Messages

11176

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Fatal Frame IV

« on: April 08, 2009, 08:03:09 AM »

It was a major title for me, GP. I was always interested in the series before and Suda's involvement made me even more interested in it.

Especially when some of these games are coming to Europe I don't see much of an excuse for NoA to not follow suit. The game is already translated to English and the game doesn't need to be optimized or anything like in the PAL regions as Japan and NA TV's work the same. Most Nintendo games break even sales wise so I fear it is NoA and their ridiculous image concerns.

Doom on them.

Still to put it in perspective (which was the focal point of that post because I am getting tired of people overlooking all the good things coming out acting like one game is the be all end all now) the game is NOT a huge release even if some of us anticipate it (Seriously, I REALLY REALLY want Captain Rainbow so I know how you and others feel). Does it suck it may not come out here? Sure it does. But to be like, some other unnamed individual, and threaten to sell your Wii because one game may or may not come out here, showing disregard for everything that IS coming out here, is silly. Also we don't know the full story, it comes across as weird to me. I think it is funny how everyone bashes Matt Cass for his rumors yet sucks this up like it is truth.

In regards to Endless Ocean 2 (heaven forbid) not coming out here, I'd be VERY VERY disappointed but I would try to put it in perspective because there is so many other things out there as well to look forward too. I wouldn't get extreme and threaten to blow up my Wii or trade it in for a new graphics card, because it is still only one game. Now if it was like the N64 where we seldom got games here, I may get a bit more extreme but really with the Wii we have several promising titles coming out.

I wasn't threatening to do that over just this one game.  It's more that this is just one more problem Nintendo's added to the growing list of problems I have had with the company over the last year or so.  I don't know how many more "one more things" Nintendo can afford to add to that list.  This was going to be a big game for me, and seeing Nintendo not bring it over when they bring crap like Wii Music and whanot is just infuriating.  I wouldn't mind the stuff Nintendo brought over if they brought over ALL their games, and unlike the example you gave (Captain Rainbow) the Fatal Frame franchise actually has an established fanbase over here.  There is money that could be made without additional resources dedicated to localization (what'll they have to do...do a PAL conversion?).  Nintendo not bringing it over here just makes no sense, unless they somehow think they're in danger of actually being considered a console for gamers again.

As for the list of games you gave earlier, I already bought several of them (Madworld and Overkill, and they weren't that great) and several more on that list simply don't appeal to me.  Of the lot you listed, only really Conduit sounds vaguely interesting.

Whenever you hear me rant about Nintendo, it's never just about the event in question, but that event as part of a growing trend with the company.

11177

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo to Publish Fatal Frame IV in Europe

« on: April 08, 2009, 02:13:18 AM »

First Project H.A.M.M.E.R
Then, Disaster: Day of Crisis
Now, Fatal Frame 4.

Who is killing these games?

In all fairness, Fatal Frame 4 is the only game on that list generally considered good (or at least playable.  H.A.M.M.E.R. never really got off the ground if I remember correctly).

11178

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Fatal Frame IV

« on: April 08, 2009, 02:12:08 AM »

As I posted in the talkback thread about FFIV coming to Europe, after this announcement Nintendo has no right to complain about a lack of 3rd party support on Wii.  Not when they took a possibly major 3rd party release they publish and withhold it from us.  It's nonsense like this that makes me really tempted to sell off my Wii and use it to fill in the gaps in my growing PS3 collection.  This just makes no sense whatsoever.

11179

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo to Publish Fatal Frame IV in Europe

« on: April 08, 2009, 02:03:35 AM »

http://wii.ign.com/articles/970/970875p1.html

Apparently, IGN has confirmed through Tecmo that Fatal Frame IV will NOT be coming to North America, as Nintendo owns the publishing rights and has decided not to bring it over here.

Frack you, Nintendo.  It's stuff like this that has me really tempted to get rid of my Wii for good...

And Nintendo wonders why 3rd Party Publishers are so reluctant to put anything decent on the Wii, when they're withholding 3rd party games they publish from North America for no apparent reason.

11180

TalkBack / Re: Konami Announces Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

« on: April 07, 2009, 07:57:44 AM »

When has that EVER happened with 3rd parties and Wii?  Seriously, I'd love to know because it would be a first.

Tenchu was made for Wii and downported to PSP

Alright, fair enough.  It's happened ONCE before.  The problem is that it's nowhere near the norm, and it's likely to be the same here.

11181

TalkBack / Re: Konami Announces Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

« on: April 06, 2009, 10:16:14 PM »

Woo, PSP level graphics and gameplay!

