Chibi-Robo: Little Hope In His Last Chance?

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - There's a tiny chance you'll see Chibi-Robo ever again.

Do you think anything of the Chibi-Robo! series? If you do, then you really need to buy Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash because if you don't you might not see him in his own games ever again, and he'll be stuck making cameos in weird things like Captain Rainbow.

That's according to Nintendo producer Kensuke Tanabe in an interview with Verge. Apparently Tanabe can control Chibi-Robo's fate. It's actually pretty rare that a producer will outright say what people should intuitively know to be true: If the game doesn't sell, you're not going to get any more in the series.

Basically, Tanabe stated, "this might be the last chance for us", putting himself together with Chibi-Robo's future. Of course, if Chibi-Robo's batteries cannot be replaced, Tanabe still has a future at Nintendo. 

Is The Legend of Zelda an RPG?

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Let's also talk about game genres in general.

It has been a classic question for debate for decades: Is Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series considered a role-playing game (RPG)? I've seen it repeated many times on the Nintendo NSider Forums/its predecessor, Hyrule Town Square (though I'm not going to go to the Wayback Machine to look for an example so believe me here) between 2003 and 2007, and it's still asked occasionally on Miiverse and other places. That said, I think most people have reached the right answer by now. The answer is "no."

If you don't know why, then ask in the comments section because I'm not going into a detailed response into something that everyone else has figured out by now. (But if you want to be contrarian, be bold and unafraid! That's the KoopaTV way.)

I'd rather discuss how stupid game genres are in general. Which is sort of why I've been mocking/ignoring them in KoopaTV's game reviews with functional-sounding, non-standard answers. (Then again, for the most part, I've been reviewing non-standard products.) Nintendo doesn't even use the word "genre" on their site, instead using the broader term "category". But believe me, they used to say "genre" and they never called The Legend of Zelda games RPGs.

Nintendo.com "Category" listings for:
Super Paper Mario,
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword,
and Final Fantasy.

...There's something unusual about the above screenshot, though.

Jimmy Kimmel Falling Flat on Watching Gamers Play?

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - I think he stood tall, or tall enough anyway.

Some weeks ago, the comedian Jimmy Kimmel (I was almost done with this article thinking it was Jimmy Fallon, and had to go and change all references of Fallon to Kimmel. ...Who the hell is Jimmy Kimmel?) made fun of the new YouTube Gaming feature. It's basically a much-worse Twitch. He had this whole comedy bit over how strange/pointless it is that so-called gamers (really "watchers") would watch other people play videogames and spend a lot of time doing that. And because the mainstream gaming community is incredibly sensitive, he got a ton of hate comments and death threats. So he made a response video, got more of that, and then made another video featuring him and YouTube gaming celebrities.

So there's three videos in this whole scenario, each with millions of views. That's THREE things to respond to! And that's convenient for Rule of Three. So I'll give my thoughts on it all, and if you've been following my KoopaTV columns you probably won't be that surprised at my thoughts. But they're good consumption anyway, and a better use of your time than watching some Let's Player. So let's get started.

Speaker John Boehner Is Gonna Retire!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - YEEEES!

There are many important videogame-related topics I should be writing about that are relevant now but will be less relevant later. And this news isn't going anywhere. But I don't care because writing this is keeping in line with my New Years Resolution:

"I also resolve to hold the new Republican majority in Congress accountable in the same manner I held the Democrat Party and President Barack Hussein Obama accountable. I campaigned hard to get 'em in, now they better damn be good."

And... um... they aren't good. They haven't been good. They've been complete failures. As Ledge Trump said in his announcement speech, "We have people that are morally corrupt." And most Republicans (and Americans) agree, according to a new Fox News poll:

66% of Republican voters think the Republican Congress isn't doing its job, and 60% feel betrayed. I'm in those majorities.

Speaker Boehner has been a huge part of that, as the leader of the House of Representatives. He's been the Speaker since 2011, though it wasn't until 2015 that the Senate caught up with the Republican Party. Basically, he's been capitulating on every issue conservatives care about, by not defunding ObamaCare to giving Obama the debt ceiling increases he wanted. For all the talk about Republican obstructionism, for the issues that really matter, Boehner was fine giving the win to President Barack Hussein Obama.

It's a problem, and while Boehner may be a Republican, he has the worst aspects of one. Just like how a Dry Bones is a Koopa, but not a very lively one.

Is The Wii U "Watchup" News App Worth Your Time?

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - The so-called Hulu of the News.

Today I received a push notification on my Wii U Gamepad upon turnin' the system on. It was advertising a news service called "Watchup" on the Wii U that's FREE to download off the eShop! Well, hey, I like hearin' the news (so I can commentate on it for this website), and I like my Wii U. These things should fit together.

Courtesy of their press kit.

 
However, this isn't an exclusive-to-Nintendo kind of thing. This is an entrepreneurial company, Watchup, Inc, that says they're out of Stanford. Their slogan for the Wii U?

"Gamer on the outside but news junkie on the inside? 

Watchup on Wii U is a multitasker’s fantasy come true!

Catch up on today’s news from hundreds of local, national and international sources on your favorite game console. Customize your daily newscast and get more in depth news coverage by reading related articles on the GamePad. Get it from the eShop for free."

