Messages

351

TalkBack / Re: NES Ambassador Games Slowly Rolling Out in North America

« on: September 03, 2011, 11:38:14 AM »

I've never played Zelda 1 for more than a few minutes, Zelda 3 was my first, so I don't know what you're talking about.

However, Danny.B is well accustomed to the game, I'll ask him to check it out.


However I will say one thing: it's very un-Nintendo to rework modern (read: original) features into a VC game, hence no rumble in StarFox 64 etc...

Actually, that's really only been the case with N64 games... And I think they just chose to exclude rumble in order to prevent the GameCube controller gaining favorability over the Classic Controller. Then, not allowing savability via emulation of the Control Pak was just their way of trying to look consistent.

If you look at VC games from other systems, special features are consistently supported. Games that originally supported 4 players via an adapter, will support 4 players. Excitebike's save feature never worked on an original NES since the Famicom Data Recorder was never released-- but the feature did work when the game reappeared as an unlockable in Excitebike 64 and Animal Crossing, as well as its GBA release as part of the NES Classics Series. And let's not forget the multiplayer support already promised for these games for a future update.

With all that in mind, it's really more 'un-Nintendo' not to support an original feature for a non-N64 VC title.

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TalkBack / Re: NES Ambassador Games Slowly Rolling Out in North America

« on: September 02, 2011, 10:01:42 AM »

I just tried it and nothing happened. Well, I got taken out by a Gibdo. Do I need the Recorder to do this?

No, it has nothing to do with the Recorder. All you should have to do, while you're in a room with Pols Voices, is switch to Player 2 then blow or yell into the mic, which would result in them instantly dying.

I have since tried it myself and can confirm it doesn't work. Hopefully, this will be fixed in the updated version. There's really no excuse for not making it functional now that there's a working mic available.

Someone should ask Famicomplicated if it works in his Japanese version-- I have a feeling it still won't.

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TalkBack / Re: NES Ambassador Games Slowly Rolling Out in North America

« on: September 01, 2011, 01:31:29 PM »

Just out of curiosity, has anyone made it far enough into Zelda 1 to encounter the Pols Voices? If so, I'm curious to know if the Japanese microphone trick (which has always been unusable here in the States due to the lack of a mic on the NES hardware) works now via the 3DS's microphone. I still haven't made it far enough to try it yet, so I'm curious.

P.S. If anyone does try it, remember to switch to Player 2 before blowing!

354

TalkBack / Re: NES Ambassador Games Slowly Rolling Out in North America

« on: September 01, 2011, 01:01:01 PM »

@Bman87301 I can understand that for the Gameboy and the GBA; because they only had two buttons; the 3DS has (X) and (Y) as well; and the level that they are triangulated is sharper as well, which makes it worse. But, I didn’t but the 3DS for Super Mario Bros. so maybe I’m exaggerating. But it is frustrating to see something so simple be overlooked. Now, if they screw up Super Mario 3D Land, then maybe I’ll have a legitimate reason to complain.

No, you seem to have misunderstood...

I wasn't talking about the original systems' button positions. I was talking about the original DS/DS Lite (which had same button layout as 3DS). When you played GBA games on it (which also had only B and A buttons),  you always had the same issue of having to use the DS's B and A buttons rather than Y and B. 

The same also applied to playing NES games on Wii using the Classic Controller, and even again on 3DS with Game Boy VC games (which have been available since June). So my point was, this is nothing new and you should have expected it.

355

TalkBack / Re: NES Ambassador Games Slowly Rolling Out in North America

« on: September 01, 2011, 12:29:47 PM »

Zelda 1 was re-released in cart format several years later in Japan. They added the 1 to the title screen at that time. The better question is why did they go with the (musically inferior) cart version?

Dang, you beat me to the punch.. :-(

356

TalkBack / Re: NES Ambassador Games Slowly Rolling Out in North America

« on: September 01, 2011, 12:28:46 PM »

On the Japanese side of things, I noticed that Zelda is called "Zelda no Densetsu 1" (Legend of Zelda 1)
Zelda 2 is just called the Adventure of Link as usual.


