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Nintendo Announces new Zelda, Mario & Metroid
MonkeyBot writes "Nintendo has posted news from the E3 convention concerning big name titles and their release dates. The new Metroids for the Cube and GBA, Legend of Zelda for the Cube, and a new Mario Game for the Cube are just a few of the titles for which new information is available. It'll be just like I'm a kid again, but with better graphics (and beer)!"
Samus Aran in my pocket!
... for a brief moment... all is right in the world.
This is the reason I like Nintendo better than all the other game systems out there... They had a great formula for fun video games 15 years ago, and they have stuck to what was proven fun and invented all sorts of new ways to keep it interesting! I *like* samus and mario and link... even if the game isn't all that good (think mario RPG) I still have fun playing it. It's just a way of going back :)
I'm done with sigs. Sigs are lame.
Mario Cart? Which IMHO is the best racing game ever! I don't know how many times I've piloted Yoshi around all those tracks but I still find it fun every time I do.
I guess someone got nostalgic for the old days of nintendo cult status. Now if we can only convince them not to make 'em all totally in 3D maybe they'll have a chance. When I was a kid, video games only had two dimensions to them. And we liked it, gosh darn it. Built character, it did.
And it helped develop 'hand-eye' coordination. Of course, then again, so does masturbation...
___
It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
About time Metroid was reincarneted. Now i have a good reason to go buy a GameCube sometime.
I KNEW NIntendo wouldnt' let me down! Now if only their business tactics record wasn't for shame...
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
Waiting to get the girl again?
Mario sets off on his greatest adventure yet
No, that would happen if he arrived on a pollution-free island and got to do some much deserved resting and relaxing there with Princess Peach.
Liora
Recently Nintendo seems to be showing a new strategy of innovation.
For example:
1) Zelda is to be cel-shaded.
2) Metroid will be a FPS.
3) And unconfirmed rumors say that Mario Sunshine will be designed for 3dglasses, thats why the screenshots seem so odd.
Nintendo must be trying to break their image of being totally conventional and change resisting.
...so just from reading the headline, and my first thought was "that's insane!"
...my next thought was - "wait, no, if they could pull off a combination Zelda/Mario/Metroid game, resolving the differences between the different gaming styles and envionments/back stories it'd be one of the most amazing narrative (gaming or otherwise) tricks ever accomplished!"
...my third thought was - "holy crap, if a movie is ever made out of this combo game/story it would be even less coherent than the Super Mario Bros. movie, and thus be terribly harmful to the developing thought processes of our nation's youth - Nintendo must be stopped!!"
...my fourth thought was - "maybe I should read the f***ing article, or at least the summary beneath the headline before posting my ever-so-important concerns".
...my fifth thought was "this is Slashdot, no one will notice."
...and my sixth and final thought was "I can't believe you read this far."
Game Summary
The latest Legend of Zelda adventure begins with young Link living a peaceful life on a tiny island. One day, Link witnesses a huge, menacing bird that snatches Link's younger sister and flies away with her. Link follows in hot pursuit. His search for her sets in motion an epic adventure that will have Link sailing the high seas and searching for answers to the mystery behind her disappearance.
Checking out the game summary I can't help but think that Link is really Fox Mulder.
I'm wondering how long it's going to take before we see an article on /. about someone who has taken all of these games and gotten them to run on a GB Advance/Gamecube chop-job that has been crammed inside of an old C64 case, and which uses a vector-analysis routine combined with a laser projection system to display them on the bare midriff of a Natalie Portman poster.
-PARANOIA is fun. D20 is not fun. The Computer says so.
-The Computer
It literally took me 30 minutes to try and format that so Slashdot editor would even allow it.. It tries to block so much junk, even legit posts .. Here are the links Htmlized. Right-Click and "save as" ..
Metroid
Zelda
Mario
Wario
Star Fox
Metroid GBA
Zelda GBA Screenshots - Co-op Multiplayer!
