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976

General Gaming / Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?

« on: January 18, 2018, 07:28:33 PM »

Double post SORRY but I have a few nights off this week and wanna start 2018 off by finishing some games.
Today I spent about an hour on Ghost Blade HD, enough to finish it thrice in easy mode.


This is a super busy, very colourful vertically scrolling shooter in the classic sense. 5 Levels, 5 continue credits, 3 possible ships, 3 difficulty levels, 1 pulse-pounding EDM soundtrack and endless laserbeams to decorate your own personal bullet hell.

What's neat about this one is that it used to be a Sega DreamCast homebrew game first, and the HD release came to Wii U just weeks before Breath of the Wild released. Given the amount of shmups on the Switch, I fully expect this to get ported at some point.

The game itself is exactly what you expect, but it's quite a quality product. The 3 different ships all feel suitably different (small & fast; medium with wide ranging shots; and one with very precise aiming), and it has a lot of options under the hood. You can display this in tate mode, change transparencies, invert buttons, change the images on the side of the screen, and in the credits I even saw an alternate soundtrack mentioned?

Complaints: loading times feel a tad long maybe, sometimes it's hard to see bullets between all the chaos, I hate the 'metal bikini look' on the standard background (see above), and the most petty complaint of all - I wish it played a cool sound effect before doing the "WARNING!" end of stage boss introduction. Now it's just a second or 2 of silence before the soundtrack kicks back in and that feels out of place.

If you're into shooters, this is a good option on Wii U (and hopefully Switch later on?), also for newcomers. I was able to beat all 5 levels on my second attempt (using every credit I had), so I'm sure the harder modes will satisfy genre veterans too. Is it the best shmup on Wii U? No, Sky Force Anniversary is a more complete package, and I personally prefer zoning out to XType+ over the frantic stress induced by Ghost Blade.
That said, it's great to see such a polished product from a small team who are willing to release things on the freaking Dreamcast and Wii U of all platforms (ok I guess it's also on Steam, PS4 and Xbone but shhhh).
Rating: 8/10

977

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Labo Announced

« on: January 18, 2018, 11:21:57 AM »

Labo is too limited, too expensive, & requires an expensive (& fragile) gaming console. Labo itself is also much more fragile than any of its traditional contemporaries.

For this to have mass appeal, it would need to be considerably cheaper & incorporate a mobile app as well as a Switch one.

Partially agree yeah, and if this takes off you can guarantee that companies will be rushing phone apps with their own (possibly downloadable, open-source?) cardboard blueprints before the holidays. Honestly I think people will already be having meetings like that this month (could be a great fit for Ikea honestly).

I agree it's possibly rather limited, and certainly on the pricey end. In that regard I think this might've done better as a holiday release, or during Summer when kids have spare time.
That said, I'm inclined to baselessly predict Labo to be a runaway success. It won't reach Wii Sports/Amiibo/Pokémon GO levels, but if a couple of videos go viral with titles like "my cute toddler plays Moonlight Sonata on Labo piano" I feel like this could be big, albeit short-lived, hit. Cheaper variations will follow soon; Nintendo is rarely the cheapest option unfortunately.

978

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Labo Announced

« on: January 18, 2018, 08:41:08 AM »

I played with cardboard stuff like this when "I" was a kid. Because we were dirt poor & couldn't afford expensive electronic gadgets in the 80s, so we made do with the random crap lying around & our creativity. If you're well-off enough to own a Switch (among many other electronic devices), I don't see why any kid would have the slightest interest in Labo.

Could be entirely off-base here, but maybe that's kind of exactly the appeal for richer families? Kids need to have their imagination stimulated, but for a generation who grows up with iPads and Switches, a lot of their playtime will likely be in largely pre-determined video game worlds.
Nintendo Labo itself may ultimately prove rather limited, because there's only so many cardboard things to fold and make applicable games for... But for those kids it may trigger an "a-ha I can also make up my own stuff, just with these cardboard boxes we have laying about!" moment.

Likewise I think well-off parents who have given their kids "virtual babysitters" (tablets/3DS/Switch) probably wished their kid spent more time outside playing make-believe with friends, in stead of Minecraft on the couch.

