Topics

26

Nintendo Gaming / Rev in Nov. Wha?

« on: May 27, 2005, 02:35:21 PM »

Rumour 2

Gamespot says "this is looking not bogus" but their logic for that is "MCV can't be wrong, sucka" so who knows.

If the Rev launches in November I think it would be fair to say the Revolution's f*cked.  This is the console that is being largely ignored to begin with.  Six months after the PS3 is released and a whole year after the Xbox 360 and people aren't even going to remember what Nintendo is.  Timing for the launch is extremely important.  It's safe to assume no one cares because that's pretty accurate so it's near or before PS3 launch or bust.  Plus the Cube lineup they were showing at E3 isn't going to last past summer 2006 at the latest and repeating the "no Nintendo console games for six months" routine from the Cube launch would be pretty dumb.  Of course Nintendo can't really change anything now.  If they're aiming for November they can't just move the launch up.  They'll be stuck with a nothing launch lineup then which could be just as disasterous (or perhaps worse).  It's kind of scary to think that the Rev's success may be already decided based on decisions Nintendo made months or perhaps even years before launch.

Nintendo's E3 showing certainly suggests a late launch what with them showing no games or controller or specs.  I don't think that means they're going to be late.  I truly think they held back on purpose to not reveal their "secrets".  But I can see how a "we've got, um, a case design" E3 showing, in relation to Sony and MS actually showing stuff, can be interpreted as being behind.  Gamespot's probably saying "not bogus" because they're jumping to conclusions about the E3 no-show.

27

Nintendo Gaming / Miyamoto interview on IGN

« on: May 19, 2005, 10:17:34 AM »

Click here.

This was mentioned in the Thurdayaton thread but after reading it I felt it deserves it's own topic.

Reading it I see a few things popping out at me that really concern me.

Miyamoto says that 2006 is the year of the Revolution and the way he's saying everything it gives me the feeling that the Rev won't be shown proper until next year which is complete unacceptable.  Now he also says that Spaceworld is a possibility so we're not screwed for sure and I think it's possible that Nintendo could change their mind about when to show it at virtually any time.  They probably think right now that waiting is a good idea.  They wouldn't have bombed on their conference otherwise.  I think however they'll see how damaging the Rev no-show is and will show something in the next few months.

This interview really gives the impression that the Rev is underpowered.  They ask about the power TWICE and he dodges it both times with all sorts of BS about creativity and how raw power doesn't matter and stuff like that.  That sounds like an excuse.  It sounds like an attempt to justify a stupid decision on Nintendo's part.  If the Rev isn't underpowered then surely he would say "don't worry.  It will be comparable to the other consoles."  But he doesn't and Nintendo only dodges stuff like that when they know you won't like what the real answer is.  I have a feeling Nintendo is back on the drawing board freaking out over how superior the specs of the other consoles are in comparison.  I think they grossly underestimated what everyone else was doing.

Third parties don't have dev kits yet and there's no planned timetable for when they will.  In other words Revolution third party support is going to SUCK and Nintendo is making very little effort to fix that.  Third parties needed dev kits yesterday if they plan on releasing anything for launch.  They need dev kits NOW.  Not a few months from now, not next year but RIGHT NOW.  Being similar to the Cube won't accomplish much because the Cube had sh!tty third party support.  The third parties that I want to see on the Cube don't have much experience with Cube dev kits.

Reading this interview suggests to me that Nintendo wasn't prepared for what Sony was going to show.  They're WAY behind and it shows and they have to bust their ass to salvage this mess.  I don't think they expected Sony to show any game related footage or announce any titles or to just show that much.  I don't think they thought the PS3 would be as powerful as it is.  They have to get those third parties in the loop and they have to beef up the Rev's power and they have to do that very soon.  They're going to have to bust their ass just to deliver the bare minimum let alone to go above and beyond expectations.

28

Nintendo Gaming / Odama cancelled for the Cube and switched to the DS

« on: April 18, 2005, 09:13:15 PM »

Horse nostrils!

According to the Magic Box Odama has been canned for the Cube in favour of the DS.  Dang.  That means they're likely going to have to compromise the game.  Sure the DS has a touchscreen but it's inferior hardware.  Plus the neato bongos compatibility is gone.

