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[olimario]

Some amazing games have been released this year by some awesome developers, but those titles are not without their faults. Post here where you think good developers need the most help.


RETRO STUDIOS
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes was really a well made title and kept me entertained and interested pretty much the whole way through. The problems I think Retro has are with cinematics.

-1) The cinematics didn't really tell the story. The were just scenes of samus jumping around, Samus shooting at an emeny before putting you back in her shoes, and scenes of doors opening or enemies dying. The bulk of the story was told through logs and lores and the cinematics did no more than distract.

-2) The cinematics in place were almost always awkward. Was motion capture used? It sure didn't seem that way. It's odd to see in game animation FAR surpass the animation used in cut scenes. The one that stands out for me is

Spoiler

when Samus is walking by the Luminoth at the end of the game. Her walk is robotic and her little wave goodbye was stiff and awkward.

NINTENDO EAD
I'm going to say they have the same problem as Retro Studios here... At least with their cut-scene animation. In all of the 'Wind Waker' cut scenes the characters took jerky turns and when they walked it seemed as if they were suspended an inch off of the ground. Really distracted. I would expect a bit more from a studio as big as they are.

 

[guess]

RETRO STUDIOS
NINTENDO

Turning Metroid into a slow paced first person shooter.

 

[SantaC]

The least that bothers me from Retro and EAD are the cutscenes.

 

[The End]

Bungie/MGS : Making the "ilovebees" game more compelling than the actual single player game of Halo 2.

 

[olimario]

The least that bothers me from Retro and EAD are the cutscenes.

Elaborate

 

[belgurdo]

RETRO STUDIOS
NINTENDO

Turning Metroid into a slow paced first person shooter.

As opposed to a slow paced platformer?

 

[Catchpenny]

TRI-ACE
Making intros that are longer than a season of 24.

 

[human5892]

Bungie/MGS : Making the online game more compelling than the actual single player game of Halo 2.

If you had said it this way, I not only would've agreed, but added that this seems to be a problem popping up more and more lately.

I realize online gaming is super fun for the small percentage of console owners who actually do it, but I hope studios don't forget about those of us who value a good single-player experience more than anything else in a game.

 

[DarienA]

EA
Not aggressive enough in adding lots of news features to sequels in ALL their series. Usually takes the stance of "just enough" to make it new, instead of really going all out with new sequels... almost as if their programmers, and the fans won't help them come up with new ideas for the next version if they put too much in the current version. Too steeped in the old way of doling out features.

 

[Gribbix]

There were just scenes of samus jumping around, Samus shooting at an emeny before putting you back in her shoes, and scenes of doors opening or enemies dying.

This is a good one that I think applies to a lot of developers. Too many games feature cutscenes of completely useless things. In fact, sometimes those moving/zooming door-opening cutscenes just disorient me. If they need to show the door opening, just show a quick shot of the door opening, don't make the camera move and zoom around a giant room.

 

[thorns]

If you had said it this way, I not only would've agreed, but added that this seems to be a problem popping up more and more lately.

I realize online gaming is super fun for the small percentage of console owners who actually do it, but I hope studios don't forget about those of us who value a good single-player experience more than anything else in a game.

other than the ending, what's wrong with single player in Halo 2??? it was the best single player experience in many years, I didn't find the multiplayer nearly as fun.

 

[human5892]

other than the ending, what's wrong with single player in Halo 2??? it was the best single player experience in many years, I didn't find the multiplayer nearly as fun.

I realize it's only a matter of opinion, but the common consensus seems to be Halo 2's single player was a bit of a letdown (although not bad by any means), and that online play is where the game truly shines.

If you enjoy the single player more, though, that's certainly your perrogative.

 

[bonesquad]

This is a good one that I think applies to a lot of developers. Too many games feature cutscenes of completely useless things. In fact, sometimes those moving/zooming door-opening cutscenes just disorient me. If they need to show the door opening, just show a quick shot of the door opening, don't make the camera move and zoom around a giant room.

Well I for one liked the cutscenes. I thought they gave Echoes a very cinematic feel and I have no problem with what's there.

I do agree they could of added more to tell a story though. Like instead of just getting text when you scanned something, have a few show a movie of what it describes (like it does that ONE time early on.)

But the biggest complaint with Retro is why is there only ONE control scheme! Give us options! Espcially a dual-analog option?

 

[olimario]

The cinematics weren't high quality, though. Everything looked awkward and unnatural.
And I really don't see how another control scheme could work for Metroid Prime. The developers would have to redesign pretty much the whole game around dual analog controls.

 

[Fantasmo]

But the biggest complaint with Retro is why is there only ONE control scheme! Give us options! Espcially a dual-analog option?

Good luck beating the Moth boss with dual analog. Or the jumping sequences. Or just about any fast-flying enemy.

How precise are you in killing those flying aliens in Level 1 of Halo2? How many of you can guarantee a hit everytime? Now imagine fighting a huge swarm of fast moving, fast flying creatures in just about every room.

Metroid is not a dual-analog game. It was not designed around dual-analog, it is not a traditional first person action shooter game, neither were its environments, enemies, or puzzles. Most of these enemies have specific weak points. You and I, and just about every gamer, would spend more time trying to clear a room, than progressing thru the game.

Just about every game on the market has gamers learning new controls and buttons, why should Metroid be any different? It works well once you stop being close-minded.

It takes only an hour or two to adapt. A human's greatest strength is its ability to adapt. Use it!

 

[Solid]

Rare - dunno where to start :lol

 

[SantaC]

Elaborate

because I didn't find any thing about the cutscenes that bothered me.

