PixlBit

I'd love to see Nintendo do something totally break out with a "Super Mario Bros. 4" game. New Super Mario Bros. has been a great series, but it's very much in the same vein of the original.

Just like you said Matt, all new stuff like levels, music, power-ups, and enemies is exactly what I'd like to see Nintendo do. Maybe it would be something that Good-Feel could do. The work they did with Kirby and Wario Land was pretty phenomenal, I think they could do good things with Mario.

If you consider easier taking the case off of your PS2 and voiding your warranty, then yes, it was easier... if you also had a Game Shark.

I doubt anything will come of this, but I thought it would be fun to brainstorm/dream in the comment section here.

D'oh!

*yawn* Nothing about this game appeals to me. LP2 was crap and Spark Unlimited doesn't exactly have the greatest track record. Guess we'll see what the end result is next year...

Yeah, I would agree. I think games that blend a controller and Kinect controls have potential (not like the voice commands in ME3).

Both DFHAT and DP are games you get if you have a Kinect, not games you get a Kinect for. In my opinion, there are no games right now you get a Kinect for.

Yeah, it's definitely not something you buy a Kinect for - I don't think such a game exists. Despite Child of Eden being alright with the Kinect, I prefer to play it with the controller.

This and Double Fine Happy Action Theater are my two favorites for the peripheral thus far. Diabolical Pitch is a great single player experience and DFHAT is the go-to multiplayer Kinect game.

The party controls is a mixed bag for me. Part of what I liked about this version of P3 was overcoming the occasional challenge posed by teammates behaving unexpectedly. You were able to give them general direction, which was typically good enough. I can't remember many instances where it got in the way and it did help progress battles a bit quicker as a result, which was appreciated.

P3P does offer something similar to the P3FES system, but it's optional and when you have full party control, you just don't ever wind up using it. There were some other subtle differences that made me appreciate FES more, like the ability to recharge all of your stats by hitting the ground floor during the nightmare hour.

They're both great games, and truthfully, The Answer is mostly a grindfest.

This is an amazingly good game. If you don't already have it, I suggesting buying - it's easily one of my favorite games of all time.

I'm not interested in debating everything in your reply, but I did want to comment on Dragon Quest V and its sales. See here for Square Enix's financial briefing on the title. It sold 1,176,000 copies in Japan, which contributed to a worldwide total of 1,350,000.

Some simple math reveals that the game didn't even pass 200k sales in regions outside of Japan. So back to my original point, Nintendo published VI and IX because Square Enix had no intention. Only recently did Dragon Quest V get a reprint and I only know because I hunted for months for a first print copy of the game before the reprint happened. After thorough investigation, I happened upon the information I shared in my previous comment.

Furthermore, as per the brief summary at the start of this article, we're talking solely about the perception of these games in America. Some perception is based in truth, some in fallacy. The truth of the matter is that most gamers in America don't care about JRPGs and have moved on to  WRPGs and other genres all together.

Spin it any way you like, but the genre is nowhere near the same popularity it once was. Sales are not a good indication of this either as game sales these days are much higher than they were in the heyday of the genre - there are are lots more people playing games these days in general.

During the PS1/PS2 era tons of JRPGs hit the market that would never come, or perhaps even be made, today. I know this because I own tons of them. I look at my collection for this generation and I just don't see the same thing on home consoles. Handhelds have always had a healthy offering of the genre, but that's where they primarily live these days.