Messages

1251

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Super Mario Maker

« on: August 21, 2015, 07:30:57 PM »

The layout looks like a grid so I'm guessing that's why they didn't go with hills.  I would want in a sequel for them to allow for full mix and match, include SMB2 (enemies from that game don't get squished when you jump on them and have to be thrown; it's doable), and for them to offer the Super Mario All-Stars graphics as well.  The All-Stars graphics would let you incorporate a consistent look while having elements from all the games.

Of course I also want them to somehow incorporate Donkey Kong Country and Wario Land and Yoshi's Island and, **** it, SUPER PRINCESS PEACH into it if they can.  They can go pretty far with this stuff.

Kirby Maker sounds doable though wouldn't attract nearly the level of interest.  Metroid isn't divided into levels so I figure it would be a lot harder to do.  If you made some big Metroid-like world how would you test playing through it?

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TalkBack / Re: Pokkén Tournament Announced For Wii U, Releasing Spring 2016

« on: August 21, 2015, 04:53:09 PM »

I find it odd that there's some enthusiasm for the Wii U experience to continue.  Having only like five games a year because there's no third party support is just so awesome that you want to experience it for another year?  The NX is hope for Nintendo to bounce back.  If all goes well then the first year of the NX will be a better year for a Nintendo fan than one more year of the Wii U.

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TalkBack / Re: Pokkén Tournament Announced For Wii U, Releasing Spring 2016

« on: August 21, 2015, 03:01:01 PM »

Hey a New Japan reference in the headline!  COOL!

But the Wii U isn't suppose to have anymore games announced.  Nintendo only showed 3DS titles at E3 and outright said they'll never release another new Wii U title ever again.

Once again, people expecting the Wii U to be replaced in 2016 might be in for some disappointment.  If Nintendo was so desperate to replace the system with a new home console next year, Pokken could have been a pretty big launch title.  The fact they have no problem still releasing it on the Wii U shows the system has more support coming in the future which anyone with half a brain should have known.

Well I assumed that SOME game are still coming in 2016.  They would launch a new console in the fall so they would need some games to be released for the Wii U in the earlier part of the year.  Even the disastrous Wii-to-Wii U transition had some games coming out in the Wii's last year.  If anything this is the ideal type of game to fit in the gap as it is just an arcade port so the bulk of the development was already done.

I doubt Zelda would appear at one E3 and then disappear the next if it wasn't be moved to a new console.  Nintendo went from showing damn near everything at E3 2014 and to doing the complete opposite this year.  Unless they're insane (always a realistic diagnosis with Nintendo) they're being secretive about 2016 for a reason.  The Wii U sales are weak enough that it makes no sense to drag it on for an extra year.  It would be stupid for them to do so  but "that's stupid" is not a good enough reason to assume Nintendo isn't doing something.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Super Mario Maker

« on: August 21, 2015, 12:15:39 PM »

My goal would be to try to make like a proper Mario game where earlier levels are easier and introduce the mechanics and then later levels are more ambitious and difficult.  SMB has 32 levels so that would be a good number to aim for.  Let's see if I have the chops to be a half-decent game designer.  Of course if I really suck at it and it's really time consuming I'll probably give up.

From other designers I would want to play creative levels that aren't ridiculous expert challenges.  That seems to be a priority for designers, to make insane levels that **** with the player.  There is a place for that type of game (like that infamous "Asshole Mario" SMW hack) but I fear that people will focus TOO much on that.  And there are going to be designers that try to make levels that feel like other sidescrollers like Metroid, Mega Man, Sonic, etc.  If done right those could be pretty cool.

I could also see the appeal in my brother and I making tricky levels solely for the purpose of fucking with each other.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Super Mario Maker

« on: August 20, 2015, 05:07:00 PM »

I've been watching a couple videos from guys with review copies and I find myself... excited?  I'm thinking to myself "man, when I get this I'm going to..." and then I stop and realize I don't have a Wii U so I can't get this...yet.  That's kind of the thinking you're supposed to get with a system seller.  Imagine if the Wii U launched with this instead of NSMB U.  Despite being a sidescroller with gameplay lifted right out of the old titles it has a concept that has not been seen in a Mario game before in the level creator.  The best Mario games usually offered something that the prior games didn't have.  Not only is this more interesting than NSMB U but it also makes really good use of the Gamepad.  The concept wouldn't work well without the touchscreen which means unlike the other Wii U Mario games you couldn't do this on prior Nintendo consoles.

