Messages

326

Nintendo Gaming / Re: I haz Wii :D

« on: May 02, 2009, 12:48:46 AM »

If you liked Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, make sure to get Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. It's a great end to the Metroid Prime trilogy, and the Achievements-like system in the game is great.

I dunno, ... I loved MP and MP2, but MP3 seems just kinda meh in comparison -- the split into many small areas (as opposed to the giant sprawling layouts of the others), and the constant contact with the outside really hurts, I think , and it feels far less immersive than the first two games.

I also find the wii controls worse than the GC MP controls, mostly because it seems to now put a huge emphasis on precision.  I found the GC controls worked really well after you got used to them, but I can never get things working all that well on the wii (maybe that's partly because I have a very small room, and end up usually playing pretty close to the TV, but whatever the reason, it's a less pleasant experience), and MP3 has been pretty frustrating as a result.

327

NWR Feedback / Re: Link to the Front page

« on: May 01, 2009, 09:52:03 PM »

Hmmm, I always seem to want this too...

328

TalkBack / Re: PREVIEWS: Klonoa

« on: May 01, 2009, 04:15:01 AM »

btw, I'm looking forward to your impressions YP...

I want to buy another wii game to play during golden week, and it seems like either Klonoa or Fatal-Frame are good candidates.

329

TalkBack / Re: PREVIEWS: Klonoa

« on: May 01, 2009, 03:12:29 AM »

So is this a "2d in 3d" game?  It kinda looks like it from the screenshots...

[As in, 3d rendering and worlds, but movement almost always along a single path determined by the game?]

330

TalkBack / Re: PREVIEWS: We Cheer 2

« on: April 30, 2009, 02:58:51 AM »

I'm mystified by some of the youtube "related videos" ... the "Fat Santa" video?!

(hmmm... power of cheer... burn away calories... fat santa?)

331

TalkBack / Re: REVIEWS: Six Flags Fun Park

« on: April 27, 2009, 08:05:01 AM »

Can't go wrong with pig racing.

332

TalkBack / Re: NWR is Hiring in The Bay and L.A.!

« on: April 25, 2009, 08:48:11 AM »

Wow. Talk about being anal.

I think that was uncalled for.

I'm not objecting out of pedantry, but because I think NWR (ne PGC) is a great site, much more honest and straight-forward than most gaming sites, and this particular odd terminology has always seemed out of place, misleading in a way that might end up leaving some people feeling disappointed when they find out that it's not a "real" job.

333

TalkBack / Re: Another Code R: A Journey of Lost Memories Dated for Europe

« on: April 25, 2009, 12:21:30 AM »

Given that it seems to be a somewhat thoughtful and slowly paced game, maybe they figure it just won't sell well in a violence/adrenaline-crazed place like the U.S....  :-/

Did other games of this type (on some IGN board, I see "Hotel Dusk" and "Trace Memory" mentioned, though I haven't played either) have particularly bad U.S. sales?

Hmm, the Japanese version is already released!

334

TalkBack / Re: Another Code R: A Journey of Lost Memories Dated for Europe

« on: April 24, 2009, 11:56:44 PM »

Sooo.... anybody known of any reviews/impressions of this game?  What audience is it intended for?

[The teaser video makes it look kinda fun, and the graphics are nice and clean, but who knows...]

335

TalkBack / Re: NWR is Hiring in The Bay and L.A.!

« on: April 24, 2009, 11:45:34 PM »

Why does NWR use the phrase "hiring", anyway, given that they don't offer any pay?

AFICT, the word "hire" is pretty firmly associated with pay being exchanged for work (e.g., see http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hire).

NWR (and before that, PGC) has used this odd wording for a long time, and it's alway made me feel kind of uncomfortable...  wouldn't it be a bit more honest to just say "NWR is seeking volunteers for positions in the XXX area"?

336

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories confirmed for Wii!

« on: April 19, 2009, 03:34:14 AM »

I'm kind of glad about a lack of combat.  Every other damn game out there does the combat, how about something a little different...?

337

Podcast Discussion / Re: Radio Free Nintendo: Episode 139

« on: March 30, 2009, 07:47:51 AM »

depraved perhaps, but it's ... cute little (kinda) top-down sprite depraved!

338

TalkBack / Re: The Legend of Zelda: Spirt Tracks Trailer

« on: March 26, 2009, 02:13:30 PM »

I just didn't think Phantom Hourglass was all that hot.  I hate the controls and I hate the central dungeon design.

Ian, you hate everything.

339

TalkBack / Re: The Legend of Zelda: Spirt Tracks Trailer

« on: March 25, 2009, 08:59:15 PM »

Color me underwhelmed as well. I liked the stylus controls in PH, but the train seems too derivative.

