#rare pikmin fan art

[tooblindtizzy]

pikmin rat king

[munchbell45]

Huge shout out to fanartists in general, but especially this one type. I'm talking about the type of fanartists with what feels like the passion of several fans combined, who draw so much art of their niche favorite characters. That sort of passion and devotion, as well as a desire to see more content of these characters, is something I've just got to respect.

I'm thinking of a couple different groups/artists with this post. First, there are my mutuals who draw Ame Orphan fanart, especially @succikko-nebulae . Seriously, you guys always draw good stuff, and not a lot of folks draw Nagato's real body (not the Paths of Pain) or Yahiko.

Secondly, and I can not remember this account's name for the life of me, there was this Japanese (IIRC) fan artist who drew a lot of fanart of Sheldon from Splatoon back when the first game was still new. Sheldon isn't a very popular character in this game since he has a tendency to ramble on about stuff, but for some reason he was one of my favorite characters.

This fanartist was drawing like, a crazy amount of this character. I just had to respect it, and I visited the blog often. Sadly, I didn't have a tumblr account at the time, and I stopped looking at Splatoon stuff for a long while, so I forgot the name of the artist and IDK if they are still out there.

Anyways, point is, shout out to devoted fan artists for niche characters. Gotta be one of my favorite genders, as the meme goes.

[game-boy-pocket]

Maybe i'm just hanging out around the wrong places where the new Donkey Kong design is being discussed, but Donkey Kong fans sound a lot like what people say Sonic fans sound like right now, and they're being very alarmist about the future of Donkey Kong. I've heard really shitty things being said. Things like "Nintendo is doing this because they hate Rare, they're trying to spite them! They want to erase Rare's Donkey Kong!" and "This is the end of DK as we know it, this art style is prepping him to be swallowed up as a permanent Mario character now. We'll never get a solo DK game again!"

It's nonsense. I understand not liking the new design, but giving him a new design at all can only be seen as a sign that Nintendo has big plans for the franchise in my book.

Let me go over all the evidence to suggest that Donkey Kong is going to become a huge IP in the near future, and not merely a bit player in the Mario spinoffs.

Donkey Kong had a huge presence in the Mario movie, there was more Rare references in the movie than we've seen in a long time, and DK himself was probably more active in the movie than even Luigi. Why would they portray DK the way they did instead of being an escaped zoo animal kidnapping mayor Pauline if their plans for him were to absorb him into the Mario franchise forever? Miyamoto also chose to address the design very directly, which he didn't do for other characters. He had a hand in the design, this is not "Illumination Donkey Kong" this is Donkey Kong, as updated by his own creator. So you might as well divorce this design from Seth Rogan in your brain, it's still gonna be the voice of Ganondorf coming out of this ape ( most likely. I still miss Grant Kirkhope peresonally )

Super Mario Odyssey's New Donk City was obviously an homage to Arcade Donkey Kong, except it wasn't JUST an homage to the arcade era. There were more Rare easter eggs than you could shake a stick at, every street sign was named after something from Donkey Kong Country including Animal Buddies Kremlings and Kongs not yet present in the Retro Studios games, you can see the full list [here].

After years of selling Donkey Kong toys and other merchandise with "Super Mario" logos, they stopped doing that a few years back. Now, Donkey Kong merch is using actual Donkey Kong Branding. Again, this is not something they would do if they wanted Donkey Kong to be swallowed up by Mario.

Donkey Kong got it's own lego set, which includes Funky, Dixie, and Cranky, yes they were in tropical freeze, but they wouldn't be using those characters at all in new merchandise if their plan was to dissolve DK into Mario.

www.donkeykong.com used to redirect to the Nintendo home page. Now it leads to a portal for all things Donkey Kong. If you test a number of other Nintendo IP, Star Fox, F-Zero, Warioware, Yoshi's Island, what do you see, you either get redirected to Nintendo's front page ( currently advertising Donkey Kong Country Returns HD ) or a picture of Wario saying "nope, doesn't exist."

Nintendo always seems to add Donkey Kong stuff in batches to NSO and Nintendo music. This hasn't happened for other franchises, but they always make Donkey Kong stuff a big deal.

King K. Rool did so well in the Smash Ballot, that, while he was not realizable at the time ( because secretly the Smash Ballot was never about Smash 4 ), they added a Mii costume into Smash 4 to throw fans a bone. DK Vine has an insider reporting that Nintendo was stunned by his popularity, they were unaware he had so much support. Retro Studios wanted to add him into the Switch port of Tropical Freeze, but it was decided Smash Bros would be the more meaningful re-introduction for the character. That's all rumor, but the fact is, they chose King K. Rool for Smash Ultimate.

THEY OPENED A GOD DAMNED THEME PARK. Does Star Fox have a theme park? Does Kirby have a theme park? Is there an F-Zero ride at Super Nintendo World? Did Pikmin get anything other than minor appearances in the Mario lobby? DOES ZELDA HAVE A THEME PARK?? No to all of these... Donkey Kong has a theme park, it's modeled after his IP, and while it's main influence is Donkey Kong Country Returns and Tropical Freeze, the theme park was in the works so long ago that those were the most current games at the time. They might not have much merch outside of DK and Diddy but it's not like the Mario park has the most diverse merchandise either. I didn't see a single piece of Wario merch while I was there. I'm sure as the years go on, more merchandise will come to these parks. I doubt they'll be selling the same things forever.