There is no way that Nintendo is going to let an exclusive property of theirs, made by a subsidiary (Retro isn't a second party any more, Nintendo holds a majority share now), to be published for another system when it poses a draw for gamers. These are good reasons to get a Cube, alongside Metroid:
Mario Sunshine
Zelda
Smash Bros. Melee
Resident Evil 0
Eternal Darkness (and Too Human later)
StarFox Adventures
etc
BlackGriffen
Now I'm in raving fanboy mode, but didn't Sonic 3 play exactly like Sonic 1? And didn't Mario 3 play quite a lot different than Mario 1? I'd mention Mario 2, but that was originally a completely different game.
:)
I have always found that Nintendo always strove for innovation - although that really bit them in the ass a few times *cough* *VirtuaBoy* *cough*
In any case, what did Sega ever put out that was that original?
Virtua Fighter series... Sonic 1... I can't think of more.
Just because the Nintendo games star the same characters, it doesn't mean they don't innovate - Mario64 was nothing like other platform/adventure games of the time. Pikmin was very unique. Playing Earthbound was rather like an interesting drug trip at times.
I could go on and on (as raving fanboys tend to do - for the record, I have/had a PSX, many PC games, gbc, gba, sega genesis, nintendo, sega master system, atari, etc - so I am more of a video game fanboy - I just really like Nintendo games
Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
What I'm waiting for is Monkey Ball 2..
Sega has the #1 sleeper hit for the gamecube right now.. Monkey Ball is by FAR the best game out for the system. It's got that cute-Nintendo-like-appeal. Extremely addicting. My buddies stop over and chuckle when I suggest we play Monkey Ball over Halo, GTA3, etc -- and then 5 hours later when we finish our last game of Monkey Target and can't hold our eyes open any more, it's time to put it away..
actually they already did just that in super smash bros.
basically every nintendo character ever made is in there.
MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
The brilliant thing about Paper Mario was how much depth the game had relative to how complicated it was--there was more strategy in defeating a monster than in any post-VI Final Fantasy game, yet the game was so much simpler. Actually, there was a whole lot of brilliant things about Paper Mario--much better than Mario RPG.
Mario RPG just came to mind because I was playing it last night... I love RPG's, and it fits the genre wonderfully, but I've found I like my RPG's on the well, less cutsey side.
;)
Gameplay was okay, but I thought the depth of the game was less than stellar. Just my opinion.
However... I was playing Luigi's Mansion on my brother's 'Cube and was totally sucked in! Geez that game's addictive!!! (yeah, and it's cutsey, I know)
I'm done with sigs. Sigs are lame.
I'll hold up Super Smash Brothers and Super Monkey Ball to any Nintendo or SNES game for fun, playability, or content. I'll agree that the 8/16 bit era of gaming was a golden age, but when I play some the Gamecube launch titles and look at Mario, Metroid, and especially Zelda screenshots, heck even some of my Dreamcast games, I start to suspect we might be starting a new golden age--that developers are finally starting to understand the medium of gameplay inside a 3d projections onto 2d surface.
And I can't stop.
I just can't stop. It's not fair. Don't buy it, you will never stop playing.
I never owned an N64 (no RPG's, bought a PSX) and regretted it - I love RPG's but I prefer the PC ones myself. Unfortunately, the console RPG's tend to be of the Fight/Level/Talk/Repeat, although it is nice when somebody introduces some new elements - my favourite console rpgs I played recently were Lufia 2 and Golden Sun (a bit generic and short, but the puzzles were ok, if a bit easy). But now I just play Morrowind.
Damn Morrowind has stolen my life. And I gave up DAoC to get into less addictive games. Oh well.
Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
The knock on this game is that it has a "kiddie" look to it. I was worried that might be the case, but after seeing the game in action, I'm glad to say it works.
It does have a semi-cartoony look to it, but I don't think it detracts from the game. Previous Zelda games have had what I would consider "kiddie" looks to them. Even Ocarina of Time made link look more like a little kid than an elf. What's been great about the Zelda series is the game play, which is deep and engrossing.
