Messages

14726

General Gaming / Nokia's new handheld a gba killer

« on: February 06, 2003, 01:00:43 PM »

"Nokia gave no word on prices, saying only that the consoles will cost less than 500 euros (about $539)" - Gamepro.com

Over $500?  I think the GBA's market share is safe.  Nokia is clearly targetting a different market with that price.  Plus the N-Gage is pretty much a European only device.  GBA sales will be largely unaffected.  The GBA will be affected by the N-Gage less than the PS2 is affected by the Gamecube and Xbox.

14727

Nintendo Gaming / A Question for Canucks

« on: February 06, 2003, 07:58:27 AM »

Maybe you should try looking somewhere besides Toys 'R' Us.  Those retards couldn't even get my Gamecube preorder right.  After telling me again and again that I did NOT have to buy a bundle they told me on release day that I did.  Are there no other stores in Lethbridge that sell games?  What other cities are near Lethbridge?  You could always look somewhere else.

14728

Nintendo Gaming / A Question for Canucks

« on: February 06, 2003, 07:38:31 AM »

Grey Ninja where in Canada do you live?  I live in the Vancouver area and Skies of Arcadia is available in most stores.  I even was able to find a place renting it last weekend.  I also preordered Zelda at EB in the same way Softshell did.  You shouldn't have to order from American sites to get those games.  If you have a friend who lives near a major Canadian city they should be able to find what you're looking for.

14729

Nintendo Gaming / New Nintendo Dot Com poll - Fire Emblem

« on: February 05, 2003, 11:09:31 AM »

"Anyway, I don't see how Nintendo.com's polls matter, rememebr that had that poll about the style of Zelda. The "realistic" version dominated the rest but alast no results...we will see."

Nintendo.com's poll didn't affect Zelda's style because NOA has no input into the development of Zelda games.  That is strictly an NCL decision.  However localizing a Japanese game in the American market is NOA's decision so the poll is considerably more relevant.

14730

General Chat / The Ultimate Good Games List!

« on: February 05, 2003, 11:03:09 AM »

Ocarina's not the only awesome Zelda game.

Game: Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
System: Gameboy/Gameboy Color (DX version)
Release: 1993/1998

Before Pokemon came out this was the reason to own a Gameboy.  When I first saw this title on shelves I assumed it was, like most Gameboy games, an inferior portable cash-in on a popular franchise and would in no way be able to match the brilliance of A Link to the Past.  Boy was I wrong.  Not only does this titles match LttP but it actually improves on it in many ways making it a true Zelda game despite it's portable roots.  To this day I consider it not only my favourite Zelda game but my favourite game PERIOD.  It also remains the only game I have beaten more than once.  A perfect example of how, with the right amount of effort, a portable title can easily be as good as a console one.  If you have any sort of Gameboy you must buy this game.

14731

Nintendo Gaming / I sent a letter to nintendo europe...

« on: February 05, 2003, 10:12:07 AM »

"- Do you think Nintendo cares if you buy an import GC or if you buy one from the UK? They receive money either way."

I'm not sure if that's true.  I would assume Nintendo Europe only gets a cut from games sold that they produced.  The money from American games sold to European customers goes in Nintendo of America's pocket.  I don't know this as a fact but I think it's a fair assumption.

14732

Nintendo Gaming / Rumored Online Games... so far..

« on: February 05, 2003, 09:43:58 AM »

"Frankly, when it comes to Smash Bros. I'd much rather be in the same room with 4 other lunatics at 4 am playing then with some random 'Mariofan2937' who I can't taunt, yell, or throw things at."

Comments like this suggest that if Smash Bros went online then you couldn't play four players anymore.  There's nothing stopping you from playing it offline with your friends.  Online is merely a bonus so that if you want to play with someone (and it likely doesn't have to be random) who doesn't live near you you can.  Online is not a replacement for four player multiplayer it's merely another option.

I have friends I like to play with but I would also like to play with some people online who I can't play with otherwise because they live on the opposite side of the continent.  I would much rather play most games with people in the same room but online is perfectly fine when playing in the same room isn't an option.

14733

Nintendo Gaming / Tube Sliders

« on: February 05, 2003, 07:12:00 AM »

I don't know much about this game but just the fact that it's a futuristic racer is enough for me to at least have some interest in it.  I think I'll rent it for sure unless it gets some really low reviews.  It's made by the team that made F-Zero Maximum Velocity so I'm sure it'll be good.

