Comments 216

Re: Feature: The GamePad - From Waggling Remotes To Dual Sticks and a Touchscreen

Schprocket

Just a follow-up of the earlier post and one I hope NL will pick up:

http://nintendoenthusiast.com/14893/battle-worlds-kronos-guns-of-icarus-wii-u/

Battle Worlds: Kronos is a turn-based strategy game and whilst it's not immediately destined for the Wii U under the kick-starter, the developers, KING Art Games, are not averse to the idea of a Wii U port - I'm sure the Gamepad (and Nintendo's improved indie-friendly manner) would have played some part in the consideration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBDL1j-01PQ

Re: Feature: The GamePad - From Waggling Remotes To Dual Sticks and a Touchscreen

Schprocket

@JSuede You are my friend
What Nintendo needs to encourage both internally and externally - before the other two next gen's rock up - is take a look at what PC gaming genres haven't been successfully translated to consoles because of the whole "mouse & keyboard only" stigma.

For as much as people want to see the same old Nintendo family favourites or the standard multi-platform fare, such as John Madden's Call of Battfield: Ninja Cabaret HD, I believe that an RTS experience on the Wii U is just one of those "PC only" mind-set genres which can only be better than previous attempts I've played on the PS3 (Red Alert 3, EndWar, R.U.S.E (demo)).
Even sims like Sim City or Civilisation could better utilise the Gamepad and would showcase the Wii U's almost-superior* controller flexibility as a console.

It's bringing traditional games to a non-traditional platform which won't translate as well on competing consoles that is needed in the Wii U's catalogue "arsenal"; something to make gamers who are only semi-interested in playing the multi-platform or first-party titles on consoles give the Wii U a second look.
After all, with the proliferation of touch-screen devices such as phones and tablets "in the wild", it's not like the Gampad would be unfamiliar territory, is it?

*I say almost because to not include at least a couple of analogue shoulder buttons leaves the Gamepad just a tad short of being a great controller, IMO.

[Edit] It's now one hour after my original post. I just got back to the PC and read @JSuede's link and realised what I've attempted to say is said in detail in that article - so I'm posting that link again in case anyone else skipped it in @JSuede's post
http://nintendoenthusiast.com/14331/nintendo-wii-u-strategy/

Re: Activision Confirms Fast & Furious: Showdown Won't Be Coming To Australia

Schprocket

@hydeks read the 2nd paragraph of #10 - it's that first, then it's because our ratings board is most likely under-staffed.

I'll pull out may favourite soap-box again - there needs to be a unified list of ratings checks that would only need to be applied once and done in one place - a sort of United Nations games rating system. The ratings gauntlet is run once and the game can be released globally simultaneously instead of putting with the costly, repetitious, staggered crap systems we have now.

Games companies for their part should be presenting in the design submission "no-blood", "no swearing", "fixed-response text comms", etc, "parental" options, then provide assurance to relevant countries where this level of censoring (even for adults) is law the mechanism for hard-coding the options into a particular region's release (or the hard-coded toned-down version of the game could be bought anywhere by parents concerned about their kids being unable to separate play from reality).

Game publishers should be working smarter and collectively with governments and not accept the current ratings grind as being cast in stone. Unfortunately the only thing they seem to want to be smart about is making "funny-money"... after all, once the ratings are unified, it's only 'business decisions' that'll stop a game being distributed at the bricks & mortar store level.

Re: Activision Confirms Fast & Furious: Showdown Won't Be Coming To Australia

Schprocket

It's probably because for a given population, there's a percentage of people who will always buy crap games, whether they are completionist collectors of a series, or people who simply don't know any better - look at the high percentage of dross that came out for the PS2 and Wii which (interestingly) seemed to sell by the bucket-load from places like Kmart and Target.

This would make it worth while in places like Europe and the US but that same percentage in Australia (population is about that of New York State) just wouldn't cover the costs of the various middle-men for the 3000 or so copies they might sell.

Re: Project X Zone Fighting To a Worldwide Release This Summer

Schprocket

The only beat 'em up ever liked was the side-scrolling Golden Axe and I've never been into button-mashing madness but this.... this game is soooo over-the-top insane that it's harpooned me and is dragging me aboard.

