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Wii Entertainment Games

NiGHTS Wii uses Forecast Channel for Game Weather 97

Wowzer writes "Sega Europe updated their NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams page, and in doing so accidentally briefly listed the new features the Wii-exclusive will have when it gets released in winter 2007. From the article: 'Wii connect 24 features: Exchange items with friends via the network and change the scenery according to real-world seasons using the Forecast Channel.' You'll also get three new shape-shifting masks (dragon, dolphin, rocket) to explore the game's seven worlds."
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NiGHTS Wii uses Forecast Channel for Game Weather

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  • Hmm... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by commisaro ( 1007549 )
    Don't people play games to experience a different world? DO we really want the same weather outside reflected in game?
    • Re:Hmm... (Score:5, Funny)

      by D4rk Fx ( 862399 ) on Wednesday April 04, 2007 @02:10PM (#18608917) Homepage

      Don't people play games to experience a different world? DO we really want the same weather outside reflected in game?
      But it says it's using weather from the Forecast channel, which pretty much guarantees that the in game weather will never be like outside.
    • Re:Hmm... (Score:4, Funny)

      by wiz31337 ( 154231 ) on Wednesday April 04, 2007 @02:10PM (#18608925)
      This may be true, but it may be the only weather some gamers experience.
    • Re:Hmm... (Score:4, Funny)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Wednesday April 04, 2007 @02:14PM (#18609019) Homepage Journal

      Don't people play games to experience a different world? DO we really want the same weather outside reflected in game?

      I'll answer that question as soon as you explain what this word "outside" means.

      • by wiggles ( 30088 )
        It's that big, nasty place, sometimes with the blue ceiling and the really really bright light bulb, other times with the black ceiling and the nice white light bulb. Either way, it's a nasty place... I stay as far away as possible.
    • "DO we really want the same weather outside reflected in game?"

      Why are you asking any of us before we've experienced it? I mean, seriously, how could this possibly be considered 'insightful'?
    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      How is this insightful? What if I'm playing the game in January, with snow on the ground (in real life) and my character is somewhere in South Africa? I doubt they'll be using your local weather, but rather the weather for place that your character is in.
    • by Xymor ( 943922 )
      All you need is an internet connection, 6 lines of code and a server to donwload an xml.
      Now, you see why they change its name from 'Revolution'.

      Yet, responding to commisaro, the world of Wii followers will look at this as a new way of doing realistic gaming.
      • All you need is an internet connection, 6 lines of code and a server to donwload an xml.
        Now, you see why they change its name from 'Revolution'.


        Perhaps.

        What I don't see is why nobody's ever done something like this before, if it's so goddamned easy...
        • by Movi ( 1005625 )
          Actuallym not true. The original Black & White had this option, though i never got around testing it since i didn't have broadband back then.
      • Sometimes the Revolution is not in implementing an idea, but in having it in the first place.
        • Whoops! Hadn't gotten to the one about FlightSim having done this for ages. so edited version "Sometimes the Revolution is not in implementing an idea, but in having it in the second place and putting into a game about a flying androgenous jester in a dream world"
          • by Xymor ( 943922 )
            100% agree with your point.
            This is a major revolution for flying androgenous jester in a dream world games.
  • Awesome. (Score:2, Funny)

    by Spazntwich ( 208070 )
    Slashdot: It's news every time some random feature is included in a game?
    • NiGHTS is one of those games which really defined an era. It was amazing to play and is still great to play now, if you don't think era defining games arn't news for nerds then I don't think you belong here.

      Plus shall we mention this is the first time this has been done in a game?
    • "Slashdot: It's news every time some random feature is included in a game?"

      Slashdot: It's people coming into threads they don't care about and bitching about them?
  • MS Flight Sim (Score:3, Interesting)

    by fotbr ( 855184 ) on Wednesday April 04, 2007 @02:05PM (#18608829) Journal
    has been doing this for a while.
  • by Seumas ( 6865 ) on Wednesday April 04, 2007 @02:08PM (#18608881)
    But I sure like the potential prospect of playing with my wii in the rain!

