Messages

1151

DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: July 27, 2011, 12:55:53 AM »

Food for thought:

Capcom may be comparing Legends 3 to Legends 2. In by judging the sales of Legends 2 to not warrant another game. Thinking about it, and the immense dev room response and the reports of fans everywhere being up in arms across the whole internet, including devs. This doesn't add up. So it came to me;

Capcom I believe has discounted the player base, by simply comparing numbers to that of Legends 2's sales. In reality, both of the games have been out and about for 10 years. Being borrowed, handed down, re-sold, rented, and emulated I think it's safe to presume the fan base is much larger than the initial sales numbers, because many more people have played it in the last 10 years by other means.

Just my two cents.

It's probably also worth noting that, to people looking to the e-Shop for relief from a 3DS software draugth, the Prototype Version could find its way to new customers on the grounds of being the only native 3DS game on the service.

There's STILL no actual 3DS games up there.  Just 3D Classics, Virtual Console, and DSi.

I know I've personally pushed off Legends to a dozen or more of people who never had a PSX or never was able to find it, or never would have tried it normally.

In fact, I never purchased a copy of either game at the time. I honestly never found them for sale, or knew much about them at the time they came out. All the copies I've played were rentals, and ultimately, as much as I hate to admit it, burned disks (I had a mod chip). I just could never find it for sale new, since I missed the window of launch.

Most of this can be attributed to me being a late adopter of the PSX. I never got it when it first came out. X4 and Legends being the reason I eventually got it, after I was showed the games by a friend.

The fact that I fell fanatically in love with Legends is probably the only reason I own legitimate discs.  I (or rather, my big brother) got a PSX in decent time for L2, but I had to search nowhere-near-local indie shops for L1 (no manual), and managed to snag Misadventures off of a bargain rack.

This makes it all the more irritating that Legends is for some reason failing Capcom's IP-checks for re-release.  Even to people who genuinely want to backtrack, it is exceedingly difficult to do.

I dunno how related this could be, but...

They canned MML3 but want to re-release this? I just hope this had been decided beforehand...

I'm sure it was.  Classic is the most "marketable" series in terms of brand name recognition.  We saw what happened with Wii's VC, after all.

Which kinda sucks for me, being an Xtreme2 fan...

1152

News and Announcements / Re: Capcom Asking For Megaman Fans & Cosplayers to Leave SDCC..?

« on: July 27, 2011, 12:35:23 AM »

I agree; while I appreciate his sentiments, such a naive statement is simply asking for an uppercut...

1153

News and Announcements / Re: Mega Man Legends 3 Prototype version officially announced!

« on: July 27, 2011, 12:30:37 AM »

I bought X8 before I even had a PS2

Same.  My brother was pissed because he had a PS2 and he knew what me with a new Mega Man game meant.

Buying a system for only one or two games is completely idiotic. I don't understand why so many people do that.

Most anyone buys a system for more than two games, however there are those "flagship" one or two games that you must have, and then there's other "hey, this is kinda fun" stuff that you buy for the sake of variety.

And most anyone will tell you that while the 3DS is in no way lacking in terms of volume of software, it is severely lacking in "flagship" titles.  If you're not into either fighting games or N64 remakes, then the earliest big name in the cards is Kid Icarus, which we are still waiting on.  Legends 3, even the Prototype if nothing else, signified a great deal of relief in that respect.  Not even necessarily the game by name, but rather the entire e-Shop itself was seen as providing some precious morsels.  The Prototype Version was not only a beacon of hope to fans, it easily the most recognizable e-Shop title.

The really pathetic thing is that despite being cancelled, it still is.  I cannot believe Capcom simply walked away from that opportunity:  To this day, there is NOT ONE DAMN NATIVE 3DS VIDEO GAME on the e-Shop.  There are videos, there are 3D Classics, there is Virtual Console, and there is DSiWare.  That's all.  Capcom could have had the *ONLY* 3DS game on the 3DS e-Shop, and they were afraid it wouldn't sell, so they walked away from the monopoly that was handed to them on a silver platter.   

1154

Original / Re: How will the series end?

« on: July 24, 2011, 06:11:53 PM »

Kind of like MM&B did? Rock cot Rush search and Beat, while Bass got Treble boost.

Thats another thing that irked me about 8.5 itself, having to rush search for discs. UGH.

