The Retrospective 12.20.06: The Retrospective Goes Wii!

Posted by Sean McCabe on 12.20.2006

Some Shadow Hearts feedback, a Nintendophiles invasion, Wii release stories, Xbox-a-Gogo comes under fire, and the history of the greatest entertainment company on this Earth, you can see it all here!

Yep, for the next few weeks, this column will celebrate the Wii, but also Nintendo and Nintendo's history. No company besides possibly Atari ever contributed more to this great industry, and no company besides SNK have come back from a worse position to silence the nay-sayers and save themselves from coming in last. And no company makes better games. I can say that like a fact because, well, it is. And anybody who tries to say otherwise, well they are entitled to their own opinion, even if it is wrong. Okay, let's get the feedback from the Shadow Hearts column out the way right now.

From the most hateful gamer on 411, Damian Sarcuni

Hey Sean, just read your article on Shadow Hearts. It was a long time in coming and it came out really good.

Just FYI, I think the reason The New World wasn't released in Europe is because of Midway. While the game was created Sacnoth, Midway handled both the releases of Shadow Hearts and Covenant for the US and Europe. The New World was released in the US by XSeed Games, whoever they are. Without Midway in the equation, it looks like the release was a bit limited.

Although I dislike how the horrific themes were dropped in Covenant and The New World, there are a few monsters that fit the original Shadow Hearts design. The game is worth playing, if you have patience to get through the slow plot. Here's hoping you get your hands on it.

Well, I am happy to report that my Sister bought it for me, though I'll need to wait for my Birthday in a week to actually get it. I have to say, importing wins.

And from John Bryant

I gotta agree with you on your thoughts of Shadow Hearts. I'm an avid and major RPG fan and Shadow Hearts was the game that re-solidified my love for RPGs. while traditional RPGs like Shadow Hearts are becoming a dying breed. at least it's going down with dignity. From the New world isn't as good as it's predecessors and is unfortunately too short but it is very very fun if you like American History since you meet up with FDR, the infamous Al Capone and others. Lemme know if you can think of any current or future RPGs that will satisfy my love for RPGs.

Well, I have had some time to thing about your question, and I would suggest the Shin Megami Tensei games, any. All are good RPGs with solid stories and dependable battle systems.

Okay, with that out the way, it is time. Let us start with a quick Nintendo-based history lesson.

The Introspective

Well, the bright side of me taking some time to put this together for you guys is I've done things that give me more things to write about. One of those things is reading columns here in order to give me some points of contention to write about. The first is Xbox-a-Gogo, which seriously Josh, is a horrible column title. Even SIXAXIS beats it, and that's bad. Oh for the days when column names weren't dumb plays on words or use the names of things that people are never going to call them by. It's a PS3 controller, not a SIXAXIS. But enough about that trifling issue.

The reason I applied to write on this site, apart from generally thinking the site kicks ass and is where I've got all my wrestling news for decent organizations (i.e. not the WWE), was that when the games section opened up, and good old Joshua Richey said something I disagreed with in a column, so I wrote in and he liked my writing style, and encouraged me to apply, so I have to thank him. However, I'm also about to take cheap shots at him and his column, all in good taste of course. Here's a semi-regular section I like to call

Column sweeping

Yep, if I read a column that either needs some congratulations, critique or pulled apart because I feel like it, it goes here. And the first edition of Xbox-a-Gogo is my first victi… uh, subject. It's pretty simple, I will just quote bits and pieces (or give the heading of a news piece) and make a comment on it.

And the positive for the column that get the doubtable honor of being put under my microscope is it gets a guaranteed plug from a guy who is usually too lazy or doesn't have enough time to do it regularly link by link.

1. "Nintendo had their time. During the 90's Nintendo ruled over Sega to become the console of choice. Sony had themselves a nice little run at the top for the past couple of years... but that ends now. It's Microsoft's turn to rule, and they're gonna rule with an iron fist. So hop on board now or suffer the humiliation of being a band-wagoner later on."

Hm, what to say about this. Well, as much as I hate to say anything good about Sony these days since they started drinking some awful kool-aid, their time at the top wasn't really all that bad for gaming. And it was more than a couple of years, it been closer to 10 years now. As for Microsoft's supposed upcoming tyrannical rule, I only point to their inability to get anyone in Asia interested and the fact that the Wii is, well, the fastest selling non-portable console of all time. Puts a bit of a spanner in the works for your vision, don't it?

