Linkuini

Rule of thumb: a fishing game that sounds less interesting than playing as Big the Cat in Sonic Adventure is probably worthless.

Well, don't that put things into perspective? Never would have thought JRPGs owed anything to football.

I can scarcely even fathom how a bunch of cans could join into such wonderful shapes.

Curly story isn't so great anyway. Instead of making certain conversations more interesting, it makes them awkward. At one point, Curly asks somebody else a question and then answers it herself, which is rather confusing.

I dunno, this honestly might've had less to do with the games than the other one did, and that says something.

At first I thought Sony might've been within their rights here, but if Lambert's contract had already expired when this happened, then it looks like the whole thing was as silly as it sounded after all. That's never good for a reputation.

For my part, I'll gladly wait to get a system well after launch if it ups the chances of one of these types getting stuck with a console they never wanted and having to sell at a loss. If anybody's really thinking of caving for one of these ripoffs, there's your motivation not to.

Maybe this'll cheer everyone up. What if Nintendo is trying to rerelease this game to as many people as possible in an intentional move to show a new generation of gamers how awful it is? Then, what if they released a full-scale modern reboot at retail, reinventing it as a game that's actually fun enough to gain rave reviews and explosive sales?

...

Okay, I don't believe that either, the idea just struck me as hilarious when I thought of it.

Monster Shooter? Cool. Do you shoot monsters? Cool.

In all seriousness, I'm starting to get wary of names like these. They reek of stale, been-there-done-that gameplay. Trailer looks charming, though.

Really, if I didn't hear people comparing this game's addictiveness to anything by PopCap, I wouldn't come down on it so hard. I would have had a far better first impression of this game if I hadn't expected it to be nearly as good as Plants vs. Zombies or Zuma. It's not nearly as good as Plants vs. Zombies or Zuma.

It's not just that Angry Birds doesn't do the same kind of thing that Nintendo does, it's that the kind of thing it does do has been done better elsewhere for ages! It really has nothing to do with Zelda or Skyrim or anything of that nature, at least for me.

@tealovertoma Maybe we'd talk about it more if its title was possible to spell. Honestly, though, I should look at that game, it fell right off my radar.

I'm not even sure whether they're mad that he was seen near a Wii console or just that he was in a commercial for tires. Either way, sounds like kind of a tight contract.

@Boo_Buster No, the abbreviation to end all abbreviations is the one for Adventure Time: Hey, Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage!? Or AT:HIKWYSOG. Can't wait to see how the reviews handle that one.

He said we're number 1! But then he held up two fingers. Now I'm confused!

I got Angry Birds Seasons from the App Store while it was free for a week. Now pigs will fly before I spend money on an Angry Birds game! In fact...

@Pengaweeno The main character's a dog in a sumo costume. Sumo. Pushmo. Not as relevant to the gameplay, but whatever.

I get the feeling I'd have more fun just playing Rabbids Go Home some more. Still, I always approve of a new twist on the ol' kart racer.

@HarmoKnight

Yeah, I only recently saw a video showcasing the type of "indie" stuff that makes it onto XBox Live, and it was pretty disgraceful. Even the worst of WiiWare's catalog far outclassed some of the things I saw. It changed the way I think of shovelware!

Wait... WayForward made this!? Must've been a short deadline or something...

That trailer was even more disturbing the second time.

It must be easier than it looks or something. I mean, it would have to be... right?

...

(whimper)

@AlphaIchimoru

(Shudders)

So it's not like Facebook, then? Thank the good lord.

We don't have to pay real money to use the Mighty Eagle in the 3DS version, do we? Uh... do we?

That music keeps switching between "pretty and relaxing" and "MAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOP". Looks good aside from that, though.

I already know that, and I still don't care. With the wireless C-gear and dozens of options for online play, the latest Pokémon games beg for the benefits of Streetpass and more flexible access to wi-fi. On the DS, most people won't be walking around with a DS and an active game of Pokémon in their pocket, and even if the sign at the hotel or restaurant says "free wi-fi", that probably doesn't mean you'll be able to play Pokémon online.

Thus, many of the most interesting new features of the game will be difficult or impossible to use. Again. This in the name of more players? Well, I won't be one of them.

Good thing I still have Mega Man anniversary collection on Gamecube. I don't really know how they could top that anyway, personally.

This one just keeps finding new ways to screw you over. Once you get used to the tough enemies like Iron Knuckles and Goriyas (as you eventually will), you meet the ones that can sap your experience. Get used to those, and then you find the ones that won't die unless you cast fire. You're barely coping with those, and all of a sudden you're up against invisible enemies!

