Nintendophiles 04.24.08
Posted by Theo Fraser on 04.24.2008
Miyamoto wants to add DLC to Wii Fit, an MMO title looks to be on its way to the Wii and Smash Bros. Brawl could receive future updates, if producer Sakurai-san is to be believed. Check that all out in the latest edition of Nintendophiles!
I am currently recovering from a humiliating defeat in Mario Kart Wii against three of my good friends, which included one race where I actually came 12th (i.e. last). This, of course, came moments after I had bragged that I would "pwn" their asses. Oh, the shame of it all. It's almost offensive that I can lose so devastatingly and yet still consider myself a Nintendophile. My excuse was that I was tired and hungover, but I'm not sure they bought it. Fortunately, there were a few juicy bits of Nintendo news this week, which has cheered me up immensely. Let's check out the goodness!
Miyamoto planning DLC for Wii Fit?
Credit: PC World, Cubed3
Shigeru Miyamoto has been doing the rounds this week in promotion of the upcoming release of Wii Fit, and a particularly interesting note came from an interview the Nintendo spokesman had with PC World, as Miyamoto-san revealed that the company were mulling over the idea of bringing extra downloadable content to the game via the Wii's online services. Aside from future updates and upgrades, the plan right now is to bring an additional section to the Wii Fit Channel, with various nutritional information. Whether this is an interactive service where you enter your daily intake of calories, or merely a guide to what you should be eating at your current fitness level is not known as of yet.
This is a great move on the part of Nintendo, ensuring that users return to the game even after exhausting all the other areas of the game available in the retail version. As long as it's a free download, there's no problem whatsoever. Charging for the download is another matter; we've already paid $90 for the privilege of playing the game, so it would be ludicrous for them to expect us to fork over even more cash.
We're just under a month away from the US launch of Wii Fit (May 21st, for those who need reminding), and I'd expect the title to be on the shelves for a couple of months before Nintendo start tinkering around with new features. Look out for the update as we approach the summer.
Wii MMO in the pipeline?
Credit: CVG, Cubed3
Usually known for making massively multiplayer online titles (such as the 2003 MMORPG Shadowbane for PC), developer Stray Bullet Games looks to be venturing in a new direction, as they are currently hiring an experienced senior programmer for an upcoming Wii project. The advert reads as follows:
Stray Bullet Games, an independent developer of Massively Multiplayer Online games, seeks an Experienced Sr. Programmer for our new Wii project. This is a full-time position at our offices in beautiful Austin, TX.
Responsibilities:
Program, debug, and fine-tune game systems and features
Work closely with the project team to implement the game vision
Ensure technical quality of game code through testing and iteration
Create and maintain technical documentation on game systems
Contribute ideas to improve quality and fun
Desired Skill Set:
5+ years game development experience with multiple shipped titles
Strong fluency in C++ with excellent debugging skills
Strong math and problem-solving skills
Experience in graphics, physics, control systems, gameplay, audio
Experience developing and shipping title(s) on Wii and/or GameCube platform
Experience on other platforms is a plus
Experience with high-level scripting languages such as Python or Lua
Able to write clear and maintainable code
Able to work in a team environment and communicate well with others
Able to provide realistic time estimates and work within schedule constraints
College degree in Computer Science and/or equivalent experience
A passion for creating fun and exciting games!
Much of this may be jargon to some, but all that matters is that it's obviously a pretty complicated project, what with the emphasis on ‘high-level scripting languages'. There's nothing in the advert that directly tells us the Wii is getting an MMO, but previously the company had stated it was working on an unnamed MMO, and this is the only project the company is working on right now. The MMO in question is supposedly a mix between science fiction and fantasy, and Stray Bullet tells us that ,
"The new project will contain a fully-realized, ongoing online conflict that combines furious action with tactical and strategic game play. In the game to come, characters and guilds will engage in meaningful, exciting, and fun mass combat."
