Topic: The Nintendo Wall of Glory

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

** For visitors coming from outside of NWR, *READ THE POST*, or you will miss the context, making the pictures as useless as a release list.


This Wall should diminish the negative feelings of other threads like it.  There is goodness to be shared.

This Wall disproves the "Nintendo makes way more casual games than core games" myth perpetuated by some.
This Wall represents the hardest work in all spheres of game development and marketing.
This is the Highest Rated Wall.
This is the Riskiest Wall -- 2-D Platformers, in this age?  Wii Fit?  Wii Sports? 

This Wall deserves the most customers.  No other wall delivers this union of entertainment and peace of mind.  Trust gives it strength.  Quality and Respect for customers are its foundation.


=== CHAMPIONS ===


~ Nintendo ~


*U.S. release snapshot.  Mock-ups included for potential titles.

You stand before a mountain, looking uphill for some disaster.  Where is Nintendo's avalanche of casual games?  Wii Gamer, do you see it?  NO!  It is of children's FAIRY TALES and MAKE-BELIEVE.  What brightly towers before you is Goodness.  THIS you already know, because you are, after all, its customers.



[Industry]  "Bollocks.  We've swept this whole place.  You've got nothing.  Nothing but your bloody toys and your fancy waggle gimmicks.  We have games."
[R]  "No.  What you have are shovels and the hope that when your sales are stagnant I'm no longer standing, because if I am, you'll all be dead before you've excavated." 

~~~~~

[Industry]  "Die! Die! Why won't you die?... Why won't you die?!"
[R]  Beneath this Wall there is more than earth.  Beneath this Wall there is an idea, Mr. Industry, and ideas are shovel-proof. 

~~~~~

With the monument complete, Pro Daisy is off to take forum sabbatical to focus on various projects, serving justice platters thru other mediums.  Team Revolution will continue operating in the shadows, protecting this community.

[Deguello]

Where are all the casual games?  I could have sworn I was told for years Nintendo made more casual games than this.

[broodwars]

You're cheating a bit artificially inflating Nintendo's "brick count" there by including games that haven't seen release yet, Pro. 

[BlackNMild2k1]

He did the same thing on the Wall of Shame
Red Steel 2 for Ubisoft and MH3 for Capcom

[BeautifulShy]

Let me see. I have these games.
Wii Sports,Twilight Princess,Metroid Prime:Corruption,Super Mario Galaxy,Brawl,Mario Super Sluggers,Wii Music,Animal Crossing:City Folk,Excitebots:Trick Racing,Punch Out!!,Wii Sports Resort,New Super Mario Bros Wii,Mario Kart Wii, and Wii Fit.

[Caliban]

I got 20 of those bricks. 27 if you count the unreleased games. I also have a lot of 3rd party games too.

[Invincible Donkey Kong]

We make games.  Too bad no one else is interested in doing the same. 

[UncleBob]

I hate this wall.

It's missing Trace Memory 2.

[ShyGuy]

I hate this wall.

It's missing Trace Memory 2.

YES! RAAAAAAAAAAAGE

[broodwars]

I hate this wall.

It's missing Trace Memory 2.

 

YES! RAAAAAAAAAAAGE

I'm guessing he was only using games for the wall that are either confirmed to be coming to North America or Nintendo hasn't directly refused to bring over (which I believe is what happened with Trace Memory 2).  Notice how Disaster: Day of Crisis and Fatal Frame 4 (which Nintendo published in Japan) aren't on the wall, either.

[D_Average]

Its a great wall and all, but when I gaze unto its glory, I just can't help but think "Where is Wii Wave Race???"   


(and please, don't say its in Wii Sports Resort, don't insult Wave Race like that)

[Chozo Ghost]

To be fair, I honestly don't consider Wii Play something to be very proud of. Its okay and all, but its no better or worse than the casual shovelware that we blast 3rd parties for making.

And what about the NPC games? Wii Music? Big Brain Academy? These aren't glory games!

[BlackNMild2k1]

Yeah, but technically WiiPlay didn't cost us $50 and Nintendo didn't try to sell us WiiPlay for anything other than the $10 time sink that it is.

[Mop it up]

I actually thought that Nintendo published a few more games than that, but I guess not.

I have 22 of those games, if you count my pre-order for Endless Ocean Blue World. I'd be interested in trying everything else, other than Pokémon Battle Revolution.

[KDR_11k]

To be fair, I honestly don't consider Wii Play something to be very proud of. Its okay and all, but its no better or worse than the casual shovelware that we blast 3rd parties for making.

