I've got the 25th Anniversary DSi XL - it's a really nice console! Plus, importing it from Canada (given that it came with Mario Kart DS) saved me at least $100 over buying it in Australia.
The colours are nice (I'd get the purple 3DS if it was out and I was buying one) but, for the most part, I just grab my favourite colour of the options available when I go to purchase. If something else comes out later, that's just bad luck!
Considering how amazing Wii (and Gamecube) games can look with emulation on PC, it's really disappointing that Nintendo won't include graphics processing abilities.
For those interested, do a google for Super Mario Galaxy, Wind Waker, F-Zero GX, Skyward Sword or Xenoblade HD screenshots. They look incredible.
So do you have to CLOSER than 6 feet, or further away? At first I thought it was the latter (although that doesn't make a lot of sense) but then it seemed like it was the former.
I imagine it's more of a 'play as a beta-tester' kind of deal (and I mean a proper beta-tester, not the demos that companies call public betas these days) than a 'play as a gamer'.
The former is boring. Granted, he wouldn't be sitting there tracking down bugs like normal play-testers, but it'd be figuring out how to improve things, finding what works and what doesn't, etc.
I can't say I'd want that as a job - I think it'd ruin gaming for me. I'm quite content to play finished games without having to worrying about analysing every last detail!
While I find the idea intriguing, at $90 to buy the starter pack and an additional $16 for figurines (going by eBay) it's not something I'd currently consider putting my money down for. I have a feeling Activision has priced themselves out of the market for a lot of people.
Hell, I could go grab an entirely new game for the price of a new figurine. Unfortunately, that kind of value (or lack thereof) just doesn't cut it for me.
Having said that, if the price was lower I'd probably at least give the starter pack a crack!
As much as I love my DSi XL to bits, it does seem a bit strange to keep pushing these. They're probably going after a different demographic to the people they want to sell the 3DS to, but I can see this just confusing people.
@Rated_R_Superstar: I also agree! And there's some 80-odd million consoles out there, so if mine ever break down I imagine I'll be able to find another one second-hand!
@rudydog13: further to sillygostly's comment, M used to be M15+ and so was recommended for people over the age of 15, but with no restrictions. That got changed in the last few years to just M (perhaps because it got confused with MA15+, which DOES have age restrictions).
Nice article, it's always good to see some constructive thoughts on the matter!
Free games would be nice, but they'd have to be careful - not getting any money for your game means you don't want to put too much into it, leading to low-quality games. If someone like Nintendo with plenty of resources to expend on a free game did it though, it'd probably be OK.
I much prefer the idea of regular sales, much like Steam on the PC. With things being regularly discounted it makes you want to browse through the cheap games section, and because it's always changing there's incentive to check it on a regular basis.
In contrast, I know which games I want from Nintendo's online stores. I never browse because:
A. The interfaces are horrible (although I hear the eShop is a bit better). B. I know what price everything is anyway.
As a result, I open the store knowing exactly what I want to buy, do that and get out - not a lot of room for catching my eye with a game that's been discounted and as a result looks enticing to me.
Nintendo needs to do SOMETHING. If the Wii Shop had had a good-quality, free game near its opening - with plenty of marketing - to get people looking, and a good rotation of sales throughout its lifetime, I think things might have gone a lot differently for it. As it is, it was mediocre - some great games, but it never really got close to its potential.
I'm tossing up whether or not to grab this - I've got Rune Factory Frontier on Wii and Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands on DS. Would RF3 be worth picking up in addition to those?
I'm looking forward to this game - I'm a big fan of the Alien universe - but I'm a bit disappointed to hear it's so short and without any real unlockables.
What I AM against, however, is when remakes take precedence and replace the development of new games.
Getting a separate developer to work on such remakes is a good idea, so it's more games coming out rather than the same number of games, a good fraction of which are remakes. That's the state of the industry I dread.
