Wayne Thoughts

Sober Ramblings

2008-08-13T10:26:00.003-04:00

Well, Victor is on vacation for the time being, so I haven't had much of a chance to have any new Sidetalking posts, but I've been trying to get through some games I'm playing. I'll start off by saying that Ninja Gaiden for XBOX is R-E-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S. I'm 1/3 to 1/2 way through and I have to say, some parts of this game have challenged me in ways that I never thought imaginable: from insane bosses in the first two levels to the random attacks by 5 Ninjas with incindary shuriken.

Mario 64, which I never had when I was younger started seeing less and less play time as I got into Ninja Gaiden. The game just seems tedious now, doing essentially the same thing 15 times. It just didn't hold up as well as the NES/SNES games. Getting more stars feels like more of a chore than a challenge, and getting the camera stuck in a wall proves to be exceedingly frustrating. BUT, my girlfriend enjoys playing it, and i'm happy that she's interested in my hobbies.

GTAIV... what else do I need to say. I don't get to play it enough however. My girlfriend doesn't like the game at all for moral and ethical reasons, so I try to play it only when she's not around. Many people criticize GTAIV for removing the customizablity of San Andreas, but I think it works alot better. Too much of a good thing can be bad, and San Andreas' features seemed like too much of a distraction.

Wii Sports is still sitting in my Wii. That gets played so much that I haven't had a chance to start Super Paper Mario. I'm gonna hold off on starting too many games, so once I'm done with one of the previously mentioned games(probably finish Ninja Gaiden first, or power through Mario 64 to get it out of the way) I'll start up something new.

My Love-Hate Relationship with Gamestop.

2008-08-04T15:20:00.003-04:00

I have always looked at used games as a blessing. Games that would have cost $50 new back when I was in middle school or high school and had $0 income can now be had for a mere $6-10. Rather than sitting in the closet or attic of a player that has little interest in them, being resold as used gives the game a "1up" in the hands of a collector or connoisseur.

Gamestop (in particular), is notorious for underpaying those trading in their games.I personally don't sell my games back at all: I see them as a collection. I am gracious that others, who have no spot in their heart for replay value, offer me a chance to add their games to my collection. The problem I have is not with those who under appreciate their games, it is with the middle-man.

While replay value and collectability may be lost on some, that doesn't always mean their games are in bad shape, and as a collector, I'd like my games to be in as good of shape as they can possibly be. Bringing home a bag of used games the other day I took notice of Gamestop's blatant vandalism of otherwise good games. In the past their stickers and barcodes were placed on the outside of the game's case, which if necessary, was the easiest replaced part. The stickers of the games I brought home were placed on the card-insert on the outside of the package packaging: making an attempt to remove them riddled with danger of damaging a part of the game.

Some of you are probably not bothered by this, as it's "just the case", and I don't mean to sound spoiled or anything, but the bright yellow gamestop barcodes and ripped up cases are eyesores. Granted, some games don't even come with the original case, but they don't have to extend a blatant slap in the face to those of us that actually bother to keep our games in good condition.

