Nintendo, hey Nintendo! It’s me. GlossGreen. Remember me? We used to play together as kids. Remember the time we used to play Zelda? No? How about Metroid? You don’t remember that either? I know, it was a long time ago, but you seem different these days. It seems like you’re trying to be someone else these days. What happened to you? I remember first meeting you way back in grade school. You were there to pick up the pieces after the whole Atari thing. Damn E.T., why did it have to be that bad? Luckily, you were there to swoop in and pick up the pieces. Seeing you in the store for the first time, I think it was a Sears, I remember being excited (as only a grade schooler could). I used to spend hours looking at the box art of games, heck, I even thought R.O.B. looked cool. I know, I was young and didn’t know better. Playing the games were great, I could actually tell the difference between my character and a rock. That was a huge improvement over the other guys stuff. We spent hours and hours having fun, and then things got better.

A few years later, you got a slight bit more mature and grew a tad bit bigger. You got smarter and became able to do some pretty cool things. Zelda looked better, Mario could do more things, and Samus had more toys. Those were the good old days, some say the best. I have many good memories playing through those years, but changes were on the wind. A new media for games was on the horizon and you tried to join in. CDs were going to be the next big thing for games. They were cheaper, had more storage, and hell, people just thought they were cool. Too bad you made the wrong choice.

I still stuck by you…for a while. I didn’t care that you still used cartridges while the other systems started using CDs. You still had some great games. All the usual suspects were there, and some new ones too. I spent many, many hours playing Rogue Squadron, my favorite Star Wars game to date. Unfortunately, all was not well. At the time, I was starting a family and had a job that didn’t pay so well, and there in lies the rub. New games for you ended up costing nearly $70. I couldn’t believe it. Why the heck were you so expensive? I know things weren’t going well for you against your former partner, but did you really have to cost so damn much? Were you trying to alienate all your friends? Let me tell you, price gauging is not cool. After that things got worse.

I didn’t even recognize you the next time you hit the spotlight. You went from a cherished family friend to…a toy. That’s what I thought. Sure, Resident Evil looked pretty good, but a cube shape? With a handle? Let’s get one thing straight, you were not a portable system. The handle was just stupid. What really got me was the fact that you didn’t learn your lesson from the last time. Hello, remember the CD fiasco? Anyone? Why the miniature discs? That’s just like a racehorse on the track with a broken leg. You can get some mileage out of it, but it won’t go far. I an not ashamed to admit that I turned my back on you then. I thought you’d be done for sure.

Revolution. Now that was a cool name and it showed that you were going to try something new. I was interested, even though I’d sworn you off the last time. You had some big plans and ideas that really impressed me. But you let me down again. What did you choose instead? Wii. What the hell were you thinking? Underwhelming hardware with a stupid name. Looking back at it now, I’d say you were in it for the money. Go cheap with the hardware and take advantage of everyone with garbage software. Even with the occassional Mario, Zelda, or Metroid game you have still lost me. I know you are making money hand over fist these days, but let’s be honest. How long do you think this can possibly last? I can see it now, death by shovelware. With games like Gingerbread Man, who needs enemies?

Things aren’t over yet, I know you are only half way into your second year and there is still plenty of time to fix things. First, get quality back. Remember the Nintendo Seal of Quality? I took heart knowing that you actually looked at the games that developers were trying to get on your system. Sure, the occassional bad game made it through, but nothing like the old 2600 days. Nothing like an E.T. to be seen. Second, get some games that people like me would actually play. Wii Sports? No. Cooking Mama? Hell no. Ging…Stop right there. You see my point? Remember the old days. Strive for excellent, fun games. Don’t just do it because you can. I know Nintendo could slap the Wii name on a rock and sell millions of them, but it doesn’t mean they should.

Watch Nintendo’s entire press conference from E3 2008 and discover the newest products coming to the Wii and DS.

With rumors of Nintendo making a revision to their popular DS handheld there has been many concept designs floating around the internets. Check out this collection of Nintendo DS revision ideas.
      

This week Yahtzee turns the angry, yellow eye on you, the viewer. Particularly those of you who have sent him email crying about the Super Smash Bros. Brawl review.

Talking as part of an in-depth interview published on Gamasutra, Game Republic founder and Street Fighter II creator Yoshiki Okamoto has issued a sharp warning on the glut of DS software

Okamoto was a 20-year veteran of Capcom, creating titles such as Time Pilot and 1942, and also ran independent developer Flagship (Zelda, Resident Evil titles), before going on to create Genji and Folklore developer Game Republic in 2004.

According to initial comments from Okamoto, whose firm recently signed a deal with Brash Entertainment to work on a major Western movie license, Nintendo’s success is still leading to problems in the market - firstly with first-party game software dominance:

“Looking at the way things are right now, it is a fact that first-party Wii games are the only titles selling well. But if the first-party titles are selling, third-party games should be able to sell too, so long as their creators have a good working relationship with Nintendo.

