Guest Review: Rainbow Moon (Vita)

(This review is a guest submission by Albert Calderon @gloriousbagel. He is an affiliate of our group and we all thank him for the time and effort he put into this submission)

The PS Vita the nifty handheld that has had a very strong niche following in the Western markets is no stranger to ports and SideQuest studios decided to port Rainbow Moon to our beloved handheld. Rainbow Moon originally released by SideQuest Studios in 2012, it became a cult hit on PSN. Rainbow Moon's major selling points are its hardcore SRPG mechanics and its colorful artwork.  

Rainbow Moon places the player in the shoes of a warrior named Baldren who is warped into an unknown world by his rival.  In the events that shortly occur after Baldren being warped to realm known as Rainbow Moon, dimensional gates open up that cause chaos upon the land.  Monsters of all kinds begin to wreck havoc upon the land and with this unknown warrior being teleported along with them, the inhabitants of Rainbow Moon can't help but to believe that Baldren is behind the sudden increase of monsters.

Despite having an interesting plot, the game lacks narrative which hurts the overall experience of the game if the player is expecting a good story with a top notch narrative.  Rainbow Moon makes up the lack of narrative with the amazing gameplay it has to offer.  The Moon offers many places to explore; dungeons, water wells, mountains and caves

with secret loot to be found in every corner.  

Rainbow Moon easily requires 50+ to complete the main story line and 100+ hours to 100% the game. Being a Strategy RPG, Rainbow Moon is a grind fest so if you like grind heavy games like Disgaea you will right at home. Leveling up is also standard, in which you have to level up to raise your statistics, learn new skills and to level up your equipped skills. The leveling system does prove to be quite deep with many possibilities to create the most over powered team you can.  Rainbow Moon also boasts a diverse crafting system but it isn't something that hasn’t been done before. 

Being a Strategy RPG, the combat takes place on a turned based grid system., with your characters having a certain amount of moves per turn depending on your level.  You have to plan out your attacks carefully because the AI in the game is anything but stupid.  Rainbow Moon is a difficult game and you have to plan ahead during your battles or you will inevitably have the game over screen greet you after your enemies defeat you.  Despite being a difficult game the mechanics are easy to grasp and the tutorials that are offered in game give the player a good insight on every gameplay mechanic in the game. You will be forced to grind so keep that in mind when believing that you can breeze through dungeons.

The grinding is a given in every typical SRPG but in Rainbow Moon Side Quest nailed it.  It proves to be very addictive, in fact it's so addictive I find myself waiting for the next encounter.  Each of the playable characters also have their levels capped at 500, so grinding fans will have a blast.

The graphics are colorful and soothing to the eye and on the Vita's OLED screen the visual really shine.  There are many types of monsters in the game and their sprites are beautifully animated. Rainbow Moon doesn't have any graphical glitches or frame dips, which is a quite a relief as ports tend to be plagued by those type of graphical issues.

Rainbow Moon is a huge game and I could talk touch upon way more things about the game, but I would be spoiling it.  Rainbow Moon is out on the PSN store, available for $15.99 in the North American region and available for €12.99/£9.99 in the European regions.

Rainbow Moon receives a 8/10 from me.

• Addictive gameplay

• Great port with a locked framrate

• Pretty visuals and character designs

• Offers up to 100+ hours of gameplay

• Lacks a decent narrative

1. Albert Calderon

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution

Here is the latest trailer from Bandai Namco promoting the upcoming release of the new Naruto game "Ninja Storm Revolution".

Based on the massively popular Ninja Storm series this game features a huge original story, a 100 character strong roster and Mecha Naruto an original character by the creator of Naruto himself!.

A release date of 2014 has been given for this title so expect to hear more about this in the upcoming weeks 

Releasing on X Box 360 and Playstation 3 

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst (Breathe) is the latest title in the Naruto Video Game series, based on the hugely popular Manga/Anime series featuring the orange jumpsuit wearing Ninja Naruto Uzumaki. When i say latest this isn't actually a new title, it's a re-release with extra content I.E GOTY edition. We weren't around when the original dropped and after my Dragon Ball review I was left with an itch that needed to be scratched, so here is the next instalment in my anime game reviews.

