Custom Picks - Nintendo's New Open World Adventure

*DISCLAIMER* The following is purely an opinion piece. I do not claim to know what the real plans are that any video game companies mentioned in this article have planned for their franchises.

Welcome to Custom Picks, a series of speculation articles about different games for companies to release. Nintendo, Sega, Capcom, Ubisoft, Square-Enix; if they have games everyone is waiting for, those games are up for discussion.

With Nintendo’s NX a little under a year away, everyone is speculating about what they are going to do next. Everyone has ideas about what their next console should be capable of and everyone says they need to have more third-party games, more first-party games, revivals of old franchises, and new IPs. But when it comes to exactly what games should be on there, fewer people are willing to say exactly what.

So, the first few articles in Custom Picks will be about Nintendo and what possible games they could release to get gamers excited about the NX, and maybe revive some old or obscure franchises along the way.

With the popularity of games like Grand Theft Auto, Just Cause, Skyrim, and many more, open world adventure games are very popular with today’s gamers. Having a wide open area to explore and being able to do just about anything in that world is very alluring to video game fans, especially if that open world has a lot of detailed and vibrant scenery to take in. These are one of the kinds of games that really showcase a console’s power and graphical capabilities. A game like this from Nintendo could not only fill in a void for a genre missing from their consoles but also prove how powerful the NX is compared not only to their previous systems, but also to the current Xbox and PlayStation.

So, what first-party or third-party titles could fit this category?

First Party Titles – Dillon’s Rolling Western: Open Frontier & Mach Rider

Suggestions for a Nintendo made open-world game include using franchises like F-Zero, The Legend of Zelda, Mach Rider, and Dillon’s Rolling Western. The Legend of Zelda can be set aside however, since the new game coming in 2017 for Wii U and the NX is supposed to be an open world game. Of those left, Dillon’s Rolling Western seems like it would make for the most unique experience.

For those not familiar with the series, Dillon’s Rolling Western is a small series of downloadable games for the 3DS. It focuses on Dillon, an anthro armadillo ranger in a Wild West environment charged with protecting the frontier towns from invading rock monsters called Grocks. 

With an open-world game set in this world, players can control Dillon as he goes from town to town defeating Grocks and helping the villagers with tasks both big and small. Dillon moves around and attacks by rolling into a ball and shooting forward, similar to Sonic the Hedgehog, so perhaps the game could give him upgradable abilities, like increased speed, homing attacks, or a spiked spin attack, and since this is a Wild West game, he could even be given different weapons to use, like revolvers, shotguns, hunting rifles, or sticks of dynamite, especially since other characters in the series use them.

For those who want a less eccentric look for their open-world game, perhaps a revival of the NES game Mach Rider would be a better pick. Players control the titular Mach Rider as he defends the Earth in the year 2112 from invading aliens with his weapon-loaded motorcycle. A premise like that is sure to catch a lot of attention with action-loving gamers. 

The game would either have a post-apocalyptic or cyberpunk setting, to either fit in with or stand out from other post-apocalyptic games like Fallout or Mad Max, and players would control Mach Rider as he drove from city to city to fight off the invaders. Players could even customize their bike with different weapons from machine guns to rifles to rocket launchers. The door could even be opened for some crazier kinds of firearms or defense equipment for the player's bike, like the cars in the recent Mad Max video game.

Third Party Title – Grand Theft Auto VI

 

Grand Theft Auto is probably the most standard pick for this genre, but as I explained with Call of Duty in an earlier article, that is exactly why this may be one of the best picks to add to the lineup. When gamers think of an open world game, one of the first things they think of is Grand Theft Auto, so it would do the some good to have the latest Grand Theft Auto game on the NX, to offer more of what gamers are getting on other systems. It doesn't even have to be an exclusive title; just having it present would do a lot of good for Nintendo's image with hardcore gamers.

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What did you think of these Custom Picks? What open world adventure do you want to see in Nintendo’s lineup? Make your voice heard in the comments below and thanks for coming.

Custom Picks - Nintendo's New First-Person Shooter

*DISCLAIMER* The following is purely an opinion piece. I do not claim to know what the real plans are that any video game companies mentioned in this article have planned for their franchises.

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Welcome to Custom Picks, a series of speculation articles about different games for companies to release. Nintendo, Sega, Capcom, Ubisoft, Square-Enix; if they have games everyone is waiting for, those games are up for discussion.

With Nintendo’s NX a little under a year away, everyone is speculating about what they are going to do next. Everyone has ideas about what their next console should be capable of and everyone says they need to have more third-party games, more first-party games, revivals of old franchises, and new IPs. But when it comes to exactly what games should be on there, fewer people are willing to say exactly what.

So, the first few articles in Custom Picks will be about Nintendo and what possible games they could release to get gamers excited about the NX, and maybe breathe new life into some old franchises along the way.

