Messages

1201

Nintendo Gaming / Re: What's going on with 3DS sales?

« on: March 24, 2017, 11:26:28 AM »

Maybe worth noting that the https://store.nintendo.com site has a few good sale prices for 3DS/Wii U games.
I'm keen on Bravely Second End Layer and Captain Toad Treasure Tracker (w/Amiibo) for $26 each - but can't get the site to let me log in so will probably pass. Nintendo making it hard to give them your money, not a first. 

1202

Nintendo Gaming / What's going on with 3DS sales?

« on: March 24, 2017, 10:06:33 AM »

Can someone explain this to me? Last year there were reduced prices for Black Friday, and my understanding was that was supposed to become the new "normal"... but here in Canada it's still $240+tax for a New 3DS XL, while the normal-sized units aren't really that much cheaper.  There also seems to be a limited amount of stock available, with it being common to find shortages both online and in stores over the past few months.


Is this pricing scheme in place to drive interest for Switch, since that much money is almost certainly better spent there?  Are the New 3DS units just selling so poorly that they are afraid to discount them, or maybe so well that they don't feel any need?


I've been keen to replace my broken unit, but not when the cost is so high. Should I continue waiting for a sale, or just bite the bullet?  Maybe I should grab a 2DS system now (since they are much more affordable) and hope to upgrade to a New 3DS later?


Ugh...

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TalkBack / Re: Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night Official For Switch, Cancelled For Wii U

« on: March 22, 2017, 09:47:22 AM »

Sad but not surprised. Everyone should have seen this announcement coming.


Still keen to see how the game turns out - Bloodstained has looked really good so far, but KickStarter has a way of disappointing.

1204

TalkBack / Re: Expansion Pass Announced For Breath Of The Wild

« on: March 10, 2017, 07:30:13 PM »

I'd like us to progress a little bit quicker... but tonight was 15 minutes of cutting grass, then a bunch of cooking, then running out of ingredients so we took a break to find more so we could cook again...


At some point I'm going to start playing without the kids. But they are loving it, and it doesn't make sense to get too far in before leaving for a business trip. For now, I'm good with the snail's pace approach.

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

« on: March 10, 2017, 02:19:12 PM »

...
(2) The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II (Vita) - Couldn't turn down a relatively cheap, used physical copy of this game. Like the series well enough and Vita games are becoming harder to track down. There are still a few on my "really want" list... but this purchase makes that list one game shorter.

And today, the first game from the Trails of Cold Steel series arrived. Much sooner than I had expected. 

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (Vita) is now happily on my shelf, sharing it's lovely Lionheart deluxe box with the first game. Was delighted to grab a fresh copy off Amazon.ca for $30 CAD, which seemed pretty reasonable all things considered. It's a shame that the third entry is planned to be a PS4 exclusive.


Only Odin Sphere remains from the list of Vita games that I really want to own before they disappear.
It's been a very good couple of weeks for new games arriving... now to get back to playing.

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TalkBack / Re: Expansion Pass Announced For Breath Of The Wild

« on: March 10, 2017, 12:27:47 PM »

I like BotW so much that I sort of just paid for this without asking questions and actually tried to shove some more money into the game slot on the console. I don't really know what I'm doing anymore, just please give me more of this game Nintendo!

I can get behind this. When you really like something, it's worth supporting.
(That said, three days in and we've only played like 2 hours - mostly spent climbing trees and trying to catch fish with my kids. Not sure I need more content. At this rate we'll be playing for years...)

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TalkBack / Re: RIME Delayed Slightly For Switch; Physical Version Announced

« on: March 08, 2017, 01:41:24 PM »

Releasing on Switch late and at a higher price is a bad combination - easy to predict this will sell poorly as a result unless the game reviews extremely well. Even then, why wait long and pay more if you have any other option? If it doesn't review well then the most expensive version is going to be instantly dismissed by gamers.


Kairon has a good point about the price of cards versus discs though. I'm not against paying a few dollars more for a preferred version if the game releases at the same time, and getting a built-in option for portable play is a nice added feature.

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TalkBack / Re: Mario Sports Superstars (3DS) Review

« on: March 08, 2017, 11:17:33 AM »

As someone who didn't buy the previous Mario Tennis or Golf games on 3DS, this sounds more appealing than the final score suggests. Stripped down versions of those games packaged with a few other diversions for good measure sounds good enough for my casual interest in the Mario Sports series.


Hmm... but probably after a price drop, if one ever happens. (There is a reason I didn't bother buying the full Tennis or Golf games, after all.)

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch/Wii U) Out now!

« on: March 08, 2017, 08:36:16 AM »

Played an hour of the game last night with kids, just wandering around the world until we died a couple of times (once falling off a cliff, once due to finding a creature that defeated us in one hit). Won't get to put any real time in for the next week and half because of upcoming business trip - so going to wait to get started in earnest until I'm back.


Not likely to jump into this thread because spoilers seem to be all over the place (lots of spoiler tags covering content, but I'm going to assume not everything will get covered). Kind of disappointed about wanting to play along but feeling like I'm already hopelessly behind... oh well.


