Video Games

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 2:02 am

Lokathor wrote:They even admitted as such being why the PS3 was such a long and slow disaster.

Losing the lead they had was quite a blow, but PS3 is even with 360 sales worldwide.

PS4 is winning in the pre-orders categories on Amazon right now. I wasn't expecting Microsoft to have such a stilted start.

Watching E3 makes me want to pick up a Wii-U right now though.

TarkisFlux · Post by **TarkisFlux** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 11:43 pm

http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/update
http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/19/44459 ... al-changes(removed in favor of more direct link)

So, MS seems to finally be backpeddling into the current state of affairs. I'm happy about the death of the 24 hour check, and saddened by the loss of the 10 person sharing, library, and license selling setup. Not really surprised though.

Surprisingly, Steam may be picking up the game sharing gig instead. It's not much more than some inactive code that they might turn on someday maybe right now though.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/19/44458 ... me-sharing

Surgo · Post by **Surgo** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 1:05 am

Steam game sharing would be pretty sweet. I'd love to just give away some of the games I have that I decided I didn't enjoy after all.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 9:21 pm

EDIT: http://imgur.com/a/9G906

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 10:22 pm

Avoraciopoctules wrote:http://imgur.com/a/9G906

The funniest part of that to me is that someone made videos of a fictional Smash Bros. game that had a fair number of the characters in your image macro.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 11:50 pm

I think the Missingno. one is my favorite.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 1:00 am

I figure I'll get the PS4 as soon as N1 release a game for it. Which, let's face it, they will. And I'll have a next-gen system for MOAR SPRITES.

I'll get the XBone as soon as they release a feature that makes it turn into a robot which gives you cases full of cash and hunts down your enemies to paint them blue in their sleep. Maybe. It'll also need some good games, and "lol Xbone has nogames".

I'll get the Wii-U once it stops being a piece of shit that requires holding a screen up and waving it at another screen in a display of stupid controllers to rival the original XBox Grizzly Bear, the Dreamcast controller and the NU64 five-pronged horseshoe.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 3:13 am

As great as the N64 was, the controller was an unforgivable ergonomic monstrosity. It kills my hands just to look at the damn thing.

Also, I never really understood how the hell the WiiU is supposed to work. Why does it need two screens, and how do they relate to each other? I never got it.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 4:07 am

"Is a Lego game what the Wii-U really needs? I think the answer is no - after all, it doesn't even resemble a pneumatic drill."

John Magnum · Post by **John Magnum** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 4:52 am

The Wii U is like the DS except instead of being able to switch between the two adjacent screens by making minute eye movements, you have to tilt your head and adjust your focus. So you do standard DS stuff: Put UI elements, maps, inventories, etc. on the touchpad and give touch controls for it.

I assume it works fairly well, if not as well as on the actual DS. It is nice to have a dedicated space for information that you always want instantly accessible, but not necessarily covering up your view of the actual action, and a touch pad can be really nice for inventory management and for driving turn-based games.

Presumably at some point someone will come up with a very clever, very compelling asymmetric multiplayer game that involves one player using the gamepad and the rest using real controllers, but so far that hasn't happened. I'm not even aware of any really obviously infeasible but intriguing premises for such a game, besides "D&D where the gamepad is the MC and the players with controllers are playing Dungeon Siege".

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 4:57 am

I actually heard on a podcast that there's one where one player is a ghost who is invisible on the main screen and uses the touchpad to see where they are and the other players have to fight them somehow. That certainly sounds fun.

I could see all kinds of wonderful multiplayer/co-op potential with the WiiU controller if you had four of them, but that is actually impossible as opposed to merely cripplingly expensive.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 1:11 pm

My most ardent wish (and this probably won't come true) is that the WiiU can use GameCube controllers, or at least something similar.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 1:44 pm

name_here wrote:I actually heard on a podcast that there's one where one player is a ghost who is invisible on the main screen and uses the touchpad to see where they are and the other players have to fight them somehow. That certainly sounds fun.

I could see all kinds of wonderful multiplayer/co-op potential with the WiiU controller if you had four of them, but that is actually impossible as opposed to merely cripplingly expensive.

I played the Nintendo Mini-Game Thing Wii-U thing.

That is an actual mini-game--Luigi's Mansion-themed.

The other players all have limited-range flashlights and all and can use that to make the player visible on the main screen if they're within range. Everyone's running around a maze, lightning from the storm outside can sometimes make the ghost-player invisible

There was another mini-game game I really liked--one player is "Mario" and has to evade capture by the other 3 in a set Mushroom-Kingdom-themed arena. Pipes, blocks, trails, all that. "Mario" gets a ten-second headstart on the other three, and they have two minutes to catch him. "Mario" own screen to run around while the other three get to look at the starting area while they wait. Of course, "Mario" runs off camera as fast as he can.

