Messages

876

Gaming / Re: Pokémon Gray disconfirmed, Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 confirmed instead.

« on: February 26, 2012, 07:04:48 AM »

Yea, but it's mentioned that that are some additional features if played on DSi or 3DS.

So do Black/White, though, so that's not really news.

I'm a little bummed.  I mean, yeah, we all should have seen SOME B/W revisiting as a given, but they were pretty darn late in the DS's lifespan to begin with.  I was really hoping for a legitimate 3DS Pokemon game (that and unlikely as it may be, I still dream of the day that the current EV system is abolished; this business of any 'man used in-game turning into garbage for competitions is just not acceptable to me).

That aside, Kyurem's new "fusion-ha"s with Reshiram and Zekrom look pretty awesome.  It's a shame that Ice is such a defensively horrible Type to be, or I'd be pretty excited.

877

X / Re: Why does everyone hate Mega Man X6?

« on: February 26, 2012, 06:40:33 AM »

Weapons or parts.  Neither are outright required, it's a matter of what tickles your fancy.  That's why I love the game.

So..do we all agree that this game is an unenjoyable chapter of Megaman history?

ABSOLUTELY not.  For all of the ambition that X5 showed, X6 pretty much perfected everything it attempted (other than the armor-must-be-completed-before-use thing, dunno what they were thinking with that one).  X6 is one of my favorite main-series games, right up there with X1 and X4.

arguably mis-balances X and Zero's abilities

Holy hell, is that ever burying your head in the sand.  All of the game's "standard" forms (Falcon, Blade, Shadow, Zero) are balanced according to offense, defense, and mobility (mainly in mid-air).  Falcon is the all-arounder without excelling in anything in particular.  Blade is more mobile, less offensive.  Shadow is more offensive, less mobile.  Zero is both offensive and mobile at the expense of defense.

Beyond that we have the cheat code unlocked Ultimate Armor and Black Zero which both excel across the board, and plain vanilla X, who as previously mentioned exists for no reason other than challenge.

It's also worth mentioning, as far as "balance" goes, that this is the *ONLY* PS1 game where the Ultimate Armor is not "abilities you already had + infinite Giga Attack".  I still don't get why X5 didn't just give 4th Armor the Stock Charge...

The developers of Mega Man X6 just said "[tornado fang] it" and decided to make the most difficult, frustrating, cheap, and unfairly punishing Mega Man game of all time.

While X6 does pretty much throw the kitchen sink at you, I don't agree in the SLIGHTEST that it is unfair (well, besides maybe Mijinion's nightmare effect).  It is more open, and expects you to think for yourself, and the solutions run considerably deeper than the formulaic obstacles that the other games present.  While it presents tremendous challenges there's also a wealth of work-arounds to its many challenges, which engages the player by having them find *a* solution without it necessarily being the only arbitrary strategy that the developers just decided should work.  Further, the game takes what X5 attempted to do with the expansion to armor and parts, adds more to the mix, and unlocks its full potential in a way that X5 simply does not allow.  The increased difficulty is the natural evolution to continue to keep the game balanced in the face of all that power.  Otherwise, you get Xtreme 2 (which I also love, but not everybody likes easy games).

As was said above I too get that X6 isn't for everyone.  But the things it does differently are an extension of what Mega Man is built on: non-linear progress, growing more powerful, and finding the best weapons and equipment to tackle a given obstacle.  They were simply taken to a far greater extreme than ever before (or since).  To me, that is challenging for all of the RIGHT reasons.  Unfortunately, it also makes the game less approachable, both to outsiders and to the not-so-hardcore fans.

As I always say, X6 is to the X-series what Lost Levels is to Mario.

And by the way, X6 may be the toughest X-series game, but it is a long way from being the most sadistic Mega Man game.  That title, far and away, goes to Powered Up.

878

X / Re: Why does everyone hate Mega Man X6?

« on: February 25, 2012, 12:01:05 AM »

No wonder you hate this game. Playing it unarmored is just plain insane.

