2976
General Gaming / Re: The Saboteur
« on: December 22, 2009, 07:13:46 PM »
I'm interested in the game as well, but definately after a price drop. The inclusion on in-game topless strippers (DLC) certainly tickles my...uh...fancy.
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2977
Movies & TV / Re: New Movies we should keep an eye out for!
« on: December 22, 2009, 06:09:12 PM »
Old hat, but it's a very funny story.
2978
Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« on: December 22, 2009, 06:08:37 PM »
Christmas with the Cranks: Geezus H. Christ/10
My wife rented it. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it was still pretty terrible. The one happy moment came when I found out that Jamie Lee Curtis still has a pretty kickin' bod for being in her 50's. Not quite as incredible as she looked in True Lies, but she's aged well, let's put it that way.
Otherwise, the film was a complete travesty.
EDIT: Oh, this is the TV thread. *sigh*
My wife rented it. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it was still pretty terrible. The one happy moment came when I found out that Jamie Lee Curtis still has a pretty kickin' bod for being in her 50's. Not quite as incredible as she looked in True Lies, but she's aged well, let's put it that way.
Otherwise, the film was a complete travesty.
EDIT: Oh, this is the TV thread. *sigh*
2979
TalkBack / Re: Sega Genesis Virtual Console Games on Sale
« on: December 22, 2009, 06:06:01 PM »
I already have Gunstar and I'm not a huge Sonic fan, so this list is a little lean to me, though Altered Beast is a possibility if only for the hilarity. RISE FROM YOUR GRAAAAAVE!
Still, it's interesting to see games going on sale on the VC. I pray this happens with increasing frequency.
Still, it's interesting to see games going on sale on the VC. I pray this happens with increasing frequency.
2980
Podcast Discussion / Re: Radio Free Nintendo: Episode 175
« on: December 22, 2009, 02:21:12 PM »
I'd at least like to see game soundtracks come to iTunes. I'm like TYP--I've got tons of game music on my iPod.
2981
Nintendo Gaming / Re: New Wii Zelda
« on: December 21, 2009, 09:09:35 PM »
So...PH/ST in th style of Link to the Past?
I'd actually buy that.
I'd actually buy that.
2982
Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Virtual Console Mondays Thread
« on: December 21, 2009, 05:40:29 PM »
Yeah, Cave Story too. Jonny's got me all hot 'n' bothered about that game.
2983
Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Virtual Console Mondays Thread
« on: December 21, 2009, 01:51:42 PM »
Wow. I'm tempted to get Smash Bros. just for nostalgiac purposes. But again I demand: Where the EFF is Castlevania Rebirth?
2984
Nintendo Gaming / Re: Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Oboro Muramasa Youtouden)
« on: December 21, 2009, 01:49:47 PM »
I'll definately buy this when it drops in price...which it will, because it's 3rd party, and appeals to a niche audience. $20 in 2010? A girl can dream!
2985
General Chat / Re: Brittany Murphy Dies
« on: December 21, 2009, 01:46:13 PM »
I'm guessing she died of starvation.
2986
Nintendo Gaming / Re: Advise me on a new Sudoku/Puzzle DS Game for my Mom?
« on: December 20, 2009, 06:18:11 PM »
I loved CrossworDS.
2987
Podcast Discussion / Re: NWR Newscast: Episode 7
« on: December 18, 2009, 08:57:09 PM »
I'll have to host again sometime, it was fun, though not nearly as professional as Mr. Andy keeps it.
2988
TalkBack / REVIEWS: Astro Boy
« on: December 18, 2009, 12:51:34 PM »
Come and experience Astro Boy's massive identity crisis.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20584
I've always liked to think of Astro Boy as being the proto-Mega Man. The little dude's got an arm canon and rocket boots, so he's basically the Blue Bomber with a Rush adaptor. You may also remember that Treasure made a wonderful Astro Boy game for the Game Boy Advance several years ago that pegged the original anime superhero in a bullet-hell horizontal shoot-'em-up. Astro Boy: The Video Game, adapted from the recent poorly received CG film, can't decide what it wants to be. It tries on all sorts of hats, including traditional platforming, beat-'em-up, horizontal shooter, and Gunstar Heroes-like boss fights, but manages to mangle them all. Astro Boy: The Video Game is an abomination that you should avoid.Hey, what's this machine gun sticking out of my ass?