14734

Nintendo Gaming / Offical 2002 Game Of The Year Nominees

« on: February 04, 2003, 02:19:46 PM »

"I love the handheld category.. its practically saluting Nintendo's dominance"

Well two of those games are ports and I don't think it's very fair for them to win.  Handheld game of the year should be a brand new game.  I would have nominated Tactics Ogre and Sonic Advance instead.

14735

TalkBack / Metroid Prime 2, official!

« on: February 04, 2003, 02:03:28 PM »

"Every single person I know that's bought the game said that they regretted almost instantly."

I'd imagine so considering you can find videos of all the "good parts" for free online.

Still seeing Samus in some of those outfits would be pretty cool.

It's rather odd to see Nintendo.com actually acknowledging the existence of a game that hasn't even had any screenshots released yet.  Actually the fact that we even know for sure this game is being made is pretty different then Nintendo's usual "everything no matter how minor is top secret" approach.  Maybe Nintendo is starting to lighten up.  NOA at least.

14736

General Chat / Local Band Surprise

« on: February 04, 2003, 01:56:08 PM »

I couple of years ago I saw a great band at the Pacific National Expedition (a big annual fair held in Vancouver).  Now the PNE always has a band playing each night that you can see free with admission thought they're usually some really old act that only my parents have heard of or a really lame act that lacks the talent to make it big.  On this night the band was Damn The Diva, a Canadian band that got some airplay on the local radio stations.  I didn't really like the stuff I had heard too much so I wasn't excepting anything.  Instead I was treated to one of the best shows I've ever seen as they rocked the house down.  The lead singer sang so hard his voice was nearly shot by the end and he sounded perfect for the first song.  Sadly I haven't heard any of their stuff on the radio for a few years so I don't know if they're still together.  They have some good stuff so if you ever get a chance to hear their music go for it.

I also saw Nickleback as an opening act before they made it big.  They were pretty good but I've never really been much of a fan.

I don't check out to much local music because the venues they play at are usually bars and clubs and as I don't drink or smoke I tend to dislike those types of atmospheres.

14737

Nintendo Gaming / Sega!

« on: February 04, 2003, 10:13:57 AM »

I think the problem with Sega was that they were too daring and original with the Dreamcast and that resulted in a game library that was critically acclaimed but lacked mainstream appeal.  Sega is now in a position where they can't afford to release many duds saleswise so they're playing it safe and ports of Dreamcast titles that do have mainstream appeal are a pretty safe bet.  A Sonic game will sell so release one as fast as possible and a port of title few people played is a good choice.

Besides PSO was technically a sequel to the Dreamcast version that also came with the first game.  There just wasn't many differences between the Episode I and II.

Oh and Soccer Slam was completely original.

I am pretty fed up with the Sonic thing though but that's more of Sonic Team issue than a Sega one.  Sonic Team has been the most port happy of all the Sega developers.  I hope they have something big planned to make up for the lack of original content.  There's no way PSO Episode II and the Sonic ports have taken up all of their time.

14738

Nintendo Gaming / Rumor: Just Sniffing Around

« on: February 04, 2003, 09:53:29 AM »

"Did Nintendo ever say online would not be an important part of the future? All they said was that it was not profitable RIGHT NOW for a company like Nintendo."

I know but when if it does become profitable is Nintendo going to be able to keep up with MS and Sony who are making sure to get a foothold in the online market?  Sometimes you have to be willing to take a loss in the present to get some profits in the future.  Nintendo not only is not making any online games themselves (or at least not announced any) but they're making it hard for third parties to make online Gamecube games as well.  Besides most online games are connected point-to-point so there's not server maintenance like with an online RPG.  Simple online multiplayer games like Mario Kart Online could easily be done without major server costs.

14739

Nintendo Gaming / GBA SP

« on: February 04, 2003, 09:42:58 AM »

I was JOKING Rick.  Note the smiley face.

14740

TalkBack / 2003 Interactive Achievement Awards Finalists

« on: February 04, 2003, 09:41:30 AM »

Ratchet & Clank is nominated for game of the year but not ED or Splinter Cell?!  Huh?  Of course this is the organization that gave SSX Game of the Year 2000 (the year that PD, Majora's Mask, Skies of Arcadia, Chrono Cross, etc were released) so they do make some pretty weird decisions.

