Drowsy Emperor

Well, I look elsewhere for core games and such. Nintendo has always been about playing Nintendo games, I just hope they don't suddenly drop the system dead just like they did with new 3DS and the Wii U. Not really. Its one of those things that's been repeated so many times that people start to believe it. Nintendo has been trying to own the "whole" market for as long as it could, which was up until the Gamecube. its most successful consoles (particularly the SNES) featured many games from third party developers that were just as good as Nintendo games at the time. Its only the Wii and WiiU that flat out didn't compete in the core market. The first couldn't - but didn't have to, the second tried in a half-hearted manner and failed. IMO Nintendo games aren't enough to carry a Nintendo device in 2016. That's what the WiiU looks like. They're banking on their pooled development studios to make this thing run and its going to be a pretty big gamble.

I will consider one when the price drops from 300 euro (rumored launch price) to something more in line with a handheld. 200-250 euro is what I think a dedicated gaming tablet is worth.

The only message I get from that is that they don't have any big "core gamer" game in the pipeline. If I saw the Witcher 3 running like a boss I'd be reassured in the potential of the device but Skyrim runs on my 3 year toaster on high settings so I'm decidedly unimpressed.

Its exactly as the rumors described it. Large handheld tablet with docking station and snap on controllers. I don't know the specs but with that size of the box it can't be anything spectacular. This is Nintendo basically giving up on the home console market and consolidating around its handheld division. For the type of game Nintendo makes, its serviceable - for the core market its a supplementary device at best. Its one of those things that's going to try to be all things to all people. Handheld, console, multiplayer on the go, online multiplayer platform - everything. Key moment: tries to appeal to the core gamer with what looks like a Skyrim re-release. 5 years after that game showed up. That tells you to expect an another WiiU in the third party segment. Nothing that utilizes the latest engines and tech is going to work on this device with any kind of quality.

Brilliant

GTA IV from 2008 wasn't this broken. Its never too late to mess everything up I guess.

I thought I'd write up my experiences with the Nintendo 2DS. For those who don't know, the 2DS is an entry level 3DS intended for younger children and cheapskates like me. It ditches the 3D effect, stereo spearkers (in favor of a single one) and tactility of the keys (mushy all the way down) for a lower price and a slab like design. The physical shape is not portable in the least but its very comfortable to use for extended periods of time. In all other respects its just like the standard 3DS (albeit with a smaller screen and less horsepower than the new3DS). In Europe it costs 100 euros with a pack in game like New Super Mario Bros 2 or Mario Kart 7 that individually retail for around 40 euro. Unlike the new3DS it comes with a charger but it does include the hidden cost of an obligatory 9 euro carrying case - its exposed screens are just begging to get scratched. As for my experiences: 1. The 3D or lack thereof. The 3D effect (tested on new3DS) is really nice when it works as intended. However even a slight misalignment of your eyes from its hypothetical ideal position causes a fair amount of physical discomfort. At its worst it can be painful to look at and headache inducing. This is especially prominent at its maximum setting when the effect is arguably at its best. Furthermore, the 3D causes the game to render 2 video streams at the same time to produce the effect and that tanks the frame rate in some games tremendously. Overall, its an interesting but dysfunctional gimmick. The 2DS doesn't loose much from it. 2. The hardware. The hardware was outdated even at the time of release. The games are jagged from a lack of antialiasing, the screen has poor contrast and is hard to use in the daylight. The new 3DS and its XL variant benefit from a better screen that is also larger (which is pretty good) but the resolution is still the same to all the graphical faults just become even more prominent. The systems include a 3D camera which has terrible resolution and only works in the best lighting conditions. Internally it features a gyroscope that is utilized well in some games. The sound reproduction on the 2DS is passable. The lower screen (touchscreen) is responsive and precise but also a fingerprint magnet. The face buttons and the Dpad are mushy and barely acceptable. They're responsive but not as pleasing to use as the tactile ones on the regular 3DS. The device is difficult to open for repairs due to junky screws that are easy to strip. I've learnt that its a feature of the black models because the white ones use silver screws with no coating that are substantially more resistant to wear. Overall the hardware is unimpressive, its principal saving grace being that it plays Nintendo software. 3. The software. The operating system is reasonably fast albeit unable to compete even with lower quality smartphones. The internet is the weakest feature of the device. Its very picky about the wifi it uses, will frequently lose connection with error codes popping up left and right. This is in a top speed student wifi environment where every other device is blisteringly fast. Downloads from Nintendo shop take forever even though they should take minutes or seconds. The device comes loaded with experimental shovelware. The only useful software is the one that tracks the time spent in games so you can see how much you're playing and how long a game took you to complete. Other than that the system is stable - the games never crash and the actual gaming experience is uninterrupted. 3. The games. Nominally, like most platforms, the 3DS has a ton of software (well, except the WiiU). But like with everything, the overwhelming majority is trash. This is a selection I made which represents almost everything that's in the green (75+) in Metacritic and then sorted according to approximate genres. As you can see, the device has a ton of JRPG's. All of them are "old school" which means a grindathon that finishes with teenagers killing god (if it bothers with a story at all). Unfair generalization aside, these games are basically on the level of average PSX JRPG's both in terms of graphics and gameplay. For some that's not a problem, I personally don't care at all for them. There are also a ton of remakes and ports mostly of old Nintendo IP. The Zelda's are the best of the bunch IMO. The platformers are decent although many of them are multiplat games best played on the PC. The adventure games are basically the Professor Layton and Phoneix Wright series. Both are decent but IMO neither hold a candle to old games like Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle etc. The rest is as you see it, mostly familiar. The system is fully backwards compatible with the original DS which has significantly more good games so that's a bonus. However, DS emulation on the PC is excellent so the motivation to bother with the genuine thing is minimal. Overall the selection of games depends most of all on how much you're into JRPG's as they dominate the upper quality bracket of the device. If you're not into them then you're going to run out of good games to play relatively fast - if you are, all you're likely to do is play them because most take so long to complete. 4. Final words. The 2DS is a good device, neither great, nor junk. I do not have enough disposable income to consider the 3DS worth investing on the whole - the experience isn't substantially better due to hardware limitations and its few advantages are sort of limited by its price (170 euro, no game in the box). At this price, combined with Nintedo's propensity to never drop game prices - it becomes a fairly expensive endeavor (new3DS + 3 games = PS4 with 1 pack in game, give or take 30 euro!!!) For most of its games its a pity that they're confined to the worst hardware of their generation and would look leagues better on everything from smartphones to the walking dead that is the Vita. I will most likely purchase less than 10 games that I really want to play on it and call it a day. For that, I can say that it was mostly worth it.

