Friday, December 9, 2011

Fortune Street

From now on, whenever I'm feeling down in the dumps about the future of the gaming medium, I'll just try and remember that there's a game where the Mario and DragonQuest characters can play a version of Monopoly against one another... and that someone at Nintendo decided "what the hell, let's bring it Stateside!"



I feel like this is the sort of franchise (there's been a few of these in Japan already) that would've become kind of a "cult classic" in the West if it had come out in the PS2/GC era. Wonder if it actually sells decently here now, just on the Mario brand factor?

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dragon Quest, while not as big as it is in Japan, is still pretty popular here. Probably just behind Final Fantasy as popular JRPGs go.

KevinCV said...

There are other games in that series, Bob. They were coming out for the DS and such. However, they never came out over here til now. My girlfriend and I can't wait to play it. XD

nullhypothesis said...

So, it's basically the Tycoon Town level from Mario Party 8 getting its own spinoff... and guest starring Dragon Quest?

Count me in.

ScrewAttackSamus said...

just be prepared for a slow pace.

HolyJunkie said...

First Marvel Vs. Capcom, then Tatsu-can't pronounce it Vs. Capcom, then Pheonix Wright Vs. Layton, now this.

Keep up the insanity, Japan! Even in the face of Armageddon!

Anonymous said...

what is this I don't even

Unknown said...

Amusing, for somebody that sure hates FPS's quite fervently, you don't seem at all phased at another Nintendo party game starring their poster child, Mario.

But I digress. Different strokes for different folks. :/

Mads said...

Yes. Because the one thing that can shine a bright light on the future of the gaming medium and really cheer you up, is the retheming and digitalisation of a board game from 1934, to fit with the designs of a 1985 video game crossed with the design of a 1986 video game.

Because that's exactly the kind of thing we want from the future of gaming. Rehashing of overexposed, overused, and beaten-to-death characters and mechanics, repackaged and sold as though they're new.

Or as mr. anonymous said:
What is this I don't even

Anonymous said...

@ Mads

I'll thank you not to associate me with your tired 'ur just wearing ur nostalgia goggles lol' drivel.

ScrewAttackSamus said...

@Anonymous

Which was probably blatantly plagiarized from Yahtzee or some boring troll anyway

Anubis C. Soundwave said...

@ any and all detractors:

I like the Mario series. I like Mario Party. I like Monopoly. I know what Dragon Quest is.

Seriously: Mario Party + Monopoly featuring Dragon Quest. If I had the cash, I'd probably buy this game.

Antonio Black said...

Donkey Kong AND Diddy Kong??

You know what? I'm buying it. And they'll be the only characters I play as.

JodeciDeion:TheWon said...

This is a I'll scratch you back, and you scratch mine. Nintendo helpes support this game, and they get more DragonQuest back home. Also the figure that the Mario Party fanbase would be help to try something different, but similar.

nullhypothesis said...

So, Bob, are you going to touch on the VGAs?

ScrewAttackSamus said...

@Sylocat

The VGAs don't give a shit about their awards so I don't think we should give them any attention. The only reason to be concerned is due to trailers and those can be watched online anyway

Mads said...

actually, mr anonymous, I simply borrowed used the same phrase you used.

I don't see how that associates you to my drivel.

Also, that wasn't the point. I don't care that this game is a huge standstill for the medium. That's fine.

I care that someone somehow thinks it's the future of the medium, or that this spells good things for the future of the medium.

It doesn't; it's fundamentally nostalgia driven, but I don't see a problem with it, and I understand why you'd be excited if you're into that kind of thing.

But call it what it bloody well is.

Trilliandi said...

@Mads And all of that is opposed to... what exactly? Show me this supposed game Messiah that's apparently doing a bit of a difference that you can compare this to please.

Mads said...

Bastion. Minecraft. Batman: Arkham Asylum. Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Left 4 dead 1. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Uplink. King Arthur: The roleplaying Wargame. Magicka. Terraria. Fucking SPORE. Mount and Blade. Mirrors Edge. Frozen Synapse. Flotilla. Bully.

These are all examples of games that move gaming and storytelling forward, in one way or another. Do something unique. Illustrate that you don't have to rely on ageold licenses, or copying the latest trend, in order to sell.

