Messages

3476

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Club Nintendo Thread

« on: August 06, 2012, 05:12:28 PM »

Fluidity (WiiWare) is back as a Club Nintendo reward. For a measly 150 points you can get one of the coolest original games on Wii. Very highly recommended for anyone who missed out the first time.

3477

General Gaming / Re: Munchkin

« on: August 06, 2012, 07:57:29 AM »

Meh... I'm not anti-Munchkin, but my opinion is a bit different.


The first couple of times you play are a lot of fun.  But the jokes get old (pretty quickly in fact), there is a lot less skill than luck, and tons of screw-your-neighbour cards usually mean the game takes way too long unless people get tired of blocking others and decide to just crown a winner.


Of course, all of the negatives can be trumped by playing with a group of good friends.  In that case "taking too long" usually isn't a problem and there is plenty of room to make up your own jokes.




Have you tried Munchkin Quest?  It adds a big board that you can explore, persistent monsters roaming around, and a bunch of other new features. Kind of like "super deluxe Munchkin RPG"... although some would argue that it adds content that doesn't really belong there in the first place.

3478

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

« on: August 03, 2012, 08:30:33 AM »

5 for $50 deal on Amazon led me to pick up:
  1) Star Fox 64 3D
  2,3,4) Nintendogs + Cats (Toy Poodle, Golden Retriever, and French Bulldog)
  5) Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2


I want to keep one of the Nintendogs and DQ Monsters, and hope to break even on the deal - or at least come close - by selling/trading the other games.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Petit Computer (DSiWare)

« on: August 03, 2012, 08:21:19 AM »

This is what I recently made with Petit Computer. A WIP obviously from the look of it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiX1dlvwwPg

First, this is incredible. Dare I ask how long it took to put this together?


Second, the death animation is awesome.  Totally cracked me up. 

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Club Nintendo Thread

« on: August 02, 2012, 02:59:07 PM »

All the options are 'meh' for me. I own all of those VC games and the non-game items are even more 'meh'.

Got a few more days to decide, I may go with the playing cards. Unless someone really wants one of the platinum items and will pay me for it. PM me if you are interested.

You should PM this guy:bam1991dbz

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TalkBack / Re: Golf Joins Club Nintendo as the Latest Downloadable Offering 

« on: August 02, 2012, 08:59:32 AM »

Uggh.  Been following this since they started and I'm still waiting for a game I want but don't own.  I was kind of interested in Starship Defender, probably should have bitten.

Totally understand this feeling. The recent eShop sales were a complete wash for me because I already owned everything that even vaguely interested me.  That's not Nintendo's fault though.  Club Nintendo rewards have been much kinder to me though: 8 games downloaded so far, with only 1 something that I was disappointed in.  That's a lot of gaming for nothing*, and great value if you ask me!


*(In this case, "nothing" means 1100 Club Nintendo coins.)

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General Gaming / Re: Ouya

« on: August 01, 2012, 02:12:49 PM »

Wow, I'm late to the Ouya party.

I really like the idea and am fascinated to see if it will materialize.  I'm tempted to Kickstart since the $100 price point would be easy enough to justify with limited return... but just don't have enough confidence that (a) this will really deliver at the $100 pledge point, or (b) any meaningful software support will be provided going forward.


To me it feels like one of the handheld emulation machines you see coming from China all the time - cool idea, neat hardware, but generally useless for most people and ignored after brief excitement at launch due to lack of original content.  Hopefully that's not the case here.

Best of luck to them, and if things work out then I'd definitely consider buying in the future.

3483

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Amazing Deals for 3DS, DS & GBA

« on: August 01, 2012, 11:07:04 AM »

Amazon.ca has an ok deal on right now.


Summer Video Game Clearance, with groups of games you can select from to buy 5 for $25, 5 for $50, and 5 for $100.  I wasn't really sold on the $25 or $100 options, but under the 5 for $50 they had a handful of respectable DS and 3DS titles including all of the Nintendogs games and Star Fox 64 3D - all games which are likely to hold some value for second-hand sales or as trade qualifiers. (Apparently Super Mario Land 3D was also listed but sold out.) At $10 each with free shipping, you probably won't find a better deal for these titles.


http://www.amazon.ca/gp/feature.html/ref=br_lf_m_1000820151_grlink_4?ie=UTF8&docId=1000820151&plgroup=4


Get Kingdom Hearts 3D for $10 at Future Shop by trading in a single (qualifying) game. The trick here is that qualifying games are relatively cheap and easy to come across. Notably Star Fox 64 3Di s selling at Amazon for $10 right now, and I saw James Noirs Hollywood Crimes and Lost in Shadow at Giant Tiger for $10 yesterday.


http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/category/trade-in-games/27603.aspx

3484

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

« on: July 31, 2012, 03:10:58 PM »

Yeah, I've seen Babysitting Mama go for that cheap couple of times... I just can't do it.  Although I did get the DJ Hero 1 with two turn tables for $10, which was about as useful of a purchase, I suppose.

