Messages

1651

Off The Wall / Re: Post Pictures Of Yourself

« on: November 12, 2010, 03:11:21 AM »

Nah it's just my first picture and all so it's just the initial embarassment.  I think I will put it there since it is my first and no one has seen me before.  Plus I did promise that I would.

You have NOTHING to be embarrassed about.  Even in costume you still look considerably more normal/attractive than the rest of us weirdos.

1652

Off The Wall / Re: Post Pictures Of Yourself

« on: November 11, 2010, 03:39:03 AM »

Club Nintendo figurine GET!







*1-Up noise*

1653

Gaming / Re: Sonic Colors (Wii, DS)

« on: November 11, 2010, 03:26:29 AM »

(click to show/hide)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnvC7iFyG5M[/youtube]

It's... it's... beautiful.

...INCON-[tornado fang]ing-CEIVABLE!!!

Somebody had DAMN WELL better figure out this game's music format so that I can Riivolution-patch it, because I'm one Crush40 theme away from orgasm...

*eliminates Sonic Unleashed from his B-Day/Christmas wish list*

1654

Gaming / Re: Sonic Colors (Wii, DS)

« on: November 10, 2010, 02:08:13 AM »

you really never heard of Boss the Boss ?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yiza051Z2-A[/youtube]

News to me.  Can't argue with STH3's final boss, but as remixes thereof go, I think I'll stick with

Malicious Fingers

.

1655

Rockman Series / Re: did Mega Man/Rockman jump the shark?

« on: November 10, 2010, 02:01:17 AM »

Well, I knew that was coming.  Avoided making a pre-emptive comment because I was afraid of sending the thread on a tangent.  Because of that, I'll make this quick:

Even Sonic is not beyond redemption.  He may be the "go to" example of this as far as the editorial bandwagon is concerned, but nobody is going to convince me that Sonic is worse off now than he was in 2006.

1656

X / Re: No Love for x?

« on: November 10, 2010, 01:50:33 AM »

Gotta give Zan that one.  Although I too consider Zero's character to have changed a bit since Iris's death, the thumbs-up is not a sign of that.

What I noticed isn't so much Zero's "friendly streak" (hard to observe given the lack of narrative, though looking at Xtreme2 and MHX I can see Flame's point), but rather how Zero approaches combat.  In X4 and prior he has a tendency to shoot/slash first and talk later (vs Gareth, vs Colonel at Memorial Hall, and vs Frost Walrus are a few examples), clearly impatient with the enemy's chatter.  X5 onward, he's not quite as rash.  He lets the enemy ramble all they want, even if he still thinks that what they're saying is garbage.  Then of course there's the Zero series, which in its later entries dives into exactly what Zero is fighting for.

Flame nailed it on the X/Zero bond, as well.  It's especially noticeable in X8 and Command Mission, how Zero (and Axl in the earlier) keeps X's head on straight, while X's big heart helps to keep Zero from going over the edge in XCM.

And if you believe X to have no character development, you have not watched The Day Of Sigma.  That simple.  It's where X got a smack in the face with how people you thought you could look up to can wind up really sick, and just how high a price he may have to pay for his inaction at the wrong time.  Wonder why he's so less merciful when he confronts Sigma than at any other point in any other game?  That's why.  X6 takes us a step further and hardens him up a bit, probably in no small part due to his best friend disappearing while the entire planet is in critical shape.  While previous games had shown him as hesitant, in X6 he is all business, and yet still retains his compassion once all is said and done.

And nobody's mentioned her, but for X-series character growth, I have to bring up Alia.  Seriously, she was the most boring character I could imagine in X5.  Married to her work, master of the obvious, and living life by dry facts and no gut instinct.  In X6, that changed.  A LOT.  She meets a ghost from her past while humanity's in a tight spot, and she's been a more heartfelt character for it ever since.  Later games don't center on her past so much, but even so, she comes off as more friendly/supportive, and less of the "Ms. Voice" that she was in X5.

He starts out as a nice guy who has a tough guy partner (Zero)... and ends with a nice guy with a tough guy partner and a boytoy.

In what way are "nice guy" and "tough guy" such specific characteristics that one who falls into such a category is not considered to have "grown" until they have become something else entirely?  Failure.

Zan nailed it above on format, as well.  It's true that much of what we see in characters is reading between the lines, not explicitly fleshed out in-game as much as we'd like, but that's the nature of the beast when you're dealing with a platformer.  There are a bazillion games out there with deeper stories than MMX, but they're generally of different genres.  I think, as platformers go, X is pretty strong.  Zero and ZX even more so.

