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26

General Chat / Nintendo Free Radio Episode 11: Hypocritical Shaymin (UPDATED)

« on: January 19, 2013, 04:33:45 AM »

A 3.5 Hour Podcast after Returning from the Christmas Break?! It must be the Will of Stein's Gate!

Direct Download (mp3)

For the first cast of the New Year, Nintendo Free Radio enforced their resolution by bringing on a forum guest for the whole show. Stephen, Austen and Donald are joined by Remus "RazorKid" Harris for a Longcat-Sized New Business. Remus brings the love for classic Carroll with Alice: Madness Returns, modern platforming in Rayman Origins, and the taste of flesh with ZombiiU. Donald picks up the baton of the undead with Glitch... The Walking Dead (XBLA) and fires off his Christmas bounty before the unexpected golden shower of New Super Mario Bros 2.

Austen goes to town with Eh-pic Meh-ckey 2 and gives us a Disaster: Day of Crisis update (bearrorist threat level: red) before visiting the butcher in adventure game/dating sim Pandora's Tower and dropping a Vita doubleshot of Little Big Planet and DJMax Technica Tune. Stephen ends the round by providing the Western interpretation of giant robots in MechWarrior Online, wiping out Danica Patrick in Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed and takes notes on EscapeVektor and Gunman Clive, before answering the most important question of all: What is this thing that took up the Vita's 15 minutes at Sony's E3 2012 show, the Wonderbook?

If you survive past Now Posted, or became part of the undead in the process, the second half loads up on 80s and 90s nostalgia. Whatcha Watchin' opens with Remus's classic cartoon duo of Bobby's World and Akagi as well as touching base on 80s cartoons (cowabunga!), while Donald has the legend of Bo Jackson and survived Christmas at Ground Zero with the two good Home Alones and nerd blackface sitcom Big Bang Theory. Stephen boldly goes where nobody has gone before with Star Trek: The Next Generation and shows that sometime it's better to get money for nothing with Undercover Boss, while Austen goes Back In Time with Steins;Gate (yes, that spelling is correct) and doesn't Start The Fire with Shakugan no Shana Season 2 (tempting though it might be). An unexpectedly heated Feature Discussion springs from Remus's simple question: How has gaming changed for you since you were a kid? As usual, the Mushrooms provide the seventh course of this podcast feast, with hatred for GOTY selections and excessive hype balanced by a side of Christmas and film restoration love.

You can send your feedback by email to nintendofreeradio@gmail.com, leave a comment here or hit the hosts on Twitter (@donaldmick, @cericme, @broodwars64 and the guest @remus.harris). We're always looking for volunteers for the fourth chair, so let one of the regulars know if you're interested! But we will warn you... a long cast is LONG.

This show was edited by Austen Parkin and Stephen Shook. All music used under Fair Use permission.

27

Nintendo Gaming / NWR NoE/NoA Club Nintendo giveaway thread for point cards we just can't use

« on: December 16, 2012, 12:22:19 PM »

At the risk of sounding like our usual spam posters, with the recent arrival of my copies of Pandora's Tower and Fatal Frame 2/Project Zero 2, I seem to now have 4 Nintendo of Europe Club Nintendo "Stars" codes that are essentially worthless to me.  I also have a copy of the NoE version of Xenoblade that I don't need anymore, as I have the NoA version now.

So, simply put: if you want them, post and claim them.  They're worthless to me, and they might be something you need to reach Platinum status or whatnot.  I'd especially like to hand my NoE copy of Xenoblade over to someone who would enjoy it, rather than throwing it away or dealing with the annoyance and hassle of Ebay or its like.  I'd only appreciate that whoever wants it pay for the shipping.

These are the games I have Club Nintendo point slips for:

- Xenoblade Chronicles
- Disaster: Day of Crisis
- Pandora's Tower
- Project Zero 2

Now that I think about it, I also have an NoA Club Nintendo point slip for Super Smash Bros. Brawl I recently repurchased to install the Homebrew Channel. I already registered this game, so if you want it, holler.

- Super Smash Bros. Brawl (NoA)

28

General Chat / Nintendo Free Radio Episode 10: Great Moments In Trolling

« on: December 12, 2012, 09:39:35 PM »

With no less than two announcements that will shake Nintendo World Report to its very foundations.

Direct Download

Nintendo Free Radio reaches double digits, which is quite frankly eight episodes more than anyone thought they'd survive, with another whopper of an episode. Donald kicks off New Business with impressions of Crashmo, the 3DS eShop puzzler with a 270-degree difficulty curve, and looks forward to some of 2013's action games with Bayonetta (360) and the demo of the Ninja Theory-helmed Devil May Cry reboot (PS3) before keeping the combo alive with DS import (unless you're in Europe) Jam With The Band. Austen jumps in next to save the planet from meteors, tsunamis and bearorrists with Disaster: Day of Crisis (Wii) and activates Sly Cooper's beast mode in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (PS3/Vita). Stephen finishes with more Wii U impressions, ranging from the joy of flying balloons in Nintendo Land to gliding as a squirrel in New Super Mario Bros U and blasting away with the twin-stick goodness of NanoAssault Neo (brief impressions of ZombiiU also included).

