Things That Bother You About Gaming

[Spark Of Spirit]

Well, yeah, the game has a very good sense of humor. You should really get back to it because there's some really funny stuff later on in the game. It's funny because it's written funny, not because they tried to be serious and failed or something. It's all intentional.

[Rosalinas Spare Wand]

The Metroid one is obvious. The backlash against Other M was so huge that some people legitimately believe Nintendo retconned the Prime series because of one thing Sakamoto said (which was just that he wasn't involved with development of those games so he can't comment on how they approached them). I guess if you consider that the game was mostly one of Nintendo's own development studios with Team Ninja just assisting with 3D modeling, they believe only an american studio can handle Metroid since the japanese one clearly wants it to become a generic corridor game with sexist undertones.

I liked the Prime games, but Retro did everything they could with a trilogy and there's nothing else they'd bring to the table with a 4th game. They could give a 2D Metroid a try, but considering just how many people dislike DKC Returns because it didn't look and feel exactly like the SNES trilogy, they'd have a ridiculously hard time selling it to the modern audience that love hand-holding platformers, not to mention video game journalists will rip it to shreds for daring to be a 2D game in the HD era.

As for Zelda, I honestly have no clue. I assume its because the Zelda formula has been pretty standard in the last few games that came out, and they'd believe Retro would somehow dismantle it all to make an entirely new experience.

[Foggle]

Well, yeah, the game has a very good sense of humor. You should really get back to it because there's some really funny stuff later on in the game. It's funny because it's written funny, not because they tried to be serious and failed or something. It's all intentional.

That's what I mean. It's written to be funny like Army of Darkness is funny, it's not accidentally funny because of bad translation or something. The dialogue is intentionally so bad that it's great, but it's also really clever at times, and is aided by great sight gags like the aforementioned lighter and squirrels. It's one of the most hilarious games I've ever played.

[talonmalon333]

As for Zelda... Why? What could they possibly do to add to the formula? Why them and not EAD2 or Monolith or something? Why is Retro some brilliant developer that eclipse the rest of Nintendo when everyone always whines about how much they hated Metroid Prime 2 or 3 and how the games nosedived in sales (and bombed in Japan)? I fail to see how giving them Zelda when they fell out of Metroid is a good idea.

Better question... why not?

Good as the Zelda games might be, there really aren't many people in their team, hence why those games take ages to make. Not to mention, Retro could definitely change things up a bit. I think it could work, especially if Nintendo and Retro work together well.

Reason people have been asking for this is that Nintendo has stated they'd like Retro to help with Zelda (I think they even said "next"), and Retro is rumored to be working on a franchise people have been wanting them to.

[Rynnec]

If they aren't making DKCR2, StarTropics, or a new IP, I don't really want anything else from them.

You forgot to add in Yoshi's Island.

[Spark Of Spirit]

If they aren't making DKCR2, StarTropics, or a new IP, I don't really want anything else from them.

You forgot to add in Yoshi's Island.

I'm still going with the rumor that GoodFeel (the Wario Land Shake It and Epic Yarn folks) are making a new Yoshi's Island. Because they'd be perfect for it.  8)

As for Zelda... Why? What could they possibly do to add to the formula? Why them and not EAD2 or Monolith or something? Why is Retro some brilliant developer that eclipse the rest of Nintendo when everyone always whines about how much they hated Metroid Prime 2 or 3 and how the games nosedived in sales (and bombed in Japan)? I fail to see how giving them Zelda when they fell out of Metroid is a good idea.

Better question... why not?

Good as the Zelda games might be, there really aren't many people in their team, hence why those games take ages to make. Not to mention, Retro could definitely change things up a bit. I think it could work, especially if Nintendo and Retro work together well.

Reason people have been asking for this is that Nintendo has stated they'd like Retro to help with Zelda (I think they even said "next"), and Retro is rumored to be working on a franchise people have been wanting them to.

But why Retro? Why not Monolith? They did Xenoblade which proves they could easily make something new out of Zelda. How about the second EAD crew? I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for them either. Heck, why not GameFreak? They've done Pulseman and Drill Dozer, they could easily make a sidescolling Zelda that makes Zelda 2 look like a joke.

Why specifically Retro?

This feels like fans putting them on a silver platter because they took Super Metroid and put it in 3D. But... They can't do that trick with Zelda. I have a feeling some people just want Metroid Prime 1 with Link in place of Samus. But that wouldn't work at all for something like Zelda because it's a different series. Either way, the project was canceled a long time ago because Nintendo didn't like where it was going.