Sidetalkin #7: GTA4 and Unplayed Games

2008-07-28T16:26:00.000-04:00

in54n3 w4yn3: I meant to play Super paper Mario a bit this weekend, but got too caught up in GTA4
v1ct0rN: finally got a chance to play it again
in54n3 w4yn3: yup
in54n3 w4yn3: I have to say
in54n3 w4yn3: the cover mechanic is the single best addition to any GTA game
v1ct0rN: yeah I am glad they put time into it
in54n3 w4yn3: it feels really well done
in54n3 w4yn3: not like a last-minute addition
v1ct0rN: I remember once my friends friend said that GTA does a lot of things but does not do one thing right
v1ct0rN: and I thought it was true
v1ct0rN: not saying I don't like the games but everything always feels rushed
in54n3 w4yn3: the cover mechanic makes the game feel so much more realistic
v1ct0rN: yeah
v1ct0rN: brings a new strategy to it
v1ct0rN: remember in San Andreas you could duck, but that wasn't enough
in54n3 w4yn3: in particular, the level I played where you have to go into the construction site, I used the vehicle that I drove in with for cover, shooting through the windows
in54n3 w4yn3: I had a dream the other night that I was playing Shenmue 3
in54n3 w4yn3: and it was glorious
v1ct0rN: damn you want it that bad
in54n3 w4yn3: there was supposed to be like 6 games
v1ct0rN: oh, I just thought it was going to be a trilogy
in54n3 w4yn3: then Sega was like "Dayum Yu Suzuki, you one crazy mofo"
in54n3 w4yn3: I don't know why my game console personifications always come out as a stereotype
in54n3 w4yn3: Sega is apparently a black guy
in54n3 w4yn3: Sony is some yuppie
in54n3 w4yn3: and Nintendo is a lolcat
v1ct0rN: yeah he is
v1ct0rN: I am waiting for Beyond Good and Evil 2
v1ct0rN: don't know how the guy got the green light to make it
v1ct0rN: but I’m glad
v1ct0rN: since that is suppose to be a trilogy
v1ct0rN: I hate when games get really good reviews but don't sell
in54n3 w4yn3: hm, I'll have to pick that one up
in54n3 w4yn3: though, I think my next investment will be either Bioshock or Force Unleashed
in54n3 w4yn3: but not until I finish GTA4, Ninja Gaiden(XBOX), and Super Paper Mario
v1ct0rN: Beyond Good and Evil might be hard to find
v1ct0rN: I think I got it for 10 on the XBOX
v1ct0rN: I initially had it for the PS2 but lost it
v1ct0rN: then I rebought it for the XBOX
in54n3 w4yn3: I think I'm going to Archive my brother's xbox to my collection
in54n3 w4yn3: whenever my brother gets his hands on games, you never know what will happen to them.
in54n3 w4yn3: he only cares about new stuff and doesn't care if he keeps his old games
in54n3 w4yn3: since I see my games as a collection, they're safe
in54n3 w4yn3: unlike the time he sold off Gamecube and games (and some of my games) to buy the new Madden
v1ct0rN: what an idiot
v1ct0rN: all they do is change the title and sell it as new
v1ct0rN: every new feature feels like something that wasn't worth the time
in54n3 w4yn3: every once in a while I'll go on a game buying rampage, buy like 5 games, only play through 2 and then wait a few months and repeat
in54n3 w4yn3: last time I played through Sly cooper, got half way through Shadow of the colussus, never really played Kingdom Hearts and haven't actually touched Prince of Persia
v1ct0rN: The first Prince of Persia was really good
v1ct0rN: I still have yet to beat Kingdom Hearts
in54n3 w4yn3: I know... I need to get around to playing it
in54n3 w4yn3: my girlfriend got me playing Mario 64 now
in54n3 w4yn3: I need to make a list: Games that I've started that I have to beat, Games that I have that I haven't started, games that I need to get
in54n3 w4yn3: then work my way down
v1ct0rN: yeah'
v1ct0rN: get some enjoyment out of those games

Sidetalkin #6: E3 review

2008-07-23T14:48:00.000-04:00

Wayne: so what'd you think of E3
Victor: commonly held belief is that it wasn't as good as it once was
Victor: at least I found out they are making Beyond Good and Evil 2
Victor: that surprised the crap out of me
Victor: but then again people knew that for a while
Wayne: what do you think about the wii-mote add on
Wayne: the little box that clips on the end and adds another dimension of sensing or something
Wayne: they say it provides 1:1 motion, which if it works will be nice
Wayne: but having to spend another $15-20 on a wii-mote piece is going to suck
Victor: yeah, so does that mean that you are going to have to have it to play games from now on?
Wayne: and then they're going to have to release new cases
Victor: seems like Nintendo isn't admitting that their old controller wasn't good and now they want the fans to pay for it
Victor: and they got sued for patent infringement
Wayne: same thing I was thinking
Victor: I’m sure they will pay the royalties
Wayne: although sony did the same thing with the dual shock 3
Victor: they got rid of the six axis didn't thee?
Wayne: yup
Wayne: which they never should've had from the beginning
Victor: good, the PS3 didn't need that anyway
Victor: it looked like it was added at the last minute
Victor: and they took away the rumble
Victor: worst tradeoff ever
Victor: the Wii works fine with motion control and what not
Wayne: there's the story where sony said they couldn't get sixaxis and dual shock to work, and within 3 hours, some 3rd party had like 4 designs already done
Victor: don't know who the heck was working on it
Victor: no games really took advantage of the six axis
Victor: in MGS4 you can shake off your camo by wiggle the controller
Victor: but that is completely useless
Wayne: the dualshock 3s still have the sixaxis functionality
Victor: it just looks cool in cut scenes
Victor: I think they are getting the rumble feature though
Wayne: yeah the dualshock 3s have both rumble and movement
Victor: that's good then
Victor: they should come up with cool ways to use the six axis
Victor: like in racing games if you tilt the controller it'll look to the left of right
Wayne: what do you think... Left 4 Dead, or RE5?
Victor: why not both, they are different genres
Victor: I know RE5 will be good
Victor: and Left 4 Dead will go either way
Victor: depends on the gameplay
Wayne: how do you figure they're different genres?
Victor: they are the same sub genre
Victor: of Survival Horror but ones a 3rd Person game and the other is a First Person Shooter
Victor: besides RE has puzzles and other things
Victor: I just picture L4D being about suvival
Wayne: all games have puzzles of some sort
Victor: that is true
Victor: I have faith in Valve though
Victor: they don't churn out crappy games
Victor: and they know how to make games
Wayne: yeah... after finding out that L4D is a fps it killed any interest I have in playing it
Victor: why is that?
Wayne: I don't think their design will play well
Wayne: some stuff about the enemies from wikipedia: "The Boomer is a hugely obese Infected that can projectile vomit at The Survivors, blinding them and attracting swarms of nearby Infected to them. Boomers blow up when they die, spraying nearby Survivors with vomit"
Wayne: "The Witch is the only mutant Infected that cannot be played by human players and does not appear in the game's easiest difficulty mode.[14] They are normally passive and can be avoided by careful players, but flashlight beams, physical contact, and gunfire in their vicinity rouses them. Witches can strike a Survivor down in one hit and can take a large amount of damage."
Victor: I think a FPS can make a great zombie game
Victor: just turn off your lights and play with headphones
Victor: of course this works better on a PC
Victor: the pace of the game will determine a lot of things
Victor: makes it into another mindless shooter
Victor: Bioshock made me rethink how a FPS is played

