Messages

8976

Nintendo Gaming / Re: E3: 2008 Is about 3 weeks away what Wii news are you expecting and hoping for?

« on: July 15, 2008, 06:23:44 PM »

Well, alrighty. So how about that "big game for the holiday that the gamers will want?" Was that supposed to be Animal Crossing?

Seems to me, Nintendo announced to 2 peripherals for the Wii, catered to casual gamers again, ignored DS, then called it a day. Color me confused though not necessarily let down, oddly enough. I guess I just don't care. It would be nice if Nintendo kept their mouths closed if they aren't going to show anything they say they will. Is that any different than before? Probably not.

Wii Sports Resort (I get it, that rhymes) is neat-o looking but the games they decided to show were pretty weak. None of them look nearly as engaging or fun as Wii Tennis did 2 years ago. I know there are other under-wraps games. I'm still unimpressed (at Resort), though.

I'm expecting a surprise akin to Brawl showing up at E3 2006, probably Kid Icarus using MotionPlus.

8977

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Announces Wii MotionPlus

« on: July 15, 2008, 02:53:15 AM »

I'd be really surprised to see MotionPlus sell for less than $20 (I expect higher). If the Wii Wheel, which does nothing except hold a Wii remote, costs $10, I don't expect MotionPlus being only $5 more.

8978

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Announces Wii MotionPlus

« on: July 15, 2008, 02:05:33 AM »

I'm assuming this is how Nintendo aims to win back hardcore gamers; by adding functionality to what many developers consider a limiting controller. On top of that, how do you convince casual gamers that MotionPlus is better or worth how ever much it costs? I'd bet that Nintendo's thinking is that they don't have to. Casual gamers aren't complaing about the Wii, everyone else is. Still, I'm having a hard time justifying this. If the nunchuck plugs into the MotionPlus module (which it better or it's useless), then Nintendo just introduced the world's first $80+ 1st party controller. How can anyone be happy about that?

The problem with MotionPlus is the same problem with any peripheral: it's extra and who wants to pay extra? Additionally, Nintendo needs a major title to vindicate the add-on's existence. People have said Zelda, but the next Zelda would have to wow audiences more than Ocarina of Time to make a difference. Good luck with that. Packing in MotionPlus with Zelda like they packed the Wii Wheel with Mario Kart would certainly help, but Nintendo would have to sell the game at a loss or pass off the difference onto the consumer, both of which has its pros and cons. Ultimately, launching MotionPlus is risky though I suppose being risky is what made Nintendo relevant again.

8979

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Castlevania Judgement... not what anyone expected ever... EVER

« on: July 13, 2008, 07:20:17 PM »

Besides, Alucard and Sonia's child would just barely have any vampire ancestry, which would be bred out even more as the family continued.

I don't want to make an argument out of this because it's really not a big deal, but Trevor would be 1/4 vampire and even ignoring that, being of vampire ancestry would, like I said, make the Belmonts incapable of using Vampire Killer.

I never liked that art from Resurrection and I'm glad that game was canceled.

8980

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Castlevania Judgement... not what anyone expected ever... EVER

« on: July 13, 2008, 06:21:07 PM »

IGA personally retconned Sonia Belmont from the series. Castlevania Legends is the only game to be completely retconned from continuity as IGA returned Circle of the Moon and both N64 games back into series canon (as side games to the main series). I like the idea of a female Belmont, but truthfully,  Legends made no sense since Sonia and Alucard have a child together, meaning every successive Belmont would not only be Dracula's descendant but also completely unable to touch Vampire Killer. Yeah, fail.

This game should have a good variety of characters. Off the top of my head, there's Soma Cruz, Joachim Armster, Walter Berhard, Maxim Kischine, Stella and Loretta, Isaac, Saint Germaine, and Death.

8981

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Is this game growing on you?

« on: July 13, 2008, 05:57:30 PM »

I haven't been playing any games lately though, if a game is engaging enough, I'll make time for it (the last one being No More Heroes and the next one likely being Order of Ecclesia). I'm not too interested in Brawl and when I play it, I get bored easily. Not that it's a bad game, but I find it too similar to Melee which I stopped playing because I got bored of that.

