Crowbar Man

About GC game support: Can definitely be done, hackers already had it working with on Wii U homebrew methods long time ago (Virtual Wii,not native Wii U) However the L/R triggers are an issue, because as mentioned not only is there a 2nd click (once fully depressed, you can click even further) but the triggers are also full analog. For some reason, Wii / Wii U never used analog triggers at all (a pretty common convention), only digital. Kinda disappointed the Wii U didn't have them at least. Would of made GameCube support easy and racing games more enjoyable. Better for 3rd party support... when they had it at least. If they made more and sold more GC adapters/controllers, or released an updated Pro with Analog triggers, problem solved! Still, amazing intro prices for Nintendo. You can't really beat some amazing Wii games for just $10. Too bad its only temporary That and they are starting to play with Cross Buy with DK Tipping Stars... though I wish it were with a more interesting game (I liked the DK 98 & DKvsM (GBA) style, not the mini's puzzle style they've switched to) Now. them pulling the plug on Club Nintendo really rubs me the wrong way. Lets just hope this means better things are in the works Anarox: Z on GC controller, if I remember correctly, Nintendo was trying to cheap it out with the GC controller by not only not having extra triggers at the top which had become standard (they wanted just L/R triggers), but also they were even contemplating not having the classic iconic d-pad, their own major contribution to the gaming world. all to save some money on the controller (just a few cents!). In the end, they caved in to pressure and added the dpad (probably one of the worst dpads on a Nintendo console though), and gave the fans the "Z-trigger" they loved so much with the N64 by adding an uncomfortable awkwardly placed button. Worst parts of the controller :/

Alright, so so far we've seen two small glimpses of the next Zelda game. So, thought I'd open a thread: 1) A prescripted trailer a while back (E3 2014): (at the 1:36 mark)2) A live demo by Shigeru & Aonuma at The Game Awards 2014 last night: (Nintendo's version with Reggie stripped out) (From The Game Awards)So far what the dev's have mentioned/shown about the game: Visual style that looks somewhat like a next gen Skyward Sword art style, with a little shading Open World, with large environment to traverse The Sail Cloth for gliding from Skyward Sword is returning (which was also like the leaf ability Link had in Wind Waker) Horse (Epona?) seems to maybe control like Agro from Shadow of the Colossus, moves somewhat independent of player control, but even more so. It wont run into trees, and at some points Aonuma didn't even have to put his hands on the controller Because of this auto control, Link's crossbow aiming while horseback is much easier to control/multitask Additionally, Link can do a Bullet Time style move with his crossbow by leaping off his horse (shown in real game play in the new clip) It wasn't shown in this new trailer, but previously it was mentioned that dungeons are not supposed to have any particular order, and the dungeons can be entered a few different ways, or a puzzle itself to even enter. Akin to the original Zelda for NES

Are the times on the front post still correct? Sorry I haven't been keeping this up to date.

This thread is about Sonic Boom? Where did this argument even come from? All I said is Nintendo still makes amazing Mario games (and games in general), so you can't say being aimed at a general or younger audience you should expect a game to be bad. That was my statement. To counter this, you'd have to point out a Mario game as bad as Sonic Boom...which doesn't exist. While you are welcome to your opinion, what colorful platforming games (outside of the indie scene) do you see on the market that outshine such polished and amazing games like Mario Galaxy and 3D Land/World? I mean, this thread is about Sonic Boom for goodness sake. Probably the worst game since Sonic 06, which is regarded as one of the worst games ever. Knack, a new IP for the next generation, was also terrible. Ratchet & Clank as I mentioned are still around but kinda a shadow of their former selves. Not Sonic/Knack bad though. What new game are you saying is currently better than 3D World? I'd love to play that! Regardless if you don't think Galaxy & Mario 3D Land/World are fantastic (you'll be pretty alone on that opinion), there is no way on earth they are not a good games. Being aimed at a general audience did not hinder them. Which shouldn't matter anyway, Sonic is always aimed at a general audience, and up until Sonic Adventure 2, all the games were great/amazing. I'm one that actually enjoyed SA2 too. Its just been... super downhill from there. :/ The few games that weren't aimed at a general audience were some of their worst (Shadow, Sonic '06 (kinda))

Rexy: Well, if you can't enjoy an amazing & well done game like 3D World, Sonic Boom being pretty much complete garbage certainly isn't going to sell you a Wii U either. Sooo I'm not entirely sure what the argument is. My entire point was being aimed at a general audience doesn't mean the game should be bad.

