Topics

1

NWR Feedback / My OPINION on PGC... Goodbye old friend

« on: April 01, 2004, 05:36:59 PM »

I've been coming to PGC for a long, long, long time.  I always found it to be the best place for all my Nintendo needs.

Well, that's changed.

I think PGC has gone down the tubes.  The majority of the news (if not all of it) I find at other sites, such as what's quickly becoming my new home:  Nintendojo (http://www.nintendojo.com).  Maybe they don't have the reliabality of PGC (or maybe they do, I dunno), but they're more put together, more fun, up to date, easy on the eyes, and less intrusive.  And they don't even hesitate to post occasional rumors, labeled "RUMOR".  Ain't nothin wrong with that.

To me it just seems like things are always delayed here.  Of course, that's not always the case, but most of the time when I come here, I've already read everything that another site posted earlier.. and all I'm surprised with here is which popup or flash-hostile-takeover I get to experience today.  Or maybe a full page "in-between" ad, a la IGN.

Seriously, the advertisements alone are the main reason I'm nearing the end of my PGC visits.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they don't need ads, I'm very much aware of resources needed to run a successful site, and that they need money to keep things running to us for free.  All I know is out of ANY site I regularly visit, PGC BY FAR has way more ads than anybody else, and I do visit plenty of large sites that aren't funded by giant, wealthy companies.

Everybody says "Get a popup blocker!" or "Try ____ browser!"

I'M NOT GOING TO GET ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE JUST SO I CAN VISIT PGC IN PEACE!  Besides, I am using MyIE2 (may not be the best, but it works for me) and the pop up blocker built into it does barely anything for PGC.

Not to mention, the design of the site is highly outdated.  That's not really an issue, but it's becoming an eyesore.  The forum moderators are far too anal, other communites have a much more relaxed vibe.  Sure, while there may be more useless posts (or *gasp* POLLS) in other forums, they're at least more entertaining than the "spam against spam" in here.  Its just out of hand.

And finally, I miss Billy.  And I miss hearing Rick Powers tease at all the upcoming goods he knows that we don't.

I'll still check up on the old site now and then.  I'll maybe even post again (I didn't ever post much, but I had a few handfuls).. I just wish things were better.

There's so much I don't like about this site anymore, it's just sad.  I wish something would be done, it's like watching a great friend turn into a dick.

2

Nintendo Gaming / Is progressive scan worth it?

« on: September 13, 2003, 10:57:19 AM »

This whole progressive scan HDTV thing confuses me like mad.  Hopefully someone here can shed some light on it for me.  Here's my situation.

I have a 32" Progressive Scan HDTV, which supposedly upgrades all interlaced video to progressive.. right?  So there are no scanlines.  So my main question is, if my TV is already upgrading all video to progressive scan, why would I need to spend 30 bones on component cables for GameCube and actually start the game in "progressive scan mode"??  I thought the TV would already upgrade ANY image given to it?  So.. wouldn't it be progressive scan automatically, no matter what connection I used?

Hopefully I'm making some sense, even though I may be really off base.  So that's one question.. and my other - right now I've got my GC connected to the HDTV through s-video (didn't purchase the component cables yet) .. how big would the difference be if I had compenent cables with "progressive scan" mode rather than my current s-video setup?  Much better?  Slighly noticable?  On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being "omg wtf!?1! what a pleasant change!1!!" - and 1 being "..cool, it looks the same, glad I spent 30 bucks for this instead of that new kidney I needed."

THANK YOU!

3

Nintendo Gaming / Gamecube on Widescreen TVs

« on: September 08, 2003, 04:10:52 PM »

I'm in the market to get a new TV and I'm having a hard time deciding what to get.  Widescreen TVs are awesome looking, but how are they for gaming?  Do you have to play all/most games with black bars on the side?  Do they stretch?  

And is there a difference between a non HDTV Component video and an HDTV with Component, or is the quality the same?

I'm debating whether or not I should fork over the dough for an HDTV-ready TV and wait a few years till the receivers get cheaper.. or if I should just go for a component TV and get an HDTV when they become cheaper in a couple years.

There's a Philips - 30" Widescreen Flat-Tube TV that I'm looking at.. around $600, it's not HDTV ready but it has component inputs.   Should I go for that, or a 4:3 television?  I just want my games to look as best as possible.

Thanks!

4

Nintendo Gaming / Why I'm happy owning only GameCube...

« on: July 15, 2003, 03:34:51 AM »

Lately I've been thinking of getting another console.  I didn't know if I wanted an xbox or ps2, but I just wanted an alternative to GC just to play more of the games out there.  And so, I got a $30 discount for getting an Amazon.com credit card, and thought I'd use that discount towards my new purchase.  So I went to the site, and decided to load an xbox into the shopping cart.  They have a thing where you get an xbox and 2 games for $199.  I thought that was cool, so I began looking for games.  Halo, boom.. in the cart.  ......and then I could not find a second game that I honestly really wanted.  Nothing stood out.  I'm not saying that xbox games suck, but.. there weren't as many titles that I thought would just be like "buy me, I'm great!!!"  I honestly couldn't find another game to add besides Halo.