It's 100% a 1st-world-problem! But I can totally see it resonating with these people for precisely that reason; it's a way to get kids actually playing, but won't seem boring compared to their tech gadgets.

979

General Gaming / Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?

« on: January 17, 2018, 09:20:14 PM »

All right 2018 will be the year I clear the accumulated backlog! For real this time!
Starting wiiiiith Bomberman '94, on the TurboGrafx-16 virtual console!



I'm gonna assume everyone here is at least familiar enough with Bomberman right? Well, when the new Switch game released I wanted to play it but not make 'the switch' just yet, so I got this on virtual console as a compromise.

Gameplay is about the same as usual; you wander around on a grid-like area, place bombs to hopefully clear away obstacles and enemies if you time it right - or just blow yourself up because you weren't paying attention...
Sometimes you find power-ups that extend the reach of your blast, allow you to place more bombs simultaneously, temporarily freeze enemies in place, and a few more which I never really figured out. There's a couple more nuances, like ridable mounts which serve as an extra hit you can take, and it being advantageous to not bomb every block in the level because they let you collect bonus point coins for every block left intact.

However, this is ultimately very much a typical Bomberman game. There's a 3-4 hour story mode with 5 worlds (about 19 levels), plus a secret last level/world thing, and each one has several unique enemies with their own properties, new locales, a topical boss battle, etc. I kind of expected the ice world to also have slippery floors, but luckily that wasn't the case (that'd be awful since Bomberman does require a degree of precision). My favourites were the water world and the Dracula's castle themed one.
Fair warning: the game isn't very hard, but the absolute final level is both quite long and has a really tough bossfight. Either bring a bunch of lives, or save-scum your way through with restore points like I did.

Overall a very solid Bomberman game that I'd never played before, and would easily recommend - it holds up rather well! All I gotta do now is find 4 more people for that sweet 5-player multi action! Rating: 7.5/10

980

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Labo Announced

« on: January 17, 2018, 06:09:15 PM »

Launches 4/20 too. Perfect marketing video.
Also, is this Project Giant Robot's time to shine?

981

NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia 76: The Youtuber Takeover: Day 3!

« on: January 17, 2018, 02:14:51 PM »

Wowzers that was fast, haha nicely played guys! Particularly Khush & congratulations to ShyGuy!!

We kinda figured Khush was too obvious about being the jester, but figured to take the safe route and not vote for him. Little did I know I actually helped ShyGuy win haha! Beyond that we didn't have a grand masterplan yet, though that's mostly because I had been AFK for the first few days, whoops.

EDIT: also think this one could go for a second attempt soonish, if not immediately? Gotta sustain dat momentum yo!

982

NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia 76: The Youtuber Takeover: Day 2!

« on: January 16, 2018, 10:18:44 PM »

Hey guys and girls, I'm back with another Q&A Day!!! Okay so like I first of all feel so blessed that you've all stuck around to watch my channel and subscribe, whether you're a longtime viewer or just a new subscriber coming hot on the heels of my previous Hot Heels To Crush Hot Wheels video... I love you all equally and like feel so blessed to have your support.

Okay now this week I'm going to teach you how to behave confidently, which yaaasss I know is a little different than the usual hair, lifestyle & makeup videos I usually do but hey! It's the new hotness baby!
Now first order of business in gaining confidence is to look stellaaaaaarrrrrr!!!
 
Once your makeup situation is sorted, next we need to look at behaviour and girl, confidence doesn't have time for shy insecurity, so let's vote ShyGuy.
Last step, once you've ditched that shy baggage, is to work on your oneliners. I'll share some of my personal faves with you in tomorrow's vlog! Mwoah-Mwoah xoxo, don't be bitter be #fitter.

983

NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia 76: The Youtuber Takeover: Day 1!

« on: January 13, 2018, 09:09:12 AM »

Oh hai ladies, welcome to my January 2018 morning beauty routine. In this episode I'll show you how to apply that classic 'Mafia shifty eyes' look, conveniently using all the products I have been handed by generous sponsors.

Step 1 is easy, you want to smize for that all-natural suspicious look, as if you're peeking around for inconsistencies.
Step 2: once settled on a curious inconsistency, like for instance, someone appearing without seeming to have RSVP'd or been invited at all... Dump the screenshots for others to see, like so...