First & foremost this game is a 1vs1 Fighting game along the lines of Dragon Ball: Raging Blast. As mentioned it's based on the anime of Naruto so characters from the series are your weapons of choice.
Along side your main character you also get to pick support characters, this is a throw back from the series as alot of the time they are in "Squads". This adds an extra dimension to the fights as each character has a set ability which can help sway the tide of battle, for example you could catch the enemy off guard with Sakura performing a surprise attack.

Another aspect of the system is Chakra, this is something Naruto fans will be VERY familiar with but for those just joining us to put it simply, it's energy which you use to perform special Jutsu (special technique/attack). Along side that use you can use it to close the distance by performing a Chakra dash or even apply it to your projectiles making them that little more powerful & be bigger combo boosters.
To build Chakra it's a simple task of holding a single button down, as is activating it. The key to it is when & where you do this. You are immobile while you gather Chakra & thus become a giant target, also should you miss with an attack you have depleted your supplies and will need to stock more before you launch another offence.

Items are another aspect to combat, simply put the Ninja Tools you bring along to battle with you. Pills for strength,speed & defence boosts. Instant Chakra boosts & weapons are all part of your array and you should plan them into any strategy. A well placed Ninja Bomb with a trap & forward planning gets you off on a great start to a powerful and deadly combo!.

Characters can also reach an Awakening state. This is a very powerful place to be during a battle & can usually be your path to victory. You are faster, attack harder, have better defence & are capable of doing the strongest move in your repertoire. The downside to this is that you lose all of your Chakra & are unable to gather more for a period of time leaving you vulnerable to a beat down.

The main attraction with this game is it's lengthy story mode. Unlike most fighting games NSUN3FB features a giant world for budding Hokage to explore and interact with. Once again it follows alongside the setting created for the Manga/Anime so this means you'll be visiting alot of familiar places such as the Hidden Leaf Village. The story follows alongside the ongoing Anime/Manga rather than being a What If?, it starts at the Five Kage Summit & concludes with the Shinobi World War arc. At the time of this game being made the arc hadn't ended so instead you are given a Non-Canon ending presented by Namco-Bandai, it's a nice addition rather than it just ending abruptly.

It's pretty solid in terms of emulating the series to a point, all the main points are presented in some form or another. Unfortunately it doesn't always get it quite right, for example certain fights are either skipped over or done as just a bare bones match thus losing a little of it's impact. Boss fights are a highlight here & have been for the series since the first release.
Usually following along the same lines of the anime you'll find yourself battle giants & powerful foes with QTE sections, split second timing & stunning visuals. These battles most often take various forms and feel a fair bit different than the usual 1vs1 battles.

The exploration is brilliant but until the later parts of the game it feels rather gated due to keeping you from exploring various areas for "Storyline" purposes. You have people to talk to, items to find and side quests that demand your attention, it's alot more content for a fighting game than usual and it's a nice break between fights.
The cut-scenes are almost anime perfect, especially when it comes to this Full Blast release in which they have remade a huge amount of the cut-scenes in a new engine giving them that little more shine than usual. My only gripe was the sheer amount of them in the earlier sections of the game, especially compared to how many fights you have. It seems like for the first few hours you spend more time watching people talking about fighting than actually getting down and scrapping!.

Classic fights and story points are also available in the story mode, this means you can re-live some of the bigger events in the history of Naruto & The Hidden Leaf. It's a nice little option and a decent little time sink, it increases the package by a whole lot and was a generally pleasant surprise if I'm honest. It's an excellent way to work through the roster as-well!.

A final addition to the story mode set in this game is the multi-battles. Done along the lines of Dynasty Warriors you'll find your character fighting armies of enemies. Unfortunately with the game engline it's not the smoothest nor pleasant experience. Fortunately there are only a few times you have to do this and they are fairly short.

FULL BURST CONTENT With the Full Burst release alongside the remade cut-scenes they have also added a bit more content. This comes in the form of 1 new playable character, a new chapter, 100 extra missions & all the existing DLC. Is it worth it? this fully lies on if you have played it before or not, If you never played the original release of this game then yes the extras are like a nice little cherry on top.
On the other hand if you already have had the game and played it to death the price tag and minimal additions will not be worth you opening your wallet.

