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Nintendo Gaming / Most Disgusting Fire Emblem Awakening "Save File - Actual Play Time" Ratio

« on: May 23, 2013, 12:20:51 AM »

For the purpose of mutually shocking each other into guffaws of disbelief.  How bad is your actual play time of Fire Emblem Awakening (as recording by your activity log) versus the play time recorded by the game's save file?  This should make people who chose casual mode smug with the decision. 

Hard Mode - Chapter 14
Game Save File Time - 27 Hours, 24 seconds.
Play Time via Activity Log (as in, ACTUAL play time including restarts) - 57 hours, 39 minutes.

So basically, I've lost 30 hours, 28 minutes, and 36 seconds to restarts, WELL OVER half of my play time.  Wow, that's bad.

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Nintendo Gaming / What will MonolithSoft's "X" be about- Xenoblade SPOILERS!

« on: January 24, 2013, 12:46:15 AM »

XENOBLADE CHRONICLES SPOILERS!   

At this point, it seems fairly obvious that the next MonolithSoft game, X, will be a direct sequel to Xenoblade --- similar if not identical combat system, and a world which seems an awful lot like the flat, godless world that Xenoblade Chronicles left us with at the end of the game.   So what do you think the next game will be about, and how will it pick up? 


My thoughts, based on the trailer and the way the story played out in Xenoblade Chronicles:

1.  New Characters - It is a very JRPG-thing for direct sequels to feature different characters, which would explain why the characters in the trailer don't seem to have any resemblance to Xenoblade characters, except for maybe the character with the large sword featured near the beginning.  He may be Dunban, but it's a stretch.  There's a blonde woman at about 0:27 who uses both a mini-gun and a shield kind of like Reyn's.  I have no idea who the hell she is.

2.  Same world as Xenoblade, after the death of Zanza - If we are to take this as a direct sequel to Xenoblade, it seems like this is the world/universe without gods - hence, no giant guys off in the horizon locked in struggle.  You get a pretty good look at the world at about 0:52, where someone climbs into a mech perched on top of a mountain.   There's nothing but ocean as far as you can see, which is exactly what the ruins of Colony 9 looked like during the epilogue of Xenoblade.

3.  Where are the other races? -  The trailer featured Homs, but I'm curious how the game will, if it does at all, incorporate the Nopon and the Machina.   And what about the remaining High Entia population, who didn't get turned into Telethia?  Like Melia?   

4.  Where's Alvis? - While not completely explicit, it can be easily assumed that Alvis is immortal, being some kind of bodiless, incorporeal computer and all.  If the game takes place in the future far after the death of Zanza, then Alvis would still be alive, possibly acting as a guide/quest-giver much like Dickson did.

5.  What will it be like to play an ENTIRE GAME without the Monado, or will the bring it back?  -  A lot of the gameplay in Xenoblade hinged on the properties of the Monado.   But because Shulk decided on a world without gods, the Monado is gone, right?  No more Monados?   So does that mean there will no more visions?   Or will they contrive some silly, nonsensical reason for why the Monado comes back?

Those are my thoughts, for now.   I have no idea what the story or premise could be, though I really hope that it isn't something stupid, like "Oh, we are the descendents of Shulk and Fiora and everyone....and a new threat has emerged that is threatening our world!  Time to level up and beat it!"

And even though it's early, anyone else notice how the arts on the hotbar were color coded?  That implies that some aspects, at least, of Xenoblade's combat system (stratified arts, chain attacks) may be coming back.

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Nintendo Gaming / Fire Emblem Awakening in North America -- Preorder Bonus

« on: January 11, 2013, 01:47:40 PM »

So I was just doing a random google search on Fire Emblem Awakening (because I wanted to know more about the free DLC) and I found NOA's official page for the game's release, which also mentioned an art book being given out as a preorder bonus.

My question, to any who can answer:  while Gamestop's product listing mentions the art book, Amazon does not.  Am I to take it, then, that NOA and Gamestop are now "besties" and the preorder bonus is exclusive?   Argh.  This is getting super annoying now.  First Xenoblade.  Now this.   