And what about the NPC games? Wii Music? Big Brain Academy? These aren't glory games!

It's the numbers that matter. Nintendo had a few duds but if you grabbed a random Nintendo game it's still at least decent and won't disappoint (at least not 1 star average on Amazon level disappoint). That's how Nintendo makes sure its brand is recognized as standing for quality.

And hell, we've put many, MANY hours into Wii Play because we like the games in there, they work and are fun.

[that Baby guy]

Wow, I only have eighteen of them.  I'm shocked.  Though, to be fair, I wanted TP at Christmas time, and now that I live with my Wii Roommate gamer, there's no need for me to buy it.

Some other notables I don't have:
Punchout
Metroid Prime Trilogy

I'd say the rest are either games I have on the GC or sequels to games I need to get caught up on.  MPT is notable just because the controls would be a major factor.  Endless Ocean, and the DK Barrel Jet games don't interest me,  Mario Party 8 is just far too redundant.  Pokemon Battle Revolution, too.

Great list, though.  Imagine if each major publisher just had 5-10 games of the average quality here.  That would be remarkable!

[Mop it up]

My sister loves Wii Play, we both played that a lot together back when I first acquired the Wii. It's funny, but I'll bet if Tanks were released as WiiWare for $10, people who say Wii Play isn't good would have called it awesome and totally worth the price.

[Stratos]

Tanks is the only reason I want to get a copy of WiiPlay. I love playing that with friends.

[Kairon]

YOWZA!!!

You're right Pro. Where ARE all the casual games? It's funny how these walls are so utterly effective at blowing apart assumptions and myths this generation.

I think it's a bit unfair to include all those additional games at the end there though. Especially with how secretive and delay-happy Nintendo is, my personal feelings as a Nintendo fanboy is to remove Zelda Wii, and hold judgement on XenoBlade and Last Story until they have HARD American release dates, much like Red Steel 2 at least has a hard American release date.

But anyways. Of the wall games that DO pass muster, I own... hmm... 20 of them!

Wii Sports
Zelda TP
Excite Truck
Excite Bots
Mario Strikers
Metroid Prime Corruption
BWiiMario Galaxy
Link's Crossbow training
Endless ocean
Super Smash bros. Brawl
Wii Music
Animal Crossing
NPC Pikmin
Excite Bots
Wii Sports Resort
Metroid Prime Trilogy
NSMBWii
Endless Ocean Blue World
Mario kart Wii
Wii Fit

In contrast, the most games I own from a single third-party publisher is 11, from Sega. That's actually not too bad a comparison.

Oh, and BTW, I <3 <3 <3 Wii Music. That game is so full of glory. GLORY!!! I still go to the Pro's sixsidedmedia site and just...listen to the Wii Music videos he posted... *sniff*

And also, I intend to NEVER own Wii Play.

[Plugabugz]

While it does dispel the myth of there being more "light" games than core ones, it does completely validate how these titles were unevenly marketed off a computer.

I counted 13 of the entire lot.

[Deguello]

I think it's a bit unfair to include all those additional games at the end there though.

I disagree Kairon, mainly because those titles at the end show intention and direction of future software.  Zelda and the Last Story are the only titles nobody has seen yet, but Zelda's a lock for release and Nintendo did trademark The Last Story in America.

If Pro really wanted to cheat, he'd include Pikmin 3, Retro's Project, Line Attack Heroes, Span Smasher, and Cosmic Walker, but those games aren't as far into development or as publicly revealed as the others.

But you are correct about myths being dispelled.  Where is this "casual focus?"

By the way, the best and most compelling boxart on that wall is Wii Play.  The entire left side is dominated by the main reason most buy it.  The controller is that powerful.

[ShyGuy]

Controversy time: Are Big Brain Brain Academy:Wii Degree and Pokemon Battle Revolution shovelware? I've played neither.

[BeautifulShy]

Pokemon Battle Revolution is similar to the Stadium and Colossium games. They are basicaly there so players can import their pokemon over to the game and play on the big screen. Also I heard there was some pokemon that are only in PBR. There are pokemon with unique movesets. Big Brain Academy I haven't played but I think the game is a title that does what it intends to and that is a entertaining game that helps improve the players in real life. Brain Age and Big Brain Academy were the first brain games so no I wouldn't count them as shovelware.

[Kairon]

Controversy time: Are Big Brain Brain Academy:Wii Degree and Pokemon Battle Revolution shovelware? I've played neither.

