The Gamer's Quarter

[dark steve]

I'm shocked that figure is as high as it is (the 22%). What are the stats for people who stick with gym memberships and the like?
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[dhex]

about the same, or so i've been told. i'm sure the industry measures it obsessively.
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[KinokoFry]

I've just spent the day playing Mario Kart Wii.

Fuuuuck, it's good. It's the first Mario Kart game that -clicks- with me. I've never really felt like a fan of Mario Kart until now.

Drifting feels intuitive and I now look for the courses that let me drift the entire time. The steering wheel makes far more of a difference than I expected it to - and in a good way.

One of the best things is that I'm able to play as King Boo on a freaking motocycle. Is this the first game to allow you to play as Boo? It's the first time I've played as a boo before, and I love it. I find myself picking bikes with good acceleration and handling, and actually seeing decent improvements in my playing as I learn how to control the bike better.

This is basically my first day with the game, but damn. I am impressed!

[Harveyjames]

My problem with it is that it's so visually cluttered. That tree-top course looks like the Care Bears movie or some shit. Also Coconut Mall freaks me out! Placed out of context in the Mario universe the Miis look like the Hattifatteners from the Moomins, eerie and sinister.



The best looking levels are the remakes of old snes courses, I think. There's a lot less visual static. The GBA level where you're on a beach and the Shy Guys are firing cannonballs at you is by far and away the most appealing course in my eyes.

[KinokoFry]

I agree. Actually, my favourite courses are the simple, relatively uncluttered ones. I get a bit frustrated with courses that have all sorts of crap in my way and stop me from being able to think I'm a good driver.

But I don't necesarilly mind them being there, because perhaps if I were better at the game, I'd enjoy those challenges more. I'm sure lots of people do. I'm just a casual Mario Kart player. I haven't even played all the courses yet! So far, I'm rather into the desert course because HOT DAMN drifting along those curves is fun. Am I right, guys? Huh? Huh??

It seems to me that Nintendo keep switching between the Rainbow Road being great fun, and being stupidly difficult. This Rainbow road is beautiful, possibly the best looking one yet. Visually, I adore it. But I'll be fucked if I have a chance in hell of playing on that damn thing because I barely have time to lament between all my falls off the edge.

I don't know if it's unlockable - I really hope so - but my favourite track of all time is that simple circuit that just goes around and around. I can't remember the name, but I seem to remember it from the 64 version. Not sure, but it might have been related to baby Mario and baby Luigi. It was fantastic. You like driving really fast and not having to worry about difficult corners? You like FUN? That's the course. I really hope it's in this game.

Regardless, enjoying the HECK out of this game. The general controls are the best yet.

[dessgeega]

i'd forgotten how beautiful sunsoft's trip world is. daphaknee played gimmick while she was here, which reminded me i needed to play it. gimmick is all about physics and challenge, though, while its gameboy psuedosequel is about exploring strange and beautiful places inhabited by strange and inexplicable creatures. one of the abilities you can acquire is a flower growing out of your head, which tosses seeds that grow flowers on other creatures' heads, causing them to stop and stand around peacefully for a few moments.

it's almost a predecessor to knytt in some ways. the twist is that occasionally that charming scenery and strange creatures bite and hurt you out of nowhere. sometimes they goad you into it, even: there's a room where you get a weapon (a long thwippy tail), and almost immediately a harmless little creature comes walking along. bop it with your tail and it flies into a rage, killing you. so your sense of wonder is tempered by this cautious fear that's not entirely unlike actually visiting a strange and unknown place.

AND SPEAKING OF THE GAMEBOY, let's talk about the best roguelike on the little machine. that's right, konami's cave noire. cave noire is a fantastic little game that handles tropes of the genre, like darkness and secret passages, in clever ways most attempts at console roguelikes never consider. the game has a handful of dungeons, each with a different goal: kill a certain amount of monsters, recover a certain amount of gold, rescue a certain amount of fairies (by finding their cages and the keys that will unlock them). when you complete your goal, that dungeon levels up and becomes harder.

the game emphasizes sneaking past enemies more than most similiar games: since most enemies follow obvious movement patterns, it's actually encouraged. the game also has the character lacking in so many console roguelikes (this is one of the things that makes shiren so successful). your little guy's reactions and animations tell a whole story.
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[dessgeega]

look, here's a movie of trip world.
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[Cycle]

[SuperWes]

I got Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon a few days ago and played a bunch of it the first night despite the fact that my wife can't stand it. It's surprisingly really good! It's much better and way different from the previous Chocobo's Dungeon games.

The premise is that Adventures Cid and Chocobo are wisked away to a town where a bell tower randomly tolls which makes people forget things. Then a random baby with wings on its diaper falls out of the sky that has the power to let people remember. But only if Chocobo can make it through a random dungeon triggered by holding the B button while standing next to that person! It makes no sense at all, but that doesn't stop it from being really good.

The few twists in play are listable, so let me list them!

1. You keep your equipment and levels when you die, but levels come much further apart than most roguelikes and do much less for you. As far as I can tell they pretty much just add some HP.

