Messages

10926

TalkBack / Re: Help Feature Confirmed for New Super Mario Bros. Wii

« on: June 20, 2009, 03:27:20 PM »

*slow clap*

This is genius.

Bleh, of all the games to introduce this feature on, why this one?  It's not like modern Mario games are any challenge whatsoever anyway, and I don't think it's good precedent to make the series any easier with this feature.  It's nice to know Nintendo's dedicated to creating a whole new generation of gamers that can't even jump over a goomba without computer assistance.

How do you know the game won't be difficult though? Its comments like this that really bother me, because you obviously don't see the potential that this "Demo Play" feature really has. With it implimented into the game, Nintendo can make a game with the difficulty of Lost Levels but still make it accessible because those that can't pass a certain point simply click the demo play option and get thru it.

Whats wrong with that?

I know it won't be difficult because Nintendo hasn't made a difficult game in over a decade.  Nintendo won't use this feature as an excuse for making a challenging game.  New Super Mario Bros. wasn't particularly difficult, so why should I believe this one will be?  That's not part of their "Blue Ocean" Strategy.  They'll use it to make an easy game even easier for people incapable of pressing 2 buttons and a control stick.

Oh and this is even more genius.

You do realize that making a game accessible and making it easy are two entirely different things?

The Mario games are the epitome of "accessible" as it is, though.  They don't need to be made any more so.  This is a feature that plays the game FOR the player, the very definition of making the game easier.

10927

TalkBack / Re: Help Feature Confirmed for New Super Mario Bros. Wii

« on: June 20, 2009, 03:10:10 PM »

Bleh, of all the games to introduce this feature on, why this one?  It's not like modern Mario games are any challenge whatsoever anyway, and I don't think it's good precedent to make the series any easier with this feature.  It's nice to know Nintendo's dedicated to creating a whole new generation of gamers that can't even jump over a goomba without computer assistance.

How do you know the game won't be difficult though? Its comments like this that really bother me, because you obviously don't see the potential that this "Demo Play" feature really has. With it implimented into the game, Nintendo can make a game with the difficulty of Lost Levels but still make it accessible because those that can't pass a certain point simply click the demo play option and get thru it.

Whats wrong with that?

I know it won't be difficult because Nintendo hasn't made a difficult game in over a decade.  Nintendo won't use this feature as an excuse for making a challenging game.  New Super Mario Bros. wasn't particularly difficult, so why should I believe this one will be?  That's not part of their "Blue Ocean" Strategy.  They'll use it to make an easy game even easier for people incapable of pressing 2 buttons and a control stick.

10928

TalkBack / Re: Help Feature Confirmed for New Super Mario Bros. Wii

« on: June 20, 2009, 01:50:21 PM »

Bleh, of all the games to introduce this feature on, why this one?  It's not like modern Mario games are any challenge whatsoever anyway, and I don't think it's good precedent to make the series any easier with this feature.  It's nice to know Nintendo's dedicated to creating a whole new generation of gamers that can't even jump over a goomba without computer assistance.

10929

General Gaming / Re: Major publisher to stop supporting PS3?

« on: June 19, 2009, 02:10:16 PM »

Oh my we can hope.

A) Sony doesn't drop price, Activision leaves, PS3 goes under.

B) Sony drops price, Activision stays, PS3 doesn't generate enough revenue, PS3 goes under.

Whichever happens first is the winner.

I don't see why anyone should be happy about this turn of events.  Just because Sony could be on the verge of losing Activision (Something I highly doubt.  This sounds like a grab for more money.) that neither indicates that those projects will suddenly become Wii games, OR that their Wii projects will suddenly start getting quality treatment.  This changes nothing about the Wii and only harms people who actually like playing PS3 games.

10930

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Stop making core games for the Wii!

« on: June 17, 2009, 10:44:52 PM »

Well, a lot of the problems designing games around the Wii remote right now boil down to the Wiimote being way too inaccurate for any decent game based around a core gamer experience to function properly.  Wii developers have no choice but to use waggle because there are too few buttons, but because the Wiimote can't accurately sense movement (unless it's very broad movement) it just doesn't work.  We'll see what happens now that Wii Motion + has arrived, as it should allow developers to properly map controller functions to the thing and not suck (due to Wiimote inaccuracy, anyway).  But if anything we need more core games on Wii, not less.

