I've always found it a bit odd that Birdo came into the Mario Party series as a playable character in such a late installment (7). Even Toadette was playable in Mario Party 6.
Hey Over hazard watched all of your vids and love them.My question is was that joker player from mexico?If so I played him yesterday he had that amount of vr, gold wheel and one star.
Odd that GBA Bowser's Castle 3 would become MKWii's Final Destination, considering Bikes seem to be its Fox, and GBABC3 seems more of a pro-kart stage.
It's also got that incredibly long straightaway, which I think is what attracts people there when they find that smeone using a kart has been messing them up.
As far as kart usage goes, someone who's mastered the Super Mini-Turbo can keep themselves in a practically constant boost throughout the first half of each lap. I'm no master, but I have done all of the possible Super Mini-Turbo opportunities that I know of.
Funky Kong? I don't use him much because of Flame Runner abusers, but okay.
I still feel that Luigi Circuit is the FD of MK:Wii.
And yay for using Birdo! You raced well with her! I choose her every now and then because nobody ever seems to. As for her being "ugly", I guess being one of the main villains of Mario Bros. 2, she'd have to be somewhat unattractive. I haven't really gotten a good look at her though. I should check to see if she still has her giant diamond ring.
However unpopular she is with everyone else, she'll always be my sister's favorite character.
To be honest, Final Destination is a terrible stage, because a lot of characters don't do as well on it as they would stages with platforms, I love the backgrounds and stuff on FD, but I find myself playing my own stages more often or Battle Field. But to each his own.
You can air dodge Din's fire can't ya? That and not everyone plays with items. I'd still say that the only cheap move in any smash game is Fox's shine where he can kill you below 20%... that's cheap.
I mean that my computer isn't even turned on or anything. I plug everything in to start playing, and then I start playing. Its too much trouble to turn my computer on to announce that I've begun, then turn it off.
I post those times so that people might get an idea of when I might be playing online. If you can't find me online, then you can use those times to figure out why you can't find me.
I could also be told when popular times are so that I might play during those times instead.
Perhaps. I'm still on summer break, so when I get back to university, I'll more likely play during those times. Of course, I'll probably still play on odd hours during the weekends.
I always thought Rainbow Road was the FD of MKWii.
Its either that or GCN DK Moutian due to that sick shortcut bikes can make. We kart users really suffer on some tracks. I hope they balance wheelies a little more in the next game so bikes aren't the best vehicles by a long shot.
It feels like a bigger accomplishment to purposely pit yourself as the underdog and come out on top though. Too bad VR had to come in and wreck everything.
Indeed, It does feel good to tear apart a room of bike users with Daisy in the Wild Wing. The problem comes from people who can run near perfect time trial routes. I'm good with a kart, but not that good. (Good enough to keep a high 8k rating unless I get a really bad string of luck).
Putting stats on things just makes people more competitive. What ever happened to being fun and competitive? I blame FPS's.
I'd blame the internet...When people find out information about their favorite multiplayer games, they're treated to a culture where everyone strives to be the best at any cost, and anyone who's disinterested in winning is thrown away as an outcast.
I've hung around some competitive groups, and the one thing they all have in common is that noncompetitiveness is unimaginable. Nothing confuses a person used to playing competitively than a presentation of the idea that winning isn't important.
I am competitive and I will try to win at almost any cost, but I can understand that people can be not very competitive, and just play for fun. I do that myself sometimes, though I still play my best even though I'm not trying to win.
That's great. You are a rarity. I say that I'm not concerned about winning or losing to nearly all competitive circles, and I get blankness in response.
Money is also a huge factor, nearly ever super competitive player has money factor into the way they play. SSBB players protest items because their randomness may cost them the match, and thus money. When money is involved, all fun stops.
I play games for fun and escape. Sure its fun to try to get better at brawl and kart, but if I lose, I still have fun with the match. Win, lose, or draw; I come out the victor if I had a good time
Ah, I know all about the money in these tournaments. I frequent Pokémon card tournaments all the time (the World Championships in Orlando was last Saturday...though it's too far for me to visit), and I know all about the attitudes a lot of these people bring to the place.
I usually place somewhere in the bottom or in the middle, depending on how well I shuffle my deck (often, I fail to shuffle properly and my cards aren't evenly distributed), but I always have a good time there.
I honestly feel bad for the people who come into things like gaming and cards (I'm a M:TG fan myself) with a "Win or die" attitude.
I couldn't imagine ever taking something I enjoy and turning it into a profession. Because it has the very real chance of turning something you enjoy into something that is work.
What do you turn to for fun at that point?
And achievements are just as bad, playing games for points. I could not even begin to imagine killing gaming like that for myself.
There have been some people who honestly enjoy their work and couldn't get enough of it, like Charles Schulz. He drew Peanuts up until his death.
I always love it when the champion of something came into it for fun and happened to win, like with Donald Hutson's "Diesector" robot in BattleBots. He takes losses very well, even after he won the whole thing once.
I've won some card matches against people who normally make "top cut" though, and the gamesmanship most pull is ridiculous.
They are the lucky ones who work more for the pleasure they get out of it, and would continue to do so without the money. Not many people, professional gamers included, would continue to do what they got paid for if it wasn't for the money.
Peanuts was a fantastic comic and Schulz was a great loss to us all in his passing. Calvin and Hobbes is my reigning favorite comic series however.
Its always fun to pull the underdog upset, gives a -lot- more satisfaction than a favorite winning.
That's true. A lot of people go into a major they hate because it pays the most. That's something I noticed. What's a bit disconcerting is that many of them are supposed to lead to professions where you have to care about your work deeply to keep your job, like a surgeon or anthropologist.
I've lost many times against Pokémon card veterans for tricks they pull that I don't realize until AFTER the match has finished, such as purposely ignoring a field effect to my advantage that I didn't notice.
Thats why a fair handful of doctor's really shouldn't be practicing medicine. I'm grateful that I enjoy my major of Electronics Technologies enough to fiddle with gadgets even when its not required.
That's just bad manners if you ask me. I've beaten myself by giving my opponents to much advice. Those are always my favorite losses however. I enjoy helping others, and if they beat me in the process, all the better. But don't be surprised if I find a counter to my own advice.
I'm in film. It's arguably one of the more useless majors, but I think it'll be something I'll enjoy enough. Matt Groening continues to draw Life in Hell as The Simpsons and Futurama is going on, after all.
By the way, the very first tournament game of Pokémon cards I ever played, they did such a trick to me. The guy began by putting a Metal Energy on Beldum, though I should've known the reduced damage doesn't apply because this Beldum wasn't Metal. He also spoke very quickly to confuse me.
I thought about going into something film related. I was in a number of plays (One I'm most proud of was "One flew over the Cuckoo's nest"). I have always said, "I don't care if I struggle to make ends meet. I swear I won't be one of those people who hates going to work everyday."
I've run into similar people in M:TG events. Whats worse is when you run into someone who will try to flat out lie to you win because you are still fairly new. Only to be told later that you were indeed right.
Do those people at the Magic tournaments say everything really quickly, then spend your turn tapping their fingers on the table, suggesting you to "hurry up"? These guys look like they were constantly on the edge of calling a judge out for stalling. I had thought everyone in tournaments played this quickly, and I couldn't keep up.
It's just a few guys when I first started playing though. Maybe the same few, I don't know. But I didn't see it so often in later tournaments I attended.
There are 3 types of players that seam to congregate at events.
Win or die: Speak fast, play fast. If the game isn't over in 5 minutes, someone is stalling and its obviously not them. No talking except for announcing what has to be announced. 80% of the congregation
Back seat players: Watch and comment, but never play, think they are awesome. 16%
Fun Competitive: Plays for fun and sport, talk while playing, enjoy longer games too, don't care about the result of the match if it was fun. 4%
You speak really fast, like "I-play-this-over-here-and-then-I-play-this-I-attack-you-with-that-GO!!!," then you start tapping your fingers on the table one second after the opponent's turn starts?
Because I find that really irritating.
A thought: Tournaments NEED people unconcerned with the outcome of a match. This doesn't matter what it is. If everyone plays only to win and treats it like business, attendance will plummet to where only the experts show up. We fill space and keep them popular.
That's one reason that many brawl tourneys, outside of the huge ones like EVO, consider themselves successful if they get 20+ participants. The whole professional atmosphere in brawl can be pretty negative. I saw one tourney set up that if Peach or Dedede pulled/threw anything besides their basic projectiles (Turnips/Waddles and Gordo), they were disqualified.
I've seen novice M:TG players laughed off the table before by such players, its disheartening.
Lol, barlw usually gets many more than 20 participants.
The thing is that tournaments are supposed to be contests of skill. If you want to pay money to win potential money, then you go to tournaments and try your hardest to win. You wouldn't pay 5 to 20 dollars and just throw it away. The experts are winning because they play in tournaments the most and are the most skilled - they have tournament experience, and they try to win.
28/32 is the most common number I have seen for brawl tourneys outside of large events.
Just because something is a contest of skill doesn't require its participants to potentially be arrogant jerks (definitely not saying they all are).
Tourneys aren't just about competing to see who is the best either. They can also be about gathering people who have the same interest(s) and introduce newbies. If you want to play serious and place money on the outcome, fine. Just don't expect everyone to.
Lol, what you've isn't the standard for tournament turnouts >_> lots of tournaments normally exceed 30-40. Since when are serious tournament players and arrogant jerks related? Being a serious competitor doesn't ensure that you're a jerk. That's not even my point, wow. All I'm saying is that
"If everyone plays only to win and treats it like business, attendance will plummet to where only the experts show up. We fill space and keep them popular." is a silly concept. If you pay to play, play2win
The purpose of a tournament is to compete to be the best. That's why events like that are held and why people train for those events. Certainly you can go to tournaments and not enter. I do that all the time; I mainly go to tournaments to hang out with the friends I've made at the tournaments. But you can't group people like that. If you're going to tournaments where people are playing games "OMG SPEED FAST ASLO IM A JERK" you're... not going to the right tournaments.
I'm just saying that's what I have seen. Not saying I'm right or wrong, simply what I have seen.
You should also note what I said. I didn't say that all tourney players are jerks. I simply stated that some are, but definitely not all. Its just also been my experience that 9/10 jerks that you run into have a "Win or die" attitude.
Smashboards is usually a nice exception. I lurk around the Peach boards to try to absorb as much as I can to improve my game.
I do have a complaint with your "If you pay to play, play2win" theory however. If that's your line of thinking, you would only enter if you thought your going to win the whole event. What about entering to simply see how well you fair against better players? Or simply wanting more experience with tourney scene? Or even if the fee was nominal, entering just for the fun of it? According to you, that's all irreverent because if you pay to play, you play to win.
When money is involved, however, people get serious.
The problem with not grouping them like that however, is that the majority is unfortunately like that. Brawl isn't that bad, thankfully. You don't run into jerks too often, but they usually love to john when you beat them. Other games however, especially M:TG, have extremes in both ends. Some groups are wonderful, others are awful. The larger the event, the more it seams to attract the awful, and try to shoo away the wonderful.
