Messages

576

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 60 - SUPER POSITIVE GENKI TIME

« on: July 16, 2015, 12:00:28 AM »

I'll admit to being that guy who has Sunshine as his favourite 3D Mario. 3D World is undoubtedly a gorgeous game and it's really fun (coincidentally I was playing it as I heard James start talking about it on the show), but it feels like there's something missing, at least in my eyes, compared to Sunshine and 64. Maybe it's the lack of openness or that it's less ambitious than either of those games, but I don't feel the same way playing this game for some reason. Like you guys alluded to though, this is like saying I think Sunshine/64 is Jordan and 3D World is "merely" Kareem.

On another note, I found it a little funny that Danny admits to buying all three yarn Yoshi amiibo and then literally minutes later calls Sairus "part of the problem" for wanting to buy one pack of AC amiibo cards

Thoroughly enjoyed this episode. I understand why the last podcast was what it was and I definitely don't expect you all to be this positive and cheery every episode (most certainly don't expect it next episode after this week's sad, sad news), but I'd be lying if I didn't say this was one of your most enjoyable episodes for me. Also, I hope Sairus sticks around; he seems like a really good fit for the show and I enjoy listening to him more and more with each passing episode.

577

TalkBack / Re: Devil's Third (Wii U) Hands-on Preview

« on: July 15, 2015, 04:36:42 PM »

Reading some other previews of the game that went up today as well and... yikes. It's a shame, cuz it sounds like there are some decent ideas here, but the execution and technical aspects are so poor that it undermines any redeeming qualities of the game. In what is probably (maybe "hopefully" is a better word) a fit of rage-induced hyperbole, one person said it's "shaping up to be one of the worst games Nintendo has ever published."


I suppose the multiplayer could still save the game, but if the biggest issues surrounding the game are technical, that's probably not a safe bet.

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TalkBack / Re: Release Information For Palutena, Dark Pit Announced

« on: July 15, 2015, 12:25:33 PM »

Since she's an exclusive Amazon obviously got way more of her than any of the Wave 4, so they're estimating she'll up for a "good" 15 minutes. Considering they're also going to announce the time she goes up in advance... that's about as good as you can expect for an exclusive at this point. If 15 minutes ends up being accurate and the site doesn't crap itself, most everyone who wants her should be able to get her.

579

TalkBack / Re: Beating The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the First Time

« on: July 14, 2015, 09:15:46 PM »

I find it kinda interesting how on one side, I see this "Ocarina of Time is so overrated" narrative pop up frequently nowadays, with some people going as far as to call it the most overrated game of all time. One of the main arguments from these people is how poorly the game has aged. Yet I also constantly see people who have just recently played it for the first heap as much praise onto it as people who played it in when it first came out, or list it among their most favourite games of all time. I fall into the latter camp as well. It wasn't my first Zelda, but I didn't play through Ocarina of Time (or play it at all as far as I can remember) until Ocarina of Time 3D and I came away feeling the same way Bryan did. Granted, a lot of the "outdated" talk is based on the visuals and the 3DS version obviously helps in that regard, but the game's magic certainly wasn't lost on me even a decade and a half later, and it's legitimately one of my favourite games of all time. That's a pretty impressive feat considering how much hype surrounds this game and how built up our expectations are. Living up to that kind of legacy for some many people, all those years later, is a pretty damn strong counter to "overrated" and "outdated." Needless to say everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however.

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TalkBack / Re: Satoru Iwata: 1959 - 2015

« on: July 12, 2015, 09:06:12 PM »

Could not believe it when I saw the headline and still having trouble wrapping my head around it. So sad and even knowing about his recent health problems, still somehow so unexpected.

581

TalkBack / Re: Report: Nintendo of America Passing On Devil's Third

« on: July 09, 2015, 10:17:15 PM »

And given the sad state of Wii U any game is better than nothing.

