I think everything is going to be fine. Nintendo knows what their doing and they know what they have to do to make up for the slow software development/sales. In the end we all know Nintendo will do the right thing and we're all going to enjoy ourselves.

I am actually surprised to see these allegations against Nintendo are not more directly addressed as rumors. I can understand this online source has made accurate deductions in the past regarding the Wii U hardware; but does that grant credentials for such recent statements? At this point, I assume they’re riding their own coattails. For the individuals at NWR who have played the Wii U demos at E3, there weren’t any cables hooked up for the games. What are your thoughts on how the controller responded wirelessly? I understand demos are different than having to develop a new game for a system; but it seems the recent barrage of apocryphal news from one source has become overwhelming, and is being recognized amongst a lack of real news, unfortunately. I would anticipate Nintendo making changes to their new controller. If there is a silver lining to the mistakes of the 3DS’ launch, it’s that Nintendo will hopefully take their time, and release the console during a season that it will sell well (not summer). And that they will price it aggressively against the competition. I’ll be listening, keep it up.

My apologies if I was inaccurate; but whether the cord connected to the controller was for battery and/or gameplay, no one knows for sure. However, if the controller chip or wireless communication is too slow, Nintendo still has at least 9 months before they have to give a definitive console. Hopefully they will use that time wisely.

As I mentioned in my impressions, the Ubisoft developer who demoed Ghost Recon Online for me said that wireless was not working yet and the cord did indeed run data. However, Nintendo did also have an FCC warning sign up about unapproved wireless devices, and Nintendo had special radio-proof rooms to demo the Wii U in without interference. So, it's possible that there were some real and some tethered units (something similar happened at E3 2006 for the Wii), but it's hard to know for sure.

Here are some of my ideas that Nintendo could do to increase the sales of the 3DS:

Get more third parties on board. It is high time that some really good third party games are announced for the 3DS. Nintendo needs to get into the ear of major third party developers like EA and get them to brig major franchises like Dead Space to the 3DS. More high production third party gamers are a must.

Modify the eShop to better accomodate developers. Allow them to charge anything for their games. This would help enhance the quality of titles on the eShop and would help fill in the gap between major retail releases for the 3DS. Nintendo also needs to reconfigure the eShop purchasing system to better accomodate impulse buys.

Although it would appear that the Metroid series has been placed on the back burner by Nintedno because of Metroid Other M, Nintedno needs to reviatalze the series on the new handheld system. Since the developer Wayforward has proven themselves to be a competent 2D side scrolling developer, Nintendo should place them in charge of making a remake for Metroid 2 for the eShop. Couple this with a brand new retail Metroid game made by Wayforward in the vein of Metroid Fusion, might be enough to win over more potential 3DS owners.

Nintendo should also go ahead and make GBA games available on the Virtual Console for everyone and rethink their release shedule to make it easier to get newer titles on Virtual Console.

More (free) 3D classic games for the eShop.

Allow Retro Studios to develope eShop titles until their major Wii U franchises are revealed. A studio such as Retro could pump out severl quality titles in the span of a few months or more.

Sales of the 3DS have already gotten a big increase since the price drop, and that will help with developer support (plenty of companies already pledged support, just waiting for those games to come out).

Sony and Microsoft have the final say for prices on their digital services (well, I think Indy games on Xbox 360 aren't), so I don't see Nintendo doing any different. Maybe let publishers release free demos.

No digital game, free or not, will get any significant amount of people to buy a system. You might get a tiny amount (like a few dozen or few hundred), but not enough to make any impact on sales numbers.

Retro Studios is a pretty small developer (about 60 total employees), so not sure it would be a good idea for them to divert time and resources to making eShop games (especially several at a time) instead of focusing on retail games. I think they could maybe make a small game on the side.

What's up with the editing around the 20 minute mark?  Everyone was talking over Neal.  Seemed weird.

Yeah, maybe an editing error or something like that?

The biggest competition for the 3DS is currently the DS. It isn't really showing people that upgrading from the DS to the 3DS is worth doing. As for the Wii U, I'd rather see them shelve the thing, push the 3DS harder and finalize the Wii U to match the competitor specs at least roughly (also throw ram in there like candy, ram is the most limiting factor for consoles in every generation)..

Yeah, Neal's computer lagged a bit because he had a lot of extraneous stuff running. We got it synced back up shortly after it starts. Just what was Neal running in the background that slowed down his computer? My guess is that he had opened about 15 tabs from this website: http://senorgif.memebase.com/

To clarify: I hadn't used my netbook for a while before recording, and an automatic virus scan started up when I started podcasting. I didn't notice it until after recording. Thus, I failed.

I preferred to think that you just wanted to rudely and deliberately talk right over everyone else, timing it so that you only spoke when someone else wanted to say something, and that the awkward silences that followed were just the others being uncertain whether to call you out on it. It was funnier that way.

In any case, great show guys. Sorry if it's been raised before, but is Mike going to be a permanent addition to the cast? I hope he is; he's been a great contributor, and he replaces Nathan in my "take a break from listening because they're talking about Apple stuff" routine.  :P:

Yes, Mike and Scott are both permanent additions, as they're now the editors of the show. We're going to employ a kind of rotating lineup (as evident), and we've got bigger changes on the horizon as well.

Once all those Babies come in the show will find a new direction with the relevance of gaming for Dad's and the development of Children.

We'll just do whatever Player One Podcast does. I think they're going to be an all-dad cast before we are. I don't think Zach's planning on kids, and I sure as shit ain't looking to procreate for the next few years. I can't speak for Sklens. He might already have three kids that Karl's raising or something.

Yeah, Andy and I are totally going to have a dad segment. We'll either talk about babies, or just spend the 10 minutes actually being able to get some sleep.

I was once hanging out with Mike and his girlfriend at Publix, and I was trailing behind them looking at some steaks, I think, and out of nowhere, I hear, "No kids!" and then the sound of a high-five.

Lauren and I usually do a fist-pump when discussing no kids.

My wife and I are lucky enough to live across the street from three Satanic spawn who never let us forget why we're gleefully refusing the procreate. They scream so loud that you can hear them at the end of the block. They play in every yard except their own. Their parents are bums who shove their brood out the door because they don't want to deal with their three Big Mistakes. So they let the rest of the neighborhood deal with them.

Children offer no net benefit--multiple studies have shown that people who have kids are actually LESS happy while their kids are living at home than people of the same age who don't have kids, and kids cost money. Money that you just LOSE. You don't get that money back; it's gone. Would I rather buy Kotobukiya's Poison Ivy figure or pay for braces? Can't get both.

Little hint: It's gonna be Poison Ivy.

The second Andy starts bragging about Andy Jr. taking his steps or puking on his wife, I'M OUT.

This post is funny. And a little sad, to be honest. But most it's just funny. ;D

I love my two boys...yeah, they're young and it's stressful, sometimes scary, and sometimes boring...sometimes I miss the freedom of my pre-kid days, but I honestly couldn't imagine life without them now.  I wouldn't want to.

That being said, if someone doesn't want kids, I'd agree that it's a very good thing not to have them.  That sort of feeling might change with time or circumstances, but it usually won't change by actually having one.

P.S. - Some of my favorite gaming memories involve playing the original Mario Bros., Super Mario, and Zelda with my Dad.  My oldest son is quickly approaching the age where he might start playing games; we've been testing the waters with Mario Kart Wii.  It's been fun. :)

...and all the Tebow bashing at the end...ouch!