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Topics - Bill Aurion

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26
Nintendo Gaming / LiveMove 2 - The power of Wii MotionPlus
« on: July 30, 2008, 09:40:50 PM »
Video demo inside!

Very impressive stuff, particularly the swordplay...I'm looking forward to seeing what devs do with MotionPlus even more now!

27
NWR Forums Discord / 'ELLO BRUCE!
« on: July 27, 2008, 03:39:14 AM »
****in' close to water, eh?

28
Nintendo Gaming / Sonic & The Black Knight
« on: July 19, 2008, 04:50:34 PM »
Well here's the latest Nintendo Power exclusive! (They've sure got a lot of weird exclusives lately...)



Yeah, uh, it's not a joke...

29
Nintendo Gaming / Animal Crossing Thread of Speculation and Desire
« on: July 10, 2008, 09:33:11 PM »


Okay, by this point we all know that Animal Crossing Wii will be shown off during Ninty's press conference on Tuesday, and that it'll sell gangbusters just like the DS version...So how about some fun speculation to pass the time?  What's that you say?  Does Bill have a wish list?

...

Well, maybe a few...

  • Game imports your basic Mii (Mii masks that can be gotten at Harriet's), which can be edited using in-game options
  • The ability to actually choose where you want to live, rather than having to choose from pre-set locations judged from vague questions
  • World layout more akin to the structure the GC version rather than the globe of DS (World structure is "planetary"); actually have a sense of topography difference
  • Different regions of the village map to travel to (such as an inner forest, etc); exploration aspect?
  • Possible ability to arrange the terrain at the beginning of the game (streams, etc)
  • On that note, the ability to use your money to purchase things to make your town flashier; for example, a large fountain, a bigger town hall, a venue for K.K. to perform in, etc…
  • Interactions with the Wiimote (Fishing, digging, painting the house!, etc…)
  • Evolved physical abilities like swimming and jumping
  • Largest house should be mansion-like (the previous versions’ final houses were too small!)
  • Ability to edit the external appearance of your house (more than just being able to change the color of the roof)
  • Ability to move your house somewhere else if you changed your mind later on
  • Relationship meter that actually shows your status with villagers; villagers that actually hold grudges against you if you are mean to them; villagers that can be mean just for the hell of it; ability to kick villagers out without just ignoring them until they leave
  • Ability to actually befriend the “set” characters like Sable, Mabel, Nook, etc outside their respective shops…
  • Ability to set dates with villagers to do things with them to improve your friendship rating (such as agreeing to go fishing, catching bugs together, etc…)
  • More unique tasks that are not fetch quests, like telling a villager to stop teasing another or helping to rearrange the furniture in a villager’s house
  • More random events, like a villager has something stolen and you have to interrogate all of the villagers to determine where it went
  • More events, period: like actual birthday parties, picnics, auctions, or any other events that don’t necessarily need to be pre-set dates  [Bunny Day, Auctions!]
  • More villager congregation: in the previous games everyone just feels really isolated and they don’t act as actual neighbors (perhaps even form couples?)
  • More things to plant besides trees and flowers (vegetables, bushes, grass)
  • More things to do with friends that come over (whether that be board games, arcade games, a game of tag, hide-and-seek, or a race/obstacle course)
  • More videogame-inspired furniture items
  • Wii/DS Connectivity for designing textures or “DS Island”
  • Ability to shake a tree and the bees go after other NPCs/Friends you’ve invited over to your village
  • Make it so friends who come over can’t uproot your flower beds (…….. >=| )
  • Ability to play more tricks on people besides pitfalls (fake explosive furniture, buried catapults)
  • Ability to import pictures from the SD card to use as textures (Most likely not, due to people having the ability to lay pictures of goatse across their town)
  • Separate screen for the dump…Or a new character: a packrat that lets people leave junk in his house!
  • Cooking!

Ambitious?  Quite...I will most likely end up disappointed just like I was with the DS version (though that didn't stop me from playing it and enjoying it for months...)

Oh, and don't even bother wishing for NES games...That's even less likely than anything I've listed... ='D

User requests:
  • Animal Crossing on separate planets = Spore Killer (ShyGuy)
  • Real-time weather, via the Wii's Weather Channel (Morari)
  • Ability to use dug-up/found gyroids as the one out front of my house (Morari)
  • Capture the Flag! (Deguello)
  • Open sea fishing for deep sea fish and relics! (Deguello)
  • The ability to murder Gaston! (Deguello)
  • Wiiconnect24 usage that could send extra daily task for special gifts or a few extra bells. (Hippie_Samurai)
  • A timely european release date! (Plugabugz)
  • If rude friends DO uproot your flower beds, they're punished for it. (ReverendNoahWhateley)
  • Ability to subtly influence which animals move to your town.  If your town if full of garbage, the chances are good that you could attract animals like rats and grungy characters.  Likewise, if you fill it with flowers, cutesy characters could be more likely to show up. (ReverendNoahWhateley)
  • Remember Fitness Day in the GC version? BALANCE BOARD SUPPORT THAT BITCH! or atleast let players interact more with the holidays and events. (EasyCure)
  • Fitness Day: use the wiimote to do arm revolutions, whoever does the most in a set time limit wins the prize. (EasyCure)
  • Fireworks Festival: show up early enough on that day, speak to the mayor and he'll ask you to volunteer. You play a minigame where YOU'RE the one setting off the fireworks instead of just watching their reflection on the lake (EasyCure)
  • Snow Day: same deal, you can choose to volunteer to string up lights around town via waggle. (EasyCure)
  • You mess up someone else's town by destroying their flowers and the next time you start up (back in your own town) you get chewed out by.... Ha you thought i was going to say Mr. Ressetti werent you? NOPE! It's COPPER TIME. (EasyCure)
  • Natural disasters. At any given moment, an earthquake can strike possibly destroying houses and splitting your town, luckily a tree falls over the gap and there's still a way to cross it, but you have to do a balance minigame with the balance board every time you want to cross it, and if you fail, you die and your file is instantly erased. An asteroid hitting and destroying everything should also be a very real small possibility, like real life. Strong winds can make your hat fly off so don't wear a hat when it's windy. Ability to look out your window while in your house, and the ability to spy on your neighbours through their windows, but don't get caught! You can uncover mysteries by spying and stalking people, and find murderers, and even frame people. (Mario)
  • Townsfolk can die, funerals are held, titled "fun-erals" where everyone gathers around trading fruit and designs and KK Slider plays. (Mario)
  • Ability to murder people. Invite them over to see your axe collection in the basement and chop them up into little bits, sprinkling them all over the beach, BUT, anyone entering your town may find dead body parts while fishing, then have the option to either alert the cops (which triggers a running minigame that goes on FOREVER requiring you to shake the wii remote, whenever you stop the police catch you and your file is erased instantly.) Otherwise you can kill the other player yourself. A game of scissors paper rock ensues and the loser is brutally killed in a graphic animation and their file is also erased. (Mario)
  • You can get in relationships with other townsfolk (no *** relationships) and make babies (see). If you play the game for 9 months or so a baby comes in the mail and can be traded for bells at nooks. If you play the game for another 15 years the boy or girl will break free of slavery and come and kill you, erasing your file. If you choose to keep the child (LOL! yeah right) you have the option to use it in a nice meal (this would work well with Bills cooking idea) or just hang it on the wall. No sex scenes though because I don't want it to be rated T or higher. (Mario)
  • I really hope this one goes back to the "everybody gets their own house" way of doing things instead of the making everyone live together like in Wild World. (insanolord)
  • The ability to visit friends' towns even if they're not online. (decoyman)
  • I would want Mii support in the game...however I want the game to take the Mii and redesign the Mii into a unique Animal Crossing character...including possibly changing your characters animal species and more. (Spak-Spang)
  • I would also love to see town themes, that are determined by how you answer questions...and these themes can be mixed with other themes to fit your entire family. (Spak-Spang)
  • I would also love for Animal Crossing Wii to see what games you have, and create special events for those that have access to Wii24Connect, Balance Board, Wii Zapper, Wii Wheel ect.  These special events could be monthly Mini Games or such. (Spak-Spang)
  • Virtual Console Demo Days.  I would love for the game to allow you to download a demo of Virtual console games to play like over the weekend or something. (Spak-Spang)
  • An ability to buy different style houses, and even buy/shape your town by buying neighbors houses and giving them different styles. (Spak-Spang)
  • An Ability to design your own shop/museum/Library for your town.  Be able to check live fish not available in your lake and stock your lake with them. (Spak-Spang)
  • I would certainly love the ability to transfer your AA:WW character to the wii, its probably the only way I would pick up my little guy again and start mailing "the raven" verse by verse to all the town folk. (mantidor)
  • Event Idea: It would be to have an item that you can hide in your town...this item is a special rare treasure that only your copy will have, and you can name it...or even design the treasure.  Then people that visit your treasure can try to find it...if they do they get to take back with them to their town and hide it.  You will of course know if somebody took your item and can then search for it back...if you never get it back it is gone.  Once you have stolen it, you can't steal it twice...however you will make a copy of it for your museum or trophy room or something...which can show how many items of your friends you have found.  It is sorta like Item Hide and Seek. (Spak-Spang)
  • I want to be able to access the catalogue at any time and I would like a 'new!' tag over any item in Tom Nook's store that isn't already in my catalogue. Attempting to complete it is currently such a hassle. (blackfootsteps)

