Couldn't have said it better Five-seveN! A very good way of putting it to someone who probably has years ahead of his or her life to learn this for themselves as well.
I think the medal should definitely be downgraded. But I do think it is relevant and it would be good for people on this blog commenting that it's nonsense to fully understand what these soldiers (yes, they're still soldiers) go through. A lot of people don't realize the mental as well as physical demands placed on remote operators. They are still soldiers and they deal in real death. They take it to bed with them whether they want to or not. They are witness to the death and destruction en mass that their payloads deal in a way that even soldiers on the ground often do not see. The closest to compare would be that of a real pilot. A lot of these drone pilots also have a very difficult time in relating with the simplisity in which they kill and the finality of their actions. This can be very traumatic and a lot of these soldiers also suffer post traumatic syndroms like the men and women with boots on the floor. Just a different varietly.
And they do save a crap load of lives as well. I think you'd have a hard time convincing a grunt on the ground who has been dug in for 12 hours with bullets picking off his squad mates left and right, down to his last clip, if the guy or girl expertly piloting that drone who just blew a hole in the blockcade allowing his escape didn't deserve recognition.
Yes, it should be downgraded. But it's still relevant. Those soldiers take a lot of burden onto their shoulders each night. Their casualties may not be missing limbs or death but their caualties are often fractured minds and tarnished souls. They do their part and deserve recognition as well.
There is a very good reason that I love Nintendo. They stick to their guns in terms of their philosophy towards their consumers. I love the fact that Nintendo has said many, many times that free to play is not a model they want to support. Why? Because for the vast majority of people who play a given free to play game, they will never get the full gaming experience. Most players give up on a game once they catch on to the scheme. To the player, it appears that the developer is more interested in squeezing each dime out of the player at every opportunity. Instead of crafting a complete game for all to enjoy in entirety and charging what its worth. Nintendo are craftsmen and toy makers first and businessmen second. EA are accountants first. This much is clear because they focus on the revenue model before the game. And also because they seem to believe that the single player experience needs to go away. Very simply WRONG! There are many different kinds of gamers out there and to denounce a very large segment of the market who dont like to play online and will never play online to justify their business model shows how myopic they are. Its clear that Nintendo and EA are on polar ends of the gaming spectrum. So its no surprise that they cant make a deal. Not upsetting at all. Im totally behind Nintendo on this one.
Reading comprehension people... the article states, "The investigation into the claim began in 2011, when he sued Nintendo and its U.S. unit." Its the second sentence of the article... he didn't just sue them.
At first glance this looks really good. Great hand-drawn sprites. Excellent animation. The helpers are a really cool idea too!
However, I'm noticing that this, along with many other games labeled as "Final Fight" type games do not capture all of the mechanics that made games like Final Fight, Streets of Rage or Double Dragon great.
First of all, in the video, I only see left and right scrolling. No up and down movement for the character. Absolutely key in a traditional "beat-em-up".
Second - and I have no idea why so many games of this genre miss on this mechanic - there are no grapples, holds, throws, knees-to the head, headbutts, etc. One of THE biggest things that made titles like Final Fight and Streets of Rage (along with all their other clones like Aliens vs. Predator, Captain Commando, The Punisher, Golden Axe, etc.) is the ability to grab an opponent if you got within proximity and execute moves like suplexes, throws, pile drivers, head-butts, knees to the head or other stylistic moves. The inclusion of these mechanics instantly turn the game from a button masher to something where you can express your own style of play and actually play with some finesse. A "beat-em-up" without these mechanics, to me, is incredibly boring. ...the equivalent of the slew of other boring button mashers on iOS and Android markets
Unless I see more mechanics like this, not interested...
I hear you Rafie! I get what you're sayin'. But you know what though? Mario don't wanna play for the brooding, multiplayer-campin', too-cool-for-my-own-{XBOX/PS3} Sony / MS teen fanboy crowd anyway. He's having too much fun playing for guys like you and me and our kids - the new generation of gamers. He just needs a change of clothes and learn a few more moves to keep us coming back to his parties!
Ha!! Instead of suits, you switch Marios and other characters from the franchise history! Instead of suits, the power ups are characters each with one unique power up. And at each castle you free one version of Mario. Now MARIO is in another castle! Each has their own abilities - The most prominet box art or arcade cabinet illustration power is their main power up; Donkey Kong Mario has the hammer, Super Mario Brothers is the fireball, SMB2 has the ability to pull up veggies, bombs or KEYS (to unlock secret levels) from the ground and throw them, SMB3 is the racoon suit, Mario World is the cape, Mario Sunshine has FLUDD, NSMB could have the ice-balls, etc.
It could play like "Mario-d" too (new genre term)! Combine the platforming of Mario with the elements of Metroid where the world is open but areas passable only with the right Mario freed from his castle! Other power-ups could be Yoshi (flutter jump, eat characters and throw it's eggs), Peach (float), Toad (strength), Luigi (high jump) and other characters like Birdo (travel long distances or gaps riding her egg), etc. Again, all in-game sprites based on historical box art, cabinet, advert illustrations from time of their release.
That's a great idea! They could base the in-game sprites on the many variations of the hand-drawn illustrations of Mario (like you said, the cartoons, and even the box art and arcade cabinet illustrations, etc.) since Donkey Kong in 82. Maybe those "non-super Mario Brothers" Marios like the Donkey Kong Mario could be unlockable levels / characters or somehing with different abilities. Mario's illustrations have evolved as much as the sprites. Now with the HD resolution capabilities like in Rayman, these different Mario art-styles can be captured perfectly.
If Nintendo or one of it's community people actually read this, I'm seeing some consensus in a lot of these posts:
There IS a lot of room for changing things up and making things fresh. Just read the examples
Which leads to the next point; get rid of Takemoto and Tezuka. Way too lazy, close-minded and most likely defensive with their work on 2D Mario. What I read in their quotes is an overly defensive and myopic stance on their work.
LOTS of love for SMB2 (I totally, 110% agree)
2D Mario simply looks, sounds and plays like every "New" installment since the first DS and is in stark contrast to the graphical, audio and gameplay evolutions every SMB game has taken with each game since '85. They are basically new levels with minor additions like suits.
Follow the pedigree of other 2D predecesors and evolve the look, sound and play and you have a fresh new Mario that is grounded in the mechanics and charm the series is known for but gives us something new and exciting to look at, hear and play each time.
Noooo... no dark Mario. It's been done before with Sonic and was disasterous. Mario is Mario. Besides, thankfully, Nintendo is very protective of their IP. I think the closest they'll get to a dark Mario is with the invention of Wario, the dark Mario that trashed Delphi Island in Mario Sunshine and brief appearances in Marioland 3D.
I'd also argue that adults don't need "dark". Dark is really popular with teens. Once you grow up you tend to take things the way they are intended. COD, Resident Evil, Gears of War, God of War, etc. are "dark" because that's how they were envisioned and that's what they are. Making something that has always been vibrant, bright, happy and fun dark will only appeal to brooding teens. I wouldn't touch that game with a 10 foot pole.
Dumping their 1st party IP would also be disasterous. The ONE thing Nintendo is known for (other than hardware innovation) that neither Sony nor MS have yet been able to come even close to touching is the level of quality in their 1st party development. It's their bread and butter. It's what makes them Nintendo and what makes their fans so dedicated. Nintendo-developed games are worlds apart from the 1st party games developed by Sony and MS. And because of it, Nintendo fans are definitely much different than Sony or MS simply due to their 1st party games. Without those games, Nintendo might as well hang it up.
Rafie, it's good that you don't mind Mario how he is. Honestly, I don't either. But would love to see some evolution or something different. But I definitely will probably always play Mario! Unless he's made dark. LOL!
I honestly don't think it has to do with story at all. The story has always been throw-away anyway. That's what makes it great. The game (gameplay) is the attraction here. It always has been. As is the nostalgia. I personally love 2D Mario. i think there will always be a demand for this version of Mario. It just needs to be changed up a bit. Mix of fresh ideas and old ideas
In my opinion, here are the things to do to fix 2D Mario:
Need new music: The music has been recycled waaaaay too much since NSMB on Wii
Need a new graphic style: This look was amazing when it debuted on NSMB DS. But the look has been, again, recycled way too many times since then. Think of the classic games: SMB, SMB2, SMB3, SMBW, Yoshi Story and on to Mario 64 and then SM Sunshine all looked DIFFERENT. And even between the first 3 SMB titles running on the same hardware, the graphics "evolved" and looked better with each iteration. Give us a new look please! And no, please no more paper or Crayola crayons! that's been done to death as well. Give me a brand new hand-drawn SMB in the style of the newest Raymans and i'll die a happy man! Been asking for this forever. It seems like a simple solution and one they haven't even done yet!
