Comments 311

Re: Feature: The Madness That Is Super Mario 3D World's Multiplayer Mode

Captain_Balko

I was one of the nay-sayers when this was announced, expressing disappointment at the game when it was first announced (and this is from a massive Mario fan since I was old enough to play video games). Slowly, it grew on me, and now I'm incredibly excited for this.

I'm just worried that my brother is going to get upset with me while playing because I'm the superior Mario player. Still, looks awesome, cannot wait to get it.

Re: Data Says - Choose Squirtle in Pokémon Red & Blue

Captain_Balko

This doesn't make much sense to me. Obviously anybody who knows what they are doing is going to build their team with varied types from the beginning of the game instead of relying on their starter. Blastoise is the only one of the three starters who has a single type, and therefore gets a STAB bonus only for water moves unlike Charizard and Venusaur who get it for two types each.

Oh, and also, Charizard looks the coolest by far, so, there's that.

Re: Shigeru Miyamoto Clarifies That Local Multiplayer is Still the Priority for Mario

Captain_Balko

Local multiplayer is fine and dandy when cooperative, but I actually have more fun crushing my friends and sibling than helping them - competition trumps coop. Probably not the point of the article (online, blah blah blah, don't care) Actually, I like HINDERING my friends and brother in coop the most, but that's a good way to lose friends and get my brother angry with me... so I don't do it often.

Anyways, I much prefer local to online because online there are too many people like me that would rather troll and mess everyone up than continue. That's why I didn't like playing Little Big Planet online - If I was the last man standing, I literally just stood still with the camera on me flailing my arms around in a bizarre dance until everyone else got bored and quit. In local I'd end up with a bruised arm and without my controller if I attempted that.

Re: Video: Holy PR Hype! It's a 17 Minute Batman: Arkham Origins Gameplay Walkthrough

Captain_Balko

Extremely excited for this. Considering I haven't had an opportunity to play Arkham Asylum, and finished Arkham City: Armoured Edition some time last February, I've been itching for more Batman, even if it's the same game with a new story, new gadgets, and some new characters (well... new to the Arkham games, that is).

Also, Deathstroke is one of my favourite comic book characters, and the game is pre-ordered at EB Games so I get the bonus Deathstroke challenge pack, so this adds to the excitement. Time to get my Slade on...

Re: Here Are More Gorgeous Super Mario 3D World Screens to Enjoy

Captain_Balko

I was one of the "doubters" when this was announced. I was still going to buy it day one, don't get me wrong - It IS new Mario after all - but I was a bit angry at the linear-seeming levels and underwhelmed by everything, I guess.

Fast forward to now, and I couldn't be more excited for it! It looks fantastic, and I can't help but feel that I judged this game far too harshly at E3. I can't wait for this, picking it and Link Between Worlds up at the same time... BUT WHICH WILL I PLAY FIRST?

Re: PETA Clamours for Attention with Spoof Pokémon Flash Game

Captain_Balko

Random Thought: Instead of wasting money on absurd flash games such as this, how about PETA spends some money figuring out ways NOT to murder so many of their animals every year.

Anyways, PETA, this game makes me hungry. I'm going to go cook up a whole bunch of steaks and buy a bucket of KFC.

Re: Iwata: We Never Fear Failure And Always Seek To Challenge The Status Quo

Captain_Balko

@Doma You inferred that applying to casuals in negative. And I thought that the rant was pretty comical. If casual = negative in your perspective, and hardcore = the opposite of casual, that would mean that you are hardcore from your perspective. And don't say that you didn't imply negativity when you mentioned casuals, because every post thus far was speaking negatively on Nintendo from your perspective, so if you were stating an "unbiased" opinion, go back and look at your other posts on this thread.

Re: Nintendo Download: 10th October (North America)

Captain_Balko

Bah, getting retail version of Pokemon, so nothing for me this week.

