Messages

1001

Gaming / Re: Official Nintendo 3DS Discussion Thread - Specs, Tech, Price? It's all here!

« on: November 09, 2011, 03:04:26 AM »

Although certainly minor compared to the woes of a PAL gamer, something that irritates me with Nintendo currency-wise is that they insist on only allowing one to deposit points/money into their online shops in fixed increments.  It's a minor inconvenience when you're eyeing a ton of $8 games on any system, but the 3DS got considerably worse.  Nintendo points charge you sales tax up front, meaning that buying a $20 card for Wii or DSi (or for that matter depositing that amount via credit card) means you actually can buy two $10 games, in exchange for an extra few cents up front.

Not so with the 3DS.  By abandoning points, deposits ignore sales tax.  So you deposit, say, $10, cuz you're eyeing two $5 games.  Well, the $4.99 becomes $5.29, leaving you with $4.71 to leave sit for the hell of it.

If they want to deal with real money, there really is no excuse for not offering the ability to make deposits in exact amounts.


In other news, 3DS firmware update is incoming with Super Mario 3D Land.  It packs new security that will likely be broken in a day or so, but more importantly, it adds a "Join Game" option to the Friends List.

'bout freaking time.  I wonder if it'll let you "page" someone playing a multiplayer game to request one (kinda like Mario Kart DS; dunno why they stopped doing that), or if this is just if someone is actively looking for an online matchup?  Glad to see Nintendo's taking SOME steps in making it easier to hook up, though I'm still waiting to see them make more extensive use of chatting (with Friends, I mean; I don't care for some 11-year-old telling me where to stick my blue shell).

Posted on: November 06, 2011, 01:04:16 AMMore news, there's a Zelda-themed 3DS coming out in Europe.  Waiting to see if it's hitting other territories as well.

Naturally, everyone and their dog is bitching about how this once again screws over early adopters.  'cuz you know, 20 free games is so much less valuable than a paint job, and all special/limited edition hardware ever made should be available for the system launch day.




I think it looks gorgeous, but I'm happy to stick with my megafied 3DS.

1002

Gaming / Re: Phoenix Wright, now objecting in live action.

« on: November 09, 2011, 12:30:28 AM »

*drools*

Loving the music.

1003

Gaming / Re: Legend of Zelda - The official Zelda thread

« on: November 04, 2011, 11:41:57 PM »

I think that's pretty much because we haven't played it yet.  Didn't we all say the same thing about Twilight Princess? (then again, I still do)

But seriously? More bathroom humor? That's jut messed up. Even if a stage is set up in the sky. WTH. :-/

Doesn't being in the sky make it even MORE messed up?  Seriously, see how long it takes you to get the phrase "raining [parasitic bomb]" out of your head now.

Eh, the best Zelda bathroom joke is still Majora's Mask.

1004

Gaming / Re: Talk about Sonic

« on: November 04, 2011, 11:32:58 PM »

I'd be very surprised if Sega WASN'T working on a Wii-U Sonic.  Sonic is an annual franchise these days, and they've already stated that Generations won't hit Wii-U due to timing, but they did have a pretty strong affinity for the Wii this last generation.

The details sound a bit too fanboyish to be true, but then that's what I said about the first Unleashed screens.  We'll see.

1005

DASH / Re: Ways to get Mega Man off the Moon

« on: November 03, 2011, 01:57:50 AM »

Gatz was possessing that pod, and supposedly died trying to hack Sera (don't really know how that works).  I guess maybe after Data cleared Elysium's gravity, Gatz transferred out of the pod and left Data free-fall to Earth?  That's the most sense I can make out of that.  It does seem pretty convoluted for Data to high-tail it out of there without him.

As for getting him back...cramming a Drache into an Orbital Elevator is the best thing I can come up with.

I always wondered why he couldnt just take another spaceship or something from Elysium. Its a damn MOON. There's BOUND to be more than one docking bay, ormeans to get to Earth from up there. I cant imagine a whole civilization of people and robots living there without any means of getting out... or any backup means.

I guess Elysium pretty much shut down when Sera was defeated.  True, she's not "dead" per say, but the System won't recognize a Mother Unit who isn't in her original shell.

1006

Gaming / Re: Sonic Generations (360, PS3, 3DS) - Holiday 2011

« on: October 30, 2011, 04:45:48 PM »

Indisputable proof that I am completely useless before 10AM.

Thanks, Kieran.

1007

Gaming / Re: Sonic Generations (360, PS3, 3DS) - Holiday 2011

« on: October 30, 2011, 02:33:09 PM »

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1VLIMAV2
Music rip from the Game ISO~

I just want to say, that Super Sonic theme is the biggest damn tease that Sega could have possibly came up with.

*Open Your Heart Live And Learn SFX...nah, nevermind, here's STH4*

Those bastards.