Galaxy 1 & 2, 3D Land, and 3D World are amazing. The level designs, polish, music, gameplay, etc. You won't find many opinions or reviews that say otherwise. NSMB Wii & U are excellently made products that are polished and very fun. They just aren't very good compared to OTHER Mario games, but they are LEAGUES above the terrible Sonic games as of late. Are you really trying to say Sunshine, Galaxy 1 & 2, 3D Land & World, and NSMB1,2,Wii & U are somehow not on a whole other level compared to Heroes, Shadow, Sonic '06, Sonic 4 Ep 1 & 2, and now Sonic Boom? Half the time, the newer Sonic games are flat out broken, unplayable, unfinished, and/or unfun messes. There is a MAJOR gap in quality. Metas: Super Mario Sunshine (92) Super Mario Galaxy 1: (97) Super Mario Galaxy 2: (97) Super Mario 3D Land (90) Super Mario 3D World (93) New Super Mario Bros U (84) New Super Mario Bros Wii (87) Sonic Heroes (72) Shadow the Hedgehog (~50) Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) (~45) Sonic Unleased (60) Sonic 4 (~60) Sonic Lost World (63) Sonic Boom (38 ) Heck, the best Sonic games released in a long time, Sonic Generations & Sonic Colors, are 77 & 78 material. So my point is, aiming at a general audience doesn't mean it has to be a bad game. Look at OTHER series besides Mario & Sonic too. Crash was great (until Naughty Dog stopped making them) Spyro was great (until Insomniac stopped making them) Klonoa was great Zak & Daxter was great. Hopefully not a dead series Ratchet & Clank i think is still a good running series. Way better than Sonic at least. etc etc. Sadly most of these games are phased out because everything has to be "mature" and grizzly "adult" action these days, but being a game aimed at a general audience isn't an excuse to be bad.

I don't think he necessarily means as a lead character, but a major character. There's been TONS of major female characters in Final Fantasy (Rosa, Rydia, Terra, Celes, Aeris, Tifa, Yuffie, Rinoa, Garnet, Yuna, Lightning, etc etc) that you can have in your party. There are TONS of RPGs with female characters that if not in lead position have some importance to the story and in your party as playable. Its so much the norm, I can't think of a single game off the top of my head that has an all male cast. This one seems to be focusing around 4 male characters in battle and that's pretty much it... now, this could be just the beginning of the game and things change later on, but it is an oddity to not have any female in battle at all right from the beginning. FF has been doing it since at least FF2, if not the first game depending on your opinion of the gender of the White mage. Its not a game breaker obviously, but it is REALLY strange. So far, this game seems to be going for a FF8 / 13 style with its design and characters, which I'm not a super fan of either one of those games. I still have hopes that it'll be good based on the KH team working on it, but I really really wish they would stop trying to impress us with graphic tech demos. NOBODY CARES SQUARE, show us more of the gameplay / battle mechanics / story, etc. I don't care that you've figured out how to do rain and lighting (woop de doo, welcome to modern graphics?) I don't care about 4 guys driving around in a realistic car, looking at "realistic" environments. The only interesting parts in those clips are the enemies, and they don't even fight them in the 15 mins that pass. The focus on graphics is what's been holding BACK your games as of late. STOoooooop

