The best thing Nintendo could do, in my eyes, anyways, is stick to making hardware (because they do a damned fine job of that), license their stable of franchises out to 3rd parties (I mean, just look what Retro managed with Metroid Prime - those fucktards at Nintendo let their most adult-oriented franchise just rot for years and years, cranking out the odd Super Metroid clone on the GBA, and then Retro takes it off their hands and makes one of the best consoles games ever), and try to build a functional platform behind their console; something like Xbox Live.
Nintendo is, to some extent, licensing out their franchises. Capcom has made three Zelda titles, Sega made F-Zero GX, and Namco is working on a Star Fox game. While Metroid Prime was great, Retro didn't "take it off their hands"; the programming and art was Retro's, the music was Nintendo's, but the design was a collaboration. It wouldn't have been as good a game without Miyamoto's influence.
And Nintendo didn't "crank out the odd Super Metroid clone on the GBA". They've made two, and the first came out at pretty much the same time as Prime.
Have any DS release titles been shown that have graphics comparable to WaveRace64 (which was what, the second domestic N64 release?), never mind a "lot better"? I certainly haven't seen any.
Yes, Metroid Prime: Hunters. Looks only slightly worse than Metroid Prime.
Cutscenes (How do you handle this? Play a movie while the other player is running around?) Scripted moments (what happens when the warthog driven by AI drives off with one player, while the other is left standing. Is he to just chase the original?)
While your other points are valid, these particular issues had to be solved for offline co-op and don't seem to be any harder online.
Bunk. Are there commercials before or after the show?
Only for other HBO shows. They don't sell ads.
Is there product-placement within the show? Are there tie-in promotions between the show and products, either in the show's own ads or in the products' ads?
I'd be surprised if there was, but I don't watch enough HBO to be sure.
But sadly TSR has gone downhill since being eaten by the WoSC group
You apparently mean WotC. However, none of the decline you cite can be attributed to Wizards.
who used to just make a bunch of playing cards.
No, Wizards started by making RPG supplements - The Primal Order was their first product, IIRC. And referring to Magic as "a bunch of playing cards" is absurd.
I'm sorry but TSR jumped the shark with Ravenloft, not to mention Spell Jamming.
See, this was far before Wizards took over (1997). In fact, Ravenloft (1983) predates Forgotten Realms (1985), so it's pretty clear you haven't a clue. In fact, these settings you dislike were dropped by Wizards. Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms are the only TSR settings Wizards continues to publish books for.
I'll have you know that any time a module presents NINE 10th level fighters together as a battle, like in the Ravenloft adventures in and around Bluetspur
So what? Not only is that just a single encounter of a single adventure, which by itself is going to show little, it's not even written by Wizards of the Coast! White Wolf took over Ravenloft after Wizards bought TSR.
There may be a link between violence and games - I don't think so, but it doesn't seem certain. Regardless, this lawyer is lying, and making obvious lies. I don't get it - how the hell does he expect to get away with this? A lot of people have played GTA, and they all know "that the tactic of luring police to a scene and then killing them" is, in fact, NOT "key to succeeding in Grand Theft Auto." What does he get out of telling such obvious lies?
Will the DS fare better than the GBA? I've got my fingers crossed that it does, but the GBA's absolutely awful game lineup left a bad taste in my mouth.
I've got my fingers crossed that Square comes to their senses and does some sort of old-school Final Fantasy compilation for the DS. I'd love to see an update on FF1-6...
A Final Fantasy I & II compilation (with some new extras) is being released the week after the DS comes out.
Of course, since they're not stupid it's for the GBA, not the DS. Unless they lose their senses any ports of 3-6 would be the same, since the GBA has enough power for them and will always have a larger installed base.
Well, if you look at almost all editions of the books (many of which will have been personally approved by Tolkien himself) they went with Green/Blue/Red 90% of the time...
Actually, of the 5 editions of LotR I have none are Green/Blue/Red. The two oldest (I think) don't change colors between volumes. The other three are Green/Purple/Red, Red/Purple/Green, and Blue/Green/Red.
On a related note, how come Nintendo doesn't do this and utterly destroy the PSP? Like you said, the DVD disc would never work for a handheld, but the GCs discs are already the same size as Sony is plannign for the PSP. The GC is already fairly small, and by now they must be able to put the whole thing onto a single low power draw board.
The biggest problem with this would be trying to fit all the buttons from a GameCube controller on a handheld.
sn't it odd that you pay a monthly fee, get the same amount of regular commercials on channels you pay extra for (like HBO), and ON TOP of that, they pop little ads up over the content you payed for?
Hell, Nintendo's biggest success in the handheld market of recent years has been Pokemon, which is essentially a Final Fantasy game with some of the cutscenes stripped out. Not really the kind of thing which works for a quick blast, but the actual core Pokemon games (as opposed to Stadium etc) are only available on a handheld console.