The mania of Now Posted leads into the traditional Whatcha Watchin', joined partway through by NWR review domo Andy Goergen. Stephen's opening salvo is a Deep Space Nine update (yes, another one), Amazing Spider-Man, Strawberry Shortcake (for the kids), Arthur's Christmas and Rescue Bots, Andy brings impressions of Parks and Recreation and the final season of The Office, Austen gets economic with C - Control: The Money and Soul of Possibility (a show halfway down the Laffer curve), and Donald bears all after watching A Garfield Christmas. The Feature Discussion is more fun with Wii U, as the four discuss media reaction to Nintendo's new console and whether the haters may have a point. Finally, the Mushrooms get an extra dose of poison this week thanks to rule 34 on cords and certain sporting decisions, but also get 1up'd with tales of great customer service.

With the end of the year coming up, the show will be taking a break, but not before an end of the year show for the ages! Keep an eye on the host Twitter feeds (@DonaldMick, @cericme and @broodwars64) for more information on what and when it will all go down, and send your ideas by email to nintendofreeradio@gmail.com  - also, be sure to check out Andy's Etsy store (http://www.etsy.com/shop/8bitacrylic) if you need a last minute Christmas gift idea!

This show was edited by Stephen Shook. All music used under Fair Use permission.

29

General Chat / Nintendo Free Radio Episode 9: Capacity For Rational Thought

« on: November 27, 2012, 03:53:12 AM »

No updates required to enjoy our WiiU day 1 impressions, and it comes with a free Halbred!

Direct Download

Step right up and enjoy the latest gaming goodness from the Nintendo Free Radio crew. Stephen gets the now-traditional music game out of the way  early in New Business by touching on the Ubisoft creation app Jam  Sessions, which draws comparisons to Windows 3.1, before getting stuck  with Austen on the latest Nintendo RPG/platformer hybrid Paper Mario  Sticker Star. Donald accepts his WiiU-less fate by going ungodly old  school with Donkey Kong: Original Edition (it's a CEMENT factory, thankyouverymuch) and shockingly doesn't want to punch himself out after partaking in Urban Champion (3D Classics), before wrapping with an  extended and spirited discussion of the demo for Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion. Austen brings us to the break with a wrap-up of Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation, proof that one can play Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 without having to deal with the average internet user, and unleashes  holy hell (and man beams) in El Shaddai: Ascension Of The Metatron.

After the break, a wild Halbred appears as the crew ropes in Nintendo World Report features editor Zach Miller for a heavy round of Whatcha Been Watchin' that travels from the sewers of New York in TMNT 2012 to the  local arcade for Wreck-It Ralph and wraps in London with Sherlock Holmes In The 22nd Century, Goldeneye, QI, and Where On Earth is Carmen Sandiego? Also included: The finals of the "Weirdest Anime Ever" contest, between FLCL and Hellsing Ultimate.

Since this show was  taped on November 18th, of course the feature discussion is Wii U: Day  1. Zach and Stephen both got their systems day 1, and despite the best efforts of upgrade servers manage to touch on the Wii transfer process, the eShop, and Stephen's early impressions of Nintendoland. An extra helping of Mushrooms takes us out with love for This Year Collection (http://www.thisyearcollection.org) and free dumping, hatred of Alaskan rocks, and a host falling on his sword (but recovering to help unlock Red Velvet).

We will return in a couple of weeks, but you can  leave feedback for the show here or by sending an email to nintendofreeradio@gmail.com. Also, be sure to check out the Movember page of Ryan MacNeil (Donald's roommate) at http://mobro.co/ryanmacneil1 and hear Zach regularly on NWR's Connectivity and the Frozen North Dinnercast at Crosstawk (http://www.crosstawk.com/newbusiness/category/the-frozen-north-dinnercast).

This podcast was edited by Austen Parkin. All music is copyrighted to their original owners and is used under fair use protection.

30

General Chat / Nintendo Free Radio Episode 7: Restrain The Manbeam!

« on: October 29, 2012, 12:26:27 PM »

Nintendo Free  Radio Episode 7: Restrain The Manbeam!

It was all fun and games until someone mentioned Cho Aniki.

Nintendo Free Radio has returned to both entertain and horrify you before All Hallow's Eve. New Business  opens with Stephen's impression of the DSiWare Rouge-Like Anonymous Notes: From The Abyss, and finds it far less frustrating than last episode's FTL. Donald, hot off his Poke-show on RFN 311 (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rfn/32188), chimes in with impressions straight out of 310 - 3DS eShop puzzler Pushmo  (or Pullblox, if you're European) and the PSP role-playing classic Persona 3 Portable  before teaming up with Austen to tag-team  the  two versions of Little King's Story  (Wii/Vita). Finally, Austen continues the combo with the rather disappointing Rez HD  before bringing it  home with Pendelton-free  impressions of Dishonored. Can Bethesda publish a  PS3 game that's  actually  playable on the system after a few hours?

After the chaos of Now Posted, settle in for an extended and animated Whatcha Been Watching segment featuring Stephen's Beast Wars  as  well as Austen's anime doubleheader of Welcome to  the NHK and Hellsing Ultimate  (Crispin Freeman not  included) and impressions  of the pilot of the new Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles  cartoon. Donald brings things down with a sprint through ESPN's 9.79* documentary, part of the "30 for 30" series.

In lieu of a Feature, Donald had two quick questions - the first one being a discussion of gender choice in video games (Spoilers: EVERYBODY FEMSHEP!). Finally, Donald offers a thought experiment: With Wii Shop releases about to end, and with 100 points left  on his Wii, what does he need to get to end up with 0 points? (http://nintendofreeradio.podbean.com/2012/10/28/nfr-07-companion-donalds-wii-download-list/). Suggestions both serious and not-so-much are bandied about before someone hits the glass-covered big red button and fires man's ultimate weapon. The struggle is mighty, but they power through to the Mushrooms featuring love for Disney classics now on BluRay, SQL clubs, and as disappointment as well in people not performing their civic duty.