In a way, I almost admire the boldness of a game that will try and pull this many cheap shots. It certainly prevents the game from falling into a rut like so many games these days, and that deserves to be appreciated. And yet...

When is everybody gonna move on from this? I stopped being sore about Rare years ago.

Already loving that new Mario theme music.

@Kagamine
The 3DS version is missing the object editor. I knew I wanted the Wii U version when I read that!

Why do people want to play as Wario in a New Super Mario Bros. game? This is a burly, graceless klutz who has regularly obtained wealth by allowing himself to be flattened or ignited, among other physically unpleasant feats. Now you guys want him to hop around deftly kicking off walls without touching fireballs or getting caught between two flat surfaces? That'll be the day.

Samba de Amigo was going to be my favorite rhythm game since Elite Beat Agents. Then I played a song on hard mode and the motion controls couldn't keep up.

The real tragedy of motion control is how its technical limitations have forced developers to reel back their ambitions and leave us with control schemes that are either simplistic, broken, or both. Now motion control's more reliable (enough to shoulder the weight of a Zelda game, no less) and it's still being treated as an afterthought by gamers and developers alike. Who knows if it'll pick up steam again, and for how long.

The blonde guy on the box art... am I the only one who thinks he looks like Charlie Sheen with different hair?

My 3DS conked out for a little bit over the summer and I had to subsist on smartphone games when I had time to kill. There were a couple good games that went up for free for a week, like Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing, but in the end, do we really want the buttons to cover the screen and the entire world to tilt whenever we steer a vehicle? That's no way to live.

Just got the last trophy in Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-land Mayhem, so now I'm on to The World Ends With You. Since a bunch of stuff in that game requires me to stop playing at intervals, I'll probably get in some Mighty Switch Force, too. Got more time on my hands since the PitchWinPlay contest got cancelled.

Whaddaya mean lack of interest!? It's a long submission form! I was right about to sit down and try to finish the thing, too...

I thought they used to be after Mickey-level fame. They must have reeled in their expectations since then. And I thought the fans were the ones getting cynical.

Sure, amid the deluge of FPS games you can find plenty of games that think outside the usual framework – Bioshock, Portal, and the Fallout series come to mind. That doesn't mean that we need quite as many FPS games as we're currently seeing, though. We're in a rut right now, the same way we were back in the 16-bit days when we were drowning in platformers. I love platformers, but I don't want to live in a world where games as worthless as Bubsy Bobcat and Punky Skunk get in the way of progress.

Easy to do? Hardly. Even for digital downloads, there's still probably a bunch of licensing issues to go through before they can put a game up for sale, especially for that "under-appreciated" category you mentioned. Couple that with the glacial release schedule we've seen in Nintendo's download services so far, and it's a fat chance we'd ever get another chance to try stuff like, say, Draglade, to name a fairly obscure one.

Even if they did decide to offer DS games for download, we'd probably get a few good first-party titles and then watch the service sputter out. Same old pattern.

@Duney
Fair enough if that's your stance. Still, there's a whole lap of this course that you just skip whenever you do this. Isn't that kind of a waste? That's the part that bugs me the most.

And for anybody who didn't hear me say it the first time: we in the gaming community have a word for those who line up and run off of cliffs. Have some dignity. Don't be a lemming.

I'm gonna want that Sonic Adventure soundtrack. Wonder if they'll ever release the Sonic Unleashed soundtrack. That one's one of my all-time favorite game soundtracks.

I just got VVVVVV. It's so hard it's ridiculous; only that surprisingly awesome soundtrack keeps me playing when the going gets tough. At its best though, it really makes me rethink the way I would play a good platformer. Can't get enough of the music: I'm listening to it right now.

Kid Icarus is sure to get some more playtime. That game just keeps on giving.

Lastly, I'll be playing through Sonic Unleashed on Wii again. No, really!

I've heard of this game. I wonder if it's as surreal as Jason Rohrer's other projects.

I gotta admit, those transformation sequences are a little slicker than MK7, where the propellers and gliders just sorta pop out of your current kart.

Blockbuster, what's that?

On the one hand, I didn't have much of an issue with the controls. In fact, I played through the whole game and didn't take out that plastic stand even once.

On the other hand, telling players they're "playing it wrong" or that they "don't get it" is still terrible form.

The dialog makes me laugh and cringe alternately. "Pit stain"? Ack.

I couldn't stop laughing. What kind of god of death talks like that?

Good thing I picked up R-Type already. The rest I don't really care for.