Hate to say "Called it" because it seemed obvious a Sonic game, even with this TERRIBLE redesign, was going to be bad. But yeah... both game and cartoon are pretty abysmal. Like... really bad. Really really bad. Maybe next round Sega... just, make an entire game like the Classic stages of Generation, or heck like the Sonic stages in SA1/2, why is this so hard? :/ Thankfully, they already said Boom was kinda its own thing, and not the direction of the series as a whole... which since this one is so bad, I hope it gets no sequels unless it massively improves upon the formula in every area possible (and give the game POLISH this time around, what rush job this one was) http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/11/14/a-ring-and-a-prayer Well, given Sonic's pedigree as of late, it should be expected that a Sonic game be bad, but any Sonic fan always holds on to the hope of it not turning out that way. They keep hoping for a good game and getting disappointed. (queue Sonic cycle) Also Sonic is kinda always aimed at a general audience, like Mario is. Sonic used to be good though. Not so much anymore. Mario is aimed at a general audience, and is still amazing. Sega just doesn't know how to make a good game anymore, they lost all their talent through the years and it shows. Though I'm not sure Sega can be fully blamed for this one, since Red Button or whoever they are supposed to be are the ones who handled the game primarily. Sega still gave it to them to do as they pleased. Sadly it seems Nintendo's publishing was wasted on this, and this isn't something that will help the Wii U's image at all.

I tried really hard but yeah... i can't hear anything similar between those two.

Brandon: I'm ashamed to admit, but I've had a level 11 kill me over and over with a shotgun to the face...somehow even a level 3 killed me a few times. So while leveling up means you have access to different skills and weapon in PVP, it doesn't mean you auto win at higher levels. Also keep in mind, past 20, there aren't any different weapons/armors that you can't wear/level up, so the light levels (21-30) make no real difference in normal crucible PVP. HoboKa: Yeah, I remember I first went to the level 8 strike to help a friend level up a 2nd character, thinking I could destroy everything with reckless abandon with my 20+ character. I was the first one to die. :/ Even the lowly level 2 beginning mission enemies can wallop you if you don't pay attention. Then again, I wouldn't say I'm good at ... anything

Well, in the Crucible, your levels don't matter, its just your skills / weapon ability. That will change with the upcoming PVP event, Iron Banner, where stats will count. I'm mostly terrible in PVP regardless. http://www.bungie.net/en/Legend/2/4611686018434020353/2305843009217776866 Some how I've managed to make it this far

CrowbarManZero, for anybody else that also wants to contact me on PSN too (probably nobody)

Destiny & PS4 here. If we get some people going I'll join!

I dunno, the moment you mention pulling out a soldering iron sounds like a heavy modification to me. There are several ways to accomplish getting the extra sound, such as modifying a Famicom->NES adapter, and running an audio cable out of the adapter and manually coupling it with the NES's RCA jack, bypassing the need to directly modify the NES itself altogether. The motherboard mod looked something like this: http://www.54.org/sage/condev/NESMods/NESMods_Sound_Input_On_Pin_18.jpg. This is on top of a FC->NES adapter modification. That is quite a heavy modification IMO. Either way, any method you choose requires extra tools and soldering, something your average person is usually not capable of at all. My point was, a vanilla NES has no native capability of playing these extra sounds. A vanilla Famicom to NES adapter won't do the trick. You will need to do some solder work and a lot of work arounds to get the extra sound off real hardware Thankfully most modern emulators support the extra memory mappers / sound chips, so you can run these games (maybe not 100% accurate) with their extra sound with a good emulator.

Of course they both sound "like chiptune", they are by definition "Chiptunes"! However, if you can't hear the difference between the default NES sound on CV3 and the improved VRC6 version, you should listen closer. Famicom/VRC6 version sounds so much better than the NES version, every track has a deeper richness to it awarded by the extra channels. And if you can't hear the completely different new (warbly) instrument between the NES versionss of FDS version, you really aren't listening. That thing sounds weird, but sometimes makes things sound better... sometimes not really. Different for sure Yeah, Lagrange Point does NOT sound like an NES game at all. Pretty amazing feat that one. Some nice tunes as well! Easily sounds like Genesis, or at the very least PC-98 / MSX2 with FM add ons.

