Topic: Episode 249: Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head

[Ceric]

I am glad to hear that I am no alone in thinking inFAMOUS is a good game, just too damn repetitive. I have to beat that game, but just go tired of it a moved on to Uncharted then to Prince of Persia (yes I am new owner of a PS3 so I am playing through a huge back catalog of awesome games), and next up is Batman Arkham Asylum. 

I've actually decided to wait on Batman: Arkham Asylum in hopes of a WiiU version with enhanced controls.  I played the demo and know I probably like it.

[noname2200]

It's almost as if NoA stopped caring about people like me (and the NWR audience) because, well, we'll buy whatever games they put out for us. We'll eat up whatever Iwata Asks bullshit they throw at us, etc. etc.

I have to wonder if NoA in particular is feeling pretty smug/snakebit this generation on its localizations. Smug, because without exception every game that got localized in Europe but not America this generation has bombed horribly (Another Code, Last Window, Disaster, Jam with the Band, etc.). Snakebit, because the two games which I've heard NoA had a huge hand in creating, Elite Beat Agents and Sin and Punishment 2, were both commercial failures (albeit two of my favorite games this gen). EBA in particular might be why NoA is unimpressed with forum users' demands for bringing a game over.

[Ceric]

EBA needed to be advertised.  I don't know how much more Praising could have been done in the non-mainstream.  This game does fall into the size of fan base as Layton and more accurately Pheonix Wright.  Devoted Fans.  I even bought the Two Japanese ones because I liked EBA that much.

[noname2200]

Maybe, and if so it would fall under the "can't market no more" camp.

[Ceric]

Maybe, and if so it would fall under the "can't market no more" camp.

How hard would it have been.  Amusng Blues Brother Style Commercial getting to a place to Cheer and the sudden surprise is their Cheering something weird.  It almost fits exactly with their DS marketing.

[Fiendlord_Timmay]

Yay, my question was read! I totally agree with the complaints about infamous. It did get a bit repetitive by the end, and the movement speed was a serious problem. But I have high tolerance for those types of things, so it didn't particularly detract from the overall experience. I think one of the reasons I liked it so much was because of the totally insane story. I loved how it went so unapologetically over the top by the end.

Greg's reaction to the statement that the Patriots were run by an evil organization was priceless.

I am currently playing through the first Metal Gear Solid for PS1. I like it so far, and the cutscenes aren't bothering me too much yet. I do have some problems with the controls, though. And the game is absolutely hideous. I might just try out the gamecube version to see if it fixes some of my issues.

[Shaymin]

EBA needed to be advertised.  I don't know how much more Praising could have been done in the non-mainstream.  This game does fall into the size of fan base as Layton and more accurately Pheonix Wright.  Devoted Fans.  I even bought the Two Japanese ones because I liked EBA that much.

For whatever it's worth, I saw Elite Beat Agents ads at least twice a week for a 2 month period around its release. It's part of the reason why I bought it - though I hate Walkie Talkie Man to this day.

[NWR_Lindy]

LOL yes, definitely playing through the original Metal Gear Solid is an eye-opening - or rather eye-burning - experience.  I'm always amazed at how jittery the polygons are; they look terrible.  That was back when Sony felt compelled to have PS1 compete with N64 in terms of 3D games. <shudder>

I can't believe Elite Beat Agents didn't get a good advertising campaign.  I could have been classic.

[Crimm]

I could have been classic.

Wut?

[Chocobo_Rider]

YO!  I was out of town so ... I know fewer people will see/read this but... here are my responses to another highly enjoyable episode!

1. NPC chatter in FPSs is just stupid.  I think developers are starting to get too "cute" with the phrases and its turning their own games into (even bigger) jokes.

2. I have loved each WayForward game I've played! Like a concerned parent, I hope they're making money and getting by OK.