Playing the new game, you quickly get caught up in it, and the cell-shaded look just works. It hasn't been overused enough yet to be cliche (although it's getting close), and it fits pretty well with the Zelda franchise. And, after seeing screen shots, you think I'm an idiot, I'd advise you to hold off on your judgement. The screen shots don't do it justice. Before I got my hands on the game, they weren't convicing me, either.
Don't forget that Friday is Hawaiian shirt day.
Ah no, not a 'good ol days' post!
:)
Metroid looks to me like it will retain the atmostphere, but I maintain that the true thing of Nintendo games is that they are massive adventures that pull you in and wont let go. The atmosphere is crucial to the second-to-second experience, but IMHO, its the adventures, stories, and familiar characters that keep me coming back from more.
Call me a loser, but I really feel like I've accomplished a massive task when I finish a metroid or zelda game. Other huge games may have the atmosphere and flash down pat, but I rarely give a shit about the character and story. To me, thats the Nintendo Difference (well, and the polish. NOBODY polishes like Nintendo.)
I'm not sure Retro will fuck Metroid up. Remember, we've seen the action bits, but tons of the Metroid experience is about travelling, discovering, looking, etc. Details are thin, but this kind of experience looks to be preserved in Metroid Prime, even if it's not the kind of stuff you'd show in your 10 second vidcaps.
"Old man yells at systemd"
Innovative is perhaps the wrong word. I think "daring" is a little better. Sure, these are proven technologies, but this is a company with well-loved brands, and the fact that they are pushing them in new directions shows that they aren't stale.
And if you don't think that this is daring, witness then sound and fury directed at Nintendo for making Metroid an FPS and Zelda cell-shaded. They are risking things people know and love and trying to push them in directions that, while not totally new, are new for these particular products.
"I may not have morals, but I have standards."
...GameCube would be Marvel: continuously re-introducing old popular titles in the hope that old fans with new incomes will buy them and restore the company's fortunes.
...Sega would be Image: beautiful graphics time after time, but slow to realize that's not enough to keep them from crashing and burning.
...Sony would be Vertigo: late to the party, but chock-full of great stories with some truly radical, if not entirely beautiful, graphics.
...Microsoft would Dark Horse: rather than creating anything great on their own, buy up everyone else's popular ideas and market the hell out of them.
Mario Kart was cool, but bring me back Uniracers. That game got me through 2 years of college. If you want some fun, turn the tournament mode into a drinking game.
.anacron
I doubt you'll see any ports. Nintendo owns the licences for these titles, and there are a lot of people like me that will (did) buy a GameCube to play these games.
:)
Game titles that deal with Zelda, Metroid, Star Fox, and Mario typically have great game play. If you ask me, $150 bucks is a small price to pay in order to play Shigeru Miyamoto's games
Moreover, the fact that Capcom is only developing new Resident Evil games for the GameCube is another exclusive bonus for Cube owners.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
Hear, hear! Just thinking about this makes me want to start coding... Anybody want to pool money for a GC development kit??? ;)
I'm done with sigs. Sigs are lame.
What you really want is the Gamespot impressions from guys who have actually played these games:
Impressions
Perhaps its best the Zelda comes out next year. More time for Metroid and Mario.
That's definitely good. You can probably guess I'm not huge into games these days so I haven't been keeping up with all of it.
Still, a majority of games are 3D... I wonder if that trend will continue, or if there will be a resurge in 2D popularity once 3D has reached its "limits"? I could imagine it being analogous to painting. Ever since things could captured perfectly as photos, there has been an increase in abstract paintings. Could be an interesting thing.
mark
If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. -- Carl Sagan
It used to be hard and expensive, but with the libraries and graphics cards doing most of the work in 3D, writing a game in 3D is far easier. All you need to do now as a designer is:
1.) Design Models
2.) Design skeletal deformation scripts. (walk, run, jump, duck, roll)
3.) Write the game code.
4.) release the game title.
and if you want it to run on another system
5.) port the game code, and patch the few dissimilar graphics functions between machines.
