SUPER NINTENDO RAYMAN PROTOTYPE NOW DUMPED ONLINE

The guy behind the development of the 2017 remake Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap Ocornut has recently dumped and released the Rayman SNES prototype for the public to enjoy. Discovered by the creator Michel Ancel back in October. The ROM can now be accessed by the public. The ROM itself contains one playable level and has no sound due to the game being in development. You can check out the ROM down below by clicking on the link. The ROM should be able to run on an emulator just fine and possible even on USB cartridges. Let's hope we get to see more lost games being leaked online. : )

I've dumped a prototype demo of unreleased Rayman for SNES, here it is! (NB: very early dev build, not a full game) https://t.co/F3XB9XRhTA pic.twitter.com/oLhOdNDyHF

— Omar (@ocornut) July 3, 2017

SONY'S E3 CONFERENCE WAS JUST... MEH (AND A RANT ABOUT PLAYLINK)

First up, a few games that has gotten new gameplay trailers were actually good and so is the pre-show. Before I talk about the negatives let's talk about the negatives. We finally got gameplay trailers of Spider-Man, Days Gone and even the most anticipated God of War as well as two expansions for Horizon Zero Dawn and Uncharted. And not to mention, we are finally getting Undertale on a video game system which is awesome since that game is very popular and well received.

The pre-show is actually good. As for the main games conference itself, it's just in my opinion is just meh, The overall presentation is just too boring even the audience doesn't seem to find it interesting. All it is it just starts out as a live musical performance for one of the expansions followed by a bunch of gameplay trailers of games we have already heard of especially Actvision's Destiny 2 and Call of Duty WWII in which I KNEW it was going to be shown at a damn Sony conference. Is it true Sony is shifting away all the good stuff for pre-shows and PS Experiences now? Back then, Sony's E3 conferences were very interesting to watch. Looking at it now it's just trailers and only one guy which is Shawn Layden himself presenting the conference. No developers, no Sony representatives, no demos, no nothing.

And on top of that and I know it wasn't presented at the conference. They introduced a another gimmick series called PlayLink. All it is you're USING a smart device as the controller and that's it. Also, you have to download the app for the damn thing to play it. In my opinion, I don't think the PlayLink isn't going to be a success. I mean, Sony tried bullshit with the PlayStation Move which they copied from Nintendo and it failed. They tried it again with the Wonderbook and only a mere 4 titles were released for the sodding thing because nobody is interested.

Sony, remember when Microsoft discontinued the Kinect because it's library of shovelware games sucked ass and developers stopped making them due to how sucky the Kinect is and it can even invade people's privacy? To be honest PlayLink is a really dumb idea. You're not even using the DualShock 4 pad anymore. You're basically using a smartphone app on a device to interact with the game. Look Sony, I played quizzes that I can make use my smartphone optionally to interact with the website, I can read questions on the board and then answer them on my phone and it's even free to play. I'd rather play Kahoot! over PlayLink. And what's worse, one of the PlayLink titles called ''It's You'' is going to be one the PlayStation 4 titles for PlayStation Plus and I was really pissed off about this. PlayStation Plus isn't JUST about online only, local multiplayer only and soon to be smartphone only titles. PlayStation Plus is all about fun games, with so many average titles and titles that just basically play the same. It's just starting to get worse and worse and worse. Remember when EA used to support your asses by giving out free games for Plus members? What's happening with that now?

Overall, I don't think Sony didn't do well at all with the Conference. The show was boring and it's just games that were already leaked or I heard of. And thanks for announcing a Plus game that I will certainly can't play due to the fact it needs 2 or more players that has smartphones. smh!

DOES PLAYSTATION PLUS HAS TOO MANY CO-OP/MULTIPLAYER TITLES FOR PLAYSTATION 4?

From what I have heard is that Sony Interactive Entertainment in North America and Europe has been adding quite a few co-op/competitive focused titles recently. Back when the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Vita are still in the spotlight, they had been getting some decent AAA titles such as a slew of EA titles, Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, Batman Arkham Asylum, Mortal Kombat 9, Metal Gear Rising, Bioshock 2, Bioshock Infinite, Borderlands 2 and many more.