One of the biggest genres that have had a gap on Nintendo consoles lately is first person shooters. On the Xbox and PlayStation, games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Halo have been giving gamers their adrenaline fix for a long time and people want that particular fix offered from Nintendo for them to even look at their consoles. Fans have asked for both a story driven single player focused title like Duke Nukem 3D or Doom (at least, the early versions of Doom) and a competitive multiplayer shooter like Call of Duty. Franchises that fans have suggested be used for it have included Metroid, Wild Gunman, Geist, and Sin & Punishment.

So, what first-party or third-party titles could fit this category?

First Party Titles – Geist: Resurrected & Metroid Prime Hunters 2

For a single player title, a sequel or remake to the GameCube game Geist would be an eye catching title. Geist is one of the few M-rated titles published by Nintendo and it was a first-person shooter with a unique mechanic. After an event in the story, the main character is left as a spirit who can possess other people, animals, or inanimate objects and use their abilities or equipment to progress through the stage. So, you could possess a soldier and shoot your way through a level, possess a dog to tear someone apart, or possess a keypad on a door to open it up if it's blocking your way. In today’s gaming climate, an M-rated supernatural-themed first-person shooter actually published by Nintendo is sure to turn some heads.

For a more multiplayer themed experience, an interesting pick would be a console-based sequel to the DS game Metroid Prime Hunters. Some people would argue that the Metroid Prime games are more of an adventure series than a shooter series, but the potential is there for a competitive shooter, especially with Hunters. Hunters introduced several other playable characters alongside Samus, confirming that she is not the only important character in this universe. All of these characters had their own unique appearances, weapons, and abilities. For a competitive shooter in the Metroid universe, a character select screen could let you choose between different bounty hunters to play as to match different playstyles. Different weapons could be available in a map but your character would still have their own unique equipment. Different modes can be selected from mainstays like Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, or Virus mode, to possibly a Bounty mode where the characters chase after one target and the one who takes them down wins the match.

Third Party Titles – Call of Duty: Ghosts II & TimeSplitters 4

This may seem like more of a standard pick because Call of Duty is one of the most popular shooter franchises out there, but it’s because it’s one of the most popular that it would make such a good choice. If gamers want a game like Call of Duty, perhaps the best thing would be to just give them Call of Duty. Giving them the experiences they can have on other consoles along with the experiences they can’t get anywhere else is key to having a successful console.

But for a less standard pick, a more eye-catching title would be one that a lot of people are asking for, TimeSplitters 4. TimeSplitters 2 and TimeSplitters: Future Perfect were cult hit games because of their quirky style, humor, and variety of environments. Because the game centers around time travel, it could take place in 1942 in one level and 2053 in the next. For the game to be canceled over something as simple as what character to put on the box art, the issue could be resolved with some outside help and the game could be released. Perhaps Nintendo could step in and do for TimeSplitters 4 what they did for Bayonetta 2, securing it as an NX exclusive to make sure the game sees the light of day.

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What did you think of these Custom Picks? What first-person shooters would you add to Nintendo’s lineup? Make your voice heard in the comments below and thanks for coming.

Movie Review - Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice

With DC Comics and Warner Bros. Studios releasing their newest and most hyped superhero movie this year, everyone on the Internet seems to want to rip it apart and it's not completely unjustified either. Here's my take on what they did right and what they could have done better.

Story

As it turns out, a lot of the story was actually revealed in the trailers, so a lot of plot points, like the appearances of Doomsday and Wonder Woman, won't count as spoilers. That said, I'll try to avoid the parts that actually are spoilers for those who haven't seen the movie and still want to.

That's actually a poor part about the movie; it's a bit predictable. If you keep the trailers in mind going into the movie, you already know what is about to happen. Superman and Batman disapprove of each other, Lex Luthor gets the two of them to fight (and is so excited about it, he's practically sitting on the sidelines with a bucket of popcorn), Superman has the upper hand until Batman pulls out a trump card, Doomsday appears and the two have to stop fighting each other and work together, and Wonder Woman appears out of nowhere to make the duo a trio because reasons.

The way the story handled Wonder Woman was awkward as well. The actress, Gal Gadot, actually does a decent portrayal given what she had to work with, but up until the final battle scene with Doomsday, she was kind of just there. We never find out why she's in Gotham and interacting with Batman and Superman other than the producers throwing her in there as a lead-in to the eventual Justice League movie we'll be getting a few years from now. Not even a throw-away joke line like, "I heard there's a good burger joint on 7th Avenue."

The story also seems to jump around a lot. Just as the audience is getting invested with one character's story and point of view, it switches to someone else's. We have Superman, Batman, Lois, and Lex as the main four we see and the constant switching between them and the other viewpoints we see through the movie can be a bit jarring for some viewers.

