Curmudgeon Gamer
16 March 2009
Finally, registering Nintendo products is good for something
Well lookee here, Nintendo sent me an invite to try out some "DSi" doohicky they're releasing soon. Seems like it was due to registerin' a whole mess-load of products!
Well shucks howdy! By huckleberry! Gee whilikers! Wang-dang-doodle! ...
They even say we can bring in our DS Lites, I suppose to drive home to the poor things how numbered are their days. Maybe I can shame them into doing something about the busted hinge on mine.
Well shucks howdy! By huckleberry! Gee whilikers! Wang-dang-doodle! ...
They even say we can bring in our DS Lites, I suppose to drive home to the poor things how numbered are their days. Maybe I can shame them into doing something about the busted hinge on mine.
Labels: clubnintendo, dsi, event, hype, nintendo
--JohnH at 23:58
Comment
[ 0 ]
05 March 2009
A hacker discusses the Wii's limitations
Is it not beyond strange that Wii homebrew is able to do so much more on the Wii than even the official software?
Homebrew hackers have found ways to play DVD movies, fully access SD cards over 2GB in size, use USB storage in the form of both flash memory and physical hard drives, access Samba shares over the wireless network and connect to Bluetooth devices for storage and using cell phones as a remote control. In their hands the Wii has become both a powerful media player and an emulation haven; add Virtual Console to the homebrew emulators and, excepting PCs, it is by far the system capable of playing the most games, able to play those of the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, TG16, NeoGeo, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, NeoGeo Pocket, Atari Lynx, Atari 800/XL/5200, Commodore 64, Apple II, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Atari 2600, Sinclair and ColecoVision.
Since Nintendo makes money selling Virtual Console games I could perhaps understand why they haven't made available any good general-purpose emulatiors. And it's not like the other manufacturers are keen to develop such software. But those hardware limitations are maddening. While Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles have only become more feature-rich over time, the Wii's feature set is nearly the same as it was on launch day. When they announce some great new feature to get everyone to update their firmware, it turns out to be something like (gasp!) using a USB keyboard in the message center. In the most recent update they (bigger gasp!) even let people use it in the Mii Channel, where it's useful for entering names and nothing else.
For a long while I've seen this as the result of Nintendo having a uniquely tech-unfriendly culture. People joke about how Nintendo is like a toy company more than a software company. While I do like their games and think, in terms of game design, they're the #1 company in the world, I have to admit that this is largely true. Their system software design is woefully nearsighted. The departure of Yamaguchi has done nothing to make the company more technology-savvy.
Nintendo would never themselves admit that their system is limited, especially when the Wii is exploding sales records, so the best person to ask about why this is so would be one of the hackers who has found out how to work around so many of Nintendo's stupid limitations, marcan of Team Twiizer, one of the people behind the super-awesome Homebrew Channel.
Here are his thoughts on the subject. In summary, all Wii software features have to be implemented by the games themselves. Other than the TCP/IP stack, the Wii's IOS system software very little in the way of features at all to Wii software! Presumably they have some libraries that they distribute to developers that implement the basic stuff like returning to the menu and the Home screen.
Those features that it does provide are tied to the version of IOS it was developed for. This is possible because all Wii system updates, with one exception, add an entire new copy of the IOS software to the Wii's built-in flash memory! So a game that was written for IOS 9, the earliest version that can run games, will always use IOS 9, completely ignoring any later system features Nintendo could add. This makes a kind of sense if one imagines Nintendo as being super-cautious about breaking older games, but come on, Sony doesn't seem to have any problems with it, and even Microsoft, which is infamous for just this kind of bug in Windows, has had no problems making new 360 features work with launch games.
While it could be argued that the mindset behind this approach has been the source of the Wii's appeal to most of its audience (most of whom are probably just as non-tech-savvy), that doesn't mean that the system's workings need be dominated by this thinking. C'mon Nintendo, the world doesn't run on NES hardware any more.
Homebrew hackers have found ways to play DVD movies, fully access SD cards over 2GB in size, use USB storage in the form of both flash memory and physical hard drives, access Samba shares over the wireless network and connect to Bluetooth devices for storage and using cell phones as a remote control. In their hands the Wii has become both a powerful media player and an emulation haven; add Virtual Console to the homebrew emulators and, excepting PCs, it is by far the system capable of playing the most games, able to play those of the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, TG16, NeoGeo, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, NeoGeo Pocket, Atari Lynx, Atari 800/XL/5200, Commodore 64, Apple II, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Atari 2600, Sinclair and ColecoVision.
Since Nintendo makes money selling Virtual Console games I could perhaps understand why they haven't made available any good general-purpose emulatiors. And it's not like the other manufacturers are keen to develop such software. But those hardware limitations are maddening. While Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles have only become more feature-rich over time, the Wii's feature set is nearly the same as it was on launch day. When they announce some great new feature to get everyone to update their firmware, it turns out to be something like (gasp!) using a USB keyboard in the message center. In the most recent update they (bigger gasp!) even let people use it in the Mii Channel, where it's useful for entering names and nothing else.
For a long while I've seen this as the result of Nintendo having a uniquely tech-unfriendly culture. People joke about how Nintendo is like a toy company more than a software company. While I do like their games and think, in terms of game design, they're the #1 company in the world, I have to admit that this is largely true. Their system software design is woefully nearsighted. The departure of Yamaguchi has done nothing to make the company more technology-savvy.
Nintendo would never themselves admit that their system is limited, especially when the Wii is exploding sales records, so the best person to ask about why this is so would be one of the hackers who has found out how to work around so many of Nintendo's stupid limitations, marcan of Team Twiizer, one of the people behind the super-awesome Homebrew Channel.
Here are his thoughts on the subject. In summary, all Wii software features have to be implemented by the games themselves. Other than the TCP/IP stack, the Wii's IOS system software very little in the way of features at all to Wii software! Presumably they have some libraries that they distribute to developers that implement the basic stuff like returning to the menu and the Home screen.
Those features that it does provide are tied to the version of IOS it was developed for. This is possible because all Wii system updates, with one exception, add an entire new copy of the IOS software to the Wii's built-in flash memory! So a game that was written for IOS 9, the earliest version that can run games, will always use IOS 9, completely ignoring any later system features Nintendo could add. This makes a kind of sense if one imagines Nintendo as being super-cautious about breaking older games, but come on, Sony doesn't seem to have any problems with it, and even Microsoft, which is infamous for just this kind of bug in Windows, has had no problems making new 360 features work with launch games.
While it could be argued that the mindset behind this approach has been the source of the Wii's appeal to most of its audience (most of whom are probably just as non-tech-savvy), that doesn't mean that the system's workings need be dominated by this thinking. C'mon Nintendo, the world doesn't run on NES hardware any more.
--JohnH at 04:27
Comment
[ 4 ]
18 February 2009
Either disappointment or glorious success (Nintendo DSi)
So the Nintendo DSi is coming out on 5 April 2009 in the U.S. at a price of $170. (Announcement and demo video at Wired, among others.)
Either this is going to blow up in Nintendo's face or they'll come out looking even more invincible.
For a while now Sony's been selling the PlayStation Portable (PSP) for $170 by itself or $200 bundled. According to data provided to me by NPD, and some figuring done on my own through other sources, the average for PSP sales has been $190 or higher. Significantly fewer people buy the core system and many are willing to jump up $30 for a bundle.
All the while the Nintendo DS has been $130. Each month Nintendo DS sales are at least twice the monthly PSP sales. It's not that the PSP sells poorly -- it actually does pretty well -- but the Nintendo DS is in much higher demand. Yet, in January 2009, sales for the PSP were off significantly.
I don't want to read too much into a single data point, but I think it's possible that Americans (increasingly pessimistic about the economy and the future) are finally reaching the point where a slick $200 handheld system isn't feasible. Even worse, they may be saying a $170 handheld isn't worthwhile.
And that's where I'm worried that Nintendo's DSi won't catch on. The upgrades here are the SD card slot, downloadable software, and two cameras. (The GBA slot is gone, but my anecdotal experience leads me to believe no one will notice.) I believe (although I don't know for sure) that it will also play more nicely with modern wireless access points. (Goodbye WEP, I hope.)
But like the PS3, the DSi is making a proposition based on logic that the consumer won't buy. The PS3 is a great media center, hi-def player, and game system. It also is a decent way to browse the web in the living room. But it's also $400.
The DSi is 95% of the Nintendo DS, with added features -- cameras, downloadable software, and a card slot -- that bump the cost up to $170. To paraphrase a line from an article I once wrote: A consumer who can't afford a $170 handheld still won't be able to afford it just because it has two cameras and new software capabilities.
All that said, I'm terrible with predictions. That's essentially why I write about the sales figures after they come out instead of trying to predict them. And, it should be noted, the Nintendo DS launched at a higher price and eventually dropped to its current $130 level. That may well happen with the DSi, and at that point at least it should return to crazy-wild sales levels.
Either this is going to blow up in Nintendo's face or they'll come out looking even more invincible.
For a while now Sony's been selling the PlayStation Portable (PSP) for $170 by itself or $200 bundled. According to data provided to me by NPD, and some figuring done on my own through other sources, the average for PSP sales has been $190 or higher. Significantly fewer people buy the core system and many are willing to jump up $30 for a bundle.
All the while the Nintendo DS has been $130. Each month Nintendo DS sales are at least twice the monthly PSP sales. It's not that the PSP sells poorly -- it actually does pretty well -- but the Nintendo DS is in much higher demand. Yet, in January 2009, sales for the PSP were off significantly.
I don't want to read too much into a single data point, but I think it's possible that Americans (increasingly pessimistic about the economy and the future) are finally reaching the point where a slick $200 handheld system isn't feasible. Even worse, they may be saying a $170 handheld isn't worthwhile.
And that's where I'm worried that Nintendo's DSi won't catch on. The upgrades here are the SD card slot, downloadable software, and two cameras. (The GBA slot is gone, but my anecdotal experience leads me to believe no one will notice.) I believe (although I don't know for sure) that it will also play more nicely with modern wireless access points. (Goodbye WEP, I hope.)
But like the PS3, the DSi is making a proposition based on logic that the consumer won't buy. The PS3 is a great media center, hi-def player, and game system. It also is a decent way to browse the web in the living room. But it's also $400.
The DSi is 95% of the Nintendo DS, with added features -- cameras, downloadable software, and a card slot -- that bump the cost up to $170. To paraphrase a line from an article I once wrote: A consumer who can't afford a $170 handheld still won't be able to afford it just because it has two cameras and new software capabilities.
All that said, I'm terrible with predictions. That's essentially why I write about the sales figures after they come out instead of trying to predict them. And, it should be noted, the Nintendo DS launched at a higher price and eventually dropped to its current $130 level. That may well happen with the DSi, and at that point at least it should return to crazy-wild sales levels.
--jvm at 09:14
Comment
[ 5 ]
22 September 2008
Mega Man 9: DLC done right?
Many games have been ruined by greedy DLC schemes. Space Invaders Get Even must be purchased in installments, with the main game being called a "starter pack" with only a single level, and each additional level pack the same price as the original. Katamari Damacy lost all its charm when players were asked to pay real money to unlock levels already on the disk.
Square-Enix's My Life As A King is the most expensive WiiWare game to date at 1,500 Wii Points (that's $15 in real money), but once purchased the game then sells an array of extras that will set back a player wanting a complete game $22 additional dollars. That's $37 for a download game. No matter what kind of smokescreen Squeenix floats about the base price being for the "complete" game, you only get one of the four player races without buying extras, you miss out on several buildings, and around half the game's dungeons will be unavailable.
Mega Man 9, released today for Wii, itself is 1,000 Wii points (and a svelte 66 memory blocks), which is middle-of-the-road as far as WiiWare downloadable game costs have gone. It has a download store that's currently empty, but going into the Operations Guide provides a list of all the content to be made available, including release dates and prices.
Five pieces of DLC appear to be in the offing, with the most expensive being an interesting-sounding game mode called "Endless Attack," an internet-ranked eternal stage with score determined by progress made. That's 300 "Wii points," basically three bucks. The other stuff available are "Hero" and "Superhero" modes, both only one dollar, which are modified enemy placements that make the game more challenging, play as Proto Man (a.k.a. "Blues") for two dollars, who has different abilities and a shield, and a time-attack-only "Special Stage", a completely new level and boss, for one dollar.
It's my opinion that Capcom is doing things right, as far as they can be right with DLC, and here's why:
Square-Enix's My Life As A King is the most expensive WiiWare game to date at 1,500 Wii Points (that's $15 in real money), but once purchased the game then sells an array of extras that will set back a player wanting a complete game $22 additional dollars. That's $37 for a download game. No matter what kind of smokescreen Squeenix floats about the base price being for the "complete" game, you only get one of the four player races without buying extras, you miss out on several buildings, and around half the game's dungeons will be unavailable.
Mega Man 9, released today for Wii, itself is 1,000 Wii points (and a svelte 66 memory blocks), which is middle-of-the-road as far as WiiWare downloadable game costs have gone. It has a download store that's currently empty, but going into the Operations Guide provides a list of all the content to be made available, including release dates and prices.
Five pieces of DLC appear to be in the offing, with the most expensive being an interesting-sounding game mode called "Endless Attack," an internet-ranked eternal stage with score determined by progress made. That's 300 "Wii points," basically three bucks. The other stuff available are "Hero" and "Superhero" modes, both only one dollar, which are modified enemy placements that make the game more challenging, play as Proto Man (a.k.a. "Blues") for two dollars, who has different abilities and a shield, and a time-attack-only "Special Stage", a completely new level and boss, for one dollar.
It's my opinion that Capcom is doing things right, as far as they can be right with DLC, and here's why:
- The basic game doesn't change at all. All of the content is in the form of extra modes. Even the game's challenges are turned off during all DLC modes. Thus one doesn't get the feeling that, to play the "real" game, one has to shell out additional moolah. Are you listening, Square-Enix?
- Yet, they all affect the game. The money for Chime's bikini in My Life As A King is basically a dollar for the right to apply a new texture to your assistant's lithe body. Playable Proto-Man, on the other hand, is promised to have a shield and other different abilities, making the game substantially different.
- They are reasonably-priced. All together they'll be $8, less than the original price. If you add it all together the game is $18. (This may upset me less than it would if I hadn't suspected the game would be $15 this afternoon, instead of $10.)
Labels: capcom, dlc, evil, megaman, megaman 9, my life as a king, nintendo, square enix, wii
--JohnH at 15:37
Comment
[ 2 ]
20 September 2008
Does Mario die? Is he a killer?
As I've mentioned recently, my elder son has been playing through Super Mario Bros. 3 on the GBA. I get long drawn-out explanations now about what level he's playing, how he got through it, and what enemies gave him trouble.
Along the way he'll casually say things like "and then I killed the turtle" or "then I died". Older folks playing games will use these words (kill and die) all the time when playing games, even describing the end of a game of Tetris as dying. But my wife has brought it to my attention that it is a little alarming to hear our five-year-old son saying these words, and moreover that he's acting out things that he associates with killing or dying.
My son doesn't buy my alternate explanation: that Mario is actually just knocking creatures off the screen and that they don't actually die. He insists that at least some of the creatures die "because they don't come back".
I'd never really thought it important enough to really think it through, but I don't really know that there is a way to convince him otherwise. I don't think it's damaging, although I understand that the use of the words sounds alarming. Does it even matter?
Along the way he'll casually say things like "and then I killed the turtle" or "then I died". Older folks playing games will use these words (kill and die) all the time when playing games, even describing the end of a game of Tetris as dying. But my wife has brought it to my attention that it is a little alarming to hear our five-year-old son saying these words, and moreover that he's acting out things that he associates with killing or dying.
My son doesn't buy my alternate explanation: that Mario is actually just knocking creatures off the screen and that they don't actually die. He insists that at least some of the creatures die "because they don't come back".
I'd never really thought it important enough to really think it through, but I don't really know that there is a way to convince him otherwise. I don't think it's damaging, although I understand that the use of the words sounds alarming. Does it even matter?
--jvm at 14:50
Comment
[ 5 ]
07 September 2008
Review: Prof. Layton and the Curious Village (NDS)
Professor Layton and his ward, Luke, set out to find The Golden Apple, a treasure hidden in the village of St. Mystere. Each resident of the town plies the famous professor for solutions to various brain teasers, many of which make good use of the stylus for sketching out solutions as well as actual puzzle piece manipulation. As the story progresses, multiple mysteries arise, are solved, and ultimately conclude with a teaser for a sequel that leaves you hoping it arrives sooner rather than later.
The charming animation, voicework, and soundtrack will leave you convinced that the Nintendo DS is a system whose best days are still ahead. The meat of the game, the puzzles, are almost perfect with only a few questionable word choices along the way. Regardless, the game provides hints to get you out of a pinch.
I got Layton for the puzzles, but realized I had seen many of them before. (Such was my upbringing with puzzle books and Games magazine.) Regardless, the story and mystery were more than entertaining enough and I eagerly await news of Layton's return.
The charming animation, voicework, and soundtrack will leave you convinced that the Nintendo DS is a system whose best days are still ahead. The meat of the game, the puzzles, are almost perfect with only a few questionable word choices along the way. Regardless, the game provides hints to get you out of a pinch.
I got Layton for the puzzles, but realized I had seen many of them before. (Such was my upbringing with puzzle books and Games magazine.) Regardless, the story and mystery were more than entertaining enough and I eagerly await news of Layton's return.
--jvm at 15:46
Comment
[ 1 ]
17 July 2008
9 Out of 10 Zombies Prefer the Wii
As I noted last November, the Wii is the console of choice for zombie games. Now it will be getting yet another: Dead Rising.
After the ugly Lost Planet port and no Dead Rising for the PS3, I feel a bit burned by Capcom. On the other hand, I can now kill about a dozen zombie birds with one stone:
After the ugly Lost Planet port and no Dead Rising for the PS3, I feel a bit burned by Capcom. On the other hand, I can now kill about a dozen zombie birds with one stone:
- Resident Evil 4
- Umbrella Chronicles
- House of the Dead 2 & 3
- Dead Rising
- My older son's undying desire to play Mario Kart, Smash Bros., and/or Super Mario Galaxy.
--jvm at 14:09
Comment
[ 2 ]
12 June 2008
Tempus Fugit
As I was picking up my Metal Gear Solid 4 today at GameStop, I hit the next-door Best Buy which has a great clearance bin that gets refilled with games about every two weeks. I found $5 copies of Hot Shots Tennis (PS2), Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror (PS2), and Sega Rally Revo (PSP) and headed up to the counter to pay. As I'm swiping my card, I notice that my hand is right next to a new, boxed, silver-finish GameCube.
On the front of the GameCube box is a hand-made price tag. It says:
Not even seven years old yet...
On the front of the GameCube box is a hand-made price tag. It says:
$49.99
** VINTAGE **
Labels: anecdotes, game stores, gamecube, nintendo
--jvm at 13:00
Comment
[ 3 ]
23 May 2008
Wii-nner, Wii-nner, Chicken Dii-nner!
Doing some trawling through GameRankings, I ran across this advertisement.
Now the phrase "wii-nner, wii-nner, chicken dii-nner" won't stop repeating in my head. Argh.
I think I'll be able to do without the Wii for a while longer now...
Incidentally, links to this page.
Now the phrase "wii-nner, wii-nner, chicken dii-nner" won't stop repeating in my head. Argh.I think I'll be able to do without the Wii for a while longer now...
Incidentally, links to this page.
--jvm at 21:16
Comment
[ 2 ]
22 May 2008
Artificial Scarcity in Online Distribution
As a consumer, I hate the idea, but I thought it made for a fun gedanken experiment. Happily Gamasutra liked the idea enough to publish it. (Finally a piece that doesn't have a single graph!)
Labels: business, microsoft, nintendo, online distribution, psn, sony, virtual console, xboxlive
--jvm at 10:21
Comment
[ 1 ]
14 May 2008
NYT Crosswords vs CrossworDS
It's possible to take it for granted these days that, if it's a casual kind of game made for the DS and it's not published by Nintendo, then it's a sucky piece of trashware produced solely to cash in on the system's huge user base. And conversely, that Nintendo has produced a similar game that is much better.
That had been the case with Nintendogs (as opposed to Catz, Dogz, Horsez, and the horrifying "Babyz"), with the severely underrated Clubhouse Games, with the two Brain Age games... heck, the Sudoku applet in Brain Age is so clearly better than every other version of the puzzle on the DS that it brings one to a kind of despair. Why is Nintendo's Sudoku minigame so well-made when others' full Sudoku applications are so crappy? Putting these things together is not brain surgery. It's enough to make one wonder if Nintendo doesn't have a patent on non-stupid number grid entry on portable gaming computers (USPTO # 951827364).*
It would be easy to assume that Nintendo's version would be better than Majesco's. It is not, by a long shot.
From looking at the games, initial impressions would seem to indicate the usual first-party upstaging. Crossword DS has a brilliant interface nearly as good as Brain Age Sudoku, and with better character recognition despite having 16 more glyphs to distinguish. It's not obvious at first that Majesco's game HAS character recognition. Furthermore, that game's color schemes range an odious gamut from ugly to unreadable, while Nintendo notices that a crossword game that's not black boxes on white squares is a slight against the memory of Arthur Wynne.
Majesco's game commits a few other grave offenses, although they're only obvious compared to Nintendo's interface. NYT Crosswords shows only Across or Down clues at a time; Crosswords DS shows them both at once. NYT uses a thin-stemmed, seedy newsprint typeface for clues and what looks like hateful Comic Sans for entered letters; Crosswords DS uses sharp, thick-lined sans-serif characters for both. NYT uses annoying button assignments that make it far too easy to accidentally receive an irrevocable hint, and only offers one type of hint at that; Crosswords DS uses the book orientation popularized by Brain Age, ignores button presses in favor of a visual interface, and will give stuck players the option of seeing a single letter, a whole word, or even providing alternate, easier clues, ala GAMES Magazine's World's Most Ornery Crosswords. And while both programs offer more than a thousand puzzles, Crosswords DS also provides Word Search puzzles and Anagrams.
And yet, of the two, despite Nintendo's typical meticulous attention to usability, their product is far inferior where it counts. Ultimately, in a collection of crosswords, the quality of the puzzles is
paramount. The New York Times is just about the most respected source of puzzles out there, and Majesco's inclusion of several years of their output shows that, while they may not be the best at putting together an interface, they care about the puzzles themselves. And once gotten used to, the interface isn't really so bad.
The handwriting recognition particularly turns out to be pretty good when used, even if the drawing area is restricted to a small input box. The ugliness of the interface can be remedied by entering a code. This essential code is "up up down down B B Y Y," and instead of being hidden away on GameFAQs, it should be printed in large, boldface type on the front of the very box, just beneath the title. Thankfully, once entered it's saved to the game file, allowing players to forget the low-contrast sins of the original color scheme.
While NYT Crosswords features years of top-notch puzzles, ranging in difficulty from a relaxing pastime to uncommonly challenging, Crosswords DS's puzzles... well, to be honest, I don't really know how hard they become. You see, in the same way that Brain Age Sudoku starts out with only a selection of low and medium-difficulty puzzles available and a bunch more that must be unlocked, Crosswords DS also forces players to begin with easier puzzles before letting him tackle harder ones.
This wouldn't be so bad, except that the easy puzzles are grievously simple! We're talking 4x4 grids here, progressing up to 11x11 for the harder ones available at first. You should know that these puzzles are included in the game's puzzle count, so when the back of the box says over 1,000 puzzles, a good percentage of them is this slight fare. Even the New York Times Monday puzzles, the easiest of the lot in Majesco's title, are full-sized grids.
Furthermore, while the NYT clues are filled with the wit and cunning for which the Times crosswords are famous, Nintendo's clues honestly read like something better suited for elementary school students. Fill-in-the-blank clues are over-common, as well as slipshod "partial word" clues along the lines of "the farmer in the d _ _ _". While it's possible, should the player persevere through the featherweight stuff to get to the harder puzzles, that the package redeems itself, it is unlikely to match the New York Times' Will Shortz-edited output.
Yet even one of the subgames in Nintendo's package fall prey to this kind of shoddyness. The very first Anagrams puzzle accepts, and in fact requires, "lase," which is a real if obscure word defined by Answers.com in regards to lasers, yet rejects "ale." The Word Searches seem to be okay, although they are hampered by the fact that they're word searches, the decaffeinated coffee of word puzzles.
Were this a perfect world, or at least one less encumbered by exclusive licensing, we would have a game that combined Nintendo's wonderful interface with Majesco's formidable puzzle assortment. It's possible that the problems with Nintendo's game has to do with them trying to play to both kid and adult audiences, which would explain the near-beer clues and word search inclusion. I usually dispute claims that Nintendo's efforts to keep most of their games friendly to children ruins them for adults. For insecure adults, maybe. But in this case it certainly has.
* Don't look that number up; it's a joke.
That had been the case with Nintendogs (as opposed to Catz, Dogz, Horsez, and the horrifying "Babyz"), with the severely underrated Clubhouse Games, with the two Brain Age games... heck, the Sudoku applet in Brain Age is so clearly better than every other version of the puzzle on the DS that it brings one to a kind of despair. Why is Nintendo's Sudoku minigame so well-made when others' full Sudoku applications are so crappy? Putting these things together is not brain surgery. It's enough to make one wonder if Nintendo doesn't have a patent on non-stupid number grid entry on portable gaming computers (USPTO # 951827364).*
It would be easy to assume that Nintendo's version would be better than Majesco's. It is not, by a long shot.
From looking at the games, initial impressions would seem to indicate the usual first-party upstaging. Crossword DS has a brilliant interface nearly as good as Brain Age Sudoku, and with better character recognition despite having 16 more glyphs to distinguish. It's not obvious at first that Majesco's game HAS character recognition. Furthermore, that game's color schemes range an odious gamut from ugly to unreadable, while Nintendo notices that a crossword game that's not black boxes on white squares is a slight against the memory of Arthur Wynne.
Majesco's game commits a few other grave offenses, although they're only obvious compared to Nintendo's interface. NYT Crosswords shows only Across or Down clues at a time; Crosswords DS shows them both at once. NYT uses a thin-stemmed, seedy newsprint typeface for clues and what looks like hateful Comic Sans for entered letters; Crosswords DS uses sharp, thick-lined sans-serif characters for both. NYT uses annoying button assignments that make it far too easy to accidentally receive an irrevocable hint, and only offers one type of hint at that; Crosswords DS uses the book orientation popularized by Brain Age, ignores button presses in favor of a visual interface, and will give stuck players the option of seeing a single letter, a whole word, or even providing alternate, easier clues, ala GAMES Magazine's World's Most Ornery Crosswords. And while both programs offer more than a thousand puzzles, Crosswords DS also provides Word Search puzzles and Anagrams.
And yet, of the two, despite Nintendo's typical meticulous attention to usability, their product is far inferior where it counts. Ultimately, in a collection of crosswords, the quality of the puzzles is
paramount. The New York Times is just about the most respected source of puzzles out there, and Majesco's inclusion of several years of their output shows that, while they may not be the best at putting together an interface, they care about the puzzles themselves. And once gotten used to, the interface isn't really so bad.
The handwriting recognition particularly turns out to be pretty good when used, even if the drawing area is restricted to a small input box. The ugliness of the interface can be remedied by entering a code. This essential code is "up up down down B B Y Y," and instead of being hidden away on GameFAQs, it should be printed in large, boldface type on the front of the very box, just beneath the title. Thankfully, once entered it's saved to the game file, allowing players to forget the low-contrast sins of the original color scheme.
While NYT Crosswords features years of top-notch puzzles, ranging in difficulty from a relaxing pastime to uncommonly challenging, Crosswords DS's puzzles... well, to be honest, I don't really know how hard they become. You see, in the same way that Brain Age Sudoku starts out with only a selection of low and medium-difficulty puzzles available and a bunch more that must be unlocked, Crosswords DS also forces players to begin with easier puzzles before letting him tackle harder ones.
This wouldn't be so bad, except that the easy puzzles are grievously simple! We're talking 4x4 grids here, progressing up to 11x11 for the harder ones available at first. You should know that these puzzles are included in the game's puzzle count, so when the back of the box says over 1,000 puzzles, a good percentage of them is this slight fare. Even the New York Times Monday puzzles, the easiest of the lot in Majesco's title, are full-sized grids.
Furthermore, while the NYT clues are filled with the wit and cunning for which the Times crosswords are famous, Nintendo's clues honestly read like something better suited for elementary school students. Fill-in-the-blank clues are over-common, as well as slipshod "partial word" clues along the lines of "the farmer in the d _ _ _". While it's possible, should the player persevere through the featherweight stuff to get to the harder puzzles, that the package redeems itself, it is unlikely to match the New York Times' Will Shortz-edited output.
