Messages

11151

TalkBack / Re: WiiWare Games Required to Hit Sales Threshold

« on: April 26, 2009, 10:54:49 PM »

This is almost as silly as that $.16 per download fee Sony charges developers for each download on the PlayStation Network.  Considering how much crap is on WiiWare, it's easy to see good games getting buried and not reaching that threshold (of course, if that does happen on a good game I find the company's marketing pathetic).  I don't care how much a game sells: developers should recoup whatever their games make on WiiWare after Nintendo takes their cut. From my perspective this threshold hasn't done much to deter bad WiiWare titles so far, so I don't see much harm in dropping it.

11152

TalkBack / Re: Ghostbusters Trailer Released

« on: April 26, 2009, 10:28:57 PM »

*shrugs*

Not as geekily-awesome as that Intro Cinematic trailer on gametrailers for the PS3/360 version (which deserves an award for utter nostalgia pandering), but still well-done.  The trailer makes the controls look intriguing...but then again, so did the trailer for Alone in the Dark on Wii and we all know how that turned out.

11153

TalkBack / Re: Let's Play GC on the Wii!

« on: April 26, 2009, 10:16:32 PM »

The problem with the glorified ports GC->Wii isn't that they exist (If you own them already, it doesn't affect you.  If you don't, you have an opportunity to play them for the first time.).  The problem is that developers aren't releasing good new original Wii titles to coincide with the old, so the old takes on a much greater focus.  In the past 7 months or so we've gotten what...2 quality releases, none of which having tremendously-great lasting appeal (Madworld, HotD: Overkill)?

I just don't know about the Wii these days.  Especially after getting that PS3 earlier this month, I've just been increasingly less interested and disenchanted with my Wii.  These days the thing basically just serves as a platform for me to play old games from my childhood and the rare good original WiiWare title.  I bought into the dream with the Wii: that the thing would revolutionize how we play games, that we'd be seeing the cutting edge in game design to coincide with the future of interface devices.  Instead so far we've gotten maybe 3 games that couldn't be done easily on one of the other consoles that really took advantage of what the Wiimote can do (those being Zack & Wiki, Umbrella Chronicles, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption).  Honorable mention to No More Heroes as well.  Aside from those, the vast majority have just been traditional designs that poorly attempt to graft button mashing onto the Wii's waggle functionality, old games I already own, and games made for people who don't care about games.  It's sad when my first 5 PS3 games (Dead Space, Alone in the Dark: Inferno, Valkyria Chronicles, Mirror's Edge, Bioshock) do more to try to advance game design within their respective genres than anything I've played on Wii.

11154

TalkBack / Re: XSEED Games no longer Publishing Muramasa

« on: April 22, 2009, 04:27:36 PM »

Umm...whatever?  At this point, shouldn't this title be VERY entrenched in the localization process (if it's going to meet its September 2009 release date), so does it really matter who's paying the paychecks at this point?

11155

TalkBack / Re: Amazon.com Starts Selling WiiWare Games

« on: April 22, 2009, 04:06:26 PM »

I disagree, I think WOG is vastly over-rated. I think it's a decent game, but overpriced at $15 and I am happy I didn't pay for it (I got it in the NeoGAF Secret Santa program).

We found a witch!  May we burn her?   

Seriously, the game isn't perfect and can be really frustrating at times, but it is easily the best game on WiiWare right now and is the standard by which all future games on the service must be judged now.

11156

TalkBack / Re: Amazon.com Starts Selling WiiWare Games

« on: April 22, 2009, 11:46:27 AM »

I'm confused.  What exactly is the point of this?  To bypass the points system?  If the games were discounted on Amazon, then maybe I can see the benefits (though I highly doubt we'll see this happen on a service Nintendo directly controls) but otherwise there's not much difference.

11157

TalkBack / Re: Final Games in New Play Control Series Dated for Japan

« on: April 22, 2009, 09:24:56 AM »

Star Fox Assault
Seems like yet another good fit for pointer controls. Might either be released after a new Star Fox or to build hype for a new one.

No, no, and I repeat "NO!"  I'm all for games getting in New Play Control that deserved more exposure than they got when they released.  That does NOT mean we put games in that series that sold poorly when they were released becauase they were crap.

