Everything Revealed in the Humble Friends of Nintendo Bundle

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Great deal. YUGE deal. Go get the deal. I did.

Over a week ago, the folks at Humble Bundle revealed the Humble Friends of Nintendo Bundle. It lasts less than five days as of today's publishing. (If you've read any other Nintendo site, you've probably already seen it advertised there by now. I'm just characteristically slow.) This is a collection of mostly-independent companies' games on Nintendo systems. Humble Bundle says it's “$224 worth of awesome games”, so I'll take their word on their addition skills. (I don't know if all the games included are awesome, though.)

It'll probably be over 130,000 bundles sold as of publishing, and over 1.25 million in dollars.

 
I haven't talked about Humble Bundle on this site before, but that's because they usually have their game bundles for Valve's PC Steam service and this is nominally (...isn't it?) a Nintendo site. It's quite well-known. But I'll give an explanation anyway. Basically, you get to choose the amount you're going to pay, and you get more stuff if you pay above a given price tier. There's also charity involved. You can choose what money goes to the companies and what goes to the charities, and you can give money as a tip, too.

Halfway through the bundle's duration, they added Swords & Soldiers II, Nano Assault EX, and Runbow to the “pay more than average” price tier. This joins Freedom Planet, Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure, and Citizens of Earth (you choose between the Wii U version and the 3DS version) in that tier. The >$1 tier has Retro City Rampage: DX, Affordable Space Adventures, and Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (you get both the Wii U version AND the 3DS version). The >$13 tier is Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition and Darksiders II.

Someone tell me if it's actually bad strategy to wait for that halfway mark to see what the remaining games are and THEN pay for it, or if it's better to pay for that average at the beginning of the bundle and get those games included later, even before you know what they are.

Well, if you were trying to cost-cut as much as possible, you'd just pay the minimum amount for all of these games, right? $13? Well...

Make Koopa TV Again

By RAWKHAWK2010 - “Sorry to keep you waiting!”

Some time ago, I lost something of a bet. I claimed that Donkey Kong Countries 1, 2, and 3 would not last half a year on the Nintendo eShop, and if wrong my penance would be to dance in the streets with ethnic minorities. Well, for the past eight months that's exactly what I've been doing. I found the experience to be so surreal that I decided to remain with the ethnic dancers indefinitely, traveling far and wide as we shared the gospel of Gō Ichinose's Pokémon Diamond and Pearl compositions across the lower east coast. (Along with making choreography my canvas in ways that Ludwig could only hope to understand.)

But you know what they say, a thing isn't beautiful because it lasts. And this is no exception, because a short while ago my troupe of ethnic dancers was slaughtered in cold blood by wrathful beasts from a foreign land...... Also known as: The Illegal. And I'm 100% wholly dedicated to creating a future in which no one has to bear witness to the same unspeakable horrors.
 

#BuildThatWall

Super Contest Debate Primaries 2015–2016 Rankings

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Since Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are now their parties’ presumptive nominees...

I meant to do this, but I guess I never did. Okay, so back several months ago, KoopaTV endorsed treating the presidential primaries as a SUPER CONTEST from Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. That meant grading each candidate in their debates according to Beauty, Cool, Cute, Smart, and Tough. So, we had some degree of coverage: We had articles on eight Republican debates until we got sick of it, and articles on two Democrat debates before we got sick of it. I think you all in readership land got sick of it, too, since those articles got less (or, zero) comments and views compared to the gaming-related ones.

But hey, I tried to connect it to gaming whenever I could. 

Anyway, today in Indiana, Ted Cruz suspended his presidential campaign. After, Donald Trump referred to Ted Cruz as “smart” and “tough” — Trump must have been reading KoopaTV. Now there are only two Republicans left, but one of them is just there because he doesn't know how to do math despite him claiming he's a genius because he's balanced budgets.

Bernie Sanders won the primary, but he's not going to be the nominee unless his wicked witch of an opponent drops dead or gets indicted by the FBI.

So. Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton. (Versus a Libertarian Party candidate, and that's very likely the person I'll personally endorse. Not KoopaTV as an entity, but just me personally.) One of those will be the next president of the United States.

But... how did they actually do in the debates? Well, according to KoopaTV... 

KoopaTV's April 2016 Review Newsletter

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - An awkward April, but WE'RE BACK.

