Messages

551

TalkBack / Re: Why A Theatrhythm Star In Smash Makes Sense

« on: November 18, 2015, 03:20:50 PM »

To be fair, there are a lot of non-sword characters that play very samey too. Captain Falcon/Ganondorf. Ness/Lucas. Mario/Dr. Mario. Mario/Luigi. Fox/Falco. It's kind of ridiculous that Marth/Lucina/Roy is a thing and there's also Link/Toon Link, but Shulk, Meta Knight, Robin, and Ike all play very differently. Clone characters are just a problem in general.

552

TalkBack / Re: Dragon Quest VII and VIII Confirmed for the West

« on: November 17, 2015, 08:54:33 PM »

From what I understand, DQ7 is supposed to be very, VERY long. I think it is Japan's favorite though.

I looked up how long a normal playthrough is after seeing this comment and yeah, you aren't kidding. The lowest I've seen someone say is 80-90 hours. Most responses seem to be a bit over 100 hours if you only do a bit of the side stuff and mostly focus on getting through the game. I've put that much time into RPGs before, but that's with doing a lot of side or post game content... 100ish hours for a bare bones playthrough seems kinda crazy.


Both are still locks as far as day one purchases go for me, but DQ7 is gonna have to be really good for me to see the end of it. DQ8 sounds a bit more manageable.

553

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Direct Announced For Thursday

« on: November 10, 2015, 02:55:05 PM »

Is Monster Hunter even popular here though? I thought it was more of a Japanese thing. I could be wrong but I never heard of it before recently and I don't know of a single person who plays it. I don't expect much on Wii U, maybe as mentioned Twilight Princess HD but that is all I can think of, unless they happen to have some surprises up their sleeve.

Nowhere near Japanese levels of popularity, but 4U did sell over a million units in the West and was well received by most people. 

554

Nintendo Gaming / Re: The Legend of Zelda: TriForce Heroes

« on: October 24, 2015, 06:09:00 PM »

Played for a few hours the last couple of days and I've been pleasantly surprised with how smoothly it's going. I've only played with randoms so far and most of the people know what they're doing, I haven't gotten a single troll (though I've seen others say they have), and only had one dropped connection. That's with about 15-20 different runs and about as many different pairings.

The puzzles are very basic in the first couple of worlds and I'd assume most of the people who bought it day one are seasoned Zelda players, so I don't know if this is an accurate picture of what the game is going to be as we get further from launch and the puzzles get more difficult. But so far it's been pretty fun. The challenge quests add a surprising amount of replay value too. I have run into a bit of lag, but I haven't seen that brought up too often elsewhere.

555

TalkBack / Re: Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water Review

« on: October 22, 2015, 12:39:21 AM »

I honestly can't see the exclusion of those optional costumes being the difference between a purchase for anyone. Maybe there are a handful of people out there who wouldn't buy the game on principle over something like that, but they're exactly that; a handful in an already small audience. Mostly I think this is just them avoiding any potential headaches over something pretty much no one is going to miss anyway.

That being said, I'm also in the camp that believes you should have a good reason to censor something and find some of NOA's other choices baffling. Tharja's butt still has me scratching my head. The drew way more attention to a scene like that being in the game by censoring it than they would have if they just left it alone.

556

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 448: Accurate Portrayals of Baboons in the Media

« on: October 15, 2015, 01:29:45 PM »

I just went from listening to this episode to listening to a couple of older episodes (lots of RPG time = lots of time podcast time) and I've gotta say it's kinda jarring to hear old James right after new, host James. I got used to host James after a couple of episodes (possibly a testament to how seamless you made the transition seem), but hearing one right after the other makes the difference pretty apparent. None of this is to say that you aren't doing a really good job in your new role, I just found it kinda funny.


Also, Greg's take on the citizens of Termina had me in stitches for some reason. Good show guys.

I do think there is something odd about how gamer friendly Microsoft is while profits don't seem that important.  What's their long term plan?

I would have to assume that, even if it isn't super profitable, they view it as a positive from a brand awareness and marketing standpoint. I'm not sure exactly when it happened or if it was for better or for worse, but the Xbox definitely changed my perception of Microsoft in a meaningful way.

557

TalkBack / Re: Level-5 Considering Options For Yo-Kai Watch 2 Release

« on: October 09, 2015, 04:47:40 PM »

Have to assume the sales of the first game will more or less answer those questions for them. The thought of Yo-Kai Watch amiibo though... good lord. Probably only a matter time, but that could lead to a production mess all over again given how fast those would sell in Japan.

