You mean a fad like boy-bands and crappy pop music? or maybe like crappy movies that flash some tits to keep the audience interested?
I like what you are saying, the world would be a great place if dumb ideas just went away when it was obvious that they don't work, too bad the marketing execs of the world don't have the same insight you do.
When people tell me doom3 is going to suck, or rock I tell them the same thing I tell them when they try and convince me that Halo2 is the best game ever made: Wait until you play it. If I went by only the opinions of people who are rating games and movies on their hype alone I would be convinced that the last two StarWars films were the best in the series.
I am thinking that at this point, writing a negative opinion of doom3 is just a quick cheap way of getting your article read and talked about, rather than a thoughtful well written article if I talk smack people will swarm; the cynic in me continues to get a thorough workout daily.
That reminds me of a little incident on Ultima Online years ago where a prankster with a firefield scroll managed to kill Lord British during one of his in game cameos.
The guy got banned from the game, though Origin claimed that it was for other TOS violations. Back then UO was looking so broken, and Origin was claiming that there was no problem with the game client. This was a real slap in the face to them when their own slowed buggy servers let someone kill the most important personality in the game universe.
I'm on Jackson's side with the scouring of the shire omission, I hated that bit in the book, it felt tacked on and out of place. We already know that the hobbits are heros, we don't need to add extra action to the epilogue just for action's sake. I mean they defeated a godlike enemy for crying out loud, why even try to top it?
In 64 if you timed the jump perfectly the attack would go under you, but the timing was dicey at the best of times. I played a lot of the game, and if I saw the attack coming I could hop it maybe a quarter of the time.(If I wasn't drunk which I usually was when playing multiplayer) Anyone who claims you could hop anything all the time is a liar.
DD has a lot of ways to avoid taking hits. Red shells can actually be out manuvered now, and you can still take them out with another weapon, defense is harder to do than it was in 64 but i think that makes for a better game.
I'm with you, I dodge attacks far more consistently with a responsive powerslide than I ever did with that stupid hop.
Well as a certified mario Kart god, having logged millions of hours and having missed millions of classes during my undergrad due to both Mariokart and Marioklart64, I can say its good, the races themselves are a bit more exciting than 64's tracks but there isn't all that much new here. And it is definately harder than MK64 was though not as tough as some of the 150cc tracks in the original.
The two characters per cart is good idea though, and while the intial selection of carts is a little thin, there are a lot of aditional carts to unlock and even 4 hidden characters. The hop? no real loss there. With it's omission the steering becomes a bit more responsive since you can enter a power slide that much quicker. Not being able to hold an item behind the cart elminates some of my old cheese tricks (like lag back, get an invulnerable spinny shell and then hold it behind you for a indestructable rear shield and a melee attack) 2 of the default battle arenas are a bit lame, but the Luigi's Mansion arena is sweet. So all in all i think things balance out pretty good.
If you liked the other MK's you are going to like this one about as much so just go buy it already.
It's just a brand name, like Ford is a brand of car. Depspite my inclination to hate FFX, I liked it quite a lot, and X-2 actually looks interesting (I like the classic job system)
Now Capcom, this is the company that releases the same game over and over with different suffixes. At least each of the FFs have had different characters, locations, and gameplay mechanics. True they are not the most innovative RPGs of all time, but They are still fairly solid and wildly popular with the console market. Just because you hate them, does not mean they are bad.
Maximo, ahhh what an underappretiated gem that game was/is. Just because it was a little on the tough side, and it discouraged you from saving every 30 seconds by forcing you to pay for it, people get all whiney.
Both Ratchet and Clank games though are damn fine.
My affections and attentions are fickle I hit about 30-40 hours of anything, and I don't really have much further interest in it in most cases ( just ask my ex-girl friends) So if MP had clocked in much over 30 hours, I would have never finished it. I used to play Asheron's call, AC2, Final Fantasy 11, Dark age o spamalot, and some Anarchy Online. I play intesely for maybe a week, and then move on. I just get bored with things, and while i did miss work for MP, that was a total exception since it was the first Metroid sequel in like 8 years, and the original and super metroid are 2 of my all time favorite games. It was like a dear old friend stopping by.
Now some people may very well love EQ after 3000 hours, as much as I might have loved it in the first 30, but I am able to put it aside when I need to, even during the most peak of the peak moments. People that lack the good sense to step away to meet more important obligations have other problems besides compulsive gaming.
