Messages

1126

Nintendo Gaming / RE:FORCE FEEDBACK GYROS FOR THE REV---

« on: April 06, 2005, 09:13:09 AM »

I think that playable demos aren't just unlikely, there's no chance.

The Revolution will be like the Zelda of last year. The system and games are a year and a half away. Even if they had playable demos in rough forms, they could very well not even be the same games by the time they launched. It's way too early. Heck, anybody remember the Zelda and Wave Race videos? They were nothing like the final products.

The GameCube was demo'ed at SpaceWorld 2000 and made an effective impact with the 100 Mario demonstration, videos, screenshots, and prototype hardware on display. That is all that's necessary to create buzz.

Nintendo still needs to focus on the here and now, too. It's not important that Nintendo offer playable Rev games right now. Their focus will be on hyping Zelda and DS games. The Revolution will shine at next E3.

If Nintendo chooses to hold back Revolution's big secret, it wouldn't really matter anyway. As soon as 3rd parties get a hold of the hardware, which will likely be shortly after E3, everybody's going to know because it will get leaked. Nintendo's only hope of copy prevention is to get a patent pending for it, unless MS and Sony don't care about it.

1127

TalkBack / RE:BLAH BLAH BLAH: GameCube 64

« on: April 05, 2005, 02:21:50 AM »

Note: I didn't know the "K" word was taboo, so I mistyped it intentionally so my point is understood. I'm not a bad speller, usually.

I start to cringe every time the "kidday" debate comes up. I think there is something a bit more subtle in Nintendo's methods that most people don't quite catch. Nintendo largely doesn't make kidday games, they make what I call "safe" games.

"Safe" games are games that target everybody. They're not necessarily kidday. They're just plain safe. The GameCube is two-punch platform:

1. Star power.
2. Safeness.

If you look at the GameCube's top sellers, you can see that virtually all of them are either "safe" or have star power. Referring to it as a "kidday" platform is sort of a poor man's dismissal of a more complex issue.

The problem is that when the platform developed a reputation for having these two qualities, conscious to the buyers or not, it knocked out the likely success of STYLIZED games, and indeed, some genres altogether.

The answer doesn't lie in holding back first party games. It lies more in COVERING THE GENRES BETTER, and not using your mainstay characters every chance you get. Create kick ass sports games. Not "Luigi's Football". Create kick ass role-playing games. Not "Paper Mario". A number of the "stylized" games that did get released depend on Nintendo's star power to carry them.

Making "everybody" games is not the same as making games for everybody. One could argue that PlayStation is more of an "everybody" system in that way.

Nintendo can't do it all, but the least they can do next time around is provide an open platform that doesn't get pigeon-holed so easily.

Nintendo targetting "everybody" for Revolution does give me pause. That's the DNA for more of the same. That is a legitimate concern. If they mean just more non-denominational "safe" games, then we should expect Nintendo to likely hold their current position indefinitely. We may like their games personally, but their standing won't change.

BUT, if they mean "everybody" because they will secure killer sports games, RPGs, psycho-thrillers, platformers, etc. then I am there.  I am hopeful, but not optimistic.    

1128

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Iwata: Revolution Backwards Compatable and Wi-fi out of Box

« on: April 05, 2005, 12:56:42 AM »

If it's not strictly directional in theory it could also enable multiple TVs to display the same picture, if you have multiple receivers?  This thing must suck enough power to still need a power cable though.

All we'd need next is a system with a disc magazine that stores about 20 games. Then TRULY we have become lazy.

Seems a bit excessive, even for a system that's a year and a half away. But it was an interesting find.

1129

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Iwata: Revolution Backwards Compatable and Wi-fi out of Box

« on: April 04, 2005, 07:29:57 AM »

Bump for this thread to mention something I found regarding a small discussion we had earlier in it:

Reggie quote: ""The old model of a person tethered to a game control tethered to a device tethered to a TV is over."


This I found this today: NEC’s Palm-Sized HDTV Transceiver

NEC made a device that can transmit an HD video signal wirelessly. Interesting.

Not that this is solid evidence to Reggie's quote. But it was an interesting find, since NEC was a GameCube partner. At least the technology is feasible, if nothing else.