For what it's worth, I rather enjoy the DJ Hero series and have strongly considered picking up a similar bundle just to have spare hardware.  In 5 or 10 years down the road it's unlikely that extra turntables will be anywhere near this cheap or easy to come across.

3485

Nintendo Gaming / Re: What's the problem with Community Nights?

« on: July 31, 2012, 02:37:58 PM »

I want to, and everytime I see that post for a Community night, I groan in envy.   9pm ET is 5pm in California, where I am.  While I would love it if my kids and my wife were asleep in bed at that time, that just will never happen.   I don't get any gaming free time until up 10pm Pacific, which would be 2AM ET.  Not fair to all you East coasters.   Can't expect you to drink coffee and munch on your Dunkin' Donuts waiting for my ass.
...

(Isn't there only 3 hours time difference between Eastern and Pacific?  Unless there is some form or daylight savings shenanigans going on that I don't know about.  I'm in the Atlantic timezone, and we are 1 hour off Eastern and 4 hours off Pacific.)


That said, time zones are always a big issue.  Especially when there are a good number of people on the site with jobs/families.

3486

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

« on: July 31, 2012, 02:31:38 PM »

The Dog Island (Wii)

For $3 used, and with recollections of someone at NWR swearing this game was quality even if it does look like a total overload of cuteness, I figured this was worth a shot.  Worst case, I've got a spare Wii game case and my daughter will enjoy the game for long enough to get fair value from my $3.  Best case I've grabbed a semi-hidden gem.
[Edit: Having now sat down and played with my daughter for an hour or so, this really is a great game for kids. Quality all around and near-terminal cuteness. Not much challenge and almost as much watching as actual playing... but that works to your advantage with young ones! Very pleased to have taken the chance on this one.]


After buying The Dog Island I didn't have quite enough left over to pick up Babysitting Mama (new, complete with baby) for $10... but that was sorely tempting. I still can't believe that game exists and want a copy for kitsch value alone.  Maybe another day.

3487

Podcast Discussion / Re: RetroActive #23: Wario Land 4 (Official Discussion)

« on: July 31, 2012, 11:38:35 AM »

I really loved Wario Land 4 the first time through, and even had fun when the ambassador games were first release playing through the game again. But I haven't been very motivated to go back for more and it's been a bit of drudge work trying to play enough to refresh my opinions about the game.

The levels were often clever and enjoyable but didn't seem to hold enough secrets that I wanted to revisit them. The bosses were a highlight for me because they provided the only real challenge in the game and took some trial and error to figure out (although you could opt to buy special helper effects to take the edge off these challenges and make getting key treasures much easier if necessary).  Mini games are a great way to earn bonuses during boss battles and a good reason to encourage coin collection, and even though the selection is small the quality is very good. That probably shouldn't be a surprise after playing the WarioWare series.

I do want to mention that the music and graphics were a lot of fun for a GBA title, and the story (what story there is) was presented well also.  It's a shame that the hidden "soundtrack" feature was such a lame troll.  Of the 10 hidden discs that were found in my last play through, only two approach something that I'd consider worth listening to at all... and I have no intention to go looking for others given how bad the already found tracks are.

One thing interesting about this game is how it fits into the Wario series.  The original Wario Land is still one of my favorite Game Boy titles, but offers an experience that is much different than what later games did.  The next two games get a lot of love from the NWR crew, and with good reason. The gimmick of having Wario be invincible but change forms based on interactions with enemies was neat and led to some interesting level design, but the games never really drew me in. Maybe due to the slow speed or limited screen size?  Maybe because those games are more linear, without allowing you to jump back and forth between different stages or easily replay your favorites? Or maybe just because I didn't play those games when they were new and looking back years later makes the design innovations seem less impressive? Regardless, Wario Land 4 feels much more modern to me. It's got a quicker pace as Wario feels more limber and responsive, still includes multiple "forms" of Wario available to play around with, and has fun level design as you race back through the levels to reach the exit.

