This post is not to rant, nor is it for me to share with my readers some opinion or another that I have. No. This post is for something much more serious. It is for posterity.
You see, there is this goal I have of collecting a whole bunch of Pokemon cards. Specifically, to collect at least one card for every single one of the creatures, currently at the count of 493, as well as a single card for each of the creatures special Formes, bringing the count to somewhere over 500. Well, I'm posting this to make note of all the cards I don't have, as that is a much smaller list than all the cards that I do. As said, this is mostly because I want to be able to look back at this in the future and see my progress. It's also sort of to brag. So, without further ado, here are all the Pokemon and Formes that I don't have a card of:
#018 - Pidgeot
#031 - Nidoqueen
#034 - Nidoking
#045 - Vileplume
#062 - Poliwrath
#069 - Bellsprout
#071 - Victreebel
#080 - Slowbro
#097 - Hypno
#115 - Kangaskan
#121 - Starmie
#144 - Articuno
#164 - Noctowl
#176 - Togetic
#189 - Jumpluff
#193 - Yanma
#197 - Umbreon
#201 - Unown H
#201 - Unown J
#201 - Unown N
#201 - Unown R
#201 - Unown X
#201 - Unown !
#201 - Unown ?
#217 - Ursaring
#225 - Delibird
#230 - Kingdra
#236 - Tyrogue
#251 - Celebi
#268 - Cascoon
#269 - Dustox
#282 - Gardevoir
#289 - Slaking
#306 - Aggron
#334 - Altaria
#337 - Solrock
#346 - Cradily
#350 - Milotic
#351 - Castform
#351 - Castform Sun Forme
#351 - Castform Rain Forme
#354 - Banette
#369 - Relicanth
#378 - Regice
#379 - Registeel
#386 - Deoxys Defence Forme
#398 - Staraptor
#414 - Mothim
#423 - Gastrodon East Sea
#461 - Weavile
#464 - Rhyperior
#466 - Electivire
#468 - Togekiss
#469 - Yanmega
#475 - Gallade
#477 - Dusknoir
#479 - Rotom Fan Forme
#479 - Rotom Heat Forme
#479 - Rotom Mow Forme
#480 - Uxie
#481 - Mesprit
#482 - Azelf
#484 - Palkia
#487 - Giratina Altered Forme
And that's it! Well, unless you want to count specific Arceus Formes, but I don't. That's actual a longer list than I really expected! Oh well. No big deal, I'll collect as I go! And I believe I notice a blatant pattern... here's a hint: I don't have a lot of the rare Pokemon cards in comparison to commons! Also, I started collecting like this recently, so most of my cards are EX series and newer. So yeah!
I would also like to use this space to say that I officially have two Shiny cards (not Holo, Shiny), both obtained just recently! This is a big thing for me, as one of my biggest wishes in getting the cards was for a Shiny, and now I have two, one of one of my favorite Pokemon! I guess this is some of the bragging part, huh? Well, they're a Shiny Shinx and a Shiny Drifloon and I keep the two of them at the very end of my collection, in a special page just for them. Yay.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Mega Man 9 Through 10
Okay, so Mega Man 10 just got announced in the newest Nintendo Power. Absolutely sweet! It sounds great already! But... then I read the internet and it occurred to me that Capcom almost certainly won't improve the problems with Mega Man 9. Why? Because most people are blinded by sheer nostalgia and don't see those problems. I, however, am immune to nostalgia, having not played the Mega Man games until getting them this year in Mega Man Anniversary Collection, and thus... well frankly, I'm worried.
Mega Man 9 is a beautifully presented game. The 8-bit style coupled with the current-age presentation makes it leaps and bounds above any previous Mega Man game in this category. However, its greatest strength and weakness lie in its association with a certain other Mega Man game: Mega Man 2. Mega Man 2 is typically universally praised, and often even considered the classic Mega Man game. Why? Well, mostly because it was so much better than Mega Man 1. Its controls and overall gameplay were refined to being downright amazing, not to mention Mega Man 2's great soundtrack. Simply put, it was a very good game by perspective. But, contrary to popular belief, the Mega Man series didn't stop evolving after that. And therein lies Mega Man 9's problem...
Mega Man 2 had a glaring weakness, and that was artificial difficulty. For example, in Heat Man's stage there is a long disappearing block puzzle, a staple of the series. Very near to the end, there is a situation where a block appears above you mere moments before the block you're standing on disappears. Well, you're almost definitely dead now because you didn't know it was coming, timed your premeditated jump wrong, or tried jumping from the side and failed due to the imprecise physics (they got better in later Mega Man games, meaning the same puzzle in Mega Man 9 is a good amount easier). Does anyone else but me see the problem here?
