XZero

So far, one of my favorite things to do in this game is to go to a shop after a member of your party has died. When I only had Cecil and Rydia, I went to a shop and on the bottom screen where it shows the 3D models of the characters, there was Cecil standing next to Rydia, who was lying on the ground. I mean, I guess in RPGs whenever a character dies the others have to carry the corpse around until it can be revived, but actually seeing it laying there on-screen was pretty amusing.

I thought of that. That third battle that I mentioned earlier (the one that ended my game) came as I was literally approaching the bridge to get Tellah. In other words, like two seconds later I wouldn't have died. Screw you, Final Fantasy IV. You and your damned addictive gameplay that I will continue to play despite having my ass handed to me every time. Screw you.

"Massive difficulty spike?" That doesn't even begin to describe it. This game's not fucking around. Especially just after you get Rydia (Cecil's at level 12-13 depending on how much fighting you've done, she's at level . It doesn't matter if you put her in the back row. Some random encounters will all target her, leaving her to sustain 80+ damage when her HP is barely over 100. Last night, I finished the Underground Waterway before going to bed. The first time I got inside, I fought about 3 battles; the third one ended my game and the last half-hour of work I put into it. FFIV DS is ridiculously difficult; enemies all attack before your party does in many occasions, and it's simply insanely hard overall. Great game, love the voice acting and the graphics (though their legs are too small), but man...

Out today at GameStop stores. Anyone else pick it up? I'm going to start playing in a few minutes, and I'm excited (I was humming 'Red Wings' at work this morning).

I was watching a recent Angry VG Nerd episode this morning (Star Trek) where he tried everything to get the one Star Trek NES game to properly respond to his controller input (including verbally calling it a Piece of Shit and flipping it off). Perhaps Wii Speak will recognize when I swear at the unfairness that is Mario Kart Wii's item distribution and give me something good. When a game responds to verbal swears positively, then I'll be impressed. I loved how the Sony rep at one point argued that they aren't trying to saturate the store shelves with games no one wants to play; it's an ironic statement given the PS2 and PS1 histories of really bad games (though the Wii is getting pretty close to that point now).

Wow... what a disappointment. For me, at least. There was so much more they could/should have done. What better way to show off the 1:1 controls with a new Zelda game or *gasp* a Mario Tennis Wii title? I may get that sports game, but none of the rest of the conference had anything appealing. That's just me, though, so what did you all think?

bLiNd, you are one of the most talented mixers we have in our community, and I wish you all the best. My prayers are with you.

You know, I never actually sat down and thought about it before that post, but I had the same thought when I looked over how many I gave up on. Oh well... (thanks for the law school comment, btw!) That "Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!?!?!?!?!" thing was funny, but I honestly don't see whyyyyyy (sorry) writers/directors/actors think that screaming out "Noooo" or "Whyyyy" is ever a good idea. It tends to get more laughs than empathy in many situations (this, Darth Vader in Ep. III, etc). Well, here's hoping the rest of the voices came out well. If not, maybe DQIV will be nice and silent.

Saw it this afternoon. Wow. Excellent work, and definitely another Pixar masterpiece. The character development was drastically better than most 'adult' movies these days, and the stylistic direction they took (basically no spoken dialogue for the first 30-40 minutes) was genius. Seeing it in the afternoon meant more kids, but I think the adults had more fun. One kid was truly worried about Wall-E at the end, which was amusing. It's remarkable that a movie like this could be so emotional, given that the humans are so exceedingly secondary to the story and that Wall-E is a robot. This is the best movie I've seen in a while, and I will absolutely be acquiring the DVD in November. Well done, Pixar, well done! Spoiler As a side note for anyone who saw it, my three favorite quickshot jokes were the brief appearance of Sputnik hitting Wall-E in the face, the 8000-0 Pong game, and the singing fish on the wall.