558

TalkBack / Re: The Legend of Legacy (3DS) Review

« on: October 09, 2015, 04:06:54 PM »

It's kind of a bummer about the story. My standards for RPG storytelling aren't as high as most people's (for reference, I liked Bravely Default's story) so I would have taken a serviceable story over no story. But if the combat, music, and aesthetics are that good, I'll be keeping that pre-order. The game is holding up really well to reviews in general in spite of the minimal story.

559

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Online Store Selling New 3DS Cover Plates

« on: September 25, 2015, 03:12:46 PM »

I thought this would make me regret preemptively ordering a few from Europe, but with that juicy Canadian price parity, it works out to almost the exact same. I wouldn't hold my breath on them bringing the Xenoblade ones over anyway, though I'd be happy to be wrong there.


Kudos to them for doing it though; this honestly seems like the most practical way. Hopefully they make the majority of them available.

560

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 64 - DISNEY INFERNO

« on: September 21, 2015, 12:28:40 PM »

C'mon James. Are you really trying to put the kibosh on Ty's Naruto 4 talk on account of him bringing it up too often after you talked about Splatoon for the third straight episode, a game which has been covered ad nauseam on seemingly every Nintendo podcast for the past four months, including on this very show by three different hosts :p


In all seriousness I enjoy getting the Splatoon updates. After going hard for the first couple of months I honestly have not touched the game in a while, so it's cool to hear about what's new in the game. But I also enjoy hearing about obscure and Non-tendo stuff from Ty (though I acknowledge that I may be in the minority there). You and Danny do a great job of covering all the major Nintendo releases (unless it happens to be an RPG), so it's nice to hear about something I might not otherwise be familiar with from Ty. Sarius has not been on enough episodes for me to pigeonhole him yet, so I'll give him the honorary(?) title of "man-toy guy" in the interim.


Great show again guys. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on TGS, more Super Mario Maker talk, and Danny telling more people to go **** themselves.

561

TalkBack / Re: Star Fox Zero Delayed to 2016

« on: September 18, 2015, 11:08:02 AM »

I have no problem with this in a vacuum, but I hope they don't make a habit out of committing to release dates/time frames for big titles and then reneging on them. Development isn't always smooth sailing and sometimes things come up, but the original release dates for the two big delays this year both seemed ambitious at the time.

562

TalkBack / Re: NWR Hype Meter Results

« on: September 10, 2015, 07:12:00 PM »

Gonna go out on a limb here and say I'm the only person who had this game #1 on my list.


1. Bravely Second: End Layer
2. The Legend of Legacy
3. The Legend of Zelda Wii U
4. Xenoblade Chronicles X
5. Fire Emblem Fates
6. Star Fox Zero
7. The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes
8. Super Mario Maker
9. Hyrule Warriors Legends
10. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer


I would probably drop #10 from my list if I was doing it over after going back to New Leaf last month and getting my Animal Crossing fill for the next little while. Final Fantasy Explorers or Yo-kai Watch would go there instead.

563

TalkBack / Re: Shovel Knight Digging Into Super Smash Bros Wii U/3DS

« on: August 27, 2015, 04:02:21 PM »

Just because you liked it doesn't mean other people should have to waste their time making him a character for Super Smash Bros.

That seems a bit harsh. They've already committed time to doing more DLC, whether it's Shovel Knight or someone else, and I have to imagine he was a pretty popular choice on the Smash ballot. I have no interest in Shovel Knight as DLC (or an amiibo) either, but I don't see how this would be a waste of time.

564

TalkBack / Re: Pokkén Tournament Announced For Wii U, Releasing Spring 2016

« on: August 21, 2015, 12:36:52 PM »

The game all of us too young to know any better thought Pokemon Stadium would be when we first heard about it on the N64. Wish I could re-send my list for the Hype Meter feature cuz this is definitely top five.

565

TalkBack / Re: Baseless Speculation: Wii U's Last Stand

« on: August 10, 2015, 08:34:56 PM »

Reggie literally said that they're working hard on their next home console in an interview with the WSJ around E3. Maybe he misspoke, but that's not the only sign that points to it being the Wii U's successor. You can argue that some of the evidence is tenuous, but it's far from a situation where we have no indication whatsoever of what it is. Nintendo does some dumb things, but I don't think they're foolish enough to put out a successor to the 3DS (which is fine even if it's not earth-shattering) before the Wii U (which is unequivocally a tire fire).

Acknowledging they're working on a new console in no way suggests it's the same thing as the NX. I have a strong feeling the NX will be the essential opposite of the Wii U-- a handheld based system that can stream to TVs. If so, it could fill the gap for the next couple years until they're ready for the actual Wii U sucessor.

