Author Topic: Everything Old Is New Again  (Read 4925 times)

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Offline Halbred

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Everything Old Is New Again
« on: March 18, 2012, 07:08:49 PM »

If you missed these games on Wii, they're worth experiencing in HD.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blog/29557

One of the most celebrated/criticized aspects of the Wii is how it brought back light-gun/rail shooters, and in a big way. Remember Remember House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return? Of course you don’t, but I do, and it was the game that brought me back to the genre.  After that, Visceral Games released Dead Space: Extraction, Capcom delivered Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and The Darkside Chronicles, and Sega ripped our muthafuckin’ balls off with House of the Dead: Overkill. If you liked rail shooters, the Wii was an excellent system to have. But if you didn’t have a Wii, you had to sit back and pout.

I've had it with these muthaf*ckin' Necromorphs on this muthaf*ckin' mining ship!

Now, thanks to Sony’s Move controller, the PlayStation 3 is getting its share of light-gun goodness. House of the Dead 3 is already available on the PlayStation Network, and Dead Space: Extraction came with every PS3 copy of Dead Space 2 (in high-definition, of course). Sega recently gave PS3 owners a prettied-up version of Overkill with additional content. Finally, June will see Capcom release their Chronicles games on a single PS3 disc, in HD.

GOREGASM!!!

Wii owners might see this as a disappointment, just as it was disappointing when we heard Viewtiful Joe and Resident Evil 4 were going over to the PlayStation 2. However, I take the news in stride. Each of these games, the Chronicles duo especially, will benefit immensely from an HD upscale. Frankly, I can’t wait to get my hands on them. And hey, more people need to play Overkill, no matter what the console. That game is freaking amazing, and the two new levels feature Varla Guns… again, in HD. It’s like they can read my mind. So I’m pretty thrilled about this, and you should be, too.

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Offline broodwars

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2012, 08:15:20 PM »
I really enjoyed the two Resident Evil Chronicles games, but I'm hesitant about the PS3 versions considering all the technical problems I've had with my PS Move on both Extraction and Overkill.  The thing just randomly decides when it's going to work, leading to constant recalibration and difficulty in making precision shots.  And considering that the first RE Chronicles games grades you on your precision, that's problematic.
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Offline ejamer

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2012, 09:15:48 PM »
As a proud Wii-owner, the only thing that I find disappointing about these games going multi-platform is that my copy of HotD:Overkill doesn't have the Varla Guns levels.
On-rail shooters have limited appeal, but they are great for light pick-up-and-play fun either alone or with a friend.  Oh, and if you haven't played Ghost Squad on Wii then you really should. Cheesy arcade entertainment at it's finest...
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Offline Kairon

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2012, 09:38:09 PM »
I'm personally not disappointed if others can play the game, I just don't want to be jealous that I don't have the option to on my console of choice. I'd be perfectly fine with a more multi-platform future if it meant I could still keep getting on-rail-shooters to play on the Wii U.
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Offline broodwars

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2012, 10:20:24 PM »
As a proud Wii-owner, the only thing that I find disappointing about these games going multi-platform is that my copy of HotD:Overkill doesn't have the Varla Guns levels.

I've played the PS3 version of Overkill, and you're really not missing much by not having played the two Varla Guns levels.  They're not very good.
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Offline Chocobo_Rider

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2012, 01:14:38 AM »
Seems like an odd article for a Nintendo site.  Kind of reads like a brochure for Pachter-land circa 2010: "like the Wii? upgrade to the PS3!"

Regardless, I would be very happy with all of these former exclusives going multi-console if...

A) The Wii got the same love now and then.

B) People in general (non-Nintendo-centric media/gamers) were as excited about these games when they were Wii exclusives as they seem to get when they hit other consoles.  Same game, different reaction. Hmmm.

OK, broodwars, I hate to single you out but I see you're already participating in this thread and I did just speak up for a Nintendo platform so.... I assume you'll want to let me have it now... go on... I can take it.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2012, 01:17:27 AM by NinSage »

Offline broodwars

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2012, 01:45:39 AM »
OK, broodwars, I hate to single you out but I see you're already participating in this thread and I did just speak up for a Nintendo platform so.... I assume you'll want to let me have it now... go on... I can take it.

Sorry, but it's not worth the effort.  I am curious, though, where you think all this "excitement" for these games on PS3 is, because none of these PS3 ports have reviewed or sold particularly well so far.  And outside a brief article announcing that they exist, I haven't seen these games register so much as a blip on the radar of any gaming website or magazine.

Very few people cared about these games on Wii, and even fewer care or will care about them on PS3...especially if they're Move-centric games like on-rail shooters.  Hell, I'm currently playing Tales of Graces F as I'm typing this, an excellent Wii-to-PS3 RPG that didn't even come to the Wii in NA and still no one in the gaming media cares about it.  The one big review that's up right now on GameTrailers is so badly written and so spoiler-ladden that it's insulting.

