Game Console Showdown

[Kuroimaken]

Okay, I might amuse myself a bit and buy Wii by the end of the year, but I wonder if it is worth it. So what's your experience? I am a hardcore Nintendo fan, I still own two NES consoles, a SNES and 64, but never got a GameCube. So should I or should I not?

If RPGs are your thing, then the Wii is probably not for you.

Japanese RPGs - a dying genre.

I don't agree with you there, PI. JRPG production is booming more than ever in Japan, they just don't get out half as much as you might expect.

[Tshern]

SNES titles I am very, very low on since I sold most of my games at one point to get money for my computer and you know 20 year old electronics, they are not too reliable. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons of getting Wii rather than PS3 is access to the old, nostalgic games I played when I was a kid. I saw they had some nice old Sega Megadrive games like Sonic on Wii too, which makes me a happy man.

So what I am a looking at is Guitar Hero (for party playing, I personally suck at it), the nostalgic games, the newer Marios (Mario Kart included) and if the selection is good, I might try some new games as well. Worth it for a guy like me?

Kuroimaken: What do you mean? While I am not that into Zelda and Final Fantasy, you'd think there are other games for it too. Please elaborate.

[ninjarabbit]

Okay, I might amuse myself a bit and buy Wii by the end of the year, but I wonder if it is worth it. So what's your experience? I am a hardcore Nintendo fan, I still own two NES consoles, a SNES and 64, but never got a GameCube. So should I or should I not?

The Wii will be a double treat for you if you've never owned a Gamecube since the Wii has 100% backwards compatability with Gamecube games.

[Tshern]

No kidding? That'd be nice since my friend owns a good chunk of GC games and I know a few shops that sell used ones at an affordable price.

[Risada]

I don't agree with you there, PI. JRPG production is booming more than ever in Japan, they just don't get out half as much as you might expect.

+1. Atlus is going to publish 2 JPRGS this year (Persona 4 is already out, and there's Raidou Kuzunoha vs Abaddon King till the end of the year).

.....I'm suspected to talk, since I was a FF fanboy and in less than a year I suddenly become an Atlus fanboy...

There's also some NIS games worth mentioning (Ar Tonelico)...

EDIT: but them all are for PS2....

[Kuroimaken]

+1. Atlus is going to publish 2 JPRGS this year (Persona 4 is already out, and there's Raidou Kuzunoha vs Abaddon King till the end of the year).

.....I'm suspected to talk, since I was a FF fanboy and in less than a year I suddenly become an Atlus fanboy...

There's also some NIS games worth mentioning (Ar Tonelico)...

EDIT: but them all are for PS2....

Which theoretically wouldn't be a problem if Sony wasn't such a smartass.

Kuroimaken: What do you mean? While I am not that into Zelda and Final Fantasy, you'd think there are other games for it too. Please elaborate.

A good deal of the publishers that work on RPGs simply doesn't work with Nintendo. Not sure on Bandai/Namco (responsible for the Tales series), but I know for a fact Nippon Ichi isn't in their happy list. Square-Enix is like the Mother Harlot of game publishing, so as long as there's money in it for them, they'll do him/her/it.

Atlus is a bit of an enigma in that regard, but judging from their current investment on the PS3, I doubt they'd release stuff for the Wii as well. I just don't think the Wii is a console for hardcore gamers (or at least hardcore RPG fans).

[PhoenixInferno]

If they don't come over to the states, then all the JRPGs they make and release in Japan don't mean jack to me.  The only one of those 3 I've heard of is Persona.

[X-Codes]

NIS makes the Disgaea franchise, which is arguably their only quality title left simply because of the absurd metagaming humor in it.

The fact is, JRPGs ARE a dying breed because they're ho-hum.  There's no innovation, no creativity, no genuine quality.  The JRPG industry is booming in Japan because Japan has dozens of JRPG factories pumping out several metric tons of the manure every year.  None of these games ever come state-side because they know we'll see them for the shit it is and not bother with it.  We're too busy plaing Mass Effect, Oblivion, Diablo, Diablo knock-offs, Diablo knock-off knock-offs, the newest D&D-based RPG (which is almost always crap).

I wasn't talking about JRPGs when I was referring to 360 RPG titles, Phoenix.  I'm pretty much disdainful of any JRPG released this millennium.  To be completely honest, I'm pretty disdainful of a lot of other RPGs, too.  It's hard to go back to some of the crap of the west as well after you get into the kind of depth that old-school RPGs had.

