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76

Anime & Manga / Bleach (Manga Discussion Mainly)

« on: April 17, 2009, 05:49:19 AM »

ITT we discuss Bleach. Why am I doing this after having the most epic love/exreme RAAAAGE relationship with this series after the end of the awesome Soul Society Arc? Simple.

Kubo has reached Hideo Kojima levels of professional trolling with the last spoiler (which has apparently been confirmed to be real). It's beyond comprehension. All hail Kubo [spoiler]and the "Knights of Yammy, King Slap-A-Ho" [/spoiler] and discuss.

77

Gaming / Everyone, man your F5 keys. It's time for another Nintendo Conference & Reveal

« on: March 25, 2009, 04:53:47 PM »

Ok, if you've been following the net for the past few days, you know it's GDC time. Sure most of these presentations usually deal with game development more than announcements, but this one presentation is special. A lot of people in the know are currently stating that Nintendo has nothing short of a "Tsar Bomba" class reveal & megaton and of course the internet is rabid for more info. Well guess what, now you get to join in on the madness via:

Nintendo's Iwata Keynote Liveblog on 1UP by Jeremy Parish: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3173429

IGN's Iwata Live Blog: http://wii.ign.com/articles/965/965783p1.html

VG247's Iwata Conference Liveblog: http://www.vg247.com/2009/03/25/gdc-nintendo-president-keynote-at-900am-pst-today/

Wired's Iwata Liveblog: http://blog.wired.com/games/2009/03/gdc-live-blog-n.html

Eurogamer's Iwata Keynote Liveblog: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/gdc-satoru-iwata-keynote-soon-live-report

Kotaku's Iwata Liveblog: http://kotaku.com/5183222/nintendo-president-satoru-iwatas-gdc-keynote-liveblog-party

Keep in mind though, that you MUST follow the liveblogs as the Live Stream is mandated to only record the first 5 minutes of the presentation by Iwata & Nintendo themselves. What could be happening here today... Share your thoughts, cynicism & general laughs here!

The fun starts in 7 minutes!

78

Off The Wall / Much Ado About Internet Explorer 8

« on: March 19, 2009, 10:53:59 PM »

It's out and I want impressions. Normally, I don't try to start these kinds of threads without trying out the product first, but since my dearly beloved HP Pavillion dv8000z (my laptop) has fried, I figured this could be a good place to hear from the members of RPM about whether or not this is a worthwhile update.

Now before I hear "FireFox, you dumbass!" or something to that effect, keep in mind that I am weird (and currently using it. ).

I am basically curious to find out whether or not I can keep all of my components branded together and have one universal first party browser or if I need to once more rely on third party for my net browsing needs. With this all said, discuss.

79

Gaming / More teasing from WayForward. Speculation Ahoy!

« on: March 07, 2009, 01:44:40 AM »

Top 3 best speculations from me:

1.) The Luigi to Shantae's Mario?
2.) (Hopefully) A new platformer franchise main character?
3.) WayForward's first foray into RPGs this gen?

You decide. Either way, I'm hyped. AGAIN.

80

Gaming / Nintendo PR - Mah Gaems, Lemme Show u Dem.

« on: February 26, 2009, 04:08:10 PM »

http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=17588

NINTENDO'S VIDEO GAME LINEUP DEMONSTRATES GAMING DIVERSITY

New Games Announced for Nintendo Systems

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 26, 2009 – While everyone is still buzzing about the upcoming April 5 launch of the Nintendo DSi™ system, video game fans will have plenty of great games and experiences to keep them busy. Nintendo has an extensive, diverse library of about 120 games on the way for both the Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ systems. Upcoming Nintendo-published video games for Wii include:

Excitebots™: Trick Racing has elements that make it one of the more unique racing games on the market. It launches April 20 and lets everyone in the family use the Wii Wheel™ accessory in unique and changing environments, play fun minigames and perform crazy tricks in a game that builds on the Excitebike™ and Excite Truck™ franchises.

Donkey Kong® Jungle Beat™, originally made for the Nintendo GameCube™ system, launches May 4 with newly added motion controls. It's the latest in Nintendo's New Play Control! series of games.

Punch-Out!!™ launches May 18 and brings back all of the fun of the beloved, classic NES® game that thrilled players in the early 1990s. Boxers battle as iconic hero Little Mac as they fight their way through a cast of new and familiar boxing opponents on their quest to win the coveted WVBA (World Video Boxing Association) Championship Belt.

Nintendo's downloadable WiiWare service continues to be a showcase for new games, new concepts and new ideas. A selection of upcoming titles includes:

• BIT.TRIP BEAT, developed by Gaijin Games and published by Aksys Games: BIT.TRIP BEAT is what you get when you mix classic video gaming with modern gaming sensibilities. What may seem like a simple "paddle" game turns into a psychedelic trip down memory lane which has you hitting "beats" in rhythm to Chiptune style music. While the game can be difficult, if you crank up the tunes and get in the zone, you'll have a great time. Performing perfectly isn't required to experience all the game's content, but the extra challenge will keep score-hunters coming back in search of each level's elusive "PERFECT" score.

• Eduardo the Samurai Toaster, developed and published by Semnat Studios LLC: Fight your way through 13 diverse locations on your own or with up to three friends in this frenetic and stylish side-scrolling action game. Play as Eduardo and his fellow toaster buddies as you fire an assortment of pastries at all kinds of dastardly food products. Hop onto laser-mounted scooters and fly across the screen in rocket packs, and learn to cooperate with your teammates or simply annoy each other in an awesomely fun way by throwing each other around the screen. The choice is up to you.

• Night Game, developed and published by Nicalis: Exclusively for WiiWare, Night Game (working title) is part action game and part puzzler. It invites players into a beautifully atmospheric world, where they must use real physics to maneuver a mysterious, glowing sphere through vastly different locales. Night Game pushes the boundaries of design with its unique art style, and professionally produced music score. This title is a 2009 Independent Games Festival Seumas McNally Award nominee and from the same developers responsible for Cave Story on Wii.

• Swords & Soldiers, developed and published by Ronimo Games: Swords & Soldiers is a side-scrolling real-time strategy game, in which three distinct factions battle for the powers of the gods. The goal is to destroy the enemies' castle on the other end of the level, while protecting your own. This can be done by training powerful units or casting devastating spells. The game will feature a single-player campaign and a competitive split-screen multiplayer mode as well as several other game modes.

Great titles are also on the way for the portable Nintendo DS system. Some Nintendo-published video games for Nintendo DS include:

Rhythm Heaven™ is an infectious video game that has been a huge hit in Japan. Players tap and slide the stylus on the touch screen in time to the beat. This fun, stylized game launches April 5.