Uh, yeah, unarmored X exists pretty much just to show off your manliness.  If you're going to [sonic slicer] about that, then don't use him.

Honestly, if I were to start X6 without going on the old Reploid scavanger hunt first (I love gathering up all the parts/armor before beating the Mavericks; also Shadow Armor vs Nightmare Zero is FUN), I'd start with Blizzard Wolfang.  His weapon is extremely useful for accessing hard-to-reach places.  Turtloid, Shark, then double back to Blaze Heatnix, and you can wail on his minibosses with the charged Metal Anchor, and complete the Shadow Armor.  Also, besides the Central Museum, the Reploids in the other levels generally don't cough up any good parts.

879

X / Re: Why is wall dashing so hard in Maverick Hunter X?

« on: February 24, 2012, 11:59:00 PM »

That and the screen is prettier.  Not sure but it looked like the aspect ratio was slightly different as well (although that might actually help MHX; some of those characters looked like their upper arms were two inches long in the original).

880

X / Re: Why does everyone hate Mega Man X6?

« on: February 24, 2012, 02:52:20 AM »

I think Falcon Armor is about the only form in the game that DOESN'T have some way of utterly dismantling High Max.

[tornado fang], man.

NOW I have to go play that [tornado fang]ing game again. Thanks, Hypershell *sigh*.

You're welcome.

881

X / Re: Why does everyone hate Mega Man X6?

« on: February 24, 2012, 02:00:30 AM »

High Max was a challenge, but his role was pretty much a blatant ripoff of Vile's role in X1, only with less impact and relevance to the story.

I majorly disagree.  Even though yes, High Max role mirrors that of Vile in X1, there are some differences that I feel make him majorly relevant to the series and to X's character.

Numero uno is that X1, for both X and Zero, is their "infancy" when clearly neither of them has matured into the force that they've later become.  It actually lends a lot of clarification on what X is, to be reminded that he is continually growing more powerful.  Not only that, but when you DO defeat High Max, you do so without any outside aid.  X really never got to go solo against Vile until X3, which somewhat undermined the "growing stronger" theme that X1 was trying to set up.  In X6, the difference in X's power is shown within gameplay twofold.  Not only are newer abilities relevant to High Max's defeat, but his default abilities that previously failed are making a stronger impact than at the first encounter (the X-Buster previously has no effect on High Max but will later stun him).

There's also the fact that when X confronts High Max for the final time, we see X's total disregard for an outsider's rationale about why he is inferior.  For a character who is otherwise very hesitant and conflicted, it's very refreshing, and about as badass as he's going to get.  X6 kept X passionate but made him a *LOT* less whiney and more determined; beneath that shoddy localization is one of the best representations of X's character as his fans envision him.

882

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

« on: February 18, 2012, 03:56:49 PM »

Paragraph spacing exists for a reason; I meant that line in reference to the $5 for NES games point, not All-Stars.  We're shocked that SMB1 is five bucks because it's already available in two other forms this console generation alone.

As far as All-Stars goes, you're welcome to your opinion, and I don't disagree with you about it being overpriced (although $8 is over-simplifying), but good luck finding it for any less than 30 USD after Nintendo stopped selling it.

Both points are basically a supply-and-demand discussion.

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

« on: February 18, 2012, 12:40:54 AM »

...why is this news?  You guys honestly expected Nintendo to shortchange their own pre-existing shop?

Besides, 3D Classics versions of NES games were already running $6.

They vastly overestimate the value of their 25 year old games.

Money disagrees with you.  So long as the demand is there, they have all the justification they need.  Do you have any idea what kind of field day the eBay sharks had with the Wii port of All-Stars?

I wonder, how many of us would still be arguing if the game wasn't already readily available?  If, say, SquareEnix put Dragon Warrior I up there for five bucks, I'd be all over that.

884

X / Re: Why does everyone hate Mega Man X6?

« on: February 16, 2012, 04:17:25 AM »

Very, very true.  The X series has to appeal to our inner pyromaniacs.

Why mix gameplay and story?