Well, at least someone out there is trying to make the Wii U GamePad central to some experience out there. But how well does the app perform and does it satisfy my news junkie-ness? That's the basis of this review.

Pop'n Music and BEMANI Games

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - A request for a very weird videogame series I've only heard of from the requester.

Once upon a time in May, KoopaTV got a request: 

"Write an article on the Japanese arcade game pop'n music. Give us your insights on the main characters and gameplay, and tell us whether or not you'd like to see it come to the US in its pure form. (It actually did come to the US at one point as a Wii game, but it was TERRIBLE.)" 

Obviously we never did it. Until now. I like to say we eventually will do your requests, so here we are.

So pop'n music (it's supposed to not be capitalised like "amiibo" ain't capitalised, which really bugs me... and it's worse than amiibo since this is the name of a game series and not something attempting to be a generic noun) is this music game that's part of Konami's BEMANI series of games, using primarily licensed music. What's BEMANI? It used to be called Games & Music Division (thanks Wikipedia) in Konami, and then they just made it some nonsensical name to be more creative I dunno. (I didn't read the whole Wikipedia article as to why.)

All of the BEMANI things are trapped in Japan, with the exception of Dance Dance Revolution. So that includes pop'n music, so that's why I've never heard of it and you likely haven't either.

No one really cares about it, I guess.
I voted for the last option, personally.

Uh... According to TVTropes, pop'n music has a high difficulty but it tries to fool you by being cutesy-looking. From what I can tell, this is a screenshot from one of the games:

Ominous (Latin) Chanting — Overrated?

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Is there such a thing as too much?

What comes to your mind when you think of "epic videogame music"? Truly epic, not "epic" in the sense that it's an overused spammed word. (Looking at you, Jane McGonigal and marketing departments.) The music you like and admire.

A lot of people would bring up themes like Final Fantasy VII's "One-Winged Angel", whether it be its original form or one of its many remixes. The Advent Children version literally has over 7 million views on YouTube on one video, and many millions more across other videos. 

This theme alone is probably why people want that HD remake of Final Fantasy VII and why they cheered Square Enix for bringing it at E3 2015. It's why Sephiroth is part of the "Noble Nine" in the GameFAQs Character Contests.

Why is this theme so impressionable? Could it be because of it playing at a super-critical moment in the game? Is it something about its composition?

...Is it that ominous Latin chanting in the background?

Sleeping vs. Eating: A Problem With Gamer Culture

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - An epidemic of obesity with an epidemic of sleep deprivation.

About two months ago in Europe, there was an epic battle of Eating vs. Sleeping in the Splatoon Splatfest. Same weekend America had Water slides vs. Roller coasters and EVO 2015.

So what would you rather do? Eat things or sleep? Well, Europe overwhelmingly favoured... eating.

63% favour Eating, 37% Sleeping. That's a landslide.

I don't think this is a Europe-specific thing, but a (gaming) cultural thing that's worldwide. (The Japanese actually get less sleep than Western nations and everyone else.) There is an epidemic of under-sleeping in America and elsewhere, with it being a public health issue as declared by governmental bodies responsible for DEATHS. Meanwhile, eating has the opposite issue: People eat too much, not too little.

Ace Attorney: Anime, New Live-Action, and TGS Live Stream Details on Ace Attorney 6!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - The future looks bright for Ace Attorney in the Land of the Rising Sun. So what about everywhere else?

Let's end this week with some scrumptious news: Over in Tokyo Game Show land (a very important place that KoopaTV has not covered in our history, so shame on us) the new Ace Attorney 6 was/is playable (it was being streamed, too, which you can watch a replay of here)! Right, we said that'd happen before, but I sorta forgot about it amidst all of the Republican debate stuff. ...Either way, we failed to raise the funds for Kamek to play it, so no on-the-floor Tokyo Game Show coverage this year either.

Along with opportunities for folks not employed in KoopaTV to play Ace Attorney 6, there is also now a NEW TRAILER for Ace Attorney 6 (not only new, but... the only one)! Here's a subbed version. You should expect an official dubbed version sometime relatively soon out of CAPCOM. But wait... there's ALSO a lot more.

Presidential Candidates Named Trump Flop Everywhere

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - PLUS fourteen other Republican candidates!

So I thought about going over every candidate in detail and my thoughts on them. But you could just watch the debate. I thought about going for substance and making headers for all the issues the Republican candidates talked about last night on CNN from 6 PM to like over 11 PM. But you could just watch the debate. Wondering where you can? Our handy-dandy KoopaTV 2016 Presidential Debates Schedule will help.

Let's give our judgment FIRST and we'll just give some analysis based on that. I'm not separating the lower debate from the higher debate for this, especially since the lower debate only had four people in it.

• Beauty: Carly Fiorina
• Cool: Marco Rubio
• Cute: Lindsey Graham
• Smart: Rand Paul
• Tough: Bobby Jindal

Why those folks? Let's delve into that. But first, some statistics of who got to talk:

Speaking time numbers provided by CNN themselves.
At the start of the debate, they said they would try their best to let everyone have equal time.

Just saying, the guys in the lower debate, on average, had more speaking time than the upper debate. The lower debate was less than an hour and a half long, and the upper debate was nearly three hours long. The upper debate got four times the viewers, but the media coverage post-debate helps reduce that disparity like it did with Carly Fiorina last debate.

Now then...