Messages

401

Nintendo Gaming / Re: NX hot scoops straight from Google!

« on: August 18, 2016, 05:33:03 PM »

I have several acquaintances that wouldn't buy a console if you couldn't get NFL, MLB, or FIFA sports games.  Is that Nintendo's core fanbase?  No, but I think this console generation has shown that Nintendo can't support its video game business with just its core fanbase.

Do these people already own consoles to play these games?  Would they buy other games for the NX?  Do they need/want multiple systems with these games?

 My favorite game genres are WRPGs and FPSs. I also like sports games, but not as much as those. I only own a 3DS because it is portable and on-tv play isn't viable for me anymore. I bought it on a whim, but I would have gotten one sooner if it meant being able to play Bethesda or Bioware games. I love it, so I don’t regret the purchase, but I probably won’t be in a rush to upgrade to the NX if it doesn’t expand Nintendo’s catalog of franchises. I’d probably be content playing out my 3DS backlog for at least another year. However, if the NX is going to have games like Mass Effect: Andromeda (and it’s portable), I’d probably purchase it close to launch. I know you were responding to a post specifically about sports and not western genres in general, and I don't know if sports games alone would justify the upgrade, but I'd at least be more likely to consider it.

402

General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: August 10, 2016, 08:55:56 PM »

My familiarity with the bundesliga is strictly through the champions league, but that would be a good reason to watch it. FS1 has them in HD too. I'll probably check it out in the spring. I'd never root for Bayern, but I'm a big Ancelloti fan, and Xabi Alonso is maybe my second favorite player ever. I wouldn't mind watching him play against some US prospects.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: August 10, 2016, 06:23:45 PM »

The European club season never really ends – there is only about a month between the Champions League Final and the first round of qualifying games – but the domestic leagues are restarting this weekend in earnest, with the Premier League, Ligue 1, and Primeria Liga all kicking off. La Liga and Serie A start next weekend, and then the Bundesliga on the 26^th.  The Eredivisie actually already started.   

Putting the Premier League to the side for a moment, of the four other biggest leagues, 5dimes has all the returning champs as big favorites, with only Madrid (and to a lesser extent Atleti) being given a good chance of challenging. It’s hard to argue with that. I couldn’t find a straight BPL futures table, but it looks like 5dimes has City, United, Chelsea, and Arsenal in that order of favorites. The relegation odds have the foxes at 10^th, but there isn’t a direct carry over, because they have Arsenal as 2^nd least likely to relegate. You could make a case for Tottenham over pretty much anyone but City in my opinion, but I will be very surprised if one of the Manchester squads doesn’t win the league. It should be fascinating given the huge amount of coaching talent.

Madrid began its European title defense yesterday with a tough match against the Europa champions Sevilla. I’m of the opinion that the Super Cup is a real trophy and I think the game yesterday was played at a pretty high level. Carvajal and Marcelo look like they may be the best pair of attacking fullbacks in the world, and Lucas has quietly turned himself into Di Maria 2.0. Sergio Ramos had as Ramosian a day as you could expect – continually flirted with a red card, gave up a stupid penalty, had some beautiful on-ball defending, and then somehow scored again when defeat was imminent. Asensio looks like he is going to heap even more pressure on James, but Morata probably didn’t worry Benzema too much.

There are some interesting ties in the last CL qualifying round (UEFA calls them playoffs) before the group stages are determined. I don’t think Fox televised these in the states last year, but I’m hoping the presence of Guardiola changes that. Steaua Bucuresti will likely provide only a challenge because of the travel, but I’m still interested in seeing it. Porto-Roma could be a knock-out round game in many years and we are getting that in August.  Bucharest-City is on the 16^th and Porto-Roma on the 17^th. Some biggish names have already been knocked out in the previous round: Olympiacos, Shaktar, and Fenerbahce.

404

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Metroid II Remake Has Finally Dropped

« on: August 08, 2016, 05:14:28 PM »

Thanks MagicCow, I really wanted this, and I got it soon after you posted. I'm going to play the 3DS version first, but I figured Nintendo would get it taken down almost immediately, and I'll want to check it out later.

I'd love to play it on the 3DS, along with Zero Mission, and Axiom Verge. I've been kind of saving Metroid 2 and Super Metroid since the 3DS Metroid library is so limited. I might get 2 in soon and then save Super Metroid for what currently looks like a sparse winter.