Characters

As the title implies, Batman and Superman are the main characters of the movie. A good deal of their supporting casts are also present. We already talked about Wonder Woman and on the Superman side, we have Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Perry White, and who I'm guessing is Jimmy Olsen, while on the Batman side, we only have Alfred. The story focuses a bit more on the Superman side of the roster than the Batman side. Understandable since, this is a sequel to Man of Steel and Zack Snyder is the director, but a lot of the story on Batman's end is glossed over. Most people probably know about Batman's origin story by now thanks to the Dark Knight trilogy, but still the story seems to favor one side a bit more heavily.

One of the most glaring issues about this movie is the portrayal of Lex Luthor, played here by Jesse Eisenburg. Some of you may know Jesse Eisenburg from movies like Zombieland, The Social Network, and American Ultra. But Eisneburg was not a good fit for Lex Luthor. In the comics, TV shows, and other movies, Lex is portrayed as an intelligent and serious businessman with a smooth demeanor. Here, Lex is very eccentric in a lot of parts and full-on crazy in others. If Eisneburg were cast in a Batman movie as the Riddler or even the Joker, it would have been a good fit, but as Lex Luthor, it clashes too much with what we already know about the character.

Visuals and Music

With Zack Snyder once again at the helm of the project, his visual style is once again apparent. It has the same grim, gritty, and realistic vibe as seen in movies like Watchmen and Man of Steel and the colorful costumes normally associated with most of the superhero characters are replaced with darker colored costumes to fit this vibe. A good portion of the movie is filmed at night in dark areas (I suppose to accommodate Batman), including the Batman vs. Superman fight and the fight with Doomsday, which add to the dark and gritty tone of the film.

Also, it's clear what most of the movie's budget went towards. The title even hints towards it. It's the big fight scene at the end. When the fight starts between Batman and Superman, it's just full-on spectacle and what a spectacle it is. Batman and Superman are trading blows and the balance of power actually shifts back and forth with the two heroes each having the advantage at different points in the fight. And when their target switches from each other to Doomsday, the action just keeps on going. All three heroes (because Wonder Woman decides to tag in right then) hit Doomsday with everything they've got and it takes a lot to finally bring him down (and the use of something I won't mention due to spoilers).

Overall

This movie could have been a lot better and it seems like the story was just filler to kill time for the big fight, but once the big fight starts, it's a thrill ride from start to finish. While this was hyped to be a huge movie event, it seemed more like a film DC had to get out of the way in order to get a step closer to the Justice League movie. Still, it does do some things right and it could have turned out worse.

Here's hoping Suicide Squad can make up for this.

The Arsenal: Link (The Legend of Zelda)

Welcome to The Arsenal, where we look at the best weapons and items in media. In this entry, we’re looking at the best equipment used by The Legend of Zelda’s main hero, Link. We will be looking at the best weapons and items across the series to determine the best ones that he has. There are a lot of them, so there will be several different slots that apply. What different niches can be filled with Link’s best equipment?

Best Sword – Master Sword

By far the most well-known of Link’s equipment and one of the most famous swords in all of gaming, the Master Sword is the best sword Link can use. It is a powerful blade that can slice through obstacles and take down enemies with a few strong strikes and it is best known within the realm of Hyrule of having the ability to vanquish evil. It was this sword that Link used to defeat Ganon time after time throughout the Zelda timeline.

Best Shield – Hylian Shield

A shield is always a good accompaniment to a sword and while it may not have any special abilities, the Hylian Shield is a good secondary to the Master Sword. The Hylian Shield is a very durable item, able to protect Link from several kinds of attacks. He just needs to hold it up and brace for impact and the attack gets blocked. However, it is only a small shield, so it blocks attacks coming from the front, but not the sides or the back, so Link still needs to be aware of what is going on around him.

Best Arrow Type – Light Arrows

Alongside his sword, the bow and arrows are also commonly used items in Link’s adventures. When Link needs to strike an enemy or activate a special switch in a dungeon from far away, the bow can accomplish this task. Link has used several different arrows across the series, from normal ones to fiery ones to freezing ones to explosive ones, but the strongest ones are the Light Arrows. Like the Master Sword, the Light Arrows are given to Link with the purpose of banishing evil and, unlike the Master Sword, are often given as an end-of-game item to use against the final boss. When these powerful arrows are received, they deal large amounts of damage to the monster, allowing Link to defeat him and save the kingdom.

Best Non-Archery Long Range Weapon – Gale Boomerang

Other than the bow and arrows, Link does have other long range weapons he can use, that actually double as weapons and tools, and the most effective of these is the Gale Boomerang from the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Normal boomerangs can be used to attack and stun enemies from afar and can even grab items and bring them back, but the Gale Boomerang also has an added whirlwind effect that allows it to put out small fires, cut ropes, or carry items from far distances.

Best Explosive – Bombchu

Link has needed to use bombs throughout his adventures, whether he needed some extra force when fighting an enemy or he needed to blast his way through a large obstacle. While there are larger bombs that he can use than the standard ones, this slot goes not to the most powerful explosive but the most versatile, and that item is the Bombchu. This mouse-shaped mechanical bomb zooms forward in a straight line, even moving up or down walls until it reaches an enemy or an obstacle and explodes on impact.