Cons:
Awful combat Horrible platforming Borderline useless abilities Terrible shooter sequences
Graphics: 4.0
Sprite-based graphics with endlessly repeating enemies and palette swaps to indicate power. Backgrounds are devoid of detail or ambience., and Astro Boy looks wimpy.
Sound: 5.0
Music and sound effects are present, but they are very generic.
Control: 4.0
Astro Boy has terrible controls, with especially horrible ability activation and combat.
Gameplay: 3.0
You get shot a lot because your big-ass character can't block or dodge in any way. Then, you repeat the same level sequence a million times, and eventually punch and kick the giant mechanical bosses.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20584
I've always liked to think of Astro Boy as being the proto-Mega Man. The little dude's got an arm canon and rocket boots, so he's basically the Blue Bomber with a Rush adaptor. You may also remember that Treasure made a wonderful Astro Boy game for the Game Boy Advance several years ago that pegged the original anime superhero in a bullet-hell horizontal shoot-'em-up. Astro Boy: The Video Game, adapted from the recent poorly received CG film, can't decide what it wants to be. It tries on all sorts of hats, including traditional platforming, beat-'em-up, horizontal shooter, and Gunstar Heroes-like boss fights, but manages to mangle them all. Astro Boy: The Video Game is an abomination that you should avoid.
The story is unessential. A scientist creates a robotic version of his dead son. The robot realizes he's a robot, runs away, and hijinks ensue. Most often, these hijinks take place on a side-scrolling battlefield. Every five feet, a little stop hand flashes on-screen and Astro Boy is forced to battle a million robots before the go hand flashes. Astro Boy has an arm canon, but seems to prefer fisticuffs. Imagine any other arm-canon hero doing this: Samus Aran, Mega Man, Ash from the Evil Dead series. It's absolutely asinine, and doesn't work in practice. For one thing, it's dreadfully boring. You just pound on the punch and kick buttons until everything's dead. Some enemies shoot bullets at you that you simply can't avoid because you can't duck or block.
Oh, wait, there's also the ability meter. Each enemy you kill drops an orb. Collect enough orbs and a series of icons on the touch screen light up. The more orbs you collect, the more icons light up. These are single-use powers that include, but are not limited to, a defense boost, an offense boost, completely healing yourself, and using your arm canon (once). You can either double-tap an icon to use the corresponding power or tap the icon, then press A. Either way, it's time-consuming and awkward. Aside from that, using a power drains all or most of your orb meter, so you have to start from scratch to power up another ability. The only ability you can use at all times is your rocket boots, which function as a double-jump. Given their single-use attributes, you'd think that the arm canon and machine gun (which comes out of Astro Boy's assand he looks surprised) would be insta-kill weapons that clear the screen. They do not, thus blunting their effectiveness. The only power you'll be using consistently is the one that takes the longest to chargethe heal ability.
After fighting endless waves of robots, you'll come to infuriating platforming sections with moving floors and lots of spikes. You will die often in these areas, because the jumping and rocket-jumping are so imprecise that you will usually land on the spikes. This is as much a consequence of the jumping as the constantly zoomed-in camera, which denies any view of nearby dangers. Sometimes, the spikes merely damage you. Other times, they kill you outright. I especially love the rising and falling platforms that pass by turrets. Because you cannot duck or block, you just get shot outright for the entire ride.
After reaching an entirely arbitrary end point, you come to a horizontal shooter section. Astro Boy himself takes up an extraordinarily large portion of the screen. Enemies shoot his gigantic frame with wild abandon, and there's often very little you can do to avoid their shots. Imagine a bullet-hell game with Optimus Prime in vehicle form! It is here, and only here, that Astro Boy uses his arm canon as his default weapon.