I think the problem is, that the word "addiction" no longer really means anything anymore. Part of the "classic" definition of addiction includes the presence of withdrawl symptons. Would an everquest junie really get sick and waste away if they couldn't play EQ? I doubt it, they may get cranky in the same way that a child might if you took their favorite toy away but I suspect that they would find something else to do. I doubt highly that withdrawl from the game is going to kill them.
Ok, Metroid Prime came out last November and i skipped 2 days of work to play it. Was i addicted to a game that I had never played before? No, I have poor impulse control. I decided that I wanted to play a game more than I wanted to go to work those 2 days. It was a conscious rational descision. A couple of friends were having a party that friday, I decided not to go, I wanted to keep playing Metroid, same thing, i thought about the possible outcomes of both activities and decided that I would rather play the game.
After I had beaten the game, I went back to work, I resumed social interactions Everything is fine and good.
I tend to agree with the top post in this thread: Some people just have personalities that drive them to activities that are not what most people consider "active" or "outgoing". In a nation where everyone comes from disfuctional abusive homes, everyone needs prozac, and our kids are medicated into happy marshmallow land before they even reach adulthood, why is it that all people are expected to want to hang out with others, drink moderately and reproduce? Who the hell is really "normal" anymore?
If people want to play Evercrack instead of going to work or making friends in real life, thats their thing. i tend to agree with the idea that they would have eneded up on a similar life path anyway.
Something like this has been studied and documented for years: State dependent learning. It seems that it is much easier to recall information if you are in the same mental state as you were ehen you learned it. If say for example you are mildy intoxicated when you study for a history final, you will remember a significantly larger portion of the material if you are also mildy intoxicated when you take the exam.
Music as a memory aid works in a very similar way. The song will evoke an emotional state, and this combined with cue within the song can recreate "lost" memories.
With any luck, by the time I hit 65 (or whatever the retirement age will be moved up to for my generation) I will be able to charge nintendo games to Medicare!
Here are some titles i have had a great time with, YMMV
F-Zero GX
Phantasystar Online (even split screen its cool)
Mario Kart (out soon)
Pikman
Skies of Arcadia (assuming you didn't have it on DC)
Smash Brothers Melee (one of the best party games ever)
There are others, but those are a few of my favorites.
You just need to learn how to play the game. it's not easy, and while it seems like everything is random and you're just going to die over and over again, in actuality 90% of the deaths suffered in NetHack are suicides.
Look here spoilers to get you started
Newer versions of the game have a prmitive graphical tileset that can be activated in the options (open the config file). It's still not pretty, but some people find pictures easier to deal with than ascii.
Never forget the power of Engraving "Elbereth" on the ground when you need a breather, and remember to use the #pray command if you know you are about to die (though don't count on it too much)
Launching their own system? Why not develop software for the GBA? There is already a monster user base, kids already think the GBA is cool, it seems like a no brainer.
By making their own handheld, all they are going to do is make life miserable for the poor kid who's parents buys him/her one of the leapfrogs while all his friends get the GBA's. "Ha ha Jimmy got the baby game boy" Please! lets think of Jimmy here!
Sweet Zombie Jesus! give this man a Nobel prize. Finding ways to goof off with things that were not meant to be goofed off with is IMHO one of the most nobel and pure of all human endeavors.
This reminds me of my highschool days, when a group of us used to program videogames on our TI-85 graphing calculators. I created this entire boxing RPG game that was very popular amongst the group. As it got passed around people added new features and such until in its last version it took up almost all the operating memory of the calculator.
Well, its a blog right? So other people would be reading the blog. One of those other people may have been a co-worker, who then told some other people about it. It could have been the source of some jokes around the water-cooler that morning who knows. As the joke circles around the office eventualy somebody in a position to do somehting about it hears the story and thus you have the whole what have you.
Surely you remember in grade school how after somebody played a prank on the dorky kid, the name of the culprit would eventually end up in the hands of the teacher? same thing here.
This is how you do it, and this would be a sort of interesting study to boot:
During character generation, most online RPGs use a point allocation system. Players must strike a balance between the characters abilities. Just add a stat for "bust size" or "package rating". These stats have no effect on game play, all it does is effect how massive the, well junk or chest of the character will be rendered.
Now my question is, how many gamers will actually short change their other stats just so they can be better endowed?
