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Cutting Through The Next-Gen BS

Posted by Zonk on from the beware-game-reporters-growing-backbones dept.

ConfusedFX wrote to mention a great feature at GameDaily that is trying to cut through marketing BS and get to the truth behind the upcoming next-gen systems. From a piece on the Revolution's street-date: "Now Nintendo is saying that a near final version of the Revolution will be on display and working at E3 2006. If the company expects to release in the US before Thanksgiving then it has to have a working model at E3, but exactly what does that mean for attendees of the annual expo? We expect to see Zelda: Twilight Princess running on Revolution with the new features discussed a couple weeks ago, and maybe Smash Brothers and a Mario title with a couple of little mini-games like we saw at the Tokyo Game Show. We may also see a handful of classic Nintendo titles to promote the Revolution download service Nintendo has vaguely discussed in the past. If we can play Smash, Mario and some Nintendo classics on the show floor we'll be happy Nintendo. Don't let us down!"

11 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. Nintendo Won't Disappoint by creepynut · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They've intentionally built up a lot of hype with the Revolution, especially with the controller. They've got us right where they want us, they won't be letting us down.

    1. Re:Nintendo Won't Disappoint by Meagermanx · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What are you talking about? They haven't built anything up. All they've done is deny anything anybody suggests, asks, or speculates about their console.
      We've built up the hype all by ourselves.

  2. The new controller by mwvdlee · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So, how is Zelda, Mario or Smash bros. going to really utilize the new controller?

    I'd prefer to see some inovative title that demonstrates exactly why anybody would actually want the new controller.

    As of yet I have seen no type of game which could not have been made without the new controller... hoping Nintendo will deliver on this.

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    1. Re:The new controller by SetupWeasel · · Score: 2, Interesting

      As of yet I have seen no type of game which could not have been made without the new controller.

      Don't think of it like that. There isn't any game that couldn't be emulated on another system to some extent. DS games could be played with a mouse on a PC, but the lack of direct input would hinder your performance.

      Think instead of how the controller will help existing games. Imagine a Pilotwings where you hold the controller like apaper airplane instead of using clunky analog sticks. Imagine a Mario Kart where you hold the controller by the ends and turn your hands to steer. Imagine a Madden game where you can simply point to the open reciever, a FIFA game where you can aim a shot by pointing to a location on the screen as if it were the goal (flick the controler to give it a little english), or an NHL game where you can reliably pass to the right wing from the left wing, because you can point to the player you want and not rely on a clunky analog stick passing system. Hell, imagine how much easier menu navigation in RPGs will be.

      Think of what you wanted to do when you first picked up a controller. Ever point at the TV? Shoot that guy! Him! Right there! Now you can and it will count. Ever try to dodge a punch by wrenching your controller to the side? Now you can and it will count.

      In my mind the Revolution controller is about making games easier to while actually increasing gameplay depth. Again think of Madden. Easy mode - Point somewhere and throw to the nearest reciever. Expert mode - Where you point is where you throw. That has been attempted before. Remember John Elway's Quarterback in the 8-Bit era? Now, however, you have a quick and accurate control system to make it work.

      There will be games that will be new, but they won't be new because they couldn't have been done before. They will be new, because they couldn't have been done well before.

      Think of the Revolution controller that way and you might get as excited as I am about it.

  3. Ignore the marketing... by scolby · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...and wait until you've actually tried all three systems. That's the only way to know for sure which ones are any good.

    1. Re:Ignore the marketing... by oh_bugger · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Perhams something is needed to help people see the truth. Games marketing, just like most marketing has become a matter of hyping up every aspect of the game/system. Whenever a new console comes out it's the one that's supposed to kill all other systems, and whenever a new game is out it's supposed to be the last game you'll ever need. So the best way to know if hype is BS or not is to actually try out the thing in question

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  4. Next-Gen BS by plaisted · · Score: 2, Funny

    Penny Arcade's take on the Next-Gen BS:

    http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/01/20

  5. Re:Twilight Princess on Revolution by ElleyKitten · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As far as I've heard, it's still going to be on Gamecube, but since the Revolution is backwards compatible, it will probably take advantage of the Revolution controller as well. Kinda like how the Gameboy Zelda's came out for the previous Gameboy, but if you put them in the newer gameboy, they had extra shit, like one had a extra dungeon? I'm thinking it's a simular concept, where it's made for the previous system, but designed to still be cool when put in the new system.

    http://www.4colorrebellion.com/archives/2005/12/22 /play-twlight-princess-with-revolution-controller/

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  6. Re:Don't take this post too seriously but... by MBCook · · Score: 2, Interesting

    That is Nintendo's way. If you remember Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Zelda: Oracle of Seasons for the GBC, if you put them into the GBA (which was out or very close to out at that time) you could get access to a special store that was closed when you played with a GBC. They've done stuff like that a few times now.

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  7. Re:Twilight Princess on Revolution by Rameriez · · Score: 2, Funny

    NGC, one of Future Publishing's UK games magazines, claimed they had definitive proof from an inside source that the next Zelda would make use of the Revolution controller. Nintendo made a statement in response saying NGC's article was "pure speculation" (Eurogamer article).

    When GameDaily's article says we should "... expect to see Zelda: Twilight Princess running on Revolution with the new features discussed a couple weeks ago...", they might as well claim that we should expect to see every other rumour and piece of speculation come true too.

    I for one am looking forward to seeing Link ride into town in his new monster truck, weilding an AK47 and smoking a phat spliff.

  8. How well does BS cut through BS anyway? by ivan256 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Clearly we should take the speculation of this gamer rag over the comments from industry executives he quotes.

    Wait, why should we do that? I think this guy is full of shit.

    It's very unlikely that an $1800 Blu-Ray player would stand up to a $500 (estimate) PS3

    It's very unlikely that the kind of people who would by a $1800 video player would find a gaming console an acceptable substitute. And talk about speculative BS... $500 estimate for the PS3? Yeah, right. At the very least it's pure speculation.

    The Cell chip manufacturing ramp up has not yet begun

    Says who?

    If the company expects to release in the US before Thanksgiving then it has to have a working model at E3

    Nintendo could show a slideshow at E3 if they wanted. They've done it before.

    It would greatly benefit Nintendo to release before the PlayStation 3 in the US, but we really don't see that happening unless Sony has some sort of manufacturing mishap with the Cell chip.

    Wait, first you say that it's unlikely we'll be seeing a signifigant number of PS3s this year because Sony hasn't started manufactuing yet, and now you're saying it's unlikely Nintendo will beat the PS3 to market? I don't know which one of those statements is wrong, but they certainly can't both be right at the same time.

    Does this guy have an editor?

    However, while we do expect Nintendo to ship more Revolution consoles within the launch window than the number of Xbox 360 consoles Microsoft was able to ship, we don't expect Nintendo's console to outperform the Xbox 360 launch.

    Ok, here's the last straw. The VirtualBoy outsold the 360 at launch. It's not hard to have a better launch than a console that only ships 500,000 units. If Microsoft had produced enough 360s, then Nintendo would have had some competition in the "best launch" category, but the only way the Revolution isn't having a better launch than the 360 is if Nintendo throws in the towel and exists the marketplace after only making 400,000 consoles. Fat chance. It's not that hard to compete with the launch of a console you couldn't buy at launch.