TSM Episode 274: Australian Duck Hunt

By Lusipurr
2014.06.02

Its well-known mating cry sounds like a cross between a raging buffalo and a pub's last-call bell.

An Australian Duck in Its Natural Habitat

Download: Produced 2014.06.01

Life is like a hurricane when Lusipurr and Bup travel to Australia for an afternoon of bird-watching with local bush scout SiliconNooB. After a trip involving race cars, lasers, and aeroplanes, the panelists solve a mystery–and rewrite history. Crikey!

***BUP DONATION CHALLENGE***
Bup has laid down a donation challenge: if Lusipurr.com receives a total of $100 in donations to the site in the month of June, Bup has promised to star on a podcast where he will be entirely serious: no jokes, no off-hand remarks, no irrelevant discourse, no distracting noises. Should he fail in any least degree, he will himself donate $100 to Lusipurr.com!

Readers, we need your help to Make Bup Pay Up: donate today by clicking the button on the right hand side of the page, and help us raise $100 in June!

June Donation Tally: $25
DiceAdmiral, FIRST donator!

33 Comments

DiceMidshipman
Posted 2014.06.02 at 15:28 | Permalink

Life is like an Info Blast

This week’s panel
Bup
Silicon Noob
Lusipurr

Features: No feature
Maybe we should do an MK8 play-through?

Cricket new
ECB confidentiality clause
This is pretty amusing.

Reading Rainbow on Consoles
But you don’t have to take my word for it, click the link
I’m very excited that this is back. I dunno if I’d ever watch it, but it’s nice for kids.

Japanese world cup Jersey
The official team jerseys do not appear to have Pikachu on them, only the fan jerseys. Still silly, but not worse than those weird animals that were the mascots of the Canadian olympics a few years back.

1001 spikes on Wii U/3DS

Gamecube Controller adapter for Wii U.
Fantastic! The Gamecube has a great controller. The wavebird is amazing. Gamecube is ideal for Smash Bros, with it’s A button centric gameplay. I also have large hands and prefer to have the buttons and left stick in the positions that the GCN and 360 controllers have them. I’d like to use a wavebird for MK8 too. You only really need two triggers, A and the left stick, so why not make the A button accessible. I It’s a shame that I bought a Wii U pro controller the day before this was announced. Oh well. It still works well for MK8. Are there functionality differences between the Gamecube and Wii U pro controllers? Is there a reason that they couldn’t have adapted VC Gamecube games to be able to use the pro controller?

Mario Kart 8 Split screen
I had exactly the same question, that annoyed me a lot. Maybe they can patch it? See my Brettsuo Gaming moment for more thoughts on MK8.

Pikmin 3 control updates
I own this game, but still haven’t played it. At least this will be in place when I get around to it.

Ratchet and Clank collection on PSVita
The Lusipurr.com MetaReview database sounds like it runs on punch cards

Watchdogs review copy results in bomb squad
What an idiotic way to send out games

King.com revenues surpass total Nintendo games
blugh, what a sad commentary on the industry.

Sony paying for indie devs to attend TGS
Good for them.

Imitanis Literature corner
Candide
“With the aid of medicine and blood-letting, Candide’s illness became serious.”
That is hilarious.
This is truly the best of all possible podcast segments.

DiceAdmiral’s Brettsuo Gaming Moment
I finally returned to video games this week, though only briefly. I played Mario Kart 8. I enjoyed it quite a lot despite some things that don’t work as well as they should or previously have.
The first annoyance was that you can’t play 2 player across a TV and the gamepad. It requires split screen on both, which stinks. The second annoyance is that they removed track times from the post-race screen in Grand Prix mode, which I didn’t much care for. I enjoyed seeing how massively I’d crushed the AI. I dunno if MK7 removed motorcycle wheelies prior to this, but I missed those a little. Finally, the anti-gravity sections really don’t do all that much when the entire track is that way, but is a little interesting when there are sides that you can drive up on. I also don’t care for the single item limit now. Previously, you could drag an item AND have one in your cache, but no longer, boo.

