First of all, you bet your ass they're paying for it! A full recall (although they're not calling it that) on all the straps on the Wiimotes is going to cost them. Even if only 10% or something actually do send their's back, that's hundreds of thousands in shipping, repackaging, and wages for people having to put them back on.
Secondly, I don't think this could be FURTHER from the "bad boy card". This is Nintendo, voluntarely standing up, saying, "there's a problem with our product, we don't want anyone to get hurt, so bring it in and we'll fix it." I'm not sure if it quite plays the "pussy card" (not as much as DS friend codes, or anything like that), but it sure as hell isn't going to come across as "rebel" in ANYONE'S book.
Well, MFS isn't actually that bad, really, at least not for simple, rudimentary procedures. It's more the instruments that count anyway. Once you get into upper level commercial training, you're mostly reading displays only. In fact, quite a few simulators out there don't even have a "window", but simply instruments. Most of the actual control in a commercial plane is done through reading instruments, and as practice, many pilots prefer to train "in the dark". Flying isn't so much about "feel", as people think... hell, it's imposible to tell any kind of subtle movement on a 747, you think the pilots are going on instinct? My uncle logs hundreds of hours on various instrument-only simulators to train in procedures for all kinds of situations. Most of flying is simply knowing "what's going on" and then "what to do about it", and even simple PC simulators can help train quick procedural thinking, and reactions to certain phenominon. Of course, hydraulic, standalone simulators are the best, but they're fairly unnecessary for most training purposes.
Yes, actually my uncle was a participant in it, and it had a huge negative emotional effect on him. He was an electrical engineering student, so he (unlike many participants), knew exactly how electricity would effect the human body, so he stopped before they turned it up too much, but still he felt like he had been made to do horrible things. This had such a huge impact on his life, that before the experiment, he considered himself a Conciencious Objector, and was preparing to apply for CO status during the Vietnam war. After being forced to inflict pain on a person during the experiment, he felt he could no longer concider himself a CO, and was basically forced to inlist due to his birthdate (thankfully, due to his technical expertise, he became a radio technician far away from the frontlines... but he still hated it every day).
The Milgrim Experiment is one of the most famous, and most controversial experiments in history, partially because stories like my uncle's were very common, and people felt forever effected by what they had done, some to debilitating degrees. There was a huge law suit over the experiment, and, if I remember correctly, the Milgrim scientists lost the suit.
I actually quite like the strap, even if I'm playing something as kineticly tame as Zelda, it really feels like I'm "strapped in" to the game, it actually adds an extra little layer of immersion, in a funny way. I think it's comforting, for some reason. I don't know if other people have found this to be the case, or not, but a lot of people are wearing the straps.
Thank you. That was one of the most rivitting things I've read from my days on Slashdot for a long time. I do question if it was really real, or simply a thought experiment in the form of a story, but either way, it does very well to prove a point. My question come from believing that any school, or community, would allow such a thing to take place. Obviously, the school had to be very progressive for other teachers to be okay with students skipping class and enacting a fascist order, but at the same time, the uncertainty of the teacher and other adults as to how far it should go would have scared the shit out of most progressive thinkers (as it obviously did, him).
It is hard to understand, but not impossible, how something like this could happen. There are elements of Lord of the Flies, here, how societies can become twisted without even realizing it. I just finished rewatching an anime... don't know if your into the genre... called, "Now and Then, Here and There", which depicts the lives of a number of children as they're confronted with and pulled into a manevolent fascist regime. Another example of how anyone can become "re-educated" into such an environment.
Anyway, this article totally obliterates the notion that there was something inherent in German culture that could allow this to happen. Really, the only thing that allowed it to happen was an intense sense of dissolution and desire for redemtion, a society hanging on for one charasmatic leader to answer the call. Any society could have fallen into the same trap under different conditions.
Eh, I know he did the Xenogears soundtrack, and I've played it. And like the game itself, I thought the soundtrack was kinda "meh". Had some good stuff, and some crap, nothing phenominal. At least it wasn't as bad as the ChronoCross sountrack, JESUS CHRIST. But anyway, I think Uematsu's best soundtracks were FF6, FF8, and FF9 which was after Xenogears, and all blow it away. I'm not a fan of the Celtic style (ie: James Horner Titanic-esque crap) that Mitsuda tended toward later on. But the war between Uematsu and Mitsuda fans has been going on since ChronoTrigger came out, and we both know it's an unwinnable battle, so I'll leave it at that.
You CAN put Widgets on the desktop, and without the use of any 3rd party hacks or widgets. All you do is start dragging a widget, hit your dashboard hotkey (or screen corner, in my case), and boom, you're in normal view with your widget. This is very handy when taking notes, and transfering them back and forth to stickies. These still float on top, but I'd be scared of widgets that didn't float on top, anyway.
No, the one thing I really want to see, that Windows does a great job at is making Open and Save dialogs fully functional Finder windows: you can dragon drop to and from them, delete items from them, etc. which is really handy when you're wanting to organize a folder and save something to a folder all at the same time. This is the one noticable UI advantage I've seen in Windows, that I wish I had on the Mac side.
One small point, but not pertaining to myself so much, is that if you take a little time to set things up, with Expose, Dashboard, and other things, navigation is VERY fast, but the computer is really configured to YOUR style of navigation and operation. If someone else gets on your computer, they're immediately confused as to why all the windows fly away when they accidentally stick the mouse in the lower righthand corner, and getting to individual windows becomes a lot more of a pain. The windows task bar may not be as quick or elegant, but at least it's consistant all across the board. Getting on any windows computer, you know almost instantaniously how to navigate, but on OSX every interface setup dramatically changes the way you use it. I really like the customizability, but uncustomized, OS X is a little clunkier than Windows when uncustomized.
And even the PS2, as well as it did, didn't do that. The numbers are still flying about how all three consoles did world-wide, but the concensus seems to be that the PS2 came in first, world wide, with the XBox and GameCube coming in generally close together (some stats show the XBox leading, some the GameCube, so who knows). But even the gap between those wasn't astronomical. We're talking 40:30:30, or maybe 44:28:28. Even a 50:25:25 is pretty close, when you think about it. The final differences in sales between the SNES and Genesis were about 2:1 SNES (if I remember correctly), though everyone tends to look back on the systems that they were fairly equally regarded.
I'm of the opinion that no console is going to dominate, and that if the companies are smart (Sony, I'm talking to you), they'll all be able to establish a very loyal fanbase, based on demographic. Nintendo and Microsoft have done a very good job of establishing central demographics, with Nintendo aiming more at classic gamers, puzzle based games, shorter, even some more casual games, while Microsoft has established itself best in the 12-18 year old camp, with more "extreme" types of games, playing off of pop culture trends, as well as completely owning the sports community. Sony had something very strong going for them: epic games... RPGs and adventures that both required and bread a dedicated long-term fanbase. But they've almost completely ignored the demographics involved with that fanbase by engaging in a dick measuring contest with Microsoft. It's interesting that while Sony has been doing everything it can to appeal to the "hard core" "extreme" crowd, Microsoft, with Mistwalker, has been able to pull off taking a little of the mind share of the epic gamer crowd. It sorta reminds me of how GM and Ford were concentrating so heavily on pushing "ball crushing" SUVs, Toyota was able to pull the rug out from under them with a consistant line of extremely functional and reliable cars.
