Messages

3026

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 233: Don't Try Too Hard

« on: February 28, 2011, 10:17:01 PM »

Don't worry, I've got more!

If I had applauding ability, I would be hitting that button on your post all day.

3027

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 233: Don't Try Too Hard

« on: February 28, 2011, 10:16:11 PM »

Having just recently re-beat Super Ghouls n Ghosts, I can't say that I agree that Super Mario Bros Wii is easier than SGnG, but I will admit that I can beat the game much quicker than NSMBW, although I think most of that is the length of the game.  Also, if you're like me, you've played SGNG enough to regain your timing pretty quickly after a break, and it's easier to maintain the correct rhythm in SGNG than NSMBW, as there always seems to be something put intentionally into a level to break your rhythm.

3028

General Gaming / Re: Accessiblity and the Fighting Game Genre

« on: February 28, 2011, 10:02:03 PM »

If you want to use a sport analogy I'll point out that NO sport worth a **** compromises itself to accomodate whiners who aren't good at it right away.  I suck at golf.  Golf doesn't change itself to allow me to be good at it.  I have to work at it if I want to be good.  No one expects the sport to change for me.  Every sport requires some core fundamentals that one may not immediately pick up in a second.  If anyone complained that swinging a bat in baseball was too hard and they should change it everyone who laugh at such a ridiculous suggestion.  But with videogames it is perfectly okay to make such a request?

You make some good points, and as a fighting fan, I'm not going to dispute the merits of the game having a decent learning curve.

I just don't think the sports analogy works well.  Sports have already reached critical mass.  People wanting to change the rules of sports like you mention would  be laughed out because they are an institution with history and for the most part set rules.

Fighting games are a re-emerging market after being stagnant for a few years.  Companies like Capcom have strayed away from the more complex systems such as Street Fighter 3 because it scared away the casual market that will buy the game to play with friends, but will never truly be good at them.  While loyal, the hardcore market for fighting games (or any genre, for that matter) isn't a large enough group for most companies to cater to completely unless it is relatively cheap to do (example being the PS3/Xbox 360 port of MvC2). 

I would say the Street Fighter IVs and MvC3s of this world are a good compromise.  Letting the casual player jump in and enjoy the flashiness of MvC3 and seeing the crazy moves they can pull off.  But there will be a definite ceiling of where all the professional level players reside that the casual player will never penetrate.  It also gives Capcom the opportunity to make concessions to more casual players while paying lip service to the more serious players who were fond of the prior games.

3029

General Chat / Re: Who here is into Hip-Hop/Rap?

« on: February 27, 2011, 07:46:39 PM »

I'm a fan of some rap.  Here are some things I didn't see mentioned in this thread that I'm really digging right now:

Kid Cudi  - Pursuit of Happiness
                 Day 'n' Night

Lupe Fiasco - Kick Push

Sage Francis - Crack Pipes
                       Broken Wings
                       Message Sent

And regarding Eminem, while I've enjoyed his music on occasion, the only album of his I can listen to on repeat is Infinite.

3030

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Recommend Any Good Gamecube Games

« on: February 27, 2011, 02:40:57 AM »

I have always wondered what would have happened if the N64 used optical media? Would Nintendo have had a stronger third party to carry over to the Gamecube.

Absolutely.  I would contend that Gamecube would have at least equivalent 3rd party support to the PS2. 

3031

General Gaming / Re: PSN = Privacy? Security? Never!

« on: February 26, 2011, 05:49:46 PM »

Congratulations TJ, you have single handedly destroyed one of the pillars of judicatory that has stood for over 700 years. Now you can stand tall, above the illustrious groups of individuals and governments that have for nearly a millennia tried to smash this outdated idea that is presumption of innocence.

