I’ve got a couple friends that I play online with every once in a while, but we’ll sometimes get together and play multiplayer all together. The same friend group minus one that was an addition later to the group used to do LAN parties for Halo and play games all together in our younger years. We used to have long story driven “campaigns” in the WWE games too, just because it was silly as well. In the olden days, we’d even play single player games all together, but that time has sort of passed, even though we talk about doing that again and it never really happens.
That said, I play games now mostly with my wife and kids. My most memorable multiplayer experiences are probably playing Puyo Puyo Tetris against my wife on Xbox One before my son was born. She ordered me a Japanese copy of the game since it didn’t release in the west and we played A LOT when she was pregnant. And then we played a lot of Cuphead together immediately after the birth. My wife and I play games together semi-frequently. My son and I have played some games co-op as well.
And my parents and sisters and their significant others, we’ll get together for Mario Party, Mario Kart, or Jackbox once in a while and we all enjoy that. I used to force my sisters to play Goldeneye with me and such, but we don’t do that anymore.
I used to have a cousin that I played a lot of games with too, but we don’t talk so often anymore. On the rare occasion we do talk or get together though, we sometimes fall back into our childhood together and become best friends for an evening, doing all the things we used to do, including playing games, playing guitar, etc, only for us to lose contact again shortly afterward, likely due to the fact that we live relatively distant from each other now.
Based on people I know, the retro console usage seems a bit inflated, but probably not ridiculously so.
My mom has the N64, Wii, and PS2 hooked up in the basement and still plays an odd assortment of games on there. The NES and SNES are there too, but not plugged in, probably because she’s not looked for adapters to plug them in and honestly I think she prefers the N64/Gamecube era games. She uses the Wii for GameCube games rather than Wii games, oddly enough. Most wouldn’t expect that my mom plays games every so often, and I think gamers similar to her are more common than people expect. The gamers that were left behind after the Wii…
My grandma had an Atari 2600 hooked up to her TV too (she passed away in the 90’s, so not quite applicable to the survey in stats but concept. One of my last memories of her was that we played Dr Mario together a week before she passed too). I remember thinking adults 20, 30 years ago hid their gaming hobbies because it wasn’t culturally acceptable like it is now.
@Razieluigi I was thinking the same thing. What type of game is this? I guess we’ll have to wait to see some videos because the description of a 3v3v3 fighting game doesn’t quite make it make more sense just yet. I like the team though.
@poyo_pie There’s been a bunch of successful crowd funded games. I mean, yeah, Bloodstained (though Curse of the Moon > Ritual of the Night for me), Yooka Laylee, Thimbleweed Park, Hollow Knight, I mean the list goes on… I still invest in Kickstarter games personally. There’s been a lot of hits, in my opinion. There was like a renaissance of crowdfunded games for a bit, even if Mighty No 9 flopped.
@X68000 That’s funny. I remember paying in full for a preorder of the Last Guardian during the PS3 era at GameStop and I totally forgot about it. I ended up going through a phase where I didn’t go to GameStop for a long while and my wife ended up taking me to one in 2019, and they apologized that they didn’t have a copy available and I was sort of confused, as I totally forgot about it. I had bought the game for like $8 a few months before that. Maybe things like your story and mine are why preorders are starting to vanish?
@poyo_pie It was sort of the first big one, but unfortunately there’s been many more that have had similar scale and ended up worse, but you’re right about the hype. Mighty No 9 had hype unlike any of these Kickstarters before it, and summarily… none of them have had hype again after it.
What a different world the industry was in when Mighty No 9 launched. It wasn’t nearly as bad as some had said, even if it’s definitely not a great game. It’s X8 tier-ish. Certainly not another X7, you know? But, as a trainwreck, it’s quaint by today’s standards, even if it’s more widely remembered than worse launches (including Infafune’s own Megaman Legends successor that never materialized). Can’t believe the saga is finally over.
Man, do I love the art in Wipeout. I’m not the hugest fan of the games since I’m not big on racing games, but I would love for anything to get inspired by that fantastic look.