Things that I do like: Being knocked off of the track does not knock you out for nearly as long as it has previously, which is nice. I’ve only retrieved the super horn once, so I can’t comment on its effectiveness as a defense against blue shells (which have returned to their N64 version in which they hit everyone on the way to 1st place). I would think that since I spent most of my time in first place and primarily received coin items that it really won’t be that effective of a defense as it’s too difficult to get in a position where you would actually need it.

I expect to return to D&D this weekend, so we may find out what happens to the intrepid party in the demolished town surrounded by hordes of the undead.

Hurray out-takes! Those were some pretty great out-takes. Good stuff.
P.S. I’m not sure why @Lusipurr asked his followers to follow me on Twitter, but thanks for the shout out I guess. I’m not sure if I’ll ever Tweet anything, but if I do, they’ll totally see it.
P.P.S. I was very tempted to link every possible news story to Kotaku, but didn’t *this time*.
Lusipurr
Posted 2014.06.02 at 16:13 | Permalink

@Dice~~Admiral~~Midshipman writes:

not worse than those weird animals that were the mascots of the Canadian olympics a few years back
I think those were just shapes with faces, right? Who knows–or cares to remember?

The Gamecube has a great controller
You’re an idiot. You are hereby demoted to DiceMidshipman.

“Is there a reason that they couldn’t have adapted VC Gamecube games to be able to use the pro controller?”
None whatsoever. They’ve done this before with their ported games as well (Zelda: Wind Waker HD, for example).

(Re. Mario Kart 8 split screen): Maybe they can patch it?
Unlikely. And even if they could, they wouldn’t.

The Lusipurr.com MetaReview database sounds like it runs on punch cards
The punch card machine was cheap, and I have a large supply of cheap labour–so, it’s the perfect solution.

they removed track times from the post-race screen in Grand Prix
I was very upset about this as well. And, I am upset that they put the race map on the gamepad ONLY. Stupid decisions.

I’ve only retrieved the super horn once, so I can’t comment on its effectiveness as a defense against blue shells (which have returned to their N64 version in which they hit everyone on the way to 1st place)
You use it when the blue shell is swirling around you about to hit you. It basically radiates a field that destroys all items and knocks out all players nearby. Super-easy to use.
Incidentally, the Blue-Shell does not automatically hit everyone on the way to first place. It stays more or less in the middle of the track on its way to 1st, and if a player is in its way it will hit them. If you are off to the side, it’ll fly past you harmlessly. I generally see them go whizzing by after I’ve been hit by ten items in a row and I’m in 8th place trying to catch up.

I would think that since I spent most of my time in first place and primarily received coin items that it really won’t be that effective of a defense as it’s too difficult to get in a position where you would actually need it.
You can get it whilst in first place, but it’s a rare item. And, being hit by a lightning bolt removes it. So, even holding onto it is no guarantee.

I was very tempted to link every possible news story to Kotaku, but didn’t *this time*.
The only rank below Midshipman is BANNED. :E
DiceMidshipman
Posted 2014.06.02 at 17:01 | Permalink

@Lusi: I know you love the Dual Shock, but that controller is just not comfortable for me. It feels too small and light in my hands and I don’t find the controls to be in easily accessible locations. I’ve got big ol’ monster hands and the gamecube is comfortable. This is the main reason I upgraded to a 3DS XL, to provide a larger control surface.
Lusipurr
Posted 2014.06.02 at 17:05 | Permalink

@DiceMidshipman: The Gamecube controller is too small for my bony, feminine hands. It must be about the size of a lozenge with your sausage fingers. The build quality is terrible, the sticks and D-pad are genuinely awful, and the button layout is not convenient or comfortable. Are you seriously claiming that the X and Y buttons are comfortable to press, let alone the moronic Z-shoulder button?