USGamer has a series going where the reviewer makes a new level using the tools made available each day.  The approach is to design a Mario game using the same design philosophies that Nintendo does and how they want you to play the game.  It actually is a pretty good argument in favour of the unlocking system.

But then there is the opposite approach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGZ-mD53X1w
The creator is trying to throw everything he can think of into a mega level that looks incredibly fun.  But you couldn't do this until day 7 or so.  And there's the argument for not locking the features - you can't jump right in and create something cool like this.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: NX Rumors and Speculation Thread (Unprecedented partnership with Square Enix?)

« on: August 20, 2015, 01:33:44 PM »

The hybrid concept works better because it's just one purchase and the customer uses it in the way that suits them.

And a customer would just buy the hardware, handheld or console, that suits them without having to deal with the compromises of a hybrid. You continually bitch about hardware power and you're championing Nintendo going with weaker hardware? And you're not even going to use it as a handheld because you admittedly don't like handheld gaming? What the what?

I don't necessarily want the hybrid as much as I just think that's a better strategy than two products that are effectively the same thing.  Now if the console and handheld were clearly different with different games then I think that also would be a good strategy if Nintendo was able to fix their third party support and expanded their resources so that supporting two platforms isn't too difficult for them to do.  But we know they're not interested in that.  They want to bring the two platforms together in some way.  In that scenario I think a hybrid has more sales potential.

Of course I'm also thinking of typical Nintendo goofiness that will muddle up the concept.  Best case scenario you have two platforms with scalable games and cross-buy and the specs on the console are powerful enough that it allows for easy PS4/XB1 third party ports.  Most games are on both platforms but you can have exclusives that take full advantage of the specific hardware.  Nintendo themselves makes some console exclusives where they really push the hardware.  Worst case scenario - no cross-buy and outdated console specs so the NX console is basically nothing more than a console version of the handheld that you have to rebuy the same games for.  Third party support does not improve (aside from up-ports of handheld games) and Nintendo intentionally scales back all of their games to work on the handheld.  Which scenario seems more like what Nintendo would do?  They're greedy so I can see them not offering universal cross-buy and they're cheap so I can see them cheaping out on the specs.

And I'm also just thinking about the damage they've done to their brand name in the console space.  We might sadly be at the point of no return where Nintendo could do everything perfectly but no one will notice because they've already written them off for good.  In that case a hybrid works as a Trojan horse to get a Nintendo "console" in the house of someone who was just intending on buying a Nintendo handheld.  If they're separate then it needs to be such that Nintendo is both the number one choice for handheld and console and it's going to be a lot of work to make it seem like the Nintendo console is worth getting over a PS4 and XB1 (and those consoles now have a several year head start).  Nintendo handheld games with nicer graphics isn't going to cut it.  Nintendo's exclusives have consistently been the best part of their consoles and if the exclusives are all shared with the handheld then they lose the one thing we can probably assume Nintendo will do well.  Nintendo pretty much has to do everything else right and, while I would like that, I don't see that as a realistic scenario.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U moved just 46,000 units in the U.S. in July according to leaked NPD figure

« on: August 20, 2015, 12:27:54 PM »

Well, I have always been for "Wii U as a 2nd console", and I can totally see that $300 is probably too much for that. So, why not release a cheaper bundle with the pro controller rather than the game pad? Sure, you HAVE to use the game pad for system settings, but guess what, you used to HAVE to use the game pad for eShop as well; Nintendo released just a system update and you can use the pro controller for that from then on. It is not rocket science and Nintendo can certainly do it if they feel like to. Yes, some games, including the Wii U game of 2015 - Splatoon (and probably Super Mario Maker) require the game pad and there's no easy way around it. Still, a cheaper bundle that doesn't hurt Nintendo's bottom line while providing a better value proposition as a secondary console for a wider audience sounds like a really good idea to me; it is at least worth trying. Granted, releasing a Wii U SKU without the game pad is like a slap in the face for Nintendo. However, given the dire situation, I don't think Nintendo is in the position of saving faces.

