Rumor has it Steam is having two major sales over the next month.
Some random developer (who are in the know because they have to authorize the pricing for their games) claims there's an "Autumn sale" running tomorrow through 11/27. He also claims the Holiday Sale will run 12/20-1/4.
WOAH. Any feedback on that? Definitely interested in that! I feel a time sink coming on...
Hill climb racer is a fun little game.
I've only watched a little bit from afar on the whole Raspberry Pi thing, but it seems like the people who like to get hands on with them absolutely love them. It looks like people have been building MAME cabinets with them. Sounds like it doesn't have enough power to properly run an XBMC media setup though (apparently has poor codec support and can't pump out enough power to display 1080p content properly).
Last year I played some Zelda and I know I had to connect with USB at first but thought it worked via BT after that. I'll have to check. Wireless USB controllers aren't that expensive anyway.
I haven't burned a DVD in a long time. I have multiple hard drives and now have them hooked up to a wireless home network so everything can be accessed remotely by any device on the network.
Hell my Macbook doesn't even have a DVD drive. One less thing to break. I do have a $30 external that is used for ripping movies though, which are compressed down to 1-1.5GB and put on the wireless drive.
Streaming internet video has saved me so many GB of space.
You and the rest of the world...there are so many great older games I want to replay that are kind of lost right now. The great games for NES, SNES, PSX, N64, Gamecube, etc. It just sucks because if you want to play them all you have to spend a fortune on virtual games and have multiple consoles.
Hopefully sometime soon someone develops a cheap sub-$100 media PC. There are so many devices out there that have the physical specs but can't run a proper OS...and there are lots of media PC's that have more than necessary physical specs and run a proper OS but are big/noisy/expensive.
I just really want Nintendo to become a software developer. It's clear Sony and Microsoft are going to continue to build good consoles that branch off PC design and neither are going away soon. Nintendo is just off in their own world. The Wii was outdated upon release and the WiiU will be outdated fairly quickly.
Old Nintendo games on the PS3/360 would be sweet. Then Nintendo just focuses on developing solid first party games for a much wider user base. And refocus their efforts on handheld gaming (great as phone games are, nothing beats buttons for many games).
On pure graphical processing power it is already. Madden and Batman are great examples.
The WiiU Madden can't run the same physics engine that the 360/PS3 can. The WiiU Batman looks like crap, imo...
I'll be entirely honest, I expect the WiiU to turn into the current Wii within 18 months. It will be gathering dust on people's shelves.
It's scary to think that I'm the one being the most positive about the Wii U. It has an incredible first mover advantage right now. It's priced comparably to the PS3 Move bundle and the 360 Kinect bundle. Both those systems have already filled so many households, that there's not really much on the market for it to compete with. It will have the market all to itself for this holiday season, and depending on how well Microsoft sticks to their schedule, it will be alone in the market until at least November of next year.
There's at least a couple games coming out that are trying to be system sellers and are experimenting with the new gimmick. Ubisoft has absolutely embarrassed Nintendo in that regard. If the system can get enough momentum in its exclusive window, and get enough developer buy-in on its whole tablet gimmick, it should be fairly successful.
No, it won't hit the Wii's sales figures, but I don't believe that anyone at Nintendo expects it to. It definitely doesn't need to to be successful. I wouldn't be concerned about Nintendo's next console. What I'd worry about is the system after that one. This is a seventh gen console that will likely be competing with eighth gen systems in Orbis and Durango. Nintendo will get away with that, but I don't think a new gimmick or even first mover advantage will allow it to ship an eighth gen machine against ninth gen systems. Nintendo will need to catch up if they want to keep selling non-portable hardware.
Hah, last night I told my girlfriend they need mind control remotes because I didn't want to lean over and grab it off the table from the couch.
The thing with Nintendo is they do a solid job with their programming but the hardware is awful. The Mario Galaxy games aren't bad, Twilight Princess seemed to be loved, the Wii Play and Sports were all good. A lot of the games you can pick right up and play and enjoy. They've almost always had great first party titles (Mario, Zelda, Metroid).
But the Wii controllers were so bad...when they came out they are okay at best but needed an additional piece of hardware to sense the motion properly, and even then it's good but not great.
And of course the graphics...they were five years outdated on launch for the Wii and the WiiU will be outdated pretty quickly. You want some future-proofing built in. The 360/PS3 still look pretty decent for some games...not so much on the Wii.