Don’t confuse the fun you have playing a game with the controller that you used to play it. I loved playing the original Smash Bros., but that wasn’t because of how AWESOME the N64 controller is. Being good at a game with a particular controller doesn’t mean that the controller is, itself, good.
DiceAbleSeaman
Posted 2014.06.02 at 17:25 | Permalink

I’m well aware that quality of game != quality of controller. I really do like the gamecube controller regardless of the game. Most games center around the A button, and that’s where my thumb naturally rests anyways, so it’s not too out of the way to press X or Y.

Regarding rank: My rank and command were not granted by you, nor do you have the authority to remove them. Your internet powers hold no sway over my Dice Fleet.
Lusipurr
Posted 2014.06.02 at 17:31 | Permalink

@DiceAbleSeaman: You’re in my waters, m’boy.
DiceRecruit
Posted 2014.06.02 at 17:35 | Permalink

Pish. I spit in your waters. DiceFleet! Set sail!
Lusipurr
Posted 2014.06.02 at 17:38 | Permalink

I doubt any fleet worth its salt would listen to the commands of a lubberly recruit like yourself!
Ferchu
Posted 2014.06.02 at 20:12 | Permalink

ok, I admit it. I never played mario kart for snes . I can not wait for the podcast with nate trying to be serious, but the real gem will be that Lusipurr is going to be less inclined to maintain order and more inclined to being ¨chaotic¨ and that’s something to looking for.

It is true that kotaku is bad, but sometimes is so bad like a traffic accident and it’s hard not to stop and look, like watching a really bad movie with bad acting (street fighter) xD . The few times I go there, I use adblock anyways, don’t want to give them money .

I used to have a gamecube controller when I had the wii and never had problems, granted I used it to play only smash brothers so it’s not like I used the controller with a lot of games. I don’t know about the n64 controller, never had a nintendo 64 .

My gaming moment: playing earthbound for the first time and it’s awesome.

I am curious to know if any of you remember the first nintendo power issue you had .
Ferchu
Posted 2014.06.02 at 20:31 | Permalink

the guy who bought the cricket game pulled the rug under you Lusipurr . I can’t believe someone stole that game you wanted to buy xD .The culprit was a reader or a friend? dum dum dum
Lusipurr
Posted 2014.06.02 at 21:41 | Permalink

@Ferchu writes:

ok, I admit it. I never played mario kart for snes .
SHAME ON YOU.

The few times I go there, I use adblock anyways, don’t want to give them money .
Giving them attention is worse than giving them money. Don’t give them the hits. Don’t talk about them.

I am curious to know if any of you remember the first nintendo power issue you had .
Issue No. 1. It had a claymation Mario on the cover and was about Super Mario Bros. 2 (US).

Earthbound is fantastic.
Ferchu
Posted 2014.06.02 at 22:17 | Permalink

The game I wanted to play when it came out was turtles in time for the snes, I had a sega genesis because it was cheaper . I have a lot of games to play in the snes games department . For example, I never played Final fantasy (ff3 in usa) and neither secret of mana .

I am beginning to read the nintendo power magazines and the magazines we got in argentina were not like this at all. It has a ton of info about the games (the nintendo power magazines).
Andrew 'Mel' Melcon
Posted 2014.06.03 at 03:01 | Permalink

butts
LegendaryApple
Posted 2014.06.03 at 15:39 | Permalink

Watch Dogs is a silly game, and I have no further use for it now that Mario Kart 8 has blown it out of my mind.

I like that they are making a Gamecube controller adapter, but I’m not like one of those silly people who refuse to play Smash Brothers if they don’t make it available. I was very willing to use the Pro Controller (and still might). What makes me happy is that I won’t have to memorize new controls as I had grown quite accustomed to using the Gamecube controller on Smash.
Lusipurr
Posted 2014.06.03 at 15:42 | Permalink

@LegendaryApple I have heard so little about Watch Dogs–But I was never going to play it anyway, so it is all sound and fury to me.

