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Super Smash Brothers Wii, Featuring Solid Snake
mcc writes "In a surprise news conference this evening, Nintendo unexpectedly revealed Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii, and released a promo video of the title. Smash Bros. Brawl will feature online play; a Nintendog item that blocks your view of the playfield by jumping up on the screen and demanding to be petted; bizarre Dragonball Z style superattacks; your choice of traditional Gamecube or motion-sensing Revmote control; and new characters in the form of Samus (without the suit), Meta Knight, Kid Icarus (!), and... Konami's Solid Snake, complete with a cardboard box he hides in. The only bad news is despite earlier reports it would be a launch title, Smash Bros. Brawl will not be out until 2007."
The XBox 360 had a mild welcome in Japan
Maybe I'm just jealous. I want to vote for Bub & Bob (Bubble Bobble) as a counter pair to fight those damned Ice Climbers!
My work here is dung.
http://media.revolution.ign.com/media/748/748545/v ids_1.html
Nintendo finally remembered Pit!
Wonder if we'll get a new KI game on the Wii now...
...your choice of traditional Gamecube or motion-sensing Revmote control
t ml
That doesn't seem to be true from what I can see. The following is taken from the article at IGN.
http://revolution.ign.com/articles/707/707504p1.h
Under the direction of series creator Masahiro Sakurai, Super Smash Bros. Brawl will feature classic, GameCube-style combat -- not Wii-style motion-controlled combat. That means players who prefer to play the game with the traditional control setup can look forward to using the GameCube control-style they're already accustomed to.
"We found that trying to implement too much motion-sensory functionality can get in the way of the game. We're looking at keeping the control simple, as it has been," said Sakurai. "The Wii hardware has sockets for the GameCube controller, too. So I'll just say now that you may not want to throw away your GCN controller yet."
"Chances of RHIC-induced Armageddon are exceedingly rare, but... you never know." - MIT Physicist Bob Jaffe
Do they make a Nintencat the requires catnip before you can pass?
Recent developments sure lead me to believe that Nintendo has become the next Apple. They have followed the same path over the past two decades, from a strong company with a very popular product who is rapidly downtrodden, only to wallow in their own despair for years. Thankfully for those who remember them in their heyday, they manage a holy redemption and become leaders in their field once again.
It looks like they both used the same strategy, too. Both Apple and Nintendo have taken the route of offering trendy, innovative products of a very high quality. While their competitors aim only for the most powerful system (which will soon by eclipsed by PCs in a year or less), Apple and Nintendo both produce hardware and software products that maximize the user's experience.
I hope the Wii does well. This is not because I am a fan of the company (though they've done great work which has brought me much pleasure), but for a more pragmatic reason: I intend to buy one, and want lots of third-party support.
/., I think I will be able to scrape up the funds for a Wii and a game every couple months. The way things are heading, I will have a huge supply of desirable games to choose from.
This is excellent news for people like me, and presumably Nintendo itself, because:
a) SSB has become a marquee title for Nintendo, and it will be good to have this out in that first 6-months-to-a-year period
b) this gives everyone an early answer on the question of GC controllers. Namely, on games where it's appropriate, we CAN expect the option of using the GC controller.
Though my budget for games seems to be much smaller than a lot of the people on
Although the moon is smaller than the earth, it is farther away.
I know I'm not the only one to be excited about this. right?
Rake Free + Mac Poker: CardCrusade
I wonder if that means a Metal Gear Solid title for the Wii?
GPL Deconstructed
Isn't MGS exclusively Playstation? What does Sony have to say about this? I would think all characters from those games are exclusive as well...
Is Solid Snake the character from "Metal Gear" on NES? Maybe that's it, but it still seems odd...
Starmen.net
I was wondering who this fellow was: http://media.revolution.ign.com/media/748/748545/i mg_3595421.html
Is it Kid Ikarus? Are we looking forward to a 3d version of Kid Ikarus finally?
Is it just me or has this year's E3 become the Nintendo Entertainment Expo (NE2)? Seems like Nintendo is the only console company that will come out of this with more steam than they came in with. Whatever they lost by revealing their console's silly name has been nmore than made up for.
I'm still waiting for Sonic to be added to Smash Bros., so we can settle once and for all which mascot will win in a bar fight...
Read my blog posts on usability.
"However, if it turns out that most games are better without the 'chucks, how would Nintendo fan boys justify spending another 200 bucks on a system that is no better than the gamecube they already have?"
My GameCube won't be able to play this new Smash Bros. game. I ultimately buy game systems to play games on.