If we still had alliterative titles for review newsletters, it'd be KoopaTV's Awkward April for sure. Our April got hit with a forced hiatus by the folks at Rio de Janeiro. This ruined a lot of things. We had a whole week of articles wiped out, and there was no Loyalty Rewards Program round running during April as a result.

For May, we want to get back on solid ground. After all, KoopaTV is turning three years old in less than two weeks.

But of the three weeks of articles that we had, they were still pretty good. So we can still do a Top Five Recommended Articles List (chronological order):

1. How Team Koopa Escaped Rio — Part 1
2. The Music of the Game & Watch Octopus
3. How Team Koopa Escaped Rio — Part 3 
4. REVIEW: Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge
5. Nintendo's E3 2016 Might Be Good!
   

That's just my opinion, though. You're welcome to fight me over it, and it's pretty cool if you do because that's a testament to our article quality.

We're re-instituting the KoopaTV Loyalty Rewards Program. Round 8 will run from May 1 (well, guess that passed without anything happening) to June 29, 11:59 PM Eastern. We're still deciding on the prizes, but because this will include E3 and our three-year anniversary, it will be MORE than just one $10 Nintendo eShop code. (As of 5/4/2016, it's going to be some combination of Amazon gift cards and game codes for Nintendo systems.)

Accordingly, there is now a KoopaTV Feedback Form Part IV and a KoopaTV Quiz Part IV. That particular page has also been updated to have clear, different sections for what's current and what is previous. Not that I think it was confusing before or anything.

By the way. If you want to help shape KoopaTV's legacy in a big way, check out ways (positions) you can join our staff, here! If you just want to marginally shape it, we encourage you to submit a guest article. 

KoopaTV turns three years old in ten days. That's sort of a big deal. Help KoopaTV's continued growth by sharing KoopaTV articles to folks you know! Or random people. Just try to keep it topical.

March 2016's newsletter is here.
May 2016's newsletter is here! It's a lot better than this one.
For last year's April newsletter, click here.
For next year's April newsletter, click here. It has headings.

Nintendo's 10 Million Miitomo Users are Hollow

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - And how good will Fire Emblem be?

Looks like Nintendo is really proud they have 10 million Miitomo users. That means the number of people who have downloaded Miitomo. There are over 300 million conversations, and over 20 million Miifotos — user-generated ones, not automatic ones. From what I've read, Miifotos are the best part of Miitomo, so an average of 2 per user doesn't sound very promising.

Here's what the user reviews say:

“it got boring.” “I was hyped for this app but I was honestly let down.”

Reading some more reviews, it seems people don't understand what “candy” does, either. One user was creeped out how it asks for your address, and another believes that it's way too hard to get coins.

The users they're attracting don't seem to be all that smart, especially this guy who claims to be a lifelong Nintendo fan:

Nintendo's E3 2016 Might Be Good!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - There is nothing incompatible with Nintendo's plans for E3 2016, and E3 2016 being good.

You've probably heard about what Nintendo is planning to do with their E3 2016 (June 14–June 16, 2016). It's not the full set of details, but according to Nintendo's press release, here's the gist of it: 

“E3: Nintendo changes its approach to the show every year. This June, Nintendo will focus its attentions on the upcoming game in The Legend of Zelda franchise. The Wii U version of the game will be playable for the first time on the E3 show floor, and it will be the only playable game Nintendo presents at the show, in order to provide attendees a complete immersion. Additional information about Nintendo’s E3 plans will be announced in the future.” 

The same source says, of the NX,

“NX will not make an appearance at the upcoming E3 video game trade show in Los Angeles in June and will be unveiled later this year.”

A lot of people are upset with Nintendo after yesterday's massive news dump, relating to the NX and The Legend of Zelda's new Wii U release year. (Coming out on the NX at the same time, as well.) Some people misread and thought that because the NX will be releasing March 2017, that The Legend of Zelda is dated March 2017 as well. That is a guess, and not a fact. The Legend of Zelda is only dated for 2017. That's as specific as we'll get, for now. But we WILL know more about it from E3.

People think this E3 idea is fated for disaster. But I see several reasons how this disaster can be averted, and I'll list them. You can disagree if you want (and make those known in the comments) but at least consider my points. ...Yes, this is a bit leaning on the speculation side (which I don't usually do on this site), but I'll try to be reasonably factual here. I also will discuss what makes an E3 good.

Nintendo to Release the NX this March 2017

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Plus, other interesting information from their investor relations releases today.