My point is that the established series all have established developers. Retro should stick with a new IP (whatever that is) and concentrate on that. Whether that's Donkey Kong Country, or whatever, I don't care. Going back to Metroid would be fruitless, and taking on Zelda while there's already an established Zelda team when these guys could be doing something new feels like a waste.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I haven't played any other Metroid games aside from a bit of Super Metroid, so I'm probably in no place to say anything, but I find it funny that Team Ninja gets the brunt of the blame for Metroid: Other M's lack of success. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of the current Team Ninja myself, but unless I've been misinformed they were only helping with the gameplay design and they were working under the direction of Sakamoto, who was making all of the major gameplay decisions. In other words, Team Ninja just designed the game according to his specifications, and being that Sakamoto is a fan of Ninja Gaiden he brought Team Ninja on for their experience at action-oriented games. But, as much as I love NG games, I must admit that I never really thought that it fit in with the exploration and atmosphere-heavy Metroid games, and I guess most fans didn't like that mix either. Still, from what I can tell Metroid: Other M gets most criticized for its story and sexualization of Samus, and Team Ninja had nothing to do with either of those elements of the game, so I find it a bit unfair that they get most of the blame when it comes to that game. I'm not saying they are totally immune to criticism, but the stuff they should be blamed for is bad technical aspects of the game (and from what I can tell, the game isn't really that bad mechanically). Also, I believe that Sakamoto originally wanted to make Other M something along the lines of a rail shooter until Team Ninja intervened, so at least they prevented the game from being even more linear than it was. That said they'll have no excuses when people complain about Ninja Gaiden 3, because that one's all on them.

[Spark Of Spirit]

People tend to hate Other M purely for the story and nothing else. That hardly has anything to do with Team Ninja.

I was hoping the 2D parts would teach them a little something for a certain other series they do buuuut.... Well, you know.

[Rynnec]

I think the whole obsession with Retro is due to people hyping them up as "The next Rareware" for Ninty ever since they made DKCR. Though, people seem to forget that Rare mostly worked on their own franchise's when they were with Nintendo.

[Foggle]

People tend to hate Other M purely for the story and nothing else. That hardly has anything to do with Team Ninja.

I was hoping the 2D parts would teach them a little something for a certain other series they do buuuut.... Well, you know.

Other M's gameplay wasn't so hot, either. It was a mediocre third-person(?) shooter with horrid first-person stuff thrown in for no reason. Nothing more, nothing less.

My problem with the treatment of Samus wasn't that she was sexualized (though that Zero Suit was a bit much), it's that they turned her into the most boring protagonist ever put into a video game. Her narration is like if Max Payne was written by Uwe Boll and starred a bored William Shatner reading directly from a script. Absolutely atrocious. Plus, the writers seemingly went out of their way to make her appear inferior to all of the other characters simply because she's female. Truly abhorrent.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Other M's gameplay wasn't so hot, either. It was a mediocre third-person(?) shooter with horrid first-person stuff thrown in for no reason. Nothing more, nothing less.

Personally from what I've played of it (which admittedly was only about an hour's worth) I thought it was quite fun, but perhaps I haven't played enough shooters in that vein to judge whether its any good or not. Still, even the gameplay and level design was under the direction of Sakamoto and his team, so its still wrong for TN to get all of the blame for that (and from what I've seen most fans love to harp on them rather than Nintendo, no that Nintendo doesn't get its fair share of fan back-lash as well). Also I think the first-person stuff was just thrown in there as a cheap way to appease the Prime fans who whined about this game not being another Prime FPS prime game, which was definitely a mistake on the part of the developers because if they are going to go in a new direction they should go full-force that way rather than trying to throw in a gimmick to appease other fans when in reality it won't change their stance on the game and it'll create gameplay problems in a game that clearly wasn't designed for that style of gameplay. That said the first person parts of the game from the portion that I played didn't bother me that much, but I played an earlier part of the game so perhaps it gets more frustrating later on.

[Spark Of Spirit]

A bit off the current topic, but I just thought I should mention the current rumor floating around that the "Durango" (the codename for the next Xbox) is currently stated to be within "spitting distance" of the Wii-U tech-wise.

There will be a LOT of meltdowns in the next few months.

[Foggle]

The gameplay in Other M is fun for about 2-3 hours, but it's not something that will hold your attention for very long. It's incredibly one-note... which is so antithetical to the concept of Metroid that it's actually kind of funny.

The first-person stuff becomes extremely tedious later on, not that many people will even make it that far. The godawful unskippable cutscenes turned most of my friends away long before the halfway point.

A bit off the current topic, but I just thought I should mention the current rumor floating around that the "Durango" (the codename for the next Xbox) is currently stated to be within "spitting distance" of the Wii-U tech-wise.

And here I thought that they'd actually try to catch up to mid-range PCs from 2008. It's over, boundary-pushing graphics are finished. Not that I really care. In fact, this makes me happy. I get to save money on upgrades this way.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Unless Microsoft somehow surprises me by acquiring interesting new exclusive IPs that are either great platformers or action adventure games, I couldn't care less about their new console. By the same token I won't be fully interested in the WiiU until I see some clear gameplay footage of some new Nintendo console exclusive games (whether they be a new game in a long-established franchise or a brand new IP altogether). And of course, I'm interested mostly in platformers and action adventure games, but when it comes to Nintendo I don't think I have to worry about them not delivering in that department.

[Spark Of Spirit]

What boundary pushing tech were you expecting? For devs to make their corridors look prettier as they funnel you through them? 60fps? 1080p? All that stuff has been easily achievable for years, but devs have intentionally avoided them. Next gen wouldn't have changed anything no matter how powerful the games were.

Microsoft is being smart. There's no reason for them to lose billions more money when they don't have to. The question is what Sony will do next.