Messages

3526

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Which was better: GameCube or Wii?

« on: June 27, 2012, 08:55:33 AM »

There is no Wii equivalent to Skies of Arcadia Legend which I know is pretty much just a director's cut of a Dreamcast game but I'm counting it.

I wish that I could find a copy of this game at a semi-reasonable price. Baten Kaitos Origins too.


It's a shame that both Wii and GameCube had a limited RPG library, but the few RPGs they did get were littered with gems!

3527

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?

« on: June 27, 2012, 08:44:11 AM »

As far as RPGs go, how about Paper Mario?

I know people love the Mario RPG games, but I can't get into them. They are just too easy and too boring... even though the writing is clever and they have some fun ideas, they always fall flat for me.

3528

TalkBack / Re: The DS RPG Diet

« on: June 26, 2012, 10:38:53 PM »

The Infinite Space comment only makes me sadder that it's not part of the current Retroactive poll.   

3529

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?

« on: June 26, 2012, 09:58:02 PM »

Quest 64. *pumps fist*

And what's this about there being no third-parties on N64? Gauntlet Legends, Turok, The Bomberman Games, Chameleon Twist, Rogue Squadron, Duke Nukem 64, Mission Impossible... okay, so there's not as much as on the other consoles, but there were still some great third party gems on it!

Ogre Battle is the closet thing to a real RPG I could think of, but I never played the game during the N64 years.


As for third-party games, BattleTanx is all I need to say. That game - and its sequel - was epic fun with a full complement of people playing.  (Ok, maybe The New Tetris needs to be mentioned too.)

3530

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Which was better: GameCube or Wii?

« on: June 26, 2012, 09:51:17 PM »

...
Animal crossing was the same game from the GameCube right? Winner GameCube. That was just lazy.
...

Did you play the game on both systems? You could claim that the Wii version was a rehash of the DS version, and that would mostly be true. But the Wii version has a lot of differences from the GameCube original.


The most important of those changes were improvements to the controls that made the game much easier and more convenient to play. (Edit: In particular, typing messages and using menus were much more effective on Wii than with the GameCube; you could easily argue that it was just better user interface design instead of anything to do with hardware though.) Going back to the GameCube version now is slow and painful to say the least...

Personally I'd suggest no clear winner, but that's just my opinion.  But I'd also recommend the Wii version over the GameCube version 100% of the time if asked because of the greatly improved control scheme - so take this comment for what it's worth.

3531

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Which was better: GameCube or Wii?

« on: June 26, 2012, 09:34:27 PM »

Even if we count the Wii's backwards compatibility ...

I did my comparison of first party lineups but I notice some are bringing up third party games.  Well that REALLY tips things in the favour of the Cube.  Now we have to include Rogue Leader and the Resident Evil games on the Cube side and IKARUGA.

But we're talking the games output so including backwards compatibility is stupid.  Same with the VC and same with re-releases.  ...

You are talking in circles.


If you don't want to count remakes and re-releases then Resident Evil and Ikaruga don't hold any weight at all when arguing for GameCube.  But of course these games do count - access to good games always matters, always makes a console more appealing, especially when those games are improved in a meaningful way like the Resident Evil Remake.


That accessibility is also why Virtual Console has to count. It provides the only way for many people to legally experience gaming classics today - and without Virtual Console I wouldn't have had the opportunity to play dozens of classic games like Super Metroid, Rondo of Blood, and Monster World 4.

Though I do think its interesting that Regarding the Gamecube people are going for Different games compared to the Wii where a lot of people are just naming the same few.

...

Good time to throw this link out again:
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=38337.0


Same few?  People might be talking about the absolute best games on Wii - the games that are indisputable classics and going to represent some of the best games of this generation in their respective genres, but there is no lack of solid gaming on Wii.

If you want an comparrision list is terms of quality:

The GC has 156 games with an 75%+ rankings vs 97 on the WII.  Out of those, 52  on the GC recieved an 85% + vs only 25 on the WII?  (These numbers are from gamerankings.com in case you wondering).
...

These are interesting numbers, but more interesting is trying to decipher what aggregated review scores really mean.  Does having 6 Madden games rated 82 or higher make the GameCube a better system than Wii, which has only one scraping the 82 rating?  Guess that depends on how much you like Madden, and whether you agree with the reviewers in the first place...

3532

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?

« on: June 26, 2012, 08:46:38 PM »

This is a tough choice. The Wii vs GameCube fight is easy for me: Wii wins out on nearly all counts.  But with N64 vs GameCube I'm divided... N64 has a small number of truly excellent titles, where GameCube has fewer lasting classics but much better overall support.


