It's a thread! (Games discussion, etc.)

[Moge]

There was a rumor that circulated earlier this year that Nintendo secured the rights to BG&E2. Not sure how much weight to put into that rumor with Ancel currently busy with a PS4 exclusive.

Finally decided to put up my Wii U for sale on Amazon and the two physical games in my library. Surprising the 8GB Basic SKU is worth slightly more than the 32GB Deluxe.

What would convince you to pick an NX on day 1, JGOO?

[JG]

There was a rumor that circulated earlier this year that Nintendo secured the rights to BG&E2.

That BG&E2 rumor is many years old, probably not long after the first BG&E.  In fact, the only reason I've ever played it is because a buddy of mine lent me his copy saying I had to play it before the sequel came out.  But Ubisoft changed course with hits like Rayman and Assassin's Creed, and left the wonderful BG&E world to rot without a sequel.

What would convince you to pick an NX on day 1, JGOO?

Well the killer app is already there.  So all I need now is a Best Buy preorder offer to ensure I get one without having to wait in line or fight a crowd.  The price won't change until holiday 2017, so cost is not a factor.

[Moge]

Picked up your copy of Dairy Queen VII yet, JGOO?

[JG]

Picked up your copy of Dairy Queen VII yet, JGOO?

Not in stores until tomorrow.

And I actually totally forgot. So busy at work

It'll be good to get a new cartridge into my N3DSXL though. I'm totally addicted to Hyrule Warriors Legends, just like I was with the original a couple years back. Never played a game with so much replayability and length (would take well over 300 hours to complete every map)

[Moge]

How's that Dragon Quest Builders demo, JGOO?

OMG OMG BG&2 IS REAL OMG OMG

[JG]

Not interested in builders.

Finally got to start DQ7 over weekend though, and I can see why its not one of the popular ones. Took at least three hours before I finally got to fight some baddies.  Too much running around, back-and-forth searching in the opening segments, and too many enemy-free areas to explore (two towns, a castle, a shrine, two cabins, a temple, and two graveyards.)  Don't fight a baddie of any consequence until at least hour six.  Getting better as it moves along, but its really slow at the opening.

[Moge]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say you would of probably had more fun with the DQ Builders demo than the first six hours you spent with DQ7

Just shelled out 100 to get a new Wave Bird controller to use for PC gaming. Never had a wireless GC controller and i sorely miss using that weird button layout. Last Nintendo controller that i thought was top-class.

[JG]

End of the year again? That means top newly played games of the year, doesn't it. As always, the game only needs to be played for the first time this year, not required to have been released this year.

Oh, and since those bozos at work kept me so busy throughout the year, I can only safely report nine games this year instead of the normal ten.  And compared to last year, which was generally full of good games, this year mostly sucked. Delays to the new Zelda and Dragon Quests VIII and XI hurt, but may make 2017 spectacular.


9. Star Fox Zero (Wii U, 2016), D-
Maddeningly difficult to control; and we've seen this same game a few times already. This version looks prettier, but stick with Star Fox 64 for 3DS.


8. Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (Xbox One, 2015), D+
A suitable remake but nothing really new other than improved graphics. Would have helped to had the whole trilogy remastered ala Metroid Prime and Uncharted trilogies. This is the second time Microsoft has pulled this single game remake trick on us, after Halo, when a trilogy would have been better. I fortunately paid very little for it with preorder of Gears of War 4.


7. Gears of War: Judgment (Xbox 360, 2013), D+
After replaying the original GoW trilogy to prep for GoW4, and then GoW4 itself, I went back to this nearly forgotten prequel. This game had the terrible misfortune of being released just one week before the amazing Bioshock Infinite, and quickly found itself unplayed.  It's "stage" format doesn't seem as natural as the running gunfight normal to the series, which lends itself to really hard but short shootouts without as much focus on getting to the goal. This gun jammed.


6. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (Remastered) (PS4, 2015), D+
Too short, and too linear compared to similar Assassin's Creed games. Like many PlayStation-only games, it has great animated cut scenes, but comes up a little short on gameplay.


5. Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past (3DS, 2016), C
Not one of the better games in the series. Its easily 3+ hours before your first monster fight, developing very slowly and takes a good 15 or 20 hours before it gets moving at a decent pace.  The hero is uninteresting, Maribel is a bitch, Kiefer leaves too early, Ruff has a nice intro but then becomes nothing the rest of the game, leaving it devoid of much character development that is so prevalent in the good games of the series (4, 5, and 8). I'm 60 hours into a game supposed to take 80-90 hours and I have yet to get to the fifth or sixth characters yet.  Been way too long adventuring with just three characters since Kiefer left (around hour 25.)


