Mario Heroes! Give us a reason and we're on our way!

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 5:17 pm

So first of all, what does everyone think of the Nintendo DS? They say that it's not the next GameBoy, but if it isn't - this could be one of Nintendo's more stupid moves. First of all, it can play GB games - which already gives people a reason to buy a DS rather than a GBA. Second of all - competing with one's self is never a good idea.

And while the two gimmicks - touch sensitive screen and two screens are NICE, incorporating them into a new style of gameplay is impractical. I don't think we'll get much out of the DS that we don't already get from the GBA - better hardware notwithstanding. We have a system that displays a map screen without needing to press pause - whoop de do.

And a touch-sensitive screen that we can't use if our hands our on the buttons. If we get anything out of that besides easier typing capabilities, and the ability to "pet" Pokemon, I'll be very suprised.

Now, about the game in question - Super Mario 64X4. For those who don't know, this is a four-player update of Mario 64. But it looks like there might be something not so nice on the horizon!

In the single player game, even - it appears your STILL control four characters at once - Mario, Yoshi, Luigi, and Wario. And you need to switch between them to perform tasks that Mario was once able to do on his own.

Yes, it appears Sonic Heroes was contagious. God help us all.

The worst part of it is, there's absolutely NO VARIETY amongst the four main characters.

We've got Yoshi, sure - but let's face it - Mario, Luigi, and Wario are all just clones of eachother. It'd be like playing Sonic Heroes with a team consisting of Sonic, Metal Sonic, and Shadow. They're the same essential character with only minor variations between them.

Now, this wouldn't annoy me so much if they had done it Mario Bros 2 style: Mario, Luigi, Toad, Peach. But having THREE plumbers and one dinosaur makes Yoshi the odd one out, if anything.

Oh well, it will be nice to see a 3-D platformer actually made for more than one player. There aren't many of those at all. If any - because I can't recall a single one.

The DS itself isn't a bad idea, it just looks like Nintendo is executing it badly, and the console itself looks like it was designed to make using the buttons and the touch screens together an impossibility.

At least it will be more interesting than the generic sort of crap that Sony keeps on spewing out onto all their systems. I have a PS2 for a few games, but most of the games produced for Sony are so similar - they blurr together in my head.

CE · Post by CE » Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:01 pm

I was originally similarly cynical about the DS, but after trying out the E3 demos, I have some hope. For some games (like the submarine game), I feel the addition of a touch pad significantly deteriorated the game, as it made what was once easy to control much much harder. Other games, like Metroid, controlled much much better with the touch pad that they ever could with a joystick. With the big N pushing touch pad capabilities so heaving for their launch games, I'm mostly worried about good game designed being destroyed by bad control.

Post by **Segaholic2** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:17 pm

I think it's pretty gimmicky. I haven't seen or heard of anything that utilizes the DS's "innovative" features in an innovative way.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 10:21 pm

The main problem with the GBA is that it's just an excuse for Nintendo to rerelease their entire 8 and 16-bit library. You can buy a used NES Super Mario Bros for 10Ã‚Â¢, yet people evidently still want to pay $20 so they can play that same damn game on a smaller screen. This "Super Mario 64 X4" bullshit does not excite me, regardless of whatever superficial gimmick has been glued on.

Already the only thing we're seeing the extra screen utilized for is an at-a-glance menu, as opposed I guess to simply pressing the start button. In the videos I've seen, it just looks plain distracting. But this is all we're seeing, because nobody knows what to do with that extra screen. There just isn't much you can do with the darn thing. Same thing with the touch pad. How many different applications can that have?

Not that I'm any more excited about the PSP.

Team Mecha · Post by **Team Mecha** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 10:32 pm

Wasn't really interested in SM64x4 to begain with, just another shameless port.

But what I don't get is why Waluigi is getting screwed here. If he is to Luigi what Wario is to Mario, then why is he left out when both Luigi & Wario are in?

& who the bloody hell is going to be on top of the castle after you get all the stars?

Post by **Segaholic2** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 10:35 pm

What I want to know is WHAT the heck is the point of SM64x4? So you can play Mario 64 with friends? What's the point?

And was Waluigi ever considered "main canon" or whatever? He's only been in a couple of the spin-off games. It's not like he's ever been featured as a main villain or star.

Locit · Post by **Locit** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 10:36 pm

Well, the ever perverted head of team ninja, Tomonobu Itagaki, has expressed his happiness with the second touch pad, and wants to do a game involving the dead or alive girls. If any man knows how to combine breasts with videogames and touching, it would be him. And is anyone else just a little bit curious about rumble roses? Not as a purchase or anything, but just as a prospect?

