XZero
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Posts posted by XZero
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As a huge Mega Man music fan, I have to say that I actually like this piece a lot. The original always felt right at home in both the in-game OST context and in the Mega Man music universe at large, so preliminarily, it's great to hear a mix of it.
This version is reminiscent of the ZX Tunes Arranged version of the same track, but it's been taken in a new direction that makes it stand out from that version. This is largely what makes it a ReMix rather than an arrangement.
The more I listen to it, the more I find to like about this song. Overall, it's a solid work. I agree with everyone else: the elements on their own tend to fall a bit short, but the package works as a whole despite that shortcoming, which is impressive in and of itself. It's worth a listen, and it's a cool take on the song. Great job!
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What would you have done to make NSMB Wii "better" just out of curiosity?
Other than 'better graphics and more characters'
I'll just say now I think the bouncing/pushing is an aspect I like about the multiplayer game. So I'll just pre-emptively agree to disagree with you on that bit. (I mean I got used to the bouncing and learned to control and use it to my advantage). Maybe I'm just weird and enjoy that there actually is some interaction during multiplayer beyond 2-4 people being on the screen at once.
I can think of several ways to improve the game, all of which could have been accomplished while retaining the fantastic level design and generally good gameplay (I can't see us agreeing on the bouncing issue). First and foremost, it does not need HD graphics, and graphics in no way make fun game more or less fun as long as they are passable (neblix, I agree with you on this point). That doesn't mean, however, that it should look generic when it could look better.
So how would I improve the graphics? I would have liked to see something graphically more aligned with Wario Land last year or Muramasa this year. Both were beautiful, and both had a fantastic art style.
The second thing I would improve about the game is its character selection, as already noted. Peach was kidnapped, but that was far from a necessary plot device (Bowser could simply have stolen her castle as he's done before). There was no reason to keep her, Daisy, and others out of the playable character lineup, especially when two of the four characters are the same character.
Finally, I think to compliment the level design, I would like to have seen more usage of items like the mini-mushroom and Yoshi in particular, who only appeared in a few levels. Also, the motion controls, while unobtrusive, should have been mapped to buttons on the GCN or Classic controllers as an option.
Bear in mind, I acknowledge that reviewers did not focus on the positive aspects of this game. It is a hell of a lot of fun, it does feature some of the best level design we've seen since many of us were kids in the 80s and 90s, and it is certainly a generally polished game. Don't get the wrong idea; I really, really like New Super Mario Bros. Wii. It's one of the best Wii games released this year, and it absolutely rapes Animal Crossing and Wii Music as a holiday title. I simply think that there were things that could have been done better.
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Laziness? If by laziness you mean putting out solid experiences time after time, then I guess so. It's not Nintendo's fault 3rd parties are trying to cash in on the success of stuff like Wii Sports and Wii Fit without adding any of the depth to their titles.
You are absolutely right that it's not Nintendo's fault (though the Nintendo Seal of Quality used to mean more back in the day...).
There is something that's Nintendo's fault, though. No one would disagree that games like New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a fun, solid experience. It simply could have been better, and I think that's the general consensus of the various reviewers and fans.
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I think that the flood of casual games on the wii is where this negative sterotype comes from, I mean for every Mario or Zelda there must be 30 or more Wii party games...
Well, that's absolutely true of Zelda.
I just got New Super Mario Bros. Wii for Christmas. Great game. Really great, actually, and probably some of the most ingenious level design I've ever encountered in a Mario game. But you know what? It kind of feels lazy.
I didn't bother reading back through all of the recent posts (so this may have been noted here already), but Matt Casamassina over at IGN recently wrote a good editorial arguing that Nintendo has been lazy, and I have to agree, holding up NSMBW as an example. Yes, it's a fantastic game. It simply could have been so much more.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii is, I think, an excellent example of the problems with Nintendo's new strategies. First and foremost, the graphics are identical to the DS graphics. It doesn't look bad, but compared to 2D games like Wario Land or Muramasa, Mario is just bland. This is also true of the character selection. Mario and Luigi are a must. So is a (1) Toad. Not 2; only 1. There is no reason that Peach, Wario, Waluigi, Daisy, etc. are not playable as well. If every character controls the same, it's nothing more than swapping the 3D character on the screen.
The gameplay is generally fine (except for the fact that the GCN and/or Classic Controller should have been optional and the shaking should have been omitted), but it's not perfect. When more than one person is playing, its actually a rather annoying game. Did you ever want to play a Mario game with grandma? Well, now you can, and you can find out just why you don't want to play games with grandma. The fact that characters bounce off of one another is a real problem, and ultimately, I think NSMBW's multiplayer would be more fun drunk at a party. And that's precisely the problem.
Nintendo's *everyone plays!* Wii strategy is really annoying to gamers. The hardcore RPG gamers aren't getting the RPGs (the only place for a steady flow of JRPGs anymore is the DS), the older fans aren't getting the flow of mainstream or adult-oriented games that other consoles have, and the only people satisfied are those who play games casually. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a fun experience, and a solid Mario game. Instead of making something outstanding, they made it accessible to everyone, and it's just not the best way to handle these sorts of things, especially since the two do not have to be mutually exclusive.
