Messages

2226

TalkBack / RE:Japan Gets W-Packs

« on: July 12, 2004, 03:19:24 PM »

Hmmm, haven't posted in a while...

I'm seen all sorts of double movie packs at HMV, so it's pretty much the same idea.  I don't know how well the double movie sets sell but some of them seem like a really good deal at reduced prices.  But they're not always the greatest movies.  Hopefully no one will think a double pack of games means that they're "bargain bin"-type games, but then again even the most casual gamer knows that Mario Kart is a fun game.  This might convince me to look again at that, and other titles that I've not spent the money on.

2227

TalkBack / RE:Tales of Symphonia Movies

« on: June 02, 2004, 04:08:57 PM »

Is it just me, or does clicking on the Intro video file bring everybody back to the main page?  Without starting the download?

2228

TalkBack / RE:Max Drive Hits GameCube

« on: June 02, 2004, 06:07:43 AM »

Hmmm, more choices...

I was thinking about picking up The Legend Of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, a Memory Card 1019, and a GBA SP next week...I can't decide between Platinum or the NES edition one...but I think the NES one comes out on the same day...  One-stop shopping is good for a lazy bum like myself.

But now that I hear about this, looks like I have another decision to make...  I liked the DexDrive for the N64, but this PC-transferability is built right into the third-party memory card...  Can I trust third-party cards of this size?  I seem to recall issues with similarly-sized cards in the past...

[mouse_clicker]

2229

TalkBack / RE:Japanese Mario vs. Donkey Kong Commercial

« on: May 31, 2004, 05:18:19 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: mouse_clicker
If you ask me, NOA and NOE should just use NCL's commercials- I think it'd work great. They'd certainly stand out.

Totally.  Why don't they?  They wouldn't have to spend as much on advertising if they just used their Japanese branch's commercials (though of course, adding English titles and suggested retail price in dollars), from a sort of economical perspective.  And they'd stand out, like you say.

Many games (with some exceptions like sports games and FPSes) are known to have come from Japan anyway, so whatever Japanesque elements remain wouldn't alienate any gamers.  And this commercial in particular is cute and simple that anybody would like it anyway.

2230

TalkBack / RE:Meet the Nintendo DS!

« on: May 11, 2004, 06:30:09 AM »

I'm still excited about the DS, but at the same time I can't help but feel a little irked.  I'm glad it can play GBA games, but that's part of that irk.

I held off on getting FF:CC and another GBA (though probably an SP this time around) when I heard of the possibility of a NES-themed SP.  Well, now I'm bored of FF:CC just through a couple rentals (though I was limited to single-player which killed the point).

Being a big Zelda fan I was going to consider getting a GBA SP (even though I might not want the NES one anymore) for Four Swords Adventures.  But now this comes along.

I don't know if I want it to be fully compatible with the GBA-GCN link cable...if it is, I could wait for that instead of ever getting an SP...it'd be a longer wait, but then I'd save some money.  But I want to play FSA soon, and for that I'd need to spend the money to get a GBA SP even though that'd probably be the only reason I'd get it.

Maybe if I wasn't a cheapskate...

If they'd released FSA before E3 I wouldn't be so hesitant...  

[joeamis]

2231

TalkBack / RE:Square-Enix Announces E3 Line Up

« on: May 07, 2004, 05:36:07 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: joeamis
Unless the DS dual screen provides greater incentive than the PSP version of the game... (depends on the developer, and you know some developers won't even make good use of it)

Until or unless the DS replaces the GBA, I would think that developers would be better off making the game for the GBA.  Last I heard (though I could be wrong) the DS isn't uberly more powerful than the GBA, so games that don't require a second screen so much could just put it on the GBA which will of course have a huge user base already.  (Hopefully someone can prove me wrong, about the DS's lack of a leap in power, as I'm hoping the DS is more than a double-screened GBA.)  If Nintendo is pretty insistent about the DS being a "third pillar", and if the DS turns out not to be able to backwards-compatibly play GBA games, then the DS might not replace the GBA for at least a little while.