There are some boss fights, too, and there's just something wrong about the idea of punching and kicking a giant mechanical threat instead of standing back and shooting your arm canon from a safe distance. I think you can see where things go wrong pretty quickly.
Do yourself a favor and hunt down the GBA game if you have an Astro Boy craving. Just ignore this pile, which is 100 percent pure, uncut shovelware.
Pros:
Cons:
Graphics: 4.0
Sprite-based graphics with endlessly repeating enemies and palette swaps to indicate power. Backgrounds are devoid of detail or ambience., and Astro Boy looks wimpy.
Sound: 5.0
Music and sound effects are present, but they are very generic.
Control: 4.0
Astro Boy has terrible controls, with especially horrible ability activation and combat.
Gameplay: 3.0
You get shot a lot because your big-ass character can't block or dodge in any way. Then, you repeat the same level sequence a million times, and eventually punch and kick the giant mechanical bosses.
Lastability: 1.0
The game lasts a few hours, but the gameplay is so messed up that you won't want to endure it. There are no unlockables, either.
Final: 3.0
Astro Boy: The Video Game is one of the worst games I've played all year. If you lust for Astro Boy-related gaming, track down a copy of Treasure's excellent Astro Boy: The Omega Factor for GBA instead.
2989
TalkBack / REVIEWS: Jurassic: The Hunted
« on: December 18, 2009, 08:37:23 PM »
Cabella meets Turok in this flawed first-person shooter.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20583
Its not secret 'round these parts that I have a fascination with all things prehistoric. I loved Ice Age 3 primarily on its merits, but also because it featured sequences wherein you could ride a Pachycephalosaurus. With that in mind, you would think that Jurassic: The Hunted would be something of a Holy Grail for me, in the same way that the original Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was. And it's pretty clear, right from the get-go, that Jurassic is going for the Turok vibe: a lone man lost in the jungle, surviving on his wits and a healthy amount of firepower. And even though it's initially a lot of fun, Jurassic: The Hunted gets bogged down by technical problems, and repetitious missions and dinosaur types.You get to shoot dinosaurs Competent control scheme
Cons:
Graphics are pretty horrible Very slow-moving character How many raptors do I have to kill Inconvenient checkpoints
Graphics: 5.0
This might pass as a mid-era PlayStation 2 game, but even then, Jurassic: The Hunted features pop-up, frame-skipping problems, a complete absence of particle effects, and a host of other graphical shortcomings.
Sound: 5.0
Your character sounds like a Gears of War reject. The ambient sounds of the jungle are interesting, but all the dinosaurs sound the same, and there's not really any music to speak of.
Control: 7.0
The control scheme is fine, but your character walks way too slowly, it's easy to spam the Adrenaline meter, and turning is a hassle. The tightrope segments are beyond awful, and they are far too common.
Gameplay: 7.0
An incredibly linear (follow the on-screen indicator!) and repetitious game that wears out its welcome quickly. What, they couldnt afford to model a decent mid-sized carnosaur as a regular enemy?
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20583
Its not secret 'round these parts that I have a fascination with all things prehistoric. I loved Ice Age 3 primarily on its merits, but also because it featured sequences wherein you could ride a Pachycephalosaurus. With that in mind, you would think that Jurassic: The Hunted would be something of a Holy Grail for me, in the same way that the original Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was. And it's pretty clear, right from the get-go, that Jurassic is going for the Turok vibe: a lone man lost in the jungle, surviving on his wits and a healthy amount of firepower. And even though it's initially a lot of fun, Jurassic: The Hunted gets bogged down by technical problems, and repetitious missions and dinosaur types.
