Messages

14676

TalkBack / Zelda Date Break?

« on: February 12, 2003, 07:39:52 AM »

Crap!  I'm at work and my pre-order reciept is at home and I don't have time to go get it because I have class after work.  CRAP! CRAP! CRAP!

I doesn't really matter since the guys at my local EB don't even know what month Zelda comes out let alone when the bonus disc comes in.

14677

Nintendo Gaming / GameCube's Appeal to the Teen Audience

« on: February 11, 2003, 01:09:57 PM »

"but I read somewhere that in a poll in 1991 or 92, that Mario was more recognized than Bugs Bunny or even Mickey Mouse."

"1991 or 92" is the key part of that.  That's over ten years ago.  That's before Sony or Microsoft even entered the console business.  That's before the concept of a "casual gamer" existed.  Things have changed too much since then.  Therefore you can't use a poll from ten years ago to determine how popular Mario is.

14678

General Gaming / Nokia's new handheld a gba killer

« on: February 11, 2003, 11:10:50 AM »

"It's basically a cell phone with a feature that allows you to play games. Also, the games must be purchased."

The games must be purchased?!  Holy f*ck that system is DOOMED!!

Think of the N-Gage this way.  Are people willing to pay more money for a cell phone that plays games?  I think so.  Are people willing to pay more money (as in $400 more) for a portable game console that can be used as a cell phone?  Not likely.  The N-Gage is directed at cell phone users and is competing with cell phones.  As a game console it doesn't offer enough of an advantage over the GBA to directly target gamers (at least not at like five times the cost).

14679

Nintendo Gaming / Is FF12 coming to GameCube? (discussion/debate)

« on: February 11, 2003, 09:37:01 AM »

"The purpose of role-playing games is to battle. It's always been that way since the 1970's/80's Dungeons and Dragons craze. It you subtracted the random battles from Final Fantasy, you'd no longer have a RPG. You'd just have wandering around and a game that ends in 10 hours. YUCK."

Some of guys are assuming that random battles and battles period are the same thing.  They're not.  When people complain about random battles they mean battles when you walk around and suddenly you enter a battle out of nowhere.  That is irritating as hell and a lot of people justifiable hate it.  However there are battles that aren't random.  The Mario RPG and Chrono games are proof of this.  Battles still exist but you can SEE the enemies ahead of time and can therefore avoid them if you are low on health and don't want to battle.  Battles should stay in RPGs.  Random battles (and the key word is RANDOM) should not.

Someone said they weren't going to buy FF:CC because it's not a "real" Final Fantasy game.  That's just stupid.  Would you not buy it if it was the exact same game without "Final Fantasy" in the title?  If FF:CC is a good game buy it.  If it's not don't.  Anyone who cares because it's not a "real" FF game shouldn't be allowed to play videogames.  It's the exact same thing as not buying a game because you don't like the title.

As for FFXII I'm going to make a bold claim and say that it's NOT coming to Gamecube.  There just isn't any reason for Square to release it on Gamecube when not only does the PS2 have a larger userbase but most Final Fantasy fans already own a PS2 and therefore moving the series to another platform will only piss off the fanbase.  Square would be better off doing what they're doing now: establishing a Final Fantasy spinoff series on a different platform.  If the "real" Final Fantasy series ever switched platforms it would be early in a console generation's life (like when FFVII switched).

14680

Nintendo Gaming / Zelda Pre-Order Discs

« on: February 11, 2003, 08:33:06 AM »

"its all a scam dont you get it man, this disc is like crack. every zelda game has some sort of limited edition thing to keep you hooked."

Well I think it's safe to say that everyone who is pre-ordering Wind Waker for the bonus disc were planning on buying WW at some point anyway so it's not really a scam.  If the bonus disc didn't exist I wouldn't have pre-ordered but I still would have bought WW on release day.  Plus if the bonus disc was only Ocarina I likely wouldn't have cared so much.  It's the inclusion of the Master Quest that got me interested.  Odds are I'll never play the regular quest again.

A scam would be if they did this with a game you wouldn't normally buy.  Like when Konami included the MGS2 demo with Zone of the Elders.

Besides if the bonus disc is only available through pre-ordering it will likely become very rare in ten years and be worth a fair chunk of change.  That in itself is worth ensuring you don't get screwed out of it by a retailer.