I might harp about SSE, but honestly, my biggest complaint about the game is that it's way to similar to Melee while the same isn't true of Melee compared to the original.

8982

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Castlevania Judgement... not what anyone expected ever... EVER

« on: July 12, 2008, 08:33:35 PM »

Plus after the success of Brawl, a Castlevania fighter based of is Smash Bros would have a much better chance of selling, since the average person knows what Smash Bros is and might be interested in a game like it.  While the Powerstone series is nothing more then a relic of the Dreamcast which only a smaller group of gamers know about.

I would think that it'd have a worse chance of selling if it were more like Brawl. Being more like a game fewer people have played makes the game feel fresher and more unique instead of another copycat game that does everything worse and has far less variety. Still, I hope IGA doesn't draw influences from too many games and experiments more. That's what gave us Symphony of the Night and that's also why I think the 3D Castlevania titles haven't been as successful as they could have been.

8983

Nintendo Gaming / Re: E3: 2008 Is about 3 weeks away what Wii news are you expecting and hoping for?

« on: July 12, 2008, 03:28:11 PM »

I thought they already released DKC on GBA. We don't need another port but this is Nintendo so I wouldn't put it past them since it was also ported to GBC. I guesss they're just continuing the tradition of porting DKC onto successive Nintendo portables.

8984

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Castlevania Judgement... not what anyone expected ever... EVER

« on: July 12, 2008, 03:01:18 AM »

I was about to post "What the hell happened to my thread?" but props to ShyGuy and Flames of Chaos. *respect knuckles*

Wise choice on IGA's part to not make Judgement a traditional fighting game. I'm hoping for 4-player support and multiple control options, but I won't hold my breath.

8985

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Captain Rainbow?!

« on: July 10, 2008, 07:10:35 PM »

There's next to no gameplay in that trailer. I appreciate the obvious humor that will be in the game but I'd like some indication that what I'm playing will actually be fun.

8986

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Could the Nunchuku functionality have been merged into the Wiimote?

« on: July 10, 2008, 07:03:04 PM »

The Classic Controller really isn't that much thicker than a Wii Remote and the analog sticks don't have to stick out that far. I find that I have to readjust my hand to firmly press the D-Pad. Sure, I'd probably have to do the same thing with an analog stick, but if you gave me a choice between D-pad and analog stick, I'd pick the latter.

8987

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Castlevania Judgement... not what anyone expected ever... EVER

« on: July 10, 2008, 06:53:56 PM »

Also, how do we go from this to this? Anime can be good, no doubt, but the art style is far inferior in this case.

This is probably a fairer comparison, but point taken.

Any kind of anime art style just doesn't seem appropriate for the series. Still, that's not going to stop me from playing and, more importantly, buying the games. While I'm more than likely going to be buying this game, I still don't really see the point of a Castlevania fighting game. Then again, Dissisia: Final Fantasy on PSP looks phenomenal. I suppose I'd just rather have a 2D game.

8988

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Could the Nunchuku functionality have been merged into the Wiimote?

« on: July 10, 2008, 01:34:58 AM »

Let's hope not seeing as the analog nub is terrible.

8989

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Pattens a new controller for Wii

« on: July 10, 2008, 01:34:10 AM »

It looks like it's the controller shell that Nintendo talked about a long time ago that will never see the light of day because we have the classic controller.

8990

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Could the Nunchuku functionality have been merged into the Wiimote?

« on: July 10, 2008, 12:45:25 AM »

Like what? To play NES VC games? Solution: buy a classic controller.

I wouldn't mind so much if the D-pad didn't suck so bad. Over 20 years of D-Pad evolution and that was the best Nintendo could some up with. Lame-o.

8991

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Could the Nunchuku functionality have been merged into the Wiimote?

« on: July 10, 2008, 12:18:00 AM »

I like the Wii Remote and nunchuck combo though I'd rather have an analog stick where the D-Pad is on the Wii Remote. I hate the Wii Remote D-Pad. It's too stiff and uncomfortable (double entendre).