Wat? Playing to win doesn't mean that you'd only enter if you know you'd win. Obviously you have to play in tournaments more to gain experience and whatnot. There are no shortcuts for that. But you're not going to be paying money and think that "Oh hey i have to play this guy who is really good, I might as well just forfeit since I won't win anyway." You'd play him to gain that experience and learn from it, but still do your best to win. Giving up is the least competitive thing you could do.
I don't understand this notion of fun and competitive play being mutually exclusive. There are definitely more jerks than there need to be, though ;~;
Personally, I don't see them as exclusive at all. I love to compete, win or lose because I had fun and gave it my all. Conversely, if I play and don't give it my best, I definitely don't feel the same sense of satisfaction. I think part of the reason there is this rift is that people at the extremes are both rather polarizing. The people in the middle (Like us) understand merits to both sides of the coin. We don't go all in one way or another. Its like having your cake and eating to too =p
Exactly. That is why I think the whole mindset of "win or die" is flawed. The forfeiting option is "play to win" because if you have little chance of winning, why play? The other scenario outlined is substantially different. In that situation, you readily acknowledge that your have little chance of winning. However, you try anyways and attempt to learn, and have fun with the match. Win or lose, you still tried to enjoy it and learn. The trip is usually more enjoyable than the destination.
For the record Pokémon card tournaments have free admission. It makes a lot of sense though, since the official tournaments are run by the same group that designs and manufactures the cards. The money you pay to make your deck, in a way, IS the admission fee. The prices aren't as ridiculous as Magic or Yu-Gi-Oh, but they can still cost hundreds of dollars.
I just make a deck with the cards that I have and go at it. I like to see what others are up to and see if I can "rogue" a tournament...
Indeed, that's why I mostly just bum around and have fun at M:TG events. The costs of building a deck just how you like it are simply beyond my means right now. I had a friend try to get me into Hero Clix too, that's an even bigger pull on resources. The fact that after 2 generations, cards from previous sets become illegal in tourneys doesn't help either.
Although its not really competitive anymore, my blue/black pestering deck is still a blast to play
Pokémon has it better in some ways and worse in others. It costs less (though that'll most likely change, now that a new archetype has appeared that involves a large amount of very rare cards), but it rotates more frequently, once per year. Right now, only sets from "Diamond and Pearl" (released 4/2007) and onward are allowed in tournaments.
The last official tournament I entered, on the flip side, has only four rare cards in them. I'd say it costs less than $15 buying each card individually.
There have been over 50 blocks released in M:TG, and what equates to the last 3 blocks are allowed in play (So I was wrong earlier, its 3, not 2). New blocks are released every 2-3 months as well so you are have to ditch parts of your deck every few months. There are plenty of rare cards too which doesn't help things either. I'd love to get back into M:TG with the intensity I once had, but being a perfectionist plus being poor, would equal me never really being satisfied with my deck.
Oh, so it's even worse. They get released that often? No wonder Magic decks cost so much. I wonder if Yu-Gi-Oh does anything comparable. Pokémon rotations never really happened until 2004.
There are presently six tournament-legal sets in Pokémon right now, by the way, not including promo cards, cards from "Trainer Kit" starter sets, and other peripheral bonus cards.
But thankfully, all of the most valuable cards are really old ones, like the Base Set Charizard.
I haven't ever touched Yu-Gi-Oh so I wouldn't know. M:TG is pretty brutal on ones pocket book to be sure.
One of the reasons is they don't want to take the effort to re-balance. Its easy to just toss the old out. Legacy Weapon (Destroy anything for one mana of each color) plus Crystal Quarry (5 of any kind of mana = one mana of each color) is a pretty sick combo. Throw in some of the handful of cards that let you search your deck for any cards you want and yeah...
Heh, and there are still five different types of mana, correct? They haven't added any?
G&G is a very tough deck to beat. Gallade, for two Energy, brings any Pokémon to exactly 50 remaining HP. Gardevoir Lv. X, for two Energy, automatically KOs the Pokémon on the field with the lowest remaining HP. Every Pokémon in the G&G deck has 60 HP or more.
There have been cards designed to take on this deck, though nothing has succeeded in eroding its power yet. PUSA is afraid to ban cards.
Red(Fire), Blue(Water), Black(Death), White(Holy), and Green(Earth). By your powers combined I am M:TG! Oh, and colorless mana of course.
That does indeed sound fairly powerful to be sure. The makes of these card games must get nightmares when they try to balance things while releasing a new set.
While I think banning is a last resort, sometimes, its indeed necessary.
So black mana IS death. I never played Magic myself, but I watched hundreds of matches intently in school, and I picked up all of the rules. Everyone I knew referred to mana types by color or by the Land card they're associated with.
The card designers probaby get more nightmares from people who think they can design cards more balanced than what these people come up with, only to turn everything "broken."
Sneasel and Slowking were banned in Pokémon's 2nd generation. They can ban these guys.
I had a fairly small group of friends I played with every day, it was a small class of about 6 people, me and 3 others played. The other and his girlfriend watched. I was usually the first eliminated because I was the most dangerous if left alive.
The word "Sequence Breaking" springs instantly to mind there. Metroid Prime 1. yowza.
They probably will if they keep dominating. The problem is the people who play these cards, claim they can be beaten, and yet never lose.
There were about seven or eight people I knew who played. One guy was far better than the others. He's a card game natural. He was good enough to do well in tournaments, but he never took an interest in official play for prizes.
It's pretty clear the game designers don't want to ban Gardevoir and Gallade, as they didn't ban previously broken cards like Pidgeot (once per turn, search your deck for any 1 card and put it into your hand). They simply waited until its set was rotated out.
Just waiting for them to be phased out just seams lazy to me. But I'm also a heavy ally of equality. I like things to be totally balanced so everyone gets the same shot at success, regardless.
I'm also aware that its a total pipe dream and has absolutely no shot of ever happening. Just gota hope for the most balance they can achieve and keep playing.
The competitive players with a business-like mentality will prevent that, unfortunately. Anything with the slightest advantage will be capitalized upon.
It's a good thing that the Pokémon card game has become more and more balanced as time goes on, though it's mostly done through raising the bar. (If you're curious, you can go to PokéBeach and compare Kabutops in "Fossil" to Kabutops in "Majestic Dawn." The latter has twice as much HP and attacks for more damage with less Energy.)
Indeed. I hate to bring it up, but when I think of "Breaking the game to benefit yourself". I can think of only one thing. Wave dashing. Love it or hate it, It was never intended to be.
Anything that can be used and abused will be. Its nice to see that it gets more balanced as it goes along though. Maybe I should pick my card game habits back up with that instead of M:TG. I wonder if my old favorite pokémon are even still around. Last pokémon game I played was Blue.
There are Pokémon of all four generations represented in every set. Of course, with 493 species now, it might be difficult to find a working strategy with some of your favorites. (Omastar has become a sight in tournaments too, what with its ability to devolve Pokémon by simply coming into play.)
It's funny that though it's obvious wave dashing is a glitch and that Sakurai made it very clear he didn't want it in the game, people still insist it's legit and boycotted SSBB because of that.
Alakazam (Sp?) and Starmie (Sp?) were my favorites from the original 150. Nearly five hundred now huh? That's pretty impressive. I'd obviously have some homework to do if I decided to get back into that. I'd probably go with a theme deck though. They are always a hoot.
Holding onto whatever advantage you have to secure your win, that's the wave dashing mentality. I'm glad that there hasn't been anything to similar discovered in brawl, although people are certainly trying.
What annoys me is that these people are shouting their hatred for Brawl because it's been much more playtested for glitches than its predecessors. You know what I think? I think finding glitches is simply a way for them to feel that they're better than casual players by distinguishing themselves from normal people.
I'd go into another card game, but I only have the money for one...
As for Alakazam, a lawsuit prevents Kadabra from appearing in the card game. A legal Alakazam exists though.
That's basically the case unfortunately. Its more about distancing themselves from casual players than it is "advancing the meta-game". Most of the AT's (Advanced Techniques) aren't even that advanced. They just simply look cool and are basically designed to try to intimidate your opponent.
Card games are indeed expensive, and I'm not exactly rolling in dough either.
A lawsuit huh? Someone have the term "Kadabra" copyrighted or something? That's pretty messed up.
Unfortunately, there have been a few Brawl AT's that seam to help some characters a lot more than they should.
"Snake Dashing" - Ever see a snake slide across an entire stage while launching a mortar? Take into consideration that this protects Snake while he is sliding.
Glide Tossing - This turns Diddy into an absolute little demon, he can "dribble" his bananas and chain them into so many different moves. Once you get caught in the bananas, its basically over.
One that I noticed was Lucas getting an extra third jump by pressing the jump button at the same time as he launches a mid-air PK Fire. It allows Lucas to go so far up that he can take off from the ground in Final Destination and KO himself through the upper boundary.
I've seen some of the glitches patched though.
What happened with Kadabra is that Israeli magician Uri Geller filed a lawsuit with Nintendo saying they copied his likeness, spoon-bending, and name (in the Japanese version).
This case has yet to be settled, and while this is hapening, an unusual consequence is that Kadabra can appear in the video games and TV show but not the card game. Instead, Abra from the "Mysterious Treasures" set (the most recent one) evolves straight into Alakazam, and the Alakazam before this was a Basic Pokémon that didn't evolve from anything.
Nevermind the fact that Wobbuffet, a 2nd-generation Pokémon, is themed on a Japanese stand-up comedian, imitating his catchphrases and poses.
The timing on that super jump is quite hard. I play around with it from time to time but It really, really hard to pull off with any reliability.
Which ones have you seen patched? I had heard that there have been "hidden" brawl patches but I have no idea what they actually did.
That lawsuit business just sounds appalling. It's so easy to bring lawsuits over the smallest things anymore. If anyone thinks they can squeeze a nickle out of someone, its lawsuit time. Sue first, ask questions later
Earthbound (The game Ness is from, fantastic game) is kinda in limbo because of similar reasons.
Earthbound parodied a -lot- of things, and the main reason its not out on the virtual console are because of potential copyright issues. Well that and NoA hates the earthbound series.
One of the most notable ones are the Tonzura Brothers, who are basically a total rip of the Blues Brothers (Renamed into the Runaway Five for America).
The Parody Clause is a powerful law in the States; Nintendo can easily defend anything in a Mother game based on this. I've yet to hear about a lawsuit over EarthBound; NoA's lack of attention to it, I'll bet, is more that EarthBound was a failure in North America.
EarthBound recently got re-rated by the ESRB from "K-A" to "E," however, meaning Nintendo is planning on something with EarthBound.
This is the company that successfully defended itself from Universal Studios over the "Kong" name...
As for patches, the most noticeable one relates the the time needed to find other players online; I also heard about Snake and Peach getting tweaked. I don't know how noticeable they are though.
What makes Uri Geller hypocritical, of course, is that Wobbuffet parodies the comedian Sanpei Hayashiya much more directly than Kadabra parodies Geller, yet Hayashiya never rose up to complain. He enjoyed the flattery.
Youtube has eaten about 7 of my reply attempts, I must be saying something it doesn't like. Probably the URL.
The Parody Laws are indeed strong in the US. However, the question is, are they strong in Europe and Japan? They are the only places that have a shot of Earthbound being released on their VC's.
I don't know if you frequent starmen(dot)net, but they know some high ups in NoA. It was basically confirmed that NoA has disliked the Mother series ever since its poor state-side SNES showing.
