Random Gaming Thoughts

[marurun]

Either way, I'm pretty sure both MS and Sony felt burned by their experience during the last generation having to juggle weird custom CPUs by IBM against separate GPU hardware. This gen is much better for developers who want games they can take with them.

[Segata]

Reminds me of when I got this in the mail a few years ago.

[NotLuke]

The hardest I ever laughed at a video game? Well, that would be this week while playing Rogue Galaxy for the PS2. Rogues Galaxy is an action RPG, with all your FF staples including airships, clueless characters, terrible writing, a goofy upgrading system, and absurdities galore. The game isn't terrible. But when characters start talking...oh boy is it dumb. But hilariously dumb at times. So hilarious that there is no way I can set this up for a laugh as it has to be explained. Explaining funny is never funny, but I'll at least give it the old college try to explain how absurd the game is and how one line of dialogue had my stomach sore from a laughing fit.

In Rogue Galaxy you are Jaster, a space pirate kid who goes on space adventures with a group of other dull but chromatically pleasing characters. At one point in Jaster's rumpus, he makes nice with Deego, a man dog with a robot arm, a gigantic battle axe, and the voice of Nick Nolte after a few benzos. Deego also has a bone he would like to give to a local elf bartender, but that's only one of his layers of weird. Let's focus on huge mandog, robot arm, giant battle axe.



During one of the missions, Deego attempts to sneak past security. After being caught, Deego pleas "Wait!?! You guys don't recognize me?", as if someone could forget his appearance. That's it. So funny. Someone wrote that dialogue thinking it would make a lick of sense.

[Stark]

Well, I played that game and I don't remember that horrifying creature, so I guess he does have a forgettable face?

[Forlorn Drifter]

Question- do Captain Rainbow, Gintama, or Fatal Frame 4 (hopefully that's right, the Wii Japanese exclusive) have translation patches available?

[ElkinFencer10]

Question- do Captain Rainbow, Gintama, or Fatal Frame 4 (hopefully that's right, the Wii Japanese exclusive) have translation patches available?

Fatal Frame 4 does, and it even has a REALLY convenient installer program. I know literally nothing about Gintama, and while I know Captain Rainbow has a finished translation script, I don't know if that's been compiled into a usable and distributed patch yet.

[RCBH928]

I think I asked this here before, but I will ask again...

Those who lived through the 32-bit era wars, did you really view N64 as the game with small library and kiddy games, Saturn as the weak system and an outcast, and the PSX as the great champion of the format wars with adult oriented games? Or was this done in retrospect?

I remember people highly enjoyed the 64 and were more amazed by the wrestling games, 007, and Mario than complaining about the small cartridge storage and lack of games. The Saturn was quite popular, not mainstream, but I guess NGC/Xbox One level maybe, and PSX of course was the champion with the new era 3D adult oriented games like Tomb Raider, MGS, RE, and GT(from the more childish cartoony 16-bit era). But I really remember people complaining alot about PSX loading times, memory card problems, cd failing to boot, and console failures.

More people praise the PSX today and look down on N64, but I really felt like back then people were more loyal and impressed by the 64 than the PSX.

[alienjesus]

I think I asked this here before, but I will ask again...

Those who lived through the 32-bit era wars, did you really view N64 as the game with small library and kiddy games, Saturn as the weak system and an outcast, and the PSX as the great champion of the format wars with adult oriented games? Or was this done in retrospect?

I remember people highly enjoyed the 64 and were more amazed by the wrestling games, 007, and Mario than complaining about the small cartridge storage and lack of games. The Saturn was quite popular, not mainstream, but I guess NGC/Xbox One level maybe, and PSX of course was the champion with the new era 3D adult oriented games like Tomb Raider, MGS, RE, and GT(from the more childish cartoony 16-bit era). But I really remember people complaining alot about PSX loading times, memory card problems, cd failing to boot, and console failures.

More people praise the PSX today and look down on N64, but I really felt like back then people were more loyal and impressed by the 64 than the PSX.

I was admittedly quite young during the era, but I don't really remember the N64 being judged for a small library or kiddy games - most people I knew with the console had lots of FPS and Wrestling games, along with ISS64 which was also quite popular. That's in addition to obvious big name choices from the likes of Nintendo, Rare etc.

The Saturn, however, absolutely was regarded as a weak, outcast system. No-one I knew had one, and everyone who looked at it compared it to PS1 and N64 and felt it came up short. Games were super hard to find. Bear in mind I live in the UK too, where Sega had dominated the home console market in the 8 bit and 16 bit generations, so it was a real fall from grace for them. The Saturn was nowhere even close to hitting Gamecube or XBox One levels of market penetration either - the console sold about half of the Gamecube and less than a third of XBox Ones numbers, and a significant portion of those were in Japan. It was practically unknown here.

However, whilst I wouldn't say the N64 had a terribly 'kiddy' reputation (unlike the Gamecube, which definitely did during it's lifespan), the PS1 did definitely have a reputation as being 'grown up', or rather, 'more grown up', thanks to heavy marketing campaigns which focused on the likes of Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, FIFA and especially in the early days, Wipeout. They promoted it as part of clubbing culture, and used 'lads mags' to promote the games and the characters. Lara Croft was even a pin-up a few times. They were definitely targeting the young adult market heavily with PS1, and it worked.

However, and I think this is a big point that people miss in the PS1's success - the PS1 was also the most popular console with kids. That's partly due to games like Crash Bandicoot and the likes, but, and this is a massively overlooked point - it was also the cheapest. Not only was the console the most affordable of the 3, but PS1 games in the UK typically ran about £30-£35. Saturn games however were frequently about the £50 mark, and N64 games were often closing in on £60. I have to imagine parents found the much more affordable pirce to be a big factor in choosing a game for little Timmy, and frankly, I have to imagine most children found the lower price of games more appealing too. £60 for a N64 game is a huge amount, but £30 for a PS1 game? That's suddenly more feasible to save up for with pocket money or a paper round job.

[Erik_Twice]

I feel the "kiddy" image of Nintendo is a bit overstated. From what I've gathered it's a mindset that was common in the United States but not as common elsewhere. This is most notable in ad campaigns, all the "Sega does what Nintendon't" ads or "Xbox gamer" ads are American and played into an American mindset. For example, in Spain attack ads are extremely rare and the public reacts very poorly to them. You don't see "extreme gamer cool" ads, either, they are seen as tacky and gross.

Beyond that, the "kiddy" thing seems to have had its peak with adolescense. So it probably covers the end of the PSX generation, most of the PS2/Xbox Generation and then fades away over time.

[BogusMeatFactory]

I feel like the Nintendo kiddy image didn't really hit until the GameCube era. I bet you it really hit when wind Waker launched, because... UGH CARTOOND ARE FOR KIDS!

It definitely had a retroactive effect that hit the Nintendo 64, but during its life, it was absolutely loved and it was because of those wrestling games, goldeneye and and the Mario's and banjo kazooies. It won in people's eyes because of its four player abilities... which is all the more confusing as to why the GameCube got a bad rap.