Revolution Roundtable 103
1up.com is running a piece talking to six professional game developers, where they discuss the possibilities and possible pitfalls of the Nintendo Revolution. From the article: "I don't think it will be difficult at all to make full length titles for the Revolution. First of all, Nintendo has hinted that they will provide an add-on for the controller that will mimic a "normal" controller, like the GameCube's Wavebird controller. Second, as long as the device is light, movement based input is not that tiresome. I have used a gyroscopic mouse for many years, and can successfully play many games with it. I would presume that games specifically tuned for the Revolution's controller will be easy to use for extended periods of time. As a bonus, gamers who play that long will end up with impressive looking forearms!"
Had to say it! (Score:1, Redundant)
On
+5 obvious.
Re:Had to say it! (Score:2)
Gamers (Score:5, Funny)
You mean like... (Score:1)
Re:Gamers (Score:1)
Re:Gamers (Score:2)
Re:BONK THE ZONK!!! (Score:1)
However, we all now will be modded downward so that this intelligent discussion never sees the light of day. I mean who wants to see and hear some real discussion when there are so many "insightful" and "funny" replies to mod up?
I know it is a panacea, but it really wouldn't take much to turn this place around and right the ship. Now, don't get me wrong I don't miss the Natalie Portman/Hot Grits/Goatse days, but at least they were good fun and the place was alive and kicking... it ju
Re:BONK THE ZONK!!! (Score:1)
Re:BONK THE ZONK!!! (Score:1)
If you think Zonk is doing a good job, that is your opinion. I was a game reviewer for many years and I can honestly say Zonk's "reviews" are barely passable and never would have made it past a
Considering the DS... (Score:5, Insightful)
The DS is doing insanely well. It's practically flooded the PSP out of the market, and must-have games are coming out in droves. That touch screen isn't a gimmick: it's a whole new world of gaming. I know several people who consider their DS to be their primary gaming platform.
Sony is coming late to the field with an expensive system and ill will from their DRM fiasco. Microsoft arrived early with an unstable, overheating, overpriced system and a mediocre launch lineup.
Both systems are hellishly expensive, and many of their titles will overlap. I can't imagine that many people will bother to have both: the only real deciding factor is between Halo/Xbox Live or Final Fantasy n+1.
The Revolution, however, will be massively cheaper and offer games that can't even be emulated on the other systems. Nintendo would have to go out of its way to ruin the launch.
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:5, Insightful)
The Rev will be my next console. While MS and Sony put out just another iteration of the same thing, Nintendo's branching out in a new direction with a proven ability to succeed in that direction.
My only complaint is that the second stick will be practically _necessary_ for conventional gameplay - the wand on it's own is just a little too simple for most console-genre games.
I'm looking forward to it.
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:4, Interesting)
But that is the whole point of the Revolution. We don't want EA to go and make yet another batch of traditional "console-genre games", we want a whole new breed of console genres. The "second stick" or whatever controller add-on one can plug in should always be secondary, or it should be as innovative as the wand. I'd really hate it if games required a regular controller to plug into the wand, and then only use the controller for regular gameplay.
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
So as a result, I'm expecting that every developer besides Nintendo will simply expect you to have the sti
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
I don't see it that way. I'm sure there were some that had a grand vision for the single handed wand, but more practical heads demanded a little more control. The important thing is that the additional control the wand allows is not sacrificed in the "nunchuck" configuration.
The "classic shell" will be the vehicle for the 3rd party sell
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:1)
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
I do not think that word means what you think it means. That's like saying that Ford is building a new type of vehicle, that is proven to succeed.
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:1)
Anecdote != data (Score:1)
Nintendo is being extremely innovative with the Rev, and they are very good at innovating successfully. Take the DS, for example. It's innovative, and it is/was successful.
Past success in innovation does not guarantee future success in innovation. Remember the Virtual Boy?
Re:Anecdote != data (Score:2, Insightful)
Remember the NES (Gamepad, D-pad)?
Remember the SNES (Shoulder buttons)?
Remember the N64 (Analog stick and Rumble)?
Remember the Wavebird (First-party wireless)?
Remember the DS?
Nintendo has a long history of innovating and being successful in that innovation.
The Virtual Boy is the "anecdote" that goes against the existing data.
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
Plus when I show it to people at work, it's not to show them the touchscreen, it's to show them the awesomes games or online/muliplayer play. The touchscreen is just a tool to allow me to play games easier and it's a damn fine one at doing that. But it's far from the reason to go out and buy one of these things!
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:3, Interesting)
And I am one of them. However, the touch-screen still seems gimmicky to me (and that's a Nintendo fanboy talking here). Even though I have played a couple of games that required the touch screen pretty extensively (Mario DS, Kirby Canvas Curse, and the wife is on Nintendogs), the two games I spend the most time with at the moment are Advance Wars DS and Mario
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
Yeah, I completly agree with you on those points, being able to use this on the train, and shut it at anytime without fear of losing your place or the battery dying is a big plus.