Maybe I am a bit slow, but what exactly is your point?
I'm not just talking about this one post about a patch. I play Diablo II myself and I'm glad this patch is out and I understand how long it has been anticipated. But everytime Blizzard takes a piss it gets an incredible level of hype
So you don't have a problem with information of the patch making news, but you think all the other blizzard posts that were about other things such as the repainting the office or perhaps the company cat having kittens may not be newsworthy items. Ok, follow you so far. But then tell me if you are cool with this particular article, why do you stand atop the soap box and shake your fist at the admins because you can't stand the other articles that may or may not have been posted recently?
very interesting theory you got there. I like the taste of it.
What your saying makes sense, but would they really need to put on as big of a dog and pony show as they are to pull something like this? Wouldn't the whole thing be a lot easier if they just patented some of their crap, let the console be still-born and then wait?
Well, I use a mouse with the left hand (a non-contoured symmetrical mouse) and I have found great success with the Thrustmaster Tactical board under the right hand. While the board is contoured for use with a left hand (the designers assume you are going to use the mouse with your right) it still functions really well. The nice thing about it, is the keys are arranged in a much more ergonomic manner, so extended games of unreal or counter strike wont give your hand a cramp from trying to use a keyboard that was never designed for gaming. the board has over 40 buttons on it, and all can be individualy configured. I am not sure if those things are still around or not but they are handy if you can snag one.
I find it funny, and this is just an observation, how angry so many people get when anybody suggests that 80+ hour games may be a bit on the excessive side. It's like the way that so many people order food at restaurants, they are less concerned with how it tastes, and more concerned with how much of it they are going to get to eat.
To me, game length is not all that important in of itself; I think you have to consider the whole game. Take Ikaruga for example. Short game, a play from stage 1 to the end will take you about 30 minuets (assuming you can finish it at all) Can you imagine playing an 80 hour shooter? I can but it comes perilously close to what I imagine hell might be like. Instead (and in keeping with the food theme) I like to think of the game as a rich chocolate dessert, I don't need a lot of it to savor it in its entirety.
I find myself most loving those games that take about 10-20 hours to finish, but then again I feel that a really good game warrants more than one play through. This is not to say that long is bad, I have buried many hours on Final Fantasy Tactics (psx) and despite the fact that completing it takes about 30 hours or so I don't have a problem investing that time since I find the game a joy to play. On the other hand, Dark Cloud 2 which I have tried to play through twice now has eaten up over 50 hours of my time total, and I only made it half way through to the end before my interest in the game just flickered away (I had to start over as my first save game was lost when some git stole my memory card, an offense I feel is grounds for a justifiable homicide if I ever get my hands on the bastard)
Metroid Prime, Castlevania:SOTN, Maximo, Zelda: Link to the past, System Shock 2 and a few others clock in at what many would consider "fairly short" but I have played through them several times each (SOTN and LTTP I have finished more than 2 dozen times each over the years) and I wager that I have spent just s much time with, and enjoyed them every bit as much as any of you have enjoyed the 80 + hours you spent playing FF10 or whatever your favorite game is. It's all about variety.
I think the biggest thing this game has against it, is the astounding level of quality that Symphony of the Night possesed, and the fact that the 3 post SOTN gameboy castlevanias have all more or less followed it's apporoach (metroidesque) almost to the point of remake.
Now I would not say that Lament is "the bestest castlevania ever!" nor would I so far even consider it one of the top five installments of the series, but I am thus far very happy with it. It feels like a castlevania game, it looks good, the controls are solid, the bosses and enemy design are well done, and while I miss the more open ended style exploration of the latest installments, its still by all standards a really good game. I may also the only person that says this, but i still miss some of the jumping and instant death of the old school chapters.
What fills me with the greatest hope, is that there will be some sequels, and hopefully they will incorporate some of the refinement and artistry of the later 2d castlevanias. For a first go in 3d since the ummmm lets just skip the N64 sequels, its a solid effort and a worthwhile pick up for any fan.
When you are too drunk for Soul Caliber or Mario Golf, you want something that is simpler but still fun; Warioware Multiplayer would be a great item assuming it gets a US release.
With this, the Zelda 4-swords game, and Tetra's Treasures, Final Fantas:CC, the cube continues to be a multiplayer paradise.
Slashdot Mirror
You mean a fad like boy-bands and crappy pop music? or maybe like crappy movies that flash some tits to keep the audience interested?