1657

Rockman Series / Re: did Mega Man/Rockman jump the shark?

« on: November 10, 2010, 01:15:23 AM »

Starforce, maybe, but I don't pay enough attention to it to care.  Otherwise, no.

Frankly, I'm not sure how exactly video games "jump the shark" in the first place.  The nature of game development is a far different beast than the nature of TV shows; reboots and design shifts are relatively common, and may happen independently of the series storyline, plus release schedules are more flexible.  So some hope is always there.  How does one, in light of that, say that a game series has peaked, and that it is all downhill from here until death?

1658

News and Announcements / Re: Keiji Inafune leaves Capcom (UPDATE)

« on: November 10, 2010, 12:33:46 AM »

Ironic that on RPM we still care about the thread title at the 9th page.

Judging by Page 7, my responses to the tangents are apparently more interesting than my thoughts on the original topic.  Don't say I didn't try.

Damn, those models really ARE pretty bad.

Anyway, the model's helmet looks oddly enough, like the character art with the leveled horns, while the art itself, like I said, has the horns looking more normal.

Wasn't kidding about the models, was I?  You can almost dismiss them on the grounds of being meant to be viewed from a distance, but then they pull EXTREME closeups on X's for the Get Weapon screen.

It's funny what you notice in artwork once you subject it to scrutiny.  Before this discussion I never noticed nor cared if Zero's lower horns were visible from the front in X3.  And I never noticed that his upper arms in MHX dialogue are about as long as his neck, either.

1659

News and Announcements / Re: Keiji Inafune leaves Capcom (UPDATE)

« on: November 07, 2010, 10:25:39 PM »

I distinctly recall Flame complaining that Zero's back horns should be visible at front views and not obscured by the others; creating a menacing appearence.

Had you responded to Flame, that might mean something.  I know he and I often think alike but we are not the same person.

If I interpret the designer correctly, making a model of Sensei's more complex helmet design is only possible if it is less compact than they it wanted to be, hurting its appearence.

Contradictory to that interpretation is Yoshikawa's front-facing "Zero II" image on that very page.

Honestly, I think the notes on that page are less than clear.

As such, it's just you guys and the designer disagreeing on taste.

My disagreeing with Yoshikawa's tastes are nothing new.

1660

News and Announcements / Re: Keiji Inafune leaves Capcom (UPDATE)

« on: November 07, 2010, 03:46:57 PM »

I'm specifically referring to how wide it is at front view. Compare:
http://mmxz.zophar.net/megamanxz/megamanxtreme2/mmx2salessheet.jpg
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t109/jacfalcon/Anime%20Stuff/megamanxdayofsigma-ZeroX.jpg

I'm not sure what you thought I meant by "X3 character change screen", but I am perfectly aware of what you were talking about.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTFacGXgvvM" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTFacGXgvvM</a>

- see 0:35  Compact enough for you?

You're referencing an issue fairly specific to Sensei's style, which was not a constant throughout the entire series.  Width of the helmet may be interpreted independently of the height of the horns.

To be honest, thats the only thing I would worry about with Inafuneless capcom. He wont be there to push for sequels.

I'm fairly certain that Inafune wouldn't push one millimeter towards Command Mission 2, barring heavy pressure from the fans.  He was approached to make the original and outright refused based solely on genre.  I also believe he's already stated that if he were to make another X game it would not be X9.

The only hing he was good for is doing Zero's story. Though even then, he would just be vague about it when asked for detailes, such as say, if Serges and Isoc are Wily, (when we all know they are in some way, him.) and although X4 and 5 were cool what with Zero being the focus, he was the ONLY focus. Its nice if you focus on Zero, but X should get some of that too.

X4's focus on Zero was probably a combination of Inafune being at the head and the fact that it was Zero's introduction as a fully playable character.  I don't object to that, but X could certainly stand more cutscene time; Zero's are about Zero and X's are about the enemy.

X5 and X6 are kind of logical extensions thereof, when you think about what they were trying to do.  Inafune telling the team to "wrap up" the story in X5 means they need to tackle Wily (which they sucked at) and X vs. Zero (which they also sucked at if you're playing as X).  While X6 didn't exactly offer closure either, it did at least show us Wily's involvement and him stepping out, we just don't know why.  I'd say that at least is a step further than X5 leaving us with this ominous warning that someone other than Sigma hates X, and just dropping it there as Inafune intended.

