Topics

26

General Chat / Geez EA, what's that about

« on: March 07, 2006, 08:20:28 AM »

I got an email inviting me to take part in an EA survey (probably because I bought Sims 2 for the DS from them last week). So anyhow, question one is which games I own. I fill that out, then question two is what systems do you currently use: here's the options:

PC
Xbox 360
Xbox
PS2
PSP
None of the Above

What's up with that, EA... you left every single nintendo system off the survey? Then, when I select none of the above (although I own a PS2, it's the principle of the thing), the survey suddenly says "thank you for taking our survey", even though I was at 5% complete. They don't even want the opinions of Nintendo owners...

27

Nintendo Gaming / Surprisingly Good for the DS

« on: March 06, 2006, 11:29:16 AM »

Everyone knew games like Mario Kart or Animal Crossing or Sonic Rush were going to be good... great even. Games like Meteos and Phoenix Wright have their cult followings, and everyone knows they're good games. But I was wondering: what are some of the lesser titles, that maybe most people here wouldn't think of buying, that are really worthwhile. I got thinking about this because in the past few months we're starting to see DS games getting price drops as stores try to make space for the myriad of upper tier games that everyone wants.

Here's the one that got me thinking about this: the Sims 2.

I got a coupon from the EA store in their newsletter that got me $15 off, and seeing as the game was already cut to $19.99, I was able to get it for $11 shipped. I knew Urbz was kind of iffy (more a GBA port than anything), but I'd heard Sims 2 was going to be more than a port so I thought I'd give it a try (especially at that price).

I must say, I'm impressed, instead of a sloppy effort to paste the computer version onto a dual screen handheld or a GBA port that doesn't take advantage of any of the DS's capabilities, what we got is a very nice original game. They should've really called it something else, because while the characters and some of the design sensibilities are very Sims-inspired, the game is more of a cross between animal crossing and one of those "tycoon" games for the PC.

The touch screen is put to great use in this one, and the characters are really fun to interact with. Right now I just got done evicting the William Shatner character (I forget what his name is in game) from his hotel room because he keeps calling me on my cell phone every five minutes to bitch. Like I've got time to listen to him go on about tumbleweeds when the mob boss staying in my penthouse just set city hall on fire with his incendiary device. Plus, he lost 3 beds in like 45 minutes... I mean, granted, I won enough money playing cards in the casino to get him new beds, but that's ridiculous. The only issue now is that even though he's evicted, he keeps going back up to his room (which is occupied by someone else) and having a fit.

28

Nintendo Gaming / Star Trek: Tactical Command

« on: January 25, 2006, 04:28:23 AM »

As if the DS wasn't getting enough good games lately, now we've got Quicksilver Software (makers of the venerable Masters of Orion series and Starfleet Command) giving us a tactical combat simulator that can be played entirely with the touch screen.

Looks like the Bethesda acquisition of the Star Trek license is paying off for us DS owners.

29

Nintendo Gaming / 2K Sports?

« on: January 23, 2006, 12:47:18 PM »

Was this officially announced somewhere? I was just checking the upcoming games for the Cube from EB, and noticed that they're taking preorders for a Gamecube version of MLB 2k6.

With all the talk of companies bailing on the Cube in the waning days of this generation it's interesting to see someone coming back to it.

30

General Gaming / Blue Ray and the Cost of a PS3

« on: January 21, 2006, 08:16:50 AM »

From Forbes:

Even the cheapest new Blu-Ray DVD players will retail for about $1,000. David Carey, president of electronics-component specialist firm Portelligent

Can that possibly be true? Who in the hell is going to shell out a grand for a Blu-Ray player? What's the target market?

Moreover, since the PS3 is going to be one of the first Blu-Ray players out there, will it really cost half of any other Blu-Ray player and have all the extra high end hardware on top of it?

Sony's only got a little under $3 billion in free cash, how much of that's going to be blown on the launch? Are they going to have to launch this thing as a $500+ console just so they don't have to go further into debt to get it to market?  

31

Nintendo Gaming / Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest 2

« on: January 06, 2006, 05:43:43 AM »

Considering the relatively positive reception that DQ8 is getting for the PS2, has anyone heard anything about them possibly bring this DS title stateside?

Or failing that... has anyone imported it, and how hard is it to play if one doesn't have a functional understanding of written Japanese?

32

General Gaming / The 360 train wreck

« on: January 05, 2006, 06:09:50 AM »

Just saw Bill Gates on CNN... he was saying that those "March" shipments of the Xbox 360 likely won't be seen until June, and that anyone wanting one should probably plan on waiting until Christmas of 2006, when they expect there to be a good supply.

33

Nintendo Gaming / Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

« on: October 11, 2005, 07:58:47 AM »

Is the game actually coming out today? Many sites, including Capcom's list its release date as 10/11... but then other sites like Nintendo's don't. None of the stores appear to have it yet.  

34

Nintendo Gaming / DS Price Drop?

« on: August 12, 2005, 02:46:17 PM »

Fairly reliable poster at Cheapassgamer is reporting a $20 price drop in the Nintendo DS... anyone have any other sources on it?

