Messages

1

TalkBack / Re: Stop Going to GameStop

« on: July 16, 2011, 02:40:55 PM »

I have to admit that I have generally had pretty good experiences at Gamestop.  I do have an Edge card (or whatever they're calling it now) but I don't tend to take advantage of the "special" offers on pre-played games.  I shop at three different Gamestops - two in the South Shore Plaza in Braintree, MA and the one at Downtown Crossing in Boston, and they know my name at all three.  I'm not really their ideal customer because I rarely buy used games (which is what keeps them in business) and I never sell used games (I prefer to keep them indefinitely) but I do pre-order just about every a-list title and that helps the employees meet their goals so they like me.

I think the key to a great shopping experience is to make friends with the folks helping you.  The key to that is shopping in a place with low turnover and regular staff (so NOT Best Buy) and to understand what the sales people need to meet their goals.  At Gamestop I believe that the store tracks pre-orders, edge card sales, and PPGs (which are not a bad idea on used games or games with peripherals.)  So, yeah, strike up conversations with the guys (or gals) helping you about games - you'll discover that they're pretty cool people and they'll appreciate your business if you pre-order three or four games every time you drop in.  (YMMV - I spend about a quarter of my disposable income on games.)

If you have one of the bigger Gamestops near you (like the Downtown Crossing one) you can also sometimes go to special game demo events and meet game developers - which is ultra cool.  I'm hoping they'll have a pre-release event for Bioshock Infinite sometime next year.

P.S. - I love the fact that at the Downtown Crossing store the staff tend to have their 3DS consoles in streetpass mode behind the counter so I can collect diorama pieces every time I drop in.

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TalkBack / Re: Netflix Impressions

« on: July 16, 2011, 02:27:41 PM »

There are no 3D movies, and Netflix has no plans to do so anytime soon. Nintendo gave a message about 3D movies coming soon, but they were not clear whether they meant on Netflix or through Nintendo Video.

Aww.  :<

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TalkBack / Re: Netflix Impressions

« on: July 16, 2011, 12:29:12 AM »

Are there any stereoscopic 3-D movies available?  I'd pay for Netflix if I could watch Avatar, How to Train your Dragon and Coraline on my 3DS screen.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Xenoblade-New RPG from Monolith

« on: July 10, 2011, 09:36:57 AM »

I do hope that this is finally coming to North America, but as an alternative is there a way they can just release a region-free version in the UK?  Then I could just import it and play it here.  (I don't even know if region-free is an option when they're manufacturing the disks, I'm just asking.)  Sort of like importing Tingle's DS game.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Street Pass!

« on: April 18, 2011, 11:46:34 PM »

I'm finding that StreetPass is changing the way I game during my morning commute.  I don't want to pull out my 3DS and play it on the train lest I miss the opportunity to add a mii to my plaza.  Instead I'm playing Pokemon White (with wifi turned on of course) on my DSi and my 3DS is turned on in my pocket.  To date I have a plaza population of 10, have exchanged dogs with my wife, and got a single Ridge Racer ghost from some random stranger.

I can't wait until I have more games that use StreetPass to exchange information.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: The OFFICIAL Wii rumor thread *bring your own salt*

« on: June 18, 2010, 07:57:46 AM »

Re: the Wii 2 - I think Nintendo has no real reason to do anything in the home console market.  They should concentrate all their fire power on the 3DS and become a single-pillar company so to speak.  I mean, the 3DS is as powerful as a home console but is so much more flexible.

If Ninty DOES come out with a Wii 2 it will have to do something really radically different, since right now with Kinect and Move the other consoles are now already over powered Wii HDs, and looking at the Kinect launch line-up we can see where that path leads.  Me, I don't need four dance games a year, I just want 3D Metroid Prime and Zelda.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Wii Sales Thread

« on: May 15, 2010, 09:05:06 AM »

I hope it sells well enough to get a sequel. There is so much potential for this series and I'd like to see it continue on the Wii (or Wii2)

Never fear!  Monster Hunter is the Madden franchise of the rising sun.  Every year like clockwork they release a small incremental upgrade with new quests/monsterd/armor/weapons.  I DO, however, think that Capcom might start charging for use of their online servers.  (It's where they get most of their money in Japan... kind of like WoW.)