I like what you are saying, the world would be a great place if dumb ideas just went away when it was obvious that they don't work, too bad the marketing execs of the world don't have the same insight you do.
When people tell me doom3 is going to suck, or rock I tell them the same thing I tell them when they try and convince me that Halo2 is the best game ever made: Wait until you play it. If I went by only the opinions of people who are rating games and movies on their hype alone I would be convinced that the last two StarWars films were the best in the series.
I am thinking that at this point, writing a negative opinion of doom3 is just a quick cheap way of getting your article read and talked about, rather than a thoughtful well written article if I talk smack people will swarm; the cynic in me continues to get a thorough workout daily.
More holes in my memory than I thought, thanks for the corrections.
That reminds me of a little incident on Ultima Online years ago where a prankster with a firefield scroll managed to kill Lord British during one of his in game cameos.
The guy got banned from the game, though Origin claimed that it was for other TOS violations. Back then UO was looking so broken, and Origin was claiming that there was no problem with the game client. This was a real slap in the face to them when their own slowed buggy servers let someone kill the most important personality in the game universe.
I'm on Jackson's side with the scouring of the shire omission, I hated that bit in the book, it felt tacked on and out of place. We already know that the hobbits are heros, we don't need to add extra action to the epilogue just for action's sake. I mean they defeated a godlike enemy for crying out loud, why even try to top it?
you could dodge shells, maybe.
In 64 if you timed the jump perfectly the attack would go under you, but the timing was dicey at the best of times. I played a lot of the game, and if I saw the attack coming I could hop it maybe a quarter of the time.(If I wasn't drunk which I usually was when playing multiplayer) Anyone who claims you could hop anything all the time is a liar.
DD has a lot of ways to avoid taking hits. Red shells can actually be out manuvered now, and you can still take them out with another weapon, defense is harder to do than it was in 64 but i think that makes for a better game.
I'm with you, I dodge attacks far more consistently with a responsive powerslide than I ever did with that stupid hop.
Well as a certified mario Kart god, having logged millions of hours and having missed millions of classes during my undergrad due to both Mariokart and Marioklart64, I can say its good, the races themselves are a bit more exciting than 64's tracks but there isn't all that much new here. And it is definately harder than MK64 was though not as tough as some of the 150cc tracks in the original.
The two characters per cart is good idea though, and while the intial selection of carts is a little thin, there are a lot of aditional carts to unlock and even 4 hidden characters. The hop? no real loss there. With it's omission the steering becomes a bit more responsive since you can enter a power slide that much quicker. Not being able to hold an item behind the cart elminates some of my old cheese tricks (like lag back, get an invulnerable spinny shell and then hold it behind you for a indestructable rear shield and a melee attack) 2 of the default battle arenas are a bit lame, but the Luigi's Mansion arena is sweet. So all in all i think things balance out pretty good.
If you liked the other MK's you are going to like this one about as much so just go buy it already.
It's just a brand name, like Ford is a brand of car. Depspite my inclination to hate FFX, I liked it quite a lot, and X-2 actually looks interesting (I like the classic job system)
Now Capcom, this is the company that releases the same game over and over with different suffixes. At least each of the FFs have had different characters, locations, and gameplay mechanics. True they are not the most innovative RPGs of all time, but They are still fairly solid and wildly popular with the console market. Just because you hate them, does not mean they are bad.
Maximo, ahhh what an underappretiated gem that game was/is. Just because it was a little on the tough side, and it discouraged you from saving every 30 seconds by forcing you to pay for it, people get all whiney.
Both Ratchet and Clank games though are damn fine.
My affections and attentions are fickle I hit about 30-40 hours of anything, and I don't really have much further interest in it in most cases ( just ask my ex-girl friends) So if MP had clocked in much over 30 hours, I would have never finished it. I used to play Asheron's call, AC2, Final Fantasy 11, Dark age o spamalot, and some Anarchy Online. I play intesely for maybe a week, and then move on. I just get bored with things, and while i did miss work for MP, that was a total exception since it was the first Metroid sequel in like 8 years, and the original and super metroid are 2 of my all time favorite games. It was like a dear old friend stopping by.
Now some people may very well love EQ after 3000 hours, as much as I might have loved it in the first 30, but I am able to put it aside when I need to, even during the most peak of the peak moments. People that lack the good sense to step away to meet more important obligations have other problems besides compulsive gaming.
