Messages

276

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 703: Incursions Into Complete Despair: A Holiday Special

« on: December 21, 2020, 09:26:34 PM »

My fave RFN subplot is Guillaume relitigating old IGN Forum grudges.

277

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Best of the Wii U eShop (Round 3: 2014 - Part 1)

« on: December 05, 2020, 07:41:14 PM »

Oof, kind of a rough list huh.
Pure Chess is just a paid version of the website, basically an online chess client. You need a separate account and everything. It looks really nice though, and has (had?) crossplay with all their other apps on PC/Xbox/Vita and such.

Gravity Badgers... Yeah a 4/10 seems about right. You steer these astronaut badgers around galactic objects and hope they don't headbutt the Moon on their way to Saturn. The gravity affects their trajectory which is an ok gimmick, but this game also has some really poorly designed boss encounters. Probably works better on mobile.

I also played Abyss because it's always on sale for pennies, and it felt like opening your wallet over a storm drain and watching all your worthless change fall into, well, an abyss I guess. You know that Mr. Bean clip with the metal wire he's not allowed to touch? Imagine that but you're rapidly mashing (or not mashing) A to guide a light-up jellyfish through a maze with death on all sides. I don't have the patience for it at all and found it very frustrating. Possibly my least liked game on the system?



I heard Scram Kitty wasn't bad, I think it was a platformer meets shooter, but also on two screens at once? AFAIK it never was on sale whenever I checked the U's eShop, so I never got it.

• Why is Cocoto Magic Circus 2 so expensive?

There's an RFN episode about one of these Cocoto games. My impression is it might be a semi-popular franchise in other language areas, like maybe France, Italy, or Brazil. A quick search turned up this eBay listing of an actual disc release with lightgun Wiimotes:

• How do you survive?

The past year? Barely, and mostly out of spite, so maybe I should look into that game lol.

278

Movies & TV / Re: Watcha Watchin'?

« on: December 04, 2020, 05:38:41 PM »

That reminds me. I've seen Robotech and Neon Genesis Evangelion on streaming services and I've always heard of those as major (or classic) anime series. Maybe I should try giving those a spin.

As for Evangelion, it's a worthwhile series but I don't recommend watching the version of it that's available on streaming services, as that uses a terrible new English dub that was pretty much made by the new Japanese rights holders. The old ADV dub had its issues, but the new dub is so stiff and literal. I'd recommend the recent "Rebuild" movies, but the 3rd one is rather infamously terrible and the 4th one has been in development hell for years.

Gonna butt into this conversation, since I watched Evangelion for the first time this year. Admittedly didn't try the (new?) dubbed version, and my anime knowledge is very limited. But I just went straight to Japanese audio with English subtitles, and it was totally fine as a newcomer. The show borrows like three words from German(?) I googled, but honestly it would be fine without knowing those too.

What I will say is that while Evangelion is a wildly uneven show, and at times deeply uncomfortable, it really floored me in a way not much media has in years. There's some repetition and filler episodes which bog its pacing down, but luckily there's not too many episodes and they are fairly short too.

Gonna throw out a warning about the general tone of the show though, which you might consider a spoiler Khush, but I wish someone had told me before going in: Evangelion frequently deals with deeply depressing subject matter. I went in expecting basically a Japanese take on like, I don't know, Star Wars? An upbeat 90s anime with mechs and space aliens? Turns out it more closely resembled how I felt watching Requiem For A Dream.
I would recommend anyone to watch the series if they're remotely interested, especially newcomers to anime like myself. But depending on how much media/stories can affect your mood, consider not doing so if you're in a bad mental place

279

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Best of the Wii U eShop (Part 1 - Pre-Virtual Console)

« on: December 02, 2020, 07:03:08 PM »

As for the rest, Little Inferno I've always remembered about because it was the next game from the studio that made of World of Goo. While curious about the game, my impression of it from back when it came on Wii U was that it was just a small gimmick of throwing different items in a fire and watching them burn. I equated it to something like a WarioWare unlockable bonus like a toy piano where you can plunk away at a few keys. Make up a song or try and play one you know. It just seemed like something that would offer slight amusement for a little while. I'm still not sure how it could be a game or what sort of progression there could be in it.

