hello, nintendo

Early Zelda Gnits

I have now had two reasonable sized portions of Twilight Princess gameplay.  This hasn't gotten me tremendously far into the game, only about four hours, but I am starting to form some initial impressions.

As with pretty much everyone else who has written anything on the Internet about this game, I am rather into it.  It is great and I am happy and all that glory being heaped upon it is accurate and well-deserved.

This morning, however, I am at work and not playing Zelda, and that does not make me happy.  That makes me petulant and cranky and so I will turn my irritation into rationalization and point out all the things I've encountered so far about this game that aren't great.

Please be aware that after this point there are some minor spoilers about the first 4-5 hours of the game.

The new ACWW, now with guns!

from Drew and Natalie's Married to the Sea

Hey Nintendo! *moon*

Reggie officially announces Twilight Princess delay.

Help me, Chibi Robo, you're my only hope

The GameCube has taken over a prominent role in my life again thanks to Chibi Robo. I've been dying to get my hands on this title since the original US release date last fall was delayed. It was finally released last week and my expectations for the game have been met over and over. Besides pretending to be a tiny robot dragging an electrical plug from my butt, the thing I like best about Chibi Robo is that, like Animal Crossing, there are no specific goals or levels to complete. I can take my time to explore my surroundings and do whatever I want. The sense of scale and crude renderings are charmingly reminiscent of Katamari Damacy. The excellent sound design makes the chores easier to do since the accompanying music and sound effects are such great fun to listen to.

Chores have never been so much fun! The downside of the game is my dog is now cursing me for leaving dirty socks and empty boxes all over the floor of my real house since all my time is being invested in yet another virtual home.

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

You already know by now that The Two Thrones is far better than Warrior Within, but not as good as The Sands of Time, but do you know why it is that I think that?  No, you don't, because I haven't told you.  Yet.

(This post will contain spoilers)

Make Your Choice

Some of the best conversations I've seen about Nintendo have come up in the debate about best handheld gaming system. Nintendo's got three strong options with the new-generation GBA SP, the adorable Micro and the powerhouse DS. I love the way this Ask MetaFilter thread played out, especially since it led me to discover the discussion about the GBA SP2's d-pad. (Also, as a bonus, "GBA SP2 d-pad" would make a great password.)

To my mind, the real choice option is either Micro for the casual gamer or DS for someone who values great, unique games over ultimate portability/cuteness. That surprises me to say, because the GBA SP is still probably the best form factor ever for a Nintendo handheld. (In fact, it led me to buying my first game system ever back when the SP first came out and was plastered all over every bus stop in Manhattan.)

I can't wait for next Christmas, because the increase in sexiness from GBA to GBA SP was so dramatic that the clunky and homely DS is sure to be replaced by something astounding.

Let down

It's no news to anyone by this point that Nintendo has delayed Twilight Princess  (this link is to IGN, but the information is everywhere), and if it is I'm sorry for being the one to take the wind out of your sails.

As far as I'm concerned, Nintendo already has my money for it so really it's up to them when they want to collect, and as always I prefer delays over unfinished software, but man this is such a bummer.  I've been thinking about the games I've gotten this year and they're mostly gimmicks.  Jungle Beat is a lot of fun but I haven't played it since the week-long flurry of activity after opening it.  Donkey Konga was good but not good enough to get me to buy the sequel.  What else has there been this year?

I spent the first year of my GameCube's life waiting for titles, now, some 3 or 4 years later I'm spending the last year of its life... waiting for titles?  It's no real consolation that almost no other games are being released either, but at least it means there are lots of people to group with in Worlds of Warcraft.

updated: fixed an amusing (to me) typo of "sails" as "sails"

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

Continuing with my tradition of talking about games that are months old, I played some Donkey Kong Jungle Beat last night.  My wonderful wife bought it for me for my birthday, and between work and dinner with my family I decided to give it a try.

OMG!!1! LINK FIGHTS VEGETABLE WEREWOLVES!!

Press the Buttons , an excellent general video games commentary blog, has discovered that the next Zelda will super-definitely no questions asked 100% totally confirmed by Nintendo (and I it straight heard from Miyamoto's sister's brother's best friend's college roomate) that Link spend the entire game farming werewolf vegetables!!  OMGICANTWAIT

Nintendo #1 in 2004 Sales?