Also, beyond just Rush Jet+Coil, I would like to see the return of 6/7's adaptors. or Stuff like Rush Marine or even Rush Drill.

I was actually thinking of maybe balancing the characters as 10 does in the beginning, and throwing in shop upgrades that power them up more to the likeness of other games (though some original power-ups wouldn't hurt either).  Rock would get charge/slide upgrades.  ProtoMan would get a "Proto Strike" upgrade to freely use charged shots (but no boss stunning, that was overkill), and maybe something to change his shield mechanics around since jumping to block just won't stop feeling awkward.  Bass could get either an attack boost or wall-piercing, ala MM&B.

All of these would be "switchable" in the weapon screen after purchasing, of course.  And since Inticreates seems hell-bent on making the MM1/2 play style the "official" one for leaderboard purposes, they could do a full-game Time Trial mode that just axes them (hey, disabling upgrades is what they're good at).

1155

Original / Re: How will the series end?

« on: July 24, 2011, 05:15:36 AM »

I think the best part that MM7 did right, and which no classic MM after it ever got right again, was the amount of stuff you could find and buy.

I really liked goig through stages again to search for hidden items and passages.

If they manage to do that without having to Rush Search, like the Power-Up Parts in X6, then maybe that would work.

I just don't want to be looking for crap that is outright invisible, and that's one area where 7 bothered me.  Mega Man isn't Metroid, it's supposed to have a faster pace, and it outright breaks the atmosphere of the game to have to comb over the most inconspicuous spots like that.

I actually liked 8's Bolt system.  Not that it needs to be redone; 10 did the "currency" system pretty well.  Just saying, 8 struck a nice balance of collectibles that were fairly apparent and yet still took some effort to obtain.  Throw in New Game Plus to "break" the pick-and-choose limitation on replays, and it'd be perfect.

However they do MM11, I think it needs to have something in the way of permanent upgrades beyond the simple "Rush Jet + 8 weapons" shpiel.  The extra three weapons in 10 were great, but I'd love to see the shop expanded with more "equippable" items than just the Energy Balancer.  Every character ought to have one or two permanent upgrades unique to them.  

1156

Original / Re: How will the series end?

« on: July 24, 2011, 12:39:15 AM »

By all means, I'd love to see a proper graphical update to Classic.  But neither Powered Up nor Universe were really it, if you ask me.  Capcom just...doesn't seem to know how.  If the NES niche is what keeps Rock alive, fine, as long as they stop dry-humping 2 so much and acknowledge the later series contributions.

As far as other Classic visual styles go, I don't think either 7 or 8 are bad at all.  They're both very appealing, visually.  I have issues with 7 but they're generally with regards to gameplay, not aesthetics.  As long as MM11 doesn't see a Rush Search, they should be in good shape.

1157

Original / Re: How will the series end?

« on: July 23, 2011, 02:51:28 PM »

If it's any consolation, Flame, I agree with you.  2 has some great music, but it's shorter jingles generally blow, and that's all 9 chose to rehash.  Repeatedly.  My problem isn't that they reused 2's soundtrack so much as it is that they reused the worst of 2's soundtrack.

I love what 10 did with the Stage-intro/victory themes.  It's the same melody, and it's still NES instruments, but rather than copy/paste they put together something more compelling.  Not unlike the difference between the victory themes in the Xtreme games.

For the PSP remakes, and 9, I was not impressed.  10 surpassed my expectations, no doubt.  At the same time, they could do better.  And don't mean full-3D modern presentation, either.  Even another NES-styled game could see some improvements.  Such as the shop getting a little more MM8-esque and carrying some permanent upgrades (like the ability to SLIDE!!!).



You know, I had a thought...  I'd love to see 3D Mega Man in an otherwise more traditional formula, but 3D games can never truly replace 2D games in my book.  So...what if we left X in 2D, and brought ZX into 3D?  Many of ZX's complaints tend to revolve around the ways it feels like a "half-assed" X (special weapons/elements, in particular).  They could correct that and at the same time still keep something significant and unique to ZX.

1158

News and Announcements / Re: Mega Man Legends 3 Prototype version officially announced!

