Comments 216

Re: Where To Pre-Order Mario Strikers: Battle League On Switch

Schprocket

For those of us whom the Northern Hemisphere tends to forget exist:

The Aussie Pre-Order Edition comes with the 11 character cards - no scarf...

The following prices don't include postage as this is dependent on destination.

Best Pre-Order Edition Deal - The Gamesmen
Best Standard Edition Deal - Amazon

The Gamesmen: Pre-Order Edition - Au$68.00 - https://bit.ly/GamesmenMarioStrikers

Amazon: Standard Edition - Au$58.00 - https://amzn.to/3mnzUYi

BigW: Standard Edition - Au$69.00 - https://bit.ly/BigWMarioStrikers

JB HiFi: Pre-Order Edition - Au$69.00 - https://bit.ly/JBMarioStrikers

EB Games: Pre-Order Edition - Au$79.00 - https://bit.ly/EBMarioStrikers

For EB, be sure to ask for a price-match to a bricks-and-mortar store price as seen above.

Re: Feature: Our Predictions For The-E3-That-Isn't E3 - Bayonetta, GoldenEye, And... Viva Piñata?!

Schprocket

My personal experience that the average gaming punter looking for the next "shiny" game has about a 4-week recall at best before hype fatigue kicks in.
So internet dynamics being what it is and putting on my Speculation Pants™, then at least one "surprise" announcement will be a firm release date for Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, possibly early to mid-July, if not late June, since it's been just over 8 weeks since the "accidental release" gameplay video was boosted from Twitter by all and sundry.

Or not...

Re: The Wonderful 101 Struggles In Its First Week At Japanese Retail

Schprocket

I said it once already but it seems to have been lost:

From a casual observation one might think it looks a bit like Pikmin with its masses of minions but to say it's the same is an over-simplification and TW101 plays nothing like it.

Graphically it looks great - it may be from a Japanese studio with the usual amount of design 'quirkiness' but to me it has a Pixar-like look about it which just seems to help bring it all together.
Imagine if The Incredibles had the roster of the Marvel Universe heroes and that's what TW101 reminds me of

However, this is not a game that anyone can just bro-dude their way into on hard or even normal.

It may confuse some people - it did me - and it may seem mercilessly complex.

However, it's not hard, it's just different.

No-one with any self-esteem should feel bad about playing the demo on easy for the first run if the screen is a little busy. By the time you get half way through the demo, you should have figured out most of the moves and the rest is a combo of action and puzzle.

So it ain't Angry Birds or Cut The Rope, but by the same token, platforming wizards aren't gonna make this puppy roll over and beg either.

Just don't expect it to be like anything you've played before and cut yourself some slack - it'll be worth it!

Re: The Wonderful 101 Misses the Top 20 in UK All-Format Charts

Schprocket

@Kirk I take it you've played the demo... once... on normal.
If that's what you did, then I'd suggest that you're suffering the same psychological dysfunction as the nay-saying reviewers and that is the inability to swallow your pride and run through on "dead-easy", take your time to learn, then go back and play on Normal.

Fortunately for me, I know my twitch-index stinks and it was only on a second play on "dead-easy" - after playing on Normal because of the confusion you mentioned - that I got through the demo entirely.

Are you Gen (cr)Y? (just kidding )

Re: Funfair Party Games

Schprocket

Only Au$15.00 here... surely it's not actually more expensive in the US?

I was hoping for a review but have yet to find one.

Re: Out Today: The Wonderful 101 (Europe)

Schprocket

@antdickens "bonkers-japanese-action game" you say?

Does that extend to "bonkers-japanese-action-strategy-rpg game" of the type that Project X Zone is?

I know they're nothing alike in concept and play but the cheesy over-the-top dialogue, the Japanese voice-acting, insane plot - there's this something about PXZ which drags me back and I can see that coming with TW101

Re: Review: Galaga (Wii U eShop / NES)

Schprocket

@Platypus101 Only when he saw me walk in ... 32 years ago doesn't seem that long until you think about it... I'd say this game, along with Defender, Tempest, BattleZone, and Phoenix, were faves of my late-teens to early 20's...

