Post by: Aussie Ben PGC on November 05, 2004, 07:46:44 PM
If you're living in Canada, you can expect the Nintendo DS to be in your area pretty soon! Starting November 6, the Too Much Fun Tour will be travelling across Canada, demonstrating the Nintendo DS so that people get a chance to play the launch titles. You'll also be able to have a go of the upcoming Metroid Prime 2: Echoes for GameCube!
Nintendo will be travelling around various spots in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec. For a full list of the various areas that Nintendo will be displaying the Nintendo DS, launch titles, and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, check out Nintendo Canada. Please be aware that the dates are subject to change, and new areas may also be added, so check often!
Post by: Minsc on November 06, 2004, 02:54:45 AM
Post by: Guitar Smasher on November 06, 2004, 06:15:20 AM
Post by: KDR_11k on November 06, 2004, 07:44:11 AM
Post by: the offical jim on November 06, 2004, 07:49:05 AM
Best Buy - #45 - 25 Peel Centre Dr, Brampton
11am - 2 pm
This is better than free healthcare.
Post by: WuTangTurtle on November 06, 2004, 08:15:35 AM
Post by: bubba23 on November 06, 2004, 08:26:42 AM
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Hey, it figures that Toronto has about 30 events, but come on, what about Ottawa? We're the 4th largest city, when's our turn?
Word. I mean come on Nintendo, there's a lot more to Ontario than Toronto! They should have least stops in Ottawa, London, Windsor, K-W, Hamilton, St. Catharines, Kingston, Sudbury and Thunder Bay.
Post by: Ian Sane on November 06, 2004, 08:32:05 AM
I hope that by "launch titles" they don't just mean, you know, the launch titles. I really want to try out the DS but it's not going to be that great if all I can play is Super Mario 64 DS and The Urbz. Still it's better than nothing and I'm glad we're getting the chance to demo this in Canada. Usually we get left out of stuff like this.
Post by: Polemistis on November 06, 2004, 09:33:21 AM
Im out on this, I ain't driving 2 hours+ just to play one.
Post by: ruby_onix on November 06, 2004, 03:22:05 PM
It was at in the EB in Oakridge. First off, EB was packed uncomfortably full. But it wasn't because of the DS. It just seemed to just be regular weekend shopping, probably people getting ready for Christmas.
A large number of people in the line seemed to be getting the new Crystal XBox, which comes bundled with that "amazing" new game, Fable. I heard at least three seperate people in line talking about how great Fable is (people who didn't yet have XBoxes), two of whom mentioned that "it's supposed to never be the same game twice, ever, so it has infinite replay value".
One mom was buying a Crystal XBox for her 10-year old son. She asked the clerk "So, the XBox is the best system available, right?" The clerk said "Well actually, if you step back and look at it, the GameCube is a better system. It's about as powerful as the XBox, but it's much cheaper, and it's the only way you can play Nintendo's own great games, like Mario and Zelda." To which the kid piped up "No, I don't want Mario games! Mario sucks!" So the mom bought the XBox. I seriously worry about the future sometimes.
Anyways, back to the DS.
They took the GameCube display unit that was set up in one corner of the store, unplugged it, and pushed it all the way into the corner. Then they took a stack of PS2 display boxes out of the store window, and draped a black and red "Nintendo" cloth over them (heh heh). They set up a small, portable flat-screen TV on the PS2 boxes, and hooked a Platinum GameCube up to it, which was running Pikmin 2. They had one Nintendo DS unit, with Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt inside it, locked in with one of those metal brackets, and anchored to the floor. There were two cute girls wearing red DS-themed Nintendo "Staff" t-shirts there, ready to answer any questions anyone might have. Also, most of the store window got filled up with a lot of large MP2:Echoes and red-themed Nintendo DS point-of-sale advertisement displays.
It was basically just your typical Nintendo display unit, but this time with some human females hanging around, and a DS.
The DS had no real "lineup" to play it. I watched a guy play MP Hunters for a while, and didn't feel inclined try it for myself. The two girls spent most of their time playing Pikmin 2, and offering to let other people play, none of whom really wanted to play, and were content to just watch cute girls play Pikmin. Also, the girls were giving out temporary tattoos. I'll scan mine later, so you'll know what they look like.
IMO, it was nice. Nintendo should do this sort of thing much more often. However, I don't think it'll have any significant impact on anything, and Nintendo shouldn't use these sort of events as an excuse for skipping major trade shows like TGS/Spaceworld, or anything like that.