You have validated the use of extracted confessions by everybody up till the 18th century, and made Stalin proud, oh so proud. George W. Bush could have made great use of you when he needed extraordinary rendition made legal and quiet! I am sure by extension you can remove  habeas corpus since anybody accused or looking funny are now automatically criminals, I mean look at all those people in Gitmo! I mean water boarding and loud music is so 2000s, lets do something from the 90's like car battery, water sponges and a guy named Ando.

What too slow? Well **** it, why do the whole song and dance when you can just put people up against a wall. They are all guilty of some thing right? They have to be since someone accused them, also with original sin and all that. Who the **** needs evidence or a trial because your word is good. It better than anything a defense could come up with. What? too hard? Well I am sure Broodwars will be willing to assist your crusade to make a simpler world where people will become too scared to even **** themselves thereby solving another problem that plague humanity since time immemorial.

I do wonder what other miracles TJ will have in store next, ready to burst out of his righteous brain of his.

3032

I'M BACK / Re: How do we invite new members to the funhouse?

« on: February 26, 2011, 02:07:02 PM »

ohai.

EVERYONE STARE AT THE STRANGER UNTIL HE IS UNCOMFORTABLE

3033

I'M BACK / Re: How do we invite new members to the funhouse?

« on: February 25, 2011, 10:53:42 PM »

ohai.

3034

General Gaming / Re: Accessiblity and the Fighting Game Genre

« on: February 25, 2011, 10:49:38 PM »

As a fan of the genre, I completely sympathize with your plight.  There are definite steps that could be taken to improve the accessibility of these fighting games, the problem is that with every bit of compromise to the mainstream, hardcore players will begin to abandon the franchise.  Hell, even for Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, there have been complaints about it being far too easy in comparison to the earlier versions. 

I agree with the confusion regarding button labeling in comparison to the controllers.  I believe my biggest complaint with every fighter I've played is that it takes far too long to go between practice mode and opening up a specific character's set of moves.  I'd like to be able to practice a character's move set and get a feel for him without having to pause, go to the menu, select character moves, select the character i'm using, and then scroll through their move list to find the specific move.  I can't see why maybe there could be a minimized list at the top of the screen while practicing, and then you could assign a button to press in this mode to expand the list, and it would bring up the character you are specifically playing with.  Completely infuriating, and an example of how bad UI can ruin a player's experience.

With that being said, the only fighter I know that has made major concessions to introduce accessibility in fighting games is Super Smash Bros.  As far as I know, it's the only game which is easy enough to be accessible to the mainstream, but deep enough to encourage tourney play (for Melee, I'm not sure about Brawl).

3035

General Gaming / Re: PSN = Privacy? Security? Never!

« on: February 25, 2011, 10:35:39 PM »

 I'm struggling a bit with the overuse of the words "illegal", "shady", and the possible misuse of the words "hacker", "pirate", and "blackmail"

Firstly, can someone here prove that what GeoHot and Graf did was illegal?  I'll admit I might have a hole in my argument here, but as far as I know, the case against GeoHot is a civil case, not criminal (Link in case anyone needs clarification on differences between the two).  Meaning that technically no law is being broken, as otherwise they would be pursuing putting Geohot in prison instead of suing him .  This is a case more reminiscent of Sony suing Geohot for breach of contract (Terms of Service agreement, I believe) as well as violating the DMCA, which I think is unreliable at best, because:

1) Absolutely no-one reads Terms-of-Service
2) Reading the DMCA, the only things I thought they could put him accountable for are sections protecting the copyright of video games (which Geohot has claimed he has not pirated), and a section regarding unauthorized hacks of cell phones for the sake of putting them on another network, which has recently been negated.  Since the cell phone provision is the closest to the Geohot case because of the questions of the user's rights to ownership of their hardware, I would assume the DMCA would be a bit neutered, if not useless as an argument.

There is a distinct difference between a "hacker" and "pirate" in context of these cases.  A person doesn't have to be a hacker to be a pirate (or vice versa), but that also doesn't mean that they can't be both as well.  It's a bit baseless and biased to say that all hackers are pirates, or that all pirates are hackers.

