The GHZ Forum

It seems like a pretty strong lineup to me. Combine it with a price drop and I bet you'll see strong Wii U sales. There are probably lots of people, like me, who are anticipating a price drop and not buying for that reason. I guess that's the risk of price drops; once you establish a track record (e.g. with the 3DS), that makes people a lot less willing to be an early adopter.

In my case it doesn't make much difference anyway, since I won't have enough free time to really justify buying a machine that only plays games until September or so.

Esrever wrote:I worry a little that the multiplayer focus of 3D World will limit the level design, but EAD has made three great Mario games in a row and I pretty much trust them implicitly at this point. I don't think, as some people are guessing, that this is some sort of smaller "stop gap" 3D Mario game that won't have the quantity of content that the Galaxy games did. But I guess we'll see when the thing actually comes out.

I'm really looking forward to this one (I loved the 3DS version), but even though I'm sure it will be really good, just by being based on the 3DS game I think its problem is going to be that it isn't really establishing any sort of "identity" of its own. When Galaxy came out, that was something really different, and really eye-catching, even if it was just yet another Mario game. Without something like that it really feels like Nintendo's just retreading the same material. I know people say that all the time (there's no doubt that they're overly reliant on "the same old thing"), but I've never felt like it was a problem, or at least not to the extent that we're seeing here. It's not just Mario, nearly everything on the WiiU kinda has this "the same stuff, but on WiiU!" feel to it.

I think this is a complete fallacy, but looking at what's on the other consoles (even if it doesn't appeal to me personally) you'd almost begin to think that maybe new tech really does drive creativity. If a console launch is the best time to launch a new IP, the WiiU sure isn't showing it!

G.Silver wrote:

Esrever wrote:I worry a little that the multiplayer focus of 3D World will limit the level design, but EAD has made three great Mario games in a row and I pretty much trust them implicitly at this point. I don't think, as some people are guessing, that this is some sort of smaller "stop gap" 3D Mario game that won't have the quantity of content that the Galaxy games did. But I guess we'll see when the thing actually comes out.

I'm really looking forward to this one (I loved the 3DS version), but even though I'm sure it will be really good, just by being based on the 3DS game I think its problem is going to be that it isn't really establishing any sort of "identity" of its own. When Galaxy came out, that was something really different, and really eye-catching, even if it was just yet another Mario game. Without something like that it really feels like Nintendo's just retreading the same material. I know people say that all the time (there's no doubt that they're overly reliant on "the same old thing"), but I've never felt like it was a problem, or at least not to the extent that we're seeing here. It's not just Mario, nearly everything on the WiiU kinda has this "the same stuff, but on WiiU!" feel to it.

I think this is a complete fallacy, but looking at what's on the other consoles (even if it doesn't appeal to me personally) you'd almost begin to think that maybe new tech really does drive creativity. If a console launch is the best time to launch a new IP, the WiiU sure isn't showing it!

Yes but the context of this particular e3 is that Nintendo desperately needs to move hardware units. Their playing it safe strategy makes complete sense in that light. I don't think inventing new IPs is what they want to be doing right now.

And as for the next generation bringing innovation, most of the shit shown looked like the same kind of games we have been getting this past generation to me.

Everyone keeps saying Sony won e3 but what game is it that people were blown away by exactly? Don't tell me it was Kingdom Hearts 3. Or Final Fantasy Versus, which has been in development hell for years.

I got more Donkey Kong. That's all I needed.

It's hyper safe. On the other hand, when we say other developers showed off "new IP", what do we really mean? I mean, which new IP are we talking about... photorealistic gun game, photorealistic car game, or photorealistic gun and car game?

I mean, don't get me wrong... I like some of those games! But almost invariably, if a showcased game wasn't a literal sequel, it was effectively a "spiritual sequel" in the sense that it was another game made in an established genre by a developer known for that genre. Destiny, the Club, and the Division in particular all look rad and super ambitious in terms of their visual design and online structure, but I don't know that they're braking away from their predecessors any more than, say, the new Infamous does, or even AC4. Do you know what I mean?

Big budget games may just be too risky a fiscal proposition to really rock the boat anymore. Fortunately, we have so much access to compelling and creative indy stuff these days (and kudos to Sony in particular for pushing it so hard) that I'm a lot less forlorn by the "solid but safe" triple-A games coming from the big three than I once was.

Honestly, the one thing that does disappoint me about the fall Nintendo lineup is that none of it appears to make any substantial use of the touchscreen. The touchscreen/regular player interaction in Rayman Legends is REVELATORY. I can't believe Nintendo hasn't showcased anything equally substantial in that regard.