8992

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Castlevania Judgement... not what anyone expected ever... EVER

« on: July 10, 2008, 12:03:09 AM »

People complain about the way Simon looks, I think he was like that in World Fighters too. It doesn't resemble the sprite that much but we're talking about an 8 bit era sprite, anything with arms, legs and a bandana would look like simon. Be glad they didn't use the Captain N design...

Simon in CJ is based on Ayami Kojima's redesign from Castlevania Chronicles. He doesn't look as manly but I always liked Kojima's designs so I never minded.

At least they're doing the series justice with their character designs and models.

Eww...

I'm not digging the anime art style for the series nor do I watch/care for Death Note. I still find it strange that IGA admitted on several occasions that fans of the series have not been receptive of the anime designs in Dawn of Sorrow or Portrait of Ruin and yet he opts for anime designs for Judgement AFTER going back to a darker, more mature art style for Order of Ecclesia. He's like an alzheimer's patient.

8993

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Sakurai: "I had a lot more characters" in Brawl

« on: July 09, 2008, 11:42:13 PM »

I think what sucks even more is that we are stuck with Brawl till the next game is released. And you know Nintendo's policy of one game per console...

Stuck? Aren't we being a little harsh? Brawl is still a great game. It, just like every other game (except Super Metroid), is flawed.

Also, I wouldn't call it a policy... I mean, looks at Mario Party... Still, despite Brawl's flaws, I wouldn't want another Smash Bros. game for another couple years. I can wait until Nintendo's next console for a sequel. My hope, like always, is that the next game will be leaps and bounds better than its predecessor and I think we can all agree that there's always room for improvement.

8994

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Sakurai: "I had a lot more characters" in Brawl

« on: July 08, 2008, 11:30:35 PM »

In his defense, Smash_Brother did say specifically reference the SSE so divide 400,000 by 2. Also, there were a lot of temps who worked on the game part-time which decreases that number further. On top of that, he also said "probably took over 7000 manhours" so his estimation is still correct anyway. See, nitpicking goes both ways.

Luigi Dude is right on the money with everything. Video gamers are never ever happy.

I don't mean this as an insult (just a counterpoint), but Luigi Dude also acts like almost everything 3rd parties do on other platforms is a slight against Nintendo (i.e. Castlevania on PSP). My point is that everyone is hard to please and never happy.

8995

General Gaming / Re: Too Human Trilogy: Exclusive for 360

« on: July 07, 2008, 01:00:54 AM »

That makes him full of himself? What do you expect him to do? He's not going to tell people not to buy his game.

8996

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

« on: July 07, 2008, 12:55:20 AM »

Richter Belmont was the last Belmont to use Vampire Killer because for some reason or another, the Belmont family became unable to wield Vampire Killer... well, until Julius in Aria of Sorrow (the Morris family are descendants of the Belmonts, but not Belmonts.... whatever that means). Order of Ecclesia is probably set somewhere between Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow. Yeah, that narrows it down to somewhere within like 230 something years. I remember an interview with IGA few years ago when the interviewer asked if we'll ever find out why the Belmonts became so powerless (as well as how Julius sealed Dracula in 1999) and IGA hinted that he's already thought up that story and wants to use it for a future game. Order of Ecclesia might be that game.

8997

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Kick-Ass Game Boy/Game Boy Color Games

« on: July 06, 2008, 11:21:40 PM »

Metal Gear Solid (Ghost Babel) was actually a really good game (despite the cardboard box puzzles). Konami packed a lot into a GBC cartridge. Also, Black Arts Viper was a pretty awesome villain.

Wario Land II was leaps and bounds better than Wario Land: (Fake) Super Mario Land 3. It's probably the reasons I'm so pumped for Shake It.

I must also praise Link's Awakening. It's so good that I am baffled that Capcom/Flagship's Oracle games were so mediocre.

8998

General Gaming / Re: Too Human Trilogy: Exclusive for 360

« on: July 05, 2008, 10:14:46 PM »

Too Human Trilogy: Exclusive for 360

I read somewhere that SK was leaving MS or that MS was letting them go...any info on this? Perhaps we will see Too Human on something else than a 360.