For one thing, Zero's survivability has a direct impact on gameplay at an earlier point.  It's one hell of a letdown to either suck or have rotton luck, crawl through the Awakened Zero battle, then go back and do it right, only for Zero to die at the end anyway.  Besides, X6's story impacts its satisfaction as well; how awesome is it to kick the series baddie while he's down?  I loved that part.  It breaks the stereotype of "fantasy good guy always plays defense".

Also, I was deliberately trying to be brief.  If you want a gameplay justification for X5's lack of satisfaction, that's easy: You start with an armor that is offensively far more powerful than either of the two sets that you have to collect.  Hell, it's literally the end-of-game secret minus Giga Attack (they could have at LEAST used the Stock Charge...), and the only armor outside of said secret that can charge special weapons.  The whole lack of proper access to power-ups applies, too.  X5 downplays the usual series theme of growing stronger, more through blunders in the way of balance and availability than through any deliberate action that I can see.  It is perhaps the single weakest entry in the series in that regard.  Ditto for the non-linear nature of stage selection.  Both of these are key elements to Mega Man's appeal, especially in the X series, and they are both severely weakened in X5.

I love how X and Zero both have boss explosions when you beat them, and despite that are both fine afterwards. (well, yknow, aside from battle damage)

They have nothing on Dynamo.

885

Emulation / Re: My Wii is being an [dark hold]: Brawl Hacks in Riivolution crashing the game.

« on: February 15, 2012, 02:34:57 AM »

Mine does the buzz-saw thing too.  Seemingly a symptom of an aging launch Wii, I guess...  *shrugs*

The only thing that comes to mind is the two general maintenance tips I offered in the "discs cannot be read" thread.  There was a time when my Wii was far more temperamental than it is today; stuff really does help.

Some hacks do come with memory issues which can cause lock-ups in mid-game.  Happens with me when I run certain WiiRD codes in Brawl.  I'd be very surprised to see that happen with file replacements, though.

886

X / Re: Why does everyone hate Mega Man X6?

« on: February 15, 2012, 02:20:07 AM »

Parts/Souls connection is noted in-game, so yeah, that's a pretty good reason to grind for 'em.  Alia mentions Gate in the post-Maverick messages a lot, and she also confronts him directly before his levels if playing as Zero, and briefly addresses him after the first laboratory stage as either character.

The Nightmare System is definitely one of X6's weaker points, but it's far from a deal-breaker IMHO.  The only one that really irritates me is Mijinion's spotlight effect.  The rest are minor annoyances, and two of them (MSP's blocks and Heatnix's fireballs) can actually be helpful.

Can't do that [parasitic bomb] with the Shadow Armor!

While the Gaea Armor's anti-boss engine of destruction is quite possibly one of the most under-appreciated qualities of the series, Shadow Armor can bust one hell of a lot of heads in its own right.  Ultimate Buster, Overdrive, and your ever-trusty Giga Attack will dismantle pretty much anything.

Although if you want a REALLY satisfying/humiliating win, take Ultimate Armor against High Max.  "No chance to lose" indeed.

If there's one single thing I love above all else in X6, it's that victory was damn well satisfying.  There's a tremendous difference between how powerful you are at the start and how powerful you can potentially become, far more so than in the other games, and it nicely compliments the unusually high challenge, making you feel that you have overcome great obstacles and relish in how badass you are compared to a couple of hours ago.  I certainly cannot say the same thing for a game that ends with half of Zero's body vaporizing when he wasn't even on screen to begin with.

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X / Re: Why does everyone hate Mega Man X6?

« on: February 12, 2012, 06:49:45 AM »

Technically, yes, but the requirement of Jumper in Rosered's stage makes it impossible to obtain Speedster, which is ABSURDLY useful with the Falcon Armor; nobody in their right mind would give that up if they want to be using X primarily.  I'm aware of Zero's access to both capsules, however they require quite a bit of prep work, part sacrifices, and mad physics exploits in Skiver/Pegasus's case (respawning the same enemy repeatedly).  And there's still no getting around the need to kill Grizzly (at high rank for Hyper Dash), and Firefly for Necrobat's capsule, so even if deliberately trying to obtain Gaea early you have it for two stages, tops, at the expense of handicapping your other options.