But, as you may have heard in a certain song, having a certain Item 2 makes it much easier to make it through that level. Item 2 is guarded by Air Man, who also has a bit of a cheap tactic. Now, Air Man isn't a hard Robot Master at all, really, especially if you have the Leaf Shield weapon. But the trick is... well, one of his attacks is literally impossible to dodge. Literally. No joke. Completely impossible! And the rest are quite hard as well. Does... anyone else see the problem?
And finally we come to the infamous Quick Man. His stage was entirely about memorization because the primary hazard were large speedy lasers that kill you instantly if you touch them. You had to memorize where they came out and dodge accordingly, and it was nearly impossible to get through on your first time unless you were incredibly lucky. Am I... really the only one who notices these things and realizes it shows lazy level design?
Mega Man 9 is heavily inspired by Mega Man 2, which makes sense. However, 9 fails to remedy 2's problems and, instead, builds upon them! For example, 9 has a HUGE amount of instant-kill spikes in each and every stage, a hazard classically used only occasionally or in water-based stages. Also, it introduces fast-moving streams of lava that kill you upon contact that are rather reminiscent of Quick Man's lasers. A huge quantity of the game becomes frustrating due to constant and unfair deaths, and Capcom gets away with it. Why? Quite simply because most people playing Mega Man 9 now played previous Mega Man games in the past, when they were, say, five or six. Thus they weren't quiiiite so good at video games and misremember the games as harder than they actually were. Mega Man 9 is easily the hardest of the classic Mega Man series to date, with the possible exception of Mega Man 1, but no one notices that because they remember the past games as harder than they were.
Level design ruined for me what would have otherwise easily been the best Mega Man classic game yet. I very much hope to see Mega Man 10 evolve past 2 and see that Mega Mans 3-6 were just as good, if not better, and to pull away from artificial difficulty. If so, Mega Man 10 could very easily be the best in the series and even pull in brand new fans to play previous Mega Man titles. After all, they're on the Virtual Console!
---
Just for kicks, here's some more things I would like to see in Mega Man 10:
-better menu music
-Roll as playable, and actually competent unlike in Powered Up
-a "Dr. Wily was behind it" that actually feels somewhat surprising (haha, as if)
-less DLC that should've been included in the first place
-Mega Man with his abilities past Mega Man 2 (Mega Buster and slide)
-the other playable characters having very distinct playing styles, like Vile and X in Maverick Hunter X
-maybe some kind of collectibles like the cards in Mega Man & Bass?
-Bass
-Robot Masters from previous games?!
-Co-op
-Proto Man being really cool
-stuff from previous games, like maybe an unlockable Break Man costume??
-another amazing disappearing block puzzle like Spark Man's
Mega Man 9 is a beautifully presented game. The 8-bit style coupled with the current-age presentation makes it leaps and bounds above any previous Mega Man game in this category. However, its greatest strength and weakness lie in its association with a certain other Mega Man game: Mega Man 2. Mega Man 2 is typically universally praised, and often even considered the classic Mega Man game. Why? Well, mostly because it was so much better than Mega Man 1. Its controls and overall gameplay were refined to being downright amazing, not to mention Mega Man 2's great soundtrack. Simply put, it was a very good game by perspective. But, contrary to popular belief, the Mega Man series didn't stop evolving after that. And therein lies Mega Man 9's problem...
Mega Man 2 had a glaring weakness, and that was artificial difficulty. For example, in Heat Man's stage there is a long disappearing block puzzle, a staple of the series. Very near to the end, there is a situation where a block appears above you mere moments before the block you're standing on disappears. Well, you're almost definitely dead now because you didn't know it was coming, timed your premeditated jump wrong, or tried jumping from the side and failed due to the imprecise physics (they got better in later Mega Man games, meaning the same puzzle in Mega Man 9 is a good amount easier). Does anyone else but me see the problem here?
But, as you may have heard in a certain song, having a certain Item 2 makes it much easier to make it through that level. Item 2 is guarded by Air Man, who also has a bit of a cheap tactic. Now, Air Man isn't a hard Robot Master at all, really, especially if you have the Leaf Shield weapon. But the trick is... well, one of his attacks is literally impossible to dodge. Literally. No joke. Completely impossible! And the rest are quite hard as well. Does... anyone else see the problem?