Wouldn't entice me.  I don't really care about the Gamepad but I'm not going to sacrifice numerous games that require it just to get a cheaper Wii U.

Nintendo has some mark up on the price to make a profit.  Well how low can they go before they take a loss?  Lower the price to whatever that is (and put some wiggle room in obviously) and make up the profits on the increased game sales that will come from it (evergreen titles like Mario Kart will almost certainly get a spike in sales).  I'm not asking them to take a hit on the Wii U but making less profit on it isn't doing that.  Unless they're pretty much at the break even point right now they can cut the price.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Of America Lowers Suggested Price Of 2DS

« on: August 20, 2015, 12:13:57 PM »

Makes sense.  The 2DS immediately looked all the more inferior once the New 3DS came out.  At this price it works well for its intended purpose of a cheap model to get your kid so they can play Pokémon.

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TalkBack / Re: Super Mario Maker’s Slow Unlocking Feels More Frustrating Than Fun

« on: August 19, 2015, 03:28:44 PM »

Didn't fully read the part about the Mario 10, I was going to add another option would be to have levels that used steadily more advanced items and if you beat them it instantly unlocked all of the new items for that level.  Mario 10 sounds like that.

This! That's the sort of issue with the 10 Mario Challenge. You do get to see all these crazy cool things, but even when you bring that level into the editor (which you can do after you beat it), you don't have access to everything the level has to offer. For example, you unlock the Sound FX on day 6 or 7. A lot of those premade stages use Sound FX. You can do nothing with Sound FX until day 6 or 7. It's just frustrating. If I didn't know about the unlock system, I would have thought I was missing huge chunks of the game with no clue as to how to access it.

Maybe Nintendo's support will get hammered with calls and emails from people confused about why they can't access X.  If anything was to persuade them into patching away this "feature" it would be that.  We know it's this annoying unlock feature but would more casual users be aware of that?  Is it immediately obvious to the user that that's how things work?

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U moved just 46,000 units in the U.S. in July according to leaked NPD figure

« on: August 19, 2015, 03:04:41 PM »

Refurbished hardware is generally a safer bet than buying it new, because it was specifically tested to make sure it worked right. The ones Nintendo sells also come with the same 12 month warranty as a new system, so if there is something lingering you should be fine.

My bad feelings regarding refurbs actually comes from Microsoft as I very briefly owned an Xbox for one evening.  Bought it refurbed, loaded up Jet Set Radio Future, two seconds after I started playing the game froze, I reset, whole system was frozen, I returned it for a refund.  So Nintendo is probably a little more reliable than MS on that.  Of course Nintendo's rep for build quality is so good that I don't assume any risk in buying new.  I assume I will have no problems and so far I never have.  But I know that refurb was a lemon at some point.

Looking at Gamestop's Canadian website a new 32 GB Wii U with Super Mario 3D World and Nintendo Land is $300 while a refurb without the game is $230.  New games cost about $70 CAD these days and I'd be giving up TWO of them.  The new one is actually the better deal.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: NX Rumors and Speculation Thread (Unprecedented partnership with Square Enix?)

« on: August 19, 2015, 02:51:57 PM »

I get the feeling that if Nintendo releases a new handheld and a new console and they both play the same games that the handheld is going to sell really well and the console is going to bomb.  They had the problem this gen that they kept releasing 3DS games that were very similar to Wii U games so that diminished the need for a Wii U.  I prefer consoles so I would buy the console but the general public trusts Nintendo for handhelds but absolutely not for consoles.  So if the console doesn't offer much distinct from the handheld there isn't much of a selling point beyond appealing to people like me that don't like handheld gaming and only buy handhelds for their exclusives.  The hybrid concept works better because it's just one purchase and the customer uses it in the way that suits them.

