Messages

3326

General Gaming / RE: PS3 Estimated at $400

« on: July 14, 2005, 06:25:56 AM »

Yeah, the only thing that's really early about this generation is Microsoft.  I think it was expecting Sony to launch the PS3 at the end of this year, so it wanted to catch up.  Then when it turned out Sony was content to wait an extra year to launch PS3, I guess MS thought it would take advantage of a possible head-start rather than waiting.

Of course, I agree that this generation could have gone on longer than previous ones, there really isn't as much room for technical improvement as there used to be.  I wish all three companies would give us an extra year or two on the current gen.

If Sony does come out at $400, will people buy it?  Of course some will, but it may wind up depending on features.  Price didn't make a difference this generation, but that may have been because PS2 and Xbox were seen as offering free DVD players (okay, Xbox didn't offer the DVD playback for free, but it was pretty cheap).  If Sony can convince people they need Blu-Ray, then it could get away with that pricing...assuming that pricing is correct in the first place.  Again, see PSP...everyone was predicting $300-$400 for that sucker.

3327

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Paring down the Revolution controller

« on: July 14, 2005, 06:07:32 AM »

While I understand Ian's complaints that Nintendo coiuld abandon us by making the controller too simple, I still ike where Nintendo is going with this.  I've seen non-gamers get way more excited about playing my NES than GameCube simply because there are only two buttons to deal with.

I also don't think we should worry too much since the controller is supposed to be able to play GameCube and N64 games.  If it can play those, then there's no reason to think it can't play equally complex Revolution games.  The question is how the heck is will it do that while removing buttons and sticks?  I have to agree with Ian that some kind of customizable touch-screen or similar controller is even more intimidating than one with a bunch of buttons on it...assuming the touch screen just displays the buttons that they didn't put right on the controller.  But I bet Nintendo has already seen that anyway.  I don't think it will just be a touch screen with controls all over it....especially since Nintendo has stated that it won't be a touch-screen at all.

3328

TalkBack / RE:Electronic Arts Buys John Madden

« on: July 14, 2005, 05:40:34 AM »

Yeah, this is all about name recognition.  I find Madden a lot easier to remember than anything else, and I don't even care about sports games.  Names that are just a bunch of numbers and acronyms are awful.

3329

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Paring down the Revolution controller

« on: July 13, 2005, 05:48:00 AM »

Iwata's comments really confused me.  Reading comments from Nintendo, it's like East and West are having a debate.

Reggie: Hey guys, this system will have all the controls you need to play old games!
Iwata: Hey guys, this system will have fewer controls than our previous ones!

I don't think we've figured it out yet.  I don't see how replacing an analog stick with a trackball makes anything simpler - in fact it makes things more complicated, one more type of control for users to figure out.  Reconfigurable controls aren't really simpler either, and if they hide certain parts of the controller, then they wreck backwards compatability too.  That's not to insult anyone's ideas, they're good ideas but I just don't think they meet Nintendo's criteria.

Personally, I can't imagine how anyone could meet Nintendo's criteria, if Reggie and Iwata are both telling the truth.  How do you make controllers simpler without taking away functionality needed for older games?  Maybe Gyroscopic controls could do that with some really clever software design, but I'm skeptical.   I'm looking forward to seeing the controllers!

3330

TalkBack / RE:DS Support from Rare Confirmed!

« on: July 08, 2005, 10:18:23 AM »

I believe an FPS could work out extremely well on the DS, and I really don't see how Perfect Dark on Nintendo DS "competes" with Perfect Dark on Xbox 360 in any way whatsoever.   Two totally different systems.

While Rare has botched up it's Xbox projects, I really enjoyed Sabre Wulf and It's Mr. Pants on Gameboy, so I'm happy to hear this.

3331

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Mario Sports?

« on: July 06, 2005, 01:37:58 PM »

I agree on overdoing Mario spin-offs.

One idea I have is for Nintendo to expand the Wave Race / 1080 series into an entire sports series.  It would give the games a little bit of instant recognition, and like Ian was suggesting, it could offset Nintendo's poor reputation in the sports arena.

But if Nintendo is going to make more Mario sports anyway, I just want to see Hockey!  It's just about the only sport I care about.

3332

General Gaming / RE: Cleaning Cartridge Connectors

« on: July 06, 2005, 01:09:27 PM »

I've used a 50/50 solution of rubbing alcohol and water to clean dozens of old NES games, and it works pretty well.  Only really badly damaged games don't respond.  Use a Q-tip or something similar and make sure you rub all of the connectors well.  You can sometimes see the dirt on them; that makes it a little easier to figure out just what to clean.

P.S.  I also picked up an NES cleaning kit and it was worth it.  The cleaning tool is stronger than a Q-tip and cleans more connectors at once, and it includes a cartridge that will clean the connectors in the system itself.  You may still have to make your own cleaning solution, though, since there aren't many new cleaning kits out there.

3333

General Gaming / RE: Next gen CPUs suck.