Unfortunately, the PlayStation 4 doesn't seem to recivive the same treatment as most of the time. PS4 owners just gets budget value games and average games that even requires a constant internet connection to play and what's worse, few games on the Instant Game Collection has no Single Player mode meaning you are forced to find a friend locally in order to play. In this blog entry I will list down the PS4 games as of from December 2015 up until now which is June 2017. However, I will omit PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita titles since they are not focused on the Multiplayer aspect as well as cross-buy titles. I will only include the PlayStation 4 titles so here we go.

JANUARY 2016:

• Hardware Rivals (REQUIRES ONLINE TO PLAY!)
• Grim Fandango Remastered

FEBRUARY 2016:

• Helldivers (And it's a co-op shooter)
• Nom Nom Galaxy

MARCH 2016:

• Broforce (Not a co-op shooter but a broken mess)
• Galak-Z

APRIL 2016:

• Dead Star (REQUIRES ONLINE TO PLAY!)
• Zombi (It's just a generic zombie survival game)

MAY 2016: 

• Tropico 5
• Table Top Racing World Tour

JUNE 2016:

• NBA 2K16 (The only AAA PS4 title to be on Plus)
• Gone Home (You can beat this within minutes)

JULY 2016 (Thankfully, no multiplayer titles this time):

• Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell (Yes! An standalone DLC pack!)
• Furi

AUGUST 2016:

• Rebel Galaxy
• Tricky Towers (A mobile game? Really Sony!)

SEPTEMBER 2016:

• Journey
• Lords of the Fallen

OCTOBER 2016 (the only decent selection for PS4 for a change):

• Resident Evil
• Transformer Devastation

NOVEMBER 2016:

• Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
• The Deadly Tower of Monsters

DECEMBER 2016:

• Invisible Inc.
• Stories: The Path of Destinies

JANUARY 2017:

• Day of the Tentacle Remastered
• This War is Mine

FEBRUARY 2017:

• Not a Hero
• LittleBigPlanet 3

MARCH 2017:

• Tearaway Unfolded
• Disc Jam (REQUIRES ONLINE/FRIEND TO PLAY!)

APRIL 2017:

• Drawn to Death (Alas a another online only game!)
• Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

MAY 2017:

• Abzu (North America Only)
• Alienation (Europe Only) (It plays the same as Dead Nation)
• Tales from the Borderlands

JUNE 2017:

• Life is Strange
• Killing Floor 2

After seeing the archives of Plus titles, it seems that Sony is focusing more on the generic multiplayer aspect than the actual games that were given out. As of right now. PlayStation Network has over thousands of titles of the PS4 and there are much better games that Sony could of gave to PlayStation Plus member instead of giving us half assed games and episodic games. For me they are fine but I'm just not really a fan of Telltale Games since they don't much have any interactivity, you're basically watching a TV show and perform dumb quick time events. Seriously, a game based on a game? 

Sony could of easily given us any of the Shantae games, Shovel Knight, Street Fighter IV, Bastion, Among the Sleep, Megaman Legacy Collection, Shadow of the Beast and hell, even a LEGO game on the PS4 would keep me occupied rather than just shovelware. These these two games are okay in my opinion but Killing Floor 2 sounds like fun, the thing, most of the games that are on the list is the game I already have. Let's hope Sony improves their selection next month.  

  

MANTU THE BALL, NOW REBORN IN 3D

Well it's been a long time seen I have written blogs haven't I? I was going to write about the amazing company known as called Scavenger but this is for a another time. When I was studying at college. I was able to get the hang of it with Autodesk 3DS Max. I wanted to make Mantu because he is easy and very simple to do. And this is the result:

This is the first time that Mantu has ever been created in 3D with the use of 3DS Max. All it take is a simple use of primitive shapes and then put them together to create the perfect Mantu 3D Model. I also designed many screenies with him such as this:


And this:


All created with the use of two tools with photoshop to design the textures for the models. I would love to see Mantu being transfred into Garry's Mod, but that is if anyone is willing too. I mean Mantu in real time 3D. I could dream. 