It used to be that to build a game you had to:
1.) design models
2.) design skeletal deformations for all movements.
3.) render all movements and make dib sequences or some other indexed pre-rendered graphics sequences.
4.) write your own scene renderer for whatever format your game will follow.
5.) work out all the ugly crap that doesn't flow well.
6.) patch a cruddy game engine on top of your game 'cause your budget is now gone.
Then you had to go and trash everything if you wanted to do things better.
Now the market is flooded with people wanting you to use their 3D engine. They write all the graphics stuff and tweak it for library xyz which in turn is tweaked to run really well on xyz chip. Leaves the game developers free to design and build a better game.
My $0.02 will always be worth more than your â0.02, so
I really wish these titles would have been release titles, or maybe at the very least come out a little sooner than February. My GC doesn't have all that many worthwhile games out for it right now. Rogue Leader was fun for a bit, Luigi's Mansion got old fast, as did Crazi Taxi and Sonic. Super Smash Brothers is awesome and the best game I've played on the GC so far because Ihaven't gotten my hands on Monkey Ball yet and I hear it is just as addicting. The next title besides these I'm on the look out for is Clone Wars which looks like it will be pretty sweet to play.
Had Mario, Link, and Samus been in the initial wave of titles for the GC I think it probably would have sold even more units than it did. The classic Nintendo characters are franchises the XBox simply doesn't have and the playstation took several years to develop. I've played Metroid so many times I can hum the music to it on command. It disappointed me after getting my GC that some of the first games I had on my original Nintendo were going to take so long to get to it. The first Nintendo I got was the version with R.O.B and the light gun. From the get go I had Super Mario Brothers, Duck Hunt, and Gyroscope. Soon after I got Metroid and Kid Icarus which are two games I longed for on the N64 after I bought it off eBay. Zelda of course dominated a good deal of my time, I've got gold cartridge versions of both Zelda 1 and 2 lying around somewhere. I'm hoping these titles which have been in the works for a while turn out to be as entertaining as the originals. I thought Nintendo did a good job with Zelda 3 and Super Metroid on the SNES because for a while both games dominated my free time and cut into some of my sleep. While i would have hoped they came sooner I know three things I'm sticking on my wish list of nostalgic things.
I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
There is a Bionic Commando sequel for GBC, which plays just fine on GBA. It's cool and fun.
There's going to be a new Super Metroid style Metroid for GBA coming out in the next year.
A new 2D Castlevanaia was one of the better release titles for GBA, I highly reccomend it.
They're coming out with a port of Yoshi's Island.
I agree about Kid Icarus and Life Force, though. Also it would be mad rad if Capcom would release Megaman 2, 3, X, and X2 for GBA.
And Super Streetfighter, my god, that game Ruled. but I guess there wouldn't be enough buttons.
The real question is if Square could release FFIV, FFVI, Secret of Mana, and Chrono Trigger for the GBA. I would be *first* in line for any of those titles, especially CT.
In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
I dont remember MarioTM. Who is that?
Your
Here are a few quick Gamespot coverage links. They contain much more information than the Nintendo links and provide screenshots.
Metroid Prime hands-on
Super Mario Sunshine hands-on
The Zelda title gamespace
It seems there are many comments of the form "now I have a reason to buy a GameCube". It will be interesting to see if Nintendo's sales really defy the normal trends, and surge instead of levelling off.
I hate to be a member of the XBox team. Imagine the XBox and the GameCube drag racing down the freeway, the XBox pretty impressed by its own top speed, when suddenly the Cube rolls down his window and says "Hey, buddy, how do get this thing out of second gear?" The Cube then laughs, peels out going from fourth to fifth, and smokes the poor XBox.
-Paul Komarek
This is great news! I just today... today... bought a Gamecube and Super Smash Bros Melee. I just can't put it down. In fact, the only reason I'm on /. right now is because I have to eat dinner.
I haven't decided on Zelda yet, but from the looks of things Mario and Metroid are must-haves.
Now, somebody see about getting Bowser his own game.
