Wii

[AndrewTS 0]

I didn't get the glowing blue yesterday, and was curious why. For some reason it didn't hit my Wii until today.

 

Strangely enough, they even basically tell you the update will remove hacked TP saves.

[dubq 0]

TP?

[Boner Kawanger 0]

Twilight Princess

[dubq 0]

Why would they care about hacked Zelda saves? This is going right over my head, isn't it?

[BUTT 0]

You use a hacked Zelda save to install the "Homebrew Channel" which allows you to run emulators, DVD-Rs and other such utilities.

[AndrewTS 0]

I rented Castlevania Judgment.

 

Ok, first off, if you'd want to cram this game into any mold at all, I guess Power Stone would be closest, but that doesn't necessary make it worthy in and of itself.

 

Unsurprisingly, there's basically one move list, just with different attacks and attributes per character. There's a basic attack, which can be spammed into a combo; a "special attack", an unblockable attack, subweapons and a few signature attacks. There's not really a traditional throw, but some special attacks may function as one (but are still blockable).

 

There's only one block, so obviously any close up footgames or high/low mixups are out of the question. You do have a standard attack, your specials, and unblockables. Evading seems to be the best defense option overall, because you can be guard-crushed with repeated attacks, and your unblockable (which is executed by hitting attack from a guard), would seem a natural way to counter, except it's very slow and usually leaves you open to being attacked. There doesn't seem to be much of a way to mount an effective counterattack from a guard as a result.

 

Fortunately there's a Japanese voice option, because the voice acting is one the horrible examples of voice acting I've ever seen in any Castlevania-related project, ever. Die English dub, you don't belong in this world!

 

Level design, is unfortunately, pretty weak. There are some nice touches like environmental hazards (zombies popping up, poison and lava pools, ring outs), but mostly you're looking at flat, boring stages with flat boring textures. Naturally, I don't think there's anything here that couldn't have been on PS2. Also, there's visual glitches like textures on a barrel/rock appearing IN FRONT of a character model that's standing in front of the item.

 

Also, yes, the camera is pretty crappy. Obviously a constant side view isn't going to work for this sort of game. However, the game could really do a better job of not having a character appear behind a character in the foreground, no matter what. Power Stone's character models were never so up in your face as Judgment sometimes has theirs, and it would more often employ slightly elevated views of the battlefield.

 

The story mode starts with only Al and Simon selectable, and you unlock more as you play. So far I've played through Al's and Maria's (the former I unlocked by beating Al's). It's pretty much a series of one on one battles with cutscenes between them. Often ridiculous cutscenes. Ridiculous and embarrassing cutscenes like Maria being obviously envious of Sypha's breasts and gawking at them ("they're sacred gifts!").

 

BTW, Maria is moé. Really moé. REALLY REALLY moé. She has a voice high enough to shatter glass, face faults, giggles, nani?s, and her *standard attack* involves her clumsily swinging around from her flying owl staff, which is actually pretty hard to control effectively because of it.

 

A nice touch is the hyper attack, which is pretty much what you'd expect if you've played any number of licensed fighters like the Naruto or DBZ games--an overpowered canned attack animation that can eat 30-40%+ of your life. It's easily whiffable and blockable, though, so if you mind your opponent's hyper bar it shouldn't be too big a deal. Although the damage can vary quite a bit. Alucard does about 50%, and Simon does like 65%-70%!

 

Castle Mode is almost ripped off wholesale completely from Soul Calibur. You battle a series of baddies or other characters, often with handicaps, and try to make your way to the next boss/savepoint and eventually to Dracula. Along the way you can unlock accessories to customize your appearance. You can't save/heal after every battle without going to the last savepoint, which sometimes results in you getting surprise-attacked by a group of baddies. Adds a nice twist to an unoriginal but solid gameplay mode.

 

Music is alright but it's also pretty much just there. It's good but most of it seems to be directly ripped from older games without much change or remixing. So it seems rather flat out doesn't really jump out as dynamically as it could/should.

 

Overall seems like a decent enough rental or budget pick up if you're really bored and like Castlevania, but it really looks long in the tooth compared to most other games and certainly fighters available right now (except for on Wii, of course).

 

There's lots of Maria creepiness, mainly for larfs I guess:

 

Maria's story mode cutscenes (but beware, English dub!):

 

 

And no clip, but from Eric's storyline:

 

Maria to Eric: "Wow, what a huge lance!"

