Messages

751

Gaming / Re: Seth Killian is leaving Capcom

« on: June 20, 2012, 01:09:05 AM »

Hey, if I was the mouthpiece of Capcom's BS lies I'd want to leave too.

God bless Seth Killian; I hope you find good work in the future.

I'd like to try to think of a more tactful way to put that first half.  Maybe by next year I'll figure something out.

Well, there goes the friendliest face Capcom had left...

752

Rockman Series / Re: The Mega Man Legends 3 movements

« on: June 20, 2012, 12:59:17 AM »

Man Hypershell after reading that post and thinking about for about 30 mins or more I'm practically in tears now.  I mean it just really hit me like a truck for some reason and it made me realize that I still don't don't know where to stand on Capcom's many issues in general.

*hugs* There, there...  Standby while I fetch you a hot beverage (it's not optional).

While it is true that Inafune before he left didn't do much in terms of developing the Megaman games anymore rather he provided ideas and guidance for the people who we making the games.  I remember Zan or Hypershell mentioning that while Inafune wanted the X series to end at 5 he didn't have anything to do with the writing of the game and left it to the story director people.

That would be me.  It was a very different time back then and Inafune was still relatively new to the Producer's chair.  The only X-series game he produced before that was X4.  Obviously he was a key staff member in all earlier games, but it was only recently that the buck stopped with him.

The bottom line with X5 is that Inafune was eager to jump ship to the Zero series.  It is, truthfully, the series he REALLY wanted to make ever since X1, in terms of the darker atmosphere whose hero wasn't the "nice guy" stereotype.  He never touched X again until he got that out of his system; Capcom actually approached Inafune for Command Mission and he outright refused to do it (because he did not believe that X belonged in an RPG).

When Inafune speaks of how he had no time and no ability to involve himself as deep as he wanted to in development with Capcom, I seriously believe he is talking about a similar overworked condition as Ono.  And the single most telling sign of that to me is Inafune's heroine design sketch for Legends 3.  I mean...it sucked.  It REALLY sucked.  Inafune, widely regarded as "god" of the Mega Man franchise, put together the least popular design across the U.S. and Japan.  To me that simply says that his work environment was suffocating his creativity.  Honestly, when I read Inafune's criticisms of the Japanese industry, I think of Mega Man a LOT, including many games that Inafune himself was at the head of, and I have to wonder if he wasn't frustrated with being unable to give the games his best efforts (on the other hand, he is still pretty mystified by Powered Up's failure, so who knows...).

Regarding Inafune's leaving, I think he honestly felt there wasn't a chance of cancellation.

Think about this. Legends 3 so far has been a huge money sink for Capcom. The amount of resources needed to start development of a new engine for the 3DS, combined with the whole team working on this, in a prototype fashion. The cost of the dev room, and all it's components. The cost of voice actors even. Capcom sank some cheddar into this game as it was.

Now recall what Inafune said about Dead Rising. He basically used a tactic that is to breach a prototype budget forcing them to continue the project to recoup. The Legends 3 Prototype was READY TO SHIP. This was NOT an in house prototype. This was refined enough to be a stable piece of salable software. They PASSED that in house mark, and probably a long time back. Working at Activision, I know what in house prototypes look like. They aren't even close to stable or salable. There is no way Legends 3 didn't incur a sizable budget, especially being on a brand new console. The costs of the first games on a new console are always higher, and more labor intensive.

I truly believe there was no doubt in Inafune's mind that they spent way too much, and had enough of a public presence, for them to toss it away without being completely insane. Especially with a paid demo on the way. He knew the bottom line for them is always the money now. He was so confident he threw in his resignation, and said "I'll even come back free of charge to finish it up for you." It was the ultimate plan. He spoke their language, set everything up, and was going to let them ride the profit train on his dime.

Now, do you recall when we learned about this? Inafune stated the response he got back was "That won't be necessary." Think now, when would this have been? Not before his resignation. The only logical time is just immediately after he put it in. I bet that Inafune mentioned it right in his resignation notice, when addressing the board. They were waiting for him to do this, and they willingly sacrificed the dev costs of Legends 3 just to spite him.