Hopefully all of these developers that are interested in the DS will make at least some use of the dual screens and whatever innovations it might have.

2232

TalkBack / RE:First DS Game Announced

« on: May 06, 2004, 04:55:36 AM »

I wonder if they mean Mahjong as in Mah-jongg, or that other game with the same tiles, the Taipei/Shanghai games of matching pairs to reduce a stack?  I think "real" Mah-jongg, despite its similarities to card games like Rummy, hasn't ever been released in game form to mainstream North American audiences.  So I'm guessing it's the "reduce-the-stack"-type of game.

Now was Urban Yeti! any good?  It seemed really...yucky, in my opinion, and my brother told me about some commercial where somebody specially orders a copy of the game.  Bizarre.

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TalkBack / RE:Nintendo DS Attracts Worldwide Developers

« on: May 06, 2004, 04:51:12 AM »

When I first heard of the DS I wasn't sure what to think.  But with all thse investors and developers interested in it, they must know something us consumers don't.  So lately I've been hyped up about it, and news like this continue to reinforce that feeling.

Come E3, you know that I'm going to be all over anything about the DS...while the next Zelda and Metroid games fight for my attention as well.  Whoa.  Less than a week...

[joeamis]

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TalkBack / RE:Square-Enix Announces E3 Line Up

« on: May 05, 2004, 03:23:43 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: joeamis
The names of characters are also very important, how effective of a boss would Sephiroth have been if his name was Swordman, Carr (like Vann), Dustt (like Ashe), or Grayhair?

I found this funny.  Carr and Dustt.  Heh heh.  My cousin had a Turbo GrafX-16 when we visited Toronto over a decade ago.  We mostly played this...get this...a racing RPG.  Final Lap Twin?  Oh, I forget, but I could look it up if anyone's interested.  The names of the towns in the game were of real cities, just changed around, or with a letter added or removed, like Algary and Oronto or something like that, obvious takes on Canadian cities.  What you said about "New Yorke City" reminded me of that.

Wasn't it Evolution Worlds with character names like Gre Nade and Mag Launcher?  I never played it; it was yet another GameCube RPG that the Blockbuster near my house didn't pick up.  But I recall something like that, as well as the upcoming Tales of Symphonia naming characters like Genius Sage and such.  I suppose the names do set the tone of the game...but what were we talking about again?

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TalkBack / RE:First DS Game Announced

« on: May 05, 2004, 03:16:48 PM »

Though I probably won't be looking forward to this specific compilation of games, I'm guessing it somehow makes use of the innovations of the DS, otherwise they'd release it on the GBA and sell more, and sooner.

Though at the same time maybe they think it'd sell more on the DS anyway than if they were to release it on the GBA because it'd be one of the few DS games near its launch...

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TalkBack / RE:Shrek 2 OST Released

« on: May 05, 2004, 11:37:06 AM »

Of all the games to get a soundtrack CD...

If there was something catchy like the original Shrek's Smash Mouth's remake of The Monkees' I'm A Believer, that kind of thing would probably also be on the movie soundtrack, I'm sure.  The game soundtrack must have stuff from the game, and while the game may not be out yet and I haven't heard it, I still ask...why?

There are many other games equally or more deserving of a game soundtrack, I'm sure, and none have been made officially available.  It's like this is meant to be sold to parents who want to be hip and all that by buying a Shrek product, and a game soundtrack at that, to appear cutting edge or some crap like that.

[Ian Sane]

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TalkBack / RE:Square-Enix Announces E3 Line Up

« on: May 05, 2004, 11:31:23 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
"yes, Final Fantasy VII was a good game, can we get over that already?!?"

It's not just a good game it's the best rgp EVER.  

It may or may not be, but I find it annoying because it seems like every new FF RPG that comes out, it brings FFVII back into the top ten list at GameFAQs.