Sidetalkin #5: Top 10

2008-07-20T22:45:00.002-04:00

Wayne: this list upsets me:
Wayne: http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3168894
Wayne: MGS2 was actually one of my top 3 games
Victor: a lot of people say they hate the game now, but if you look at the scores they gave it back then it tells a different story
Victor: which makes me believe sometimes people are afraid to give overhyped games bad reviews
Wayne: case in point: Kane and Lynch
Wayne: what are your top five games of the 3-D era?
Victor: lets see
Victor: (5) Rock Band (4) Gran Turismo 3, (3) GTA San Andreas (2) Half Life 2 (1) MGS
Victor: #5 was a tough one
Wayne: for me it's
Wayne: (5)Katamari Damacy (4)Guitar Hero (3)Resident Evil 4 (2) Red Dead Revolver (1) MGS2
Victor: I was thinking about Katamari Damacy but that game only goes so far
Wayne: yeah, that was kind of a last minute addition
Victor: RE4 would be on my top 10
Wayne: I couldn't decide on #5
Victor: I like my games because they have good replay value
Victor: with the exception of MGS
Victor: which is just a straight shot
Victor: but Half Life has the Mods, Rock Band has the down-loadable content
Victor: hope GT5 brings more to the table then 4
Wayne: my preferred genre is action/platformer
Victor: can you do the back 5?
Victor: from 10 - 6
Wayne: oh jeeze
Wayne: can you?
Victor: yeah
Victor: 10) Katamari (9) MG AC!D2 (8) Crash Bandicoot (7) Kill Zone (6) RE4
Wayne: hmm
Wayne: (10)FF7 (9)Mario 64 (8)Halflife (7)Shenmue (6)Goldeneye
Victor: nice
Victor: I wonder if they would make Shenmue 3
Wayne: I pray for that every day
Victor: I wonder how they would approach it
Wayne: there was supposed to be like 6 games or something
Victor: nowadays any sandbox style game gets compared to GTA4
Victor: of course the people who would play Shenmue are the fans
Victor: so I don't think they can open the market up more
Victor: especially on a Japanese themed game
Wayne: at the time, they saw anything yu suzuki did as a money pit... now it's been so long since 2 the fanbase is probably too thinned out
Victor: I’d settle for the same graphics engine and they can upload it as an XBOX Arcade game
Wayne: true
Victor: that would never happen though
Wayne: shenmue2 graphics were pretty lacking... cause it was designed for the DC
Wayne: but still not bad
Victor: yeah

Sidetalkin #4: Starwars on the N64

2008-07-19T18:36:00.002-04:00

Victor: I wonder who keeps buying games based on movies if they know they are going to be bad?
Wayne: not ALL movie based games are bad
Wayne: ex: Spider-man 2
Victor: in general though
Victor: that's because Spiderman 2 was the best of the worst
Victor: it had a purpose
Victor: but it kept repeating over and over
Wayne: there are some decent star wars games
Victor: Rouge Squadron
Victor: KOTOR
Victor: 2 favorite Star War games
Victor: and I don't even like Star Wars
Wayne: Rogue Squadron was amazing
Wayne: my batt. died in the cart though, so I can only play levels that I can get to in one sitting
Wayne: SW: Shadow of the empire was decent
Wayne: had the WORST controls ever though
Victor : lol
Victor: what system was that for?
Wayne: N64
Victor: hmm
Victor: that game sounds familiar
Wayne: you play as Dash Rendar
Wayne: it takes place in the "Extended Universe" which is outside of the main continuity but still intersects in some places
Victor: yeah
Wayne: good mix of action/adventure/flying
Victor: I remember that game
Victor: my friend played it last month
Wayne: I hated the last level
Wayne: because you could never escape from the stupid exploding space station
Victor: lol
Victor: so you never beat it?
Wayne: well if you don't escape, there is an ending
Wayne: but idk if its one of those games that has a "good" ending and a "bad" ending
Victor: oh