Any ideas why this is the case?


Also the carts have a red backing like the Famicom carts did!

Here's what I know: There were two separate versions of the original Zelda in Japan-- the original 1986 release was for the Famicom Disk System. Years later (after the FDS was discontinued), Nintendo released a Famicom cartridge version-- which used a new font for the in-game text, re-named the 'Bible' to the 'Book of Magic', and added warnings to hold in the RESET button at the 'Game Over' screen (essentially the version the rest of the world got years earlier, only translated back into Japanese). It also added "1" to the title screen logo.

So, the VC release is apparently the cartridge release-- which seems to make sense since if they're being touted as 'Famicom VC games' and the original release was technically a 'FDS game'.

As for Zelda II, it too was originally released in FDS format. I'm not 100% sure whether or not it also got the cartridge re-release treatment, but if it did, there wouldn't be any reason for the logo to be changed since it was always "The Legend of Zelda 2: Link no Bouken".

357

TalkBack / Re: NES Ambassador Games Slowly Rolling Out in North America

« on: August 31, 2011, 11:26:14 AM »

It'd be cool if you could watch player 2's progress from your screen.

It's pretty much a given that you will be able to do that once the updates come.

Remember, the NES only displayed one screen, so both players always saw the same thing. That being said, VC releases would have to work the same way since VC games don't get updated features...

Unless the updates turn out to be in the form of '3D Classics' releases (which many originally speculated, but the same press release that confirmed the wireless multiplayer updates seemed to indicate that they would remain VC versions).

358

TalkBack / Re: NES Ambassador Games Slowly Rolling Out in North America

« on: August 31, 2011, 11:16:29 AM »

I’ve got my games and my certificate. However, I do have to say the button mapping for Super Mario Bros. is horrendous. They made the (B) button dash and the (A) button jump, just like in the original. However, the (B) button is lower than the (A) button on the 3DS, meaning you have to contort your thumb at an extremely weird angle just to play. Most of the finesse of playing that game comes from the dash button, so if it feels unnatural, it renders the game almost impossible to play. Is it really that hard to map dash to (Y) and jump to (B)? C’mon Nintendo, did absolutely no one realize this in the month+ you have had to get the game ported? We shouldn’t have to wait another God-knows-how-long for Nintendo to release the updated version to get this; that is if they correct this major flaw at all. Nintendo: “I’ve got it; you know how we have had the same excellent control scheme for Super Mario Bros. for the last 25 years, where you hold dash with the tip of your thumb and press jump with the base of your thumb. Well this time lets map then to the same buttons even though the gameplay is the reciprocal of what people are used to, yeah that’ll work.

This is nothing new. GB games are the same way, as were GBA games when played on the DS, and Wii VC titles (on the Classic Controller). You really should have expected this.

359

TalkBack / Re: NES Ambassador Games Slowly Rolling Out in North America

« on: August 31, 2011, 11:00:07 AM »

By some stroke of luck I've got all the games, usually I have to wait well into the afternoon for an update from Nintendo or the eShop. One caveat I have is with 2 player options. Right now it seems like one system will have to be passed between players, but I hope that there will be some local or online wireless update for the future.

That's already been officially confirmed. There will be updates and they will enable wireless multiplayer.

360

TalkBack / Re: NES Ambassador Games Slowly Rolling Out in North America

« on: August 31, 2011, 10:57:52 AM »

As well, what’s ironic is that I have to strain my wrist just to play Super Mario Bros. because of the button mapping, and there are no health warnings at all for this game. When I play Wii there is always a warning, and yet I have had no problems with the system. I am not a litigious person at all, I just think it’s kind of funny.

Actually, there were never warnings in Wii VC games. The warnings were always only in actual Wii games.

361

TalkBack / Re: NES Ambassador Games Slowly Rolling Out in North America

« on: August 31, 2011, 10:56:17 AM »

All ten are up as of now and I've downloaded them all. Contrary to what the article says, they're actually listed under 'Your Downloads' not 'Recent Downloads'.