Donkey Kong has new key art made for a calendar for 2026. And yes, Diddy will be in the calander too. No word on other characters but K. Rool was in a 2020 Donkey Kong Calendar. Why would they be making DK merch for TWENTY TWENTY SIX if they want to kill his franchise and absorb it into Mario??

And finally the big rumor, again, from a DK vine insider. A 3D Donkey Kong game was reportedly in development from Vicarious Visions before Activision pulled the plug because they didn't want to develop single player games anymore after Skylanders sold poorly. DK being a guest in Skylanders just makes this rumor seem even more likely. Rumors say that Nintendo finally decided to make Donkey Kong a series they would develop internally like Mario, and bring him home to Japanese devs, instead of always relying on partners to develop Donkey Kong.

The Mario Kart redesign further supports this, as it heavily resembles the way Japanese artists have been drawing Donkey Kong for years, if you look at his gallery in the Mario Wiki, you'll notice the resemblances long before the movie design was revealed.

Last thing, they chose to close out the Nintendo Switch's life with remakes of Mario vs Donkey Kong, and Donkey Kong Country Returns. They could have remade anything, but they think Donkey Kong is valuable enough that people would want to play it. Yeah, it's fully priced, which sucks, but just take it as a sign that Nintendo sees Donkey Kong as a premium brand.

Donkey Kong fans have been dooming about the state and future state of the IP for so long that they're ignoring all the signs right in front of their noses that the IP is very healthy, and I don't think there's a reality in which we don't see a new Donkey Kong game in the first few years of the Switch 2's life, and it's not going to involve Mario. I will say I can't guarantee they'll bring back every Animal Buddy, Kong, and Kremling the fans have been missing, but it would be extremely weird and dumb to dump all that after... well *gestures to the bulleted list above*

Donkey Kong is going to be just fine.

[kuromipuzzles2000]

Welcome to my blog (i guess)

the name's Crystal, code-name: kuromipuzzles2000 and i'm...an amateur (?) artist not the best but i like to art actually, i love roleplay as well, i am a Mr. Puzzles simp and i love him so much fr, fr....apart there's Kuromi and Spamton...oh! and here's my sona reference

i am an weird mix of aesthetic and pastel goth girl lover

i am 24, my birthday being on June 22

errr i'm mexican

I AM TAKEN (errr hasn't edit this post twice, no no)

i have many fandoms which are: Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Kirby, Animal Crossing, Bendy and The Ink Machine, Pikmin, Sanrio, Steven Universe, Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss, Undertale/Deltarune, SMG4, Star vs the forces of evil, Gravity Falls, Five Nights at Freddy's and a big etc

actually jobless

i have various mental issues, between these, that i get sad randomly and i feel unmotivated to do shit of time by time, be warned by that

my favorite holiday is Christmas uwu

i love cats and chocolate hehe

my main focus is SMG4 and would...rarely (until the SMG4 Hype goes down that gonna be when Mr. Puzzles disappear) draw of other fandoms, mostly i focus on my OC's only, not much on do canon art, my OCS are all based from Mr. Puzzles

my Mr. Puzzles ocs that had gave recognization to this blog:

SMGP (Super Meme Guardian Puzzles) the least Popular of the 4, belongs to #swap au, he is just simply a swap between SMG4 and Mr. Puzzles, Mr. 4's reference can be find on my profile, if you're in mobile just click my profile and search: "swap au" in tags, with a plot twist, he decapitated, no was born with a tv head already

🔥Trickster Mr. Puzzles🔥 the most popular of the blog, he is simply Mr. Puzzles but he engaged Trickster mode! (Trickster Mode from Homestuck) the first one on engage the Trickster Mode on SMG4 universe, he wants spread the Trickster Mode around the mushroom kingdom, and create the reborn of "Puzzlevision" but under the name of "Trickstervision"

Guardian of Popstar Mr. Puzzles, the 3rd popular of the blog, he is an Mr. Puzzles that had swallowed his pride and apologized and asked a second opportunity to SMG4 after had a strong fight with "the entity" . . .SMG4 just for get rid of him sent him to Popstar/Dreamland and now he is a father to Kirby, Kirby got very used and is happy to have a dad

🔥Mr. Puzzles: Trivia🔥 the second most popular of the blog, being the first transexual character i ever made, he is transexual female to male, Trivia is shy, nerd, aesthetic babygirl/boy (he is called babygirl by the fans XD), his apparence takes after Mr. Puzzles and Spamton G. Spamton, he is a dealmaker but very amateur, he lives on a very futuristic mushroom kingdom thanks to a strange group of scientists that came from future to stay, his ratings are stars and likes, he is a very slow working villain, but more of his story later (writen only i no feel like draw)

rules:

suggestive is good as long as you no start a sexual shit on time line, if u want a +18 thing (of course being an adult) send me a dm

no ask for donations, please, real life subjects make me so nervous, and this is a art blog, i no want be rude, i just no want mix my art/vent blog with real life things of wars and etc

not be annoying or not use to sarcasm with me unless you do /joke, /silly OR XD at the end of a sarcasm, if you don't you'll have 5 strikes, you'll be blocked, i am very sensitive, i'll try do the same, even if my humor seems i am mad or something-

i am spanish, english isn't my main language, please don't judge my english grammar, or if you gonna do, do it respectfully

