The Gamer's Quarter

[SuperWes]

[SuperWes]

Does it bother anyone else that Nintendo themselves are releasing plastic pieces of shit to put on your controller? The more I think about it the more it bugs me. I thought Nintendo was above that.

-Wes
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[dessgeega]

isn't that, like, the first thing they said they were going to do when they announced the wii controller?
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[Lestrade]

[dessgeega]

little big planet is a great-looking game but it's not going to sell me a boring, overpriced console!

i think the gun, at least, will set a good precedent for "light gun" games on the wii. wii play seems to suggest the wii can do them pretty well!
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[Ethoscapade]

as regards nintendo thinking up new plastic shit to stick on your wiimote:

would it make so much of a difference to you if it plugged into the wiimote (as in, actually had some form of electricity going to it)? the only difference from the zapper we saw last year and the one from this year is that this one actually uses the nunchuck you've no doubt already got, which is.. economical at worst.

i pretty much felt the exact same way about the three press conferences as you did, though, wes.

[SuperWes]

[Lestrade]

Wes, you know what? You're probably right. We aren't so different after all. I guess I'm just a douchebag.

I totally see what you're saying, especially about getting that GameCube feeling. Sometimes friends will ask, "What's new for Wii?" and I have to say, "Uh, nothing?" Granted, between the Wii, DS, Xbox 360 and downloadable games I can usually find something new to play, but things are a bit dry, yes.

It's weird about the PS3; I just feel completely apathetic towards it. I mean, I'm as much of a gearhead as anyone else, but I can't think of a damn reason to buy a PS3 at all. Maybe in 2008 that will change, but so far the offerings—all of the same "hardcore," dark-and-gritty, boobs and swords variety—don't interest me at all.

But I just saw some of those new Little Big Planet screens and my, my, my; that game sure fills me with that same sense of happy awe I get when looking at a new Mario game. It's uncannily beautiful, and though I am less likely to play a make-your-own-fun game than a story-based one, the sheer beauty of it is enticing.

I'm probably getting a nice HDTV later this year; maybe after that, my interest in the PS3 will improve?

[SuperWes]

[parkbench]

unfff

i want it :/

[ryan]

[dessgeega]

[Cycle]

so hey i just noticed that marathon 2 port (which has stupid looking new weapons) also has crosshairs.

sorry microsoft, you fucking fail.

i don't need a 360 anymore!

i'm suffering so much nerd rage that i think i'm going to buy a ps3 just to spite microsoft
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[dessgeega]

geometry wars wii looks exactly like the xbox version: which is to say, indecipherable. the ds version actually looks like something you can play.

i will probably get durandal because i am unimpressed by cycle's nerd rage.
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[dessgeega]

psst: username "golin" password "harris"
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[dessgeega]

endless ocean is exactly the sort of thing i want to see on the wii.
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[Cycle]

dess why aren't you telling me to finish my article
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[dessgeega]

finish that article or i'll have your avatar revoked
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[Cycle]

oh snap
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[parkbench]

[dessgeega]

portal is going to work because they've put so much effort into making a world with believable, predictable physics, that just happens to also contain a magical portal gun which interacts with those physics exactly how you'd expect them to, letting the player enact all of her crafty space-defying ideas.

echochrome just looks like make sure the camera is turned the right way or you fall. it could surprise me, though. (so could portal.)
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[dhex]

what's wrong with crosshairs?
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[Cycle]

crosshairs are for pussies. marathon doesn't need them, and putting them in takes away some of the skill required to play, especially with the SPNKR. Shotguns will also be way too easy to use now. there better be an option to ban them from servers, or fuck that noise.
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[Harveyjames]

[Cycle]

guys i cant stress enough how much crosshairs will ruin marathon
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[Harveyjames]

So Wario's course in Mario Kart Wii is called 'Wario's Mines' and it's a direct tribute to that part of Castle In The Sky when the air pirates are driving their cars along the train tracks! Same architecture and canyons and everything. Only there's warp pipes sticking up everywhere.

Sadly, the game looks as ugly and shiny as Double Dash did.

Also there's a dude doing press-ups in the Wii Fit press package who is pretending to be a woman with breasts. That's the most I got from the press section this year. Have you got a password for Sony's press site?