I love the almost jesus cop

I often wonder that about some specimens when I go to McDonalds

I couldn't really pick one moment of the Shadow of the Colossus because the entire game is gripping, but this fight. Was really something. Especially the introduction cinematic of the colossus and its death. Gaius was impressive as well. Its death is also rather emotionally striking. Another thing that stuck with me was the way the game begins with an eagle's flight and ends the same way (skip to 22:44) thereby symbolically closing the hero's journey, that ended with his death (and subsequent ressurection?)

Yeah, that was rather heartbreaking to read.

Yes, one of gaming's best sucker punches.

Well, as a series that started on the PC this is a bit of a slap in face. I mean, how hard is it to unlock framerates? The guy who fixed Dark Souls PC release did it in one night.

I literally had to go out and buy a cheap ass game pad to be able to beat this game... That witch with a guitar level was crazy hard. This game deserves a remaster! The PS2 version was much harder than the PC version. Only game I ever said **** this, I'm outta here (due to difficulty and my fingers hurting so badly from trying to do all the combos). I never felt that much pain from using a controller in my life.

I've seen them on Fasttech dirt cheap but my Dual Shock 2 still refuses to die so I don't have a real reason to buy it.

This is just a random reminder that mice manufacturers that cover their screws with irreplaceable teflon stickers should be shot and their dog should be shot with them. How ****ing hard it is to take into account that the user might want to disassemble the device for cleaning or minor repair?

Aaand boogie290 whatever (the YT personality) stated that he had a conversation with a rep in Ubisoft about the NX and that it is indeed a hybrid device. It doesn't explain how the same game works both mobile and on the home console dock - whether assets are downgraded, where the hardware actually lies etc. but for all intents and purposes it seems like the rumors were true.

Are we seriously going to argue that keyboard and mouse are better for non shooter third person action games than a gamepad? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUCFPBHoslg This isn't button mashing and requires fairly good coordination.

