General Nintendo Chat

[TheFlyingGerbil]

The Nintendo premium is bullshit.[...]

 

You say that but many of Nintendo's games sell steadily at full price for the life of the console. Other games drop in price to maintain sales when the initial marketing blitz is over and people are less excited for it. It's not unusual for a game to be half it's launch price a month or two later. You think if people were still willing to buy it at £40/$60 they wouldn't be selling it at that price?

 

Maybe it's a lack of quality alternative game choices on Nintendo consoles, maybe it's that people are less likely to trade in a nintendo game so they don't flood the second hand market forcing prices down, maybe Nintendo has a lot of mum's buying games that don't know any better. Whatever it is  it is definitely something and Nintendo would be mad not to capitalise on it

[Mister Jack]

I meant that it's bullshit that anyone would expect me to pay that when there are much cheaper alternatives. All those reasons you said for the prices to stay high are probably true, but that doesn't mean I'm going to play along.

[Mal]

I'm finding that out the hard way since tons of people had similar ideas. Trying to find the trifecta might be a challenge in the Bay Area. If I'm stuck buying only one game used then I might as well buy new. Amazon got me covered in that regard.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

"We'll have Mario Kart 8 out next spring, and at that point we'll have the whole lineup in place, so I think it's about time we brought out a new franchise. I can't give out details, but that's the title that's been keeping me pretty busy lately."

(link)

 

a few things about that quote, it makes it sound like Zelda isn't part of Nintendo's standard cycle of games. I'm guessing because it's probably built to less of a predictable schedule than their other games but hopefully they'll stop the current trend of releasing them at the tail end of the console's life - though I'd still like it to feel like a wii U game, not a souped up wii one.

 

Has anyone heard any more details about the new franchise? I hope it's something meaty without "U" in the title. I don't even think I care what sort of genre it is, I would just like to know Nintendo are still capable of creating compelling new franchises that are relevant for current gamers. What would you hope for?

[Mal]

Something explore-y. It would make up for the the piles of Notto Desu Shitto Agin. They might be good games (Like Mario Galaxy) but it is tiring to see a Koopa Gorilla Chicken so much. I just want to be made to go "Whoa." and it doesn't even have to be realistic. Cartoony is totally fine. Hell, Mario Galaxy did something similar but it was a Mario game and I kind of burned out by the end. Great game but I just don't want to see Bowser's face again.

 

So yeah. Explore-y. Bring me through nice rolling plains to a dense city then through a pipe-y underworld then out to space. Actually... add in a bit of poking fun at one self as well. Break some rules of some of their franchises. Without a "U" in the title, you can experiment with these all time classic formulas. Explore man.

[TCP]

I didn't know this existed... I'm so confused...

 

[TheFlyingGerbil]

here's the new Bayonetta 2 trailer:

 

and the new monolith soft trailer - it's the first gameplay trailer which apparently has fighting similar to xenoblade chronicles

 

http://youtu.be/WOrkdPR9Y6Y

 

edit: what's wrong with my videos?...

Edited February 17, 2014 by Deanb
need the http:// bit to make it a URL

[Strangelove]

This is going to be really weird, but I have an irrational hatred for the Donkey Kong Country series. I just hate the fact people hold them up in such high regards next to the Marios and Sonics.

I always thought they had good, but bland and plain gameplay.

I thought the SNES games were ugly as sin. I hate that art style. I feel the same about Mortal Kombat and Super Mario RPG. Which I believe have a similar style. I'm not sure how people were so impressed with such shit half assed wannabe CGI.

Fuck Donkey Kong and his friends/family.

[Mister Jack]

Did you play them back when they were still new or only years later?

[Strangelove]

I sure did. Even as a kid, I wasnt impressed. It just doesn't look right to me. I also always thought the redesigned DK in the DKC series was trying to be "rad." Like a "cool" 90s character. He failed at that too.

[Mister Jack]

I think most people would agree that the TV show was balls. At least, I sure fucking hope so.

