The Big Picture: Junk Drawer: Game On

[WhiteTigerShiro]

Why is it that the movie guy on this site has more interesting (and smarter) things to say on games than Yahtzee.

Because Yahtzee is entertaining via comedy, where Big Picture is just kinda whatever MovieBob wants it to be. Sometimes it's about comics, sometimes it's about gaming, sometimes it's neither here nor there. Honestly not sure at what point people thought that Yahtzee was ever meant to be a serious reviewer.

 

[rofltehcat]

While mobile touch screen devices offer many new great possibilities for new games, I'd still liek to play classics on them and I'm really missing some buttons on my cell phone. I wouldn't really mind if it was a little bit larger so those would fit in.

Touchs screens make completely new concepts possible but I'd still like to be able to play a jump&run or a RPG without feeling like I can always only do one thing at once.

 

[Chris Sutherland]

Lords of Shadow was really good. If the games were to stick to formula, they would get pretty stale; the last few Metroidvania games, while good, have been pretty much repeats of each other. I know I like variation in my games, and Castlevania is no exception.

My main flaw with the game was, in fact, the final boss. Like with most action adventure games, you've been fighting progressively harder and harder enemies, to the point where the boss of the level previous took me about 4 attempts, and then this guy comes along and I whack him down in one.

The way it ties in with the Castlevania plot at large isn't that great, but it works. It allows them to consider further options in a lot of different ways, and tell sides of the story that may not have been considered. Is that really your main reason for them not to make another one? I mean it's all well and good, opinion and all that, but if you enjoyed the game, is that one niggle enough to make you not want more?

 

[bificommander]

To those shrugging the tit-poster of as 'that's just Japan', may I remind everyone of the Extra credit's Open letter to EA marketing, specifically the Dante's Inferno marketing?
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/an-open-letter-to-ea-marketing
Or Evony's online adds?
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/6825-Evony-Irony

This isn't just a Japan-thing, even if we'd accept "It's a Japan-thing" as a valid excuse. And I don't see why you'd have to be a feminist or 'gay' to be upset about this. Techinically, you don't even have to care about what this kind of advertisement says about women, but what it says about you. "Here's an extreme closeup of two breasts, not showing anything else from the girl and certainly nothing from the actual game. We think this is the most effective way we can get you sexcrazed sad sacks interested in buying our game. We figure the actual gameplay or graphics don't matter." It certainly sends a bad message about women, but it's not too friendly to gamers either.

 

[RanceJustice]

Thanks for talking about Skyward Sword. This is something I find REALLY commendable. Nintendo is generally playing their characters pretty close and that has lacked development. Sure, Mario's adventures to save Peach often include the surrogate reward of "cake" when its all done, but just like Zelda games we never see anything progress. At the end of every adventure, Link rescues Zelda and puts the world to right, but we never really see what happens between the two of them. Hell, in "A Link to the Past" we get the idea that, Link puts the Golden Master Sword back in its stone in the middle of the Lost Woods and...goes back to doing whatever he was doing prior to the adventure's start.

Amazingly, prior to Skyward Sword the most blatant romance in the Zelda series has... been the TV show. Yes, between the "EXcuuuuuuse me Princess!" Link's kind of a bumbling horndog trying to get a kiss now and then, with Zelda often playing the tsundere role but occasionally indulging him...only to have something interrupt the "moment".

Sure, there have been undertones of romance for Link (not always with Zelda - consider the Zora princess!), especially in the OOT/Majora titles, WindWaker, GBA/DS games, and Twilight Princess, but though I've not had the chance to play Skyward Sword yet I'm really happy about this development, from what I've seen in promo videos.