It's nice to see Metroid Prime get so many nominations so I think it's a guarantee it'll win something.  I'm hoping for game of the year but then everyone thought GTA3 would win last year and it didn't.  Vice City may win to "make up" for GTA3 not winning last year.

14741

TalkBack / Game Boy Player available ONLY in Black

« on: February 04, 2003, 09:36:01 AM »

IGN suggests that "Releasing only the black unit may be Nintendo of America's attempt to move the GameCube away from its 'toy' image."

I doubt that's the reason.  If NOA really wanted to remove the "toy" image they would have stopped focusing on the purple unit and the platinum Cube certainly doesn't look like a toy.  I figure it's a cost issue.  It's likely cheaper to release everything as one colour.

I have a black Cube so it doesn't really matter to me but NOA should release all the colours.  If NCL can do it they can.  Releasing only one colour gives the impression of laziness and a lack of attention to detail.  Now we know that's not really true but the average person may see it that way.

14742

Nintendo Gaming / GBA SP

« on: February 04, 2003, 07:24:12 AM »

"And the GBA SP has no more RAM. None!"

No RAM?!  Then how does it play games?

All of you guys you like and defend GBA ports are failing one important thing.  Ports are fine as a supplement to new releases.  Ports are not fine when they are released in PLACE of new releases and are sold at full price and in some cases are even advertised as a new game.  Some ports are great.  I'm very happy that the SNES Final Fantasy games were ported to the Playstation.  Nobody really complained about those.  But if those games were released instead of the FF VII-IX and were sold seperately at full price people would have freaked out.

With the SNES Nintendo gave me a new Mario game and a collection of all the other Mario games on one cartridge.  Therefore I feel it's unreasonable for them to expect me to buy those same games released seperately without a new 2D Mario game to go with it.  Every copy of Super Mario Advance that's sold gives Nintendo the message that a new 2D Mario game is not needed.

14743

Nintendo Gaming / Rumor: Just Sniffing Around

« on: February 03, 2003, 02:25:21 PM »

LAN games = cool

LAN gaming instead of online games = lame

There no mention of any of these rumoured titles being online, only being LAN capable.  If Nintendo thinks this is a decent substitute they are very wrong.  LAN should be a feature for online games.  LAN should not be a replacement for online games.

Seriously Nintendo's utter refusal to acknowledge that online is an important part of the future is going to bite them in the ass bigtime.  I really hope these titles are not just LAN only for Nintendo's sake.  They can talk about "communication games" all they want but until they go online they're living in the past just like they did when they stuck with cartridges.

F-Zero with LAN would RULE but as I said F-Zero Online would be way better.  System selling killer app better.  

14744

TalkBack / PGC is Hiring!

« on: February 03, 2003, 02:11:55 PM »

This is like the third time I'm unqualified for a position because of where I live.  ARRRRRRGH!

I've got to move to Europe or Japan.  *checks release lists* Make that just Japan.

14745

Nintendo Gaming / Will Zelda: Wind Waker break sales records?

« on: February 03, 2003, 02:01:45 PM »

Wind Waker's sales are limited by how many Gamecube owners there are.  In order to break records several people (as in thousands of people) have to buy a Cube just for Zelda and that sort of variable is difficult to predict.  I think it will sell well and likely will be the best selling Gamecube game but it just has to sell too many consoles in order to break records.

Comparing it to Ocarina sales is silly because the N64 and Gamecube had very different environments to bring the game into.  The N64 had a large userbase for it's first few years.  Remember until late 1997 it was the market leader.  When Ocarina came out there was a good amount of N64 owners who hadn't bought many games recently but had bought the console back in 1996.  Suddenly the "greatest game of all time" comes out on a console they bought a few years ago but haven't given much attention to.  Of course that game is going to sell.  It's target audience is a large userbase starving for a decent title.  The Gamecube is different.  It doesn't have huge successful launch sales to bring up it's userbase.  It isn't in a situation where it's owners are starved for a game.  The situation doesn't lend itself as well to a record breaking success.  First party games always sold huge on the N64 but not so much on the Gamecube.  That's because on the Cube there's a similar sized userbase but more games to choose from so no one HAS to buy a game like Zelda in order to play something worthwhile on the Cube.

14746

Nintendo Gaming / Anybody else looking forward to TMNT game?