Also, we need some sort of indicator that's roughly equivalent in all economies (I'm pretty sure it exists, but I don't know much about economics and don't know what it's called).
e.g. "Zelda costs 50 cartons of milk", assuming that the cost of milk has the same relative value to people's income in every country (which it doesn't, I'm sure). Find something that's roughly equivalent everywhere and discuss prices in terms of that. That way, it's easier to see the 'effective' cost of things, which is what YellowChocobo was getting at (are you WaltzElf?)
Um, remember that if you're in Japan, you're paying in Yen - not American Dollars. I don't know all that much about the state of the Japanese economy, but if their cost of living has remained about the same then this isn't any more expensive, in terms of disposable income, than Twilight Princess for someone living in Japan.
@KomicZ: I believe PC games are cheaper because, unless the game wants the "Games for WIndows" label, developers don't have to pay a licensing fee to release a PC game - it's necessary to do so for the consoles.
Also, why select this particular game as an example of pricing anomaly, like it's the only one ever? The comments in this thread alone should be enough to show you that there are huge pricing disparities all around the world, and while some are perhaps justified and some aren't, it's not exactly a new thing.
"By dropping pixels in favour of polygons, Nintendo set a new standard for gaming graphics."
I don't know about that - maybe for consoles, but it wasn't exactly a new thing for PC gaming.
After owning a SNES I'd completely skip the next two console generations, so I really only ever got to play a N64 at friends' houses. I have vague memories of playing Goldeneye and Pokemon Snap, but that's about it. I've read a bit about it lately, and I wish I'd had the chance to play it more back in the day!
What sort of value is there without the online modes? I like playing online, but I often don't get to games until a year or two after release and I'd be a bit worried that I would struggle to find opponents online.
If they do the work of getting the games running for the Ambassador program, they're missing out on a lot of potential cash by not releasing it to everybody. Nintendo would be silly not to do it.
I'm confident they'll eventually sell them, but they need to wait for people to forget about the whole price drop saga so early adopters won't get too upset when they no longer have exclusive games.
@GreenInferno: If you go back to the early 2000s, it seemed like Ubisoft could do no wrong - I've got a shelf full of Ubisoft titles for the PC that attests to that (Prince of Persia Sands trilogy, Silent Hunter III, Chessmaster, Morrowind, IL-2 Sturmovik, Beyond Good & Evil) but I've lost confidence in them a bit. A lot of that is to do with their horrible DRM implementations on PC (which is another story entirely) but they don't seem to be quite as discerning with the games they put out these days.
Having said that, one can't deny they have released some excellent, critically-successful games in recent years.
@Wanderlustwarrior: I haven't noticed that with RUNNER, but it's a well known effect with things like movie credits - watch those for a while then look away, and everything will appear to be moving upwards.
As for people passing it up because of a 7, that's really a problem with the way the industry views review scores (and just looking at review scores and not actually reading it is just as important, although a different problem altogether). For most sites I visit a 5 is nominally (i.e. according to their scoring policy) an average game with anything above that worthy of consideration, but unfortunately people seem to take an 8 to be 'average'. That's a huge problem.
For the benefit of anyone who may only look at the number at the bottom of the review, this is what it means: (from the NL scoring policy page)
"7 - Good A seven is not average in our eyes. This game will sport a few areas where the game is blatantly let down to the detriment of its overall quality and enjoyment, but it is NOT average. A seven is still a recommendation, but you might want to consider what we thought let the game down and decide for yourself if it would bother you before buying."
That's not a bad score by any means, and reading the review would hopefully give enough information for someone to make a decision.
@Oddy: No, I wouldn't, because this is a re-release of games that are up to 2 years old with no real additions, apart from 3D (the value of which will vary from person-to-person, but it doesn't mean a lot to me).
Compare this with COMPLETE which has all the added extras and this falls short of the mark in my opinion. (Especially as they are the same price).