It's not a very good sign that Nintendo is already starting to switch Cube games to another format.  Sure they did that with the N64 but we didn't know about that for ED and Dinosaur Planet until 2001.  Here there's still likely over a year until the Rev launches.  The Cube has few games left in the pipeline anyway.  Why create another month of no releases and make it just that little bit harder for the Revolution to pull itself out of the hole Nintendo has dug itself in the console market?

Sure you could argue they need more DS titles but that problem in itself is completely inexcusable.  I guess the DS should be a higher priority but Nintendo shouldn't be in a situation where Cube support has virtually completely dried up and the DS has a slim lineup.  Odama is like a bandage and Nintendo has to decide which self-inflicted wound to patch it with.

29

Nintendo Gaming / New Iwata quotes

« on: March 29, 2005, 01:36:46 PM »

Gamespot's got some new Iwata quotes regarding the Rev.

One interesting point is that the Rev will use the same application program interfaces (APIs) as the Cube.  I don't really know what that means but if it makes games cheaper to make and attracts third party support then I'm all for it.  The suggestion of a better reception from developers than Iwata expected is positive particularly since he earlier this year suggested the concept of no third party support.

The other interesting parts have to do with the controller.  Iwata feels controllers have gotten too complex for non-gamers.  My natural response to that is "and I should care why?" since I'm not a non-gamer and don't care if others don't "get it" provided I do.

Another interesting quote is "For the next-generation console, we plan to introduce a friendly user interface so that, for example, a mother who's watching her child playing a game might say, 'Oh, I'd like to try that too’."

This quote makes me fear the posibillity of Nintendo dumbing things down.  The truth is I like it when my mother isn't interested in something I am.  She has much lower expectations of entertainment than I do.  We like a fair bit of the same things but I find the BEST stuff is often stuff she's not interested in but I am.  She listens to Celine Dion, finds Garfield funny, and is turned off by non-linear plots in movies.  She likes things that are non-offensive and simple to get.  I like some things like that too but I find that often anything that appeals to a very wide audience does so at the expense of being interesting.  If everyone likes it it has to be bland.  If everyone understands it it has to be dumb.  That's just how it works.

I like the fact that not everyone likes Nintendo games.  I wish Nintendo had a better public image and sold more consoles to attract more third parties but I don't want everyone to like them.  If everyone liked them they would be boring like EA.  Well actually I wouldn't care if everyone liked them for who they are but that probably won't happen.

So there's a problem.  How can Nintendo make a controller that everyone, regardless of experience (or intelligence), can use that can effectively play the types of games they make now?  A one button controller for example would be easy for anyone to understand BUT you can't play Zelda on it, or Metroid, or Mario or virtually ANY of Nintendo's franchise games.  Well you CAN play Zelda but only if they significantly alter what Zelda is.

Anyone can play and enjoy Pong for example but it would be very boring if Pong was all there is.  Entertainment is insteresting when it only appeals to certain people.  It's boring when it appeals to everyone.  I'm worried that Nintendo is changing from Led Zeppelin to Air Supply.  I read Iwata's quote and I picture adult contemporary gaming.

30

General Chat / EA becomes EVIL!... more so

« on: February 11, 2005, 09:41:40 AM »

Link that will cause much anger.

It looks like after buying exclusive rights to the NFL, Arena football league, and ESPN EA is planning to buy the exclusive rights to NCAA football thus completely killing off ANY competition whatsoever for football games.  Look for a lots of CFL games to pop up I guess.

I've been quite vocal of EA and how they're a complete poison to the industry so I'll just leave it at that.  

31

General Gaming / PC game pads that don't suck?

« on: February 01, 2005, 07:59:41 AM »

I think this fits since the PC as a game platform is an "other system".

Anyway my brothers and I have been playing some popular arcade games lately in a well known manner that doesn't require purchasing full arcade cabinets.  Anyway we play a lot of 3-4 player games but it's really uncomfortable for us to crowd around the keyboard.  So I'm thinking about buying a PC game pad so that I can use it to play these games and free space around the keyboard (there are three of us and two at the keyboard is acceptable).

