Messages

1151

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Brand New - PGC Podcast, Episode 1

« on: May 17, 2006, 07:21:36 AM »

OH MY GOSH! Obi and Svevan now have volume control.

1152

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Clarification plz.

« on: May 17, 2006, 07:08:17 AM »

A lot of people have been concerned about the analog stick's placement (and I would be too).  But from my time with it, the stick didn't feel nearly as out of place as the one on the dual shock.  I controlled Super Mario 64 just as well as on N64 except for the goofy Z button placement (it's the inner shoulder button on the RIGHT).

1153

TalkBack / RE: IMPRESSIONS: One Piece Unlimited Adventure

« on: May 16, 2006, 10:02:51 PM »

Lindemann found enemies, holy crap where?  I went back to that game a couple days later just because I felt like I couldn't have seen everything, and still only found near-lifeless fields.

1154

General Gaming / RE: Sony using PC's at E3? (NOT PS3 hardware)

« on: May 15, 2006, 07:16:29 AM »

LOL, big deal.  Sony didn't even try to hide it.  They had glass cases full of devkits at every PS3 station.  Of course neither piece of hardware is finished yet.  Even some DS games in progress ran off of devkits instead of Flash ROMs.

1155

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Wii's hardware

« on: May 15, 2006, 07:08:11 AM »

At the briefing on Tuesday, Iwata spent a good deal of time complaining about load times on other systems, and said that the Wii is designed to load extremely quickly.

1156

TalkBack / RE: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

« on: May 15, 2006, 07:05:07 AM »

No, what you do with the cursor is click on items in the menu to set them to one of the directional buttons.  

1157

Nintendo Gaming / RE: WiiSports - What's included?

« on: May 14, 2006, 09:24:03 PM »

The games that had Wii Sports in the title were Tennis, Golf, Baseball, and Airplane - and they all had the same character designs that look like little lego people.  Obstacle had a simliar design, but it was only a tech demo.

1158

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Question regarding Zelda: TP for Wii

« on: May 14, 2006, 05:30:12 PM »

Remember guys, E3 is used by Nintendo as kind of a large-scale focus group test.  There were some very knowledgeable guys at the Zelda demo, and they were paying close attention to how people adjusted to (or had trouble adjusting to) to controls.  I went back to Zelda at the end of E3, since it was the first Wii game that I had played.  The controls turned out to be less of an issue for me after I had spent a little more time with the controller in a variety of games.  

I also have no idea what Evan's hoping to address - I thought I made it pretty clear that controls were awkward at first.

1159

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Now Sony Agrees: Everyone is Buying Wii

« on: May 14, 2006, 04:55:02 PM »

Shutting down for going horribly off-topic and giving bad advice on girls.
(26 year old virgin by choice, ahoy.)

1160

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Question regarding Zelda: TP for Wii

« on: May 14, 2006, 12:50:56 AM »

No statements made to that effect, but the Wii version definitely looks a lot better than last year's demo on GameCube.  I really wish I had them both to compare, but I think the draw distance and framerate are better, and there may even be opportunities to include more objects or enemies.

1161

TalkBack / RE: IMPRESSIONS: Final Fantasy III

« on: May 13, 2006, 10:57:14 AM »

I think it probably was.  I seem to remember other FF games allowing for that too.

1162

TalkBack / RE: Nintendo and PixArt Team Up

« on: May 13, 2006, 10:56:05 AM »

Well, that would be due to it being extremely accurate.  Your hands shake and move more than you realize.  It's easier to control the farther back you are because it's less sensitive.

[The last NES Final Fantasy comes to DS with upgraded graphics, sound, and controls.]

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TalkBack / IMPRESSIONS: Final Fantasy III

« on: May 13, 2006, 10:49:15 AM »

The last NES Final Fantasy comes to DS with upgraded graphics, sound, and controls.

Never before released outside of Japan, Final Fantasy III (originally released on the Famicom) is coming to the Nintendo DS with a major overhaul.  The game is being entirely rebuilt in 3D with colorful graphics and a visual style similar to FF IX. The music has been reworked to feature the instrumental depth that fans have come to expect of the series since the SNES days.  Plus, from trailers on the floor, it seems that the game may even have some occasional pre-rendered cut-scenes.    