3. To me, episodic gaming is yet another misstep in the wonderful (read: awful) world of DLC.

4. I never beat Ninja Gaiden 1 w/o save states.  But I did own Ninja Gaiden II back in the day and played it so much I could beat it relatively easily. (heavy emphasis on "RELATIVELY").

5. It's nice that Kotaku is providing some interesting content.  Too bad the site on the whole is too toxic for me to ever set foot on again!

6. OpRainfall....

6A. whoa, whoa, whoa.  back the truck up. *beep*beep*beep* ... OK, let's say Nintendo no longer knows how to market "core" games.  Here are two MASSIVE variables that were not being considered in that statement:

First, gamer tastes have changed.  Nintendo doesn't do a lot of dude-bro FPS or violent "realistic" games like Assassin's Creed. 

That's what's popular now from the "hardcore" perspective.  Clean, respectable protagonists bopping around zapping aliens without cussing or shooting up steroids don't sell like they used to.

Second, any "core" Wii game faces a severe uphill battle in that gaming media is not going to help them out.  Game isn't in HD? That's 1-2 points right off the top of the review score.  Game uses any amount of this new fangled motion whutsits? It's automatically not for the "hardcore". Sad? Yes. Stupid? Yes. True? Yes.

6B. Yea, the Walmart crowd wound up being the Wii's bread and butter.  But that's because, as I said, the gaming market has shifted to this "m for mature" style and so Nintendo went blue ocean to keep from finishing 3rd place again.  Try not to blame them because the expanded audience actually liked gaming enough to make it a successful move.

6C. I do agree that, if sales considerations are the problem, Nintendo is acting like the foolish third parties who don't support the Wii and then complain that there are no sales.

7. Jet packs, grappling hooks and MegaMan 6 are awesome.

I was soooooo excited about Dark Void.  I still plan to play it someday.  I bet I'll like it.

8. I have all the ZoE games but I have yet to play even one of them! I know I will someday thoroughly enjoy them!

9. Loved the first MGS.  Haven't been motivated to play the rest of them.  Though I have an especially high tolerance/affinity for both ninjas and cutscenes so I bet I would be a good target for the rest of the franchise.
.... though I do have a compulsion to understand plots so.... hrm.

[Ceric]

Yeah, you should have been in the Chat Saturday.  It was fun.  I wish we had more opportunities to listen to NWR Podcasts and do real time chat with others.  Its fun to have the side talk.  Even though I missed most of the call-in while chatting...

[broodwars]

I was soooooo excited about Dark Void.  I still plan to play it someday.  I bet I'll like it.

Dark Void is one of the most disappointing, unfinished, buggy pieces of **** I've ever played.  Stay far, far away from it, no matter how much the demo makes things look like they could be cool.  I picked the game up for $10 in a Gamestop Bargain Bin, and I still feel ripped off.  It's a pity, too, because the idea of merging a jetpack with something like Uncharted sounds great on paper.

[NWR_insanolord]

Play Dark Void Zero instead. It's awesome.

[Chocobo_Rider]

Yea, I've heard Dark Void Zero was the more enjoyable title in the series =P I just got a DSi (XL) last week so maybe I'll look into it!

Isn't there even a sound of someone blowing in a cartridge before you start? Or am I thinking of another game?

@ broodwars

Was it just a matter of not taking care of glitches or would it still be disappointing if it all worked perfectly?

[broodwars]

@ broodwars

Was it just a matter of not taking care of glitches or would it still be disappointing if it all worked perfectly?

If you took away all the crashes (seriously, this game crashes so often I Platinum-ed the game just to see if it was even possible) and bugs both minor and major, the game would be merely average.  I'm not kidding when I say that this game is unfinished.  The various levels feel like they were stitched together from whatever the developers found still kind of worked a month before release, because there's almost no semblance of continuity.  There are some cool ideas, but they just aren't executed well.

