Vivi22

I don't think the problem lies so much with people not buying third party titles for the Wii so much as it's too cheap and easy for them to put out casual games and shovelware for next to nothing and earn a lot of money off of it with relatively few sales. In fact, by bringing in the more casual gaming crowd who want stuff more along the lines of Peggle than MGS or FF, Nintendo pretty much guaranteed that a lot of developers would go for the quick buck. That's not to say every developer does it, but there's no denying that the games from third parties that appeal to your hardcore gaming crowd are few and far between, and mostly from Nintendo. So we end up in a bit of a vicious cycle; there's a guaranteed audience for your Metal Gear's, Final Fantasy's and Gears of War on the 360 and PS3, and a guaranteed buck to be made by pumping out cheap, easy to make casual games on the Wii. The disconnect here is that the best way to see more hardcore games come out on the Wii would be to have decent ports of hardcore games from the other systems, but since you can't do a straight port, you usually either end up with a vastly inferior version, or something thrown together by a different dev team and, well, we know how that usually goes. Unless developers put forth the effort to take a chance on putting some good hardcore games on the Wii, we'll never see it break out of the casual gaming mold.

I am now in the process of voting, and have also become a fan. It feels great to be a fan now because I couldn't stand you guys before.

I'm not sure if it comes with the bonus disc that had MG and MG2 though, and seem to be having trouble finding any site that can give me a straight answer on that fact either. I suppose it is likely it'd be in there though. Anyone who owns it (or is better informed than me) want to clarify. I never really kept up to date on what was in this collection since I already own all three (including owning Snake Eater and Subsistence).

If you want MG2 that badly, you could always track down a copy of MGS3: Subsistence. You'd probably be able to get your hands on it for cheap by now, and you'd have the bonus of being able to play what is to this date my favourite game in the series. Honestly, whether you're into 3D or not, by not at least trying the MGS series I think you're missing out. Whenever I look at all the shovelware, rehashes, yearly sports games, wondering where all the innovation and originality in game design is, I can look at the MGS series and remember that Kojima has hoarded most of it for himself, so there's not much left for everyone else (except maybe for Fumitu Ueda). Seriously, games like MGS are the reason I play games.

Can't wait to see the project when it's finished. FFIV definitely has one of the great classic soundtracks. I just wish I had some remixing experience under my belt (not to mention the time) to get involved myself.

Probably for the same reason you can't run virtual console games off of an SD card. I don't know if it has anything to do with the read speed, but I do know that the console itself is limited to using it's internal memory for these. The real kicker is that a friend of mine in Software Engineering isn't even sure that it's something that a developer could work around. It may actually be impossible to get the system to read games and data from anywhere but internal memory. Toss in the fact that you're allocated a less then 300Mb for actual game storage purposes and you're left with almost nothing at all. Even if each song was 100Mb, you'd only get two on there, and only if you don't have a few of the larger virtual console games on there as well. If you wanted to play the songs, you'd be constantly moving virtual console games and Rock Band songs back and forth off of an external storage device. Honestly, it'd probably be enough hassle on the gamers end to have DLC to actually make it preferable not to have it from the developers stand point.

I've yet to play Metroid, but it isn't really that they're bad games so much as they're the same thing as their respective N64/Gamecube iterations all over again, except less innovative and creative (though I will maintain my belief that the Smash Bros. series is terrible until the day I die, and playing Brawl has done nothing but deepen this feeling. I get that tons of people like it, but damned if I understand why). I'd also argue that the Wii Nintendo games just aren't as fun as their predecessors, usually because of things that, while they aren't glaring flaws, really take away from the experience. At the end of the day, I'll just never understand how people can rag on a series like Madden, or any number of others for rarely doing anything new, yet applaud Nintendo for giving us the same damn games 12 years later. This is the company that showed us 3D games could actually be fun after all. Apparently I'm in the minority for expecting more than the rehashes they try and sell us.