The thing is, there is more to this game but telling people kind of gives away the surprise. I wouldn't compare it to a WarioWare bonus game, but more to something like a Match-Up card game + an interactive fire place DVD.
To progress you need to burn specific combinations based on hints and items you buy from a catalogue. So let's say it gives you the clue "Hindenburg", then you know you'll need to find a zeppelin, and something from Jersey and spark a fire between the two. Not sure if that specific one was in there, but there's a similar sense of dark humour to most of the "puzzles".

So what do you get for following those instructions? I'll spoilertag it here, last chance, I'm gonna ruin this for you: basically the entire game is kind of a send-up of time wasting mobile phone games. You get lists, follow instructions, burn things to earn in-game currency, complete lists, and sit around waiting for timers to respawn when you run out of currency. It's deliberately wasting your time, and all your accomplishments are literally useless since, well, you're setting them on fire.

There's another meta-textual layer at the end of it all which I won't spoil, but it does try to construct a narrative between the lines before making it explicit at the end.

So yeah, won't go into everything, but my gripe is that it's just not very clever to waste people's time... to make a statement... about games which waste people's time? Admittedly that's a reductive take on my part, but the late-game narrative bait & switch doesn't recontextualise your previous actions thaaaat much to redeem the means by which the end is reached.

Finally, are these titles available elsewhere on Nintendo systems?

No

Nano Assault Neo

While this is true, both the original Nano Assault and its enhanced version Nano Assault EX are on 3DS and offer a very similar experience.
Nano Assault NEO is also not lost to time if the Wii U eShop goes down, since it got a port to PS4 (called Nano Assault NEO X). Was the first time Shin'en published on a non-Nintendo platform, I believe.

280

General Gaming / Re: Indie-Cember is here! Play your favorite indies all month long!

« on: December 02, 2020, 06:26:43 PM »

Hold up where did Shocktober go.

I want to finally start Manifold Garden this month, so that'll be my pick. Looks to be a 5-10 hour affair, which seems manageable.

... for anyone who wants a recommendation for a game to play, Moon Remix RPG was released on Switch in English by onion games after 23 years of being Japan only. It's a beautiful, strange little game and I absolutely adore it to pieces.

Still on my wishlist too, hope to get this one day.

281

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Best of the Wii U eShop (Round 2 - The Second Half of 2013)

« on: November 30, 2020, 05:46:47 PM »

Curious to hear some impressions from folks on these. I don't really see any obvious winners in this batch, just a few C an B grade games.

Dr. Luigi is rad (because Dr. Mario is rad) but it felt rather overpriced for something with like 2 or 3 songs and one new gimmick. I always expected Nintendo to make more eShop games themselves, but it was mostly external studios who made this, Star Fox Guard, and Mario vs. DK Tipping Stars. Don't remember who made NES Remix 1 & 2.

EDGE and RUSH are both fun games, the first is the easier of the two, and closer to a platformer, while RUSH is mostly a puzzle game.
Also played that Star Wars Pinball game and it's mostly the same as Zen Pinball 2, but with a clearer business model. I've never really liked Star Wars though so the license was a turn-off for me. But the tables included are good at least. Remember it crashing a few times though.

That Bumpie Party game looks kinda neat, but the name makes it sound like shovelware.

282

TalkBack / Re: Longstanding Ban On Pokemon TCG Printing Kadabra Cards To Be Lifted

« on: November 29, 2020, 06:06:53 PM »

That's a really interesting speculation. Is it your own?

Yeah just me spitballing based on a few observations.
Did a bit of googling though and here's something which throws a wrench in my theory: this PokéBeach interview appears to indicate there was ongoing legal action of some sort all the way into 2008. Which would mean The Pokémon Company (and/or Nintendo?) were in some sort of continued contact with Mr. Geller for a solid 8 years minimum.

Not a lawyer, so if true I'm not sure what to make of that. But perhaps TPC/Nintendo put up more of a fight than I thought?

283

TalkBack / Re: Longstanding Ban On Pokemon TCG Printing Kadabra Cards To Be Lifted

« on: November 28, 2020, 08:01:06 PM »

Why did Nintendo never fight him? He had no case, he was far from the first magician to "bend" spoons. Nintendo could have easily defeated him in courts.

