Dcubed

https://www.installbaseforum.com/threads/media-create-sales-week-4-2024-jan-22-jan-28.2362/post-228583 https://www.businesstoday.com.tw/article/category/183015/post/202401240002/

... was thinking exactly the same thing. In which case, a Partner Direct would actually be more exciting than a standard February Direct in this one exceptional case

Now that we've more or less reached the 1 year anniversary of the US launch of the N64. I think we can get a decent picture of how dire the post-launch software drought really was. A grand total of four non-sports/non-Mahjong Japanese developed 3rd party games for the console across the span of an entire year. Four. And of those four, the first one took an entire 5 months to come out after the Japanese launch (and remained Japan only). Tetrisphere is a fine enough puzzle game, but it ended up coming across as underwhelming at its release because the console was running on absolute fumes at this point, and people were desperate for a meaty, good quality action or RPG title. Unfair expectations, true, but expectations nonetheless. It's a decent puzzle game, but it was the wrong game at the wrong time for the console.

All the hubub about Xbox being about to pull a SEGA has got me feeling sentimental about the ol' Dreamcast once more... I still stand by what I said in this thread earlier about SEGA's last console. What a machine that machine was! I'll never forget just how much of a gut punch the news of its discontinuation was; it was a console that really should've been a runaway success. But much like the Xbox Series, it had to pay a dear price for the sins of its fathers... Me thinks it's time to fire up the ol' dog over the coming week...

N64 is all caught up now, GBA only has F-Zero Maximum Velocity left to go out of the previously announced games. They seemed to stop following their specified order of releases a good few months back though, so they’re just releasing whatever they feel like at this point really.

@Julius I quite like the idea of having a built-in Intermission. Probably would get frowned upon for being pretentious, but it’s a neat concept that I’m surprised that nobody has done before in a story-driven game like this. Could be effective if the game forced the player to take a break; maybe even lock out the player from playing for at least 24 hours to force them to reflect on what’s happening. I’m sure it’d be viewed with outrage online (HOW DARE THEY TELL ME HOW TO PLAY THE GAME I PAID FOR!!!), but I think a game like TLOU could well benefit from such a move when it comes to pacing

This is why Stereoscopic 3D should be the standard. So many games just inherently benefit from the tech in subtle ways that make games just better to play.

Looks like the February Direct is happening next week… https://www.resetera.com/threads/universo-nintendo-new-nintendo-direct-next-week-between-february-12th-and-15th.813381/ … around the same time as when Xbox are announcing their exit from the console hardware business and their move to becoming a 3rd party publisher…

https://www.resetera.com/threads/universo-nintendo-new-nintendo-direct-next-week-between-february-12th-and-15th.813381/ Aaaaaaannnddd it looks like the February Nintendo Direct will be happening at around the same time as well… … this can’t be a coincidence.

Oh shit, it’s real… It’s Dreamcast all over again! Fucking hell, I can’t believe they’re just straight up giving up on consoles so suddenly! I thought this would be a slow transition over the next decade, not literally overnight! We’re about to witness history here.

Within the traditional console sector? I seriously doubt that… The barrier to entry is way too high now for anyone to really come in and have a realistic chance of mainstream success. AAA games and console hardware is just too big, too complicated and too expensive for anyone new to join now. You could easily spend over $100 Billion and still fail to even get a foot in the door, let alone carve a decent slice of the market. This isn’t the 90s or even early 2000s anymore. The console market is locked off to new competitors now. When even the literal richest company in the world, with almost 25 years of console manufacturing experience can’t hack it? What makes you think that anyone else stands a chance? Now, competition in other fiefdoms? Like low-end streaming/mobile devices? Or handhelds? Not impossible. But a genuine PlayStation competitor? Impossible.

The industry dynamics are really going to change quite dramatically if Xbox gives up being a console manufacturer, because each industry player will essentially be competing in their own distinct bubble. Sony will have the traditional AAA console market on total lockdown. Nintendo will be competing alone in the handheld/hybrid space alongside the burgeoning portable PC market. Valve have a mostly uncontested dominance in the PC space. Apple & Google maintain an oligopoly in the mobile sector. There will be very little crossover between competitors going forward. It’ll be as if the industry is largely siloed off into little fiefdoms.

It would be the single biggest industry shift since the death of the Dreamcast in 2001 (or at least since the introduction of the Apple App Store in 2008). And while I wouldn’t be nearly as sad to see MS go as I was SEGA? I’d be a lot more frightened of the consequences this time around as it leaves Sony with what is essentially an uncontested monopoly in the traditional console space. Oh how ironic that the UK government tried to block the ABK acquisition on grounds of giving Microsoft a monopoly when the exact opposite is about to happen!

