Messages

2976

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 237: Shiny New Toy

« on: April 03, 2011, 06:26:24 PM »

It's funny, I just posted this morning on the 3DS discussion topic the same thing James did regarding seeing my computer monitor and the false effect of 3D on text for my screen.  While I find it funny overall, it makes me wonder if my eyes focusing on the 3DS screen a certain way is bad for my eyes :-/

2977

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo 3DS Discussion

« on: April 03, 2011, 01:43:51 PM »

Some more thoughts after spending considerably more time with my 3DS:

- If I play for more than a half hour, and then look at a computer screen, my eyes play tricks on me and my computer screen looks like it has the 3D depth. 

- I love the concept of Street pass, but am afraid it's only going to work well for people in heavily populated areas.  This will be better once I move to New York, but for the time being I'm in a rural area, and the only one I've encountered so far was a girl in my local Gamestop.

- I like everyone else love the slide pad, and it puts the PSP's nub to shame.

- I also appreciate the widescreen at the top, and the touch screen seems to show much more detail in the pilotwings map than I've seen any other DS game use it

The 3D is going to be like Wii's motion controls.  It'll be what is used to rope people into buying it.  Only a fraction of the games will be using it as a necessary or compelling component of the game.  The rest of the games will use it like Super Street Fighter 4 do: a nice addition, but just an optional enhancement.

Which is fine in my opinion.  I'm just happy to have a system that seems to be much more enabled than the DS.  I'm hoping for a new F-Zero and Smash Bros game on this system.  Also want a Pikmin game.

2978

General Gaming / Re: STOP GIVING GAMESTOP YOUR MONEY! (GameStop Vs Amazon)

« on: March 31, 2011, 10:28:58 PM »

I'm surprised most of you don't have a local used media store; one that sells and buys used games, movies, cds.

I'm also surprised most of you haven't tried a pawn shop.

I do.  The place's trade rates are a few dollars more but they also sell most used games for a few dollars more to make up for it. 

I usually am not in enough of a bind to sell my games to have to get the $$ the same day, so I usually sell online, but I have no animosity towards people who go those routes.  I've gotten some of my best deals from Gamestop ($20 for a new copy of Marvel vs Capcom 2 on PS2  )

2979

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo 3DS Discussion

« on: March 31, 2011, 09:09:46 PM »

Ocarina of Time 3D
Links Awakening.

Something I've wanted to see since the original DS as well as on the Wii has been a RTS game.  I think that touch-screen controls and motion controls like the wii remote would work perfectly for this genre, and truly believe that was the wasted opportunity of this gen's consoles (for all of them now that they have some type of motion control).

Also, now that I think of it, one thing I think could greatly improve the experience of something like Ogre Battle 64 would have been wii remote or touch-screen control.  I think it would have made it a more fluid game and help with the speed of the game.  So I guess another one on my wish list would be either a re-release of Ogre Battle 64 similar to OoT or Starfox, or a all new Ogre Battle game utilizing those play mechanics with a revamp of the control scheme to completely utilize touch-screen controls.

2980

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo 3DS Discussion

« on: March 31, 2011, 12:54:39 AM »

Just got mine in the mail today with Pilotwings & Street Fighter.

I just have to say that playing it in your hands where you can move it close enough to have the optimum 3D effect makes all the difference.  Playing it at a kiosk in Best Buy brought me over the tipping point to purchase it despite the fact that it was bolted to a stupid display approx. 4 ft tall, and after an hour or so of tinkering around with the features, I'm definitely glad that I got it. 

My wife was blown away by the AR cards and all the features, especially face raiders and the ability to make a mii by photo.  She was also impressed with watching me play Street Fighter for the sake of the 3D. 

Both Pilotwings and Street Fighter are a ton of fun, but I see myself sinking my teeth into Pilotwings first, as it's been a long time since I've played a flight simulator, and this is my first pilotwings game.  Street Fighter will be a good way to get my fighting game fix on the road. 

