MP2 demo disc

[OB1]

From Gamespot again:

Nintendo has announced the upcoming release of a new GameCube hardware bundle this August that will revolve around the upcoming sequel to Metroid Prime. Dubbed the Metroid Prime Bonus Bundle, the hardware and software combo, due to hit stores August 15 for $99.99, will include a GameCube system, a copy of the original Metroid Prime, and a bonus disc that will include a playable demo of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, the upcoming sequel to 2003's critically acclaimed update of the popular Metroid franchise. In addition, the bonus disc will include an interactive history of the Metroid franchise called The Metroid Chronicle, two trailers for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and a Metroid Prime art gallery. The entire bundle will come packaged in Metroid-styled packaging.
The demo disc marks the first opportunity for consumers to try the upcoming Metroid Prime sequel, which is set to launch November 15. The latest entry in the series will send heroine Samus Aran to explore the dual light and dark sides of the split-dimensional planet Aether. The first-person adventure will feature a number of new gameplay elements, including new power-ups, a new ammo system, and special suit upgrades, as well as the return of Samus' trusty screw attack. The game will also include a multiplayer mode--a first for the series--that will let up to four players battle against each other using all of Samus’ unique powers and abilities.
As with its previous hardware bundle, The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition bonus disc </gamecube/action/zeldacollectors/news_6078201.html>, Nintendo is offering two methods for existing GameCube owners to procure the Metroid bonus disc. The first method is to subscribe to or renew an existing subscription to Nintendo Power magazine. The second method requires those who are interested to register at Nintendo.com and then register their GameCube hardware and five or more selected games listed on the Web site. Complete details for both options can be found at Nintendo Power's Web site <http://www.nintendopower.com/metroidprime2>. The Metroid Prime Bonus Bundle offer will only be available while supplies last.
By Staff -- GameSpot <http://www.gamespot.com>
POSTED: 08/04/04 06:24 AM PST

Nice, I hope the GBA games I've registered count as well. All I need to do is register Mario vs DK and I'll have five titles registered there.

[Great Rumbler]

*begins collecting serial numbers*

[OB1]

If you need any I could probably give you one.

[Great Rumbler]

I'm pretty sure I've got more than enough.

[OB1]

Alrighty.

[Sacred Jellybean]

I'm sure I could use a few...

*checks webpage* (it's at https://www.nintendo.com/cpp/faq/faq.jsp#products , in case anyone else needs to see it)

Hmm... looks like I'm four off.

[A Black Falcon]

I don't have any registered games... I have my GC and GBA, but the only game I own listed is NES Zelda. Tried to register the number just now and it didn't work. Oh well...

[OB1]

Beanjo, I might have some spare codes.

[Sacred Jellybean]

OB1: Cool. Tell me if you find any. :shiggy2:

[OB1]

Shit, I just checked and none of my other fairly recent Nintendo games have PINs. The only ones I don't have that do have PINs are these:

Pokémon Colosseum
More...

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$
More...

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
More...

Mario Party 5
More...

Classic NES Series: Bomberman
More...

Classic NES Series: Excitebike
More...

Classic NES Series: Ice Climber
More...

Classic NES Series: Super Mario Bros.
More...

Classic NES Series: The Legend of Zelda
More...

Classic NES Series: Xevious
More...

Classic NES Series: Donkey Kong
More...

Classic NES Series: Pac-Man
More...

1080° Avalanche
More...

Custom Robo
More...

Legend of Zelda, The: Four Swords Adventures
More...

GBA Video: Pokémon - For Ho-Oh the Bells Toll!
More...

GBA Video: Pokémon - Johto Photo Finish
More...

Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Games
More...

[OB1]

My friend has Four Swords and Wario Ware, not me, so that's how I played them.

In case anyone was wondering.

[A Black Falcon]

So why did it fail to register my NES Zelda PIN... Broken? Doesn't work? Bad PIN? Oh well, I'd care a lot more if I had more of the games on that list, but I don't have any of the others...

[OB1]

Call Nintendo.

[A Black Falcon]

It said that that number is already registered. That can't be good. But again, I'll care when I actually have more of those games... and I don't think I'll have five anytime soon...

[Great Rumbler]

Did you buy the game used?

[A Black Falcon]

Nope...

[Dark Jaguar]

Then SOME people have already made some sort of PIN number generator! Stupid hackers!

[A Black Falcon]

Must be...

[Dark Jaguar]

Or... or maybe you put it in wrong... or these pin numbers are similar enough that someone accidently put in yours...

[A Black Falcon]

That also could have happened. Forget it. I'd need four or five more games to get anything from registering things and I don't think that will happen for a long time given that list.

[OB1]

Did you buy the game from EB or Gamestop, by any chance?

[OB1]

I got my Prime 2 demo disc in the mail last week, played through it real quick (I was in a rush). Lots of fun, very similar to the first game but with some nice tweaks. Can't wait until November!

[Great Rumbler]

In MP2 you can fall off of cliffs. I found that out the hard way. One improvement I really liked was the scan visor, it makes it a lot easier to find things that need to be scanned and it's got a cool, new interface with a 3D model of the thing you scanned.

[OB1]

It's the shiznite, yes?

[Great Rumbler]

I never thought it'd be otherwise. I'm not going to play the demo too much though, I'll wait till the full version to play anymore.

[OB1]

Well the demo is like ten minutes long.

[Great Rumbler]

I only played it for about two minutes though.

[big guy]

well i only played it for one minutes!!!

[Great Rumbler]

You are truly the master of of non-playing games.

[OB1]

Indeed.

[Dark Jaguar]

Okay, I just got the demo in the mail today (took a while to get ahold of a 5th PIN, them I realized I had some PIN numbers in the closet in games I bought but didn't realize they had PINs... yeah...).

I've played it, taking time to explore every nook and most of the crannies, actually especially the crannies (nothing hidden in the demo except one missile expansion though...), and by and large it promises to be as good, or better than Prime 1. I also found out it's place in the story thanks to the chronology part of the disk. They could theoretically fit any number of future "midquels" between Zero Mission and Return of Samus... Anyway, the whole idea of a light and dark world is, while "unique" (Sahasrala(sp?) roles in his grave), a very nice concept. Ammo for the different beam weapons is no big deal, considering Super Metroid had about a million different weapons each with ammo (well not the beams, but my point is previous Metroid games have had a lot of ammo to keep track of too). Also, ammo appears everywhere, and it automatically goes to your character (made it hard to scan them :D), whether you are charging or not (health just stands there unless you charge, guess they just want you to be able to recharge as fast as possible).

Anyway, the scan interface is different (just visually though). It does seem a lot more immersive the way it's done now actually, those red icons did sorta remind you this was a game. I like it.

There was one thing. GR made mention of this, but I assumed he meant something else. I thought "hey, you could fall off anything that wasn't a solid wall in Prime!", thinking of the many times I've dived off a massive building to get to the bottom and open a door. I hadn't realized what he meant was there are now bottomless pits... Honestly, this is the one thing I don't like. I noticed the warning, and thought "no way, couldn't be", so I tested it to see. Well, first off the fall was handled poorly. No death, I'm just teleported back up and take a VERY slight amount of damage, almost laughable.

Here's my problem. In all Metroid/Castlevania SOTN style games, no matter WHERE you go, there you are, meaning if you CAN go there, there's sure to be some exploring there. Adding a bottomless pit hurts one's will to explore. Instead of wanting to jump off that new precipice, one might be afraid it'll kill you. If they did that in Metroid 1, a huge number of areas would have been unexplored for a long time because someone would be too afraid to go down there and look around. Enemies, lava, radiation, even taking damage upon landing, all great things. However, the "bottomless pit" sorta kills immersiveness. Something like that jolts you into realizing you can't just go wherever you want, AND that this is just a game. Honestly, I hope they ditch (or already have ditched) this whole concept before the game comes out. It doesn't add anything at all to the game. Keep it in Mario, there it's welcome. Even Zelda by this point can have that. Keep it out of Metroid and SOTN style Castlevania games though. I want to know that no matter where I go, I CAN go there and have something to explore (even if it's ridiculously dangerous).

It's hardly a deal breaker, and I'm aware that going on about it for a paragraph makes it seem like I'm simply AGHAST at it :D. My point was to explain why I think it's a bad addition to the game that actually detracts though, not go on about it out of anger. I still am going to get this game, and even with these bottomless pits I'm sure I'll have a blast. I just think this is one of those additional brush strokes that "ruin" the painting, so to speak, meaning it's totally pointless and hurts more than helps.

[Great Rumbler]

With the bottomless pits though, you can actually see that they ARE bottomless pits. You can see that there's nothing down there for you to go to and you have the warning telling you that it's a bottomless pit. I don't think it's as bad as you're saying it is.

[Dark Jaguar]

Indeed, but here's the thing, what's the point?

[Great Rumbler]

I don't know.

[Dark Jaguar]

Then they shouldn't be in there!

[OB1]

What, should they just put up invisible walls everywhere? I think being able to see off into the distance is cool, dammit! There were no "bottomless pits" in the Prime 2 demo that were tricking you into thinking that they should be explored and the only part where you could fall to your doom was very obviously not a secret area that needed to be explored. If you need an invisible crib in your games then you've got problems. :)

[A Black Falcon]

Bottomless pits are okay. But an idiotic penalty like minimal health loss? That's just stupid. Okay, falling after a long time of playing and having instant death would really stink. But I almost think that it's worse to have no real penalty for falling in... a better solution really is some kind of thing like MP1. Surfaces that hurt bad when you stand on them.

I really noticed those stupid teleportation pits in Wind Waker and thought that they were really, really stupid.

[OB1]

How on earth is a health penalty for falling in a so-called bottomless pit idiotic?

[A Black Falcon]

No, teleporting you to the enterance of the room is idiotic. As for health penalty, a lot of the pits in WW don't even have the decency to do THAT...

[OB1]

Eh, the part where you fall down is near the entrance. All of this complaining is based off of the demo, and there's only one part where you can fall to your "death" and it's a friggin' cliff that overlooks a giant 2d landscape! If you accidentally fall into it because you think there's some secret invisible ledge to find then you deserve to fall into nothingness.

[Dark Jaguar]

Actually, it teleported you to the place where you were last on solid ground. And yes, it is a pretty paultry penalty.

Honestly, it didn't make me feel more "in" the game at all. It made it seem like it wasn't a game. It was nice to see that distant landscape and all, but the second I saw the warning message, I was like "oh nuts, they did that didn't that", and then promptly commited suicide to test it out, or so I thought. Now, I don't expect to be able to actually GO down there, nor did I just want them to put a cave wall up there because it is a nice view. But, taking away 5 hitpoints and just sending you back after you fall 2 METERS (not even the satisfaction of watching your body plumet endlessly... it didn't feel like a fall at all).

Here are my suggestions. The first option? Some forcefield. They had them all over Metroid Prime, and they weren't cheap Mario 64 style "invisible walls", they actually BELONGED in that world. They were glass windows and force fields that let you look out, but you knew full well you weren't getting there. The second is for Samus to automatically "save" herself when you step off these things. Take the same damage, whatever, but it at least makes you feel like you are IN the world instead of being thrust out of it by this little "feature". What I mean is, when you jump off, it goes into 3rd person for a split second showing Samus grabbing the ground and pulling herself back onto the ledge. The whole sequence would last about a second ending with Samus looking down realizing that was a mistake sort of thing. THAT would be cool.

My favorite though is this. Put an area down there so when you jump, you find yourself "caught" by a big wall of rock you couldn't have possibly cleared from above no matter what lead you had on the jump, something that you wouldln't immediatly notice just staring off the side so you still get the good view. This way, jumping has both a benefit and a penalty. On the one hand, you are still exploring the full potential of the world. On the other hand, if you make this jump, you may not be getting back to where you made the jump from for a while.

That said, they may not even put this in the final game. It was one room near the very start. The view was something that, upon close inspection, is pretty clearly a textured dome of some sort, and common sense says they didn't give you a full sized forest and lake to explore in the demo. It's really just the principle of the thing. The fact that it adds nothing to the gameplay except to allow the programmers to say it's a new feature. I mean, this was one just on the side you would never just accidently fall in, so there's no challenge added. However, let's say they added one later FOR challenge. Let's say a bottomless pit (one that really fits that description, endless black abyss in a hole) was put right in the middle, or surrounding, a huge battle with a lot of enemies. Well, what then? You keep getting knocked into holes and the whole flow of the battle is interrupted as you are just spawned back up on the surface with minimal damage and a reminder that this is a game? They don't add anything when just put in out of the way areas, and it seems to me they would ruin the moment when tossed into situations where you really would be falling into them. So, ditch 'em!

That's all I'm saying. If they did keep them, then eh, whatever (so long as they are out of the way, as I described above, in the middle of battle would just be an annoyanec that would ruin the mood), and it's not hurting anything, so I'll still enjoy the game. I'm just attacking them not on the notion that they would ruin the game, but rather attacking them for what they are, and what they are not.

[Dark Jaguar]

Oh yes, a few more comments about the actual disk itself.

I'm just a bit shagrinned at exactly what we get for 5 games and a gamecube, just a bit since I did get 5 games and a Gamecube out of it :D.

What I mean is, considering that previously, 4 games and a Gamecube got you the Zelda collection, having to buy more to get a 5 minute demo of one game is a bit of a disappointment. Well, not really. I liked getting it :D. All I mean is, it's a downgrade from before is all. I guess what I'm getting at is, I hope they bring back the Zelda Collection deal so my friends can get a copy (they all, ALL, didn't register their gamecubes themselves, but then again from what I remember the site only mentioned buy a gamecube or register 4 games, not buy AND register 4 games, honestly I did it "just because").

Anyway, another thing. My friend now owns Pikmin 2 (and loves it), but turning it on, I see the same thing I saw when I turned on this demo. There's a frickin' "Read the precautions booklet" warning you have to press A to get rid of now. PLEASE tell me Nintendo isn't going to put this on ALL their new games from now on.

[A Black Falcon]

I've seen the Zelda Collection (with the two nes and n64 games) for sale in used game stores... but now I have all of those except Zelda 2 so it's not worth like $40... don't know if I've seen stores selling the one that included the master quest, though. That one I'd consider getting.

[Dark Jaguar]

The one with Master Quest only had Ocarina of Time on it, and MQ of course :D.

Anyway, it's rather odd for the price of these collections to increase rather than decrease :D.

[Great Rumbler]

Anyway, it's rather odd for the price of these collections to increase rather than decrease

Probably the main reason it's going up is because Nintendo isn't making any more of them.

[Dark Jaguar]

Gee, I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT! YOU'RE A BLOODY GENIUS YA FRICKIN' IDIOT!

[Great Rumbler]

Just pointing out an obvious truth. *is Captain Obvious*

[Dark Jaguar]

Then I guess it's time to use... THE CLAMPS!

[Great Rumbler]

Hey! If you don't settle down I've to get the leeches on you! And you won't like it!

[Dark Jaguar]

Leeches... pfft, nature's looser blood suckers... Oddly enough, they don't seem to like a fire poker in their side.