LET'S TALK ABOUT SONIC XTREME

Now before I talk on what I really wanted to talk about so bad. Apologies if this blog has been really inactive for a while since I was very busy with college and other personal stuff. Now then, does anyone remember this Sonic game called Sonic X-treme?

Well if not, let me tell you. It was going to be first 3D Sonic game that was going to be released for the Sega Saturn and even on the PC. It was also first started as a 3D Sonic game for SEGA's ill-fated 32X addon. In the game, Sonic had to traverse through the 3D levels like in Bug! which used the similar gameplay concept were 2D sprites move within the 3D levels, even though the levels are in 3D, Sonic and the rest were 2D sprites. But however, there were screenshots that Sonic had a 3D model. The game was going to be developed by SEGA's North American studio called SEGA Technical Institute (the same studio behind Sonic Spinball, Comix Zone and The Ooze) and later on by Point of View. SEGA Technical Institute wanted to try a different way with Sonic by using the fish-eye lens view. However, STI was split into two development teams. Chris Senn and Ofer Alon was in charge of the PC port while Robert Morgan and Chris Coffin were in charge with the fixed free-roaming boss engine as well as porting it to the Saturn.

But this is where things start to get really ugly. SEGA of Japan's Hayao Nakayama hated the progress and wanted the team to use the boss engine. Even though Wallis dashed in suggested the team to use the NiGHTS engine which came out like this:

Things got even UGLIER. STI lost 2 weeks of development time and even the NiGHTS engine. One of the Sonic designers Yuki Naka even threatened to leave Sonic Team if the engine is used. And Chris Senn at the time was seriously ill at the time and only had 6 months to live. With both teams struggling. The game was unfortunately cancelled. Leaving SEGA with no true 3D Sonic game for the Saturn. 

To make it up on having a no Sonic game on the SEGA Saturn. SEGA decided to request a British studio Traveller Tales on developing a Saturn port of Sonic 3D: Flickies Island/Blast. But the damage was already done. Crash Bandicoot and Super Mario 64 were already out and they were played beautifully with good graphics and gameplay. Sonic 3D on the other hand was just an isometric view where you run around and help the birds escape rather than play through the stage which to me I find it boring and I don't think Sonic 3D would help SEGA very much due the game already made for the Genesis/Mega Drive a year ago and so would the other two Sonic games. These two Sonic games are Sonic Jam which is just a compilation developed by Sonic Team. And Sonic R which is just a foot racing game also made by Traveller's Tales which was too short and can be beaten within around an hour.

Let's fast forward to the 2010 as we find out that many many gameplay videos of Sonic X-treme were published online (including the 32X build), even from Chris Senn himself. Then few years later. A user goes by the name of jollyroger managed to leak few builds online, including the fish-eye build and the Point of View build in which can be played on a real SEGA Saturn which is shown here:

     
I happen to saw a video from speedylink showing the POV build running on real hardware. The POV build did look complete, Sonic was able to collect rings, destroy enemies and even take damage from them. It even has built in debug mode and you can even rotate the screen with the shoulder buttons. Is it true that Point Of View got their build rejected too? Did they help out STI? There are quite a few interesting videos of the game worth checking out. You can also download those builds at the Sonic Retro page:
http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=34255&st=0
http://forums.sonicretro.org/?showtopic=34038

TASBOT PUSHES THE NES AND SNES TO THE LIMIT WITH INSANE ARBITRARY HACKS

So Games Done Quick has finally done it again. They have raised over $1 Million towards Prevent Cancer Foundation and has been a major success. But however. TASBot has shown yet a another trick that actually vowed everyone. So we had Pong & Snake in Super Mario World at AGDQ 2014, Super Mario Bros. in Super Mario World and Twitch in Pokemon Red at AGDQ 2015 and then we had Super Mario Maker in Super Mario All-Stars. But this year, it went in a whole new direction. Wanna take a guess? It's not a NES game in a SNES game. It's actually FULL STREAMING video on an ACTUAL Super Nintendo hardware which showcased TAS videos of Super Mario 64 and Portal. Not just that, real time Skype video chat was running too. It's crazy to see an actual SNES also running Skype as well.