I'm happy to say that unlike the Wii VC releases, LoZ and Zelda II are the real NES versions with their original 'Engrish' in tact, not the 2003 GameCube updates.

362

TalkBack / Re: New 3DS Add-On in the Works? Redesign on the Way?

« on: August 23, 2011, 03:48:05 PM »

Calling WiiMotion Plus a flop is like calling Dual Shock for PS1 a flop--  most games didn't use it, only one game actually required it, but plenty of games still supported it and it ultimately became the standard.

Motion Plus is the exact same thing. Besides, just because a feature isn't overly used doesn't mean it's a flop-- if it were then that would make the DS microphone and the SELECT button both flops too.

363

TalkBack / Re: New 3DS Add-On in the Works? Redesign on the Way?

« on: August 23, 2011, 01:06:46 PM »

We don't need to go back to a single screened handheld. That's a step backwards.

Well obviously, a redesign of 3DS hardware  couldn't be single screened.

Keep in mind why 'Game Boy' brand wasn't used for the DS-- because its premise was so unusual, the chance of it being a failure was too high to risk presenting it as the GBA's successor.  It certainly wasn't because the 'Game Boy' name couldn't still apply to a dual screened system.

They just called it a 'third pillar' platform, so if it did fail they could still just release a true successor to the GBA. If the 3DS does turn out to be a failure, they can't get away with releasing another DS without it being associated with the 3DS.

But since they always officially kept the DS line separate from Game Boy...

364

TalkBack / Re: New 3DS Add-On in the Works? Redesign on the Way?

« on: August 23, 2011, 11:55:43 AM »

The DS brand is too successful to dump, and I would say that the Game Boy Micro hurt the brand at least a little.

You could have said the same thing about the 'Game Boy' brand seven years ago. Besides, they wouldn't necessarily be 'dumping' it-- just putting it on hiatus like the 'Game Boy' until they need it again.

And you're kidding yourself if you think the Game Boy Micro hurt the brand at all-- the Game Boy Light certainly didn't affect the Game Boy Color, nor did the short lived top-loading NES affect the Super NES. A lackluster model of otherwise successful hardware won't hurt the brand's reputation for the very reason it failed to catch on in the first place-- the general public can't recall it ever existing.

365

TalkBack / Re: New 3DS Add-On in the Works? Redesign on the Way?

« on: August 23, 2011, 11:21:13 AM »

If (and that's a big if) they do go the renaming route, we can most likely expect the triumphant return of the still untarnished 'Game Boy' brand. And just as with the DS to the GBA, it'll be presented as their 'third pillar' until it quietly replaces the 3DS altogether.

Though I do think doing that would be a major overraction. Nintendo needs to stay the course with the '3DS' branding. The 3D aspect may not be  selling systems, but I don't think it's hurting sales either, so the removal of '3D' from the name isn't necessary, they just need to start marketing the other features more.

While I certainly can't speak for the entire general public, I do know the reasons why I didn't initially get a 3DS-- the price was too high and it was released right at a time when both gas and food prices were on the rise. That, combined with the fact that there weren't any must-have games and Nintendo's increasingly frequent pattern of releasing hardware revisions, it only made sense to wait.

It certainly wasn't from a lack of interest of the 3D.

What I think this really is is just Nintendo running by some new ideas to developers and coming up with alternative ideas in case of the event that the price drop doesn't work. They were caught off guard by 3DS's low numbers and simply looking at how to react to it.

I don't think the price drop was effort to get rid of current units for a revision. For one thing, why would they now be releasing a new red version of the current model?

From what I can tell, the price drop is working, so while I'm sure these add-ons are under development and name change concepts are currently being looked at, I don't see any of it actually seeing the day of light... Then again, I thought the same thing when rumors about the DSi XL first started.

366

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo of America Closely Watching JRPGs in Europe

« on: August 11, 2011, 12:44:47 PM »

Wouldn't the game have to be localized to English in order to be available to the UK market? So the work to localize it to North America is already done, because America and Canada speak English. So what's the big deal? The games are complete and the localization is complete so bring it over already!