They're not shovelware, but they don't really "pop" In my opinion. Big Brain Academy; Wii Degree I've always though of as a mismatch for the Wii, it's a concept that works better on the DS, and even then less successfully than Brain Age. And Pokemon Battle Revolution? I consider that just another Pokemon Stadium game, and while not worthless, it's nothing to write home about either.

Now, is Donkey Kong Barrel Blast shovelware?

[Stogi]

I don't see Sin and Punishment 2....

[broodwars]

I don't see Sin and Punishment 2....

It's right there, I believe, on the second-to-last row...third from the left.  That's the Japanese box art.

[BeautifulShy]

I don't see Sin and Punishment 2....

Its to the right of the Endless Ocean:Blue World boxart.

[Caterkiller]

Why do I own only 11 of those?

[Peachylala]

Money's doesn't grow on trees.

[Stratos]

Why do I own only 11 of those?

I only own 9. And that's because I try to support quality 3rd party efforts first. Plus Nintendo titles will still be on shelves a year from now but quality 3rd party titles dissipate faster than morning dew when dawn arrives.

[Peachylala]

For me:

Galaxy >>>>> Other Nintendo games > third parties

[ThePerm]

yeah all are effective, try the mature wall

[Stratos]

yeah all are effective, try the mature wall

You mean we are going to get "Teh Matoor Wall of Gory" next? Sounds cool.

[Mop it up]

And also, I intend to NEVER own Wii Play.

May I ask why?

[Chozo Ghost]

And also, I intend to NEVER own Wii Play.

May I ask why?

Because it makes more sense as a rental?

[Stratos]

Because he wants colored controllers and WiiPlay only comes with white ones?

[UncleBob]

Some have pointed out the number of Bricks (i.e.: including unreleased games, etc.) in this wall vs. those in some of the third party walls.

I'd like to point out that - perhaps - that's part of the reason why almost every title on Nintendo's wall is glory and the walls of these other publishers are shame.  Perhaps, if they spent the same time/effort they do now, but on fewer titles, those titles would come out better.

I mean, seriously, the first Wii Guitar Hero game had ****ing sound issues.  How the **** do you mess up the sound on a ****ing music game?

[Kairon]

I mean, seriously, the first Wii Guitar Hero game had ****ing sound issues.  How the **** do you mess up the sound on a ****ing music game?

Because in truth, most people who buy a guitar hero game really don't care that much care about stereo sound, or master tracks. I mean, seriously, even the REVIEWERS missed the bug.

[Mop it up]

And also, I intend to NEVER own Wii Play.

May I ask why?

Because it makes more sense as a rental?

How so? Last I checked game rentals were $8. For $2 more, one could buy the game.

[Kairon]

And also, I intend to NEVER own Wii Play.

May I ask why?

Because it makes more sense as a rental?

How so? Last I checked game rentals were $8. For $2 more, one could buy the game.

I tried the game. The only part about it that was truly compelling was Tanks, and I played some co-op of that.

Just, for my tastes, most of Wii Play is less than compelling. I much prefer the balance activities in Wii Fit to the simple controller activities of Wii Play. I don't care that it costs $10 to buy. I'd rather keep the $10... and buy a third party WiiWare game! YAY!

[Mop it up]

Fair enough, mate. It's just the way you emphasized the word "never," I wasn't sure if it was because you just weren't interested in it, or if it was because of some principle.

[Kairon]

Ah, I see, loaded word there, "never."

[Ymeegod]

I count 9 myself (though I own 11 but I don't count Sports and Play both were bundles--I bought WII Play on sale for $40 so I basically got it free). 

I usually rent the Mario sport titles and I did check out WII FIt just to see it's functionality but couldn't see myself playing much of those titles.  And I already owned those NPC titles on the GC so I not rebuying them.

Where's Super Paper Mario box?  Own that one too so I'm up to 10.

[Mop it up]

Top row, all the way on the right.

[Stratos]

I'm sure you could buy WiiPlay used for dirt cheap somewhere in a pawn shop, game store or online.

[Chozo Ghost]

Most people buy Wii play just for the controller. You could probably find someone who would just give it to you for free... undoubtedly there are many people out there that own several copies of Wii Play, just because they wanted to build up their controller collection. Why would they need so many copies of Wii Play? They don't. They would probably be willing to part with them for little or nothing in return.

[Nemo]

I consider Wii Play to be 85% shovelware and 15% Wii Tank.

Admittedly, I haven't played any of the other games more than once. But I've probably spent 10 hours playing Wii Tank with friends. Unfortunately, I bought four controllers at launch, so by the time Wii Tank/Play came out, I didn't need the extra controller.