Overall I'm enjoying this game very much not only as a fighting game fan but as an on-off Naruto fan, in terms of games in general it's not the strongest purchase but as a licensed anime/manga game you'll be hard pressed to find a much better package

Unfortunately i didn't get much hands on with the On-line due to it being laggy & having connection troubles. I believe it's issues from the original release and it's a shame they have stayed for this one. As I have never really enjoyed this series on-line I find it to be a none issue for me as the only multi I use on this game is with people in the same room.

9/10

(Here is one for Remy!) 

Final Words This is a fantastic buy for someone first time around, newbies to Naruto will be a little confused but can get a short history lesson in game. It's a visual treat and a blueprint for the quality of anime/manga games 

Defence Team Form Up! Metroid Other M

Why Metroid: Other M is unfairly slated

Metroid: Other M it's a curious case when you look into it, it sold well and it reviewed decently. But when mentioned to fans of Metroid it's universally divided. 

Some will of loved the game where are other die hards lambast the game for the direction it went and usually blame Team Ninja.

Various "Distinctions" have been given to the game for example  X-Play chose it for "Game That Gave Us The Biggest Headache" due to controls and change in character for Samus. "Biggest Disappointment 2010" by Game Informer. It was nominated for several awards such as best story and best Wii game but lost out on both, fortunately it was awarded Editors Choice by IGN.

So where am I going with this? Myself I'm a fan of Other M, I love the game and as the title says I believe it's not only a fantastic addition but an essential title into progressing Samus and the series into today's gaming culture.

First of all I'm going to go over game play (no not gonna touch THAT till story) and certain mechanics. First off I'll be the first to admit that switching to first person mode was clunky and more often than not worked horribly in battle.

 I feel that the only way it could of worked would of been to apply the nunchuck and say used C to push you into the Fps mode. This would of needed a transparent cursor on screen at all times but would of helped the game control a lot better at the sacrifice of a small amount of immersion.

Combat and animation feel and look amazing in the 3rd person. At the time Team Ninja were well known for the quality of Ninja Gaiden and Dead Or Alive, both have superb animation (not just jiggle physics). Bringing them on board was a stroke of genius by Nintendo as Samus has never felt so fluid and deadly. 

One of my defining Metroid moments comes from near effortlessly dodging an enemy, firing a charged blast then watching Samus dive onto the enemy, put it in a head lock and full charge blast it into it's skull. 

The closest this has been done is in cutscenes from the Prime series so actually pulling this off mid battle just pushed the badass feeling to the roof in a big way.

The first person scanning sections are horrible pixel hunts I have to agree on that front. A lot of complaints are about the lack of scanning the scenery and piecing the story together like the Prime series. I feel personally that this is because this story was created to focus on Samus and her backstory and how the previous adventures are taking a toll on her.

The enemy selection often feels quite familiar with a lot of faces turning up from Zebes. Though it seems like I'm clutching at straws when I say this, it didn't bother me. If anything it made the fights with the more original foes a lot more unsettling knowing I was out of my comfort zone. 

As previously mentioned it is a lot more story driven, with this in mind you don't get as much backstory on the actual setting unlike previous Metroid titles. My personal feelings on this subject are that the setting is merely a backdrop. This helps show Samus and her personality a lot more.

I have danced around the subject but now it's time for me to tackle the story. Currently replaying the game as I write this so some bits will be more vague than others but bare with me.

I'll start with the main character and greatest heroine known to gaming Samus Aran. Up until Other M you had the backstory of why she become the women she is today. Her parents killed by the infamous space pirates, she was raised and given Chozo DNA by the Chozo, fought alongside with the galactic federation until breaking off and taking on the Space Pirate scum equipped with her mysterious Power Suit. Sprinkle in her 2nd home planet of Zebes and her suit reacting to artefacts left by the Chozo. 

Enter the Metroid, parasitic entity, antagonist and a main focal point of the entire series. Samus has fought numerous Metroids over the years including going to their home planet and wiping all but one out. 

