You know, I enjoy reading nintendolife, but this article isn't exactly down to earth guys. Knock Sony's PlayStation 3 into a cocked hat? Come on! I'm a Nintendo fan, but not even I am so blind: That's a minor improvement at best.
First off: I have no idea what "50% more processing power" means and neither have you. Do they refer to the GPU or the CPU? To both? Is those data reliable at all? I'd qualify it as a rumor at best with the bottom line: the console is a bit more powerful than the PS360.
In order to do a generation leap, you'd have to make a system that's in theory several times as strong as the PS360, as is any mid-range gaming PC today. Don't even dream the WiiU will be able to output today's average game in 1080p and run at 60fps if it's only such a minor improvement over the PS3.
The people spurting about how this should run games at 1080p should start to do a little math, now! How many times more pixels per frame does a console have to render with a 1920x1080 resolution (1080p) compared to a 1280x720 (720p) resolution? The anwer is: more than 4 times as many! 50% increase? That's not going to cut it. If we're lucky, ports of multiplatform games will run at 720p and a solid 30fps (maybe 60fps!) framerate, at best!
Now, if Nintendo can get a 720p Zelda running on it at 60fps, that's all I need. And that's what is realistically to be expected from the WiiU.
The console will probably be only available in a single color within a year after launch.
Whatever they chose, it should be a neutral color that fits into every home setup with DVD/Blu-Ray players, TVs, Speakers etc. without looking like the peacock of the lot.
That pretty much leaves black, white or shades of gray. They can still do funky colors at any later point, but it's important to not turn off people from the beginning. And if they go for stupid colors, they have to offer alternatives.
Purple... urgh Great way to sell your console to an older audience when it screams "child's room".
@23 Nothing prevents you from making a fake twitter account with your spam-email and use it for this one purpose only.
It's not the cover I've chosen. I really prefer the second option with the painted artwork vs. this one - although this would be my second choice. This just looks like slightly touched up ingame visuals and although the world looks freat for a Wii game, it doesn't look cover-great. That's why I'd much rather have the painted artwork.
In any case, it's not one of the two boring covers and it's only the cherry on top of the game coming to Europe.
Before you all jump to the conclusion, that this is going to be the definite version of cave story and settle with possibly paying 40 bucks for this remake, take a break and head over to IGN's screenshot section of the game:
I do neither know from when those wip screenshots are (IGN posted them yesterday), nor how far the game has progressed from there. Now, if these were pre-alpha shots of a running prototype, that might be ok, because although they look hideous now, that would mean they had enough room for improvement. The trouble is the release date.
I don't think there is even room to argue, that this is not actually what we would expect from a full price remake of Cave Story. It's also not even near what their concept art of the levels looks like in terms of atmosphere. At this point, I'm not completely faithful, that Nicalis can turn this into a quality remake before the release, even with the delay.
Here is hoping they don't this up. But with the release rather close and their track record of taking ages for bringing Cave Story to WiiWare (and even that was bugged), I'm doubtful at the very best.
Unless they push this to the end of the year or possibly beyond, we're probably in for a massive disappointment.
Forget it. I'm guessing it's not going to be cheaper than 400€ here (400$in the US) if they're indeed trying to make it potent enough to run run games at full-HD and 60fps (meaning: moderately stronger than the PS360). If they want 3rd party support, they have to. The 3DS is rumored to have aggregated component cost of around 100$. There is a whole world between the 3DS and hardware capable enough to run modern games in full-HD resolution and at 60fps. Add the whole tablet-controller stuff, and you've got some more expensive components. Even if they would manage to keep the component costs as low as 250$, that'd translate to 350$ or more likely to 400$ at retail.
Factor in, that Nintendo - unlike Sony and MS - are hardly going to subsidize their hardware with profits from other product branches other than consoles and games (which they don't have).
Basically, Nintendo isn't going to throw around HD hardware for just 50 bucks more than they are asking for their recent handheld. This would be an outlandish expectation.
Release at the end of this year sounds really unlikely with the 3DS recent release. They can still have one good holiday season by reducing the Wii's price and releasing Skyward Sword. Unless their aim is to get every multiplatform developer on the successor as soon as possible and maybe even have some of the big third party holiday games from the start. That would of course depend on how far they are with this new machine, they might not be able to release it this year, even if they wanted to.
The rest sounds likely though. 350-400$ price wouldn't be surprising if the hardware is a bit more advanced.
All you people crying that it's too early for a new console, give it a break already!
