That is one catchy remix.
@AndrewMP: I don't think the bit about triggering canned animations is true across the board, but I would agree that a peripheral that implements what should have already existed is silly. Nintendo argues that the technology in MotionPlus would have been affordable at the time, not that Nintendo has any problem with making money, but it still seems hokey.
@Xer0Ph0kus: Yes, and they get some props for that.
But at the same time, with the organization struggling financially, giving away compensations like this seems outlandish. The Wall Street types like to insist that since the "bad things" happened before they got there, CEOs deserve their compensation.
But that's such an insipid argument. The boat is sinking. It doesn't matter who caused it, you can't argue this fact. So, as someone "on notice" of such problems, taking such a large cut for yourself seems irresponsible. You could have taken that pay and invested it back in the company to keep it afloat. Use it to lower membership dues, apply it to future lobbying efforts, help to return E3 to its original grandeur.
All I'm saying is, when you have to hike your fees to continue existing, maybe taking a $800,000 paycheck isn't the most responsible or moral thing to do.
These people make far too much money for what they do.
I'm not a graphics whore by any means, but Noby Noby Boy just seems so incomplete. At least in Katamari Damacy, you had a heavily stylized world that got the point across. Clouds in the sky, islands, ocean. Sure it all looked primitive, by design, but you knew what it was. Rolling up a skyscraper wouldn't be nearly as cool if you were instead rolling up a giant untextured box.
In Noby Noby Boy, the sky is a single color, there's no texturing to speak of, the world ends abruptly at the edge, and the gameplay videos just seem fundamentally broken. If I fall off the edge, I respawn in a chimney? Why am I falling off the edge at all?
It's almost like the developers of Noby Noby Boy looked at the quirkiness of Katamari and asked themselves "I wonder what's the absolute minimum we can get away with?" Because it looks like an unfinished and unpolished prototype masquerading as a "quirky" game.
I'll admit, when I first heard about Noby Noby Boy months ago, I was intrigued by the idea. Katamari with a boa constrictor, I figured. Wrap around objects to absorb them, causing Boy to grow longer, which in turn lets him absorb larger objects. Makes sense to me. But this supposedly finished product - it's very difficult to get excited about. I really, really want to like this game, but it offers no reason to care.
@Jomolungma: The irony is that the bureaucracy that would inevitably be created to enforce such transactions, whether that's on the MMO provider or the government itself, probably costs more than the tax itself would bring in.
That's the problem with the IRS. When they propose new taxes, there's never a question of why a new tax is needed. It just is. Call it consistency, call it greed, call it whatever you want. Of all the piddly little taxes our government foists on us, how many actually pay for themselves once you factor in the overhead?
@Acebuckeye13: The government NEVER needs more money.
@ShadowOdin: You bring up an interesting point... why is the submit button so close to the delete button anyway? oO
As if UBS should talk, given that they were in the epicenter of the financial meltdown.
I hate how Wall Street punishes companies for wanting to maintain their independence. Competition is healthy for business and for consumers, but the only thing that excites these superficial analysts are big, monopolistic mergers.
It's a shame that the people who really deserve to lose their jobs in these economic times, the Wall Street analysts who screwed everything up, seem to have the safest job in the world. They can prognosticate all they want with impunity, even as their ill-conceived words can make or break companies.
@BossVersion1: Clearly, his disciples lead him in and he just does the rest.
It's too bad the DS version of SimCity wasn't that great. This definitely looks like a more solid incarnation.
It could be a fun idea if done well. The sunken ship visual reminds me of an esoteric SNES game called S.O.S. where you had to escape a capsized luxury cruiser and rescue survivors, like in the Poseidon Adventure. It wasn't a good game at all, but it had a nice idea behind it.
The main gimmick was that because the ship was capsized, everything was upside-down. But they invoked Mode 7 rotation at times to rotate the ship as you walked around. This interplay of upside-down versus right side up was an interesting mechanic, I thought. Anytime a player is forced to consider a common environment in an uncommon way, it's a win in my book.
It was a good idea and I'm surprised the overarching concept hasn't been revisited.
@Sugoi: You said it.
I am not an economist, but I would have to say that if I had a top tier studio or one that simply had some cash on hand, now would be a great time to staff up for those hard-to-fill positions. There are a lot of talented people in the unemployment line right now and here's your chance to pounce on their experience without having to fight off other developers. In other words, you get the pick of the litter.
There are a few groups that are. Foundation 9 went on a hiring spree not too long ago, for example.
A bit expensive, but definitely a peripheral that should have been made a long time ago. I was surprised that even Rock Band 2 didn't have a microphone with basic navigation built into it.
@Vavaylah: Not only that, but your claim isn't entirely true. Honda and Toyota, for example, both have "certified used car" programs where they surely get a small cut of the used price for the certification and renewed warranty.
It's hard to see how that model applies to video games, but it's not the only industry that wants more control over the used market.
Time to go back to the drawing board on this series.
It's simple really. Just take it back to what it once was. Driving exotic, luxury cars on a plethora of imaginative tracks, all the while fleeing from the police.
Is it really that hard?
We don't need all of that tuner nonsense. The open-ended cities. The deliberately corny cutscenes. The "EXTREME" attitude. Just miles of open road and a dozen Smokeys sucking our exhaust! That's the Need for Speed I remember.
The question is, when will an enterprising instrument maker come out with a new take on the electric guitar that is friendly for Guitar Hero fans? I can't even begin to think of how such an instrument would work in order to capture the full scale and, obviously, GH is a gross oversimplification of the real guitar. But it makes me wonder if we'll eventually have a life-imitating-art opportunity here.
I adore Lumines and while I have it on XBLA, I wish they'd bring it to the DS. It would live in my DS for months. Space Invaders Extreme proved that you can do the psychedelic visuals justice on the platform, so why not?
For that matter, more puzzle games need to understand a key lesson of Lumines (I'm looking at you, Planet Puzzle League). By tying the music and player actions together, you create an audio backdrop that never gets old, which is important for a game where you'll likely spend an hour on the same level and the same music loop.
@Cdog923: I think I remember them saying that you don't play as one of the existing Ghostbusters, so you could conceivably be the fifth member of the team?
I've always wondered, how do people paint these promotional murals? Do they project an outline to follow onto the side of the building and work from there, or are they just that good? It seems like taking a small image and scaling it to building-size would be tricky to do.