More "stuff" to do as Mario: The latest power ups in NSMBU have at least been a little better than the ones in the previous games. but still - it's been done before since the cape in SMBW. Give us something that requires you to change your game engine - not just fly or swim or walk on water. I don't have a solution here except put your thinking caps on. Maybe something that allows you to dig or break through the geometry to differet areas (more than just the mega mushroom). Or power ups that allow you to "build" platforms to get to other areas. Think physics-based puzzles like Trine - I'm not talking about a whole new approach to platforming as a basis for a game. i think that would slow it down too much. But just bits and pieces.
More/different stuff to do within each level: When are you going to bring back the keys to the secret doorways? In SMBW, you knew there was something special in a level - a secret doorway - because the icon you were on was red. The secrets weren't arbitrary. And you didn't need to waste time combing through a level looking for secrets that didn't have any. also, seeing that key laying there in the level meant you had to put your thinking cap on to find the alternate exit. It also gave you something different to do - deliver the key to the keyhole! Same thing with SMB2. Bring the damn keys back! Or something similar. Or the whole pulling up vegitables and using them as weapons deal in SMB2 - and the potion that created a door to alt dimesion in SMB2. Yes, I know that wasn't originally a SMB game. It was another game with SMB skin placed on it. But it doesn't matter. It worked very well within the SMB Universe. Think of something like that that works within the 2D platform realm but changes up the paradigm.
Bring back the old: why just one powerup / character to focus on? Racoon Mario only? What else, how about the boot? Frog, Cape? As others have said, how about characters from SMB2? I honestly see that game as part of SMB canon and it's actually one of my favorites!
Or take a different route all-together. How about a 2D SMB game with ALL NEW power ups? Nothing from previous games. And they should all have utility. They should all do something significant. The flying squirrel suit was ok but kind of a rehash of the racoon suit. Think harder.
I honestly feel there are a LOT of legs left on 2D Mario. And there are TONS of things to do differently and still keep the 2D gameplay and concept. Just make it fresh. Maybe put a new team on it. Maybe there are guys on the team who think they know it all and are too protective/defensive about concepts. That's what I hear in the quotes from this article. It's BS. Put Shiggy on as exec producer again but over a new team of young guns who are Mario freaks and hungry!
@ Wamtu, yes, my opinion is exactly that. My opinion and I like it. You have yours as well which is good for you. Yes, the Other M story was terrible - again - which is why it didn't need to be in the game in the first place. Besides, my point was not that games sholdn't have a story. Not at all. It's just that the story shouldn't be bigger than the game - or get in the way of it. Read my post again. The original Metroid and Super Metroid had a very cursory story. And how many times will Mario rescue the Princess? The only thing that's making Mario stale is that they are recycling graphics and gameplay. And there, they are breaking their own rules and need to improve. That's why the Galaxy series was so fresh! It was a brand new game and gameplay. Certainly no one cares about the story. Or at least the story was so minimal that it didn't overpower the game itself.
I think Sakurai's point is that games need good gameplay first and foremost. The trend these days is for the story to come fist and gameplay (game CONCEPT) and game itself to come second. It think we all respect Shiggy here, don't we? Well it is HIS mantra that steers all his teams' projects and his first question to his developers on a pitch is what is the GAME? Don't sell me on the story - sell me on the game! Look it up!
I agree 110%! And I have agreed with this all these years as well. Everyone in the media is always waxing profetic about the artsy need for strong stories and strong characters, while they consume their online multiplayer frag-fests at a rabid pace. They either don't even know what they want or they just want to sound intelligent.
Sorry to say to those who need to fill a space with 250 words or less but stories did not deliver classic games like SMB, Donkey Kong or even Metroid, Castlevania or Mega Man. In fact, it's when story is injected into these timeless masterpieces (Metroid Other M?) that it ruins the experience. If anything, the story was peripheral to game play. And it's as it should be. I'm happy to have a story give me a reason to open the next door or to find the next NPC to unlock the next part of the game. But don't stop me from the action to read loads of text that I don't care about. I don't need to cry at my video games. I don't even do that to the movies I watch. If I want to turn my brain on to appreciate a story I'll pop a movie in. But when I game, I want to exercise my imagination and reflexes. I find that a story puts me on rails and gets in the way of my "fun". thank goodness there are developers like Shiggy and Sakurai (And most at Nintendo in general) who still know the keys of making a good game: Gameplay FIRST, all else after. This is why Nintendo games are head and shoulders above any other publishers on the market today - especially 1st parties from their competition.
@TheVideoGamer, I wish I still had mine! I could use it when I play some of my older Master System games and Phantasy Star 1! I DO have the original slides of the screen shots I took for the back of Game Gear games like Shinobi, Woody Pop, Haley's Comet and Joe Montana Football (There's a reason why the Bills are playing the 49ers in the screen shots back then, taking screen shots was an art form! Had to get the right composition, action and framing!
Ummm... please tell me why "another childhood memory is ruined" Mr. McFerran. As you accurately stated, this was a time before the Internet and before Prima's hint guides were big business. It was even before Nintendo and even Sega (I was a game counselor at Sega in the '90s) had online knowledgebases. Those were really early times in the call center industry in general where a lot of the infrastructure to support callers simply didn't exist. The counselors did what they had to. They played the games in record time with the fervor of game testers to cover every nook and cranny just so they could turn arond and make binders and maps for themselves and their fellow game counsellors. In fact, we had to play new releases and complete them over the weekend, create guides and maps for our fellow counsellors by Monday to start taking calls. Try doing that with Phantasy Star III and covering all the different "generations". That was my project. And honestly, it ruined a game that I was SO looking forward to because I had to approach it clinically, in record time, taking notes all the way and basically produce an output where what I really wanted to do was let it sink in and enjoy it at my pace. But that's what we did to support callers the best way possible. but it was a team effort. Different members took on different games and we all shared what we created and learned with the other counselors so everyone who called in had the same level of support possible.
So just because everything was in binders, maps were hand drawn and we even took resources from other places like magazines when we had to (the media actually received review builds weeks before we did), doesn't mean that the magic created in the game counselor corners of Nintendo and Sega were any less meaningful. I look at this article with very fond memories of a time where people really did have to work hard and dig for information to create something we could all share with our fellow gamers. I think today we're all getting too fat, lazy and entitled to all of the information that is so readily available to us. This truly was a golden age in not only gaming but the whole gaming experience in general.
@Five-seveN BTW, when you say "it would be nice if they could...", that = development time and labor. They don't have a magic wand or a magic "make-this-work" key on their keyboard that automatically ports software. Plain and simple, "porting" is a process. And the WiiU is a different platform than the Wii. And no matter how close they are, it takes time and resources to make work. Again, asking for $1.00 for the convenience of playing your games ON A NEW CONSOLE is more than fair. Plus the added functionality they've included (and no, there is not new functionality between PS3 and Vita releases of their classic games). There is no reason for them to eat that cost totally.
@Five-seveN If you pay attention to what Iwata said in his presentation, he stated that the WiiU versions will be enhanced and cannot (for technical reasons) be ported straight over. Already Balloon Fight has added functionality over the other offerings (standings, an extra mode, etc.). If you paid attention, he also said that people who own the same title from Wii VC will receive a heavy discount: $1 for NES and $1.50 for SNES. That is more than fair and nominal at best, for the work needed to port them to WiiU VC. Quit complaining and enjoy. Or don't enjoy. No one is holding a gun to your head to re-buy these games. Fire up your Wii if you want to play them.
Is it me or does it seem like Nintendo has added some smoothing filters to their emulation? This game sould be a lot more pixelated than it is. As emulators run on increasingly higher def, the pixelation of the native ROM gets worse and worse - thus why most emulators have "filters" that smooth the pixels out to emulate the low def CRT displays that smoothed out the edges back in the day. It seems like they did this with Balloon Fight!
I'm really hoping that they have added this kind of filter, especially for the upcoming SNES games. It will become much more apparent with 16 bit vs. 8 bit games. I didn't like how pixelated the 16-bit and 8-bit games looked on the Wii VC with no filters applied at all. This one looks really good! Here's to hoping!
BTW... the main character in this game is not a bird... it's a dude with a helmet. How can the reviewer miss this?!
I have to honestly say that I haven't been more disappointed in the "gaming industry" in general than with all the hate leading up to the WiiU. I've always known that there are a lot of ignorant and jaded people in the industry with bigger voices than they deserve. But all the complaining about not "understanding" the Wii U, to me, has been simply ridiculous. From the very first announcement and details about the Wii U, I knew immediately what all the features Nintendo was offering would mean to me. And I'm VERY HAPPY to say that it is exactly what I had hoped for. It's basically everything Nintendo sold us on with no confusion. Yes, while I am a bit disappointed with long load times (which I'm sure will be addressed in firmware updates), everything is as advertised. I am using the gamepad for all of the cool new features the developers have buit in, I have been enjoying the gorgeous graphics, I have been using the touchscreen to play my games while the wife watches reality crap on TV and Miiverse is actualy COOLER than I anticipated.