So now they are going to have a Gameboy instead of a controller? Just doesn't make much sense to me. At their price point they have to be losing money on systems...why can't they just go right to software development, drop the lost money on hardware, and they'd more than break even with the lost profits on hardware and software licenses.
Hah, last night I told my girlfriend they need mind control remotes because I didn't want to lean over and grab it off the table from the couch.
The thing with Nintendo is they do a solid job with their programming but the hardware is awful. The Mario Galaxy games aren't bad, Twilight Princess seemed to be loved, the Wii Play and Sports were all good. A lot of the games you can pick right up and play and enjoy. They've almost always had great first party titles (Mario, Zelda, Metroid).
But the Wii controllers were so bad...when they came out they are okay at best but needed an additional piece of hardware to sense the motion properly, and even then it's good but not great.
And of course the graphics...they were five years outdated on launch for the Wii and the WiiU will be outdated pretty quickly. You want some future-proofing built in. The 360/PS3 still look pretty decent for some games...not so much on the Wii.
So now they are going to have a Gameboy instead of a controller? Just doesn't make much sense to me. At their price point they have to be losing money on systems...why can't they just go right to software development, drop the lost money on hardware, and they'd more than break even with the lost profits on hardware and software licenses.
To Nintendo's credit, they generally do a very good job of designing their games' art styles to age well and not show the inadequacies of the graphics hardware. Those issues really, really, really show in third-party games though. Ditto the Wiimote, actually. Nintendo's games worked really well and were fun to play even with some motion controls, but third-parties half-assed the motion and had no restraint or understanding that some game features need precision. And I believe the Wii U is the first system Nintendo has sold at a loss, but they've been telling investors that one game purchase puts it in the black again.
I think The tablet makes at least some sense. There are three big selling points to it, all of which are fairly astute (if maybe a bit faddish) in the current market:
- Tablets are absurdly popular and developers can put tablet games like Angry Birds directly onto the Wii U, including mirroring on the big screen, without any big changes to gameplay. Plus it can mirror some tablet features like web browsing and video chat.
- That people don't have to stop playing when their nagging family member tells them to quit playing Nintendo because their favorite show is on.
- That asymmetrical multiplayer is fun, and Nintendo has found huge success in targeting their systems toward local multiplayer while MS and Sony neglect that segment of the market.
I mean I agree that Nintendo kind of half-bakes their hardware (especially the OS, networking, and UI stuff...dear god...) and to be honest I would be very, very happy if they just started putting out games for 360. But I don't think the Wii U as bad of a business decision as you do.
I don't think it's a terrible decision. And I like that concept of playing on the handheld screen if necessary. I suppose it's more a wish than a business proposal.
For me, it's like...there are two systems that cover most of the ground, the 360 and PS3. Both will play the latest Call of Duty, EA sports, Assassins Creed, Bethesda games, etc. The systems are similar enough you can produce both without so much difficulty. Because the Nintendo systems are so far behind the curve, those studios won't port (past maybe this first year of WiiU).
I prefer the regular controller for gaming. I don't really dig standing up and flailing my arms or whatever. If I play a game, my lazy ass is sitting on the couch and I just want to move my thumbs.
So it would be great if I could play next gen Zelda games with graphics that blow away Skyrim yet have the charm and feel of a Nintendo game...but I probably won't.
Case in point: 15 years ago I had to decide between Playstation and N64. I chose Playstation because of Final Fantasy. As a result, I only played Ocarina of Time many, many years later on an emulator and only played Mario 64 for about an hour. Still haven't played Wind Waker. Probably won't play Twilight Princess. Etc.
I feel sorry for those who didn't get to play the n64 properly. Goldeneye, mario kart, and perfect dark were of the best multi-player games of all time. Super mario 64 and ocarina of time were great too.
Bought F1 2012 today. Really liking it; though I found the Legend AI a bit too fast (they could catch me about two seconds a sector even with me not making any mistakes and driving on the edge). Professional is pretty good though.
First race in Melbourne I qualify 9th, get up to 6th from the start, keeping that position. Unfortunately I was trying to stretch my first stint with used tires a bit too long, so I spun and my front wing was damaged. Get back to the track behind Button, I was trying to stay close to him, I go wide in the fast chicane, and with me wanting to stay close I kept the car on the throttle and I tried to just steer it back to the road. But I lose the back-end, while trying to fix that my car takes an odd jump and straight in to the wall. Race over.
In Malaysia I qualified 23rd, I was way too cocky with the track being a bit damp, set one time and I thought it was gonna be enough to get me through, turns out it wasn't and I spin with my last try as I rushed back to the track.
