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Nintendo Announces Raft of New Games, 3DS Details
A major theme for Nintendo's presentation was the arrival of classic franchises on new systems. This includes a new Kirby game for the Wii, entitled Kirby's Epic Yarn. It's a sidescrolling platformer with a new art style based on a yarn theme, and it's due out this fall. In sharp contrast to Kirby's cartoony graphics was Nintendo's next presentation on Metroid: Other M, which had visuals in the same vein as other popular shooters, showing Samus fighting her way through intricate 3D stages to fight some nasty-looking alien monsters. Other M was given a release date of August 31. Just in case that wasn't enough nostalgia for you, they next showed a new project from Retro Studios: Donkey Kong Country Returns. It's (another) platformer, but with its own unique style and feel, and it's planned for the holiday season.
From there, Nintendo shifted its focus to the upcoming revision to their portable console, the 3DS. Since it's impossible to show the 3D effect on stage, they contented themselves with showing off software and features, but they also brought a massive amount of test consoles, so you can expect to see hands-on reports coming out in a day or two. The 3DS has a slightly larger screen on top — 3.5" instead of 3" — and the bottom screen is a touchscreen. There's an analog nub, an internal gyro-sensor, and a 3D slider, which will control the level of depth you see on screen. You can turn it to maximum, turn it off, or anywhere moderate level of depth in between. There are two camera lenses on the back, which will allow you to take photos in 3D. In addition to the 3D effect, they've also made more standard improvements to the graphics hardware, which has apparently impressed some of the developers working on games for the 3DS. They also briefly touched on the 3DS's communications capabilities. Apparently it will silently look for updates, new maps, ghost data, rankings, and more regardless of what game you're playing, communicating over Wi-Fi or through connections with other nearby consoles.
Headlining the software side of the 3DS was the announcement of Kid Icarus: Uprising, another return to a very popular franchise of old. Granted, it's tough to judge a game by its trailer, but the graphics looked extremely good for a portable system. Nintendo said that in addition to games, the 3DS would play 3D movies as well, though details are sparse as to what will be available and how. But their real concern was the perception that the system would have too few games to interest customers, so they went out of their way to list a bunch of developers and game projects that are targeting the new system. The list is really, really impressive: Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed, Metal Gear Solid, DJ Hero, Saint's Row, Madden, FIFA Soccer, Nintendogs + Cats, Ridge Racer, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, Mario Kart, Star Fox, and more.
But I would feel a little silly as a grown man playing a Mario or Kirby game.
Why?
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
I find it highly ironic that the MGS game that the 3DS will have features a main character with no depth perception.
(Taking a revolver shot to the eye does that).
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
There's a reason Nintendo is still in the video game industry 25 years after releasing the NES.
Microsoft: We have a camera, like the EyeToy, but newer! And a quieter console! And a copy of WiiSports and some other games.
Nintendo: New system! New DonkyKong! Pilotwings! Metroid! Kid Icarus! Nintendogs! GoldenEye! Massive 3rd party support! Zelda! Mario Sports! Kirby!
As I type this, Sony is just getting their conference started. If they had any hopes of getting some thunder, they're in deep trouble. Short of announcing some really compelling games for the Move and an introductory bundle price of $40 (not going to happen), they won't top Nintendo.
PS: That PSP Sony keeps claiming isn't dead? The one the PSP Go was supposed to show was "still in the game"? If the 3DS isn't the final nail in it's coffin, nothing will be.
I watched the ArsTechnica live coverage. Just about everything they announced, I wanted. The one exception was WiiParty, but I'm sure there are tons of people who will buy it.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
It's not like you look from the side while playing a handheld for fucks sake. It's a one-person experience, and simply relaxing your hands naturally will give you the right position.
But I would feel a little silly as a grown man playing a Mario or Kirby game.
Heh.
There was a brief period where I felt insecure about playing video games with bright colors and only cartoon violence.
Then I grew up.
The enemies of Democracy are
Exactly. Hell even the Pokemon games are fun RPGs from time to time. Who cares if there isn't anybody having their head decapitated, Nintendo games are still incredibly fun. There are only so many FPS games you can play without getting bored of the entire genre for a time. On the other hand, playing through Nintendo's classic library is incredibly fun. I'd take Yoshi's Island with "cute" drawn graphics and solid gameplay over a repetitive murderfest any day.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Because I'm a grown up. There are games that are targeted at kids and games that are targeted at adults.