I think the problem is, that the word "addiction" no longer really means anything anymore. Part of the "classic" definition of addiction includes the presence of withdrawl symptons. Would an everquest junie really get sick and waste away if they couldn't play EQ? I doubt it, they may get cranky in the same way that a child might if you took their favorite toy away but I suspect that they would find something else to do. I doubt highly that withdrawl from the game is going to kill them.
Ok, Metroid Prime came out last November and i skipped 2 days of work to play it. Was i addicted to a game that I had never played before? No, I have poor impulse control. I decided that I wanted to play a game more than I wanted to go to work those 2 days. It was a conscious rational descision. A couple of friends were having a party that friday, I decided not to go, I wanted to keep playing Metroid, same thing, i thought about the possible outcomes of both activities and decided that I would rather play the game.
After I had beaten the game, I went back to work, I resumed social interactions Everything is fine and good.
I tend to agree with the top post in this thread: Some people just have personalities that drive them to activities that are not what most people consider "active" or "outgoing". In a nation where everyone comes from disfuctional abusive homes, everyone needs prozac, and our kids are medicated into happy marshmallow land before they even reach adulthood, why is it that all people are expected to want to hang out with others, drink moderately and reproduce? Who the hell is really "normal" anymore?
If people want to play Evercrack instead of going to work or making friends in real life, thats their thing. i tend to agree with the idea that they would have eneded up on a similar life path anyway.
Something like this has been studied and documented for years: State dependent learning. It seems that it is much easier to recall information if you are in the same mental state as you were ehen you learned it. If say for example you are mildy intoxicated when you study for a history final, you will remember a significantly larger portion of the material if you are also mildy intoxicated when you take the exam.
Music as a memory aid works in a very similar way. The song will evoke an emotional state, and this combined with cue within the song can recreate "lost" memories.
With any luck, by the time I hit 65 (or whatever the retirement age will be moved up to for my generation) I will be able to charge nintendo games to Medicare!
Here are some titles i have had a great time with, YMMV
F-Zero GX
Phantasystar Online (even split screen its cool)
Mario Kart (out soon)
Pikman
Skies of Arcadia (assuming you didn't have it on DC)
Smash Brothers Melee (one of the best party games ever)
There are others, but those are a few of my favorites.
You just need to learn how to play the game. it's not easy, and while it seems like everything is random and you're just going to die over and over again, in actuality 90% of the deaths suffered in NetHack are suicides. Look here spoilers to get you started Newer versions of the game have a prmitive graphical tileset that can be activated in the options (open the config file). It's still not pretty, but some people find pictures easier to deal with than ascii. Never forget the power of Engraving "Elbereth" on the ground when you need a breather, and remember to use the #pray command if you know you are about to die (though don't count on it too much)
Launching their own system? Why not develop software for the GBA? There is already a monster user base, kids already think the GBA is cool, it seems like a no brainer.
By making their own handheld, all they are going to do is make life miserable for the poor kid who's parents buys him/her one of the leapfrogs while all his friends get the GBA's. "Ha ha Jimmy got the baby game boy" Please! lets think of Jimmy here!
Ah typos... make the world go round don't they? I didn't even notice I switched the letters in the second case.
Sweet Zombie Jesus! give this man a Nobel prize. Finding ways to goof off with things that were not meant to be goofed off with is IMHO one of the most nobel and pure of all human endeavors.
This reminds me of my highschool days, when a group of us used to program videogames on our TI-85 graphing calculators. I created this entire boxing RPG game that was very popular amongst the group. As it got passed around people added new features and such until in its last version it took up almost all the operating memory of the calculator.
Well, its a blog right? So other people would be reading the blog. One of those other people may have been a co-worker, who then told some other people about it. It could have been the source of some jokes around the water-cooler that morning who knows. As the joke circles around the office eventualy somebody in a position to do somehting about it hears the story and thus you have the whole what have you.
Surely you remember in grade school how after somebody played a prank on the dorky kid, the name of the culprit would eventually end up in the hands of the teacher? same thing here.
This is how you do it, and this would be a sort of interesting study to boot:
During character generation, most online RPGs use a point allocation system. Players must strike a balance between the characters abilities. Just add a stat for "bust size" or "package rating". These stats have no effect on game play, all it does is effect how massive the, well junk or chest of the character will be rendered.