Nintendo is so influential (at least it was in my life as a kid), that I STILL play Zelda: A Link to the Past on an SNES emulator for my Mac.
I converted to Playstation when Sega and Nintendo began to fade. Zelda 64, in my opinion, sucked... but I am confident "ZeldaCube" could be pretty good. Will I buy a GameCube to play it? If it brings back the mystery of exploration (like Link to the Past did but 64 did not do as well), I just might actually.
I love my PS2... but I do miss good ole Nintendo games.
The next comment I write will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
There's a great collection of screenshots and videos up on the ign website.
:-)
Personally I can't wait for Mario Sunshine.. Mario64 was easily one of the most entertaining games I've ever played and it can only get better from there
-- The only thing I can be absolutely sure of is that you are reading this.
I am obligated to post a link to the 7 year old 14 year old fanboy-created website from 1995. And given that its 7 years old, dont expect the forms to work!
HEY! Is anyone here young enough that they dont get the website I am spoofing???
slashdot: where everyone yells sarcastic metaphors to themselves to understand the issue
I see they have Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem too. Hmm, someone goes to Rhode Island and explores past lives, with sanity levels.
...
...
Sounds Cthulhoid to me
Who says GameCube is just for kids
Now if only they'd do The Sims for the GameCube, my world would be complete!
-
--- Will in Seattle - What are you doing to fight the War?
And Super Streetfighter, my god, that game Ruled. but I guess there wouldn't be enough buttons
Super street fighter II is on gba, and I can tell you it's bloody great. Much better than the crappy SNES versions, plays like arcade, but with a few new levels (ken's is cool, guile's is a bit shite)... Highly reccommended.
Send lawyers, guns, and money!
I have been following the Nintendo Gamecube news for some time. All the big games are far into the future. The release date for Zelda has been pushed back (IIRC this was announced after the price drop). Is Nintendo just trying to stop people from buying PS2, Xbox?
Seeing the preview video of Zelda reminded me of Those old Don Bluth games Space Ace and Dungeons & Dragons. They had comic humor, but more improtantly, they were completely animated (hand-drawn) games. The new Link has the animated look you might see in a cartoon rather than a video game. Even the new Samas Aran looks more stylish than real.
:)
I like this approach to V/G design. Sacrificing realism for style is definitely something that adds to the replay value of a game. I hate to sound like a Nintendo worshipper, but I think they've hit the nail on the head with these 2.
And incedentally, if I mysteriously disappear for a few days when these games come out...
Tell my parents that I'm very very happy
Those who can, do. Those who can't, simulate.
Kid Icarus, Bionic Commando, Metal Gear, Kung Fu, Metroid, Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, etc.
Damn, to go back to those days. I don't think there will ever again be an era of video gaming that was as fun as the early nintendo days. Grahpics sucked, sound sucked, and quite frankly the control usually sucked. That meant the designers couldn't rely on simply cinematic cut scenes, actor voice overs, realistic 3D rendering, and 5.1 surround sound explosions to sell games. They had to make them interesting and fun. With some exceptions, that sure seems to be a lost art today. Video games are a victim of their own technology. How many single player games exist that are worth going through twice, or ten times?
Contra? Metroid? Zelda? Hell I beat them more times than I care to remember, and had fun doing it each time. As much as I thought it was really cool, I only beat Max Payne once, then sold it. Same with all the recent final fantasy games. There is just no reply value anymore, since the whole point of most games seems to be to get through it to see all the cut scenes, then you are done.
Oh well, maybe at 23 I'm just past my gaming prime and too old to enjoy today's games. I still love playing them though (through an emulator). And today's multi player games mostly rock. But to go back to the days to great single player games...*sigh*
Now I'm all depressed. It's time for some Kid Icarus
*fucking eggplant wizards*
Finkployd
Anybody want to pool money for a GCN development kit??? ;)
Too expensive. You can get a pretty good set of GBA development hardware for under $300 at Lik Sang. Given that you probably already have a Windows computer (and if you don't, get one for $1000 at dell.com), I'll break down what else you need: $110 for a GBA with a pre-installed Afterburner internal light, $40 for an MBV2 cable to test out small (< 128 KB) programs, $100 for a flash cartridge and linker, and in the neighborhood of $30 for S&H from Hong Kong via EMS Speedpost. While you're saving up, you can learn the basics with Devkit Advance (GCC hosted on Windows or Linux and targeted for GBA) and VisualBoyAdvance (emulates the GBA's runtime environment).