Sidetalkin #3: Level Editors

2008-07-17T17:43:00.001-04:00

wayne: Farcry2 is going to have a level editor
wayne: I think that is one of the most overlooked features in gaming today
wayne: level/track editors
Victor: that is true
Victor: quick and easy way to extend the replay value
wayne: definitely
wayne: Remember Time Splitters for the PS2?
Victor: yeah
wayne: crappy concept, stupid characters, but it had a level editor
wayne: that would sell me on the game
Victor: Mario Kart would be awesome with a level editor
wayne: yeah
wayne: or Forza/Gran Turismo
Victor: and with the internet they can really expand upon it
Victor: like they can have user created levels
Victor: or you can buy more objects or scripts
Victor: to customize levels more
Victor: only if you want
wayne: i really could care less about "concept art" or any of those fake rewards
wayne: give me decent multiplayer and a level editor
Victor: yeah concept art is lame
Victor: what would be a cool idea would be exclusive wallpapers you can unlock in the game
Victor: and then you have the option to download them to a USB stick
Victor: or email them to yourself if you can a PS3 and browser
Victor: kinda like GT4 when i had the photography mode
wayne: yeah
Victor: at least you can actually do something with the stuff they give you
Victor: or unlock levels that didn’t make the game
Victor: or something
wayne: that'd be cool
Victor: Blu-ray and HD discs hold over 20 gbs
Victor: make good use of it
wayne: content like that is essentially meaningless once one person unlocks it and posts it online though
Victor: that is true
Victor: but at least it has a use
Victor: i don’t even look at concept art
Victor: you get enough of those looking at trailers and surfing ign or gamespot
Victor: they should offer more now
wayne: level/track editors can really show how good you are at a game
wayne: any nerd can memorize weapon spawns, or camping spots
wayne: but the potential to be on a new map every time can really show your skill
Victor: you know what was a pretty good idea but didn’t turn out so good?
Victor: Coded Arms
Victor: the game had a random level editor so you didn’t play the same part twice
Victor: but it was to redundant
Victor: they should take away the edge in multiplayer games
Victor: or at least give you the option to play in random maps with random weapon spawns
wayne: yeah
Victor: that would make it so much more fair
Victor: or at least even

Missed Opportunities

2008-07-16T12:48:00.002-04:00

This week is E3 '08, and I also happen to be on vacation. With no set schedule it's difficult for Victor and I to have any substantial conversation. Unfortunately, in the short conversations we did have, I accidentally closed before I could save them, thus missing out on some key moments of the past 2 days. As a result, here's a bulleted list of some things we discussed:

- Resident Evil 5 game play demo: Looks awesome, online co-op

-A crushing blow to the PS3: FFXIII is non-exclusive, with simultaneous releases on both the 360 and PS3

-Added blog roll: my friend Andrew, a game programmer by profession, has a few good articles about game development. Visit yayitsandrew.com

Sidetalking #2: Survival Horror and Stealth Action

2008-07-10T14:50:00.004-04:00

We're back today with our record breaking second post in a row. I did some minor playing around with the layout this afternoon, nothing major though. I realized based on the length of today's post that having more than one post on the main page could be distracting, so I sent all old posts to the archive (located on the right hand side of the screen). Also, I added the option to add Wayne Thoughts to your RSS feed. I realize now that Wayne Thoughts (based on The Office's "Creed Thoughts" blog) isn't that great of a title for a blog that has become primarily about gaming, but I'm just going to leave it.

I haven't gotten much feedback from anyone about the new format, so please, if you're reading this, leave a comment. Also, coming up with stuff to talk about isn't really a problem yet, but I don't wanna run through everything I'm thinking right away, so if you have any questions/comments/argument starters(especially), post them up in the comments and we'll probably talk about them. We want to get people interested so if you have any friends that like gaming, direct them to this blog; if you read something you like, add it to digg, or reddit, or del.ico.us. You get the point.

Coming up with the Sidetalking subtitle is becoming increasingly difficult, because what starts off as one discussion quickly diverges into another and another and another. So, like a movie, I'm just going to start picking a couple words/phrases that define the overall theme of the discussion.

Today's post is decently long, but I think there's some good stuff. Enjoy!