Discuss. Or not.  

1130

General Gaming / RE:Convertor

« on: April 01, 2005, 10:09:31 PM »

Oh I see. A few years ago Nyko released an adapter that let you use the PS2 controller for GameCube:

linky

I'm not sure if they have a GameCube-to-Other adapter. But check out their site.

1131

Nintendo Gaming / RE:LMAO, Sony losing it!

« on: April 01, 2005, 04:06:26 AM »

Nope, in fact I countered all the more in the edit.

1132

Nintendo Gaming / RE:LMAO, Sony losing it!

« on: April 01, 2005, 03:55:04 AM »

Considering in reality there is even less Rev development being done than PS3 development, one that is legitimately concerned about PS3 must find all hope lost for the Revolution.

Secondly, we know even less about the Rev than we do PS3. So what if they missed a showcase promise? The only difference is they made an announcement to show it and Nintendo didn't. We'll see them all at E3 just the same. Big deal.

1133

General Gaming / RE:Convertor

« on: April 01, 2005, 03:50:58 AM »

If you mean playing GameCube games on other systems and vise versa, this isn't possible.

[AgentSeven]

1134

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Just reread that gameinformer article

« on: April 01, 2005, 03:46:11 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: AgentSeven
Guys, I have a source that can not be named, who works at a company I can not say, who is currently developing several Nintendo Revolution games. He told me what was so special about the console and WOW this is going to blow Sony and M$ away, it's amazing. Here's a hint: Look around you.

I heard the Rev is coming with a monkey that wears a popcorn necklace. He will be your player 2 and substitute "connectivity."  Lame. next.

1135

Nintendo Gaming / RE:LMAO, Sony losing it!

« on: April 01, 2005, 03:42:55 AM »

Since this thread will be locked or deleted anyway (incredibly misguided, and it's the wrong forum to bitch and moan about next-gen).

The CELL was displayed in March. That's what was promised. That's what was delivered.

Xbox2 dev kits have been available since last year. They are Apple PowerMacs with a custom NT kernel.

Nintendo is not going to shine due to the alleged falls of the competition. They'd shine because their product would be solid. Even if there were no competition, crap still sinks.

No, I'm not calling Rev crap. But I will say you sound clueless. If this is an April 1st thing, it's still lame.

1136

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Iwata: Revolution Backwards Compatable and Wi-fi out of Box

« on: March 15, 2005, 10:00:19 AM »

The wireless transmission of an A/V signal to a box connected to the TV is technically possible. I saw a demonstration of this at last year's CES. I'm not sure what became of the product, but they were demo'ing it with DVD and DVR players I believe.

Does this tech have the bandwidth to transmit what will essentially be high-def games? No idea. Probably not. If it can, it's probably not worth the cost.

Very interesting Reggie quote, though. Revolution could be small and sexy enough to be semi-portable, not unlike GameCube. Think top-loading Mac Mini.

Wireless controllers  = no controller ports = smaller size.

One proprietary AV-out port could provide the feed for all possible A/V connections (include the RCA cable, but allow us to buy other outputs as an option) = smaller size

Put the memory cards in the controllers. If not using a 2-way R/F signal, they could incorporate Wi-Fi into the controllers? = no card slots = smaller size

1137

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Reggie COMMANDS your attention now.

« on: March 09, 2005, 10:39:36 PM »

Best interviews ever.

Nintendo is traditionally so one-dimensional with their towing the company lines, especially guys like George Harrison.

Reggie is the future NOA King.

1138

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Probably fake pic of a Rev development kit

« on: February 28, 2005, 07:43:05 PM »

I think he also said the textures in Mario Sunshine were just placeholders.

1139

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Something important to know about the Revolution

« on: February 01, 2005, 01:31:43 AM »

They don't spin backwards, but the laser starts from the outside and goes inward.

That is how DVD players read the second layer of DVDs. (They go in-to-out, then go from out-to-in for the 2nd layer).  This implies that the first layer on GC discs is either blank or contains some kind of l33t data. Even to this day it's still not widely known exactly what's on the first layer. Unless I missed the explanation somewhere.