I’d love to see what today’s Capcom could do with a Disney license. Love what Capcom did back on the NES and SNES with the license. Fantastic read, this article. Thanks, as always, for this website and the gems you guys publish
@NatsuKaze Awesome, looking forward to wishlisting and happy to support. I love the art style. I wish you the best with your launch. Hope to see it soon!
@NatsuKaze Just visited the Kickstarter myself and it looks stunning. Are you planning a simultaneous console version of the game along with PC? Also, will there be merch post-launch. I’m not fancy enough to be able to afford the higher tiers right now, but if I like the game, I’m a sucker for merch and happy to be a billboard in my free time.
It’s sort of strange that NES Tetris has been such a big thing the last 2-3 years. What made this one suddenly a gaming zeitgeist after decades of hibernation?
Looks the way it should have been all those years ago. Megaman X8 isn’t bad, but its visuals have aged like milk. Now maybe some people will be able to see the game is at least as good as X6.
@Daniel36 is Dwarf Fortress decent as a mobile app? I’ve not had a gaming PC in a few years now, so I’ll admit I’m not as much in the PC gaming space now.
Yes, there are still auteurs out there. Kojima’s got Death Stranding 2 on the way, Ken Levine’s got Judas cooking, and there’s a few indie auteurs, but it does feel like things have shifted. From Geoff Keighley rushing people off the stage during the Game Awards to mass layoffs to a lighter release schedule that is so much more driven by GAAS titles, it does often time feel to me that the industry was once a place of possibilities and now things are made to be safer in the broad spectrum. The industry still has plenty to love for sure, but I do miss some of the excitement.
I know he’s obnoxious, but I miss the era of gaming auteurs. We’re not in an industry of creators anymore, but of franchises and products. There was a fun, an enormity, a magic in games back in Molyneux’s time. I mean, you always knew he was full of it, but it was also an age of singular visions that weren’t afraid to buckle against the corporate overlords. Above everything, it was a time of impossible ideas, of dreams. After all, the visionaries like Molyneux, Kojima, Will Wright, etc… they had the ideas that made millions of dollars when millions of dollars was a lot. They made a fledgling industry into the mammoth it became… until those dreams turned into avatars and skins. I sort of like that he’s trying again, even if I know the game won’t be an iota of his promises.
I am quite jealous of all you who’ve had the joy of playing through this one on a native console. I remember a friend of mine having it, but he felt like the Saturn was a bit weak as a console experience, so he sold his console and games for a PlayStation and loved it. Fine for him, but I remember his library and, man, I got to try this game just once on native hardware. Given the library he had and his interests, I’m not surprised he sold his, and I didn’t know better in the 90’s, but, man, it took less than ten years to get nostalgic quick for that one day of gaming where I tried all his games out quick before he sold it. The ways I’ve tried to play Saga since… have not been right.
@Poodlestargenerica I agree. The game looks great and I’d like to support it, but that promo art has me second guessing it. I’d love to see Maniac Mansion inspired games become “a thing” though.
It’s a fair choice, honestly. It all boils down to who did the poll and there’s no reason to be upset about it. At least two dozen games have been considered the greatest game of all time somewhere.
@Andee Wattam is absolutely one of my favorite games. I’ll never delete it off my PS5. It’s one of those games I can trust both of my kids with too. My two year old daughter can play it. There’s so few games that are just so available for everyone. I did try to find a Wattam t-shirt at one point, but had no luck, unfortunately! To A T is in my top 10 most anticipated games this year for sure!
@Damo I know this, but I just… can’t believe it! Lol. Nuts and Bolts deserves better than this. I was surprised by the positivity towards Jet Force Gemini as well. I get the nostalgia for it, but it’s aged like milk.
Man, you guys are haters on that Beetlejuice game. I always enjoyed that one and felt like it had some unique mechanics, even if it was unfairly difficult and janky at times.
It’s also sort of blasphemy to see Nuts and Bolts so low in the list. Below Kameo and Grabbed by Ghoulies? Below Perfect Dark Zero!? Insane. Nuts and Bolts wasn’t what people wanted, but it was solid for what it was. Surprised to see such a positive reaction to Sea of Thieves too.
