TYP steps up to the plate as we cover Tiger Woods 12, Conduit 2, and much more... because we love you!
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rfn/26250
With Jon dodging oil spills and tornadoes in beautiful Gulf Shores, we continue the parade of guests with our old buddy, Michael "TYP" Cole. Greg is back too, and he follows a quick Bills draft report with impressions of Tiger Woods 12: The Masters and The TENTAI Show, part of Nintendo's student game exhibition in Japan. James shares a few thoughts on the Outland demo (count how many games we compare it to!) and some very cool DLC for Toy Soldiers. Jonny examines Conduit 2's identity crisis and also reports on Bangaio HD: Missile Fury, the follow-up to one of our favorite boutique DS games. Finally, TYP kicks in his take on some recent RFN favorites, including Radiant Historia and Mega Man X.
After the break, it's time for your Listener Mail! This week's letters include the future of Japanese RPGs, comfort games, GameCube recommendations (here are the NWR features we mentioned), a plea to the gaming press regarding Project Cafe, and our (other) favorite gaming podcasts. The emails have been awesome lately; please keep them coming! Also, don't forget that you have until Thursday, May 12 to place your vote in the current RetroActive poll.
After ...Jons/Johns fucked up explanation of Pokemon and some other games I just can't trust his/their rants or views anymore. I played Conduit 2 online and it tells you what team you're on and you over react on the voice acting. (I'm not even mad/defending C2 I think it's ****) You guys aren't stupid, Jonny you got a fucking Ph.D but some of the **** you miss or complain about baffles me. Our game tastes just aren't the same at all and I'm fine with that and I like to listen you talk about games I've never heard of. Now, however, I just don't think I can trust what you say about em. I know it seems I complain a lot but I actually really like the podcast mainly listen for Greg and James conversations.
I don't understand why anyone thought GE on wii is a good game. Its like "if you hate everything about FPS for the last 10 years you'll like this." Really I don't get how anyone other than nintendo fanboys bitterly clinging to their disdain for halo could enjoy that game.
I don't understand why anyone thought GE on wii is a good game. Its like "if you hate everything about FPS for the last 10 years you'll like this." Really I don't get how anyone other than nintendo fanboys bitterly clinging to their disdain for halo could enjoy that game.
Yeah, about 1999 was back when multiplayer FPSes were still good. When rocket launchers were still regular combat weapons instead of rare specialty tools that instakill anything. When jump pads were standard features in arenas. When health floated in bubbles spread across the map. Halo isn't the worst offender, Call of Duty turned everything into a clickfest where it's all about spotting enemies first.
The final boss in the new Goldeneye is truly horrible. No excuse for that crap in a modern game. However, it's the only boss like that in the whole game. Conduit 2 has several of them. And my complaint about Conduit 2's bosses is not that they are too hard (Adams is very easy, for instance) but that they take a really long time and aren't much fun.
I played Conduit 2 online multiplayer for a couple of hours and never saw a team designation on the screen. If it's there and I can't find it or don't notice it, that's still a problem. Or maybe they patched it in after I stopped playing? Regardless, it's not a huge problem but certainly added to the confusion and sloppiness of that experience.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trudging (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trudging) Its a word.
On the JRPG/development costs topic, there was one point I had intended to make but failed to bring up "on air": there is a very significant distinction to be made between the 3DS and NGP with regard to the technical leaps that are being taken by each platform.Very good point Greg, I think you're right, it's not really fair to lump the NGP and 3DS together when we're discussing this issue.
While the 3DS does go beyond the PSP's tech specs, the difference is not nearly of the magnitude that we typically associate with generational change. This is demonstrated by the fact that we're already seeing titles like Blazblue: Continuum Shift shipping for both 3DS and PSP at the same time that (stereoscopic 3D aside) are essentially the same game on the two platforms. In contrast, the NGP clearly goes way beyond the PSP, and its technical superiority compared to both its predecessor and its competitors will surely be a crucial part of its appeal when it launches.
If the PSP can enjoy a diversity of JRPGs that includes games with console-like polygonal graphics (e.g. Monster Hunter) as well as sprite-based remakes of Super Famicom games (Tactics Ogre, FFIV Complete), then I see no reason why the 3DS cannot do the same provided (of course) that it achieves a sufficiently large user base in Japan. The NGP may be another story, moving the goal posts as it does at a time when the original PSP seems to be reaching the peak of its popularity with both consumers and developers in Japan, but for this reason as well as all the ones that were brought up during the episode, I'm not very concerned about the future of JRPGs on 3DS.
