TYP joins us for Epic Mickey and Epic Listener Mail.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rfn/24445
With Jonny entering the final stages of his Brundlefly-like transformation into "Dr. Metts" and the rest of the RFN crew simultaneously hitting a gaming dry spell, it was up to Radio Trivia Podcast Edition host Michael "TYP" Cole to step in and provide the podcast with some New Business this week.
Fortunately, TYP just happened to have visited Disneyland and played Epic Mickey recently, so he gives us the lowdown on what to expect from Warren Spector's Wii-exclusive love letter to Disney's storied past. There's yet more TYP epic-ness to come though, as Mike recounts being given the VIP experience at Disneyland Resort (i.e. cutting in line ahead of sobbing children) and closes the book on Kirby's Epic Yarn for us, only to compound Greg's misery at still being without Good-Feel's soft and cuddly platformer. James closes out the segment with an experiment in what happens when you let user reviews determine your XBLA purchases, which yields surprisingly non-rage-inducing results.
Our relatively sparse New Business gives way to a bumper-sized edition of Listener Mail as we collect up some of the best letters we've missed in recent weeks. At your request, we discuss: Club Nintendo rewards for third party titles, mysterious improvements in our gaming ability, our favourite remakes, Video Games Live, and the once again topical issue of Japan's console market woes following Keiji Inafune's departure from Capcom. As if that wasn't already enough, we (unsuccessfully) attempt to discover the deep-rooted reasons why some people are Nintendo fans for life, and others lose their childhood fondness for Mario, Link, or Samus all too soon.
Don't forget, the discussion thread for our latest RetroActive feature title, The World Ends with You, is now open - post your thoughts here so they can be included in a future episode!
I disagree that a more powerful Nintendo console would be able to provide all of the games I want.
Just looking at this console generation, the Halo games, Fable II, the Uncharteds, MGS4 and LittleBigPlanet are just a few of the great games that a more powerful Wii wouldn't have seen anyways. As a gamer that wants to play the best of what is out there, I don't think I will be happy with just one console so long as the first parties continue to secure high-quality platform exclusive experiences.
I disagree that a more powerful Nintendo console would be able to provide all of the games I want.
Just looking at this console generation, the Halo games, Fable II, the Uncharteds, MGS4 and LittleBigPlanet are just a few of the great games that a more powerful Wii wouldn't have seen anyways. As a gamer that wants to play the best of what is out there, I don't think I will be happy with just one console so long as the first parties continue to secure high-quality platform exclusive experiences.
I remember Greg talking about how poeple out grow Nintendo and that some would wish to be able to have their beloved Nintendo games and bigger franchises on a single console.
Jon nailed it with his psychoanalysis of gamers who grew up with Nintendo and now stick to other consoles.
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WHO WOULD BUY IT!? WHAT IDIOT WOULD BUY IT!? HAHA! HAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (...)
Gamebryo is among the assets now being sold, with a closing date of December 10 for bids. Now if you'll excuse me ...
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Tangent: What is this business about "The other guy fumbling on the first play?" A not-so-subtle jab there Mr. Leahy, it stings!
Tangent: What is this business about "The other guy fumbling on the first play?" A not-so-subtle jab there Mr. Leahy, it stings!
That was nothing to do with you Nathan - it was part of a running joke about the Redskins benching Donovan McNabb for Rex Grossman at the end of their game against the Lions a couple of weeks ago (James is a 'Skins fan), which quickly saw Rex yield the ball to Detroit to seal the win for them. I thought it was fairly clear we were really talking about sport when James said "yes, I bet against Rex Grossman", but alas it seems I overestimated Sexy Rexy's notoriety.
I gathered that it was a football reference, but thought I would feign offense anyways considering the context of the joke.
One of my best friends is a 'Skins fan, and I've gotten into a habit of referencing Rex Grossman as much as possible. "You look a little tired, Joe. Do we need to sub in Rex?" "Man, you keep on dying in Super Meat Boy. I guess it's time to bring in Grossman."
Just some input on the shape of console sales in Japan.
You mentioned Wii is at 11 and PS3 is at 5ish. Whereas last gen PS2 is 22 and GCN 4ish. So PS3 is a "better" 2nd place than cube was. However, Wii is way behind ps2 as a first place.
Don't forget that PS2 has been out on Japan for almost 11 years now (March 2000) while Wii has been out for about 4 (December 2006), if Nintendo keeps Wii around for as long as the PS2 then I have no doubt it can catch up and even surpass it.
