Messages

1401

NWR Feedback / Re: Why do you think NWR's forums rarely get active new members?

« on: October 15, 2016, 06:33:47 PM »

Sooooo since I'm pretty new here I have some possibly useless thoughts? This may all sound harsh but I mean it all in constructive fashion. Also it's hella long, sorry.

1. For the amount of traffic this forum seems to get, there's way too many subforums. Now when new people (like me) check it out they see a whole bunch of dead subforums, making the whole place seem empty.
Why is there a strategy one, that fits in with gaming, why is there a hardware one, that could merge with consoles. And even there I would merge all three (handheld, consoles and general) as well.

2. General upkeep and clarity. There's sticky threads for PSN/XBox Live (no posts since 2009), "child boards" for Wii and DS friendcodes, a Mario Golf tournament from 2014, etc. While I assume most people just don't look at those, to me as a newbie who used to moderate another forum, it just seems like wasted space (especially since all these stickies and child boards are at the top of pages). I had look through every board to find the "i'm new here" thread because the Community board is, paradoxically, all the way at the bottom.

3. The main website. NWR does that jarring thing where it has a bunch of images up at the top which don't change much for weeks, and for the new content you need to scroll a bit. Spotlight the new stuff! Why do I need to press the news tab, make that front & center.
The press releases on the right are hella outdated so remove the section. I do like how the talkback is also visible on the forum since it theoretically encourages people to make an account and chat here. I understand NWR has a small staff and I don't wanna crap on their hard work, but if the site seems static and unchanging then why would anyone assume there are lively forums to be found?

4. Realise the "market position", if you will. Nintendo isn't having as many releases, this forum clearly isn't being used very much to talk about non-Nintendo stuff, and forum attendance is dwindling, possibly due to Reddit/Facebook/Twitter. So turn that into your strength! Make it a cosy, vibrant little place where the forum fits the community size/activity. Phil understandably worries about cliques, but a clique on a seemingly vibrant forum is still better than 20 dead forums with 2 sparsely populated ones.

So what would I do? Declutter the forum by having just 3 pillars: Gaming, Community and the Talkback/Podcast comments (I assume those are separate only because of a technical reason? Cos they should merge too). Harsh yeah, but Neogaf uses just 2 subforums and they're just fine.
Relegate the forum rules/announcements into a sticky atop the Community forum. The feedback category can go, that's just Community stuff anyway. Make ONE child board in the Community section for those weird Funhouse/Mafia things I don't dare click on.

I get that few of these things probably bother all of you regulars, and I don't wanna swoop in here in tell y'all how it's done. But perception is absolutely everything and when I clicked on here, my first thought was "yikes most of this board is dead."

There are people out there who want to post on forums, clearly. Cater to them. #MakeForumsGreatAgain

1402

General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: October 15, 2016, 09:15:13 AM »

I picked up Panzer Dragoon Orta and Destroy All Humans for Xbox

NICE!!! I had completely forgotten about Destroy All Humans but those games are hilarious! I remember having a version of it on my early-2000s Motorola flip phone haha. Did anyone here ever play the Wii sequel? Always been mildly curious about it.

1403

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Pokken Tournament: Gotta Smash Em All!

« on: October 13, 2016, 04:59:28 PM »

Oh cool! I don't like Darkrai or the one you spoilertagged there, but Scizor has a neat design. I'm absolutely awful at this game though, even the cpu regularly stomps me. Went online once and got demolished in seconds hahaha.

1404

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Another blast from the past

« on: October 12, 2016, 05:46:44 PM »

N64 - hella robust due to no moving parts. Loadtimes weren't too bad for the time, and l still really love all the see-through colour variants.


GameCube - a cute lil' powerhouse that focused purely on gaming whilst other consoles were moving towards multimedia. Built like a brick, access to the vast Gameboy library using the add-on and easy to move around.

Wii - one of the best console designs ever. It's sleek, super compact, can easily stand or lay horizontally. Even the controller is shaped like a remote; everything is just made to fit into a household without occupying much space or drawing too much attention to itself.