The Metroids are highly sought after by both the Galactic Federation and Space Pirates in hope of turning them into Biological weapons. Samus in her act of mercy in saving the child Metroid in Return Of Samus. Samus was always destined to be tied to the Metroid as both were "children" of the Chozo. Designed to keep the parasitic threat of X at bay, Metroid was to be the Chozo's final gift to the universe alongside their chosen defender of the galaxy Samus.

Unfortunately for the Galaxy the Space Pirates attacked Zebes in conjunction with the Mother Brain. Another creation by the Chozo who deemed the Chozo obsolete due to having all the Chozo knowledge installed. Also creator of the Power Suit which effectively credits her as the "Mother" of Samus.

As you can see Samus's fate is firmly intertwined between X, Metroids & The Space Pirates, most importantly Ridley!.

Responsible for taking down her home of Star Colony 2-KL, Killing Samus's mother in front of her eyes, attempting to kill a 3 year old Samus,Ridley has been in the majority of Metroid games in some form or another. I have gone over this point again as this is something people have complained about in regards to Other M. 

During the Other M you find out that the Galactic Federation were using the bottle ship as a way to create the ultimate Metroid Bioweapon. Metroid's weakness is extreme cold, the GF planned to create clones from DNA sourced from Samus's suit at the end of Metroid 3. 

By altering the DNA they had hoped to create an ultimate Metroid Bioweapon with no weakness.

Due to some confusion they at some point created a clone of Ridley, as he was the last of his species this clone was kept to preserve and possibly weaponise. 

Naturally when "Clone Ridley" turns up this knocks Samus for six. She's fought this guy countless times and it seemed Ridley was finally down after his death in Metroid 3. At this point I have to point out that since Metroid 3 a lot of Samus's past has come back in the form of allies, enemies and The Galactic Federation. She is regaining her more human side that she lost over the years of fighting the Space Pirates & Metroids. 

When Samus sees Ridley she is visibly upset and goes into an almost childlike state. This is one of the major outrages from this game,  Samus showing clear signs of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (I also need to point out that it was confirmed that this was the case). 

Another thing to point out is she has a similar reaction when she meets Ridley during the attack on Zebes in the manga. Yes the manga is canon and was meant to be read before Other M, unfortunately it never released outside of Japan so it's not as widely known (would recommend reading if you haven't it's good!)

The whole point of this game is making Samus more human and less the juggernaut she was in the past. By adding a human edge to her it gave Nintendo more room to move in the story. So I fully accept that when Ridley appears in this game Samus would react like that, she's tired, she's regaining her humanity and the very thing that took it all away just won't stay dead!.

Another story/gameplay aspect often disputed is Adam and his regulations. Early on the game you meet Samus's original CO Adam Malokvich, someone Samus respects and idolises almost to the point of Infatuation. 

She arrives at the bottle ship due to the nature of the distress call "Baby's Cry". With that and faces from her past Samus decides that she is destined to be there and help on this operation. 

Naturally she now falls under Adam's command and thus have to go along with what he says. Due to the red tape measures of The Galactic Federation he limits weaponry and equipment as to avoid excess damage/contamination until he can fully assess the situation.

This is how you unlock Samus's upgrades and later weaponry, it fits in with the theme of the game and doesn't have you stumbling on hidden Chozo technology. It also has one huge drawback at a certain area

During the game you explore a Lava filled area simulated like Zebes's own Norfair. Due to the heat you are constantly taking damage, it isn't until a little while into the area that Adam contacts you about activating your suit's Varia armour and thus stop you getting constant damage. 

I must admit it is hard to justify this and a lot just put it down to poor game mechanics and bad writing. Though not specifically mentioned I always take this as Adam is overly cautious in regards to the Power Suit. 

It has just been recently joined in a fashion with a Metroid during the events of Metroid 3. To me this makes me feel Adam is worried about contamination or possible repercussions from activating parts of her suit. 

This is more than likely me just overthinking it but I am trying to justify the game so I do have to put my mark on things here. 