2. You have various classes you can choose between and level up that are based on the FF job system. These classes are tied to an MP bar, which gradually refills over time and maxes out at 3 uses (for now).

3. Some optional dungeons have parameters set which force you to play differently. One was "you and all enemies have 1HP" another was, "you are blind," and another was, "level cap of 12 and huge hallway of enemies." These dungeons always take away your equipment and usually your levels too.

Other than those, pretty much everything else is standard roguelike stuff. Being able to hold on to items makes it much more forgiving than something like Shiren, but I find that having selectable classes and usable, refillable magic make the game a lot more in line with my play style without sacrificing what makes roguelikes interesting. So yeah, I actually think this one's pretty good! If you're interested in it, be aware that GameStop has it for $40 and I believe everyone else is charging $50.

-Wes
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[Cycle]

A friend of mine has been playing that too and says it's quite fun and would be a good RogueLike gateway drug.

In other news, Jet Set Willy Online; best multiplayer game ever?
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[SuperWes]

Oh yeah! I should for sure mention that the first few hours are excruciatingly painful!

Personally, I'm not sure if gateway is the right word for it. Pokemon maybe, but I'm pretty sure this would still be good for seasoned roguelikers. Does anybody playing Roguelikes lose their best weapon and get giddy about it?

-Wes
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[KinokoFry]

Cycle: There are so many special moments in JSW. Let us never forget.

[daphaknee]

jet set willy should really be the official tgq chat

[Harveyjames]

But it just devolves into cybersex all the time

Seriously if ever there was a forum whose chatrooms i'd think were full of cybersex, it would not be that of The Closest Thing The Games Industry Has To A Journal of Serious Critique, The Gamer's Quarter

[daphaknee]

fruit mystery

My dad said that it is when robin williams sucks Coke up his nose and goes "MMMMM" then acts like a COMPLETE DICKHEAD for two and a half hours, usually on recordced on film. When he is not COKED UP he is also a dickhead anyway my dad sayd. My dad does not like him any more than I do. I SUSPECT that dads infomation means that the only time when Robin WILLIAMS is not being a dickhead is when he is asleep but even then is probly farts every five minuts and makes the room smell AWFUL. "POOH" people say when a room smells bad, "HAS ROBIN WILLIAMS BEEN ASLEEP IN HERE". I tell my dad this and he nods yes, probably thats right.
Its great good when my dad and me AGREE on something for real, its like two GIANTS BELLS dancing ringing in to the light

[Harveyjames]

I enjoyed that game

[KinokoFry]

Game of the Year, that. Brilliant.

[randomuser83]

Im currently playing MGS4. Which I think is the greatest game of the year thus far.

[Cycle]

Even better than Fruit Mystery? Unlikely!
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[daphaknee]

[Cycle]

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[kirkjerk]

(posted originally at the other TGQ)

Wii Fit teaches me about posture!

Here is bad posture:



Here is good posture:



Lesson learned... bad posture is much sexier than good posture.

Plus, why does the balance board sound like Navi + GlaDOS??

But Seriously.
Gamespy compares this and that Xbox fitness game. I wonder about which is better... in some ways Wii Fit seems to lack guidance. And sometimes the games seem more about gameness than, you know, like balance itself...
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=/ \(<D)_/
==/\/ >_ kirkjerk.com

[daphaknee]

people should post at hte n ew tgq more often

[aderack]

[dessgeega]

[aderack]

Word-of-Mouth-on-Keyboard in action!
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[dessgeega]

i played a cowboyana tonight.
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[Cycle]

money makes wario's world go round

so i've given super mario land 3: wario land another shot, thanks to the efforts of kojicakes and l (a.k.a canon dorf) on selectbutton. wario is the bizarro version of super mario; a crude and rude take on the cute, fuddy uncle of a plumber. wario doesn't have bunny ears, he has a jetpack. he doesn't have a flower to help him shoot fireballs, he has a flamethrower hat with the appearance of a dragon. he can knock enemies out by simply touching them, and charge through brick walls, the level designs crafted to match these abilities that would make princess peach forget mario instantly. but he's not in it to save a princess or even the world he lives in. he's in it for the money.

and it's this greed for money that drives the game. there are many situations where a stockpile of cash will tempt the player, a deadly obstacle between them. in many cases the money can be easily ignore and wario can continue to the end of the level, but wario, and the player, want this money. it's the only "score" in the game, the end level screen designed to lure the player into wanting to increase the amount in his or her vault. there is no denying that it is satisfying when hundreds of gold coins are added to his or her bank account.

there is even a gambling game to reflect this greed. in it, wario has a fifty fifty chance of doubling his cash, or having a weight dropped on his head and losing half of all he worked to collect through the level. whether he wins or loses, he still has two tries. if he wins, should he try again or quit while he's ahead? if he loses, should he try to win it back or back or leave and not risk losing even more? the greed of the player decides the greed of wario.

money is also used for opening doors, activating checkpoints, and paying to pay minigames for extra lives. but how often will the player play this game rather than just to try win more money? very little.

because to the player, and to wario, money is more important than life.

betterthandess.com coming soon.
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[dessgeega]

[Cycle]

stay tuned for betterthandess.com wario land 2 impressions, folks! as soon as betterthandess finishes the first one.
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[Harveyjames]

This betterthandess website sounds shitty!

