The Coop

But that's on both the Wii and the Gamecube... and it was mostly made for the Gamecube. So really, the Wii has yet to get its first truly exclusive killer app. That's likely to change later this year though.

Wouldn't it be nice to at least see them try the idea though? Can't say it won't work if no one even tries it out. And remember, the GameBoy, Genesis, Master System, NES, Atari 2600/7800/XE/Jaguar, 3DO and Sega CD had no real iconic mascot when they launched, but they all had games with them. You don't need a mascot really. All you need is a good (hear that 3DO?) game

That's kind of how it read going through Babelfish, but I was hoping someone would clarify it more. Thanks. Since that was first posted... http://d.hatena.ne.jp/kaihi/20070219/1171898049 http://b.hatena.ne.jp/entry/4012546 ... a poster named ED-057 found those two pages talking a bit about the "game". Anything of importance in there?

It's not about you, my friend. Nor is it about me. It's about the general populous as a whole, and giving them more than just the bare bones minimum for their money... like they used to do. Sweetening the deal for a little more money is always a good second option to give people, and a game is a great way to do it. It may not be a selling point to you or possibly me, but it'll be one to a lot of folks if the game isn't a polished turd. Sega, Nintendo, SNK and others did it before with success, so there's no reason for Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to not do it now. And while I know this is the age of charging people for every last little thing a game/system maker can think of, that doesn't change how bogus the current setup comes across as being when you look back.

Actually, that was a port of Thunder Force AC... except they made things look and sound worse than the arcade game (and the Genesis game for that matter), replaced a couple levels over what the arcade game did, and mushed up the controls. Basically, it wasn't worth mentioning

No one said you'd have to buy the pack-in version, Evilhead, and that's the beauty of it. You had a choice in the 80's and the first half of the 90's whether you just wanted the system, or the system and a game. You don't have that now, and that's been my point. If I recall, some systems used to debut with a game, and then the core system came later. Now it's reversed, except the pack-in version rarely comes along later... and if it does, it's very short lived.

Which brings me back to the notion of "They're stiffing you". Consumer demand for popular items is always high. The original GameBoy had nigh demand, as did the Genesis, the SNES, the NES, the PS1, the PS2, and other assorted systems. But somewhere along the way, game companies decided to stop including something for you to do. Instead, you're left having to shell out extra cash to actually be able to use your system as something beyond a paper weight. Remember the 8bit and 16bit eras? Remember how people had a choice of either a system with a pack-in game, or just a core system? Usually the choice with the pack-in cost about $20 or so more, but even that price difference was still less than what you'd pay to get a game off the shelf (and the pack in was usually a good game). You were actually saving money buying the pack-in version. But right about the time the Saturn and PS1 hit, this option vanished, and all you had was the "core" system. Your choices were cut in half, and these days, a system is out for quite a while before it gets a pack-in to try and ramp up sales (and that's assuming it ever gets a pack-in). All the financial models in the world can't hide the fact that this reads as simply a way for a given console manufacturer to get more cash out of consumer pockets. After all, why give someone a game for half the price that it would normally cost, when you can force them to pay full price? And why take a chance of loosing third party licensing income, when you could force people to buy a game that the console maker gets a sales percentage of? But to address the consumer demand part again, that's always been a factor in the gaming world. A system maker relied on not just giving you a new system, but also giving you "more for your money" to make their system look more attractive. That usually meant extras in the form of a game, or even several games (anyone remember the 6-in-1 cart for the Genesis?). This went on from the 2600 right up the Neo-Geo and the Sega CD. After that, this sales model vanished, and only seems to resurface when sales have gone stagnant (or at least seem stagnant compared to a couple months earlier). And once the sales are up again, that pack-in or "buy this and get a free game" promotion is discontinued. Call it whatever financial model you like, but at its core, it's still a cheap way to get more money from the consumer by giving them less, while still charging them a lot of cash. Console makers these days just come off as wanting to suck every last dime form you that they can, without giving you anything extra. Sure, they had the same outlook then too, but they hid it a lot better I mean, the Nintendo Wii is the first mainstream system in a long time to actually go back to that old pack-in model, and look how well that concept was received. That says something pretty important to me.

Hardware companies used to use killer aps as selling points, but they now have sufficient product differentiation to generally lean on their brand name. aka They're determined to suck more money from you right off the bat, and refuse to give you "something for nothing" as it were.

Neo-Geo - $649.99 Of course, that came with a game (Magician Lord), two controllers and a memory card. Which begs the question... what the hell is up with game companies no longer offering pack-in games with systems when they launch (save for the Wii)? $400-$600 is a lot to pay and not get a damn game (and no, demos don't count).

SHOOSH! Or we'll turn this project around and go home. I MEAN IT!

