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E3 - Nintendo Shows DS Details, Realistic Zelda
An anonymous reader writes "Following the earlier leak of Nintendo DS pictures, there are hands-on details regarding Nintendo's handheld console over at GameSpot - Cube-Europe also has a list of Nintendo's first-party DS games, including 'Animal Crossing DS, Mario Kart DS, Metroid Prime: Hunters, a new Super Mario Bros game, Super Mario 64X4, and WarioWare Inc. DS'." Elsewhere, xDCDx writes "Nintendo just showed at their E3 conference a trailer of the new Zelda game for the Gamecube [there are also screenshots available], this time using a more mature visual look, rather than a cel-shaded one."
Remember the cool CG Link/Gannondorf battle Nintendo showed us before Gamecube came out? And then they created that annoyingly cute cell-shaded Zelda game instead?...I do
------- "From bored to fanboy in 3.8 asian girls" ----------
Before Wind Waker. Perhaps the gamecube could have done even better than it is currently. I'm not saying Wind Waker is a bad game, but Nintendo should have realized that the average gamer wants his franchises like they remember them and may not be willing to try something different right away. If they would have realeased a realistic zelda game first(remember at the time of gamecubes release there were a few teaser trailers for a realistic zelda game, then they announced the cel shading) it probaly could have bolstered game cube sales. After the cube was on a more solid footing, then they should have tried to branch out and try different things like the cel shading etc.
Miyamoto is a genious, but sometimes you just have to take care of business first!
...Could you get "Realistic Zelda" and it is a Headline :-)
I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. -- Hunter S. Thompson
Zelda looks simply AMAZING... They are finally giving the people what they want. Not to mention the DS which craps all over the PSP by Sony. Good times, and the show doesn't even start till tomorrow....
Ubuntu- Linux for human beings.
of course i didn't read the actual news item, this is slashdot.
My understanding is that Wind Waker 2 will also be cel-shaded.
quit trolling.
previous article only showed one picture of the DS
this has screenshots for zelda (WOW!), a trailer for for a new mario game, and an initial game list for the DS, plus more I probably missed.
Just because it's on the same topic doesn't mean its a dupe. This article has way more info than the 1st.
no comment
You know, I didn't mind the "Cell-da" look of the Wind Waker game. I acutally liked it, and my daughter (now 5, going on 12) liked it too. (Right after we finish "Kingdom Hearts" I've told her Link is next.)
I never got the cries of "mature Link" from folks out there.
But after that video - damn. It looks great (the castle looks a little blocky, but ah well), but the rest of it was, well, kick ass.
Will I still be able to play this game with my daughter? I think so. While there's still violence, it doesn't look like "blood and guts" - just the same kind of violence in other Zelda games, just now with better effects.
And that Balrog creature?
Here's hoping the next Zelda game is as long and wonderful as Ocarina of Time was.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
So, mmmmmmm. Delicious. All these systems! Games! Have your stupid "X will pwn Y" arguments, no one cares. The fact is that there's some good hardware coming out and you are free to buy whatever you like. Remember: Only YOU decide which one pwns the other. Both will be successful regardless.
"Nintendo just showed at their E3 conference a trailer of the new Zelda game for the Gamecube [there are also screenshots available]"
Ok, those look damn smoooooth if I say so myself BUT are those in-game shots or the dreaded "let's show the incredibly breath taking cinematic art and make it LOOK in-game even though we will soon find out after dropping 50 bones that the in-game graphics are as bad as ET the Extra Terrestial on the Atari 2600!"
After the kickass showing by Capcom with Viewtiful Joe, I can't wait to see what kind of madness they bring forward in VJ2.
Viewtiful Joe, Tales of Symphonia, and a few other games are enough to justify the purchase of a Gamecube. And now with VJ2 coming out, there's not reason not to get one.
I'll give MS credit - 4 years ago, you would never have thought that they would trump Sony... and they did. Halo 2 looks great and will sell a million+ copies in November-December alone.
But Nintendo owned the show. The crowd went absolutely bonkers when they showed realistic Zelda. And the skepticism was thrown out when the DS was revealed - it looks great.
In short, E3 2004 won Nintendo is's respect back from many people who had given up on Nintendo (I am not among those people - always loved Big N). It's like that Simpsons episode, where bart lets lisa into his germ "bubble" to try and win the hearts of the students back... "Look... Isn't Nintendo! And it's winning us back!"
As long as there's third party support, I've got a feeling that the DS will succeed.
Goo goo g'joob.
including 'Animal Crossing DS, Mario Kart DS, Metroid Prime: Hunters, a new Super Mario Bros game, Super Mario 64X4, and WarioWare Inc. DS'.
For a moment, I thought Nintendo was still milking Mario like there's no tomorrow. I'm so glad they're moving on and producing entirely new fun games, like Zelda...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
This guy is just another guy blabbing about how *he* doesnt like the visual effects of a particular game.
Tons of people (myself included) lived the look of Wind Waker, and besides, the game isn't about the graphics, its about the fucking GAME.
no comment
The games are good, and that's what matters most in the end. Don't like them? Don't buy the system. It's as simple as that.
Goo goo g'joob.
What about the Metroid Prime 2: Echoes quicktime movie?
Starfox quicktime movie?
Advance Wars: Under Fire screens?
DS high res renders?
WarioWare DS & Super Mario 64x4 screens? Metroid Prime: Hunters & PictoChat screens?
EToychest... Good times.
I think that the error was not the game itself, but to show one thing and deliver another. When The first Dolphin Demos (Dolphin = Gamecube project name) came in, the killer one was Link vs Ganon. But then they showed the Windwaker, with its celshaded look, and that drove many away. Probably had they showed the WindWaker images from the start, the reaction woulnd't have been so negative. WindWaker is still an awesome game, by the way, only too short.
but if those Zelda screenshots are live in-game shots then I might have to declare that resistance is futile..!
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
You are right. Project Gotham Racing, Halo, Metal Gear, GTA, Manhunt, Final Fantasy and every non-Nintendo game are pushing originality as well. Have you played the games or what?
"Great. I'm glad the ugly cel-shading fad didn't affect that franchise for longer than one ga"
Uh yeah, because being intolerable to cartoony graphics makes you appear oh so much more sophisticated.
"Derp de derp."
If the average gamer wants his franchises like they remember them, I would think that Cel-da would be THE game to own.
Compare the visual style of Zelda I, Zelda LTP, and even the N64 versions to Celda.
Now compare it to Real Zelda.
Yeah the first batch were cartoony, not realistic. So the realistic version is going to be trying something different.
Me personally remembers the storylines and gameplay of previous zeldas before I think of graphics. That's what I like about my franchises, continued excellence in the game, not the graphics.
-- taking over the world, we are.
Wow! As much as I loved the cel shading in Wind Waker, I'm glad to see Nintendo taking a different approach for the next title. Part of Nintendo's problem is their image of being a kiddy game company. Games like Wind Waker, though VERY impressive visually, only help to cement that image in peoples' minds.
There is no way in hell anyone's going to look at this new game (assuming those aren't pre-rendered shots) and say, "That's for kids! I don't want to play THAT!"
Did anyone notice that the thunder and lightning are out of order in the video?
Anybody else feel like the PSP was underwhelming after the barrage of cool stuff we got for the DS today? I really wasn't hyped about the DS until today. I dunno what it was specifically, I guess it was just imagining sitting on the recliner, connecting to the net via 802.11, playing somebody on-line, and using the stylus to type messages to them. I just feel like we're getting a portable that has come closer to being a PC. I mean, geez,imagine Command and Conquer on that thing.
"Derp de derp."
You know, I was just over reading Gamespot, thinking, "Damn, their site is slow, they don't usually have problems like this..." After a couple timeouts, got fed up, come over to Slashdot. "Oh, that's why..." =)
while the graphics in that video are really quite impressive, did anyone else notice that the sound still sounds like it's being generated on a SNES?! i know they are hurting for disk space on those little cds, but come on... you should be able to fit some better samples in there.
regardless, i think that this zelda may make me a gamecube owner.
R.I.P.
I wasn't aware that having eyes that hurt when exposed to saccharine-covered graphics made one inferior.
Rob (Pull your pants up, your fanboyism is showing)
The show hasn't even started yet! I'm as big a Nintendo fan as anyone but it's a bit early to be making such proclamations isn't it?
I'd buy one, but not for those cute games.
:)
I'd buy one just to have linux installed on it
#
#\ @ ? Colonize Mars
#
"(Pull your pants up, your fanboyism is showing)"
Pull your pants down, your masculinity isn't showing.
"Derp de derp."
Erm. And you're going to tell me next that Ocarina of Time is exactly how the average gamer remembered Zelda from the 8/16 bit generations. Ocarina of Time was a radical change from previous Zelda games, and it didn't do poorly at all.
That was a tech demo, not necessarily a game in development, as mentioned elsewhere.
And, as sibling comment stated, it's the gameplay, stupid. Wind Waker, as far as game engine went, was VERY similar to Ocarina of Time. For some inexplicable reason, though, people took one look at the game and decided it was bad BEFORE ACTUALLY PLAYING IT.
I, personally, disliked Wind Waker, but NOT because of the graphics. I personally rather enjoyed the graphical style. However, Wind Waker eventually devolved into endless sailing and one gigantic fetch quest with really nothing original about it.
