The Official "Console War" and Video Game Thread

[Shredder]

hope it's not just me. want to get my old gamer tag and games back from the flooded xbox ;o)

got it working..now i just have to get my old HD from the other xbox to stop clicking so i can hopefully transfer the three games no longer around. turtles 1/2 and xmen

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http://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...74084915_n.jpg

awesome, but that re-vamped snes that wasn't needed doesn't count. i still have the original . i just wish i bought that re-vamped smaller nes top loader when i saw it in toys r us...

[pH6]

awesome, but that re-vamped snes that wasn't needed doesn't count.

You're saying us here in Europe didn't need a SNES? Now I know why this is a 'WAR' thread!

[wolfsfang]

what re-vamped SNES?

all SNES' in the UK and Europe look like that (unless you have imported one of course)

[Shredder]

You're saying us here in Europe didn't need a SNES? Now I know why this is a 'WAR' thread!

nonono...here in US, Didn't they re-release the SNES twice? They did it for the NES. The first one was the slide loader, and the second NES was a top loader that looked VERY much like that one. I wasn't aware that was a EURO SNES original .

[wolfsfang]

i am confused, are we talking NES or SNES?

NES has been both a slide and top loader

SNES (as far as I am aware) have all been top loaders

[Shredder]

i am confused, are we talking NES or SNES?

NES has been both a slide and top loader

SNES (as far as I am aware) have all been top loaders

my bad :
NES1: Slide Loader
NES2: Top Loader

SNES1: Big Bulky push bottons for start and reset
SNES2: A bit sleaker, out in I think 1997.

So, yeah. US got two SNES, and I thought the one in that photo above was of the second SNES's released here..

[Fendi]

Really sounds like the Console 'War' is pretty much over...everyone pretty much at peace and playing on whatever they play on.

And thus the long running thread ends with a whimper, not a bang...unless, of course, some killer new console comes out.

I disagree, Jack. =) Wii U is the start of the 8th generation Consoles. There will be a new battle for the developers after both Microsoft and Sony announce their latest consoles soon.

as for competition? here's one of the new machine that would be joining the 8th generation Consoles war.



I would say it is an interesting concept, especially with the size of the thing and how the developers tend to listen to the independent game studio.

I might not expecting something big or anything but, I hope they could pull it out nicely against Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft.

[TheDeviot]

I disagree, Jack. =) Wii U is the start of the 8th generation Consoles. There will be a new battle for the developers after both Microsoft and Sony announce their latest consoles soon.

as for competition? here's one of the new machine that would be joining the 8th generation Consoles war.



I would say it is an interesting concept, especially with the size of the thing and how the developers tend to listen to the independent game studio.

I might not expecting something big or anything but, I hope they could pull it out nicely against Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft.

Eh. I don't see Ouya making a splash at all. Solely on the fact it's library will be all Cell Phone/Tablet games. Except now they're on the TV.
While there may be one or two exceptions you won't be seeing AAA $70 titles on it. At least not until the Tablets get to a point they can
handle those games, and people buy them en masse.

I bought Epic Mickey 2 w a gift card. liking it so far.

[wolfsfang]

I also got Epic Mickey 2 for the PS3 except I am finding it to be very disappointing with poor controls (even using the move), boring story and terrible AI, especially when you are stuck with the comp controlling Oswald as it takes it forever to get him to use the remote on stuff. The first one was a lot of fun but 2 not so much

[TheDeviot]

I also got Epic Mickey 2 for the PS3 except I am finding it to be very disappointing with poor controls (even using the move), boring story and terrible AI, especially when you are stuck with the comp controlling Oswald as it takes it forever to get him to use the remote on stuff. The first one was a lot of fun but 2 not so much

I think the game is going to be as polarizing as the first one, some will really love it, some will really hate it.
Part of that I think is the fact that Junction Point (Warren Spector's studio) only did the Wii version. Versions on other consoles were ports done by Blitz (The guys who did the Burger King games.)
I've read about some complaints with controls, camera angles, and Oswald as an NPC. I haven't seen it too badly on Wii so far.
Pressing -, and B simultaneously usually gets Oswald to do his remote fine, so long as the icons appear above Mickey, and Oswald's heads.
Camera is a little better than last time, but still a little off. Controls seem okay. As far as the story goes? Well yeah, the last time around we got something around
the lines of American McGee's Alice employing some themes of guilt, despair, and forgiveness in it. All wrapped in some creepy yet inviting atmosphere.
This time it feels like they decided to take part of the plot of Mega Man 3 "I'm an evil scientist. But I'm good now. Seriously, I've changed. Really, I swear! (But I'm actually
going to backstab you guys about 20 hours from now.)", and run with it. But it still does some really creative things. Like having musical numbers in it the way
nearly every Disney animated movie has. Anyhoot, so far I'm enjoying it. The music is fun, the levels are fun to explore, there are a variety of ways to tackle quests, and even
side mission variety is pretty decent. Voice acting is pretty great, and there is a LOT of nostalgia like last time. The atmosphere is almost as eerie as last time. And they EXPANDED
the Paint, and Thinner mechanic. Now there's also invisible ink you can use for stealth, and another ink that acts like armor. It's not terribly expensive right now either
so I'd say check it out if anyone's curious.