DON'T ASK FOR COMMISSIONS, I DON'T DO COMMISSIONS!! i accept art ideas and etc, if i do art i do it from the bottom of my heart and as a fanart for friends!

it's all you need to see my blog and follow if you want and decide stay by my side! thanks you for read, and hope you enjoy your stay!

[sunlightfeeling]

very interested in your console/game collection actually, if you wanna talk about that 👀

Yo! Yes, yes! I’d love to. 🥰 This post is prettyyyy long, but this is for what I currently have. But I can totally go over past buys too. I’ve honestly had quite a bit more than this. Just let me know.

Consoles: ps5, ps3, ps2, wii(/gamecube since it’s backwards compatible), and the 3ds xl I mentioned

Games are pretty standard so this isn’t inclusive but here’s some of my rares/unusuals are:

ps2: Burnout, The Dog Island (my childhood omg), SSX Tricky, We ❤️ Katamari (I just realized I don’t have Katamari Damacy but I also realized I know why…oof…maybe someday I’ll buy it again LOL)

Those are all mostly nostalgia games for me from stealing the console from my brothers 🥰

ps3: The Simpsons Game, Yakuza Dead Souls, Nier, Puppeteer, Journey Collector’s Edition, Hitman HD Trilogy

ps4, I’ll include all steelbooks: Hitman Complete First Season Steelbook, Dragon Quest XI (Definitive Edition), Final Fantasy XV Deluxe Edition Steelbook (probably the most gorgeous thing I own, I’ll add a picture at the bottom of this post), Yakuza remastered collection box set (with a freaking Y5 ps3 box lmao it’s empty but so sick…I actually have another remastered copy but it’s just the ps4 box with all the games), steelbooks for both kiwamis and LAD, and the essence of art edition of Y6 (phew, this was a lot lol)

Wii/GameCube: Pikmin (New Play Editions for Wii), Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Kirby’s Return to Dreamland, Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, Kirby’s Dream Collection (the special edition/20th Anniversary thing), Animal Crossing GC and City Folk, PokePark 1, and Mario Party 4 and 8 (my two ultimate faves)

DS/3DS: Kirby Super Star Ultra, Super Princess Peach, Fantasy Life, Poochy and Yoshi’s Wooly World, Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn, Pokemon Ultra Moon

and that’s about it for current consoles and games!

I also have the Yakuza 0 record collection and Cuphead OST records. The Cuphead is at my parents house cuz I basically forced my dad to listen to it since I needed his opinion (he’s a huge jazz fan so his opinion is so vital 😂). But I do have the Y0 set to show off.

Final Fantasy XV Steelbook:

[dailynewswebsite]

BBC presenters share their lockdown entertainment tips

Haprz Kaur, Will Gompertz, Hannah Peel and Mark Radcliffe

With England in lockdown once more, and plenty of others elements of the UK enduring extreme restrictions, folks need to movie, books, music, on-line artwork, podcasts and extra for his or her cultural kicks.

Right here, BBC presenters and journalists share their lockdown picks. It is an eclectic checklist of options for the place to look subsequent when you fancy some inspiration.

Mark Radcliffe

Veteran broadcaster Mark Radcliffe presents BBC Radio 2’s Folks Present and 6 Music’s weekend chat and music present Radcliffe and Maconie .

The Trial Of The Chicago 7 (Netflix)

I like a courtroom drama, I have to say. For individuals who do not know the Chicago 7, they had been college students and hippies and anti-Vietnam protesters who picketed on the 1968 Democratic Occasion Conference and had been arrested for inciting riots.

For those who do not forget that 12 months, it was a extremely highly-charged time. Martin Luther King was assassinated in April, after which Bobby Kennedy in June – so that is a rare snapshot of these instances. It nonetheless has a resonance, significantly in how the one black defendant is handled. Within the time of Black Lives Matter and the George Floyd protests, it reminds you that not the whole lot has modified, by a great distance.

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (Picador books)

That is set within the time of Thatcherism, and it is a tragic story of this younger lad Shuggie Bain, who’s defending and caring for an alcoholic mom, dwelling in excessive poverty. It is moderately Thomas Hardy-esque, in that everyone seems to be doomed to disappointment or dying, but it surely feels very actual. And just like the movie, one suspects life hasn’t modified very a lot for lots of people.

The novel is nominated for the Booker Prize, though I do not typically take that as an enormous advice. I’ve actually introduced Booker-winning novels and thought they had been dreadful.