Here's the exact question and answer (which I probably should have posted in the first place):

WSJ: Sony’s and Microsoft’s consoles have far outsold the Wii U. What’s your strategy to come out ahead?


Fils-Aime: The time frame that these systems are sold is quite long, and right now we’re still at the very early stages of the current generation. The other piece I would highlight is this is a global business. Don’t just look at what’s happening here in the U.S. Look at what’s happening globally.


From a Nintendo perspective, we clearly have strength here in the Americas, we have strength in Europe and we have strength in Japan. That isn’t necessarily true of some of our more direct competitors. We’ve also said publicly that we are already hard at work on our next home console and that’s another element we’ll be talking about much later.

"We've also said publicly" is a pretty obvious reference to the NX imo, since that's the only new hardware they've announced.

566

TalkBack / Re: Baseless Speculation: Wii U's Last Stand

« on: August 10, 2015, 07:19:53 PM »

Reggie literally said that they're working hard on their next home console in an interview with the WSJ around E3. Maybe he misspoke, but that's not the only sign that points to it being the Wii U's successor. You can argue that some of the evidence is tenuous, but it's far from a situation where we have no indication whatsoever of what it is. Nintendo does some dumb things, but I don't think they're foolish enough to put out a successor to the 3DS (which is fine even if it's not earth-shattering) before the Wii U (which is unequivocally a tire fire).

567

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Sales Thread

« on: August 09, 2015, 07:35:25 PM »

So they sold 312,000 packs of amiibo cards in those four days of sales, according to Media Create sales numbers. On one hand I kind of want to give Nintendo a pass cuz that just seems kinda insane... but amiibo has been insane pretty much from the outset, so there was no reason to believe these would have been any different. At the very least they could have produced as many packs as they did copies of the game in their initial shipment.

568

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Sales Thread

« on: August 06, 2015, 09:29:31 PM »

I shouldn't be surprised that Animal Crossing HHD, even as a spin-off, did that well in Japan. But I still am for some reason. The game looks more enjoyable than a lot of people would have you believe and I'm looking forward to it... but damn. Clearly Japan doesn't have any reservations about it. It presumably might have even done a bit better if Nintendo didn't (once again) whiff on the amiibo roll out for the game with the cards. 

569

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 438: Spiritual Predecessor

« on: August 06, 2015, 09:04:08 PM »

I think the next big monster you face (big ugly beetle looking thing that flies around most of the time) will be the first one where you can cut a piece of it off and it'll be the horn.

Nope, I lied. You face the Great Jaggi first and it has a breakable part as well. The Seltas is just the first one where they explicitly tell you to do it as part of the subquest.

570

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 438: Spiritual Predecessor

« on: August 06, 2015, 08:46:49 PM »

After hearing Johnny Jonny talk about MH4U the last few episodes, I decided to open up the copy that game with my New 3DS as well and I was pleasantly surprised at how accessible the game was relative to my expectations. There is obviously a ton of stuff in the game, but there are a lot of nice little touches that make it all easier to process. Things like the combo list showing you which currently unknown combinations are possible with the items you have is amazingly helpful, especially coming off something like SMT Strange Journey where the demon fusion is just one big counterintuitive cluster-**** of mashing grotesque looking things together at a ridiculously slow pace. I think the next big monster you face (big ugly beetle looking thing that flies around most of the time) will be the first one where you can cut a piece of it off and it'll be the horn. I can't remember any instances of being able to cut the tail off of any of the earlier monsters. I'm really enjoying the combat so far, but yeah, I'm also hoping the supposedly more action oriented Monster Hunter X makes its way to the West at some point.

On the JRPG discussion, I can attest to being one of the people who enjoys random encounters/grinding in JRPGs. And both James Jones and James Charlton are spot on with why. This will probably sound like nails on a chalkboard to a lot of people, but sometimes I'll put on a podcast and just grind for a few hours and come away feeling satisfied. If someone has very limited time to game though, I can see why they'd want to slam their head into a wall after a half hour of it or would like to see it gone altogether.

571

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 438: Spiritual Predecessor

« on: August 03, 2015, 06:01:28 PM »

I usually take a day or two to listen to the podcast completely, so I skipped ahead to the hear the announcement. A light bulb kinda went off when I saw "special announcement" in the post and Jonny made an off-hand comment about getting old in the intro, but I didn't really expect that. I've only been listening to the podcast for a year (though I've made a good dent in the back catalog), so I'll leave the reminiscing to the folks who have been listening a lot longer than I have. I'm sure there'll be tons of it next week and they'll do a much better at it than I can. But it's been an absolute pleasure listening to Jonny steer the ship and not hearing him on new episodes is going to take some getting used to. I guess I can take some solace in the fact that I have plenty of old, yet new to my ears, Jonny-filled RFN episodes waiting for me.

