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Hilarious if they managed to score some SE characters like Lightning or Fang.

I don't see the episode being anymore than "remember when we said you never piss off linux users? Yeah, this is why.", and then talk about how to handle PR. I don't think there are enough objective facts on the issue that we know of to do a whole episode on.

I didn't think it was unbalanced as much as the online was shit. Like seriously, lag tactics? Something's hella wrong here. Of course the guest Star Wars characters were pretty terrible. And the plot was relatively convoluted. I also thought the characters and their lip syncs/voice acting was bloody terrible. But balance issues? maybe Algol was pretty fucked.

KK So I'm probably going to be grabbing this game like this or next week maybe(damned school). So the Continuum Shift II update is free, but the characters are still paid DLC, right?

I have the same experience. The only fighter that my female friends love to death and will play other than some casual Street Fighter is Soul Calibur. From the ones I've asked, it has a lot to do with character creation, the audio/visual aesthetics of the game, and the characters and their backgrounds(I'm inclined to agree. I like Sophitia and Cassandra's back story). Also who can resist 3D weapon combat? Also: Patroklos looks like a total douche. Seigfried looks OK for an "old and frail" dude.

So I managed to grab a copy of the game on the uber cheap yesterday(7 bucks at GS), and while I haven't had much time to give it a whirl, I did play about an hour of it, and I gotta say I think I'm going to like it a lot. I love how the combat is still somewhat action-based with the trigger moves and such. Also, why would anyone complain about encounter rates in a series that is all about action and blowing shit up...? 0_o

So yeah, fellas. Some of you may have seen Namco-Bandai's latest countdown clock, which most people naturally assumed would be for the next entry in the Soul Edge/Calibur series given a few hints from the game's producer, Daishi Odashima and the clock's imagery. At a Namco-Bandai press event(in Dubai no less) today, the producer went ahead and released an announcement teaser trailer of the game(incidentally to a press crowd that looked like they had all just taken some Ritalin). It's speculated that once the countdown clock ends in a few hours that we'll get a web page with the current info we know or maybe a bit more. As for the info we DO know: - The game is set 17 years after Soul Calibur IV and takes Siegfried's ending as canon. - Sophitia's son, Patroklos, will be the main character. - All new characters(potentially entire cast) will be making appearances while previous characters that show up will appear "old and frail"(not sure how upper 30's is frail, but whatever). - Gameplay will be faster than SCIV and apparently they're taking steps to ensure better online playability. - ...Return of guest characters... Ugh... There are a few more details at the Eurogamer page here, but what do you all think? Will we finally have a game that has longer legs than SCIV ever did? Will there still be any insanely cheesy exploits a la Kilik online? How big will Ivy's breasts be THIS time around or will they just sag around on the ground by now(to which I point you all to Mark MacDonald's retweet of a handy "reference chart")? Anyway, check out the producer's Twitter feed for the latest updates. Get hype! Update 1: Here's the link to the main site. They're currently displaying incomplete character sketches that people can help complete by liking the Soul Calibur page on Facebook. Thus far Pyrra, Seigfried, and Mitsurugi have been revealed this way. Get to liking that page! Here's the first gameplay trailer Seigfreid: Pyrra: Mitsurugi: Patroklos:

Protip about Texas: Anywhere that isn't San Antonio or Austin is crap, as has already been mentioned. In fact, the closer you get to Louisiana from there, the worse it gets. Having lived in Louisiana for 4 years and having gone to east Texas(particularly Houston) many times, I'm glad I'm not there anymore. Yep, that's all I have to contribute.

Haha, Dreamcast 2. Man, you guys.

Sounds like your friend just has trouble communicating thoughts and thus you had a hard time understanding what he meant, which was probably just that "the 3D graphics on this game look better than those on the version you like playing". Of course you'd know your friend better than I do, but I wouldn't necessarily toss out what he's saying as tripe. I'd grimace before regaining my composure of course, but not toss out outright. I agree that I think this is a problem with the masses as a whole though. I used to enjoy DDR, and my older brother got into the guitar hero/rockband fad(we can call it a fad now!) a few years ago, and when describing the game to our mother, he said "it's kind of like that DDR game, but with real music". Now granted I thought he just insulted the work of a few good people, and somewhere in the world a Beatdrop shed a tear, but in retrospect he was probably trying to articulate "music that more people are generally familiar with/that he likes". Also, did you guys know that The Damned has a general affinity for Nintendo and Nintendo products? He also seems to be quite the Pokemon fan. He's quite the character, that guy. Although back on to the actual topic, I agree that I can't see the hardware going much further, especially since PC gaming hasn't made any substantial leaps lately either in terms of graphics. Thus, if the rumors of a new Xbox being announced now is true, then I'd like to officially welcome video game consoles to the iPhone business model of things.

Back on the Other M side of things, if there's anything that game has taught me it's that unless you have a writer with actual skills to produce something worthwhile, and in the case of an established franchise like Metroid, somebody who knows how to respect said franchise and weave a believable story into it, then game developers should probably stay way the hell away from storytelling in games. They generally suck at it. Of course without fleshing out characters in that way, you end up with two-dimensional characters that aren't particularly compelling at all, and let's face it: everything about Samus, Link, Mario, etc. is 2D. They're just avatars for your actions in games about cartoony space pirate lizard things, little octopi that shoot rocks and plumbers that jump stomp on goombas. Maybe this isn't a bad thing though. Do we really NEED a higher level of characterization in games than we already have?