I actually like it the way that it is presented here, untranslated...
Give me the Japanese Special Edition as is, and just bundle in the English translations for the instructions.

Instant Happiness!!!

Re: Project X Zone Release Date Confirmed in North America

Schprocket

Where did I see video for this? I'm pretty sure I've seen video and it reminded me a little of Code of Princess in gameplay.
Playing time is rare these days but I will be watching out for this one...

D'Oh... read the post above before posting, Schprocky. Read. The post.Above.
Actually that's not the video I'me thinking of. I'm sure I've seen one much shorter and just game play.

Re: Talking Point: The Downside to Delayed Releases on Wii U

Schprocket

@Ren I think people occasionally have a hiccup with their comprehension and bravely jump into the pit of misguided conclusion. You're the first gamer I've ever read who mentions the term 'project management' so you can be sure that I knew what you meant. My first gaming platform was the VIC20, btw

Also, I'd like to reiterate @gefflt's comment #18 about skewed poll-results. First-past-the-post single-choice voting is great for easy tallying but as may be judged from the posts of respondents to most NL polls, a lot of thought goes into making that choice.
The time taken is likely not much less than if the poll was set up to be ranked 1 to x, where 1 gets the heaviest weighting of points.

There are times when one choice only matters i.e. when a situations exists where only one choice is possible, but for forthcoming games spread across various release dates, there's too many variables to make a single-choice poll relevant enough to draw too many conclusions from... this is why there's lies, more damned lies, and poll statistics!

Re: Inafune: Japanese Developers Are "Too Proud" And "Don't Know What To Do"

Schprocket

I'd like to know why the few games that do get translated for the North American market are inexplicably bound to it and why there's a sense that "going European" must always involve translations.

Most European gamers (and this observation is a gut-feel, not a fact) seem to have a pretty good handle on English - way better than I have of any other language - so why deny a potentially greater market?

Better still, instead of flogging a dead-business model (as recording companies have tried to for too long) which seems to be "make it for the US and stuff the rest", why don't the Japanese developers embrace the indie model of kick-start milestones when it comes to translations - and give everybody a chance to land some 'special edition' goodness dependent on the size of the donation?
Surely this might help generate enthusiasm within the Japanese developer community for the global market by direct interaction with fans outside of Japan?

Re: PAX Australia is Sold Out

Schprocket

Like MarioPartyFan999 says it's the other side of the country for some of us.
For those who may be geographically-challenged, for some of us this is a bit like announcing a US show that's being held in New York when you live on the West coast

Still, it's great to be informed of Aussie events - keep up the good work, NL!

Re: Talking Point: An Open Letter To Nintendo

Schprocket

I like a good conspiracy theory, so here's one I've invented and let's see how long it takes to become an internet 'fact';
Nintendo advertising is stymied globally because as with third-party game releases, Microsoft has 'incentivised' it's software licences for businesses who 'over-proceduralise' marketing submissions from Microsoft's competitors.

Re: Talking Point: An Open Letter To Nintendo

Schprocket

@Zach I agree with the latter part of your post regarding the slow uptake with internet integration of services. However there's has to be a considered approach when we talk about 'speed'. Whilst MS, with it's vast networking experience, had a comparatively good out-of-the-box experience online, Sony took nearly two years to get to a similar point and that was with the huge resources behind them - much more so than Nintendo.
If Nintendo has a failing, it's that they are "only" in the business of making consoles and games: what should be a strength is also a weakness because they have no cross-pollination of resources from other non-game related sectors of the "parent" company.
They have, up until recently, seemingly completely underestimated the impact of the internet and integrating that with the local multiplayer that only Nintendo seems to (correctly) care about. This does make me wonder if this is in part a reflection of the Japanese culture and market.
We all assume that without a Western market that Nintendo would be doomed. That may be true in a global sense but I doubt it would mean the end of Nintendo in Japan.
Interestingly, we don't hear news from Japanese doom-sayers... makes you wonder if strings are being pulled by people who don't like open competition...