You know, running real-life videos on Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past really surprised me. Feel free to see the insane tricks below. Let's hope we get to see more Arbitrary tricks later down the road at future GDQ's.

HONEST THOUGHTS ON THE NINTENDO SWITCH

Image Source: (c) Ars Techinica

So Nintendo has finally revealed so much information regarding Nintendo's brand new hybrid game console/handheld system that due to come out 3rd March 2017. And holy crap, there are so many good games coming out for the Nintendo Switch. You got a new Super Mario game that takes place in different worlds rather than the Mushroom Kingdom, a new Splatoon sequel, Mario Kart 8 DX, EA Sports FIFA, new Shin Megami Tensei game from Atlus, new Zenoblade Chornicles sequel from Monolithsoft, a new Fire Emblem Musou Warriors titles possibly from Koei Tecmo, Skyrim from Bethesda and heck even Puyo Puyo Tetris is finally getting localized with many thanks to Deep Sliver. And oh, Sonic Mania is also confirmed it's on getting a Switch port. Overall this is all great news.

The question is, can it sell very well and will it gain more 3rd-party support from other AA developers? The thing is, I really hope so since the Switch looks like an interesting piece of hardware and has many many great games in development. Buuut no Metroid unfortunately.

On the bright side, the Switch is region free and thank god Nintendo actually listened for once. But what I want Nintendo to see is re-consider their copyright restrictions on YouTube and possibly decent games. Just hope Nintendo doesn't slip up and drive away third-parties again like what happened to the Wii U. And what Nintendo also needs to re-consider is their censorship policy. 

However, the £280 launch price seems quite steep for a Nintendo console as there not many games in the launch line-up. And yeah, I know there is going to be shovelware and gimmickly type games at launch. Mostly being Just Dance from Ubisoft (yuck!).

Overall, let's hope the system sells well and gains decent games this time.  

HOW SONY DOMINATED THIS YEAR'S PSX

So last weekend Sony hosted their 3rd PlayStation Experience event and holy crap!! Sony Interactive Entertainment are actually listening to their fans. Not only a new remastered Crash Bandicoot has a new trailer AND is even playable at PSX. We even got re-remasters and re-releases of PlayStation's classic titles such as WipEout, Parappa the Rapper, LocoRoco, Patapon. And heck, we even saw some great surprise releases such as Let It Die, Lara Croft Go (thanks to KOOP for handling the PlayStation port), SNK's Garou Mark of the Wolves. And finally. FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 gets a PS4 port with all DLC included in which I guess Capcom's contract with MARVEL may have gotten renewed.

I'm glad Sony is focusing much more on the games than actual hardware and that makes me happy. And to me I find Shawn Layden a very awesome guy. Because one, he listens to his fans and two, he cares about the games even classic franchises. I'm just really excited and happy that my classic childhood in video gaming is finally coming back. We had a Abe's Oddysee remaster, a Shadow of the Beast reboot with the classic Amiga game included, a Ratchet & Clank remaster. Everything is coming back to me now. Now if only we can get a Spyro classic trilogy next.

And with all this success, the PlayStation 4 even managed to break the 50 million unit mark.

Even though that we don't have any more information on God of War and Days Gone. I can forgive that Bend Studio and Santa Monica weren't ready to reveal it just yet. I'm just going to leave the whole PSX Experience video here in case you have missed it. No wonder why Shawn was teasing me with that WipEout shirt. Me wants.

FOR THOSE WHO DON'T USE DEVIANTART

So I had many commissions done for other people but sometimes I barely get any sales what so ever. So what I was going to do is take PayPal commissions as well for my fans who doesn't have a DeviantART account and prefer to pay me in real cash. Here are my planned prices:

TRADITIONAL ART:
Sketch: £3.00

Sketch with Pen Ink: £3.50

Sketch with color: £3.75

DIGITAL ART:
Black Lineart only: £4.00

Coloured: £4.50

Lineless Coloured: £4.75

50p for an additional character
50p for a background

Not only, I also do avatars, logos, wallpapers and even banners for other social media users such as Facebook, Twitter and even YouTube. Here are my samples of work that I have created in the past months:

Here are the prices for the following content that I can work on:

AVATAR: £2.50

WALLPAPER (1920x1080): £5.75

BANNER: £5.50

CUSTOM LOGO: £5.00

If you are interested with any of works being created for you or have any questions regarding my work. Simply contact me at retrok3000@yahoo.co.uk. 