1008

Gaming / Re: The Mario Kart Thread

« on: October 28, 2011, 03:52:53 AM »

Man, that "7" is evil.  If the Blooper's hovering around your kart, I'd assume that means you can now smack someone directly in the face with it?  Even if less effective, that's just awesome.

And N64 Koopa Beach?  BOOYA!!!

1009

Gaming / Re: The "What are you currently playing?" Thread

« on: October 28, 2011, 03:21:49 AM »

Yea, the black screens in Misadventures is random, but it is still playable, if you can get past them.

I recommend to play on a real system tho. ^^; I'm happy that the Kobun 41 save file is put to good use.
Sharing the Japanese one was a good thing, so that it could be hacked to a USA save file later. ;3

Your odds seem to improve with different Sound/CDRom plugins; something to do with how the voice lines are read from the disc, I believe.  Finally got by after some tinkering.  But yeah, original hardware is best, it's too much of a crapshoot otherwise.

But, for any who like myself lack a Gameshark/DexDrive, I attached an ePSXe memory card file with #41 and the intro stage already cleared.

1010

Gaming / Re: Shiggy: Super Mario 3DS: Mix of Galaxy & 64, Tanuki Suit Confirmed, 2011!

« on: October 27, 2011, 11:46:00 PM »

Luigi and the Tanooki Statue, hell yeah.

The "spoilers" aren't all that surprising to anyone who knows Mario's track record.  Veterans of Mario's Wii platformers (2D or 3D) know what to expect.

1011

Gaming / Re: Talk about Sonic

« on: October 26, 2011, 01:23:55 AM »

You mentioned both, without refering which meant what games, and I mentioned both as well, explaining reasons.

In the same sentence in which I mentioned both, I also mentioned that they are both "Sonic-solo".  A Sonic-solo game may have level tweaks, but those level tweaks cannot be the result of playing as friends who are not playable.  I can't get more specific than that.

But as always, not quoting my entire post instead of half a damn phrase leads to this [parasitic bomb].

Whether a statement is or is not placed in quote tags holds no correlation to whether or not a person has read it.  If I quote your point, be assured that I have read all further comments that you supplied, whether I included them in the quote or not.  I may have nothing to add, or an un-quoted detail may be covered in the broader scope of my response.  If you're going to whine that I'm ignoring parts of your post, then tell me how it is that whatever I neglected is relevant to my response, rather than just complain that it's not in the quote tags.

The last two times you quoted me you either failed to read or simply chose to ignore particularly relevant comments.  First about Colors and Secret Rings being Sonic-only, and second about WHY I was not able to write a full response immediately.  Copying a post without actually acknowledging the information contained within is pointless.  If you didn't even bother to read what you're responding to then you're only cluttering the boards.

Anyway, this video from the other topic:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YCcj0Foq8w&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Basically shows that the racing contained within the game doesn't really show Knuckles proceeding through the level. He just digs all the way through, sometimes popping up to throw some punches.

I have nothing to add to this.  It's relevant to the topic, but irrelevant to the debate.  Whether or not an NPC traverses a stage in any manner comparable to Sonic has no relevance to whether or not another player-controlled character can.

If you thought that I was implying otherwise in my earlier post, I wasn't.  I was just poking fun at the way your post was worded.

Rewind time:

Secret Rings didn't let you play as anyone other than Sonic, they just gave you stat-changing stuff which made the level designs less retarded to play through. If you're talking about that turd Black Knight, you know how well that was received. Colors allowed for Miis to play, but they were basically Sonic reskins with which you could play through virtual side-levels.

Secret Rings and Colors were disussed above, but I reiterate: I was not referring to character choice, because there isn't any.  I was referring to other gameplay circumstances that require a similar effect.  In the case of Secret Rings, it is alternate mission goals.  In the case of Colors, it is the absence of wisps during Super Sonic mode.

Another such example is the multiplayer mode in Sonic Adventure 2, where spring boards are used to allow passage in areas where the homing attack or light dash were otherwise required.

I did not mention Black Knight and see no way that it is relevant to the topic of level alterations.  Character-specific abilities in that game have little to nothing to do with stage navigation.  As for its reception, the game was rejected more on the grounds of concept than it was gameplay.

Were they big deals? No. People hated playing through the story 4 times in Heroes, for example. Adventure 2 had less characters than Adventure 1 when they realised that the small changes formula didn't work anymore, so they could focus on the different gameplay styles that WORKED.

Heroes came after Adventure 2.  The "small change formula" is, in Adventure 1, applicable only to Tails and Amy, as they're the only ones who share fairly similar play styles to Sonic.  However, they are both limited to considerably smaller and simpler stages than Sonic, which damages their presence in the game far more so than any failure to differentiate themselves.