I don't think a "we got one game this Summer from Nintendo and it was friggin' awful" narrative is an upgrade over "we got no games from Nintendo this summer." I don't think a possibly okay game is going to materially change anyone's view on the Wii U or its library either. I just don't see who benefits from the release of this game. It's going to sell like crap because they've literally put zero marketing power behind it (which is 100% the right call if they think it's crap) and even if it ends up being okay, I doubt very many people are going to thank for them giving them a middling experience when they could have been playing something that was actually good. Putting out games just for the sake of putting out games in general is some pretty dangerous territory.

582

TalkBack / Re: Report: Nintendo of America Passing On Devil's Third

« on: July 09, 2015, 08:58:04 PM »

Better to (at least implicitly) admit that it was a failure than to have a terrible game on your resume. Why they'd put resources behind this specifically in the first place is questionable, but I think the decision not to publish what you feel like is a legitimately bad game seems pretty cut and dry. There's something to be said for letting people decide what's bad and what isn't, but if I were them I wouldn't want to publish a game that I feel like is most likely **** with the outside of chance of being mediocre either.

583

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 434: Dr. Wario's Snake Oil

« on: July 09, 2015, 05:38:56 PM »

I agree with the idea that Nintendo needs to get their head out of the sand when it comes to different technology or implementing stuff like voice chat on a broader level, but I thought Reggie's comments on VR specifically were pretty fair:

“We have a long and deep history with VR with Virtual Boy, and we also have a history with augmented reality because there’s AR in Nintendo 3DS. We know the tech and we know how the tech has evolved. For Nintendo, we always go beyond the tech to make sure that the experiences we do are fun and they’re social, and I think those are the two key opportunities today on the VR/AR space. Are they both fun and social? I don’t think that’s there yet. So we’re going to continue to stay close to the technology. We’re going to continue to do our own internal experiments, but we don’t believe it’s ready for prime time yet.”

I didn't get the impression that he thought it was a fad or stupid from that and he didn't sound dismissive of it either. If you take the comments at at face value, he was actually the opposite of dismissive. Whether or not what he's saying is true and what he considers staying close to the technology is obviously anybody's guess, but like I said, I thought the comments themselves were pretty fair.

584

TalkBack / Re: Best Buy Not Taking Online Orders, Preorders For Dark Pit

« on: July 06, 2015, 10:03:01 AM »

Probably best to import at this point, at least until Nintendo gets their supply in order. It came out to $18 USD/$22 CAD each pre-ordering all four of 5A from Amazon Italy and between Italy, Spain, UK, and the Netherlands, pre-orders were up for up for a pretty long time for all four too. Well worth the few extra bucks to not have to waste money on gas, stand in line, and maybe end up not getting one anyway.

585

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo And Canada: A Match Made In Heaven

« on: July 01, 2015, 02:38:11 PM »

I'll echo the same sentiments and say that my first real experience with video games was a GBC/Pokemon Blue. That might have had more to do with my brother and I being infatuated with Pokemon than any conscious decision on my parents' part though. We also got a PS at some point (7 year old me sure had a fun time trying to navigate MGS), but yeah, regardless of who drove the decision, Nintendo was always king in our household. At the very least the pricing and kid-friendly content made it infinitely more easy for them to say yes.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Sales Thread

« on: July 01, 2015, 01:24:39 PM »

It seems kinda weird to me that the default reaction for a lot of people is "I hope this thing bombs" rather than "I hope there's enough content to justify releasing the game this way." If the game bombs in the West (I never thought this would make a significantly negative impact in Japan), that doesn't really accomplish anything other than possibly jeopardizing the series' future here. That's in no way a good thing. If there's two (or three) games worth of content, everybody's happy. Like I said, kinda weird that some people are hoping for the former and not the latter.


I'd get it if it was something super egregious, but I've heard nary a whisper about either version feeling short since it came out. Granted, it's only been a week, but if people are already starting fan translations, I'm sure plenty have gotten through the game(s) as well.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo, We Need Voice Chat

« on: June 26, 2015, 11:17:30 PM »

We finally got competent online play for a decent number of titles for the first time on the Wii U, so maybe they're saving this decade old "not really a revelation" revelation for the NX?