Well, there still would be some work because the current English version would be in PAL format (which isn't used in NA).  They'd still have to transfer the English script back into the original Japanese's NTSC format, then clean up any bugs that would result from the transfer.

But, that shouldn't matter anyway... Internal sources have leaked that NOA already has an English NTSC version completed. Assuming these reports are accurate, then I'm certain they also have a finalized US package design, manual, and provisional marketing plans all ready to go... They're just sitting  and waiting on Europe's sales numbers.

My guess is they already have a contingency plan in place and if the sales in Europe hit a certain number in a certain amount of time, a US release date will be announced for during the holiday season in a limited quantity. If it doesn't it hit that number, the American build will just go back into the vault and never see the day of light.

367

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo of America Closely Watching JRPGs in Europe

« on: August 11, 2011, 12:10:07 PM »

This pretty much confirms what I've been saying all along-- NOA never ruled these releases out, they just weren't going to commit to anything.

I don't believe for a second that Xenoblade Chronicles' release date was bumped-up two weeks early by coincidence. As I've said before, NOA most likely requested the bump-up so they could have time to analyze the early sales numbers and still have enough time to throw together a last minute release for the holiday season, if they determine there's legitimate demand.

All "no plans at this time" really ever meant was that they didn't have a release date currently scheduled. If the internal leaks are to be believed, NOA already has a North American build of Xenoblade all ready to go, so it seems obvious to me that they have, at the very least, a contingent plan for a release already.

Like I've said before, it's all in Europe's hands now.

368

TalkBack / Re: Walmart May Drop Price of the 3DS Three Days Early

« on: August 09, 2011, 01:18:22 PM »

Looks like I need to go back to Best Buy and get my price matched early

I'm pretty sure that price adjustment policy only applies to advertised prices.

If you check Walmart's website you'll see the current price is still listed as at $249.99 (the $169.99 rollback is listed too, but only for preorders which supposedly won't ship until August 12).

Whether or not they're already selling at the new lower price in stores right now is irrelevant. As long as they're not advertising it that way, don't expect competitors to match the price.

369

TalkBack / Re: 3DS Price Drop and Release Dates for 3DS Mario Titles Revealed

« on: July 28, 2011, 08:32:11 PM »

I meant potential 3DS buyers. Some people might wonder what is wrong with the product that the price is being dropped so soon and by so much.

Again like I said, that would only happen if the PSV was already out because it would come off as in inferior product in comparison.  Right now, 3DS is the only next gen on the market and it's far enough in advance from PSV's debut to make the price appear directly related. The way technology is constantly advancing, gadgets regularly drop significantly in price all the time, no there's nothing out of the ordinary by itself. Especially during these bad economic times, the price drop is only going to be seen in a positive light. The only room for negativity would be from early adopters, which Nintendo already took care of.

370

TalkBack / Re: 3DS Price Drop and Release Dates for 3DS Mario Titles Revealed

« on: July 28, 2011, 07:08:27 PM »

They still have public perception to worry about though. I hope that this kind of price cut doesn't cause people to view the product as worthless.

No way. If they had waited until after Vita came out, then that would be an issue. But  it's still early enough that the original price will largely be forgotten by then. In the meantime  the new low price, along with the highly generous Ambassador Program is more than enough damage control to offset any lasting effect. Mark my words.

371

TalkBack / Re: 3DS Price Drop and Release Dates for 3DS Mario Titles Revealed

« on: July 28, 2011, 06:54:18 PM »

I'm a little upset by this, since I was banking on there not being a price cut for at least a year and bought one to prepare for the upcoming releases and don't currently have any 3DS games. But I guess I was taking a gamble when I did that, and given the slow sales I probably should have waited a little longer to see what happened.

I really am surprised by this though, I figured Nintendo would at least wait until the holidays to see how well it sells then before they dropped the price. The cut is also more than I expected, at most I figured it would be $200. They must be desperate if they are not only dropping the price this much, but even offering free games to those who already bought one at the inflated price. I have no idea what their plan is, though they were in a tight spot for sure. They definitely made mistakes, most noticeably the admittedly high price, but I still think they should have stayed the course for a bit longer.