I forgot to mention before that I also heard that the Revolution and xbox2 media capacities were roughly the same... Whether or not that means they actually use the same format, I don't know.

Blu-ray capacity is 50GB, HD-DVD is 30GB. If Nintendo went with blu-ray (or blu-ray-esque) and made the first layer blank again, that would bring the disc close to 25GB... making them almost even. But that's just my speculation.

1140

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Something important to know about the Revolution

« on: January 31, 2005, 12:44:42 AM »

For what it's worth, the few things I know about Revo is that the Xbox 2 has more RAM. LOL. Other than that, spec-wise they are relatively similar. That's just the systems themselves, not including any of Nintendo's would-be secrets. Whatever the secrets are, they're likely to be controller or I/O-based.

Second, even many EA people don't have any real idea what Revolution is about. Nintendo's not likely going to talk until the spring when they're ready to trickle out a few REAL dev kits for developers to look at. Comparatively, Xbox 2 development is well under way. PS3 development is happening to a lesser extent. And Revolution is almost not at all. (I'm talking EA, and can't speak for any other developers.)

What you can likely take from that is that Xbox is launching first, and if the PS3 and Revolution launch in a similar time frame, the PS3 will have more games in volume at launch. But what else is new?

Take those nuggets for what they're worth (virtually nothing). I'm not too concerned about saying it's from an EA person since it's untraceable. The specs were very briefly posted on a projection screen during an EA all-hands meeting last summer or fall. Can't trace that when there are hundreds of suspects.

Commentary:

Flash isn't really a desireable option for storage, other than game saves. That type of media is SLOW. They're getting faster, but there's no indication that they'll attain a decent speed, at a cheap enough price, in the next year.

A basic 40 meg HD in mass quantity is considerably less than $50 per unit. That's their common retail price. If you believe the Revolution will sell at-cost or slightly under, you're only looking at a low 2-digit cost as an OEM part, and thus only that much added to the system price. For the speed and capacity consideration, a HD is still the better choice.

Hard drives will become important because of the way graphics are headed. You need a fast storage medium to load the high-res textures from. You can't just pull it off a disc as-needed anymore. That's load time mayhem right there.  

1141

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Information on Gyration

« on: October 31, 2004, 12:30:51 PM »

I've yet to actually see a gyroscope product in action. Can someone point to, or explain in simple english how this might be beneficial for controllers?

Edit: Well maybe I should have looked at the site better. I see a mouse that can move in the air. I can see how moving your arms or wrists might be interesting for movement or cursor control.  

[Darc Requiem]

1142

Nintendo Gaming / RE:IGN-Cube's on another Nintendo-rant

« on: October 31, 2004, 12:14:08 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Darc Requiem
I don't understand the view of "but hey they are still making a profit." Yes its the silver lining to darc cloud of Nintendo's situation but that doens't make the situation okay. Look at the software sales of Nintendo's top titles. Now imagine what they'd be if GC's sales were just double what they are now world wide. When you makes the worlds best titles and can't even post 2nd place in world wides sales, It shows that Nintendo as company is failing inspite of its quality software.

It isn't just that Nintendo is still profitable. They are the *most* profitable as well. Even with all of Sony's tens of millions of Playstations sold, they are moving a lot more money around, but the bottom like is still not as strong as Nintendo's.  Popularity is important, but profitability is what keeps a company alive. As "minimized" as Nintendo appears in the marketplace, of course there is room for a lot of improvement, but it's also hard to argue with success.

My feeling about them is, "OK, they've done good. Now do great."

I for one have been quite energized by Nintendo since E3. The DS has momentum. Zelda will likely sell a good load of new consoles in the system's late cycle, and if the DS is any hint at Revolution, I think they will have a system much more competitive than GameCube. I'm just one person, but I've been pretty hard to impress lately. I think the sleeping giant is waking up.

If anybody expects Nintendo to suddenly be a Sony ass-kicker tomorrow, they're going to be disappointed. There's simply not much point in trying to be so aggressive this late in GameCube's life. At this point it is all about the people looking for cheap fun. There's less profit to be had going forward than there was the last 3 years.

