Nothing makes me regret a rental like a big unskippable cutscene. What really burns me up Super Mario Sunshine did this very thing. That's the opposite of what Mario should be, dammit! What happened to "Princess Toadstool is missing again. Looks like Bowser is at it again." There's a story you can get behind! Unlike "yeah, some guy who looks just like you except he's a totally different colour (Sonic Adventure 2 anyone?) drew graffiti and stole the shine sprites with a device that lets him do whatever he wants but he still can't kill Mario and argh! If I wanted a cinimatic, I would've rented a movie.
(For the record I thought Sunshine was a fantastic game).
You know what my favourite type of comment on Slashdot is? The type of comment both this post and the grandparent made when they pulled out a bunch of numbers without a URL to back it up.
(My second favourite type of post is a tie between unneccesary sarcasm and blatant hypocracy)
As for the Revo, don't underestimate it. I completely agree with Nintendo's sentiment that Sony and MS are moving in the wrong direction. High costs, high prices, system shortages, and the like.
Personally, I don't even really care about the differences between the 360 and a plain vanilla XBox (or Gamecube for that matter, though PS2 draws the line). The graphics, while better, don't affect the gameplay, and don't get me any more into the game at all. But I know lots of people who do feel a big difference, so fair enough. Clearly, all the consoles will have a good share or supporters, with the Revo being the most "different" of the three.
Hopefully Nintendo will be smart enough to get kiosks wherever they can, not just in game retail stores. The low price is really going to help them in some markets, and the controller is another big point. Hopefully, they'll fund indie companies to make games for their console as they claimed they would, because that'd be another big draw for me.
Indeed. A better comparison would have been World -1. First you get to World -1 by taking a passage that you thought would lead to progress (World 4), but instead, it puts you through a bland, unrewarding journey. Just when you think it's over and you can move on, you get dumped back to the beginning of what is essentially the same shit, over and over again in an endless cycle, until time runs out and you die:P
Good. I don't know about you, but I don't want to hold a Revmote and physically do a "punch" to play Smash Bros. Maybe for Punch Out 3, but not for Smash Bros.
This guy's an idiot. DDR and In The Groove represent a genre that is one of the purest gaming experiences possible. There isn't any randomness at all, vital for making a game based on pure skill. You have to destroy all the arrows as they reach the zone at the top, but you more points for hitting them with accurate timing. Lots of rhythm games like Frequency (and Amplitude) are fun too, but dance games have the added challenge of making you move around and hit all the step patterns that appear on the screen. You have to learn advanced moves like crossovers and gallops and such, or you can try to freestyle a bit more on easier difficulties. It's really a very intense and fun genre.
If you're embarrased to play it, your loss. Smaller lines for me (yes, there are lines).
It's a very valuable page. No wonder the school and police were after this fellow. He wasn't just taking some lousy page that no one read in the last 3 months temporarily out of service, he was trying to stop students from "achiev[ing] their full potential for intellectual and personal growth". Clearly, he had to be stopped before he went on to more illustrious crimes like overwhelming the server that powers the site about sidetalking.
Here are my predictions concerning each of the areas he wrote about:
Of course MS will make sure the 360 is well-stocked during the PS3 release. Halo 3 will be released just before the launch of the PS3 to make the 360 just that much more enticing compared to the PS3 (note: this isn't a prediction; MS stated this). However the tactic won't improve sales much (who goes in to buy a PS3, can't find one, and comes out with a 360? Sounds like a stupid thing to do to me), but like Matt said, pretty good sales overall.
My guess is that the PS3 will be released in July or August, but there will be some shortages until the Christmas season, at which point there'll be enough to go around, but even at that time some people will still be worried about shortages even though by and large they won't exist. Gran Turismo and Killzone should be available before Christmas. My gut's telling me no GTA until early-to-mid 2007 for some reason.
Nothing special will happen to the PSP. A few good games will come out for it, and it will drop in price slightly. UMD production will be steady.
The Revo won't "steal the show" because people were already having visions of using the remote control at TGS. The extra material (Smash Bros and Zelda demos for sure) will be exciting, but other companies will have good games to show as well. Kiosks will be Nintendo's most important weapon; not everyone listens to E3-goers, but everyone goes to stores. The kiosks will be placed where non-gamers will see them, ie, not in an EB Games. Miyamoto's new franchise... that's a tough one... I'll say he will be ready and it will be available near launch like Pikmin was.
