I would not say so, the number of turns which is very limited keeps the number of options down, but I think it is a good start, every level I have beaten so far I probably think there is at least another second way to beat it, but it is really limited, but I like the blend, get rid of the time limits add more depth to the strategy part and things can become really interesting.
I never liked rail like shooters, I always loved wing commander though and this series is heading in the right direction.
Actually i expected a space shooter, and got exactly a turn based strategy game with very good space shooting, i was pleased to get such a fine mix of two genres i really like.
60 Dollars will equal to 60 Euros usually, which is way over the top.
I recently shunned away from a game because it had the ominous 60 euros tag already on it.
Lets say it that way, over the last three weeks I bought about 5 games which were in the 20-30 euros pricerange and none in the 60 euros pricerange.
(the games were from nintendo and the 60 euros game was from Sega)
so go figure which was more profitable in the end for which company!
Ahem... in the Java world most software development products are free.
Eclipse, Netbeans, JDeveloper you name it those are just the big three.
But there are costs, the companies see those products as byproducts to gain consulting revenue on other related fields, and so far it works for them.
Especially IBM which has gained lots of mindshare over their eclipse stuff.
Exactly and that is one of the reasons why Nintendo has sold me around 4 games already and Sega none. I looked at the price tag for the DS super monkey ball and shied away because they hit the magical 60 euros barrier while nintendos was between 20 and 50 always.
There is a magical barrier...
First... the control cross is left handed, which is basically, well now i am used to it, but it is definitely in favor of left hands.
Secondly the default control scheme of Mario64 and other stylus controlled action games on the DS is definitely in favor of left hands because you have to use the stylus left to control the character while you have to use your right hand for holding the console and the buttons.
But Nintendo has become wiser, they added usually a well working right hand configuration as second or third control option to those games.
Ask any right handed person to use a stylus left handed, you will run them into a problem, but at least the option is there to switch, so no problem there. I just think it is fascinating how left hand obsessed Nintendo is always.
Speaking of consoles, since nintendo introduced the pad, almost all controls are left handed favors. I would love to have the choice to have the directional pad vice versa optionally...
nintendo alwayx had this left hand obsession, at least in newer stylus based games, they added a right handed control scheme, otherwise games like mario 64 would be unplayable.
Yes left handed people have disadvantages, but you at least can get mouses etc... suitable, while I am still waiting for a console controller for right handed people.
Actually it was not always like that the early joysticks from the early consoles and arcades were mostly right handed, and for most people this made sense, since precision work is mainly right handed.
Nintendo with its pad mostly from the game and watch series shifted this to the left, and I always hated it.
They even tried today, some DS games have default control schemes which were clearly designed for having the stylus in the left hand. But fortunately they nowadays add alternative schemes so that you can uses a right handed stylus scheme as well.
For me it seems like someone at nintendo has a left hand obsession.
For a decent U7 gaming experience you need a mouse or touchpad, the closest you can get on any handheld for a freeform rpg is the exult port to the sharp zaurus, that one is close to as perfect as such a game can be.
I cannot see how U7 fits into the control scheme of a psp decently, and believe me the u7 for the snes sucked really badly.
While the DS has overall a good games lineup, i am somehow sick of overhyped rails like japanese rpgs as only option.
I would love to see something less linear on consoles generally.
(Oblivion being the example)
But I rather doubt we will see something like Ultima or Gothic on any japanese console in the immediate future. Something like fallout probably never.
I trust him on the fragments, the style differences are obvious, the problem I have with the newer fragment books is that some of them are only a handful of pages of original fragments.
I am sure C Tolkien still has material for another 10 books at his hands, but mostly notepapers etc...
While the Silmarillion was pretty complete when tolkien died, and the books of Lost Tales had enough original Tolkien content, I stopped at the Tales of Beleriand, this cash milking got out of hand.
The newer fragment books were basically short 10 liners with pages and pages of Christopher Tolkien interpretations and extensions.
