E3 2010

[kirbychu]

I was sold the moment I saw Skyward Sword. I hated TP's visual style, it made Zelda look like every other game out there. This is the perfect blend of TP and WW's style (WW being, in my opinion, the most visually stunning game in the series so far).

Epic Mickey looks even better than I was expecting, Epic Yarn and DKC came totally out of the blue for me and were fantastic surprises, Metroid: Other M looks set to be the game I wanted Prime to be, playing more like the older games in the series. Kid Icarus = yes, yes, I love you Sakurai, I want to kidnap you and keep you in a little box in my house so you can tell me your game ideas as bedtime stories.

*cough*

I'm still not convinced THE Toad has ever even existed. The first game Toad ever appeared in had at least, what seven of them? Who's to say the Toad from SMB2 is the same one from Mario Kart or Wario's Woods? They all look the same!

[Dances in Undergarments]

Jun 16, 2010 1:38:09 GMT -5 Da Robot said:

Jun 16, 2010 0:11:09 GMT -5 Dances in Undergarments said:

DK -> hells yes. Also seems rehashy, I guess, but since its been so long I'm psyched. 4 player co-op please, Nintendo / Retro. Oh a bring in Dixie.
Kirby -> Also visually stunning.

DK is confirmed to have 2 player co-op as Donkey Kong and Diddy (compared to the original DKC games which didn't have any).

Kirby also has 2 player co-op.

Sweet. Though, being such a mutliplayer focused console, I would prefer 4 - 4 player NSMB was a blast (actually, most of the time it ended up 3 players at my house, but still...). However I will certainly take 2 player co-op.

[Fryguy64]

Starting to put stuff on NinDB. If anything looks weird, try a hard refresh. There've been some wide-ranging changes and I'm still ironing out some of the bugs.

But before that, I'm putting up new game info. I've got Kid Icarus: Uprising and Donkey Kong Country Returns up so far. More coming throughout the day.

[Dances in Undergarments]

A new Mario vs. DK for the original DS (2DS?) has been announced. Seems like Nintendo want to take that DS out with a bang (Mario vs DK, Golden Sun, Pokeymanz).

[Prince~Of~Light]

Now wish they just try to tell us what they meant by re-trademarking Luigi's Mansion...

[Arcadenik]

Jun 16, 2010 4:11:23 GMT -5 kirbychu said:

I'm still not convinced THE Toad has ever even existed. The first game Toad ever appeared in had at least, what seven of them? Who's to say the Toad from SMB2 is the same one from Mario Kart or Wario's Woods? They all look the same!

Super Mario RPG had a Toad named Toad and he was one of the Mushroom Retainers. This Toad was the one who was basically your tutorial guide. Proof? Most of the characters have their own names in their dialogue boxes and Toad has that luxury (even Yoshi and Boshi have this while the other Yoshis don't).

Luigi's Mansion has a Toad named Toad and he actually called Luigi during the blackout. He even said "it is me, Toad" and mentioned the other Toads throughout the mansion. I have to say that the first Toad you see in the game is Toad himself because he said that Peach sent him over to the mansion to find Mario. Toad is known as Peach's attendant so he is more than just a Mushroom Retainer.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga had Toad run to Mario's house to tell Mario what happened to Peach this time. Again, Toad is always showing up at Mario's house to tell him about Peach's drama. Fun fact: Toad is the first character you play as in the whole Mario & Luigi series.

Super Paper Mario has a Toad named Toad. When Toad arrived at Mario's house to tell the Mario Brothers what happened to Peach this time, Luigi greeted him by saying "hi Toad". Again, notice the pattern with Toad and Mario's house... Toad shows up at Mario's house to tell Mario about Peach in SMRPG, M&LSS, and SPM.

