Messages

76

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Super Mario Galaxy

« on: November 07, 2007, 07:01:26 PM »

Just dropping in briefly (I've been avoiding the thread for spoilers) to say something:

"Fundamentally, I think a Mario game is the type of game that's really not about completing the game, but rather about having fun just playing. So, I made sure there were lots of areas in the game that could be enjoyed, even by little children, just by moving Mario around. In these places, you don't have to think about what you have to accomplish, so you can play around freely. I hope people who will play this game will find a special place of their own in the game, and discover their own way of enjoying the game."

This is from the interview on Wii.com that Iwata did with the SMG developers.  One of the developers said this and it just struck me as the perfect expression of what I love about 3D Mario (and a bunch of other Nintendo franchises, for that matter).  That's what I love about the games, just that sense that you can explore the world and move through it, unrestricted by goals.  A playground, a new world, a different perspective.  I think that's part of the reason I loved Mario Sunshine so much, where others didn't so much; they were goal oriented players, and I didn't care about goals (kinda odd, since I'm also a completionist; fun comes first though).  It was just a fantastic and engaging environment to be a part of.
So, needless to say, this gets me that much more psyched about finally getting to play Super Mario Galaxy.

77

Nintendo Gaming / RE: A year later......

« on: November 06, 2007, 01:58:12 PM »

I never thought I'd say this, but there are too many games coming out.

Apparently Fire Emblem came out today or something.  When am I going to get to that?

78

General Chat / RE: Which Direction?

« on: October 23, 2007, 07:31:01 AM »

Okay, I swear I've watched this for a few minutes and it's only going counter-clockwise.  No change, nothing.

79

TalkBack / RE: Okami Coming to Wii

« on: October 21, 2007, 08:26:12 AM »

HOLY CRAP AWESOME

The only game that I truly regretted not getting to play last generation, and it's coming to Wii.  What a stroke of luck.  Fantastic news.

80

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Super Mario Galaxy

« on: October 14, 2007, 01:29:38 PM »

I think I'm going to have stop looking at stuff about this game.  I want everything else to be a surprise.  I've got a great idea of what to look forward to, a few of the power-ups, a few of the locales and platforming environments, puzzles, enemies, bosses.  But not too many.  As much as I'd like to keep looking, this is a game I really have to discover while I play it, so I'm going to have to cut myself off from info.
Until the game comes out, adios to Mario Galaxy threads.  See you guys in other threads

81

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Disaster: Day of Crisis - M Rated?

« on: October 12, 2007, 06:56:20 AM »

Just your friendly reminder: calling something a non-game game is an oxymoron, and it's an oxymoron for reason.

82

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Super Mario Bros 3 vs Super Mario Galaxy *(WARNING WORDS)*

« on: October 08, 2007, 06:50:37 PM »

I haven't played SMB3 in forever (at least, not from start to finish), but I remember when I was eight it was always the timed level in the eighth world that kicked my ass.

83

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Super Mario Galaxy

« on: October 06, 2007, 08:48:25 AM »

I propose that we retitle this thread "STATING OPINIONS AS FACT AND MAKING UNFOUNDED GENERALIZATIONS TO SUPPORT HEAVILY BIASED ARGUMENTS".

I remember a time when we actually talked about games and what we liked about them, rather than spending all our time pissing and moaning about potential problems regarding marketing and sales, which really, let's be honest, shouldn't even concern us.

84

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Super Mario Bros 3 vs Super Mario Galaxy *(WARNING WORDS)*

« on: October 05, 2007, 12:26:18 PM »

Spak-spang, while not voicing my opinions word for word, gives a pretty good rendition of what I would have said in this conversation if I had the will to do so.
So thanks for making my job easier

85

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Super Mario Bros 3 vs Super Mario Galaxy *(WARNING WORDS)*

« on: October 04, 2007, 12:50:38 PM »

"and I have probably always been more excited about Galaxy than anyone on this forum"

I contest this claim.

86

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Super Mario Galaxy

« on: October 04, 2007, 12:49:05 PM »

I love Sunshine.  I never owned the game (borrowed it twice, extensively), but I still want to get it sometime.  Why?  Because it feels like a huge playground.  Super Mario 64 and SMB3 and all those games, they have a great layout and they're very well constructed and the objectives are challenging yet fun.  Super Mario Sunshine has a reasonably good structure, but not much of one when comparing it to previous Mario games.  Yet I have played tons of Sunshine and would still like to, just because it's fun to move in the game, because the controls are the most brilliant I've ever laid my fingers on.

I'm not going to say that it's better than Mario 64 or SMB3.  I've played the other two more, but only because they've been out longer (and I had less games to play then, relying on my parents to purchase them for me).  I just find Sunshine a very enjoyable experience, and like the setting, it feels like taking a vacation for a few hours whenever I play.