Honestly, the only games you listed that really deserve NPC status is Luigi's Mansion (it'd actually be playable now) and maybe Toadstool Tour and 1080 Avalanche.  Mario Sunshine wasn't a great game either, and NPC controls would be rather pointless because they wouldn't change the game much.

11158

TalkBack / Re: Warner Bros. and Harmonix Announce LEGO Rock Band

« on: April 22, 2009, 08:14:58 AM »

Wow, this has to be one of the most pointless uses of a license I've ever seen.  What exactly about Lego will make Rock Band any different?  Yeah, maybe the band members will rip each other's limbs off.

So goddamn metal.

Huh?

11159

TalkBack / Re: Warner Bros. and Harmonix Announce LEGO Rock Band

« on: April 21, 2009, 09:50:22 PM »

Wow, this has to be one of the most pointless uses of a license I've ever seen.  What exactly about Lego will make Rock Band any different?  Yeah, maybe the band members will rip each other's limbs off.  Whatever.  I wonder given that this is a "family friendly" license if the entire Rock Band experience will now be done with up to 2 buttons?

11160

TalkBack / Re: New Play Control Series to End After Metroid Prime 2, Chibi Robo

« on: April 21, 2009, 06:02:39 PM »

And let's be serious here: Ian, do you really think this Nintendo is actually using resources on NPC titles that they would have put towards new projects we'd actually be interested in?  If the devs weren't working on NPC Wind Waker, they'd be working on Wii Music 2 or whatnot...not Zelda Wii.  Call me pessimistic (a stretch, I know), but I feel the days of Nintendo actually devoting major resources to titles we care about are behind us.  They'll toss us a bone every now and then, but that's about it.

While I suspect this can I not wish for better?  I think the development of NPC titles could have been better used on new core gamer content.  Giving us remakes instead of new games SUCKS and they HAVE done that since Nintendo has released literally ZERO new Wii games in 2009 thus far.  NPC's have not complimented new content.  Now you could suggest that we were going to get a big drought anyway so at least the NPC's filled in the gap but I personally don't buy it.

So maybe if Nintendo wasn't working on these they would work on something I would find equally disinteresting.  Okay, fine but then I would complain that they were neglecting core gamers in favour of non-gamers.  Realistically it's the same thing.

But when presented with the option of eating dirt or eating mud one doesn't have to make a choice.  You can say "I don't want to eat either."  I reject BOTH options and demand something else.  Scaling back the remakes (at least for now) is still a good thing.  I'm not optimistic Nintendo will suddenly bust out all these core games but they COULD and that's still something.  I still see an end to the New Play Control series as a positive thing.

The thing is, I don't equate the two because there's a dramatic shift in quality: the NPC games aren't bad games, just games some would consider unnecessary re-releases with a questionable price tag.  You're saying you'd rather have Nintendo working on Wii Music 2 than NPC Pikmin, and there's just something wrong there.   

Seriously, I get what you're saying.  I just think Nintendo has organized their divisions so the folks who would be working on an epic core title are working on epic core titles.  They probably have the folks on the lower rungs working on these remakes (with the exception perhaps of Retro with the Prime remakes), who would be working on other similarly important titles anyway.

11161

TalkBack / Re: New Play Control Series to End After Metroid Prime 2, Chibi Robo

« on: April 21, 2009, 05:53:39 PM »

They'll toss us a bone every now and then, but that's about it.

Kind of like N64.

Well, not quite.  It may feel like that, but I can't think of many games in that era that weren't targeted at core gamers.  We just didn't get games very often, period.  I honestly hope that Nintendo proves me wrong at this year's E3 with a blowout of core franchises with AAA quality installments, but right not I'm not optimistic because that would cost money and Nintendo probably doesn't see the point when they can spend 10% of the cost with 800% (I'm exagerating, yes) of the profit just making the latest "casual" (God I hate using that term after playing stuff like World of Goo and Peggle and whatnot that are a completely different breed of casual game) crap.

