Comments 36

Re: Glow In The Dark Analogue Pocket Announced

Tobunari

Not really interested. Glow in the dark things are a nice novelty but eventually that aspect wears off and you're left with a green analogue pocket.

I would rather they focus on further developing the Pocket. I've been having issues with the dock and my wireless controller. It could be the firmware on the controller, but I'd like to use the controller and have it work (8bitdo Pro 2 Wireless) but if I want to get out of certain cores I have to unplug the system from the dock and such from that way.

Honestly, I might as well just play my Retrofreak.

Re: Best N64 Games Of All Time

Tobunari

@DanijoEX-the-Pierrot It's a Kirby game though. No journalist is going to list a Kirby game as one of the system's best games.

(Unless it's like, Super Star - which I had to check, they did have it on there.)

Re: This New ROM Hack Fixes Many Of Sonic Advance 2's Rough Edges

Tobunari

@smoreon I can agree with this. I would continuously go back to play Advance 1 while the rest I would go back once in a while, and then quit immediately when I realized how dull they were.

Rush though, I played the game, 100% it in less than a week, then sold it. To this day I don't really understand the appeal, but whatever. I distinctly remember my pace being broken because they kept on locking me in a room with enemies to beat, that I would simply boost back and forth to beat.

If you're going to expect me to fight enemies, don't give me an invincible option right there.

Re: The Puzzling Legacy of Panel de Pon And Puzzle League

Tobunari

You know they could have just called it "Panel Panic" and it would've been a good alliterative title to stand on its own: it tells you what the objects you're working with are called, and as the game goes on it gets more intense, especially when dealing with Garbage Blocks.

Funny thing is, they had an opportunity to do something with it. When Nintendo was doing mobile games, this was probably THE best game to have a revival, since everything was trying to be a Candy Crush or Bubble Bobble clone.

Maybe even could've revived Lip (under a new localized name) to serve as the mascot and adhere to the cutesy style that was common with mobile games before Gacha took over.

Re: Anniversary: F-Zero X Is 25 Today

Tobunari

@DeusX And its that hardcore experience that prevents the series from growing.

Some people like a challenge. But it needs to be an accessible challenge otherwise you're not going to get new blood playing the games and getting good.

So I can understand why Imamura would say that Nintendo wouldn't do an F-Zero because Mario Kart exists.

But on the other hand, I think the biggest issue with F-Zero is simply they don't have anyone on staff interested in the series itself to give it a new chance.

The article about Mario Kart being more popular points out that Miyamoto is interested in doing another Star Fox, so despite Zero's middling sales and reviews, it's likely going to get another game down the line.

Metroid has Sakamoto and Tenabe leading the charge for that series, and its a darling in the Western market, so even if the next game tanks (like with how Sakamoto dealt with Other M, and Tenabe with Federation Force) there's bound to be interest in the series in some way/shape/form (unless the failure causes them to quit)

You don't have anyone speaking for F-Zero at this point other than fans who either demand a new game (but likely will be the only ones buying it - not sustaining sales) or fans making their own indie versions that usually don't get off the ground.

Re: Former Rare Staff Not Sure We Need More Banjo-Kazooie Games

Tobunari

@Poodlestargenerica And then the problem becomes a tale like Tooie.

I personally felt Tooie was way too big for its own good. The fact that the Talon Trot while fast as it was, was still too slow to traverse the world, made a ton of problems with playing the game.

A game like Mario Odyssey is a good measurement, but maybe with more worlds than it in order to make the game have more variety and more substance.

Re: Former Rare Staff Not Sure We Need More Banjo-Kazooie Games

Tobunari

@BlueShellYoshi "I'm even surprised Banjo got in before Rayman did in smash bros as a playable character."

I'm not. Banjo had plenty of Japanese fans demanding him in around the time of Melee. While he had a higher vocal western fanbase, there at least WAS interest there.

I don't know the status of RayMan's popularity in Japan, but considering when the Wii U's debut trailer started with RayMan Legends, and I heard a number of Japanese fans at the time saying "Who is this?" I'm going to go out on a disembodied limb and say the character and franchise itself isn't that prominent enough for Japanese fans to demand his placement.

And on a personal note, I never saw RayMan as an essential gaming icon. He had games pop up here and there but after his debut games he sort of died off for a while until the Rabbids overtook him, and then they did Origins and Legends for artsy points.

If Ubisoft was ever going to have a playable fighter in Smash, it would've likely been a Rabbid or an Assassin's Creed character, although with how much Ubisoft bungled the latter, I doubt the character would've been someone iconic like Ezio or Altair.

Re: DSReality Aims To Display Your Favourite DS Games As Holographic 3D Models

Tobunari

@Hydra_Spectre Neither has been the Gamecube or Wii, yet they got on Dolphin's case not too long ago.

Let's not forget the discourse around The Big House and the use of emulated copies of Melee being played Online - for an event they were set to sponsor before they dropped the C&D regarding Slippi and the emulated games and The Big House got all whiny.

Re: Rare Co-Founder "Always Intended" Banjo-Kazooie To "Grow" As A Franchise

Tobunari

@Sketcz I mean you see it now in Tears of the Kingdom. A good chunk of the fanbase for the game loves it precisely because of the building aspect of it.