Alive:Pokepal
Stratos
Khush
Shyguy
Perm
Steefosaurus
Lolmanade
NickMitch ( if it is nickmitch)
Mop it Up

*notes distinct lack of stevey*

In the next video, I'm going to teardown a Khush. But first I need a Khush. Vote Khush

Hmmmm
>.>
<.<

Step 3: Mafia shifty eyes look complete!

984

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Serves Mario Tennis Aces on Switch

« on: January 11, 2018, 06:19:18 PM »

Is the new Mario Tennis aces or asses?

Hahaha perfect!

Or maybe if it feels unfinished they can do "Mario Tennis feels like it's stuck in Early Aces."

985

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Serves Mario Tennis Aces on Switch

« on: January 11, 2018, 04:00:01 PM »

This one looks good to me! But what will the review taglines be this time?

Game, Set, Mario?
Gamers 15 - Mario love?
Mario causes a racket?
Mario takes you to court?
Waluigi win-bledon?

986

TalkBack / Re: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze To Heat Up Switch In May

« on: January 11, 2018, 03:57:58 PM »

This really needed a remaster of Returns w/ traditional controls as well, like Bayo 1 & 2.

I would've thought they would go that way as well, but maybe they really, really don't want to compete against the final few sales of the 3DS port?

Tropical Freeze is cool, I hope people play it this time. Does kinda make me feel Retro are working on something else though; if they were doing a third DKC title it would make more sense to releases them all three in a deluxe pack, to me.

987

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: January 11, 2018, 02:56:32 PM »

Fell down the XType+ hole again yesterday, figuring I'd "just play for a single round", and suddenly 3 hours had flown by. This game gets me focused in a zen-like trance like almost no other; it's crazy addictive and I don't even like highscore/leaderboard games. I tried the replay feature yesterday, looking at the highest rated player's run and it's just mesmerising to fast-forward through someone clearing 31 levels -- I've never gotten past the 15th. Remains a fantastic game at an unbeatable pricepoint; the browser version is free, even.

988

Movies & TV / Re: (Poll Added!!) New Movies/TV Shows we should keep an eye out for!

« on: January 11, 2018, 02:49:17 PM »

Okay Imma start cooking some crow: Infinity War will do well, but not as well as people expect. I'm thinking around 1.1 billion worldwide; trailer looks dull so far and seems over-reliant on an audience who follows all the Marvel stuff - that's not what the average Avengers viewer is.

 Got Black Panther in the #2 spot which I fully expect to be a sales cannon for Marvel/Disney. The cast is terrific, director seems bankable, the title character has been introduced in a popular film and will star in another anticipated hit... I'm saying that if Doctor Strange can grab 677 million at the box office, Black Panther has a clear shot at that range too, but I fully expect it to do a lot better actually, like maybe 800m+.

For the third one, Aquaman seems like the obvious bet since even garbage DC movies like Suicide Squad still somehow attract millions of people... Deadpool 2 would be the other obvious high-flier. However, I'm gonna pick a dark horse here and say New Mutants will come out the woodworks and blow people away.
That's based on absolutely nothing, I haven't even seen the trailer (if there is one), nor know what it is about or when it releases. But X-Men movies are difficult to predict and sometimes they suddenly do crazy well, only to crash again right after. Imma say this one will be a hit. Now where'd that crow go...

989

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Sales Thread

« on: January 11, 2018, 02:31:59 PM »

Is France traditionally a big market for Nintendo, or is this news specifically because it is surprising?
I'm surprised to hear Switch being so close to Xbox 1, but not sure if it means the Switch is a runaway success there, or if the Xbox hasn't done nearly as well as expected.

It'd be interesting to see how European countries differ from each other. I imagine Germany being big on driving games like Forza and Gran Turismo, Italy too perhaps. Whereas I'd say that the U.K. would be more into Fifa/Pro Evo sports titles. But France? I think artsy indie titles and stylised cartoony graphics would appear to the French... but yes that's based on nothing but uninformed stereotyping. Don't mean to offend anyone, just taking guesses.

990

TalkBack / Re: \

« on: January 08, 2018, 11:16:15 AM »

Just passing by to drop my quarterly recommendation that people play Severed!