In general, I look at GameCube and see a more polished experience of what was pioneered on N64.  Many of the games didn't seem to have the same impact because we had seen similar designs before, but the graphics and controls and sound effects were all improved.  In the end, that's enough for me to tip my hat in the direction of GameCube... but just barely.  If N64 just offered more diversity in the games library then it could've won this fight.  Unfortunately it takes more than first party excellence to really carry a system... plus, I can't think of a single RPG that I enjoyed on N64.

3533

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Operation Rainfall: Did it really make a lick of difference?

« on: June 26, 2012, 08:40:21 PM »

I feel like if they are truly happy with the sales they'd expand the availability to other stores like Best Buy and Amazon at least.

I saw the game for sale at Toys R Us (Canada) this weekend.  Does that count?

3534

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Which was better: GameCube or Wii?

« on: June 26, 2012, 03:50:56 PM »

The Gamecube was better because it had the best controller in human history, whereas in contrast the Wii had the absolute worst controller.

Strongly disagree. I loved having configurable control options, being able to play some games one-handed, and being able to move my hands around freely while playing. Also loved having pointer controls and a speaker on the remote.

Waggle almost balances all those positives out, but Wii still has a great controller and lazy development doesn't discount that.

The GC had backwards compatibility via the GB player peripheral. Not that that would fully offset the advantage the Wii has, but it counts for something. You can't hook the GB player up to your Wii, so the GC is the only way to go.

Also, even though the GC might not have a virtual console, it did let you play a lot of classic NES games through animal crossing and other means.

Kind of forgot about this, but it's a good point. The backwards compatibility with GB/GBC/GBA games is really a cool addition, if of somewhat limited use at this point. Makes me wish I owned more original GBA carts than I do...

I think you have to discount re-releases entirely.  The game counts for the system in which is was first released.  Twilight Princess is kind of a goofy one though so I would say it counts for both.
...

I disagree. When a re-release makes notable improvements, you need to factor that in and give credit to the system that offers the best game experience.  There is absolutely no reason for me to play Resident Evil 4 on GameCube when Wii improves on the experience in small but significant ways across the board.

Gamecube wins IMO.  Had tons of great core software from External Darkness, Tales of Symphonia, Emblem: Path of Radiance, and my favorite Rogue Squadron .

The only genre the WII did better than the GC was the 2D platformers and other "retro" games like Punchout. 

Eternal Darkness - Silent Hill, Cursed Mountain, Fragile Dreams
Tales of Symphonia - Tales of Symphonia Dawn of a New World, Xenoblade, The Last Story
Fire Emblem Path of Radiance - Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn, Shiren the Wanderer
Rogue Squadron - You got me here, that's one hell of game!

Riddle me this:
* - Monster Hunter Tri



*Edit: Phantasy Star Online, suggested above, is probably a good call on this one.  I never played the game for several reasons (cost, defunct servers, no modem) but bet it would've been great.  Of course, it's not hard to argue that Monster Hunter Tri is significantly better because it sidesteps all of those issues.  Even though online capabilities with Wii were a joke, they were a lot better and more convenient than what GameCube offered.

3535

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Which was better: GameCube or Wii?

« on: June 26, 2012, 03:34:26 PM »

Obviously, personal preference will affect which console people prefer.  So will environment and age at the time when the consoles were first available.  But I feel that Wii is far and away superior to GameCube.


Why?  Pure and simple, because of the games.


Wii has more games that I care about than GameCube ever did.  After buying essentially every GameCube title that I care about, I currently own 67 games. That's a great number, but significantly fewer than the 105 Wii titles (not including any WiiWare or Virtual Console games) that I own.  It's worth noting that some of the best GameCube games have been re-released on Wii, but unless the game was significantly improved I only own the GameCube original.  It's also worth noting that the Wii number isn't final - a handful of those games will be sold or traded away later, and a handful of different games are still on my "want to buy" list; those numbers roughly even out.


Wii also caters to niche genres that I enjoy better than GameCube. Rogue-likes, on-rail shooters, arcade conversions, fighting games, 2D side-scrollers, music games, party games, point-and-click... I have far more variety with my Wii library than I do from GameCube, even if it has fewer games in some traditional gamer genres.