We always appreciate your feedback on the  show, which you  can send to nintendofreeradio@gmail.com or leave here. Also, be sure to attend the 3rd annual RFN Child's Play podcast telethon on November 10, and hopefully we'll be able to play a round of Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me! (http://waitwait.npr.org). The limericks are ready and  the prizes will flow like wine, but only if your donations get us that far! (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/sitenews/32097)

MP3 Link

31

General Chat / Nintendo Free Radio Episode 6: More Space & Suction Than An Infected Hoover

« on: October 19, 2012, 01:01:36 AM »

Nintendo Free Radio Episode 6: More Space & Suction Than An Infected Hoover

The Pokedex lied to me! Apparently, Wailord can fly through space and evolve into Moltres! Thanks, Child of Eden!

Grab your +5 Rainbow Staff of Awesome and prepare to Fly Away, because NFR is back to deliver another multitude of multi-platform memoirs courtesy of hosts Donald; Stephen; and Austen.  Donald kicks off this week's New Business with a trip down memory lane in Kirby's Dream Collector's Special Edition for the Wii ("Sucking" and "Blowing" puns withheld by special request).  Moving from the glacially-evolving to the recently-innovating, we travel to an alternate (and exquisitely cel-shaded) war-torn universe with the critically-beloved (but unfortunately poorly-selling) PS3-exclusive strategy game Valkyria Chronicles.  Nowhere else can you see Vyse and Aika from Skies of Arcadia team-up with a bug-obsessed tank commander and his group of misfits to defend their homes from an invasion by Steampunk, ancient magic-wielding Nazis.

Afterwards, Stephen takes us to the surprisingly barren Chinese jungles with the recent World of WarCraft: Mists of Panderia expansion, a game best described as Kung Fu Panda meets...Pokemon?  As the sun seems to be setting on WoW, we light-up the nighttime sky with the PS2 launch title Fantavision and launch into Spaaaaaaaaaaace with the infuriating Kickstarter-funded space combat Rogue-Like FTL.   Further raising the stakes, Austen strikes back with a Rogue-Like of his own with the delightfully bizarre Tokyo Jungle, the only game this Fall to potentially feature a Pomeranian locked in Mortal Kombat with a Velociraptor for control of a post-apocalyptic Tokyo.  In case you didn't think this game selection could get any weirder, we follow that up with one Demonic Lord's rubber ducky-fueled quest for Warioware-style vengeance in Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit.  On a more somber note, we then conclude the segment with Austen's thoughts on returning to Tetsuya Mizuguchi's enchanting (and psychedelic) musical opus Child of Eden.  Can it be that our harshest critic has a game from this console generation even he can't help gushing about and wishes was on the Wii U?

After yet another harrowing journey through the unhinged psyche of the Nintendo World Report Forums with Now Posted, we tune in the latest episode of Watcha Been Watching.  Included in this week's programming are titles such as the war-time political drama Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Aaron Sorkin's further decent into madness and mediocrity with The Newsroom, and the apparently-decent Nintendo DS RPG-based anime Sands of Destruction (where the heroes' goal is to destroy the world...kumo).

With the recent poor critical reception of Resident Evil 6 on our minds, our Feature Discussion delves into the Future of Japanese Games Development outside of Nintendo.  In this new age of globalization and expensive AAA game development, what Japanese studios seem equipped to weather the storm?  What future Japanese titles are we looking forward to?  What do Japanese studios need to do to become relevant again in the eyes of the rest of the world?  All these questions and more may be lightly touched upon in this week's shotgun-style Feature Discussion.

As always, we then close the show with our 1ups/Poison Mushrooms, including the needlessly infuriating process involved with downloading anything on the (allegedly) online-savvy PlayStation Vita, the gaming industry's apparent burning desire to kill off single-player gaming as part of their passive-aggressive war on GameStop, and the annoyances of in-game travel time.

We're still looking for feedback and questions for Listener Mail, which you can send to nintendofreeradio@gmail.com.  You can also post in our thread on the NWR forums, or leave us comments under this post on our website at http://nintendofreeradio.podbean.com.  Finally, if you're an iTunes user, be sure to drop us a rating as well so we know what you want to hear on future episodes!  NFR will be back in 2 weeks for Halloween, but until then NFR's Journey Will Continue. Keep taking the path less taken and join us!

This podcast was edited by Stephen Shook. All music is copyrighted to their original owners and is used under fair use protection.

MP3 Link

32

General Chat / Nintendo Free Radio Episode 5: The Rainbows Come From Awesome

« on: September 30, 2012, 04:52:20 PM »

Nintendo Free Radio Episode 5: The Rainbows Come From Awesome

Just imagine the “Awesome” Mega could have tapped into if Capcom HAD named him “Rainbow Man”

Like a good ninja, Nintendo Free Radio is there in your ears once more (eww…) - but we do admit that the sparkles are a little much. Austen, Donald and Stephen's journey through the world of games restarts with a New Business trip to the local 16-bit arcade with Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 3 (which is certainly the game with the longest title we’ve had on this show).  Following a little “Gangsta” session of tapping blocks on the street with SIMON Flash (disclaimer: Swizz Beatz sold separately), we’re off to the Stars with Donald Duck in Disney’s PK: Out of the Shadows (sadly, anything possibly related to Donald Duck apparently also sold separately).