Yet even one of the subgames in Nintendo's package fall prey to this kind of shoddyness. The very first Anagrams puzzle accepts, and in fact requires, "lase," which is a real if obscure word defined by Answers.com in regards to lasers, yet rejects "ale." The Word Searches seem to be okay, although they are hampered by the fact that they're word searches, the decaffeinated coffee of word puzzles.
Were this a perfect world, or at least one less encumbered by exclusive licensing, we would have a game that combined Nintendo's wonderful interface with Majesco's formidable puzzle assortment. It's possible that the problems with Nintendo's game has to do with them trying to play to both kid and adult audiences, which would explain the near-beer clues and word search inclusion. I usually dispute claims that Nintendo's efforts to keep most of their games friendly to children ruins them for adults. For insecure adults, maybe. But in this case it certainly has.
* Don't look that number up; it's a joke.
Labels: crosswords, crosswordsds, ds, majesco, newyorktimes, nintendo, nyt, portable
--JohnH at 06:31
Comment
[ 1 ]
25 April 2008
Review: Impossible Mission (NDS)
I just finished a game I never finished almost a quarter century ago: Impossible Mission. My original experience was with a pirated copy (yes, pirated) on the Commodore 64. I just finished it on the Nintendo DS. Frankly, it's a little depressing.
Here's the gist of the game: collect pieces of punchcard keys from rooms guarded by lethal robots and then make it to a special room to stop a nuclear weapon launch. You can run, jump, search for keys, and use the computer terminals to reset lifts and disable the robots temporarily.
First, the very fact that this game is still being sold -- practically unchanged -- is alarming. I understand nostalgia, it's my personal excuse for playing this game, but how can this game be on store shelves in this day and age? My guess is that it's just simple enough to appeal to the casual Nintendo DS player. After all, the game involves only a few platform-mechanics in several barely-randomized rooms and some 30-odd puzzle pieces to find.
Second, the game is easier for everyone now because you can save at practically any moment and then reload later. Messed up a jump and lost 10 minutes off the countdown? No problem. Reload that save and it's like it never happened. You can (and I did) save-crawl the game to completion.
Additionally, the only novelty aside from the save game option, is a set of improved graphics. Purely cosmetic. The game even offers the option of playing with the original 8-bit graphics, which are strikingly neon-looking. I guess I've become accustomed to "realistic" graphics after all this time.
Finally, after all these years, I'm disappointed in the end-sequence. I thought there might be something significant to facing the madman, but here it's just a cut scene. SPOILER: He presses the button to launch the missile and you press another one to stop it. What drama! END SPOILER.
For $10, Impossible Mission for the Nintendo DS isn't bad. I'll settle for the comfort of striking this title off my list of uncompleted games.
Here's the gist of the game: collect pieces of punchcard keys from rooms guarded by lethal robots and then make it to a special room to stop a nuclear weapon launch. You can run, jump, search for keys, and use the computer terminals to reset lifts and disable the robots temporarily.
First, the very fact that this game is still being sold -- practically unchanged -- is alarming. I understand nostalgia, it's my personal excuse for playing this game, but how can this game be on store shelves in this day and age? My guess is that it's just simple enough to appeal to the casual Nintendo DS player. After all, the game involves only a few platform-mechanics in several barely-randomized rooms and some 30-odd puzzle pieces to find.
Second, the game is easier for everyone now because you can save at practically any moment and then reload later. Messed up a jump and lost 10 minutes off the countdown? No problem. Reload that save and it's like it never happened. You can (and I did) save-crawl the game to completion.
Additionally, the only novelty aside from the save game option, is a set of improved graphics. Purely cosmetic. The game even offers the option of playing with the original 8-bit graphics, which are strikingly neon-looking. I guess I've become accustomed to "realistic" graphics after all this time.
Finally, after all these years, I'm disappointed in the end-sequence. I thought there might be something significant to facing the madman, but here it's just a cut scene. SPOILER: He presses the button to launch the missile and you press another one to stop it. What drama! END SPOILER.
For $10, Impossible Mission for the Nintendo DS isn't bad. I'll settle for the comfort of striking this title off my list of uncompleted games.
--jvm at 13:18
Comment
[ 1 ]
10 March 2008
Super Smash Bros. Bawl
I went down to the local ConHugeCo GameStopPlaceStoreThing yesterday and picked up my copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the latest alternative the game industry has presented us for boring, painful life. All the way back, my mind was swirling with the possibilities: how would the workings of fate conspire this time to dash my hopes? Would the disc turn out to be broken neatly in two halves when I open the case? Would there be a wacky mix-up, and the game inside would be Sonic Riders? Would my car get sideswiped on the way back, leaving my organs strewn across the pavement, and as consciousness surrenders to death, would my copy of Smash Bros. Brawl lay sprawled mere inches from my rapidly stiffening arms? Would the game suck? Turns out none of this happened. Instead, the damn thing just doesn't work!
But it's just my Wii the game fails to work in. It works in my cousin's son's perfectly well, and at his place I was at least able to play the game for a couple of hours (under the disapproving glare of one of the visiting obnoxious local kids with which our street is cursed, they roam the road in packs). But whenever I tried to play it in my own Wii, the system would continually pop up one of those hateful "Disc is unreadable" errors, which Wiis present whether the disc's data is entirely opaque to the drive, or if even one byte of data is unreadable, drawing the whimsical ire of the Lockout Fairies.
Nintendo, at least, knows of the problem, and has a mechanism in place to handle repairs, and to their credit they provide free shipping and repair for affected systems. What they say is that, since the game is on a dual layer DVD, some systems whose lenses have gotten a bit dirty will fail to recognize the disc. This seems a little suspicious to me, since never before has a game disk failed to read in my Wii. In fact, it strikes me as more likely the result of a manufacturing flaw, whether one that directly makes dual layer discs unreadable, or maybe one that allows grime to get on the lens in the first place. Anyway, either way, the game still don't work.
And they considered the possibility that I might somehow enjoy the game on my cousin's son's Wii while mine is being fixed, because they want me to send my copy of Smash Bros. Brawl along with the system too.
But it's just my Wii the game fails to work in. It works in my cousin's son's perfectly well, and at his place I was at least able to play the game for a couple of hours (under the disapproving glare of one of the visiting obnoxious local kids with which our street is cursed, they roam the road in packs). But whenever I tried to play it in my own Wii, the system would continually pop up one of those hateful "Disc is unreadable" errors, which Wiis present whether the disc's data is entirely opaque to the drive, or if even one byte of data is unreadable, drawing the whimsical ire of the Lockout Fairies.
Nintendo, at least, knows of the problem, and has a mechanism in place to handle repairs, and to their credit they provide free shipping and repair for affected systems. What they say is that, since the game is on a dual layer DVD, some systems whose lenses have gotten a bit dirty will fail to recognize the disc. This seems a little suspicious to me, since never before has a game disk failed to read in my Wii. In fact, it strikes me as more likely the result of a manufacturing flaw, whether one that directly makes dual layer discs unreadable, or maybe one that allows grime to get on the lens in the first place. Anyway, either way, the game still don't work.
And they considered the possibility that I might somehow enjoy the game on my cousin's son's Wii while mine is being fixed, because they want me to send my copy of Smash Bros. Brawl along with the system too.
Labels: nintendo, repair, smashbrosbrawl, wii
--JohnH at 07:45
Comment
[ 1 ]
11 January 2008
Mario Artwork
My eldest son has been on a Mario 64 kick for a week or so. I'm no fan of the game, but it has been an obsession for him. In particular, his imagination has driven him to draw and color many Mario, Peach, and Bowser pictures at school and at home. Here is my favorite, a portrait of Mario that he brought home today.
--jvm at 20:37
Comment
[ 2 ]
22 November 2007
Zomb-wii
The Wii is gradually building up a list of games that interest me. Regrettably, they're all zombie games:
I'm tepid on Metroid Prime 3, mostly because the first one put me to sleep every time I tried to play it, but will still give it a run when I get a Wii. Even so, give the Wii another year and another three zombie games, and I'll buy one on that basis alone.
- Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
- Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
- House of the Dead 2 & 3
I'm tepid on Metroid Prime 3, mostly because the first one put me to sleep every time I tried to play it, but will still give it a run when I get a Wii. Even so, give the Wii another year and another three zombie games, and I'll buy one on that basis alone.
--jvm at 23:20
Comment
[ 8 ]
03 November 2007
Awesome: Game Boy Micro
I picked up a Game Boy Micro this week. Amazing piece of hardware. I know it doesn't play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, but if I really need those I can try a GB-on-GBA emulator and my flash cartridge. As it is, the GBA library is plenty rich to justify this hardware as-is.
My only serious complaint is that it doesn't share the same power socket as the Nintendo DS, so the USB charging cable that Ruffin bought me (for the NDS) doesn't work. I'll live.
My only serious complaint is that it doesn't share the same power socket as the Nintendo DS, so the USB charging cable that Ruffin bought me (for the NDS) doesn't work. I'll live.
Labels: game boy micro, gba, nintendo
--jvm at 21:40
Comment
[ 6 ]
12 August 2007
The Wii nine months later, good and bad
Things I'm disappointed with concerning my Wii:
Positive things:
- Here we are approaching a year since the Wii's release, and so far Wii Sports remains the only game to use the message board, and only three games use Miis. This is a tremendous opportunity that's being wasted. Hearing about the problems EA had in getting access to the Mii feature for My Sims was troubling. It's not every day that EA even decides to try something new, to reject them for the attempt borders on criminal.
- Staying on the topic, how amazing is it that even now, the Wii game I and my friends play the most remains Wii Sports? We started with bowling (and still play it sometimes), after that we moved on to baseball, golf, then tennis. The only game on the disk whose charm has mostly eluded us is boxing, yet it's possible to see us playing even that.
- While I'm not as annoyed with "waggle" as some bloggers, it remains a fact that tacked-on remote functionality is a big problem. There is no reason that remote-swishing should block laser blasts in Lego Star Wars for the Wii, which isn't exactly a first-person game and was good enough as it was.
- Although their system is more than capable over the internet (and they have, by far, the best web browser among the consoles), Microsoft still easily beats them in online features, and with Nintendo's downloadable games effort still shrouded in scaffolding the 360 has a huge lead over them in new software. Settlers of Catan and Championship Pac-Man are almost enough to make me consider getting a 360 by themselves and are available now, but we're barely even sure what Nintendo's got lined up yet. So far we only have two channels available for download that didn't have placeholders (or full channels) on the screen at launch, and one of them is just a fancy advertisement for Metroid Prime 3.
Positive things:
- I'm more excited over Super Mario Galaxy than I have been over any game for a long time. It's good to see the series return to form. Smash Bros. Brawl is interesting, but we've seen little to indicate that it's going to be very different from Melee. That may be understandable, since in the end Melee was the most popular Gamecube game, but it's not exactly visionary.
- What we've seen in the way of the channels Nintendo has produced have been, generally, well-made. While it was singled out for complaints right after its release, Everybody Votes has been my most-used non-game channel, since there's only so much room on the system for Miis, and for news and weather I generally turn to the internet and the window, respectively. One sometimes learns disturbing things there too: when the world-wide question asked users if they had dreams for the future, "yes" understandably far outweighed "no" in all nations except three: Germany, Austria and Japan, in which places the split approached 50/50. I'm surprised sociologists haven't yet pounced upon this data.
- The Gamecube had a number of excellent games made for it that got dismissed out of hand solely because of the system's third-place position in the market. The second Paper Mario deserved so much better than it got. It is nice to see that, despite their lacking performance at the time, Nintendo is perfectly happy making sequels to those games. Super Paper Mario may not ultimately be the same kind of game, but it's got the same sense of humor and the same brilliant writing. Seeing it break a million units sold is almost enough to make me think justice has returned to the world.
- Finally, the most awesome aspect of the recent firmware update wasn't the clock (by a long shot) but unannounced USB keyboard support. This makes for a big change from the usual Nintendo policy regarding hardware, namely, to make users buy highly-profitable first-party accessories whenever possible. Here's hoping that the Internet Channel gets patched for keyboards soon, and that Nintendo realizes USB drives are a lot more convenient as a backup solution than SD cards.
--JohnH at 22:55
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25 May 2007
Media Summit A-Go-Go
The big sites have mentioned they've been under another of those news embargos for the duration of Nintendo's big E3 replacement show. (I've registered my disdain for the news embargo system before.)
So, what was the big news that was so R0XX0RZ MEGAT0N that Nintendo would forcibly gag a legion of game press until the moment of midnight to release it?
THAT THERE WAS NO NEWS.
In the words of Joel Robinson, "Oh god! The joke's on us!"
So, what was the big news that was so R0XX0RZ MEGAT0N that Nintendo would forcibly gag a legion of game press until the moment of midnight to release it?
THAT THERE WAS NO NEWS.
In the words of Joel Robinson, "Oh god! The joke's on us!"
--JohnH at 15:33
Comment
[ 1 ]
14 May 2007
GameDaily: How Microsoft can win (if by win you mean lose)
I think you can rightly accuse me of being an occasional ivory tower pundit, but even I can see that this tripe from GameDaily is, well, tripe. Apparently Microsoft can take five steps to a definitive lead over Sony and Nintendo, and those steps can be summed up as "Lose money on everything."
The steps are:
They are not going to give up on making a profit -- I just don't think the company or shareholders are prepared to see another year or two of massive losses in the Xbox venture. They're not going to discount the one game that every owner -- or prospective owner -- will happily pay $60+ for this holiday season. They're not going to kill the Xbox Live goose which keeps laying those golden eggs. So far Microsoft hasn't shown the best judgment when it comes to buying studios (although Bungie turned out well), and the age of buying exclusive games has passed for now. More likely is that Microsoft should pay for exclusive bonuses for their version of a cross-platform game -- and that should be a lot cheaper than buying the whole game outright.
I understand the usual argument is that Microsoft can afford to lose money hand over fist, but does anyone really think that this reckless strategy is sound? Other than GameDaily, of course.
The steps are:
- Slash the price (i.e. lose money)
- Bundle Halo 3 for Holiday '07 (i.e. lose money)
- Make Xbox Live free (i.e. lose money)
- Acquire more studios, pay for exclusives (i.e. gamble)
- Enter the kiddie game market (i.e. go up against Nintendo on its own turf)
They are not going to give up on making a profit -- I just don't think the company or shareholders are prepared to see another year or two of massive losses in the Xbox venture. They're not going to discount the one game that every owner -- or prospective owner -- will happily pay $60+ for this holiday season. They're not going to kill the Xbox Live goose which keeps laying those golden eggs. So far Microsoft hasn't shown the best judgment when it comes to buying studios (although Bungie turned out well), and the age of buying exclusive games has passed for now. More likely is that Microsoft should pay for exclusive bonuses for their version of a cross-platform game -- and that should be a lot cheaper than buying the whole game outright.
I understand the usual argument is that Microsoft can afford to lose money hand over fist, but does anyone really think that this reckless strategy is sound? Other than GameDaily, of course.
Labels: business, microsoft, nintendo, sony, xbox360, xboxlive
--jvm at 21:27
Comment
[ 9 ]
03 May 2007
Virtual Console Adventures: The MK64 Bug
One of the things my local circle of gaming friends and I love is Mario Kart 64.
For my money SNES Mario Kart is a little better, but it's limited to two players. For multiplayer Mario Kart action, nothing matches the N64 version. Its battle mode provides a level of strategy unseen in what has become, in later installments of the series, a throwaway mode. Its race mode is also fairly awesome, despite some worrying design choices. It is a game that has kept us occupied for over a decade.
Last night, we were playing a few Mario Kart rounds on the Wii's Virtual Console, and we encountered a surprising flaw in the emulation. In one race on Moo Moo Farm, the game played at an obviously much higher speed than normal. I'm not talking about it just seeming faster through the Wii's increased framerate, it actually was a much faster race. The starting lights, instead of the measured "one... two... three", went by in less than a second, and during the race our velocities were likewise increased.
It was entertaining to play, once, but it wasn't accurate. We were lucky we were on Moo Moo Farm, a fairly laid-back course, and not, for example, Bowser's track. If we had been in a Grand Prix, a "real" game instead of a quick race, the playthrough would likely have been ruined.
Interestingly, the music and sound effects were not accelerated. One of us used a Star powerup during the game, and the invincibility music only had enough time to loop twice before the effect ran out. The next race, speeds returned to normal, and remained there until we stopped for the night.
We're not sure what circumstances triggered the speed-up. The story is that some people who have purchased Mario Kart 64 were later offered a mysterious update for it in the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo is notoriously tight-lipped about what goes into these updates, and I hear that sometimes, like with Star Fox 64, they actually seem more like downgrades, rolling back some of Virtual Console's already-meager framerate improvements. If SF64 runs off the same emulator it is not unreasonable to assume that it will also suffer from speed spikes once in a while.
I'll probably check online for an update to see if it addresses the problem, but will it? It occurs so infrequently that we'll really never know if the flaw has been fixed or not unless it happens again. Nintendo has taken pains to keep the mechanics of Virtual Console hidden from the player, ostensibly for usability's sake, but there is a limit to what can be explained away in the name of simplicity, and it seems in this case that Nintendo is more trying to hide the details of Virtual Console's flaws by not talking about them.
But that is really a crappy way to treat one's customers. We deserve to know what the benefits and drawbacks to updating are before pressing the fatal button. C'mon Nintendo, give us some credit here.
For my money SNES Mario Kart is a little better, but it's limited to two players. For multiplayer Mario Kart action, nothing matches the N64 version. Its battle mode provides a level of strategy unseen in what has become, in later installments of the series, a throwaway mode. Its race mode is also fairly awesome, despite some worrying design choices. It is a game that has kept us occupied for over a decade.
Last night, we were playing a few Mario Kart rounds on the Wii's Virtual Console, and we encountered a surprising flaw in the emulation. In one race on Moo Moo Farm, the game played at an obviously much higher speed than normal. I'm not talking about it just seeming faster through the Wii's increased framerate, it actually was a much faster race. The starting lights, instead of the measured "one... two... three", went by in less than a second, and during the race our velocities were likewise increased.
It was entertaining to play, once, but it wasn't accurate. We were lucky we were on Moo Moo Farm, a fairly laid-back course, and not, for example, Bowser's track. If we had been in a Grand Prix, a "real" game instead of a quick race, the playthrough would likely have been ruined.
Interestingly, the music and sound effects were not accelerated. One of us used a Star powerup during the game, and the invincibility music only had enough time to loop twice before the effect ran out. The next race, speeds returned to normal, and remained there until we stopped for the night.
We're not sure what circumstances triggered the speed-up. The story is that some people who have purchased Mario Kart 64 were later offered a mysterious update for it in the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo is notoriously tight-lipped about what goes into these updates, and I hear that sometimes, like with Star Fox 64, they actually seem more like downgrades, rolling back some of Virtual Console's already-meager framerate improvements. If SF64 runs off the same emulator it is not unreasonable to assume that it will also suffer from speed spikes once in a while.
I'll probably check online for an update to see if it addresses the problem, but will it? It occurs so infrequently that we'll really never know if the flaw has been fixed or not unless it happens again. Nintendo has taken pains to keep the mechanics of Virtual Console hidden from the player, ostensibly for usability's sake, but there is a limit to what can be explained away in the name of simplicity, and it seems in this case that Nintendo is more trying to hide the details of Virtual Console's flaws by not talking about them.
But that is really a crappy way to treat one's customers. We deserve to know what the benefits and drawbacks to updating are before pressing the fatal button. C'mon Nintendo, give us some credit here.
Labels: bugs, classic, emulation, mariokart, mariokart64, nintendo, pr, virtual console, wii
--JohnH at 10:57
Comment
[ 8 ]
08 April 2007
Nintendo DS vs. Sony PSP: Game pricing update
With the basic PSP dropping to $169.99, I felt it was time to see what had changed since I did some rudimentary number crunching on Nintendo DS and Sony PSP game prices five months ago. Not only has the system price dropped, but publishers have abandoned $50 PSP games. Average PSP game prices have shifted down $2.16, although it still has more high priced games than the Nintendo DS. During the same period, average DS game prices have come down about $1.68.
Here's the key result:
Some of the drop in the average PSP game price can be attributed to the disappearance of $49.99 games. In November 2006, the PSP had one such game. Removing just that one game from the November data would have dropped the average price of a PSP game by $0.16.
The only PSP game that currently lists for $49.99 is the PSP version of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, an unreleased game slated for a December 2007 launch. (As it is unreleased, it isn't figured in the numbers shown in this article.)
Other points of interest:
The disappearance of the $50 game makes things a bit harder for publishers on the PSP. Being able to charge $50 for a PSP game was one advantage that system had over the DS. It would be interesting to know if publishers have made a pricing decision based on market conditions or whether Sony has set a $40 ceiling on PSP game prices. I suspect that Nintendo generally won't let publishers charge $40 on the Nintendo DS, although an exception has clearly been made for Final Fantasy III DS.
Now that the $50 option is missing, the big name PSP titles launch at $40. Moreover, I suspect that some publishers are less likely to stay at $40 as long when there are no games in the higher $50 bracket. Notably, even Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories can command only a $30 price tag six months after it was released; by comparison, Liberty City Stories stayed at $50 for almost the entire first year after its release.
I look forward to examining sales data over the coming months to see if the hardware and software price adjustments affect PSP sales.
Feel free to download the data for yourself: OpenOffice ODS, plaintext CSV.
Here's the key result:
| Average Game Price | Mid-Nov 2006 | Mid-Apr 2007 |
| DS | $28.97 | $27.29 |
| PSP | $31.97 | $29.83 |
Some of the drop in the average PSP game price can be attributed to the disappearance of $49.99 games. In November 2006, the PSP had one such game. Removing just that one game from the November data would have dropped the average price of a PSP game by $0.16.
The only PSP game that currently lists for $49.99 is the PSP version of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, an unreleased game slated for a December 2007 launch. (As it is unreleased, it isn't figured in the numbers shown in this article.)
Other points of interest:
- EB Games lists 102 new games for the Nintendo DS and 94 new games for the PSP. This doesn't count out-of-stock and unreleased games, so the numbers could shift 2-3 games either way in a day's time.
- The median game price for each system is $29.99.
- About 33% of all PSP games retail for under $25. Around 41% of Nintendo DS games are below the $25 level.
- About 1/3 of all PSP games retail for $39.99. Only one Nintendo DS game sells for that price (Final Fantasy III DS), while about 23% of Nintendo DS games retail for over $30.
- 18 out of 22 Nintendo DS games priced at $34.99 are Nintendo-published games.
The disappearance of the $50 game makes things a bit harder for publishers on the PSP. Being able to charge $50 for a PSP game was one advantage that system had over the DS. It would be interesting to know if publishers have made a pricing decision based on market conditions or whether Sony has set a $40 ceiling on PSP game prices. I suspect that Nintendo generally won't let publishers charge $40 on the Nintendo DS, although an exception has clearly been made for Final Fantasy III DS.Now that the $50 option is missing, the big name PSP titles launch at $40. Moreover, I suspect that some publishers are less likely to stay at $40 as long when there are no games in the higher $50 bracket. Notably, even Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories can command only a $30 price tag six months after it was released; by comparison, Liberty City Stories stayed at $50 for almost the entire first year after its release.
I look forward to examining sales data over the coming months to see if the hardware and software price adjustments affect PSP sales.
Feel free to download the data for yourself: OpenOffice ODS, plaintext CSV.
--jvm at 01:36
Comment
[ 7 ]
21 February 2007
Gamespot Virtually Reviews Virtual Console game
Gamespot's review of last week's foremost Virtual Console release, Kirby's Adventure, is deficient in a surprising way. In particular, I'm not sure they played the game. The result is that they say something clearly false, something that a reviewer should know after playing the game.
After taking pains to tell us that the game's major fault is its short length, that it can "be beaten in a single evening" (possible, if you do nothing else for several hours) it tells us that the game has a bit of replay value since, by finding all the hidden switches, the player can get a better ending.
This is not true. More recent Kirby games have instituted this as the incentive for finding all the secrets, but the ones directed by Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai (the Smash Bros. guy), which includes Kirby's Adventure, use new game modes as their super-lockables. In Kirby's Adventure, this is the challenging "Extra Game," which is the answer to Gamespot's other problem with Kirby's Adventure, that it is too easy.
But let's stick with the true problem, why Gamespot's review is wrong:
It also casts doubt on the validity of their score of 7.3, for what is one of the best games on the NES.
After taking pains to tell us that the game's major fault is its short length, that it can "be beaten in a single evening" (possible, if you do nothing else for several hours) it tells us that the game has a bit of replay value since, by finding all the hidden switches, the player can get a better ending.
This is not true. More recent Kirby games have instituted this as the incentive for finding all the secrets, but the ones directed by Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai (the Smash Bros. guy), which includes Kirby's Adventure, use new game modes as their super-lockables. In Kirby's Adventure, this is the challenging "Extra Game," which is the answer to Gamespot's other problem with Kirby's Adventure, that it is too easy.
But let's stick with the true problem, why Gamespot's review is wrong:
There is no better ending. They did not play the game through.Maybe someone relied on a faint memory of the game from the NES era, but considering that they say the game is short, there is really no excuse for them not having played through it again. The reviewer should have known there was no better ending to be had.
It also casts doubt on the validity of their score of 7.3, for what is one of the best games on the NES.
Labels: gamespot, media, nintendo, virtual console
--JohnH at 15:45
Comment
[ 1 ]
09 February 2007
The best selling game systems of all time
In a business whose headlines are dominated by the hardware and software sales of Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, it helps to have a little perspective. In this case, the needed context is probably in your pocket right now.
Let's review some numbers. In the last two generations, Sony has sold over 230 million PlayStation-branded game machines. Nintendo has sold nearly 400 million from its home consoles -- NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, and GameCube -- to its long-dominant handheld systems -- Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS. While it has only had a console on shelves since 2001, Microsoft has already racked up combined sales of over 30 million of its two Xbox systems.
Yet these are not the game systems most people own. Their game systems don't say Nintendo or Microsoft or Sony. They say Nokia or Motorola or Samsung. (Ok, some of them actually do say Sony: Sony Erricsson. But they're still relatively small.) Even the cheapest phones can play some form of Tetris nowadays and many are far, far more capable.
According to Strategy Analytics, over one billion mobile phones shipped during all of 2006. In all of 2006, the leading vendor, Nokia, shipped almost 350 million phones. Those numbers are just staggering when compared to the sales of dedicated game systems. For example, if we consider all the systems shipped by Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo since 1983 and compare to just the mobile phone shipments in 2006 we get the following:
In fact, if we combine the numbers for Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo and stack that up against the mobile phone shipments, it's still not much of a contest.
According to NPD, the dedicated videogame market made an estimated $6.5 billion on software last year alone. With over a billion phones shipped in 2006, is it any surprise that analysts regularly predict that the mobile game market will eventually hit $10 billion a year in the near future?
Let's review some numbers. In the last two generations, Sony has sold over 230 million PlayStation-branded game machines. Nintendo has sold nearly 400 million from its home consoles -- NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, and GameCube -- to its long-dominant handheld systems -- Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS. While it has only had a console on shelves since 2001, Microsoft has already racked up combined sales of over 30 million of its two Xbox systems.
Yet these are not the game systems most people own. Their game systems don't say Nintendo or Microsoft or Sony. They say Nokia or Motorola or Samsung. (Ok, some of them actually do say Sony: Sony Erricsson. But they're still relatively small.) Even the cheapest phones can play some form of Tetris nowadays and many are far, far more capable.
According to Strategy Analytics, over one billion mobile phones shipped during all of 2006. In all of 2006, the leading vendor, Nokia, shipped almost 350 million phones. Those numbers are just staggering when compared to the sales of dedicated game systems. For example, if we consider all the systems shipped by Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo since 1983 and compare to just the mobile phone shipments in 2006 we get the following:
In fact, if we combine the numbers for Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo and stack that up against the mobile phone shipments, it's still not much of a contest.According to NPD, the dedicated videogame market made an estimated $6.5 billion on software last year alone. With over a billion phones shipped in 2006, is it any surprise that analysts regularly predict that the mobile game market will eventually hit $10 billion a year in the near future?
--jvm at 14:46
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[ 9 ]
13 January 2007
Wii expands the GameCube market? Feh.
Mike pointed me to an article I missed in Thursday's updates to Next-Gen.biz: O3 Still Loving GameCube. It brings up an angle on backward compatibility that I don't recall being raised back when we last discussed its importance: it expands the base of the older platform, and therefore opens possibilities for smaller publishers to make some money.
