Messages

[Ian Sane]

101

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.

« on: September 19, 2006, 12:42:49 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
"But after all that, I still find it strange that you don't like the XBox 360. If I was a regular Hardcore gamer, the XBox 360 would be the perfect console for me (aside from hardware failures), what with GTA 4 coming out on it and excellent FPS, sports, and action titles on it and everything. Plus, while $600 is a ridiculous price, $400 is just fine for a hardcore gamer like me. I'd even appreciate MS' mandate that even XBLA games must be high-definition. MS really seems to have played this next-generation according to all your desires Ian... haven't they?"

I personally don't care for the Xbox "brand" because it is very American centric and I'm not that interested in American games.  I strongly prefer Japanese games.  I'm not totally cool with the X360.  I don't like how they have two versions.  That just splits the userbase.  The wireless controllers, HD AV cable, network cable and headset should be optional and there should be just ONE version that works with all accessories.  Their backwards compatibility is a joke.  And while I don't like how Nintendo doesn't allow any HD support at all MS isn't doing much better by forcing it.  Devs should have the freedom to choose if they want to support HD or not.  The only thing you should be forced to do is have the game playable on normal TVs.  I think MS also released a console too soon.  They should have waited until 2006 to give the Xbox a full five year life cycle.

Boy, I haven't gotten to argue with Ian in a while ... but here goes.

First, the two versions of the Xbox 360 in no way splits the userbase.  You are the only person who's even suggested such a thing.  Even if they get a Core, they'd still have to get a Memory Card, so it's not a storage issue, which is the only "real" difference between them (I can count on one hand the number of games that require the hard drive to run).  But even if it did, why would you care?  Are you criticizing the business decision as someone who has knowledge of that, or are you complaining as a gamer who doesn't know which to buy and wants the company to make his decisions for him?    And for the record, even the core version works with all accessories ... and I don't know why you suggested that it doesn't.  In fact, the Component cable included with the Core isn't just Component.  It has standard Composite as well.  That was a brilliant move, because even the "standard AV cable" is HD-Ready when you are.  As for the wireless controllers, wasn't it just a short time ago that we were telling Nintendo they should make the Wavebird standard?  This isn't a situation where Microsoft released a "standard" console and a cheaper crippled version like Sony is doing.  The "Premium" set is pretty much a "Value Pack", the Core system is the standard version.  Just like you said, the other accessories are all optional.

Nintendo is not disallowing HD support.  The console simply can't do it, and it was a conscious choice to focus on creating a similar experience for everyone, as well as keeping costs down.  Do I wish that they had been more forward-thinking?  Sure, but it is what it is, but don't couch your criticism by suggesting that Wii can do HD and Nintendo just won't let them (if you want to make that argument, talk about Online support).  Microsoft's forcing HD support is also a non-issue, since what they're doing it setting a standard (the same thing you argued for at the beginning of the post, to an extent), and by setting that standard, they can allow the Xbox 360 to automatically scale.  For the record, I've got an Xbox 360 and a standard-def TV, and it works wonderfully.  So again, are you complaining about Microsoft "forcing HD" from a developer's standpoint, or from a consumer confusion standpoint?  (In fact, from a business standpoint, I think standardizing Xbox 360 as an HD platform is what killed the PS3.  It forced Sony into a game of oneupsmanship in terms of feature set, and now their console is far too overpriced for the mass market.  Nintendo was wise to stay out of that particular slap-fight.)

As for Microsoft releasing the console too soon ... Microsoft got a one year head start, had a bunch of killer titles right off the bat, as well as a steady stream of titles since, and is generating boat-loads of money through Xbox Live Marketplace.  How did launching early HURT them?  Sure, sales suck in Japan, but you know what?  Microsoft probably won't succeed in Japan, and they don't need to.  Similarly with Nintendo ... they don't need to win over the Xbox or Sony fans to be a success.

