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Miyamoto Says He's Solved Co-op Issue In Mario Galaxy
In the fourth volume of the ongoing series of interviews between Nintendo's Iwata and the Mario Galaxy team, design legend Shigeru Miyamoto puts forth the opinion that he thinks he's nailed two-player Mario. That opinion is bolstered by Japanese sales figures, which shows the plumber doing quite well for his umpteenth outing. "Miyamoto: 'For every game I worked on, there were always times when I would keep discussing the issue of two-player simultaneous gameplay, and the staff also became conscious of the challenge, so every development team kept trying hard to solve it too. Though I think that might also have been because they thought if they didn't deal with it first, I'd come in and ask how it was coming along for sure! (laughs).'" Via Kotaku.
Wow, two different articles from the same department, that's like a record considering most of the time we get the same article from two different departments! Seriously* I've heard of companies that seem constantly undergoing a reorg, but Slashdot's restructuring is just ridiculous!
*I'm as serious as there is a lack of sarcasm in this sentence.
Demented But Determined.
From what I've seen in other stories/previews/reviews, the CoStar mode is not activated just by someone picking up the second controller when someone else is playing. Presumably, because otherwise, a "power player" would just tape a second wiimote to the first, then always play that way, enabling super-jumps and thwomp-freezing all the time. It has to be played as a separate game mode... don't know if it's all special maps, or how much is available in CoStar mode.
Certainly not the perfect Co-op gameplay for my tastes - that would require the ability for new players to pop in anytime and add to the game at a whim.
Ryan Fenton
Nothing to do with the linked interview, but the summary implies, ridiculously, that the sales number of Mario Galaxy (by all accounts one of the greatest games ever produced) in Japan has a direct relationship to the "co-op" play. I guarantee that it has NOTHING to do with this. Just as many people would be buying this game if it had no co-op whatsoever. Maybe there are a ton of people really enjoying the co-op experience, but there is nothing even to suggest that people are playing it co-op from the sales figures alone, nor that the sales figures are being driven by the feature.
The Farewell Tour II
This has to be the most content-free article in a while. All this boils down to is:
A two player mode is hard to come up with.
We thought about it.
We like what we came up with.
I can't believe they took a whole article to say that.
As an Asian, I would just like to note that that is so Asian...
-Rob
Biblical fiscal responsibility
Didn't Gauntlet have four-way cooperative playing a looong time ago?
(To this day, I still sometimes catch myself thinking: "Wizard needs food -- badly.")
Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
Two players... playing at once! I've SOLVED it!
99% WASP? That's ridiculous. There's no way there are 1% Atheists on Slashdot...
Wow, we have a master game designer in the house!
Are...are you serious?
Here's a tip: lighten up! Life's too short.
Go and try to play the original Contra with two players. Then you'll see how poorly a 2 player simultaneous game can be. I know it's not the worst 2 player game, but I think it gets the idea across.
To this day i still love the 2 player mode in Toejam and Earl
Well, Bart, your uncle Arthur used to have a saying: "Shoot 'em all and let God sort 'em out."
what kind of crack are you smoking?!
The original Contra is one of the definitive two-player co-op games!
While they expanded on it and made it a lot better in later Contra games (Contra III: The Alien Wars and Contra: Shattered Soldier being good examples), Contra 1 was still the one that started it all.
The only potential issue was the waterfall level where you had to make sure you didn't scroll-off your partner, but that was really just one level where it was a problem. The game was designed to be two-player. One player gets spread and keeps the screen clear of little enemies, and the other gets laser and goes straight for the main goals. When you get the teamwork down, the game flows amazingly smooth.
Ce n'est pas une signature automatique.
of games have successful 2-Player Cooperative modes. Contra, Double Dragon, Toejam & Earl, Gauntlet, Final Fight...the upcoming game Army of 2 is specifically designed to be played ONLY as a co-op game, and if you don't have a buddy to play with it throws a bot in there to duke it out with you. The whole game is designed so that 2 players are required to make it through the levels.
No actual Italian has an accent that poor and everybody here knows that. Also, I'm not Anglo-Saxon.
Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
I don't remember there being a pointing device to aid the first player. But then I am guessing you didn't RTFA.
Just because you can, does not mean you should.
RTFA... There is a different kind of 2 player co-op, that he is talking about.
Just because you can, does not mean you should.
Strange, I thought of it more as simply a Mario reference.
You got a problem with it, go punch out Shigeru Miyamoto or something. Though if you do that, you really do need to say "it's a-me" while you're doing it.
I guess you could also attack him with a stromboli or something, if you have the time. Tony really wants to know how that "problem" down at the docks went, though.
Is it really doing well? It seems that depends on who's presenting the facts. If you google, "mario galaxy sales", you get links that have different interpretations of the facts. But most of them are using words like, "lackluster", "unimpressive" and "flies low".
This kind of co-op has at least 3 advantages:
The co-op game might not be for everyone, but for me it turned Mario Galaxy from a probable purchase into a must-have. And I'm probably not alone in this.
Super Mario War. What more is there to say. Up to four/eight (depending on version) player co-op/battle/all-out-war, with Mario, great fun. Probably completely illegal and will be shut down as soon as Nintendo spot it but you can't get better.
Who cares about rescuing Peach when you can just stomp on people's heads in teams?
design legend Shigeru Miyamoto puts forth the opinion that he thinks he's nailed two-player Mario.
That's just *so* wrong!
I tend to agree: Initial sales probably aren't helped by co-op. However, additional sales will definitely get a boost from the mode. This is why the Wii sells so well: If you have friends over, they can have fun playing Wii Sports within seconds, even if they have no clue about the game. Co-op mode makes Mario viral like Wii Sports; it's easy to hook others on the game.
For those that really read the article you already know this is more than 2P co-op that has been done in the past. It allows two people that are experienced to really blow through levels, also it allows veteran gamers to help non veteran gamers play and an apprentice mode type setting. I personally agree with the 'wife story' mentioned already and even more so with parents that want to play with their kids rather than put them in front of a console so they don't have to parent them.
SMG is the showfloor game of what Nintendo is really trying to do with video games - have experienced gamers get a friend (rather than a trash talking deathmatch enemy), get parents involved with their kids, and help expose more people to gaming thus hopefully expanding the market (rather than putting a noose around it with more and more specific expert games).
This IS one reason I am getting the game: I think my son and I will have a great time playing together. If it was anything else I would not be playing mario.
One player gets spread
...Game over.
One player with rapid/spread could play basically forever, beating Red Falcon over and over and over without ever losing a life (since the difficulty doesn't appear to change each time).
I must have beat that sucker at least 20 times in a row on one guy, once upon a time, only stopping because I got bored rather than actually dying. Two player? Completely unneccesary.
Completely unneccesary.
It's not necessary, it's just that it's fun. The game has an obvious design that is pointed towards 2-player. Sure, it's not a difficult game, but so what?
All the Contra games are great when you get into a two-player "rhythm". It's one of the only games where the teamwork actually helps you run through it easier, if you do it right. (yes, that's going from "easy" to "really easy", but again, so what?)
If you want hard, go get an "S" on Shattered Soldier
Ce n'est pas une signature automatique.
Anyone who rejects a fundamental doctrine of a major faith....
that definition sounds familiar.
Hahah
Browsing with classic discussion, noscript, at -1 and nested
no hidden comments and I only mod UP
Just wait a while, he'll change sides.
It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
Shut the fuck up, you dumbass nigger
nt