Messages

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RetroActive #23 Poll: Second Chance Edition!

« on: June 29, 2012, 12:33:45 PM »

Poor WiiWare...

I picked up BG&E during the crazy winter XBLA sale when it was selling for around 250 MS points. Haven't touched it yet, sadly . A retroactive would be just the push I need. But I have a hunch a certain money-grubber is going to win. Blah.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 295: Too Many Bones

« on: June 29, 2012, 12:29:35 PM »

The idea of an e-paper screen on a game system is fascinating... if the power consumption and refresh rate is decent, the super-high contrast would look amazing.

Or they could fish out the unused red LEDs and oscillating mirrors from back in 1996 and use those. Marvel Galactic Pinball, anyone?

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TalkBack / Re: Marvel Pinball 3D Review

« on: June 28, 2012, 10:26:29 AM »

Looking forward to this....  will be my 1st plunge into 3D pinball. Be gentle.
(Pixie, I added you. I know there's a thread for this, but here's my FC too: 4682-8453-5026)

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TalkBack / Re: Marvel Pinball 3D Hitting 3DS in North America, Europe on Thursday

« on: June 27, 2012, 04:29:20 PM »

To people who are familiar with these tables from PSN...   would you choose the original 4 Zen 3D tables or the 4 chosen Marvel 3D tables, if you don't really care about the Marvel license? I'm not a huge comics guy but if the Marvel ones are more evolved/more fun overall, I'd go for the new game.  Otherwise, I might finally just dl the original.

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TalkBack / Re: Why Nintendo Direct Was Better Than E3

« on: June 24, 2012, 01:24:15 PM »

To DarthBrady's point about the Playstation blog and the "Share" feature that allows the community to recommend game ideas: That kind of thing is what likely made Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale a reality. "I want a Smash Bros but with Sony characters!" a thousand people wrote in. Sony exec: Let's make a Smash Bros clone! The people want it! And now there's one more uninventive game in the world. I say let the game designers design games, and let the players play them. Personally I don't want the same people who comment on game websites coming up with the ideas for games I'll be playing (no offense). Feedback and transparency is great from a company, but let's not make the boundary too permeable.

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TalkBack / Re: Marvel Pinball 3D Interview with Mel Kirk 

« on: June 19, 2012, 10:33:34 AM »

Nice job on the interview. Even though both of you kind of laughed it off, that last question -- "Are there any questions you'd like to be asked?" -- I've found to be a great idea when finishing Q+As with people. Often they'll take you in a direction only they would know about, or pick up on a big thread you somehow missed. Now I have to decide whether to get a Zen pinball game or wait for Pinball Arcade...   

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TalkBack / Re: NightSky Impressions

« on: June 10, 2012, 04:59:46 PM »

Count me in on the "waiting for Wiiware/eShop" camp. Really looking forward to this, along with the cool soundtrack and atmospheric visuals. Hope it's got enough content to not fly through it too quickly...

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TalkBack / Re: LEGO City: Undercover Impressions

« on: June 10, 2012, 04:56:13 PM »

I'm actually liking the idea of the costumes. They sound like basically this game's "tools/weapons", and you have to get inventive to pick the right costume/identity for the puzzle you're trying to solve, like the locked door you were trying to get past.

Sort of reminds me of Stacking on XBLA. Which is a good thing.

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TalkBack / Re: Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion Impressions

« on: June 10, 2012, 03:00:16 PM »

I'm so happy a game like this still exists in today's marketplace. All those people complaining about the gun-heavy violence-laden press conferences this year should take a look over toward Epic Mickey, NSMB, Pikmin, NLand, Scribblenauts, in addition to all the yummy indie stuff that apparently was at E3 but was barely reported on.

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TalkBack / Re: The Disturbing Lack of 3DS at E3 2012

« on: June 09, 2012, 01:02:24 PM »

Ooh, Aaron's link is much better. And holy smokes, after looking at that list of games, this year's E3 seems even more anemic. Insane that 2006 was the exact same period of time before the Wii's launch as this year is for the WiiU, and look at the games: Twilight Princess, Galaxy, Smooth Moves, Excite Truck, Elebits, Corruption...  did they really have the holy trinity shown all at once? Yikes.