Will I retire or break 10K?
Mario Cart? Which IMHO is the best racing game ever!
Except for the dozens of design and implementation bugs in the Mario Kart games. Super Circuit feels the most stable.
Will I retire or break 10K?
I can still hum most of the music perfectly for almost all the NES games, and the first wave of SNES games. The games today, except things like Hitman or GTA 1,2,3 have minimal replay value. Games that are fun to replay is how much murder can you get away with before you get nailed! Like in any of the games, you could get bigger, better and faster if you were more sklling.
;p
I remember wall jumping (the door wall ball unball warp trick) in Metroid to get the varia early, or killing lots of things to get the strength arrows faster in KID ICARUS! All neat little tweaks to twink out earlier.
EGG PLANT WIZARDS! AHAHAHAAAAAAAAA! Those freaks. The best. You had to find the hospital, and you best have a map. Remember you could negotiate the merchants in KID ICARUS with the second controller? Remember the map, torch and pencil? hehehe. The barrels, potions and feathers?
Rememeber the dungeon music?
Do deet do deet do deet do deet do deet;
Doweeey Dooowey dooooowey dewie dewie dewie dewie dewie doooo doooooooooo.
Doweeey Dooowey dooooowey dewie dewie dewie dewie dewie doooo doooooooooo.
Dooo, doo! doo... doooooooooo.
Dooo, doo! doo... doooooooooo.
Dooooooooo woooooo woooo woooooooooo!
Dooooooooo woooooo woooo woooooooooo!
hehehe. I can hum it to date.
Zelda II was my fav, and the SNES Zelda was awesome. I got so good at Zelda II, well, it was absurd.
Those games had room for mastery. Few games do today.
I tried Max Payne. I beat it. No replay value, IMHO. It was good, the best part was his grumpy dialogue in between stuff.
" ALARM! ALARM! " - Chinese Guards in HITMAN
Legalize the constitution. Think for yourself question authority.
Dude, you think too much about your video games. Just play them and have fun. If you're really bothered by cheezy stories, what are you doing playing video games in the first place?
You're assuming all games are "cheezy". I played Zelda for the adventure, intrigue and mystery. When I want to play a fun, comedic game I pull out Earthworm Jim or Super Mario 64. The Legend of Zelda doesn't fall into that category. I'm talking about a wonderful game series that got worse with every release. The first two Zelda games were wonderful adventures. Then the cheeze started to appear. If you never experienced the joy of originals first I suppose you might think the silly stuff was an essential element of the series.
This is just sad. I pity anyone who's developed a mindset that won't allow them to enjoy games like these. It's like saying that you don't/didn't like the muppets because they're all just stuffed animal puppets. It's *so* much more than that if you allow yourself to see it.
I actually like the Muppets. What I don't like is seeing a legend in gaming dragged through the mud. Here's an analogy: You're playing DOOM III, everything is dark and spooky and perfectly violent, and then you enter a room and are treated to a FMV sequence where a cheerful Barney the Dinosaur enters and hands you a vase full of yellow flowers, sings a song and then moves merrily on his way before you're allowed to play again. If this bothers you, would you consider yourself to have developed a mindset that doesn't allow you to enjoy the game? I think that any DOOM fan deserves pity if something like that wouldn't bother them.
Singing frogs just don't fit into the Legend of Zelda.
Remember "Bring 'em on"? *sigh
Beer certainly is one of the best parts of game playing. I'm sure it improves my aim on some games too.
I figure you would get a kick out of this (if you haven't seen it yet)
Payne Freeze
Finkployd