Now my question is, how many gamers will actually short change their other stats just so they can be better endowed?
Maybe I am a bit slow, but what exactly is your point?
I'm not just talking about this one post about a patch. I play Diablo II myself and I'm glad this patch is out and I understand how long it has been anticipated. But everytime Blizzard takes a piss it gets an incredible level of hype
So you don't have a problem with information of the patch making news, but you think all the other blizzard posts that were about other things such as the repainting the office or perhaps the company cat having kittens may not be newsworthy items. Ok, follow you so far. But then tell me if you are cool with this particular article, why do you stand atop the soap box and shake your fist at the admins because you can't stand the other articles that may or may not have been posted recently?
Or maybe you just like picking fights?
very interesting theory you got there. I like the taste of it.
What your saying makes sense, but would they really need to put on as big of a dog and pony show as they are to pull something like this? Wouldn't the whole thing be a lot easier if they just patented some of their crap, let the console be still-born and then wait?
Well, I use a mouse with the left hand (a non-contoured symmetrical mouse) and I have found great success with the Thrustmaster Tactical board under the right hand. While the board is contoured for use with a left hand (the designers assume you are going to use the mouse with your right) it still functions really well. The nice thing about it, is the keys are arranged in a much more ergonomic manner, so extended games of unreal or counter strike wont give your hand a cramp from trying to use a keyboard that was never designed for gaming. the board has over 40 buttons on it, and all can be individualy configured. I am not sure if those things are still around or not but they are handy if you can snag one.
I find it funny, and this is just an observation, how angry so many people get when anybody suggests that 80+ hour games may be a bit on the excessive side. It's like the way that so many people order food at restaurants, they are less concerned with how it tastes, and more concerned with how much of it they are going to get to eat.
To me, game length is not all that important in of itself; I think you have to consider the whole game. Take Ikaruga for example. Short game, a play from stage 1 to the end will take you about 30 minuets (assuming you can finish it at all) Can you imagine playing an 80 hour shooter? I can but it comes perilously close to what I imagine hell might be like. Instead (and in keeping with the food theme) I like to think of the game as a rich chocolate dessert, I don't need a lot of it to savor it in its entirety.
I find myself most loving those games that take about 10-20 hours to finish, but then again I feel that a really good game warrants more than one play through. This is not to say that long is bad, I have buried many hours on Final Fantasy Tactics (psx) and despite the fact that completing it takes about 30 hours or so I don't have a problem investing that time since I find the game a joy to play. On the other hand, Dark Cloud 2 which I have tried to play through twice now has eaten up over 50 hours of my time total, and I only made it half way through to the end before my interest in the game just flickered away (I had to start over as my first save game was lost when some git stole my memory card, an offense I feel is grounds for a justifiable homicide if I ever get my hands on the bastard)
Metroid Prime, Castlevania:SOTN, Maximo, Zelda: Link to the past, System Shock 2 and a few others clock in at what many would consider "fairly short" but I have played through them several times each (SOTN and LTTP I have finished more than 2 dozen times each over the years) and I wager that I have spent just s much time with, and enjoyed them every bit as much as any of you have enjoyed the 80 + hours you spent playing FF10 or whatever your favorite game is. It's all about variety.
I think the biggest thing this game has against it, is the astounding level of quality that Symphony of the Night possesed, and the fact that the 3 post SOTN gameboy castlevanias have all more or less followed it's apporoach (metroidesque) almost to the point of remake.
Now I would not say that Lament is "the bestest castlevania ever!" nor would I so far even consider it one of the top five installments of the series, but I am thus far very happy with it. It feels like a castlevania game, it looks good, the controls are solid, the bosses and enemy design are well done, and while I miss the more open ended style exploration of the latest installments, its still by all standards a really good game. I may also the only person that says this, but i still miss some of the jumping and instant death of the old school chapters.
What fills me with the greatest hope, is that there will be some sequels, and hopefully they will incorporate some of the refinement and artistry of the later 2d castlevanias. For a first go in 3d since the ummmm lets just skip the N64 sequels, its a solid effort and a worthwhile pick up for any fan.
When you are too drunk for Soul Caliber or Mario Golf, you want something that is simpler but still fun; Warioware Multiplayer would be a great item assuming it gets a US release.
With this, the Zelda 4-swords game, and Tetra's Treasures, Final Fantas:CC, the cube continues to be a multiplayer paradise.