I honestly think the change in breadth of shown games is almost a direct consequence of the economy. In 2006, we were sittin' pretty. Right now is not the time to sell a bunch of games in dollars against the yen. Also, Nintendo's back was against the wall. After Gamecube, they had to come out guns ablazin' to get people's attention. Right now they're in a relative position of strength (the year's financial woes notwithstanding). I think they're holding their cards closer to their chest this time around, waiting for the economy to turn around and holding onto some big guns for next year when Sony/MS come out with their next machines... we'll see.

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TalkBack / Re: The Disturbing Lack of 3DS at E3 2012

« on: June 09, 2012, 12:53:46 PM »

NinSage, that's for the much-needed levity.

re: DS fall/winter 2006  http://www.1up.com/features/2006-ds-holiday-gift-guide

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TalkBack / Re: Game & Wario Impressions

« on: June 07, 2012, 10:44:10 AM »

My hope is that this is a clandestine eShop game from Nintendo: like the next generation of Game & Watch Collection games for the console. I do hope there's a proper WarioWare game. Perhaps the GamePad necessitates a slightly less manic pace, given the input mechanic. Although I could imagine a lot of great gags with having to spin around and find some odd thing in the "virtual" environment around you using the 2nd screen.

Also: I still don't really understand the Fruit game. What do people do with the tablet while guessing which character you controlled? I'm sure it's intuitive while playing, hard to simply explain.  A worrisome problem with many Wii U concepts...

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Wii U Developer Roundtable - Katsuya Eguchi Liveblog

« on: June 06, 2012, 09:13:40 AM »

7:13:58: Eguchi: Of course I would say yes. But I also want to note that we are "powering up" with Wii U. There's an attitude that Nintendo is targeting casual users, but actually we're more interested in making games for people who really love games.

Stop sending mixed message if you want to market this thing to the Core.  You can't say at last year's Press Conference that you want us back and want to show us new experiences, and then put out trash like this year's Press Conference.  If the Wii U is labeled the "casual" system again, it'll be because of days like today.

I don't know how I feel about the launch slate of Wii U games either, but I do know that "people who really love games" extends far beyond the assumed definition of CORE gamers. The core of anything is really only the sphere in the middle. It's solid, but it's smaller than the surrounding everything else. I appreciate how Nintendo continually wants to keep making games for the largest amount of people, instead of making the industry a more and more insular place with games that require 10+ years play-experience to understand what's happening on-screen.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 292: The Show Must Go On!

« on: May 31, 2012, 02:43:48 PM »

Just finished the episode....   'twas tough, after the emotional Leahy Finale, but I'm happy to see that the wheels are still turning and the discussion is as entertaining and thoughtful as ever. Guillaume: Godspeed and well-done so far. Must be hard to step into the RFN clubhouse. But personally, I'm excited to hear your contributions, especially since I feel like your tastes overlap with some of my own. (I'm that other person genuinely curious about Snowpack Park.) Looking forward to hearing you all again soon...

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TalkBack / Re: Retro Working on Star Fox + Metroid Crossover Game for Wii U?

« on: May 30, 2012, 12:38:12 PM »

I missed this rumor when it first hit, but...   holy smokes. It's so insane it just. might. work.

Japan is crossover crazy right now (SF x Tekken, that 3DS action-rpg btwn Namco/Capcom/Sega, Nintendo's own Pokemon thing) so I could see this being greenlit. Personally I'm down for some wacky mix-up sci-fi action. Nintendo's always been funnier than most gamers give 'em credit for, and the overly serious Metroid mashing into the silly StarFox universe would be rife with self-mocking potential. Mr. Leahy might say, "Taking the piss out itself." And I'm all for that in a landscape filled with too-serious macho guns-and-ships epics.

E3, make it happen.

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TalkBack / Re: Amazon Reveals Possible Wii U Launch Lineup

« on: May 17, 2012, 10:08:29 AM »

@Tora You take that back this instant. For the elder statesmen in the room, I bet the prospect of starting college in the fall would be most enticing, and not at all sucky.

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TalkBack / Re: Super Battleship

« on: May 15, 2012, 11:43:06 AM »

I picked up Radar Mission when it was 100 coins on Club Nintendo, and I must say it's better than I thought it'd be. A neat little Battleship clone to keep on your system. The music and minimal graphics have more personality than they should, and it's especially fascinating as a precursor to Steel Diver with its periscope mode. I recommend it.

About Super Battleship... I have nothing to say.