 

[psycho_snake]

Konami - Not making ZOE3 and not getting the full licences for PES. Luckily for them, the MGS series makes up for those faults

 

[Solid]

Oh, I forgot one thing...

Silicon Knights - where the hell is the announcement?!

 

[SantaC]

Oh, I forgot one thing...

Silicon Knights - where the hell is the announcement?!

I heard february.

 

[monkeyrun]

Metroid was never fast pace ....

it was always a slow pace platformer with crap load of backtracking.

btw: is it just me or are all those Game ads showing cool cut scenes rather than the real game ?

 

[jarrod]

As opposed to a slow paced platformer?

Well, that would've been an equally disasterious shift for the Metroid brand. Good thing we have RD1 still pumping out the real deal on Game Boy.

 

[Any1]

If you had said it this way, I not only would've agreed, but added that this seems to be a problem popping up more and more lately.

I realize online gaming is super fun for the small percentage of console owners who actually do it, but I hope studios don't forget about those of us who value a good single-player experience more than anything else in a game.

I completely agree. Take a game like Mechassault 2 where there was the possiblility of creating one truly great video game. Unlike Halo 2, where the MP is considered slightly better than the sp. They go ahead and put ,it would seem, even less effort into the Sp than they did in MA1.

It seems like the problem is almost any studio can make a decent MP game, but real talent, money, time, and effort is needed to produce a good single player experience.

It seems like companies can now make money off just MP console games and throw away single player experiences. If this trend continues, i wonder if it will ever come back to bite the industry in the ass?

 

[bonesquad]

Good luck beating the Moth boss with dual analog. Or the jumping sequences. Or just about any fast-flying enemy.

How precise are you in killing those flying aliens in Level 1 of Halo2? How many of you can guarantee a hit everytime? Now imagine fighting a huge swarm of fast moving, fast flying creatures in just about every room.

Metroid is not a dual-analog game. It was not designed around dual-analog, it is not a traditional first person action shooter game, neither were its environments, enemies, or puzzles. Most of these enemies have specific weak points. You and I, and just about every gamer, would spend more time trying to clear a room, than progressing thru the game.

Just about every game on the market has gamers learning new controls and buttons, why should Metroid be any different? It works well once you stop being close-minded.

It takes only an hour or two to adapt. A human's greatest strength is its ability to adapt. Use it!

I think you're the one being close minded! Just because you add the OPTION for dual-analog doesn't mean you have to lose the lock-on ability. Just now you can move and look around at the same time! Amazing! This would be nice in a game so dependant on exploration. Heck, I'd be happy if they pulled a MGS and I couldn't shoot while using dual analog to look around. Maybe used while the scan visor is on? ...Yeah, I don't know what I speak of. I just like options.


And if you want a positive about Retro, they still clearly focus on the single player experience. The multiplayer feels like the afterthought here.

 

[djtiesto]

WD
Taking years to put out a game and sometimes adding a lot of unnecessary trinkets to overinflate the price... But I love 'em anyway (especially after Arc The Lad Collection)

Capcom
It's pretty self-explanatory

Bungie
Forgetting to add compelling single-player for us anti-social people

Rare
Glitz over gameplay, every single time

 

[Fantasmo]

If you don't lose lock-on AND have the dual-analog, I'd agree with you... if there were more buttons on the GC pad! It doesn't have enough to support dual-analog all the time. I get where you're coming from, and options are good, but it's a compromise they needed to take, and the game doesn't suffer for it as long as you give it a chance.

Put it this way; after adapting, I never once got frustrated over the lack of dual analog.

I'll stop here, because you're entitled to your opinion, but if you haven't already, you should really practice and give it a shot. It really isn't as painful as everybody makes it out to be.

 

[jarrod]

WD
Taking years to put out a game and sometimes adding a lot of unnecessary trinkets to overinflate the price... But I love 'em anyway (especially after Arc The Lad Collection)

Uh, being a bit of an ass here but isn't Working Designs actually the antithesis of a big developer?

 

[djtiesto]

Uh, being a bit of an ass here but isn't Working Designs actually the antithesis of a big developer?

Yeah, well some guy in the thread said tri-Ace and I do believe Retro is pretty small, so I'm guessing anyone's game

 

[jarrod]

Yeah, well some guy in the thread said tri-Ace and I do believe Retro is pretty small, so I'm guessing anyone's game

But Working Designs isn't even a developer.

 

[Socreges]

As opposed to a slow paced platformer?

Metroid was never fast pace ....

it was always a slow pace platformer with crap load of backtracking.

WHAT

 

[MarkRyan]

CAPCOM
For killing 2D fighters. Only Street Fighter could've kept 2D fighters alive in the past decade, but Capcom's made sure that they're never mainstream by re-using the same damned ten-year-old sprites. Guilty Gear made an amazing effort, but there's no brand name to propel it to a market big enough to keep 2D fighters popular.

BUNGIE
I don't give a damn about Halo 2's single player, but the multiplayer is horribly imbalanced compared to the first game. They had three years and they give us something that feels like no one play tested for balance? Huge mistake.

 

[Jack Random]

RETRO STUDIOS
NINTENDO

Turning Metroid into a slow paced first person shooter.

Amen

PS:
I really hope this thread doesnt degenerate into "Analogs in MP: Round 38"
I mean, sure, Samus lacks the ability to walk and turn her head at the same time (i've lost this skill many times myself after downing one too many "adult beverages," so i guess i should be able to relate), but since it doesnt impact the game all that much, who cares?

Besides, why pick on MP when there's Rare and Capcom to roast?