A new entry in the Personal Trainer series is Personal Trainer™: Walking, which launches May 25. Personal Trainer: Walking tracks users' progress and makes going for a walk a little more fun. It comes with two pedometers that users can wirelessly connect to their Nintendo DS system when they return home.

In The Legendary Starfy™ game, which launches June 8, players dive into a spectacular undersea adventure with Starfy, the legendary hero of Pufftop. Players swoop into enemies like a shooting star, glide over bottomless chasms and transform into powerful creatures to help a mysterious, bunny-eared visitor find his lost memory.

In recent weeks, multiple third-party publishers have announced plans to boost their support of Nintendo systems. Between now and June, Nintendo fans will enjoy games like: The Conduit™, a first-person shooter from Sega that pits players against a terrifying group of alien invaders intent on taking over a futuristic Washington, D.C.; EA SPORTS Active™, a Wii exclusive from Electronic Arts that offers players fun, easy-to-learn exercises and activities that users can do with family and friends; and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 10, the newest iteration of the popular golf game from Electronic Arts that lets players hit the links to prove their driving and putting prowess.

Also, you can has AWESOME box art:

Discuss.

81

Gaming / BREAKING! Nintendo buys Sora Ltd.; Masahiro "Man-God" Sakurai Hints at New IPs

« on: February 18, 2009, 06:27:41 PM »

*Fanboy Mode On*

HOLY [tornado fang]ing [parasitic bomb]. This is the kind of news I missed in the gaming world for so long!

*Fanboy Mode Off*

Ahem... As many of you might (you [tornado fang]ing should if you don't) know, Masahiro Sakurai of the freelance game developer company known as Sora along with a few other notable people (Game Arts, Nintendo EAD, etc.) were the ones responsible for my most played game of the generation thus far, namely Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

[Silly Jelly note: After reading the news and trying to create this post, I honestly had a lapse for a second here and didn't know how to word things eloquently here. It was just that big to me. ]

In a late night conference last night, Iwata formally bought out a sizeable amount of the company (72%). It would seems that Iwata's friendship with the guy was all that was needed in order for him to be brought back into the Nintendo fold. This also means that Sakurai, creator of the Kirby series, Smash Bros. series & Meteos is BACK at Nintendo permanently with full autonomy over the content and games that he and his company want to make. In short, this is the news of the forever for me.

I can't even think straight enough too make the opening post all formal so I'll just leave this here:

And links:

Nintendo JP Corporate Page
Project Sora Main Page

And as if this announcement wasn't amazing enough, here comes the part that sent my hype into orbit:

About this project the new company is working on, Satoru Iwata assured that it's not another Smash Bros. game, saying, "It's not Smash Bros. I asked for." Sakurai added, "I can promise an experience that's different from anything [you've played] up until now."

Kotaku Article

In short: GET HYPE SON.

82

Gaming / How Much Will You Spend on Gaming This Year?

« on: February 08, 2009, 08:53:24 PM »

As I was busy responding to a few posts in the Muramasa thread, this idea came to me. Everyone here, no matter how much they may play games or how frequently they may buy them, knows that this hobby of ours can be a costly one at times. This topic's premise is to basically find out just how much we individually will wind up spending based on our budgets and what we know of the gaming year so far.

To make things interesting, calculate the totals if you'd like to and compare them to how much you think or know you spent last year and see if you can tell us what happened there!

Also, to make this all easier for everyone, you can put things into categories like "Definitely Bought", "On the Fence", "Need More Information" etc.

With that all said, I'll start off!

Most Definitely

- New Play Control! Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat (Wii)
- Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
- Punch-Out!! (Wii)
- Sin & Punishment 2 (Wii)
- Wii Sports Resort + MotionPlus Pack (Wii)
- Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii)
- Nintendo DSi Black
- Final Fantasy IV (DS) - I gotta try this series out sometime in my life. -
- Dragon Quest V: Hand of The Heavenly Bride (DS)
- Dragon Quest IX: Protectors of The Starry Sky (DS)
- Mirror's Edge (PC)
- Prince of Persia (PC)
- Street Fighter 4 (PC)

Nice But Questionable (i.e. Game content. I need my own place badly. )
- MadWorld (Wii)
- The Conduit (Wii)
- No More Heroes (Wii)
- No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle (Wii)

On The Fence (Not sure if I'll get into the gameplay these present or if I should spurge on them yet.)
- New Play Control! Pikmin (Wii)
- New Play Control! Pikmin 2 (Wii)
- Another Code - Trace Memory R (Wii)
- Let's Tap! (Wii)
- Zack & Wiki: The Quest for Barbarossa's Treasure (Wii)
- Okami (Wii)

Eventually Will (Depends on budget and features in the remakes.)
- Mario Strikers Charged (Wii)
- Super Paper Mario (Wii)
- New Play Control! Metroid Prime (Wii)
- New Play Control! Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Wii)

Is It Coming Out Soon? ('09 - Early 2010) / Need More Information
- The Legend of Zelda (Wii)
- Kirby (Wii)
- Pikmin 3 (Wii)
- Fragile: Farewell Ruins of The Moon (Wii)
- Tales of Bataille (Wii)

Size reduced for smaller post.

As I think up things to put on this list, I realize that I will never buy them all due to my budget, opportunities and overall luck.

Next edit will be for DS games. I'll be sure to keep updating mine as time passes though, and I hope that you all do the same.

One last note, you don't have to limit your lists to only games coming out in the current calendar year, you're free to list anything from the past that you need to catch up on or missed out on but will buy soon.

With this all said and done, let the listing commence!

83

Gaming / A Next Metroid Is...?

« on: February 06, 2009, 03:00:12 PM »

Apparently a side story to the Prime Universe as told from the Space Pirates POV.

Translation: "Follow Metroid Prime's history from the perspective of the Space Pirates."

Honestly, you should take this one with a grain of salt as it could mean anything from a full fledged Hunters-esque game (which could allegedly star Sylux in the main role), or just an update on the main JP Metroid site or the ongoing Metroid e-manga. Whatever it is though, consider me highly intrigued.

Sources: Metroid Japanese Main Page

84

Gaming / "Have You Seen Mii?" A Part of My Personal "There Are No Words For This" Series

« on: February 01, 2009, 10:30:19 PM »

Oh man, I can't stop laughing at this one. I can't even summarize it really. I'll just quote and hotlink it for everyone's entertainment. Also you need to see the picture on this page to truly get the extent of this one.

Calling all cars: Be on lookout for this Mii in connection with a hit and run. Driver last seen in Moo Moo Meadows wearing Mii Outfit B. Suspect is believed to have unlimited blue shells.

No, really, that is a wanted poster and that is a Mii on it, and that made me laugh so hard I sprained my epiglottis. The Kanagawa kops (Japan) are searching for the Mii, or a someone who looks like it, anyway. The blogs that have posted about this are inconclusive as to whether that is the actual Mii of the actual suspect (to say nothing of how they might have gotten it) or if the cops used the Mii creator to build their composite. Oh my God, I hope it is the latter. Would that really fly in Japanese court?