It seems like your arguments are based on ignorance (not knowing about the Xbox 360 from personal experience), or emotion.  That's fine, but let's not pretend that it's anything other than that.

102

NWR Feedback / RE: I've Made a Huge Mistake

« on: September 19, 2006, 08:17:47 AM »

I'm the one that bought and installed the forum software, and created the original TalkBackHack, and I never noticed those other views (or self-destructing threads) either.  Thank you so much for tracking down this long-standing (and absolutely infuriating) bug!

103

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Mii Shooter

« on: September 18, 2006, 12:22:51 PM »

Wii Nerf Wars.  See, now you have a valuable license you can even attach to it.

104

Nintendo Gaming / RE: WiiPlay

« on: September 18, 2006, 12:20:02 PM »

Screw Duck Hunt.  I want HOGAN'S ALLEY.  Hell, I'd settle for the NES version on the virtual console as long as I can use the Wii pointer!

105

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Marketing the Wii for dummies....

« on: September 18, 2006, 12:16:31 PM »

Honestly, as a marketer (it's the concentration for my Business major), I'd say that I'd market the Wii exactly as they have been.  I'd primarily feature the people playing the games, and have the gameplay shown as secondary.  Also, for some games, like Madden or Wii Sports, I'd go as far as to get actual sports stars on camera playing the game, but doing it say ... on the football field or on the tennis court.  All geared up, but instead of the ball or the racket, they're using the Wii-mote.  Could you imagine Maria Sharapova in a Wii Tennis commercial on the court playing with the Wii?  THAT, my friends, will sell.  

I'd probably some up with some stupid tagline like "Now you're playing with POWER ... for real" or something like that, but I'd have to put far more thought into it.  But I think that if it's really the casual gamer Nintendo is going after, showing the experience instead of the game will go a long way.

[Edit:]

106

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Recommended SD Card size for Wii?

« on: September 18, 2006, 12:01:39 PM »

In terms of the size, 1GB is the best value.  Plus, if you have a computer, you can back up your games.  (You can't give them to anyone else, as they are supposedly tied to your Virtual Console account and/or Wii serial number, similar to how Xbox Live Arcade works).  With 1GB, you could theoretically store 32 32MB games, and if that's not enough storage, you can offload infrequently played games to your computer and store more on the blank card.

Under $20 for a 1GB card is a rockin' deal.  Personally, I'll probably get a bigger card for my digital camera, and use the old 512MB card for the Wii.

Edit: Something else to consider ... you'll probably want to put game saves on the SD card as well, so that you can back them up and/or upload them.  Perhaps a 2GB card would not be unreasonable.

Quote
Originally posted by: Strell
Just go to dealnews.com or newegg.com and get a gig minimum, but I'd recommend a 2 gig.

I'll prolly throw down on a 4 gig since they are dropping in price so quickly.

Has there been any word on how large a card the Wii can recognize?  I'd hate to think they capped it somewhere...

You can't use more than a 2GB card unless the Wii supports SDHC, the new high-capacity SD cards.  Supposedly, they are electrically identical, but require some devices to have a firmware update to support them.  Wii could probably use them, but I certainly wouldn't bet on it.

107

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Latest IGN roundtable snippet from the IGN XBox 360 guy

« on: September 18, 2006, 11:32:50 AM »

Let's correct a common misconception.  You do NOT need an Xbox 360 hard drive to play games on Live.  You do, however, need the extra $50 memory card if you don't get one.  So the price of even a Core system if you want to play online is $350.  That's without a game, though you could add an Xbox Live Arcade game like Geometry Wars for just $5.  And yes, the core system comes with a Wired controller, not wireless.  And no headset, but you don't need it to play online (voices will come through your speakers instead).