wayne: E3 is coming up soon
Victor: yeah
Wayne: they better announce Shenmue 3
Victor: i believe they may discuss more Killzone 2
Victor: they had a featured article in EGM
wayne: maybe we'll get a decent Resident Evil 5 trailer
wayne: like with actual game play
Victor: they better
Victor: they’ve showed trailers since 2005
wayne: lol
wayne: Resident Evil 4 was easily one of the top 3 games of the past 5 years
wayne: I think that was the first time being legitimately scared playing a video game since Resident Evil 2
wayne: granted, when I was playing RE2 I was like 12 years old
Victor: they did pull out all the stops
Victor: especially the guy with the chainsaw
Victor: or the female because they believe in equality
Victor: i hope RE5 makes you feel more swarmed
Victor: i remember certain parts in RE4 (the mines) you’re in a tight area and are getting attacked by like 20 people
Victor: including the chainsaw people who are chasing you
wayne: there was one time I was playing, where it was like 3AM, I was the only one in my apartment, and I was at the point where you're going through that lab/medical facility
Victor: oh yeah
wayne: I had to turn on one of the other TVs just so it wasn't so eerily quiet
Victor: nice
Victor: I hope that Left 4 Dead doesn’t suck
wayne: I haven't heard anything about that game
Victor: it seems interesting
Victor: you and 3 other people have to go through a zombie infested city
Victor: and the AI is supposed to be really advanced
Victor: and the game doesn’t play the same way twice so you don’t always get ambushed in the same spots
wayne: hmm
Victor: http://www.l4d.com/
Victor: i think its going to be what Resident Evil Outbreak wanted to be
wayne: as long as it's better than Dead Rising
Victor: Dead Rising was fun but you did the same thing over and over
Victor: Rescue a bunch of people that just magically disappear in the end anyway
wayne: I never finished it...
Victor: well i just saved your 8 hrs of your life
wayne: there were too many weird boss-ish characters
Victor: its fun to play when you are bored and just want to kill a lot of something
wayne: I just want to chuck cash registers and CDs at zombies
wayne: and half the time I felt like I was playing Pokemon Snap
Victor: i unlocked the megaman gun
Victor: that gun doesn’t f around
wayne: doesn't it just shoot tennis balls or something?
Victor: no that’s the one in the toy store
Victor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFuFvKrMDFo
Victor: ill let you tube explain it
Victor: best way to kill zombies is at the gardening store
Victor: that heavy ass machine that impales them and spins them around and you can hit other zombies and the impaled zombie loses limbs until he is just a nub
Victor: so inefficient but it gets the job done
wayne: didn't that game keep getting pushed back too?
wayne: I had it reserved, and I remember going in when it was supposed to come out and they didn't have it
Victor: i don’t recall
Victor: that was 3 years ago
Victor: more like 2 years actually
wayne: I might go back and play through it
wayne: it's been so long since I've played it I might as well just start from the beginning
wayne: I hate when that happens... I get decently far through a game and the just stop playing for some reason
wayne: then when I go back weeks/months/years later I have no idea what's going on in the story or what I'm supposed to do next
wayne: that's what happened to me in Guitar Hero 2
wayne: j/k
Victor: that story was gripping
Victor: that happened to me with Kingdom Hearts
Victor: i planned it non stop till the end and then i got bored and moved on to something else
Victor: and then i picked it up again 8 months later and didn’t know wtf was going on
wayne: I played ALMOST to the end of Final Fantasy 7
wayne: then stopped
wayne: like 8 years ago
wayne: idk if I even still have that save file
Victor: does this mean that Squares games get less interesting as you progress through the story?
Victor: i should go to gamefaqs and just finish kingdom hearts
Victor: nobody likes someone who doesn’t finish what they start
Victor: like some kind of pregnant High School chick
wayne: I think I'm gonna restart playing MGS Portable Ops
wayne: the last time I played it was like 3 months ago, and I have a 10 hour car ride coming up
Victor: is your PSP modded?
wayne: no
Victor: damn
wayne: why?
Victor: mine is so i download my games
wayne: I like to have the actual hardware/software for my games
wayne: I look at it as a collection
Victor: an expensive collection
Victor: most of the games depreciate in value and fun
wayne: what about games that collect value?
wayne: like earthbound, or chronotrigger?
Victor: some games do
Victor: most lose all their value
Victor: and you see them for like $5
Victor: unless its a big hit then i don’t have it
wayne: I keep all my games
wayne: I have ~300 across 14ish platforms
Victor: i only buy and keep the ones i like
Victor: MGS by default
Victor: and then Re
Victor: Resident Evil
Victor: Gran Tursimo
Victor: have you played Syphon Filter on the PSP?
Victor: i forget the name of it
wayne: no, but the original PS1 one sucked
Victor: i own that game
Victor: cost me 1.99
Victor: i like Syphon Filter, it had the promises of being a good game but was made by 989 Studios
Victor: so you got stuck with the awkward controls
Victor: the PSP one is really good
Victor: plays nothing like the original or other ones
Victor: its more like MGS combined with Splinter Cell
wayne: I remember getting into arguments in middle school and having to defend MGS against the idiots that thought Syphon Filter was better
Victor: LOL
wayne: I took that argument personally
wayne: never touched Syphon Filter Again
Victor: i wouldn’t blame you
Victor: that is blasphemy
Victor: those are two different games anyway
Victor: that’s like comparing MGS to Splinter Cell
Victor: adding the word Action to Stealth Action makes it go a long way]
Victor: so you can have bosses and unrealistic action scenarios
wayne: doesn't work with all genres though... Survival Horror Action, Puzzle Action, Sports Action.... no good
Victor: Blitz was Sports Action
wayne: but it didn't really have bosses or unrealistic action scenarios
Victor: you could suplex someone
Victor: and break bones and heal them by juicing up
wayne: yeah, it's called the XFL

Sidetalking #1: Wayne Thoughts Returns: The evolution of Super Mario Brothers

2008-07-09T13:27:00.000-04:00

That's right, Wayne Thoughts is back from an 11 month hiatus. Hopefully it'll be easier to keep up with in it's new format. The first few entries were far too essay-like for my tastes, so we're gonna switch over to a radio-show-ish comedic conversation style. I have my friend Victor on board, and with his comments like "Raccoons make good video game characters", I'm sure he'll be a good addition. I'll still throw in some random articles every now and then, so to distinguish, our conversations will be labeled "Sidetalking", a throwback to the now defunct Nokia N-Gage.

