i was very happy you hear you recommended Tingle game for DS. I was thinking about that game when listening .


Mother 3 seems like a great game and its totally sad I will never play it on my DS

I have to wonder if cheaper development costs could be the wow factor for the next Nintendo system? If the wii's successor is HD, will the development costs be fairly cheap compared to its competitors?

Getting such companies as Valve, Bethesda, Epic and even Sqaure Enix to take the wii successor seriously is all dependant on the success of third parties. It seems as if the third paries do not do as well on Nintendo consoles as they do on other systems. This has to change some how for bigger developers to put their magic on the next wii system. A numbered Final Fantasy, or Final Fantasy 15, would go a long way in helping Nintendo dominate in the next generation.

Being a former Sony fan, I keep thinking that the wii still has five years of its life cycle left like the PS2 did when the PS3 released. However, if Nintendo could afford five more years for the wii, I think I know how they can they put 3D in their next system. Basically sell, or trade(?), the patent for the 3DS to television companies and allow the 3D television marjet to grow and get cheaper and then sell the wii successor as an add on to the 3D glasses free TV screens.

I have to also wonder what the wii successor will be called? Will it be called the wii 2? Who knows? I will say that because the wii sold so many units and made them a whole lot of money, so calling it the wii 2 will help to appeal to the people already familiar with the wii system.

Can Nintendo return to the days of the SNES when they ruled the market?Possible, but very doubtful, but dependant on if one of its main competitors, Sony or Microsoft, leaves the market, which has a slim chance of happening. I would be curious to see what all the HD people would do if Nintendo was the only game in town.

P.S. I am one of those people who would pay $300 for the wii 2, but that amount of money is borderline to where I would pay for any kind of hardware. 

I have talked recently about my dream of having Dead Space and Gears of War on the 3DS.

Jonny states that Inception>Limbo. Except, Inception has at least one Limbo in it.

Inception = Dicaprio+Limbo>Limbo
                                /Limbo
                  Dicaprio/Limbo+1>1
                                -1, *Limbo
                  Dicaprio>0

I disagree.
That was probably bad math

Megaman ZX Advent fixes most of the issues with ZX, especially the map system and I think it has save points at the start of each area. The later areas are reached via teleporter from your home base so it's also not a long journey there.

I liked that game but it taught me why DS Zeldas don't use the d-pad for movement and that reason is hand cramps. And just making it button based would lose all the new item functions PH introduced.

Wow, I just listen to episode 103 and that is one cluster fuck of an episode. In other words: Awesome! It's basically two and half hours of dick jokes. I love how Greg was all silent and innocent while James (the instigator) was a beast of laughter. You guys were not lying in it's epicness.

Thank you for making smile!

P.S
You guys were sober while recording that episode, right?

I am not so much curious as to what the wii 2 will do, but rather what it will look like when it is revealed. I am thinking that it will look something like the wii, but altered or modified to differentiate itself from the first wii.

There is no doubt that the internal storage of the wii 2 will have to be much higher than what is available right now because wiiware is going to have to evolve into something like PSN and xbox live.

You should have Stan and Karl back for episode 206, since it will be the 103rd episode since the madness began.

When it comes to Wii 2, there are really 3 things that are a must to me as a gamer: HD visuals, strong online support, and (most importantly) strong 3rd party support.  Nintendo has had 3 straight consoles now with laughably bad 3rd party support, and while the 3rd parties are certainly not blameless a lot of it falls on Nintendo's business practices. 

Nintendo software selling Nintendo hardware is all Nintendo cares about with their consoles, and they seem to be pretty content with letting it stay that way.  Why should 3rd parties create high-profile titles on a Nintendo console when the Nintendo fanbase has been conditioned over the years to ignore nearly anything 3rd party, and meanwhile Nintendo just shrugs at the whole thing while counting their millions from hardware sales?  I've lost track of how many 3rd party titles we've seen this generation sent out to die because 3rd parties have no faith they will sell and Nintendo has no vested interest in ensuring they will sell well.  Aside from Nintendo's dealings with Square-Enix on Dragon Quest, when was the last time you saw Nintendo actively courting 3rd parties on the Wii?  3rd parties like to know they're needed beyond a brief E3 press conference appearance.

So yeah, what I'd like to see most in Wii 2 isn't so much radical UI changes or technical improvements, but a paradigm change in how Nintendo interacts with its fellow developers.  Treat them like valued partners instead of something that's just nice to have once in a while, partners who don't necessarily share Nintendo's philosophy but are still welcome.  Maybe then we'll see 3rd parties reciprocate with the bigger, riskier titles we want but always go to Sony and Microsoft.