Second, no one is going to look at a Wii game and and Xbox game and say, "Oooh, for only $50 more ..."  The people Nintendo is going after with Wii are the ones that don't have an HDTV (and don't see any need to get one, because they can't tell the difference in the picture quality*) so the idea of the Xbox 360 being in HD doesn't appeal to them.  Plus, those non-gamers would be turned off seeing something like Tom Clancy anyway.  All it takes is one demo of Wii Bowling or Wii Tennis, and they'll be sold.  At least, that's the idea.

We keep comparing the Xbox 360 to the Wii as if they are competing.  For the first time, I think I can honestly say that I don't see many places where Wii and Xbox 360 would be competing with each other.

Third, I do find the argument about controller prices to be 100% valid.  I have two wireless controllers for my Xbox 360 ... enough for myself and my wife, and have no desire to get any more.  Xbox 360 is primarily an online experience, so if I'm playing with more than two people, odds are it's online.  My N64 and GameCube had full complements of controllers specifically for parties ... since you need all of them for games like Mario Kart and Mario Party.  This does make the price of the controllers a bitter pill to swallow, since I know I'm not alone in this respect.  Given that Nintendo is historically slow to give access to the online components of their consoles to developers (even now, there's complaints about Wii's online features being a mystery to developers), local multiplayer is a big deal.  Even more so when you realize that having four drunk people flailing their arms about is at least half the fun.  (Watching my mother-in-law play Mario Kart after half a bottle of champagne is a treat.

*Before you laugh, research shows that more than half of current HDTV owners aren't getting an HD signal and don't even realize it ... my in-laws being a prime example.  They had a 57" Hitachi rear-projection LCD HDTV for over a year before they ever saw anything in HD on it.  The first thing they saw was my Xbox 360, and they couldn't have cared less (though I did eventually talk them into getting a Comcast HD DVR).  

108

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.

« on: September 16, 2006, 06:29:26 PM »

Arguably, though ... the PSP is failing because it doesn't have sh!t for games.  

Some interesting arguments being made here.  Keep it up.

[mantidor]

109

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

« on: September 16, 2006, 06:06:04 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: mantidor
If I ever have the oportunity I'll try it, but Im still not convinced, the sword slashing is still just replacing the button for gestures (its not that theres a lot more to do anyway, is the only choice), and it doesnt even differenciates between left-to-right slashing and right-to-left slashing. Its really like a bunch of remote minigames put over the traditional layout. Any interest I may have goes away when I know theres an equivalent for that motion with the traditional controller.

You know, I seem to remember similar concerns before the release of the Nintendo DS.  "All you're doing is replacing button presses with drawing lines and circles.  That's not immersive."  In fact, I was saying some of those exact same things.  Then games like Nintendogs and Trauma Center proved me wrong.  Using the stylus can be far more immersive when implemented correctly.

In light of already having to eat a significant helping of crow already, I'm willing to give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt.  

110

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.

« on: September 15, 2006, 08:44:27 PM »

Billy's not jaded.  Billy's a lot like me ... he feels left behind by his favorite game company, the company he grew up with.  Billy and I are both old-school, and I'm pretty sure I had an editorial like this a while back.  Fact is, Nintendo knows that there are a lot more non-gamers than "core gamers", and while they might throw us a bone every so often, Nintendo's focus is clearly on expanding the games market, not on pleasing their long-time fans.

It was very hard for me to accept this.  I struggled with it.  What finally brought me around was when my wife became interested in things like Animal Crossing and Nintendogs, and I realized that Wii would be a great way to get my wife interested in different kinds of games, and to play with me rather than reading a book while I play.  Because the controls are more natural (and don't rely as much on twitch response), it's possible that my wife could finally find a game like The Legend of Zelda intriguing enough to try.

111

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Grand Master Billy speaks on the Wii.

« on: September 15, 2006, 07:56:16 PM »

While the GameCube hardware might be dead, GameCube software could easily end up the "bargain games" for Wii.  Native support for GameCube games on Wii is going to keep some of that software coming ... I'm sure of it.  Especially if they really want to go after the casual gamer who is more cost conscious.  I could easily see games like Sudoku or Brain Training being released as GameCube software so that you could play it on GameCube or Wii.

