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Games Entertainment

Cutting Through The Next-Gen BS 48

Posted by Zonk from the beware-game-reporters-growing-backbones dept.
ConfusedFX wrote to mention a great feature at GameDaily that is trying to cut through marketing BS and get to the truth behind the upcoming next-gen systems. From a piece on the Revolution's street-date: "Now Nintendo is saying that a near final version of the Revolution will be on display and working at E3 2006. If the company expects to release in the US before Thanksgiving then it has to have a working model at E3, but exactly what does that mean for attendees of the annual expo? We expect to see Zelda: Twilight Princess running on Revolution with the new features discussed a couple weeks ago, and maybe Smash Brothers and a Mario title with a couple of little mini-games like we saw at the Tokyo Game Show. We may also see a handful of classic Nintendo titles to promote the Revolution download service Nintendo has vaguely discussed in the past. If we can play Smash, Mario and some Nintendo classics on the show floor we'll be happy Nintendo. Don't let us down!"
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Cutting Through The Next-Gen BS More

Cutting Through The Next-Gen BS

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  • Nintendo Won't Disappoint (Score:4, Insightful)

    by creepynut ( 933825 ) * <teddy(slashdot)&teddybrown,ca> on Monday January 23, 2006 @09:36AM (#14538909) Homepage
    They've intentionally built up a lot of hype with the Revolution, especially with the controller. They've got us right where they want us, they won't be letting us down.
    • What are you talking about? They haven't built anything up. All they've done is deny anything anybody suggests, asks, or speculates about their console.
      We've built up the hype all by ourselves.
      • They've been releasing tiny bits and pieces of information about the system at a time, making everyone wonder how or what they're doing.

        For example, the controller, it's been months, and still everyone is just itching to see how it will work, some real world examples. People want to know how the classic gaming service will work, people want to know it all.

        Sony and Microsoft on the otherhand said "We'll be making a new system" and at E3 last year, they just let loose. Nintendo is teasing us, making us wait
      • They haven't built anything up

        I guess you haven't seen the Tokio Gameshow teaser video [ign.com]?

  • The new controller (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mwvdlee ( 775178 ) on Monday January 23, 2006 @09:45AM (#14538988) Homepage
    So, how is Zelda, Mario or Smash bros. going to really utilize the new controller?

    I'd prefer to see some inovative title that demonstrates exactly why anybody would actually want the new controller.

    As of yet I have seen no type of game which could not have been made without the new controller... hoping Nintendo will deliver on this.
    • So, how is Zelda, Mario or Smash bros. going to really utilize the new controller?

      Personally, at least as far as Smash Bros. goes, I think the innovation will be more that of using the online functions rather than the new controller - barring some masterpiece of design that my puny brain can't comprehend, I can't see a game like SSB being all that playable without a more traditional controller.

      At the very least, I imagine it'll use one of the rumored "shells" to allow the traditional controls while still in
    • As of yet I have seen no type of game which could not have been made without the new controller...
      Use your imagination.
      You have a controller in your hand, and the game system knows where in space it is. Now expand on that idea:
      You strap a sensor to your body (head, legs, etc); The game system now knows where in space your body is.
      - You can be holding a gun, and the system will be able to detect your every duck, leap, and dodge.
      - You can be holding a controller in each hand, and the system will allo
      • When I go to the arcade, I like that game where you shoot japanese gangsters, then you duck behind cars, tables, etc. etc.

        I even like to play DDR at home.

        But my lazy ass would rather sit in a chair, and move my thumbs, than jump around my living room kicking the crap about of some girl with big tits. Whoops...this is Nintendo, I mean Princess Peach.

        The idea is cool, but it does not appeal to me as anything more than a novelty.
    • The Zelda game is for the Gamecube, so I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't use the controller at all.
    • As of yet I have seen no type of game which could not have been made without the new controller.

      Don't think of it like that. There isn't any game that couldn't be emulated on another system to some extent. DS games could be played with a mouse on a PC, but the lack of direct input would hinder your performance.

      Think instead of how the controller will help existing games. Imagine a Pilotwings where you hold the controller like apaper airplane instead of using clunky analog sticks. Imagine a Mario Kart where
    • The same way they did it with the N64 almost a decade ago? Mario 64 was ahead everything else in the field, and many people swear that OoT is the best game evarz.

      You know, the industry didn't start with 3D graphics.
    • Screw SSB on the Rev. Give me a version for the DS with download play that I can use NOW, anywhere I want. It wouldn't even have to use WFC, although that would be nice if lag weren't so painful.

