Topic: Killer Apps

[kirby_killer_dedede]

Okay, so here's how I see this generation in a nutshell:

PS2s blasted off the shelf with GTA3, and since then, the other games the system has to offer have grown on the owners.

Xbox basically exists because of Halo.

GameCube...is just kind of there.

Every system had a real must-have game that kept the system going...except Nintendo's.  If ever there was one it was Super Smash Bros. but it was still dubbed tiku tiku tiku! , even with its T-Rating.  Metroid Prime..."Total rip-off of Halo" is what you get, even though MP is an FPA, not an FPS.  The Cube's got plenty of great games...but no killer-app.  So what I want to hear from Nintendo is that there's a Rev killer-app in the works.  I want to hear your ideas regarding what it could be, and about the strategy and timetable Nintendo should have for the next-generation.

Personally...I just don't know and though I know I'm buying a Rev the day of release, I'm still not convinced Ninty has brushed off that Tiku Tiku image and will appeal to the mainstream next-generation.

[Bill Aurion]

Super Mario 128
Metroid Prime 3
Super Smash Brothers 3
Camelot RPG
Zelda Rev

Enough killer apps to hold you for now?  But seriously, we don't even know what the system does yet...How the system works could easily turn a game into a killer app, so just be patient...

(Camelot's RPG is going to be a killer app no matter what...Golden Sun Golden Sun Golden Sun)

[BlackNMild2k1]

Didn't Camelot say that the RPG that they are working on is not based on Golden Sun?  or am I just imagining that?

I have no links or proof, just going by memory.

Kid Icarus
Mario Kart
Pokemon (MMO?)
*Entire Retro Cataloge

[Bill Aurion]

You are imagining that...Camelot has not confirmed anything other than the fact that their game is an RPG...

Kid Icarus was not confirmed, but hinted at a possible Rev version...

[Nosferat2]

Whatever RPG comes to the Rev god forbid its another with cards, or  bluehaired child-eske characters. There is already a lame RPG(if you call it that) slated for the REV, FFCC. We dont need two lame RPG's at launch.  

Also Metroid PRime a rip off of Halo? WTF Well im not sure about that cause i never played Halo aside from a multiplayer battle. But they seem distinct and Metroid storys are essentially the same since the original Metroid, MP is just 3D. So id argue that Halo ripped off Metroid, but what do i know..

[Spak-Spang]

Killer Aps for Nintendo Revolution.

Nintendo Download service  (I am serious on that  KILLER APP)

Metroid Prime sold quite a few units....if Retro creates another one with more traditional controls watch out.

Mario is always a killer app.  Sunshine did quite well and sold a few systems.  It will sell more.

Super Smash Brothers Revolution:  A great game.

Zelda:  Nuff said.  Probably Nintendo's most important franchise these days.

Then add to that Nintendos lesser known franchises that could be created into a killer app.

Advanced Wars
Fire Emblem
Pokemon (Ok not lesser known, but still...)
Kirby
Nintendo Sports

[Ian Sane]

"Super Mario 128
Metroid Prime 3
Super Smash Brothers 3
Camelot RPG
Zelda Rev"

The only one of those that has a serious chance of being a killer app is the Camelot RPG but that's just because we don't know anything about it.  The Cube had Mario, Metroid Prime, SSB and Zelda.  Why would these games be killer apps on the Rev but not the Cube?  Games that sell consoles are rarely sequels.  They're always something new except for rare occasions like Super Mario 64, GTA3, and FFVII where a franchise is given a big overhaul and thus becomes new again.

I think the Cube could have had a killer app with better marketing and better timing.  Pikmin could have been a killer app.  There still is no game like it.  But it was pretty short and the big launch push was given to Luigi's Mansion which although a new take on an existing franchise was too short to be a console seller.  Rogue Leader also could have been a killer app but again the marketing for it was the sh!ts.  There was a Rogue Leader commercial but it had more to do with people in glass cubes than showing off the best game addaption of the trilogy ever.  ED was new but again no marketing and the game was probably too arty anyway.

Metroid Prime would have been the best choice but I feel it was hurt by poor marketing (notice a trend here) and poor timing.  Metroid Prime was released around the same time that the Xbox offered a pretty cool bundle pack that came with two Sega games.  Nintendo in return offered nothing.  The Sega bundle along with Splinter Cell (which was marketing really well) allowed the Xbox to settle into second place and the Cube has never recovered.  If Nintendo had a comparible promotion and comparible marketing Metroid Prime probably could have beat Splinter Cell.  Though the Cube was probably already finished anyway because of that TERRIBLE post-launch drought.  That pretty much tainted the entire console so Metroid Prime was trying to sell damaged goods at that point.

