Nintendophiles 12.06.07

Posted by Theo Fraser on 12.06.2007

Virtual Console titles gain Wii functionality; could we be in store for major updates to our favorite Nintendo titles? Plus, check out the fantastic all-new trailers for Tales of Innocence and Final Fantasy IV for DS. Kick off the Holiday season with the latest edition of Nintendophiles!




Hurray, my Christmas break officially starts tomorrow, when I finish my first term at Uni. Naturally, I've got a few evenings dedicated to the sole task of drinking as much as possible, but once that's out the way, I can finally sit down for a major gaming spree of Super Mario Galaxy, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Metroid Prime 3. Christmas is gonna be great!

My usual Ninty-sources have let me down this week; there's very little to report in actual fact, which sucks! That's not to take away from the content I DO have here, especially the first news bit, as it could turn out to be rather significant, but unfortunately it means this will be a rather brief column this week. Damn this festive season and games developers wanting to spend time with their families!




Virtual Console update brings new features to Pokemon Snap
Credit: CVG, Dengeki Japan

First things first, people. Pokemon Snap is making its way to the Virtual Console, which is sure to please all the Pokefans across the world. It's not the greatest instalment of the series, being quite a departure from the usual adventure/RPG nature of most Pokemon games, but if you were after a quirky outing unlike any other N64 title, Pokemon Snap was definitely the game for you. So it's pretty cool to see it coming to the Virtual Console, but that's not the reason it makes its way into this edition of the Nintendophiles news report. Hell no...







The thing that is really significant about this particular VC release is the fact that this will be the first title to receive legitimate updates that truly make use of what the Wii has to offer.
In this version, you'll be able to port your captured in-game photographs to the Wii message board, where you'll then be able to send to any of your peers on your Friends List.

Yeah, OK, it's not exactly mind-blowing. It's not going to make people rush out and buy a Wii. But it's a start; a sure step in the right direction. Nintendo are evidently finally exploring the possibilities of updating their catalogue of older titles to give them added replayability and perhaps expose them to a new market. For example, take the VC port of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Unquestionably a fantastic game, and one of my favourite games in the whole world. But after playing through it twice on the N64 and having a good stab at the version that came free with Wind Waker on the Gamecube, there's no way I'm forking out 1,000 points for the Virtual Console release. But were Nintendo to merely add a bit of Wii remote functionality, I have to admit I would be more than tempted. Even if it were the basic Wii controls seen in Twilight Princess, that would be more than enough to justify a "re-purchase", adding new life to a game I have currently exhausted.

And what of other possibilities? Online rankings and league tables for Super Mario Kart? An Animal Forest update that uses the Forecast Channel to determine the in-game weather? My mouth is literally watering just thinking about the potential here. Nintendo could totally, utterly revolutionize their old games and that prospect alone is making me very happy in my pants. Ooooh, good opportunity for some reader feedback! How would you like Wii functionality to be included in VC games, if at all? Is there anything in particular you're dying to see? Feel free to email me at the usual address, found at the bottom of the page.

Pokemon Snap was released on Japanese Virtual Consoles earlier this week, so I'd probably look for it to appear in the US before the year is out. Now let's raise a glass to Nintendo adding some awesome new Wii-nhancements to our favorite classic games!




Tales of Innocence DS looking great in brand new trailer

Don't want to overload you with videos, but I simply couldn't pick which trailer to include, so I thought "to hell with it" and put both of them in! Long time readers know how much of a fan I am of Tales of Symphonia in particular, and I've been an avid follower of this DS iteration, so naturally I'm ecstatic to see it looking so smooth and it's wonderful that it seemingly manages to retain all of the charm it carried on home consoles. This first video introduces some of the characters (in Japanese...sorry about that), and gives you a little peak at the battles and how they work.





Next up, we've got a good look at the cutscenes of the game. Square Enix have been accredited with squeezing every last inch out of the DS hardware, but Namco Bandai are clearly no slouches in that department either. This is looking fantastic. Fans will want to snap this up the instant it sees a Stateside release.







Impressive new Final Fantasy IV trailer shows off FMV and in-game cutscenes

More trailers! Yep, you can see I'm really scraping the barrel here. It's worth it though, Final Fantasy IV is clearly going to be a high point for the Nintendo FF releases, and judging by this trailer (which details lots of the Japanese voice work, full motion video and in-game cutscenes), Square Enix are putting some major bucks into this project. The game is released in Japan in just two weeks, so expect to see early reviews cropping up in the very near future.





Japanese voice-acting rules, doesn't it? Let us pray that we get a cast that put nearly as much passion into it. And I have no idea how they're fitting all of that onto that tiny DS cart, especially considering the fact that it doesn't sound compressed at all! That is seriously commendable stuff.

Graphically, there are some tremendous things to note, such as the shiny reflection on the floor upon first meeting the big bad Golbez, or the crumbling bricks as the walls close in around our heroes. Animation-wise, things are extremely advanced as well, and there are some moments of interaction between characters that are pulled off better than they ever were even on the N64. As I said, reviews should make their way to the net reasonably soon, and expect this one to score highly.




The 411 Games Crew


Vincent Chiucchi's The Select and Start News Report

Tommy Coloma's Negative Edge News Report

Mark Salmela's SIXAXIS News Report

Derek Robbins details his Top 10 Most Wanted Smash Bros. characters in this week's edition of The 10th Hour

Damian Sarcuni presents an open letter to Santa in the latest Angry Gaming

The Game Plan by James McGee asks the hard questions, such as whether or not Sony are really interested in actually making games.


Shame about the lack of news again, let's hope it picks up by next week. Moving into the Christmas period, it's kinda to be expected, but I didn't think it would happen quite this soon. Anyway, my poor aching body needs sleep so it's probably just as well. I had my first Jiu-jitsu grading the other day, and I am STILL in agony after the near torture they put me through. Alas, my dreams of stepping into a wrestling ring are slowly fading away...

Screenshots
All 1 Nintendophile Screenshots