Although I wish that Nintendo would just release A Link to the Past on the Wii U eShop here in North America. I've never had an opportunity to play it as of yet, and would like some context to put A Link Between Worlds in.

Re: Iwata: We Never Fear Failure And Always Seek To Challenge The Status Quo

Captain_Balko

@Doma I'm feeling mighty casual in the presence of such a HARDCORE gamer as yourself.

... It was a joke, but seriously, I hate it when people are like "Oh man, stop appealing to casual gamers at all, everyone knows that the 0.05 percent of gamers who are 'hardcore' should be catered to regardless of the fact that Nintendo will make 0.05 percent of potential profit." Seriously. You people who consider yourselves "hardcore" gamers are a vast minority, you don't control the gaming industry, and you never will.

Re: Iwata: We Never Fear Failure And Always Seek To Challenge The Status Quo

Captain_Balko

@Doma "Nintendo are more considered with casuals than ever before"

Uh-oh boys, looks like we got a REAL Hardcore-to-the-bone gamer over here!

Watch out! You don't want to mess with this guy! He's so hardcore, he once played World of Warcraft for five days straight! And all he had to eat and drink were some Doritos and a six pack of Red Bull (the cans doubled as his toilet after he finished them). That's right ladies and gents. THIS GUY RIGHT HERE is SO GOSH-DARN HARDCORE (pardon the language, if there be any ladies reading) that he once beat EVERY FINAL FANTASY GAME (up to 13) in ONE WEEK! He can beat all of his friend in ANY of the Street Fighter games with ANY character - You heard me right, folks, he can CRUSH all THREE of his friends with ANY CHARACTER in ANY version of Street Fighter! It only took him thousands of hours of practice! He's SO HARDCORE that he considers the original Ninja Gaiden on the NES to be CASUAL! OH GOD, THE HUMANITY!

So if if you see this guy, this Hardcore gamer, you'd better watch out. You'd better not be playing Candy Crush on your phone as he walks by, or he'll slap it out of your hand and stomp on it, because he HATES those CASUAL GAMERS! What? You want to play a friendly game of Wii Sports with your friends? You'd better hope he isn't in your neighborhood, because he can SENSE casual gaming (that's just how hardcore he is) and he'll break into your house, smash your TV, break your Wii, and probably burn the whole place down. That's right. HE'S THAT HARDCORE.

Obviously, because he CARES the most about gaming, the entire INDUSTRY revolves around his preferences. So Nintendo wouldn't DARE market partially to casuals that MIGHT buy their system and make them money, because, when it comes to gaming, you can ONLY do what this veritable king among the hardcore wants. What? He's the minority? Who cares, the universe revolves around the 0.05 percent of gamers who are as HARDCORE as he is, obviously nothing else can be taken into account!

Re: News Site Claims That Zelda "Takes A Dim View Of Workers, People Of Colour And Women"

Captain_Balko

Guys, it's clear what needs to happen in light of these current events.

In the next Zelda game, to make up for the blatant sexism, racism, class discrimination, and animal rights issues, a few things must occur:
1. All characters must have an identical mulatto skin tone, not too white, not too black.
2. Link must be a hermaphrodite... Actually, all characters must be hermaphrodites.
3. Hyrule must be completely communist. Get rid of all of the Hyrulian symbols, replace them with the sickle and hammer. All characters must make note of "How glorious it is to work in fields of Mother Hyrule". There is no more royalty, and everyone equally contributes to great working class, and reads only Marx.
4. There must be no animals at all to exploit. In fact, there aren't any creatures at all in the game other than humans. Link may only fight members of the KKK, misogynists, and capitalists.
Yes, this is the only way to remedy the wrong that Ocarina of Time has caused.

... But seriously folks, this guy's antics are laughable at best, I can't fathom how one could write something this unintelligent and poorly thought out - it's one of the dumbest things I've ever read, and I've read some PRETTY STUPID things in my time on the grand internets.

