Messages

1

TalkBack / RE:This Week's VC Games

« on: January 07, 2008, 10:14:12 AM »

Quote
How are they going to do that secret code in Star Tropics? Yeah us resourceful people know to look on the internet but casuals might not think to do that. Maybe they're just assuming no one who doesn't know the code would ever download it. That's probably a fair assumption.

I pretty much assumed something in the built-in instructions would contain the message. HOW they did it as seen in that video was kinda clever. I was expecting something more straightforward.

2

TalkBack / RE:New Virtual Console Games

« on: November 26, 2007, 10:34:06 AM »

Vegas Stakes was an amazingly creative game. It's great to see it released again.

3

TalkBack / RE:New Virtual Console Games

« on: November 12, 2007, 06:17:13 AM »

You're thinking of Super Spike Volleyball instead. That game was awesome. It was made by Technos Japan.

4

TalkBack / RE:Batman Coming LEGO-style

« on: March 27, 2007, 12:00:42 PM »

Lego Star Wars was a nice surprise, but after playing Lego Star Wars II and Narnia, I have to say that TT Games needs to work out some problems. Namely, they need to fix the gameplay flow. They have way too many "try to perform a simple task while being bombarded by enemy attacks" moments and "push a block around" moments and other stuff - basically, tasks that don't vary enough and that are annoying to do, breaking up the gameplay flow in a bad way.

They have the potential. There's some good level design in their games, annoying "enemy fire" moments notwithstanding. But they seem to make too much of their challenge artificial.

If they actually learn from their past mistakes, I might check this game out. If not, forget it. I don't want what might basically be a repeat of their past efforts with the same pros and cons.

5

TalkBack / RE:PREVIEWS: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

« on: May 09, 2006, 03:23:18 PM »

I don't like how Link follows the fairy, rather than being directly controlled. That really annoys me. Maybe it will be fun, but I think it will make the game less enjoyable to take that control out of the player's hands.  

6

TalkBack / RE:Activision to Make Transformers Games

« on: February 13, 2006, 12:56:16 PM »

Sad, in my opinion.

Activision is a publisher, not a developer, yet they're credited as being a "leading developer" of games? And they "share the passion for the TRANSFORMERS storyline"? Before "storyline" became a meaningless marketing word, they would have never said anything like that.

So this is a video game based on a movie based on a line of toys. How much longer can a marketing chain get? As if it wasn't bad enough that things are based on things, we now have lots of things based on things based on things.

Transformers does have the potential for good gameplay though. I remember some game made by Sierra many years back - forget the name - that had you play the role of a robot that could transform into a jet and back again. It was pretty cool, and creative. It also had some great music. If only I knew the name!!

7

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Mega Man X Collection - X3 specifically

« on: February 01, 2006, 04:55:01 PM »

Actually, you're right, it was catchy at times, but overall, I felt it was lacking compared to the previous games.

I do really like the Zero theme (as heard in the first level) a LOT. But still, the music was less melodic and a lot of generic rock, and I really didn't like it compared to the previous two games.

8

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Mega Man X Collection - X3 specifically

« on: February 01, 2006, 01:09:52 PM »

Makes sense that X3 would be rushed. It has a lot of ideas, but not developed well, as if they didn't have time to tweak it.

I know the music in the collection is from the PSX version of the game. The original SNES version had music I really didn't like either. Not very catchy at all.

9

Nintendo Gaming / Mega Man X Collection - X3 specifically

« on: February 01, 2006, 12:07:25 PM »

Read the review on MMX Collection. I beg to differ on Mega Man X3. Specifically, as my younger brother agrees, it sucks! X3 killed the gameplay style of X and X2, and resorted to all manner of cheapness for its difficulty. Many of the barely animated bosses tended to go from one side of the room to the other as their attacks, and the obnoxiously placed enemies respawned too quickly. And as for its music, it was awful! Not catchy like the previous two games at all.

In short, Mega Man X3 was terrible, not fun like the previous two games, and I think it was probably somewhat of a rush job.

X and X2, however, were excellent games IMO. X was a fantastic start to the series, and X2 took everything it did right and really upgraded it (except the music IMO, which was less catchy).

And I definitely agree that the series went downhill after the end of the 16-bit era. Capcom seemed to forget the simple formula that made the Mega Man games (original and X) so much fun, and really convoluted them. I don't like the Zero series at all - they'd be much more fun if they were easier and simpler, without all those upgrades the requirements to get them. I long for the days of X and X2.