Ha, yup, it was the URL. How about a warning or something next time 'tube?
I believe it was revealed that the ESRB was either an attempt to get the demo put in brawl, or something else that I can't remember.
But anything Mother related, if NoA can slap a veto on it, it will. Disappointing to be sure, as I'm sure it would do well on the VC. My Earthbound Cartridge isn't in the best of shape either.
Speaking of the VC, Europe got Super Mario RPG last week. Hope we get it soon.
YouTube doesn't accept any comments with any sort of URLs. It doesn't even accept anything with three w's in a row.
I don't know how strong Japanese (or Israeli) parody laws are, but the Japanese simply don't take imitation as seriously as Americans.
What's odd is that many people have requested Mother 3 or EarthBound on the VC. The dislike has grown into unawareness since though. Apparently, when they DO make a response, they say they never gave much thought to the Mother series.
I'm fairly new to commenting so I did not know this, thanks for the heads up.
It's nice to see at least one culture can have fun without worrying about as many law suits as we get here.
the staff at NoA seams to support the Mother series. The problem is that the higher ups just see it as a waste of time and money. Its really gotten a cult following since the first Smash showed Ness off to a world that had perhaps forgotten him.
Fire Emblem was denied entry into America for the same reason as EarthBound until Melee came out--because Japanese RPGs never took off outside of Japan until Final Fantasy VII. They were (and still are) linear, story-oriented, emphasize cooperation over competition, and has lots of puzzles, in stark contrast to American RPGs where you asseble a character and send him/her off to fight lots of monsters. Lucas already has a profound impact on American gaming culture; I hope for the best for him.
Indeed. I always wanted more games like Earthbound, FF2, and FF3 (FF4 and 6 now). Thanks to the internet, and places like DeJap. I got to play some old Japanese SNES rpgs in English. While I'm normally against piracy, I do so only when there is a translation patch, or it was never released in America (Terranigma, great game, EU only)
Mother 3 is actually being translated by starmen(dot)net. They are only about 2 or 3 months away from a release. I can't wait to give it a spin when its done.
I know about that project at Starmen too; I used to frequent that place a lot (despite never having played a Mother game, as I never had a Super Nintendo).
Nintendo of America should know that people will definitely appreciate an English-language version of Mother 3, even if they just do a small limited-release thing like what they did with Dr. Mario 64.
Also, the ESRB rating of EarthBound took place long after SSBB was released in America. That means Nintendo plans for something else with it.
Tomato is my hero for all he is doing. $40,000 dollars worth of his time for free for all of us Mother 3 fans, and he still isn't done yet. That's commitment right there.
I wouldn't care what system it was for, I'd pick up any system out there right now just for the Mother series. I hold it in that high a regard. Giygas is also the scariest RPG boss I've ever seen.
I really, really hope so. I decided long ago that It would be my first VC purchase (Or if it comes out for the DS or something).
It takes almost no money for Nintendo to put one of its own games on the Virtual Console. That's the most likely thing, I'd bet; even if only ten people download it, Nintendo will still profit from it. I mean, they put StarTropics on the Virtual Console! That Nintendo game is so forgotten, it's the only franchise belonging to Nintendo that's never appeared in a Smash Bros. game in any way.
Mother 3 would be less likely due to the translation, but the EarthBound English text is right there.
Star Tropics and Star Tropics 2 were pretty good games for their time too. and I'm sure it wouldn't take much for a return profit. But the problem seams deeper than that, I get the impression the (American) higher ups are bitter at the fact that it could reach cult status on its own after they pumped so much money into marketing its SNES release. I do hope I'm wrong, but that's just the vibe i get from what I've read in the starmen forums. I really, really hope I am wrong however.
So do you suppose it's just a personal thing on Nintendo of America's top people that the Mother series has gotten no attention? You may be right, considering that Super Smash Bros. took quite a bit of talking to get made over here, which is the first time many Americans were exposed to Ness. A lot of people wondered who he was (including myself).
By the way, at the same time EarthBound got that ESRB rating, I believe that Mother got the "E" as well and was to be called "EarthBound Zero."
I believe that's the case, and only the case in NoA. Each of the three gets a vote in things it seams. NoJ loves Itoh and his Mother series. NoE is neutral to the whole thing. NoA (The bitter executives rather) would take no greater delight than to see Mother buried, and thus vetoes anything Mother related.
I remember begging my parents to take me to the store the day Earthbound came out. Memories eh?
Earthbound Zero has a whole story behind it, check it out on starmen, interesting read.
Many things get cult status on their own with lots of advertisement, though int he case of EarthBound, I think the marketing backfired upon itself. The tagline, "This game stinks" and that it comes with an air freshener probably scared a lot of epople from buying the game. It's surprising how many people take things literally and lack a sense of humor. I suppose that's why Americans are so litigious.
Haha, I wish I still had the scratch and sniff cards that came in the back of the players guide that was included with the game. oh and the Mach Pizza Air Freshener, that thing was cool too.
Indeed, many people close to Earthbound seam to think that catchphrase is what killed its SNES launch. Its marketing certainly hit me though, I was infatuated with it months before launch. My subscription to Nintendo Power didn't hurt either, I read the articles on EB countless, countless times.
Paper Mario went through the same routine as EathBound, by the way: Poor seller but with a strong cult status, and like EarthBound, copies of Paper Mario sold at insane prices untul it came out on the VC. By then, Nintendo was confident enough to sequelize it. The reason it failed, though, was because people were turning to the PS2 and forgetting about the N64.
Taglines are normally generic and dull because they're easily understood. Barq's Root Beer's tagline is simply, "It's good."
Paper Mario was really good as well. another game I got at its launch date. While I will always be a Nintendo fan first and foremost, I did not regret getting my PS2 either. I was worried about Nintendo's future during the GCN days. Quite glad I don't have to worry anymore.
Speaking of cult RPGs, Ever played Skies of Arcadia? That's my favorite RPG outside of the Mother series. The atmosphere and story were just simply awe inspiring. Amazing game.
The lowest common denominator, of course. The closer you get to it, the more money you'll make. That's why Death Note failed to catch on in the States: Compared to the other shows on Adult Swim, it was far more intellectual and went way over most people's heads.
I'm too poor to get more than one system per generation though, Maybe I'll be able to afford more once I can start making money after college graduation this December.
I'm familiar with Arcadia, but I've never played it.
Death Note was an amazing Anime too. L had a great personality to him, and Light was one of those people you loved to hate. Both were as smart as the day is long too.
I got lucky with that ps2. A buddy wanted to get rid of his and I picked it up for 50 bucks. No way I could have afforded it otherwise. No place here is hiring so I'm not well off there either.
the whole concept of flying ships and air pirates exploring the unknown. No other game has yet to capture that feeling of exploration.
Considering Death Note is on the same programming block as Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job, Shin-chan, and Squidbillies, I think the folks knew it would fail. Paranoia Agent failed, and Ghost in the Shell barely broke even. Regardless of my opinions of these shows (or yours), it's clear people go into Adult Swim with a certain expectation, and Death Note didn't meet it.
I could swear there's another major video game series that deals with air pirates with steampunk airships.
More shows that I loved. Little Slugger (before the final 2-3 episodes) was cool for being a serial killer (Last few eps kinda Silent Hilled the whole thing however, still really good).
I hope that new Anime, Moribito, does well. I really enjoyed the first episode.
I just hope they don't decide to get rid of Anime completely... at least bleach does well
You may be thinking of The Longest Journey, or Dreamfall? I know they had a steampunk race in them. At least I think they do.
I'm wandering around the Adult Swim boards looking for possible reasons why it didn't do so well, so those are only my theories. There's a noticeable pattern that slower, more thought-provoking shows get low ratings whereas the more strictly shonen the show, the better it does. (Not that I don't like those shows...this is probably Hunter X Hunter's big chance at getting noticed.)
Balsa looks a lot like Major Kusanagi...a LOT like her. There's also a random Joshua Seth voice. It's weird.
Good theories none the less, and they certainly seam to hold true. As of some of my more delinquent "mates" can be prove.
I happen to enjoy most of AS's programming too, from the zany stuff for a good quick laugh, to the thought provoking Ghost in The Shell or Death Note.
I've never heard of Hunter x Hunter however. It must be pretty good to have been brought up, that or it just really fits adult swim's more comedy based line up
Are you familiar with Yu Yu Hakusho? The creator worked on HxH immediately afterward. It's a pretty straight-up shonen, but it's done very well. It's got high acclaim...from the few who bothered to check it out. It's quite intelligent too; it has the most intricate superpower system I've ever seen, with checks and balances, and one villain gets by through making correct conclusions from few clues. It gets disturbing late into the series, however.
Yu Yu Hakusho. Now talk about something that could do well on adult swim. I really enjoyed Yu Yu Hakusho, at least, what I saw of it. HxH sounds utterly amazing then from what you have said. I need to check that out.
Yeah, Balsa is the awesome heroine with the spear. It's always nice to see a heroine who (hopefully) isn't a sex symbol. Reminds me of how disappointed I am with the "Enhancements" made to ZSS. Female Heroes can be clothed/not supermodels and still be cool people.
Adult Swim is advertising Moribito on sex appeal, it looks like. At least on their website. Of course, someone with a rack like that can only come from a cartoon. I like what I'm seeing, except that Balsa seems to be pretty perfect to begin with. I have to wonder where there's room for her character to grow.
HxH is weird. It follows shonen tropes: Powerful adolescents with spiky hair, progressively stronger villains, a quest through many lands, and flying balls of energy...
Yet Yoshihiro Togashi manages to mantain unpredictability. There's stuff like an argument about whether an item is fake or not with an intensity greater than many fights, villains not killed outright continue to make their presense known, and this is VERY violent among Shonen Jump series. The body count for HxH may very well be higher than Death Note's.
(I'm plugging this, but it needs more attention in any way it can.)
They are? Well that's disappointing. I know she has a super model body, but at least here is to hoping that she turns out to be a good heroine (Samus quality I hope). Considering its from the same minds (or at least was advertised) that brought us Ghost in The Shell. I'm sure they will find plenty to grow her character.
Considering I am a fan of action, that sounds pretty awesome. The item argument bit sounds incredible too. How did I miss something that sounds this good? I feel gyped D=.
I know Moribito comes from Production I.G., and I'll be there's the same character designer. Of course, Major Kusanagi also seemed flawless at the beginning, but she developed flaws created by some of her tougher foes.
I like how when the villains in HxH aren't killed, the series shows what they continue to do after their defeat. The powers they come up with are pretty neat too, like the most lethal vacuum cleaner ever (though it's mostly used to suck up corpses or hide evidence of murders).
And a great character she is too. I've always enjoyed Anime set in the future rather than the past. Not to say I don't like Anime set in the past, I just tend to be easier to futuristic Anime. I'm a pretty big fan of Outlaw star and Cowboy Bebop too.
That does sound really interesting. Besides 5 second snippets, you never see anything besides the main characters/active villains in most Animes. That power also sounds awesome. With powers like that, anything could be turned deadly.
Moribito annoyed me a bit by being so hyper-Japanese; I'm sure Japanese people could relate to it better, but one thing I noticed about shows that take place in the past is that I usually enjoy them better when they're not very serious, like Samurai Champloo.