Either way, they can't keep coming up with these clever little excuses specific to each title forever.

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TalkBack / Re: Fire Emblem Fates Will Feature Same-Sex Marriages

« on: June 26, 2015, 10:55:02 PM »

I'm having a hard time following the "poor Nintendo/game devs" thing. Yeah, every now and then stuff gets blown out of proportion, but at the same time, this did need to happen at some point and I'm happy they did it. At worst, this adds nothing to your experience. To a good number of people (gay or otherwise), I'm sure it's a very welcome addition and might change the game for them in a considerable way. Nobody loses, a lot of people win. Those are typically the moves you want to make, needless to say. Completely useless features get put into video games all the time, so I don't think it's asking too much to include something that a lot of people want and will find useful (when it makes sense).


You shouldn't have things like this for the sake of having them. You shouldn't shoehorn in any group of people (gay people, men, women, whatever) if it doesn't make sense for the game or if it's completely out of place. But if relationship building over which the user has control is a central theme in your game, yeah, options for gay relationships probably need to be in your game in some capacity. I'm glad Nintendo is learning the right lessons when it comes to things like this (assuming that they handle it appropriately in the game, which I'm pretty confident they will).

589

TalkBack / Re: Metroid Prime for Home Consoles Not Coming Until Next Console

« on: June 24, 2015, 05:37:42 PM »

The Wii U was made obsolete a year after it came out by those other consoles.

And yet, the superior XBox One is barely outpacing the Wii U.. what does that say?

That Microsoft's initial anti-consumer plans pissed people off and that forcing a Kinect purchase didn't fly.  Plus MS has ZERO presence in Japan which skewers the figures if you look at it from a worldwide perspective.  How is the Xbox One doing in America and Europe compared to the Wii U?

Though I still don't see the relevance.  So consoles aren't doing as well in general this gen as they were last gen.  So what?  How does that help Nintendo next gen?

I can't help but think we're having two different conversations.

Console sales have peaked.  There's little demand for them world-wide.  Wii U sales are in the tank.  XBoxOne sales aren't much better (regardless of how you crutch them).  PS4 sales aren't bad, but they're nothing to get excited over.  All three systems combined probably don't even meet the sales of the market leader by this time last gen (MS and Nintendo are about 10 Million units each while Sony is around 20 - meanwhile, Wii sold like 40 million plus units in two years).

The console market *is* dying.  At the very least, it's in hibernation.  Did it peak last-generation and we'll never see sales like that again?  I dunno.

I think it's a little unfair to compare the Wii to the PS4. Beyond the fact that one launched at $250 while the other launched at $400, they set out do different things, and the Wii appealed to people who wouldn't traditionally call themselves gamers. Maybe if another wide-appeal console with a "revolutionary" (for lack of a better word) hook hit the market, we would see Wii-level sales again. None of the current gen consoles can claim to be that, so it's hard to say whether the numbers inferior to the Wii are due to a dying market or just because none of the current gen consoles have the perfect set of attributes for wide appeal that the Wii did.


Last I heard, the PS4 and the Xbox One were selling at a greater pace than their own last gen counterparts, which is a more apt comparison imo. Maybe console gaming is dying in some places, or in some form, but I think a blanket statement like "console gaming is dying" is oversimplifying things a bit.

590

TalkBack / Re: Yoshi's Woolly World (Wii U) Review

« on: June 23, 2015, 11:51:57 AM »

If 100%ing a game were a requirement for reviewing it, no RPG would ever be reviewed ever again, nor for that matter any simulation game or most Adventure games.

Wario and Yoshi games don't take 100+ hours to 100% though.  The reviewers have no excuse not to play the optional content in these games since the biggest problem they're telling people is the games are too easy and short.