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: NWR Monster Hunter Club

« on: May 01, 2010, 05:09:13 PM »

I wasn't happy with my old character so I started up a new one yesterday.  Just got done with the one star quests offline and feel I'm ready to go online now.  Anybody still out there?

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TalkBack / Re: The Best of DSiWare's First Year

« on: April 06, 2010, 12:09:57 AM »

Ooh!  I like this feature.  Already downloaded Flight Control and the pinball game.  Thanks for the recommendations!

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo 3DS

« on: March 23, 2010, 08:14:42 AM »

Called it!  When 3M was demoing the lenticular films for portable displays last year at CES I knew Apple, Nintndo and Sony would have 3-D systems in the pipeline pretty soon.  I am so looking forward to playing with this.  Wonder if they'll have a demo at PAX East?

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Wii Sales Thread

« on: January 21, 2010, 10:50:38 AM »

And there goes Final Fantasy.  Gone from the top ten before cracking 2 mil.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: "Official" Metroid Prime Trilogy discussion thread ;)

« on: January 11, 2010, 08:37:53 AM »

Collectors, better get this edition.  It's also in a package that's not earth-friendly, so you know it's a must-have.

Wait.. isn't a metal packaging more earth friendly than a non-biodegradable plastic one?  I think it is!

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Nintendo Gaming / X-Mas gaming!

« on: December 25, 2009, 10:22:52 AM »

Hey all!  What X-mas games are you experiencing today?  I've just done a festive two hour session with Silent Hill (which is gorgeous and amazing)  I also got Darkside Chronicles, but I haven't opened it yet.

I just wish that Amazon had broken street on Crystal Bearers like Gamestop did.. my copy hasn't even shipped yet!

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Rabbids Go Home - New Rayman game w/o Rayman

« on: November 05, 2009, 09:37:54 AM »

I've played through the first full level and started the second one.  Barely started playing in other words.  It's great fun though, and has some action/puzzle elements as you have to find hidden stuff to cram in your cart.  I love the art style and the very odd tone of the game, and I love the Katamari like notion of collecting everything you can run over.  It remains to be seen if it has Katamri's addiction level, but so far it looks good to me.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Club Nintendo Thread

« on: October 14, 2009, 10:42:03 PM »

So what does that mean for those of us who are just getting a download code for the Punch-Out mini-game?  Are they sending use a postcard or something?  (I got the same e-mail BTW)

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: What are your most-played Wii games?

« on: October 08, 2009, 11:54:54 PM »

How did you manage to put 360 hours into the Internet Channel?  Don't you have a computer!?

I spent about six months last year with no computer.  (Broke the monitor on my hand-me-down laptop and it took me a while to get a replacement.)  And, no, hardly any pr0n.  It just doesn't feel the same on a Wii...

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: What are your most-played Wii games?

« on: October 08, 2009, 09:24:29 PM »

Awesome!  I love this.  Here's how hardcore my gaming on the Wii has been.

1)  Wii Fit                                                      409 Hrs. 28 Min.   470 Times
2)  Animal Crossing City Folk                             379 Hrs.   3 Min.   320 Times
3)  Internet Channel                                       360 Hrs.   8 Min.   367 Times
4)  The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess          78 Hrs. 30 Min.     31 Times
5)  Metroid Prime 3: Corruption                          50 Hrs.  25 Min.     16 Times
6)  Rune Factory: Frontier                                 39 Hrs.  11 Min.    11 Times
7)  Super Smash Bros. Brawl                              37 Hrs.  16 Min.    15 Times
  Rock Band 2                                               33 Hrs.   5 Min.      23 Times
9)  Mario Kart Wii                                              30 Hrs.   2 Min.      17 Times
10) Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World  27 Hrs.  22 Min.  10 Times

No real surprise with Wii Fit and Animal Crossing - though that's mostly my wife playing those.  The times played seem mighty low for some of the other games though.  I mean, really, I only urned on Smash Bros. 15 times?  Maybe in the first week I had it.. I suspect that there's some data that didn't get polled.

