Time for your bi-weekly (or is it bi-monthly?) dose of the Negative World Podcast! Listen to Andrew (Zero), Paul (Ploot) and Guillaume (duh) talk about Actraiser, Uncharted 2, Pr. Layton and the Last Specter, Zen Pinball, The Simpsons Arcade Game and Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.
The crew follow this up with discussions about the stigma of playing dedicated handheld systems in public; is there a place in Nintendo's future for stuff like F-Zero, Pilotwings, etc; and games that combine several genres. Zero shocks Guillaume and Ploot by announcing his upcoming sex change.
As usual, the theme music comes from Negative World's owner and dictator, Zero. The music throughout the podcast is taken from Actraiser.
Comment on the topics, the podcast, the guests, the host, etc. on Negative World! Or, be a weirdo and post them on Facebook or Twitter instead.
When I lived in Denver there was this guy down the street who drove around in a Phantom of the Opera Mazda Miata. The car was black and had an (admittedly quality) silk-screen print of the Phantom's mask that took up the whole hood. The vanity license plate said something sad in relation to the play (maybe a quote or something?).
This dude was emo before emo was cool. Always went out wearing Goth black (9 times out of 10 a Phantom t-shirt), and sometimes a cape and white-face makeup. Dude was invested.
What a card!
With a cape?!?!? When was this? I need to spend more time in Denver, just for the lulz.
Hey, there are stranger things than turning into me! What if you turned into Rob?!
Anyway, good ep! But I thought your examples about genre mash-ups were kind of... odd. Like, '3D Platformers' have always been 3rd-person action grab-bags. Even Mario 3D wasn't really a 3D platformer. And should mini-games count? Real mash-ups are the juxtaposition of two very different things, right?
Like Guardian Legend or Sigma Star Saga? Or Puzzle Quest or Bookworm Adventures or Sequence or any of those RPG hybrids, kind of? Even Tales, maybe? Or The World Ends With You.
I guess one of the mash-up elements is almost always RPG.
I also thought it was funny that two of Andrew's long-lost franchises just appeared on the 3DS.
And shame is for the weak. I cart (kart?) my 3DS around with me everywhere, and I'm always StreetPassin' the honeys.
Seriously, all of my StreetPasses are girls. And most of them have Mario Kart. And one of their Time Trials used the Maka Wuhu glitch!! (I actually learned it from her ghost.)
Listening to the podcast right now... It's good. You're just about to end that part about playing in public. Here are my two cents on that topic.
My girlfriend and I always carry our 3DSes when we go out. If we go to the movies and we have to wait before it starts, we'll most likely pull them out & play for a little while. No shame really. But if it's in public, in a place where we feel like we shouldn't be playing, like waiting in line at McDonalds, there will be a little bit of shame. The funny thing, there is nothing shameful really... But it's like one of you said(I think it's Zero), that's because the 3DS is a gaming device. So to pull out a gadget that is solely intended for gaming is a bit shameful.
Also, Guillaume, about kids... I took a plane from the Fiji's to New Zealand & a little kid in the bench just behind me was oggling me like crazy. He was litteraly breathing down my neck. . I do not have problem about kids taking interest in what I'm playing... It happens all the time in the Metro... But to get that much in my bubble, arrg! That is so unnerving! Plus the dad was just beside the kid, but he didn't squat. Like I deserved myself to get his kid act like a flee around a turd, just because I was playing video games... Needless to say, I stored my DS back to it's case...
Its fine to do whatever you want, but just to change because you feel you have to because you are older. I don't buy that. Of course, do whatever makes you feel comfortable. I love wearing my videogame shirts, because, thats who I am. Just cause I am almost 50 doesn't mean I have to go out in public wearing dockers and a button up shirt or polo shirt cause thats what most people would expect someone of my age to wear. Actually, I would feel uncomfortable wearing those things. I feel most comfortable wearing one of my Nintendo shirts with a pair of jeans(winter) or baggy cargo shorts(summer) with tennis shoes.
Now, other than work, I really don't game out in public much, cause its not like I hang out in malls or anywhere else for that matter. Im not going to game while grocery shopping. But during my 2 hour wait at the dmv last week, I did pull out my 3DS and I did play until my name was called and if anyone was laughing or making comments, I have no idea cause I had my skullcandys stuck in my ears.