[NotRimmer]

10

TalkBack / RE:Ubisoft Announces

« on: October 10, 2005, 05:17:51 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: NotRimmer
It's hilarious how you people think Ubisoft is the one doing the ripping off here

Good point. I do remember "Dogz" and "Catz" being announced - and made - some time back. I guess they didn't come out in the US, but rather in Europe? They were apparently based on some toy line.

Which makes this two of the things I hate about "creative" industries:

1) tie-ins
2) ripoffs

The "ripoff" here is that once Nintendogs became extremely popular, THEN they decided to announce this game for the US.

11

TalkBack / RE:Ubisoft Announces

« on: October 10, 2005, 12:58:46 PM »

Quote
"Ubisoft is pleased to bring such a unique puppy simulation game to the millions of Game Boy Advance owners around the world,"

Unique?

Many of the features named can already be done in Nintendogs. Furthermore, who wants to bet that many of Nintendogs' unique features aren't in Dogz? And who also wants to bet that the realistic animation of the dogs' playful nature isn't in Dogz either?

12

General Chat / RE:Death to the Games Industry!

« on: September 20, 2005, 06:27:00 PM »

I'm only reading it now, and it touches on many of the things I've been afraid of. I think companies need to find some way to simplify graphics and go to game design basics. Maybe some sort of "standard engine" - several, can be made and used by many? It's a pipe dream, but one thing that could help.

My older brother once said "graphics don't impress me", and would keep saying it if graphics were ever pointed out to him.

Katamari Damacy is selling, and its graphics look like, well, not much. That is a good, but minor, sign. If nothing else, it means people are becoming less obsessed with graphics, to some degree. Maybe we are beginning to hit that "doesn't really matter" point soon, where people don't care that much about "impressive" graphics because they are no longer impressive?

I hope so. Development time is spent on many things, and I'd rather it be spent on level design and gameplay balance far more than graphics and sound.

[PGC NewsBot]

13

TalkBack / RE:Emotional Attachment in Gaming

« on: September 20, 2005, 06:09:36 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: PGC NewsBot
"Half of all gamers think conveying emotion is extremely or pretty  important which suggests that games which can achieve more of this will be  extremely popular."

HALF??

Yeah right. Where did they get that number from? Unless by "conveying emotion", they really mean that games should be able to portray atmosphere and convey mood and setting well, then I don't believe that.

What emotions?

Fear? Silent Hill 3 did a fantastic job of that for me.
Anger? Any frustrating game can do that. Do they expect you to truly hate a villian?
Happiness? Sadness? THAT would be tough, and I seriously doubt the people questioned were referring to that. Unless, they were the so-called "hardcore" gamers who play only RPGs and like games *only* for their storyline. Ugh.

But I doubt the average gamer cares that much about emotion, unless "emotion" really refers to atmosphere.

14

TalkBack / RE: THQ Confirms Revolution Support

« on: September 09, 2005, 07:31:58 PM »

"Nintendo is waking up" - very nice to hear. Does this mean that Nintendo is making up for their past mistakes?

I'd like to see someone list their past mistakes so we can get a possible idea of what to expect.

Remember previous reports that Nintendo actually had a lot of games in the works for Revolution that they weren't ready to show? I wonder if they really do have a lot of surprises planned for us.

15

TalkBack / RE:Sonic Gems Collection Review

« on: September 02, 2005, 01:18:39 PM »

Quote
Sonic Gems Collection is packed with rare games, but "rare" is frequently confused with "good".

Thank you for admitting that! I used to be one of those people who got really excited when something rare was discovered, and would get really into it. Eventually, I began to recognize things for their actual quality, regardless of popularity. It's so true that a lot of people praise things which really aren't that good, calling mediocre or average games that sold moderately "under-rated" and so on.

That said, Sonic CD has some neat stuff going for it, but a lot of its level design looks like it came from a slightly above average fangame. And that is not a compliment.

[Hostile Creation]

16

TalkBack / RE:Nintendo Announces Big Nintendogs Sales

« on: September 01, 2005, 07:48:04 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Hostile Creation
Nintencats is the hardcore gamer version of Nintendogs.  Only for gamers who want a REAL challenge.

LOL!

I like cats personally, but I'm starting to agree. They're just not as "interactive" as dogs, even though they're cool creatures.

[KnowsNothing]

17

General Chat / RE:Official Avatar Discussion

« on: September 01, 2005, 04:14:43 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: KnowsNothing
Riiiiiiight here!

Buuuuuut, with DrZ goon'd and SUPER in Japanville, it probably won't get noticed until forever goes by.

Thanks.

18

General Chat / RE:Official Avatar Discussion

« on: September 01, 2005, 03:35:42 PM »

What happened to the custom title thread?