35

Nintendo Gaming / Madden 2006 DS - Franchise mode

« on: August 08, 2005, 04:36:18 PM »

I've heard that the DS version of Madden 2006 has a franchise mode, but does anyone know if it's as deep a franchise mode as the other versions offer? Basically all I ever use Madden for is as an ownership simulation, so if it's as good I'm probably further ahead to buy the cheaper, portable version.

36

Nintendo Gaming / Mario 64 as a pack-in title?

« on: June 08, 2005, 08:30:40 AM »

According to Cheapassgamer, its sounds like we're going to see Nintendo DS come bundled with Mario 64 at a lot of places, perhaps as soon as next week.

So all you people that are looking to get a DS in preparation for the shockingly good lineup for the second half of this year, you might want to hold out for another week.

37

Nintendo Gaming / SD Gundam G Generation DS

« on: June 03, 2005, 12:41:50 PM »

The game seems to be selling well in Japan, but I can't find any info about a US release date (for that matter, Bandai makes no mention of any US release dates for any DS titles). Anyone import it yet? Is it something you really need to know Japanese to fully appreciate?

38

Nintendo Gaming / Exclusive Content you already own (Idea)

« on: May 24, 2005, 06:13:16 AM »

I have an idea for another possible way to market the Rev.

Suppose the last few big Cube releases (Zelda, Kirby, et al) had some exclusive content on the disc that could only be accessed in the Rev. Like maybe they could support the new controller in some fashion, or maybe offer an exclusive sidestory/dungeon in Zelda that takes advantage of the Rev's added horsepower. Or if Mario Strikers supported the Rev's online service.

I imagine if they had time (and disc space) they could even offer a higher resolution version of the game when it's in a rev.

That might encourage more of the Cube's owners to jump on board early with the Rev. It's also not so farfetched since they did something similar with some of the GBA games that came out around the launch of the GBP

39

Nintendo Gaming / Three More Insanely Great DS titles for this year

« on: May 22, 2005, 02:53:46 PM »

I swear this is going to push me into the poorhouse. I've now got almost 20 DS titles expected this year that I consider "must haves".

Pocket PC Studios announces that they're bring Disciples 2, Jagged Alliance 2, and most excitingly of all, Europa Universalis 2 to the DS.

Original Story

[Launch price]

40

Nintendo Gaming / What would it take to NOT sell you a revolution?

« on: May 19, 2005, 11:13:39 AM »

One of the neat things about knowing next to nothing about a system is that you can do all kinds of speculation. We've done a lot of speculating about what it would take to sell the casual gamer a revolution already, but here's an equally interesting question.

What would Nintendo have to do to not sell you a revolution.

Here's some stuff I can think of.

Launch price: If the console launches at $250+ and the games are $59.99 each, I might be tempted to hold off

Controller price: Chances are none of my friends will buy a Revolution, because none of my friends ever buy consoles they just play them over here. So I'm stuck buying umpteen controllers. We know the controller is going to be revolutionary, wireless, and feature a rechargable battery. If they cost more than $50 a pop, that might effect my decision.

Launch Lineup: I'm looking forward to SSB3, but I don't know if it'd sell me a system by itself. We know there's a Metroid in the works, but I think I'm the only person on the planet who wasn't all that impressed with 3D metroid in the first place. I need something else, either at or near launch. Like the Cube had Rouge Leader.

Download Titles: Two keys here: price and availability. If Nintendo announces that these titles will be $10 each, and limited to 1st party titles, it will probably eliminate this as a selling point. Lower prices are better, but at a minimum, Square Enix and Koei absolutely MUST be on board.


Not that any of this is going to drive me into Microsoft or Sony's arms. I'm completely underwhelmed with the Xbox 360 (which doesn't appear to have my kind of games anyhow), and Sony's launch price is shaping up to be prohibitive for me. Likely if Nintendo messes up the Rev bad enough I'll just stick to buying what Cube games I don't have yet and DS titles.

[Grand Theft Auto III]

41

Nintendo Gaming / The damnedest thing (Rally Racer Racing Wheel)

« on: May 24, 2004, 04:17:35 PM »

While picking through a bin of old reduced classic GBA light peripherals looking for one that actually would work with the GBA/GC cable, I came acrossed what has to be the oddest handheld peripheral I've seen in my life.

Its made by Pelican and called the "Rally Racer Racing Wheel". It looks like one of those little steering wheels little kids play with, only its Indigo color (like any good Nintendo peripheral). It has a hole in middle that you slide your classic GBA into and apparently you can then use the wheel in the many, many "Top Games" available for the GBA.

On the front of the package it lists the following 10 titles:

Driver 2
Crazy Taxi
Mario Kart
Wave Race
NASCAR Heat
Need for Speed
GB Rally Advance
Grand Theft Auto III
F-Zero Maximum Velocity
Midnight Club Street Racing

The back has another 20 or so titles...

I'd never even heard of this thing, but it was $7.49 and had a 25% off sticker on it, so farbeit for me to pass up a chance to own a useless piece of plastic.

I'll let you know how it goes... but this has to be just about the silliest looking thing I've ever seen.