Re: Departing Eidos Montreal Boss Says Square Enix "Has Some Things To Learn" About Selling Games

Schprocket

@MadAussieBloke that's why I've been investing in Kickstarters... give money to the guys who remember what making games is about - before the creativity gets traded-in for a Harvard MBA, "the bottom line", and Pachterosis*...

*hardening of the right-brain hemisphere due to being unable to give credibility to any console system which doesn't rely solely on appealing to dude-bros...

Re: Talking Point: It's Time for Nintendo to Drop Region Locking

Schprocket

Cheap imports is no reason to want to remove region-locking - you truly believe that your respective federal govenments would want to miss out on all that luverly tax, and that small-business would be happy?

No, removing region-locking is about having the choice to buy what you want, when you want.

Example: you're not prevented from buying foreign language films. It used to be that region-locking prevented playback but as it happens,not every DVD player is region-locked any more.

There is no legal requirement to do so, just an agreement between DVD player manufacturers and Video distribution owners - I doubt you'd ever see an officially unlocked Sony player of any description, for example, since they have a vested interest in the entertainment industry.
It's simply for the protection of the money-for-jam cash-flow of entertainment industry distribution middle-men who are trying to hang on to a similar business model as that which the RIAA was fighting hard to maintain.

Re: Indie Point And Click Adventure Armikrog May Hit Wii U

Schprocket

These guys dropped the Wii U stretch target to $800k from $950k (unconfirmed - can't find my source again)

Originally thought this was theWii U target but I've crossed wires as well as lost the info...

They have 52 hours to go and only $80k (if $800k is true). There's a huge cross-section of gamers interested but for as little as pledging $15 for a Wii U digital download in return, I'm sure that these guys aren't anywhere near being beaten as suggested by earlier posters if the Wii U crowd get on-board.

Check out the conceptual designs for thew Wii U version and get behind them

Untitled

The indies want to support the Wii U, and we should be supporting them as much as possible

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1949537745/armikrog/posts/518224#comments

Re: EA: We're Not Writing Off Wii U

Schprocket

I'm sorry Ea, what was that?
Oh dear... I am really, really, really sorry...truly I am... but I can't wait for you lot to make up your minds whilst sitting on the fence, and my money's gone backing Kickstarters where most devs really give a poopiedoodledingalingdong about gamers across all platforms... so between KIckstarters and Nintendo's releases, I'm afraid I can't afford buy your ill-conceived, second-rate, after-thoughts for my current platform of choice... jerks...

Re: Video: Reggie Shows Off Wii U to Jimmy Fallon, Hilarity Ensues

Schprocket

@moroboshi No different way that the PS3 and 360 games were marketed as "full HD".
The plethora of 720p max "HD" games is likely to be based on market research determining that more people bought the cheaper 720p "HD ready" sets than those who bought the "Full HD" 1080p and that development costs increase for the extra pixels.

@Kirk Seriously? Man I think you have misinterpreted the body language.
In spite of having to keep to a timetable, Jimmy's face and body language briefly said "I don't wanna stop" for a few seconds at the end there.
I've seen plenty of other TV shows where the MC has no interest in a subject whatsoever and the segment ends much sharper... and colder.

Re: Fils-Aime - With the Upcoming Wii U Lineup Third-Party "Development Dollars are Starting to Shift"

Schprocket

Maybe we're due for the mega-publisher bubble to burst, simply because it's become a management-heavy, money-leeching behemoth; an ugly caricature of capitalism in it's worst form, the monpoly.

Maybe we should look at the people who are interested in making their own kind of games, the indies, rather than what's a safe-bet for the shareholders.

The EAs of the world will go into receivership, whilst the indies will band together and form new companies which will do well until the dudes with the neatly parted hair and the MBAs move in to manage the finances... then it begins again.

...and Charlie the Unicorn says "Hi!"

Re: Super Smash Bros. Will Have The Same Character Roster On Both Wii U And 3DS

Schprocket

@Caramel I'm well aware that the decision-making process becomes more difficult in such circumstances, even when different games are released simultaneously, let alone the same title on related platforms.

The comment was, in my opinion, made light-heartedly, not intending rubbing anyone's face in it and I'm as equally "offended" that your sensitivity would have you believe that I'm making "Let them eat cake!" statements seriously.