As a fan of more epic games, it's a bit of a split now, as Nintendo has never completely alienated us with constant sports games and FPSs, but have only recently started getting back the bandwagon. I was a total PS2 freak... but Sony sorta lost me on this one, partially in pricing, but also in their attitude, which makes it seem like they've completely lost any interest in playing to my psychographic. The XBox looked boorish and completely uninterested in anything I'd be interested in last generation, but with Blue Dragon, and a host of other games, I'm kinda thinking I might get one eventually. Bottom line, to me, Sony seem like the "bad guys" right now, and it really rubs off on every game I play on their systems now, and I can't seem to get over that.
480p is Extended Definition (EDTV), and is not a very widely used standard. 480i, commonly called NTSC (the current incarnation of which has been the North American and Japanese TV standard since the early 80s), is a good 100x more common than 480p. NTSC is also refered to, sometimes as Standard Definition (SDTV). The european "equivalent" (slower frame rate, but slightly higher definition) is PAL.
Uematsu's involvement in Chrono Trigger was extremely small, though, at only about 5-10 tracks, and mostly fairly minor ones (except for the normal boss battle theme, which was his). Mitsuda did the rest. Unfortunately, it is of my opinion that Mitsuda only went down hill from there, where as Uematsu is still doing great things, even if he hasn't done a complete soundtrack in a few years. I'm really excited to see how Blue Dragon turns out.
Given those three... if you're poor, you only have two choices: 1) obey the law, 2) die. Most people seem to forget that "leave the country" is only an option to those with means... those without can try, and very often die in the process. I applaud anyone who has the guts to leave their poverty stricken nation... yes, even Mexicans illegally crossing into the US. But I realize, that even then, it's only an option for a select few.
Re:Version numbers don't have any specific meaning
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VLC 0.8.6 Released
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· Score: 1
So, basically, what you're saying is that never going to 1.0 is a way of covering your ass, and keeping the press from throwing punches at you? Okay, I'm a huge perfectionist, I spend hours going over little EQ changes in music I produce, I'll sit on an orchestral score for weeks simply to change the 3rd Oboe part in a phrase to an english horn... and then back again. I know it can be tough, but at some point you gotta shit or get off the pot.
Keeping a program, indeffinitely below 1.0 has some major drawbacks. For one, it looks unprofessional. Traditionally, anything below 1.0 is a beta, which means that it's IN THE PROCESS OF BEING TESTED for becoming a full fledged version. Users would like to know that, eventually, they're going to get a program that the programmers consider "stable beyond a reasonable doubt". Many surface users and businesses are scared of betas, and won't use a program if it has an archiac, 3-point version number below 1.0, but will have no problem buying a buggy-as-all-gettup OS named after the year it was made. So you say, "but VLC isn't meant for surface users." Why not? It has the potential of being the most universally compatable media playersout there... no having to research or buy a new program when your best friend accidentally sends you her home movie in an obscure mpeg format. I'd like to see VLC on the desktop of every media fan out there, if possible. But that's NEVER going to happen the programers don't ever go 1.0.
Here's what programmers should do. At the time a program goes into public beta, they set a goal of features and stability that need to be met to call version 1.0. It's not perfection, since there is no such thing, but it's "stable beyond a reasonable doubt". And when they meet it, call it "Version 1.0" Of course there's always "ONE MORE THING!" So, who cares, add it in version 1.1.
Shit or get off the pot, man... shit or get off the pot.
Right, because Mario Kart for the SNES ran on a handheld and supported 8 player network play.
Furthermore, Mario Kart DS is NOTHING like Super Mario Kart (SNES). I think what you're thinking of is Mario Kart 64; the engine, of which, MKDS is based off of. And I will agree, Mario Kart DS, except for a few minor changes, is basically Mario Kart 64, with a new (and bigger) level set, and WiFi capabilities. That said, it was a very very welcome addition to the handheld game lineup, whether or not it was innovative (which I would agree, it wasn't). It was little more than a port of a really great game to a system that badly needed a port of it.
Similarly, Mario Kart Advance was based off the Super Mario Kart engine (with some minor changes), was a welcome addition... but a bit behind the times (Mode 7 died a horrible death at the hands of Star Fox, and had no need of returning).
The problem was Mario Kart Double Dash, which wasn't that bad of a game, but wasn't recieved too well, and basically just kept the same graphics, upped the polygon count, and really screwed with the gameplay (they were trying to be innovative, I'll give them that). Sadly, people would have been happier with Mario Kart 64 II, without the "2-seater" element, just a new level set andup-to-date graphics. They got it with Mario Kart DS.
Let's be fair, Mario Kart is not exactly Nintendo's "super innovative, OMG, you can't do that on a console!" series... leave that to Mario, Zelda, WarioWare, Smash, and some of their other games. No, Mario Kart is just a silly waste of time, fun as all hell, party game. It's a racing game... IE: just give me more courses, and I'm happy.
And apparently nobody at Microsoft is capable of good design, and what makes it then doubly hard is it's often not really clear exactly *why* something is a good design.
I don't think it's quite so much that no one at Microsoft is capable of good design, as the one's who are concerned with good design are passed up in favor of function designers, who are in tern pass up in favor of the developers, who are in turn are passed in favor of the coders, who are in turn passed up in favor of the sales department.
I work at a small local network TV station as a producer. Getting a sales team to realize that clean, professional design is actually good business practice is like trying to herd cats. And convincing them is only half the struggle, getting them to actually do something about it is another thing entirely.
Just the other day we were told that for every DVD or beta tape we gave to clients, we had to plaster a big "KTVF Creative Services: NOT FOR COMMERCIAL DISTROBUTION" watermark in the middle of the screen, which I fear may impede on our client's desire to show all their friends (potential clients) their cool ads. I wonder how many times it has been suggested, at a Microsoft board meeting, that a legality disclaimer be watermarked into the desktop wallpaper... I'm sure more than just a few.
No, it's due to unusually high domestic violence cases, and a extremely high drug abuse related crimes (often of which are violent).
Version Number Deflation...
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VLC 0.8.6 Released
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· Score: 5, Insightful
Is it just me, or does it make NO SENSE that this is a point.point upgrade? I don't care who you are, 0.0.1 upgrades are for things like bug fixes, small new implimentations, slight library recompiles... fuck: a new ICON. NOT major format additions, a UI overhaul, and a boatload of additional features!
