time, and are not satisfied yet, well, you either live by some VERY double standards, or no system EVER could satisfy you, and you might want to pick another hobby... To me, the other systems hold nothing particulary interesting at the moment, or in the near future. Nothing that can make me decide to pick one system at least, and most still come out on PS3 or are upgraded versions of games on older systems, which I still have, so yeah... Wind Waker HD was also never a REASON to get a Wii U (if not for me being a Zelda collector), but I don't get how Nintendo gets so much whining for 'rehashing', when most cheers for Sony came for some remastered games from just last gen, and Microsoft got theirs for Halo collection...
whanvee
I got me a wii u day one and I kinda loved it. I say "kinda", even though it's not a word, because there was very few games to play on it and cancelations and delays galore for what was to come. Yes, it had low sales numbers after a positive release but I never saw it as impending doom. Every other site did though. There was doom and gloom articles everywhere about the wii u and it's lack of games after it's "launch window". What really annoys me is that I see no such poopoodoodoocacapoopledoople talking on other systems which are having a very, very similar drought. Yes games have come to those systems and a lot of them are pretty bad, but still there. These systems are doing well and still sit at an install base a tad bit lower than the wii u's but developers and publishers aren't pulling their support for the system like they did on the wii u. Maybe because third party sells better on these systems but it just makes no sense to me. I've yet to see even one article about the lack of games for those systems. All everyone talks about is their bright future.
It saddens and pisses me off the double standard most "gaming journalist" have towards Nintendo. I put those two words in quotation marks not because I don't think it is a real career choice but because most of those professionals are just fan boys waving around their flag of choice. I'm not saying all game journalist are that way just the ones who were constantly talking crap.
Makes me wonder if there hadn't been so much bad press for the wii u would it be in such a rough spot right now??
Hotfusion
@Yorumi
I totally agree. Before the Wii U launched I thought a good approach would have been to position it as a second console to XB1 and PS4 gamers as well as it's fan base.
By developing a strong library of diverse exclusives the Wii U could create its own niche part in this industry.
Instead Nintendo put their faith in third parties that ridicule the system and dropped it after bad sales. Leaving droughts that Nintendo was forced to fill themselves.
I really hope they go this way rather than be yet another copycat PS4/XB1/PC.
If third parties want to bring something let them but Nintendo seems to be finally learning that they have to depend on themselves.
@Hotfusion yeah I definitely hope they've learned their lesson. They did kind of the same thing with the launch of the 3ds and it came back to bite them in a similar way. All the stuff we saw announced definitely gives me hope they're learning. Hopefully next e3 we'll see announcements of metroid, f-zero, animal crossing for wiiU, and a nice little splatoon like surprise.
jrob23
They clearly won E3. That said, sales only had a minor bump from Kart 8 and unless they lower the price to $249 for the Holidays the Wii U is not going to make it. It'll be a cool little machine with great games and us owners will be happy. But I can't see it being supported past 2015 if the sales are so bad
I am very happy to see positive stories in media on Wii U. I have a Wii U for school video game club that I run afterschool, and the excitement for Mario Kart 8 was intense among the students. It was awesome to see. Now people are looking at Wii U 's back catalogue of exclusive games (pikmin, mario 3d world) and saying it is actually a good buy. Awesome.
@Shambo The thing that hurts the most about the double standard is that Last of Us and GTA V are games from last year. Wind Waker is over 10 years old.
kyuubikid213
In regards to Mahe...
As for Nintendo wooing Wii U doubters, I hope third parties come back with the buzz generated by this E3 and (hopefully) the coming years. I despise playing games on my 360 now because there's no GamePad support.
Gamer83
Unfortunately it can be said across the board to 'wait for 2015.' There are some games I'm looking forward to this fall though... Obviously on Wii U it's Smash Bros. and Bayonetta. Destiny, LBP 3, CoD Advanced Warfare, AC Unity and Far Cry 4 for PS4 and if I had an X1 Sunset Overdrive and The Master Chief Collection would be definite buys.
The definitely 'wooed' me. WiiU be the end of 2014, baby.
Fandabidozi
Good article. Who are these mum and dads who know nothing about video games? Does the last 40 years get wiped from your conciousness when you have kids, or what?