The INITIAL and most believable "rumor" from Gaminformer mentions a LATE 2012 release. That'd be full six years after the Wii. That's a perfect time to release a new console.
Valve is gigantic. Aside from having some of the biggest Shooter franchises, they own the #1 digital distribution service for PC games. Gabe Newell said in an interview, that they generate more profit per employee than google. Plus, their style of game isn't complemented too well by Nintendo's philosophy of working with weaker hardware.
It would be totally awesome to see Valve games on a Nintendo platform though. Maybe in the next home console generation...
Why don't they try to implement an 8-direction + analog-thingy control scheme?
Using the ABXY buttons for movement and the analog slider for aiming would leave the dpad / touchscreen free for weapon changes and allow a steady grip on the 3DS at the same time.
First info is indeed new. Second info sounds locical. Hard to imagine playing someone online in Street Fighter and having your game paused, because your opponent decides to browse the internet for a bit. Can't think of a scenario where using the cameras would interfere with the home menu though. Unless you're video chatting maybe?
Thinner retail boxes were apparent from the photos. They also appear to generally be larger in size.
Is there an account based online (shop, multiplayer) system? Will an account be transferable to a newer console (new hardware revision or the old one broke down)?
Nintendo did mention classical games in 3D for the online shop: Are OoT 3D and Starfox among these download games or will they be released at full retail price?
Where will savegames be stored? Is there again separate flash memory on the cartridges or will savegames be stored on the SD cart?
What settings were used to determine the 3DS's battery life? Specifically: are 5 hours for 3DS games at low brightness settings / no Wifi and 3 hours at high brightness settings etc.?
The usual friendcode questions: Per system or per game? Tied to an account or generated for each savegame / system? Is mutual registration of friendcodes necessary or will you receive an alert if someone adds your code to the friendlist?
Will it be possible to add people to a friend list / automatically exchange friendcodes if you are playing with them online?
Does the 3DS offer ways of communication over the internet during online games?
Does ist offer ways of communication (with people in a frindlist) over the internet outside of a game? (pictochat online?)
What are the memory limitations for 3DSWare games?
Is the initial size of 3DS cartridges (2GB) really measured in gigabyte (GB) or do they still use gigabit (usually notated as Gb)?
Will 3DS games - specifically ones with online modes - be patchable?
Does Nintendo have means and allow devs to offer DLC over the shop?
@11 These videos are quite obviously supposed to show off returning characters to those who played the original Okami. In short: Those, who don't need to be told.
As Okami is quite cheap nowadays, you should play it, provided you own a Wii (or PS2) and do like Action Adventures. It's easily one of the best Wii games out there.
For the price tag of this little 3D machine, "SpotPass" better doesn't share the "WiiConnect24"s most prominent feature: Being utterly useless.
Let's hope Nintendo actually invests effort into the maintenance of their online system this time... Not necessariliy free games, but updates to the system and to existing games (fixes and additional functionality) should be naturally today...
@blackdragon True. If they know what's inevitably going to happen at some point and have no problem with it, everything is fine. So long as they spare everyone the whining when it actually happens.
@blackdragon "but others see it as practice, or just something fun to mess around with in terms of programming and stuff. :3"
If they do this because they want to practice, enjoy messing around or programming, then they could just do so without releasing it and everything would be fine. If they had the sense. If they still wanted the world to see how well they're doing, they could then release as many videos on youtube as they like. And maybe (if they're not dealing with the big players) they even might get a chance to release something if the IP owners like what they see. This CryEngine Level springs to mind which was previously not supposed to be released: http://www.loneclone.de/projects/monkey.htm
But a large scale fan project based on an existing and actively used IP can take years of their lives. Years that they could use to create something of their own which they can keep, even if it's just a gameplay "clone". Instead, they plunge into the project without ever asking permission from the IP owners and when, after several years, they run into a wall in the form of Nintendo's legal department, the big whining starts.
Simply put, this can be avoided. If that's their "way of the fan", than that's more like the "way of the moron". I don't see the fun in being forced to throw away the work you've put several years into, because "the official source didn't provide". Because when that happens, you won't be able to provide either.
Frankly, I think this "Collector's Edition" is as poor as it gets. As the post above said: There isn't much to collect in it aside maybe from the figure (collecting figures is one thing I cannot understand, except for tabletop miniatures, of course ).
The most ridiculous thing in the err.... "lengthy" feature list of this Collector's Edition is this: "Special Edition DVD with behind the scenes footage and additional marketing assets and videos".