Interested to hear that my Phantom Hourglass review resulted in hate mail.

*steps on soapbox*

It's not really fair of James (or anyone else) to say that my opinion of that game was "sh*t" or whatever it was. I've always said that reviews are deeply subjective, and my take on the game isn't necessarily representative of the larger gaming press. I'd say "write your own damn review," but TYP did just that, and came to much the same review score. I may be high-horsing here a bit, but I do get sick of my reviews of games getting lambasted on RFN (Order of Ecclesia, Puzzle Quest: Galatrix, Phantom Hourglass). It's in poor taste to criticize a fellow staffer's work on-air, especially if they're not right there to defend it.

*steps down*

Anyway, fine episode aside from that. The Metroid question had me laughing my ASS off in the car. There are just so many things wrong with it.

What you guys should do is offer a second opion on your reviews like Game Informer does with their magazine. One NWR guy reviews a game and another also give a quick review, but tries to not follow the same opions as the primary review. Just a thought.  :cool;

I wholeheartedly disagree; I think there should be more mocking of the staff by other members of the staff on the podcasts, as well as in staff blogs and on the forums.

LOL

I may have gotten caught up in the moment while writing my comment, but I certainly do not advocate the airing of grievances on any staffer's contributions on a public podcast. It makes the author look bad, ultimately, and there is no benefit to the listener.

Temple of the ocean king > Train

After listening to how the discussion about how the Rock Band Pro guitar works, I doubt the veracity of what the Rock Band rep at E3 told me. The guy claimed that the fender controller would pick up hammer-ons/pull-offs and muted strings. If it is purely based off of the string's pressure that coincides with the strumming of a pick, I have no idea how the game would detect everything. And yet, the rep seemed really confident that the game could do it and he knew what I was referring to.

Plenty of songs also have the guitarist scratching the pick along the strings, or even tapping with their fingers, but I didn't ask the rep about those. I would be amazed if the game could really pick up on more than just where your fingers are.

Nope. Stand by my comments.

what a freeken disaster this podcast turned out to be.
your back into talkin about sony crap on a nintendo podcast.
( there is a reason i listen to nintendo podcasts not sony podcasts)
then u say, got lots of good emails, and you highlight 3
1. what psp games to get
  2. a nitche segment of a nitche product called  rockband
  3. talk of a system that nintendo hasnt even announced yet, meaning,
you were pulling crap outta your a$$ about an imaginary product.

how could this have been worse. oh the host loves to here himself talk and dominates the time. check.

Another satisfied listener.

By my count, we talked about the following Nintendo-platform games on this episode:

Dragon Quest IX
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Mega Man ZX
Mother 3
Rock Band 3
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
... plus a lot of quick references to games such as Super Mario World, Earthbound, Kuru Paradise, Tingle's Rosie Rupeeland, etc.

If you know of any other podcasts that talk about 7+ Nintendo games on a bad week (not to mention over 20 minutes of Nintendo console talk), let me know, because I want to hear them.

The RFN crew is intelligent, insightful, and entertaining, and they have excellent chemistry with each other. Obviously since the show is called "Radio Free Nintendo" the focus should be Nintendo, but I also want to hear what they think about Sony and Microsoft, and about anything else they want to talk about.

I'm still trying to get over the idea that Rock Band is a niche product and not a sales juggernaut.

I know I'm gonna sound like an asshole, but if you want to learn an instrument, then ****ing learn it!! I did it and so did James! It's not that hard. I have a feeling James is not down with the new rock band.

As for the the guy who said you should talk more about Nintendo stuff: I don't own a Nintendo system and I love to hear the opinions  of these guys when it come to gaming in general. On the other hand, Jonny does love the sound of his own voice. I just listen to episodes 103 and 104 and he's like parent putting the kids in line lol.

I haven't listened to the full episode yet, but I take mild offense to the blanket "stop being a bitch and learn a goddamn instrument, asshole" remark. Rock Band's Pro Mode doesn't hurt the idea of learning an instrument, it just provides another venue for people to learn an instrument. How is this a bad thing?

It's simple, I learned how to play guitar myself. I did all the hard work myself. I know it's dumb, but there is a sense of pride when accomplishing something difficult without the need of extra hands.