I actually do agree with TJ Spyke that what Graf threatened Sony with would be considered blackmail (Yes, I know it's not exactly a scholarly source, and I'll gladly listen to counterarguments).  What he threatened to release was something of definite value that could damage their business if released.  The way I read one article is that he threatened to release info from Sony's hypervisor, so wouldn't that technically be Sony's intellectual property that he's threatening to release? 

I don't care for people using the words "shady", because it's simply an adjective used by people of both sides for the sake of belittling or putting into doubt the merits of either side.  Whether you think GeoHot is a smelly pirate hooker, or that Sony is the Shinra corporation in disguise, using insults towards the parties in this issue or other forum members just undermines your own arguments by making you look overly biased.  Let's put aside the vitriol and hate, and have some rational arguments here .   

3036

Nintendo Gaming / Re: What Nintendo franchise do you want most on 3DS?

« on: February 24, 2011, 11:37:57 PM »

F-Zero
Starfox (Other than the re-release of Starfox 64)
Pikmin
Smash Bros.

In that order.

3037

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Recommend Any Good Gamecube Games

« on: February 24, 2011, 04:48:26 PM »

Nintendo still sells Platinum Gamecube controllers at their online store: http://store.nintendo.com

Otherwise, anyone know of a good source for 1st party controllers?

http://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&langId=-1&currency=USD&ignoreCrumbs=N&crumb1=&crumb1Ignore=&crumb2=%253CA%2BHREF%253D%2522javascript%253APassOn%2528%2527X%2527%252C%2B%2527ChooseView%2527%252C%2527%2527%252C%2B%2527%2527%2529%253B%2522%253ENintendo%2BGameCube%253C%252FA%253E&crumb2Ignore=&crumb3=%253CA%2BHREF%253D%2522javascript%253APassOn%2528%2527C%2527%252C%2B%2527CategoryDisplay%2527%252C%252744009%2527%252C%2B%2527N%2527%2529%253B%2522%253EParts%2B%2526%2BAccessories%253C%252FA%253E&crumb3Ignore=&translateFrom=%C3%88%C3%89%C3%87&translateTo=EEC&usrSearchText=&searchText=&selSrchType=&page=&view=&productId=64062&categoryId=44009&lastAction=ProductDisplay&orderTotal=null&tranId=0&jktranid=&rpComment=&dropOff=

I guess this is why people use TinyURL.com. I hope that works...

Wow, I feel foolish.  Bookmarked.  Thanks for the help!   

Luckily I found a used wavebird in pretty good condition, so that should last me a while, but I may throw down $50 for a couple of them just for backup sake.

3038

General Gaming / Re: PSN = Privacy? Security? Never!

« on: February 23, 2011, 10:17:48 PM »

Why couldn't they? They were profiting off of other people's work, just like you said...accept they weren't They were profiting off of their own work. They weren't selling PlayStation games...they were selling a software emulator, you still had to buy the games. Here's something of interest (maybe) - I didn't even buy a PlayStation until after purchasing (yes, purchasing...the way you associate me with the word "shady" bothers me) both Bleem! and Virtual Game Station, along with several PlayStation games. Later, I bought a PS2 (at launch) because I had a bunch of PSX games, initially because of Bleem! and CVGS. So, it pays to not be a dick sometimes.

I think this is a good point to make.  You could probably argue that the introduction of software emulators on PC and Dreamcast actually helped, as it would provide people who had no interest in purchasing a Playstation console to buy a few games, which would result in profits for the game developers.

3039

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Recommend Any Good Gamecube Games

« on: February 23, 2011, 10:15:26 PM »

Looking at these lists of great Gamecube games, I get upset that the Wii's backwards compatibility is so downplayed by Nintendo.  Why aren't Gamecube memory cards and controllers easy to find in stores?  They have this feature but they never promote it in any way.