And yes, I know that I'm going to flip through the artbook once and never, ever look at it again.   I still want it.   It makes no sense, I know.

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Nintendo Gaming / Code of Princess Framerate Issues -- WTH!

« on: October 15, 2012, 12:13:03 PM »

Anyone else get Code of Princess yet?  Just got it, played the first couple prologue levels, and my god, what is up with these framerate slowdown issues?   Super annoying, especially because in the in-engine cutscenes, you can tell that the sprites are animated beautifully with very smooth framerates, and then once combat begins it's like playing Gradius on the SNES.   

Anyone get farther into this?  Does this get better, or am I going to see these problems throughout the game?

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Nintendo Gaming / The Insanity Begins Again....Where can I still buy a Wii U?

« on: September 15, 2012, 03:28:50 PM »

I just spent an hour on the phone looking for a Deluxe system preorder...which made me realize, hey, I should start a thread so that we can pool information.   

So as of right now, as far as I'm aware, Gamestop has stopped accepting preorders on the Deluxe/Premium SKU, both in stores on online.

BestBuy has stopped online, but is still accepting preorders in stores.

Kmart is accepting preorders online, but is not yet accepting preorders in stores.

And that's what I've got so far.   I'm going to stop by Bestbuy later today to get my preorder in there.

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Nintendo Gaming / 3DS XL Accesories?

« on: August 16, 2012, 05:20:57 AM »

Anyone seeing accessories being released with the 3DS XL?  For some strange reason, there don't seem be any (as in, absolutely none) which seems awfully uncharacteristic for a Nintendo handheld.  No storage cases, skins, screen protectors, etc..   I know a lot of you guys might scoff at me, but I'm one of those jerks that always gets a storage case and screen protectors.  Yeah, I know.   I also organize all my records, books, and games alphabetically and chronologically.   And I wait a year before I throw out the box for any electronics I buy.  I'm one of THOSE people. 

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Nintendo Gaming / [SPOILERS HERE BEWARE] The Ending of Skyward Sword

« on: April 17, 2012, 05:25:33 PM »

I wanted to start a thread about the ending of Skyward Sword, one with tons of spoilers.  Tons.  Everything can be a spoiler.  Even your punctuation.

Was I the only one who was somewhat let down by the fight with Demise?  It was good, and fun, and difficult, but the last fight with Ghirahim was just so much better, IMO.  The bit with knocking off bits of his sword, going down each platform, knocking him off, it was all so much fun and seemed to be this great coda to the combat that we got introduced to during our first fight with him way back in the beginning of the game.  If the game just ended there, I would have been happy.

But with Demise, I feel like the game let me be a whole lot more sloppy.  Granted, I had 4 Heart Potions, ++, but if you asked me exactly how that fight went down, I'd be hard pressed to explain it.  There was lightning.  Uh, I did a few skyward strikes with lightning.   Something else, a little waggly, can't remember.  And I just beat this game 2 weeks ago.

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Nintendo Gaming / GBA. Ambassador Games. Live. In North America. Now.

« on: December 16, 2011, 06:06:23 AM »

Thanks, useless Ambassador certificate I downloaded last time!  You piece of garbage!   

No spotpass, no nothing.  Just checked my download history thinking "Nintendo will just dump them out into my eshop download history again" and behold, my expectations were fulfilled.

Go get your GBA games, Ambassadors!  Just like last time, you have to go through that "redownload" crap through "Settings/Other" in the eshop.   The silver lining here is that you can do "download later," which effectively lines up your downloads for later.  When you've added all the games, exit out to home, close up your 3DS, stick it in your cradle, and you're golden.

I'm in California, it's 3AM local now.   Out on the east coast, you folks can download your games during breakfast!

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Nintendo Gaming / Maximum Number of Games /UI design defect?