« on: February 03, 2003, 01:48:07 PM »

"Kudos to anybody who knows Splinter and Shredder's real names"

Splinter: Hamato Yoshi
Shredder: Oroku Saki

I probably got the spelling wrong.  These are the real names for the original cartoon.  I believe in the comic Splinter was always a rat and Hamato Yoshi was his owner (or is that only the movie).

14747

Nintendo Gaming / GBA SP

« on: February 03, 2003, 01:40:45 PM »

"What do you mean their running out of old games to port? I could name about 15 SNES games that I never owned that I would buy for GBA."

Shut up.  Third parties might be reading this.

Seriously they could port absolutely NO more SNES games to the GBA and I would be happy.  I have a SNES and aside from a few rare titles I have pretty much every SNES title I've ever wanted so I don't need any more ports (aside from Secret of Mana which I have yet to find a copy of).  Any of you guys that are happy that the GBA is so port happy are NUTS in my opinion.  Why be deprived of NEW titles and pay full price for older games?

As for running out of ideas, because everyone has been so port happy they've barely scratched the surface of what can be done on the GBA.  Aside from Metroid and a few others pretty much every Nintendo franchise can have a new GBA game.  Mario and Zelda are naturally at the top of my list.  Or how about a new 2D Final Fantasy from Square or brand new 2D Contra?  Konami could make a new 2d Metal Gear with decent graphics for once.  And that's just making new games for old franchises.  Who knows what new stuff is in the works.

I'm not buying an SP mainly because I don't feel like buying another GBA when the one I have is sufficient.  I use my GBA pretty much as a home console anyway so the GB Player will be my light solution.  

14748

Nintendo Gaming / Fire Emblem

« on: February 03, 2003, 12:33:19 PM »

Fire Emblem is likely never ever going to be released in North America so it therefore falls into my "who cares" category because it doesn't affect me in any way.  For those wondering what that sentence means it means that if they annouce a Fire Emblem for Gamecube my response will be "who cares".

It's irritating that they never plan on releasing it here though.  FFT and Ogre Battle is brough over here so why the f*ck don't we get the series that created the whole genre?  Surely it won't sell any worse than Ogre Battle which must at least make enough to be profitable considering it's still released over here.  Nintendo took a risk with Advance Wars and Pokemon and it paid off big time.  Why are they so unwilling to take a risk here with a game with considerably more mainstream appeal than those two "odd" titles?

Guys with swords in a fantasy setting?  My God it's too wacky and Japanese to release in North America!  Now excuse me while I watch Lord of The Rings again.

14749

Nintendo Gaming / A fine line to be number 1

« on: February 03, 2003, 12:18:28 PM »

"Nintendo doesn't care about being number 1, it cares about making a boatload of money. Remember, even though Nintendo is in a tough spot when you look at the sales numbers, the fact of the matter is that it's still making more money than everyone else is overall."

True.  Nintendo doesn't care about being number 1 NOW because they've making a lot of money.  But in the future will they still make a lot of money if they don't at least TRY to be number 1?  There are people who where "burned" by the N64 who still bought a Gamecube because they felt that without the limiting cartridge format Nintendo had a shot of eventually regaining their top spot.  It's not likely they could do it with the Cube but that doesn't matter.  In the eyes of many fans the Gamecube was seen as the first step where Nintendo would slowly gain more and more market share on the road to catching up with Sony.  Now would any of these people have bought a Cube if Nintendo had said outright "We have no plans on regaining the top spot.  Therefore Nintendo fans can continue to expect minimal third party support and a lack of mature titles and RPGS"?  Nintendo fans want Nintendo to be number one again because we know that with the top spot comes the most games.  We saw that with the NES and SNES and that's largely why those consoles are spoken about so fondly and the N64 not so much.  If Nintendo makes it clear that they have no intention of even trying to achieve this then it's less likely that we fans are going to buy the next Nintendo console.  Why buy another Nintendo console if things are never going to improve?  If fans buy less consoles then GAMES are going to sell less which means Nintendo makes less money.  Therefore if Nintendo wants to continue to make money they HAVE to try to be number one or they'll lose customers fed up with Nintendo's refusal to try and improve things.

Now of course the GBA changes things up a bit because it's so successful.  However any negative aspects of their console business will hurt the Nintendo name which in itself hurts the Gameboy.