I think the problem is a lack of understanding between third-party developers, like us, and Nintendo, and this relationship needs to improve for the games to improve.

Also, as a developer, when you admit that Nintendo’s games are selling well, you also have to face the fact that the games you’ve made that flopped haven’t been good enough.”

Later on, when asked for specifically about the Nintendo DS market in Japan and worldwide, Okamoto explains the concerns of some:

“…actually, and again, and this is those whispering voices saying this, but you’ve started hearing the phrase “Atari crash” pretty frequently. People are talking about how the second “Atari crash” is around the corner. And Nintendo is the one that has to figure out a way to stop it.

In Japan we often say that history repeats itself, and it’s going to take some serious effort to keep it from happening this time.

Japan had its economic bubble in the late eighties, and that burst. I think some of the same things are happening in the American economy right now. Like, they’re going to have to do something to prevent it. It’s foolish to keep making the same mistakes people have already made.

So, Nintendo’s going to need some sort of strategy to deal with this. I think it’s a fact that the market blew up more rapidly than even they thought it would. And the faster something expands, the easier it is for it to deflate again, right? I hope they come up with a way to avoid this with the DS. But for one thing, there are way too many titles out all at once.”

Finally, when asked about the expansion of the kind of companies making DS software - particularly true in Japan, Okamoto explains:

“[At least in Japan] all sorts of companies that have never made games before are getting involved. I mean, the cost of development is really next to nothing. And what about this flood of “brain training” games? Can they really keep that up?

Nintendo put a lot of thought into the original, and ran some really cool commercials for it. But some of these companies just slap something together, put the word “brain” in the title, and release it. There are a ton of them, and barely any of them are interesting.”

The full interview with Game Republic’s Okamoto is now available on Gamasutra, with a wealth of other information about the executive and designer’s history with Capcom, his views on Game Republic’s titles to date, and much more.

When the Wii first hit shelves in November of 2006, everyone was excited about the door of motion control that had just been opened. According to the commercials we saw leading up to that holiday season, the possibilities seemed endless.

Now, we’re a year and half in and it seems that aside from Nintendo, developers seemed to have been more interested in wedging in motion-controlled moments to otherwise conventional videogames rather than trying to get the heart of what the Wii can actually do. Well, that’s why WiiWare is here, and that’s what’s got Adam excited in this week’s Sessler’s Soapbox.

This amusing video made with Halo 3’s Forge parodies Nintendo’s Pokemon, Mario & StarFox games. Check out this interesting mash-up entitled, ‘Gal, Guy & Villain’.

[source]

Bottle Cap over at Newsgrounds decoded the SSBB theme song.

Yoshi at Brawl Central provides the actual latin/japanese/english translation :

Read the rest of this page »

Due April 27th in the United States Nintendo’s latest Mario title is highly anticipated by millions of Wii owners. Check out the following intro video from the Japanese release - it’s identical to the upcoming American release.

One thing I have to say about Nintendo, they really know how to get their fans into a frenzy. Earlier this week Nintendo’s president and COO, Reggie Fils-Aime made some coy statements about what’s planned for E3 this year. In an interview on Game Trailers TV, Reggie says: “There’s gonna be a big game for the holiday that the gamers will want. All I can tell you is what we announce during E3 is gonna be fantastic. The gamer is gonna be excited and the expanded audience is gonna be excited.” Talk about a big tease.

So what is the big secret? Reading all sorts of articles and message boards over the last few days I’ve surmised that it could be just about anything. Every classic Nintendo game and franchise from Kid Icarus to Starfox to F-Zero, and everything in between. With the incredibly vague statements from Mr. Fils-Aime, we will just have to wait until E3. And no, he won’t spill the beans before then. He’s too good of a marketing man for that. Seeing the complete lack of any tangible information from the Game Developers Conference and Play.com Live, it looks like E3 is going to be the big push for Nintendo (not to forget Nintendo’s self sponsored events) for the second half of this year.

2008 for Nintendo is going to be an interesting year. First up is Super Smash Brothers Brawl, the multiplayer game for the Wii. Grab four controllers, a couple of people to hold them, and have a great time kicking the tar out of them. Nintendo has done a great job at making a fun experience for groups with this series. The same could be said for Mario Kart Wii. From the previews I’ve read, this game is going to be huge, at least for a little while. For a little third party love, Okami is going to be released in April of this year. This was a greatly under-appreciated game that was released for the PS2 way back in 2006. It’s great to see great games get a second chance with gamers. The last huge experience (I won’t call it a game, because much like the Nintendo Wii itself it’s in a class all it’s own) is Wii Fit in May. Wii Fit is launching in the U.S. after having sold over 1.5 million units in Japan. That is an incredible achievement considering it was just released there this last December. And that’s about all we know for the big titles for the first half of the year. Second half line-up to be revealed soon. Keep your eyes open for big announcements this summer.