14681

Nintendo Gaming / New commercial

« on: February 11, 2003, 08:23:44 AM »

"why havent they done Zelda comercials?"

I think they have a theatrical trailer but I've never seen it at my local theatre.  I hope Nintendo doesn't think that Zelda will sell on it's own without any advertising.

As for the free game commericial it's funny and informative so it's effective.  It reminds me of an N64 price cut commericial where a guy got his first pay cheque for $100 and he quit his job because he had enough to buy an N64.  The N64 commercials were in general really good and people talked about them even though the N64 wasn't the top system so Nintendo should probably stick to that style if they can't think of anything better.

14682

TalkBack / Pokemon Pre-Sale Begins This Week

« on: February 11, 2003, 08:05:58 AM »

"While supplies last, those who pre-order Pokemon Ruby or Pokemon Sapphire also will receive a limited-edition, holographic Pokemon collector's coin."

Collector coin?  Oh great now I have to pre-order ANOTHER game.  Stupid Nintendo with their damn freebies.  My brother wants a copy too so I'll probably have to pre-order both games and look like the biggest dork ever.

14683

Nintendo Gaming / No instructions and no box.... hmmmmm.

« on: February 11, 2003, 07:11:26 AM »

Unlike optical discs, cartridges don't need any sort of casing to keep them protected.  Therefore the box and manual often get seperated from the cartridge because they aren't really needed.  With used Gamecube games they almost always come with the "box" because the case protects the disc.  The instructions also are easily kept in the case so they're often kept as well.

So this has always been a problem with used cartridge games.  If you think finding used GBA games with box and manual is hard to do try finding anything on the SNES or older with box and manual.  Older games can often increase in price significantly if the box and manual are included because it's more rare.

14684

Nintendo Gaming / Question about recently released info on WM XIX

« on: February 11, 2003, 07:03:13 AM »

I'm hoping for THQ to announce a "doesn't suck" feature but considering it's THQ and the WWE that's not likely going to happen.

I would actually prefer it if instead of the WWE games improving that someone else made a really good original wrestling game that sold great without any license.  The WWE license is limiting because they have to fill it with crappy wrestlers like A-Train and sh!tty moves like the Stephanie Slap.  Plus because it's a licensed product they have to meet release dates regardless of quality so promised features get removed and bugs are everywhere.  If an original wrestling game made it big not only would it give wrestling fans something else to play but would also force THQ and the WWE to get off their asses and deliver something worth buying.

I personally found the No Mercy engine a bit overrated.  The general design was solid but the game played really slow and stuff like ladder and cage matches totally sucked ass.  The AI was also terrible as they would never climb ladders and would often grab a weapon and then drop it right after.  Still with some tweaks and better hardware it could have greatly improved.  Instead it's been shoved aside and will never reach its full potential.

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Nintendo Gaming / My Theory On Nintendo In The Modern World

« on: February 10, 2003, 08:56:56 AM »

Well this topic has gone ridiculously off-topic.  Though I'll admit it's pretty funny how people will say GTA3 is "one of the most important games of the 90s" when it came out in 2001.  That's, um, not between 1990-1999 so it therefore isn't a 90s game.

Anyway Sean makes a pretty good point.  Nintendo isn't the type of company to make a game like GTA3 so we shouldn't expect them to release one.  That's fair enough.  I don't expect Nintendo to release one.  However you (and many other people) are making the assumption that Nintendo the developer and Nintendo the console maker are exactly the same thing.  That's not true.

No Nintendo isn't going to and probably shouldn't make a game like GTA3.  BUT that doesn't mean the Gamecube shouldn't have a title like that.  Nintendo doesn't have to make any ultramature games but they can try to get third parties to make those sort of games on the Gamecube and they're not.  Nintendo games are only released on Nintendo consoles but that doesn't mean that Nintendo consoles only have Nintendo games on them.  The Gamecube can have ANY game on it and if Nintendo doesn't make it it doesn't compromise their principles.

The Gamecube should have games like GTA3 on it just to fill in genre gaps in its library.  Nintendo doesn't have to compromise their image to do so.  

14686

Nintendo Gaming / Do lack of sports game matter?