Perhaps having been in the industry I have a little more insight into all of this, and to me its just painfully obvious what went on. I've even seen similar circumstances happen within the studio I was at. I have absolutely zero doubts that this is exactly how it went down. It all makes sense, both from logic and my own experience in the industry.

A slight detail in timing: Legends 3 was not considered in the least presentable (stable/salable) when Inafune left Capcom.  I was there, NYCC2010 (Inafune's last month of employment with Capcom), when the Legends-series video was shown and the crowd collectively groaned when no new footage appeared after the PS1 clips.  Inafune apologized, and stated that he himself vetoed the planned footage because he did not feel it was polished enough to show off yet, emphasizing that the game was still very early.

That having been said, what you're saying makes a LOT of sense, and I do have to wonder if Inafune didn't share that tactic with the Legends 3 crew when he left them behind.  According to Eguchi, the "unprecedented agreement" that was to sell the Prototype Version as a gauge of interest was made during the February 2011 greenlight meeting.

I've long held that Legends 3 was not cancelled out of spite because, had that been the case, it'd have been done away with as quickly as Universe was.  Even though MMU wasn't "formally" cancelled until after the quake, it fell silent immediately after Inafune's departure.  Literally, NOTHING HAPPENED with the game, the same can certainly not be said of Legends 3.  But then, I don't have any doubt that refusing to let Inafune help from outside of Capcom WAS done out of spite.  Then there's the fact that the Devroom itself was quite an obstacle to trying to do away with Legends (and Gregaman even referenced the internal tension with it when L3 was cancelled).  Inafune of all people was well aware of the lack of confidence in Legends, we can be certain of that, and I'm sure that between budget/development tactics and the Devroom he was banking on Capcom not wasting a ton of money to commit PR suicide.  And, yet, that's exactly what they did.

In the midst of a poor economy and the formerly questionable 3DS userbase (although, honestly, once 3D Land and Kart were announced, anyone with a brain stem KNEW the 3DS's time was to begin in November), I would attribute the cancellation of Legends 3 more to panic in a moment of weakness than to an ongoing vendetta.  But the more time goes on, and the more Capcom thumbs their nose at the ever-growing protest list, the more I have to wonder...  They knew there'd be hell to pay, they tried their luck at riding it out, they're having NO success in doing so, and the mere act of offsetting their losses with the Prototype could at least be spun as a peace offering, and yet they're not budging.  Why, if not because one way or the other, they're refusing to swallow their pride?

753

Gaming / Re: UDON announces Marvel vs Capcom Official Complete Works

« on: June 19, 2012, 04:13:09 AM »

If you genuinely like the Marvel Vs. Capcom series then I would say go for it.  I mean, what the hell, the fighting game fans are Capcom's cash cow so you're safe for now.

But as a Mega Man fan I'd say no-go.  Even if Rock, Roll, Tron, and Zero are in it, it's a far derivative work whose success will only encourage Capcom to ignore the two pages that you actually liked.  Not unlike buying Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom in support of Mega Man Trigger: There's no point.

754

Gaming / Re: Yoshinori Ono's Hospitalization - And the Fate of Megaman?

« on: June 19, 2012, 04:08:06 AM »

But all SF4 had going for it was Ono pestering them from the inside. It was a solo thing. Fan input didn't mean [parasitic bomb]. We need a big voice on the inside, like Inafune was.

Ono at least believes otherwise.  Is he right?  I don't know.  We all know Inafune had to make some VERY ballsy moves to get Lost Planet and Dead Rising out there, to the point of likely risking his job had the games failed.  I doubt Ono got quite that risky in his pursuit of SF4.