People who are STILL naysaying after the system being on the market for several weeks (in NA) and a week in Europe, free to play for all, either haven't PLAYED the unit or they are so biased that their opinions shouldn't really carry a lot of weight. The gamepad could dispense real gold coins and they'd still complain that it's dispensing coins instead of bricks.
I love how all of the negativity doesn't phase Nintendo at all and thay are focusing on the feedback from those who really count - the people who have played the games and want to contribute constructively towards their next batch of games. Nintendo proves time and again how they are a class-A company who have earned their spot as the leading manufacturer in the industry in the past, present and the future. I really have to laugh at people who say this will be Nintendo's last console. It's just silly because they are the only ones who have consistently pushed the envelope to give new ideas and products to their consumers successfully since 1985. All the competition can do is copy their concepts and follow. And their clueless fanboy naysayers in the industry just fall in line like obedient sheeple. The more things change, the more they stay the same! All I can say is good job Nintendo!! Keep it up!
This isn't a big surprise. Pretty much everyone in the industry has all consoles because they are very much gamers at heart. I worked for Sega of America in '91 on the "Game Counselor" help line and we ALL had SNESs in the office. Some even had Super Famicoms and NeoGeos in the office. In fact, if you called in for game support any time around September '91 through March '92, we were most likely playing Super Mario World on the phone while telling you how to find the laconia armor in Phantasy Star!
I don't agree. Again the "analysts" don't seem to be seeing the big picture, or at least, do not have a firm grasp on what the WiiU's value proposition to not only the consumer but the third party developer and publishers is. The MAJOR difference with the WiiU vs. Wii is the clear engagement and even enthusiasm of the majority of their third parties. Nintendo has earned a genuine uptick in support from their 3rd party publishers because of the unique new concept in dual screen gameplay OUT OF THE BOX. Every player now has what is needed to take advantage of a clear evolution in gaming. And developers are excited and are embracing this like never before on a Nintendo system. Not since Nintendo' s famous stranglehold on 3rd party exclusivity during the NES and part of the SNES era. Add to it the fact that the graphics fidelity will finally compete favorably to the competition for at least the next three years. 3rd parties now know that they do not have to water down their games for Nintendo's console. In a short period of time, WiiU games will be releasing in tandem with XBOX360 and PS3 games with the added benefit of 2nd screen GamePad play and equal or even better graphics. As Nintendo enjoys a 2.5 - 3 year period to entrench the consumer base to the benefits of playing on the WiiU vs. the competition, they will have a very large footprint in the marketplace that the competition will now need to compete with when their new offerings hit the market.
This is definitely not the same race as the Wii's. And, again, the analysts are missing a major area in which Nintendo has improved a great deal; a more competitive console to current offerings, 2 - 3 year head start on the competition and a much more enthusiastic 3rd party developer. I believe the WiiU has some good legs on it!
Nice article. But I would not say that including backwards compatibility is an "act of generosity", as the author puts it. It's a business decision and a value proposition to potential buyers that says, "don't worry, you don't have to keep two systems hooked up. WiiU is your one-stop-shop to play new games as well as your old favorites. Buy me and you get the best of both worlds".
Backwards compatibility adds cost to the console and must have a value proposition to support the expense. There is no act of generosity here. It will also revitalize the sale of some of that old stock on store shelves that people haven't played before. With the promise of slightly better HDMI visuals, some people will be buying games they have previously passed on (I know I already have picked up a couple oldies that I passed on in prep for the WiiU). Personally, however, I would have invested in the upscaling of Wii games because I think, once you see what it looks like, it would be a major selling point to buy the console to see your Wii favorites in HD. Anyone who has seen Wii games on the Dolphin emulator will know that the visuals are simply incredible, just by upscaling. Easily X360 / PS3 quality. Mario Galaxy, Skyward Sword, Kirby and NSMBWii look simply stunning. I would buy the WiiU JUST to experience those classic games in HD.
BTW, as with all of their systems since the GBA, it's a great feature that does help sell systems. I'll be using it a lot!
@ThomasBW84 I appreciate your clarification. It's good for you guys to jump in to the discussion that you create. I like to see that. it shows that you're not the seagull that takes a dump on the beach-goers and flies away.
My response (#27) really had to do with the tagline of the article, "Or maybe this one's a game that Wii U needs?" In that subtitle, the author is not making a generality about the genre, he's saying the WiiU needs WoW. And he also calls out WoW at the end specifically.
My feedback basically said that Nintendo doesn't NEED any one single game or type of game. They are going to do just fine with the strategy they are currently pursuing. And in fact, they've made tremendous strides in trying to finally break into the core market of more mature games. I think they're doing pretty good right now. If they choose to dabble in the MMO arena, so be it. And you're right. The controller would make really good support of it. But the way I took the article was that the WiiU NEEDs this game or type of game. And I just disagree. We can all sit here and say, "Nintendo needs this type of game or that type of game to be successful". But the reality is, they're going to just fine with the direction they're taking. They have tremendously experienced people at the helm of their brands and market development. If they deem they need to break into the MMO market, and you're an MMO fan, awesome for you. If not, there are tons of gamers out there that will be happy with the direction they're taking now.
Yes, I agree, the ad was not very good. Music was horrible. Good slogan though. they should have focused a bit more on the games as well. a lot of focus on the GamePad and the people laying the games but not enough on the games. As others have said, really nothing memorable about it. they also should have taken the opportunity to show a couple of core games too. they could have wrapped up the total experience in one shot - which is kind of the point of the WiiU - creating games for U - the causal and core gamers.
A Missed opportunity. The ad does not do the system justice.
I agree with the majority on here. Nintendo doesn't NEED MMORPGs. It doesn't need to be a console for absolutely everyone. It's doing a pretty damn good job right now as it is. To be fair, I think Nintendo has gone and done an incredible job of designing a system and courting 3rd party developers to make games that they normally wouldn't make for a nintendo platform.
So we can all sit here and say, "Nintendo will fail if they don't make {x} game for it..." all we want. But that would be pretty unrealistic... not to mention pretty fan-boy-ish. They're doing a great job right now leading up to this launch. Give them time and room to fill the niches THEY want. They're a gaming company, not Santa Clause.
Sounds like the glue talking to me. This guy is high. I know it's his job, but this is making them sound desperate. Really? They want Wii owners to not get the new Wii U successor - which is a step up from the 360 in terms of the type of game-play experienced with the new GamePad (not to mention the better GPX) ? Good luck with that. They're grapsing at straws and just makes them look desperate. How about NOOOO Scott?
The only thing that will slow WiiU sales this holiday season is not having enough stock on the shelves. Actually, maybe that's why they're making this statement. They want to make the comparison statement before Sony does so they get the sloppy seconds! Looks like a race for 2nd place.
@Ryno Nintendo's been doing this for years and actually leading the charge amongst the other manufacturers and publishers. This is why no one announces every game from their biggest IPs at launch of any given console. Software marketing is a marathon, not a sprint.
This isn't news. All console manufacturers and software publishers have been doing this for years. And Nintendo has probably been at the forefront of this tactic for years. As have MS and Sony as well - but moreso with Nintendo because they have perhaps the most flagship IPs. This is pretty basic EPP (Enterprise Portfolio Planning) strategy. It's a strategy to spread out sales of key IP throughout the year (and multiple years - plans typically forecast out > 1 year to 3 years) and allow each flagship title proper opportunity for full sales without cannibalizing sales from other flagship titles released in the same period. Basic stuff in the software industry.
@rjejr I agree with you. 25K is highly unlikely. And when's the last time people have jumped at the chance to make headlines without having the story straight? (Heavy sarcasm). You're probably right in that someone said maybe 25K per week or each day sread over a few days...
Very simply, this is NOT the same thing as the Gameboy / DS. In fact, it's the exact opposite. I'd expect a bit more knowledge on the matter and understanding of the industry to be a gaming journalist.
the fact is that Nintendo wanted the DS to NOT compete in the Gameboy space. They wanted it to co-exist. As with all technology, the older must go by the wayside eventually. But Nintendo intended for both to co-exist. With the Wii U, Nintendo has made no such claims. This is their successor to the Wii U.
Another hint is in the naming. Just like XBOX to XBOX360, this is Wii to Wii U. The Gameboy and DS were two totally different lines of products with no relation to each other other than some backwards compatibility.
As for the content of the article itself.... WHO CARES?! We ALL know that there will be another console after the Wii U. Typical cycle is 5 years. If they bring another one out in 3 - 5 years, it will be the "next gen". It just will. But who really cares?! We know nothing about it it all. It could be so radically different that it co-exists with the Wii U or it could replace it. Who cares?!
My opinion is that the Wii U is significantly different from not only the Wii but everything else on the market that it should stand as an evolution. Call it what you will. But again - to my own opinion, who cares?! This industry is just overflowing with people who like to over-analyze it and who just like to hear themselves talk. I swear, we're getting so far away from just PLAYING the damn GAMES like they were intended. Everyone thinks they know more than the people behind the products who have decades of experience themselves. If anything, these are the only people I would recognize as "industry experts". Just shut up and play thedamn games! LOL!