I agree with this point.  I've been searching for gamecube controllers and have only been able to find 3rd party offerings that look like a nintendo controller that has gained a few extra pounds when looking online.  I had an old college roommate who said he was able to buy actual Nintendo controllers from Japan (With extra colors too!), but I can't begin to find anything like that now, as that was two years ago.

Has anyone tried one of those 3rd party controllers?  Are they any good?  Otherwise, anyone know of a good source for 1st party controllers?

Either way, I'm sure Nintendo not putting any effort in stocking GC controllers is a boon for 3rd party suppliers.

3040

General Gaming / Re: PSN = Privacy? Security? Never!

« on: February 23, 2011, 09:55:52 PM »

Sony hired him because of what he did was technically impressive. The reason it was shady was because they were basically profiting off of other people's work. Would Microsoft be happy if a company created a emulated version of Halo: Reach that worked on PlayStation 3?

While your example of Halo: Reach working on a Playstation 3 is a valid analogy to what Bleem! did and why Sony was pissed, I don't think there was anything legally shady, and I think it's a bit unfair to say they were profiting off of other people's work.  If I recall correctly, you had to have a legitimate copy of the game to be able to use Bleem!, so there couldn't be any claims of piracy in this version of emulation.  Sony was just pissed that someone was trying to make a way to play Playstation games without owning the console.  And based on the rulings, it seems like the court system didn't see that there was anything illegal about that.   

While this is an old system, I kind of see it as being analogous to if Nintendo would sue the people who make those NES/SNES combo consoles.  And the only reason I could really see why Sony thought it might have a case is because Bleem! was released in 1999, which was a year before the next generation Playstation came around making the original obsolete.  They could make a claim that it was causing another source of cannibalizing their Playstation 1 sales, but I'm not knowledgeable enough of the law in this case to know if that would break any sort of law.

3041

General Gaming / Re: PSN = Privacy? Security? Never!

« on: February 23, 2011, 08:16:21 PM »

But there is all that talk about whether you buy the product or a licence to use the product.

Actually, that argument was settled a long time ago, and the law's view on it has not changed.  When you buy a product, you are purchasing a license to use that product, not the product itself.  This is why it is a copyright violation to then take that product and post its data online, or any other variety of things you can do with it outside of Fair Use.  Trust me, my father is an executive at a Software Backup company, and I get an earful on this very topic every time I bring up the issue of video games and digital distribution.  I don't care for it myself, since I like the idea that if I'm holding a disc the contents on it are mine, but that's the law as it is currently written.

Yes, but then you have things like it being legal to jailbreak iphones and put custom firmware and programs on those.  Other than one being a phone and the other being a video game console, it's difficult to distinguish a difference between the two, and since one is legal, I find it hard to believe that it should be illegal to do essentially the same thing with your video game console. 

3042

General Gaming / Re: PSN = Privacy? Security? Never!

« on: February 23, 2011, 08:06:30 PM »

I really have to wonder, on this Nintendo-centric site, how many of the hacker supporters here would be quite so supporting if the situation were different and it was Nintendo under fire from hackers/pirates after years of financial difficulties.

Regardless, it's clear we aren't going to agree on such matters.  It's best to just agree to disagree and consider the issue on hold until we receive word of further developments.  I'd rather not see this spiral into yet another thread filled with increasingly venomous language, forcing the mods to close it down.

I don't think there are any real sympathizers for people who pirate the games here.  I think it's a question of whether or not you believe the people who released the hack did so with malicious intentions, and whether or not you think the actions Sony have taken so far are reasonable in how they've responded to what they consider threats.  If you think about it, the Wii has been hackable easily for some time, and it's not hard to find out how to pirate games for it.  Nintendo has responded by largely ignoring it and silently releasing firmware updates to disable them.  It's obvious based on Sony's response and the news that followed it that the breach in their system poses much more of a threat than just pirating games, otherwise I imagine they would have adopted the same strategy as Nintendo or Microsoft.   