Let me ask you something.Have you seen a screenshot of the Wii and PSP screens side by side?

Let me tell you something, I have been hurt soooo many times in the past by third parties. When will I find Mr. Right?

Tell me about it.  I'm still fuming about getting burned by the Wii version of Alone in the Dark (the LAST time I trusted a 3rd party to not screw me over on a multiplatform release with Wii controls & PS2 visuals), which is such an utter piece of crap it makes Superman 64 look promising.

11182

TalkBack / Re: Konami Announces Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

« on: April 06, 2009, 09:53:48 PM »

Will the graphics be gimped for the PSP version? Tune in this fall!

How will the phone and flashlight translate over to the traditional Playstation controls?

I believe that the PS2 and PSP version will be a down port of the Wii version and well more "traditional controls".

When has that EVER happened with 3rd parties and Wii?  Seriously, I'd love to know because it would be a first.

11183

TalkBack / Re: Konami Announces Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

« on: April 06, 2009, 09:43:35 PM »

...and once again, apparently 3rd parties think the Wii is only suitable for handling products they want to put on the PS2/PSP, and think the Wii's an easy cash grab.  Sheesh...my interest in this title just shot through the floor.

11184

TalkBack / Re: Wii MotionPlus Over Responsive According to EA

« on: April 06, 2009, 08:12:59 PM »

Zack & Wiki 2 and anything involving swordplay.

I hope you're joking.  The swordplay in the original was easily the weakest part of the game.  I had to replay the last level (or maybe it was the second-to-last) like ten flipping times because I could never get the sword controls to work.

I was mentioning "Zack & Wiki 2" and "anything involving swordplay" being good candidates for Wii Motion +, not "Anything involving swordplay in Zack & Wiki 2."  Trust me, I hated that swordplay in Z&W as well...tilll I figured out my problem was that I wasn't holding the Wiimote the way the game was telling me to (on its side).

11185

Podcast Discussion / Re: Radio Free Nintendo: Episode 140

« on: April 06, 2009, 07:56:37 PM »

I don't understand the complaints about the time aspect being too restricting, myself.  All you have to do is play the reverse Song of Time, and you have all the time you pretty much need for anything important.  And if you don't want to hang around till the 2nd or 3rd day when you need to be around to do something, just play the accelerated version of the same song to skip ahead.  I don't understand the problem here.  In any case, Majora's Mask is my favorite Zelda game, because it among all the Zelda games best captures the Emotion of the world.  Through observing and interfering in the lives of the Termina townsfolk, you actually develop a real connection to what would otherwise be standard NPCs.  I actually cared about what I was doing and who I was affecting in Majora's Mask, a feat that Nintendo has yet to repeat in any other Zelda game since.  It's like you're a Hylian Sam Beckett with the fairy as your Al.

11186

TalkBack / Re: The Conduit's Looking Good

« on: April 06, 2009, 02:57:59 AM »

I am realistic. I don't see it making it to a million (worldwide maybe, but not the US), but I see it hitting 500,000 K in overall sales.

The hype for this is higher than for "Overkill" and "Madworld", so it could do some business.

Yeah, but the problem is that the hype right now is centered around Nintendo fanboys like us (well...like you two  ^_- ) who follow the game religiously.  That's maybe 100,000 copies.  I'm just wondering if this game has the potential to attract that additional 400,000 unless Sega pulls out an absolutely stelllar mass-media marketing blitz for it over the next fe months.

It will be interesting. What I hate is no matter how good(or bad) Conduit will be, so much rests on its success. If it tanks you can expect more traditional Wii games to dry up further. That is scary to put that much hope on a title from a studio that has never really had the chance to prove themselves as good or bad.

Honestly, I don't think poor sales of the game are going to be as catastrophic to 3rd party support as many seem to think, because by now (if the pre-GDC edition of Gametrailers' Invisible Walls video podcast with that long developer rant against the Wii is any indication) I think developers have already made up their minds whether they're going to support Wii seriously or not.  We're into the system's 3rd year, and I'd be midly surprised if it lasted to see beyond a 5th.  We're a bit late in the game for developers to suddenly change paradigms and start investing large budgets into big Wii projects now.  I just don't see The Conduit being any more damaging than Overkill or Madworld could be, because right now it's a game that's floating along by sheer internet hype.  I don't know if it has major expectations beyond our demographic.

11187

Podcast Discussion / Re: Radio Free Nintendo: Episode 140

« on: April 06, 2009, 02:36:19 AM »

I tried to like Secret of Mana when I downloaded it several months back (I never got a chance to play it on the SNES), but honestly I thought the game was pretty...boring, and it all comes down to the lame "charge...hit...run away...charge...hit...run away" combat.  I admire the novelty of having multiplayer in the game, but unfortunately I could never convince my best friend to actually play it with me because the combat didn't look fun to him either.  Still, it's great to have such an important game on the VC.  I just wish we started getting the more interesting Action RPGs like Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma.