I tried out a regular DS game since I heard there were complaints about the graphics being lesser quality, and while I did notice a bit of the colors being washed out and a tiny bit more pixelation, it wasn't enough to get on my nerves, so I think i'll be getting rid of my old DS lite.  I also saw there was a Nyko Battery attachment that doubles the battery life of the 3DS, so I think I might grab that before my next trip. 

Overall, very happy with my purchase, and I'm sure my current games will tide me over well in the meantime until some more meaty experiences show up

2981

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo 3DS Discussion

« on: March 29, 2011, 01:18:10 AM »

My blue 3DS with Pilotwings and Street Fighter are in the mail for Wednesday.  I didn't see too much coverage on other games.  Are any other launch games worth retail, or should I just whittle down on my DS backlog (Dragon Quest IX, Super Scribblenauts, Professor Layton)?  Looking forward to the e-shop, so I'll finally have a chance to play Link's Awakening.

Also, LOL at all the people on Ebay thinking they were going to get $500-1000 for these things.  Glad to see Nintendo decided that it was better to have too much stock than not enough.

2982

Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN Live Panel @ PAX East 2011

« on: March 14, 2011, 01:56:41 PM »

Good podcast.  LOL at the guy who refused to believe his answer was wrong for the Kirby's Epic Yarn radio trivia.  That music is so damn memorable, how could you not recognize it? (other than if you hadn't played it, obviously).

2983

NWR Forums Discord / Re: Please come to the funhouse, we want to talk to you. Thankyou.

« on: March 13, 2011, 03:13:23 AM »

I didn't get a personal invite, so I'll assume I'm not allowed.

I'm sorry to waste your tiem.  I'll no longer allow myself to enter this realm ;_;

2984

Nintendo Gaming / Re: best n64 game and why

« on: March 13, 2011, 03:09:29 AM »

There are a lot of criticisms that could be leveled at the Mario Kart Wii commercial, but lack of creativity wasn't one of them.

Do you remember what channels you saw these commercials on?  I just saw them on youtube, and I do agree they're memorable, but I never saw them during the time Mariokart was actually being released.  Just my personal experience.

2985

General Gaming / Sony Hasn't Learned Anything, While Nintendo Has.

« on: March 13, 2011, 03:06:02 AM »

Is it just me or does it seem like Sony hasn't learned anything?  I love some of sony's products, but I sincerely feel like they've done nothing to learn from their mistakes in the last console generation.  The best example is to compare the NGP to the 3GS.

NGP: Create what can be considered the most advanced hand-held machine with the most features possible (not counting 3D), and sell it at a loss to make it price competitive (but yet, still above what consumers are willing to pay).  Include exclusives a year after launch that only a core audience will truly care about (me included, but besides the point).  This item will only be popular late in the console cycle when the price has been reduced enough to be considered a worthwhile venture for consumers.

3DS:
- proper support from 3rd party developers - proper 3rd party support from the start
- Killer app - first glasses-free mobile 3D device: although in the long-term this might take a back-burner, in this environment, this could mean a great deal towards early adopters and casual users
- digital game service similar to Wii's (hand-held virtual console): while I wish they'd allow SNES, Genesis, & NES games, it's a good start to allow these systems
- Further integration of internet features such as street pass, and online features mirroring the Wii.

I am a fan both of Nintendo and Sony products, but Nintendo seems like they've evolving while Sony is riding the same business strategy that screwed themselves over with the PS3.  Any thoughts?  Will Sony's strategy work because it's a powerful hand-held system that doesn't cost $600 U.S. Dollars!, or will Nintendo's system of gradual evolution with one innovative feature and much lower price (assumedly) be enough to offset Sony's efforts? 

My guess would be Nintendo will reign supreme again, although it will be a much slower burn due to prices of both hand-held consoles.

2986

Nintendo Gaming / Re: best n64 game and why

« on: March 13, 2011, 12:34:42 AM »

Anyone remember the commercials for Super Smash Bros.? It had Mario, Pikachu, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong holding hands while skipping through a field and The Turtles song "Happy Together" plays. Then they turn and start beating the crap out of each other. I think that was the first time I heard of the game and I was hooked. 12 of my favorite Nintendo characters in a fighting game? I wasn't familiar with Ness or Captain Falcon (I never played EarthBound or the F-Zero games), but I loved the game. Samus quickly became my favorite, and I racked up over 500 hours with her (over 600 in Melee). I wonder why Nintendo did not re-use the Hyrule Castle stage in Melee or Brawl since that was my favorite stage in the first game.