I just wanna say that I absolutely love the character profiles in 3D World's HUD. It's a small thing to fixate on, but it's utterly charming (did they commission Yoichi Kotabe?).

As for new IPs, am I alone in anticipating The Wonderful 101?

No, I think it'll be pretty cool too. It gives me sort of a "Viewtiful Joe-meets-Pikmin" vibe, and I like it.

It looks: incredible

I think it looks incredible as well. I've never played a pikmin but am suspicious that it might put me to sleep. 101 definitely doesn't seem to have that issue.

It just occurred to me, scanning this thread, that we've got quite a few nintendo lovers on this forum. I suppose that's natural given that we're a community based around a colorful action platformer. But weirdly enough, the other sonic based communities absolutely abhor nintendo. I don't think this is left over from the snes vs genesis days but rather that the segaforums, sonicstadium, and tsssz commenters all skew towards the younger side and are desperately trying to look down upon "kiddie" games.

I haven't played 3D Land, but the levels look incredibly flat. I thought this was just because of hardware limitations, but then Nintendo announces World. Mario Galaxy had planets that were rarely flat and they made enjoyable environments from that. The planes make it look so... plain.

It does suit the multiplayer-focus of World though. The flatness allows you to see farther with more characters on camera. I was really looking forward to the next 3D console Mario, but I'm not as interested as I want to be. Coming from someone who played New Super Mario Bros. Wii by himself I don't really care about the multiplayer aspect. And it looks like it's taking away from the single-player game.

Since I don't spend as much time gaming as I used to it looks like I'll be getting the Wii U mostly for Lost World.

Went to E3 today, didn't really do much since I hate waiting in lines, but...

I played the new Phoenix Wright game. I quite like the new gameplay gimmick that you have in your disposal in your courtroom. You see, the new partner has this ability to discern people's emotions during testimony. Characters have four emotions: surprised, happy, angry, and sad. For example, the defendant had to testify how an event went down, and during the testimony she describes how a bomb went off and the emotions angry and happy were blinking. See what's strange in this? You're able to press the testimony and select the emotion that you think is out of place. After selecting the emotion, Phoenix gently pushes the issue on why she seemed happy when testifying about the explosion, and upon pressing the issue she's reminded of how she was saved by Apollo Justice, thus revealing new information and testimony. I think emotion spotting goes well with the series' knack of identifying contradictions, and much simpler and streamlined than that weird habit identifying in Apollo Justice.

I also played Sonic Lost World, which was okay enough. Perhaps it's 'cuz I didn't play it long, but I had trouble getting the hang of the kick attack, which is kinda like a homing attack except no further homing on additional enemies is possible. It feels like it ruins the flow, but perhaps enemy variety is needed. I also find it strange how he goes into his super peel out at default running speed, I feel like that's something that should be reserved for super fast speed but perhaps that's just the pedant in me.

Cuckooguy wrote:I also played Sonic Lost World, which was okay enough. Perhaps it's 'cuz I didn't play it long, but I had trouble getting the hang of the kick attack, which is kinda like a homing attack except no further homing on additional enemies is possible. It feels like it ruins the flow, but perhaps enemy variety is needed. I also find it strange how he goes into his super peel out at default running speed, I feel like that's something that should be reserved for super fast speed but perhaps that's just the pedant in me.

Did it feel awkward or jarring to control? It looks a little unwieldily in videos. Was it. . .fun?

I'm also pumped for Wonderful 101. More Pikmin-esque stuff is right up my alley.

I haven't played 3D Land, but the levels look incredibly flat. I thought this was just because of hardware limitations, but then Nintendo announces World. Mario Galaxy had planets that were rarely flat and they made enjoyable environments from that. The planes make it look so... plain.

I don't know how World is going to play out, but 3D Land totally owns that flatness. The geometry is simple, but they use it to great effect, and in my opinion it's the best "translation" of 2D-type platforming into a 3D space, while keeping the 3D aspect interesting and relevant. It feels like a 3D game, but it's paced like a great 2D Mario. I like it better than either Galaxy title in a sense of pure mechanics, but I definitely know what you mean, Galaxy is a lot more interesting, and better in a sense of giving some element (admittedly not a lot) of exploration and keeping things varied. This (besides billing itself as an upgraded version of a portable game) is why as much as I'm looking forward to 3D World, I don't think it's going to be the system seller that Nintendo needs, it's kind of mundane (for a game where four adults in full-body cat suits jump on dinosaurs, anyway).