The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)

Anya Taylor-Pleasure performs Beth Harman, who’s in an orphanage at first of the movie, and is intrigued by the janitor who performs chess. He step by step agrees to show her and it seems she’s an absolute prodigy. It is based mostly on a novel by somebody referred to as Walter Tevis but it surely feels prefer it should be true. It is in regards to the connections you make as an orphan – friendships and connections and adoption. And there is plenty of chess.

Story continues

The truth is, we began taking part in chess at house, impressed by it, and my spouse is miles higher than me and she will see a number of strikes forward. We do not play anymore. It obtained too annoying.

Harpz Kaur

The Asian Community presenter has hosted its breakfast present since 2017, having joined the station in 2015 from neighborhood radio.

Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One, iPlayer)

Watching my subsequent door neighbour Clara [Amfo] completely bossing it on display is superb. I am an enormous fan of BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing anyway, however seeing Clara shine like a Queen is nice. Rooting for her little doubt. And I often discover something music or dance associated to be therapeutic for me. It is enjoyable, a straightforward watch and it is an effective way to wind down. Seize some munchies and sit on the couch whereas having your individual social gathering. It is excellent.

Made In Heaven (Amazon Prime)

I’ve additionally simply completed watching season certainly one of Made In Heaven. A few colleagues have been that means to get me into it and now I am hooked. It is extra of a drama sequence, but it surely’s so good and retains you on the sting of your seat on the finish of each episode. Cannot wait to begin the second season.

Sister Sister (Netflix)

And thirdly, I am watching Sister Sister, a 1990s US sitcom about twins Tia and Tamera who had been separated at beginning and reunite 14 years later. It is introduced again my youth. And you may by no means get sufficient. For those who grew up watching Tia and Tamera, you already understand how good it’s. For those who fancy a giggle, put them on.”

Bobby Friction

DJ Friction has been on the BBC airwaves since 2002, and is now presenting the Asian Community’s night present.

House movies (YouTube)

It is the largest type of escapism – neglect pandemics, let’s discuss 1,000-year journeys to different galaxies.

He devours YouTube sequence by scientists and futurists John Michael Godier and Isaac Arthur, who use science reality to look at what may truly be doable past Earth.

They will swing between stuff that is taking place in our photo voltaic system to actual mad stuff like, what is going to the universe appear to be a trillion years from now? After which they will break it down utilizing actual physics and actual science.

The Actual Housewives of America (Sky, ITV Be, Amazon Prime Video)

I do not watch a lot TV or actuality exhibits,” says Friction. “However I fell into this gap of watching The Actual Housewives of Atlanta and The Actual Housewives of Potomac. It wasn’t till the summer season that I went, ‘Wait a minute, they’re the one two actuality exhibits from that franchise that function black girls. Each different present options white girls.

I am subconsciously coping with Black Lives Matter, race and the whole lot that is taking place this 12 months through these actuality exhibits. Imagine me, I’ve fallen so deep into them. Anybody who asks a query in regards to the seasons or the episodes, I’ve the reply.

The Beatles

Friction has been rediscovering The Beatles by listening to all their albums back-to-back once more.

“I simply obtained again into it and thought, my God, how did these guys write practically each style of music that we’re nonetheless listening to? And also you’re telling me they launched The White Album and Yellow Submarine and Sgt Pepper inside the area of 18 months? It is ridiculous.”

Will Gompertz

Will Gompertz has been arts editor for BBC Information since 2009 and earlier than that was a director on the Tate Gallery.

What I Love (podcast)

I am loving this podcast, introduced by the award-winning theatre director Ian Rickson. It has a easy format: one visitor with whom Rickson has labored selects three issues she or he loves. Chiwetel Ejiofor included a Michael Kiwanuka tune, Kae Tempest picked a e book by William Blake. Good listening.

Strata: William Smith’s Geological Maps (Thames & Hudson)

Some books are lovely, others are enlightening. Strata is each. Full of beautiful illustrations, it presents the work of William Smith, a 17th Century geologist, who was the primary individual to comprehensively map the earth beneath our toes. It is the most effective non-fiction e book I’ve learn in a very long time.

Name My Agent (Netflix)

French TV would not get that a lot consideration for some purpose – however they produce some nice programmes. Spiral is the most effective police procedural on telly, whereas Name My Agent is the right lockdown escape: uptight actor’s brokers coping with uptight actors in a Paris workplace the place they find yourself both bickering or sleeping with one another. Or each. Tres bon!

Hannah Peel

Musician Hannah Peel presents late-night Radio three present Evening Tracks, which ranges from classical to up to date music. She was Emmy-nominated final 12 months for her soundtrack for HBO’s Video games of Thrones: The Final Watch.

Notes On Blindness (Obtain, Netflix)

This can be a documentary in regards to the author John Hull, who went blind simply earlier than the beginning of his son and began to make a diary of audio cassettes. Within the movie you hear all of the precise recording, and it is simply unimaginable.

You are immersed in a world of sound, as a substitute of being completely bombarded with visible info. It sounds prefer it must be a podcast, but it surely actually works as a movie – delving into the thoughts and the physique and desires and reminiscence. I feel it is a masterpiece.