First impressions:
* Mixed feeling about the graphical approach early on. Think I like the way this world looks in screenshots better than in motion... something about the lighting feels off to me. Suspect I'll get used to it quickly and that the style will hold up well over time.
* Love having just an open world you walk into, although having no real idea where to start is a bit intimidating after so much hand-holding in previous games.
* Love climbing trees. No real reason for that, just think it's fun to do.
* Love how the world feels dynamic. Little things like burning dead grass or rolling boulders. Lots of small environmental puzzles seem possible (and I've seen at least one early example already).
* Glad to have avoided most coverage so far, as I enjoy walking into the game without any expectations or ideas of how the world works; figuring out what's what and how to survive is going to be fun.


Hope everyone here is enjoying the game. Seems like it's going to provide a lot of entertainment.

1210

General Gaming / Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?

« on: March 08, 2017, 08:25:13 AM »

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)

Great game. For anyone who hasn't played one of the Mario & Luigi series before, the series consists of cute and humorous RPGs set in the Mario universe. Battles are turn-based but allow you to dodge attacks (or do extra damage) by jumping or counter-attacking with hammers at the correct time. Gameplay is tight, but both very linerar and easy. Much of the value comes from humor and presentation instead of deep strategy (although the leveling up system does allow you some customization in where you put extra points).

Comments about this specific entry in the series? The writing and localization work is very entertaining, and does a great job of introducing new characters to the Mario universe (and Fawful makes appearances later, so is probably worth playing just for that bit of story background). Setting the game in the bean kingdom instead of the mushroom kingdom seems disappointing initially, gives lots of room for wacky story-telling and still feels familiar enough to be completely entertaining. There were a couple of odd moments where I needed to upgrade weapons to progress and didn't really know where to go without moderate wandering - in a game this linear, that felt awkward.

Highly recommended, even though I think that Bowser's Inside Story remains the pinnacle of the series.


Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze (Wii U)

I've made my feelings about Tropical Freeze pretty well known in the "now playing" thread. To summarize, I'm not a fan. Game has way too many moments of pure platforming BS to be enjoyable, although it does look and sound very good.

Got this game as a Club Nintendo reward. Wish they would have sent out a soundtrack instead... but can't argue with free.


That's two games down in one day (although both have been in the works for a good while to get to this point). Guess that makes room to start playing Zelda next, and something on my PSP for the upcoming business trip. The Warriors maybe?

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

« on: March 06, 2017, 09:46:20 PM »

Bought some new games for the backlog:
* Mega Man Legacy Collection (3DS) - big fan of the series and have had my eye on this one for a while
* Legend of Hereoes: Trails of Cold Steel (Vita/PSTV) - keen to pick up some Vita RPGs while they are still available/affordable; already own the second game, so grabbing the first one and Odin Sphere (currently on backorder) were at the top of my list; will be a while before it arrives though
* Skylanders: Superchargers (Wii U) - picked up for my little guy who is having a birthday this month; great series to play with kids and this will probably see play much sooner than the others


Oh, hey! If the tracking it trust-worthy, my copy of Breath of the Wild (Wii U) is finally going to arrive today. Has anyone heard if it's a good game?

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TalkBack / Re: Bloodstained Moving To Switch?

« on: March 06, 2017, 08:57:06 AM »

Still very excited to see how this project turns out. Despite being disappointed that I won't be able to play if it moves away from Wii U, this move makes sense and seems to be what most people expected anyway.

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TalkBack / Re: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) Review

« on: March 04, 2017, 09:11:27 AM »

Never mind. Amazon did overestimate their shipping. My copy of Zelda just showed up. Looks like I've got my weekend planned out now.

Aww... Now I'm alone in my sadness...
 
Well, almost alone. Ian Sane is unintentionally keeping me company.

Oh well.  I'd almost rather wait until after my business trip to start anyway, since otherwise I'd just get nicely into the game before leaving town.

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General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: March 03, 2017, 07:39:29 PM »

Didn't think I could enjoy Tropical Freeze any less... but now I've hit the ice levels at the end of stage 5 and start of stage 6.  Whoever thought that making momentum and controls even worse in a platforming game like this deserves a stiff slap with a halibut.


Glad I got this game for free from Club Nintendo, because the idea of paying for this (admittedly quite pretty) dreck would drive me nuts. Not enjoying my time with the game at all, but too stubborn to quit.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Three... Weeks... 'til Switch day!!!

« on: March 03, 2017, 08:58:45 AM »

Switch looks really cool. Here's hoping it sells well and actually gets some third party software support - although I'm not  holding my breath on that second point.

...
Just to quickly add, firstly this thing is a lot smaller than I was expecting, and secondly, it is seriously awesome. I'm already in love with it.

Insane!

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TalkBack / Re: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) Review

« on: March 03, 2017, 06:36:52 AM »

That's what you get for not buying a Switch. If you got one of those you'd be able to play Zelda in a few hours.