30
Want to know how awesome Metal Gear Solid 4 is?  It's THIS awesome!


ACT 1 - Middle East

~ You start off as Assassin Snake, his face hidden by his hood.  The first thing I noticed was how laughable his punches are.  It's like watching an old geezer having an episode...
~ After getting accustomed to the clunky controls, I sneak my way through the town, avoiding these annoying mini-Gears (Geckos)...
~ Cutscene of Snake trying to get away from some Geckos that spotted him (GOOD JOB, SNAKE)...Hey look, a cardboard box!  But surely you won't hide in it because that'd be what fans want!  The Geckos come up and squish the box, disappointed that it only contains watermelons...I was disappointed too...The funny thing is that they dragged this scene on to act dramatic while ALREADY SHOWING THAT SNAKE WAS USING HIS OCTO-CAMO ON THE WALL NEARBY!  WE ALREADY KNOW HE ISN'T UNDER THE BOX!  WHAT WAS THE POINT!?
~ Eventually you run into Otacon's Mark II robot thing (woo, cutscene).  You can drive it around and shock people!  (I rarely used it, though...)
~ A tank!  Oh no!  I crawled around behind the rebels hoping that they wouldn't spot the old guy humping the ground...
~ Heading through the underground tunnels with my lovely nightvision, I found a rebel disguise!  Yaaaaay, no need to sneak around!
~ Then you meet Drebin, a weapons launderer that talks your ear off for 15 minutes.  Summary: He launders weapons.  Thanks, you really needed all that time.  At least the monkey was funny...
~ Yay, I've got control aga...DAMMIT OTACON, LEAVE ME ALONE!
~ You make your way through a dilapidated building, and then...another cutscene...It's Diarrhea Guy!  And he's...taking a crap under a barrel...
~ Rebel guy chases him off and Snake is like "I love the smell of ****, so I'll just put this barrel IN MY PANTS!" (Snake's pockets are more bottomless than Link's...)
~ I used the barrel..."Wheeeeeee!," I shouted as I rolled around the area.  Then i put it away and Snake immediately vomited, costing me psych points...I never used it again... >=|
~ Blah, blah, more streets to walk through...Now I'm in a building of some so...DAMMIT, something exploded!  That hurt!  So I explore a bit more and...DAMMIT, ANOTHER ONE!  So I quickly learn that I need to shoot the things that look like lanterns so they don't hurt me.   
~ Time for another cutscene:  IT'S DIARRHEA GUY!  Diarrhea Guy sucks at life and falls for the oldest trick in the book.  (The safety's on, rookie!)  Snake gets surrounded anddddd, it's Meryl!  "I ALWAYS BELIEVED IN YOU!"  Blah, blah, some emotional drama stuff that I don't care about.  Snake reveals why he's old. (accelerated aging)
~ FROGs!  These are the main enemies in the game.  They are also annoying, because they make a high-pitched screech when you kill them.  And they are all women.  All of them.  In fact, most of the enemies in this game, including bosses, are women...What's with all the woman-killing in this game?
~ Another cutscene...Later, Diarrhea Guy continues to be worthless and gets knocked out...Come on, Diarrhea Guy!
~ More FROG killing and then another cutscene...Diarrhea Guy is afraid to jump down 10 feet...There's a limit to pathetic, yes?  And then more cutscenes...and more    Diarrhea Guy being absolutely worthless...
~ TANK!  You crawl around behind this tank for a while before it gets blown up... :(
~ Another cutscene!  A bunch of guys with a bulldozer get overwhelmed by the four female bosses of the game, all of which are wearing really stupid, unrealistic armor...
~ Then you make it through this small PMC camp and that's it...You get a cutscene of Liquid and then he uses the SEIZURE LAUNCHER which makes everyone with nanomachines start spazzing out...He doesn't seem surprised at all that Snake is there either...END OF ACT!  Now it's time to install the next chapter!  (Yes, INSTALL...)

ACT 2 - South America

~ This is where you are introduced to something you are forced to sit through every Act...A boring 15 minute mission briefing cutscene!  I spent my time driving the Mark II around watching Sunny make eggs (far more exciting than what was going on in the other room)...Sunny is awesome, and Snake is a big, fat JERK! >=(
~ So after another cutscene with Laughing Octopus and Vamp making their appearances, I snuck down and took out the guards and freed the prisoners...Now they are on my side, woohoo!
~ I get a call from Campbell and Snake starts getting on his case about taking Rose as a wife even though she's young enough to be his daughter...Yeah, Snake, I agree with you, but come on, you don't talk about this **** when you are sneaking through enemy territory
~ Then I got a call from Raiden, who apparently is watching my every move...THAT'S NOT THE LEAST BIT DISTURBING...
~ Then a call from Rose...Blah, blah, more drama..."Don't tell Jack I'm part of this mission, blah, blah..." I DON'T CARE!  JUST LET ME PLAY!
~ Time to take out snipers and help the rebels storm this power plant...building...thing...Meh...I mortared the hell out of the PMCs!  **** stealth! :tpg:
~ I make it through and, look who's here...Drebin!  More cutscenes... :(  The monkey is clearly the best character in this game so far...and I hate monkeys...This is not a good sign of things to come...
~ So eventually I come across a bulldozer (which looks identical to the one in the Middleeast...) and have to help it break into this mansion complex...I sneak inside and make it out the other side and finally come across...
~ Naomi!  Okay, finally, now let's get out of h...Gah, cutscene!  A really long-winded technobabble about nanomachines and how Snake is going to die soon...I don't care, I know Laughing Octopus is around here, let me fight her!
~ So the game finally catches on and the battle with her begins...I just run around the building with my nightvision on to spot her camo...All done!
~ Wait, no, now I have to fight her again! >=O  Wait, what?  Why is she walking so slow?  *bang bang*  Hey, she dodged my shots!  Well how about a MACHINE GUN!  She crumples in seconds...That's it?  Uhhhhh...
~ After she dies (more not-so-subtle symbolism as she curls up in the fetal position), I get a comm call from Drebin (leave me alone!) and he sends me on a guilt trip by telling Laughing Octopus' life tragedy.  I don't care, she's dead.  Telling me this now won't change a damn thing.  Oh, and apparently she was forced to kill her parents and the blood turned black, which reminded her of octopus ink...Yeah, it's really, REALLY stupid...And it's a theme that continues on with the other bosses...
~ Now it's time for a pointless segment...You have to track Naomi by following her footsteps with nightvision...Not only is this tedious, but most of the paths go the same bloody direction ANYWAY...
~ Blah, blah, another cutscene...Snake shoots Vamp in the head, PMCs shoot at Snake, Drebin comes out of nowhere with his APC, Naomi jumps on the APC, etc, etc...
~ Gameplay time...You just shoot at **** from the APC's gun, taking out soldiers that crawl onto it like zombies while also trying to take down Geckos...
~ Eventually Raiden appears and he has this pretty badass action scene against the Gecko army...
~ Then you have another stupid gameplay sequence which takes about thirty seconds...You just run away from Geckos a span of about 50 yards...POINTLESS!
~ Another cutscene with Raiden VS Vamp...It's a draw, and Raiden starts vomiting milk...So after that one cutscene he's pretty much out of it for the entire next Act...END OF ACT!