I also think that, even though Zero is the source of conflict in X6, the game does give us an excellent insight into X's character.  There aren't many other games that show us what gets under his skin, how far his determination goes, and how even when he is convinced that force is necessary, he is still not without compassion.

1661

News and Announcements / Re: Keiji Inafune leaves Capcom (UPDATE)

« on: November 06, 2010, 04:50:58 PM »

The very fact that they chose the "simpler and compact" version for the art as well simply means that they did not consider that design inferior to the original.

At what point did we imply that Yoshikawa shares the same objections we do to his own work?  You're stating the obvious.

Let me do the same: We believe he was wrong.

And if it works well, they would want to be consistent about it.

Somebody probably said the same thing about his X8 redesigns.  I don't see much of a need to screw with what worked for 9 games across 10 years, especially when you're still working within the same series (at least Inticreates has the excuse of wanting to distinguish their spinoff).  Yeah, it's fun at first, but the novelty wears off.

I mean, I think his MHX helmet looks pretty damn cool, moreso than his original. The original just got way too wide in front view. So why wouldn't want to go with the new one for simple aesthetic reasons as well?

Height and width are two different things (see X3's character-change screen).

1662

Gaming / Re: Talk about Sonic

« on: November 06, 2010, 01:16:58 PM »

If you can hack-unlock the Last Story, then by all means.  But 10 playthroughs of the game can get pretty maddening (that last boss fork really should not exist).

See, Shadow is bad, though I don't think it's *AS* bad as others seem to.  It has its redeeming points compared to other new-age Sonics, which often get neglected.  At the same time, whatever you do salvage from it, any sane player will always fall back to the Adventures when they're done.  Ah well, we'll always have, "Where's that DAMN fourth Chaos Emerald?!"

That said, bad Sonics didn't start with 4Kids.  IMHO Shadow is a slight bit ahead of Heroes.

1663

News and Announcements / Re: Keiji Inafune leaves Capcom (UPDATE)

« on: November 06, 2010, 01:03:34 PM »

I trust that OBJECTION MAN knows what he's talking about.  We know that "more simple/compact" was Yoshikawa's motive for the switch (MMXOCW, page 138), but he could have simply been obsessing over nothing.

Much like us, except he was paid to do it.

That's one of the dumbest things I've heard in a long time. Bravo, Flame, bravo. Do I really have to get into the differences between pixel art and 3D models here? Nah, I won't even bother, there's no point.

Also, 3D models =/= 2D pictures.

Nobody cares about the character model (Zero's hair doesn't spin with him in X7, and how often do we talk about that?).  What is nonsensical is that the character art was changed to reflect it.  There are no "system resources" when one is drawing.  Had only the model been affected, then assuming we as players had the ability to discern such a shift (which having played MHX on a PSP3000, I seriously doubt), we'd have simply attributed it to a lack of detail.  And, given the quality of MHX's character models otherwise, it wouldn't have been the least bit unusual.

1664

X / Re: No Love for x?

« on: November 06, 2010, 03:05:51 AM »

as much I love X4, I can't help but wonder what the other character was doing throughout the entire game.

X4 is confusing...
(Downtime)

But yeah, that's the big story contradiction we wound up with in X5.  X4 in itself is made so that one hero or the other takes care of things alone, yet the future storyline clearly takes both scenarios into account.

thats what we mean when we say "Zero" was supposed to be X. the design was supposed to be X.

Well, "supposed to" implies that Inafune was in charge, which he wasn't.  But, yeah, more or less.  The name "X" would have gone to whatever design was chosen.  I don't think that was decided when they were actually doing the designs, though, as Inafune simply uses the term "new MegaMan" in MMXOCW.

While Inafune personally envisioned Zero as the "new MegaMan", he knew all along that he'd be submitting it to his boss as a sub-character.  It allowed him more freedom, creating an original design and an overall "darker" hero type, without others (his boss in particular) criticizing it for not fitting the "MegaMan" image.  Hence, Inafune submitted Kaji's "new MegaMan" (which is what Inafune told him he'd be drawing from the start) to his boss as the main character.

Noteworthy here is that the whole "Zero was Inafune's new MegaMan, but wasn't very MegaManly" thing refers to personality as well, not merely appearance.  Inafune refers to a "hardcore" personality for Zero versus the "nice guy image" which the new MegaMan would inevitably be stuck with a lot within the pages of MMXOCW.