Afterwards, Donald soaks-up the Chibi “flava” with the PSP’s Mega Man Powered Up (hey, someone remembered Mega Man Soccer!), a game that apparently beat Sony to the User-Generated Content punch.  Once hostilities cease with the Mandrill in Rhythm Heaven Fever, Donald flings a surprise Incinerate Plasmid at the critically-acclaimed and fan-beloved underwater Randian FPS Bioshock.  Keeping the surprise Xbox 360 attention going, Austen whips up a Dust Storm with a look at the “Recommended, Except for James Jones” Metroid-esque XBLA Summer of Arcade brawler Dust: An Elysian Tale.  Narrowly avoiding the wrath of Vanilla Ice, we turn away from the Samurai and meld into the shadows with a game that should have been in that Summer of Arcade: Mark of the Ninja.  We finally wrap things up with a little Sparkle Hunting in Suda 51’s latest descent into vulgar madness (at this point, can we just buy the season pass?): Lollipop Chainsaw.

Still in the grip of madness, we turn our attention to the Nintendo World Report forums with another round of Now Posted before jumping into another installment of Watcha Been Watching.  This episode’s programming includes the most realistic event Professional Wrestling’s seen in years; the SyFy polar opposite duo of Alphas and Warehouse 13; ThE BoUrNe SuPrEmAcY and the “Knight Rider meets Spider-Man meets Batman” Russian spy thriller Black Lightning (don’t adjust your set. We’d never heard of it either).

Afterwards, it’s time for a look at the State of the Money Hats ™ as our Feature Discussion delves into the past; present; and future of pre-order bonuses in the gaming industry.  Which of our hosts has the oddest collection of “surprisingly useful” useless junk?  What are our host’s most fondly-remembered pre-order bonuses/limited editions?  Will someone finally relieve Austen of Bucket Duty?  All these questions and more may be vaguely answered in this week’s reminiscence-heavy discussion!  In the wake of the great Bayonetta 2 Seppuku epidemic, we break out some Listener Mail (yes, really!) asking what games we wish Nintendo would Money Hat for Nintendo console exclusivity.

Somehow surviving the experience with our Bodies Ready and Intact, we finally close the show with 1Ups/Poison Mushrooms.  In light of the complaints we received from PETA after the last episode, we end this episode on happier subjects such as the further decline of Japanese relevance after this year’s yawn-inducing Tokyo Game Show; the field of technological destruction emanating from Donald; and overly-punitive traffic tickets.  Yes, oddly enough those are still happier notes to end on than we had in our last episode.

We're still looking for feedback and questions for Listener Mail, which you can send to nintendofreeradio@gmail.com.  You can also post in our thread on the NWR forums, or leave us comments under this post on our website at http://nintendofreeradio.podbean.com.  Finally, if you're an iTunes user, be sure to drop us a rating as well so we know what you want to hear on future episodes!  NFR will be back in 2 weeks with another round of barely-coherent rambling, but until then we’ll continue to seek it: the rainbow connection.  The lovers, the dreamers, and us.

This podcast was edited by Stephen Shook. All music is copyrighted to their original owners and is used under fair use protection.

33

General Chat / Nintendo Free Radio Podcast - Name Suggestions

« on: July 30, 2012, 03:34:19 PM »

Hey, I just wanted to post a small update on the things going on with the podcast:

1.  We're planning on doing a second episode next week, and we're looking at an "every other week" schedule afterwards due to the stress and time commitment these podcasts put on our editor.  We may do the odd "feature topic-centric" short episode every now and then, but we're mainly focused on the full-length episodes right now.

2.  We are looking at bringing members of the NWR forum community on to the show every once in a while, but right now we're just focused on nailing down the flow and sound of the 4 panelists we have right now.

3.  We are looking into places on the internet to host the podcast, and we have found a very promising-looking one.  However, in order to create an account on this website we need a name, and that's where you folks come in.  We're generally alright with "Nintendo Free Radio", but as we aren't officially part of the site and we may not discuss the forums every episode, it doesn't seem right to use a name so reminiscent of RFN.  Nintendo's inclusion in an episode may or may not happen, either.

So if you have a great name suggestion for the podcast (or, for that matter, suggestions on recurring segments for the show itself), please drop us a comment here in this thread and let us know.  If your name is good, we'll certainly consider using it.      Thanks, all.

34

General Chat / Anyone else here going to the Zelda Symphony Concert here in Orlando, FL?

« on: July 13, 2012, 07:27:39 PM »

Just curious.  I'll be there tomorrow night with my best friend, so if there's anyone else on this site going I thought it might be cool to meet before or after the show.

35

NWR Feedback / Forum pages with Family Guy motion ads no longer fully-loading?

« on: June 21, 2012, 10:03:56 AM »

This is something I just started noticing within the last 12 hours: it might be a coincidence but ever since these Family Guy Online ads started popping up on the forums, I've seen pages refusing to fully-load.  They'll load the first post on a given page and the Family Guy flash ad below it, and then the page will just stop loading (at least viewing these pages in Firefox. I haven't tried other browsers).  I'll click to refresh the page, and it will still refresh with only that first post on the page.  Eventually, if I leave the page and come back 30 seconds or so later, the page will finally load properly, but it just repeats with the next page I select.

I've only seen this occur with pages that have the Family Guy Online ad on them, as I just checked the last page of a thread with the Target ad up, and it loaded just fine.  This might just be coincidental, but I've also noticed the site loading increasingly slowly when I view it on my Android phone.  Can someone look into this, or am I the only one seeing it?

36

Nintendo Gaming / E3 2012 Press Conferences - Days 2-3: Nintendo Main PC & 3DS PC

« on: June 04, 2012, 04:58:27 AM »

It's on my mind from doing the other E3 2012 Press Conference topic, so I might as well put this one up as well: the thread for Day 2 of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, June 5th 2012. 