[Chocobo_Rider]

@ broodwars

Man, that's such a shame! I hold Capcom in high regard but they sure had a rough patch in '09-'10 between Dark Void, Bionic Commando and (some might say) RE5.

Think there was a specific reason they had to rush on Dark Void?

Also, what does "platinum-ed" mean? Is that like when a game is done and it goes "gold"?

[broodwars]

Also, what does "platinum-ed" mean? Is that like when a game is done and it goes "gold"?

It means that I got the Platinum trophy for the game on PS3 by collecting all the game's trophies (or acquiring all the achievements, for you 360 users).  I usually don't bother for games I hate, but I seriously wanted to see, given all the crashes I'd seen, if it was even possible to get all of them.  Because frankly, I'm pretty sure some money exchanged hands between Capcom, Sony, and Microsoft to allow that game to ship.  There's no way all those crashes and bugs were not seen during certification, and under normal circumstances 1st party would have forced Capcom to fix them.

My theory almost panned out as I expected, too.  The game crashed 3 times on one of the final levels during my Hard Mode run, as well as once refusing to spawn the thing I had to destroy to complete the level.

I harbor similar suspicions about Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas.  There had to have been some very fishy shenanigans during certification for those games to pass, because they are textbook crash factories on both platforms but especially on PS3.

[NWR_insanolord]

Isn't there even a sound of someone blowing in a cartridge before you start? Or am I thinking of another game?

Actually, in the DSiWare version at least, you blow into the DS microphone to blow the dust out of the cartridge before you start it up. It's cute for a while, but it eventually gets kind of annoying.

[Ceric]

Certification isn't what it use to be.  I'm hoping Nintendo sticks with its guns and not let glitchy software onto their system with the newer systems.

[Chocobo_Rider]

@ broodwars

Wow. That's saddening. Ah well.  Maybe I'll pick it up for the PS5 someday as part of Capcom's "we're sorry for these games" package =P

@ Insanolord

Ah yea, that's right.  hmm, I could see that getting annoying.  They should have had it randomly boot  up with a "corrupted" screen every 1/5 of the time.  That would have been a nice solution.

@ Ceric

I completely agree.  It's amazing how as technology has gotten more powerful and budgets have gotten exponentially larger, that glitches have actually gone UP in frequency.  It's a sign of an industry that is trying to be bigger that its legs can support.  If they just slowed things down, they could be walking tall.  Instead many sprint towards fractured tibias.

.... metaphorically speaking. =P

[Mop it up]

In the case of something like Dark Void, I wonder if they said something along the lines of "We'll fix those issues later with patches!" Perhaps they actually did plan to do that, but I'm going to assume the game sold poorly and that probably means they never bothered. Of course, the game isn't going to sell if it is no good. Then again, many companies don't seem to understand the big secret to selling games: make them good.

[Chocobo_Rider]

I completely agree, my Mop it up friend.

[Enner]

I would give them the benefit of the doubt that they didn't think they would be able to fix issues post-release. PC gamers barely stand for that crap and I would imagine console gamers would just get rid of the game. I would imagine that the Dark Void team had a hard release date and shipped out the game as best they could. Looks like their best wasn't nearly enough.

[broodwars]

I would give them the benefit of the doubt that they didn't think they would be able to fix issues post-release. PC gamers barely stand for that crap and I would imagine console gamers would just get rid of the game. I would imagine that the Dark Void team had a hard release date and shipped out the game as best they could. Looks like their best wasn't nearly enough.

Considering that the main game looks like its levels are held together with scotch tape, I think it's fairly certain that Capcom just put out an ultimatum that they game had to ship when it did and the devs just handed over what they had.  And then Capcom turned around and blamed Western Devs as a whole for screwing up their earnings forecasts, since Bionic Commando (which I've heard is a better game than it's given credit for) also didn't sell well.

[NWR_insanolord]

Bionic Cqommando's pretty fun. I tried it in the free-play area at PAX last year and ended up buying it when I got back.