And finally we come to the infamous Quick Man. His stage was entirely about memorization because the primary hazard were large speedy lasers that kill you instantly if you touch them. You had to memorize where they came out and dodge accordingly, and it was nearly impossible to get through on your first time unless you were incredibly lucky. Am I... really the only one who notices these things and realizes it shows lazy level design?
Mega Man 9 is heavily inspired by Mega Man 2, which makes sense. However, 9 fails to remedy 2's problems and, instead, builds upon them! For example, 9 has a HUGE amount of instant-kill spikes in each and every stage, a hazard classically used only occasionally or in water-based stages. Also, it introduces fast-moving streams of lava that kill you upon contact that are rather reminiscent of Quick Man's lasers. A huge quantity of the game becomes frustrating due to constant and unfair deaths, and Capcom gets away with it. Why? Quite simply because most people playing Mega Man 9 now played previous Mega Man games in the past, when they were, say, five or six. Thus they weren't quiiiite so good at video games and misremember the games as harder than they actually were. Mega Man 9 is easily the hardest of the classic Mega Man series to date, with the possible exception of Mega Man 1, but no one notices that because they remember the past games as harder than they were.
Level design ruined for me what would have otherwise easily been the best Mega Man classic game yet. I very much hope to see Mega Man 10 evolve past 2 and see that Mega Mans 3-6 were just as good, if not better, and to pull away from artificial difficulty. If so, Mega Man 10 could very easily be the best in the series and even pull in brand new fans to play previous Mega Man titles. After all, they're on the Virtual Console!
---
Just for kicks, here's some more things I would like to see in Mega Man 10:
-better menu music
-Roll as playable, and actually competent unlike in Powered Up
-a "Dr. Wily was behind it" that actually feels somewhat surprising (haha, as if)
-less DLC that should've been included in the first place
-Mega Man with his abilities past Mega Man 2 (Mega Buster and slide)
-the other playable characters having very distinct playing styles, like Vile and X in Maverick Hunter X
-maybe some kind of collectibles like the cards in Mega Man & Bass?
-Bass
-Robot Masters from previous games?!
-Co-op
-Proto Man being really cool
-stuff from previous games, like maybe an unlockable Break Man costume??
-another amazing disappearing block puzzle like Spark Man's
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Super Smash Bros. - The Greatest Advertisement in Gaming
It's no secret that I absolutely love the Super Smash Bros. series. Ever since I ran across the original N64 game due to a combination of Nintendo Power and the official website, I have completely loved the series and followed it through three platforms. The reason I loved Smash Bros. so much was simple: it was a cartoony, fun crossover game that took characters from all over Nintendo's library and made them fight each other in any way they could. The funny thing is, at the time I really wasn't a big Nintendo fan. Like, at all. Super Smash Bros. was only the third Nintendo franchise I really got into, believe it or not, after Pokemon and the Mario spinoffs (I hadn't even played a Mario platformer yet!). And boy did Super Smash Bros. expand my horizons in video gaming.
Now, before I start explaining, let me make a point. Here's a list of franchises I have played after being inspired by Smash Bros. in some form or another:
Super Mario Bros. (the mainstream games and certain spinoffs)
The Legend of Zelda
Kirby
Metroid
Star Fox
F-Zero
Metal Gear Solid
Kid Icarus
Earthbound/Mother
Mega Man (through Smash Bros. forums!)
Hotel Dusk
The Legendary Starfy
That's a long list of franchises, isn't it? The point becomes obvious when one realizes that quite a few of the above franchises I have gotten very much into and have purchased quite a few games in! That is a lot of money for Nintendo, and even other companies in some cases! And, even if a character doesn't necessarily show up in Smash Bros., I may still run across his series on a message board and be inspired to play their games, prominently shown in the Mega Man series. Heck, I could probably list a few more franchises, such as the Ace Attorney franchise, but I don't want to be here all day.
If you haven't guess yet, my point is that Super Smash Bros. has a, perhaps intended, side-effect of making people want to look into other games to find out more about their favorite fighters and the like. This should be a surprise to no one. This view lends a definitive reason for a character to be playable in Smash Bros., one that has already been used on one occasion before: Roy.
Roy, if you didn't know, technically debuted in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Why? Because Melee came out just a biiiit before his first Fire Emblem game. So the Japanese designers decided to add him to promote his game. In a similar fashion, the two Fire Emblem characters in Melee inspired many gamers to take interest in the series and got it taken out of Japan! That takes some series advertisement skills!