Wii U - it's so very versatile! Easy eShop allows for a much bigger library, it's backwards compatible, it plays Wii games on the gamepad without even needing a sensor bar if you want. Compatible with so many previous pieces of hardware, even GameCube controllers for Smash. Also, asymmetric multiplayer is so very cool.

1405

General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: October 12, 2016, 10:21:03 AM »

I, too, was totes excited when picking up Paper Mario Color Splash!
However, got totally suckered in by this crazy sale they had on... Picked up quite a stack: Red Steel 2, Madworld and Speed Racer for the Wii, Hybrid Heaven for N64, Phantasy Star Online III for Gamecube and the original Wave Race for GameBoy. They were all crazy cheap (aside Paper Mario obvs), is how I rationalise this to myself, but I feel like Imma need to join the backlog thread here too haha.

1406

General Gaming / Re: Xbox original

« on: October 10, 2016, 05:58:25 PM »

Yeah costwise original X-Box games are incredibly cheap, even moreso than PS2 right? So definitely a smart move to collect a bit for it. Since you mention kinda liking arcade racers - ever heard of Quantum Redshift? It's this XGR/WipeOut clone that's exclusive to the X-Box, and goes for dirtcheap nowadays. I'll be honest, it's doesn't have the charm of F-Zero GX or perhaps even XGRA 4, but it did have an awesome soundtrack. Microsoft really wanted this to be a franchise I think, because they got Junkie XL to do the music (he's a film composer now, did Mad Max Fury Road recently).


I had friends who constantly mentioned Jade Empire, no clue what it is. Oh and if you've ever liked an Oddworld game, that got the 3D platformer treatment on X-Box right? But since you've already gotten 36 titles I assume you know of that one for sure.
EDIT: oh and you mention mechs. If you somehow find a full working set of Steel Battalion... That's gotta be an intense experience haha!

1407

General Gaming / Re: Xbox original

« on: October 10, 2016, 01:07:37 PM »

Shame that the disc(drive)s are so seemingly finnicky.
If you're looking for more suggestions still, the only X-Box game that made me consider buying one was Panzer Dragoon Orta. Not sure how easy that is to find nowadays though, but it seemed plentifully available at the time. Jet Set Radio Future is also on it!

Also if you've not tried some of the multiplats of that generation, the X-Box versions were often great. Beyond Good & Evil is on it, as are Psychonauts (never appeared on Gamecube!), Hulk Ultimate Destruction and that Metal Arms Glitch System game which I've heard was pretty good.

1408

Nintendo Gaming / Re: The Definitive Nintendo Title

« on: October 09, 2016, 06:23:44 PM »

Ok I'll play! Just doing a few consoles because I don't wanna make an endless list.

N64: while Robotron 64 is my favourite on here, I'm gonna predictably say that Mario Kart 64 and Smash Bros. were the defining games for me on it.
Gamecube: oh man. Smash Melee for sure, but Metroid Prime, Beyond Good & Evil, Wind Waker, Super Monkeyball, Star Fox Adventures, F-Zero GX and honestly Spider-Man 2 are all games that instantly spring to mind when thinking about this console. My favourite system.
Wii: I mean, Wii Sports was a phenomenon and it felt like the future to me. Haters to the left.
Wii U: took me a while to warm up to the system, but Shantae & The Pirate's Curse was the first time I got hooked on a Wii U title. Sure there's better games on it (Severed, Affordable Space Adventures, Mario 3D World) but Shantae convinced me it wasn't gonna be an expensive dustcollector after all.

1409

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 494: A Totally Satisfactory Podcast

« on: October 05, 2016, 05:34:05 PM »

What about an RTS crossover for Miitopia set on an island? Call it MiiTropico.

1410

Nintendo Gaming / Re: The crazy continues...Wii discussion please keep it civil.

« on: October 05, 2016, 04:00:01 PM »

Obviously Mario Kart Wii and Smash Bros. Brawl are good options, both support a host of controllers including Gamecube so motion is entirely optional.

