Nintendo's Next-Gen Arsenal 321
Much of the coverage of the next-gen skirmish so far has focused on Sony and Microsoft. The already-impressive Xbox Live vs. the PS3. Just the same, for the first time in many years Nintendo is definitely in the running for top spot. About.com has a piece looking at what the big N is bringing to the next-gen party this November. From the article: "While Nintendo is trend setting with controllers like the Wiimote and, to a lesser extent, the nunchaku dongle, other companies will be following along. Nintendo's game plan from the genesis of the Wii has been touch and gamer-friendly games. They see the future of gaming in the Wiimote. Everyone else, at this point, seems to be just catching up."
I hope this works... (Score:5, Interesting)
Design issues, much? I hated Halo on the XBox. Really, really hated. On PC...god, what a difference.
I also remember the thrill that was Duckhunt back in the day--Nintendo gave me my personal first experience of an alternative gaming controller. I really hope that they can make it that...well, awesome for me again. And that I can shoot the damned dog this time.
Their great experiment (Score:4, Interesting)
Backward Compatible with NES? (Score:4, Interesting)
I was a gamer back when the NES was in its heyday. Then the SNES came out with controllers that had a hundred and dickety-two buttons, and suddenly I turned into Grandpa Simpson overnight.
I heard a rumor that Wii was going to support original NES games. If true, this could lead me to buy my first console since I was in high school. Unfortunately, the official Wii site doesn't address this at all. That's probably a bad sign, but still I hold out hope. Has anyone else heard this, or can anyone else corroborate the story?
The big N not getting much coverage, eh? (Score:2, Interesting)
Suprisingly, he's right...
Playstation [google.com],
Xbox [google.com], and
The big N [google.com]
Guess who wins?
Nintendo only for kids? (Score:3, Interesting)
I just hope that with the Wii, I can get creative, quirky-as-hell games that are actually challenging and entertaining. I think the Wii-mote will open up tons of doors for some very interesting games. Hopefully developpers pull it off.
----------------
With such a cheap price-tag on the Wii, I'd rather get a Wii and Xbox than spend that combined money to get a PS3.
Re:Nintendo's Strength (Score:4, Interesting)
The issue with this assertion is that "better" is HIGHLY subjective. To fans of hyper detailed, high physics games that do NOT lend themselves well to using the wii remote as a controller, (say, for instance, something like the next iteration of virtua fighter) what Nintendo is doing may not be making their gaming experience better at all.
What nintendo IS doing is using the wii controller to try to exploit an untapped demographic- the much older, much younger, or simply has less time casual gamer that has already decided they don't enjoy "traditional" videogames, but might be drawn in (or in some cases BACK in) by the different approach the Wii uses, much like what has happened with the Nintendo DS.
Re:What it needs the most is... (Score:3, Interesting)
Back in the day, nothing was funnier than whipping the ball at a guy on the sidelines who wasn't looking!
Wii is the only next gen system (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Nintendo only for kids? (Score:2, Interesting)
Press release - riddle (Score:2, Interesting)
July 25, 2006 - The fourth quarter of 2006 will herald a new era for Nintendo with the launch of its remarkable new Wii(TM) home video game system. But that's not what this news item is about! How could that be, you ask? Perhaps the secret to the launch information for Wii is somehow encoded in the text of this news item. You might want to pore over it for a few hours before staying up all night to debate phraseology and comma placement with your friends online. Or maybe it's all just a scam to get you to read the other games we have launching this fall. One of the two.
As the weather cools down, the Nintendo portable game offerings heat up. FINAL FANTASY® V ADVANCE makes its way to Game Boy® Advance SP on Nov. 6. As series go, FINAL FANTASY is to video games what James Bond is to movies. FINAL FANTASY loyalists will enjoy an opportunity to debate which installment was best.
Nintendo DS(TM) owners are the big winners. Every week or so, another huge DS title hits, from the Touch Generations title Clubhouse Games(TM) to fan favorites like Elite Beat Agents(TM) and Yoshi's Island(TM) 2. Clearly a gamer's idea of paradise, here is Nintendo's upcoming DS lineup:
Oct. 9: Clubhouse Games(TM)
Oct. 16: Nintendogs(TM) (Dalmatian)
Oct. 23: Magical Starsign(TM)
Oct. 30: Pokémon® Ranger
Oct. 30: Children of Mana®
Nov. 6: Elite Beat Agents(TM)
Nov. 13: Yoshi's Island(TM) 2
Dec. 4: Custom Robo(TM) Arena
Dec. 4: Kirby(TM) Squeak Squad
And, for Nintendo GameCube(TM) owners, The Legend of Zelda®: Twilight Princess will be available for you this fall. An enhanced version also will be a launch title for Wii. That will all happen on
For more information about all of Nintendo's upcoming titles, please visit www.nintendo.com.
http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=9938 [nintendo.com]
Re:Nintendo's Strength (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually, it used to [ign.com] use canned moves. It's not like the game was complete yet.
Re:What it needs the most is... (Score:5, Interesting)
Online will (and should) be icing on the cake, but it certainly isn't a selling point (at least for me). It might benefit a couple of games here and there, but at least for the ones I'm keenly interested in (Zelda, Metroid, and maybe a new Mario Tennis with the controller?!?) don't require an online aspect at all.
II'm iimpressed (Score:2, Interesting)
Anatomy of a troll (Score:4, Interesting)
1. The same message has been posted repeatedly on Wii-related threads. Takes some close reading to catch something like that, but be aware of that eerie familiar feeling.