[Strangelove]

People and nostalgia are weird. For some reason, id like to think at least 50% of the stuff Im nostalgic about was actually good and the other 50% was crap. Its probably mostly crap though.

For every Robocop I used to like as a kid, there's a Power Rangers.

And other people do the same thing too. There's some stuff I still cant really accept, like people who liked Digimon. To me, the poor man's Pokemon. Or Yugioh. Just a shit show with awful art.

But the fans of those shows probably think the things I like were crap too. Its whatever.

[CorgiShinobi]

I'll put this here, as there's really no need to bring up a Punch-Out!! thread.

 

So I got my "Like New" copy of Punch-Out!! for the Wii today. Played through it and stopped in the middle of the World Circuit. It feels like a short game, but I know there's more to it and it'll become harder. Definitely was, and can be still, a great game for a $20-$30 cost. It's just a game versus other video games today that build plots and can bog you down with frivolous nonsense. Now I doubt it'll be highly memorable in the end, but it's enjoyable and I regret not having played it soon.

[Strangelove]

Is anyone else tired of the double screen thing on their handhelds? I think theyve gone with it as far as it can go. Tons of games dont use it aside from a map on 3DS. Seriously. Even Nintendo themselves gave up on it being anything vital.

 

There's a discussion on another forum about whether a system has ever stopped you from enjoying its games, well honestly, Ive sold my 3DS twice now and I wonder why that is, and I think I know why - it's kind of crappy. It's not comfortable and its cheap. It has one analog, the screens suck, and the 3D is pointless.

I really think they should offer a premium product for people willing to spend more. Better screen, better form, better sound, whatever.

 

Also, the Wii U gamepad screen sucks too. Im seriously surprised when people are so aggressively picking apart phones and tablets about resolution and ppi or whatever and the gamepad/3DS is just totally cool with them. I can only assume that since the systems are cheap(compared to tablets and phones), people just accept it.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

On the Wii U screen, the resolution doesn't really bother me I guess because you don't hold it as close as a 3DS/phones, but I would love it to have better contrast/saturation as it looks ugly and washed out, which isn't helped by that really flexible, thin plastic resistive touch film that covers it and seems slightly opaque. I'd also kill puppies for it to be capacitive, since I use my fingers on it mostly and it frequently doesn't register my presses and only having one touch point sensitivity is really restrictive in what you can do with it.

 

Also, the resolution was mentioned a lot when people were reviewing the hardware, as they were disappointed it wasn't at least 720p so you could play in HD for off TV play. and the resolution of the 3DS was also criticised a lot when it came out as not being much of an increase from the DS and and again when the 3DS XL came out with the pixels being stretched. I guess its not mentioned as much any more as people are more talking about the games now not the hardware as that's not the new conversation any more. As to phones, the screen is one of the main differentiators as they're all running the same OS and have mostly the same internal components and can all run the same apps. When you're comparing different consoles there are so many more differences to talk about from hardware, to software and games any one aspect is going to be a smaller point of the conversation.

 

I know 3D is dead in the water at this point (in most media not just games) but I love it and I'm really disappointed 3D isn't a standard feature on PS4 games. It's one of the reasons I didn't rush out and buy one. It's already harder to find on TVs, having been replaced by smart functions as the middle range selling point. I'm hoping I'm going to be able to buy and use an occulus rift as a 3D display for movies and stereoscopic 3D games on my PS3/4, not just for VR on PC. I use it 90% of the time on my 3DS, I only turn it off if I'm lying in an awkward position so I'm not head on to it, and sometimes outside in bright light it doesn't look right, though the XL improves on this a lot over the original 3DS.

 

I'd look forward to a higher resolution 3DS successor, as the pixels are rather visible, especially on XL and straight lines are ghastly, but there would be no point releasing a higher resolution version of the current 3DS as the games wouldn't support it.