I believe that when reviewing games, competing products and experiences must also be taken into account. I believe if you do that, SAGA just isn't worth a 9/10.
Having said that, reviewing is a subjective thing and while I agree with the review (with the qualifier that I haven't actually played SAGA) I have no problems with you rating it higher.
Umm, I think some of you are possibly misunderstanding the review process. I don't think NL (or many review publications, in fact) start at a score of 10 and take off points for specific things. There's not some formula that says:
Nice Graphics: No Change Bad Graphics: -1 point Multiplayer: No Change No Multiplayer: -1 point
etc.
It's a score arrived at after playing the game, weighing it up against other experiences and ultimately deciding on what it's worth out of 10. If you think of it as 'taking points off' you're not quite getting how it works.
@Skywake: Ah, that's good to hear (I haven't played any 3D Zeldas). I figure Nintendo knows their stuff well enough to not do something daft like that, but you never know...
My concern is that the game will pause EVERY, SINGLE, TIME we pick something up to tell us what it is.
I hope that it only happens the first time you get a certain type of item, and after that it goes straight to your inventory. Otherwise I'd be getting extremely annoyed.
I would happily wait, but then I have no shortage of games to play. It is a bit disappointing to miss out on such a large chunk of content, but importing is easy enough these days so I'll grab a US copy instead.
The only reason I've let Excitebots pass me by is that it never got a PAL release...
Anyway, I honestly think we look back with rose-tinted glasses at a lot of these old games. We've only recently arrived in an era where a large number of people grew up playing video games - they really only became a mainstream success in the 80s, and today's 20-30 year old grew up playing games from that era onwards.
These are the people who look back fondly at the games they played in their formative years. Speak to someone who hasn't played their favourite childhood game for a decade or more - I bet they'll say something like, "Oh, yeah! Game X! I LOVED that game as a kid. It's awesome!". I also bet that you'll get something like that regardless of the quality of the game in question.
As children, you are generally less discriminating about quality in the first place, and the industry was young with a lot to learn. Many of those favourite game experiences, when you try them again, turn out to be remembered a lot better than they are. I go back and play some of my old DOS games, that I absolutely loved, and quite a few of them are terrible.
I'm not saying that games are better or worse now than then, although they've certainly changed. I just think that someone looking objectively at these retro games - without the influence of nostalgia - would probably find a lot of fondly-remembered games that don't really deserve the credit they get.
What I'm trying to say is that there probably isn't anything, objectively, special about the era of games discussed here. There are defining characteristics of the era, sure, but the same could be said now. I think that in another 20 years, the kids of today will remember the PS3, Wii or Xbox 360 the way my generation remembers the NES, SNES, Mega Drive etc.
As Linux_Man said, when we look back we also have the benefit of being able to cherry-pick the best titles. The same thing happens with music - many people look back and think of the 60s as the 'Golden Age' of music, with classics being pumped out one after the other. However, there was just as much crap being put out then as there is now. It's just that, 50 years on, it's easy to remember the best music and forget the rest, giving a very biased view of the era. (I love a lot of 60s music, by the way).
Anyway, long story short - Nintendo leans too heavily on old games for my liking. There are definitely a lot of classics that stand the test of time and are fantastic gaming experiences, and it makes good business sense to allow people to pay for them again. However, this relies on a perception, influenced by nostalgia, that gaming was better 'back in the old days' belonging to my generation. I don't necessarily think that's the case - there are brilliant games coming out right now - and I'd like to see Nintendo being a bit more adventurous with their franchises.
Sure, release older games for people to try out/play again. However, do it in addition to, not instead of, releasing brand new gaming experiences. I fear that, looking back 20 years from now, we won't see the plethora of brand-new gaming experiences that we see looking back 20 years from today - we'll look back and see a few high-profile releases, and a bunch of 40 year old games that for some reason we were paying money for to play again.