@Poodlestargenerica @Hikingguy Surely, if Xbox leaves the console space, I feel Steam may be waiting for that moment to jump in. If anyone can fill the spot that Xbox has, it’s Steam.
I do wish Xbox would really capitalize on Halo and Fable, if they’re continuing on. I do feel like Xbox has unique ideas from time to time, but, despite their wealth as a platform, everything simply feels AA from them when they’re at their best.
@Poodlestargenerica You could be right. The amount of remakes and remasters and sequels this generation has been a little much. I do miss a PlayStation that took risks and had more fun. I honestly wish Xbox was a stronger platform simply to combat a lazy PlayStation. Competition IS needed in the console space. If Xbox is phasing out, Stadia failed, and Nintendo being a different planet, you’ve got to wonder if there’s anyone else that would attempt to jump into the home console space. Maybe Steam? Apple?
It would be a real shame if Xbox is abandoning the console platform. Sony needs competition. Even if Nintendo is beating them in many fronts, we’ve hit a point where Nintendo (from the Wii era onward) exists off in its own world, more or less, and isn’t directly competing against Sony. Xbox is good for Sony, in that a strong rival pushes PlayStation to do better. I expect a lazier, remake happy PlayStation if Xbox drops out.
@Poodlestargenerica Oh, yes, I totally understand that. Rare DID have a really big hit area, but so did other developers in a similar timeframe that remained consistent. I definitely feel Rare’s zenith period was linked to Nintendo’s influence. Their arcade and NES input was all over the place in terms of quality, but you could tell they had ideas percolating even if the games didn’t always hit the mark and that coalesced into the SNES and N64 era, but, after that… I just feel Rare hasn’t ever come close to getting back to that stride. Their tenure on Xbox has been baffling to me. Ghoulies and Kameo were unfortunately generic follow-ups that are all the more bewildering when compared to their previous titles. Then you have the mess of a Perfect Dark sequel. Viva Piñata, while it’s not a game for me, was an obvious choice to search for an Xbox mascot, but that series went as quickly as it came. Nuts and Bolts and Killer Instinct are practically the only hits in my eyes since Rare’s left Nintendo. The Yooka Laylee games both show that better games could have been made from the Rare team though.
Beetlejuice is severely underrated, but seriously Donkey Kong Country 2 is their zenith. Few games hit close to that mark.
Sorry to say, but Rare as a developer has been wildly inconsistent in quality for their entire tenure in the gaming industry. I know it’s a hot take, but really, without their stretch of games from DKC through the first Perfect Dark, I don’t feel like Rare would be beloved. Their best games were made in like a five year boom and they’ve been chucking 6/10s more consistently before and after that than anything else.
I hate to say it, but the DS is one of the most overrated consoles ever released, in my opinion. The catalog as thick as it is just didn’t have the same tier of quality of other Nintendo consoles. That may just have been me, but that was an era where I had drifted from Nintendo because things just weren’t clicking for me.
I’m not sure if my uncle had an Amiga or what, but I know I’ve played roughly half of these games at one point long, long ago. PC gaming felt so different to console gaming in those days. I sort of wish we’d get some modern ports for some of these titles.
I really wish they would’ve gotten the all clear about this. I wonder why Bethesda wasn’t pleased with New Vegas. Seems sort of odd, given what a great job they did with it, especially with the time crunch.
If Kojima continued with Konami and the Metal Gear series in an alternate universe, you’ve got to wonder if Kojima would’ve brought Hayter back to reprise his role if Solid Snake was used again. Did Kojima ever say anything to contradict that he was using Keifer because he’s a different character than the Snake we previously knew? A fake voice for a fake Snake and all that, you know?
