Minor details taking up the most memory really summarises a lot of games discourse
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Iām so glad the N64 version was cancelled. The shipping GBA game looks perfect albeit sounds like a tin can telephone.
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this is basically confirmation that we are true enemies and will eventually duel
i like this quote because it works both as RAM and human memory
just riffing about modern games. not relevant to anyone. not necessarily even my true feelings; maybe just reaction. can be ignored.
that nintendo inteview is a good interview for someone who believes expensive modern games are just about incapable of meaning anything so long as they remain convinced of the safety and soundness of āpiling all the details togetherā and unconvinced of any higher ideals
i keep having these moments of enlightenment lately where stark contrasts reveal facets and strengths. since my hands have been debilitated for the last 6 weeks+, i find myself focusing on and re-evaluating what i value in games. being unable to operate a controller or w/e normally has further galvanized me re: how exceptionally little a lot of modern games have to offer without the dopamine-optimized structural traps, the predatory psychological subliminations, the numerically overwhelming cascade of pixels, displays of raw technological forceā¦ in service of a deliberate and studious avoidance of curiosity, of meaning, of purpose, of bravery, of decency.
itās perfectly reasonable - you canāt afford to take any sort of artistic risks, to include any remotely challenging thesis, with that many peopleās money. unthinkable!
when i was younger i had a very naive view of games as this sort of constantly escalating medium in which anything is possible and rising technology means there is always some new idea to pursue. the interactivity of it. the novelty. i canāt believe i came from that raw enthusiasm, one thatās coasted through basically my entire conscious lifeā¦ iām so disillusioned by videogames now lmao. it feels like a loss
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Care to elaborate?
I just imagine it chugging along and making the music battle system miserable while Iām looking at various potato shaped models. The GBA version looks and feels of a piece with the other two and the graphics get out of the way so I only see the art.
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oh iām mostly joking! the GBA version is about the best this world could have possibly hoped for.
there is a nugget of something, though. mainly down to my extreme fondness for the N64, and the ambition of the prior try. as well, the āhandheld pacingā and āhandheld scopeā of mother 3 are two things i most dislike about it.
i can view it a few ways, but ultimately i wanted a console game. what makes a console game different from a handheld game? does mother 3 even exhibit this?
mother 3 works remarkably well as a handheld game. however, as a sequel released quite a few years later (skipping a console generation), it isnāt hard to note the ways itās a sidestep from mother 2; certainly in the sense of overall game scope. i guess thatās got to be part of the point - mother 3 wasnāt and then it was, and the wasnāt absolutely needed to inform the was. there were changes made to the game and structure to get it to gel with the GBA better, and to ensure it was, in fact, released at all.
the whole game in its final form feels a bit breathless and impatient to me; maybe that squeezing process is part of why. anyway, itās only really notable when compared to mother 2.
i was mostly joking!! i just love the n64 OK!
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I tried to explain it a while back
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the statement that mother 64 was meant to be āa major-league MOTHER product set free from any restrictionsā is heart-rending. the gba version is divine and all that, but it doesnāt ~feel~ set free from all restrictions.
if nothing else, the N64 was capable of much higher quality audio output than the gba and one can only imagine what the full soundtrack would have been like.
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Itās perfect, though, isnāt it, that Mother 3 can only exist in this state obviously compromised by capitalist demands. Porky means business.
Dovetails with @meauxdalās general issues about modern games i.e. capitalism above nicely at least
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This is my life now lol. The injury really opens up how much on offer is geared around pressing the buttons very quickly and very frequently for maximum orgasm time or whatever. Also how many games love making the player feel like a big strong hero chunk/sensitive prestige emotion-haver who doesnāt have to reflect on anything, but when it comes to actually being compassionate to a playerās means of engagement most games fall flat.
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This is the actual reason why I donāt play on consoles at all any more - I need to be able to remap everything, make macros for button-mashing, or use a low DPI mouse for aiming, etc.
In the new Destiny raid I set up a python script the community made to process the game audioās musical note cues into call-outs because my brain cannot turn around that much I/O in the span of seconds
When I go back to a prescribed control device and limited options I just canāt
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sleeper hit of that interview is miyamoto saying tekken only needs 5 characters
i want to see footage of him looking at the the latest smash roster
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it is very interesting to me how the periscope of time and great language can make the most common, anodyne old developer complaint (studios are too big now, I liked it when it was smaller) into a shattering truth.
Itās always true! and we need to keep reminding ourselves of it
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I donāt have any specific insight into this but Nintendo appears to understand the economies of asset pipelines better - Mother 3 may even have been instructive in bringing scope down on a technical level. But then you get the DS, Wii, 3DS, Wii U, and Switch as havens for smaller Japanese studios with less complicated project management. Thatās got to be intentional on some level e.g. SMT V with PS5 production values might not ever happen.
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As someone who grew up on consoles this genuinely feels really tragic that I might not be able to replay a lot of stuff I have in storage. It kinda annoys me but also allows me to be more discerning I guess? If I have no hope of physically playing it at least I can write it off. Complex feelings.
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They absolutely have taken conscious steps for this, but it cost them a lost decade of internal development (2005-2015) and they only managed to buy maybe 4 years behind everyone else in production costsā¦theyāre on the same ramp as everyone.
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Me too! I was actually thinking about how holding a GBA now to play an 8 hour non-action game like Mother 3 would probably cause unbearable pain and choked up. Granted, thatās tied up in recent events too across at least two intersecting vectors.
Thereās some hope in retro receivers but those are dominated by essentially reproductions of retro hardware. I know @meauxdal likes the 8bitdo stick with a ton of cross-platform retro support by way of e.g. DB9 serial adapters for bluetooth. Iām not aware of a way to use something like the Xbox adaptive controller on pre-USB stuff but Iām sure AbleGamers et al. are aware.
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I really really want my theory-cum-Bloomberg rumor of DLSS as their next lateral technology to come true
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as an enabler for Switch Pro? That makes sense to me, but it doesnāt change the production costsā¦Breath of the Wild 2 is still going to cost forty percent more than the first game and that required years and years of an enormous studio on top of shadow teams
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OTOH @meauxdal @captainlove I am released from the quantum prison of considering MGS replays thanks to Kojimaās insistence on hateful QTEs
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