Re: Exclusive: Conker's Bad Fur Day Creator Chris Seavor Is Bringing Rusty Pup To Wii U

Schprocket

@Dogpigfish I noticed one of the other replies mentions that you use Unity.

I second that poster's comments and have glady supported any project created on Unity where the developer has mentioned the possibility of a Wii U version, e.g. Battle Worlds: Kronos (King Art Games), Quintet (Carmine T. Guida).

The latter started developing his cross-platform game on iOS, went to OSX, then PC and Linux, is currently Kickstarter funded for Android development, and once that has finished, will look more into the Wii U as it is a project which interests him.

Re: Super Smash Bros. Won't Feature Cross-Platform Play Between Wii U and 3DS

Schprocket

I'm probably amongst the many that would have had the thought that cross-play would be "A Good Thing" - take your in-house/online experience outdoors on the way to work or school, bring it back, story progressed.

The reality set in when the announcement about relativity of the arenas to each respective platform - that was when I realised they hadn't planned it.

I suppose that besides the story line, there's nothing really to progress, but the opportunity - the wow factor - to be able to have 3DS players join in a bout on a Wii U game would make Monster Hunters connectivity seem more than a one-off proof-of-concept.
Think about it, which would you be more likely to carry around with you, a 3DS or a spare Wiimote?

Re: Time: Nintendo Is "Stumped" By The Wii U GamePad And Should Ditch It

Schprocket

.... oh sorry, another story about another xenophobic moron mistaking opinion and ill-researched innuendo for fact.

Really sick of seeing you giving these rosebuds more server space than they deserve.

Nintendo Life, please start doing something positive with this crap, like publicly rebuking these guys and then post the article.

I don't see anything in the current line of reporting that's much more than stoking debates that go absofreaking nowhere and if I wanted to read continual pissing contests I'd go back to playing CoD on the PS3 and sit in on the forums to watch the Xbots and PS3 fanboys flinging the monkey poo at each other.... not. very. happy!

Re: Delta Six Gun Controller Starts A Kickstarter Campaign

Schprocket

@Jackthompson666 So what you're implying by citing one incident - and I doubt it's an isolated case -that everyone who plays a video game and uses a gun-shaped controller is treading a homocidal path?
Utter rubbish! The individuals who perform such acts have the screws which prevent most of us from performing acts of violence towards other human beings somewhat loose already.
If you had statistics proving the percentage of gamers who've used such controllers and have gone on to perform acts of violence with guns, I'll bet that number correlates more with the number of people in society who already have psycopathic tendencies.
My comments do not set out belittle the cases or the victims but the media rarely scratches deep enough, or it's often forgotten due to the hype machine, that most of these people have exhibited behaviour that would concern mental health professionals long before human lives are lost.
It's more likely, for example, that having been terrorised as a child by a mentally-ill parent or other elder who should otherwise be protecting the child, the the child will grow up a serial-killer who happened to play video games. The other case is where the upbringing is fine but peopl have taken some form of mind-altering substance, be it booze or drugs, and their unique physiology has set them on a path to develop psychotic tendencies which would otherwise have been left dormant.

The problem with most people in general is that they want their answers in black-and-white, and dumbed right down, because it hurts too much to think about why horrible stuff happens...

Re: Feature: The Humble Origins of Animal Crossing

Schprocket

To the people with the "what gives?" attitude think "The Sims", then ask if yourself if you still truly believe that people (besides you) will be bored with it after a week.
Never under-estimate a title just because it's never appealed to you directly.

I was the same about Pokemon - there, I dared say it in a Nintendo forum - until I actually played it, and believe me, when most of your 50 y.o. peers are fishing or getting divorced or whatever preoccupies their time, saying that you have played Pokemon at this time of your life feels more socially unacceptable (amongst peers) than having alternate sexual preferences.

What I learned from playing a game that I used to say "what gives?" was that beneath the cutesy premise lies a deep strategy game... and a helluva lot of grinding.

So until you play a game that you don't understand where the appeal lies, you cannot judge (a) how well it appeals to a broader gaming population and (b) decide for others what they should and shouldn't like.