Where am I going with all this? Simply, the next Smash Bros. game needs more new franchises represented through playable characters. Playable characters are the ultimate way to advertise your franchise, because people will inevitably play as them at some point and from there they will take interest. I firmly believe the series hasn't been taking enough advantage of this: Melee only introduced three new franchises through characters, of which only one was still being made games for. Similarly, Brawl introduced six but two of them were "retro", one of them was a Mario spinoff, and two more were third party. Why is Pikmin the only recent Nintendo franchise being playably represented?! It's a waste of potential advertisement they could've given for plenty of other "deserving" franchises, such as Animal Crossing (represented through everything but a character, annoyingly enough), Custom Robo (has an Assist Trophy), Golden Sun (an Assist Trophy), The Legendary Starfy (another Assist Trophy, and was Japan-only), and maybe even the Wii franchise (no real representation).
Basically, my point is this: as great as it is to add characters to existing franchises, the next Super Smash Bros. should instead focus on playably representing new, recent Nintendo franchises that the audience can easily get a hold of, as well as Japan-only franchises that need introducing to foreign audiences. I believe this could do wonders for smaller, failing franchises and pump up already-popular ones as well.
Now, before I start explaining, let me make a point. Here's a list of franchises I have played after being inspired by Smash Bros. in some form or another:
Super Mario Bros. (the mainstream games and certain spinoffs)
The Legend of Zelda
Kirby
Metroid
Star Fox
F-Zero
Metal Gear Solid
Kid Icarus
Earthbound/Mother
Mega Man (through Smash Bros. forums!)
Hotel Dusk
The Legendary Starfy
That's a long list of franchises, isn't it? The point becomes obvious when one realizes that quite a few of the above franchises I have gotten very much into and have purchased quite a few games in! That is a lot of money for Nintendo, and even other companies in some cases! And, even if a character doesn't necessarily show up in Smash Bros., I may still run across his series on a message board and be inspired to play their games, prominently shown in the Mega Man series. Heck, I could probably list a few more franchises, such as the Ace Attorney franchise, but I don't want to be here all day.
If you haven't guess yet, my point is that Super Smash Bros. has a, perhaps intended, side-effect of making people want to look into other games to find out more about their favorite fighters and the like. This should be a surprise to no one. This view lends a definitive reason for a character to be playable in Smash Bros., one that has already been used on one occasion before: Roy.
Roy, if you didn't know, technically debuted in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Why? Because Melee came out just a biiiit before his first Fire Emblem game. So the Japanese designers decided to add him to promote his game. In a similar fashion, the two Fire Emblem characters in Melee inspired many gamers to take interest in the series and got it taken out of Japan! That takes some series advertisement skills!
Where am I going with all this? Simply, the next Smash Bros. game needs more new franchises represented through playable characters. Playable characters are the ultimate way to advertise your franchise, because people will inevitably play as them at some point and from there they will take interest. I firmly believe the series hasn't been taking enough advantage of this: Melee only introduced three new franchises through characters, of which only one was still being made games for. Similarly, Brawl introduced six but two of them were "retro", one of them was a Mario spinoff, and two more were third party. Why is Pikmin the only recent Nintendo franchise being playably represented?! It's a waste of potential advertisement they could've given for plenty of other "deserving" franchises, such as Animal Crossing (represented through everything but a character, annoyingly enough), Custom Robo (has an Assist Trophy), Golden Sun (an Assist Trophy), The Legendary Starfy (another Assist Trophy, and was Japan-only), and maybe even the Wii franchise (no real representation).
Basically, my point is this: as great as it is to add characters to existing franchises, the next Super Smash Bros. should instead focus on playably representing new, recent Nintendo franchises that the audience can easily get a hold of, as well as Japan-only franchises that need introducing to foreign audiences. I believe this could do wonders for smaller, failing franchises and pump up already-popular ones as well.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Other M - After the Storm
Okay okay okay. Metroid: Other M looked absolutely fantastic when it was shown at E3, and it was shown in an incredibly epic way as well! I mean, I know I freaked out when I heard "Any objections, lady?" from Adam! But. BUT. I now worry that Other M might actually not be quite as good as it once seemed. An unfortunate prediction, yes, but it had to be done.
First let me clarify: I am NOT going to complain about the art style or graphics or some nonsense like that. What I am worried about is the gameplay. And even then, I'm not worried that the game won't be fun. I'm SURE it'll be loads of fun! But... I'm worried that it won't be a Metroid game's style of fun. Let me elaborate:
Rewind with me, if you will, to the original NES Metroid. Now, admittedly, I didn't actually get itno the Metroid series until much later, but bear with me. So, first Metroid. You're dropped on an alien planet without any particular celebration, only knowing that you have to stop some aliens from abusing crazy creatures to take over the universe. And at that you go into the depths of the planet without so much as a line of dialogue or hint of another civilized being even existing. What was the key that made that atmosphere so effective? Isolation. And that is exactly what I fear Other M will lack.