Jesus, that is still funny the 529th time. The WTF look is priceless.

And now, having teed this up, I hand it off to you, the commenterariat, to make it one thousand percent more hilarious than I ever could.

Article Link

This is just too much for me.

85

Gaming / Iwata: "Nintendo’s E3 2009 Software Aimed To Topple PS2"

« on: January 31, 2009, 12:46:31 AM »

First off guys, careful, I've changed this topic's main focus from debate to ponder. (That re-worked Toy Story quote didn't work like how I wanted it to.)

OK, as stated in the topic title, President of NCL Satoru Iwata was recently quoted stating that while Wii & DS sales have been nothing short of "so awesome", he still feels that there are numerous field goals left for Nintendo to try and reach with their products. After last year and the somewhat lackluster state of game releases after anticipated hits such as Mario Kart Wii & Super Smash Bros. Brawl, as well as the launch of Wii Fit & Wii Music for the more open minded expanded audiences, gamers were left on a pretty long dry spell in terms of big time Nintendo efforts last year. This is however all in the past as the Nintendo president stated in a recent press release that it is going to be the sales of Nintendo branded software that going to push Wii sales (both software and hardware) this year and in the future to well beyond PS2 levels.

Now then, ignoring the blatant Nintendo fan in me for a second and thinking as a rational human being, this statement sounded like utter nonsense to me for half of a minute. I mean, I know Nintendo is capable of some truly top class stuff, they are my favorite developer and game company after all, but to say that they have software planned and in development to topple the absurdly diverse and amazing PS2 library starting this year?

Come ooooonnnn.

Then, Iwata delivered a line true to the zen-like confidence he has in his company:

[...]Wii still has much more room for expansion. We can expect more sales of software in the next fiscal year than in the current year. With what kind of software is Nintendo going to achieve this goal? Well, it will be shown at E3 to be held in the U.S. this June.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your pondering. I'm personally expecting a Zelda '09 now.

With my part said and done now, RPM, discuss.

- Link to the article is here -

86

Gaming / FF: Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers

« on: January 28, 2009, 03:48:00 PM »

Well, it's finally time to dig up an old favorite from the days of long lists of expected Wii titles. A new trailer from the mythical game has recently popped up and I'm certain most of you want to see what's up. The link is provided below, and of course, I'll fix this post later as I get my hands on more information. With that all said, I command interest and knowledge of this game to:

WISE FWOM YOU GWAVE!

87

Gaming / You Can't Spell Ignorance Without IGN.

« on: January 15, 2009, 06:14:18 AM »

OK, ladies and gentlemen, boy do I have a story or all of you. Recently, another sensationalist piece on "what's killing video gaming" went up on the gaming web review site IGN courtesy of one Patrick Kolan. As you would expect, there were the usual suspects such as casuals, lazy devs and business stuff. Then this one particular post took a turn for the amazing when he started stating that things such as Mario & Sonic rivalries & appearances are old and boring. THEN it became legendary when he single handedly bitchslaps the women's rights movement and maturity of the medium by stating that strong, believable female leads (as per his examples) are unnecessary, gimmicky and a bad cliche.

Needless to say, this was another gem that GAF put me on, but I just want to know, how many of you will get a facepalm of massive proportions upon reading this one. Also, as an extra fun tidbit, the writer of the blog post  pretty much states in a previous entry that the gamers and people that make up GAF and message boards in general aren't intelligent enough to see through this bullshit and we are the cause of the problems in the gaming field, likening us to a virus of sorts that people should stay away from.

This post was so bad that in retaliation, GAF has now word filtered the site. When you read the actual article (which I copy-pasta'd below, the link doesn't deserve hits), you will agree and say wow.

1. A Great Cast with a Dud Script
Quote:
How many times has a game proclaimed its cinematic virtues – highly enjoyable story, Hollywood-grade (or at least, prime-time TV quality) voice actors in a staggering production of unparalleled genius? Then, when we sit down with the final game, the story and dialogue plods along limply before fizzling like bad internet fan fiction? There's nothing that can deflate the overall authenticity and quality of a game's setting than a poorly written story, sub-comic book pulp dialogue and bad cliche after bad cliché.

Solution? The writing department in your average developer is usually a tiny fraction the size of design, and many staffers end up wearing multiple hats in writing roles – spending time creating manuals and support documents as much as creating a compelling setting. More focus on the writing process and creating a compelling world can pull a game out of mediocrity and make up for any visual shortcomings. Great examples are Braid, the Baldur's Gate series, the GTA series and just about everything that came out of the minds of Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert. You don't need A-list celebrities to tell a great story.

Worst Recent Offenders:
Gears of War 2
Prince of Persia
Sonic Unleashed

2. Unreal Engine Overdose
Quote:
Once a claim to fame, highly enjoyable's middleware engine has become all too common in the industry. When in the right hands – and with tech support from its creators – the engine can make games sing. The engine is capable of a gamut of industry standard rendering effects and presets, allowing developers to take a few essential shortcuts and help get their heads around volumetric fog, high resolution bump mapping and so on. That's a best case scenario. At its worst, the Unreal Engine 3 tends to make games look very generic too, and sometimes at the expense of true artistic direction and skill. If every game looks like Gears of War, then Gears of War stops being special or interesting. Every landscape need not look like an industrial cyberpunk wasteland, tinted brown and pale blue. Games like Damnation, BlackSite: Area 51, Army of Two and Turok are all guilty of this.

Conversely, when the engine is used to fuel true artistic endeavor, the results can be marvelous. Just take a look at Mirror's Edge, Bioshock and Mass Effect. Better still are games that have been developed from what are essentially original engines entirely – Grand Theft Auto IV, Pure and Resistance 2. All three of these games take the industry-standard effects and wrap them around an engine that looks just different enough from Unreal Engine 3 to stand out.

Worst Recent Offenders:
Damnation
Turok
Army of Two
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

3. Sequelitis

Quote:
This is a contentious category because it is dominated by outside forces more often than not, meaning that developers are, to some extent, swayed by the influence of the markets buying their games. That means if a game sells well, it has established a brand name in the market and a sequel is almost assured. Two companies, beyond most others, are most guilty of this – Activision and EA – though they're clearly not the sole parties responsible for the glut of sequels and installments. To be fair, EA has recently taken steps to stem the flow of sequels and foster more original IP which we completely commend. Activision has yet to follow suit to the same extent; its business model still focuses strongly on brand retention and sequels.