I would guess that this game WILL be online. After all, what is the point of having the Nintendog block the view of everyone? In past SSB games, items with large area effects (eg, pokeballs) typically didn't affect the person that initiated them.
I'm guessing that the nintendog will be an item that only comes up during online play, obscuring the screens of your opponents, so that people don't get ticked off by accidentally killing themselves every time they let one loose.
Bah, while I like on-line multiplayer for many games (especially FPS games like HALO), I don't think on-line is a necessity for SSB. It's probably one of the most successful games for the GC, and that's because the real fun comes from crouding around the TV with three of your friends and beating the living crap out of eachother. Any kind of lag would be an all out buzz kill, due to the frenetic nature of the game. Hell, this is a game that has been designed around the idea of everyone being in the same room, why would you want to screw that up by making it more accessible for on-line play.
If they can add on-line play wihtout futzing up the core gameplay, be my guest. But I'm not really going to complain if on-line functionality isn't really there. Judging from Nintendo's general strategy and the images in their advertising campaign, they too are more focused on making the games fun for people to play as a group (together in person), as opposed to worrying exclusively about on-line functionality.
a Nintendog item that blocks your view of the playfield by jumping up on the screen and demanding to be petted
So, a fierce dog bars the way, then?
Wario is the goatse man!
Rhapsody in Numbers
Yeah, I am glad I never bought that PS2 thing! It had the same controller as my Playstation so there was no way it could have been superior!
"Metal Gear Trousers", featuring a new character Trouser Snake, controlled with your Wii stick.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
On the other hand, finally! An opportunity to sneak up behind Pikachu and snap his damn neck!
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
Well, if need be, they can always add it after it's shipped with that Connect24 service. But that'll only work for those with WiFi or a hookup to their console.
I imagine one could use the nunchuck controller with SSBB, just without any motion gestures.
That'll make it hard to control your Wii.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
Yeah, that'd leave all the people without an internet connection unable to play online. Waitaminute......
There have been rumors about a new Kid Ikarus for Revolution/Wii since a year or so, I guess the Pit appearing in Super Smash Brothers makes that rumor even more likely to be true.
Jan
At least he said the "too much" part. Hopefully people who use the Wii controller will have some sort of fun with it and N's just working on getting things just so.
Also: great, it's a surprise press conference -- apparently because it wasn't ready for prime time? All they have is the promo video, too.
A couple of flaws in the Nintendo makeup for E3, anyway.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
Tons of stills here.
In a nod to the availability of some of the old Genesis games being offered through the Virtual Console, I'd like to see one of the character from Altered Beast added as a playable character. The transformation dynamic (though used before) could make for some interesting gameplay.
It could also be fun to add the main character from Bionic Commando. His grappling hook could latch onto the various platforms and would make for an interesting twist on things.
The black mage from Final Fantasy III could be fun with his little pointy hat.
Or how about Glass Joe from Punch Out?
Haven't seen Earthworm Jim around lately...
Ultimately, I think I'd like to go out and kick some ass as a Pikmin.
The Wii-mote will be great for RPGs (which usually only require basic directional input and menu functionality), first person shooters (there's a good reason two of the launch titles will be FPSs) and Platformers (all reports say that Super Mario Galaxy is one of the best titles on the floor).
Uh, RPGs generally require ONE button.
I think the Wii is ideal for RPGs. Why bother with menus sitting on the bottom with so many sub-menus when you can actually use the buttons at your disposal (8, counting the two on the nunchuck). That's a lot of commands you can map directly onto buttons, rather than going through stupidly complicated layers of submenus. Need to attack? Point the wand at the target and hit A. Need to cast a spell? Have one or two of your favorites mapped to the triggers, or hit up to bring up a radial menu with all of the spells a wrist-flick away, instead of scrolling through 3 pages of text.
Plus, less overhead means you can have greater reaction time. For instance, I'm playing a putative FFIV Wii version, and I'm up against, say, Zeromus. I'm thinking about where he is in the battle, and I'm pretty sure he's going to throw Big Bang at me. Rosa's just come up, and I have maybe a second to get my command in before I lose Edge (you always lose Edge) and maybe Yang. Which is faster?
W Magic-> down down down right -> A -> right -> A
or,
Hold down A and wave over party (or possibly just aim at an "all" bug)
The second method's a hell of a lot better, and since it's faster, lets you speed up combat, which is always a good thing in wandering monster RPGs.
Isn't this the same thing as Clippy in MS Office?
What are you doing now, you lazy drunken obscene unsayable son of an unnameable gipsy obscenity?
Screw Sonic, I want Geno. I've been waiting for him for quite a while, now.