Sony's handhelds tend to have virtually the same games as their consoles and what happens?  Everyone buys their console and not the handheld.  PlayStation is a strong console brand name but a weak handheld one so with very little to differentiate between the two systems the one with the stronger reputation is the successful one.

I think ultimately people will buy one handheld or one console or one of each.  Nintendo's console needs to come across as an obvious choice OVER the PS4 and XB1.  If it's just a console version of the "4DS" then people will gladly get their preferred combination of a Nintendo handheld and a Sony/MS console.  If the NX console has the same games as the handheld then someone with that combo misses out on virtually nothing.  At least right now if they go 3DS/PS4 they miss out on Wii U exclusives.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U moved just 46,000 units in the U.S. in July according to leaked NPD figure

« on: August 19, 2015, 12:58:22 PM »

You guys do know you can get a refurbished Wii U for $200, right?

I don't trust refurbished stuff.  For a price cut I would be all over a $200 price but I know that's not realistic.  $250 is an okay compromise.  Puts it $100 less than the XB1 so there is less of that feeling that you could spend a little more and get a different console.

Basically Nintendo strategy is to get as much profit off the hardcore fans with the Wii U with it's higher price, DLC and Amiibos, while the 3DS keeps them popular among everyone else.  No point in losing billions with a huge price cut when most of the people who would buy the Wii U in this situation are just as likely to buy the next home console if Nintendo makes it more appealing with more unique software and a better price from the start. 

But don't most hardcore fans already own a Wii U?  You can't sell someone the games and the Amiibos if they don't buy the console because they feel it is too expensive.  Nintendo's focus on selling hardware always struck me as kind of nutty because you only sell the hardware once to each customer while you can sell an unlimited amount of games.  With handhelds for example they get all worked up when the system sales start to slow down so they go with stuff like the DSi and New 3DS to try to get a double dip.  The DS sales peaking were actually a GOOD thing as it meant that damn near everyone that was a potential DS customer owned one and thus DS games had huge potential sales but Nintendo was all focused on the hardware.  Each Wii U game has a greater potential of selling more copies if there are more Wii U owners.

If Nintendo likes money so much, they could have made something that appealed to a broader market.

But I forgot, they need to "do their own thing" AKA make 2D platformers.

Nintendo thought they were appealing to the broader market.  The plan was to recreate the Wii's success with a similar product.  It's just that the market had changed and the Wii U's controller feature was not a dream concept like motion control was.  They busted out the 2D platformers because games like NSMB U sold big on the Wii so they assumed the trend would continue.

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General Gaming / Re: Recommendations needed: XBox360 fell into my hands

« on: August 19, 2015, 12:26:06 PM »

The Mass Effect trilogy might be my favourite games of last generation.  Though they are more or less shooters.  I found the appeal was more in the characters and story though.  It also isn't all grey and brown.

I also recommend Split/Second which is an awesome racing game that revolves around the concept of triggering disasters on the track so that your opponents (and you) have to dodge falling debris and such.  Very creative twist on the genre and just a fun game all around.

Of course I'd say that if you're a Nintendo-only guy, owning an Xbox 360 should be your chance to branch out and try the types of games that don't normally appear on Nintendo consoles.  You probably won't like all of them but it's not hard to find major Xbox 360 games that are a few years old now that are dirt cheap used.  So is there anything that you were always curious about when owning just Nintendo stuff?  Try it out.  If it's cheap you're not out much if it doesn't click with you.  I see all sorts of used 360 and PS3 games that got rave reviews when they came out that are under $10.

You list a lot of platformers as game you like.  Well Nintendo consoles have the best platformers.  You don't get an Xbox 360 to play that sort of stuff, you get it for shooters, western RPGs, fighting games, openworld games.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U moved just 46,000 units in the U.S. in July according to leaked NPD figure

« on: August 18, 2015, 07:54:07 PM »

Cut the price and I'll buy one.  It has a good amount of quality first party titles that I'd like to play but it has no third party support and no future so I'm not going to drop any significant change on it.  At this point it's an ideal secondary console to gain access to its exclusives but it is too expensive to fit that role.