O3 is bringing a Japanese shooter on the GameCube called Radio Allergy and depending on the Wii to expand the potential audience. That's a neat theory, but I don't think I really believe Wii players will be browsing the GameCube section of their stores enough to pick up cheap games. Sure, I know that I will do precisely that, but one thing the commenters on this blog have made painfully clear is that my habits are often widely divergent from the typical consumer habits. I suspect this is one of those cases.
We have a precedent, of course: the PlayStation 2 transition period. There we had nearly perfect backward compatibility and a successful system leading into yet another successful system. However, the kind of games that smaller publishers brought out were often quite poor. In O3's defense, I have no idea whether their game will be brilliant or ridiculously bad.
I hate to pick on Mud Duck Productions, since they at least have a nifty name, but their post-PS2 output for the PSOne is typical of what I expect will happen to publishers who look to the GameCube and Wii as one platform: cheap, one-off games like Qix Neo and Puzznic that sell for $10 and languish on shelves for years. (I think their pre-PS2 game Gubble falls into the same category, but I digress.) I just don't see Wii players jumping at the chance to own similar quality GameCube games.
There might actually be a profit in such ventures, especially if the production values are low enough and the number of gullible buyers is high enough*, but this isn't some sort of GameCube renaissance waiting to happen. The next time you see a really great game on a GameCube, it will probably be a homebrew title created by a fan somewhere around 2012.
* Yes, I own Qix Neo. I'm making my own library of games, for crying out loud, and that means getting everything, good and bad. I try not to pay too much for the dreck, naturally.
O3 is bringing a Japanese shooter on the GameCube called Radio Allergy and depending on the Wii to expand the potential audience. That's a neat theory, but I don't think I really believe Wii players will be browsing the GameCube section of their stores enough to pick up cheap games. Sure, I know that I will do precisely that, but one thing the commenters on this blog have made painfully clear is that my habits are often widely divergent from the typical consumer habits. I suspect this is one of those cases.
We have a precedent, of course: the PlayStation 2 transition period. There we had nearly perfect backward compatibility and a successful system leading into yet another successful system. However, the kind of games that smaller publishers brought out were often quite poor. In O3's defense, I have no idea whether their game will be brilliant or ridiculously bad.
I hate to pick on Mud Duck Productions, since they at least have a nifty name, but their post-PS2 output for the PSOne is typical of what I expect will happen to publishers who look to the GameCube and Wii as one platform: cheap, one-off games like Qix Neo and Puzznic that sell for $10 and languish on shelves for years. (I think their pre-PS2 game Gubble falls into the same category, but I digress.) I just don't see Wii players jumping at the chance to own similar quality GameCube games.
There might actually be a profit in such ventures, especially if the production values are low enough and the number of gullible buyers is high enough*, but this isn't some sort of GameCube renaissance waiting to happen. The next time you see a really great game on a GameCube, it will probably be a homebrew title created by a fan somewhere around 2012.
* Yes, I own Qix Neo. I'm making my own library of games, for crying out loud, and that means getting everything, good and bad. I try not to pay too much for the dreck, naturally.
--jvm at 00:57
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[ 5 ]
20 December 2006
Videogame gaffes and blunders of the year, director's cut
Next-gen.biz kindly asked me to reprise my curmudgeon role for an end-of-year post, and I obliged. The result has now been posted here.
To all who offered editorial comments on various topics this year -- Ruffin, John H., Michael, Dustin, and Kyle -- thanks for the help! Hopefully I remembered everyone.
Some bits ended up on the cutting room floor and I thought they'd be worth sharing. I should emphasize, perhaps, that everything past this point is mine, not Next-Gen.biz's, so if you want to yell at someone (or sue someone, if that's your thing), I'm your guy. In fact, if you just want to yell at someone, the comments are always open.
To all who offered editorial comments on various topics this year -- Ruffin, John H., Michael, Dustin, and Kyle -- thanks for the help! Hopefully I remembered everyone.
Some bits ended up on the cutting room floor and I thought they'd be worth sharing. I should emphasize, perhaps, that everything past this point is mine, not Next-Gen.biz's, so if you want to yell at someone (or sue someone, if that's your thing), I'm your guy. In fact, if you just want to yell at someone, the comments are always open.
- The name - Originally I called the list "The 2006 Nelsons" after Nelson Muntz and his immortal "ha-ha" laugh. That got nixed (as I half-expected, but I held out hope until the end). My second choice was to award #1 the prestigious 2006 Foo Cup (say it out loud) and the others could be the 9 runners up. Apparently that didn't make it either. Gaffes and blunders it is!
- Linkification - The original version had well over fifty links (all internal to next-gen.biz, incidentally) which were changed to just standard text. I'd rather hoped they'd make it, because they provide the documentation for everything I wrote, and for the sake of business didn't go off-site. Ah well.
- The text went through several revisions. This bit about Nintendo never made it into any final drafts, but is pretty high on my list of flubs this year.
Wii was region-free before it wasn't - What's worse than a region-locked console? Announcing a console is region-free and then correcting yourself to make it to region-locked. That's what Perrin Kaplan and Nintendo did to us with the Wii this year. I'm still angry about that one.
- The following was one of the entries, but got edited out. Along with this, I also considered putting in the big brouhaha over the Neverwinter Nights 2 review on 1UP and this bit by Simon Carless on how Xbox 360 sales were reported (poorly). Anyway, here's what got cut:
Blogger Ethics Panel to Convene Soon - In September the popular videogame blog, Joystiq, posted about "a scoop for some important news with one of the next-generation consoles." Leaving details to the overactive imaginations of an army of commenters and forum fanboys, post author Robert Summa assured everyone that "this announcement is something worth waiting for." Was it a secret, unannounced feature of the Nintendo Wii? Was Microsoft going to announce that Halo 3 would be on shelves this holiday season? Maybe Sony would relent, drop the price, and put the PlayStation 3 within reach of upper middle class Americans with spotless credit ratings. Not to be left out, rival blog Kotaku's Brian Crecente posted about the upcoming announcement, saying "expect to hear some kinda interesting news about a very interesting upcoming console", but similarly gave away no details.
What was that burning scoop? Here it is: "IBM announced that their Broadway chip custom-designed for Nintendo's Wii console has been shipping to Nintendo's since July."
Oh, the humanity!
Predictably, the firestorm sparked by this little stunt was ferocious. Robert Summa was summarily fired (yes, bloggers sometimes get paid) and Joystiq editor Chris Grant posted an apology. Summa shortly appeared on another site, Destructoid, and penned what amounted to a "f--k you" farewell to Joystiq, tastefully incorporating Martin Luther King Jr's famous "Free at last" speech and a picture of Mel Gibson in a battle skirt.
And they wonder why we think the videogame press is less than professional sometimes... - Hurricane Jack - When I wrote about Jack Thompson, I used the term Hurricane Jack to refer to him, since he hit the Gulf states of Louisiana and Florida. That term got nixed in the editing.
- Core Design and the Tomb Raider trailer - I wanted to include the mess surrounding the Tomb Raider PSP trailer that showed up this summer. I wrote a two long posts about: original post and the update. Unfortunately, one of the ground rules for the article was that I had to stick to facts, and unfortunately neither Core nor SCi/Eidos have provided a definitive version of just what did happen. We will probably never know exactly what it was, but you can at least read my take on it.
- Other ideas that didn't make the cut - Capcom's ongoing struggle to use larger fonts (in Dead Rising and Lost Planet), Nintendo DS absolutely destroying the PSP month after month, the coming rush of ridiculous MMOGs (Romero, Cartoon Network, James Cameron, and Dave Perry).
--jvm at 06:00
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14 December 2006
The real hidden cost of the Wii
Chatting with my brother this evening, he was griping that the Wii's remote strap is not the problem, as has been reported elsewhere, but rather the battery life. He's been using normal Duracell alkaline batteries and getting 15 hours of play out of them. For reference, Nintendo says you can get as much as 35 hours.
So let's do some calculation. Let's assume you play 10 to 25 hours a week, every week, for a year. You buy 20-packs of AA batteries from Wal-mart for $9.76 plus some tax, which we'll just call $10 for the sake of round numbers. You run your single Wii remote down until it's dead each time before replacing the batteries. The following table tells you how much you can expect to spend per year for batteries based on your usage (per week) and the lifespan of your batteries.
So if you're only getting 15 hours of use before you change the batteries, as apparently is happening with my brother, then you could spend $35 per year just on batteries by playing as little as 10 hours per week. If you play 20 hours a week, you're up near $70. And if you have two Wii remotes, the cost will go even higher.
Apparently the manual discourages the use of rechargeables, although the page linked above says use Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) if you insist on doing so. I don't know how long those will last, but my experience has been that regular batteries will last longer than rechargeables will between charges.
These are not huge costs, but they are costs you won't see with a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360 controller. Naturally, Nintendo will no doubt offer a new rechargeable Wii remote very soon, giving you the chance to upgrade. I bet it won't be cheap either.
Update: Brother sent me this scan from his manual, just to point out the bit that says you should use alkaline batteries...to avoid BATTERY LEAKAGE. Of course, who reads the manual (besides my brother)?
So let's do some calculation. Let's assume you play 10 to 25 hours a week, every week, for a year. You buy 20-packs of AA batteries from Wal-mart for $9.76 plus some tax, which we'll just call $10 for the sake of round numbers. You run your single Wii remote down until it's dead each time before replacing the batteries. The following table tells you how much you can expect to spend per year for batteries based on your usage (per week) and the lifespan of your batteries.
So if you're only getting 15 hours of use before you change the batteries, as apparently is happening with my brother, then you could spend $35 per year just on batteries by playing as little as 10 hours per week. If you play 20 hours a week, you're up near $70. And if you have two Wii remotes, the cost will go even higher.Apparently the manual discourages the use of rechargeables, although the page linked above says use Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) if you insist on doing so. I don't know how long those will last, but my experience has been that regular batteries will last longer than rechargeables will between charges.
These are not huge costs, but they are costs you won't see with a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360 controller. Naturally, Nintendo will no doubt offer a new rechargeable Wii remote very soon, giving you the chance to upgrade. I bet it won't be cheap either.
Update: Brother sent me this scan from his manual, just to point out the bit that says you should use alkaline batteries...to avoid BATTERY LEAKAGE. Of course, who reads the manual (besides my brother)?
--jvm at 21:03
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[ 5 ]
13 December 2006
Nintendo DS: sold out
A post on NeoGAF reminded me that I'd expected the Nintendo DS to sell out this holiday season. I just did a quick check and Amazon, EB Games/GameStop, Wal-Mart, and Target all list every version of the Nintendo DS as out of stock or, in the case of Target, available in stores only. (I might be in a local Target soon to have a look at their stock.)
Nintendo sold almost a million Nintendo DS systems in the U.S. during the month of November alone. If they can keep the stores stocked, they'll be able to hit that or more in December. It now appears that's could be a fairly significant "if".
Nintendo sold almost a million Nintendo DS systems in the U.S. during the month of November alone. If they can keep the stores stocked, they'll be able to hit that or more in December. It now appears that's could be a fairly significant "if".
--jvm at 20:49
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[ 3 ]
10 December 2006
Happy to be sad
I just finished Resident Evil: Deadly Silence for the Nintendo DS and had an experience I haven't had in a while: a wave of sadness at finishing a good game. I recall vividly the same feeling when I finished Tomb Raider for the first time, and again when I finished Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. It means I really enjoyed the game.
It also requires that a game not have dragged on so long that the very thought of more is exhausting rather than exhilarating. Games like this pull me back in for a second play, to recapture some of the thrill of the first run but also to do more skillfully those parts I originally mucked up. For Resident Evil: Deadly Silence there is also the fact that I got Jill's bad ending -- which means I didn't get the real final boss battle (i.e. didn't get to hear "You're an amazon, Jill!"). I'd sure like to make a better showing than that.
If I have time, I'll try to put together a brief review this week with my list of complaints.
Ten word version: Complete classic game handsomely remade with fitting albeit unimaginative improvements.
It also requires that a game not have dragged on so long that the very thought of more is exhausting rather than exhilarating. Games like this pull me back in for a second play, to recapture some of the thrill of the first run but also to do more skillfully those parts I originally mucked up. For Resident Evil: Deadly Silence there is also the fact that I got Jill's bad ending -- which means I didn't get the real final boss battle (i.e. didn't get to hear "You're an amazon, Jill!"). I'd sure like to make a better showing than that.
If I have time, I'll try to put together a brief review this week with my list of complaints.
Ten word version: Complete classic game handsomely remade with fitting albeit unimaginative improvements.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 20:55
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[ 2 ]
03 December 2006
How Nintendo is solving its piracy problem
Given the rampant online piracy of Nintendo's games, should be no surprise that they have constructed significant roadblocks to prevent emulation of their last three systems: the GameCube, the Nintendo DS, and the Wii. While the GameCube used a proprietary medium, the Nintendo DS and Wii have much more effective deterrents: their unique interfaces.
The transition from the Atari 2600 joystick to the PlayStation analog pad (two sticks, D-pad, left and right shoulder triggers) not only focused the industry on a fairly standard interface but ensured that the previous generation's controls were mostly a subset of the next generation's. That progression also permitted emulation of earlier systems on newer systems with a minimum of fuss. If you want to emulate a SNES on an Xbox, the button mapping is natural. The Game Boy Advance could emulate NES games and the Nintendo DS can emulate the SNES, no mucking with buttons required. For years those same PlayStation-style pads have been available for home computers as well.
That process makes emulation both possible and attractive.
While emulation of games with nonstandard interfaces has been done before -- we have commercial emulations of the arcade games Paperboy and Star Wars: The Arcade Game and Marble Madness and 720 degrees -- the compromise made to fit a different controller is always unsatisfying.
And so, with the introduction of the Nintendo DS touchscreen and the Wii's spatial controller we see that Nintendo has made emulation piracy far less attractive, albeit still possible. Will we see people trading Wii games over the internet in 10 years as they do now with SNES ROMs? Perhaps, but it will probably mean that you will have to have a Wii controller -- or a knock off controller. Anything less will be unsatisfying. And in 10 years you can probably bet that Nintendo will offer a relatively cheap and easy alternative on their next system -- which will work with the Wii controller out-of-the-box and offer Wii games for download for a few dollars. With appropriately priced hardware and downloads, Nintendo will keep people in the Nintendo store and off the ROM sites.
The same could easily be true for the Nintendo DS. If the DS were the beginning of another cycle of incremental improvements roughly paralleling the progression from Game Boy to Game Boy Color to Game Boy Advance then we may not see another radical evolution of the Nintendo handheld line for another 15 years. Despite Nintendo's claims to the contrary, the DS appears to be its future for the handheld, not the Game Boy.
There will always be the hardcore folks who refuse to pay. They're a sad fact of life. Someone will hack drivers to make the Wii controller work on an emulator running under Windows or even on a GNU/Linux-enabled console. And certainly you can emulate a Nintendo DS with a mouse. I bet it isn't nearly as entertaining to play Elite Beat Agents by clicking a mouse, but that won't stop some people from doing it anyway.
However as appears to be happening with music, most people will choose to buy their games instead of pirate them if there are enough blocks to casual emulation piracy and a reasonably priced legitimate alternative. That's Nintendo's goal, and I think they've made the right moves to attain it.
The transition from the Atari 2600 joystick to the PlayStation analog pad (two sticks, D-pad, left and right shoulder triggers) not only focused the industry on a fairly standard interface but ensured that the previous generation's controls were mostly a subset of the next generation's. That progression also permitted emulation of earlier systems on newer systems with a minimum of fuss. If you want to emulate a SNES on an Xbox, the button mapping is natural. The Game Boy Advance could emulate NES games and the Nintendo DS can emulate the SNES, no mucking with buttons required. For years those same PlayStation-style pads have been available for home computers as well.
That process makes emulation both possible and attractive.
While emulation of games with nonstandard interfaces has been done before -- we have commercial emulations of the arcade games Paperboy and Star Wars: The Arcade Game and Marble Madness and 720 degrees -- the compromise made to fit a different controller is always unsatisfying.
And so, with the introduction of the Nintendo DS touchscreen and the Wii's spatial controller we see that Nintendo has made emulation piracy far less attractive, albeit still possible. Will we see people trading Wii games over the internet in 10 years as they do now with SNES ROMs? Perhaps, but it will probably mean that you will have to have a Wii controller -- or a knock off controller. Anything less will be unsatisfying. And in 10 years you can probably bet that Nintendo will offer a relatively cheap and easy alternative on their next system -- which will work with the Wii controller out-of-the-box and offer Wii games for download for a few dollars. With appropriately priced hardware and downloads, Nintendo will keep people in the Nintendo store and off the ROM sites.
The same could easily be true for the Nintendo DS. If the DS were the beginning of another cycle of incremental improvements roughly paralleling the progression from Game Boy to Game Boy Color to Game Boy Advance then we may not see another radical evolution of the Nintendo handheld line for another 15 years. Despite Nintendo's claims to the contrary, the DS appears to be its future for the handheld, not the Game Boy.
There will always be the hardcore folks who refuse to pay. They're a sad fact of life. Someone will hack drivers to make the Wii controller work on an emulator running under Windows or even on a GNU/Linux-enabled console. And certainly you can emulate a Nintendo DS with a mouse. I bet it isn't nearly as entertaining to play Elite Beat Agents by clicking a mouse, but that won't stop some people from doing it anyway.
However as appears to be happening with music, most people will choose to buy their games instead of pirate them if there are enough blocks to casual emulation piracy and a reasonably priced legitimate alternative. That's Nintendo's goal, and I think they've made the right moves to attain it.
--jvm at 23:37
Comment
[ 8 ]
02 December 2006
Virtual Console Stupidity
Go Nintendo reports on the games that will be made available at launch over Wii Virtual Console in different markets:
France, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Greece, Portugal, and Spain - Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Wario's Woods, Bomberman 93, Super Star Soldier
Norway, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Norway, and Sweden - Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Wario's Woods, Bomberman 93, Super Star Soldier, The Legend of Zelda, Dungeon Explorer, Victory Run
That's right, France and Britain will be getting five games on launch, while Luxemborg and Ireland will be getting eight -- including two, Dungeon Explorer and Victory Run, that are not yet available in the US, Nintendo's largest non-Japanese market. But that's nothing compared to the final sentence in the post:
Australia and New Zealand will not see TurboGrafx games, seeing that that platform never made it to those countries.
Nintendo has basically proven here that, to their mind, Virtual Console exists for nostalgia purposes only. Why would they not want to release TurboGrafx games in markets that never saw the system? Because, despite the fact that it costs almost nothing other than rights fees (which cannot be very high) and bandwidth to offer them, they will not, simply because they didn't get it the first time around. Each Virtual Console sale, especially at those prices, is almost pure profit for the licensor and Nintendo, to not chase it is ludicrous. Yeah, they gotta ESRB 'em, sure, so get it done and get them released!
Even worse, indeed incredibly bad, is that this also implies that the many Japanese-only games released over Virtual Console will remain Japanese-only.
To say that Nintendo is dropping the ball here seems like an understatement. If Nintendo were the only download gaming place in town then this kind of arrogance, which is fairly typical for the company it must be said (and this is coming from a long-time Nintendo supporter, the only console I got last generation was a Gamecube), might restrict their sales a bit it would not directly harm them.
But they are certainly not the only download console gaming guys around. X-box Live Arcade has been at it for months now, and has some very nice, original, games for it, and will only be getting more. And they have some of the greatest classic arcade games ever seen; whoever has been picking the out for Microsoft seems to know his stuff. Nintendo has some games that are equal, maybe even a little better, in quality (do not overestimate that "better" thing: objectively measured, Zelda may be awesome, but so is Robotron, just in a different way), but their greatest ally is volume, and so far that's fallen woefully short.
They may claim that the Wii is not trying to compete with the other new-gen consoles, and there is some truth to that, but they are competing directly in the downloadable games space, and so far Nintendo's only real advantages there are simplicity of use and the games themselves. We've heard murmurings about original Virtual Console games but for all we know those could go the way of the 64DD, discarded on a whim at any time in the future. We hear about all these games they COULD release, but COULD != WILL, and their statement that they're going to release a "greatest hits" selection is, frankly, idiotic when two of their US VC launch games are Pinball and Soccer. PINBALL AND F--KING SOCCER! If they're determined to launch early NES classics as well as later ones then where the hell is Ice Hockey?!
Meanwhile in Japan they already have Super Mario Bros! Even though the system launched a couple of weeks later in Japan than the US, at launch they have more games available, and knowing Nintendo, will probably continue to have more throughout the Wii's lifespan.
Nintendo! You cannot afford to do things like this any more! You've left your lunch right there on the table, and Microsoft is heading over with a hungry look in its eye!
And their appetite is boundless.
France, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Greece, Portugal, and Spain - Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Wario's Woods, Bomberman 93, Super Star Soldier
Norway, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Norway, and Sweden - Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Wario's Woods, Bomberman 93, Super Star Soldier, The Legend of Zelda, Dungeon Explorer, Victory Run
That's right, France and Britain will be getting five games on launch, while Luxemborg and Ireland will be getting eight -- including two, Dungeon Explorer and Victory Run, that are not yet available in the US, Nintendo's largest non-Japanese market. But that's nothing compared to the final sentence in the post:
Australia and New Zealand will not see TurboGrafx games, seeing that that platform never made it to those countries.
Nintendo has basically proven here that, to their mind, Virtual Console exists for nostalgia purposes only. Why would they not want to release TurboGrafx games in markets that never saw the system? Because, despite the fact that it costs almost nothing other than rights fees (which cannot be very high) and bandwidth to offer them, they will not, simply because they didn't get it the first time around. Each Virtual Console sale, especially at those prices, is almost pure profit for the licensor and Nintendo, to not chase it is ludicrous. Yeah, they gotta ESRB 'em, sure, so get it done and get them released!
Even worse, indeed incredibly bad, is that this also implies that the many Japanese-only games released over Virtual Console will remain Japanese-only.
To say that Nintendo is dropping the ball here seems like an understatement. If Nintendo were the only download gaming place in town then this kind of arrogance, which is fairly typical for the company it must be said (and this is coming from a long-time Nintendo supporter, the only console I got last generation was a Gamecube), might restrict their sales a bit it would not directly harm them.
But they are certainly not the only download console gaming guys around. X-box Live Arcade has been at it for months now, and has some very nice, original, games for it, and will only be getting more. And they have some of the greatest classic arcade games ever seen; whoever has been picking the out for Microsoft seems to know his stuff. Nintendo has some games that are equal, maybe even a little better, in quality (do not overestimate that "better" thing: objectively measured, Zelda may be awesome, but so is Robotron, just in a different way), but their greatest ally is volume, and so far that's fallen woefully short.
They may claim that the Wii is not trying to compete with the other new-gen consoles, and there is some truth to that, but they are competing directly in the downloadable games space, and so far Nintendo's only real advantages there are simplicity of use and the games themselves. We've heard murmurings about original Virtual Console games but for all we know those could go the way of the 64DD, discarded on a whim at any time in the future. We hear about all these games they COULD release, but COULD != WILL, and their statement that they're going to release a "greatest hits" selection is, frankly, idiotic when two of their US VC launch games are Pinball and Soccer. PINBALL AND F--KING SOCCER! If they're determined to launch early NES classics as well as later ones then where the hell is Ice Hockey?!
Meanwhile in Japan they already have Super Mario Bros! Even though the system launched a couple of weeks later in Japan than the US, at launch they have more games available, and knowing Nintendo, will probably continue to have more throughout the Wii's lifespan.
Nintendo! You cannot afford to do things like this any more! You've left your lunch right there on the table, and Microsoft is heading over with a hungry look in its eye!
And their appetite is boundless.
--JohnH at 18:53
Comment
[ 16 ]
30 November 2006
Exclusives truly dead
Could the pundits really be wrong? Of course. Third party exclusives are so dead that EA is having a whole studio work on exclusives for the Wii.
More from here:
More from here:
"We do have two Wii games that we're working on right now," Cook said. "We also continue to do a lot of the work that we've done in the past, but going forward, our future will be exclusively Wii development."And what platform are they abandoning? The Windows PC.
[...]
"Things always change, but the plan is that we'll just be developing for the Wii."
--jvm at 20:22
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[ 3 ]
29 November 2006
Third party exclusives: We're not dead yet!
The conventional wisdom about this generation of consoles contains two ideas that seem at odds:
In fact, Nintendo has already been doing this. Just look at the Wii launch: Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam (Activision) and Red Steel (UbiSoft) and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (Sega) are all third party exclusives. While Madden NFL 07 (EA) isn't an exclusive, it is reworked heavily enough to use the Wii controller that it might as well be considered one. To maintain relevance, that kind of stream of exclusives will have to continue.
It is possible that Nintendo obtaining exclusives will push Microsoft and Sony to obtain similar agreements from publishers. These will likely be of the Grand Theft Auto and Splinter Cell variety: time limited exclusivity. Remember that such time-dependent exclusives mitigate the original development cost because the port is cheap to make, and publishers may not want to spend time crafting a game that extensively utilizes the Wii's controller. So Sony and Microsoft will benefit from such exclusives, but Nintendo will end up with games designed for a PlayStation or Xbox controller (i.e. more buttons) and some trivial Wii controller gimmicks -- if it gets a port at all.
I'm not saying that third party exclusives must continue or the Wii will fail, but it is difficult for me to see how their fates aren't inextricably tied. The end result is, as Campbell said in that same podcast, that the publishers "have a lot more power" and "do what they want to do". I'm arguably a Sony fan, but even I can appreciate that their fall from power is likely to improve the marketplace for developers and consumers. It isn't clear, however, that that independence is obviously good for the Wii.
- The Wii will unquestionably succeed, possibly taking second place to Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, primarily on the strength of its unique controller.
- Because all three platforms will have significant marketshare third parties will be less likely to make games exclusive to one system.
In fact, Nintendo has already been doing this. Just look at the Wii launch: Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam (Activision) and Red Steel (UbiSoft) and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (Sega) are all third party exclusives. While Madden NFL 07 (EA) isn't an exclusive, it is reworked heavily enough to use the Wii controller that it might as well be considered one. To maintain relevance, that kind of stream of exclusives will have to continue.
It is possible that Nintendo obtaining exclusives will push Microsoft and Sony to obtain similar agreements from publishers. These will likely be of the Grand Theft Auto and Splinter Cell variety: time limited exclusivity. Remember that such time-dependent exclusives mitigate the original development cost because the port is cheap to make, and publishers may not want to spend time crafting a game that extensively utilizes the Wii's controller. So Sony and Microsoft will benefit from such exclusives, but Nintendo will end up with games designed for a PlayStation or Xbox controller (i.e. more buttons) and some trivial Wii controller gimmicks -- if it gets a port at all.
I'm not saying that third party exclusives must continue or the Wii will fail, but it is difficult for me to see how their fates aren't inextricably tied. The end result is, as Campbell said in that same podcast, that the publishers "have a lot more power" and "do what they want to do". I'm arguably a Sony fan, but even I can appreciate that their fall from power is likely to improve the marketplace for developers and consumers. It isn't clear, however, that that independence is obviously good for the Wii.
--jvm at 21:28
Comment
[ 8 ]
23 November 2006
Bomberman '93 is Excellent
When I drove a hundred miles to be home with Dad for Thanksgiving, I dragged my Wii along for the ride.
Unfortunately, due to an oversight, I neglected to drag its power supply along for that ride.
A scan through local retail outlets made it clear that replacement AC adaptors were not yet available in stores, and Gamecube adaptors don't fit. In the end, I ended up driving BACK to Statesboro, just to get the power supply. But it was all worth it, and for one reason above all else:
BOMBERMAN '93.
Back in the days before its battle game became progressively polluted with 3D, overly-gimmicky level layouts and dino buddies (JVM's coinage here, meaning Pokemon-like helper characters who follow you around wanting to be pals), the Bomberman series produced what could be the finest multiplayer games ever made. I and my friends got hooked playing Super Bomberman with a multitap on my SNES back in the day, and while that game is not yet available on Virtual Console, the similar Bomberman '93 was released last night, becoming the first must-own VC release. Many people missed this game on its original release since it was made for the Turbografx-16, the Gamecube of its time. It is only six bucks to boot.
Not only is the play the cleanest it has ever been, but it even supports five player games! The instructions explicitly state that, although the Wii only accepts up to four wireless controllers and four Gamecube controllers, by using a combination of the two types players can map controllers to each of a Turbo Tap's five virtual controller ports.
Bomberman-maker Hudson has announced that they plan to provide extensive support to Virtual Console, with dozens of games planned for eventual release. The company has some neglected gems in its history (the excellent Bonk's Adventure was also released last night), and they could well be Nintendo's best ally in the fight to unseat X-box Live Arcade from its comfortable spon on the console download gaming throne.