I can understand the concern for version number inflation (Netscape 4 -> Netscape 6 was idiotic, same with Winamp 3 -> Winamp 5), but let's not be overly humble to the point of confusing users. Version Number Deflation looks just as silly.
I remember a time in which anything under 1.0 meant that a program was practically unusable and ONLY for elite users. But I've started to see a trend in the OSS community towards NEVER releasing a 1.0, as if 1.0 means that you're now an evil commercial entity that must be punished. No, 1.0 means "finished to the point of usability and beta tested to a certain level of solidity". Obviously, the finer points of this can be debated and are up to the descresion of the developer, but at a certain point, COME ON! When you've been working on a reasonably small audio player for over 4 years, and haven't even reached your 1.0, this tells me one of two things 1) You don't know how to code, and probably should find a new line of work, or 2) you're using numbers under 1.0 as a symbol of you're elitist OSS community status.
Seriously, I've tried VLC... it crashes sometimes... not as often as Windows... not as often as MPlayer... it's been above a 1.0 for YEARS now, just fucking call it what it is, and cut with the ritualistic, elitist, OSS symbolism bullshit.
Are we talking about the same game, Zelda - Twilight Princess? Because I never saw anything strange about Epona's model, and this is the first I've heard of it. The point is, you assume it's common knowledge that everyone's talking about, because you made no attempt to explain what you were talking about.
And who is having unusual relationship with minors? GameStop? EB Games? WTF?
I'll agree that the Wii launch lineup, as a whole, isn't all that impressive. That said, TP is ranked 11th of All Time... and in my opinion, this is actually unfairly low. It is also huge: I'm at 60 Hours right now, and just wrapping things up. I'd go as far as to say it beats the shit out of any other launch game... and that includes Mario World and Mario 64. So, for me, Twilight Princess IS the launch lineup, and a killer one at that, practically worth the price of the Wii in itself. It's been quite some time since a console had a Top 20 game at launch, and the fact that the Wii has pulled that off is a good sign. Now, that said, yes, I'm a little unhappy with the rest of the lineup, but I know that there are quite a few huge games just around the corner: MP3, two Mario games, Smash Bros Brawl, an FF spinoff, and a DQ spinoff, just to name a few. Currently, I've yet to finish FF12, and before that, Okami... so they will keep me busy for quite some time after I finish TP. By then, there should be some more great games for the Wii.
Oh, I also picked up Excite Truck on the side. Not a game I'll put hundreds of hours into, but it's a blast, none-the-less. Too bad it's not 4 player, because it's a great party game, simply in 2 player mode.
Hey, I'm a huge fan of the Wii, and I'm an even bigger fan of Metroid Prime, but I have my doubts that MP3 will be the be-all-and-end-all of FPSs. For one thing, Metroid Prime isn't an FPS, by genre, it's a sci-fi adventure game that HAPPENS to be in first person. It has never appealled, much, to the traditional FPS crowd, and unless they put in a damn impressive multiplayer (of which both Retro and Nintendo totally screwed up in their previous two MP outings: MP2 and Hunters), they're gonna take a lot of flack from the FPS community, who have embraced a total of 3 console shooters: Halo, Halo 2, and Gears of War. You have a huge schism between the FPS playing community, and the rest of the gaming community, and hardly ANY game has been able to greatly bridge that gap. As much as I love the Metroid series, I think the fact that it was started by the same company that made "Kirby's Dream Land", back in the day, will be enough to deter the FPS meat-head crowd.
Secondly, there are problems with the Wiimote as a perfect FPS controller. Aiming is beautiful, and I'm able to pick off enemies in Twilight Princess faster than I ever could in Counter Strike, on a PC, but combining that with movement, on the other hand, is another issue entirely. A game on rails, without the need to turn, run, and dodge, like you have with Zelda's bow&arrow scheme, is perfect, but using the margins of the screen to turn, is CLUNKY. I've been racking my brain on this one for quite some time, but I've still been unable to come up with a control scheme idea that isn't somehow greatly flawed. One notion is to completely abandon the Wiimote for all kind of head turning, and religate that to the analog stick, but then you're back to the FPS "problems" of Metroid Prime 1/2, in which you had to stop to look up or turn, which completely pissed of FPS freaks who accidently picked up MP thinking it was one. I have heard that some people have been able to fine tune the bounding box so that it's better than others, but MP3 got a lot of flack at E3 for its notoriously slow turning speed, and clunky "bounding box" control setup... I don't think we're there yet.
That said, Metroid Prime was far and away my favorite action/adventure game, until Twilight Princess came along and blew it out of the water, and I'd LOVE to see the next Metroid be a mega-hit crossover title. But most FPS fans I know have a vendetta against adventure games / RPGs, a category which Metroid falls smack in the middle of... so its gonna take an act of god for MP3 to become "The Next Halo". And with the recent debacles of Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid Prime Hunters (of which, I know, was not Retro... shame on you NINTENDO!) I'm guarding my expectations, just hoping that it lives up to MY enjoyment.
Yeah, automatically calling "Gears of War" the "best game" is a little one sided, as it will only appeal to certain audiences. This year is going to be insanly tough to give "game of the year" awards to, because we've had so many absolutely amazingly HUGE and wonderful games: Oblivion, Okami, FF12, Gears of War, Twilight Princess. My personal vote goes to Twilight Princess by a land slide, with Okami and FF12 coming in 2nd and 3rd... then again, I'm a pretty hard core RPG fan, so epic-style games are likely to come out on top. It's obvious that Okami is going to get forgotten, a bit, which is a shame since I feel it is an extremely inspired game, but I have a feeling that it's going to be a dead heat between FF12, Zelda, Oblivion, and Gears of War, with different types of gamers taking sides and looking to kill everyone else.
It's also easily the best control scheme ever made (the fighting in WW was too damn Context Sensitive), except for the item screen, which sorta blows. But the actual fighting controls are top notch. I agree, though, that at, now 60 hours in, with not anywhere close to every heart piece, and I THINK nearing the end of the story, it's definitely not a game for the faint of heart, not to mention its dark and slightly more sophisticated storyline/characters, are likely to bore the younger crowd. For the Final Fantasy gamer, this is the PERFECT Zelda, and is currently fighting a very convincing battle for all-around best game, in my book, but it's certainly not for everyone.
1. That arguement is fairly irrelivant. Culture dictates which liberties should be protected, and which liberties shouldn't. There are many fundimental liberties that most of us would agree, are bad to unleash on the population: the right to bear nuclear arms, being one of the extremes.
2. Not neccessarilly. Show me some real data, not compiled by wingnuts that proves this on a universal scale, I've been shown many smaller-scale arguements from both sides, none of which convince me either way.