2. Halo 3 Beta Information Released

Who cares? Nobody with taste anyway. This game is going to get over-hyped again and it is going to be, to put it bluntly, shit again. To put it less bluntly, it will be more of the same, Halo is colourless, conventional and totally lacking of charm, and it's riding on the back of Xbox Live for it's success and little more. And it's not even fun on that. Just as well Kingdom Under Fire is coming back in 2007, there's the true killer app for Microsoft.

3. PS4 In 2010... Wait, PS4?

Well, can't disagree with anything said about this, but I say it as someone who enjoys the PS2. I don't hate Sony because I'm a fanboy, but because they've fucked up big time, and anybody who doesn't think so (and I know a few >_>) are sheep.

4. "You know those Microsoft purchasing Capcom rumors? Well they just won't end. You'd think that if there were nothing to those rumors, that the talk would have died down a little bit by now. But it hasn't. You know what they say: Where there's smoke... there's fire."

This would be bad for gaming. I don't really care what way you Microsoft fanboys try to spin it, this would be a horrible thing for gaming. Fortunately, it has very little chance of happening. Capcom are probably just not laying the thing to complete rest because it's boosting their stock. Maybe they're waiting to tell Microsoft to suck their balls (Old man Yamauchi style)


5. "I can't wait to see the reaction to people that bought a Wii once the entire Wii-mote gimmick gets old."

Hahaha, you're killing me Josh. The only ammo that people can bring to bear against Nintendo is the old "Wii controllers are teh gimmikz" argument, and it's a useless argument. Nintendo designed their controller not as a gimmick but as a truly new method of control. It will take time to perfect, but my time with Wii Play, Wii Sports, Twilight Princess and Red Steel have shown me that the controls can not only work, but revolutionize gaming. In particular, I don't get all the crap aimed at Red Steel, to me the controls work wonders. Can people not simply sit and hold their hand steady? Then again, I guess with all the broken straps, maybe not.

That has been column sweeping, this was all meant as good humor, not to mention defusing the fanboy in all of us when it gets too frisky. I think next time I will look at Ari's Column of Honor and describe why it's the best wrestling I get any interaction with all week outside of Youtube (because I sure as hell get none on my TV). Speaking of which, I plan to start buying RoH DVDs online from January. Any recommendations would be appreciated, though I think I will start with Glory By Honor this year, as that Bryan Danielson-KENTA match sounded, for lack of better words, amazingly awesome.

As for what I've been playing over the last few weeks, well, the Wii is quite obvious. I'm also rather good at Wii Bowling, and Twilight Princess is everything I hoped for. But, overall, I haven't had too much time, the reason for my prolonged absence is the evil called Exams.

VG Babe of the Week: Celine



I do believe Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom, just got a little bit better, if that were possible

Finally, the reason we're all here...

Nintendo was founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi as a Playing Card company. Business for them would be quite good for over 50 years, when, in 1956, Hiroshi Yamauchi took over. He wanted to expand the company, not seeing much of a future in making playing cards. So through the 60s and 70s, Nintendo would try launching different kinds of services and products, an eclectic bunch ranging from a taxi service to instant noodles, but none of it took off besides a few innovative toys. And the only reason they were able to compete with the likes of Bandai and Tomy in that sector was in fact due to innovation. It's little wonder then; that this would set the precedent for the company Nintendo is today. In the late seventies, Nintendo would break into Electronic gaming, first invading the arcades with titles like Radar Scope, and after the hiring of Shigeru Miyamoto, Donkey Kong. Nintendo would enjoy unprecedented success in this very young industry of electronic games, and they would grow bolder with time. First they developed their own series of portable games entitle the Game and Watch series. When the industry crashed after the fall out of Atari, Nintendo saw the golden leaf of opportunity, and they decided to grasp with both hands. The result would be the birth of the NES, and with that, I believe it's time to dissect Nintendo's first three major products, and I will do so with help from 411's own resident Nintendophile (that's not me)

Nintendo Game & Watch series



Creator: Nintendo
Lifespan: 1980 – 1991
Notes: A series of 59 separate game units designed by Gunpei Yokoi, much copied over the years, and the brand has been resurrected a few times over the years.