OK, nothing revolutionary there, but this is some pretty advanced stuff for the Wii and will be a ground-breaking title in terms of online capabilities if development continues in this direction. So...any budding programmers out there? If you're an MMO fan and have the requisite experience, get in contact with the Stray Bullet guys and make the dream a reality!
Sakurai hints at new content for Smash Bros. Brawl in the future
Credit: SmashBrosDojo
During the latter stages of Super Smash Bros Brawl's development, director Masahiro Sakurai gave updates on the game's progression every week day at SmashBrosDojo.com. With the game being in US stores for a couple of weeks now, this past Monday Sakurai-san posted his final message...for now. I've reprinted the whole thing below, as it's a nice little read, but it's the highlighted area that you'll want to pay special attention to.
This Smash blog has spanned about 300 posts in almost 11 months, but now the time to say goodbye has come.
Before creating this site, I proposed that it should be updated 5 days a week and support several languages. It was clear that this would be a massive undertaking for a website dedicated to a single game.
A lot of people around me were particularly concerned when I told them I planned to write blog posts while development was ongoing and continue to provide updates. Some argued, some just looked concerned and others asked, "Can you really do this?!"
But all of the text in the articles was written by yours truly, Masahiro Sakurai. Make no mistake.
However, the real credit for making the impossible a reality should go to the Brawl staff who took screenshots and did follow-up work, and the Nintendo home-page staff who did the updates.
I also must thank the localisation staff of Nintendo of America and the language specialists on the European production staff who handled the translation to several languages.
I feel gratitude that words cannot express. This site has been supported by so many staff members.
I created the Dojo with the intention of offering breaking news-type updates prior to the release of the game, and organising the site so that it could be used as a database of features in the game after its release.
Now that Brawl is available, I am hoping that players will continue to use the site as a resource for information.
...But wait a second! The European version still isn't out yet!! We're still hard at work on it, so please hold on a little longer!
Also, there's always a chance that I will need to update sometime in the future with some kind of announcement.
Thank you, everyone!
Director of Super Smash Bros. Brawl,
Masahiro Sakurai, Sora Ltd.
Oh Mr Sakurai, you do tease! It's a very interesting prospect, and the term ‘announcement' suggests we could be in store for some new downloadable content. Brawl's a massive game as it is, but there's still room for DLC, if Sakurai-san was so inclined to produce it. New Events, Trophies, Stickers...maybe even new characters and maps; that's all a possibility if Nintendo go down the downloadable content route. I wouldn't take it as gospel that we'll see anything of that calibre, but the Smash Bros. team have evidently got something up their sleeves, as the director simply wouldn't release a statement like that unless they had at least some intention of following through. Don't expect to see anything come of this in the near future, but it's something to bear in mind for later in the year.
LEGO: Indiana Jones Wii trailer
LEGO Indiana Jones is scheduled for a June release, and ever since I got my hands on the Xbox 360 version at Play.com Live last month, I've been eager to see as much of it as possible. The following trailer is actually from the section of the game I played, and shows the cinematic for the level, followed by a good demonstration of the gameplay on offer. If you enjoyed the LEGO Star Wars titles, you'll go crazy for this. Check it out below.
Fact or Fiction Games is hosted by Tommy Coloma, and this week features the Minotti brothers facing off against each other!
That's all I've got for you this time, but come back in 7 days, when hopefully I won't have disgraced myself again on Mario Kart. Serious work needs to be done in the mean time. I'm going to lock my doors, turn my phone off, block out the sunlight, and not emerge until I show signficant improvement!
Don't worry too much about losing at Mario Kart, the catch up logic can be a real bitch, I went from 1st (by some distance) to 8th following 2 red shells, a blue shell, lightning and a bloody POW box, all on the last corner!
Posted By: Chips (Guest) on April 24, 2008 at 01:59 PM
I have a bad habbit of getting hit by a blue shell when im 2 meters away from the finish line. It's a real pain.
Posted By: Matt P (Guest) on April 26, 2008 at 12:39 AM
