Constable Reggie

My bad, 10 seconds then.

Jeez Shadow, that's a lot of lines just to put someone down. I understand the basic idea that the time used to put something seemingly pointless in the game could have been used to better improve something else (like, say, adding a new class or something), but Lunatic+ (full disclaimer: I haven't played it, and have no intention to ever do so) just looks like Lunatic Mode + give every single enemy 2 extra random skills. It probably took them all of 5 seconds to implement it. Using those 5 seconds to erase all of Olivia's lines would have made a better game

Probably not in the States, but considering how popular the series is in Japan, I'd wager it'd help move a bit more than a few consoles. And if it turns out to actually be good, I know what console I'm getting this gen.

Not even Hitler had to go through this kind of harassment. I'm more than willing to bet that Hyrule Warriors will greatly polish up Zelda's tarnished name, and as a result, sell millions of Wii Us.

Hyrule Warriors is this generation's Ocarina of Time Super Mario Bros Insert Good Selling Game Here I think it's less "not giving up on Nintendo" and more "blindly backing Nintendo to the significant detriment of your posts"

Once Hyrule Warriors is released, the Wii U will start flying off shelves.

Haven't played the first Acid, but judging from her wiki page, she's not as bad as Venus. Hey, at least she's got camo prints!

Yeah I wasn't a huge fan of Venus' design. When I think of a covert soldier outfit, I don't exactly think of bright red colors and a microskirt.

I got the feeling Tangerine was emphasizing jrpgs due to the FF mention, correct me if I'm wrong though. The two consoles were announced roughly the same time though, so I'm not sure how many would have chosen the 360 over the ps3 just for dat Blue Dragon exclusive, especially considering that FFXIII was ps3 only at the time. The main appeal for the 360 at the time was definitely its shooters and online play, whereas the PS3 didn't really focus on just one type of fanbase.

If you're talking about the 360/PS3 generation, I'd say the 360 ones regressed more because the microsoft audience didn't care about rpgs (how many jrpgs can you name on the original xbox?) so the exclusivity deals weren't really worth it, and jrpg devs decided to dump the 360 entirely in favor of the ps3. Hell, rpgs are still going strong on the PS3. Incidentally, that's one of the big reasons as to why I regret choosing the 360 over ps3.

That may be true, but it still doesn't diminish the huge effect it's had on the 7th generation, and even leaking into this one. I dunno, I guess it just seems more significant nowadays due to the exponentially inflating AAA budgets more and more dictating what gets made and what doesn't.

That's some really messed up logical reasoning you got there. I wouldn't necessarily equate the two terms. Dead Space 1 is a somewhat unique game mechanically, but when Dead Space 3 came around, it didn't really dumb down the series mechanics, moreso it introduced more action-like elements to the game to appeal to the console shooter fanbase (their way of trying to broaden its audience). While you have somewhat of a point here, I would like to think he's referring more to the significant elements that encapsulate something of a generic fps. Linearity, shooting gallery, focus on explosions etc that make shooter experiences start to blend in with one another. Whether it's taking a lot of inspiration from those games (like RE6 did), or just trying to copy it wholesale (like Moh warfighter), there's no doubt that the insane success of CoD and the like have affected the mentality of a lot of shooter developers. For example, something like Operation Flashpoint lost a lot of what made it unique when Red River came around, because it included more "generic fps" elements to try to garner a bigger audience. While the games themselves still might hold up, there's no doubt that they've been heavily influenced by the generic fps standard.

On the other side of the coin, it eliminates some incentive to buy a Wii U. So now not only do you get a (probably temporarily if the 3ds is any indicator) lackluster category of Wii U games to go with your shiny console, but now you can't play your older online wii games on said investment. I'm sure there's a lot of people out there who bought a 3ds early partly because online DS Pokemons was possible on it.

Pretty ridiculous imo, they're shutting it down way too early. Not only has it not been that long since the last ds/wii games were made (are they still making them?), but wii/ds games are backwards compatible on the wii u and 3ds, too. The 360 was out for roughly five years before original live went down, and even that only had limited backwards compatability for xbox games. The 3ds is 3 years, and the wii u is at a whopping one and a half. From a profit perspective, I doubt this will do the wii u any favors either. Should have kept it up for at least two more years.

Jesus dude I didn't realize discussions about gaming was a challenge to the death. The fact that you so vehemently despise and refuse to accept my opinion of DA2 makes it pretty clear that you're not really open to any sort of interesting or beneficial discussion, so yeah, keep treating this place like the Bioware forums, and I won't stop you. Though I doubt many other people will take you seriously. Starfox is a great example of a perfectly feasible "short" game. Seriously, the game's like 2 hours long, and even with branching paths, I doubt there's more than 10ish hours of unique content. And yet it's still played a bunch because it warrants playthroughs through the sole fact that it is fun. Games don't have to take a lot of time to be finished in order to warrant a purchase. Storytelling is pretty poorly used in many cases in regard to video games (see: MGS4). There have been really good examples of good storytelling in games, but they're definitely the exception. More games like Bioshock and Bastion in this generation, please. Indie games will probably fullfill this.