Will also second Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn, that has GameCube controller support too, but be warned that 1.) it's a sequel to a GC title, 2.) it's incredibly hard at the beginning, and 3.) it goes for astronomically high prices.

Did anyone try that Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World game? I believe it didn't review as well as the GameCube one before, but might still be worth a shot? I've also never tried Super Paper Mario but I don't think that uses motion either.

Sin & Punishment: Star Successor is an excellent on-rails shooter with crazy bossfights. Can be played using GameCube and Classic controllers, although pointer+nunchuck works best since it's a shooter.


If you don't mind some more motion controls after all:
- Metroid Prime 3 Corruption is the 2nd best Prime game.
- Donkey Kong Country Returns contains some waggling but really rocks.
- Boom Blox! and it's sequel Boom Blox Smash Party are super fun reverse Jenga games. Fling **** at structures to make them fall down.
- Pandora's Tower uses motion heavily but is a cool action game.

As a Sega fan, you may be interested in Samba de Amiga. I forget where critical consensus is on that game but I believe it was more highly regarded than the Nights sequel.

Neither of these are very good unfortunately. Samba de Amigo was better on DreamCast and the NiGHTS sequel, while very likable, just falls short in almost every regard. Although it does support GameCube and Classic controllers.

1411

General Gaming / Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?

« on: October 02, 2016, 02:39:03 PM »

Just finished up Severed, which was recently added to the Wii U eshop.



Released earlier on Vita and iOS, this is now on 3DS and Wii U too. Gorgeous game from Drinkbox (they did Guacamelee) which has you starring as Sasha (pictured above) who loses part of her arm when her family gets attacked. A creepy spectre-figure hands you what looks like a living blade, and we're off to get our family back!


You move through the world in a way that reminds me of Killer7, in that you point a direction and press forward, but don't actually have complete movement freedom. On rails a bit? You find puzzles, secrets and fight all in first-person view on the Gamepad, using a stylus. The fights are really cool here, you swipe to hack away at gruesome enemies and parry their attacks. If you land a bunch of succesful hits you get in a brief trance-mode and can kill the enemies by severing (titledrop) their limbs. Those limbs are used to upgrade your blade.


The good: looks and sounds great, sparse storytelling that still manages to convey emotions without spelling things out for you. The Mesoamerican-inspired setting is relatively novel too in games! The fighting is cool with the touchpad, and having the giant map up on the TV really helps once you've taken care of all enemies in an area and want to explore for secrets.


The bad: you can't walk backwards, which isn't super annoying but sometimes you overshoot and then turning is a little cumbersome. Also I feel like the upgrade system is kinda janky, I had like 1600 spare giblets left at the end with nothing to spend them on. Maybe because I played on the easy mode, but yeah. Also if you're playing the whole thing in one go, touch controls might get tiring. I took my time though.
Last nitpick is the credits song. The whole game has moody pianos and then it ends with almost Sonic-esque rock? WHY? I get that they wanted a song called "take my hand" but did it have to be so jarring?


Last note: it's cool to have a main character with an obvious physical disability in a game. Don't see that a ton, I feel like. They almost ruin this in the final area, but then turn it into a situation where Sasha needs to accept the loss of this limb, so that's nicely done.


Severed is a tremendous game in my opinion. If you want something moody, bloody, pretty short (7.5 hrs for 100% on easy), and heavily using touch controls this comes highly recommended. 8.5/10

Love the review. Mostly agree with it. I do think Rayman and DK Tropical Freeze are the two of the three best platforms on Wii U. So you probably won't go wrong with any of the two you pick to play next.

Thanks! Yeah I'm thinking Rayman might be next, since I'm not great at games and get stuck easily on difficult platformers haha. But DK will happen eventually for sure, love the atmosphere in those games.

1412

General Gaming / Re: Lindemann Syndrome Anonymous (LSA)

« on: September 29, 2016, 07:13:36 AM »

Yikes I'm not sure I could face my backlog like this head on... Would probably get overwhelmed once you start counting the amount of hours needed. I think I always buy more than I can actually play.