Basically, I see the whole thing as this: When they were making the X-series, Inafune would have liked to make a game with the general atmosphere of the Zero-series.

hoo boy, Hypershell's gonna have a field day here.

I can understand what you mean, but separating their stories completely is not the answer either. If anything, what X5 and 6 did. both playable in the same story, just you only pick one character. Separating them is a bad idea because the story states that they are good as a team. they are the best of partners, as Zero puts it in Zero 1. So giving them completely separate story lines in a game really contradicts that.

My issues with taking the hero solo are more story-driven than gameplay-driven; many of my thoughts mirror what you posted.

That said, yeah, I *LIKE* the Scramble Change.  But I understand how some would consider that too easy.  Thing is, the main series kinda treats it like a tack-on (albeit necessary due to the "2 out of 3" character selection).  Xtreme2, changing between your ONLY two characters, often plays off of their individual strengths and the benefits of teamwork between them.  The second fortress boss and Sigma's final form are ideal examples.  You can also use Zero to "sequence break" the power-ups with X and better take advantage of the power-up system (assuming one has no attachment to Hadouken/Shoryuken, anyway), meanwhile X contributes greatly when you come to the occasional stage enemy at a difficult attack angle.  There is a strong benefit to tag-teaming with them, and yet it is never an outright necessity (Sigma less so, though IIRC you can simply wait for him to switch); an excellent balance.

Another idea would be to introduce the duo in a 2-player simultaneous game.

YES!!!
Seriously, how many of us HAVEN'T been fantasizing about that for damn near the entire series?  Pre-release translation errors with both X7 (double hero) and X8 (double attack) didn't help any.

Better yet, do this with an X4 remake, that way we'd resolve the above issue.

1665

Gaming / Re: Talk about Sonic

« on: November 05, 2010, 11:13:58 PM »

For sure.  For all the missteps it takes, more often than not the soundtrack alone is worth the game.

That, and I maintain that Black Knight is underrated...

1666

Gaming / Re: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (the sequel topic)

« on: November 05, 2010, 11:12:44 PM »

I can never pull off the heavy version.

I can also never pull off the multi directional Hienkyaku ive seen used many times before. (mainly in Zero's infinite combo. to get back to the ground and keep comboing)

The choice of attack button interferes with your ability to input a command?

1667

News and Announcements / Re: Keiji Inafune leaves Capcom (UPDATE)

« on: November 05, 2010, 10:42:44 PM »

...

...they're just more subtle.  I think Zero's horns certainly fall into that category.

Seriously, who here can make out anything CLOSE to that level of detail in Zero's head during MHX?

To further the point I disapprove of the kind of design philosophy that this indicates.  Yeah, when the NES was booming, characters were designed rather strictly around system capabilities.  Heck, in many cases the dot art was done before the character was ever drawn.  However, when the Super NES era arrived, something which set the X-series apart from the classics before it, even from the beginning (as Zero's X1 sprites obviously tell) is that the artistic design came first and was then adapted as best it can be for the game, not the other way around.  It was that way from the birth of the series all the way up to Command Mission.  Then X8 happened.

Considering system limitations is one thing, but when the imagination behind the title is warped to fit strictly within, there's a problem.  And there is a very noticeable difference in the overall visual quality of the title to me; X8 and MHX can't hold a candle to their PS2 predecessors visually.  Consider the type of characters who were designed for the Xtremes, and the deal with Zero's helmet on a PSP game is just absurd.  I don't even CARE that his helmet looks different, it's just the reason that it looks different that bugs me (kinda mimicking what Flame said, I know).

They didnt though (but I REALLY do wonder often how that was overlooked on his sprite...)

I think in those days the bar was simply set lower for dot art.  I mean, look at Super Mario World; considering the level of detail, palette-swapping Luigi looks a LOT more conspicuous there than in previous titles.  Obviously Nintendo took notice seeings how SMA2 changed that.


Topic shift somewhat more relevant to original discussion:
This is probably mere coincidence, but does anyone besides me find it odd that Inafune is "calling out" the future sales of Capcom's franchises as to prove/disprove his point, when as of his quitting Capcom the two big MegaMan games we're looking forward to are both sequels to bombs?  We all know the deal with Legends, but even if the title says otherwise, MegaMan Universe may in more than a few ways be regarded as Powered Up 2 (seems to play vastly superior to PU, though, so long as they can nail down the "inching" issue).

1668

News and Announcements / Re: Keiji Inafune leaves Capcom (UPDATE)

« on: November 05, 2010, 10:39:00 PM »

We've long passed the time when this was an acceptable practice.