One of my favorite HxH powers is a perfect demonstration of the checks and balances system in how incredibly complex it is. You see, by purposely putting inhibitions or weaknesses in your powers, you can increase their potency greatly.
That's because the powers come from normally unnoticed-life force (called "nen"), and inhibitions and weaknesses promote the drive to succeed.
One character late into the series has one power where he plants his nen into people, which manifest as internal bombs. It's called Countdown, as its victims can see a timer that counts down from 5000 and goes down by 1 for each heartbeat (so that nervous people die faster). To activate the bomb, he must explain all its rules to his victims and how to...
...defuse it, which is by physical contact with him and saying, "I caught the bomber." While it gives away what he's trying to do, he's also remarkably adept at avoiding capture, since his other power, Little Flower, is designed to ward off pursuers: He concentrates his nen into his hands, half of it as an explosive that detonates upon contact with anything, and the other half as protective armor so he doesn't blow off his own hand. His killing power is absolutely massive.
Hyper-Japanese has never really bugged me. Probably because I'm a bit of an Otaku and generally enjoy the Japanese culture. Samurai Champloo was pretty cool. Gene (I think that was his name, the guy with the glasses) was awesome.
HxH sounds amazing. The more I hear about it from you; The more I can't believe that I haven't heard about it before. Looks like I have another Manga that I need to start collecting. Viz media seams to have already pumped out 21 volumes too.
Looking for HxH, I hopped over to one of the sites I use to sate my appetite for manga until I can afford the books. They didn't have it all but they had about the last 50-60 chapters and I just got finished reading them (Chimera Ant Arc). I must say I like what I see thus far.
While the Chimera Ant's are good enemies, I find myself hating them, much like you should with any good villain (Outside the few charismatic ones, like Light). Their design is also creepy. I must say I approve.
Interesting you were able to read the Chimera Ant arc, since it was so disturbing that readership went down past Volume 19. I would've recommended the York New City arc (the one with the Spiders, a group of assassins, and their dealings with the Mafia) or the Greed Island arc, a lethal MMORPG, that demonstrate the workings of Hunter x Hunter the best.
I don't know why it never caught on in the States. My guess is that, like Death Note, it went over most people's heads.
I saw the Greed Island description in Wikipedia when I went to look up HxH info. I definitely wanted to see it, but the site I used didn't go back that far. I'll just have to get the manga for that, but hey, I was going to do that anyways.
I've seen enough of the internet (Unfortunately) to have that Arc be quite low on my list of disturbing things I've seen. Above and beyond that, I'm really easy going, so its hard to disrupt my flow.
With the anime being release soon, maybe AS will grab it.
Well, there's only been a confirmation that Viz Media will handle Hunter x Hunter, and the first thing they did was ask various TV channels if they're interested in it. The safest bet is Adult Swim.
Interesting that you'd say that you weren't very disturbed by the Chimera Ants; I thought I was weird for being able to take it in stride. The rest of the manga is pretty gruesome too; this is one of those anime adaptations that actually tones down the violence.
I could really see HxH fitting into the AS line-up. I could honestly say the same thing about a few other Anime I like, including Yu Yu Hakusho. I mean, Bleach is well received, so I wouldn't see why this wouldn't catch on either.
Oh don't think that I'm some sort of majority in that matter. Our weirdness remains intact, as i'm the only one amongst my mates who would take it in stride. We definitely seam to be in the minority there. I can believe it, as fairly rare as that occurs.
Hunter x Hunter is an oddly poor seller among manga; lack of awareness is probably the reason for it. That, and people see the cutesy character designs and think it's a children's manga or something. Then, people actually open a book to see massive amounts of severed limbs, exploding heads (complete with splattering eyeballs and ocular nerves), and streets full of dead bodies.
I don't even know how the anime will handle the Chimera Ant arc. Genocide is such a big part of the story.
Haha, very true. It could also be that it is drawn in a fairly "dirty" or "rough" style. I've run into anime/manga snobs who would think that HxH looks like chicken scratch and isn't worth their time. Doesn't matter how good the story or action is.
You can get around things like that if your crafty. Take a look at Tomato's "Mother to Earthbound and Back" page. It was quite a bit more raw before the translation. The translation team did a great job of retaining the majority of the message.
Nah, that's Yoshihiro Togashi being lazy. The beginning of the series was actually really clean-looking and very detailed. Then, Togashi started taking his infamous "breaks." The second-most recent one was 14 months long, and once he got back, he drew just enough to finish Volume 24 and went on another break. What's odd is that the breaks concide with releases of major RPGs.
I can't seem to find that article on Starmen. I would've liked to check it out.
Haha. I'm sure he thinks of he breaks must be "Time to catch up on my RPG gaming". Not unlike myself. I've spent a good 300 hours in Tales of Symphonia. Zelos is just an absolutely awesome character.
Even in the last issue I saw, it still looked pretty good to me. But I like that dirty look. To me it gives the art more character than something straight out of a CG'd anime would.
tomato(dot)fobby(dot)net/m2eb/ < Thats the URL for the page I talked about.
These breaks have made his fans and his publisher angry at him though. The only reason he still has his job is because he gathered a huge following in Japan through Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter (the latter of which IS a huge success in Japan), and firing him will lose Shueisha (the publisher) a lot of money.
Interesting site. I've known about many of the changes in translation for this though. All translation jobs have strange and unexplanable things though.
I can see why, 14 months is a quite long for a hiatus. I guess you could say that you can't rush creativity and genius. but year and 2 months is still a bit much, yeesh.
The one that caught me most off guard was the "Punk-Sure"! bike store one. I had never given that a second though, let alone equate it to puncture. Japanese word jokes along those lines must either be absolutly hilarious, or as bad and overused as bad puns.
Man, you take a 14 month hiatus from just about anything else and you are so fired that its not even funny. I guess creativity and genius take time, but a year and a sixth is taking things a bit far.
The one that caught me most off guard was the "Punk-Sure"! bike shop. I had never it's reference to the word puncture before I read it on that page. Japanese word puns like this must be absolutely hilarious. Well, that or so bad that you want to groan and shake you head.
Togashi claimed that he had suffered an illness that prevented him from writing, though it's pretty clear he's just faking it considering how much lazier he got with everything he did--his drawing, his convention attendance, everythin.
Japanese puns are downright abundant. It makes shows like Excel Saga a nightmare to translate. I guess the Japanese must love puns or something, or at least they don't have the negative stigma they have in western countries.
He could claim he was abducted by aliens too, and it would be about as believable. For being lazy however, HxH was still drawn a lot better than some manga I have read. I just hope he still enjoys the process of writing/drawing.
I always laugh when I groan at English puns. As bad as they can be, I always get a chuckle out of them, maybe Japanese people share a similar disposition with regards to said puns. One of my mates is in love with Excel Saga. It's one of her favorite Animes.
I think he just wants to retire at this point...If he does, he could just announce it. I think he's made enough money to live off of it the rest of his life, and he'd be honest with himself.
Part of the charm of Wallace & Gromit, of course, is the relentless speed that they throw puns at you. The Curse of the Were-Rabbit was REALLY rapid-fire.
Indeed. I would just hope that he closes the story with and ending first. If he was to retire that is. One of my favorite T.V. shows, Red Dwarf (A British sci-fi comedy) ended on an absolutely gigantic cliff hanger. What's worse is that its been trying, for years, to get its movie off the ground, with no continuation of the series planned until the movie is done.
It was like a Gatling gun of puns. I couldn't help but grin and snicker as I groaned through them.
Samurai Jack has been in that situation too. As Douglas Adams said, "Trying to get a movie through in Hollywood is like trying to cook a steak by having a succession of people breathe on it."
You have to go through so many people, and once they change ranks, move to another studio, or otherwise are no longer in that spot, you have to start all over again with new people, who don't give a rat's butt about your idea because they're also there to pitch their own ideas. Speed Racer took 17 years.
Did you really need to include the first 2:30 minutes?
andysido 1 year ago
@andysido Some people like it.
Overhazard 1 year ago
Was Joker in the Sneakster beacause it spells his name?
deathboy126 1 year ago
I've always found it a bit odd that Birdo came into the Mario Party series as a playable character in such a late installment (7). Even Toadette was playable in Mario Party 6.
heliotropei 2 years ago
4:16 GIANT BIRDO
O.O
AngelIceshard 2 years ago
It's nice to know that somebody is playing as Birdo because I thought ppl thought she was just too slow :/
DruggedRice01 3 years ago
Nah, characters only ADD stats to a vehicle, not subtract from them. I forget what Birdo contributes, but I think it wasn't too popular.
Overhazard 3 years ago
birdo gives +1 weight and off road and +2 mini turbo. not a good character for you since you rarely use manual
jolteonown 2 years ago
i always thought birdo was a girl
PikachuDude95 3 years ago
Just because Overhazard lost doesn't mean she's bad.She's a great player and person,sonic.Why are you making a big deal by saying "WOW U LOST"?
TheGreatAnime 3 years ago
WOW U LOST 71 VR's in Race 3 i have over 10,000 (10791 to be exact)i've only lost 1 race. (-102 VR's
sonicsuperstarprince 3 years ago
Liar. 9999 is the maximum you can get in the game.
Overhazard 3 years ago
OK I LIED (I ONLY GOT 8716)
sonicsuperstarprince 3 years ago
At 1 point could u use Mario in the Wild Wing in Auto
sonicsuperstarprince 3 years ago
If I remember to.
Overhazard 3 years ago
i want to race you
lordmiren 3 years ago
Hey Over hazard watched all of your vids and love them.My question is was that joker player from mexico?If so I played him yesterday he had that amount of vr, gold wheel and one star.
cambridgecelts 3 years ago
No, that Joker player was from the USA.
Overhazard 3 years ago
I swear I competed with that Joker Mii yesterday...
dalandb4time 3 years ago
I love that the Mii's driving the cars at the end of Coconut Mall are of your friends and family. Yes, it is they who cause us all this pain.
Azurekate 3 years ago
Oh, and do you think you could do a race as Funky Kong? I know why you don't play as him, but he's always neat to see, you know?
snowyarticuno 3 years ago
Odd that GBA Bowser's Castle 3 would become MKWii's Final Destination, considering Bikes seem to be its Fox, and GBABC3 seems more of a pro-kart stage.
snowyarticuno 3 years ago
It's also got that incredibly long straightaway, which I think is what attracts people there when they find that smeone using a kart has been messing them up.
As far as kart usage goes, someone who's mastered the Super Mini-Turbo can keep themselves in a practically constant boost throughout the first half of each lap. I'm no master, but I have done all of the possible Super Mini-Turbo opportunities that I know of.
Funky Kong? I don't use him much because of Flame Runner abusers, but okay.
Overhazard 3 years ago
I really want to figure out how to make that Joker Mii. o_o
As always, good races! It was neat to see you play Birdo, and the Cheep Charger is just too precious.
maerthmarth 3 years ago
Wow... I honestly thought Birdo was Waluigi. She sounds... really creepy.
Breludicolo 3 years ago
Dry Bones is my favorite character, would you mind playing as him one time?