No special insider knowledge, just speculation: in 2000, when the injunction was filed, Pokémon was an absolute juggernaut at its arguable cultural peak worldwide. The 2nd movie was out that year, as where the game sequels which also carried much of the Game Boy Color sales.

So here comes a famous Jewish celebrity from Israel, claiming the lightning bolts on the Kadabra character (whose Japanese name sounds similar to the guy, and who shares a stage magician gimmick) are a reference to Nazi Germany's Waffen SS logo(see source from 2000 here).

That's a really bad assertion against your children's franchise if it makes headlines, even if it's a spurious lawsuit. It's probably just easier to take 1 card out of print rotation and maybe settle things out of court, behind closed doors.
Back in the day Uri Geller was an influential celebrity, and he never stopped being good at grabbing headlines (recently he claimed to use his psychic powers to stop Theresa May from completing Brexit, which I suppose in a way did occur? lol).

The Pokémon Company were very protective of that brand already back then. In 2000 Jynx's design came under fire for blackface & a voodoo name, and she was changed quickly.
When ~700 kids got seizures after the 1997 Porygon episode they made sure the episode would never air outside of Japan, and Porygon was never seen in the anime again. They also pulled the Safari Zone episode for implied gun violence, and post-9/11 the Tentacruel episode was taken out of syndication. Heck they cut the opening to the first movie because they thought "cloning" would offend Christian audiences.

So yeah I think the company had a pattern of playing it safe, and dropping 1 card was probably easier than a potentially protracted lawsuit (even if they would eventually win it).

284

General Chat / Re: The COVID-19 Virus is Coming For Us All Thread

« on: November 26, 2020, 12:29:04 PM »

Wonder if video chat services will be able to handle all the extra traffic tomorrow.

Stay safe everyone.

285

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Best of the Wii U eShop (Part 1 - Pre-Virtual Console)

« on: November 22, 2020, 06:03:05 PM »

Good idea Bungle!
I've played most of these, so will just do some rapid fire replies. The only I one I would universally recommend is Bit Trip Runner 2, the rest come with caveats.

Bit Trip Runner 2: Really fun 2D platformer/rhythm game. Looks great, catchy music, Charles Martinet does the voice iirc, and Mop It Up beat every single one of my scores by at least double the points amount. I recommend everyone on my friends list to fall off the platforms a lot to artificially inflate my scores.

Trine 2: Not a fan if playing solo. The levels in these games take forever, all the non-combat sections are puzzles based around physics which always feel janky, and the story is the most predictable fantasy stuff. It does look really nice though, and I know people like these games in multiplayer.

Little Inferno: Kinda feels like an idle game like Cookie Clicker where you combine items and burn them to score points. It's got a good sense of slightly dark humor and it does have a point to make, but I don't think it's as clever as it thinks it is. One of those games which makes discussing them difficult without giving away the surprises, but also not interesting enough to recommend on its own without the novelty of said surprises.

Nano Assault Neo: Think twin-stick shooter (Robotron, Assault Android Cactus) meets Mario Galaxy style planetoids. I really like the game, but the Gamepad use is minor (just adjusts your additional guns' positions), and I believe the (New?)3DS port has more levels including some rail-shooter style ones. Hoping this gets an expanded sequel on Switch, like FAST Racing Neo/RMX.

Zen Pinball 2: I wonder if this business model worked. There were heaps of tables, but first you had to download them all as demo-DLC, and then buy them individually. I think I got them all to try, but in the end only bought one or two. A bummer is how many of the better tables are about Marvel and other super mainstream franchises, but obviously they don't have the rights to get the actual Avengers actors likenesses and voices.
I preferred the tables with less licensing stuff, such as the Planet Mars one, but those were also the safer ones with less zany features.

Toki Tori 2+: A game I really admire, but also find endlessly frustrating. It's a mostly interconnected world like 2D Metroid, and you can go anywhere right off the bat. You unlock no new abilities, it's just about discovering how everything interacts. Exceedingly elegant in its design. However, I get impatient very quickly, because you're often waiting on enemies to walk into precise spots before trying to spring some convoluted three-step trap on them. Nothing is more annoying than seeing some bubble move at glacial speed, only to miss its target by like 2 pixels while you stand there unable to influence the Rube Goldberg interactions.
There's speedruns of this on Youtube and they make it look easy, but while I can usually see the solutions, executing them reliably was often beyond me.