Pokemon works fairly well for a quick blast. Because it's designed for a handheld console, it allows you to save anywhere. However, the article points out that the quick blast is more important for older gamers, which Pokemon is not really aimed at.
The main benefit Pokemon gains from being on a handheld is making it fairly easy to trade with other people.
If you want to prove it to yourself look at some german board games. Settlers, Puerto Rico, etc. They all have themes which are complementary to the gameplay, but the games themselves stand firmly without their themes. This can be seen easily by the constant re-theming of settlers.
Constant re-theming of Settlers? Yeah, they changed the theme of settling an island to settling space in Spacefarers of Catan, or to settling the ancient world in Stone Ages of Catan. Clearly the game is solid since the mechanics required only minor changes to match these varied themes.
The sense of direction in that game, at least from initial viewing, is virtually non-existent.
The instructions gave a little bit of direction at the start - they told you how to get to the first dungeon, and showed you where the second was (but not the path to it). This made the lack of any instructions in the GameCube compilation a serious flaw.
Although the game's release is distinctly unconfirmed, would you buy this title if Capcom opted to translate it?
No, probably not. But that's probably true of every title Capcom is thinking of releasing, except for Zelda games. Most people don't buy most games - that one sounds like it has about as much chance of success as most.
Now if it plays HD-DVDs (or whatever comes after the DVD), that would be a different story. Sony might do this by using Blue-Ray (their DVD replacement) in the PS3 (my speculation).
N-Sider's potential next-gen specs lists the GameCube successor as having "Blue-laser disk technology". Since Nintendo works with Matsushita, they may go with the (also Sony supported) Blu-ray standard. If both Sony and Nintendo's console play Blu-ray DVDs that would give it a big edge over the competing HD DVD standard.
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Is this the first "proposed" MM game that will employ a master writer?
Tad Williams was creative consultant for Dark Zion way back in April 2000, but development ended due to lack of funds four months later.
The best thing Nintendo could do, in my eyes, anyways, is stick to making hardware (because they do a damned fine job of that), license their stable of franchises out to 3rd parties (I mean, just look what Retro managed with Metroid Prime - those fucktards at Nintendo let their most adult-oriented franchise just rot for years and years, cranking out the odd Super Metroid clone on the GBA, and then Retro takes it off their hands and makes one of the best consoles games ever), and try to build a functional platform behind their console; something like Xbox Live.
Nintendo is, to some extent, licensing out their franchises. Capcom has made three Zelda titles, Sega made F-Zero GX, and Namco is working on a Star Fox game. While Metroid Prime was great, Retro didn't "take it off their hands"; the programming and art was Retro's, the music was Nintendo's, but the design was a collaboration. It wouldn't have been as good a game without Miyamoto's influence.
And Nintendo didn't "crank out the odd Super Metroid clone on the GBA". They've made two, and the first came out at pretty much the same time as Prime.
Mario was a construction worker in Donkey Kong, wasn't he? He was certaintly running around a construction site.
Have any DS release titles been shown that have graphics comparable to WaveRace64 (which was what, the second domestic N64 release?), never mind a "lot better"? I certainly haven't seen any.
Yes, Metroid Prime: Hunters. Looks only slightly worse than Metroid Prime.
Ending the game and playing the cutscenes for both players is just as easy on multiple screens as it is on one. That's not the problem.
Not having to sync the AI is a legitimate point, which is why I didn't quote it and said your other points were valid.
Cutscenes (How do you handle this? Play a movie while the other player is running around?) Scripted moments (what happens when the warthog driven by AI drives off with one player, while the other is left standing. Is he to just chase the original?)
While your other points are valid, these particular issues had to be solved for offline co-op and don't seem to be any harder online.
It's HBO, it really isn't advertiser-supported.
Bunk. Are there commercials before or after the show?
Only for other HBO shows. They don't sell ads.
Is there product-placement within the show? Are there tie-in promotions between the show and products, either in the show's own ads or in the products' ads?
I'd be surprised if there was, but I don't watch enough HBO to be sure.
You have no clue what you're talking about.
But sadly TSR has gone downhill since being eaten by the WoSC group
You apparently mean WotC. However, none of the decline you cite can be attributed to Wizards.
who used to just make a bunch of playing cards.
No, Wizards started by making RPG supplements - The Primal Order was their first product, IIRC. And referring to Magic as "a bunch of playing cards" is absurd.
I'm sorry but TSR jumped the shark with Ravenloft, not to mention Spell Jamming.
See, this was far before Wizards took over (1997). In fact, Ravenloft (1983) predates Forgotten Realms (1985), so it's pretty clear you haven't a clue. In fact, these settings you dislike were dropped by Wizards. Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms are the only TSR settings Wizards continues to publish books for.
I'll have you know that any time a module presents NINE 10th level fighters together as a battle, like in the Ravenloft adventures in and around Bluetspur
So what? Not only is that just a single encounter of a single adventure, which by itself is going to show little, it's not even written by Wizards of the Coast! White Wolf took over Ravenloft after Wizards bought TSR.