Tykeeyo 3 years ago
Perhaps. I've had a few videos with Dry Bones, but I'll do it again.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Thanks. DEATH TO ALL THAT FACE DRY BONES!!!!!! lol
Tykeeyo 3 years ago
That last race was pretty intense.
randomyoshi 3 years ago
Are you planning to have 3 stars.I only got 2
PkmnArseus10 3 years ago
I'm capable of it..I just never bothered to go through the trouble. It's frustrating.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Luigi Circuit is the FD of MKW. Definitely.
qazqazdabest 3 years ago
Could you play with Rosalina on the Flamerunner?
MageCraze 3 years ago
He doesn't like to use inward drifting bikes.
qazqazdabest 3 years ago
Nah, I just really REALLY hate the jumpsuits. Inward-drifting bikes are fine.
Overhazard 3 years ago
lol then use Bowser with his overlapping fat!
qazqazdabest 3 years ago
Well, let's hear what MageCraze has to say first.
Overhazard 3 years ago
What do you mean by that? Hmm... I remember myself posting a comment here. Is it just me or is it not there anymore?
MageCraze 3 years ago
It's there. Look at the full list of comments to see them organized more properly.
Overhazard 3 years ago
I still feel that Luigi Circuit is the FD of MK:Wii.
And yay for using Birdo! You raced well with her! I choose her every now and then because nobody ever seems to. As for her being "ugly", I guess being one of the main villains of Mario Bros. 2, she'd have to be somewhat unattractive. I haven't really gotten a good look at her though. I should check to see if she still has her giant diamond ring.
However unpopular she is with everyone else, she'll always be my sister's favorite character.
dembonez19 3 years ago
How do you recover from a POW block?
mellowjello4 3 years ago
You have to hit the wheelie button(whether it's flipping the Wiimote or using the D-Pad) RIGHT BEFORE the last bump from the POW Block activates.
PearledWaveS 3 years ago
To be honest, Final Destination is a terrible stage, because a lot of characters don't do as well on it as they would stages with platforms, I love the backgrounds and stuff on FD, but I find myself playing my own stages more often or Battle Field. But to each his own.
TheGuyWhoIsSitting 3 years ago
Zelda's a kill on it. Din's fire and her Final Smash. So cheap.
TemaShika24 3 years ago
You can air dodge Din's fire can't ya? That and not everyone plays with items. I'd still say that the only cheap move in any smash game is Fox's shine where he can kill you below 20%... that's cheap.
TheGuyWhoIsSitting 3 years ago
Dang. I missed it again.
Would it be possible if you could post when you're about to start playing? That way, we would know when to get on?
Or: Could you send me a PM?
TemaShika24 3 years ago
Nope. I don't go online until I start playing.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Um...what's that supposed to mean?
I think it'd be easier if you PM right before you go online so that way, I could go online and join you or something.
TemaShika24 3 years ago
I mean that my computer isn't even turned on or anything. I plug everything in to start playing, and then I start playing. Its too much trouble to turn my computer on to announce that I've begun, then turn it off.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Oh.
TemaShika24 3 years ago
Well then, that makes it really hard because you post the times after you upload the video. By that time, you're long gone from online.
TemaShika24 3 years ago
I post those times so that people might get an idea of when I might be playing online. If you can't find me online, then you can use those times to figure out why you can't find me.
I could also be told when popular times are so that I might play during those times instead.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Since alot of us have school, around 3:00-7:00 perhaps?
Azurekate 3 years ago
Perhaps. I'm still on summer break, so when I get back to university, I'll more likely play during those times. Of course, I'll probably still play on odd hours during the weekends.
Overhazard 3 years ago
I always thought Rainbow Road was the FD of MKWii.
Its either that or GCN DK Moutian due to that sick shortcut bikes can make. We kart users really suffer on some tracks. I hope they balance wheelies a little more in the next game so bikes aren't the best vehicles by a long shot.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
It feels like a bigger accomplishment to purposely pit yourself as the underdog and come out on top though. Too bad VR had to come in and wreck everything.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Indeed, It does feel good to tear apart a room of bike users with Daisy in the Wild Wing. The problem comes from people who can run near perfect time trial routes. I'm good with a kart, but not that good. (Good enough to keep a high 8k rating unless I get a really bad string of luck).
Putting stats on things just makes people more competitive. What ever happened to being fun and competitive? I blame FPS's.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
I'd blame the internet...When people find out information about their favorite multiplayer games, they're treated to a culture where everyone strives to be the best at any cost, and anyone who's disinterested in winning is thrown away as an outcast.
I've hung around some competitive groups, and the one thing they all have in common is that noncompetitiveness is unimaginable. Nothing confuses a person used to playing competitively than a presentation of the idea that winning isn't important.
Overhazard 3 years ago
I am competitive and I will try to win at almost any cost, but I can understand that people can be not very competitive, and just play for fun. I do that myself sometimes, though I still play my best even though I'm not trying to win.
Ankarua 3 years ago
That's great. You are a rarity. I say that I'm not concerned about winning or losing to nearly all competitive circles, and I get blankness in response.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Money is also a huge factor, nearly ever super competitive player has money factor into the way they play. SSBB players protest items because their randomness may cost them the match, and thus money. When money is involved, all fun stops.
I play games for fun and escape. Sure its fun to try to get better at brawl and kart, but if I lose, I still have fun with the match. Win, lose, or draw; I come out the victor if I had a good time
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Ah, I know all about the money in these tournaments. I frequent Pokémon card tournaments all the time (the World Championships in Orlando was last Saturday...though it's too far for me to visit), and I know all about the attitudes a lot of these people bring to the place.
I usually place somewhere in the bottom or in the middle, depending on how well I shuffle my deck (often, I fail to shuffle properly and my cards aren't evenly distributed), but I always have a good time there.
Overhazard 3 years ago
I honestly feel bad for the people who come into things like gaming and cards (I'm a M:TG fan myself) with a "Win or die" attitude.
I couldn't imagine ever taking something I enjoy and turning it into a profession. Because it has the very real chance of turning something you enjoy into something that is work.
What do you turn to for fun at that point?
And achievements are just as bad, playing games for points. I could not even begin to imagine killing gaming like that for myself.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
There have been some people who honestly enjoy their work and couldn't get enough of it, like Charles Schulz. He drew Peanuts up until his death.
I always love it when the champion of something came into it for fun and happened to win, like with Donald Hutson's "Diesector" robot in BattleBots. He takes losses very well, even after he won the whole thing once.
I've won some card matches against people who normally make "top cut" though, and the gamesmanship most pull is ridiculous.
Overhazard 3 years ago
They are the lucky ones who work more for the pleasure they get out of it, and would continue to do so without the money. Not many people, professional gamers included, would continue to do what they got paid for if it wasn't for the money.
Peanuts was a fantastic comic and Schulz was a great loss to us all in his passing. Calvin and Hobbes is my reigning favorite comic series however.
Its always fun to pull the underdog upset, gives a -lot- more satisfaction than a favorite winning.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
That's true. A lot of people go into a major they hate because it pays the most. That's something I noticed. What's a bit disconcerting is that many of them are supposed to lead to professions where you have to care about your work deeply to keep your job, like a surgeon or anthropologist.
I've lost many times against Pokémon card veterans for tricks they pull that I don't realize until AFTER the match has finished, such as purposely ignoring a field effect to my advantage that I didn't notice.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Thats why a fair handful of doctor's really shouldn't be practicing medicine. I'm grateful that I enjoy my major of Electronics Technologies enough to fiddle with gadgets even when its not required.
That's just bad manners if you ask me. I've beaten myself by giving my opponents to much advice. Those are always my favorite losses however. I enjoy helping others, and if they beat me in the process, all the better. But don't be surprised if I find a counter to my own advice.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
I'm in film. It's arguably one of the more useless majors, but I think it'll be something I'll enjoy enough. Matt Groening continues to draw Life in Hell as The Simpsons and Futurama is going on, after all.
By the way, the very first tournament game of Pokémon cards I ever played, they did such a trick to me. The guy began by putting a Metal Energy on Beldum, though I should've known the reduced damage doesn't apply because this Beldum wasn't Metal. He also spoke very quickly to confuse me.
Overhazard 3 years ago
I thought about going into something film related. I was in a number of plays (One I'm most proud of was "One flew over the Cuckoo's nest"). I have always said, "I don't care if I struggle to make ends meet. I swear I won't be one of those people who hates going to work everyday."
I've run into similar people in M:TG events. Whats worse is when you run into someone who will try to flat out lie to you win because you are still fairly new. Only to be told later that you were indeed right.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Do those people at the Magic tournaments say everything really quickly, then spend your turn tapping their fingers on the table, suggesting you to "hurry up"? These guys look like they were constantly on the edge of calling a judge out for stalling. I had thought everyone in tournaments played this quickly, and I couldn't keep up.
It's just a few guys when I first started playing though. Maybe the same few, I don't know. But I didn't see it so often in later tournaments I attended.
Overhazard 3 years ago
There are 3 types of players that seam to congregate at events.
Win or die: Speak fast, play fast. If the game isn't over in 5 minutes, someone is stalling and its obviously not them. No talking except for announcing what has to be announced. 80% of the congregation
Back seat players: Watch and comment, but never play, think they are awesome. 16%
Fun Competitive: Plays for fun and sport, talk while playing, enjoy longer games too, don't care about the result of the match if it was fun. 4%
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Me = Win or Die. :/
Rinsting 3 years ago
You speak really fast, like "I-play-this-over-here-and-then-I-play-this-I-attack-you-with-that-GO!!!," then you start tapping your fingers on the table one second after the opponent's turn starts?
Because I find that really irritating.
A thought: Tournaments NEED people unconcerned with the outcome of a match. This doesn't matter what it is. If everyone plays only to win and treats it like business, attendance will plummet to where only the experts show up. We fill space and keep them popular.
Overhazard 3 years ago
That's one reason that many brawl tourneys, outside of the huge ones like EVO, consider themselves successful if they get 20+ participants. The whole professional atmosphere in brawl can be pretty negative. I saw one tourney set up that if Peach or Dedede pulled/threw anything besides their basic projectiles (Turnips/Waddles and Gordo), they were disqualified.
I've seen novice M:TG players laughed off the table before by such players, its disheartening.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Lol, barlw usually gets many more than 20 participants.
The thing is that tournaments are supposed to be contests of skill. If you want to pay money to win potential money, then you go to tournaments and try your hardest to win. You wouldn't pay 5 to 20 dollars and just throw it away. The experts are winning because they play in tournaments the most and are the most skilled - they have tournament experience, and they try to win.
A "casual tournament" is an oxymoron.
Evo barlw rules are stupid.
durhamred 3 years ago
28/32 is the most common number I have seen for brawl tourneys outside of large events.
Just because something is a contest of skill doesn't require its participants to potentially be arrogant jerks (definitely not saying they all are).
