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[DefectiveReject]

I was playing Halo3 again Friday night, and then Saturday morning played Metroid 3, and then I played Bioshock and then I went back to more Metroid 3

The control scheme on MP3 just blows any other control scheme away on any console by 1million miles. If MP3 was on a beefier console, even Gamespot would of found it hard to mark it much higher. I mean Halo 3 just gets a little tedious after a while, although I love the Sniper Rifle and online MP is its saving grace.

 

[dfyb]

No, not necessarily. There are plenty of examples out there of independent developers with ambitious designs that end up as mediocre games.

that's not a product of being independent. that's a product of being overly ambitious.

And your first statement applies to ANY developer who's looking for a publisher...in many cases, the dev team still needs to make at least a few concessions in design.

yeah, but an independent developer has the liberty to "shop around" and find a publisher that fits their needs as best as possible. someone owned by another company is stuck with them, for better or for worse, until that company decides to throw them out ot fuse them into other studios.

Are you just trying to find any explanation to be contrary? Because there are bigger factors that apply here than developer design independence. Schedule and budget are far far bigger factors which often force developers into making those "key decisions" you mention, including closing down a studio. It's not exactly "their choice" if they run out of money and can't get any more investment capital.

it's their choice in that their choices led them to their result. they'd be responsible for themselves, much like any other business.

really, i'm refering to an idealized industry. one where developers can be standalone and support themselves. getting there will be harder if everybody's getting bought up. i think there's a decent chance Steam could bring about a renaissance in PC gaming that could eventually ripple into console gaming as well.

 

[DDayton]

you're handing game design decisions to corporate suits.

don't you think developers would put out better product if they had control over what games they made and on what platforms they made them on? contrary to what some of you believe, the platform can indeed be an important factor in a game's core design.

I don't see how an "independent developer" being purchased by a larger corporation necessarily means lower quality.

I don't see how being an "independent developer" means never have "corporate suits" making game design decisions.

Now, I will agree that GENERALLY, there seems to be a trend towards independent developers suffering when purchased by monolithic corporations, but I disagree that this is NECESSARILY the case and that we'd be better with a bunch of tiny developmental companies. I mean, having a big corporation buy you out can help in areas, you know; the issue is what the nature of the larger company is.

 

[Neo C.]

I don't understand people who buys systems at launch.

In fact, despite me apparently being a 'hardcore' gamer, I rarely understand hardcore gamer practices.

You don't risk much as an early adopter when you buy a Nintendo product. And it doesn't seem like the price will go down for a while. Normally you get burned as an early adopter, whether it's the 360, the PS3 (pricedrop), the iPhone or a Computer with Vista (some of my friends bought a computer this year and are annoyed about the lack of speed/performance).

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

What`s truly amazing is just how fast it`s rising, it was at 82 billion only a day or two ago!

 

[tetrisgrammaton]

You don't risk much as an early adopter when you buy a Nintendo product. And it doesn't seem like the price will go down for a while. Normally you get burned as an early adopter, whether it's the 360, the PS3 (pricedrop), the iPhone or a Computer with Vista (some of my friends bought a computer this year and are annoyed about the lack of speed/performance).

unless you bought a ds

 

[Neo C.]

unless you bought a ds

yeah, sort of. On the other hand, I knew there will be a redesign after a while and we always wanted two DS. In the case of Lite, the handheld is still for 150€, as an early adopter I never regret buying the Lite on an early stage.

 

[Joni]

I guess this would be the time to sell. There is no reason to think the stock can keep going.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

every fucking monday I swear

Sony must hate mondays by now

 

[titiklabingapat]

Just imagine how much money they would make if they managed to gain clear dominance in the market, the way third parties are treating them now it could also end up giving them dominance as a game publisher. And I think that may be part of why they're so valued now.

That's what I think, too and other investors, apparently. There is virtually no third party presence and that userbase has to get thier game from somewhere. I see Nintendo peaking in two years, so there is definitely ALOT of room for growth.

I guess this would be the time to sell. There is no reason to think the stock can keep going.

Holiday season starts in 2-3 weeks.

 

[edwardslane]

i wish i put a few K into nintendo stocks when they were $15 ish

 

[felipeko]

holy sh*t. Wii 2 is coming closer and closer to reality. Pachter guaranteed!

