Can we submit multiple entries? I want to submit multiple entries.
In 3rd place is Uncharted 4. It was the first in the series I played and really opened my eyes as to what was possible with video games.
In 2nd place is Skylanders Spyro's Adventure. Hear me out. Placing a figure on the portal for the first time was something close to magic, one of those times you can pretend there is a link between the real world and the fictional one, that what you do here has impact somewhere else. Not the most popular choice or the first choice one would jump to, but there you go.
Number one is actually a system- The Nintendo 3DS and by exstention Super Mario 3D land. As a nut who was obsessed with everything regarding "THE FUTURE" back in the day, going through the 3DS setup back in the day and seeing that screen test thing was like pure magic. As someone who hadn't seen a 3D film yet, it was a kind of feeling I cannot put into words. You could also slide in The legend of Zelda Ocorina of time into this spot too, one of the only times I've played a game and it lived up to the hype.
Of course, like several others have pointed out, a lot of what effects us the first time often has to do with how we came into contact with it and what our circumstances were back then. Who knows if the 3DS screen test or Skylanders would effect me as much as they did back then if I played them for the first time. But then again, there's nothing like your first time, right?
My initial gut reaction after reading all the reports? "Welp, time to see how long it takes before someone leaves the project due to "Creative differences.", as tends to usually happen with these kinds of projects." My thoughts now that I've actually had time to mull it over: I can't say anything other then "This could go anywhere." The credits listed with this project so far have some really good hits and some really big misses. Casting's going to be real interesting- either they already have someone in mind or are going to need to explore off the beaten path for this one. All I know is that i don't think any of us posting here are close enough to hollywood to have any real impact on this project, so we might as well sit back and enjoy the ride, whatever shape it may take. Nothing left to do now but sit back and wait for the memes to flow in...
This thing. My god, this thing. To be honest, the only way i could summarize my feelings around this thing is to, well, "Borrow" a paragraph or two from Nintendolife's Hardware classics article on the Gamecube that Gavin Lane wrote. https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/09/hardware_classics_nintendo_gamecube . All i need is to swap some words around and it fits brilliantly.
"In many ways, the --->WiiU<--- was a console out of time, arguably arriving too late (or perhaps too early) to realize its true potential. We can look back now and appreciate its quirks, admire its design(Cut line about variants that doesn't work here), but in the early --->2010s<---it was a big, defiantly --->Flat long rectangle with a controller that had a tablet shoved into it<--- at a time when sleek multimedia units were all the rage (-->Well, with the XBOX One anyway. You know what, forget i said that, i don't recall many people taking a liking to the XBOX One at the time either<---). It was a square peg in the round hole, an embarrassingly sore thumb that stood out against the laser-targeted ‘cool’ of the competition."
(Hey Nintendolife, if you do a Hardware classics article on the WiiU, feel free to use that opening for free.)
There's just no other way to put it- The WiiU's my generation's gamecube, a thing for kiddies as all the others around me my age at the time were desiring more powerful tech and mature experiences, and only weird people like me wanted it and the games on it. Heck, it's even similar in the fact that, after trying to chase after what the others were doing at the time 5 years too late, instead of giving up, Nintendo instead went and did something completely different by bringing handhelds and console games together.
Though it does make one worry when you think about it-How will Nintendo follow the switch up? Considering the WiiU was "The Wii, but in HD!" and that didn't really work out? That after years of success things began fumbling for Nintendo once a new decade rolled around? Then again, maybe one shouldn't be concerned about the future when the present has enough to offer you already. Eh, what do i know. Just pondering the thought that maybe, just maybe, pure firepower isn't everything, ya know?
My god, what a console.
I'm flip flopping on three moments right now. -The release of DOOM 2016. It might be easy to forget, but remember, it wasn't skyrim, an at-the-time 6 year old game; it was a then-recently released game with a whole bunch of stuff happening visually. I even believe many thought it would be just a port in the vein of that Dead Rising Wii port. You know, the one called "Chop Till you Drop" that was made on the RE4 engine but just couldn't match up to the xbox 360 version? But, lo and behold, to everyone's surprise, It was pretty much the same game. Yeah, there's all that blur you gotta deal with, but compared with what could have happened, this wasn't half bad, and it seemed to open the floodgates to me with developers trying to get their games onto switch no matter the costs. -Option two (Which honestly is kind of similar to the first one i mentioned but anyway) would be the Port of the Witcher 3 to switch. This was one of those go to games that would be the response to the question of "Which game could never come to switch, no matter what, and should be used as a beacon showing that not everything is possible?" due to it's massive size, scope, and visual flair. Then that E3 press conference came along after (What i swear seemed like) YEARS of rumors. I went "Oh! The rumors were serious!" Much like doom, it might not be the ideal way to play the game, what with all that blur, but if you wanna play a great game on the go, hey, could be worse. -Third option for me here is Crysis remastered on switch. The game that was most well known for years for being borderline impossible to run at max settings on certain computers, being brought to arguably the weakest console out there? But wouldn't you know it, the witcher 3 port guys did it, and from what i recall (Please correct me if i'm wrong here) It ran better on switch then it did on other systems! What a time to be alive.
I've said my peace about the 3DS elsewhere, so i won't go over it again, but i do have something else to say that i just thought up; If you ever want to know how skewered my priorities are, i just don't understand how more colors and a bigger screen is supposed to come off as an "Improvement." I mean, "IT'S BIGGER AND YOU CAN SEE MORE COLORS!" Yeah, that's what they said about high definition televisions! 3D Looked like the future because it seemed like a genuine switch up. Nowadays, even with how much i personally loved things with the 3D effect, Could anything revive it? Even as a fan, i'd doubt it. I just find that giving something more shape is more interesting, and i'll take things having more shape then the screen being a "Canvas" Or whatever other fancypants term filmmakers who didn't want to use 3D used to state why making the screen bigger is better. Anyway. 3DS. I'll never decide if it was ACTUALLY good or not, but it certainly was the right system in the right place at the right time for me, just for making us dream about what the future could be like. Oh, to be young again...