Compare Zero's TvC artwork to his in-game model.  There's a certain Command Mission trend which was carried over in one but not the other.  Differences between art and in-game still happen, they're just more subtle.  I think Zero's horns certainly fall into that category.

Further, the PSP models look like they belong in Sonic Rush; intricate details such as Zero's horn alignment are nigh impossible to make out.  Even if you could view the model that closely (as in X's Get Weapon screen), it'd look so damn ugly that you wouldn't notice/care.

What they did for MHX wasn't laziness

You may say that to excuse the craptacular character models, however the absence of armor in mugshots really can't be read as anything but lazy.  Bad enough X8 deliberately designed the armors to be both pallette-swaps and face-hiding so that they can reuse the hell out of ONE image, however MHX just ignores it outright.

Mind you, we are talking about a presentational issue which X6 did properly.  There's just no excuse for that.

1669

Gaming / Re: Sonic Colors (Wii, DS)

« on: November 05, 2010, 02:52:51 AM »

Just because you don't trust something doesn't mean you will always disagree with it.

1670

Gaming / Re: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (the sequel topic)

« on: November 05, 2010, 01:40:20 AM »

All true.  Of course, blocking with Shield Arm is always handy for negating the "chip" damage.

Do tell. I'm curious how you do it.

In a Zero-vs-Zero match it's easy.  Hadangeki can only be spammed in "simple" controls, meaning a spammer lacks access to the heavy (double-bladed) version.  Throw that one out, and it'll cancel two of theirs, leaving them wide open for a charged shot to the face (Sogenmu beforehand if you're feeling really nasty).

1671

Gaming / Re: Sonic Colors (Wii, DS)

« on: November 05, 2010, 01:31:31 AM »

I've said it before and I'll say it again: *NEVER* trust reviewers with Sonic.  Not even if the reviews are good (Heroes...).

1672

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

« on: November 05, 2010, 01:23:15 AM »

Also playing New Super Mario Bros. again. As Luigi of course.  

You know, I realized with that comment that I have truly gotten lazy as a gamer.  In SMB3 and SMW, I had no qualms with starting a 2 player game and killing Mario so that I could play as Luigi.  These days, it just pisses me off that NSMBWii has no character-select in single-player.

Anyways, been replaying Ace Attorney Investigations.  And re-watching the AAI2 trailer in all its awesomeness.

1673

Rockman Series / Re: Now That Inafune Is Gone, Besides Megaman, Who Will Be Our Mascott?

« on: November 05, 2010, 01:18:46 AM »

Then go there with a torch and let it BURN TO THE GROUND!!!  BURN!  BURN!  BURNBURNTOTHEGROUNDBURNTOTHEGROUND!!!

...or, you could just ask if they can order it.

1674

News and Announcements / Re: Keiji Inafune leaves Capcom (UPDATE)

« on: November 05, 2010, 01:14:23 AM »

Out of curiousity, why not?  Monster Hunter 3 Tri for Wii is on my B-Day/Christmas list...

I wouldnt mind doing the same to those who keep mentioning Megaman X and Classic 2.

Theyre good and all, but the games that came after were better, and the constant praising of those two is starting to make them overrated.

But definitely. ZX was amazing, and should not be talked down on.

Very much agreed.  Although, the first X game is pretty damn awesome (IMHO surpassing its PSP remake; sorry but nerfing the best buster the series ever saw to half-strength doesn't hack it with me).  I don't think it's the BEST, per se, but it set one hell of a standard.

MM2 is, likewise, great, but at the same time a bit over-rated.  The fact that Inafune himself is the textbook example of that mentality is one thing about him that I don't appreciate.  We get it, 3 was nightmarish development for him, and shipped with unfinished [parasitic bomb], but that doesn't make the end result any less freaking awesome.  We love Rush, we love ProtoMan, we even love Doc Robot, and we like to FREAKING SLIDE.  How MM9 reused 2's drum beat over 3's epic weapon theme, I will never know.

1675

Gaming / Re: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (the sequel topic)

« on: November 03, 2010, 03:11:16 AM »

I actually must disagree with that one.  I've known my Wii to be far more tolerant of my internet connection than my DS.  Every couple of months my DS decided that it no longer wanted to recognize my router's WEP key for God only knows what reason and I have to reset everything.  Further, I find Mario Kart Wii to be a *CONSIDERABLY* more stable experience than Mario Kart DS (although granted rage-disconnects over snakers on DS doesn't help any).