A few days ago, Nintendo Insider posted an editorial with a different way of looking at console sales, which happily-to-me puts Nintendo on top.

Now, I'm the first to admit that when it comes to specific numbers and industry conventions, I don't know squat.  I'm an aging gamer who sits at his desk and pontificates about toys and entertainment when he should be writing and testing corporate software, so I don't know how legit these numbers are, how much massaging has taken place or what, but Nintendo Insider claims that if you add up the numbers of consoles sold for all three major players (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft) Nintendo continued to dominate the market due to Game Boy sales.

That's not too suprising really.  The handheld market is gigantic, and Nintendo's done a phenominal job of fending off competition thus far, and churns those bad boys out like crazy, and almost all other numbers that you see ignore the handheld market.

Like the Nintendo Insider article, I'm not really saying anything, just rambling about the numbers.  It's an interesting and possibly useful way to look at the market in a different light.

Reggie Speaks

1up has posted An interview with Reggie Fils-Aime

I'm kind of torn about Reggie.  I think he's good for Nintendo in that he seems far more open and up front than company representatives have been in the past, but I think if I were to meet him in person I'd want to punch him in the face after talking with him for two minutes.

It's an unfair assessment to make from a transcipt of a recorded conversation at a convention filled with hype machines gearing up for E3 in a few months, so maybe he's actually an earnest down-to-earth sort of fellow.

If nothing else, he needs to find a descriptor better than "kicks ass.

The Ultimate Library

The great thing when other people publish lists of any sort is that we the readers get to sit back and talk about how much better we'd do putting together the list ourselves.

IGN has published their Ultimate Library, the ten titles they consider fundamental to the GameCube's first four years.

DDR Mario

At long last DDR is coming to the GameCube! IGN reports in Dance Dance Revolution with Mario:

Very few details about the game have been released, but Nintendo and Konami did announce that it will use a new dance mat controller. In Japan, the mat will be included with the game. The title will also feature a wide assortment of dance-related mini-games. The game will be on display at the World Hobby Fair 2005, which begins in about two weeks. A Japanese release is expected this Summer.

Unfortunately, some skepticism is already rearing its head:

dj: no one wants to dance as mario!
finn: yeah, no shit.

Slashdot | Sticking up for Nintendo

Link: Slashdot | Sticking up for Nintendo.

Animal Crossing has this weird calming effect on me. Nothing is better after a stressful day than some fishing and bug catching in my town. Its kind of like that imaginary place with all the animals on Mister Roger's Neighborhood. For some reason, it just makes me feel like a kid again when I play it. Its just silly and relaxing and has a surprising amount of things you can do (though I wish there was more). And I really love the music.

The "Nintendo helps me relax" meme seems to be spreading around the Internet. This slashdot comment, in response to Ben Parfitt article, perfectly encapsulates why some older gamers prefer the simpler, more elegant nintendo gamecube to systems which have some fancier games.

Prince of Persia: Horrible Subtitle

Or, I suppose more properly, "Warrior Within".  If you haven't seen it, Named and Shamed at Idle Thumbs expresses my current thoughts on video game namng, especially sequels, better than I could.

(main body may contain spoilers)

Gamecube Chainsaw Massacre

Capcom's Resident Evil 4 is available for pre-order on Lik-sang now, along with a monstrous Chainsaw Gamecube controller -- screenshots of the game and a picture of the controller are also available at modernjackass. Apparently you can't wave the chainsaw controller about wildly to kill zombies, but it does contain a sound-chip to make it more chainsaw-ish (no word on rumble). Also comes with "stylish stand" for display purposes! A few more specialized controllers like this and I'll finally be able to fully ignore the Dreamcast Fishing Controller.

Let's Party!

My wife and I are pretty big suckers for the Mario Party series of games. A new one comes out and we spend weeks overloading on mini-games and maps and causing all our friends to politely (they're nice friends!) decline our invitations to come over for dinner, as they're well aware of the unspoken consequences (well, after the first time for each title that is, we always sucker them in once).

