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Wii Version of Twilight Princess to Require Wiimote
1up is reporting that the Wii version of Nintendo's Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will require the use of the Wiimote. The GameCube controller for the Wii will not be usable for the Wii version of the game, despite the fact that the game will also be coming out on the Cube. This has provoked discussion that the Wii version of the game may include extra content or gameplay elements, which will make it unplayable with the GameCube controller. From the article: "Many had hoped Nintendo would allow for dual Wii and GameCube support ala a number of upcoming Wii releases, but Nintendo appears confident enough in its design that hardened fans will have to pick up the GameCube release if they're that hardcore. You still have time to decide which one sways you, as both versions will be launched simultaneously during Wii's launch date this fall."
This was the only Wii game I planned on buying this year. GameCube for the win!
The more we learn about the Wii controller the less revolutionary it sounds and the more like just another gimmick it becomes. The days of the talk of Nintendo reinventing console gaming back at E3 seem so long ago now.
See I don't believe this. That article seems to be about the version shown at E3. The fact is by the time the game comes out E3 will have been about 6 months before. In the mean time I have heard that the controls on Excite Truck and it's visuals have improved. I've heard the same about Red Steel and Metroid Prime Three.
I really think that they would have fixed that kind of stuff since then. Nintendo doesn't tend to do that half-assed tack-on-features stuff for something so important as core game play on one of their AAA titles.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Good point, Back in the day, when these kind of events were populated by industry representatives instead of bloggers who talk about games, Magazines would seldom if ever mention tech demos in a negative light, instead trying to focus on the positive and what the game could possibly become. Any responsible journalist should know these games have six months of development ahead of them, but bashing a game still under testing gets more 'diggs' to your 'blogg' Especially since most of the insults boil down to the controller setup, which is quite possibly the easiest thing to continue to tweak and refine right up until the day it ships.
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Besides, isn't one of the "tests" for the Wiimote going to be how well previous game styles translate to the new controller? If Nintendo didn't have confidence in their own controller for one of their flagship titles, that would bode ill for every other game on the system.
Frankly, this sounds to me like an old dog who doesn't want to learn a new trick. The game could blow with the Wiimote or it could rock...only the final release will tell.
* Bad for the game: Twilight Princess is a GameCube game, plain and simple. It was developed around a solid traditional foundation, with traditional and cleanly defined control options. The Wii controller is simply unable to completely emulate the functionality that the game was designed around. Even if it could emulate all of the functionality, it's not really adding anything to the game. All it's doing is tacking on more convoluted ways of doing things you could already do with the GameCube controller.
* Bad for the Wii: Again, Twilight Princess is a GameCube game. Gamers might be more forgiving of the fact that the Wii version has GameCube graphics if not for the fact that it has GameCube gameplay as well. The Wii seems to be rife with these kinds of games at the moment -- games that only use the motion-sensing capability of the controller to emulate actions that you could do with a regular controller. When you change the controller without changing the game, you do a piss-poor job of proving the point of your hardware. The Wii is supposed to offer new possibilities, not repackage the past with a shiny new bow.
I actually think that this is one of the worst arguments I have seen.
The Gamecube version was basically completed sometime around April of last year; at some point between then and when it was announced for the Wii it became a Wii game. It would be reasonable to assume that the game was intially delayed, they started adding Wii controls (in case you played the Gamecube version on the Wii) and the control scheme started to mature to the point that it was worth creating the game primarily for the Wii.
If you assume that it became primarily a Wii game in December/January then it had 3-4 months of focused development before E3 (most E3 demos are based off of a couple month old build that has been heavily tested to avoid bugs and crashes). What we know is that 4 months into a 10 month development the controls were not perfect (shocking, I know).
Ultimately, Nintendo will have solid controls ready for launch because I have never owned a Nintendo game with sloppy controls.
You could make that same argument for every game that will be released for the Wii. Apparently someone at "n-sider" is still living in 2001. The whole point of the Wii is that it will change EVERYTHING. And we'll have to change the way we think about gaming. For those who still need their controller, there will be a PS3. Nintendo is moving forward. At some point you have to cut the umbilical cord (throw away the old controller) and just go for it. It's taking a lot of balls to make that decision, but they are standing by it. Good for them.
I couldn't imagine the controls not being perfect. In on the DS, Super Mario 64's camera is fantastic. It just sounds to me that someone is upset their precious PS3 or 360 may become obsolete, and they can't really tolerate that sort of fear. But that's not exactly what were talking about, eh?
