Messages

3226

Nintendo Gaming / RE: New Miyamoto Interview

« on: September 13, 2005, 12:25:28 PM »

Personally, I love Charles Martinet.  His take on the Mario characters is funny, though I can see why others don't like it.  I hate pretty much all of the other voice acting in the series, but I can live with it for the most part.

3227

Nintendo Gaming / RE:anyone else think nothing exciting will be shown at TGS?

« on: September 13, 2005, 12:09:35 PM »

Yeah, it's possible Nintendo will show nothing, and that's not really out of character for the company.  It's still very tentative, I've heard things like they want to show something.  Taht means that they won't unless they believe it's "good enough"  In some ways that's good, look at the backlash against Xbxo 360's initial launch.  On the other hand, people seem to be getting genuinely hyped about the system as it comes closer, I guess you can reverse first impressions after all.  (And let's be honest, a large percentage of gamers are only starting to learn about Xbox 360 now).

I think Nintendo should show something for the same reasons as Ian.  Nintendo needs to give gamers a reason not to buy a 360.  I still don't think multi-system gamers are common enough for Nintendo to rely on people buying both its machine and someone elses, so it needs to get people interested before Xbox 360 is launched.

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Reader Reviews / RE: Killer7

« on: September 09, 2005, 08:27:15 AM »

Yeah, I love the Maxx too.  - Back on topic...I was a little too wishy washy in my last note - everyone must play this game.  I still don't recommend it as a must buy, but it's a title that demands to be played at least once (well, assuming you're old enough!)

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: STar Fox assault vs adventures

« on: September 09, 2005, 08:22:18 AM »

Personally I loved what I played of Star Fox Adventures, but I went in expecting a Rare game, not a Star Fox game.  I got what I expected.

I think that might have had an effect on reviews too.  People were lenient on Adventures or hard on Assault (depending on how you want to look at it) because one was a different type of game for the series while the other can be directly compared.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: THQ Support...

« on: September 09, 2005, 08:06:26 AM »

Totally Horrible Quality has been around for a while...I think they did the Ren & Stimpy games, which I ate up, on the Super NES.  

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General Gaming / RE: Something about Xbox 360 to be announced on the 27th??

« on: September 09, 2005, 08:03:04 AM »

I think that anyone who can't put together a game in 9 GB is a lazy dumbwad, but I guess that's the way things are going in this industry.  Save us Nintendo!

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General Chat / RE:This month is Iwata Month, and there's nothing you can do about it! (IWATATON!)

« on: September 09, 2005, 07:57:23 AM »

BEACH PARTY Iwata!!  "The Vacation Begins Now".  Accessories sold seperately.  

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Reader Reviews / RE: Super Mario Brothers

« on: September 08, 2005, 06:41:08 AM »

You guys are all wrong!  This game is TEH INNOVATION.  No other game lets me jump on mushrooms like this does.  And the gameplay is incerdable, I ran on the two pillars and jumped super long!  It took me 93 tries.  Fighting the same guy in each level builds character, and XP.

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Reader Reviews / RE: Killer7

« on: September 08, 2005, 06:35:50 AM »

I rented Killer 7 lately, and it was definitely interesting.

Not being a huge fan of violent games and also being a little annoyed with the game design, I'd say I'll still wait for this one to drop in price before I'll buy it (the game is still full price around here).  Having said that, the story is compelling and the presentation is amazing...I like it a lot.  Very stylish and weird and creepy.  Too bad you need to beat the first chapter to really get into the thick of the plot.

The gameplay was a lot better than I feared.  It felt to me like a mix of old-fashioned graphic text adventures like Shadowgate and first person shooters.  It was pretty fun, but I found myself playing only to see more cutscenes, which is not a great sign.  The areas became repetitive once I memorized them, and it was too easy to fall victim to cheap deaths before I memorized them: it takes too long to figure out where the enemies are.  I also got a little disoriented because of the restricted movement for the characters, but that's a minor annoyance.  Overall it played okay, but the story was what really drove the game.

I'd say this is at least a must-play (but not necessarily a must-buy) for anyone who is interested in bizarre, non-linear storytelling along the lines of The Maxx or Aeon Flux.   Most of those people will probably dig it enough that they'll want to buy it after, but it's just too weak in the gameplay department for me to recommend it sight unseen.

3235

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Zelda GCN Bundle?

« on: September 08, 2005, 06:05:04 AM »

No no no.  Don't pack Zelda in with anything.  It's too late to pack it in with GameCube, and it won't show off the Revolution's revolutionary capabilities.  I guess a pack-in with GameCube could do okay, but Nintendo shouldn't bother unless it will make a profit on the package.