No new GBA, no new DS ('cept maybe new colours, that's it), probably a small price drop ($10) for all their portables. The mainstream media won't shut up about New Super Mario Bros precisely because the gameplay is so "old". I think the main flaw of the game is that Mario/Luigi will have slow running speeds, and possibly won't be maneuvarable enough in the air.
I think every last game Nintendo has made for the NES and SNES will be available at launch. N64 games might be delayed for possible additions (again, not a predicion, Nintendo is actively considering making games like Mario Party online). They'll try to get other companies to offer their games as well, of course, but they probably won't agree to it at launch. Any game that was complete but cancelled will probably find it's way to the Revo sooner or later. Japan Only games will probably be available untranslated, in fact I'll say that Nintendo's portal of games that you can buy online is international, so someone from the US can buy a Japanese game, after being warned that it's untranslated. They might even translate Mother, but don't count on it (unless it's already been translated? I don't know). Incompleted games: Nintendo won't want to spend their time finishing them, especially since they'd have to work with old NES/SNES programming.
Will Sega make a good Sonic game? Hard to say. On one hand, Sega promised they'd re-invent Sonic, on the other hand, Sega has had a bad track record with their mascot as of late outside of the portable realm. My money's on the new console Sonics being slightly better but still weaksauce, but the new portable ones still being pretty good.
As for Capcom I'll say... RE5 will be another awesome game but a little too much like 4, nothing big for Street Fighter this year, and a mediocore Mega Man game that will be available for the PS2/XBox/(maybe GCN), and a promise for a good Megaman game in 2007 on the new consoles.
I also think there will be footage of a very dark Castlevania for PS3/360 at E3. Not so sure about a compilation, though.
EA: same old. Some the new stuff that they just acquired will be good, most of the old stuff will be the same as last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. In my opinion.
"you could work on...something more important. That...I'd argue, is good procrastination."
Working on something more important is a good thing? I'm sure this guy is going to face a lot of detractors that say that working on something less important is better. I hate it when essays have filler like that.
For those who haven't been paying attention, Nintendo promises that the Revo will be simpler to program for, and Iwata mentioned at both E3 and the TGS that they will financially help fund indie companies develop games for the Revo (we'll see if that really happens).
People got sick of EA and their underpaid/overworked staff, the monopolistic license deals, and lack of innovation and started making a stand. Hopefully now EA will understand that treating your talent with respect and encouraging them to innovate will produce better games and higher sales. That's my hope, even if it's a bit of a long shot.
P.S.: EArnings down would have been a more clever title;)
I've noted to myself several times that 2005 has been a bad year for games. Everyone will have different tastes, but the only two that really held my attention were Super Mario Strikers and Guitar Hero. Regardless of tastes, though, there couldn't have been too many games that any one person could really fall in love with.
Reference Gamespot's platform picks and see how many you liked. Of course Strikers didn't even make a blip on their radar, which I'm disappointed in.
And if you don't get caught you're off scott-free. The worst that can happen is you lose what you stole and have to pay a little kicker. Let's see what happens to theft rates when fear of jail time is removed.
"I refuse to endorse the practice of cold-calling people and asking for money. It is just plain rude IMO. Charities may be allowed to do it by law, but that does not mean that they should."
Amen to that!
I'll keep Amnesty International in my mind when I'm thinking of givig to charity... thanks for post.
...I have to buy an Xbox 360 because my TV is capable of recieving its signal. But under my logic, I don't, so I'm not buying one.
Re:360 - A Complete And Total Disaster
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As much as I enjoy my Nintendo games, this is really narrow thinking. Some people like Xbox games and I'm sure some people are enjoying the 360 games on the market.
Now the question of whether those same games would be just as enjoyable on a regular old Xbox is another matter... The jump from N64/PS1 to GC/PS2/XBox seemed to have a little more impact on actual gameplay compared to what I'm seeing from the 360, but I suppose lots of number crunching comes in helpful on certain genres.
The Revo strategy makes more sense to me now
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Not to knock HD, but I don't have it and the majority of people don't have it.