11162

TalkBack / Re: New Play Control Series to End After Metroid Prime 2, Chibi Robo

« on: April 21, 2009, 05:28:56 PM »

I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed if this is true.  There were still older Nintendo games could there that could have really benefited from becoming a NPC title.  As much as I bag on Nintendo, I never minded the NPC series because it brought back games that didn't really get the attention they should have gotten back in the day.  And let's be serious here: Ian, do you really think this Nintendo is actually using resources on NPC titles that they would have put towards new projects we'd actually be interested in?  If the devs weren't working on NPC Wind Waker, they'd be working on Wii Music 2 or whatnot...not Zelda Wii.  Call me pessimistic (a stretch, I know), but I feel the days of Nintendo actually devoting major resources to titles we care about are behind us.  They'll toss us a bone every now and then, but that's about it.

11163

TalkBack / Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing

« on: April 20, 2009, 01:23:22 PM »

I thought real gamers replayed their games regardless of "length."

All 66,000 of them already bought the game (including me, by the way, in case you forgot).  To the general public, Madworld is not worth its price right now.

11164

TalkBack / Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing

« on: April 20, 2009, 12:28:51 PM »

I'm a little surprised at the sales for Chinatown Wars, but it's on the DS so it'll have legs.  Madworld on the other hand, doesn't surprise me at all.  It's a $29.99 6-hour wack-a-thon being sold for $49.99, and in this economy that just doesn't cut it.  To give a direct example, one of the biggest complaints last year against Mirror's Edge was that the game was a 6-8 hour game sold for $60.  The people who did buy it largely felt cheated, and that sentiment spread throughout the internet as it always does and probably really hurt the game (if sales numbers are any indication).  However, I recently purchased the game New at $20, and I'm perfectly fine with the experience because I feel like the entertainment the game provided was worth the amount I spent.

If SEGA would cut the price on Madworld, I think they could recoup their losses and gamers would come away feeling their money was well-spent.  As it is, I don't see this game having legs.  It's just too niche and honestly...not all that great to begin with.  I know there's this sentiment in the community that every unique game deserves to sell a million copies just because it is.  But sometimes unique games fail to sell because they didn't earn the sell.

11165

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories confirmed for Wii!

« on: April 18, 2009, 07:19:59 AM »

Are the movies actually a continuity? I thought they just made up closed scenarios for those with stuff taken from the comic books but no real continuity (besides not using the same villain as that would lack variety).

Kind of: Batman and Batman Returns; Batman Forever and Batman & Robin; and Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

11166

TalkBack / Re: Resident Evil 5 (PS3): An Informal Review

« on: April 14, 2009, 06:33:43 AM »

Hmm...I just got a PS3 over the weekend, and one of the first things I did once I set up my PlayStation Network account was to download the RE5 demo because I had really been looking forward to that game.  Thing is, I don't know if it's because I tried playing that demo after sinking some time into Dead Space, but I really didn't like the demo.  Maybe it's the controls.  Before I played the demo, I was among the people who didn't really understand the complaints about the RE5 control scheme, as I had little issue with it in RE4 GCN.  However, I've since played RE4 Wii and Dead Space, so when I play the RE5 demo I can understand why people complain about the controls: they are really clunky, especially compared to Dead Space (which allowed you to shoot while walking, and yet was pretty creepy).

It also doesn't help that the demo doesn't really have any of the RE5 story elements, which are what I'd be buying the game for.  I don't know, maybe it's just a really bad demo.

11167

TalkBack / Re: This Week in Nintendo Downloads

« on: April 13, 2009, 11:42:14 PM »

while i know the pirate game is 100% kiddy, i wonder about timing on Nintendo's part. Seems odd since the captain of the ship was just rescued by pirates yesterday. whatever

You know, I was so caught up on the usual idiotic WiiWare name I hadn't even thought of that, but yeah Nintendo's timing is pretty unfortunate in this case.  You'd think out of the sake of good taste they would have bumped up another WiiWare release instead.

11168

TalkBack / Re: Rapid Blogging Comes to Wii with Twiiter

« on: April 12, 2009, 05:27:50 PM »

I think this clip pretty much sums up my thoughts on this news: http://current.com/items/89891774/supernews_twouble_with_twitters.htm

Only even more pointless since it's based on a home console.

11169

TalkBack / Re: Sales of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Double

« on: April 11, 2009, 08:11:33 PM »

With the information provided, this really isn't that big of news.

