The Video Game Critic

[QUOTE=Alienblue]Um, guys...a message from the OLD man here. The NES D-pad was NOT an original idea. The D-pad first appeard on Nintendo GAME&WATCH handhelds in the early 80's, before the NES was made. Innovation? More like necessity. For a tiny, flat LCD game Nintendo COULDN'T put a "normal" joystick on the unit. Also, many other early, tiny LCD watch games had to use d-pad configuration buttons. The D-pad isn't much different then the cursor keys on a keyboard or the Intellivision Disc (though obviously much improved over the latter)... so, the D-pad was a slow EVOLUTION not a REVOLUTION. Ok kids, that videogame history 101 for today. For homework, what was Mario's original name in Donkey kong? [/QUOTE]

I think he was just called 'the jumpman'.  If I'm right, do I win a prize?

- Mark

[QUOTE=Alienblue]Um, guys...a message from the OLD man here. The NES D-pad was NOT an original idea. The D-pad first appeard on Nintendo GAME&WATCH handhelds in the early 80's, before the NES was made. Innovation? More like necessity. For a tiny, flat LCD game Nintendo COULDN'T put a "normal" joystick on the unit. Also, many other early, tiny LCD watch games had to use d-pad configuration buttons. The D-pad isn't much different then the cursor keys on a keyboard or the Intellivision Disc (though obviously much improved over the latter)... so, the D-pad was a slow EVOLUTION not a REVOLUTION. Ok kids, that videogame history 101 for today. For homework, what was Mario's original name in Donkey kong? [/QUOTE]

Hmmm... I played handheld games since way back, especially self-contained ones, and having a small joystick was not a problem for some models.  I don't remember their names, but I definitely remember them.  I think the D-Pad was definitely an innovation, even if it were on a handheld.

I remember getting so used to playing Super Mario Bros. in the arcade using a joystick and when I got the NES with its D-Pads I was so disappointed, but over time, I got to where I was far more precise on that than I ever was previously on a joystick.  To bad the game wasn't as good as the arcade version

O.K, you guys are running a little dry on hardware inovatioins/gimmicks, how  'bout some software ones?

Big innovation - 3-d camera on Mario 64. Sure, it ain't perfect, but it layed out a hell of a blueprint for every 3-d game that followed.

Big innovation - Goldeneye controls on N64. I am not a big shooter fan, but that game rocked on so many levels. Great level design, and how many control options did Rare give us for that game? I loved 1.2 the best, but they even had a mode where you could use 2 controllers at once and have dual analog sticks. Rare worked their butts off on that game, and how many people were dissapointed buying the EA Bond games, trying in vain to recapture that magic?

Big gimmic - blowing into the mic to inflate ballons on Mario Kart DS battle mode. It is a pain in the butt and does not fit at all. How stupid. Too many DS games tack on stupid meaniless features like that, the stylus/mic are awesome on games like Nintendogs, Brain Age, etc, but just pathetic when forced to do something differently and worse. But Nintendo really puts the screws to people to incorporate that crap, and so they do.

Big gimmic - blowing into the mic to inflate ballons on Mario Kart DS battle mode. It is a pain in the butt and does not fit at all.

No PC, I think you are wrong, it is a BIG gimmic. Does it ruin the whole game? Of course not. But it is a completely useless feature tacked on to say, "Hey, we used the mic on Mario Kart!"

Big gimmic - blowing into the mic to inflate ballons on Mario Kart DS battle mode. It is a pain in the butt and does not fit at all.

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I agree that it sucks, but i don't think that it qualifies as a gimmick.  i didn't buy that game or have interest because of that.  It just seems more like an idea or experiement that didn't work.

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You do realize you don't have to play battle mode right Paul? There are 32 tracks in that game (16 past tracks) and a great new challenge mode that require no blowing on the mic. And if you have a DS Lite blowing in the mic is really easy, so it doesn't actually hurt battle mode. In fact, while I don't like blowing into the mic, I do like the strategy that being able to decide how many balloons you have at once brings, so it has its benefits, too.

Big gimmic - blowing into the mic to inflate ballons on Mario Kart DS battle mode. It is a pain in the butt and does not fit at all.

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I agree that it sucks, but i don't think that it qualifies as a gimmick.  i didn't buy that game or have interest because of that.  It just seems more like an idea or experiement that didn't work.

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You do realize you don't have to play battle mode right Paul? There are 32 tracks in that game (16 past tracks) and a great new challenge mode that require no blowing on the mic. And if you have a DS Lite blowing in the mic is really easy, so it doesn't actually hurt battle mode. In fact, while I don't like blowing into the mic, I do like the strategy that being able to decide how many balloons you have at once brings, so it has its benefits, too.