T.A.C. Heroes Big Red One from Nintendo for the DS

[GrumpyWargamer]

Was suggesting games to a friend, linked to NWS for a source, and accidentally uncovered news of this March 16th release.

http://yhst-12000246778232.stores.yahoo.net/thebigredone.html

Figured I would mention if for the benefit of the whole 2 people here likely to care

Oh well, I suppose one real wargame a year for the Nintendo DS is about all one can expect.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Thanks for the news! The DS would seem to be an ideal platform for wargames; I am surprised we haven't seen more. I guess it is easier to develop for the iPhone - and now the iTablet - than it is to work with Nintendo. I suppose that is why the iPhone is at the forefront of a board game renaissance. Who would have thunk it?!?

 

[SkaterMcgee]

Please dont burn my eyes with DS war games. These honestly look like they are put together in 1 month, I am not biast against the DS either, I have one and I play it several times a week, I love my DS.

 

[GrumpyWargamer]

There's garbage in everything, but not always.

Panzer Tactics was a good start, no one followed for like forever.

Commander Europe at War is no one's idea of a lame game.

They made a few shooters, but on a screen that small, they are a pointless effort.

I personally like the Age of Empires and the Advance Wars titles.

I've seen PC titles that look like they were put together with no thought at all, and people rave about them, and I can only laugh at the foolishness of some wargamers.

But there are simply so many perfectly doable titles in wargaming, and no one is trying. I suppose too many idiot wargamers buying into the misconception that a DS is ONLY a kids toy.
That and too many game publishers convinced they can't afford to do console.

Those publishers might as well give away their PC titles if they think like that, as the numbers of sales of wargames for the PC is so dreadfully small, that if you are not doing it for the love, then you are indeed a fool.
I WOULD pay double the price of a routine console title to have some of my wargame titles on consoles. And all of us grogs if you listen do own consoles.
The kids would be going 'are they insane? I'm not paying 100 bucks for this' (as if they were ever going to pay anything at all for a dull wargame).
And yet we are expected to pay 100 bucks for War in the Pacific arguably a great yet excruciatingly dull game.
I bought it (not sure why though).

The DSi XL has a screen a great deal larger. Ideal for us old bugger wargamers.

 

[GrumpyWargamer]

It has arrived, it is fun, it is turn based individual man tactical WW2 combat and it was a great purchase.

Don't expect it to appear on the shelves of disinterested mainstream game stores though. Your 'right' retailer is Chris at NWS who likely has the best price too.

I'm willing to suggest this NOT graphically over saturated title will become one of my instant favs.

And if you think it is just a simple game, try playing the 44 game unprepared hehe.

Another nail in the coffin of the opinion our main wargaming companies can't make games for consoles.
If you ask me, they are increasingly just not wishing to.

 

[Dr Zaius]

Another nail in the coffin of the opinion our main wargaming companies can't make games for consoles.
If you ask me, they are increasingly just not wishing to.

I don't think it's that simple. Bear in mind that unlike tabletop or PC gaming, where a developer is free to develop without constraints, with consoles you have to get the permission of the platform owner in order to develop. And Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft keep a very tight grip on what gets developed and what doesn't. For starters, the developer has to get access to the SDK (or XDK in the case of Xbox 360) in order to create a game. Second, only licensed developers are permitted to compile code and release software. In fact, usually three separate licenses are required in order to release a game for any of the major console platforms.

All of this means developing and publishing for a console is very different than for the PC. It means that you will hardly ever see niche games developed for consoles because they can't make anywhere near enough money to recoup the development and publishing costs.

 

[GrumpyWargamer]

I understand your comments Don.

But I have seen the games released for the DS. 9 out of 10 games are **** by ANY person's definition.

If a company can release what is getting released for the Nintendo DS (with Nintendo's permisson), and someone like Matrix Games can't figure a way out to publish something like a common hex using wargame, or HPS can't figure out how to put something like Squad Battles which is graphically simple, then that suggests and implies that wargaming publishers are either not as smart as schmucks making crap, or there is no point in being in business at all at the profit level, as they are clearly making so little money that they should just make them for a hobby and stop asking for any cash at all.

Anyone that can produce something like War in the Pacific Admirals Edition, but can't out do someone releasing a Pet simulator, has no right to feel any manner of pride

I mean they want something like 80-100 bucks depending on my moody dollar and taxes and shipping for War in the Pacific. Why? It's just a program. It doesn't cost 100 bucks to put software on a disc and in a case with a jacket and ship it.
If they are making so little cash they can't even approach Nintendo with a genuinely great game, even though they can show Nintendo we wargamers will pay nearly anything for a game we want, then it's time they stopped pretending to actually be real publishers and just do it for the fun the laughs and the fame. Because it appears they are not doing it for the profit

 

[Dr Zaius]

But I have seen the games released for the DS. 9 out of 10 games are **** by ANY person's definition.

You're not talking about a console platform but a handheld game unit. While the restrictions and licensing requirements are similar, the development costs are WAY lower and the restrictions aren't nearly as draconian.

As for most games being bad, you won't get any argument about that from me. And that's partially my point. In most cases it isn't so much that these games are actually bad, it's just that they've been designed from with the lowest common denominator in mind as a result of the need to sell large numbers in order to break even. A game like, say, Sins of a Solar Empire, developed by an indie company on a budget of about $1M, would never get made for Xbox 360, PS3 or Wii. It wouldn't play very well on those platforms and would have ended up being a net loss for the publisher. And Sins was a fairly successful strategy title!