The Game & Watch series remains of astounding importance to electronic entertainment today. Inspired by watching a bored business man fidgeting with an LCD calculator on a commuter train, Gunpei Yokoi would be inspired to create small gadgets that people could fiddle with for fun in an otherwise boring scenario. The line would enjoy great long terms success, and would host a great variety of games ranging from Mickey Mouse to the Legend of Zelda. They may have been simple, but then simple is often all that's needed to sort out boredom.

The Game and Watch series would make various comebacks over the 90s and 00s, including through Game Boy collections and cameos in games like Super Smash Bros. Melee. I will hand it over to Theo now to summarize the impact of the Game & Watch series and it's most notable releases.

Theo - This is what made handhelds popular. Without this, there would be no Game Boy, there would be no DS, and there would be no PSP. It was particularly significant in regards to the future of the gaming industry for its inclusion of the D-pad, which is still implemented into controllers to this day.

The Game and Watch saw the Zelda, Mario Bros, and Donkey Kong franchises plastered across its small screen(s), but there is one game that stands out in my mind as the most notable release for the system.

-Ball. OK, this didn't exactly set the world on fire, but this has the honor of being the first ever Game and Watch game released. By today's standards, it's obviously incredibly simplistic; I've seen Flash games made by 12 year olds that are more advanced than this, but let's pretend we're back in 1980, shall we? Move the mannequin's arms to catch balls, or they will hit the ground and the game will end. Like Tetris, the game gets quicker and quicker as you progress. And, also like Tetris, it was straightforward and incredibly addictive. Being the first game released on the Game and Watch meant that this was the first time anyone had experienced anything like this (I don't count the Microvision as it was a complete failure). Playing a video game in the palm of your hand; it was unheard of. "Ball" got the ball rolling (pun partially intended) and its success lead to the increased popularity of handheld systems. Had "Ball" been a complete and utter disaster, our Nintendo DS and PSP handhelds wouldn't have even been considered for blueprints.

Nintendo Entertainment System/ Famicom (NES)



Creator: Nintendo
Release: 1983
Notes: Released with Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt, has sold over 60 million units worldwide.

Let's not beat around the bush. This is the most important, and quite possible due to that, the greatest games console of all time. It came at a time when the computer games industry was ailing after the flop of Atari's systems and the E.T. game debacle. Morale was low, and there wasn't much of a future seen in Videogames in America in 1984. After achieving considerable success with their Famicom in their native Japan. Nintendo decided to try their luck in the West once Atari had dropped the ball. Although they took things slowly, with a limited release in certain cities, the NES would go on to have unprecedented success in North America.

It wouldn't do quite as well in PAL territories, and for that all Theo and I can do is apologies, but what are you gonna do? Anyway, I enjoyed playing Maniac Mansion and Double Dragon on the NES, but I wasn't really gaming during it's heyday, so over to Theo.

Theo - Ah, the Nintendo Entertainment System, or Famicom if there are any Japanese readers amongst you. The NES is the console that firmly put Nintendo on the map, and their succession of terrific game releases made them the developer of choice for video game fans of the 8-bit era. The NES is looked favorably upon mostly for the releases of Super Mario Bros (40.23 million copies sold worldwide, making it the best selling video game of all time) and Super Mario Bros 3 (following reasonably closely behind at 17.28 million copies).

The NES is one of Nintendo's finest achievements, so to select just a few games to talk about is a near impossibility. As such, there are bound to be a few omissions, but I've tried to pick out a selection that really helped to define the 8-bit era.

Notable Releases:

-Super Mario Bros. Um…duh? If you didn't think SMB would be here, you're obviously being paid off by Bowser himself. Take absolutely ANY platform game you see today and you will see that it clearly derives from Super Mario Bros. SMB practically invented platform gaming, and is a landmark game as it was the first to feature smooth-scrolling levels and was one of the reasons why the NES was so popular in the early days. We all know and love Mario these days, and this was the game that cemented him as Nintendo's mascot.

- Metroid, Zelda, and Final Fantasy. Yes that's cheating, but they can all be grouped together for one simple reason; they are three of the biggest video game series ever created, and they all made a name for themselves on the NES. For years, Final Fantasy was seen as a Playstation exclusive, but it's important to remember its roots. Metroid and Zelda need no explanation; both franchises originated on the NES to much critical acclaim, and went on to see unbelievable worldwide success.