P.S.: Chasing Aurora is not in the poll but was also a digital-only launch game. Never played it though.

286

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Switch SNES Online: Now You're Playing with Khushrenada!

« on: November 19, 2020, 03:58:36 PM »

Does F-Zero even have a two-player mode? I swear it was single-player only on SNES, but maybe I'm mixing two things up here.

In any case, I'd be game for a future session too, maybe this weekend or next week?. How set are you on beating a game Khush? Am a tad swamped right now, so an hour or two might be my max.
Also fair warning I'm bad at platformers but you know I wanna see Khush clobber dinosaurs in Joe & Mac. Also willing to lose at Mario Kart or try some beat-em-ups (Brawl Brothers? Peacekeepers?).

287

Nintendo Gaming / Re: And now it is time for a list of the true Nintendo Gaming Heroes.

« on: November 19, 2020, 03:43:53 PM »

I am still playing Wii U regularly but mine is starting to have some serious slow down. I think it's the external hard drive. I am using a powered WD drive that is rather old. Does anyone have a recommendation for an external hard drive that is currently available?

Been using a standard Toshiba Canvio Basic 500GB model for 3+ years. Using a USB Micro -> 2x USB-A Y-cable to keep it powered, since the Wii U supposedly has underpowered USB ports. Works perfectly fine (knocks on wood) but it does take 2 USB ports.
I believe Pokepal talked a lot about an external SSD which works off a single USB port, but don't remember the thread where he did. That sounds even better, maybe it even loads faster? Not sure if the console has enough I/O bandwidth to really take advantage of it.

288

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Sales Thread

« on: November 17, 2020, 11:35:03 AM »

The Pikmin 3 rerelease comes out on top, followed by the SMT 3: Nocturne rereleases.
I've seen one Twitter thread that indicates that the SMT 3 remaster might be... less desirable than hoped for.

Hmmm that's disappointing RE: Shin Megami Tensei 3, I have that one pencilled into next year's budget. Thanks for the heads up, will look into the complaints.

289

NWR Forums Discord / Re: Happy Birthday Pokepal!

« on: November 16, 2020, 06:03:13 PM »

Wishing Pokepal a happy birthday!

290

General Chat / Re: The COVID-19 Virus is Coming For Us All Thread

« on: November 16, 2020, 11:56:50 AM »

Article sounds promising. Two doses for ~37$ and most Americans protected by Q2 next year. Not seeing anything on how long you'll be protected though. Are we gonna need 2 annual shots for years to come?

The storage sounds more feasible for transport to other countries too. We gotta get the whole world protected.

291

Nintendo Gaming / Re: I own Super Mario Bros.

« on: November 13, 2020, 01:53:20 PM »

Sounds like Super Mario Bros. owns you, tbh. 

292

TalkBack / Re: The Last Blade: Beyond the Destiny (Switch eShop) Review Mini

« on: November 09, 2020, 07:19:17 PM »

As the resident corporate defender, I'll come to the NGPC's aid in this time of need!
Sure the system was mostly handheld versions of SNK's many fighting franchises, along with casino and Pachislot simulators once Aruze bought SNK... But it's not devoid of other stuff.

The problem I fear is probably down to rights... Card Fighters Clash and the Mega Man game require Capcom to play nice, CoolBoarders is owned by Sony, and Sega-Sammy worked on a lot of games for the system including a Sonic title and some RPGs.
Square-Enix already doesn't care about Ogre Battle, so they'll never translate Gaiden. Taito and Data East are basically holding companies who I doubt remember their niche Bubble Bobble/Magical Drop releases.

The most interesting game on the system, Faselei, belongs to a defunct spin-off of Atlus, and the Dark Arms rights are still with Aruze... That just leaves SNK's own fighting games, two Metal Slug entries, and some sports games as easy ports.

293

General Chat / Re: Personal Product Promotions Page

« on: November 02, 2020, 02:49:00 PM »

Hey congrats on her for publishing 2 books, and the site says a third is on the way too!