However so far my research on PC game pads has revealed that most PC controller are useless pieces of crap.  So can anyone suggest something that I can easily buy that works well and doesn't cost tons?  I don't want an X-Arcade (well I WANT one I just don't want to PAY for it) so I need something in a good price range.  Or if there isn't really a great controller does anyone know where I can get any adapters to work with console controllers I already have (preferably SNES, N64 or Playstation in that order since I need a good d-pad).

Just so you know I'm using XP.  

32

General Gaming / Square Enix making a profit on online games?

« on: November 18, 2004, 09:59:01 AM »

Since the games in question are non-Cube I figure this is a good place to put this.

According to 1UP.com Square Enix is making a profit on their online games.  Here's the link.

Now SE does uses a pay-to-play format which Nintendo doesn't want to do so there is still somewhat of an excuse that online gaming, in the way Nintendo wants to do it, isn't profitable.  Plus there are no specifics on how the PS2 version of FFXI did compared to the PC version.  But here is a company making a profit on online gaming in some form and in Japan too, the market that NCL focuses on the most.  And most important of all this shows that there is enough interest from the public in online games for it to make money.

So how is Nintendo going to react to this?  "Online gaming is not profitable" is no longer a decent excuse (well I never thought it was but whatever).  Sure this isn't exactly what Nintendo wants to do but it shows there's a market and that means Nintendo can't ignore it anymore.  Now there's no point in going online with the Cube at this late stage but they have to go online with the Revolution for sure now.

33

General Chat / Copying VHS to DVD

« on: September 23, 2004, 08:52:10 PM »

I recently was able to buy some VHS copies of the original version of the Star Wars trilogy.  It's the 1995 remastered version and I got them from a video store that was selling off it's old VHS selection.  Unfortunately it's the full screen version but for 4 bucks each I'm not going to complain.

Anyway one of my big beefs with the original cuts not being on DVD is that VHS is not as durable.  Eventually multiple viewings are going to ruin the tapes and for all I know this may be the only option to get these cuts for decades.  So I would like to copy my tapes to DVD if possible.  I know that the quality isn't going to be as good as the real DVD sets but I really just want to make a back up.

My PC has a DVD burner, I just have no idea how to get the tape contents onto the computer.  Anyone have any suggestions.

34

General Chat / Original song compositions

« on: September 09, 2004, 06:16:06 PM »

A lot of guys have shown off their artwork on this forum so I figured I would share with you a song I wrote and recorded with my friends.  It's obviously rough since I didn't record it with any professional equipment but I think it's a catchy song and I'm very proud of it.  I figure we can use this thread for anyone here to discuss and share any of their original compositions.

Anyway our band is called the Mutation Invasion and the song is called Complicated.  You can download it from here.

35

Nintendo Gaming / Pikmin 2

« on: September 01, 2004, 07:55:44 PM »

Shock of shocks there is no topic yet for this amazing game.  I got a copy on Tuesday oddly enough as the brand new Best Buy in my area (one of like ten in all of Canada) actually had a game on the American release date instead of few days later.

I haven't played too much but so far I'm loving it.  Nintendo essentially took out everything that sucked about Pikmin and improved on everything else.  This is easily one of the best sequels they've done in recent memory.  I'm still getting used to using two characters at once though.  My only gripe is that there so far seems to be a lot of emphasis on the cave areas.  I personally prefer raising Pikmin in the overworld.  Removing the time limit is the best thing they could have done.  I love how if I want to I can just spend a day exploring or growing Pikmin without any worry that I'm not going to beat the game because of it.

Apparently there are two cases for the game.  Most people I've encountered have the "Lobster" cover while I (and any other Canadian I've talked to) have the "Pikmin on a branch" cover.  I prefer the branch cover though I'm curious to see which one is more common.

36

Nintendo Gaming / Golden Sun for Gamecube?

« on: June 29, 2004, 10:45:53 AM »

According to this Camelot is working on a Golden Sun game for the Cube.  Naturally I'll wait for a confirmation from sites I'm more familiar with, like PGC, but 1UP did break the news about the GBA Guardian Heroes game so I have some faith in them.

I say it's about freaking time Camelot worked on a Cube RPG.