If they sold two copies before and now, suddenly, sold four copies - whoo-hooo!

That sounds suspiciously similar to a Family Guy joke about Robot Chicken...

In any case, as Telltale Games has said they were happy with the sales of the series on WiiWare before this news this can only be a good sign of things to come on WiiWare.  Maybe GOOD developers will see the service as financially viable now and will start bringing over more World of Goo-caliber games.  I'd especially love for LucasArts to start bringing over their library of P&C Adventure Games (or, heaven forbid, make new ones), considering they're bringing Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis (awesome game, by the way) over via the new Wii Indiana Jones game.

11170

TalkBack / Re: Conduit A.S.E. Trailer Looks Fantastic

« on: April 10, 2009, 01:18:19 AM »

Most likely it's a glorified key card, hacking module, cloak flashlight, and whatever interface dongle it needs to be.

The masks in Zelda:OoT and MM were glorified keycards.

Some were, yes.  However, in Majora's Mask several of them (Deku, Goron, Zora, Fierce Deity) radically changed how you played the game.  There's the difference.

11171

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii userbase least used of all platforms

« on: April 09, 2009, 01:03:17 PM »

Well, what do you expect with a platform where something actually worth playing for more than 5 minutes comes out about every 3-4 months (or in scattered bunches once or twice a year), run by a company not terribly interested anymore in gamer's games anymore?   

I'm sorry if that makes me sound like a troll, but being a lifetime Nintendo fan is so frustrating...

11172

TalkBack / Re: Conduit A.S.E. Trailer Looks Fantastic

« on: April 09, 2009, 07:06:56 AM »

Whatever.  If that's as original as this game's only original feature is going to get, then count me out.

You obviously hate first-person shooters, so why bother?

I don't hate the genre.  Back in the day I loved Goldenye; Perfect Dark; both Timesplitters GameCube games; etc., and I still love Bioshock.  I'm just increasingly weary of assembly-line FPSs, just as I am growing increasingly critical of the J-RPG despite it being my favorite gaming genre. 

Also, Bioshock set the bar for the FPS, showing that you can still do new things in an old genre.  Once you've played one of the best the genre has to offer, I find it nearly impossible to play lesser games now.  It's just like how I can't play standard-issue Adventure games anymore after playing the Zelda series, or standard-issue Platformers after playing the Mario series.  If the game doesn't seem to do anything new anymore, I'm not going to waste the 2-3 hours of free time (if I'm lucky...yesterday I pulled a 14-hour work shift) I have these days for gaming on it.  That doesn't necessarily mean the game sucks, just that I have better things to do with my time.

11173

TalkBack / Re: Conduit A.S.E. Trailer Looks Fantastic

« on: April 09, 2009, 12:07:12 AM »

Well, it's nice to get a trailer for the A.S.E., though after watching the trailer I'm still confused as to what exactly the thing does.  In the video you see it make marks appear on the wall and in the air, and it fires energy blasts at enemies.  That trailer could have stood having a bit more exposition and less standard FPS warfare, because I know barely more about it now than I did before watching the video.

Most likely it's a glorified key card, hacking module, cloak flashlight, and whatever interface dongle it needs to be.

*yawn*

Whatever.  If that's as original as this game's only original feature is going to get, then count me out.

11174

TalkBack / Re: Tales of Graces Announced for Wii

« on: April 08, 2009, 11:40:47 PM »

Well, I suppose I'll look forward to it with something approaching optimism.  After all, it can't be any more boring or waste any more potential than Dawn of the New World was, and it's always nice to have new RPGs on the Wii.

*is completely aware that he just poked Pro with a rather large stick, or shall he say...FIST?*

11175

TalkBack / Re: Conduit A.S.E. Trailer Looks Fantastic

« on: April 08, 2009, 10:51:25 PM »

Well, it's nice to get a trailer for the A.S.E., though after watching the trailer I'm still confused as to what exactly the thing does.  In the video you see it make marks appear on the wall and in the air, and it fires energy blasts at enemies.  That trailer could have stood having a bit more exposition and less standard FPS warfare, because I know barely more about it now than I did before watching the video.