Re: Talking Point: An Open Letter To Nintendo

Schprocket

@BestBuck123 I think you completely missed @dsparil's point.
If you go back and read it again - from the start - it was written that way on purpose to illustrate how a turn of phrase about games on any four month old console can make any such console look like crap. Your response shows that the twist in language unexpectedly had the intended effect
BTW, you only have to look up Wikipedia (or read my months' old forum rant) to see how well any console performed in it's first four months, particularly for those who judge success by quantity...

Re: Ubisoft CEO Not Satisfied With Wii U Sales

Schprocket

So @BankaiPacther is at it again. Five posts before we get past the gainsaying and even then, no definitive answer, no solution.
How does one sell a console when game developers pull an already completed game from release?

Forget exclusivity - the only difference between releasing Legends now and in September is the short-term high-volume sales.
By releasing Legends for the Wii U earlier than for other platforms, how can that not have anything but a positive effect on Wii U sales and Legends sales?

The ROI may not be as rapid as Yves would like but it would surely make for a terrific hype campaign whilst the poor old under-nourished PS360 camp wait until September if the game is truly that good?

If you are going to comment as some sort of an authority on the gaming industry, take some time to explain it to us less worthy types.
It's the undertone of dismissive arrogance which I find diminishes the comments - it's no use being "brilliant" if you don't know / can't be bothered to share/ explain your reasoning.

Re: Criterion Lavishes Nintendo and Wii U With Praise

Schprocket

Oh I don't know, Criterion Games are obviously going down the gurgler with Nintendo simply because it's fashionable to completely ignore absolutely every fact about past new console launches and to kick the 'new kid' console, along anybody who says otherwise...

Of course I don't believe that crock I just made up but then we're not past the first 10 posts or so and the regular Eeyores who post ignorant crap such as that will be along shortly, no doubt.

To answer the first posters Q with a Q - if you don't have a steering wheel AND pedals for the PC version, then would you need an analog Shift key?

The Criterion guy hit the nail on the head - it's the game, not the poly count.
Haze on the PS3 looked great since it was one of the first not to be 90 shades of brown and promised a great story but was the most generic, boringly executed POS with the lamest action that I played... and that was just the demo...

Re: Need for Speed: Most Wanted Developer Revs Up More Details on Co-Driver Mode

Schprocket

So we have the Criterion crew AND the Ubisoft Montpelier crew who finished Rayman Legends (regardless of some random bean-counters decision, be it Microsoft chucking a hissy-fit or not) who have proven that the machine is (a) not a cow to develop for and (b) possible to create great multiplatform games and still leverage that unique Nintendo 'twist' without the sacrifices faced by the Wii.
Makes me wonder just how much other developers have looked at the Wii U or if they've just been incredibly lazy, jumped to conclusions like the frequency-freaks have.
I suspect they have been content to let the last three weeks of negative press justify/smokescreen their unwillingness to get off their arses and learn a new machine. Again bean-counters don't help - they only want to sell the same old crap on the same old boxes with an incremental release number because of the promise of a good return for relatively very little outlay.

Re: Wii U Software Struggled For 2% of UK Market in January

Schprocket

@MadAussieBloke.. no, YOU Da Man!!!
That's all I had for the Wii... hmmm... and the GC disk of Animal Crossing (still have it) before the online gave me the shipts and I ended up with the PS3.
I did get another Wii eventually and surely that must be some kind of testament to Nintendo when the catalogue had developed over a few years

Re: Wii U Software Struggled For 2% of UK Market in January

Schprocket

@Everly It is about timing, though, bud. In my forum rant, I noted that Xbox Live is not free (but had trophies), PSN is free, but PSN didn't have trophies for nearly a couple of years post-release, then it started a premium service on top of the free service 18 months ago.

This imminent death of Nintendo and the Wii U is over-exaggerated and fretting over releases at this stage is like jumping out a 10th storey window just because the stock market drops 10 points in 5000 ... the time for any concern will be if things haven't improved in 18 months time...