[Fendi]

Eh. I don't see Ouya making a splash at all. Solely on the fact it's library will be all Cell Phone/Tablet games. Except now they're on the TV.
While there may be one or two exceptions you won't be seeing AAA $70 titles on it. At least not until the Tablets get to a point they can
handle those games, and people buy them en masse.

I bought Epic Mickey 2 w a gift card. liking it so far.

I agree, it won't be a household titles in the machine, probably like Google Play and such, or Steam might jump into the machine since they have their own *TV like interface*.

But they might need their own Hard Drive for storage, especially with big games later. I think it's alright since most of the folks now going for digital download and straight for your Machine.

Since it's Android, the big developers going to have a hard time converting those item into Android. For example, Dark Soul.

[Skullface]

So any thoughts on today's gaming news?

Nintendo came out with a 30 minute or so direct feed showcasing upcoming product announcements for Wii U, including a new 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Smash Bros., Fire Emblem X Shin Megami Tensei, Zelda, Yoshi('s Epic Yarn), and an HD remake of Wind Waker.

Personally, I wish Nintendo would get Eiji Aonuma off console-based Zelda. Again, it's my own personal preference. The series in general has been going on a decline since Ocarina came out. (BTW - Ocarina is NOT my fave in the series-LTTP is, but Ocarina is #2) He's constantly trying new things (which I understand why), but their execution has not been necessarily for the better, when he focuses on the majority of the new additions at the expense of the core. Majora's Mask was good, but it did get understandably repetitive, due to the nature of the whole 3-day phenomenon. Wind Waker was OK, but for me, the overabundance of the sailing aspect really wore out it's welcome quite quickly. I never had a problem with the art style that many people do. Twilight Princess was a step back in the right direction, but the motion controls felt completely tacked on, as they were, and the amount of time stuck as wolf Link w/o the ability to switch at will was a bit too much for my liking. I'm totally in the minority regarding Skyward Sword. To this day, it's the only Nintendo console Zelda game I have yet to finish. There's just so much about it that I particularly dislike. The flying, the "1-to-1" sword controls, the decreased amount/creativity of dungeons, the HUGE amount of time sent on fetch quests instead of the main plot, the half & half art style(not cel-shaded but not realistic), etc... I guess I'm just the old fart who likes my traditional Zelda philosophy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it-Just make the core aspects even better." But my interest in the series has waned greatly in the last 10+ years. It's the one series I'm perfectly happy to play similar incarnations over & over again-Just give me a ton of fun/puzzling dungeons to plow through, and I'm a happy camper. Aonuma's news that he's looking to completely re-invent the series has me less than optimistic. However, I will pick up the Wind Waker re-make if & when I ever purchase a Wii U.

THQ's auction fallout from yesterday resulted in several studio/franchise purchases, all pending approval in bankruptcy court. Biggest for me personally, is nobody acquiring Vigil games (potentially & effectively killing the Darksiders franchise), and Ubisoft purchasing publishing rights to South Park: The Stick of Truth. We'll see what happens w/South Park, as Matt & Trey filed suit against THQ an hour before the auction, claiming breach of contract. Either way, I doubt that game will come out anywhere near it's most recent street date of 3/5...

[markatisu]

Fire Emblem X Shin Megami Tensei and HD Wind Waker FTW

Its also nice to finally see an EPIC HD game come to a Nintendo platform

[Fendi]

THQ's auction fallout from yesterday resulted in several studio/franchise purchases, all pending approval in bankruptcy court. Biggest for me personally, is nobody acquiring Vigil games (potentially & effectively killing the Darksiders franchise), and Ubisoft purchasing publishing rights to South Park: The Stick of Truth. We'll see what happens w/South Park, as Matt & Trey filed suit against THQ an hour before the auction, claiming breach of contract. Either way, I doubt that game will come out anywhere near it's most recent street date of 3/5...

Sega purchased Relic entertainment which is I'm looking forward to (I'm a big fan of Relic stuff). Koch Media and Take Two Interactive purchased Metro and WWE universe specifically.

So things getting interesting when some of 'em part away to another company.

edit: Bad news for the Darksiders fans, Vigil studio, the developer of Darksiders declared that the studio has defunct. but rumors has it that Platinum Games going to purchase the rights of Darksiders.

[GeologyMule]

I picked up the Wii U before christmas. I got Mario Bros, ZombiU and it came with Nintendo Land. It is cool, but it hasn't blown me out of the water. I'm glad to see the HD and better graphics. Nintendo Land is a lot of fun utilizing the gamepad. Mario is just another Mario game. It doesn't really utilize the gamepad, but is still fun. ZombiU is creepy, but extremely hard. I've died a lot and haven't progressed at all in the game. The idea is fun, and the integration with the gamepad was ok, but they tried to mix a zombie survival game with a hack and slash game. Result: Instant death.