It's like when you have a band that you followed for years and suddenly they become popular (Kings Of Leon). You get the sense you're not in this special club anymore. Again, I know this sounds stupid.

Infendo Radio? There have been times in the past where you guys talked so much about Sony and Mcirosoft products that I though it was going to be called "Radio Free HD." Although I am not holding it against any one because I want like to hear about the other companies, but it might be good to tie Nintendo's rivals into what Nintendo is trying to do in the market, or something.

Well, at least you're aware of how stupid that sounds.

A common mistake in all areas of life is thinking that there is little to learn from other people.

Wow.

I have five corrections to make to this statement.

First off, have you listened to any of the episodes within the last year? Many of them had a great deal of Microsoft and Sony content, sometimes more than their talk about Nintendo.

Second, the question about the PSP asked what games they should get that are like Nintendo games. It may have been a Sony product, but it was aimed at Nintendo fans.

Third, since when has Rock Band been a niche product? It has become one of the bestselling music games on the market, and it will continue to sell for years to come.

Fourth, the ideas the crew came up with about the successor to the Wii was insightful and intelligent. They took what they knew about the industry at the moment and Nintendo's way of releasing consoles to speculate on the future. I found it to be informative and interesting.

Fifth, the button down in the bottom right hand corner of the reply page is extremely important. It is called spell check, and I encourage you to use it in the future.

Oh, and if Jonny wants to talk more, that's his business since he is the host.

Thank you for your time.

I like hearing about a variety of games from these guys. Limbo, for example. I'd never heard of it, but am now waiting for it to appear on PSN (if ever) at a reduced price. I looked it up and it looks really cool.

Wouldn't have heard about it otherwise.

The fans have spoken: less Jonny, more James.

If I had my own video game podcast, I would be extremely biased towards Microsoft and the Xbox brand. I was considering making my own podcast, but I had no ideas for one because it seems as if every thing is over saturated on itunes. I might create a Xbox hater podcast(my titile) and rant against my greivances towards the product.

I hate to disappoint you but you won't find Kururin Paradise in Europe, I had to import that from Japan. Kuru Kuru Kururin should be easy to find if you can find a store that still has GBA games as there was a massive surplus of KKK cartridges allowing anyone to get the game cheaply years later. Tingle is still readily available, practically every DS bargain bin has some copies. Same goes for Disaster.

The problem with making games cheap to develop AND attracting third parties is that it seems many third parties rely on their financial muscles for making games better than the competition so if games are cheap to make they can't get that advantage. Plus cheap development and high power are practically conflicting as high power increases the dev costs for anything that wants to be competitive with the games that use all that power.

Sony and Microsoft are driving down the cost of HD development with every game released, right? I mean if the wii 2 were released in a few years, a thity gigabyte game from Nintendo would not be too farfetched.

Are you literally self-taught? Very, very few people are self-taught at anything. Most people learn an instrument from a friend, or from a teacher, or from a book, or from a website. Learning from a video game is no different. As for the other resources, I have either found them to be ineffective with guitar/keyboard or have not been able to justify the expense (in-person lessons).

It just isn't possible to make a game take up 30 GB without throwing in a whole bunch of uncompressed video. To do that would take way too much time and effort to make a profit on it even if it's a massive blockbuster. That's not changing any time soon.

I am hoping that in the next Nintendo console we have a Twilight Proncess style LoZ game that has the epic scale that God of War 3 delivered last year. Imagine fighting a Gohma on the same scale as Kratos did with Poseidon.

Jon, which instruments do you play? I tried playing the guitar once but found that I did not care for musical instruments all that much. This is probably why I am terrible at Guitar Hero and Rockband.

I learned to sing by ear (emulating what I heard), and I learned to play harmonica primarily from a website and later with some random lessons from professional players.

Most people are self-taught. A lot of non-classical guitar players are self-taught. All my friends that play guitar are self-taught. It is different with other instruments, but with guitar most people are self-taught.

when people mean they were self-taught. It just mean you didn't have help from another person. Books and internet have nothing to do with it. You're taking it too literally. I guess is seems lame to learn a musical instrument through a game. When you can do the same thing now, with less money.

So you are a singer, too? I have seen hermonicas made into NES cartridges and they actually work.

I disagree. I think it's really awesome that games as a medium have progressed to a point where not only is this realistically possible, but it has a chance at mainstream success.

If I was solely concerned with money spent learning, I might agree, but the game and the fun had there is primary; it's a bonus that you get something useful out of it besides entertainment.  Also, learning from a game might be more efficient.

