The Shrine

<div style='font: 12pt Arial; text-align: left; '>First, they took the ONLY two games from our favorite exploration genre (Super Metroid and Castlevania:SOTN) and gave them brilliant 2D sequels. Only problem is, both of them went solely to GameBoy Advance (Castlevania:CotM and Metroid_4). Now some RPG series and such are following suit... making the 2D sequels just for GBA and the 3D ones for PS2. Ugh.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt Helvetica; text-align: left; '>When's Metroid 4 come out over here?</div>

<div style='font: 9pt Arial; text-align: left; '>Kind of ironic, though, because simple games like Bust-A-Move are still being made for the PS2.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>I think there are like three games in my PSX game library that are 2D, and two of them are Lunar and that's because they never revamped the graphic engine.

I don't care if it's 2D or 3D or 10D, as long as it looks nice, it looks nice, and the 3D stuff currently looks nicer than the 2D stuff.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light"; text-align: left; '>I don't care what anybody says, but C:SotN was the shit and is still the shit, graphics and otherwise. Konami and Capcom has proven time and time again that while 3D looks all pretty with smooth backgrounds and such, 2D is always more colorful.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light"; text-align: left; '>I sense an interesting plan from the GameCube: Make a compatibility device for the GBA.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>Yes I hear all these people saying how good it is, but its sales weren't exactly stellar. o matter how hard everyone tries to brush the sales issue, it is a good indicator of the game's quality. If it's really that good, how come it wasn't bought in large quantities? Pokemon, last time I checked, is 2D, and it's the biggest gaming franchise out there, so don't tell me people are shunning it just because it's 2D. The entire handheld market is 2D and games are certainly selling well there.

As for Capcom, there is absolutely nothing impressive about the graphics of MvC2. The gameplay is not different enough to be considered revolutionary, more like the old SF system with some new stuff in it. Megaman X5 didn't even get that many good reviews even from its most hardcore fans.</div>

<div style='font: 9pt arial; text-align: justify; '>Regardless, I still play C: SotN more than any other game I own, period. From my own perspective, that's a mark of extra high quality.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt ; text-align: left; '>I believe the term is "sleeper hit" a great game that doesn't sell well. Yes they do exist.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt "Arial bold"; text-align: left; '>Yeah, it's called the GBA-GameCube link cable. You can link up 4 GBAs to the 'Cube</div>

<div style='font: 10pt Verdana, Tahoma; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>Bullshit. A game's sales have no impact on MY enjoyment of a game, and that's all I really care about. That game devliered and then some.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>Castlevania isn't exactly a no namer</div>

<div style='font: 11pt ; text-align: left; '>The term is given to the game itself not the francise.</div>

<div style='font: 14pt "Times New Roman"; text-align: left; '>The key phrase here is "mass market appeal" Some games have it, some don't, but it is completely independent of game quality.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt "Arial bold"; text-align: left; '>Castlevania became a hit after it was released. That's why it's not the easiest game to find anymore. Also, because the casual gamer shuns 3D. MMX5 got a lot of poor reviews due almost exclusively to the fact it had no anime cutscenes and no voices.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt "Arial bold"; text-align: left; '>Sleeper hits are games that sell well through word of mouth or after the fact and didn't have much hype or great sales off the bat. Mega Man 2 was another example.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt "arial narrow"; text-align: left; padding: 0% 5% 0% 5%; '>There's no direct relationship between game quality and sales. Look at every N64 launch title. Shit like Cruisin' USA sold over a million copies.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>That's what you get for slashing budget</div>

<div style='font: 12pt Baskerville; text-align: left; '><i>...or we might not have gotten anything. 2D, while far from a dying format, has definitely become a niche format. Castlevania didn't prove them wrong, it was just a bump in the road. A hiccup created by a major developer with an itch to scratch. The GBA, due to its architecture, provides a home for 2D.