10931

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Ghostbuster Wii Edition

« on: June 17, 2009, 11:32:26 AM »

Length stopped being an issue with me once Conkers Bad Fur Day set the bar.  Back then, I used to think 15 hour romps were short.. Then conquer came along and smashed it in half..   Since then, we have seen quite a bit more quality in a shorter hour experience.   I'm guessing that the game will hit right in that 7 hour time frame.    (keep in mind im a searcher)

Hey, for the one on the ps3, how is multiplayer handled?  is it split screen or do you have to go online?

I experimented a bit witih the multiplayer last night, and it is entirely online.  I don't see any option for splitscreen multiplayer.  The actual multiplayer is quite fun, though I think it's actually better when you go in with 2 players than with 4.  It just gets extremely chaotic when there are 4 players because there's a tendency for everyone to go after the same ghost and fight over it so the point values are low.  The multiplayer itself is pretty basic: you have levels where you fight off waves of enemies, and you have levels where you have to protect things.  There's supposed to be another mode in here where you all try to outscore one another dunking Slimer into traps, but I haven't run into that one yet.  The online itself is just as finicky as the rest of the PSN I've experienced, as I got desynched and booted off the network for the entire night partway into the match, and I was hooked up by ethernet cable!

10932

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Ghostbuster Wii Edition

« on: June 16, 2009, 10:14:44 PM »

Wow, that has to be the quickest I've ever knocked out a game in a long time, let alone a PS3 game. Yeah, the game's extremely short and linear, but it's all good fun. I have issues with the severe inbalance between ghosts you just shoot till they blow up and ghosts you have to wrangle, the former being generic shooter action and the latter being actual ghostbusting. The last area is full of ghostbusting, so it kind of makes up for it but it's still a noticeable issue throughout the game. Still, a very enjoyable game with decent production values, though there are some really annoying boss battles. Boss battles in general also seem overly-reliant on the "boss has a protective shield, so you have to hit these pylons first" design, which can get really annoying when those target points move since you can't lock on. I still have a couple levels I need to go back to to find a missing artifact or scan a couple ghosts I missed, but replay value's pretty limited. Recommended purchase right now only for big Ghostbusters fans. Everyone else can just wait till the inevitable price drop in a few months.

10933

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Ghostbuster Wii Edition

« on: June 16, 2009, 08:05:29 PM »

Alright, I seem to be nearing the end of the game, and do you know what my biggest complaint is?  I'm a Ghostbuster, so above all I go into this game expecting to bust ghosts.  But no, that's a delight apparently reserved for lesser mortals, because comparatively speaking I've busted an infinitesimaly small number of ghosts compared to all the spooks and phantasms you just shoot until they explode or dissipate.  That tends to make the game feel like you're playing a rather spectral version of Resident Evil 4, instead of an actual Ghostbusters game.  It's still a great game, but when I'm spending the vast majority of my time running around shooting slime at little spider things or armored knight things instead of catching ghosts and wrangling them into a trap, there's definitely something wrong there.  Is the Wii version any better with this?

10934

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Ghostbuster Wii Edition

« on: June 16, 2009, 03:05:42 PM »

I'm playing the Next-Gen PS3 version and yeah, I definitely miss pointer controls when I'm swinging the Proton Pack around, but the game does look very nice with some excellent lighting effects (though the visual quality of the levels varies from level to level, with some real mediocre stuff in there).  There's just a pure, simple bliss in blasting the hell out of a ghost (preferably taking out anything that happens to get in the way); wrangling it; slamming it around a few times; and then sucking it into a trap.  It's feels a lot like Luigi's Mansion at times, only this is a much better and more realized game and not a GameCube tech demo.  Length is a serious issue, though.  I'm only 3-4 hours in and I'm already in Chapter 4.

Bill Murrey totally phoned his performance in on this one.  It's laughably bad compared to Ramus and Akroid's performances.

10935

General Gaming / Re: Bioshock

« on: June 16, 2009, 02:52:59 AM »

How many little sisters need to be saved for the good ending?

All of them.  From what I understand, there are 3 endings: 1 for harvesting all of them, 1 for saving all of them, and 1 for saving all but 1 (or presumably everything inbetween the two extremes).

10936

General Gaming / Re: GameFAQs users fail at poll

« on: June 16, 2009, 01:35:22 AM »

Is 2012 when we'll see the launch of the next generation? Half of GameFAQs thinks so:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=3516

Sounds like a rather likely aspect to me.  I think by that point the global economic crisis will have subsided and there will finally be sufficient HD TV and High-Speed Broadband penetration to allow for a new generation of consoles.  Maybe by that point Nintendo will release a Wii that has a Hard Drive.

10937

General Gaming / Re: So, I played a PS3...