You make the baseless assumption that Wind Waker hurt Gamecube sales. What makes you think this? And what makes you think that Ocarina of Time-style Zelda is more "realistic" and less likely to garner the same complaints of "kiddy" that idiots and fanboys spew about Gamecube games of all description?
This is my sig. There are many others like it, but this one is mine.
I like their take on Zelda.
The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination
- Douglas Adams
Oh it does make you inferior. You're missing out, obviously a newcomer and not a gaming "hipster".
Some Cartoony games of Awesomness:
Sam and Max: Hit the Road
Day of the Tentacle
Viewtiful Joe
TONS of good stuff that's "cartoony" was made prior to 1996 as well.
The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
"Too bad they didn't come out with this zelda game... Before Wind Waker."
Yeah, then we'd only have one game to play. Bummer.
"Derp de derp."
And N-Sider has some screenshots from GameCube/GBA/DS games, including all the DS first party titles. Looks like MKDS will have some courses from MKDD? And the new SMB game looks... well, a bit out of place, but cool nonetheless. Doesn't look like it's using the second screen that much, though.
I'm still stumpted as to why DS would be able to play GBA games if it's an entirely different system, but whatever. IGN seems pleased.
For every karma whore there are four more people with mod points to kill.
You do realize that every Zelda except for the N64 ones had a cartoon look to it, right? Probably the only reason the N64 games didn't have a cartoon look was because the N64 wasn't powerful enough to do cell shading.
Look at the instruction manual for Zelda 1. It's got pictures of every enemy in the game. There's the in game picture, and the "what it really looks like" picture. The later picture looks exactly like the Wind Waker art.
You realize that this looks absolutely nothing like this , right? The original Zelda, compared to RPGs of the time, had a cartoon look, and there was also a popular cartoon made out of the video game. Wild Walker definitely looks different than the original Zelda, but is more true than the new screenshots.
Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
GTA wouldn't have been possible without Zelda.
I also reply below your current threshold.
Some Cartoony games of Awesomness:
Sam and Max: Hit the Road
Day of the Tentacle
There's a difference between hand-drawn sprites and cel-shading. One is ugly; the other isn't. Though I admit that some cel-shaded games don't look completely awful (e.g. Robotech Battlecry).
Rob (I'll have to assume that the "hipster" comment was sarcasm)
I am a big Nintendo fan, and I have nearly bought a cube many times over. I have religously bought and played the F-Zeros and Zeldas as they have been released.
I haven't been compelled to buy a cube though -
Windwaker nearly pushed me over the edge, and F-Zero is amazing - but this Zelda is the one that is finally going to get me to buy!
Yay for Nintendo for getting this Zelda right!
Let's just hope that they don't screw it up by requiring a bunch of Gameboy Advance to get the most out of it... :P
My other account has a 3-digit UID.
You do realize that every Zelda except for the N64 ones had a cartoon look to it, right?
I refer you to the reply I made to buffer-overflowed.
Rob
Okay I was aware that it was coming but surely allowing a product to mature (much like what has been done with the playstation) would be a bit more beneficial?
So far I've got a GameCube, GameBoy Advance and GameBoy Advance SP and to total off the collection I guess I'll be getting the DS now but there appears to be alot of potential in the current platforms that is being ignored.
For example, broadband on the GameCube could be pushed further to actually selling the adaptors and membership as retail. Why not sell Games and online memberships (and top up kits) for connecting to online servers? Games set you back ~$99AU an online gaming pack could sell for around $40AU for something like 40 hours of gaming or more.
A company recently released a GPS connector for the GBA SP, okay it looks a bit cheesy driving around with a GBA on your dashboard but how about a more slimline, perhaps mature, design?
Wireless connections are a big thing with Nintendo (Wavebird wireless controller and GBA wireless) imagine being able to link up your GBA with the BroadBand adaptor then downloading games to your GameCube memory card for transfer to your GBA; perhaps make blank GBA Paks available for downloading cartoons or tv shows via the GameCube?
So early next year or there abouts we will have the GameCube NEXT platform (or whatever they plan on calling it) pretty much leaving people with a pile of 2-3 year old Nintendo consoles that may never be looked at again. Any ideas on what to do with them???
I wasn't aware that having eyes that hurt when exposed to saccharine-covered graphics made one inferior.
;)
No, it doesn't. But not being able to appreciate good gameplay OVER graphics which you dislike, is clearly a hallmark of inferiority
You make the baseless assumption that Wind Waker hurt Gamecube sales. What makes you think this? And what makes you think that Ocarina of Time-style Zelda is more "realistic" and less likely to garner the same complaints of "kiddy" that idiots and fanboys spew about Gamecube games of all description?
Because, in the early days people were looking for a "killer app" of sorts that would get them to buy the system. Luigi's Mansion, Pikmin, Super Monkey Ball, all great games, but not blockbusters(in terms of sales) compared to a lot of (lesser quality) ps2 games. Before the announcement of the cel-shading, there was a lot of buzz about how awesome the Zelda game looked. It caught the eyes of some people who were doubting Nintendo.
Nintendo (and Microsoft) needed to play catch-up with Sony, since their systems were released at a later date. To do this they needed something that would show the world how much the gamecube was capable of, and an eye catching Ocrinara of time-esque Zelda would have done the trick.
But instead in the average gamers eye it just re-inforced the baseless stereotype that the gamecube is for children. Nintendo has made some great games, and they are really good at producing innovative technologies(NES, game boy, gba, dsp), but they are not so great at playing catch-up(N64 and Gamecube).
You are right, the gameplay is all that matters, but does great gameplay always translate into a huge hit? Not always, neither do good graphics. Nintendo is a company first, and a game creator second. All I am saying is that maybe if they had acted as such they may have more of a market share right now.
If this comment had been made about MS, Sony, or EA, it would be modded 5 Funny right now.
Rob (Slashdot, land of the Nintendo fanboys)
Here's a mirror of what's on nintendo's official page:
http://centaur.acm.jhu.edu/~polymorph/zelda/
I hope nintendo do what i think they might do. The DS could be an awesome little gadget for surfing the net at wireless hotspots. Its got 2x lcd screens, why not have the top screen as the web viewer, and the bottom touch screen as a virtual keyboard. It's got all the capabilties for this to happen, it's just the question of weather nintendo will allow it or not.
But did anybody else notice the ad from Microsoft saying Windows Server 2003 outperforms Redhat? And then looked an inch lower to see it was on Slashdot's homepage?
in the early days people were looking for a "killer app"
three words: rogue fuckin' leader
I also reply below your current threshold.
They need to come up with some better suspense building taglines to go along with their cool looking game. Seriously.
Grow up, are you a fucking first grader?
We've actually got a lot of fun out of Pacman Vs - and I think there's some entertaining connectivity games to be made. But the GameCube doesn't have enough titles right now, and making high-quality/small-audience titles like these 2 is sort of a kick in the shin.
Four Swords may have required this staggering amount of hardware as part of the game - but it should have been optional on FF:CC.
I'm sure some people have that hardware (or know enough people with GameBoys) - but lots of us don't, and still want to play games with friends that don't have GBA's.
Let's not stir that bag of worms...
So now Nintendo's cool again?
Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
I haven't played Wind Waker, which is why I've never made any claims on its gameplay. But claims about its graphics are quite easy to make, and since we have no clue what the gameplay of "Real Zelda" will be like either, they are the only claims that are relevant.
Rob
This guy is just another guy babbling about how *he* thought that sitting in front of the tv waiting for the stupid sailboat to finally get where it was going was FUN!
collected all those maps yet? sail over to tinkel to get them decoded. oh, don't have enough rupees because you assumed that like all other zelda games you have more than enough already? sail somewhere to get more, sail back to find out that the price has increased so you need to sail around to get more rupees repeat
got the maps decoded? good! now sail around to find all eight shards of the triforce. but they won't be in dungeons or anything- that would be too fun. nope, they're just all burried in the ocean. sail around some more!
oh yeah, there's a spell to warp, but you can't warp just anyway. warp to the nearest grid and then SAIL the rest of the way!
/bin/fortune | slashdotsig.sh
Being able to use your sword while riding your horse is cool, but does it kinda look like the gameplay is identical to Wind Walker, which itself is pretty much identical to the N64 Zelda games? I mean I like those games, and I don't necessarily have any brilliant ideas on improving the gameplay, but am I the only one hoping for a change in the gameplay?
Nintendo...Nintendo...Nintendo. I have come to the conclusion that Nintendo will be the first do develop MatrixPocket. For controlling that masses and robot glorification. MatrixPocket, will include > QUAD screen, and backlighting, with optional neck neural controller tube and 4 included Zelda games. Don't forget the high-def Japanese girls dancing as a screen saver to your new alternate reality. Cost: Your soul.
Nintendo has totally dominated E3 before (2002 was big, as I recall). Nintendo knows how to put on a good show. Yet, even though Nintendo may blow you away with a number of platform games and new toys, that doesn't mean Nintendo is going to kick ass in the wake of E3.
Nintendo has a lot of work cut out for them. They need to find a way to save their dwindling portion of the home console market, and they need to find a away to combat the PSP.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
But anyway, the point being.... an existing franchise can still be the basis for very innovative games.
As much as people complain about all the sequels, the reality is, it is infinitely easier to sell a game, new ideas or not, if it builds on a franchise people already like. Just as with movies, when you have a built-in fanbase, it makes sense to use it. As unfortunate as it is, it becomes a lot more difficult to be successful with a wildly new game if the characters and setting and world are completely known..... certainly not impossible, but it IS more difficult.