Edit: SECOND GameCubes?  Okay, obviously there are a few here who would do that, I think that's rare though, especially with Revolution backwards compatibility announced.  I wouldn't do it unless the new Cube was SOLID GOLD...well, painted gold would be okay too, the point is I'm definitely not doing it for anything but a special edition of the GameCube, and I'd still think twice about a Gold Cube.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: Yippie Skippy yet another Sonic game

« on: September 08, 2005, 05:57:18 AM »

My first reaction was negative, but Hostile Creation and Bartman's screenshots made me think again.  The concept sounds a little cheesy, but I think we should give Sega a hand for trying something different with the series instead of making another average 3D game based on the Sonic Adventure gameplay.  I hope it turns out extremely well.

3237

Nintendo Gaming / RE:New Miyamoto Interview

« on: September 08, 2005, 05:45:56 AM »

Ha ha, sorry Mantidor.  I don't hate FLUDD, but I did find the voice acting annoying,  The broken scene at the was a little sad, but I have trouble feeling any emotional connection to a water-shooting backpack.  And my depression turned to rage when FLUDD turned out to be alive and spewed out one more horribly acted line.  I thought FLUDD was an outstanding addition to the game otherwise.  It opened up all kinds of opportunities for play and tricks and it made it the platforming much more precise, something that 3D platformers were sorely in need of as far as I'm concerned.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE:New Miyamoto Interview

« on: September 07, 2005, 01:08:45 PM »

Fast comments (I hope):

Super Mario Sunshine - was fairly easy to play, but it had a rather steep learning curve.

FLUDD - is lame as a character, but was meant more as an item.  If Nintendo had gotten better voice acting or simply cut FLUDD's spoken words right out, things would have been a lot better, IMO.

Zelda - won't change that much.  Even if it does, Nintendo will make traditional Zelda games again, no company can resist that kind of cash cow.

Mario 128 - sounds great.  I'm really happy that Nintendo is taking innovation seriously, I hope it lives up to my expectations.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

« on: September 02, 2005, 07:43:51 AM »

Wait, I didn't know Twighlight Princess took place before Wind Waker, where'd Nintendo say that?  I don't think this will be the story behind the legend that is told at the beginning of the Wind Waker, because in that legend, they say nobody came to save the people.  I suppose this Link could fail and nobody would remember him, but that doesn't seem like Nintendo's style.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE:More Revolution details soon?

« on: September 02, 2005, 07:28:04 AM »

I disagree with you on the DS.  I think it's a great system that's looking really good this Christmas, but it had mediocre launch games and it took about 6-8 months for Nintendo to finally release a decent number of worthwhile games.  If Nintendo launches Revolution like that, it will be their least popular home console yet.

Well, Matt only said they'd like to show the controller.  I really think Nintendo should bite the bullet and do a full-scale unveiling at TGS, I think the time is right.  If Iwata at least announces the date of the full-scale unveiling (and that date is before U.S. Thanksgiving) I'll be a happy camper.  If Nintendo waits much longer, Xbox 360 will be here and backwards compatibility and free online will be the only reason for gamers to wait for the Revolution.  Well, that and the great potential for Xbox 360 suckiness - still, I think it's time.  I can't wait!

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

« on: September 01, 2005, 02:10:01 PM »

Trophy-schmophy.  I'm sure you're right, but you can't tell me that people didn't think that they might be the zombified remains of Castle Town's citizens when they played the game seven years ago.  Not to mention Nintendo put tons of Redeads in the tomb under the graveyard.  Heck, even the name "Redead" reeks of zombies.

Wait, how did I wind up arguing on the Ocarina of Time side?  I just wanted to say they're both creepy for different reasons.  I have to admit, for me personally, Majora's Mask has the edge in creepiness.

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TalkBack / RE:Nintendo Announces Big Nintendogs Sales

« on: September 01, 2005, 05:34:26 AM »

Good news, I wasn't sure if this game would "translate" to North America.  I wonder how it's affected hardware sales?

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

« on: August 31, 2005, 05:47:57 AM »

I think the Ocarina of Time was darker in a more traditional, "Evil has taken over the world" kind of way, which is a bit more direct.  I mean, you step out of the Temple of Time and the city is charred and filled with zombies (which could very well be some of the faceless crowds that were hanging around the markets when Link was a child).

Majora's Mask was darker in a quirky, twisted, undefinable way.  I think with the right kind of mood and imagination, it's easy for the player to "fill in the gaps" in Majora's Mask and get a very creepy feeling.  As the final moments of the third day close in, I find it easy to get caught up in the emotions that the game's characters would be feeling.   It's very tense and sad.

This is something I find the Zelda series is very good at.  It really puts me in the game world and sets a tone that can build up a lot of emotions.  I don't remember a lot of the story details from the N64 games and Wind Waker, but I remember a lot of scenes, areas, and moments quite fondly.  I clearly remember when I first heard Malon singing at night outside Hyrule Castle as I try to find a way past the gates, the song was both beautiful and haunting, and just as Nintendo planned, I seeked her out and she told me how to get in.  It's little things like that that set Zelda apart.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: My two cents: Revolution will have more third-party support than PS3. (No, I'm not crazy.)