Re: Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition Isn't Coming To Wii U

Captain_Balko

I'm actually pretty upset about this. Would've been a day one buy for me, worth the extra money for all of the DLC. I hope that they give us a fair price on getting all of the DLC at once on the shop, if they won't sell us the Ultimate Edition. You know, and "Ultimate Edition Package", where if we buy all of the DLC at once it'll only cost us 30$ at most... But this is just wishful thinking on my part.

Re: Junichi Masuda Confirms That the Pokémon X & Y Overworld is 2D Only

Captain_Balko

This is freaking awful... I ONLY play in 3D, and I'm now incredibly disappointed, what a ridiculous decision. Honestly, I find that games ALWAYS look better in 3D (if I turned off 3D in Pilotwings or Kid Icarus I'd note how ugly the game looked without 3D) and that in 2D 3DS games just look like slightly upgraded DS games... This is total bull, I can't believe this. I swear, if the 3D effect is taken off of Smash Bros, I'll riot.

Re: Video: New Pokémon X & Y U.S. Trailer Makes its Debut

Captain_Balko

@Interneto Yes, the kids appear to be that old, but that's all intentional. It's a general rule of thumb that when marketing to children (3 - 18) you pick actors that are slightly older than the specific age group you're going for. If you want 6 year old kids to want to buy a product, you get 8-9 year old actors. They picked 16 - 18 year old looking kids so they could market to the 10 - 13 demographic, because kids always want to appear "older" and older actors make them think that the product will make them appear older through association.

Re: Soapbox: Why Grand Theft Auto V Isn't For Me

Captain_Balko

I completely agree with the article, I'm not interested in the GTA series at all. Frankly, I've never really been interested in playing a game as a criminal in the modern world. It simply isn't fun for me. I don't want to murder virtual police officers, I don't want to club virtual old ladies to death, and I don't want to go on virtual shooting sprees. I get that it's fun to play the villain sometimes, but the way GTA portrays things is far too realistic. I would rather spend my time finding fruit in Pikmin, leveling up my Pokemon, and, yes, sailing from island to island in LoZ:WWHD. I don't see the merit in running around a virtual world that looks similar to the real world as a virtual criminal murdering and killing just because you can. That's not an experience I'd like to have, and it provides the opposite of escapism for me - it makes me think about how awful and twisted the real world is, and that this virtual world is simply an exaggerated reflection of our world. I simply don't feel this way while exploring Hyrule or assorted regions from Pokemon.

Re: Video: New Pokémon X & Y U.S. Trailer Makes its Debut

Captain_Balko

Not a bad trailer. It appears that they are focusing on a slightly older target audience (I'd say 10-13) with this trailer considering the age of the kids featured, the effects used, the focuses, and the music. Most Pokemon commercials seem focused on the 6-9 age group a bit more. Maybe Nintendo knows that they've got the 6-9 age range in their pocket and are trying to reclaim the slightly older kids who perhaps haven't played since Diamond and Pearl, or something to that effect...

Re: Bertil Hörberg Shows Gunman Clive Running on the Wii U

Captain_Balko

Gunman Clive was simply fantastic. The graphics were gorgeous, the music wonderful, the platforming tight, and the value phenomenal. I wouldn't buy the exact same game for Wii U, but I'd check out an extended version or a sequel for sure. When is his Zelda inspired game coming out?

Re: Video: Want To Know Which Version Of Street Fighter II Runs The Fastest?

Captain_Balko

@ACK I don't think it's fair to say that Injustice wears off into a "nearly joyless experience". Perhaps for hardcore fighting game fans, this can be said, but for people who don't play uber-competitively, I find Injustice almost akin to Smash Bros in terms of multiplayer fun (to a lesser extent, of course). Plus, it's great for beginners to the genre because the moves aren't too difficult to learn. I haven't played too many fighting games in the past, but picked up Injustice quite quickly.