Meaty-cheeky
What people are Noticing Wii U!? Lol
Great job Nintendo, just keep it up and the Wii U will be here to stay.
MrMeaCulpa
As someone who is lucky enough to own all platforms I've got to say that Nintendo won because for me, the criteria is simple: you buy consoles to play exclusive games and you play PC for graphics and performance. The Wii U is far and away the current-gen console with the most exclusives, and that's right now before all the E3-announced games even release! I laugh at the ongoing "resolution war" between PS4 and Xbox One people, and mind you I own both, because the simple truth is that they are both inferior to a good gaming PC. I also laugh at people who think they are experts at game development and programming because they listen to 1-2 angry guys on Youtube. Optimization has just as much to do with performance and graphical polish as raw power and specs. Name me a single PS4 or Xbox One game that is as visually striking and polished as the 1-2 punch of 3D World and Kart 8. You can only achieve a certain level of quality by developing for a single platform, regardless of raw specs, and the fact is that Nintendo still has the most talented game makers in the industry by far.
@whanvee - I liked your post, especially "poopoodoodoocacapoopledoople"!
Seriously though, the gaming media definitely had a negative impact on the Wii U, and they seemed to turn on a dime and praise the new Microsoft and Sony systems this year for the exact same things they condemned Nintendo for last year.
Basically, we had article after article on the mainstay gaming sites undermining confidence in the Wii U, plus the mostly wrong but somehow relevant Michael Pachter and the non-gaming speculators making grand predictions of doom.
In the end, Nintendo's Wii U launch was sloppy and slow, but far from the abysmal poopoodoodoocacapoopledoople of incompetence and failure that they made it out to be.
Socar
@vamkar I can't help but ask one thing. Are you an Indian?
As for Nintendo, I'm pretty sure that the future directs will make the Wii U even better than it is now.
@IceClimbers
To be fair you've left off all the multi-platform games for the XB1/PS4/PC that are going to be huge.
@Mahe re. The 2015 line-up being terrible. If you're going to be an effective troll you've got to keep it realistic. That one is just going too far, you've shown yourself up as trying too hard. Just a tip.
@Yorumi I totally agree about the lack of diversity in the systems first 18 months. In fact overall I think Nintendo's own output in that time was poor by their own high standards. They look to be gathering serious momentum now though.
@Action51
The Xbox 1 has taken an out and out slating from most of the media. Only with E3 this year have they started to turn it round. Meanwhile on multi-format sites the lack of exclusives on the PS4 is already a joke on Forums. While at Christmas last year the likes of Eurogamer and Edge did articles about how the Wii U was the best buy around.
This 'the world is against Nintendo' thing comes across as a bit paranoid and inaccurate. Fans of every format think the media shows 'teh bias' against their machine. It's like in football where every fan of every team thinks heir team gets all the bad decisions. It just isn't true.
@IceClimbers Indeed, and many of the new games are Assassin's Creed of Dutyfield 2015 kind of IP's, or in the case of first party games: new entries in old series ("Nintendo needs new IP's"), and the new ones announced are... Well, Steampunk supernatural robo-zombie vampire grey-brown FPS's, because a real 'hardcore gamer' can't have enough of those and should never get caught playing something fun with the technology of colour TV's fully exposed.
@kyuubikid213 The sad fact is, that many younger gamers these days just copy-paste such lines of nonsense, and write off Nintendo to sound more hardcore or whatever. Why? Because Nintendo censored Mortal Kombat in 1993 or whenever that happened?
As for the 360, I already didn't like the PS controller since PS1, but when it plays good games, I'll 'abide'. But now, I can hardly touch that thing anymore Gamecube or Wii U Pro controllers are still very nice, but whenever it doesn't HINDER me (as it did in Ninja Gaiden 3 RE), I'll always pick my Gamepad. Smash Bros will be played with Gamecube controllers probably though.
@torotoid64
To be fair, Nintendo had paintguns and mutant squidboys/girls.
Zombie_Barioth
@electrolite77
Yep, the grass isn't exactly greener on the other side. Theres also the fact that contrary to popular belief, most people don't pay much attention to the gaming media as most of us forum goers.