Finally, Wii just offered bigger hits and improved classics.  What GameCube title could replace the hundreds of hours spent on Monster Hunter Tri or Xenoblade?  What GameCube title compares to the Super Mario Galaxy series or Donkey Kong Country Returns? How much better are Metroid Prime and Pikmin and Animal Crossing on Wii than in previous generations?  The one Nintendo franchise released on both systems that gets a solid "win" for GameCube is Zelda... everything else is arguably, if not clearly, better on Wii.


This doesn't mean that GameCube is a bad system or that it lacked software support. It was a great system that has some truly classic games. But if forced to choose between the two most recent Nintendo home consoles, there wouldn't be a moment of hesitation for me: Wii all the way.

3536

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Why Wii is a failure: there are no games worth playing

« on: June 26, 2012, 09:20:46 AM »

I think the problem with your argument is your list of games completely invalidates it.
...

A few quick clarifications:

• not my list - it was created by Nintendo Power, with the additional entries being games that people took time to speak out and say "hey, they missed one of my favorites"
• I wasn't really attacking the Wii, the title was just making fun of the common memes that Wii failed and is ignored and dusty because it lacks games
• my intent here was to list a bunch of great games and maybe encourage people to play something they might have missed out on

There wasn't really any "argument" presented.  It's just a big list of games, with some of my favorites (like the excellent but often forgotten Dawn of Discovery) not even included yet.

Interesting to see Cursed Mountain get some attention. I picked it up used for a few bucks a little while back out of vague curiosity. The setting and Buddhist themes are stand-outs, but the gameplay itself it sadly kind of dreadfully repetitive. I lost interest after getting about halfway through. Worth giving a spin for the horror game enthusiast, but I can't recommend it for general audiences.
...

I agree that Cursed Mountain isn't an easy recommendation for everyone.  It feels pretty old-school and will really only appeal to a small segment of the market who like the classic survival horror genre.  However... it's the type of game that a small set of people will enjoy immensely, which probably makes it worth trying given the low price.  (The setting and atmosphere are pretty sweet too!)


In some ways, it reminds me of Mushroom Men - another Wii title that is probably best described as "limited" but that I enjoyed a great deal and happily played to completion.

3537

TalkBack / Re: 8-Bit Summer Solves Most of My Issues with North American eShop

« on: June 26, 2012, 09:00:09 AM »

I'm glad that the games are coming, and very glad that Nintendo chose to grace us with names and dates instead of just expecting fans to sit through the month without knowing what is coming or when.

But a Virtual Console feast now doesn't make up for months of famine earlier. Worse, it makes me skeptical that we'll see anything except these Virtual Console releases - creating a drought of new 3DS eShop software - because I have no faith that Nintendo will cater to more than one market at a time.

I'm kind of bummed that we don't have an equivalent in Europe. Admittedly, arguably the best of those games have already been released on the Euro eShop, but still. It'd be nice to have a similar promotion.

Europe has an awesome set of sales going over the summer, and has had the best of the listed Virtual Console games available for months already. That doesn't help build much excited if you already own the games though. 


Hopefully you guys will get some of the eShop software that has been missing though, bringing the regions closer to parity.

3538

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Why Wii is a failure: there are no games worth playing

« on: June 25, 2012, 04:04:37 PM »

...  Another problem with the Wii is that motion control is ALL it has going for it... and I hate it.  ...

Many people lump motion controls and pointer controls into the same package.  While I'm ambivalent at best to motion controls that were all too often pushed into games haphazardly, I'm a huge fan of pointer controls when well implemented. There are a handful of Wii games that use them to excellent effect and couldn't be played elsewhere until Sony Move implemented a similar effect.


So yeah... unique controls and exclusive software probably is all that Wii had going for it.  Really is a shame that waggle was so commonly seen though.

3539

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Why Wii is a failure: there are no games worth playing

« on: June 25, 2012, 02:37:36 PM »

(No international shipping makes it tougher for some to get the limited edition of Cursed Mountain, but it's worth the effort in my opinion. I was able to replace my normal version with the limited edition by trading games on Goozex. Sadly that site has seen better days, but hopefully Canadians can find other ways to track down the game.)

3540

TalkBack / Re: Marvel Pinball 3D Hitting 3DS in North America, Europe on Thursday

« on: June 25, 2012, 02:10:27 PM »

As an owner of Zen Pinball on 3DS I would really have liked the option to buy individual tables as DLC. I'd like another table or two, but I don't really want to spend that amount again for another four tables. It's unfortunate.