The "Deleter" subplot is something worth mentioning. For those unfamiliar, during the game it becomes apparent that someone is doing everything in their power to stop the events of the ship leaking. Through acts of assassination and path blocking The "Deleter" is a reoccurring foe throughout the game. 

Unfortunately for some reason or another the plot is dropped late game and never given a proper resolution. There is enough evidence to show who The "Deleter" is but it's pretty much just dropped off which is a shame.

I would love to say it was clever writing to get you to think who it was but in the way it's done just seems like it was forgotten. 

Overall I love Metroid: Other M and the fact Nintendo tried to go in a new direction with it. I also loved Fusion too and credit that as a near masterpiece.

I'm not too sure why people hate Other M with such passion, the reasons above are the main ones but I have a feeling it's due to Team Ninja. 

Myself I believe they did a wonderful job with Samus and the Metroidverse. The writing at points was a little shaky but this was the first time the original studio tried something on this scale (Prime was Retro Studios and didn't really humanise Samus to this degree at any point) so I had to give a little leeway. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this and hopefully it allows you to think of Other M in a kinder light. I am always open to discussion with Metroid and would love to hear from you readers! 

Till next time!

To help with this article I used several items for research.

• My own personal Metroid collection of games 
• The Metroid Manga, I read this at http://beta.mangafox.com/
• Wikitroid (http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Metroid_Wiki) 

I would also like to thank Nintendo, Temco & Team Ninja for making this game possible & our very own Geoff for giving me a platform in which to express my feelings of this highly underrated game. This is an opinion piece & as such are my own personal thoughts and feelings.  

Review: Ys Memories of Celceta

First of all i need to apologise myself to the Otaku staff and my readers. I have been slacking of as of late. I had some personal problems but i am back in action. I will do the best i can to make this review worth reading. Review incoming prepare for take off!

It's strange to think that YS Memories of Celceta isn't the sequel to Ys seven. Ys Memories of Celceta is a story that happens before YS seven even happened. However, it is mentioned through the story that Altago is indeed in war with Romn. YS memories of Celceta is the new interation of YS VI ( Which was the only YS not developed by Nihon Falcom). Falcom dediced to make this game here first debut vita game and it was a blast to play.

Story
Ys memories of Celceta tells the story of Adol. After adol ventured into the great forest of Celceta he finds himself lost in the city of Casnan town. Adol finds himself lost without any memory how he got there. In fact, he doesn't remember anything about his life. Luckily for Adol he meets his old friend Duren, who tells him he saw him heading into the great forest of Celceta. After helping the town denizens from a mysterious attack by monster in the nearby mine they meet the governor of Celceta, whom is tasking people for mapping out the dangerous forest of Celceta. Ofcourse, there is a reward of 30 million gold which is music in the ears of Duren. Adol on the other hand can't refuse an adventure because he has the knack for arriving at the right time at the right place.While some will argue this game has a great story. Some will say it may lack seriousness but when the story develops further in the game it becomes really interesting. The thruth will come and all pieces of the puzzle come together. The thing i liked the most about the story of Ys Memories of Celceta is collecting the memories of Adol. Every piece of Adols memory tells you a story how adol became an adventurer. It was awesome that i could know more about the way adol became the way he is now.

Gameplay
What i really liked about Ys Memories of Celceta is how straightforward it is. You don't have to waste precious time with overly tedious tutorials and excessively long narrative and instead the game pushes you right into action. You gear up with the best equipment you can buy and you depart from the city of Canan to the great forest of Celceta.The first thing i did when i departed was to explore the lush green forest. To my surprise i came across a lot of strong monsters in the beginning. It felt challenging and pushed me to my limits. I came to the point some enemies are to strong to defeat. I had to grind to become stronger to defeat those monsters. In some games grinding is a bad thing. It becomes repetitive but in this game grinding is a lot of fun. Heck, i even didn't care about the grinding. I was backtracking every area i explored to become stronger than any enemy this game throws at me.