I will admit that Wing Spiral's abuse was news to me, but I'd be curious if that works without Nova Strike (which is only available that early by both cheating and foregoing the Z-Buster).

888

X / Re: Why does everyone hate Mega Man X6?

« on: February 11, 2012, 03:13:46 PM »

Ways in which X6 > X5
*Alia isn't channelling Navi
*Parts system isn't nearly (NEARLY) as retarded
*X's special weapons seem fun to use
*Shadow Armor > Gaea Armor
*Most bosses don't have ridiculous health (127 HP in X5 at level 96? Really?)

And here I thought I was the only one who noticed that stuff...

To add to that, X5 is easily the most linear game of the X series platformers (it's very obviously designed with an intended order of Grizzly->Rosered), while X6 is by contrast the most open-ended.

And while the Parts distribution is a HUGE issue with X5, it actually goes further than that.  Even the typical stuff like Heart Tanks and Armor capsules are badly done, with many of them being completely inaccessible as Zero.  The Gaea Armor is absolutely impossible to obtain without having visited every stage, and of those stages that didn't have Gaea Armor parts, defeating all but one of them (Volt Kraken/Squid Adler).

In X6 you could get EVERYTHING without obtaining a single Maverick weapon.  As either X or Zero.  In no other X game can you do that without password hacking or New Game Plus (or, more recently, giving Capcom extra money).

889

Gaming / Re: VG Music Thread

« on: February 11, 2012, 05:38:48 AM »

One of my guilty secrets as a gamer is that I've played very little Castlevania.  Just vague memories of 4, really.

But dammit, I can't get enough of this.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjazC45Qkww[/youtube]

Thank Brental Floss.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl9ikroWXSs[/youtube]

890

DASH / Re: Operation: Legends HD Collection as well as a plan for a NEW petition

« on: February 11, 2012, 01:35:01 AM »

A third party raising funds without their beneficiary's consent is just asking for trouble.  Ask TRIAL Films.

891

DASH / Re: Operation: Legends HD Collection as well as a plan for a NEW petition

« on: February 11, 2012, 01:19:04 AM »

Oh, if only...

What ticks me off the most to this day about L3's cancellation is the fact that Capcom absolutely refuses to "shut up and take our zenny" for fear of making it more difficult to sweep Legends under the rug.  For God's sake, the Prototype Version was to be released a month and a half BEFORE the cancellation announcement; we all know it's done.

First Legends was too risky because supposedly nobody cared, and now that people care, it's too taboo.  No matter what happens Capcom simply refuses to bring the series into focus.  In terms of being assed to bring ANY Legends-series product to market, it seems somebody has to force their hand.  And this is why I'm watching that D-Arts poll like a hawk, although the impact of a product aimed at the hardcore minority of collectors is debatable.  Also why, if I had an HD system, I'd be kissing the ground that CyberConnect2 walks on.  Capcom just will not take the plunge; somebody else has to take it with them or nothing's going to happen.  They're like Frank Drebin's description of sex.

892

Zero / Re: What if Mega Man X was the bad guy?

« on: February 07, 2012, 12:46:51 AM »

Command Mission was released prior to X8 and going directly from X8 into it leaves too many unanswered questions with Axl.  If he returns to action with an enhanced copy ability and no consequences otherwise prior to X9, then there's no sense in killing him off, and the sinister foreboding of X8's ending is all for nothing (at least in the case of him personally).  While it's true that we don't know the exact timeframe between games, Axl's dialogue in XCM implies that he's been separated from X and Zero for a while.

And it's not that copy chips (besides Axl's, I mean) don't appear in XCM, they do.  It's that they're referenced as a long lost piece of technology, basically a "holy grail" to thieves and bounty hunters.  Marino failed to track down any copy-capable Reploids (which are common as dirt in X8) before she met Axl.