Usually, when lots of work was put into such a DVD (think LotR Special Extended Edition), the marketing people aren't exactly shy of proclaiming this. However, if I translate their wording in this case to normal speech in a pessimistic fashion, I would get this: "Camera tour of Junction Point Studious and previously released Interviews with Warren Spector. Also: a handful of wallpapers and all previously released trailers."
Somehow I fear, I'm not that much off the mark. In German, this is a "Bauernfänger".
@theblackdragon: As far as I can see, BfP is a Quake 3 Mod based on the Dragon Ball animes. Basically, it's an independent game with gameplay of it's own, inspired by a completely different kind of media. That's very different from copying a video game's gameplay and levels and releasing them, even if you do it out of (overambitious) love for the game.
How idiotic can fans be? They know that such projects are going to be shut down if they have any intend of releasing them to the public.
So instead of just creating a very similar game in therms of gameplay setting etc. with an own twist, they keep wasting their time and talent on such projects.
I just don't get why they insist on creating games based on IPs they don't own and which are still in use by the actual owners.
Way to keep your exciting new product in the news: Announce a date for the announcement of the price and release date.
Anything up to 200€ might be a preorder for me. Anything above will mean waiting for a price drop first. Or for signs, that there won't be a price drop.
If the game got good or very good reviews when it showed up here and delivered where FFXIII seemingly didn't, especially in the open world vs. sequence of dungeons aspect, there just might be a few of them, who would be willing to give this a try. Even if they had to put up with so much unnecessary innovation in terms of the combat system.
@55: We'll see about that. Nintendo is publishing in Japan and it seems to be some kind of cooperation between them and Mistwalker in terms of development, too.
So there's a chance they will bring this over and might actually put decent marketing effort into it. Especially, as the game tries so deliberately not to look or be like the average JRPG and features some very serious production values. If such a trailer gets translated and promoted in the west, I can imagine a lot more reactions like @52's.
Also, I think there's potentially a large market of disappointed FF fans.
Has anyone payed close attention to the interface during the gameplay scenes? Are these the character's names, that are displayed next to the portraits? Is the last character in the scene, where the player sneaks up with the crossbow, actually named "Quark"? That would be the German word for curd.
@48 Remember Epic Mickey? It "has happened" before.
Love the Trailer and have high hopes for the game. Usually, I prefer modern western RPG mechanics to those of JRPGs by far. So, in my book it's a good thing, that the gameplay looks so much unlike a traditional JRPG.
Very detailed game worlds in combination with traditional turn based and random combat are far too clumsy in my opinion. It's not that I don't like turn based combat, but watching highly detailed 3d-characters executing some silly (and too long) over the top attack animation over and over again, preferably shouting equally silly nonsense all the while, just makes me wish the game was 2D, sprite based, had mute characters and fluent turn based combat. This however seems to be a very different beast.
Wouldn't have complained about color, though. Looks like they permanently employ a massive brown filter.
They certainly won't be able to compete with Apple in any way, no matter what ebook capabilities they give the system. The iPhone 4's screen has a much higher resolution and the device seems to me to be overall better suited for such kind of tasks, not to mention the iPad which was basically made with such tasks in mind.
Still, it'll be nice to have reader functions of some sort on the 3DS. I could very well imagine myself checking emails or RSS feeds in between games, too.
Maybe, if the 3DS is successful enough, we might even see Amazon's kindle software for the system? It would certainly be an interesting addition to a gaming device, even if the system's design is not optimized for reading. ^^
@24 @21 It's not rumor, it's fact. Nintendo announced full backwards compatibility in their short press statement about the 3DS back in the first quarter.
@10 Standing in front.. What? You actually stand while playing stuff like WSR? Try to play it in a comfortable armchair. You'll see, it works just as well. So will this Zelda, I hope.
Except for golf, obviously. But as there hasn't been a golf minigame announced for Zelda...
Sure, when a company launches the successor to the most successful gaming handheld in existence, 3rd parties ARE going to be on board in some form. But something in that lineup makes me think, that this time the 3rd parties have been absolutely impressed when Nintendo showed them the hardware.
Here is very much hoping, that titles like "Assasin's Creed" won't turn out to be rushed 3rd class adaptions, but fully realized high quality games. ^^
Nah, 3DS doesn't look better than most Wii games. Oh, you're talking 3rd parties? Yes it does (sadly).
About Gamecube level graphics I'd say. That Kid Icarus needed a little bit of spit and polish (that it'll doubtless get), but on such a small screen? Yes, please!