755

Rockman Series / Re: The Mega Man Legends 3 movements

« on: June 19, 2012, 03:46:53 AM »

I regard the Legends series as the top of my PS1 library by quite a large margin.  Easily the most play time I sank into the system, with the only other game coming close being Armored Core: Master of Arena.  The cast has a special grip on my heart, and the Bonnes in particular are my favorite gaming villains of all time.  And of course, there's my username.  The games were wonderfully charming with an artistic attention to detail that you don't often see even today.  Unfortunately, they were a little ahead of their time, with 3D gaming in its infancy the Legends series has a few technically clunky aspects, especially in terms of control.  We the fans shrug it off but it does create an unfortunate barrier to generating any widespread appeal, and the collector's status (read: price tag) of virtually anything Legends-related only makes it harder these days.

The announcement of Legends 3 had me ecstatic, and motivated me to attend my first "nerdy convention" ever (NYCC 2010, and I am so glad I did; wonderful experience all around).  I followed the Devroom religiously, setting it to my homepage (where it still stands).  I'll admit I spent a long time thinking about how Legends would control with a Wii remote and nunchuck, but Kid Icarus Uprising ALONE had me sold on the 3DS, and combined with Legends put it on a fast track to becoming my favorite handheld very early.  And yeah, I even stood by the questionable decision of a "paid prologue" in the Prototype Version, figuring that in a shopping environment where $2 buys you a goddamn clock skin, a unique mission pack pertaining to a game not yet released would be a steal by comparison.

Having followed the Devroom as closely as I did I can tell you that the cancellation of the game was complete bullshit.  Capcom would sweep it under the rug as "games get cancelled all the time", but there's a bigger difference here than just announcing it early.  They touted the aforementioned Prototype Version as the fans having their say in the game getting the official greenlight (although the fact that this project didn't have the final approval to begin with is something that was not communicated clearly).  Director Eguchi called for our patience as they ran a month and a half overdue on the only non-ported e-Shop launch game...at all, much less worthwhile.  Despite a large amount of skepticism in such radically unfamiliar territory, we endured.  And then they just pulled it all away.  We know damn well the Prototype is done, some lucky bastards in Japan and one Nintendo Power guy got to vouch for it, but in some sick twisted way, Capcom decided that cutting it off immediately was the closest thing they could come up with to saving face after they completely lost their spine in the midst of a poor economy.

Well, touting the feather in their hat of unprecedented community relations without assuming any responsibility for such, that didn't work out too well for them.  The 108,000+ people pissed over Legends 3, along with the three people pissed over Universe, drew enough attention that Capcom's business practices came under the microscope (and the painfully transparent cash grab of UMvC3 didn't help any, either).  A lot of bullshit they used to get away with has been pissing people off a lot more than it used to, because their fans have simply had enough.  And despite Capcom's continued efforts to maintain the structure of their "community", it's clear that their soul is gone.  We listen to Sven beat us over the head for the last 11 months over how long video game turnaround time is, and then we find out that 6 months from Mega Man's 25th anniversary they still have dick for plans.

Mega Man is in the curious and unfortunate position of being alive to Capcom only as a licensing tool.  Archie, Bandai, Udon, people who "get" Mega Man and see opportunity among a passionate fanbase, they'll pay to put it to good use, and Capcom loves their money, which is why they will NEVER sell the rights to Inafune, Nintendo, or anyone else.  However, left to themselves Capcom just doesn't give a damn anymore.  They've spent the last six years trying and largely failing to figure out how to make Mega Man relevant to modern gaming again, and on the verge of what may have been their best hope, they simply gave up.

I wouldn't normally suggest boycotting Capcom, and I haven't changed my mind in that it would likely accomplish absolutely nothing.  But they only seem to have gotten worse over the last few months, and the few other franchises they have that I do care about, they don't seem to give a damn about bringing to the west anyway.  Capcom used to be my go-to example of a solid third party gaming company, but in a short year they've completely destroyed both their appeal and their credibility, most especially to Mega Man fans but also some hard hits in their other departments as well.  As far as customer relations go, they are in a complete mess that they need to salvage, not encourage.  But I don't think they even know, or care.