If i dare say something that might get some upset at me, i gotta say; I'm kind of impressed that this wasn't the usual kind of BIG PUBLISHERS BAD GUYS kind of rant i usually see when it comes to Pre-Order topics nowadays. Goes to show you can't always judge a book by it's cover. But what about my angle then? Well, for someone like me, it's surprising to say i don't pre-order games all the time. I usually only get things when I'm super, assured, over the moon confident that this is a product I'll actually care for. It doesn't always work like that mind you- Guardians of the galaxy was a game i WAS interested in, yet i shrugged off at first only to desire it comes Christmas time. Not everything you get is gonna be a hole in one. But every once in a while, you see that ONE GAME that just fits you in so many ways, and that you want to be prepared for enough that you remember to mark the date on your calendar (Then again, when in some situation the game comes out and it takes a few days to get to your place and in that time all the youtube people get to paste the whole game online thus spoiling everything, i do start to get a little annoyed.) That's kind of what makes the topic of pre-ordering so tense, really- It's pretty much a gamble, and we all know the downsides of gambling, don't we? But then again, aren't all video games, wether they be a game that's not fully done yet or they cost a pretty penny for you to track down? It's the same with getting a game normally; You find out about the thing, you buy your copy, you take your chances. Pre-Orders take that part of it and shoot it up to stupidly risky degrees (Not a good thing, in my opinion). That's kind of why pre-orders are so rare for me-When it goes really wrong, Either i don't have enough cash for it or i get notified one day the purchance didn't go through- and i forgot all about it. So what should you take as my angle on Pre-Orders? Simple; Do it only when you are sure that, no matter what, this product is something that is just YOU in so many ways, and thus worth putting away a couple of dollars for a few months over. A lot can happen in a few months- Don't blow it.
Discounting WiiU games (I can't find a lifetime ranking thing on there for the life of me), I'll overlook my time with the 3DS.
Discounting applications, I am surprised my time with Sonic Generations beats out my time with Tomodachi life, Super Mario 3D Land, And The Amazing Spider Man Video game (I was obsessed with the movie at the time). Then again, there's the random chance i let my siblings play with the games, so who knows how much time was added in from them. But i'll tell you the other fun thing with the 3DS' Activity log; you can set it to tell you which game you played for the first time on a certian day, and man, just looking over this thing could pretty much be a summary of my interests all the way up to 2017. I don't feel like talking about WHICH things, specifically, as that feels like me sharing way too much information about myself, but for whatever reason LEGO games feature on the list quite a bit, despite me never considering them much good on the 3DS. I must've been really desperate, huh?
Boy, the days when it looked like 3D was going to stick around...
Well here's the thing; I took a look over my WiiU eshop list and figured that, other then some virtual console titles, there's not a whole lot i'll be upset to not buy anymore, as much of it is on other systems. 3DS on the other hand is going to be an issue, because there are games i want to buy but i just do not have the save space to house everything anymore. That's what is stalling me from rushing out and buying things- Save space. It's the reason i was Physical only for the longest time- I just don't have the space to store everything anymore. I've got a boatload of pictures, games that need a stupid amount of save space as this was the era where studios decided to make games bigger then what they could stuff onto a disc or a cartridge after all, and others i just don't know if i can delete for the really important stuff. And then there's the question of "Should i even bother wasting money on all this?", as the 3DS was given to me in the era where i did not have disposable income of my own to spend. Thus, i could only look at the 3DS eshop and dream at all the titles i could not get. Now i have to decide if i want to waste money and space just to have these titles that are about to disappear forever (Yeah yeah yeah, i know, emulation and stuff). We're in the initial stages of loss right now with these news. Only time will tell if we will truly miss the eshops because of the stuff on them or how they made us feel... Though i suppose i should mention that when i saw the news my first thought was "Gosh darnit. Better tell that sibling who i gave a 2DS to a few years back to stop sitting on the fence and get buyin'..."
Interesting topic. Now, for me, The performance of a game, when it's really nothing more then "Oh no! All the hairs on the models in game look horribly fuzzy and it looks like play dough for most of the models!", I'm fine. This article appears to mostly be talking about Graphics and frame rate, and whether they deserve to be included in the conversation or not though. To be honest, I must really be lucky with my purchases, as i cannot recall any games with that kind of performance issues that really bothered me. I mean, I Finished watch_Dogs on WiiU and got some enjoyment out of it AND thought that the technical downgrades on Hellblade on switch actually helped out thematically, so that should really say something about my standards. But then the thought came into my head. "Wait, there was... The one where..." But i could not remember for the life of me which one it was. I Racked my brain, tore apart my game collection and rapidly said "Think! Think! THINK!" to my constantly slapped forehead until the game that was torturing me came to mind- Epic Mickey 2 The Power of 2 on WiiU. HOLY COW. The game will slow down even when everything's on screen and accounted for, which i can only assume is some magic trick gone horribly wrong or the game being rushed for WiiU (Which i mean, yeah, sure, i won't disagree with you there). I Bring it up because it actually made some parts harder for me. But yeah, the reason I'm commenting on here is because frankly I'm fine with choppy performance as long as the game doesn't crash at every given opportunity or have some kind of a glitch up that has you holding your Butt with every loading screen hoping that THIS is the time nothing screws up. Then again, i only stopped playing Blacksad under the skin (Which has all the aforementioned issues and more!) because I've gotten stuck on a puzzle near the end of the game and am too afraid to look up a walkthrough because I'm a wuss for spoilers. Speaking of digital foundry, i wonder what they think of all this. Can someone get this article to them and ask for their input on making everyone pay more attention to the inner workings of a game then they likely should? I'm genuinely curious.
...Eh, why not leave a comment. Even though this IS a topic that's really complicated, bound up in a whole host of little things that make up the whole picture.