There may be a link between violence and games - I don't think so, but it doesn't seem certain. Regardless, this lawyer is lying, and making obvious lies. I don't get it - how the hell does he expect to get away with this? A lot of people have played GTA, and they all know "that the tactic of luring police to a scene and then killing them" is, in fact, NOT "key to succeeding in Grand Theft Auto." What does he get out of telling such obvious lies?
NBC and MSNBC are not the same thing. MSNBC is a cable news channel.
With the news that the PSP is coming in at only $199 for the base model, I don't think you could give me one of these.
News that was clearly made up. $300 is still the most likely price.
Will the DS fare better than the GBA? I've got my fingers crossed that it does, but the GBA's absolutely awful game lineup left a bad taste in my mouth.
I've got my fingers crossed that Square comes to their senses and does some sort of old-school Final Fantasy compilation for the DS. I'd love to see an update on FF1-6...
A Final Fantasy I & II compilation (with some new extras) is being released the week after the DS comes out.
Of course, since they're not stupid it's for the GBA, not the DS. Unless they lose their senses any ports of 3-6 would be the same, since the GBA has enough power for them and will always have a larger installed base.
Well, if you look at almost all editions of the books (many of which will have been personally approved by Tolkien himself) they went with Green/Blue/Red 90% of the time...
Actually, of the 5 editions of LotR I have none are Green/Blue/Red. The two oldest (I think) don't change colors between volumes. The other three are Green/Purple/Red, Red/Purple/Green, and Blue/Green/Red.
I doubt it as this would prevent M$ from being able to sell normal XBox controllers at a ripoff price and remove its monopoly.
Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly on Xbox controllers. Many other companies sell them as well.
On a related note, how come Nintendo doesn't do this and utterly destroy the PSP? Like you said, the DVD disc would never work for a handheld, but the GCs discs are already the same size as Sony is plannign for the PSP. The GC is already fairly small, and by now they must be able to put the whole thing onto a single low power draw board.
The biggest problem with this would be trying to fit all the buttons from a GameCube controller on a handheld.
The DVD FAQ agrees with you, Digital Video Disc was the original meaning.
sn't it odd that you pay a monthly fee, get the same amount of regular commercials on channels you pay extra for (like HBO), and ON TOP of that, they pop little ads up over the content you payed for?
HBO is commercial free.
A similar incident was mentioned on the DVDAuthor users mailing list. Here's a link.
Hell, Nintendo's biggest success in the handheld market of recent years has been Pokemon, which is essentially a Final Fantasy game with some of the cutscenes stripped out. Not really the kind of thing which works for a quick blast, but the actual core Pokemon games (as opposed to Stadium etc) are only available on a handheld console.
Pokemon works fairly well for a quick blast. Because it's designed for a handheld console, it allows you to save anywhere. However, the article points out that the quick blast is more important for older gamers, which Pokemon is not really aimed at.
The main benefit Pokemon gains from being on a handheld is making it fairly easy to trade with other people.
If you want to prove it to yourself look at some german board games. Settlers, Puerto Rico, etc. They all have themes which are complementary to the gameplay, but the games themselves stand firmly without their themes. This can be seen easily by the constant re-theming of settlers.
Constant re-theming of Settlers? Yeah, they changed the theme of settling an island to settling space in Spacefarers of Catan, or to settling the ancient world in Stone Ages of Catan. Clearly the game is solid since the mechanics required only minor changes to match these varied themes.
The sense of direction in that game, at least from initial viewing, is virtually non-existent.
The instructions gave a little bit of direction at the start - they told you how to get to the first dungeon, and showed you where the second was (but not the path to it). This made the lack of any instructions in the GameCube compilation a serious flaw.
And since WHEN is Zelda a Capcom title?
Zelda is, and has always been, a Nintendo title.
Since Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons. Published by Nintendo, but developed by Capcom. The Minish Cap is the same way.
Although the game's release is distinctly unconfirmed, would you buy this title if Capcom opted to translate it?
No, probably not. But that's probably true of every title Capcom is thinking of releasing, except for Zelda games. Most people don't buy most games - that one sounds like it has about as much chance of success as most.
Can you play high quality games on a PC? check
Can you use console-like controllers on a PC? check
Can you play high quality games designed to use a console-like controller on a PC? Nope.
Now if it plays HD-DVDs (or whatever comes after the DVD), that would be a different story. Sony might do this by using Blue-Ray (their DVD replacement) in the PS3 (my speculation).
N-Sider's potential next-gen specs lists the GameCube successor as having "Blue-laser disk technology". Since Nintendo works with Matsushita, they may go with the (also Sony supported) Blu-ray standard. If both Sony and Nintendo's console play Blu-ray DVDs that would give it a big edge over the competing HD DVD standard.