Random Gaming Thoughts II ~News Items Beware~

The sole reason I bought Deus Ex: Human Resources on Wii U was because there was a developer commentary tucked away inside it and it seemed so novel. Can only agree with Jay (a sentence I think I should have in the copy and paste forever ).

Shigsy on 1-1 was cool enough. Developer commentaries, though I've never actually watched/ listened to one, are a really good idea. Bayonetta especially I might actually do.

Oh, Shigsy on 1-1 was amazing. But I'd love Shigsy on 1-2, 1-3 and beyond.

I really recommend the Bayonetta commentary - Kamiya gets mildly bemused each time he unlocks an achievement, it's great.

This is more of a musing on 2016.

If WSJ along with other rumors over the last let's say year the Nintendo NX is coming 2016 be it the likely Hybrid which to me makes the most sense as just imagine if this years 3DS & Wii U lineup was played one system, it wouldn't of looked to bad even though so games would work better on the go or TV. The NX could still be the more traditional console which just replaces the Wii U and 3DS continues to go on as looking at 2016 the 3DS has a rather strong lineup.

Anyway I've bought most systems at launch including a 3DS which had a okay launch lineup but what was the big launch game and then we waited for ages to get anything good, it wasn't selling that we got a price drop & current owners got some VC games that wasn't great, it eventually turned around.

Then on to the Wii U which I spent over £500 on at launch & due to that GAME opened the store at midnight for just me & one other bloke who spent about £400 and we the only two there buy Wii U's. It had a slightly better launch then the 3DS and some of you will tell me how ZombiU was the big launch game but after that what we waited 6 months for Pikmin 3 to come out then more months for something else along the way having numerous price drops & this time the whole 20p VC games to make up for it.

Do I regret buying both at launch, simple answer yes but I have bought worse on launch looking at the XBONE and how that still has very little I want to play in till the 27th and has like 5 price drops in 2 years but because of that I didn't pay much for my current system.

Now looking at next year if the NX is what WSJ says it is then a industry leading system tech wise that can be portable surely has to be expensive and knowing the history of previous Nintendo systems the lineup could be very much so-so but it could be 3D Mario, Zelda, Metroid Prime 4 and as it's likely a hybrid Pokemon.

That looks great but do I want to pay maybe over £500 for that also that's what I was implying to sorry Balla and Zero in the Dragon Quest thread knowing these other systems are cheaper and have a vast library like how Jay pointed out him waiting & not getting at launch which I do feel with the NX as why would I get one, that even though I love Nintendo games, I feel no matter what they do the NX will just be Nintendo games and not sure it's worth it at all after the disappointing last two consoles.

Plus next year there is a big movement in gaming with VR and that's going to cost a lot of money but from what I've played of all the VR headsets that's the future gaming could be going down that Nintendo could be left behind again and if I've got £300-500 to spend next year then there is one clear choice to me and that's not a NX it's a PlayStation VR which very well could turn out to be a flop and have numerous price cuts, lack of games etc but then you just have how many games/tech demos are in the works for it also who doesn't want to play Summer Lesson.

Of course they could be 8-10 months a part and yes I could likely both and will I most properly as if Nintendo comes out and shows me Zelda on NX, that I will likely go out and preorder right away but I am far more weary then I have been before.

masofdas wrote:

That looks great but do I want to pay maybe over £500 for that also that's what I was implying to sorry Balla and Zero in the Dragon Quest thread knowing these other systems are cheaper and have a vast library like how Jay pointed out him waiting & not getting at launch

That doesn't just apply to the NX - that applies to any console. I waited to get a PS4 and I'd likely wait to get an NX. It's just my purchasing habits. It's not meant to be seen as a slight on the NX.

mas wrote:

with the NX as why would I get one, that even though I love Nintendo games, I feel no matter what they do the NX will just be Nintendo games and not sure it's worth it at all after the disappointing last two consoles.