[Skullface]

So 2/20 will be the PS4 unveiling/media event. (Technically, Sony is calling it the "future of the PS brand")

I've read rumors that there will be no BC, (Outside of PSN releases-Count on that being true) the Dualshock will be slightly redesigned, replacing the start/select/home button area with a small touchscreen, quKQ9.jpg and that Europe won't get it before 2014. Have also read that Sony's looking to put more focus into social media features, which makes me roll my eyes, but one of them is rumored to be uploading photos/videos of gameplay directly from the game menu. (Which *could* actually be cool)

Oh, and the live action trailer for God of War: Ascension is pretty cool too....

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Hmmmm.... I'm not thrilled about the possible lack of backwards compatibility for the PS4, but I'm not surprised either. It just makes me more paranoid about long term access to DLC that was meant for disc-based games. Eventually they'll drop support for it.

Hopefully the PSN game can transfer over.

It would be cool if they were to copy the Wii U with having the option to play the games right on the touch screen. That feature is awesome, IMO.

[Beastmangler]

I think the PS4 controller is rumored to have a touchpad not a Touch Screen so no Off TV play, I could be wrong though. Also, the social gaming thing is kinda of cool if it's like Miiverse. Miiverse is kind of addicitng.

[mightybuck]

not wild about the touch pad on the new controller. i like tactile buttons. the lack of backwards compatibility doesn't bother me. i don't play older games all that much (even the ones i've downloaded from PSN). even i did, i don't ever get rid of functioning consoles.

[Alexx]

FINALLY got one of these! Not as hard to track down as I had thought. I had been searching for "NES Model 101" when all I needed to do was search for "NES 2." I had seen one way back at the beginning of college for 80, but I didn't have the cash back then. Managed to find one on Amazon for 82, so not much lost!

This thing is amazing in that it just boggles my mind how the original ever came into existence.



You pick up the original NES and you can just tell there's a lot more hollow space in there than you really need. I mean, from the original Famicom this thing has been a top loader...why did they feel the need to make it SO MUCH MORE complicated? I mean...pop the game in the top. Is it that hard? What was going through the minds of the redesigners that said: "Okay...you know how the game just goes in the top? Well scratch that crap - Americans need complication. They need to work for that game! I'm half tempted to put useless moving gears on this thing, to tell you the truth, but I think we should just stick to a giant mysterious box where - and stay with me on this one - instead of just pushing a game down....we push it in first, then down! This way, there are more mechanisms that could possibly break, making this machine seem way more complicated and futuristic than it really is."

So yeah, when you lift these two things, you can FEEL how solid the NES 2 is. No wasted space. And now I can finally play my NES games without friggin' fighting with them! No blowing, no moving it slightly to the right and trying it, then to the left and trying again, then slightly pulling the cart out and seeing how that works and....well any more and we start to get vulgar - you know what I'm talkin' about. First game I tried was Double Dragon 2, which I haven't gotten to work well in years. Popped it in, gave me a little garble, pressed the reset button and BAM: Video game time. No muss no fuss. Who would have thought that NOT adding needlessly complicated extra mechanisms would make a better console?

[mightybuck]

i'll probably never own an NES 2 (if my 101 dies, i'd end up buying something like a retro duo), but ever since i heard how reliable they were, i've been interested. as far as why the first NES didn't look like that, it's because of the video game crash. NOA did everything it could to market a video game console as anything but. so instead of being a top loader, the NES was designed to have more of a VCR aesthetic.

[kylun flac]

Gaming systems that I have had were:
Nintendo, Game Boy, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, PlayStation 2 & Xbox 360.

I plan on getting a Wii or PlayStation 3 in the future. Sucky thing about the Wii is I only want a few games. Manly for Mario Kart, the Mario games & Legend of Zelda.

[Alexx]

i'll probably never own an NES 2 (if my 101 dies, i'd end up buying something like a retro duo), but ever since i heard how reliable they were, i've been interested. as far as why the first NES didn't look like that, it's because of the video game crash. NOA did everything it could to market a video game console as anything but. so instead of being a top loader, the NES was designed to have more of a VCR aesthetic.

Yeah I had looked that up sometime after posting! I had been talkin' with my friends about how odd a change they made to the NES originally, and I realized that I had never really looked it up. Makes SO MUCH more sense now! The look, the color, the way they advertised it with the family sitting around and enjoying it. Funny how it makes sense within the context of the timeframe. The other thing I realized after finding that out was that they sorta went back to basics with the advertising of the Wii. I mean, so many game systems have focused on graphics, games, power, all that. The original advertisments for the NES were family oriented though, and the Wii went back to that idea. They really went back to basics!

[Skullface]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/...rce-first-look

Skylanders Swap Force (Skylanders 3) coming this fall. New concept where figures are separated at the waist to mix & match to "customize" your Skylanders w/multiple elements. 16 original characters being carried forward-16 new characters being introduced-no word yet if Giants will appear or be compatible.

New info on a possible entry in the Legacy of Kain series:

http://www.ps3trophies.org/news/news...in-Reboot.html

[Fendi]

Alright ladies and gentleman, today is the day to see the future development of Playstation.


As you heard the rumors, Microsoft is trying to downgrade Xbox and turn it into a Multimedia consoles instead of gaming consoles.

Alright folks, the next generation war starts...... NOW