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TalkBack / Re: Super Mario Maker’s Slow Unlocking Feels More Frustrating Than Fun

« on: August 18, 2015, 01:56:39 PM »

So to do the exploit you have to play for a few minutes each "day" to unlock stuff.  So does that mean it isn't 9 days after you first played but 9 days of playing?  So if you played the game on the day you bought it and then went on vacation for two weeks within playing your Wii U would it consider it day 2 when you returned?!

Nintendo has a reputation for being a company that tells you what you want.  They're not good with options and flexibility and that's not a good reputation.  So while I get the idea they're going for here it's not something most players would want to deal with.  Nintendo also is at a point where it is pretty important for them to come across as having changed and improved so as to win back potential customers they've turned off... and yet here's a very unwelcome "do as we say" decision.  Over the last few years Nintendo should have looked like a company that's loosening up on restrictions, not doubling-down on them.  So the guys that are forcing us to play Mario Maker their way are the guys that we're all going to buy NX's from next year because we're suddenly convinced they're no longer the stubborn fuddy-duddies they've been for years?

So how long until we get a Project S.T.E.A.M. style patch to "fix" the intentional design that everyone but Nintendo doesn't like?

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TalkBack / Re: Super Mario Maker (Wii U) Hands-on Preview

« on: August 18, 2015, 12:21:59 PM »

Here's a game with a strong community focus in people building levels and sharing them with everyone yet it is being released on the console with a small userbase.  The level creator theme of the game allows for near unlimited replay value yet it is being released on a console that is likely to be replaced next year.

I think it would be a good idea for Nintendo to plan for a sequel, or at the very least an update, for early in the NX's life.  The hope is that the NX will succeed in a way the Wii U didn't and then this game can benefit from a large community with years ahead of it.

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General Gaming / Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?

« on: August 17, 2015, 08:06:49 PM »

The really annoying thing about Battletoads is that it COULD have been one of the best beat-em-ups on the NES.  That first level is awesome and if it stayed with that sort of approach you would have got a game that gave the TMNT and Double Dragon games a run for their money.  As a kid I actually figured the game was mostly a beat-em-up because the game generally feels that way up to the Turbo Tunnel, which is where we all got stuck.  We figured if we beat the Turbo Tunnel that it would continue with beat-em-up levels but it doesn't.  Instead the game completely abandons that gameplay and is really more about insanely difficult gimmick levels.

You know how the DKC games have levels that vary from the typical gameplay?  There are vehicle levels, swimming levels, climbing levels, barrel blast levels, ones where you play as the animal helpers.  Imagine if after the first level of DKC that those gimmick levels composed the remainder of the game and the standard sidescrolling platforming levels never ever reappeared.  That's Battletoads and that's actually a good example of how Nintendo turned Rare into something special.  Rare was very ambitious but they had poor restraint.  Battletoads throws every crazy idea they can think of but it's nothing but crazy ideas.  Nintendo reigned them in and had them mix levels with elaborate gimmicks with more conventional ones.  So Battletoads feels like several ideas that could probably have been the basis of their own game while DKC feels like one gameplay style that just has some levels that bust out some cool creative ideas.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Sales Panic: July 2015 US NPD Group Results

« on: August 14, 2015, 12:09:43 PM »

Since I'm eyeing a Wii U for Xenoblade a price cut would be nice.  Since I really just want the system for a handful of games it is a little expensive as is.

If the price isn't cut for this Christmas I'm assuming that either the controller truly is too damn expensive for Nintendo to lower the price without taking a loss or Nintendo has "if we sell it for a million dollars we only need to sell one" logic going.  Though I could also see some serious denial going on at Nintendo.  "We can't cut the price or we'd be admitting the Wii U is a failure!"  These guys went from having one of the most successful consoles ever to one of the least pretty much overnight.  That's got to hurt their egos.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Super Mario Maker

« on: August 13, 2015, 12:40:34 PM »

Would this be better received if, instead of locking the stuff behind time retraints, it had been locked behind onther in-game requirements?  Like, you can't use Set B until you've completed World B?