4. Twilight Princess HD (Wii U, 2016), B
A good reproduction, better controls, but still some unnaturally hard angles; I'm not certain the game was truly old enough to warrant re-release though; with backwards compatibility, the original Wii version disc is still playable.


3. Gears of War 4 (Xbox One, 2016), B+
Took a few years but they finally got this story rolling again.  Kudos for using a new cast, but paying homage to the old one.  Perhaps a bit too much as the story ultimately revolves around Marcus. Despite the gray hairs he's still a badass. Del tries to be funny but isn't - he just can't compete with Baird from the original trilogy. Best shooter of the year, but light competition.


2. Hyrule Warriors Legends (3DS, 2016), B+
Good reproduction game-wise but noticeably color reduced so it looks much more artificial than the Wii U original. New features and characters though; ability to switch controlled character and direct NPCs to specific locations, attack specific enemy, or defend specific NPC means you don't have to bail out dumb AI as often so it is the more enjoyable/less frustrating of the two versions to play.


1. Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (3DS, 2016), A
Unbalanced difficulty with two very difficult boss fights in an overall easy game, but otherwise flawless. I thought it would be tough to top Partners In Time, but this one does it. Overlooked by most, but hands down my favorite game of the year.



Unplayed/backlog:
Beyond Good & Evil HD (Xbox 360/Xbox One) - played first section only
The Last of Us Remastered (PS4) - played first section only
Destiny: The Taken King (PS4)
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (PS4)
Final Fantasy IX (Android)
Bravely Second: End Layer (3DS)
Star Fox Guard (Wii U)
Uncharted 2: Honor Among Thieves (PS4)
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS4)
Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii U) - haven't even bought it yet
King's Quest, chapters 2-5 (Any) - they are releasing chapters much too slowly


Most looking forward to in 2017:
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (3DS), January 20
Dragon Quest Heroes II (PS4), April 25
Super Mario Run (Android), 1Q?
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Wii U/Switch), March?/June?/July?
Ever Oasis (3DS)
Dragon Quest XI (PS4, 3DS, and possibly Switch)
Untitled Pikmin Game (3DS)



Something that got better:
AI. GoW4 gave us smarter enemies, who use cover more efficiently and don't randomly stand up to get their heads blown off. Hyrule Warriors Legends got heroes who help each other out instead of needing you to do the job.  Of course, in both cases these games are getting a second chance to do it right (or more than second chance)


Somethings that got worse:
1. Quality of paid subscriptions. The free games with Xbox Live (or PS Plus) have been generally terrible, with exception to Beyond Good & Evil.
2. Delays. Delays. Delays. Its taking longer and longer to make quality software these days. Breath of the Wild in particular has me worried that its being overthought, with too much micromanagement and too many neat, but ultimately worthless, features.

[Moge]

you played a lot of middling games last year JGOO, or maybe your standards have gotten too high

i'll post my top 10 soon. Nintendo Switch games reveal was a total bust. i can't imagine anyone besides scalpers and Nintendo diehards to pick up the system on day 1. hearing the paid online service deets was like a punch to the gut. one NES or SNES rom a month... seriously? if this service isn't like a buck a month then i can't imagine anyone being happy at all considering what's available on competing services

[JG]

My standards haven't gotten too high - my time to play has crashed so fewer games and less experimentation with new series.  And its indefensible to claim 2016 was a good year for video games.  It was one of the worst.  Very few games of quality and rememberance 10 or 20 years from now came out in 2016.  Super Mario Run or Pokémon Go perhaps, but because they are major IPs breaking into mobile market, not because they are great games.

I did mention the scaleback of subscription service quality in 2016 as a bad thing.  I suspect the quality of game included with Nintendo service to be quite good, at least for first few months, but price to be no better.  I haven't watched all the videos and details yet to know if a price was announced but $50/year wouldn't be a surprise to me.  1 or 2 NES/SNES games of quality beats 4 recent and generally forgettable XBox360 games of poor quality in my opinion though.  Whatever they choose is going to be something people remember fondly, because people don't remember the junk. In other words, it ain't going to be no Rush'n Attack.  Probably not Nintendo-hard like Kid Icarus either.  Not having unlimited access to the game hurts though, since it'll discourage lengthy RPGs and adventures from inclusion. At least Xbox Live gets this right even if the quality has for the most part been rotten.  I bet first free SNES game in the rotation will be Super Mario World or All-Stars, but I wouldn't count out a two-player simultaneous NES game either (Ice Hockey, Mario Bros, Tetris, Dr Mario, etc.)