Still: Some interesting stats.

Does the 158 games listed at the top represent 158 games played on my Wii or 158 games that they sample data on?  Since I haven't sold back a single Wii game to date and have only rented maybe 10 or 20 that means I own a lot more Wii games than I thought!  (VC games included, but still...)

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Wii Sales Thread

« on: October 08, 2009, 08:46:32 PM »

Godfather and Scarface are both on Wii.

Good point.  I LOVED Godfather on the Wii - great use of motion controls.  I've always meant to go back and play more Scarface.. never really gave it a chance.  And I completely forgot Bully as well.

I'm still steamed that Godfather 2 didn't reach the Wii too.  And I'm resisting the temptation to make a bad joke about EA bringing it to us as a On-Rails Lightgun shooter.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Wii Sales Thread

« on: October 08, 2009, 06:49:14 PM »

Let's just say that there are some game types that the Wii doesn't have very well represented.  Certainly I can't think of any vast sandbox games like GTA, Prototype or Saint's Row.  (Well, okay, Spider Man 3 and Web of Shadows.. so one good sandbox game at least.)  And in the genre of 3rd person shooters the Wii lags as well.  Gears of War, Resident Evil 5, and umpteen GoW knockoffs vs... the Wii port of RE4.  And There's not really much for the Wii in the way of multi-player co-op along the lines of Halo or Left 4 Dead. 

I believe the Wii is fully capable of handling these genres if they're coded in a Wii-friendly manner.. they just haven't made it to the Wii yet for some reason.

Does that mean the the Wii "loses" to the HD consoles?  Don't be ridiculous.  In my mind it just means there's some BIG opportunities for third party developers who spend the resources to fill those gaps.  In the mean time if you want GoW play it on your 360.  I'll be over here playing Animal Crossing.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Epic Mickey - Wii Exclusive

« on: October 08, 2009, 06:38:26 PM »

People panic too easily.

Well we've been bitten so many times.  Do your really blame us?

21

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Dead Space Extraction

« on: October 08, 2009, 06:37:28 PM »

No bugs yet.  I'll mention it here if I see any.  So far it's been silky smooth shooty fun for me.  But it's early in the game yet.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Dead Space Extraction

« on: October 07, 2009, 10:57:39 PM »

Okay, I've only gone through the first two levels on the easiest setting but I can already say this:

PRODUCTION VALUES!  Wow!

This is, IMHO, the best looking game on the Wii to date!  Seeing the levels both before and after the disaster, seeing crowds of people, and absolutely the BEST voice acting and facial animation I've seen in any game for the Wii to date.. this game blows me away!  You know how you have to do levels in Fable II where you "bond" with the other characters through their "cleaver" dialog.. well it actually WORKS here.  I can't get over what a great job they've done creating characters, building a story and drawing you in.  I would have thought that in an on-rails shooter I'd miss the exploration and discovery of Dead Space on the HD consoles, but they give you a few sections where you can look around a little bit.. and there's a LOT of boxes and items to get.

Just as with Dead Space on the HD consoles I'm having ammo problems.  I need to work on using the right tool for the right job.. being forced to take out that last wave of necros with just the rivet gun is kind of painful.  There's some strategy here, some exploration and a whole lot of personality.

What strikes me most is how different in tone the game is to the first one.  You're not the only person left alive, you're part of a whole world that's falling apart around you.  There are all these other people surrounding you, and they feel like real poeple, not like automatons spouting pre-recorded dialog.

You fence-sitters out there - GO GET THIS GAME!  If you don't pony up for something spectacular like this then you don't deserve third party support!

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: 5th Cell unveils Scribblenauts

« on: September 30, 2009, 10:43:02 PM »

Oh, and re: switches

electricians, mechanics, engineers and machinists will all flip switches for you if you put them near one.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: 5th Cell unveils Scribblenauts

« on: September 30, 2009, 10:41:41 PM »

My favorite discoveries so far:

Shoggoth, Kraken, Longcat

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: 5th Cell unveils Scribblenauts

« on: September 22, 2009, 10:59:28 PM »

I thought I left a hint on 6-2 here?  Maybe it was on another forum. 

Think incubation.