(Can't help but notice that Billy listed Pikmin twice in his part about GameCube launch titles.  I think the old man is becoming a "wii" bit addled ... )  

112

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Wii Sports: Potential gateway drug?

« on: September 15, 2006, 07:46:32 PM »

I disagree, for one reason and one reason only ... you had to have had reason to buy the Wii in the first place.  Bundling Wii Sports in makes it a great value, but there has to be something else that will make a non-gamer want to buy the machine and try it.

Of course, it could be that they're expecting that non-gamers will be exposed to Wii Sports through gamer friends, and hopefully that will get them hooked.  But it's going to take Nintendogs Wii to really bring in the masses.  In fact, I'm absolutely STUNNED that there hasn't been an announcement yet.

113

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Suprised no one is flipping out about this yet ...

« on: September 15, 2006, 01:20:27 PM »

Wario Ware is different. You can just flip the axis and you're good to go, and even that's only with some games.  With Zelda, there is a character on-screen who's movements need to correspond to yours.  It would be weird to have the option to fight left handed, and have everything on the screen backwards.  So you'd have to have all the animations reversed too, which could cause clipping or other issues.

114

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Did Nintendo delay Metroid and Wario to help Red Steel and Rayman?

« on: September 15, 2006, 01:15:28 PM »

It's really tough during a launch to tell from the outside if a delay was made for quality purposes or for marketing purposes.  Given how similar the Wii hardware is in architecture to the GameCube, I suspect that these are marketing delays.  This isn't saying that the developers can't use the delay to further improve the games, but I would guess that if they needed the game to fill a hole at launch, it could have been ready.

Ian ... your comment about Nintendo viewing third-parties as competitors is kind of silly, because it's the other way around. Nintendo makes money regardless.  Third-Parties only make money if their game sells, so I've frequently heard that the third party publishers view Nintendo as somewhat of a "hostile partner" .  Nintendo could very easily decide for business reasons that they need to delay some income into another quarter, and ask a publisher if they'd delay a game, or improve it, or even cause it to fail certification.  I'm not saying that this ever happens, but I could certainly see how there might be incentives towards it.

However, because of the royalty structure, it's in Nintendo's best interest to have as much sell-through as possible, across the board.  So Nintendo might be willing to delay a game to make time for some royalties now, knowing they can use the time to improve the quality and ensure more sales down the road.

[Aussiedude]

115

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Kaplan: "First Party Wii Titles Region-Free"

« on: September 15, 2006, 01:07:47 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Aussiedude

Quote
Originally posted by: RickPowers
This is just miscommunication.  The PAL Wii won't be region free only because PAL hardware doesn't work on NTSC tvs, and vice-versa.  So Nintendo of Europe just decided to enforce the region lock to simplify it.

Im sorry Rick you are wrong.   While im not sure if NTSC TVs will play PAL, all modern PAL TVs (not older than  10 yrs, even older in most cases) will play NTSC (this was done mainly as a lot of movie DVD's are released here in NTSC format). So I dont even see why Nintendo must release games in PAL let alone put on a region lock for this reason. The last MP GCN disk was released here (Australia) in NTSC.

I'm pretty sure I said PAL hardware.  Where exactly am I wrong, again?  If the Wii can only output a PAL signal, then it doesn't matter what the TV is capable of, right?

116

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Reggie Admits that the Wii package is profitable

« on: September 15, 2006, 01:05:50 PM »

If you have an HDTV, the PS3 is a great value.  If you don't, it's not.  It's pretty much that simple, sadly.

117

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Partial Elite Beat Agents soundtrack revealed

« on: September 15, 2006, 11:54:42 AM »

I have NOT played Ouendan, and I did NOT say tha EBA was better.  So there.  

