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Episode 274: In the Year Two-Thousaaaaaaand

by James Jones, Greg Leahy, Jon Lindemann, and Jonathan Metts - January 8, 2012, 6:02 pm EST
Total comments: 23

We look back at our 2011 predictions and set forth new ones, along with our most anticipated games of 2012.

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It's our annual predictions episode, but first up is a rather dense bit of New Business. Jonny is a big fan of Nano Assault, the new and graphically stunning shmup for 3DS. He's also ecstatic about Bastion and even quite glowing on Gears of War 3. James is less enthused about his Xbox 360, which is having hardware problems once again. He does have more to say about Animal Crossing: City Folk and the lamentable Wii Speak accessory. Jon continues his streak of completing games, even if they're all non-Nintendo shooters like Uncharted 3 and Modern Warfare 3. Greg completes the segment with quick impressions of 3D Classics Kid Icarus and more in-depth analysis of the new Shinobi for 3DS.

Then it's time for our much-loved, always controversial and entertaining, annual predictions feature. We begin by reviewing last year's predictions, and the gang's record is more accurate than you might expect, with a few funny exceptions. Our set of new predictions is even more outrageous, and it produces some extensive discussion as well. The segment ran so long that we eventually had to go into a lightning round just to get through them all. We also continued the tradition of choosing our most anticipated games for the year, with some surprising choices there as well.

There are only a few days left to vote on the next RetroActive game -- this feature is always more fun if you actively participate, so why wait? Vote now and be sure to play the winning game when we announce it later this week! You can also send us an email about anything from this show or around the world of gaming, and we'll be catching up with those letters quite soon.

This podcast was edited by Greg Leahy.

Music for this episode of Radio Free Nintendo is used with permission from Jason Ricci & New Blood. You can purchase their newest album, Done with the Devil, directly from the record label, Amazon (CD) (MP3), oriTunes, or call your local record store and ask for it!

Additional music for this episode of Radio Free Nintendo is copyrighted to Nintendo, and is included under fair use protection.

Talkback

Obligatory notation of disappointment about a lack of "Regulate" on this year's prediction show.

My gaming resolution is to finish all of the mainline, single-player Final Fantasy games by the end of 2012. That means 2, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13 and subbing 10-2/13-2 for 11 and 14. Bahamut help me.

KDR_11kJanuary 09, 2012

Where can I get that good version of Gears 3? All mine contains is samey, often frustrating combat and characters that are so douchebaggy that they could work for IGN.

FZeroBoyoJanuary 09, 2012

Oh, man, I almost thought you would pull the Regulators stunt again.


My gaming resolution is simple: play more games. As in, I want to finish at least three a month. I feel that I can achieve this and maintain my sanity, but we'll see if that holds out until the end of the year.


I predict that Nintendo will announce the 3DS revision at E3 and release it this fall. The DS remodels came about a year and a half after the originals (DS to DS Lite, DSi to DSi XL) and the updated 3DS will have better battery life, the second circle pad built-in, and wider viewing angle for the 3D. I'm sure they could pull it off.

Fiendlord_TimmayJanuary 09, 2012

@Shaymin I was trying to do something similar last summer. I wanted to get through every Final Fantasy in order, including FF4: The After Years, and subbing 10-2 for 11. Got as far as The After Years before I hit the final dungeon, which is paced horribly and stopped me in my tracks for 6 months. I'll get back to it one day....


Also, I'm sure you probably will do this, but I suggest playing the gba versions of 2 and 5. Both are still among my favorite FFs, having played all of the mainline games except 7-9 and 13.

SupaKirbJanuary 10, 2012

I don't know what I'd do without this podcast... I can't play games anymore without listening to some sort of gaming podcast, and more often than not, it's RFN  ;)

Chocobo_RiderJanuary 10, 2012

Another spectacular episode.  Please never stop!

Just wanted to say that I am really loving Nano Assault.  There's nothing I could really say about it that Jonny didn't already.  But yea, I'll second his assessment that the ABXY buttons are more than adequate for aiming your shots.  It really does help in some regards to be know with certainty what angle your shots will leave your ship at.

As evidence of my recent obsession with the game, I've been writing about it a lot lately....
Link 1
Link 2

Jonny, do you have your scores on any of those online leaderboards? Perhaps I should exchange 3DS friend codes with the RFN folks and other fine people on this thread.  hmmm....

leahsdadJanuary 10, 2012

I've put in well over 20 hours in RE Mercenaries 3D, so while it is definitely not a AAA must-own game, it is far from crappy, sorry to disagree.  Neal gave the game a 9.  I would have been slightly less generous (maybe an 8 or 8.5).  But the combat is a refined version of the combat in RE5, but without the AI partner and idiotic story that made that game so unpalatable.