Ocarina of Time 3DS. I'm still enjoying it a lot. I don't think the overall experience has aged as well as A Link to the Past but it definitely tried to do some new and interesting things - and succeeded in most of them. I wish I didn't have some sort of irreparable issue with MS Visual Studio 2015 C++ redistributable installation (refuses to install/uninstall/repair and is permanently broken) because without it I can't run Dolphin on my laptop. And I know for a fact it could handle the few Gamecube/Wii games I'm interested in trying.

I thought it was laggy because of the emphasis on catering to the peasant/controller crowd, rather than using the one true control system of the PC Ubermensch. It was laggy, IMO, because like Bioware, they don't know how to do action combat (unsurprising as this is more the expertise of japanese developers). They do some half assed solution where everything depends on the numbers and cooldown timers as opposed to responding quickly to what is happening on the screen - and even when they try the latter, like with the octopus fight, it turns out to be extremely clunky and poor. All the most intense third person action games are on consoles and use gamepads - which are more than capable of being extremely responsive. The guy who won Street Fighter IV EVO did it with a gamepad, and that is a game where you sometimes have 1 frame out of 60 to input moves. You can't really get that sort of thing on the keyboard, like they can't get a decent FPS controls to save their life.

Is this Anno 1404? I kinda liked the game, but never played it a lot, because it somehow felt to me like it is missing complexity. Same actually for Anno 2070 - loved the looks & all that, but at some point it felt too simple to me. Especially with the dumb ai that was always doing exactly the same thing. I loved the appearance of the game but it felt like it played itself most of the time and I was just kept around the way you might drop a few crumbs to a nearby pigeon.

TW1 was just like BG with one character/NWN but with a simple combo and a few simple strategic considerations added. The part about the stances not adding anything is incorrect - you had overwhelming damage advantage in group stance vs groups (like enemies in the back dying from one or two hits in a single sweep) whereas the other styles were designed for 2 different types of enemies one on one. All in all it was simple, fast and reasonably fluid. In Witcher 2 it wasn't much more sophisticated but it became a drag because you had to fight to time your attacks and dodges against controls made laggy by the underlying turn based system. It was a poor example of its type. But combat wasn't why that game sucked, it was just another annoyance among a ton of other problems.

Mmm I love the smell of napalm in the morning

There was literally nothing new about the Witcher 2. It was just a bland attempt to distill the Witcher 1 into a checklist and then give "more of it" while making the combat action oriented. Precisely because it approached a creative process as a formula to be followed it ended up sucking so badly. Exactly like everything Bioware makes now. Which is also what new Wastelands or Arcanums or the Numenera crap are going to do - trying to replicate something in a test tube. Games like Fallout or Arcanum or Torment were good because they were inspired - they had their own twist on things. Sometimes they could make lightning strike harder the second time around like Baldur's Gate 2, a game you could also argue was something completely different from its predecessor and therefore also new. But the moment you start treating these things as templates or some idol you can resurrect you get ****. Yes we need good stories and good writing - but new stories and new writing and new quests. Not old ones.

I actually think the old cRPG is done. It was a bridge between Pen and Paper in an era when hardware couldn't really show what was implied by the action on screen. Now with games like Witcher 3 or Deus Ex the hardware is more than capable of doing more or less anything. The genre has fused with the single character action adventure while keeping its mechanical complexity and the element of choice - both of which have seeped into almost every other genre, (elements of experience and character progression are practically obligatory in games now) further diluting its uniqueness. Mass Effect is a good example. While you could optimize every character in the "party" it was painfully obvious by the game's difficulty curve that Bioware expected players to almost never bother with automated party members and therefore allowed the player to just focus on what Shepard was doing. By Mass Effect "party based" was merely a descriptive term - for gameplay the actual party mechanics of Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale were already all but dead. I don't think traditional RPG's will ever have mass market appeal again. They'll be supported for as long as the niche audience allows but when the gaming market finally starts contracting, they'll become all but extinct, like the flight simulator or turn based strategy. The way forward is not so much to tinker with the overarching mechanics of the single character action adventure/RPG genre but with settings, stories and novel gameplay ideas. The things that are much harder to do than putting a new coat of paint on Arcanum. We need things like Wraith or Changeling or a credible science fantasy that isn't Star Wars - or a game like Mage where you have magic that can manipulate the world in creative ways. Or fantasy that isn't yet another derivative of Tolkien. Where are the urban fantasy games like Persona (that aren't a ****ing drag to play) - the modern world can be just as good as setting as anything else. Etc. Etc.