Control can be handled traditionally with the cross pad and buttons or you can opt to use the stylus.  Like Animal Crossing, players may find it easier to perform some actions with the buttons and others with the stylus.  Since FF III is completely turn based, there are no quick actions to be concerned with, and the stylus control makes menu navigation much quicker.  In battles, you don't even need to press the attack command; you can simply tap the enemy you want the current character to attack.  Tapping the background in battle allows you to cancel which can be frustrating because it seems that the points you need to touch are rather small – however that perception may simply be due to the fact that the DS I was using was bolted in at thigh level.    

The content of the demo is fairly slim, showing only basic Final Fantasy mechanics without getting into FF III's job system.  There is a small town; an overworld section in which a hand-drawn map is shown on the upper screen; a castle with a closed gate; and a small dungeon.  You find a couple of chests and fight some enemies before you get to the boss.  Weapons and shields are equipped in the left and right hands, so it is possible to equip a character with two swords to give added damage.  I also came across some items that cast ice spells which were more effective against the giant turtle than the fire spell the characters know by default.      

It looks like Square-Enix is putting a lot of work into bringing Final Fantasy III to 3D.  While the features that make it unique weren't shown in the demo at E3, players can probably find more information on the original Famicom game before the DS version releases this September.

[The Mana series is back, but not much has changed.]

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TalkBack / IMPRESSIONS: Children of Mana

« on: May 11, 2006, 12:05:57 PM »

The Mana series is back, but not much has changed.

The Children of Mana demo in Square-Enix’s booth at E3 takes you through a dungeon which seems to be right at the beginning of the game.  You are able to select one of three different characters, but the only apparent difference is the summon creature that comes with them.    

The dungeon has you climbing a tower to rescue someone the character apparently knows.  However, for some reason I didn’t catch, there’s something in the tower causing space to be distorted or something.  Because of this, the staircases disappear, but it doesn’t really matter because some Mana light or something is there, and if you find a Mana seed in a pot you can use it to travel up to the next floor.    

Battle is very similar to previous Mana titles, and the enemies shown look exactly the same as their counterparts in Sword of Mana.  The graphics don’t seem to have improved much over the GBA in any sense.  You can set weapons to the A and X buttons, heal with Y, and summon your magical buddy monster with the B button.  Weapons have secondary functions if you charge them.  The sword can reflect projectiles.  The bow puts enemies to sleep.  The flail’s standard usage to pull you across gaps is now a secondary function, and the hammer pounds the ground instead of swinging sideways.  One odd difference about the battles is that attacking enemies knocks them backwards, and if they hit another enemy or an item, they will do damage to it.  And if you hit an enemy with a hammer swing, you’ll send them flying across the level like a hockey puck with every other enemy they hit ricocheting off the walls and each other.    

The boss battle in the demo is painful.  So painful I didn’t bother to finish.  You battle against a large phoenix on the top of the tower.  It flies back and forth across the level, but doesn’t take any damage at first.  Then suddenly a cut-scene shows a sword falling out of the sky.  It promptly disappears, but its power makes it possible to damage the boss.  It isn’t much easier to hit it though, mostly because the stage is so huge that you have to look at the map to see where the enemy is coming from and when you do find it, it’s often too far away to get to in time to hit it.

[A brief demo for this Wii title.]

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TalkBack / IMPRESSIONS: One Piece Unlimited Adventure

« on: May 11, 2006, 12:37:43 AM »

A brief demo for this Wii title.

One Piece is heading to Wii in an all new adventure title, but the E3 demo only focuses on a few of the basic items in an open area with no enemies.  Monkey D. Luffy is the only playable character in the demo, and he lands on a seemingly empty item.  Luffy himself is looking good cel-shaded.  The level is bright and colorful with a wide field of view and lots of detailed objects such as flowers and grasses.      

The controls are similar to Zelda, but a bit more basic: B jumps; A attacks; Z locks on to a target; the 1 button changes camera angle; and items are selected via the cross pad.    

As you journey through the level, you'll come across a couple of items and be introduced to their mechanics.  The pick-axe allows you to bust rocks and uncover buried treasure by swinging the remote downwards.  You can also swing it side to side to cut grass, and bashing trees with it can knock out items too.  The Gem of Time seems to be the first of an assortment of magical gems.  In the demo, you're able to use it to cause a tree to quickly grow under a boulder, launching the boulder out of your path in the process.  There is an insect net that can be used by targeting an insect, walking up slowly, and swinging the remote to swing the net over the bug.    

