Messages

26

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Announces New 2DS XL

« on: April 29, 2017, 07:45:34 AM »

I'm less interested now that I've thought this through. I really like the design, but it probably won't work for my needs. I wanted a second 3DS for Pokémon, but it was also going to serve as back-up device (or more accurately, my current 3DS, which is showing signs of wear, would become the secondary device). I don't use the 3D much, but it is essential for a few games. If I get the 2DS, I'll still need to get another 3DS to stick in the back of my closet. Part of what I really like about the 3DS (and being almost all digital) is I can back up all my data and a back-up version of the console for posterity isn't cost prohibitive.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Announces New 2DS XL

« on: April 29, 2017, 07:42:11 AM »

Any inferences to be drawn on whether this could mean Stars or a Gen 4 remake? I need another 3DS for evolving Pokémon and transferring items. This may work nice, especially if I can bundle it with a game or two.

The Gen 4 remakes of Diamond Dust and Pearl Powder *will* happen for one simple reason:  money. 


Now will they be released for 3DS?  Switch?  Something else?  Good questions these.  My conjecture would be 3DS in October/November 2017 to coincide with Game Freak's near-annual release schedule.  Plus considering how long video games must be in development these days I am willing to bet Game Freak began developing Diamond Dust and Pearl Powder the day after ORAS were released (Nov 22, 2014).

Yes, I meant to include "on the 3DS family of systems"

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Announces New 2DS XL

« on: April 27, 2017, 10:07:28 PM »

Any inferences to be drawn on whether this could mean Stars or a Gen 4 remake? I need another 3DS for evolving Pokémon and transferring items. This may work nice, especially if I can bundle it with a game or two.

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TalkBack / Re: Genyo Takeda Announces Retirement From Nintendo

« on: April 27, 2017, 02:22:17 PM »

Punch-Out!! will always be synonymous with arcades for me. The music and sounds effects were a prominent part of the soundscape. I can still hear the ambient noise in the back of my mind.

I also dumped a ton of quarters in Popeye.

Wikipedia doesn't include Pro Wrestling, NES Play Action Football, or Ice Hockey in Takeda's "software works" list, but the body of the article suggests he had at least a tangential role in their production. NPAF lost out to Tecmo Bowl, but the other two games were massive titles at my schools.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: April 21, 2017, 08:23:46 AM »

Atleti-Madrid
Juve-Monaco

Early lines have Madrid and Juve solid favorites to advance. Any potential combination would have been compelling, but this might be the best draw for neutrals.

Ajax-Lyon
Celta Vigo-United

The lines have United as huge favorites and Lyon advancing. Ligue 1 has rarely been competitive in Europe, so it would be surprising to see them have two finalists.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: April 20, 2017, 10:01:48 PM »

I think if Pulisic is still there in 2019, it probably means his development stalled. Dembele and Weigl will also probably be gone too. Dortmund were already struggling to keep players and now the Premier League is a whole lot richer. I'd include Aubameyang, but he is older obviously.

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TalkBack / Re: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Review Revisit

« on: April 20, 2017, 05:07:55 PM »

I didn't mind the weapon durability too much, but it would have been nice if successful fury attacks and other critical hits caused less damage to your weapon than a normal attack, to encourage people to "fight better" and make weapons last.

Hack hack hack. Sorry - what was that? Hack slash hack. Couldn't hear you over my button mashing.


(I agree with this suggestion. People who want to mash still could, but giving a benefit of longer lasting weapons for people who fight with style makes a lot of sense. I kind of thought it already worked this way though...)

Ha! I've been staying away from the BotW threads because I plan on eventually playing the game. I was curious about the weapon degradation complaints since it never bothered me in games I've played that had them. Now I know why: my fallback strategy of first convenience is usually button mashing with an over-leveled characters.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Eurogamer: SNES Mini is a thing, coming Holiday 2017

« on: April 20, 2017, 12:42:13 PM »

While not a 100% accurate history, anyone who thinks Nintendo is trying to help scalpers or drive up demand by creating false shortages needs to go read David Sheff's Game Over - in particular, the chapter on the Game and Watch in the US and how Nintendo felt they got screwed by retailers on unsold units.