The control scheme itself presents some awkward moments. For one thing, you reload with the + button, shoot things with B, and use A to interact with objects, which really means "trigger cut-scenes or load screens." The game is compatible with both the Wii Zapper and the ridiculous Top Shot in case you want an air of realism to your Jurassic safari. Jumping, a useless and imprecise motion, is mapped to the C button, and you can hold the Z button to look down the sight. The game's most interesting aspect is the Adrenaline meter, which activates with the - button. It briefly slows time and highlights the dinosaur's internal organs. The game utilizes a Call of Duty-like health system as there is no energy bar, and the more you're damaged, the more tunnel vision you develop until you die. The lack of a heads-up display apart from ammo and grenade indicators is refreshing and adds to the immersion.
Unfortunately, the game's technical shortcomings pull you right back out of the experience. The graphics are pretty terrible, featuring slapped-together textures and a color palette made up entirely of browns and greens. There are some impressive areas featuring glowing lava, but for the most part, everything looks very muddy all the time, even the dinosaurs. Speaking of dinosaurs, there are entirely too many raptors interspersed by the occasional badly-rendered Jurassic Park-style dilophosaur. Big bossasaurs are few and far in between, and when they do appear, they're so overpowered that it's hard to enjoy the battle. Your main mode of attack is to spam adrenaline and pray that you aren't bitten in half while it's recharging. Enemy motion tends to be jerky, as if key frames of animation are missing. Worse, your character moves will all the speed and grace of a musk ox. Walking straight forward is bad enough (there is no run button), but once you start strafing, your speed plummets.
While most of the game is pretty straight-forward in the shooter sense, a few stop-gap missions try to mix things up to varying success. There are some turret sections, which are entertaining as you must shoot down waves of raptors and pterosaurs while watching your overheat meter. In another missions, you must guard an empty, rickety base for no reason while raptors try to break in. The base has several windows that are being broken down, and you can run over and hold the A button to repair them. However, because the windows are quite far apart, you'll eventually be overrun, at which point you just stay alive until the arbitrary time limit ends. Finally, the game tosses tightrope mini-games in that have you walking across a narrow surface and balancing by twisting the Wii Remote. These sections are incredibly slow and it's way too easy to overcorrect.
Thankfully, the gunplay itself is pretty fun. The game features a ton of different weapons, each of which handles differently, so you'll switch your weapon based on the situation. Unfortunately, you must manually cycle through your available guns with the D-pad; there isn't any Turok-esque weapon wheel for quick selection. Like in The Conduit, grenades are tossed with the Nunchuk. It's the most organic part of the game, but because it's tough to accurately throw a grenade at a charging pack of raptors, you'll find few opportunities to actually use them.
As for the dinosaurs themselves, they lack character. Generic in design, it's virtually impossible to positively identify particular animals at the genus level. The developers did their best to differentiate Utahraptor from Deinonychus fromVelociraptor, but the little Asian dromaeosaur ends up looking like a compsognathid, and Utahs giant raptor looks like a scaled-up Deinonychus. Interestingly, that genus comes in two distinct colors (red and green) for no apparent reason. You'll catch glimpses of other Mesozoic sauriansbrachiosaurs, pterosaurs, and Jurassic Park-style dilophosaurs. 90 percent of your foes, however, end up being raptors. This gets pretty boring. To make matters worse, none of them have feathers. Also, many dinosaurs bizarrely teleport into the environment right in front of you.
I never thought I'd say this, but Jurassic: The Hunted is a dinosaur game I didn't really enjoy. I've certainly played better shooters, and the mere addition of dinosaurs doesn't amount to much when the vast majority of your opponents are raptors. Add poor production values and some technical shortcomings, and this ends up being one time travel trip to avoid.
Pros:
Cons:
Graphics: 5.0
This might pass as a mid-era PlayStation 2 game, but even then, Jurassic: The Hunted features pop-up, frame-skipping problems, a complete absence of particle effects, and a host of other graphical shortcomings.
Sound: 5.0
Your character sounds like a Gears of War reject. The ambient sounds of the jungle are interesting, but all the dinosaurs sound the same, and there's not really any music to speak of.