Don't forget that PS2 has been out on Japan for almost 11 years now (March 2000) while Wii has been out for about 4 (December 2006), if Nintendo keeps Wii around for as long as the PS2 then I have no doubt it can catch up and even surpass it.
During this episode, I noted the fact that the PS2 had already reached up into the high teens of millions sold in Japan by the end of 2004, so Wii at 11 million is very significantly behind the PS2 at roughly the same point of its life cycle, and appears unlikely to catch up unless a hardware refresh radically alters the current sales trends. Contrast this with the global picture where Wii is still trending similarly to the PS2, and you see how much more vibrant the Western console markets are today than Japan (especially when you consider the truly massive East-West disparity in the 360's success as well).
In regards to third party Club Nintendo rewards, I can confirm that in Europe, both Resident Evil 4 and Zack & Wiki come with Star Points cards. Strange how it only seems to be Capcom games that earn this privilege.
They already are.
Don't forget that PS2 has been out on Japan for almost 11 years now (March 2000) while Wii has been out for about 4 (December 2006), if Nintendo keeps Wii around for as long as the PS2 then I have no doubt it can catch up and even surpass it.
During this episode, I noted the fact that the PS2 had already reached up into the high teens of millions sold in Japan by the end of 2004, so Wii at 11 million is very significantly behind the PS2 at roughly the same point of its life cycle, and appears unlikely to catch up unless a hardware refresh radically alters the current sales trends. Contrast this with the global picture where Wii is still trending similarly to the PS2, and you see how much more vibrant the Western console markets are today than Japan (especially when you consider the truly massive East-West disparity in the 360's success as well).
Maybe in overall totals, but not if you look at the best selling games. Four of the five best selling games in 2009 worldwide were from Nintendo (Wii Sports Resort, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Fit Plus, Wii Fit. The only non-Japanese game was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 from Activision Blizzard, which was the best selling game of 2009 (at least if you combine the SKUs from all three versions).
I don't know if any of you guys listen to Warning A Huge Podcast, it's a podcast by Nick Rox and other Gamefan alumni about Japanese gaming. It gets really depressing when they read the release lists for Japan: 5 week gaps between Wii title releases are not uncommon.Just some input on the shape of console sales in Japan.
You mentioned Wii is at 11 and PS3 is at 5ish. Whereas last gen PS2 is 22 and GCN 4ish. So PS3 is a "better" 2nd place than cube was. However, Wii is way behind ps2 as a first place.
Don't forget that PS2 has been out on Japan for almost 11 years now (March 2000) while Wii has been out for about 4 (December 2006), if Nintendo keeps Wii around for as long as the PS2 then I have no doubt it can catch up and even surpass it.
Here is a disturbing comment from the Sonic Colors review on Destructoid:The thing to keep in mind when reading the comments to a Jim Sterling article is that 90% of the posts there are made to troll him.
What, none of you played GoldenEye? Weaklings!
In short: you're better off not reading comments on the Internet.
Not only that, they changed it up so there was more of a focus on gunplay, in the style of RE4 Wii Edition, in addition to melee combat. That made for more interesting combat than the 360 version. They also streamlined the story so that it was less open-ended and more focused. The Wii's hardware limitations meant fewer zombies on screen and worse AI (though it's zombies, how much AI do you really need?), but I still had a lot more fun with it than I had with either HD Dead Rising.
What, none of you played GoldenEye? Weaklings!
You didn't get enough of that last week? At the very least, the hopefully-soon-to-be Dr Metts will have more details next week.
Also, where's my Pikmin 2 NPC? Dammit Nintendo of America!
They already are.
How so?
It's also very unlikely that Nintendo will repeat Sony's foolish mistake of pricing itself out of the market with the Wii's successor. Sony let the PS2 stick around because it was the only system that was making money for them at that point. Nintendo will more or less completely abandon the Wii once it's successor hits the shelves.
I gathered that it was a football reference, but thought I would feign offense anyways considering the context of the joke.
I just take any excuse to use the phrase Sexy Rexy, if only to remind myself and anyone else that he started the Super Bowl less than four years ago (yes, the Bears team apart from him was THAT good).
In Japan, the Famicom (NES) was manufactured up until 2003, which makes a total of 20 years on the market, although it was available only in specialty shops for half of that time.It's also very unlikely that Nintendo will repeat Sony's foolish mistake of pricing itself out of the market with the Wii's successor. Sony let the PS2 stick around because it was the only system that was making money for them at that point. Nintendo will more or less completely abandon the Wii once it's successor hits the shelves.
There's precedent to the contrary. The SNES was released in Japan in 1990, but NES games continued to see release until 1994. In fact, the last two games officially published for the system were both made by Nintendo.