EDIT: Fixed the game's name, thanks to mgroves for pointing it out. Damn numbers.
Unfortunately, due to an oversight, I neglected to drag its power supply along for that ride.
A scan through local retail outlets made it clear that replacement AC adaptors were not yet available in stores, and Gamecube adaptors don't fit. In the end, I ended up driving BACK to Statesboro, just to get the power supply. But it was all worth it, and for one reason above all else:
BOMBERMAN '93.
Back in the days before its battle game became progressively polluted with 3D, overly-gimmicky level layouts and dino buddies (JVM's coinage here, meaning Pokemon-like helper characters who follow you around wanting to be pals), the Bomberman series produced what could be the finest multiplayer games ever made. I and my friends got hooked playing Super Bomberman with a multitap on my SNES back in the day, and while that game is not yet available on Virtual Console, the similar Bomberman '93 was released last night, becoming the first must-own VC release. Many people missed this game on its original release since it was made for the Turbografx-16, the Gamecube of its time. It is only six bucks to boot.
Not only is the play the cleanest it has ever been, but it even supports five player games! The instructions explicitly state that, although the Wii only accepts up to four wireless controllers and four Gamecube controllers, by using a combination of the two types players can map controllers to each of a Turbo Tap's five virtual controller ports.
Bomberman-maker Hudson has announced that they plan to provide extensive support to Virtual Console, with dozens of games planned for eventual release. The company has some neglected gems in its history (the excellent Bonk's Adventure was also released last night), and they could well be Nintendo's best ally in the fight to unseat X-box Live Arcade from its comfortable spon on the console download gaming throne.
EDIT: Fixed the game's name, thanks to mgroves for pointing it out. Damn numbers.
--JohnH at 04:07
Comment
[ 10 ]
20 November 2006
The Good, the Bad, and the (ugh) Wii
The epic tale of my wait in line for a Wii will be told some other day -- a story of happy chance, of suffering, of corruption, of sacrifice. A story, also, of about an hour total of playing Elite Beat Agents on my DS.
I haven't been able to play it an awful lot since getting it back to the apartment, as I have this pesky term paper to write, but as the Wii-blessed member of Curmudgeon Gamer's crack (as in "cocaine") staff of writers, I felt duty bound toput off working on my paper describe my experience.
Good:
Bad:
I haven't been able to play it an awful lot since getting it back to the apartment, as I have this pesky term paper to write, but as the Wii-blessed member of Curmudgeon Gamer's crack (as in "cocaine") staff of writers, I felt duty bound to
Good:
- The controller, for the most part, works without a hitch, and better than I had been expecting. Its use in Wii Sports is almost like magic.
- Wii Sports is a better game than rumor had it and reviews have let on. Scores have been around the low-to-mid 7 range for it, they deserve to be higher. My roommates were almost fascinated with it when they saw it in action. The depth in the title is in perfecting your movements more than the strategy of the game itself, but the games are not bad. Bowling, in particular, with that controller in hand, is automatically the best console rendition of bowling of all time, because it is actually like bowling.
- Mii creation is a lot more fun than you might think. While the characters themselves are very simplistic, the creation options are not. They are even used in ingenious ways by Wii Sports, who will automatically fill out baseball teams with random Miis lounging around the console, potentially even those scavenged from friend's system's over the internet.
- Virtual Console games seem to work well. The two I've gotten so far, Solomon's Key and SimCity, are pretty much exactly like the originals, with one big difference in SimCity: saving took a while on the SNES, but here is instantaneous.
- If one goes back to the Wii menu before turning off a virtual console game, the next time the player plays it he'll find that his old "console" is exactly at the point where he left it. That is, the Wii actually saves the entire state of the virtual machine, in addition to supporting any built-in save function of the game.
- The unified, X-box 360-like menu system is cool. All games have a "Wii menu," even disk ones, and the player can end a game and return to the home page at any time, without a reboot.
- The video report of one website, which showed a video of the system taking over two minutes to copy the tiny NES game Donkey Kong to a SD card, turns out not to be the general case -- SNES SimCity takes maybe 10-20 seconds to copy to my own recently-purchased 512MB card. The age and speed of the card probably plays a role here.
- There are a number of of cool little things to discover while browsing through the options, like the message board that not only keeps records of how long you've played each game on a calendar-like screen, but even functions as a basic email client. I'm surprised that the big gaming blogs haven't made a big deal over the fact that you can actually send mail to any email address, provided the recipient replies to an initial confirmation message.
- The pointer hands on the menu screens rotate when you rotate the controller! So cool! There is also an entertaining little animation when a Virtual Console download is going.
- Zelda is, indeed, great.
Bad:
- However, Zelda is not as great as it could have been, and the problem is not the graphics. It is the storytelling. A lot of people have been raving about how the story of this one is darker than the others almost from the start. I do not regard this as a good thing; the high-spirited adventure of the other games (especially Wind Waker) was one of the best things about them. This is just one more way that Zelda is becoming like its copiers (that is to say, practically all other action-adventures).
- More on Zelda: these games have traditionally been actually rather light on story, leaving the player on his own to do all the things that need to be done. My first three hours of Zelda, on the other hand, were hand-held almost the whole way. Zelda games need to give the player space so he can explore! I've not seen any of that yet, although maybe once I hit Hyrule Field this'll change.
- Upon initial connection to the internet there are two major system updates, each of which taking quite a while to complete. This may be from Nintendo's servers being slammed, but they should take note, this isn't going to get better in the future. System updates are always a cause for trepidation since an interrupted update may result in a bricked system, and there have been stories of this happening.
- The email client is an unexpected nicety, true, but it is hampered by the fact that you have to type using the virtual keyboard. It's faster than control pad based solutions, and it has a cell phone-like quick keypad feature, but it's nowhere near as quick as using, say, a USB keyboard.
- By the way, USB keyboards do not work.
- I did have one bad moment with the remote. After one particular update, my remote suddenly ceased functioning. I checked my second remote and it wasn't working either! Whenever I pressed a button, the lights on the remote flashed several times then went dark. Turning off and on the console didn't work, there were no bright lights in the room and there was no obvious RF interference. Ultimately I restored their function by guessing that holding in the power button for a few seconds would do a "hard reset." Fortunately I was correct, and upon turning it back on again the controllers worked normally.
- The Shop Channel is in bad shape. Several times now I've tried accessing it, only to be stuck for several minutes at the "Connecting...." screen. There is no way to cancel the connection early without doing a hard (not a soft) reset in the manner described above. When it does work it is responsive, but one has to get that far first.
- As is typical for Nintendo, their features that interact with not-made-by-Nintendo data tend to be slapdash. A user can listen to MP3s while looking at photos but there is no standalone MP3 player! That oversight seems malicious enough to be intentional. The viewer channel can display JPEGs and MOVs, full stop. Some of these problems may essentially go away once Opera is released, but probably only in the little world of the browser.
- Internet features are a bit less developed at launch than I was expecting. No Turbografx games, only one N64 game and two SNES and Genesis titles, and a NES roster padded out by first-generation dreck (although it does have the awesome Solomon's Key). X-box Live Arcade is mostly original stuff with a few recreations so they aren't expected to have a huge number of downloads available, but the stuff in Virtual Console is all emulated! There is little reason that ALL of Nintendo's first party output for their systems isn't available now. The Internet Channel, the Forecast Channel AND the News Channel, basically most of the system's internet support, is MIA for launch as well.
- Finally, and for me most dishearteningly, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz seems to be a shadow of the first two games. Who the hell's idea was it to drop Challenge Mode?!
--JohnH at 23:05
Comment
[ 13 ]
19 November 2006
Nintendo DS vs. Sony PSP: Game and system pricing
I was more tempted to buy a PlayStation Portable game when browsing a local shop yesterday, not just because there are more interesting games out but several of them are more attractively priced. One advantage I'd felt the Nintendo DS had over the PSP was lower priced software, and that's just not as true as it used to be. In fact, several PSP games have launched recently at $30 or less: Capcom Collection Reloaded, Activision Hits Remixed, EA Replay, Sega Genesis Collection, Every Extend Extra, and Lumines II. Each one of those is starting at $19.99 or $29.99. If you are into retro games or flashy puzzle games, the PSP has to be your handheld system of choice, once you can swing the system price.
I did some browsing at EB Games (online) and put together some numbers for new games (not used games, which can fluctuate with inventory). The store currently lists more $10-$20 games for the PSP (30) than it does for the Nintendo DS (26). The average price for a new game is $32 for the PSP and $28 for the Nintendo DS, and the median game costs $30 for both systems. (Note: That's just games available; sales volume obviously isn't something I have access to.) Each system has a nearly equal number of games.
The PSP isn't so far behind the DS that it's lost the war, but Sony needs to do more than just stay close. If the PSP were priced at $150, my gut tells me it'd sell a lot more strongly. You've got a ton of best-selling software at the $20 level now, including Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, and several more interesting games at the $30 level. With the software side of the business under control, I think, and a system price adjustment would help.
Addendum: The other thing about PSP game pricing is that it appears to be more flexible than Nintendo DS game pricing. There are PSP games launching at prices from $50 down to $20, which makes it possible for a game to portray itself as anything from a big-name release down to a chintzy piece of shovelware. Moreover, this gives games room to drop in price, so a publisher can squeeze top dollar out of the rich and then appeal to the masses later with a budget price. Nintendo's model, especially for its big-name games, has seemed much more rigid. The price for New Super Mario Bros. will probably still be $35 two years after its release, whereas the price of Liberty City Stories on the PSP has dropped from $50 to $20 in just over a year.
I did some browsing at EB Games (online) and put together some numbers for new games (not used games, which can fluctuate with inventory). The store currently lists more $10-$20 games for the PSP (30) than it does for the Nintendo DS (26). The average price for a new game is $32 for the PSP and $28 for the Nintendo DS, and the median game costs $30 for both systems. (Note: That's just games available; sales volume obviously isn't something I have access to.) Each system has a nearly equal number of games.
The PSP isn't so far behind the DS that it's lost the war, but Sony needs to do more than just stay close. If the PSP were priced at $150, my gut tells me it'd sell a lot more strongly. You've got a ton of best-selling software at the $20 level now, including Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, and several more interesting games at the $30 level. With the software side of the business under control, I think, and a system price adjustment would help.
Addendum: The other thing about PSP game pricing is that it appears to be more flexible than Nintendo DS game pricing. There are PSP games launching at prices from $50 down to $20, which makes it possible for a game to portray itself as anything from a big-name release down to a chintzy piece of shovelware. Moreover, this gives games room to drop in price, so a publisher can squeeze top dollar out of the rich and then appeal to the masses later with a budget price. Nintendo's model, especially for its big-name games, has seemed much more rigid. The price for New Super Mario Bros. will probably still be $35 two years after its release, whereas the price of Liberty City Stories on the PSP has dropped from $50 to $20 in just over a year.
--jvm at 01:03
Comment
[ 6 ]
15 November 2006
Analyst analyzes analysts' analyses
Michael Pachter makes a good guest in this week's Next-gen.biz podcast. He comes across as "a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk" and goes on at length about various aspects of the Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. In particular, I was intrigued by this bit:
I've still got 15 minutes of the podcast to listen to, but that won't happen until tomorrow morning on the way to work. Perhaps there are some more interesting bits later on. I certainly enjoyed the first 30 minutes.
One question that hadn't been asked of Pachter that I'd like an answer to: Does he play games? It's pretty apparent he's got a feel for the business of games, but does he actually play them or is he just a detached observer watching numbers and analyzing technology trends in the abstract?
Update: Answer is that Pachter does play games and even plays them at work. In addition to what sounds like playing as part of his job, he mentions a Guitar Hero party they're having at his workplace. I should get Guitar Hero at some point, since I keep hearing such good things about it.
Update 2: Interesting to note that Pachter basically doesn't mention any specific way that the Xbox 360 wins. If Blu-Ray takes off (or HD-DVD doesn't succeed, take your pick) or the Sony PlayStation brand remains strong, then the PlayStation 3 wins. And Guitar Hero is the proof that the Wii's new control mechanism will be a hit with consumers. For Microsoft to win, I'm guessing he thinks that the other two have to fail, which isn't necessarily the same as Microsoft succeeding on its own strengths.
I think that where most analysts are going to be not only proven wrong but are actually going to backtrack and change their opinions to the extreme is that the cost of the Wii at $249 is so dramatically much lower than the cost of the [Xbox] 360 or of a PS3 that many households are going to opt for a Wii first and wait for the others to come down in price before they buy a 360 or a PS3. [...]The part about choosing the Wii first is certainly plausible -- especially because of standard TV and the prices of HDTVs -- and it's a prediction I think we could easily check up on in 10-12 months. Will we be reading about Nintendo winning the war less than a year after their launch? That'd be fun, especially if you read videogame web forums. Then in two years we can see if Sony's made up ground and beating the competition, as he further predicts, making all those other analysts who declared a Nintendo victory for the generation wrong. Good times ahead, either way.
I think what's going to happen is analysts are going to see the Wii selling at a much more rapid pace mid-year next year than anybody expected and they're actually going to call Nintendo the winner of this cycle.
And in fact, what I think is going to happen is, over time, Nintendo's sales are going to slow -- over time as in 2009, 2010 -- and Sony's sales are going to pick up as the PS3 comes down in price.
So I think Sony's going to look like the clear loser this cycle, come summer. I think Nintendo's going to look like the clear winner this cycle this coming summer, and that's going to be wrong. And it will reverse in 2009, 2010 when there are 5000 Blu-Ray movies available to rent at Blockbuster and when all the households who already have a Wii get their HD monitors and PS3 sales will pick up.
I've still got 15 minutes of the podcast to listen to, but that won't happen until tomorrow morning on the way to work. Perhaps there are some more interesting bits later on. I certainly enjoyed the first 30 minutes.
One question that hadn't been asked of Pachter that I'd like an answer to: Does he play games? It's pretty apparent he's got a feel for the business of games, but does he actually play them or is he just a detached observer watching numbers and analyzing technology trends in the abstract?
Update: Answer is that Pachter does play games and even plays them at work. In addition to what sounds like playing as part of his job, he mentions a Guitar Hero party they're having at his workplace. I should get Guitar Hero at some point, since I keep hearing such good things about it.
Update 2: Interesting to note that Pachter basically doesn't mention any specific way that the Xbox 360 wins. If Blu-Ray takes off (or HD-DVD doesn't succeed, take your pick) or the Sony PlayStation brand remains strong, then the PlayStation 3 wins. And Guitar Hero is the proof that the Wii's new control mechanism will be a hit with consumers. For Microsoft to win, I'm guessing he thinks that the other two have to fail, which isn't necessarily the same as Microsoft succeeding on its own strengths.
--jvm at 20:08
Comment
[ 4 ]
13 November 2006
Worst PS3/Wii launch coverage - NPR!
On the way to work I heard Laura Sydell's report on Morning Edition about the launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. I thought it was awful.
- The whole thing has a pro-Nintendo slant, to my ear. Except for the price mistake.
- The original version of the report, the one most people actually heard, said the Wii was going for $279. The audio now has the right price, and the web page shows the correction, but this happened only after an untold number of folks heard the wrong price this morning.
This seems a particularly poor reporting mistake, since I haven't seen any report anywhere that priced the Wii at $279. - The correction refers to the prices of "the Xbox". That's needlessly ambiguous. In the audio of the story it's referred to as the "the latest generation Xbox", as if it didn't have a name yet.
- The text blurb on the website throws in this needless groin kick:
The stakes are especially high for Sony, whose PlayStation Portable was trounced by the Nintendo DS during the last round of format wars.
Say what? The last round of format wars? How is the competition between the PSP and the Nintendo DS a format war? I think you got your buzzwords mixed up.
Worse, the audio of the story never mentions the PSP nor the DS. It's actually relevant to the story's thesis -- that Sony and Nintendo aren't competing directly because they're pursuing different audiences -- but that's never actually addressed by Sydell.
--jvm at 21:30
Comment
[ 6 ]
08 November 2006
But now I see...
So, the Nintendo DS (Lite, Onyx) came in last night along with a copy of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. I've spent some time playing and it's a neat system. I'm hoping the promising touch screen display is used well (in all games). I'll have more to say later, on the system and the game.
What I want to say right now is just how strikingly bright this thing makes my Game Boy Advance games look. I popped Metroid Fusion in for a test drive and it was like seeing the game for the first time. While I still love my little Afterburnin' GBA, it can't hold a candle to the vibrancy of the Nintendo DS screen. Wow. It makes me want to pull out all my GBA games and see what I've been missing.
What I want to say right now is just how strikingly bright this thing makes my Game Boy Advance games look. I popped Metroid Fusion in for a test drive and it was like seeing the game for the first time. While I still love my little Afterburnin' GBA, it can't hold a candle to the vibrancy of the Nintendo DS screen. Wow. It makes me want to pull out all my GBA games and see what I've been missing.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 19:47
Comment
[ 6 ]
27 October 2006
Updated Launch Game Data
As promised in the comments, I'm making an updated post on launch game data.
The game list has been updated, with several games added that were missing. Jason Cross helpfully provided his data for the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, and Xbox 360. (Thanks!) After several emails, I think we've converged on a common list. Download this CSV of the full list of games and load it into your favorite spreadsheet if you want to play around with the numbers on your own.
Now, here are updated versions of the graphs that appeared on Next-Gen.biz and here in the past few days.
Average launch game review scores, by platform:
Maximum/average/median/minimum review scores, by platform:
Number of launch games, by platform:
Average number of sources providing reviews for each launch game, by platform:
One key difference is that the number of outlets reviewing the Xbox and GameCube is now about equal. However, this makes the jump between the GameCube/Xbox launches and the Xbox 360 launch even more dramatic: from 40/41 sources to 65 sources, a more than 50% increase in just four years.
The new top 10 launch games:
And the new bottom 10:
As always, I invite corrections and revisions.
The game list has been updated, with several games added that were missing. Jason Cross helpfully provided his data for the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, and Xbox 360. (Thanks!) After several emails, I think we've converged on a common list. Download this CSV of the full list of games and load it into your favorite spreadsheet if you want to play around with the numbers on your own.
Now, here are updated versions of the graphs that appeared on Next-Gen.biz and here in the past few days.
Average launch game review scores, by platform:
Maximum/average/median/minimum review scores, by platform:
Number of launch games, by platform:
Average number of sources providing reviews for each launch game, by platform:
One key difference is that the number of outlets reviewing the Xbox and GameCube is now about equal. However, this makes the jump between the GameCube/Xbox launches and the Xbox 360 launch even more dramatic: from 40/41 sources to 65 sources, a more than 50% increase in just four years.The new top 10 launch games:
- Halo: Combat Evolved, Xbox, 96%
- Soul Calibur, Dreamcast, 96%
- Super Mario 64, Nintendo 64, 96%
- Wave Race 64, Nintendo 64, 92%
- SSX, PlayStation 2, 91%
- NFL 2k, Dreamcast, 91%
- Call of Duty 2, Xbox 360, 90%
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, GameCube, 90%
- Madden NFL 2001, PlayStation 2, 90%
- Madden NFL 2002, GameCube (!!), 90%
And the new bottom 10:
- Mortal Kombat Gold, Dreamcast, 56%
- Orphen: Scion of Sorcery, PlayStation 2, 54%
- Arctic Thunder, Xbox, 54%
- Cruis'n USA, Nintendo 64, 54%
- Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Nintendo 64, 54%
- Evergrace, PlayStation 2, 52%
- Shrek, Xbox, 51%
- ESPN Extreme Games, PSOne, 50%
- Total Eclipse Turbo, PSOne, 48%
- Surfing H30, PlayStation 2, 42%
As always, I invite corrections and revisions.
--jvm at 21:10
Comment
[ 0 ]
26 October 2006
More Launch Game Stats
Update: Revised data is now available in a newer post.
The piece for Next-Gen.biz is up, called Predicting Those Launch Review Scores. It looks at how launch games have performed in the past and applies the ratios to make a guess at what we'll see for the PlayStation 3 and Wii. I'd like to add a few things here that didn't get into the other piece.
First, here is an expanded version of the graph showing averages. It includes the maximum, average, median, and minimum review averages for each platform.
And here is a comparison of the number of launch games, by platform.
The systems are color coded:
There are a few other bits of data people might find interesting.
Top 11 Launch Games:
The bottom 9 on the list:
I don't have anything else to add, but I suppose others might have opinions. If you want to look at the data for yourself, here is a CSV file you can load into your favorite spreadsheet.
The piece for Next-Gen.biz is up, called Predicting Those Launch Review Scores. It looks at how launch games have performed in the past and applies the ratios to make a guess at what we'll see for the PlayStation 3 and Wii. I'd like to add a few things here that didn't get into the other piece.
First, here is an expanded version of the graph showing averages. It includes the maximum, average, median, and minimum review averages for each platform.
And here is a comparison of the number of launch games, by platform.
The systems are color coded:- Sony: RU E? (One of the slogans for the first PlayStation, as I recall.)
- Nintendo: Yellow, for no good reason.
- Sega: Blue, as in the hedgehog.
- Microsoft: The unmistakable Xbox green.
There are a few other bits of data people might find interesting.
Top 11 Launch Games:
- Halo: Combat Evolved, Xbox, 96%
- Soul Calibur, Dreamcast, 96%
- Super Mario 64, Nintendo 64, 96%
- Wave Race 64, Nintendo 64, 92%
- SSX, PlayStation 2, 91%
- NFL 2k, Dreamcast, 91%
- Call of Duty 2, Xbox 360, 90%
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, GameCube, 90%
- Super Smash Bros. Melee, GameCube, 90%
- Madden NFL 2001, PlayStation 2, 90%
- Madden NFL 2002, GameCube (!!), 90%
The bottom 9 on the list:
- Eternal Ring, PlayStation 2, 57%
- Mortal Kombat Gold, Dreamcast, 56%
- Orphen: Scion of Sorcery, PlayStation 2, 54%
- Arctic Thunder, Xbox, 54%
- Cruis'n USA, Nintendo 64, 54%
- Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Nintendo 64, 54%
- Evergrace, PlayStation 2, 52%
- ESPN Extreme Games, PSOne, 50%
- Total Eclipse Turbo, PSOne, 48%
I don't have anything else to add, but I suppose others might have opinions. If you want to look at the data for yourself, here is a CSV file you can load into your favorite spreadsheet.
--jvm at 09:16
Comment
[ 7 ]
25 October 2006
Media consolidation...or not
Update: Revised data is now available in a newer post.
I was doing some number crunching recently on system launches and Next-Gen.biz offered to put some of them up on their site. That post will run over there tomorrow [it is now up, click here], and I'll be posting some auxiliary results that complement that post here. In the meantime, I want to show a related graph that shows how many more voices have joined the videogame media in the past decade. (In case you're coming here from the nod we got in this week's Next-Gen.biz podcast, this is the data that the editor, Colin Campbell, mentioned.)
The basic questions: How many outlets (magazines, websites) does GameRankings list which contributed reviews to each PSOne launch game, on average? How many for each launch game on Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, and Xbox 360?
The answers are here (click for full-sized version):
As you can see from this graph, the coverage of these launch games has increased every generation. Since GameRankings probably wasn't around in 1995, that of course limits their data from the early launches. Even if we just look at the PlayStation 2 and newer, there is a clear increase in sites providing reviews of games. When we get to the Xbox 360 an average of almost 65 sites are reviewing each game.
A few points:
I was doing some number crunching recently on system launches and Next-Gen.biz offered to put some of them up on their site. That post will run over there tomorrow [it is now up, click here], and I'll be posting some auxiliary results that complement that post here. In the meantime, I want to show a related graph that shows how many more voices have joined the videogame media in the past decade. (In case you're coming here from the nod we got in this week's Next-Gen.biz podcast, this is the data that the editor, Colin Campbell, mentioned.)
The basic questions: How many outlets (magazines, websites) does GameRankings list which contributed reviews to each PSOne launch game, on average? How many for each launch game on Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, and Xbox 360?
The answers are here (click for full-sized version):
As you can see from this graph, the coverage of these launch games has increased every generation. Since GameRankings probably wasn't around in 1995, that of course limits their data from the early launches. Even if we just look at the PlayStation 2 and newer, there is a clear increase in sites providing reviews of games. When we get to the Xbox 360 an average of almost 65 sites are reviewing each game.A few points:
- A little of this growth is probably coming from magazines. Since 1995 and 2001 respectively, the Sony and Microsoft systems have added a few dedicated magazines each. Nintendo has always had their own. GameStop has its own publication. I'm sure there are more.
- Most growth, however, is coming from websites. Look at all the coverage of Halo: Combat Evolved. There are dozens of sites that I bet you've never heard of. Who was Into Liquid Sky and did they really run for seven years before quitting? Good gravy.
- All of this growth means that it is more difficult for a big name site to dominate the conventional wisdom. It's one thing for IGN to have one of only two reviews for Battle Arena Toshinden on the PSOne, but quite another for it to have one of 58 reviews of Tekken Tag Tournament on the PlayStation 2.
- The big sites will probably always have a jump on the little ones because they get advance copies, get to play previews, and so forth. However, after a week or a month you'll see more sites add to the average score.
- Even with all the extra coverage, it's still the case that big sites can dominate a game's reviews, especially smaller games. Look at It's Mr. Pants for the Game Boy Advance. There are 20 reviews, and at least 11 of them are from big-name sites or magazines. The smaller sites have fewer resources and no doubt have to focus on the big name games to stay relevant.
- I was particularly struck by the Xbox and GameCube numbers. Those systems launched at almost the same time, but the Xbox games were clearly more covered than the GameCube games. Perhaps just because the Xbox was the big story, being Microsoft's first console? Or some other factor?
--jvm at 22:58
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[ 0 ]
23 October 2006
Third sold-out system this holiday: Nintendo DS
When the November Bloodbath begins and Nintendo and Sony are sold out of their respective consoles, the Nintendo DS will be the primary beneficiary, along with the PlayStation 2. While supplies of the PlayStation 2 are probably robust enough to withstand the buying frenzy, I suspect the Nintendo DS will be impossible to find in mid-December.
I guess I should go ahead and get mine now. Is the new Castlevania out yet?
I guess I should go ahead and get mine now. Is the new Castlevania out yet?
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 11:30
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[ 6 ]
14 October 2006
Now Xbox and Game Boy on The New Yorker cover
You might recall that Counter-Strike and PS3 (which I took to mean PlayStation 3) showed up on The New Yorker cover a while back, and this week's issue has two more videogame icons: the Xbox logo and a classic Nintendo Game Boy. Here's a snippet, which I hope is small enough to qualify for fair use.
This cover is titled "All That's New All the Time" and was created by Richard McGuire. Incidentally, the full cover will eventually be online at the Cartoon Bank cover section. For example, the full cover with Counter-Strike is here.
So are games mainstream enough for you yet?
So are games mainstream enough for you yet?
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 16:15
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[ 0 ]
14 September 2006
Wii pricing: EGM was right, mostly
Back on 10 May 2006 I wrote that Wii would be $250 and virtual console games would be between $1 and $10, all via N-Sider reporting from a copy of EGM.
Today we find out the hardware price was right -- Nintendo is launching the Wii at $250 -- and the software price was a little low -- at $5 to $10. [Update: NES = $5, SNES = $8, N64 = $10, according to this.] The catch on the system price is that you get a free tech demo ... *ahem* ... game, Wii Sports, for the $250. Full game prices will be $50.
Could it be that Nintendo adjusted the virtual console game prices upward since May based on the recent success of Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade? I would not be surprised one bit. They've always been exceptionally profitable, even with the N64 of all things, and they have got to smell money in this downloadable games market. With current XBLA prices and Sony planning PSOne downloads for $15 or more, Nintendo is still undercutting the competition on pricing and getting rich doing it. Best of all, unlike Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo gets to keep the majority of the profit from the Wii Virtual Console since they actually own many of the games people are going to buy.
Ruffin is fond of saying that Microsoft runs every good idea it has through a profit maximizer. That's true, but I really do think they're being outdone here by Nintendo with the Wii. Nintendo will have the most accessible console (larger potential audience), using the cheapest hardware (upgraded GameCube with a gimmick wand), and the largest library of popular games (Mario, Zelda, et al plus the third parties).
Today we find out the hardware price was right -- Nintendo is launching the Wii at $250 -- and the software price was a little low -- at $5 to $10. [Update: NES = $5, SNES = $8, N64 = $10, according to this.] The catch on the system price is that you get a free tech demo ... *ahem* ... game, Wii Sports, for the $250. Full game prices will be $50.