I'm not saying derivative games are bad, I'm just saying they're derivative, and if somethings the definition of derivative, it would have to be yet another monopoly game. A Mario Monopoly game has to be one of the safest cash-in titles you can imagine.

None of the games I mentioned were ever safe, by any means. They were all risks, because they all did something different.

Trilliandi said...

You like the use of derivative so much that I felt inclined to look it up to make sure we were talking about the same word.

'Loosely speaking, a derivative can be thought of as how much one quantity is changing in response to changes in some other quantity'

Now, it's strange. I don't remember using investing... or stocks... or any Mini-Games, in my Monopoly games. Not even the digital one.

Yes I can admit it resembles Monopoly in small aspects, but they are indeed small, and throwing a word at something five times over doesn't make you seem right.

On a side note, you talk of using beaten to death characters and at the same time refference Batman. You wanna do the math on who's older between Mario and Batman? I'll wait here.

Mads said...

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/derivative

You'll notice that the topmost definition of its use as an adjective is "derived", which, if you follow through and look at the topmost definition of the verb derive:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/derive

will tell you that, when used with an object (the object of our discussion was this mario game), means it is received or obtained from a source or origin.

You may have been confused because I never said that the game was a derivative, rather, it _is_ derivative. It's an adjective, not a noun, and you appear to have looked up the noun and jumped on a definition from math.

But really, if you didn't know what I meant, you should've just asked. Insinuating that I'm making up words is a dick move.

And TBH I think you should've used the King Arthur example if you wanted to poke fun at what I think about the age of things, that would've given Mario several centuries.

If your point is that I'm hypocritical because I think a batman game, with a completely fresh take on the stealth, brawl and open world genres, is innovative, even though I think a Mario Monopoly game is derivative...well then, it seems obvious to me that you're just trolling me here. But ok, I'll bite. I'll explain why I'm not a hypocrite.

It's bloody obvious where the mechanics, characters and everything else in the monopoly game is derived from. But, pray tell, where have you seen a game that simulated an unarmed assailant slowly freaking out and scaring the hell out of a group of armed thugs? Where have you seen a fluid-motion counter-attack timing-based 2-button system for brawl fighting before? Where have you seen the translation of an animated cartoon series into a triple-a videogame where the entire original voice cast was included, as a stand-alone product rather than a tie-in?

I'm not saying Mario Monopoly is derivative because it has Mario in it (I don't think that would be fair). I'm saying it's derivative because _everything_ in it is derivative.

Trilliandi said...

But see there's the thing, we weren't talking about innovation just there, we were discussing Derivative, which, as you mentioned, has multiple definitions so perhaps being a tad more specific wouldn't have hurt your argument.

On another note I wasn't discussing Mario being derivative, I was more aiming at the 'Tired old characters' refference from an earlier post. And since Mario's control scheme changes with each game I'm not sure how you can classify him in that right, but that's not important therefore I digress into other matters.

I chose Batman because we've both PLAYED Batman. I don't know anybody personally who's played the King Arthur game, so you'll have to forgive me there.

And aside from the Animated translation, I HAVE seen those other things in another game. But that's not fair, I don't think too many people have heard of Assasin's Creed, or Spiderman. And as for that 'Un-armed' thing, Batman had projectiles, explosives, that wonderful Cowl of his,that clawshot for disarming the armed thugs, and other nifty things to make his fights shorter.

Batman was REALLY good, yes. A masterpiece of a game indeed. Innovative? A little. Not something you see in too many games admittedly, hell hardly any. But not entirely new either. And it didn't help him a whole lot in his sequel did it?

Fact is, after it's new once, it's never new again. Mario's been at it a while. He's lived through over 5 consoles, 5 hand-held systems, and a new control scheme for almost every one. He's been 2D, 3D, 5D (Galaxy), a Kart Racer, a fighter, a Doctor, a game board piece, and more things than I can put here with a certain degree of patience.

Mads said...

And that's totally ok. I have no problem with that. I even like Mario for that.

But somehow shining a bright and uplifting light on the future of the medium? A monopoly game?

really?

Trilliandi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Trilliandi said...

No, that's complete 'Over-the-top Mario Love' that we've come to expect from Bob. It's not a shining beacon or anything of the sort, but it IS a nice step in a different direction for Nintendo.