Nintendo's launched the Mario Party 6 Japanese site which includes a movie (scroll to the bottom and some screen shots. The new mini-games look pretty good (though it can be really hard to tell) and it looks like there's a return to some of our favorite styles of mini-game from 4 that weren't featured in 5 (the lawn-mowing one seems typical of a style that we sorely miss).

Primarily featured is the GameCube Mic, which apparently comes with the game and adds a new element of gameplay (voice commands and perhaps just shouting from the looks of things). All I can say is, yay fun peripherals! We recently bought a new shelving/cabinet unit for our living room and the Nintendo cupboard in it isn't nearly full enough yet, even with four controllers, way too many games and our DK Bongos.

Nintendo Insider (In an article that's over two months old, yeesh I'm slow) has more details and offers up a release date of December 6 (which is hopefully true for North America, NI doesn't specify).

GameCube: Dream Games: Legend of Zelda Fighter

GameCube: Dream Games: Legend of Zelda Fighter

So if Link alone can propel sales of Soulcalibur II on GameCube to 700,000 units, just how popular would a similar styled fighter set completely in the Zelda universe be? We think it has the potential to be one of the biggest games of the year. And so we present to readers our vision of the ultimate Legend of Zelda Fighter on the pages to follow.

I've thought about this too - Soul Calibur II was so exciting almost exclusively because of the presence of Link.

First Impressions: Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door

Last night my wife and I eagerly picked up the new Paper Mario game. We didn't get the chance to play too much of it, just an hour or so which got us through the prologue and finisished the first major goal of the first chapter.

In short, the game is everything I expected it to be (the [long] full post contains minor spoilers, but nothing you don't learn within 5 minutes of turning the GameCube on).

lunchmakers loves donkey kong

LunchMakers has a fantastic contest going on right now:

• 500 people will get a year's subscription to Nintendo Power Magazine
• 375 will win a Game Boy Advance SP with Donkey Kong Country 2
• 125 will win a Nintendo Game Cube with Donkey Konga

Donkey Konga! I reserved my copy last month at my local Gamestop after giving the demo a spin there (more about this soon), but those of you who have small kids or like to snack on LunchMakers yourselves -- you know who you are -- have nothing to lose and everything to gain from this promo. Well, except maybe a few pounds here and there...

Not into pre-packaged food? You can always pre-order Donkey Konga at Amazon, it's currently $4 bucks off the list price and you'll get it on the day it's released, if not sooner

Prince of Persia 2

Rob should be pleased by what Ubisoft had to say to the BBC about last year's Prince of Persia: Sands of Time:

"We're pretty harsh about ourselves and our games," says Ubisoft producer Yannis Mallat. "The fighting system was close to boring, repetitive, redundant."

He felt there was "no variety". You just pushed the buttons and watched the Prince do his fancy thing, something Mr Mallat criticises as being "more voyeurism or spectating" than playing.

And also what they said about the upcoming sequel, Prince of Persia 2:

His adventures also involve moving across time, and one fascinating element of the new game is how the Prince's actions in the past result in a "new present".

What this means in practice, says Mr Mallat, is that the Prince is altering level design.

It also adds to the game length.

"In terms of pure original gameplay, we expect it to be as long as Sands of Time," he says. "But because he's altering play and level design, that will add at least another 3-4 hours."

(...) "I used to say Sands Of Time was 50% fighting and 50% exploring and puzzles," says Mr Mallat. "In this game it's 100% both."

Paper Mario 2

Via EvilAvatar Eurogamer has a hands-on preview of the new Paper Mario game that's coming sometime in the late fall of this year.

Paper Mario is one of my favorite Nintendo games that I always forget about it. It came totally out of left field for me, I rented it some weekend on a whim and because I needed to kill some time. I hadn't heard much about it except that it was a turn-based RPG based in the Mario universe. I'm not too big a fan of turn-based RPGs for the most part, by Final Fantasy 7 or so I'd pretty much been ruined on the genre, but Paper Mario took it to a new place by limiting inventory management and incorporation action elements into the combat system (simple things like pressing a button at just the right time to inflict more damage or score an extra attack).

The Eurogamer article indicates that this modified turn-based RPG style gameplay is mildly expanded on in Paper Mario 2, and includes a couple of screenshots (most, if not all, of which have been floating around for some time now) and helps shore up Paper Mario 2 as one of my most anticipated games.

