YO! I was out of town so ... I know fewer people will see/read this but... here are my responses to another highly enjoyable episode!
1. NPC chatter in FPSs is just stupid. I think developers are starting to get too "cute" with the phrases and its turning their own games into (even bigger) jokes.
2. I have loved each WayForward game I've played! Like a concerned parent, I hope they're making money and getting by OK.
3. To me, episodic gaming is yet another misstep in the wonderful (read: awful) world of DLC.
4. I never beat Ninja Gaiden 1 w/o save states. But I did own Ninja Gaiden II back in the day and played it so much I could beat it relatively easily. (heavy emphasis on "RELATIVELY").
5. It's nice that Kotaku is providing some interesting content. Too bad the site on the whole is too toxic for me to ever set foot on again!
6. OpRainfall....
6A. whoa, whoa, whoa. back the truck up. *beep*beep*beep* ... OK, let's say Nintendo no longer knows how to market "core" games. Here are two MASSIVE variables that were not being considered in that statement:
First, gamer tastes have changed. Nintendo doesn't do a lot of dude-bro FPS or violent "realistic" games like Assassin's Creed.
That's what's popular now from the "hardcore" perspective. Clean, respectable protagonists bopping around zapping aliens without cussing or shooting up steroids don't sell like they used to.
Second, any "core" Wii game faces a severe uphill battle in that gaming media is not going to help them out. Game isn't in HD? That's 1-2 points right off the top of the review score. Game uses any amount of this new fangled motion whutsits? It's automatically not for the "hardcore". Sad? Yes. Stupid? Yes. True? Yes.
6B. Yea, the Walmart crowd wound up being the Wii's bread and butter. But that's because, as I said, the gaming market has shifted to this "m for mature" style and so Nintendo went blue ocean to keep from finishing 3rd place again. Try not to blame them because the expanded audience actually liked gaming enough to make it a successful move.
6C. I do agree that, if sales considerations are the problem, Nintendo is acting like the foolish third parties who don't support the Wii and then complain that there are no sales.
7. Jet packs, grappling hooks and MegaMan 6 are awesome.
I was soooooo excited about Dark Void. I still plan to play it someday. I bet I'll like it.
8. I have all the ZoE games but I have yet to play even one of them! I know I will someday thoroughly enjoy them!
9. Loved the first MGS. Haven't been motivated to play the rest of them. Though I have an especially high tolerance/affinity for both ninjas and cutscenes so I bet I would be a good target for the rest of the franchise.
.... though I do have a compulsion to understand plots so.... hrm.