@shambo
"Steampunk supernatural robo-zombie" actually sounds like an interesting idea for a game, as does the "zombie splatoon" that someone else mentioned.
@Zombie_Barioth That's because it IS an interesting basic idea, when it all comes together in one cool game, not just a market flooded with zombies (or whatever other name they give them. "Mutants! How many times do I have to tell you not to use the Z-word?" - Agent G) and half ideas surrounding popular subjects. When a game about supernatural robo-zombies driven by steam machines comes out, I'll be the first to see what it's all about But when I see brown shades, hands with guns, and mutants... Well, I'll lose interest pretty quickly.
A page from Umbrella Academy, a very enjoyable comic!
And don't get me wrong, I love Telltale's Walking Dead, Siren Blood Curse, the first Dead Space, Zombi U, HOTD Overkill,... But those all did it in a different way with new ideas, atmosphere... or just so over the top old-school in HOTD's case
FX102A
@Yorumi Whilst I agree the Tales series hasn't been reaching the lofty numbers set by some of the FF games, it's not been doing too bad sales wise. Many stocks have been selling out and even a few reprints needed doing. Basically, BN have acknowledged the series is loved by a fairly niche audience in the west and have decided to capitalise on them by getting involved with the fans and offering versions with swag (that sell out quickly).
As for Xenoblade, again didn't set the tills alight but over time became a very sought after game and today, new copies carry a fairly highish price tag.
XCX may not shift huge amounts of Wii U's but has the potential to be the 'tipping point' for JRPG lovers, who then have the added benefit of being able to play plenty of other Wii U exclusives (if they are to their liking).
nesvc
I wish we could play all Nintendo games without having to touch the gamepad.
can't take credit for that ,ummmmmmmmmm, word it was the mods that changed it from something a bit more vulgar, but with the same meaning.
@FX102A those other games are selling enough to keep new versions coming for sure. BUt certainly quality isn't the determining factor in jrpg sales. My point was that a pretty sizable portion of the FF fanbase isn't actually jrpg fans, they're people that just buy what the media tells them to buy. That's why I was pointing out all the situations where people can't even explain why they like a game without reciting marketing spin.
If jrpgs were actually selling according to quality FF should be way behind xenoblade and tales. Similarly with ES games, skyrim should be the worst selling ES game. There's nothing that can be done about it there's stupid people everywhere. However, consider some of the unimaginably stupid reasons a lot of people write off grate games in the tales franchise or a masterpiece like ni no kuni: "It's cell shaded so it's just a game for pedophiles." You have to be special kind of stupid to think like that. Or consider reasons they give for liking ff14, "it's got a story unlike other mmos." Oh you mean other than everquest, everquest 2, ff11, WoW, warhammer, tera, swtor, and almost every other mmo to ever be made? But the marketing department told them it's special so they just blindly recite it.
It's not to say everyone who plays popular games is stupid but their popularity, and the reason there's so much copy/paste is because a good portion of the fanbase is incredibly stupid.
@Yorumi Can't argue with that. I'm not even a big Final Fantasy fan despite loving JRPGs.
Then again, having some difficulty getting into Ni No Kuni. Maybe the "childlike innocence" of it is just not clicking with me.
@FX102A it helps if you're a big ghibli fan. Their stories tend to revolve around children. It's a really good story when you get through it.
piggie_pie
This article is true... I would label myself as a Sony Fanboy because i have loved and enjoyed every PlayStation since PSOne... I own two PS3's and two PS4's... While the PS4 is my console of choice I have to admit that what Nintendo has shown from E3 got me excited to be a Nintendo owner once again (having owned every Nintendo console since the NES other than the Wii-U)... so... few days after E3 i went out and bought a Wii-U. Its nice to have a Nintendo that is actually HD! I know its a new console so i don't want to sound impatient but i would love to see more from the GameCube era (manly the original Crystal Chronicles)
Can't wait to hear more on the new Xenoblade, the new Zelda, and rumors of a new Metroid.
@Yorumi you are seriously comparing just any platformer with DK or Mario?
