Messages

26

TalkBack / Re: Release Date for Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move Appears in eShop

« on: April 16, 2013, 09:49:05 AM »

They already did. Mario vs. Donkey Kong for the GBA. If you were a 3DS Ambassador you'd have it.

27

General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: March 27, 2013, 01:47:35 AM »

Got Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon on Sunday. I'm at the fifth mansion now. The third boss fight is my favorite so far, but the fourth is the most frustrating.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Amazing Deals!

« on: March 18, 2013, 11:10:19 AM »

Rhythm Heaven Fever is available on Amazon for $12.


http://www.amazon.com/Rhythm-Heaven-Fever-Nintendo-Wii/dp/B006L1FAK2/


Bit.Trip.Complete is available for less than $10 as well.


http://www.amazon.com/Cit-Trip-Complete-Nintendo-Wii/dp/B0058CA4S8/

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TalkBack / Re: Animal Crossing: New Leaf Coming to North America June 9

« on: February 14, 2013, 11:29:30 PM »

finally a date... was that so hard

It's not like announcing the date earlier was going to make the game come out any sooner.

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TalkBack / Re: Mario & Luigi Dream Team Revealed

« on: February 14, 2013, 11:48:48 AM »

This will probably be a holiday release.

They just said it's coming this summer.

31

General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: February 11, 2013, 01:28:21 AM »

Got Brain Age: Concentration Training. I was pleasantly surprised at the Wario's Woods-inspired minigame.

32

TalkBack / Re: Wii U Virtual Console Detailed

« on: January 24, 2013, 10:36:25 AM »

How are they overcharging for Wii U VC games? They will cost the SAME as on Wii.

Hence Overcharging.

If you take inflation into account, VC games are actually cheaper than they were six years ago.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U - The Road to E3 - 5/11/13

« on: January 23, 2013, 11:55:41 AM »

How messed up is it that Wii U will possibly get GBA VC games before 3DS??

3DS had 10 GBA games for Ambassadors.


Wii U Party looked really creative. One of those minigames has a Twister feel to it, something I've never seen before in a video game.


I'm really excited for Yoshi U, and I'm really hoping that Mario Kart U has Wii Wheel support, as I have enjoyed Mario Kart Wii's controls immensely.

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General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: December 30, 2012, 02:48:07 AM »

Got Portal and Portal 2. I've been wanting to buy these games for a long time, but my previous 2007 Macbook didn't meet the game's requirements. I last played the first one on my friend's computer 5 years ago and I helped him through the later half of the second one in early 2011. So most of the puzzles still felt new and fresh.

35

TalkBack / Re: Wii U Firmware Update Now Available

« on: December 04, 2012, 09:26:38 PM »

But really...593MB for stability and minor interface adjustments???!?!!

A lot of binary files probably have to changed. Even if a binary file only had a few changes, you still have to re-download the entire binary, you can't really download separate parts of it.

36

Nintendo Gaming / Re: New Super Mario Bros. 2

« on: November 30, 2012, 11:28:31 AM »

3D actually detracts from the experience in this game. The 3D effect makes it so depth of field blurring is unnecessary as this game proves. Yes Nintendo, I want less detail on my backgrounds. Thanks.

The 3D also doesn't really make sense. Objects that look like they should be closer to the screen are in fact the same  distance as other objects and it's really off-putting, especially the levels with Boohemoth, who looks like he's melding with the scenery. So all the objects as a result have this weird flat look.

37

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U Nintendo Network ID - Read the First Post (even if you've already posted!)

« on: November 19, 2012, 11:01:30 PM »

I'm ThomasO


I'll start adding everyone above.

38

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U is here

« on: November 18, 2012, 05:21:29 PM »

Sadly, I'm stuck in Wii Mode, redownloading 90+ titles from the Wii Shop Channel.

Because Nintendo hates me.

Don't worry. You won't touch any of those games after this.

39

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Animal Crossing: New Leaf for 3DS

« on: November 15, 2012, 11:51:47 AM »

Releasing a major title one week after Christmas? Yeah, not going to happen.  :

40

General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: November 11, 2012, 02:00:58 PM »

Paper Mario: Sticker Star on the eShop. I'm about 20-30 minutes in.

41

TalkBack / Re: Mario & Luigi: Doing RPGs Better Since 2003

« on: November 10, 2012, 12:45:46 PM »

Worst of all, word is that Paper Mario: Sticker Star doesn't put much emphasis on writing and dialogue, and that a lot of the humour now comes from sight gags.


I guess this site isn't very credible.


http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/impressions/31937
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/impressions/32228

42

TalkBack / Re: I'm an Earthquake in a Can: Bowser the Good Guy

« on: November 09, 2012, 03:18:58 AM »

Stories get the way in the platform games like Super Mario Galaxy. The first 15-20 minutes is "Blah blah please help us blah blah special one blah blah Toad Brigade bullshit". Several people I've shown the game to stopped playing after getting 2 or 3 stars because they were bored to death. I prefer SMG2's minimalistic story.

43

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U

« on: October 28, 2012, 04:00:47 PM »

You realize that half, if not all, of those questions could have been answered through a simple Google search, correct?

44

TalkBack / Re: Pikmin 3 Set For Spring 2013 Release

« on: October 17, 2012, 01:54:46 AM »

I think it's silly to think they have been working on this game since 2004. It's been in development for awhile, but not for 8 years.