Everything else that could have been a killer app wasn't because it was too late.  The Cube was finished after the Xbox kicked its ass that Christmas.  RE4 probably could have been a killer app but it was released too damn late to do any good even if Capcom hadn't screwed Nintendo over by announcing the PS2 port.

The Rev needs something brand new, that offers an experience that people must buy a Rev for, to be released within the first year.  And that first year has to be quite competent.  The marketing has to be top notch and there has to be no big f*ck ups to doom the Rev early on.  Ideally a killer app launch title would work the best but if that's not possible a solid launch lineup and NO HUGE DROUGHT can keep things afloat until the killer app arrives.  However Christmas 2007 is the drop dead date and the whole thing can be ruined if the competition delivers a major killer app first.

The marketing is REALLY crucial.  Nintendo still is pretty much doing the same ads that didn't work in 2001 so I'm hoping Reggie is all he's cracked up to be and whips NOA into shape.  Either that or Nintendo makes a game that's so good that it rises above any poor marketing and sells huge anyway (like Goldeneye did).

[Draygaia]

There are killer apps.  Its just clear that you prefer the other competitors.  I don't like GTA and FPS have never been the top for me.

[IceCold]

Many, many, many titles could have been killer apps on the Cube, and in a sense they were, but Ian's right, the marketing was horrible. I really hope that Nintendo learns how to publicize a game properly - they make some of the best games in the world, yet they don't show that in their ads.

And anyway, I would rather have numerous quality titles like the Gamecube had, rather than one or two "killer apps" - whatever the definition for that is.

[pudu]

Quote
Originally posted by: Draygaia
There are killer apps.  Its just clear that you prefer the other competitors.  I don't like GTA and FPS have never been the top for me.

I've played GTA and liked it but never owned one but realise that if I wanted to I could always wait for it to come to PC.  I simply hate using dual analog for aiming in FPS's (due not only to the lack of motion a stick has but also due to my uncordintated right thumb and the not-so-nice c-stick).  In general I don't like shooters on consoles anymore.  The PC and the mouse is the ultimate duo for aiming in a FPS.  Metroid is different though, it was more of a First Person Adventure and the controls matched well.  Now, if Nintendo's new controler actually uses a new way of controling motion that, hopefully, matches or surpases that of a mouse then I'm all for more FPS's on Nintendo's next console.

Alright not sure how I really added to this thread...oh well

[Spak-Spang]

Ian:  I completely disagree that a killer App has to be something new.  History doesn't really support that too much.

NES:  Killer App Super Mario Brothers.  Ok, that was new.
Genesis:  Killer App Sonic  (Just Sega's version of Mario nothing really new)
SNES:  Killer App Super Mario World (Not new at all.)
Playstation:  Didn't have a killer app at release.  Eventually they got FF and GTA
N64:  Killer App Super Mario 64.  Same Mario, new exerience.  New franchise in 3D Mario born.
Playstation 2:  No killer App upon release.  Eventually had everything the PS had.
Gamecube:  Only potential Killer App would be Super Smash Brothers.
Xbox:  Halo was their Killer App.  Could be a new franchise but was basically a good FPS is all.
Xbox 360:  Perfect Dark Zero, or another FPS will be the killer app.  Nothing new.

Actually, looking at the list I don't think Killer Apps are that important for a system to succeed.  Playstation never had a killer app early in its life.  It took a few generations to get its games.

Microsoft only had Halo.

Nintendo has had some very powerful Killer Apps, and Mario, Zelda, and all Nintendo's others will and STILL do sell systems.  When people buy a Nintendo system they are buying it for all those games.

[Bill Aurion]

Again I will repeat for Ian...

How the system works could easily turn a game into a killer app, so just be patient...

It doesn't matter if the characters are old if the design is new, intuitive, and addicting...

[BlackNMild2k1]

for Playstation wasn't more like FF & MGS?  GTA wasn't a major game until GTA3

and with PS2 you knew what was coming, FF9, MGS2, DQxx

[nickmitch]

Earthbound with a real time fighting system, like ToS, could be a killer app. There definately needs to be at least 3 M-rated games out by the holiday season, just for the sake of having M-rated games. A geist sequel and two new franchises from Nintendo would suffice.
And what would make SSB 3 a killer app is the online aspect. It'd be the same with MP3. An online F-Zero would be nice by the first holiday season too.