I agree with C7. It's all about the sound quality and the type of experience. A voice chat-room and a multiplayer game hosting a large number of players playing a focused game are totally different arenas. I truly believe that the 3rd parties with experience in this stuff are influencing Nintendo and they are just siding with them. Which is a good thing, I think
Robb92, I think Nintendo, and most likely the 3rd party publishers who have the MOST experience here, wants to compete in the same space as the elite online experiences. Ask anyone who plays and chats on XBOX and PS3 games and they would never play and chat on anything but headset mics for the purpose of sound quality. I think the 3rd parties are probably pushing for this more. And Nintendo is yielding to their experience.
I love how people are so quick to react and say how "stupid" this move is. I have news for you. The engineers in charge of designing this hardware are pretty smart guys and know what they're doing. There are a FEW people on here with some sense of objectivity, which is good to see. Very simply, the difference between holding a mic down by your lap and having a mic right by your mouth is exponentionally different in terms of sound quality. Not to mention all of the background noise that bleeds into the audio signal when you move the mic away from the principle sound source (your mouth). Just imagine a room of 6 or 12 kids all trash talking at each other, each on their own speaker phone. It's irritating enough to listen to most online chatter to begin with. But put them all on their own speaker phone and you have a recipie for chaos.
Let's think logically about stuff before posting folks. It's amazing to see how many 12 year-olds think they are more than experienced hardware engineers responsible for some of the most successful gaming hardware on the market today.
@Wowfunhappy There's a pretty good technical reason, actually. Can you imagine all of the background noise and also the lack of clarity from from the sending side to the receiving side? Headset mics are right by the mouth. It's like talking on a speakerphone held more than 12" away from the sender's mouth. Imagine a room of 6 people all holding the mics that far away. will sound like crap.
I'm gonna call bull on this one. That is most definitely not a controller designed by any kind of ergonomics professional. Looks like a conceptual controller put together by a fanboy with passable Photoshop skills.
Ummm... it's a poster... With a logo... And most likely not licensed. Anyone can grab a logo and do the most basic of photoshopping to produce this, take it to a printshop and have 1000 made up. I've made posters for my band that are 1,000 times more intricate. This makes Nintendolife news?! Come on guys!
Yeah, count me in to the "meh" crowd. It's a cool feature but after initial launch I'm sure we'll be inundated with companies cashing in on the Skylanders trend once int install-base increases. And just because there are no launch games that take advantage of this tech does NOT make the launch incomplete or a failure. Remember... to utilize this tech, a publisher needs to not only publish a game, but also enter into the arena of fabrication, manufacturing (or subcontract) and distribution of the toys themselves (something that Nintendo will not do - Nintendo takes care of the prodution, packaging and distribution of the games only under their licensing agreement with 3rd parties). This is something that a 3rd party publisher would be foolish to do right out of the gate with a new console (except Activision with Skylanders because the IP and their supply chain is already established). The only people I'd expect might do this would be Nintendo. But as I commented on the "No Pokemon for 3DS yet" discussion, Nintendo obviously feel that they have enough on the docket for the WiiU launch. Their product strategy looks out at least one year at a time (and more in concept) and surely, there are more of these things planned for the future when the excitement of launch and the launch games dies down. Gotta give your console some "legs" to run on.
And I agree, ShadJV - it's a blessing/curse. I'm just glad my son is just 2 right now so he won't get hooked on that stuff for a couple years... unless the bug bites daddy before then. Yikes!!!!
@Xilef, Yes, the DS will not go away in 2 years. But by then, the 3DS will be significantly stronger - if not holding the lion's share of users over the DS by that time. The 3DS is doing very well right now. Continued growth in two years should see it being more dominant than the DS as consumers will have had close to 4 years to upgrade by then. either way, I'm not saying the DS has to be dead for a 3DS Pokemon is developed. Just need more time for the 3DS to have an installed base closer to the DS right now. But I do think they will announce one in 2103 and probably released 2014.
@Dimi, You're exactly right mate. Hit the nail on the head. Pokemon is not Nintendo's sole property. The only way a company like Game Freaks and Creatures would agree to develop a full Pokemon game (or iteration) in 3D at this time (and abandon more development for their core DS market) is if Nintendo subsidized the development. This is because the benefit would really be more for Nintendo to increase it's install-base. Yes, a new 3DS Pokemon would move 3DSs, but there is more potential for straight game sales on DS. So the advantage goes to Nintendo. So they would need to pay for development if this is something Nintendo really wanted. And to be honest, if I were in charge of nintendo's product strategy, I would do the same as they are doing now. 3DS is doing VERY well and there are some very strong apps on the shelf now and coming that will carry them through the holidays. They don't NEED a Pokemon on 3DS this holiday season. If anything, they have the best of both worlds right now for their consumers. If mom and Dad can't afford a new 3DS and games for their kids for Xmas, they have Pokemon. If they CAN afford it, there's the 3DS and Mario 2. In fact, I bet they will come up with a bundle right before Xmas like they did last year to include the 3DSXL and NSMB2. They really have this holiday season nailed. The think about marketing is that you have to have legs. You can't just blow your load in one shot. there needs to be something to kill the holiday season and then the season after that and they holiday season after that, etc. It's a marathon - not a sprint. Nintendo is doing this right, IMHO.
I think the key word missing here is, "Yet..." The natural evolution of the handheld will be for DS to go bye bye in a couple years, replaced by 3DS. It's just a natural evolution and will happen. Just like the GBA was not supposed to compete with the GB - but it did. And, naturally, the older model dropped off. It is inevitable that Pokemon will arrive on 3DS eventually. To think otherwise is silly. The question is whether it will come to 3DS sooner rather than later. I think probably in 2013, they will announce the next full version of the game for 3DS - either late 2013 or early 2014. This will give the 3DS a year / year and a half to continue its growth and installed userbase as consumers follow that natural tech evolution and migrate to 3DS. It will happen. Right now, they're right. Pokemon is the DS's biggest franchise. Jumping ship to 3DS right now would just be foolish.
Very nice article gents! I couldn't have said it better myself. I would like to add to your points in the 3rd Party section. Everyone is so focused on the ports that are coming out during the launch window as being "late". With the exception of COD: BO2 being only a couple of days late vs. it's counterparts on the competing systems, Assassin's Creed, Batman, Mass Effect, etc. will have all been on the shelf for a bit, if not a while. So yes, there is an argument which is valid that these ports are late and why would people want to buy them agian on this system? But this is a very myopic view when you consider the mid to long-term view of the WiiU. Once the WiiU has been in the market for 6 months, all of the new cross-platform games in development will be coming out in tandem - PS3/X360/WiiU. At that point in time, it WILL be a very critical factor that the WiiU now has non-watered down versions of the same game you can get on PS3/X360 - with the same or better graphics AND extra functionality of the WiiUPad. And really, Nintendo has a solid 2 years of this leveled cross-platform landscape across the "Big Three" until the next release from Sony or MS is released and fully entrenched.
So yes, for the first 6 months or so, the ports are really going to appeal only to people who have all 3 systems (like me) and who may have missed or waited on the WiiU version. But give it 6 to 8 months and the people who would have bought the next blockbuster on X360 on release day, might be entertaining getting the game on WiiU instead because of the extra features on top of the equivalent or better graphics. That's when the strength of 3rd party & true, uncompromised, cross-platrom development will benefit Nintendo and game players in general.
The roumor reported earlier was Nov11th by the “analysts” and I stuck with Nov 18th. A dude at GameStop even “let me in on a secret” last week and said it was going to be Nov 14 (WTF?). FAIL! LOL!
Just an example of paying attention to history to predict the future!
The roumor reported earlier was Nov11th by the “analysts” and I stuck with Nov 18th A dude at GameStop even “let me in on a secret” last week and said it was going to be Nov 14 (WTF?). FAIL! LOL!
I did think a second gamepad would be included with the deluxe. But did see Nintendo land included. 3/4 right. Meh! LOL!
Just an example of paying attention to history to predict the future!
I'm not into the Miis either. They look ugly, polygons are way too simple and don't have enough customization for the user to add character. Never go tinto making them or using. I don't use them in games because they take me out of the universe that is created for that specific game. Just simply the geometry never fits the host game. Kind of like throwing a Big Mac on the table of a fine steak restaurant. good thing you don't have to use them!
BTW, edcomics, I loved SMB2 as well. that's actually my favorite next to SMW. I would LOVE to see some of thoe characters come back! Would actually love to see a SMB2-2. LOL!
I highly doubt there will be anything new... They already have some big name titles launching within the window and thre's really nothing bigger than Mario. Anything bigger would just cannibalize those titles. Maybe some smaller unannounced games but nothing significant. Bigger stuff is next year.
Comments 548
Re: Pentagon To Review Controversial New "Nintendo" Medal
Couldn't have said it better Five-seveN! A very good way of putting it to someone who probably has years ahead of his or her life to learn this for themselves as well.