Once again, here is a suggested forum thread for discussing the day's press conferences, which this year will be Ni.  I received feedback last year that people preferred the Nintendo Press Conference thread in this section of the forums, so I've done so accordingly this year.  Thankfully, the E3 schedule was accommodating this year, having Nintendo as the final press conference on its own day.

E3 Press Conferences Schedule - Day 2:

Nintendo Press Conference:	9:00 AM - 10:00 AM PST
	12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST
	5:00 PM - 6:00 PM GMT+1
TV Broadcast:	Yes - SpikeTV
Links:	GameTrailers, IGN, Official Nintendo Stream, Giant Bomb, Gamespot, Nintendo World Report

E3 Press Conferences Schedule - Day 3:

Nintendo 3DS Press Conference:	6:00 PM - 7:30 PM (?) PST
	9:00 PM - 10:30 PM (?) EST
	2:00 AM - 3:30 AM (?) GMT+1
TV Broadcast:	No
Links:	Official Nintendo E3 Website, Nintendo World Report

Time Zone Converter

I'll try to keep the above schedule updated as pages I can actually link to go up.  Naturally, if you all find links I don't, feel free to post them and I'll update this post accordingly.

Now, everyone played nice last year in the associated threads, but let me just reiterate: we all want to watch the Nintendo Press Conference, and perhaps have some friendly chat along the way.  Remember that when you act like a jerk here, you're also making it hard for folks like moderator UncleBob to watch the conference as well.  So please behave yourselves, and we can all enjoy another one of the biggest gaming news days of the year.

Props to UncleBob for finding a format for that schedule that didn't cause the forums to flip-out.

EDIT: A note about the schedule - I've had feedback on the other topic that folks in European countries might want their time zone represented in the schedule. I have GMT+1 up there because of a poster from the UK, but I have no idea what other countries and time zones we have represented here.  If you have a time zone you'd like put on the schedule, let me know and I'll update it.

EDIT 2: Schedule updated with projected times for the Nintendo 3DS Press Conference.

37

General Gaming / E3 2012 Press Conferences - Day 1: Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Sony

« on: June 04, 2012, 02:18:13 AM »

Yep, it's finally that time of the year again: Day 1 of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, June 4th 2012.  Once again, here is a suggested forum thread for discussing the day's press conferences (this year, Nintendo's will be put up later in the Nintendo console section of the forums).


E3 Press Conferences Schedule - Day 1:

Microsoft Press Conference	9:30 AM - 11:00 AM PST
	12:30 PM - 2:00 PM EST
	5:30 PM - 7:00 PM GMT+1
TV Broadcast:	Yes - SpikeTV
Links:	GameTrailers, IGN, Giant Bomb, Gamespot
Electronic Arts Press Conference	1:00 PM - 2:00 PM PST
	4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST
	9:00 PM - 10:00 PM GMT+1
TV Broadcast:	Yes - SpikeTV
Links:	GameTrailers, IGN, Giant Bomb, Gamespot
Ubisoft Press Conference	3:00 PM - 4:15 PM PST
	6:00 PM - 7:15 PM EST
	11:00 PM - 12:15 AM (Tuesday) GMT+1
TV Broadcast:	EDIT: NO
Links:	GameTrailers, IGN, Giant Bomb, Gamespot
Sony Press Conference	6:00 PM - 7:00 PM PST
	9:00 PM - 10:00 PM EST
	2:00 AM (Tuesday) - 3:00 AM (Tuesday) GMT+1
TV Broadcast:	No, but you will be allegedly be able to watch
	it from your Playstation 3's XMB (main menu).
Links:	UStream, GameTrailers, IGN, PlayStation Blog, Giant Bomb, Gamespot
Time Zone Converter

I'll try to keep the above schedule updated as pages I can actually link to go up.  Naturally, if you all find links I don't, feel free to post them and I'll update this post accordingly.

Now, everyone played nice last year in the associated threads, but let me just reiterate: we all want to watch the press conferences, and perhaps have some friendly chat along the way.  That includes the moderators as well, so remember that when you act like a jerk here you're also making it hard for them to watch the conferences.  So please behave yourselves, and we can all enjoy one of the biggest gaming news days of the year.

EDIT: Props to UncleBob for finding a format for that schedule that didn't cause the forums to flip-out.

38

General Gaming / Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

« on: November 02, 2011, 02:24:43 AM »

The second game seemed pretty well-received around here, so I figured we should probably have a topic for the sequel, which just released yesterday.

I'm about 4-5 hours in in Chapter 9, and I'm surprised at how oddly...slow and low-key the game has been so far.  Whereas Uncharted 2 got going fairly quickly and then just bombarded the player with big cinematic moments and set pieces, Uncharted 3 seems almost subdued by comparison and more interested in character relationships and backstory.  It reminds me of the first Uncharted in that regard, and honestly I don't know if that's a good thing.  Uncharted is still probably the best franchise in gaming when it comes to cinematic storytelling, but it's never been its strongest when you're just wandering around environments doing minor platforming and solving puzzles (at least one of which was incredibly obtuse, and after seeing the solution I don't know how you were supposed to solve it with the scrap of info they give you).  There have been a few pixel-hunting puzzles that were particularly annoying, since the game just flat-out stops until you figure them out.