Control: 7.0
The control scheme is fine, but your character walks way too slowly, it's easy to spam the Adrenaline meter, and turning is a hassle. The tightrope segments are beyond awful, and they are far too common.
Gameplay: 7.0
An incredibly linear (follow the on-screen indicator!) and repetitious game that wears out its welcome quickly. What, they couldnt afford to model a decent mid-sized carnosaur as a regular enemy?
Lastability: 5.0
No multiplayer means that you are left to your own devices for as long as you can stand the game.
Final: 5.0
Jurassic: The Hunted seems like a can't-miss idea, but so did the last few Turok games, and we all know how they turned out. Skip this one and go play Dinosaur King.
2990
Nintendo Gaming / Re: New Wii Zelda
« on: December 18, 2009, 05:03:04 PM »
Yeah, I've only seen the Harry Potter movies (my wife drags me along) and I really can't stand the massive influx of deus ex machina in every goddamn movie. Most egregious example:
Oh noes! The giant basilisk can turn things to stone just by looking at them! Aha! That bird, which is immune to the stone gaze, has pecked out its eyes! Awesome! But oh, noes! Harry got bitten anyway! Oh, thank the lo'd! The bird's tears cure poison! But Harry can't get out of the dungeon. OH WAIT! THE BIRD CAN LEFT LIKE A MILLION TIMES ITS OWN WEIGHT.
This is the part where my head was hurting from all the facepalms.
Oh noes! The giant basilisk can turn things to stone just by looking at them! Aha! That bird, which is immune to the stone gaze, has pecked out its eyes! Awesome! But oh, noes! Harry got bitten anyway! Oh, thank the lo'd! The bird's tears cure poison! But Harry can't get out of the dungeon. OH WAIT! THE BIRD CAN LEFT LIKE A MILLION TIMES ITS OWN WEIGHT.
This is the part where my head was hurting from all the facepalms.
2991
Podcast Discussion / Re: Radio Free Nintendo: Episode 173
« on: December 18, 2009, 04:00:34 PM »
You know, I hate 1000 Wii Points sitting there after I got NyxQuest, and last night I got Star Fox 64 after hearing Jonny recommend it on an older episode of Radio Trivia Podcast. And hell yeah, it's fun. I don't really care for the dogfight missions, though. I've always had trouble with the Fortuna Star Wolf fight.
So what did I do? I just rescue Falco on Cornett and then head to the Y Nebula.
So what did I do? I just rescue Falco on Cornett and then head to the Y Nebula.
2992
TalkBack / Re: Green Day: Rock Band Announced
« on: December 18, 2009, 02:53:28 PM »
On the one hand, Green Day wrote and sang one of my favorite all-time songs: "The Time of Your Life."
On the other hand, "I WALK A LONELY ROAD, THE ONLY ROAD THAT I HAVE EVER KNOWN..."
On the other hand, "I WALK A LONELY ROAD, THE ONLY ROAD THAT I HAVE EVER KNOWN..."
2993
Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Club Nintendo Thread
« on: December 17, 2009, 06:26:44 PM »
NORTHWEST SYYYYYDE
I've got like 900+ coins and have NOTHING to buy with them. The new stuff is insulting. LOOK! CARDBOARD! The only thing I'd use my coins for is the DS card travel pack thing, because it looks cool. However, I fear that the interior is cheap plastic. I really wish I could get my hands on these things before I spend my hard-earned coins on them.
I guess that or the Wii Remote holders. But you know what? I have a DRAWER.
I've got like 900+ coins and have NOTHING to buy with them. The new stuff is insulting. LOOK! CARDBOARD! The only thing I'd use my coins for is the DS card travel pack thing, because it looks cool. However, I fear that the interior is cheap plastic. I really wish I could get my hands on these things before I spend my hard-earned coins on them.
I guess that or the Wii Remote holders. But you know what? I have a DRAWER.