11188

TalkBack / Re: The Conduit's Looking Good

« on: April 06, 2009, 02:31:05 AM »

I am realistic. I don't see it making it to a million (worldwide maybe, but not the US), but I see it hitting 500,000 K in overall sales.

The hype for this is higher than for "Overkill" and "Madworld", so it could do some business.

Yeah, but the problem is that the hype right now is centered around Nintendo fanboys like us (well...like you two  ^_- ) who follow the game religiously.  That's maybe 100,000 copies.  I'm just wondering if this game has the potential to attract that additional 400,000 unless Sega pulls out an absolutely stelllar mass-media marketing blitz for it over the next fe months.

11189

TalkBack / Re: The Conduit's Looking Good

« on: April 06, 2009, 02:21:34 AM »

For the record, I don't think the game will suck. I think its looking fine! But I just know that the whole fanbase will go crazy at any information regarding the game's sales and will be the primary focus at any discussion.

I thin k it might do pretty well. I think 500,000 K might be good.

Honestly, I think it'll be lucky to do 250,000 and it'll only do that good because it's an FPS (which have a generally broad audience).  It could do better, but we'll have to see how Sega decides to market it.  Whatever they do, though, they'd better start soon.  The game ships in June and it's now April, so they need to get the ball rolling now or it'll be too late.

11190

TalkBack / Re: The Conduit's Looking Good

« on: April 06, 2009, 01:38:33 AM »

Maybe Bioshock just raised the bar too high for me to tolerate games that are just satisfied with being what The Conduit projects itself as being.

Well I tend to put Bioshock in another category since it is single player only. My main interest in Conduit has primarily been over the multiplayer potential and not the single player. Though the All Seeing Eye has sparked a bit more interest for me in regards to its potential for puzzle solving and finding secrets. Not only that but just the fact that I can play it on my TV without feeling crippled by the controls is a big plus to me and that alone means quite a bit. As big of fan I am of the FPS genre, I've found the current gamepad controls sucking the fun out of games for me which is why I was thrilled when Bioshock was also released on PC. It has been WAY WAY too long since I've found a FPS multiplayer experience I enjoyed, in fact the last one was Perfect Dark. The Conduit brought back hope that maybe games in the same vain as Goldeneye/PD are not dead. What made those games so wonderful wasn't the tremendous innovation but that the multiplayer arenas and weapons were so well done. It was simple yet complex. In some ways I'm excited there is hope of "going back to basics".

Well, we'll see.  Perfect Dark was an awesome game, and I'd like to see a true spiritual successor like you're hoping this will be.  So what do you say?  Shall we stow our weapons and call this little argument over?

11191

TalkBack / Re: Wii MotionPlus Over Responsive According to EA

« on: April 06, 2009, 01:29:05 AM »

I see GP.There haven't been that many good fishing games aside from the side quest in Zelda:TP

It really has been quite pathetic, even with the limited motion controls there is still no excuse for there to not be one good fishing game.

Sure there is.  Nintendo hasn't come up with the right mold for a snap-on Wiimote fishing rod peripheral to ship with an upcoming Wii Fish*.  We'll see a real fishing presence once Nintendo finds a way to assign a plastic peripheral attachment to it, as seems to be the way of things on Wii.

*not a real game

11192

TalkBack / Re: The Conduit's Looking Good

« on: April 06, 2009, 01:24:35 AM »

Stuff like this trailer may satiate the already-converted, but the already-converted are not going to make this game a success, and we've all seen from Nintendo's half-assed last-minute marketing how well those 11th hour  marketing blitzes do.

Nintendo is not marketing the title, Sega is, Sega has been marketing their core games quite well on Wii even if sales have been lame. Also I would think if you'd want a well informed opinion you'd do some research on a game other then watching teaser trailers. I've seen far too many good games or movies with lame trailers that I would have missed out on if I hadn't done some extra research to make myself a well informed consumer. Don't believe I've ever based my buying decision on a trailer or let it radically affect my opinion of a game. Now I'd say if the teaser trailer was the ONLY thing we know about the game (like Zelda; Spirit Tracks) then I can see letting it, at most, give you an idea of what the game is like.