I much, much prefer the box art of the UK versions (and I have the previous three games from there) but it feels a bit wrong to pay for a game missing such a huge amount of content.
I wonder if London Life is actually any good but even so, it's the principle of the matter. I guess I'll grab the US version and maybe pick up the UK one down the line if I see it cheap.
@iPruch: I disagree about not needing a second analogue stick for FPS and the like. (I should qualify this by saying I much, much prefer to play games on the PC with KB+M). The D-Pad + touch screen may work well in some cases, but I don't think it's the most portable of control schemes. If I'm in a car or bus or something, dual-analogue would be much better.
Having said that, the touch screen + dpad works quite well if I'm sitting at home on the couch or somewhere where I can rest the console. I wouldn't go so far as to call someone else's preference 'ridiculous' though.
Yeah this is a DSi-Enhanced game and, hence, probably region-locked on the DSi and 3DS. Buyer Beware.
I've got too many games I want coming out in September though! I'll probably grab Solatorobo first though, as I think it'll be one of the harder ones to find down the track (at least judging from the European release)
Comments 492
Re: Feature: 3DS and the Trend of Colourful Handhelds
I've got the 25th Anniversary DSi XL - it's a really nice console! Plus, importing it from Canada (given that it came with Mario Kart DS) saved me at least $100 over buying it in Australia.
The colours are nice (I'd get the purple 3DS if it was out and I was buying one) but, for the most part, I just grab my favourite colour of the options available when I go to purchase. If something else comes out later, that's just bad luck!
Re: Review: Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island (Game Boy Advance)
I've got Yoshi's Island on the SNES, and to this day it remains one of the best, most polished game experiences I've had in my 20-odd years of gaming.
You 3DS ambassadors who haven't experienced Yoshi's Island are a lucky bunch - you're in for a treat!
Re: Nintendo Reconfirms Wii U Will Not Make Wii Games Sharper
Considering how amazing Wii (and Gamecube) games can look with emulation on PC, it's really disappointing that Nintendo won't include graphics processing abilities.
For those interested, do a google for Super Mario Galaxy, Wind Waker, F-Zero GX, Skyward Sword or Xenoblade HD screenshots. They look incredible.
Re: Talking Point: Your Nintendo Christmas Presents
My wife got me the Skyward Sword bundle - can't wait to get into it!
Re: Review: Duracell Wireless Wii Sensor Bar
So do you have to CLOSER than 6 feet, or further away? At first I thought it was the latter (although that doesn't make a lot of sense) but then it seemed like it was the former.
Re: Try a Spot of Doctor Lautrec with Flash Demo
How on Earth do you play that minesweeper game? I can't figure it out - I click on a box with 0 in it, and it tells me I've used up one chance...
Re: Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)
Excellent! I'm looking forward to playing this - after some (gentle) persuasion my wife is getting it for me for Christmas.
Should be good!
Re: Miyamoto Plays Games, a Lot
I imagine it's more of a 'play as a beta-tester' kind of deal (and I mean a proper beta-tester, not the demos that companies call public betas these days) than a 'play as a gamer'.
The former is boring. Granted, he wouldn't be sitting there tracking down bugs like normal play-testers, but it'd be figuring out how to improve things, finding what works and what doesn't, etc.
I can't say I'd want that as a job - I think it'd ruin gaming for me. I'm quite content to play finished games without having to worrying about analysing every last detail!
Re: Feature: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in Motion
I'm really, really looking forward to this!
Re: Review: Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (Wii)
While I find the idea intriguing, at $90 to buy the starter pack and an additional $16 for figurines (going by eBay) it's not something I'd currently consider putting my money down for. I have a feeling Activision has priced themselves out of the market for a lot of people.
Hell, I could go grab an entirely new game for the price of a new figurine. Unfortunately, that kind of value (or lack thereof) just doesn't cut it for me.
Having said that, if the price was lower I'd probably at least give the starter pack a crack!