Quicky quiz:
What's the most popular genre in Japan? RPGs.
Which Nintendo system has lots of RPGs?  The GBA.
Which Nintendo system has like five RPGs, maybe?  The Gamecube.
Which Nintendo system sells huge in Japan?  The GBA.
Which Nintendo system sells like ass in Japan?  The Gamecube.

Gee, I don't see the relationship there at all.

I'm glad that along with Advance Wars and Fire Emblem Nintendo is working on getting their big GBA franchises on the Cube.  It shows that they know that they can't blatantly favour one of their systems if they expect people to buy both.

37

General Chat / Fox moves 24 to Mondays and ruins my life

« on: May 21, 2004, 01:45:29 PM »

http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=158979

The important part of this news blurb: "'24' will shift to Monday in January, the network announced Thursday."

That's the same night and time as WWE Raw.  Raw and 24 are the ONLY current TV shows I even watch.  ARRRRGH!!!!  Sure I could tape 24 (which is an hour shorter than Raw) but my parents watch it too so they'll probably blow the show for me before I watch the tape.  This greatly inconveniences me.

I hate it when networks move stuff around.  I've never EVER understood the concept of putting one really popular show in the same timeslot as another one.  Not only does it make things difficult for viewers it creates direct competition.  Ideally I would think the best plan would be to put the most popular shows in timeslots where they don't have to compete.  That way more people will watch it.

Maybe they didn't intentionally move 24 to compete with Raw since Fox is a network channel and Spike TV & TSN are cable but it still pisses me off big time.

38

General Chat / More insanity from George Lucas

« on: May 19, 2004, 10:50:34 AM »

Okay most of us are aware that the Star Wars trilogy is coming out on DVD this year and that it will only be the Special Editions instead of the theatrical cuts.  As bad as that it is rumour has it that George Lucas' revisionist history fetish is going to take it a step further and change even MORE stuff for this release.

I haven't read far enough into this thread so I don't know if it's revealed to be a fake but check this out.

If that's a real pic not only am I not buying this DVD set I'm tempted to systematically burn down every retail store in my area to prevent others from buying it.

Scary stuff, no?

39

Nintendo Gaming / A bold idea for the N5

« on: April 28, 2004, 10:54:15 AM »

I have thought of an idea that, while it likely won’t happen, could make the N5 a huge success and compete directly with the PS3.

One of Nintendo’s biggest problems is variety.  Most Nintendo games have a similar feel to them.  It’s great if you’re a Nintendo fan but if you’re not there’s not much there to interest you.  Plus Nintendo themselves have traditionally not been able to fill in all of the genre gaps on their own.  They rely on third parties to supply sports, RPGs or fighting games.  Unfortunately they have the problem they can’t get decent third party support without a larger userbase and they can’t get the userbase without third party support.

What Nintendo needs is for another developer to exclusively support the N5 and fill in the gaps.  I think Sega would be the ideal fit.  They have a good track record of making great games and they have popular series to fill in the gaps.  They have their own sports line, several RPGs (Phantasy Star, Shining Force, Skies of Arcadia), Virtua Fighter to fill the fighting gap, and they make more “mature” content than Nintendo does.  The only problem is that buying them would be really expensive and not realistically feasible.  So how else does Nintendo get exclusive Sega support for the N5?

Nintendo should in exchange for N5 exclusivity grant Sega complete freedom with the N5 as if Sega was a console maker again.  That means that Nintendo provides Sega with the same knowledge of the console as they do for their own first party teams.  That means that Sega gets input in the design of the controller and other parts of the console.  That means that Sega can release whatever they want and not have to pay licensing fees to Nintendo.  Essentially the N5 has two first party developers and the amount of exclusive content doubles.  Plus Sega provides all of the online games.  All Nintendo has to do is make the console able to go online.  Sega creates the online games which sets the example for third parties to make online games and Nintendo themselves don’t have to take the risk.

Now there is one pretty big risk to the whole thing.  Nintendo makes a lot of money from licensing fees for third party games.  With Sega being given free reign that means that there’s going to be a lot of Sega releases on the N5 that Nintendo won’t make any money from.  However I think the risk is justified.  The idea is that by having exclusive Sega support it will attract a larger userbase which should translate to better sales for Nintendo’s first party games and more third party support which means more licensing fees.