For who people who haven't played a Ys game before every time you finish off an monster you will get rewarded with items and gold. The way you defeat you enemy in this game is important in this game. You will get rewarded if you finish your enemy with a special attack or by dodging/defending yourself at the right time. This takes practise but defeating your enemies this way is so much more rewarding than button bashing your way through. You can button bash your way through the weaker enemies but you don't get as rewarded as with special attacks or dodging/defending. Furthermore, every enemy has it's weakness. Some enemies are weak to slash attacks while others can only defeated by force. This mechanic forces you to change from character and helps the game to stay fresh.

The world we life in is a busy place. We don't have the time to do the things we like. This game has given me a place to run away from the busy existence we all have. We all want to travel to see lush green forests or mountains but we can't. This game offers a place to explore your heart out. Whether, it is caverns tucked away deep into the forrest or each of the towns that come complete with their own shops and citizens to talk to. There are always something pushing you to explore more of the game and you should. On every corner of the map lies something you want to explore.

The highlight of this game are the bossfights, and showoff a joy this game could be. Every bossfight was challenging in it's own way. When i was fighting a  boss  i  was observing the attack patterns . So, eventually i discovered the weaknesses of the boss and defeat it. Furthermore, you will notice how much effort and time Nihon Falcom has taken in the design of the enemies.

Visuals
Ys Memories of Celceta is beautiful in it's own way. The visuals are rich with vibrant colours. It's a place you want to visit in your holiday and will remind you of the beautiful vista's. Ys Memory of Celceta offers stunning environments like lush green Forrest or an city build in a river. I have seen it all and i know for certain i will revisit this place again. Furthermore, the characters are designed with great detail. However, there are some things i didn't like about the visuals. I thought the game could improve in the graphical department. Some objects in the game looked PSP detailed. After seeing games like Tear away and Killzone mercenary you would think they could push the detail up a notch. I hope with the next YS iteration on the  Playstation Vita they could improve on that point.

Sound
As you guys already know i'm an avid fan of Ys. Ys Memories of Celceta didn't disappoint me. Every soundtrack made me feel i could take on the world. When i heard the introduction of the game i couldn't stop listening to it. I somehow felt sad when it ended. I think it's really important for a game to have some great soundtracks. It can elevate a game from being good to great. Ys Memories of Celceta falls in the latter. Defeating a dozen of enemies with rock in the background is the best thing since sliced bread. In the video below you could listen to one of the soundtracks and understand why i praise Ys that much.




Conclusion
My recommendation for this game? Buy it! This game is a superb action RPG  that offers something special.
This game tells an interesting narrative and will keep your attention till the credits roll. Furthermore, it was a pleasant surprise to get to know how Adol became an adventurer. Where this game shines is it's gameplay. Exploring the world like you are the adventurer yourself and slashing through the enemies that dare come across your path is exciting. This feeling gets stronger with the excellent soundtracks. As i mentioned before taking on a dozen enemies with some rock tunes playing in the background is the best thing since sliced bread.

一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九/O


9/10

Scoring Policy

Junpei & Yukari reporting for duty

Latest Persona Q trailer shows fan favourites Yukari and Junpei. While we are still awaiting a release date for Europe & US we will have to savour these glorious trailers!

Junpei you Da Man!

Translated Persona 5 interview

Those fond of Persona may very well find this recent interview with series producer Katsuru Hashino to be of note. The interview was conducted by the Persona magazine & focuses on discussing the various themes that may themselves within Persona 5.

I was considering posting the complete interview but there is a fully translated version of the interview which I'll link to instead. A tmblr blog going by the name PepsimanGB has the translated text. What do you think? Interesting?

Poke Bank EU is live

Any folks in the EU still plodding away on Pokemon X/Y? You'll be pleased that now that the Poke Bank has now been announced as live in the EU. Firing up the app before March 14th will get you a 30 day free trail the paid service for those wanting to test the waters first. You got your eye on a possible subscription? No word yet on the launch date for the US yet for the service.

Iwata talks mobile & future ecosystems for Nintendo

Satoru Iwata recently shared a discussion with investors & analysts linked with Nintendo. Ive managed to compile most of the important talk from a couple of key areas of the discussion into a post for those among you interested in what Iwata has in store for Nintendo going forward.  Its an interesting read at least

“Consumers who acquired information only through TV or other mass media in the past now get their information through smart devices or the Internet,” Iwata explained to those in attendance.