My wife had never played any smash bros games until tonight when i gave her a tutorial on brawl, but she always remembered that commercial (so did I).  I wish Nintendo used more creative advertising.  The Monster hunter commercial is the closest thing to creative I've seen in regards to Advertising for any Wii Games.

2987

Nintendo Gaming / Re: E3 2011 Predictions

« on: March 10, 2011, 05:05:42 PM »

"Winning" - The Charlie Sheen Epic RPG.  Released for Wii & Ported for Nintendo 3DS.  It will include a credit card accessory that will plug into the Wii remote so you can accurately imitate cutting lines of cocaine & 3DS connectivity so you can record 3D photographic progress of your body's degredation into a drug-fuelled madness and share with Nintendo for online leaderboards.
 
Rated "WTF" for WholesomeTeenFun. 

I'd be surprised if that game didn't sell atleast 200k domestically.

It wouldn't happen.  Charlie Sheen would require payment of 2-3 million per copy sold just for the use of his likeness.

2988

Nintendo Gaming / Re: E3 2011 Predictions

« on: March 10, 2011, 02:55:43 PM »

"Winning" - The Charlie Sheen Epic RPG.  Released for Wii & Ported for Nintendo 3DS.  It will include a credit card accessory that will plug into the Wii remote so you can accurately imitate cutting lines of cocaine & 3DS connectivity so you can record 3D photographic progress of your body's degredation into a drug-fuelled madness and share with Nintendo for online leaderboards.
 
Rated "T" for teen. 

2989

General Gaming / Re: PSN = Privacy? Security? Never!

« on: March 10, 2011, 02:25:18 PM »

LG has won a court order enabling it to seize all new PS3 across the Netherlands – including those already in Dutch homes – in a dispute that centres on Sony's allegedly infringing use of Blu-ray technology belonging to LG.

How horrifying.  So when are these people going to get refunded for their systems that are going to be confiscated?  I would be furious if I were one of these people that had their PS3's confiscated.
 
It's typical.  The real loser of all this squabbling between LG & Sony are the end users.

2990

General Gaming / Re: STOP GIVING GAMESTOP YOUR MONEY! (GameStop Vs Amazon)

« on: March 09, 2011, 10:19:28 AM »

I've never understood the mentality of selling games for the sake of buying new ones.  If i'm unsure of whether a game will be worth brand new retail pricing, I'll always rent it before making a decision on it.  I've got to know that my game will have long-term replay value before I drop cash on it, or if not, I'll have to find it super cheap a year or two down the road to justify owning it.  Sure, it's an extra $5-7 over the cost of a new game if you decide to purchase, but it's much better than buying that game at $50-60, playing it once, and then trading it in for $15-25. 
 
Regarding Epic Mickey, while I appreciated the atmosphere and attention to detail in animation and story ideas, I felt the game to be too bland, which is just an example of why I'm grateful that I rented before I considered purchasing.  Then I was able to purchase Kirby's Epic Yarn after renting both over the weekend and finding that game delightful to play with my wife.

2991

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 234: Needs More D's

« on: March 07, 2011, 11:04:25 PM »

The impact on the gaming industry that iphone apps/phone games will have is a very intriguing argument.  On one hand, you can understand the concerns that Iwata has regarding iphone apps, because the sales of these 0.99 apps are impressive to say the least, and like Johnny said on the podcast, in a certain extent, it does cut into Nintendo's ability to peddle things like Brain Age for $20-$30 when the iphone sells the same item for 0.99 cents.  I mean, just recently there was a review for Plants vs Zombies, an iphone game that costs about 2 or 3 bucks that sells on Nintendo DS for ten times as much!  When you lower the barrier to entry on some of these video games that much, it makes it much more difficult for a larger operation like Nintendo to compete on some levels. 

