Nintendo nerds gather once more to discuss the topics they love most!
DrFinkelstein finally returns to the podcast he helped conceive! It is a decision he may yet regret, as it apparently shattered all of the convictions he had about Achievements in games!
What the smerd!? We explore the seedy world of gaming magazines, specifically Nintendo Power, and wonder if they have their use still, in a world where games don't have codes or obtuse design anymore. Are Nintendo Power writers still not allowed to say anything nice about the Genesis?
Pandareus thinks it's a good idea to analyze Mario 3DS based on 4 screenshots and a logo. The crew for today's podcast is a weird bunch. "Floating blocks are cool"? What?
Finally, GameDadGrant decides to talk about the differences between Nintendo's handheld and console strategies. The crew gets off-topic and decides to mock each other for the DS model they use or for not having played Link's Awakening (a character flaw that many will be able to solve once that game is available on the Virtual Console service!).
As usual, leave your comments on the podcast, its host, its guests and its topics in this very thread! Or, be a weirdo and post them on Facebook or Twitter instead.
Even though you all showed me that perhaps I was wrong to think Achievements had a place in the Nintendo world (and I do to a point still) there was a lot of enlightened ideas in all of the segments. We did really well! My part was probably the weakest, haha. But I tried to make up for it in the other segments.
Good for them for putting that into place. I wish my phone would do that. If I watch a video on my Evo, and I get a text or a call or even wanna adjust the brightness of the screen, I have to back out, then find my place all over again and it's not that easy to be precise.
Good for them for putting that into place. I wish my phone would do that. If I watch a video on my Evo, and I get a text or a call or even wanna adjust the brightness of the screen, I have to back out, then find my place all over again and it's not that easy to be precise.
I wish my phone had that feature too. It's very useful for podcasts. Looks like 3DS will be my podcast player.
I rewarded myself for a hard day's work with a walk and a burger... and obviously while walking I listened to the podcast.
Maybe I'm too close to this, or maybe I have an idealized version in my head of how I come across when I talk, that isn't reflected by reality, I dunno. But I feel I am less and less coherent from podcast to podcast. I can't believe how much I am struggling to get my point across, and I often completely fail to do so, and the thing is I don't even realize this while I'm recording, so how am I supposed to improve? Maybe I'll just make a conscious effort to talk less, let the native anglo speakers do their thing.
Panda, one thing I've noticed about your podcast, and I'm not sure if this is a problem on my end, is that when I load it into iTunes it think it's music, so it doesn't show up in the podcast section. I have to manually go into the information and change the "media type" from "music" to "podcast" and then it's fine.
It's not big deal, just a little annoying and I thought I'd mention it. Otherwise, awesome job! I'm listening now!
That's from downloading it from the link above right? Set up the podcast through iTunes and they'll automatically download for you plus it'll be in there as a podcast.
Ah okay, I didn't want to do it through iTunes because usually you have to wait a day or two for the podcast to be certified or whatever, unless that's the way it seems for podcast like the Giantbombcast, which always comes out on Giant Bomb way before iTunes. Anyway, all cool.
But I have to say I disagree with all y'all concerning achievements. I don't have a 360, but I love trophies on the PSN, they're just a record of what games you've played that you can compare with other gamers. I had a lot of fun getting my Platinum in Uncharted and I'm working on my Dead Space one now (gotta do the "one gun" trophy, where you have to beat the entire game with just the plasma cutter). I'd love it if Nintendo had achievements, it doesn't mean they can't also have cool unlockables, and if you don't like them you can always ignore them! Achievements are a win/win, if you don't like them, or if a particular game has really boring/unimaginative achievements you don't care about, you can turn them off and then they'll never effect you at all!
Hmm, see I don't agree with this. I think the added pressure of seeing your friends boast their achievements is annoying. It's not a huge deal, but I remember when I first got my ps3, and I saw my friends' trophies, I immediately felt out of place. I understand why people like it, but it's not exactly 'win/win' for everyone (if I don't go for achievements I feel left out, but I don't actually want to do them). This is one of those situations where giving people an option really does affect everyone, even if they don't use that option.
@casper884 Well I guess I can see that if you have a really competitive nature. I think it's interesting, I can see which what games my friends have and how much they've played, I don't see it as a competition, if I did I'd be losing because a lot of people in my friends lists play a lot more games than I do!
@casper884 Well I guess I can see that if you have a really competitive nature. I think it's interesting, I can see which what games my friends have and how much they've played, I don't see it as a competition, if I did I'd be losing because a lot of people in my friends lists play a lot more games than I do!
I think there are a bunch of games on Nintendo that have built in achievements, but I can't really think of any off hand.
Aren't there things in games like Rogue Squadron or even Tales of Symphonia where you get special deals for completing tasks? Is this not what you're talking about? Did you guys just want universal things for all the world to see?
Pretty much every game I have has something where you can unlock something. Punch-Out!! Wii was insane with nutty side stuff. Thats like the entire special-mode-whose-name-I-forgot. Beat so-and-so in 30 seconds? Beat so-and-so with only 8 punches? Thats ridiculous. And achievement worthy.
--Pandaman, I think your segues -- despite what you say -- are good enough, and have a certain "charm" to them. It goes hand in hand with thew hole self-depreciating theme that has existed on each run so far. I think the added music actually distracted from the podcast (at least it did, for me), and bisected an otherwise would-be solid-form recording. Of course, I wasn't there, haha, so I don't know how today's transitions went. Were they particularly stinky?? I'm sure it was fine..
Good show overall, guys. I agree with a lot of it (actually holding NP verses scouring the internet, for example). Dig it!
@Mr_Mustache The cool thing about achievements/trophies is that they're universal, they span every game you play. It's different than having rewards and unlockables in game, which most games that have achievements do as well. For example, you can unlock different guns, making of videos, character skins, concept art, ect. in the Uncharted games, but you can also earn trophies that other PSN members will be able to see when they look at your profile. What's nice about that (for me) is that I can look at someone's trophies and see a record of all the games they've been playing and what ones they're really into. For example f I see someone who has every trophy in every CoD game I can pretty much assume they're a huge online shooter fan, and then if I want to play CoD with them I can send them an invite and know that A: they have the game, and B: they'll probably be into playing. (Sorry that's kind of dumb example but it's getting late and I'm tired, LOL.)
But how often do people really do that? If you guys like that stuff, come play Fantasy stuff on Yahoo with me. You can see how many times I've finished terribly in football or whatever. I can't imagine looking at everyone's things. Heck, I don't even really have a lot of online gaming friends. Thats not by a problem with the Wii or anything, its pretty much by choice. I play Madden online (but in a league, NOT with "Random" people), I play NHL2K11 online (but in a league, NOT with "Random" people), and I play here with you guys in stuff.
Are you guys out there playing with strangers all the time? If its anything like Mario Kart out there, being 'sheltered' is the best way to do it. I don't have to worry about cheaters when I play, so I always get a good game. I lose a bunch, but I'd rather do that than have someone wallop me with a Star repeatedly two seconds after the race starts. Every online game has glitches now apparently, where you can disconnect at the right time and make the other guy get a loss despite the score, or with the other consoles, you can hide "in the map" on FPS games and ambush people.
If THOSE are the players and the trophies I'd be looking at, I wouldn't miss a darn thing.
I pretty much do the process that gets the podcast on iTunes and post here at the same time. If you see the topic pop up here and yet iTunes hasn't downloaded it yet, just click "refresh" on your podcast page and it should download.
BTW, does the title of this episode make sense for anybody?