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 10:56 pm

And is anyone else just a little bit curious about rumble roses? Not as a purchase or anything, but just as a prospect?

If boobies are involved, I'm curious by default. Despite the fact that I consider professional wrestling the absolute lowest form of entertainment on the planet. Is this Rumble Roses thing purely fictitious, or does it actually involve real wrestlers or licenses?

Locit · Post by **Locit** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 11:05 pm

It's supposed to be based on the 'real life' women's wrestling circuit in Japan, so your guess is as good as mine. The developer claims that he was made fun of by girls during his youth, and this is his revenge.

Light Speed · Post by **Light Speed** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 11:22 pm

The graphics looks terrible. If I'm going to buy a game for hot women, it isn't going to be one with terrible graphics. People need to stop making games for the PS2. Fucking Sony.

Post by **Segaholic2** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 11:29 pm

What the heck? Someone post a link to media from this game. I never heard of this.

Locit · Post by **Locit** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 11:37 pm

http://media.ps2.ign.com/media/627/627089/imgs_1.html
Go nuts.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 11:53 pm

It doesn't seem like there's quite enough space between their chests and their pelvises. But the mud wrestling just might make up for everything else.

Hey Zeta, sorry we've turned your relevant topic into a discussion about boobies. But you knew that risk was there when you posted.

Post by **Delphine** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 12:12 am

Green Gibbon! wrote:Hey Zeta, sorry we've turned your relevant topic into a discussion about boobies. But you knew that risk was there when you posted.

It's not really a risk so much as an absolute.

Also, those are the ugliest pixel women I have ever seen. They look like skinny men with boobs. <b>Ugly</b> skinny men with boobs.

Post by **Segaholic2** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 12:20 am

Uh, weird. For some reason I thought it was a DS game. I guess I wasn't paying enough attention to the thread. Congratulations on a great derailing, everyone. NEXT!

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 12:43 am

I'd complain about female wresting games, but if you think about it - there are TONS of male on male wresting games.

It's too bad most male wrestlers are so ugly that they look like they were sculpted out of scar tissue, or else I'd have a HELL of a lot more wrestling games in my videogame library. Sweaty men groping eachother SOUNDS like a good idea, but the men themselves aren't the most attractive.

And with that, I hope I've officially killed any interest you heterosexual men might have in the WWF.

Not that I'm any more excited about the PSP.

Really. Instead of ports of Mario games, we'll be getting ports of Crash Bandicoot games. Urgh.

Or worse - Resident Evil, handheld. Zombies aren't scary when they're as small as your thumb. They're just kind of cute and pathetic.

Incidentally, I'm getting a Gameboy Advance next week because I'm a whore for Pokemon. I need my fix of magical monster balls. Damn you, GameFreak, for pioneering the devious marketing strategy of spliting a single game into multiple segments! Look what it did to the .hack franchise!

I'm also meeting a guy next week, so with any luck, I'll soon be a whore in general as well.

Segaholic, any advice on how to attract men? You seem to be better at it than anyone else at this board.

Also, those are the ugliest pixel women I have ever seen. They look like skinny men with boobs. Ugly skinny men with boobs.

Like Clay Aiken?

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 1:24 am

Also, those are the ugliest pixel women I have ever seen.

Have you ever played Outlaw Volleyball? Or Sexy Beach?

Segaholic, any advice on how to attract men? You seem to be better at it than anyone else at this board.

If I may venture so far as to use the modern lingo: OWNED.

Post by **Segaholic2** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 2:00 am

Zeta wrote:Segaholic, any advice on how to attract men? You seem to be better at it than anyone else at this board.

You know, I really don't know how to reply to that.

Green Gibbon! wrote:If I may venture so far as to use the modern lingo: OWNED.

Hey, I'm not the one that doesn't have a girlfriend. :P

BlazeHedgehog · Post by **BlazeHedgehog** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 3:31 am

Thing is though, Konami actually sounds like it gives half a damn about Rumble Roses - they've hired on YUKES to develop the wrestling engine. YUKES being behind some of the most critically acclaimed wrestling games out there - WWE Smackdown, and Def Jam Vendetta, to name a few.

So yeah, it'll have boobies. But it's probably going to be less of a "one-handed game" than DOAXBV, and hopefully more tasteful than BMX XXX.

I loathed DOAXBV from the moment I set eyes on it because I knew what a gyp it was going to be in terms of gameplay. (and if I wanted to look at the DOA chicks in bikinis there's more than enough fansites out there, plus 5chan) But Rumble Roses actually has me somewhat interested to see if they can actually pull off a decent game with sex appeal as the main focus.