As for Sony I believe there is only one way they will ever lose their top spot: they must f*ck up in a way where they will lose most of their third party support like Nintendo did.  Then third parties will flock to another console and with them the games and with those the gamers.  Therefore Nintendo should get themselves in a safe number two spot so that if/when this happens they'll be the first choice for all third parties.  As it stands right now Gamecube would likely only get Capcom and Square if such a thing happened now while Xbox would likely get most of the American third parties and Japanese third parties like Sega, Tecmo, and Konami that have either been bribed or hate the Gamecube.

14750

Nintendo Gaming / GameCube's Appeal to the Teen Audience

« on: February 03, 2003, 11:50:22 AM »

"Here's the question: Judging by the total and average sales, is Nintendo offering a platform for everybody hurting them by possibly making a platform that's not quite good enough for anybody? Think broadly about the market, not personal satisfaction."

This a very interesting point and surprisingly no one has responded to it.

I don't the problem is that the Gamecube is targetted towards everybody.  The PS2 is a huge success because it has something for everybody so that's not a bad strategy for Nintendo to emulate.  I think the problem is that the Gamecube is for everybody but it's not marketed as such.

The Xbox is without a doubt aimed towards teens and young adults.  It's games are mostly targetted to that demographic and its ads are targetted to that demographic.  The Xbox IS a console for the "mature gamer".  It doesn' t really have anything that's appealing to anyone else.

The PS2 is marketted towards everybody.  It has mature games but it doesn't promote itself as a console only for adults.  It has kids games but it doesn't just focus on them either.  Though it appears to target teens it really has very neutral marketing.  Whenever you see a generic PS2 commerical (ie: not for a specific game) the console doesn't focus on any one genre or demographic of games.  The PS2 is shown as an electronic device like a PC or television that ALL people can enjoy.  It's an entertainment machine and that's what it is advertised as.  It is as "cool" or trendy as any electronic device.

The Gamecube's marketing is all over the place which is likely why people are unsure of it.  Sometimes it's promoted as a toy and sometimes it's promoted as hip and cool.  Like the PS2 the Gamecube has games for everyone and therefore should be marketed in a similar way.  Instead the marketing is all over the place.  An advertisement for something like Mario has a very "this game is a for chidren" feel to it with people dressed in goofy costumes like you would see on Barney.  Is the game only for children?  No, but to the average consumer it sure looks that way.  Something like Metroid on the other hand is promoted as being hip and cool and for older gamers.  So you've got two extremes and therefore consumers are confused.  Who is the Gamecube targetted towards?

Now you're probably thinking "well the PS2 markets its games the same way with adult games targetted at adults, etc".  Well that's not exactly true.  A lot PS2 game ads still have a very neutral feel to them.  Many of them show a lot of in game footage while Gamecube ads show very little.  Why does this make a difference?  By showing just the game the consumer can see firsthand whether or not that game is for them.  Something like Jak & Daxter was obviously targetted more towards younger gamers but it didn't have anything particularly "kiddy" in its advertisements.  Its ads were very neutral.  The game was shown and the consumer is left to decide if the game is for them.  They can tell for the most part that the game is more for kids but they don't get a big over-the-top "THIS GAME IS KIDDY" message from the commercial.  The GTA ads are the same way.  You can tell the game has guns in it and is very crime based but you don't have anyone telling you "this game is cool".  Because the consumer sees mostly game footage they get to see what the game looks like and get a general idea of what it's about.  Everything has a very "Here it is. Do you think this game is interesting?" feel to it.  It's neutral and everyone can see the commercial and immediately understand what it's about.  The commericial is targetted towards everybody just as the console is for everybody.

With Gamecube ads there isn't very much game footage so the consumer can get confused about exactly what the game is about.  They therefore have to look at the rest of the ad to figure it out to the best of their abilities and they're likely to get misinformed.  "The Mario ad is full of dancing losers in costumes so I guess it's a kids game.  Metroid's ad has a dark sci-fi feel to it so I guess it's for adults."  One commericial is targetted towards adults and the other to kids.  Neither commericial is targetted to everybody which is the console's target demographic.  We all love the Japanese Metroid Prime commerical yet all it shows is gameplay footage.  So why do we all like it?  Because it's a very neutral commercial and therefore the commericial is targetted towards everybody even if the game itself isn't.  The Gamecube is for everybody so the Metroid Prime commercial is for everybody.

I don't think this is Nintendo only problem but it's one of them.  The console is for everyone and that's a good strategy.  They just have to make it so that the marketting appeals to everyone even if specific games don't.