Re: Rising Star Games Bringing BIT.TRIP to Europe
Excellent! I've been looking forward to confirmation of a PAL release.
I'll be grabbing Complete as soon as I can!
Re: Nintendo America Creates New DSi XL Bundles For You
As much as I love my DSi XL to bits, it does seem a bit strange to keep pushing these. They're probably going after a different demographic to the people they want to sell the 3DS to, but I can see this just confusing people.
Re: Australia, You Get the Reconfigured Wii Console Too
@Rated_R_Superstar: I also agree! And there's some 80-odd million consoles out there, so if mine ever break down I imagine I'll be able to find another one second-hand!
Re: Let There Be No Doubt - The Last Story is Australia-Bound
@rudydog13: further to sillygostly's comment, M used to be M15+ and so was recommended for people over the age of 15, but with no restrictions. That got changed in the last few years to just M (perhaps because it got confused with MA15+, which DOES have age restrictions).
Re: Nintendo UK Launches New WiiWare Portal
This would have been good a few years ago.
You know, when WiiWare had a shot at actually being relevant.
Re: Blue Wii Console Competing for Europe's Christmas Money
Not that I'll be buying it anyway, but I think they should have gone for a deeper blue - one that matches Mario and Sonic a bit better.
Re: Officially Licensed 3DS Headset Revealed, Priced and Dated
It'll be interesting to see what the price is - it's not like there's a shortage of headsets on the market.
They'll want to be pretty competitive!
Re: Talking Point: Should Nintendo Regularly Offer Free Games for Download?
Nice article, it's always good to see some constructive thoughts on the matter!
Free games would be nice, but they'd have to be careful - not getting any money for your game means you don't want to put too much into it, leading to low-quality games. If someone like Nintendo with plenty of resources to expend on a free game did it though, it'd probably be OK.
I much prefer the idea of regular sales, much like Steam on the PC. With things being regularly discounted it makes you want to browse through the cheap games section, and because it's always changing there's incentive to check it on a regular basis.
In contrast, I know which games I want from Nintendo's online stores. I never browse because:
A. The interfaces are horrible (although I hear the eShop is a bit better).
B. I know what price everything is anyway.
As a result, I open the store knowing exactly what I want to buy, do that and get out - not a lot of room for catching my eye with a game that's been discounted and as a result looks enticing to me.
Nintendo needs to do SOMETHING. If the Wii Shop had had a good-quality, free game near its opening - with plenty of marketing - to get people looking, and a good rotation of sales throughout its lifetime, I think things might have gone a lot differently for it. As it is, it was mediocre - some great games, but it never really got close to its potential.
Re: Limited Edition Monster Hunter 3 G Bundles to Hit Japan
A bit weird that the console bundle doesn't come with the circle pad addon - surely that would have been obvious?
Maybe it's because they don't have white slide pads, and it would look a bit silly.
Console looks nice, though!
Re: Review: Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (DS)
I'm tossing up whether or not to grab this - I've got Rune Factory Frontier on Wii and Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands on DS. Would RF3 be worth picking up in addition to those?
Re: Review: Aliens: Infestation (DS)
I'm looking forward to this game - I'm a big fan of the Alien universe - but I'm a bit disappointed to hear it's so short and without any real unlockables.
Ah well, I guess I can always replay it!
Re: Talking Point: The Role of the N64 on the 3DS
I'm not against remakes per se.
What I AM against, however, is when remakes take precedence and replace the development of new games.
Getting a separate developer to work on such remakes is a good idea, so it's more games coming out rather than the same number of games, a good fraction of which are remakes. That's the state of the industry I dread.
Re: Zelda: Four Swords is Out Now in Europe
@Ninjaboy666: Of course it doesn't! LTTP would be a huge money-maker for them, no way they will give it away for free.
Re: Zelda: Skyward Sword Bundle Costs $115 in Japan
@James: Huh?
Or am I missing the sarcasm vibe?
