The Lounge: Gamers' Division

[hisak]

I can't see a Sunshine port happening. Reggie all but disowned the game when they were hyping up Galaxy back in 2007. I think we're actually going to get a full-fledged 3D platformer on 3DS, which I'm excited about.

[Bidet to you sir]

I really liked sunshine, why did reggie disown it?

[hisak]

I liked it too.

Because the Nintendo fanbase is largely petulant and a lot of people didn't like Sunshine. I doubt Reggie actually disliked it. And he didn't actually say it was a bad game. He just implied it with statements like "Galaxy is the true successor to Super Mario 64!"

But I'd obviously rather have a new platformer than a Sunshine port, anyway.

[The_Human_Cyborg]

I actually liked it better than SM64 (I know, it's a sin) but Galaxy definitely trumped it in creativity and gameplay finesse.
Nintendo fans just have too high standards, they either love the game or want to murder the dev team.

[hisak]

Nintendo will be attending CES 2011, which starts on January 6. I'm completely expecting 3DS release details.

[ZeldaMaster]

^Yes. I am looking forward to seeing some more news on the 3DS. I am excited to see what they have in store for Ocarina of Time 3DS. It will be great to take my favorite game around with me. There are plenty of other exciting titles as well like Kid Icarus (Little skeptical), Pokemon, and I'm sure a Mario game and the proverbial Mario Kart 3DS. Is there anything you all are looking forward to hearing about?

[hisak]

Is there anything you all are looking forward to hearing about?

I definitely want more information on Paper Mario, and a release date on Mario Kart. Both should be pretty great. I'm having trouble getting too excited for Kid Icarus, since we don't know much about what the final product will look like, but I have confidence in Sakurai to make a good game.

Miyamoto's hinted that the system will be getting both 2D and 3D Mario platformers, so I'm looking forward to both of those announcements, whenever they arrive.

[ZeldaMaster]

Is there anything you all are looking forward to hearing about?

I definitely want more information on Paper Mario, and a release date on Mario Kart.

I am definitely with you on the Paper Mario news. Those games were unnaturally fun and a portable version would be awesome.

How about that augmented reality for the 3DS guys? 

[hisak]

How about that augmented reality for the 3DS guys? 

I was kind of confused on this end. What exactly are we getting from augmented reality games? I'm completely unfamiliar with the whole concept.

[ZeldaMaster]

How about that augmented reality for the 3DS guys?  

I was kind of confused on this end. What exactly are we getting from augmented reality games? I'm completely unfamiliar with the whole concept.

If you're not sure what augmented reality is, it's a type of gaming that uses a camera to show your surroundings, then uses graphical technology to add in elements so it looks as though the two worlds have merged. By reading specially designed cards for the 3DS, games can create new objects for users to interact with: Kind of like the PS3 game Eye of Judgment is you ever saw advertisements for that.

With the 3DS, Nintendo is going to use augmented reality by including pre-installed AR titles on the machine, as well as packing in six special paper cards that will interact with the games. Using the 3DS's outward-facing camera, the machine will be able to 'read' the cards to draw new items in the game world. Then you will go from there. It's been pretty hush hush on what exactly the titles are and what not but it looks rather interesting to me. Nintendo always puts creative spins on things. There is a video for 3DS in Japan that once I find I will post it so you can watch it. It has a brief look at augmented reality. 

EDIT: Found it
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz4wt8zxixo" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz4wt8zxixo</a>

[hisak]

Oh right, I forgot about that video. It looks pretty cool. I like the automated Mii creation too.

[ZeldaMaster]

Oh right, I forgot about that video. It looks pretty cool. I like the automated Mii creation too.

Yeah the Mii creation tool was pretty slick looking. That video is very "hype" worthy as one might say.

[hisak]

So I know people are probably still burned on IGN after the whole Kid Icarus fiasco two years ago (that, and they have horrible writers), but they also leaked news of Donkey Kong Country Returns a few days before E3, so...

Anyway, check this out:

http://wii.ign.com/articles/113/1138536p1.html

We have plenty to say about Smash Bros., and you'll definitely hear more about the franchise in the months to come. For now, we're curious: which of the three games is your favorite? Though each game seemingly improved on its predecessor, the additions and increasingly manic gameplay could easily alienate those looking for a more streamlined experience. Plus no doubt many of you have a favorite character in one release or another. Some (Jigglypuff) have seen their power levels drastically change over the years while others (Snake, Sonic) have only seen one iteration.

If that's a 3DS game they're hinting at...

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

If that's a 3DS game they're hinting at...

... Then I will not be surprised. It has to be, right? After all, the subject of a handheld Smash Bros has been on the mind of Nintendo gamers for years, although my opinion has always been the same:

I don't think the DS has enough power to pull this off well enough. I love my DS, but I can only imagine it feeling a bit cheap compared to the sheer awesomeness that Brawl seems to have packed into it.

Now we have the 3DS which packs much more of a punch than the DS. Nintendo would be mad not to bring their Smash *groan* hit franchise to the next big gaming platform. It might not be as content-heavy as Brawl, but it does have the muscle power to handle it from a graphical and gameplay standpoint.

So bring it on.

[hupla]

Why the fuck would IGN know ANYTHING about the new smashbros?

[hisak]

No idea, and it's more likely that they don't know anything. But it would be pretty awesome.

[hisak]

Fluidity, the WiiWare game I brought up a few months ago that no one paid any attention to has received a 9.0 from Destructoid. I might download it in a week or so.

[hisak]

Hey, Activision announced a new Spyro game! They're hoping to breathe new life into the franchise. I didn't get to play a whole lot of it, but I really enjoyed the Playstation games and hopefull--

The goal with this new game is to merge physical toys and video games in a way that's never been done before by giving the toys the ability to remember anything and everything that's gone on in the game. ... Toys for Bob studio head Paul Reiche III calls them "toys with brains," and said he and his team wanted to really push toys into the future.


... When sold at retail, the game will come bundled with a special "Portal" peripheral as well as three different character figurines. The Portal plugs into the game console, and when players place a figurine on the portal, that character appears in the game. As long as the figurine remains on the portal, it saves everything the player does in the game. The player can then take the figurine to a friend's house and pull the character into his friend's game blah blah blah blah The use of the toys is less of a gimmick than in some other games because the fact that the characters are tiny frozen figurines is weaved into the game's mythology.

Additional figurines (more than 30 total) will be sold separately.

I have no words.

The news story did,however, provide us with this wonderful comment from an IGN member:

Ya thats a good idea, because all the peripherals Activision has done, where great. Bobby K listen up... GAMES ARE NOT TOYS! THEY ARE INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCES. YOU WILL NOT MAKE A FORTUNE OFF SELLING JUNK TO GAMERS, YOU WILL CLOSE MORE STUDIOS AND ULTIMATELY FAIL.

I'm glad to see they're using the extra resources that came from canceling Guitar Hero so well.


EDIT: There's a trailer:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zhr9CntRIE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zhr9CntRIE</a>

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

This might just be the dumbest franchise reboot since Steve Martin's Pink Panther...

And that is one pig-fugly redesign. Too scary for the kiddies, but no good for the hardcore crowd because he's a purple fucking dragon.

[Bidet to you sir]

The main problem is that it looks like it has some sort of learning difficulty.

I mean, if sonic looked retarded everyone would feel a bit uneasy about playing it.