@stinkyx Unfortunately, I agree that I fear Virtua Fighter would get swallowed up in Tekken’s shadow. Virtua Fighter is a complicated game, but it isn’t flashy in the sense that many other fighters are with blood or explosions. It relies directly on gameplay as its selling point. And, yes, the “pureness” makes engagement a real challenge in a more active age. I could see a new title reviewing well for fighting game purists, but not having nearly the level of engagement of SF, MK, or Tekken. Oddly enough too, I don’t feel like VF embraces “realness” like, say, the UFC titles you’d mentioned. VF is in a world of “pure gaming,” which was more of a thing years ago, but is very much out of vogue now. It’s a series where I want it to return, but I can’t even fathom how they’d do it to cater to modern audiences beyond a niche of highly passionate vintage gamers that have been screaming for fighting games to cease their more exploitative aspects.
Its distinct lack of “special moves” is one of the things that makes Virtua Fighter distinctly special. There’s a certain fluidity and looseness to the fighting and movement that is unique in comparison to Tekken, which I feel is its closest analogue. If Sega focuses on that, I’m interested. I’m sure the challenge that they have with it though is that Virtua Fighter is a purer experience as a game than Street Fighter, Tekken, etc have become, and, by that, I mean, I’m sure that Virtua Fighter’s biggest hurdle is in how to adapt it to the age of GAAS, continuous monetization, and microtransactions. That, I’m sure, is the dramatic Sega is thinking of.
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Re: Death Stranding 2's Cover Is Yet Another Callback To Metal Gear Solid
Ruse confirmed.
If you know, you know. 🤣
Re: Please, Please, Please Treasure Your Offline Multiplayer Buddy
I’ve got a couple friends that I play online with every once in a while, but we’ll sometimes get together and play multiplayer all together. The same friend group minus one that was an addition later to the group used to do LAN parties for Halo and play games all together in our younger years. We used to have long story driven “campaigns” in the WWE games too, just because it was silly as well. In the olden days, we’d even play single player games all together, but that time has sort of passed, even though we talk about doing that again and it never really happens.
That said, I play games now mostly with my wife and kids. My most memorable multiplayer experiences are probably playing Puyo Puyo Tetris against my wife on Xbox One before my son was born. She ordered me a Japanese copy of the game since it didn’t release in the west and we played A LOT when she was pregnant. And then we played a lot of Cuphead together immediately after the birth. My wife and I play games together semi-frequently. My son and I have played some games co-op as well.
And my parents and sisters and their significant others, we’ll get together for Mario Party, Mario Kart, or Jackbox once in a while and we all enjoy that. I used to force my sisters to play Goldeneye with me and such, but we don’t do that anymore.
I used to have a cousin that I played a lot of games with too, but we don’t talk so often anymore. On the rare occasion we do talk or get together though, we sometimes fall back into our childhood together and become best friends for an evening, doing all the things we used to do, including playing games, playing guitar, etc, only for us to lose contact again shortly afterward, likely due to the fact that we live relatively distant from each other now.
Re: 14 Percent Of North Americans Still Play Gaming Systems Released Before 2000
Based on people I know, the retro console usage seems a bit inflated, but probably not ridiculously so.
My mom has the N64, Wii, and PS2 hooked up in the basement and still plays an odd assortment of games on there. The NES and SNES are there too, but not plugged in, probably because she’s not looked for adapters to plug them in and honestly I think she prefers the N64/Gamecube era games. She uses the Wii for GameCube games rather than Wii games, oddly enough. Most wouldn’t expect that my mom plays games every so often, and I think gamers similar to her are more common than people expect. The gamers that were left behind after the Wii…
My grandma had an Atari 2600 hooked up to her TV too (she passed away in the 90’s, so not quite applicable to the survey in stats but concept. One of my last memories of her was that we played Dr Mario together a week before she passed too). I remember thinking adults 20, 30 years ago hid their gaming hobbies because it wasn’t culturally acceptable like it is now.
Re: Random: Star Fox Character Designer Explains How Fox McCloud Was Shaped By Miyamoto's "Essence"
Can someone make a side-by-side, so we can compare the Fox team to the dev team? 😅
Re: Street Fighter, Resident Evil And Xenoblade Veterans Are Making A "Plunder Battle Game" For Cave
@Razieluigi I was thinking the same thing. What type of game is this? I guess we’ll have to wait to see some videos because the description of a 3v3v3 fighting game doesn’t quite make it make more sense just yet. I like the team though.
