Messages

426

TalkBack / Re: Super Meat Boy WiiWare Cancelled

« on: December 25, 2010, 01:05:15 PM »

Team Meat knew the limit before they started the game and admit that they just ignored it on purpose, so it is easy to see why they are to blame.

The Zelda team would develop the game knowing they had 8.7 GB to work with

I cannot blame Team Meat for viewing the size limit as I do -- pointless and arbitrary. If they didn't think that it was simply some stupid regulation that has little to do with the limitations of the Wii, then why wouldn't someone think that it could possibly be removed? Nintendo's bull-headedness is nothing new (there is far more precedent there).

There are solutions which would have helped this, such as the previously mentioned hard drive, but in that case the Wii is basically the airport of consoles -- basic freedoms are being sacrificed for the sake of crazy levels of security.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to recall Nintendo saying that when a game would have to exceed their hardware's limitations, then they begin to develop new hardware on which to run it. Unfortunately, Team Meat does not have this luxury.

427

TalkBack / Re: Super Meat Boy WiiWare Cancelled

« on: December 25, 2010, 04:08:27 AM »

That's something Nintendo would never do themselves so, in the interest of fairness, they shouldn't be imposing that on other developers.

There was no downside to increasing the limit. In Super Meat Boy's case, Nintendo basically hands Microsoft a game that has a lot of positive buzz surrounding it. Who loses? Nintendo and Wii owners. How does that help Nintendo at all? Nintendo should want this game on their platform. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I have to agree with this. I am simply incapable of comprehending those who are blaming Team Meat for wanting to make a more robust game. If such a size limit were imposed on a game such as Zelda, I would not be at all happy to hear that Nintendo would have to downsize their grand vision into something much smaller.

I haven't seen Nintendo show nearly the interest Microsoft has in getting developers to make games for their service. Both are obviously driven by the all mighty dollar, but on Nintendo's side it's as though they just don't care -- they just want to sell a lot of dev kits, which I don't even think they make all that easy since you need to have a business address that is different from your residential address. That, coupled with the seemingly arbitrary file-size limit, can't help but make me think that Nintendo could deliver such games to Wii owners if they truly wanted to. The only time they seem to take an active role is when they can considerably profit from a release, such as publishing a game like Fluidity.

428

TalkBack / Re: Super Meat Boy WiiWare Cancelled

« on: December 24, 2010, 04:38:01 PM »

A Wii dev kit is $2,000, which is super cheap as far as dev kits go.

$2,000 + the money needed to rent/own a location that has a different address than your residential one.

429

TalkBack / Re: Retro City Rampage Delayed

« on: December 24, 2010, 04:22:45 PM »

Wow, WiiWare is really taking it up the @$$ lately.

EDIT: Actually, not all that surprised.

430

TalkBack / Re: Super Meat Boy WiiWare Cancelled

« on: December 24, 2010, 08:59:03 AM »

The blame has to lie somewhere. While both Team Meat and Nintendo may share it, I'm more inclined to blame Nintendo for their ridiculously inferior so-called storage "solution", but moreso for their downright lack of caring. Whereas Microsoft recognized the potential of this game and set out to ensure that their gamers could experience it, Nintendo didn't give two shits. If I want to download only one game from the WiiWare service and have it take up the majority of my Wii's memory, then that should be my perogative.

431

Nintendo Gaming / Re: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

« on: December 22, 2010, 09:46:46 PM »

Depending on how desperate Nintendo is to release something in NA, I suppose it's possible for them to make translation of certain games a priority and speed up the process.

Also, I actually thought of a third party 2010 release that I am really looking forward to: Lost in Shadow. It's coming out relatively early though, and has already been released in the UK as A Shadow's Tale, if I'm not mistaken.

432

Nintendo Gaming / Re: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

« on: December 22, 2010, 02:14:55 PM »

Zangeki no Reginleiv is probably too much to hope for.

Although it probably has a better chance than Ni No Kuni.