I tried joining the Devroom multiple times but Unity's shitty system had issues when I tried logging in.

True, that.  I attempted to become a Servbot as soon as they announced it but technical issues prevented me from doing so for several days.  After the game's cancellation the Servbot system went haywire AGAIN and I lost my original number.

756

Gaming / Re: Yoshinori Ono's Hospitalization - And the Fate of Megaman?

« on: June 14, 2012, 03:59:51 AM »

As a general rule of business: Loss is an eventuality.  Your consumers will always grow old, die, move on to other things, throw temper tantrums and leave, etc.  You cannot "coast" on only what you've already done, ever.  You MUST at some point take risks and expand your audience (without necessarily alienating/boring your existing audience; see MM Universe).  It's the only way a business stays alive in the longterm.

Unfortunately, failure to understand that is not something that any particular sales reception will fix.  Success encourages one to keep milking whatever worked and failure will simply add one more franchise to the "dead" pile.  I've posted this in the Legends3 facebook page quite often, but it is Capcom's attitude that has to change, and just because an empty wallet is the just consequence of their actions doesn't mean that they'll necessarily learn anything from it.

I want to believe that the kind of outside pressure that got SF4 going can happen to Legends 3.  God knows we've been pestering them long enough, on every avenue possible, and if they have *ANY* delusions of salvaging their relationship with Mega Man's fanbase, I don't see how else they intend to do it.  But again, even if by some chance that does happen, it will be a short-lived victory if their mentality does not change.  We all want Legends 3; we probably don't want a Legends cash-cow.

And yeah, it's sad to see game companies discard an entire franchise after one dud.  Even Nintendo's guilty of this to some extent with the whole localizing Fire Emblem thing (although they are thankfully gearing up for another shot on 3DS, but I REALLY wish we could have played Heroes of Light and Shadow, even if Shadow Dragon did blow).

i'm surprised you've all neglected to mention this little bit

not much and probably not relevant to this thread but still

That's exactly what I'm talking about with Capcom being out of options with the fanbase.  Since L3's cancellation, 11 months ago, Sven's been (rightfully so) beating us over the head with how long a game turnaround time is.  So now we're six months from December and they're still talking?

They waited until the last minute and now they don't have time to put together anything decent.  So option one, they can bank on a special event and merchandising.  Which will be seen as wholly inadequate since we really have no shortage of merchandise.  Option two, they revive or repurpose an already existing game.  Option three, announce a game that is clearly not ready.  That's going to be a problem, because satisfaction with the audience after such an announcement banks on the audience's patience and good faith, something Capcom utterly destroyed with the Mega Man fanbase in 2011.

The optimistic solution is Capcom getting the L3 Prototype out there (although I've often stated that as a matter of timing, they blew an opportunity in the cancellation that may be impossible to recover even if it is revived).  Will they?  Probably not.  They will probably try one of the other two options, and then scratch their heads wondering why we the ingrates are either not satisfied without actual games, or why we expect their new game to be cancelled/badly done.  Such a game, BTW, likely WILL be cancelled or badly done since Capcom has lost enough faith in the franchise that they'll half-ass it in an effort to simply shut us up, and then whether the franchise dies before or after said game's release, Capcom gets to blame us again.

God, I hope I'm wrong...

757

Gaming / Re: The Official RPM E3 2012 Discussion Thread - The Next Generation Begins Here

« on: June 10, 2012, 03:55:21 AM »

Actually, even the Wii can do custom soundtracks, but to my knowledge the only game to actually do so is Excite Truck.  Unfortunately that issue is less a matter of technology and more a matter of business mentality.



Even though NSMBU's main theme is of the same style as previous "New" games, at least it is a unique song, and not merely a high-quality version of the DS one.
Trailer, for those who missed it:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4pJnV5OxPI[/youtube]

758

Gaming / Re: The Official RPM E3 2012 Discussion Thread - The Next Generation Begins Here

« on: June 09, 2012, 02:09:18 PM »

Perhaps not, but it is exactly the kind of info that the core Nintendo audience loves to eat up, something Nintendo wasn't serving a whole heck of a lot of at their presentations.  And even though it's not surprising, it wasn't a given, either (Koopalings were in Wii, but not in DS).