That would be more inline with traditional video games, locking content behind in-game performance.

A nice way to do it would be both.  You can either complete the levels or have the time pass, whatever happens first.  Then if you suck at the game and can't beat the levels the stuff still unlocks for you at some point.

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TalkBack / Re: Remembering the Virtual Boy Launch

« on: August 13, 2015, 12:29:23 PM »

@ Ian Sane - I was damned glad that Nintendo stuck with cartridges for the N64. The load times for the PSX rendered that system completely unplayable, in my opinion. Nintendo at least understood that most players should want to spend their game time actually playing games, rather than watching them load. Just because discs were becoming the popular medium for games in the mid/late-90s, that didn't make them a better format, and load times were exactly the reason why.

The actual sales figures suggest that most players preferred FMV, red book audio, lower game prices, and access to games made by companies other than Nintendo and Rare.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Super Mario Maker

« on: August 12, 2015, 06:21:33 PM »

There's no justification as to why I should wait one day to use a fire flower or a star in my levels.

Nintendo: "You need to learn the mushroom and have it's concept settle in your mind before you are ready for the flower!"

"Please don't trade in our game."

You need to understand how mushrooms work even though the only people who would give the slightest **** about a game with NES style graphics are the long time fans of Mario who are fully aware how EVERYTHING in this game works.  A game that caters to nostalgia that treats the audience like rookies who don't know how any of it works?  Yep, only from Nintendo.  If you're a newcomer to Mario (so you're like 3 years old I suppose) this is very much NOT the game you would start with.

Though I wonder if this is somewhat how Nintendo designs levels themselves.  They tend to gradually introduce the concepts so maybe when they design levels they intentionally restrict themselves at the start so this is their way of getting the player to have the same mindset.  Still doesn't seem like something the user would want to have to go through though.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Super Mario Maker

« on: August 12, 2015, 05:38:25 PM »

There will be levels available online and on-disc with full block set day 0.

Majority of people only want to PLAY levels, including those who are faking outrage about the game they didn't planned to buy on a console they don't own from a manufacturer they despise.

Then make Super Mario Player. There's no reason a game called Super Mario Maker needs to have its full toolset locked away for a week and a half after purchasing. Regular Mario games don't make we wait a full day to play World 2 after I beat 1.

If we ever start complaining that their games are too short then maybe Nintendo's wacky solution will be to make the player wait to play later levels.

I just find this idea odd.  For better or worse this is the sort of idea I could ONLY imagine Nintendo coming up with.

For maximum hilarity watch as they'll now get the review copies out to the media less than 9 days before release so the reviewers can't access part of the game before publishing their review.

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TalkBack / Re: Pandora's Tower Launching On North American eShop Tomorrow

« on: August 12, 2015, 05:27:50 PM »

Cynical theory: NoA is trying to follow NoE's lead by releasing Xenoblade on the eShop but they're so indifferent to the Operation Rainfall games that they accidently uploaded the wrong one.

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TalkBack / Re: Mario's Tennis Review Mini

« on: August 12, 2015, 05:25:26 PM »

Until now I thought this game was called "Mario's Dream Tennis".  Some quick research reveals that that was a working title so I probably read it in some Gamepro preview or something.  So, yeah, the VB is so irrelevant that I've been calling one of its key titles the wrong name for 20 years.

So which Wii U game do I not know the name of?  Guess I'll find out in 2035!

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TalkBack / Re: Remembering the Virtual Boy Launch

« on: August 12, 2015, 02:29:46 PM »

It really is a shame that Nintendo hasn't re-released the Wario Land Virtual Boy game on 3DS. As awful as that "portable" system is, I remember that Wario land game being surprisingly decent.

I don't see why they don't offer all of their first party VB games.  The 3DS is the only other system that could accommodate them.  Though Nintendo tends to sometimes pretend the VB never existed.  I'm surprised they didn't at some point poach the level designs from VB Wario Land for a later Wario Land title.  Almost no one would have noticed.