Two things I wanted to mention that I really enjoyed:
(1) The lava level where everything freezes over at the halfway point and you end up racing back across a modified, ice-filled version of the level that you started in. Smart design and a fun level to play.
(2) The little archaeologist dude who only exists for you to abuse during the mini bonus stages. Good running gag to keep having Wario use him as the solution to the puzzle. I feel like they could've expanded on this more... but was happy with things as they are.

My lasting take away from this game is simply that Wario Land Shake It! on Wii did a wonderful job of refining the formula.  There are still issues with that game - I think that using coins for mini-games in Wario Land 4 is much more interesting than simply going to Syrup's shop, for example - but it generally takes all the design decisions from Wario Land 4 and improves on them.  Including different goals and challenges for each level was a particularly good advancement in the Wii game as it gave overt incentive to go back and replay the same stage multiple times.

Anyway, that's my take.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: What's the problem with Community Nights?

« on: July 31, 2012, 09:12:41 AM »

Is the Chat link in the menu bar new?  I just noticed it today (before checking this thread) and thought it was a neat idea worth checking out sometime.


There are two key reasons why I don't join Community nights:


First, I just don't own the right games. The only online-enabled 3DS game I own is Resident Evil Revelations, and I think the last time I owned a game that was getting played was Excitebots - a game that doesn't really appeal to me anyway. (Part of this is probably because I typically don't enjoy online gaming; Monster Hunter and Counter Strike are the only exceptions that come to mind.)


Second is that I have a new baby and family responsibilities that make it tough to dedicate time to gaming in the evenings. It's possible to get "time off" when I leave the house for an event, but saying that I'm busy playing video games with friends does not go over well when my wife wants help with a crying baby.

3489

TalkBack / Re: New Super Mario Bros. 2 Developers Explain Golden Coin Influence

« on: July 30, 2012, 12:43:51 PM »

From a development aspect, I can see how the golden coin idea came about. But I'm still curious to see the in-game justification. Why does Mario care about getting a million coins?


My bet is that he needs to pay off Wario or is responding to some sort of blackmail scheme.  Of course story and motive aren't big factors in most Mario games... but it would be nice to see this game have some echoes of Super Mario Land 2 with Wario once again taking on the "villian" role.

3490

Nintendo Gaming / Re: What will you do with your Wii after you buy a Wii U?

« on: July 30, 2012, 11:07:46 AM »

My Wii is safe for a bunch of reasons, even if I do decide to buy a Wii U eventually. 

• Convenient to have an extra NetFlix box.
• Doubles as a GameCube (and I've still got a nice GameCube backlog to enjoy).
• A handful of fun Wii games require the GameCube expansion ports - for example, the Wii DDR games.
• Having a Wii with GameCube control options benefits some games due to comfort and functionality. Also, 8-player Bomberman Blitz anyone?  So far I haven't seen that option on Wii U.
• Imports.  Maybe this will change on Wii U eventually, but at the moment the Wii is much more import-friendly than it's successor.  (Yay for Fatal Frame.)

However, one of the biggest reasons to keep the system is just because there is almost no value in selling it at this point in time: so why bother?

3491

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

« on: July 24, 2012, 11:08:12 AM »

Petit Computer, DSiWare.


It's awesome.  BASIC, but awesome.  Will I ever create something worth sharing? Probably not... but playing around with the tool is great and there are some very interesting and impressive programs already available through QR codes.

3492

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Petit Computer (DSiWare)

« on: July 23, 2012, 08:15:12 PM »

I am rather frustrated by the method they want us to have assets for our programs. It is nice that they give us the option to LOAD stuff like CHR, MEM, etc, but why must they include that awful sound accompanied by that command?

SYSBEEP=FALSE

Give that a shot before loading the resources.

3493

TalkBack / Re: Club Nintendo Offering Bonus for New Super Mario Bros. 2 Download in North America 

« on: July 21, 2012, 10:25:16 AM »

I'm with Neo Thunder. I know many people will buy the digital version, and that's cool... but I wonder how many people who weren't already planning to buy (or were at least on the fence) really consider 50 Club Nintendo coins a meaningful incentive.  While a nice idea, the coins don't translate into much real world value.

3494

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Petit Computer (DSiWare)

« on: July 20, 2012, 03:12:24 PM »

This seems pretty cool as an introduction to programming for someone who's never done it before. even though basic isn't used anymore afaik the skills could be transferable to other languages

I've heard mixed reports about this. Some people swear that learning anything other than OOP paradigms from the start is a waste and actually makes it harder for people to "do things right" later.  I think that's overstated BS, personally... but everyone is allowed to have their own view on the matter.