The final tool you pick up is the fishing rod, and in some ways, I preferred the Wii fishing mechanics in this game over the fishing in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.  You cast by holding A, pulling the controller back over your head just like a real fishing rod, and swinging it forward while releasing A.  Actually hooking a fish is the hardest part since the cue for when your bobber is getting hit is a little hard to identify.  The fish will nibble, but when it does bite down, the bobber doesn't really sink much, the remote just rumbles a lot.  However, if you manage to jerk the controller up at the right time, you'll get one hooked.  Reeling the fish in, you'll need to pull back on the controller and pull side to side to fight a fish to shore, but you also have to worry about line tension, and may have to lower your pole a few times to keep the line from breaking.  For all your hard work though, you may end up with something that looks like it belongs in a goldfish bowl.    

And that's really all there is to this demo.  I returned to be sure I didn't miss anything, but so far all we're able to see is this handful of basic tools and some random collectibles.

1166

TalkBack / RE: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

« on: May 10, 2006, 11:03:40 PM »

what you are talking about?  Some device to jerk my arm around - like a new Robotic Operating Buddy?

[Nunchuk sword swings, pointer aiming, fishing, and a cool boss battle in the Wii version of Twilight Princess.]

1167

TalkBack / IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

« on: May 10, 2006, 04:06:56 PM »

Nunchuk sword swings, pointer aiming, fishing, and a cool boss battle in the Wii version of Twilight Princess.

A large corner of Nintendo’s Wii booth is dedicated to demos of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.  Unfortunately, there are no GameCubes on the show floor to compare the Wii version to the current GameCube build, but the Wii version is shown in widescreen, the graphics are very crisp, and the framerate is much steadier than the demos at E3 last year.  Nintendo has two demos set up: a fishing area and a dungeon.      

The fishing demo takes a place at a gorgeous lake with tall rock formations jutting out of the water and weeping orange-leaved trees.  A rustic looking gal is at hand to teach you all you need to know about fishing with the remote.  You can choose to fish with either a bobber or lure.  Lures have to be reeled in after they are thrown, while bobbers allow you to lie in wait for a bite. It seems that bobber fishing is done from the shore and lure fishing gives you access to the canoe.      

Once you’ve picked a fishin’ hole, you’ll swing the remote to cast and jerk it to hook a biting fish.  You then pull the remote back hard and hold A to reel.  Once the fish gets close to the boat, you’ll have to act quickly and press the B trigger for Link to reach down and grab it.  Not all the fish are popular in Hyrule apparently, so you may see Link give his catch a hilarious look of disgust.    

The dungeon being shown is the same one demoed at the media briefing and shown in the released screen shot.  The stage begins in a canyon with boardwalk paths over water. The mysterious creature, Midna give you instructions, much like fairies in past games, and it seems she is available to give hints at any time by pressing up on the cross pad.   The other three directions on the cross pad are mapped to specific items.  The boomerang, bow, and iron boots are there by default, but there are other items in the menus, such as the Claw Shot (same as hookshot), a lantern, potion, and lantern oil.  Accessing the item menu is as simple as pointing the remote at the items icon on the screen and pressing the A button.    

The basic Zelda controls are pretty much intact.  You move with the nunchuk’s analog stick; center the camera or lock on with the Z trigger; and do basic sword moves with the B trigger.      

Items like the claw shot, bow, and boomerang, make use of the Wii remote’s pointer function.  You hold down the corresponding button on the cross pad, aim with pointer, and release to fire.  The target will then remain active until you move so you can quickly aim and fire again.  The boomerang has added multi-target functionality – before you set your new winged boomerang out, you can use the B trigger to click multiple targets for it to hit in a specific order. The feature is used in one puzzle in the current demo.  Since Zelda was the very first Wii game I tried, it took quite some time to adjust to the pointer sensitivity.  Only slight movements are needed, anything more causes the cursor to zip across the screen.  Representatives on-hand stated that the pointer is more sensitive as you get closer to the sensor bar, so standing farther back makes it somewhat easier.  There is also hope that Wii or individual games may have some sensitivity calibration for those of us that have trouble making teeny tiny movements.  I did eventually get the hang of it and was able to pick off some pretty long shots.    

Less intuitive are the motion-sensitive sword fighting moves.  Pushing the remote forward, causes Link to bash and stun his enemy with his shield, which isn’t too difficult to pull off.  However, the nunchuk is used to perform Link’s spin attack and down-stabbing finishing move.  The down-stab is performed by swinging the nunchuk downward, and since your enemy is already on the ground, it isn’t too vital if it doesn’t work.  But spin attacks are necessary for some of the clusters of enemies that surround you, and I only seemed to get it to work once in a while.  Even though it was explained in the game and by representatives on hand, I never felt sure of what I had to do. Am I supposed to swing it in a circle, shake it, twist it, or what?  The reps seemed to be able to do it whenever they liked, so I know it’s not impossible to get down, but the necessary motion didn’t seem to be clear.    