    See, that was funny right there because I used 'wii' in a context that suggested I might be talking about my wiener.
    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      NiGHTS was a saturn game where you flew around as a Nightmarian (aka NiGHTS) and basicly flew through hoops, followed paths and had a jolly good time. If you've never played it you're really missing out on a classic!
    • by D4rk Fx ( 862399 )
      And finally, females will be able to experience what it's like to write their name in snow with their Wii!
  • Masks? :( (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Turn-X Alphonse ( 789240 ) on Wednesday April 04, 2007 @02:09PM (#18608897) Journal
    IS it just me or does this song like it's ruining the point of NiGHTS? In the original we didn't need masks or collectable ideas, you just got to the shrine and you were off. Why include artifical barriers like masks when the game it's self isn't suited to to them?
    • Re:Masks? :( (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Mr. Hankey ( 95668 ) on Wednesday April 04, 2007 @04:21PM (#18611105) Homepage
      I don't see a problem with it, I owned and played through both NiGHTS and Christmas NiGHTS many times. Particularly with the latter game, I can definitely see how mask-based themes could fit into the NiGHTS dream-based world. Think something like Kirby. It doesn't need to be a barrier, it can and should be totally optional, but it might present new ways of getting through a level.
    • by Cheapy ( 809643 )
      I'm personally trying to figure out how they'll integrate 20 mini-games into it...
  • Then please fix it! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by GweeDo ( 127172 ) on Wednesday April 04, 2007 @02:13PM (#18609003) Homepage
    Let me put in my zip code please. I don't care about the weather 200 miles away from me!
  • by LordPhantom ( 763327 ) on Wednesday April 04, 2007 @02:15PM (#18609027)
    ..... the in-game weather will always be wrong?
  • by SydShamino ( 547793 ) on Wednesday April 04, 2007 @02:17PM (#18609081)
    The features of this game sound pretty cool; I like the tie ins between the different Wii channels.

    However, I've disabled WiiConnect24 due to its power use. When the console is in standby and WiiConnect24 is disabled, it uses about 1W. With WiiConnect24 enabled, it uses about 10W. That's about $10 a year I'm not willing to pay in power.

    The problem is that, when I turn on the console, it doesn't attempt to synchronize the WiiConnect data. The net connection works - I can use the internet channel and the votes channel - but the new and forecast channels just tell me "WiiConnect24 is disabled" and error out.

    Is there any way I can configure the console so that WiiConnect24 is disabled, but when I turn on the chassis I get the data update? I don't mind if the data takes a few minutes or even half an hour to load; I'll play Elebits or something in the mean time.

    Sorry if this seems mildly off-topic. I'd like to get excited about this game if I can use its features.
    • I hate to chime in with a 'me too' post, but I'm about to...

      Me too! I agree - I turned off WiiConnect24 for exactly the same reason (unneeded power consumption) but was frustrated to find things not updating. A quick check doesn't seem like too much to ask...
      -Trillian
    • by Leto-II ( 1509 )
      Enable WiiConnect24, but have the console connected to a power strip which you turn off when not using it. Or does the Wii not like being totally without power?
      • What I want is the following: (This is my own invention, don't patent it!)
        - Power strip with remote control to turn it on and off
        - Surge protection on all outlets
        - At least one, possibly two outlets that bypass the remote control and are always on (for the DVR)
        - Battery backup for at least one always-on outlet and at least one regular outlet

        I could build one - I have the expertise to do so - but it's just not worth the time to me. Instead, when I rewired our TV room electro
        • With the exception of your last point about battery backup, just google for the Panamax Max 8 Coax PRO. It has 4 outlets that are switched by a 12V trigger, and 4 outlets that are not. All of the outlets have surge protection.