Could it be that Nintendo adjusted the virtual console game prices upward since May based on the recent success of Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade? I would not be surprised one bit. They've always been exceptionally profitable, even with the N64 of all things, and they have got to smell money in this downloadable games market. With current XBLA prices and Sony planning PSOne downloads for $15 or more, Nintendo is still undercutting the competition on pricing and getting rich doing it. Best of all, unlike Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo gets to keep the majority of the profit from the Wii Virtual Console since they actually own many of the games people are going to buy.
Ruffin is fond of saying that Microsoft runs every good idea it has through a profit maximizer. That's true, but I really do think they're being outdone here by Nintendo with the Wii. Nintendo will have the most accessible console (larger potential audience), using the cheapest hardware (upgraded GameCube with a gimmick wand), and the largest library of popular games (Mario, Zelda, et al plus the third parties).
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 10:45
Comment
[ 7 ]
09 September 2006
Just between you and me...
Tonight, I had this exchange with dude at local GameStop.
Me: I'd like Game A and Game B. [I point at games in used Game Boy Advance game case]So much for well-trained employees. I can't tell which response I like better: this one, or the guy who told me that the counterfeit Zelda cartridge really was real and that he'd be happy to power it up and show me...
Dude: Ok. [he opens case, hands over games]
Me: While you've got that open, can I look at the Castlevania? [I point at Aria of Sorrow]
Dude: Sure. [he hands it over]
Me: [I peer closely at the label, then in the case right above metal contacts] Yeah, that's counterfeit. Thanks.
Dude: Oh? That's cool. How can you tell?
Me: First key was the label. That one doesn't look like the one I own. Then when I looked at the contacts, I didn't see the word "Nintendo" on the circuit board. Look here at Game A. [I hand him Game A, pointing at circuit board]
Dude: Whoa. [he takes Aria of Sorrow from me] You're right, it doesn't say "Nintendo". That's cool.
Me: Yeah. If you peel the price sticker off, you can probably tell the back of the cartridge is slightly different. And if you take the case apart you'll see a nasty cheap battery and a blop of black epoxy or something over the main chip.
Dude: Whoa. Learned something tonight! [he hands back Game A, puts Aria of Sorrow back in case] As long as it's just between you and me, no problem, right? [he closes case]
Me: Uh. I guess so.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 21:41
Comment
[ 21 ]
24 August 2006
Steel Horizon: PSP and DS go head-to-head
Steel Horizon by Konami is a mixed turn-based and real-time strategy game set at sea with naval units. What's interesting to me is that it is the only third-party game developed for both the PSP and the Nintendo DS which is trying to be the same on both platforms. That is: we can finally compare apples-to-apples with the PSP and DS.
(There may be licensed games which try this, like some movie tie-ins, but I haven't seen anything like Steel Horizon trying the same 2D and 3D on both systems. I'm going to dismiss the licensed games out of hand. Leave corrections in the comments, as usual...)
So, let's do the apples-to-apples comparison with screenshots. These are all taken from GameSpot, with useless space edited out of DS images: DS here, PSP here.
Here's the first comparison:
The DS has what appears to be a more informative radar interface, but get a load of those graphics. The comparison with the PSP reminds me of comparing 3D games on the Saturn with 3D games on the PSOne. While the PSP version looks more modern (ooooh, textures!), the interface uses smaller fonts and icons to cram more on the screen. That second screen comes in handy on the DS, no?
This next comparison is more of the same:
That's just embarassing. In the PSP screenshot you can even see the little airplanes on the deck of that aircraft carrier! Sure, that's probably not a carrier in the DS screenshot, but do you think the DS version has tiny planes given the detail spent on that explosion? Awful.
Finally, it appears that both versions are using a sort of radial menu:
At least when it comes to 2D the systems look pretty comparable.
My experience with radial menus is limited to Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. They were clumsy and I hated them, so I hope Konami makes a better show of it this time.
I'm interested to see how the two versions are reviewed when Steel Horizon is released later this year. Should be interested to see what reviewers pick to complain about in each version.
(There may be licensed games which try this, like some movie tie-ins, but I haven't seen anything like Steel Horizon trying the same 2D and 3D on both systems. I'm going to dismiss the licensed games out of hand. Leave corrections in the comments, as usual...)
So, let's do the apples-to-apples comparison with screenshots. These are all taken from GameSpot, with useless space edited out of DS images: DS here, PSP here.
Here's the first comparison:
The DS has what appears to be a more informative radar interface, but get a load of those graphics. The comparison with the PSP reminds me of comparing 3D games on the Saturn with 3D games on the PSOne. While the PSP version looks more modern (ooooh, textures!), the interface uses smaller fonts and icons to cram more on the screen. That second screen comes in handy on the DS, no?This next comparison is more of the same:
That's just embarassing. In the PSP screenshot you can even see the little airplanes on the deck of that aircraft carrier! Sure, that's probably not a carrier in the DS screenshot, but do you think the DS version has tiny planes given the detail spent on that explosion? Awful.Finally, it appears that both versions are using a sort of radial menu:
At least when it comes to 2D the systems look pretty comparable.My experience with radial menus is limited to Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. They were clumsy and I hated them, so I hope Konami makes a better show of it this time.
I'm interested to see how the two versions are reviewed when Steel Horizon is released later this year. Should be interested to see what reviewers pick to complain about in each version.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 22:13
Comment
[ 7 ]
Ha! Nintendo doesn't GBASP me on the DS!
My wonderfully tolerant wife bought me a beautiful black Game Boy Advance for Christmas of 2002. Oh, how I adored that little machine.
Then in January 2003, Nintendo announced the Game Boy Advance SP ... with backlight! Oh, how I burned. In fact, I Afterburned, and I got over it. I still adore my little GBA.
Then a few weeks ago, I almost snapped up a Nintendo DS Lite. Oh, sure, I'd've rather had a black one. I'm not a fan of white, there were the complaints of hinge cracks, but I could live with it. Then I got busy and didn't have time.
Today, Nintendo announces they'll be putting out a black (Onyx...whatever) Nintendo DS Lite on 13 September 2006.
Ha! You didn't get me this time, Nintendo. I'm still going to give you all my money, yes, but I will at least get the color I wanted!
Then in January 2003, Nintendo announced the Game Boy Advance SP ... with backlight! Oh, how I burned. In fact, I Afterburned, and I got over it. I still adore my little GBA.
Then a few weeks ago, I almost snapped up a Nintendo DS Lite. Oh, sure, I'd've rather had a black one. I'm not a fan of white, there were the complaints of hinge cracks, but I could live with it. Then I got busy and didn't have time.
Today, Nintendo announces they'll be putting out a black (Onyx...whatever) Nintendo DS Lite on 13 September 2006.
Ha! You didn't get me this time, Nintendo. I'm still going to give you all my money, yes, but I will at least get the color I wanted!
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 21:58
Comment
[ 5 ]
27 July 2006
XBLA, GameTap, Wii Virtual Console: not progress
In ten years I think it's possible we will note 2005 as the very best year for getting emulated classic games cheaply and legally. It was the last year that you could buy arcade ROMs from StarROMs and the last year you could buy 115 classic games through various new compilation releases, most discs selling for for $20 and containing about 20 games.
This year we have GameTap trying to survive and pushing out more emulated games across a broad range of systems. Microsoft is making a play for the classic market with its Xbox Live Arcade. And Nintendo will have its Wii Virtual Console with -- reportedly -- at least a hundred emulated games waiting in the wings.
The difference is physical versus virtual: a real disc in your hand compared to a bundle of downloaded bits. In the case of GameTap, it's rental versus virtual purchase. I know it marks me as just another recalcitrant from an older generation, but I'm not ready to give up my discs and other hard media just yet. I've got a little Gollum in me, and my collection is full of precious plastic rings.
For years the system has been tilting in the consumer's favor, with the price per game dropping from over $8 to under $1. Now, with XBLA selling Galaga for $5 in virtual form, the new generation of consumers doesn't appear to even be reaping a real reduction in cost through the elimination of physical media and packaging.
I'll grant that the new a la carte models offer the opportunity to pay only for those games you want, but at the same time I fear that they will also lead to a concentration on only the most popular games.
Back when I used to hit the flea markets nearly every week, I would chat with some of the regular dealers who would dredge the yard sales for games. One guy 15 miles south of Raleigh explained to me why the rare games I craved were priced so cheaply, while the commons I didn't need were several times more expensive: "Everybody wants Frogger or Pac-man. No one but you cares about that other s--t."
He's right, of course: I'm not your average buyer. That's why I loved StarROMs and checked their site semi-regularly for new games to buy. It's why I actually enjoy trying out the obscure games on the various compilations I've collected. And it's why I'm confident that -- for me -- systems like GameTap and XBLA and Wii Virtual Console are a step backward, not forward.
This year we have GameTap trying to survive and pushing out more emulated games across a broad range of systems. Microsoft is making a play for the classic market with its Xbox Live Arcade. And Nintendo will have its Wii Virtual Console with -- reportedly -- at least a hundred emulated games waiting in the wings.
The difference is physical versus virtual: a real disc in your hand compared to a bundle of downloaded bits. In the case of GameTap, it's rental versus virtual purchase. I know it marks me as just another recalcitrant from an older generation, but I'm not ready to give up my discs and other hard media just yet. I've got a little Gollum in me, and my collection is full of precious plastic rings.
For years the system has been tilting in the consumer's favor, with the price per game dropping from over $8 to under $1. Now, with XBLA selling Galaga for $5 in virtual form, the new generation of consumers doesn't appear to even be reaping a real reduction in cost through the elimination of physical media and packaging.
I'll grant that the new a la carte models offer the opportunity to pay only for those games you want, but at the same time I fear that they will also lead to a concentration on only the most popular games.
Back when I used to hit the flea markets nearly every week, I would chat with some of the regular dealers who would dredge the yard sales for games. One guy 15 miles south of Raleigh explained to me why the rare games I craved were priced so cheaply, while the commons I didn't need were several times more expensive: "Everybody wants Frogger or Pac-man. No one but you cares about that other s--t."
He's right, of course: I'm not your average buyer. That's why I loved StarROMs and checked their site semi-regularly for new games to buy. It's why I actually enjoy trying out the obscure games on the various compilations I've collected. And it's why I'm confident that -- for me -- systems like GameTap and XBLA and Wii Virtual Console are a step backward, not forward.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 22:42
Comment
[ 2 ]
17 July 2006
Wii takes first place by being second? But will it sell exclusives?
Michael pointed me to this interesting interview at GamesIndustry.biz with corporate communications VP Jeff Brown from Electronic Arts. Brown makes a key observation about the Wii, but raises an interesting question that I don't see him address directly. The observation first, with emphasis added:
My follow-up question to Brown hinges on what he says next about the Wii's appeal:
We've been hearing over and over that the Wii will be the breath of fresh air the industry needs because it offers such a different experience. However, I don't see big companies like EA, whose bread and butter is cross-platform games, being much of a help to Nintendo's Wii.
Sure, Madden may be a different experience on the Wii, but that doesn't a priori translate into huge sales of Madden on the Wii. Your typical owner of both an Xbox 360 and a Wii may care more about familiarity with the controller (for doing well against friends or in tournaments, e.g.) than whether the Wii's controller adds some gimmicks. Even if the Wii gains a reputation for being as good as a standard Xbox 360 controller, it still faces outside factors like Xbox Live functionality. Will an Xbox Live user want to give up his contact list just to play Madden on the Wii? (These strike me as questions Ruffin, the resident Madden player, could address better.)
While the Wii may well be #1, or a very close second, in hardware sales, I suspect that people will stick with Microsoft or Sony for big-name cross-platform games like Madden. That is, the new experiences that the Wii offers will sell primarily games designed with the Wii's controller in mind, not cross-platform games. Is EA promising to do more than just make a special version of its games for the Wii? Will it commit to making Wii-exclusive games?
The measure for success for Nintendo may well be whether they manage to entice everyone to make such exclusive games, or if all the must-have software on a Nintendo system will, again, be first party.
Here's another thing that I think trends well for both the business and for consumers: everybody's saying that the Nintendo Wii is so unique that it's going to be the second system people buy, meaning if you own a 360 or a PS3, you'll probably also buy a Nintendo Wii. The funny thing is, some people say that discursively, like it's some sort of dig at Nintendo - and what they don't get is that if you're second on everybody's system, you're first overall.The logic here reminds me of mathematical discussions of voting methods and fair apportionment whereby someone who almost never gets selected first in a process ends up the big winner overall. Certainly that can happen mathematically, but the question is whether it will happen for real to Nintendo. I'm still skeptical, but I am intrigued by the possibility.
My follow-up question to Brown hinges on what he says next about the Wii's appeal:
If you look at what EA's doing with the Wii... Today we showed off Madden NFL on the 360 and I've seen it on PlayStation 3, and there are some differences between the two but they're largely the same experience. The Wii is a totally different experience, and if you like Madden NFL on 360, you still don't know what it's like on the Wii - it's a completely different experience.My question is: Will that different experience truly sell cross-platform games like Madden on the Wii?
We've been hearing over and over that the Wii will be the breath of fresh air the industry needs because it offers such a different experience. However, I don't see big companies like EA, whose bread and butter is cross-platform games, being much of a help to Nintendo's Wii.
Sure, Madden may be a different experience on the Wii, but that doesn't a priori translate into huge sales of Madden on the Wii. Your typical owner of both an Xbox 360 and a Wii may care more about familiarity with the controller (for doing well against friends or in tournaments, e.g.) than whether the Wii's controller adds some gimmicks. Even if the Wii gains a reputation for being as good as a standard Xbox 360 controller, it still faces outside factors like Xbox Live functionality. Will an Xbox Live user want to give up his contact list just to play Madden on the Wii? (These strike me as questions Ruffin, the resident Madden player, could address better.)
While the Wii may well be #1, or a very close second, in hardware sales, I suspect that people will stick with Microsoft or Sony for big-name cross-platform games like Madden. That is, the new experiences that the Wii offers will sell primarily games designed with the Wii's controller in mind, not cross-platform games. Is EA promising to do more than just make a special version of its games for the Wii? Will it commit to making Wii-exclusive games?
The measure for success for Nintendo may well be whether they manage to entice everyone to make such exclusive games, or if all the must-have software on a Nintendo system will, again, be first party.
Incredibly timely reply from cgmr.net's resident Madden expert:
It would appear someone's mixing apples and oranges in an attempt to sell more consoles and, through consoles, more copies of the same game.
To begin, however: Would I, as a Madden gamer who spends most of my playtime in franchise mode, be curious about what's going on with Wii? Absolutely, and if I wanted "more Madden" and the Wii were free, I'd grab a copy. But rarely do I want "more Madden" than my first go at the new year's offering; I've not purchased Madden for Mac & Playstation, or N64 and PS2, or any of these and WinPC in the same year.
If I had a Wii and, say, a PS2 and/or WinPC, I'd probably grab my copy on Wii, which, as we've discussed, will probably play conventionally in addition to playing uniqueWii. Because even Madden 2000 on the Mac had a good sized online contingent, and I enjoyed playing the slightly nontrivial amount of multiplayer I did on that platform, finding opponents on Wii is not a concern of mine. I extrapolate that to imagine the number of people with blood enemies on a single "next-next-gen" platform is a small enough number it's not a big problem for sales.
Yet this would suggest that I'm Wii first, not Wii second. I think Matt's right by saying crossplatform games are probably not going to benefit from the uniqueWii (I'm pushing this horrible adjective) situated controller enough for Wii owners to buy a second game [without a push; see below]. My hope is that Brown's talking more about what's unique to Wii gaming than about selling crossplatform games. People will play conventionally on Xbox 360 and PS3 and buy a Wii to be different. Being crossplatform allows the Madden example to serve as a Rosetta stone, and is also one of the few, fairly understandable ways for us to picture how the Wii will be unconventional.
Though since he's an EA guy, he's obviously pimping Madden. I'm an idiot to think otherwise, and he's apparently hoping people will be buying multiple copies of the game. So we're back to considering the audience/market they think they're targeting. Is Brown's angle for people who find the expense of multiple consoles trivial? Originally I felt that this was starting to sound like a larger market than what I would have originally thought, since we've mentioned the overly affluent, mutli-consoled, multiple iPod-loving household on cgmr.net before.
Probably more insightfully phrased, however, is that the multi-consoled household is a market everyone in games, having apparently just discovered the possibility with the reasonably-priced Wii, is actively trying to create and grow. Who in particular stands the most to gain from multiple-consoled households? That's right, people who release slightly different versions of games on each of those consoles. Man, cgmr.net is on the freakin' bleedin' edge, ain't we?!
Me, I'm choosing Wii until the PS3 or Xbox 360 are more affordable. It's the only even partially defensible upgrade I have (other than a Radeon) as long as my old console is supported, and I assume the only choice for a number of less affluent citizens like me. (Okay, I'm likely waiting even on Wii and going with the Radeon, but that's splitting hairs.)
So here's what's going on -- EA is trying to sell you a second console so that they can sell you their crossplatform middleware twice. Clever girl.
It would appear someone's mixing apples and oranges in an attempt to sell more consoles and, through consoles, more copies of the same game.
To begin, however: Would I, as a Madden gamer who spends most of my playtime in franchise mode, be curious about what's going on with Wii? Absolutely, and if I wanted "more Madden" and the Wii were free, I'd grab a copy. But rarely do I want "more Madden" than my first go at the new year's offering; I've not purchased Madden for Mac & Playstation, or N64 and PS2, or any of these and WinPC in the same year.
If I had a Wii and, say, a PS2 and/or WinPC, I'd probably grab my copy on Wii, which, as we've discussed, will probably play conventionally in addition to playing uniqueWii. Because even Madden 2000 on the Mac had a good sized online contingent, and I enjoyed playing the slightly nontrivial amount of multiplayer I did on that platform, finding opponents on Wii is not a concern of mine. I extrapolate that to imagine the number of people with blood enemies on a single "next-next-gen" platform is a small enough number it's not a big problem for sales.
Yet this would suggest that I'm Wii first, not Wii second. I think Matt's right by saying crossplatform games are probably not going to benefit from the uniqueWii (I'm pushing this horrible adjective) situated controller enough for Wii owners to buy a second game [without a push; see below]. My hope is that Brown's talking more about what's unique to Wii gaming than about selling crossplatform games. People will play conventionally on Xbox 360 and PS3 and buy a Wii to be different. Being crossplatform allows the Madden example to serve as a Rosetta stone, and is also one of the few, fairly understandable ways for us to picture how the Wii will be unconventional.
Though since he's an EA guy, he's obviously pimping Madden. I'm an idiot to think otherwise, and he's apparently hoping people will be buying multiple copies of the game. So we're back to considering the audience/market they think they're targeting. Is Brown's angle for people who find the expense of multiple consoles trivial? Originally I felt that this was starting to sound like a larger market than what I would have originally thought, since we've mentioned the overly affluent, mutli-consoled, multiple iPod-loving household on cgmr.net before.
Probably more insightfully phrased, however, is that the multi-consoled household is a market everyone in games, having apparently just discovered the possibility with the reasonably-priced Wii, is actively trying to create and grow. Who in particular stands the most to gain from multiple-consoled households? That's right, people who release slightly different versions of games on each of those consoles. Man, cgmr.net is on the freakin' bleedin' edge, ain't we?!
Me, I'm choosing Wii until the PS3 or Xbox 360 are more affordable. It's the only even partially defensible upgrade I have (other than a Radeon) as long as my old console is supported, and I assume the only choice for a number of less affluent citizens like me. (Okay, I'm likely waiting even on Wii and going with the Radeon, but that's splitting hairs.)
So here's what's going on -- EA is trying to sell you a second console so that they can sell you their crossplatform middleware twice. Clever girl.
--jvm at 11:18
Comment
[ 1 ]
22 June 2006
Nintendo: better at hardware than software
Just passing on this enjoyable commentary on Nintendo (at Next-Gen.biz). I'm still rereading it, but I'll pass along what I think is one of the more interesting claims (from page 3):
Unless the company finds some new and expressive voices, maybe at this point Nintendo isn't even necessary as a software developer. From Gunpei Yokoi on, its strong point has always been hardware.This of the company that people have predicted, not so long ago, would pull a Sega and becomes a software-only company.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 12:48
Comment
[ 4 ]
Nintendo honesty on the GameBoy Micro
A couple months ago I asked whether the GameBoy Micro was a failure. Looks like Nintendo answered my question (from Next-Gen.biz):
Now, I don't actually expect Sony to come right out and say "PlayStation 3 will be painfully expensive" -- in fact, I've said they should shut up. Nor do I think Microsoft will ever admit bluntly "we really botched the Xbox 360 production and distribution". But wouldn't it be refreshing if they did?
Iwata: The sales of Micro did not meet our expectations. In the end, we failed to explain to consumers its unique value and they concluded that Micro is not worth the price they have to invest. Whichever hardware we talk about, platform business is the business of momentum. If we fail to build an initial momentum, we will have hard times. Simultaneously, it was the time when Nintendo had to expand DS sales, so we had to put more effort on DS, which were not contributing to the sales of Micro. We have to learn the lesson that we overestimated the success potential of Micro.Seriously, that's about as straight as I think we're likely to get from a videogame executive. Perhaps this kind of frank talk is another Nintendo innovation that Sony could copy?
Now, I don't actually expect Sony to come right out and say "PlayStation 3 will be painfully expensive" -- in fact, I've said they should shut up. Nor do I think Microsoft will ever admit bluntly "we really botched the Xbox 360 production and distribution". But wouldn't it be refreshing if they did?
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 00:28
Comment
[ 3 ]
19 June 2006
Peter Moore quotes rufbo on controller complexity
Responding to my post about Atari 2600 game skills vs. PlayStation game experiences, Ruffin said:
And Moore's kid and my kid have similar troubles when it comes to modern controllers:
On a side note, I'm hoping that the boy takes to the GameBoy Advance when I finally pass that down to him. With a Nintendo DS in my future, I figure he can start with my Afterburning GBA as his first handheld. If I had to guess, he'll find everything but the shoulder buttons intuitive after his time on the NES.
Not only must one master a ten-buttoned, three d-padded controller in addition to complex HUDsToday Next-Gen.biz quotes Microsoft's Peter Moore via GamerTag Radio:
"...Shoulder buttons, triggers, analog sticks, d-pads, I mean, there's a lot going on there when you compare it to the old Atari 2600 button-and-stick, which everybody could pick up and have some fun with."Good to know the big guys are reading.
And Moore's kid and my kid have similar troubles when it comes to modern controllers:
"I look even in my house... there's no way that my 14-year-old daughter can really grasp [the standard controller]."This is why I'm keeping my son on the NES and SNES for now. He can barely hold, much less manipulate, the PlayStation or GameCube controllers.
On a side note, I'm hoping that the boy takes to the GameBoy Advance when I finally pass that down to him. With a Nintendo DS in my future, I figure he can start with my Afterburning GBA as his first handheld. If I had to guess, he'll find everything but the shoulder buttons intuitive after his time on the NES.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 13:02
Comment
[ 0 ]
16 June 2006
More on Backward Compat.
Adding to my previous post, a couple of more points on the backward compatibility article at Next-Gen:
- This quote from Christian Svensson struck me as interesting:
As such, it has value as a bullet point in the system wars and the lack of it is perceived as a major deficiency in the face of consoles that do have it. In reality, people buy new hardware to play new games. (emphasis added)
Seems to me the Wii virtual console could well disprove that last sentence entirely. We'll see how well Nintendo pulls it off this holiday season. - This sentence from the conclusion could use an extra bit:
Microsoft might just as well have made a virtue of its shortcomings, pledged BC for just a small proportion of really big hitting Xbox games, and moved on. We realize this isn't going to be a popular position to take but, Sony, under immense cost pressures, ought to consider the unthinkable and do likewise.
The key word there is "unthinkable". Sony has made a pledge that the PlayStation 3 will be backward compatible to the PSOne and PlayStation 2. Even if it's just 99% like the PSOne-on-PS2 situation, they'll survive intact, I believe.
But Sony has a big public relations problem, one that has gotten worse with nearly every announcement, clarification, and interview. The only bright spot is when they explained that the lobotomized PlayStation 3 model wasn't quite as awful as we'd been led to believe.
Even if backward compatibility is not on the minds of most consumers now, it will be when they see a headline like "Sony Cuts More PlayStation 3 Features". Even if Joe Slashdot wasn't ever going to fire up a PlayStation 2 game in a PlayStation 3, the new that they're reneging on their pledge of backward compatibility will only cement the current impression that the PlayStation 3 is underpowered and overpriced.
Again, the point is not whether that impression is accurate or not. The point is that if enough people have reason to believe it, Sony will pay a painful price.
--jvm at 15:34
Comment
[ 0 ]
09 June 2006
DSQuake
Saw this apparent port of Quake for the Nintendo DS via Josh's post at Cathode Tan. I'm a sucker for Quake on any platform, so this just makes my desire for a Nintendo DS all the stronger. Hope it doesn't turn out to be a fake.
Watch the video.
Watch the video.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 10:51
Comment
[ 0 ]
05 June 2006
Famicom imports on my NES
I finally got around to snagging the necessary hardware to play Famicom games on my top-loader NES. I tested the 60-to-72 pin adapter with my two Famicom games, Karateka and Bubble Bobble 2, and it works just fine. I'd never used the actual physical cartridges, so they had the usual videogame cartridge gunk on the contacts. With a little alcohol and a cotton swab, they cleaned easily and booted right up. One interesting point: when assembled correctly, the game's label faces the back of the machine, not the front like you see with domestic NES games in a top-loader.
If you're looking to do the same, I got my adapter from Rob Webb in the UK. (The adapter is in the NES/Famicom section.) With the standard shipping it took 7 days from payment to my doorstep.
I've also ordered a copy of Akumajo Densetsu, known domestically as Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. The Famicom version reportedly has extra hardware built into the cartridge, and it will be interesting to compare with my American copy of the game, provided the Japanese game works properly through the adapter.
One last comment: I've spent some time looking more closely at my Famicom copy of Bubble Bobble 2 and I'm a little suspicious that it's a pirate. Compared to Karateka, a game I figure no one would make the effort to pirate, it has a cheaper looking label and uses a different plastic housing. Anyone have concrete tips on how to tell pirate Famicom cartridges from the real thing? Nintendo's anti-piracy site doesn't appear to cover the Famicom...
If you're looking to do the same, I got my adapter from Rob Webb in the UK. (The adapter is in the NES/Famicom section.) With the standard shipping it took 7 days from payment to my doorstep.I've also ordered a copy of Akumajo Densetsu, known domestically as Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. The Famicom version reportedly has extra hardware built into the cartridge, and it will be interesting to compare with my American copy of the game, provided the Japanese game works properly through the adapter.
One last comment: I've spent some time looking more closely at my Famicom copy of Bubble Bobble 2 and I'm a little suspicious that it's a pirate. Compared to Karateka, a game I figure no one would make the effort to pirate, it has a cheaper looking label and uses a different plastic housing. Anyone have concrete tips on how to tell pirate Famicom cartridges from the real thing? Nintendo's anti-piracy site doesn't appear to cover the Famicom...
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 00:46
Comment
[ 1 ]
01 June 2006
Microsoft odd-man-out on backward compatibility?
First, the context, from Kotaku:
So why is Moore so down on it? Perhaps it is because it's one of the things that they know they won't do as well as the other guys. They won't have a motion-sensing controller, either, so instead of getting with the program or simply touting their own advantages we have Microsoft reps pushing the "Sony copied Nintendo" line pretty hard.
Nobody is concerned anymore about backwards compatibility. We under promised and over delivered on that. It's a very complicated thing... very complex work. I'm just stunned that we have hundreds of games that are backwards compatible.Sony set the standard for backward compatibility with the PlayStation 2. We already know that the Wii will be playing GameCube games. (This is because Nintendo didn't really design a brand new system; instead they focused on a whole new control interface and simply turned the hardware they had up to 11.) Furthermore, the Wii virtual console will give access to much of Nintendo's back catalog, so in that sense it is more backward compatible than anything else available.
He added: "more are coming, but at some point, you just go, there's enough, let's move on, or people aren't as worried about a game being backwards compatible - and I like to think we've upheld our end of the bargain in making at least two or maybe three hundred games backwards compat."
So why is Moore so down on it? Perhaps it is because it's one of the things that they know they won't do as well as the other guys. They won't have a motion-sensing controller, either, so instead of getting with the program or simply touting their own advantages we have Microsoft reps pushing the "Sony copied Nintendo" line pretty hard.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 10:54
Comment
[ 13 ]
14 May 2006
A Wii Control Problem
(I refuse to title this "Losing control of one's Wii.")
A lot of people were less than impressed over Red Steel, the UbiSoft-developed first person shooter/slasher for Wii shown at E3, and it's striking that lackluster polygon texturing was not always considered the main problem.