Also, we need some sort of indicator that's roughly equivalent in all economies (I'm pretty sure it exists, but I don't know much about economics and don't know what it's called).
e.g. "Zelda costs 50 cartons of milk", assuming that the cost of milk has the same relative value to people's income in every country (which it doesn't, I'm sure). Find something that's roughly equivalent everywhere and discuss prices in terms of that. That way, it's easier to see the 'effective' cost of things, which is what YellowChocobo was getting at (are you WaltzElf?)
Re: Zelda: Four Swords is Out Now in Europe
I'm looking forward to this tomorrow! (I'v got a US DSi XL, so I have to wait).
It's always nice to get free stuff.
Re: Zelda: Skyward Sword Bundle Costs $115 in Japan
Um, remember that if you're in Japan, you're paying in Yen - not American Dollars. I don't know all that much about the state of the Japanese economy, but if their cost of living has remained about the same then this isn't any more expensive, in terms of disposable income, than Twilight Princess for someone living in Japan.
@KomicZ: I believe PC games are cheaper because, unless the game wants the "Games for WIndows" label, developers don't have to pay a licensing fee to release a PC game - it's necessary to do so for the consoles.
Also, why select this particular game as an example of pricing anomaly, like it's the only one ever? The comments in this thread alone should be enough to show you that there are huge pricing disparities all around the world, and while some are perhaps justified and some aren't, it's not exactly a new thing.
Re: Feature: Celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the Nintendo 64
"By dropping pixels in favour of polygons, Nintendo set a new standard for gaming graphics."
I don't know about that - maybe for consoles, but it wasn't exactly a new thing for PC gaming.
After owning a SNES I'd completely skip the next two console generations, so I really only ever got to play a N64 at friends' houses. I have vague memories of playing Goldeneye and Pokemon Snap, but that's about it. I've read a bit about it lately, and I wish I'd had the chance to play it more back in the day!
Re: Finally, Nintendo Owns SuperMario.com
Ah, good to see Nintendo has finally figured out that that new-fangled contraption called the Internet exists.
It's great to see such a cutting-edge company!
Re: Here's How Super Mario 3D Land's Gyroscope Controls Work
To be honest, that's a feature that seems a bit pointless... Definitely not worth making a fuss about in my opinion!
Re: Can't Afford a Holiday Trip? Go Vacation for Wii May Be the Answer
I'll keep my eye out for some reviews, but I feel this will be a 'jack of all trades, master of none' deal.
I would love to be proved wrong though!
Re: Review: Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 (DS)
Cheers, I'll have to think about whether or not it's worth it - I've got no shortage of other games to play!
Re: Review: Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 (DS)
@Corbs: but is the online content exclusive to multiplayer, or can it be played single player as well?
Re: Review: Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 (DS)
What sort of value is there without the online modes? I like playing online, but I often don't get to games until a year or two after release and I'd be a bit worried that I would struggle to find opponents online.
Re: A New Zelda Figurine is Available for Pre-Order
Really not a fan of the bronze one, but whatever floats your boat...
Are these really worth the cash though? The normal one is a nice-looking figure, but over $400 dollars worth?
How well do these things appreciate in value?
Re: Talking Point: Why No Plans for GBA on 3DS Virtual Console?
If they do the work of getting the games running for the Ambassador program, they're missing out on a lot of potential cash by not releasing it to everybody. Nintendo would be silly not to do it.
I'm confident they'll eventually sell them, but they need to wait for people to forget about the whole price drop saga so early adopters won't get too upset when they no longer have exclusive games.
Re: Review: Kirby Mass Attack (DS)
I'm looking forward to grabbing a copy!
Re: Review: Driver: Renegade 3D (3DS)
Another quality game for the 3DS...
