Messages

676

TalkBack / Re: RFN 250: A Live Call-In Celebration

« on: July 08, 2011, 01:40:12 AM »

Oh man...of all the crap, my brother has to go and have his wedding at the same time as the RFN #250.

Hmm...which one to go to...

677

TalkBack / Re: Xenoblade and The Last Story Coming Stateside?

« on: July 08, 2011, 01:37:43 AM »

Starfox 2 (allegedly), Mother, Disaster... yeah, I'm not going to believe it until I'm putting a Club Nintendo code in.

Hmm...that brings up an not-so-likely, but still possible scenario--  what if treehouse is doing localization, BUT NOA isn't doing publishing or distribution, or at least, not doing it alone?  It could be that they're still working out an agreement with someone else, and that's why they have to put out this "no plans" bs.

678

TalkBack / Re: Win a Custom Heroes of Ruin 3DS

« on: July 03, 2011, 03:21:49 AM »

I like to have another 3DS and this one looks cool plus the game seems to have potential.

Eeh, I don't know about that.  I saw some screenshots in the latest ish of Nintendo Power, and it looks like the way units in Warcraft 3 looked when you zoomed up close to them, real blocky as if they were made out of only 10 polygons or something.

Anyone actually play this at E3 and have a better impression?

679

TalkBack / Re: 'No Plans' to Release Xenoblade, Last Story, Pandora's Tower in North America

« on: July 03, 2011, 03:19:39 AM »

JRPGs used to be kind of popular here back when FFVII burst onto the scene with all of its CG glory but besides Final Fantasy, popularity has died down tremendously.

Aah, those were the days.  It was actually nice to own a PS/PS2 back then, before every game was either an FPS or an open world sandbox.  Well, except for the PS load times.  And the PS2, man, that was just a glut.  4 Xenosaga games,  2 FF's, 2 FF offshoots, Star Ocean, Grandia, 2 Kingdom Hearts games, Saga, Skies of Arcadia, and remember that stupid one with like 5 or 6 games where you were inside a computer?   I think Japan overdid it there.

680

TalkBack / Re: Pandora's Tower Coming to Europe in 2012

« on: July 03, 2011, 03:13:38 AM »

What we need to do is find a guy who looks like Reggie, and then record him saying a bunch of racist things about Japanese people.  Then we post it on Youtube under the title, "Nintendo of America president hates Japanese people"

Oh, snap!  I almost forgot about that UCLA chick. 


Reggie could say something like "And why does Miyamoto's family always come and do his laundry?  And I know that Nintendo's stock dropped, but Iwata could at least go outside and talk his "ching chong ching ching.""

Aah, internet racists.  Too funny.

681

TalkBack / Re: Club Nintendo Elite Rewards Revealed

« on: July 03, 2011, 03:08:47 AM »

It undermines a lot of the point of the program.  Entice you with something you want to get you off the fence on purchasing something. 

Well, it sure motivates me, and it motivates you, and it motivates everyone in this forum, but how many people in North America do you really think take advantage of Club Nintendo, much less know, much less care?  Aside from the inserts in games (which no one reads anyways), there is absolutely no advertising for Club Nintendo anywhere.  How would most people be motivated to buy by the Club Nintendo program when most people don't know about it?  How many people in North America do you think regularly use Club Nintendo?  100,000?  Probably not.  50,000?  Maybe.  100,000 is not a huge number for Nintendo, or any large game company for that matter. 

I think Club Nintendo is, in the most literal way I can say, fan service.  For the hardcore Nintendo fans.  The Triforce Johnsons of the world.  Us.  You can probably justify its existence in some vacuous, "grassroots," "mindshare," kind of way, but not in any direct impact on actual cash money sales. 

Oh, I'm platinum, proud, and getting badges.  I need my stinkin' badges.

682

TalkBack / Re: Pandora's Tower Coming to Europe in 2012

« on: July 03, 2011, 01:30:47 AM »

IGN Nintendo actually has a rather excellent editorial on this: "Nintendo's Fans: Alone in the Dark"

Yeah..IGN "Nintendo."  That's a whole other can o'worms right there.

I read it too, don't know if I'd call it excellent.  For some reason, Richard George doesn't distinguish between NCL and NOA in the editorial, either he can't tell the difference or he thinks IGN readers can't tell the difference.  If it's the latter, well, I don't blame him.

683

TalkBack / Re: This Week in Nintendo Downloads - June 30, 2011

« on: July 02, 2011, 01:22:59 PM »

With they way they're doling out GB games once a week, and they still have an untapped GBC library, not to mention Game Gear and TurboGrafx16, I'm thinking that they can keep this up for a very long time, which is bringing me to my concern:

There are never going to be GBA games on the 3ds VC, are there?  I know they haven't announced this, but they haven't ruled it out, and there were rumors, but that is looking really unlikely now.  Darn it. 

I'd be willing to bet that they're saving their GBA library for the VC of the next handheld generation.

684

TalkBack / Re: Xenoblade Chronicles Not Coming to North America

« on: June 25, 2011, 12:56:34 AM »

While I can't say I'd get very involved (sorry guys, not my cups of tea... besides, where was all of your support when I wanted Another Code R to get released here?