FZero, Kirby and Starfox Wii... I believe that will remain just wishful thinking of some fans. Although an FZero title strikes me as a perfect opportunity to show of the 3DS' capabilities to the more action oriented crowd, who might not care all that much for Animal Crossing.
Why is there no mention of Epic Mickey? It's just as @43 says: This is a title sure to make an appearance. Especially as there are already photos showing artwork of the game in or around the convention center.
If I might speculate on a more negative surprise for Wii owners concerning Epic Mickey: The title might be loosing its Wii-exclusive status and become a multiplatform title for Wii and PS3. I really hope it won't, thought!
Another one of my more wild speculations: The new model of the Wii remote might include M+ and the "Vitality Sensor" in a redesigned form (e.g. as wriststrap).
I'd be far more excited, if they were innovating the online capabilities of their handheld more than its graphical capabilities.
After all, the Nintendo DS has a build in microphone, the DSi even has a build in camera facing the player and what was it used for? You'd expect voice chat in Mario Kart, some form of friendlists, just, you know, "stuff" that uses these features. What we got were friendcodes (per game), and even missing WPA2 support in the DS phat/lite and consequently every retail game. If friend codes kill an online game for me, having to switch my router to WEP or buy an overprized WLAN-stick and leave the computer running while playing utterly destroys it for me.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad at them for it! I won't be whinig all over the place, if the 3DS will continue Nintendos "archaic" online system (I'd call it a uge "design flaw"). But if they somehow have managed to develop a device with a decent online system this time, I might even consider not waiting for the first hardware revision before getting a 3DS. ^^
I'll just expect to be utterly disappointed concerning this, so I won't actually be disappointed when it turns out, that they still believe friend codes keep children save. I'll be all the more surprised then, when it turns out they realized, that actually a large part of their customers (expanded audience stuff ) has grown out of the age, where they need to be prevented from taking candy from strangers.
@skywake Don't hold your breath for cartridges in home consoles anytime soon. In those systems there is no problem with disc drives as they're stationary and disc mediums should be much cheaper to produce than cartridges. On handhelds its just that a disc drive requires a lot of space and drains the battery's power much faster than a reader for flash memory.
I wouldn't be surprised however, if physical mediums disappeared entirely within a few generations of console systems or became optional (think Steam). No medium at all seems to be coming into fashion and I'll admit it's quite convinient. I like my game boxes, though and for once I wouldn't complain if Nintendo was a generation or two behind the times.
@skywake: Nintendo have been morons when it came to adapting technical innovations before (N64 cartridges vs. CDs, decent online system for the Wii/DS). But I cannot believe, that their system designers are THAT idiotic. The PSP has shown that a disc based portable device has... "issues", whereas the DS cartridges were quite successful. Also, by now the storage capacity of flashcards exceeds that of any mini disc by far. The saying might go: "two steps forward and one backward", but I don't fear that Nintendo might take it THAT literally.
@eripmav: If these are autostereoscopic displays, which they have to be (no glasses, remember?), there's no need for 120 Hz.
@ 6.: If you haven't already, you could play it now on the PC right now. Chances are, you won't get the best possible ending on the first run (as I did) and you will want to play it again when it comes to Europe's WiiWare.
Comments 93
Re: Rumour: Wii U is 50% More Powerful Than PlayStation 3
You know, I enjoy reading nintendolife, but this article isn't exactly down to earth guys. Knock Sony's PlayStation 3 into a cocked hat? Come on! I'm a Nintendo fan, but not even I am so blind: That's a minor improvement at best.
First off: I have no idea what "50% more processing power" means and neither have you. Do they refer to the GPU or the CPU? To both? Is those data reliable at all? I'd qualify it as a rumor at best with the bottom line: the console is a bit more powerful than the PS360.
In order to do a generation leap, you'd have to make a system that's in theory several times as strong as the PS360, as is any mid-range gaming PC today. Don't even dream the WiiU will be able to output today's average game in 1080p and run at 60fps if it's only such a minor improvement over the PS3.
The people spurting about how this should run games at 1080p should start to do a little math, now! How many times more pixels per frame does a console have to render with a 1920x1080 resolution (1080p) compared to a 1280x720 (720p) resolution? The anwer is: more than 4 times as many! 50% increase? That's not going to cut it. If we're lucky, ports of multiplatform games will run at 720p and a solid 30fps (maybe 60fps!) framerate, at best!
Now, if Nintendo can get a 720p Zelda running on it at 60fps, that's all I need. And that's what is realistically to be expected from the WiiU.