Tourneys aren't just about competing to see who is the best either. They can also be about gathering people who have the same interest(s) and introduce newbies. If you want to play serious and place money on the outcome, fine. Just don't expect everyone to.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Lol, what you've isn't the standard for tournament turnouts >_> lots of tournaments normally exceed 30-40. Since when are serious tournament players and arrogant jerks related? Being a serious competitor doesn't ensure that you're a jerk. That's not even my point, wow. All I'm saying is that
"If everyone plays only to win and treats it like business, attendance will plummet to where only the experts show up. We fill space and keep them popular." is a silly concept. If you pay to play, play2win
durhamred 3 years ago
The purpose of a tournament is to compete to be the best. That's why events like that are held and why people train for those events. Certainly you can go to tournaments and not enter. I do that all the time; I mainly go to tournaments to hang out with the friends I've made at the tournaments. But you can't group people like that. If you're going to tournaments where people are playing games "OMG SPEED FAST ASLO IM A JERK" you're... not going to the right tournaments.
durhamred 3 years ago
I'm just saying that's what I have seen. Not saying I'm right or wrong, simply what I have seen.
You should also note what I said. I didn't say that all tourney players are jerks. I simply stated that some are, but definitely not all. Its just also been my experience that 9/10 jerks that you run into have a "Win or die" attitude.
Smashboards is usually a nice exception. I lurk around the Peach boards to try to absorb as much as I can to improve my game.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
I do have a complaint with your "If you pay to play, play2win" theory however. If that's your line of thinking, you would only enter if you thought your going to win the whole event. What about entering to simply see how well you fair against better players? Or simply wanting more experience with tourney scene? Or even if the fee was nominal, entering just for the fun of it? According to you, that's all irreverent because if you pay to play, you play to win.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
When money is involved, however, people get serious.
The problem with not grouping them like that however, is that the majority is unfortunately like that. Brawl isn't that bad, thankfully. You don't run into jerks too often, but they usually love to john when you beat them. Other games however, especially M:TG, have extremes in both ends. Some groups are wonderful, others are awful. The larger the event, the more it seams to attract the awful, and try to shoo away the wonderful.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Wat? Playing to win doesn't mean that you'd only enter if you know you'd win. Obviously you have to play in tournaments more to gain experience and whatnot. There are no shortcuts for that. But you're not going to be paying money and think that "Oh hey i have to play this guy who is really good, I might as well just forfeit since I won't win anyway." You'd play him to gain that experience and learn from it, but still do your best to win. Giving up is the least competitive thing you could do.
durhamred 3 years ago
I don't understand this notion of fun and competitive play being mutually exclusive. There are definitely more jerks than there need to be, though ;~;
durhamred 3 years ago
Personally, I don't see them as exclusive at all. I love to compete, win or lose because I had fun and gave it my all. Conversely, if I play and don't give it my best, I definitely don't feel the same sense of satisfaction. I think part of the reason there is this rift is that people at the extremes are both rather polarizing. The people in the middle (Like us) understand merits to both sides of the coin. We don't go all in one way or another. Its like having your cake and eating to too =p
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
There are indeed definitely more jerks than needed however. -_-;
People need to chill and realize everyone has feelings and no one likes them hurt. =\
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Exactly. That is why I think the whole mindset of "win or die" is flawed. The forfeiting option is "play to win" because if you have little chance of winning, why play? The other scenario outlined is substantially different. In that situation, you readily acknowledge that your have little chance of winning. However, you try anyways and attempt to learn, and have fun with the match. Win or lose, you still tried to enjoy it and learn. The trip is usually more enjoyable than the destination.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
For the record Pokémon card tournaments have free admission. It makes a lot of sense though, since the official tournaments are run by the same group that designs and manufactures the cards. The money you pay to make your deck, in a way, IS the admission fee. The prices aren't as ridiculous as Magic or Yu-Gi-Oh, but they can still cost hundreds of dollars.
I just make a deck with the cards that I have and go at it. I like to see what others are up to and see if I can "rogue" a tournament...
Overhazard 3 years ago
Indeed, that's why I mostly just bum around and have fun at M:TG events. The costs of building a deck just how you like it are simply beyond my means right now. I had a friend try to get me into Hero Clix too, that's an even bigger pull on resources. The fact that after 2 generations, cards from previous sets become illegal in tourneys doesn't help either.
Although its not really competitive anymore, my blue/black pestering deck is still a blast to play
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Pokémon has it better in some ways and worse in others. It costs less (though that'll most likely change, now that a new archetype has appeared that involves a large amount of very rare cards), but it rotates more frequently, once per year. Right now, only sets from "Diamond and Pearl" (released 4/2007) and onward are allowed in tournaments.
The last official tournament I entered, on the flip side, has only four rare cards in them. I'd say it costs less than $15 buying each card individually.
Overhazard 3 years ago
There have been over 50 blocks released in M:TG, and what equates to the last 3 blocks are allowed in play (So I was wrong earlier, its 3, not 2). New blocks are released every 2-3 months as well so you are have to ditch parts of your deck every few months. There are plenty of rare cards too which doesn't help things either. I'd love to get back into M:TG with the intensity I once had, but being a perfectionist plus being poor, would equal me never really being satisfied with my deck.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Oh, so it's even worse. They get released that often? No wonder Magic decks cost so much. I wonder if Yu-Gi-Oh does anything comparable. Pokémon rotations never really happened until 2004.
There are presently six tournament-legal sets in Pokémon right now, by the way, not including promo cards, cards from "Trainer Kit" starter sets, and other peripheral bonus cards.
But thankfully, all of the most valuable cards are really old ones, like the Base Set Charizard.
Overhazard 3 years ago
I haven't ever touched Yu-Gi-Oh so I wouldn't know. M:TG is pretty brutal on ones pocket book to be sure.
One of the reasons is they don't want to take the effort to re-balance. Its easy to just toss the old out. Legacy Weapon (Destroy anything for one mana of each color) plus Crystal Quarry (5 of any kind of mana = one mana of each color) is a pretty sick combo. Throw in some of the handful of cards that let you search your deck for any cards you want and yeah...
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Heh, and there are still five different types of mana, correct? They haven't added any?
G&G is a very tough deck to beat. Gallade, for two Energy, brings any Pokémon to exactly 50 remaining HP. Gardevoir Lv. X, for two Energy, automatically KOs the Pokémon on the field with the lowest remaining HP. Every Pokémon in the G&G deck has 60 HP or more.
There have been cards designed to take on this deck, though nothing has succeeded in eroding its power yet. PUSA is afraid to ban cards.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Red(Fire), Blue(Water), Black(Death), White(Holy), and Green(Earth). By your powers combined I am M:TG! Oh, and colorless mana of course.
That does indeed sound fairly powerful to be sure. The makes of these card games must get nightmares when they try to balance things while releasing a new set.
While I think banning is a last resort, sometimes, its indeed necessary.
*Cough*metaknight*Cough*Funky/Flamebike*Cough*
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
So black mana IS death. I never played Magic myself, but I watched hundreds of matches intently in school, and I picked up all of the rules. Everyone I knew referred to mana types by color or by the Land card they're associated with.
The card designers probaby get more nightmares from people who think they can design cards more balanced than what these people come up with, only to turn everything "broken."
Sneasel and Slowking were banned in Pokémon's 2nd generation. They can ban these guys.
Overhazard 3 years ago
I had a fairly small group of friends I played with every day, it was a small class of about 6 people, me and 3 others played. The other and his girlfriend watched. I was usually the first eliminated because I was the most dangerous if left alive.
The word "Sequence Breaking" springs instantly to mind there. Metroid Prime 1. yowza.
They probably will if they keep dominating. The problem is the people who play these cards, claim they can be beaten, and yet never lose.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
There were about seven or eight people I knew who played. One guy was far better than the others. He's a card game natural. He was good enough to do well in tournaments, but he never took an interest in official play for prizes.
It's pretty clear the game designers don't want to ban Gardevoir and Gallade, as they didn't ban previously broken cards like Pidgeot (once per turn, search your deck for any 1 card and put it into your hand). They simply waited until its set was rotated out.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Just waiting for them to be phased out just seams lazy to me. But I'm also a heavy ally of equality. I like things to be totally balanced so everyone gets the same shot at success, regardless.
I'm also aware that its a total pipe dream and has absolutely no shot of ever happening. Just gota hope for the most balance they can achieve and keep playing.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
The competitive players with a business-like mentality will prevent that, unfortunately. Anything with the slightest advantage will be capitalized upon.
It's a good thing that the Pokémon card game has become more and more balanced as time goes on, though it's mostly done through raising the bar. (If you're curious, you can go to PokéBeach and compare Kabutops in "Fossil" to Kabutops in "Majestic Dawn." The latter has twice as much HP and attacks for more damage with less Energy.)
Overhazard 3 years ago
Indeed. I hate to bring it up, but when I think of "Breaking the game to benefit yourself". I can think of only one thing. Wave dashing. Love it or hate it, It was never intended to be.
Anything that can be used and abused will be. Its nice to see that it gets more balanced as it goes along though. Maybe I should pick my card game habits back up with that instead of M:TG. I wonder if my old favorite pokémon are even still around. Last pokémon game I played was Blue.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
There are Pokémon of all four generations represented in every set. Of course, with 493 species now, it might be difficult to find a working strategy with some of your favorites. (Omastar has become a sight in tournaments too, what with its ability to devolve Pokémon by simply coming into play.)
It's funny that though it's obvious wave dashing is a glitch and that Sakurai made it very clear he didn't want it in the game, people still insist it's legit and boycotted SSBB because of that.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Alakazam (Sp?) and Starmie (Sp?) were my favorites from the original 150. Nearly five hundred now huh? That's pretty impressive. I'd obviously have some homework to do if I decided to get back into that. I'd probably go with a theme deck though. They are always a hoot.
Holding onto whatever advantage you have to secure your win, that's the wave dashing mentality. I'm glad that there hasn't been anything to similar discovered in brawl, although people are certainly trying.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
What annoys me is that these people are shouting their hatred for Brawl because it's been much more playtested for glitches than its predecessors. You know what I think? I think finding glitches is simply a way for them to feel that they're better than casual players by distinguishing themselves from normal people.
I'd go into another card game, but I only have the money for one...
As for Alakazam, a lawsuit prevents Kadabra from appearing in the card game. A legal Alakazam exists though.
Overhazard 3 years ago
That's basically the case unfortunately. Its more about distancing themselves from casual players than it is "advancing the meta-game". Most of the AT's (Advanced Techniques) aren't even that advanced. They just simply look cool and are basically designed to try to intimidate your opponent.
Card games are indeed expensive, and I'm not exactly rolling in dough either.
A lawsuit huh? Someone have the term "Kadabra" copyrighted or something? That's pretty messed up.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Unfortunately, there have been a few Brawl AT's that seam to help some characters a lot more than they should.
"Snake Dashing" - Ever see a snake slide across an entire stage while launching a mortar? Take into consideration that this protects Snake while he is sliding.
Glide Tossing - This turns Diddy into an absolute little demon, he can "dribble" his bananas and chain them into so many different moves. Once you get caught in the bananas, its basically over.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
One that I noticed was Lucas getting an extra third jump by pressing the jump button at the same time as he launches a mid-air PK Fire. It allows Lucas to go so far up that he can take off from the ground in Final Destination and KO himself through the upper boundary.
I've seen some of the glitches patched though.
What happened with Kadabra is that Israeli magician Uri Geller filed a lawsuit with Nintendo saying they copied his likeness, spoon-bending, and name (in the Japanese version).