Only true if I bought a copy of the game in-store.  Everytime I preorder a game online, it's at least a week late.
C'est la vie!

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TalkBack / Re: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) Review

« on: March 02, 2017, 09:55:53 PM »

According to an e-mail from Amazon, my Wii U copy is supposed to arrive sometime from Mar. 10 - Mar. 16...

I feel your pain. My copy (from Best Buy) is slated to arrive by the 9th according to latest tracking info, and then I'm out of town for a business trip the following week. At least it was a good price: got $20 CAD off thanks to pre-ordering in Nov 2015.

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TalkBack / Re: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) Review

« on: March 02, 2017, 11:02:55 AM »

Dang it!  I was really hoping this would be as good as Kirby's Epic Yarn. Hope there's still time to cancel my preorder.

Eh, they can't all be winners.


This might be the rare time I actually play a game when it's new instead of adding it to my backlog and only starting years later.  Maybe.

1219

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

« on: February 28, 2017, 07:19:31 AM »

I need new friend in life. Finding people who can appreciate a competitive game of Dokapon are hard to come by.

It's a hard sell. The game is very long for a party game, and doesn't seem all that exciting when you first start playing as player options on a single turn are limited. But if your friends commit to a full game, they'll learn that it gets better (and nastier) the longer you play. By the end, griefing knows no bounds and the game is truly hilarious.


Or maybe that was just how it went here, and the games you guys played were friendly matches?

1220

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

« on: February 27, 2017, 09:27:27 PM »

Felt kind of bad getting rid of Dokapon Kingdom, Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn, Shiren the Wanderer, and Castle of Shikigami III... but slimming down my Wii collection a little bit won't hurt and the pricing was fair (I think) for both sides.

But but but but you're supposed to be my Wii buddy on here! :/

I'll always be your buddy, and Backloggery lists me at 202 Wii games... can I still be in the club?  You'll let me come over and play Dokapon sometime right?


Seriously, I think Wii is my favorite system ever.

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TalkBack / Re: RIVE Officially Moved To Switch

« on: February 27, 2017, 01:00:03 PM »

This is the first time I've felt bad that I'm not getting a Nintendo Switch.

1222

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

« on: February 25, 2017, 09:58:45 PM »

I just sank $600 into buying the rest of what I need for my PC after getting a $400 GPU for christmas, so... after I finish building this beast, I have quite a bit of gaming to do of games I got but my PC couldn't handle before it died.

I'd love get a basic gaming PC but would be building from scratch and am concerned about costs. Posts like this terrify me.


What will you be playing on that beast once it's fully operational?

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

« on: February 25, 2017, 06:15:56 PM »

Please tell me you didn't trade in Radiant Dawn for less that $100. That is a super rare game that you could probably sell on eBay for a lot of cash. If you did this at Gamestop I guarantee you got ripped off and should run back and reverse the trade, last I checked you could do that a short bit after doing the trade.

Also heard Dokapon Kingdom is also rather hard to come by.

Deal was $200 CAD+Pokemon for the four Wii games. Definitely not max value for me, but I have my reasons - only paid $50 CAD for all games combined back in the day, was happy to hang out with a friendly local gamer and give him a bit of a deal, and prefer cash in my pocket to the hassle of online sales.

Dokapon Kingdom is probably the only game I feel bad about selling. It's kind of awesome. Wii has lots of party games, but nothing else quite the same.

Fire Emblem is fantastic, but with so many games from the series now coming out I'm never going back to replay it. If there weren't so many 3DS games getting released I would have had a harder time letting go.

Shiren and Castle are both fine games... but my backlog is stuffed to the brim with fine games. Still considering getting the Vita Shiren as replacement (it's cheaper than what I sold the Wii game for) but will probably pass.

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

« on: February 25, 2017, 02:13:30 PM »

Traded some of my old Wii games for a copy of Pokemon Alpha Sapphire (3DS) plus some cash.


Felt kind of bad getting rid of Dokapon Kingdom, Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn, Shiren the Wanderer, and Castle of Shikigami III... but slimming down my Wii collection a little bit won't hurt and the pricing was fair (I think) for both sides.

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General Gaming / Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?

« on: February 23, 2017, 08:09:08 AM »

So I just finished all the endings in 999 for the DS.  ...

So I ended up using a walkthrough in the end to get the proper ending.  ... 


I am now very interested in playing the sequel as I'm curious to see how the story connects to the first game.  Plus getting to play some new puzzles in the true ending after following a faq to repeat sections I already beat for a little while reminded me of how much I enjoy this gameplay the first time around and I'm now hungry for more.

Nice job!


When playing the game, I also used a walkthrough after failing to stumble onto the "true ending" after several playthroughs. It diddn't seem like the game gave you any real clues about how to find the correct path - or if it did, the clues were too subtle for me to notice.


I think the first game had the best (and most insane) story, but there are significant improvements in gameplay with later titles in the series. The second game introduces a sort of conversation "map" so that you can jump into different threads of the game without having to replay from the beginning each time - a huge improvement. Definitely worth doing in my opinion.