Re: Without iOS Support Nintendo "Doesn’t Reach Today’s Kids" Says Apple Advocate John Gruber

Captain_Balko

Gah, this is ridiculous. I'm a swim instructor, and all of my students are between 4 and 12. I like to make connections with my students by talking about video games and whatnot, and a majority have a 3DS (or at least a DS). Really young kids might prefer tablets and ipods, perhaps, because it's easier, but most of my older kids have expressed that they use a 3DS because, quote, "The games are way better". Touchscreen games will hold their interest for a half an hour to an hour at a time, in most cases, while 3DS games could be played as long as they please without getting bored. The 9 - 12 age group actually seem pretty savvy when it comes to this stuff - they seem to understand that "free" games aren't usually "free" (with microtransactions and unlocking things through cash) and would rather buy a worthwhile game like Pokemon or Mario or Smash Bros. Especially Pokemon. Kids love Pokemon, and you can only get Pokemon on Nintendo systems.

Re: Monster Hunter 4 Will Allow You To Dress Up As Link Through Collaborative DLC

Captain_Balko

@Kirk I actually get what you're saying about the world textures looking kind of crappy in the video, but I am almost certain that this is due to zooming in and camera angles that are used in the trailer but I doubt will be used in the actual game. It simply won't be that noticeable when you play the game, that I'm certain of, because any texture will look crappy if you zoom in enough.

Re: Nintendo Expects To Sell 5 Million 3DS Consoles In Japan This Year

Captain_Balko

I think that Nintendo can easily surpass this number. Pokemon anyone?

It's easy to see that the 3DS is gaining a larger install base every day simply due to Streetpass trends. When I first got my 3DS, I went to a mall and was excited to see that I had 3 tags (including my brother who also has a 3DS and was beside me the whole time with it in his pocket). Things were like this for a while, but soon enough, I would get Streetpass regularly. On vacation in New York the next year, for example, I would usually get six or seven people per day. I went to the Ex in Toronto last year, and got around fourteen tags in the day, which was exciting for me. Today I went again, and managed to tag a whopping 26 people (actually, probably more, since I had 10 people waiting in my plaza for a while so I likely missed a few tags during that period). I expect that next year, the results will be even more astounding.

Re: Soapbox: Mobile And Tablet Gaming Is Creating A Generation Of Talentless Players

Captain_Balko

I'm scared for the future of gaming. I've tried gaming on the iPad, downloaded a bunch of games and tried them all out. Each held my attention for a short while before becoming redundant and turning me away. Although the fact that our new generation is growing up on games that require zero skill and can barely justify the label "interactive", and the very real possibility that gaming companies will pander to them instead of what many consider "true" gamers that play on dedicated platforms worries me to no end, it doesn't truly scare me.

What does, you may ask? Microtransactions... shudder

Suppose you live in a cold and bleak future where every time you die in a game of Mario, you're given the option to buy lives for 1.00$ a piece (or 100 for 50$), or maybe a power up for 0.50$, or to skip the level that you died at for 3.00$. And there are no more 1 up mushrooms anywhere, none in ? Blocks, and no reward for collecting 100 coins. The only option after a game over is to pay for more lives or wait a day for one.

Suppose we lived in a world where there were no rupees in the Legend of Zelda. All items must be bought at a shop with your real money. Want a shield? That'll cost you 2.50$. Have fun beating the first temple without one. And what about Smash Bros? Oh god, you say, NOT SMASH BROS! Yes, Smash Bros too. Every character save a handful you receive at the start of the game requires money to buy. The secret characters can only be unlocked through your wallet. Oh the humanity!

This world could be a reality if we don't stop this horrible disease that the wretched "casuals" have brought upon us. If you do not want the future to unfold this way, heed my words. Don't put your money towards tablet and smartphone gaming. It doesn't matter if you're a Nintendo fan like me, a PS fan, or an Xbox fan. Support your dedicated gaming company, and boycott the use of microtransactions. Do this, and we might be able to save gaming.