I am not eager to pay yet for another book which is based on short text fragments of Tolkien. All this just shows Tolkien had lots of ideas and never was able for one reason or the other to make books out of it.
I just wonder why exactly this book made it into the news, there have been a handful of those fragement and lets fill in the gaps books, the problem was that the later ones mainly were gaps filler with a few lines of fragements per book.
There has been a draught of good new releases on the DS lately, yes, but the momentum on the DS has picked up very late, so we are in the middle of this hole caused by the slow start of the DS even worsened by the usual summer hole.
The linup for the end of the year looks good however.
New Zelda, Hotel Dusk, Another Phonix Wright, etc....
I dont think we will have the current situation again in another year.
(it is not so bad, because, there has been a starfox and a super mario 2d jump and run release, it is mostly the third parties which still play catchup somewhat)
The DS would have been roasted if Sony wouldnt have screwed up left and right.
Sony is no thread for Nintendo in the handheld arena, but if Microsoft decides to enter that market, then I see a black future for the Nintendo cash cow unfortunately.
The gamecube back then failed for one reason, it did not have a dvd drive in it, this was a serious issue at a time, when dvds were a major selling point for a console.
Nowadays it is different, everyone has 4-5 dvd drives in one way or the other at home, and HDTV while sold, has not caught on to the extreme that high resolution is that much of a selling point for millions of consoles.
The N64 was a failure due to nintendos stubbornnes to use cartridges while everyone else already was using cd roms...
You still dont get it do you? Nintendo does not price lower if it would price the same including the VAT the DS would cost here around 208 Euro...
They charge 250 Euro over here, which means they sack in a hefty extra 15% of the price, just because it looks good on paper that 1 Euro is 1 Dollar, neglecting the real exchange rate.
Nintendo DS... 250 Euros... 60 Euros (it definitely will be again 1:1 price calculation) 310 Euros...
XBox 360... 300 Euros... so go figure...
Nintendo is swimming close to shark territory here.
I would not extensively say that the UK is so much of a hazzle, the language is the same as the US so no extra translation costs, and the EU is a central market servicable from a central point, just like the US.
I dont see any reason for the 15-17% price difference at all (VAT already counted out) (Well even the income of the employees is lower than what they have to pay in the IS), except for pure greed.
Apple does the same, and I in the long run over the year has cost Apple millions over here, due to the fact that they are always the most expensive ones, and a buying afterthought.
I think doing that on paper looks good but in the long run it costs the companies doing that more on lost sales than they ever could gain.
Well the current VAT less price in the US for the shovelware bundle, is around
178 Euros, but over here they charge 250 Euros for the same
even if you count in 17% VAT average which really is average for europe.
You are around 208 Euros, I assume the import taxes are pretty much the same here as in the US so I will leave that out and do not compare it to the japanese price which is way lower (no shovelware bundle to justify the higher price)
We have a 16% price difference which goes straight into Nintendos pockets thanks to SCAMMING their own customer base over a self assumed price parity of 1 USD is one Euro...!
The rest I can say is get your calc out and do the math yourself...
The break even even would be possible with 200 Euros, it still is way more expensive than japan and us even if you calculate out import tax and VAT across europe.
And yes, I think the 250 Euro Pricetag will cost them more than 20% of potential sales over here, especially since the entry XB0x 360 is just 300 Euros and could get a price drop soon.
And most people over here see the bundle more like shovelware packing (not too many would buy Wii sports, the most uninteresting title of the lineup) just to have prices higher. It is easier to justify this price with a packaged game, than without.
Sorry to say that, but pushing the price over 200 euros no matter what, has cost them easily, more than 20% of christmas sales, especially from price sensitive families.