I think the "new" Nintendo is showing itself in the DS. They are going to try to fend off the PSP to the death to keep their monopoly. They also appear to be working on some aggressive plans for Revolution. It's certainly going to be pretty close in spec to Xbox2, and it will have a hell of a much more timely launch. The only question to me, really, is 3rd party support. They've been given general guidelines, but there probably won't be actual dev kits distributed to them until next year.

[b0rg]

1143

TalkBack / RE:Nintendo DS Launch Details

« on: September 21, 2004, 06:12:38 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: b0rg
Hey all..

I am a little confused about the WiFi/Multiplayer.  Will you be able to link up over the internet and play anybody online around the world, or is this strictly for playing with someone next to you?

Thanks!

The built-in WiFi adapter makes it compatible with 802.11 wireless internet adapters, meaning it can be connected to the internet for (broadband) internet play.

The DS ALSO has a separate multiplayer connectivity for nearby players.

1144

TalkBack / RE:Nintendo DS Launch Details

« on: September 21, 2004, 12:58:38 AM »

$150, picto-chat and Metroid included.... now THAT is the competitive go-for-the-jugular Nintendo I want to see from now on. Nicely done.

And it makes sense. You really need to get software in the gamers' hands so they understand this product, because it's so different. Including pack-ins is the best way to do the talking for you.

 

1145

General Gaming / RE:Bill Gates: If you let us buy Nintendo, we will..

« on: August 05, 2004, 04:59:58 AM »

This was mentioned on CNN. It was a JOKE. The German reporter took it out of context.

1146

TalkBack / RE:Bill Gates Wants Nintendo

« on: August 05, 2004, 04:56:03 AM »

This issue was mentioned on CNN.  It was a joke. The German reporter took it out of context.

[TheYoungerPlumber]

1147

NWR Feedback / RE:New Forum Poll - Please Participate!

« on: June 10, 2004, 02:01:59 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: TheYoungerPlumber

Quote
A longstanding wish of mine is to see PGC do a weekly audio program covering what's happening in video games. It doesn't have to be streamed live, and it can be done easily over the phone with some software. Just get 2 or 3 staff members together. It'd be a cool (and fairly unique) way to spice things up.

Hmmm, this intrigues me... before my time PGC had a feature known as "Blah Blah Blah," and every once in a while there is talk of reviving it.  "Blah Blah Audio" is an interesting idea.

I've looked into technologies for recording phone calls via a modem, and since I don't have a voice Fax modem, I'd need some special phone line spliter + audio converter they sell in stores for $20 or so.  I dunno about conference call prices, but surely a cheap-ish solution could be found through interweb phone services.

Or just buy a cheap-ass data/fax/voice modem for 8 bucks Here.

I'm a Vonage customer... recommended to anybody with a broadband connection. 500 minutes a month for $15, and $30/mo for unlimited long distance. Works just like the regular phone system, sounds just as good, and supports all standard phone features, including 3-way. This should work in theory with the regular modem as long as the phone connection is:  Line from Wall > Vonage box > modem > phone.

Or hell, I'm already tricked out. Want a show host? PM me! LOL.

1148

NWR Feedback / RE:New Forum Poll - Please Participate!

« on: June 08, 2004, 05:24:24 PM »

As long as the divx files don't have mistakes like uncompressed audio that makes the file 4x the size they should be (E3 vids) they're great.

A longstanding wish of mine is to see PGC do a weekly audio program covering what's happening in video games. It doesn't have to be streamed live, and it can be done easily over the phone with some software. Just get 2 or 3 staff members together. It'd be a cool (and fairly unique) way to spice things up.

1149

TalkBack / RE:High LCD Prices to Hurt DS Profit Margin

« on: May 18, 2004, 06:56:47 PM »

Alas, here is their excuse to launch in Japan this year, but delay the DS un the U.S. until the Spring.

They *ALWAYS* claim to target simultaneous launches, but it never happens.

1150

NWR Feedback / RE:Press Conference Videos

« on: May 16, 2004, 10:10:34 AM »

For what it's worth, Dr. Divx will batch encode too.

Zach, you need to go to divx.com and download the free divx drivers. If after that AOL won't play them, you need to play them with another program, like Windows Media Player.