Re: After What Feels Like A Lifetime, Amazon Is Cancelling Mighty No. 9 3DS And Vita Pre-Orders
@poyo_pie There’s been a bunch of successful crowd funded games. I mean, yeah, Bloodstained (though Curse of the Moon > Ritual of the Night for me), Yooka Laylee, Thimbleweed Park, Hollow Knight, I mean the list goes on… I still invest in Kickstarter games personally. There’s been a lot of hits, in my opinion. There was like a renaissance of crowdfunded games for a bit, even if Mighty No 9 flopped.
Re: After What Feels Like A Lifetime, Amazon Is Cancelling Mighty No. 9 3DS And Vita Pre-Orders
@X68000 That’s funny. I remember paying in full for a preorder of the Last Guardian during the PS3 era at GameStop and I totally forgot about it. I ended up going through a phase where I didn’t go to GameStop for a long while and my wife ended up taking me to one in 2019, and they apologized that they didn’t have a copy available and I was sort of confused, as I totally forgot about it. I had bought the game for like $8 a few months before that. Maybe things like your story and mine are why preorders are starting to vanish?
@poyo_pie It was sort of the first big one, but unfortunately there’s been many more that have had similar scale and ended up worse, but you’re right about the hype. Mighty No 9 had hype unlike any of these Kickstarters before it, and summarily… none of them have had hype again after it.
Re: After What Feels Like A Lifetime, Amazon Is Cancelling Mighty No. 9 3DS And Vita Pre-Orders
What a different world the industry was in when Mighty No 9 launched. It wasn’t nearly as bad as some had said, even if it’s definitely not a great game. It’s X8 tier-ish. Certainly not another X7, you know? But, as a trainwreck, it’s quaint by today’s standards, even if it’s more widely remembered than worse launches (including Infafune’s own Megaman Legends successor that never materialized). Can’t believe the saga is finally over.
Re: Japanese Gamers Just Picked The 30 Best PlayStation Games Of All Time
FF11 above most of that list is suspect, and I say that as a Final Fantasy diehard
Re: Backyard Soccer '98 Is Available Now On Steam
Wasn’t this coming to consoles too?
Re: Copies Of WipEout: Futurism Are Arriving With Customers Now
Man, do I love the art in Wipeout. I’m not the hugest fan of the games since I’m not big on racing games, but I would love for anything to get inspired by that fantastic look.
Re: The Making Of: The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse, Capcom's SNES Classic
I’d love to see what today’s Capcom could do with a Disney license. Love what Capcom did back on the NES and SNES with the license. Fantastic read, this article. Thanks, as always, for this website and the gems you guys publish
Re: The SNES And Game Boy-Inspired Action RPG 'Maple Forest' Smashes Initial Kickstarter Target
@NatsuKaze Awesome, looking forward to wishlisting and happy to support. I love the art style. I wish you the best with your launch. Hope to see it soon!
Re: The SNES And Game Boy-Inspired Action RPG 'Maple Forest' Smashes Initial Kickstarter Target
@NatsuKaze Just visited the Kickstarter myself and it looks stunning. Are you planning a simultaneous console version of the game along with PC? Also, will there be merch post-launch. I’m not fancy enough to be able to afford the higher tiers right now, but if I like the game, I’m a sucker for merch and happy to be a billboard in my free time.
Re: History Has Just Been Made On NES Tetris
It’s sort of strange that NES Tetris has been such a big thing the last 2-3 years. What made this one suddenly a gaming zeitgeist after decades of hibernation?
Re: Review: UFO 50 (Steam) - An Indie Masterpiece Bursting With Fictional NES Nostalgia
I can’t wait for this one to come to consoles!
Man, I hope it comes to consoles!
Re: Mega Man X8 Has Just Got A Free 16-Bit Fan Demake
Looks the way it should have been all those years ago. Megaman X8 isn’t bad, but its visuals have aged like milk. Now maybe some people will be able to see the game is at least as good as X6.