NES on the GameCube

GameTech is putting out a device to let you play Famicom games on the SP -- the Time Machine. Pros include the ability to preorder at Lik-Sang and a product picture that, while a little vague, seems to picture a device that would fit nicely into the Gameboy Player on my GameCube. Cons include reliance on batteries, a seperate audio-out (or its own speakers), and the almost certain inability to play two-player NES games (or use a Light Gun, or Arkanoid controller, or NES controller (though the Hori Digital Controller will be winging its way to me along with the Time Machine once it's released)). Will Nintendo or a third party ever release a device to interface to the Gamecube properly for SNES and NES carts?

GBA Workaround

One of the common complaints with Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, Pac Man VS and a growing number of Game Cube titles is the need to have a GBA plugged in. A clever teacher and his students [via games.slashdot.org and others] theorized and proved that the GBA could be replaced with a Game Cube with GameBoy Player and an additional TV.

Of course, the proposed solution, if starting from nothing, is much more expensive than just buying a few GBAs, but that doesn't detract from the novelty and sheer fun factor of the solution. A few years back when I was in college, friends and I would play Goldeneye 64 together with 4 tvs (or 2 when we played in teams) by splitting the video feed, filling a living room with TVs and covering up the opponents portion of the screen with cardboard.

Using the GBA is a great way to provide that shared-yet-individual experience, but hacks like this one just make me happy. There's something about being in a room crammed full of TVs and cables and consoles that just feels warm-fuzzy-geeky.

Next Nintendo Generation?

Via EvilAvatar comes this N-Sider article with details of the next GameCube and Gameboy systems.

Getting a Seat at the Tea Table

Essential interview with Zelda lead Eiji Aonuma (on nintendo.com)

But Mr. Miyamoto doesn't just upend the tea table and send the team into utter confusion. He then sits down with us and together we rethink what we have done that has been effective, and what we can do that will create a positive result for a Zelda game. So in Mr. Miyamoto's case, even if he upends the tea table, he always picks up his own plate. His test is very important, and it is something that we even welcome.

Samus Sequel

We couldn't be a Nintendo fansite without commenting on the impending release of Metroid Prime 2. Screenshots from a magazine have been scanned and posted all over.

The biggest news of course, is multiplayer. The lack of a deathmatch game comparible (though there's no guarantee this will be) to Goldeneye has been one of the more noticable holes in this generation's library, it'd be nice to see it filled with Samus.

EyeCube?

Could it be that the coolest PS2 accessory (and the only one that could possibly inspire Sony envy in a Nintendo partisan), the EyeToy, is coming to the GameCube? Maybe so.

Game Cube Must Haves

I've finished playing Ico and tired of murdering prostitues for no compelling reason, so I've decided to sell off my PS2 and get a gamecube (I figure I love the GameBoy enough to take a chance on the cube). This seems the bunch to ask, so: other than Zelda and Super Smash Brothers, what are the must have games to get? I'm open to quick and easy games as well as rpg's... as long as they have that extra something. I tried Mario Party the other day and it left me cold. The game seemed to be playing itself half the time. I'm also interested in Cube-GameBoy connectivity.

gamecube cake!

Lucky for you guys my birthday was a few months ago or I'd have you all scrambling around the city trying to get me one of these!

Pokémon: The "School" of "Rock"?

Two friends and I headed down to the Pokémon Center in New York City yesterday to see the kids from Richard Linklater's School of Rock perform in a "battle of the bands" to promote the release of the new "Colisseum," the latest in Nintendo's money-printing Pokémon franchise. (There's a 9 second video if you click the permalink).

Less than a half hour into the game, though, Adriana and I are disappointed. We both have headaches from the awful music and twitchy graphics, and are frustrated by the lack of options and flexibility in the game play. It's basically a recompile of Pokémon for the GBA with new settings and characters. I find the "2.5-D" graphic style so confusing. Games should either be flat 2-D, like Mario, or allow full perspective control like Zelda. But we gotta catch em all - it's the Poké-addicts lot in life. And usually, I like the less-is-more style of Nintendo games since my friends and I don't have a lot of time to play, it lets everyone pick up at more or less the same level without an imbalance of skill or a steep learning curve.