I am not a strong supporter of "Self Deffense", because most of the time, it's scewed. If someone is obviously coming to kill you or anyone else in your vicinity, you should have the right to stop that any way you can... however, mortal harm is a last resort, and usually unneccessary. I do not, support, however, the right to "deffend" ones self, mortally, against simple intruders, tresspassers, or threat to personal property. Those things that are irrelivant to our physical well-being have no place to be met with the prospect or threat of physical violence.
I live in Fairbanks, Alaska, possibly the gun capital of the world. Everyone's got a "No Tresspassing" or "Will Shoot on Sight" sign, and it discusts me. For one thing, it's not so much a threat as a statement of one's aggression. My belief is that aggression is the largest contributer of crime in this country: all domestic violence (which account for a huge percentage of violent crimes), hate crimes, most gang warfare, etc. are crimes of aggression and statements of power. Gun control or not, I don't really care, all I really care about is curbing the rising atmosphere of aggression in this country. Canada has very lax gun control laws, and they are a fairly passive culture and have extremely low crime rates... so obviously it is possibly to have a gun weilding society without aggression and violence. I'm just not sure that americans, as a people, are responsible enough to own guns.
We have become the meatheads of the world, and all I care about is putting a stop to that... WHATEVER WAY WE CAN.
My opinion. I don't believe in an all out ban on guns, because I don't believe it accomplishes anything, but little things that force people to think about their responsibility, can be very effective. I'd like to see a required yearly test for people owning guns, at about the level of a foreign auto license, something that they have to study and work on, to make them appreciate the complexities of owning a firearm (people are much less likely to abuse something if they have to earn it). Waiting periods curb domestic violence disputes in which a party becomes angry and purchases a firearm with the intent of killing the other party on the spot... a "cool off" period is always good and has little impact on the responsible gun-owning population. Obviously there is a rare case, now and then, here and there, where someone has to buy a gun for self defense, fast... but in almost all cases they'd be better off contacting the authorities, who are better trained for this sort of thing anyway, or devising another strategy. These cases are few and far between, and greatly shaddowed by crimes of passion in which a "cool off" waiting period would deter. Oh, and I'm against excessiveness, although not quite so adament about it as most. A pistol and owning a Koleshnikov have very different purposes. An AK-47 is a bad choice for defending yourself in a civil situation... it is a very offensive weapon designed for mass warfare. There is no rhyme or reason for owning one other than looking tough, which, as I've stated before, is NOT a good reason.
Lastly, and probably most importantly, I'd like to see a concieled weapon law, but in reverse: you MUST conceal your weapons in public. Many people wear guns simply as a statement of their opinions and defining their aggression. This causes panic and fear in everyone. People are less likely to think about it, if a few people, here and there, have weapons hidden in their clothing, it may be an i
It sounds like most of the faults you find are in Metroid Prime 2, which I agree, was a huge dissapointment, so I don't know why we're still talking about it.
As for backtracking, it's simply a symtom of non-linear progression. I, personally, enjoy the re-traversing of old territory, especially when new possibilities come out of it later in the game. It's the difference between Super Mario Bros 1 and a game like Metroid. If you're intent on having all completely new territory, all the time, then you're not a good match for non-linear progressive gameplay. I suggest sticking to level-based things like Half-life, Kirby, or "travellog" type games like Final Fantasy X. I love seeing how old material begins to look different over the course of a game... new passages become available, you begin to understand the types of puzzles a little more, and suddenly you realize there are things in the room that you didn't know before.
Repetition is a beautiful thing if done correctly, and re-traversing old territory with new-found skills and knowledge is a great way to implement that. How boring would a metroid game be if it just went from point A to Z, without ever having you go back? THEN it would be a true FPS, almost all of which are level-based. I just can't play level-based games anymore, I need to feel the relationship between the places I'm exploring, or its not interesting.
Just cut it out with the confusing of "perspective" with genre. A game's genre isn't defined by a camera angle any more than it's defined by the time of day you're playing it!
Super Mario World is a 3rd person side-scroller, Mario 64 is a 2nd person 3D game, but they're both platformers. Link to the Past is in 3rd person top-view, while OoT is a 2nd person 3D game, but both are fantasy action/adventure games. Super Metroid is a 3rd person side-scroller, and Metroid Prime is a 1st person game, but both are sci-fi action/adventure games. Noone's going to call Super Metroid a side-scrolling shooter, any more than they're gonna call Link to the Past a top-view sword slasher. That would imply that the focus of the game is on killing baddies, having quick reflexes, and good aim. Contra is a side-scrolling shooter. Metal Slug is a side-scrolling shooter. Super Metroid is a side-scrolling action/adventure/platformer. It's like trying to say that Mario World and Contra are in the same genre because they both share the same viewpoint.
Back on the NES/SNES, there were only about 2 or 3 different perspectives you could have in a game, yet there are just as many genres as there are today. Noone would ever lump games together by what the viewpoint was, they would lump them together by what the focus of the game was on. Mario, Sonic, Megaman, all were about having precise jumping and running, therefor, they're usually thought to be in the catagory of platformers. Megaman has a bit of shooter in it as well. Zelda, Gardian Legend (great game which is almost a hybrid of Zelda, Metroid, and an top-view space shooter), and Metroid are epic adventure series that require a lot of navigation and problem solving, therefor, they're all under the unbrella of action/adventure games. Metroid also has some platformer aspects thrown in the mix (which Zelda later took on in its 3d incarnations). Contra, Ninja-Giaden, Metal Slug, and Double Dragon all focused on beating up baddies before they killed you, and being quick enough to do so. Contra also has some platformer aspects in it as well. All are shooters, and would later be succeeded by the FPS.
These games have NEVER been about that, most of the gameplay revolves around navigation and problem solving, the battles are very secondary, and the ones that are there are simply an extension of the problem solving: they're about figuring out how to take down different types of enemies correctly. Once you know how to "do it", there really isn't much skill involved, unlike a shooter, but this is the point. It's a brain teaser, in which you are required to juggle a lot of different tactics (most
Well, these are for the month of November, of which the console only launched halfway through. If 5K is accurate, then they're more than exceed 1m by the end of the year. At that rate, I think we're looking at 1.5m units sold by that time. Still, 1.5m units for one of the most anticipated consoles ever, is pretty scarce, so you're going to have to put a little energy and thought into planning how you're going to get it.
Start talking with sales staff at your local box stores. I say screw Gamestop, they're a little TOO organized, and their clientell is much more informed... thus the launch lines are longer and more cutthroat. You're better off targetting a less obvious place, like a Kroger Marketplace (called "Fred Meyer" here, which is where I got mine), or another general box store.
Lastly, treat every new shipment as a launch. It doesn't take much time to ask store representatives when and approximately what time of day they'll get a new shipment in. Do a little figuring as to the hype the system is drawing in your area to figure out just what lengths you're going to have to go to to get a Wii. All you have to do is be just slightly better informed than most of the population, which isn't difficult (since most people won't even know when a store will get a shipment in). Just a few minutes on the phone or in person, here and there, at a local box store, and you'll have a Wii in no time. And plus, it's kind of a fun little game in of itself, sort of like a Zelda puzzle, even before you get the game!