« on: February 10, 2003, 08:23:29 AM »

The loss of Sega Sports games themselves isn't that big of a loss on it's own.  It's the reason that resulted in Sega pulling their sports games that we should worry about.  Sega pulling their sports games because they weren't selling on the Gamecube.  Now if it turns out that in general all third party games don't sell on Gamecube (or at least third parties think that they don't) third party support is going to get worse and may even get to N64 levels.  I don't care if I don't have any sports game but I DO care if I don't have any third party games.

Sega Sports titles aren't selling on Gamecube and Sega thinks they should have.  That weakens their enthusiasm for the console and from now on they're going to be more stingy on what gets released on Gamecube.

14687

Nintendo Gaming / Bonus Dicscs out already?!

« on: February 10, 2003, 08:05:26 AM »

I went to my local EB today to inquire about when they were getting their bonus discs in.  Here's a paraphrased transcript of my conversation with one of the clerks.

Ian: "Hi I preordered Zelda for Gamecube a few weeks back and I've read reports of online retailers already shipping the bonus disc.  Do you have any idea when you guys are getting the discs in?"
Clerk: "Um, I think the bonus disc comes in March and the game comes in Aug... I mean April."
I then proceed to give him a look as if he had just took a sh!t on a crucifix.
Clerk: *noticable nervous*  "I, uh, might have the months mixed up.  Let me look it up."  *Looks stuff up*  "Uh, yeah, the bonus disc comes in LATE February [I give him a look] , maybe more like mid February, and the game comes in March.  We'll call you when it comes in."
Ian: "Thank you"

So basically the guy didn't know anything and after wasting five minutes of my time looking stuff up gave me the same "We don't know but we pretend we do" answer that I got when I preordered the game.  Why couldn't he have said "as far as I know we haven't heard anything from Nintendo about getting the bonus disc in early."  That takes two seconds and although the news is disappointing I at least don't leave the store thinking "what a dumbass".  And if you don't know the date a game comes out (and with a major title like Zelda you SHOULD know) look it up right away instead of pretending you know.

14688

Nintendo Gaming / What makes 2003 a big year for Nintendo?

« on: February 10, 2003, 07:36:46 AM »

"I'm not sure whether or not F-Zero and Star Fox count as first or 3rd party seeing that they are published by Nintendo and are Nintendo licenses but at the same time being developed by 3rd parties... so I'll just go with the developer. In other words... Tube Slider goes under first party seeing that NDCube is developing it."

F-Zero and Star Fox are published by Nintendo so they're definitely not third party.  Though they're not really second party or first party either since neither Nintendo or a second party are making them.  I'd lump them with first party just because they're Nintendo franchises and are obviously exclusive.  As far as I know Tube Slider is not published by Nintendo (isn't it NEC) so it's a third party game.

Zelda and the GB Player are the big Gamecube releases for 2003 for me.  Everything else is just a nice bonus.  I'll wait until E3 before declaring 2003 as the "BEST YEAR YET" or anything like that.

I'm pretty sure Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life is Gamecube exclusive as it interfaces with the GBA version.  The Harvest Moon series isn't exclusive but so far I think every specific Harvest Moon game has been exclusive for it's system.

14689

General Gaming / What if Nintendo licensed their consoles to electronic companies?

« on: February 07, 2003, 11:23:08 AM »

Someone in the N-Gage thread suggested that Nintendo should make the next Gameboy a cell phone.  I thought to myself that I wouldn't want the next Gameboy to be a cell phone but it would be pretty cool if the Gameboy technology was licensed out so that it could be available in cell phones and Nintendo could still offer a base unit that only plays games.  So then I thought about what it would be like if Nintendo licensed the technology for their next console (which I'll just call the Gamecube 2 to keep things simple) as well.

Think about it for a second.  Nintendo designs the hardware for the Gamecube 2 and released it as a standalone console.  They then license out the Gamecube 2 technology to an electronic company.  I'll use Panasonic as an example since they're already making the Q.  Panasonic then includes GC2 with most of their DVD players.  Suddenly the GC2's userbase grows considerably as anyone who buys one of these DVD players can also play GC2 games and is therefore a potential customer.  Other electronic companies then license the technology as well and suddenly all DVD players (and TV/DVD combos) made by Panasonic, Philips, and Toshiba can play GC2 games.  The GC2 is introduced into several homes that intended on buying only a DVD player but got a game console with it as a bonus feature.