No need to get pissy. Spec Ops' multiplayer was an active detriment to the game, and was better off left unrecognized (which everyone, including the game's developers, did). The game was all about the single player campaign, and the only supposed "replay value" gimmick it had was difficulty options, which is par for the course for most every game. The real replay value came from playing the game over and over again because a) the story is so damn good, b) the gameplay (in how it relates to the story) is so damn good, and c) it is just so damn good. Did you just say that KotoR is a shameless copy of Age of Empires 2? Huh, we must have played completely different KotoRs. But if you're one of the few people that apparently absolutely despises KotoR, then we'll get nowhere, cause that's the only "old" Bioware game I've played. Your ranting over DA2 is just that: incomprehensible ranting. Not sure exactly how to refute something like that, so I'll stick with what I thought was good about the game, and why I liked it better than Origins (didn't say it was necessarily a better game). -You can play with auto attack on, did you know that? Yeah. -The skill system was for more enjoyable and satisfying than Origins'. This, tied with the combat's faster nature, made for more thrilling fights, at the cost of planning (waves were a big issue). -The main character being voiced helped entice me into the story more than Origins', despite the fact that it limited options and was arguable of worse quality. -The game felt more focused and tightened, which I preferred over Origin's 80 hour romp. -The art direction is absolutely fantastic in this game. The game really makes it its own thing, unlike Origin's rather generic aesthetic. That isn't to say that there's big problems with the game, but for these reasons I enjoyed DA2 more. If they fixed issues like wave spawns and lazy map design, DA2 would have easily been the better game in every way except story. And if you still scream "dumbing down for the casuals"? Then go back and play your Baldur's Gates and Age of Empire 2's (?). They're not going anywhere.

Back in my day, games like Howard the Duck didn't need to be hyped to get good sales.

I believe it definitely could have held up without the MG ip. It's a legitimately unique game, with a blend of strategy, card based combat, and stealth. The MG story elements felt shoehorned in, which hurt it as a game, imo. It didn't need the ip to be a good game, let alone need it to be good enough to be hyped about (?).

Because a) I like to support games that prioritize quality over quantity, and b) the supposed "replay value" comes from playing it over and over again because it's that fun/compelling. Not exactly throwing money at a screen, is it. I haven't played any of the Elder Scroll games so I can't comment on those. You didn't bring up a single example for X-com, which is the series that I am familiar with (and the one I refuted, not Elder Scrolls). The only thing I can possibly think of is the lack of base invasions, which was rectified in EW. Several things you rain on about DA is extremely subjective, particularly every story aspect. A lot of elements in Dragon Age are more robust than games like KotoR, supposedly considered one of Bioware's best. I also happen to actually like DA2 more than Origins, partially for reasons mentioned here. I know about this, but Char is talking about replay value in the sense of things like alternate paths or extra options and shit. A legitimately great game (I'm not talking about just in the sense of "fun") doesn't need bells and whistles to justify its price point.

I enjoyed MGA2, enough to play it through all the way. Probably would have enjoyed it much more if it left out all the MG stuff and was an original IP, though.

What's the difference between dumbing down and streamlining to you? Because the original X-coms are stupidly needlessly complex, and EU streamlining several of the elements from the original can arguably make it a more enjoyable experience. At least, it did for me. Also wot on exs like Dragon Age and Silent Hill. Arguably less well designed =/= dumbing down I'd rather pay much more for games like Spec Ops than something like FFXIII. If a game is well made, it shouldn't matter how long a playthrough + extra content clocks in at. A short and very sweet 4 hour game is far more preferable than a 40 hour game that drags.

Holy shit season 5 is miles ahead of season 4 (well, at least the few episodes i saw of it), and arguably equal/better than seasons 2 and 3 too.

Interesting take, since I considered the Earth parts in the first Thor to be the most dreadfully dull and/or boring (with exception to the few scenes at the complex around the hammer).

I'd rather keep the issue handled with social consequences, rather than legal ones. If a restuarant loses business from forbidding babies, well, they might have to renege on that decision. If the ban gets more people to come to the restuarant, then maybe that's what people prefer. Age isn't a protected category in this case, and I see no reason to make it so.

Iron Man 2 I particularly liked since Don Cheadle played a pretty big role in it and I really enjoy his performances (his banter with Tony is great imo), and I really enjoyed Hammer hamming (hurhur) it up. The film would have been better if the Avengers shit (black widow, nick fury) was thrown out entirely or kept as the usual post-credits scene, but meh. I really liked Iron Man 3 up until he gets leaves redneck land, where the movie kinda teetered a bit. The "oh I've got 500 iron man suits up my ass" sequence went on for a bit too long, and was somewhat tiring. Really liked the airplane scene, though. There were enough things in Ghost Rider 2 that kept me somewhat entertained throughout the film. The motocycle transformation sequence was fucking fantastic, and Nick Cage has a decent number of unintentionally funny lines and delivery. The action scenes looked pretty good, too. I can understand people hating it though, since it feels really sporadic. Does Thor 2 require you to tilt your head for most of the movie like the first one does?