Bandcamp (Unbiased music retailer)

I am Bandcamp all the best way, for the whole lot. They do an incredible factor as soon as a month referred to as Bandcamp Friday, the place each artist will get 100% of the revenue on their merchandise or downloads or CD gross sales. It is the one place that does that within the music business.

The very last thing I purchased was a compilation by a beautiful little indie label referred to as Salmon Universe, who put out plenty of ambient, digital music. I like compilations since you’re led to artists from all internationally, from Ohio to Japan. It is superb.

Islands (RTÉ podcast)

That is made by the world-renowned sound recordist Chris Watson, who’s teamed up with the author/presenter Luke Clancy to take a journey throughout the atlas of distant islands, from Ross Island to the Galapagos to the probably legendary isle of HyBrasil.

It is filled with tales and sounds, and it is lovely. I similar to the best way you need to use podcasts to specific one thing emotional, moderately than factual. So that you get a way of ethereal escapism inside that.

Mark Savage

Mark has been the BBC’s music reporter since 2015, and introduced 6 Music’s Historical past of Video Sport Music final 12 months.

Ted Lasso (Apple TV)

After Schitt’s Creek ended, I used to be desperately trying to find a TV present that hit the identical candy spot of belly-laughs and heart-warming humour. That is that present.

Starring Jason Sudeikis, it tells the story of an American Soccer coach who involves London to supervise a fictional Premiership workforce, regardless of figuring out nothing about soccer. Unbeknownst to him, the membership’s proprietor (performed with scrumptious relish by Hannah Waddingham) is making an attempt to get the workforce relegated to spite her adulterous husband. I will not spoil the plot, however the present’s relentlessly optimistic tone is simply what I wanted in lockdown.

Pikmin three Deluxe (Nintendo)

Pikmin is not as well-known as Nintendo’s larger franchises, like Mario and Zelda, but it surely’s been made with simply as a lot care and a spotlight to element. You play as a crew of astronauts, stranded on a hostile planet, who need to enlist a crop of plant-like creatures to assist them discover the lacking elements of their spaceship.

You command as much as 100 of the little Pikmin, every of whom have completely different talents (some are fighters, some are swimmers, others are impervious to electrical energy) to resolve a bunch of more and more difficult puzzles towards a time restrict. It is concurrently enjoyable and panic-inducing; however I have been specializing in finishing the much less worrying problem mode with my 10-year-old, who simply likes throwing the Pikmin round and laughing at their cute noises.

Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia (Warner Music)

Rush-released in the beginning of the primary lockdown, that is nonetheless my favorite document of the 12 months. A sweat-glistened hymn to the dancefloor, it by no means fails to raise my temper.

The album is getting the dwell therapy later this month, with a digital gig that is been dubbed Studio 2054 – with Dua promising (deep breath) “a kaledioscopic, rocket-fuelled, journey by way of time, area, mirrorballs, curler discos, bucket hats, belting beats, throbbing basslines and an absolute slam-dunk of the most effective instances in international membership tradition”. See you there. Hotpants elective.

Elizabeth Alker

The BBC Radio three broadcaster presents late-night present Unclassified, which showcases music by composers who may need a classical background but in addition draw from pop, rock, jazz, and experimental music.

Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami (Pushkin Press)

The Japanese writer’s novella is evocative however breezy, conversational and unsentimental. She’s coping with the difficulties and complexity of human life however in a extremely relatable, heat and humorous method.

It is in regards to the relationship between an adolescent and their mom. It is a coming-of-age story and in regards to the anxieties of being a youngster, however you get to see it from either side. You’ll be able to sense what the mom’s feeling as properly. She’s a fortune teller and their grandma’s ailing upstairs. It is a household story about feminine identification in Japan.

Fats Out Fest (YouTube)

The annual music competition from Salford-based underground and different promoters, Fats Out Fest occurred dwell on-line this 12 months, and they’re now placing units on YouTube each Friday over the subsequent month.

They actually do take it to the sting. On 20 November they’re broadcasting Lone Taxidermist – her exhibits are wild. It is efficiency artwork in addition to music. Her new present Marra begins along with her singing alongside to a cattle market. An precise cattle market. Her voice is synced with the auctioneer and Maxine Peake is within the video. It is on the market.

Radiophrenia (Streaming)

Radiophrenia is a Glasgow sound artwork radio station that is streaming 24/7 till 22 November. I used to be listening to an Italian sound artist referred to as Tobia Bandini. He’d interviewed all these folks asking for his or her response to the apocalypse after which he’d combine their tales – they’re all in Italian – with digital soundscapes.

If you wish to tune out of the information then this can be a very nice place to flee to. There’s all types in there, and plenty of it’s simply actually pleasing and fairly hypnotic.