It's sort of like the way the PS2 comes with a DVD player but in reverse.  Instead of targetting the console market and using a built in DVD player as a selling point these DVD players target the DVD market and use gaming as a selling point.  People go out to buy a DVD player and notice that one allows you to play GC2 games and another doesn't.  Which do you think they'll be more inclined to buy?  They normally would not necessarily buy a Gamecube 2 on it's own but now they have one and are now willing to try it out and buy games for it.  By licensing the GC2 technology to electronics companies Nintendo could easily grab a huge chunk of the casual gamer market.  A market they have not been able to target very well on their own.  A standalone GC2 of course still exists and is targetted towards console gamers and children and naturally costs less money.

The best part is Sony would NEVER be able to match it because they themselves are an electronics company and would be less willing to license their technology to other electronics companies.  Afterall they've always stuck to their own way and likely would do the same here.  Microsoft would be able to copy it well enough but if Nintendo already makes exclusive deals with several companies beforehand they can have the "first to the market" advantage.

Of course I haven't taken into account stuff like what sort of profits this would bring in for Nintendo.  I merely think it's a cool idea and if it could be profitable would likely be a good idea.

14690

Nintendo Gaming / The Wind Waker to recieve "unprecedented" score from EGM.

« on: February 07, 2003, 10:57:25 AM »

Maybe they're going to give it all 0s.  I don't think that's ever happened before.

Seriously it probably just means they'll give it 10s.  Doesn't EGM give out Platinum awards for pefect games?  Maybe they're going to give it a Diamond award or something as a sort of special achievement thing.

"Maybe it will be a super low score like '8.5' or '8.0'."

Yeah because those 8.5 games are terrible!  An 8 is NOT a bad score.  It's actually a good score considering a lot of titles get in the 6s or 7s.  8 is only a bad score if the review is out of 15 or something.  If you only buy games that get 9s or higher you're not going to buy too many games.

14691

General Gaming / Nokia's new handheld a gba killer

« on: February 07, 2003, 09:51:14 AM »

"I really think that nintendos next gb should be a cell phone. and set up a thing with t moble or some other company."

I don't think the next Gameboy should BE a cell phone but rather have the technology be included with some cell phones.  Nintendo still makes a standalone Gameboy and certain cell phone makers license the GB technology so that Gameboy games can played on their phones.  Personally I think Nintendo should do this with all of their future consoles.  Hmmm, that sounds like a good topic for a new thread.

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Nintendo Gaming / Rumor: Just Sniffing Around

« on: February 07, 2003, 09:18:57 AM »

"I wasn't aware that you have a better economic understanding of the industry than Nintendo itself Ian Sane. I mean, they just work at Nintendo and get paid to analyze what is profitable... but I mean you... you're a fan, so that must make you more knowledgeable."

Well I did know the N64 cartridge thing would bite them in the ass and I was only like 13 at the time so sometimes I'm more knowledgeable.

No I'm not a market analyst and I don't work in the industry so it is in general safe to assume Nintendo knows more than me.  But Nintendo is also stubborn as hell at the best of times and often refuses to change with the times.  Hell they don't even release demo discs even though Sony has proven that such a thing is worthwhile.  My problem isn't so much that Nintendo themselves doesn't appear to have any intentions of making online games but rather that they have no intentions of letting third parties do so as well.  Being a restrictive jerk with third parties has bitten them in the ass before so I think it's fair to assume that such actions may do so again.  It's one thing to say "we won't go online" and another to say "NO ONE will go online".  It makes no difference to Nintendo if third parties crash and burn with their online ventures.  Therefore throwing away a foothold in the online market when they don't even have to take a risk themselves doesn't make sense.  I don't have to be a market analyst to know that.

14693

Nintendo Gaming / Pikmin 2 and Mario 128 in 2003!

« on: February 07, 2003, 08:59:17 AM »

"next zelda will be released in 2004."

AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!