(In case you couldn't tell, they put the player's avatar in a Mario suit)

John Magnum · Post by **John Magnum** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 4:16 pm

It can't use Gamecube controllers. There's a "Pro Controller" that's basically a Gamecube/Dual Shock/360 pad, except for Wii U, but it's like forty or fifty dollars and doesn't come included with either of the current console bundles.

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 6:14 pm

That one zombie game seemed to use it in an immersive way, or so I hear. Your inventory, scanner, etc are all displayed on the handheld screen, so you have to take your eyes off your surroundings as you rooting in your bag or check your soliton radar.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 6:23 pm

John Magnum wrote:It can't use Gamecube controllers. There's a "Pro Controller" that's basically a Gamecube/Dual Shock/360 pad, except for Wii U, but it's like forty or fifty dollars and doesn't come included with either of the current console bundles.

Well, that sucks koala testicles.

Pseudo Stupidity · Post by **Pseudo Stupidity** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:12 pm

The Wii U is a lot of fun by virtue of its multiplayer being the best in-person multiplayer you'll see...well, ever. Nintendo Land alone is worth the price of admission if you have enough wiimotes (otherwise it's an extra $200 for the wiimotes) and friends who actually like games that are fun. It has short games that encourage communication, and at parties that mostly means you're drunkenly shouting insults at the guy with the gamepad, or drunkenly shouting insults at everyone else if you have the gamepad. It's even fun to watch people play, and after you play games you can scribble dicks on the Miiverse.

It not using GC controllers just confirms that Smash Bros 4 is going to suck, because the pro controller is an objectively shitty controller and that will be the only way to play it. Then again, Smash 64 is still tons of fun even though it requires shitty controllers that have the added bonus of breaking if you use them enough.

For what it's worth, the zombie game has really fun single-player too. The Wii U is a fun little thing, even if it only has a couple games worth getting right now.

It also has a ballin' ass feature where you can watch/play some games just using the gamepad, letting you play your game or watch silly shit on youtube/hulu/netflix while somebody else watches real TV or uses a different game system. So yeah, you can play Mario while somebody watches Game of Thrones.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 11:11 pm

Pseudo Stupidity wrote:Then again, Smash 64 is still tons of fun even though it requires shitty controllers that have the added bonus of breaking if you use them enough.

In my experience N64 controllers are much sturdier than Gamecube controllers.

I was pissed when I found out Gamestop stopped selling Gamecube controllers for that reason.

Fucking tiny ass shoulder Z button.

Pseudo Stupidity · Post by **Pseudo Stupidity** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 12:48 am

Whattttttt? I've been using the same Gamecube controller since it came out. My N64 controllers, on the other hand, have been broken for a while. I did play original Mario Party on them though, and that game went through controllers (and hands) like crazy.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 12:57 am

The N64's joystick went loose and floppy after you handled it enough. And then you'd have to open it up and retune it to get it stiff and ready for real action again.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 3:56 pm

The N64 controller was uncomfortable to hold (at least, it is for me), and like Maxus said, the joystick went floppy, loose and flaccid like it had just been to a 78 hour orgy and was really hung-over.

Whereas the Gamecube controller was more comfortable to hold, didn't give your hands cramps, and it's joysticks never went 10'' floppy disk on you.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 4:12 pm

Loose joysticks are better than breaking Z buttons, and the Gamecube's joysticks were not particularly great either (but admittedly better than the N64 ones).

Also, if you have like any hand problems at all the Gamecube controller is basically impossible to use (as a certain member of our gaming group can attest to, Shrapnel) so it's not winning any awards for "more comfortable to use," either.

Perhaps I'm just unlucky, or Z buttons hate me, but I consider the Gamecube controller to be one of the worst designed controllers ever.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 4:21 pm

Loose joysticks are better than breaking Z buttons

Umm.... no, they're not.

Yes, sometimes the Z button breaks on a GC controller. But the Z button isn't as necessary as say... the fucking joystick.

Example:

Can you play Smash without grabbing? Yes. Yes you can.

Can you play Super Mario 64 without moving your character around? No. No you cannot.

Also, if you have like any hand problems at all the Gamecube controller is basically impossible to use (as a certain member of our gaming group can attest to, Shrapnel) so it's not winning any awards for "more comfortable to use," either.

The N64 makes my hand feel like I've been gripping a three pronged horseshoe for several hours.

The GameCube controller... doesn't.

I'm not saying the GC controller is super comfortable, but it's easier to hold and it's design is less counter-intuitive.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 4:28 pm

Something being loose is not as bad as something being broken, plain and simple.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 3:15 am

Let's just compromise and agree that the UN should ban Nintendo from designing their own controllers.