I could go on forever, really, but i think I'll make my statement on the matter simple and to the point; I Think every piece of entertainment ever made has had it's own unique road to being made. Everything has had hard work put into it. Even if it doesn't seem like it. It's just that it seems it's only the horror stories we get to hear about, either immediately after the product becomes the new catchphrase for "Horrible" Or years after the fact after the game is a classic and no one bothers to think about how hard it must have been. Why do i think that way? Because i keep seeing all the similarities in the development stories toward something that wound up being amazing and something that wound up being horrible; Someone's always believing in the concept, there's always fighting to get something made, and there's always a point where it looks like the thing won't be done. It's important, mind you, to figure out why one thing works and why another doesn't, as it's the only way we'll improve and i highly doubt everyone criticizing something means it as an attack (I'm sure you could name some who cover games who still have a career despite everything as a result), and I'll certainly chat your ear off about how certain games are just downright horrible, but slamming the work put into something bad is almost as bad as slamming the work put into something amazing. All you can do is hope that someone out there can learn lessons from the whole horror show.
There's always an opinion when something works out or it doesn't. I Don't think i can win anyone over when it comes to arguing everything has a fight to getting made, even if those articles you see online make it apparent that the failures had just as much work go into them, perhaps even more so, then the work that winds up making you feel good inside. I guess what i want to say is "Are you going to go on swearing every time someone tries to explain why something is the way it is, or are you going to be thankful that something you like is as good as it is? Because the road there certainly can't have been simple. Maybe instead of condemning those responsible, we should try engaging in realistic, serious conversations where we give the suspect the benefit of a doubt that they've been through hell and back to get here. And heck, maybe even being open to hearing other's points of view, even if they are as stupid and corporate as they are, could help us all feel better too."
Ooh, this is gonna be tricky...
I never beat games as a kid. Or at least, the games that weren't meant for just kids. OK, simply put, Beating the final boss in sonic heroes was considered an accomplishment in my family at the time. As time went on, seeing the end of the game went from a great accomplishment to a necessity as the concept of recording the whole of the game and posting it release day became way too common, in my opinion.
I see people going on that being shorter can be a good thing. And that is true. I bought what remains of Edith finch AND completed it the same day i bought it! THAT was definitely a strange day for me, I'll tell you that. It's still one of the most important games ever to me though.
But now that i enter the age that i am entering, i seem to value long games too. A lot of open world games are padded out to heck, but the world and mechanics i enjoy a little too much to want to beat it. Some games i hold off on completing because of the feeling of "Aww, it's almost over already?" Yeah, you could go back and replay the story for the replay value, but is that really the same as playing it for the first time? Some games I've been putting off finishing not because they suck but because i want the feeling to go on for longer. Don't know if anyone else feels that.
Now, i'm not discrediting the people saying that a game going on for too long can kill it. As much as i loved it, eventually as i was playing astral chain i was going "YES! WE'RE GOOD! BAD GUYS BAD! CRIME AIN'T AS SIMPLE AS IT SEEMS! PLEASE GET TO THE POINT AND GET TO THE FINAL BATTLE ALREADY! PLEASE!!!" Not to mention all the games out there that go "Up! You didn't do this or collect this much of that thing or you Didn't do that thing, so you get the bad ending! Sorry! Better luck next play through!" (I'll be honest, the latter thing is a thing i'm kind of happy to see die out in this era of gaming. Mostly because of how frustrating it is, dunno about you, I just hope whoever's reading understands why this could be seen as frustrating.)
I guess it's like browsing TV Shows; How long is it going to take to get through this show? How long does it do on for? When does it start getting good?
On a final note, i don't play all my games to win- Sometimes i just like to experience them and their systems. Sometimes i play a game to get the feeling of it like a movie, sometimes i like treating it like a fancy expensive toy- Where i draw the line is when i feel like i'm being pressured to get the darn thing done within a week because that's what everyone else is doing.
EDIT: I should note that i have nothing against games with multiple endings or the like- It's that i get annoyed when it turns out there was a hook you were never warned about or mentioned anywhere that turns out to have a massive impact on what you're playing. Games that are marketed with choice as a central mechanic i can understand. Now not restarting the game because you're worried that you've made a stupid choice that could effect the rest of the game, that's a debate for another day. (If anyone has any tips for sticking with the game even when you make hard choices, i'd love to hear them, but that's, again, likely for another topic discussion.)
Like i said elsewhere, This system left it's impact on a certain generation and they/we refuse to be told otherwise. But i got to remember that i was not 12 years old when the Gamecube came out (Don't think videogames were even that big of a deal to me then), and looking over the recollections of some who were of an age where they had disposable income in 2001, i can imagine how this new system would be seen as a step forward and a very bizarre step back. To me most notably the way M-Rated titles were handled on the system. Yeah, they were there, but you would have to really look for them, and from what i can tell while the other systems had their limits, those making games on them had much more ability to make games the way they wanted to, all grown up and that. Plus DVDs and all that, i don't think i need to say more. But perhaps that's why many look back on the gamecube fondly beyond just nostalgia. The other systems were looking at the future, targeting a audience that was already used to videogames and not the to-be-coverted, but the Gamecube was a "VideoGAME" system through and through, something anyone could approach and go "Huh. Yeah. It's a fancy toy, i can roll with this." Instead of something like the PS2 and XBOX which no doubt were cooler but definitely a touch more intimidating to get near. It certainly isn't the best system to me, but we all start somewhere, and for many, this was that start. And i think we can even see the impact in subtle ways, like how Nintendo then chose not to follow trends and just make a system anyone could understand and play with the Wii, instead of another graphical powerhouse. Power can help make something better, but it's not always going to make sense to someone starting out. It's funny how things can make an impact in a way you would never expect, huh?
Can you believe that at the time this thing was considered a failure? Suppose in a few years we'll be looking back at the WiiU Positively. But I'll make this quick; Alongside the NES we needed to fight with to get it to work and PC games, this was my first real Video game system, and it might be the reason i game today, much like many others of my generation. IF ONLY i didn't get it right as the Wii era was starting... But anyway, even though i didn't get it during it's, er, is heyday the right term? anyway, even though i came in late, it still left the impact it needed to, and that's what i think matters.
Oh Great, now i feel old... Speaking personally, i lived more in a country like place, but at high school you can bet all the cool kids had 3DSs you could streetpass with. I recall one field trip into the big city my 3DS WOULD NOT STOP PICKING UP PEOPLE TO STREETPASS WITH. Seriously, i was on the bus back home, looked at streetpass, and i was still getting connections. Oh, 2013, whatever happened to you? It sucks when this happens; you look over a piece of tech you used to love using and then slowly realize a good chunk of it is now unusable thanks to the fact that most of it needed some kind of now unavailable service. At least play coins still work, so we could still use those to play streetpass games with the option. Which is good, because i never did buy those extra games... Except wait, you can only get 10 coins a day right? Well then, A-shakin we will go...