As far as Day 1 is concerned, Zelda pretty much locks it up as a sell-out. If it hadn't launched with Zelda or Mario I could see it being die-hards only, but the Zelda game has too much hype. It'll fly off the shelves and be hard to get for several weeks.

Games... I'm rather surprised Mario Kart Deluxe isn't a launch title. I mean, what do they have to add that takes an extra two months of development?  Worries me that the online network may not be ready by launch.  Surprised Splatoon 2 is so early. I would have expected new Mario before new Splatoon.  Though makes sense because I have doubts Super Mario Odyssey is really ready by Q4 given how much effort Mario Team developers had to put into helping get Zelda ready (and the real world looks like something out of Sonic Adventures, which didn't go over so well.)  Bowser looks badass in his groom tux and top hat though.  Jury's out on Xenoblade Chronicles 2 until more is revealed.

Fortunately, Dragon Quest VIII for 3DS is just a week away and should keep me happily occupied until a Switch and Zelda can be acquired.  (DQ VIII being arguably best in the franchise: in my opinion certainly the most balanced and funniest, and in running with IV and V for best story.)

[Moge]

2016 Top Ten:

10. Blades of Vengeance
9. Actraiser 2
8. Life is Strange
7. Metal Slug: 2nd Mission
6. NightCry

5. Street Fighter V
4. Apollo Justice
3. Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume
2. Another Metroid 2 Remake
1. Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors


AM2R is a bloody brilliant fan game. It's been too long since i've felt played a Metroid game that captured the essence of the series, and AM2R is that game where so many official releases have failed. 999's a great visual novel wrapped up in cool art with not overly difficult puzzles. Since i don't read books i count these kinda games as my literature. Quite eager to play the sequels, although the Switch release is too close for me to jump on the games.

[Moge]

So which SKU of the Switch did you preorder? I got the Neon version along with preordering a Pro Controller. Still need to get Zelda.

[JG]

From where? To my knowledge most sites have not taken preorders yet. I think GameStop did for a very limited number of units (10K-20K?), and perhaps Walmart. Nobody wants to repeat the NES Classic Edition supply problem.  Most sites seem to only be taking a waitlist to communicate availability to preorder, once they know how many they'll have in March.

I am positive Best Buy has not taken preorders on the consoles yet.  And because the special editions of BotW are only going to be available in certain large cities and not available by shipping, there's really no reason or me to try to preorder it yet either unless and until this policy changes. (All I really want beyond the game is the music CD; I'll find someone to send me MP3s for it and Nintendo/Best Buy will lose $30 on this ridiculous policy. If anyone reading this gets special or master edition and can help me out here, I'll trade you a small piece of VIPER swag for the assist)





Speaking of GameStop...


Hello, GameStop? I need to order a new copy of Gunyarock... uh, as a gift for a friend, of course. Not for me.


We're sorry ,miss. We have that in new condition for twenty yenbux but our Circle of Life policy prevents us from selling you that version when we have used copies for sale at fifty.


What!?!


What kind of ridiculous policy is that!?


We're sorry, miss. This is a corporate policy designed to ensure we go bankrupt in the next 18 months because we buy too much used garbage and don't put our focus into new games like our competitors. We're repeating all the mistakes of Funcoland, without the successes of EBGames! Sorry we can't help you with Gunyarock, but would you instead be interested in buying any used PlayStation 3 games that you can't play on the modern hardware?

/click/


Despicable.

[Moge]

Usually when the price of a product is announced, the preorders follow soon after; so preorders basically went up minutes after the Switch unveiling last month. If you're not seeing any stock at retail its because they have long since been sold out. Do not fret though as the new Ninty prez has mentioned they will increase production in light of the system selling like hotcakes -- https://twitter.com/mochi_wsj/status/826331259580198913

Compared to the big retailers Gamestop won't be getting nearly as many units

Best Buy online had a restock today and it was all gone within 20 minutes. Thirst is real, so best of luck securing one. If you need help securing a unit feel free to send a PM.

[JG]

I saw that. And their stock that ran out Friday were apparently all the neon type.  I prefer the gray and it seems it will be the rarer of the two.  I thought an email for one type would notify on both, but apparently not as I never got any email from BB so now I've signed up for neon color notification as well.  I'm okay if I can't get one March 3, but I would like one by the time end of March rolls around as I expect to be off much in April.