Re: Pentagon To Review Controversial New "Nintendo" Medal
I think the medal should definitely be downgraded. But I do think it is relevant and it would be good for people on this blog commenting that it's nonsense to fully understand what these soldiers (yes, they're still soldiers) go through. A lot of people don't realize the mental as well as physical demands placed on remote operators. They are still soldiers and they deal in real death. They take it to bed with them whether they want to or not. They are witness to the death and destruction en mass that their payloads deal in a way that even soldiers on the ground often do not see. The closest to compare would be that of a real pilot. A lot of these drone pilots also have a very difficult time in relating with the simplisity in which they kill and the finality of their actions. This can be very traumatic and a lot of these soldiers also suffer post traumatic syndroms like the men and women with boots on the floor. Just a different varietly.
And they do save a crap load of lives as well. I think you'd have a hard time convincing a grunt on the ground who has been dug in for 12 hours with bullets picking off his squad mates left and right, down to his last clip, if the guy or girl expertly piloting that drone who just blew a hole in the blockcade allowing his escape didn't deserve recognition.
Yes, it should be downgraded. But it's still relevant. Those soldiers take a lot of burden onto their shoulders each night. Their casualties may not be missing limbs or death but their caualties are often fractured minds and tarnished souls. They do their part and deserve recognition as well.
Re: Crytek: Crysis 3 Was "Very Close To Launching" On Wii U
There is a very good reason that I love Nintendo. They stick to their guns in terms of their philosophy towards their consumers. I love the fact that Nintendo has said many, many times that free to play is not a model they want to support. Why? Because for the vast majority of people who play a given free to play game, they will never get the full gaming experience. Most players give up on a game once they catch on to the scheme. To the player, it appears that the developer is more interested in squeezing each dime out of the player at every opportunity. Instead of crafting a complete game for all to enjoy in entirety and charging what its worth. Nintendo are craftsmen and toy makers first and businessmen second. EA are accountants first. This much is clear because they focus on the revenue model before the game. And also because they seem to believe that the single player experience needs to go away. Very simply WRONG! There are many different kinds of gamers out there and to denounce a very large segment of the market who dont like to play online and will never play online to justify their business model shows how myopic they are. Its clear that Nintendo and EA are on polar ends of the gaming spectrum. So its no surprise that they cant make a deal. Not upsetting at all. Im totally behind Nintendo on this one.
Re: Nintendo Facing Lawsuit Over 3D Technology On The 3DS
Reading comprehension people... the article states, "The investigation into the claim began in 2011, when he sued Nintendo and its U.S. unit." Its the second sentence of the article... he didn't just sue them.
Re: Side-Scrolling Fighter Dusty Raging Fist Is Punching Its Way To The Wii U eShop This Year
At first glance this looks really good. Great hand-drawn sprites. Excellent animation. The helpers are a really cool idea too!
However, I'm noticing that this, along with many other games labeled as "Final Fight" type games do not capture all of the mechanics that made games like Final Fight, Streets of Rage or Double Dragon great.
Unless I see more mechanics like this, not interested...
Re: Nintendo - "Innovation is Important" for the 2D Mario Series
I hear you Rafie! I get what you're sayin'. But you know what though? Mario don't wanna play for the brooding, multiplayer-campin', too-cool-for-my-own-{XBOX/PS3} Sony / MS teen fanboy crowd anyway. He's having too much fun playing for guys like you and me and our kids - the new generation of gamers. He just needs a change of clothes and learn a few more moves to keep us coming back to his parties!
Re: Nintendo - "Innovation is Important" for the 2D Mario Series
Ha!! Instead of suits, you switch Marios and other characters from the franchise history! Instead of suits, the power ups are characters each with one unique power up. And at each castle you free one version of Mario. Now MARIO is in another castle! Each has their own abilities - The most prominet box art or arcade cabinet illustration power is their main power up; Donkey Kong Mario has the hammer, Super Mario Brothers is the fireball, SMB2 has the ability to pull up veggies, bombs or KEYS (to unlock secret levels) from the ground and throw them, SMB3 is the racoon suit, Mario World is the cape, Mario Sunshine has FLUDD, NSMB could have the ice-balls, etc.
It could play like "Mario-d" too (new genre term)! Combine the platforming of Mario with the elements of Metroid where the world is open but areas passable only with the right Mario freed from his castle! Other power-ups could be Yoshi (flutter jump, eat characters and throw it's eggs), Peach (float), Toad (strength), Luigi (high jump) and other characters like Birdo (travel long distances or gaps riding her egg), etc. Again, all in-game sprites based on historical box art, cabinet, advert illustrations from time of their release.
We should start a kick-starter!
Re: Nintendo - "Innovation is Important" for the 2D Mario Series
Thanks Moshugan!
That's a great idea! They could base the in-game sprites on the many variations of the hand-drawn illustrations of Mario (like you said, the cartoons, and even the box art and arcade cabinet illustrations, etc.) since Donkey Kong in 82. Maybe those "non-super Mario Brothers" Marios like the Donkey Kong Mario could be unlockable levels / characters or somehing with different abilities. Mario's illustrations have evolved as much as the sprites. Now with the HD resolution capabilities like in Rayman, these different Mario art-styles can be captured perfectly.
Re: Nintendo - "Innovation is Important" for the 2D Mario Series
If Nintendo or one of it's community people actually read this, I'm seeing some consensus in a lot of these posts:
Follow the pedigree of other 2D predecesors and evolve the look, sound and play and you have a fresh new Mario that is grounded in the mechanics and charm the series is known for but gives us something new and exciting to look at, hear and play each time.
Re: Nintendo - "Innovation is Important" for the 2D Mario Series
Noooo... no dark Mario. It's been done before with Sonic and was disasterous. Mario is Mario. Besides, thankfully, Nintendo is very protective of their IP. I think the closest they'll get to a dark Mario is with the invention of Wario, the dark Mario that trashed Delphi Island in Mario Sunshine and brief appearances in Marioland 3D.
I'd also argue that adults don't need "dark". Dark is really popular with teens. Once you grow up you tend to take things the way they are intended. COD, Resident Evil, Gears of War, God of War, etc. are "dark" because that's how they were envisioned and that's what they are. Making something that has always been vibrant, bright, happy and fun dark will only appeal to brooding teens. I wouldn't touch that game with a 10 foot pole.
Dumping their 1st party IP would also be disasterous. The ONE thing Nintendo is known for (other than hardware innovation) that neither Sony nor MS have yet been able to come even close to touching is the level of quality in their 1st party development. It's their bread and butter. It's what makes them Nintendo and what makes their fans so dedicated. Nintendo-developed games are worlds apart from the 1st party games developed by Sony and MS. And because of it, Nintendo fans are definitely much different than Sony or MS simply due to their 1st party games. Without those games, Nintendo might as well hang it up.
Rafie, it's good that you don't mind Mario how he is. Honestly, I don't either. But would love to see some evolution or something different. But I definitely will probably always play Mario! Unless he's made dark. LOL!
Re: Nintendo - "Innovation is Important" for the 2D Mario Series
I honestly don't think it has to do with story at all. The story has always been throw-away anyway. That's what makes it great. The game (gameplay) is the attraction here. It always has been. As is the nostalgia. I personally love 2D Mario. i think there will always be a demand for this version of Mario. It just needs to be changed up a bit. Mix of fresh ideas and old ideas
In my opinion, here are the things to do to fix 2D Mario:
I honestly feel there are a LOT of legs left on 2D Mario. And there are TONS of things to do differently and still keep the 2D gameplay and concept. Just make it fresh. Maybe put a new team on it. Maybe there are guys on the team who think they know it all and are too protective/defensive about concepts. That's what I hear in the quotes from this article. It's BS. Put Shiggy on as exec producer again but over a new team of young guns who are Mario freaks and hungry!
Re: Masahiro Sakurai: Stories in Video Games Can be "Irksome"
@ Wamtu, yes, my opinion is exactly that. My opinion and I like it. You have yours as well which is good for you. Yes, the Other M story was terrible - again - which is why it didn't need to be in the game in the first place. Besides, my point was not that games sholdn't have a story. Not at all. It's just that the story shouldn't be bigger than the game - or get in the way of it. Read my post again. The original Metroid and Super Metroid had a very cursory story. And how many times will Mario rescue the Princess? The only thing that's making Mario stale is that they are recycling graphics and gameplay. And there, they are breaking their own rules and need to improve. That's why the Galaxy series was so fresh! It was a brand new game and gameplay. Certainly no one cares about the story. Or at least the story was so minimal that it didn't overpower the game itself.
I think Sakurai's point is that games need good gameplay first and foremost. The trend these days is for the story to come fist and gameplay (game CONCEPT) and game itself to come second. It think we all respect Shiggy here, don't we? Well it is HIS mantra that steers all his teams' projects and his first question to his developers on a pitch is what is the GAME? Don't sell me on the story - sell me on the game! Look it up!