Update; Mainly the reason i want a steam deck is because i have a whole lot of games on steam back from when i had a computer capable of running steam, I'll admit.
The Steam deck definitely looks good, but the downside seems to me the user unfriendly way you gotta load your own OS onto it if you want to play certain games, that sounds like it’ll get complicated for someone who does not play on computers often. Now, the switch oled model is nothing more then a screen upgrade, but I’m thinking the steam deck would just be too much work. And what about games you need to connect to the internet for? And what about those games that require some sort of fancy program on the computer from years ago everyone forgot about? (I’m talking 3D drivers and the like.) Now, I’ll admit myself, The young high school newcomer Nintendo fanboy from 2013 inside me that forbid any thought of PS4 or xbox one went “How DARE they clone Nintendo! And how dare anyone want to support it!”, but on second thought, what else were they going to do? You always gotta reference something when making something, so why not reference something that works? I guess I just still have fury within me from back when Gabe Newell said that those steam machines would make consoles pointless. (Look ‘em up, steam machines, they happened.) Thing is, I have to remind myself here; I highly doubt Valve has any malicious intents when it comes to cloning and perhaps even their intent to overthrow Nintendo. I’m sure that these are two different things in two different classes at the end of the day. I don’t want Nintendo to go downhill again, but I’ll get over it I’m sure. Who knows, maybe we’ll all be too busy with the Switch U and forget all about this thing. Simply put, my history is giving me mixed feelings over this.
Upon thinking for a bit, my REAL favorite bad game might be Duke Nukem forever. Now, i was never close to the series when i first played it, but when i did play it i was just looking for a good old fashioned standard first person shooter. And well, the game was just that. Like the other options i listed, This game has things you just won't find anywhere else. But eventually as you play something comes along to ruin it all, Like a confusing vehicle section where i got lost, i think the opening trying to clone half life's style goes on for way too long and that Section in the alien hive? The less said the better. The game Does have wonderful things in it that make it worth playing, but eventually you can't fight off the feeling that, well, it should have been better. Like, a few cuts here and there would have made for a fine B-Grade shooter. Not sure if anyone else feels the same way, but that's what makes it my favorite bad game; As you actually start having fun something brings it down, but hey, when you want to play a first person shooter unlike anything else, Not a bad selection at the end of the day.
After disqualifying several games on the ground that i actually still like them for their own good reasons, i settled on Resident evil 6. Unlike most games i play, the main story mode just feels too loose and weightless to go back to nowadays. I Still play it every once in a while though because a lot of the action sequences in that game are ones you simply cannot get anywhere else, and the mercenaries no mercy mode is a rush like no other. Also mentioning Postal 2. In that game, the comedy is simply not my thing, it will crash for the strangest reasons, hit detection can be a mystery, but the massive amount of freedom the game gives you (Some scenarios even let you get away without killing anyone!) earns it a "...Go on???" in my book that i find myself looking back fondly on every once in a while. Even though i have all reasons in the world to despise it.
I'll Look back on this system as my Grand leap into the modern gaming world. I Got my first one on Christmas of 2011, and i recall literally wanting nothing else. Before that, i was pretty much left behind in the modern gaming atmosphere, always left looking up at what the rich kids were able to play. But this was the start for me anyway of being up to date in the modern world of video games. Man, Remember when 3D was supposed to be a thing that would stick around? I was always one for the flashy and new, so obviously i was (And still kind of am) a 3D Fan. I know for a fact though, that most of you got sick after the first year or so. I'm Not sure if 3D Videogames (Might as well lob in movies in too.) could even make a comeback nowadays. If someone found a way to get 3D TVs and 3D Videogames back into homes that would be impressive. Though i will say that VR Games could do a good job filling that niche. But I'll still cherish the games and by exstention movies that understood good 3D was about feeling like you could reach into the screen instead of everything flying out at you. All that said... I can't help but feel like the system's games did their job, and nothing more. There's nothing i feel like i'm screaming out at you to run out and grab a 3DS to play anymore. A few sure, but there's a lot of content that i can't help but feel was done better elsewhere. I Think everyone was getting into the system because of it's cost of 3D Entry compared to other 3D Gaming options at the time (Have you looked up how much it would cost to have a 3D TV setup in your home recentlly? Don't awnser, you haven't.). But as time went on, it just became another handheld system. I Suppose it comes down to what my expectations were at the time. I was expecting the thing to be on the level of a full on home system. Yeah, the equivalent of a Home system on a handheld in 2011. Shows you how much i understood game development back then. And I Will never, ever forget nintendo video, an app that promised to keep showing stuff in 3D but eventually just resorted to putting in 2D stuff from youtube when everyone decided they had just about had enough of 3D. As A leaving note, anyone else a bit down that Netflix never got around to putting 3D Movies on the 3DS Netflix app? Happy 10th birthday, Nintendo 3DS, and thanks for the memories.
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Re: Talking Point: What Game Do You Wish You Could Forget?
Can we submit multiple entries? I want to submit multiple entries.
In 3rd place is Uncharted 4. It was the first in the series I played and really opened my eyes as to what was possible with video games.
In 2nd place is Skylanders Spyro's Adventure. Hear me out. Placing a figure on the portal for the first time was something close to magic, one of those times you can pretend there is a link between the real world and the fictional one, that what you do here has impact somewhere else. Not the most popular choice or the first choice one would jump to, but there you go.
Number one is actually a system- The Nintendo 3DS and by exstention Super Mario 3D land. As a nut who was obsessed with everything regarding "THE FUTURE" back in the day, going through the 3DS setup back in the day and seeing that screen test thing was like pure magic. As someone who hadn't seen a 3D film yet, it was a kind of feeling I cannot put into words. You could also slide in The legend of Zelda Ocorina of time into this spot too, one of the only times I've played a game and it lived up to the hype.