Assuming Nintendo even delivers them to stores in smaller cities. Apparently Zelda special editions are not sold anywhere near me - neither Nashville nor Atlanta will get any either (I probably would not drive so far to get it anyhow, and sure as hell won't fly somewhere just to get one.)  Of course, many years ago I got the tenth of ten Skyward Sword limited editions with the gold Wiimote sent to Chattanooga which was a bizarrely small number then, too (and BB associate told me the other nine were all preordered so I got the one and only copy sold in stores here.)  Thus my recent rants over extremely low special editioning coming out of Nintendo of late.


Nice of them to let you pick it up your Switch January 13th though
Or is that 2018?

[Moge]

https://www.nowinstock.net/

Try this site out and have them text you for notifications

[JG]

Thanks. Hopefully helps all of us.

No help needed to get the Art & Artifacts book of course. Given the awesomeness of Hyrule Historia, an order for this is a no-brainer.

[Moge]

Best Buy is currently running a $25 off $100 thru Visa Checkout promotion. Works on preorders and it stacks with Gamers Club Unlocked.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/misc/visa-checkout/pcmcat748300659335.c?id=pcmcat748300659335&ref=199&loc=FKSJxY2VJAk&acampID=1&siteID=FKSJxY2VJAk-cnoGQb_7Z8jmNGM_i3AYJA&ref=199&loc=je6NUbpObpQ&acampID=1&siteID=je6NUbpObpQ-juNteL.SjNw.T4LNj.jLVQ

Time to get some game preorders in 

[Moge]

You getting the Wii U version of Breath of the Wild?

[JG]

No I want Switch version.  I'm willing to wait (did for Twilight Princess when Wii was hard to find)

Switch seems to be repeating mistake of Xbox 360, but maybe not quite to such a horrendous scale.  Way too many controllers out there; not enough core units.  Local Best Buy has already taken down the Wii U test stand and moved things around on the shelves to make room for Switch stuff and I can see how many hangers for each product they have - 1 hanger for each side (L or R) and each color (red/blue or gray) and another 2 for the paired sets (which might be color only, as I didn't see any label for paired gray). This puts my guess at about 20-25 or so controllers for each hand in my store.  Only after things cool will they scale back to stocking 3 to 4 of each type, which is more typical for them (they rarely stock any more addons than that, even for Xbox and PS.)  Also a Nintendo-branded carrying bag, screen protectors and third-party bumper cases, but I question the bumper cases on how easily they might work with the whole removable controllers and docking mechanisms.  No open slots on their Amiibo rack for new stuff yet but maybe that's forthcoming (Mine has always had a wimpy Amiibo selection; as previously stated Marios are surprisely rare but Falco and Marth are plentiful.)

Of course, back to Xbox 360, both my Best Buy and especially Circuit City were swamped with controllers at launch and for many, many months thereafter. CC easily had 150-200 controllers on hand: a full standalone display rack, both front and back loaded with plain white controllers that they couldn't sell to anybody, because nobody needed them yet.  Microsoft misfire.  (This is also one of the reasons why it took forever before we saw non-white controllers show up.  Too many whites still flooding the marketplace 2 or 3 years after launch.)



Pass on the Art and Artifacts book.  Complete letdown.  Tell me why Ganondorf has a jewel on his forehead. Tell me what these scenes on the tapestry artwork at beginning of Wind Waker represent.  Tell me why the Hyrule crest looks like a bird. Explain why Impa is old and weak, then not so old, then young and muscular, then fat, then bean pole skinny. Explain how tektites evolved through the series because they too look different every other game.  Provide more detail on how the amazing diversity of the characters in games like Majora's Mask or Wind Waker were developed (besides common Dekus, Gorons, and Zoras, there's barely any character in those two games that look like any other, which obviously required a lot of extra design.)  Show me pictures of stuff that didn't make it in the final game.  Teach me something, anything.  Just pictures of the characters and enemies, with occasional promotional artwork. Not even drafts of how the towns or dungeons and stuff should look. And I do not need to see pictures of all the mundane in-game items like boots and bottles. Barring some rare early drafts, most of the art has been seen many times before. Its only redeeming qualities are those early drafts, and the few comparisons of original artwork vs redesigned artwork, such as original 2D 'pastel crayon' Wind Waker art for GameCube vs the 3D-modeled recreations of the same art for the HD version. I was really looking forward to sitting down with it and reading over all the juicy behind-the-scenes details over the course of a few weeks, as I had with the amazing Hyrule Historia, but instead its a flip-through-the-book-once-and-never-open-it-again bore. If you want to see it, check it out in your local big box bookstore when you've got an hour to kill, but don't buy it.