Sometimes, an annual installment is a welcome thing – some would argue that Guitar Hero needs its downloadable content and expansion discs to stay fresh. Others might say that the novelty has passed and that more time is needed between versions. You need only look at the ragged, sallow husk of a series that Need for Speed and Tony Hawk have become to see the results of oversaturation in the marketplace. The Sims is another; when The Sims 2: IKEA hit the market, gamers grabbed their buckets and worked through the nausea. Some never survived.

You might be asking yourself where Mario and Sonic are on this list, and it's true – those two, Sonic in particular, have been played out and spun in weird, uncomfortable directions for too long now. See below for a more in-depth look.

Worst Recent Offenders:
Guitar Hero series
Tony Hawk series
Need For Speed series
The Sims / MySims series
Tenchu series

4. Too Human Syndrome
Quote:
Lesson learned: there are few things as needlessly arrogant as announcing a trilogy before the first game is out the door. Too Human, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Gears of War and Half-Life 2 Episodes, we're looking straight at you. Speaking frankly, look – there's nothing wrong with ambition. You want to make an highly enjoyable, sprawling universe? That's totally fine. But start with getting the first game right and then let the market decide if it actually wants a sequel, let alone a trilogy. If your team is stuck under the thumb of three games in a row, you're looking at potentially between five and ten years of development time – which means you might be spanning two console generations – or more.

Too Human: the trilogy nobody asked for. Incidentally, running on Unreal Engine 3.

Building needless anticipation of an highly enjoyable series also causes disappointment if eager adopters never get the final chapters. Shenmue, anyone? If the first game doesn't shift the units, then you've effectively shot yourself in the foot by creating a game that never ties up its storylines and leaves gamers disappointed and unsatisfied. Never announce a trilogy before you've proven yourself in the marketplace – or, do so at your own peril and at the expense of credibility and the potential loss of major dollars.

Worst Recent Offenders:
Too Human
Mass Effect
Assassin's Creed

5. Wii Production "Values"
Quote:
Something's gone very awry on the Wii. For the console with the greatest number of releases in 2008, it also had the largest number of games that scored 4.0 or lower on ***. That's almost a quarter of the Wii's catalogue – and that's a shocking percentage. One in four games released on Wii in 2008 flat out sucked.

What's going on, Nintendo? What does that Seal of Quality stand for?


Houston, we have a problem.

Rhetoric aside, here's the deal, kids. This is why the Wii is chock full of shovelware: it's smart business. Games that only require three programmers, two artists and no marketing means that the overheads are low. If it costs you less to make, you stand to gain a hell of a lot more. The Wii is the perfect platform for this approach to development, as is Sony's PlayStation 2. The hardware is relatively inexpensive, which means that the adoption rate is high. If the console is in lots of homes, then the chances of someone buying your software is markedly higher. If your game only costs twenty bones on the shelf, next to a game that costs a hundred (in AU dollars), then which game instantly looks more appealing to mum and dad?

Who cares if the game looks sub-N64 and plays like a poor Flash game? If the cost is small enough and the concept has the potential to suck in uninformed parents, then you can count the dollar signs. We really hope that – despite the Wii's massive install base – the current glut of awful Wii titles in the market can't sustain itself. Surely stores will become oversaturated with third rate shovelware and they won't sell. There's only so much shelf space, after all, and Wii owners will only buy so much software.

Worst Recent Offenders:
PlayZone Movie Studios Party (Wii)
Balls of Fury (Wii)
Clever Kids: Pirates (Wii)

6. Sonic and Mario Visit the Rainbow Dentist (WTF?)

Quote:
There's a wide valley of difference between Super Mario Galaxy and something like Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. And there's an ocean between Sonic the Hedgehog II or Sonic and Knuckles and Sonic Unleashed. Why is this? As two console titans gradually start to age, the desire from big business is to keep their star characters active and fresh. In this case 'active' means 'frequent appearances', and 'fresh' means 'it's time to take Mario bowling' or 'Sonic now has wings and break-dance moves'.


Seriously, Sonic should kick his ass in like, every event. He's a tubby plumber.

The overuse of two of gaming's biggest icons has, in fact, watered down their appeal to the gamers who made them a success in the first place. By wearing out their welcome over and over again, the inferred quality of these brands is lessened – even if sales remain steady. Ultimately, audiences will move on if the characters lose their appeal. Even expected sequels and updates like Mario Kart Wii need to ultimately do more than just the bare minimum to really maintain credibility long-term. Maybe it's time for other characters to have a moment in the sun? How about a Waluigi and Bigs the Cat double-team? Maybe not.

Worst Recent Offenders:
Sonic Unleashed
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games

7. Motion "Control"
Quote:
Motion control can go one of two ways: it either works and is great, or it doesn't and it detracts from the experience. If you can't implement motion control in an accurate, convincing and most importantly relevant way, then don't bother. Both the PS3 and Wii have plenty of titles that don't utilise motion controls properly or only in a tokenistic way, and it's not pretty when controls go horribly wrong. Who can forget the disastrous Sixaxis implementation in Lair? Or who truly prefers motion controlled steering in a racing game like Mario Kart Wii when there's no resistance on the wheel?


Lair died at the feet of the Sixaxis, wriggling, spasming and thrashing.

Accuracy and fun are paramount, and if motion controls are loose or inaccurate, the experience ceases to be fun. Then it simply dissolves into gimmickry, which is just one short stop away from irrelevance – which Nintendo has fought hard to prevent. Nintendo's upcoming MotionPlus peripheral is aimed at addressing just this problem; here's hoping developers learn how to leverage it, or Nintendo ultimately incorporates it into its remotes by default.

Worst Recent Offenders:
Lair
Mario Kart Wii

8. Promises, Promises, Promises
Quote:
The promise of downloadable content. The promise of patches. The promise of a sequel or series or TV spin-off. The promise that this is the next big thing – or the only big thing. Get onboard the hype train or risk losing out. The gaming industry is full of promises, and most fail to live up to the shiny marketing words.


Best movie game ever? Well... we'll see.

If you call your game 'the best movie game ever made', you damned well better prepare to put up your dukes, 'cause thems fightin' words. This exact sentence was proclaimed by marketing materials for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and underlined by the game's producers on video. Now, it's great to see that level of ambition and confidence in a game – but come on – pride comes before the fall.

Just ask Dennis Dyack.

On this same point, we'd also like to put on our cynical hats for a moment (or is it already on?) and call out publishers who release a game just to put out a 'premium content' with extra features and gameplay at exactly the same time. This is a really ugly practice given the content really should've been included in the retail release of the game.