Are you trying to finish them all? Or just try out for a while? I noticed you had Affordable Space Adventures listed twice, so that's one less already! Great game though, and not very long either. I'm also a big fan of that Pokémon TCG release for GBC, so if you're into cardgames at all I would recommend giving that a look.

1413

General Gaming / Re: NWR Indie Game Developers Thread

« on: September 27, 2016, 12:22:19 PM »

Not a design person either Phil, but if possible I would move the 'E' in 'Legends' just slightly to the right. It's kinda annoying that it's not centered with the sword, especially because the 'I' below it is centered perfectly.

1414

General Gaming / Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?

« on: September 20, 2016, 03:26:16 PM »

So speaking of dragons, I just finished up Yoshi's Woolly World (on Wii U).



As a relatively recent Wii U owner I've missed out on a lot of the 2D platformers the system offers. Rayman and DK are all still in the pipeline for me. All 3 looked gorgeous, but picked this one up first. I'm pretty bad at games so figured I'd start out easy.


Partial mistake there though; the later levels get pretty tricky still. It offers things like extra ability badges and even a mode where you get wings to compensate, but those still don't cover things like spiky pits or those damn blocks which flattened me constantly. Did really appreciate the winged "mellow mode" though, for co-op with someone who's never played a platformer before. Kinda too bad you can't have one player in mellow mode and the other in normal, but oh well.


Game looks amazing of course, and sound is decent too. I miss the saccharin song from N64 Yoshi's Story though! There's a ton of levels, well over 50, a decent amount of fun, but kinda easy bossfights, and absolutely endless collectibles. Collect yarn to unlock new Yoshi's, collect flowers to unlock more levels, etc. Kinda wish these things would stack perhaps though, I've got a bunch of flowers in every world but you need ALL of them for the extra level. Same with Yoshi's; I can't count the amount of levels where I got 4/5 yarnballs - not enough for a new Yoshi, since they don't combine with yarns from other levels.


Level designs vary nicely too, the last 3 worlds contain a host of standouts in particular. The earlier ones are a little samey perhaps though. If one is kicking your ass you can always pay to skip it in mellow mode, which is nice. I hate the checkpoints though, they're too sparse for a game this kiddy, and routinely having no checkpoints right before a boss is some real garbage. Also why no Kamek bossfight!?!


Overall I would recommend it, it's creative with its world, controls well, has fun boss fights, tons of stuff to collect. Have some nitpicks in terms of streamlining the experience, perhaps they can do that for the 3DS version. Rating: 7.5/10

1415

TalkBack / Re: Paper Mario Color Splash (Wii U) Hands-on Preview

« on: September 13, 2016, 04:58:52 PM »

Hmm, still pretty torn (heh) on this one. I've only played Thousand-Year Door which I liked well enough, particularly the humour and creative environments/abilities. It was way too long though. Don't really mind that the battle system has been changed; I'm open to change and this new one looks truly gorgeous...


But other than that crazy cat image at the end I've not really seen anything that has sold me on this one. Hmm.

1416

Nintendo Gaming / Re: New, Unannounced Game Coming for Wii U in December!

« on: September 08, 2016, 08:36:43 AM »

Pssh all of you mainstream bottomfeeders are only finding out about this now? It's been a topic of discussion for weeks now in the underground gaming scene.

1417

TalkBack / Re: Gamescom 2016: forma.8's Gameplay Is Quite Simple Yet Effective (Wii U)

« on: September 07, 2016, 08:54:40 AM »

Looks cool, though I can't help but feel a lot of similarities with Affordable Space Adventures. How's the music in it? The announcement trailer from 2014 had a great deep bass tune. Anything similar in the final version?


Just noticed on Nintendo's website it's now slated for December 2016.

1418

General Gaming / Re: What are/were your favorite gaming magazines?