Thanks very much for your interest and hope you can get in touch soon.

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE COMMISSIONING:

• Unfortunately I can only do Original Characters and Original Content created by you as I DO NOT use other content made by other people. I'd love too but it's against the law to sell stuff I don't own. Sorry.
• I will only take PayPal payments as of right now.
• I will work on your order once the payment has being received.
• Please keep your questions related to my creations. I do not answer questions related to different topics.
• I do not do porn, extreme violence, sex related material or even disturbing content. 
• Please be patient, I will work on your commissions as soon as I can.
• If you live outside the UK, you can also pay in your currency since PayPal is an international service and will transfer into my currency once paid.

WANTS PHOTOSHOP SO BAD NOW

So finally during my Level 2 Games Design course at college. I was tasked into making animated people at college. One being puppet animation and the other my personal favorite. The traditional animation. At first, I wasn't that good at using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Flash Professional. But however, after a few practices and few play-arounds later. This is the results:

With that kind of style. I could like minisodes or even quick pliots with this style. If I only had Adobe Flash that is. But here's the kicker, it's too expensive and it's now subscription based. But however, I was supposed to do the stick figure for the game. But hey, it was fun doing them. No wonder why animation worns me out. Just hope I can get it sometime and make some at home. If only.

HOW ARE TV NETWORK FORCING PEOPLE TO PIRATE THEIR FAVOURITE CHILDHOOD SHOWS

You know, I have been meaning to talk about this for a very long time now and I think it's now a good time to talk about this. Remember back in the early 2000's and the 1990's. Now before I nitpick about cartoons, I've started using Netflix again in my opinion, half of their content is actually quite good, you have the 2000's version of Doctor Who, House of Cards, Breaking Bad, every single Power Rangers show, every single Star Trek show, Top Gear, the whole series of Thats 70's Show, Big Bang Theory, and 3rd Rock from the Sun. And hell, we even just gotten Cowboy Bebop and Adult Swim's Rick & Morty joining the Netflix party. And not to mention, Netflix's original shows such as Daredevil, The Crown and Better Call Saul are receiving excellent reviews and ratings from critics and fans. The thing is, what about cartoons?

TV Networks such as Cartoon Network, TCC and even Boomerang used to air great favorite Saturday Morning Cartoons such as the excellent video-game based Earthworm Jim and WB's finest show called the Animaniacs? As of today, none of these childhood favorite doesn't seem to be on British TV anymore and there is NO way to watch or buy the shows legally, even on digital platforms such as Amazon Video, Google Video and even it's company YouTube. For me, I used to love watching Cartoon Network shows, as of today, I can't find a legal way into watching them, and yes, uploading them onto YouTube doesn't EVEN help as networks may tend to get serious with their content being uploaded illegally by other users and can even take them down and cause the user to get suspended off YouTube. This is a forgivable tactic toward the companies as they own the rights to the series.

But one thing that has gotten me bothered about them, why do they never release their content on DVD or on digital platforms in the UK? I mean get this, the only time Cartoon Network and Warner Home Video has released a show as a complete series box set is Ben 10 Alien Force, that's it. And the only time I get to see Cartoon Network shows again is on Netflix for only a mere two years. Nickelodeon's Spongebob Squarepants and possibly even Dora the Explorer has been Netflix UK's streaming platform since it launched in the UK back in 2012 and here we are in 2016, they still remain on the service but with episodes being removed and replaced throughout. And what's worse, Codename: Kids Next Door has yet to be on any streaming service as of yet, not even on NOW TV or Amazon Video and only Season 6 is available on iTunes. Because this show I really want to watch isn't even available, I had no choice but to do something that I shouldn't done just to watch the show, what's worse, the entire series or the Operation Z.E.R.O. special never saw a DVD release even in North America because the CEO Stuart Snyder wanted to ditch cartoons for live-action which received major backlash from the fans.