It's like if there's someone you know who's perfect, you wouldn't mind their presence, but you definitely would mind if they wouldn't shut up about it.  I stand by my statement...FFVII is good, fine, even uber-great if you wish, but if I've played it, and you've played it, and I've replayed it, and you've replayed it, then what's the point?  Move on to another game!

I played it, and I enjoyed it, but I'd rather play games I haven't played than replay that game multiple times over.  You'd think everyone in the world has played it to death by now, yet all we keep hearing is how great FFVII is.  I'd bet over half of those people didn't play VI or below.  While some people are just shallow, you can't deny that FFVI was, for its time, a pretty damn good game as well.  You don't have to think it's better than VII, but you can't write it off because the graphics "burn [your] eyes".  I've actually heard that said about 16-bit graphics.  A shame.

FF is the source of my love-hate because while many of its games are pretty good, at times it just seems to pander to those who think great graphics are all that.  While I may certainly sound like a good game shouldn't have good graphics, which is not the case, the overusage of FMV in the VII-and-above games, and the whole dress-up concept of X-2, makes me wonder if they're giving in to what's simpler - graphics instead of gameplay.

And whoever it was who thought I was throwing insults around; I'm not a malicious guy and I wasn't referring to anyone specific - I'm sure everyone has cursed groups of people as a whole.  I can identify with the FF fans who played a lot of FF games and enjoy their depth and subtleties, but I certainly don't agree with the FF fans who just like the graphics and refuse to play the early games.  It's like knowing a sports fan who doesn't know the rules of the sport.  What's up with that?

And now, I'm certain, this post has made me sound more of a jerk than I meant.

2238

TalkBack / RE:First Goldeneye: Rogue Agent Details

« on: May 05, 2004, 05:54:53 AM »

Kind of weird how "GoldenEye" goes from being an EMP-equipped satellite to being...the name of a guy and his literally golden eye.

Which is pretty stupid, in my opinion.  It's like they're selling it with the GoldenEye name solely to catch the attention of those who loved the movie (the best James Bond movie, IMO) and of course, the classic N64 game.

Since James Bond was the name of a bird watcher or something, that'd be like selling a bird-watching game with the James Bond name.  Okay, maybe it's not that bad, but still...

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TalkBack / RE:Square-Enix Announces E3 Line Up

« on: May 05, 2004, 04:45:19 AM »

As overrated as Square games are (yes, Final Fantasy VII was a good game, can we get over that already?!?) I do usually enjoy them.  There are a lot of morons out there who think it's impossible to be a Final Fantasy fan as well as a Nintendo fan.  I played the first six (yes, even the Japanese ones), rented VII with a PSX, though I eventually got it on the PC as well as VIII, and when the PS2 came out there was no shortage of now-obsolete PSXes (since PS2s are backwards-compatible) to borrow to play IX on.  Never had to own a Sony console for most of that series.  With XI on the PC, the only "main" series FFs I'm missing out on are X and X-2 (which is pronounced ten-too, not ecks-too, morons), but my FF record is still better than those who came to the series at VII and think they're all that.  What annoys me is when they refuse to play the past games because they can't stand the graphics.  Some fans they are.

I heard a rumour that FFXII might come to the GCN, but then again it's just a rumour.  Anybody could've said that.  Planet GameCube even has FFXI (the online one which shouldn't have been called XI IMO) listed as rumoured for the GCN - someone should update that as it's an old entry referring to Yamauchi.  But what I heard which was also interesting (though also a rumour) was a FF game on the 'Cube more in the traditional vein than Crystal Chronicles.

Anyway, it's just one franchise, even if it's their main one...  Even if I usually like FF games I won't consider it a tremendous loss if they continue to put all their games on Sony's consoles here on out.  Or I could just get a PS2, but then I'd probably just wait for the PStwo or the PS3...or borrow a PS2 when the PS3s come out, I only really need to play a handful of PS2 games since several are also on the PC.

Still, Kingdom Hearts for the GBA could be cool...the original would be something I'd consider playing if I got my hands on a PS2.  Disney and Square-Enix.  Weird crossover.  Yet from what I've seen, it somehow meshes well.