I want to play as a Metroid or a Space Pirate.
Actually, from everyone I've heard from so far who's tried it, the Wiimote is surprisingly precise and works great for FPS.
DNA just wants to be free...
My point with RPGs is that most of the time you are moving from one place to another or expected to be selecting or doing things with menus or icons. None of that is suited to a system where you wave a controller around. That means you're relegated to using the joypad or the extension analogue controller. Some games definitely benefit from more buttons. For example Elder Scrolls Oblivion has a very, very simple UI but even that needs and uses shortcuts to allow you to switch weapons, spells and to jump into the various screens you use.
Is it just me or are Nintendo the only one of the big three to be generating any excitement with their launch messaging ?
(oops, nearly wrote excrement, then realised I wasn't writing about M$ or $ony)
Imagine: you need to cast a healing spell on a member of your party...you point the wiimote at that person, press a button to lock on, and make an infinity motion (sideways eight) to cast "infinite heal". OR...Aim at an opponent, lock on, and move the controller in a circle to cast "circle of fire".
The possibilities are amazing.
Why get a character who would play just like Samus? If we're perfectly honest Megaman lost it in the SNES era and is now just a mass produced series of generic clones. They do nothing intresting any more and if you put that in Smash brothers where do we stop? Do we start to include Phoniex Wright or a Tetris block?
There has to be a limit to how a character will fit into the general style and although I'd love to see a Tetris block kicking the crap out of Luigi I just don't see it happening.
I like muppets.
*Nintendo has joined #E3
Nintendo: Wiiiiiii!!!
Audience: Gonads and Strife?
This is great. If they could push this out before August, we'd have a perfect opportunity to tie the game to a movie that is completely unrelated.
What you'd have to do:
1) Have Solid Snake as one of the fighters
2) Choose one of the levels where you battle on Fox's ship
3) Have everyone shout "SNAKE'S ON A PLANE"
4) Profit/giggle madly
Jokes aside, this looks awesome. Well worth the wait for online connectivity.
One thing I don't see a lot of comments about is the "Super Smashes" (my term, not theirs). If you watch the trailer, at one point Mario grabs a sphere with the SSB logo on it, and does a little "charge up" animation. After which, he unleashes either a HUGE flame on everyone, or unleashes a thousand flame punches (I couldn't really tell). Kirby is also shown charging, and then we see Mario in a pot. Link appears to have some sort of mutli-slash that creates Triforce images around the character.
Most likely, these would all be activated by the "Super Smash Sphere" (again, my term) which would be a very rare item. These look to have a lot of potential.
Finally, some predictions for other new characters:
-Waluigi
-Captain Olmar (he'd control a small herd of Pikmin or something)
-Paper Mario (he'd have the hammer, be able to turn side ways, would float down)
-hopefully no more Pokemon
That's why there's a nunchuck extention. It's just as much a part of the Wii controller as the remote.
A smart RPG developer will map spell casting to gestures. Need to cast a spell, wave your hand.
That's the kind of thing that SOUNDS really cool, but after about 30 minutes once the novelty has worn off, it'll be a pain in the neck (wrist).
TODO: Something witty here...
I went to E3 yesterday, the line for getting into the Wii area was almost 3 hours so I passed. The only way to even see one was to queue up and go inside the 'secret area'. I understand wanting to create a buzz but it seems like this did more damage than good. To not even have one demo for passers by meant they missed a large opportunity. I went expecting to be wow'ed by the wii, and want to buy one; I left feeling like I couldn't care less about it. I'll spend the money 'saved' on some more games.
If by KI you mean Killer Instinct, then no. Killer Instinct is owned by Rare and is supposedly already in the works for the 360.
My point with RPGs is that most of the time you are moving from one place to another
That... would be what the nunchaku is for. What's the problem with using it? RPGs are usually single person games that are moderately complicated. The remote by itself is mainly for games which are "pick up and play" - games like Excite Truck, Sonic Wild Fire, the Wii Sports/Wii Music demos if they get fleshed out enough, and Wario Ware.
Of the games announced by Nintendo, I think only like 3 use the remote by itself.
or expected to be selecting or doing things with menus or icons.
You mean - like a normal PC? Most of us have this thing for a normal PC that we call a mouse, and it works pretty well for icons and menus. I think it'll be fine.
...grabbing the hammer
(do dododo do doo do doo do - du dududu du de doo de doo)
In other words you agree with me. The controller is no use for RPGs. Now you'll just be holding two controllers instead of one just to move around.