Worst Recent Offenders:
Too Human
Gears of War II
X-Men Origins: Wolverine

9. STRONG FEMALE LEAD CHARACTER = EDGY, CLEVER AND DESIRABLE

Quote:
Well, sometimes this is the case – Jade from Beyond Good & Evil, the old Lara Croft (from circa 1996 or thereabouts) and Samus Aran from Metroid all spring to mind; even your character from Portal – sometimes stoic, always tough and entertaining. But lately, there's been a resurgence in the 'strong female lead character' category, and we get the feeling that this isn't about sexual equality or women's lib. It's about boobs and ass and forced sexual equality. It's manipulative, in fact. She might be 'one of the boys', but she's still eye-candy and catwalk-perfect.


This is your fault.

Take Mirror's Edge's lead character, Faith; Asian to appeal to the Asian markets, female to soften up the lads and potentially sell to a female audience too. How about Elika from Prince of Persia? That's not clever design - that's clever marketing. There's a big difference. The Final Fantasy series has had its share of strong female characters, like Yuna in X-2 and now XIII. Again, it's a deliberate move (particularly X-2, which aimed at a female market with fashion-based equipment and magic-slotting).

Lara Croft still kicks around, as does Samus. But alongside those two comes Alyx Vance (Half-Life 2), Joanna Dark (Perfect Dark), Rayne (BloodRayne), The Boss (MGS), Zoe and April (Dreamfall: The Longest Journey), Jill, Claire and Ada (Resident Evil series), Elika (Prince of Persia) and the list goes on. It's not clever anymore; it's not special. It's become a bad cliché that is as predictable as it is ultimately degrading. Let's stop pretending that's it's still a unique feature.

Worst Recent Offenders:
Resident Evil 5
Mirror's Edge
Prince of Persia

10. CASUAL GAMING

Quote:
Our final point is ultimately one that has divided gamers and the gaming market as a whole –and it's as much a positive point as a negative one (again, look out for our next feature, where we'll delve into the positive points of casual gaming). Nintendo has a lot to answer for – a lot of it good, a lot of it not so good. While Nintendo's 'Blue Ocean' strategy has unquestionably broadened the market, bringing in new demographics to the fold, it has been at the expense of genuine game content.

Gone is the time when games were simply challenges and stories and adventures with rules and levels and boundaries. Now, the game has become the toy – a device, a thing with a set function or goal – Brain Training, Wii Fit, Ubisoft's Imagine series – EA's casual games. Equally, it has also become about short-burst games that are quick and easy to develop (relative to traditional games), can be played on your iPhone or DS or downloaded from an online service like WiiWare, PSN or Xbox Live Arcade.


Hey - at least it's not running on Unreal Engine 3, right?

Now developers, hoping to make a quick buck off the back of a particularly prevalent trend, are flooding the market with knock-off products that take proven successes like Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training and Wii Fit or Wii Sports and turn them into something almost indistinguishable from the source material. All kinds of mini-game collections, maths tutors, language teachers, calorie counters, cookbooks, e-books and other 'toy/device/function' games eat up shelf space alongside an ever-shrinking number of traditional game releases. And this applies to every platform out there, from Xbox 360 to PSP.

It's not a pretty picture if you're one of the many long-time players who just don't find these kinds of products appealing – but that's the way the market is going right now. You're going to have to contend with products that aim at housewives and techno-grannies and your kid sister, while you and other 'core' gamers slowly begin to wonder where all the games have gone as you realize that Nintendo's half a dozen first-party releases (in a good year) may not tide you over.

And to you we say: have you ever considered taking up French or mastering the thrills of Sudoku?

Worst Recent Offenders:
Wii Fit
The Ubisoft 'Imagine:' series
Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training
Minigame collections of all kinds

And just to put everything into perspective, here's the TL;DR version:

Too long, didn't read version of the Top Trends "Destroying Gaming".

1. Believable Characters
2. Games with a focus on narrative without worrying about technology.
3. Games that sell to different audiences, thus increasing the gross revenue of the industry. (wut?)
4. Denis Dyack
5. 3rd-party Wii games (Uhh devs, 360's all you need to worry bout know what I'm sayin'?)
6. Nintendo and Sega
7. The Wii
8. Enthusiastic Developers
9. Diversity
10. Casual Gaming (oh [parasitic bomb], he came out and said this one.)

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Discuss. Please. I need laughs.

EDIT - Goddamn "R" key. I really need a new computer now... >___> (Thanks for the heads up Sato!)

88

Gaming / Super Smash Bros. Bitchslap: What Do You Want To See In It?

« on: January 02, 2009, 06:54:18 AM »

OK RPM, in this thread, we are going to do something different. Everyone at this point has one or two ideas to make the next Super Smash Bros. better than Brawl in their own opinions. Whether it's no brainers like "FIX THE DAMN LAG" or "MOAR CHARACTURZ!!11!", silly things like "Nerf the damn Dragoons! They're a PB's worst nightmare. ", or maybe more insightful things, this is the thread where we can let all those thoughts out and maybe impress one another with an idea.

Now then, I am aware that I'm opening Pandora's Box here mainly because "it's cool to hate on popular things/Smash". I'm also aware of the fact that this thread could contain some of the most facepalm inducing ideas like "Naruto 4 SSB4". However, since this is RPM, and everyone I know who'd post in here has a high degree of common sense, I'll hold everyone to a higher standard.

With all of this randomness outta my head and a few ideas to share after I kick some PB Peach ass, I now declare this discussion open! Post away!

89

Gaming / Trine [PSN/PC]

« on: December 30, 2008, 01:21:54 AM »

*Concept Art*

Genre: 2.5D Platformer ([tornado fang] YEAH!)
Developer: Frozenbyte
Publisher: Nobilis
Release Date: Spring 2009

Not much is known about this game other than the fact that it's set in a medieval world, has a great visual style, boasts some pretty interesting mechanics (such as mid level character swapping) and has a good deal of physics heavy platforming. Needless to say, these guys had me at platforming.

There's a nice HD video below for all of you to drool over as well, so what are you doing reading this? Watch and hopefully be amazed. Also, long live platforming.

HD Teaser Vid

90

Gaming / A Rather Interesting 1UP Interview with Yoshiki Okamoto [Game Republic]

« on: December 28, 2008, 08:28:51 AM »

Normally, I don't share random news like this with the community because I'm not heavily vested in it, but just reading some of this, one would get the idea that it belongs in off topic. As the thread title states, 1up recently interviewed Mr. Okamoto to find out "what's good with Game Republic". Hilarity ensues however when he gives details about his personal life, as well as a few other things.

Honestly, the words to describe this all fail me. If you all want to see what I'm rambling on about, click here. There's also notes about Game Republic's current affairs as well.

Finally, just to leave you all with a funny tidbit:

1UP: The president of Dimps [Takashi Nishiyama] lives in the same apartment complex as you. Do you guys ever talk? And who else from the industry do you hang out with?