[BUTT 0]

Judgment isn't very good. I feel sorry for anyone who actually buys it. And I'm a big Castlevania fan, but this ain't anything more than a rental. Even for $20 there are better ways to spend your money.

 

And all that Maria stuff is too weird. "Loli-con" (I just learned this phrase a couple of months ago, and I'd give anything to unlearn it) shit is something that's supposed to be confined to the deepest, darkest corners of the internet, not in the fine games of Konami Industry Co., Ltd. Like, why, Japan, why? Why do so many Japanese games and anime sexualize 12-year-old girls? Can anyone explain this to me?

[AndrewTS 0]

Judgment isn't very good. I feel sorry for anyone who actually buys it. And I'm a big Castlevania fan, but this ain't anything more than a rental. Even for $20 there are better ways to spend your money.

 

And all that Maria stuff is too weird. "Loli-con" (I just learned this phrase a couple of months ago, and I'd give anything to unlearn it) shit is something that's supposed to be confined to the deepest, darkest corners of the internet, not in the fine games of Konami Industry Co., Ltd. Like, why, Japan, why? Why do so many Japanese games and anime sexualize 12-year-old girls? Can anyone explain this to me?

 

A general obsession with youthful beauty to the extreme, for example:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChristmasCake

 

You could also google up "compensated dating" and "buru sera" if you want. Or just go to Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolicon

 

Oh, there's also this (NSFW): http://legal.3yen.com/2005-07-27/is-the-ag...apan-really-13/

 

I guess to sum it up: Japan is pretty fucked up in the way they treat girls/women.

 

I'd say Maria is more moe than loli (she's clearly older than her Rondo appearances), but she seems brain damaged compared to her SOTN version, who was still only 17. The entendres are still creepy, though.

 

Anyway, the gameplay is decent enough, but it looks like ass and this is really the worst time I could think of to release an average title like this, especially on the North America side (although Wii only owners may be a bit more forgiving). My next new game purchase will be Prince of Persia, but if I didn't have that option, I'd take this over f'n Wii Music any day.

[Scroby 0]

I got Animal Crossing on Sunday, but haven't had a chance to start up a game yet. Maybe tonight.

 

Hey, Scroby - did you get the game? Let's be AC buddies!

I picked it up last night Spiff. I just played a little bit, almost seems the same so far. But I really haven't explored a whole lot yet. I kinda don't like the way the land moves down when your walking around. The whole "I'm on a giant ball" thing is something I have to get used to I guess.

 

My Wii number is listed in the Wii Numbers thread. Though I don't have the Wii-speak thingy. Target apparently doesn't sell the Animal Crossings bundle.

 

Has anyone else picked up Animal Crossings? The more people the better!

 

 

Edit: So I guess I don't have a code for Animal Crossings yet. I'll figure out how to get that later on tonight.

[dubq 0]

Judgment isn't very good. I feel sorry for anyone who actually buys it. And I'm a big Castlevania fan, but this ain't anything more than a rental. Even for $20 there are better ways to spend your money.

 

And all that Maria stuff is too weird. "Loli-con" (I just learned this phrase a couple of months ago, and I'd give anything to unlearn it) shit is something that's supposed to be confined to the deepest, darkest corners of the internet, not in the fine games of Konami Industry Co., Ltd. Like, why, Japan, why? Why do so many Japanese games and anime sexualize 12-year-old girls? Can anyone explain this to me?

 

C'mon dude. Maria being jealous that the other females have bigger boobs than her is hardly lolicon material...

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Something my wife was asking me about...with the new Wii chat thing coming out (with Animal Crossing), does anyone know if you'll be able to chat in other games, particularly existing ones...like Mario Kart for example?

[BUTT 0]

That would be an incredibly progressive move for Nintendo, and would require a patch, so no.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Kind of what I figured, but I was curious. Thanks.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

I got Animal Crossing on Sunday, but haven't had a chance to start up a game yet. Maybe tonight.

 

Hey, Scroby - did you get the game? Let's be AC buddies!

I picked it up last night Spiff. I just played a little bit, almost seems the same so far. But I really haven't explored a whole lot yet. I kinda don't like the way the land moves down when your walking around. The whole "I'm on a giant ball" thing is something I have to get used to I guess.

