Messages

51

Nintendo Gaming / Re: 3DS Availability

« on: March 15, 2011, 08:59:51 PM »

When do you expect to actually get the 3DS shipment in, UncleBob? Is it well ahead of release or do you guys not getting anything until shortly before the launch date?

52

NWR Forums Discord / Re: Phrase Altering Game

« on: March 13, 2011, 04:45:24 PM »

I was at prison one day and I saw an attractive specimen of very buttered camel genitalia. I've never been a pervert, but the butter on the package was just so sexy that it was just too irresistible.

53

NWR Forums Discord / Re: Phrase Altering Game

« on: March 12, 2011, 08:37:51 PM »

I was at school one day and I saw an attractive carton of very buttered camel genitalia. I've never been a smoker, but the butter on the package was just so cool that it was just too irresistible.

54

TalkBack / Re: 3DS May Be Brickable if Flash Cards Used

« on: March 11, 2011, 08:02:33 AM »

Besides, only criminals should have a problem with this.

Trust me, the minute I have a chance to hack my 3DS, I'll be doing it. I love to import games and have been doing since the N64 - with the 3DS region lock, I won't be able to play any import titles with my North American 3DS. The only means of doing this is using some sort of homebrew application that either makes the system region free or can load out of region games. Bricking my system because I want to use it in a different means than Nintendo says is a bunch of crap. I have no interest in pirating 3DS games, but I absolutely will not give up my ability to import games.

Even if Nintendo decides to actually do this (they won't), it won't stop people who intend to pirate games anyway. Hackers will eventually figure out how to block any remote bricking and all of the pirates will go on their merry way. Being that these types of users constitute such a small percentage of the market (who would actually buy the game), it's not worth potentially harming innocent 3DS owners in the crossfire.

55

TalkBack / Re: GDC 2011 Satoru Iwata Keynote Liveblog

« on: March 02, 2011, 03:37:02 PM »

But the whole time I was watching the footage I was thinking to myself "please don't control like crap".  I am so afraid this is going to be an unplayable wagglefest.

For what it's worth, I thought it controlled pretty damn well at E3. I'm sure it's not going to be perfect all of the time, but I didn't really experience any problems playing it on the show floor.

I thought this trailer for Skyward Sword looked pretty great, especially with all of the new characters and environments. It looks and seems like something fresh, which is definitely nice. Hopefully, as Caliban said, we see a release date at E3.

56

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

« on: February 24, 2011, 01:11:31 PM »

What I find pretty interesting, is that in the case of the iPhone vs. jailbreakers, the Library of Congress ruled that bypassing a phone OS is completely acceptable under Fair Use. Given the precedent in place already, I have to imagine the same exception to the DMCA will apply. In both cases, Hotz simply gained root access to the device and published the key, which would allow others to exercise their Fair Use rights as declared by the DMCA and exempted by the Library of Congress.

It seems like everyone is quick to decry the work of these hackers because it leads to piracy and other potential problems, but the work done by Hotz is no different than his work on the iPhone. Gaining root access doesn't inherently provide the ability to piracy, it merely gives hackers of that variety a starting point.

With Sony involved in two separate cases over the same topic (both as plaintiffs and defendants) it should be interesting to see how everything plays out. Honestly, I think they are going to lose on all fronts. They've been arguing that removing the OtherOS functionality was ok because they didn't have privity with the system owners, and against Hotz, they claim they had privity which prohibits him from violating the EULA (which includes a clause regarding hacking).

Obviously you can't have it both ways, especially when (I believe) the same judge is sitting in on both trials. In my opinion, hacking a console is on shaky ground at worst, and at best, it has already been condoned as an exception to the DMCA by the Library of Congress via the iPhone jailbreaking situation. Anyway, we'll have to wait and see how the judge interprets the law, being that it's his job to do so.

My sources on the topic if anyone is interested, http://internetjustice.blogspot.com/2010/12/iphone-jailbreaking-and-dmca.html and http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20110218181557455

57

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

« on: February 21, 2011, 09:04:48 PM »

I've been reading along with some of the debate here over this topic, as well as the overall case, and I decided it was worth writing about over at PixlBit. If anyone cares to read my full thoughts, the article is here.

Long story short, I support the hackers who unlocked the root key of the console, but I strongly disapprove of the ones who are exploiting PSN's weakness for evil. In my opinion, there's nothing inherently wrong with console hacking and it has led to some really fantastic homebrew applications. Piracy is a nasty side effect of console hacking, but I'm not sure there are a significant number of people actually engaging in console hacking, with an even smaller portion of them actually pirating games.

Sony has handled the entire situation quite poorly and surely the consumers will be the ones who are hurt by all of this in the long run.