« on: July 23, 2011, 02:24:13 PM »

As far as my own personal preference goes, I'd have loved to see this game on the Wii.  But we all know what new console releases from Nintendo do to their predecessors, and we don't need Legends 3 turning into the next Okamiden.  For that matter, we don't need it turning into the next Zack & Wiki either, which was supposed to be the whole point of the "early audience" shpiel.

I still maintain that the 3DS is the best fit, for practicality's sake.  It's just too late for the Wii, and 3DS is likely the next cheapest to develop for, especially given that's where the last nine months of work has already been done.  Why waste that effort?  Assume of the sake of argument Capcom does start L3 again; if they pulled the plug on it after coming this far, and after seeing so much excitement, then they would most likely do the exact same thing if they keep starting from scratch.  ESPECIALLY if they tried to do so on an HD console, Wii-U included (not that I wouldn't love Wii controls in HD with a "spotter" handling the tablet).  Remember this is the company that kicked Monster Hunter from PS3 to Wii due to development cost, while everyone was bitching that third parties can't sell on the Wii.  They're not going to approve Legends 3 for development on an HD system.

Further, and forgive my pessimism, but if the 3DS is being trashed as "the next Virtual Boy" for falling 400k units under Nintendo's expectations (which is an utterly ridiculous comparison), then no way in hell is the Wii-U a solid investment.  At least with the 3DS we have good [parasitic bomb] to look forward to.  Neither Nintendo nor 3rd parties have shown any compelling exclusives for Wii-U.  We know from past experience that the Zelda demo won't go anywhere, and a launch of enhanced ports isn't going to make the thing fly off of shelves any better than Pilotwings and SSF4 moved the 3DS.

Capcom needs to pick up where they left off, on the 3DS.  If they don't, the game will not survive another development cycle.

1159

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

« on: July 23, 2011, 04:17:57 AM »

New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Every now and then I just get the urge to replay all of the map battles.  I just

love that damn music

.

1160

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

« on: July 23, 2011, 12:18:17 AM »

(click to show/hide)

DON'T F*@#! WITH ME, SEGA!!!

1161

News and Announcements / Re: Mega Man Legends 3 Prototype version officially announced!

« on: July 23, 2011, 12:08:09 AM »

As the Vita is being pushed as "almost a pocket-sized PS3", I doubt the 3DS resources would be of much help.  If "risk" is the problem, which we all know it is, then resuming what was started will help a lot more than wiping it all out.

Further, as I've mentioned elsewhere, Capcom gave us a valid reason for choosing the 3DS in that they were aiming for an "early adopter" audience.  They wanted less competition, they wanted to catch the "core" crowd, they wanted to get the word out among the fanatical, they wanted their game to stand out compared to relatively few options.  In short, the 3DS is exactly what they bargained for.

I think hardware sales being literally 10% less than Nintendo anticipated is a pretty weak excuse to be abandoning that.

1162

News and Announcements / Re: Mega Man Legends 3 Prototype version officially announced!

« on: July 22, 2011, 10:22:10 PM »

We need to start keeping track of how many developers are backlashing against Legends 3's cancellation, 'cuz that's the second one I've seen.

1163

News and Announcements / Re: Capcom Asking For Megaman Fans & Cosplayers to Leave SDCC..?

« on: July 22, 2011, 12:50:44 AM »

Which other companies?

I don't know about Comic-Con, but Reverge Labs (Skullgirls dev) is pretty ticked over the cancellation in general.

http://revergelabs.com/2011/07/mega-melancholy-whiteboard-wednesday/

1164

News and Announcements / Re: Capcom Asking For Megaman Fans & Cosplayers to Leave SDCC..?

« on: July 22, 2011, 12:37:52 AM »

My only response to this is:

That is perhaps the best summary of recent events that I have ever seen.

Thank you very much, Pyro.  I needed that.

1165

DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: July 22, 2011, 12:00:08 AM »

The 3ds alone is a risky business venture because of how much that tech costs and not too many people have bought them.

Software sells hardware, not the other way around.  The 3DS's lackluster market penetration can be attributed to many things, but not the least of which is a lackluster software lineup.  Cancelling compelling software in response to that will only make the situation worse.

This is why Nintendo holding back their software in response to shovelware-dev-bitchery doesn't work.