I think the game got a lot of crap because it is obviously crafted for the kind of person who cares about getting high scores for just the sake of getting high scores.  I happen to be that kind of person.  Now, I know that it may seem stupid to play the same level ten or eleven times just because you want a high score or rank (and indeed, if there is some unlockable as a reward, I usually don't know about it ahead of time or don't care).  But I get a certain and substantial sense of satisfaction from it.  RE Mercenaries not only feeds into this, but I would say that the allure of the game  depends solely on this.  In other words, I wouldn't recommend this for everyone. 

bhurakJanuary 10, 2012

Quote from: NinSage

Another spectacular episode.  Please never stop!

....I am really loving Nano Assault. 

Probably another game I'll "have" to get!  Every Club Nintendo survey has the "Why did you buy this game?" question, and the answer is always the same, "I heard good things about it on Radio Free Nintendo"

ejamerJanuary 10, 2012


Entertaining episode, and a good way to kick off 2012.

Sad to hear the doubts about The Last Story arriving in North America. I agree with what was said surrounding that game (and the impending Xenoblade release), but it's unfortunate that many gamers who would really appreciate some quality RPGs might end up missing it due to distribution issues.

KDR_11kJanuary 10, 2012

Mercenaries is on my "get it for cheap" list, I don't think I'd enjoy it enough to warrant paying anything close to full price (which is 45€ here anyway) but I do think it'd be worth playing.

Predictions, you say?

Here are mine:

-There will be NO announcement of a 3DS lite or any other sort of revision.  Only way I could see it being possible is if there is a significant decrease in production cost for Nintendo to do so.

-Sony will mirror Wii U's unique controller-screen scheme by promoting the utilization of PS Vita as a controller for Playstation 4.  Dualshock will still be the norm.

-Nintendo will include Super Mario Bros Wii U with the system at a slightly increased price from the standard system (think $25-30 above standard retail).  By itself, the game will be sold just under full retail price at approx. $50.

-Nintendo will push heavily to promote Wii U's e-shop, introducing occasional sales on non-1st party games.

-A brand new Zelda 3DS, Starfox Wii U, and/or Metroid 3DS game will be announced at E3.

And just for fun:

-Wii U will release at a retail price of $399 to much resistance from customers.  Shortly after they will be forced to drop $100 on the retail price of the system, and will apologize to their loyal fans by releasing 20 exclusive virtual console games as a part of the Wii U ambassador program.

leahsdadJanuary 10, 2012

Quote from: KDR_11k

Mercenaries is on my "get it for cheap" list, I don't think I'd enjoy it enough to warrant paying anything close to full price (which is 45€ here anyway) but I do think it'd be worth playing.

The other good thing I have to say about the game is that it is much more enjoyable on the 3DS than they way I played RE5 (PC).  Mercenaries in RE5, as well as Mercenaries 3D, heavily reward--no, LUDICROUSLY reward melee combat.  And if you've done melee in either game, you know that when you enter into a melee animation, the camera moves around very quickly and very dramatically to emphasize the fluid action of the melee you're performing. 

The problem is that in RE5, this made be feel dizzy as hell.  In the normal single player campaign, maybe you wouldn't do melee as much, but in Mercenaries, you'll be performing a melee attack every 10 seconds if you're good.  It ended up giving me a horrible headache and I had to stop playing.

But on the 3DS, I had no such problem at all.  I don't know if this is because of the difference in screen size, the added depth perception on the 3DS (I play with 3D all they way up) or a combination of both.  But it really opened up this game for me and made me really, really glad that I bought it.

leahsdadJanuary 10, 2012

Quote from: lolmonade

Predictions, you say?

To give the crew some credit, some of their predictions have been incredibly spot on.  I was listening to an old RFN episode a few weeks ago (I can't remember the number, but it was the one where James got a Virtual Boy and the crew were discussing the games on it) and Jonny guessed that the next generation of handhelds after the DS would have 3 screens instead of 2. 

There was also an episode a little before or after that, right after the DSi announcement, where the crew were discussing the possible next iteration of the DS, and John predicted that it would be a DS "Macro."

I think the RFN crew must have a time machine.  Or maybe a machine that just views the future, like in the movie Paycheck.  In which case, please stop using that machine, you will cause the apocalypse.

Quote from: leahsdad

Quote from: lolmonade

Predictions, you say?