In terms of games I don't think it's been disappointing at all, not Nintendo's anyway which is the reason you buy a Nintendo system in the first place.

mas wrote:

Plus next year there is a big movement in gaming with VR and that's going to cost a lot of money but from what I've played of all the VR headsets that's the future gaming could be going down

I highly doubt that is going to be the case as they've been pushing VR for ages & if most folk can't accept something simple like motion controls then I don't see how expensive VR headsets will fair any better.

To respond to the two bits Jas has highlighted, I think it's fair to say that the Wii U hasn't even really delivered on the Nintendo games front. So many great franchises, which had credible entries on the Wii never mind previous consoles, haven't appeared.

Omitting ports, we're talking Metroid, proper 3D Mario, Sin & Punishment, Kirby (Claymation Curse or whatever it's called felt throwaway compared to Epic Yarn), Mario RPGs, Rhythm Heaven... Even concerning Pokémon, Battle Revolution is more than the Wii U got. Star Fox is the one we're getting in return, which isn't really a fair trade.

(You may not like all of those franchises, but hopefully it's obvious that personal preference isn't really the point.)

Regarding VR, though, I agree with Jas. Niche market, at least until the technology is fully tested. Maybe it'll go global, like the Wiimote did for a while. I sincerely doubt it.

@Jay it depends I've had a PS4 since launch and I've not once thought I wish I waited for a price drop or it have this game or a certain amount of games to buy, okay it gets 3rd party games but even if you only played the exclusives on the PS4, I'd reckon there be a game a month or at least equal where the Wii U there hasn't been.

I think it's been very disappointing the Wii U, I've wrote on here after I got all 3 systems & one year fully into the 8th gen that the Wii U was the best choice but looking at it after 3 years knowing it's likely getting replaced next year and having what the typical 3rd party game like LEGO & the few exclusives in 2016, that it's not been great at all it's life-cycle.

I know I'm an exception and looking at the Counting Classic the Wii did have some good games but the console wasn't me with it's motion controls & SD.

On VR everyone that uses them seems to love them will that mean people buy them only time will tell and next year is when I think there all coming out, so we eill have to wait and see but to me it's almost the leap from 2D to 3D then SD to HD and that's what I'm getting hyped for and I think I'd rather spend my hard money on PlayStation VR then a NX as good as Nintendo's games are (if they come) that's likely all I'm getting and after the last two console generations being disappointing to me, I'm not sure I can be bothered about the NX unless it's cheap which is unlikely or maybe some radical new idea but as a plain games console but that can be taken on the go, I don't think I can really be bothered with it.

Balla wrote:

To respond to the two bits Jas has highlighted, I think it's fair to say that the Wii U hasn't even really delivered on the Nintendo games front. So many great franchises, which had credible entries on the Wii never mind previous consoles, haven't appeared.

Omitting ports, we're talking Metroid, proper 3D Mario, Sin & Punishment, Kirby (Claymation Curse or whatever it's called felt throwaway compared to Epic Yarn), Mario RPGs, Rhythm Heaven... Even concerning Pokémon, Battle Revolution is more than the Wii U got. Star Fox is the one we're getting in return, which isn't really a fair trade.

Yeah there have definitely been big franchise names missing (Metroid being the biggest for me, natch) but I've still had tonnes of fun with the wii U & even more in some cases than I ever did on wii, for example I'd hardly call games like: Splatoon, Mario Kart 8, Pikmin 3, DKCTF, MH3U, Super Mario Maker & Smash bros disappointing.

The_Jaster wrote:

I highly doubt that is going to be the case as they've been pushing VR for ages & if most folk can't accept something simple like motion controls then I don't see how expensive VR headsets will fair any better.

That's an understandable position, but I think the motion controls comparison is flawed.

I have only used the Rift, but everything it does is instantaneously natural. Sat in a cockpit? Look around and you can see the control panels below you as you'd expect, while the intimacy of the screen creates a greater sense of speed than a more long distanced view. In Monstrum, an otherwise immensely mediocre procedurally generated horror game, the immersive quality of the Rift made for a few genuine yelps of fright when I was at Rezzed watching it, despite it looking like an early 360 game and being next to some super happy and obnoxiously loud arcade game. I absolutely cannot wait until some genuinely good horror games come out for it, as again the sheer intimacy of it is going to bring the fright in people.