This is what I find funny about Sony fanboys. They think because Sony decides to make a platformer as an after thought and gives it a shoe string budget it's the samething as Mario. You can easily tell Sony doesn't give a rip about alternative genres, they toss a few dollars to have them made only to check a box so they can say "we have that too" but the quality shows in spades, or lack thereof.
Case in point, look at two of Sony's kart racers. Both look like a horrid hot mess and run at slideshow 25-28fps. Yet Sony's dudebro genres of first and third person shooters they dump hundreds of millions of dollars in producing. It really shows you where their priorities lie and it's not in any genres I find interesting.
Sony doesn't want my money is what it is. They want the dudebro market as shown by the budget they give games like Shadowfall and Uncharted. LBP, Ratchet get table scraps. None of Sony's alternative genre games even come close to the amount of production quality seen in Nintendo's top first party franchises. Priorities.
Indies is at an even bigger disadvantage, which is to be expected, they don't have the cash of Nintendo or Sony. I love indie games and I have hundreds of dollars of indie games on my PC, but no offense to indie devs, they don't hold a candle to the sheer inventiveness of SM3DW where every other level a new gameplay mechanic is introduced. That costs money and creativity to fill an entire game with hundreds of new ideas, and so far Nintendo is the only company doing that with platformers.
PlywoodStick
One of my friends, an ardent PC only player, wants a Wii U for Mario Kart 8. That... is a triumph, on Nintendo's part. He was last interested in Nintendo consoles back in the N64 days... Even then, he was mostly a Saturn guy.
@jrob23 Nintendo already proved this E3 that they don't care what the sales say, they will continue to support their flailing device.... Ninty isn't Sony, they won't ignore the platform because it's underperforming coughcough-Vita-coughcough
Sat 21st Jun 2014
@Yorumi Having played FF14 until near level cap (quit months ago), I can say it is a good theme park style MMO... Until you hit level cap. Then your reason for staying deteriorates very quickly. I wasn't too impressed with the story, even if it was interesting in an FFish way. The world design has potential, butit's not up to snuff yet. The gameplay systems follow the legacy of WoW and Guild Wars, which I found compelling for a while, until the grind took it's toll on me. The BGM is better than many MMO's, but the OST is available for listening online... The game balance is underdeveloped and uninteresting, but that's understandable considering the title's history. The battles can be exciting, though they don't match the challenge and rhythm of old school FF11.
Looking forward to stuff like Camelot Unchained, myself...
KingBonesaw
I wanted 3 things from nintendo at E3. More Bayonetta 2, new Zelda announcement and a Captain Toad game.
AshFoxX
Well, thanks to clueless journalists, a good portion of LA Times readers probably still think that Nintendo is working on releasing a white PlayStation 4.
joey302
Let's face it. Anyone who buys a wii u from this time period forward is in great shape as there is plenty games to play in retail and the eshop....however I'm still not happy with the vc service at all... At this point it should have all the wii vc games on the shop plus new systems /games not previously available!!
And my definition of a classic are games such as: kaboom, river raid, joust, defender, robotron, outrun, millepede, asteroids, centipede, middle command, tempest, paperboy, gauntlet, rampage, yars revenge, pitfall, megamania, keystone kapers, carnival, jungle hunt, super cobra, frogger, road fighter, space harrier, warlords,hydro thunder, operation wolf, space invaders, moon patrol, marble madness, super breakout, and so so so many others!!! THESE ARE CLASSICS people!!!
motang
They didn't have to woo me at all, I bought Wii U a week before E3 2014, and now am really gald I did as I am super excited to see what's coming out on it this year!
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3DS And Wii U Software Discounts Have Been Removed From My Nintendo
Can we get some Switch ones now?
Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 16th)
Here are our picks, but what are yours?
This "Impossible" Glitch Could Change The Way You Play Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Forever
Want to keep the Bow of Light? Now you can
Video: Are People Still Playing Wii U Games Online? Let's Find Out
Can you still get games on Smash, Splatoon and more?
LEGO City: Undercover Games Removed From Wii U And 3DS eShops
In what's becoming a worryingly common trend
News New LEGO Mario 'Master Your Adventure Maker Set' Is Available Now
News New Pokémon Snap Will Feature Online Play, But What Will That Actually Include?
