Is it just me or does anyone else think there is something off about Nintendo using the same commercials to advertise Brawl that they use to advertise Wii sports? I mean we all know Nintendo has made their choice to focus on the "non-gamer" and "casual gamer" market, but those of us who identify ourselves as "hard core" gamers were all looking forward to Brawl, which is a great game.

What I am asking is do you think by advertising Brawl as a casual game, most likely in hopes to reach that casual market, is Nintendo admitting they have truly abandon the "hard core" gamers? I know they gave us Zelda and Metroid and a hand full of others but I guess what I am asking is even though they say they haven't abandoned the "hard core" crowd do you think Nintendo is maybe clueless on the whole issue? Sorry if my question doesn't make sense it just doesn't make sense to me to advertise the most hard core of your games as a casual game like they did.

- DJ Boy

With how easy it is to gather information about games before they are released, there is a group of people you don't need to advertise a game to. The hardcore or dedicated gamer knew about Smash Bros. Brawl when it was announced, followed the Dojo blog updates, read the preview coverage on all the usual websites, and got the game at launch. We're the type of people who know what Brawl is all about. We don't need television commercials to tell us that. Nintendo doesn't need to spend money advertising to an audience that is a lock to buy the game.

For everyone else, though, Brawl is just another game in Nintendo's arsenal. Granted, it's got way more appeal than other Nintendo games because of its character roster. But still, a lot of people are completely new to video games and will have no idea what Smash Bros. is. Many will see it as just another fun game to play out of many others available. Nintendo is advertising the game to the majority of its potential audience: people who don't know that much about it.

How Nintendo goes about portraying Brawl to people doesn't change what kind of game it is. It's so brilliantly designed that gamers from the hardcore to the casual can enjoy it in their own way. The only thing I worry about is if Nintendo starts incorporating features into actual games that broaden their appeal to all audiences. That's acceptable for a game like Super Mario Galaxy. But could you imagine the uproar if Nintendo tried dumbing down parts of Fire Emblem or the next Zelda game to make it easier for your grandmother to play it?

So this is gonna be a little gamer-nerdy. but I noticed that on your character preview for SSBB your picture of Sheik in his/her original game shows Sheik in Ocarina Of Time standing next to the younger Link from Ocarina of time. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!?!?

- Ghost Of Hyrule

Peoria, AZ.

Time travel is a funny thing. There must have been some kind of space-time anomaly that allowed us to acquire that image!

Or maybe we just used Photoshop.

Are you able to use SD cards that are also compatible with cameras or phones to save stages or snapshots?

- mii_brawler2.0

Yes. All SD cards are the same, so it doesn't matter if they are normally used for cameras, phones, or anything else. However, the Wii does not support HD SD cards, which are the ones that are typically 4GB or larger. As long as it's a regular SD card that's 2GB in size or smaller, it should work with your Wii and save your Brawl stuff.

Hey Nintendoworldreport,

I was wondering if you had the chance to test out the picture taking abilities of SSBB? Is there going to be a better way of handling the photos taken on it than previous WII games?

Also why is the VC slowing down? They announce new systems to make games available for it, but they are trickling out games to buy. I thought Nintendo was happy with the revenue being made off of it. Or is Nintendo trying to ween people off of it so Wiiware can take all the glory? Since we obviously do not have the space for both!

- Art_de_Cat

NC

Taking snapshots of stuff in Brawl is super-easy, and one of the more awesome things about the game. It's very convenient that screens can be saved directly to an SD card so you don't fill up your Wii system memory too quickly. That's much better than other Wii games, particularly Metroid Prime 3, where your snapshots are relegated to the Wii Message Board with no way for them to be extracted.

Unfortunately, Brawl snapshots are saved in .bin format, so you can't directly view them on your computer even if you save them to an SD card. Fortunately, someone figured out how to convert the game's .bin file to viewable .jpgs, which means it's possible to get the images you take in Brawl on your computer, where you can do with them what you will. The first program had a no-frills command line interface, but the one I've found most useful so far is this web-based converter, which can also properly decode images taken in 16:9 format.

Here's a picture of a few trophies I extracted from the game using this converter tool:

Pretty cool, eh?

Next, your question on Virtual Console. It is curious that Nintendo is turning down the spigot some, electing to trickle out games at one or two games a week. But then again, Nintendo could be rationing the games it currently has available to put on the service.