Since: A. Victor and I live in different states, B. neither of us care enough to set up mics, and C. I do most of my blogging from work/school, I decided we'll just use AIM to carry out our conversations, so if any of my few readers were expecting a pod-cast, you'll have to wait.

So here it is, Sidetalking #1. A bit short since it was relatively impromptu, but expect more soon.

wayne (11:14:09 AM): why did super mario sunshine suck so much?
Victor (11:14:41 AM): because the gay fruity theme?
wayne (11:15:07 AM): 3d mario games have followed the pattern of the 2d mario games
wayne (11:15:34 AM): Super Mario bros/Mario 64: Great, original genre-defining gameplay
wayne (11:16:02 AM): super Mario 2(US)/Super Mario sunshine: f'd up and crazy
wayne (11:17:33 AM): Super Mario Bros 3/Mario Galaxy: return to somewhat normalcy with soem weird-different elements
Victor (11:17:36 AM): Super Mario 3 and Super Mario Galaxy - graphical facelift and new gameplay elements
Victor (11:18:02 AM): where does the DS game tie in?
wayne (11:18:39 AM): "paper" and handhelds don't count
wayne (11:18:54 AM): we're talking about the main continuity of mario
Victor (11:19:09 AM): right o
Victor (11:19:25 AM): this is all true
Victor (11:19:39 AM): Mario 2 even the japanese one was messed up
Victor (11:19:44 AM): with its insane difficulty
Victor (11:19:57 AM): the US can't develop a Japanese game
Victor (11:20:06 AM): like what they did to Metal Gear 2
Victor (11:20:28 AM): the villains name was Hiyrolla Cockamamie
Victor (11:20:33 AM): wtf is up with that
Victor (11:20:42 AM): Mario 2 didn't even look like Mario
wayne (11:20:57 AM): lol, I've never played SMB2(JP)
Victor (11:21:12 AM): isn't it the Lost Levels on the SNES?
wayne (11:21:19 AM): yeah, but I don't have All-stars
Victor (11:21:25 AM): (emulator)
wayne (11:22:16 AM): I can't play play games like that on emulators
wayne (11:22:47 AM): I can barely play SMB on the emulator, how am I supposed to play SMB2? with it's crazy wind effects and poison mushrooms and crap
Victor (11:23:18 AM): yeah that goes way out there
wayne (11:25:32 AM): following suit, the next 3-d mario game should be like Super Mario World
wayne (11:26:00 AM): and after that, I'm almost afraid to say, will be like SMW2: Yoshi's Island
Victor (11:27:16 AM): im sure they won't make anymore terrible Mario games
Victor (11:27:22 AM): the Wii would die out
Victor (11:27:37 AM): if they can't make a great game with the mascot of a system
Victor (11:27:40 AM): just like Sonic
wayne (11:28:51 AM): that's cause they didn't do anything the same with the sonic games, out side of the original 1/2/3 & knuckles
wayne (11:29:02 AM): after that they just picked something new to do for each game
wayne (11:29:19 AM): pinball? ok
wayne (11:29:25 AM): sonic on a tropical island? sure
wayne (11:29:39 AM): sonic competing in the Olympic games? we might as well

So there you have it. First entry of the new format. Maybe next time I'll get rid of the time stamps...

How Nintendo Created It's Own Worst Enemy

2007-08-08T16:15:00.000-04:00

It is a common story element in comic books, television and movies for the hero and villian to start out as friends: Professor Xavier and Magneto, Smallville's Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, David Dunn and Elijah Price of M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable. An often overlooked real world example of this type of story is the creation of the Sony Playstation. A deal with Nintendo gone horribly wrong allowed Sony to break out and release their own successful home gaming console.

Before the Sega CD had been released, Nintendo was in the planning stages to have their own CD-rom based system released for the Super Nintendo. Sony was chosen to lead the development of this unit, and also had plans to make their own home entertainment system that was to be compatible with both SNES and SNES-CD games, among other types of media.

The deal went sour when the (then)president of Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi reviewed the contract his company had made with Sony. Realizing that the contract in fact let Sony have total control over any games produced for the SNES-CD, Yamauchi immediately broke the deal. At the 1989 Consumer Electronics Show Nintendo announced they were producing a CD-rom console with the help of Philips (another deal that would fall through resulting in the creation of the CD-i) instead of Sony. Rather than simply filing away all of their designs for a video game console, Sony decided to continue development without Nintendo, and focused on pushing games to the next generation: The PlayStation.