So as of right now, if there is a great TV show that we really want to watch again, we have no choice but to visit torrent sites and risk ourselves into getting a virus or get fined. And worse, YouTube removes them or block them due to licensing. You know what's sad, I feel really sorry for kids today who don't know what cartoons were really mean't to be as we are now stuck with crappy CGI shows and overrated junk. Oh and before I go, Peppa Pig, Spongebob SquarePants and Transformers Prime is available on all three streaming platforms.

Now if you excuse me, I will watch these shows in the first paragraph that are worth my time.

  

AFTER 24 YEARS, THE SNES RAYMAN PROTOTYPE IS ALIVE!!

So when I was browsing on Twitter this morning. I found out that the creator of Rayman Michel Ancel has found a working ROM prototype for the Super Nintendo that he and his team been working on 24 years ago according to his Instagram posts. However, Ubisoft wanted Ancel's team to completely scrap the Super Nintendo version in favour for 32-bit/16-bit consoles which uses more power and colours. He states that the unfinished SNES ROM is shelved for 24 years before showcasing it to the public. As of today...

The ROM still works and only 4 people seen this prototype in action!! He even considered this to Ubisoft on making a new Rayman game based on the actual gameplay used in the SNES build for Nintendo's new hardware. For me, that would be an excellent idea to both Ubisoft and Nintendo. Even though there is no gameplay videos of it, I'd love to see Unseen 64 cover this build if Ancel provides an actual ROM file to the team in which I think it is very unlikely as I seen numerous developers not releasing their prototype builds to the public. But hey, it can happen. : P    

UPDATE 2:

And now, there is gameplay video also posted by the creator himself. And trust me, it looks interesting, check it out for yourself here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BL_wNhGALF8/?taken-by=michelancel

NINTENDO'S FINALLY REVEALLED A NEW TOY

So after sooo many months of waiting for Nintendo to reveal their new NX console. We finally a new name and a new console and it's way way different. It's not a another shitty Wii console. Enter a brand new console called. THE NINTENDO SWITCH!!

To me, I think the console looks really interesting and very very sleek. It's both portable and even a home console at the same that Microsoft and Sony couldn't do. True Sony had remote play with the PlayStation Vita but that requires always online connection. Also, it uses game cards for media input. And from what I heard, no more region lock bullcrap according the Twitter *hurrah!!*. And it's getting freakin' Skyrim for pete's sake according to the trailer. But I'm just curious, could that be a good thing or a bad thing because:

• How will major AAA games fit into that one tiny card and how much data can these cards store?

• Can it run powerful game engines that PS4 and Xbox One use like Unreal Engine 4 and Id Tech 6?

• It will engage mature gamers this time?

• Is it going to sell well?

• With Microsoft and Sony having their own free benefits for monthly subscribers, will Nintendo do the same?

• And most important. Will Nintendo ever learn from their past mistakes and gain back trust from major third party studios?=

• Will major AAA studios make use of the Amiibo feature?

Also, I highly doubt that Nintendo Switch would be backwards compatible with Wii and Wii U titles since it uses cards instead of discs. Also Nintendo, please do not screw this up.

I don't have any information regarding the console's launch and it's launch lineup. But the fixed date for this is March 2017. I hope the Switch's launch lineup doesn't consist of shovelware titles.

WHY DID THE WII U FAIL?

The Nintendo Wii U, an interesting piece of hardware that would of helped Nintendo gain more sales and gain more of a wider audience. But the problem is, it doesn't seem to be doing very well with poor sales, lack of third party support and most of all starting shun their hardcore with crappy Mario mini-game titles and shovelware. Even though I never found the time to write blogs like this. I will list down the reasons why the Wii U did terribly in the gaming market.

1. THE LAUNCH LINE-UP

Even some of the games were decent at the time such as New Super Mario Bros. U, Tekken Tag Tournament and Batman Arkham City, unfortunately those games don't have all the DLC that it's competitor's Sony and Microsoft got. While the rest of the launch line-up is nothing but shovelware. Rabbids Land? Tank, Tank Tank? Party games? Is this what Ubisoft and Warner Bros. can do to treat the Wii U? However, Scribblenauts Unlimited, Pikmin 3 and Rayman Legends were supposed to be released as launch titles until their developers decided to delay them until fall of next year. The PlayStation 3 also had a rough start but managed to recover from that so why not Nintendo? The question is, poor sales.