The presence of multiple characters should in no way require a playthrough as each one, and players complaining when they do is not new to 3D gaming.  That criticism is as old as Doki Doki Panic.  This actually does depend on how unique the players are.  If they play differently, then sure, it makes sense because you're effectively talking about clearing different gameplay modes.  If they do not, if you are talking about only personal preference and minor ability changes, then there is no reason one should be forced to replay the game using every possible choice.

When you unlock Luigi in Super Mario Galaxy 2, are you required to re-capture every Star as him?  No.  It's senseless.  Luigi jumps higher and skids around, that doesn't excuse ignoring the progress made as Mario.  That was Sonic Heroes' mistake.

The Advance games evolved to two characters in Rush, which evolved to a single character in Colors DS/Generations 3DS. The formula became less about having different characters with little different things to begin with, and became more about Sonic, which overall evolved the core gameplay. Sonic levels now have a smarter design, and speaking about the 3D levels, boosting homing attacks play a big part. Now, Sonic levels have multiple paths to proceed by, each making smart use of those mechanics. It no longer makes sense for so many characters to be in the same game with similar gameplay. If Sega adds them later as unlockables, or DLC, sure. But don't give them an entire story of their own which is exactly like the regular one.

Nowhere did I say that any additional characters should require additional stories.

The story of Sonic Advance is negligible.  The story of Sonic Rush Adventure never splits with the players; Blaze simply joins Sonic and becomes an alternate choice.

The use of multiple paths in level design is irrelevant to the number of characters that can traverse them.  Inevitably, some will be exclusive, some will not, such things are to be handled case-by-case.

Several Sonic game stories already feature non-playable friends, most infamously Tails, who appears in nearly every game yet constantly remains on the sidelines, whether the story gives him a reason to or not.

I don't really see these "other companies" being well within the habit of granting several characters slightly-changed levels to fit the gameplay in recent times. Unless you mean Nintendo's NSMB, Kirby and DK games, in which the level doesn't really change when you change characters, to my knowledge. It's not a trend anymore like it was in the 90s, I guess. Doesn't serve much of a purpose anymore, really.

All three of your examples are irrelevant as they allow only one character in single-player.  NSMB doubly so as there are no player-specific abilities in the game.

In fact, that entire tangent is weak, because you're adding the condition of player selection while I already stated above, repeatedly, that levels see minor tweaks for any number of reasons, and Sega did it just last year when they brought Super Sonic into 3D stages.  Even if the cause is different, the solution is the same.

1012

Gaming / Re: Sonic Generations (360, PS3, 3DS) - Holiday 2011

« on: October 25, 2011, 03:07:02 AM »

The PC version's requirements aren't very high.

Processor/RAM are more than capable, but the general consensus is that integrated graphics of any kind blow.

What can I say, I don't do a lot of PC gaming.

1013

Gaming / Re: Talk about Sonic

« on: October 25, 2011, 02:56:14 AM »

Secret Rings didn't let you play as anyone other than Sonic

That's...exactly what I said.  You misunderstood my post, I said that changing characters was one scenario that calls for it, the same character simply changing goals is another.  Secret Rings is the latter (it frequently tweaks stage design based on which mission you've selected), as is Colors (level alterations as Super Sonic).

I lack the time to properly respond to rest of your post at the moment, so 'till next time.  Just wanted to clear up that misunderstanding.

1014

DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: October 25, 2011, 02:49:54 AM »

Well, in all fairness, we don't know if he was in trouble or if he retracted the comment out of paranoia.  The whole thing was hush-hush (not unlike the game's cancellation itself).  However, as they say, what was seen on the internet cannot be unseen.

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Gaming / Re: Sonic Generations (360, PS3, 3DS) - Holiday 2011

« on: October 24, 2011, 04:05:43 AM »

Look at the CNet preview. You got two emeralds, yet he doesn't have all of the red rings in any of the levels. They're not connected.

Damn, I need to get a PS3...

1016

Gaming / Re: The "What are you currently playing?" Thread

« on: October 24, 2011, 04:04:35 AM »

Decided to jump back into Legends today, this time utilizing ePSXe and some nice upscaling (and infinite zenny in L2, 'cuz kicking the crap out of King Miroc gets old after a while; I think Tron was onto something with Roll and her weapon upgrade pricing...).

Unfortunately, Misadventures is infamous for the temper-tantrums it throws during emulation.  Quite a shame, I was excited after finding that U.S. SB41 save.

1017

DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: October 24, 2011, 03:56:19 AM »

*fish jumps*

It's over.


Otakus and Geeks posted an interview with the crew behind NYCC's Get Me Off The Moon booth.  Good read for anyone wanting to crawl into the heads of the more civil fans out there.  Unfortunately nondescript videos tend to attract people who just assume that L3 supporters are out there to troll Capcom's other franchises.