Re: Peter Molyneux Reunites With Ex-Lionhead Staff To Create 'Masters Of Albion'
@Daniel36 is Dwarf Fortress decent as a mobile app? I’ve not had a gaming PC in a few years now, so I’ll admit I’m not as much in the PC gaming space now.
Yes, there are still auteurs out there. Kojima’s got Death Stranding 2 on the way, Ken Levine’s got Judas cooking, and there’s a few indie auteurs, but it does feel like things have shifted. From Geoff Keighley rushing people off the stage during the Game Awards to mass layoffs to a lighter release schedule that is so much more driven by GAAS titles, it does often time feel to me that the industry was once a place of possibilities and now things are made to be safer in the broad spectrum. The industry still has plenty to love for sure, but I do miss some of the excitement.
Re: Peter Molyneux Reunites With Ex-Lionhead Staff To Create 'Masters Of Albion'
I know he’s obnoxious, but I miss the era of gaming auteurs. We’re not in an industry of creators anymore, but of franchises and products. There was a fun, an enormity, a magic in games back in Molyneux’s time. I mean, you always knew he was full of it, but it was also an age of singular visions that weren’t afraid to buckle against the corporate overlords. Above everything, it was a time of impossible ideas, of dreams. After all, the visionaries like Molyneux, Kojima, Will Wright, etc… they had the ideas that made millions of dollars when millions of dollars was a lot. They made a fledgling industry into the mammoth it became… until those dreams turned into avatars and skins. I sort of like that he’s trying again, even if I know the game won’t be an iota of his promises.
Re: PS1 Classics Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain And Soul Reaver Come To Evercade
Wow. That’s incredible. Big win for Evercade to get these titles on lock before PlayStation or Switch.
Re: Jada Toys' Mega Man Series Adds Gemini Laser Mega Man, Proto Man, & Snake Man
Oh, man, those are cool. I’m not usually an “I want toys” adult, but these are really cool!
Re: Old Enough To Remember The Original Game Boy? Then Think About Screening For Cancer, Says Charity
Ah, yes, in America, where I went to the doctor yesterday, and my follow up appointment is scheduled a year in advance.
Re: "The Game That Surpassed Super Mario" Is Available In The West For The First Time
Played this one for the first time yesterday and it’s certainly kusoge.
Re: We Never Got A Panzer Dragoon Saturn Console, But This Is The Next Best Thing
I am quite jealous of all you who’ve had the joy of playing through this one on a native console. I remember a friend of mine having it, but he felt like the Saturn was a bit weak as a console experience, so he sold his console and games for a PlayStation and loved it. Fine for him, but I remember his library and, man, I got to try this game just once on native hardware. Given the library he had and his interests, I’m not surprised he sold his, and I didn’t know better in the 90’s, but, man, it took less than ten years to get nostalgic quick for that one day of gaming where I tried all his games out quick before he sold it. The ways I’ve tried to play Saga since… have not been right.
Re: Monkey Island Creator Ron Gilbert Is Working On A Zelda-Style RPG Adventure
GotY contender incoming!
Re: Cronela's Mansion Is A Maniac Mansion Style Point 'N Click Coming To Retro Machines
@Poodlestargenerica I agree. The game looks great and I’d like to support it, but that promo art has me second guessing it. I’d love to see Maniac Mansion inspired games become “a thing” though.
Re: Game Informer Readers Label Ocarina Of Time "The Greatest Game Of All Time"
It’s a fair choice, honestly. It all boils down to who did the poll and there’s no reason to be upset about it. At least two dozen games have been considered the greatest game of all time somewhere.
Re: Anniversary: Katamari Damacy Turns 20 Today (No Pun Intended)
@Andee Wattam is absolutely one of my favorite games. I’ll never delete it off my PS5. It’s one of those games I can trust both of my kids with too. My two year old daughter can play it. There’s so few games that are just so available for everyone. I did try to find a Wattam t-shirt at one point, but had no luck, unfortunately! To A T is in my top 10 most anticipated games this year for sure!
Re: Anniversary: Katamari Damacy Turns 20 Today (No Pun Intended)
Praise be to Keita Takahashi! The man’s a genius. Katamari is one of the best franchises of all time and I appreciate everything he’s ever made.