The PS2, Gamecube and X-Box are not 2D systems, I don't care how much RAM they have. It'd probably be much more costly to produce a 2D game on those systems than a 3D game because of how they are built. 3D has reached and has probably already gone far beyond the mass saturation point, and the systems reflect that. 2D on the major consoles will be even rarer in the next gen because of this...only really big franchises (or rather big developers with the chutzpah and moolah, like Capcom or Konami, to hold tradition higher than money) will see 2D versions beyond the PlayStation. If not for the GBA, I doubt Castlevania: CotM would have even been made...unless it was 3D.

The majority will seek 2D dollars on the GBA or GBC. It is still a business remember. 2D will go on because Nintendo wants it to, and who can blame them? They're raking it in. And by keeping the GBA primarily 2D, they get more games that will be unique on GBA in terms of visuals and play mechanics. They'll get hardcore 2D fanatics AND they'll get the nuts that have to own every version of Tony Hawk or Madden or Castlevania. By the time a new Game Boy comes out, 2D will be completely dead as it will be a completely 3D system and I doubt even Capcom will be making 2D games by then.

But will we even care by then? I doubt it. Even at this I point I think what they're doing in 3D is as beautiful and colorful and tight as 2D. And the generation after this one will be even more powerful...where the imagination of the developer is the only limit on what can be displayed. I'll embrace that future as strongly as I embraced Super Mario Bros, Sonic, Metroid and Street Fighter...because let's all admit it, none of us think about this shit when we're really into the game, do we?</i></div>

<div style='font: 11pt ; text-align: left; '>Haven't seen you in a while bro, where ya been?</div>

<div style='font: 12pt Baskerville; text-align: left; '>...<i>offline for a bit (between work and play I had little time for the net) but I have some more free time now. I just got the new URL from Zeus last night...I thought Sine had finally snapped and SNAFU'd the joint, but ya'll just moved without telling me <b><big><big>:</big></b>^<i>)</i></big>

I'm gonna try and be here fairly regularly, taking up server space with my long winded nonsense, dishing out half-assed psychology with a sly grin, spouting a healthy dose of biting sarcasm, and flaunting my high minded know-it-allness with general aplomb. It's nice to know you always have friends you can fuck with that aren't within arms reach <b><big><big>;</big></b>^<i>)</i></big></i></div>

<div style='font: 12pt Arial; text-align: left; '>Wish I knew, I'll hafta try and check up on it.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt Arial; text-align: left; '>Exactly! Advertising and limited choices can lead to high game sales... while having TOO MANY choices (like on PSX) can lead to low sales for some phenominal games.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt Arial; text-align: left; '>Exactly. I musta gone through it a dozen times... and still not remotely bored of it. If I'd known how much enjoyment it'd bring me... I woulda payed a lot more for it if needed.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt Arial; text-align: left; '>First of all, MvC2 is very impressive graphically. But even then, I don't care... I care that Capcom's three series (Zero3, SF3, and MvC2) are giving us unparalleled gameplay. The 3D fighters play like shit compared to them... regardless of how they look.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt Arial; text-align: left; '>As Zeus said, the GameCube linkup is already a confirmed accessory. It is also part of why I bought my GameBoy Advance so soon.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light"; text-align: left; '>Exactly!</div>

<div style='font: 11pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light"; text-align: left; '>Your opinion is overrated!</div>

<div style='font: 10pt "arial narrow"; text-align: left; padding: 0% 5% 0% 5%; '>Amen, you old bastid.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt Verdana, Tahoma; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>I think this is the first time I've seen someone use "aplomb" in a sentence.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light"; text-align: left; '>Hey now...it's not Esque without some sexy chick in the footer.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt Baskerville; text-align: left; '>...<i>that's still a work in progress. I will put one in when I'm finally inspired by something I see. Definitely looking for some artwork this time. Been scrounging through my Soroyama and Vallejo archives but nothing has struck me yet...at least nothing that could still be put up here and not get people fired for looking at them at work <big><big>8^0</big></big>~~~

...I'll find something eventually.</i></div>