News Kingdoms Of Amalur: Re-Reckoning Is Coming To Switch With DLC Included
Switch eShop
News Balan Wonderworld Is Getting A Free Demo Later This Month


The road/race demo day is happening on Saturday June 4th with rides starting in (surely from) the Red Planet shop in Swindon. There will be bikes from Merlin, Litespeed and Scott. Book now to avoid disappointment.
There are at least 3 ti Merlins and one carbon to try plus several ti Litespeeds, and two carbon Scott CR1s. There will also be one or two ladies specific ti bikes.
Then ride out with the pros. International triathelete Richard Stannard, will be joining them for the afternoon, and Extreme Endurance senior rider Rob Lee will be on hand all day.


Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital recently received a $2.5 million donation anonymously for the purposes of expanding their treatment services for babies born dependent on drugs and alcohol. It is a gift that will significantly improve the ability of the hospital to effectively treat and care for babies who will require weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) before they are free from a physical dependence on the drugs they were exposed to in the womb.
According to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, the number of babies in need of such care has risen considerably every year across the state. In 2016, they report that 4,215 babies were exposed to addictive substances due to their mother's use, 1,700 more babies than in 2015. Hillsborough County was home to the highest number with 579 babies born substance-dependent.
It is a serious problem with devastating effects, and the money for services will certainly help. But as with all things drug-related, the real solution to the problem is addiction treatment for the mothers who are struggling to give birth to healthy babies and to become the sober parents their children need them to be.
When a woman is using addictive substances for any purpose during pregnancy, the unborn fetus is exposed to the drugs in her system. From alcohol and marijuana to opiate painkillers and street drugs like heroin, crack, and cocaine, any level of use puts the unborn child at risk. For many babies in Florida, the biggest problem is opiate painkillers, taken by mothers who are either trying to manage chronic pain and/or have developed an addiction.
Called neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), children exposed to drugs in the womb have a horrific experience when they are born. Suddenly without the drug their body has become dependent upon, they struggle in a way that is heartbreaking to watch.
The goal is to not only identify the issues that babies born with NAS will experience during their childhood and as they grow into adults but also to provide services to assist along the way.
It is easy to judge mothers who expose their babies to drugs and blame them for the difficulties their children are facing, but it is important to remember that this is nothing that anyone chooses for their child. No one sets out to develop an addiction, and many mothers do not realize they are pregnant or are scared to seek help once they recognize they are dealing with both an addiction and a pregnancy. Others are living with chronic pain and do not know how to function without their medications, especially when dealing with pregnancy.
Shaming someone who is struggling with an addiction is not going to help them to help their child – not during the pregnancy, immediately after the birth, or in the months and years that follow. Pregnancy and childbirth are just the first steps in a long life of parenthood, and both mother and child need all the support they can get to make a strong start in recovery.
Is a woman you love struggling with addiction during pregnancy? Are you ready to help her connect with treatment services that can help her begin to heal?


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News Film News
Steven Avery's lawyer says new document could secure 'Making A Murderer' subject's freedom
"I am trying to get the evidence to what I believe is the truth of what happened"
Kathleen Zellner was inspired to take on Avery's case after Part 1 of the show
The lawyer for Making A Murderer's Steven Avery says she's preparing a new document that could eventually secure his freedom.
Avery, who is at the centre of the Netflix show, has continually protested his innocence after he was convicted of murdering photographer Teresa Halbach in 2007.
But a dramatic twist in the tale could be on the way after his lawyer Kathleen Zellner confirmed that she is planning to file an appelate brief this Thursday – a document containing all the legal arguments on why Avery should be freed.
Zellner hopes that the 22,000 page document will provide judges with ample proof to rule in Avery's favour, which could spark the long process of securing his eventual release.
Kathleen Zellner
"You must, if you can, create reasonable doubt by having an alternative theory that matches the evidence," Zellner told OK! about the document.
"That's when you're most likely to win a murder case."