2. As for Conduit 2?
It sounds like HVS lost their nerve and it sounds like it's going to make me avoid purchasing C2 ... depending on how much respect they make me lose, I may return C1. I loved that game, I played through it 5 times. I got my money's worth and I planned to enjoy it as part of a franchise. If HVS wants to ruin that franchise, I don't need to hold on to it.
2. As for Conduit 2?
It sounds like HVS lost their nerve and it sounds like it's going to make me avoid purchasing C2 ... depending on how much respect they make me lose, I may return C1. I loved that game, I played through it 5 times. I got my money's worth and I planned to enjoy it as part of a franchise. If HVS wants to ruin that franchise, I don't need to hold on to it.
Is this serious? If so, wow. Should I return my Simpsons DVDs because I dislike recent seasons? And just because U2 haven't made any decent music in years, does that retroactively prevent War and The Joshua Tree from being good albums? I realise I'm being somewhat antagonistic towards users in this thread but I would love to know what the reasoning behind your mentality is here.
I suppose finally I would add that since Johnny wasn't exactly a fan of the first game (let's face it, everyone on the podcast has shat on it at some point) and your tastes seem to differ from his, does it not sound like the second game might be worth checking out at least? I hope you can at least be persuaded to retrieve your copy of The Conduit from the bin.
Hello, friend. I welcome this discussion.
You make a good point and some decent analogies. Believe me when I say that if I return C1 this would be the first time I'd done such a thing.
As for my reasoning, I really got the sense that, especially given the ENDING of the first game, HVS was trying to build a franchise with The Conduit. Again, considering the cliff-hanger ending, it really makes C2 the second half of one whole work. (Or, the 2nd 3rd of an even larger work since apparently there is a cliff-hanger at the end of C2).
So, let's imagine that after the very enjoyable Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan made Christian Bale's character a wise-crackin', foul-mouthed, bad boy because critics found him too stoic in the original.
Wouldn't that sour the experience of the first film?
Remember, though I acknowledge I'm in the minority, I value plot among all else in games. Even if it's a game that "shouldn't" have a plot like, say, Bubble Bobble - I still wanna know why those dinosaurs are blowin' bubbles!
So though C1 might still be a great "game" regardless of what happens in any sequels, if the plot/characters are retro-actively gutted? Then... that ruins the experience.... for me.
I'm not basing my opinion on Jonny's critique of the gameplay. In fact, doesn't it sound like he enjoyed the gameplay? But, if the new Michael Ford sees a female ally for the first time and remarks "you're a stone cold fox!" then that is not the franchise I fell in love with.
I was weary when I saw the cover art months ago. I felt they had literally taken the human out of the character and turned the game into the typical HD dude-bro aesthetics. Plus, the female ally is covered in body armor..... except for her cleavage. Another classic dude-bro piece of ridiculousness that the first game was blissfully devoid of.
Excellent show as usual gentlemen. I just want to know what was that podcast that John mentioned that he listens to that is basically a "best of" of older gaming podcasts? I wanna check it out.
Well I have to say I am surprised I managed to get away with the U2 analogy so easily.
It is a bit strange that they would end the first game with a cliffhanger only to radically change the tone for the second one, and then have another cliffhanger for a potential third game...and, assuming a third gets made, what then? Keep the tone from the second game? Revert to the first game's serious tone?
Can't imagine there are many people like you out there who value their plot in videogames ...
... have you ever played the Sin and Punishment games? Either one of those ought to put anyone off videogame plots forever.
I like Plots in my Videogames. I like to have some sort of motivation to do what I'm doing. I'm playing through FF:IV right now and I'm enjoying the plot in that game. The pacing is fairly good and I can already identify some places where the developers went "you know we can have them grind this but, it be better for the story if we just did this instead." Pacing and Predictability are the big things for me. If I know how the rest of Game, Movie, Book turns out I'm not going to continue with it. Their are a lot of series that I really don't like the gameplay but I'm as happy as a clam to read the dialogue, lore, etc about. (Metal Gear series comes to mind on that one.)
Fighters I honestly could care less about the story. Original Zelda same way but, TP Yeah the story in that game was why I almost didn't complete it. Same with WW. It has everything to do with Pacing in the Zelda series. The last 2 Console ones were not Paced well. Sometimes you got to know when less is more.
Fighters I honestly could care less about the story. Original Zelda same way but, TP Yeah the story in that game was why I almost didn't complete it. Same with WW. It has everything to do with Pacing in the Zelda series. The last 2 Console ones were not Paced well. Sometimes you got to know when less is more.
Ok, but is it the story pacing that is tedious, or the gameplay pacing that made you unmotivated to complete it? For a game like Zelda (Twilight Princess, at least), I imagine they create concepts for dungeons/gameplay before story, and paint a thin layer of story on top of it, so i'd be inclined to blame gameplay before story in the example you give.