Fast forward a bit. We've had Metroid II: Return of Samus and Super Metroid, both adding in more and more story while still leaving you stranded on a planet to figure stuff out for yourself. And then we hit the Metroid slump and the only time we see Samus is in Super Smash Bros. Fast forward a bit more and we have a BRAND NEW Metroid game on the horizon! Finally, we get a new Metroid, and it's called Metroid Prime. Now, Metroid Prime is amazing and easily the best game in the Prime trilogy. Why, you ask? Because it managed to do the following:
A) It tuned down the difficulty of the series just enough for newcomers while still keeping people on their toes,
B) It fit very well into the Metroid timeline (well, except with Ridley) and had a lot of very fun power ups spaced well within the game,
C) It wasn't Echoes, and
D) It fit in a LOT of story and even some "dialogue" through scans while still maintaining the sense of isolation.
Read that last one again. Metroid Prime did it wonderfully. Sure, your ship would occasionally pipe in with some scan data from the area telling you where to go next, but that was IT. No other humans, no "real" dialogue, just you on an alien planet fighting a terrible poison of sorts. And therein lies out problem with the direction Other M seems to be taking. Let's look at two more Metroid games, shall we?
Metroid Fusion came out simultaneously with Prime and was also rather amazing. It took place after Super Metroid and introduced a new threat to the series among other really nifty things. It really had a great story going for it, but therein lies one of the reasons a good amount of people dislike it at least somewhat: it really didn't feel like a Metroid game. Sure, it had Samus in it and it had Metroids in it and it had Space Pirates and the Galactic Federation and power ups and it was the same genre, but it felt less like Metroid than Prime did, despite the fact Prime tried a lot of new things, including a new genre. Why? Because for the most part you were being told outright what to do by your little computer buddy, Adam.
Adam really had two major effects on the game. One was that it made it harder to get stuck and made it easier to add in a compelling plotline. Two was that he basically removed the sense of isolation! You don't have isolation when you're being told what to do all the time, and that brings us into Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Currently the newest game in the series (excluding re-releases), Corruption was very very good. But it was worse than Fusion when it came to isolation!
At the start of the game you go through a well-populated command ship, talking to troopers along the way. Then you meet two other bounty hunters who are going to work alongside you. Later on you lose the other hunters but throughout the entire game you are constantly being fed objectives by another talking computer. And even then there are parts where you end up with the Federation again. See where the problem is? The most memorable part of Corruption to me was at one point where you teleport to the other side of a planet and lose communication with your computer-lady. It was short, but tremendously sweet to feel that seclusion that Corruption so desperately needed.
And finally that brings me to Other M. What have we seen? That it will delve into the story of Samus, that there are definitely new NPCs and that Samus will be beating things up outside of shooting them. I for one am tremendously worried that we will have another case of a quasi-Metroid game that ends up focusing too much on story and not enough on telling it in a way that lets the player really feel like they're stranded on a planet with little hope for survival, like the "classic" Metroids did. I sincerely hope this won't be the case, but at this point I find it hard to believe. Maybe I'm just being pessimistic?
Oh yeah, and while I'm at it I might as well warn you that I may or may not rant later about why Other M will mess stuff up by having Samus talk. I'll leave you with this for now, though, in sympathy for your own sanity!
First let me clarify: I am NOT going to complain about the art style or graphics or some nonsense like that. What I am worried about is the gameplay. And even then, I'm not worried that the game won't be fun. I'm SURE it'll be loads of fun! But... I'm worried that it won't be a Metroid game's style of fun. Let me elaborate:
Rewind with me, if you will, to the original NES Metroid. Now, admittedly, I didn't actually get itno the Metroid series until much later, but bear with me. So, first Metroid. You're dropped on an alien planet without any particular celebration, only knowing that you have to stop some aliens from abusing crazy creatures to take over the universe. And at that you go into the depths of the planet without so much as a line of dialogue or hint of another civilized being even existing. What was the key that made that atmosphere so effective? Isolation. And that is exactly what I fear Other M will lack.
