Topic: Radio Free Nintendo: Episode 198

[Jonnyboy117]

Billy drops in to talk up EGM, and we close out the E3 predictions with a long, hard look at what's brewing on Wii.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/podcastArt.cfm?artid=23230

 Episode 198: A Looker Aheader    

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For the last episode before E3, we are excited to present a special guest, the founder of this very website, Billy Berghammer! You may have heard him lately on the Weekend Confirmed podcast, but we had to bring Billy back home to NWR, especially after he was named the new Editor-in-Chief of Electronic Gaming Monthly. These activities certainly qualify as New Business (literally), but Billy also gives his impressions of MGS: Peace Walker and Tiger 11 for Wii. Jonny cedes his time to James, who has the new Mega Man Zero Collection for DS. Greg wraps up this snappy segment with Penta Tentacles (a.k.a. Rotozoa) on WiiWare.    

Next up is part two of our E3 Predictions, with a focus on Wii games and accessories. Greg leads the discussion, in which we imagine how the Vitality Sensor might not suck, postulate the glory of Zelda, and dread the on-stage demo for Wii Party. And what will third-parties have to show for the system's fifth holiday season? Billy's expertise is called upon when we consider how Nintendo should respond to motion-control threats from both Microsoft and Sony.    

In the final segment, James and Greg tackle your pre-E3 questions about 3DS screens, a novel idea to work voice into Zelda, the possibility of a new "corporate color" for Nintendo's next hardware launch, and a special message for Karl. We'll catch up with many more of your questions and comments after E3, so keep sending those great emails! Also, remember that Episode 200 is just over the horizon, so be sure to send in your entries for the "Drunkcast Debacle" contest.    

We're always looking for great Listener Mail to read and discuss on the show, so please send your questions or comments! (We really love seeing your praise and feedback regarding the show itself; however, in the interest of time, we may edit your letter to be read on the podcast.)      Credits:    

This podcast was edited by Greg Leahy.    

Music for this episode of Radio Free Nintendo is used with permission from Jason Ricci & New Blood. You can purchase their newest album, Done with the Devil, directly from the record label, Amazon.com, or iTunes, or call your local record store and ask for it!    

Additional music for this episode of Radio Free Nintendo is copyrighted to Nintendo, and is included under fair use protection.  

[Crimm]

This episode was whacked out.  Greg and I running a duet is like an interview.

[ShyGuy]

Billy F'n Berghammer. We need a link to EGM

http://www.egmmag.com/

[greybrick]

Look forward to listening to this on the drive in tomorrow, while parking, standing in line, and lunch. Good thing its a long one.

[Shaymin]

The "Sunday before Black Friday" idea for Zelda Wii was based on prior major releases - the Wii and DS both launched in that slot, as well as Ocarina of Time. Although recent history - and I probably should have checked this - could also have it be the Sunday before since Mario Galaxy, New Super Mario Wii, and Animal Crossing Wii (lol) all came in on that slot.

[TJ Spyke]

Other than Animal Crossing: City Folk and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, you are right (those both came out 11 days before Thanksgiving, not 4). If the new Zelda does actually manage to come out this year, that mid-November slot would be the most likely spot.

[Kytim89]

As for the vitality sensor and the motion plus making up too many hook ups to the wiimote, Nintendo will most likely announce the wiimote with built in motion plus at E3 along with the vitality sensor to clear up all the clutter on the controller. We will call it the wiimote plus.
 
How does the RFN crew feel about the possibility of a GTA game for the wii. Yes, I know that there are GTA clones already on the wii, but Rockstar could work the motion plus controls into the game, or allow it to be an option just like the Conduit 2.
 
I am still waiting to see what Bioware has to bring to the wii.
 
As for boosting the longevity of the wii, could Nintendo release some more channels and pick the virtual console up again? They could also raise the file limit on wiiware and allow bigger games to be produced for that program to spur the life of the wii.
 