The thing that most people hated was the fact that, in the slasher sections, the pointer control did not actually control the sword. Instead, various motions the player made with the remote would be recognized by the system and translated into canned moves, entirely missing the point of having such a versatile controller in the first place.
While many observers loved Mario Galaxy (and personally, I think it looks awesome and I'm looking forward to it a lot more than even the new Zelda), I think it's important to note that, except in a couple of places (the blue star-orbs and the drag-and-launch places on the path to the spider boss), the pointer is not really well-integrated into gameplay. The process of using the cursor to collect star pieces reminds me of old video shooters, such as Namco's old Starblade arcade game, where what happened on-screen was not really affected by the pointer except for targets overlaid upon a static video clip. The static clip here was replaced with an amazing revision of Mario gameplay, but from the pointer perspective, it was almost as static.
The Wii Sports games, especially, Tennis, appeared to use the controller with more skill, although at the apparent expense of traditional controller functions. Reports were that the Tennis game allowed the player to very intuitively aim the ball at different parts of the court, as if he had been swinging a racket! That would be totally cool, if it was not for the fact that it was largely pointless, since wherever the ball was hit, the opposing player would automatically be moved to a proper return position anyway.
I think in the future, the controller will be used in three primary ways, in ascending order of coolness:
1. The controller can be used as a way of delivering gestures to the game, for recognition and translation into discrete events. Speaking for the general case here, I have to say this sucks. I think it might be possible to create a game in which gestures are used entertainingly, but until then, I am unimpressed with this usage. Leave the gestures to Wii's port of Opera.
2. The sensor can be used as a method of manipulating an on-screen pointer. This is better, if a bit obvious. Mario Galaxy, Zelda Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3 and Red Steel all used this system. For shooters, this allows for looking around and aiming at arbitrary points on-screen. For Zelda, it lets the user aim the bow with great fidelity and to point and click at UI elements. For Mario Galaxy... well, it allowed for pointing, that's for sure. It's obvious that the pointer is here meant to emulate a mouse. That's quite cool, but ultimately not as cool as we want.
3. The best uses will be those that endeavor to use the motion sensing and/or pointing aspects of the controller to sense how it's held in space and translate that into a game-world representation. The Wii Sports games seemed to do that to some extent. The flight games that Nintendo and Hudson are developing definitely do this. The new Monkey Ball game seems to do it really well. Project HAMMER might be the best conceptual usage of the controller shown at E3, although people tended to complain that the game frequently loses track of the controller's orientation when the pointer left the screen. To my mind, that is inexcusable: what the game should do, unless some important implementation detail is escaping me, is use the motion-sensing controller for the game, and using the screen pointer as an extra source of spatial information to calibrate the motion sensors on the fly.
While it's true that Nintendo showed some very cool uses of the controller at E3, I've yet to see it live up to the mental image I had formed of it from the original announcement. If Sony or Microsoft were to have announced something like it, I would have taken it skeptically, but I hold Nintendo, who has tended to shoot straighter when it comes to announcements of system capabilities than its competitors, to a higher standard. I'm not disappointed yet, and I still think I have every reason to believe that I won't be, maybe when the second wave of games comes along.
So get cracking on that, Nintendo.
A lot of people were less than impressed over Red Steel, the UbiSoft-developed first person shooter/slasher for Wii shown at E3, and it's striking that lackluster polygon texturing was not always considered the main problem.
The thing that most people hated was the fact that, in the slasher sections, the pointer control did not actually control the sword. Instead, various motions the player made with the remote would be recognized by the system and translated into canned moves, entirely missing the point of having such a versatile controller in the first place.
While many observers loved Mario Galaxy (and personally, I think it looks awesome and I'm looking forward to it a lot more than even the new Zelda), I think it's important to note that, except in a couple of places (the blue star-orbs and the drag-and-launch places on the path to the spider boss), the pointer is not really well-integrated into gameplay. The process of using the cursor to collect star pieces reminds me of old video shooters, such as Namco's old Starblade arcade game, where what happened on-screen was not really affected by the pointer except for targets overlaid upon a static video clip. The static clip here was replaced with an amazing revision of Mario gameplay, but from the pointer perspective, it was almost as static.
The Wii Sports games, especially, Tennis, appeared to use the controller with more skill, although at the apparent expense of traditional controller functions. Reports were that the Tennis game allowed the player to very intuitively aim the ball at different parts of the court, as if he had been swinging a racket! That would be totally cool, if it was not for the fact that it was largely pointless, since wherever the ball was hit, the opposing player would automatically be moved to a proper return position anyway.
I think in the future, the controller will be used in three primary ways, in ascending order of coolness:
1. The controller can be used as a way of delivering gestures to the game, for recognition and translation into discrete events. Speaking for the general case here, I have to say this sucks. I think it might be possible to create a game in which gestures are used entertainingly, but until then, I am unimpressed with this usage. Leave the gestures to Wii's port of Opera.
2. The sensor can be used as a method of manipulating an on-screen pointer. This is better, if a bit obvious. Mario Galaxy, Zelda Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3 and Red Steel all used this system. For shooters, this allows for looking around and aiming at arbitrary points on-screen. For Zelda, it lets the user aim the bow with great fidelity and to point and click at UI elements. For Mario Galaxy... well, it allowed for pointing, that's for sure. It's obvious that the pointer is here meant to emulate a mouse. That's quite cool, but ultimately not as cool as we want.
3. The best uses will be those that endeavor to use the motion sensing and/or pointing aspects of the controller to sense how it's held in space and translate that into a game-world representation. The Wii Sports games seemed to do that to some extent. The flight games that Nintendo and Hudson are developing definitely do this. The new Monkey Ball game seems to do it really well. Project HAMMER might be the best conceptual usage of the controller shown at E3, although people tended to complain that the game frequently loses track of the controller's orientation when the pointer left the screen. To my mind, that is inexcusable: what the game should do, unless some important implementation detail is escaping me, is use the motion-sensing controller for the game, and using the screen pointer as an extra source of spatial information to calibrate the motion sensors on the fly.
While it's true that Nintendo showed some very cool uses of the controller at E3, I've yet to see it live up to the mental image I had formed of it from the original announcement. If Sony or Microsoft were to have announced something like it, I would have taken it skeptically, but I hold Nintendo, who has tended to shoot straighter when it comes to announcements of system capabilities than its competitors, to a higher standard. I'm not disappointed yet, and I still think I have every reason to believe that I won't be, maybe when the second wave of games comes along.
So get cracking on that, Nintendo.
Labels: nintendo
--JohnH at 21:58
Comment
[ 6 ]
13 May 2006
Nintendo wins: Wii have moved beyond the name
A week ago, you couldn't go two videogame blog posts without hitting a lame pun on the Wii name. The jokes have stopped, for the most part, and Nintendo is having the last laugh. They chose the name they thought best, and then decided how best to maximize the announcement and their E3 presence.
Here's how their plan worked:
Too bad Sony couldn't copy Nintendo's savvy as quickly as they mimicked Nintendo's controller.
Here's how their plan worked:
- Pick a name: Has all the desired features: novel, easily remembered, and a double meaning that suits their strategy. They were serious about the name, and picked it for the long term.
- Time the release right before E3: Know the discussions generated, primarily by the hardcore gaming audience, will be incredibly intense and negative.
- Suffer stoically: Right up to E3, secretly appreciating the attention, knowing it will pass.
- Don't hide, embrace it: At the E3 conference Nintendo dropped one Wii joke and then proceeded to use it often and without pretension.
- Focus: What's important? Not the name! The new controller, the new games, the virtual console, the network.
- Everyone moves on: By the end of E3, everyone's focus is the controller and the games. They're using the name just as naturally as they use Nintendo DS and GameCube.
Too bad Sony couldn't copy Nintendo's savvy as quickly as they mimicked Nintendo's controller.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 21:55
Comment
[ 3 ]
Will we call Wii's bluff?
That EA Sports apparently has a team in Canada working out how to inteface their port [1] with the Wii controller is, if nothing else, an impressive bit o' marketing. My read is that there's a porting team -- anyone know where the Gamecube's Madden port is being developed? -- whose primary goal beyond that Gamecube port is to add a Wii-controller specific interface.
They're making good [conceptual] progress. To hike, you appearently lift up on the [entire] controller. To throw, you no longer hold a button longer for a bullet pass versus a short tap for a lob. Now how quickly you move your Wii-mote controls the velocity. They're even, if you believe all you read, thinking about using controller movement for jukes, etc.
But I get the feeling that there's going to be an "old-school" controller setup, and there's my concern. Check out the pictures of the controller, below:
Wii Controller from revolutionreport.com || Wordherders.net
Fake mock-up of even more conventional Wii: Nicholasroussos.com
Seems like I read early on that it was Nintendo's intention that you could combine the two "halves" into one, turn it on its side, and essentially have an N64-esque set up. Now capital "A" is almost certainly a different button than "a". You've now got select & start & triggers from the other half of the controller, even a d-pad and joystick. You can now play Madden like you did on the Playstation 1.
If Madden Wii has an old-school controller option that does a decent job providing standard Playstation-style Madden play, I think the Wii might be in trouble. After Nintendo's E3 pitch, why do you buy a Wii if not for the controller? Surely not for the Gamecube 1.5 hardware, right? [2] If gaming houses succumb to the pressure of providing old-style setups, how long until they stop with the Wii-specific action? How long until the Wii really is just Gamecube 1.5, extending the life of the system and developers' interests by a few years rather than for a full console generation? Would Nintendo, whose latest slew of new Game Boy console options has me wondering, even care? Has the "real" Revolution simply been pushed down the pipe a few years? Is the Wii a planned evolution of the Gamecube instead?
Nintendo continues to impress me with its dedication to pushing gaming. I wonder if the gaming public will, contrary to Nintendo's feelings in Time magazine, where they say sometimes you have to push the consumer and not listen to what they request, keep their offering in its 3rd place niche.
UPDATE:
Thanks to JohnH and Matt for more Wii controller info (see comments for this post). I suppose you can add "Wii is evolutionary, not Revolutionary," to my list of things I'll be bashing on cg.
Matt's link makes the GC 1.5 connection even more direct:
The classic controller face also has two analog sticks, which are necessary to maintain GameCube compatibility.
This reminds me of my favorite line from the Redskins' description of my ticket explaining why there needs to be a four-foot wide column essentially directly in front of my seat:
[this picture] includes the unavoidable column placement necessary to ensure the structural integrity of FedExField...
Well, keep the column in my eye! I don't need to see half the field if removing it means being responsible for maiming thousands when the stadium caves in! Heaven forbid you redesign the stadium with more smaller, less obtrusive columns or, the horror, not sell these tickets!
The relation? Both are corporations coming up with some sorry excuse for a choice they willingly made. With the 'Skins, it's that you're selling the crappiest of seats for, well, let's say significantly more than $20 a piece, and until this season significantly more than $40. With Nintendo, it's allowing your new console to be a slightly updated version of your existing one by pretending to Revolutionary capibilities and providing developers with a safe out. Both have done a good job. I shelled out to sit behind a post and E3 coverage seems to think the Game Cube 1.5 "won".
Not to spam much more, but this reminds me of things like etched glass in automobiles. It's not harder to steal a car with etched windows, but it is more difficult to sell it. After your gta, do you leave those numbers on each piece of glass, making the boosted car incredibly easy to trace? Or do you replace *every* pane in order to sell it off of an entirely illegitimate market? The etchings make the value of the stolen car lower, and low enough that it deters some from stealing it.
Same deal with Apple's AAC. You can get the DRM out, but it's difficult enough most people won't invest the time or dough to do it. Same with the Game Boy DS. The screen's there, Jack. You can't remove it. You might as well use it. The GBA backwards compat is beautiful. How can anyone play a conventional gba game on the DS and not think, "Why do I have this second screen sitting around?"
The Wii controllers, if there were no easy to find, conventional alternatives, could have acted like etched glass or AAC or the DS. With the Wii's ability to mimic conventional controllers, much less the "classic controllers" Matt points out that are essentially the SNES' crossed with a Playstation's, Nintendo's running the risk of our being sold a lot more, ever so slightly updated, Game Cube games. As JohnH points out, we're going to hear about gestures and innovation, but it appears we're in for the same ole lot o' games.
Boy, that was much too wordy. EDITOR! ;^) Think of this as a rant on a blog (which it is) and not an article (which it ain't).
[1] And "port" Madden Wii is, whether EA admits it or not; they're using Tiburon's standard code to start.
[2] I'm still tempted to buy a Wii as GC 1.5 to get the GC library, old games, and continued Maddens. But that's just me. And I do wonder which series will receive the highest "year" of Madden: PS2 or Wii.
They're making good [conceptual] progress. To hike, you appearently lift up on the [entire] controller. To throw, you no longer hold a button longer for a bullet pass versus a short tap for a lob. Now how quickly you move your Wii-mote controls the velocity. They're even, if you believe all you read, thinking about using controller movement for jukes, etc.
But I get the feeling that there's going to be an "old-school" controller setup, and there's my concern. Check out the pictures of the controller, below:
Fake mock-up of even more conventional Wii: Nicholasroussos.com
Seems like I read early on that it was Nintendo's intention that you could combine the two "halves" into one, turn it on its side, and essentially have an N64-esque set up. Now capital "A" is almost certainly a different button than "a". You've now got select & start & triggers from the other half of the controller, even a d-pad and joystick. You can now play Madden like you did on the Playstation 1.
If Madden Wii has an old-school controller option that does a decent job providing standard Playstation-style Madden play, I think the Wii might be in trouble. After Nintendo's E3 pitch, why do you buy a Wii if not for the controller? Surely not for the Gamecube 1.5 hardware, right? [2] If gaming houses succumb to the pressure of providing old-style setups, how long until they stop with the Wii-specific action? How long until the Wii really is just Gamecube 1.5, extending the life of the system and developers' interests by a few years rather than for a full console generation? Would Nintendo, whose latest slew of new Game Boy console options has me wondering, even care? Has the "real" Revolution simply been pushed down the pipe a few years? Is the Wii a planned evolution of the Gamecube instead?
Nintendo continues to impress me with its dedication to pushing gaming. I wonder if the gaming public will, contrary to Nintendo's feelings in Time magazine, where they say sometimes you have to push the consumer and not listen to what they request, keep their offering in its 3rd place niche.
UPDATE:
Thanks to JohnH and Matt for more Wii controller info (see comments for this post). I suppose you can add "Wii is evolutionary, not Revolutionary," to my list of things I'll be bashing on cg.
Matt's link makes the GC 1.5 connection even more direct:
The classic controller face also has two analog sticks, which are necessary to maintain GameCube compatibility.
This reminds me of my favorite line from the Redskins' description of my ticket explaining why there needs to be a four-foot wide column essentially directly in front of my seat:
[this picture] includes the unavoidable column placement necessary to ensure the structural integrity of FedExField...
Well, keep the column in my eye! I don't need to see half the field if removing it means being responsible for maiming thousands when the stadium caves in! Heaven forbid you redesign the stadium with more smaller, less obtrusive columns or, the horror, not sell these tickets!
The relation? Both are corporations coming up with some sorry excuse for a choice they willingly made. With the 'Skins, it's that you're selling the crappiest of seats for, well, let's say significantly more than $20 a piece, and until this season significantly more than $40. With Nintendo, it's allowing your new console to be a slightly updated version of your existing one by pretending to Revolutionary capibilities and providing developers with a safe out. Both have done a good job. I shelled out to sit behind a post and E3 coverage seems to think the Game Cube 1.5 "won".
Not to spam much more, but this reminds me of things like etched glass in automobiles. It's not harder to steal a car with etched windows, but it is more difficult to sell it. After your gta, do you leave those numbers on each piece of glass, making the boosted car incredibly easy to trace? Or do you replace *every* pane in order to sell it off of an entirely illegitimate market? The etchings make the value of the stolen car lower, and low enough that it deters some from stealing it.
Same deal with Apple's AAC. You can get the DRM out, but it's difficult enough most people won't invest the time or dough to do it. Same with the Game Boy DS. The screen's there, Jack. You can't remove it. You might as well use it. The GBA backwards compat is beautiful. How can anyone play a conventional gba game on the DS and not think, "Why do I have this second screen sitting around?"
The Wii controllers, if there were no easy to find, conventional alternatives, could have acted like etched glass or AAC or the DS. With the Wii's ability to mimic conventional controllers, much less the "classic controllers" Matt points out that are essentially the SNES' crossed with a Playstation's, Nintendo's running the risk of our being sold a lot more, ever so slightly updated, Game Cube games. As JohnH points out, we're going to hear about gestures and innovation, but it appears we're in for the same ole lot o' games.
Boy, that was much too wordy. EDITOR! ;^) Think of this as a rant on a blog (which it is) and not an article (which it ain't).
[1] And "port" Madden Wii is, whether EA admits it or not; they're using Tiburon's standard code to start.
[2] I'm still tempted to buy a Wii as GC 1.5 to get the GC library, old games, and continued Maddens. But that's just me. And I do wonder which series will receive the highest "year" of Madden: PS2 or Wii.
Labels: nintendo
--ruffin at 11:31
Comment
[ 4 ]
10 May 2006
Wii Virtual Console Pricing: $250, $10, $5, $1
JohnH sent me a link to N-Sider who (via EGM) gives us an essential piece of the Wii virtual console: pricing. Quote:
I'm still waiting for two key bits of information.
- Wii price of $250 "seems appropriate", according to EGM.
- Estimated prices for the Virtual Console are "a few dollars for NES, $5 for SNES and $10 for N64."
I'm still waiting for two key bits of information.
- What titles will be available?
Each of us has a mental list, and the Wii's appeal will depend on how well its catalog overlaps those lists. - Will they be persistent?
Several weeks ago JohnH pointed me to this CNN story in which Nintendo President Satoru Iwata says:
By "flexible business model" he actually means "yet another way to wring a few bucks out of a 20 year old game". If this is the plan, I'm probably not interested, even at the given prices.It's entirely possible that some downloads might not be permanent, either, making additional storage space less important.
"We can set some limitations as to the time period a piece of downloaded content can be played," said Iwata. "Or, we may opt to let users play as long as they want. This gives us a flexible business model."
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 07:44
Comment
[ 2 ]
05 May 2006
Conflict of interest?
I don't do much actual curmudgeoning around here, so here's something to help make up for that:
So, does anyone know what the DS Lite's U.S. release date is, who doesn't work for Nintendo.
Okay I admit, that's not the real question. I merely wanted to point out that, of the people to do know, one of them is Craig Harris (no relation) at IGN. Check it out.
That's Craig Harris. Works, it seems, on IGN's DS site. IGN is a video game news site. You know, journalism.
Why didn't he, then, fill his audience, the people who come to his site to get NEWS, in on this juicy scoop?
Oh, because he signed an NDA. Simple reason.
So the real question is this: WHAT THE HELL IS A JOURNALIST DOING SIGNING AN NDA?
I understand that they want to maintain a working relationship with Nintendo. Yep, I can understand that real well. Except that journalism, be it Old School, New Games or Daily Show, is, or rather should be, an inherently adversarial relationship. It is not the duty of a journalist to cozy up to sources of news.
Next thing you know, Reggie Fils-Amie will be giving the IGN guys nicknames, and they'll release videos of him looking under desks for Zelda: Twilight Princess, and they'll all react stony-faced when the Penny Arcade guys lampoon them to their faces.
I know the real reason they want to maintain that relationship is because the company is a primary source of news: press releases, screenshots, movies, etc. But that doesn't make it any less of a conflict of interest.
So, does anyone know what the DS Lite's U.S. release date is, who doesn't work for Nintendo.
Okay I admit, that's not the real question. I merely wanted to point out that, of the people to do know, one of them is Craig Harris (no relation) at IGN. Check it out.
That's Craig Harris. Works, it seems, on IGN's DS site. IGN is a video game news site. You know, journalism.
Why didn't he, then, fill his audience, the people who come to his site to get NEWS, in on this juicy scoop?
Oh, because he signed an NDA. Simple reason.
So the real question is this: WHAT THE HELL IS A JOURNALIST DOING SIGNING AN NDA?
I understand that they want to maintain a working relationship with Nintendo. Yep, I can understand that real well. Except that journalism, be it Old School, New Games or Daily Show, is, or rather should be, an inherently adversarial relationship. It is not the duty of a journalist to cozy up to sources of news.
Next thing you know, Reggie Fils-Amie will be giving the IGN guys nicknames, and they'll release videos of him looking under desks for Zelda: Twilight Princess, and they'll all react stony-faced when the Penny Arcade guys lampoon them to their faces.
I know the real reason they want to maintain that relationship is because the company is a primary source of news: press releases, screenshots, movies, etc. But that doesn't make it any less of a conflict of interest.
Labels: nintendo
--JohnH at 02:56
Comment
[ 7 ]
03 May 2006
Quiz Answers: Videogame prices from 1997
Answers to the quiz from earlier.
In July 1997, EB Games was selling:
- Sega Saturn for $200
- Nintendo 64 for $150
- Sony PlayStation for $150
Prices of N64 games:
$80 for Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
$70 for Pilot Wings 64
$60 for Super Mario 64
Note: In this catalog, there were no Nintendo 64 games under $60. I think I recall it being big news when you could finally buy brand new $50 and (gasp!) $45 games later on.
Prices of PlayStation games:
$60 for Dynasty Warriors
$55 for Codename: Tenka (like anyone remembers this one)
$50 for Tomb Raider
$45 for Twisted Metal 2
$30 for The Incredible Hulk (a real stinker, as I recall)
Prices for Sega Saturn games:
$60 for Hexen (terrible port)
$55 for Dragon's Lair II: Timewarp (DVD of this is probably $5 now)
$50 for Doom
$45 for Tetris Plus
$40 for Command & Conquer
There you go.
In July 1997, EB Games was selling:
- Sega Saturn for $200
- Nintendo 64 for $150
- Sony PlayStation for $150
Prices of N64 games:
$80 for Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
$70 for Pilot Wings 64
$60 for Super Mario 64
Note: In this catalog, there were no Nintendo 64 games under $60. I think I recall it being big news when you could finally buy brand new $50 and (gasp!) $45 games later on.
Prices of PlayStation games:
$60 for Dynasty Warriors
$55 for Codename: Tenka (like anyone remembers this one)
$50 for Tomb Raider
$45 for Twisted Metal 2
$30 for The Incredible Hulk (a real stinker, as I recall)
Prices for Sega Saturn games:
$60 for Hexen (terrible port)
$55 for Dragon's Lair II: Timewarp (DVD of this is probably $5 now)
$50 for Doom
$45 for Tetris Plus
$40 for Command & Conquer
There you go.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 14:20
Comment
[ 2 ]
01 May 2006
Quiz: Videogame prices in July 1997
Reading through a July 1997 Next Generation magazine, I was struck by the prices things were going for back then. Since I've been writing exams, here's one for you to test yourself on 1997 videogame prices.
1. How much did each of the following cost? Choose from: $250, $200, $150, $100.
a) Sega Saturn
b) Nintendo 64
c) Sony PlayStation
2. Order these Nintendo 64 games from most to least expensive: Super Mario 64, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, Pilot Wings 64.
(Bonus: What were the prices?)
3. Order these PlayStation games from most to least expensive: Dynasty Warriors, Star Wars: Dark Forces, The Incredible Hulk, Tomb Raider, Codename: Tenka, Twisted Metal 2.
(Bonus: What were the prices?)
4. Order these Saturn games from most to least expensive: Doom, Hexen, Tetris Plus, Command & Conquer, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp.
(Bonus: What were the prices?)
Answers are now posted here.
1. How much did each of the following cost? Choose from: $250, $200, $150, $100.
a) Sega Saturn
b) Nintendo 64
c) Sony PlayStation
2. Order these Nintendo 64 games from most to least expensive: Super Mario 64, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, Pilot Wings 64.
(Bonus: What were the prices?)
3. Order these PlayStation games from most to least expensive: Dynasty Warriors, Star Wars: Dark Forces, The Incredible Hulk, Tomb Raider, Codename: Tenka, Twisted Metal 2.
(Bonus: What were the prices?)
4. Order these Saturn games from most to least expensive: Doom, Hexen, Tetris Plus, Command & Conquer, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp.
(Bonus: What were the prices?)
Answers are now posted here.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 23:39
Comment
[ 6 ]
27 April 2006
24 April 2006
Battle of the Virtual Arcade Titans (or: Revolution v. XBLA v. GameTap)
Will Nintendo's Revolution be late to its own retrogaming lovefest? According to this SPOnG report (found via Press the Buttons), Microsoft expects to put out arcade games by the bucketful on Xbox Live Arcade, much like what is now available for MAME. This sounds a little full of itself, but you get the drift:
Imagine the biggest arcade in the world, just 1,000 times bigger. It'll have as many machines as we can possibly get, all with score-rankings and other community stuff. It's not a secret that MAME was massive for hackers of the original Xbox and the pull and sales of retro game packs on current machines is still really high. If this is taken and put under the right noses, it should become the biggest thing in mainstream/hardcore gamer crossover in the industry.A few comments on this, in no particular order:
- I think I was right: emulation compilations are officially dead. Who wants to sell them in a store when you can just offer them for download? Judging from previous experience, putting together good physical packages seems to be a very, very low priority. These services give old game license holders an easy out.
- This would make three services offering classic games for download: GameTap, Xbox Live Arcade, and Nintendo's Revolution.
- Different systems is a good thing. you don't have to own a specific platform to get (cheap, legal) retrogaming action.
- Moreover, the licensing of these games is not exclusive. I think that's a really key point. I may still get Zaxxon on the Revolution, since Sega (e.g.) is not marrying itself to one outlet (according to SPOnG).
- My impression is that Microsoft would be offering actual arcade games while Nintendo will focus on home games.
- That home vs. arcade difference might be key to the appeal of each service. Consider the recent Tecmo collection for the Xbox which had Tecmo Bowl on it, but not the NES version with which most people are lovingly familiar. Given the option to download one or the other, I know where most people will put their money.
- Could the success of these services bring a new crackdown on ROM piracy? When these companies can make a valid argument that they've built a working business model on these old games, pressure will build to protect the profits. That could well mean hunting down ROM sites and traders.
- Expect ROM pirates to claim some credit. If it weren't for them, these big companies wouldn't have realized how much interest there was in old games, right? Thank heavens people have been holding onto repositories of thousands of game ROMs. Future generations will thank them for their service.
- Prices are the next big issue. I've maintained in the past that no price is low enough for those who want to rationalize their piracy. Whatever price Nintendo and Microsoft offer, I fully expect people to say "screw that, I'll just download them".
- And the other question is: Rent or own? I've heard rumblings that Nintendo's downloads can be time-limited. If I can't download to own the game (as much as one can actually own 0s and 1s stored on an internal flash drive), I'm going to be much less interested. This is one of my main arguments against GameTap.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 11:48
Comment
[ 3 ]
22 April 2006
GameBoy Advance Micro - Failure?
Why did Nintendo make these? I can't even find them on GameStop's site. It appears to be about as successful as the Virtual Boy.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 12:04
Comment
[ 5 ]
18 April 2006
Sid Meier on Nintendo Revolution
Ok, this is from 1997 and Sid Meier wasn't actually talking about the Nintendo Revolution, but I think he might have been onto something. First read what Meier said :
The trajectory that Sony and Microsoft are taking may well be a dead end. I've been off the "HOLY CRAP LOOK AT THOSE GRAPHICS" bandwagon for a while. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if most consumers are similarly numb to increasing graphical complexity. Same goes for sound and physics: realistically falling stacks of crates with accurately modeled reverberations and photorealistic textures are entertaining for only so long.
Meier would say, "I told you so."
With its Revolution, Nintendo has left developers with no choice but to focus on engaging the player. Sure, the graphics will be a step above what can be done with the GameCube now, but the focus is clearly elsewhere. A developer has to look at the rest of the system, away from graphics and sound, and in particular to the network and the controller.
The internet is one giant example of "simple things that impress people". People are still going ga-ga for podcasts, for crying out loud. Most of us realize that they're just audio files you can download, but slap a funny name on them and piggyback on iTunes and suddenly people can't get enough of them. How about dirty pictures? There's a 19th century technology that's had a revival of sorts thanks to digital cameras and fast internet connections. For its own part, Nintendo has already done a far better job with a networked handheld than Sony, and I expect comparable service when the Revolution comes.
And then there's that spatial-gimmick controller. I, for one, am eager for something other than the already-worn-out first-person shooter example. Thinking along the lines of "simple but impressive", even an atrophied brain like mine can come up with things I'd like to try. How about a program that allows you to sculpt a three-dimensional object using the controller? Or a Barbie game that allows a player to apply make-up to a virtual face? And I bet more than one teenager would get a kick out of a virtual drum set. Now, let real designers loose with the Revolution, and it's quite likely we'll see ideas so simple, yet compelling, that no one's going to notice that the polygon count is a tad low and the physics are pretty much nonexistent.