Rumble on the Wii controller seems to be much more noticeable than on GameCube, perhaps because the entire body of the remote is held in your hand.  I was not able to hear the remote’s speaker amidst the roar of E3, but representatives stated that the bow, sword, and fishing reel all make use of the speaker.    

The layout of the dungeon is fairly simple since the demo is only about eight or ten minutes long.  There are scarecrows set up as targets to teach you how to swordfight and shoot your bow.  Outside, you come across the occasional foot soldier, but most of your opponents are archers, that you have to take out from a distance.  Attempting to fire up close tends to result in getting hit before you can even get the enemy in your sight.  There is a spot to try out your claw shot, a puzzle involving the boomerang, and a new means of using your iron boots.  You put the boots on to push down a big switch, which in turn activates a huge magnet dangling from a crane of sorts.  Putting on your boots again under the magnet causes link to fly upside down and stick to it – inverting the entire screen.  The magnet takes you to another area in the level, but you can even fire weapons while dangling upside-down.    

The second section of the dungeon is in a cave with a couple of lava pits.  After you use your bow to cut a rope holding a drawbridge, you’ll encounter several large groups of enemies that encircle you.  You then move on to a very cool battle against the huge fiery boss that we’ve seen in previous trailers.    

When you enter the room, the boss is chained and dormant, your very presence activates a jewel on its forehead, ignites its body in flames, and causes it to tear its chains from the walls, dragging them and swinging them as effective weapons to smash you and the pillars encircling the room.  It’s also capable of sending out waves of fire in all directions.  To combat the boss, you first have to get a safe distance away and fire an arrow into its forehead, temporarily stunning it.  Then you have to quickly run up to the chains connected to its ankles and grab one with the B button.  If you simply tug at it with your own strength, it will have no effect.  Put on your iron boots though, and you’ll have the weight to hold your ground, pulling his leg out from under him, causing him to fall forward and his flames to go out.  You can then take off your boots, run up to him, and give his face a beating with a few jabs of your sword.  Manage to do this several times, and you’ll defeat him – but the demo ends before you can see your reward.

[A transcript of Iwata's speech at yesterday's media briefing.]

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TalkBack / Nintendo Media Briefing Speech

« on: May 10, 2006, 05:46:06 AM »

A transcript of Iwata's speech at yesterday's media briefing.

Media Briefing Speech    

Thank you, and good morning.    

  When I became Nintendo president, we decided on a new goal for our company expanding the total number of people who play games.    

In order to do this, we needed to target not only current gamers but two different types of consumers those who once played, but who had lost interest.  And even those who had never played before.    

how would we do this?    

The industry has always tried to improve in the same direction with games that are more gorgeous and more complex. But in order to approach lapsed or former gamers and non-gamers, these types of games can not serve our purpose.    

The logical solution is to re-invent the relationship between player and game - the game controller interface. We believe this approach can appeal to a much broader audience but also excite core gamers.  This is important because core gamers always represent our most important audience.    

Our first implementation was Nintendo DS.  Like many disruptive innovations, at first it confused some people. But these people began to understand when they started to 'pet' their puppies with a stylus and talk to them through the microphone.  Next, in japan we launched the first of the brain games. They have already been played by millions of people who never tried a video game before. Many people in our industry thought these consumers were impossible to reach, but now the trend is spreading to the western world.    

  So, how do we continue this strategy with Wii?    

One hand control with the Wii remote is just like the touch screen of DS. It breaks down a barrier to non-gamers and lapsed gamers. For anyone, it is comfortable. In addition, most lapsed gamers have wonderful memories of games they used to play. The virtual console aspect of Wii will bring them together again. And the virtual console will also act as a 'living laboratory' for simple, intuitive games.    

Using the creative approach with the Wii remote control, and the business model of the virtual console, maybe a game like 'Tetris' can be feasible once again.    

In the past 20 years, as game systems improved in functionality there were also downsides. Among these, the startup time before game play begins is growing longer and longer. I have been planning, developing and playing games for a long time. And I still love all of this. But these days, I am busier than ever.  And if I have to wait 30 seconds or 40 seconds or more for a game to load. Often I get frustrated and sometimes I just can not wait. And now that I know I can instantly stop or start playing my DS by just closing or opening the top, I think I am spoiled.  Maybe this has happened to you, too.    