If it means that Nintendo develops some very cool new game but puts Mario in it, rather than some unknown character, in order to help make sure it does well, I say more power to them.
-Tom
I'm a big Zelda fan. I didn't like the cartoony cell shading bit in the first gamecube variant, so this totally blows me away.
It's worth pointing out that this game doesn't just look better because I *like* the realistic style better (and I do), but it also looks technically superior- compare with comperable earlier games.
I know that's what we expect from computers, but I always expect that the 3D things are just generated from a largely static graphics engine- it's good to see what looks (at least from my perspective) like innovation.
Man, I cannot *wait* to play this.
My prediction? November 2005.
(I didn't see a release date, so I'm just guessing)
^ cfalcon
"Grow up, are you a fucking first grader? "
Grow up? You're the one posting anonymously pretending you're somebody else. If you can't take a little of what you've dished out, then you got some maturing to do.
"Derp de derp."
Mmm. Another Mario Kart is always nice, and Metroid looks good. Apparently Mario 64x4 has a good multiplayer mode, so it makes it worthwhile (was what the last 3D multiplayer mario game you played? gotcha :)
I'm not too happy about Animal Crossing DS. I have the Gamecube version, and it bored me after a while. My sister still plays, so that is why I keep it around. Original games? Not from Nintendo this time! but have you looked at the pac-pix demo from Namco? It sounds freaking awesome.
Yea it was sarcastic.
Cel-shading is an attempt to do real-time hand drawn animation style graphics. Wind Waker did it well, it just had a really cutsey style. Viewtiful Joe also did it well, in a different almost Jet Set Radio style. Jet Set Radio Future was a cool cel-shaded game as well.
Also, screens of Wind Waker and Viewtiful Joe really don't do the games justice. You need to actually play them.
Still, I didn't feel anywhere near as demasculated playing Wind Waker as I did playing "Kingdom Hearts" during the Under the Sea stage.
The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
The Spaceworld demo was just a tech demo...a couple of seconds to show off pretty images and that's it. The new Zelda stuff actually looks like more like a game demo.
This post sponsored by Ninja Burger. "
1-Download 17MB file on Apple G5 computer
2-Start QT and wait 20 minutes before it starts to play
3-Move on to next story
Oh yes. The worst moment for me in Wind Waker was right when "The End" displayed at the end of the rather drab and uninteresting finishing movie. I could only think one thing: "That's IT?! "
I didn't really like the graphics style, but it wasn't really all that bad. The gameplay was good too - far superior to the N64 Zeldas. (Mainly due to improved camera control and an improved auto-jump so that Link doesn't randomly jump into pits and burning pools of lava.)
It was the far-too-simple puzzles and lack of a really interesting story line prevented me from ever getting too interested in the story or really ever having any fun.
(Then, of course, there were the far-too-stupid puzzles - hey, we give you clues to find the ghost ship, but you need to find the map that points right at the damned thing if you actually want to go on it! I wound up chasing the ghost ship for about an hour before giving up and looking it up online to discover that you need the map to it to actually go on it. Why do I need the map if I can find it on my own?! You gave me all the information to find it without the map! Too bad they gave no hints as to how to get on the ship - just how to find it. Obviously they expect you to be too stupid to notice these hints and think that everyone's going to go looking for a map instead. It's that type of illogic that makes puzzle games frusterating.)
While this Zelda looks far nicer, it's going to be the gameplay and story that eventually make it win or lose. There was some interesting new stuff in Wind Waker (like the Deku Leaf to allow you to float) - hopefully we'll get some cool new things in the new Zelda to keep things interesting.
Although the one thing I would really like to see in a new Zelda game is something other than the freaking Master Sword be the central component. That thing has been used far too often as the central plot point - make Link go get a new sword for once! It's been the corner stone of three of the last four Zelda releases on the console. (I lost track of the Game Boy releases.) It's time to let it rest - forever - like the text said at the end of Link to the Past.
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
Haha, Wild Walker? But yeah, I agree. The originals were all happy and cartoony, Ocarina was more serious and dark.
why don't you go back to sucking dick in the parking lot, okay rob?
Holy crap in a pita, that music was terrible. I'm willing to bet that the end product will have shitty synthesized sounds as well. Even FFXI went that route, and there's no excuse there (they certainly aren't worried about space, given the 7GB install). I swear, game music is one of the most overlooked facets of design these days.
"So let's get a couple of things straight
...
;)
We know that this is your third stop on the press tour of the last 24 hours
We know what you've seen and heard
So let me draw a comparison:
One of our competitors is a manufacturing company from japan who wants to capture every one of your entertainment dollars transporting ALL your content between ALL your electronics devices on THEIR memory sticks.
We're not that company.
And there's another company out there who doesn't care WHAT you do as long as you do it on THEIR operating system
We're not that company either.
".. And then trails off with some cheesy thing about how Nintendo is all about the game
The analysis of the other two incumbents is pretty spot on
Is it ugly? I find when it's well done, it looks quite good. And whereas I'll admit that many games have done it poorly, Wind Waker was not one of those.
Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
Nintendophiles has some more info, along with a torrented press conference.
The Human Cow - bringing you scrumtrelescence since 1995
Wer Deustchland Liebt?
Samus Aran's about to make you her bitch. Again.
Wind Waker is a bad game, but Nintendo should have realized that the average gamer wants his franchises like they remember them and may not be willing to try something different right away.
Umm, call me crazy, but I remember the original Zelda as being cartoony. In fact I just played Link to the Past the other day and yep, it was cartoony.
So what did you mean by "something different"? Wouldn't the new, realistic one be "something different"?
Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
Here's how developers can reduce connectivity female-dogging: If players choose to use GameCube controllers instead of GBA systems, put the players' personal views in windows at the corners.
The DS is an ARM9 processor and the GBA was an ARM7. Actually the processor on the DS which controls the second screen is an ARM7, maybe it's even the same ARM7 which was used in the GBA. If that's the case, what is so hard? Just run the GBA cames on the second CPU.
Personally I find it much more impressive that the GBA, an ARM7 system, can run games from GBC, which was a modified Z80.
Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
Why didn't they nix the anthro lizards?
Bwahahaha.
FF:CC would be *impossible* to play multiplayer with regular controllers. Each player has their own inventory
Which can be mapped into a pop-up window at screenside, no?
Besides, any self respecting geek should have a GBA already.
If Nintendo keeps attacking flash cart vendors, what geek would be able to buy one in order to use a GBA as a music player or PDA? They'd buy an iPaq or Zaurus PDA instead.
Sure, blame Nintendo for innovating a new way to play video games, that'll teach them to try anything new.
Blame Nintendo for making the most expensive current console now that the PS2 is down to $150 and a GCN + GBA with non-defective display + cable is $210?
What? You think it's just Nintendo?
What about Sony? Look at the PSP (PlayStation Portable) list:
* Ape Escape
* Dynasty Warriors
* F1 Racing
* Medieval
* Metal Gear Solid
* NBA Street
* Need for Speed Underground
* NFL Street
* Tiger Woods
* Tony Hawk Pro Skater
* Twisted Metal
* Wipeout
I can easily imagine this: A lazy dialogue/cutscene that takes a while for realtime, without loading the CPU much, while the game engine renders frames of the high-action cutscene is to be shown in a moment. Frames rendered at 5-20FPS, but stored in memory and then replayed from RAM at 60FPS, with hyper effects impossible to achieve on this CPU at this speed. Old demosceners know all that tricks. I don't know if Nintendo actually used it, but I see no reason why they couldn't.
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
The PSP might be a good system but it won't play my ancient Gameboy games. Nintendo will stay dominate in this market as long as it remains backwards comparable.
If the internet has taught us anything, its that there is a market for old games with horrible graphics, heck even text based games are thriving online. Some exciting new handheld isnt going to remove are desire for nostalgia.
Now if the PSP released a bunch of old games from Atari, Sega, Intelevision, and NeoGeo they might have something.
As for Link I hope its great. Ocarina of Time was beautiful and excellent but it had such a slow start, more random brainless fighting please. I still say the A Link to the Past is the best one so far, hope this changes my mind.
Shick's Law: There is no problem a good miracle can't solve.
I actually RTFA and this is the quote that grabbed me:
" The most notable demo starred Sega's own Sonic the Hedgehog. The demo proper was displayed in the top DS screen and featured Sonic running through a familiar island setting. You could control Sonic's movements by using the stylus on the lower touch screen. Tapping the screen made Sonic jump, while sliding the stylus across the power meter style image on the lower screen let you build up Sonic's speed. The more you slid the stylus, the faster an onscreen meter built up. Every time the meter filled, Sonic's speed would bump up to a higher level. Another component of the demo let you manipulate the camera on Sonic--you could switch between different angles on the fly by tapping icons on the touchscreen. The graphics in the demo looked good and ran at a smooth clip. Texture detail and polygon count were respectable but didn't quite match the quality of console hardware. The effects used as Sonic's speed leveled up were pretty slick and made use of a wide variety of color and particle effects."
This business of using someone else's trademarks (and copyrighted work) for commercial purposes just can't be a smart move, even if it was done in jest. Has there been some Nintendo-Sega agreement of which I am unaware?
Make cheese not war 8:)
Where is the link to the SDK? I thought this was news for nerds...