[Ian Sane]

2240

TalkBack / RE:Nintendo Patents GBA Emulation

« on: April 29, 2004, 03:34:01 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
If someone made a device that allowed you to play physical GBA carts on your cell phone it would not affect Nintendo's profits because if it played real GBA carts the games sales wouldn't be affected and that's where the money is.

I was actually thinking about this earlier today...emulators of console systems (that use some kind of disc) on the PC you'd think would be encouraged by hardware makers.  They wouldn't lose the money that they apparently lose on every console produced if people didn't have to buy them (assuming that they forsee this lack of demand and don't make more than necessary, of course), and if the people using the emulators are buying the actual game discs then they're making money without that initial "loss".  Plus, with encouragement to emulate, they'd be tapping into the PC gamer market, for those people that see it as apparently a distinct market (I don't, myself, at least not totally distinct, but that's just my opinion).  It might lead to the point where hardware makers might just give up and go for the PC (since everyone has one) and release proprietary emulators to read their proprietary game discs.  (Hope I'm spelling and using the word "proprietary" correctly...)

But for the GBA, which uses cartridges, emulation requiring a "dump" of the game ROM...yeah, I can see why that's illegal.  But I also see that strange point...would any device that lets you play GBA games on something other than a GBA/GBA SP/GBP become absolutely illegal?  I can understand the possibility of authorities busting down doors of mega-pirates, but who's really going to care if you had some third-party GBA game player?

Basically, what I'm saying is, you can make laws, but who's going to enforce them?  

[PGC NewsBot]

2241

TalkBack / RE:MCV Industry Excellence Awards Announced in London

« on: April 23, 2004, 02:19:26 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: PGC NewsBot

Most Improved Company
Ubisoft

Hmmm, yeah, I did seem to be playing a lot of UbiSoft games as of late...

2242

TalkBack / RE:New Nintendo TV Spots

« on: April 22, 2004, 09:25:43 AM »

I was about to say that I liked the GCN ads, but peer pressure may make me change my mind...  *whimper*

Though I suppose it's true that it doesn't say much about the games themselves.  Watching very little TV these days, any burst of advertising that I hear of is going to sound like a good thing, I guess.  Maybe I need to watch more TV.  I may think I know all about Nintendo but when it comes to seeing what the average TV-watching Joe sees about Nintendo I have little to no idea.

I have seen the commercial for Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox, and several PS2 game ones.  Whether Nintendo tries to copy that humourous style while pushing its "who are you?" thing succeeds I have no idea.

I'm surprised they don't show many Nintendo commercials  during Kirby: Right Back At Ya! episodes (though now that I think about it, I have seen the Metroid: Zero Mission one on that channel and others).  And for that matter, Pokémon, if they don't.  Nintendo-related cartoons may be advertisements in themselves, but since you've got people interested in Nintendo characters already watching the "'tube" (do they call TV that anymore?), you'd think the shows should practically always have some Nintendo commercials with them.

And now that I'm wishy-washy and going in circles, it would probably be best to show commercials on shows that have less to do with Nintendo, to reach a larger audience.  Yeah, maybe that's what they should do.

Remember those ads of the Super NES and Genesis, cutting into each other?  Why don't they do that?  Like for the kiddy image, even though it may be retarded to even bring it up, show games like Eternal Darkness next to the PS2's Blue's Clues and Olsen Twins and etc.  Though many people might find that absurd.  I don't know.  I'll shut up, I guess.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE:PSP vs NDS: Capcom Support Rumors

« on: April 22, 2004, 06:14:17 AM »

Furthering my point about the pointlessness of the "Capcom 5", the PS2 now also gets not only the sequel to Viewtiful Joe, but the original Viewtiful Joe itself, with the inclusion of Dante, from Devil May Cry.  Doesn't this bring the "Capcom 5" down to two, with Resident Evil 4 (which many knew was likely to be exclusive anyway) and P.N.03, which wasn't as big of a hit as they'd hoped?  However, that's the GCN.