@GreenInferno: If you go back to the early 2000s, it seemed like Ubisoft could do no wrong - I've got a shelf full of Ubisoft titles for the PC that attests to that (Prince of Persia Sands trilogy, Silent Hunter III, Chessmaster, Morrowind, IL-2 Sturmovik, Beyond Good & Evil) but I've lost confidence in them a bit. A lot of that is to do with their horrible DRM implementations on PC (which is another story entirely) but they don't seem to be quite as discerning with the games they put out these days.
Having said that, one can't deny they have released some excellent, critically-successful games in recent years.
Re: Review: BIT.TRIP SAGA (3DS)
@Corbs: Have you heard the fuss over a couple of sites that gave Gears of War 3 an 8/10? Cliffy B referred to them, and I quote, as "haters".
There's something wrong there.
Re: Review: BIT.TRIP SAGA (3DS)
@Wanderlustwarrior: I haven't noticed that with RUNNER, but it's a well known effect with things like movie credits - watch those for a while then look away, and everything will appear to be moving upwards.
Here's a link if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_aftereffect
I see no reason why it would be any different for the 3D version.
Re: Review: BIT.TRIP SAGA (3DS)
@Oddy: All good points, too.
As for people passing it up because of a 7, that's really a problem with the way the industry views review scores (and just looking at review scores and not actually reading it is just as important, although a different problem altogether). For most sites I visit a 5 is nominally (i.e. according to their scoring policy) an average game with anything above that worthy of consideration, but unfortunately people seem to take an 8 to be 'average'. That's a huge problem.
For the benefit of anyone who may only look at the number at the bottom of the review, this is what it means: (from the NL scoring policy page)
"7 - Good
A seven is not average in our eyes. This game will sport a few areas where the game is blatantly let down to the detriment of its overall quality and enjoyment, but it is NOT average. A seven is still a recommendation, but you might want to consider what we thought let the game down and decide for yourself if it would bother you before buying."
That's not a bad score by any means, and reading the review would hopefully give enough information for someone to make a decision.
Re: Review: BIT.TRIP SAGA (3DS)
@Oddy: No, I wouldn't, because this is a re-release of games that are up to 2 years old with no real additions, apart from 3D (the value of which will vary from person-to-person, but it doesn't mean a lot to me).
Compare this with COMPLETE which has all the added extras and this falls short of the mark in my opinion. (Especially as they are the same price).
I believe that when reviewing games, competing products and experiences must also be taken into account. I believe if you do that, SAGA just isn't worth a 9/10.
Having said that, reviewing is a subjective thing and while I agree with the review (with the qualifier that I haven't actually played SAGA) I have no problems with you rating it higher.
Re: Review: BIT.TRIP SAGA (3DS)
Umm, I think some of you are possibly misunderstanding the review process. I don't think NL (or many review publications, in fact) start at a score of 10 and take off points for specific things. There's not some formula that says:
Nice Graphics: No Change
Bad Graphics: -1 point
Multiplayer: No Change
No Multiplayer: -1 point
etc.
It's a score arrived at after playing the game, weighing it up against other experiences and ultimately deciding on what it's worth out of 10. If you think of it as 'taking points off' you're not quite getting how it works.
Re: This Is How You Upgrade Items in Skyward Sword
@Skywake: Ah, that's good to hear (I haven't played any 3D Zeldas). I figure Nintendo knows their stuff well enough to not do something daft like that, but you never know...
Re: This Is How You Upgrade Items in Skyward Sword
My concern is that the game will pause EVERY, SINGLE, TIME we pick something up to tell us what it is.
I hope that it only happens the first time you get a certain type of item, and after that it goes straight to your inventory. Otherwise I'd be getting extremely annoyed.
Re: Nintendo Europe Dropped London Life to "Avoid Delays"
I would happily wait, but then I have no shortage of games to play. It is a bit disappointing to miss out on such a large chunk of content, but importing is easy enough these days so I'll grab a US copy instead.
Re: Review: BIT.TRIP COMPLETE (Wii)
Let me hear you all together now:
"PAL release! PAL release!"