I'll get involved.  I think this is awesome, even if it doesn't work.  I know I wrote on this thread yesterday something like "it's not good business for NOA to release Xeno or Last Story" but I also wrote "I love JRPG's" and I am thrilled to play Last Story.  My favorite FF's, far and away, are the early and middle ones, from 2 to X, pretty much in that order.  Since Last Story is being helmed by that dude, I am stoked.   

And while we're bringing up JRPG's of yesteryear, I want to see a Grandia 4.  2 and 3 were awesome, and no game has used that battle system since.

685

TalkBack / Re: Xenoblade Chronicles Not Coming to North America

« on: June 24, 2011, 03:45:02 AM »

Basically, NCL had to end up forcing NOA to release the Sin and Punishment sequel in America because NCL really thought the game would do well.

Okay, if true, I can't believe Iwata thought Sin and Pun 2 would sell well in America (and for argument's sake, let's just say that sells well means 1-2 million sold during the product's lifetime).  That game is brilliant, a great value at $40 when I bought it (thought it probably costs less now), it is Treasure at its best. 

But it is so hard, and so obtuse, expecting a game like that to sell well is like expecting the West Wing to attract more viewers that American Idol, or like expecting the Decembrists to sell more records than Katy Perry.

686

TalkBack / Re: Xenoblade Chronicles Not Coming to North America

« on: June 24, 2011, 03:28:42 AM »

There is no excuse for Xenoblade to NOT come out here, not to mention Last Story which will likely be localized for Europe. If Nintendo wants to improve their "core" image with the Wii U, they better start with Wii. It is a crime that two wonderful games like these two won't see the light of day here because of NOA

Okay, now don't get me wrong.  I LOVE jrpgs.  LOVE them.

But, I can think of a few good reasons why NOA would not release Xenoblade, and why NOE is kinda being foolish.  Jrpgs on consoles, and especially on the Wii, without exception, pretty much bomb.  Since the big craze around FF7 and FF8, sales have been dropping.  I haven't found exact figures for FF13, but I've read about less than 6 million?  Hell, that's less than what DKC Returns sold, and it was probably a whole lot cheaper to make that than FF13. 

And if you look at JRPG's on the Wii so far, like Arc Rise Fantasia, that bombed hugely (though it sucked, let's admit). 

And here's a larger issue:  are people who play JRPG's "core gamers?"  In my mind, 15 year old kids yelling homophobic slurs on Xbox Live aren't going to look at a JRPG and say "Wow, cool, my main character is a guy who's skinny like a girl, no facial hair, and long spikey hair like a Dragon Ball Z reject.   Awesome!"  Those kids are not going to be picking up a JRPG, I think.  And is Nintendo going after those snot nosed brats with the Wii U?  I think so.  Did you see the Ghost Recon online demo?

And was I the only one who thought all the Xeno games were kinda crappy, not just the ones subtitled in German, but also the original PS1 done in that weird isometric-ey fake 3d with 2d sprites?

687

TalkBack / Re: Cubic Ninja Review

« on: June 21, 2011, 11:12:41 PM »

Aw man, I just got a 20 buck credit from Amazon for buying Ocarina, and this is one of the few choices I have to spend it on.  Now it's down to Nintendogs, Blaz Blue, or Ghost Recon.  Ghost Recon is tempting....but are they / can they fix the bugs?

688

TalkBack / Re: Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games Impressions

« on: June 19, 2011, 08:08:50 PM »

3DS version, not sure; it's a new platform. I think the Wii version will be better.

Well, I don't really see the appeal of this kind of game on a handheld.   On the Wii, both the summer and winter games were super fun for me and my daughter to play together, especially the winter one because you got to see figure skating represented in a video game form that was somewhat fun.  And the bobsled minigame was awesome, especially when we turned my 4 foot long gaming ottoman perpendicular to the TV, pretending it was the bobsled.   

But playing this game by yourself?  Or even online?  Hmm...

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TalkBack / Re: The Hidden Impressions

« on: June 19, 2011, 08:05:17 PM »

What are the other Ghost hunting AR games?   I've never heard of any others.

690

Nintendo Gaming / Re: 3ds scratching itself

« on: June 16, 2011, 10:12:56 PM »

Nintendo's customer service is one of the best out there, so I expect them to do everything they can to help you out.

I can testify to that.  A week after I bought by DSIXL, I dropped it onto my hardwood floor, it landed right on the shoulder button and what do you know, it must have busted the spring inside the shoulder button because it wouldn't depress correctly anymore.  I thought, "Hey, I wonder if NOA would fix this for me for a nominal fee."  Nope, they wouldn't take my money.  I went through their online support, and they gave me a prepaid shipping label.  I sent it in, they sent me a new one, and all for free.  Awesome. 

Though being a selfish bastard, I tried to register the new one for Club Nintendo points.  Doh!  Didn't work.  I guess either they already thought of that, or I wasn't the first guy to try that trick.

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TalkBack / Re: Wii U Does Not Have DVD or Blu-ray Playback

« on: June 16, 2011, 09:58:25 PM »

There are no subtitles along with the majority of streaming content at the moment. But more and more are being added all the time.