I think Super Mario Galaxy will blow it away, though.  I think it will define, for me, the Mario game.  That's kind of a highfalutin' thing to say, but I've seen the videos and it seems so fully to be what I've always wanted from a game, that it's hard to believe it could be otherwise.
I suppose I could be setting myself up for disappointment.  I hope I'm just setting myself up for supreme satisfaction.

87

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Wii fall schedule OVERLOAD. Time to trim the list :(

« on: September 27, 2007, 05:15:35 PM »

Galaxy should the FIRST ON YOUR LIST.

88

TalkBack / RE: IMPRESSIONS: No More Heroes

« on: September 26, 2007, 11:50:08 AM »

This is the dumbest argument I've ever seen.

My opinion?  I liked Killer 7.  A lot.  It wasn't much of a game, per se, but it was quite an experience.  I'm unconcerned about the style or technical capacity of the graphics.  I'm not as interested in this as I was in Killer 7, I'm even a bit dubious.  But I'm willing to play it and try and have fun and see how it is.  It may be good.

89

General Chat / RE: it depends on the day

« on: September 26, 2007, 11:39:22 AM »

Ah, movies.  I'm not going to type too much, in the fear that I'll get lost in discussion, but I'll just say that I like Peter Weir quite a lot.
I haven't seen enough of his stuff, particularly his early stuff like Picnic at Hanging Rock and the Last Wave.  I've seen The Truman Show, of course, which is fantastic.  The Year of Living Dangerously was good, but it didn't leave a lasting impression on me.  It felt like it had moments, but moments that failed to cohere.  On the other hand, Gallipolo is brilliant, easily one of my favorite war movies.  I love freeze frame endings (watching The 400 Blows, I wasn't sure I liked it until the very last moment.  That sealed it for me).  Dead Poets Society is a fine film, although perhaps a bit overdramatic.  I've yet to see Master and Commander, so I can't comment on that yet.
Of what I've seen, I think my favorite has to be Gallipoli.  Looking forward to seeing more of his stuff, though.

90

General Chat / RE: Don't tase me, bro!

« on: September 20, 2007, 07:41:09 AM »

Don't break my wrist?  Sounds like a pansy to me.  Not to mention kind of a jerk-off.

That said, I generally hate the police.  I know I'm supposed to pick sides or something here, but can I just get away thinking that this guy and the police who arrested him are all idiots?

91

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Metroid Prime 3 Revolutionized

« on: September 14, 2007, 02:22:40 PM »

I've gotten 100% items and I've started a game on Hyper Mode, where I'll collect the one (yes, one) scan that I have left to get.  And then I'll play through every juicy, beautiful moment of hyper mode.

92

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Current WWII Shooters Are Unethical

« on: September 13, 2007, 11:11:16 PM »

One thing preventing games becoming a legitimate art form is that people use it purely for the sake of escapism.  Very few games ever have any substance whatsoever.  Now, I do consider games an art form, and probably the most fascinating one currently available for consumption because it differs so greatly from every other one.  I don't want to get into the "games as art" debate, because that's more or less irrelevant, but I bring it up because I don't know if I've ever seen a game face social or ethical problems in the way that books, films, or paintings so often do.  Some games hint at them in a general way (Fire Emblem, for instance), but even the best of those games tend to be severely simplified, polarized to good and evil, made abstract and unrealistic to obscure the more serious issues they point to.
People are so passive nowadays, people are hardly ever willing to watch an engaging film, something that raises questions.  They'd much rather watch something formulaic.  Passive viewing in film is a tragedy, but it's even more tragic when we look at gaming.  We have here perhaps the most involving and active form of entertainment/art available, and the most popular games are passive games, games that you can play without thinking.  I don't care that Grand Theft Auto is hyper-violent, but it's possibly the most soulless game I've ever played.  I won't get into the poor game design, miserable controls, careless visuals and story, but consider the fact that your eyes gloss over when you play the game.  You blow up a streetside without considering the consequences, without even feeling the power of that explosion.  It's a purely passive game, something meant for immediate satisfaction and nothing else.  I despise that.  Even if games like Metroid or Mario don't delve into psychological complexities or the ethical challenges facing our social landscape, at least they require coordination and stimulate the mind, intellectually and creatively.
But I would thrill to play a game that didn't shy away from true problems or issues.  I don't think every game should be serious, I think you need escapism sometimes, brilliantly simple stuff like Jungle Beat, but we could certainly use a game that expanded our awareness of the world, to show what games could do.  I could see a war game that delved into suffering, where you saw more of your comrades dying, maybe your own arm being blown off, seeing children murdered, and less of you gunning down the Nazis and performing heroics.  You aren't the hero.  You're one of the dozens of soldiers that make up one functional whole.  And if you do accomplish anything, you've got to see the full spectrum of your actions.  Who you've killed and who you've saved, if you're lucky enough to even manage that.