YO: He actually lives in the same building, on the same floor, right next door to me. Mr. Nishiyama used to work at Capcom as well, so we bonded over the hard work we shared there, and we've been good friends ever since. Both of us had long stretches where we weren't in a relationship, but he would always be sharing a room with some guy. Not me, I mean we were friends. Just friends. I'm pretty sure Mr. Nishiyama is bisexual. But I'm straight. I only like girls, but he likes both. Mr. Nishiyama taught me how to turn my ideas into game design documents, but he didn't teach me about men.

1UP: That's interesting, because I don't know who said it, but a long time ago, at least six or seven years ago, and it might've been from either the editorial side or the development side, but someone told me that you were gay.

YO: [Speaking English] No way! I'm straight! [In Japanese] I think it's just a misunderstanding. I might've said I was working on the "GameBoy," and they heard "Gay Boy." [Laughs]

1UP: That's...interesting. I don't remember who told me that. I mean, it doesn't matter, but somebody mentioned it, and I was like, "Really?" Because every time I saw you at a Capcom Gamer's Day in Las Vegas, you were surrounded by hot Capcom girls.

YO: [Puts on deadpan face] I have to keep up the impression of being an unpopular guy in my office, so you can't talk about me surrounded by hot girls.

[Okamoto to the Game Republic PR lady] The other weekend, we had to go out and rate some videos for work. That was kind of like a date between us, right?

Game Republic PR lady: No. That was work.

Discuss.

91

Gaming / Muramasa: The Demon Blade / Oboro Muramasa Yōtōden [Wii]

« on: December 27, 2008, 04:08:08 AM »

God. Damn. This game is sexy.

Genre: 2D Action Platformer/RPG
Developer: Vanillaware
Publisher: Marvelous Entertainment (Main Publisher) / XSEED Games / Rising Star Entertainment
Release Date: July 28, 2009; Confirmed to Release in ALL Regions.
Head Producer: Yoshifumi Hashimoto

Based on ancient Japanese lore, Murumasa: The Demon Blade plunges players into the mystical Genroku era, ruled by the skilled shogun Tsunayoshi Tokogawa. But this culture is threatened; Tokogawa's thirst for power leads to a conflict over the enormously powerful, though cursed, Demon Blades. Used in hatred, drenched in blood, the cursed blades condemn those who use them to tragedy, madness, and untimely deaths. As chaos spreads, denizens from the netherworld breach their realm as these malevolent swords summon evil spirits - and the Dragon and Demon Gods as well.

Featuring hand-drawn 2D art reflecting the heritage and tone of the storyline, Muramasa: The Demon Blade transports players into a little known mythology, envisioned by the creators of the critically acclaimed Odin Sphere. Players take on the role of a male ninja or female kunoichi, utilizing their ninja prowess to traverse the clever side-scrolling levels that feature vertical progression as well as the traditional horizontal stage advancement.

-More as I get it!-

Notes From Me

Tell me something, as an avid fan of the platformer & RPG genres, and a closet art connoisseur, what do you think my reaction was the first time I heard of this game that melds the action platformer and RPG genres together to create something that plays like Rockman ZERO 3 on steroids, Legend of Kage and Genpei Toma Den and was artistically directed by Katsushika Hokusai, the painter responsible for 36 Views of Mount Fuji? I'll tell you what it was, instant love. All the new details that keep popping up about the game only continue to make me feel all fuzzy inside... Or maybe that's the leftovers... (Crowd boos)

Either way, this thread is all about discussing info on the game so far and whenever it releases. Links to past footage and TGS trailers and well as a HD Walkthrough and recent Director's Interview are in the links section. Have fun!

Links & Videos

• English Title Image
• Japanese Title Image
• Director Interview
• Tokyo Game Show '08 Footage - 7 Minute DEMO
• HD Walkthrough
• Screenshot Gallery courtesy of IGN

92

Gaming / Fragile: Farewell Ruins of The Moon [Wii]

« on: December 26, 2008, 06:00:30 PM »

... God I hate compression artifacts ...

Release Dates: January 22, 2009 (JPN: Fragile: Sayonara Tsuki no Haikyo); TBA (NA & EU)
Developer: tri-Crescendo
Game & Art Design: Seven [Venus & Braves Team]
Publisher: Namco Bandai Ltd.
Producer: Kentaro Kawashima
Genre: Ruin Exploration Action RPG

[spoiler=Wiki Info, spoilered due to size.]

General Info

Fragile: Sayonara Tsuki no Haikyo (フラジール ～さよなら月の廃墟～, Furajīru Sayonara Tsuki no Haikyo?, lit. "Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon") is an upcoming role-playing video game for the Nintendo Wii. It is being developed by tri-Crescendo and the team at Namco responsible for PlayStation 2 RPGs Seven: Molmorth no Kiheitai and Venus & Braves. It will be published by Namco Bandai Games.

The Fragile website was fully opened on November 26, 2007. The game is to be released in Japan on January 22, 2009; no date has been set for its release in the other regions as of yet.

The theme song for this game will be sung by Aoi Teshima. The song is called, "Hikari".

Overview

Fragile is set in a post-apocalyptic near future world that has lost its light and is covered in a dense fog. Almost all the world's population has vanished, and the cities have been left abandoned. The game places the player in the shoes of Seto, a young boy.

Seto wanders the world, searching for survivors and the answers behind the disappearance of everyone else. Seto also searches for a mysterious girl named "Ren." In his quest he must deal with ghosts and demons that lurk within the ruins of the abandoned cities. Despite this, the producer of the game insists that Fragile is not a survival horror in the same vein as Silent Hill, rather it will focus on "human drama".

The world of Fragile will be filled with objects, sketches and short stories for the player to examine. Each artifact holds the memories of its former owner, and offers back story and hints to the player. A competition will be held where readers of gaming magazines can send in their own sketches and short stories to be included in the game.

Characters

Seto: In this ruined and dying planet, a boy, Seto, travels alone in the stillness. He is searching for survivors like himself somewhere in the crumbling world.

Ren: A lonely girl sitting on a lurching steel frame, singing beneath the moonlight. Walking in the ruins, playfully drawing large graffiti, looking for treasure, meeting with cats, she is a lonely, young girl.

Sai: The bodiless consciousness of a young girl wandering the ruins.

Crow: An amnesiac boy. However, he refuses to despair, remaining cheerful, mischievous and straightforward. In order to find his birthplace, relying only on a single photo, he continues traveling.

Personal Frame: From his back, the gentle voice of the Personal Frame guides Seto. Having been alone for a long time, waiting for someone to come, it was happy when Seto replied.

Cho: The bodiless consciousness of a small girl.

Item Merchant: A mysterious man who trades for various goods. Always merry, he appears before Seto. He collects lots of sparkling things.

Sin: A "genius scientist" whose brilliance has earned him envy from his colleagues; he apparently has difficulty communicating.