Not only that, but it's my understanding that the systems storage can't even be expanded to allow for more downloaded content. I find it amazing that people are shocked by this as well. Complaining about a system that lacks the ability to really support massive amounts of DLC and the worst online implementation this generation, receiving a game with no online features at all is pretty funny to be honest. Though if you want the real reason for no online multiplayer, it's likely because it's a straight PS2 port and EA doesn't care enough to alter it at all. Frankly, it's what happens when you have a system that's cheap to develop for and that popular. I'm sure there will be plenty of fools out there who buy it for the Wii and never notice or care that they're getting a straight port from a weaker system, and since EA will be making buttloads of money despite the lack of online, I can't blame them for not caring. Maybe if Wii owners stopped buying gimped ports of good games 3rd parties might start to give a crap about them. I don't think that's what he's saying; I think he means there's no AAA titles on the console except for Nintendo titles. That said, I wouldn't say anything Nintendo's done on the console so far is particularly amazing. They're so afraid of trying anything new lately that I'd swear they changed their name to Electronic Arts.

Sucks about the memory card, but there's no shame in loving the VR Missions. Keep in mind they were so good that they released an entire game full of about 300 of them, which were also so good that I completed all but 1 of them (in my defense, it was the single hardest in the game. I knew how to do it, but that was only part of the battle and I just got too frustrated to finish). Playing through those would make someone a god at the original MGS. Hopefully you're playing with some sort of controller connected to your computer though. I shudder to think how the game would play trying to use a keyboard.

Well, I finally cracked and bought COD4 for the PS3 despite saying I wouldn't. As a result I've been playing it almost exclusively for a week now, so if anyone wants to join me for some games (DragonFirKai?), add me to your friends list. I'll probably buy it on Steam when it reaches about $20, but for now, I'm rocking out with it on the PS3.

Yes. I would say more, but we're talking about one of the best games ever made here. Whether or not to get it shouldn't even be a question.

Can I just say that that computer not only makes you my hero, but makes me feel innadequate as a man. I'm fairly certain it'd bend my machine over and have it's way with it.

Haven't had time to play it much lately, but when the semester ends I'll definitely jump back in. Vivi22-Vivi22 Original isn't it?

Re-Drum obviously, though for some reason I had never considered having some fun with it by saying Red-rum.

OCR name, Battle.net name and note are probably fine for the fields. People will have to give which region they're in (ie: U.S. East, U.S. West, etc.) but that can easily be stated in the note field. They could also state additional user names and regions in the note field if they play in more than one.

It just occurred to me that we could probably use some Starcraft representation in the database. I don't know about anyone else here, but I've been playing Starcraft fairly often again for the last few months.

Actually, my local music store has been pretty cool in the past about letting me try stuff out before I buy. Then again, I'm friends with a lot of the guys there including the owner. Slightly off topic, but it can pay to make nice with the guys at the top. Or you could always try renting some gear for a bit to try it out if it's available.

I don't care for pirates who download the stuff, use it all the time and never buy it. It hurts the industry, and as someone looking to get into the game industry in the next few years, I wouldn't want people taking my work without compensating me for the time and effort it took to make it. That said, I can understand the try before you buy argument. These programs are expensive, and often the demos do suck. I hated Reasons demo solely because it didn't leave me much time to really start learning the program, but the full program is great and I love working with it (it's a purchased copy for the record). If someone is planning to buy the program if they like it or delete it if they don't, then the people who made it are no worse off if the person hates it and better off if they love the program. There are two sides to it all, but I really can't stand the people who pirate anything with no intentions of ever buying it. When people spent a lot of time and money working on a program (or anything else) you don't have a right to have it for free unless they choose to give it to you for free.

Despite the fact that they were initially prone to breaking, the N64 analog stick was the best and most responsive ever. I'll agree that for a lot of games it wouldn't matter that much if you used a newer controller, but if the Turok games were ever released for the virtual console, I'd never play them on it simply because of the lack of the N64 stick. Turok 2 proved that control stick to be the next best thing to a mouse, and usually I'd say control sticks don't compare at all.

Not counting textbooks (since I don't count anything I don't enjoy) I haven't read an actual book since Sandworms of Dune in the summer. I thought it was good, and certainly nice to see the Dune series come to a proper ending, though I prefer Frank Herberts writing style over Brian's, and wish he had had the chance to finish the series himself before he had died. Aside from that I've been absolutely devouring The Sandman trade paperbacks. Easily the greatest comic book series I've ever read. Neil Gaiman is a genious, and has an imagination and talent for fantasy writing like no author I've ever read before. I'm currently part way through Fables & Reflections with five more trades to go once I finish, not counting the handfull of spinoffs.