Unless they've been working on two Zelda games at the same time there is NO WAY that's going to happen.  I'd say same thing with Mario.  Pikmin 2 is the only title I would expect to see in 2003 as they would have had two years to make the game.  But Mario or Zelda titles being released only a year apart is a pipe dream.  Nintendo isn't EA you know.

14694

General Gaming / Nokia's new handheld a gba killer

« on: February 06, 2003, 01:00:43 PM »

"Nokia gave no word on prices, saying only that the consoles will cost less than 500 euros (about $539)" - Gamepro.com

Over $500?  I think the GBA's market share is safe.  Nokia is clearly targetting a different market with that price.  Plus the N-Gage is pretty much a European only device.  GBA sales will be largely unaffected.  The GBA will be affected by the N-Gage less than the PS2 is affected by the Gamecube and Xbox.

14695

Nintendo Gaming / A Question for Canucks

« on: February 06, 2003, 07:58:27 AM »

Maybe you should try looking somewhere besides Toys 'R' Us.  Those retards couldn't even get my Gamecube preorder right.  After telling me again and again that I did NOT have to buy a bundle they told me on release day that I did.  Are there no other stores in Lethbridge that sell games?  What other cities are near Lethbridge?  You could always look somewhere else.

14696

Nintendo Gaming / A Question for Canucks

« on: February 06, 2003, 07:38:31 AM »

Grey Ninja where in Canada do you live?  I live in the Vancouver area and Skies of Arcadia is available in most stores.  I even was able to find a place renting it last weekend.  I also preordered Zelda at EB in the same way Softshell did.  You shouldn't have to order from American sites to get those games.  If you have a friend who lives near a major Canadian city they should be able to find what you're looking for.

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Nintendo Gaming / New Nintendo Dot Com poll - Fire Emblem

« on: February 05, 2003, 11:09:31 AM »

"Anyway, I don't see how Nintendo.com's polls matter, rememebr that had that poll about the style of Zelda. The "realistic" version dominated the rest but alast no results...we will see."

Nintendo.com's poll didn't affect Zelda's style because NOA has no input into the development of Zelda games.  That is strictly an NCL decision.  However localizing a Japanese game in the American market is NOA's decision so the poll is considerably more relevant.

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General Chat / The Ultimate Good Games List!

« on: February 05, 2003, 11:03:09 AM »

Ocarina's not the only awesome Zelda game.

Game: Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
System: Gameboy/Gameboy Color (DX version)
Release: 1993/1998

Before Pokemon came out this was the reason to own a Gameboy.  When I first saw this title on shelves I assumed it was, like most Gameboy games, an inferior portable cash-in on a popular franchise and would in no way be able to match the brilliance of A Link to the Past.  Boy was I wrong.  Not only does this titles match LttP but it actually improves on it in many ways making it a true Zelda game despite it's portable roots.  To this day I consider it not only my favourite Zelda game but my favourite game PERIOD.  It also remains the only game I have beaten more than once.  A perfect example of how, with the right amount of effort, a portable title can easily be as good as a console one.  If you have any sort of Gameboy you must buy this game.

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Nintendo Gaming / I sent a letter to nintendo europe...

« on: February 05, 2003, 10:12:07 AM »

"- Do you think Nintendo cares if you buy an import GC or if you buy one from the UK? They receive money either way."

I'm not sure if that's true.  I would assume Nintendo Europe only gets a cut from games sold that they produced.  The money from American games sold to European customers goes in Nintendo of America's pocket.  I don't know this as a fact but I think it's a fair assumption.

14700

Nintendo Gaming / Rumored Online Games... so far..

« on: February 05, 2003, 09:43:58 AM »

"Frankly, when it comes to Smash Bros. I'd much rather be in the same room with 4 other lunatics at 4 am playing then with some random 'Mariofan2937' who I can't taunt, yell, or throw things at."

Comments like this suggest that if Smash Bros went online then you couldn't play four players anymore.  There's nothing stopping you from playing it offline with your friends.  Online is merely a bonus so that if you want to play with someone (and it likely doesn't have to be random) who doesn't live near you you can.  Online is not a replacement for four player multiplayer it's merely another option.

I have friends I like to play with but I would also like to play with some people online who I can't play with otherwise because they live on the opposite side of the continent.  I would much rather play most games with people in the same room but online is perfectly fine when playing in the same room isn't an option.