405

General Chat / Re: Golden State Warriors (and other NBA teams, I guess) thread

« on: August 07, 2016, 09:21:59 AM »

Knicks fan checking in. Outside of Mike Woodson's first season-and-a-quarter, things have been pretty dreadful since Van Gundy left, but I am cautiously optimistic about the Rose trade. There isn't nearly the cap risk as there was when they signed Amar'e, they didn't give up anything of real value, and Rose has the potential to be their best back court player since Walt Fraizer. I'm hoping for an Atlantic Division crown, first round playoff victory, and a competitive showing in the semis. I'd probably settle for them playing great defense and showing much improved integration on offense.

My favorite Warrior:

406

TalkBack / Re: Alola Forms, Z-Moves Announced For Pokemon Sun And Moon

« on: August 03, 2016, 05:59:58 PM »

http://www.ign.com/wikis/pokemon-sun-pokemon-moon/New_Game_Mechanics_and_Features

This IGN article explicitly claims that the island challenges are replacing the gyms. I wonder if they have confirmation or if this was just poorly written/edited.

407

TalkBack / Re: Alola Forms, Z-Moves Announced For Pokemon Sun And Moon

« on: August 03, 2016, 12:13:03 PM »

I think the z moves look fun. Pairing them with Pokemon that don't evolve (or only evolve one form) would spice those characters up a lot for me.

I like the sound of the island challenges, but I also hope they don't replace the gyms with them. The gym settings are my favorite designs in X and AS. I'd prefer they take away from the villainous team storyline instead if something has to be cut.

408

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

« on: July 29, 2016, 04:31:53 PM »

Super Ghouls n' Ghosts - 3DS VC

I am a big fan of the Ghosts n Goblins series, but I have to admit I’m smuggling in a lot of the arcade experience when I play the NES port. However, Super Ghouls n’ Ghosts is a beautiful game with a vibrant art design that really does justice to the arcade installments in the series. The environments are fabulous and include fun dynamic elements. The music and sound are great, even though I wish they would have retained more of the tininess of the original main theme and sound effects. The sprite work in general is much improved (although I’m not sure I like the transformation of Arthur from a don quixote-type to a HGH fueled superhero).

The volume and placement of enemies was the biggest challenge in GnG, but I found that more manageable in SGnG. The greater variety of weapon-types is probably a huge factor, but it also seems that the enemies are a bit nerfed. The red arremers in particular were much less lethal this time through (even without the crossbow). However, I think the pure platforming is harder in SGnG, and there is more of it.

The game lives up to its reputation for difficulty, but, I think SGnG is far less frustrating than GnG.  When I finished SGnG last night, I was sure I had done it more quickly than it took me to play through GnG. But when I checked the game log, I actually spent 30 minutes more on SGnG. I think that helps illustrate that the difficulty is less frustrating than in GnG, but I’m sure the freshness of the game to me was probably a contributing factor as well.  All-in-all, I think the difficulty actually works as story element. This is meant to invoke a crawl through hell with all the proverbial torture and torment. Dying so much plays into that trope.

My only real complaint is that slowdown is a pretty significant problem, especially in the latter stages of the game. It had an unfortunate side effect of both increasing the difficulty of the boss battles, while lessening their aesthetic impact.

409

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

« on: July 27, 2016, 08:05:51 PM »

Adventure of Zelda: Link to the Past - 3DS VC

I finished my play through last Monday. I beat the first two Zeldas when they were originally released, but I haven’t had any exposure to the rest of the games in the series until now. I can see why LTTP has such a strong reputation and I imagine it must have been really mind blowing when it first came out. The scope and intricacy of the world is impressive even by today’s standards.  I’m definitely in the camp that thinks “story” in a game is important, but I’m also of the mind that story-telling in this medium is most successfully advanced through visual or audial means. The brilliant sprite work and rich environments are evocative and excellent examples of how visuals can help add narrative depth to a world. I have always felt that LOZ is hampered by the cutesiness of the enemy aesthetic. LTTP addresses that deficiency very well.
 
I know by its reputation that the Zelda series is a dungeon crawler extraordinaire, but that really isn’t the focus of the first two games. For me, LOZ shines when you are exploring the over world, with the dungeons being largely hack-and-slash slogs. The dungeons are somewhat more distinct in AOL, but AOL is even more combat focused than LOZ. LTTP is firmly centered on dungeon excavation, and for me at least, presented more navigational challenges than combat ones. I don’t know if there is a term for horizontal platformers (I think "platform" implies vertical movement), but the underlying mechanic of trying to successfully navigate an object through a dangerous environment is a core feature of LTTP. That largely isn’t present in the first two games from what I can remember.

