Since the polls, as of now, only let me have ten options, I was limited to the console games as opposed to the GB games.
Oh well, I have to say I'm having a hard time picking. Honestly, the series kinda went into a rut starting with 5. 1 was the start, 2 really made it fun with bosses that actually behaved like bosses should and decent sized levels, as well as the fun mood. 3 expanded on that but also added RUSH! Sure, Rush was just a dog that contained the various special items of 2, but Rush was cool! Every robot boy should have a robot dog, or something. Anyway, that game was cool because it had PROTOMAN, and he's cool, as well as being able to fight remodels of all the MM2 bosses. MM4 added the Megabuster, really changing how battles were fought for the first and pretty much last time, plus it had the fun of TWO evil fortresses to trudge through. Also, Protoman again! Plus, russians! The two after that, from what little I've played, really didn't do much... MM7 was on SNES, but it too didn't really do much. MM8 as well... Megaman and Bass was the first real change. Sure it recycled the big change from MMX4 (another character with their own moves) and it kinda crippled it at that (Zero in MMX4 actually learned sword moves instead of learning the same buster based moves that X did, and Bass should have learned his own unique moves too), but it was fun. Plus, it's the hardest of the games I've played, and in a game like this, that's important.
Anway, it's between 2, 3, 4, and M&B. Then, using methods you would call stupid, I reduce it to 2 and M&B. From there, I finally... well, I guess I'll go based entirely on robot masters. MM2 had Metal Man. He's like one of the coolest ever, namely due to one of the most useful weapons ever. Half the bosses were weak to the metal blade! M&B had, well actually two of the bosses were actually rebuilds of MM8 bosses. Of the originals though, Burner Man is the coolest. So, Metal Man vs Burner Man... Sorry fire crazy thing, but Metal Man wins. So, I vote that the series topped out with the second game! (Besides, the fire weapon in that game could be charged just like the Mega Buster later could.)
So then, who's getting this? While every gamer who's ANY gamer has played at least one Megaman game (I'm sorry, one of the things EVERY gamer has to do is play as a robot taking on an evil scientists, it's just a prerequisit), most of them certainly don't own EVERY game in the original series, maybe not even half.
Thus, this game should have a game for pretty much everyone that they haven't played. For me, that's MM5 and MM6 (and oh yes, the previously unreleased in America Power Battles games). Also, since I made the mistake of trading MM3 (one of the best) years ago for Ultima: Exodus, I'll be getting that back too.
Anyway, I'm certainly interested in 4 new games. Well, if I haven't played it, it's new to me, as well as getting back a game from long ago. Other than that, there's special artwork and remixed music ala the Rockman collection for PS1 (that was never released here, but then again each of those were sold BY THEMSELVES). It'll be weird playing an 8bit looking game with PS1 quality music, but hey I'll adapt :D. I think the original music will also be in there, in fact I'm fairly sure of that.
Anyway, I know of at least two other than me that would want this game. Two questions though. First, are you getting it at the end of the month, when it's released? I don't think I will be, I'll be waiting a while, with baited breath. There are just too many games for EVERY system, also I won't be buying ANY games for a good few months. Second, which version? Now, the GCN version has a bunch of interviews and a history of the series movie in there. The PS2 version has the Megaman anime. I could go either way concerning the extras myself. I'm not really a big fan of the Megaman anime (I think I saw one or two episodes before), so the worth of that is notched down to the level of the worth of those interviews. I am interested in those interviews though, but honestly that's only good for one watch and then never viewing it again. Anyway, all in all I myself pick the PS2 version. In the end I picked it purely due to the controller. The GCN one is more comfortable... OVERALL. HOWEVER, for Retro gaming, the PS2 controller has done the job FAR better. Now, one could make some joke about how Sony's controller designs are ancient or whatever, but anyway that's just how it is. So, that's the version I'll pick. On another note, since MM8 was made for PS1 to begin with, I'll be able to IMMEDITALY know how to control that without any problems. Since it's also coming to Gamecube though, I just had to put this in the Nintendo forum.
Oh yes, I spoke of MM8. I have to wonder which version of MM8 they'll pick. One was for PS and the other for Saturn. The Saturn version, while it didn't do transparency effects very well, had a few bonuses. That is, mini-boss appearences of Wood Man and Cut Man (by the time of Megaman 8, Megaman is too strong for those two to really be more than mini-bosses anyway).
Oh yes, also there's the alternate collection of the 5 Gameboy games that's coming to Gameboy Advance (which colorizes the first 4, and maybe recolorizes MM5 GB to look nicer than the Super Gameboy pallette). That also interests me, because out of all those GB games, I only played MM5. That one however still ranks as one of the best Megaman games I've played. It was stolen some time ago though, so I don't even have that. Thus, I'm interested in this collection as well. On a side note, according to Megaman & Bass's CD collection, the GB games each actually are part of the main Megaman storyline. The storyline really isn't all that serious in the original series, but it's interesting none the less. There are comments like Pluto, a MM5GB boss, being the prototype for Slash Man, a MM7Console boss.