I will play Smash Wii U with the pro controller. It’s Nintendo’s most solid controller since the SNES era. Good (if not exceptional) build quality, responsive buttons, good placement, reasonable size, etc. Battery life is good, too. We have two of them and use them more than the gamepad. In fact, I usually turn the gamepad off and just use the Pro Controllers.
LegendaryApple
Posted 2014.06.03 at 16:11 | Permalink

I have a feeling that I will end up using the pro controller as I also use it for most of my games. I bought four of them so I try to put them to good use. My friends don’t have a Wii U, so I had to make sure we were fully supplied for multiplayer mayhem. If the adapter ends up being pricy, I probably won’t buy it… Unless they announce Virtual Console Gamecube games and state that they can only be played with the Gamecube controllers (which may not be the best idea).
Lusipurr
Posted 2014.06.03 at 16:14 | Permalink

I would be REALLY surprised if they announced that VC games can *only* be played with GCN controllers, but I expect that GCN controllers will be an option for them.

I still have two GCN controllers that I use on my Wii when playing GCN games. What I think is exceptionally dirty is that the Wii U has the hardware necessary to play GCN games, but that they have simply disabled the ability of popping a GCN disc into the system and going from there. Deliberately hobbled so that they can re-sell us games we already own. Dirty, dirty, dirty.
LegendaryApple
Posted 2014.06.03 at 16:17 | Permalink

That’s more than a little insidious.
Ferchu
Posted 2014.06.03 at 17:37 | Permalink

@Mel- butts indeed xD
Lusipurr
Posted 2014.06.04 at 14:24 | Permalink

I think $100 in donations for the entire month of June is entirely possible. Who will step up to the plate and make the first donation? C’mon people–let’s rob Bup of some money!
DiceAdmiral
Posted 2014.06.04 at 15:54 | Permalink

When you say that the Wii U has the hardware for GCN games, do you mean the correct type of processors or are you referring to the disc drive? I ask, because Nintendo actually patented the dual size drive for the Wii to accept both disc types and I could see that hardware being left out of Wii U.
Lusipurr
Posted 2014.06.04 at 15:58 | Permalink

I am referring to the correct processors. I do not know if the Wii U has the correct type of drive (although I suspect that it does not).

Of course, they could have put a dual-drive in it. But they chose not to do that, because it would have eaten into the margins still further.

Maybe they should have left the display-controller out, since NO GAME SEEMS TO USE THAT. Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.
DiceAdmiral
Posted 2014.06.04 at 17:13 | Permalink

They would also have had to include controller ports and memory card slots. It would have changed the internal structure of the box quite a lot. Aside from the lack of strong adoption of the gamepad screen (or dumb implementation like MK8), I’m pretty happy with the Wii U hardware capabilities and don’t mind keeping my old Wii or Gamecube around to play those games. I still have my N64 in a closet somewhere.
Lusipurr
Posted 2014.06.04 at 17:22 | Permalink

@DA: To be sure–that’s why I still have my original launch Wii.

With regard to the memory card, they could easily have done what the PS3 did, and allow you to buy a little memory card connector that plugs in with a USB cord if you want it. That’s right up Nintendo’s peripheral-fixated alley, that is.

There should be no reason whatsoever why Gamecube controllers can’t be remapped directly to old-style Wii Classic Controllers and, later, Wii U Pro Controllers, using a very simple low-latency software layer. That would solve the issue of ports.

The Wii U would have done much better without the touchscreen controller. IT would have been cheaper, would have sold more units, and wouldn’t have been as confusing for developers to leverage. And then we’d (presumably) still have a COURSE MAP on the screen in Mario Kart 8–a game which niggles me more with every passing day.