While there have been a boatload of classic games released over the years, for multiple systems, I'm thinking that one of the reasons for the downturn is that Nintendo is running out of easily licensable games. At the moment, there are no western publishers signed on to release games on Virtual Console in North America. This means, for the most part, it can only release games that originally came from Japanese developers. NOA may be running out of games that don't require any localization. On top of that, Nintendo needs to work out licensing agreements for each game it puts on Virtual Console. It's not like it can put any ol' ROM up and call it a day. It's tricky working out the logistics for everything.

You guys are amazing and I always look forward to hearing your podcast on my iPod. Keep up the good work! Anyways, I was wondering if the Wii can produce a resolution better than 480p because it does connect to your tv by component cable. I know the original Xbox had a few select games that could do 720p or 1080i so what is stopping Nintendo from making the next Mario or Zelda game in HD?

- yourmomeatswaffles24

The Wii video hardware is simply incapable of outputting an HD signal at an optimal display rate. The best it can muster is 480p at 60hz (or 576p at 50hz for our European friends). While the Wii could technically output at an HD resolution, say 720p, it could only be done at a refresh rate of 40hz. That would mean if you really, really wanted the next Mario or Zelda game to be in 720p, it would run 33% slower on a regular NTSC television. Not worth it, even if it was possible.

Keep in mind that the Xbox was designed to output HD signals, which is why some of its games could do so. The Wii was not designed to do that, which is why it won't. Video cables have nothing to do with it.

I downloaded The Legend of Zelda.......... oh sorry I mean Neutopia 2 on VC. Okay here's the thing my jerk friend spoiled the ending by telling me it said TO BE CONTINUED......... You may or may not know if its true if you have it, but if it is then where's Neutopia 3? Trust me I googled it and found nothing. Do you know by any chance? Wheres Neutopia 3?

- Zelda fan........ DANG IT. Neutopia fan....... Hell with it. ZELDA RULES

Bad news. It doesn't exist! For whatever reason, Hudson never got around to making it. Kind of makes you wonder why they put that little cliffhanger at the end of the second game, huh? Or maybe Hudson saw what Nintendo did with A Link to the Past (Zelda III) on the SNES and figured it would be too much trouble to bother cloning.

But hey, the two Neutopia games are pretty damn good, even if they are clones of the first two Zelda games. Anyone wanting a spin on the classic Zelda formula can't go wrong with them!

What do you think the odds are of seeing games based on the SCUMM engine (or its derivatives) ported to the virtual console? Full Throttle, Kings Quest series, and the Monkey Island series are some of my favorite old games and seem like they would be perfect fits for VC titles.

- Captain N

Columbus, OH

Oh, man. I would kill to see SCUMM games appear on Virtual Console. The Wii interface is perfect for the engine's classic point-and-click adventures. I remember playing games like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Zak McKracken, and Maniac Mansion, for which SCUMM is named (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion). Those were good times, messing around with my Commodore 64 and 5.25" floppies back in the day. Awwwww, yeah.

Honestly, I think the chances are pretty good to see some SCUMM games on VC, but I'm not sure all the games will appear in their original forms. Remember that SCUMM wasn't a game platform, but rather a development platform that could be used on several different game systems. Surely the Commodore 64 versions will see the light of day once that system's games start regularly appearing on VC. Maniac Mansion had an NES version too, of course. I'm not sure about all the other platforms, but you never know.

Also, don't forget about Sam & Max, which was also a SCUMM title. Telltale Games said they're not bringing that series to WiiWare, but it is going to bring a new project to the Wii, which may well be in the same style. Even if we don't see many other SCUMM games on Virtual Console, we'll at least have the spirit of the classic point-and-click adventure game living on through WiiWare.

What has happened to the actual FFCC Wii game from Square Enix? Please tell me it's still in development.

- Smithers 2.1

Of course it still is. You're not hearing much about Crystal Bearers because Square Enix recently released Ring of Fates for the Nintendo DS and had an entire presentation on My Life as a King, its WiiWare game, at GDC not too long ago. A lot of people mistook My Life as a King as a sign that Crystal Bearers had been dropped, which is unfounded. Square Enix is juggling three Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles games for Nintendo systems.

Have you heard anything about non-Nintendo characters being in Mario Kart? They've got Sonic and Snake in Smash Bros, so it shouldn't be a problem for them to bring the characters home. And the arcade version has had Pac-man characters for 2 iterations now.

Also, do you think there is even a possibility of having Miis in Mario Kart? And then choosing which characters attributes to put on them.