Of course, like several others have pointed out, a lot of what effects us the first time often has to do with how we came into contact with it and what our circumstances were back then. Who knows if the 3DS screen test or Skylanders would effect me as much as they did back then if I played them for the first time. But then again, there's nothing like your first time, right?
Re: Reaction: What's Your Gut Feeling On The Zelda Movie News?
My initial gut reaction after reading all the reports? "Welp, time to see how long it takes before someone leaves the project due to "Creative differences.", as tends to usually happen with these kinds of projects."
My thoughts now that I've actually had time to mull it over: I can't say anything other then "This could go anywhere." The credits listed with this project so far have some really good hits and some really big misses. Casting's going to be real interesting- either they already have someone in mind or are going to need to explore off the beaten path for this one. All I know is that i don't think any of us posting here are close enough to hollywood to have any real impact on this project, so we might as well sit back and enjoy the ride, whatever shape it may take. Nothing left to do now but sit back and wait for the memes to flow in...
Re: Feature: Wii U Memories - Our Pre-Launch Thoughts On Nintendo's Charming Misstep
This thing. My god, this thing. To be honest, the only way i could summarize my feelings around this thing is to, well, "Borrow" a paragraph or two from Nintendolife's Hardware classics article on the Gamecube that Gavin Lane wrote. https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/09/hardware_classics_nintendo_gamecube . All i need is to swap some words around and it fits brilliantly.
"In many ways, the --->WiiU<--- was a console out of time, arguably arriving too late (or perhaps too early) to realize its true potential. We can look back now and appreciate its quirks, admire its design(Cut line about variants that doesn't work here), but in the early --->2010s<---it was a big, defiantly --->Flat long rectangle with a controller that had a tablet shoved into it<--- at a time when sleek multimedia units were all the rage (-->Well, with the XBOX One anyway. You know what, forget i said that, i don't recall many people taking a liking to the XBOX One at the time either<---). It was a square peg in the round hole, an embarrassingly sore thumb that stood out against the laser-targeted ‘cool’ of the competition."
(Hey Nintendolife, if you do a Hardware classics article on the WiiU, feel free to use that opening for free.)
There's just no other way to put it- The WiiU's my generation's gamecube, a thing for kiddies as all the others around me my age at the time were desiring more powerful tech and mature experiences, and only weird people like me wanted it and the games on it. Heck, it's even similar in the fact that, after trying to chase after what the others were doing at the time 5 years too late, instead of giving up, Nintendo instead went and did something completely different by bringing handhelds and console games together.
Though it does make one worry when you think about it-How will Nintendo follow the switch up? Considering the WiiU was "The Wii, but in HD!" and that didn't really work out? That after years of success things began fumbling for Nintendo once a new decade rolled around? Then again, maybe one shouldn't be concerned about the future when the present has enough to offer you already. Eh, what do i know. Just pondering the thought that maybe, just maybe, pure firepower isn't everything, ya know?
My god, what a console.
Re: Talking Point: What Are The Nintendo Switch's Defining Moments (So Far)?
I'm flip flopping on three moments right now.
-The release of DOOM 2016. It might be easy to forget, but remember, it wasn't skyrim, an at-the-time 6 year old game; it was a then-recently released game with a whole bunch of stuff happening visually. I even believe many thought it would be just a port in the vein of that Dead Rising Wii port. You know, the one called "Chop Till you Drop" that was made on the RE4 engine but just couldn't match up to the xbox 360 version? But, lo and behold, to everyone's surprise, It was pretty much the same game. Yeah, there's all that blur you gotta deal with, but compared with what could have happened, this wasn't half bad, and it seemed to open the floodgates to me with developers trying to get their games onto switch no matter the costs.
-Option two (Which honestly is kind of similar to the first one i mentioned but anyway) would be the Port of the Witcher 3 to switch. This was one of those go to games that would be the response to the question of "Which game could never come to switch, no matter what, and should be used as a beacon showing that not everything is possible?" due to it's massive size, scope, and visual flair. Then that E3 press conference came along after (What i swear seemed like) YEARS of rumors. I went "Oh! The rumors were serious!" Much like doom, it might not be the ideal way to play the game, what with all that blur, but if you wanna play a great game on the go, hey, could be worse.
-Third option for me here is Crysis remastered on switch. The game that was most well known for years for being borderline impossible to run at max settings on certain computers, being brought to arguably the weakest console out there? But wouldn't you know it, the witcher 3 port guys did it, and from what i recall (Please correct me if i'm wrong here) It ran better on switch then it did on other systems! What a time to be alive.
Re: Talking Point: 3DS Is 11 Years Old, And Our Eyes Still Feel Strange
I've said my peace about the 3DS elsewhere, so i won't go over it again, but i do have something else to say that i just thought up; If you ever want to know how skewered my priorities are, i just don't understand how more colors and a bigger screen is supposed to come off as an "Improvement." I mean, "IT'S BIGGER AND YOU CAN SEE MORE COLORS!" Yeah, that's what they said about high definition televisions! 3D Looked like the future because it seemed like a genuine switch up. Nowadays, even with how much i personally loved things with the 3D effect, Could anything revive it? Even as a fan, i'd doubt it. I just find that giving something more shape is more interesting, and i'll take things having more shape then the screen being a "Canvas" Or whatever other fancypants term filmmakers who didn't want to use 3D used to state why making the screen bigger is better.
Anyway. 3DS. I'll never decide if it was ACTUALLY good or not, but it certainly was the right system in the right place at the right time for me, just for making us dream about what the future could be like. Oh, to be young again...
Re: Talking Point: Should We Still Be Pre-Ordering Games?
If i dare say something that might get some upset at me, i gotta say; I'm kind of impressed that this wasn't the usual kind of BIG PUBLISHERS BAD GUYS kind of rant i usually see when it comes to Pre-Order topics nowadays. Goes to show you can't always judge a book by it's cover.
