Topic: Miyamoto's Robots....oh my

I've heard in a number of places that Nintendo like to prototype, then iterate, iterate, iterate their designs based on feedback, and only once the game is really fun, do they then slap Yoshi or Kirby or whoever over the top of it. I think that's what we're seeing here.

Neither of these games seems to really use the touch controls on the gamepad. The best touch games are about swipes and gestures, rather than just tapping / prodding with a finger. It's difficult though to make a game that both uses the second screen and uses touch to their maximum potential. It's almost like there are too many different shaped lego bricks, that if you try to use all of them in the same model, it just looks a mess.

Specifically on the giant robot game, I suspect it won't really be my style of play. I enjoy either fast flowing gameplay like Mirror's Edge or a Counterstrike, or very slow, cerebral strategy games. This seems to occupy the middle ground between those.

It'd be interesting if you had to defeat the giant enemy monster, but you get penalised, the more of the city you destroy. That would add tactical and strategic elements, so that you have to think about drawing the enemy into a space where you can safely down it, and doing so relatively quickly to stop it stomping all over the city.

For the tower defence game, I'm less convinced. Second screen falls down when you have to constantly switch between gamepad and TV. The brain struggles to handle the rapid, repeated changing of perspectives, so to build a game that places that at the heart of the challenge to the player, I don't believe will end well.

The idea of using the gamepad for a tower defence has some validity, but perhaps more in the building phase of tower defences. You have the bird's eye view of your defences, but you can see the field of view / range of what your turret will be able to shoot on the gamepad when placing it. This allows for much finer control over your defences and calculating coverage. In the actual battle mode, you want to see how your automated towers are doing from the 1st person perspective, so as to be able to tune them between rounds/waves. Rather than having to do the shooting yourself.

Now what if project guard was online multiplayer? 4+ people armed with some kind of weak pistol in a large complex. You can go to the main room to use the cameras, but cant see yourself or move during that time? no map sight if you arent using the cameras. You have to rely on whoever is using the cameras at the time to help you via voice chat, or noone on the cameras at all? If you die you are out the rest of the round.

Boom just made it interesting.

Project Robot, 5 people make up the robot. Gamepad forms the head! Online, you can make 'squads'.'Squads' are a team of 5 with their own insignia, robot, and character costumes. (make your own Voltron Force). They are ranked in every online match, and if they destroy a lot of buildings the gain 'villan' points. To gain 'Hero' points, you defeat robots with 'villan' affinity and keep buildings intact. There are Overall rankings, Hero Rankings, Villan Rankings.

Maybe you start out on ground and have the option to transform, but with the power boost, comes the difficulty of teamwork to control the robot!

So funny. Everyone is demanding to see Miyamoto's new IP, and since it is clearly not ready, then people get disappointed. But if he does not show it, then the hatred continues.

I will wait until this has more time in the oven to actually give a more fair opinion. All three projects.

Yeah, I thought I had seen that in the demo. It made me wonder if maybe Giant Robots and Guard aren't meant to be there own things at all. Maybe they'll both just be a part of the new Star Fox.

this

Well Splatoon was made directly under Miyamoto's supervision

Project Guard looked cool and i dig what i saw, but im really not that intereted in the Robot ones

I'm hoping this is just a super-early version of this game.

I'm not surprised that these are smaller, less ambitious projects. Nintendo is trying to prepare for Miyamoto's retirement. In order to do that, they need to start weaning people off of the idea that a man in his 60's is going to come out with the next big thing.

All the same, I'd be interested in trying them out. Giant Robots looks like it could be a good time (especially if I've had a bit to drink). Project Guard on the other hand... I really don't like those tower defense style games since I find that I get really tense when i play them.

Getting feedback is of critical importance to game developers. I'm not exactly sure Miyamoto's necessarily checking out this thread to see what people are suggesting, but you'd be surprised to find many developers do actually listen and take things on board.

What you do have to be aware of is that while your feedback might be valid, there's every chance it is simply not the direction the designer wants to take the game. And as I think you're trying to say, since the games aren't finished yet, making a judgement is premature

Wow those games looked terrible I mean people in the crowd were looking like "WTF is this!?" Miyamoto's trying to make the gamepad useful but these games aren't the games people wanna see.

These games were super early alpha builds, when we see them again in a year or two i expect they will be very different.

@JamesCoote

That is the point. You can give feedback based on this build's impressions, but to judge the game and Miyamoto off these early stage demos is totally unfair to me.

I think that giant robo game has potential - the best part of Tank Tank Tank is the one where one player controls the giant mecha-gorilla. A giant robo or kaiju game would be massive - especially if Nintendo got a license from Toho to put Godzilla characters in there!

The tower defence thing looked interesting as well, but giant robots doing sumo? MASSIVE!

Or at all. People were talking about Super Mario 128 for years even tho the game was never actually created although parts of it did became Pikmin & Super Mario Galaxy.

I'm super hyped for this game.
Did they ever say if you could battle someone online? If that were the case, then holy cheese, I'd probably have fun for a looooong time.

They said online battle is an idea as well as fully customisable robots with stickers and such, but it's still too early to tell.

@MrWalkieTalkie Ok thanks! Then I have some hope...

Needs more Voltron.