Messages

951

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U in Review (News & Rumor Consolidation)

« on: January 31, 2013, 11:20:58 PM »

There's also an interesting situation shaping up this Fall. Supposedly the new Sony and Microsoft consoles will be launching, but the recent GTAV delay is going to suck all the oxygen out of the last quarter of the year. I wonder how this will affect the outlooks of the new consoles and WiiU.

I actually think GTA V coming out in September is going to make it do significantly less damage than it would have releasing in May. At least now, those companies who wisely chose to stay away from the big February/March 2013 cluster**** have a decent chance to have good sales now.  Coming out in September, though, that season's already dominated by 2-3 franchises devouring all the others. I don't think it would change much having a 4th game taking from the Assassin's Creed/Battlefield/Call of Duty pot.

I guess it will depend on just what happens with the Sony and Microsoft follow-up consoles. GTA V is getting more buzz than IV, if that's possible; I certainly wouldn't want to launch a new console against that with the usual lame-o launch line-up that seems to be endemic. Even if Sony and Microsoft announce before E3, as has been the rumor, they will have at max 9 months to try to hype up . . . Madden '14 and Perfect Dark Below Zero?

952

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U in Review (News & Rumor Consolidation)

« on: January 31, 2013, 05:14:57 PM »

There's also an interesting situation shaping up this Fall. Supposedly the new Sony and Microsoft consoles will be launching, but the recent GTAV delay is going to suck all the oxygen out of the last quarter of the year. I wonder how this will affect the outlooks of the new consoles and WiiU.

953

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U in Review (News & Rumor Consolidation)

« on: January 30, 2013, 12:32:20 AM »

I'm going on the record doubting that Retro is doing anything Metroid related. I don't think Other M would exist if Retro had any plans to continue with the franchise in the near future. The only way this could happen is if Nintendo recognized Other M for the humiliating artistic failure that it was, and wanted to make amends, but I think all they saw were the sales numbers, which weren't all that out of line with the Prime series.

954

TalkBack / Re: Yoshi's Epic Garbage

« on: January 29, 2013, 01:46:57 AM »

I'll also chime in as pretty nonplussed about the original Yoshi's Island. I only played it years after its original release, with some pretty high expectations based on the hard nut of love that many Nintendo enthusiasts carry for it.

The actual game I found weirdly unfulfilling. A straight playthrough would be super easy, but I am OCD about collecting stuff (or used to be), and completing the levels 100% was a major chore, given how easily you can blow it by losing the stars. Playing the game the "right" way felt like there was way too much juggling/chance.

I actually prefer Yoshi's Story, based on the art/weirdness of that game. There's no reward for doing so, which is a major flaw, but getting straight melons in that game for all levels is extremely hard.

955

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wind Waker HD! Whooo! - Nintendo Direct video now in OP

« on: January 23, 2013, 09:41:38 PM »

Here's an upgrade for the obsessive compulsives among us:

Eliminate the photo limit/figurine waiting period, while providing a way to obtain photographs of one-time-only or disappeared characters.

956

Nintendo Gaming / Re: The Legend of Zelda U and Mii

« on: January 23, 2013, 09:34:32 PM »

To riff off of Ian a bit, I agree that the post Ocarina games have largely been reiterations of OoT. (Although I think Wind Waker's aesthetics and ocean structure are probably radical enough to count as new things.) But, as has been said before, this is the curse of OoT, which basically invented a large percentage of what's taken for granted in 3D games, more so than Mario 64, given the death of the platformer.  But like Ian, I too feel like AAA single player experiences are a dying form, and I'm not sure how much different a single-player focused Zelda game can be from that tradition. In a way, changing it up from OoT is like trying to reinvent the wheel.

That being said, reinventing the wheel should be the job. It occurred to me a while ago now that modern Zelda and Metroid share similar design skeletons: explore world in a general order with plenty of optional distractions, obtain items/powers, return to previous areas to unlock doors/access power-ups, etc. Given this fundamental similarity, it would take something quite startling to reincarnate Zelda (or Metroid) differently. I am super open to whatever they come up with, but I also fear that this could be Nintendo's first big reboot ****-up.

957

TalkBack / Re: New Yoshi Platformer Developed by Good-Feel Announced for Wii U

« on: January 23, 2013, 09:10:58 PM »

Hmm, I do agree with the above sentiment that it's a little weird to start a specific "yarn" sub brand. Wario Shake It was "hand drawn," Kirby's Epic Yarn was yarn/arts and crafts, so Yoshi should be something equally different/artistically interesting.

I had a secret hope that Pikmin 3 would turn out to be claymation styled (or clay captured or something), but this Yoshi game would seem to be the next best opportunity, especially since no one's tried it to my knowledge since the old Clayfighter days, and Wii U tech could assuredly power a stunning result, particularly with a 2.5D game.