Let me close with one other quote from that same interview with Sid Meier, one that I think goes right along with Nintendo's Revolution:
NG: What advice would you give to new game designers?We now all know that Nintendo has removed itself from the traditional console race. When the Revolution specs are officially revealed, there will be gnashing of teeth and rending of flesh, for they will sound modest in comparison to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. I'm confident Nintendo weren't thinking of Meier's 1997 interview in this dead tree publication when they came up with their new business model, but I do think they've come to some of the same conclusions.
SM: It's always fascinated me how we can do very, very difficult things on a computer that don't impress people, and then we can do things that are very, very easy to do on a computer and they do impress people. There's not necessarily a correlation between how much work you put into something and how much it impresses people. [...]
So my rule is to think about how much work you have to put into something and how much it will impress not another programmer, but a gamer on the street. They're the ones you have to impress.
-- Sid Meier, Interview, Next Generation, July 1997
The trajectory that Sony and Microsoft are taking may well be a dead end. I've been off the "HOLY CRAP LOOK AT THOSE GRAPHICS" bandwagon for a while. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if most consumers are similarly numb to increasing graphical complexity. Same goes for sound and physics: realistically falling stacks of crates with accurately modeled reverberations and photorealistic textures are entertaining for only so long.
Meier would say, "I told you so."
With its Revolution, Nintendo has left developers with no choice but to focus on engaging the player. Sure, the graphics will be a step above what can be done with the GameCube now, but the focus is clearly elsewhere. A developer has to look at the rest of the system, away from graphics and sound, and in particular to the network and the controller.
The internet is one giant example of "simple things that impress people". People are still going ga-ga for podcasts, for crying out loud. Most of us realize that they're just audio files you can download, but slap a funny name on them and piggyback on iTunes and suddenly people can't get enough of them. How about dirty pictures? There's a 19th century technology that's had a revival of sorts thanks to digital cameras and fast internet connections. For its own part, Nintendo has already done a far better job with a networked handheld than Sony, and I expect comparable service when the Revolution comes.
And then there's that spatial-gimmick controller. I, for one, am eager for something other than the already-worn-out first-person shooter example. Thinking along the lines of "simple but impressive", even an atrophied brain like mine can come up with things I'd like to try. How about a program that allows you to sculpt a three-dimensional object using the controller? Or a Barbie game that allows a player to apply make-up to a virtual face? And I bet more than one teenager would get a kick out of a virtual drum set. Now, let real designers loose with the Revolution, and it's quite likely we'll see ideas so simple, yet compelling, that no one's going to notice that the polygon count is a tad low and the physics are pretty much nonexistent.
Let me close with one other quote from that same interview with Sid Meier, one that I think goes right along with Nintendo's Revolution:
[W]e know that [the] magic ingredient is interactivity. But we have to concentrate on this. I tell designers "Don't try and do better graphics than movies because you're always going to lose. Don't try to do better sound than what you can get on CDs, because that's not what we're good at. What we're good at is interactivity -- so make your product win, lose, stand, or fall based on its interactive content."
-- Sid Meier, Interview, Next Generation, July 1997
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 21:24
Comment
[ 4 ]
07 April 2006
Number Ni in Nihon: English Training DS
According to the software sales page over at Media Create (page is changed weekly so go look while you can), the #2 "game" in all of Japan last week was English Training DS.
From the site: "Sales of 'English Training DS' were approximately 242,000 units. Although there is a strong educational element to the game, sales have been strong from the very beginning, perhaps due to the large number of people who wish to learn English in a relaxed, informal way."
Hell, if someone were to release a Japanese teaching program for my DS that taught it in a "relaxed, informal way," I'd snap it up. I know a literature professor who knows nothing about video games who might consider buying it. Do you hear me, Nintendo? Make this happen please.
(Alas, they never listen to me. I think they screen their calls.)
From the site: "Sales of 'English Training DS' were approximately 242,000 units. Although there is a strong educational element to the game, sales have been strong from the very beginning, perhaps due to the large number of people who wish to learn English in a relaxed, informal way."
Hell, if someone were to release a Japanese teaching program for my DS that taught it in a "relaxed, informal way," I'd snap it up. I know a literature professor who knows nothing about video games who might consider buying it. Do you hear me, Nintendo? Make this happen please.
(Alas, they never listen to me. I think they screen their calls.)
Labels: nintendo
--JohnH at 21:45
Comment
[ 2 ]
27 March 2006
GoldenEye 007: the other evil dimension of licensing
Today we get word that GoldenEye 007 won't appear on the Nintendo Revolution. No big surprise, given that it involves a whole pack of interests: Rare, EA, Microsoft, Nintendo, and probably the Broccoli and Ian Fleming people. The lesson: A licensed game that's popular and worth playing can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to republish after its original run.
This has happened before, but you probably didn't hear about it. The Atari 2600 games Ghostbusters and Double Dragon will probably never be published in original form as part of an emulation compilation, victims of a movie license and arcade game license, respectively. In the case of Double Dragon, I believe it has been included in some compilation after having all references to the original game removed. such editing either wasn't tried or wasn't practical in the case of Ghostbusters.
I suspect there have been similar problems with Intellivision games. And it's a real shame that the only legal version of Star Wars: The Arcade Game was so disappointing, as it may never happen again.
While it is possible that Goldeneye 007 could be scrubbed in some way, the value of the game would be greatly diminished for the loss of its distinctive Bond trappings. Just losing the music would be pretty bad, in my opinion.
What other classic games will miss the Revolution because of nasty legal issues? I imagine more disappointment is just around the corner.
This has happened before, but you probably didn't hear about it. The Atari 2600 games Ghostbusters and Double Dragon will probably never be published in original form as part of an emulation compilation, victims of a movie license and arcade game license, respectively. In the case of Double Dragon, I believe it has been included in some compilation after having all references to the original game removed. such editing either wasn't tried or wasn't practical in the case of Ghostbusters.
I suspect there have been similar problems with Intellivision games. And it's a real shame that the only legal version of Star Wars: The Arcade Game was so disappointing, as it may never happen again.
While it is possible that Goldeneye 007 could be scrubbed in some way, the value of the game would be greatly diminished for the loss of its distinctive Bond trappings. Just losing the music would be pretty bad, in my opinion.
What other classic games will miss the Revolution because of nasty legal issues? I imagine more disappointment is just around the corner.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 18:21
Comment
[ 5 ]
25 March 2006
Tetris DS: Impressions
This has quickly joined the short list of my favorite DS games, along with Advance Wars DS and Meteos. It's just really cool. I've now spent some time (in some cases a lot of time) with every game mode, and unlike many games that offer a plethora of modes, they're all winners.
Standard Mode is plain Tetris, and in some ways it's the weakest mode because of a much-reported-on quirk of the gameplay: if you rotate a piece after it's hit the ground, you can continue to rotate it forever, and even move it back and forth while you're doing so, and the piece won't settle into place until you stop. Unlike what many sources have said, this does not make the gameplay trivial: once you've hit Level 20, pieces appear on the bin's surface, and rotating and moving is basically the only way you have to maneuver them at all. And you can't actually freely move pieces at that point either: it is difficult, and in some cases impossible, to maneuver a piece up inclines in that way, and the 2x2 square can't be maneuvered up them at all.
However, the infinite rotate thing does make the single-player game a lot easier than in the past. On my first game I got to Level 19, and I've now played an entire 200-line game on Level 20. (The "basic" game is now over after 200 lines, but doing that unlocks a true "Endless" mode.) Interestingly, you cannot rotate pieces forever in multiplayer modes, where it could be game-breaking, which seems to indicate that the designers knew what they were doing when they allowed it in single-player.
Of the new modes, probably the coolest, really quite excellent actually, is Push, the first instance I've seen of a truly competitive falling block game! By this I mean that most Tetris-inspired puzzle games, if they have a versus mode, are actually two or more separate, single-player games, side-by-side, and not actually competitive. All the ways in which you can affect the other player involve sending over things like garbage blocks, or inert Puyos, or timer pieces, or burnt Meteos, or any number of other "bad" things. You can't ever *directly* mess with your foe.
In Push mode, ingeniously, the two players are at the top and bottom of a bin (though each player's view of the game puts them at the top). The other player's part of the board can be seen on the bottom screen, and he plays on the same playfield as you, although gravity is reversed for him. This means if you're quick, you can actually take advantage of *his* Tetris opportunities, but only if he covers the hole in his stack with a block, since if there's not a bottom to the hole then the I-shaped pieces will just fall through and be wasted. Covering such a hole, thus, can be lethal in Push mode if there's two or more Tetrises at stake, and it's a good idea to see if the opposing player makes such a mistake. This also places a premium on pieces that can clear lines in such a situation without covering the hole, like the L and Mirrored-L blocks, which can still score triples in that case. This does a lot to open up strategic avenues in the game. In my opinion, this is best competitive mode I've yet seen for Tetris.
The other modes each have their own take on the game. Some are little changed from basic Tetris (Mission mode is standard Tetris with special objectives to complete), while some feature entirely different gameplay (Touch mode lets players shove pre-existing blocks around with the touchscreen and doesn't feature "naive gravity," Catch mode has the player moving the stack around, which can even be rotated, and catch falling blocks to try to make solid 4x4 squares). The game even includes a situational puzzle mode. I hadn't thought it was possible to do that for Tetris, which when it comes down to it is a fairly simple game, but it indeed has some challenging puzzles in there.
Nintendo has made a lot of their Wi-Fi internet service lately, and Tetris DS takes fairly good advantage of it. Three modes are available, a two-player standard battle with garbage lines just like the old Gameboy game, a well-designed four-player battle game with Mario Kart-ish items, and Push mode.
Nintendo has chosen, in a rather cool move I hadn't expected from them, to include a chess-style Tetris ranking for players based on who they win and lose against. Playing to increase my ranking (currently in the low 6,000s) has proven incredibly addictive, and it's difficult not to take losses personally. Unfortunately, the problem there is long-standing with Nintendo's implementation of their versus game, a problem that dates back to the Gameboy.
The idea of a "versus" bin-oriented puzzle game, in which good player performance is translated into garbage blocks dumped on the opponent, ultimately dates back to Nintendo Gameboy Tetris, so I'm surprised more hasn't been made of this flaw. It's that scoring Tetrises can actually be a bad move in this game, because the "garbage" you've sent is sometimes the perfect tool of instant retaliation. The holes in the garbage lines sent are sometimes lined up with each other, giving your opponent a prime opportunity to strike back with his own Tetris. If there's some way to cause the blocks sent to not be lined up (sometimes they are and sometimes they aren't), I haven't discovered it yet.
Edit: Fixed some grammar and style problems, sorry about that.
Standard Mode is plain Tetris, and in some ways it's the weakest mode because of a much-reported-on quirk of the gameplay: if you rotate a piece after it's hit the ground, you can continue to rotate it forever, and even move it back and forth while you're doing so, and the piece won't settle into place until you stop. Unlike what many sources have said, this does not make the gameplay trivial: once you've hit Level 20, pieces appear on the bin's surface, and rotating and moving is basically the only way you have to maneuver them at all. And you can't actually freely move pieces at that point either: it is difficult, and in some cases impossible, to maneuver a piece up inclines in that way, and the 2x2 square can't be maneuvered up them at all.
However, the infinite rotate thing does make the single-player game a lot easier than in the past. On my first game I got to Level 19, and I've now played an entire 200-line game on Level 20. (The "basic" game is now over after 200 lines, but doing that unlocks a true "Endless" mode.) Interestingly, you cannot rotate pieces forever in multiplayer modes, where it could be game-breaking, which seems to indicate that the designers knew what they were doing when they allowed it in single-player.
Of the new modes, probably the coolest, really quite excellent actually, is Push, the first instance I've seen of a truly competitive falling block game! By this I mean that most Tetris-inspired puzzle games, if they have a versus mode, are actually two or more separate, single-player games, side-by-side, and not actually competitive. All the ways in which you can affect the other player involve sending over things like garbage blocks, or inert Puyos, or timer pieces, or burnt Meteos, or any number of other "bad" things. You can't ever *directly* mess with your foe.
In Push mode, ingeniously, the two players are at the top and bottom of a bin (though each player's view of the game puts them at the top). The other player's part of the board can be seen on the bottom screen, and he plays on the same playfield as you, although gravity is reversed for him. This means if you're quick, you can actually take advantage of *his* Tetris opportunities, but only if he covers the hole in his stack with a block, since if there's not a bottom to the hole then the I-shaped pieces will just fall through and be wasted. Covering such a hole, thus, can be lethal in Push mode if there's two or more Tetrises at stake, and it's a good idea to see if the opposing player makes such a mistake. This also places a premium on pieces that can clear lines in such a situation without covering the hole, like the L and Mirrored-L blocks, which can still score triples in that case. This does a lot to open up strategic avenues in the game. In my opinion, this is best competitive mode I've yet seen for Tetris.
The other modes each have their own take on the game. Some are little changed from basic Tetris (Mission mode is standard Tetris with special objectives to complete), while some feature entirely different gameplay (Touch mode lets players shove pre-existing blocks around with the touchscreen and doesn't feature "naive gravity," Catch mode has the player moving the stack around, which can even be rotated, and catch falling blocks to try to make solid 4x4 squares). The game even includes a situational puzzle mode. I hadn't thought it was possible to do that for Tetris, which when it comes down to it is a fairly simple game, but it indeed has some challenging puzzles in there.
Nintendo has made a lot of their Wi-Fi internet service lately, and Tetris DS takes fairly good advantage of it. Three modes are available, a two-player standard battle with garbage lines just like the old Gameboy game, a well-designed four-player battle game with Mario Kart-ish items, and Push mode.
Nintendo has chosen, in a rather cool move I hadn't expected from them, to include a chess-style Tetris ranking for players based on who they win and lose against. Playing to increase my ranking (currently in the low 6,000s) has proven incredibly addictive, and it's difficult not to take losses personally. Unfortunately, the problem there is long-standing with Nintendo's implementation of their versus game, a problem that dates back to the Gameboy.
The idea of a "versus" bin-oriented puzzle game, in which good player performance is translated into garbage blocks dumped on the opponent, ultimately dates back to Nintendo Gameboy Tetris, so I'm surprised more hasn't been made of this flaw. It's that scoring Tetrises can actually be a bad move in this game, because the "garbage" you've sent is sometimes the perfect tool of instant retaliation. The holes in the garbage lines sent are sometimes lined up with each other, giving your opponent a prime opportunity to strike back with his own Tetris. If there's some way to cause the blocks sent to not be lined up (sometimes they are and sometimes they aren't), I haven't discovered it yet.
Edit: Fixed some grammar and style problems, sorry about that.
Labels: nintendo
--JohnH at 15:46
Comment
[ 1 ]
23 March 2006
Nintendo Prez took my line
From today's GDC presentation by Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo:
'In our business too often people with a fresh idea don't have a chance. I believe if Tetris were presented today here's what the producer would be told: "more levels, better graphics, cinematics and you'll need a movie license to sell that idea!"'That's pretty much what I said...yesterday!
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 21:20
Comment
[ 0 ]
Regarding PS3 and Revolution
With the announcement that the Nintendo Revolution will have Sega Genesis, Turbo-Grafx 16, NES, SNES, and N64 games, the new question for me (and I suspect for others) has now shifted from "Can I afford a PlayStation 3 and a Revolution?" to "PlayStation who?"
One last thing: If this gives me legal access to Akumajo Dracula X: Chi no Rondo, the only important Castlevania that I've not yet played, I'm going to be in line on Revolution launch day.
One last thing: If this gives me legal access to Akumajo Dracula X: Chi no Rondo, the only important Castlevania that I've not yet played, I'm going to be in line on Revolution launch day.
--jvm at 14:37
Comment
[ 4 ]
Nintendo: Vision and Sony-style
With the recent announcements of the Nintendo DS Lite and these GDC pictures of the stunningly tiny and beautiful Revolution (perhaps renamed today), I'm reminded of this 2003 article on SPOnG right after the GameBoy Advance SP announcement. Specifically, Nintendo is leaving behind the traditional game system look and co-opting what was previously seen as Sony's slick style.
See for yourself:
Perhaps Nintendo really has their ducks in a row.
See for yourself:
This being said, the GameCube is likely to be the last Nintendo machine that looks like it was co-designed by Fisher Price.Over three years later, having seen the Nintendo DS, DS Lite, and Revolution, the accuracy of the above statement is downright scary. And that's not the only part:
Now, back to the SP resembling a camera, or a Mini Disc player. The machine looks like Sony made it. A lot. If it weren't for the Nintendo logo on the front, you would guess that SP stood for Sony Player.In retrospect, this means the Nintendo DS was designed, from the beginning, to compete with the PSP, not just in games but in style. Nintendo has always had the game-creation angle down, but they knew in 2002 that they needed a new image. They were going to have to appeal to a wider audience, including many adults, and that audience wouldn't want a Fisher-Price toy in the briefcase. Likewise, they won't want a purple GameCube on the entertainment center. One last quote:
Talking to a high-level Nintendo executive today, the reason for this is simple. The SP represents a pre-emptive strike against the Sony portable games device that is in the works at the PlayStation creator's head office.
Gosen told us that the SP is aimed at an older audience, perhaps those who haven't played portable games ever, or for years. The aesthetic of the machine screams tech-chic. It's the GBA that won't put girls off talking to you. It's the GBA that you can play on the train and still feel like a grown up. It is new Nintendo.The same could be said about the DS and certainly looks to be the aim with the Revolution. That is "It's the console you can play in your living room and still feel like a grown up."
Perhaps Nintendo really has their ducks in a row.
- Easy to develop for, because it's essentially a GameCube with modest upgrades
- Installed software base, since it plays GameCube games
- Networked to download other games
- Unique controller that is simple enough for Mom to use
- Style that appeals to adults
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 09:43
Comment
[ 4 ]
05 March 2006
Upcoming PSP vacation
At the end of this week I'll be taking a few days away from home, which means little to no computer access and lots of social time during which I cannot play, read about, or write about games. Maybe the other bloggers around here will post something.
When I do have a few minutes to myself, I'm planning to spend time with the PSP, and I thought I'd pick up a new game for the occasion.
I'm thinking one of:
When I do have a few minutes to myself, I'm planning to spend time with the PSP, and I thought I'd pick up a new game for the occasion.
I'm thinking one of:
- Namco Battle Collection - Classic arcade games!
- Pinball Hall of Fame - Classic pinball games!
- WipeOut Pure - Classi...I mean, hoverbikes!
- Exit - Puzzler. Thanks to jmro for reminding me of this one.
- Prince of Persia: Revelations - Last time I brought this up it got slammed hard by commenters, but I can't help wanting the PoP experience in a handheld.
- Infected - This looks like a bloody shooter, but has been compared to Robotron, which is a weak point for me.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 22:54
Comment
[ 9 ]
02 March 2006
Young whippersnappers don't know jack
The headline on this story at Joystiq reads Xbox 360 snags classic 3rd-Party Nintendo title. The title in question is...Paperboy. You know, the classic arcade game from Atari.
The author tries to justify the headline by saying most readers would have seen the game on the NES first. But that makes no sense! The game that the Xbox 360 is getting is not a classic NES game, but the original arcade game called Paperboy!
The author tries to justify the headline by saying most readers would have seen the game on the NES first. But that makes no sense! The game that the Xbox 360 is getting is not a classic NES game, but the original arcade game called Paperboy!
--jvm at 10:03
Comment
[ 10 ]
24 February 2006
"Nintendo has always been the highest risk-taker of all the companies"
The claim that "Nintendo has always been the highest risk-taker of all the companies" was made by Nintendo's VP of marketing and corporate affairs, Perrin Kaplan, in an interview published today at Next-Gen. This from the company that's published over 20 Pokemon games, 8 Mario Party games, and 5 Mario Kart games. For every risky game like Nintendogs or Warioware, Nintendo puts out 9 sequels and one remake of an old game on a new platform. If this qualifies as "highest-risk taker", then this whole videogames thing is doomed. Doomed!
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 09:49
Comment
[ 8 ]
09 February 2006
My Revolution Speculation: The Revolution Network
Speculative pieces on the Nintendo Revolution are a dime a dozen, but maybe you've some spare change in your pocket for this one. Think huge, open network access for everyone. Everyone with a Nintendo device, that is.
The Nintendo Revolution will not only be able to connect to your existing broadband network, but will itself act as a Nintendo-device-specific wireless access point for anyone with a Nintendo device. So if you own a Nintendo DS and happen to be near someone else's Revolution, whether you know them or not, that Revolution will act as a gateway for you to access the internet. That is, your DS would see the other person's internet-connected Revolution, negotiate a free connection for you, and from there you could get out to the larger network.
The effect would be to blanket the country with Nintendo access points for anyone with a Nintendo device. Sure, using McDonald's for access points was a good idea, but when there are a couple of open access points on your street, that's a whole different ballgame.
And I'm not just talking about a network that anyone can use: it's open only to Nintendo devices. Even then it can be used only for Nintendo services, not just web browsing to Curmudgeon Gamer. Imagine a Nintendo portal with demos, movies, email, instant messaging, and voice chat services. It would also act as a meeting place for people playing online games. And if the next GameBoy iteration has local storage, like flash cards, Nintendo could even offer full games for download. Nintendo just said today they were going to offer Nintendo DS demos as downloads from kiosks.
I also imagine neighbors finding each other locally, either through a handheld-to-Revolution connection or even Revolution-to-Revolution, if two machines exist near each other. I have no idea who owns a PlayStation 2 on my block, but I might socialize with them more if there were some way I could find out.
The upside for Nintendo? Other than just being a neat piece of hardware, the Revolution could act as the center around which people would buy other Nintendo gaming devices, like a GameBoy or Nintendo DS. Apple sure sold plenty of computers based on the success of the iPod (what I believe is called the Halo Effect) and existing Apple fans already appreciate that their devices all play well together. For once, Nintendo could seamlessly unify its handheld and console markets, instead of using kludges like link cables to connect markets with completely different strategies.
That's my Nintendo Revolution speculation. If nothing else, the little console seems to encourage imaginative predictions. So, what's your wild idea for Nintendo's future?
The Nintendo Revolution will not only be able to connect to your existing broadband network, but will itself act as a Nintendo-device-specific wireless access point for anyone with a Nintendo device. So if you own a Nintendo DS and happen to be near someone else's Revolution, whether you know them or not, that Revolution will act as a gateway for you to access the internet. That is, your DS would see the other person's internet-connected Revolution, negotiate a free connection for you, and from there you could get out to the larger network.
The effect would be to blanket the country with Nintendo access points for anyone with a Nintendo device. Sure, using McDonald's for access points was a good idea, but when there are a couple of open access points on your street, that's a whole different ballgame.
And I'm not just talking about a network that anyone can use: it's open only to Nintendo devices. Even then it can be used only for Nintendo services, not just web browsing to Curmudgeon Gamer. Imagine a Nintendo portal with demos, movies, email, instant messaging, and voice chat services. It would also act as a meeting place for people playing online games. And if the next GameBoy iteration has local storage, like flash cards, Nintendo could even offer full games for download. Nintendo just said today they were going to offer Nintendo DS demos as downloads from kiosks.
I also imagine neighbors finding each other locally, either through a handheld-to-Revolution connection or even Revolution-to-Revolution, if two machines exist near each other. I have no idea who owns a PlayStation 2 on my block, but I might socialize with them more if there were some way I could find out.
The upside for Nintendo? Other than just being a neat piece of hardware, the Revolution could act as the center around which people would buy other Nintendo gaming devices, like a GameBoy or Nintendo DS. Apple sure sold plenty of computers based on the success of the iPod (what I believe is called the Halo Effect) and existing Apple fans already appreciate that their devices all play well together. For once, Nintendo could seamlessly unify its handheld and console markets, instead of using kludges like link cables to connect markets with completely different strategies.
That's my Nintendo Revolution speculation. If nothing else, the little console seems to encourage imaginative predictions. So, what's your wild idea for Nintendo's future?
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 15:24
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[ 0 ]
30 January 2006
#@%*! GBA counterfeiters (and spotting fakes)
Almost exactly a year ago I got a counterfeit Double Dragon Advance cartridge from an Amazon seller. This past week I ordered a different game, Racing Gears Advance, from a different Amazon seller and got another counterfeit! I'm furious! I save up the dough for a semi-rare game, shop around, and what I get is ripped off.
Nintendo showed me how to spot a fake at their handy anti-piracy site. The inside of my cartridge (which isn't Advance Wars, but something else entirely) looks like the right-half of this picture:
What an ugly hack job. A real Advance Wars should look like this:
Notice any tiny differences there? You can see more real-to-fake comparisons at this comparison page.
What made me suspicious enough to open the cartridge? Three things:
Nintendo showed me how to spot a fake at their handy anti-piracy site. The inside of my cartridge (which isn't Advance Wars, but something else entirely) looks like the right-half of this picture:
What an ugly hack job. A real Advance Wars should look like this:
Notice any tiny differences there? You can see more real-to-fake comparisons at this comparison page.What made me suspicious enough to open the cartridge? Three things:
- The cartridge was off by about a millimeter from the size of the other cartridges I own when inserted into the GBA.
- No "NINTENDO" on the contacts, as zakk suggested when I got scammed on Double Dragon. I think all the legit GBA games on Nintendo's anti-piracy site have that marking.
- The screw on the back of the case was badly ripped up.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 23:45
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[ 2 ]
28 January 2006
SNES emulation on PSP: Still poor
While doing my every-other-week check of SNES emulation at the dcemu.co.uk boards I found this thread asking "How good is the latest SNES emulation?". The reply from forum member super_tunka:
Now that I think about it, this explains a lot about why crap games sell like mad.
Anyway, perhaps Nintendo will finally end this nonsense and make a Super Duper GameBoy that snags downloaded games off some shared storage on the Revolution and gives us great SNES (and NES) emulation in a handheld. And if we're lucky, they'll cut a deal with Sega to handle provide Genesis emulation too.
A man can dream, can't he?
I am currently playing chrono cross on the snes emu with frame skip set at 5 and 333mhz and it runs flawlesslySo, that's skipping frames like mad and overclocking the PSP from 222MHz to 333MHz. While super_tunka doesn't say, I'd bet the sound emulation is off or at a low quality. And this counts as "flawless"? This is the same problem I ran into with emulation on the Dreamcast: people are willing to deal with ridiculously bad performance and still call it great.
Now that I think about it, this explains a lot about why crap games sell like mad.
Anyway, perhaps Nintendo will finally end this nonsense and make a Super Duper GameBoy that snags downloaded games off some shared storage on the Revolution and gives us great SNES (and NES) emulation in a handheld. And if we're lucky, they'll cut a deal with Sega to handle provide Genesis emulation too.
A man can dream, can't he?
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 18:59
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[ 3 ]
24 January 2006
Nintendo: Profitable to death
Most folks are focusing on "PSP to kill DS" in this Next-Generation report, but the really interesting bit is tacked on to the end:
As the historically dominant player, Nintendo is surely comfortable charging those kinds of licensing fees. And, yes, it appears they're doing well even against the PSP. But they've never really had a serious attempt from a determined competitor like they have now with Sony and the PSP. If they keep up that kind of licensing structure, they may well remain profitable, but it may lead developers to jump to the PSP where the playing field is in their favor. If Nintendo loses the handheld market, what then? Pray for a Revolution?
I suspect that it's more of a question of when rather than if the PSP will get more developer support and therefore more decent software. When that day comes, soon afterward we may see a news item like this one from November 2001 where Nintendo lopped $2 off their per-game licensing costs for the GameBoy Advance. Ah...the consumer benefits of a competitive market!
[The] software revenue mix in calendar year 2005 will be Nintendo 58% / third parties 42% for DS, but Sony 24% / third parties 76% for PSP.I figure game companies are going to like the 76% of the PSP revenue over the little 42% that Nintendo is giving. Don't forget that PSP games are averaging a higher retail price than Nintendo DS games, so developers will get 76% of an already bigger pie. I mean, I know a couple of game developers, and they seem like the kind of folks who could find use for the extra dollars, should the opportunity came along. Heck, this one game developer in the IRC channel where I hang out can't seem to stop talking about his company stock.
As the historically dominant player, Nintendo is surely comfortable charging those kinds of licensing fees. And, yes, it appears they're doing well even against the PSP. But they've never really had a serious attempt from a determined competitor like they have now with Sony and the PSP. If they keep up that kind of licensing structure, they may well remain profitable, but it may lead developers to jump to the PSP where the playing field is in their favor. If Nintendo loses the handheld market, what then? Pray for a Revolution?
