Messages

15776

TalkBack / Re: This Week's Virtual Console and WiiWare

« on: February 26, 2009, 08:06:48 PM »

That depends on what your review is trying to say. Is it trying to say whether the game will be one of the best games ever? Is it trying to say whether the game is groundbreaking? Is it trying to say whether you should buy the game? Is it trying to say whether the game is quality?

What's wrong with just saying if a game is fun and enjoyable? It is entertainment, right? Golden Phoenix enjoys Jungle Speed, I enjoy Onslaught, and others enjoy World of Goo. Should you have an ulterior motive for writing the review or should you just relay your experience? Can you even separate the two since everyone has a bias one way or another?

15777

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Dead Space Extraction

« on: February 26, 2009, 03:55:47 PM »

It needs to be longer than 10 hours worth of play for me to want it.

15778

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Hudson Announces Onslaught a 4 person coop FPS for Wiiware

« on: February 26, 2009, 03:44:42 PM »

I'm just not a heavy DM player so I don't notice things like level imbalance when I play them.

15779

TalkBack / Re: This Week's Virtual Console and WiiWare

« on: February 26, 2009, 03:41:46 PM »

And they also rate WiiWare games on a really low scale. It feels like most of them are dinged for just the fact they are on WiiWare. I don't use their reviews of WW to influence my buying decision.

15780

TalkBack / Re: Resident Evil 5 Skipped Wii Due to Developer Ambitions

« on: February 26, 2009, 03:23:11 PM »

I agree with Ian that price wouldn't have made that much of a difference in my opinion. One of the reasons that the Wii was cheaper was because Nintendo knew they were taking an awful risk. If they had assurance that the Wii would be where it is today, they would have given it better traditional tech to supplement the new tech. Never underestimate the force of popular culture. If something is 'in' like the Wii has been then nothing short of a $1000 price point would have deterred many people, especially if the system offered more that it does at the moment. iPods and iPhones are great examples of high cost product that sells extremely well. 'Course, hind sight is 20/20.

Though, we should actually take this article as a subtle hint that RE 5 is coming to Wii. They said RE 4 was Gamecube exclusive and the that went multiplatform; they said there would be the Capcom five and that didn't happen; Guess saying that RE 5 is not for Wii means that it will be coming shortly.

15781

Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive Discussion (Game #3: Eternal Darkness)

« on: February 26, 2009, 07:17:32 AM »

I actually thought he was going for the colors of the ancients in the game, but there was no green nor purple.
Oh, Mantorok, great guardian of the Ancients, will thou ever have a new Eternal Darkness game, since you alone remain, slowly dying? Or are there other Ancients we have yet to see?

15782

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Dead Space Extraction

« on: February 26, 2009, 07:00:44 AM »

If Sega announce a new Chu Chu Rocket game is coming out what is your first thought on what to expect?

When Capcom announce a Street Fighter game do you not expect a beat-up game?

If it was announced that Bioshock was coming out on Wii you'd expect it still to be an FPS if you weren't told otherwise.

Speaking of Bioshock on the Wii, have you heard the latest rumors? 

I don't think they did a bait and switch, ShyGuy, but their PR should probably be a bit more careful in the future. Based on the number of shocked and confused people over the on-rails matter, some connections were obviously made. I wonder what people would be saying if EA didn't say anything until they announced an on-rails Dead Space game as opposed to saying something that meant 'tacos' to people and then revealing what equaled a 'taco salad' to people.

Mmm...now I'm hungry for tacos. I'm not supposed to be hungry, its 4AM where I'm at and I'm pretty sure Taco Bell closes at 3AM. Darn you ShyGuy! I blame you for my hunger. Feed me a taco! With very hot sauce. Crunchy ones. Lots of them. With melty cheese. One of those double-decker ones...Sorry, I'll try to stop now.

15783

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Hudson Announces Onslaught a 4 person coop FPS for Wiiware

« on: February 26, 2009, 06:45:53 AM »

It's possible to play deathmatches on singleplayer maps that were designed non-linearly like in the early days of FPSes but dedicated DM maps are better.

If they design the maps with both in mind then it could kill two birds with one stone.

15784

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo will be aggressively targeting indy developers for wiiware and dsiware

« on: February 26, 2009, 06:44:21 AM »

Ian, a 90% rating for a game designed for a 40MB, 10$ release is almost impossible, they usually get rating penalties just for the limitations of their medium (unless they're pretty much flash games which you wouldn't want beccause they're flash games). Look at the ratings DS games get, the averages there are way lower than on other platforms despite the DS being the undisputable king of gaming these days. Ratings go up and down based on "production values" which often mean jack **** for the player. Besides, you'd probably be much happier if you were more lenient towards lower scores at lower prices, with WiiWare games it doesn't cost much more to buy them than it'd cost to rent a game for two days.