But what about my angle then? Well, for someone like me, it's surprising to say i don't pre-order games all the time. I usually only get things when I'm super, assured, over the moon confident that this is a product I'll actually care for. It doesn't always work like that mind you- Guardians of the galaxy was a game i WAS interested in, yet i shrugged off at first only to desire it comes Christmas time. Not everything you get is gonna be a hole in one. But every once in a while, you see that ONE GAME that just fits you in so many ways, and that you want to be prepared for enough that you remember to mark the date on your calendar (Then again, when in some situation the game comes out and it takes a few days to get to your place and in that time all the youtube people get to paste the whole game online thus spoiling everything, i do start to get a little annoyed.)
That's kind of what makes the topic of pre-ordering so tense, really- It's pretty much a gamble, and we all know the downsides of gambling, don't we? But then again, aren't all video games, wether they be a game that's not fully done yet or they cost a pretty penny for you to track down? It's the same with getting a game normally; You find out about the thing, you buy your copy, you take your chances. Pre-Orders take that part of it and shoot it up to stupidly risky degrees (Not a good thing, in my opinion). That's kind of why pre-orders are so rare for me-When it goes really wrong, Either i don't have enough cash for it or i get notified one day the purchance didn't go through- and i forgot all about it.
So what should you take as my angle on Pre-Orders? Simple; Do it only when you are sure that, no matter what, this product is something that is just YOU in so many ways, and thus worth putting away a couple of dollars for a few months over. A lot can happen in a few months- Don't blow it.
Re: Feature: Our Nintendo 3DS And Wii U Memories, In Infographic Form
Discounting WiiU games (I can't find a lifetime ranking thing on there for the life of me), I'll overlook my time with the 3DS.
Discounting applications, I am surprised my time with Sonic Generations beats out my time with Tomodachi life, Super Mario 3D Land, And The Amazing Spider Man Video game (I was obsessed with the movie at the time). Then again, there's the random chance i let my siblings play with the games, so who knows how much time was added in from them. But i'll tell you the other fun thing with the 3DS' Activity log; you can set it to tell you which game you played for the first time on a certian day, and man, just looking over this thing could pretty much be a summary of my interests all the way up to 2017. I don't feel like talking about WHICH things, specifically, as that feels like me sharing way too much information about myself, but for whatever reason LEGO games feature on the list quite a bit, despite me never considering them much good on the 3DS. I must've been really desperate, huh?
Boy, the days when it looked like 3D was going to stick around...
Re: Poll: The End Is Coming, But How Much Will You Miss The Wii U And 3DS eShop?
Well here's the thing; I took a look over my WiiU eshop list and figured that, other then some virtual console titles, there's not a whole lot i'll be upset to not buy anymore, as much of it is on other systems. 3DS on the other hand is going to be an issue, because there are games i want to buy but i just do not have the save space to house everything anymore.
That's what is stalling me from rushing out and buying things- Save space. It's the reason i was Physical only for the longest time- I just don't have the space to store everything anymore. I've got a boatload of pictures, games that need a stupid amount of save space as this was the era where studios decided to make games bigger then what they could stuff onto a disc or a cartridge after all, and others i just don't know if i can delete for the really important stuff.
And then there's the question of "Should i even bother wasting money on all this?", as the 3DS was given to me in the era where i did not have disposable income of my own to spend. Thus, i could only look at the 3DS eshop and dream at all the titles i could not get. Now i have to decide if i want to waste money and space just to have these titles that are about to disappear forever (Yeah yeah yeah, i know, emulation and stuff).
We're in the initial stages of loss right now with these news. Only time will tell if we will truly miss the eshops because of the stuff on them or how they made us feel... Though i suppose i should mention that when i saw the news my first thought was "Gosh darnit. Better tell that sibling who i gave a 2DS to a few years back to stop sitting on the fence and get buyin'..."
Re: Talking Point: Great Game, Poor Performance - When Does A Bad Frame Rate Not Really Matter?
Interesting topic. Now, for me, The performance of a game, when it's really nothing more then "Oh no! All the hairs on the models in game look horribly fuzzy and it looks like play dough for most of the models!", I'm fine. This article appears to mostly be talking about Graphics and frame rate, and whether they deserve to be included in the conversation or not though. To be honest, I must really be lucky with my purchases, as i cannot recall any games with that kind of performance issues that really bothered me. I mean, I Finished watch_Dogs on WiiU and got some enjoyment out of it AND thought that the technical downgrades on Hellblade on switch actually helped out thematically, so that should really say something about my standards.
But then the thought came into my head. "Wait, there was... The one where..." But i could not remember for the life of me which one it was. I Racked my brain, tore apart my game collection and rapidly said "Think! Think! THINK!" to my constantly slapped forehead until the game that was torturing me came to mind- Epic Mickey 2 The Power of 2 on WiiU. HOLY COW. The game will slow down even when everything's on screen and accounted for, which i can only assume is some magic trick gone horribly wrong or the game being rushed for WiiU (Which i mean, yeah, sure, i won't disagree with you there). I Bring it up because it actually made some parts harder for me.
But yeah, the reason I'm commenting on here is because frankly I'm fine with choppy performance as long as the game doesn't crash at every given opportunity or have some kind of a glitch up that has you holding your Butt with every loading screen hoping that THIS is the time nothing screws up. Then again, i only stopped playing Blacksad under the skin (Which has all the aforementioned issues and more!) because I've gotten stuck on a puzzle near the end of the game and am too afraid to look up a walkthrough because I'm a wuss for spoilers.
Speaking of digital foundry, i wonder what they think of all this. Can someone get this article to them and ask for their input on making everyone pay more attention to the inner workings of a game then they likely should? I'm genuinely curious.
Re: Soapbox: Can We Please Retire The Phrase 'Lazy Devs' Already?
...Eh, why not leave a comment. Even though this IS a topic that's really complicated, bound up in a whole host of little things that make up the whole picture.