Really, anyone who wants to try and analyze anything Nintendo does should read this book.

I personally don't think they were trying to help scalpers or punish their consumers.

One possible outcome left Nintendo holding the bag on unsold units.

Another possible outcome had Nintendo leaving money on the table, a percentage of its customer base dissatisfied, and exposed its most loyal/obsessive fans to price gouging.

It seems Nintendo preferred to err towards leaving money on the table and its customer base assuming more risk in Nintendo's demand calculations. The value of the perceived risk Nintendo mitigated would be good evidence of how it views customers and prices loyalty.

Edit: Another scenario is that Nintendo had a specific revenue target, but that makes for even grimmer inferences from the perspective of a consumer.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Eurogamer: SNES Mini is a thing, coming Holiday 2017

« on: April 19, 2017, 10:28:11 PM »

I don't think it's a problem (or at least Nintendo doesn't consider it one), I think they're doing this intentionally. They don't want an excess of units on store shelves and they want to limit their manufacturing footprint, so they are purposely keeping supply low.

If it was intentional, Nintendo would have foreseen the possibility of what happened to its customers. I would love to know what they valued the risk at.

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TalkBack / Re: Ever Oasis Coming June 23 in North America, Europe

« on: April 13, 2017, 07:03:25 AM »

I was curios before just because it's a RPG, but I liked the Direct trailer. I think a lot of the draw of this game could be in how invested you become in your particular oasis and I'm interested in how they are going to use the water spirit(s) to help personify that. I have a list of games I want to get before transitioning from the 3DS and I'm adding this unless it reviews terribly.

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General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: April 12, 2017, 08:34:53 PM »

Thanks, but this is way more fun than I ever would have had with it. When I was a kid, there was no better feeling than when a grownup slipped me cash, or gave me a roll of quarters for video games. She's going with Sun.

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General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: April 12, 2017, 07:55:34 AM »

In 2015, I bought my best friend a 3DS because he was playing an inordinate amount of mobile games. He was my main video-game buddy growing up, so I wanted him to share in my nostalgia, as well as have a better experience than on mobile. Unfortunately, he was totally disinterested.

Last weekend he and I both went to my parents house for a visit. I confirmed he wasn't using the 3DS - he still hadn't unboxed it - and since we only get to see each other in person a few times a year, I asked him to bring it with him. I had intended to use it for creating a secondary Pokémon account for trading with myself.

Since we were both home together, we decided to go visit an old high school friend that he had stayed in touch with, but I hadn't seen in nearly ten years. When he was showing us his house, he introduced me to his daughter, whose room was covered with Pokémon plushies and drawings. In the course of chit-chatting with her, I learned that she was a fan of the anime and card game, but she didn't have a 3DS.

I love kids, even though my wife and I chose not to have any. I have a niece and nephew, but my brother is very restrictive, so the only Nintendo product I've ever been able to give them is my niece's Princess Peach Vans. I thought it was way too good of a coincidence to pass up in meeting my friend's Pokémon obsessed kid the same day as I came into an extra 3DS.

I checked with my friend yesterday, and he is going to let me give it to her. Now I'm just waiting to hear on whether she prefers Sun or Moon. I'm so excited for her, she is going to have so much fun. I'll drop it off with her dad on Saturday.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: April 11, 2017, 01:01:25 PM »

I agree, and that's why I think it would be such a mistake to try to muscle this through. I think there will be another round of concessions, and the bid will be ultimately be negotiated with broad support across FIFA. If it isn't, the US will either come back with a single-country competitive bid, or walk entirely from the process.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: April 11, 2017, 12:32:01 PM »

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I believe that a no-bid process is a big mistake. I am too uncomfortable with the precedent it would set and the implications of it for the integrity of the DOJ investigation. I'm just really bothered that in this instance a competitive bid will likely lead to more corruption than a negotiated bid would, and that the biggest opponents of the negotiated bid will be the people whose main role in the process is to skim money that should be going to the athletes and administrative staff.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: April 11, 2017, 11:37:57 AM »