      Ok, fine, don't screw it just yet. Every means I can think of for controlling the character in SSB would be gimmicky and cumbersome unless you're using motion to handle weapons. It might be interesting to control Sheik's chain with a motion-sensitive controller though, maybe if all the characters in a new versio
    • Has it occurred to you that that's not the point?

      The point of the revolution controller is basically to be as transparent as possible. At it's most fundamental, a controller is nothing more than an abstraction. Have you ever actually looked at the manuals that come with a current gen game? I've been playing games for over 20 years now, I know console controllers backwards and forwards, and I still can't really make heads or tails of the controls looking at the manual. Even a simple game like Dynasty W

      • 'move left, move right, wait for opponent to stand, move up and pull back real quick'

        Because you can't do any of this with an analog stick or perhaps even a D-pad?

        A lot of the ideas posted as reactions to my original post require incredible accuracy from the controller. Not knowing the technology that the controlers use, it's quite hard to estimate how precise the measurements will be, but taking into consideration the current state of similar technology, it's hard to believe it will be precise enough to do

  • Ignore the marketing... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by scolby ( 838499 ) on Monday January 23, 2006 @09:46AM (#14539000) Journal
    ...and wait until you've actually tried all three systems. That's the only way to know for sure which ones are any good.
    • Perhams something is needed [theinquirer.net] to help people see the truth. Games marketing, just like most marketing has become a matter of hyping up every aspect of the game/system. Whenever a new console comes out it's the one that's supposed to kill all other systems, and whenever a new game is out it's supposed to be the last game you'll ever need. So the best way to know if hype is BS or not is to actually try out the thing in question
  • Weren't those rumours about extra features when running Twilight Princess on the Revolution debunked fairly rapidly by Nintendo?
    • As far as I've heard, it's still going to be on Gamecube, but since the Revolution is backwards compatible, it will probably take advantage of the Revolution controller as well. Kinda like how the Gameboy Zelda's came out for the previous Gameboy, but if you put them in the newer gameboy, they had extra shit, like one had a extra dungeon? I'm thinking it's a simular concept, where it's made for the previous system, but designed to still be cool when put in the new system.

      http://www.4colorrebellion.com/arc [4colorrebellion.com]
      • Yes, that's what I thought Nintendo had debunked. Given how the Revolution controller works, it did seem unlikely to me in the first place. How would they do it without diminishing the GameCube play experience?
      • "it will probably take advantage of the Revolution controller as well."

        Quoth the parent:

        "Weren't those rumours about extra features when running Twilight Princess on the Revolution debunked fairly rapidly by Nintendo?"

        "Kinda like how the Gameboy Zelda's came out for the previous Gameboy, but if you put them in the newer gameboy, they had extra shit, like one had a extra dungeon?"

        They re-released the game as Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (the original was four-color no matter what you played it on). It had se
        • I can't think of one other than the specially-made GBC games you mentioned. No new content on Sega Master System games played on a Genesis, no new content on PlayStation games played on a PlayStation 2, haven't heard much about extra content in Xbox games played on an Xbox 360, etc.

          I know it's not much, but Halo 2 for xBox was designed with the 360 in mind. The 360 can handle all the graphics they originally put into Halo 2 and can display them without flaw. That can be said about a lot of games though

    • NGC, one of Future Publishing's UK games magazines, claimed they had definitive proof from an inside source that the next Zelda would make use of the Revolution controller. Nintendo made a statement in response saying NGC's article was "pure speculation" ( Eurogamer article [eurogamer.net]).

      When GameDaily's article says we should "... expect to see Zelda: Twilight Princess running on Revolution with the new features discussed a couple weeks ago...", they might as well claim that we should expect to see every other rumour

  • Next-Gen BS (Score:2, Funny)

    by plaisted ( 449711 )
    Penny Arcade's take on the Next-Gen BS:

    http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/01/20 [penny-arcade.com]
  • "[at E3] We expect to see Zelda: Twilight Princess running on Revolution with the new features discussed a couple weeks ago, and maybe Smash Brothers and a Mario title with a couple of little mini-games... If we can play Smash, Mario and some Nintendo classics on the show floor we'll be happy Nintendo. Don't let us down!"