2. HALF-ASSED ONLINE

All games on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network support online multiplayer. But for Nintendo, only some. What annoys me is this. No option to leave the game or quit to the Wii U menu meaning you are forced to stay in the action or completely turn off the Wii U just to go back to the menu. I can quit to the PS4 UI even during online sessions. Why can't I do this. A another annoyance I had in Splatoon is once you join the lobby before the game starts. YOU CAN'T LEAVE. A another kick in the teeth is that their titles DO NOT HAVE VOICE CHAT. Every single Microsoft and PlayStation console has voice chat, even the PlayStation 2 has this so why not the Wii U? Is it because Nintendo wants to be family friendly again? I think that's the reason why. Having no voice chat is a big mistake. Step up your game Nintendo.

3. POOR THIRD PARTY SUPPORT

This is what the Wii U lacks. Major AAA games. True that the Wii U has Mass Effect 3, Batman Arkham City, Assassin's Creed 3, Watch_Dogs, Need for Speed Most Wanted and even Bayonetta for that matter. Few of these games are missing DLC and has glitches which are causing poor sales for the Wii U versions of those games. Slightly Mad Studios was going to release Project CARS for the Wii U but had to canned due to the Wii U's underpowered hardware which is a real shame. 

4. UNDERPOWERED HARDWARE

That!! That is the reason why you do not see any more third-party titles being released for Wii U anymore. The only titles that the Wii U is getting is Toy-to-Life adventure games and dancing/singing games. That's it. Most third-party titles used advanced game engines that were designed for PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One. The Wii U however wouldn't be powerful enough to run Epic's Unreal Engine 4 and other later game engines. Look how terribly Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric ran by using the forth CryEngine. It lagged like hell in the running sections. Not only that, it is hard for other developers to port their games onto the Wii U, look how Slightly Mad Studios tried their best to get it on the Wii U but couldn't due to the Wii U's poor hardware. Let's hope the NX has superior hardware.

5. AMIIBOS

So let me tell you this. Why does Nintendo want to waste all this money on just plastic figures to use in their games? What's the point? What's even worse is there's games that require them especially Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival. Nintendo must know that Amiibo figures isn't really going to save their dying console. Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival was one of the worst games ever made back in 2015 and it received a metacritic score of 46%. I missed the old days where Nintendo is all about games. Not just using toys.

6. CENSORSHIP

This is what driving mature gamers away. I seen quite a few titles being censored in the west. One of them being #FE Tokyo Mirage Sessions. Nintendo thinks that swimsuits is not OK to be in their localized titles. But on the other hand, Marvelous and PQube doesn't censor their games and Marvelous actually has a Senran Kagura game released for Nintendo's 3DS system. People do not want their games gimped over stupid reasons. And on top of that, a couple of Virtual Console games were also censored. If you don't believe me, watch Censored Gaming's YouTube videos regarding this.  

7. NINTENDO'S FIRST PARTY TITLES ARE STILL EXPENSIVE

If Sony and Microsoft's first party titles are having their prices decreasing. Why is Nintendo's first party titles still dang expensive!? What's worse, games from 2013 onwards still carry a full price tag. I really want to get Starfox Zero and Pokken Tournament so bad none of these titles drop down on price yet. My local retailer GAME only discounts PlayStation and Xbox games. It is Nintendo that's preventing retailers from dropping price? Well lemme tell you, you can pick up Sony's Uncharted 4 which is a first-party title btw for only £30.79. Some of Nintendo's first party titles however is still at full price. Thankfully Nintendo is currently re-releasing their older games for a cheap price as Nintendo Selects. But some of them are just generic sports/party titles. Let's hope Amiibo Festival isn't part of this soon.