Now, with a story like this, you start seeing that HD is quite different from SD. I mean, now with future 360 games that they want to make "dark and atmospheric", they'll have to make an SD option that avoids the darker shades that can't be differentiated on an SD TV. Higher development costs.
With the Revo, there's a lot less to worry about. Say I make a game. I only have to worry about one type of definition. Think about it, that's a really big plus when you hear stories like this.
That's not meant to defend Nintendo completely though; there are problems with thier plan. The first is that HD will catch on, who knows how popular it'll be over the Revo's life cycle? If it becomes the standard, will the Revo's graphics start feeling dated when our eyes are spoiled by HD?
The other (bigger) problem is that apparantly some HDTVs don't show SD stuff very well. However, I really think that's poor on the part of the developers of those TVs. If I bought an HDTV, I'd be very sure that it shows SD stuff perfectly (not just fo the Revo's sake, either).
Aside: I'd also make sure it's not laggy; I've always been for action packed games, which are hurt by such lag. Hell, I'm a huge fan of rhythm games, probably the single most lag-sensitive genre out there. I've heard bad things about certain TVs on this front. I'd rather my games be playable than hi-res!
Did they hire the guy who made Fishy, was it just a coincidence that both of their games involve having a fish that eats smaller things, or was someone at Popcap one of the 2 million views of the game?
Slashdot Mirror
No. Stardust devil ;)
Nothing makes me regret a rental like a big unskippable cutscene. What really burns me up Super Mario Sunshine did this very thing. That's the opposite of what Mario should be, dammit! What happened to "Princess Toadstool is missing again. Looks like Bowser is at it again." There's a story you can get behind! Unlike "yeah, some guy who looks just like you except he's a totally different colour (Sonic Adventure 2 anyone?) drew graffiti and stole the shine sprites with a device that lets him do whatever he wants but he still can't kill Mario and argh! If I wanted a cinimatic, I would've rented a movie.
(For the record I thought Sunshine was a fantastic game).
You know what my favourite type of comment on Slashdot is? The type of comment both this post and the grandparent made when they pulled out a bunch of numbers without a URL to back it up.
(My second favourite type of post is a tie between unneccesary sarcasm and blatant hypocracy)
As for the Revo, don't underestimate it. I completely agree with Nintendo's sentiment that Sony and MS are moving in the wrong direction. High costs, high prices, system shortages, and the like.
Personally, I don't even really care about the differences between the 360 and a plain vanilla XBox (or Gamecube for that matter, though PS2 draws the line). The graphics, while better, don't affect the gameplay, and don't get me any more into the game at all. But I know lots of people who do feel a big difference, so fair enough. Clearly, all the consoles will have a good share or supporters, with the Revo being the most "different" of the three.
Hopefully Nintendo will be smart enough to get kiosks wherever they can, not just in game retail stores. The low price is really going to help them in some markets, and the controller is another big point. Hopefully, they'll fund indie companies to make games for their console as they claimed they would, because that'd be another big draw for me.
I wouldn't say that George W. Bush is the mastermind behind this thing, ya know.
Indeed. A better comparison would have been World -1. First you get to World -1 by taking a passage that you thought would lead to progress (World 4), but instead, it puts you through a bland, unrewarding journey. Just when you think it's over and you can move on, you get dumped back to the beginning of what is essentially the same shit, over and over again in an endless cycle, until time runs out and you die :P
" So your skill in the game will be partly influenced by the player's physical condition?
What's next, a game where you have to step on panels to the beat of the music?
Good. I don't know about you, but I don't want to hold a Revmote and physically do a "punch" to play Smash Bros. Maybe for Punch Out 3, but not for Smash Bros.
This guy's an idiot. DDR and In The Groove represent a genre that is one of the purest gaming experiences possible. There isn't any randomness at all, vital for making a game based on pure skill. You have to destroy all the arrows as they reach the zone at the top, but you more points for hitting them with accurate timing. Lots of rhythm games like Frequency (and Amplitude) are fun too, but dance games have the added challenge of making you move around and hit all the step patterns that appear on the screen. You have to learn advanced moves like crossovers and gallops and such, or you can try to freestyle a bit more on easier difficulties. It's really a very intense and fun genre.
If you're embarrased to play it, your loss. Smaller lines for me (yes, there are lines).