ACT 3 - Europe
~ This Act is ass, so I will summarize as best I can...
~ Cutscene of boring and Meryl being angsty and calling Snake old (you'd think Snake would be used to being called old by now)...Oh, and Face Camo of Young Snake.
~ Follow this idiot Resistance member as he takes a stupidly convoluted path through the city.
~ Another long cutscene revealing Eva is Snake's surrogate mother.  Woohoo.  Oh, and Big Boss' body is in the van.
~ Oh boy, gameplay!  Now it's time to ride on the back of Eva's bike as we zoom around shooting guys and those stupid flying things...
~ Aw, gameplay's over.  Another crappy cutscene.  Eva is so unlucky.  She flew off the bike and got impaled on a fence spike.  Don't die, Eva!  You're pretty cool!  TIME TO FIGHT BOSS!
~ Raging Raven.  This boss is just laughable.  RAGE! RAGGGGGGGGGGGE!  Seriously, if you didn't laugh at how stupid she sounds, then you are taking this game way too seriously.
~ Time for another short cutscene of her going crazy...
~ Stupid rehashed "shoot slow-moving woman in the face" second part of the battle...
~ Another stupid guilt trip message from Drebin.  She and a bunch of others were caged up and beaten, then left behind.  Then ravens tried to eat her.  See a theme popping up here?  Man are these stories stupid...
~ Shiiiiit, another long stupid cutscene.  Liquid has the system under control, so no one can use their guns.  Looks like they are screwed.  Oh my god, Diarrhea Guy's face!  He looks like Squall...Then Liquid dumps Big Boss' body in a fire and Eva jumps in after it.  UHHHHH...Snake saves her and gets his face burnt.  Sexy Snake no more!  Eva somehow didn't get burnt, but she dies anyway :(...END OF ACT!

ACT 4 - Shadow Moses

~ After you have your stupid shitty mission briefing (Get this, if you are playing straight through from the last Act, you had a 15 minute cutscene, 3-4 minutes of installing, and now another 15 minute cutscene.  This game is so awesome.), the chapter starts off with a cool "dream sequence" where you replay the first area of the original PS1 MGS.  This was the best part of the game, sadly enough.
~ Now you have to break into the complex AGAIN.  This time with the power of PS THREEEEEEE!  They did a good job recreating Shadow Moses, so they get kudos from me for this.  As you sneak around, Snake has voice flashbacks of the original game.  Unfortunately, while they recreated the area well, all you do is avoid those shitty three-armed drones and Geckos.  Bleh.
~ Woo, instead of going through the front door I decide to go in the original way through the vents!  I am hardcore.
~ Aw, vent is broken.  Time to drop into this roo....m...Son of a biiiiitch, there are like 40 of those shitty security drones running around in here.  I dive off the side and don't even bother with the few items hanging around in corners of the room.
~ An open field!  This looks familiar!  But instead of tank guy I instead get two broken Geckos.  Wait, not broken!  ****!  *reloads file*
~ Hey, this room is empty!  Awesome, now I just have to walk through the back door an...Oh, the game won't let me off that easily.  It's locked.  Otacon gives Snake a five-digit code and makes another age joke.  Shut up, Otacon.  Seriously, stop the age jokes.  We get that Old Snake is old by now.
~ You reach the computer like 5 minutes later and he asks you to input it.  Is this Brain Training?
~ Uh oh, a Gecko drops from the ceiling.  EXPLOSIONS!  No more Gecko.
~ Now that the doors are powered, Otacon plugs in and, uh, the Gecko comes down in the elevator.  I DESTROYED THAT GECKO!  GRRRR!  So now you have to spend a couple minutes distracting it while Otacon takes his sweet time opening the doors for you to escape into the next area.
~ Hey, this area smells like...a boss battle!  A rehashed boss battle at that!  This time it's Crying Wolf, spiritual successor to Sniper Wolf.  And if you guessed that you need to snipe her before she snipes you, then you get a cookie.  I chilled for a while underneath the truck so no one could find me, but I got bored waiting for her to come out, so I just Rambo'd it on all the FROGs (more woman-killing) and used my nightvision to find Crying Wolf.
~ And yes, you get another stupid "she walks towards you while you shoot her in the face scene"
~ And you get a Rail Gun.  Seriously, Snake picks up this gun that is as big as he is.  Where does he keep it?  That sure isn't fitting down his pants!
~ After the battle a wolf comes by and howls and Snake is all "SNIPER WOLF?"  No, Snake, it's just a wolf.  God, are you senile?  MORE OLD JOKES, TEE HEE!
~ Then Otacon makes a really stupid joke about not having to switch discs because this is PLAYSTATION THREEEEEEE!  BluRay is so awesome!
~ INSERT A BUNCH OF STUPID "AVOID DRONES AND GECKOS IN A BUNCH OF ROOMS" HERE
~ Now you get to fight Vamp!  Die, die, die!  Yes, he's deaaaaaad!  Wait, he got back up...Die, die, die!  He's dead again!  Wait, what the hell?  He got up again!?  Well how about this?  SYRINGE'D!
~ Oh boy, here's Cloud again.  I mean Raiden.  No, wait, maybe it IS Cloud.  Anyways, you have to shoot Geckos with the Rail Gun before they kamikaze you.  The screen splits for some stupid reason because it was absolutely imperative that more cutscenes were crammed into the game (ones that you can't really watch because you are too busy shooting Geckos).  So you get half the screen to see these stupid Geckos while Cloud and Vamp duke it out with knives.
~ So finally Vamp dies (for real this time) and you get the whole spiel on how Vamp isn't immortal and all that jazz (No ****, Naomi...)  Then she commits suicide as Otacon performs some of the worst acting ever.
~ Then after she dies Otacon is all "I WON'T CRY ANYMORE, I'M SO TOUGH."  The guy was just bawling his eyes out just a minute before, and now he's fine?  Bullshit, this acting is pissing me off.
~ Oh my, time to drive Metal Gear Rex!  So awesome!  Actually, it's not quite as awesome as I'd hoped because IT CONTROLS LIKE ASS.  Still, it does the job and rapes the hell out of all the Geckos in my way.  Manuever through some boring tunnels and you make it outside, only to find...
~ Metal Gear Ray!  BOSS TIME!  This was a pretty cool fight.  Shoot missles and lasers and machine guns all day, with the occasional QTE thrown in.  Did you have fun?  I must admit I did!  It's all downhill from here, folks!
~ Shitty cutscene time!  Cloud cuts his arm off and saves Snake, who is being a complete puss by not moving as the GIANT SHIP OF DOOOOOM comes towards him...Cloud stops a huge SHIP, with his SWORD...This is stupid.  Blah blah, looks like Cloud dies, but he didn't.  Cloud is very good at having awesome action sequences which end with him being completely useless.  END OF ACT!