Fast forward a bit. We've had Metroid II: Return of Samus and Super Metroid, both adding in more and more story while still leaving you stranded on a planet to figure stuff out for yourself. And then we hit the Metroid slump and the only time we see Samus is in Super Smash Bros. Fast forward a bit more and we have a BRAND NEW Metroid game on the horizon! Finally, we get a new Metroid, and it's called Metroid Prime. Now, Metroid Prime is amazing and easily the best game in the Prime trilogy. Why, you ask? Because it managed to do the following:
A) It tuned down the difficulty of the series just enough for newcomers while still keeping people on their toes,
B) It fit very well into the Metroid timeline (well, except with Ridley) and had a lot of very fun power ups spaced well within the game,
C) It wasn't Echoes, and
D) It fit in a LOT of story and even some "dialogue" through scans while still maintaining the sense of isolation.
Read that last one again. Metroid Prime did it wonderfully. Sure, your ship would occasionally pipe in with some scan data from the area telling you where to go next, but that was IT. No other humans, no "real" dialogue, just you on an alien planet fighting a terrible poison of sorts. And therein lies out problem with the direction Other M seems to be taking. Let's look at two more Metroid games, shall we?
Metroid Fusion came out simultaneously with Prime and was also rather amazing. It took place after Super Metroid and introduced a new threat to the series among other really nifty things. It really had a great story going for it, but therein lies one of the reasons a good amount of people dislike it at least somewhat: it really didn't feel like a Metroid game. Sure, it had Samus in it and it had Metroids in it and it had Space Pirates and the Galactic Federation and power ups and it was the same genre, but it felt less like Metroid than Prime did, despite the fact Prime tried a lot of new things, including a new genre. Why? Because for the most part you were being told outright what to do by your little computer buddy, Adam.
Adam really had two major effects on the game. One was that it made it harder to get stuck and made it easier to add in a compelling plotline. Two was that he basically removed the sense of isolation! You don't have isolation when you're being told what to do all the time, and that brings us into Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Currently the newest game in the series (excluding re-releases), Corruption was very very good. But it was worse than Fusion when it came to isolation!
At the start of the game you go through a well-populated command ship, talking to troopers along the way. Then you meet two other bounty hunters who are going to work alongside you. Later on you lose the other hunters but throughout the entire game you are constantly being fed objectives by another talking computer. And even then there are parts where you end up with the Federation again. See where the problem is? The most memorable part of Corruption to me was at one point where you teleport to the other side of a planet and lose communication with your computer-lady. It was short, but tremendously sweet to feel that seclusion that Corruption so desperately needed.
And finally that brings me to Other M. What have we seen? That it will delve into the story of Samus, that there are definitely new NPCs and that Samus will be beating things up outside of shooting them. I for one am tremendously worried that we will have another case of a quasi-Metroid game that ends up focusing too much on story and not enough on telling it in a way that lets the player really feel like they're stranded on a planet with little hope for survival, like the "classic" Metroids did. I sincerely hope this won't be the case, but at this point I find it hard to believe. Maybe I'm just being pessimistic?
Oh yeah, and while I'm at it I might as well warn you that I may or may not rant later about why Other M will mess stuff up by having Samus talk. I'll leave you with this for now, though, in sympathy for your own sanity!
Friday, July 31, 2009
If there's one thing that's worse than something freezing...
...it's something freezing and you being unable to figure out why.
Yes, I posted yesterday about my poor, scratched up Animal Crossing: City Folk. But was that really the problem with the disc? I'm not sure anymore. Don't get me wrong, the disc's label has a nasty looking scratch on it, but I'm wondering if it isn't a problem with the disc at all.
I'll admit, I haven't been playing a huge quantity of Wii games lately, so my assumption that Animal Crossing was the only one with issues might have been more of a fluke than anything. I have a feeling hat Animal Crossing loads a lot of data at the same general time when you start up the game. And I have a feeling that therein lies my cause of freezing, coupled with a classic Wii issue...
Overheating. I've always been worried about it. I've never quite been sure whether to lie my Wii horizontally or vertically, and I've always been worried when it gets pretty hot in WiiConnect24 mode. And there lies my problem, I think. I think that it is VERY possible that Animal Crossing: City Folk was instead freezing because of my Wii overheating rather than any disc problems. Let me explain how I hit that conclusion.
The moment it hit me that it might be a Wii issue was when I tried to play Zack and Wiki (great game, btw) right after Animal Crossing freezing. Three times in a row it refused to even start! And that game wasn't scratched in the least! What the heck?!
Anyway, this brought me to the realization that my Wii was probably overheating and causing a sort of chain reaction with Animal Crossing than the disc being broken. This correlated nicely with the fact that my Wii is transported weekly and doesn't start failing to play Animal Crossing until about Wednesday. Thus, the Wii has the time to heat up from WiiConnect24! Bam! There was my problem. So it all comes down to the Wii having an issue. This was pretty much confirmed when I tried Animal Crossing again after unplugging and cooling the Wii to have it work just fine.