I really like that they're moving beyond "Kid Link" and spending time on the late-teens early 20s variety. In Twilight Princess (and I am assuming, Skyward Sword) you really get the impression that Link is considered more of a mature, if young, adult. I'd personally like to see it taken farther. Show a mid 30s Link where he's the Captain of the Hylian Knights, Prince of Hyrule or some such...maybe he has a few kids with Zelda? Hell, maybe he's married to someone ELSE (went home with Malon or Saria after the adventure was over) and the adventure deals with him deciding if he's made the right choice on his life path... given the choice between saving Zelda, as Queen of the realm or his wife and kids, which will he choose? What happens to the other? Should he save Zelda, is it possible for romance to rekindle? I'm aware these are heavy themes for a Nintendo title, but nothing that hasn't been experienced peripherally in say, Majora's Mask. Even without such controversy, I agree with the above poster who wants to see an older, more mature Link with something personal to lose that sets him on his quest.

In any event, I applaud Skyward Sword for showing some development in this regard rather than keeping all the themes at arms length.

 

[Fensfield]

I... that Playstation Vita bit was immensely uncomfortable. I've no knowledge of Zelda, so I'll stay out on that, and I wholly agree on Soul Calibur's advertising but..

That really felt bad. It felt.. spiteful, basically, and worst didn't even make clear why - is it because of the supposed Nintendo fanboyism? Is it because of the system's price? Or is it just because the Vita's core appeal is to a seemingly different and somewhat niche crowd?

Either way.. it.. was uncomfortable, put a bad taste in my mouth for the rest of the episode, and seemed really clumsy given it wasn't possible to interpret as anything but spite given I couldn't draw any further point or justification from it.

 

[Zing]

Okay, I'd definitely buy a(nother) Iphone if I could hook a gamepad up to it like that.

Edit: to clarify, I don't own an iphone, I had an Iphone 3 then switched to a HTC rather than getting an Iphone 4.

 

[remnant_phoenix]

The no button thing is the only reason I cant get into iphone games. Sometimes your just tired of a screen.

Also, Bob laughed at the Vita. What the hell man? I think his blind love of all things nintendo forces him to not acknowlege a good device when he sees it.

If Sony would stop creating overpriced proprietary memory formats, I (and Bob too, I imagine) would be more willing to get Vita a chance.

Sony COULD have had the Vita use SD Cards. Hell, they COULD have even allowed it to use the memory sticks that the PSP and Sony laptops use. But no, they're going to keep the ability to save data behind a velvet rope unless you slip the bouncer a fat wad of cash...just because they CAN.

Sony can take their precious Vita and shove up their money-grubbing rear-ends.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

I... that Playstation Vita bit was immensely uncomfortable. I've no knowledge of Zelda, so I'll stay out on that, and I wholly agree on Soul Calibur's advertising but..

That really felt bad. It felt.. spiteful, basically, and worst didn't even make clear why - is it because of the supposed Nintendo fanboyism? Is it because of the system's price? Or is it just because the Vita's core appeal is to a seemingly different and somewhat niche crowd?

Either way.. it.. was uncomfortable, put a bad taste in my mouth for the rest of the episode, and seemed really clumsy given it wasn't possible to interpret as anything but spite given I couldn't draw any further point or justification from it.

Because every reason people give for why they believe the Vita is better than the 3DS is nearly identical to the previous comparison between the PSP and the DS. I can see why he doesn't have high hopes for it.

If Sony would stop creating overpriced proprietary memory formats, I (and Bob too, I imagine) would be more willing to get Vita a chance.

Sony COULD have had the Vita use SD Cards. Hell, they COULD have even allowed it to use the memory sticks that the PSP and Sony laptops use. But no, they're going to keep the ability to save data behind a velvet rope unless you slip the bouncer a fat wad of cash...just because they CAN.

Sony can take their precious Vita and shove up their money-grubbing rear-ends.

That also doesn't help. You can definitely tell that Sony is an electronics company first and a gaming company....further down the list. Literally the ONLY reason I got a PSP was to play the Tactics Ogre remake and so far NOTHING on the Vita looks interesting enough for me to buy it.