[pudu]

Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
Again I will repeat for Ian...

How the system works could easily turn a game into a killer app, so just be patient...

It doesn't matter if the characters are old if the design is new, intuitive, and addicting...

Great point.  What is true about basically all games now is that they all fit into one genre or another.  No matter what the game is about and what characters are starring in it, it will be classified as being a part of one or more genres.  Now, what matters with Nintendo's console isn't that they create all new genres with all new characters this next gen as much as them being able to finally allow developers to create new gaming experiences.  Like Bill said, take a familiar type of game with familiar characters and add a new way to control it and what you get is the ability to create a new, intuitive, and addictive design.

It really is true what Nintendo keeps saying over and over, ther biggest change at this point in time could very easily be that of how we interact with games.  Look at the gamecube controller compared to the NES one...how truely different are those?  More buttons and more degrees of input isn't that big of a leap.  The graphics, on the other hand, have made huge leaps from the NES days.  BUT, this has become expected and, therefore, graphical leaps are nothing new or revolutionary, they are mearly evolving consistantly.  A long-due leap in contol, on the other hand, could really drive that area of gaming forward and help it catch up to where graphics and hardware have got to.  

[stevey]

The cube had lot of of kill apps but nintendo suck at making game ad so there was no hype at all to start a firer under the cube. That why I hope reggie make the best ad of his life to get the firer brun under the rev with games like Super Smash Bros Online & Metroid Prime 3. SSBO could be easy to do by just show people the main point without bs.

But MP3 will be harder since it was dead for 10 year so they need to get it name out and peole know the it's a fpaa and no an idiots fps were you shoot thing in the head over and over and over and over and...... but it the thinking man fpaa game. and the zelda rev game wont come out for years no soner the 2008, 2007 if the use parts of TP and 128 if it not out for the cube than it wont be ready for 2006.

[jasonditz]

Even the original SMB was arguably just a redux of the original Mario Bros. which was itself far from a killer app.

[jasonditz]

Quote
Originally posted by: TVman
Earthbound with a real time fighting system, like ToS, could be a killer app. There definately needs to be at least 3 M-rated games out by the holiday season, just for the sake of having M-rated games. A geist sequel and two new franchises from Nintendo would suffice.
And what would make SSB 3 a killer app is the online aspect. It'd be the same with MP3. An online F-Zero would be nice by the first holiday season too.

A Geist sequel?! Geist isn't even out yet...

If Nintendo really feels the need to get some generic M-rated titles they should just republish BMXXX with more advanced titties. Or hell, how about we finally get "Mario Shoots a Hooker"?

[nickmitch]

I beleive that we were promissed that Mario would not be shooting hookers at E3 2003 or 2004, which ever.
And I was just using Geist as an already exsisting franchise that could be continued to help kill the tiku tiku tiku.  

[nemo_83]

Nintendo should attain the rights to Star Wars for Retro to make a game.  Maybe there could be a cheat allowing Samus to be unlocked in the game.  Now that is a cameo worth getting excited over.  

Most important for Nintendo is to launch with the next Mario Bros and something that appeals to mature gamers like Metroid, Zelda, Kid Iccarus, or an original FPS.  At some point they have to release some original games; the best time to do so would be launch.

The system doesn't need to launch with a multiplayer port of Sunshine and a bunch of gimmick games because there was no time to make a real game that uses the new controller.

The REV needs games from the first day that use the new controller to make the game more fluid.

[IceCold]

Adding to Bill's comment, SM64 was the first game to use the analogue stick effectively. It was the 64's killer app. If Mario 128 can succesfully showcase the Rev's new interface perfectly, then it will be a killer app. It would be something, like Ian says, that you can't play anywhere else, and if it is done masterfully (as all Mario titles are) then I see no reason why it can't be the killer app. I don't need a new franchise or characters, any high quality game that complements the Revolution's features is enough.

[kirby_killer_dedede]

lol I'm now realizing we were promised an online Super Smash Bros at launch...killer-app right there, if done right.

[Bill Aurion]

Quote
Originally posted by: nemo_83
Nintendo should attain the rights to Star Wars for Retro to make a game.  Maybe there could be a cheat allowing Samus to be unlocked in the game.  Now that is a cameo worth getting excited over.

.....................WHY?

[kirby_killer_dedede]

Actually Retro could make a decent SW game.

But yeah, if you ever tell me again that Samus should be a Star Wars character, I will personally find out where you live and snipe you through your bedroom window.

[nickmitch]

C'mon! Don't you want to see Samus vs Bobafet?