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First of all, you bet your ass they're paying for it! A full recall (although they're not calling it that) on all the straps on the Wiimotes is going to cost them. Even if only 10% or something actually do send their's back, that's hundreds of thousands in shipping, repackaging, and wages for people having to put them back on.
Secondly, I don't think this could be FURTHER from the "bad boy card". This is Nintendo, voluntarely standing up, saying, "there's a problem with our product, we don't want anyone to get hurt, so bring it in and we'll fix it." I'm not sure if it quite plays the "pussy card" (not as much as DS friend codes, or anything like that), but it sure as hell isn't going to come across as "rebel" in ANYONE'S book.
Well, MFS isn't actually that bad, really, at least not for simple, rudimentary procedures. It's more the instruments that count anyway. Once you get into upper level commercial training, you're mostly reading displays only. In fact, quite a few simulators out there don't even have a "window", but simply instruments. Most of the actual control in a commercial plane is done through reading instruments, and as practice, many pilots prefer to train "in the dark". Flying isn't so much about "feel", as people think... hell, it's imposible to tell any kind of subtle movement on a 747, you think the pilots are going on instinct? My uncle logs hundreds of hours on various instrument-only simulators to train in procedures for all kinds of situations. Most of flying is simply knowing "what's going on" and then "what to do about it", and even simple PC simulators can help train quick procedural thinking, and reactions to certain phenominon. Of course, hydraulic, standalone simulators are the best, but they're fairly unnecessary for most training purposes.
Yes, actually my uncle was a participant in it, and it had a huge negative emotional effect on him. He was an electrical engineering student, so he (unlike many participants), knew exactly how electricity would effect the human body, so he stopped before they turned it up too much, but still he felt like he had been made to do horrible things. This had such a huge impact on his life, that before the experiment, he considered himself a Conciencious Objector, and was preparing to apply for CO status during the Vietnam war. After being forced to inflict pain on a person during the experiment, he felt he could no longer concider himself a CO, and was basically forced to inlist due to his birthdate (thankfully, due to his technical expertise, he became a radio technician far away from the frontlines... but he still hated it every day).
The Milgrim Experiment is one of the most famous, and most controversial experiments in history, partially because stories like my uncle's were very common, and people felt forever effected by what they had done, some to debilitating degrees. There was a huge law suit over the experiment, and, if I remember correctly, the Milgrim scientists lost the suit.
I actually quite like the strap, even if I'm playing something as kineticly tame as Zelda, it really feels like I'm "strapped in" to the game, it actually adds an extra little layer of immersion, in a funny way. I think it's comforting, for some reason. I don't know if other people have found this to be the case, or not, but a lot of people are wearing the straps.
Jesus...
Thank you. That was one of the most rivitting things I've read from my days on Slashdot for a long time. I do question if it was really real, or simply a thought experiment in the form of a story, but either way, it does very well to prove a point. My question come from believing that any school, or community, would allow such a thing to take place. Obviously, the school had to be very progressive for other teachers to be okay with students skipping class and enacting a fascist order, but at the same time, the uncertainty of the teacher and other adults as to how far it should go would have scared the shit out of most progressive thinkers (as it obviously did, him).
It is hard to understand, but not impossible, how something like this could happen. There are elements of Lord of the Flies, here, how societies can become twisted without even realizing it. I just finished rewatching an anime... don't know if your into the genre... called, "Now and Then, Here and There", which depicts the lives of a number of children as they're confronted with and pulled into a manevolent fascist regime. Another example of how anyone can become "re-educated" into such an environment.
Anyway, this article totally obliterates the notion that there was something inherent in German culture that could allow this to happen. Really, the only thing that allowed it to happen was an intense sense of dissolution and desire for redemtion, a society hanging on for one charasmatic leader to answer the call. Any society could have fallen into the same trap under different conditions.
Once again, thanks.
Eh, I know he did the Xenogears soundtrack, and I've played it. And like the game itself, I thought the soundtrack was kinda "meh". Had some good stuff, and some crap, nothing phenominal. At least it wasn't as bad as the ChronoCross sountrack, JESUS CHRIST. But anyway, I think Uematsu's best soundtracks were FF6, FF8, and FF9 which was after Xenogears, and all blow it away. I'm not a fan of the Celtic style (ie: James Horner Titanic-esque crap) that Mitsuda tended toward later on. But the war between Uematsu and Mitsuda fans has been going on since ChronoTrigger came out, and we both know it's an unwinnable battle, so I'll leave it at that.
You CAN put Widgets on the desktop, and without the use of any 3rd party hacks or widgets. All you do is start dragging a widget, hit your dashboard hotkey (or screen corner, in my case), and boom, you're in normal view with your widget. This is very handy when taking notes, and transfering them back and forth to stickies. These still float on top, but I'd be scared of widgets that didn't float on top, anyway.
No, the one thing I really want to see, that Windows does a great job at is making Open and Save dialogs fully functional Finder windows: you can dragon drop to and from them, delete items from them, etc. which is really handy when you're wanting to organize a folder and save something to a folder all at the same time. This is the one noticable UI advantage I've seen in Windows, that I wish I had on the Mac side.
One small point, but not pertaining to myself so much, is that if you take a little time to set things up, with Expose, Dashboard, and other things, navigation is VERY fast, but the computer is really configured to YOUR style of navigation and operation. If someone else gets on your computer, they're immediately confused as to why all the windows fly away when they accidentally stick the mouse in the lower righthand corner, and getting to individual windows becomes a lot more of a pain. The windows task bar may not be as quick or elegant, but at least it's consistant all across the board. Getting on any windows computer, you know almost instantaniously how to navigate, but on OSX every interface setup dramatically changes the way you use it. I really like the customizability, but uncustomized, OS X is a little clunkier than Windows when uncustomized.
And even the PS2, as well as it did, didn't do that. The numbers are still flying about how all three consoles did world-wide, but the concensus seems to be that the PS2 came in first, world wide, with the XBox and GameCube coming in generally close together (some stats show the XBox leading, some the GameCube, so who knows). But even the gap between those wasn't astronomical. We're talking 40:30:30, or maybe 44:28:28. Even a 50:25:25 is pretty close, when you think about it. The final differences in sales between the SNES and Genesis were about 2:1 SNES (if I remember correctly), though everyone tends to look back on the systems that they were fairly equally regarded.