I think a lot of Sonic fans are just in that fussy 10-14 age range. If you work with (or have) kids that age you'll learn they become incredibly preoccupied with not appearing like they are into "kiddy" things.

When I go to cons, people under the age of 10 or over the age of 16 will readily tell you if they want a drawing of Mario or a Pokemon or whatever. But when I do a presentation to a classroom of 12 year olds, all they will talk about is Call of Duty. For adults, the go-to complaint for the Wii was that it was "collecting dust", but for kids in that age range, the system is just "for babies".

Combined with the fact that a number of current fans first Sonic was either Heroes (most likely on PS2) or '06 (most likely on Xbox), and that a bunch of them are from Europe (where Nintendo's install base generally sucks), and I think that's where all the noise comes from. Still, the numbers show that Sonic titles sell better on Nintendo platforms, so whatcha gonna do?

3D Land definitely owned its rigid design in a visual sense, but I don't actually think Galaxy is much more organic. I think it just masks it's relatively locked 8-degree structure by dressing it up a lot visually and (sometimes) wrapping those 8 degrees around spherical shapes. There is a big angry thread on NeoGAF about how 3D World and Land have controls that favour locking Mario to 8-degrees of movement... most of the posters seem to have never noticed Galaxy does almost exactly the same thing! There's a lot of magic going on in those games to hide the simplicity, whereas the 3D games wear it loud and proud to give it that retro feel.

Xbox One games at E3 were running on Windows 7 with Nvidia GTX cards.

FraudBox One

Banned Xbox Live accounts lose access to all Xbox One games.

Is Microsoft trying to fail?

Microsoft is cutting the crap, not worth the hassle and bad rep: http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/update

I think it was the right decision.

They'll just employ some of this DRM in an update a couple of years from now.

I'd say the goodwill has already been tarnished though, not that they hadn't been doing that already with the 360 between odd expensive policies and plenty of ads on goddamned paid service. Good that they did it, but hell, yesterday the consumer was the enemy and it was all "If you're backwards compatible, you're really backwards" and "We have a product for people who can't access the internet, it's called Xbox 360." Suddenly they go back on all that? The new policies did suck, but the smugness with which they were being enacted was the infuriating bit.

The push for a digital future is legit, but man, way to mess up the message.

The thought of getting a One rather than a 4 is not off the table for me just yet. Right now Microsoft has the stronger exclusive software line-up (Dead Rising 3, Killer Instinct, Crimson Dragon, Sunset Overdrive). The only games that One would not offer that I'm interested in getting are Second Son and Octodad (which a good acquaintance/distant friend of mine made). I know Sony has had amazing first-party games this generation and I'm sure they'll continue to do that, so I'm still leaning towards a 4, but I'm a little surprised at how dismissed everyone is of Microsoft. If anything it showed that they'll listen and correct their mistakes. I think I'll have to wait and see how these systems play out once they're actually released before deciding on which one to get.

gr4yJ4Y wrote:The thought of getting a One rather than a 4 is not off the table for me just yet. Right now Microsoft has the stronger exclusive software line-up (Dead Rising 3, Killer Instinct, Crimson Dragon, Sunset Overdrive).

Dead Rising 3 went grim-dark and Killer Instinct 3 is just a Street Fighter clone. There, scratch two of those titles off of the list.

So is anyone even planning to get one of these new machines? The ps4 comes out this week after all. Apparently the launch games are incredibly weak this time around, surprising no one. With no big titles and only marginally better looking graphics, it's hard to imagine these new consoles performing well. Is an industry implosion immanent?

I dunno man, Super Mario 3D World is looking to be a great launch title.

Yeah. I celebrated the incoming hardware releases by buying a WiiU. I don't have any plans to purchase either of the new ones at this time. Crimson Dragon looks pretty cool after all, though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_GDszac6X0

To a completely unaware consumer the launch lineups look pretty strong, they got all the big names: Lego, Battlefield, Skylanders, AssCreeds, Calls of Duty, Needs for Speeds, even that Madden, but there's so much overlap on the launch release lists (and not just with the new systems, a lot of it's on consoles we already own, too) that it does seem like an indicator of something grim. It looks like there's more "killer app" material in the "launch window" so as entertaining as an industry meltdown would be I don't think it's going to happen.

I've already got a Wii U, and don't really care about any games that aren't on a Nintendo system right now. Maybe I'll get a Vita if they announce Patapon 4.