Re: Talking Point: What's in a Console Colour?
The console will probably be only available in a single color within a year after launch.
Whatever they chose, it should be a neutral color that fits into every home setup with DVD/Blu-Ray players, TVs, Speakers etc. without looking like the peacock of the lot.
That pretty much leaves black, white or shades of gray. They can still do funky colors at any later point, but it's important to not turn off people from the beginning. And if they go for stupid colors, they have to offer alternatives.
Purple... urgh Great way to sell your console to an older audience when it screams "child's room".
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles' Alternative Cover has been Decided
@23 Nothing prevents you from making a fake twitter account with your spam-email and use it for this one purpose only.
It's not the cover I've chosen. I really prefer the second option with the painted artwork vs. this one - although this would be my second choice. This just looks like slightly touched up ingame visuals and although the world looks freat for a Wii game, it doesn't look cover-great. That's why I'd much rather have the painted artwork.
In any case, it's not one of the two boring covers and it's only the cherry on top of the game coming to Europe.
Re: Okay Australia, Your Zelda 3DS Pre-Order Bonus Beats the Rest
@13 Agreed!
They can keep any cheap pieces of plastic for themselves. Just give us a decent 3DS Zelda 25th anniversary bundle.
Re: 3DS Joins the World Rally Championship This Year
@12 That's a photo, you know?
Re: Cave Story 3D Coming August 9th
Before you all jump to the conclusion, that this is going to be the definite version of cave story and settle with possibly paying 40 bucks for this remake, take a break and head over to IGN's screenshot section of the game:
http://ds.ign.com/dor/objects/100256/cave-story-3d/images/cave-story-3d-20110428012355709.html
I do neither know from when those wip screenshots are (IGN posted them yesterday), nor how far the game has progressed from there. Now, if these were pre-alpha shots of a running prototype, that might be ok, because although they look hideous now, that would mean they had enough room for improvement. The trouble is the release date.
I don't think there is even room to argue, that this is not actually what we would expect from a full price remake of Cave Story. It's also not even near what their concept art of the levels looks like in terms of atmosphere. At this point, I'm not completely faithful, that Nicalis can turn this into a quality remake before the release, even with the delay.
Here is hoping they don't this up. But with the release rather close and their track record of taking ages for bringing Cave Story to WiiWare (and even that was bugged), I'm doubtful at the very best.
Unless they push this to the end of the year or possibly beyond, we're probably in for a massive disappointment.
Re: Nintendo Confirms New Console
@26
Forget it. I'm guessing it's not going to be cheaper than 400€ here (400$in the US) if they're indeed trying to make it potent enough to run run games at full-HD and 60fps (meaning: moderately stronger than the PS360). If they want 3rd party support, they have to. The 3DS is rumored to have aggregated component cost of around 100$. There is a whole world between the 3DS and hardware capable enough to run modern games in full-HD resolution and at 60fps. Add the whole tablet-controller stuff, and you've got some more expensive components. Even if they would manage to keep the component costs as low as 250$, that'd translate to 350$ or more likely to 400$ at retail.
Factor in, that Nintendo - unlike Sony and MS - are hardly going to subsidize their hardware with profits from other product branches other than consoles and games (which they don't have).
Basically, Nintendo isn't going to throw around HD hardware for just 50 bucks more than they are asking for their recent handheld. This would be an outlandish expectation.
Re: Rumour: Wii 2 to Cost $350, Support 3DTVs, Out in October
Release at the end of this year sounds really unlikely with the 3DS recent release. They can still have one good holiday season by reducing the Wii's price and releasing Skyward Sword. Unless their aim is to get every multiplatform developer on the successor as soon as possible and maybe even have some of the big third party holiday games from the start. That would of course depend on how far they are with this new machine, they might not be able to release it this year, even if they wanted to.
The rest sounds likely though. 350-400$ price wouldn't be surprising if the hardware is a bit more advanced.
Re: Ocarina of Time 3D Gets Boss Rush Mode and Helpful Videos
@1 Don't watch the helpful videos, keep the fun.
Re: Rumour: Wii 2 has Blu-ray Drive, Controller Contains a Screen
All you people crying that it's too early for a new console, give it a break already!
The INITIAL and most believable "rumor" from Gaminformer mentions a LATE 2012 release. That'd be full six years after the Wii. That's a perfect time to release a new console.
Re: Nintendo Wants More Developers Like Retro Studios, Please
@13
Not going to happen.
