It's a five-man show as Karl shows up to the defend the honor of Killer 7. But is that even necessary?
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rfn/27619
It's a full house this week as former co-host Karl Castaneda returns to RFN to discuss one of his favorite games, Killer 7. But first, Karl gives us the word on Ms. Splosion Man and Suda51's latest release, Shadows of the Damned. Greg has impressions of the frothily anticipated Rhythm Heaven for Wii, plus a quick look at Gargoyle's Quest for 3DS Virtual Console. (We'll have much more on that one next week.) James provides an update on Enslaved while waiting on shipment of even more interesting titles. Since Jon and Jonny didn't play much new this week, we shore up New Business with a single bit of Listener Mail pertaining to some wacky new 3DS rumors.
After the break, we finally make good on RetroActive #19 with a very thorough analysis of Killer 7, the truly bizarre adventure/shooter GameCube release from Capcom and Suda51's Grasshopper Manufacture studio. It's an honest and well-rounded discussion of the game's triumphs and shortcomings, and true to the predictions of many pollsters, the game proves to be fertile ground for conversation. Karl showed up with shield in hand but soon finds that the rest of us may not be so antagonistic towards his beloved game. We also read a few comments from the RetroActive forum thread, which remains open if you're still playing the game, or were inspired to do so by this episode. Thanks as always to everyone who voted and played along! We'll have info on the next RetroActive coming soon.
Jonny will be out next week, but RFN will roll on with a solid block of Listener Mail. Get yours in now and it could be answered on the show!
I'm pretty sure that Gargoyle's Quest came out in Europe. I've got the cart from a flea market (with German text and an NoE serial number on it) and the game is prominently featured in the European game guides.
See, I was pretty sure multi-touch was the main reason. To which I really have to ask... what's the big flappin' deal?
I mean, let's throw out the idea that you'd set the controller down and use two hands to manipulate the screen like some crystal gazer (http://s3.hubimg.com/u/4835738_f260.jpg)... that's just silly.
So then you're holding the controller with one hand. Why do you need multitouch with the other? Just to do that zoom in/out pinch thing? What would be the application? You can already zoom in/out of maps, etc by tapping/double tapping/dragging, etc on a DS screen.
Lastly, when people try to impress me with their latest iGadget the gestures tend to miss about about 30% of the time. That's the downside of the wiimote. But it has upsides to counter it. Doesn't seem like there is an upside to capacitive that would merit some of the scoffing I've heard about the Wii U screen.
Your arguments against multi-touch are pretty much the same ones I'd make against having touch control at all, because I'm just set in my ways and don't mind pausing a game to access information on my one screen or controlling a game with sticks and buttons. But hey, people have gotten used to accessing info on the fly and controlling games with touch functionality, so that's just something I have to deal with.
The same goes for multi-touch. It might not be a feature you see a big deal in, but it's one that other touch devices have or will have, and it's more functionality that developers have to work with in developing games. Having it can really only be a good thing in the long run, and not having it seems rather short-sighted.
See, I was pretty sure multi-touch was the main reason. To which I really have to ask... what's the big flappin' deal?
I mean, let's throw out the idea that you'd set the controller down and use two hands to manipulate the screen like some crystal gazer (http://s3.hubimg.com/u/4835738_f260.jpg)... that's just silly.
So then you're holding the controller with one hand. Why do you need multitouch with the other? Just to do that zoom in/out pinch thing? What would be the application? You can already zoom in/out of maps, etc by tapping/double tapping/dragging, etc on a DS screen.
Lastly, when people try to impress me with their latest iGadget the gestures tend to miss about about 30% of the time. That's the downside of the wiimote. But it has upsides to counter it. Doesn't seem like there is an upside to capacitive that would merit some of the scoffing I've heard about the Wii U screen.
Not a fan of Capacitive for the simple reason it doesn't always register my finger.That may have more to do with the device/OS you're using than capacitive screens in general.
I don't think it is. Why?Not a fan of Capacitive for the simple reason it doesn't always register my finger.That may have more to do with the device/OS you're using than capacitive screens in general.
For example, using iOS on my iPad is like touching water. Everything is really smooth and responsive. On an HTC EVO 4G? Not so much. Both use a capacitive screen.
EDIT: Though it would be kind of ridiculous to expect Nintendo to create a decent OS.
Anything that uses the touchscreen as a control panel really.
Resistive means you'll have to ... press the screen with quite some force to do anything
Obviously DS, Wii or 360 games aren't designed for multi-touch.