3043

General Gaming / Re: PSN = Privacy? Security? Never!

« on: February 23, 2011, 07:57:38 PM »

Sony hasn't done anything wrong

Actually, they did. They took away a feature (Other OS) which was advertised, promised, and paid for by consumers. By taking it away they committed theft. The E.U. seems to care a good deal about consumer rights, so...

Under that logic, publishers of MMO's could get in trouble when they shut down the games because consumers are left with nothing more than coasters. Should EA get in trouble when they shut down servers for their games? The online play was advertised, promised, and the main reason some people buy the game. All features for systems and games are subject to be removed at any time.

I'm not sure if the MMO analogy is really a proper way of looking at it.  For MMOs (and online functions of video games), it is generally assumed that the plug will eventually be pulled due to the financial resources required to maintain them, especially if the game no longer becomes profitable to maintain.

Pulling the plug on OtherOS is different, because at the time it was a feature of the console.  One that does not have an overhead cost other than the initial investment to create the option of using it.  I believe a better analogy would be disabling PS1 Playback via firmware update if they found there was an exploit in the PS1 emulation that allowed hacking of their consoles.  They are taking away core features of the device that no longer costs them any more after the initial investment.

I honestly don't think there is any proper analogy to what is happening right now.

It's interesting how Sony is using the reverse model of what the music industry has historically done when suing people.  I've read countless articles on the lawsuits that actually went to court against people who downloaded and got sued by RIAA, and the general consensus of the comments section was "Why are they suing the people downloading?  Shouldn't they be suing the person who is uploading the songs on torrents and seeding the file?"

Sony decides to use this specific approach by suing the guy that is the source of what empowers the people to pirate games, and they get lambasted with bad press and a negative perception.  I guess there's no go way for a company to pursue legal options without looking like a monster picking on the little guy.  I'm more concerned about the implications of this case, and the possibility of setting a precedent in courts regarding how much you actually own the console you purchase. 

I'm not completely privy to the source of who started what, but I thought I read somewhere that OtherOS was disabled by Sony when GeoHot had just released videos of him playing around with the PS3 back-end stuff (don't know the specifics), but had said he would not be releasing info on how he hacked the PS3.  I wonder if Sony would have grounds to take him to court if he had just posted videos of the new hack instead of releasing a how-to.

3044

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Recommend Any Good Gamecube Games

« on: February 23, 2011, 03:52:49 PM »

Having Mario and Zelda yet again didn't sell Cubes worth a ****. 

Can't speak for Mario, but I bought a Gamecube specifically for The Legend of Zelda Collector's edition with Zelda I, II, Occarina of Time, and Majora's Mask.  Best decision I made that console generation, because it filled my Zelda gaps from not owning a NES or N64. 
 
With that being said, here are my suggested GC Games:

Mario Kart: Double Dash (In my opinion, the best Mario Kart game made)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (Assuming you don't already have it)
Soul Calibur II
F Zero GX
Mega Man Collection
The Lord of The Rings: Return of the King
The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition (I've found it for $30 before.  Good for if you haven't had the opportunity to play most of those games like me).
 
I'll add more once I get a chance to look at my library.

3045

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo World Report is Hiring Writers and Editors

« on: February 23, 2011, 01:43:27 PM »

We'll, I submitted an application, but not sure about my chances given my limited tenure here and the seemingly high demand for these positions.
 
I'm curious as to what everyone chose for their sample review though.  Maybe I'll post mine in the proper forum section later if i'm not chosen.

3046

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo World Report is Hiring Writers and Editors

« on: February 12, 2011, 12:52:19 PM »

Ok, another question:  Is there any kind of deadline to submit your application, or are you just accepting until you find a suitable pool of candidates?

