Fresh Super Mario 64 DS Impressions

LowTecky said:
No, it's less pointy than the stylus itself.
Soul4ger said:
Very little. There's a small point to it, but it's mostly rounded so it just glides across the screen. It's a good little addition, my touchscreen was completely devoid of any fingerprints or scratches after I finished.
Thanks, that's good to hear.
 
Society said:
I did not expect Sony to design the NDS analog stick, just showing you it is possible.

No one said it was impossible, just that it's not necessary, and that the DS isn't any worse off for lacking one. If Nintendo would've put one on, they would've had to add one on the opposite side as well. They would've been forced to change the clamshell design. It would've raised the price. Just seems like a stupid argument to me.
 
Society said:
I did not expect Sony to design the NDS analog stick, just showing you it is possible.
Of course it's possible but it remains to be seen how well this particular implementation works in practice and how durable it is.
 
If Nintendo knew they were going to put 3D platformers on the DS, why not just make an analog stick that would work within the constraints of a portable? I have big American hands and I still find it difficult to reach all the way over and use the touch screen as an analog pad, even with the thumb strap. It works fine in a first person game like Metroid where you're using it as a mouse-look, but not so much when you're trying to make a series of successive platforming jumps that *must be exact* in Mario 64.
 
Soul4ger said:
No one said it was impossible, just that it's not necessary, and that the DS isn't any worse off for lacking one. If Nintendo would've put one on, they would've had to add one on the opposite side as well. They would've been forced to change the clamshell design. It would've raised the price. Just seems like a stupid argument to me.

Why would you need two? As it is the touch screen is already sacrificed for analog control. Changing the clamshell? You mean making a small indent in the case mold? Is this one of these 'Nintendo thinks it is good, therefore I think it is good' cases?
 
Soul4ger said:
No one said it was impossible, just that it's not necessary, and that the DS isn't any worse off for lacking one. If Nintendo would've put one on, they would've had to add one on the opposite side as well. They would've been forced to change the clamshell design. It would've raised the price. Just seems like a stupid argument to me.

Listen, uh, I'm a huge Nintendo loyalist, but I gotta admit, this thing needs some sort or analog stick.
 
Soul4ger said:
If Nintendo would've put one on, they would've had to add one on the opposite side as well.

They would've? How do you figure? I mean, they're using the touchscreen as one analog stick and it doesn't seem to matter that there isn't a second one...
 
Society said:
Why would you need two? As it is the touch screen is already sacrificed for analog control. Changing the clamshell? You mean making a small indent in the case mold? Is this one of these 'Nintendo thinks it is good, therefore I think it is good' cases?

Because the system is designed so that lefties and righties can play it without a problem. I don't know if you noticed or not, but the controls are set up completely symmetrical. If you put an analog on one side and not the other, you ruin that. As for the clamshell, well, you have a point. But I liek the way the system looks right now. So I dunno.

If you put in the dual analogs, too, you kinda compromise the entire point of the touchscreen, for games like MP Hunters.
 
SuperPac said:
They would've? How do you figure? I mean, they're using the touchscreen as one analog stick and it doesn't seem to matter that there isn't a second one...

So the five lefties who will buy it will be able to play it well.
 
Soul4ger said:
Because the system is designed so that lefties and righties can play it without a problem. I don't know if you noticed or not, but the controls are set up completely symmetrical.
NintendoDS has only one Touchscreen....and wait for it....you use it for analog control.
 
ehh... I'm really not seeing it....

ok, here is what it comes down to... Mario 64.. when it comes down to it this is what you guys are complaining about.. now maybe you aren't finding it intuitive and maybe Nintendo's workaround isn't the best, but because they ported a game that was created with an analog stick in mind and gave an arguably bunk workaround we are crying foul and saying it sucks that analog control wasn't included.....

personally I think people need to chill the fuck out and wait for future games.. I mean sure if 6 months from now we are seeing continual remarks of "Control sucks, analog would have been better," that is one thing, but as it is you are all worried about this over one game that is possibly one of the worst games to strip analog control out of.