Quoted to save me time. Also: Starfox Adventures: A Starfox game made by Rare? How the fuck could that go wrong. Should have seen it coming after DK64 though to be honest. Mario Sunshine: Mario 64 wit a crappy waterpack, fewer levels, less variety, and crappy level design with exploration (something I loved about Mario 64) on par with searching through my lunch bag for a sammich. What ever happened to being able to do Shines (or Stars) in whatever order I want, without being guided by the hand to them? Resident Evil 4: I loved every RE before this except for 0, so why wouldn't I buy an RE with new controls and a better aiming system? Well, I hate the aiming system since the laser sight only shows up on things you can shoot, making it incredibly difficult to shoot anything until it's right on top of you. The inability to move and shoot also annoys me. It's pretty much the same old RE controls with a different aiming system, which like I said, annoys the hell out of me. If I actually liked the aiming I might not hate it so much. Toss in a crappy story, with lackluster villains and boring monster design and I hate it all the more. But the worst part of all was that it was waaayyy to long. The original RE's had the formula right; have the experience last a few hours so the player doesn't get bored. Now we were stuck fighting wave after wave of enemies for about 20 hours. That was the whole game. How did they change it up? Now the enemies have shields and helmets. Brilliant. I actually enjoyed the game for the first 3 or 4 hours and was willing to overlook the flaws in the combat system, but by the tenth hour I never wanted to see the game again. The only reason I ever beat it was because I wanted to see if it ever changed things up a bit and because if I didn't I knew no one would ever take my opinion on the game seriously. It didn't change things up though, and I'll probably never touch the game again. Aside from those I like all of my other games.

The reason you don't remember the D-Pad sucking is because most companies never used it since it sucked so much. It was awkward to reach, too small, and a pain in general. I like to use the D-Pad for fighting games and 2D platformers. Granted there weren't much of either on the system, but the few there were (Soul Calibur, Mega Man Anniversary Collections, etc.) were ruined by the shoddy D-Pad, even if you didn't compare them to their PS2 couterparts. While on the subject, I also found the face buttons hard and uncomfortable to use for extended periods, especially compared to how smooth and comfortable the Dualshock buttons are. Plus the nub of a C-stick was a horrible idea. My thumb was constantly sliding off of it.

I disagree completely, and think the placement makes perfect sense actually. I've never found moving my thumb down and to the right uncomfortable, but if the Gamecube controller taught us anything it's that only an idiot of a controller designer puts the D-Pad in that position. The analog sticks up quite a bit making it easy to push from that position, but having a d-pad there instead is incredibly awkward since you have to push it down all the time instead, requiring me to stretch my thumb over farther. For me, the dualshock/sixaxis design is the perfect layout for a controller. Nothing has topped it, and I'm doubting that anything ever will. As for whether controllers are too complicated; I don't think so. They've certainly gotten more complicated but I've never played a game that had a truly confusing button layout. In fact, the MGS games, which have some of the most complicated control schemes I've ever seen are as natural to use in my opinion as a 3-button Mario control scheme. Then again, Kojima is a genius in terms of game design so that doesn't really surprise me.

Let me rephrase since I am given to hyperbole at times (and apparently that doesn't come through that well over the internet); it's one of the most disappointing games I've ever played. Considering the series pedigree, and the fact that Nintendo essentially defined the 3D age in the days of the N64, one can understand that I'd be more than a little annoyed that they unleashed that load onto the world. I will stand by the fact that from a game design standpoint, it's one of the worst executions of a solid concept by a (once) great developer I've ever seen. It's got all of the polish and underlying gameplay of a great game, but the execution was incredibly half-assed.

I personally thought that Mario Kart: DD was one of the worst games ever made, so the return of trailing weapons behind you and the elimination of the two characters per kart gimmick leaves me cautiously optimistic. Of course, my two biggest problems with DD aren't things I can observe from watching a trailer like that one. DD had the worst AI I've ever seen in a racing game, combined with the most mediocre track design imaginable. I can't see if either problem has been fixed with the Wii version, so I'll wait until either more is revealed or I play it myself before I get excited. Frankly though, I'm not holding my breath as Nintendo hasn't surprised me with a fun, innovative, and well designed game since the N64 days. I will grant that they've taken steps in the right direction, moving some of their better franchises (Mario in particular) away from the mediocrity that plagued the Gamecube, and back towards the design philosophy that made them fun on the N64, but everything they do seems to be more of the same. Like they're just going through the motions rather than trying to do something unique, or even add to the genres their games are in. Nintendo hasn't really impressed me in a long time, and it will take a lot from this game to make me care in the end.