Re: Masahiro Sakurai: Stories in Video Games Can be "Irksome"
I agree 110%! And I have agreed with this all these years as well. Everyone in the media is always waxing profetic about the artsy need for strong stories and strong characters, while they consume their online multiplayer frag-fests at a rabid pace. They either don't even know what they want or they just want to sound intelligent.
Sorry to say to those who need to fill a space with 250 words or less but stories did not deliver classic games like SMB, Donkey Kong or even Metroid, Castlevania or Mega Man. In fact, it's when story is injected into these timeless masterpieces (Metroid Other M?) that it ruins the experience. If anything, the story was peripheral to game play. And it's as it should be. I'm happy to have a story give me a reason to open the next door or to find the next NPC to unlock the next part of the game. But don't stop me from the action to read loads of text that I don't care about. I don't need to cry at my video games. I don't even do that to the movies I watch. If I want to turn my brain on to appreciate a story I'll pop a movie in. But when I game, I want to exercise my imagination and reflexes. I find that a story puts me on rails and gets in the way of my "fun". thank goodness there are developers like Shiggy and Sakurai (And most at Nintendo in general) who still know the keys of making a good game: Gameplay FIRST, all else after. This is why Nintendo games are head and shoulders above any other publishers on the market today - especially 1st parties from their competition.
Re: The Secrets Of The Nintendo Power Line Experts Are Revealed
@TheVideoGamer, I wish I still had mine! I could use it when I play some of my older Master System games and Phantasy Star 1! I DO have the original slides of the screen shots I took for the back of Game Gear games like Shinobi, Woody Pop, Haley's Comet and Joe Montana Football (There's a reason why the Bills are playing the 49ers in the screen shots back then, taking screen shots was an art form! Had to get the right composition, action and framing!
Re: The Secrets Of The Nintendo Power Line Experts Are Revealed
Ummm... please tell me why "another childhood memory is ruined" Mr. McFerran. As you accurately stated, this was a time before the Internet and before Prima's hint guides were big business. It was even before Nintendo and even Sega (I was a game counselor at Sega in the '90s) had online knowledgebases. Those were really early times in the call center industry in general where a lot of the infrastructure to support callers simply didn't exist. The counselors did what they had to. They played the games in record time with the fervor of game testers to cover every nook and cranny just so they could turn arond and make binders and maps for themselves and their fellow game counsellors. In fact, we had to play new releases and complete them over the weekend, create guides and maps for our fellow counsellors by Monday to start taking calls. Try doing that with Phantasy Star III and covering all the different "generations". That was my project. And honestly, it ruined a game that I was SO looking forward to because I had to approach it clinically, in record time, taking notes all the way and basically produce an output where what I really wanted to do was let it sink in and enjoy it at my pace. But that's what we did to support callers the best way possible. but it was a team effort. Different members took on different games and we all shared what we created and learned with the other counselors so everyone who called in had the same level of support possible.
So just because everything was in binders, maps were hand drawn and we even took resources from other places like magazines when we had to (the media actually received review builds weeks before we did), doesn't mean that the magic created in the game counselor corners of Nintendo and Sega were any less meaningful. I look at this article with very fond memories of a time where people really did have to work hard and dig for information to create something we could all share with our fellow gamers. I think today we're all getting too fat, lazy and entitled to all of the information that is so readily available to us. This truly was a golden age in not only gaming but the whole gaming experience in general.
Re: Talking Point: The Wii U Virtual Console Trial Campaign's Advertising Role
@Five-seveN
BTW, when you say "it would be nice if they could...", that = development time and labor. They don't have a magic wand or a magic "make-this-work" key on their keyboard that automatically ports software. Plain and simple, "porting" is a process. And the WiiU is a different platform than the Wii. And no matter how close they are, it takes time and resources to make work. Again, asking for $1.00 for the convenience of playing your games ON A NEW CONSOLE is more than fair. Plus the added functionality they've included (and no, there is not new functionality between PS3 and Vita releases of their classic games). There is no reason for them to eat that cost totally.
Re: Talking Point: The Wii U Virtual Console Trial Campaign's Advertising Role
@Five-seveN
If you pay attention to what Iwata said in his presentation, he stated that the WiiU versions will be enhanced and cannot (for technical reasons) be ported straight over. Already Balloon Fight has added functionality over the other offerings (standings, an extra mode, etc.). If you paid attention, he also said that people who own the same title from Wii VC will receive a heavy discount: $1 for NES and $1.50 for SNES. That is more than fair and nominal at best, for the work needed to port them to WiiU VC. Quit complaining and enjoy. Or don't enjoy. No one is holding a gun to your head to re-buy these games. Fire up your Wii if you want to play them.
Re: Review: Balloon Fight (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
Is it me or does it seem like Nintendo has added some smoothing filters to their emulation? This game sould be a lot more pixelated than it is. As emulators run on increasingly higher def, the pixelation of the native ROM gets worse and worse - thus why most emulators have "filters" that smooth the pixels out to emulate the low def CRT displays that smoothed out the edges back in the day. It seems like they did this with Balloon Fight!
I'm really hoping that they have added this kind of filter, especially for the upcoming SNES games. It will become much more apparent with 16 bit vs. 8 bit games. I didn't like how pixelated the 16-bit and 8-bit games looked on the Wii VC with no filters applied at all. This one looks really good! Here's to hoping!
BTW... the main character in this game is not a bird... it's a dude with a helmet. How can the reviewer miss this?!
Re: Club Nintendo Accounts Can't Be Linked To The Wii Shop On Wii U
Very simple folks. Don't buy content on Wii eshop via WiiU until they fix it. That will light a fire under the dev teams.
Re: Reggie Fils-Aime Focused on Customer Feedback, Not Industry Critics
I have to honestly say that I haven't been more disappointed in the "gaming industry" in general than with all the hate leading up to the WiiU. I've always known that there are a lot of ignorant and jaded people in the industry with bigger voices than they deserve. But all the complaining about not "understanding" the Wii U, to me, has been simply ridiculous. From the very first announcement and details about the Wii U, I knew immediately what all the features Nintendo was offering would mean to me. And I'm VERY HAPPY to say that it is exactly what I had hoped for. It's basically everything Nintendo sold us on with no confusion. Yes, while I am a bit disappointed with long load times (which I'm sure will be addressed in firmware updates), everything is as advertised. I am using the gamepad for all of the cool new features the developers have buit in, I have been enjoying the gorgeous graphics, I have been using the touchscreen to play my games while the wife watches reality crap on TV and Miiverse is actualy COOLER than I anticipated.
People who are STILL naysaying after the system being on the market for several weeks (in NA) and a week in Europe, free to play for all, either haven't PLAYED the unit or they are so biased that their opinions shouldn't really carry a lot of weight. The gamepad could dispense real gold coins and they'd still complain that it's dispensing coins instead of bricks.
I love how all of the negativity doesn't phase Nintendo at all and thay are focusing on the feedback from those who really count - the people who have played the games and want to contribute constructively towards their next batch of games. Nintendo proves time and again how they are a class-A company who have earned their spot as the leading manufacturer in the industry in the past, present and the future. I really have to laugh at people who say this will be Nintendo's last console. It's just silly because they are the only ones who have consistently pushed the envelope to give new ideas and products to their consumers successfully since 1985. All the competition can do is copy their concepts and follow. And their clueless fanboy naysayers in the industry just fall in line like obedient sheeple. The more things change, the more they stay the same! All I can say is good job Nintendo!! Keep it up!
Re: Sony's President of Worldwide Studios Has A Wii U
This isn't a big surprise. Pretty much everyone in the industry has all consoles because they are very much gamers at heart. I worked for Sega of America in '91 on the "Game Counselor" help line and we ALL had SNESs in the office. Some even had Super Famicoms and NeoGeos in the office. In fact, if you called in for game support any time around September '91 through March '92, we were most likely playing Super Mario World on the phone while telling you how to find the laconia armor in Phantasy Star!
Re: Wii U Holiday Sales Projected to Exceed Wii Launch
I don't agree. Again the "analysts" don't seem to be seeing the big picture, or at least, do not have a firm grasp on what the WiiU's value proposition to not only the consumer but the third party developer and publishers is. The MAJOR difference with the WiiU vs. Wii is the clear engagement and even enthusiasm of the majority of their third parties. Nintendo has earned a genuine uptick in support from their 3rd party publishers because of the unique new concept in dual screen gameplay OUT OF THE BOX. Every player now has what is needed to take advantage of a clear evolution in gaming. And developers are excited and are embracing this like never before on a Nintendo system. Not since Nintendo' s famous stranglehold on 3rd party exclusivity during the NES and part of the SNES era. Add to it the fact that the graphics fidelity will finally compete favorably to the competition for at least the next three years. 3rd parties now know that they do not have to water down their games for Nintendo's console. In a short period of time, WiiU games will be releasing in tandem with XBOX360 and PS3 games with the added benefit of 2nd screen GamePad play and equal or even better graphics. As Nintendo enjoys a 2.5 - 3 year period to entrench the consumer base to the benefits of playing on the WiiU vs. the competition, they will have a very large footprint in the marketplace that the competition will now need to compete with when their new offerings hit the market.