Valve is gigantic. Aside from having some of the biggest Shooter franchises, they own the #1 digital distribution service for PC games. Gabe Newell said in an interview, that they generate more profit per employee than google. Plus, their style of game isn't complemented too well by Nintendo's philosophy of working with weaker hardware.
It would be totally awesome to see Valve games on a Nintendo platform though. Maybe in the next home console generation...
Re: High Voltage Would Like to Bring Conduit Prequel to 3DS
Why don't they try to implement an 8-direction + analog-thingy control scheme?
Using the ABXY buttons for movement and the analog slider for aiming would leave the dpad / touchscreen free for weapon changes and allow a steady grip on the 3DS at the same time.
Re: Talking Point: Is the DS Dead at Retail?
@24
The 3DS' top screen has an 5:3 aspect ratio, you know.
Re: Plenty of Action in Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D Trailer
@24: GTA Chinatwon Wars was one.
Re: Wow, Disney Epic Mickey Sold 1.3m Copies in North America
@5
And hopefully fix a couple of things, that didn't work so well in the first one.
Re: Nintendo's 3DS Events - We Want Your Questions!
@133
First info is indeed new. Second info sounds locical. Hard to imagine playing someone online in Street Fighter and having your game paused, because your opponent decides to browse the internet for a bit. Can't think of a scenario where using the cameras would interfere with the home menu though. Unless you're video chatting maybe?
Thinner retail boxes were apparent from the photos. They also appear to generally be larger in size.
Re: Nintendo's 3DS Events - We Want Your Questions!
Re: Pull Up a Chair and Get Acquainted with Okamiden's Cast
@11
These videos are quite obviously supposed to show off returning characters to those who played the original Okami. In short: Those, who don't need to be told.
As Okami is quite cheap nowadays, you should play it, provided you own a Wii (or PS2) and do like Action Adventures. It's easily one of the best Wii games out there.
Re: SpotPass is Essentially WiiConnect24 for 3DS
For the price tag of this little 3D machine, "SpotPass" better doesn't share the "WiiConnect24"s most prominent feature:
Being utterly useless.
Let's hope Nintendo actually invests effort into the maintenance of their online system this time...
Not necessariliy free games, but updates to the system and to existing games (fixes and additional functionality) should be naturally today...
Re: Fan-Made Zelda MMO in Early Stages of Development
@blackdragon
True. If they know what's inevitably going to happen at some point and have no problem with it, everything is fine. So long as they spare everyone the whining when it actually happens.
Re: Fan-Made Zelda MMO in Early Stages of Development
@blackdragon
"but others see it as practice, or just something fun to mess around with in terms of programming and stuff. :3"
If they do this because they want to practice, enjoy messing around or programming, then they could just do so without releasing it and everything would be fine. If they had the sense.
If they still wanted the world to see how well they're doing, they could then release as many videos on youtube as they like. And maybe (if they're not dealing with the big players) they even might get a chance to release something if the IP owners like what they see. This CryEngine Level springs to mind which was previously not supposed to be released:
http://www.loneclone.de/projects/monkey.htm
But a large scale fan project based on an existing and actively used IP can take years of their lives. Years that they could use to create something of their own which they can keep, even if it's just a gameplay "clone". Instead, they plunge into the project without ever asking permission from the IP owners and when, after several years, they run into a wall in the form of Nintendo's legal department, the big whining starts.
Simply put, this can be avoided. If that's their "way of the fan", than that's more like the "way of the moron". I don't see the fun in being forced to throw away the work you've put several years into, because "the official source didn't provide". Because when that happens, you won't be able to provide either.
Re: Epic Mickey Gets Collectable with Special Edition
Frankly, I think this "Collector's Edition" is as poor as it gets. As the post above said: There isn't much to collect in it aside maybe from the figure (collecting figures is one thing I cannot understand, except for tabletop miniatures, of course ).
The most ridiculous thing in the err.... "lengthy" feature list of this Collector's Edition is this:
"Special Edition DVD with behind the scenes footage and additional marketing assets and videos".
Usually, when lots of work was put into such a DVD (think LotR Special Extended Edition), the marketing people aren't exactly shy of proclaiming this. However, if I translate their wording in this case to normal speech in a pessimistic fashion, I would get this:
"Camera tour of Junction Point Studious and previously released Interviews with Warren Spector. Also: a handful of wallpapers and all previously released trailers."
Somehow I fear, I'm not that much off the mark. In German, this is a "Bauernfänger".
So long as the game delivers, I'm happy though.