Speaking of which, the Facebook group has been for quite some time teasing the reveal of someone else connected to L3 (besides Inafune) joining the group.  Quite a gutsy move if it's true, considering what happened to Yoshiyuki Fujikawa.

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DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: October 23, 2011, 08:34:19 PM »

When you quote this:
And forget to quote this:

Redundant in the presence of Zan's quote, which if you didn't notice, is applicable to both sides of the discussion.

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Gaming / Re: Talk about Sonic

« on: October 23, 2011, 08:23:35 PM »

Among Sonic's friends, there's relatively little from a gameplay standpoint that Sonic alone does.  Rarely should these abilities be outright required, and even when they are, a few well-placed spring boards can get anyone else through just as easily.  Minor alterations to level design based on character, or even the same character with different goals, are something that Sega and countless other game companies are already well within the habit of.  It's something that both Colors and Secret Rings did anyway despite being Sonic-solo games.  The notion that a non-Sonic character will break a given stage design is outstandingly closed-minded.

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Gaming / Re: Talk about Sonic

« on: October 23, 2011, 05:40:32 PM »

Colors was a decent game, but it wasn't the kind of game to put Sonic in the good public eye again. The rest sucked.

My point exactly: Sonic being solo has no correlation to quality.

I really don't know how they would stick in other friends in levels with the boost mechanic, and [parasitic bomb] only Sonic should be able to do.

Generations DOES feature friends in levels.

This isn't fun anymore.  You make it too easy.

1021

Gaming / Re: The Mario Kart Thread

« on: October 23, 2011, 05:34:19 PM »

Coins in N64 courses is just about perfect...

"Hi I'm Daisy~!"

Okay, now it's perfect.

1022

DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: October 23, 2011, 05:08:40 PM »

And tropes are not building blocks. They're characteristics of common shows that people started noticing, and started including as a list. There are good ways to use characteristics commonly used in stories and there are bad ways to use them.

You just repeated the exact same point that I supplied to you and reworded it to give the illusion of a counter.

MLP's characters are founded in stereotypes, but they actually grow from that, and are given new development in almost every episode. Legends is a JRPG in terms of story. I've never said that was bad, but it's not the shining bright example everyone says it is. It's merely ANOTHER game in the endless waves of new japanese JRPGs every year.

Your over-simplified analysis of Tron and your failure to defend it suggest that you're looking at Legends from a first-glance perspective.  From that same perspective, one cannot possibly defend MLP on the grounds that you have, as the strengths you have presented require a fairly intimate understanding of the show to notice, and the shaky/vague criticisms that you have presented against Legends could just as easily be applied to MLP from those who had only a limited understanding of it.

You're preaching what you know, and I can't fault you for that, but it's a clear reason that this discussion isn't going to go anywhere.

How long will you guys keep on with this?

Well, let's see...

IN MLP, each character has to be stuck with a single liking/characteristic, as per the series' concept.

...one of the greatest examples of writing in a kids' show that I have ever seen in my life.

itīs about being exactly what it is meant to be.

Nah, we're pretty much done.  What follows is just boredom.

1023

DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: October 23, 2011, 05:26:33 AM »

Very much agreed.  This discussion seems to keep jumping back and forth on what grounds we're gauging a story by.  Is it an epic masterpiece?   Are its characters intelligent?  Are its characters free from stereotype?  Those are three completely different questions.

My Little Pony has intelligent characters.  Its story is not an epic masterpiece, nor is it meant to be by any means.  Many of its character types exist in countless shows/stories; that doesn't matter (tropes are tools), what matters is that MLP does them well.

So Tron Bonne is a tsundere, so what?  Why shouldn't she be, how else is a teenage pirate going to handle a crush on the hero?  Besides, that's not her defining characteristic; her loyalty to her brothers supersedes her feelings for Trigger (seen very clearly in L1 when the Gesselschaft is destroyed).

1024

Gaming / Re: Talk about Sonic

« on: October 23, 2011, 04:59:49 AM »

That's what you said about Colors.  And someone probably said the same thing about STH4 before that.  And Unleashed.  And Secret Rings.

Once upon a time, new Sonic characters did not mandate entirely new gameplay modes.  They had a few unique tricks, adding an individual flair, but a single gameplay style was kept in constant focus.  We called it S3&K, and it was one of the best damn games of its generation.  I'm still not sure why Sega thinks that concept only applies to 2D.

1025

Gaming / Re: The Light Myth: Palutena's Mirror / Kid Icarus Thread

« on: October 22, 2011, 03:44:41 PM »

I'd be curious to know how they're going to make effective use of the 3D effect in a black-background game.  Maybe they'll pull some camera angle tricks like in Excite Bike?