Still, I think Yoshi' Story is aesthetically underrated, and I would be pleased with a game as tonally distinctive.

958

TalkBack / Re: New Mario 3D Adventure, Mario Kart in Development

« on: January 23, 2013, 09:59:49 AM »

Did he tease an E3 reveal about the location of where bears ****?

959

TalkBack / Re: A Spiritual Journey

« on: January 22, 2013, 11:24:57 PM »

Eh, played through it at a PS3 owning friend's place while home for the holidays, and despite being pretty excited about it going in, I came out pretty underwhelmed. Felt like an interactive screensaver crossed with a mediocre Miyazaki movie. Also, am I the only one who found the player visitors aggravating? Whenever I was almost enjoying the game on its mild aesthetic merits, so doofus would start swooping me and spamming the chatter button.

960

Nintendo Gaming / Re: The Unofficial And Pre-Emptive Majora's Mask Retroactive Thread

« on: January 21, 2013, 01:02:21 AM »

Yeah, I was going to respond to an earlier post about how the game might be updated for a 3DS rerelease by suggesting that they add a "real" final boss to go toe to toe with FDM Link, which would also be a reward for collecting all the masks. For some reason developers have long lost the knack for properly rewarding completionists. Nintendo would never commission this (though it did happen in the Oracle games in the first place).

I do recall the final boss being one of the more difficult Zelda boss fights without FDM.

961

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U - The Road to E3 - 5/11/13

« on: January 14, 2013, 03:04:15 PM »

I'm pretty positive we'll see an original 3DS Zelda, possibly alongside a Majora's Mask remake.

If they do tease anything from a WiiU Zelda, it'll be because they pull some crazy "You want Zelda? Here's a bunch of fucking Zelda!" thing where they show a LttP sequel for 3DS, a Majora's Mask remake, and announce a console game all in a row, along with something else, like Windwaker and Twilight Princess on the newly Gamecube-enabled Virtual Console, a US translation of Tingle's Rupee Land, and/or a surprise revival of Tetra's Trackers.

962

TalkBack / Re: Pikmin 3 Draws Influence From First Pikmin, More Stressful

« on: January 02, 2013, 08:19:29 PM »

I'd be down with a 30 day time limit in Pikmin 3 and the ensuing P1-type tension, but a good point was made above about the relative paucity of content that would entail. I think this could be alleviated by an extremely robust challenge mode that tied into the "narrative" somehow. This could split the game content along the lines of Portal 2, with neither portion being mandatory, or the challenge portion could be gradually unlocked. There seem to be multiple protagonists in P3, so this should be possible.

I'm happy as long as there are no autogenerated caves in the main "tension" portion.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: The OFFICIAL Big N rumor thread *bring your own salt*

« on: December 23, 2012, 11:19:36 AM »

As far as plausible-sounding, almost certainly fake leaks go, that article is pretty good. I reaaaally doubt King K. Rool will ever appear in anything again, though. DKCR seemed to go out of its way to eliminate the kremlings.

On the other hand, the weaving in of the new Yoshi Game/character is great rumor synergy.

964

TalkBack / Re: You Make Me Feel Like Pants: A Love Letter to Kirby's Epic Yarn

« on: December 13, 2012, 06:25:46 PM »

Yeah, this game is liquid magic, and kicks the **** out of Return to Dreamland.

The music during the firetruck levels is like a wormhole into Nirvana. I can't think of any other game that has such an overwhelmingly satisfying aesthetic. I think Yoshi's Story actually deserves a lot of credit for its atmosphere, but it's much more bizarre than joyous.

965

General Gaming / Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2012

« on: December 10, 2012, 07:07:07 PM »

I don't recall that final quote one way or the other (not saying it wasn't said, just that I don't remember it), but I definitely think development costs are already too cost-prohibitive for the long-term health of the industry. That said, I'm decreasingly convinced that most of the big publishers care, and I'm not certain that the smaller developers (are there even any mid-sized developers left?) have enough say on the matter to do anything besides go handheld-only or make indie digital games.

The games industry seems to be mimicking the form of Hollywood, where a handful of major studios release dozens of productions a year, with the expectation that most will lose money and the four or five hits will put them in the black overall. The problem is that this hasn't worked out too hot for the movie industry for the most part, and movies are much easier gambles for consumers to take. $12 bucks for a movie ticket versus $60 for a game is a pretty huge differential for that model. And movies have much longer legs, with DVD sales, cable rights and whatnot. The majority of game sales (for most titles) occur within a month or two of release, and then drop off a cliff. Not much time for word of mouth to revive something that slipped past the radar before it becomes something you have to dig through Gamestops or Ebay to find.