I'm of the opinion that no console is going to dominate, and that if the companies are smart (Sony, I'm talking to you), they'll all be able to establish a very loyal fanbase, based on demographic. Nintendo and Microsoft have done a very good job of establishing central demographics, with Nintendo aiming more at classic gamers, puzzle based games, shorter, even some more casual games, while Microsoft has established itself best in the 12-18 year old camp, with more "extreme" types of games, playing off of pop culture trends, as well as completely owning the sports community. Sony had something very strong going for them: epic games... RPGs and adventures that both required and bread a dedicated long-term fanbase. But they've almost completely ignored the demographics involved with that fanbase by engaging in a dick measuring contest with Microsoft. It's interesting that while Sony has been doing everything it can to appeal to the "hard core" "extreme" crowd, Microsoft, with Mistwalker, has been able to pull off taking a little of the mind share of the epic gamer crowd. It sorta reminds me of how GM and Ford were concentrating so heavily on pushing "ball crushing" SUVs, Toyota was able to pull the rug out from under them with a consistant line of extremely functional and reliable cars.
As a fan of more epic games, it's a bit of a split now, as Nintendo has never completely alienated us with constant sports games and FPSs, but have only recently started getting back the bandwagon. I was a total PS2 freak... but Sony sorta lost me on this one, partially in pricing, but also in their attitude, which makes it seem like they've completely lost any interest in playing to my psychographic. The XBox looked boorish and completely uninterested in anything I'd be interested in last generation, but with Blue Dragon, and a host of other games, I'm kinda thinking I might get one eventually. Bottom line, to me, Sony seem like the "bad guys" right now, and it really rubs off on every game I play on their systems now, and I can't seem to get over that.
Just to be an ass and clarify something for you:
480p is Extended Definition (EDTV), and is not a very widely used standard. 480i, commonly called NTSC (the current incarnation of which has been the North American and Japanese TV standard since the early 80s), is a good 100x more common than 480p. NTSC is also refered to, sometimes as Standard Definition (SDTV). The european "equivalent" (slower frame rate, but slightly higher definition) is PAL.
Uematsu's involvement in Chrono Trigger was extremely small, though, at only about 5-10 tracks, and mostly fairly minor ones (except for the normal boss battle theme, which was his). Mitsuda did the rest. Unfortunately, it is of my opinion that Mitsuda only went down hill from there, where as Uematsu is still doing great things, even if he hasn't done a complete soundtrack in a few years. I'm really excited to see how Blue Dragon turns out.
Given those three... if you're poor, you only have two choices: 1) obey the law, 2) die. Most people seem to forget that "leave the country" is only an option to those with means... those without can try, and very often die in the process. I applaud anyone who has the guts to leave their poverty stricken nation... yes, even Mexicans illegally crossing into the US. But I realize, that even then, it's only an option for a select few.
So, basically, what you're saying is that never going to 1.0 is a way of covering your ass, and keeping the press from throwing punches at you? Okay, I'm a huge perfectionist, I spend hours going over little EQ changes in music I produce, I'll sit on an orchestral score for weeks simply to change the 3rd Oboe part in a phrase to an english horn... and then back again. I know it can be tough, but at some point you gotta shit or get off the pot.
Keeping a program, indeffinitely below 1.0 has some major drawbacks. For one, it looks unprofessional. Traditionally, anything below 1.0 is a beta, which means that it's IN THE PROCESS OF BEING TESTED for becoming a full fledged version. Users would like to know that, eventually, they're going to get a program that the programmers consider "stable beyond a reasonable doubt". Many surface users and businesses are scared of betas, and won't use a program if it has an archiac, 3-point version number below 1.0, but will have no problem buying a buggy-as-all-gettup OS named after the year it was made. So you say, "but VLC isn't meant for surface users." Why not? It has the potential of being the most universally compatable media playersout there... no having to research or buy a new program when your best friend accidentally sends you her home movie in an obscure mpeg format. I'd like to see VLC on the desktop of every media fan out there, if possible. But that's NEVER going to happen the programers don't ever go 1.0.
Here's what programmers should do. At the time a program goes into public beta, they set a goal of features and stability that need to be met to call version 1.0. It's not perfection, since there is no such thing, but it's "stable beyond a reasonable doubt". And when they meet it, call it "Version 1.0" Of course there's always "ONE MORE THING!" So, who cares, add it in version 1.1.
Shit or get off the pot, man... shit or get off the pot.
Furthermore, Mario Kart DS is NOTHING like Super Mario Kart (SNES). I think what you're thinking of is Mario Kart 64; the engine, of which, MKDS is based off of. And I will agree, Mario Kart DS, except for a few minor changes, is basically Mario Kart 64, with a new (and bigger) level set, and WiFi capabilities. That said, it was a very very welcome addition to the handheld game lineup, whether or not it was innovative (which I would agree, it wasn't). It was little more than a port of a really great game to a system that badly needed a port of it.
Similarly, Mario Kart Advance was based off the Super Mario Kart engine (with some minor changes), was a welcome addition... but a bit behind the times (Mode 7 died a horrible death at the hands of Star Fox, and had no need of returning).
The problem was Mario Kart Double Dash, which wasn't that bad of a game, but wasn't recieved too well, and basically just kept the same graphics, upped the polygon count, and really screwed with the gameplay (they were trying to be innovative, I'll give them that). Sadly, people would have been happier with Mario Kart 64 II, without the "2-seater" element, just a new level set andup-to-date graphics. They got it with Mario Kart DS.
Let's be fair, Mario Kart is not exactly Nintendo's "super innovative, OMG, you can't do that on a console!" series... leave that to Mario, Zelda, WarioWare, Smash, and some of their other games. No, Mario Kart is just a silly waste of time, fun as all hell, party game. It's a racing game... IE: just give me more courses, and I'm happy.
I don't think it's quite so much that no one at Microsoft is capable of good design, as the one's who are concerned with good design are passed up in favor of function designers, who are in tern pass up in favor of the developers, who are in turn are passed in favor of the coders, who are in turn passed up in favor of the sales department.
I work at a small local network TV station as a producer. Getting a sales team to realize that clean, professional design is actually good business practice is like trying to herd cats. And convincing them is only half the struggle, getting them to actually do something about it is another thing entirely.
Just the other day we were told that for every DVD or beta tape we gave to clients, we had to plaster a big "KTVF Creative Services: NOT FOR COMMERCIAL DISTROBUTION" watermark in the middle of the screen, which I fear may impede on our client's desire to show all their friends (potential clients) their cool ads. I wonder how many times it has been suggested, at a Microsoft board meeting, that a legality disclaimer be watermarked into the desktop wallpaper... I'm sure more than just a few.
No, it's due to unusually high domestic violence cases, and a extremely high drug abuse related crimes (often of which are violent).
Is it just me, or does it make NO SENSE that this is a point.point upgrade? I don't care who you are, 0.0.1 upgrades are for things like bug fixes, small new implimentations, slight library recompiles... fuck: a new ICON. NOT major format additions, a UI overhaul, and a boatload of additional features!
I can understand the concern for version number inflation (Netscape 4 -> Netscape 6 was idiotic, same with Winamp 3 -> Winamp 5), but let's not be overly humble to the point of confusing users. Version Number Deflation looks just as silly.