[Kuroimaken]

NIS makes the Disgaea franchise, which is arguably their only quality title left simply because of the absurd metagaming humor in it.

They've also been publishing several titles by Gust, including the Atelier Iris series, which is plain awesome.

[ninjarabbit]

EGM had an article a few months back about the sad state of current Japanese developers and I kinda have to agree. With the exceptions of Nintendo, Konami, and Capcom there really hasn't been a whole lot coming out of Japan that's really been worthwhile.

JRPGs for example have been pretty stale for the last 15 years or so with the only differences being prettier graphics and more voicework. By comparison Western RPGs have been much more dynamic and interesting.

[Kuroimaken]

I have to disagree. Though, granted, there aren't really that many titles nowadays that can get very close to classics such as Final Fantasy VI or Romancing Saga, they're not in such a rut IMO. Or maybe I just haven't played that many Western RPGs, but I haven't heard of many great ones either.

[Bozwevial]

I quite liked TWEWY.

[PhoenixInferno]

I have to disagree. Though, granted, there aren't really that many titles nowadays that can get very close to classics such as Final Fantasy VI or Romancing Saga, they're not in such a rut IMO. Or maybe I just haven't played that many Western RPGs, but I haven't heard of many great ones either.

Then you are being willfully ignorant.

[Kuroimaken]

Then you are being willfully ignorant.

In which case, pointing it out further is a fruitless endeavor and I'll only learn when the truth really hits me on the face.

Or maybe not, who knows? Far as I know there's a pretty nice number of releases going off still, so that works for me.

I quite liked TWEWY.

I'm unfamiliar with that acronym...

[Risada]

I quite liked TWEWY.

I'm unfamiliar with that acronym...

The world ends with you, a game for the DS by Squeenix...

[Kuroimaken]

Square was never the same after the merge, for me. Radiata Stories excluded, they shoveled lots of fail our general way.

[Risada]

Square was never the same after the merge, for me. Radiata Stories excluded, they shoveled lots of fail our general way.

But of course. Radiata Stories has Lenneth. That is enough to make the game win...

[Kuroimaken]

But of course. Radiata Stories has Lenneth. That is enough to make the game win...

I'm not an adherent of the cameo theory. Soul Calibur 3 had KOS-MOS (in a way) and I still liked Guilty Gear better.

[X-Codes]

Then you are being willfully ignorant.

In which case, pointing it out further is a fruitless endeavor and I'll only learn when the truth really hits me on the face.

Or maybe not, who knows? Far as I know there's a pretty nice number of releases going off still, so that works for me.

Dude... you post on a message board full of some of the hardest-core nerds the world has ever seen, and yet you do not know the awesomeness of Western RPGs that have come about in the past couple of years?  BioShock and Mass Effect are the most prominent from last year, and Oblivion was amazing a couple years ago (and still can be, given that it's got 100+ hours of play time in just the original game and more in the expansions).  I've heard good things about Fallout 3.  Fable II next year has a high probability of improving on the original, and Diablo III is on the horizon.  Then if you want to get into slightly older games you've got KotOR (but seriously, you MUST have played that already, right?).

I know it's not a lot, but there are a few absolutely amazing Western RPGs released every year.  The reason there aren't more is because everyone is looking at what Blizzard did with WoW and trying to make MMOs and whore themselves out.  Honestly, they're not all that bad, either.

[Kuroimaken]

Dude... you post on a message board full of some of the hardest-core nerds the world has ever seen, and yet you do not know the awesomeness of Western RPGs that have come about in the past couple of years?  BioShock and Mass Effect are the most prominent from last year, and Oblivion was amazing a couple years ago (and still can be, given that it's got 100+ hours of play time in just the original game and more in the expansions).  I've heard good things about Fallout 3.  Fable II next year has a high probability of improving on the original, and Diablo III is on the horizon.  Then if you want to get into slightly older games you've got KotOR (but seriously, you MUST have played that already, right?).

I know it's not a lot, but there are a few absolutely amazing Western RPGs released every year.  The reason there aren't more is because everyone is looking at what Blizzard did with WoW and trying to make MMOs and whore themselves out.  Honestly, they're not all that bad, either.

There's a simple explanation for that. My PC ain't up to snuff for playing those. I never claimed that Western RPGs aren't awesome... just that I haven't played enough of them to consider them over JRPGs.