Upset? Don't you realize you got the winning hand in that gamble? Even if you aren't happy the selection of freebies yourself, come August 12 there will be plenty of collectors out there who missed out and will be willing to pay more than the $250 you originally paid for the exclusive content.  You can just sell your current 3DS for a profit on eBay then buy a new one at the new lower price. You've won either way.

I don't think Nintendo could afford to stay the course any longer. PSV is on the horizon (at the same price to boot) and a big lack of new releases until the holidays. I'm sure Nintendo is getting negative feedback by 3rd parties who are losing faith and considering pulling support (Megaman Legends 3 already got axed and MGS3 got 'delayed'). I doubt they made this decision lightly.

372

TalkBack / Re: 3DS Price Drop and Release Dates for 3DS Mario Titles Revealed

« on: July 28, 2011, 01:49:55 PM »

Anyone else think this was a bit of an over-reaction? Yeah, the 3DS was over-priced, but $100 price drop is steep. IMHO, the biggest thing hurting 3DS sales was the software lineup. This big of a drop to me is a sign of Nintendo saying, "We can't sell you on the system's potential, so we'll just make it a bargain."

Not at all. As you just pointed out, the biggest thing hurting 3DS sales is the software lineup... In order for that issue to resolve itself, the software lineup has to improve... and that won't happen if developers lose faith in the platform and avoid making games for it.

We recently lost one high profile 3rd party game already (Megaman Legends 3). No matter what Capcom may say, it's just naive to assume the 3DS's low installed base didn't have at least some influence on the decision to scrap the project. If other developers follow suit, we could easily have a domino-effect on our hands.

Just because other Nintendo handhelds may have experienced similar early software droughts doesn't mean the situation is the same. 3DS sales have been unprecedentedly slow for a Nintendo handheld-- so much so, many analysts are already predicting its doom. The 3DS is Nintendo's highest priced handheld to date and released during bad economic times to boot. Since it's pretty clear that the economy is going to get worse before it improves, and when you factor in the upcoming competition from the competitively priced PSV, Nintendo can't just sit back and do nothing and expect the 3DS to keep developer support.

This is a very appropriate move on Nintendo's part, and not an over-reaction by any means.

373

TalkBack / Re: 3DS Price Drop and Release Dates for 3DS Mario Titles Revealed

« on: July 28, 2011, 10:11:52 AM »

There's one part that has me curious...

"These games...are slated to become paid downloadable games, but Ambassadors get them early for free. Once the paid versions of the games are posted to the Nintendo eShop later in the year, the updated versions will be available to Ambassadors for download at no cost."

I wonder what they mean by updated versions.  I can easily see them releasing the games early with missing VC functionality (such as save states, etc.) that would be incorporated when the full version goes retail.  They don't mention updates anywhere else, though, so it's hard to say what they'll do.

Remember, these are NES Virtual Console titles... NES games aren't normally part of the 3DS VC lineup-- they're otherwise only available on 3DS as 3D Classics. The logical conclusion is that these are upcoming 3D Classics titles that aren't ready yet, and the updates will simply be the completed 3D Classics releases.

374

TalkBack / Re: Majora's Mask 3D Remake a Possibility

« on: July 25, 2011, 10:35:31 AM »

Please no... (Rolls eyes) Mr. Aonuma, there's no need to go overboard on the Zelda remakes. Ocarina of Time was more than merited, but continuing with Majora's Mask would just be overkill. MM would just feel like more of the same and would just come off as just an other cheap way of trying to milk OoT's success even more.  If they really want to keep doing 3DS Zelda remakes, they should try taking a fresher route and make something like a 3D cel-shaded version of A Link to the Past.

375

TalkBack / Re: Star Fox 64 3D Release Moved Up

« on: July 24, 2011, 01:01:00 PM »

It's very unusual for Nintendo to release a game on any day of the week other than Sunday. The 9/11 anniversary is almost certainly the reason.