Racers, horror games, "walking simulators," and certain puzzle games will all naturally be able to utilise VR right out of the box - to the point where, for a time at  least, we could well see otherwise mediocre games be highly regarded purely because of the additional hardware being well used. Everyone says, once you try the Rift you'll get it, and that's 100% legit.

On the other hand, how many games have naturally fitted motion controls, and in how many have motion controls trumped a gamepad? I loved Wii Sports when it came out, but I personally still regard it as the best motion controlled game because each mode responded naturally to my motions. It's arcade nature demanded nothing more, with elaborate swings and milder ones all understood by the software and translated into good things on the screen. Conversely, even with a motion + I think that it'd be hard to argue that many games really benefited from motion controls when things got more intricate. Shooters worked well with the point and click nature of the wii mote, but anything like a sword fight struggled from the lack of feedback the wii-mote gives the user. For example, if a character on screen parried your wild slash effortlessly while you continue to follow through with the motion, it makes the whole experience that much more artificial as your character stands there like a dolt, perhaps making some stupid unintended secondary movement. If a gamepad was used instead, the player would have had far greater agency, able to immediately get back in the game with the correct response.

Ok, so don't wave it around like a loon. Well here's the thing, instead of being a loon the user has to make small motions, prompts if you will, and at that point the magic of motion goes out of the window. I want to have a proper sword fight, not waggle a remote a bit. That's a serious limitation of the wiimote, because whenever I have seen anyone pick one up for the first time, they opt towards grand gestures before gradually understanding that the remote really isn't up to that, dampening initial smiles towards tedium. Mario Kart, Wario Ware, Wii Sports, they're all relatively unaffected, either working naturally or accepting/encouraging silly gestures, but everything else? Meh.

The Wii U gamepad probably represents the ultimate evolution of current motion controls, with games like Splatoon encouraging small movements that seem just right, and fit more naturally within a traditional control scheme rather than deluding itself into thinking it can accurately pull off much more than that.

That's not to say that I dislike the remote or remote + nunchuck control scheme, which can work really well, but overall I struggle to think of motion controls as much more than a novelty. There are exceptions, but I found that Nintendo games were the only ones which consistently made motion controls feel at home in their games.

VR doesn't have that problem, it does exactly what you'd want it to out of the box, to the point where even a naff studio is probably going to get the VR right provided they don't induce motion sickness.

That said, it is difficult to see the gamer who enjoys Fifa, the odd shooter, and not much else getting one. It wouldn't make Fifa better in single player, and completely dismantles the social aspect of it. So I agree that it will be a while before the price comes down, or until it is adopted by lots of people. However I'm of the camp that it'll be bigger than motion controls eventually because it is very close to the uninitiated's optimistic expectations of the tech, and as such should see steady adoption into the future.

I definitely don't regret buying Wii U at launch, the console did exactly what it set out to do for me. Great multiplayer games such as Nintendo Land for the Wii part and some brilliant single player experiences such as ZombiU for the U part of the console, it was failing to build on that momentum that doomed Wii U. Things such as the Pikmin delay and Rayman delays really hurt the launch window but all in all I got my money's worth and enjoyed every moment.

I do worry with the NX though if it is indeed a hybrid console as that'll be a huge expense at launch which I'm sure will put off many gamers, handheld gaming or even console gaming isn't for everyone so it'll be difficult to sway the masses on something like that.

The Wii U launch didn't get me, but then neither did the 3DS launch, and the Wii launch only worked because of a game that had a superior version on the Gamecube. Maybe it's just time to admit that console launches aren't all that any more.

Still getting the NX at launch, mind! ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN, CHOO CHOO.

Because of the launches of the 3DS & Wii U, the NX has to be special for me to get on launch.