Re: This Castlevania Homage Stars Legendary Dracula Bela Lugosi
Adding this to my Switch wishlist perhaps! Looks awesome!
Re: Mandalorian, Thor And Cowboy Bebop Writer Behind Upcoming Live-Action Pac-Man Movie
Sounds like I have no interest in this movie then
Re: Best Handheld Consoles Of All Time, Ranked By You
The Switch deserves that top spot!
Re: Best Resident Evil Games, Ranked By You
1. RE7
2. RE8
3. REmake 2
4. REmake 4
5. REmake 3
6. RE: Code Veronica
7. RE2
8. RE4
9. REmake 1
10. RE3
That’s my top 10. What can I say? I like the FPS RE more and I prefer the more cinematic remakes to the originals. God bless Resident Evil
Re: Namco's Tank Battalion Rolls Onto Switch & PS4 This Week
Oh yes, one of my favorites! Day 1! Best title on this line-up since Mappy perhaps.
Re: Best Rare Games, Ranked By You
@Damo I know this, but I just… can’t believe it! Lol. Nuts and Bolts deserves better than this. I was surprised by the positivity towards Jet Force Gemini as well. I get the nostalgia for it, but it’s aged like milk.
Re: Best Rare Games, Ranked By You
Man, you guys are haters on that Beetlejuice game. I always enjoyed that one and felt like it had some unique mechanics, even if it was unfairly difficult and janky at times.
It’s also sort of blasphemy to see Nuts and Bolts so low in the list. Below Kameo and Grabbed by Ghoulies? Below Perfect Dark Zero!? Insane. Nuts and Bolts wasn’t what people wanted, but it was solid for what it was. Surprised to see such a positive reaction to Sea of Thieves too.
Re: To Make Sense Of Xbox Multiplatform Rumours, We Need Only Look To The Past
@Poodlestargenerica @Hikingguy Surely, if Xbox leaves the console space, I feel Steam may be waiting for that moment to jump in. If anyone can fill the spot that Xbox has, it’s Steam.
I do wish Xbox would really capitalize on Halo and Fable, if they’re continuing on. I do feel like Xbox has unique ideas from time to time, but, despite their wealth as a platform, everything simply feels AA from them when they’re at their best.
Re: To Make Sense Of Xbox Multiplatform Rumours, We Need Only Look To The Past
@Poodlestargenerica You could be right. The amount of remakes and remasters and sequels this generation has been a little much. I do miss a PlayStation that took risks and had more fun. I honestly wish Xbox was a stronger platform simply to combat a lazy PlayStation. Competition IS needed in the console space. If Xbox is phasing out, Stadia failed, and Nintendo being a different planet, you’ve got to wonder if there’s anyone else that would attempt to jump into the home console space. Maybe Steam? Apple?
Re: To Make Sense Of Xbox Multiplatform Rumours, We Need Only Look To The Past
It would be a real shame if Xbox is abandoning the console platform. Sony needs competition. Even if Nintendo is beating them in many fronts, we’ve hit a point where Nintendo (from the Wii era onward) exists off in its own world, more or less, and isn’t directly competing against Sony. Xbox is good for Sony, in that a strong rival pushes PlayStation to do better. I expect a lazier, remake happy PlayStation if Xbox drops out.
Re: Poll: What Is Rare's Best Game?
@Poodlestargenerica Oh, yes, I totally understand that. Rare DID have a really big hit area, but so did other developers in a similar timeframe that remained consistent. I definitely feel Rare’s zenith period was linked to Nintendo’s influence. Their arcade and NES input was all over the place in terms of quality, but you could tell they had ideas percolating even if the games didn’t always hit the mark and that coalesced into the SNES and N64 era, but, after that… I just feel Rare hasn’t ever come close to getting back to that stride. Their tenure on Xbox has been baffling to me. Ghoulies and Kameo were unfortunately generic follow-ups that are all the more bewildering when compared to their previous titles. Then you have the mess of a Perfect Dark sequel. Viva Piñata, while it’s not a game for me, was an obvious choice to search for an Xbox mascot, but that series went as quickly as it came. Nuts and Bolts and Killer Instinct are practically the only hits in my eyes since Rare’s left Nintendo. The Yooka Laylee games both show that better games could have been made from the Rare team though.