Super Mario Kart (SNES) is still the definitive entry in the series. And, with Nintendo’s doctrinal adherence to a ‘one step forward, two leaps back’ system of development, it looks like it will remain so for the foreseeable future.
DiceAdmiral
Posted 2014.06.04 at 17:27 | Permalink

I have to wonder if some of the development oversights in this game are because Nintendo pushed the development to try and sell more consoles. I hope that similar problems don’t strike Smash Bros. That would be a sincere tragedy.
Lusipurr
Posted 2014.06.04 at 17:32 | Permalink

@DA: I was discussing this with Mel and we were considering the same thing. There are many elements of MK which appear sloppy, half-done, or simply absent. Poor course selection in the classic courses, no clock (in a RACING GAME!), course map only on the gamepad, no screen-specific play (p1 on gamepad, p2 on tv), very unfulfilling new version of Rainbow Road, no discrete item controls, utterly ruined/absent battle mode…

These are not things that would have been allowed out the door at Nintendo of Old. I think the fear was that it would be calamitous to have a delay on system’s the only significant game until Christmas–and, they are perhaps right about that, but perhaps not. I don’t think it would have affected sales appreciably, to have a delay. But I also don’t know that it affected sales appreciably not to have it. Instead, it just erodes their brand a little farther–not something really visible in the short-term world of individual game sales.
DiceAdmiral
Posted 2014.06.04 at 18:18 | Permalink

What do you mean discrete item controls? Do you mean that you can’t drag an item and get a new one? My biggest track complaint is that they finally put the N64 Rainbow Road (one of my favorite tracks ever) into the classic tracks and they split it in 3 so that you only get one lap of the whole course.

A lot of these things also look like Nintendo is worried about shaming/hurting the feelings of newer players. If someone sees that they were a whole minute behind other players then that might kinda suck, and giving a long course would allow slower drivers to be lapped and/or fall minutes behind. Blah. I’m still having fun with MK8, but that’s basically because I enjoy Mario Kart in general, despite several faults.
Ferchu
Posted 2014.06.04 at 18:18 | Permalink

DA- Did you see the mortal kmobat x trailer? I just wander why they choose that horrible music .
Ferchu
Posted 2014.06.04 at 18:19 | Permalink

I just wonder*
Lusipurr
Posted 2014.06.04 at 18:31 | Permalink

@DA: No, by discrete controls, I mean that you cannot turn off (or control) specific items. You can choose different ‘sets’ of items (no items, mushrooms only, shells only (all kinds), etc.), but you have no granular controls. And this, despite the fact that granular item controls are available in EVERY Smash Bros. game, and that people have been asking for them in Mario Kart since the N64 era (if not before).

There’s no reason not to have discrete item controls in Mario Kart. It’s stupid not to have them; it is even stupider to implement some sort of half-assed broad, set-based item controls like they have done. It shows that they can do it, but they’re not willing to put in the minimal time to do it properly.

The change about not being able to drag items whilst holding another item is, in fact, a good change. It was an unbalanced advantage before, which made items that could be dragged MASSIVELY more powerful and useful than items that could not (such as boost mushrooms). In effect, getting a boost mushroom was almost like getting nothing at all, because having a drag item means having an item in hand AND being able to have another useful item in the kitty; whereas a boost item is only useful in particular places and it means not having another item whilst you reach that location.

The change brings the usefulness of common items closer together. And, it seems clear this was on their minds given that every map has places where boosts can be used to take seconds-saving shortcuts. They want boosts to be more relevant, and now they are–to the point that they are at least competitive at some level.
Lusipurr
Posted 2014.06.04 at 18:33 | Permalink

Oh, to address a question from before, no, we will not be doing a Mario Kart 8 playthrough. XD
Lusipurr
Posted 2014.06.07 at 21:11 | Permalink

***REMINDER***
TSM Episode 275 will go up late on Monday evening, because Ethos won’t be arriving here until that evening.
Ferchu
Posted 2014.06.09 at 15:16 | Permalink

Final fantasy type 0 translation was released!!!

Tell your friends!

33 Comments