This is an interesting if uncomfortable dilemma because it's not remotely clear to me what the correct answer is. The bidding process is the primary source of corruption (and when a lot of the development funds get skimmed) but a no-bid award undercuts the legitimacy of the USDOJ's long needed intervention into CONCACAF graft. One thing we can be certain of: everybody is looking out for their own interests and trying to get the best deal for themselves. This latest round of media leaks is just another stage in the negotiations. Personally, I think if you take all the "reforms" en masse, there is reason for everyone in the western hemisphere to be both happy and frustrated with how things appear to be working out. That suggests to me that it is a sustainable and decent compromise.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: April 10, 2017, 10:33:46 PM »

I think the expanded CONCACAF slots, expanded Copa, qualification reformatting, and joint bid are probably being negotiated in conjunction. When taken collectively, there are big upsides for the entire hemisphere. If it ends up working out like anticipated, there is a lot of praise to go around, especially considering how far apart everyone was just a year ago. They've seemed to have struck a plausible balance between on-and-off-field sport and revenue development and maintaining credible and engaging competitions.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 517: Survey Says

« on: April 10, 2017, 08:31:02 PM »

I'd love to have a Ghosts n' Goblin collection that includes the NES, SNES, arcade, Sony, and mobile games. I already have all the ones you can purchase on the 3DS but would definitely pay for remastered updates.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: April 08, 2017, 01:36:01 PM »

This will drive their revenues up considerably because it will increase the frequency and predictability of when they play Mexico and the US. The long term vision is for them to reinvest the big gains in sponsorship and media revenues back into developing the programs. They'll be lots of incentives for them to do so.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: April 08, 2017, 09:09:09 AM »

That a good point about player rotation.

I also think this could be a boon for MLS. It should help develop the overall league player pool and it offers unique marketing opportunities. They need greater exposure their non-American players and this seems a good vehicle.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: April 08, 2017, 08:32:09 AM »

I was curious because I think it could go either way. The league would get the US more games against better competition, but I don't think it would be guaranteed that the South American teams would take the league competition as seriously as they will a Copa, and the quality of the Copa games should be higher given the pre-tourney camps and adjustment times for the European club players. Another development benefit of the Copa to me is that it is a knockout tournament format like the WC. I think I'm leaning towards it being the better option even from a developmental perspective.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: April 08, 2017, 08:13:08 AM »

I understand, but if the choice was a combined league or a combined copa, which would you choose?

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: April 08, 2017, 08:04:01 AM »

I'm guessing both the combined leagues and combined Copa weren't mutually feasible, and I think if those were the two options, I like this route much better for CONCACAF as a whole. It is probably in the long term interestes of US soccer too, since it will invariably improve the overall quality of the confederation.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: April 08, 2017, 07:28:56 AM »

There are rumors of Caribbean nations wanting to break off into their own confederation...

These rumors already seemed ridiculous to me, but the WC expansion and this news should eliminate even the rumors: http://reut.rs/2nkMWtz

CONCACAF is on the verge of following UEFA's move in eliminating most international friendlies and replacing them with a intraconfederational league. This is a massive boon to the development of Caribbean soccer and a very meaningful geasture by Mexico and US. Although I have some minor concern that the US is losing its own developmental games against global heavyweights, the truth is those will be harder to get after UEFA adopts the league format anyway. Otherwise I'm very hopeful this move will stoke interest for me as a fan. This is also more evidence suggesting that the off-year Copa changes are coming. I'm really liking the direction the international cycles look to be taking.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: April 06, 2017, 05:41:34 PM »

It would be nice to see, but I think having the backdoor route is a good safety net for CONCACAF. The confederation as a whole is improving, so the only two teams I fully expect to qualify are Mexico and the US. I would be surprised if Costa Rica didn't. I would definitely put Canada amongst the strong contenders for the last three, but it's definitely not a sure thing from my perspective with so many competive teams in the middle band of the confederation.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: April 06, 2017, 10:53:08 AM »

There are reports that Canada, Mexico, and the US are expected to submit a joint bid for the 2026 World Cup. Quite honestly, as much as I love international sport, the IOC and FIFA are horrendous to the host countries. This is a good compromise, although ironically these are three countries that already have a lot of the "necessary" infrastructure already in place. However, this is obviously going to be very difficult and expensive for traveling fans. It also presents a backdoor qualification route for (most likely of the three) Canada.