I see what you did there. As far as I know, there is no Blue to be found in this game, nor Professors named after trees. If there had been it would definitely have been more enjoyable.
I was never a fan of Tomba!, even when it was new. I know Diehard Gamefan was all over it, but a rental left me cold, and I never went back to it.
Rob may have poo pooed the "obvious" choices, but I think they're obvious for a reason. If I was more of a Half Life fan Alyx would have made my list. She's such an amazing character that I consider Half Life 2 to be her story instead of Gordon Freeman, the most overrated video game character since Link.
Elika came very close to my supporting choice, as well. I know you and I are on the same page with Prince of Persia 2008, and if we're talking non-RPG characters she's probably at the top of my list. But like we said in the show, Trip from Enslaved is pretty incredible, too.
You know, I would say female Shepard is a pretty unique choice. I don't know why I don't think of her. Maybe it's because she's a created character, even if she's voiced. I put her in the same category as the main character of Fable or Oblivion. But that's a great one to select for sure. Mass Effect was the first game where I created a female character to play as. It was on my second playthrough, sure, but until that game I would not have considered playing a female character unless she's the sole protagonist like Tomb Raider.
The answer to that would be a comprehensive collection that includes the arcade and home versions of these games. Nintendo could get away with multiple volumes that way, like the Namco Collections on the PSX.
I agree that some of these games were more enjoyable on the NES such as Punch Out!!, but there are a lot of Nintendo fans out there that would get a kick out of experiencing some of the history of the company. Nintendo has famously dropped the ball with celebrating their past when compared to other companies.
A series of well produced, archival collections jam packed with bonus material would be awesome to see. And seeing Donkey Kong 3 in this article made me smile. I can't pass that cabinet up without putting a quarter (or 4) in.
Somehow they're able to sell, ahem, marital aids at the mall.
DAMN YOU, KONAMI!
...you know I'll be buying both of these.
This is an interesting thing, and it reminds me of when Duke Nukem Forever came out. It seemed like the video games media as a whole rose up in contempt and shock at the content of DNF. It was so purile, so lewd that of course it needed to be castigated!
I sat back, wondering how a bunch of 20 and 30 somethings all of a sudden became so prudish.
Was DNF infantile? Absolutely. In bad taste? Probably. Funny? Not really. But it didn't offend me. I was raised in a very strict religious household, and yet it takes a lot to offend me. I went to public school. I worked with a bunch of dudes in their early 20s when I was 17. I have the internet.
Now, I'm not saying that your wife is a prude, Angelo. From talking to you it sounds like the opposite. But her reaction surprises me as well, simply because I've seen worse in video games. I thought the Lindas in Neon were out of place because they were so overtly sexualized in a game not known for that type of content. But I just thought they were kind of dumb and moved on. I was much more offended by Skullmageddon and his awful voice acting, bone puns, and stupid gimmicks like "Penatrator missiles".
I'd love to hear her thoughts on our Femme Fatales episode of NWP. I'm sure she doesn't listen to the podcast but I hope you'll have her try us out with that episode.
Taking out the grappling moves was a huge mistake, and they should have played up the juggle combos. I liked the loot aspect, but if they expect you to grind to max out your moves they needed more incentive. Even cosmetic gear would have gone a long way into extending the appeal of the game.
Solid launch lineup. There are only two games on the list I'd consider purchasing, so I think it's a good thing I decided to pass on the launch window. But it's an impressive selection, especially if you only owned the Wii and haven't experienced games like Darksiders and Ninja Gaiden before.
