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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" ----------
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
"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!"
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
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.
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."
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.
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.
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???
They need to come up with some better suspense building taglines to go along with their cool looking game. Seriously.
Well... yea the DS looks awesome (can't wait to play Metroid on two screens) but I wouldn't say that the DS is better then the PSP yet.
The Sony conference really showed off some great games, and the power of the PSP. From short clips of games such as Metal Gear Solid, Tony Hawk, Twisted Metal, Spy Hunter, Gran Turismo, and a whole slew of EA Sports games, the PSP looks stocked software wise. It didn't stop there either. Sony went on to show the Spiderman 2 trailer playing on Sony's 4.5 inch widescreen display and then blew me away by showing a Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children trailer and telling the press that a UMD version of FF7 AC would be out alongside the DVD.
I think both new handheld's look awesome and hope that their competition really elevates the handheld market to the next level.
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
Fine. We'll connect the dots then.
For months prior to this E3, there has been constant speculation about how crappy the DS will be, and how stupid the designers were/are for including two screens. "How can they do that without making it look stupid?" people asked. Over and over and over again.
Then everyone sees it and realizes Nintendo isn't staffed by a bunch of total morons. Then, in the space of one web page, it goes from "Sony will win. Give it up. Gamecube sucks. Blah blah blah" to "wow, the DS is cool. Zelda isn't cel-shaded any more, so that's also cool, and the PSP is a giant pile of crap."
Over the next week, the game media and technology pundits will also, grudgingly, realize that Nintendo, like Apple for PCs, is the market leader in video games. Sony succeeds with volume. Nintendo succeeds with innovation.
By the way, I have 9000 karma.
Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
"like Apple for PCs, is the market leader in video games"
Umm.... there are games for Apple? Since when??
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.
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.
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.