Is there any possible way for third parties to flourish on the wii and its successor even though they have been doing badly? Third party support is one of the key components in keeping the wii alive.
 
We still have not seen a Starfox or Kid Icarus game for the wii. There must still be life in the console in order for those games to come.
 
Overall, this console generation has reached its mid-point and I do not see a wii 2 until atleast 2012. 

[TJ Spyke]

Third parties actually don't do that bad. According to Nintendo, at least 56 third party games have sold more than 1 million copies as of March 31, 2010 (plus 23 first party games). It's just that most of them tend to be "evergreen" games, games that sell a little bit each month over a long period of time. They may not sell enough to make it on the NPD top 20, but they continue to sell over a long period of time.

[Kytim89]

Third parties actually don't do that bad. According to Nintendo, at least 56 third party games have sold more than 1 million copies as of March 31, 2010 (plus 23 first party games). It's just that most of them tend to be "evergreen" games, games that sell a little bit each month over a long period of time. They may not sell enough to make it on the NPD top 20, but they continue to sell over a long period of time.

Most of the major third party games are of really good quality.

[KDR_11k]

Third parties destroying their own reputation on the Wii was pretty much a tragedy of the commons thing. I don't think that's what killed the sales on Red Steel 2 though, that's likely a combination of a poisonous brand and the art style, not general third party reputation. Also let's remember that Ubisoft said Red Steel 2 performed up to expectations.

I agree that Motion Plus support has been pathetic. It was Nintendo's preemptive response to Natal and Move but since MS and Sony failed to show their motion controls that year and only had them the year after Nintendo fired the big gun at thin air and had nothing left to generate immediate buzz when Natal and Move got announced, hence the crappy Vitality Sensor reveal. I guess they also powered their Motion Plus game production down when they realized there's no threat around but really, by now they should have had more out. That instead of actually making games that utilize the potential of motion controls we bought the console for they decided to turn the Wiimote into an NES controller is pathetic. It's not even easy on the new gamers either, I've seen plenty of new gamers walk up to an NSMB Wii demo kiosk and get confused why the Wiimote doesn't do anything (they hold it regular-style).

[Yoshidious]

Third parties destroying their own reputation on the Wii was pretty much a tragedy of the commons thing. I don't think that's what killed the sales on Red Steel 2 though, that's likely a combination of a poisonous brand and the art style, not general third party reputation. Also let's remember that Ubisoft said Red Steel 2 performed up to expectations.

I think that's a good way of putting what has happened with third parties in the low barriers-to-entry market environment Nintendo has fostered for Wii. We're all aware that there's a range of titles that have sold well, and I personally have enjoyed a good number of third party games -- in the past year or so, you've heard me talk on RFN about Tatsunoko vs Capcom, Klonoa, Muramasa, Tiger 10, Little King's Story, Dead Space Extraction, A Boy and His Blob, Guitar Hero Metallica, Boom Blox Bash Party, Silent Hill, and Red Steel 2 -- some of which have performed well commercially and others haven't. However, the reality remains that third party support is relatively weak on Wii, and as KDR says their collective reputation has become irreparably damaged over the years that Wii has been on the market.   

As for Red Steel 2, clearly it did not sell all that poorly for it to meet Ubisoft's expectations, but Ubisoft did revise those expectations down sharply (by half, if I recall correctly) almost immediately before launch. 

[AV]

Greg I made this Super Mario Galaxy 2 themed "Betrayed" Yoshi image I think you will enjoy


 

[Kytim89]

Third parties destroying their own reputation on the Wii was pretty much a tragedy of the commons thing. I don't think that's what killed the sales on Red Steel 2 though, that's likely a combination of a poisonous brand and the art style, not general third party reputation. Also let's remember that Ubisoft said Red Steel 2 performed up to expectations.