I don't see people complaining about the control or lack of analog in Madden or Spider-Man 2, or the racing games, etc. and people are genuinely enthusiastic about Prime after using the thumb-stylus....

so yes it sucks that mario 64 may have lost something in the translation to a system without an analog stick (emphasis on may have), but to sit here and continually bag on the lack of analog solely based on this one instance seems like crying wolf.
 
borghe said:
I don't see people complaining about the control or lack of analog in Madden or Spider-Man 2, or the racing games, etc. and people are genuinely enthusiastic about Prime after using the thumb-stylus....
I have not seen an impression for madden. SpiderMan 2 is on a 2D plane. Most of the complaints comes from ported games. Simple solution is not to port games.
 
Society said:
I have not seen an impression for madden. SpiderMan 2 is on a 2D plane. Most of the complaints comes from ported games. Simple solution is not to port games.

Yeah.. all those ported games.


Wait..
 
Society said:
I have not seen an impression for madden.
Gamespot
IGN

SpiderMan 2 is on a 2D plane.
right, but my point is still the same. it is a game on the system that isn't hurt by lack of analog control.

Most of the complaints comes from ported games.
No, ALL the complaints come from Mario 64

Simple solution is not to port games.
If by games you mean Mario 64 I would agree...... if control is universally agreed upon to be problematic.. but we are already seeing many impressions saying that the control isn't awful, it just takes some getting used to.
 
borghe said:
some might call problems, others might call just a new scheme to get used to..

everyone said Prime had control problems when that first came out because it wasn't dual analog......



BAIL OUT!
 
LowTecky said:
Yeah.. all those ported games.


Wait..


Mario64, Urbz, Rayman 2, Ridge Racer, Asphalt, Tiger Woods and Madden were not designed for the DS. They are ported concepts from a console way of making games. Then again these are rushed launch titles. I will wait till E3 for DS unique games.

right, but my point is still the same. it is a game on the system that isn't hurt by lack of analog control.

You could say that, or you could say NDS should stick to 2d games.
 
Nerevar said:
BAIL OUT!
not at all... many people said Prime's controls sucked because they couldn't get out of dual analog mode.. in fact the controls did not suck, it just handled nothing like a dual analog FPS.

that is all I'm saying here.. there are many people who say the touch screen control isn't bad at all... so is it a poor implementation and a bad workaround, or is it that some people are having a hard time wrapping their brain around controlling a game that most are intimately familiar with in an entirely different way.
 
Society said:
NintendoDS has only one Touchscreen....and wait for it....you use it for analog control.

What? Did you turn your method of debate into "don't make sense?" What does that have to do with the symmetry of the hardware?

And are people ignoring the fact that I said the controls worked well? If you have the patience, you can easily learn how to use it. It acts just like an analog, there just aren't any boundaries. You have to train your mind to implement a barrier. If you don't want to do that, oh well, you probably didn't like the DS anyway. It's supposed to provide new ways of playing things. That's the point. Not to conform to the norm.
 
Society said:
Mario64, Urbz, Rayman 2, Ridge Racer, Asphalt, Tiger Woods and Madden were not designed for the DS. They are ported concepts from a console way of making games. Then again these are rushed launch titles. I will wait till E3 for DS unique games.
and which of these are people complaining about lack of analog controls on? or are you just bagging on porting in general (which to a degree I can get behind)?
 
Soul4ger said:
What? Did you turn your method of debate into "don't make sense?" What does that have to do with the symmetry of the hardware?
You are saying that the NDS would need 2 analog sticks. As it stands now, it only has one analog control method, that being the touch screen. I do not see how that is confusing.
 
borghe said:
and which of these are people complaining about lack of analog controls on? or are you just bagging on porting in general (which to a degree I can get behind)?

I am complaing about the lack on DS unique games in response to a post about the opposite.
 
I'm totally lost here, can someone link me to some impressions stating that the SM64DS control is god awful and unplayable? I've yet to read anything that doesn't say anything other than "it takes some getting used to". The closest thing is Gamespot's preview, but even they said it would take more time to get used to.