That's my problem with those reviews is the reviewers are blatantly lying and spreading false info by saying it's an easy game with only 5-8 hours worth of gameplay when the reality is both games contain a lot more hours worth of content and offer plenty of challenges for players that want it which all the positive reviews actually mention.

It would be irresponsible if they didn't mention the fact that it's a short, not very challenging game if you don't want to collect every single thing. That's their job; they need to inform people about what they're getting into. Most of the reviews I've read acknowledge the fact that the longevity and the challenge in the game is collecting everything, so I don't think they're lying or spreading misinformation. They're just saying that's not fun or particularly appealing, which is a perfectly fine stance to take. Maybe that's what the original Yoshi's Island was, but that doesn't mean people are still going to enjoy the same thing in 2015. It's been 20 years. I don't think it's unreasonable for people to expect them to add more of an actual platforming challenge to go along with the collecting, rather than rehashing the same game with a different (admittedly stunning) aesthetic.

The past day and these reviews have lowered my expectations somewhat, but that's fine, because they were pretty high to begin with. Better to find all this out beforehand than to be disappointed when I actually play and not be able to properly appreciate the game because it's merely good and not great.

591

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Increasing Estimates Of Amiibo Demand

« on: June 21, 2015, 10:38:26 PM »

Doubling or tripling their estimates in general is nice, but I also hope they're looking at it on a case by case basis too. A lot of the craze (maybe even most of it) over the FE amiibo is definitely fueled by the fact they're so hard to get, but they underestimated demand for those to the point where two times or three times the stock would only make a negligible difference. The TRU I went to for wave four had 100 Greninja (better than Lucario, so at least that's something), enough Charizard that I was 50-60th in line and got him... and literally two Lucina/Robin. That's somewhat misleading since Greninja was a TRU exclusive and Lucina/Robin were spread out over all the retailers, but the story's still the same; unless you were one of the handful in line first, there's no way you were getting either one at any retailer


Also, the TRU restock in Canada has been laughable. They happened out West first and by the time they hit the East two days later, everybody knew what was up. You either camped the store all day until they opened the boxes and instantly cleaned them out of all the unicorns, or you got nothing.

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TalkBack / Re: Tri Force Heroes Communication Detailed, No Voice Chat

« on: June 19, 2015, 08:15:07 PM »

I agree with the idea that being told what to do would ruin the game for a lot of people. It takes all the difficulty out of the game and if the dungeons/puzzles in this game are anything like the ones in ALBW, they're going to be easy to begin with. You're just along for the ride at that point and that's not the least bit fun to me.


That said, I don't think that's the actual reason they left out voice chat. Yeah, it's more than likely no voice chat because they have some sort of (weird) fundamental issue with it. I'd like to say that eventually their hand is going to be forced and they're going to have to change their stance on it, but, sadly, I don't think that's necessarily true. It's always frustrating to see them limit people's options like this.

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TalkBack / Re: Metroid Prime: Federation Force Revealed

« on: June 16, 2015, 10:15:39 PM »

You guys should totally sign the petition to cancel this game.

Or join the campaign to dislike the YT trailer video into oblivion (2,200 likes vs. 22,000 dislikes at the time of this post). I feel like this reaction is going overboard, but at the same time, they flung rocks at a gigantic beehive by putting the Metroid Prime name on this.

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TalkBack / Re: Fire Emblem Fates to Release in Two Versions in North America

« on: June 16, 2015, 06:29:03 PM »

Oh boy. If there's an appropriately priced limited edition bundle that'll be up for pre-order for more than 9 seconds, I'll be alright with this.

Well, if we look to Pokemon for precedent, there was that AlphaSapphire/OmegaRuby bundle that was...78.99 or something like that?   Basically, saving you a dollar?  Well there you go.  Thanks, Nintendo.

I wouldn't look at Pokemon as a precedent for anything. That franchise is in its own category entirely as far crap they can get away with.