But Colisseum seemed too kid-friendly. Until we went to the Mayor's office...

After a brief conversation with his honor, we head upstairs. Here we find what we can only assume is the Mayor's secretary, standing in front of a bed. Press 'A' to talk to her, and she giggles, tells you how cute you are, and laments the lack of a serious relationship in her life. Meanwhile, a sexy kimono-like robe rests on the bed near a liquor tray with two empty glasses. Is she under the influence of a post-coital letdown? I think so, and Adriana agrees with me. What is going on here?

GameCube comeback!

The GameCube was introduced to fat and violent gamers in November, 2001. Competing against the almighty PlayStation 2 and hardcore console, Xbox, Nintendo found themselves assed out and ashamed; unable to keep up.

Losing face, Nintendo halted GameCube production last year. Skip to the great price drop of Fall 2003. $99! Casual gamers flock to market. March 2004, Nintendo spokesperson Perrin Kaplan claims the United States is experiencing a GameCube shortage, "I'd say about 50 percent of our stores are out." Nintendo struggles to stock store shelves. They claim they'll restock the United States with consoles from "elsewhere".

What does this mean for Mario lovers? With a 60% increase in console sales and a 101% increase in software sales from the same time last year, I hope developers see this as an opportunity to return to Nintendo. We need more better games. The GameCube's library must/should expand. If Nintendo wants to compete, they must offer something to their fans...the ones who will return to support their next-gen console, to be released in 2006.

If you haven't picked up a GameCube yet, get one now. You've been warned.

Rumours, death, exaggeration

The video game media has been all a-flutter for the past day or so with stories that Nintendo has decided to delay development of its next generation console. The speculation was that Nintendo would instead focus on peripherals (a word synonymous with "doom" to almost every console gamer), extending the life of the Gamecube.

Nintendo of America has stated that the original source is mere speculation, Nintendo will be releasing a new console when Sony and Microsoft do to remain competitive (my guess is summer/fall 2006).

Prince of Persia: Final Thoughts

I finished Prince of Persia last night.

Overall I'm quite impressed with the game and can comfortably recommend it to anyone who likes action/adventure games. It is without question an extremely high quality production, but unfortunately that makes the occasional errors even more glaring.

Caution: The main body of this post contains information that may spoil aspects of the game.

Donkey KONGA!

Cube.IGN has a brief review of an import copy of Donkey Konga, a game I'm very much looking forward to.

Aside from the sheer amount of fun of a rhythm game you get to hit things loudly while playing, Konga opens up a huge amount of possibilities. Using a console as an educational tool is a great idea, how long until you can plug a plastic clarinet into your console and learn to play "Old Grey Mare" better than any other fourth grader? Or pick up the Official Nintendo Guitar Patch Cable™ and plug your sad old electric guitar in and finally learn to play "Stairway to Heaven" while learning to sight read music quickly and accurately.

Better yet, the obvious final challenge in two player Duel mode of the latest Banjo Kazooie title...

Prince of Persia - First Glance

I've just started playing Prince of Persia, and have dedicated about 90 minutes to it so far.

My initial reaction is mild disappointment, but that's not entirely fair. For one thing, I'm still in the tutorial area which by its very nature is going to be somewhat stilted, gameplay-wise, as the player is introduced to the environment and controller configuration and interrupted repeatedly to begin the story. For another, the game has been hyped extensively in the gaming media. It's very difficult for anything to live up to the sorts of expectations repeated cries of "Best Game Ever!" can create.

My only potentially real beef is that the gameplay feels somewhat slow and muddy; however, I've spent the bulk of my free time over the past two days playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 which is extremely fast and responsive. It's entirely likely that when I get into the meat of the game and have adjusted to the quirks (which I suspect are intentional and the result of a great deal of play testing) I won't notice them any more.

Certain elements of the gameplay do please me. Jumping from vertical pole to vertical pole is a typical adventure/platformer device, and is generally a nightmare for the player. I've spent many a game wrestling with camera angles and timing, and by adding a little bit of intelligence to the process Ubi Montreal has made it enjoyable rather than burdensome.