The game is gorgeous, though, and the voice-acting and cinematics are as good as ever.  There are some nice new gameplay additions that make the game more enjoyable (such as now being able to throw back grenades tossed at you and incorporating a vertical element into stealth), but nothing as game-changing as Uncharted 2's stealth and melee improvements.  The game showcases the past and present relationship between Sully and Drake a LOT this time around, and it's very much welcomed.  I just wish the plot would get on with it, because it's almost too deliberate.

Overall, a good game so far, but I don't think it's paced anywhere near as well as Uncharted 2 and the action sequences you do in it aren't as interesting or exciting.  The level-design could also use some work (I've run into several stages so far obviously built for multiplayer and re-used as single-player locations).

39

Nintendo Gaming / E3 2011 Nintendo Press Conference Thread

« on: June 06, 2011, 02:59:09 AM »

Well, the long-awaited day is finally here: the yearly Nintendo E3 company press conference, where we will finally see our first showing of Nintendo's next home console and the coming Fall's software lineup.  We had a thread like this last year for discussing all the E3 Press Conferences, and I thought it worked out rather well with a few hitches.  This topic won't be as elaborate as I had originally planned due to an unforeseen family errand that has had me on the road for 12-15 hours a day for nearly a week now, and I won't be home until late Monday Night.  If moderators wish to make any changes as desired, feel free.  I promised I would put these threads up closer to E3, so I'm just making sure they're up while I still have internet access in this hotel.
 
In case I somehow oversleep and miss the Press Conference due to getting home at 3 AM, I leave it to you all to post new streaming links and police the thread.  Please be civil, as I do not want a repeat of what we had last year with the Nintendo Press Conference thread.

The Nintendo Press Conference will start at 9:00 AM PST/12:00 PM EST on Tuesday June 7th, and it will be available streamed on Gametrailers.com, IGN.com, and Nintendo's official site at e3.nintendo.com.  Other streaming sites may arise.
 
Enjoy!  I hope to watch the conference with you Tuesday morning and partake in the discussion! 

40

General Gaming / E3 2011 Day 1: Microsoft, Ubisoft, EA, Sony Press Conferences

« on: June 06, 2011, 02:54:36 AM »

Well, the long-awaited day is finally here: the first day of E3 and our first batch of company press conferences.  We had a thread like this last year for discussing the non-Nintendo Press Conferences, and I thought it worked out rather well with a few hitches.  This topic won't be as elaborate as I had originally planned due to an unforeseen family errand that has had me on the road for 12-15 hours a day for nearly a week now, and I won't be home until all these conferences are over.  If moderators wish to break this thread up into smaller threads as desired, feel free.  I promised I would put these threads up closer to E3, so I'm just making sure they're up while I still have internet access in this hotel.

As I likely won't be here to monitor either the press conferences or these threads (internet access in the car is extremely unreliable), I leave it to you all to post new streaming links and police the thread.  Please be civil, as I do not want a repeat of what we had last year with the Nintendo Press Conference thread.

June 6th, 2011 Schedule (based on Gametrailers.com's listings):

- 9:30 AM PST/12:30 PM EST - Microsoft Press Conference (Note: will be broadcast on Spike TV as well as streamed on Gametrailers.com and IGN.com)

- 12:30 PM PST/3:30 PM EST - Electronic Arts Press Conference (Note: will be broadcast on Spike TV and will be streamed on Gametrailers.com)

- 2:30 PM PST/5:30 PM EST - Ubisoft Press Conference (Note: will be streamed on Gametrailers.com)

- 5:00 PM PST/8:00 PM EST - Sony Press Conference (Note: will be streamed on Gametrailers.com, as well as IGN.com and the Playstation Blog)

Enjoy!   

41

General Gaming / Accessiblity and the Fighting Game Genre

« on: February 25, 2011, 09:54:27 PM »

My apologies in advance.  This post is something of a Stream of Consciousness.

This is something that's actually bothered me for several years, but in recent days I've been reminded of it as I sat down to play the fairly recent BlazBlue: Continuum Shift and Marvel Vs. Capcom 3.  After playing both, I'm continually baffled at how stagnant the Fighting Game genre has been over the years, and how it has become something of a "walled garden" with rules both hidden and overt that seem to serve no other purpose than to prevent people from getting into the genre.

To preface this, while I enjoy watching them I confess I'm terrible at Fighting Games.  No matter how much I practice and how hard I try, the skill to execute the elaborate contortions of the control stick and pressing the various buttons just eludes me.  I'm familiar with the typical "Haduoken"-style movement, but I can rarely ever perform the move on command (and it only goes downhill from there).  Despite this, a few years back I picked up the original BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger out of curiosity and found it both enjoyable and surprisingly accessible (gameplay-wise, anyway...there is no penetrating that convolution that Arc System Works calls a "story").  Instead of a laundry list of buttons that all on the surface seem to perform the same task, there were 4.  One of those was devoted to a single character-specific move (which could change depending on how you moved the control stick), which helped differentiate the gameplay styles of the different fighters.  The most advanced moves in the game, the "Hyper Combo"-esque Distortion Drives, were available both with regular button sequences and with Right-Stick enabled "shortcuts", making the game relatively easy to pick up and feel awesome playing while still allowing those who wished to delve deeper a more traditional format.