          You could solve the battery problem by plugging the Panamax into the UPS. Then the unswitched outlets would have UPS.
        • things [smarthomeusa.com].
          If you put your TV in the control socket then presumably when you turn the TV off (or put it on standby) it would completely power down whatever other items you have in the switched sockets and there are constant hot sockets for your PVR and whatever.
          It's not exactly what you described and wouldn't shut off the TV standby power. On the upside it wouldn't give you another remote control to keep track of!
    • You CAN use these features, you're just not WILLING to... you said so yourself! :-)

      Ok, I really had a REAL reason for replying to your topic--just that I didn't realize you couldn't use the Forecast and/or News channels without WiiConnect24. I do agree, it's silly that it won't update the data when the machine is on. However, I have noticed that in order to receive a message that someone just sent me, I have to turn the console into "sleep" mode. I wish the Wii could update while it's in the main menu.
      • However, I have noticed that in order to receive a message that someone just sent me, I have to turn the console into "sleep" mode. I wish the Wii could update while it's in the main menu.

        Hmm, now that I think about it, I haven't received any Wii mail since I disabled WiiConnect24, either. (Not that I ever got much; we only have one friend that we know of with a Wii.)

        You CAN use these features, you're just not WILLING to... you said so yourself! :-)

        This game sounds neat, but it doesn't sound neat enough to
        • by fbjon ( 692006 )
          You mean $10 yearly fee. I calculate that I'd pay about 4.90 EUR = 6.50 USD for one year of having the Wii on 24/365, if I had a Wii. Oh the humanity! In 37 years, I'd save enough to buy a second Wii!
        • $10 a month, no. But you said $10 per year :-)
    • by dyslexicbunny ( 940925 ) on Wednesday April 04, 2007 @03:22PM (#18610191)
      $10 a year?!? That's it. When I get home, my wii is SO going to stay off. I can find much better uses of $10 dollars a year. Like a large pizza at Fellini's or two beers at McCrays (you're SOL if you don't live in Atlanta on both). Man, how could I possibly live without those additional $10 a year?

      I guess I'll have to play hours of Counterstrike on my gaming machine or watch House and 24 pimped out in HD instead while basking in the cool air conditioning in my house for all hours instead.
      • I hope that is the Fellinis on Ponce. Else it will cost you 12 dollars due to the gas to drive to the Ponce one:-P
        • I usually go to the one on Howell Mill, although I like the Ponce store better. The outside is so much nicer than Howell Mill. But it's across the connector so unless I'm over there, it's just out of the way.
      • by Duds ( 100634 ) *
        The amusing part is this comes from a group that was actively excited about paying $15 a month in power to let their PS3 do maths constantly.
    • Because god forbid you get an XBOX360 or PS3 where just idling in the console uses 160-170W. As opposed to the Wii's 13W

      And if you don't want to spend that money, turn off your computer and monitor overnight, and while you're at work. That'll save more money than the WiiConnect24 after only 400 hrs (assuming 200W consumpton, which isn't that much) for an hour and save the 200Wh.

         
    • The power use doesn't bother me so much, but I noticed that when I left WiiConnect24 on the console got really hot. I didn't like the idea of my Wii baking 24 hours a day. I wouldn't want it to update automatically when I turn it on if that would interfere with me jumping right into a game. But it could do the update in the background while I'm shopping or whatever, similar to how the 360 and PS3 background downloading and resume if you do something that it can't background with. And it's a no-brainer t
    • this appears to be a common misconception about the way WiiConnect24 works. WiiConnect24 is just the name of the service, like WiFi Connection was the name of the DS Internet Service.