Visually the game is quite nice. The animation is quite smooth and interaction of the Prince with environmental objects such as tapestries, banners and pools of water is impressively realistic. The textures are elegantly done and manipulatable objects integrate seemlessly into the background. It's hard to heap a great deal of praise on the game for its visuals however. They do meet my expectations, but I have yet to see anything especially noteworthy.

I'm not tremendously pleased with the camera, although it seems likely any complaints have been addressed through the various options. The default mode for the 1st-person "look" camera is not inversed (press down to look up, press up to look down, as with an airplane control stick). It seems more and more games are moving this way, and it feels unnatural and wrong. Thankfully a quick trip to the options menu straightened that out. Additionally, the camera occasionally jumps to a new and unexpected position to provide a different perspective. It is necessary for exploring the levels as they're constructed though, so my complaints are minor and primarily because I'm a frumpy old grump.

I can't farily judge enemy AI at this point as I haven't encountered many types. When fighting in groups they are reasonably polite and rarely all strike at the same time, though I do suspect this is largely because I'm still in the early parts of the game. In a similar vein, I can't comment a great deal on the story yet as it's only just beginning. It's certainly caught my attention in a good way, and I look forward to seeing it unfold.

The combat and gameplay I've been through thusfar do strongly hint at an experience that will be quite remarkable. The Prince is extraordinarily acrobatic, and the game is likely to be rich with leaping, jumping, twirling and all sorts of good animated fun.

Pac-Man Vs. Nintendo-san

I played Pac-Man Vs. with some friends last night, the latest from Wizard Shigeru Miyamoto. This game is perfectly simple, the Pac-Man we all know and love, but with the character's roles turned upside-down.

Connect three regular controllers and a Game Boy Advance with your Gamecube. The basic rules are the same - three ghosts (Blinky, Stinky & Creaky or whatever their names are) chase Pac-man around a maze. The three players with regular controllers are the "ghosts," and Pac-man is the player with the GBA. While the ghosts have only a limited field of vision, Pac-man gets to see the entire board on the GBA's screen. The ghost who catches Pac-Man trades their controller for the GBA, and the cycle continues until one player achieves a certain score. At any given moment, 3/4 of the players find themselves playing from the unfamiliar vantage point of Pac-man ghost.

The game starts slow, but once you get a taste of being Pac-Man, you're hooked. There is an illicit thrill in seeing the entire board when your opponents cannot, multiplayer games usually don't partition the visual information and clues this way. The ghosts attempt to corner and catch Pac-Man before he eats all the pellets. Of course, the Pac-man player is privvy to the ghosts' strategy and adjusts his or her plan accordingly. This also creates a prisoner's dilemma among the ghosts, since only one of them can catch Pac-man, but if they don't cooperate none of them will succeed. The most loyal and valuable ghost may never get to play Pac-man, and therefore will finish with the lowest score.

Pac-Man Vs. debuted for an underwhelmed audience at the E3 conference this past year (although some saw the potential right away). Nintendo fans are very similar to Apple users, always sticking up for their underdog platform of choice. Even when the big name games and software titles are slow to migrate over, the focus on a well rounded user experience never wavers.

In an interview with IGN.com, Miyamoto and Toru Iwatani (the inventor of Pac-man) talk a little bit about the design process and priorities involved with the the production of the game:

Pacman itself is already a complete game. We did not wish to add power ups or items to the open buttons and lose the beauty of Pacman being playable with only the control pad. Keep things "as simple as possible" was the most important message we were giving to the development team.

and a brief discussion of the "Nintendo way" of making video games:

I believe interactiveness is everything. Historically, videogames have evolved by stimulating the gamer but I believe that we are now concentrating too much on only "giving" this stimulation. Of course I am involved in "giving" the player new stimulation, but I would like the player to voluntarily feel it. For instance when Link from the Legend of Zelda pulls on a lever and a grand demo movie shows a door opening, I think this is a "giving". I would not make it so pressing a button pulls a lever, Link would merely hold the lever. Then the player can use the controller to "pull" and open the door. I concentrate on this interactiveness the most.

...

High spec hardware is good to have, of course, but if the game creators can relax and create, I don't see the necessity to concentrate on selling high specs. There will always be a computer in between the player and monitor. Programmers ask me "What is going to happen to my job in the future?", and I've answered that there would always be a job if you can program.

Good advice for producers and programmers of all media, not just video games.