I'm also extremely pleased to hear the podcast will still be a thing and that Greg will be returning. From the episodes I've heard with him, he's always been fantastic. I almost wish you guys would have held off on the Greg announcement so we could watch some corners of the internet go completely apeshit over James being the new host though.

572

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 61 - ONE CRAZY BALLOON TRIP

« on: August 01, 2015, 09:25:09 PM »

Dude, Sairus, Suicune is obviously an ice leopard, not an "ice dog guy." Gosh.


James, as someone who watches competitive Smash semi-regularly, I can say without hesitation that Melee is still by far the more fun game to watch. It does look like butt by modern standards for sure, but it's still considerably more fast-paced, nuanced, and entertaining than Smash 4. I think competitive Smash 4 will stand the test of time insofar as it won't get abandoned within months like Brawl did, but it's not going to be like Melee where people are still showing up in droves to play it a decade from now. You'll also be saddened to know that the number of entrants at EVO for Melee was actually a record this year (the previous record was also set in 2015 at Apex), so the competitive scene is actually continuing to grow for that game despite it being almost 15 years old. It's going to be around for a while yet.


Not only is camping the ledge a sound tactical move for a Puff player, Fox players have their own version of it where they stand on one side of the stage and just spam lasers. But because they're getting damage and "OOOOOOO SHINY LAZERZ" the scrubs are perfectly fine with this, even though it's pretty much as boring as camping the ledge.


I'm surprised to hear that Yu Darvish got that kind of treatment from some people. When he was posted by his NPB team and coming over to MLB, a lot was made about how much of a superstar and celebrity he was in Japan. It's sad to think that some people in his homeland would diminish his accomplishments because he isn't 100% Japanese, cuz he's an amazing pitcher. He was dominant from day one here and pitched himself into being considered top five before going down with an injury last season, so I can only imagine what kind of accomplishments he had in Japan.


7-Eleven themed Gundams. Like the live action Dragon Ball Z movie, I'm going to pretend like that doesn't exist.

*Which game did you like hearing about?

Ty talking about Nitroplus Blasterz led me to Saya no Uta, which led me to the Wikipedia page, which led me to the plot, which led me to shaking my head and laughing. Simultaneously awesome and nonsensical **** like that is always appreciated.

573

TalkBack / Re: Major Splatoon Update Comes August 5

« on: July 27, 2015, 12:58:25 PM »

I'm pleasantly surprised that they're moving the cap all the way up to level 50. Despite members of the team trying to push the blame onto "the gamer lifestyle," it was clearly a mistake on their end to have it as low as 20 at the start. Good on them for acknowledging that.

574

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 436: Federation Farce, RFN Edition

« on: July 24, 2015, 10:59:58 PM »

Yeah, "stupid" and good/enjoyable are definitely not mutually exclusive when it comes to video games. I'm playing SMT Strange Journey right now and the game is not only stupid, but downright nonsensical and asinine in some parts. That hasn't stopped me from putting 40 hours into it over a week and enjoying it on the whole. If someone asked me about this game and I left out the fact that it was often insanely bizarre just because I enjoy it, that would be dishonest. It's not about being apologetic, it's about being honest. Besides, I don't think a guy who voluntarily discussed playing Conception II on a podcast not too long ago would feel the need to be apologetic about his gaming choices anyway.


Re: New 3DS exclusives, I upgraded having very little in the way of expectations for exclusives and Nintendo still managed to come in below them somehow. It's been out for 10 months and we haven't even gotten so much as an announcement for anything other than Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. Unless you count some vague comments from Reggie about digital games coming out that will be exclusive to the system, which is most likely a reference to indies like Binding of Isaac or Unity stuff and not anything developed by Nintendo (I don't). I'm still satisfied on the whole between the numerous smaller upgrades and the enhanced games (I'm sure I'll get a lot of run out of the NFC reader with AC Happy Home Designer too), but I feel bad for anyone who upgraded expecting decent support in the way of exclusives. They don't want to split the userbase; that's obvious and I get that. But I don't think it's asking too much for another couple of ports at least.

575

TalkBack / Re: Animal Crossing Amiibo Cards Counted

« on: July 24, 2015, 09:12:14 PM »

Good luck guys!



https://www.reddit.com/r/amiibo/comments/3efsfp/major_stock_shortage_production_issues_of_amiibo/

/facepalm


Of course on a day where it seems like things are going in the right direction with Palutena being up on Amazon for a little over an hour (still up on .ca four hours later), this would also come to light.