Gameplay

The Wii Remote is used as an aid in exploration. Seto has access to a flashlight, controlled by the Wii Remote, to illuminate his surroundings as well to solve puzzles and interact with the environment. The flashlight is also used to uncover hidden enemies and can act as a weapon against them. Seto also has access to a metal detector that the player can use to find various items hidden on the ground, as well as a microphone that picks up sounds through the mini speaker. Hidden enemies can be detected this way by picking up their sounds.

Some of the objects the player finds can be used as weapons; these include a stick, a bow, a crowbar, and a small hatchet.

[/spoiler]

Jericho's Notes
Every now and again, a game comes around with a premise so interesting that it sticks out in my head as being a must have without even thinking of the rest of the game. Fragile is the most recent example of this. With a moody atmosphere, presentation and setup, I was way beyond hooked. Then, as more and more details started to pile up on the game, I felt justified in falling into the hype (if you can call it hype). If you all need to know more about the game, I've included a link to all posts regarding it and it's developments from Wiifanboy.com (don't say anything ) and I could also direct you to the main site for any moonspeakers we have here.

Also, be sure to hit the screenshot gallery, because the level of effort put into this game artistically is nothing short of amazing. I am dead serious.

Final note, please for the love of gaming, don't dismiss this game right off the bat due to it's somewhat cliched premise and setting. The gameplay is what's different here and it shows. It's also complimented by the story that was chosen for it.

Links & Trailers

• Fragile Main Site (Namco-Bandai JP)
• December 26th Video - HQ Youtube
• December 26th Video - Dengenki Feed HD
• Fragile Complete info - Wiifanboy.com
• Wiki Info
• Gamekyo Gameplay Video #1
• Video #2
• Video #3
• Video #4
• Video #5
• Video #6

93

Gaming / IT FINALLY HAPPENED! StarTropics 3 Confirmed! :O

« on: December 23, 2008, 11:02:28 PM »

*Breaks down into manly tears*

As many of you may already know, this game series is one of my absolute favorite gems from the NES days. It does my heart good to finally say that a sequel completely developed internally by Nintendo EAD 3, otherwise known as Aonuma's Zelda Team has recently been announced and ~reserved~

Am I doing it right?

94

Off The Wall / There are no words for this.

« on: December 14, 2008, 10:20:25 PM »

Watch this video.

Lock if political drama starts in this thread, but damn this [parasitic bomb] is hilarious.

[spoiler=Christmas for everyone!]Here's some images!





Holy [parasitic bomb], Ninja Lou is the perp!

[/spoiler]

Overall /10.

95

Gaming / Nintendomination. Seriously. (And other numbers on request)

« on: December 12, 2008, 01:13:06 AM »

OK, this is definitely something that needs a mention no matter what you may think of the company, the systems, individual brand loyalties or the direction that Nintendo as a company has been taking. Honestly, I don't even think that console sales are a topic that RPM really cares about, but this is just awe-inspiring. The November NPDs rolled out a few minutes ago on teh GAF (crashing the damn site with traffic in the process ) and in a one month period of time, Nintendo sold:

Wii - 2.04 Millon
DS - 1.57 Million

And as if that wasn't bad enough, they also had a huge showing in terms of actual game sales:

3.) WII PLAY W/ REMOTE (WII) 796K
4.) WII FIT (WII) 697K
5.) MARIO KART (WII) 637K
10.) WII MUSIC (WII) 297K

Mario Kart is especially impressive for it's continued sell through, total sales numbers (below) and it's placing as the 5th biggest and most sold holiday game this year although it was released much earlier.

Software LTD's:
Wii Play: 7.929.501
Mario Kart Wii: 4.013.000
Wii Fit: 3.530.134
Wii Music: 378.000


Hardware LTD's:
PS2: 42.948.000
NDS: 24.463.000
WII: 15.391.000
PSP: 13.227.000
360: 12.449.000
PS3: 6.062.000

So then comments? Also, just to round everything out, here's the full list of info for consoles and games sold in the November holiday rush:

Playstation 2 206k
Playstation 3 378k
PSP 421k
Xbox 360 836k
Wii 2.04M
DS 1.57M


1.) GEARS OF WAR 2* (360) 1.56 million
2.) CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR* (360) 1.41 million
3.) WII PLAY W/ REMOTE (WII) 796K
4.) WII FIT (WII) 697K
5.) MARIO KART (WII) 637K
6.) CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR (PS3) 597K
7.) GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR* (WII) 475K
8.) LEFT 4 DEAD (360) 410K
9.) RESISTANCE 2* (PS3) 385K
10.) WII MUSIC (WII) 297K

I'll try and update this thread for anyone interested and with more games. All in all, let's have a round of applause for the gamers, because we all made this happen.

So in short:

96

Gaming / Dragon Quest IX Dated (3/28 JP) / Dragon Quest X Wii Exclusive. :O

« on: December 10, 2008, 06:57:46 AM »

It is as I said in the headline above. News of the event recently came from a special Dragon Quest "party", the same party used two years ago to announce DQXI's DS appearance. While I should have been keeping a close eye on this, Brawl (and it's well timed lag this evening ) got the better of me. You can read up on the events however at the following page:

http://gigazine.net/index.php?/news/comments/20081210_dragonquest/

Discussions and meltdowns (if you're the type to do so) begin now.

Major Edit - I fail at roman numerals. Sleepy eyes strike again!

It's Dragon Quest 9, not 11 that has a date.

97

Gaming / Official "Let's Play On Wii" Thread

« on: December 02, 2008, 04:59:55 AM »

OK, first off, let's get the small talk out of the way. As many of you may already know, Nintendo recently announced that it would be re-releasing some choice Gamecube generation games as budget titles with notable extras under the title "Let's Play On Wii". These titles are getting said re-release due to the fact that they might not have had the best of sales or spotlight on the Gamecube and would seemingly fit in well with Nintendo's recently acquired expanded audience. Some of the games that have been mentioned to get this treatment are:

• Metroid Prime
• Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
• Pikmin
• Pikmin 2
• Mario Power Tennis
• Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat
• Chibi Robo

This thread will be used as a one stop information hub on all the details we will receive on the games as well as a place to check fellow RPM member opinions for recommendations. Now then, with that all said, I'd like to introduce the first of the "new yet no so new" titles, namely:

*Picture courtesy of Play-Asia.com.