People would never go for that, not the ridiculous breed of gamers we have to put up with nowadays (not all of them, but the vast majority of them), but it'd be an interesting realm to explore.  I wouldn't want it to be exploitive, of course, which would be hard to pull off.  But imagine a game where there is no final villain, no saving the world, no heroics, just inevitable failure and obscurity.
I'm kind of rambling, it's very very very late.  But I think the fantasy world of gaming has gotten a bit out of hand, and I'd really like to see something that challenged me with more than just a tough boss fight.

93

General Chat / RE:Shoot 'em Up

« on: September 09, 2007, 07:02:51 PM »

I haven't seen this, but I can pretty much guarantee you that Hard Boiled is a better action movie.

That said, I'll probably see this sometime, even though I hate Pual Giamatti.

(I love love love Monica Bellucci)

94

TalkBack / RE: REVIEWS: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

« on: September 06, 2007, 03:22:07 PM »

I noticed you talking about Samus talking before, but I didn't see anyone mention Metroid Fusion.  She talks a whole, whole lot in Metroid Fusion.  It sounds like internal monologue, the ways it's written, but they are her words.

95

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Metroid Prime 3 Revolutionized

« on: September 06, 2007, 03:12:04 PM »

I should have played this on Veteran mode.  I started out on normal without thinking about it, and it's fun and reasonably challenging, but absolutely nothing compared to MP2.
Don't get me wrong, it's a brilliant game and one of the best I've ever played.  I'm loving every minute of it.  But rest assured I will play every difficulty level of this once I finish normal on 100%.

96

General Gaming / RE: Hardest Final Boss Fight

« on: September 06, 2007, 03:08:29 PM »

I beat most bosses in platformers and adventure games with relative ease (they can be exciting and fun and exhilirating and brilliant, but I can still beat them without too much effort).  Metroid bosses stand out (2D and 3D), but not the final bosses so much (Boos Guardian, anyone?).

Otherwise, I'd say racing games are the hardest.  Excitetruck, F-Zero GX.  In some of the harder levels in those. . . damn.  I've never cussed so much as when I played F-Zero GX's story mode.

97

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Link's Awakening - Remake, Re-release or Direct Sequel campaign?

« on: September 06, 2007, 03:02:03 PM »

This is also my favorite game ever made.  I've played it so many times, and the first time I beat it. . . nothing rivals that, in anything I've ever played.  I could go on forever about it, but now is not the time.  By far my favorite game.  A Link to the Past hardly compares.

98

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Do I fail as a Nintendo fan if I don't follow/finish EVERY major series?

« on: September 04, 2007, 04:56:56 AM »

I played Advance Wars once and it didn't do anything for me.  I played one Pokemon game and didn't find much to interest me there, either.  There are a multitude of Nintendo games that I haven't played or that are just not for me, but the amount of their output that I love far outweighs the output from other companies and the Nintendo games that I don't play.  Thus, I am a Nintendo fan.

99

Nintendo Gaming / RE: No More Heroes for Wii!!!! ANOTHER UPDATED 12/3/06

« on: September 03, 2007, 11:01:04 AM »

I loved Killer 7 and have a very cautious interest in this.  That is to say, if it wasn't made by the people who made Killer 7, I'd have no interest whatsoever, because I'm really dubious about what I've seen so far.  But still optimistic.  I'll give it a shot.

100

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Metroid Prime 3 Revolutionized

« on: August 18, 2007, 06:23:48 AM »

Quote
I am pretty sure that that Metroid Prime was a Tallon Metoid with prolonged exposer to Phazon and the Phazon meteor crash happened long ago, perhaps even hundreds of years.

I forget the distinction between normal Metroids and Tallon Metroids (did they even appear until Echoes?), I think Tallon Metroids are slightly more powerful due to mild phazon implimentation.  What happened on Tallon was that the space pirates discovered this substance, phazon, and began experimenting with it.  They brought Metroids that they had in captivity and tried to fuse them with the phazon.  One, for inexplicable reasons, became a huge success: Metroid Prime.  Maybe too huge a success.  It became so unexpectedly powerful that it overwhelmed them and escaped, so they did what they could to seal it off.  They tried to imitate that success again, with more control, but it never happened.  Metroids were not native to Tallon, they were brought in by the space pirates and used for experiments.  Metroid Prime is more a fluke than anything else.