Best Movement Item – Hookshot

Link has several items that can help him move around a dungeon from the Roc’s Feather to the Pegasus Boots. His most prominent of these however is the hookshot, but the most useful of these is the Clawshot from Twilight Princess.When used, Link can shoot the claw forward to grab onto far away grates and vines to bring Link towards them so he can start climbing. He can also use it to bring far away objects towards him and damage weaker enemies. It can be used on wood like the standard hookshot, so it can’t grab treasure chests, but it can be used underwater and it can lower or raise Link along the length of its chain while it’s in use.

Best Wearable Item – Fierce Deity Mask

With different kinds of gloves, boots, and even hats, Link gets a lot of wearable items that can grant him power, but the most effective of these kinds of items have been masks. They only played a major part in one game (Majora’s Mask), but in that one game, they were an immense source of power, giving Link several different abilities. The best of these masks is the Fierce Deity Mask, turning him into Fierce Deity Link and granting him great strength in battle, including the ability to use Sword Beams. He doesn’t need to have this mask to progress through the game or defeat Majora, but it makes that final boss fight much easier.

Best Magical Item – Ocarina of Time

Link has used several different magical items to both attack enemies and solve puzzles, from magic rods to musical instruments. The most powerful of these mystical artifacts is not actually used for either of those purposes. Not directly at least. The Ocarina of Time, as seen in the Zelda game with the same name and Majoras’s Mask, is actually used to affect the world itself. This musical instrument can affect time with effects like warping the user to different time periods or changing the time of day from daylight to night time. With the right song, time can be turned forwards or backwards, and in Majora’s Mask, it becomes instrumental to Link’s success in saving the land of Termina.

Best Healing Item – Bottled Fairy

With the bottles that Link can find across Hyrule, he can use them to store different items, particularly healing items like potions or Moo Moo Milk. As effective as those can be, a bottled fairy is the much more effective. Using a butterfly net and an empty bottle, Link can catch a fairy in a 

bottle and carry it around until he needs it. When used normally, Link can use the fairy to restore his health, but when Link runs out of health and falls to the ground with the fairy still in his inventory, the fairy can release itself and revive Link. It essentially gives him an extra life.

Best Wallet – Giant’s Wallet

Throughout his travels in Hyrule, Link can collect Rupees, those multicolored jewels that are the currency of the kingdom. He obviously needs a place to store them all and that’s where the wallets come in. The Giant’s Wallet, which appears in several Zelda games, is often the largest wallet in the game, able to hold the largest amount of Rupees possible in their games, from 500 in Ocarina of Time to 5,000 in Skyward Sword. With this wallet, Link can always have an abundance of Rupees when he needs to make a purchase.

What did you think of this list? What items do you think are the best in Link’s arsenal? Which characters do you think have an arsenal worth looking at? Let me know in the comment section and thanks for coming.

The Arsenal: Mario (Super Mario Bros.)

This is the first of the articles in The Arsenal, where I look at the best weapons and/or items that a character has access to. This article’s spotlight character is Mario, the main character of the Super Mario Brothers series. We will be looking at Mario’s various items and power-ups to determine the best ones he has available to him. Unlike my other list articles, this one is not numbered or rank-based, but instead will be based on different categories. What different niches can be filled with the best items or power-ups?

Best Offensive Power-Up- Fire Flower

First appearing in the original Super Mario Brothers, the Fire Flower is one of Mario’s classic power-ups and one of the most effective. In the normal Super Mario platforming games, the flower lets Mario throw fireballs, but outside of the main series it is implied that it can do more for the red-clad plumber. With Mario being shown with fire attacks outside of fireballs in the Mario Sports series and the Super Smash Brothers series, it is implied that it can give Mario full pyro-kinetic abilities.

Best Defensive Power-Up- Metal Cap

One of Mario’s few defensive power-up items, the Metal Cap is first seen in Super Mario 64 and still makes appearances as the Metal Box in the Super Smash Brothers series. After Mario breaks open the green and white box that contains it, the silver cap temporarily turns Mario into metal. It makes him impervious to damage, allows him to withstand water pressure so he can sink to the bottom of bodies of water, and allows him to cross areas filled with poison gas.

Best Land/Water Movement Power-Up- Penguin Suit

Mario has a few suit power-ups and many of them can affect his abilities on land and in water, but the most effective one for land and water movement is the Penguin Suit. First seen in New Super Mario Brothers Wii, the Penguin Suit (which some people might say looks ridiculous) lets Mario walk on icy surfaces without sliding, slide on ice and water without sinking in, and swim efficiently through water no matter the conditions. It even lets Mario throw ice balls, allowing Mario to freeze enemies into ice blocks, which can then be thrown or used as platforms.