Overhazard 3 years ago
This case has yet to be settled, and while this is hapening, an unusual consequence is that Kadabra can appear in the video games and TV show but not the card game. Instead, Abra from the "Mysterious Treasures" set (the most recent one) evolves straight into Alakazam, and the Alakazam before this was a Basic Pokémon that didn't evolve from anything.
Nevermind the fact that Wobbuffet, a 2nd-generation Pokémon, is themed on a Japanese stand-up comedian, imitating his catchphrases and poses.
Overhazard 3 years ago
The timing on that super jump is quite hard. I play around with it from time to time but It really, really hard to pull off with any reliability.
Which ones have you seen patched? I had heard that there have been "hidden" brawl patches but I have no idea what they actually did.
That lawsuit business just sounds appalling. It's so easy to bring lawsuits over the smallest things anymore. If anyone thinks they can squeeze a nickle out of someone, its lawsuit time. Sue first, ask questions later
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Earthbound (The game Ness is from, fantastic game) is kinda in limbo because of similar reasons.
Earthbound parodied a -lot- of things, and the main reason its not out on the virtual console are because of potential copyright issues. Well that and NoA hates the earthbound series.
One of the most notable ones are the Tonzura Brothers, who are basically a total rip of the Blues Brothers (Renamed into the Runaway Five for America).
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
The Parody Clause is a powerful law in the States; Nintendo can easily defend anything in a Mother game based on this. I've yet to hear about a lawsuit over EarthBound; NoA's lack of attention to it, I'll bet, is more that EarthBound was a failure in North America.
EarthBound recently got re-rated by the ESRB from "K-A" to "E," however, meaning Nintendo is planning on something with EarthBound.
This is the company that successfully defended itself from Universal Studios over the "Kong" name...
Overhazard 3 years ago
As for patches, the most noticeable one relates the the time needed to find other players online; I also heard about Snake and Peach getting tweaked. I don't know how noticeable they are though.
What makes Uri Geller hypocritical, of course, is that Wobbuffet parodies the comedian Sanpei Hayashiya much more directly than Kadabra parodies Geller, yet Hayashiya never rose up to complain. He enjoyed the flattery.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Youtube has eaten about 7 of my reply attempts, I must be saying something it doesn't like. Probably the URL.
The Parody Laws are indeed strong in the US. However, the question is, are they strong in Europe and Japan? They are the only places that have a shot of Earthbound being released on their VC's.
I don't know if you frequent starmen(dot)net, but they know some high ups in NoA. It was basically confirmed that NoA has disliked the Mother series ever since its poor state-side SNES showing.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Ha, yup, it was the URL. How about a warning or something next time 'tube?
I believe it was revealed that the ESRB was either an attempt to get the demo put in brawl, or something else that I can't remember.
But anything Mother related, if NoA can slap a veto on it, it will. Disappointing to be sure, as I'm sure it would do well on the VC. My Earthbound Cartridge isn't in the best of shape either.
Speaking of the VC, Europe got Super Mario RPG last week. Hope we get it soon.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Nintendo, a legal powerhouse in the past, but laws and courts change. Its way to easy to win even the most frivolous of cases in today's world.
I'd love to know the exacts of the Peach/Snake tweak. I just hope they decide to tweak Meta too, he certainly needs it.
I have noticed that it's easier to find people online as well. It's good to see Nintendo patching, just wish they announced it.
You know what they say, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". Just wish Geller saw it that way.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
YouTube doesn't accept any comments with any sort of URLs. It doesn't even accept anything with three w's in a row.
I don't know how strong Japanese (or Israeli) parody laws are, but the Japanese simply don't take imitation as seriously as Americans.
What's odd is that many people have requested Mother 3 or EarthBound on the VC. The dislike has grown into unawareness since though. Apparently, when they DO make a response, they say they never gave much thought to the Mother series.
Overhazard 3 years ago
I'm fairly new to commenting so I did not know this, thanks for the heads up.
It's nice to see at least one culture can have fun without worrying about as many law suits as we get here.
the staff at NoA seams to support the Mother series. The problem is that the higher ups just see it as a waste of time and money. Its really gotten a cult following since the first Smash showed Ness off to a world that had perhaps forgotten him.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Fire Emblem was denied entry into America for the same reason as EarthBound until Melee came out--because Japanese RPGs never took off outside of Japan until Final Fantasy VII. They were (and still are) linear, story-oriented, emphasize cooperation over competition, and has lots of puzzles, in stark contrast to American RPGs where you asseble a character and send him/her off to fight lots of monsters. Lucas already has a profound impact on American gaming culture; I hope for the best for him.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Indeed. I always wanted more games like Earthbound, FF2, and FF3 (FF4 and 6 now). Thanks to the internet, and places like DeJap. I got to play some old Japanese SNES rpgs in English. While I'm normally against piracy, I do so only when there is a translation patch, or it was never released in America (Terranigma, great game, EU only)
Mother 3 is actually being translated by starmen(dot)net. They are only about 2 or 3 months away from a release. I can't wait to give it a spin when its done.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
I know about that project at Starmen too; I used to frequent that place a lot (despite never having played a Mother game, as I never had a Super Nintendo).
Nintendo of America should know that people will definitely appreciate an English-language version of Mother 3, even if they just do a small limited-release thing like what they did with Dr. Mario 64.
Also, the ESRB rating of EarthBound took place long after SSBB was released in America. That means Nintendo plans for something else with it.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Tomato is my hero for all he is doing. $40,000 dollars worth of his time for free for all of us Mother 3 fans, and he still isn't done yet. That's commitment right there.
I wouldn't care what system it was for, I'd pick up any system out there right now just for the Mother series. I hold it in that high a regard. Giygas is also the scariest RPG boss I've ever seen.
I really, really hope so. I decided long ago that It would be my first VC purchase (Or if it comes out for the DS or something).
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
It takes almost no money for Nintendo to put one of its own games on the Virtual Console. That's the most likely thing, I'd bet; even if only ten people download it, Nintendo will still profit from it. I mean, they put StarTropics on the Virtual Console! That Nintendo game is so forgotten, it's the only franchise belonging to Nintendo that's never appeared in a Smash Bros. game in any way.
Mother 3 would be less likely due to the translation, but the EarthBound English text is right there.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Star Tropics and Star Tropics 2 were pretty good games for their time too. and I'm sure it wouldn't take much for a return profit. But the problem seams deeper than that, I get the impression the (American) higher ups are bitter at the fact that it could reach cult status on its own after they pumped so much money into marketing its SNES release. I do hope I'm wrong, but that's just the vibe i get from what I've read in the starmen forums. I really, really hope I am wrong however.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
So do you suppose it's just a personal thing on Nintendo of America's top people that the Mother series has gotten no attention? You may be right, considering that Super Smash Bros. took quite a bit of talking to get made over here, which is the first time many Americans were exposed to Ness. A lot of people wondered who he was (including myself).
By the way, at the same time EarthBound got that ESRB rating, I believe that Mother got the "E" as well and was to be called "EarthBound Zero."
Overhazard 3 years ago
I believe that's the case, and only the case in NoA. Each of the three gets a vote in things it seams. NoJ loves Itoh and his Mother series. NoE is neutral to the whole thing. NoA (The bitter executives rather) would take no greater delight than to see Mother buried, and thus vetoes anything Mother related.
I remember begging my parents to take me to the store the day Earthbound came out. Memories eh?
Earthbound Zero has a whole story behind it, check it out on starmen, interesting read.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Many things get cult status on their own with lots of advertisement, though int he case of EarthBound, I think the marketing backfired upon itself. The tagline, "This game stinks" and that it comes with an air freshener probably scared a lot of epople from buying the game. It's surprising how many people take things literally and lack a sense of humor. I suppose that's why Americans are so litigious.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Haha, I wish I still had the scratch and sniff cards that came in the back of the players guide that was included with the game. oh and the Mach Pizza Air Freshener, that thing was cool too.
Indeed, many people close to Earthbound seam to think that catchphrase is what killed its SNES launch. Its marketing certainly hit me though, I was infatuated with it months before launch. My subscription to Nintendo Power didn't hurt either, I read the articles on EB countless, countless times.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Paper Mario went through the same routine as EathBound, by the way: Poor seller but with a strong cult status, and like EarthBound, copies of Paper Mario sold at insane prices untul it came out on the VC. By then, Nintendo was confident enough to sequelize it. The reason it failed, though, was because people were turning to the PS2 and forgetting about the N64.
Taglines are normally generic and dull because they're easily understood. Barq's Root Beer's tagline is simply, "It's good."
Overhazard 3 years ago
Paper Mario was really good as well. another game I got at its launch date. While I will always be a Nintendo fan first and foremost, I did not regret getting my PS2 either. I was worried about Nintendo's future during the GCN days. Quite glad I don't have to worry anymore.
Speaking of cult RPGs, Ever played Skies of Arcadia? That's my favorite RPG outside of the Mother series. The atmosphere and story were just simply awe inspiring. Amazing game.
Dull and uninspired, it gets us customers!
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
The lowest common denominator, of course. The closer you get to it, the more money you'll make. That's why Death Note failed to catch on in the States: Compared to the other shows on Adult Swim, it was far more intellectual and went way over most people's heads.
I'm too poor to get more than one system per generation though, Maybe I'll be able to afford more once I can start making money after college graduation this December.
I'm familiar with Arcadia, but I've never played it.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Death Note was an amazing Anime too. L had a great personality to him, and Light was one of those people you loved to hate. Both were as smart as the day is long too.
I got lucky with that ps2. A buddy wanted to get rid of his and I picked it up for 50 bucks. No way I could have afforded it otherwise. No place here is hiring so I'm not well off there either.
the whole concept of flying ships and air pirates exploring the unknown. No other game has yet to capture that feeling of exploration.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Considering Death Note is on the same programming block as Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job, Shin-chan, and Squidbillies, I think the folks knew it would fail. Paranoia Agent failed, and Ghost in the Shell barely broke even. Regardless of my opinions of these shows (or yours), it's clear people go into Adult Swim with a certain expectation, and Death Note didn't meet it.
I could swear there's another major video game series that deals with air pirates with steampunk airships.
Overhazard 3 years ago
More shows that I loved. Little Slugger (before the final 2-3 episodes) was cool for being a serial killer (Last few eps kinda Silent Hilled the whole thing however, still really good).
I hope that new Anime, Moribito, does well. I really enjoyed the first episode.
I just hope they don't decide to get rid of Anime completely... at least bleach does well
You may be thinking of The Longest Journey, or Dreamfall? I know they had a steampunk race in them. At least I think they do.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
I'm wandering around the Adult Swim boards looking for possible reasons why it didn't do so well, so those are only my theories. There's a noticeable pattern that slower, more thought-provoking shows get low ratings whereas the more strictly shonen the show, the better it does. (Not that I don't like those shows...this is probably Hunter X Hunter's big chance at getting noticed.)
Balsa looks a lot like Major Kusanagi...a LOT like her. There's also a random Joshua Seth voice. It's weird.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Good theories none the less, and they certainly seam to hold true. As of some of my more delinquent "mates" can be prove.
I happen to enjoy most of AS's programming too, from the zany stuff for a good quick laugh, to the thought provoking Ghost in The Shell or Death Note.