 

[Sgt-Thrust]

Dear Movie Bob. I have been a fan for a while now and i feel you are a very smart and influential man never afraid to stand up for what he believes in and speak his mind. While i am quite sure you've already heard all about this i'd like to share with you this video in hope that you agree and spread it yourself, maybe even do your own video on the subject. While the decision is fully yours to make i hope that you'll agree with our side. Here is the link.

Thank you

http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/stand-together-the-gaming-community-vs-sopa-and-pipa

 

[Sgt-Thrust]

Dear Movie Bob. I have been a fan for a while now and i feel you are a very smart and influential man never afraid to stand up for what he believes in and speak his mind. While i am quite sure you've already heard all about this i'd like to share with you this video in hope that you agree and spread it yourself, maybe even do your own video on the subject. While the decision is fully yours to make i hope that you'll agree with our side. Here is the link.

Thank you

http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/stand-together-the-gaming-community-vs-sopa-and-pipa

 

[daxterx2005]

So wait, Bob thinks Vita is going to flop....?
I was under the impression it was going to out do EVERYTHING the 3DS does (besides 3d obviously)
What gives? Am I missing something? Was there like an announcement somewhere that puts Nintendo comfortably above the Vita?
Last I heard, it costed the same, had nearly ps3 graphics and tons of third party support....
So again I say "what?"

You mean kinda like how the PSP was going to out do EVERYTHING the DS did (besides the touch screen, obviously)? Yeah, I think we've been down this road before.

Difference is DS was a hit right off the bat, it was literally flying off the shelves "it prints money"
3DS isn't preforming nearly as well as Nintendo had hoped, plus they've had to lower the price.
I mean hell, when Ocarina of Time 3D was released they thought the 3DSs would be flying off the shelves.....
Comparing 3DS to DS's success is laughable at best. 3DS is essentially the Gameboy Color of this generation, same handheld with some new added goodies.

GB -> GB Pocket -> GBC -> GBA/SP/Micro
DS -> DSlite/i/xl -> 3DS -> "3DS successor"

Thats how I see it anyway. I don't expect the 3DSAdvance till like 2015 or so.

Just for the record, I'm not insulting you or trying to start a flame war....I'm just explaining why I think the Vita is going to give the 3DS a run for its money.
Hell, Im primarily a Nintendo fan so I'd love for the 3DS to crush the Vita. As of right now tho...I don't see it happening.

 

[Fensfield]

Because every reason people give for why they believe the Vita is better than the 3DS is nearly identical to the previous comparison between the PSP and the DS. I can see why he doesn't have high hopes for it.

Thank you, that is the impression of an explanation I had gathered from the thread.

The fact remains however that 'Bob hasn't clarified matters for his own part. And even if he did, it also remains that that bit was an ugly, clumsy, seemingly spiteful little move that mis-coloured the rest of the video and.. frankly seemed below the impression I had got of him - not that my impression is that immensely high in many ways, but still.

I honestly don't know how the Playstation Vita will do - although I am optimistic, and I am getting one; I want desperately to play Wipeout 2048 and that .. game.. meh, gravity control or something, it looked interesting. I don't expect it to 'beat' the 3DS however, but I bet it'll do what I want it to - be the platform turns up the titles I'm most interested in and have success enough, at least, to persist as a platform companies make games for.

But to just do something like 'Bob did there, rather than discuss the issue properly? Sorry that just comes off as mean, to me. Then again a fair amount of these sometimes do - not least the ones attack religion and all. They're nice from an informative angle but.. Well, 'looks like it sparked discussion anyhow.

Yeah. Bad form or so, in my opinion. 'Hope the bad taste doesn't linger enough to put me off watching henceforth.. I'm a tad over-sensitive when it comes to that sort of thing.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Because every reason people give for why they believe the Vita is better than the 3DS is nearly identical to the previous comparison between the PSP and the DS. I can see why he doesn't have high hopes for it.

Thank you, that is the impression of an explanation I had gathered from the thread.