991

Reader Reviews / Re: Shantae Half-Genie Hero; TOMODACHI DENSETSU

« on: January 08, 2018, 10:52:31 AM »

Meant to read through all of this when it went on sale recently, but never finished the thread until now. I've always kinda sat on the fence with 1/2 Genie Hero but I think you two may have talked me down from it. Hope their next effort will be better once again, though I wonder if Pirate's Curse will hang over the series as a Sword of Damocles for the forseeable future; it's just a rather high bar they set for themselves now.

Could be down to preference; I rather like the Metroid style of traversal with backtracking becoming way faster thanks to new abilities. From the sounds of it, perhaps Half Genie Hero could've still done the animal transformations if the sections (and entire game?) were shorter. But people like me would still be whining about the lack of permanent "use these anywhere" upgrades, I guess.

992

Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last movie you've seen

« on: January 08, 2018, 10:18:38 AM »

This movie was seriously one of the best theater experiences I've ever had. The audience reactions and interactions along with the uncomfortability of a few select white people and mixed couples in the audience made this an 11/10 in the theater.

Yeah this was a perfect theater movie. The main character's friend, the cop/security guy, was like the perfect audience POV character as well. People were yelling at the screen to nope the heck out and right on cue that character would call with just the same message, so funny. Saw it with a mostly non-white audience, I'd be curious how it'd play for a mostly white audience actually.

What's best about Get Out though is that even if you're the least woke person on Earth, it's still a super solid, tense thriller. And the layered themes of experienced racism (both the everyday kind, as well as the systemic exploitation kind), as well as the tendency of (white) people to awkwardly overcompensate out of guilt for past injustices by calling attention their non-racist views... well those themes are just icing on the cake really. Best movie I saw last year.

993

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Anyone had experience with a Backwards compatable PS3?

« on: January 07, 2018, 08:23:45 AM »

When my friend's launch model died the guy at the store told him it has system back up feature and you could apparantly store gamesaves on a USB drive for backup too. You might've already known this, but hey maybe not.

Sidenote but I made so much fun of him for spending $600+ on the console and Resistance 3, only for us to still mostly just play PS2 games on it. I remember thinking he got ripped off with the controller too since they looked identical to the previous 2 dualshocks to me. Later the PS3 got really great games, but I feel like that took years.

994

NWR Forums Discord / Re: The official NWR Bitcoin Thread: It's highly profitable if you don't get scammed

« on: January 07, 2018, 07:47:51 AM »

The US national debt is $19.8 trillion  or 2.5 times the amount of gold ever mined in history.

"But we need to return to the gold standard! Things were better back then!"

995

Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last movie you've seen

« on: January 02, 2018, 10:10:41 PM »

Sounds like Jumanji...

...Brings out people's animal side!!!
 

996

NWR Forums Discord / Re: Off-Topic Wise-Ass Comments About Other NWR Forum Threads And Also Other Stuff

« on: January 02, 2018, 11:51:27 AM »

It was either that or into the Death Star 4's computer system, a la Stuxnet.

Could be done through a Ze-Rey Day Exploit.

997

General Gaming / Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?

« on: December 30, 2017, 08:39:30 AM »

Lords of Thunder (Wii U)

Ooooooh I missed the news this came to virtual console, always wanted to give it a shot.

998

General Gaming / Re: Merry Christmas to All - 2017

« on: December 28, 2017, 12:23:22 PM »

Happy holidays y'all. Haven't been here for that long comparatively, but y'all have been very welcoming.

Or at least polite enough to do the pointing & laughing behind my back.

999

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch/Wii U) Out now!

« on: December 28, 2017, 12:16:00 PM »

Yeah I used my first few orbs to get 2 extra hearts, the next batch I exchanged to get a bit more stamina. That really helps to climb longer and such stuff.

1000

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Metroid: Samus Returns 3DS

« on: December 28, 2017, 12:10:25 PM »

Thanks Luigi Dude, it's kind of annoying they hid that behind a 100% completion requirement. Especially because I got super close to that haha. Sounds....... interesting? Maybe?

My blood still immediately boils when I think of the Chozo Ghost battle theme from Prime 1