I agree... I think a lot of what helped OoT to be so awesome may have been the fact that we weren't in "Zelda fatigue" when it came out. I think that for your scenario to happen though, Nintendo is REALLY going to have to get some great 3rd party support, so they can give their first parties a break once in awhile.

Who said anything about being inventive enough? You're right that Microsoft and Sony aren't exactly sterling in that problem either, but the existence of one problem doesn't validate the same problem in another context. This of course assuming I was making that argument in the first place, which I wasn't. What I'm talking about is corporate strategies and cultures. It's been Nintendo's strategy since the DS to consciously neuter their online functionality in the name of security, and all that's done is hamper 3rd parties from taking full advantage of online play on their system. Yes there are games now that try to do so, but at this point the audience just isn't there anymore. I applaud Nintendo for their consistent message of "playing with your buddies on the same couch is an experience online can't compare to", because I totally agree; playing Mario Kart Wii with your buddies laughing it up is something online can't replicate. Fact of the matter though is that the entire industry is moving in the online direction, and at least in the U.S. for older populations(IE not school kids), local play is getting harder and harder, so players move to the systems that do online well. And I agree that Nintendo has great first party franchises(that's basically what their systems have to subsist off nowadays), but due to the massive financial flop of a game like Metroid Other M, which DID reinvent the gameplay of the series(although it failed in its other mission statement), they may be less inclined to take any huge risks on current properties, which means we'll probably be seeing more 2D Donkey Kong, Kirby, and Mario, and more OoT Zelda for as long as they keep selling. That isn't a knock as much as it's just business. You can enjoy Nintendo as much as you want. Like what you like and like liking it, but to say there's nothing wrong with something when there most certainly is is ignorant. That'd be like me saying Square-Enix doesn't have a quality control problem with their latest releases. To be fair to that whole "they need to reinvent these games, blah blah blah"(now I'm talking about reinvention), there's only so many ways you can reinvent Mario before you take out the platforming, the goombas, and then what do you have? You have the equivalent of the new Devil May Cry: A terrible amalgamation of a character that was once great. ...Or Sonic.

All I know is that whatever hardware Nintendo plans on releasing, they're bound to squander it post-launch aside from an HD Mario or Zelda game. While all three publishers are obviously out to make the big bucks, Nintendo is the one that seems to enjoy playing it the safest, and after Metroid Other M(which while very different, was also very flawed) didn't put in nearly the numbers they wanted, it's probably unlikely that the Big N will put their big money stamp on something that doesn't have Mario or Zelda in the title.... Or Wii Sports or Wii Fit. Add to that their horrendous track record for online connectivity that is beyond oppressively designed, and you have a system that nobody outside Nintendo fan boys that are probably going to be eating this thing up. If Nintendo wants to break out of the casual soccer mom audience and be really relevant in the gaming space(and why should they bother doing that if it makes them tons of cash as is), they're going to have to work on making some big organizational changes to get my dollar again.

Oh man, Zeality...

Here's to hoping they actually make a conscious effort to change things up in the gameplay mechanics/progression. Playing Ocarina of Time over and over is getting stale.

So have they fixed the online yet? I'm thinking that I'll be able to come back post mid-may or so, but that's been the one thing really stopping me from doing so.

I'm furious at everything! If anybody needs me, I'll be in the angry dome!

Actually I think Geohotz was pretty adamant about saying that he was annoyed that he couldn't install Linux on his system.

Hai gais. Sony r teh suks y cant i get on psn yo? No but seriously. This is balls for the honest gamers out there who just want to wail on eachother online. Hope this gets fixed soon. Seriously people of the internet. When you're trying to make a statement, could you do it without fucking everyone else over?

I don't think the power-up hunting counts that much for exploratory as you still have the little blips that have always been present in Metroid games to my knowledge. I think when I get home, I'll try going through the game again like Arek and see how I feel about it. The only things that really bugged me was some of the goofy voice acting and some of the drama. Ultimately I think had Sakamoto had someone who could write a story, maybe added a bit more exploration as well as not having to get items in a sequential order, the game may have been better received. I don't really think I mind the game going for 25 bucks though. If anything, games like Twilight Princess that came out years ago selling for 50 bucks is bloody criminal.

Am I supposed to have some kind of context before listening to the ending theme? 'Cause I don't really like it as much as the first one.

It's pretty much a given that anything that isn't Mario in 2D will not sell in the high millions. Ask any of my older family about Mario, they'll rave on about Super Mario Bros. Ask 'em anything about Metroid, they'll respond with "Who's this robot thing?" Metroid Other M isn't cute, isn't 2D, isn't a shooter, and has more than a few botchy story moments. All those things considered, 800k copies isn't entirely out of line for a radically different entry in a series whose last few entries have had about 1.5 million copies sold each in their lifetime(save the original Prime, which sold close to 2 million).

You guys should take your pokegasm over to the actual Pokemon thread.

Goddammit who cares anymore?