 

My Wii number is listed in the Wii Numbers thread. Though I don't have the Wii-speak thingy. Target apparently doesn't sell the Animal Crossings bundle.

 

Has anyone else picked up Animal Crossings? The more people the better!

 

 

Edit: So I guess I don't have a code for Animal Crossings yet. I'll figure out how to get that later on tonight.

I don't have Wii Speak either.

 

To get your AC friend code, go to the town gate & talk to the guy on the right (Copper, I believe). 1 of the options is to get your code. I believe you have to be done your initial Tom Nook jobs, though.

[Scroby 0]

I got Animal Crossing on Sunday, but haven't had a chance to start up a game yet. Maybe tonight.

 

Hey, Scroby - did you get the game? Let's be AC buddies!

I picked it up last night Spiff. I just played a little bit, almost seems the same so far. But I really haven't explored a whole lot yet. I kinda don't like the way the land moves down when your walking around. The whole "I'm on a giant ball" thing is something I have to get used to I guess.

 

My Wii number is listed in the Wii Numbers thread. Though I don't have the Wii-speak thingy. Target apparently doesn't sell the Animal Crossings bundle.

 

Has anyone else picked up Animal Crossings? The more people the better!

 

 

Edit: So I guess I don't have a code for Animal Crossings yet. I'll figure out how to get that later on tonight.

I don't have Wii Speak either.

 

To get your AC friend code, go to the town gate & talk to the guy on the right (Copper, I believe). 1 of the options is to get your code. I believe you have to be done your initial Tom Nook jobs, though.

I got my code and posted it in the Wii numbers thread. I'll add you to my friends roster the next time I play.

 

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

I'll add you next time I play, too. The only problem with visiting towns is the person has to have the game on (and gate open) in order for you to visit. You're west coast, and I'm east coast, so we'll have to figure out a time when we can visit each other's towns.

[Scroby 0]

Really? Nintendo changed that? They used to just have it to where the gate just had to be opened but the game could be off, but then again this is Nintendo we're talking about so Nintendo probably just doesn't care any more. Man, I really wish Nintendo would act like Microsoft does when it comes to Online gaming/internet.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Why are people selling Mario Kart for insane prices ($110 and upward) on Amazon.com?

[SamoaRowe 0]

Because Mario Kart is in high demand and in limited supply. We are frequently out of it at my Best Buy.

 

People can criticize Nintendo for not releasing anything big for the holidays this year, but they didn't have to, Wii Fit and Mario Kart are more than carrying the load.

[Black Lushus 0]

Nintendo's a lot smarter than people give them credit for...if it aint broke, don't fix it. EAT IT DREW!

[Sideburnious 0]

Has there been any update on when Nintendo will release the patch to play games straight off an SD card?

[AndrewTS 0]

Nintendo's a lot smarter than people give them credit for...if it aint broke, don't fix it. EAT IT DREW!

 

So people are fapping over thoughts of Nintendo's success?

 

What is this, NeoGAF?

[Black Lushus 0]

I...I don't know what that means.

[AndrewTS 0]

I...I don't know what that means.

 

You don't know what NeoGAF is?

 

It's one of the biggest message boards in the gaming community? Often browsed/lurked by game developers? Denis Dyack was banned from it.

 

They have giant proverbial salad-tossing celebrations when they get sales numbers from Japan showing Nintendo products occupying the top-ten spots, like they have Nintendo stock or something.

[Black Lushus 0]

Heh alright, I gotcha...you know I'm just giving you shit every time I say "eat it drew!", right?

[BorneAgain 0]

I find this to be an interesting exploration on why people are blowing their load about the Wii's success.

 

 

What's your take on this Andrew?

 

[Scroby 0]

....I haven't played Animal Crossings in two weeks....I'm gonna have so many weeds to pull when I play again.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

I had 1 of my townspeople tell me "it is s-so freaking c-cold" the other day. I'm not 1 to care about language, but I'm surprised "freaking" made it into the game in that context.

[BUTT 0]

That's not the worst language to be found in an AC game.

[Guest Smues]

I preferred the password system of the Gamecube version, as there were a few known passwords that were pretty dirty, and I'm sure with the way the password system was built there were probably hundreds of dirty ones. The only ones I remember off the top of my head were something like Peach gave Mario a nice uh blowjob, and Link links to eat Zedda's pussy.