Mine are difficult to explain. Every year, the first game I make sure I sit down and play through, regardless of what other games are available, is Banjo-Kazooie in the second half of May, because in my first year of college, after having finished I was looking for something to do to kill time, popped it in, and played through it in about a week (12 hours). I've since gotten my completion time down to about 6-7 hours, and enjoy it every time. Last year, I took the LSAT test in June, so I was studying for that in conjunction with working 30-40 hours per week. I didn't get to play it, and really felt that my summer was off to a bad start. Every October, on the first Saturday at the end of the first full week (don't ask why), I play Mega Man X straight through in the morning. Then, in the end of October, I play through Majora's Mask. My best explanation for this is that I have some memory of a really good time playing these games (like the Banjo-Kazooie thing) at some point and am constantly trying to recreate that experience. Of course, I'm sure the therapist that I'll need sometime down the line will agree with me.

Knowing nothing about the Hulk besides what I read on the back of the various games about him, I was interested in seeing the movie. I was pretty impressed by it, especially the CG effects. More than that, though, I liked that they managed to keep a good (if cliched) storyline throughout. The story made sense, was somewhat dramatic, and did a good job of tying the action sequences together. It was better at this than a lot of other movies of a similar nature. In Transformers, for instance, any story sequences felt like a high-quality video taking forever to buffer; here, the story was more important to the plot. Of course, several people cheered at "Hulk Smash!" so I guess the plot ultimately wasn't that important, but I digress. In sum, I liked the movie. It wasn't anything spectacular, it probably won't win any awards (except maybe for special effects), and the story, while interesting and compelling at parts, was fairly generic overall. Despite this, it's a fun movie to watch, and I'm glad for having seen it.

I played Twin Snakes first, so when I recently got the box set that includes the PS1 version, I wasn't overly happy with it. If I had played the PS1 version first, I'm sure I'd feel different, but if you haven't played either, go with the GCN version if you can.

thank you They weren't anything great, but (for me at least) Mega Man Legends 1, first played in its N64 incarnation, was a pretty fun game. I wouldn't mind another one, especially since (spoiler ... I guess) Mega Man Legends 2 ended with Mega Man on the moon stranded and Roll and Tron trying to get him home. No canon Mega Man series, except maybe Zero, has received a *true* ending in the traditional sense. They all are "To Be Continued" in some capacity or another, but at this point, if Capcom is done making new ones, they should finish the games in terms of story. Legends 3 would be welcomed by many fans, but Capcom doesn't want it. Personally, I'd rather see the other story lines concluded first, but that's just me. This ramble boils down to this: 'great' game or not, Legends' storyline was popular among fans, and you should never end a story with a character waiting to come home from the moon and unanswered questions which will apparently be answered by some phantom third title. Imagine if MGS4 was never to be made. The storyline didn't make much sense without that integral piece. Legends 3, regardless of your perspective on its gameplay, needs to be released according to its fans, if only to conclude the cliffhanger story from part 2. EDIT: Damn you, Jedi Knight. I had a much longer post, edited it down before posting it, and you beat me to it with essentially the same argument.

I'm kind of hoping the 8-bit style choice is what it actually is. The 8-bit games (and the first 3 X games) tended to control better than 7, 8, and X4-8. The kind-of-overhead-but-not-really gameplay of 8 really bothered me. Seeing the stage from the side is drastically easier to judge jumps than seeing it from above. If they are indeed serious about this, they have to take it all the way: 8-bit graphics 8-bit cutscenes (ala Mega Man VI, not full cutscenes) 8-bit music, stylistically similar to the originals 8-bit gameplay, made perfect by turning one's Wii-mote on its side Capcom, how much 8-bit can you squeeze into a WiiWare downloadable or a 360 Live Arcade/PS3 download? This game better kick ass.

I rarely enjoy non-Mega Man trance mixes, but this was excellent. Gets a bit repetitive, but otherwise, I don't have a single credible complaint about this. I hope my comment and the others have swayed you toward submitting. Magnificent job! Change that to I will submit a newer iteration of this! Edit: One other thing: you may be able to integrate a bit of the MGS3 version of the theme into this to flesh it out a bit. If you have the original song, the part I'm referencing is 1:04-1:41. Just a suggestion! With or without that piece, great work.