« on: July 06, 2005, 01:05:26 PM »

I'm glad to see someone cutting through the Microsoft/Sony bull about performance of their systems, but ultimately benchmarks and whatnot don't mean much to me.  I'm more interested in the final product, how does it play?  What does it look like?  I do think that the graphics on 360 and PS3 will live up to a lot of people's expectations, but I admit it's beginning to sound a little iffy.

3334

TalkBack / RE:Alien Hominid Invades GBA

« on: July 06, 2005, 12:26:07 PM »

While this is good news, the game actually meant more to me on consoles.  On the GBA, it has tons of similar competition.  If it's different from the console versions I'll give it a look, though.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: Revolutionary Controller

« on: July 05, 2005, 02:06:52 PM »

I agree with Edisim on lego controllers and configurable controllers in general: the concept is too complicated.  Especially if you're looking at Nintendo's supposed "nongamer" segment...a whole heck of a lot of nongamers don't know how to use their VCR remotes, and don't want to learn either.  Asking these people (or casual gamers or even a lot of hardcore gamers) to build their own controller is like asking people to assemble their own furniture: some people would think it's fun, but even more people would be willing to pay extra to have it done for them.

What could work is a controller that transforms automatically based on a signal from the game, so no extra work is required from the user, but even that would probably confuse most people.  I think the idea of configurable controllers is nifty, but not really what Nintendo is aiming for.

Edit / P.S.: All those moving parts would make the controllers pretty delicate and expensive, too, I imagine.  

3336

Nintendo Gaming / RE: What RPG should i buy...

« on: June 30, 2005, 10:23:29 AM »

Tales has a cool real-time battle system that plays a little like Super Smash Bros.  You give your teammates basic orders and they carry them out automatically, while you control one character directly yourself.   I actually find it a little overwhelming but it's way faster and (for some people) more fun than traditional RPG battles once you get the hang of it.

Skies...I never got that far into it, apparently you get to start up a pirate crew later on which sounds cool, but I didn't get to try it.  You do get to fly airships everywhere, and there are actual battles between the airships at times.  The airship battles are fun and different, but I thought they were a little predictable early on in the game.  Aside from the whole airship/pirate aspect, it's a very traditional, but good RPG.  I actually found the story more engaging than Tales, but I haven't played either game more than 1/4 of the way through.

There's also Lost Kingdoms I and II, which aren't the best RPGs on the system, but the series does have fans.  I haven't played it, you're still better off with the other two I'd say.  Just felt like being a completist.

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General Gaming / RE: Zelda OOT on Halo:CE

« on: June 30, 2005, 10:06:26 AM »

The castle level is the Forest Temple from Ocarina of Time, you might remember it from the four coloured torches in the main chamber?

That's a really nice piece of work!

3338

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Revolution to launch in March?

« on: June 30, 2005, 09:50:26 AM »

I believe having new games is a sort of advertisement for a system.  Keeping the existing fanbase happy is a nice side-effect, but the worst effect a drought can have is not just boring the existing customers, but also turning away potential new ones.  If I'm Joe Casualgamer and I walk into Wal Mart and see a Revolution shelf that is half as full as Xbox 360 and PS3, what system am I going to choose?  I can't "see" most of the backwards compatible games and, even if I could, those are all "old" games that are of less interest to me than new games anyway.

I do think the multi-gen backwards compatability is cool, and I think it could even be a very big selling point for Revolution, but I don't think Nintendo should count on it for content.

Ummm, anyhow, I do hope Nintendo is planning for an earlier-than-Christmas release, and I do hope it plans on filling in third parties soon so there can be a good launch lineup.

3339

TalkBack / RE:O~3 Gets New President

« on: June 30, 2005, 08:55:51 AM »

I like the concept behind O~3, but I'm a little surprised the top employees are shuffling around so soon over there.  I hope things work out for them.

3340

General Gaming / RE: PS3 Estimated at $400

« on: June 29, 2005, 06:40:55 AM »

I definitely think Sony could hurt itself with pricing, but it's wise to remember, like Spak-Spang said, that the PSP launched much cheaper than analysts were predicting.  I've also come to realize that Sony can make a lot of mistakes without getting "knocked out".  I was expecting Sony to take it on the chin this generation after it lost exclusivity for Resident Evil, Crash Bandicoot, Oddworld, Tomb Raider, Ridge Racer, and a bunch of other games...yet it still easily beat Nintendo and Microsoft.

$400 is a lot, but Sony has the better part of a year to make that decision, and Microsoft will be testing the waters for it.  If Xbox 360 isn't doing that well, or if Microsoft cuts its price before PS3 launches, Sony has time to be flexible with its pricing.  Sony also still has the chance to offer one of the first High Definition disc players on the market, which may be worth even more than $400 to hardcore film geeks.

The worst news for Sony is that it may lose tons of cash on the systems even at $400.  That would suck for everyone because I think Sony and Microsoft's willingness to kamikaze their hardware into people's homes hurts both them and Nintendo

3341

General Gaming / RE: "Conker: Live and Uncut" loses the "Uncut" part...