As for comparing demos to marketing, the data doesn't support that. Maybe it's because demos suffer by default because they have to deal with an inexperienced player who still needs to be introduced to the game's basic mechanics (though teaching stuff like "press right to go right" is plain insulting) and has no training so the difficulty must be low but in the same vein the player will extrapolate from the demo to the full game and if the demo is easy he'll think the full version is easy too.

Additionally you have to make cuts somewhere to make sure the demo is no substitute for the full version but many downloadable games are fairly simple and the cuts would have to be deep to make the demo to full version step significant. XBLA has many demos that cut out before you even understand what's going on. A Kingdom For Keflings ends somewhere in the tutorial, most of the arcade remakes have a time limit of 10-20 seconds playtime (no exaggeration!) and even the ones that include actual levels often spend at least half the total playtime on the tutorial.

I can't even think of a meaningful way to cut Onslaught to give the player an impression of what the game is like without including a huge chunk of the game (especially since the game only gets difficult after the first boss which is a third of the way into the singleplayer campaign) and even then online would have to be excluded.

WiiWare World gave a 9/10 to Onslaught and My Life as a King and a 10/10 for World of Goo, so that's three right there.

Also, they could make the Onslaught demo merely online multiplayer a la StarCraft. When StarCraft came out you could only play multiplayer on two basic maps solely as the Terrans and you could go as high on the tech tree as Vultures (your first vehicle unit). After typing that I remembered that Onslaught has just one multiplayer map. So much for that idea.

15785

TalkBack / Re: Resident Evil 5 Skipped Wii Due to Developer Ambitions

« on: February 26, 2009, 06:34:09 AM »

In the last paragraph of the newspost are you implying that Capcom is lying, due to the game starting development prior the Wii's official reveal?

TOTALLY misreading. &P

I think it goes to show that Capcom started planning for something on a grand scale, and by the time the Wii was revealed their project was on a course that couldn't be changed.

And yet they pull out a Dead Rising port. How is that any different?
I'm agreeing with those predicting an RE 5: Wii Edition. If anything Capcom will force the devs to make it due to the sales of the 4th on Wii.

Oh man, an RE5:Wii edition would be sorta amazing to hear about. Then afterwards, they could make a sequel to Umbrella Chronicles! ... or not. Please don't kill me.

At least UC was a fresher edition to the series then RE5! BURN

I'd love to see RE5 Wii Edition, but honestly I think I'd rather they go back to their roots a bit and make a RE game specifically for Wii that cuts out the co-op, uses the RE4 engine but uses the atmosphere of games pre-RE4. Even a game that is more like a sequel to RE4 would be fine too.

But co-op is what interests me the most...maybe it's my Left 4 Dead obsession speaking. I got to play it again with my friend in the internet cafe. I love how cooperative the co-op is. Maybe that's why I loved the big three GBA->GC link cable required games back in the day.

15786

TalkBack / Re: IMPRESSIONS: Wii de Asobu Metroid Prime

« on: February 26, 2009, 06:30:09 AM »

All this talk about Prime 3 makes me want to go back and finish it since I still have it on extended leave from a friend. I also have his Galaxy. He's my go to for awesome Wii first party games so I can spend my monnies on 3rd party endeavors. I'm his go to on awesome 3rd party games like Beyond Good and Evil.

15787

General Chat / Re: "Hey I'm new!" Official Introduce Yourself to the Internet Thread

« on: February 26, 2009, 06:25:17 AM »

Maybe I'll change my tune after borrowing the game from a friend and playing a few rounds online with you guys on the next NWR Wi-Fi Night, thus making me run out and get it for myself to continue said 'awesomity' 

15788

General Gaming / Re: Apparently theres a new bannable offense on Xbox Live...

« on: February 26, 2009, 06:21:04 AM »

I think that if push comes to shove, the government may be able to interfere there more that you or I would like. But to avoid any possible rabbit trails into the magical land of many blood sucking creatures (poli- the Greek word for 'many' + tics- 'blood sucking creatures') I will leave it at that and not pursue the subject further.

I agree with you GP on there being another half to the story though. Most of these things happen because someone was hurt and rules are typically created when somebody made an initial trespass. There's a reason the youth group Summer camp I was a counselor at bans throwing people off of the house boats into the lake: they threw a guy off several years ago.

15789

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Hudson Announces Onslaught a 4 person coop FPS for Wiiware

« on: February 26, 2009, 06:09:49 AM »

I don't think both deathmatch and coop can fit into one WiiWare game, they require completely different level designs and you have only limited space for levels.

I disagree. Use the same maps except with ammo and health drops. Goldeneye and others did it.
Don't underestimate what can be done with a few line of code. Someone created Quake with only 40 lines of code once. It may not be the prettiest, but it can be done. There were multiplayer FPS' on the GBA.