I could go on forever, really, but i think I'll make my statement on the matter simple and to the point; I Think every piece of entertainment ever made has had it's own unique road to being made. Everything has had hard work put into it. Even if it doesn't seem like it. It's just that it seems it's only the horror stories we get to hear about, either immediately after the product becomes the new catchphrase for "Horrible" Or years after the fact after the game is a classic and no one bothers to think about how hard it must have been. Why do i think that way? Because i keep seeing all the similarities in the development stories toward something that wound up being amazing and something that wound up being horrible; Someone's always believing in the concept, there's always fighting to get something made, and there's always a point where it looks like the thing won't be done. It's important, mind you, to figure out why one thing works and why another doesn't, as it's the only way we'll improve and i highly doubt everyone criticizing something means it as an attack (I'm sure you could name some who cover games who still have a career despite everything as a result), and I'll certainly chat your ear off about how certain games are just downright horrible, but slamming the work put into something bad is almost as bad as slamming the work put into something amazing. All you can do is hope that someone out there can learn lessons from the whole horror show.
There's always an opinion when something works out or it doesn't. I Don't think i can win anyone over when it comes to arguing everything has a fight to getting made, even if those articles you see online make it apparent that the failures had just as much work go into them, perhaps even more so, then the work that winds up making you feel good inside. I guess what i want to say is "Are you going to go on swearing every time someone tries to explain why something is the way it is, or are you going to be thankful that something you like is as good as it is? Because the road there certainly can't have been simple. Maybe instead of condemning those responsible, we should try engaging in realistic, serious conversations where we give the suspect the benefit of a doubt that they've been through hell and back to get here. And heck, maybe even being open to hearing other's points of view, even if they are as stupid and corporate as they are, could help us all feel better too."
Re: Talking Point: How Many Hours Is A 'Short' Game For You?
Ooh, this is gonna be tricky...
I never beat games as a kid. Or at least, the games that weren't meant for just kids. OK, simply put, Beating the final boss in sonic heroes was considered an accomplishment in my family at the time. As time went on, seeing the end of the game went from a great accomplishment to a necessity as the concept of recording the whole of the game and posting it release day became way too common, in my opinion.
I see people going on that being shorter can be a good thing. And that is true. I bought what remains of Edith finch AND completed it the same day i bought it! THAT was definitely a strange day for me, I'll tell you that. It's still one of the most important games ever to me though.
But now that i enter the age that i am entering, i seem to value long games too. A lot of open world games are padded out to heck, but the world and mechanics i enjoy a little too much to want to beat it. Some games i hold off on completing because of the feeling of "Aww, it's almost over already?" Yeah, you could go back and replay the story for the replay value, but is that really the same as playing it for the first time? Some games I've been putting off finishing not because they suck but because i want the feeling to go on for longer. Don't know if anyone else feels that.
Now, i'm not discrediting the people saying that a game going on for too long can kill it. As much as i loved it, eventually as i was playing astral chain i was going "YES! WE'RE GOOD! BAD GUYS BAD! CRIME AIN'T AS SIMPLE AS IT SEEMS! PLEASE GET TO THE POINT AND GET TO THE FINAL BATTLE ALREADY! PLEASE!!!" Not to mention all the games out there that go "Up! You didn't do this or collect this much of that thing or you Didn't do that thing, so you get the bad ending! Sorry! Better luck next play through!" (I'll be honest, the latter thing is a thing i'm kind of happy to see die out in this era of gaming. Mostly because of how frustrating it is, dunno about you, I just hope whoever's reading understands why this could be seen as frustrating.)
I guess it's like browsing TV Shows; How long is it going to take to get through this show? How long does it do on for? When does it start getting good?
On a final note, i don't play all my games to win- Sometimes i just like to experience them and their systems. Sometimes i play a game to get the feeling of it like a movie, sometimes i like treating it like a fancy expensive toy- Where i draw the line is when i feel like i'm being pressured to get the darn thing done within a week because that's what everyone else is doing.
EDIT: I should note that i have nothing against games with multiple endings or the like- It's that i get annoyed when it turns out there was a hook you were never warned about or mentioned anywhere that turns out to have a massive impact on what you're playing. Games that are marketed with choice as a central mechanic i can understand. Now not restarting the game because you're worried that you've made a stupid choice that could effect the rest of the game, that's a debate for another day. (If anyone has any tips for sticking with the game even when you make hard choices, i'd love to hear them, but that's, again, likely for another topic discussion.)
Re: Hardware Classics: Nintendo GameCube
Like i said elsewhere, This system left it's impact on a certain generation and they/we refuse to be told otherwise. But i got to remember that i was not 12 years old when the Gamecube came out (Don't think videogames were even that big of a deal to me then), and looking over the recollections of some who were of an age where they had disposable income in 2001, i can imagine how this new system would be seen as a step forward and a very bizarre step back. To me most notably the way M-Rated titles were handled on the system. Yeah, they were there, but you would have to really look for them, and from what i can tell while the other systems had their limits, those making games on them had much more ability to make games the way they wanted to, all grown up and that. Plus DVDs and all that, i don't think i need to say more.
But perhaps that's why many look back on the gamecube fondly beyond just nostalgia. The other systems were looking at the future, targeting a audience that was already used to videogames and not the to-be-coverted, but the Gamecube was a "VideoGAME" system through and through, something anyone could approach and go "Huh. Yeah. It's a fancy toy, i can roll with this." Instead of something like the PS2 and XBOX which no doubt were cooler but definitely a touch more intimidating to get near. It certainly isn't the best system to me, but we all start somewhere, and for many, this was that start. And i think we can even see the impact in subtle ways, like how Nintendo then chose not to follow trends and just make a system anyone could understand and play with the Wii, instead of another graphical powerhouse. Power can help make something better, but it's not always going to make sense to someone starting out.
It's funny how things can make an impact in a way you would never expect, huh?
Re: Anniversary: Goodness Me, Is The GameCube Really 20 Years Old?
Can you believe that at the time this thing was considered a failure? Suppose in a few years we'll be looking back at the WiiU Positively.
But I'll make this quick; Alongside the NES we needed to fight with to get it to work and PC games, this was my first real Video game system, and it might be the reason i game today, much like many others of my generation. IF ONLY i didn't get it right as the Wii era was starting...
But anyway, even though i didn't get it during it's, er, is heyday the right term? anyway, even though i came in late, it still left the impact it needed to, and that's what i think matters.
Re: Random: An Eager 3DS StreetPass Fan Spent A Day In New York, Got Zero Hits
Oh Great, now i feel old...