Oh yeah, what's the deal with Endless Ocean?

[dhex]

such crosshair racism i had not expect to find in a place like this.

(actually i'm somewhat bewildered but to each their own)
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[Cycle]

if you were there, dhex, if you were there when the heavens came crashing down, you'd understand.

you'd know.
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[Scratchmonkey]

[dessgeega]

but it's exactly that kind of shortsightedness which has characterized the sensible soccer series up to this point!
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[SuperWes]

For the record, this is exactly what I'd like to see from Wii Remote attachments in the future.

-Wes
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[Scratchmonkey]

Sensible Soccer will be released on August 29th. There's an announcement about it on the Codemasters forums and everything seems to indicate that it'll be released for all regions, although no confirmation just to keep us edgy.

[SuperWes]

Has anyone linked this yet, because they should. They really should.

-Wes
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[Lestrade]

SILENT HILL FIIIIIIIVVVVVVE.

Actually, the voice-over is really week and apparently the game is being developed by Americans, not the original team.

How is it that this many years down the road, we still can't get a Silent Hill game with the atmosphere of SH2 or the raw visual quality of SH3?

[Intentionally Wrong]

Cycle's rage at the addition of crosshairs kind of reminds me of an essay I just read from somebody on LiveJournal.

The relevant bit:

[Cycle]

Yeah, seriously, the game doesn't need crosshairs and the game will be worse off with them. It will turn the refined multiplayer into a mess.
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[parkbench]

[Cycle]

Except that wouldn't remove skill from the gameplay.
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[Lestrade]

Just watched all the folks on the 1up show complain about how Nintendo is concentrating too much on the casual market. I guess they didn't get the memo? Instead they rave about all the "hardcore" games that Sony and Microsoft are offering.

I guess I'm not hardcore enough, because I certainly am not excited by a collection of identical, bleak, In-a-World FPSes and gritty racers. I mean, Haze? Seriously?

I know Nintendo is no be-all-end-all (as previously discussed) but fuck, Gamers™ take themselves way, way too seriously these days. I can't take Ryan O'Donnell seriously ever since he admitted he "doesn't like to read." Buffoons.

[dhex]

i dunno, i think haze looked pretty good. but i like that kind of thing.

i was never one much for guessing where i was shooting, so crosshairs don't really bother me.
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[Cycle]

the guns are always aimed at the middle of the screen - that's where you'll be shooting. and i think you guys can shut the heck up until you spend some time playing marathon online, especially with the SPNKR. seriously, putting crosshairs on that thing will take out all of the skill that requires to use that megaweapon of death and will just ruin the balance.

basically, it's like putting a quad damage power-up in a rainbow six game.
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[dhex]

i get ya - but ahh yeah i play games that were made in this century so "middle of the screen" isn't that helpful. widescreen you know. 16:9, old chap, with those terribly high resolutions. quite a bother really. all this aliasing business. bad for the blood, i think. not to mention the eyestrain.
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[Cycle]

i... the middle of the screen would still be obvious? what?

more modern games could do with dumping crosshairs, too. cthullu was all the better for it. shame some of the other ideas didnt pan out as well.
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[SuperWes]

[Mr Mustache]

Though I never played the multiplayer (sad), I agree that the crosshairs are a mistake. Even without multiplayer, it is obvious that this will completely change the way one uses the SPNKR, which was kind of sad. Aesthetically they look out of place, and clutter what is otherwise nice and clean. Hopefully it's possible to turn them off, as this aside, it looks like a nice port that I will unfortunately never play.

At the very least it's not even close to as bad as the Prince of Persia Remake.

In terms of Nintendo, it seems to me that as with the DS, they have focused on first establishing themselves with the casual market. Once they release a Mario game, the bar for less casual games will be raised significantly, and we will see a glut of quality, more traditional software.

Until then, kind of seems like a good time for me to visit/revisit older games...Fallout and Metalstorm, for instance.
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Straight up

[ApM]

[dongle]

[Mr Mustache]

[Lestrade]

[ryan]

For Marathon folk, Marathon: Resurrection, a total conversion for the original Unreal Tournament, has been released.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.