As for AC, I bought the GC version when I had my first Wii (that story is elsewhere in this site) and was one that I bought to see if my wife would enjoy and she did. However after watching and helping her play her game, I ended up creating my own character and killing a lot of time that way

These days, I'm trying to buy games that I know that I like and that I'll come close to completing (as with Fire Emblem: Awakening which I hope to finish a least once through before Project X Zone is released) and I'm not likely to buy ACNL - for myself.
However I do have a preorder of New Leaf on cartridge for my wife,
Besides, I can always play a game or two on my own 3DS if/when she decides she's had enough

Re: Pachter Predicts Wii U Price Cut, Feels Nintendo Is Losing "Non-Traditional" Players To Social And Mobile

Schprocket

If I read that he has also basted Microsoft's "always online" BS then maybe I'd give the guy some cred but I can't be bothered tracking down his writings.

What I'm expecting is that Pachter has got a baseball-like "World-Series" mentality in terms of his analyses - the world ends where the "big-water" starts.

Not everyone in the world has a US urban network infrastructure - heck I know for a fact that there's still parts of the US with worse internet than even I have - so the XBOne is likely to be a hit mainly in the "World-series" urban world and anywhere else in the world where internet bandwidth is wide and cheap.

Similarly, who has the dough to buy a 4k TV to get the best out of the PS4?
Sony gambles every time, trying to get the cart and the horse to appear simultaneously but this amateur analyst does not see the feature being used until prices drop rapidly and broadcasting standards are again revised. Oops, cart before the horse...
The general public have really only just gotten comfortable with the current HD standard - never mind 3D - after years of SD.

My take on Mike Pachter is that he's a technology-consumerist - if it doesn't cost a squillion and promises you crap you don't yet need or can afford, then he ain't happy.

Re: Talking Point: The Wii U Controller Options Open Up PC Game Opportunities

Schprocket

@NintendoPro64 I was about to post the same thing until I got to your post.

Might be worth mentioning that article also linked to some Kickstarter projects.

Additionally, somebody has written a good article over there about using a zapper-mounted Gamepad to act as an FPS screen in a manner similar to that used in Panorama.http://nintendoenthusiast.com/17639/wii-u-zapper-the-twenty-dollar-oculus-rift/

Re: Delta Six Gun Controller Starts A Kickstarter Campaign

Schprocket

So I take it none of the nay-sayers have ever played Time-Crisis in an arcade or on a Playstation? If they did, have they gone out and shot-up a mall, office-block, or harbour complex as a result?

The "what about the children?" violent games debates - we've done it to death in previous debates and it comes to this: people kill people, generally as an emotional response or a mental disorder, using whatever means is handy.
Just to add some perspective, nobody has problems using the WiiMote in Skyward Sword and yet you could far easier fashoin a realistic looking blade-controller for that (and similar) stabby-games. I'll bet you'll find stabbings are more prevalent in the world than gun-shot deaths.

(No, I'm not a gun owner, either, there should be less unregistered fire-arms "in the wild", the US Constitution's Second Amendment was written for muzzle-loaders and therefore has no relevance, and the government is hardly likely to be able to impose a dictatorial regime without people voting them in first!).

Niche market appeal, I'd give it a shot if I had the time and money... (pun intended )

Re: Talking Point: The Importance of the Virtual Console

Schprocket

I think Nintendo needs to consider (a) how many times they've been trotting out the same VC titles and (b) 'competition' from the shadier aspects of non-Nintendo emulators when setting prices.
Obviously, there has to be compensation for the effort of the conversion but all nostalgia aside, there are better games than Balloon Fight that deserve the full-price Nintendo are asking. Now,make it a "pack" of two to three games in a theme of sorts and that would seem a little more reasonable - in my opinion.

I'll also comment about the platform selection on offer.

How about bringing out the VC titles which haven't already been released for the Wii, Big N?
Forget the regurgitation of NES/SNES, and to some degree, the N64; those of us who've brought over our Wii VC collection will already have them.

Where's the GBA and Gamecube games?

The few classics I'm aware of like Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Golden Sun, Advance Wars would be perfect for the 3DS and Gamepad and yet this market is being eaten into somewhat by the emulators smartphone and tablet platform.

I'm lucky enough to have the 3DS Ambassador GBA titles and if I had my druthers between a NES game - which I had trouble seeing on a regular 3DS screen - and a GBA game, I'd always pick the latter (no misty-eyed childhood memories of NES, I'm too old )

Price-wise, I'd think that if the current NES/SNES prices applied to GBA titles, I'd probably tolerate maybe $15 - $20 for a decent GC title; I can only dream...