Best Aerial Movement Power-Up- Cape Feather

There are a lot of power-ups that allow Mario to fly from the Wing Cap to the Super Leaf to the Tanooki Suit, but after looking at their abilities, the one that stands out from the rest is the Cape Feather from Super Mario World. Not only can it be used with a spin from Mario to knock out enemies, but it also provides unlimited flight abilities. The cape also makes an appearance in Mario’s move-set in Super Smash Brothers where he can use it to reflect projectile attacks.

Best Size Power-Up- Mega Mushroom

Mario has access to several size changing items to help him grow or shrink. He also has access to several mushroom items that have different effects. While the Super Mushroom is the most well-known of these items, the more effective of both of these types is the Mega Mushroom from New Super Mario Bros. When Mario grabs this extra-large mushroom, he grows to a gigantic size that can stomp and smash through any enemy or obstacle in his way. It only lasts for a few seconds,

Best Invincibility Power-Up- Invincibility Leaf

The Starman from the original Super Mario Brothers may be the most iconic power-up to grant Mario invincibility, but the Invincibility Leaf from Super Mario 3D Land grants him that and more. Not only does it give him invincibility, knocking away any enemy that touches him, it also grants him the abilities of the Tanooki Suit, allowing him to tail whip, glide, and turn into a statue. It even lasts for the entire level that it’s found on and when the level is finished, Mario still has a regular Tanooki Suit to use.

Best Non-Power-Up Item- Ultra Hammer

As the only item on this list that is not a power-up, the hammer is a recurring item in several Mario games, most notably the RPG games like Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi. Mario can use them to smash through obstacles, hit large switches, and combat enemies. The most powerful form of this piece of equipment is the Ultra Hammer from Paper Mario, which can smash through blocks made of wood, stone, and even metal. While Mario has other non-power-up items like the FLUDD water cannon from Super Mario Sunshine, they don’t pack the same power as the Ultra Hammer.

What did you think of this list? What items would you have given Mario? Which characters do you think have an arsenal worth looking at? Let me know in the comment section and thanks for coming.

10 Game Genres That People Want Nintendo to Try

Since the Wii era of Nintendo consoles, people have been noticing more and more that there are several kinds of games not commonly available on Nintendo’s platforms. Third-party developers usually come to fill these voids if first or second-party studios are unwilling or unable to themselves, but with Nintendo’s recent home consoles lacking in third-party support, this gap has just become more noticeable. With third-parties seemingly reluctant to work with Nintendo, it seems as if it’s up to Nintendo themselves to try to fill this void and several fans have made it known what kinds of games they want to see.

For this article, I have looked in several forums related to this topic to find out just what kinds of games that gamers want to see on Nintendo consoles and, by extension, what kinds of games they want Nintendo to make. I will also be detailing some of the ideas these people stated, to give an idea of what some gamers are thinking about.

1. First-Person Shooters

First-person shooters are the most highly requested genre for Nintendo to make a new game in, with multiplatform games like Call of Duty and Battlefield and Xbox series like Halo and Gears of War still at the forefront of a lot of people’s minds. While Nintendo already has the Metroid Prime games, others have been quick to state that it is more of a first-person adventure game and doesn’t really count. Nintendo also has Splatoon, but gamers have also stated that they want a first-person, not third-person, shooter, even more so, one with a mature tone and storyline.

Suggestions have ranged from a remake of the Nintendo published GameCube shooter Geist to a main console sequel to the DS game Metroid Prime Hunters, with selectable characters replacing swappable weapon sets. Some have also suggested a modern revival of the NES light gun game Wild Gunman as a Wild West online FPS, acquiring the rights to series like Perfect Dark or TimeSplitters, or even just making a brand new IP in the genre.

2. Traditional 2D Fighters

While Nintendo already has a successful fighting game series in the platform fighter Super Smash Brothers, a lot of people want Nintendo to make a more traditional 2D fighting game, similar to Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, or The King of Fighters. This niche used to be filled by Killer Instinct when Rare was part of Nintendo, until the developer got sold to Microsoft. Several requests have been made to Nintendo for this kind of game to be made. They include acquiring the rights to the Bloody Roar series from Konami and Hudson, working with Capcom to make Nintendo vs. Capcom, or reviving series like Urban Champion or Joy Mech Fight as traditional fighting games with complex mechanics as seen in pro tournament games like Street Fighter.

The Wii U game Pokken Tournament, a Pokemon fighting game developed by Namco Bandai, is scheduled for release in March 2016, but time will tell if it’s the fighting game fans are asking for.

3. Open World/Sandbox Adventures

The draw of an open-world game is having a large wide open area where you can go anywhere and do anything you want within that world, even if what you want to do is cause mayhem and spread chaos. That is the reason games like Grand Theft Auto, Saints Row, Just Cause, Skyrim, and more have become so popular in recent years and that is why a lot of people imagine what Nintendo could do with an entry in this genre.