Observe us on Fb, or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. When you have a narrative suggestion e mail leisure.information@bbc.co.uk.

from Growth News https://growthnews.in/bbc-presenters-share-their-lockdown-entertainment-tips/ via https://growthnews.in

[sundhinelass]

Tagged by @micecakes <3 Thank you chicken!!!

rules: answer the questions and tag 20 blogs you want to get to know better ( because why not)

name: Jamie

family name: I’d rather not

star sign: Virgo

height: 4′9″

age: 24

fave Color: Green

time rn: 4:40PM

hours of sleep: I try get between 8-10 hours

lucky number: 6

last thing i googled: “How hard is it to be a software developer?”

fave fictional character: Psycho Mantis, Sombra, Peridot, Kakuzu, Levy Mcgarden

blankets i sleep with: 2/3

favorite artists: Jade (I don’t know what UN you like to go as these days), Shrimposaurus, Nilla, Littlemissspectral 

dream trip: Eploring Japan

dream job: Illustrator

what are you wearing right now: Black and white jumper and black jeans

follower count: 174

posts: 1870

what do you post about: My art, video game art, anime art, cats, marine animals, insects... Whatever really catches my attention or makes me laugh

most active followers: @Micecakes is my biggest fan, @pk-pikmin is close

when did your blog reach its peak: I don’t know?

why did you make this blog: To post my art

do you get asks on a daily basis: Very rarely get asks

why did you choose your url: It’s a mix between chinchilla and cappuccino :D

countries you’ve lived in: England

favorite fandom: The Wander over yonder fandom is lovely, and the pikmin fandom is great too, it’s rare to kind good fandoms these days  

languages you speak: English, I know a tiiiiny bit of Japanese, only enough to ask basic questions really, and I know random words in various other languages like hello, thanks, chicken and cheese.....

favorite film: Guardians of the Galaxy

last article you read: Advice on becoming a software developer 

last thing you bought online: A jigsaw and some tights

last person you dreamt of: I think it was my S/O.. I don’t recognise any other people that was in my dream last night

a recurring dream: I have a few! But one I’ve had since I was little was getting lost in an Egyptian labyrinthine 

fears: MRI machines, blimps (to a lesser degree now) and dying..  

how would your friends describe you: Quirky, reserved, weird, patient, considerate 

if you had $$$ to spend what would you buy first: depended on how much I had really.. if it was lots, I’d look into a house c: If not massive sum, I’d invest in teaching english in Japan as I really want to experience that!

shuffle your song library and list the first three songs that play: Mindless self indulgence- The Logical Song, Sonic Adventure 2 OST - Cosmic Wall, Akeboshi - Wind

I’ll tag @littlemissspectral @pk-pikmin @corbeano2 @shrimposaurus

You guys certainly don’t have to do this if you don’t want to c:

[viralhottopics]

RIP Wii U: Nintendo’s glorious, quirky failure

Nintendo has ceased production of Wii U less than five years after its launch. What went wrong, and what will be its legacy?

In late January it was announced that Nintendo had ceased production of the Wii U console. The follow-up machine to the hugely successful Wii had sold fewer than 15m units worldwide since its launch in 2012. PlayStation 4 sold more in a year. Wii sold more than 100m in its lifetime.

What happened? How did Nintendo, one of the oldest and most respected companies in the video game industry, get it so wrong? And did anything good come out of the Wii U era? How will the machine be remembered, if at all?

Certainly, some believe the console was cursed from the start right from the first announcement at the 2011 E3 video game conference in Los Angeles. Before that, Nintendo had made vague references to Project Cafe, a new piece of hardware deep in development at the companys famed R&D labs, but the nature of the device was unclear. The E3 presentation was supposed to be the big reveal.

Then, there it was at the Nintendo press conference, in front of the whole games industry. Wii U. Reggie-Fils-Aim, head of Nintendo America, gave an obtuse introduction and showed the unique GamePad controller, with its built-in display. After this, came a showreel of gaming moments, then nothing. The crowd whooped, but when the lights went down, a few expressed confusion: was the Wii U GamePad an extension to the original Wii? Was it an entirely new console? That evening, in an interview with the Evening Standard, the late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated: Because we put so much emphasis on the controller, there appeared to be some misunderstanding.

The PS4 and Xbox One, high-powered machines arrived and changed the gaming landscape. Composite: Xbox One S v PS 4 Pro v PS4 Slim v Project Scorpio

A masterpiece of understatement. In some ways, that misunderstanding never went away. Even when it became clear that Wii U was a whole new console, with a unique motion-sensitive screen pad, consumers were nonplussed. There had been rumours that, with its custom AMD 7 series graphics chipset and IBM multicore central processor, the machine would be more powerful than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 especially as it was arriving years after those machines debuted. But before the launch, developers were already whispering to news sources that this was not the case driving the second-screen would eat up the graphics processing power and the CPU wasnt that special. It was all academic anyway: barely a year later, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One arrived to completely change the technological landscape.

But Nintendo wasnt competing with PlayStation and Xbox, and never really had. Instead, it needed to convert the tens of millions of Wii owners whod rarely bought consoles before; whod been seduced by the Wii Remote controller and the immediate, social experience it promised. Those people were now quietly migrating to other platforms: smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes … Thats who the Wii U was aimed at.

