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Denver, 12:40 AM
Wed Dec 2
63 posts in the last 24 hours

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12/01/09
I saw it in my Assassin's Creed II case. Figured they were trying to save some money. I'm okay with that. It's a recession. Cutting costs is okay. If it just happens make sense ecologically as well as economically, that's fine, too.
12/01/09
12/01/09
Remember that shortages increase the perceived need of ownership. That's why it was so hard to find a Wii for 2.5 years.
12/01/09
It was only hard when looking RIGHT AROUND Christmas, and immediately after launch.
Last christmas we had tons of wiis ALL the time leading up to the holidays, then sold them, and received one or two shipments with a few units.
Right after christmas, about a few days after, suddenly, large shipments, and that stock stayed around for quite some time.
I was finding wiis frequently in the wild in 2007 and 8.
12/01/09
12/01/09
How is that negative? I traveled frequently during this time, spotted in 2007 and 2008 Wiis at best buy numerous times in California, Texas, Colorado, at gamestop sometimes in California and Colorado, and most frequently at Walmarts and Target.
A target in Colorado sold out over aperiod I was there and had loads more two days later.
This does not constitute a difficult item to find, as I'm pretty sure a round of phone tag could yield a wii.
12/01/09
The problem from my point of view, is that Nintendo left all their "core" fans out to dry. Sure, there was a Metroid game, a couple of Mario games (only one of which was really a MARIO game, and not just "Mario doing something unrelated to saving Princesses game"), and a Zelda game, but there was, overall, a big lack of first-party titles that appealed to the "core" fans of the franchise. It's great that they were trying hard to appeal to newcomers, but in my opinion, they forgot about the rest of us, and fed us a bit of Metroid, Zelda, and marginally entertaining Mario games just to simply keep us hanging onto the console by a thread.
The well seems to have run dry on the Wii, for the moment. Such a shame. Remember when it first came out how people envisioned running around Hyrule as Link swinging your sword about in real-time, dueling with Stalfos' and having some epic battles? Twilight Princess was the rushed, half-assed attempt at that idea, which flopped in my opinion in terms of control. I got it for the Gamecube for that reason, and played it with the regular controller.
Such a shame. It was a great idea, but that's what happens when you don't listen to the fans and decide you know better (in some cases, such as this).
RIP Nintendo. My burning spirit for you has died, long ago. I pass on the torch to the young gamers of the day, who might one day leave you as well when the novelty of waggle has worn off, as it is starting to now.
12/01/09
Starting to tank? Please. It's still the best best selling console.
12/01/09
12/01/09
I went home for thanksgiving and I wasn't in the house 10 minutes before 3 people asked if I brought the Wii again this year. No one asked me about the 360 or PS3. I got the thing out and everyone was playing it till the wii hours of the morning 3 nights in a row. We had an amazing time. It would have been really hard to keep that many people entertained with a "hardcore" console. Being a grown adult, I value the Wii for its ability to entertain such a wide range of people. We don't need 3 identical consoles on the market all for the core gamer. It just doesn't make any sense. The Wii does what it does better than the other 2 by far. Don't get me wrong, I love my 360 and my PS3, but the Wii is far more unique and special in many ways IMO. I just hope Nintendo stay true to their vision because otherwise, that would be a sad day.
12/01/09
How'd you get a star? Your post reeks of fanboyism.
12/01/09
Remember when the elite hardcore gaming crowd derided the Wii when it was unveiled? And we all know how the successful the Wii turned out to be.
Or another example is Wii Fit. Remember when hardcore gamers laughed when it was first unveiled? Who is going to pay 90 bones for a bathroom scale they said. Well, it sold over 23 million (almost as many PS3s) and made a few sexy Youtube stars to boot.
Or how about the DS? Remember when the hardcore gamer elite said it will be "pwned" by the PSP because touch screen was gimmicky and it had weaker hardware? If you didn't know the DS is on track to surpass the PS2 in sales.
Or how about Wii Music? The most hated non-played game by hardcore gamers yet it still sold more than 2.7 million which is more than Little Big Planet and Killzone 2 sold.
To hardcore gamers if it doesn't reflect their narrow gaming taste and preferences it is bound to fail in their eyes. To them the gaming world should revolve around them dammit!
12/01/09
Gamecube:
Zelda: WW+TP, Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime 1+2, Smash Bros Melee, Pikmin 1+2
Wii:
Zelda: TP, Mario Galaxy 1+2, Metroid Prime 3, Metroid Other M, Smash Bros Brawl, New Super Mario Bros.
There's also the new Zelda game in development, and Pikmin 3 has been mentioned but I won't list that as for sure.
And if you want to bring up second-tier GC stuff like Star Fox or F-Zero GX, Nintendo fires right back with Wii exclusives like Sin and Punishment 2, Punch-Out etc.
Seriously, how has Nintendo done any worse this gen? What were all these first party games you were playing in the Gamecube days that Nintendo has stopped producing?
12/01/09
12/01/09
12/01/09
As for TP... plenty of people enjoyed it on the Wii. May have been a bit easy, but it was definitely enjoyable. Anyone who takes a second to sit and think will realize that a Zelda game based entirely off of 1:1 swordfighting would be a ridiculous pain in the ass. It has nothing to do with ignoring fans. Hell, half the "hardcore" gamers complain that waggle is "too much work".
12/01/09
12/01/09
12:06 AM
This has nothing to do, of course, with the fact that the studio in question made crappy titles like Spore Hero and Boogie.