The fact remains however that 'Bob hasn't clarified matters for his own part. And even if he did, it also remains that that bit was an ugly, clumsy, seemingly spiteful little move that mis-coloured the rest of the video and.. frankly seemed below the impression I had got of him - not that my impression is that immensely high in many ways, but still.

I honestly don't know how the Playstation Vita will do - although I am optimistic, and I am getting one; I want desperately to play Wipeout 2048 and that .. game.. meh, gravity control or something, it looked interesting. I don't expect it to 'beat' the 3DS however, but I bet it'll do what I want it to - be the platform turns up the titles I'm most interested in and have success enough, at least, to persist as a platform companies make games for.

But to just do something like 'Bob did there, rather than discuss the issue properly? Sorry that just comes off as mean, to me. Then again a fair amount of these sometimes do - not least the ones attack religion and all. They're nice from an informative angle but.. Well, 'looks like it sparked discussion anyhow.

Yeah. Bad form or so, in my opinion. 'Hope the bad taste doesn't linger enough to put me off watching henceforth.. I'm a tad over-sensitive when it comes to that sort of thing.

Bob was not being spiteful, you're just being overdramatic. His GameOverthinker episode about Sony's rise to the top being nothing more than luck probably helps explain things better:

http://gameoverthinker.blogspot.com/2010/08/episode-39-emperor-has-no-clothes.html

The Vita just looks BORING from a gaming perspective. It's using the exact same strategy the PSP did and it's just gonna get another beatdown from Nintendo who's the undisputed emperor of that part of the market.

 

[WindKnight]

In terms of the Soul Calibue poster, Its Japan, from what I saw over there everything is sexualized or made to look "alluring" in some way.

I doubt we'll see the same advert in the west to be honest, we tend to be a lot more vocal and/or prudish to this kind of thing......except in shitty music videos.

I was thinking the same thing. It's excellent material for the sexism/sexy divide, but I don't want to judge Japanese advertizing by Western standards.

Although I'd be happier if she actually had a face.

the same western standards that saw a beloved female comics character turned into a creepy, emotionless amnesiac sex doll in the recent DC update, as well as gave us several closeups of catwomans lingerie clad ass and boobs several pages before they showed us her face?

 

[Korten12]

Because every reason people give for why they believe the Vita is better than the 3DS is nearly identical to the previous comparison between the PSP and the DS. I can see why he doesn't have high hopes for it.

Thank you, that is the impression of an explanation I had gathered from the thread.

The fact remains however that 'Bob hasn't clarified matters for his own part. And even if he did, it also remains that that bit was an ugly, clumsy, seemingly spiteful little move that mis-coloured the rest of the video and.. frankly seemed below the impression I had got of him - not that my impression is that immensely high in many ways, but still.

I honestly don't know how the Playstation Vita will do - although I am optimistic, and I am getting one; I want desperately to play Wipeout 2048 and that .. game.. meh, gravity control or something, it looked interesting. I don't expect it to 'beat' the 3DS however, but I bet it'll do what I want it to - be the platform turns up the titles I'm most interested in and have success enough, at least, to persist as a platform companies make games for.

But to just do something like 'Bob did there, rather than discuss the issue properly? Sorry that just comes off as mean, to me. Then again a fair amount of these sometimes do - not least the ones attack religion and all. They're nice from an informative angle but.. Well, 'looks like it sparked discussion anyhow.

Yeah. Bad form or so, in my opinion. 'Hope the bad taste doesn't linger enough to put me off watching henceforth.. I'm a tad over-sensitive when it comes to that sort of thing.

Bob was not being spiteful, you're just being overdramatic. His GameOverthinker episode about Sony's rise to the top being nothing more than luck probably helps explain things better:

http://gameoverthinker.blogspot.com/2010/08/episode-39-emperor-has-no-clothes.html

The Vita just looks BORING from a gaming perspective. It's using the exact same strategy the PSP did and it's just gonna get another beatdown from Nintendo who's the undisputed emperor of that part of the market.