“With the growth of the Internet, PCs and smart devices, as well as social media that enables you to see easily what others are saying, have become such important methods with which people gather information and make judgements. The key aspect is that Nintendo would like to establish a firm channel on smart devices through which we can connect with consumers”

Iwata added that this approach would allow not only Nintendo, but also third-party developers on Nintendo platforms, to promote their games to potential consumers.

“However, we cannot expect consumers to activate our application every day if we only establish a channel that is solely dedicated to advertising,” Iwata said. “We would have to make efforts to provide a channel for consumers that makes them entertained, pleased and happy in order to have them use our application frequently. The application market for smart devices is already extremely competitive, so it is generally very difficult to have consumers activate a single application on a continual basis.”

As a result, Iwata says, the goal is to have these apps and games keep their users engaged over a long period of time.

“Once we have established such an environment, however, we will be able to dramatically change the relationship between Nintendo and consumers,” Iwata feels. “In addition, while we had no other choice but to use TV commercials in the past, we feel that adding such a new communication tool will be a cost-effective measure as a whole, so we are thinking about this issue in a holistic manner.”

With regards to the future & the possibility of a shared ecosystem with handheld and console...

“For example, currently it requires a huge amount of effort to port Wii software to Nintendo 3DS because not only their resolutions but also the methods of software development are entirely different,” says Iwata. “The same thing happens when we try to port Nintendo 3DS software to Wii U. If the transition of software from platform to platform can be made simpler, this will help solve the problem of game shortages in the launch periods of new platforms.”

“To cite a specific case, Apple is able to release smart devices with various form factors one after another because there is one way of programming adopted by all platforms. Apple has a common platform called iOS,” Iwata stated. “Another example is Android. Though there are various models, Android does not face software shortages because there is one common way of programming on the Android platform that works with various models. Nintendo platforms should be like those two examples.”

Iwata also shared that this initiative will begin with Nintendo’s next platform, and that Nintendo hope to take advantage of the Wii U architecture, and carry it forward.

“It of course does not mean that we are going to use exactly the same architecture as Wii U, but we are going to create a system that can absorb the Wii U architecture adequately,” Iwata clarified. “When this happens, home consoles and handheld devices will no longer be completely different, and they will become like brothers in a family of systems.

It seems theres some interesting ideas, especially the idea of a shared Os between console & handheld. Maybe its just me thinking something like thise but they could go a step further and just have a handheld you can connect to your TV and use as a console by hooking it up to the mains to power up & sync a controller to. When you wanna game on the go just leave the controller etc at home and game on the handheld. Mobile tech is getting more powerful by the day so its feasible, Nintendo haven't been about raw computational power for a while now anyway. Hell I'd buy something like from Nintendo What do you guys think? Interesting times ahead? or maybe a little worried/confused about what this talk entails?

.siliconera.com/2014/02/03/future-nintendo-devices-inspired-ios-android-operating-systems/#QhVCLkKDovQgIbp1.99

Monster Hunter Frontier G localisation?

Seems that the online only Monster Hunter MMO may be making its way to the west if this internal interview is anything to go by -

“The letter ‘G’ in the title implies it’s compatible with a wide range of platforms, including PlayStation3, Wii U, Xbox 360, and PC. We’re also planning to extend this support to PlayStation Vita,” says Ono. He explains: “The reason why we have increased our support for so many hardware platforms is because we have our sights set on distributing services for this game in the future outside Japan. We simply can’t release a game as it is, but need to adapt all the necessary services to the unique characteristics of each region. In preparation for that, we’ve broadened our scope and started launching individual titles across multiple hardware platforms.”

Something that may be of interest for yourself? I'm not a fan of Monster Hunter myself but it sounds interesting as an MMO 

Siliconera Hands-on with Dekamori Senran Kagura

I 

Been itching to see some gameplay footage for that risqué cooking game featuring the Senran Kagura girls? Well Siliconera  has you covered with some hands on footage for Dekamori Senran Kagura by themselves at the TaiPai Game Show. Are you hoping for a localisation of this one?