What! You mean more realistic than this?
quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
The PSP will be able to produce graphics over the level of what the Dreamcast did
http://hardware.editme.com/psp-review-sony
That realistic Zelda looks just like Morrowind. Sure it's technically impressive, but it could be any fantasy game. The cel-shaded Zelda at least had some character to it.
A previous poster linked the movie for the new Metroid Prime... it doesn't look like much of a departure from the other GameCube Metroid, which in my opinion is probably a good thing. I can't think of too many ways they could improve on Metroid Prime.
I agree with you that the gameplay should be the deciding factor, but the storyline?? That is probably the WORST part of zelda games. They're the same story every time.
Always the same boy who discovers he's a hero, you collect three trinkets and get the same master sword. You then complete a few more dungeons and fight the same final boss and rescue that same princess.. for what reward? Oh I get the TRIFORCE again, I never saw that coming!
It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
Thank you, total fringe lunatic who obviously doesn't have children or even really remember what it was like to be a child.
You know, some of us have no problem dissociating the product being produced from the political motives of the people producing it. I'm not defending Disney's political agenda-- I hate infinite copyright as much as the next geek worth his NaCl-- but for the love of god, don't deny kids the chance to be kids just because you don't like who the producer voted for. If you're going to find something wrong with the Disney ouvre of work, look for it in the content and not in the context. Context changes and is subjective. Show me hard evidence that a Disney production-- not a law they endorsed, not a bill they lobbied for against, but an actual, released to the public (or not) work with the Disney name-- was harmful to the people at large and children in particular, and I'll immediately destroy anything of theirs I own. Till then, keep your psychotic viewpoint away from my cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Oh, and you should play Kingdom Hearts to promote one of the most US-friendly video game producers today.
"Why Subscribe?" Good question...
You can't get rid of the Master Sword without getting rid of Ganon.
you need those peripherals to play a very few selected games, just like in the case of GBA + GCN connectivity.
FF:CC and Four Swords are only the beginning. An increasing number of GCN games require the GBA peripheral. Let's see if your position holds after E3, when Nintendo releases even more games that require connectivity.
and i have to admit that the DS sounded like a really gimmicky, stupid washout (*another* gameboy?). now that i've seen the screens and read the impressions it looks a lot tastier. and the gameboy compatibility is a smart move.
i'll probably buy a gamecube or DS or both of the damned things. advance wars for the 'cube? rock on.
This isn't the first time Nintendo has used the over-under screen combination for a portable game. In fact, the first time this layout was used was in 1982 in one of the old Game & Watch games. Amusingly, a version of Zelda was even released in this configuration.
Also worth mentioning is the fact that a multi-screen G&W was also the first Nintendo system to debut the d-pad, the little cross-shaped directional control that replaces an un-thumbable joystick. More than 20 years later it has been copied by everybody and is still used on every console you can buy at SuperTarget.
If you're going to find something wrong with the Disney ouvre of work, look for it in the content and not in the context.
Other than pro-gay slants? Other than decreasing script quality (apart from Pixar, who will leave Disney soon)? Other than the fact that many Disney Store products are made in sweatshops that pay less than a subsistence wage?
And what about the accidental obscenities in Disney products marketed to families with children? Examples of Disney's poor quality control include the accidental dick on the cover of The Little Mermaid , the "SFX" in The Lion King that one could easily mistake for "SEX", or "Squash banana, asante sana" sounding too much like something more obscene? And what about the real topless woman in The Rescuers ?
Oh, and you should play Kingdom Hearts to promote one of the most US-friendly video game producers today.
How can I play this Square game for GBA without funding The Walt Disney Company's lobbying efforts for Bono Act II and DMCA II?
PLEASE tell me that they did not cancel the Wind Waker Sequel just because they're making this other game, too. I mean, I guess I'm looking forward to this new one, but it's hard to be happy when everything is pointing to the cel shaded Wind Waker sequel being scrapped to make room for this. So has anyone found anything that still points to Wind Waker 2 still existing?
--The universe will not be altered by forum threads, even those which are very wry. --Tycho Brahe (Penny Arcade)
With movies like this, who needs pr0n?
--- Where's my car, and why are these grass stains on my pants?
. . . although it was a foregone conclusion by this point:
I enjoyed Wind Waker a lot, and thought the cell-shaded graphics were great. I never saw the realistic Zelda trailer that seemed to cause so much dissapointment when the cell graphics were revealed. Personally, I think it carries the style of the older games -- especially Link to the Past, the greatest of Zeldas -- perfectly. Graphically, anyway. The game itself wasn't perfect, but lots of fun. I'm not going to complain about the graphics in the new one, though -- they look great too.
Veering off topic, Beyond Good and Evil is a cell-shaded adventure game similar to WW but superior in almost every way, IMNSHOBIK. The graphics are better, the environments more detailed, the story more interesting, the characters more entertaining. My one complaint is that it's short -- about as long as WW minus the scour-the-ocean bits. Which is sort of a theme of the game: not annoying the players. Suitable for children, too.
The enemies of Democracy are
HELL F*CKING YES.
I want to have sex with the screen shots, they look that good. Or at least kiss them vigourosly.
Well? Why not? He's been completely destroyed like three times already.
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
So they hired Legolas to play Link now? The resemblence is uncanny.
The thing is, Square generally does inject originality into each installment of the Final Fantasy series. Pretty much every game uses noticably different game mechanics, different characters, storyline, etc. The innovations aren't earth-shattering, but they are there.
What Nintendo has, basically, promised at this point are rehashes. A remake of Mario 64, another Mario Kart game (a series which hasn't really changed since the SNES games), and a few things that seem to be functionally to expansion packs to existing titles. Even the Zelda game, which, don't get me wrong, has me drooling, probably isn't going to differ dramatically from earlier entrants in that series, as few Zelda games ever do.
Then again, I don't blame Nintendo, really. Super Mario Sunshine tried some new things with the Mario series, and that game was greeted with overwhelming antipathy from a public that seemed, basically, to want a clone of Mario 64. But, with the exception of Animal Crossing, I'd like to see some more truly unique games getting the sort of press that, say, greets the latest Mario game repackaging....
Sean Daugherty "I have walked in Eternity -- and Eternity weeps."
Nice way to dodge the point being made.
Never mind the fact that Wind Waker was a perfect sequel of sorts to Ocarina of Time. I don't understand people who just refuse to play a game and dismiss it based on its graphics. That should never be the basis for judging a game. Some of the best games were hardly the best graphically when they game out.
And I don't care what you say about how its easy to judge the graphics. You can't judge the game itself without having played it, and therefore should just keep quiet about it until you do play it (if you do). My brother dissed Wind Waker tremendously until he actually played it, and after that he loved the game.
I don't care how much one of these things costs, handheld Metroid Prime and handheld Mario 64 guarantee that I will get one. WANT NOW!
The inevitable homebrew SNES emulators guarantee that I will enjoy it for a very long time.
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
Wouldn't it be nice if this thing had a video out port?
You mean Nintendo, the champion of online connectivity? The first one that jumped to optical media? And who could forget how fast they made a color portable with a backlight.
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
The new Zelda looks like it completely owns. I won't be surprised if Nintendo sells a shitload of Cubes just because of the trailer for this game.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
You can have your Halo2. Link fucking owns. =P
I clicked on your links (shocking, I know) and snopes confirms the topless woman in The Rescuers, but the "accidental dick" is listed as false, as well as the "squash banana" sound clip. As for the "SFX" in the Lion King, it is undetermined, but really it is extremely hard to notice and who really gives a damn if it says sex? Sex can also mean gender, or they could have really been trying to put SFX in there, OR they may have wanted to write "Sex" in some dust. I am just leaning towards this post being a troll.
They should at least make an effort to come up with new titles for the rehashed games every time they come out with a new unit. Like "Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Brothers 3?" There's no reason why they had to have two numbers and cram the "Advance" in there.
And now we're going to see it all over again with the new console. Maybe they'll call the "Advance Wars" port "DS Wars." But probably it'll be "Advance Wars DS."
"There are some people who, if they don't know, you can't tell 'em." - Louie Armstrong
I think it is apparent by now that online gaming is a bit more than in it's infancy and if WarpPipe can enable 2 Gamecubes to connect online via a DSL connection and attract players to use it then there is a market.
Why not develop Half Life 2 for all consoles? The servers already exist and if you can get a PC and console to operate co-operatively then I can't see what the problem is.
WarCraft 3, StarCraft BroodWar, Unreal Tournament, Quake 3 Arena, all these games already have servers available to connect to so why don't we see ports of these games to consoles? I haven't played a game on my PC since I got my GameCube because I know the console is 100% designed for games and it's not supposed to do anything else which is why it kicks ass compared to having to buy a new 256mb graphics card for my PC.
Wake up Software houses! A majority of Software houses develop on most if not all platforms and we should have seen mixed platform compatibility/playability online at least 3 years ago but as usual there is noone who wants to make the first move. Lets hope the connectivity in GameCube and the new GameBoy may be able to push for more online Gaming.
The plot of that is one of the strangest things I've ever run into... Since you clearly haven't played it I won't list spoilers, except to say that none of the normal Princess/Ganon/Triforce elements are in there. It's truly twisted in the classic "what the hell are these Japanese thinking" way.
The gameplay was Zelda, but the plot was very cool and unusual. There have been other experiments, like Link's Awakening on the GB.