Maybe I'm just more optimistic than some of the posters here.
 
borghe said:
not at all... many people said Prime's controls sucked because they couldn't get out of dual analog mode.. in fact the controls did not suck, it just handled nothing like a dual analog FPS.

that is all I'm saying here.. there are many people who say the touch screen control isn't bad at all... so is it a poor implementation and a bad workaround, or is it that some people are having a hard time wrapping their brain around controlling a game that most are intimately familiar with in an entirely different way.


Should we go into this discussion again? The point with any unique and unusual control scheme is that some people just aren't going to like it. I'm a person who hates unusual control schemes. I've played through and beaten Metroid Prime and Resident Evil, and I will readily admit the controls hamper the gaming experience. I don't like the control scheme in Goldeneye, and I never had. And it's enough to know that I probably won't like the analog touchscreen for these games. It's akin, to me, to playing a Westwood RTS (like C&C or the Dune series). The games are still fun and playable, but they are hampered by a poor control scheme (as compared to the control scheme that Blizzard uses). It has nothing to do with being a bad gamer. I thas nothing to do with being "incapable of wrapping your brain around it" as you put it. If the control scheme is uncomfortable to you, it will make you enjoy the game less. The real problem is when someone makes it into a black-and-white issue.
 
I might be missing something here, but the touchscreen is in the middle. If something is in the middle and the shape is symmetrical there doesnt have to be two. :lol Or are you joking, its hard to tell sometimes.
 
That thumbstrap thing. What does it look like and how do you put it on (and keep in place) I must say the thought of putting something over my thumb everytime I want to play a certain game (a handheld game at that, remember those are supposed to be more accessible) is a bit weird.
 
Nerevar said:
Should we go into this discussion again? The point with any unique and unusual control scheme is that some people just aren't going to like it. I'm a person who hates unusual control schemes. I've played through and beaten Metroid Prime and Resident Evil, and I will readily admit the controls hamper the gaming experience. I don't like the control scheme in Goldeneye, and I never had. And it's enough to know that I probably won't like the analog touchscreen for these games. It's akin, to me, to playing a Westwood RTS (like C&C or the Dune series). The games are still fun and playable, but they are hampered by a poor control scheme (as compared to the control scheme that Blizzard uses). It has nothing to do with being a bad gamer. I thas nothing to do with being "incapable of wrapping your brain around it" as you put it. If the control scheme is uncomfortable to you, it will make you enjoy the game less. The real problem is when someone makes it into a black-and-white issue.
never did I turn it into a black and white issue and never did I mean to imply that you didn't have a right not to like various control schemes. my point was that, as you are saying, people are turning it into a black and white issue. Because lack of analog on Mario and the resultant workaround sucks for some people, it is being turned into that it is a downer on the system as a whole. that is all I was getting at.

if you don't like the control you don't like the control, and in this specific case adding an analog controller (possibly) would have fixed the issue (though I don't believe adding the PSP's controller would have fixed it). however, I disagree with the people asserting that because mario 64's control are questionable to them that it makes it a cut and dried case for the system being somehow incapable without an analog stick or even that Mario 64's analog workaround categorically sucks.
 
Marconelly said:
That thumbstrap thing. What does it look like and how do you put it on (and keep in place) I must say the thought of putting something over my thumb everytime I want to play a certain game (a handheld game at that, remember those are supposed to be more accessible) is a bit weird.

It hooked on the back of the NDS.

nintendo-ds-in-our-hands-20041108035149268-000.jpg

nintendo-ds-in-our-hands-20041108035134691-001.jpg
 
Honestly, this whole control issue would be mentioned far less often if the PSP didn't have an analog stick.

Using the handheld equivalent of a tiny steel factory dial with no second analog stick for modern 3D cameras (they've evolved since last generation) isn't really much better than the 4 or 5 workarounds Nintendo gives you.
 
Speevy said:
Using the handheld equivalent of a tiny steel factory dial with no second analog stick for modern 3D cameras (they've evolved since last generation) isn't really much better than the 4 or 5 workarounds Nintendo gives you.
IAWTP

people complain about the lack of the one on DS, but what about the lack of two on the PSP, or the lack of two shoulder buttons on both, or easy to access start and select buttons, etc.

the controls a system is given don't suck by default... it is how they are implemented.

in the DS' case this has nothing to do with analog or lack thereof.. it is about the workaround they put in place for Mario 64. If Mario 64 weren't ported in such a way to the system you likely wouldn't hear a single thing about lack of analog on the unit. people didn't complain about lack of analog on the PSX or Saturn when the N64 was released....
 
borghe said:
If Mario 64 weren't ported in such a way to the system you likely wouldn't hear a single thing about lack of analog on the unit. people didn't complain about lack of analog on the PSX or Saturn when the N64 was released....