3047

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo World Report is Hiring Writers and Editors

« on: February 11, 2011, 10:46:15 PM »

What Aaron said.

There's a reason I didn't put the six month time frame in the postings. Don't go reviewing Pong, but feel free to review a relevant game of your choosing.

Well, I was going to review Custer's Revenge, but your comments have made me reconsider.  Thanks!

3048

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo World Report is Hiring Writers and Editors

« on: February 11, 2011, 10:38:22 AM »

Interesting....
 
If you apply for the Staff Writer position, is there any limitation to what game the review is done on (other than it being a game on a Nintendo system, obviously).
 
Also, is it ok to apply to more than one position?  (Looking towards Staff Writer and Downloads Editor as the two I'm genuinely interested in).
 
Thanks!

3049

Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #16 Discussion - Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lo(u)rdly Caliber(re)

« on: January 31, 2011, 01:47:37 AM »

My first playthrough I had gone through 4 battles before realizing you could dispatch additional groups, which lead to my main character being a beast, but all the other groups being woefully weak, so I restarted.  I didn't even know you could train your characters in-between battles until I read a comment on this forum.  I was wanting to avoid using a gameFAQ, but honestly, I don't think I can successfully play this game without using one.  Does anyone know if all the essential information was in the booklet that came with the game?  Has anyone played the tutorial before starting their game?  Im considering playing it just to see if it goes in great detail explaining the game.

This game so far has involved a great deal of trial-and-error, but it punishes you too harshly when you make a mistake.  I wasted a good 6 hours before realizing I would have no chance at the point that I had saved.  I'm taking my sweet time with every decision I make this time around, but I get the feeling that I'm a few steps away from learning I should have been doing something from the beginning, and I really don't want to have to re-tread the last 5 hours again...

James was right in the podcast when he said there was one big flaw, but it isn't the speed of the game, it's the complete lack of instructions for the menus/importance of position/unit upgrading.  It's really too bad, because I do enjoy the game as I understand it so far, but this has been a nagging frustration since i've started playing it.

A few questions:

• What is the use of the soldiers you win after every battle?  Can they be upgraded at a certain point, or are they just cheap substitution for the other units?
• Is there anywhere you can purchase items other than the default ones?  I haven't found any weapons/armor other than what drops in battle
• What should the priority be for class upgrades?

3050

General Gaming / Re: PSP2 - It's coming and it's called Next Generation Portable (NGP)

« on: January 27, 2011, 09:19:42 PM »

I don't know if they want to take a loss. based on what we know, the NGP looks like it will cost Sony way more than $350 to manufacture it. Sony is making a major mistake by trying to stick as much tech as possible into the system. Most people will not use all of the features and Sony will either have to charge and obscene amount of money for it, or price it so low that they will lose even more money than they did with the PS3. Hell, they will probably do both (charge more than most people would be willing to pay for a handheld and still take a large loss on each unit)

I do think they will sell it at a loss.  They sold the Playstation 3 at a $200 loss and the Playstation 2 at a $150 loss at launch, so the precedent is there.  The PSP launch price was $250, but unfortunately I can't find a source for the manufacturing cost when it launched.  I know the only reason the PSP Go was priced at $250 was so retailers would get a decent enough profit from selling them to bother stocking them.  I'm pretty sure there's going to be tiered pricing based on 3G & non-3G models, which makes me think $350 for the non-3G model and $400 for 3G with a $150-200 loss on the item for Sony. 

Sony fouled up on the PS3 launch, but their pricing strategy has always been different than Nintendo.  Nintendo always designs and prices their systems so they can sell on a profit for each one.  Sony always pushes to have the top-of-the-line console which would cost way too much if sold at a profit, so they sell them at a loss in an attempt to be reasonably priced and considered a good value for the price (value being subjective, obviously).  Sony intends to make up for the cash lost on the systems by making money on 1st party titles I believe, as well as reducing the manufacturing process later in the system life-cycle.