I was totally with you until here. 3D could work for a Mega Man game (if it's on Wii, it would probably trump Legends, and yes, I'm a Legends fan), but if 9 is indeed on Wii and doesn't have sprites, it has to be 3D characters in a 2D world, and has to be better than X8 (and especially X7). Come on, Capcom, give my hyper-detailed, Odin Sphere quality sprites. I know you can do it!

I heard about this last night on a Mega Man site. What you should be aware of is that Mega Man 9's corporate listing is the subcompany that Capcom uses to release 360 and PS3 downloads, so it may be one of those. Of course, the best course of action would be a Wii or a DS sidescroller (2D, naturally). I'd forgive them for the absence of ZX3 if I could get a Mega Man 9 DS release this year. On a similar note, how do you think they'd structure it? Probably opening stage, 4 bosses, mid-stage, 4 bosses, 4 Wily stages like 7 and 8 (though I'd rather forego the mid-stage for all 8 stages being open from the start). In terms of story, if I were doing it, Mega Man and Bass would have a final battle, Mega Man would fight Zero in the end (who would kill Wily), and perhaps Zero could irreparably damage Mega Man before being stopped himself. There are relatively straightforward ways to link Mega Man to X, but Capcom has to be willing to do so. If 9 comes out, it has to be the last game of that series ever, barring remakes. After that, X9. As long as it doesn't suck.

The original is probably one of the top 3 songs from the X6 soundtrack for me, so it was interesting to hear your take on it. Now I listened to it in hi-fi, but I couldn't actually download it, meaning that listening to the original on my media player with amplified bass and effects made it sound better. The arrangement has tremendous potential, but I agree with Nutritious in terms of improvements. The drums don't sound bad, but they could use more variety. The one part that was kind of disappointing was the guitar solo in the middle. The original was thoroughly kick ass; yours was great, but I think as a remix it should take the game of the original and go pro. I don't know what capabilities you have in terms of procuring a strong guitar solo for that section, but I think adding that to the electronica nature of the song could really improve upon it. Last note: the ending fadeout thing; I know you stuck with it for both versions, but personally, I'd lose it for something with more kick. If you are able to implement a live guitar or better samples, maybe ending on that would help. Just a recommendation. Overall, I enjoyed listening to this mix. You have talent, and this track has, as noted above, lots of potential. Amp up the execution and it'll definitely be OC worthy. Hopy my comments were helpful, and I look forward to hearing what you do with it from here! Good luck!

I don't like Madden, though then again I don't like football, so it's not unexpected. As a law student, I'm honestly baffled as to how this works. How do consumers have legal standing? EA did nothing wrong in a legal sense. Something was legally available for purchase, they bought it. EA, as a corporation, has every right to act in whatever way they choose to act, assuming it is reasonable. Charging $50-$60 for a game every year it comes out is not so far removed from any other game. Tony Hawk games, for instance, do the exact same thing. Standing is created by the plaintiff suffering a harm. Monopolizing a license (which by definition is how buying exclusivity rights works) does not constitute tortious behavior. No one is forcing these plaintiffs to purchase that game every year. The plaintiffs are not compelled to purchase the game; they are even less compelled to get it when the price is at its highest. This is a disgusting abuse of the lawsuit system in America, and I would thoroughly hope that EA wins out in the end, not even settling such a ridiculous claim. Now there is some good that could come out of this. If the plaintiffs happen to win (which they probably won't), it could create a precedent upon which customers could sue for excessively high and noncompetitive prices, as in the gasoline market where everyone rips you off. Of course, this won't happen any more than them winning their suit. I can't see any court taking their case seriously.

You know, I love the Final Fantasy games, but I only ever finished 6 and 7. 1 - gave up 2 - didn't care for it 3 - good, but too hard for a non-hardcore gamer 4 - good, but gave up 5 - played rom first, then downloaded 6; played GBA version next, but 6 Adv came out before I finished 6 - excellent game 7 - first FF game I ever played, enjoyed it until I played 6 8 - not interested in story 9 - too many random battles and not enough patience on my end 10- never even owned it 11- don't play online games 12- skipped some side quests, didn't level up enough, hit a boss I couldn't beat, and gave up FFIV comes out three weeks before I leave for law school, so my last three weeks of freedom will be devoted thereto. Maybe I'll finish that one. I think I get bored with these games too quickly. I love the Tales games, and have finished almost all of them, but the FF games just don't hold my interest as long.