Can't promise I'll give it a read, but I'll add to the TBR list. If I get to it I'll leave a comment.

294

Nintendo Gaming / Re: What will Nintendo release in 2020?

« on: October 26, 2020, 05:47:41 PM »

Three out of the six fighters from the new pass will drop this year.  They will be Travis Touchdown, Dante, and a Pokemon.

Well, I was almost right.

If I remember I'll tally everyone's predictions at the end of the year, and yeah that one warrants at least half a point!

OP has been updated to reflect the latest Fire Emblem shenanigans.
Also there's a Fortnite themed Switch releasing??? But only in the UK/Australia/NZ??? Very odd.

EDIT: These are available in North America as of Cyber Monday. I like the joy-con colours.

295

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 696: WAM - Wet Ass Mario 64

« on: October 26, 2020, 02:49:39 PM »

God-tier episode title

296

Nintendo Gaming / Re: WE DEMAND FOLDERS: The official Nintendo Switch folders hunger strike thread!

« on: October 23, 2020, 05:48:38 PM »

Butter sticks are highly nutritious.

297

NWR Forums Discord / Re: Safe Words 16 - Next-Gen Edition

« on: October 22, 2020, 04:49:11 PM »

Bummer I lost my S1 crown, but not much of one since it balances out for those hosting. Feels like 70 was a good choice Khush.

Would still like to see lifetime score rankings included as well.

I definitely agree with Khush how using seasons is more inviting to new players, simply because the scoring system heavily biases towards any sort of participation at all. Might be daunting to participate. But to answer the question, you're veeery close to Mop's crown if we add everything up: 

All-Time Rankings
01. Mop it up - 1169 points (14 games played, 2 games hosted)
02. Stratos - 1157 points (16 games played)
03. ShyGuy - 1140 points (15 games played)
04. NWR_Insanolord - 1114 points (16 games played)
05. nickmitch - 1083 points (15 games played)
06. Khushrenada - 1081 points (6 games played, 10 games hosted)
07. Lucario - 808 points (10 games played, 1 game hosted)
08. Soren - 802 points (12 games played)
09. TOPHATANT123 - 635 points (8 games played)
10. Silenced - 572 points (7 games played, 1 game hosted)
11. oohhboy - 502 points (8 games played)
12. Triforce Hermit - 500 points (6 games played, 1 game hosted)
13. UncleBob - 478 points (6 games played)
14. lolmonade - 472 points (8 games played)
15. Steefosaurus - 393 points (4 games played, 1 game hosted)
16. Nuclearspeed - 342 points (5 games played)
17. BeautifulShy - 223 points (3 games played)
18. ObbyDent - 180 points (3 games played)
19. Pokepal148 - 169 points (2 games played)
20. Evan_B - 165 points (3 games played)
21. TofuFury - 139 points (2 games played)
22. Spak-Spang - 116 points (2 games played)
23. (tie) Ceric - 100 points (1 game played)
23. (tie) MASB – 100 points (1 game played) [NEW ENTRY!]
25. (tie) Fatty The Hutt - 93 points (1 game played)
25. (tie) Phil - 93 points (1 game played)
27. Mr. Bungle – 87 points (1 game played) [NEW ENTRY!]
28. (tie) BlackNMild2k1 - 76 points (1 game played)
28. (tie) Zap - 76 points (1 game played)
30. Luigi Dude – 50 points (1 played) [NEW ENTRY!]
31. ejamer - 47 points (1 game played)
32. Hypotheliciously - 41 points (1 game played)

If you want to compare how things have moved around, here's the all-time totals after Safe Words 14, before hosts were awarded points (note the leap Khush and Mop made).

298

NWR Forums Discord / Re: Safe Words 16 - Next-Gen Edition

« on: October 22, 2020, 11:43:51 AM »

You can request a time extension?   How long of a time extension?

I didn't really set an exact time for it, but it's there in the rules (see bolding below).
My thinking was mostly just if I send a 24 hours remaining reminder and people need more time to deal with personal stuff or whatever, but didn't want to quit the game, it's an option.
Nobody requested an extension, and in some sense it's probably a pointless addition since sending a PM to ask for more time is probably more time consuming than just quickly making a random choice to move the game along.
But eh, these forum games are mostly fun for the social aspect imo, not so much the competitive element. So I try to keep people on board, rather than losing players to inactivity. Seeing Lolmonade post within like an hour of their elimination was a bummer imo, that's the kind of stuff I was hoping to avoid.