Let me summarize my thoughts on New Super Mario Bros. Wii thusly: it is the DreamWorks to Super Mario Galaxy's Pixar. It's a generally solid game, but it is by no means a masterpiece. The ultimate reason for this, in my opinion, is that Nintendo lost focus, going for accessibility and family play while ignoring the core gamers, just as they have been doing since the N64-GCN era. The Wii is a good system with quite a few very, very good games that are core-gamer oriented. You just have to dig through a bunch of crap in order to find them.
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For as much as people like to bust on Sheep Man, his stage is pretty cool.
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I hadn't played any of the games that were nominated for Game of the Year because my only console is the Wii. Among them, only Batman has me interested anyway.
On another note, last night was the first time I ever watched those awards, and I really wasn't very impressed. I like JRPGs, Nintendo 1st party games, and platformers every now and then, so I guess I am not the hardcore gamer audience to which that show caters.
Edit: I forgot to ask, but did anyone else (a) find Jack Black's "game of the year" acceptance skit not funny, or (
find his whole performance, including smashing his trophy, incredibly immature? -
The music for the game isn't bad (all remixes of classic Castlevania tunes, never a bad thing). Two problems I have with it are that the sound quality is sort of Genesis-y as opposed to higher quality SNES stuff (compositions are top notch since it's remixes, of course), and that Reincarnated Soul was used for stage 1 instead of Battle of the Holy.
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Didn't see a release window in that article, so I'd assume early-to-mid 2010. Personally, I'm excited. Mega Man 9 was a FANTASTIC reboot of that franchise. As long as they don't overkill it (as Capcom arguably did on the NES (though 5 and 6 are personal favorites of mine anyway)), I think this new-old Mega Man series will be here for a while.
The only thing that would have made me happier would be to see Mega Man X9 announced for the Virtual Console in SNES style.
As a side note, I guess the guy working on "Mega Man 10" on YouTube will have to change it to Mega Man 11...
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What I'm about to say really, really sucks because, though I buy from them when I have to, I do not like GameStop's used/trade-in policies and profiteering. I don't begrudge their desire to make money, but I think it's completely unethical in some cases.
Anyway, if you want 1st Party Nintendo games cheap, the best thing you can do is twofold. First, wait until GameStop does its (often monthly) buy-2-get-1-free deal on used games. Then, get yourself a discount card/Game Informer subscription. The discount card works in conjunction with the buy-2-get-1 deal. So let's say you want to get Mario Galaxy, Zelda, and Mario Kart (all amazing games, BTW). Assuming they're all about $45, you can get them for a total of roughly $81 plus some tax (1 is free, you get 10% off the other two that you buy). So really you're only spending about $25-$30 per game.
Gamestop will probably be doing buy-2-get-1 the weekend before and the weekend after Christmas.
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I think it's good, but you may want to restructure it to make the main theme from the game more prominent if you want to consider it a ReMix. ReMixes have a unique blend of source material and arrangement, and (for my tastes at least) this piece, while good, is a bit heavy on the arrangement. Others may disagree, but I'm just giving you my thoughts.
On a completely unrelated note, the New Age style song ("The Remnants of...") that you have on the page is really cool.
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I was discussing this with someone earlier today, and I was wondering what the OCR community's perspective is. What's your favorite genre/style of music, and what's your least favorite?
For me, my favorite is orchestral/new age, followed closely by rock and heavy metal. I love listening to orchestrated or new age music while I'm writing, studying, or preparing for court (law student), and I enjoy listening to Disturbed, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and other metal and rock songs while I'm driving (not to mention some good old OCR).
Alternatively, I can't stand rap or hip hop (so much so that I specifically didn't buy Mad World because of its soundtrack). It's a matter of personal preference, but I am not able to find the speed and melodic progression in rap that I find in rock/metal.
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Not sure about you but around here in Maryland they, discreetly as far as I can tell, enforce the need for recycling. Most facilities, apartment complexes, condominium complexes have two huge bins; one strictly for landfill and the other for recycling. I sometimes would even see one odd advert sign in the Montgomery County area buses where the old smoking/sex addiction signs would be a sign that explicitly state, "Does your business recycle? It's the Law" ect among other regular ads.
I can't speak for the other counties as I don't frequently visit them enough to know for sure.
Need to take pictures as I know I'm not crazy enough imagine them.
I'm in Pennsylvania, and thus far, I haven't seen much enforcement (Harrisburg). I live in a house, and I'm not actually within the city beyond my mailing address, but people seem to leave the recycling/trash situation alone.
I think that those business recycling signs are different from private citizens. If you think about it from a practical perspective, are they really going to go through your trash?
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The ultimate irony of the eco-case would be if everyone who got one took it out, replaced it with a real case, and threw it out. All of these ridiculous things would end up in a landfill, living there for years and years, thereby polluting the planet.
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In the last several months, in buying new DVDs, I'm noticing that a lot of them are packaged in these flimsy pieces of shit called "eco-cases." Allegedly, these things are better for the environment. I completely believe that from a conceptual perspective, but from a consumer perspective, I find these things to be complete garbage. I'm paying the same for a product, but I physically get less than I should, and the prices of new DVDs aren't getting any cheaper. Recently, XBox360 games have been coming in the same types of cases, and apparently Nintendo just authorized their use for Wii games.