I looked around and didn't see a thread dedicated to this game, so I thought I'd start one up. My real motivation, however, is to link you guys to this: http://ds.ign.com/articles/881/881253p1.html I learned a lot from that article. FFIV DS is a 'lost gem' of SquareEnix, and besides the GBA version, the game has never hit US shores. See, Final Fantasy II for SNES was not Final Fantasy IV. I'm not sure what it was, but clearly it couldn't have been. Also, we imagined Final Fantasy Chronicles. That didn't happen. Honestly, it's sad that Wikipedia's entry for Final Fantasy IV is more accurate than IGN's article about it. Some mistakes would be acceptable, and the rest of the article is pretty positive about the DS version, but Bozon obviously didn't care or didn't do his research on this one.

According to an article from IGN, the Wii ranks second among both 10-26 y/o gamers and 27+ gamers, coming behind the Xbox 360 in both instances (http://wii.ign.com/articles/879/879213p1.html, see correction here: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/879/879478p1.html) So my question to you guys/gals is this: Which age category do you belong in, and (a) if Wii is your only system, how often do you use it, or ( if you own two or three, how often do you use the Wii in comparison with the other systems? For myself, I'm 22, so obviously that's the 10-26 group. Wii is my only system, and besides the hours spent playing big release games around their launch dates (Mario, Zelda, Metroid, RE4, and, to a lesser extent, Smash), my Wii gets very little use. I probably use it (not counting Wii Fit) 1-2 hrs for the average session, which would take place maybe 5-10 days per month. Since Galaxy and Zack & Wiki last year, I actually haven't sat down and played the system for any really extended period of time (5+ hrs), a huge reversal from GameCube and especially N64, which I still play every now and then.

I played through it to 100% completion on the PS2 in 2006, and it was an incredibly immersive experience. I was very careful to do classwork before playing Okami because the hours seemed to disappear very quickly. I recently got the Wii one, and while it's still fun, I don't know if I'll stick with it. I had so much difficulty with Waka in the forest because of the controls, the nunchuck dodge doesn't always work, and in general I felt that the painting could have been better. It's still a great game, but I felt the PS2 version was superior. As a side note, on the day Twilight Princess finally came out for GCN, the shipment at my GameStop was a little late, so I had this group of about twenty people eating pizza and basically camping out outside and inside the store during December. I casually mentioned to a few of them that if they liked Zelda games, they owe it to themselves to try Okami. One guy bought Okami on that recommendation alone, and a week later, he returned to thank me for mentioning it, as he enjoyed it more than Twilight Princess. Now I personally felt that Twilight Princess Wii > Okami (marginally, and it's probably a series bias I have), but I was glad that I was able to inspire at least one other person to play this masterpiece who otherwise would not have done so.

just64helpin wrote: Yep; the Critic provided the narration for the B-K promo video.

Banjo-Kazooie was easily one of my favorite games when it first came out in June of 1998 (I just finished 6th grade at the time, so it was perfect for my demographic). I still have that VHS tape sent out to promote the game, which can be found here: In fact I play Banjo-Kazooie the last week of May every year since 2004. When I watched this trailer, I was somewhat upset by it. It isn't traditional Banjo-Kazooie, though since there are only two and a half games out in the series, minus the racing game, I don't know if traditionalism has any place in the conversation; nostalgia would be a better term, I believe. That game, more than Mario and even Zelda, was like the epitome of my childhood in a gaming sense, and seeing this bastardization of it makes me cringe. I'm sure Rare will do a good job, but the character models more than anything seem ... off. I would have been happier with a slightly upgraded N64 model of them placed in an epic 3D world. And the notion of a vehicle disturbs me. The ultimate problem is that the game won't sell. I'm not condemning it from the outset as much as this statement may imply, and perhaps a Banjo game will do better on the system because of the nostalgia factor, but the reality is that kid-friendly games (Viva Pinata, basically any movie-based game, etc) tend to do very poorly on the 360. Rare should have stuck with Nintendo; they could do great things on the Wii.