433

Nintendo Gaming / Re: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

« on: December 22, 2010, 01:36:50 PM »

I have to admit to being more than a little disturbed by this "revelation" (as conveniently as it slides into the Zelda franchise's historic record of horrible delays).  With Zelda almost assuredly being delayed till sometime Q4 next year (hint: November), what does the Wii have until then?  Conduit 2?  Don't make me laugh.  If Zelda gets an official delay, I would expect Nintendo to announce something to fill in the gaps.  Otherwise, this is pretty much the N64 and GameCube all over again.

According to IGN, "In an interview last month [Iwata] let it slip that the immediate future for Nintendo's American release calendar could be made up of products that have already been out in Japan for a while -- but just haven't been translated and localized for [the North American] market yet."

Unfortunately, there would only be one or two titles in there that I would be interested in.

434

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo to Publish Dragon Quest VI in North America

« on: December 20, 2010, 12:37:47 PM »

It's great to finally hear some (good) news about this game! Definitely picking this one up to complete my DS-remake trilogy.

435

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 222: Faux Badassery

« on: December 13, 2010, 01:21:08 AM »

Before I dive into the discussion of my Lindemann Syndrome, I feel I must respond to Greg's statement qualifying statement, "if you like old-school auto-scrolling levels in old platformers, you'll like DKCR". I loved DKCR but HATE old-school auto-scrolling levels, primarily because I was someone who also enjoys playing through such games as Mario with my finger glued to the run button, and old-school auto-scrolling levels just went far too slow for me. However, when there is much greater sense of speed or urgency in auto-scrolling levels, I tend to love them (re: Bit.Trip Runner and DKCR).

As for my Lindemann Syndrome, I know exactly how I developed it. It was during the Gamecube and GBA era when I would see a game in the wild that I was interested in but instead of purchasing it right then and there, I thought "I can pick it up later". After thinking this on several different occasions and returning each time only to find that that game was no where to be found, I decided to begin purchasing my games immediately upon release and play through them later, whenever I found the time. And now, between purchasing all the excellent games to have been released within the last two years and scouring eBay for NES and SNES gems that I missed back in the day, I easily have over 50 games in my backlog to play. My Wii and DS backlog reflects Shaymin's, and to compound the problem, I am often a completionist, and like happyastoria, I will usually only play one game until it is finished (although the DS has changed that since those games are not always epic quests that require your undivided attention).

436

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Epic Mickey - Wii Exclusive

« on: December 10, 2010, 12:41:59 PM »

And on the subject of game design, from what I've seen in reviews there seems to be a surprising amount of poor design in this game (considering it's helmed by Warren Spector, a legendary game designer), from the camera to needing to retread through those 2D platforming sections every time you need to get from Point A to Point B.

I can't help but think that the deadline to deliver this by holiday 2010 had something to do with this (speaking moreso to the camera and unrefined mechanics).

437

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Call of Duty Black Ops Wii > Goldeneye ;)

« on: December 09, 2010, 10:59:07 PM »

Ho lee Sheeeeeeit
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2010/12/call-of-duty-black-ops-paces-record-setting-november-video-game-sales/1

The latest installment in the Call of Duty franchise, Call of Duty: Black Ops had a record-setting launch in November selling 8.4 million copies in the U.S., already cracking the top 10 best-selling games of all time (No. 7), according to the latest sales report by market tracking firm The NPD Group.

If that total includes the DS version, then calling Call of Duty: Black Ops the seventh best "game" of all time would be, as James would put it, patently false.

438

TalkBack / Re: RFN: Doin' It Live... for the Kids!

« on: December 07, 2010, 01:14:14 PM »

Great show, guys. The part that I was able to catch on Saturday was terrific, and I am looking forward to the upcoming feeds.

I have a question and possible suggestion about the timing of the broadcast. People are very charitable around the holidays, but many of them (me included) can be kinda broke during that period, too. Do you think that moving the live show to another time of the year would be beneficial?

439

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 32: Horribly Wrong

« on: December 07, 2010, 01:07:49 PM »

I enjoy the Newscast, but I do agree that the format could use an overhaul at this point. I'm excited for the changes, especially the move to a weekly show.

At this point, I wish I had some suggestions. I think vudu's suggestion could work well, especially if it can be related back to Nintendo in some context (maybe discussing the impact some news could have on the company).