 

Maybe it's the type of games I play, but I've never wanted or missed a second analogue stick, not that I'd complain if it was there - again, it's something for the successor, not a redesign. I also find it more comfortable to hold than the vita, but since ergonomics is mostly a personal thing I wouldn't sit there arguing either way about that.

 

I like the clamshell design, none of my 4 clamshell nintendo consoles have had any screen scratches, but both my vita and PSP have deep gashes in their screens, even though I use them a LOT less and always keep them in a case. I've never worked out how either got there.

 

As to the two screens, I could live without it I suppose but I do like the touch screen being below the "action" screen, so I'm not blocking my view of it, and as screens get bigger this makes more of a difference as more of your hand has to cover the screen to reach all of it. And as I said I like the clamshell design, so it's nice to have the bottom half with something nice on it. Having said that if they built to a strict budget on the 3DS successor (as they inevitably will) I would be happy with just a touchpad on the bottom half if it meant they'd put a nicer, higher res screen on the top.

 

(I chopped this up a lot so sorry if it doesn't read well.)

[TheMightyEthan]

The DPI on the Wii U pad is awful. The fact that you hold it close makes it MORE important to be high resolution, cause you can see all the pixels. When I hold the pad it takes up approximately the same amount of my vision as my TV, but has less than half the horizontal resolution, and everything looks really pixelated.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

you don't hold the pad as close as your 3DS or phone though do you? I think my order is phone closest, then 3DS then gamepad. I may hold it a bit closer when I'm using off screen play, rather than using it just as a controller and the screen is a menu, but I definitely not as close as the 3DS still.

 

I can't be arsed turning it on to check, and I'm sure I can see the pixels on it, but I'm sure the pad's resolution doesn't bother me half as much as the contrast, nor the resolution on the 3DS. Maybe it's because of the bright, simpler graphics on 3DS games shows up the problem worse on the 3DS than the higher polgon/textures do on the Wii U? I swear I could cut myself on some of the 3DS jaggies.

 

Just made a quick search:

DPI of my phone is 329 (obvs, others are higher/lower)

the gamepad is 158

3DS is 132

XL is 96

 

this ones not really as relevant, but a 42" 1080p screen is 53 DPI though you are considerably further away

 

 

so the gamepad has a 50% higher pixel density and I hold it slightly further away than my 3DS XL so the pixels are a lot less visible.

Edited March 16, 2014 by TheFlyingGerbil

[TheMightyEthan]

I hold everything down about at my lap (unless I'm trying to read small things on my phone), so for me the best comparison is the Vita at 220 ppi, nearly 40% higher than the Wii U pad's.  I don't have a 3DS.  I do agree the contrast/saturation is a bigger problem, but the resolution is terrible as well.  Basically it's just a shitty-ass screen all around.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

Yeah I guess Nintendo just put the cheapest components in they can find. It seems to be their undoing on several occasions.

 

I think I forgot to put my main 3ds bugbear in my original post so I may as well add that in now. It's the hinge on the 3ds. My original one was so flappy I had to exchange it and when I got my xl it seemed firm enough so I was happy they had improved it but over time it's got looser and looser to the point were I worry about it. And it's not from harsh use.

[TheMightyEthan]

Gone are the days when you could drop-kick a Nintendo product down three flights of concrete stairs and have it still work find afterward.

[Alex Heat]

 

I've seen some shit.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

Anyone played the 4 purchasable streetpass games? They seem rather expensive, but I fancy getting them. If they were £10 for the 4 I would probably just buy them, but at £13.49 I need persuading.

[Strangelove]

So Smash Bros. comes out for the 3DS in the summer first and on Wii U in the winter.

They really are f**king idiots.

[TCP]

Came here to post that. God dammit Nintendo needs new upper management. 

[TheFlyingGerbil]

I'm guessing Nintendo's thinking is if they released both at the same time people would choose one or the other, but with a half year gap between them they are hoping people will buy the 3DS version to get their fix ASAP, then come winter time they'll also buy the 'proper' version on the Wii U.