42

Nintendo Gaming / Light for a classic GBA?

« on: May 19, 2004, 07:49:22 PM »

I've been using a Traplight on my GBA for quite some time and loving it... the problem is that it blocks the cable port (not entirely, but to the extent that a GBA/GC cable is unusable). Usually when I do connectivity stuff I just take it off and sit near a lamp... but with Zelda 4 swords coming out that's not going to be an option (I don't have enough lamps for 4 players, and the ambient light in the room my cube is in is terrible).

So my question is, does anyone have a light solution (Afterburner notwithstanding) which I could use that doesn't prevent me from using a GBA/GC cable?

43

General Gaming / The underrated GBA lineup

« on: May 19, 2004, 04:29:44 AM »

Every year the GBA games shown off at E3 sort of get pushed aside for the sexier titles elsewhere, but this year between the DS and Zelda its no wonder its barely been mentioned here. Its kind of unfair, because the GBA actually had quite a nice E3 in its own right.

We got a nice collection of RPGs, including a new Square-Enix game (Kingdom Hearts), Boktai 2, and US versions of the new Pokemon games. We also found out FF1/FF2 is coming stateside.

We got a new Zelda game, Minish Cap... the first original Zelda game on a handheld since the Oracle games.

We got a neat new Connectivity title in Mario Golf: Advance Tour.

We got a great new shooter in Metal Slug.

We got more collectable card games, including a new Yu-gi-oh title and Dual Masters.

We got a new Sonic game, a new Kirby game, Mario versus Donkey Kong, and the intriguing puzzler Donkey Kong: King of Swing. Oh, and another F-zero title.

We got a new Rare title: Sabrewulf...

We got a new DBZ fighting game, and this one looks like it might not suck.

60+ games all told... I know its hard to get excited from screenshots and limited coverage, but I'm looking forward to some of these games as much as anything that's coming to the Gamecube this year.

44

General Gaming / I know we've already had the best E3 in years, but...

« on: May 11, 2004, 06:57:17 PM »

Aren't we supposed to get a major new Gamecube peripheral too?

45

Nintendo Gaming / Mario 64x4

« on: May 11, 2004, 10:31:42 AM »

Wow...

So not only are we getting Mario 64 on the DS, its going to be multiplayer like 4 swords?

46

General Gaming / Hopefully a complete Lie

« on: May 10, 2004, 05:39:31 AM »

Spong claims that three sources have all implied that Shigeru Miyamoto is going to resign at E3.

Exactly who those sources are isn't clear, because Spong is the only site even mentioning this yet.

47

Nintendo Gaming / Telegames support

« on: May 04, 2004, 11:08:15 AM »

http://gba.gamespy.com/articles/510/510937p1.html

Frankly I'm surprised Telegames is onboard for the DS, but we can infer a couple things from this article:

1. "plans to bring ... to the DS later this year. "

Which would imply that the DS will be available stateside this year as well. Ultimate Card Games is obviously targetted toward the US market, not the Japanese market.

2. "... along with support for various DS features to be announced. "

My guess would be the much rumored touch screen. It would certainly make these games more intuitive than they would be on the GBA.

48

Nintendo Gaming / "Likely to cost over $99"

« on: April 16, 2004, 11:04:52 AM »

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2004-04-05-portable-video_x.htm


Not terribly interesting in that I'm sure we'd all figured that out on our own.

At any rate, would the Vice President of Marketing at NOA give the price at "over $99" unless it was within the ballpark?

I mean, wouldn't that be a pretty dumb statement if they release the thing at $499 or something? I'd say this lends support to the $149 theory, although maybe $129 isn't out of the question. Or $149 with a game?

[or portable phone]

49

Nintendo Gaming / USPTO stuff

« on: April 14, 2004, 08:22:20 PM »

Don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, but patent 20040029640 describes some very trippy stuff.

Acceleration sensors in all three dimensions being used to control the action.

Some sort of cooking game is described as well.

Some juicy bits:

" This game is to enjoy virtual cooking while moving the portable game apparatus as if it was a frypan or kitchen knife. "

"In the frypan space process, the portable game apparatus is operated just like a frypan to play a game of cooking a fried egg. "

" it is possible to provide the player with a feeling as if he or she adjusts a position to cut the cabbage by controlling the positional relationship between the cabbage and the kitchen knife. "

And my personal favorite:

" Incidentally, in this embodiment, a communication cable 50 is used to communicate between the two portable game apparatuses. However, communication means such as wireless or portable phone may be utilized."

50

Nintendo Gaming / Digital only titles?

« on: February 26, 2004, 08:56:59 AM »

I just bought a Pelican "Real Arcade" Joystick, one of those fancy arcade style thingies with the wooden base. Anyhow, its really neat and all, but what games will it work on (being the single Joystick is digital only)?

The box lists the following:

Soul Caliber 2
Capcom vs SNK EO
Godzilla: DAMM
Mortal Kombat: DA
Bloody Roar

It also works well with those Arcade compilation discs obviously...  which is the main reason I bought it. Anyhow, besides those, are there any other games I should be keeping an eye out for that don't use Analog control?