I'm kind of torn here.  Loved Zen Pinball 3D and have no reason to doubt that Marvel Pinball 3D will be anything but good... but think I'd rather get DLC content (hopefully picking individual tables) for the original game instead of buying a separate game and splitting time between them.  The current lineup of Marvel tables doesn't really appeal to me either.


But in the end I'm sure that I'll own both anyway.   

3541

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Why Wii is a failure: there are no games worth playing

« on: June 25, 2012, 02:02:19 PM »

...  If something like Goldeneye 007 were Wii exclusive it would be a no-brainer, but since they also brought it to the PS360 why would you want the inferior Wii version? ... Yes, they are awesome games, and yes they are on the Wii, but the Wii version is always inferior.  ...

This is a fair opinion, but I can't agree that Wii versions have always been inferior.


Until recently, motion/pointer controls for Golf and Soccer and Tennis games have typically made Wii versions play better than their HD counterparts.  Preferred control schemes will often vary, but for any FPS title I'd take pointer controls over dual-analog in a heartbeat (and mouse/keyboard over pointer controls just as fast).  There is also the whole timing issue - HD re-releases of great Wii games won't necessarily phase me in the same way that Batman Arkham City on Wii U won't get me nearly as excited as when those games were first release.


It's also worth noting that the number of exclusives here is impressive - with many games that aren't exclusive being either the best release available or coming out on Wii years ahead of other platforms.


I guess the point is that when I look at that list, I see a lot of great software.  Period.  Some games have since been improved, and some could have been improved.  But there are a lot of games worth playing and a lot of games that still can't be experienced elsewhere.

3542

TalkBack / Re: Why Nintendo Direct Was Better Than E3

« on: June 25, 2012, 01:00:51 PM »

One thing that strikes me about this image is the background and how it illustrates what expectations are like for the different events.


Nintendo Direct: An online presentation that showcases a few "coming soon" announcements gamers might be interested in over the course of 20-30 minutes.


E3: The biggest annual gaming event in North America where all major platform holders and many notable software developers make key announcements about their plans for the coming year, spending many thousands of dollars (often more) on a week-long attempt to captivate the audience of influential media and industry personalities.


Maybe that is why Nintendo Direct exceeded expectations for many and came across as the "better" event.  Or maybe it's just because Nintendo spent too much of their E3 time talking about (a) old games already playable on other systems, (b) stuff that we already knew about, (c) casual games that we just don't care about.

3543

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Operation Rainfall: Did it really make a lick of difference?

« on: June 25, 2012, 12:47:25 PM »

I don't think that Operation Rainfall made any real difference in games getting released.


I also doubt that Operation Rainfall expanded the audience of gamers who were looking forward to these games from the start, or increased general (ie: not fanboys/gamers who are constantly looking for news online) awareness with the grassroots marketing efforts made.



However, I do think that their marketing helped to generate excitement about a group of Wii games that are clearly worth playing. Every time gamers are actually excited about a core-type experience on the Wii, that's great news and a great experience for everyone who allows themselves to get involved . Especially considering how little attention or support Nintendo of America has given core games over the past couple of years.

3544

Nintendo Gaming / Why Wii is a failure: there are no games worth playing

« on: June 25, 2012, 12:12:38 PM »

Nintendo Power recently released a list of their favorite Wii games, breaking down games into the following categories:

The Must-Haves:

• Donkey Kong Country Returns
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
• Little King's Story
• Mario Kart Wii
• Metroid Prime Trilogy
• Rayman Origins
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• Tatsunoko vs. Capcom
• Xenoblade Chronicles

The Should-Haves:

• Bully: Scholarship Edition
• Dead Space: Extraction
• Kirby's Return to Dream Land
• Klonoa
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• No More Heroes 2
• Punch-Out!!
• Sonic Colors
• Super Mario Galaxy 2
• Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

The Nice-To-Haves:

• Disney's Epic Mickey
• GoldenEye 007
• The House of the Dead: Overkill
• Kirby's Epic Yarn
• MadWorld
• Metroid: Other M
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii
• Rhythm Heaven Fever
• Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
• Sin & Punishment: Star Successor

Wow, that's lame. Hardly anything worth playing! And it gets worse. When a recent NeoGAF thread (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=479734) started looking at the list, people noticed a few of their favorite titles weren't included. Obviously opinions will differ about which games belonged where on the list, but people mentioned the following games as being key omissions:
From the NeoGAF forums:

• A Boy and his Blob
• Batman The Brave and the Bold
• Battalion Wars 2
• Bit.Trip Complete
• Boom Blox series
• Call of Duty series
• Cursed Mountain
• de Blob series
• Deadly Creatures
• Dokapon Kingdom
• Dragon Quest Swords
• Endless Ocean series
• Excite Truck
• Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn
• Geometry Wars Galaxies
• Mario Party series
• Mario Strikers Charged
• Metal Slug Antholgy
• Monster Hunter Tri
• Muramasa The Demon Blade
• Mushroom Men
• No More Heroes
• Okami
• Pikmin NPC series
• Pro Evolution Soccer series
• Red Steel 2
• Resident Evil 4
• Resident Evil Umbrella/Darkside Chronicles
• Rune Factory Frontier
• Samurai Shodown Anthology
• Shiren the Wanderer
• Super Paper Mario
• The Last Story
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour series
• Trauma Team/Center series
• Wario Land Shake It!
• WarioWare: Smooth Moves
• Wii Fit Plus
• Wii Sports
• Wii Sports Resort
• (some others... but I either got tired of writing everything down, didn't personally love the games as much as the people posting them, or decided to ignore the game because it wasn't released in all regions)

Anyway, no wonder the Wii was so poorly regarded this generation. There was just nothing worth playing.

Congrats to Nintendo Power for a pretty solid list of games, even if I personally don't think that Metroid Other M belongs up there with so many other great games available to take its place.  While it's easy to nitpick about what I would've done differently, it's hard to argue against that games selected and this provides a nice look back at the console.


(PS - How many of those games have you purchased or at least played?  I think that I've got 68 from this list... and many of the missing games are on my "buy eventually" list.)

3545

TalkBack / Re: 3DS XL FAQ

« on: June 25, 2012, 11:39:43 AM »

Chozo was the first reply and he asked a question that IMO is easy to answer. No 3DS model will ever have a second analog stick unless there is at least one game that REQUIRES a second analog stick (no game released or announced so far requires it).

It's a catch-22. No game will require the second circle pad unless enough people have one to make that feasible, which would only really be the case if it was built into a revision of the hardware.

Again, I'm fairly certain Nintendo is purposely burying the Circle Pad Pro, and that they don't want it to become widely used, and that's the primary reason you'll never see it built into the hardware.

Tend to agree.  Don't much like this move, and wonder how Capcom feels - or if they even care - as apparently the Circle Pad Pro accessory was largely a move to get them to release Monster Hunter on 3DS.


It's disappointing to see this happen when Resident Evil: Revelations and Monster Hunter both play better with the extra stick, and Metal Gear virtually requires it to be playable at all.  All of these games are already released in at least some regions.  They also represent the most "core" series on the portable at this point.  Why am I not surprised they get kind of screwed over?


(Again, it may be a good business decision by Nintendo because core games will probably always be a notably minority on their hardware.  My complaint is that it feels like Nintendo is actively changing "probably" into "certainly".)

3546

Podcast Discussion / Re: RetroActive #23 Poll: Second Chance Edition!

« on: June 25, 2012, 11:30:48 AM »

Interested in playing and talking about 4/5 games, and already own 3/5... fingers crossed for this poll.

3547

TalkBack / Re: Of Nerds and Men: The Thing With the Legs

« on: June 25, 2012, 09:12:21 AM »

Nice review! Despite being a board game enthusiast and having played a handful of different deck building games, I hadn't read or heard anything about Gamers vs Evil.  Sounds like a blast for fans of the source material.

3548

TalkBack / Re: Fatal Frame IP Now Co-Owned by Nintendo

« on: June 25, 2012, 08:51:14 AM »

Makes you wonder why North America only gets a short, gimmicky, spin-off title from the series instead of a mainline entry like Project Zero 2, doesn't it?  (Yes, I'm bitter and disgruntled.)

3549

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo of America Hosting '8-Bit Summer' on 3DS in July

« on: June 24, 2012, 10:46:21 AM »

Of Myths and Monsters is a different game from the NES game.

Indeed it is. Ignore my previous statement. I wasn't stopping to think, and just assumed that because the 3D Classics game was portable it was linked to Myths and Monsters instead of the NES original.

3550

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo of America Hosting '8-Bit Summer' on 3DS in July

« on: June 23, 2012, 09:57:16 AM »

I am planning on purchasing Wario, Kirby Pinball, and Kid Icarus.

Why not get the 3D Classics version of Kid Icarus?  It's improved all around according to most reviews.  I guess some people might have nostalgia for the original version, but I'd rather pay a little extra to have the "better" version.