118

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Kaplan: "First Party Wii Titles Region-Free"

« on: September 15, 2006, 11:50:54 AM »

This is just miscommunication.  The PAL Wii won't be region free only because PAL hardware doesn't work on NTSC tvs, and vice-versa.  So Nintendo of Europe just decided to enforce the region lock to simplify it.

For NTSC regions, the machine has the ability to be region locked, but it's up the software to enforce it, much like a DVD player does.  If the game is region free, the Wii won't care, but it will enforce a region code if one exists.

119

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Metroid Prime 3 Revolutionized

« on: September 15, 2006, 11:48:05 AM »

Feel free to laugh at me now, but games like Metroid and Tennis make me want a NEW POWER GLOVE.

[SixthAngel]

120

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Suprised no one is flipping out about this yet ...

« on: September 15, 2006, 11:41:34 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: SixthAngel
Nintendo has always been about gameplay first and story/continuity second.  This fits the new motion sensitive gameplay better so they changed the game.  The people here who are Nintendo fans should be happy about it.  Getting stuck in a quagmire of tiny details from previous versions has killed lesser franchises.

Normally I'd agree, but this is the first time where there will be two versions of the same game with actual, tangible differences.  I'm all for making the story fit the game, but this is a case where they simply aren't being consistent about it, which seems sloppy.

As for obsessing over the details, that's what makes good games great.  Look at Metroid Prime ... having the visor as your HUD was good enough, but they went a step further towards pulling you into the game by making the visor an object that light reflects off of and things can splatter on.  Those details are what people love about the game.  Similar details are what we love about Zelda, and his being left-handed was one of them.  That they are now treating that detail with (for lack of a better word) disrespect, is just disappointing.

I don't care enough to buy all, or to only buy the GameCube version ... I'll buy the Wii version because it is the superior GAMING experience of the two.  That said, it's just a shame that this particular dash of flavor was watered down.

121

NWR Feedback / RE: Error in Review pages

« on: September 15, 2006, 10:19:24 AM »

I'm pretty sure that the error had changed, and was no longer related to the error above.  We're working on it.

122

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Kaplan: "First Party Wii Titles Region-Free"

« on: September 14, 2006, 07:17:45 PM »

Of course, the wonderful part about this is when games like Viewtiful Joe come out completely localized from the get-go ... we can import and not have to wait ... or when the occasional great game like Band Brothers comes out in Japan and never makes it to the States.

123

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Wii compare!

« on: September 14, 2006, 06:58:14 PM »

Thanks, guys.  You didn't think I'd really miss this, did you?

Stay tuned, there may be a bit more of me before too much longer, however short-lived it might be.

[iMoron]

124

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Wii compare!

« on: September 14, 2006, 02:59:20 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: iMoron
Well... you know, the console will come with the Wii-mote and the Nunchuk... I think that developers will have no problem at all considering that set-up since every console owner will have at least one Nunchuk. Besides... a good deal of Virtual Console games will need the classic controller. If it sell for $20... or $25 considering it has 2 analogs, for the completeness of old games, thats an extra expence that I will take without complain. I don't see this as much of a problem.

The problem we're talking about is for MULTIPLAYER games, iMoron.  Sure, there's a Nunchuk in the box, but you still need $180 in accessories to play a four-person multiplayer game.  Along with the $50 game, and you've almost DOUBLED the cost of the Wii to play one game.  Sure, you can amortize the cost out over more games, but that's still pretty steep.  It's the same reason why I have only two wireless controllers for my Xbox 360 and not a full complement of four.  Drop the Nunchuk requirement, and suddenly, you can afford another game with that $60.

Which do you think third-party publishers would prefer?  More game sales for them, or more money in Nintendo's pocket in the form of required accessories?

125

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Knowing what you know now...

« on: September 14, 2006, 01:47:28 PM »

I'd be willing to bet that due to the technology involved, you won't see a third-party controller of anything other than the "Classic" controller.