It's actually the fact that it's being ported at all that's sort of weird. I don't know if there is a perfectly satisfying way to port the game to a machine that doesn't have an analog control stick.

But anyway, I look forward to hearing what others think once they've played it. I may be overly nit-picky because I love the original so much.
 
People complain about a system they have either never touched or played MINIMALLY.

People call a game a port when it has major additions, multiplayer co op added, and minigames thrown in.

Don't you whining little girls have anything better to do?

When you own a DS or have spent quality time with it and Mario 64 DS then speak up.
 
Speevy said:
Honestly, this whole control issue would be mentioned far less often if the PSP didn't have an analog stick.
Yeah, it sucks that we don't live in a vacuum where Nintendo doesn't have competition anymore, huh?
 
Mike said:
I do, and I did.

And you know what Mike, I forget, but did anyone thank you for the impressions? Heh, I think we all got defensive on the controls. Which I'm not surprised to hear about, and I'm still a little worried about them. But anyways, it's always nice to hear impressions from people outside of the normal chit chatter around here about a system. So thanks for the read.
 
DarthWufei said:
And you know what Mike, I forget, but did anyone thank you for the impressions? Heh, I think we all got defensive on the controls. Which I'm not surprised to hear about, and I'm still a little worried about them. But anyways, it's always nice to hear impressions from people outside of the normal chit chatter around here about a system. So thanks for the read.

Hey, thanks! And again, I didn't start the thread to bag on the controls. I've played it for about three hours now and I really enjoy the update, but I am still finding the analog conrol a bit unintuitive. But overall, I think people will be happy to have this for their DS.

And again, other people may find it very comfortable.

But the minigames are fun enough that they're almost worth the cost of the game. There's a nifty memory card game that Luigi runs, casino-style. And the Wario game where you shoot bad guys with a touch-screen slingshot is great!
 
Mike said:
Hey, thanks! And again, I didn't start the thread to bag on the controls. I've played it for about three hours now and I really enjoy the update, but I am still finding the analog conrol a bit unintuitive. But overall, I think people will be happy to have this for their DS.

And again, other people may find it very comfortable.

But the minigames are fun enough that they're almost worth the cost of the game. There's a nifty memory card game that Luigi runs, casino-style. And the Wario game where you shoot bad guys with a touch-screen slingshot is great!


How many minigames have you unlocked?
 
Scalemail Ted said:
How many minigames have you unlocked?

About 12 so far.

My favorite is the slingshot game and there's one where you connect pipes with the touchscreen so that water runs to the correct barrel on the bottom screen.
 
How do you unlock the minigames?

I'm interested in this title primarily for the minigames...I don't really care much for 3d platformers (though, I've never played Mario 64) but I'm guessing you have to collect them by playing the main adventure. Is it difficult to unlock the games?
 
snapty00 said:
Yeah, it sucks that we don't live in a vacuum where Nintendo doesn't have competition anymore, huh?


I choose the vacuum over the fantasy world where the principles of marketing don't exist.
 
snapty00 said:
Yeah, it sucks that we don't live in a vacuum where Nintendo doesn't have competition anymore, huh?
that's the best troll you can come up with to that??

slippin' :lol
 
Scalemail Ted said:
How do you unlock the minigames?
Is it difficult to unlock the games?

You unlock them (so far) by chasing down bunnies that hang around outside the castle. You have to catch them, and then they give you keys to unlock minigames. It's not too hard to grab the rabbits.
 
Mike said:
I do, and I did.

Not you Mike. I enjoyed your impressions. I'd like to hear what you have to say about the thumb stylus thing when you get a chance to try it out. You didn't jump to conclusions like a lot of idiots on this board.
 
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