ACT 5 - Liquid's Ship of DOOOOOOOM
   
~ I hope you had fun with the game, because there's about 25 minutes of gameplay left!
~ Cutscene of everyone being grouchy, particularly Snake, who makes random emo comments during the mission briefing.  Shut up, Snake.  Ever since Act 3 most of your screentime has been you coughing and going into seizures.  Diarrhea guy attempts to grab Mei Ling's butt, but is thwarted by Meryl.  Poor diarrhea guy.  Should have gone after Mei Ling in the first place.
~ Starts off on the ship deck.  Get a call from Meryl.  She's in deep **** and Diarrhea Guy fell in the ocean.  These guys are great backup.  You have to sneak around all these FROGs and Geckos, but after a few fruitless attempts I just Rambo'd it.  I mean, ****, I stocked up so much explosive ammo over the course of the game, so I might as well use it!
~ I entered a big room and somehow Snake doesn't hear all these FROGs walking around above him.  Going deaf too?  Meryl is knocked out.  Good job, Meryl!
~ You shoot a bunch of FROGs, then Screaming Mantis appears.  And surprise, surprise, it's the spiritual successor to Psycho Mantis!  (without the cleverness of switching controller ports)
~ So she now has control over Meryl and a bunch of dead FROGs, so I just run around blasting them until I decide it's time to take her on.  I figure I have to shoot these two stupid dolls that she's dangling in my face.
~ Uh oh, that made her mad.  Now she's making Meryl shoot at me.  But I can't shoot Meryl because that'd lead to Game Over, I guess.  Oh great, Meryl is going to attempt to shoot herself!  SYRINGE'D!
~ Now it's just me and Screaming Mantis.  Whoops, I stole her doll, tee hee!  CHUNK'D!  Then, uh, you just waggle the controller and she just sorta flops around and dies.  Yep, that's it!
~ Oh wait, you have to shoot her in the face as she walks slowly towards you.  WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS!?
~ Then the ghost of Psycho Mantis pops up (what?) and makes a stupid joke about how Snake has improved his skills because he no longer uses a memory card...Uhhhhhh...
~ Another Drebin comm message of guilt.  The girl was imprisoned and ended up feasting on male corpses.  Except she thought it was a female mantis eating her mates.  Uhhhhh, did you get that?  It's just so pathetic and forced.  HER PAST INVOLVES MANTISES AND SHE IS NOW SCREAMING MANTIS!  DO YOU GET IT!?  DO YOU GET IT!?
~ More cutscenes...I just sorta stopped paying attention around here.  Basically Meryl hangs back while Snake continues forward. 
~ And uh, you just run down the same hallway a couple times while more voice flashbacks pop up.  Oh wait, more shitty security drones!  I didn't even bother shooting at them, instead doing the tried and true "Zelda roll" through them.
~ Another cutscene...Are you ****ing serious?  I just had control over the game for not even 2 minutes!  Snake falls on the ground like a puss while the FROGs close in with knives...Why?  WHY NOT JUST SHOOT HIM AND END THIS CRAPPY GAME!?  Cloud comes outta nowhere and starts belching emo phrases, and Snake finally realizes what a douche he's been these past few Acts and grows up a bit.  So Snake moves on into the microwave room.
~ There was also another cutscene involving Diarrhea Guy and Meryl somewhere in here.  In cliche fashion he saves her at the last second and asks her to marry him.  Then she gets angry because she wants to wear the pants in the relationship and tells him no, then asks him to marry her.  Then they start having their first marriage squabble as they shoot FROGs, and Diarrhea Guy jams magazines into Meryl's pistols for her (they get some kudos for the clever sexual symbolism).  When did Chickenshit turn into Mr. Badass anyway?  This lack of logical continuity makes me flaccid...
~ And now we have the WORST part of ANY game EVER.  Yes, EVER!  Snake stumbles through this long hallway, getting zapped every once in a while (so he falls to the ground and starts CRAWLING slower than a snail), his health slowly decreasing, while you MASH THE TRIANGLE BUTTON...FOR THREE MINUTES STRAIGHT...YOU MASH THE TRIANGLE BUTTON FOR THREE MINUTES STRAIGHT!  Meanwhile, the screen splits in two again to show the battle outside as you are mashing the triangle button cursing Snake for crawling so slowly, praying that you don't die so you don't have to mash triangle FOR THREE MINUTES STRAIGHT again.  After it was over I had    to leave the room for a few minutes so I wouldn't chunk my PS3 through the window...
~ MORE CUTSCENES...This time Otacon is uploading the virus to destroy the system and, OH GOD THOSE DRONES ARE BACK!  Snake forgets all of his military training and shoots spastically like the dead meat in your average sci-fi movie when he comes up against a monster.  He was able to shoot two, maybe three when there are like thirty walking towards him.  Oh noes, everyone is in trouble.  Cloud gets his sword knocked out of his mouth and doesn't do JACK ****.  Meryl and Diarrhea   Guy are pretty much out of ammo (geez, how many FROGs are in this room?  You'd think that there'd be a PILE that these guys (girls) would be stumbling on!)     The drones swarm Snake as one tries to couple with his head...fruitlessly.  Then with cliche timing, Otacon pulls the plug and everything magically stops working...All the Geckos, all the drones, and the FROGs start seizuring...Yaaaaaay, it's ooooveeeeer...Wait, no, I forgot about Liquid... >=|
~ So now you have a lovey-dovey fist battle with different forms of Liquid/Ocelot/etc. from the previous three games.  The camera switches so often and goes into    uncontrollable, short cutscenes constantly, so you have absolutely no idea when you have been given control of the game again.  So I just ended up mashing Punch and hitting triangle whenever it popped up on screen.  Then he dies.  IT'S OVEEEEEEEEEEEER! :tpg:
   
~ No, I lied...It's not over.  Now I have to sit through the shitty ending sequence.   
~ Meryl and Diarrhea Guy get married.  This whole scene was pointless and added nothing.
~ Raiden gets back together with Rose after he decides to quit acting like a child and drops the Cloud-act.
~ Snake shoots himself in the mouth!  IT'S OVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!  CREDITS!  YES IT'S FINALLY OVVVV...

*Credits stop at Big Boss' voice actor*
      
~ Wait, Big Boss never spoke in this gaaa...Awwwwwww... >=O
~ Yep, it's time for another long boring cutscene.  Snake pussed out of killing himself.  Big Boss is alive (the body burned in Europe was that of Solidus) and he talks to Snake about a bunch of **** involving The Patriots and Zero is there, comatose.  Big Boss makes some NOT-SO-SUBTLY forced symbolism about "eliminating zero to go back to one" and then Big Boss himself dies.
~ AND YES, IT'S FINALLY OVEEEEEEEEEEEEER!  FOR REAL!  IT'S REALLY OVER!  CREDITS AND ONE LAST COMM MESSAGE WITH OTACON!

Oh yeah, from the final blow on Liquid back to the title screen, it takes around an hour!  An incredibly boring hour that fit such a boring game!  THE END!

Final Score:  10 snores out of 10!

31
Nintendo Gaming / Wario Land: Shake It!
« on: June 25, 2008, 09:41:40 AM »
Quote
Wario Land™: Shake It!, a classic side-scroller for the Wii console launching Sept. 29, stars Wario, the smelly, bad-mannered alter ego of Mario™. With the Wii Remote™ controller turned sideways like an old-school controller, veterans and newcomers alike can run, jump and smash their way through hectic side-scrolling stages. Players shake the Wii Remote to help Wario take down his enemies, empty bags of treasure or cause earthquakes. Best of all, there are numerous stages each offering multiple missions to keep players coming back again and again to unlock everything, collect more coins or just improve their best times.