Let’s face it.  With exclusive support from both Nintendo and Sega the N5 would be a huge smash with hardcore gamers.  Virtually anyone who supported the Cube or Dreamcast would buy it in a second.  I don’t think it would beat the PS3 but it would be able to be a strong number two for sure.  It would attract a lot of the pre-Playstation era gamers who remember the wars between Nintendo and Sega.  The videogame press would eat the system up which would create good hype.  I think one thing that hurt the Cube was that a lot of the gaming press were down on it.  That wouldn’t be a problem here.  Plus the sheer amount of killer apps would ensure success.  Nintendo would probably still be able to make a profit and would have a good foothold for the next gen when they likely wouldn’t need Sega’s exclusivity again.

I’m assuming the deal wouldn’t extend to the Gameboy which doesn’t need exclusive Sega support.  That would be ideal since Nintendo would still get licensing fees and Sega would be given more freedom to experiment around with the N-Gage.  Sega would also be free to release PC and arcade games.

Realistically I don’t think Nintendo would ever go for this since the idea of allowing another company to make money without paying a fee to Nintendo would turn them off.  It’s too bad because I think this idea could work really well.

40

Nintendo Gaming / Midway Arcade Treasures 2 for Cube after all?

« on: April 23, 2004, 11:59:23 AM »

Gamespot is reporting the official list of games for Midway Arcade Treasures 2.

Linky

That's a pretty cool list of games.  The MK trilogy ALONE makes it worth a purchase.

Interesting though is that it mentions it's being released for the Cube.  Until now it was rumoured to be only for the Xbox and PS2 what with Midway being down on the Cube.  So either Midway has realized that the minimal effort in porting old games to the Cube is totally worth it or Gamespot screwed up.  I'm naturally hoping for the former and maybe this time Midway can make it available in stores and stuff.

41

Nintendo Gaming / Midway Arcade Treasures - where is it?

« on: January 02, 2004, 07:32:56 AM »

Has anybody been able to find a copy of Midway Arcade Treasures?  I've looked around every store in my area since it came out and I haven't been able to find it anywhere except online.  Since shipping costs kind of kill the whole point of it being a "budget title" I would prefer to find it in a physical store.  Most stores have it in their system but claim it's sold out.  EB said they were sold out after I had been at the store the day before when they said they hadn't gotten it in yet.  So either they received like only one copy or they're full of it.

Arcade treasure is right.  It's like I need a f*cking map to find this game.

42

NWR Feedback / Forbidden words message

« on: April 29, 2003, 02:07:08 PM »

Whenever you type in a "bad word" like the f-word you recieve a message saying that you can't post that word.  Fair enough except when you go back to edit your message you can't repost it.  You get a "can't send duplicate post" message so you then have to copy your text, go back, and reply again.  Is there any way to fix it so you can post the edited message without having to "trick" the program into doing a duplicate post?

43

NWR Feedback / PGC GB Player Review

« on: April 01, 2003, 08:03:16 AM »

In the review that was on the front page there was a complaint I don't quite understand.

"On a more technical note, the GBP shares the same 8-bit audio output found in the handhelds, which is a minor disappointment. However, when looking at the big picture, all these complaints don’t amount to much, putting tiny dents into what is otherwise a fine product."

Does this mean that when I play games on TV the sound will be like that coming out of the sh!tty GBA speaker?  Isn't that in Mono?  Or does it sound like what it would sound like if I listened to my GBA with headphones or used my computer speakers?  I don't want to lose sound quality in order to improve visibilty.

Would you guys suggest importing (with a Freeloader I suppose) or is it worth waiting for.

44

General Chat / Buying a new TV

« on: February 28, 2003, 09:38:39 AM »

I've been thinking about buying a new TV.  My current TV is a few years old and only has one A/V input which is a big pain in the ass as I have to constantly swap the cables for my videogame consoles and my DVD player.  I've been doing some research and have some idea about stuff like S-Video and Component Video and whatnot but most sources of information are pretty techinical and don't tell me really simple stuff like what types of video hookup there are and which ones are better than others.  There seems to be a reasonable amount of tech nuts on this forum so I figure I might as well ask for any personal experiences with certain brands, models, etc and what features are worth looking out for.