Further, the notion of Capcom being unwilling to develop for a system that is not yet printing money is a COMPLETE AND TOTAL contradiction of their earlier message with regards to the development of Legends 3 and their target audience, the very reason they chose the 3DS in the first place.  Legends 3 was meant to target the "early adopter" in the hopes of avoiding getting buried among the masses of mediocre games sharing shelf space, as Wii games like Zack & Wiki were.  It was to be presented early so as to stand out among the comparatively thin competition and spread word among the more discerning early audience.  In that regard, Capcom should be thanking their damn lucky stars that Excitebike 3D is STILL their only competition.  If they refuse to release until the market explodes to DS-Lite level proportions, they are completely abandoning the very goal they originally set.

Except Fusion was actually fun to play, didn't completely retcon out everything that happened in the prime trilogy, didn't turn samus into a crying baby at the sight of that one guy she kills every other thursday, make her suit run on magical girl bullshit, or have an old japanese man cramming every possible japanese female stereotype he can onto her.

Pardon my lazyass response, but this is a largely irrelevant tangent that has already been discussed to hell and back in your absence:

I'll give you that Other M badly handles the background of the Space Pirates, although Prime 3 is more key in making sense of Other M's take on it than you might think.  The rest, I deny.  I doubt you care, but if you want to know why, we can continue elsewhere.

With how far along they were in production, as proven by videos and screens, there is no financial loss from releasing what they had thus far for the public to experience in the form of prototype. Pulling the plug without that would only be making the time and effort that was put into it by fan and staff alike go to complete and utter waste.

For that very reason I must ask: why was "the rocket" not completed?

From both the point of view of story and PR, getting Rock from Heaven would be pivotal. Both the fans and Capcom would have taken one slight but ever so important step forward. To end the prototype with a long overdue reunion while saying that Rock, uncertain of the future, would surely continue to fight against the Elder Gods for the sake of everyone; that would not just be any message, but a message of heart. The hopes and dreams of everyone in love with the characters and setting, wrapped together in the prototype, even if the final game may never come to pass.

"That", is the very least they could have done, could have allowed to come into existence.

I would imagine there are is some degree of labor and fees applied to releasing an eShop purchase, but it certainly ought to be negligible compared to how much they've invested in the Prototype already.

I don't see the Prototype getting Trigger back, that's a bit too pivotal for a "prologue".  I'd imagine Barrett was helping Roll's progress on the rocket and that would be that.  Trigger could be a post-game bonus in the Prototype, though.

1166

DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: July 21, 2011, 01:56:06 AM »

remember how Other M was a completely terrible game in every possible way you could ruin a metroid game and how it sold terribly? Sakamoto blamed every single metroid fan for not realizing his greatness or some other bullshit along those lines.

Except that Other M was, quality-wise, Fusion in 3D.  The "ruined forever" complaints were from people looking for any excuse they could find to call whatever Team Ninja does sexist, despite the fact that Samus shows considerably more skin and allows maternal instincts to damn near doom the galaxy when Nintendo's at the wheel.

It's pretty hard to not call bullshit on that one.

1167

News and Announcements / Re: Mega Man Legends 3 Prototype version officially announced!

« on: July 21, 2011, 01:51:26 AM »

Indeed.  And I have seen retail 3DS and Wii games that looked considerably worse than the Legends 3 Prototype.

The Prototype Version's absence is what ticks me off.  Literally, there is *NOTHING* in the way of "3DS Ware".  Not one.  Damn.  Thing.  The e-Shop is full of Virtual Console, DSi, and free [parasitic bomb] to keep people looking.  Capcom had a chance to [tornado fang]ing MONOPOLIZE the demograph and they simply walked away, after delaying the Prototype past it's original release date.  What the bloody hell were they thinking? 

Even if things were truly as bleak as they say, even if a 100% penetration rate of the installed userbase couldn't recoup the cost, the damn thing was done already and it's part of what was promised as the "extended trial" BEFORE the game's final fate would be decided.  There was no reason to not at least release the Prototype and wait another damn month.

1168

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

« on: July 20, 2011, 12:42:19 AM »

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  With the 3DS launch, Nintendo gave the 3rd parties some extra rope, and the 3rd parties hanged themselves.

The solution to the "only Nintendo games sell on Nintendo hardware" bitchery is not for Nintendo to cease/delay supporting their hardware.  Didn't work for Wii Speak, it ain't working for 3DS, and God willing somebody at Nintendo will figure out that it will not work for Wii-U beforehand.