« on: June 15, 2009, 08:15:40 PM »

If you and other testers found everything on the list that was in your search criteria, then I'd have to say you shouldn't be offended :p

Yeah, I've heard that about testing.  More often than not, what's in the game is known about, but just given the "go-ahead," because it's deemed too expensive, time-consuming, or not game-breaking enough of a bug to worry about.

I wasn't on the team for Tiger Wii (though I have done some testing for Tiger Next-Gen), but just based on my experiences with other projects I think it's safe to say those issues were known but deemed shippable due to the reasons you list.

10938

Nintendo Gaming / Re: New Wii Zelda

« on: June 14, 2009, 08:55:55 AM »

might wanna fix your post before you go putting down peoples clearly stupid ideas

"Clearly stupid"? Buh? Hey I'm telling you, The Legend of DanceDance: Link's Dancewakening is going to be the shot in the arm that the series has been in need of for years.

If that "shot in the arm" looks something like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jDbBhks7F0&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Edestructoid%2Ecom%2F&feature=player_embedded, then I think I'll pass.

10939

General Gaming / Re: GameFAQs users fail at poll

« on: June 13, 2009, 02:38:21 PM »

But did you think the controls worked, even if the game was mediocre or underwhelming?

For the low number of units I remember you being able to control in the game?  Yeah, it was adequate if a bit simplistic and clunky.  If I remember right, you control your units by selecting certain types of units and then sending all of them at once to a spot you mark in the environment.  If you tag an enemy as your marker, they attack it.  This can lead to instances where an enemy is standing right by a destructable object, so when you go to tag them you actually tag the destructable object but I don't remember that being a big deal.  I think I remember being frustrated at the time not being able to do what I do in actual RTS games, which is mixing and matching units into Control Groups rather than just sending ALL my fighters or ALL my mages.  But like I said, it's been years since I played that game and it didn't make a real impression on me so my memory's really fuzzy on it.

10940

TalkBack / Re: Super Smash Bros. Coming to PAL VC on Friday

« on: June 13, 2009, 02:28:53 PM »

That is why Sakurai (and many SSB gamers) want a deeper single player in the game. Sakurai knows that there are a lot of people who like the game but don't have anyone to play against and it can get boring facing the computer over and over.

Sorry, but Sakurai and fans should not get what they want after that cluster-**** that was Subspace Emissary.

I don't know about that.  There were really 2 big problems with Subspace Emissary: the generic (and increasingly cheap) enemies and the whole maze thing at the end.  Otherwise, I moderately enjoyed it, especially the cutscenes.

Whatever Subspace Emissary's flaws, it's still leagues better than the lame "Classic" Mode that was all the original game had and the incredibly short "Adventure" Mode in Melee.

10941

General Gaming / Re: GameFAQs users fail at poll

« on: June 13, 2009, 02:25:57 PM »

"Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde" from Jaleco. It got pretty good reviews and looked nice.

Yeah, I played that one on the GameCube and it was...well, it was pretty lousy actually.  Just not noteworthy in any way, and there really wasn't a reason to ever take direct control over your creatures...or at least, that's what I remember of it after all these years.  I got to this series of ice levels and just got bored and traded it in.

10942

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Indiana Jones Staff of Kings for Wii

« on: June 13, 2009, 02:20:55 AM »

Well, I'd say that "I hate to say I told you so", but I don't so I won't: for whatever reason IGN has devoted an entire review to "Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis" tacked-on bonus extra "Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings" Wii game.  Surprise, surprise it's a passable action game brought down by crappy Wiimote controls (when not shooting a gun).  Gee, never would have seen that coming out of a 3rd party multiplatform PSP/PS2/Wii game, especially from such a quality developer like LucasArts!

Odd that they barely even mention the lasting appeal of the main game: Atlantis.

http://wii.ign.com/articles/994/994513p1.html

10943

General Gaming / Re: GameFAQs users fail at poll

« on: June 13, 2009, 01:27:44 AM »

StarCraft is only on PC because really what console WOULD handle that game well?

Which StarCraft game are you talking about? The original StarCraft was released on the Nintendo 64 and it even includes the missions from the Brood Wars expansion pack (hey isn't your username...). They axed most of the CG scenes and voices but everything related to actual gameplay is intact, no cut missions or anything. There's even a special 2-player mode exclusive to the N64 version. The game looks okay if you have the Expansion Pak and can use the hi-res mode, which is similar to running the game at 640x480 on your PC. You also need the Expansion Pak to play the Brood Wars missions.