Sites don't ignore these games because they're Wii games.  They ignore them because they're not ultra-niche arthouse projects that advance the "games as art"/Indie developer cause (Flower, Journey, Limbo, Bastian, etc.), and they're not big AAA blockbusters.  If you're looking for bias, I'd start there.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2012, 01:51:45 AM by broodwars »
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Offline Chozo Ghost

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #7 on: March 19, 2012, 02:03:34 AM »
Quote
But if you didn’t have a Wii, you had to sit back and pout.

Or you could just drop the mere $99, and you know... get a Wii. Even if you already had a PS360, the Wii console these days only sets you back the amount you would spend on 1 and a half brand new PS360 games.

Quote
Seems like an odd article for a Nintendo site.

Agreed. My theory is the staff are getting tired of not having anything Wii related to write about. Well, this article is kinda Wii related... kinda.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2012, 02:06:53 AM by Chozo Ghost »
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Offline Chocobo_Rider

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #8 on: March 19, 2012, 02:17:54 AM »
Sorry, but it's not worth the effort.

Clearly not ... *looks at 3 paragraph post*  ;)

They ignore them because they're not ultra-niche arthouse projects that advance the "games as art"/Indie developer cause (Flower, Journey, Limbo, Bastian, etc.), and they're not big AAA blockbusters.  If you're looking for bias, I'd start there.
 

That we can agree on!

 

Quote
Seems like an odd article for a Nintendo site.

Agreed. My theory is the staff are getting tired of not having anything Wii related to write about. Well, this article is kinda Wii related... kinda.

If only there was a 1-year-old handheld to cover or a game coming out this week that people have (apparently) been waiting 20+ years for!

Realistically, if Xenoblade and TLS didn't get covered to death amidst the "why aren't we getting these games?!?! RAWR!!" phase the entire media went through, there might still be some articles to write about those =)

Offline broodwars

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #9 on: March 19, 2012, 02:28:08 AM »
Sorry, but it's not worth the effort.

Clearly not ... *looks at 3 paragraph post*  ;)


Pfft...you think a three paragraph response is me actually trying?  You know I'm actually trying when I use five.   ;)

If only there was a 1-year-old handheld to cover or a game coming out this week that people have (apparently) been waiting 20+ years for!

Outside of IGN's multi-year whining, though, has anyone really been waiting 20+ years for a new Kid Icarus, though?  Of all the things that are odd about the new Kid Icarus, that's the one that bothers me the most.  Very few people liked the original Kid Icarus, and probably not much more actually remembered that it existed.  Who was begging for a new one, much less one like Uprising?  The most common complaint I see about Nintendo is that they don't make new franchises, not that they don't resurrect enough dead, failed ones.

I'll be very interested in seeing how the gaming media treats Xenoblade and The Last Story once they release, "putting their money where their mouths are" as it were in regards to all their stories about wanting those games.  Outside of IGN and NWR (naturally), the only major site I've seen that's seemed to care about those games was RPGamer, who gave Xenoblade their Game of the Year Award (over Skyrim, to my delight).
« Last Edit: March 19, 2012, 02:35:43 AM by broodwars »
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Offline Chocobo_Rider

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #10 on: March 19, 2012, 02:33:52 AM »
Sorry, but it's not worth the effort.

Clearly not ... *looks at 3 paragraph post*  ;)


Pfft...you think a three paragraph response is me actually trying?  You know I'm actually trying when I use five.   ;)

It's cool, man.  What more can you tell us (me) about those Varla stages? Do you play AS Varla? That would seem like an odd selling point since you can't see the person you control.  What are the locations and if you could put it into words, what's "bad" about the stages?

... I could probably look this up myself, but I think we could actually discuss this and I'm interested in your take!

Offline broodwars

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #11 on: March 19, 2012, 02:44:59 AM »
It's cool, man.  What more can you tell us (me) about those Varla stages? Do you play AS Varla? That would seem like an odd selling point since you can't see the person you control.  What are the locations and if you could put it into words, what's "bad" about the stages?

Eh, it's more that the two stages are extremely average than that they're particularly "bad".  The first stage has you playing as Varla going through her Strip Club (w/ mutants, naturally) trying to get the keys to her motorcycle.  You shoot a bunch of mutants with no set piece moments or funny dialogue whatsoever, you kill a boss that doesn't even attempt to hit you (it sics its monkey mutant on you instead, and you shooting it somehow actually hurts the boss), and that's it.  The second stage has you as Varla going through a meat-packing plant that's infested with meat mutants (it's not as interesting as it sounds), and you shoot a minotaur in the balls a bunch of times in what's also an extremely easy boss fight.  At least it's better than the first Varla stage (which is level 2 in the overall progression), where the mutants barely make any attempt to actually hit you.