Love how your stating your opinions as facts.

Yeah, because the 3DS was such a REVELATION from the DS. Yeah it's not like they AREN'T THE SAME but with some small differences. Nope, the 3DS is COMPETELY DIFFERENT, something NEW and Revolutionary!

Vita looks better then the 3DS, easy to use touch screen/back screen, great graphics, dual analog sticks built it rather then an later addition. Plus it doesn't have the pointless 3D. Really every time I hear someone using it, they always have the 3D off. Wasn't that supposed to be the big part about the whole system?

Plus why would you want to use it? I am not saying 3D is bad, but it uses up the battery of an already low battery life system.

Also how does it look "Boring", you don't explain how at all. You just keep saying it like if everyone who reads it is suddenly going to be "Yup, that explains everything."

The 3DS is nothing more then a slightly updated DS. The Vita while similar shape to the PSP, actually added more then just 3D and an analog stick and it's updates in graphics are way more substiantal. Hell Infinity Blade 2 looks better then any 3DS games, and that's on an iPod!

The Vita not only added a 2nd analog stick which makes the possiblity of more genre's coming to the system and working well (FPS to be exact, ever tried playing one on a DS, Bleh) and it's easy touch screen and back screen are much easier to touch since you don't have to worry about the 2nd screen. Despite it's also better graphics, it even has a better battery! On Destructoid they posted a video comparing the battery life of the 3DS to the Vita when just being left on.

Spoiler

The 3DS was playing Monster Hunter 3G.

Yet the PsVita was playing:

Uncharted: Golden Abyss.

Now to explain, on an iPod, if you play a game with better graphics, the battery will die faster and slower for a less graphically intense game.

Yet the 3DS died faster by playing a game that's graphics (which both games were sitting in one spot) that have nothing on Uncharted in anyway. That to be is technically inferior and is a bad thing consdiering it is now 2012.

I will get the article with the video, but currently Dtoid is down due to SOPA.

Lastly you're using Bob's other show to back your statement up? Really? That's like asking the Nintendo Fanboy to explain why Nintendo is better. He is bias. While everyone is no doubt bias, Bob is to the extreame. Half of his points on gaming, are always meh (though some parts of this episode are decent for once) but all of them come down to.

"Nintendo IS BETTER. COD Sucks, Halo Sucks, NINTENDO FOR THE WIN."

Something always along those lines. Hell did you see his first episode of the Big Pitcure? All about Halo, and showed clearly he HAD NO UNDERSTANDING OF THE GAME AT ALL. But kept going on about things that made no sense at all.

Bascially you're taking a person's who opinions are soo one sided its not even funny.

/Rant.

 

[Endocrom]

I saw this thing called an iCade that is like a little arcade cabinet that you put an iPad into. I have no idea if it works for existing games or if it's preloaded with cheap knock-offs of pac-man and whatnot, but hey, it... exists.

Haven't played Skyward Sword but remember that "hefty barkeep" and "native american doctor" in Twilight Princess? That's kind of something, even though he wasn't into her when you talk to him later.

 

[atomicmrpelly]

People who miss Steve Jobs are stupid.

 

[maconlon439]

Don't jump the gun on whether or not we will see Fi again. If you asked me when I first played Majora's Mask I seriously doubted we would ever see Tingle again.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

My idea of sexism is more in how something is portrayed rather than an item or object itself. Example, imagine one of those Amazon warrior women from Conan wearing a chainmail bikini or something; ok first imagine that she's got a grim scowl of determination on her face and looks like she's gonna kick the living shit out of the next thing she lays eyes on. Now imagine the same woman with a suggestive look on her face and looking like she's trying none too subtly to to get you to noticed every single one of her curves at every chance she gets.
Now which one do you think is sexist? For those of you having trouble, the answer is supposed to be the second one. Exact same outfit, completely different portrayal and thus completely different implication.