Re-release date: Dec 11, 2008 (JPN); TBA 2009 (NA/EU)
Developer: Nintendo EAD Tokyo
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: 2.5D Platformer

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (ドンキーコングジャングルビート, Donkī Kongu Janguru Bīto?) is a Nintendo GameCube video game featuring the gorilla Donkey Kong and played with the DK Bongos. It was released in Japan on December 16, 2004, Europe on February 4, 2005 and in North America on March 2, 2005. It was the first video game to receive an ESRB rating of E10+.[citation needed] The game will be re-released in the Enjoy with Wii collection of revamped Nintendo GameCube titles.[1] It has been reported that the Wii version of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat will have some changes from the original Nintendo GameCube version, including new levels, modifications of old levels, and traditional controls that have the player use the analog stick to move and a button to jump, unlike the Nintendo GameCube version which required the player to beat the bongos to do both.

What's New

• New Wii Remote + Nunchuk control scheme that replicates that same visceral method of control as the GCN Bongos
• Wii specific extras such as new levels and content
• Numerous graphical touchups, 480p & 16:9 Widescreen Mode Support
• Replaceable Jacket Cover (thanks Tai!)

Gameplay Videos

• Official Nintendo.co.jp video - A must watch!

Jericho Notes
As an avid fan of the platformer, I can't believe that i missed this gem back in the Gamecube heydays. It looks to be everything one could want from the genre, namely tight and awesomely creative controls married perfectly with diverse and intricate level design. All of this is then wrapped up in a fun presentation (because seriously, who doesn't think Hokuto no Donkey Kong boss battles aren't awesome? ). Needless to say, I'm kinda stoked for this one and will hold on patiently for news of a US release. For anyone who might be wondering about this game or on the fence even after my brief bit of praise, take this into mind. This game was made by the exact same team responsible for Super Mario Galaxy. If that isn't a pedigree, nothing is.

So then, come on, discuss and feel free to leave any comments or questions here.

And before anyone asks why I put so much effort into this thread, boredom is a hell of a thing.

98

Gaming / List Your Games

« on: November 15, 2008, 06:44:39 PM »

Re-creating this topic to see how many RPM members' collections have changed over time as well as find out what kinds of games everyone else has to their name. Also, you're ore than welcome to show off your collection with any pictures you may have. With all of that stated, I'll begin:

Nintendo Entertainment System - 14 Games, 2 Controllers & NES Zapper
- Super Mario Bros. + Duck Hunt
- Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA)
- Super Mario Bros. 3
- The Legend of Zelda*
- Zelda II: Adventures of Link*
- Metroid*
- Kid Icarus*
- Kirby's Adventure*
- StarTropics
- Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics 2
- Tetris
- Tetris II
- Dr. Mario*
- Super Jeopardy

Nintendo 64 - 15 Games, 4 Controllers & Rumble Paks.
- Super Mario 64
- Mario Kart 64
- Paper Mario
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time*
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask*
- Donkey Kong 64*
- StarFox 64
- Yoshi's Story
- Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
- Pokemon Stadium 2
- Super Smash Bros.
- Wave Race 64
- Banjo - Kazooie
- Banjo - Tooie
- Mega Man 64 (Mega Man Legends)

Nintendo Gamecube - 19 Games, 4 Controllers, Memory Card 1019
- Super Mario Sunshine
- Luigi's Mansion
- Mario Kart: Double Dash
- Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
- Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
- The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker
- The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
- Metroid Prime
- Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
- StarFox Adventures
- Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
- Super Smash Bros. Melee
- Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut
- Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
- Sonic Mega Collection
- Mega Man X Collection
- Mega Man Anniversary Collection
- Mega Man X: Command Mission
- Tales of Symphonia

Nintendo Wii - 10 Games, 1 Wii Remote + Nunchuk + Classic Controller, 2GB SD Card
- Super Mario Galaxy
- Super Paper Mario
- New Play Control! Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
- Mario Kart Wii
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl
- Sonic and the Secret Rings*
- Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of The New World
- Wario Land: Shake It!

Game Boy (Pocket) / Color / Advance - 39 Games
- Super Mario Land
- Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins
- Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3
- Super Mario Bros. Deluxe
- Super Mario Advance*
- Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2
- Mario Golf
- Mario Kart: Super Circuit
- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX*
- The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages*
- The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons*
- Donkey Kong Land
- Donkey Kong Land 2*
- Donkey Kong Land 3*
- Metroid II: Return of Samus*
- Pokemon Red / Blue / Yellow / Gold / Silver / Ruby
- Golden Sun*
- Golden Sun 2*
- Ducktales
- Mickey's Dangerous Chase
- Shantae*
- Bomberman GB
- Ms. Pac-Man*
- Sonic Advance
- Sonic Advance 2
- Sonic Advance 3
- Mega Man Zero
- Mega Man Zero 2
- Mega Man Zero 3*
- Mega Man & Bass
- Mega Man Battle Network 2
- Mega Man Battle Network 3: Blue
- Mega Man Battle Network 6: Gregar

Nintendo DS - 13 Games
- Super Mario 64 DS
- New! Super Mario Bros.
- Super Princess Peach
- Mario Kart DS
- Yoshi's Island DS
- The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
- Kirby: Squeak Squad
- Kirby: Canvas Curse
- Kirby Super Star Ultra
- Diddy Kong Racing
- Sonic Rush
- Sonic Rush Adventure
- Mega Man ZX
- Mega Man ZX Advent
- Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team
- Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
- Chrono Trigger




Keep in mind that some of these are games bought with another member of my family in mind. Also, ones marked with an asterisk are games we once had but either got lost or stolen (or in a special situation, brought back the next day).

Now I guess as always you can see the heavy Nintendo influence is always there for me, but that didn't stop me from admiring a lot of other gaming gems growing up. Either way, this new generation is all about me branching out so long as I have the interest in it and the money of course.

And finally, you can have some (old) pictures:

[spoiler]


[/spoiler]

99

Gaming / Jump In!

« on: November 10, 2008, 04:20:05 AM »

We all have different ways in which we escape reality. Some read books and get lost in fantastic tales of daring do, drama & suspense. Others watch movies for the same effect. Some use music to take them high and away from whatever they're facing. As for most gamers, we all have our games to get lost in. My question to you all is if you could go the extra step and become a part of a game's world, which series would you jump into?

My picks of the moment would be:

- Jet Set Radio: Tokyo-to (Come on, a funky musical city where your only goal is to "stick it to the man" by expressing yourself without being caught? Sold.)
- Pokemon: Kanto (It's any adventurer's dream come true. No one could ever complain of having nothing to do, and moreover you never need to worry about traveling expenses while with your companions.)

I'm sure there are quite a few interesting locales that I've neglected to put down here or forgotten to mention, but that's where you all come in. The choices are only limited by your own opinions and imaginations. So come in and share your thoughts!

100

Gaming / You're Playing It Wrong

« on: November 09, 2008, 02:35:30 AM »

Another oldie but goodie. In this thread, we post ways that games can be played wrong. For example, if you didn't change Banjo into a washing machine at least once in the original Banjo-Kazooie, you are doing it wrong.

Edit - Massive fail was corrected here, nothing to see folks.