[Mop it up]

I'm sure you could buy WiiPlay used for dirt cheap somewhere in a pawn shop, game store or online.

If you bought it by itself then it would probably end up being more than $10. It's $15 used at GameStop, and on eBay it sells between $10 and $20.

Of course, if you don't need another Wii Remote and you want Wii Play, you wouldn't have much choice.

[ThePerm]

yeah all are effective, try the mature wall

You mean we are going to get "Teh Matoor Wall of Gory" next? Sounds cool.

no, your going to get teh MAture wall, but then your going to have it taken away from you. Even if someone went to the trouble of figuring out what all the games were, and then organizing them by publisher, and then cutting them out, setting them up as a bargraph, and then saving them as a png file, so they could have transparencies and match the color scheme of the forums.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'm gonna go get you some Kool-aid with extra sugar to get that bitter taste out of your mouth.

[King of Twitch]

That's racist

[ThePerm]

i'll take some Kool-aid. I want Red, or Purple.

[Ian Sane]

Do we really want to put the NPC titles in a wall of glory?  They're either a shameless attempt to get us to buy something we already own or they're a blatant example of focusing on the new market at the expense of the old fanbase who owned Gamecubes.  They were released during a HUGE Wii game drought and thus were recycled content trying to make up for a lack a new content, instead of complimenting new content.  They're a black mark on Nintendo's legacy and belong on a wall of shame.  Ditto with NPC Animal Crossing which Nintendo "forgot" to advertise as such.  And Metroid Prime Trilogy and Wii Fit Plus make Metroid Prime 3 and Wii Fit redundant so there's no point in including both.

Putting every title Nintendo was released for the Wii dimishes any credibility or prestige in a "wall of glory".  If you truly want to praise something you have to be selective.  This is just a celebration of mediocrity.  By putting Wii Music next to Super Mario Galaxy you cheapen the merits of Nintendo's truly great work.  Might as well put Urban Champion on a wall of glory for the NES along with Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. 3.

What I get from that wall though is how Nintendo has really improved their release schedule as of late.  There's a lot to look forward to.  If the Wii had decent third party support it would be a very exceptional lineup.  It's pretty much the opposite of the infamous Wii Music focused E3.  Did our bitching work?

[BlackNMild2k1]

I think you, like many, have once again missed the point.

It's not about every individual piece of the puzzle, it's about the overall picture that the puzzle makes. And Nintendo's puzzle doesn't stink from piles of crap poured on more crap with a few diamonds lost in the filth. The overall puzzle is one of quality gaming, where if you find a type of game that suits you, chances are, you will be satisfied with your purchase.

[D_Average]

I think you, like many, have once again missed the point.

It's not about every individual piece of the puzzle, it's about the overall picture that the puzzle makes. And Nintendo's puzzle doesn't stink from piles of crap poured on more crap with a few diamonds lost in the filth. The overall puzzle is one of quality gaming, where if you find a type of game that suits you, chances are, you will be satisfied with your purchase.

That makes sense, but the wall of "glory" title is a bit misleading, as one might think all the bricks in the wall are as glorious as the first time we popped in Mario 64.  I definitely agree w/ Ian's sentiment.  The NPC titles seemed half-a##ed as the controls were not as precise as they could have been.  Even the precursor to them, Mario Sluggers was a complete and utter fail in terms of controls.  And to top it all off, it was all we were getting.  And where was Mario Sunshine?  I guarantee they considering releasing a wii mote like peripheral to go with that game at the time.  It definitely should have been a NPC title.

If we didn't have so many dang walls already, it'd be interesting to see a "Wii Wall of Glory" made up of all the great Wii titles thus far, no matter who the party was.

[UncleBob]

I think you, like many, have once again missed the point.

It's not about every individual piece of the puzzle, it's about the overall picture that the puzzle makes. And Nintendo's puzzle doesn't stink from piles of crap poured on more crap with a few diamonds lost in the filth. The overall puzzle is one of quality gaming, where if you find a type of game that suits you, chances are, you will be satisfied with your purchase.

What he said.  Just because a few bricks in the Great Wall of China have cracks in them, it doesn't mean the wall isn't great!

[Ymeegod]

NPC games were budgetted price though so I guess you can't hold it against them because there's more "new" users for them to sell to who either didn't own an GC or just skipped them.  If they tried full price then yeah that would have been foul but at $30 it isn't a big deal IMO.