My understanding is that Silicon Knights disagreed with Nintendo's direction with the Wii so they ended their exclusive relationship though, technically, SK is still a Nintendo 2nd party because Nintendo never sold off their stock in SK. Whatever, it happens all the time... Anyway, SK, knowing that they definitely did not have the finances to fund Too Human alone and sans-Nintendo (like Nintendo would fund a game for another console), signed an exclusivity deal with Microsoft to publish Too Human on 360. I'm not sure Microsoft owns the rights to Too Human, but I wouldn't be surprised either way. On one hand, being exclusive to 360 just seems like an obvious stipulation for MS funding development however, MS regularly throws money around for limited exclusivity. On the other hand, SK seems to care more about getting their products published than who owns the rights judging by the fact that Eidos essentially stole Legacy of Kain and a completely unrelated franchise that starred a pre-LoK Raziel from under them and that Nintendo owns the rights to Eternal Darkness.

So to recap: there is no "leaving Microsoft or Microsoft letting them go" because Silicon Knights operates independently. SK has already announced a deal with Sega to publish a game and Dennis Dyack has been keen to revisit Eternal Darkness, something he can't do without Nintendo (unless, of course, something about those rights have changed). Silicon Knights probably owns the rights to Too Human, but if it ever makes it to another console, it won't be this generation.

8999

Nintendo Gaming / Who should produce Super Smash Bros. 4?

« on: July 04, 2008, 05:37:04 PM »

Let me start by saying that I don't want Masahiro Sakurai to be in charge of the next Smash Bros. title. Not that I think he's a bad game designer or did a bad job (clearly I don't, if I play his games). Rather, I feel that if Brawl was as far as he could take the series with Nintendo giving him every resource they could and no clear deadline, the series should be handed off to someone else who can take it into a fresher direction than Sakurai could. My choices:

1. Shigeru Miyamoto.... because he's Shigeru Miyamoto. He also pressed Sakurai to focus on multiplayer, something Sakurai clearly did not do. Most people would have a harder time coming up with reasons why that wouldn't be a good idea.

2. Suda51. May be too weird for something as mainstream as Smash Bros., but I think he's certainly talented enough to tackle a project like this. It upsets me that No More Heroes did not perform as well as it should have. I think he has a very sharp game designer's mind. With NMH, he is the only game designer who has put considerable thought into how else the Wii Remote could be used and he created a game that is completely unlike anything else on the Wii. I think that kind of thinking would be perfect for making a series like Smash Bros. feel fresh again.

3. Yoshinori Ono. Who? He's in charge of Street Fighter IV. He would be my absolute personal pick though he's the one I would imagine that most Smash Bros. fans would be opposed to. I think that most would, understandably, fear a more complicated game under Ono, but I think Miyamoto and Nintendo would keep him focused on keeping Smash Bros. accessible so I don't think anyone has anything to worry about in that regard. Also, he pitched SFIV to Capcom with the intent on making it more like Street Fighter II, admitting that SFIII, a game he worked on, was too complicated even for many Street Fighter fans. Working on a sequel to Street Fighter is a big deal and a tremendous amount of pressure is on his shoulders to deliver a sequel worthy of its namesake and from the looks of it, SFIV is set to deliver. He knows fighting games, especially how extremely difficult it is to properly balance one since being off even a few frames of animation could wreck the harmony of the entire game. If nothing else, that's the main thing he has in his favor.

If I had to pick any developer for the game, I'd pick EAD Tokyo. They have 2 games under their belt: Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and Super Mario Galaxy. What's not to like about that?

9000

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Sakurai: "I had a lot more characters" in Brawl

« on: July 04, 2008, 03:25:27 PM »

The level editor had potential and I hope it makes it into the sequel when its made. It's biggest flaw, similar to the Subspace Emissary, is that the levels aren't based on the actual games.

I suppose in his defense, Sakurai made the game he wanted to make despite what fans may think now. At the same time, Smash Bros. is a game that would never exist without all of the fans of the various popular series the game is based on and pays homage to. How do you separate a game like this from all its fans? The short answer is that you can't and Sakurai, despite what he wants, has an obligation to listen to the fanbase first and foremost because there is no Smash Bros. without the fans.