8. RELEASED AT THE WRONG TIME

Yup. It was released just before Microsoft and Sony announce their next-gen hardware. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One has much powerful hardware than the Wii U. It encouraged developers to develop titles for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, even Sold Out Games was willing to publish titles for Sony. If only there were better sales. It would stand a chance. Also at launch, Sony barely had any first party titles for PS4 at launch and it sold just fine even with major third party support.

9. TOO GIMMICKY

The Wii U has a tablet controller as a main controller. Not to mention it's too bulky to use and what's worse, few games required it. Doesn't developers understand that gimmicks in video games do not work? 

10. THE NAME

And the logo, just why? 

11. CONSTANT DELAYS

Sony isn't the only one with constant delays with their first-party line-up. The Wii U has yet gotten a true Legend of Zelda game so far. And to keep fans occupied, Nintendo gave Zelda fans two HD remasters of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. A new Zelda is being in develop since the day Wii U was announced and here we are still waiting for a new Zelda title which could the last hurrah for the Wii U. Pikmin 3 and Rayman Legends were going to be launch titles until they got shafted until next year. 

12. NOT ENOUGH GAMES FOR HARDCORE GAMERS

Here's a fun fact. Watch_Dogs was the last Mature rated game to be released for the Wii U. After that, the Wii U is getting nothing but family friendly shovelware and minigame titles. True the Wii U does have quite a few good indie games for the hardcore fanbase such as Super Meat Boy, Oddworld New & Tasty and Axiom Verge. But what matters is the retail market. There's barely any new titles for the hardcore fanbase anymore. Could Paper Mario: Color Splash and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild be the last hurrah for Wii U? Could be with the NX coming soon in the near future.

And I guess that's all.

HOW NAMCO AND SEGA DEFINED ARCADE GAMING IN THE 1990's

Remember back in the mid-90's when we had such great arcade hits such as Ridge Racer, Point Blank, Daytona USA, SEGA Rally, Virtua Cop and House of the Dead? Well it's all thanks to these awesome companies from the likes of SEGA and Namco (AKA: Bandai Namco to be exact).

These companies produced and developed some timeless arcade classics. So awesome they were also ported to video game consoles. Even though SEGA had alot of arcade games for their own hardware which is the SEGA Saturn. Namco however made an exclusive tie-in deal with Sony Interactive Entertainment to bring their titles such as Tekken, Point Blank, Time Crisis and Ridge Racer exclusively to PlayStation, thus competing against SEGA and their lineup of home versions of their arcade hits on the Saturn. Namco however also developed many peripherals for the PlayStation system which includes a arcade stick, the NeGcon controller that twists and even the G-Con 45, a light gun used for Time Crisis and other shooting games.

With Namco and SEGA competing in amusement gaming. 

• SEGA had Daytona USA and SEGA Rally, Namco had Ridge Racer.
• SEGA had Virtua Fighter, Namco had Tekken. 
• SEGA had House of the Dead and Virtua Cop, Namco had Time Crisis and Point Blank.
• SEGA had pinball machines, Namco had NamCam technology.
• SEGA had AM2, Namco had System 22 hardware.

You know, back in the 90's it was filled with games both created by SEGA and Namco. While many are very underrated such Namco's Prop Cycle and Gunmen Wars which had kick-ass soundtrack by the way. But more commonly, some amusement places still has SEGA's Outrun 2 game. If you're really lucky and if your local amusement place took great care of these two machines, you might still happen to find SEGA Rally and Daytona USA which are both released in 1994. I'm so glad that these machines still exist today. You know if I had to pick either SEGA or Namco. Well I don't know. Namco makes great shooting games while SEGA makes great racing games so for me I'd pick both. 

Yes Namco did have their timeless classic arcade games such as Pac-Man, Galaxian, Dig-Dug and others but however. I'm only focusing in the 90's. I kinda miss the 32-bit days of arcade gaming. It was good. 

Before I head off, here's a little fun fact. Today, Namco stills makes amusement games today such as Time Crisis 5 as well as other 4D games. They even have their own entertainment centres across the UK as Namco Funscape which has allsorts of fun and games. Oh and didn't you know that Namco and Nintendo joined forces by developing a Mario Kart arcade game which had Namco's characters in it?