Post by: KnowsNothing on November 06, 2004, 03:49:30 PM
You're as bad as that xbox kid.
Post by: ruby_onix on November 06, 2004, 04:19:08 PM
The touch-screen itself looked simple and responsive, but most people trying MP Hunters were baffled by the control scheme. The screens are gorgeous, except that they had a lot of fingerprints all over them (people were frequently jabbing at the top screen as well as the bottom). They've got an awesome viewing range, and the backlighting works very well (which makes it easy to watch someone play over their shoulder, unlike the GBA). The graphics on MP Hunters looked great in person, but the opening FMV kinda looked like some crummy downloaded RealPlayer movie.
The DS itself does look much too flat and wide when it's open. It looks like it should be flimsy. They should've made it fatter, just for appearances sake.
Anyways, here's the tattoo pictures! Drool in envy!
Sleeve A, sleeve B, and the tattoo itself. The sleeve is about two inches wide, about the size of an After Eight mint's sleeve, and the tattoo itself is about an inch and a quarter across. The packages are sort of sealed (like they were cut with a hot wire), so I have no idea if there are other tattoo images besides this one.
Post by: Polemistis on November 06, 2004, 07:24:36 PM
Anyway, the tatooes don't look that nice, IMO.
And how did you resist the urge not to even touch the DS?! Man I probably would of ran away with it, unless those 2 cute girls asked nicely to bring it back ^_^
MP: Hunters dosn't interest me much either. I wanna play that sexy Kirby DS game, weeeeee.
Post by: Ian Sane on November 06, 2004, 08:02:44 PM
Well I'm going to check out the setup in Zellers tomorrow so I'll post my impressions afterwards. At least now I'm going in under the impression it may be weak so I won't be disappointed.
"To which the kid piped up 'No, I don't want Mario games! Mario sucks!'"
Aren't kids Nintendo's main market? Man, when kids don't like your system because it's "kiddy" then you've got to rethink your strategy.
Post by: Djunknown on November 06, 2004, 08:33:09 PM
I want to say this edges out the Fusion Tour in the U.S, since people like me just want to see the DS and other upcoming games.
Hopefully Ruby's story isn't typical; though I got to ask: How were the girls dressed? A humble suggestion would be that one walk around the store and just say "Come try the DS. Touching is good.." and so on.
As far as the kid is concerned, a good spanking is in order
Post by: ruby_onix on November 06, 2004, 09:30:06 PM
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How were the girls dressed?
Cute girl + black pants + red Nintendo t-shirt
I thought about asking for one of their t-shirts, because it'd be a free Nintendo t-shirt, and well... you know the other part, but that'd never happen, and I didn't wanna get maced, so I didn't ask.
There wasn't a lineup for the DS, but they only had one unit, and didn't seem to have much trouble keeping people on it. They really didn't need to resort to any more extreme measures.
If they had a lot more units, it would've been more of a party atmosphere, and they would've had their work cut out for them trying keep it running smoothly, but one corner of a store wouldn't been enough to handle that kind of event anyways.
Post by: Mira on November 07, 2004, 06:28:09 AM
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Well Ruby's experience sounds pretty lame. One game? What's the point? I was assuming it would be similar to a Cube demo I went to in a mall before launch where they had an area set up where you could try out all the major launch titles. One DS unit seems like a waste of money and effort to me. And why are they demoing Pikmin 2? That game's been out for months.
My thoughts exactly.
I was planning on going to my local Zellers today but decided not to and rather spend my time watching The Incredibles
From what I've read in Ruby's post, it doesn't sound very exciting at all. Like Ian was saying, I was hoping more of a larger setup like they did with the Gamecube over at Lougheed Mall, BC. You could play every Gamecube launch title and go 4-player WaveRace match on a large flat screen(win a free GC t-shirt). Very cool. Oh yeah and the free giveaways(trailer disc, tattoos, stickers, technical information card)
Oh well, I can wait till November 21st. No rush since I've got Killzone, Halo 2(Nov 9th) and Half-Life 2(Nov 16th) to play/kill time.
Also what's not added on the Nintendo Tour list is Wal-Mart out in Lougheed Mall(Burnaby, British Columbia). Nintendo will be coming to Wal-Mart on the 21st of November, launch date for the Nintendo DS. Great timing. Buy the DS and play multiplayer with whatever they have displaying.