Technical Crap: Two pins in the Famicom cartridge / cart slot pin out allow for Audio In/Out, allowing some chips to take the music from the Famicom and layer more sounds onto it before passing it back to the Famicom to go out to your TV. Unfortunately for outside of Japan, the NES pinout was changed and these two pins were moved two the bottom of the machines Expansion port, and never used. NES games can NOT have upgraded sound. Famicom games will NOT run with upgraded sound on an NES even with an adapter, unless you do some heavy, heavy modifications to the board/pins. Chip examples: Default PSG Capability: 2 Square, 1 Triangle, 1 Noise, 1 DPCM (Samples) [All Mono] The Famicom Disk System (its floppy disk add on) aka FDS has an extra channel built into its hardware that is kind of a really low-fi warbly wave table synth, something akin to the GameBoy (original) Wave channel. The FDS version of some games sound differently if they usually take advantage of it. (Zelda 1 & 2, Metroid, CastleVania 2, Kid Icarus, etc). Most apparent are Title Screens, Endings, & SFX, but CV2's music sounds really different. Nintendo's official MMC5 chip in Japan added 2 extra Square Wave. (Just Breed) CastleVania III (aka Akumajo Densetsu in Japan) has a VRC6 chip inside of it, which among other things adds some extra sound channels: 2 slightly improved Square Waves, and a Sawtooth Wave. The DPCM in the Famicom version sounds crisper too somehow. Several Konami games in Japan used this chip, and its a favorite among chiptuners. (Madara, Esper Dream II, etc) The music for Shovel Knight was written for this chip. Namco's N163/N106/whatever adds 4-8 channels (most games just 4) of some sort of advanced PSG with multiple selectable wave type, not knowing the technical aspects of it I say this is somewhat like PC Engine / TG-16. (Megami Tensei II, King of Kings, etc). Konami VRC7: is basically a YM2413 FM synth inside the cart. 6 channel 2 op modulation FM, pretty spiffy. Basically sounds like a mono Genesis. (Lagrange Point) Sunsoft FME7: 3 extra Square channels, and Sunsoft games generally abuse the CRAP out of the DPCM in the NES/Famicom hardware to give it an FM like sound channel, but its not. Just a clever trick. (Gimmick!)

[Editing post with pictures BRB] Not sure if this should go in the "Old" 3DS thread but: Next iteration of the DS line has been announced (for Japan at least): "New Nintendo 3DS" (NN3DS XL to the left, "regular" NN3DS to the right) That's its name... "New 3DS". Okay! Features: Improved 3D screen technology, supposedly no more double vision if you tilt it. Some sort of magic using gyro, cameras, and maybe better general viewing angles. 2nd analog stick built in!! ... well. its more like one of those laptop nubs, but close enough! Dubbed the C-stick 2 more buttons : ZL, and ZR. sitting next to the current L/R like the classic controller on Wii. Software old and new programmed for the Circle Pad Pro add on will work with these buttons / extra stick. Notable upcoming games that can support 2nd analog stick: Monster Hunter 4U, Final Fantasy Explorers, Dragon Quest X, Super Smash Bros for 3DS Faster CPU, though not much was said exactly how much faster. Newer software can take advantage of it, This may make some software "New 3DS only" if they choose not to run on base 3DS hardware. The built in software (Browser, eShop, OS, etc) will be updated to take advantage of the speed, making for a snappier experience overall. I'm hoping since there are extra features for the 3D mode this somehow fixes the slowdown during 3D mode you get on a lot of titles too, somehow. The browser has even been updated to support more HTML5 elements Built in NFC: Amiibo users no longer need an external device for the 3DS, NFC is built right in Improved Camera: While the resolution remains the same, the CMOS censor is better at packing up pictures in poor lighting conditions, a bad issue for the original 3DS cameras which need nearly perfect light. Micro-SD is used now instead of regular sized SD. A software transfer program for the PC is being developed for Win 7 / 8 Backwards Compatibility: Old 3DS software works on it. No word on Original DS software EDIT: Wiki says its compatible with original DS games, so there's that! Minor Changes Volume slider is on the screen now instead of base unit, Cart slot is on the bottom of the unit instead of the top, and Start/Select are moved over to the right instead of under the screen (Home remains), similar to 2DS. Power button is now at the bottom of the unit. ABXY now have brightly colored Super Famicom colors on the buttons on the reg. size, and simple color highlights on the letters on the XL version (not sure if this will stick to the US versions, since our SNES didn't have these colors) Two Models: "New 3DS" and "New 3DS LL" (XL in the US) were announced together, so no more waiting a year for the big model to come out. The "small" model is slightly larger in both size and screen than the old 3DS, LL/XL is mostly the same. Better Battery: On average both units can now squeeze about an hour more life out. Price New 3DS: 16,000 Yen (~$160, I'd estimate the $169 tag we already have or lower), LL (XL): 18,800 Yen (~$180, I'd estimate the $199 tag we already have) Release Date Oct 11th in Japan, TBA 2015 other territories. Regular non-XL New 3DS feature only: Custom face plates! Nintendo is offering a wide variety of easy to install custom face plates for this model. Games: A single "New 3DS Only" game was already announced, XenoBlade Chronicles, a port of some sort from 2010's XenoBlade Chronicles on the Wii. Not sure if this is a physical (cart has yet another notch on it?) or digital release It seems mostly an incremental update like the DSi, with built in convenience of not having to use a bunch of add ons for your favorite games. Also, can't wait to see how much of an improvement the 3D is, because I'd love to use it more than I do now. I generally keep it off since tilting the unit at all makes it hurt my eyes, and the drops in framerate when I switch it on is too noticeable. I like my smooth frame rates. If this fixes both those problems, cool!