I remember a time in which anything under 1.0 meant that a program was practically unusable and ONLY for elite users. But I've started to see a trend in the OSS community towards NEVER releasing a 1.0, as if 1.0 means that you're now an evil commercial entity that must be punished. No, 1.0 means "finished to the point of usability and beta tested to a certain level of solidity". Obviously, the finer points of this can be debated and are up to the descresion of the developer, but at a certain point, COME ON! When you've been working on a reasonably small audio player for over 4 years, and haven't even reached your 1.0, this tells me one of two things 1) You don't know how to code, and probably should find a new line of work, or 2) you're using numbers under 1.0 as a symbol of you're elitist OSS community status.
Seriously, I've tried VLC... it crashes sometimes... not as often as Windows... not as often as MPlayer... it's been above a 1.0 for YEARS now, just fucking call it what it is, and cut with the ritualistic, elitist, OSS symbolism bullshit.
Are we talking about the same game, Zelda - Twilight Princess? Because I never saw anything strange about Epona's model, and this is the first I've heard of it. The point is, you assume it's common knowledge that everyone's talking about, because you made no attempt to explain what you were talking about.
And who is having unusual relationship with minors? GameStop? EB Games? WTF?
Maybe I missed something, but... hmmm... WHAT?!
I'll agree that the Wii launch lineup, as a whole, isn't all that impressive. That said, TP is ranked 11th of All Time... and in my opinion, this is actually unfairly low. It is also huge: I'm at 60 Hours right now, and just wrapping things up. I'd go as far as to say it beats the shit out of any other launch game... and that includes Mario World and Mario 64. So, for me, Twilight Princess IS the launch lineup, and a killer one at that, practically worth the price of the Wii in itself. It's been quite some time since a console had a Top 20 game at launch, and the fact that the Wii has pulled that off is a good sign. Now, that said, yes, I'm a little unhappy with the rest of the lineup, but I know that there are quite a few huge games just around the corner: MP3, two Mario games, Smash Bros Brawl, an FF spinoff, and a DQ spinoff, just to name a few. Currently, I've yet to finish FF12, and before that, Okami... so they will keep me busy for quite some time after I finish TP. By then, there should be some more great games for the Wii.
Oh, I also picked up Excite Truck on the side. Not a game I'll put hundreds of hours into, but it's a blast, none-the-less. Too bad it's not 4 player, because it's a great party game, simply in 2 player mode.
Hey, I'm a huge fan of the Wii, and I'm an even bigger fan of Metroid Prime, but I have my doubts that MP3 will be the be-all-and-end-all of FPSs. For one thing, Metroid Prime isn't an FPS, by genre, it's a sci-fi adventure game that HAPPENS to be in first person. It has never appealled, much, to the traditional FPS crowd, and unless they put in a damn impressive multiplayer (of which both Retro and Nintendo totally screwed up in their previous two MP outings: MP2 and Hunters), they're gonna take a lot of flack from the FPS community, who have embraced a total of 3 console shooters: Halo, Halo 2, and Gears of War. You have a huge schism between the FPS playing community, and the rest of the gaming community, and hardly ANY game has been able to greatly bridge that gap. As much as I love the Metroid series, I think the fact that it was started by the same company that made "Kirby's Dream Land", back in the day, will be enough to deter the FPS meat-head crowd.
Secondly, there are problems with the Wiimote as a perfect FPS controller. Aiming is beautiful, and I'm able to pick off enemies in Twilight Princess faster than I ever could in Counter Strike, on a PC, but combining that with movement, on the other hand, is another issue entirely. A game on rails, without the need to turn, run, and dodge, like you have with Zelda's bow&arrow scheme, is perfect, but using the margins of the screen to turn, is CLUNKY. I've been racking my brain on this one for quite some time, but I've still been unable to come up with a control scheme idea that isn't somehow greatly flawed. One notion is to completely abandon the Wiimote for all kind of head turning, and religate that to the analog stick, but then you're back to the FPS "problems" of Metroid Prime 1/2, in which you had to stop to look up or turn, which completely pissed of FPS freaks who accidently picked up MP thinking it was one. I have heard that some people have been able to fine tune the bounding box so that it's better than others, but MP3 got a lot of flack at E3 for its notoriously slow turning speed, and clunky "bounding box" control setup... I don't think we're there yet.
That said, Metroid Prime was far and away my favorite action/adventure game, until Twilight Princess came along and blew it out of the water, and I'd LOVE to see the next Metroid be a mega-hit crossover title. But most FPS fans I know have a vendetta against adventure games / RPGs, a category which Metroid falls smack in the middle of... so its gonna take an act of god for MP3 to become "The Next Halo". And with the recent debacles of Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid Prime Hunters (of which, I know, was not Retro... shame on you NINTENDO!) I'm guarding my expectations, just hoping that it lives up to MY enjoyment.
Yeah, automatically calling "Gears of War" the "best game" is a little one sided, as it will only appeal to certain audiences. This year is going to be insanly tough to give "game of the year" awards to, because we've had so many absolutely amazingly HUGE and wonderful games: Oblivion, Okami, FF12, Gears of War, Twilight Princess. My personal vote goes to Twilight Princess by a land slide, with Okami and FF12 coming in 2nd and 3rd... then again, I'm a pretty hard core RPG fan, so epic-style games are likely to come out on top. It's obvious that Okami is going to get forgotten, a bit, which is a shame since I feel it is an extremely inspired game, but I have a feeling that it's going to be a dead heat between FF12, Zelda, Oblivion, and Gears of War, with different types of gamers taking sides and looking to kill everyone else.
It's also easily the best control scheme ever made (the fighting in WW was too damn Context Sensitive), except for the item screen, which sorta blows. But the actual fighting controls are top notch. I agree, though, that at, now 60 hours in, with not anywhere close to every heart piece, and I THINK nearing the end of the story, it's definitely not a game for the faint of heart, not to mention its dark and slightly more sophisticated storyline/characters, are likely to bore the younger crowd. For the Final Fantasy gamer, this is the PERFECT Zelda, and is currently fighting a very convincing battle for all-around best game, in my book, but it's certainly not for everyone.
I'll bite.
1. That arguement is fairly irrelivant. Culture dictates which liberties should be protected, and which liberties shouldn't. There are many fundimental liberties that most of us would agree, are bad to unleash on the population: the right to bear nuclear arms, being one of the extremes.
2. Not neccessarilly. Show me some real data, not compiled by wingnuts that proves this on a universal scale, I've been shown many smaller-scale arguements from both sides, none of which convince me either way.
I am not a strong supporter of "Self Deffense", because most of the time, it's scewed. If someone is obviously coming to kill you or anyone else in your vicinity, you should have the right to stop that any way you can... however, mortal harm is a last resort, and usually unneccessary. I do not, support, however, the right to "deffend" ones self, mortally, against simple intruders, tresspassers, or threat to personal property. Those things that are irrelivant to our physical well-being have no place to be met with the prospect or threat of physical violence.
