Mr. GOH!

The Wii U had a comparatively excellent week before Christmas... in Japan. http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Wii-U-Sells-119-000-One-Week-Dominates-Japanese-Sales-Charts-61243.html Fascinating to see if the Wii U becomes a Japan-only console. I bet dollars to donuts that, aside from Japan, the worldwide sales figures were lousy for December.

Many thanks to ThursdayNext, for getting me confused with BigDanHero!

Walking Dead: 400 days. Great little experiment.

It was during the N64 era that I ceased to be a huge Nintendo fan. The games never really got much better than Mario 64, and there were no RPGs or real tactics games, which I LOVED on the PS. I got the various Star Wars games (aside from Pod Racer, because FUCK the prequels), as I was a huge Star Wars nerd, but they were all lackluster and ugly. Once I got a gaming PC and Half-Life, Nintendo and I were done for good. I went back and played a few Gamecube games on my sister's console, but none ever really took hold of me. I played a lot of Wii at friend's houses, but I LOATHE the every single part of the fucking WiiMote with the burning passion of a million suns, and, again, there were no games that really appealed to me. It saddens me that Nintendo doesn't offer anything appealing enough to justify my purchase of one of their consoles.I spent countless hours on dozens, maybe hundreds of NES and SNES games.I still treasure my SNES; it's the best birthday present I have ever received. I still think the most beloved and radical changes to Nintendo's various properties happened on the SNES, including the development and cementing of the core Mario and Zelda gameplay and art styles. Every change to Nintendo's core series since has felt incremental, rather than revolutionary (allowing I have not played Mario Galaxy, which seems like it breathed new life into Mario). even the change to 3D did not radically alter what Nintendo's core game series were. Nintendo's focus on new hardware gimmicks is a major weakness. The 3DS is a success in spite of its 3D. The WIi U's tablet controller is pretty much used for remote play and inventory screens rather than the promised asymmetric gameplay. One of the reasons THQ failed was the flop of its very similar uDraw tablet; it was nuts of Nintendo to think that its version would do sell the Wii U. The Wii U isn't dead yet, however. The odds certainly are against it being anything other than a failed console, but perhaps Nintendo will experience a Christmas miracle in Wii U sales numbers. Though, given that December sales mirror or are weaker than November sales for consoles, its tepid November numbers are not encouraging. If the Wii U is a failure, as I think it will be, Nintendo is in a bind; the 3DS is successful and a lot of Nitnendo IPs have a great home on the handheld. But that leaves a lot of console game money on the table. I am not sure its investors would be pleased with that. I believe Nintendo games would sell like hotcakes on the PS4 and Xbone, and even the PC. I hope Nintendo survives. I hope its IPs thrive. But it will be difficult to recover from the potential abject failure of the Wii U.

I had an N64 first. Then final fantasy 7 happened, so I NEEDED a PS1, and I never went back.

God, I forgot the PS1 was more expensive than the N64. Always seemed like a cheaper machine (though it was the far superior console).

Now that it's $50 bucks less, I imagine the loss has grown. I remember reading a report from this fall saying as much. The real question is when the Wii U division as a whole will be finished recouping development costs.

Oh, Dean, it is *not* your video. It's Sony's video of your gameplay to which you have a limited right of distribution and no right to alter.

An interesting analysis of possible lifetime Wii U sales based on historical first-year sales of consoels since 2000. This analysis suggests that the Wii U may only sell 13 million units in its lifetime. And that's the UPPER range. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MattMatthews/20131219/207513/Firstyear_Wii_U_sales_suggest_grim_lifetime_sales.php Note: I don't hate the WIi U or wish to see Nintendo fail any more than I wish to see any other company fail. I am just fascinated by Nintendo's blundering this generation.

Baconrath gifted me what I wanted most: the new season of Walking Dead! I cannot wait to pretend to be a little girl staving off death and madness in a world full only of madness and death. Thanks, Baconrath!

Try the West Side Market on 98th and Broadway or thereabouts. Yeah, wrong side of town, but it has some good stuff, I hear. Used to live up there and the bodegas in the 90's on the UWS have had surprisingly good beers. Usually imports rather than craft, though.

What are you looking for?

Same as Tyranny of King Washington. Ain't no surprise, TCP.

Everything after Link to the Past is utter bullshit.

I'm not sure what effect their avowals that this isn't a "real" Zelda game will have on sales numbers. Likely minor, since I don't think many folks care about the distinction between "real" and non-real entries into the Legend of Zelda series.

Do people like the characters and worldbuilding in Zelda more than the gameplay and game design? Because this seems like out-and-out brand dilution consisting of a Zelda skin for Dynasty Warriors. It might be a good game, it just doesn't seem like a real Zelda game. Edit: But I can see how this may factor into Nintendo's desperate need to appeal to hardcore(?) gamers who, in Asia, at least, may be huge Dynasty Warriors fans. I have no idea if this will help salvage the Wii U's tragic sales figures or not.

Monster Hunter 3 was on 3DS. Why buy a Wii U if you can get exactly the same game on a cheaper handheld with a superior library? Monster Hunter 4 is 3DS only. Because it's not worth it to third parties to make games for the Wii U.

I think they'll be able to release another Zelda before the Wii U stalls out. Another real Zelda may be part of their strategy to keep the Wii U afloat.

Well, you're 2/3 of the way there with Donkey Kong: Frozen Retread and Mario Kart 47! Edit: Forgot about Smash Bros.! You're golden, TME! The Wii U will have been an unequivocal success for you and a handful of superfans.

More Wii U doom and gloom. Even though the Wii U experienced a 350% surge in sales in November (as compared to October), it's overall numbers are not that well. Wind Waker and Super Mario, combined with the traditional November sales surge, could only move 220k units worldwide, which does not bode well for the Wii U. http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/12/november-sales-data-shows-a-worrying-lack-of-momentum-for-the-wii-u/ Edit: Oh yeah, and, from the linked article, "[t]he Wii U's November sales look even worse when you realize that the system is poised to be one of the few systems that actually performs worse in its second holiday season than its first, which has historically been a very bad sign for a system's long-term success." Edit 2: And some even more fun news! Nintendo must sell 2 million Wii Us a month for December, January, February and March to reach its goal of selling 9 million Wii Us for fiscal year 2014. http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/12/13/nintendo-has-to-sell-11-million-wii-us-a-month-to-reach-its-goal

Inside Llewyn Davis. Another great Cohen Bros movie about missed chances, selfishness, the disjunctions between aspirations and reality and the resultant hopelessness. Great early 60's folk soundtrack, too.

And Fallout Tactics, which isn't a good Fallout game, but is a fun tactics game.