Pretty bored right now, so I'll watch the re-run.

_{edit: 2 funkin' hours? D: zomg!}

I hope you all realize that the best part of the game is the second half...which wasn't played. And I think you were genuine jerks to the developer. You had the chance to give constructive criticism that could have helped the guy out, but instead decided to taunt and insult him. I hope that makes you feel really good about yourselves. If the game was given a fair shot, I think you could have found that it isn't the garbage you say it is. It's 500 pts for god's sakes! That's how much an NES game cost. I guarantee Niki is more playable than half of the NES games on the Virtual Console, and is def more playable than a few other 500 pt Wiiware games like the "Family" series.

@luke: considering the guy was obviously oblivious to us all, i doubt anything we'd'a had to say would'a made a difference anyway. and i did indeed feel great about hanging out with some friends and watching someone play through a crappy game, yes. a great time was had by all involved, except perhaps the Feathered One himself, lol :3

We shouldn't have to hold themselves back from getting a few laughs and having some fun together because the developer has dropped in and some sensitive fan has decided it's time to be serious despite the fact that almost no one went into that chat for any such purpose. People were there to watch a B Plus game for the same reason people watch B movies: to make fun of it.

It's not like he didn't know what he was getting into. The gathering was advertised for what it is from the beginning: "Be sure to stop by and shout advice at me, such as "Stop playing this crap," "Turn off your Wii," and "Seriously, please, stop playing this crap."" Not to mention the Youtube introduction suggesting that watching footage of the game could lead to vomiting from both ends. I have no idea what possessed him to do it, but I definitely respect him for being a sport about it and not crying about missed opportunities days later.

Actually the game gets even worse as you go on. I was kind of hoping Chicken would stick it out to the end so we could see some real rage If you thought the 15 levels he played had some bad design decisions, you haven't seen anything yet!

If he didn't ignore you guys, is there something else he could have done? Would getting angry have been better, or maybe he should have agreed he had created Frankenstein's arse. You guys were a bit jerk-ish, but then again, it was meant as a good time. You weren't there to be critics, you were there to have fun. It wasn't the best idea for him to show up, I don't think he got what he was expecting, or hoping. It was kind of a strange decision for him to show up. He was really hoping you would get some enjoyment out of it I think. I'm guessing he hadn't conceded to making Frankenstien's arse, or else he would have been looking for what went wrong. My brain is half dead, so I'm just going to say Frankenstein's arse again.

@Ravage: i think the best idea would have been for him to not have been there at all, really. why he chose to follow us in there and give tips on how to play the game is beyond me. no other dev has to do that for their games, lol...

Thanks; you articulated my feelings on this pretty well.

Yes, we were there to have fun. To make jokes. To tease each other and pick on the game. (We picked on Mega Man 9, too. Not that extent, but...hey...it's a better game.) He knew what it was going in, and he went anyway.

I'm glad he did. He seems like a nice guy. It was very, VERY sporting of him to show up...though, I confess, I'm still not sure why he did.

If you watch the footage, Luke (or talk to Adam, or TBD or anyone else who was there for the playthrough), I was pretty generous. It's a very flawed game, but I didn't actually hate it the way I thought I would, and I had some nice things to say. The chatroom was pretty unruly...but hey, if that's their opinion, they are entitled to it.

Luke, you're entitled to saying "This game is good." I am entitled to saying "This game isn't all bad." And they are entitled to saying "This game is awful."

oh yes, C_B was generous to the point where we were accusing him of holding back just because the developer was present. however, it was unfair of us to imply that, since he's just as entitled to say something isn't as bad as he'd expected as we are to think it's absolute crap. sorry 'bout that, phil :3

I watched some of the stream too, Niki looks like a medicore game at best. A developer should not even have to help a person play one of their own games. Also, there are now Bplus fanboys? facepalms

Yeah, that was a genuine point of contention! I can promise that I didn't hold back due to the developer being there...however, his presence did affect other things about the way I played the game...mainly that he requested I stick with the motion controls rather than resorting to classic.

Also, the fact that he was there made me eager to make as much progress in the game that I could, to prove that I was actually giving it a fair shot. But when I died halfway through world 2, and had literally no desire to play through it again...well, that says it all.

Ah, and the whole "the second half of the game is better!" defense? Sorry, I don't buy it. I can't think of a single game that I genuinely enjoy that sucks until you've beaten half of it. And even if the second half is fantastic...why do they expect me to play through half a game's worth of crap in order to get to it?

Like I just said, if there's any game that can apply to it sure as hell isn't Niki! As an example, one of the later levels has an amulet near the ceiling which you have no way of reaching until the water comes in, so you have to sit around doing nothing for a couple of minutes before you get a chance to collect it. There were also a few larger levels with platforms going up the sides and a huge gap in the middle, and they had enemies which flew around quickly in unpredictable patterns which resulted in you needing a huge amount of luck just to get close enough to them to attack.

You saw him play it. You saw how frustrated he got. He didn't even know how the mechanics worked until I told him because the game sure didn't. Yes, it's a shame he didn't continue because 3-3 would have made him put his controller through the TV. The game is pure tedium even when it doesn't frustrate. Brutus went in as a tabula rasa, he came out horribly frustrated and displeased. That was a fair chance, the game failed to grab him and got unceremoniously dumped.

Yes, 500 points is as much as an NES game and except for some horribly broken garbage a NES game will be a much better value than Niki.

I respectfully disagree with the accusation that we were all being jerks. I wasn't a jerk to the developer at all, my Niki Ball to Nikki SIxx line was just a joke based on the "Niki turns into..." lines that preceded it. As a matter of fact, most of us complemented Bernd on knowingly coming into the lions den so to speak. None of our remarks were aimed at him, which would have been disresepctful. Calling out the shortcomings of his game is called criticism which is fair when you produce something you expect people to spend money on.

I was looking to re-read the Niki review on this site (now that I've actually played the game) to see where, specifically, my opinion diverged with the (clearly too generous) ranking of 8/10.

...and I found something very different from what I remembered seeing.
http://wiiware.nintendolife.com/reviews/2008/12/niki_rock_n_ball

I didn't hallucinate the 8/10, did I?

@CB: you did not, my friend. :3

NL's review reliability meter just rose a bazillion points.

Nonsense, the new review is still at least 2 points too high.

Yeah, I think this game is 4/10 max...but with the whole-number-only rating system, it's possible Sean just rounded up.

Still...it was a pleasant surprise to find the review altered to be...you know...more in line with reality.

Poor Bernd can never catch a break! xD