« on: September 04, 2016, 07:18:50 PM »

There's this guy on YouTube who went through some issues of N64 Magazine, they're pretty fun to watch even though I never read this myself. Episodes are a bit long though, but if anyone's interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjMGMdNcAKY&index=1&list=PLP2ND-Cdj88jjqMpHCkWBYMgUXQTUB3EA

1419

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 490: Puzzling in Progress

« on: August 29, 2016, 07:48:53 PM »

It's funny, truly "Open world" games for Nintendo consoles, I'm coming up blank, with exception to Spiderman 2 on the gamecube, which i'd be happy to find an excuse to play again. 


Simpsons Hit and Run?

True Crime: Streets of L.A.! And what about Hulk Ultimate Destruction? No More Heroes on Wii? Aaaarguably Beyond Good & Evil, kinda, sorta, a bit~ish? ...Maybe Wind Waker? Are the Assassin's Creed games open world btw? Because those are on Wii U just like Watch_Dogs, though I've never played one.


EDIT: Of course Ultimate Spider-Man works too, which looks better but plays worse than Spidey 2.

1420

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Predict When Nintendo Will Unveil the NX!

« on: August 29, 2016, 07:44:07 PM »

What if they've already announced it though and everyone instantly dismissed it as a rumour? Obviously this is what has happened!

1421

General Gaming / Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?

« on: August 25, 2016, 05:13:00 PM »

Apparently, Rodea the Sky Soldier has some similarities to NiGHTS. I own it for Wii U/Wii, but I've yet to try it out. Really interested in doing so when my review load isn't so big.

I've read the Wii game is the best one of those two. Supposedly it plays a lot better with a pointer. Considered picking it up a while back, but it's still super expensive here and I've got way too many unplayed games as it is already. It's cool that with Rodea Sky Soldier, Yuji Naka is still trying variations on the 3D sonic/NiGHTS Into Dreams formula. You'd think someone would get bored with a similar way of movement after so many years but he's still trying to make it work, gotta admire that.

1422

General Gaming / Re: Your favorite boss battle from a recent-ish game?

« on: August 25, 2016, 05:08:36 PM »

Sin and Punishment: Star Successor has the greatest variety of boss fights in a videogame I've every played.  The final boss rush in the last level is easily the most epic experience in gaming.  Especially when played on Hard mode where the fights become insane.

Oof I can't even imagine that. I played on Easy like a chump and still popped a blood vessel in my eye. Utter madness, kinda similar to Splatoon's final boss in terms of how frantic I was mashing buttons. But yeah it's a great ending, especially like that while they're recycling a few bosses from earlier, their movesets are completely different.

1423

General Gaming / Re: Your favorite boss battle from a recent-ish game?

« on: August 24, 2016, 09:15:34 PM »

Does Sin & Punishment: Star Successor count as recent? It's 6~ish years old already, but most of the bosses are pretty cool. Sure there's a few regular "squad leaders" in there, but otherwise there's a lot of variety on display. Some are sidescrolling, others have melee focus, some are about deflecting, there's a freaking boxing match in there, bosses with multiple forms, one includes time slowing/speeding elements... Suppose shmups are always decent at bossfights though.

1424

General Gaming / Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?

« on: August 24, 2016, 09:07:33 PM »

NiGHTS was the flag bearer on the original, but became a racer along with Reala in Racing Transformed. In Transformed, Ristar became the flag bearer.

Nice! It definitely feels like NiGHTS deserves more exposure than they ever got. They're just a character that's hard to dislike, even if the game I played starring them was mediocre at best. Find myself making a lot more excuses for this game than I normally would for something of similar quality; kinda speaks to how it's a unique enough franchise that I really want to root for it.

1425

General Gaming / Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?

« on: August 24, 2016, 08:32:42 PM »

Yeah NiGHTS is super likable, just a shame the Wii game has so many things holding it back. Hopefully they port over the original Sega Saturn game to Wii U (or NX) one, but I'm not holding my breath sadly. Is NiGHTS playable in the Sonic All-Star Racing games? Gotta be right, freaking Skies of Arcadia is in it and that franchise has been dormant for much longer.