Messages

126

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Metroid Prime 3 Revolutionized

« on: September 16, 2007, 09:50:40 AM »

Quote
Then again, I always play through a new game the first time on its "normal" or "medium" difficulty. I enjoy games for their story/plot the most, so I play through normal to get the story. If I go back later and want more of a challenge, I amp it up on the play through. Most of the time I'm content with normal difficulty, but with MP3 I might have to at least go back with Veteran.

This is also what I do, for the same reasons. Only I was expecting Normal to be a bit harder.

I'm playing Hyper Mode now.


1. It's a lot more intense.
2. The airlock door in the very beginning (where you can save the Federation trooper from being sucked into space) seems to close a lot quicker. (The guy's grip is also a lot looser, if you don't nail the target he flies away into oblivion.)
3. You don't get green vouchers for kills the second time through? Although I think you only need 15 green credits to begin with.
4. It seems a lot more difficult to suck up powerups (you have to be closer, or they won't start moving towards your charge beam)?
 

127

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Metroid Prime 3 Revolutionized

« on: September 16, 2007, 02:25:35 AM »

I'm going to see how badly Hyper Mode makes a fool out of me, starting this afternoon.

128

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Metroid Prime 3

« on: September 15, 2007, 05:33:19 PM »

I think there are three sets of bounty hunter scans- the GF lore scans, the scans as GF creatures, and the scans as Pirate creatures (boss fights).

129

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Could a language learning game work?

« on: September 15, 2007, 03:51:47 PM »

Sadly, but true.

130

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Metroid Prime 3 Revolutionized

« on: September 15, 2007, 02:05:27 PM »

I completely agree about the Mother Brain complaint. Dark Samus was kind of a pushover. The final boss wasn't really that special- just a giant brain that wasn't that much more difficult or unique than the other bosses. It wasn't even the boss that was hard, it was the way they modeled damage and health that made it difficult. I didn't like the permanent Hypermode thing either, although I suspect that the amount of Phazon you can take before dying is related to the number of tanks you had before you landed.

Also, memo to Federation demolition troopers: next time you infiltrate a heavily-guarded fortress, please wait until the bounty hunter with the PED Suit and the 15 energy tanks has cleared the room of pirates before storming in.

131

General Gaming / RE: How do you consider ratings?

« on: September 15, 2007, 01:55:31 PM »

I like Kairon's emotional-response idea. In any case, there should be solid benchmarks attached to each value. I know that not everything can be broken down objectively, but ratings based on comparable criteria can differ greatly between reviewers (or even the same reviewer over a period of time) based on things like changing perceptions and expectations, prior biases, etc.

Also, I find that reviews for niche games are kind of unhelpful. I really enjoyed Baten Kaitos Origins, for example, but that game got scores that were literally all over the board- and all those reviews hinged on the battle system, which was the 'niche' aspect of the game (more specifically, whether the reviewer liked it or not).

132

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Metroid Prime 3 Revolutionized

« on: September 15, 2007, 12:14:48 PM »

I thought Dark Samus was the easiest boss in the game. The first stage of the giant brain wasn't too bad either. The second stage got me three times, though...those yellow lasers hurt.

How much harder is Hyper Mode than Normal? I want more yellow tokens.

133

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Current WWII Shooters Are Unethical

« on: September 15, 2007, 11:54:52 AM »

Quote
Graphic violence at least leaves an impression of the consequences, whereas some "less graphic" violence makes it seem like people just disappear when they get shot.

But if you go from 'Saving Private Ryan' graphic to 'Starship Troopers: The Movie' graphic, you lose the 'war is bad' aspect and people begin complaining about gratuitous violence. After all, we can probably have a complete debate over whether the violence of the Normandy landing in a WWII film is morally or qualitatively different from the depiction of a giant alien bug ripping apart a human soldier.

Quote
I said that 1st person shooters are politically incorrect and un-ethical.
That is not a typo.
Going around, killing people for fun in a video game is now socially accepted.
Is it good or bad? Well, what do you beleive? I honestly don't care

If you think they are un-ethical, wouldn't that mean you care?

134

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Metroid Prime 3

« on: September 15, 2007, 02:23:28 AM »

Creature scans unlock red tokens, lore scans unlock blue tokens.  

135

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Metroid Prime 3 Revolutionized

« on: September 15, 2007, 02:15:29 AM »

There are little pop-ups that tell you you've unlocked X ending (like when you pick up equipment upgrades and energy cells).

136

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Whatever happened to online?

« on: September 14, 2007, 03:35:51 PM »

You trade tokens to gain access to unlockables, including trophies, the soundtrack and sound test, and concept art galleries.

137

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Predict the Daily Update Thread.

« on: September 14, 2007, 03:35:01 PM »

 I predict: a stage update tomorrow. (9/17)  

138

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Metroid Prime 3 Revolutionized

« on: September 14, 2007, 03:27:16 PM »

I thought the Primals were simply savages, though- does it say anywhere that the GF treated them like thinking beings? Although that one lore did mention how the prophetess was a Primal.

139

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Metroid Prime 3 Revolutionized

« on: September 14, 2007, 02:37:12 PM »

Yay, answers! Just one more.

I am correct in saying that there were *no* native sentient beings on Bryyo when the GF discovered the planet, right?  

[are]

140

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Current WWII Shooters Are Unethical

« on: September 14, 2007, 02:23:48 PM »

I personally do not believe ethics and morals are relative. But for the sake of this particular argument, they are. If we are to proclaim that a specific game (or any other form of media, for that matter) is unethical, we need to ask 'from whose viewpoint is it unethical- why does it matter?', and 'if it is unethical, what do we do about it?'