2. The message makes claims that are rather unlikely: "one of my friends is currently working on a Wii game"... suuuure. As the system hasn't been released, relatively few teams currently working on games for it, and most of them are in Japan (so they wouldn't have been working on a 360 game before).
3. The post has a flaw in its internal logic. Game developers in general don't have much access to unreleased games other than the ones they are actually working on. A controller, no matter how fantastic, isn't a lot of fun by itself. It's not surprising that the supposed friend would be bored with playing his own game or swinging the controller around in a devkit demo.
Anyway, thanks for moderating and good luck.
Re:Nintendo's Strength (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:The big N not getting much coverage, eh? (Score:5, Interesting)
Spoiler Alert: Answers posted below
(to save your mouse three clicks)
PS3: 389 appearances on a Slashdot title
XBOX 360: 334 appearances
Wii (or Nintendor Revolution): 70 appearances
Re:Backward Compatible with NES? (Score:4, Interesting)
Not ridiculous at all - I am familiar with this technique (the sound controller chip in the PS2 is a PS1, basically).
Well to be fair, 'no indication' literally means we have no idea one way or the other; they simply haven't said.
What we do know is that the PS2 has been miniaturized to a single chip quite some time ago (I believe the ill-fated "PSX" DVR mutant they released in Japan used this, as well as the 'slim' PS2). But even if they go the software route, we always have firmware updates to look forward to... weee.
Xbox360 had a bit of a unique problem in that they were not just changing chip architectures radically but also going to multiproc. You could say the same thing about PS3. It is this reason, and the single-chip approach mentioned above, that makes me think they'll go with a hybrid; an updateable (EPROM-like) hardware emulation that can be patched to iron out compatibility wrinkles. Microsoft actually *ported* those Xbox games; I really doubt Sony will go to that trouble. Thanks for the reply.
Old and bad news (Score:2, Interesting)
First of all, if Zelda is first does that mean that the Gamecube will receive a boost in sales as it will be released for both platforms? Games are important but the other platforms also have games, this is not a weapon as massive as others that Nintendo has.
Discarding all games we are left with three outsiders from the list:
The Wiimote, which is oddly on the last place: shouldn't it be first? The Wii is almost defined by the Wiimote, it's what makes it different.
The Virtual Console, on 6th place. Taking advantage of a huge back collection of games, the Virtual Console should be a huge plus for most hardcore gamers that miss a quick fix of old school gaming. I'm sure it's not a decisive feature for most but I would put it far above 6th place.
And the EA support, on 5th. Is this relevant? I mean, EA is important as it guarantees plenty of games per year but it has a huge downside, most games, in my opinion, are not top notch. Besides, noone buys a console because it has EA games although I'm sure many wouldn't buy a console exactly because it didn't have any mainstream, EA games. Way too high on the list, maybe 10th place?
Besides these three, there are, at least two important features of the Wii which should have made the top10.
WiiConnect24 and GCN compatibility. Nintendo finally learned that it was important to ensure a huge catalog of games in every new console right from the start. These two features help in that by making sure you'll receive demos of new games and the ability to play GCN games. These will also be joined by the Virtual Console which is part of the WiiConnect24.
Other killer features should be stuff like interoperability with the DS or support for indie developers. I, for one, would be extremely interested in developing a small fun game and selling it for 1 a copy or something through the Wii.
Conclusion: This article misses some obvious "weapons" and seems to have simply chosen 10 things wii-related and shuffled them in whatever way they seemed fit. Horrible article, Zonk should be more careful of what he posts.
Bazooka, bongos, and oh yeah, the power glove!!! (Score:2, Interesting)
Bazooka-like Super-Scope [wikipedia.org] for the SNES
The Donkey Kong bongo-drums [wikipedia.org] for the aspiring percussionist
The super-cool Power Glove [wikipedia.org]. Kind of odd Virtual Boy [wikipedia.org] during the VR craze
The fun Power Pad [wikipedia.org] for Track and Field and other great games which we would play in our college apartment a couple of years ago.
The ever popular Light gun [wikipedia.org] - who didn't try to shoot the hunting dog in duck hunt when he laughed at you???
Most of the older stuff can be bought on eBay for really cheap - makes for great nostalgic gaming.
Zelda at launch? A first time for everything. (Score:4, Interesting)
Now before you say "what about Mario" Mario is always coming. People bought the Gamecube for Mario, and got Sunshine, and people were happy. You got Luigi's mansion at the begining though and people weren't doing backflips celebrating that game.
But Zelda at launch is going to be interesting. This Zelda has definatly been under development longer, better graphics, and new controls, and lack of cell-shaded graphics I hope. It's going to push the system I believe, coupled with a Metroid Prime (which is good but remember Metroid Prime has ONLY been played by Gamecube owners and players)
The one problem they will have with their virtual console vs. Marketplace is no achievement points (from my understanding) Is it a system killer? Nah, but it's something I wouldn't say no too.
The most interesting thing is this is the first time Nintendo really did a cross platform game themselves, but on the other hand it does look like it has the power to really launch the system and I'm sure everyone has heard at least one person who was going to buy the Gamecube for Twilight princess, of them many probably are going to pick up a Wii for this game as it's close to the same price.
The only problem I forsee at launch is a lack of systems which will be a sad day. Btw, at the same time the PS3 is only planning 1 million systems for a world wide launch? I've got to guess they know they should have lower expectations than they did for the Ps2.
"Everyone else seems to be catching up" (Score:3, Interesting)
If anything, what could make the Nintendo a winner in the next-gen sweepstakes is cost. In the 2007 recession, not a lot of people will be buying $500 PS3s or even $300 Xbox 360s.