I live in Fairbanks, Alaska, possibly the gun capital of the world. Everyone's got a "No Tresspassing" or "Will Shoot on Sight" sign, and it discusts me. For one thing, it's not so much a threat as a statement of one's aggression. My belief is that aggression is the largest contributer of crime in this country: all domestic violence (which account for a huge percentage of violent crimes), hate crimes, most gang warfare, etc. are crimes of aggression and statements of power. Gun control or not, I don't really care, all I really care about is curbing the rising atmosphere of aggression in this country. Canada has very lax gun control laws, and they are a fairly passive culture and have extremely low crime rates... so obviously it is possibly to have a gun weilding society without aggression and violence. I'm just not sure that americans, as a people, are responsible enough to own guns.
We have become the meatheads of the world, and all I care about is putting a stop to that... WHATEVER WAY WE CAN.
My opinion. I don't believe in an all out ban on guns, because I don't believe it accomplishes anything, but little things that force people to think about their responsibility, can be very effective. I'd like to see a required yearly test for people owning guns, at about the level of a foreign auto license, something that they have to study and work on, to make them appreciate the complexities of owning a firearm (people are much less likely to abuse something if they have to earn it). Waiting periods curb domestic violence disputes in which a party becomes angry and purchases a firearm with the intent of killing the other party on the spot... a "cool off" period is always good and has little impact on the responsible gun-owning population. Obviously there is a rare case, now and then, here and there, where someone has to buy a gun for self defense, fast... but in almost all cases they'd be better off contacting the authorities, who are better trained for this sort of thing anyway, or devising another strategy. These cases are few and far between, and greatly shaddowed by crimes of passion in which a "cool off" waiting period would deter. Oh, and I'm against excessiveness, although not quite so adament about it as most. A pistol and owning a Koleshnikov have very different purposes. An AK-47 is a bad choice for defending yourself in a civil situation... it is a very offensive weapon designed for mass warfare. There is no rhyme or reason for owning one other than looking tough, which, as I've stated before, is NOT a good reason.
Lastly, and probably most importantly, I'd like to see a concieled weapon law, but in reverse: you MUST conceal your weapons in public. Many people wear guns simply as a statement of their opinions and defining their aggression. This causes panic and fear in everyone. People are less likely to think about it, if a few people, here and there, have weapons hidden in their clothing, it may be an i
It sounds like most of the faults you find are in Metroid Prime 2, which I agree, was a huge dissapointment, so I don't know why we're still talking about it.
As for backtracking, it's simply a symtom of non-linear progression. I, personally, enjoy the re-traversing of old territory, especially when new possibilities come out of it later in the game. It's the difference between Super Mario Bros 1 and a game like Metroid. If you're intent on having all completely new territory, all the time, then you're not a good match for non-linear progressive gameplay. I suggest sticking to level-based things like Half-life, Kirby, or "travellog" type games like Final Fantasy X. I love seeing how old material begins to look different over the course of a game... new passages become available, you begin to understand the types of puzzles a little more, and suddenly you realize there are things in the room that you didn't know before.
Repetition is a beautiful thing if done correctly, and re-traversing old territory with new-found skills and knowledge is a great way to implement that. How boring would a metroid game be if it just went from point A to Z, without ever having you go back? THEN it would be a true FPS, almost all of which are level-based. I just can't play level-based games anymore, I need to feel the relationship between the places I'm exploring, or its not interesting.
Just cut it out with the confusing of "perspective" with genre. A game's genre isn't defined by a camera angle any more than it's defined by the time of day you're playing it!
Super Mario World is a 3rd person side-scroller, Mario 64 is a 2nd person 3D game, but they're both platformers. Link to the Past is in 3rd person top-view, while OoT is a 2nd person 3D game, but both are fantasy action/adventure games. Super Metroid is a 3rd person side-scroller, and Metroid Prime is a 1st person game, but both are sci-fi action/adventure games. Noone's going to call Super Metroid a side-scrolling shooter, any more than they're gonna call Link to the Past a top-view sword slasher. That would imply that the focus of the game is on killing baddies, having quick reflexes, and good aim. Contra is a side-scrolling shooter. Metal Slug is a side-scrolling shooter. Super Metroid is a side-scrolling action/adventure/platformer. It's like trying to say that Mario World and Contra are in the same genre because they both share the same viewpoint.
Back on the NES/SNES, there were only about 2 or 3 different perspectives you could have in a game, yet there are just as many genres as there are today. Noone would ever lump games together by what the viewpoint was, they would lump them together by what the focus of the game was on. Mario, Sonic, Megaman, all were about having precise jumping and running, therefor, they're usually thought to be in the catagory of platformers. Megaman has a bit of shooter in it as well. Zelda, Gardian Legend (great game which is almost a hybrid of Zelda, Metroid, and an top-view space shooter), and Metroid are epic adventure series that require a lot of navigation and problem solving, therefor, they're all under the unbrella of action/adventure games. Metroid also has some platformer aspects thrown in the mix (which Zelda later took on in its 3d incarnations). Contra, Ninja-Giaden, Metal Slug, and Double Dragon all focused on beating up baddies before they killed you, and being quick enough to do so. Contra also has some platformer aspects in it as well. All are shooters, and would later be succeeded by the FPS.
These games have NEVER been about that, most of the gameplay revolves around navigation and problem solving, the battles are very secondary, and the ones that are there are simply an extension of the problem solving: they're about figuring out how to take down different types of enemies correctly. Once you know how to "do it", there really isn't much skill involved, unlike a shooter, but this is the point. It's a brain teaser, in which you are required to juggle a lot of different tactics (most
Well, these are for the month of November, of which the console only launched halfway through. If 5K is accurate, then they're more than exceed 1m by the end of the year. At that rate, I think we're looking at 1.5m units sold by that time. Still, 1.5m units for one of the most anticipated consoles ever, is pretty scarce, so you're going to have to put a little energy and thought into planning how you're going to get it.
Start talking with sales staff at your local box stores. I say screw Gamestop, they're a little TOO organized, and their clientell is much more informed... thus the launch lines are longer and more cutthroat. You're better off targetting a less obvious place, like a Kroger Marketplace (called "Fred Meyer" here, which is where I got mine), or another general box store.
Lastly, treat every new shipment as a launch. It doesn't take much time to ask store representatives when and approximately what time of day they'll get a new shipment in. Do a little figuring as to the hype the system is drawing in your area to figure out just what lengths you're going to have to go to to get a Wii. All you have to do is be just slightly better informed than most of the population, which isn't difficult (since most people won't even know when a store will get a shipment in). Just a few minutes on the phone or in person, here and there, at a local box store, and you'll have a Wii in no time. And plus, it's kind of a fun little game in of itself, sort of like a Zelda puzzle, even before you get the game!