« on: August 30, 2005, 08:55:44 AM »

No, it won't.  Nintendo charges publishers higher fees than the other companies and doesn't have the same previous market share for publishers to speculate on.  

It may result in more third party support if homebrewed games can be counted as third party support and if Nintendo encourages a lot of homebrewing (unlikely, unfortunately).  I would like that, although it runs the risk of giving us 500 games that are complete crap even compared to the average THQ title, and just a 100 or so good ones.

I do see Nintendo's cheaper development stance as possibly attracting third parties if Nintendo can demonstrate that cheap games still sell.  Even then, I don't think it's going to put Nintendo in first place.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: Passive/Aggressive, and Sony's arrogant mistake

« on: August 30, 2005, 08:35:28 AM »

Price is something that I'm really uncertain about.  Ian talks about "a few bucks", but seriously, the GameCube was $100 USD less than the competition!  I see $100 as a huge line for consumers to cross, carrying much more value than $90, and only slightly less value than $110, or even $130.  Granted, Nintendo didn't maintain that lead, but I don't think GameCube has ever been less than $50 cheaper than the competition.  I expected GameCube to do much better with that price advantage than it did.

Granted, there is an excuse for that: DVD playback was a nice addition for $50-$100.  So perhaps the GameCube could do better this round...with DVD playback being less important and the competition's prices rising, price might make more of a difference this time, but still...if people didn't bite at $100, I'm beginning to wonder if they would at $200.  I can see where Omen is coming from, I also have the feeling that some people see GameCube as the "cheap" system.  Overall, though, I think Nintendo's real image problems have more to do with marketing and the types of games it makes than the price of its console.

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General Gaming / RE:Shenmue 3 to be on 360: Multi-platform Release Possible

« on: August 30, 2005, 08:05:53 AM »

I have a feeling we're going to see many buggy launch games in any case...this system feels like it's in the same place as the DS...I don't think too many early DS games were buggy, but a lot of them were very simplistic and rushed.  To pop out console games with super-ultra-HD-revolution-4eva graphics in such a short time span seems more likely to produce lots of bugs.  Even in the case of Perfect Dark or Kameo, the games have been in development for a while, but actual Xbox 360 development probably didn't start until halfway through 2004 - definitely not for Kameo, since it was still slated for Xbox as of last E3.

Umm, that's way off-topic.  I've always been interested in this series, but I'm a one-console person, and you have to own two just to play the two games in the series so far, so I'm definitely hoping Shenmue 3 comes to Revolution.  I think it would be nice of Sega to release it on 360 for those who followed the series on the first Xbox, though.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE:Official DS Sales Thread

« on: August 26, 2005, 11:04:26 AM »

Well, in Japan it's just reaching the 3 million mark and they had the added benefit of launching around Christmas.    I think 1 million in Europe is respectable.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE:Revolution Article - Advantages, Disadvantages, X-Factors

« on: August 25, 2005, 06:41:04 AM »

I think the Zelda series is on the cusp of becoming less special.  Luckily, Wind Waker, Four Swords and Twighlight Princess are all different enough in terms of gameplay, graphical style and the usual elements that they can coexist peacefully.  I think Super Smash Bros is a different case because it's a fighting game.  I believe adventure games can get away with more sequels because they rely more on plot and level design.  A new Zelda game could play and look exactly like Wind Waker and it would be worth playing for a lot of people to experience the new story and tackle the new levels.  Unless they change the fundamental gameplay of Super Smash Bros, all they can offer are new characters, items and levels - not bad, but I think they've already achieved a lot in those areas in Melee. Why not give it some time so new characters and changes to old ones can be added?

I liked the article as well.  I don't remember enough to comment right now, but it was good.  I agree with Ian on it being a good, neutral editorial.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: Will the Next Generation of WWE Games finally get it right?

« on: August 24, 2005, 11:45:48 AM »

Hey guys, please tell me what made the Aki wrestling games so great?  It's not that I doubt you, I'm just not a big enough wrestling game fan to "get it".

I picked up Day of Reckoning (I think, I can't remember all the sub titles) because I love the character creation mode and it's a fairly fun multiplayer game, but I admit it's weak in a few areas.  I especially hate when you get towards the end of a match and every punch has you flat on the ground smashing A for about 30 seconds to get up again.  I'd like to see someone look for an alternative to button-mashing for recoveries and possibly grapples in that game, otherwise I'm fairly satisfied.

Anyone played Rumble Roses?  The move set seemed pretty repetitive and of course there's the whole soft-porn aspect to it that some people wouldn't like, but I liked the recovery times.  Winning seemed a little too random though.  One friend of mine would always get slapped around for 90% of a match and then suddenly pin his opponent out of nowhere.

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General Gaming / RE:did anyone buy beyond good and evil?

« on: August 24, 2005, 11:38:56 AM »

I waited too long and now I can't find it anywhere.  Ubisoft has it on their site, but with FedEx for shipping, it'll cost a small fortune to buy it that way, so I guess I'll have to settle for a copy from Ebay.