I think that's a good way of putting what has happened with third parties in the low barriers-to-entry market environment Nintendo has fostered for Wii. We're all aware that there are a range of titles that have sold well, and I personally have enjoyed a good number of third party games -- in the past year or so, you've heard me talk on RFN about Tatsunoko vs Capcom, Klonoa, Muramasa, Tiger 10, Little King's Story, Dead Space Extraction, A Boy and His Blob, Guitar Hero Metallica, Boom Blox Bash Party, Silent Hill, and Red Steel 2 -- some of which have performed well commercially and others haven't. However, the reality remains that third party support is relatively weak on Wii, and as KDR says their collective reputation has become irreparably damaged over the years that Wii has been on the market.   

As for Red Steel 2, clearly it did not sell all that poorly for it to meet Ubisoft's expectations, but Ubisoft did revise those expectations down sharply (by half, if I recall correctly) almost immediately before launch.

What worries me is that third parties might say "Development on the wii is not lucrative buisness so we are all going to develop for move and natal/kinect and make that a priority for our software." Nintendo needs the third parties to reinforce their own development of games. I just fear that the wii could implode because it is abandoned by the third parties. I could imagine that at E3 Reggie and Iwata challenge the third parties to continue support for the wii despite the move and natal/kinect.

[broodwars]

Third parties destroying their own reputation on the Wii was pretty much a tragedy of the commons thing. I don't think that's what killed the sales on Red Steel 2 though, that's likely a combination of a poisonous brand and the art style, not general third party reputation. Also let's remember that Ubisoft said Red Steel 2 performed up to expectations.

I think that's a good way of putting what has happened with third parties in the low barriers-to-entry market environment Nintendo has fostered for Wii. We're all aware that there are a range of titles that have sold well, and I personally have enjoyed a good number of third party games -- in the past year or so, you've heard me talk on RFN about Tatsunoko vs Capcom, Klonoa, Muramasa, Tiger 10, Little King's Story, Dead Space Extraction, A Boy and His Blob, Guitar Hero Metallica, Boom Blox Bash Party, Silent Hill, and Red Steel 2 -- some of which have performed well commercially and others haven't. However, the reality remains that third party support is relatively weak on Wii, and as KDR says their collective reputation has become irreparably damaged over the years that Wii has been on the market.   

As for Red Steel 2, clearly it did not sell all that poorly for it to meet Ubisoft's expectations, but Ubisoft did revise those expectations down sharply (by half, if I recall correctly) almost immediately before launch.

What worries me is that third parties might say "Development on the wii is not lucrative buisness so we are all going to develop for move and natal/kinect and make that a priority for our software." Nintendo needs the third parties to reinforce their own development of games. I just fear that the wii could implode because it is abandoned by the third parties. I could imagine that at E3 Reggie and Iwata challenge the third parties to continue support for the wii despite the move and natal/kinect.

Kytim, Third parties haven't consistently supported a Nintendo console since the industry went to disc-based media.  As much as I dislike it, Nintendo's managed to get by just fine regardless and will probably continue to for the foreseeable future.  It just means if Wii owners actually want to play something beyond Nintendo they have to purchase a second console, which most probably already have.

[happyastoria]

I love how Greg and James thought my story was obscene, but minutes earlier James read a statement that said: "my balls fell.. into your mothers mouth" lol
 
On other news, I have a feeling Nintendo will "win" this years E3. For some reason I can picture the new Zelda game to be similiar to Shadow of the Colossus.
 
The Vitality Sensor will definitely be the laughing stock of E3.

[Golden_Vixy]

Someone tell James that you can mod the Y and X buttons with the touch screen in (at the button config section of the options) MMZ collection I had the same problem.

[Halbred]

I'll be reviewing MMZ (surprised I don't have it yet, actually) and I'm really looking forward to it.

[TJ Spyke]

I never played the Mega Man Zero games. If the collection is well done (these compilations aren't always well done and that can ruin the experience), I may get it.

[MoRZ]

Thanks for the personal answer, Karl  :