Post by: Ian Sane on November 07, 2004, 05:31:46 PM
As for the DS they had a metal clamp over it that covered the cartridge slots. It's too bad because I wanted to see what it was like to play a GBA game on it and I couldn't get an exact feel for the weight. However even with the clamp it was pretty light and I had no problems holding it, using the d-pad, and using the stylus all at the same time. The stylus fits nicely in a little slot at the back and it's easy to remove without looking. Yet it's also not too loose. It was well designed. The screen also looked great without any scratches and judging by the smudges on it that demo unit had been used a fair bit. The whole thing felt comfortable to hold and the screens are well lit and visible. Looking at two screens takes getting used to though. A lot of times I would touch something on the screen and a description would be on the top screen which I didn't initially think to look at. The system is also quite small. It's not as small as the SP of course but it looks quite portable. You can't fit it in your front jeans pocket but you could easily fit it in an inner coat pocket. If you can carry a glasses case around you can carry this around.
Metroid Prime Hunters is a very standard FPS. So much so that I found it a little awkward to adjust to since I was in the mindset of scanning items and locking onto enemies. It's looking like a generic FPS with Metroid thrown in. I'm not sure if I like the idea of using Metroid in that manner but that doesn't affect how the game plays. There are five control setups, two of which are just existing stylus setups reversed for lefties. Since I'm right handed I didn't try these out.
The first one I used was the tap and shoot method from E3. You move forward and back and strafe with the d-pad and aim and turn with the stylus. Tapping with the stylus shoots. This makes it very easy to kill enemies since you just have to tap on them. Of the three control setups I used this was by far the best one for aiming. It's so easy to blast multiple enemies like a pro. Turning however is much harder since you can't see as you turn because your hand is in the way. Plus you shoot all the time which I imagine in multiplayer would make sneaking up on someone impossible. "Where's Ian?" *Blam* *Blam* "Ah he's over there." However against the computer this might work all right. If they changed the d-pad so that it worked like in Doom where left and right turn and then you hold L to strafe this setup would rule. Hmmmm, maybe I should send Nintendo a letter. First Hunt is stuck as is but there's still time to add this to the full version.
The second setup mimicked dual analog control by looking with the face buttons as if they were a second d-pad. You can imagine how well this worked out. Digital control just doesn't work worth crap for aiming. It's too sensitive so often I would try to aim down a little bit and I would shoot at the ground. In this mode the R button jumps and L shoots. I didn't figure out how to jump in the other versions. Maybe it's R but that's going to be hard to press when you're using the stylus. The aiming was also reversed with up being down and down being up. Some people prefer that, which is fine, but I found it confusing. Again I hope Nintendo has a lot of flexibility in setting up the controls in the full version.
The last setup was overall the best one and one that most people will use. The d-pad moves as before, shooting is with L, and the touchscreen is used to turn and aim. In this one the top screen has the action so you move the stylus around like a mouse without blocking the screen. I'm not very familiar with mouse aiming in first person shooters so I didn't adapt to it right away but it did provide a more natural control than the other setups. Some other guy adapted to it right away so it seems quite solid. One annoying nitpick about the controls overall is that you can't just pause the game and change them on the fly. You have to quit and then change them. I personally would like to use the tap method in rooms with a lot of enemies and the other stylus method for everywhere else so I would like to be able to change on the fly. It's another thing to consider with the full version I guess.
So in conclusion I'm only moderately impressed with Metroid Prime Hunters thus far. However I'm considerably impressed with the DS. The face buttons are really small which may be a problem with some games but otherwise I'm quite pleased with the general design. If Nintendo had something more interesting at launch I probably would have pre-ordered it right then and there. Plus touching stuff on the screen is so neat and fun. Go to one of these demos if you get the chance.
Post by: TheYoungerPlumber on November 09, 2004, 12:11:42 AM
's sake.
Post by: D-Mac Double on November 13, 2004, 05:20:11 PM
Nintendo.ca says they'd be appearing at my local EB on Sunday, November 7th as part of the DS tour.
I show up at the store on the 7th, and whadaya know? The clerk told me that Nintendo had held their event there the day before.
The site also said Nintendo would be holding an event at my local Microplay today from 2PM-5PM EST. I showed up at 2 and waited there until about 4:15. Nintendo was a complete no-show, so I left.
At least those two outings weren't complete wastes of time, as I walked away with F-Zero X, Jak and Daxter, and Soul Calibur II (GC).
My last chance to catch the DS tour is at a Best Buy tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully the third time's the charm, and Nintendo actually will be there at the time shown on their website.