Re: Poll: What Is Rare's Best Game?
Beetlejuice is severely underrated, but seriously Donkey Kong Country 2 is their zenith. Few games hit close to that mark.
Sorry to say, but Rare as a developer has been wildly inconsistent in quality for their entire tenure in the gaming industry. I know it’s a hot take, but really, without their stretch of games from DKC through the first Perfect Dark, I don’t feel like Rare would be beloved. Their best games were made in like a five year boom and they’ve been chucking 6/10s more consistently before and after that than anything else.
Re: Best Ghostbusters Games Of All Time
New Ghostbusters II should be at the top of this list! C’mon!
Re: Best Nintendo DS Games Of All Time
No Pokémon Black or White 1 or 2!? For shame!
I hate to say it, but the DS is one of the most overrated consoles ever released, in my opinion. The catalog as thick as it is just didn’t have the same tier of quality of other Nintendo consoles. That may just have been me, but that was an era where I had drifted from Nintendo because things just weren’t clicking for me.
Re: Gaming's Best 'Leftfield' Control Interfaces, Ranked
No Nintendo Labo? If you want to talk weird…
Re: Best Amiga Games Of All Time
I’m not sure if my uncle had an Amiga or what, but I know I’ve played roughly half of these games at one point long, long ago. PC gaming felt so different to console gaming in those days. I sort of wish we’d get some modern ports for some of these titles.
Re: Obsidian Wanted To Create A Fallout: New Vegas-Style Elder Scrolls Spin-Off
I really wish they would’ve gotten the all clear about this. I wonder why Bethesda wasn’t pleased with New Vegas. Seems sort of odd, given what a great job they did with it, especially with the time crunch.
Re: "This Game's Pretty Fun" - Snake's OG Voice Actor Has Finally Played Metal Gear Solid V
If Kojima continued with Konami and the Metal Gear series in an alternate universe, you’ve got to wonder if Kojima would’ve brought Hayter back to reprise his role if Solid Snake was used again. Did Kojima ever say anything to contradict that he was using Keifer because he’s a different character than the Snake we previously knew? A fake voice for a fake Snake and all that, you know?
Re: Sega Is "Evaluating" A New Virtua Fighter
@stinkyx Unfortunately, I agree that I fear Virtua Fighter would get swallowed up in Tekken’s shadow. Virtua Fighter is a complicated game, but it isn’t flashy in the sense that many other fighters are with blood or explosions. It relies directly on gameplay as its selling point. And, yes, the “pureness” makes engagement a real challenge in a more active age. I could see a new title reviewing well for fighting game purists, but not having nearly the level of engagement of SF, MK, or Tekken. Oddly enough too, I don’t feel like VF embraces “realness” like, say, the UFC titles you’d mentioned. VF is in a world of “pure gaming,” which was more of a thing years ago, but is very much out of vogue now. It’s a series where I want it to return, but I can’t even fathom how they’d do it to cater to modern audiences beyond a niche of highly passionate vintage gamers that have been screaming for fighting games to cease their more exploitative aspects.
Re: Sega Is "Evaluating" A New Virtua Fighter
Its distinct lack of “special moves” is one of the things that makes Virtua Fighter distinctly special. There’s a certain fluidity and looseness to the fighting and movement that is unique in comparison to Tekken, which I feel is its closest analogue. If Sega focuses on that, I’m interested. I’m sure the challenge that they have with it though is that Virtua Fighter is a purer experience as a game than Street Fighter, Tekken, etc have become, and, by that, I mean, I’m sure that Virtua Fighter’s biggest hurdle is in how to adapt it to the age of GAAS, continuous monetization, and microtransactions. That, I’m sure, is the dramatic Sega is thinking of.
Re: Remembering Bushi Seiryuuden, Pokémon Creator Game Freak's Japan-Only SNES RPG
I’ve never heard of this one and now I really want to try it out!