Messages

76

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Wii Sales Thread

« on: March 15, 2010, 09:04:59 PM »

But I know had GTA 4 been exclusive to the Wii, there is no way that it would have trumped the sales it has now.  Even if they somehow managed to make it better in every single way sans graphics which is impossible.

Well, no, you don't actually know that, you're making a guess.

77

NWR Forums Discord / Re: Move over Wii, Sony wants to Play

« on: March 14, 2010, 11:51:58 PM »

I know I'm a little leery of using a controller with a great glowing colored ball on the end... not so much because of aesthetics, but because it sounds horribly distracting.

[I'm annoyed enough by the stupid sometimes-blinking LED on the standard ps3 controller, even though it's very small and pretty much hidden most of the time!]

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NWR Forums Discord / Re: Move over Wii, Sony wants to Play

« on: March 14, 2010, 08:36:48 AM »

I think this sums up the situation pretty well:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E_RBGIDNkk#t=0m54s

Hmm, my sound doesn't work, but is that talking-head guy in the beginning Rick Astley?

79

General Gaming / Re: Sony's Motion in the Blue Ocean

« on: March 14, 2010, 12:38:38 AM »

Reggie comments on Move and Natal.

The Next Wii Will Innovate, Nintendo Would Be "Embarrassed" If It Was Sony, Microsoft

"I think a hallmark of Nintendo is that we are constantly trying to innovate," he said. "I think we would have been embarrassed to do what our competitors are currently doing."

"So, all I can tell you is that we will innovate. We will provide something new. Something that the consumer and the industry will look at and say 'Wow, I didn't see that coming.'"

It's a damn good thing somebody in this game has a bit of pride in their work...

Tho in all fairness to Sony, I suppose they're probably in "hunker down and do whatever it takes to not go out of business" mode right now.

80

NWR Forums Discord / Re: Move over Wii, Sony wants to Play

« on: March 11, 2010, 10:44:51 PM »

Incidentally, does that giant ball thing on the end of the controller actually emit a noticeable amount of light?  It would seem very distracting if it does....

81

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Metroid Other M

« on: March 11, 2010, 09:03:39 PM »

If they overrate Metroid then IF Metroid gets a lousy review score you can REALLY trust that it's not worth playing.

Not true.  Part of the "overrating series X" syndrome is "obsessing stupidly about random arbitrary details of series X".

If Metroid M is a great game, but happens to violate some fanboy's pedantic obsessions, he'll likely trash it in his review, despite the game's general high quality.

82

General Gaming / Re: Sony's Motion in the Blue Ocean

« on: March 10, 2010, 10:28:00 PM »

Wait, so they actually did put a disco-ball on it?!

 

83

General Gaming / Re: Heavy Rain

« on: March 10, 2010, 08:27:18 PM »

Completely sold out around here, and the employees have no idea when they'll get more in...

84

General Gaming / Re: Sony's Motion in the Blue Ocean

« on: March 09, 2010, 09:03:47 PM »

Here is a mock up that the original source says is pretty damn close to the images of the actual product that he saw.

Hmm, seems subtly fucked up "sony style" in a few ways:

(1) Still using the same !@#$ crappy dpad from the PS1!  When is this thing gonna die already?!

(2) On the right controller, the "reject/back" (X) button is in the natural "under your thumb" position; the "confirm" (O) button is in a more awkward location.  This seems backwards.

The latter point gives a clue to what seems to be the fundamental problem with Sony controller designs:  they always seem to make things look good or "make sense" (e.g., they favor highly symmetrical and regular layouts), but actual use-testing is apparently at best an afterthought, and its results are not allowed to override earlier decisions.  However, what works best is very often not the prettiest or most "logical"!

[This is why the GC controller was so great -- even though things like the button layout looked kinda wonky, it felt, and worked, like a dream.  Maybe controller designers should work blindfolded...!]

85

TalkBack / Re: Cing Files for Bankruptcy

« on: March 09, 2010, 07:41:41 AM »

Did they really not make money...?

They always seemed like one of the more well-known devs -- people certainly talked about their games, especially on the DS, and they had a fair number out -- and the genres  they worked in don't seem particularly resource hungry.  What went wrong?

86

General Gaming / Re: Sony's Motion in the Blue Ocean

« on: March 07, 2010, 08:05:16 PM »

They could put the dpad on the end of the analogue stick, and have all the buttons on long springy stalks.
Plus the rotating disco mirror ball of course.

87

General Gaming / Re: Sony's Motion in the Blue Ocean

« on: March 07, 2010, 06:44:42 PM »

it's sony, so we know they'll manage to screw it up horribly somehow...

88

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

« on: March 05, 2010, 10:48:07 AM »

I don't understand why they need midi for the transitions. Couldn't they just record them with an orchestra?

Because they aren't just simple transitions -- different attributes of the music are varied algorithmically, depending on what's happening in the game.

It would very hard to do this at all with pre-recorded music, much less do it well.

89

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Wii Sales Thread

« on: March 04, 2010, 01:09:16 AM »

04. [PS3] Resident Evil 5 Alternative Edition (Capcom)

This is an epic tragedy of so many proportions.

Hmm, why?  Is it bad?

[looks fun enough from the trailer, was thinking of picking it up...]

90

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Is the Wii becoming over-saturated with Mario games?