And there are games that are targeted at all ages. You're missing a category.
And Nintendo have strongly favored (not exclusively, but strongly) the former.
No, they haven't. They favor the E-for-everybody. There's a big difference and that's why Nintendo has been enormously successful. The sad thing is, the things that make a game more 'adult' are the things that mostly appeal to the crowd that cannot really be called an adult yet. "I spent all night running over hookers!"
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Even if you don't win, you can still do pretty well as a company. Nintendo did very well (in terms of profits) during the GameCube era, even though they didn't have a very high volume of sales. Outside the console market, you see this all the time. Apple sells nowhere near the majority of the market in many of their products, yet the company as a whole is doing very well. The only reason why it's important for Sony and MS to sell the most consoles is because they're relying on licensing sales for games to make up loses on the hardware. For Nintendo it's not so much of an issue, because they've built a simpler machine they can sell at a profit, and also because they make quite a few very popular games, which they also make quite a bit of money from. I think that Nintendo is pretty profitable, even without relying on the licensing fees paid for by other game vendors.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Normally yes, but with these 7th gen systems, not really. The hardware has obviously not been maxed out yet, as console games have been getting more complicated and looking better each year since the big three were released. I think we will see announcements for new consoles next year, or at the very least some "leaks" regarding them.
Living With a Nerd
No, we'd feel just as silly, but a different kind of silly. At that point you'd be a grown man impersonating his teens instead of a grown man impersonating his childhood.
All I was doing is joining in the poking fun of a big grown hairy man playing the cutest pink blob in the video game world. It does tend to imasculate a grown man. In the same way playing Gears of Halo Duty makes you feel like a bigot who screams fag at the TV anytime you die.
Despite what some people may have told you, there ARE games out there that are more geared towards adults, that don't fall into either of the two categories you described. Both Colourful and serious, some even with adult oriented content
*COUGHHACKWHEEZESNEEZEMASSEFFECT*
When I was ten, I read fairy stories in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.
-C. S. Lewis
My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
Why do I get the feeling Nintendo fans and Apple fans have a lot in common?
Because you disagree with him but can't quite get a bearing on how to phrase that?
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
My mouse doesn't have haptic feedback on whether I've moved the cursor to the right spot, my eyes tell me that.
Besides, even with a standard controller hitting a button is no guarantee for a specific result, many games require proper timing on button presses and if you mess that up you also get a crap result.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
I think the appropriate meme here is "you're doing it wrong."
--Jeremy
Jesus was a liberal
There's exactly one "adult" game I've enjoyed more then Mario and Zelda: Bioshock. It did have a great adult story, the creepy wasn't overdone for it's own sake, all in all one of the best games of any type.
If you check on Metacritic, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 have higher scores then *any game ever released on PC*. The only game that outscores them on any platform is Grand Theft Auto IV(which I've never played).
If you're too insecure in your own gender identity to enjoy Mario, that's up to you. Plenty of grown men think it's a good time though. Just out of curiosity: Have you actually played Super Mario Galaxy?
Blessed are the pessimists, for they have made backups.
A real man doesn't give a shit about what other people think about his hobbies, and doesn't need to play games with a lame, predictable story and some "adult situations" to feel like a grown-up.
--Jeremy
Jesus was a liberal
I think you're confusing "adult" with "adult-only." Plenty of the things that we enjoy as children are still enjoyable as adults. (Granted, not everything.)
A lot of people, in their preteen and teenage years, distance themselves from from the stuff we liked as kids. Probably because there's a lot of social pressure not to be seen as childish, and so to stay away from things that are marketed to children or as being "family-friendly." I know I had a phase when I thought that if a movie wasn't rated R, it probably wasn't worth watching. I still like most of the movies I liked back then, but since then I've rediscovered, say, Disney movies.
This idea that you must make a Sin City style game to appeal to adults is patently ridiculous. The 40-year-olds, if they're buying a console, are all buying Wiis, and not just for their kids. The people who won't touch a good game because it's "kid stuff" are mostly insecure adolescents.
I don't believe in time. It's a grand conspiracy designed to sell watches.