So seeings how 2 and U are in such close proximity to each other, do you figure this makes it likely that NSMBU will be rocking original bosses this time around?

759

Gaming / Re: The Official RPM E3 2012 Discussion Thread - The Next Generation Begins Here

« on: June 09, 2012, 04:46:39 AM »

So not only did Nintendo neglect to mention Fire Emblem Awakening coming to the west, they ALSO forgot to tell us that the Koopalings are returning in New Super Mario Bros. 2.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/08/e3-2012-the-koopalings-return-in-new-super-mario-bros-2

Seriously, whoever planned those presentations blew it big time.  

760

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

« on: June 08, 2012, 04:18:55 AM »

Hm, good question...  I tend to obsess mostly over the single-player mode.  I've got plenty of weapons I can rock online, though.

So, ALMOST cleared Hades's Treasure Hunt.  Cleared Chapters 8 and 18 with no damage, feathered off Boss Battle on Hard, All Powers (I DID complete the Power Portrait, but the challenge requires getting not only every power but every possible level), and Chapter 19 on 9.0 with a Club, but it turns out you can't feather your way through clearing all levels on Intensity 9.

Should have guessed, eh?  Well, 15 of the 25 levels are already done.  So I guess I'll be picking up my Magnus Club and clearing that last feather off of my image before I get to work on the rest with my Dark Pit Staff (man, Dyntos and Chaos Vortex are going to be a pain...).

761

Gaming / Re: The Official RPM E3 2012 Discussion Thread - The Next Generation Begins Here

« on: June 08, 2012, 12:25:59 AM »

I guess the show wasn't "bad" in terms of its content, but it was a bit mediocre in that the most exciting stuff was generally what we already knew about.  In Big N's camp, Raccoon Mario got the biggest applause that I recall.  The biggest "reveal" they had was the WiiU hardware itself; no software grabbed quite as much attention as last year's non-playable Zelda video.

The legitimate claim was made that Ubisoft was a bigger winner of E3 2012 than any of the big three console makers.  I don't even follow their games outside of Rabbids and even I had to take notice; they had a lot of crap to share.  Crap that gamers who actually follow them care about.  Crap that passers-by cannot ignore.

"Fire Emblem 3DS is coming to America, Reggie just told me."

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/st...53611237863424


https://twitter.com/RichIGN/status/210553654393044992

"Reggie just confirmed to us that Fire Emblem Awakening is coming to the United States. ‪#E3NVC‬"


https://twitter.com/stephentotilo/st...55280436629504

"Reggie Fils-Aime just told me and Jason that the new Fire Emblem for 3DS is coming to America."

...They need to fire whoever planned this year's conferences.

Very much agreed.  How in the blue hell do they have a pre-E3 broadcast and THREE conferences and not mention Fire Emblem?

That's the kind of news that most definitely should have been in.  ESPECIALLY given that Big N laxed on FE12; many a core Nintendo fan NEEDED to hear that.

When was the LAST amazing E3 we previous had that got people excited?

Again, 2010, if you were a Nintendo fan.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/6/16/

Before that?  For the other camps?  I don't know.

762

Gaming / Re: The Official RPM E3 2012 Discussion Thread - The Next Generation Begins Here

« on: June 07, 2012, 12:21:28 AM »

Naturally Nintendo needs her to be damsel so they can continue to have unpopular Yellow and Blue Toad.

Is it really so hard to just use Wario and Waluigi?

She could be unlockable (as Luigi is in several titles), and/or they could feature Daisy and Rosalina as stand-ins.

I agree that Wario and Waluigi would be good choices, as they would emphasize the not-so-trustworthy nature of the multiplayer interaction (even if they are villains they do butt heads with Bowser once in a while; heck Wario was in the SM64 remake).  Waluigi might be a little tricky due to his body size, but a little hunch to his walk would probably work well enough.

