Messages

1

Reader Reviews / RE:Mario & Luigi

« on: January 25, 2004, 07:11:15 AM »

I think I'll retract my complaint about length, as I was mistaken. I just finally got around to finishing the game (supoib, by the way, 10/10), and my play time was actually closer to 18 hours.

2

Reader Reviews / RE:Mario & Luigi

« on: January 12, 2004, 10:14:24 AM »

I gotta ask anyone who knows, does the game end after the whole deal in Bowser's Castle? I'm at the part where you fight Bowletta and then get sucked inside him/her/it. I'm wondering if it does because I had heard that the game was somewhere around 20-25 hours long, and if it ends here, I'm somewhat disappointed because someone lied to me. I've been playing roughly 13.5 hours.



(Don't know if the above counts as a spoiler, just trying to be safe and not give anything away just in case)

3

General Chat / RE:Get your custom title here

« on: January 12, 2004, 10:00:30 AM »

When you're not too busy, I'd like to go with "Canadian Bacon" please and thank you.

4

TalkBack / RE:Iwata Comments on Nintendo Next Generation

« on: January 12, 2004, 09:51:40 AM »

As far as my guess would go, all Iwata meant by his statement that "the current systems have basically reached their limits" is that it's time for game companies to start focusing on making solid games with the technology they have, rather than putting so much money and time into developing a system that is 3x as expensive as the old ones with nowhere near that value in improvements. Like kingvudu said, what he probably meant was that the jump from this generation to the next will seem extremely minimal next to the jump from SNES/Genesis to N64/PSX, and even the jump from N64/PSX/DC to GCN/XBox/PS2. While there will  be improvements that are helpful (processing power, primarily), we're not gonna see the kinds of jumps (especially graphically) that we did in previous generations.

If that's the case, I think Nintendo is the company that can benefit from it more than anything. They've always been about quality games, and if my guess is right (which is probably unlikely, or at least only a fraction of it), their dedication to quality games will be what brings them above and beyond anything Sony could ever do, or anything Microsoft could ever pay for.

And in response to the newly posted above me thing by Guitar Smasher, he's exactly right - building this kind of hype and mystery is exactly what they need to do.

5

General Chat / RE:Listening to the fans - pro or contra?

« on: January 11, 2004, 07:58:34 AM »

To me, fan input should be taken in very few ways. The main one would be game success - if a game is popular, explore options like a sequel or a similar game. If people like a soundtrack of a game, give the composer more work. If people like a battle engine in an RPG, keep it handy for another RPG (or a sequel). But you can't sit people down in focus groups and ask them what they want - as mentioned before, look what happened to the X-Box controller. If there was some magic tool that could sum up the opinions of everybody and make an average out of it to find the best way to please the most people in the greatest way, then you could listen to the people. But until it's invented, there is a reason these people have their jobs. Because they know what works.

I think the episode of the Simpsons where Homer helps Mel Gibson make the movie is a perfect example. Look at the changes Homer made. He thought they were great, and so did Mel (and so did I), but the people hated it. You can't take random opinions and use them to please everyone, so you gotta let the professionals work and hopefully please most of the people.

6

General Gaming / RE:N64 worse than GC...but better?

« on: January 11, 2004, 06:55:54 AM »

I agree with Guitar Smasher about the evolution thing. The jump from Super Mario World to Super Mario 64 was so huge compared to the jump from SM64 to SMS, mainly because when you look at them, the differences seem minimal in compariosn. From SMW to SM64, you think: "Wow, there's a whole new dimension! Imagine how much this could open up the game! So much room for new ideas and innovation!" And then the jump from SM64 to SMS, you think "Well, the graphics are better. Sound is better... the system is more powerful maybe the areas will be bigger?" It just doesn't have the same excitement for the jump. The improvements don't seem as huge. And sometimes, they even feel like it's just the same game again.

And, of course, the nostalgia thing matters, too. I mean, shows like the old Transformers, or Samurai Pizza Cats, are super amazingly cheesy, but I enjoy watching them now and then because of the nostalgia.