So why did I devote a rather lengthy paragraph to explaining this?  A few days ago, I found the game's sequel, "Continuum Shift", on sale for extremely cheap so I picked it up expecting to have more of the same enjoyable experience.  What I found makes me more than a little angry.  The Right-Stick shortcuts for Distortion Drives, which gave less-capable players even the illusion of being decent?  Gone, and researching the fan reaction to its removal the general consensus seems to be "LEARN HOW TO PLAY, NOOBS!  WE DON'T REALLY WANT YOU HERE IF YOU CAN'T PLAY IT OUR WAY!".  In the shortcut's place is a "Beginner Mode", where mashing buttons performs every combo in the game.  There's no finesse or strategy, and the game makes sure you know it.  Just mash buttons (with a lengthy time delay on the more powerful attacks), which does not help the player learn to play the game or how to defeat more advanced players.  There is also a tutorial mode now, where the game continually insults the player for daring to be anything less than a master of fighting games (while quickly ramping up the difficulty beyond what a beginner can handle).  Thanks, Arc System Works.  That really made me feel welcome.  Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 also has a similar button-mashing-focused "Beginner Mode", which is also "nerfed" to prevent the player from accessing their character's full potential.

While playing through the tutorial, it reminded me of another oddity of Fighting Games.  I don't think I've ever seen a Fighting Game where the buttons are ever labeled what they actually are on the controller.  Using Continuum Shift as an example again, in the Tutorials all the face buttons are labeled A, B, C, and D.  Marvel Vs. Capcom refers to them all as L, M, S, and H.  Here, let me just find my "D" and "H" buttons on my Dualshock 3...Oh Wait.      Why do Fighting Games still use this stupid and arbitrary way of naming their buttons, based on the conventions of old arcade cabinets that largely do not exist anymore?  How is your typical player supposed to make sense of this?

Playing these games of late, it always strikes me that the Fighting Genre is one firmly stuck in the past.  Why is there such a focus on being able to perform a move rather than on when the player uses it?  I watched my best friend's brother today playing Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 online, and despite playing the game for 2 weeks and knowing exactly how to perform things like Hyper Combos he still couldn't produce the attacks on command.  He knew what he wanted to do, but the game's arbitrary method of performing the attack made it difficult for him to perform when he needed it.  Say what you will about Smash Bros., but the one thing that series absolutely nailed is that the moves a player can perform are both relatively few in number and exceptionally easy to perform (just the B Button in conjunction with the control stick).  Instead of constantly worrying whether I can perform a given move, my focus can now be on if I have picked the right move and if I'm performing that move at the right time and location.  Given that that seems to be most of what the Fighting Game experience is, why does the execution of it need to be so convoluted and arbitrary?

Sorry, I just needed to get all that off my chest.  It irritates me to see a genre that can be so enjoyable also be so infuriatingly obtuse.  Has anyone else had such problems with the genre?

42

General Chat / Adventures in Utter Incompetence from Amazon.com

« on: June 21, 2010, 09:24:28 AM »

Sorry, but I just need to rant about this for a moment: last week, I ordered an Xbox 360 so I could finally play Alan Wake and Tales of Vesperia, the latter a game I've been waiting years to play because I've been hoping Namco-Bandai would bring over the PS3 version.  There was a whole nightmare associated with PayPal and the purchasing process, but I'd like to focus on the sheer ludicrousness that was the 360's delivery:

So I'm watching the tracking info on Friday night and see that my local Fed Ex got the package in early (it wasn't scheduled for delivery till Monday), and according to their tracking info my package was on one of their trucks for delivery.  So I stay home on Saturday waiting for the package.  It never comes.  I call their customer service number and talk to a representative, who tells me they were just putting it on a truck to make sure it was ready for delivery on Monday.  I ask the representative to hold the package at that Fed Ex so I could come in on Monday to pick it up.  You see, I have this minor inconvenience called A JOB that keeps me from being home to sign for packages.  I also live in an apartment, so when you put those two factors together nothing good happens.  I'm a night owl, so it was extremely hard to get me to go to bed early and wake up early so I could be there at the Fed Ex depot when they opened.  I went in, gave them my information, and was then told that the package was never held and was already on its way.  They let me speak with the driver, who tried to arrange a place where I could meet up with him before work to sign for it.  Our wires got crossed somewhere, though, and one of us wasn't there on time.  So I ended up having to ask him over the phone just to deliver the package to my apartment front office.  I've had dealings with them in the past on this, and generally they had been kind enough to sign for my packages and (on occasion) even deliver them to my apartment since it's literally less than a minute away.

So I walk into my apartment office and tell them what's going on.  I'm told that there are standing orders not to accept packages of any kind.  What.  The.  Hell.  I explain the whole story to them, and I think I convinced the lady there to accept the package.  Thing is, I'll still have to wait until tomorrow morning to come into the office and pick it up because the office closes at 5 PM and I get home at 7:30 PM.  ARGH!

This whole process has been such a ****ing nightmare, and I have done everything in my power to try and make this easy.  But every single person along my way has decided they'd rather do things in the greatest possible way to screw me over.  I just want my 360!  By the time I finally get the damn thing, the Shadow Complex sale will be over!   

And all of this started because Fed Ex refused to deliver a package early when they had it in stock the night before.  Unbelievable.
 

43

General Gaming / E3 2010 Day 2 - Sony (& everyone except Nintendo) Press Conference Thread

« on: June 14, 2010, 10:39:10 PM »

I know this thread is early, but I thought I'd get this prepared for  tomorrow so I'm not rushing to get it done in the morning.  Yes,  tomorrow, June 15th, is the day we've all been waiting for: Sony's  E3 2010 Press Conference, starting at 3:00  PM EST (12:00 PM PST).
   