Anyone care to share their thoughts on the eco case?
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Sony is doing wrong, not in the sense of "exploring us", but in the sense that doing what they did isn't a smart investment at all, given the way our "beautiful" country is.
Oh make no mistake, I don't condone Sony. The fact that it is "less wrong," as I phrased it before, doesn't change the simple fact that Sony is wrong, at least as far as business is concerned.
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Capitalism is a harsh mistress.
The problem is that there's a difference between capitalism, in the American sense, and outright piracy/theft of intellectual property in the way that the things you linked to do.
Now that said, having acquired a bit more understanding of the problems with Brazil, I'm inclined to agree that Sony is probably doing less wrong than I originally thought. I never really knew that Brazil was a haven for piracy to the extent that it actually appears to be.
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http://ps2.ign.com/articles/104/1048252p1.html
Here's the rundown. Sony's officially releasing the PS2 in Brazil, presumably for the first time ever. It's also releasing a number of excellent games, including God of War II and Gran Turismo 4. Nothing wrong with that, right?
They're charging R$ 799 (USD $445) for the system.
The games range from R$ 99 (USD $55) to R$ 119 (USD $66).
So I guess my question is twofold: wouldn't you expect most Brazillian people who wanted one to have simply imported PS2s by now, and even if they didn't, who on earth would shell out $445 USD for a console that costs $99 USD in America and is 9 years old? Never mind the ridiculous prices for the games.
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As a Catholic, I'm thoroughly amused. Generally speaking, the only Catholics who go to mass beyond Sundays and holy days are geriatrics.
According to the Huffington Post, despite the claim that this company is from Boston (which no one seems to be able to locate), the website was registered to Domain Discrete, a Portugese company, on November 3rd. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/18/mass-we-pray-game-church_n_362854.html
While the game is not yet rated by the ESRB, it doesn't even come up on their website. Furthermore, no copyright or trademark information exists about them.
The logical conclusion is simple: it can't be real.
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I just discovered this and played through the demo. This game is going to be amazing, and a worthy addition to the Ace Attorney series (already one of my personal favorite game series).
Can't wait till February to pick this one up and give it a go!
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I'll be honest with you. It sounds very empty, especially without the lead. The whole time, I was waiting for a kickass guitar to come in and play 1:07-1:27 in the source (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SaDOoEspNI), and it didn't. Personally, I think that would make the piece a lot better. The setup is great, and as background (and occasionally foreground), the track works, but it really is missing that key component. Good luck with revisions!
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I'll almost always play as a male character in games where I have a choice. Interestingly, when I play RPGs, I almost always name my hero character the same thing if I have to name my hero. I guess I like consistency.
As a note, my Wii Fit trainer is the woman, largely for the same reasons noted by the people who like nice things to look at while playing games.
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My problem with the DSi is that I still don't have a reason to care. They don't really release anything of particular quality on the shop channel thing for it besides maybe WarioWare, I haven't seen any OMGINEEDIT DSi exclusives, and I don't really want to take pictures with my DS. I'm still overwhelmingly satisfied with my DS Lite, and I don't see anything changing.
I guess the issue is that the DSi LL doesn't bring anything terribly new to the table. It's got a bigger screen, which is nice, and a stylus that looks like a cheap novelty pen. But it sacrifices some of the size benefits of the DS Lite and DSi models. For my money, until they give me a DSi exclusive Mario, Metroid, or Zelda title (or even something different, like a Kid Icarus game for instance), I won't be investing in a DSi anytime soon. Sorry Nintendo, I'm a huge supporter and I'm glad you're successful, but I don't need another DS for a while. Thanks anyway.
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Just downloaded, currently seeding. Only listened to a few tracks so far, but really solid stuff. Excellent job, everyone!
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While Charles Martinet is pretty much THE voice of Mario, Lou Albano was the first person to give the character a voice, and he will forever be the Mario of my childhood. R.I.P.
How to spend Wii points post-holiday
in General Discussion
Posted
If you like RPGs, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is fun. The price is really deceptive, though. It's listed for something like $8, but it costs another $30 or so to actually buy all of the content for the game.
Other good games include Mega Man 9 (I'm sure 10 will be great as well), Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth (lots of fun, playing it right now), and apparently World of Goo is pretty enjoyable. Also, if you don't mind episodic games, the Homestar Runner games are really funny. Phoenix Wright's series is releasing in a few months as well, though if you have a DS, you'd probably be better off getting that version.
On the Virtual Console side, Sin & Punishment (N64, sequel possibly releasing this year) is really good. If you like Zelda games, you may want to invest in Startropics or its sequel, Zoda's Revenge, both of which are really good Zelda-style adventures. Naturally, the Mega Man and Castlevania games are also good, as are the Mario and Zelda games out there.
Make sure you save some points for later investments. There's a really good Mega Man style game coming out sometime this year (Blast something or other, I forget), and some other cool WiiWare titles releasing later.