Er, what on earth do you expect them to do?  It seems like anything they pick is going to seem derivative in some sense (e.g., a motorcycle would basically just be a horse with wheels).

Or do you mean you don't like the whole separate over-world?  I might agree with that; one thing about traditional zeldas I liked over e.g. FF was that you just walked from place to place, with no viewpoint shift.  However, based on this video, the train actually seems much closer to the "integrated" zeldas in feel than PH did -- even when travelling on the train, the viewpoint doesn't shift to "satellite view", and you don't feel like you're playing on a map.

But who am I to speak -- I like trains (in real life), so I'm pretty jazzed about this.

340

TalkBack / Re: The Legend of Zelda: Spirt Tracks Trailer

« on: March 25, 2009, 08:15:17 PM »

The train is basically the boat but on land. 

Well, not entirely -- the boat could go "anywhere", but the train has to stick to the tracks; this gives train travel a very different feel in real life, so it would probably feel different in the game too.  It seems well suited for some interesting puzzles.

Also of course, merely being situated on land instead of the sea should given opportunity for more interesting environmental variation during travel (mountains, tunnels, bridges, ...); one thing I didn't like about the sea travel thing was simply that the sea seemed ... kinda flat and boring (even in WW, where they tried their best to add interest).

341

TalkBack / Re: The Legend of Zelda: Spirt Tracks Trailer

« on: March 25, 2009, 08:06:22 PM »

First a steam boat and then a steam train. What's next, a car?

Well, logically, I suppose, a steam car.

Hmm, or even better, a steam motorcycle!

Zelda's basic principle seems to be "the wackier the better!"

(not a complaint mind you, I like it!)

342

General Gaming / Re: The PATHETIC state of the gaming 'media'

« on: March 24, 2009, 07:28:36 PM »

<sarcasm>    A pinnacle of videogame journalism </sarcasm>

What the HELL is he talking about? I have no idea what the article is about.

To be fair though, it's a blag.  Blags are supposed to be illogical, poorly-written rants, with little connection to anything but how the author felt after his latest bowel movement.

A blag written by a game journalist though... shudder...

343

TalkBack / Re: REVIEWS: Chrono Trigger

« on: March 22, 2009, 03:38:10 PM »

Ugh. I wish I had known that before I imported the U.S. version from here in Japan. Blech.

Hmm, well maybe you can switch your U.S. version to play in Japanese then ... :-)

344

TalkBack / Re: REVIEWS: Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop

« on: March 20, 2009, 11:32:09 AM »

Is Capcom capable of doing anything right these days...?

345

TalkBack / Re: REVIEWS: Chrono Trigger

« on: March 18, 2009, 07:41:39 AM »

An excellent question.  Hopefully you're going someplace that has game stores...

I doubt they'd have it in English.

I guess this reply's uselessly late, but I just happened to notice that the Japanese version of DS Chrono Trigger can be switched between Japanese and English via a config menu setting (so, anytime you want in the game, except during battles or cut-scenes)!

346

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo DS Mandatory in Select Japanese Schools

« on: March 15, 2009, 05:27:57 AM »

BTW, maybe I shouldn't even have put "educational" in quotes, 'cause much of the DS educational software in fact seems to be fairly hard-core serious stuff.  You see lots of adverts on japanese trains for DS software intended for studying for college entrance exams etc., often written by companies that normally have nothing to do with games...

347

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo DS Mandatory in Select Japanese Schools

« on: March 15, 2009, 03:04:05 AM »

This actually seems far more interesting than those usually kind of silly laptop programs -- the DS has a ton of "educational" software that's actually proven itself in the rather more brutal general market, and the hardware's hugely cheaper and more robust...

348

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Upcoming Resident Evil game for Wii thread

« on: March 11, 2009, 09:09:10 AM »

I hope that they speed it up a bit since the last one seemed to play slower. Exploration to some degree would be nice as well.

Er,.... exploration?  In an on-rails shooter?!

Doesn't "on-rails" pretty much preclude exploration except of the most clumsy kind (e.g., choose-a-branching-path)?

349

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Why the Wii will never get any better (Firmware Related)

« on: March 04, 2009, 09:03:55 AM »

All of which are bloody obvious. How did this get dragged out to three pages?

Well if there's one constant through the many ages of man, it's People Love to Whine...

350

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

« on: March 02, 2009, 08:28:32 PM »

As long as we don't get awkward gay love scenes and annoying Mary Sues I am fine .

Would that really be all that much worse than Square's normal writing...?