To give the crew some credit, some of their predictions have been incredibly spot on.  I was listening to an old RFN episode a few weeks ago (I can't remember the number, but it was the one where James got a Virtual Boy and the crew were discussing the games on it) and Jonny guessed that the next generation of handhelds after the DS would have 3 screens instead of 2. 

There was also an episode a little before or after that, right after the DSi announcement, where the crew were discussing the possible next iteration of the DS, and John predicted that it would be a DS "Macro."

I think the RFN crew must have a time machine.  Or maybe a machine that just views the future, like in the movie Paycheck.  In which case, please stop using that machine, you will cause the apocalypse.


I didn't mean any of my post as a slight against the crew's predictions.  I was just using that as a segue into my own fun ideas.  I trust that their opinions are based on years covering the video game industry, and while no one has a perfect score, do think most of their predictions have merit or at least have logic behind them.

I recall Paycheck being a pretty terrible movie...

KDR_11kJanuary 10, 2012

I grew up on Descent, I have no problems with nausea.

Chocobo_RiderJanuary 10, 2012

Quote from: KDR_11k

I grew up on Descent, I have no problems with nausea.

Hell-frickin'-yea!!

One of my favorite franchises of all time!  Is Descent 4 being made yet? =(

leahsdadJanuary 11, 2012

Quote:

I didn't mean any of my post as a slight against the crew's predictions.  I was just using that as a segue into my own fun ideas.  I trust that their opinions are based on years covering the video game industry, and while no one has a perfect score, do think most of their predictions have merit or at least have logic behind them.

I recall Paycheck being a pretty terrible movie...





Heh...I didn't mean to say that you mean to say anything to slight the crew.  :-)  Sorry about that. 

As for Paycheck....If you recall, the 1st invention that Ben Affleck reverse-engineers in the movie was.....3D WITHOUT GLASSES.  Seriously.  Look out Nintendo!

And as for the quality of the film, come on.  I just saw it on Netflix Streaming.  The movie is about a genius engineer who's really good with guns and is taking down a ruthless tech tycoon who has a machine that sees the future, a machine which will cause a thermo-nuclear holocaust.  Oh, and it's directed by John Woo.  How could that be terrible?  :-P

Great episode.


I was hoping you guys would get specific on what you thought Miyamoto's next character/game would be. Personally, I've always wondered what an EAD developed RPG would be like (Yes, Intelligent Systems is first party, but EAD is where most of the crazy ideas take place, even if they turn into safety franchises later).


Also, I'm a little scared of letting Good Feel take Yoshi's Island. I wasn't a big fan of Epic Yarn, and I really don't want that franchise to make any drastic changes (like focusing on collectibles and making it impossible to die). In my opinion, Retro or EAD should be the only ones allowed to make a new YI game. With that said, Retro is working on something (supposedly) far more important, and I have little confidence that EAD wouldn't just push it towards another developer. If that's the case, I guess I would be willing to give GF one more chance, so long as they don't ruin what made the original so great.

Quote from: Webmalfunction

Also, I'm a little scared of letting Good Feel take Yoshi's Island. I wasn't a big fan of Epic Yarn, and I really don't want that franchise to make any drastic changes (like focusing on collectibles and making it impossible to die).

Played Yoshi's Story lately? That was Epic Yarn 12 years before Epic Yarn existed.

Quote from: Webmalfunction

Great episode.


I was hoping you guys would get specific on what you thought Miyamoto's next character/game would be. Personally, I've always wondered what an EAD developed RPG would be like (Yes, Intelligent Systems is first party, but EAD is where most of the crazy ideas take place, even if they turn into safety franchises later).


Also, I'm a little scared of letting Good Feel take Yoshi's Island. I wasn't a big fan of Epic Yarn, and I really don't want that franchise to make any drastic changes (like focusing on collectibles and making it impossible to die). In my opinion, Retro or EAD should be the only ones allowed to make a new YI game. With that said, Retro is working on something (supposedly) far more important, and I have little confidence that EAD wouldn't just push it towards another developer. If that's the case, I guess I would be willing to give GF one more chance, so long as they don't ruin what made the original so great.


Mark me as in the column that would prefer to see Yoshi platforming take some new and interesting turns.  If I want to play Yoshi's Island, I'll load it up on my SNES.  I would be more than happy to have them retain the same art direction as Yoshi's Island, but please introduce some unique gameplay mechanics.

KDR_11kJanuary 12, 2012

Quote from: NinSage

Quote from: KDR_11k

I grew up on Descent, I have no problems with nausea.

Hell-frickin'-yea!!