« on: June 29, 2005, 06:29:04 AM »

If I was an unsuspecting parent that bought Conker for my kids, I'd probably find something wrong with it way before they managed to finish the game and uncensor any swearing.

3342

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Revolution to launch in March?

« on: June 29, 2005, 06:24:14 AM »

I hear you, Spak-Spang, but I still think it would turn out better than Nintendo's Christmas launches which always seem to end in 3-6 months of one or two releases per month after the new year.  Christmas and system launches seem to be the two times for third parties to release new games, so why not try to take advantage of both in the first few months of a system's lifespan?  I admit, an even earlier launch might be better since it would give devs a larger window between launch and Christmas, but I think at some point Nintendo would run into the same problem as before, only the drought would come in May-September (for example) instead of January-May.

3343

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Revolution to launch in March?

« on: June 28, 2005, 07:52:49 AM »

I think Nintendo could be ready for a March launch, but I admit it seems like a long shot, and third party support would probably be dismal.  It should be possible to quickly port a few unimaginative games to the new system in a matter of months, but there probably wouldn't be any really good titles from third parties until close to Christmas.

I'm personally in favour of a mid to late summer (maybe August) launch.  At that point you're heading straight into the ramp-up period for Christmas, so there would be a sustained period of heavy releases...there'd be a big launch lineup, then a moderate slow-down for a month or so, but the releases would only come out faster and faster as you headed towards Christmas, and there'd probably be a decent selection by the time new year and the traditional drought comes around.

3344

TalkBack / RE:Nintendo DS Sells One Million in Europe

« on: June 28, 2005, 07:10:41 AM »

Many thanks to Lasse Pallesen for coming up with that great line, "one million less than two million, but one million more than PSP", it gave me a chuckle.  I'm really glad to see the DS doing so well!  

3345

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Official GCN Sales Thread

« on: June 24, 2005, 06:43:15 AM »

I bet if Star Wars Episode III were released on the Cube, it would have been in the top 10 (though not as high as the PS2 and Xbox versions).  DK Jungle Beat isn't doing so well, but it's not Nintendo's biggest franchise, nor is it something that Nintendo advertised much - at least not that I noticed.  Seems to me like Nintendo's marketing department could push some of its niche titles a little more.  It might just be that I haven't been watching as much TV or something, but it seems like Animal Crossing and Pikmin got a lot of marketing compared to some recent games like DKJB, and they sold accordingly.

3346

Nintendo Gaming / RE: EA gets exclusive to NHL too!!??

« on: June 24, 2005, 06:36:39 AM »

Hockey negotiations have been going well, there should be a season next year.
I'm pretty sure they'd have made an announcement about it if it was exclusive.  Then again, maybe they're tired of everyone blowing up each time they announce something like that!  Also, exclusive liscence might mean nobody else is allowed to make a game from that one particular liscence...they have to buy their own "exclusive" liscence.  I'm no lawyer, I'm just taking stabs in the dark.

3347

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Official DS Sales Thread

« on: June 24, 2005, 06:28:52 AM »

Some NPD sales are coming in today... according to Games are Fun, the only DS game on the list was Star Wars ep. III, in 17th place, but no PSP game placed on the list at all.  Also, their list is not 100% reliable, apparently not all of the numbers are in.

Pokemon Emerald came in first with almost twice the sales of the second place spot (Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith for PS2).

Edit: Those are for sales in May, and they had no hardware sales when I checked.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: No Hi-def resolution, Nintendo's cost benefit analysis

« on: June 24, 2005, 06:17:41 AM »

I personally see Matt as a good critical thinker working from within the Nintendo fan base.  Lots of people have problems with Nintendo, but most of them don't matter because they don't support Nintendo anyway.  Matt sees what's wrong with Nintendo, but still loves it.  A lot of Nintendo fans don't see what's wrong with Nintendo, or assume every move Nintendo makes is for our own good.  I don't think that's true.

However, I have gotten sick of Matt's technocracy of late.  He (and practically the whole of IGN) puts too much emphasis on graphics and every slight improvement in technology.  Even though I agree with him on the HD issue, it's ironically a good example of how he seems to care more about technology than games.

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General Gaming / RE: Video Game Parody

« on: June 24, 2005, 06:11:49 AM »

I am now!  Actually, I figured that out later on, there's one shot where Asterix is covering up one of the Legionaires, so it looks like he's wearing the water pack at a glance.  My mistake.  I'm still skeptical, but I hope it works out because it looks like fun.

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TalkBack / RE:Website Aims to Change Nintendo's HD Policy

« on: June 24, 2005, 06:00:32 AM »

While I agree with KDR that Nintendo probably won't pass savings on to the end buyer, I think the idea is to not increase prices rather than to lower them.  Other companies have been talking about price increases for games (which I think is a stupid idea) and I don't think Nintendo will follow suit.  I don't think the companies that do increase prices will stick with the increases for very long, either.