I find it hard to believe so many people are self-taught.

Does this mean you just picked up the guitar and taught yourself how to play music on it without any outside influence? I have a lot of friends who play instruments, some better than others, and I don't think any of them would consider themselves self-taught. They might have done it without in-person lessons or rigid structure, or picked it up because they already knew another instrument, but none of them picked up a guitar and learned without any outside influence.

Regardless, I find it very cool that video games are going to offer a decent method of learning musical instruments. As someone who's not musically proficient, I'm excited, and I know people who are looking forward to this game so they can improve their guitar/keyboard/drums skills.

You can't read? I said, "when people mean they were self-taught. It just mean you didn't have help from another person."

Fair point. It's not my fault some of your forum posts are difficult to read.

Alright, alright, break it up.

Everybody do a lap!

I now feel winded, but refreshed.

Self-taught here, Johnny, when it comes to guitar and mandolin.  And just like you, I learned to sing by ear. I think people that teach themselves how to do it that way can approach a new musical territory with open arms compared to someone learning out of a book/teacher/etc...

It also has made me quite aware when I hear someone go off-pitch when singing, too.  Irks my ears. >_

I've seen no evidence that they're driving down the cost of HD games. Maybe compared to the launch titles because they're more efficient now but that's expected. The costs of HD titles will never fall to those of SD titles without changing the market so that SD-level graphics with a few HD bits are accepted.

Salient Point: HD games require more, and larger, art assets. As such, those artists are always going to have more work in HD titles. Therefore SD will always cost less.

Wow, chippy thread.

We all have multiple systems, so I think it's expected that discussion of games on other systems will creep in, if only as counterpoint or counterexample.  We do try to keep it to a minimum, but we won't restrict good conversation just because it strays into non-Nintendo-centric areas of discussion.  Furthermore, New Business is New Business, not New Nintendo Business.  We aren't going to lie about what games we've been playing, because that wouldn't make for much of a segment.

Yeah, if we all four only talked about the new Nintendo games we're playing, the New Business segment would range from 0-15 minutes most weeks. Some listeners might prefer that, but this segment is generally quite popular in spite of, or perhaps because of, our diverse interests.

After this fall and winter, you guys are going to have your hands full with all the great wii and DS games coming out. I imgaine one of the RFN crew is going to get Donkey Kong Country Returns and the rest will get what ever else. I am betting that James will Golden Sun DS when it releases.  :cool;

I will buy games this winter. Who knows what games!

I imagine we'll be hearing about Other M from Jonny and Greg, maybe even Lindy, but not James.

My game budget is a hundred dollars this season, so I will be picking up Metroid: Other M and either Epic Mickey or Donkey Kong Country Returns. I really wanted the new Zelda, but I am going to wait for it to come out to buy it.

http://www.infendo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/1280342156384-640x880.jpg

That's always a good policy.

I really like the game and want to play it, but at the same I am not so sure about it because of the graphics. In the latest issue of Nintendo Power the game is featured and it has certain screens where the game looks very good, but I looked at how goofy the Moblins(?) look in this game with their big heads and I am affraid that this game is not going to be serious. I mean I loved Twilight Princess and regard it as one of my favorite games of all time and its graphical style spoiled me. I was hoping that Zelda wii was going to carry on what TP started and I was dissapointed. Do not get me wrong, I will play the game and enjot it because I love the series, but at the same time I am not going to break my kneck to buy it when it is released next year.

From what we've seen so far, Skyward Sword is much more visually appealing to me than Twilight Princess. I think it's the perfect art style for the series.

I would not mind seeing a new handheld Zelda for the 3DS done in the style of Twilight Princess and possibly developed by Team Ninja, if Other M is successful that is.

I'm just waaaay behind in terms of Nintendo games right now.  I'm playing DQ IX at the moment, still want to go back to Super Mario Galaxy 2 (believe it or not), and I still have to slog through New Super Mario Bros. Wii.  On top of that there's Sin & Punishment 2, Metroid: Other M is coming up, and I may pick up DKC Returns as well.

And again, that's just Nintendo systems.  There's plenty of stuff on other systems that remains in my "must finish" backlog, like God of War III, Final Fantasy XIII, Gears of War 2, Shadow Complex, etc.  And stuff like NHL 11, LittleBigPlanet 2 and hell, maybe even Gran Turismo 5 lurk on the horizon.