Re: Wii U Software Struggled For 2% of UK Market in January

Schprocket

Proof @Phle ?
Most RRP I've seen in stores sees Wii U games less expensive than RRP new release games. You'll always get new release multi-platform PS360 games discounted for the first week or so then they're back to full RRP. You also can't compare the price of 3 month old games with six-year-old -Platinum games.

Re: Wii U Software Struggled For 2% of UK Market in January

Schprocket

@ Everly - Yep they did and I'm glad you asked, mate, because I forgot to add this in my..er.. forum rant...

There was a lot of focus in the media on the high cost of development, the games were too hard to develop because it wasn't Windowsy enough for lazy ports and of course the Xbots had a field day, forgetting that their console already had a year on the board and the easier transition developing on and porting from PC.

This is probably my main annoyance - the goldfish-like memory of the gaming-journalist hive-mind. I wouldn't expect any Nintendo fan site to counter the criticism because they'd be accused of exhibiting the sort of extreme prejudice in reporting which is currently seen directed against the Wii U by those sites who are supposed to reflect impartial and balanced reporting.

Re: Wii U Software Struggled For 2% of UK Market in January

Schprocket

@Everly Fine by me, bud - you got the same issue with the Wii U that I had with the release PS3, in that case

@belmont's 2nd paragraph sums it up... although we did have the pre-launch events in each city, it still didn't seem to make a big splash and the booths with no working demos were pants...

Re: Wii U To Get An "Exclusive" Rayman Legends Demo Soon

Schprocket

Just so I'm clear on this point, where can I find a timeline regarding each of Ubisoft's anticipated Wii U release dates for this game and where is the evidence that it was completed?

I'm not a fan of injustice but I've gotten plenty of exercise from jumping - to conclusions - over the years to make me pause at this point and try to look past all hype to determine the real story.

While we're at it, @NintendoLifeCrew, how about a factual Wikipedia-like article (or make it a Wikipedia entry ) showing equivalent launch timeline titles (by region) of the PS3 and 360 i.e. the time-to-date, including the titles that slipped out of the time-frame equivalent to the Wii U's.

I'm pretty certain the Wii U already trumps the PS3, at least for 'Europe/Oceania' but in spite of all the negative hype, predominantly it would seem from US journos and syndicated across many gaming sites (yes, Virginia, that's part of the reason why things sound so bad), I've not seen one shred of factual evidence to support this 'barren wasteland of Wii U titles' urban mythology which is popular right now.
(The 'barren wasteland' phrase was from one US game-blogger regarding this Legends lather-up.)

I have 7 Wii U games in boxes in front of me (as I type this on my Wii U I might add) then I have three eShop titles downloaded... and I'm pretty sure I only have about 60% or less of the launch window titles (enough to last me to September and beyond )- this is why I find this negative, unscientific hype so incredulous - because I can see this for myself.

Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September

Schprocket

@Slapshot So given that Ubisoft have never said it was a Wii U exclusive - your post @ #302 - IGN are sticking it to the Wii U again by inferring that it was?
"...This notion comes alongside..." read the actual Ubi quote, then that part as one quickly, and it looks like Ubisoft said it was - one for ignorant fanboys to latch onto on all sides of the latest effort in internet futility...

Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September

Schprocket

This was due in two weeks... and it was left until now to announce... sounds like either MicroSony have been throwing serious payola at Ubisoft or the once-iminent Wii U version is - unlike the demo - utter cack.
I see no other reason - hmmm except possibly to cheap out on only paying one lot of advertising but even then, most Wii U owners and prospective buyers already know about Legends already.
No problemo with the other platforms but the delay needs some 'splainin' or peoples gonna gets hurt... by the angry mob above

Re: Rumour: Scribblenauts Unlimited Was Recalled From European Retailers

Schprocket

@Chunky_Droid I suspect that there's a few family businesses in this country who have a stranglehold on local distribution for a variety of products.

I know that toy distribution in Oz tends to be 'one size fits all' with very little depth of choice and catering to the capricious whims of the Kmarts and Targets strangles the specialist stores who aren't allowed to import for themselves.

... then they wonder why we opt for eBay and overseas internet stores...