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TalkBack / Re: FarSight Studios Details The Pinball Arcade for Wii, Wii U, 3DS

« on: May 13, 2012, 02:15:55 PM »

Bummer! I'm really looking forward to the 3DS version. I dl'ed the demo for 360 but I love how the added depth of the 3D screen helps pinball games, and so I was going to hold off on buying it for XBLA since I don't love double-purchasing the same game. Now I might have to pull the trigger....  or wait for Wii-U.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 290: BOMZALDROPPEN

« on: May 09, 2012, 03:55:40 PM »

Pardon me for throwing yet another log on the Greg Praise fire, but it deserves to burn long and burn bright...
The first time I listened to RFN, right before PAX East '10, I liked it okay but couldn't quite understand 'that British guy.' Soon I grew to appreciate Greg's perspective and eventually his became the voice I waited to hear from the most. As many have said, I feel oddly connected to each of you, having listened weekly for years, and it's genuinely sad to hear of Greg's stepping down. But it's true: You've damn well earned a long break. Enjoy your free time and I'll look forward to hearing you again, in some capacity, in the future. (Go Lions!)
P.S. Good luck Guillaume!

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TalkBack / Re: 3D Classics Kid Icarus Review

« on: May 07, 2012, 11:06:02 AM »

Only played the original briefly way back in the 80s, but have always wanted to give it a go. So glad I decided to buy this. The backgrounds are surprisingly effective, both as visual markers of how close you are to the end of the level and also just as lovely backdrops...  And the game's fun! I've actually played through it twice now. Something strangely addictive about it.  Great to see them acknowledging the control issues and tweaking them when they could have just painted the backdrops, separated the 3D layers and released it. Very smart.

Now I guess I should finally buy KI: Uprising, hmm...

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TalkBack / Re: Is Retro Working on Star Fox Wii U?

« on: May 06, 2012, 06:01:36 PM »

I saw that Retro was hiring a character design artist recently, too, which would lend itself to a more Star Fox Adventures-style open world game. Although I guess if it's all space dogfighting, and they retain the little dialogue boxes with profile pictures, they'd still need to design the look of the character. Hmm.

Either way, I'd lap up a new Star Fox from Retro. Sorry that Pedro doesn't enjoy their games. But DKCR and the Prime games are tops in my opinion. And I think Nintendo is handling quite a bit of their own catalog, so no need to worry about them handing over the keys to Austin, TX. One platformer and a few Kart tracks in the past 5 years doesn't seem like an overreliance on one studio. Monster Games has done almost as much, if not more, in the same amount of time. (ExciteBots and Pilotwings.) Personally I'm excited to see what Next Level (Punch-Out!! Wii) has in store next, once they're done mangling licensed fare and get back under the cozy wing of Nintendo.

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TalkBack / Re: NWR Wi-Fi Night 5/8/12 - Mario 3D Kart

« on: May 06, 2012, 05:45:15 PM »

Ooh. Will be a good excuse to sit back down behind the wheel. You guys should do a 1st-person p.o.v. gyro race every once in awhile, for grins. Maybe I'll see some of ya in a couple days...

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TalkBack / Re: Bird Mania 3D Review

« on: May 04, 2012, 10:59:10 AM »

So is this game like Jetpack Joyride on iOS then? That's what it sounds like. If so, JJ is a fun little title but Bird Mania seems to lack the charm and presentation. Makes sense, given Joyride comes from Halfbrick, of Fruit Ninja and Raskulls. Glad to see the 1.99 price point on eShop though.

It's funny (and sad) -- people are confused why a 2 dollar game isn't great because of the prevailing notion that handheld downloadable games should be 99 cents because of the App Store. People! It's 2 dollars! That's less than a medium coffee at Dunkin' Donuts! No kidding the game's going to be weak sauce. Sheesh.

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TalkBack / Re: Talking eShop with Renegade Kid's Jools Watsham

« on: April 30, 2012, 11:44:47 AM »

Love to see these original interviews instead of just a cut-and-pasted job from some other big site. Kudos. Bomb Monkey actually has me interested, given its two-player/one-system multiplayer and a low price point. Great to see people trying out the book method on the 3DS, too, as that was such a boon to new experiences on DS.

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TalkBack / Re: NWR Game Club #2: Metroid: Other M

« on: April 30, 2012, 11:35:42 AM »

I'm still shocked this game was so unloved by so many people. I thought it was a bold change to a series that had just gone through a trilogy of very similar (though completely awesome) games. I found it exhilarating, fun, new. The 3rd-person/1st-person gameplay was strangely intuitive, and something no other system could do the same way. Looking forward to people's refreshed opinions on this one, after the dust of (un)popular opinion has settled.