30+ minutes of audio/video is not better than 5-10 minutes of reading. Audio/video take significantly *more* time than text does. These might be consumable if they were limited to no more than 10 minutes. But asking for someone to devote that much time to one is ludicrous.
At the very least, please keep the talk about the video games (ie, the reviews and discussions) themselves to the text.
Good point Steve, we may look at publishing future episodes of the podcast on another day, so there's no interruption of our normal content.
A second good point; if you actually listen to the podcast, there is no way some of the things we talk about would make sense as a written post. That's part of the point of the podcast in the first place. Another purpose is for those people who may not have time to read a full-length article, but could listen to the podcast while doing something else.
I can agree that downloading and listening to a 42-minute conversation/interview is at best, a small inconvenience and it may not be the content you're looking for either way. So if you're say, someone coming here MWF for purely gaming content, I can understand how you could be disappointed. And if that was the case, I might recommend putting it as an extra article, whether on a main day or some other.
But if you're just opposed to the conversation/interview being audio rather than text, unfortunately there is no better way to do it. Proper transcribing of audio is a very lengthy and difficult process. And then we wouldn't be able to get as much content out. If it is a technical issue, I am sorry, but apparently podcasts are very convenient for many people (although I never listen to them personally).
If it is a whole dislike of audio and visual content, you should be happy to know that the vast majority of the content on the site is still text (granted, with a limited amount of pictures). However, I personally feel that properly done audio/visual content can vastly improve the reviewing and viewing experiences and am very interested in using those mediums to the utmost. Perhaps this is amplified by the fact that many of the games I play are more non-traditional, leading yourself to an Experience rather than the game taking you through and telling you what to see.
We still plan on writing as much as ever. This is just going to be a bi-weekly or monthly thing at the most.
I appreciate the input though, we're just trying out different methods of delivery. Some writers want to record videos and we've all had an interest in a podcast for a while.
Before I bought the game, I read a lot of reviews saying Okami was great... So when I started playing it I was very disappointed: did I really had such a different taste in games? I had read everything about Okami, except for this review, and everyone said it was awesome.
So I searched again the net and found this website, and here I found my answer: all those other reviews were talking about the game not caring about the first hour of play!
I probably would have continued playing anyway, but now I'm really reassured about the fact that I will most likely appreciate this game.
Does anyone else seem to think that this Movie is a great candidate for TOTAL REMAKE with some GREAT Lucas Arts Graphics and a more Intense/Serious theme???!!!
Hope some Movie Maker thinks of this soon, especially after AVATAR!
The big reason I didn't like Twilight Princess that much was because of Ganon. Here's a rebuttal of mine against TP that I ended up cutting out:
Once Twilight Princess got rolling (which took a long time, watch for the upcoming first hour review of it), I enjoyed it. Nintendo was treating us to a beautiful looking game in a familiar world, but was also throwing us some great twists on the old formula with Midna, Zant, and turning into a wolf. Things were looking great for the game.
And then, they threw it all away. Midna, arguably the most interesting character ever to appear in a Zelda game is tossed to the curb to make sure paper-thin Zelda gets her screen time. And Zant is revealed to just be a puppet for Ganondorf. The last few hours just left a sour taste in my mouth that I can't get rid of.
I'm a big fan of the Zelda games and I have to say that the final battle with Ganon in Twilight Princess is the best of the series and the double hookshot is one of the best items. I have to agree with Paul here.
I enjoyed the demo some months back, but since I'm poor I'm waiting for this to drop to a "greatest hits" status and pick up fairly cheap. The consensus seems to be it's a great game overall.
This game is perhaps one of Rare's greatest works on the N64, after the hours of time I spent with this game throughout the years I only have one gripe and that is the sensitive manual aiming. Otherwise any gamer worth their salt should play this masterpiece.
Skill points: Class bonus + INT modifier.
Feats: 1 every 3 levels (except for soldier/guardian, which as a class feature gets a bonus feat every 2 levels in addition to 1 every 3 levels, which lets you get 2 feats when you level up sometimes).
Attributes: 1 every 4 levels.
Powers: Rate based on Jedi class choice.
The stealth gameplay in fact does get more interesting. Throughout the game, new items are being introduced, along with new ways to be stealthy and new challenges. Batman often has no gargoyles to fall back on for various reasons, and the thugs get smarter and more dangerous as the game progresses. Later, there's more exploration and puzzle solving, and many unique obstacles that interfere with Batman's stealth all in different ways.
But at the same time, it's not like a Zelda game where you get partway through a dungeon, find a new item, and never use your old stuff again. When Batman gets new tools in his arsenal, you end up with creative ways to use it alongside what you already had.
Damn! the review is so hard, but true, you give the right information for not buy this game at least you like a lot the style of interactive novels as the last commenter writes.
30+ minutes of audio/video is not better than 5-10 minutes of reading. Audio/video take significantly *more* time than text does. These might be consumable if they were limited to no more than 10 minutes. But asking for someone to devote that much time to one is ludicrous.
At the very least, please keep the talk about the video games (ie, the reviews and discussions) themselves to the text.
Great points everyone, we'll try to get these up on our "off days" (Tuesdays, Thursdays, and the weekend) in the future.
Good point Steve, we may look at publishing future episodes of the podcast on another day, so there's no interruption of our normal content.