The thing is, people only PLAY the ones that have the classic story. The others tend to be forgotten classics, even when given away free.
Actually, no it isn't. To clarify: Cel-shading is the only way to create cartoonish graphics in a real-time 3D engine. Cel-shading is ugly. Therefore, there are only two non-ugly ways to make Zelda:
1. Make Zelda 2D again.
2. Make Zelda not cel-shaded.
Since #1 is unlikely to be accepted by most gamers, #2 is the only non-ugly way to make Zelda. Since non-ugly is better than ugly, #2 is the way Zelda "should be."
Rob
this time using a more mature visual look, rather than a cel-shaded one.
I've watched the new Zelda video about three times, and I firmly believe that Wind Waker looks more "realistic" than this new Zelda. What I mean is this: watch the trailer for Wind Waker and if you didn't know any better you'd swear it's an animated feature. There is little difference in Wind Waker's presentation, if any at all, and a well drawn cartoon. Watch the new Zelda trailer, the "realistic" Zelda, and there's little realism. You can tell, immediately, even from a screenshot that this is a video game. Sure, the graphics are fantastic. But the bar to which you're holding it too, reality, is much higher than that of the animated Wind Waker. Miyamato is well aware of this, and cited this in defense of Wind Waker. I am curious what he thinks of this new design.
What's more is that the graphics in the new Zelda are not stylized. They're generic, to be frank. It's a guy in green riding on a horse out of a generic look fantasy castle. This is a scene that could've dropped straight out of the ass of LOTR, with its trolls and army of orcs with clubs, massing on poorly textured hills. In fact, until you see Link up close, this may very well have come from any number of E3 firstlook videos. Even the vaporware Fable has more style than this Zelda.
I suppose this is closer in style, perhaps, to Ocarina of time. But technology was what limited Ocarina, and Nintendo bravely sidestepped that ever present technological limitation with Wind Waker by animating it. This is a step in the wrong direction for the Zelda franchise. Will it sell more? Sure. Is it more creative? Based on this trailer, no.
Mark my words: this Link will have collision detection problems. You'll spin the camera and see the inside of something else. Because this new world is trying to look realistic, when something happens that defies realism, a box falling awkwardly, or enemies disappearing, or whatever number of usual video game annoyances, it will break the spell. We're used to it because it's video games. But that rarely happened in Wind Waker, and that's part of what made it so great. When enemies disappeared in Wind Waker, for example, it was acceptable and perhaps even more dramatic that they disappeared in a puff of dark evil smoke. Why? Because it was not a "real" world, the animation style created a sense of surreality. I may be too harsh on an early video here, but I see not even a sliver of the emotion in "realistic" Link that I saw in Wind Waker's "Link." The graphics are unquestionably impressive. However, this new Zelda has no character, no style, no color, and no artistic focus to it.
And I take offense to the original poster claiming that this is more "mature." It isn't. Animation does not equal immaturity and (perceived) realism does not equal maturity. In fact, Wind Waker was one of the most emotionally jarring and touching games I've played in a long, long time, and I would argue was far more "mature" than GTA3 and its derivatives. The ability to connect through the television screen and the beyond the controller, to transcend the game on an emotional level, demonstrates far more maturity than better graphics. Shame on you for thinking otherwise.
no good games except MGS, and maybe, maybe NFSU, but on a portable they will suck
I have tried playing Wind Waker and found it to be a higly overrated game that seemed to use the controversy over its graphics as a distraction from its shortcomings.
"I think so, Brain, but 'instant karma' always gets so lumpy." - Pinky
"Decepticons FOREVER!!!" - Ravage
I think most of the problems with how Wind Waker looked were the character designs. That bright, happy, deformed look works well for something like a Kirby game or a Mario game, but doesn't suit the atmosphere of most Zelda games. My impressions of what the games were really supposed to look like were dictated by how Hyrule was depicted in the instruction booklets.
"I think so, Brain, but 'instant karma' always gets so lumpy." - Pinky
"Decepticons FOREVER!!!" - Ravage
I could understand if you said you didn't like like cartoon style graphics. If you left things at that, it would simply be a matter of taste and would be understandable.
But Zelda looks better than the vast majority of cartoons. You've got a lot better sense of depth than in hand drawn cartoons. The motion is smooter. The shading is better than in most cartoons. Yes, the shading in game isn't as detailed as it is in the hand drawn pictures in the instruction book, but, those are single frame drawings. Animations are never as high quality as single frames.
I could understand if you said you didn't like like cartoon style graphics. If you left things at that, it would simply be a matter of taste and would be understandable.
But Zelda looks better than the vast majority of cartoons.
Are you trying to tell me that this isn't a matter of taste?
Rob
The only break from this pattern is releasing the DS and running it alongside the GBA. And...well if it revolutionizes gameplay then I'm happy they did it. If the second screen is just a cheap gimick then I'll be angry at them for spreading their games over three systems.
OMG, just poke out my minds eye why don'tcha!
The photos of the unit at the GameSpot link appear to be fake. Overlaying the images atop each other and performing a difference reveals them to have identical pixels outside of the screen contents.
You mean Nintendo, the champion of online connectivity?
Also the only one who's done it right with the Nintendo DS? Nintendo has said for a long time that they have their own strategy for online gaming. Who wants a keyboard while you're in the middle of playing a game?
The first one that jumped to optical media?
And optical media is better than solid state? Optical media is only cheaper (more capacity is cheaper).
And who could forget how fast they made a color portable with a backlight.
Which is still more expensive and more costly than the portable they still sell without a backlight, and still has shorter battery life.
Don't forget that they're the first company with a system that did full 3D graphics and analog control with force feedback (with pixel shaders and anti-aliasing to boot), with 4 controller ports. And the company that set the standard for 3D third person games with Mario 64 and Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The first system to offer 1st party wireless control. And did optical storage right with fast load times. Hell, even the Dreamcast has far better load times than the PS2. And the 3DO has significantly better load times and far better audio than the PSX (SF2 for the 3DO lets you start a fight within 30 seconds of turning it on. PSX takes two minutes). Sony can't learn from their mistakes. How useful is two joysticks compared to analog L and R buttons, which started with the Dreamcast?
You can't develop everything; every feature has a trade-off. At least when Nintendo brings something to market, they do it right.
Moderators should have to take a reading comprehension test.
nt
Hey! How did you know my name?
Now I might misunderstand -- it's possible that your point is, "I won't buy any more stuff from Disney, because I don't like what they're doing with my money, but I'm certainly not going to stop watching/playing the movies/games they produced that I *already* own." I can't argue with that, not really. (The best I could do would be to say that allowing your kids to experience that content might impel them to want more of it, which puts at odds your desires to A) give your kids what they want and B) not give money to Disney, but the connection is tenuous, since your kids would probably get a lot more of their desire for Disney stuff from external influences (friends, advertising) than they would from watching stuff you already own.)
But from the way you phrased your post, it sounds like you're saying what I thought you were originally saying, so perhaps you could clarify?
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
I'm using Quicktime Player v.6 with W98se.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Tahya al-moqawama al-Iraqiyah!
*looks at screenies* Holy shiat. PSP = Nintendo's bitch.
Please flee in terror in an orderly manner.
I was a tad bit disapointed at the ending too, but I thought the game was great.
But if not the Master Sword...what, the slave sword?
Ba-dum-tshhhh!
Thanks, I'll be here all week.
Seriously, I think Zelda is something you like or you don't. Yeah, they're all kind of the same, but that's the point. Link and Zelda keep getting reincarnated or whatever along with Gannon and the Master Sword must be found, the Triforce assembled, Zelda saved, and Gannon defeated. I mean, that's what Link does. I mean, I don't think a game about Link trying to start a successful business and Zelda trying to make it as an actress in Hyruly-wood would be much fun. And yes, I know that's a very silly example.
Personally, I thought the story for Wind Waker was pretty cool.
*SPOILERS*
*SPOILERS*
DO NOT READ!!!
IGNORE THE REST OF THIS POST!!!
*SPOILER*
*SPOILER*
<SPOILER>
I liked how the world turned out to be a flooded version of the old world and how you got to visit Hyrule castle under the water. Thought that was a neat aspect of the story.
</SPOILER>
*END SPOILER*
*END SPOILER*
Whatever. For all Nintendo's "innovation" they over promised and under delivered. The Playstation had more great games than the N64 had games. Sure there were a few that stood out, but not many people want a video game system to play one or two good games a year. Most N64 games just looked really blurry and had embarrassingly plain textures. In the end, I'd argue the Playstation ended up delivering slightly more detailed 3D environments. They just lacked gimmicks like blur and fog the dick out of everything.
And I'm not sure why you are defending their decision to stick with cartridges for the N64. I would bet cash money that in hindsight Nintendo would have went a different direction. It turns out that being able to load stuff in a tiny game in miliseconds didn't end up being as important to most people as just having lots of stuff in the game that they wanted. I guess we just have things called attention spans.
Oh, and the Nintendo 64 wasn't the first with four ports, though it certainly was the first that the average person would recognize. Do a little research into old game consoles. You may even find an appearance or two of the analog controls Nintendo "innovated."
And come on, even the Atari Jaguar had full polygon 3D graphics (Cybermorph comes to mind). Sure they looked like ass but claiming Nintendo busted onto the scene inventing full 3D games is ridiculous fanboy nonsense.
Still, the DS looks great and so far I'd get one before I got a PSP.