One of my favorite franchises of all time!  Is Descent 4 being made yet? =(

Unfortunately no. They talked about that on the latest Bombcast, the rotting corpse of Interplay is still hogging the rights to that series. Volition (one of the two companies Parallax split into, the half that made Freespace and such but not Descent 3) keep building references to Descent into their games so they do remember the series.

CericJanuary 12, 2012

Quote from: Ceric

I didn't see this in the Talk back thread and I really want this here for next year and reference so I can find it. 

Here are the Predictions from this episode, sorry about the bump.

Greg
1. F-Zero MMO
2. Next-Level Games do something with Nintendo in 2011
3. Next-Level to make the Fable, Mario American Football
3. Zelda, Skyward Sword, Summer or 2012
4. Nintedo Big Holiday Game will be for 3DS
  a. New Super Mario Type Thing
5. Will not get much on the New Nintendo console this year maybe nothing at all
6. Revelation of games we don't know about and it won't look so bad
7. No Revolution style E3 Reveal
8. 3DS Game will be more than $30

Lindy
1. 3DS will have Netflix Streaming on WiFi
2. Wii Music comeback, More instructional
3. Zelda, Skyward Sword, Summer, More Specifically July
4. DQX in Japan end of this year and Stateside March/April next year
5. Nothing Concrete on Nintendo's new Console till Next E3

James
1. Pikmin 3 stil Dead
2. Nintendo Publish Duldrums outside of Japan
3. Last Story to Western World, Relative
4. Something More Akin to Wario Ware on the Virtual, to be Greg Super Mario Type Thingy
5. Be wrong on 90% of these

Jonny
1. Vitality Sensor will not be spoken of this year
2. Vitality Sensor as Feature of Something else
3. Zelda better in August-September, October Latest
  a. Something We haven't seen will be revealed
4. November will be Insane
5. 3DS
  a. By end of 2011 We will all be ready for 3DS lite
  b. Won't have Friend Codes
  c. Modest improvements to Online
6. New Console not coming out this Year
7. Predicts Name of the next Console will be Super Wii
8. Mumbles late in the year for Next Console
9. Sometime in 2011 we will find out what Armature(sp?), former Retro guys, are working on.
10. DQX for Wii (Early Prediction Episode 222)

This is my Prediction Notes from the last prediction episode.  I'm sort of wondering how many of these got addressed.  I think I must have missed something listening to this episode.

YoshidiousGreg Leahy, Staff AlumnusJanuary 12, 2012

Quote from: Ceric

Quote from: Ceric

I didn't see this in the Talk back thread and I really want this here for next year and reference so I can find it. 

Here are the Predictions from this episode, sorry about the bump.


Greg
1. F-Zero MMO
2. Next-Level Games do something with Nintendo in 2011
3. Next-Level to make the Fable, Mario American Football
3. Zelda, Skyward Sword, Summer or 2012
4. Nintedo Big Holiday Game will be for 3DS
  a. New Super Mario Type Thing
5. Will not get much on the New Nintendo console this year maybe nothing at all
6. Revelation of games we don't know about and it won't look so bad
7. No Revolution style E3 Reveal
8. 3DS Game will be more than $30

Lindy
1. 3DS will have Netflix Streaming on WiFi
2. Wii Music comeback, More instructional
3. Zelda, Skyward Sword, Summer, More Specifically July
4. DQX in Japan end of this year and Stateside March/April next year
5. Nothing Concrete on Nintendo's new Console till Next E3


James
1. Pikmin 3 stil Dead
2. Nintendo Publish Duldrums outside of Japan
3. Last Story to Western World, Relative
4. Something More Akin to Wario Ware on the Virtual, to be Greg Super Mario Type Thingy
5. Be wrong on 90% of these


Jonny
1. Vitality Sensor will not be spoken of this year
2. Vitality Sensor as Feature of Something else
3. Zelda better in August-September, October Latest
  a. Something We haven't seen will be revealed
4. November will be Insane
5. 3DS
  a. By end of 2011 We will all be ready for 3DS lite
  b. Won't have Friend Codes
  c. Modest improvements to Online
6. New Console not coming out this Year
7. Predicts Name of the next Console will be Super Wii
8. Mumbles late in the year for Next Console
9. Sometime in 2011 we will find out what Armature(sp?), former Retro guys, are working on.
10. DQX for Wii (Early Prediction Episode 222)

This is my Prediction Notes from the last prediction episode.  I'm sort of wondering how many of these got addressed.  I think I must have missed something listening to this episode.

Everything in bold was directly referenced in this episode when we recapped our predictions from last year. Those things on your list that were not touched on were either jokes (e.g. F-Zero MMO), too vague to really qualify as predictions, or were mentioned by someone in passing rather than being an outright prediction.

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