Slashdot Mirror
I would not say so, the number of turns which is very limited keeps the number of options down, but I think it is a good start, every level I have beaten so far I probably think there is at least another second way to beat it, but it is really limited, but I like the blend, get rid of the time limits add more depth to the strategy part and things can become really interesting. I never liked rail like shooters, I always loved wing commander though and this series is heading in the right direction.
Actually i expected a space shooter, and got exactly a turn based strategy game with very good space shooting, i was pleased to get such a fine mix of two genres i really like.
Namco was sued for Pacmen having spawned mass cannibalism...
Actually I like the control scheme, ok it took me a while to get the hang of it, but i love it now...
If you want something ultimaish with modern tech, go for the Gothic series, highly underrated series, one of the best ever done.
60 Dollars will equal to 60 Euros usually, which is way over the top. I recently shunned away from a game because it had the ominous 60 euros tag already on it. Lets say it that way, over the last three weeks I bought about 5 games which were in the 20-30 euros pricerange and none in the 60 euros pricerange. (the games were from nintendo and the 60 euros game was from Sega) so go figure which was more profitable in the end for which company!
Ahem... in the Java world most software development products are free. Eclipse, Netbeans, JDeveloper you name it those are just the big three. But there are costs, the companies see those products as byproducts to gain consulting revenue on other related fields, and so far it works for them. Especially IBM which has gained lots of mindshare over their eclipse stuff.
Exactly and that is one of the reasons why Nintendo has sold me around 4 games already and Sega none. I looked at the price tag for the DS super monkey ball and shied away because they hit the magical 60 euros barrier while nintendos was between 20 and 50 always. There is a magical barrier...
Me as a consumer would want a PSP if Sony wouldnt want me to use it how they want it to be used...
First... the control cross is left handed, which is basically, well now i am used to it, but it is definitely in favor of left hands. Secondly the default control scheme of Mario64 and other stylus controlled action games on the DS is definitely in favor of left hands because you have to use the stylus left to control the character while you have to use your right hand for holding the console and the buttons. But Nintendo has become wiser, they added usually a well working right hand configuration as second or third control option to those games. Ask any right handed person to use a stylus left handed, you will run them into a problem, but at least the option is there to switch, so no problem there. I just think it is fascinating how left hand obsessed Nintendo is always.
Speaking of consoles, since nintendo introduced the pad, almost all controls are left handed favors. I would love to have the choice to have the directional pad vice versa optionally... nintendo alwayx had this left hand obsession, at least in newer stylus based games, they added a right handed control scheme, otherwise games like mario 64 would be unplayable. Yes left handed people have disadvantages, but you at least can get mouses etc... suitable, while I am still waiting for a console controller for right handed people.
Actually it was not always like that the early joysticks from the early consoles and arcades were mostly right handed, and for most people this made sense, since precision work is mainly right handed. Nintendo with its pad mostly from the game and watch series shifted this to the left, and I always hated it. They even tried today, some DS games have default control schemes which were clearly designed for having the stylus in the left hand. But fortunately they nowadays add alternative schemes so that you can uses a right handed stylus scheme as well. For me it seems like someone at nintendo has a left hand obsession.
For a decent U7 gaming experience you need a mouse or touchpad, the closest you can get on any handheld for a freeform rpg is the exult port to the sharp zaurus, that one is close to as perfect as such a game can be. I cannot see how U7 fits into the control scheme of a psp decently, and believe me the u7 for the snes sucked really badly.
While the DS has overall a good games lineup, i am somehow sick of overhyped rails like japanese rpgs as only option. I would love to see something less linear on consoles generally. (Oblivion being the example) But I rather doubt we will see something like Ultima or Gothic on any japanese console in the immediate future. Something like fallout probably never.
I trust him on the fragments, the style differences are obvious, the problem I have with the newer fragment books is that some of them are only a handful of pages of original fragments. I am sure C Tolkien still has material for another 10 books at his hands, but mostly notepapers etc...