...Future proofing is the only thing I can really think of--but, in this case, the cheaper option is suitable.
Other than tech for tech's sake.
I can't speak to Phone 7 since I don't have much experience with it, but I will say that I think webOS is the only mobile OS that I've tried that matches the fluidity of iOS. My experience with it has been fantastic.webOS is slick. If you have a chance try a Phone 7 phone, I try it. The Metro UI gets you in and out fairly quickly and the Keyboard is very well calibrated. Live tiles can be handy and they'll get better next update (which should be soon unless you want to turn your phone into a developer one then it would be now.)
As for why it would be ridiculous for Nintendo to create a decent OS, I'd simply point you to the OS releases they've had so far. Wii, DS, DSi and 3DS are all based on labyrinthine menu systems thin on shortcuts and thick on being hugely frustrating. The mark of a good OS, beyond just not crashing all the time, is feeling intuitive. I haven't seen anything from Nintendo that suggests they can release an OS like that.
For the record, Microsoft and Sony's video game-related OSs aren't much better. Though I do like the unabashedly simplistic qualities of the cross-media bar.
8. whoa whoa whoa, early res evil games are horrible?! c'mon... RE1 has awful dialogue and the camera is always fixed but seriously... RE2 was a friggin' AMAZING game, folks!
Let's not let modern gaming make us jaded to the point of lost perspective!!
I’ll admit it, I don’t understand why Resident Evil games are so popular. Angel Studio’s port of the two-year-old Resident Evil 2 from Playstation is more or less technically sound, but it seems to me that they’ve wasted an awful lot of effort on this game. The entire experience is a “mixed bag” at best. The graphics begin this trend with a less than stellar FMV introduction. I was quite excited at the prospect of seeing prerendered video on my N64, but then reality brought me back down to Earth. The video quality sucks, quite frankly. This is far beyond “grainy;” unacceptably blurry is more like it. I would have gladly taken a replacement, real-time, non-FMV intro sequence over this utter junk. On the bright side, the polygonal graphics look pretty sharp, though they’re not a huge leap over the already good PSX graphics. The 3D models look just fine with one ridiculous (and hilarious) exception: after he gets bandaged up for a bullet wound, Leon’s butt suddenly grows to about twice its original size. Truly weird. The audio quality also varies greatly. RE2’s music is nothing short of excellent, and truly creates a level of atmosphere that the gameplay only wishes it could match. Unfortunately, the voices deal a double-whammy: the notoriously horrible voice-acting has been even further marred by some kind of god-awful compression technique. The result is a poorly delivered, barely comprehensible pile of rubbish that should have been left out in the first place. Even text dialogue is better than this crap. Play control, with the original (3rd person) style, works fine, though I highly recommend the control pad over the joystick. The new “1st person” control format is an admirable attempt, but it’s ultimately too loose and glitchy to be of much use. That brings us to gameplay, which is tough for me to even describe. Resident Evil games don’t really play like anything else on N64, so there’s not much to compare it to. Most of the game involves solving abstract and often trite puzzles that generally boil down to “find this item and take it here.” Yes, this gets old very quickly. Luckily, zombies and other monsters are in your way, so you get so break up the monotony with some good old-fashioned blasting. Shooting would be pretty fun if you weren’t constantly worrying about ammo, and this brings out my main complaint with RE2’s gameplay: scarcity. Personally, I don’t enjoy dying from three zombie bites because I just ran out of bullets. This situation wouldn’t be bad it if only happened once or twice, but it won’t be long before lack of ammo, life, or ink ribbons becomes frustrating and downright annoying. All of this is worsened by the fact that you have a very limited number of saves, so sometimes dying means you have to trek through 15 minutes or more of things you just did. Limiting saves is a cheap way to heighten the sense of anxiety, and it’s one that really hurts RE2 in the gameplay department. Add to all of this a tremendous level of difficulty, especially when fighting the “bosses,” and this game becomes almost a chore to play sometimes. If you can actually stand RE2 long enough to beat it with both characters, Capcom and Angel have packed in an impressive number of features to extend replay value. That doesn’t much affect my overall sentiment towards the game though. I simply can’t enjoy Resident Evil 2, especially on N64. What used to be an average but somewhat enjoyable PSX game is now a mediocre, outdated, and disappointing Nintendo 64 game. I highly recommend a rental before you decide to buy it.
For sure. Eating tremendous crow is basically a tradition at this point.That being said. Where is the Test kitchen recipe?