The question then becomes whether that's better or not. On one hand I won't need to buy another copy of Animal Crossing, while on the other hand Nintendo's feature continues to mess stuff up. Sigh. Whatever, I guess. At least the situation seems to be cleared up. At least, for now.
Yes, I posted yesterday about my poor, scratched up Animal Crossing: City Folk. But was that really the problem with the disc? I'm not sure anymore. Don't get me wrong, the disc's label has a nasty looking scratch on it, but I'm wondering if it isn't a problem with the disc at all.
I'll admit, I haven't been playing a huge quantity of Wii games lately, so my assumption that Animal Crossing was the only one with issues might have been more of a fluke than anything. I have a feeling hat Animal Crossing loads a lot of data at the same general time when you start up the game. And I have a feeling that therein lies my cause of freezing, coupled with a classic Wii issue...
Overheating. I've always been worried about it. I've never quite been sure whether to lie my Wii horizontally or vertically, and I've always been worried when it gets pretty hot in WiiConnect24 mode. And there lies my problem, I think. I think that it is VERY possible that Animal Crossing: City Folk was instead freezing because of my Wii overheating rather than any disc problems. Let me explain how I hit that conclusion.
The moment it hit me that it might be a Wii issue was when I tried to play Zack and Wiki (great game, btw) right after Animal Crossing freezing. Three times in a row it refused to even start! And that game wasn't scratched in the least! What the heck?!
Anyway, this brought me to the realization that my Wii was probably overheating and causing a sort of chain reaction with Animal Crossing than the disc being broken. This correlated nicely with the fact that my Wii is transported weekly and doesn't start failing to play Animal Crossing until about Wednesday. Thus, the Wii has the time to heat up from WiiConnect24! Bam! There was my problem. So it all comes down to the Wii having an issue. This was pretty much confirmed when I tried Animal Crossing again after unplugging and cooling the Wii to have it work just fine.
The question then becomes whether that's better or not. On one hand I won't need to buy another copy of Animal Crossing, while on the other hand Nintendo's feature continues to mess stuff up. Sigh. Whatever, I guess. At least the situation seems to be cleared up. At least, for now.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Note to self: DON'T LEAVE DISCS IN CONSOLE
Ever since the video game era changed from cartridges to discs (ie when I got my Gamecube) I've always been careful to remove the discs from the console after I was done. This has become a bit of a pet peeve of mine, mostly because I hate having to remove the disc previously used before playing a game. Beyond my laziness/easily annoyed-ness, though, usually leaving discs in a console didn't cause any problems.
Or so I thought.
Okay, so yeah, it usually doesn't to my knowledge. But the occasional error of leaving a disc in has caused an extremely annoying, stressful, and annoying situation that I've been dealing with for a while now: a certain game of mine freezing. Repeatedly. For no discernible in-game reason. Specifically, it's a game I've recently gotten rather into (ie kind of obsessed with), Animal Crossing: City Folk.
Now, City Folk isn't very much of an evolution in the Animal Crossing series. Heck, it's a complete shame that Nintendo didn't do more to evolve the series! It really is! Buuuut... I'm a sucker for Animal Crossing so of course I bought it. And it has been great. Even with the lack of evolution it's still easily the best Animal Crossing title! But this isn't a review. This is a cautionary tale of caution about lazily leaving your discs in. Which, as I've said, usually shouldn't cause any issues.
BUT
It has to me. And it will to you if you're not careful. My Animal Crossing: City Folk disc got scratched up, and there is no doubt in my mind about how: I accidentally left the disc in while transporting my Wii. Think about that and you'll no doubt see the issue: disc is in, Wii bounces around, disc bounces around inside Wii, disc hits things and gets scratched. The moral? Don't leave your disc in while moving a console! Heck, don't leave 'em in at all in case the console gets bumped or something! Why am I writing about this? Because Animal Crossing has been absolutely infuriating about it! It's one thing to freeze, but another thing entirely to work perfectly for several days after having been "fixed" (in this case, resurfaced) only to freeze again. It is so. Unbelievably. Frustrating.
...I just want my game back, that's all... *sniff*
Or so I thought.
Okay, so yeah, it usually doesn't to my knowledge. But the occasional error of leaving a disc in has caused an extremely annoying, stressful, and annoying situation that I've been dealing with for a while now: a certain game of mine freezing. Repeatedly. For no discernible in-game reason. Specifically, it's a game I've recently gotten rather into (ie kind of obsessed with), Animal Crossing: City Folk.