We last got to hear some Nintendo-related consolidated financials back at the start of February, and I was pretty disgruntled back then. Now Nintendo's fiscal year is over, and we're on a new one. That means we get some more information about hopefully-interesting things. Since February, Mario Party 10 has managed to outsell The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD in total sales! ...Whatever.

We also found out very key information, such as:

“For our dedicated video game platform business, Nintendo is currently developing a gaming platform codenamed “NX” with a brand-new concept. NX will be launched in March 2017 globally.”

That's sooner than I expected, as I'll mention at the end of the article. And might be later than YOU expected.

Nintendo also projects to get 500 billion yen in revenue over the next year, which is actually less than what they've gotten over the past year. Impressively enough, their cost of goods sold is proportionately less than before. What that basically means is that as Nintendo keeps selling things digitally and more and more customers buy less games physically, Nintendo gets to keep more money. That's as you would expect, and it's why Nintendo is doing all of these digital purchasing initiatives and My Nintendo. Since they won't lower the MSRP of the games, they can afford (well, in light of these results, not really) to pass along the cost-savings in the form of loyalty coupons.

REVIEW: Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - We should've gotten Donkey Kong: Trooper Challenge instead.

You may recall that in the March 2016 Nintendo Direct, they announced Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge for the Wii U and 3DS. Anyone who bought an amiibo at participating retailers between March 25 and April 27 got free codes for the Wii U and 3DS versions. I went to one of those and bought some amiibo, and got codes.

If you want more details about that, stay tuned for the conclusion of the “How Team Koopa Escaped Rio” series here on KoopaTV. Whenever that is finished, it'll be linked to at the bottom of this review. I want to focus on this game, Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge.

Now, the reason that it comes with an amiibo? You need at least one amiibo to actually play. Could be any amiibo. But only a select few amiibo give you special things in the game. I'll talk more about that in the review, but that's just something important to get out of the way.

I don't particularly feel like making particular sections for each part (gameplay, graphics, whatever) of the game like I've done in some previous reviews. I'm feeling holistic right now. All screenshots for this review are from the Wii U version.

How Team Koopa Escaped Rio — Part 3

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at Rio de Janeiro.

At the start of April, I wrote that Team Koopa, that is, myself, Wendy O. Koopa, Roy Koopa, Larry Koopa, King Bowser Koopa, and Bowser Jr. were all stranded at Rio de Janeiro International Airport. Dry Bones and Dry Bowser are part of our Olympic competitive team, too, but they're immune to the Zika Virus while the rest of us weren't.

Since that cut into KoopaTV's April article count, I wanted to give you guys the detailed story about what happened at Rio. It started from me making a long trip from the National Library of Brazil to Rio de Janeiro International Airport. King Dad gave us permission to explore the area as we waited for extraction, and Bowser Jr. and I encountered Zazz, one of the members of the Zeti Deadly Six. They're the ones who gave us Zika. We... didn't really defeat Zazz, but got away from him back to the airport. We ran really fast. You wouldn't think guys with shells could do that, but Zazz is that creepy.

Anyway, in the story, it's about to be Monday morning. Roy, Wendy, and Larry have a story to tell, so I'm going to get to telling their story within my own story. I feel hijacked. But, we'll get past that within this same article, so just read it:

Don't Lose Hope in MOTHER 3's Localisation!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - It's coming... it's coming...

Apparently, everyone thought the April 20, 2016 Nintendo of America stream was going to be about MOTHER 3. It was about Star Fox Zero instead, and it showcased an awesome short film. The reason for that hype? Well, April 20, 2016 is the ten-year anniversary of MOTHER 3 coming out in Japan!

Pft, if Nintendo doesn't care about the anniversary for September 11, what makes you think Nintendo of America would care about the anniversary date for a Japan-only game? What got that idea in your head? The whole worldwide sponsored Splatfest for Pokémon's 20th anniversary despite it only being 20 years for Japan? Hmph! Silly!

Either way, the majority of people are losing hope.

That said, the wording of the GameFAQs poll options here are stupid, which is why the total vote count is so low.
What if I think they will release it, but not that week?

 
I said back in July 2015 that MOTHER 3 is coming soon, and it was one of Satoru Iwata's last requests to Reggie Fils-Aime. Then it was released on the Japanese Wii U Virtual Console in December of that year.

Was that date a relevant anniversary? No. Not of anything relating to the MOTHER series. Japan just released the game on some random day, that happened to be before Christmas.