Topic: Episode 211: It's the Fall Y'all

[Yoshidious]

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rfn/24075

We declare an early Metroid moratorium on this episode after last week's overwrought love/hate-fest. James and Jon are back to talk about Banjo, Halo, Bioshock, and even 1080 Snowboarding. Jonny and Greg scrape together a set of non-Metroid games such as Splinter Cell, Monkey Island, Starcraft, Okamiden, and ThruSpace (with its own WiiWare demo in Japan... really!).

After the break, it's time to list all the games that will probably disappoint us in the back end of 2010. From obvious picks like Kirby, Donkey Kong, Final Fantasy, and Goldeneye to smaller games like Lost in Shadow, Bit.Trip Fate, and Retro City Rampage, we cover the gamut and even give honorable mentions on other platforms. That leaves time for just one listener question, but it's a doozy. The subject of changing trends in the Japanese gaming industry, and how they are exported (or not) to the rest of the world, turns out to be a sprawling treatise in which we can hardly contain ourselves. As usual, 3DS and Wii HD are players in the discussion.

It's time to announce the next RetroActive poll, which is all N64 games. Head over the the forums and vote for which game we should play together on an upcoming episode!

[NWR_Neal]

I haven't listened yet, but Lost in Shadow is a 2011 release.

[Yoshidious]

I haven't listened yet, but Lost in Shadow is a 2011 release.

I nominated Lost in Shadow for the feature because it is scheduled to launch on October 8th in Europe under the name A Shadow's Tale.

[NWR_Neal]

I haven't listened yet, but Lost in Shadow is a 2011 release.

I nominated Lost in Shadow for the feature because it is scheduled to launch on October 8th in Europe under the name A Shadow's Tale.

Really? You guys are quite lucky.

[jimwood27]

recently went through both Banjo games on XBLA (had both for 64, as well) and I gotta say that Kazooie is miles better than Tooie.  Tooie has too much running from point A to point B with nothing to do because the levels border on being way too big, in my opinion.  The one case of bigger not being better.

[Kytim89]

A friend of mine bought the new 360 slim and I know that I am notorious for hating on the xbox brand, but that system looks really nice. I prefer to stay with Nintendo and Sony, but if I could afford it, I would buy it just play Gears of War, Fable and Reach.
 
I really like the aesthics of the 360 slim and hope Nintendo incorparates the something similar with the wii 2. I mean I like the button layout and functionality and pretty much everything about the system.

[Halbred]

Jon, I haven't finished the podcast yet, but if you liked Bioshock and Bioshock 2, I fully recommend the Minerva's Den add-on. It's a brand-new single-player campaign. It feels like a full game, there are new abilities and a new weapon, and the story is more interesting.

[KDR_11k]

I see your Densha de Go and raise you a Microsoft Train Simulator.

Also, Greg, EDF2017.

[Retro Deckades]

recently went through both Banjo games on XBLA (had both for 64, as well) and I gotta say that Kazooie is miles better than Tooie.  Tooie has too much running from point A to point B with nothing to do because the levels border on being way too big, in my opinion.  The one case of bigger not being better.

I have to agree with you, jimwood27. I bought a copy of Banjo-Tooie earlier this year and played through the game in its entirety during July, and while the game design itself is thoroughly fun, I experienced tedium that I have not felt for years. Contrary to what James said during the podcast, I also found the levels to be far too big, and their design to be quite convoluted. Banjo-Kazooie's levels were smaller and tighter, with much less running from point A to point B. I also found the running itself to be quite slow -- even when using the talon trot -- as opposed to something like Super Mario Galaxy, where the speed of Mario makes everything feel smaller in comparison. Perhaps the game runs faster on XBLA?

Speaking of which, how the hell can someone be on the seventh level after only playing for 7 hours? I really hope that time doesn't include collecting everything in each level...

[Plugabugz]

LINE OF THE YEAR "Its like the bible converted to hexadecimal"

*standing applause to my laptop*

[KDR_11k]

Golden Sun offered three levels of passwords IIRC that would carry over different amounts of data. The shortest was 30 characters, the longest 255 or so.

[jimwood27]

I have to agree with you, jimwood27. I bought a copy of Banjo-Tooie earlier this year and played through the game in its entirety during July, and while the game design itself is thoroughly fun, I experienced tedium that I have not felt for years. Contrary to what James said during the podcast, I also found the levels to be far too big, and their design to be quite convoluted. Banjo-Kazooie's levels were smaller and tighter, with much less running from point A to point B. I also found the running itself to be quite slow -- even when using the talon trot -- as opposed to something like Super Mario Galaxy, where the speed of Mario makes everything feel smaller in comparison. Perhaps the game runs faster on XBLA?

[/size]
[/size]I didn't notice any speed difference on the XBLA version but I also wasn't getting a massive headache due to horrible framerates, so who knows.  Tedium is the best word to describe Tooie, I only got the minimum Jiggies to fight Grunty and even that was a chore while I played the XBLA version of Kazooie right after and collected everything and wanted more. 

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

I'd totally forgotten about the Tower of Shadow game (that was its original title, back when it was thought to be a WiiWare title). Could be an interesting little puzzle platformer, a genre I'm always partial to, but I wasn't able to find any source that gave Europe an October release. 

[Yoshidious]

I'd totally forgotten about the Tower of Shadow game (that was its original title, back when it was thought to be a WiiWare title). Could be an interesting little puzzle platformer, a genre I'm always partial to, but I wasn't able to find any source that gave Europe an October release. 

It's been showing up recently on the "Upcoming" sidebar of the Nintendo.co.uk frontpage with an 8th October release date, though Nintendo seems to like to juggle which titles appear there quite frequently so it's easy to miss it. Online retailers like Play and Shopto have it listed for 15th October now so maybe it's been pushed back a week, but it still looks like October for A Shadow's Tale in Europe.

[Retro Deckades]

I'm glad Lost In Shadow is getting a little recognition. I always thought that game looked intriguing.

[KDR_11k]

The Nintendo Channel also says 8th October (or 7th?)

[Plugabugz]

CHUNDER: Verb. To eject bodily fluid from the mouth at high velocity in a repetitive fashion for extended periods.

E.G: "He was chundering all over my good carpet"