1169

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

« on: July 20, 2011, 12:36:09 AM »

Indeed.  Arguably the non-storybook console games have, as well.

1170

DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: July 20, 2011, 12:33:09 AM »

We were.  When you "delay" something to "continue to make improvements", while in reality you are "deciding whether or not we can still release it", you can't really call it anything but trolling.

Years down the road, I expect the Prototype will be leaked over the internet, and my 3DS will have its connection settings deleted so that I may safely hack it.

sales...remakes and shovelware

Gee, I wonder why the sales sucked...

1171

News and Announcements / Re: Mega Man Legends 3 Prototype version officially announced!

« on: July 20, 2011, 12:21:34 AM »

So, their "experiment" to gauge interest is delayed so that it can be "further improved", and during those "improvements", they can the entire project outright.

Dick.  Move.

1172

News and Announcements / Re: Mega Man Legends 3 Has Been Cancelled

« on: July 20, 2011, 12:15:13 AM »

That precedent was set a decade ago with no follow-up (barring two unenhanced-for-PSP ports, nobody should have to tell you why those didn't sell).  What really pisses me off here, is that they did this before the Prototype Version saw release, which is to say they can't even be assed to follow through with a damn "test the waters" prologue, well after said game's intended release date.

Copy/paste from my Devroom comment after the break:


Okay, be honest. Most of us in the last decade or so have considered Legends 3 to be something of a pipe dream, and the minute the "green-light" story first hit the blog, we all were snapped into the reality that this "Project" may well not see a retail release.

However, I must say, it is an extreme dick move to every fan to do this before the Prototype Version saw release. The essence of the Prototype Version, as it was originally advertised, was to offer us the chance to see what the "greenlight meeting" people saw. To see where the game was, what direction it was going in, and what kind of spark it could light in those who played it. Now, WELL PAST THE ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE, we're told that will never be. Because the delay to "improve" this product lead to it never happening.

Capcom, if you have *ANY* respect for what the Devroom was attempting (even if it did scare the crap out of your close-minded big-wigs in the higher offices), you could have at least saved the obvious public relations bullshit, which is frankly insulting to our intelligence. If you were uncertain the Prototype Version was to see release, you should have said so the moment the so-called "delay" was first announced. I smell an obvious rat in that sequence of events, and I find that more offensive than the cancellation of Legends 3 itself. It says that the very spirit of the Devroom failed, not because the game wasn't released, but because the company that created the Devroom refused to actually believe in it.

My condolences, and eternal appreciation, to the entire Legends 3 staff for the extreme headache you went to to bring us what "development" content you did to try and involve us. I know you were met with resistance, I know that to some it challenged every fiber of what "game development" is, and I am sincerely grateful for your efforts to break that trend.

1173

Gaming / Re: Official Unofficial StarFox discussion thread

« on: July 19, 2011, 12:02:46 AM »

Game looks awesome.  I can't wait to see what the warps look like on the 3DS.

I had fun with Command...

*hides*

It was certainly the best post-64 Star Fox, even if that's not saying much.  But the game could have used a traditional control mode.  Also, while I loved the variety of characters, scenarios, and endings, there should have been one "definitive" ending set apart from the rest.  The first-pass one is pretty lousy.

I don't object to the theory of Fox getting the girl (who would?), but with the execution of Star Wolf's Panther being her "mother's house" where she runs when there's a problem, it's kinda hard to not see Krystal as a [sonic slicer].  She is literally defined by her love interests.  Had she signed up with Corneria or Katina, without the lure of a rival lover, she might not have come off as being so shallow.

1174

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

« on: July 17, 2011, 07:46:08 PM »

(Advance Sonic vs. Rush Sonic)

That's the part that bugs me.  It's one thing to take sidescrolling versus sorta-kinda-3D (the Colors mentality tends to shift to sidescrolling ANYWAY, and I see Generations makes heavy use of that), it's quite another to just take sidescrolling with or without a boost gauge.

*sighs*  I miss Tails...

To the people who were calling it this generation's Virtual Boy, you may not be too far off from the truth there.

No, I'd say it's this generation's DS.
Seriously, the original DS wasn't really that popular; the Lite was when it took off.

1175

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

« on: July 16, 2011, 09:34:52 PM »

Thanks largely to

Brental Floss

, I finally got around to giving Zelda II another shake.