You mean - like a normal PC? Most of us have this thing for a normal PC that we call a mouse, and it works pretty well for icons and menus. I think it'll be fine
Clearly you've never used a gyroscopic mouse or you wouldn't be making the comparison. Attempting to nudge a pointer over a button using a gyroscopic mouse is considerably more clumsy than a normal desktop mouse.
I think the characters we all want are Left and Right Pong Paddles.
Now you'll just be holding two controllers instead of one just to move around.
Huh? I'll be holding something in both hands. How is that different than a normal controller? It's still just one controller, not two.
In actuality, I'm pretty sure that the Wii style is actually better for your hands - a fixed controller forces your wrists at a given angle. A split design won't.
Attempting to nudge a pointer over a button using a gyroscopic mouse is considerably more clumsy than a normal desktop mouse.
That's because you're using a gyroscopic mouse on an interface designed for a regular mouse. It'd be easy enough to redesign the interface, keeping all of the benefits. You just need to increase the size of the menus and add lock-on, for instance. Or make the menu a ring menu and use up, down, left, right to select them. But I digress...
It's not gyroscopic. It's motion-sensing. One of the problems with gyroscopic is that you have to match the motion of the pointer to the tilt of your hand - if you tilt the control 8 degrees, how far should the pointer go? In the Wii's case, you know how far the control is from the screen. Now, I thought the Wii was going to come with two sensors, one for the top, one for the bottom (so it'd know the size of the screen as well), but with only one, it'd likely have to be calibrated. But in any case, you don't have that problem - you're not tilting to move a cursor. You're pointing to a portion of the screen. That's easier than a mouse, not harder.
Incidentally, this is why the Wii's remote is far more advanced than the PS3's. With the PS3, there's no spatial location, which means no pointing information. The PS3 really would be a gyroscopic mouse - and a two-handed one, too.
Clearly you've never used a wiimote.
Moreover, clearly you don't even really understand how the wiimote works -- it's not gyroscopic at all, at least not the pointing part. Stop trying to compare it to that godawful Gyration product for the PC. It is nothing like the wii controller.
everything in moderation
Well neither the ps3 or Xbox360 can play any Wii style games so clearly the traditional controller is not perfect either. And keyboard and mouse work great for FPS games but I need an aditional controller to place racing games and actually have fun. I also use that controller for old school emulators, but that controller sucks for the fps games. I guess everything just sucks becuase it is not perfect for everything.
Also as far as I can tell the game just supports the old school controller. It does not require it. The Wii controller can still be used as it has enough buttons, it just wont use the motion sensing ability. But I guess that is something bad where you come from.
Gestures are an interesting idea, but if you've ever played Black and White you'd know how frustrating they can be.
Mister Rogers. He would give Chuck Norris a run for his money.
-Rob
Biblical fiscal responsibility
I think the fact that this game will offer a choice of control methods is a bad sign. Before the system is even launched they are already planning a way around it, and there can only be one reason for that: the motion sensing remote doesn't work very well in the game. How many other games will have similarly token support for the motion sensing remote? At what point does everyone decide that maybe this motion sensing remote thing was just a gimmick?
--- What?
It's probably one of the most successful games for the GC, and that's because the real fun comes from crouding around the TV with three of your friends and beating the living crap out of eachother.
Well, I agree, but do you mean beating the crap out of each other in the game?
Because I do it in real life when my Yoshi-playing friend swallows me and drops me off the level in egg-form.
And that REALLY adds to the fun factor.
I hope the interesting change refers to having that character and not the grappling hook part. (-cough-Link-cough-Samus-cough-)
That's true both of those characters have something similar, but in both of those cases it was used as that characters grab move, which all characters have in one form or another, and had a very short range.
For the Bionic Commando character I was thinking of it working more along the lines of how it was used in the game he's from. A full 20-30 feet of grappling hook would shoot out and latch onto any platforms it hits, and he could then pull himself across the screen, or up onto a high ledge with it. That is what would add an interesting dynamic to SSB.
No!
It will make your Wii hard to control!
I'm not scared of anonymous cowards.
Why do people always believe there must be one single perfect solution for everything? The right tool for the right task at the right time I say.
Some games are meant to be played with a traditional handheld controller: fighting games, platform games etc, other games are best played with mouse and keyboard: strategy games (requiers a lot of clicking around the screen fast) and (possibly up until now) FPS games.
The Wii controller is a new tool that looks like a lot of fun, especially for shooters, but to believe it must be the perfect tool for all kinds of games or else it is a faliure is just stupid.
Mario grabs the off topic symbol.......... Strange huh.