I suspect that it's more of a question of when rather than if the PSP will get more developer support and therefore more decent software. When that day comes, soon afterward we may see a news item like this one from November 2001 where Nintendo lopped $2 off their per-game licensing costs for the GameBoy Advance. Ah...the consumer benefits of a competitive market!
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 18:16
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[ 2 ]
21 January 2006
Nothing on the PSP horizon, DS shining
Browsing the upcoming PSP release list is depressing. Between now and June only one game, Tomb Raider: Legend, is the least bit appealing. It's downright shameful how sparse the software looks.
The Nintendo DS managed much better in its first year (or first year plus a little). The DS games I'd want to try: Animal Crossing: Wild World, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Meteos, Nintendogs, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and Electroplankton. That, plus the ability to play GameBoy Advance games makes the Nintendo DS a much more interesting handheld right now.
On the other hand, at least the PSP won't be getting Tingle RPG.
The Nintendo DS managed much better in its first year (or first year plus a little). The DS games I'd want to try: Animal Crossing: Wild World, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Meteos, Nintendogs, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and Electroplankton. That, plus the ability to play GameBoy Advance games makes the Nintendo DS a much more interesting handheld right now.
On the other hand, at least the PSP won't be getting Tingle RPG.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 20:59
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[ 3 ]
06 January 2006
Bad News: Bubble Bobble goes 3D
According to Eurogamer, a the classic game Bubble Bobble is going to get an update, called Bubble Bobble Evolution, moving the game from 2D to 3D. Here's an important bit:
Naturally, I'll hold final judgment until I play the actual game (domestic or import), but this reminds me of the needless royal screwing that Konami has given the Castlevania series. Konami's made four straight 3D Castlevania games on consoles and every one of them is a stinker. The 2D games on Nintendo handhelds, by comparison, have gotten better and better with each new release.
Look, it's not that 2D game concepts can't go 3D. They can. Tomb Raider is essentially Prince of Perisa in three dimensions. That worked. Going from Gex to Gex 3D turned out well too. From Gauntlet to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance? Also a great evolution. And Grand Theft Auto moved to (full) 3D and turned out better than the original, if I may be so bold.
But this isn't true of every game type. Worms is great, but Worms 3D is crap. Defender and Robotron? Good in 2D, not so much in 3D. And I bet Earthworm Jim wishes he'd stayed a 2D platformer instead of ending his career in Earthworm Jim 3D (again, except for 2D games on handhelds).
I hope Bub and Bob know what they're doing. I sure don't have a positive vibe on this new game, but maybe they'll pull it off.
"We wanted to bring something new to Bubble Bobble beyond a straightforward 3D update. With the PSP, we have its raw power and we've channeled that into creating a deeper, more complex take on the Bubble Bobble concept," said producer Tony Byus.Brilliant. I emphasized the brilliant part, in case you missed it. There's one thing that always makes classic arcade games better, and that's making them deeper and more complex! How complex? Like this:
[T]he level structure of the game has changed. Instead you will see three screens on a central "spindle" and you'll be able to jump between them whenever you like.Maybe the reporter botched the description, but this does not sound intuitive, nor does it sound terribly fun. More:
"This isn't Bubble Bobble as fans of the series are used to. This is an entirely new game and with these puzzle elements included, it is literally an evolution of the original game design concept."Good luck with that.
Naturally, I'll hold final judgment until I play the actual game (domestic or import), but this reminds me of the needless royal screwing that Konami has given the Castlevania series. Konami's made four straight 3D Castlevania games on consoles and every one of them is a stinker. The 2D games on Nintendo handhelds, by comparison, have gotten better and better with each new release.
Look, it's not that 2D game concepts can't go 3D. They can. Tomb Raider is essentially Prince of Perisa in three dimensions. That worked. Going from Gex to Gex 3D turned out well too. From Gauntlet to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance? Also a great evolution. And Grand Theft Auto moved to (full) 3D and turned out better than the original, if I may be so bold.
But this isn't true of every game type. Worms is great, but Worms 3D is crap. Defender and Robotron? Good in 2D, not so much in 3D. And I bet Earthworm Jim wishes he'd stayed a 2D platformer instead of ending his career in Earthworm Jim 3D (again, except for 2D games on handhelds).
I hope Bub and Bob know what they're doing. I sure don't have a positive vibe on this new game, but maybe they'll pull it off.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 00:26
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[ 2 ]
29 December 2005
Most/Least Fun 2005
Since I don't play just new games, this won't read like a release list of 2005 titles. If you want to read about how Resident Evil 4 was game of the year, I'm sure some big sites will be happy to fill that need for you. Moving on...
Most fun I've had playing videogames this year:
Note: I have enough reservations about GTA:LCS that I can't say it's as fun as Hot Shots or Ridge Racer. In fact, I'd recommend those other two over GTA:LCS, if you just want to have fun with your PSP.
That's my year. How was yours?
Most fun I've had playing videogames this year:
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for PlayStation 2 - How action movies should be played.
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time for PlayStation 2 - What Tomb Raider should have been years ago. Best use of time travel in a game ending.
- Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee for PlayStation Portable - Simple and fun.
- Ace Combat 2 for PSOne - Fun enough that I'll forgive it for having a hidden good ending.
- Castlevania IV for SNES - Konami, please forget 3D and try being this good again in 2D.
- Ridge Racer for PlayStation Portable - Filter out all the crap from a decade of medicore Ridge Racer games and you have something worth playing.
- Ace Combat 5 for PlayStation 2 - Puts me to sleep.
- Lumines for PlayStation Portable - This was considered addictive? Booooring.
- War of the Monsters for PlayStation 2 - I waited years for this game to drop below $25, even for a used copy. When I finally got it brand new for $12, I felt profoundly ripped off. Do not expect to have fun with it.
- Castlevania 64 and Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness for Nintendo 64 - The first and second gigantic fricking clues that 3D doesn't work for this series.
- Parappa the Rapper 2 for PlayStation 2 - Dog poop.
- Out of This World for SNES - This is not fun. Really.
Note: I have enough reservations about GTA:LCS that I can't say it's as fun as Hot Shots or Ridge Racer. In fact, I'd recommend those other two over GTA:LCS, if you just want to have fun with your PSP.
That's my year. How was yours?
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 23:47
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[ 8 ]
03 December 2005
Double Dragon Advance, Take Two
You might recall that the last time I bought Double Dragon Advance I ended up with a pirate cart, complete with intro screen designed by the pirates. Well, I tried buying another one, and this time the cart appears to be legit. At least it doesn't have a pirate brag when I fire it up.
It's a great little brawler, and I love playing it. But it's missing something. You see, even when I'm at the top of my game, it still takes 30 minutes to plow through the first four levels. There are something like 7 or 8 in all, and I usually don't have a full hour to put toward the full game.
You can't choose a level to start on. It doesn't have any way to save the game. It doesn't have passwords. Jeepers, people, it doesn't even have any cheat codes to skip levels. What kind of sadists wrote this game?
Quick question, the answer to which I'm far too lazy to look up. I've been told you can put a Nintendo DS to sleep similar to how my PSP will go to sleep when I need to stop. Can I do that when I'm using a GameBoy Advance game on the DS? If so, then there's one point definitely in favor of getting a DS.
Maybe sometime in 2006 I'll have enough time in one sitting to actually finish Double Dragon Advance. At least I'm already horribly efficient at the first three levels...
It's a great little brawler, and I love playing it. But it's missing something. You see, even when I'm at the top of my game, it still takes 30 minutes to plow through the first four levels. There are something like 7 or 8 in all, and I usually don't have a full hour to put toward the full game.
You can't choose a level to start on. It doesn't have any way to save the game. It doesn't have passwords. Jeepers, people, it doesn't even have any cheat codes to skip levels. What kind of sadists wrote this game?
Quick question, the answer to which I'm far too lazy to look up. I've been told you can put a Nintendo DS to sleep similar to how my PSP will go to sleep when I need to stop. Can I do that when I'm using a GameBoy Advance game on the DS? If so, then there's one point definitely in favor of getting a DS.
Maybe sometime in 2006 I'll have enough time in one sitting to actually finish Double Dragon Advance. At least I'm already horribly efficient at the first three levels...
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 22:44
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[ 4 ]
The Addled Old Father of Videogames
Was reading Kotaku talking about some speech that Nolan Bushnell gave. I'll give the man some credit for doing ok with Atari back in the 1970s. But let's be honest: fathers are rarely responsible for the accomplishments of their enterprising kids. And like lots of old folks, fathers will frequently look fondly to the past, longing for the good ol' days.
And so, we find Bushnell talking about how the games market today is a mere wisp of its former self:
Complexity? With games like Tetris and Lumines and Bejeweled so popular, I understand his point. But then you've got 1.5 million subscribers to World of Warcraft. I'm sorry, I'm just not buying it.
I know the Atari 2600 was great and arcades were wonderful back in the early 1980s. But 44 million gamers then and only 18 million today? That's grandpa telling us how great things were back when he wore an onion on his belt, because it was the fashion at the time...
He goes on:
Whereas Sony has now put out three hardware platforms with similar controllers (PSOne, PS2, and PSP) and actually overcome interface phobia, Nintendo has come up with a new controller for every console: NES, SNES, N64, and now GameCube. (I could toss the Virtual Boy in there, but why kick them while they're down?) Just because they've got something new this time doesn't mean it's easier to use, if history is any guide.
Then there's this:
Why are people listening to this guy again?
And so, we find Bushnell talking about how the games market today is a mere wisp of its former self:
In 1982, he tells us, there were 44 million gamers. Today, there are 18 million. Where'd they all go? "Complexity lost the casual gamer," he says. "Violence lost the woman gamer."What's he talking about? Does he mean just in the U.S.? That can't be right. Sony just reported that they'd sold 100 million PlayStation 2 systems, and 40 million of those were in the U.S. That doesn't count the millions of GameCubes and Xboxes that people have, and the millions more GameBoy Advances and Nintendo DSes and Sony PSPs. And then there's the whole PC market.
Complexity? With games like Tetris and Lumines and Bejeweled so popular, I understand his point. But then you've got 1.5 million subscribers to World of Warcraft. I'm sorry, I'm just not buying it.
I know the Atari 2600 was great and arcades were wonderful back in the early 1980s. But 44 million gamers then and only 18 million today? That's grandpa telling us how great things were back when he wore an onion on his belt, because it was the fashion at the time...
He goes on:
"The 3D controller that Nintendo is on to is a very good idea," he says. "If you look at today's controller with triangles, Xs, squares and circles, it's scary. It's like a keyboard. People are interface phobic."You know what else people are scared of? Looking like total idiots in front of their friends and family by waving a white wand at the TV to make a plumber chase a monkey or a sword-toting boy in green chat with his fairy friend, Tingle. That's what the Revolution is all about, people.
Whereas Sony has now put out three hardware platforms with similar controllers (PSOne, PS2, and PSP) and actually overcome interface phobia, Nintendo has come up with a new controller for every console: NES, SNES, N64, and now GameCube. (I could toss the Virtual Boy in there, but why kick them while they're down?) Just because they've got something new this time doesn't mean it's easier to use, if history is any guide.
Then there's this:
All I could read was "machinma." Bushnell skips the slide before I even have a chance to register the rest of it. "This isn't very interesting," he says. Instead, he finishes up his speech with a slide of his latest business venture: uWink. The Father of Gaming is getting in the dating industry. ... "I guarantee you if I can help guys meet girls, I will make a lot of money," he says.So he skips right past machinima and pimps his dating bar business? According to Wikipedia he's started over 20 businesses. Other than Atari and Chuck E. Cheese, who remembers any of the others? That's what I thought.
Why are people listening to this guy again?
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 00:59
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[ 2 ]
04 November 2005
NEX RULES!1!shift1
The Generation NEX console is a failed attempt to clone Nintendo's classic NES system. [blather blather] (from here)
Okay folks, it's time for the NEX bashing to stop. Let's review what's bad about the NES clone:
1.) They took preorders from people who believed their admittedly incredibly shady press releases, interviews, FAQ answers, and fanboy marketing.
2.) They seem to have a few pins miswired in the Famicon port. Nobody's sure yet if that means that the games won't sound right for Famicon games.
3.) They posted compatibility testing (still in progress) after starting NEX production. (That really is less than impressive.)
4.) Nobody's tested the wireless base in it yet.
Now let's hang on and step back. Assume you're an NES lover and you've managed to create wireless NES controllers that apparently work fairly well. You know there are NES clones out there for $38 shipped. You've got no Ellsworth quotient, so you'll never be able to swing creating a better NES-on-a-chip, but you'd still like to make the best NES clone out there. Nintendo, by the way, ain't giving out the design to the NES innards any time soon.
What do you do? Well, you take the most affordable NES on a chip (NOAC) out there and make the NEX, that's what. Now that we know that it's using the ever so dreadful NOAC, which strangely means something much more sinister than Ellsworth's Commodore on a chip (which apparently recreates C=64 internals pretty danged accurately), let's see what the NEX upside is...
1.) Best cartridge slot in the clone business. Very small footprint in your entertainment console.
2.) No Famicon adapter needed, provided the pins aren't a big issue.
3.) A no footprint wireless base built-in. Now I'll admit, that's bringing the price way up if you don't want to use 'em, but remember, that's what the NEX creators know how to do well. Let's pretend you want 'em. I do.
4.) Compatible with original NES controllers (not a big deal; many clones seem to have this, but this NEX slam seems to ignore this feature).
5.) Coolest looking case for an NES clone out there, bar none.
Look, I agree, people who preordered got screwed. The FAQ for the NEX allows optimistic people to believe this isn't some old, crappy (possibly even a particularly crappy) NES on a chip. Still, I'm not sure why people expected too much different. The first few Atari retro collections had trouble -- the Activision stick's emulator had collision detection issues in some games (the Imagic game(s), iirc), the Atari 10-in-1 joystick had Pong on it (are you kidding? A paddle game that really should only be played with two players that's on a one-player joystick?!), the Flashback 1.0 had freakin' 7800 controllers and was, itself, an NES on a chip rigged to emu the Atari, and did that poorly... The NEX really is toeing quality control expectations pretty well.
If you preordered, take it back. You were sold something you didn't order. If you didn't, consider the NEX. I've read nothing that tells me this isn't the highest quality NES clone (as oxymoronically as that sounds) on the market. It really is an impressive, unique, intriguing piece of hardware. As I told Matt, it's got it all: something crappy (its NOAC), something done horribly right (dual cart slots and footprint), and something completely random jacking up the price (integrated wireless base). Now that's interesting hardware. And if it plays Double Dribble, Baseball Stars, Tecmo Bowl, Blades of Steel, Duck Hunt, and Golgo, well, I'm game. And if there's an NEX 2.0, even those burned by the preorder should think about coming back.
Okay folks, it's time for the NEX bashing to stop. Let's review what's bad about the NES clone:
1.) They took preorders from people who believed their admittedly incredibly shady press releases, interviews, FAQ answers, and fanboy marketing.
2.) They seem to have a few pins miswired in the Famicon port. Nobody's sure yet if that means that the games won't sound right for Famicon games.
3.) They posted compatibility testing (still in progress) after starting NEX production. (That really is less than impressive.)
4.) Nobody's tested the wireless base in it yet.
Now let's hang on and step back. Assume you're an NES lover and you've managed to create wireless NES controllers that apparently work fairly well. You know there are NES clones out there for $38 shipped. You've got no Ellsworth quotient, so you'll never be able to swing creating a better NES-on-a-chip, but you'd still like to make the best NES clone out there. Nintendo, by the way, ain't giving out the design to the NES innards any time soon.
What do you do? Well, you take the most affordable NES on a chip (NOAC) out there and make the NEX, that's what. Now that we know that it's using the ever so dreadful NOAC, which strangely means something much more sinister than Ellsworth's Commodore on a chip (which apparently recreates C=64 internals pretty danged accurately), let's see what the NEX upside is...
1.) Best cartridge slot in the clone business. Very small footprint in your entertainment console.
2.) No Famicon adapter needed, provided the pins aren't a big issue.
3.) A no footprint wireless base built-in. Now I'll admit, that's bringing the price way up if you don't want to use 'em, but remember, that's what the NEX creators know how to do well. Let's pretend you want 'em. I do.
4.) Compatible with original NES controllers (not a big deal; many clones seem to have this, but this NEX slam seems to ignore this feature).
5.) Coolest looking case for an NES clone out there, bar none.
Look, I agree, people who preordered got screwed. The FAQ for the NEX allows optimistic people to believe this isn't some old, crappy (possibly even a particularly crappy) NES on a chip. Still, I'm not sure why people expected too much different. The first few Atari retro collections had trouble -- the Activision stick's emulator had collision detection issues in some games (the Imagic game(s), iirc), the Atari 10-in-1 joystick had Pong on it (are you kidding? A paddle game that really should only be played with two players that's on a one-player joystick?!), the Flashback 1.0 had freakin' 7800 controllers and was, itself, an NES on a chip rigged to emu the Atari, and did that poorly... The NEX really is toeing quality control expectations pretty well.
If you preordered, take it back. You were sold something you didn't order. If you didn't, consider the NEX. I've read nothing that tells me this isn't the highest quality NES clone (as oxymoronically as that sounds) on the market. It really is an impressive, unique, intriguing piece of hardware. As I told Matt, it's got it all: something crappy (its NOAC), something done horribly right (dual cart slots and footprint), and something completely random jacking up the price (integrated wireless base). Now that's interesting hardware. And if it plays Double Dribble, Baseball Stars, Tecmo Bowl, Blades of Steel, Duck Hunt, and Golgo, well, I'm game. And if there's an NEX 2.0, even those burned by the preorder should think about coming back.
Labels: nintendo
--ruffin at 20:15
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[ 2 ]
29 October 2005
Two Castlevanias in One
I've rambled about Castlevania a good bit, especially the handheld versions. Two GBA Castlevania games, Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow are now coming out in one package, presumably in one cartridge. I presume this is to meet any demand generated by recent the Nintendo DS game, Dawn of Sorrow, sequel to Aria of Sorrow.
If you're interested in these, at all, this is a great deal. Not only are these difficult to find and overpriced if you can find them, they're really quite good games. I'll admit right now that Harmony has its problems, but Aria of Sorrow is the best of the series since Symphony of the Night on the PSOne. I played Aria of Sorrow entirely on a GameCube, but it's fun on the small screen too. One last thing: the market (on eBay) appears to have been flooded at one time with Hong Kong pirate versions, so this is a good opportunity to get legit versions. Pirate GBA carts, I'm told, can lose the ability to save quickly, compared to the real thing.
Since Ruffin's now playing my copy of Aria of Sorrow, perhaps he'll chime in with his thoughts on that game.
I'll probably, against my better judgement, snag the upcoming Curse of Darkness for PS2, sequel to the truly disappointing Lament of Innocence. Hope springs eternal, and all that crap.
If you're interested in these, at all, this is a great deal. Not only are these difficult to find and overpriced if you can find them, they're really quite good games. I'll admit right now that Harmony has its problems, but Aria of Sorrow is the best of the series since Symphony of the Night on the PSOne. I played Aria of Sorrow entirely on a GameCube, but it's fun on the small screen too. One last thing: the market (on eBay) appears to have been flooded at one time with Hong Kong pirate versions, so this is a good opportunity to get legit versions. Pirate GBA carts, I'm told, can lose the ability to save quickly, compared to the real thing.
Since Ruffin's now playing my copy of Aria of Sorrow, perhaps he'll chime in with his thoughts on that game.
I'll probably, against my better judgement, snag the upcoming Curse of Darkness for PS2, sequel to the truly disappointing Lament of Innocence. Hope springs eternal, and all that crap.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 21:52
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[ 5 ]
24 February 2002
First Impressions: Mr. Do! for GameBoy
I happened by Electronics Boutique in the mall last night and almost bought Doom 64. At $9.99, how bad could it be, right? I had hoped to get Quake 64, having dreamed of comparison between the Saturn version and the Nintendo 64 version. Sadly, the used Quake 64 I saw last trip to the mall was gone. This is a good thing really. I realized that I'm now down to about one mall visit per month, which is practically sane. When I'd just about given up on cheap-ass gaming for the evening, I found a Mr. Do! for GameBoy at the bottom of the Used Crap We Wish Would Just Disappear basket up by the cash register. Not a horrible deal at $11.99, I figured and debited my way into poor graces with the wife all over again.
As the parents were visiting yet again, I didn't really get a chance to be my usual game-aholic self until after midnight. I almost cranked up Devil May Cry again, but remembered the Mr. Do! cartridge. Fortunately, the GameBoy Color was actually visible under the piles of clutter around the den and shortly thereafter I was Do!ing away.
Vanilla GameBoy games don't necessarily have pleasing default color schemes on the GameBoy Color. If you happen to get Mr. Do!, try the color scheme accessible by powering the system up with the D-pad held to the left. This is the most pleasing set of colors, to my eyes.
Mr. Do!, the classic arcade game, is a GESPALO (game everyone should play at least once). As the game's clown-like namesake, the player runs around underground Dig Dug-style, carving out tunnels and mining hordes of cherries arranged in 2x4 blocks of 8. Nameless baddies attempt to stop Do!'s subterranean fruit gathering, but can be offed with the dropping of Do!-sized apples that just happen to live alongside the cherries. Various delicious treats like fried eggs and pieces of cheesecake can be collected along with letters to spell out EXTRA for an extra man. This is early videogame nonsense at its best, really. That's what makes it a GESPALO. 
But how's the game? The GameBoy Mr. Do! is not a pixel-perfect port, but the gameplay is there. Music and graphics are faithful, if not exact. Controls are somewhat problematic, for a fat thumb on a petite D-pad, but that gripe is quite minor and fair trade-off. There is a welcome option to turn music or sound effects off, something that every game should include.
As in olden days, I still play poorly, but enjoy the beating. Ever hopeful, I attempt combinations with falling apples and end up crushed by said apples, captured by the enemies, or both at once if I'm really at the top of my game.
One perpetual downer with older games: no saved high scores. From what I can tell, high scores are notretained between sessions. This is a silly restriction. One really needs a maximum of 50 bytes of some sort of flash RAM to keep a 10-entry high score table. That's 10 entries at 5 bytes each. Only 5 bits are needed to describe a set of 32 characters, meaning one needs only 15 bits of RAM to store three initials. An additional 24 bits of RAM permits score entires up to 16 million, which isn't really a realistic score for this game. If scores above 130,000 were realistic, then one could cram three initials in 15 bits and the score into 17 bits, getting everything down into 4 bytes per high score entry, or 40 bytes total. (Note: Scores in Mr. Do! actually can go higher than 130,000, as evidenced by the default high score table. However, the last digit of the score is always zero, so the question really becomes if 1.3 million points is a reasonable maximum. I'm wiling to be that it is.) Since RAM most likely comes in packets that are powers of 2, it is no doubt easier to go with a 64 byte chunk. How expensive can this really be? Is it worth annoying millions of gamers with game after game that is missing this feature?
This is one area where emulators really can provide an enhanced experience that goes beyond the original. With an emulator, you could theoretically save the state of the game on exit and then high scores would be retained. I haven't checked with the emulator scene in a long time, but I'd be surprised if this wasn't already a common feature. I know that several 8-bit computer emulators, like the Commodore 64 emulator VICE, do allow state saving.
Long rant. Annoying missing feature. Feh.
On the high score entry screen, the programmers put some nifty scrolling effects in the background and a whirlwind of sprites in the foreground. These are reminiscent of the scrolling and sprite effects that coders put in Commodore 64 demos. These effects on the Commodore were achieved by getting right down to the hardware and using clever tricks to do what some thought impossible. Not that the effect in Mr. Do! for GameBoy is that impressive, but it does make one wonder about the backgrounds of the coders that worked on it.
I still fantasize about buying a Super Nintendo someday, but thus far haven't found a cheap one that fit my limits as an part-time cheap-ass game collector. When I do find one, however, I'm going to see if I can't get Mr. Do! for that platform as well. I have heard good things about it, and I'd like to own and try it for myself. For now, however, this GameBoy version is giving me my Do! fix right nicely.
Price I paid: $12, bare cartridge
Recommended price: $10 or less
NOTE: Images used here are stored locally and were grabbed from VG Museum. Go visit them, so I don't go to hell.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 01:01
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[ 0 ]
19 February 2002
Platform Shootout: Robotron X vs Robotron 64
My friend that is closest to me in terms of video game interests recently visited and left behind his Robotron 64 cartridge for me to try out. After retrieving my Nintendo 64 from yet another friend's house, I've managed to spend some time with it and form an opinion.
Why bother playing it in the first place? I'm a fan of the original from way back, that's why. And, in case you haven't ever played the original arcade game, let me say that it is, hands down, the best arcade game I've ever played. The goal is simple: guide your cyborg through a limitless number of waves saving humans (Dad, Mom, and Mikey) from robots gone mad. The controls consist of two joysticks, primarily because Eugene Jarvis devised the game and controls while he had a broken arm and couldn't thrash on buttons. In the end, the two eight-position joystick scheme, one for movement and one for firing, is absolutely brilliant. To make it complete, the game takes place at a pace that leaves you gasping for breath. As Jarvis said, you're always a couple of seconds from dying at any moment of play, and under that kind of pressure, you can't give in, ever.
Why bother playing it in the first place? I'm a fan of the original from way back, that's why. And, in case you haven't ever played the original arcade game, let me say that it is, hands down, the best arcade game I've ever played. The goal is simple: guide your cyborg through a limitless number of waves saving humans (Dad, Mom, and Mikey) from robots gone mad. The controls consist of two joysticks, primarily because Eugene Jarvis devised the game and controls while he had a broken arm and couldn't thrash on buttons. In the end, the two eight-position joystick scheme, one for movement and one for firing, is absolutely brilliant. To make it complete, the game takes place at a pace that leaves you gasping for breath. As Jarvis said, you're always a couple of seconds from dying at any moment of play, and under that kind of pressure, you can't give in, ever.
So the next generation platforms of the late 1990s, the Nintendo 64 and the Sony Playstation, each got a reimagining of the original Robotron. Out of the gate first was Robotron X for the PSX, and I was relatively pleased with the result, even though it suffered from several drawbacks. I never heard much about Robotron 64, which arrived several months later, and decided it probably was about the same. However, I couldn't have been more wrong.
It is definitely the case that Robotron 64 is a far better game in several respects than Robotron X. As follows:
- The playing field is larger with respect to the player and enemies in Robotron 64. This is more in line with the original Robotron, in my humble opinion, and makes for a much more playable game.
- The player seems to move much more quickly in Robotron X (or this is simply a consequence of the above item), making precise movement much more difficult. Alternatively, there are definitely times when I consider the player to be moving far too slowly in Robotron 64, but I wonder if this isn't a problem with my controller.
- The player fires faster in Robotron 64, I believe, which is closer to the original. Any clone of Robotron should include a firing rate more akin to "flood" than "trickle". Having seen Robotron 64, one can't help but notice the Robotron X trickle that substitutes for firepower.
- The load times are painful on Robotron X, which is just a sign of poor programming. Any modern PSX game would be laughed into oblivion if it were this bad today. Since I'm playing on a PS2 (not an original PSX), I could try speeding it up with the disc speed feature, but I'm not sure how much that can change these awful times. The point is that any self-respecting, not-pushing-products-out-the-door-just-to-make-a-quick-buck-off-of-retro-loving-kids-from-the-70s developer wouldn't have foisted this kind of crap on us in the first place.
- The graphics are smoother (i.e. not quite so pixelized) on Robotron 64, more detailed, and better designed. However, I think that Robotron X may possibly have a better framerate. There is also some annoying "jitter" to the playfield in Robotron 64 that I notice mostly after the level has finished, so I don't think this is a huge deal. Not sure how much PS2 "texture smoothing" can change the smoothness of the graphics, but it can't bring it completely up to the level of Robotron 64.
- Robotron 64 has a better viewing angle of the board, allowing you to see much more of what's close to you and farther away. In Robotron X, you usually are dealing with things more locally, it seems. Since in the original Robotron you could see the whole board at once, any sequel should probably give the same benefit. For example, some enemies in the original shoot projectiles that can move extremely quickly, giving you almost no time to react. To have that same danger present in Robotron X would be impossible, because you would get blindsided. The view of the board is really that poor.
- The powerup icons are much more meaningful in Robotron 64. They are tiny and abstract shapes in Robotron X. Dumb design.
If you want the original, I recommend getting one of the first Williams emulator discs for the PSX and playing with a Mad Catz controller that treats the two analog sticks like the digital controls on the original PSX controller.
Labels: nintendo
--jvm at 00:51
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