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TalkBack / Re: Fire Emblem Fates to Release in Two Versions in North America

« on: June 16, 2015, 06:22:35 PM »

Well, I guess this is the end of the Fire Emblem franchise in North America, then. The series is niche enough as it is that I can't really see splitting the fanbase working out well in the long term.

To be fair, I think it broke through that niche label with Awakening selling over a million copies in the West. They got a ton of people into the series for the first time with that game and even if you lose some of them now, I can't see sales dropping so low that they can't justify further localizations. This is probably going to end like Splatoon where a lot of people complain before its release, but end up getting it anyway. We saw how strong the holdouts were for that in the face of good reviews/hype. 

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TalkBack / Re: Fire Emblem Fates To Release In Two Versions In North America

« on: June 16, 2015, 04:56:11 PM »

Oh boy. If there's an appropriately priced limited edition bundle that'll be up for pre-order for more than 9 seconds, I'll be alright with this. I'd imagine I'm very much in the minority though. They're going to catch quite a bit of flak for this.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: The pretty small 2015 E3 Wii U games recap thread! (Crying and Updating Edition)

« on: June 16, 2015, 01:41:32 PM »

Underwhelming is truly the best word for that presentation. I'm super excited about a lot of the stuff that was in that presentation, but I was super excited for all that stuff months ago. Everything new that we saw can best be described as "neat." That's not the reaction you should be gunning for at E3.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Splatoon!! WELCOME - TO DYE!

« on: June 15, 2015, 10:01:44 AM »

I'm ~18 hours into the game and about to cap, but I didn't touch Splat Zones until level 16 or 17 so I didn't have the benefit of using that to level faster. If you're somewhat good at the game and start mixing in more ranked matches at level 10, you could probably cap at 15 hours. That's not too terribly long for an online shooter imo. If you enjoy the game and have a decent amount of free time, that probably just ends up being a couple weekends.


Prestige is meaningless, but it's an easy to way to keep up the sense of progression for people who really enjoy the game and put a decent amount of time into it.

As for the level cap of 20, I figure, "Hey, they only had 20-25 weapons that they were comfortable with the balance of." I'm noticing among the level cap players that they are sticking with weapons that you unlock in middle of the level range. It's sad that it works so well, but hopefully they will make another carrot to dangle in front of us. There are the Splat Fests incoming, but that's a weekend event and not some goal that is always there for you to progress to.

I didn't even call to mind the fact that you unlock a new weapon every time you level when I was thinking about this (probably because no matter how many new weapons I try out, I always end up going back to the Splattershot Jr.). Yeah, that's probably the reason for the cap and it makes sense if you want a new unlock for every level. Still, I wish there was something.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Splatoon!! WELCOME - TO DYE!

« on: June 15, 2015, 12:16:21 AM »

I'm guessing the level cap will go up in some upcoming DLC.

I'm sure you're right and it will at some point, but I'm not so confident about it coming in a timely manner or being much more difficult to reach again once it's here. Having it in the first place and having it be so low still seems super weird to me. Even something like reach level 20 > prestige > get special (not necessarily super powerful) piece of gear > start from level one again would have been an easy solution.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Splatoon!! WELCOME - TO DYE!

« on: June 14, 2015, 11:21:55 PM »

I'm two levels away from the cap (level 20) and kind of bewildered right now. What's the point of this? The only reason I can think of is (once again) they're trying to baby-proof the game so people don't see someone at level 32 and get discouraged. I know you can move on to ranked matches and raise your rank there, but still, that doesn't really do anything about Turf War (which I prefer, even though Splat Zones is fun in its own way).


If they're really trying to market this game as an "evergreen" title, they either need to raise the cap or put in some sort of prestige system. I'm not playing the game just to level up, but at the same time, I don't think I'm going to play as long/go back to it as often if the sense of progression is almost entirely gone (as artificial as it may be). Which is a shame since I'm closing in on 20 hours into the online multiplayer and still having fun.