7

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Launch Order (Revisted)

« on: January 11, 2004, 06:42:07 AM »

I think Edisim said it well. What Nintendo needs to do is sell their system before it's out. Build the hype. Let's face it, they don't need to work to sell the system to Nintendophiles, we all know we're gonna buy one anyway. They need to work to sell the system to the casual gamers, and that means they need to do a few things.

1) They gotta get solid third party support, and come out with a few big games of their own that will sell to the casual gamer. A big racing game here (with more mass-market appeal than Mario Kart), a snowboarding game there (improve the 1080 franchise), and a few other things to draw in the casual gamers.

2) They should work that cool-ass Zelda demo from SpaceWorld into a game - something dark and awesome. I loved Wind Waker, it was a fantastic game, but unfortunately, the fact that it kicked ass didn't draw people in - they were first and foremost turned off by the graphics. If the game was identical to Wind Waker with 3D polygonal graphics that pushed the Cube to it's limit, it would have attracted many more people (and maybe lost a bit of it's charm). If there's one franchise Nintendo has that they could make look cool enough to appeal to the mass market without touching the essence of the game, it's probably Zelda.

3) They have to come up with something to rival X-Box live. A lot of games are getting sold based on X-Box live playability. X-Box live was set up really well, and Nintendo has plenty of games that would work well on a similar format. For starters, there are all of the sports games and stuff. Then there's Mario Kart, Smash Bros, 1080, Mario Party (maybe, if they can do something more original with the series), PSO, and maybe a few things they could either develop themselves or have other studios develop for the purpose of using such an online system.

4) Advertise the hell out of everything. Commercials on TV. Billboards. Trailers at movie theatres. Put slips advertising other games in EVERYTHING (like that RPG booklet they had in Mario & Luigi, that was pretty cool). They've got this whole system planned where buying stuff gets you points to get free stuff (or however it works) - if that comes to fruition, advertise the hell out of that, too. At the end of every ad, do something like "Don't forget to register it online to get points that will get you some KICKASS FREE STUFF!!!" Advertise it so much that it's burned into the brains of everyone who owns a TV.

Of course, that's just what I think they need to do. My opinions don't really matter much until I have a marketing degree, which I don't.

[evil intentions]

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General Chat / RE:"girls of gaming"

« on: January 09, 2004, 05:04:16 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: evil intentions
So...age does not matter. As long as they are Cute/HoT!!

That kind of thinking got Jacko in lots of trouble.

I don't think admiring game characters is necessarily wrong and/or strange until it gets to the point where you would prefer to spend time with drawings of a character than, say, a REAL person. Then it gets out of hand.

9

Nintendo Gaming / RE:What is Mario & Luigi like?

« on: January 09, 2004, 10:40:50 AM »

I think I prefer Mario & Luigi to being limited to just the Bros. It works out well. The battle system fits it perfectly (especially with the Bros. attacks). You don't have to worry about buying equipment for tons characters and then organizing them into a small party to decide which characters will work best in what dungeon. Not to mention extra characters would detract from the coolness of a lot of the dungeon areas. I especially enjoyed Joke's End, that was a great one.

But the game is just fantastic. The dungeons are well designed, the battle system is actually fun, the writing is great (Fawful is the king - "Princess Peach’s voice will soon be the bread that makes the sandich of Cackletta’s desires! And the battle shall be the delicious mustard on that bread! The mustard of your doom!"), the soundtrack fits perfectly, and you get to play as Luigi! Luigi rules.

Seriously though, the mustard thing rules, just like Hostile said.

10

General Chat / RE:Newbie Check-In ... right this way!

« on: January 09, 2004, 10:30:56 AM »

Bridget IS a he. Play Guilty Gear XX and he explains it. If I remember it right, I found out when playing through Chipp Zanuff's thing. He tries to pick Bridget up, and he promply informs Chipp that's he's a guy. Check it out here.

Anyway, I'm new, so I'll say hello now. Here it goes. Boy, this is huge.

*ahem*

Hello.