But I've got a random though which has come to me from the counting classics as this week I've put forward 30 games and at the moment with others adding to them and Yes'ing were looking at 22 games going in already.

And I don't know how prepared Balla was but I've got the next two weeks already to go and both again have 30 games to go up, that's over a 5 year period meaning 6 games years and that's without Nintendo system exclusives.

Which brings me to my thought have games gotten that much better that you can have that many classic games or is it because 2004 wasn't that long ago that the games are still fresh in our minds.

I tweeted about Transformers: Devestation and got favourited by a local Tory Councillor. Not sure how to feel about this. He probably doesn't liek Megatron or Optimus and wanted the Functionists to stay in power.

Platinum Games - a Tory favourite.

masofdas wrote:

Which brings me to my thought have games gotten that much better that you can have that many classic games or is it because 2004 wasn't that long ago that the games are still fresh in our minds.

I've been thinking about this. Firstly, there are more games being produced yearly now, I would say, than at the time of the NES. Secondly, there's only so many of us old enough to have played and enjoyed the classic games of earlier eras to volunteer them in the first place. If my Spectrum-loving friends (who aren't Captain Scarlet fans, arf) were on here there would have been many more games of yesteryear up for discussion.

DIGRESSION ALERT: Before the NES we had an Atari 65XE at home. It was like a Spectrum, but so obviously not.

Thirdly, the 'fresh in our minds' thought that you mentioned has a lot to answer for.

No idea where to put this, but wondering if anyone can help me; have you ever had the message 'The disc could not be read. It might be dirty" come up when you've inserted a Wii U disc? I've no idea what else I can do to fix the game - I've wiped it clean, checked for knicks, looked for scratches, I've even taken down to GAME for disc repair, and nothing's worked.

Any advice? The game that isn't working is Need for Speed: Most Wanted U, which isn't exactly cheap to replace (pre-owned copies go for over £30, IIRC). It's also a superb game that I'm not wanting to cheekily trade in either. Again, any advice?

Oh boy. I'm nervous about suggesting things as I don't want to lead you on a wild goose chase, but: With my Wii, I had a situation where certain games wouldn't read, and, although it was specific discs showing the problem, it was actually the lens on the console that was causing gyp. If you can get a cleaning kit, it may be worth trying that.
Having said that, we once had the WiiU and 360 on at the same time, and the Darksiders II and FIFA 13 discs both broke at exactly the same time, irreparably.

Brilliant reveal trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbUy5eb5s8k

Sigh. If only this year had been better...

That was in that insane run of the 3DS being just the best console on the planet (which I'd say more or less ended with Link Between Worlds).

The 3DS knocked it out of the park for a good while, and like you say was the best current system on the market for a while. Still pretty much is, if you've don't any of the current systems on the market due to it's library.

Just read this real life Mario Kart love story. One of the loveliest things I've ever read. Amazing!

That is the cutest! I wonder if Match do gaming nights?

I watch / listen to a few podcast etc and most have been talking about Fallout 4 at the moment, the game has a meta score of 87 that it's a good game.

The thing the gets brought up a lot about it is bugs & glitches with some making the game crash, I've not played the game or thinking about doing so any time soon.

That the game has sort of a free pass as it's Fallout & is from Bethesda which there games are quite often buggy with reviews etc not really touching on them but take last years Assassins Creed Unity which I've also not played but that got stick from everyone about it's bugs & glitches has a meta score of 70 and one of the reasons is because of that score is because of the bugs & glitches.

So why does something like Fallout 4 more tolerated then Assassins Creed Unity, if it was fallout 4 and just some random new IP instead do any of you think it would be highly rated or selling as it is with these bugs & glitches.

If it was a Nintendo game that was messed up people would go nuts as there highly polished games.

I haven't run into anything totally game-breaking besides frame drops. Not that I'm excusing them - Bethesda really should be doing better - but there's a bloody amazing game there to distract from those frame drops. Those frame drops only pop up once in a blue moon anyway.