-Kid Icarus. Developed using the Metroid engine, Kid Icarus features both vertical and side-scrolling sections, and can be summed up as being a mix of Mario, Metroid and Zelda, as it borrowed various features from each; Mario's jumping ability, the shooting skills of Samus, and Link's penchant for collecting items of interest. It didn't particularly try anything new or groundbreaking, but it is viewed as a classic because it did everything so well. People have been clamoring for a proper console sequel (it received a Game Boy sequel in 1991) since its release, and is currently scheduled to be released on the Virtual Console early next year. Go buy some Wii Points in preparation!

Nintendo Game Boy



Creator: Nintendo
Release: 1989
Notes: Also the creation of Gunpei Yokoi, inspired directly by the success of the Game and Watch series.

Ah, the most well known brand name in gaming history. The Game Boy is to portable gaming what Microsoft is to Operating Systems and Apple is to portable music players… though one could argue the Game Boy is the only one out of the three that deserves it's success! … Okay, that was just a weak attempt at pushing buttons; I don't really have anything against Windows or the I-pod. Moving on, the Game Boy was pretty much a portable NES, only with monochrome in the interest of preserving battery life. A clever move by Nintendo, as that position would see off numerous more powerful yet less economic hand-helds. The console would be reinvented twice in the 90s, including being made sleeker and more compact with the Game Boy Pocket, and made more powerful with the Game Boy Color. To date the Game Boy line is the must successful line of consoles of any kind ever produced.

Theo - An incredible 69.42 million Game Boys have been sold worldwide since its launch in 1989. This is the machine responsible for Nintendo's dominance of the handheld industry, and that doesn't look to be changing any time soon.

Notable Releases:

-Pokemon Red/Blue. The games that started widespread Pokemania. Both versions saw such success most likely due to being one of the most accessible RPGs in existence. The cute critters were a hit with the kids, and there were plenty of stats and attributes for all those gamers who wanted a more hardcore experience. The term "Gotta catch ‘em all" was coined in conjunction with the games and first series of the cartoon, and everyone who bought the game absolutely HAD to have those 151 Pokemon. This meant linking up with someone who had the opposite version, as Red and Blue had game-specific creatures such as Meowth and Bellsprout in Blue, and Ekans and Electabuzz in Red. Pokemon games since then have tried to capture the Pokemagic seen in the originals, but none have taken the world by storm as Red and Blue did with such alacrity.

-Tetris. One of the top-selling games for the Game Boy was Tetris (and the highest selling third-party game for the GB), which sold about 3 million copies. Tetris was packaged with the handheld, and gamers often bought a Game Boy purely to play Tetris, making it one of the first ever "killer app". Today, Nintendo are intent on appealing to the non-gamers of the population, releasing games such as Brain Training and Wii Sports. Back in 1989, this was the game that pulled the mainstream audience in. It was such a simple concept, but incredibly difficult to master. And by that I mean it's a super-human feat to complete Level 9.

-The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. This was the first proper Zelda game to appear on a handheld console (the Game and Watch Zelda wasn't the Zelda we know it to be today). It is also the first Zelda game to take place outside of Hyrule (to be followed by Majora's Mask, which took place in Termina), doesn't feature anything to do with the Triforce, and (shock horror) doesn't involve Princess Zelda at all! Not only that, the Game Boy Zelda included a fishing mini-game for the first time as well as being the first to include what is now a Zelda staple; flying around with a cucco. AND (wow this game has a lot of firsts), Link's Awakening contained the first ever trading quest, which we are now accustomed to as a major part of most Zelda console games. So uh yeah…it was a pretty significant release, don't you think?

That has been the first part of The Retrospective Goes Wii, join us after Christmas as we continue this enormous look at the history of Nintendo. Any feedback, memories and recommendations will be appreciated and included in the column.

Check out Nintendophiles or I'll have to throw a Wiimote at you. They break TVs, so imagine what they'd do to your pathetically fleshy bodies.

And that SIXAXIS thing I mentioned earlier, at least if your still swallowing Sony's urine. I know there are many of you. You get a Wiimote thrown at you for free.

Lastly, go here and read all the latest columns, or once again, a Wiimote will be flung in the direction of your head. I especially recommend anything by Damian Sarcuni, his columns are always a seething mass of anger and bile. A good column, in other words. I'd throw a Wiimote at him but then he'd probably squish me with an Xbox in reply.