Alongside the calls for a new IP exploring this genre, made by an internal Nintendo studio, several Nintendo titles have been stated as candidates for the open-world treatment including a Legend of Zelda title with a large world to explore (which many people think the upcoming Wii U title is going to be), an F-Zero game focusing on Captain Falcon’s bounty hunting career alongside his F-Zero races, a revival of the NES title Mach Rider as a gritty sci-fi open-world driving game, and an open world western based on the Dillon’s Rolling Western series.

4. Western RPGs

For this genre, it seems the biggest influences here are the success of games like Skyrim, Fallout, The Witcher, and Mass Effect. While some of these games may offer the freedom of choice seen in open-world games, they are more known for having complex characters that the player can interact with and deep and branching storylines that the player can affect with the choices they make, either in dialogue choices of actions in gameplay. This is one of the genres that make video games more like interactive movies.
Mostly, gamers want Nintendo to have a new original IP in this genre, preferably with a western director at the helm. Commonly stated developers have included Bethesda, CD Projekt Red, Electronic Arts and others. As far as adapting existing Nintendo properties, two of those mentioned were GameCube title Geist for a supernatural themed world or NES title StarTropics for a quirky, lighthearted storyline and characters.

5. Visual Novel

For gamers who want a good story and characters more than anything else from their gaming experience, visual novels are one of the best genres to turn to. With games like Ace Attorney as the main example, it is seen as a low budget was to release a new game with a good and engaging story. Nintendo has several series that could fill this niche with a new entry like Detective Club, Hotel Dusk, Another Code, or Tokimeki High School, but with Nintendo’s focus more on creating innovative game controls, some people think it’s unlikely that they would focus on making a simple visual novel game. They think that Nintendo would try to make some new control scheme that would separate it from others in this genre, but say they would welcome it if it actually helps the storytelling process.

6. Real Time Strategy

Though real-time strategy is a genre more associated with PCs, with game consoles becoming more powerful, many want to see RTS games used more on consoles and Nintendo is no exception. As far as Nintendo goes here, some say that Pikmin could count for this genre, but some say that this is a single-player action strategy game while they are asking for a competitive multiplayer game with complex mechanics, similar to StarCraft or XCOM. Ideas have been thrown around for RTS games based on series like Advance Wars and The Legend of Zelda and even a game based around wars between various Nintendo villains and the armies they would lead. The Wii U gamepad was thought to be able to work well for a genre like this, being able to just select a unit to manipulate with the controller’s touchscreen, but with the Wii U fading out, most of this talk has switched to the NX.

7. Japanese RPGs

Another game genre driven by deep storylines and engaging characters making games seem more like interactive movies if done right, Japanese RPGs, or JRPG for short, usually contain storytelling conventions, gameplay mechanics, and character archetypes that are more commonly found in Japanese-made games than western-made ones. A lot of gamers want to see JRPGs arrive in a large way on Nintendo home consoles, not as Virtual Console games or indie games that call back to the classic era, but as main console releases. Nintendo has recently provided a new entry in the Xenoblade Chronicles series from Monolith Soft, but that’s just one series.

Gamers have suggested partnerships with several developers including Square-Enix, Mistwalker, XSEED, Atlus, Namco Bandai, and others with experience making well-known JRPGs. Remakes or remasters of games like The Last Story or EarthBound have also been suggested, along with new entires in games like Golden Sun influenced by more complex RPGs like Persona, the Tales series, and Final Fantasy. The public has even suggested a Kingdom Hearts style Nintendo crossover game, like Super Smash Brothers as an RPG.

8. MMORPGs

Along with real-time strategy, MMOs are among those genres that have been exclusive to PCs until advancements in game console technology seem to make it more possible. Several ideas have been thrown around for a Nintendo MMO, especially ones based around Nintendo’s current franchises. In a Pokemon MMO, several players could travel the region or regions in the world, catching and raising their Pokemon and battling other player Trainers, while Legendaries or villain teams like Team Rocket could serve as area bosses or sparking special events that multiple trainers could participate in. A Zelda MMO could have several heroes from different races stepping up to save Hyrule from evil after Link goes missing. A Super Smash Brothers MMO could have avatars help the canon characters of different Nintendo worlds solving different crises and possibly gaining new equipment based on these different series.

A whole article could be made just speculating on what Nintendo MMOs based on different series could be like, but the main draw for this genre is being able to interact with other players while adventuring across a wide-open world.

9. Survival Horror

Survival horror games have been a genre that Nintendo has rarely touched over the years. Nintendo tried this back in the GameCube era with its first-party game Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, a highly praised game, and in the current Wii U era with Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water, released to mixed results. Neither were really paid much attention to and went largely ignored. With many blaming to Nintendo’s approach to marketing (or lack thereof) for these games, fans of survival horror want to see more of the types of games the other consoles are seeing arriving on Nintendo.