Who knows what the gaming industry would be like today if this deal hadn't fallen through? Nintendo's focus on entertaining game play and Sony's mammoth hardware platform could have completely dominated the industry, leaving no room for others like Microsoft and the Xbox.

Sega Dreamcast: Ninjas vs. Pirates

2007-07-31T14:27:00.000-04:00

As early as 1992 Sega began it's slow and agonizing death in the console market. The Sega CD, an update/add-on CD drive to the Genesis, debuted at CES(Consumer Electronic Show) with few impressed by it, as it did not offer much improvement over the Sega Genesis. In 1994, another Genesis add-on, the 32x, entered the market. The 32x was released in November as an item for the "Christmas Rush" but it's severe lack of supply and numerous technical problems caused an early decline. 1995 saw Sega's first true 32-bit console: the Saturn. Entering the market unopposed, Sega released the Saturn at the high price point of $399 and only was able to sell 80,000 units in the five months previous to the release of the Sony Playstation, which sold 100,000 at the lower price of $299 upon it's launch. The release of the Dreamcast in 1999 meant that Sega had put out five console hardware products in the time it took for Nintendo to put out two.

The Dreamcast was actually a big step ahead for Sega as well as the entire gaming industry. It was the first home console to feature a built in 56k modem for online play. Another advancement Sega made with this new console was the use of GD-rom disks as opposed to the older CD-rom format. The GD-rom format was developed for Sega by Yamaha and a new way of reading the disks allowed for 1.2 gigabytes of data storage. With launch day sales exceeding $98 million, the future of this new console looked bright, but little did Sega know, they had doomed themselves once again.

Sega did very little to protect their games, in fact, the only encryption was the GD-rom format itself. This was quickly overcome and hackers were able to create the Utopia Boot Disk which allowed pirated games to be played on the Dreamcast console. Napster also made its debut in 1999 and even though it was primarily used to share .mp3 files, it brought file sharing and P2P (Peer to Peer) networks into the mainstream, spawning other websites and applications which added to the ease of distributing pirated copies of Dreamcast games. In early January 2001 Sega released a Broadband Adaptor which allowed players to upgrade the speed of their Internet connection... and also the speed at which they could transfer game files to their computers.

On January 31, 2001 Sega announced that it would no longer be producing the Dreamcast. Sega's lack of support had driven many third-party game developers to the newly released Playstation 2. Many gamers followed suit, and with the announcement of the Nintendo Gamecube and Microsoft's X-Box, Sega chose to bow out of the console race

Did Nintendo Kill A Man?

2007-07-23T15:52:00.000-04:00

While most know Nintendo for it's imaginative electronic products, the company actually dates back to 1889 where it produced the playing card game Hanafuda. As interest faded in the card game, Nintendo decided to try it's hand in several different ventures including a "love hotel", a taxi company, a toy company, a food company, and a television network. Not surprisingly, the majority of these businesses failed leaving Nintendo with only it's toy company. As technology progressed, so did Nintendo, eventually moving from toys to video games. In 1975 Nintendo began producing arcade games such as Donkey Kong, which still remains a classic today. Over time these games were ported and released for home consoles such as the Atari 2600, Intellivision, and Colecovision. Seeing the popularity of these products prompted Nintendo to pioneer the handheld gaming market with the "Game & Watch". In 1985 Nintendo released what may be one of the most well known consoles in the world, the Nintendo Entertainment System (or NES), and followed in 1989 with the Game Boy. Since then, Nintendo has released several console and handheld updates to their original designs, such as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), the Nintendo 64 (N64), the Game Cube, the Wii, the Game Boy Color, and the Game Boy Advance. Many gamers criticize Nintendo for putting out "cute", kid-oriented products however the following theory argues that Nintendo may have a much darker side.

Gunpei Yokoi began working at Nintendo in 1965 as a maintenance engineer. In 1970 Yokoi was noticed by the then-president of the company, Hiroshi Yamauchi, when a simple toy that he had created for himself was chosen for production and became the hit toy of the Christmas rush. After creating several other successful products, Gunpei moved on to work with electronic projects, where he developed the Game & Watch and entered Nintendo into the world of the handheld gaming market. Following this, Yokoi developed the Game Boy(released in 1989): soon to become the worlds number one hand held gaming device. While Game Boy's competitors, the Sega Game Gear and the Atari Lynx, both featured color screens, Yokoi refused to follow suit until technology allowed for a color screen to be done efficiently. His high quality standards ensured Game Boy had an exceptional game library as well as long battery life, and his decisions were always respected by the gaming community. Gunpei's success on the Game Boy earned him a spot as the developer for the Virtual Boy (released in 1995), Nintendo's "3-D" game console.

This is where the story takes a turn for the worst. After one year, Virtual Boy was discontinued. Only 22 games were produced, and the system was considered the biggest commercial failure in the industry's history. Yokoi was distrought and he was outcast by the company. Nintendo removed him from his design position and put him to work on an unimportant project. During the summer of 1996, after 31 years with the company Gunpei Yokoi resigned from Nintendo. Not long after he left he began work at Koto Laboratory, then partnered with Bandai, where he developed the Wonderswan, a handheld game console that was to be a direct competitor to the Game Boy.