« on: December 14, 2011, 07:30:32 AM »

Anyone else  with a 3DS and a LOT of downloads notice that there's a finite amount of pages for icons?   I haven't run out yet, but after organizing my screens for the upcoming GBA Ambassadors, I noticed that if you scroll a certain number of pages you can't scroll anymore--  you just reach the end-border for the menu interface.  I thought maybe if you put some icons at the very end it may auto-extend, but no luck.

I'm guessing this means that once I've downloaded enough apps/games to fill every single blank space in my menu, that's it.  No more downloads, unless I do some fridgecleaning, despite the fact that I have a huge 16gb SD card with plenty of free blocks.

I haven't found anything online about this, and I can't be sure if this will actually happen, because I still have about 50 blank spaces for icons, but with 10 more ambassador games coming up, that's only about 40 weeks of Thursdays that I have room for.  Is there anyone with a 3DS with a whole lot of downloads (Uncle Bob?) who's come close to or hit this limit?   Does the menu autoextend if you fill every blank space, or does a pop-up message come up saying "Thanks for giving Nintendo so much money!" ?   Or are we back to fridgecleaning, and for the stupidest of reasons?

(I realize, of course, that I can simply remove the games that I've already finished playing, and there's no real reason why I must carry around 200 VC, eshop, and dsiware games on my person at any given time, but damnit, 16 gb SD card!)

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Nintendo Gaming / Rhythm Heaven Fever (AKA Wii is not dead..yet)

« on: December 01, 2011, 11:11:09 PM »

Hey, just thought I'd share the info.  According to this month's Nintendo Power (which just came in the mail today), the new Rhythm Heaven Wii game will be released in February 2012 as Rhythm Heaven Fever. 

Not dead yet!

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Nintendo Gaming / What does 3D Land replace in your 3DS carrier?

« on: November 17, 2011, 03:48:19 AM »

Okay, I'm sure I'm not the only one in this boat.   I've got a Hori 3DS hardshell carrying case, which will fit 3 extra game carts as well as my 3DS (which, obviously holds 1 game) for a total of 4 retail games I can carry around.

Right now, I've got Ghost Recon Shadow Wars(32:35) in my 3DS, and the following 3 games in the case:

RE Mercenaries 3D (10:36)
DOA Dimensions (5:10)
Ridge Racer 3D (11:33)

And I just got Super Mario 3D Land in the mail today.

So, what do I take out?  And for that matter, what did 3D land replace in your carrier?

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Nintendo Gaming / FYI: Free Ambassador Games = Free Club Nintendo Points!

« on: September 10, 2011, 12:00:52 AM »

Here's some headgold for ya, some knowledge of the streets:


(I haven't seen anyone mention it this yet-- sorry if this is not news to anyone)

I just logged into my Club Nintendo account to catch up on some surveys, when I noticed my to-do list was much, much longer than I thought it would.  Then I noticed that all ten of the ambassador games were on it.  Turns out, we're getting Club Nintendo points for those suckers.  10 points a piece, meaning 100 free Club Nintendo Points! 

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Nintendo Gaming / Donkey Kong. 94. Discuss.

« on: August 06, 2011, 05:10:06 AM »

I never got to play the original Donkey Kong 94, so I've been having the time of my life with it on VC.  I thought it would be great to discuss, especially since there is really no instructional manual and there are just so many undocumented features.

For example:  I was stuck on 7-10 for the longest time, until I finally realized:  The temporarily ladders are on a timer, BUT, the timer resets each time you start a new ladder or floor.  So if you start one ladder, then race across the level and hit another temporary ladder, then you've just effectively reset the timer, so the first temporary ladder will now last longer.  Technically, if you had a level that had a series of temporary ladders and floors one after another, then you can keep those going indefinitely.  The timer just will never run out.

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Nintendo Gaming / IOS ports to 3DS ware - Yay or Nay?

« on: June 08, 2011, 08:39:29 PM »

While I was browsing the eshop last night, I got to thinking--  I really want companies to try and make a quick buck off of me and port IOS games to the eshop, either in 3D form or plain old 2D form.  This may sound crazy, but bear with me here.