  3:00 PM EST - Sony Press Conference
 
  Live Streams:
 
  Gametrailers - http://www.gametrailers.com/e3/livefeed/sony
   
  I'll update this post with other Live Streams as they are posted here.   Looking forward to the discussion as we catch our first glimpses of  gaming's future.      Here's hoping we have a great show, or at least one dramatically better than the Microsoft and Ubisoft ones we saw today.     I'm actually looking forward to what we see with the Move software, as I doubt they can possibly be any worse than Microsoft's Kinect demonstrations.  Plus, given that the Dead Space 2 guys teased us that they'll be part of the Sony Press Conference as well, odds are we'll probably get to see Dead Space 2 with Move controls, something I'm looking forward to.

44

General Gaming / E3 2010 Day 2 - Nintendo Press Conference Thread

« on: June 14, 2010, 10:35:24 PM »

I know this thread is early, but I thought I'd get this prepared for tomorrow so I'm not rushing to get it done in the morning.  Yes, tomorrow, June 15th, is the day we've all been waiting for: Nintendo's E3 2010 Press Conference, slated to run for 2 hours starting at 12:00 PM EST (9:00 AM PST).
 
12:00 PM EST - Nintendo Press Conference

Live Streams:

Gametrailers - http://www.gametrailers.com/e3/livefeed/nintendo

Nintendo's Streaming Site: http://e3.nintendo.com/
 
I'll update this post with other Live Streams as they are posted here.  Looking forward to the discussion as we catch our first glimpses of gaming's future.      Here's hoping we have a great show, or at least one dramatically better than the Microsoft and Ubisoft ones we saw today. 

USE THE NWR CHAT:  http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/chat.cfm

45

General Gaming / E3 2010 Day 1 - Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft Press Conferences Thread

« on: June 14, 2010, 01:06:28 PM »

Figured we might as well have a dedicated thread for these considering how much discussion they'll generate.  The following are the start times for the various conferences today, June 14th 2010:
 
1:30 PM EST - Microsoft Press Conference
5:00 PM EST - EA Press Conference
8:00 PM EST - Ubisoft Press Conference

(Thanks to Stevey for this info)
 
 "Live streams of MS:
http://www.gametrailers.com/e3/
http://e3.gamespot.com/press-conference/microsoft-e3/
http://e3.ign.com/2010/live/

If you're at home
Spike TV is showing MS live
G4 too busy showing Goldfinger to show MS's but they will have EA and UBisoft later"
 
Looking forward to the discussion as we catch our first glimpses of gaming's future.       I'll try to get two threads like this up tommorow for Nintendo and Sony as well.

46

General Gaming / Telltale Games to release episodic Jurassic Park and BttF games this Fall!

« on: June 09, 2010, 09:03:33 PM »

http://www.telltalegames.com/nbcuni

I'm just in awe of this announcement, though wary that Telltale could be tackling more than they can handle..  Thing is, while I can definitely see Back to the Future turned into an episodic Point & Click Adventure Game series (it's not that different from what they've already done with Sam & Max in past seasons), Jurassic Park just comes off as a really odd license for Telltale Games.  I suppose if anyone could do it, Telltale Games could.  I wonder what this will mean for their graphics engine, though.  So far, Telltale's been using some relatively primitive tech that right now my laptop struggles to run.  With these movie licenses, though, I wonder if Universal will mandate higher production values that necessitate a new graphics engine that's harder on my laptop.

And we'd better see Christopher Lloyd playing Doc Brown and Michael J. Fox as Marty.   

47

NWR Feedback / Can someone look into the forum code for the Quote Command?

« on: June 03, 2010, 03:44:40 PM »

The forum's been a little goofy today when you quote a user.  It tends to either put your post within theirs in a quote, or it posts your reply as a quote in the stack.  Can someone look into that?  It's kind of annoying.

48

General Chat / Man, Mario Paint is still capable of doing some incredible things...

« on: June 01, 2010, 12:56:08 AM »

Just listen to this.  It was linked from Destructoid today, a medley of music from across gaming history all composited in Mario Paint: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbO1YtoUqM8&feature=player_embedded.

Seriously, I'm in awe of the sheer amount of time and effort it took to produce something like that, and I've heard plenty of awesome remixes of newer songs using that Mario Paint composer program as well (particularly Mario Galaxy).  Exactly why haven't we seen a proper sequel to Mario Paint since the SNES, especially on the Wii?  You'd think it would tie in extremely well with Nintendo's strategy of reaching out to the casual market.

49

Nintendo Gaming / Upgrading the fridge

« on: April 25, 2010, 12:13:40 AM »

With all the stuff that's coming out lately on VC and WiiWare (and the fact that I can actually play it all comfortably now with my new Classic Controller Pro), it looks like it's finally time for me to upgrade to a new SD card.  My current one's only 1 GB, and I've had to do some clever rearranging to keep the stuff I absolutely want on my SD card or System Memory.  I've held back on getting a new one until the prices started to come down, and it looks like they have.  Amazon has a pretty good price right now for an 8 GB model, but can anyone tell me for sure if the Wii will accept this card?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UZL0YU/ref=pd_luc_sbs_02_01

With 8x the storage capacity, I should be able to redownload all the old stuff I had to delete and will probably be set for the rest of the Wii's lifecycle.

50

General Gaming / Electronic Arts to start charging "$10-15" for "Premium Demos"

« on: March 22, 2010, 02:41:22 PM »

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/107/1079019p1.html
 
Man, I wish I were making this up, and there are enough sources confirming this now that we know that Pacter isn't making this up either.  Words just can't describe the sheer amount of FAIL in this move by EA.  Even if they were going to allow players to take what they spent on these "Premium Demos" (read: glorified public Betas) and apply it towards the full game (how they would actually do this, I do not know), who would actually do that unless they already knew exactly what they were getting?