32
General Gaming / Summer Drought Time! What will keep you busy?
« on: June 11, 2008, 03:54:40 PM »
With the classic Summer drought coming into effect (outside random garbage games like MGS4 and Soul Calibur 4 *tee hee*), what will keep you busy as we wait for E3?  Will you be playing those garbage games I mentioned?  Will you just sit around on your computer counting down the time?  Will you...GO OUTSIDE!? =O

As for myself, I have my own backlog I need to catch up on...


(All unopened...I feel sorry for them! :()

I'm also replaying Half-Life 2 (PC version) and Mass Effect at the moment, though I'll be quitting those so I can play my unopened ones...

33
Nintendo Gaming / Rune Factory Frontier
« on: June 06, 2008, 09:42:14 AM »
~ Publisher/Developer: Natsume
~ Is set up to improve upon the DS games
~ The main character, a young man named Laguna, wanders the land in search of a missing girl
~ The game takes place on the island of Tranrupia, an uncivilized land which Laguna is challenged to pioneer and cultivate
~ In addition, a gigantic floating island resembling a whale mysteriously emerged from the sky.
~ As the land is further pioneered, a village starts to develop around the farms, and shops start to appear
~ The game is set for a 2008 release (in Japan)

Screenshots










Looks gorgeous...I always meant to get the DS version (and probably will soon now), but with the lack of Wii RPGs, this is going to be a must-have...

34
Nintendo Gaming / Fatal Frame IV
« on: June 05, 2008, 09:06:27 AM »
~ Publisher: Nintendo
~ Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture/Tecmo
~ Directors: Makoto Shibata (Fatal Frame 1,2,3) and Suda 51
~ Producer: Keisuke Kikuchi (Fatal Frame 1,2,3)
~ Release: July 31st, 2008 in Japan, TBD everywhere else

~ Game takes place on Rougetsutou (Island of the 12th Lunar Month), which was used in a kidnapping incident in the past...
~ Main protagonist is Ruka Minazuki, who was one of five girls kidnapped...
~ Unlike the previous games, which utilized classic Resident Evil-like pre-set camera angles, the camera is set behind the heroine...
~ Wiimote is used to control the flashlight, as well as the camera...

Official Website

Screenshots (Right-click and view image to see them in their native dimensions!)











Looks fantastic... :heart;

35
NWR Forums Discord / Which poster should I stalk?
« on: May 28, 2008, 06:40:52 PM »
I only have a few more days of classes before finally getting a well-deserved two months of break, but my summer is pretty open...To kill time I have decided to stalk someone, but I'm having a hard time deciding who...

I'd prefer it if the poster DOESN'T want me to stalk them, so Smoke and nitsu are out, and considering Mr. Jack is getting married I feel it'd be pretty awkward to stalk him...

I'm thinking of stalking UncleBob so I can snag his Nintendo gear and hold it hostage until he stops flooding the Funhouse with his topics, but any other suggestions would be most welcome! :heart;


36
Quote
SAN FRANCISCO – May 28, 2008 – Today Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, announced that it will publish Dogz 2008 (working title) exclusively on the Wii(TM) home video game system from Nintendo. Dogz 2008 (working title) gameplay will be designed to take advantage of the Wii system’s technology and full utilization of the Wii Remote(TM). Dogz 2008 (working title) is scheduled for release in Holiday 2008.

In Dogz 2008 (working title), players can adopt a dog from 18 different breeds, train their dog to compete in races, dress him or her in more than 100 outfits, and engage their dog in different activities including jump roping and playing catch at the park. A new feature will also allow dogs to travel to other Wii consoles and interact with other dogs.





Thanks Ubisoft!  We totally prefer this over BG&E2!  A Wii dog game that SOMEHOW looks worse than Nintendogs!  Thanks a ****ing lot!

Edit: Ahahahaha, to add insult to injury, Ubisoft just put out info on ANOTHER exclusive!

Quote
BABIES PARTY proposes a variety of 30 mini-games that can be played head-to-head or cooperatively among your family or with your friends. Live a great adventure if you play alone or have fun with your friends, up to 4 players.

Wii Remote™ gestures are intuitive, making the game easy to pick up and play.
You will just have to play indoor & outdoor mini-games following the typical day of a baby and his/her baby-sitter, and prove that you are the best babysitter, alone or with your friends.





*sobs in corner*

37
May 30th Edition - Wario Land Shake (Wii), Fatal Frame 4 (Wii), SimCity Wii, Kumatanchi (DS)
June 6th Edition - Rune Factory Frontier (Wii), Tenchu 4 (Wii), Shiren the Wanderer DS 2, Valkyrie Profile (DS), Avalon Code (DS)
June 13th Edition - Wario Land Shake (Wii), RIZ-ZOAWD (DS), Sigma Harmonics (DS)
June 20th Edition - Wario Land Shake (Wii), Tales of Symphonia: Knights of Ratatosk (Wii)
June 27th Edition - Arc Rise Fantasia (Wii), Rune Factory Frontier (Wii)
July 4th Edition - Chrono Trigger (DS), Tales of Hearts (DS), Winds of Nostalgio (DS), Fire Emblem (DS) AND MORE!
July 11th Edition - Captain Rainbow (Wii), Tongariboushi and the 365 Days of Magic (DS), Fatal Frame (Wii)
July 18th Edition - Dead Rising (Wii)
July 25th Edition - Tenchu 4 (Wii), Avalon Code (DS), Kimi no Yusha (DS)
August 1st Edition - Sigma Harmonics (DS), Ragnarok Online DS, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS)
August 8th Edition - Captain Rainbow (Wii), Sky Crawlers (Wii)
August 22nd Edition - Suikoden Tierkreis (DS), Tales of Hearts (DS)
August 29th Edition - Kizuna (Wii), Rune Factory Frontier (Wii), Winds of Nostalgio (DS)
September 5th Edition - Shining Force Feather (DS), Animal Crossing City Folk (Wii), Manhattan Requiem: Kiss of Murder (DS), Suzumiya Haruhi Adventure Game (Wii)
September 12th Edition - Phantasy Star Zero (DS), Kizuna (Wii), Item Getter (DS)
September 19th Edition - Monster Hunter 3 (Wii), Gyakuten Kenji (DS), Suikoden Tierkreis (DS)
September 26th Edition - Seventh Dragon (DS), Ninokuni (DS), Arc Rise Fantasia (Wii), Infinite Line (DS)
October 3rd Edition - Klonoa (Wii), Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga (Wii), Destiny Link (DS), Monster Hunter 3 (Wii), Sonic and the Black Knight (Wii), FFCC: Echoes of Time (Wii/DS)
October 10th Edition - FFCC: Echoes of Time (Wii/DS), Kirby Super Star Ultra (DS)
*TIMEGAPDISASTER*
November 14th Edition - Rune Factory Frontier (Wii), Arc Rise Fantasia (Wii), Gyakuten Kenji/Dragon Quest IX/Last Bullet (DS)
*MORETIMEGAPSOHGOD*
December 12th Edition - Another Code R, ARF, Phantom Brave (Wii), Mario & Luigi 3, Shining Force Feather, DQIX (DS)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't know why we don't have one of these already, but here we are!  I will update this accordingly as news appears...

May 30th Edition

Japanese Release Dates (Wii, DS)
July 10 - Densetsu no Starfi [Nintendo]
July 17 - Virtual Commander [Konami]
July 24 - Wario Land Shake [Nintendo]
July 24 - Golfing Greats Albatross [Konami]
July 31 - Fatal Frame: Gesshoku no Kamen [Nintendo]
July 31 - Rhythm Tengoku Gold [Nintendo] (*bolded for MegaByte)
July 31 - WaiWai World Nekusuto [Konami]
Aug 7 - Fire Emblem [Nintendo]
Aug 21 - Sigma Harmonics [Square-Enix]
Aug 21 - Super Monkey Ball DS: Bargain Edition [Sega]
Aug 22 - Inazuma Eleven [Nintendo]
Aug XX - Pawa Pro Wifi [Konami]

(*Baten Kaitos DS has been removed from Namco's site...Suspicious, but may have been a mistake with listings...)