15790

TalkBack / Re: Punch Out!! Rated Everyone 10+

« on: February 26, 2009, 06:05:34 AM »

you have never owned a computer, MP3 player, cellphone or any piece of hardware.

Of those three things, I own just one: a computer (obviously). It will become ten years old in August of this year, and not once have I purchased any single piece of additional hardware for it. Ever. I got it right the first time. Besides, upgrades weren't a trend with previous Nintendo consoles and they turned out just fine, so why should I embrace them now?

What I am getting at is that technology is prone to upgrades, some more substantial than others. MP aims to upgrade the Wiimote so it has better performance and control is further enhanced.

Not all upgrades are forced though. For example, older iPods can still play all of the same music as the newer models. By the looks of things, Wii Motion Plus games can't be played with a regular Wiimote.

(Emphasis added)

The N64, Gamecube, Gameboys and DS all have peripherals or upgrades you can acquire for games. The N64 had the Expansion Pak, Rumble Pak and Transfer Pak. The Expansion Pak was required for some games or for critical features in them.

If you bring Japan into the picture, Nintendo has had online and add-ons since the NES era.

15791

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Hudson Announces Onslaught a 4 person coop FPS for Wiiware

« on: February 26, 2009, 05:54:57 AM »

I voted for PvP because that was the only thing I felt was missing from Onslaught. I would love to get a sequel with PvP and co-op online though. I won't be online at all tonight because I just drove from the Seattle area to Portland tonight. I don't feel like setting up my Wii 'till tomorrow.

15792

General Chat / Re: "Hey I'm new!" Official Introduce Yourself to the Internet Thread

« on: February 26, 2009, 01:05:49 AM »

I only own Brawl, Fire Emblem and Wario Land.

Okay, so Brawl and Fire Emblem were released before MKWii, but Wario Land? Mario Kart comes first. Always.

It was $10 off on Amazon. Plus MKWii doesn't need me running out to help boost sales. Some other games need a sales boost now and may not be in stores later unlike MKWii or AC:CF which are assured a long shelf life.

I'm kind of a game sales crusader. Thats why I have fourteen 3rd party games and only three 1st party ones.

15793

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Get DSi, or wait for DS2?

« on: February 26, 2009, 01:00:21 AM »

One plus I just thought of could be a higher Wi-Fi security setting. As of now you have to set your router pretty low to get the DS on board. The Wii has a higher security limit. This could make it so that I can raise my encryption level even to a more comfortable level.

Even still, I think that I'll need multiple 'must-buys' to convince me to upgrade. Strong DSiWare support is a must.

15794

TalkBack / Re: Resident Evil 5 Skipped Wii Due to Developer Ambitions

« on: February 26, 2009, 12:52:02 AM »

Well, Rize beat me to responding to Ian. There is absolutely no reason why developers can't develop full-featured games. Nintendo has done a handful that have been successful, but publishers seem too distracted by trying to reproduce the lower-budget success to consider pursuing a more traditional, larger budget title on Wii like Brawl or Metroid Prime 3.

TYP Monster Hunter 3 and DQX seem to be changing that trend. I do expect it to start shifting now unless Madworld/DC/Conduit end up bombing. Those titles will be key to weather or not developers are willing to take the risk developing full featured titles more often, or hide behind more simple games (though I want to clarify I don't think simple games are bad if done well).

Don't forget FFCC: Crystal Bearers. That's been given a long development cycle.
Plus No More Heroes 2 seems to be getting a lot of special treatment considering it will have a two year dev cycle.

In the last paragraph of the newspost are you implying that Capcom is lying, due to the game starting development prior the Wii's official reveal?

TOTALLY misreading. &P

I think it goes to show that Capcom started planning for something on a grand scale, and by the time the Wii was revealed their project was on a course that couldn't be changed.

And yet they pull out a Dead Rising port. How is that any different?
I'm agreeing with those predicting an RE 5: Wii Edition. If anything Capcom will force the devs to make it due to the sales of the 4th on Wii.

Oh man, an RE5:Wii edition would be sorta amazing to hear about. Then afterwards, they could make a sequel to Umbrella Chronicles! ... or not. Please don't kill me.

I won't kill you. I'll just make you wish I'd kill you... WUAHAHA 

15795

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo will be aggressively targeting indy developers for wiiware and dsiware

« on: February 26, 2009, 12:46:41 AM »

Ian if you had a PS3 or 360 you will see how bad most of the demos are after playing though a bunch of them. The worst demo in recent memory was Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts, if you want to know why ask Mr. Jack or whoever bought the game and played the demo.

Is that true that the Banjo Kazooie demo sucked? Wow. That's sad... though it does shed some light on why the game was an absolutely horrible failure in the marketplace.