58

TalkBack / Re: The Times They Are a-Changin'

« on: January 23, 2011, 12:27:50 PM »

Congrats, Neal. You'll do great.


Thanks for all the hard work during your tenure, Lindy. It was fun working together while I was on staff.

59

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Donkey Kong Country Wii

« on: December 05, 2010, 11:09:30 PM »

...

I wish you'd posted that earlier, since I spent the better part of yesterday searching through forum threads all over the internet trying to figure it out. Still, it was worth it: the game feels so much better with the classic controller.

Sorry about that, I wish I would've found it earlier myself. Last night, Mop_it_up posted that she had heard such thing existed in the forums at PixlBit, so I set out this morning to figure it out when I saw the post. I already beat most of the game, just trying to finish up the extra 'K' levels to get access to the Golden Temple. While it won't be a huge help here, I've found it extremely useful in the Time Attack levels. Nothing beats continuous rolling by just holding the y button.

60

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Donkey Kong Country Wii

« on: December 05, 2010, 06:04:20 PM »

Figure this might be of interest to you guys. The homebrew community has managed to get Classic Controller support out there for DKCR, and I decided to write up a quick story and guide on how to enable it.

The story is here (http://www.pixlbit.com/news?action=showNewsArticle&newsArticleId=1037), but if you don't care to read up on it, feel free to download the Ocarina cheats here (http://www.pixlbit.com/displayImage?type=external&path=CC_Support_DKCR.zip). To save the file, right click, choose Save Link As..., and name the file "CC_Support_DKCR.zip". After saving the file and unzipping it, you need only to drop the contained "codes" folder from either the v2 or v1 directory onto the root of your SD Card. If you already have a "codes" folder, simply take the file from the folder and drop it in your "codes" directory.

There are two versions of the game, so be sure to test both, starting with v2 as it seems to be more prevalent.

61

General Gaming / Re: PixlBit - Survival Horror Marathon for St. Jude

« on: September 22, 2010, 07:58:15 PM »

I hate to bump a thread from the dead and pimp stuff, but PixlBit is turning 1 and we're throwing a birthday bash in the form of a PlayBit. In addition to the PlayBit, we'll be doing a simultaneous live podcast of sorts and taking calls. To top it all off, we'll be doing some trivia and giving away E3 swag.

For the games, we'll be playing all Japanese stuff including Custom Robo 64, Doshin the Giant, the Kururin series, Giftpia, Captain Rainbow, Nonono Puzzle Chai-Rian, and Donkey Konga 3.

If you are interested, you can check out the article here.

62

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Metroid Other M

« on: September 01, 2010, 08:35:37 PM »

I found the answer, dude!

Okay, go back to the quarter-circle room where you fought the treeosaur. Run to the left side of the room, underneath the automated wall thing. See the metal surface on the ground? I haven't tried this 'cause I'm at work, but according to the Internet, you can speed boost through the wall underneath the automated lift by running along the metal surface, and this will take you to that mysterious door.

I'm going to try at lunch!

Oh man, thank god you figured this out, it was driving me nuts! Me and Chessa just wrapped it up at 100%, doubt we're going to go through the hard mode right now, but it was a fun journey while it lasted. I'll be interested to give it another go at some point soon and see how I feel going into the game without super high expectations.

All in all, I agree with most people's comparisons to Fusion. They feel like similar games in a lot of ways, though I still feel like that was the better of the two games. Regardless, it's a really good game and I'm glad that a different team was able to mess with the formula and try a few new concepts, some of which I hope to see again - namely the layered combat system.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Metroid Other M

« on: September 01, 2010, 02:25:06 PM »

Holy crap, Zach, I'm missing the exact same one! Me and Chessa sat there for an hour last night trying to get it, since it's the only one left. So freakin' frustrating!

EDIT: Hey ... where'd Zach's comment go?

64

TalkBack / Re: The Lord Giveth, and UPS Taketh Away

« on: August 30, 2010, 09:47:45 PM »

Just reading parts of this aloud induce instant laughter.

"Did you mail us shoes?"

I don't even know how you kept a straight face when they asked you this. It's that much better that the offending shoes eventually showed up at your doorstep. You should've kept the shoes, put them in a display case, and set them up on a wall in your room. It undoubtedly would've made a good conversation piece.

65

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Metroid Other M

« on: August 30, 2010, 10:58:09 AM »

I'm curious to see what everyone here thinks about the game when they play it. After Chessa and I finished it, it was pretty clear that it was going to be divisive amongst fans of the series.