Closer to reality, but nowhere close to launch, every time their shares hit new record it just shows them: no need for hd Wii.

Now hopefully they have the balls to sell their hardware at cost to the consumer next gen.

Spoiler

Fully expects the Wii 2 to be a Gamecube 2.875 instead of 2.5

Because that would really make sense: hey, we're doing so much money now, let's make less.

Just imagine how much money they would make if they managed to gain clear dominance in the market, the way third parties are treating them now it could also end up giving them dominance as a game publisher. And I think that may be part of why they're so valued now.

This already happened?

 

[1-D_FTW]

You do realize that the MP2 reviews there undermine whatever point you may have been trying to make, right?

Disappointing, yes. Suck? That's a little strong. And so is judging three games by the middle one (Halo, anyone?)

Besides, they gave Retro one million dollars. Other than the Austin Power's universe, one million dollars gets you what? Wouldn't the biggest Retro hater in the world have to admit that was some good bang for the buck?

 

[itsinmyveins]

I think people are hating way too much on Echoes. It's a solid game which suffers a bit from some annoying parts in the game and being too much like the first one. I really don't wanna go there, but I'll do it anyways; there an awesome atmosphere in the game.

 

[Neomoto]

They have a number of really strong upcoming titles hitting Wii and a big holiday so Wii's succes isn't going to slow down soon at least.

 

[StranGER]

i so kick myself in the rear when i hear how right i was like this.

when everyone was claiming 3rd party i was thinking low stocks buy buy buy, just had no extra bones at the time.


if only i did. if only. :lol

 

[Tab0203]

I was playing Halo3 again Friday night, and then Saturday morning played Metroid 3, and then I played Bioshock and then I went back to more Metroid 3

The control scheme on MP3 just blows any other control scheme away on any console by 1million miles. ...

Oh my... I can't take it anymore. 11 days.

And a few days later Endless Ocean and Super Mario Galaxy.

 

[Mithos Yggdrasill]

It never stops. I wish I would have invested in Nintendo 2-3 years ago.

I just hope that with all they money they're earning, they'll buy or open new studios in order to make more games and possible more new IPs.

This explains why Nintendo first party games have been getting better and better.

More money, but also more times to develop a game since they're not under pressure as it was with Gamecube.

market value doesn't necessarily mean they have that much money to spend iirc....

True.

 

[tetrisgrammaton]

Oh my... I can't take it anymore. 11 days.

And a few days later Endless Ocean and Super Mario Galaxy.

wait.... you mean europe gets endless ocean next month? SERENITY NOW!

 

[Mithos Yggdrasill]

It would be in line with the other talentless failures Nintendo has bought recently, like Monolithsoft and Retro.

AniHawk
Cranky. Very cranky.
Rather sarcastic to boot.
(Today, 07:13 AM)

Give some time to Monolith Soft. And about your comment on Retro: BAH.

Nintendo's got a good track record when it comes to hardware malfunctions (meaning, they don't have a lot). Also, I wanted Twilight Princess to be as "fresh" as possible. In hindsight, it was also a good decision since it'd be a lot harder to find one now.

My 2007 has looked like this:

Sonic: Fun for me. Skipped the story, suffered through quite a few bad levels, really enjoyed the good ones.
Super Paper Mario: Good, easy game that is too heavy on the text. Probably should've rented it.
RE4: Loved it, and thought the controls were great. Would've liked to have seen GC level textures on the extras at least, but it was $30 so it's not too bad.
MP3: The biggest surprise of the year. I loved it right from the action-packed beginning, which was a nice contrast to the more Metroidy/isolated parts later on.

And a couple DS and VC titles sprinkled in here and there. Last semester was rather hellish, so the release schedule worked with my schedule (and wallet) pretty well. However, it's not exactly what I expected from the system for its first 11 months.

Good post Ani. I'm almost surprised. :lol Anyway, agreed.

 

[Mithos Yggdrasill]

I was playing Halo3 again Friday night, and then Saturday morning played Metroid 3, and then I played Bioshock and then I went back to more Metroid 3

The control scheme on MP3 just blows any other control scheme away on any console by 1million miles. If MP3 was on a beefier console, even Gamespot would of found it hard to mark it much higher. I mean Halo 3 just gets a little tedious after a while, although I love the Sniper Rifle and online MP is its saving grace.