The first question is theoretical in basis. By whose standards are we calling war games (and by extension, war and its representations) unethical? People have different feelings about war, and about WWII. Some people feel that all violence is immoral, others feel that wars are bad in general (but WWII was a more just conflict than most), and a small minority believe that war is inherently glorious. People who view WWII as ultimately a just conflict against a foe that was quite evil are going to be more comfortable with the current way WWII games are made than people who take a more nuanced view. Also important are the roles that these games play. For many people, they are simply entertainment and nothing to get worked up over (this is the view most people seem to be taking, and it is the one I am inclined towards). Others feel like games provide meaningful social commentary and that their players do form opinions about history, warfare, and WWII in part by playing those games, and that the views these games espouse are distorting those opinions.

The second question is where people start getting touchy. Most democratic countries have free speech laws in place that allow developers to depict historical events in the form of video games in pretty much whatever manner they want (Germany may be an exception). If we do agree somehow that WWII games are immoral, unethical, or simply disrespectful, what are we to do? Boycott game developers that make those sort of games? Petition for better representation of the horrors of warfare? Simply refuse to play those games? And how should other people respond? Unfortunately, video game companies are in the business primarily to make money (just like movie studios, or the companies that publish books). If arcade-fun morally simplistic action-hero style WWII games sell (and they do), why should they bother changing up the formula- especially since it is almost guaranteed to reduce sales? To whom do they hold an obligation to accurately represent historical events- to their shareholders? The people who buy games? The people who make them? Or do war veterans simply deserve this obligation by the virtue of the sacrifices they have made? Ultimately, why does the debate matter- what are we going to do about it?

141

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Metroid Prime 3 Revolutionized

« on: September 14, 2007, 12:39:08 PM »

Stupid lore questions! (Spoilers ahead.)

The SkyTown lore implies that all the sentient robots have been corrupted by Phazon and are now working for the Space Pirates (at the time the game begins). If so:

- Why did the robots not attack the Aurora Unit?
- Why were the robots still hostile after the Aurora Unit was cured?
- Also, does the fact that Phazon is gone for good mean that SkyTown is back to normal?

142

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Metroid Prime 3 Revolutionized

« on: September 14, 2007, 10:34:31 AM »

I beat the game today. Super Ridley or whatever his name took about two minutes, but then the final final boss kept on killing me.

How much more difficult is Hyper Mode?

143

Nintendo Gaming / RE:The OFFICIAL Wii rumor thread (updated 09/09/2007)

« on: September 14, 2007, 10:04:26 AM »

Nintendo seriously considering Wii demo channel?

link

144

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Current WWII Shooters Are Unethical

« on: September 13, 2007, 04:15:24 PM »

Would they be *more* ethical if they had the blood, guts, and horrific carnage that characterized movies like Saving Private Ryan- as a reminder that war is a horrid business and not just fun and games? Or is the medium inherently disrespectful (like you said, making the Battle of Normandy into an entertainment experience)?

145

TalkBack / RE: Wii Overtakes Xbox360 In WorldWide Sales

« on: September 13, 2007, 04:11:06 PM »

Quote
GP's new sig

Does this mean I can finally play MP3 without standing on my head?

Quote
<big install base>

To play devil's advocate, how many of those units are like the ones in nursing homes, where the people who play games will never do anything besides Wii Sports and maybe Brain Age or whatever- exclusive-casual gamers, to coin a new crappy term. Wii's install base reaches into the 'blue ocean', now it's a matter of getting all those people (especially non-gamers) to walk into a store and buy more games.

I don't think it's a tremendous issue, though. I'd be willing to bet that a large part of the 'first-time' Wii install base is comprised of 'gamers' who also own another console but are willing to try something new.

Quote
Sony is in the lead, but all of a sudden he gets a cramp and slows down greatly.

EA 2006 was like Sony drinking too much water before the race and throwing up. Recent sales numbers are the cramp, and Lair was the bunch of people hired by the Triads to break his legs before he could go any further.

146

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Predict the Daily Update Thread.

« on: September 13, 2007, 04:06:23 PM »

I predict: a character update tomorrow. (9/14)

Specific: Cloud Strife, from FFVII.
More specific: The internet explodes apocalyptically as hordes of fanboys rage in battle over countless gaming forums as to whether Brawl has been utterly saved or utterly ruined. Sony files bankruptcy.

147

General Gaming / RE:Sony getting hit Hard lately (Hurry, patent Shiny Black Plastic while you still can!)

« on: September 13, 2007, 03:57:04 PM »

You know why you really got your PS3- for its Blu-ray disc player!

Quote
However, the most important function of the PS3 is the built-in Blu-ray disc player, which also reads DVD, CD and SACD, as well as embracing the new surround sound formats.

In response, some Sony exec says this:

Quote
To receive an EISA Award is a very high honour in the electronics industry and therefore to receive one for a product that is usually thought of as simply a games machine, truly highlights the versatility and quality of PS3

Heh, heh...he said 'games'.

148

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Oblivion Engine Optimized, Ported to Wii

« on: September 13, 2007, 03:49:43 PM »

I saw this and it is good news. Here's hoping Gamebryo runs better on Wii than Civilization 4: Beyond the Sword runs on my machine.

149

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Metroid Prime 3 Revolutionized

« on: September 13, 2007, 03:26:14 PM »

MP3 moves lots of copies.

This is good news from a rational perspective; third parties can only be emboldened by the fact that a '1337 n1ch3 h4rdc0re' game is doing so well on the Wii.

150

Nintendo Gaming / RE: IGN's SSB Brawl FAQ...

« on: September 13, 2007, 01:39:31 PM »

It's 'Wi-Fi Connection', not 'Wifi Connection'. And besides, it looks like a hack job regardless.