Oh wow! Mahjong Drifters Chronicles Classic actually sounds legit cool! I didn't think we'd see a Mahjong game that I'd actually be interested in playing, but I think you've gone and found one! I'd defo play that if it were available in English The "cheaters" mode reminds me of the "Spot The Sneak" mode in Wii Party/Wii Party U; where one player is given an unfair advantage and has to play the games without making it obvious that they're cheating. It's a great mechanic there that I'm surprised hasn't been replicated in many other games, but I guess MDCC came up with a similar idea well over a decade in advance!

Just started my playthrough (playing the PC version on Steam Deck docked onto my TV) and I’ve just finished the 3rd zone. What a lovely little game this is so far! The physics are spot on (obviously copied basically 1:1 from Sonic Mania, which is exactly what I wanted), the level design is great so far (plenty of new mechanics, well hidden secrets, good structure and pacing with faster paths as rewards for good play), the new emerald gimmicks are well implemented; even the much maligned bosses have all been fun and enjoyable, with some cool gimmicks that haven’t outstayed their welcome yet (though I can see future bosses likely suffering from a bit of Kirby 64 syndrome, where they spend too much time invulnerable in the background). The bonus/special stages are also great! And I can definitely see myself going back for all of the medals too. Really, I have nothing to complain about. It’s all great so far! I hear that the multiplayer battle mode is a bit pants, but that’s just a sideshow to the main game anyway. This is brill! Easily Arzest’s best game to date, feels like they’ve truly come home! Edit: Ok, if there is one thing to complain about, it’s that the music is a bit hit & miss. Some of it is really great, while other tracks are just ok.

BTW. We figured out what was going on with my wired GCN controller… turns out that it wasn’t the G-Bros adapter’s fault; it was the c-stick. Turns out that the c-stick on my wired Smash GCN controller was knackered (I blame @Glen-i for being too rough with it ) and was starting to drift like mad; and because I have tilt attacks mapped to the c-stick, it was causing my controls to freak out while we were playing (BTW, I normally play with one of my many Wavebirds, but since I need to play in handheld mode during Smash nights? I have to use the wired controller with a G-Bros adapter as there’s no other way of using a GCN controller in handheld mode). Luckily though, I just so happened to have a spare old busted GCN controller in my box of crap that I could salvage for parts. So, armed with my trust soldering iron and some reckless courage… All fixed! All working perfectly now

So… this is basically the end of Xbox as a console manufacturer? Not much point in continuing to make consoles if you’re not going to have exclusive games. It’s just a big money pit that they don’t need if they’re going to transition into being a hardware agnostic 3rd party publisher.

Wait? Really? The scoring system is completely gone? Is there not even a best time saved? That’s a huge blow if so; aiming for high scores was one of the best parts of the original game!

Haven’t played this one myself, but I don’t think that arcade style rally games were all that common on the N64… (certainly there were plenty of Simulation style rally games… probably too many), so this would still be fairly novel within the N64 library; especially at the time of its release in 1997. The problem is that SEGA Rally already existed, and had already been available on the Saturn for well over a year by this point. Meanwhile, the later Top Gear Rally games would end up blowing this game out of the water.

I wonder if there's a chance that they might be able to retro-fit the Classic Sonic physics from Sonic Superstars into this port? Because Sonic Generations plays like complete shite in comparison to Mania/Superstars... That would actually make this a very worthwhile purchase if they could pull it off!

To be fair, much of Yoshi’s Story’s lukewarm reception also stemmed from it being a very unconventional score-attack game that bore little resemblance to the original Yoshi’s Island (and from being “beatable” in just over an hour). But yeah, 2D sprite games largely got a bum deal when it came to critical reception on both the N64 and PS1 (less-so on Saturn; but that console and its media had a much more hardcore/niche appeal anyway). Just for the record, Silhouette Mirage (the Japanese version at least) is better than Guardian Heroes @Hero-of-Time

So am I! I missed it when it first came out and was always expecting to come to the VC at some point, but it just never did. Should just pick up an N64 cart at some point, it’s not even all that expensive. I’m just being lazy at this point

This one’s still on my bucket list. Ridiculous that it has still never been re-released (I know that S-E generally don’t give a shit about Enix’s legacy catalogue in general, but come on!). Put this on Switch NSO already you bastards!

They finally learned how to use drones to deliver packages. Neat.

So it's literally Not Metal Gear. Gotcha. See you in 2032 on PS6 Pro.