Time limit: I’ll give players a generous 48 hours to decide which word to pick. Time limits are counted as of the timestamp on my last post.

Reminders: Players are encouraged to keep an eye on the thread to see when they’re up to choose. I will try to send reminders (per Forum PM) if 24 hours have elapsed without a choice occurring. If you prefer to be notified on Discord instead, let me know. If you need a time extension, let me know.

299

NWR Forums Discord / Re: Safe Words 16 - Next-Gen Edition

« on: October 22, 2020, 11:34:25 AM »

The key difference between Super Mario 3D World for Nintendo Wii U, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker for Nintendo Wii U, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker for Nintendo Switch, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury for Nintendo Switch (patent pending), Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker for Nintendo 3DS Family of Systems, and Sackboy: A Big Adventure for Sony PlayStation 5 (pending trademark dispute in the Republic of India) and Sony PlayStation 5: Digital Edition (pending trademark dispute in the Republic of India) is that Sackboy: A Big Adventure is releasing in the Knack 2013 slot... Meaning the game will indeed be the booooomb, but also that it's, well, the bomb.

MASB steals the crown and wins the Safe Words 16 Champion title!
Congratulations!

Dirt 5 would've been the Safe Word this round, proving once again how console wars are pointless since people only care about third party releases anyway. Maybe Sackboy should've settled for another racing game? I hear Sumo Digital are good at those.



This concludes Safe Words 16, the first of three games in Season 3! Since we're a trilogy this season, part 2 will be the dark and gritty sequel, so stay tuned.
THANKS FOR PLAYING EVERYONE!

Short recap:
A total of 23 Safe Words were chosen over 11 Rounds of playing. This seems comparatively low, mostly because 4 rounds were instantly ended by the first choice being the Bomb. One player was eliminated due to inactivity (just barely too, sorry Lolmonade), and one player stepped on their own Bomb (Insanolord).

The most often picked Safe choices were Bugsnax and Dirt 5, each sheltering 4 players, with the latter obviously being the safest out of all. By contrast, the least Safe choices were Spider-Man, Yakuza, Demon's Souls and The Medium all of which only helped a single player to safety. (This is discounting Godfall, which was the first Bomb and thus was never safe.)

Bomb-setting was very lopsided this time around, with MASB setting no less than FIVE Bomb Words on their path to victory. NWR_Insanolord and Mr. Bungle set two Bombs each. TOPHATANT123 and a contentious Pokepal148 Bomb round out the standings.
This effectively means more than half of all players never got to set a Bomb, and within that lower 50% bracket, 5 players never got to make more than 2 moves. It's kind of part & parcel for the game to lose people early, but it does make me wonder if a game where the outgoing player decides the Bomb would be fun. It would eliminate attempts to fake out fellow players, but it's worth considering.

Current Season 3 rankings:
12th. Mop It Up - 47 points (1 game played)
11th. Luigi Dude - 50 points (1 game played)
10th. Lolmonade - 54 points (1 game played)
09th. Nickmitch - 58 points (1 game played)
08th. Khushrenada - 62 points (1 game played)
07th. NWR_Insanolord - 66 points (1 game played)
Host. Discord.RSS - 70 points (0 games played, 1 hosted)
06th. Stratos - 71 points (1 game played)
05th. Pokepal148 - 76 points (1 game played)
04th. BeautifulShy - 81 points (1 game played)
03rd. Mr. Bungle - 87 points (1 game played)
02nd. TOPHATANT123 - 93 points (1 game played)
01st. MASB - 100 points (1 game played)

300

NWR Forums Discord / Re: Safe Words 16 - Next-Gen Edition

« on: October 21, 2020, 11:10:37 PM »

It would, but Tophat has a good 36 hours and change left to make a selection or request a time extension, so I'm sure that'll be plenty.

Nothing wrong with making MASB (and the audience!) nervously sweat a little before choosing.