Re: Talking Point: iDÉAME, Unity and Nintendo's Continuing Indie Crusade

Schprocket

@MadAdam81 I would pose the question here:
https://mwtactics.com/forums/index.php?/forum/7-general-discussion/

What I know of it though is that it is browser-based only - so it'll allegedly play fine on any PC OS running say Firefox - and there's not currently a Unity browser plug-in for the Wii U that I'm aware of. My guess is no but I'd be more than happy in this case to be wrong

I'd like Nintendo to check out more of the Unity-powered games on kick-starter... I have said this somewhere else: I'd like to see more than jump & puzzle games on the Wii U from the indies and they are out there;Nintendo just needs to give 'em a nudge in the right direction

Re: Talking Point: The Blurring Lines of Kickstarter Fundraising Goals

Schprocket

What I find interesting is that for all the Nintendo fans who complain about the Wii U not having "many" games on this site, I don't read of too many who 'join the dots' when it comes to influencing Kick-starter projects.
Quite a number of Kick-starter games are developed with the Unity engine and there is a Unity engine for the Wii U.
I'd love to see some Unity-powered old-school TBS, such as Battle Worlds: Kronos and Mechwarrior Tactics brought to the Wii U but they're not likely to whilst Wii U owners and would-bes sit on their hands and whinge.
If getting a Wii U version becomes a stretch target for projects then even if the Wii U version doesn't eventuate there's usually a PC version to run with.
I'd also like to see Nintendo looking at Unity-engined kick-starter games and dropping these 'free dev-kits' at the front door of a wider range of games as well as the seemingly staple diet of platformers and puzzlers.
This may be ove-simplified but it's certainly a more positive way contributing to a platform's game catalogue by putting your money where you mouth is !

Re: Talking Point: The Next-Gen Console War is Wii U's to Lose

Schprocket

@LordJumpMad I want to see console gaming - and gaming in general - evolve.

If I'm going to be expected to buy the yearly AAA dross doled out by EAbivision, then I want THEM to make those titles cross-platform.

I don't want to just see fan IPs on the Wii U (I have no childhood memories to influence my game preferences on any platform) or the yaaawn-fest AAAs but I want to see genres that both traditional console fans don't demand and publishers try inconsistently.
That's those genres which have yet to jump from the PC both successfully and consistently, like sims, RTS, and TBS. Sure there's been some great Japanese games in those genres but the presentation often puts off the average Western gamer unless they're prepared to take a punt (like I did with Pokemon a few years back and Fire Emblem just recently).

If any console is going to achieve breaking old PC-sacred ground anew, it's the Wii U,

The genres I mentioned seem to work relatively well on touch-enabled mobile devices. Bearing this in mind, it would seem a logical step to suggest that the Gamepad which some people moan about is one of the Wii U's greatest assets in terms of having the most potential to break traditional PC genre "barriers" and have as much - if not more - success than may be possible on the two new boxes from Sony and MS.
For example, I would love to be able to play the Unity-powered cross-platform turn-based strategy game Battle Worlds: Kronos on the Wii U just as much as I would my Android tab or my PC.

I just can't see the new boxes from Sony and MS having that degree of gaming-genre flexibility because they haven't strayed too far from the SNES/Gamecube controller. Nintendo needs to be capitalising on this and getting out to indies like King Arts Games as well as the platfom & puzzler guys

Re: Talking Point: The Next-Gen Console War is Wii U's to Lose

Schprocket

@Thomas We're seeing the impact of casual gaming, whether on mobile devices or even Facebook and Flash games, there's only so many people able to play so many games. Beyond that, it's too easy to consume as many movies and TV shows as you can possibly download - and legally!

Look at the choices an 18 y.o. kid has today compared to me at 18 (1980) and yourself. I never had a computer as a kid because there weren't any except in universities and the like but my kids, 27 & 24, wouldn't know what it's like NOT to have a PC around the house, but hey, remember those quaint little things called calculators? (saw my first desktop calculator at 12, had my own pocket version at 16)

There may be more people, but there's also more to do... like wasting time posting on game sites instead of playing games.... LOL!