Re: Feature: Nintendo - Gaming in Black and White
The only reason I've let Excitebots pass me by is that it never got a PAL release...
Anyway, I honestly think we look back with rose-tinted glasses at a lot of these old games. We've only recently arrived in an era where a large number of people grew up playing video games - they really only became a mainstream success in the 80s, and today's 20-30 year old grew up playing games from that era onwards.
These are the people who look back fondly at the games they played in their formative years. Speak to someone who hasn't played their favourite childhood game for a decade or more - I bet they'll say something like, "Oh, yeah! Game X! I LOVED that game as a kid. It's awesome!". I also bet that you'll get something like that regardless of the quality of the game in question.
As children, you are generally less discriminating about quality in the first place, and the industry was young with a lot to learn. Many of those favourite game experiences, when you try them again, turn out to be remembered a lot better than they are. I go back and play some of my old DOS games, that I absolutely loved, and quite a few of them are terrible.
I'm not saying that games are better or worse now than then, although they've certainly changed. I just think that someone looking objectively at these retro games - without the influence of nostalgia - would probably find a lot of fondly-remembered games that don't really deserve the credit they get.
What I'm trying to say is that there probably isn't anything, objectively, special about the era of games discussed here. There are defining characteristics of the era, sure, but the same could be said now. I think that in another 20 years, the kids of today will remember the PS3, Wii or Xbox 360 the way my generation remembers the NES, SNES, Mega Drive etc.
As Linux_Man said, when we look back we also have the benefit of being able to cherry-pick the best titles. The same thing happens with music - many people look back and think of the 60s as the 'Golden Age' of music, with classics being pumped out one after the other. However, there was just as much crap being put out then as there is now. It's just that, 50 years on, it's easy to remember the best music and forget the rest, giving a very biased view of the era. (I love a lot of 60s music, by the way).
Anyway, long story short - Nintendo leans too heavily on old games for my liking. There are definitely a lot of classics that stand the test of time and are fantastic gaming experiences, and it makes good business sense to allow people to pay for them again. However, this relies on a perception, influenced by nostalgia, that gaming was better 'back in the old days' belonging to my generation. I don't necessarily think that's the case - there are brilliant games coming out right now - and I'd like to see Nintendo being a bit more adventurous with their franchises.
Sure, release older games for people to try out/play again. However, do it in addition to, not instead of, releasing brand new gaming experiences. I fear that, looking back 20 years from now, we won't see the plethora of brand-new gaming experiences that we see looking back 20 years from today - we'll look back and see a few high-profile releases, and a bunch of 40 year old games that for some reason we were paying money for to play again.
Re: Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call Gets EU Release Date
I much, much prefer the box art of the UK versions (and I have the previous three games from there) but it feels a bit wrong to pay for a game missing such a huge amount of content.
I wonder if London Life is actually any good but even so, it's the principle of the matter. I guess I'll grab the US version and maybe pick up the UK one down the line if I see it cheap.
Re: Talking Point: The Second Circle Pad and the 3DS Evolution
@iPruch: I disagree about not needing a second analogue stick for FPS and the like. (I should qualify this by saying I much, much prefer to play games on the PC with KB+M). The D-Pad + touch screen may work well in some cases, but I don't think it's the most portable of control schemes. If I'm in a car or bus or something, dual-analogue would be much better.
Having said that, the touch screen + dpad works quite well if I'm sitting at home on the couch or somewhere where I can rest the console. I wouldn't go so far as to call someone else's preference 'ridiculous' though.
Re: Solatorobo Goes Gold, Gets NA Release Date
Yeah this is a DSi-Enhanced game and, hence, probably region-locked on the DSi and 3DS. Buyer Beware.
I've got too many games I want coming out in September though! I'll probably grab Solatorobo first though, as I think it'll be one of the harder ones to find down the track (at least judging from the European release)