440

Nintendo Gaming / Re: The OFFICIAL Wii rumor thread *bring your own salt*

« on: December 07, 2010, 12:29:40 PM »

They really just need to make a Captain N game...

THIS

As long as they clean up the character design. Otherwise, no thank you.

441

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Call of Duty Black Ops Wii > Goldeneye ;)

« on: December 03, 2010, 03:50:00 PM »

IMO, both Black Ops and Goldeneye have better singleplayer than Modern Warfare 2.  I don't play their multiplayer modes, so I'd rank them as follows: Black Ops > Goldeneye > Modern Warfare 2.

It probably depends on your play style, too. From what I've heard, stealth plays a much bigger role in Goldeneye, and I'm the type of gamer who would much rather try to sneak through a level and dispatch guards undetected than rush into the middle of a fire fight.

442

TalkBack / Re: RFN: Doin' It Live... for the Kids!

« on: December 03, 2010, 04:16:56 AM »

Just chipped in what little dough I could. I like the look of that content line-up, and hope I can listen to the majority of the show.

443

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Call of Duty Black Ops Wii > Goldeneye ;)

« on: December 02, 2010, 01:05:06 PM »

Meh. I already own Reflex Edition. I really don't see why I would need another COD/war game.

444

TalkBack / Re: Final Bit.Trip Game Named

« on: December 01, 2010, 01:32:23 PM »

Anyway, this tenuously classifies as news. I don't know why Gaijin thinks the game's title is such a big deal that it gets an announcement without any additional information on what the game is.
My random guess for Bit.Trip Flux: an extremely fast-paced action adventure game.

I'd say the real news here is the talk about more Runner. I friggin love that game.

445

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Download Games by Region

« on: November 26, 2010, 07:33:24 PM »

I hear that the Japanese VC is getting Adventure Island II in December, which makes me happy. I want that game in NA.

446

TalkBack / Re: Unboxing the Club Nintendo Elite Reward

« on: November 26, 2010, 01:50:01 PM »

"The table, for some reason, developed jaundice between this photo and the last one. Hoping it wouldn't spread to the cabinets, I had to put the table down."

Nicely done, sir!

447

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Donkey Kong Country Wii

« on: November 25, 2010, 04:27:51 AM »

Well, I just tamed the wild beast. Though I collected everything and finished with 100%, there is still plenty to do in terms of time trials, and another unlockable mode which, let's just say, would make a certain RFNer very happy. Those things, however, will have to wait for another time, as having finished the game I am relatively sated.

Which brings me to my point. I just feel completely satisfied. The game isn't perfect -- the inability to control Diddy Kong, the fickle shake-to-roll mechanic, and the lack of any snow levels (a personal favourite of mine) -- yet when I played through it, it provided an experience that represented with the very reason I play games. Things like the genuine challenge. I died A LOT, but I was only on one or two occasions was I on the verge of frustration. It never felt like doing something was impossible, but it didn't come easy. And things like the sense of discovery. Trying to collect all the puzzle pieces, which were hidden in clever and thoughtful places, was a blast. Sure, other games exhibit these elements, but this one just seemed to wrap them up in such a nice package. The highlight of the game would have to be the level design. There are so many cool elements thrown into each stage. In terms of imagination, it's on par with Super Mario Galaxy 2, despite the handicap of being stuck on an island.

I'd just like to mention the unlockable images and dioramas. Often such extras are just throwaways, but these are truly fantastic (the rather bland character sketches notwithstanding). The art is really, really cool.

Despite this game leaving me completely satisfied, I would love to see a sequel. Retro did an amazing job, and like Super Mario Galaxy, I wouldn't be surprised if some great ideas got left on the cutting room floor. If that's the case, then tighten up the controls and create me some bitchin' snow levels!

448

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 31: A Brief Interlude

« on: November 25, 2010, 03:54:34 AM »

I had gotten it off iTunes at the time that I made my post.

449

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 31: A Brief Interlude

« on: November 25, 2010, 01:43:42 AM »

Thanks for the episode, guys. It's nice to have a Newscast fix. Enjoy your holiday!

450

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Goldeneye Wii

« on: November 24, 2010, 03:46:23 PM »

You should throw your friend code up on the thread, KDR_11k. 'Praps we can tear it up.