And I've always been kinda miffed at the whole multi-colored Toad thing to being with, since they could have just used "the" properly colored Toad and Toadette instead of the blue/yellow clones.

763

Gaming / Re: The Official RPM E3 2012 Discussion Thread - The Next Generation Begins Here

« on: June 06, 2012, 03:23:15 AM »

Well, the hub worlds of the 3D games kinda do that, and the general public seemed to prefer the stage approach, hence Galaxy 2's return to the world map.

764

Gaming / Re: The Official RPM E3 2012 Discussion Thread - The Next Generation Begins Here

« on: June 06, 2012, 02:01:21 AM »

So, the Wii, which was almost entirely casual stuff, and the 3DS, which had no games at all for its launch, somehow convinced you to make a day one purchase?

Wii launched with Zelda and Excite Truck, which nobody who has a soul could ever hate.

3DS...well, I guess there were those of us hoping that Miis would live up to the Pilotwings legacy.  Seriously, Nintendo, skydiving and instructors making weird faces to awesome victory music, how hard is that?

Still, we knew Kid Icarus was coming, and it was damn well worth the wait.

Nintendo's show was a little underwhelming. The software was good, and had good variety in terms of hardcore vs casual, but it just lacked a killer app. Not saying the release date or price point didn't help either. Nintendo's show does win though because of presentation. All the fun things they did made it much more enjoyable. Reggie's a pisser.

It's been said before, but you really need to know who you're speaking to with these shows.  I couldn't help but LOL at the New Super Mario Bros. 2 segment of the show.  We have the guy droning about how insane coin collection has become, about how different the game is from NSMBU, about how there's more cool stuff he can't talk about.  Nobody gave a damn.  Then behind him, Raccoon Mario flies, and the crowd goes nuts.

You want to know how to QUICKLY make a killer app for the Wii U?  Announce that Peach is playable in New Super Mario Bros. U.  It is the simplest, stupidest, most superficial thing imaginable, but something like that is EXACTLY what would hit home with the hardcore Nintendo camp.  Myself included.

Comments are so funny. Every other E3: "booo yet another Zelda/Mario/Nintendo first party!". This year: "booo where's Zelda/Metroid/Nintendo first party?".

 Very true, very true.

You get:

If they've been paying attention to the LoZ tech demo, it was shown more than once (my theory is that it's 50% completed and the completed game will be revealed later this month).

I expect that a decent Zelda takes MUCH longer to develop than that.  But yeah, I've noticed their hanging onto that demo as well.  Here's hoping.

Litmus test: If non-playable video stream generates more excitement than your showcased demos and gameplay, you probably need to change your plans.

765

X / Re: X's characterization

« on: June 06, 2012, 01:40:48 AM »

there isnt any specific name for those kinds of reploids.

Not only that but there is reference to non-New Gen Reploids seeking the ability to upgrade themselves, such as Marino and Spider.  The copy/chameleon ability in XCM is less a matter of identity than it is in X8, where solid lines were drawn between "new generation" and "old model" Reploids.

I suppose it stands to reason that as the technology advanced, its restrictions may have been eased up, broadening its potential application.  This could possibly apply to Axl's ability being stronger in Command Mission than it is in X7/X8.

766

Gaming / Re: The Official RPM E3 2012 Discussion Thread - The Next Generation Begins Here

« on: June 05, 2012, 01:02:03 AM »

I'm curious as to what "Rabbids Land" is, especially since the Rabbids Rumble that they announced for 3DS didn't look too appealing.

I love the Rabbids, but Ubi has clearly been handling them carelessly, so it's hard to expect much.

Why should that be surprising?  The last two or three E3s were also complete and utter disappointments.  (Although from everybody, not just Microsoft.)

I disagree.  Two E3s ago, in 2010, Nintendo crafted a wonderful explosion of awesomeness.

2011, not so much, but then that's what happens when you show new hardware with no killer app.