Nintendo currently does not have much to offer here aside from another Fatal Frame game (which may be given a low-key release like the last one) or a sequel to Eternal Darkness (unlikely seeing what happened to the original developers), so many see Nintendo publishing a new IP as the only alternative.

10. Toys to Life Action Games

Requests for this mainly stem from how Nintendo has handled its Amiibo line of NFC figures. While Activision, Disney, and now Lego all have their own toys to life games released to massive success, Nintendo has yet to give a similar experience with their Amiibo figures. Most people who buy them simply buy them as collectibles to display on a shelf, because the few games that do integrate Amiibo functionality either handle it in a small capacity (like Super Smash Brothers 4) or are not interesting enough to hold players’ attention (like Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival).

Fans have suggested that Nintendo take some cues from the other big toys to life games and release an action RPG game that use Amiibo figures to access different characters in the game, perhaps as a stand-alone sequel to The Subspace Emissary from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Some have even suggested a Nintendo MOBA to use this functionality. Playable characters don’t even have to be limited to Smash Amiibo. The Inklings from Splatoon, the Yarn Yoshis, the characters from Animal Crossing, or even third-party Amiibos like Shovel Knight could have some kind of functionality in a game like this from playable characters to unlocking extra missions.

There were several ideas stated for new genres for Nintendo to work in and these were only ten of the most popular, so what do you think? What genres do you think Nintendo should make a new game in? Say what you think in the comments below and thanks for viewing.

10 Game Releases That Could Make Smash 5 Bigger Than Ever

With Corrin and Bayonetta now added to the DLC roster for Super Smash Bros. 4, the game now has its complete roster. No more DLC announcements. These are the last ones for this game. Those fans that had someone in mind that they wanted to see make the Smash roster will have to wait to see who makes it in Smash 5 (after Sakurai takes a long break first. He’s earned it.).

When it came to the characters that made the roster for Smash 4, some people complained that some more representation was needed in different areas, whether they were asking for more female characters, more villains, more characters from a certain franchise, or whatever. To maximize a character’s chances of making it in the roster, it helps to be relevant around the time the game is being developed, so for some of these concerns, maybe some new games should be released.

For this article, I will list ten ideas for video games that, if made and released before the next entry in the Super Smash Bros. series, may allow for more or different characters to get a chance at the roster. Focus will mostly be on the upcoming NX home console and whatever their next portable console will be but there are a couple of Wii U entries here too.

1.       Super Mario NX: Wart’s Castle

One of the games that everyone says Nintendo’s upcoming console, currently codenamed the NX, should get on or around launch is a new 3D Mario game. Some people say that Super Mario Galaxy 3 could be this game, but a lot of people are asking for a game more similar to Super Mario 64, with a large open hub world with secrets to uncover that can branch out into different levels to explore. To take this a step further, what if this game featured the prominent return of a character a lot of people have been asking to make a return for a long time? What if, instead of Bowser, the main villain in this game was Wart from Super Mario Bros. 2?

There have been some people online who have pointed out that a lot of the characters from Super Mario Bros. 2 have been seeing very few appearances in the Mario series. A new game would bring these characters back into prominence, even more so if that game was a launch window title for a new Nintendo console. The game could include SMB2 enemies like Phantos and Pidgits and the SMB2 bosses like Mouser and Tryclyde as area bosses, and at the end of the game the final boss is Wart, having crossed from the dream world into the waking world in a quest for power. The game could even take place at a new castle that Wart has taken as his new base of operations.

2.       Donkey Kong NX

There are were a few franchises that Nintendo fans were underrepresented in Smash 4 and Donkey Kong was one of them. Several fans of the series were hoping to see Dixie Kong (a female character) or King K. Rool (the series’ main villain) added with Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, but they were passed over. A new game in the series could help to assert that other characters in the series could be worth consideration for a Smash roster. This new game could be portrayed in two ways. The first is a 2D platformer similar to Donkey Kong Country 2, where Diddy and Dixie have to save Donkey Kong after he gets kidnapped by King K. Rool (or some other villain who could be given the spotlight). The second is a 3D platformer similar to Donkey Kong 64, where a villain threatens Kong Island and DK, Diddy, and a bunch of their friends have to stop this threat to their home.

3.       The Legend of Zelda Wii U/NX

A new entry in the Legend of Zelda series is coming soon. What has everyone wondering though is if it will be a Wii U exclusive or will it also be available on the NX. Whatever it releases on, just like every other Zelda title to come since the N64 era, this game is likely to have a stand-out character that will grab everyone’s attention. With Shiek, Skull Kid, Vaati, Midna, Ghirahim, and more, whichever new character the new Zelda game gives us is likely to grab a lot of attention and likely to have a lot of people asking for their inclusion in Smash 5.