I'm not so surprised it sold well on Black Friday, but a lot of sales on Black Friday are also for the sake of... Black Friday. Things are marked down for really good deals. People don't *always* buy things on that day/weekend just because they genuinely want them... Sometimes it's just to get some good deals.
...There are no words.
12:14 AM
Instead of tennis games, brain games, golf games, and other miscellaneous "mini-games" (aka casual experiences), why couldn't they put more time into other things?
Some remakes of some classic Nintendo games I would kill to play would be:
- Adventure Island
- Battle Toads (hell yeah, it was on NES)
- Double Dragon
- Blades of Steel (imagine shooting a puck with the Wiimote)
- Castlevania (one can dream, right?)
- Contra (hell yeah)
- Demon Sword
- Duck Hunt (WHY NOT DONE?)
- Excite Bike
- Golgo 13
- Ice Climber
- Journey to Silius (This would rock)
- Kid Icarus
- Kirby's Adventure
- Lode Runner
- Paper Boy
- Rad Racer (You know you want it)
- River City Ransom
- Shinobi
- Smash TV (Who DOESN'T want this?)
- Twin Cobra
- Wrath of the Black Manta
- Xevious
I know you can't just focus on making remake games all the time, but Nintendo could have wowed a lot of us by doing some justice to some of the classic games we grew up with, by remaking them with new spins on the gameplay utilizing the Wiimote in some way. That's what I wanted when the Wii was announced. Heck, since the Gamecube was announed. Nintendo's last great console was the N64, but only for the move to 3D graphics. The NES and Super NES will always be the best Nintendo consoles. Why? Not because they were too awesome, but because Nintendo just isn't living up to them anymore.
Ask anyone who followed Sony from the start if their first console, the PSOne is regarded as the "best" console they ever made. No. Because they outdid it with the PS2, and BC made it a non-issue. They again outdid the PS2 (initially) with BC PS3's, which gave you everything you were used to, and more.
Nintendo, at least for this 23-year old who grew up with the brand since he was 5, has failed to impress me these last few years, save for a few, rare diamonds in the rough.
12:26 AM
If someone told me I could get a Wii for, say $80 on Black Friday, and it normally retailed for (I don't know the real numbers), say, $150, I might buy one just because it's an incredible deal that doesn't make sense to miss out on. I might not really want the Wii as badly as the next guy, or I would already own it, but the price point is what pushes me just over the fence and makes me get it. I'm saying I believe a lot of people do shop that way, and Black Friday even tends to turn *some* people (though other do retain their sanity) into a shopping mob, simply hungry for whatever good stuff they can get for a good price. What it is they're getting doesn't matter as much as it would on any other random day of the year, when prices are higher and purchasing decisions are made with more care, and are less impulsive.
12/01/09
"Wii...HD...edition confirmed for 2011."
But wait, there's still some more left:
"No...EarthBound for America."
12/01/09
12/01/09
12/01/09
D... E...L...A...Y...
Oh Bugger, same thing it said for Twilight Princess for a long time.
12/01/09
12/01/09
Does this mean new Nintendo system in 2011?
12/01/09
Luke, get on this and see what comes of it, we could see an early spec sheet coming our way!
12/01/09
12/01/09
People won't be buying as many Wiis after Christmastime.
12/01/09
12/01/09
12/01/09
All I know is I hate them because they seem a lot harder to get the disc to pop out and they looked stupid
12/01/09
12/01/09
it looks like youre punching it out the wrong side, or the case is upside down
thanks anyways, and I felt like doing that anyways because it seemed like it would be fun to break it like that
12/01/09
*shrugs*
If you look after your games and are fortunate to get them brand new, then this new case design shouldn't matter. Because unless your using electric power drills to get a hold of your disc whilst the case is closed, or having sex with your cases - your discs should be fine and stay hole free.
12/01/09
12/01/09
12/01/09
12/01/09
12/01/09
12/01/09
However, we are going to hit a point in this world where it will no longer be an option, but rather the only choice left to make, if we are to continue existing on this planet.
Although, that will probably not be reached within our lifetime.
12/01/09
...and I'm not even a conspiracy theorist!
12/01/09
12/01/09
12/01/09
I'm not really sure what all the complaining related to these cases is about. The chance that something is going to not only poke through the backside of the case, but poke through far enough to touch the disc is tiny. Seeing as how games are usually bundled in packs of about ten in a small cardboard box I'd say the chances of this happening during shipping are nil.
Current DVD cases aren't all that wonderful anyway. I've picked up a game many times and heard the disc rattling around in the case. Needless to say that game was quickly put down and another picked up. I've also had problems with getting games/movies out of DVD cases, and there have been times when I felt as though I would break the disc trying to get it out of the case.
And if the quality of game cases is such an issue I would expect a lot more PC gamers to be complaining. Although I'm sure many PC gamers have moved onto a digital distribution service, those who still buy a boxed copy of game often find their disc is protected by nothing more than a paper sleeve.
All in all I don't see any issues with this, if this helps to cut down on the amount of materials then I'm all for it. This is right in line with the "shrinkage" of the boxes PC games come in that happened a number of years ago.
12/01/09
Personally, I doesn't bother me much, but it seems to me that if they wanted to reduce packaging costs they'd simply make a smaller box. DVD cases are stupidly oversized as it is, so why not just reduce the height by 30% instead of putting holes in the box that expose the very thing it was designed to protect...
They do it this way, I would guess, because they don't have to invest in all new manufacturing equipment for making the boxes themselves. To me it's a half measure done half-assed.
It's not the end of the world, it's just stupid design.
12/01/09
12/01/09
12/01/09