On the DS, someone mentioned before somewhere about how cool it would be to have a survival horror game with one screen being the point of view of the predator.  Some derivative or side story of Resident Evil might be kind of neat.  Capcom's created all sorts of new franchises lately, so if that flow of creativity doesn't stop, maybe Capcom could come up with some pretty neat DS-specific stuff.

Perhaps one reason the DS has appeal to developers is that the dual screens must be some wild innovation that works, and though the PSP might become decent in sales and power, it's just a single screen for playing games, no different in game design from previous handhelds or consoles, really.  It's kind of neat to see a whole new product borne from innovation.  Sure, Nintendo may have brought back analogue sticks and popularized force feedback for the N64, but then Sony copied those for its analog Dual Shock controllers.  Having a whole 'nother screen with a good enough function is tough to implement without starting from scratch, though.  Any game on the DS with both screens being vital to play couldn't be easily ported to the PSP.

If the above in the original post(s) about the Capcom employee has some truth to it, then that'd be great for Capcom fans when and if it translates into games.

[B]

2244

Nintendo Gaming / Could they really distinguish this apart from the Game Boy line?

« on: April 22, 2004, 06:01:07 AM »

Nintendo has called this their "third pillar", a new product distinct from their GBAs and GCNs.  But could it really be the start of a whole new line of products separate from consoles and (Game Boy) handhelds?

Obviously details are still scarce about the DS, but I still don't see enough to consider this an entirely new product.  It's still a handheld, and primarily for playing games.  It might hit a different market if it did more than play games, like playing videos or running applications but I don't see this kind of thing coming from Nintendo.

By not having the Game Boy name attached to it, and insisting on that difference, sure, that's a sign.  Though the average Joe consumer would call any handheld a Game Boy.

The "Game Boy" name itself sells a lot...the product must be radically new enough to distinguish itself apart from the other Game Boys (at least to those other than the average Joe) if they won't even call it a Game Boy.  Otherwise, as I joked on other boards, they should call it the Game Boy Advance DuAl Screened System.  Note the acronym.

I had more questions than this, but I'm guessing like everyone else, we'd have to wait until at least E3 for further details...*sigh*

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Nintendo Gaming / RE:PSP vs NDS: Capcom Support Rumors

« on: April 21, 2004, 02:16:37 PM »

Some people I know seemed to think Mega Man was a Nintendo character.  I don't know if it was from Captain N or something weird like that, but even so, in the PSX days some people still thought that.  Weird.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE:PSP vs NDS: Capcom Support Rumors

« on: April 21, 2004, 08:47:55 AM »

I suppose there are business-related and technical issues, but Capcom's support for Nintendo has kind of been waffling.

Sure, in the NES and Super NES days, they rocked with platform games like Mega Man and some Disney games.  They had some games on Sega systems, but not very many, and it didn't seem like those they did release weren't as big as the Nintendo releases.  Maybe the standard Super NES' number of buttons were helpful in that when they got into fighting games.  When the PSX came along, though, they expanded into more genres, but I think all they gave the N64 was that Magical Tetris game with Mickey Mouse.  Sure, they later gave the N64 an enhanced Resident Evil 2 and the grossly mislabelled Mega Man 64 (which should've been called Mega Man Legends 64, in my opinion) but both of those were still just ports.

Then the GameCube comes along and they pledge the main games in their major survival horror series to that.  And then they have this whole big thing about the "Capcom 5", which whittles down to 4 and then Capcom wants to put Killer 7 on the PS2 as well as the sequel to Viewtiful Joe.  From a list of Capcom's games at the next E3, they clearly have more PS2 games than those on the GCN (and Xbox), so I wonder why the big deal about those 5 (or 4).

For the consumer there's very little difference between an actually-pledged exclusive and a game that isn't ported over to other systems (for any other of a number of reasons).

So if Capcom likes the NDS over the PSP, yay for Nintendo fans, yay for Nintendo, and if it does turn out that the PSP is a flop in some sense and the NDS holds up then yay for Capcom.