In the months following E3, it was at least picking up interest from the development community. I had done work on the N64, Gameboy, GameCube and Wii and I still maintain they were my favourite systems to work on, so when the WiiU was announced it had me excited, says Byron Atkinson-Jones of Xiotex Studios I wanted to see how far we could go in game design terms with the two screen setup. Were we going to get new game paradigms like we did with the Wii and its controllers?

However, even before the launch, the games media was complaining about a lack of compelling first-party content. The machine would arrive with only two major Nintendo titles, the mini-game collection Nintendo Land, and New Super Mario Bros U, a decent side-scrolling platformer, but by no means a major Mario title with with little involvement from Miyamoto. There were intriguing moments: Nintendo Land has the clever asymmetrical multiplayer action of Luigis Ghost Mansion and the boisterous arena-battler Animal Crossing: Sweet Day. But there was also nothing as immediately compelling as Wii Sports or Wii Play nothing that completely crystallised the idea of the GamePad.

Veteran developer Rhodri Broadbent once worked for Q-Games in Japan, and met Shigeru Miyamoto while making Star Fox Command. He felt there should still have been a role for the Wii Remote in the new era. The fact that Wii U did not come bundled with a Wii Remote was really disappointing to me, he says. I felt that the identity of the Wii Remote was worth continuing, and that combining the jump to HD visuals with the jump to HD motion control of the Wii Remote Plus would have been a smart play. In terms of marketing, the Wii Remote was iconic from the get-go, whereas the GamePad sadly didnt really get to find its identity in either software, nor marketing. There were some truly excellent, best-in-class games released for Wii U, but very few of them gave life or character to the GamePad.

The GamePad, as a unique selling point, was also a unique curse, an albatross around the neck of the whole project. Designers struggled over its multifaceted nature: should they support it as a standalone screen, a second-screen for the TV, or as a device to allow asymmetrical multiplayer experiences (the player with the GamePad is able to have a different experiences to others using Wii Remotes). It was a tough business proposition too. Games publishers like to be able to transition their projects freely between different machines most modern game engines are platform agnostic making this process easier. But Wii Us controller demanded a different approach, so including the console on multiplatform projects was complicated and expensive even if they were just going to use the GamePad as a mini-map, which many did.

Of the third-party games available at launch, most were quick conversions of familiar PlayStation and Xbox titles: Call of Duty, Batman, Fifa… few of these exploited the GamePad feature-set in truly innovative ways. The best was perhaps ZombiU, a fascinating survival horror title with a neat permadeath mechanic, set in a post-apocalyptic London that made inspired use of the GamePad as both an environment scanner and a cellphone. With its tense, gory action, it also brilliantly subverted expectations of a Nintendo launch title. But it wasnt enough.

The problem is, mainstream game development is all about confidence. Console manufacturers have to be certain that third-party publishers will support the device; third-party publishers have to be sure that consumers will buy it, and draw confidence from first-party titles; and consumers wont commit until they know there will be great titles from both first- and third-party studios. Its a vicious circle of reliance, and it often all depends on that launch week. Nintendo just didnt come up with the goods to inspire consumers, and because of this, the likes of Activision, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft were all backing off right from the outset.

Meanwhile, Nintendo was trying to make things easier for independent developers, noticing the huge influx of excellent indie titles on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. After the success of the 3DS eShop in attracting experimental games, the company set out to improve its digital store for the home console experience. However, its legacy was not good. On the Wii, support for smaller studios was patchy: the submissions process was, according to some studios, extremely lengthy, and there were sales thresholds that made it risky to commit to offbeat projects. Even after these problems had been addressed, Wii U had no support for the important multi-platform games engine Unity until much later in the consoles lifespan, strangling its potential with the indie community.

[The Wii U dev kit] was clunky and far more difficult to setup than its predecessors, says Atkinson-Jones. I remember opening the box it came in and there was a warning saying it was very easy to brick the machine so getting it setup was a terrifying prospect. Id love to say I got further than this but the reality is that even though Nintendo had signed So Hungry to appear on WiiU, Unity would not actually be ready for another year its because of this my other game Blast Em! came about and thankfully that game has kept my studio running. Once you got past all the problems of setup and getting a working build of Unity, it was just that much harder than doing any kind of cross platform work – the big difference being the two displays of course.

Nintendos Wii and revolutionary remote. Photograph: Andrew Parsons/PA

So the Wii U had a lot to contend with: a poorly conceived debut, a unique selling point that was difficult to describe, and a hesitant development community unwilling to commit resources to a quirky machine. But it did provide moments of genuine brilliance. The defining first-party titles Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros, Splatoon and Pikmin 3 may not have been top tier Nintendo originals (theres no Miyamoto Mario, no new Zelda), but they were excellent games, filled with interesting ideas and classic moments of design genius.

Pikmin 3 is one of the greatest games I have ever played on any system, says Broadbent. Its mission mode is so tightly balanced, with so many tricks and techniques to optimise battles, find new routes and shave seconds off your time that I can and often did replay the same mission for entire days without noticing that the my weekend had disappeared. Im a big fan of the oft-overlooked, but to my mind never bettered, New Super Mario Bros U, especially the challenge modes. And keeping with Mario, Super Mario Makers musical, whimsical user interface is a masterclass in hiding complexity and infusing character into menus the way the sound effects harmonise with the background music as you place objects on the screen is endlessly charming to me.