Yeah, the subtitles are off sometimes.  I watch a lot of foreign films (read:  Eric Rohmer movies and Anime) and I've noticed that.  But it is getting better.   To be honest, when Netflix first started instant, I thought it was the stupidest thing in the world.  The quality sucked and the selection was worse than Hulu's movie selection now.  Look at it now.  It has improved a whole lot.   And the new interface that they just slapped on a week or two ago?  Brilliant.  Looks much nicer.

Oh, and if you're looking at my sig right now and thinking "what the hell is that?" then check out "Me and You and Everyone We Know."  I discovered it thanks to Netflix Instant, it should still be there.  Brilliant, great acting, really original, and so funny that it actually made me laugh out loud, which is amazing because the last thing that made me do that was Arrested Development.

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TalkBack / Re: Double Dragon Headed to the Japanese 3DS Virtual Console

« on: June 16, 2011, 09:51:03 PM »

Oh man, Data East, just when I forgot you....

I didn't even know there was a gameboy version.  Like every other suburban kid, I had DD and DD2 on the NES.  Remember the S&M girl with the whip?  I would say that even games these days don't get that risque, but then, Duke Nukem was just released last week.

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TalkBack / Re: Wii U Does Not Have DVD or Blu-ray Playback

« on: June 16, 2011, 10:19:38 AM »

Are people honestly still using optical media for movies?

Why?

3 months ago, I would have said "Well, one of my favorite films in the entire world, A Tale of Springtime, is only on DVD."  Now it's on Netflix Instant, and its awesome.

With how popular Netflix streaming is becoming, all signs would appear that optical media, along with Blu-Ray, is going the way of the Dodo, Betamax, and the audio tape.  I can appreciate how much better Blu-Ray is--  for christmas, I built myself a pretty nice Home Theater PC with a nice 7.1 channel sound card and a LG Blu-Ray drive, and you know what?  I've watched only 1 blu-ray on it.  Inception.  That is it.  My family uses it all the time though, as a Hulu/Netflix/Itunes machine.

694

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Releases Patch to Fix Ridge Racer Freezing Bug

« on: June 16, 2011, 10:09:31 AM »

The only thing i can think of is that I had Zelda (GBC) on hold. I didn't think this would affect anything though.

I too had Zelda on hold (just beat the Tail Cave boss), and as soon as I went out to the Home menu, the spotpass notification popped up on its own, asked me to press OK, and did its thing on its own. 

So no, Zelda is not at fault.

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TalkBack / Re: Ocarina of Time 3D Commercial Stars Robin Williams

« on: June 16, 2011, 01:38:29 AM »

What really amazes me is that the way Zelda talks about the game (and Robin Williams too, though not so much) it seems really genuine.  Like she's really familiar with the game, the franchise, and a lot of its tropes (cutting grass, for example).  Hollywood people are usually really bad at writing dialogue about games---like, stunningly bad, so I'm left thinking that either they worked really really hard with some hardcore game consultants to prep Zelda and Robin, or they really really are into this game and/or franchise.

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TalkBack / Re: Ubisoft Advertises Just Dance 2 in Katy Perry's New Music Video

« on: June 16, 2011, 01:26:58 AM »

Oh man....this is proof that Autotune has gone too far. 

And Katy Perry, I really hope she's on minute 14 of her 15 minutes.  My daughter is graduating from her pre-school next week, and the song they chose to sing during the ceremony?  Katy Perry's "Fireworks." 

697

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Releases Patch to Fix Ridge Racer Freezing Bug

« on: June 16, 2011, 01:17:30 AM »

Oh man, I totally forgot about that bug.  And I've been playing Ridge Racer all this time too.  Never encountered it.

698

TalkBack / Re: Virtual Console Recommendations: 3DS eShop Launch Spectacular

« on: June 12, 2011, 06:12:50 PM »

I think Link's Awakening is the best Zelda ever!

Hyperbole aside, I'm just an hour in but this is super-fun.  I'd never played this before, I was half-afraid it would be like the first Zelda, but it's much closer to Link to the Past in terms of gameplay.  Good candidate for a RFN retrospective, maybe?

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TalkBack / Re: Happy 10th Anniversary, Game Boy Advance!

« on: June 12, 2011, 06:02:11 PM »

I still have my launch GBA from when I was 7

Yeah, I likewise still have my launch GBA from when I was....23.  Argh.

It would be great if Nintendo released some of the best GBA titles on the 3DS VC to celebrate, even if they don't plan to incorporate the GBA regularly for a while.

I hope so too.

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TalkBack / Re: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Impressions

« on: June 12, 2011, 05:59:51 PM »

I think this may be a clue to how Nintendo is planning to prevent sword combat fatigue

Thank you, Nintendo.  I was really worried about this.  A little after I heard about Skyward Sword and its use of Motion Plus, I got my hands on a cheap copy of Red Steel 2, and after playing it for 20 minutes, I had a scary thought:  "Oh my, is this what Skyward Sword is going to be like?"  I was generally scared, as that would make this the 1st Zelda game  I took a pass on.