Re: Fan-Made Zelda MMO in Early Stages of Development
@theblackdragon: As far as I can see, BfP is a Quake 3 Mod based on the Dragon Ball animes. Basically, it's an independent game with gameplay of it's own, inspired by a completely different kind of media.
That's very different from copying a video game's gameplay and levels and releasing them, even if you do it out of (overambitious) love for the game.
Re: Fan-Made Zelda MMO in Early Stages of Development
How idiotic can fans be? They know that such projects are going to be shut down if they have any intend of releasing them to the public.
So instead of just creating a very similar game in therms of gameplay setting etc. with an own twist, they keep wasting their time and talent on such projects.
I just don't get why they insist on creating games based on IPs they don't own and which are still in use by the actual owners.
Re: 3DS Release Date and Price Will be Revealed in September
Way to keep your exciting new product in the news: Announce a date for the announcement of the price and release date.
Anything up to 200€ might be a preorder for me. Anything above will mean waiting for a price drop first. Or for signs, that there won't be a price drop.
Re: The Last Story Gets Incredible First Trailer
If the game got good or very good reviews when it showed up here and delivered where FFXIII seemingly didn't, especially in the open world vs. sequence of dungeons aspect, there just might be a few of them, who would be willing to give this a try. Even if they had to put up with so much unnecessary innovation in terms of the combat system.
Re: The Last Story Gets Incredible First Trailer
@55: We'll see about that. Nintendo is publishing in Japan and it seems to be some kind of cooperation between them and Mistwalker in terms of development, too.
So there's a chance they will bring this over and might actually put decent marketing effort into it. Especially, as the game tries so deliberately not to look or be like the average JRPG and features some very serious production values. If such a trailer gets translated and promoted in the west, I can imagine a lot more reactions like @52's.
Also, I think there's potentially a large market of disappointed FF fans.
Has anyone payed close attention to the interface during the gameplay scenes? Are these the character's names, that are displayed next to the portraits? Is the last character in the scene, where the player sneaks up with the crossbow, actually named "Quark"? That would be the German word for curd.
Re: The Last Story Gets Incredible First Trailer
@48
Remember Epic Mickey? It "has happened" before.
Love the Trailer and have high hopes for the game. Usually, I prefer modern western RPG mechanics to those of JRPGs by far. So, in my book it's a good thing, that the gameplay looks so much unlike a traditional JRPG.
Very detailed game worlds in combination with traditional turn based and random combat are far too clumsy in my opinion. It's not that I don't like turn based combat, but watching highly detailed 3d-characters executing some silly (and too long) over the top attack animation over and over again, preferably shouting equally silly nonsense all the while, just makes me wish the game was 2D, sprite based, had mute characters and fluent turn based combat. This however seems to be a very different beast.
Wouldn't have complained about color, though. Looks like they permanently employ a massive brown filter.
Re: 3DS Could Turn Pages as Well as Heads
They certainly won't be able to compete with Apple in any way, no matter what ebook capabilities they give the system. The iPhone 4's screen has a much higher resolution and the device seems to me to be overall better suited for such kind of tasks, not to mention the iPad which was basically made with such tasks in mind.
Still, it'll be nice to have reader functions of some sort on the 3DS. I could very well imagine myself checking emails or RSS feeds in between games, too.
Maybe, if the 3DS is successful enough, we might even see Amazon's kindle software for the system? It would certainly be an interesting addition to a gaming device, even if the system's design is not optimized for reading. ^^
Re: E3 2010: DS's Upcoming Line-up
@24 @21
It's not rumor, it's fact. Nintendo announced full backwards compatibility in their short press statement about the 3DS back in the first quarter.
Re: E3 2010: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Has anyone given a thought to the last scene where Link jumps from some sort of cliff?
Flying?
Re: E3 2010: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
@10
Standing in front.. What? You actually stand while playing stuff like WSR? Try to play it in a comfortable armchair. You'll see, it works just as well. So will this Zelda, I hope.
Except for golf, obviously. But as there hasn't been a golf minigame announced for Zelda...
Re: E3 2010: Third-Parties Pledge Big Franchises for 3DS
Wow, just...wow.
Sure, when a company launches the successor to the most successful gaming handheld in existence, 3rd parties ARE going to be on board in some form.
But something in that lineup makes me think, that this time the 3rd parties have been absolutely impressed when Nintendo showed them the hardware.
Here is very much hoping, that titles like "Assasin's Creed" won't turn out to be rushed 3rd class adaptions, but fully realized high quality games. ^^
Re: E3 2010: Live Text - Nintendo's Media Presentation
Nah, 3DS doesn't look better than most Wii games. Oh, you're talking 3rd parties? Yes it does (sadly).