I'm at the point where really good games like Bioshock 2 and Red Dead Redemption don't even make it on my radar any more.

I have Red Steel 2, Tatsunoko VS Capcom and a boat load of VC titles just sitting there waiting for me to me to play them because I bought a few other titles and I am playing them right now. When I go to play Red Steel 2, I see Monster Hunter 3 or Super Mario Galaxy 2 and pick those instead.

How do you go about emailing RFN? I an not find the link since you guys renovated your site.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/mail/rfn

Later this year I am really excited for Golden Sun, FF 4 Warriors of Light and Etrian Odyssey 3. Gotta validate that XL purchase!

Where is Windwaker Link?

I for one approve of Jonny's additional Final Fantasy XIII discussion. But while I can appreciate the academic discussions of Earthbound and Rock Band / Guitar Hero, I am not super interested in either series.

I would like to see a LoZ game for the wii 2/successor with the scenic scale of Final Fantasy 13 and God of War 3.

I still think the Episode sucked.
There are plenty of XBOX and playstation crap  podcasts if thats what u wanna hear.
With nintendo's history and the library, one should never have to say, i dont have any
nintendo stuff to talk about.
i have a 360 and play some games on it, but my interest in nintendo is why
i listen to this podcast.

i had 23 podcasts on my machine, after i got rid of the ones that went off topic,
XBX podcasts that talk about  ipod and iphone
Nintendo podcast that talk about PSP and PS3 games.

back about 4-5 eposodes ago, 45mins of RFN was Sony /XBX stuff, really rfn?
you should be ashamed of yourselfs.

Then go somewhere else and find a podcast that suits your tastes, because after your attitude here I doubt anyone wants you here.

So sorry the RFN crew actually likes to play things other than Nintendo games, and that they like to talk about them on the podcast.  It's not their fault that the Wii and DS don't have the current releases to keep their full attention to the exclusion of the other platforms.  I like hearing about all 3 major platforms (plus the 2 handhelds) in two different regions of the world every week and what the RFN crew are into at the moment, especially since it usually spills into a conversation of how those experiences could impact games on Nintendo systems.  They still talk about plenty of Nintendo stuff, or did you somehow miss all the E3 coverage; the recent feature topic on the history of the DS in episode 200; and their constant Nintendo conversation every single week?

Whatever my feelings on Nintendo themselves, RFN puts on a damn fine show every week regardless of whether I'm interested in the subject matter.  And mind you, they do all this in their spare time on top of already busy lives.  If you don't like it, there's plenty of other podcasts to listen to (like the Newscast, another Nintendo-centric podcast on this site).

I just like how the RFN cre analyze the game industry.

I like to think that we view and discuss everything through a Nintendo-colored lens, even when not specifically talking about Nintendo.

Nevertheless, I appreciate the alternate viewpoint and critical feedback. We're not going to be ashamed of ourselves for doing what we do, but it's good that our listeners express their criticisms as well as praise.

At least they talk about games. I unsubscribed to Giant Bombcast because I got sick of endless discussions on food, movies, etc., and it's not very entertaining to hear minutes of laughter instead of talking. It seemed like less than half of each podcast was actually talking about video games.

The Bombcast is more of a lifestyle podcast, it's true. I enjoy that stuff but am fully aware that it's too off-topic for some people.

Retronauts has gone way down hill in the last couple of episodes.

What did you expect?  Much like the Angry Videogame Nerd (who also deals with old games and has also been getting steadily less interesting), there are only so many notable old games to cover.  I think they're running out of material they haven't already covered.

There have been a long periods within the Wii's lifecycle that Nintendo hasn't really given us much to talk about; if RFN restricted themselves to Nintendo-related games all of the time, the conversation would have been pretty dull over the last few years.  Nintendo tends to stay fairly secretive about game information and then let the floodgates loose in short bursts.  Remember 2008 post-Brawl? 

Besides, I think there are a number of games on other consoles that are just worth mentioning because of good gameplay design or features elements that are not typically found on Wii or DS offerings. 

Oh, I absolutely agree, Sundoulos.  Jon is one of the reasons why I own a PS3.  He kinda pushed me in that direction.  Thanks, Jon! If it wasn't for your encouraging words, I probably would have never made the splurge and bought a PS3 on my lunch break a couple of years ago.  Then I wouldn't have been able to play such awesome titles like Darksiders, Little Big Planet, FFXIII, Metal Gear Solid 4, and White Knight Chronicles!  Thanks, buddy! :)