http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=41925 http://mariokart8.nintendo.com/dlc/ US pricing confirmed! Only $12 for all this content? This is DLC done right!

Okay, so, new DLC pack announced in UK for 7 pounds (I'm guessing rougly $10 when it comes stateside?) in November. 3 New Characters: Tanooki Mario, Cat Suit Peach, and Link. yes, Link. 4 new kart styoles. 8 new tracks (2 new cups!!) It is dubbed: "Legend of Zelda X Mario Kart 8", and has some Zelda themed courses. In May of 2015, another DLC pack is going to come out: "Animal Crossing X Mario Kart 8" 3 New Characters: Villager, Isabelle, Dry Bowser 4 New Karts 8 New tracks (2 more cups???) if you buy BOTH packs: 8 different colors for Shy Guys 8 different colors for Yoshi No confirmed date/price for US for either Holy Crap! Hype for MK8 all over again!

NSMBU is an okay enough improvement over NSMBWii (Better art direction, slightly better music (still bad though), better resolution, some different ideas (Baby Yoshi, GamePad 5th player, etc)), but it wasn't "launch a new console with it" worthy. They also launched NSMB2, though on the 3DS, near the same time, and that game is pretty bad/same as NSMBWii but with a dumb coin mechanic. I think launching NSMB2 near NSMBU was a bad idea. NSMBU is still a pretty fun game, just not "I'm going to buy a Wii U for this" material So, Nintendo keeps talking about possibly doing one of two styles of Metroid, maybe both? They'd like to do another 2D Metroid, and another Prime style Metroid. But other than talking about thats what they like to do, no confirmation on if they are actually developing such tittles, dates, platforms, etc. So... not super detailed news but hey, at least they talked about it. Still can't wait to see what they do with Star Fox (please be a proper game!). They have confirmed it can be played co-op, as one player as the Pilot on screen, and a 2nd player being in the cockpit aiming guns using the GamePad.

Quality software and hardware cost is all that matters in the end. PS3 had a VERY hard struggle last generation, with its insanely high cost ($600) and lack of exclusives and poor 3rd party ports. By the end of last generation, they finally caught up / outsold the 360 (small margin). Mostly due to Euro / Japanese sales (360 is still the lead in the US). But the price point lowering, 3rd party port improvement ("close enough" at least), and eventually quality first party titles, all helped. Wii U: High price point, bad 3rd party ports that didn't perform as good as last generation consoles half its cost, Nintendo themselves didn't even release anything good on it for almost a year, and then you have Nintendo's bad advertising that shoved the GamePad in everybodies face and confused (still today!) people into thinking it was an accessory to the Wii. So they've fixed a few of those: Price point is lowered and they have great game bundle offers. They've been desperately trying to let people know the Wii U is a new console. Pikmin 3, SM3DW, MK8, Smash, etc are all high quality games that are being release (still a slow trickle, but better than nothing all year). Only still major negative here, that outside of Indie scene, major 3rd party devs have abandoned the Wii U at this point and even if they came back, last generation's games are going to slowly stop being made, and the Wii U is not a good place for next gen 3rd party ports. But Nintendo can support a platform all by itself. Will they have some wild success? Probably not. Will they fail? Probably not. And who cares either way? As long as they push out good games that we want to play, that is all that matters in the end. If you don't enjoy Nintendo software, its obviously a bad choice, but if you do, its the best choice right now! Nintendo is doing a great job this gen with their titles so far. I hope they keep it up! MK8 boosted sales (both of the console and the game), Smash is sure to do the same if they don't mess it up (so far so good!). Then you have next gen Zelda, making everybody excited, Star Fox floating around, etc. All of that combined, with maybe another price drop in the future, I think things will be fine. Not "KING OF THE NEXT GEN" obviously but fine enough.

