Saturday, May 31, 2014

When will Nintendo learn?

Every time. EVERY FUCKING TIME.

The moment a big game comes out, everything that has to do with Nintendo's online just eats shit. Remember the issues with the Dream World back when BW1 first came out? Or, more recently, the seemingly unending Pokémon Bank saga? Well, now Mario Kart 8 just broke everything. Club Nintendo doesn't work, no thanks to that promotion that gives you a free game with it. I mean, sure, I won't complain about a free copy of Pikmin 3, even a digital one, but seriously, Nintendo, GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER. I'm really, really scared to imagine what it's going to be like when SSB4 comes out. Hopefully they make the leap to the 20th century before then.

On an unrelated note, speaking of Mario Kart 8, it's just amazing how people are losing their shit at item distribution no longer being based on position, and instead it depends on your distance from the leader. Is there something wrong with getting triple reds and stars in second or third if you're half a lap behind the leader? Certainly less than getting a lightning bolt if you're dead last but the entire pack is within two seconds.

13 comments:

  1. And it'll take a year or 2 to fix up. Please Understand.

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  2. In regards to Mario Kart I knew something was up with item distribution but I couldn't quite put my finger on exactly what. I'm actually for that. Seems like the logical way to go.

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  3. I prefer how the item distribution is now handled for reasons you say. It's really nice and ensures the leader is always in check.

    One thing that DOES bug me about the game is how "view highlights" is the default when the race ends. I would just rather go onto the next race quickly.

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  4. My main complaint is that the map is relegated to the Game Pad. I use the Classic Controller...

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  5. I think the way item distribution was handled in previous games was that you'd get powerful items in places 4th and back, despite proximity to the leader, but if you climbed the ranks quickly with that item, it would wear off more quickly. If you got a star in 4th and leaped to 1st within a few seconds, the star would only give you another second or two of boost before disappearing.

    I like this system better, though. It seems more balanced this way. Blue shells are still more common than I was led to think, but it's not unbearable anymore (though losing three coins for every hit is really annoying. There was one point in a race where I was slammed by a blue shell and then a red shell which knocked me off a cliff. Now, the quicker recovery meant I was back on my feet faster, but I suddenly only had 1 coin pretty late in the race, and that was the cause of my only non-first-place out of 48 races so far. This break for parentheses was far longer than it had any right to be). If it's a close race, it shifts item distribution back a bit more, saving 1st place from more red shells. At the same time, 2nd place doesn't need powerful items to take the lead because it's easier to nail 1st place if you're close to them.

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  6. My main complaints are: view highlights is the default choice, if you want to upload a video of a race it has to be a minute or shorter, no way to know your exact coin count (at least to my knowledge), and to a small extent only holding one item at a time while already having it in use.

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    1. Well, at least you're not complaining about the lack of unintentional shortcuts. Yes, people are complaining that the game was actually well programmed. Fuck me gently with a chainsaw.

      Then again, maybe I shouldn't be surprised. Remember when Brawl came out and it turned out those things that were very clearly bugs that everyone thought to be intentional features for some reason were fixed? To this day Melee remains very popular for the sole reason that it's a bug-riddled mess. Go figure.

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    2. I for one am glad I'll finally be able to actually ENJOY Grumble Volcano online. I actually really like that track, but I never got to "race" on it online.

      Also, "Fuck me gently with a chainsaw" is the greatest thing you've ever said/typed.

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    3. To be fair those complaints I have are pretty minor it's still the most fun I've had with a Mario Kart game since Double Dash if not more fun. (which unlike most people I really enjoyed it when it first came out)

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  7. That would explain how my friend got a banana peel in 9th place. Huh.

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  8. Club Nintendo crashing is whatever

    The actual online play of Mario Kart is silky smooth, even on release day

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  9. Like, to be clear, the servers for club nintendo and the servers for the nintendo network are likely entirely different things, probably in entirely different locations.

    I havenn't heard anything about the European or Japanese club nintendos going down so blame that on NoA. Which doesn't surprise me because it seems like they dont care about Club Nintendo at all.

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  10. Well, it's finally working now. Or maybe I just slipped through the cracks of the failure blockade. Either way, it's still pretty embarrassing that it took this long to make the site semi-functional again. Get your act together, Nintendo!

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