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Famitsu reviews (Mar 4 issue)

duckroll said:
In Japan? Dorimaga or The Playstation. I really really like Dorimaga reviews above all other mags. Not only are they consistant but they know that scores mean jack shit, so there's tons of text to help you along taking about the pros and cons of the game as well as personal feelings on the game.

Silly duckroll, no one can read Japanese text! That's just crazy talk.
 
The game better freaking sell now, awesome score for Meteos. I swear, if this game doesn't do at least twice that of Lumines (which isn't much), I'm going to be very disappointed.
 
neo2046 said:

Seems like what really thrilled Famitsu was that the puzzling had a "point" to it. They really liked the "saving the planets" idea as it made the game more meaningful and the versus mode sounds great. It's also noted that the game is simplistic but has depth, so a beginner gamer would enjoy it as a beginner but someone more advanced can enjoy it just as much. Oh and bebpo was right, it seems that Famitsu is completely buying into this BRAND NEW INTERFACE, TOUCHING IS AWESOME mantra that Nintendo is pushing. Anyway sounds great, good job Q Entertainment! :D
 
duckroll said:
Seems like what really thrilled Famitsu was that the puzzling had a "point" to it. They really liked the "saving the planets" idea as it made the game more meaningful.

Famitsu: rating puzzle games on their emotional impact since 2005.
 
It's also noted that the game is simplistic but has depth, so a beginner gamer would enjoy it as a beginner but someone more advanced can enjoy it just as much.


See, that screams Sakurai yet everyone is hailing Mizuguchi for it. :(
 
DarthWufei said:
The game better freaking sell now, awesome score for Meteos. I swear, if this game doesn't do at least twice that of Lumines (which isn't much), I'm going to be very disappointed.

It will defintely sell stacks. DS has a bigger userbase in JPN than PSP and the fans of the portable have proven that they're willing to experiement (see: Another Code sales). So I expect Meteos to easily bust Lumines' sales number. I'm going to guess that it'll break through those numbers in less than a week.
 
duckroll said:
The question is, is the Japanese version censored. :D

Hah! Well, for me, the Salvo system really made the game worthwhile. I enjoyed all of it (even the stealth parts :P), but the Salvos really made the combat very rewarding. It becomes a contest to see how much carnage you can wreak and how creatively you can go about doing it. :)
 
Bebpo said:
This is the same Famitsu that gave Another Code a 35/40 like it was the 2nd coming of the DS. I guess the people at Famitsu really do like the touching.
35/40 = 87.5% = B+. From all of the impressions I've heard of Another Code, its a solid, well polished game. Isn't that about what B+ is?
Jack Frost2025 said:
Famitsu: rating puzzle games on their emotional impact since 2005.
:lol
 
I'm not surprised. Every since I saw that 5 minute gameplay video on 15 different stages I was convinced this game was a killer and had blown away previous expectations. Turns out that guy who originally told us about Meteos was right. It did end up being the better game.
 
duckroll said:
, it seems that Famitsu is completely buying into this BRAND NEW INTERFACE, TOUCHING IS AWESOME mantra that Nintendo is pushing. Anyway sounds great, good job Q Entertainment! :D

Well to Nintendo/Famitsu's credit, the touch screen is literally perfect for puzzle games. Touch interface won't make anyone shit their pants and say "holy shit this is revolutionary," but for puzzle games, it DOES allow people to connect more directly with their games. A direct interface allows thoughts to be inacted immediately, eliminating that middleman that hurts the puzzle genre.

Thats why its thrived on the PC.
 
JackFrost2012 said:
I can't believe Pac Pix and Meteos are both 5040 yen, while on the PSP Namco Museum and Lumines were both 3800+tax. Yeesh.

Famitsu money needs to come from somewhere ;)
 
That's one hell of a score for Meteos. I must say I didn't expected it based on that PC demo.

Well to Nintendo/Famitsu's credit, the touch screen is literally perfect for puzzle games. Touch interface won't make anyone shit their pants and say "holy shit this is revolutionary," but for puzzle games, it DOES allow people to connect more directly with their games. A direct interface allows thoughts to be inacted immediately, eliminating that middleman that hurts the puzzle genre.
It depends on a puzzle game.

Tetris for example, is basically unplayable with the touch screen or mouse. Some other stuff like Meteos, is unplayable with keys or buttons.
 
JackFrost2012 said:
I can't believe Pac Pix and Meteos are both 5040 yen, while on the PSP Namco Museum and Lumines were both 3800+tax. Yeesh.

And yet, if/when they come here, their prices will be reversed. Crazy world we live in.
 
Marconelly said:
That's one hell of a score for Meteos. I must say I didn't expected it based on that PC demo.

The PC Demo was shit. I told everyone it was shit. I told everyone that the real game was completely different. Now I get to say I told you so. :lol :D
 
Odnetnin said:
It will defintely sell stacks. DS has a bigger userbase in JPN than PSP and the fans of the portable have proven that they're willing to experiement (see: Another Code sales). So I expect Meteos to easily bust Lumines' sales number. I'm going to guess that it'll break through those numbers in less than a week.
Well, I don't doubt it'll beat the sales of Lumines at all, but I hope it does better than just the number of sales proportionate to the NDS userbase. Just some wishful thinking. I just hope Pac-Pix and Meteos start bring in decent third part numbers, overall the entire month of March looks packed with third party DS titles in Japan, so I think it'll do better in that regard.
 