« on: March 02, 2010, 07:30:36 PM »

One game comes out while I'm still getting mileage out of the other one.  It becomes apparent I'll have to skip one or, if I want to play all of them, put off getting the next one until I'm done with the one I'm on.  But if the rate is too frequent then I never catch up and the whole thing becomes intimidating and a big chore.

Ok, so that's the obsessive point of view.

I think Nintendo's more concerned with what the average person thinks, though.

91

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

« on: March 01, 2010, 10:40:00 PM »

geez, you guys are making me wanna get this game...!

i have no time...

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General Gaming / Re: Microsoft's Project Natal

« on: March 01, 2010, 02:10:37 AM »

'cause if there's one thing most consumers want, it's the ability to change the teevee channel via interpretive dance...

93

General Gaming / Re: Sony getting hit Hard lately

« on: February 28, 2010, 09:27:52 PM »

... when I brought Star Ocean home and started playing it.

What do you think of Star Ocean btw?  The store here has massive displays pushing it, and the trailer looks kinda cool, but it's always hard to tell...

(I wanted to buy Heavy Rain, but all sold out!!)

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General Gaming / Re: Heavy Rain

« on: February 27, 2010, 09:08:06 AM »

I was thinking to pick this up, only to find out it's completely much sold out at all the stores I checked around here... and they clearly had tons of copies too.  Hmm, I guess maybe that's a good sign...

[The trailer they're showing in stores is highly effective, very dramatic (maybe more so than the game, given people's descriptions)... really pulls you in and makes you really wanna play...]

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

« on: February 27, 2010, 09:04:30 AM »

I don't understand the whole infatuation people seem to have with real orchestras in game music anyway... there's tons of great midi tunes.

Not that orchestrated music is bad, it isn't, it's just that there's nothing inherently superior about it, and yet many people seem to act as if there was.  I get the feeling it's more mindless "ooh, more expensive == better" than actual taste....

[Ok, so that puts it in line with most game criticism -- mindless dick waving by insecure people with no taste....]

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General Gaming / Re: Sony's Motion in the Blue Ocean

« on: February 24, 2010, 01:02:42 AM »

Ok, we all know Ian's a bit nuts, but "Sony was never good at innovation but they were always good at getting the little things right."?!  WTF??

Sony has been fucking up the "little things" on their controllers left and right since the beginning.  They suck at controllers.  Nintendo may **** up a few things here and there, but man, they're controller-design gods compared to Sony (or perhaps more importantly, they actually seem to do testing of their designs, whereas Sony apparently just whips up something kewl-looking in a CAD program and sends it straight off to manufacturing...).

97

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Wii Sales Thread

« on: February 22, 2010, 10:27:13 PM »

So media, NSMBWii is selling out Bioshock 2 (in France) which has been recently released. Is it STILL lazy?

Sales don't speak of quality. McDonald's has sold more hamburgers than any other restaurant, but that doesn't mean they taste the best (or even taste like food).

Hmm, what on earth is that supposed to mean?  Do you think NMSBwii is a bad quality game?

I don't own either game, but I've heard mostly very glowing reports of NMSBwii (IGN except of course, but then, they're morons), more so than I've heard for Bioshock 2 (which seems to get dissed a lot as a pretty but otherwise meh regurgitation of the first Bioshock).

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General Gaming / Re: Sony's Motion in the Blue Ocean

« on: February 17, 2010, 05:06:01 PM »

One reason is that the dualshock digital-pad is one of the most horrible, painful, unusable, piece-of-crap digital pads every made.  Sony has always been crap at controller design, but the digital pad is bad even for them.

Have you actually used a Dualshock 3 or are just going by past experience with Playstation controllers?

I've actually used a ds3 (I own one).  I grant that it may suck less than previous playstation controllers (the PS1 controller, for instance, was so mind-numbingly horrible that they really couldn't go any direction but up...), but it most definitely is still an awful dpad.

The Dualshock 3 is a really solid controller.  Sony must have learned.

It's ok (nobody actually uses the dpad anymore after all), but "really solid" is being far too kind -- and given Sony's long history of completely fucked up controllers (helloooo psp...), it's hard to think the reason is anything other than dumb luck.

[Even if the shock of being solidly in last place has made them actually start to care about what their users want (something which they clearly never did before), it's very hard for them to suddenly pick up and start excelling in an area they previously ignored -- it will take time and experience to do that.  Whether Sony actually has much time left is a very good question of course....]

99

General Gaming / Re: Sony getting hit Hard lately

« on: February 17, 2010, 03:54:30 AM »

I'm conflicted Heavy Rain as a story centric adventure games sounds great, but I hate quicktime events.

Yeah I agree, "quicktime events" suck.  Who's the bozo that came up with those anyway?

100

General Gaming / Re: Sony's Motion in the Blue Ocean

« on: February 17, 2010, 03:52:41 AM »

What's next, a Classic Controller attachment designed like the first PlayStation controller (without analogue and rumble)?

Why would they need one when the Dualshock 3 is already available and works just fine?

One reason is that the dualshock digital-pad is one of the most horrible, painful, unusable, piece-of-crap digital pads every made.  Sony has always been crap at controller design, but the digital pad is bad even for them.

Of course, the PS1's digital pad was equally crap, so just re-releasing the PS1 controller wouldn't exactly help...