966

General Gaming / Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2012

« on: December 09, 2012, 10:05:16 PM »

Not necessarily casual mobile games, but we've pretty much reached the limit of what can be done in terms of graphics on a reasonable budget. No matter how much better the tech gets, it'll be too expensive to take advantage of very often, and even now one bad move can cripple a studio. That's what Kytim's saying: we've seen multiple studios hit hard by games that didn't meet expectations, and the only way for them to stay afloat was to downsize and switch their focus to the low-risk casual market.

This is why I'm becoming more convinced that Microsoft is going to keep the Durango reasonable from a tech angle. It'll run UE4 to keep Epic happy, but I don't think it's going to blow the WiiU out of the water like much of the gaming press seems to assume. It would probably make tactical sense as well to keep the Durango modest and let Sony faceplant again with another Cadillac console. Xbox's probable larger userbase and range with the WiiU would probably make it the target console once more, and the cheaper development would just make PS4 exclusives that much more unappealing. If I was Microsoft, I'd definitely want to take out one of the competitors at this point, and they won't be able to stomp out Nintendo this Gen. Sony is vulnerable.

967

General Gaming / Re: The Walking Dead: The Game

« on: December 03, 2012, 10:25:03 PM »

I really dug it overall, and agree that it's the best iteration of the Walking Dead property (I've read most of the comics). The last episode really bit, though. Extremely short, and it seemed pretty clear that the ongoing decision tree didn't really amount to much in the end. Definitely shaped the ongoing experience in interesting ways, but the conclusion was very much on rails.

968

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U is here

« on: December 03, 2012, 10:20:11 PM »

Dual Shock is also awful for a lot of people with big hands, myself included. If I use one for more than twenty minutes I start getting weird cramps.

969

General Gaming / Re: Xbox720 - that's 2 full revolutions - not till 2014? ~Rumor/Speculation Thread~

« on: December 02, 2012, 11:50:30 AM »

Iiiiiinteresting. I've been wondering whether Microsoft and Sony would take the WiiUs specs as an opportunity to leapfrog and up the HD stakes, or as permission to release reasonable iterations that wouldn't lose them shittons of money upfront. Looks like Microsoft might have blinked a bit. Honestly, I think this is a good thing if true, the graphics arms race is not doing the industry any good outside of Castle Epic.

970

TalkBack / Re: Hacker Reveals Wii U CPU Clock Details

« on: December 02, 2012, 11:34:45 AM »

This clock speed conversation is just a distraction.

How many polygons can the Wii U output?

971

TalkBack / Re: Assassin's Creed III Review

« on: November 28, 2012, 08:10:45 PM »

Is there anything similar to the catacomb levels in Brotherhood and Revelations or the Da Vinci missions in Brotherhood? Those were my favorite parts of those games, but it seems like the colonial America setting wouldn't allow for that kind of thing.

972

General Gaming / Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2012

« on: November 25, 2012, 07:40:55 PM »

I would suggest that maybe there are people who want the Vita, but can't stomach the price of entry when considering the accessories needed, as well as a perceived lack of must-have games for the system, not just a general non-interest in the handheld at all.

Either way, although PSP didn't beat the DS in sales, didn't it do relatively well for Sony?  In general, I thought Sony's gaming division is one of the few profitable areas of the company.

I think the PSP concentrated most of its success in Japan, whereas the Vita is being outsold in Japan by . . . the PSP (last I saw).

973

General Gaming / Re: Xbox720 - that's 2 full revolutions - not till 2014? ~Rumor/Speculation Thread~

« on: November 24, 2012, 01:42:51 PM »

Yeah, I'm aware, and the news consoles are taking it even further. At this point it's more like a utility situation: how are consumers actually benefiting from the competition? It's converging toward different ways to deliver you the same water.

974

TalkBack / Re: Little Inferno Review

« on: November 23, 2012, 11:16:10 PM »

This game is unique, worth playing, strangely addicting, and definitely not worth $15. Just on a pure content level having this cost the same as World of Goo is kind of ridiculous.

975

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U is here

« on: November 21, 2012, 09:59:17 PM »

Just got the call from GameStop...debating on whether I should pull the trigger or not...

I can't really afford it at the moment, but I've been severely tempted to make a poor life decision and get a WiiU off the bat. I've been tempered by some of the blowback, though. I hold that Gamespot is pretty fundamentally anti-Nintendo, but nonetheless their initial hardware review gave me quite a lot of pause:

http://www.gamespot.com/features/the-shortcomings-of-the-wii-u-hardware-6400507/?tag=Topslot%3bWiiUHardware%3bTheShortcomingsOfTheW%3bReadIt