Also, this is just speculation on my part, but I believe that XCM was purposefully distanced from the main X series in both time and setting so as to excuse the fact that usual non-playable support characters do not appear.  It's not really meant to flow in between main series games in the way that, say, the Xtremes are.

893

X / Re: What are your opinions on Massimo, Marino, and Cinnamon?

« on: February 07, 2012, 12:35:27 AM »

Ditto

I would love to play as CM's cast in a traditional X game though, Cinnamon and Marino especially! 

Rockman Online is probably the closest we'll get, at least in Cinnamon's case.  I have to admit, that alone had my curiosity piqued.

Interesting at the very least. But not nearly fleshed out enough.

Sadly they hardly got any spotlight after the chapters you recruited them in. A shame, really. The dev team could have done so much more with them.

This.  Most definitely this.  I want to learn more about this characters and yet the game gives you little to nothing after Chapter 4.

Gameplay-wise, Massimo was the toughest for me to use; he takes high elemental damage and his attacks aren't really THAT powerful.  Marino's great so long as you pack Hawkeye for the aerial guys.  And Cinnamon is just adorably dangerous once you get those Kitty Gloves (awesome for Weapon Energy support, as well).

894

Zero / Re: What if Mega Man X was the bad guy?

« on: February 05, 2012, 08:51:31 PM »

Axl can't die in X9, Mike; he has to survive to appear in Command Mission during 22XX, after Copy Chip technology has all but vanished and Axl's own copy abilities have been noticeably improved.

That event shifted Zero's character to what we see of him later in the series. X4 was quite crucial for that characterization.

I hate to say this, since yeah Iris died in that game, but dragging his girlfriend into it (or hell, even establishing that Zero has any social life to begin with) was pretty much necessary for him to believably do anything other than just be an unresponsive hardass for the entire game.

Zero in X1-3 shoots first and talks later.  He looks badass while doing it due to dramatic timing, but if you're going to play the whole game as him, then yeah, it'll take more than that.  X4 delivered on him, at least.  For X they kinda always had his character set up but never really depicted it in-game before, so they got to do something that looked fresh on the surface but was old news to people who were paying attention during the solemn ending texts of the SNES.

It's kinda funny how people think that Zero "stole the spotlight" in the PS1 games, when truly in the SNES games X didn't do a damn thing in terms of characterization.  MHX definitely helped him out quite a bit in that department, but it's the especially young/naive/inexperience X1 X, not the leader of the Hunters that we respect in the later games.  That particular element of X's character is a bit of a void, with nothing beyond the basic premise of "hates fighting unless it's Sigma" and no further fleshing out, all the way up until X6.

It wasn't just X that got the short end of the stick, though, the supporting cast took some hits as well.  Much as I love Iris, in X4 she is an entirely passive character who exists for no reason other than invoking emotion from Zero (in Xtreme2 she actually, you know, did something), it's just that we're following up the Super NES so expectations in story-telling weren't that high yet, but there was a lot of missed potential there.  And I really can't tell you how much I disliked Alia in X5 (I mean besides the constant gameplay interruptions).  Her dialogue came off as heartless, stuck-up, and married to her work.  X6 gave her both a backstory and a personality, which in turn made her more believable as a "big sister" type character in X7 and X8.

895

News and Announcements / Re: Revamped version of "Rockman X1" to appear on iOS units (iphone/ipad)!

« on: February 05, 2012, 08:19:41 PM »

They certainly are not, but it is kinda sad that they're now the biggest game news we can come up with.

896

Gaming / Re: The Mario Kart Thread

« on: February 05, 2012, 08:08:25 AM »

The CPU throws a lot of crap at you, but it's not anywhere NEAR as bad as on MKWii.  Wii's CPU in 150cc was considerably more evil than even online matchups. 

Triple Mushroom being a favored low-rank item does get annoying, though.  Especially in Neo Bowser City, where it's such a pain to find a straight enough piece of track to put them to use.  But it could be worse.  Bloopers are probably the single most useless item in the game when you're up against actual human beings.

Also...anyone besides me wondering why they took the Boo out?

897

DASH / Re: Can Bandai get Mega Man off the F***ING moon?