How can Pac-Pix get three 8's and a 9? I definitely need to play this... it looks like shit to me, and the E3 demo was amusing for all of like five minutes... how can they have turned it into such a good game?

Is the game by Nintendo or a major 3rd party? If so, then there's your answer right there. :P (explaining the review score, not the quality)
 
AniHawk, I was refering to Pac-Pix, not Meteos. It turns out to be a Namco game, and Namco is a major 3rd party so...

Aside from the 40/40 score for Wind Waker, I can't think of a score from Famitsu that I strongly disagreed with. They're usually pretty consistent when it comes to ratings, except for potentially quirky stuff, like Pac Pix (whose quality remains to be seen).

It's not a matter of disagreeing with their scores - you don't play 99% of japanese games that come out, so how can you agree or disagree with the majority of their scores anyway? The problem is that Famitsu will give out 8's, 9's, and 10's like candy to major games from major 3rd party publishers, they like to rank games based on how much hype and marketing they've gotten rather than their true subjective quality. In fact that kind of practice is worse than GamePro's, so I don't even think they are comparable to anything but a fansite as far as their review quality is concerned.

Oh plus companies like Square Enix and Nintendo pay Enterbrain tons of advertising dollars and they like to threaten removal of said money if their major games don't get top notch scores.
 
I disagree. They give ACE a 29/40. And it's from Bandai and it's a huge company.

Not that I agree with Famitsu. Just saying they don't rate every big company games high score. The games still have to earn it, in quality.
 
Oogami said:
I disagree. They give ACE a 29/40. And it's from Bandai and it's a huge company.

Not that I agree with Famitsu. Just saying they don't rate every big company games high score. The games still have to earn it, in quality.

Umm, in the world of games Bandai is a tiny tiny company. Almost all of their games get low scores including Lumines.
 
To be fair, a score as high as 38 for Meteos is pretty great. I mean, even if threatened with dropped advertising or whatever, you could give it 32+ and still satisfy the publisher I'm sure.
 
Oogami said:
I disagree. They give ACE a 29/40. And it's from Bandai and it's a huge company.

It's not from Bandai, it's from Banpresto, there's a difference.

Not that I agree with Famitsu. Just saying they don't rate every big company games high score. The games still have to earn it, in quality.

The games don't have to earn it in quality, the problem is Famitsu gets 20 games a week and they do NOT play it all. The scores are pretty much "first impressions" scores rather than a "I beat this and damn it was good/bad" score. Hence it makes Famitsu completely worthless as a benchmark.
 
Pellham said:
Oh plus companies like Square Enix and Nintendo pay Enterbrain tons of advertising dollars and they like to threaten removal of said money if their major games don't get top notch scores.

Plus Famitsu sends copies of their reviews TO THE COMPANIES so they can "check" them. No, I'm serious.

The games don't have to earn it in quality, the problem is Famitsu gets 20 games a week and they do NOT play it all. The scores are pretty much "first impressions" scores rather than a "I beat this and damn it was good/bad" score. Hence it makes Famitsu completely worthless as a benchmark.

Thank you for pointing this out. There is no way the same four editors can "review" that number of games each week.
 
Outside of the old RE titles which I don't like (not that that means they're not quality), Famitsu must play the games to some degree, as ones rated in that 37 and above range are generally pretty great.
 
Sho Nuff said:
Thank you for pointing this out. There is no way the same four editors can "review" that number of games each week.

That's not the only problem. Many times I've noticed that the actual review talks about complains or praises that only apply to the first few hours of the game. A game that starts slow but gets better and better and ends on a SOLID note will no doubt receive a lower score than a game with a very impressive opening and initiate hours only to go downhill to the dogs. Of course the only times that doesn't apply is when the games in question are VERY high profile and hence the media coverage already shows how "good" the game gets so then Famitsu will just go with the flow.

I should state for the record that a 38/40 score for Meteos is impressive and most probably deserving, and kudos to Q. What we're attacking here is the fundamental flaw of Famitsu Weekly and we're trying to dispell the myth that they're the "best and more reliable mag reviews in Japan" here. :D
 
duckroll said:
I should state for the record that a 38/40 score for Meteos is impressive and most probably deserving, and kudos to Q. What we're attacking here is the fundamental flaw of Famitsu Weekly and we're trying to dispell the myth that they're the "best and more reliable mag reviews in Japan" here. :D

Why is dorimaga good though? They seem equally as bad.
 
Famitsu reviews are as reputable as any other reviews in the world. If they are so bad no one would be buying their mags anymore. But yet they are still going strong.

Banpresto games like the Super Robots Taisen series get 32 to 33 generally. But 29 for ACE. So does Famitsu favor the Banpresto company or not?
 
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