The race started with a little wet track, but everyone had their options on. I go from 23rd to 17th in the first corner, enter the third corner at 15th, avoid some crash and suddenly I'm 11th. I got past Ricciardo, Schumacher and Maldonado to get myself to 8th. I decide to follow others into the pits, I choose intermediates and the pit crew does a great job; so I exit the pits in 2nd place just behind Alonso. For my surprise Alonso was going real slow and when I overtake him I was shocked to see him running primes. That's when I knew it was my time to attack. With everyone else running on primes and there being slight rain in most parts of the track in just 7 laps I get the lead up to 20 seconds when I decide to come into the pits to get my primes. I return in 3rd and overtake Hamilton a lap later. He stays on my ass for about three laps until his tires go off the cliff and that's what got my hopes up, I was just eight seconds behind Alonso with three laps to go; he's been running on the same tires as long as Lewis so he might go off the cliff as well. First lap - Fastest Lap of the Race, second lap - just a tenth off. Coming to the Final Lap, Alonso was four seconds ahead, I drive another Fastest Lap of the Race in the Final Lap and finish 2nd 1.3 seconds behind Alonso. I wish there was one to two more laps left, I would've won; but I'll take the second place as well, especially since I started from the last row.
Bought F1 2012 today. Really liking it; though I found the Legend AI a bit too fast (they could catch me about two seconds a sector even with me not making any mistakes and driving on the edge). Professional is pretty good though.
First race in Melbourne I qualify 9th, get up to 6th from the start, keeping that position. Unfortunately I was trying to stretch my first stint with used tires a bit too long, so I spun and my front wing was damaged. Get back to the track behind Button, I was trying to stay close to him, I go wide in the fast chicane, and with me wanting to stay close I kept the car on the throttle and I tried to just steer it back to the road. But I lose the back-end, while trying to fix that my car takes an odd jump and straight in to the wall. Race over.
In Malaysia I qualified 23rd, I was way too cocky with the track being a bit damp, set one time and I thought it was gonna be enough to get me through, turns out it wasn't and I spin with my last try as I rushed back to the track.
The race started with a little wet track, but everyone had their options on. I go from 23rd to 17th in the first corner, enter the third corner at 15th, avoid some crash and suddenly I'm 11th. I got past Ricciardo, Schumacher and Maldonado to get myself to 8th. I decide to follow others into the pits, I choose intermediates and the pit crew does a great job; so I exit the pits in 2nd place just behind Alonso. For my surprise Alonso was going real slow and when I overtake him I was shocked to see him running primes. That's when I knew it was my time to attack. With everyone else running on primes and there being slight rain in most parts of the track in just 7 laps I get the lead up to 20 seconds when I decide to come into the pits to get my primes. I return in 3rd and overtake Hamilton a lap later. He stays on my ass for about three laps until his tires go off the cliff and that's what got my hopes up, I was just eight seconds behind Alonso with three laps to go; he's been running on the same tires as long as Lewis so he might go off the cliff as well. First lap - Fastest Lap of the Race, second lap - just a tenth off. Coming to the Final Lap, Alonso was four seconds ahead, I drive another Fastest Lap of the Race in the Final Lap and finish 2nd 1.3 seconds behind Alonso. I wish there was one to two more laps left, I would've won; but I'll take the second place as well, especially since I started from the last row.
Sounds good. As a big fan of racing games, I might give that a shot later. How's the steering by the way? Some people claim that the steering lag is horrendous, but you didn't mention it so I assume it's fine on a pad.
Right now it's probably #3 on my "to buy"-list, after the latest WRC and UFC Undisputed 3. That being said, I seldom buy console games.
Sounds good. As a big fan of racing games, I might give that a shot later. How's the steering by the way? Some people claim that the steering lag is horrendous, but you didn't mention it so I assume it's fine on a pad.
Right now it's probably #3 on my "to buy"-list, after the latest WRC and UFC Undisputed 3. That being said, I seldom buy console games.
Feels good to me, better than in the last two games IMO. They've put some good work in on making the game better for players with no wheel.
Feels good to me, better than in the last two games IMO. They've put some good work in on making the game better for players with no wheel.
Thanks for that. I should get my hands on a copy, then.
I was actually half-waiting for the Nascar: The Game Inside Line (aka Nascar 2012). They released a huge list of improvements, and the features list looked good. I decided to check for another board on their opinion first. All I could see was basically a couple of YT videos, laughing, denial and this review:
Yeah. I'm keeping my money, thank you.
Seriously, how did this piece of crap get released?