It's a very valuable page. No wonder the school and police were after this fellow. He wasn't just taking some lousy page that no one read in the last 3 months temporarily out of service, he was trying to stop students from "achiev[ing] their full potential for intellectual and personal growth". Clearly, he had to be stopped before he went on to more illustrious crimes like overwhelming the server that powers the site about sidetalking.
Yes, but the clever bugger posted AC. This one could go unsolved for some time, boys ;)
"you could work on...something more important. That...I'd argue, is good procrastination."
Working on something more important is a good thing? I'm sure this guy is going to face a lot of detractors that say that working on something less important is better. I hate it when essays have filler like that.
Yeah I'll mod you... later...
"Perhaps a Revolution is needed?"
For those who haven't been paying attention, Nintendo promises that the Revo will be simpler to program for, and Iwata mentioned at both E3 and the TGS that they will financially help fund indie companies develop games for the Revo (we'll see if that really happens).
People got sick of EA and their underpaid/overworked staff, the monopolistic license deals, and lack of innovation and started making a stand. Hopefully now EA will understand that treating your talent with respect and encouraging them to innovate will produce better games and higher sales. That's my hope, even if it's a bit of a long shot.
;)
P.S.: EArnings down would have been a more clever title
"Look, those arrows are a lot harder to render than it looks, leave us alone!" -- Microsoft rep.
I've noted to myself several times that 2005 has been a bad year for games. Everyone will have different tastes, but the only two that really held my attention were Super Mario Strikers and Guitar Hero. Regardless of tastes, though, there couldn't have been too many games that any one person could really fall in love with.
Reference Gamespot's platform picks and see how many you liked. Of course Strikers didn't even make a blip on their radar, which I'm disappointed in.
No... just makes it more 1337.
"If Nintendo could really find a way to get those people back, they'd really have something.
Oh, don't worry, they've announced several times that it's part of their strategy. The thing is shaped like a remote for a reason.
And if you don't get caught you're off scott-free. The worst that can happen is you lose what you stole and have to pay a little kicker. Let's see what happens to theft rates when fear of jail time is removed.
"I refuse to endorse the practice of cold-calling people and asking for money. It is just plain rude IMO. Charities may be allowed to do it by law, but that does not mean that they should." Amen to that!
I'll keep Amnesty International in my mind when I'm thinking of givig to charity... thanks for post.
...I have to buy an Xbox 360 because my TV is capable of recieving its signal. But under my logic, I don't, so I'm not buying one.
As much as I enjoy my Nintendo games, this is really narrow thinking. Some people like Xbox games and I'm sure some people are enjoying the 360 games on the market.
Now the question of whether those same games would be just as enjoyable on a regular old Xbox is another matter... The jump from N64/PS1 to GC/PS2/XBox seemed to have a little more impact on actual gameplay compared to what I'm seeing from the 360, but I suppose lots of number crunching comes in helpful on certain genres.
Not to knock HD, but I don't have it and the majority of people don't have it.
Now, with a story like this, you start seeing that HD is quite different from SD. I mean, now with future 360 games that they want to make "dark and atmospheric", they'll have to make an SD option that avoids the darker shades that can't be differentiated on an SD TV. Higher development costs.
With the Revo, there's a lot less to worry about. Say I make a game. I only have to worry about one type of definition. Think about it, that's a really big plus when you hear stories like this.
That's not meant to defend Nintendo completely though; there are problems with thier plan. The first is that HD will catch on, who knows how popular it'll be over the Revo's life cycle? If it becomes the standard, will the Revo's graphics start feeling dated when our eyes are spoiled by HD?
The other (bigger) problem is that apparantly some HDTVs don't show SD stuff very well. However, I really think that's poor on the part of the developers of those TVs. If I bought an HDTV, I'd be very sure that it shows SD stuff perfectly (not just fo the Revo's sake, either).
Aside: I'd also make sure it's not laggy; I've always been for action packed games, which are hurt by such lag. Hell, I'm a huge fan of rhythm games, probably the single most lag-sensitive genre out there. I've heard bad things about certain TVs on this front. I'd rather my games be playable than hi-res!
Did they hire the guy who made Fishy, was it just a coincidence that both of their games involve having a fish that eats smaller things, or was someone at Popcap one of the 2 million views of the game?