I do not judge reviewers very often, but let me say that I still have in mind the 8.8 for Twilight Princess (moron - part I), 9.0 for Bioschock (mega-lol) and 8.5 Metroid Prime III (moron - part II).

 

[Tab0203]

wait.... you mean europe gets endless ocean next month? SERENITY NOW!

I couldn't find it on the UK page. Here's the german page.
09.11.2007. November 9th.

http://wii.nintendo.de/22397.html

 

[Lightning]

WOW.

Nintendo are almost going to double Sony....

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Sonic: Fun for me. Skipped the story, suffered through quite a few bad levels, really enjoyed the good ones.
MP3: The biggest surprise of the year. I loved it right from the action-packed beginning, which was a nice contrast to the more Metroidy/isolated parts later on.

And a couple DS and VC titles sprinkled in here and there. Last semester was rather hellish, so the release schedule worked with my schedule (and wallet) pretty well. However, it's not exactly what I expected from the system for its first 11 months.

Those two are about the only Wii titles I've bought this year.

Sonic was a let down, but Metroid was incredible.

The rest of my purchases have been in DS and VC titles.

Some other stuff I really want (SPM and RE4) but nothing I consider must have now stuff.

 

[KevinRo]

I can only imagine what's going to happen when WiiFit and SMG comes out.

Man, I really want a Wii. :'( Sometimes I regret buying Bioshock over a Wii.

 

[Beer Monkey]

really, i'm refering to an idealized industry. one where developers can be standalone and support themselves.

And retain IP in what they create?

 

[camineet]

I hope this encourages Nintendo to inject lots of R&D money into their next systems given renewed confidence in the Nintendo brand. they are #1 of this handheld and console generation as of right now.

 

[TekunoRobby]

The Wii just like the DS has had an overall shitty first year. Fortunately the Wii (unlike the DS) had Twilight Princess and Metroid Prime 3 to carry it. It seems like the Wii will mirror the DS in terms of success considering how closely aligned the two products are in demographics, gimmick, and popularity. Hopefully third parties catch on sooner rather than later.

 

[soul creator]

Nintendo just blue themselves

 

[dankir]

It would be in line with the other talentless failures Nintendo has bought recently, like Monolithsoft and Retro.

Hehe maybe they can finally buy a good baseball team! I kid I love Ichiro. Seriously they should start acquiring some dev houses or something.

 

[Pellham]

MP3 was good, but it didn't make up for the other two.

I'm going to be honest and say that I can't tell if you're being sarcastic as usual or if you're actually that deluded into thinking MP1 and MP2 are bad games, despite perfectly replicating super metroid's gameplay into 3D.

 

[AniHawk]

I'm going to be honest and say that I can't tell if you're being sarcastic as usual or if you're actually that deluded into thinking MP1 and MP2 are bad games, despite perfectly replicating super metroid's gameplay into 3D.

I'm not being sarcastic, and no, Super Metroid's gameplay has never been remotely replicated into 3D.

 

[Mithos Yggdrasill]

Nintendo just blue themselves

 

[MisterHero]

It would be in line with the other talentless failures Nintendo has bought recently, like Monolithsoft and Retro.

I don't know why, but I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!

*sob*

 

[Xisiqomelir]

MP3 was good, but it didn't make up for the other two.

Wait, you liked 3? I played 1 for the first time a month ago, hoping to like it, and I couldn't endure it any more after the first 5 hours. I've avoided 3 on the premise that it would be as unplayable, but if you're saying it's better than 1, I might check it out.

 

[AdmiralViscen]

Yeah, those Metroid Prime games sure do suck.

Now let's get Drinky and Amirox and the trifecta of trolls will be complete.

Throwing down the gauntlet!

 

[Jirotrom]

Wait, you liked 3? I played 1 for the first time a month ago, hoping to like it, and I couldn't endure it any more after the first 5 hours. I've avoided 3 on the premise that it would be as unplayable, but if you're saying it's better than 1, I might check it out.

3 is the best one imo... the other two bored me often.