The question is, how will this situation be affected as console platforms continue to evolve into something closer to PCs? That's a difficult question, but in an article that I recently referenced in another thread, Alex St. John predicts that consoles as we know them will be gone within a few years. Make of that what you will, but St. John is one of the few people who might actually be in a position to make such a prediction.

 

[Pdqport]

Matrix and HPS are producing games for PC and pretty much marketing them straight to the public. I don't see where they'd have much to gain by paying the additional development overhead to design games for the DS and then have to share a sizeable amount of the sales with Nintendo. And let's face it, the video wargaming crowd is still largely a PC gaming crowd and the ultimate niche market. Putting out wargames for the DS is niche within niche.

 

[GrumpyWargamer]

Yes that was an interesting article Don.

I think technology is going to open some interesting doors soon.

I haven't seen PCs do anything radical recently, and I have seen consoles become more or less quasi PC if nothing else. My PS3 is just about as powerful as my PC. Actually it might be more so. I recently discovered a file ON my PC, ran better THROUGH my PS3 ON my HD TV better than the computer could run it directly to my computer monitor. Some of these devices are either catching up or exceeding their competition depending on how they are being used.

Recently bought a Nintendo DS XL just because this old bugger likes the larger screen, because frankly my eyes just weren't thrilled with the smaller screened DS Lite. It's a lot easier to enjoy the games now.

Our wargames are ONLY niche because we are not interested in getting out of our %$#@@ rut. They are NEVER going mainstream till we are sick of being confined to a rut.
\My Nintendo DS XL is handy size wise than a laptop, but a laptop is a great deal better choice than yet another immobile desk bound PC. Our wargame makers can take this however they want, but I am not contemplating buying a new desktop PC.
Right now, my PC is just an internet tool and a means to store lots of data. It's been told it exists to service my PS3 TV combo. I've not got any wargames installed on it any more (other than a beta I am testing). All my wargames buggered off to my laptop.

I'm looking forward to seeing laptops get lighter and lighter, better and better. And I suppose I am just assuming hand helds are heading for a merge.

Commander Europe at War is proof a REAL wargame can be put on a Nintendo DS.
Maybe I am a minority. I don't know how long that will remain though.

If that Onlive idea works though, it will give a great boost to hand helds that won't need the muscle of a PC. And then a PC just becomes a large paper weight that you can't take anywhere.

I don't really care if Matrix Games makes any money at all really. Nor Battlefront or HPS or any of the names we know make games.
I like their games on the surface, but I'd rather play their games on a better machine. No I am not saying that as a PS3 fanboy comment either. My PS 3 s better because it is played on a massive screen (in comparison) and from a comfortable chair. I get better audio too.
My next computer type upgrade is almost certain to be a new laptop (I was given a good second hand one by a friend). It will be something I can put on my lap (hence the name ) and plug into my PS3 and display on my TV.

I think big bulky boxed PCs stuck in one spot have had their time in the sun. That sun is starting to set if you ask me.
And anything needing it, is also losing any long term merit.

But I would like it if wargaming learned to go mobile platform friendly.
HP is due to put something on the market that can run Windows (much like the iPad)
I think that will be the first warning to stop thinking wargames on PCs and PCs are forever.

As for consoles disappearing, maybe we are having semantic difficulties here. I think the term is losing distinction. They're just devices to run programs.
My Nintendo DS can run circles around several early generation consoles.

 

[Technopiper]

Grumpy,

Could you follow up on the game? A store has it for 19.95 and I've been ogling at it every time I was there. Question: does it play like ASL or the boardgame "Lock 'N Load"? I am suspicious that it might be another let down. 1. Does soldiers have a "life bar"? 2. Are soldiers "suppressed" or "routed" before they are killed away? 3. How realistic does the game feel overall? Please let me know before my wife buys it as a surprise present!

I too hope that there would be more "conventional" wargames like the DS. Advanced War is not my cup of tea. I also crave for a portable subsim. Do away with the 3D graphics, all I ask for is a map screen, a sonar screen, and a blurry telescope. Even better, make it nuclear subs and you'd never need to surface to the 3D world.

You may think I am an old fashioned grognard. No, I play games like Legend of Zelda, Picross, and Wario DIY, even Love Plus (don't ask). Just that when it come to wargames, I have no patience with lightweights.

 

[GrumpyWargamer]

Hmm this was asked back in July, sorry for the appalling lack of response.

Anyway, to sum up the game (as best as I can).

It is a game if individual soldiers. Thus it is not like Squad Leader or Squad Battles or any form of game using squads plural.
Seems more likely to be similar to the board game Sniper actually.

You pick from a roster of troops. They perform as individuals. They survive and become more experienced. They fight from battle to battle.
Each turn, your troops attempt actions based on an expenditure of actions available. You can choose movement or fire, grenade tossing etc.
Buildings can be entered (looks like Sniper here too). You see what you CAN see only.

The game has animations of a VERY basic sort and sound effects (which in time get to sound repetitive I suppose).

The game is a wargamers game. I doubt a teen would play it.
I doubt you will hate it, but it's your call if you would LIKE it.
I am sure you will find a great shortage of obvious wargamer games on the DS though.

Your naval interests suggest you might want to hunt down the title Steel Horizon.
No it isn't a sub sim, but, it is at least a naval based turn based wargame.