- sloshake

maryland

I think it would be great having third-party guest characters in Mario Kart. It worked out well in Smash Bros.! I mean, how sweet would this be:

However, over the years Nintendo has trained me to be extremely pessimistic about everything. Therefore, I'm going to say that Mario Kart Wii is going to have only Mario characters, just like the other major Mario Kart games. Mario Kart Arcade was an exception, since Namco developed it specifically for the arcades using its technologies. Besides, Nintendo would be more likely to include characters outside the Mario universe before reaching out to third parties. But even then, I don't think Link or Samus would look right on a go-kart or motorcycle.

As for seeing Miis in the game, it's already been confirmed. I was hoping to see them in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (how cool would the 100 Mii Brawl have been?), but it looks as if Nintendo is starting to entertain the idea of Miis in games more than they have recently. It's a good thing they are included, because I was starting to wonder if Nintendo was ever going put them in games at all, outside of Wii Sports, Wii Play, or Wii Fit.

You know I wish Nintendo and Microsoft can become friends so I (and everyone else) can play Banjo-kazooie\Tooie on VC. Is there any chance of this happening?

- Tennindo

Nope. Banjo is a Rare property, and Microsoft owns Rare. That makes all the Banjo-Kazooie games fall under the Microsoft Game Studios umbrella. I believe Rare also published the Banjo games on the N64 itself, which means Nintendo couldn't do anything to prevent the N64 games from showing up on Xbox Live Arcade of Microsoft wanted to port them over. It doesn't matter that they originally appeared on a different system—so did Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, formerly a PlayStation game and now an XBLA download.

Um my question sounds a little stupid but I have been playing Melee on my Wii. Now here is my question. Do I eject the cube disk before I turn the power off or do I turn the Power off then back on to eject the gamecube disk. The book doesn't say. Can you help me? What is the correct way or are both wrong?

- Tennindo

If you eject a GameCube game from the Wii, the Wii will tell you to but the game back in and "close the lid," as while it's running in GameCube mode it behaves like a GameCube. But if your goal is to get back to the Wii Menu after playing a GameCube game, either way works fine. You're not doing any harm to your console by doing something out of order.

Will we see a new Game Boy or a return of the Game boy. Did the bad sales of the Micro and the GREAT sales of the DS just kill the Game boy. The DS is not a Game boy. Its not called Game Boy DS. I hope we see a return of a legend someday.

- Game Boy Fan

The Game Boy is dead, or at least the current iteration of Game Boy is dead. When Nintendo first announced the Nintendo DS, the thinking was that it would be the replacement of the Game Boy, although Nintendo dismissed that idea. The DS would simply be the "third pillar" of the Nintendo family. Yeah, well that changed really quick once the DS took off in a way that not even Nintendo could have imagined. The Wii going bonkers was also a good excuse to silently retire the Game Boy Advance a bit earlier than many would have liked to see, including me.

The Game Boy micro didn't kill off the GBA, since it was just a PR move and cash grab by Nintendo to justify having three different platforms around at the same time. (And I still regret spending $100 on it.) The GBA was obviously over the hill at that point, but I detest Nintendo for basically ignoring the hundreds of thousands of people that were still buying it month to month.

What about all of those good games from Japan that should have been localized? Ryhthm Heaven was one that should have been released over here. The seven bit Generations games should have too, especially since they were already in English to begin with! And of course, I can't talk about this topic without bringing up Mother 3 (aka Earthbound 2), which would have been the perfect send-off game for the GBA. Alas.

Although the Nintendo DS is a worthy successor to the Game Boy Advance, I still wonder what kind of GBA games we'd be playing now if Nintendo cared enough to continue making games for it. The games of that era were approaching top-tier SNES quality, and I would have liked to see the pure 2D game reach heights that it never had before. Of course, the DS can do 2D well, but its games have two screens, the touch screen, and the microphone at their disposal. I haven't seen many games just drop the crap and get back to basics. Really, the only game that warms my heart on the DS is Contra 4. There were a ton of GBA games that were old-school awesome like that, but not as many on the DS.

This makes me wonder if we'll ever see Nintendo use the Game Boy brand for anything in the future. The way things stand right now, I severely doubt it. As powerful as the brand name used to be, nowadays it sounds kind of (brace yourself...) kiddy. Nintendo is making it clear with the DS that everyone can play it, and the name doesn't make it sound like it's a just a game for boys like the Game Boy inferred. And it's not as if a new brand name can't be successful. Just look at the Wii. What the hell is a "Wii" supposed to be? If Nintendo can make that name work, it doesn't need to rely on its past successes.

In any event, I'm just bitter to see the Game Boy Advance go away because I know that it signals the end of an era, one where pure 2D gaming was king. Sure, I love the new games as much as the next guy. But they'll never make them quite like they used to.