The only downsides as an introduction to programming is that Petit Computer doesn't really give you any goals or workshops to start learning with. It has a decent user manual, but focuses only on reference material and not really teaching anything.  So if you want to use this as an self-taught introduction then be prepared to get creative, experiment when things don't work, and find outside references to help get some ideas. (Reading and updating code from other programs is really useful too.)

3495

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Game and GameStation's contradictory 3DS XL offer

« on: July 20, 2012, 12:25:20 PM »

I don't get it. What's the actual story here: Game employees being slightly clueless and trying to sell you on something that is clearly a worse deal for you, or you buying their lines?  Cancel your preorder and get someone who knows how to do the promotion properly.  End of story.




(By the way, do you even need wifi for the 3DS transfer?  I thought that only system-to-system wireless access was required, which is freely available out of the box.)

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TalkBack / Re: The Great Pre-Wii U Backlog Saga

« on: July 19, 2012, 02:59:35 PM »

Great article, but I disagree with this statement:

"No one just wakes up and decides they'll buy dozens and dozens of videogames they won't find the time to play."

That is almost exactly what happened to me with the Wii generation. I knew that I had more time and money at this point in my life than I was going to anytime in the near future, and took advantage of that to build a huge backlog of games.  Now I've got a full shelf of games with many that have only been lightly played if at all.  Granted, there are probably only a dozen or so titles left that I would consider "must play" games... but having a sizable backlog isn't a burden for me. It's a blessing, and insurance that I'll be happily gaming for years to come.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Download - July 12, 2012

« on: July 19, 2012, 02:21:37 PM »

I'm totally geeking out about Petit Computer - far more than I should be, at least.  Even started a forum thread to discuss/share resources and programs:
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=38578.0

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Nintendo Gaming / Petit Computer (DSiWare)

« on: July 19, 2012, 01:51:45 PM »

Interesting release on DSiWare this week - an actual dev studio of sorts that allows users to create programs in a version of BASIC. Hobbyists and people interested in banging out their own content will likely find this curiosity worth grabbing, although the app is somewhat limited in scope... it is just a simple BASIC development tool after all, not a full DS dev-kit. But being able to create your own content and then share with others via QR codes is pretty cool.


I'm starting this thread as a place to share resources and (hopefully) programs that NWR users create.  But first, here are some links to tools and samples that anyone working with Petit Computer might be interested in:

• Petit Computer, official website -- http://www.petitcomputer.com/
• PTCUtilities, unofficial PC/Mac editing suite -- http://micutil.com/ptcutilities/top_e.html

• Trek, a port of the old Star Trek BASIC game -- http://www2.u-netsurf.ne.jp/~ozawa/startrek/startrek.html

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TalkBack / Re: Xseed Confirms The Last Story North American Release Date

« on: July 11, 2012, 08:33:24 PM »

Will this game live up to its name and truly be the Wii's "last story"?

Hopefully not. There are at least two other stories worth telling (or playing) before Wii is done.  Fingers crossed for Project Zero 2!

3500

TalkBack / Re: Project Zero 2: Wii Edition Review

« on: July 10, 2012, 09:03:09 AM »

this is the reason you should buy the special version for the original Xbox insted(from the ign review):

I love the First-Person mode, because it not only solves control issues, but it works perfectly for Fatal Frame II. This is a horror game, one that needs you fully involved, to be completely wrapped up in game, so that it can then scare your boxers off. If there is a Fatal Frame III -- and I'm pretty certain there will be -- first-person should be the only option. You really get a great sense of perspective and because your field of vision is more limited, it's a lot easier to get surprised by the sudden appearance of a ghost

I have no doubt that the first-person view works well, and if it solves control issues that are present otherwise then that could be a big deal. But I'm not sure that I buy this argument.


Ultimately, getting caught up in the scary experience relies more on story than viewpoint. Take scary movies as an example: I don't need a first person view to make something scary - in fact, there aren't many examples that spring to mind where a first-person viewpoint is (a) an improvement, or (b) more than a limited gimmick*.


There have been a spate of first-person horror movies recently, yet I haven't seen one that I particularly enjoyed or care about enough to re-watch.  Maybe it's not fair to let that experience throw me off wanting to play a horror game from a first-person view - games and movies are significantly different, after all. I just can't shake the feeling that moving to first-person is a lazy way to try and avoid fixing what's really lacking though (controls in this case, often special effects budgets when talking about movies) and that improving the story is almost always a better solution to making players feel more engrossed by the experience.


*Not saying it's necessarily a bad gimmick. It can work extremely well in some cases... Halloween comes to mind. But generally that's not how I like to experience my horror.