4.       Metroid Prime Hunters 2

Metroid is another series that has a lot of people calling out how underrepresented it is in Smash. A problem here could be how the Metroid series has been handled in the past. While everyone loves Samus Aran and she is in no way a bad character (Other M aside), the series has focused so much on her that no one else is major enough to warrant an appearance outside the series. The only other major character from this series is Ridley and when it comes to Smash, Sakurai has stated that Ridley would be too big to accurately portray as a Smash fighter. Maybe that is what they are attempting with Federation Force, to give someone besides Samus the spotlight.

Another possible solution could lie in a sequel to the DS game Metroid Prime Hunters. While the game’s execution had some problems, it had an interesting concept. Gamers could play as not only Samus, but different bounty hunters as well, with their own unique sets of weapons. A sequel to this game on the NX or even Nintendo's new handheld could allow some different characters to rise to popularity, more so if they are given expanded stories and abilities from what they were given in the first Hunters game.

5.       Pokken Tournament

Pokemon is one of Nintendo’s largest series, both figuratively and literally with about 700+ creatures at this point, and that shows with Smash 4 having six Pokemon characters in its playable roster. The popularity of a certain Pokemon plays a large factor in their chances at making the Smash roster and, while the anime surely does a lot for a character’s image, another thing that could help is a fighting game specifically for Pokemon characters.

With Pokken Tournament soon to be released for home consoles, we get to see Pokemon battles Tekken-style, especially with Namco Bandai as the developers. Players not only get to see different Pokemon in matches, but also how their moves can be applied in ways that the main series games don’t show. Not only could this boost some monsters’ popularity, but also affect how their moves are portrayed if they make it into a game like Smash.

6.       F-Zero NX

With only one character in the Smash roster with Captain Falcon and no new games in the series in a very long time, F-Zero is not only one of the most underrepresented franchises in Smash, but in Nintendo in general. It may not be a stretch to say that a lot of people know Captain Falcon more as a Super Smash Brothers character than an F-Zero character. The best fix to this problem would be to create a new game in the series and the debut of a new console would be a good opportunity to re-introduce gamers to this long-dormant franchise.

Not only that but the same kinds of abilities that the Super Smash Bros. games gave to Captain Falcon could also potentially given to other characters in this series. A re-imagining of the F-Zero series could potentially make it as an over-the-top, adrenaline fueled, sci-fi racer, where everyone important has super-fast racing machines and outrageously crazy attacks.

7.       Fire Emblem: Warriors Across Time

This entry isn’t so much about adding new characters as it is narrowing down who and how many to focus on, because Fire Emblem now has six characters in its part of the Smash roster. This suggestion isn’t so much a new Fire Emblem game as it is a spin-off game like Hyrule Warriors. Giving Fire Emblem the Dynasty Warriors treatment like The Legend of Zelda got would bring in characters from across the series from the classic games to the modern era. From there, developers might be able to focus on which characters would seem popular enough to bring back into Smash.

8.       A returning old or obscure IP

This one isn't so much a specific game as it is a general idea, but it is worth mentioning.

Nintendo has a large roster of IPs available for their use and to add some more variety to their roster, a very good thing to do would be to revive one of their older IPs and bring it into the modern era. Kid Icarus got that treatment and most of the people that played it agree that it was a great game. Not only was Pit given new abilities and equipment and a nuanced personality, but the series was also given a new world to explore and new characters like Viridi, Magnus, and Hades. A revival of an old series like Ice Climber, Mysterious Murasame Castle, StarTropics, or any other lesser known or classic titles, would open up whole new series to use and update their characters in the process.

This could also apply to more recent obscure games as well, like Dillon’s Rolling Western, Disaster: Day of Crisis, and Code Name S.T.E.A.M. A major game in these or other series for either consoles or handhelds would give Nintendo a reason to introduce a different IP into the Smash roster.

9.       A new original IP

Speaking of different IPs, while it would help Nintendo to revive one of their old or obscure IPs, creating a completely new one wouldn’t hurt either. It’s become sort of a running joke online to say that Nintendo only has three or four titles that they regularly use, and some of the people that make those jokes want to see Nintendo make, not necessarily new gameplay styles, but new worlds with new characters and deep stories. Though the two could go hand in hand, it’s the latter that they’re paying more attention to. What kinds of games the public wants Nintendo to make is a topic for another day, but as far as Smash is concerned, it could only benefit from having a new property to explore.

10.   Nintendo vs. Capcom

This is technically a third-party game, but since pretty much half of the game is Nintendo content, it counts here. The amount of fan-made rosters you can find online for a Nintendo vs. Capcom fighting game show that a lot of people want this to happen. Seeing Nintendo’s all-star roster against Capcom’s all-star roster, while potentially bringing back some obscure characters from both companies, would only drum up a lot of publicity for both developers. As far as Smash goes, this game could give Nintendo’s characters (and Capcom’s characters that cross over into Smash) new attacks, new interpretations of old attacks, and new personalities.

These were only ten out of a lot of potential suggestions, so what do you think? What game do you think should be released before Smash 5 to make it the best Smash game yet?