Now, City Folk isn't very much of an evolution in the Animal Crossing series. Heck, it's a complete shame that Nintendo didn't do more to evolve the series! It really is! Buuuut... I'm a sucker for Animal Crossing so of course I bought it. And it has been great. Even with the lack of evolution it's still easily the best Animal Crossing title! But this isn't a review. This is a cautionary tale of caution about lazily leaving your discs in. Which, as I've said, usually shouldn't cause any issues.
BUT
It has to me. And it will to you if you're not careful. My Animal Crossing: City Folk disc got scratched up, and there is no doubt in my mind about how: I accidentally left the disc in while transporting my Wii. Think about that and you'll no doubt see the issue: disc is in, Wii bounces around, disc bounces around inside Wii, disc hits things and gets scratched. The moral? Don't leave your disc in while moving a console! Heck, don't leave 'em in at all in case the console gets bumped or something! Why am I writing about this? Because Animal Crossing has been absolutely infuriating about it! It's one thing to freeze, but another thing entirely to work perfectly for several days after having been "fixed" (in this case, resurfaced) only to freeze again. It is so. Unbelievably. Frustrating.
...I just want my game back, that's all... *sniff*
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
I WOKE UP EARLY TO SEE NINTENDO AT E3...
...IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT.
Okay, so they only actually announced three games I'm super excited for, but the last was just about the epicest thing ever. Yes, epicest. I'll discuss my opinions about the three...
First up is New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Well, it was a sweet thing to kick off the conference with, that's for sure. It's basically a 2D sidescroller for the Wii that looks a lot like its DS predecessor but adds the awesomeness of 4-player co-op/versus in the vein of Zelda's Four Swords games. It also showed a new item, the Propeller Suit which lets you fly up by shaking the Wiimote. It just screams potential if you ask me, and it will be GREAT if they add a bunch of characters (the trailer showed Mario, Luigi, and two colors of Toad), a bunch of returning items as well as some new ones (I want to see some suits from Super Mario Bros. 3), and make it differentiate itself from the DS's version.
Next is something of a surprise: another Mario title for Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2. Hax, right? This one will likely be an awesome game just like Super Mario Galaxy 1, but I'm afraid it will feel too much like a rehash. But it has Yoshi! YOSHI FOR THE WIIIIN!
And finally, the HUGE surprise of epic proportions... Metroid: Other M. A new Metroid for the Wii that screams epic. It looks like it will be an early title in the timeline, as Adam from Metroid Fusion shows up in an alive form. It is also going to be a more "mature" approach to the series, and as long as it doesn't just randomly throw curse words and blood in there I'm totally game. Oh, and it looks like it transitions between third person sidescrolling, third person free-roam, and first person free-roam. EPIC.
No Zelda, though. But that's okay. I just really wanted to see Pikmin 3... Metroid makes up for it, though.
Okay, so they only actually announced three games I'm super excited for, but the last was just about the epicest thing ever. Yes, epicest. I'll discuss my opinions about the three...
First up is New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Well, it was a sweet thing to kick off the conference with, that's for sure. It's basically a 2D sidescroller for the Wii that looks a lot like its DS predecessor but adds the awesomeness of 4-player co-op/versus in the vein of Zelda's Four Swords games. It also showed a new item, the Propeller Suit which lets you fly up by shaking the Wiimote. It just screams potential if you ask me, and it will be GREAT if they add a bunch of characters (the trailer showed Mario, Luigi, and two colors of Toad), a bunch of returning items as well as some new ones (I want to see some suits from Super Mario Bros. 3), and make it differentiate itself from the DS's version.
Next is something of a surprise: another Mario title for Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2. Hax, right? This one will likely be an awesome game just like Super Mario Galaxy 1, but I'm afraid it will feel too much like a rehash. But it has Yoshi! YOSHI FOR THE WIIIIN!
And finally, the HUGE surprise of epic proportions... Metroid: Other M. A new Metroid for the Wii that screams epic. It looks like it will be an early title in the timeline, as Adam from Metroid Fusion shows up in an alive form. It is also going to be a more "mature" approach to the series, and as long as it doesn't just randomly throw curse words and blood in there I'm totally game. Oh, and it looks like it transitions between third person sidescrolling, third person free-roam, and first person free-roam. EPIC.
No Zelda, though. But that's okay. I just really wanted to see Pikmin 3... Metroid makes up for it, though.
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