themblan's blog

Interesting... On Thursday, May 12th, SemiAccurate.com reported that Nvidia-chips may be in NX. The following day, famed Nintendo-reporter Emily Rogers blogged about the horsepower of the NX. Both rumors seemed to be able to coexist, meaning they didn't necessarily clash and contradict each other. As far as Nvidia goes, they don't make CPUs for desktops like AMD and Intel, but make SOCs for mobile devices and automobiles. This coincides with what Rogers wrote about how NX won't be x86 and won't blow the socks off of XB1 or PS4. There are four avenues that Nintendo can travel: 1. Handheld-only (no TV-output) 2. Home-console-only 3. Handheld-console hybrid (TV-output w/ possible docking-station or SCD) 4. Both a handheld and home-console Let's look at each possibility and weigh the likelihoods of each. 1. A handheld-only future is definitely possible. Wii U has sold like garbage, while 3DS has sold very well. It makes financial sense to quit mak...

Star Fox Zero would have been much better-received if it was a new IP. As much as retelling the origin-story of Star Fox was very nostalgic and appreciated by many fans, I fear it set the game up for failure as well, because it would draw comparisons to SF64 and SF, when things were simpler. By distracting people and saying it's not Star Fox, they would have given the new gameplay-mechanics a fairer chance. It might have sold less, but then again, it might have sold more (e.g. Splatoon). With NX, I think Nintendo should, and will be more brave in making new IP and not just relying on their old ones. Remember that all their IPs were once new.

I despise how the peanut gallery, with enough vociferation, can become the "general consensus" of the internet. Case in point: Twilight Princess. Twilight Princess was excellent on Wii. The motion-controls did not detract from the experience, were not difficult to execute, but instead edified the experience and made it more immersive. Skyward Sword's motion-controls did detract from the experience, were difficult to excute, and instead of making it more immersive, which was the goal, made me focus on the mechanics of how precisely to use the controller to execute what I wanted to execute; this was the opposite of immersion. I played the Gamecube-version first, because I could not find a Wii. Although there's nothing wrong with it, the Wii-version was better because on the Wii-version, you could map one more item to the plus-pad on the Wii-remote, aiming was motion-based and more intuitive and smooth; swinging the Wii-remote to swing the sword was fun and immersi...

Action Henk Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures 2 A.N.N.E. Antipole DX Assault Android Cactus Axiom Verge Back to Bed The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 Chromophore: The Two Brothers Director's Cut forma.8 Hive Jump Jotun Kerbal Space Program LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Mighty No. 9 The Next Penelope PONCHO RIVE Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero Slain! Soul Axiom Super Meat Boy Terraria Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Tumblestone Yooka-Laylee Source: http://www.nintendo.com/games/coming-soon/

Sometimes it's really toxic reading things on the internet. There is so much criticism and cynicism. Where has gratitude and apprecation gone? Some people want everything they had in the past, all over again, as if it comes freely and easily; as if we're entitled to it. No, we are not entitled to anything, and we should be appreciate of and thankful for what we get, not because we should passively accept things the way they are. On the contrary. We should actively search for things to be grateful for. I wasn't always like this. Maybe this is a maturity and wisdom coming from age and experience. Looking at it another way, things can always be worse. Instead of focusing on what we don't have, we should focus on what we do. In terms of Wii U, some people focus on how its library game-for-game doesn't match up to Gamecube or Wii, but I don't look at it from that perspective. I see a company that tried its hardest to develop, publish, and deliver as many an...

I'm reading Emily Rogers's twitter-feed and I realize that some people just love to argue. Doctre81 is the same way. For me, I don't care enough to try to convince people they're wrong beyond one or two tries at most. The only mind I care about is my own. I feel like it's wasted energy. They're also often not arguing about the same exact thing. They will present an opinion as fact, and then rebut with another opinion presented as fact, with a fact that is unrelated to that opinion. They're really logically flawed. It's kind of a train-wreck to read. Some people are physically incapable of telling apart opinion from fact, so it becomes pointless to argue with them. Some people are physically incapable of agreeing with anyone else in front of someone else's face, so it becomes pointless to argue with them. It's worse than talking to a wall, because at least a wall doesn't spit out inane opinions back. It's telling when they don...

I've been playing Link to the Past recently on my "new" 3DS. A lot of people call it their favorite game of all time - people like Reggie Fils-Aimé and James Rolfe. But my favorite game of all time is Ocarina of Time. Some games and genres work better in 3D or 2D. Racing-games work better in 3D. I don't know how you can objectively say Super Mario Kart is better than the 3D games. You may like it more because you played it first and you were wowed by it, and the others never delivered that same wow-factor, but to say it's better is wrong. Zelda works better in 3D; the combat is better. The combat in 2D Zelda is just not fun. You walk in 8 directions but most weapons only work in 4 directions. If a fast enemy is chasing you, you have to walk away for a few seconds and then face him or her. It's not fun. The sense of exploration is better in 3D. When I first played OoT, it was so immersive because it was a behind-the-back perspective. Now I'm not say...