Tomorrow we will announce a new, important development in the Avery case about 2:30 pm CT. Stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! @michellemalkin @lifeafterten @BBCWorld @TheTelegraph__ @guardian @Newsweek @TheStar_news @johnferak #MakingAMurderer2 #TruthWins #WreckingCrew
— Kathleen Zellner (@ZellnerLaw) December 16, 2018
Zellner says that the new evidence will be reviewed by the higher court, although a final decision will eventually be made by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
She explained: "I am trying to get the evidence to what I believe is the truth of what happened, so that there won't be another trial."
"None of my exonerations has anyone been retried. None of them. Just this week, we got a tip that was just jaw-dropping. Like, woah, somebody actually knows this. We're getting close."
Although Avery was denied a new trial in September, Zellner also says that the fight to secure his freedom has "only just started."
"We've only been in front of one judge. This is what is important to know. A lot of people were saying, "Well, you were turned down". But we've only been in front of one judge, in the small county at the trial level, so she's at the lowest level.
"We've never been in front of a higher court with all of this information."
Last month, Zellner also shared an extensive list of purported evidence that she claims is proof of Avery's innocence.


Global lending marketplace BitLending Club has announced the shut down of its platform following pressure from regulators.
[…] Over the last year or so, the regulatory pressures has been increasing to the point that it is no longer feasible to maintain the operation of the platform.
The company added that it will retain "minimal functionality," which will start next week. The exact date and time will be sent out via email to the users.
The limited functionality will still allow to repay loans, deposit to repay and withdraw funds. However, BitLending Club will not accept new users, loan requests, investments or "anything else," the company added.
After all loans are repaid or written off, the platform will remain operational with the limited functionality for 30 days. The service will then be terminated completely, which the company expects to be sometime in August 2017.
While BitLending Club was very regretful, it stopped short of mentioning exactly what kind of "pressure" and which regulator(s) prodded the company to shut its doors.
"Again, we're extremely sad to be delivering this news, but that's the reality of operating a business in the Bitcoin ecosystem," the company stated.
There are regulatory pressures, which make business extremely difficult and we have always done everything possible to be compliant with regulators. Given that we've reached the point where it is no longer feasible to run the platform and be compliant, we have decided to terminate the platform.
BitLendingClub was registered in Sofia, Bulgaria in November 5, 2014 and was the biggest global lending marketplace to use blockchain technology. Its platform was designed to provides small businesses in emerging markets with access to capital at affordable rates from lenders across the globe.
Small businesses have had systematic and disproportionately limited access to capital, yet they account for 92% of the firms, 70% of the new jobs, and generate more than 45% of the GDP of their countries, according to the BitLending Club website.
But the writing appeared to have been already on the wall as early as March, 2016, when BitLending Club announced it was ceasing operations in certain "high risk" countries.
It appears that the much touted "Blockchain technology" could not only withstand pressure from regulators, but was also unable to serve as borderless money within the traditional framework.
Will new P2P lending services fill the void? Let us know in the comments below!


" …There are certain things, certain conceptions, which it is needless to praise, because their intrinsic worth stands evident to the simplest observer. I am afraid that Seppeltsfield comes within that class; neither praise nor criticism would enhance or belittle its value, or even interfere with its popularity. Mr. Seppelt's wine cellars have long been recognised as the premier cellars of the colony, and I will only add that personally I know of no cellars, either here or in Europe, so perfectly conceived, from the general plan down to the minutest detail..."
This single barrel of 1878 Tawny port was to remain maturing in a separate room within the bluestone cellars. The tradition of laying down a barrel of the finest wine from each vintage was continued every year following and continues to do so today.
The Centennial Cellar now comprises an unbroken lineage of every vintage from the current year back to 1878. A living museum of Australian winemaking history and undoubtedly the 'jewel in the crown' of the Seppeltsfield estate, the Centennial Cellar is an absolute must see for visitors.
Completed in 1888, the Gravity Cellar was the visionary design of Oscar Benno Seppelt, son of Seppeltsfield founders Joseph and Johanna.
Built into the hillside on a series of terraces, Benno's design of the cellar was centred on allowing the natural course of gravity to assist the flow of fruit down through the winery.