Speaking personally, i lived more in a country like place, but at high school you can bet all the cool kids had 3DSs you could streetpass with. I recall one field trip into the big city my 3DS WOULD NOT STOP PICKING UP PEOPLE TO STREETPASS WITH. Seriously, i was on the bus back home, looked at streetpass, and i was still getting connections. Oh, 2013, whatever happened to you?
It sucks when this happens; you look over a piece of tech you used to love using and then slowly realize a good chunk of it is now unusable thanks to the fact that most of it needed some kind of now unavailable service. At least play coins still work, so we could still use those to play streetpass games with the option. Which is good, because i never did buy those extra games... Except wait, you can only get 10 coins a day right? Well then, A-shakin we will go...
Re: Poll: So, Will You Be Getting A Switch OLED Or Valve Steam Deck?
Update; Mainly the reason i want a steam deck is because i have a whole lot of games on steam back from when i had a computer capable of running steam, I'll admit.
Re: Poll: So, Will You Be Getting A Switch OLED Or Valve Steam Deck?
The Steam deck definitely looks good, but the downside seems to me the user unfriendly way you gotta load your own OS onto it if you want to play certain games, that sounds like it’ll get complicated for someone who does not play on computers often. Now, the switch oled model is nothing more then a screen upgrade, but I’m thinking the steam deck would just be too much work. And what about games you need to connect to the internet for? And what about those games that require some sort of fancy program on the computer from years ago everyone forgot about? (I’m talking 3D drivers and the like.)
Now, I’ll admit myself, The young high school newcomer Nintendo fanboy from 2013 inside me that forbid any thought of PS4 or xbox one went “How DARE they clone Nintendo! And how dare anyone want to support it!”, but on second thought, what else were they going to do? You always gotta reference something when making something, so why not reference something that works? I guess I just still have fury within me from back when Gabe Newell said that those steam machines would make consoles pointless. (Look ‘em up, steam machines, they happened.)
Thing is, I have to remind myself here; I highly doubt Valve has any malicious intents when it comes to cloning and perhaps even their intent to overthrow Nintendo. I’m sure that these are two different things in two different classes at the end of the day. I don’t want Nintendo to go downhill again, but I’ll get over it I’m sure. Who knows, maybe we’ll all be too busy with the Switch U and forget all about this thing. Simply put, my history is giving me mixed feelings over this.
Re: Talking Point: Everyone Has A Bad Game They Love, So What's Yours?
Upon thinking for a bit, my REAL favorite bad game might be Duke Nukem forever. Now, i was never close to the series when i first played it, but when i did play it i was just looking for a good old fashioned standard first person shooter. And well, the game was just that. Like the other options i listed, This game has things you just won't find anywhere else. But eventually as you play something comes along to ruin it all, Like a confusing vehicle section where i got lost, i think the opening trying to clone half life's style goes on for way too long and that Section in the alien hive? The less said the better. The game Does have wonderful things in it that make it worth playing, but eventually you can't fight off the feeling that, well, it should have been better. Like, a few cuts here and there would have made for a fine B-Grade shooter. Not sure if anyone else feels the same way, but that's what makes it my favorite bad game; As you actually start having fun something brings it down, but hey, when you want to play a first person shooter unlike anything else, Not a bad selection at the end of the day.
Re: Talking Point: Everyone Has A Bad Game They Love, So What's Yours?
After disqualifying several games on the ground that i actually still like them for their own good reasons, i settled on Resident evil 6. Unlike most games i play, the main story mode just feels too loose and weightless to go back to nowadays. I Still play it every once in a while though because a lot of the action sequences in that game are ones you simply cannot get anywhere else, and the mercenaries no mercy mode is a rush like no other. Also mentioning Postal 2. In that game, the comedy is simply not my thing, it will crash for the strangest reasons, hit detection can be a mystery, but the massive amount of freedom the game gives you (Some scenarios even let you get away without killing anyone!) earns it a "...Go on???" in my book that i find myself looking back fondly on every once in a while. Even though i have all reasons in the world to despise it.
Re: Anniversary: Can You Believe It? The Nintendo 3DS Is Now 10 Years Old
(Apologies for how long that post i just put up is, everyone. I guess I'm just that sentimental, and i didn't mean for it to get that long...)
Re: Anniversary: Can You Believe It? The Nintendo 3DS Is Now 10 Years Old
I'll Look back on this system as my Grand leap into the modern gaming world. I Got my first one on Christmas of 2011, and i recall literally wanting nothing else. Before that, i was pretty much left behind in the modern gaming atmosphere, always left looking up at what the rich kids were able to play. But this was the start for me anyway of being up to date in the modern world of video games.
Man, Remember when 3D was supposed to be a thing that would stick around? I was always one for the flashy and new, so obviously i was (And still kind of am) a 3D Fan. I know for a fact though, that most of you got sick after the first year or so. I'm Not sure if 3D Videogames (Might as well lob in movies in too.) could even make a comeback nowadays. If someone found a way to get 3D TVs and 3D Videogames back into homes that would be impressive. Though i will say that VR Games could do a good job filling that niche. But I'll still cherish the games and by exstention movies that understood good 3D was about feeling like you could reach into the screen instead of everything flying out at you.
All that said... I can't help but feel like the system's games did their job, and nothing more. There's nothing i feel like i'm screaming out at you to run out and grab a 3DS to play anymore. A few sure, but there's a lot of content that i can't help but feel was done better elsewhere. I Think everyone was getting into the system because of it's cost of 3D Entry compared to other 3D Gaming options at the time (Have you looked up how much it would cost to have a 3D TV setup in your home recentlly? Don't awnser, you haven't.). But as time went on, it just became another handheld system.
I Suppose it comes down to what my expectations were at the time. I was expecting the thing to be on the level of a full on home system. Yeah, the equivalent of a Home system on a handheld in 2011. Shows you how much i understood game development back then.
And I Will never, ever forget nintendo video, an app that promised to keep showing stuff in 3D but eventually just resorted to putting in 2D stuff from youtube when everyone decided they had just about had enough of 3D.
As A leaving note, anyone else a bit down that Netflix never got around to putting 3D Movies on the 3DS Netflix app?
Happy 10th birthday, Nintendo 3DS, and thanks for the memories.