I would imagine the Nuts and Bolts difference might have been similar to people's issues with Mario Sunshine's FLUDD system. People just don't like it and hate to see really different changes in certain games. That probably had something to do with the games struggles commercially.

Plus how many of Rare's old IP's have worked well on XBox? Of Conker, Banjo and Perfect Dark, how many have worked well? I think a lot of their old, quality IP's need to be treated like new IP's because most XBox owners may not be familiar with them. They may also just not appeal to typical 360 gamers.

15796

TalkBack / Re: Punch Out!! Rated Everyone 10+

« on: February 26, 2009, 12:40:06 AM »

I think that having the MP would be nice. I've done martial arts before and I know that hand position can make a big difference in your strikes. I would imagine that MP could help with this.

15797

General Gaming / Re: Apparently theres a new bannable offense on Xbox Live...

« on: February 26, 2009, 12:35:37 AM »

I would like to note we have no idea what all the background is to this, and that there may be more to the story. Do I really care about this? Not really MS has the right to do whatever they want with this service.

Yet eHarmony is sued and forced in a court of law to provide services for *** people. Shows that even online services have to follow rules. I'm sure one of these days MS and others will feel the pressure too.

15798

General Chat / Re: Oscars wut

« on: February 26, 2009, 12:15:24 AM »

HAHAHHAHAHAHHA

I can see it now: Arnold impaling someone with a flag pole; "Get out of my country!"

Seriously though, Canadian movies may suck but some of their TV shows are absolutely hilarious.

On another note, what's everyone's primarily thought on "UP"? It looks good, but can it top Wall-E?

Every Pixar Film's initial teaser trailer fails to impress me. Ratatouille was the most extreme. I thought the film would flop. After I saw it and how amazing it was I now have a high level of faith in Pixar movies. Their teaser trailers never impress me but they have not once had a miss in my book since the first Toy Story. Wall-E, Incredibles and Ratatouille are my three favorites by them though. Don't ask me to rank them.

@Ian
What type of films are you interested in making? Action flicks? Romantic comedy? Sci-Fi? Drama? Or perhaps an epic TV series a la Heroes, Lost or 24?

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TalkBack / Re: Resident Evil 5 Skipped Wii Due to Developer Ambitions

« on: February 26, 2009, 12:04:06 AM »

In the last paragraph of the newspost are you implying that Capcom is lying, due to the game starting development prior the Wii's official reveal?

TOTALLY misreading. &P

I think it goes to show that Capcom started planning for something on a grand scale, and by the time the Wii was revealed their project was on a course that couldn't be changed.

And yet they pull out a Dead Rising port. How is that any different?
I'm agreeing with those predicting an RE 5: Wii Edition. If anything Capcom will force the devs to make it due to the sales of the 4th on Wii.

15800

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo will be aggressively targeting indy developers for wiiware and dsiware

« on: February 25, 2009, 11:59:59 PM »

I can't think of any game where the demo turned me off of a good game.  I've played demos where I thought "this sucks" and then the released game gets crapped on in reviews but I have never missed out on a great game because I didn't like the demo.  But I have bought some games on the strength of a good demo and it turned out the gameplay wasn't so enjoyable when stretched out to a full game.  So that's a plus for the developers.

There is NO WAY to try out any Wii Ware games.  I can't rent the game.  I can't play it at a kiosk in a store.  I have to buy the game entirely based on reviews and that's a risk and unlike other games I can't get some return on investment from trading in a game I didn't like.  And that is going to make me more picky.  If a game doesn't get in the 90% range and I have to buy it or I can't try it at all then I'm not going to take the risk.

A demo is no different than a marketing campaign.  A ****ty ad can hurt a game's sales just like a ****ty demo can.  But no one is suggesting not advertising a game because of that.  If your demo sucks then maybe your game sucks and deserves to not sell.  Or you're a ****ing moron for making a ****ty demo and, again, deserve your weak sales.  You should have enough faith in your product that a demo will encourage me to buy it.

Saying that demos hurt game sales sounds like the sort of stupid bull**** Nintendo themselves spout out because they don't want to release demos and have to make up some justification other than "Sony did it first and we don't want to admit they had a good idea."  Have you ever heard anyone that actually releases demos through normal channels on a regular basis complain that they hurt sales?  You think after all these years demos would still EXIST if that was the case?

Ian if you had a PS3 or 360 you will see how bad most of the demos are after playing though a bunch of them. The worst demo in recent memory was Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts, if you want to know why ask Mr. Jack or whoever bought the game and played the demo.

Also Dennis Dyack of Silicone Knights fame implored people to try the Too Human demo and claimed that would sell people on it. Many of us know how that game turned out. I don't think 580k units (according to VG Chartz) makes up for that long of a development cycle.