The thing is, the only title I've seen a huge push from Sega on is Madworld, and that marketing HAS been truly impressive.  Overkill kind of came and went outside a lingering web presence, and I haven't seen a Sonic trailer in a long while (though in that case, that's in our best interests).  And incidentally this isn't the first piece of marketing video I've seen on the Conduit, just the first one I've seen when I actually had a wavering interest in it.  I've seen a few previous trailers and read a few impressions on the controls and story, and didn't see much of interest other than the customizable controls.  I'm just waiting for The Conduit to make that big push to be the killler-ap its development team seriously wants it to be.  Maybe Bioshock just raised the bar too high for me to tolerate games that are just satisfied with being what The Conduit projects itself as being.

11193

TalkBack / Re: The Conduit's Looking Good

« on: April 06, 2009, 01:09:23 AM »

Now, before this spirals radically out of control I do want to remind you of something, Golden Phoenix, because I said it early in the topic: I WANT High Voltage to succeed.  I WANT the Conduit to be an awesome game, and I WANT them to convince me to buy it because I take pride in rewarding good 3rd Party Wii Support.  But you know what?  I'm just not feeling it here.  I'm just giving you my impressions based on what they've put out right here, and it's not my job as consumer to follow every piece of paper they put out on the game.  I can if I so choose, but I should be able to take a look at any individual piece of propaganda they put out and immediately understand what they want people to take from this game.  This is a bad trailer for marketing to an audience who hasn't followed their every movement, so if they want to impress they'd better have a better trailer waiting in the wings for when they are ready to get serious about the marketing.  Because you know what?  Stuff like this trailer may satiate the already-converted, but the already-converted are not going to make this game a success, and we've all seen from Nintendo's half-assed last-minute marketing how well those 11th hour  marketing blitzes do.

11194

TalkBack / Re: The Conduit's Looking Good

« on: April 06, 2009, 12:58:50 AM »

Also I don't think I "deserve" anything game related, talk about a selfish attitude. I take that back, many gamers deserve to be dropped on their head from some building.

I'm the consumer, and they're the developer.  They make their games to satisfy ME because in the end I pay their salaries, so you'd better believe I deserve a quality product, as does every gamer on every system.  I don't know when mediocrity became a selling point and something people actually defend, but it's a sad day for gaming indeed if that has become the standard.

11195

TalkBack / Re: The Conduit's Looking Good

« on: April 06, 2009, 12:55:52 AM »

Halo and Goldeneye are remembered for being awesome multiplayer experiences, because the FPS is a genre that caters well to multiplayer/party gaming.  The Conduit's going to have to work rather hard to accomplish that as well.

Care to share with us how Conduit's multiplayer is? You seem to already know enough about it to condemn it, I'd love to know!

Halo and Goldeneye's multiplayer is legendary.  It'd be hard for any game to measure up to that level of hype and nostalgia, and frankly even Halo had things like vehicles and whatnot to spice up multiplayer.  Have we seen that with The Conduit?

Also Goldeneye was remembered because it was really the first really well made FPS on consoles and set the standard for the genre.

Well that goes without saying, but when people talk about multiplayer chances are good that's the aspect that comes up the most because it WAS an awesome 4-player FPS game.

Oh yeah Mirror's Edge is NOT a FPS, in fact the game can be beaten by not shooting anyone. It is a hybrid something like Metroid Prime was. If you want to make a fair comparison compare it to:

And if you read my post correctly, you'd have seen that I never called it a First Person Shooter.  I called it a First Person game, and it happens to feature (apparently bad) FPS shooting segments.  But my argument stands: that game took a stale genre and carved out its own unique niche by pursuing First Person platforming, and whether you like it or not you can't say it isn't its own game.  Bioshock took the stale FPS genre and carved out its own niche by pursuing layered storytelling and a unique world with its own ethical standards, and whether you like it or not you can't say it isn't its own game.  Now, is The Conduit its own game?

11196

TalkBack / Re: The Conduit's Looking Good

« on: April 06, 2009, 12:48:24 AM »

Let me put it this way: if this game were announced for any other console instead of just being Wii-exclusive, would anyone give a damn?  That's my point.

Amusingly enough, I think that's the developer's actual sentiments. High Voltage is said to have said that if The Conduit was for the PS3, 360, or PC, then nobody would care.

I guess its a bit disappointing that the developer is enthusiastic over something that is only "barely good enough" from an genre-wide perspective. Still, at least someone is making an effort for the genre to have more representation on the Wii.