(Taken from Wikipedia) "On October 4, 1997, Yokoi was killed in a car accident. He was riding in a car driven by Etsuo Kiso, a businessman from Nintendo. After a minor car accident involving a truck, Kiso and Yokoi pulled over to examine the damage of the two automobiles. While examining, two cars rammed into the broken down car from either side, crushing Yokoi. Yokoi was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead two hours later. Kiso suffered two badly broken bones and severe wiplash."

Did Nintendo see Gunpei Yokoi and the Wonderswan as a threat? Did they arrange an assassination disguised as a car accident? Yokoi developed the Game Boy and knew all it's strengths and weaknesses; combined with a company that was willing to let him work, and a wealth of design experience, Gunpei Yokoi was Nintendo's #1 enemy. Though his death was most likely an accident, it is undeniable that Nintendo would have had the motive.

Tetris, Rocky IV, and the 1980s Winter Olympics: How the United States ended the Cold War with Pop-Culture

2007-07-17T18:11:00.000-04:00

May 8, 1945: the eastern front of the second world war comes to an end as the allied forces claim victory in Europe, though tensions between the unlikely pair of the United States and the Soviet Union are beginning to rise. With each country of the opinion that their respective form of government is the solution to all of the worlds problems, post-war Germany is divided in two: America in control of the west and the USSR in control of the east. The clash of communism and democracy made these two powers an uneasy pairing from the very beginning, but now that each had shown their strengths the race was on to become the number one world power.

Fast forward to the 1980s: thirty-five years after the birth of a hybrid German nation and the cold war was as hot as ever. The past three and half decades had seen many events and conflicts, mostly political in nature, such as the Greek civil war (the US claimed that it was actually a Soviet effort to expand into the middle east), the Cuban missile crisis, the space race, and the nuclear arms race. It would seem that no amount of mudslinging or military threats could resolve this conflict, but this decade had something different: the MTV generation.

Often referred to as "the greed decade", Americans were dumping billions of dollars into the entertainment industry, some of which was "USA" propaganda portraying the soviets as soulless, evil shells trying only to achieve power. Though unknown at the time, this was the greatest weapon that America held in this cold war.

The first attack of this nature came during the 1980s Winter Olympics. a somewhat mashed together team of American college-age hockey players performed a miracle and defeated the un-defeatable Soviet hockey team (and later on went on to win the gold medal). This extremely unexpected victory, later voted to be the greatest sports moment of the twentieth century by Sports Illustrated, rekindled America's interest in the sport. Thirteen of the twenty team members went on to play professionally during a stable period in the NHL's spotty existence. Sports were just another outlet for Americans spending: tickets, jerseys, merchandise; and on top of the ever popular sports(football, baseball, basketball), hockey was thrown into the mix, enabling even more revenue.

1985 saw another USA/USSR showdown in the form of Rocky IV, the fourth film in the series centered around Rocky Balboa, a boxer driven by his desire to 'go the distance'. When Rocky's former rival, now friend/trainer Apollo Creed is killed in a bout with the machine-like Soviet boxer Ivan Drago, Rocky trains and fights in the USSR to avenge the death of Apollo. After winning over his Soviet audience, Rocky knocks out Drago in the 15th round to win the fight. The real victory of this movie however, was it's box office numbers. Grossing $300 million world wide at the box office, Rocky IV claims the title of the highest grossing film of the series as well as the most successful sports film of all time (box office, adjusted). Considering that none of the filming (especially the scenes taking place in "the USSR") was done outside of North America, the Soviets didn't see much money from this movie: most of the revenue belonged to the United States.

Also occurring in 1985, Alexey Pajitnov created a computer game called Tetris at the Soviet Academy of Science. The game spread like wildfire, making it's way to Budapest, Hungary, where the British software company Andromeda was immediately interested. They talked with Pajitnov, but before securing any legal rights, Andromeda sold the PC version rights to Spectrum Holobyte, a US company. When Tetris was released in the United States in 1986 it was a software blockbuster that was essentially stolen from the Soviets. The legal debates over the game would continue until 1993, well after the US company had collected on the rights and the cold war was over.

What was the Soviet Union doing during the 1980s? By 1985 the economic growth rate of the USSR was close to zero, twenty five percent of the Soviet Union's gross national product was going to the military, and problems were arising in the Soviet system of government. Mikhail Gorbachev took over, looking to restructure the USSR before it collapsed and over the course of four summit conferences, President Regan was able to convince him to look at the prosperous American economy and consider a free market society. In 1989 Gorbachev and George H.W. Bush finally announced that the Cold War was over.

As it turns out, "the greed decade" was a blessing in disguise, Americas need to spend-spend-spend on products such as sports, movies, and video games helped to close the curtain on the Soviet Union.