767

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

« on: June 04, 2012, 03:06:11 AM »

Because I was on the last stretch of the "Play Together Mode 200 Times" challenge when you joined me.

Oh well, was fun regardless. You have one hell of an End All Arm.



Got my 1,000,000 points, and beat Hades's Heart on 9.0 with 150 kills.  So that just leaves Chapter 19 with a club on 9.0, Chapter 8 with no damage, and Chapter 18 with no damage.  If I can do two of those three, I can feather the rest off.

768

Gaming / Re: The Official RPM E3 2012 Discussion Thread - The Next Generation Begins Here

« on: June 04, 2012, 03:01:07 AM »

You're also under no obligation to post anything on Facebook that concerns your real life.  I know a few people who only go on it under pseudonyms.

Anyway, I'm quite certain that you can opt out of Miiverse, just as you can opt out of any online service or feature that Nintendo has ever offered.  Nintendo is notoriously strict when it comes to things like privacy and parental controls.

769

Gaming / Re: The Official RPM E3 2012 Discussion Thread - The Next Generation Begins Here

« on: June 04, 2012, 12:47:26 AM »

The pre-E3 Nintendo Direct just ended.  Even though it was hardware-focused, some pretty nifty stuff was revealed:

-Official controller name is "Wii U Game Pad".  Besides all the crap we already knew (gyroscope, touch screen, sensor bar, camera, NFC, etc; there was an interesting bit using the gyroscope with the screen to catch a fly ball from first person view in Wii Sports Baseball), Nintendo finally discovered "clickable" analogue sticks, and it also works as a universal IR TV remote.  As speculated, the blank square below the D-Pad is the NFC communication point.
-WiiU web browser was shown.  You can open and close a curtain over the TV screen while browsing on the Game Pad, nifty for sharing internet videos in the living room.
-Some manner of art app was demoed on the Game Pad, showing a color drawing of Link (TP style with simpler shading; looked kinda water-colory).
-Last year's Zelda demo surfaced again.  This close to launch when they told us it wouldn't be an actual game?  Hmm...
-Game Pad Pro, a more compact controller without the screen, will also be offered.
-Nintendo's basically making every game on the face of the earth, whether single or multi player, into a social affair with MiiVerse.  In the WiiU's main menu, Miis from yourself, your friends, and people you don't know who just happen to play the same games as you, will cluster around the game icons.  Popular games you don't own may also appear.  At any point you can suspend gameplay and access chat rooms specific to the game you're playing, with your Miis acting as avatars.  You can both type and draw.  Video chatting was also shown while gameplay was suspended.  Also it is possible for comments from people at the same point in the game as you to pop up during gameplay (regardless of when they were playing that point in the game).  In the future, it will be possible to check MiiVerse chats from smart phones and the like.  Game Pad screen was described as a "window" to MiiVerse chats, possibly suggesting the ability to view them during gameplay as well.
-Some NSMBWiiU footage was shown, with Mario only.  Pop-up MiiVerse comments were demonstrated when Mario died, and during the level select map.  Backgrounds had a slanted crystal look reminiscent of Super Mario World, overall with much prettier and more diverse colors than the 2011 demo.

770

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

« on: June 03, 2012, 05:51:38 AM »

Curious.  The Power Portrait is completed, but the "Aquire All Powers" challenge isn't cleared.  Do they mean for you to collect every possible Level of every Power?  If so, I may have to feather that one after all...

Just cleared the 200 Together Mode challenge.  That leaves 8 challenges to go with 4 feathers to burn.  Next up I'm going to try and take the final battle on Intensity 9 in the hopes of getting a high score over 1 million.

"Thanks for playing!  Hades out!"

771

X / Re: Mega Man X Command Mission Oil Can Poll

« on: June 02, 2012, 03:16:26 PM »

As a general rule I'm just not that interested in such indirect attack methods.  Although it certainly does pair well with Beast Lancer and Red Lotus Saber.

772

X / Re: Why wasnt X5 the last game?