They announced it in 2008. It would have started development in 2007 at the earliest.

45

Nintendo Gaming / Re: I do want the Wii U to fail

« on: October 09, 2012, 10:27:18 AM »

Well, personally I am a fan of cartridges. They are a lot more durable, have no load times, and are just nice to have.

Not necessarily. Some of my Nintendo DS cartridges don't work anymore because the pins have started to rust. Meanwhile, my copy of Luigi's Mansion works just fine...

46

General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: September 26, 2012, 10:07:41 PM »

Got Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and The Conduit for about $20 on Amazon. I started into Silent Hill, and I'm only up to where I just learned how to use my phone (game didn't come with manual). It has really nice graphics, it reminds me of Resident Evil 4.

47

General Gaming / Re: Mario Builder

« on: September 17, 2012, 09:40:05 PM »

I think levels that make the player dependent on power-ups are bad because power-ups are not replenishable and will often screw the player over.

I can see why Nintendo avoids doing this, but I actually like to see this stuff from custom levels. Some power-ups open up some interesting possibilities for level designs, though the whole level should be centered on the power-up instead of just one random part in the middle of a level. For me, I like custom levels that use the elements in ways that Nintendo's games don't, those are the ones I find worthwhile.

You can still center levels on power ups. It just takes more skill to make it work. The Galaxy games have replenishable power-ups, so they often have levels that focus on them. 2D Mario games don't, so they have to be more creative.

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General Gaming / Re: Mario Builder

« on: September 17, 2012, 10:28:19 AM »

If you had a rare or awesome power-up you got from another level (like a Tanooki or Hammer Bros. suit) and you lost it not because out of carelessness but because the level would've been impossible to complete, wouldn't you feel pissed off?


I can't run Mario Builder or Lunar Magic on my Macbook, although I have been tracking a small journal of level ideas I'd like to try. I plan to buy a new computer and get both operating systems in the coming months though.


EDIT: Your Level 5 is undoubtedly your worst level. It's "jump, wait 5 seconds, repeat" for 3 minutes straight. There's absolutely no variety at all and you gave 100+ coins in the first 30-40 seconds for no reason.

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General Gaming / Re: Mario Builder

« on: September 17, 2012, 01:39:42 AM »

You can still make levels that are both fun and "a pain to beat."


Anyway, I did see this new level. And here are my thoughts.


The level feels stretched out and needlessly big; I think it could be smaller or trimmed of the filler, such as jumping up nine platforms of unavoidable flames (which in itself is a bad design choice) or slowly moving through a piranha plant shaft 10 pipes long.


The abundance and placement of Coins is questionable. Coins in Mario games are given as rewards for jumping a certain way or performing a certain task. Even NSMB2, which seems to shower coins at any given turn, still gave them in exchange for the player doing something, which made collecting them feel awarding. In your levels Mario mostly walks or falls into 100 coins at once, so there's even less effort needed to collect them than what was needed in NSMB2.


You also made it way too easy for the player to reach of the top of the Goal Flag.


In the moving water shaft, you didn't offer any visible initiative or incentive for the player to go down the Cheep-Cheep path, so the player will more likely take the path that is closer, moves faster, and has no visible hazards. And it was obvious there was no reward for going down the Cheep-Cheep path anyway, which made the invisible coin blocks redundant since the player is not inclined to go back. This makes the Cheep-Cheep path completely pointless.


Back to the unavoidable flames: I think levels that make the player dependent on power-ups (like your Level 4) are bad because power-ups are not replenishable and will often screw the player over. In normal 2D Mario games they serve only to make progressing easier and are seldom necessary to beat any level. Forcing Mario to shrink near the end is completely counter-intuitive and, given that you had placed a Mushroom right before that, makes no sense. If the player can complete the level as small, large, and all other forms of Mario from start to finish (and able to completely avoid all enemies and power-ups at the same time), then I consider it a well-designed level.

50

General Gaming / Re: Mario Builder

« on: September 16, 2012, 12:46:45 PM »

Some good level designs, but there are some glaring problems. My first thought was "you have an unhealthy obsession with elbowed pipes." There's also some moments where you're expecting that the player will unquestionably do something, or you assume that the player has knowledge of the level beforehand. There's also parts of the levels that are obviously filler, because they are repetitive or consist of empty space.


Level 1: most of the time is spent inside a pipe, meaning for most of the level the player provides no input, which is extremely boring.


Level 2: You're giving the player a lot more coins than they need. 1:40 into the video: Looks like you're expecting that the player sees the Koopa coming out of nowhere without warning, which is a bad idea. 2:25: You're overdoing it with the small platforms.


Level 3: lots of flat, empty space. You're overdoing it with the Thwomps at about 3 minutes in. After that point, you're doing the same exact jump over and over for the next 25 seconds.


Level 7: Definitely the best level. However, if the player does not clear away the coins after hitting the P-switch 1:55 into the video, how do they escape? Looks like a "screw you" moment because now they are stuck indefinitely or have to kill themselves. Same with the P-switch that follows. With the four pipes at the end, there was no indication that the space between them wasn't a pit. You're expecting the player to make a leap of faith to find a bonus. There was also no indication that the player needed to jump from the last pipe to the Goal Flag.