And this is symptomatic of a much larger problem with the Wii "traditional gamer" fanbase: we have gotten so pitifully used to a barrage of bad gaming experiences on Wii from developers who just don't give a damn that we've been conditioned to accept "just good enough."  Why is this acceptable?  We have the most successful gaming platform of this generation, and it uses the most sophisticated interface device we've ever seen in gaming.  We should be beyond "oh, it's good enough."  We should DEMAND excellence and originality because we as gamers deserve it, and not just give a pass to any flawed product that crosses our path just because it was well-intentioned and everything else is horrible by comparison.

Once again, all seeing eye. We'll see how it works.

Ok, once again I'm going to point you to a very simple problem: High Voltage is not marketing this game right.  I'm going to come right out and say that this is the first time I've ever heard of this All Seeing Eye, because I haven't given a crap about this game since it was announced.  The way the company's been clinging to IGN for exposure, I never gave them much thought.  But you know what?  Every once in a while I like to play a good FPS, so after finishing up Madworld last month I figured I might be interested in the Conduit.  Now, do you know who these trailer videos are supposed to be made for?  They're not made for people like you who follow the game, but for people like me who don't.  You're already going to buy it.  I'm not, so they have to convince me.  And you know what I see in that video?  A bunch of guns shooting a bunch of generic creatures in typical FPS settings and a shot or two of some eyeball thing causing a marker to appear on the wall in a shape akin to the Templar mark on the back of the dollar bill.  If the All Seeing Eye is supposed to be a major selling feature, why isn't it a major selling feature in that trailer?  Why is it I'm hearing from YOU about this instead of THEM in their marketing materials?  That's why I wonder if this company's just playing smoke & mirrors with this game, because if this was such a major feature you'd think it would feature more prominently in their promotional materials, with a short explanation of what this Eye is and why it's awesome.  But no, we get footage of generic FPS shooting action.

11197

TalkBack / Re: Wii MotionPlus Over Responsive According to EA

« on: April 06, 2009, 12:43:16 AM »

I want a proper lightsaber battle.

Don't we all.

Hey what does everybody think would be good uses for Motion+?

Zack & Wiki 2 and anything involving swordplay.  So yeah, hopefully Zelda Wii and some sort of Star Wars game.  Maybe even No More Heroes 2.

11198

TalkBack / Re: The Conduit's Looking Good

« on: April 05, 2009, 07:21:49 PM »

The implication was story is not a big deal (see last 2 poasts), where other aspects have greater significance in consumer reponse.

Bioshock is a game made for "modern" graphics hardware, played on (last-gen)^3 control interfaces.  The Conduit, in contrast, has a next-generation interface.

People like to bring up Halo and Goldeneye as successful games.  Somehow, the extreme fondness expressed for these titles doesn't revolve around their stories!

Funny, but it seems to be that the general consensus was that Bioshock's biggest flaw was trying to be an FPS in the first place, as its story and unique style got somewhat short-changed by having to follow FPS conventions.

As for the issue of control interfaces, I don't care if The Conduit uses a "next-generation interface" if the game itself is less compelling and less unique than a game like Bioshock that uses a "(last-gen)^3 control interface".  Let's look at another First Person game as well: Mirror's Edge.  Now, for the sake of Full Disclosure note that I have only played about 1 hour of the game, as I played my copy at work while I await the arrival of my PS3 on Friday.  Whatever Mirror's Edge's faults, though, there is next-generation design in that game played through a "last-generation" interface (the 360/PS3 controller).  However generic Mirror's Edge is from a story perspective, though, that game brings its own unique qualities to the genre in how the game immerses you in the experience and makes First Person Platforming almost instinctive.  The game is severely flawed when it comes to Trial and Error gameplay, but at the very least I can say there's no other game on the market like it.  I see nothing of the kind of in The Conduit.

Halo and Goldeneye are remembered for being awesome multiplayer experiences, because the FPS is a genre that caters well to multiplayer/party gaming.  The Conduit's going to have to work rather hard to accomplish that as well.

11199

Nintendo Gaming / Re: The OFFICIAL Wii rumor thread *bring your own salt*

« on: April 05, 2009, 07:06:44 PM »

I'm calling it now: it's Wii Fly.  You use the Wiimote like a Flight Stick to fly over a variety of locations with no goal, challenge, or any reason whatsoever to play the game.  It's impossible to lose, as you cannot crash your plane no matter how hard you try.

11200

TalkBack / Re: The Conduit's Looking Good

« on: April 05, 2009, 07:02:17 PM »

1)  it's dual-analog
2)  or it requires desk/mouse/keyboard setup
3)  who cares

Bring up something that's actually current-gen next time.

Got to love how you just dance around the issue when someone picks apart your argument.  How you play the game has no impact on whether or not there is a story.  And by the way, Bioshock is a current-gen game, having been made for the Xbox 360 and ported to the PC and PS3.