This is definitely not the same race as the Wii's. And, again, the analysts are missing a major area in which Nintendo has improved a great deal; a more competitive console to current offerings, 2 - 3 year head start on the competition and a much more enthusiastic 3rd party developer. I believe the WiiU has some good legs on it!
Re: Talking Point: Wii U and the Importance of Backward Compatibility
Nice article. But I would not say that including backwards compatibility is an "act of generosity", as the author puts it. It's a business decision and a value proposition to potential buyers that says, "don't worry, you don't have to keep two systems hooked up. WiiU is your one-stop-shop to play new games as well as your old favorites. Buy me and you get the best of both worlds".
Backwards compatibility adds cost to the console and must have a value proposition to support the expense. There is no act of generosity here. It will also revitalize the sale of some of that old stock on store shelves that people haven't played before. With the promise of slightly better HDMI visuals, some people will be buying games they have previously passed on (I know I already have picked up a couple oldies that I passed on in prep for the WiiU). Personally, however, I would have invested in the upscaling of Wii games because I think, once you see what it looks like, it would be a major selling point to buy the console to see your Wii favorites in HD. Anyone who has seen Wii games on the Dolphin emulator will know that the visuals are simply incredible, just by upscaling. Easily X360 / PS3 quality. Mario Galaxy, Skyward Sword, Kirby and NSMBWii look simply stunning. I would buy the WiiU JUST to experience those classic games in HD.
BTW, as with all of their systems since the GBA, it's a great feature that does help sell systems. I'll be using it a lot!
Re: Talking Point: Games That Need Wii U - World of Warcraft
@ThomasBW84 I appreciate your clarification. It's good for you guys to jump in to the discussion that you create. I like to see that. it shows that you're not the seagull that takes a dump on the beach-goers and flies away.
My response (#27) really had to do with the tagline of the article, "Or maybe this one's a game that Wii U needs?" In that subtitle, the author is not making a generality about the genre, he's saying the WiiU needs WoW. And he also calls out WoW at the end specifically.
My feedback basically said that Nintendo doesn't NEED any one single game or type of game. They are going to do just fine with the strategy they are currently pursuing. And in fact, they've made tremendous strides in trying to finally break into the core market of more mature games. I think they're doing pretty good right now. If they choose to dabble in the MMO arena, so be it. And you're right. The controller would make really good support of it. But the way I took the article was that the WiiU NEEDs this game or type of game. And I just disagree. We can all sit here and say, "Nintendo needs this type of game or that type of game to be successful". But the reality is, they're going to just fine with the direction they're taking. They have tremendously experienced people at the helm of their brands and market development. If they deem they need to break into the MMO market, and you're an MMO fan, awesome for you. If not, there are tons of gamers out there that will be happy with the direction they're taking now.
Re: Watch: First US Wii U Advert Appears
Yes, I agree, the ad was not very good. Music was horrible. Good slogan though. they should have focused a bit more on the games as well. a lot of focus on the GamePad and the people laying the games but not enough on the games. As others have said, really nothing memorable about it. they also should have taken the opportunity to show a couple of core games too. they could have wrapped up the total experience in one shot - which is kind of the point of the WiiU - creating games for U - the causal and core gamers.
A Missed opportunity. The ad does not do the system justice.
Re: Talking Point: Games That Need Wii U - World of Warcraft
I agree with the majority on here. Nintendo doesn't NEED MMORPGs. It doesn't need to be a console for absolutely everyone. It's doing a pretty damn good job right now as it is. To be fair, I think Nintendo has gone and done an incredible job of designing a system and courting 3rd party developers to make games that they normally wouldn't make for a nintendo platform.
So we can all sit here and say, "Nintendo will fail if they don't make {x} game for it..." all we want. But that would be pretty unrealistic... not to mention pretty fan-boy-ish. They're doing a great job right now leading up to this launch. Give them time and room to fill the niches THEY want. They're a gaming company, not Santa Clause.
Re: Wii Owners: Microsoft Wants You To Buy The Xbox 360 This Holiday Season
Sounds like the glue talking to me. This guy is high. I know it's his job, but this is making them sound desperate. Really? They want Wii owners to not get the new Wii U successor - which is a step up from the 360 in terms of the type of game-play experienced with the new GamePad (not to mention the better GPX) ? Good luck with that. They're grapsing at straws and just makes them look desperate. How about NOOOO Scott?
The only thing that will slow WiiU sales this holiday season is not having enough stock on the shelves. Actually, maybe that's why they're making this statement. They want to make the comparison statement before Sony does so they get the sloppy seconds! Looks like a race for 2nd place.
Re: Nintendo Is Holding Back Wii U Titles To Maintain Momentum Into 2013
@Ryno
Nintendo's been doing this for years and actually leading the charge amongst the other manufacturers and publishers. This is why no one announces every game from their biggest IPs at launch of any given console. Software marketing is a marathon, not a sprint.
Re: Nintendo Is Holding Back Wii U Titles To Maintain Momentum Into 2013
This isn't news. All console manufacturers and software publishers have been doing this for years. And Nintendo has probably been at the forefront of this tactic for years. As have MS and Sony as well - but moreso with Nintendo because they have perhaps the most flagship IPs. This is pretty basic EPP (Enterprise Portfolio Planning) strategy. It's a strategy to spread out sales of key IP throughout the year (and multiple years - plans typically forecast out > 1 year to 3 years) and allow each flagship title proper opportunity for full sales without cannibalizing sales from other flagship titles released in the same period. Basic stuff in the software industry.
Re: Wii U Stock Shortage Reports Surface in UK
@rjejr
I agree with you. 25K is highly unlikely. And when's the last time people have jumped at the chance to make headlines without having the story straight? (Heavy sarcasm). You're probably right in that someone said maybe 25K per week or each day sread over a few days...
Re: Rayman Creator Says Wii U is "Surprisingly Powerful"
Very cool to hear! Very encouraging!
Re: MCV: Wii U Is A Stopgap System, Real Successor Is Still To Come
Very simply, this is NOT the same thing as the Gameboy / DS. In fact, it's the exact opposite. I'd expect a bit more knowledge on the matter and understanding of the industry to be a gaming journalist.
the fact is that Nintendo wanted the DS to NOT compete in the Gameboy space. They wanted it to co-exist. As with all technology, the older must go by the wayside eventually. But Nintendo intended for both to co-exist. With the Wii U, Nintendo has made no such claims. This is their successor to the Wii U.
Another hint is in the naming. Just like XBOX to XBOX360, this is Wii to Wii U. The Gameboy and DS were two totally different lines of products with no relation to each other other than some backwards compatibility.
As for the content of the article itself.... WHO CARES?! We ALL know that there will be another console after the Wii U. Typical cycle is 5 years. If they bring another one out in 3 - 5 years, it will be the "next gen". It just will. But who really cares?! We know nothing about it it all. It could be so radically different that it co-exists with the Wii U or it could replace it. Who cares?!
My opinion is that the Wii U is significantly different from not only the Wii but everything else on the market that it should stand as an evolution. Call it what you will. But again - to my own opinion, who cares?! This industry is just overflowing with people who like to over-analyze it and who just like to hear themselves talk. I swear, we're getting so far away from just PLAYING the damn GAMES like they were intended. Everyone thinks they know more than the people behind the products who have decades of experience themselves. If anything, these are the only people I would recognize as "industry experts". Just shut up and play thedamn games! LOL!
Re: Wii U In-Game Voice Chat Won't Use GamePad Microphone
I agree with C7. It's all about the sound quality and the type of experience. A voice chat-room and a multiplayer game hosting a large number of players playing a focused game are totally different arenas. I truly believe that the 3rd parties with experience in this stuff are influencing Nintendo and they are just siding with them. Which is a good thing, I think
Re: Wii U In-Game Voice Chat Won't Use GamePad Microphone
Robb92, I think Nintendo, and most likely the 3rd party publishers who have the MOST experience here, wants to compete in the same space as the elite online experiences. Ask anyone who plays and chats on XBOX and PS3 games and they would never play and chat on anything but headset mics for the purpose of sound quality. I think the 3rd parties are probably pushing for this more. And Nintendo is yielding to their experience.
Re: Wii U In-Game Voice Chat Won't Use GamePad Microphone
I love how people are so quick to react and say how "stupid" this move is. I have news for you. The engineers in charge of designing this hardware are pretty smart guys and know what they're doing. There are a FEW people on here with some sense of objectivity, which is good to see. Very simply, the difference between holding a mic down by your lap and having a mic right by your mouth is exponentionally different in terms of sound quality. Not to mention all of the background noise that bleeds into the audio signal when you move the mic away from the principle sound source (your mouth). Just imagine a room of 6 or 12 kids all trash talking at each other, each on their own speaker phone. It's irritating enough to listen to most online chatter to begin with. But put them all on their own speaker phone and you have a recipie for chaos.