So I moved on to the PS2.  Same deal with the 2 games, so immediately I dropped GTA3 Vice City in my cart.  I couldn't find another game that was just screaming to be purchased.  I even went to ign and looked at the top reviewed games (all 9.0 and above) and read all about them, trying to find one that would make me happy.. but, either it just didn't grab me, or it was already available in some form on GC.  I don't know if the other systems just aren't my style, but I'm not into sports games, not even into RPGs that much.... I don't know, I just couldn't see anything right for me.  I'm not knocking either system, there was just nothing good for me.

Just for the hell of it, I thought I'd go through the GC games to see what I would want if I were just now purchasing the system.  Metroid.  Zelda.  Mario.  Eternal Darkness.  Resident Evil 1 and 0.  Super Monkey Ball 1+2.  Animal Crossing.  The list goes on and on... after that, I seriously could not be more pleased with my Nintendo.  I was thinking about getting another system, but now I wouldn't even want one.

Another reason to back that up, Halo is on its way to the PC at the end of summer, even with much improved graphics.  GTA3 is on the PC.  ... I mean, come on, they're making it a really easy decision here.  You'll never see the Nintendo franchises anywhere else.

That is why I'm happy owning only my Nintendo GameCube.

5

Nintendo Gaming / Nintendo Commercials Thread

« on: July 10, 2003, 12:41:30 PM »

I have to say, right off the bat, I've been impressed lately with Nintendo's media advertising.  I'm seeing stuff more and more every day.  Within the past 10 minutes, I've seen 3 commercials, 2 of which were in the same commercial break.  From Soul Caliber featuring Link, to the new FZERO commercials.. they're becoming much more frequent.  Best yet, they're actually decent commercials focused on gameplay and video rather than cheap looking costumes.  It makes me feel so good to see a great commercial followed by "Only for Nintendo GameCube."  Even in addition to the commercials, things like the McDonalds Happy Meals featuring the little Sega games bases on Monkey Ball... I finally think Nintendo's doing the right thing.  It's just nice to even hear Nintendo's name once in a while.  I'm sure it will do more to get the products off the shelves quicker.  I just hope they keep it up, and even push it further if they can.  What do you think about Nintendo's "new stance" on advertising?

6

Nintendo Gaming / Play GC through a laptop?

« on: June 12, 2003, 02:03:39 PM »

I'm pretty sure there's an adapter that lets you hook up the GC to a computer monitor, but is there something that will work though a laptop?  I don't know if the same adapter would work, or how to find that adapter.  I figure it'd be different, since you need to have a laptop powered on to use the screen, and a computer monitor is stand-alone.  Anyone know?

7

Nintendo Gaming / Did I miss something? Where's "Game Zero"

« on: May 20, 2003, 11:10:34 AM »

Game Zero was one of my biggest anticipated titles at E3, and I haven't heard anything about it.  Did I miss anything?  I know N-Space makes Giest, but the only thing that "Game Zero" COULD be if it WAS shown, is Giest.  But I hope it isn't that.. though Giest looks great, it would be greater to have Giest and another amazing game, hopefully Game Zero.

So has anyone heard anything about it?  Did I miss an anouncement or something?

8

NWR Feedback / How about a "Poll Forum"

« on: May 04, 2003, 06:32:12 PM »

I think it would be great to have a forum dedicated to polls of any kind.  Most posts are locked since they end up being a poll of some kind, however lots of times the results could be interesting.  Maybe not informative, but just interesting.  So my idea (I don't know if its been mentioned before) would be to add a separate forum.  So there'd be the Gamecube forum, the GBA forum, Polls forum, etc.  All 'polls' posts could be moved there, and it would be fine to have posts such as "Do you like Metroid Prime or Zelda WW better?"

What do you guys think?

- David

9

Nintendo Gaming / Voice Acting - Yay or Nay?

« on: March 25, 2003, 01:06:54 PM »

Well, Zelda is officially one of the best games I've ever played.  The cartoony look is brilliant, I love it.  However, I do wish that this game used (good) voice acting.  Why?  It is so unbelivably cartoony that it almost seems wrong to me not to have it.  Let me try to explain... Imagine a video game with graphics so amazing, it looks just like a TV show.  I'm talking, the people look completely real, the enviroment, flaweless.  If it LOOKED like TV, and FELT like TV.. and had text conversations, well.. it would just seem wrong to me.  

Sure, this isn't a 'real' looking game, but its the closest thing ever to playing a cartoon-movie.  It still seems off to me in the same way.  Why go all the way, and put so much effort into making it resemble a cartoon.. and leave out the voice acting?  

I think it would be amazing if they got actual celebrity voice acting to do video games, like Zelda.  I'm talkin like Monsters Inc style.. John Goodman, Tom Hanks.. people like that.  The video game industry is closer than ever with the movie industry .. and admit it, this Zelda game imitates full length cartoon movies in every way.  I would have loved it.

I can, though, understand reasons why it was left out.  1, bad voice acting would totally degrade the game.  2, it might make it way more childish than people can accept.  (xbox/ps2 fanboys.)  and 3, maybe Nintendo just thinks Link shouldn't have a voice... leave it up to the player's imagination.  I could understand all of these reasons, so I'm not griping at all that there's no voice acting... I just think it would have been fantastic if done right!

What do you think?  Voice acting - Yay or Nay?  And what do you think about celebrity voice acting?