2994
Nintendo Gaming / Re: Dead Space Extraction
« on: December 17, 2009, 06:24:06 PM »
I only ran into the one game-ending bug, where my dude just turned around, looked at a wall, and refused to continue. Maybe he got depressed.
2995
General Chat / Re: Halbred's Paleo-News Thread
« on: December 17, 2009, 06:22:59 PM »
RISE FROM YOUR FOSSILIZED GRAVE
Wow, it's been awhile. I've been on the job hunt, so I've been a bit busy. However, there's also been a dearth of worthwhile paleo stories. One did finally pop up, though:
Tawa hallae! It's a new neotheropod from the Late Triassic's Chinlea formation. It lived alongside Coelophysis, Vancleavea, Effigia, and lots of wierd crocodilian critters like Desmatosuchus. Anyway, it's one of the few early dinosaurs known from a complete skeleton. It shares a lot of features with coelophysoid theropods, but also more archaic herrerasaurids. This mixture of characteristics leads to several theories about where, exactly, Tawa fits into the Theropoda family tree.
Current concensus is that it's a basal "coelophysoid" theropod, but "coelophysoids" themselves are paraphyletic. More a grade than a family.
Anyway, you can read about it here: http://chinleana.blogspot.com/2009/12/new-late-triassic-theropod-tawa-hallae.html
The paper's in Science magazine, so it ain't free. I've got a PDF if anyone wants it, of course.
Wow, it's been awhile. I've been on the job hunt, so I've been a bit busy. However, there's also been a dearth of worthwhile paleo stories. One did finally pop up, though:
Tawa hallae! It's a new neotheropod from the Late Triassic's Chinlea formation. It lived alongside Coelophysis, Vancleavea, Effigia, and lots of wierd crocodilian critters like Desmatosuchus. Anyway, it's one of the few early dinosaurs known from a complete skeleton. It shares a lot of features with coelophysoid theropods, but also more archaic herrerasaurids. This mixture of characteristics leads to several theories about where, exactly, Tawa fits into the Theropoda family tree.
Current concensus is that it's a basal "coelophysoid" theropod, but "coelophysoids" themselves are paraphyletic. More a grade than a family.
Anyway, you can read about it here: http://chinleana.blogspot.com/2009/12/new-late-triassic-theropod-tawa-hallae.html
The paper's in Science magazine, so it ain't free. I've got a PDF if anyone wants it, of course.
2996
TalkBack / Re: REVIEWS: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash Up
« on: December 16, 2009, 06:12:16 PM »
Good point. While we're on this topic, I'm not entirely sure why the NES version of the Arcade Game (which had two exclusive levels) AND the original Arcade game AND the Manhattan Project (best one by far) aren't there either.
I can certainly see licensing issues with Turtles in Time now that Re-Shelled came out and the original on Xbox Live, but...the old NES games? Bring 'em to VC, Konami!
I can certainly see licensing issues with Turtles in Time now that Re-Shelled came out and the original on Xbox Live, but...the old NES games? Bring 'em to VC, Konami!
2997
Nintendo Gaming / Re: New Wii Zelda
« on: December 16, 2009, 06:08:37 PM »
Goddamn, that's funny.
2998
TalkBack / Re: REVIEWS: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash Up
« on: December 16, 2009, 02:28:36 PM »
Man, they need to get Tournament Fighters on the VC. Hell, they could do the SF2 thing and release every version ever made. NES, SNES, and Genesis. They were all different games--the SNES and Genesis games had different rosters, for example.
2999
Nintendo Gaming / Re: Modern Warfare Mobilized
« on: December 16, 2009, 02:24:30 PM »
I'm glad you liked the game, because I sure didn't (see my review that nobody read).
3000
Nintendo Gaming / Re: Blaster Master confirmed for VC
« on: December 16, 2009, 02:22:46 PM »
Just watched the TMNT videos. Shredder is fracking EASY, but the Technodrome looks like it's still ridiculously painful.
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