I see the concept of iphone app purchasers and potential Nintendo DS/3DS purchasers in terms of those venn diagrams you see in math class.  There will always be groups of people who won't bother with one or the other, but there will also be that middle point of consumer who owns a Nintendo DS but buys an iphone/ipod touch/ipad and uses it to buy angry birds.  There will also be a segment of the market who owns an iphone who plays angry birds, wants something more, and sees the Nintendo DS as a good expansion on this new form of entertainment that they've discovered.  Neither side can be fully converted, but there is a middling ground for market cross-over.

Instead of Iwata and Nintendo warning of the dangers of low barriers to entry, why couldn't they capitalize on this opportunity by supporting it the entire way.  Either compete with apple directly by offering these phone developers their own spot on the 3DS store for comparable prices, or play the Sony game where you tell these iphone game players "Hey, you know those Angry Birds/Plants vs Zombie games?  Those are fun for 15-20 minutes, but we have something that can keep you entertained for hours upon hours, and will give you much more entertainment value for your money".  You would think this isn't the same company that released an underpowered video game system with simple controls that spread like wildfire because they brought non-gamers into a video game ecosystem that they otherwise would never have invested in.

2992

General Chat / Re: College

« on: March 07, 2011, 10:43:02 PM »

Went to Northern Illinois University for my undergrad in Operations Management degree.

Chose it because it was a good business school.  Also because it was close enough to home that I could get back in a few hours, but far enough away that I didn't have to worry about family popping in all the time. 

One other reason I chose my college was that none of my friends were going there.  Don't get me wrong, I loved all my friends, and still speak with most of them today, but I wanted to force myself to go out and socialize/make new friends to build my social skills, and I knew that if I had friends at the college I went to, that I would mostly hang around the same group of people. 

Regardless of where you choose, make sure you choose the college based off of what YOU want, not anyone else.  I know several people that chose their college because their GF/BF at the time was going there.  All of them are broken up now, and some of them dropped out because they couldn't deal with it. 

2993

General Gaming / Re: PSN = Privacy? Security? Never!

« on: March 07, 2011, 05:42:19 PM »

Post modified due to BlackNMild2k1's public shaming for overlooking his post about the same details above 

I forget that Ars Technica sometimes gets their reports secondhand from Wired.

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General Gaming / Re: PSP2 - It's coming and it's called Next Generation Portable (NGP)

« on: March 07, 2011, 07:51:06 AM »

Who wouldn't want everything to be available when you want it? I hate going to a store and not finding the game I want. Sold out or whatever. I especially hate pre-ordering games simply for the fact of reserving a copy (pre-order bonuses are always nice though).

The only problem I see is having the HDD crash or some other software/hardware bug. Having to DL all your games again would suck.

I think a nice compromise would be to backup games on your HDD so you didn't have to take them with you.

They're forcing it.  PC gamers are ready but handheld/console gamers need a transition first.

Actually, I think that the handheld market is the only place where a strict digital distribution really makes sense. No one likes carrying around a case full of cartridges, that's not portable. Having everything downloaded to your GameBoy and ready to go though...

In some ways I do love the thought of download-only portables.  As mentioned above, the concept of only having to have the console and not have to carry around 5-10 cartridges (or UMDs....ugh) is a very appealing prospect, especially for those who travel often.  Also, for someone like me with a Playstation 3, the thought of possibly downloading PSN exclusive titles such as Joe Danger or Flower and playing them on the NGP on a plane is a very enticing concept.
 
Personally, my issue is that I haven't found too often that the prices of these games are competitive enough on PSN.  Someone mentioned that PC people have no problem with Steam, and I think that is only true because Steam has awesome sales at least once every 3-4 months.  Steam even has 10-20% discounts for people who pre-order the games sometimes (mostly when it's a Valve game, but you get my point).  I need to see publishers and Sony be more flexible on pricing before I am ok parting with the used game market.  If Sony adopts Steam's flexibility on pricing, then I'll be ok with giving up the used game market.