I'm not sure where my point was, but in typing all that stuff about Capcom's varying degrees of support in the past, I suppose I could make the point that if there's truth to that original post that that one guy at Capcom thinks the NDS is more viable than the PSP.  So there might be some smart business moves there.  But when you boil it down to that, it may just be one guy who thinks that.  I heard a former Square-Enix guy (there sure are a lot of them though) say that the GameCube was like the second coming of the Super NES.  Kinda hard to gauge that one...

Oh well, Capcom is a big name, I'll give them that.

[Ian Sane]

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Nintendo Gaming / RE:New NDS article over at IGN: must read!

« on: April 21, 2004, 08:18:47 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
Now you're probably thinking I'm overreacting because there's nothing that two screens can do that the addition of touchscreen functionality is going to prevent.  That's true but I'm thinking about what Nintendo's motivation for the system is.  I thought they wanted to have two screens to expand visibility and after giving it some thought it sounded like a really cool idea.  However if they add a touchscreen the motivation moves to having the ability to "touch" things on the screen which I am not interested in at all.  If Nintendo's motivation for making the system is about "touching" things than that's likely ALL they will ever use it for and that just doesn't sound very interesting to me.

Hmmm, I think I know what Ian Sane is getting at.

Nintendo has been known to not include what isn't necessary, so if they go to the trouble of putting in touch-screen functionality, they probably plan on using it a good deal of the time.  If developers don't use it, the next version of the DS (assuming it becomes another whole line of products for Nintendo besides handhelds and consoles) might do without it, similar to the GBC's rarely-used infrared port.

Hey, has anyone tried using a prism to see if they could do three-way Pokémon trading with that infrared port?

Anyway, that port isn't on the GBA, so it was a dud of an idea.  We'll see how the touch-screen thing goes, I guess.  I'm guessing Nintendo themselves will probably use it the most early on.  

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Nintendo Gaming / RE:How would a shooter work?

« on: April 21, 2004, 08:11:25 AM »

I adapt to things pretty well, like controllers and stuff (I don't know how and why people keep complaining about certain ones), but shooters (as in FPSes) and other 3D games like 3D platformers on handhelds might take a little longer for me to get used too.  I haven't played the GBA FPSes currently out there.

See, when I hold a handheld, I'm mostly looking down at it.  In an FPS or 3D game when you move forward, it'd be like moving downward...every time you move it looks like you're falling.  This is not an issue on a vertical screen like a TV screen or monitor, but I'm not going to be holding the handheld straight in front of me to get the proper perspective.  If handheld screens weren't so small, the surroundings wouldn't cause this relative downwardness.

But I haven't seen anyone else ever mention this as a problem, and I'd probably adapt eventually anyway, so maybe it's not a concern.

Seeing as how there are FPSes and other variations of shooters on the GBA already, a shooter on a DS could work, assuming the same, similar, or not too radical difference in control scheme.

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TalkBack / RE:Nintendo Picks Up Three Awards at Game Stars Live

« on: April 19, 2004, 03:54:15 PM »

Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon.

Hardly a surprise to anyone...makes you wonder why some people such as my friends don't play these games.

2250

TalkBack / RE:Thirty DS Titles at E3

« on: April 09, 2004, 01:34:28 PM »

30, hey?  Solid number.  Very nice.

However, this doesn't mean it'll have at least 30 games by launch, this is just how many they could be showing at E3.  Though the fact that they've got that many to show is pretty impressive nonetheless.

The games, especially if there are some AAA titles, will probably be spread out release date-wise just because that's a smarter thing to do to maintain interest in the system and to have steady sales.

I wonder if the system's really easy to develop on, or easy to port to?  That might explain that solid number.

I saw a preview video of "Death Jr.", a game on the PSP, so if the DS is going to compete against the PSP (despite the fact that they say it doesn't directly compete with it, it would still probably have to), hopefully it has impressive 3D games.  I love "oldskool" games, 2D games, simple games, and graphics don't really matter to me, but I'm sure it will matter to a lot of people.