I haven't changed my behaviors or look as I've gotten older because I felt I've had to, I've done it because I want to.
People's tastes change, and that's all that is on display here. I used to be all about Howard Stern or Opie & Anthony on the radio. Now I get more pleasure from NPR. I used to watch Saturday morning cartoons, now I watch Sunday morning political round tables. People change.
Yeah, I admit my examples were weird. Maybe my topic was less about genre mash-ups than games that try to do too many different things.
And I can't understate how out of it I was when we recorded, haha. I got confirmations for guests only that morning, I was stressed out about the podcast and because of work, I was tired... Maybe one day I'll release the uncut recording just to show how much can go wrong. I would talk for 5 minutes only to stop in the middle and ask "wait, what point am I trying to make here?". Thank god for editing!
Originally in that topic the SNES game The Lawnmower Man was also one of my main examples, but I completely cut it out because really, who gives a crap about that game?
As for Andrew's topic, yeah, it's pretty funny to wonder about the future of these franchises when they just got updates. Now that I'm re-listening to the thing, I wish I had offered some more counterexamples. Andrew came across a little bit as one of those people on the WiiGB who were fretting about Nintendo abandoning the hardcore gamers because the softcore (haha) software was selling so well to casuals.
But really, while Nintendo can be annoyingly conservative, they can also be really surprising. And to decry the absence of StarFox or F-Zero on the Wii is to fail to see the forest for the trees. Yeah, we didn't get Starfox or F-Zero. Instead we got Punch-Out!!, Excitebots, Sin & Punishment, Donkey Kong Country Returns. Miyamoto is working on Pikmin. Next Level on Luigi's Mansion 2.
Nintendo is not abandoning its second tier franchises because Mario games sell more. There is no evidence of that happening. Just like there was no evidence early in the Wii's life that Nintendo was going to pour 100% of is resources into Wii ___ casual games.
Do people really play 3DS standing up? I don't even like playing DS standing up, adding in the 3D sweet spot requirements and I don't think it would be very fun.
Right, but you couldn't play those in line really anyway. I guess you could play Face Raiders, but then I think you'd deserve any strange looks you'd get. Haha
I played Mario Kart 7 on the subway for a little while after it came out, and as long as I was leaning against the doors or something, the sweet spot was surprisingly easy to keep. But I was facing easy ghosts.
I definitely feel the stigma when I'm out in public. I was sitting in a gymnasium last night at my son's Cubs ceremony with a bunch of other parents. I was waiting for things to get started and I had my iPod Touch in my left pocket and my 3DS in my right pocket. What I really wanted to do was give the Resident Evil demo a try. Who knows how long I had though, so Zen Pinball was my choice. However, when I went to do so, I couldn't bring myself to pull the darn thing out. Instead I grabbed my iPod and did a couple of things on that because it looks like a phone, so nobody would judge me.
I wish I could just say screw it and play whatever I want, but I'm not that self-assured it seems.
One would think as worrisome as I am, that I would be concerned over the potential looks given when playing Nintendo handhelds in the out of doors, but such doesn't faze me at all. The few times I had my hair colored, I was strapped in under one of those old lady hairdryers with a shower cap atop my head, whilst playing Dead or Alive: Dimensions or another game of choice. Or the times spent sitting in the dealer lounge awaiting my oil to be changed, playing a bevy of DS/3DS games. Or sitting comfortably in a thankfully upgraded and free class seating on an international flight, switching off between my DSi XL and my 3DS with business moguls arguing amongst each other about this or that. Granted, I also just bought a Pikachu hooded jacket at Hot Topic... So maybe I'm not the best one to be stating my case.
I will admit that I am a little embarrassed when having to go to GameStop or Toys R Us for Pokemon download events. I have many times attempted to download the pocket monsters from my car, and when that failed, I always had everything ready so I could just get in, flip the lid, press a button, and get the heck out of dodge. Not sure why this bothers me and the other displays of Nintendo geekiness don't.
As for Actraiser, I adored the first. I still have and treasure my SNES copy (and box!), and out of excitement, even downloaded the VC version the day it released. My mother and I use to the play the game together back in the day. She bought me the second installment when it came out, but we both found it kind of dull, and rather difficult. It reminds me of what happened to Jurassic Park on SNES. Ocean made a great game out of the first, and the second just wound up so bland and uninspired - and super hard!