If serious gamers find these delays frustrating, how can we ever expect the mass market to show more patience than we do?  Unless we change, we can never increase the game play population.    

The Wii console will also help solve this problem.  It can power up virtual console games and applications like our Opera web browser saved to Flash ROM almost as fast as a telephone or television in just a few seconds.    

And let me describe one more hardware feature.  No game console, no matter how powerful, serves any purpose when it is turned off. So we designed our machine to provide owners a variety of services even when it seems like it is turned off. Wii will become 'the system that never sleeps.'    

Using a design called 'wii-connect-24', the console automatically enters standby mode without the fan running but still operating key functions and using power about the same as a miniature light bulb.    

Importantly, this means the Wii console can be constantly connected to the internet. For you hard core gamers, this means developers can 'push' a new weapon or vehicle or level to you even while you sleep.  For beginning gamers, just starting with something like Animal Crossing, anytime the console is in standby, they may return to find that a friend has visited their village and left a message or a gift.  And other developers will configure their games so that players will receive the game elements or information that the designer wishes. And programmers won't need to write a single line of code. Networking software is included in the hardware and developers can decide to add these functions at any time.  What we are aiming for is a system that is new every day.    

Then finally, the most difficult job is to reach people who have never played before. To approach them, we need to remove several walls.    

New controllers and the virtual console are important, but most important is software that these people will really want to play. These games would allow a core gamer and a non-gamer to happily and immediately compete against each other.  What kind of game can do that?    

Among the examples you'll play tomorrow is Wii-sports.  This is a combination which will include tennis, golf and baseball in one package. It will be available on launch day. Beginning players will find control with the Wii remote intuitive and appealing. Serious gamers will find it a surprising way to attempt something they've already done many times before.    

  Expanding the game audience with Wii means increasing the number of people in any household who are involved with games.  Today, there are people who play and people who do not. Wii will help destroy that wall between them.    

Regardless of age, gender and game experience, anyone can instantly understand Wii. And Wii can provide anyone with fresh, new experiences.    

  Everyday, there is something new.  For everyone, everyday.    

This is our answer.    

  Thank you.

1169

General Gaming / RE: Sony E3 2006 Press Conference

« on: May 08, 2006, 04:58:50 PM »

Wow that went from boring to hilarious in no time.

1170

TalkBack / RE: TIME Magazine Hands-On With Wii

« on: May 07, 2006, 10:08:56 PM »

Actually Ian, I don't think the GameCube game was going to be ready in time for last year.  There are still things in the core game that they're tying together.  I'll be interested in seeing just how the Wii controls fit the game.

1171

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Wario Ware Wii

« on: May 07, 2006, 12:05:10 PM »

geez, how did you both post at 12:34?  I guess this is the one I'll kill since there are fewer responses.  Talkback should be up soon too.

1172

Nintendo Gaming / RE: A Revolution in China?

« on: May 06, 2006, 10:33:29 PM »

I love how everyone acts as if I didn't know piracy exists in China.  Thanks.

That's obviously what made the entry of iQue and it's relative success such a big deal.  If Nintendo has a plan for Wii that they think will work in China, it may be influencing decisions such as the name.  And remember, officially, it's not the Nintendo Wii, it's just Wii, another element that would make sense in the Chinese marketplace where "iQue" has been the brand, not the obviously Japanese "Nintendo".

1173

TalkBack / RE: DS Lite Gets a US Release Date

« on: May 06, 2006, 10:25:08 PM »

eh, you might be able to make the original DS brighter, but I doubt it's still on the same level.

1174

TalkBack / RE: WWII on Wii

« on: May 05, 2006, 11:52:00 PM »

sorry about that, bad link

1175

Nintendo Gaming / A Revolution in China?

« on: May 05, 2006, 06:39:09 PM »

So, on the way home I had a thought (not quite developed enough to be a theory).  I may have come up with one good reason for the name change – China.  Nintendo has been priming the market for the past several years with the iQue, GBA, and I think even the DS, but hasn’t quite entered the market with a current-level home console.  Now, let’s say they choose to have their next console take that step – is the Chinese government going to look kindly on “Revolution”?  Wii on the other hand (meaning “we”) actually has a somewhat communist ring to it.  Call me crazy, but Nintendo may be thinking of more untapped markets than women and seniors.