As for the DS, I'm excited about all the new possibilites it will bring, but then I read something said on Gamespy a few days ago (it was in the format of having two guys debate something - one praised the DS and the other insulted it):

Having a system that's radically different will not help Nintendo's status with third-party publishers. This is one area the company has totally botched over the last decade. Nintendo really needs to improve its relationships with third-party publishers if it wants to dominate like it once did. Releasing a system that's markedly different in concept from its two competitors will not help Nintendo do that. If Revolution ends up being as different as Nintendo suggests it will be, then it will also be an unattractive console for third-party publishers. As different as PlayStation 3 and Xbox 2 will be, they are essentially systems that are trying to do the same things. For next-gen systems, publishers will have to worry about releasing games for two consoles that are better, bigger, and faster, as well as one console (being released by a company whose last two consoles weren't breakaway hits) that's trying to be different. Guess which one will be dropped?

He may be talking about the forthcoming Nintendo "Revolution" console, but I think his point stands valid: why go with a name slipping from the public eye inch-by-inch every day with a console that has such different hardware from the rest of the pack when they can lump themselves in with Sony and Microsoft and get double the exposure?

Nintendo even said it: "Any game that can be done on Sony's PSP can be done on the DS, while the reverse is not true."

What does that mean? It means Nintendo will get unique games, yes but it also means they aren't going to get a terribly large amount of these unique games because developers aren't going to strain their brains enough to take advantage of a one-off feature when they can keep doing what they've always been doing.

Not to mention, what ABOUT those said PSP-to-DS ports? You know, games that are released both on the DS and the PSP - are they going to even bother with the dual screen thing? Yeah, you can stick the HUD on the second screen and all, but most of these games won't be designed with the DS's second screen in mind. A few might use it, yeah, but I'm gonna say the majority of them aren't.

I'm still excited for the DS, but these problems are quickly creeping up on me and I can't help but feel a little worried for Nintendo...

type02 · Post by **type02** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 3:36 am

type02 wrote:
Green Gibbon! wrote:
If I may venture so far as to use the modern lingo: OWNED.

How many times do you think this can be used before becomes lame, 3 maybe?

Post by **Popcorn** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 5:13 am

But it's probably going to be less of a "one-handed game" than DOAXBV, and hopefully more tasteful than BMX XXX.

It has, at least, a no-handed mode where computer players battle it out for your amusement.

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 6:12 am

Ah, but is there an option to let the game's camera focus on either ass or chests? There's only so much you can do with a uncontrolled camera AI.

Unless they program it with the libido of an average, 20-year old male.

And I shudder to think of the consequences of THAT.

Wyvernlord · Post by **Wyvernlord** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 7:16 am

I'm not too sure on how to feel about the Nintendo DS. Nintendo has made many stupid buisness decisions in the past, the Virtual Boy being one of them. From what I've heard, it's not the successor of the Gameboy Advance, and judging from the screenshots I've seen, the graphics look very N64ish. (While the PSP's are close to par with the PS2)

Of course, Nintendo has dominated the portable gaming market for nearly 15 years. So they must have some sort of strategy. I think the biggest advantage for the DS will be it's price. I seriously doubt Sony's PSP will cost $110, and more around the house of $300. When Nintendo released a new Gameboy, they were never over $120. I would assume the same would apply to the DS. Maybe

Post by **Segaholic2** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 8:04 am

The DS is heavily rumored to launch around $160-$180.

Post by **big_smile** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 10:32 am

What does that mean? It means Nintendo will get unique games, yes but it also means they aren't going to get a terribly large amount of these unique games because developers aren't going to strain their brains enough to take advantage of a one-off feature when they can keep doing what they've always been doing.

I wonder if Nintendo themselves will do anything truly innovative with the DS. There was a lot of Ã¢â‚¬ËœrevolutionaryÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ hype surrounding the GBA-GC connectivity, yet Nintendo themselves didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t really do anything amazing with it.

Most Nintendo games didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t even do something simple like providing old NES titles to download.

Now the feature has been dropped Ã¢â‚¬â€œ even Sonic Team who initially spoke highly of its possibilities have appeared to lost interest in it.

Yes, it appears Sonic Heroes was contagious. God help us all.

ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s not just Mario Ã¢â‚¬â€œ most character licensed games (such as Shrek 2, Power Puff Girls) feature team switching. The idea has potential, but most developers are too lazy to utilize it properly, so it ends up ruining games instead of enhancing them.

^_^