I know this doesn't negate your point, but the original Zelda pretty much *had* to have cartoony graphics. When you have a handful of pixels and colors to make your characters, that's what you tend to wind up with for better or worse. Who's to say which is which is an other issue.
I am saying exactly what you think I'm saying, and it makes perfect sense because I rationally know that I cannot control what Disney (or any company) does with the money I give them. Nor should I care, unless that company outright says what its proceeds benefit (like a charity or something). I don't wish to exert that control over anyone.
It's a risk you take in any purchase. Let's say you buy a bottle of soda (or beverage of your choice) at the store. How do you know that that money does not, at some point along the chain, fund some activity you find illicit or immoral? You don't. And in fact, it probably does-- whatever vice you hate, the money at some point goes in a paycheck or someone's pocket, and statistically you are going to fund someone's smoking/crack/Disney/sex/whatever habit.
I understand your point and perspective-- and thank you for being calm and reasonable about it. My point, however, is that I wish to reward the good that Disney does and condemn their wrongs in other, possibly more productive ways (letter writing, etc.). Thus, the remark about "dissociating the product from the producer's politics". To me, it is morally right to pay people money when they produce something good, and complain when they do something bad.
To be perfectly honest, I don't feel that my contributions to Disney (however few and far between they may be-- I actually don't think I've bought anything from them since Kingdom Hearts) are large enough that my boycotting their products, no matter how large a boycott it may be, will have any effect. And to be honest, no matter how many smaller boycotts are organized, it won't matter at all. For a boycott to work in the age of big distribution and big business, a big retailer (like K-Mart, Wal-Mart, or the like) would have to altogether stop carrying Disney merchandise. That and only that will get Disney's fiscal attention.
Another way to fight is the tried-and-true letter to the congressman. If they're not already in Disney's pocket he or she might be receptive to the idea that infinite copyright is wrong.
I don't know if learning perl is rubbing off on me, but it seems to me that there's more than just one way to express dissent about Disney's politics. Whatever way you choose is none of my business, of course, but at the same time I just felt the poster was unfairly maligning Kingdom Hearts for a very thin reason.
Thank you for not being a dickweed about this.
"Why Subscribe?" Good question...
Those aren't screenshots!!! They're concept art.
I just hope that Nintendo aren't going to go so far mainstream (western) that they add the ability to commandeer vehicles from road users, use night vision or some other flavour of the month game feature.
Oh I just realised, cel-shading could fall under that category.
I don't need a compass to tell me which way the wind shines.
You do realize that every Zelda except for the N64 ones had a cartoon look to it, right?
Not to mention that there was an actual Zelda cartoon.
For the record, I have a Sega Dreamcast and no nex-gen system.
Nintendo fanboys are spineless sheep that only serve to turn more people against the GameCube.
God Bless America. Why? Did it sneeze?
"Square generally does inject originality into each installment of the Final Fantasy series"
Exactly in the same fashion that Nintendo. If you say that, then you haven't played any Nintendo game lately. Saying that the games are the same because they are the same franchise maybe is true for another developers, not for Nintendo (a common uneducated guess).
"What Nintendo has, basically, promised at this point are rehashes."
I think that I've never seen (nor you) a rehash that is controlled with a touch panel and two screens. Go play hte SAME games that you have in PSP in the same form that you have played before in your PS2 and come back to tell us about rehashes.
"...another Mario Kart game (a series which hasn't really changed since the SNES games)"
You don't know anything about Mario Kart, or Nintendo. Stop pretending. What about dual pilot karts? What about two player controlled karts? Name another game that has that.
"Then again, I don't blame Nintendo, really. Super Mario Sunshine tried some new things with the Mario series, and that game was greeted with overwhelming antipathy from a public that seemed, basically, to want a clone of Mario 64"
I think that you don't catch the picture. Nintendo fans were expecting a revolution , not an evolution and therefore the dissapointment. The new promises a revolution in the series.
You are thinking with the typical mainstream Sony mind and thinking that others are the same.
I like Square and Sony like everyone under the sun, but you should speak with knowledge.
I loved your posts here. My family (wife, 2 kids) have ploughed mega-bucks into Disney's coffers over the years - movies, toys, trips to DisneyWorld, even a few Disney cruises. If I could have dinner with any famous 'historical' figure, it would probably be Walt Disney himself. The man was a genius (in my mind). For the most part, the Disney products and services we've purchased have always delivered. While they do sell a lot of crap for sure, we've never been disappointed in what we've been returned for the money we've spent. It's all about the content - and about discerning the wheat from the chaff. Context, as you've said, is another matter. Disney has been a pretty crappy corporate citizen in recent times. Poor management, poor decision-making, abandonment of core values, the list goes on. We separate this context from the content, for sure. But we do participate (as very minor shareholders) in trying to correct the context. Witness the on-going efforts to turf Eisner. Anyways...I'm meandering here, but I agree wholeheartedly with the context vs. content perspective.
CrazyLegs
"Pork!!" said the Fish, and we all laughed.
I, personally, disliked Wind Waker, but NOT because of the graphics. I personally rather enjoyed the graphical style. However, Wind Waker eventually devolved into endless sailing and one gigantic fetch quest with really nothing original about it.
Had they made the islands with about 1/3 the distance between them, I would've been happy...
But spending 10 hours fetching shit so I can spend 60-80 minutes working through a dungeon to fight a mediocre boss with an obvious and easily exploited weakness isn't exactly my idea of a fun game...
Miyamoto-san, if you are reading this, balance the next game. Keep the sidequests, but the amount of time I HAVE to spend outside of dungeons in order to complete the game should be roughly equal to the time it takes to complete the dungeons. Give me more NPCs in town, more sidequests, more interactivity.
And make the dungeon bosses a little harder than "use the weapon gained in this dungeon to defeat him"
I am disrespectful to dirt! Can you see that I am serious?!
The cell shading in WW was awesome, but in all seriousness, it really was a child's game. It was hands down the shortest and easiest modern (post NES) Zelda title to date.
I think Ocarina of Time still holds the crown. Not only was it increidbly difficult at times, but that game was f'n HUGE. Not to mention it completely redefined the Zelda series.
You can make the graphics as pretty as you want, but you're gonna lose credit with the fans if you take away all the challenging/fun gameplay elements!
We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!
Is it me or does anyone else feel that the Link model from Soul Calibur 2 looks better than from this new game? Don't get me wrong, this new game looks amazing...but after seeing the new link model I feel like Namco should have handled that part :)
The system looks sweet, but is having 2 screens and a "stylus" realy just a gimic or do you think it will actually have uses? Also it seems nintendo are close to releasing gaming PDAs (palmpiolet pen, wi-fi, chat programs, microphone) =P
All they need to do is stick some storage space and an operating system (linux of course =P) in there. Although this would probally be bad marketing as currently you would have to pay for the cartridge for every bit of software (such as that chat program). Hopfully some company will make an operating system for it (or a hobbiest with one of those flash cartridges).
cat
But what would they buy to, you know, play GBA games, either official or homebrew? Emulation is often pretty bad compared to the real thing.
Nintendo's attack against flash cart vendors makes it impossible to start to play homebrew games larger than about 200 KB on a Game Boy Advance system. I feel glad that you agree with me on this issue.
I got a GBA to play games, a Palm m100 for PDA stuff, and a portable CD player for music.
What happens when your portable CD player hits a bump every 0.75 seconds for minutes at a time? My portable CD player skips, even with a generous RAM buffer, but my GBA keeps on going, and that's why I carry a GBA and a flash cart loaded with 160 BPM eurobeat music when I jog.
Multiple widgets, each doing their job well, are better than a single widget that does none of the things well.
Until I run out of room for multiple gadgets in my pockets, or unless I have a four-year degree but can't find a related job in this "jobless growth" economy and thus can't afford to buy multiple gadgets.
I see no point in buying a latest and greatest Java phone to play games (unless N-Gage's price drops through the floor or something)
Nokia has already announced price cuts to the point that the N-Gage phone competes effectively with the GBA SP when purchased with a two-year service plan. N-Gage has another advantage: as a Nokia Series 60 phone, it runs homebrew software for Java MIDP easily. But the killer is the tiny vertical screen that I'd find useful for puzzle games and space shooters but apparently not much else, as most console game developers have years of experience coding for systems with a horizontal or square screen, that is, everything but the Vectrex.
After sleeping on it, I have a few more things:
Thank you, total fringe lunatic who obviously doesn't have children or even really remember what it was like to be a child.
I do babysit.
don't deny kids the chance to be kids
Denying them Disney(tm) products doesn't deny them the chance to be kids. There are lots of family films produced by studios outside of the MAFIAA.
Show me hard evidence that a Disney production-- ... an actual, released to the public (or not) work with the Disney name-- was harmful to the people at large and children in particular
Miramax is a Disney name. Wouldn't one claim that the Kill Bill films are harmful to children should children watch them?
but the "accidental dick" is listed as false, as well as the "squash banana" sound clip
Read the details. It's false that the producers and directors of Disney family films intended such innuendoes, just like it's false that Microsoft intended the Windows operating system to serve a as breeding ground for viruses. But it's true that Eisner's company let them through thanks to urine-poor quality control.
Besides, I believe in context more than some other people. If you get children hooked on a particular copyright owner's works when the children are young, they'll have to face the works' context when they grow. In addition, I want to ensure a vibrant creative environment for my children, which means I don't want any of my dollars going toward Eisner's anti-consumer copyright lobbying efforts.