« on: February 05, 2012, 07:58:51 AM »

If Trigger were to generate decent sales then I can't imagine Tron would be very far behind, considering how often she's been the Legends series rep in the past (that and she ties to the Servbots, who are everywhere).  Roll is a bit more iffy.  Seeing her would be like seeing Iris or Alia.  Not a bad idea, by any means, I'm just not sure how much interest Bandai has in navigator-type support characters.

898

DASH / Re: Can Bandai get Mega Man off the F***ING moon?

« on: February 05, 2012, 06:54:33 AM »

Second poll is up today!  This is it, folks, the top ten, only one vote permitted.

http://www.facebook.com/questions/354573801228458/

Let's get Trigger off the goddamn moon!



Zero 2nd version and Vile were eliminated due to recent announcements (like we didn't already know they were coming).  That leaves the following to choose from:

Volnutt
Sigma
Bass
Proto Man
Tron
Ultimate Armor
Megaman.EXE
Axl
Command Mission X
Roll Caskett

Interestingly enough, the next couple of characters in line were Mega Man, Iris, Storm Eagle, and Barrett (yep, a character who never appeared in any published work made it to #14).

So many emotions over Iris.  Sad she didn't make it into the top 10, a little ticked that characters who are redundant with Kotobukiya made it so, but relieved that I don't have to choose between her and Trigger, and also glad that at least she beat the stuffing out of every non-Legends female.

899

Gaming / Re: Personal Gaming Lexicons

« on: February 04, 2012, 03:39:22 PM »

Pardon the necro-post, but this is a fun thread, and I have a few recent additions:

Mega Man X: The Lost Levels - Fastest way for me to summarize Mega Man X6 (and a good way to get an idea of whether you will or will not enjoy it).  X6 and SMB2(J) are highly comparable in terms of their presentation, their use of old resources, their lack of involvement from their respective figurehead series developer, their difficulty, their fairness, and their general uniqueness compared to other games of the series.  Had X6 been withheld from the U.S. on the grounds of being too difficult, I'm sure more people would have loved it.

As useless as Bubble Man - One who suffers an incredibly stupid and/or embarrassing death/loss, to the point where they clearly posed no threat to their opponent whatsoever.  May refer either to myself or others, but especially to easy boss fights, ie: Spark Mandrill.
(thank Duane and Brando for that one)

The collapse of Mario Kart 7 society - Maka Wuhu.

Glug! Glug! Glug! Glug! Glug! Glug! - You know that fingery thing that they do in the Super Mario Bros. movie?  Victory celebration for my brother and me whenever we destroy the Death Star in Star Wars Rebel Strike.

900

Zero / Re: What if Mega Man X was the bad guy?

« on: February 04, 2012, 03:07:32 PM »

How much of a plot can you build in an action game without detracting from the action, I wonder?  Part of the X-series's strength is its focus on gameplay, how easily you can jump in and blow [parasitic bomb] up without having to sit through half an hour of exposition.  Sure, some of Zero's best character moments came out of the Zero series, but we definitely paid for it in terms of how much dialogue we had to sit through.

Although even in the context of the X-series gameplay there are probably greater steps that could have been taken.  Part of the problem is Sigma.  X is supposed to be an emotional and often conflicted hero, but by the time games evolved to the point where we expect to hear X speak more than two lines per game, he'd already fought Sigma so many times that Sigma was already the exception to the rule in terms of how X responds to his opponents.  Admittedly, he kind of has to be; X would have come off as awfully gullible if he still doubted his battle against Sigma by X4 or X5.

I think X's best game in terms of character development was X6 (you know, the one that Inafune didn't want to exist, surprise surprise), because it showed us how X responds to a fresh face.  Seeing somebody trying to take advantage of the world already on its knees, destroying his best friend's image, and abusing his power, X shows a sense of clarity and determination that we don't often see from him, and yet still holds onto his compassion after all is said and done.  I'd imagine that's the kind of X that most people envision when they complain about other games leaving him feel whiney or wishy-washy.