A second good point; if you actually listen to the podcast, there is no way some of the things we talk about would make sense as a written post. That's part of the point of the podcast in the first place. Another purpose is for those people who may not have time to read a full-length article, but could listen to the podcast while doing something else.
I generally don't listen to many podcasts, but I'm gonna give this a shot later on. Might make excellent background chatter while I tidy up a review.
I can agree that downloading and listening to a 42-minute conversation/interview is at best, a small inconvenience and it may not be the content you're looking for either way. So if you're say, someone coming here MWF for purely gaming content, I can understand how you could be disappointed. And if that was the case, I might recommend putting it as an extra article, whether on a main day or some other.
But if you're just opposed to the conversation/interview being audio rather than text, unfortunately there is no better way to do it. Proper transcribing of audio is a very lengthy and difficult process. And then we wouldn't be able to get as much content out. If it is a technical issue, I am sorry, but apparently podcasts are very convenient for many people (although I never listen to them personally).
If it is a whole dislike of audio and visual content, you should be happy to know that the vast majority of the content on the site is still text (granted, with a limited amount of pictures). However, I personally feel that properly done audio/visual content can vastly improve the reviewing and viewing experiences and am very interested in using those mediums to the utmost. Perhaps this is amplified by the fact that many of the games I play are more non-traditional, leading yourself to an Experience rather than the game taking you through and telling you what to see.
We still plan on writing as much as ever. This is just going to be a bi-weekly or monthly thing at the most.
I appreciate the input though, we're just trying out different methods of delivery. Some writers want to record videos and we've all had an interest in a podcast for a while.
Use text. Written text. It is infinitely better than audio or video.
Very cool! I also found it a tough game to get into, but once the world starts opening up, it really becomes a great game. Glad I could help.
Before I bought the game, I read a lot of reviews saying Okami was great... So when I started playing it I was very disappointed: did I really had such a different taste in games? I had read everything about Okami, except for this review, and everyone said it was awesome.
So I searched again the net and found this website, and here I found my answer: all those other reviews were talking about the game not caring about the first hour of play!
I probably would have continued playing anyway, but now I'm really reassured about the fact that I will most likely appreciate this game.
That's like complaining that the "mysterious" Mr. X turned out to be Dr. Wiley in Mega Man VI.
Does anyone else seem to think that this Movie is a great candidate for TOTAL REMAKE with some GREAT Lucas Arts Graphics and a more Intense/Serious theme???!!!
Hope some Movie Maker thinks of this soon, especially after AVATAR!
I also played the demo and it is essentially the first hour of the game, well, not the whole thing, but a good chunk of it.
That's a developer with confidence in their first hour, if you ask me.
After an epic Mode 7 marching sequence the game kicks right off with a boss battle. It actually had a bit of a twist too with the shell.
And of course, Final Fantasy 7 just did everything right in its first hour.
The big reason I didn't like Twilight Princess that much was because of Ganon. Here's a rebuttal of mine against TP that I ended up cutting out:
Once Twilight Princess got rolling (which took a long time, watch for the upcoming first hour review of it), I enjoyed it. Nintendo was treating us to a beautiful looking game in a familiar world, but was also throwing us some great twists on the old formula with Midna, Zant, and turning into a wolf. Things were looking great for the game.
And then, they threw it all away. Midna, arguably the most interesting character ever to appear in a Zelda game is tossed to the curb to make sure paper-thin Zelda gets her screen time. And Zant is revealed to just be a puppet for Ganondorf. The last few hours just left a sour taste in my mouth that I can't get rid of.
I'm a big fan of the Zelda games and I have to say that the final battle with Ganon in Twilight Princess is the best of the series and the double hookshot is one of the best items. I have to agree with Paul here.
Good to know that even back then they wanted to get things started off right.
I haven't played the game in a while, but IIRC, the battle one minute or so into the game was in the original.
I enjoyed the demo some months back, but since I'm poor I'm waiting for this to drop to a "greatest hits" status and pick up fairly cheap. The consensus seems to be it's a great game overall.
I think it's like 35 points on the Weight Watchers diet though.
This game is perhaps one of Rare's greatest works on the N64, after the hours of time I spent with this game throughout the years I only have one gripe and that is the sensitive manual aiming. Otherwise any gamer worth their salt should play this masterpiece.
I don't know, I think a cheese chicken pork sandwich sounds tasty!
What you get when you level up isn't random.
Skill points: Class bonus + INT modifier.
Feats: 1 every 3 levels (except for soldier/guardian, which as a class feature gets a bonus feat every 2 levels in addition to 1 every 3 levels, which lets you get 2 feats when you level up sometimes).
Attributes: 1 every 4 levels.
Powers: Rate based on Jedi class choice.
The stealth gameplay in fact does get more interesting. Throughout the game, new items are being introduced, along with new ways to be stealthy and new challenges. Batman often has no gargoyles to fall back on for various reasons, and the thugs get smarter and more dangerous as the game progresses. Later, there's more exploration and puzzle solving, and many unique obstacles that interfere with Batman's stealth all in different ways.
But at the same time, it's not like a Zelda game where you get partway through a dungeon, find a new item, and never use your old stuff again. When Batman gets new tools in his arsenal, you end up with creative ways to use it alongside what you already had.
This is the main reason why i buy a nintendo DS, but after this game i find a new one to add to the collection.
Damn! the review is so hard, but true, you give the right information for not buy this game at least you like a lot the style of interactive novels as the last commenter writes.