Whilst originally borne from engineering logic, the gravity-fed minimal handling approach is now a coveted modern-day winemaking principle. In complement to open fermentation, the resultant wines show heightened aromatics and purity of fruit, aided by the gentle extraction of colour, flavour and tannin.
For nearly a century, the 1888 Gravity Cellar played an important role in Australia's fine wine landscape, until it was eventually decommissioned in the 1980s due to the need for significant restoration. The cellar lay dormant as a museum for nearly 30 years until it was proudly revived for the 2010 vintage, now celebrated once again by the winemakers of Seppeltsfield.
Vineyards immediately surrounding the Seppeltsfield estate span over 250 acres and include plantings of the Barossa's traditional grape varieties, Shiraz, Grenache and Cabernet. Small plantings of Touriga and Palomino are also within the estate's holdings.
Whilst Seppeltsfield's extended vineyards span broadly across the Western ridge of the Barossa and into the Eden Valley, it is the Great Terraced Vineyard - located on an estate hillside outcrop of ironstone, quartz and slate soil - that is highest prized.
The Great Terraced Vineyard comprises of bush vine Grenache plantings (vines without wire trellis) and range from 60-80 years of age. The complete vineyard is planted in contours of which follow the natural shape of the land, giving rise to a manicured appearance especially when viewed from above.
Traditionally, the Great Terraced Grenache would have been used entirely for the production of fortified wine. We are now also proud to be utilising some parcels for the crafting of small batch still wines.


Marlon Moraes bullied his way to the front of the line of bantamweight contenders Saturday night, crushing Raphael Assuncao with a big right hand, then finishing him with a guillotine choke in the first round of their UFC Fight Night main event in Fortaleza, Brazil.
It is unclear, however, if there will be a title fight waiting for the presumed No. 1 contender.
Though the UFC did not officially proclaim this bout at the Northeast Olympic Training Center to be an eliminator for the right to challenge 135-pound champion TJ Dillashaw, it has been widely assumed -- given that Moraes came in having won three consecutive fights, Assuncao four in a row -- that the winner would be first in line to face the 135-pound champion. However, Dillashaw has been angling to instead fight flyweight titleholder Henry Cejudo, who two weeks ago knocked him out in 32 seconds in Dillashaw's bid to add the 125-pound belt to his trophy case.
After beating Assuncao, Moraes mocked Dillashaw for dabbling in that potential scenario.
"Hey, TJ, I don't know if you deserve to fight with me," he said in an interview inside the Octagon. "After your last performance, my friend, I'm sorry, I may have to take somebody else and let you go down and hunt for the little boys."
Moraes (22-5-1), 30, got Assuncao to tap at the 3-minute, 17-second mark to earn his third straight first-round finish. He has won 17 of his past 18 bouts, the lone defeat during that run being a split-decision loss to Assuncao in their first meeting in 2017. That was the UFC debut for Moraes, a former World Series of Fighting champion.
The rematch started slowly and ended explosively. After the two Brazilians each had landed a few strikes, Moraes connected with an overhand right and, before Assuncao could gather himself, landed another big right that dropped him. Moraes swarmed, at first with punches, but then latched onto the guillotine. He ended up on top of Assuncao, the choke secured, and the tapout came quickly.
Assuncao (27-6), 36, had won 11 of 12 fights since 2011, the only loss coming in 2016 against Dillashaw. He also owns a 2013 victory over the champ.
The bantamweight title picture now would be crystal clear if not for the presence of the flyweight champion. Assuncao is No. 4 in ESPN's 135-pound rankings, Moraes No. 5. But the two contenders situated between them and the champ are Dominick Cruz, who is out with an injury, and Cody Garbrandt, who has lost to Dillashaw twice and is unlikely to get a third shot anytime soon.
Moraes would be the clear-cut next challenger if the champ were not fixated on Cejudo.
"I'm the best in the division, and you know who I deserve," Moraes said. "You know our champion went down a weight class, but I'm ready."


text:
Michaeloplia fallaciosa är en skalbaggsart som beskrevs av Marc Lacroix 1997. Michaeloplia fallaciosa ingår i släktet Michaeloplia och familjen Melolonthidae. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Skalbaggar
fallaciosa

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia