Unpopular Opinions about Video Games

[Xarpho's Return]

There was the GBA adapter for the GameCube, but in typical, faggoty Nintendo fashion games had to be whitelisted to work. Why? Fuck you.

The Game Boy Player I thought was fully compatible unless it was specially programmed not to. Looking at some examples:

- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and the DX version work, that was part of the gimmick of The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition (up until the DS games, you could play every Zelda game on the GameCube that way, if you accepted playing the GBA version of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I don't think any classic non-gimmick Game Boy game had issues with it.
- Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire had an extra feature that it could use the GameCube controller's rumble feature if played through the Game Boy Player.
- Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 had an extra feature that would change the game's palette to come closer to Super Mario All-Stars if played through the Game Boy Player.
- WarioWare: Twisted! technically worked but you couldn't actually play it unless you moved around the GameCube itself while it was plugged in (same with other gimmick cartridges like Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand)
- The only one I know that doesn't work is the Game Boy Advance Video series (the Nintendo Fandom Wiki also seems to agree that this is the only exception), which is pretty silly since the quality is ass to the ass degree. This has no filters but a CRT wouldn't help you and the video runs at like 10 fps.

I think of the PS2, DS Lite, and first generation Wii for why backwards compatibility is an underrated feature. Their massive libraries are expanded through backwards compatibility of their preceding consoles. Controllers and memory cards notwithstanding, there's no special whitelist, no dongles to buy, no configuration to set up. Just insert the disc or cartridge, press a button, boom, the system recognizes it out the box. I miss that.

Yeah. I remember the Xbox 360 wasn't actually backwards compatible with the original Xbox, either, it loaded up a special emulation layer (I think the PS3 might've been the same thing). If you have to load emulation it means it's no better than what a modern PC can do. There are ways to load up a real NES cartridge on your computer and play it on your computer that's not backwards compatibility, you're playing it through an emulator.

Many of the physical add-ons were that way because they had hardware inside of them, and half of those (including some of the very first adapters ever like the Mattel System Changer, allowing you to play Atari 2600 games on an Intellivision) were basically the full system inside of the device and just using the host device as a pass-through for power and a few other simple features.

edit: forgot to add screenshot

 

[The Last Stand]

Yeah. I remember the Xbox 360 wasn't actually backwards compatible with the original Xbox, either, it loaded up a special emulation layer (I think the PS3 might've been the same thing).

Older PS3 models had built in PS2 emulation, before shifting to software based emulation, and finally removing PS2 emulation entirely. I heard the Emotion chip from the PS2s were expensive to manufacture.

There are ways to load up a real NES cartridge on your computer and play it on your computer that's not backwards compatibility, you're playing it through an emulator.

I'm not against emulation like that, but adding backwards compatibility to consoles adds value to them.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

Older PS3 models had built in PS2 emulation, before shifting to software based emulation, and finally removing PS2 emulation entirely. I heard the Emotion chip from the PS2s were expensive to manufacture.


I'm not against emulation like that, but adding backwards compatibility to consoles adds value to them.

My point was software-based emulation that has to be whitelisted is not "real" backwards compatibility.

 

[The Ugly One]

(I think the PS3 might've been the same thing).

The PS3, as shipped, had nearly complete PS2 silicon on it. Neat feature, but cost Sony a ton of money while doing nothing for sales.

There were unlicensed adapters for the N64, but nothing official. There was the GBA adapter for the GameCube, but in typical, faggoty Nintendo fashion games had to be whitelisted to work. Why? Fuck you.

Eliminates an attack surface.

 

[The Foxtrot]

Yeah. I remember the Xbox 360 wasn't actually backwards compatible with the original Xbox, either, it loaded up a special emulation layer

Which is still perfectly acceptible.

(I think the PS3 might've been the same thing)

Older PS3 models had built in PS2 emulation,

Nope, the early PS3 models literally had the PS2's chips inside, hence why Sony was asking $600 for a PS3 at launch. You were basically paying for both a PS2 and a PS3 in one unit.

before shifting to software based emulation, and finally removing PS2 emulation entirely.

Which is also why the PS3's later models steeply dropped in price ; now they're using just the PS3's own hardware and the PS3 had a good size library of its own by that point.

I'm not against emulation like that, but adding backwards compatibility to consoles adds value to them.

It's the biggest reason I still have my Xbox One. I like being able to play "modern" games and my Xbox 360 classics, and my copy of the original Halo: Combat Evolved, all on one console. Even though I could do all this shit on my PC, there's just a different feeling to being on console in front of a TV, man...

 

[TheTitKoker]

there's just a different feeling to being on console in front of a TV, man...

Hell is stopping you from hooking up your comp to the said TV and couching it with wireless mkb?

 

[Dysnomia]

Older PS3 models had built in PS2 emulation, before shifting to software based emulation, and finally removing PS2 emulation entirely. I heard the Emotion chip from the PS2s were expensive to manufacture.

I have a super slim and was disappointed I couldn't play my PS2 games on it. Emulating isn't so bad even on this old potato. After messing with some settings there's only a few ignorable issues. But at the time I didn't know which PS3 was which. I just bought whatever Amazon had on sale new. This was years ago when the Super Slim was new. The ribbed plastic disc cover is a dust magnet and feels really cheap. The lip over the controller ports makes finding them in the dark a chore. So if your PS3 is pushed to the back of a shelf like mine is (thanks cats) you need a flashlight or really good memory of where the fuck you stick it in.

 

[The Ugly One]

Hell is stopping you from hooking up your comp to the said TV and couching it with wireless mkb?

My inability to read 10-point text from that far away and dislike of having a lapboard, keyboard, and mouse clutter.

 

[DavidS877]

My inability to read 10-point text from that far away and dislike of having a lapboard, keyboard, and mouse clutter.

Imagine not having a 92" screen.
Of course, then it's 4k and I still have to fix scaling.

 

[The Last Stand]

Monetizing cosmetics has turned into a double edged sword. On the one hand, you want your premium cosmetics outlandish so that people would think they're worth the asking price. Make them too extravagant, then they may clash with the original art design or even be a hinderance in gameplay.

Okay, so make them less crazy. Now, there's another problem. You expect people to pay money for, say, a mere color palette swap? Some games have tried that. Remember that cosmetics used to be free or unlocked through challenges.

The argument I used to hear is that "cosmetics could be earned through gameplay or they have no effect on gameplay." If cosmetics have no effect on gameplay, why pay for them? If they're JUST COSMETIC, then why do people buy them? Obviously, cosmetics have some value.

 

[The Backwards Man]

Tekken stopped being a good fighting game after Tekken 3. The franchise started to suck really hard with Tekken 6 when the franchise went online.

 

[The Last Stand]

Tekken stopped being a good fighting game after Tekken 3. The franchise started to suck really hard with Tekken 6 when the franchise went online.

As if it wasn’t inevitable.

 

[TheTitKoker]

Tekken stopped being a good fighting game after Tekken 3. The franchise started to suck really hard with Tekken 6 when the franchise went online.

5 then. Besides the game coming with all of the predecessor arcade modes, it was much more fluid before it started getting watered down with 7. I liked 6 perfectly fine, but 7 started to feel off.

 

[Billy the Adult]

Tekken stopped being a good fighting game after Tekken 3. The franchise started to suck really hard with Tekken 6 when the franchise went online.

Might as well say Tekken 3 was the only good entry. Tekken 1 is pretty damn rough, and Tekken 2 isn't that much different. I am curious why Tekken 3 though - Tekken 4's flaws are obvious, but TTT and T5 are normally held in pretty good regard.

Tekken 6 had much that can be considered flaws: from the obvious anime injection (see Lars + Alisa), the first combo extender with bound, a weird plot, and a mediocre campaign. I wouldn't consider adding online as a flaw since it would eventually happen, and at least back then its issues could be explained away by it being new. It hurt the local scene, but between fighting games niche status and the death of arcades, it was evolve or die.

 

[Cryptosporidium 138]

I said as much earlier in the Tekken thread but if we're talking about when it stopped being good i think it's 4. 4 had a lot of issues and was dogshit competitively, but as a casual game it WAS very fun. It felt the most grounded and sincere in terms of story and writing, it also still had respect for the characters. Paul and Law weren't jokes, Marduk wasn't a retarded rapist, more characters had shit happen than just the Mishima's. 4 had arguably the strongest ost alongside some of the most iconic costumes and stages as well as Tekken force.

Tekken 4 still had heart and treated its characters with care, compare 4 to 8

Touching ending about Paul remembering who he is after he lost his way.

Complete and utter joke, everything being played for laughs.

 

[The Foxtrot]

Hell is stopping you from hooking up your comp to the said TV and couching it with wireless mkb?

Because, as I said, that's not the same as playing on the actual console.

 

[StacticShock]

I said as much earlier in the thread but if we're talking about when it stopped being good i think it's 4. 4 had a lot of issues and was dogshit competitively, but as a casual game it WAS very fun. It felt the most grounded and sincere in terms of story and writing, it also still had respect for the characters. Paul and Law weren't jokes, Marduk wasn't a retarded rapist, more characters had shit happen than just the Mishima's. 4 had arguably the strongest ost alongside some of the most iconic costumes and stages as well as Tekken force.

i never really got any of that comp feeling from the old tekkens, they felt more like soul calibur minus the sword shit unless you picked yosh.

Touching ending about Paul remembering who he is after he lost his way.

Complete and utter joke, everything being played for laughs.

i partially blame street fighter V/VI but i blame the devs far more for going that low, probably under bandai's orders to try and get SF players but partially because of their own retardation and lack of respect for the older installations, which is kind of meh because many fighting games went that arc too if they weren't forgotten under some IP basement.

 

[TheTitKoker]

i never really got any of that comp feeling from the old tekkens

Up to 4 had to compete with Virtua Fighter that was the 3D Guilty Gear of its era, so to zero surprise. It's such a damn shame that Virtua Fighter ultimately failed considering it had the most tech ceiling in the 2.5D fighters.

 

[Franz Joseph]

Dark Souls sucks and there’s no good games in the souls “genre”.

The biggest unforgivable sin to lay at the Souls games is giving VaatiVidya a career.

 

[Nick Gars]

The argument I used to hear is that "cosmetics could be earned through gameplay or they have no effect on gameplay." If cosmetics have no effect on gameplay, why pay for them? If they're JUST COSMETIC, then why do people buy them? Obviously, cosmetics have some value.

In competitive games like a MOBA, I would argue certain skins do genuinely have an unintended gameplay value. Plenty of times I'm thrown for a loop on what character I'm facing because of skins I'm unfamiliar with making them look similar to another character. Most MOBA's have over 100 characters, so remembering every single move to a tee takes a fair deal of gameplay time.

The more expensive super flashy ones can have an advantage too, in that they're so fucking flashy and over the top that you can't tell whats actually going on. Mages with flashy skin like this are the worst, as they have a lot of "area" attacks with large animations that get even bigger and flashier with premium skins.

As you said though, double edge sword. No ones paying $5 for a palate swap, but they'll pay $10-$20 to give their waifu a goonerbait or mech-suit skin.