If I say "Happy Birthday" again, can I also say "In before lock"?

Phantasy Star Universe's Alcoholics Anonymous?

Better still, get utterly shit faced, and post while in that condition. It'll be fun... for us.

TF1- Sharp X1, Sharp MZ-1500, NEC PC-6001 mkII, and NEC PC-8801 mkII TF1 Construction- Fujitsu FM-7 and NEC PC-9801 TF2- X68000 Sharp, Genesis, Saturn TF3- Genesis, Saturn TF AC- Arcade, Saturn TF4- Genesis, Saturn TF5- Saturn, PS1

On another forum I go to, this was posted... So basically, the folks behind the music of Thunder Force V, Hyper Duel and other Technosoft games, may have very well been working on the spiritual successor to the long lived Thunder Force franchise for a while now. Those of us who have been following the series, know Technosoft was actually working on TF6 when they were swallowed up by a pachinko company in 2000 (thus ceasing to exist). At one point, a CGI movie, thought to be the opening for the game, was leaked onto the Internet. But unfortunately, that movie, and the soundtrack "Broken Thunder: Noise Image Soundtracks Vol. 3" (music that was to be for TF6) were all that came from the development (at least publicly). A lot of folks have been wanting a new entry in the series. The rumor that Technosoft was planning on making a comeback with an actual release of Thunder Force VI has been floating around on the Net for a good number of years, and this rumor has been fueling that sequel desire for shmup fans. Now here were are in 2007, and in a way, we may just get that very wish. If anyone who's reasonably fluent in Japanese could give us a better translation of that page, it would be appreciated. It'd be nice to get more clarity regarding what's up.

You got the bones part right, but the "ink" is actually the tears of rejected remixers.

Bump indeed.

I uh... I don't own an MP3 player. Unless you count my PC (big and bulky, but oh so stylish as I walk about town), then I've got about five.

Engage in Jabberwock Here's a funky little game that just went freeware by its author. Imagine "Zelda", a shmup, a little RPGing, and a large breasted character to use these traits in a series of battles, and you're getting an understanding of this little game. You work your way through various dungeons, battling various types of pumpkin-like enemies, and other assorted mechanical beasts, and you try and work your way to the boss. Along the way, you get health, some items to use, and different attacks as well. There are also very simple puzzles to be solved to get further into each area (basically, big spheres to shoot and flip over). There's not a lot of reading, so that's not an issue. The game's mostly action with its blasting and dodging, so there's little Japanese to worry about. It's gotten some good feedback over the years, so you just may have some fun with it.

Thanks for the welcome guys. Hopefully you'll enjoy what I come up with, even if it doesn't make the end cut Speaking of which, where'd your project go?

Broken Thunder: Project Thunder Force VI That's right, I own the soundtrack to a game NO ONE has played

The first reviews are in for Sonic and the Secret Rings... http://wii.ign.com/articles/766/766214p2.html http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/sonicrevolution/review.html?sid=6166173&tag=recent_updates;title;0

I figured I may as well update this. After going to that site, I downloaded SUPERAntiSpyware. Hopping into Safe Mode, I ran it. Besides the usual tracking cookies that set off every Spyware program, it detected a Trojan buried in some odd corner of my PC (sorry I can't remember the name... I think it might have been a Vundo variant or something). It got rid of the file, and a number of things have taken place... 1) Those fucking windows seem to have stopped. I haven't gotten one since I ran the scan back on 2-17-2007. 2) FireFox had been starting a lot slower for around two weeks at the time I DLed SUPERAntiSpyware. I'd done an uninstall twice before, but nothing seemed to correct the 6-7 second to start up time that the browser had suddenly began doing (where before it had only been a second or two). FireFox had also gotten into the habit of consuming 100% or my CPU resources, causing my CPU to got hot to the point of the cooling fan kicking into high gear (this always happened after I'd closed the browser, yet the program would keep running according to the task manager). Once that file was removed, FireFox went back to normal startup time and functions. So it seems the found trojan was behind all that as well. So it would seem (**knocks on wood**) that the problem's hopefully been solved. I don't know how that thing got in there, or where it came from, and that bothers me a little.

Well, I got a mysterious PM last night that pointed me in this direction. And of the tracks left, I think I'll grab "Merry-Go-Round".

True. Notice none of them ever talked about the small glitches in Capcom Classics Collection 2, or the weird issue with Joust 2's title screen on the XBox version of Midway Arcade Treasures 1. Or the huge, game ending bug in Primal Rage on MAT2 (XBox version). That bothered me quite a bit since they all said how perfect or great the emulation was. Oh, and I added a few more titles to my second list above. Remembered a few others while I was in the shower.