      If you don't want your Wii connected to the internet when it's off, it's simple enough, turn WiiConnect24 ON and turn Standby Connection OFF. Your Wii will be connected to the Internet only when it is on, it will update itself when it is on, and it will disconnect from the Internet when it is off, saving your precious $10/year.
      • That is indeed how it should work, but it doesn't. I have my Wii set with WiiConnect24 on and standby connection off, and if I try to go into the Forecast or News channels it tells me that WiiConnect24 is turned off. Turning standby connection on and then going back to the Forecast channel (without going into standby first) works just fine. Possibly this is a glitch in the current firmware.

        My main irritation with standby connection is that it leaves the video signal active in standby mode, which confuses my
  • .. I'll never know if this works. :(
  • I'll hold off on judgement until I try it. Being an avid player of the original NiGHTS, however, I don't like the idea of adding "gimmicks" to the game like this. NiGHTS took place in a dream world, adding stuff like this would make the whole "Dream World" thing kinda pointless. The mask thing doesn't bother me since the original NiGHTS had basically the same thing, you'd transform at different parts of the level to suit the environment. Depends on what they do with it, I guess.
    • "NiGHTS took place in a dream world, adding stuff like this would make the whole "Dream World" thing kinda pointless. "

      Why?
      • I don't know about you, but my dreams don't exactly match the weather outside. NiGHTS had the Snow world, the Sunny Field world, etc. Those match something you'd have a dream about, especially the type of dream found in the game. Maybe I'm just being picky.
        • "I don't know about you, but my dreams don't exactly match the weather outside. "

          Sometimes they do for me, sometimes they don't. I just don't understand why having it match the weather outside would break anything.
          • I guess I think with the old school mentality of old platformers, where you had an ice world, a fire world, a desert world, etc. That's how the original NiGHTS was, making it match whatever's going on outside would just break that. Unless they mean simply weather effects, and not the world itself.
            • It will also mean levels will require a more generic design to switch. Now maybe if each level had a "special" area only accessable with one type of weather this could be fun.
            • Ahhhh.. okay, I understand what you're saying now. My bad. You said it, I just didn't get it.
    • by ab0mb88 ( 541388 )
      I tend to disagree with you on this ruining the effect. The outside world matching what is going on in this alternate reality would make the realism seem more real. I am sure almost everyone has had to turn on the lights when playing a scary game or watching some movie because it is just a little too intense otherwise. This is the same kind of idea if it is storming outside and it is storming on the game the sensory perceptions are all there and should feel all the more real. This may be a gimmick, but
    • by Endymion ( 12816 )
      but... "gimmicks", if you call them that, were part of the original game. The music was influenced by a built-in A-Life [wikipedia.org] system, so there is precedent to having complex systems that influence the game, that are not directly part of the gameplay. It adds to the feel of the world, and makes it not-exactly-the-same every time you play it.

      This doesn't even being to cover how Christmas NiGHTS changed the weather based on the date. (animal crossing style)
  • Weather effects are fine and dandy, but I'm not entirely mistaken there were some holiday effects (or, more accurately, a seperate disc bundled with some game mag, probably Gamepro or EGM) in which outside the Christmas season would look green and plant-y, but using the Saturn's clock, when Christmas time rolled around would be filled with snow, santa outfits, and the like. I'm near positive that using the Wii's weather and internal clock Nights will do something along the same lines.
  • I swear the Forecast Channel is always about 6 hours behind for me. I'll be playing near midnight and it'll show me weather from 8 PM, I'll play at 10 AM and I'll have a 3 AM reading. They should switch to the Weather Channel's service instead.
    • They should switch to the Weather Channel's service instead.
      Choosing The Weather Channel instead of Weathernews would probably have been too expensive per month for Nintendo. If you prefer to look at TWC's feed (albeit not in-game), you could always download Internet Channel Trial Version, bookmark your zip code in weather.com, and toss Forecast Channel onto the last page of the menu where you won't see it unless you have a lot of Virtual Console games.
  • Sweet! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Kuvter ( 882697 )
    Now I never have to go outside to know what the weather is like, I can just play video games.

    Living in the basement just got better!

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