    Screw you journalists. All I or most of us care about is when the gaming public gets to play it. "Make sure you have lots of games ready for our elitist expo, Nintendo, we want to play
    • That is Nintendo's way. If you remember Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Zelda: Oracle of Seasons for the GBC, if you put them into the GBA (which was out or very close to out at that time) you could get access to a special store that was closed when you played with a GBC. They've done stuff like that a few times now.
    • The Zelda Oracle games launched for the GameBoy Color on the same day the GameBoy Advance was released. Those games had extra features if you used them on a GBA. I wouldn't be too surprised if Twilight Princess did have some bonuses for the Revolution, but I really wouldn't expect it to work with the new controller. It's just too different. I can't see them taking the time to support two completely different interfaces, particuarlly this late in development.

      Now if this was Capcom... hey, maybe we'll get ano

  • BS (Score:2, Funny)

    by green pizza ( 159161 )
    I hear Duke Nukem Forever is going to run on the Mac.

  • How well does BS cut through BS anyway? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ivan256 ( 17499 ) * on Monday January 23, 2006 @12:11PM (#14540369)
    Clearly we should take the speculation of this gamer rag over the comments from industry executives he quotes.

    Wait, why should we do that? I think this guy is full of shit.

    It's very unlikely that an $1800 Blu-Ray player would stand up to a $500 (estimate) PS3

    It's very unlikely that the kind of people who would by a $1800 video player would find a gaming console an acceptable substitute. And talk about speculative BS... $500 estimate for the PS3? Yeah, right. At the very least it's pure speculation.

    The Cell chip manufacturing ramp up has not yet begun

    Says who?

    If the company expects to release in the US before Thanksgiving then it has to have a working model at E3

    Nintendo could show a slideshow at E3 if they wanted. They've done it before.

    It would greatly benefit Nintendo to release before the PlayStation 3 in the US, but we really don't see that happening unless Sony has some sort of manufacturing mishap with the Cell chip.

    Wait, first you say that it's unlikely we'll be seeing a signifigant number of PS3s this year because Sony hasn't started manufactuing yet, and now you're saying it's unlikely Nintendo will beat the PS3 to market? I don't know which one of those statements is wrong, but they certainly can't both be right at the same time.

    Does this guy have an editor?

    However, while we do expect Nintendo to ship more Revolution consoles within the launch window than the number of Xbox 360 consoles Microsoft was able to ship, we don't expect Nintendo's console to outperform the Xbox 360 launch.

    Ok, here's the last straw. The VirtualBoy outsold the 360 at launch. It's not hard to have a better launch than a console that only ships 500,000 units. If Microsoft had produced enough 360s, then Nintendo would have had some competition in the "best launch" category, but the only way the Revolution isn't having a better launch than the 360 is if Nintendo throws in the towel and exists the marketplace after only making 400,000 consoles. Fat chance. It's not that hard to compete with the launch of a console you couldn't buy at launch.
  • 1) Is it going to be region coded such that if I buy my console in Japan, I won't be able to play US-released games? I hate having to import my consoles back to Japan just to play games in my native language.

    2) In spite of Nintendo's "bad' reputation as a kids' console, I'm excited about the potential for the new controller and gaming with my 3 year old. What kind of games are on the horizon here.

    3) I know I said 2 questions, but I have one more: Is there a reliable site where I can get common sense news
    • 1) Probably. The publishers like it.

      2) They won't tip their hand until E3 probably, but you can expect the classic franchises will be represented.

      3) No. But I'll help.

      Stuff about the Revolution we know:

      System: Plays Revolution games and GameCube games natively. It's about the size of 3 DVD cases stacked together. Slot loader acceps both types of discs. No hard drive, but has 512 MB of flash memory with the option to use SD cards for aditional storage. It will be fully compatible with GameCube controllers an
  • Tell me if you've heard this before:

    "PS2 and X-Box are just mindless corporate sequel factories, churning out iterations of the same tired titles over and over again. Nintendo is a bastion of originality and revolutionary gameplay! Now hurry up with my new Mario game, my new Zelda game, new Smash Brothers game, new Mario Party game, new F-Zero game, and new Mario-Sports games."

    Nintendo flogs their franchises just as hard as Electronic Arts does. They may reinvent the concepts for whatever wacky new input me
  • Cutting through the bullshit? but Nintendo will save the day? you do realize thats an oxymoron dont you?

    Do you know whats the only next gen company that has not shown not a single demo, screen or video of their next console? thats right! Nintendo! the teaser video we all saw with the revolution controller is 100% fictional or just theoretical none of it is based in real gameplay! (look it up if you dont believe it) that video is 100% make up bullshit!

    What companies have been feeding us with Bullshit hype on

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