*Note: Konami listings are from 2ch, and thus rumour, until further notice...*

Wario Land Shake
~ Hand-drawn backgrounds
~ Toon-shaded characters
~ 20 stages
~ Locations such as jungle ruins, desert, and ocean
~ Shake the Wiimote for special actions (shake enemies to grab coins, unearth hidden locations...throwing...)
~ Vehicles such as rockets and submarines, seems that the Wiimote speaker plays a part in vehicles as well



Fatal Frame 4: Gesshoku no Kamen
~ Directors: Makoto Shibata (Fatal Frame 1,2,3) and Suda 51
~ Producer: Keisuke Kikuchi (Fatal Frame 1,2,3)
~ Game takes place on Rougetsutou (Island of the 12th Lunar Month), which was used in a kidnapping incident in the past...
~ Main protagonist is Ruka Minazuki, who was one of five girls kidnapped...
~ Unlike the previous games, which utilized classic Resident Evil-like pre-set camera angles, the camera is set behind the heroine...



SimCity Wii
~ Wiimote IR used in a number of ways
~ Building designs from a variety of locations: Greece, Egypt, Futuristic, Crystal, Sweet (Gingerbread House inspiration I guess), Las Vegas, Jungle, Indian, Mediterranean, Ancient Edo,…etc
~ Events include fire-breathing dinosaurs, asteroids, people-abducting UFOs, giant mechas, etc...
~ Advisers return with a MySims-style design
~ Producer is Masahiro Ueno (MySims, Contra, a bunch of crap)
~ Release: September (Japan obviously)



Kumatanchi



More as it comes...

38
Nintendo Gaming / Avalon Code (ARPG)
« on: May 09, 2008, 04:59:19 PM »
Genre: Action RPG
Publisher: Marvelous
Developer: Matrix Software (FFIII DS, Alundra)
Release: Fall (Japan)

Character Design: HACCAN
Composer: Minako Adachi (Summon Night, Riviera) [Bill: Game confirmed to have amazing music!]

~ Play as either Yumil or Tia, a young boy or girl born in a world that's on the verge of destruction.
~ They have been having dreams about the world's end. One day, waking up from one of these dreams, they find a "book of prophecies" by their side.
~ This book leads you on an adventure to explore the world, noting down all the elements that should be carried over when the world is reborn following its destruction, and rewriting all the elements that should be changed.
~ Gameplay revolves not only around ARPG mechanics but also through actively "changing fate" through editing of the book (examples given being giving an enemy a new weak point or healing a sick girl)...
~ Love simulation component [Bill: More RPGs need this!]



Main Japanese Site
IGN Preview


An ARPG with an innovative-sounding gameplay mechanic and relationship building?  Yes, please!

39
Reader Reviews / Okami
« on: April 24, 2008, 01:14:37 PM »
It took a little longer than expected, but Okami is finally on the system it should have been put on in the first place...And what a match it is!

Story: I don't really want to spoil anything with story, so I'll just keep it simple.  100 years in the past, Amaterasu (if you want some real Japanese mythology background, she's the Shinto sun goddess, daughter of Izanagi and Izanami, the gods who created the islands of Japan) came down in the form of a white wolf to fight off a demon called Orochi.  She and a hero called Nagi eventually brought him down, but she suffered mortal wounds and died.  Now, in the present, Orochi has returned and Amaterasu has awoken from her 100 year slumber, once again taking the form of the wolf she was long ago.  Now she sets off on a journey to restore the cursed land of Nippon and polish off Orochi yet again!

Gameplay: While Okami is very Zelda-esque in many aspects, the actual combat gameplay is probably the most defining thing between the two games.  Unlike in Zelda, where enemies are fought in a seamless part of the world map, Okami battles may be fought by 1) Jumping into or being chased down by a floating evil scroll that can be found on the map, 2) by entering a cursed gate, that may also be found on the map, or 3) scripted encounters by which you meet new enemies (usually when you enter an area for the first time, etc...

When you enter battle, a evil force field surrounds you, and you are forced to do battle in this small circular arena until you defeat all the enemies or you find a weak point in the field to destroy and escape from (a red spot in the usually purple arena walls)...At your disposal at first is Amaterasu's initial reflector (that's the name of the mirror on her back), but you will soon be gaining many other useful brush techniques over the course of the game, as well as more powerful weapons...

Attacking with the reflector, you must carefully time your attacks by waggling the controller so you can put in a combo (each added attack in the combo does more damage than the last)...While this may seem frustrating and impossible to do at first, you really do get used to it and will be putting out combos left and right if you give it a little time...

Another aspect of gameplay I just barely touched on is the use of the brush...In combat, the brush can be used for many things, all of which I would consider spoilers, so I won't talk about them... =)  Many people have talked about the controls not working or being inefficient, but I personally have had few problems from the start, and now I can do pretty much every brush technique on the first try...Again, just like with the timed reflector combos, it just takes a little practice!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time to break down the score!

Visuals: 9.5

Absolutely beautiful...All the little things like flowers blowing in the wind, to the flowers that you can grow from drawing dots with the brush, to the grass and flowers that grow behind Amaterasu as she runs, to the fantastic Japanese art-inspired character design, it really all adds up to a gorgeous package...Unless you have a really weird hatred for toon-shading-like art, then you will feel bliss...The only problem is that the pop-up is rather bad, which can be a pain when looking for clover beds, animals to feed, and hidden treasures (which glow from the ground), only to have them magically appear 20 feet in front of you...

Sound: 10

There's really not much I can say here without sounding like I'm part of the Okami sound team...But I'll say two words: "beautiful" and "epic"...I know I've already spent at least a couple hours of time just RUNNING AROUND THE OVERWORLD doing nothing but listen to the music because of how wonderful it sounds...I'm actually even listening to Okami music as I type this up...

Gameplay: 9.0

The battles start off really boring since you only have a single weapon and technique to your name, but as you progress you learn more and more, and eventually have lots of options to make for some rather interesting fights...The amount of strategy involved is also a lot of fun, trying to figure out which attacks are the most effective on what enemy, particularly when you'll be fighting multiple enemy types at once...You are also encouraged to get through fights quickly, because at the end of every fight you are awarded with bonuses depending on how much damage you took and how quick the battle was...

The side quests are interesting, and can be a lot of fun, but it feels like they overdid it on a few of the more unique ones (all I'll say is "digging underground minigame", which was a bit of a pain in the ass for me)...

Oh, I guess I should explain the level-up system...Over the course of the game, you get "praise" for helping people over the course of your journey (also through side quests such as finding and digging up clovers or feeding animals that you come across)...This praise can then be used to upgrade your health, amount of ink in your ink pot (which runs low with each technique you use, though it refills itself over time), size of your wallet, etc...So in essence the game is an ARPG...

Controls: 9.5

I've already mentioned a bit about the controls, but it pretty much boils down to two things: rhythm-based waggle attacks and brush techniques...Both DO take a bit of time to get used to, but once you get it down, you'll be wondering what you were complaining about in the first place...Especially if you compare it to using the analog stick as a brush... =)

Lastability: 9.0

I've already clocked in 38 hours, and I still have a few more collectibles to find, as well as a bunch more animals to feed...I also hear that there is a New Game + where you get to keep your stats and most of your moves, so I will definitely be playing through the game again...

Overall: 9.5

If you are a Zelda fan, pick this up...It's a ripoff for sure, but it's the best damn Zelda ripoff there will ever be, and it has its own amazing unique flavor to it...And I don't want to hear any whining about ports and all that!