But you're perfectly okay with companies exerting control over you? And I disagree -- you most definitely should care what people do with the money you give them. It's an excessive corner case, sure, but what if a company you gave money to (because of their excellent products) was lobbying for legislation that would directly oppress your particular ethnic/social/religious group? Presumably you'd stop giving them money in that case, no matter how good their products, because every dollar you spend allows them to oppress you that much more.
So then what if that company doesn't do anything quite so heinous -- what if their oppression is less severe, but oppression nonetheless? (E.g. abusing the public trust by buying bad copyright legislation.) How gentle does the blow have to be before it becomes okay to take it without complaint?
I've had this same thought. But I don't think this justifies not taking action when you do know that they're doing smoething you don't like. It's clearly infeasible to make sure that every employee of every company you give money to agrees with your political and moral beliefs; there's not even enough time in the day, without even considering the difficulty of getting that information. But if you (for one reason or another) do find out that a particular company's policy is to do things you find immoral, it's perfectly justifiable to stop giving any more money to that company.
Nobody's saying you have to go out of your way to establish a detailed dossier of every company's spending habits; it's not practical. But there are people out there who already do that for us, and we can use the sum of their research to inform our decisions. In other words, you don't have to do it all yourself. And even if you never actively seek out that information, if you happen across it, it's fine to act on it.
The problem with this M.O. is that no matter what horrible evil Disney does, as long as they produce great products, you'll keep funding them. Even if you blister Disney and your congresscritter with letters, run huge grassroots campaigns to get them censured or whatever, but still knowingly give them the very money they use to do bad things, you are morally responsible for what they do (at least in some small part -- naturally you personally can't be entirely to blame for Disney's actions).
If you give them lots of money, then tell them you don't like what they're doing (but are still going to give them lots of money), that's sending mixed signals. They're going to assume you're a Disney-addicted whiner and ignore your letters. But if you stop paying them, and tell them why you're no longer giving them any money, that will have some small effect.
No single drop of rain believes it's to blame for the flood. You don't get to absolve yourself of responsibility by saying that your individual action has no measurable effect. That's exactly the same as saying that there's no point in voting, because your single vote doesn't make a measurable
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
Actually, the playstation was supposed to be Nintendo, Sony broke the contract, screwed them and made billions. Only to have nintendo get a billion from them like 10 years later....
Lesson: if you are big, break contracts because the legal system does not work---you will still make a profit by being slime.
the n64 joysticks are still the best analog controller I have ever used, even if they wear out too fast. the SNES joypads are the best of their kind----- I hate that everyone always tries to combine joypads and joysticks into 1 item... n64 did the best job of it, but they simply should have 2 joysticks.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
hahahaha, you're discrediting the new Zelda because it isn't as "realistic" as the cell shaded Wind Waker? Sorry to burst your bubble, but cartoons aren't realistic
No they're not. Perhaps I didn't make my post clear enough, so I'll just let Miyamoto make it for me. This is a good post, and here's from another article:
"We actually think that as you play this game and look at the world around you, it's going to seem very realistic despite the graphics style. By using the term "realistic," I mean the qualities of the world itself. I don't mean to deny the value of the more photorealistic graphics, but the more realistic graphics get the more unrealistic things such as bumping into a wall or getting hurt might be. If not expressed properly, it will seem out of place. This time we've tried to have very realistic expression. We want to have a game where everything in the world feels like it is in its place. We think that when you play, you will see Link do something and not react in a way that's not realistic. From the point of view, The Wind Waker is very realistic in terms of expression and the whole oneness of the world."
And again, you're being superficial about your definition of maturity. Maturity has absolutely nothing to do with whether there are 20,000 polygons in a scene or 10,000. I would suggest that very few modern games have approached the moral complexity (and therefore maturity) of older PC adventure games like, for example, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream or, on the console side, Snatcher. Both had graphics that were simplistic, and perhaps even cartoony. Yet, they exceed any modern game on their level of maturity.
I know you said that you played Wind Waker, but I'm shocked that you think that the the main character was void of emotion. His eyes followed things of focus. When he was about to get hit, his eyes grew wide, when he pushed a crate you could tell it was physically difficult for him. When his sister was taken away from him, you could tell that it affected him. In fact, as I recall, the camera focused almost entirely on the character because the designers knew we could tell what was happening by the character's facial expressions. Brilliant. I just watched all of the Wind Waker trailers on gametrailers.com, even the ones that came out as comparably early as this new Zelda trailer for the new game, and in each "Link" exhibits far more emotion than this new one.
I am not suggesting that this new Zelda will just absolutely blow. Quite the opposite. I fully trust Nintendo to do well with it. But it's playing to crowd, sadly. It's people like yourself, people who orgasm over pixels and resolutions and light sourcing and textures, that are partially responsible for driving video games into this technological morass while the higher ground is a more "mature" (if you will) use of graphics, and ultimately visuals. I suppose the definition of maturity is as subjective as the definition of artistic. However, maturity has no relation to graphical prowress at all. It has everything to do with visual presentation. If better graphics allow a game to do that, then great. But the trailer here is generic and bland. It has great graphics, but it lacks visuals, an architecture to build focus around. It's Nintendo getting into the graphical pissing contest. They sidestepped that entirely with Wind Waker, and I thought Nintendo had the balls to keep going with it. Apparently the video game market has Nintendo by their balls, from the looks of this video.
You would, no doubt, scoff at REZ, and yet REZ is unquestionably one of the most mature games out. The same can be said of ICO, which came out early in the PS2 lifecycle, and too early to be filled with polygons and light source shading. Graphics are not maturity, and it's superficial to think they are. Cartoons are not immaturity, and if you think otherwise go into your local comic book store, or
In the USA, style and maturity are narrowly defined and people here STILL have not learned...
Every decent animation or comic or book has to be made into a "realistic" movie version. These "realistic" versions usually are NOT as good or simply ride the name and SUCK. (batman for example--You simply can't get capture that style in real life 4 one thing.) But people pay tons to see the "realistic" movie version which often is nowhere near as good.
The BIGGEST IRONY is that most these movies have so much CG that you really are watching an animation, and they push the action so far outside physics that they are not far from a cartoon.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
Make a DS player for the Cube.
My plans are similar, but the games I already pwn I will pawn, so I will have the money to pwn whatever games are worth pwning and pawn the games not worth pwning (but worth pawning).
Also, I will likely wait for the early-pwners to pawn their posessions at the pawnshop so I can pwn what they pawned.
It's a bit hard to do awesome realism when you're running on an NES or an SNES, isn't it? Cartoon looks is the best you're going to get due to limited colors.
Ocarina of Time was a mix of realistic cartoonish, a bit like the PSX Final Fantasy games--which is exactly what this new Zelda looks like.
To think the extremely toon-shaded Wind Waker graphics had a look similar to that of Ocarina of Time is stretching it.
What about dual pilot karts? What about two player controlled karts? Name another game that has that.
Circus Maximus, XBox/PS2. Circa 2002.
Creator of the popular web game Proximity
In what way was, say, "Wind Waker" a radically different game playing experience than, say, "Ocarina of Time"? The major changes were cosmetic.
We're talking about Nintendo, a company that made sales dynamite by repackaging Pokemon five or six times. They best they generally do is evolution: "Metroid Prime" was an effective transfer of traditional Metroid gameplay to the different gameplay styles of full 3D. "Ocarina of Time" performed similar tweaks to bring the Zelda formula to the 3D generation. The changes between each Mario Kart game tend to be minor, and generally follow the leads of others (someone else mentioned "Circus Maximus"). They stick with what works, and they do it well, but they hardly shake the world with innovation.
Here's the simple fact: one of the biggest name games announced for the upcoming DS is openly a remake. Touchscreen or no, it's unlikely "Mario 64x4" is going to be radically different than its N64 counterpart, and the 4-player team aspect itself is hardly revolutionary for Nintendo (it's been one of the favorite ideas since back when "Super Smash Bros." premiered for the N64). Will it be a good game? Probably. Will it be revolutionary? Of course not. I don't think even Nintendo is claiming that.
And, just to be clear, I've owned every game system Nintendo has ever put out, going back to the NES in 1985, and including even the fairly obscure, like the Virtual Boy. I'm an avid fan of both the Mario, Metroid, and Zelda series, and, despite the fact that I have more games for my PS2, I probably log more playing time for my GameCube. But let's be honest with ourselves and call a spade a spade: the most innovative game I've played for the GameCube in the past two years or so was "Viewtiful Joe," and that was a third-party title. Nintendo's reputation for innovation is both ill-deserved, and unfairly detracts from the things that Nintendo does do very well (namely, polish existing concepts).
Sean Daugherty "I have walked in Eternity -- and Eternity weeps."
Actually, this is untrue.
Nintendo owns a patent on the D-pad. Anyone else with a 'D-pad' really only has a hacked version, ususally using a circular pad with a raised cross. In a number of systems, the circular pad is hidden under the casing, but it's still there.
So, 20 years on, Nintendo are still the only people making games consoles complete with D-pads. :)
(I mean the arcade version, not the somewhat lame NES version.) Hell, the screens are in the exact same layout!
But Zelda looks better than the vast majority of cartoons.
Are you trying to tell me that this isn't a matter of taste?
Yes, I am, and I gave very specific reasons why.