Like I said to a friend of mine about the game, it's probably one of the worst Metroid games to come out, but easily the best work of Team Ninja to date. Both Chessa and I really enjoyed the game, but it fails on a variety of points at being a good Metroid game, namely exploration, which like Zach said, is only truly unlocked after you beat the game.

I think part of the problem is that the game was released after the Prime series. Other M in comparison to those games feels like a step back. I believe that if Other M were to have released on the N64 and directly followed up Super Metroid, it would still be praised today as one of the best games in the series. As it stands, Other M had some big shoes to fill, and in my opinion, it didn't quite make it.

It will be interesting to see where the series goes next after this title. I'm curious to see how much Nintendo carries over to the subsequent titles in the series, and if they will allow Team Ninja to work on the series again. Anyhow, if anyone is interested in some deeper thoughts on the title, Chessa posted the review over at PixlBit.

66

TalkBack / Re: Obituary: PSP 2000

« on: August 06, 2010, 07:20:45 AM »

Yeah, the PSP really is a huge disappointment. One of my biggest issues with it is the power switch and the way the thing functions. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've accidentally put the system to sleep instead of turn it off. I'll come back a week later to play something and the battery is totally dead because it was sleeping for a week. I'd much rather have a button to turn it off and a separate option in the menu to put it to sleep. Ugh.


You're also right about the lack of notable games, Zach. It's unbelievable how few there really are, and it's funny because even getting the things for review I see very few come to my door.


For the most part, the PSP is dead and everyone knows it, including Sony. Even worse is that they didn't expose some sort of plan at E3 this year for their next PSP. I'm not sure what Sony is trying to do with the system, but right now it's hard to care that it even exists.

67

NWR Feedback / Re: NWR 2.0 bugs

« on: July 02, 2010, 11:37:51 AM »

On the home page all of the recent stories underline everything when you mouse over including the abstract and the image description on the right. Not sure if this is working as intended, but it seems like only the title should be underlined in this case.

Regardless, 2.0 is looking good!

68

TalkBack / Re: Welcome to the New Nintendo World Report!

« on: June 27, 2010, 01:54:55 PM »

Woo, NWR 2.0! Glad to see it finally up and running. Congrats on getting it up!

69

General Gaming / Re: Mortal Kombaaaaat!

« on: June 22, 2010, 07:18:31 AM »

If you guys are interested, we got some Eyes-On time with the game at the show. Sneak Peek. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment for Jason, he'll be able to let you know about the demo better than I will because I wasn't there.

The general consensus from him was that it was really awesome looking. A lot of the concepts from the Vs. series were applied, including tag-team matches and rampant juggling. This, of course, was in addition to the core concepts of Mortal Kombat, particularly special moves and fatalities.

70

General Gaming / Re: Red Dead Redemption

« on: June 08, 2010, 01:05:38 AM »

If anyone is interested, I just threw up the review for PixlBit.

Check it out here.

71

General Gaming / Re: Square Enix expects FF13 to revive Japanese console market

« on: June 03, 2010, 09:25:57 PM »

Final Fantasy XIII had an amazing battle system. I too have played far too many RPGs, and FFXIII was a breath of fresh air. The designers clearly took a moment to analyze what it is you do in an RPG for the majority of the time, and they streamlined that experience beautifully in the game.

While I won't disagree that the game was extremely linear, most RPGs are also linear, they just do a better job of pretending they're not. The bottom line for me was that the combat and story were so much more interesting than your typical RPG that I was able to completely ignore the linearity and just enjoy the finely crafted parts of the game.

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General Gaming / Re: Red Dead Redemption

« on: May 31, 2010, 03:05:07 AM »

Guess I should've been more specific -  A number of outlets have been giving it 10/10. Personally, I haven't settled on a score just yet, but it is very good. I'll probably put in a few more hours before the extended weekend is over and throw up a review.

73

General Gaming / Re: Red Dead Redemption

« on: May 30, 2010, 10:26:11 PM »

I've been playing this one for about a week now and I must say I'm also impressed. Even though it's clearly built on the GTA IV engine and much of the gameplay is similar, the setting and characters really give it a different feel. Quite honestly, RDR is leagues better than GTA IV and its Episodes. The characters are can be related to, the dialog is intelligent and fitting, and it feels fresh and new.

I can't say it totally earns the 10/10 it has been given, but it is a very good game worthy of your dollars.

74

General Chat / Re: Help my Dewmocracy flavor win!

« on: April 29, 2010, 09:45:23 PM »

They need to bring back Pitch Black II. That stuff was amazing.

75

General Gaming / Re: Perfect Dark XBLA

« on: March 29, 2010, 06:59:19 PM »

Thank god, Rare is finally going to patch this to include Legacy and Southpaw controls. Just a few more weeks and I can finally get back into this one.