[UncleBob]

Yeah, the budget price did help.  I mean, it's a lot better than taking a PS1 game, making some changes, then releasing it at full price and wondering why it didn't sell.

[Mop it up]

I bought two of the three New Play Control! titles and am considering buying the third. Does that make me a part of the problem?

[UncleBob]

I bought all three (four, if you count MP:T) of them.  After owning each of them on the GCN.

But, hell, I bought Personal Trainer: Walking.  Twice.  WTF do I know?

[Mop it up]

I don't own the GameCube ones, so maybe it isn't a problem then. The one I don't have yet is Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, but I haven't heard good things, so I might go for the GameCube version instead.

I have the three Metroid Prime games which is why I didn't buy the trilogy.

[UncleBob]

Oh, get DK:JB for the 'Cube.  It was the only one of the NPC titles I was disappointed with.  The 'Cube Version (if you have/get Bongos, of course) is AWESOME.

[Mop it up]

I don't have the bongo controller, but Donkey Konga is another game I'm interested in, so I may track one down. They seem fairly cheap on eBay, though the shipping costs can get ridiculous. I'm guessing the bongo controller is required for the game... it'd be kind of pointless otherwise I s'pose.

[UncleBob]

You *can* use the standard GCN controller... but, bleh.
http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=35115
$1.99 at GameStop (if they've got 'em near ya).

[Mop it up]

Hm, there is a store somewhat close which has the bongo controller, Donkey Konga, and Jungle Beat. That's actually tempting... but all the snow outside will probably prevent me from going anywhere for a while.

[UncleBob]

That is *exactly* why you should go.  Then, you can use the snow as an excuse to sit at home all day and play video games.

I got both Donkey Kongas at full retail when they came out (each with Bongos... in fact, some how I ended up with 5 sets of Bongos...)  They're fun-ish, but A.) I suck at rhythm games, B.) You hear more slapping on the Bongos than you do the music from the TV and C.) Man, the song selection can be pretty rough.  B-I-N-G-O!  *shudder*.  My wife loved them.  I've really considered getting the Japanese ones...

[KDR_11k]

I paid 14€ for Jungle Beat and a set of bongos (new) some time ago. The only NPC game I got is Pikmin 2 because I heard it's much better than the first and the pointer controls add a lot to it.

[Chozo Ghost]

Can you use the bongos with the NPC version?

Does any third parties make the bongos, or are they still available cheaply anywhere?

[Peachylala]

Can you use the bongos with the NPC version?

Does any third parties make the bongos, or are they still available cheaply anywhere?

1) No.
2) I have never seen any third party bongos made, last gen or now. I don't know if the bongos themselves would be cheap... they are somewhat considered to be a collector's item since only three games (counting America only) made use of them.

But yes, Jungle Beat is awesome with the Bongos... makes my hands hurt though.

[Mop it up]

Check UncleBob's post up a few posts up, GameStop sells them for $2 if they have some. You can check and see if a store near you has any.

[UncleBob]

Actually - There was third party Bongos!

Pelican made both brown and black versions of the bonogs... http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-GameCube-Donkey-Konga-Bongo-Drums/dp/B00067GK7O

Personally, I never used them, so I can't commit on the quality of them.

And, for what it's worth, there is a fourth US title that uses the Bongos... sorta.

Odama.  The game was originally supposed to support the bongos and was switched over to the mic at some point.  Now, I don't know if this was left in by accident or on purpose, but during the game, if you have a set of bongos connected, you can clap (or tap the sides of the Bongos) and it will release troops.  Now, this isn't just some kind of alternative control scheme - because, during the game, before you could launch a new Odama (pinball), normally, you can't release troops.  However, with the Bongo method, you can!  It's all very weird.

[Mop it up]

Might it be possible that it has something to do with the input of the microphone is similar to the input of whatever noise recognition the bongo controller has?

[Stratos]

Except the mic plugged into the memory card slot and the bongos were hooked to the controller ports so there had to be purposeful programming to gather data from both input slots.

[UncleBob]

And you can't release more troops with the microphone - that took a button press.  And you can't release more troops with a button press when waiting to launch a new Odama - only with the Bongos...

[BranDonk Kong]

The "noise recognition" part of the Bongo controller = a microphone.

[Chozo Ghost]

Neat. I wonder what other weird effects someone could produce by using bongos with games they weren't intended for. There might be some other weird effects out there...

[UncleBob]

The "noise recognition" part of the Bongo controller = a microphone.

But - again - the action performed by clapping into the Bongos (releasing more troops) isn't something you can do with the Mic.