While the Silmarillion was pretty complete when tolkien died, and the books of Lost Tales had enough original Tolkien content, I stopped at the Tales of Beleriand, this cash milking got out of hand. The newer fragment books were basically short 10 liners with pages and pages of Christopher Tolkien interpretations and extensions. I am not eager to pay yet for another book which is based on short text fragments of Tolkien. All this just shows Tolkien had lots of ideas and never was able for one reason or the other to make books out of it. I just wonder why exactly this book made it into the news, there have been a handful of those fragement and lets fill in the gaps books, the problem was that the later ones mainly were gaps filler with a few lines of fragements per book.
There has been a draught of good new releases on the DS lately, yes, but the momentum on the DS has picked up very late, so we are in the middle of this hole caused by the slow start of the DS even worsened by the usual summer hole. The linup for the end of the year looks good however. New Zelda, Hotel Dusk, Another Phonix Wright, etc.... I dont think we will have the current situation again in another year. (it is not so bad, because, there has been a starfox and a super mario 2d jump and run release, it is mostly the third parties which still play catchup somewhat)
The DS would have been roasted if Sony wouldnt have screwed up left and right. Sony is no thread for Nintendo in the handheld arena, but if Microsoft decides to enter that market, then I see a black future for the Nintendo cash cow unfortunately.
The gamecube back then failed for one reason, it did not have a dvd drive in it, this was a serious issue at a time, when dvds were a major selling point for a console. Nowadays it is different, everyone has 4-5 dvd drives in one way or the other at home, and HDTV while sold, has not caught on to the extreme that high resolution is that much of a selling point for millions of consoles. The N64 was a failure due to nintendos stubbornnes to use cartridges while everyone else already was using cd roms...
You still dont get it do you? Nintendo does not price lower if it would price the same including the VAT the DS would cost here around 208 Euro... They charge 250 Euro over here, which means they sack in a hefty extra 15% of the price, just because it looks good on paper that 1 Euro is 1 Dollar, neglecting the real exchange rate.
Ah yes I forgot about those ones, did not happen too often, and totally idiotic.Thanks for reminding me.
Nintendo DS... 250 Euros... 60 Euros (it definitely will be again 1:1 price
calculation) 310 Euros...
XBox 360... 300 Euros... so go figure...
Nintendo is swimming close to shark territory here.
I would not extensively say that the UK is so much of a hazzle, the language is the same as the US so no extra translation costs, and the EU is a central market servicable from a central point, just like the US. I dont see any reason for the 15-17% price difference at all (VAT already counted out) (Well even the income of the employees is lower than what they have to pay in the IS), except for pure greed. Apple does the same, and I in the long run over the year has cost Apple millions over here, due to the fact that they are always the most expensive ones, and a buying afterthought. I think doing that on paper looks good but in the long run it costs the companies doing that more on lost sales than they ever could gain.
Well the current VAT less price in the US for the shovelware bundle, is around 178 Euros, but over here they charge 250 Euros for the same even if you count in 17% VAT average which really is average for europe. You are around 208 Euros, I assume the import taxes are pretty much the same here as in the US so I will leave that out and do not compare it to the japanese price which is way lower (no shovelware bundle to justify the higher price) We have a 16% price difference which goes straight into Nintendos pockets thanks to SCAMMING their own customer base over a self assumed price parity of 1 USD is one Euro...! The rest I can say is get your calc out and do the math yourself...
The break even even would be possible with 200 Euros, it still is way more expensive than japan and us even if you calculate out import tax and VAT across europe. And yes, I think the 250 Euro Pricetag will cost them more than 20% of potential sales over here, especially since the entry XB0x 360 is just 300 Euros and could get a price drop soon. And most people over here see the bundle more like shovelware packing (not too many would buy Wii sports, the most uninteresting title of the lineup) just to have prices higher. It is easier to justify this price with a packaged game, than without. Sorry to say that, but pushing the price over 200 euros no matter what, has cost them easily, more than 20% of christmas sales, especially from price sensitive families.