A Japanese RPG is a spreadsheet with cutscenes?
how to invest, a novice's guide
I assume part of your argument was that you are an adult...adults have found better ways to say "a lot" than "tons and tons and tons"
My other sig is extremely clever...
" I am glad I am not the only one who is not sold on this controller as the be all, end all of game development. However, if it turns out that most games are better without the 'chucks, how would Nintendo fan boys justify spending another 200 bucks on a system that is no better than the gamecube they already have?"
Easy enough:
a.) The system is already more powerful than the GameCube.
b.) Virtual Console.
c.) On-line play.
d.) Actually, lots of stuff is already taking advantage of the controller.
e.) The DS has proven Nintendo knows how to attain its goals.
f.) We're making a $200 investment in gameplay as opposed to a $500 investment in graphics. We're not feeling so foolish.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Well, there's also the fact that the original two Metal Gear games appeared on NES.
True, Metal Gear was a port of the MSX game, but Snake's Revenge was non-canon.
It would be interesting if Raiden from Sons of Liberty were included as a skin for Snake's charecter
Wouldn't Midway sue over the use of "Raiden" as the name of a fighting game character?
Good thing "Nintendo" doesn't have an S in it!
It does have an E, for NintEURndo. (Of course, Slashcode has to be anti-social and **** up the Euro sign.) As for Son¥, I've seen it written with a yen sign.
But that'll only work for those with WiFi
Is it so difficult? A week ago I bought a NETGEAR 802.11b/g router for 40 USD at Best Buy. I'm pretty sure that people will be able to afford such a router given that
Why get a character who would play just like Samus?
Why get a Falco who would play just like Fox, or Roy like Marth, or Pichu like Pikachu, or Guckertdorf like a slow Captain Falcon? Why get a Dr. Mario who would play like the incarnation from before he finished med school, or a Link who hasn't finished elementary school? Heck, why get a Ryu who would play just like Ken? Padding the select screen with head swaps is an accepted practice in Super Smash Bros. and many other fighting franchises.
It would be great if nintendo got some decent relations with konami, then they could have the silent hill series.
"In other words you agree with me. The controller is no use for RPGs. Now you'll just be holding two controllers instead of one just to move around."
The only difference between that and a PS2 controller is that the left and right side aren't connected. You're making a weak argument, sorry.
"Clearly you've never used a gyroscopic mouse or you wouldn't be making the comparison. Attempting to nudge a pointer over a button using a gyroscopic mouse is considerably more clumsy than a normal desktop mouse."
Clearly you don't know much about the Nintendo hardware. It's not gyroscopic. You can actually point at pixels on the screen.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Selecting or doing things with menus or icons is much, much better with the Wiimote than with a control pad. You just point at what you want to select and hit A, much like a mouse. In fact, exactly like a mouse. It's worked for hundreds, possibly thousands of RPGs on the PC for years, it'll work for Wii.
Most console RPGs moving from one place to another can be accomplished just as efficiently with a Dpad as with an analog stick. In poin tof fact, there isn't a single Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest style game that could not be played with the Wiimote alone. The only games where you'd need the nunchuck would be more active style RPGs like Kingdom Hearts or Star Ocean.
just some guy
DSL - Nintendo DS Lite (Nintendo DS)
DS - Nintendo DS
PSP - Sony PlayStation Portable
PS2 - Sony PlayStation 2
GBASP - Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP (Game Boy Advance)
GBM - Nintendo Game Boy Micro (Game Boy Advance)
Xbox360 - Microsoft Xbox 360
GC - Nintendo Game Cube
GBA - Nintendo Game Boy Advance
75% of Nintendo's profits came from handheld devices... Sony was second but in that period almost all of their profit came from the ps2 with the psp not even breaking even (not all of Sony mind you, just the gaming division SCEI).
:).
Nintendo's ability to win the modern console wars has yet to be seen. Although with this much press, excitement, and hype they just may win this round
Hmmm... Pie...
The $500 dollar machine will have superior graphics and be priced at $200... then what?
Hmmm... Pie...
I'm really not sure where everyone has got the idea that smash bros would not work well using the Wii Remote. I think its a good alternative. Several predefined control methods could be set up. Some moves including flicking the wiimote upwards to make the character jump, and perhaps the nunchuck to do the up and B move. There are many potential combinations. Users could perhaps have an intense control system where a lot of motion sensing is used, a standard setting, and a limited setting. For example, smash attacks could be initated by snapping the wiimote to the left/right. I think the motion sensing could have a lot of potential in making new combinations of moves in smashbros and add to the overall gameplay system. Nintendo just need to experiment and look into it well.