Oh yeah, and there's a seemingly brain-damaged secondary character (for player 2) who has a bunch of really annoying dialogue, where the whole joke seems to be that she's probably medically retarded.  Hilarious.  And none of the content in either stage has any bearing whatsoever on the actual plot of the main story, and it probably introduces some plot holes.

The levels just aren't funny, aren't particularly memorable, and the combat scenarios aren't particularly interesting.  Their presence is merely "ok" in the context of the overall game.  They don't add anything, and they don't tend to take anything away.  They just exist to pad out of the length of the game, so they're not much of a selling point for the game for people who played the original version.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2012, 03:46:59 AM by broodwars »
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Offline NWR_Neal

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #12 on: March 19, 2012, 02:52:18 AM »
As the person who asked/told Zach to write about this, I can offer this reasoning for why we wrote about this: These are two Wii-exclusive games going to another platform. Is it groundbreaking news? No, but in my eyes, it is worth mentioning in some capacity on the site. We did the same thing for things like HotD: Overkill PS3 being announced, and NBA Jam becoming a 360/PS3 game.

I can understand people disagreeing with this, but for me, as a fan of Nintendo, I am interested when formerly exclusive titles go to other platforms.
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Offline Chocobo_Rider

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #13 on: March 19, 2012, 03:41:55 AM »
@broodwars

Thank you.  Good description.  Yea, sounds a bit lame.  My experience with the original game was that a lot of the vulgarity/offensiveness was unwelcome but that the tongue-in-cheek humor and gameplay made up for it.  It sounds like they rested a bit on the former and skimped on the later this time?

And yea, as much as no one "should" care about plot holes in a game like this, it is a turn off for me (I care way too much about plot, I'll admit it).  So if this is some mysterious new 2nd character and if Varla is having these otherwise unscripted adventures it is a bit of a shame.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed that a game like Overkill was given a healthy dose of effort.  But some of the areas in which they pooled their efforts ("how gross can we get with ____!?") were disappointing to me.  Thus, I still prefer HotD 1-4 over HotD:O.

Very jealous PS3 is getting HotD4.  I would buy it as a retail Wii disc!  Throw HotD1 on there as a special feature for all I care! =P

@Neal

I don't mind the subject... I mean, it's a stretch but I can see the relation if not the appeal.  My only issue is that it reads like a PS3 ad.  Like Zach is super psyched these games can finally break free of their oppressive SD shackles.

Quote
Each of these games, the Chronicles duo especially, will benefit immensely from an HD upscale. Frankly, I can’t wait to get my hands on them. And hey, more people need to play Overkill, no matter what the console. That game is freaking amazing, and the two new levels feature Varla Guns… again, in HD. It’s like they can read my mind. So I’m pretty thrilled about this, and you should be, too.

Immensely? Really? The Chronicles games looked really nice.  Do the extra pixels put RE5's chapters in the game? Didn't think so.

Did he need to remind us again that the new HotD is in HD? We get it... woe is the person who must play in SD!

And the last bit, "you should be [thrilled] too"? Why should the readers of a Nintendo site be "thrilled" that companies have no problem passing around/adding content to our exclusives but we never get the favor returned?

I know, I know, the pitiful Wii chugs when it tries to load up Space Invaders so it can never run a proper Dead Space, right?  Well when you look at a game like MHTri that was designed for the PS3 but released on Wii, you get a glimpse of what the hardware is capable of when developers jump in with both feet.

So, yea, games coming TO our consoles? Thrilling.
Reminders of the trade imbalance? Not real thrilling, no.  :P: ;D

Offline NWR_Neal

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #14 on: March 19, 2012, 12:47:59 PM »
NinSage, just feel happy that the long national nightmare of not getting multiplatform games should end this fall. I hope...
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Offline Chocobo_Rider

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #15 on: March 19, 2012, 12:50:36 PM »
NinSage, just feel happy that the long national nightmare of not getting multiplatform games should end this fall. I hope...

Good point!

And you know I'm generally optimistic so brace yourself for the following ...

Good point! ... for 12-16 months until the neXtbox/PS4 comes out  :'(

Offline Fatty The Hutt

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Re: Everything Old Is New Again
« Reply #16 on: March 19, 2012, 06:47:23 PM »
NinSage, just feel happy that the long national nightmare of not getting multiplatform games should end this fall. I hope...

Good point!

And you know I'm generally optimistic so brace yourself for the following ...

Good point! ... for 12-16 months until the neXtbox/PS4 comes out  :'(
I'm calling this now:
December 28, 2013, Article published on NWR entitiled "Our Year of Parity"; strapline "We look back on the WiiU's first year as a next-gen console, while Sony's and Microsoft's next-next-gen's loom on the horizon."
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