Although I find I do use the
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
I am also playing the DS more than I play either my Gamecube or Xbox. I'm absolutely addicted to Advance Wars DS and Mario Kart DS. However, I use the touch screen for Advance Wars, even though it sounds like most use the d-pad.
Personally, I don't mind that not every feature is used in every single game. Just because the touch-screen is there, doesn't mean that it has to be used. Same with the microphone. Even though Mario Kart DS doesn't use the touch screen, I find it to be one of the most enjoyable
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:1)
And live!? Jebus man, hop over to the PC and use Teamspeak or Vent or one of the voice comm programs there.
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:1)
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
They fixed the typo.
You used to be able to go here [target.com] and type in "DS" in the search box on the left under Search Catalog and it would come up as $99. It comes up as $129 now.
I knew I should have picked up a third DS for $99 while I could.
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:1)
Also there is a lot more to the system than just the touch screen. Mario Kart DS and Castlevania DS are both GREAT games that make very little use for the touch screen, but both make great use of the dual screens.
That's what I like about the DS. The fact that there are so many neat w
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
IMO the game that uses the touch screen the best has to be Yu-Gi-Oh! for the DS. S
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:3, Interesting)
I think more accurately, the developers would have to go out of their way to ruin the launch. It seems to me that with the stale game market these days, developers would have to be tied up to keep them from flocking to this console.
Just imagine the current proposal for a game now: "Ok, it's a [insert genre] game where you play a [insert catchy character type] who has to [choose: save, kill, defeat] this [choose: victim, enemy]."
Now think about som
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
that being said, playing a drumset is a lot more than two hands - it requires two feet as well. a drumset is a four-appendage instrument (unless you are that dude from Def Leppord), and a game based around such a thing would, to me, feel lame without some sort of foot controls.
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:1)
But both of these things are perfectly doable with existing controllers! Or at least instead of buying a second Revolution controller, why not get a similarly priced drum peripheral, one actually designed to mimic the act more?
That's the problem I see with the Revolution controller. A lot of people talk abou
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:5, Insightful)
Suffice to say, you gotta drop the hardcore gamer image sometimes to rediscover what's fun. I can't wait to the NR game line up.
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:1, Insightful)
To me, the hardcore gamer is the one who enjoys innovative gameplay. Hardcore gamers enjoy quality games no matter what the platform is. People who only play Military Shooter 28 or Sports Sequel 50 Billion are not hardcore. Nintendo has never lost the hardcore gaming population; Sony and Microsoft have just excelled at building up the poser gaming population.
Your point is well taken though. The folks pumping o
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
So could Nintendo. My GameCube is basically a very expensive paper weight because I couldn't find more than a couple games a year I even considered buying for it, which didn't also come out for my PS2. And why get anything for the GameCube which I could get for the PS2 instead since the GC controller was a nightmare and this way I can just stick the GC in the closet instead of having it waste an input on my T
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
They lost it when they lost the third parties about a decade ago. Unless your definition of "hardcore" only includes those with tons of cash to throw around.
Rob
Dance Dance on the Revolution (Score:2)
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
At one year in, people are treating as obvious the fact that the DS roundly trounced the PSP in the handheld wars. A quick glance at the sales figures suggests that this is indeed the case, but I haven't seen any full studies yet. Clearly, some nintendo nut has got to have the time to collate the hardware and software sales data, make some prett
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
Imagine three conversations in late 2006:
Mr: I'm thinking about one of those new XBox360 consoles. I really like the online content since you don't like to play games with me, Stereotypical Wife- I will always have someone to compete with with XBox Live. There are also some very cool games coming soon for that system, like a Marvel Comics Multiplayer Online RPG and Madden 2007. It
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
And I'm not sure how you can ignore that the X360 right now is the benchmark when it comes to cheap new games. $5 for Geometry Wars Evolved, $5 for online enabled Joust, $15 for billiards, $10 for Bejeweled 2, etc. It's a pretty fanboyish argument to ignore Xbox Live Arcade while hyping Nintendo's virtual console feature (which we still lac
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:1)
My only complaint is the design of the DS itself. The buttons need to be a tad bit bigger and the whole thing needs to be a hare smaller, height wise (if the machine was open). If they just cut off everything from the bottom of the lower screen down, I think it would be a good size.
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:4, Interesting)
Most critical is how accurate this controller can be, if it has poor quality tracking people will have to lower the sensitivity (Totally destroying the fun) or simply will hate the thing.
But it's damn good to see that the biggest problems they're likely to have are technical which is how it should be, there will be killer games for this system the fps control scheme alone practically guarantees huge interest.