« on: June 02, 2012, 04:14:30 AM »

Protip: You dont need the air dash to pass that section, just the... Hyper Dash was it..? Hyper Dash or Jumper. dont remember which now.

Hyper Dash alone can make it, but having both it and Jumper makes it much easier.

You could also try to physics-exploit your way through with Speedster and Ultimate Buster, if you're feeling completely insane.

I don't know why the general gaming public can't figure out how to get the Shadow Armor through that stage.  I guess because X5 taught them that Parts are supposed to be useless.  It's one thing to be pissed because you got stuck the first time you tried it; it's quite another to never bother attempting a work-around.

Want to fix X6? Start by not allowing the player to stand up if they have to be ducking to not get killed by the instant death ceiling. Especially when gotten hit by a cheaply placed nightmare shooting auto aim orbs at you. Hell, it should make you auto duck as is, instead of just KILLING YOU OUTRIGHT.

If classic Megaman doesn't die when he is hit while sliding through a 1 block gap, X and Zero shouldn't for simply ducking in a 1 block gap. It is purely lazy programming.

Perhaps if they fixed that I might find Metal Shark Player's level less annoying.

773

X / Re: Why wasnt X5 the last game?

« on: June 01, 2012, 12:19:16 AM »

Shadow Armor can annihilate projectiles in rapid succession if you equip it with the Ultimate Buster.  I do that ALL THE TIME against Nightmare Zero.

The same is true to a lesser extent of Blade's charged saber, but it's not as fast, and since Blade's charged buster blows so hard, yeah...

I'm especially fond of the High Max battles, believe it or not.  The notion of using your special and default weaponry for combination attacks is something that hasn't really been done otherwise.  He's definitely the most effective implementation of growing stronger to conquer a previously invulnerable enemy that the X-series has seen (in X1 you never really defeat Vile on your own, which kinda dampens your excitement at how badass you've become).

(click to show/hide)

I don't necessarily have anything to add on every level, but still here we go:

Rainy Turtloid: Spiked segments are easily overcome by barrier abuse, and the stage includes the possibility of luring Bat Bones to the appropriate spots for the capsule, if you're quick enough.  Turtloid himself gives me far more trouble than his stage if I'm playing as Falcon X.  He's complete Z-Buster bait as Zero, though.

Blaze Heatnix: Minibosses are hell when unarmored, but since unarmored X exists only to prove your manliness, it's a minimal issue.  Zero slaughters them with Rekkoha, Shadow's charged saber is deadly as ever, and any other X armor can wreck it with a charged Metal Anchor.  It's evil as hell if you don't know what you're up against, though, that much is true.

Metal Shark Player: Seems I'm the polar opposite of you.  Love his ability, seeing SNES bosses redone in PS1 style and all, but positively HATE his stage.  Tip-toeing under the threat of instant death is not my preferred play style; I'll take enemy mobs any day.  I will say this, though, the big pit in the alternate route is one of those frequently overestimated hazards that cause people to ragequit the game prematurely.  It's a good test of how willing one is to actually think about the obstacles put in front of them; I wonder how many people figured out that you can clear it with Ice Burst alone?

Blizzard Wolfang: Spikes in the pit have NOTHING on Splash Woman's level in MM9.  In the X-series you have air-dashing on your side.

Ground Scaravich: No point in this level requires an upgrade to pass.  Or at least, by default, none of them do.  The problem is that it's not just the stage segment selection that is random; it's also block placement in the segments themselves.  There is an unlikely chance that random block placement may screw you over.  But that's why the "speculated" Nightmare System is a far worse idea than the "real" Nightmare System could ever be.
And yes, the music is evil.

774

X / Re: Zero the original X?

« on: May 31, 2012, 11:56:37 PM »

X6 beat him to the punch on letting her hair down.  Unless you mean the over-the-shoulder look...

775

X / Re: X's characterization

« on: May 31, 2012, 11:55:53 PM »

I don't think most 2D sidescrolling gamers would be observant enough to catch more depth than that anyway...