That said, I do love this series. I wasn't impressed with Tooie though because they made everything so big, and there wasn't fast enough methods of travel - Talon Trot ended up being too slow. Not to mention there's the whole Boss fights thing. I felt the first game was fine without them (or rather it was fine without an extensive boss fight - the bosses that were there were generally weak barring Grunty)

Re: Review: 8BitMods MemCard Pro GC - A Next-Generation GameCube Memory Card

Tobunari

@smoreon Just checked, you can still move the Chao Garden data from one Memory Card to another provided there's no Chao Garden data, you just can't create a copy. Which makes sense considering there's an option to use Chao from both memory cards for Racing and Karate and the ability to move them between cards.

(I used Sonic Adventure 2 for this, as I don't have DX at the moment, but I'd argue its similar.)

As for the Wii U: I have a external hard drive for the thing, and I'm able to copy my data to said external hard drive. Accessing it outside the Wii U though, I don't think that's possible.

Re: F-Zero Gets Another Spiritual Successor In The Shape Of XF - eXtreme Formula

Tobunari

@smoreon The comparison to Fire Emblem and F-Zero boils down to despite Fire Emblem's decline, it still had games made for the series until Awakening where all the stops were made to ensure it was a success in both mechanics and marketing.

F-Zero just stopped. It hasn't had a game since GX and the series lives primarily through references and cameos. Had Awakening not been a success, Fire Emblem likely would occupy the same sort of state F-Zero currently does.

As we're aware, Nintendo has said they're interested in getting the series back on track but it would need something to stand out, but after three home consoles, two portables, nothing dealing with mobile, and the only thing keeping it around being its status as a beloved but unknown franchise to many people, I'd argue that F-Zero should it come back, would have a steep climb.

On that note, I'd still argue that regardless of the install base, not everyone who owns a Switch would be opt to pick up F-Zero: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the highest selling game on the system, I highly doubt anyone other than people who want F-Zero to return would want something like F-Zero when they have Mario Kart.

Sure, they can gather some sales, fans of Breath of the Wild likely got into Link's Awakening Switch and Skyward Sword HD, but I'm sure that some of those who bought those games regretted the decision.

...

As far as making a success, I can't argue in sales numbers. I can only argue in the fact that we haven't gotten a new F-Zero game since the GameCube days, because if the sales were successful, we would've gotten another game.

That logic might be faulty, considering such series like Metroid dealt with flops like Other M and Federation Force, but it continues primarily due to the interest of series directors Yoshio Sakamoto (Super, Other M, Dread) and Kensuke Tanabe (Prime, Federation Force) meanwhile F-Zero shows interest, but yet nothing's been done for decades.

Re: F-Zero Gets Another Spiritual Successor In The Shape Of XF - eXtreme Formula

Tobunari

@smoreon A great deal of Fire Emblem's success lies in the marketing of the series with Awakening, and in a different retrospect, making the game series easier for newer players to approach by adding a 'Casual' mode. The latter of which was deliberate as Awakening was set to be the last game in the series, and it was due to its runaway success that has led Nintendo and Intelligent Systems to continue the series.

Since then though, I'll make the argument that the series slowed down and only remains relevant in how split the camp is in the Fire Emblem fanbase that were fans prior and the fans made after Awakening, and the people who oppose the series due to Nintendo's treatment of it as a 'big-name franchise' when those same people would say that literally anything else should take its place (typically Metroid) and that the number of characters in Smash Bros takes away from potential newcomers.

F-Zero didn't have that. It was sent out, expected to sell because it had the bells and whistles that was popular at the time, and then failed to capture the magic to entice new audiences to give it a shot.

It's a flop.

If Nintendo were to make a new F-Zero today? Maybe the modern marketing would make it something to check out, but I honestly doubt the general public would fawn over it if Captain Falcon was his canonical stoic F-Zero self, instead of the showboat-y over-the-top personification of the series in his Smash Bros iteration: the one most people know him for.

Re: Review: 8BitMods MemCard Pro GC - A Next-Generation GameCube Memory Card

Tobunari

@smoreon "Smash Bros. Melee was also locked"

Just checked. It's not. Melee is fully able to be moved and copied between GameCube Memory Cards so keeping your Melee Data for this Memory Card is going to be possible.

If I recall correctly, the only Smash Bros game that doesn't allow you to back up data, at least given the availability to do so, is Brawl. And I know that because I used to always upload and download save files on the Wii.

Don't know about 3DS and Wii U outside hacking, and Ultimate allows cloud saves on NSO. So that's at least one out of the six Smash games where save backup data can't be accessed - well half the titles given Brawl, 3DS, and Wii U...

Re: F-Zero Gets Another Spiritual Successor In The Shape Of XF - eXtreme Formula

Tobunari

@smoreon When you adapt the series into an anime at the height of anime's popularity and it still doesn't help push units, I'd argue that its a flop.

As it stands now, Captain Falcon's portrayal in Smash as well as the homage tracks in Mario Kart are the only things that will see F-Zero grace in the future, because they know that's safe.