I’ll be starting Link’s Awakening soon. I’m tempted to replay AOL first to get a refresher (I re-beat the first quest of LOZ at the end of 2015) so I can be more conscious of the evolution of the series as I’m playing through it. But with five untouched Zelda games still left for me on the 3DS, I’d rather dive right into the new experiences. I've never been a big fan of puzzle type games, and was concerned that the "new" Zelda wasn't really for me, but LTTP has me excited to play more of the series.

410

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

« on: July 21, 2016, 08:18:45 AM »

I think I have the itch because I was already contemplainting buying AS last night, lol. I can't see me waiting till Novemember, but I'll have the right expectations now so I'm not disappointed. Thanks.

411

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

« on: July 20, 2016, 05:20:36 PM »

 Pokemon X - Story Mode
 
 I finally finished my first play through of a pokemon game last weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed it. [Aside from the core monster-collecting theme] the gym aesthetics, music, and multi-level environments were my favorite aspects of the game. I also found a significant portion of the dialogue surprisingly amusing.
 
 My final team was greninja, venasaur, gardevoir, talonflame, ageislash, and xerneas. I also used sylveon a lot before switching to xerneas for story purposes, and used vivillon a ton too. I probably raised another dozen or so pokemon 10-20 levels. Overall, I enjoyed using gardevoir the most, although she was somewhat sidelined towards the end.
 
 I thought the load times were fantastic and I wish all my 3DS games would open this quickly. However, I was frustrated with how slow the game is in other areas. I don't know if this is necessary to make the game accessible for the young audience (maybe slowing the flow of information makes it easier to comprehend) but the number and cadence of text boxes really slows down the combat. The menus also seem entirely too cumbersome, particularly for a touch screen device.

As result, I didn’t really get into the game until I started playing with the assistance of a type chart and an alphabetical listing of pokemon and their types. It was just too tedious to experiment with ineffective attacks, and I don't have time to commit to memorizing the monster types. I think I read that Sun & Moon is going to provide that information in-game, which will be a huge improvement for me.

I’m planning on buying Alpha Sapphire and Moon. I’ll probably go with torchic and litten as starters. The former because I didn’t get to use many fire or fighting attacks in X, the latter because I like the character design. I’m not sure if I’ll get AS in before Moon releases.
 

412

TalkBack / Re: Animal Crossing New Leaf Getting An Amiibo Update

« on: July 20, 2016, 04:05:08 PM »

I would buy my first amiibo if it meant I could lock in my boys Vladimir and Rasher from moving away.

413

General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: July 08, 2016, 04:05:40 PM »

I think De Bruyne and Sterling are going to be terrifying under Pep.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: July 07, 2016, 10:07:02 PM »

I'm going to be very pleased with Sunday's result regardless of the outcome. France and Zidane, and then through him, Real Madrid, have been a blast to follow for the last 18 years. France is like a favorite club team to me, and Ronaldo and Pepe (and Fabio Coentrao) have done fantastic things for Madrid, so good luck to all of them. France are rightful favorites, but for all the talk about Portugal not winning games, they haven't lost a non-friendly since the first qualifier either.

Carlo Ancelloti is going to do wonders for and with Renato Sanches.

415

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

« on: June 25, 2016, 11:09:22 AM »

Kid Icarus: 3D Classics

I finished my play through last night and got the middle ending. I had played the original only once, and very briefly, so this was really my first experience with the game. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The platforming aspects have a nice difficulty balance. I died frequently, but no level was frustrating to get through. I finished Ghosts n Goblins and Castlevania recently, and the lack of save states in Kid Icarus reaffirmed how much longer those two games would taken to finish if you had to start the stage over after every death. I didn't mind it with Icarus, because it would probably be too easy a game with in-stage saves. It did limit my ability to play around other people though (which is one of the main attractions of the 3DS for me) because I really needed to get into a grove at times. Being able to save in-stage alleviates a lot of the need for that. It took me 6:40 at an average of 16 minutes a session, compared with 5:33/11 and 4:51/12 for GnG and Castlevania respectively.

The combat was pretty easy, particularly the bosses, but the action-rpg elements add a little depth, as do the scaled endings. I didn't even realize that was a goal until after I finished the game and looked it up online. I will eventually play through it again to get the better endings, but I have some other action platformers to play first, and I also own Kid Icarus 2 and Uprising, and want to give those a whirl.