My wife has an Iphone which I used to buy games for, but I don't anymore, even if there is a 99cent sale.  I bought games likes Dead Space, NBA Jam, SSF4, that Capcom arcade thing, some vertical or side scrolling shooters.  I tried them once, and never played them again.  Why?  You know why.  Because the controls suck donkey nuts.  For Angry birds or whatever, IOS controls are fine.  But that Dead Space game, I played it for 2 minutes and gave up because in order to control Isaac or whoever, my big fat thumbs are covering half of the Iphone's screen most of the time so I can't see anything.  I'm sure this is not an issue with the Ipad, but it was game-breaking for me on the Iphone's tiny screen.


On the 3DS, however....this would be all kinds of awesome.  Circle pad, buttons, all these would resurrect this game for me, along with plenty of others.  That Simpsons arcade game?  Awesome.  R-Type?  Awesome.


I know companies like Gameloft liked to bring their games over to DSIware, but those games sucked.   But EA or Capcom, that would be another story.  I would be more than happy to pay for those games again for the ability to play them with buttons, dpads, and sticks.   

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NWR Feedback / Playpickle.com ads on the site...Play Mario for free?

« on: April 11, 2011, 05:10:19 AM »

I want to preface my rant below by saying a few things. 

1.  I know that webhosting and bandwidth for NWR is not only not free, but it is probably quite expensive.

2.  I really hope that the banner ads being served to us when we are looking through the site and forums help pay for that.

3.  It seems that the banner ads are being served automatically, and I'm guessing that no one on staff has the ability to choose which ads get served and which don't.

4.  I am in no way saying that we should get rid of any ads.

With that said, WTF is up with the PlayPickle.com ads being served on this site, which are advertising that if you click through to their site you can play Super Mario Bros for free?  I actually have clicked through out of some morbid curiosity (but I have installed nothing) and I read small-print disclaimers saying that they're going to install random toolbars on your computer and that they have NO PERMISSION from Nintendo to even be offering the game, use Mario in their ads, etc...

I am sure this is illegal.  I don't think that's up for debate.  What I'm wondering is how in the world is Reggie and NOA or NOL coming down these Playpickle guys with a fistful of lawyers?  Even if they're based in China or wherever, there's no way Nintendo can or would leave them to this, is there?

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Nintendo Gaming / 3DS and Your Eyes

« on: April 05, 2011, 05:32:09 PM »

Hi everyone, I've been reading all sorts of crazy things on the interwebs about the 3DS and people complaining about headaches and nausea...I was wondering what everyone else's experiences have been like?


First, I've been having no issues whatsoever.  Granted, I've got perfect vision, I never get nausea or motion sickness from anything, I can read or play DS in the car, I ride crazy rollercoasters after eating double cheeseburgers, etc..  My experience may not mirror your own.


I must say, though, that the longer I've been playing it, the easier the 3D has been for me.  Now I open up my 3DS and I get perfect sweet spot 3D, automatically, with absolutely zero effort.  I can even look at the touch screen and still see 3D on the top screen with my upper peripheral vision.  I played it standing up, twisting around in periscope mode or face raiders, and I never lose the sweet spot. 


I do, however, think this varies from game to game.  I play SSIV and Steel Diver with the 3D cranked all the way up and I get no ghosting at all.  It's awesome, especially Steel Diver, which just looks amazing.


But I think something is a little wrong with Pilotwings Resort.  I get pretty bad ghosting with that game unless I turn the 3D down nearly all the way.  I suspect this might be a developer issue, though, because even with the 3D slider turned nearly off, the 3D looks to have just as much depth as SSIV and Steel Diver.  In fact, turning the 3D slider all the way up on this game just seems to cause ghosting for me, and doesn't seem to add much noticeable depth.  Which is sad, because this game is like crack, it's so addictive.


I also thought the 3D in that OK Go music video was off.  I got lots of ghosting on that, and just like with Pilotwings, I had to turn the 3D slider nearly all the way down.


So that's my 3D experience so far.  Anyone's eyes melt off yet?  Anyone's head explode?