What more than likely happened here was he didn't want to embrace something new. He was used to the old way of doing things - and therefore had trouble adopting a ENTIRELY new control scheme. What i would be much more interested to hear, is what people who have never even touched a video game controller would think - of course, with the necessary practice, as with anything new.
-Red
Guns don't kill people, "with glowing hearts" kills people.
Why not be smart and rent both first? When have reviewers ever been right, particularly before a game is out?
you have a good point - it is so easy to write about the potential downside of any new product, particularly when you have no 'real' experience in what it takes to create a successful product.
i think 'armchair' journalists are doing more harm than good, whether for or against any particular product.
with the amount of testing that is required to meet a console specs just to pass certification, it is very unlikely that nintendo is going to let any launch titles, let alone their BIG first party launch title be anything but killer.
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Well no they aren't cutting the umbilical cord so to speak.
Super Smash Bros will use the classic controller, as I'm sure other games will. The man behind the series realized motion sensitive gaming doesnt make this particular game more fun, only adds a needless gimic.
It takes a great group to take risks, (Motion sensitivity, Touch Screens on the DS etc) but it takes a wise company to know when those features aren't necessary. The DS suffered from it initial, everything needing to be touched in some way, even if it only detracts from the game play; but by now they seem to have it down very well, and only use the touch screen when it directly enhances game play.
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i think 'armchair' journalists are doing more harm than good, whether for or against any particular product.
Funny, I think that people who don't read 'armchair' journalists with the requisite grain of salt are the ones doing harm. More perspectives and voices in the news is fantastic, just don't give most new sources much credence.
If you read something in five 'armchair' sources, you can start to assume that the event they are describing probably happened but never believe the details. The same goes for reputable sources, except that you can drop the required number to three.
Besides the obligatory "zOMG U haff 2 u53 the w11m0t3 4 a w11 game!!!!!11", Do you really think the Wii control scheme will be worse than the GCN controller? I doubt Nintendo would let any of their games, least of all Zelda, ship with controls that were in any way bad. I can honestly say that I have never played a Nintendo game with BAD controls. The Wiimote controls weren't simply tacked on in the last few weeks before release; Nintendo has been working for months on adding the Wiimote (I doubt there was much more development of the main game), and the quality of the controls really matters. Zelda, as a Wii launch title, will one of people's first experiences with the Wiimote, and I doubt Nintendo will let people down. I'll be buying the Wii version just for the novelty, personally.
Actually, this is a really annoying thing with systems that are backwards compatible with previous controllers. I'm thinking particularly of Silent Hill 2 on PS2 that won't even start without a Dual Shock 2 plugged in, even though the only use it makes of the pressure sensitive buttons is to do a "hard" attack, which could have been done just as easily with a tap vs hold approach. For a game like Mad Maestro! (which is still the ONLY game that I've played where pressure buttons really are required for the gameplay) it makes sense, for games like Silent hill it's just feels like a gimmick and is lame. Konami got it right with MGS2 where there were features that used the pressure buttons (throwing magazine clips further if you pressed harder) but weren't really required to finish the game and fully enjoy it.
It's like someone else said about DS games abusing the touch screen even when it detracted from the game. And for what it's worth, when I played Silent Hill 2 my roommate's only Dual Shock 2 had broken analog sticks and the original Dual Shock's handles are a slightly more comfortable shape. When dealing with PS* controllers I'll take any added comfort I can get because they're cramp-inducing even at the best of times.
The Farewell Tour II
What is this all about? ... ring a bell?
... a dumbed down version.
Hello? It's Zelda. Zelda, Nintendo,
They could eben push out variant cover cased versions of the game that only run on Wii's with the matching case color and still make a better revenue even though it costs more than a single version to produce. If I'm a Wii fan and I'm buying a new Zelda Iteration for my new Nintendo Iteration it better be built for that exact Nintendo, using all the neat new features to the max. Especially the Wiimote.
So the GameCube is getting it's own version? Nice move and good for the GameCubers I'd say.
So what's all the fuss about? You want a 'universal binary'? Stupid idea. Wii'ers will think they're getting a dumbed down version and GameCubers will think they're getting
Bottom line:
Yes, they're selling seperate versions of the new Zelde, one for each plattform - and you (yes, you) will love them for it. As usual, Nintendo has everything under control. Everythings cool, calm down.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Yeah, Except for the fact that Nintendo didn't make the powerglove... Mattel did.
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