There were beautiful third-party games too, sparsely spread out though the machines lifespan perhaps, but certainly there. Cult Japanese studio PlatinumGames, best known for its demanding brawlers, was an unexpected hero producing two masterpieces for the machine: the extravagant Bayonetta 2, and the kookie super hero puzzler, Wonderful 101. Warner Bros brought us the excellent Armored edition of Batman Arkham City, but also the ludicrously overlooked Lego City Undercover, a hilarious Grand Theft Auto pastiche, which is now rightfully being remade for current consoles.

More importantly however, there were indie developers who truly embraced the idiosyncracies of the system and its development environment. We enjoy letting the quirks of specific hardware inspire new ideas and features here, so from a design point of view, Wii U was a lot of fun, says Broadbent. Gyros, a camera, a touch screen there was a lot there to use. For Scram Kitty, I had the idea of making the titular cat appear as a sort of sports commentator on the TV while the player focused on the GamePad action, and although in the end that element didnt turn out to be an essential feature of the game, it was a great source of personality for the game, and one which kept throwing up new ideas throughout development.

Highlights included DrinkBox Studios crazed platformer Guacamelee!: Super Turbo Championship Edition, the lovely retro platformer Shantae and the Pirates Curse, and the intriguing puzzler Art of Balance. Most were multiplatform, but lots used the Wii U capabilities in interesting ways. A key example was the engrossing Affordable Space Adventures from Danish developer KnapNok Games. In this interstellar puzzle game, the GamePad was used to monitor and interact with your crafts primary systems, including engines, anti-gravity controls and scanner, providing a great Star Trek bridge experience.

There were also thoughtful conversions of iOS titles, including Dakko Dakkos translation of the spooky narrative adventure Year Walk. We took a much more all-in approach to the machines feature set, combining the gyros, touch screen, separate displays, and even subtly altering the audio between the gamepad and the TV, to create very satisfying controls and puzzles, says Broadbent. The end result feels uniquely suited to Wii U.

Its also worth remembering Nintendos unique attempts to create friendly online communities around the Wii U. The Miiverse is a family-friendly social network in which players can chat about what theyre playing, draw and share pictures, and seek gaming advice, all within a safe, charming environment populated with customised Mii characters. It was a much more warm, human approach to networked play than Xbox Live or PlayStation Network and, as Jennifer Schneidereit, co-creator of luscious historical adventure Tengami discovered, it allowed unique relationships between developers and players:

It was possible to post to Tengamis Miiverse from within the game, to show level progress or ask other players for help, she says. As a developer I was able to interact with people in Tengamis Miiverse and help with puzzles, answer their questions and listen to their feedback. Because Miiverse posts are not only textual, players can also hand draw and incorporate stamps, it was a real delight to watch players using our stamps to create artwork of their own.

Wii U had a difficult start, with a difficult idea in a difficult era. The E3 presentation blurred what the machine actually was, and the GamePad was never an easy proposition to market unlike the Wii Remote that people could see was fun, just from the adverts. Meanwhile, with Xbox and PlayStation continuing their graphics arms race, and competition coming in from smartphones and tablets, the gaming audience seemed to be stratifying into two groups: the sorts of players who bought consoles and high-end PCs, and the sorts whod quite as happily play Candy Crush Saga for free on their phones. The idea of a console as the central focus of a party or family event, which had peaked between 2005 and 2010 with both the Wii and the rise of music games like Guitar Hero, had drifted out of favour.

Nintendos Shigeru Miyamoto. Photograph: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Now here comes the Nintendo Switch, a regeneration of the Wii U concept where the GamePad effectively becomes the console, with its own built-in controllers. If anything, it is a more flagrant attempt to seduce casual players away from their phones, while tapping into the family living-room appeal of the original Wii. Broadbent sees Switch as a reconnection with that machine: Im very happy that the joy-cons have so many little tricks in them, and encouraged to see games like ARMS push forward higher-fidelity motion controls right out the gate. But Im mostly happy that Switchs identity as a home console thats not tied to your TV is being communicated so clearly.

Communication, it seems, is key. The Wii did its own communicating: you just watched people playing Tennis or Bowling and you knew it was fun. Nothing Nintendo has done with its hardware since then has been quite so alluring. But to write off Wii U as a creative failure would be a gross disservice. The GamePad actualised a lot of vague entertainment industry hype about the second screen, and lots of games truly illustrated the magic of the concept. And lets not forget that Wii U also saw Nintendos entry into the toys to life market with its Amiibo characters little figurines that could be placed on the screen to interact with games. They sold over 40m of those.

In years to come, people will pick up the console second-hand, with a few games Super Mario 3D World, Bayonetta 2, Mario Kart 8 and theyll realise what it was that Nintendo had in mind, theyll understand the appeal of the hardware. Much too late, of course.

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from RIP Wii U: Nintendo’s glorious, quirky failure