About Gamecube level graphics I'd say. That Kid Icarus needed a little bit of spit and polish (that it'll doubtless get), but on such a small screen? Yes, please!
Re: E3 2010: Wii Predictions
FZero, Kirby and Starfox Wii... I believe that will remain just wishful thinking of some fans. Although an FZero title strikes me as a perfect opportunity to show of the 3DS' capabilities to the more action oriented crowd, who might not care all that much for Animal Crossing.
Why is there no mention of Epic Mickey? It's just as @43 says: This is a title sure to make an appearance. Especially as there are already photos showing artwork of the game in or around the convention center.
If I might speculate on a more negative surprise for Wii owners concerning Epic Mickey: The title might be loosing its Wii-exclusive status and become a multiplatform title for Wii and PS3.
I really hope it won't, thought!
Another one of my more wild speculations: The new model of the Wii remote might include M+ and the "Vitality Sensor" in a redesigned form (e.g. as wriststrap).
Re: Final Furry Legends Trailer Wants to Scare You
So, when Nightsky from Nicals and Lost Winds have a child, its a furry legend?
Re: 3DS Will Supposedly Not Use NVIDIA's Tegra Technology
I'd be far more excited, if they were innovating the online capabilities of their handheld more than its graphical capabilities.
After all, the Nintendo DS has a build in microphone, the DSi even has a build in camera facing the player and what was it used for? You'd expect voice chat in Mario Kart, some form of friendlists, just, you know, "stuff" that uses these features.
What we got were friendcodes (per game), and even missing WPA2 support in the DS phat/lite and consequently every retail game.
If friend codes kill an online game for me, having to switch my router to WEP or buy an overprized WLAN-stick and leave the computer running while playing utterly destroys it for me.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad at them for it! I won't be whinig all over the place, if the 3DS will continue Nintendos "archaic" online system (I'd call it a uge "design flaw").
But if they somehow have managed to develop a device with a decent online system this time, I might even consider not waiting for the first hardware revision before getting a 3DS. ^^
I'll just expect to be utterly disappointed concerning this, so I won't actually be disappointed when it turns out, that they still believe friend codes keep children save. I'll be all the more surprised then, when it turns out they realized, that actually a large part of their customers (expanded audience stuff ) has grown out of the age, where they need to be prevented from taking candy from strangers.
Re: Rumour: 3DS Could Rival PS3 and 360 in Power Stakes
@skywake
Don't hold your breath for cartridges in home consoles anytime soon. In those systems there is no problem with disc drives as they're stationary and disc mediums should be much cheaper to produce than cartridges. On handhelds its just that a disc drive requires a lot of space and drains the battery's power much faster than a reader for flash memory.
I wouldn't be surprised however, if physical mediums disappeared entirely within a few generations of console systems or became optional (think Steam). No medium at all seems to be coming into fashion and I'll admit it's quite convinient. I like my game boxes, though and for once I wouldn't complain if Nintendo was a generation or two behind the times.
Re: Rumour: 3DS Could Rival PS3 and 360 in Power Stakes
@skywake:
Nintendo have been morons when it came to adapting technical innovations before (N64 cartridges vs. CDs, decent online system for the Wii/DS). But I cannot believe, that their system designers are THAT idiotic. The PSP has shown that a disc based portable device has... "issues", whereas the DS cartridges were quite successful. Also, by now the storage capacity of flashcards exceeds that of any mini disc by far.
The saying might go: "two steps forward and one backward", but I don't fear that Nintendo might take it THAT literally.
@eripmav:
If these are autostereoscopic displays, which they have to be (no glasses, remember?), there's no need for 120 Hz.
Re: Sid Meier's Pirates! Sets Sail in Autumn
Is it only me, or does "2k China" sound like cheap outsourcing in order to save a lot of money?
If it's a competent port, I won't complain, though.
Re: Only 8.8% of Japanese Consumers Want to Buy a 3DS
Way to make a news item from hot air...
Re: Review: Cave Story (WiiWare)
@ 6.: If you haven't already, you could play it now on the PC right now.
Chances are, you won't get the best possible ending on the first run (as I did) and you will want to play it again when it comes to Europe's WiiWare.
Re: Cave Story to Cost 1200 Wii Points
Almost expected it to cost 1500 Points, so 1200 isn't as bad.
Still, it's no use to me, unless they finally release it in Europe, too.