I'm happy I tried out the first couple levels of Uprising before finishing this game. It made the change in game style on the final level seem a great set up for the sequel.

Other than Pit's jumping mechanics, my favorite part of the game by far is the new 3D background art. It takes the game's original classical Greek theme and infuses it with a renaissance art style (for example, Hades seems more Dante than Ovid), which obviously itself was heavily influenced by antiquity. It really gives the game a unique look. I would love to see more NES classics get the same treatment.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Downloads - June 23, 2016

« on: June 23, 2016, 11:09:30 AM »

Man, I said I was going to take a break on the game purchases after the e3 sale, but I'm right back in for Super Ghouls and Ghosts. I need to look into upgrading my memory card. I was a little cautious about going over 32 the first time I upgraded, but I'm going to need something bigger soon.

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General Chat / Re: What are you hyped about today?

« on: June 22, 2016, 05:29:00 PM »

Derrick Rose to the Knicks!

418

General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: June 22, 2016, 05:25:29 PM »

I realize he wasn't a like-for-like, but he would have been the player I brought in when Altidore went down. With all the interchangeable ten, nine, false nine and free roaming winger shenanigans you can pull, to me it's more about getting the proper balance of creativity and and clinical scoring, rather than the particular offensive formation you play. I have no doubt that Landon was sorely missed in Brasil.

Euros were great this afternoon. Some extremely juicy games coming up.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: June 22, 2016, 02:43:07 PM »

Just like he didn't bring a true backup for Jozy to the World Cup two years ago

You can't possibly bring along the US GOAT if it means the coach and his kid would lose the opportunity to settle a personal score. Priorities!

420

General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: June 22, 2016, 01:32:03 AM »

Ouch. I only got to see the second half, but that was enough.

The Euro brackets are really screwed up. Italy's reward for winning the best or second best group is Spain in R16 and probably Germany in the QF. I didn't get to see the Croatia-Spain game today, but it sounded very exciting. Not sure what Del Bosque is up to. Why leave Costa at home but then not play Pedro, and why in the hell is Ramos taking a PK? I'm not a Spain fan, but I'd be really annoyed if I was.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Rhythm Heaven Megamix Available Today, $30 US! (Only on Nintendo E Shop)

« on: June 21, 2016, 09:24:17 AM »

I bought this because of the strength of the game's reputation on this board and RFN. It's a ton of fun. I like to think I have a lot of soul, but I definitely have no rythm - I literally have my wife clap for me to like a damn elementary school music teacher to keep me on beat  - so hopefully this helps, lol.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: June 21, 2016, 05:37:47 AM »

Good luck today Insano. My mom is having surgery today so I'll obviously be focused on that, but I should be able to watch tonight. Croatia-Spain is also an awesome game, and with how Italy has looked, Croatia has real incentive to try to win outright to avoid a brutal QF R16.

423

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Complete Zelda Game Playthrough

« on: June 20, 2016, 03:12:44 PM »

I'm doing something similar, but only with the games available on the 3DS. I had beaten the LOZ and AOL on the NES when they came out, but I'll be experiencing the rest for the first time. I was about half way through the LOZ second quest when LTTP was released for the 3DS VC, so I skipped ahead to that. I'll play the rest in order of realease before finishing the first two. I don't have a ton of time to play, so I'm only about a third of the way into LTTP. My existing Zelda experience is open world hack n' slash, but my understanding is that the series has drifted away from that over the years to more linear and puzzle based games. So as the series is returning more to its origins, I'll be trying out the "new" Zelda, which seems to be the core experience for the majority of the fan base.

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General Chat / Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!

« on: June 17, 2016, 07:30:22 AM »

Lol. I have vague memories of the '95 win but was only passively following the sport at that point. I had played as a kid before switching to American football and watched the World Cup finals, but didn't really get into it until a few years later. I mostly remember the Argentinians in my neighborhood being really pissed. I'm a big Simeone fan and found Wynalda's story about him hilarious. I'd like to hear Diego's account, because it sounds a little different each time Eric tells it.

Last night was a really exciting game, but I'm obviously worried about the suspensions.

425

TalkBack / Re: New Nintendo 3DS RPG Being Announced Tomorrow

« on: June 15, 2016, 07:44:08 AM »

This is exciting. I wasn't expecting this at all, especially since Nintendo had such problems with leaking this year. I figured we would have heard about any potential big surprises.