The animation in Zelda is of a higher quality than most cartoons. Your average cartoon has approximately 12 frames per second, where as Zelda has 30.
Look at the shading in a cartoon. There is significantly less shading done in the animation than there is in still drawings done for, say, posters. Zelda's level of shading falls somewhere in between those two levels. This results in much better depth perception than in most cartoons.
I seriously doubt you'll find anyone that honestly feels that 12 frames per second is better animation than 30 frames per second, or that decreasing sense of depth would improve a 3d scene.
Maybe you just don't like the character models. Blame the artists for that.
Maybe you just don't like your games to look like cartoons. Accept it rather than blame the game.
But cell shading isn't bad. It can't match the top notch hand drawings, but it's certainly demonstratably better quality than a tv series cartoon.
"Show me hard evidence that a Disney production-- not a law they endorsed, not a bill they lobbied for against, but an actual, released to the public (or not) work with the Disney name-- was harmful to the people at large and children in particular, and I'll immediately destroy anything of theirs I own."
What they are guilty of is lowering public standards. For example, people now believe that great movie music sounds like the crap in Lion King, or that Pocahontas was historically accurate.
Also the only one who's done it right with the Nintendo DS?
We're talking about online gameplay here. You know, over the Internet. The DS has Bluetooth and 802.11b wireless connectivity, but they've said nothing about online access so far -- just local multiplayer.
And since when does online gameplay have to be portable to be done "right"?
Who wants a keyboard while you're in the middle of playing a game?
Microsoft and (to a lesser extent) Sony have beaten Nintendo to keyboard-less online gameplay. Xbox Live comes with a headset, and you can't even buy a keyboard for it. A few Sony games are headset compatible too (Socom, etc.)
And optical media is better than solid state?
Are you suddenly forgetting all the developers that left Nintendo over the expense and limitations of the cartridge format?
Don't forget that they're the first company with a system that did full 3D graphics and analog control
A system that does "full 3D graphics"? Suddenly the Playstation and Sega Saturn don't count?
And the Saturn "Nights" controller was the first console controller with an analog stick. (Well, actually the Atari 5200 controller was, but let's not pick nits.)
with force feedback
Force Feedback and a vibration feature are not the same thing. No console currently does real Force Feedback.
(with pixel shaders and anti-aliasing to boot)
Nabbed from a third party, mind you.
Which is still more expensive and more costly than the portable they still sell without a backlight, and still has shorter battery life.
But it's actually usable now, and they had no excuse not to do it earlier, except their own natural slowness and resistance to change. (See the Neo Geo Pocket Color, or Wonderswan Color for examples.)
And did optical storage right with fast load times. Hell, even the Dreamcast has far better load times than the PS2.
Wait, so was Nintendo the first or Sega?
You can't develop everything; every feature has a trade-off. At least when Nintendo brings something to market, they do it right.
Oh, they're quality, and they have a few very innovative people (Miyamoto). But they're not particularly more innovative than their competitors.
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
I bet you also believe that the graphics in Final Fantasy: The Shadows Within are objectively better than those in, say, Shrek. Yet there are a lot of people who think that Shrek looks better.
I don't really care that FPS and shading are better in a cel-shaded game than in a normal animated cartoon. Cel-shading still looks ugly.
Rob
Goddammit, why do I always say "The Shadows Within"?
Spirits. Spirits.
Since I have to make another post anyway, I might as well head off any further argument by explaining why I think cel-shading is ugly. The main problem is the effect that was publicized when FF: TSW came out--the more realistic something looks, the worse its flaws look in comparison. It's easy to overlook all sorts of flaws in a 2D cartoon because, well, it's 2D. When you make it 3D, all of those flaws you missed before become much more apparent. In effect, what looks fine in 2D can look really gross in 3D.
Rob
So what? I certainly didn't purchase it to play crappy homebrew games or play music or anything else. Your point is what again troll?
You haven't bought the correct games then. Play Eternal Darkness. Or Wario Ware.
... the list of Nintendo rip-offs is unlimited), but is understandable.
Some of your arguments are hollow, in the sense that you mention only games that favor your line of reasoning, and ignoring the true innovation. That innovation can come from more than one aspect of the game:
- A different controller is innovation (shoulder buttons, analog stick, analog shoulder buttons, camera stick, EyeToy, rumble).
- A different control scheme (a GOOD one that WORKS) is innovation (Zelda: Z-lock, auto jump; Metroid Prime: target lock, visors, morph ball) .
- The atmosphere of a game can be innovation. Some gameplay twist is innovation (Eternal Darkness: Sanity effects; Viewtiful Joe: VFX;)
For example, oversimplifying the vast amount of work that has been done to translate franchises from 2D to 3D (including control mechanics, or keeping the feeling of the game) is underestimating the creative capacity of their developers, exactly what you are doing.You make it sound like a lot of developers have done these things successfully and that's not true (and that's the core of innovation: do new things or adding new elements to game mechanics and being successful doing them). Play Metroid Prime (for example) and you'll notice it's different enough to every other FPS. If you can't see it by playing it, you are blind. It PLAYS different.
If you think that a change of control system isn't innovative, well, that's up to you. The reality is that controls change games. It can be graphically the same game, but that does not make it less innovative. Why are PC games so different of Console games? Because the controls.
Using the new hardware to explore new methods of control IS innovative. Like the Eye Toy.
Most developers are praising the touch screen for a reason. The game is different if it's controlled different because it affects the core feature of a game: gameplay. It doesn't matter if is Mario, Boogerman or Cloud Strife.
Nintendo generally innovates in gameplay with the same franchises. Others generally innovate in franchises with the same gameplay. I care about the former more than the latter. You are right in some points. Nintendo milks its franchises to an extent (Mario Party, Pokemon, being the most blatant ones), but you must take in account that Nintendo created them in the first place and made them successful and high quality (like Mario Kart, or Zelda). Others followed with mixed results (Fuzion Fenzy, Digimon, Crash Bandicoot Racing,
I bought a GC because of Wind Waker...Zelda to me is my favorite video game franchise. Getting the cleaned up version was also a treat. I replayed through Master Quest....hell of a lot of fun also. Now the only gripe I had, as great as the cleaned up version of Ocarina was, it doesn't come close to the emulated version. Something about 1600x1200 res and full AA that just makes me drool...
The fact that you've never played may have a great effect on how you percieve the graphics. I myself thought it looked terrible when I first saw screenshots, but when I actually played and say how everything interacted, how it worked together, how stuff looked while it was moving, I changed my mind pretty quick.
Killer app? Well, in addition to the already mentioned Rogue Leader, I don't think I know a Gamecube owner without a copy of Super Smash Brothers Melee.
That's exactly the first game I had in mind when I heard about the Nintendo DS.
It's kind of hard when everybody knows about both of the home versions but uch fewer people have ever played the arcade version.
Oh, and the Nintendo 64 wasn't the first
My points were more to the tune that Nintendo does their best to bring products to the market that are well rounded and make relevant use of technology. My old Bally had analog controls, but they really weren't that useful. Nintendo created a complete 3D gaming package with the N64, with four controller ports because now they had more than enough power to do four independent on-screen graphics at the same time.
The Playstation had more great games than the N64 had games
I'd contest that, just saying that the N64 had fewer games but with larger punch, which has always been Nintendo's style. I'm not saying that the PSX had bad games, but one certainly didn't trump the other.
Moderators should have to take a reading comprehension test.
test message
"But since then, we've been left with a very big question: and that was, what are we going to do when we decide to make Link a teenager again -- a 16-year-old Link. So after Wind Waker we tried several different models and made varied versions of them. Ultimately we decided that in showing a teenage Link really the best style of expressing him would be something that's closer to our graphical style in Ocarina of Time. So Mr. Aonuma actually wasn't lying at the Game Developer's Conference when he said we were working on Wind Waker 2. He just didn't tell the whole story. And fortunately because he didn't tell the whole story, we were able to surprise you all here with a big announcement about the series."
I don't know about you but I love the lack of voice acting - it sort of lets your imagination give voice to the characters. If they went with voice acting now it just wouldn't seem right - they couldn't possibly match what we have all thought Link should sound like. Good story tellers leave something up to the imagination and that holds true for video games.
I'm not saying that the PSX had bad games
Yes, but if you are an escapist gamer, Nintendo titles are, quite frankly - kinda wussy.
The only remotely memorable N64 game is Goldeneye - just about everything else pandered to the "suitable for 3 year olds" marketing tactic. I don't give a flying shit about plumbers and would rather have had Link raize entire villages to the ground in Zelda than have to put up with talking to them. And Wind Waker makes me want to punch Miyamato in the face if I ever meet him.
"Oh no, the princess is in another tower!"
FUCK YOU, NINTENDO. You're forever a kid's toy company.
Yes, I was at E3. And Yes, I did stand in the DS line for a very long time. (For those who were there, I am the same guy who screamed 'Nintendo' loud for the pokemon girls that they saw my eyes vibrating. What can I say? I hate pokemon, but like free swag).
The graphics look pretty good, considering that I am used to a GBA type of graphics. The controls used the digital pad for move forward, back, and strafe left / strafe left. You used a stylus on the touch screen (the lower screen) to aim, and you tapped the stylus on the pressure screen to shoot.
Playing a shooter with a stylus is very weird, but I could see one getting used to it. Shooting is very easy, just tap at the target. The touch screen held up well to me 'machine gunning' at my target. Turning is awkward though.
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