And the DS is really a feather in their cap, it's not totally dominating (yet) but it's technical acheivements are increadible in how seamlessly it handles things that would be considered a problem in another system,two systems (GBA and DS in one), two screens, two cpus, and two control schemes. Brilliant, I love mine.
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:1)
As for wireless conflicts... is that really a likely issue? Wireless technology seems to be pretty good these days. It seems everyone h
Re:Considering the DS... (Score:2)
As for the DS' success, it is in a much different situation from the Revolution. Not only was it first to market ahead of the PSP, but it already had a virtual monopoly behind it, so third-party developers wer
A Revolution in the bedroom... (Score:4, Funny)
Time to develop? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Time to develop? (Score:1)
One title is a racing game that IMO looks every bit as high quality as PGR3 and based on the popular "Test Drive" series.
Re:Time to develop? (Score:1)
Re:Time to develop? (Score:2)
Oh! A valid exuse for... (Score:1)
Re:Oh! A valid exuse for... (Score:1)
Um...? (Score:1)
And tennis elbow!
A whole new realm of video game related injuries (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:A whole new realm of video game related injurie (Score:2)
It's entirely possibly that naturally waving one hand and pushing one or two buttons in a 2' range will result in less injuries than unnaturally cramping all ten fingers to reach all 10 different buttons, t
You're right, motion would be SO awful! (Score:2)
Gosh, it's a good thing all previous human activity has been limited to a tiny range of motion for our thumbs and forefingers. What would our early ancestors have done if they couldn't kill antelope with their B button? Now that we're really pushing the limits, who knows what kind of muscles we'll develop? Maybe some
It's not that difficult... (Score:4, Insightful)
The fact is that all reports point to being able to use it resting your arm with minor motions, just like current controllers. Sure some games will allow for the dramatic sword fights and whatnot... but it is no big deal. Think about it... have you ever played tennis or ping pong? No massive forearm strength is needed, plus the game has built in pauses to rest.
There are many more examples, but for christ's sake even if you are a geek I think you should be able to wave a 4-6oz. controller around for a couple hours even with no massive strain - we aren't talking about a cinder block here. If you are too weak to handle that, then it is really time to put the game console away and go excercise.
Re:It's not that difficult... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:It's not that difficult... (Score:1)
Yes. This is why no company has ever put out a bad product. Ever.
Re:It's not that difficult... (Score:1)
Re:It's not that difficult... (Score:1)
Re:It's not that difficult... (Score:1)
I think you didn't understand, if there is something to say about nintendo is exactly the fact that so far they have been successful in nearly everything they did. Other than the virtual boy there is the N64 controller that was really cheap and easily broken, but this put asside, everything as been succesful so far with Nintendo.
Re:It's not that difficult... (Score:1)
Yes, the N64 was a raging success that ensured their continued success dominating the home console market.
Oh wait. No it wasn't.
The Gamecube is widely heralded as one of the most successful consoles of all time!
Oh wait. No it isn't.
Re:It's not that difficult... (Score:2)
Just as all other of N's systems, it was profitable.
Moreover, every person I heard who actually owned one loved it and only some reported eye strain.
It wasn't a "huge success", but it wasn't a flop either.
Re:It's not that difficult... (Score:1)
I got mine from Kay Bee Toystores on clearance for $2.49 for the Virtual Boy and each game for $0.79... can't beat that.
Re:It's not that difficult... (Score:2)
Re:It's not that difficult... (Score:2)
Amen to that. People often seriously underestimate what their body can do.
I used to swordfight quite often, and people were amazed that I could stand in about a hundred poun
Auto-pause in Virtual Boy games (Score:1)
plus the game has built in pauses to rest.
So did games on the Virtual Boy, if that's any indication.
Re:Auto-pause in Virtual Boy games (Score:1)
When you are holding a real raquet and having to run and strike the ball with force no one complains that it is impossible to keep up for more than ten minutes... yet, somehow, to hold a couple ounce controller with no force or running involved is *outrageous* and no one could possibly do *that*. We really are a nation of candy asses... qu
Re:It's not that difficult... (Score:2)
Seriously, though, there could easily be an add-on that makes the controller 5 pounds and includes a work-out video. Maybe you'd get points for how well you could stick to the rout
I yam what I yam (Score:2, Funny)
Wavebird on the Revolution (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Wavebird on the Revolution (Score:1)
Wavebird on the Revolution
Unless they use the same wireless band and the Wavebird protocol doesn't allow for enough selectivity at the receiver.
Everyone always seem to ignore the fact that all gamecube controllers will work on the Revolution.
But will Nintendo allow the developer of a Revolution game to make the game use GameCube controllers exclusively, or will games that use the old controller be required to use only the GameCube hardware and come on an 80mm disc?
Re:Wavebird on the Revolution (Score:1)
Yet again, unfounded claims from the industry. (Score:1)