Anyway my price range is around $750 Canadian which is probably around $500 in American funds (though I can go a few hundred higher).  My absolute requirements are that's it's flat screen, around 27", and can support at least S-Video.  The only stuff of consequence that I'm hooking up to it right now is my Gamecube and DVD player (which is a Toshiba and is Progressive Scan capable).  I can't afford anything really fancy like HDTV or anything.  I also don't have any sort of fancy audio setup so for the immediate future the TV's speakers have to suffice.  I'm not restricted by any dimension requirements for an entertainment centre or anything.  If the TV doesn't fit on the stand I'm currently using I'll buy a new stand.

I also am not too familiar with what sort of cables are needed for what particularly with the Gamecube.  I'd rather not have to order cables from Nintendo's website so if anybody has any third party cables to recommend that would be appreciated.

Thanks.

45

Nintendo Gaming / Question regarding Moblins

« on: February 25, 2003, 11:06:34 AM »

In most Zelda games and their manuals Moblins are decribed for the most part as bulldog warriors and that's how they appear in most games.  However I've noticed that in some Zelda games (the Gameboy titles specifically) Moblins appear both as bulldogs and as pig warriors.  The Great Moblin in Oracle of Seasons looks like a pig for example.  The idea of pig warriors in theory makes more sense as warriors of Ganon they would be like "mini-Ganons".  In the manual for the first Zelda game on the NES the picture of the Moblin looks a lot like a pig but is decribed as a bulldog (check out a scan here)

So what I'm wondering is were Moblins initially designed to be pigs and NOA messed up and thought they were bulldogs and as a result they've appeared as both since?  Or are there for whatever reason two types of Moblins: bulldogs and pigs?

46

General Gaming / What if Nintendo licensed their consoles to electronic companies?

« on: February 07, 2003, 11:23:08 AM »

Someone in the N-Gage thread suggested that Nintendo should make the next Gameboy a cell phone.  I thought to myself that I wouldn't want the next Gameboy to be a cell phone but it would be pretty cool if the Gameboy technology was licensed out so that it could be available in cell phones and Nintendo could still offer a base unit that only plays games.  So then I thought about what it would be like if Nintendo licensed the technology for their next console (which I'll just call the Gamecube 2 to keep things simple) as well.

Think about it for a second.  Nintendo designs the hardware for the Gamecube 2 and released it as a standalone console.  They then license out the Gamecube 2 technology to an electronic company.  I'll use Panasonic as an example since they're already making the Q.  Panasonic then includes GC2 with most of their DVD players.  Suddenly the GC2's userbase grows considerably as anyone who buys one of these DVD players can also play GC2 games and is therefore a potential customer.  Other electronic companies then license the technology as well and suddenly all DVD players (and TV/DVD combos) made by Panasonic, Philips, and Toshiba can play GC2 games.  The GC2 is introduced into several homes that intended on buying only a DVD player but got a game console with it as a bonus feature.

It's sort of like the way the PS2 comes with a DVD player but in reverse.  Instead of targetting the console market and using a built in DVD player as a selling point these DVD players target the DVD market and use gaming as a selling point.  People go out to buy a DVD player and notice that one allows you to play GC2 games and another doesn't.  Which do you think they'll be more inclined to buy?  They normally would not necessarily buy a Gamecube 2 on it's own but now they have one and are now willing to try it out and buy games for it.  By licensing the GC2 technology to electronics companies Nintendo could easily grab a huge chunk of the casual gamer market.  A market they have not been able to target very well on their own.  A standalone GC2 of course still exists and is targetted towards console gamers and children and naturally costs less money.

The best part is Sony would NEVER be able to match it because they themselves are an electronics company and would be less willing to license their technology to other electronics companies.  Afterall they've always stuck to their own way and likely would do the same here.  Microsoft would be able to copy it well enough but if Nintendo already makes exclusive deals with several companies beforehand they can have the "first to the market" advantage.

Of course I haven't taken into account stuff like what sort of profits this would bring in for Nintendo.  I merely think it's a cool idea and if it could be profitable would likely be a good idea.