40
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Image Epoch (Luminous Arc)
Genre: Traditional RPG
Release: Summer (Japan)

~ Scenario: Masato Kato (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Chross, recent entries in the Mana Series)
~ Character Design: Kunihiko Tanaka (Xenogears, Xenosaga) and Kimihiko Fujisaka (Drakengard)
~ Music: Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Soma Bringer)

~ Also involved are character designer Kimihiko Fujisaka (Drakengard), Shin Nagasawa (Etrian Odyssey), and designer Masatoshi Azumi (Grandia)...
~ The entire development team consists of almost 50 members...
~ The developers are promising visuals that are pushing the hardware to its limits.

~ Lead protagonist is a young man named Kirie, who possesses the ability to annihilate the entire world.  Kirie is not a very self-assertive person, but he still says what he thinks.
~ Story: He is forced to join the so-called world destruction committee. As its name suggests, this organization is plotting to destroy the world.
~ Female protagonist is called Morte. She has become a member of the organization because of her own tragic past. The young lady is very bold, but not very skilled when it comes to love affairs.
~ Other characters include Naja (half-man, half-wolf), Morte's childhood friend Agan, and Lia (a young-looking woman who is actually 300 years old).

~ Turn-based battles incorporating fighting game elements.
~ During battle, players will accumulate Battle Points (BP). BPs can be used to trigger techniques, special techniques and combination attacks.
~ A well timed press of a button will result in greater attack power





A beautiful traditional RPG with a unique battle system, plus the MUCH-UNDERUSED interactive attacks akin to the Mario RPG series?  Sign me up!

41
General Gaming / Eternal Love for Fluff
« on: April 22, 2008, 11:59:25 PM »
There have been two instances where I've popped into random threads today (one for Super Paper Mario and another for Golden Sun) and found random posts from people talking about how they hate the exorbitant amount of dialogue...In both cases I just sort of scowled at my monitor, wondering just what the hell was wrong with them...

Then I realized that perhaps it's ME who's abnormal in loving lots of pointless conversation...There's nothing more that I love to do in a really good adventure like Zelda or Okami, or in an RPG like Golden Sun than wander around towns talking to the villagers...

I mean, hey, there's nothing more interesting to me than finding out that someone is out walking their dog, or a sake brewer is out harvesting rice, or any other random subject that has absolutely nothing to do with the plot of the game...

Yeah, that sounds like sarcasm, but I really do love pointless dialogue...It gives a game a wide variety of flavor and personality...Also, games with extra dialogue don't feel like they are forcing the plot on you, instead giving you a break from the action to mingle with the NPCs and feel like a part of the game...

Anyone feel the same?  I can't be the only dialogue freak around!

42
Nintendo Gaming / Treasure FINALLY getting to work on Wii!
« on: April 10, 2008, 02:53:48 PM »
Says CNET Japan...

For those too lazy to click a link, Treasure is currently in the works with two 3D Wii games...

So what does that mean?  Sin & Punishment 2, please!

43
Nintendo Gaming / Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
« on: April 08, 2008, 11:08:40 PM »
But you don't play as Apollo...or Phoenix!

Gyakuten Kenji (DS/Capcom/??)

~ A law adventure game where you act as the prosecutor...
~ Main characters are Miles Edgeworth and Dick Gumshoe...
~ You control Edgeworth, searching for overlooked evidence and inconsistencies at the crime scene...
~ New search and deduction systems are introduced...
~ Appears to be more of a LucasArts-type point-and-click adventure than standard Ace Attorney fare...
~ Shu Takumi, the director of the series, is not involved with development...
~ Story takes place around Trials and Tribulations (Phoenix's era)...
~ More familiar characters besides Edgeworth and Gumshoe will appear in the game...
~ The game is mostly focused on investigation (though it never actually says anything about a lack of trial)...
~ Development progress: 40%

Source: Famitsu/GAF

BRING IT!

Edit: Now with scans!
Scan 1
Scan 2

44
General Gaming / Viking: Battle for Asgard (360/PS3)
« on: March 30, 2008, 08:34:38 PM »
This game really went under the radar for most pepole thanks to Smash Brothers, but my interest in Vikings and Norse mythology in general lured me in.  Developed by Creative Assembly, known for the "Total War" series of games on the PC, and if you've played those games, then you probably know what to expect from this game: lots of full-scale army battles.  And there are plenty of those...But I'm getting ahead of myself, so let's start from the beginning...

In the opening cutscene, you learn about how Hel (daughter of Loki, king of the underworld) and her Legion have invaded these Norse isles and also wish to take over Midgard (in a nutshell, Norse Heaven)...You see the main character, Skarrin, die, but he's brought back to life by Freya (daughter of Odin, king of the gods)...Your job is to rebuild the Viking army and kick some Legion ass...Simple enough, yes?

The game indeed follows a simple routine...

1) Explore the open overworld (three islands in all) in search of treasure and captured Viking clans
2) Destroy Legion outposts and rescue said captured Viking clans
3) Set siege on a larger outpost with your now-freed Viking buddy army

But the thing is, when I first set foot onto the overworld, I was thinking the combat would be more hack-and-slash like...But it's not...Which is why I got raped in my first battle...Not even 10 minutes into the game... =|  But more on that in a bit...

For the first half hour of the game, you only have two attacks, a slow "strong" attack and a faster "weak" attack...You can also block and dodge (which leaves the enemy open)...As you progress through the game, you can purchase new attacks (such as the deadly vital counter-attack) from this ghost Viking from Midgard (What the hell does a dead guy need gold for anyway?  Give me the stuff for free, jerk!) and magic runes from the local blacksmith guy...

Oh yeah, the magic runes...Under your life bar is a "power bar" that you can fill up with the life force of your slain enemies (in the form of red orbs)...You can then access one of three spell types that you have purchased (fire, ice, or lightning) and get an added boost to your attack power...What is also nice is that if you utilize a spell in an army battle, any Viking buddies around you will also get the added offensive power!

You can get more of these orbs if you polish off your enemy with one of your patented Viking Finishers, a gory display of flying limbs and heads...After you deal enough damage to your enemy, an nice big "X" button pops up next to him, meaning he won't be any more trouble and you can shame him with some nice new stump arms...You'll then be rewarded with a cute little slow-mo cutscene of Skarrin hacking away...Wait, it's not that cute...At least you know that they won't be walking away from it!

Back into combat, you learn fairly quick early on that running into the middle of a Legion camp IS NOT A GOOD IDEA...In fact, it's A VERY BAD IDEA...

BAD IDEA!

Enemies, even the weakest of the bunch, can take three or four hits to kill, and the others aren't so nice to let you beat one up before trying his hand at you...They also have fairly intelligent AI which makes them surround you...They also can turn your life bar to ribbons in a matter of seconds...Oh wait, every enemy in the game is faster than you, too, so you can't run away...Lovely odds, yes? =)

So stealth actually plays a huge part in the game, where you try to follow stragglers and stealth kill them from behind without the others noticing...You have to be surprisingly patient with this game, quite unusual to see that and "Viking" in the same sentence, yes...

So after you've made your way through the countryside, liberating Viking clans, you'll eventually get the option to storm a larger stronghold...Now this part is pretty cool...Well, it could be better...

Heading into battle, your men will handle themselves and the other little Legion minions while you try and fight your way to "Shamans" that are found on the battlefield...Once you reach them, you have to destroy their barrier (by destroying the planted swords surrounding them)...Once you've killed them all, you move onto the next set...

As you progress further into the game, you'll be granted access to Dragons that can help you on the battlefield...Unfortunately, to use them, you need to get Dragon Runes that are rewarded for killing "midboss" enemies scattered across the battle such as "Legion Champions" and "Ogres"...Killing these guys basically consists of *SLASH SLASH SLASH DODGE SLASH SLASH SLASH DODGE* a bunch of times...They then drop to the ground and you enter a lovely QTE!  X  Y  A  MASH A, etc, in time with their appearance...When they fall you are granted your lovely Dragon Runes and can blow away Archers or even those accursed Shaman...