2995

Nintendo Gaming / Re: best n64 game and why

« on: March 06, 2011, 10:53:51 AM »

This thread makes me wish Nintendo gave more of a **** in supporting the virtual console.  If they would put up some more of these games listed, they would easily have plenty of my $$, but instead, i'm forced to try to track down a used Nintendo 64 and some of these games. 

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General Gaming / Re: Accessiblity and the Fighting Game Genre

« on: March 06, 2011, 03:02:40 AM »

I just want to jump in here and say I've always loved fighting games. SSF2 Turbo was my **** and same with MvC2.

That said, I think fighting games have become too fast.
....
But in these games, almost always the person who is the most aggressive wins.
....
I've always wanted a more slow pace methodical and I thought SF4 brought that back for the most part, but it's still just a bit too quick.

wat

SF4 is the turtliest game since Killer Instinct!

I have to agree with you on this.  I had the most success in Street Fighter 4 by being conservative and waiting for the opponent to make a stupid mistake to counter attack.

2997

General Gaming / Re: PSN = Privacy? Security? Never!

« on: March 04, 2011, 11:14:30 PM »

I was saying that it's horse **** that they can invade people's privacy. I don't really expect to be put on the stand, there would probably be around 200,000 people there with me, and we'd all be dead by the time I got my turn. Trust me, I'm not being chicken...but it is horse ****. Turn off your swear filter, by the way.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be insulting. 

Swear filter?  You mean I should swear more?

Also, I wasn't calling you chicken.  I was comparing your comment to chicken little ("the sky is falling!", etc.)

2998

General Gaming / Re: PSN = Privacy? Security? Never!

« on: March 04, 2011, 11:14:00 PM »

oops double post

2999

General Gaming / Re: PSN = Privacy? Security? Never!

« on: March 04, 2011, 10:41:49 PM »

Horse ****, pure horse ****. Looks like I'm a defendant now.

This response is a bit overdramatic, don't you think?

So many people have been at that website.  Hell, i've read news reports that have linked directly to geohot's blog, and I went there just out of curiosity of seeing what it was all about.

Don't get all chicken little so soon.  We don't know the full reasoning of why they're wanting this information.  It is possible they're just wanting an indication of how many individual I.P. addresses visit his website to use against his case, not to launch a huge campaign of lawsuits.

3000

General Gaming / Re: PSP2 - It's coming and it's called Next Generation Portable (NGP)

« on: March 04, 2011, 05:08:50 PM »

So no new information has come out on the NGP just yet, but some of the games being shown at GDC are quite impressive.

This post however, is to ask what people think about subsidizing the NGP through 3G access? It will allow Sony to bring the cost of this monster in the $300 range, but I think it's asking a lot for people to pay monthly just for mobile gaming. Sure you can also browse the internet, but so can the smartphone you're already paying for.

 I'm probably still going to buy one (next year, because I want to buy myself a 3DTV around the holidays) but I'm not sure about signing up for a contract. There'll be a Wifi-only version probably, but how much more expensive will that be?

There's a lot of buzz on the interwebs because of the NGPs power, but what about it's practicality?

My wish:
Non-3G Price: $300
3G Price $350
 
Realistically:
Non-3G Price $350-400 range
3G Price: $400-450 range
 
In all actuality, I expect the 3G model to cost more, similar to the Ipad or Nook e-reader.
 
If Sony was wanting to stay price competitive with the 3DS, they would only allow themselves to price it at $50 more for the non-3g model.  But I think it's pretty fair to assume they're going to take a decent sized loss on this product regardless, and I could see them starting with a price range closer to $400/$450 for the sake of wringing out every possible penny for the early adopters.  This would also make it so they have a lower price to go to if it stagnates over the initial release.
 
 
In terms of practicality, it seems as if both the 3DS and NGP are built around the assumption that someone may buy this handheld console, and it be their only or main console for gaming.  I think the 3DS is at a good in-between point price-wise that it could still hit mass market appeal (at the very least when they hit the $200 mark), but I think the NGP is going to be a hard sell for the mass market.