Retro is anything but gaming"gods" but they are better then rockstar and epic games

travo said:

I love reading the reviews about DKC.  I can't wait for next Sunday.

its weird on how nowdays nintendo releases 95% of their games on sundays

Games always come out on Fridays here which makes the weekend fun.

1up said:

When it comes to Activision's two major Call of Duty developers, there is at this point two prevailing perceptions: Infinity Ward has been crippled by the loss of former bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella (and another some odd 30 defectors following that), and Treyarch has always been the "b-team," producing weaker entries in-between Infinty Ward's games. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, unsurprisingly, disagrees with both suggestions.


          "We're in the video game business. If we can't replace twenty-five people, that would say something pretty disappointing about us as a company," Kotick said to Joystiq about the Infinity Ward losses. "There's at least 60 or 70, super-talented, amazingly capable people who are there. They shouldn't have to suffer for the bad actions of a couple of guys."


          Of course, those who left Infinity Ward would probably contend Kotick's description of "bad actions," but then that's what their current lawsuit is for. And as for the suggestion that Treyarch is in some way an inferior second-string developer, Kotick points out that they were even more responsible for some of Modern Warfare 2's success than many people know.


          "That's an unfair view of Treyarch. You know it's not really an objective view," Kotick countered. "Treyarch contributed so significantly to the multiplayer technology that's in Modern Warfare 2 and they didn't really get the credit for that." He also suggested that Treyarch could continue to "support" Infinity Ward as the studio continues to rebuild.


          As for the worth of Treyarch, there can be little doubt about that anymore: Call of Duty: Black Ops has not only received strong reviews so far, it also shattered Modern Warfare 2's first-day sales record by nearly a full million units

I never got the whole Treyarch B-team thing. But then prior to Black Ops I replayed over 4 days World and War and Modern Warfare and then Black Ops the following week. I kinda understand what people were saying now. I can see how Infinity Ward's design has been inspiring Treyarch and sometimes how Treyarch have tried to emulate IW design, or even copy many aspects of it. And yet the final product misses that elusive something that Modern Warfare had. I can't quite put my finger on what it is. It's just a nagging feeling.

I'm quite sad now about what happened to IW. How is modern warfare 2 compared to other games in the series? I may still pick it up.

gamingeek said:

Hello, hello? Anyone out there?

I got Sonic Colours, hell has frozen over and I have impressions.

OMG, *goes to read*

Ahh Nintendo. "We have a Rival system that allows you play with people who aren't just your friends," says Nofsinger, and it will be chat-enabled using the upcoming Headbanger headset. "Not the greatest name," he admits, "but it's actually a pretty good device. Nintendo told us to not use WiiSpeak."

Too bad they did not ask a follow up question.

Conduit 2 interview Nintendo asked them to NOT include wii speak

aspro said:

Ahh Nintendo.

Conduit 2 interview Nintendo asked them to NOT include wii speak

They wanted the Headbanger set supported instead, which is a conventional and higher quality audio wise set. Black Ops supports it too. Don't know why they would alienate wii speak owners who probably used it to play multiplayer conduit.

Agnates said:

I don't think it's Treyarch's fault, there's just not much you can do with such a limited template that they're likely forced to follow as it's been so successful for Activision. Hell, actual (good) rail/scrolling shooters are more flexible than COD design most of the time. Modern Warfare 2 is just a shinier Modern Warfare. They have many of the same "cool" sequences like being about to fall and being rescued by a friend, or they play a bit with your expectations of what is going to happen based on past scripted events yet something different occurs this time, stuff like that. It's much better produced than Black Ops but at its core it's nothing special either. I even disliked how clean and shiny the visuals became in some ways, it lost some grit. I think the next step for COD should be to take after GoldenEye, F.E.A.R. or other such games. Even if stealth can't be such a focus for the franchise (although, why not? at least in a few levels for variety's sake) there still needs to be actual AI involved in the shootouts. Those aren't any less exciting in GoldenEye but they also don't appear so ridiculous and scripted.

I think freedom is what I want now out of COD gameplay. I want to be able to approach the battles in the way I want too, you know what I mean? I think that only comes with non-linear level design and AI changes. They have to be able to strike a balance between hand holding and freedom. I don't want to be led about like a child, being told what to do next with no variation from the curve.

Thanks for the MW2 impressions.

yay i have already got platinum rank on club nintendo for this year

Anybody a Rent fan?

I had brunch today at the Life Cafe in Alphabet City in the East Village right outside of Tompkins Square Park.

This is where Jonathan Larson spent A LOT of his time writing the play.

If you saw the movie, it is where they performed La Vie Boheme (The Cafe they all go to after Maureen's performance in the Vacant Lot).

This is just a set. The actual place is much smaller, but has a similar look to the inside. There is also a Rent Head Register where you can write a note "to" Larson and show your appreciation for the Play/Movie.

If you haven't seen Rent, I HIGHLY recommend it!

Retro may not be gods, but if they pull off a better than good DKC then they will be miracle workers (combined with their work on Metroid).