So that's pretty much the game...And now my huge list of complaints! =D

~ First, let's get the technical issues out of the way...Actually, there aren't very many!  And that is, obviously, the framerate dips a bit at times during the full-scale battles...Not surprising, and not all that much of a hindrance...The loading isn't bad at all, the draw-distance isn't amazing, per-say, but good, and there is no pop-up to my knowledge...

~ The enemies are ridiculous at times...The fact that they can easily gang up on you and you can't run away is a real pain in the ass...It gets a little better as you progress with better moves (THE COUNTER-STRIKE!), but the weakest enemy shouldn't take three hits to kill (the larger ones taking up to a dozen, not counting if they are blocking!)...There will also be times when you are exploring the countryside and you'll run into a Legion Patrol that is just walking around...Oh...****...If they see you, you're as good as ****ed, sorry...Better hope that a Viking settlement you can hide in is nearby, but there usually isn't...RAPE TIME!

~ When you are rescuing Vikings from their cages or ties, you need to tap B...When you find a warp stone and want to travel somewhere on the map, you need to tap B...When you find a door you need to open, you need to tap B...WHEN YOU WANT TO OPEN A CHEST YOU NEED TO TAP B!  Stop it, just stop it!  Why can't I just, you know, JUST PRESS B ONCE!? >=|

~ When you walk up to a low-lying fence you automatically jump over it...That might not seem like a problem, but there are times where you don't really want to jump over something...Like when you are ON A ****ING CLIFF...Long story short, I was sneaking my way around a Legion camp on a clifftop when I watched in horror as Skarrin hopped over a fence and plummeted to his doom...So frustrating...

~ Before every army battle, the game makes up a reason for you to sneak into the city you will be invading...This involves nothing but stealth, as there are obviously a crapload of enemies in it...I mean, you'll have a hard time taking out a half-dozen enemies at once, don't even try 20 or 30...Anyways, these parts are stupid...Like one that has you going to get a key to release some of your Viking buddies...Uhhhh...Why can't I just invade the town and then take the key and save them?  I think I would rather risk battling with 20 less men than risking my life infiltrating the bloody fortress by myself! >=O

~ Army battles can get mighty frustrating, because, as I said earlier, even the weakest enemies can tear you to shreds...You'll undoubtedly be attacked many times by stray Legion as you make your way through the mass of bodies, and you really can't tell where they are coming from...You'll also be attacked as you try to destroy the stupid Shaman's barrier, which will have you cursing profusely and laughing in a malicious manner once you finally cut the Shaman's limbs off...

~ Also annoying in the battle is some guy shouting "SKARRIN! TAKE OUT THE ENEMY SHAMAN!" or "WE'RE LOSING MEN SKARRIN, GET TO THE ENEMY SHAMAN!" every thirty seconds...IN...EVERY...****ING...BATTLE...JUST SHUT UP MAN, LET ME DO MY JOB, GEEZ, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE! >=O

~ Freya is an annoying bitch, and she gets worse and WORSE over the course of the game...You'll groan when you see the white glow effect the screen goes into right before she starts to speak...


So anyways, as much as I complain, the game is rather fun and addicting...The enemies are fun to kill (mainly because you'll get so frustrated in fighting them that you'll be overjoyed once they are dead) and the combat is actually not as tedious as I thought it would be...The overworld is graphically very beautiful and fun to explore...There really isn't too much music, but what is there is really good...

Overall, if you like adventure games or full-scale war games, or you just like Vikings, this is definitely a game to try out...Just don't be expecting a full-blown hack-n-slash or you'll regret it...Legion rape-style... :tpg:

Score: 7.5

45
Nintendo Gaming / I love lag that stops the match for a minute!
« on: March 17, 2008, 08:06:39 PM »
Enough time to go take a bathroom break!

But seriously, those matches I played with vudu and UncleBob, they were BAD...

It was actually quite hilarious when you see someone get a big item like an AT or Smashball, then you wait a minute and in the next frame you see everyone else trying to bail out...

46
Nintendo Gaming / LostWinds - Mix of Okami, Knytt, and awesome! Get now!
« on: February 20, 2008, 09:31:56 PM »
Source: IGN

~ Developer: Frontier Developments
~ Genre: Platforming Adventure
~ Toku, out to save the world, is joined a wind spirit named Enril...
~ Toku is controlled with the nunchuk, Wiimote used to move Enril...
~ Controlling Enril, you can produce tornadoes to knock out enemies or make jet streams that Enril can ride...(Think Kirby Canvas Curse or Yoshi Touch & Go, but with two entities!)
~ Can interact with the environment, such as blowing fire or sucking up water...
~ The stages are designed to be played many times, with the ability to discover new things with abilities you gain later on...
~ 22 "areas" of play
~ Release date: "launch period title" - (WiiWare launches in May in NA)




Any worries about the kinds of games popping up on WiiWare should now be quelled...Sounds absolutely fantastic!

Trailer

47
NWR Forums Discord / Sheik VS Tingle
« on: February 20, 2008, 12:17:53 PM »
Who woudl you choose?  I'd p[ck Sheik, because I dunno.......But anything is better that Tingle :@

And Mario has a weird obsession with Tingle, so I expect his vote for Tingle...in the pants...............WHAT

Why did I drink so much?  SECOND QUESTION

YES THIS IS A POLL...MAYBE

48
Nintendo Gaming / Eternal Darkness
« on: February 15, 2008, 02:31:06 AM »
Where's the Too Human love, Bill?

Wasn't impressed with Eternal Darkness' gameplay, so I'm not a Silicon Knights fan... =)

49
Nintendo Gaming / Soma Bringer: MonolithSoft's Latest RPG
« on: February 14, 2008, 06:22:04 AM »


Release Date: February 28, 2008 (JAPAN)

~ Action RPG...
~ Assign attacks to face buttons...
~ ‘Break System’ used to consecutively attack. Timing is important...
~ You control one character, AI controls two other party members...
~ Customizable characters (upgradeable and visible equipment changes!)
~ Three player wireless cooperative play
~ Story/script: Tetsuya Takahashi and Soraya Saga (Xenosaga)
~ Character design: Tadahiro Usuda
~ Soundtrack: Yasunori Mitsuda
~ Multiplayer: Explore the game world at your own will, all players do not have to be on the same screen at the same time...
~ And the first trailer!
~ Japanese TV Spot! (For the curious, the young lady narrating says "Recollection...Oneself...Betrayal...Bonds...My consciousness will clear the way...[lit.: cut in front of me])
~ Trailer 2!
~ Official Japanese Website!

This will be MonolithSoft's first game since their acquisition by Nintendo...The music is fantastic, and the game looks really sharp, and early impressions seem to point towards a fun battle system, so hopefully the end product is good (and localized!)

50
Nintendo Gaming / Okami (Capcom to send out replacement box art!)
« on: February 14, 2008, 05:41:35 AM »
Capcom says "Buy another enhanced port please!"



Release: March 25th, 2008 April 15th, 2008
Retail Price: $39.99

~ Paintbrush with the Wiimote "takes about 10 minutes to get used to"...
~ Precision of strokes isn't super important...Gameplay based around ease of use for quick strokes...
~ No TV commercials, no special edition, but there will be an "appropriately sized marketing push for the game." (Sure, Capcom...)
~ Hitting Europe later than America, but not a significant delay...
~ Dialogue can now be skipped through without playing the game a second time...
~ No new content, but still 40-60 hours of content, and there will be incentive for owners of the PS2 version to check out Wii version...
~ "is even more beautiful than it was on the PS2."
~ 16:9 and 480p

I hate giving Capcom more reason to dish ports from their toilet onto the Wii, but I specifically held back from the PS2 version ever since the Wii was announced in hopes that this would finally happen...Poor timing on the release date though...It'll be tough to tear myself away from Brawl to play it...

Want to get your box art replaced?  Click here!

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