Anyway, my avatar is pretty cool since no-one knows where it's from or what's going on in the picture. Ha ha ha!

[Mario]

19

TalkBack / RE:Nintendo Announces Big Nintendogs Sales

« on: September 01, 2005, 03:31:04 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Mario

Quote
Originally posted by: Toruresu

Quote
People who like traditional hard-core video games have plenty to enjoy as well. Retailers also report that the new Advance Wars®: Dual Strike military strategy game for Nintendo DS has become one of Nintendo's top sellers

I don't know about you, but I don't like this line at all. Where are the numbers? "One of Nintendo's top sellers"? What is that?

Around 50,000.

50,000? That's good, but not great. Then again, many games can only dream of reaching, say, 100,000. Advance Wars shouldn't take too long to hit that number, or possibly double that.

And what of the commercial being bad? I thought it was clever. Though strangely, the two arguing army guys was probably a reference to the two CO system, and yet the commercial made no mention of that, only describing "dual screen combat".

20

TalkBack / RE:Madden 06 is a Hot Seller

« on: August 18, 2005, 07:17:46 PM »

He was probably saying that Madden wasn't as good a game to begin with, and he preferred Sega's game series. And is, like many of us, upset that EA decided to kill all chance Sega had of competing.

[WindyMan]

21

TalkBack / RE:Madden 06 is a Hot Seller

« on: August 18, 2005, 02:30:14 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: WindyManUh, "jack up the price"? Weren't all previous Madden games since the PSone $50?

I meant jack back up. I'd heard that Madden 2005 was $30 due to competition from ESPN (which was $20).

But I might be wrong.
 

22

General Chat / RE:Get your custom title here

« on: August 18, 2005, 02:13:20 PM »

Hmm. Surprise me. My custom title came from my previous picture, but it still seems to fit this one. But maybe whoever dishes these out can come up with something better.

23

TalkBack / RE:Madden 06 is a Hot Seller

« on: August 18, 2005, 02:12:07 PM »

And of course they jack up the price to $50, knowing there is no longer any competition. Having no competition, the only incentive to bother to make the game better is potential lack of sales if people begin to suspect that EA is getting lazy.

ESPN still had better graphics IMO.  

24

TalkBack / RE:EDITORIAL: DS is for Old People

« on: July 27, 2005, 02:28:55 PM »

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that old-school games are the ones best made for handhelds. Handhelds, by their nature, are largely played in short bursts. Most people don't want to look at a small screen for too long, so handheld games need to be played in short bursts to fit these people's needs.

Adventure games such as Metroid let you save every few minutes, to give you ample opportunity to take a break. Action games often let you save as well, and tend to have short levels.

Also, due to the fact that people spend less time playing handhelds than they do playing console games, handheld games can afford to be shorter, knowing that players will take longer to beat the game than they would a console game of similar length.

None of this is meant to deny the DS's strengths and the fact that games like Meteos, Wario Ware Touched, Mr. Driller DS, Another Code (I imported it from Europe), Kirby: Canvase Curse, and others are great games due to their old-school-esque qualities. But the handheld is the natural home for these qualities due to its very nature.

25

TalkBack / RE:Report Says DS Outplays PSP

« on: July 08, 2005, 01:46:25 PM »

I was able to convince a co-worker of mine to buy a DS...for his nephew. Ostensibly, at least! He said he'd try to "borrow" it from him so he could play the games. What games did I show him that caught his eye?

Wario Ware Touched
Another Code: Two Memories (I imported the European version)
Kirby: Canvas Curse (Japanese version)
Meteos

He loved those games. They ALL showed off what the system could do that was unique to it and not the PSP, which is the system he owns. He commented that the PSP doesn't have much right now that he is interested in, and that he now finds it hard to resist buying a DS, ever since Wario Ware grabbed his attention. He really liked it, and I was surprised to see he also liked Another Code as well (he said "this is my kind of game"). Kirby struck him as the type of game that might lack replay value, but he really enjoyed Meteos.

I think more and more people are beginning to realize that, as many of you touched upon, the DS has more ORIGINAL games for it that the other systems do not, and if you want these original experiences, the DS is the only way to go.

I was disappointed at first when I saw the DS's specs compared to the PSP's, and then I was afraid that Sony's efforts to get people to buy movies for the PSP might actually take off, but looking at things now, it seems as if Nintendo had made the wise choice here. Cheaper price, ORIGINAL games, a system that can do things others cannot (the two screens and the touch screen impressed a number of people I showed it to), all work in its favor.

I'm impressed.