I would rather see someone make fun fun of that Pompous ass who writes for Penny Arcade. He's a Dave Sim in the making. I hope his pretentiousness is backed up by some KER-AAAAAAYZEE VIEWS

[Winged Assassins (1984)]

One time last week I decided that I just had to own SEGA Classics Collection for the Fantasy Zone remake. So now I do.

It's great. I couldn't give two shits about the rest of the games but I don't care because this one particular game makes up for the rest. Well, that and Columns. If SEGA had never done Daytona I might say that the Virtua Racing port would be another one I could see myself enjoying outside the visuals but after Daytona I only get Virtua Boredom whenever I press the start button.
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[Harveyjames]

You should have said Actua Boredom!

[dessgeega]

i hear the fantasy zone remake is actually the shining part of that collection, and the 3d is just as round and colorful as the original game.
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[Winged Assassins (1984)]

It translated really well, they didn't mess with the perspective much and they didn't mess with the gameplay. The camera stays side on except for a very short animation of Opa-Opa (the player) flying into each planet and after you kill each boss, where it goes behind you Space Fantasy Zone style whilst you catch the coins the boss drops in a very short bonus stage. There's a "challenge" mode where you can play each stage separately to grind enjoyably for coins to buy a bunch of extra items and stages for play in "normal" mode (which has the camera shenanigans and the coin bonus stage) and a "gallery" where you can view any unlocked character models (which look absolutely darling I should mention).

And if you don't like the camera shenanigans and extra stuff there's an "arcade" mode where it keeps everything the same as the original game. It's like you never left.
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[Shapermc]

Taito Games!

[aderack]

I also really like the Outrun remake. It's ugly, yet it plays really awesomely.

Space Harrier is also sort of a fun reinvention. I like the new character design, and the new catch phrases are hilarious.

Really, the only bad thing on that collection is the Golden Axe remake. The collection got a really raw deal when it came out. People weren't even willing to give it a chance, and most of the "professional" reviews I read were flat-out wrong about so many things that I don't think they even played the games...
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[dessgeega]

[daphaknee]

the final boss fight (the one i actually have to fight) in mother 3 is impossible without a way to replenish my mp so im never going to see the ending now

oh edit: nevermidn those lightning ball dudes drop flan IM TOTALLY KICKING THIS GAMES ASS NOW

[Winged Assassins (1984)]

[Scratchmonkey]

[Cycle]

last night i communicated to other death players, through my corpses, that i am an asshole.


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[Winged Assassins (1984)]

I still can't complete area-17 of Atomic Robo-Kid Special. I think it's a good thing, there's probably one of those one-on-one laser tennis matches afterwards. Those guys are complete bastards.
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[dessgeega]

the laser tennis is my favorite part.

i've never been able to beat the final boss.
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[dessgeega]

sky blazer, snes.

you know, for all this game's flaws (too-stiff controls that, combined with the protagonist's short and often unclear range of attack, often make it hard to avoid being hurt), i can't help but like it. the level design is pleasingly devious, and the stages are often quick and punchy. there's a lot of what looks like hardware gimmickry (rotating nebulus towers, sprite-scaling bosses), but actually provides pretty clever setpieces - it moves past tech demo territory, unlike super castlevania.

and though it has password saves, it has far and away the quickest and most convenient interface for entering them on its console.

D-A-I-S, do you like this game? for some reason it seems like the sort of thing you'd be into.
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[Intentionally Wrong]

[aderack]

You know, having initially dismissing Portrait of Ruin -- I only played for maybe half an hour before rejecting it; hadn't played it in a year and a half -- I went back to it the other day. And... it's actually pretty good, once you're past some of the initial tedium. Thanks to Mr. Koshiro, the music is the best since Harmony of Dissonance. It controls really, really well. The animation is pretty good, actually. A lot of the enemies are redrawn -- though there's a big disparity in style between the new ones and the recycled ones. The new ones all look like they're by the Circle of the Moon guys, and the old ones are so clearly Sorrow carry-overs.

There is actual, legitimate level design in places -- which is novel. More of it than in Dawn of Sorrow, in fact! It's just, 1/3 of the real level design in DoS was right at the start, whereas in PoR it doesn't come in for a couple of hours. (Until then it's a combination of tutorial and convoluted system introduction, against monsters-on-shelves design.)

And it does actually feel different enough as not to just feel like another GBA/DS Castlevania -- which is the fate suffered by Dawn of Sorrow.

I'd say this is definitely not the worst handheld Igavania. Harmony and Aria still compete for the best; Harmony for its feeling and Aria for its reason. I'd have to play some more, but I think I'm now enjoying this about as much as Circle of the Moon...
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[Cycle]

[dessgeega]

exciting seaman 2 news!

i own seaman 2. that is only PART of the exciting news, however.

the other part is that the SEAMIC PS2 PAD it comes with is, in fact, a PS2 SATURN PAD.

usb saturn pad! they don't make those anymore!
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[SuperWes]