Yeah, I had to figure out how to get back into the group because idiot me was trying to toy with different kart combination (something I should of done before the tourney) and then when I came back i was like in my own new group. Everybody was racing without me! Wouldn't even let me spectate! Luckily I found (by the end of the tourney), I could see you guys on my friends list and rejoined the group. I wonder if its because the amount of concurrent races are set to "No Limit"? I'll go look at these options and see what all settings there. Other than that, it was fun! I'm literally terrible, but I had fun!

Yes they make games look amazing, but keep in mind a lot of times they are rendering cutscenes "from a PS3" but not necessarily in real time if I'm not mistaken, and the cutscenes are definately a couple leaps above actual gameplay. This is how almost all modern game design is though: Cutscene models / animations / effects, even if real time, look better than in game stuff. Nothing new. (Uncharted 4 will NOT look that way during gameplay, for example) Either way it doesn't matter. As long as the game is good that is what is important. I just perfer to see what the game (or any game) looks like when someone is actually playing it (a real person, not a fake "gameplay" demo by someone pretending to play it on stage). E3 has become a place of Bullshots and make believe, and here is hoping Nintendo doesn't take that route! (they have been pretty good about showing real gameplay in the past)

Need some people who aren't as good as Lemon on the OCR tourney, maybe someone who is worse than me (if that is even possible). Tourney system is pretty cool though!

E3 Stuff: Destiny: I guess I am getting this one. Its turning out looking like it might be something really special. Not exclusive to PS4, but come on, its going to be the best version. Order 1886: I dunno, this game seems to be trying to hard to make itself seem interesting and good looking. We'll see. Little Big Planet 3: WEE! I'm excited about this one. Its really the best part of their E3 conference for me. Best part: All the LBP player created levels will be available for the 3rd game! First Light: Stand alone DLC eh? Well, I got Infamous Second Son for cheap on Amazon because I know I'll get a PS4 soon-ish (by the end of the year at least), so I'll probably check this out too if I like Second Son. Bloodborne: Dark Souls in London or something? I dunno, I know this is from From Software, same devs as Demon Souls and Dark Souls 1 & 2, but this game doesn't have to copy / paste the same idea (even has the same REALLY bad ragdolls). The good news is their games are usually pretty awesome, so it'll probably be enjoyable either way Grim Fandango: If this doesn't come to PC, I'll definitely check this out. Grim Fandango was fantastic. Let It Die: Suda 51 game. Thats should be enough, if you enjoy his weirdness Entwined: I found it odd they spent a lot of time on stage talking about a relatively simple game from an upstart. I mean, I'll probably check it out, but weird Powers TV Show: Why did they spend so much time talking about this and didn't even show whatever this Powers TV show was? Seemed out of place. Anywho, probably don't care? DI2: Oh look a trailers from the guys who can make good trailers but terrible games. I'll pass :/ No Man's Sky: I could of sworn this was coming out on PC but now everybody is acting like its PS4-only. Well, that's disappointing if that is the case. Last of Us Remastered: I'm definitely going to pick this up, loved the original, but.. why did they show cut scenes which barely looked any different, and not Game play where i imagine the biggest differences should be? Really dumb. GTAV: I'll probably pick this up on PC, but they are showing off the PS4 version and it looks great as is! Uncharted 4: Cutscene. :/ Arkham Knight: Looks pretty amazing. I'm probably picking it up on PC, I hope the Scarecrow PS4 exclusive stuff is just timed exclusive. Ratchet & Clank: A movie and a remake? Probably check them both out! Overall, a really strong E3 showing, I just wish they showed more games than cutscenes/CG/"fake" gameplay, but almost everybody does that at E3 now unfortunately.