Yep, that is indeed where my username came from oh so long ago, from that very version of the game in fact (which would later lead to me picking up the PC version and getting into the modding community, but that's a whole other story).  However, while I will conceed that that game turned out alright on the N64, it can't hold a candle to the original PC version that I played later on in terms of precision and rapid order assignment.  From the looks of it, actually, EA's been trying to clone some modern version of that very control scheme in every console port of Command & Conquer since, with allegedly mixed results.

10944

General Gaming / Re: So, I played a PS3...

« on: June 13, 2009, 12:41:39 AM »

Sheesh, does no one else just go play a PS3 game or watch a movie or whatnot while they're waiting for downloads to complete?  That's what I do, and when the message comes up saying that the thing's downloaded, I just quit out of whatever I'm doing and go play the game that just downloaded.

10945

General Gaming / Re: GameFAQs users fail at poll

« on: June 12, 2009, 11:46:26 PM »

I never get the argument about lack of keyboard and mouse. The console have USB slots, so publishers could allow keyboard and mouse support for their console games if they wanted to (though Microsoft would probably require you to buy an officially licensed keyboard/mouse while Sony would probably let any USB keyboard/mouse work).

Standard USB keyboards work on both consoles without any problems at least when it comes to chat purposes.

10946

General Gaming / Re: GameFAQs users fail at poll

« on: June 12, 2009, 11:36:18 PM »

StarCraft is still PC exclusive, right? I disagree on the matter of PC relevance.

Though aren't MMO's typically stronger on the PC? Didn't the last FFMMO do well on the PC?

StarCraft is only on PC because really what console WOULD handle that game well?  The closest possible candidate is the Wii, and it has too few buttons to work properly despite having the right interface for the job.  StarCraft/WarCraft-type RTS games really require the Keyboard and Mouse, so it's not like they have any other option than to put it on the PC.  PC is plagued by rampant piracy, low overall sales, and an extremely difficult programming platform because there are so many variations of the thing in the market to account for.  I honestly can't fathom why anyone bothers with it anymore.

But yes, FF11 managed to garner a whole 4% (if the RPGamer podcasts can be trusted) of the MMO market on PC over its lifespan, which is actually a fairly significant number when you convert that to actual numbers.

10947

General Gaming / Re: GameFAQs users fail at poll

« on: June 12, 2009, 11:22:18 PM »

I don't think anybody was expecting Final Fantasy XIV to be a MMO. Heck, it was a surprise just to see it announced at all (I laughed when Sony said it was PS3-exclusive and Square Enix later said that was false).

I LOL at Sony too.

Isn't it only going to available on PS3 and PC, though?  That's still console exclusivity.  Hell, I'd even consider it total exclusivity just due to the total irrelevance of the PC in today's marketplace (WoW nonwithstanding).

10948

General Gaming / Re: So, I played a PS3...

« on: June 12, 2009, 11:17:16 PM »

Given what I do for a living, I have a feeling I should be offended by that statement. 

Woah, you work for EA?

Apparently after next week that will likely no longer be the case.   Just not enough work for all of us.  Guess I'll be updating my resume 2 months ahead of schedule. 

Does that mean you can pass on our game related "concerns" through the appropriate channels so that they get seen by the people that need to see them for them to be addressed?

I have to walk a fine line in answering this question...hmm...let's see...

I haven't seen your list of "concerns", but as like is not I can just say this: just from personal experience, probably 9/10 things that people complain about any given game are likely things that (the very competent) testers address with the development team during the project.  A lot more than you can ever imagine gets fixed, including things you'd never imagine any sane user would do.  Some do not, usually due to lack of time.  Trust me, they know about probably any issue you have with the game.  Maybe you'll get lucky and some stuff got Wish Listed or put on the list of known issues for future iterations to handle.  Otherwise, there's very little anyone at the level I work at can do or say on the matter.

10949

General Gaming / Re: So, I played a PS3...

« on: June 12, 2009, 07:46:42 PM »

Given what I do for a living, I have a feeling I should be offended by that statement. 

Woah, you work for EA?

Apparently after next week that will likely no longer be the case.   Just not enough work for all of us.  Guess I'll be updating my resume 2 months ahead of schedule. 

10950

TalkBack / Re: Super Smash Bros. Coming to PAL VC on Friday

« on: June 12, 2009, 02:18:58 PM »

Meh, what's SSB good for when we've got Brawl?

That's pretty much my opinion on the matter as well.  Brawl and Melee have so vastly improved upon what the original started while still being essentially the same game that I don't see the point in having the original on the VC.