There is also a possibility that the red Toad of the Mushroom Brigade is Toad himself. The clues are in Super Mario Galaxy's intro. One scene shows Toad (red spots, blue vest) and Toadette and the next scene shows the red Toad (with blue vest) carrying Star Bits with the rest of the Toad Brigade (with corresponding vest colors). Another clue comes from Super Mario Sunshine manual where the picture of red Toad is named "Toad" with the description "Peach's attendant" (not "one of Peach's attendants" or something similar) in the same way Toadsworth is described as Peach's long-time steward while Pianta and Noki get the plural "Isle Delfino residents". It is also noteworthy that the five Toads in Mario Superstar Baseball have bad chemistry with Wario.

By the way, the first game Yoshi appeared in, there were many of them, so yeah.

[Flip]

I'm wondering why Nintendo still won't acknowledge Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters. They don't mention it on the synopsis for Uprising, it wasn't mentioned in Pit's trophy in either Smash game, and all this DESPITE it having stickers and a mention in Brawl's sticker mode/gallery of games.

I might also mention that I did some snooping on Samurai Warriors 3, and the US launch doesn't seem like it's acknowledging Takamaru either.... They just call him "the samurai."

[The Qu]

Anybody notice that even the bosses from the first game returned? Twinbellows is the Cerberus, and the dragon looks like it draws some inspiration from Hedraw. That is cool.

[kirbychu]

Jun 16, 2010 8:33:59 GMT -5 Arcadenik said:

blah blah blah

Nothing you said there convinces me. You could make just as good a case for there being just one Goomba named "Goomba". Because after all, they're not all individually named.

My point in mentioning Yoshi is that we KNOW there are plenty of Yoshies named Yoshi. The Yoshies in Sunshine, for example, can't be ones that appeared earlier in the series, because they're native to Isle Delfino. Likewise, the Yoshi in Galaxy 2 (it does seem to be just one in that game) can't be one we've seen before because he lives in space. Feel free to dispute these "facts", but they're as concrete as the idea of a singular Toad named Toad.

[The Qu]

Personally, Arcadenik, you outlined the reasons Mario fans have for believing in a singular Toad quite well. Won't convert the non-believers, but oh well.

For those curious, I do subscribe to the singular Toad theory. No real reason I do. But we're getting off track...

[kirbychu]

I think a better way of describing the way I feel about it would be: If I were playing a game and there was a policeman character referred to as "policeman", I wouldn't assume that were a specific character named Policeman, especially if there were hundreds of other identical-looking policemen in the game.

I used to subscribe to the single-Toad theory, but as I've gotten older I began to realise how ridiculous it is and how little it matters. If they're all identical and are all called Toads, then what does it matter if the second Toad you meet in Mario 64 was the same Toad you played as in SMB2?

[The Qu]

It really doesn't. It's all fanwank. But fans have to have something to do in between releases, y'know?

[Manspeed]

I think harping on about how pointless it is makes even less sense than simply believing a common idea that causes little to no harm.

[Arcadenik]

I think a better comparison would be Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny from the Pokemon anime. They are some of the most recurring characters on the show even though we know there are many Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys throughout the world. But I am glad to know that at least I am not alone in thinking that there could be a singular Toad. And at least the Official Guide to Mario by Nintendo Power acknowledges Toad as one of the major characters in the Mario franchise. That's good enough for me.

Anyway, back to topic, I still cannot believe how epic Nintendo was at E3 this year.... they totally owned the floor and left Microsoft and Sony in the dark. Still, I am a little pissed that I may have to shell out hundreds of dollars to get the games I really want.

[Wildcat]

Well, if I get the time, I'll comment about Konami's conference going on now. Not a whole lot so far, beyond franchise whoring being 100% confirmed. Expect Metal Gear, Castlevania, Silent Hill, DDR and Frogger to be EVERYWHERE, apparently. Russell Simmons is on stage right now, I guess. (I'm watching Kotaku's liveblog, in order to not become too enamored...I am working, after all).

If something eventful happens, I'll pass it along (if I can).