I've never heard of Hunter x Hunter however. It must be pretty good to have been brought up, that or it just really fits adult swim's more comedy based line up
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Are you familiar with Yu Yu Hakusho? The creator worked on HxH immediately afterward. It's a pretty straight-up shonen, but it's done very well. It's got high acclaim...from the few who bothered to check it out. It's quite intelligent too; it has the most intricate superpower system I've ever seen, with checks and balances, and one villain gets by through making correct conclusions from few clues. It gets disturbing late into the series, however.
By the way, that Balsa thing was about Moribito.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Yu Yu Hakusho. Now talk about something that could do well on adult swim. I really enjoyed Yu Yu Hakusho, at least, what I saw of it. HxH sounds utterly amazing then from what you have said. I need to check that out.
Yeah, Balsa is the awesome heroine with the spear. It's always nice to see a heroine who (hopefully) isn't a sex symbol. Reminds me of how disappointed I am with the "Enhancements" made to ZSS. Female Heroes can be clothed/not supermodels and still be cool people.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Adult Swim is advertising Moribito on sex appeal, it looks like. At least on their website. Of course, someone with a rack like that can only come from a cartoon. I like what I'm seeing, except that Balsa seems to be pretty perfect to begin with. I have to wonder where there's room for her character to grow.
HxH is weird. It follows shonen tropes: Powerful adolescents with spiky hair, progressively stronger villains, a quest through many lands, and flying balls of energy...
Overhazard 3 years ago
Yet Yoshihiro Togashi manages to mantain unpredictability. There's stuff like an argument about whether an item is fake or not with an intensity greater than many fights, villains not killed outright continue to make their presense known, and this is VERY violent among Shonen Jump series. The body count for HxH may very well be higher than Death Note's.
(I'm plugging this, but it needs more attention in any way it can.)
Overhazard 3 years ago
They are? Well that's disappointing. I know she has a super model body, but at least here is to hoping that she turns out to be a good heroine (Samus quality I hope). Considering its from the same minds (or at least was advertised) that brought us Ghost in The Shell. I'm sure they will find plenty to grow her character.
Considering I am a fan of action, that sounds pretty awesome. The item argument bit sounds incredible too. How did I miss something that sounds this good? I feel gyped D=.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
I know Moribito comes from Production I.G., and I'll be there's the same character designer. Of course, Major Kusanagi also seemed flawless at the beginning, but she developed flaws created by some of her tougher foes.
I like how when the villains in HxH aren't killed, the series shows what they continue to do after their defeat. The powers they come up with are pretty neat too, like the most lethal vacuum cleaner ever (though it's mostly used to suck up corpses or hide evidence of murders).
Overhazard 3 years ago
And a great character she is too. I've always enjoyed Anime set in the future rather than the past. Not to say I don't like Anime set in the past, I just tend to be easier to futuristic Anime. I'm a pretty big fan of Outlaw star and Cowboy Bebop too.
That does sound really interesting. Besides 5 second snippets, you never see anything besides the main characters/active villains in most Animes. That power also sounds awesome. With powers like that, anything could be turned deadly.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Moribito annoyed me a bit by being so hyper-Japanese; I'm sure Japanese people could relate to it better, but one thing I noticed about shows that take place in the past is that I usually enjoy them better when they're not very serious, like Samurai Champloo.
One of my favorite HxH powers is a perfect demonstration of the checks and balances system in how incredibly complex it is. You see, by purposely putting inhibitions or weaknesses in your powers, you can increase their potency greatly.
Overhazard 3 years ago
That's because the powers come from normally unnoticed-life force (called "nen"), and inhibitions and weaknesses promote the drive to succeed.
One character late into the series has one power where he plants his nen into people, which manifest as internal bombs. It's called Countdown, as its victims can see a timer that counts down from 5000 and goes down by 1 for each heartbeat (so that nervous people die faster). To activate the bomb, he must explain all its rules to his victims and how to...
Overhazard 3 years ago
...defuse it, which is by physical contact with him and saying, "I caught the bomber." While it gives away what he's trying to do, he's also remarkably adept at avoiding capture, since his other power, Little Flower, is designed to ward off pursuers: He concentrates his nen into his hands, half of it as an explosive that detonates upon contact with anything, and the other half as protective armor so he doesn't blow off his own hand. His killing power is absolutely massive.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Hyper-Japanese has never really bugged me. Probably because I'm a bit of an Otaku and generally enjoy the Japanese culture. Samurai Champloo was pretty cool. Gene (I think that was his name, the guy with the glasses) was awesome.
HxH sounds amazing. The more I hear about it from you; The more I can't believe that I haven't heard about it before. Looks like I have another Manga that I need to start collecting. Viz media seams to have already pumped out 21 volumes too.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Looking for HxH, I hopped over to one of the sites I use to sate my appetite for manga until I can afford the books. They didn't have it all but they had about the last 50-60 chapters and I just got finished reading them (Chimera Ant Arc). I must say I like what I see thus far.
While the Chimera Ant's are good enemies, I find myself hating them, much like you should with any good villain (Outside the few charismatic ones, like Light). Their design is also creepy. I must say I approve.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Interesting you were able to read the Chimera Ant arc, since it was so disturbing that readership went down past Volume 19. I would've recommended the York New City arc (the one with the Spiders, a group of assassins, and their dealings with the Mafia) or the Greed Island arc, a lethal MMORPG, that demonstrate the workings of Hunter x Hunter the best.
I don't know why it never caught on in the States. My guess is that, like Death Note, it went over most people's heads.
Overhazard 3 years ago
I saw the Greed Island description in Wikipedia when I went to look up HxH info. I definitely wanted to see it, but the site I used didn't go back that far. I'll just have to get the manga for that, but hey, I was going to do that anyways.
I've seen enough of the internet (Unfortunately) to have that Arc be quite low on my list of disturbing things I've seen. Above and beyond that, I'm really easy going, so its hard to disrupt my flow.
With the anime being release soon, maybe AS will grab it.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Well, there's only been a confirmation that Viz Media will handle Hunter x Hunter, and the first thing they did was ask various TV channels if they're interested in it. The safest bet is Adult Swim.
Interesting that you'd say that you weren't very disturbed by the Chimera Ants; I thought I was weird for being able to take it in stride. The rest of the manga is pretty gruesome too; this is one of those anime adaptations that actually tones down the violence.
Overhazard 3 years ago
I could really see HxH fitting into the AS line-up. I could honestly say the same thing about a few other Anime I like, including Yu Yu Hakusho. I mean, Bleach is well received, so I wouldn't see why this wouldn't catch on either.
Oh don't think that I'm some sort of majority in that matter. Our weirdness remains intact, as i'm the only one amongst my mates who would take it in stride. We definitely seam to be in the minority there. I can believe it, as fairly rare as that occurs.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Hunter x Hunter is an oddly poor seller among manga; lack of awareness is probably the reason for it. That, and people see the cutesy character designs and think it's a children's manga or something. Then, people actually open a book to see massive amounts of severed limbs, exploding heads (complete with splattering eyeballs and ocular nerves), and streets full of dead bodies.
I don't even know how the anime will handle the Chimera Ant arc. Genocide is such a big part of the story.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Haha, very true. It could also be that it is drawn in a fairly "dirty" or "rough" style. I've run into anime/manga snobs who would think that HxH looks like chicken scratch and isn't worth their time. Doesn't matter how good the story or action is.
You can get around things like that if your crafty. Take a look at Tomato's "Mother to Earthbound and Back" page. It was quite a bit more raw before the translation. The translation team did a great job of retaining the majority of the message.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Nah, that's Yoshihiro Togashi being lazy. The beginning of the series was actually really clean-looking and very detailed. Then, Togashi started taking his infamous "breaks." The second-most recent one was 14 months long, and once he got back, he drew just enough to finish Volume 24 and went on another break. What's odd is that the breaks concide with releases of major RPGs.
I can't seem to find that article on Starmen. I would've liked to check it out.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Haha. I'm sure he thinks of he breaks must be "Time to catch up on my RPG gaming". Not unlike myself. I've spent a good 300 hours in Tales of Symphonia. Zelos is just an absolutely awesome character.
Even in the last issue I saw, it still looked pretty good to me. But I like that dirty look. To me it gives the art more character than something straight out of a CG'd anime would.
tomato(dot)fobby(dot)net/m2eb/ < Thats the URL for the page I talked about.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
These breaks have made his fans and his publisher angry at him though. The only reason he still has his job is because he gathered a huge following in Japan through Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter (the latter of which IS a huge success in Japan), and firing him will lose Shueisha (the publisher) a lot of money.
Interesting site. I've known about many of the changes in translation for this though. All translation jobs have strange and unexplanable things though.
Overhazard 3 years ago
I can see why, 14 months is a quite long for a hiatus. I guess you could say that you can't rush creativity and genius. but year and 2 months is still a bit much, yeesh.
The one that caught me most off guard was the "Punk-Sure"! bike store one. I had never given that a second though, let alone equate it to puncture. Japanese word jokes along those lines must either be absolutly hilarious, or as bad and overused as bad puns.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Man, you take a 14 month hiatus from just about anything else and you are so fired that its not even funny. I guess creativity and genius take time, but a year and a sixth is taking things a bit far.
The one that caught me most off guard was the "Punk-Sure"! bike shop. I had never it's reference to the word puncture before I read it on that page. Japanese word puns like this must be absolutely hilarious. Well, that or so bad that you want to groan and shake you head.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Togashi claimed that he had suffered an illness that prevented him from writing, though it's pretty clear he's just faking it considering how much lazier he got with everything he did--his drawing, his convention attendance, everythin.
Japanese puns are downright abundant. It makes shows like Excel Saga a nightmare to translate. I guess the Japanese must love puns or something, or at least they don't have the negative stigma they have in western countries.
Overhazard 3 years ago
He could claim he was abducted by aliens too, and it would be about as believable. For being lazy however, HxH was still drawn a lot better than some manga I have read. I just hope he still enjoys the process of writing/drawing.
I always laugh when I groan at English puns. As bad as they can be, I always get a chuckle out of them, maybe Japanese people share a similar disposition with regards to said puns. One of my mates is in love with Excel Saga. It's one of her favorite Animes.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
I think he just wants to retire at this point...If he does, he could just announce it. I think he's made enough money to live off of it the rest of his life, and he'd be honest with himself.
Part of the charm of Wallace & Gromit, of course, is the relentless speed that they throw puns at you. The Curse of the Were-Rabbit was REALLY rapid-fire.
Overhazard 3 years ago
Indeed. I would just hope that he closes the story with and ending first. If he was to retire that is. One of my favorite T.V. shows, Red Dwarf (A British sci-fi comedy) ended on an absolutely gigantic cliff hanger. What's worse is that its been trying, for years, to get its movie off the ground, with no continuation of the series planned until the movie is done.
It was like a Gatling gun of puns. I couldn't help but grin and snicker as I groaned through them.
FinalDamnation 3 years ago
Samurai Jack has been in that situation too. As Douglas Adams said, "Trying to get a movie through in Hollywood is like trying to cook a steak by having a succession of people breathe on it."
You have to go through so many people, and once they change ranks, move to another studio, or otherwise are no longer in that spot, you have to start all over again with new people, who don't give a rat's butt about your idea because they're also there to pitch their own ideas. Speed Racer took 17 years.
Overhazard 3 years ago