@ChromaticDracula To which we've had plenty of people just yell out "Just give it Online" as if that's the only thing that it would need to sell...

Fact is, F-Zero has a high skill ceiling, Mario Kart doesn't. It's easier to pick up and play a Mario Kart than to get good enough at F-Zero to enjoy the game.

Re: F-Zero Gets Another Spiritual Successor In The Shape Of XF - eXtreme Formula

Tobunari

"Now, if only Nintendo itself would get in on the act..."

Yet we know they won't, and there's a very good reason.

F-Zero doesn't sell.

As great as the games could be, the issue is how are you expected to sell a series as niche as F-Zero when you have something like Mario Kart that has a wider appeal.

On that note - Nintendo promoted F-Zero with a tie-in anime around the time when anime was a popular investment: Still didn't help with sales.

The series was a literal flop. That's why they don't go back to it because they know it would not sell - and given the futuristic aesthetic which would mean more detail to work with as opposed to a more cartoony series, it would end up being very expensive and very hard on the hardware - making it a bigger financial risk.

I mean, I give applause to Felipe - he makes quality work, but F-Zero getting any sort of resurrection, any resurrection that will end up becoming financially successful...

That's a pipe dream.

Re: This Device Could End Up Being Essential For All Retro Gamers

Tobunari

This is probably good for all those who can't find/afford a Retrode 2. But I'd argue a GB Operator works much better for the Game Boy Library of games (GB/GBC/GBA)

@BulbasaurusRex Pirates are going to Pirate, although I'd argue more people would be concerned with reproduction carts being sold, and those repos ending up breaking mid-game and wiping saves.

@mikegamer Give it a rest. If that's all your argument is then look into media preservation as a whole. The fact is nothing lasts forever, plenty of movies, books, and other physical media will be lost to the sands of time eventually, especially as parts start breaking down from within. There's a reason why so many cartoon enthusiasts continue to archive what they can but there are plenty of shows that just ended up completely lost, even from the last decade let alone things from the SNES-Genesis era.

And absolutely none of the video game companies will be so hyper-focused on preserving their ever-expanding libraries: No one seems to bat an eye at SEGA blatantly ignoring their Game Gear, Master System, Saturn, Dreamcast, and 3rd party Gamecube/Wii/Playstation 2-3, and Xbox titles. Some Sony-Savvys are complaining that several PS1/PS2 classics haven't made it on their online service, let alone the ones that aren't constantly being remade or ported. The only reason Microsoft gets any sort of 'pass' is because it's still technically the baby of the console race.

Do you really expect Nintendo to be able to preserve every single game and have it widely available to play when there are plenty of games that due to hardware gimmicks and restrictions would be unable to be emulated or ported to newer systems?

Heaven forbid Pokemon, the most restrictive game franchise in terms of further emulation - anything that isn't a main series game is alright with exceptions being things like the GameCube Orre titles, but anything that's main series? You know that GameFreak will withhold those titles from being easily accessible and emulated - just look at how long it took to get them on 3DS VC! If the Switch ever has a GB or GBA Online, these are going to be the games that will be exception, and GameFreak would likely try to sell them as individual applications for HOME compatibility at $10 a pop - no way would they allow them to be played "free" on Nintendo's 'premium' Online membership plan.

And if your argument of "Won't Preserve Games properly" is based around the shut down of the 3DS/Wii U eShop, should I remind people of the general consensus on those systems when the Switch made its debut announcement six years ago? The reaction I believe was that everyone was celebrating that the Wii U and 3DS were both dead, and constantly trashed anything that seemingly was announced for either system, not an issue for the Wii U, but when the 3DS got the announcement of a game, the opinion was that it wasn't needed because the Switch existed. Now, after years of the 3DS and Wii U eShops being dry and barren with no visitors, people have the gall to complain when Nintendo saw they had no business and decided to close up shop. Why not? No one's buying, licenses are expiring, might as well. It's only now that it's being done that people are complaining their games aren't being preserved properly.

What is it?

Re: 8BitMods Announces MemCard Pro For GameCube

Tobunari

@StarPoint @DanijoEX I think that depends on if its compatible right out of the gate with a standard run-of-the-mill GameCube.

If it is, then that means it can certainly work on early Wii models that have the Gamecube ports and everything built in.

Re: Pre-Orders Open For Polymega's N64 Module Ahead Of Spring 2023 Release

Tobunari

@Serpenterror "Also does that controller support the Rumble Pak and Transfer Pak add-on?"

Knowing most 3rd party controllers, the Rumble Pak will likely be compatible, but the shape of it would likely mean the Transfer Pak won't.

In fact, the Transfer Pak has a history of not being compatible with a number of 3rd party N64 controllers. Most typically its due to the controller's back port being good enough for the Rumble Pak and the Memory Pak, but not good enough for the Transfer Pak - I don't know if it's too big or too small. I do know some standard 3rd party N64 controllers have the Transfer Pak barely connect, so it's usually a more apt choice to find a used N64 controller and just replace the control stick.

But we won't know until this thing releases which... I guess that's when you'll get confirmation.