Anyway, these two collections will contain all of the original series EXCEPT for two games. Megaman & Bass (which is currently still being sold, so they are still making money from it), and Wily Wars. I have Megaman & Bass, so no problem. However, Wily Wars is one I'd like to see. I've seen screenshots, the graphical makeover is really kinda bad (especially Megaman, eck), but they included a special tower with 3 super strong bosses and Megaman had access to all the special weapons from MM1-3. It would have been nice if they had put that in there. They could have borrowed Sega's GCN Genesis emulator :D.
Star Ocean 2 is possibly on the best RPGs you can get on the PSX. A fusion of scifi and fantasy the likes of which we may never see again [except in Star Ocean 3, that is]. It had nice graphics, some very well made music, had some nice CG and avoided shoving it in your face every 2 seconds, and it had a likable cast of characters [albeit questionable dialogue translation]. It also had one more thing, the on thing that causes me to at once love and utterly hate this abomination of an awesome game. The bosses. Never have I seen such insanely hard and totally cheap bosses. They aren't content to hit you with a powerful spell and then sit back as you smack away at them with swords and magics. Oh no. Thanks to the battle system, which can make the game fun or agravating, allows the boss to use one powerful spell over and over until all of party is killed. And make no mistake he'll do it every time. To combat this you have to be quick and you have to stick it to him with all you've got.
I just want to beat Star Ocean 2!! Is that too much to ask, Enix?!
As in, more things like Donkey Konga and F-Zero GX as opposed to purchasing companies, which is very expensive and isn't always a good investment.
Quote:June 16, 2004 - Nintendo plans to shy away from purchasing development talent in the future, Reuters reports today. Echoing previous statements, company president Satoru Iwata stated in an interview with a French publication that Nintendo aims to build strong relationships with game development companies rather than outright buying them.
As reason for this policy, Iwata stated to the publication that the purchase of a company requires great amounts of money, but may not necessarily be a sound investment. The presence of people and creative forces in the videogame business means such investments have no security, regardless of the amount of money thrown at a deal.
Iwata's comments apparently apply to the entire world, including Japan, Europe and North America.
Already the company's efforts have seen results from partnerships with Sega and Namco yielding such titles as Donkey Konga and F-Zero. IGNCube is also aware of a few partnerships that Nintendo has worked out with developers smaller than these two industry giants. Perhaps the next Nintendo title you play may not actually be a Nintendo-developed one.
Quote:Sony Says "No" To Direct Ports
Motto for 2005: O.G., original gaming!
June 14, 2004 - The PSP has, for all intents and purposes, all of the power of the PlayStation 2. That can be a good thing or a bad thing -- while the handheld system has the capabilities to play almost any type of game imaginable (except for, of course, games that rely on a ginchy touch screen for play), it also has the facilities to repurpose almost any console game a publisher may want to quickly cash in on. Fears of rampant porting and retreaded content are concerns apparently weighing in on Sony as well (sure, there are some stiffs in suits over at the corporate office, but you can't run a company without a good share of gamers), as we can confirm that the company is actively staying to its position against direct ports from PlayStation 2 to PSP.
Sony's stance to push developers towards original content for the handheld system is one that it has stated publicly many times before, but a development source actively in production with PSP has confirmed that, in the process of working towards concept approval with Sony (the first stage of getting a game going, where design docs and concept ideas are shot over to Sony for them to approve -- check out this article on Nintendo's game production process to get an idea of how the industry works), the company has been told by Sony that it will not approve direct ports of PS2 titles. How far the term "direct" can be extended is up in the air -- whether that means games without any additional content or PSP exclusive features, or it means no ports of any kind and that any franchise release would have to be a new edition of the series -- but it seems that Sony is standing firm on this issue. Many of the game demos at E3 were from established series, and some were even direct ports of titles in those lines, but E3 was always meant to be a temporary showcase of technology rather than in-game content -- everything we saw at the show could easily change by the time the system actually releases.
Of course, some could point out that Sony has already gone against its own rule. One of the only games actually announced for the system so far is Gran Turismo 4 Mobile -- a port of the upcoming PlayStation 2 racer -- and aside from WiFi online play instead of broadband networked play, the company has stated that GT4 is planned to be indistinguishable from its brother on the two systems. Whether it turns out that, as most other games at the show, GT4 was just a temporary demonstration example of a game that will in actuality end up in a significantly different form (think the difference between the early GT2000 when PS2 was first announced and the final GT3 delivered a year later) or if the company plans to break its own rule this one time just because GT4 is so covert-worthy is still unknown (the PSP version will show up long after the PS2 edition, so additional content may be their deal here.) However, this is a good indication that Sony has no intention of allowing the PSP to be a dumping ground for cash-ins -- they want new gaming experiences for the handheld crowd. And with the main competitor in the handheld space being Nintendo's unique DS system, gamers may well hold them to it.
As a Gamespy article a while back said, though, there is a serious question about if this is possible because PSP games will almost certainly be sold for less than $50. This means smaller profit margins. And even though I'm sure that there are more profits to be made here than in GBA development I'd bet it's still not the same as the major consoles... and companies are not used to putting large teams on portable development and really seem to love to skimp on those budgets. I am not at all convinced that the PSP will change that. So to actually follow up on this Sony has some work to do... but I don't know what they can do, really. People don't want to pay full price for handheld games, after all, and I doubt that a more powerful handheld will change that.
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