Let's think logically about stuff before posting folks. It's amazing to see how many 12 year-olds think they are more than experienced hardware engineers responsible for some of the most successful gaming hardware on the market today.
Re: Wii U In-Game Voice Chat Won't Use GamePad Microphone
@Wowfunhappy There's a pretty good technical reason, actually. Can you imagine all of the background noise and also the lack of clarity from from the sending side to the receiving side? Headset mics are right by the mouth. It's like talking on a speakerphone held more than 12" away from the sender's mouth. Imagine a room of 6 people all holding the mics that far away. will sound like crap.
Re: Behold The Ungodly Union Of The Wii U Pro Controller And SNES Pad
I'm gonna call bull on this one. That is most definitely not a controller designed by any kind of ergonomics professional. Looks like a conceptual controller put together by a fanboy with passable Photoshop skills.
Re: Your Wall Is Crying Out For This Amazing Mega Drive Poster
Ummm... it's a poster... With a logo... And most likely not licensed. Anyone can grab a logo and do the most basic of photoshopping to produce this, take it to a printshop and have 1000 made up. I've made posters for my band that are 1,000 times more intricate. This makes Nintendolife news?! Come on guys!
Re: First Impressions: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate
Just give us a regular, good 'ol Metroidvania in 3D please... Then you can start experimenting with the formula.
Re: Don't Expect Any NFC-Ready Games At Wii U Launch
Yeah, count me in to the "meh" crowd. It's a cool feature but after initial launch I'm sure we'll be inundated with companies cashing in on the Skylanders trend once int install-base increases. And just because there are no launch games that take advantage of this tech does NOT make the launch incomplete or a failure. Remember... to utilize this tech, a publisher needs to not only publish a game, but also enter into the arena of fabrication, manufacturing (or subcontract) and distribution of the toys themselves (something that Nintendo will not do - Nintendo takes care of the prodution, packaging and distribution of the games only under their licensing agreement with 3rd parties). This is something that a 3rd party publisher would be foolish to do right out of the gate with a new console (except Activision with Skylanders because the IP and their supply chain is already established). The only people I'd expect might do this would be Nintendo. But as I commented on the "No Pokemon for 3DS yet" discussion, Nintendo obviously feel that they have enough on the docket for the WiiU launch. Their product strategy looks out at least one year at a time (and more in concept) and surely, there are more of these things planned for the future when the excitement of launch and the launch games dies down. Gotta give your console some "legs" to run on.
And I agree, ShadJV - it's a blessing/curse. I'm just glad my son is just 2 right now so he won't get hooked on that stuff for a couple years... unless the bug bites daddy before then. Yikes!!!!
Re: Ever Wonder Why Pokémon Black And White 2 Isn't On The 3DS?
@Xilef,
Yes, the DS will not go away in 2 years. But by then, the 3DS will be significantly stronger - if not holding the lion's share of users over the DS by that time. The 3DS is doing very well right now. Continued growth in two years should see it being more dominant than the DS as consumers will have had close to 4 years to upgrade by then. either way, I'm not saying the DS has to be dead for a 3DS Pokemon is developed. Just need more time for the 3DS to have an installed base closer to the DS right now. But I do think they will announce one in 2103 and probably released 2014.
Re: Ever Wonder Why Pokémon Black And White 2 Isn't On The 3DS?
@Dimi,
You're exactly right mate. Hit the nail on the head. Pokemon is not Nintendo's sole property. The only way a company like Game Freaks and Creatures would agree to develop a full Pokemon game (or iteration) in 3D at this time (and abandon more development for their core DS market) is if Nintendo subsidized the development. This is because the benefit would really be more for Nintendo to increase it's install-base. Yes, a new 3DS Pokemon would move 3DSs, but there is more potential for straight game sales on DS. So the advantage goes to Nintendo. So they would need to pay for development if this is something Nintendo really wanted. And to be honest, if I were in charge of nintendo's product strategy, I would do the same as they are doing now. 3DS is doing VERY well and there are some very strong apps on the shelf now and coming that will carry them through the holidays. They don't NEED a Pokemon on 3DS this holiday season. If anything, they have the best of both worlds right now for their consumers. If mom and Dad can't afford a new 3DS and games for their kids for Xmas, they have Pokemon. If they CAN afford it, there's the 3DS and Mario 2. In fact, I bet they will come up with a bundle right before Xmas like they did last year to include the 3DSXL and NSMB2. They really have this holiday season nailed. The think about marketing is that you have to have legs. You can't just blow your load in one shot. there needs to be something to kill the holiday season and then the season after that and they holiday season after that, etc. It's a marathon - not a sprint. Nintendo is doing this right, IMHO.
Re: Ever Wonder Why Pokémon Black And White 2 Isn't On The 3DS?
I think the key word missing here is, "Yet..." The natural evolution of the handheld will be for DS to go bye bye in a couple years, replaced by 3DS. It's just a natural evolution and will happen. Just like the GBA was not supposed to compete with the GB - but it did. And, naturally, the older model dropped off. It is inevitable that Pokemon will arrive on 3DS eventually. To think otherwise is silly. The question is whether it will come to 3DS sooner rather than later. I think probably in 2013, they will announce the next full version of the game for 3DS - either late 2013 or early 2014. This will give the 3DS a year / year and a half to continue its growth and installed userbase as consumers follow that natural tech evolution and migrate to 3DS. It will happen. Right now, they're right. Pokemon is the DS's biggest franchise. Jumping ship to 3DS right now would just be foolish.
Re: Talking Point: Five Reasons to Buy a Wii U
@DiaperSystem
Totally agree!
Re: Talking Point: Five Reasons to Buy a Wii U
Very nice article gents! I couldn't have said it better myself. I would like to add to your points in the 3rd Party section. Everyone is so focused on the ports that are coming out during the launch window as being "late". With the exception of COD: BO2 being only a couple of days late vs. it's counterparts on the competing systems, Assassin's Creed, Batman, Mass Effect, etc. will have all been on the shelf for a bit, if not a while. So yes, there is an argument which is valid that these ports are late and why would people want to buy them agian on this system? But this is a very myopic view when you consider the mid to long-term view of the WiiU. Once the WiiU has been in the market for 6 months, all of the new cross-platform games in development will be coming out in tandem - PS3/X360/WiiU. At that point in time, it WILL be a very critical factor that the WiiU now has non-watered down versions of the same game you can get on PS3/X360 - with the same or better graphics AND extra functionality of the WiiUPad. And really, Nintendo has a solid 2 years of this leveled cross-platform landscape across the "Big Three" until the next release from Sony or MS is released and fully entrenched.
So yes, for the first 6 months or so, the ports are really going to appeal only to people who have all 3 systems (like me) and who may have missed or waited on the WiiU version. But give it 6 to 8 months and the people who would have bought the next blockbuster on X360 on release day, might be entertaining getting the game on WiiU instead because of the extra features on top of the equivalent or better graphics. That's when the strength of 3rd party & true, uncompromised, cross-platrom development will benefit Nintendo and game players in general.
Re: Wii U Price And Release Dates Confirmed
I won the bet! LOL!
The roumor reported earlier was Nov11th by the “analysts” and I stuck with Nov 18th. A dude at GameStop even “let me in on a secret” last week and said it was going to be Nov 14 (WTF?). FAIL! LOL!
Just an example of paying attention to history to predict the future!
Re: Rumour: You Will Be Able To Preorder Wii U At GameStop This Thursday
I won the bet! LOL!
The roumor reported earlier was Nov11th by the “analysts” and I stuck with Nov 18th A dude at GameStop even “let me in on a secret” last week and said it was going to be Nov 14 (WTF?). FAIL! LOL!
I did think a second gamepad would be included with the deluxe. But did see Nintendo land included. 3/4 right. Meh! LOL!
Just an example of paying attention to history to predict the future!
Re: Live: Wii U Preview
i wont the bet! I clled Nov 18. Along with others too... but all the analysts were wrong
Re: New Super Mario Bros. U Character Choices Explained
I'm not into the Miis either. They look ugly, polygons are way too simple and don't have enough customization for the user to add character. Never go tinto making them or using. I don't use them in games because they take me out of the universe that is created for that specific game. Just simply the geometry never fits the host game. Kind of like throwing a Big Mac on the table of a fine steak restaurant. good thing you don't have to use them!
BTW, edcomics, I loved SMB2 as well. that's actually my favorite next to SMW. I would LOVE to see some of thoe characters come back! Would actually love to see a SMB2-2. LOL!
Re: Nintendo of America Wii U Event Will be Live Online
I highly doubt there will be anything new... They already have some big name titles launching within the window and thre's really nothing bigger than Mario. Anything bigger would just cannibalize those titles. Maybe some smaller unannounced games but nothing significant. Bigger stuff is next year.