Nintendophiles 07.30.08

Posted by Theo Fraser on 07.30.2008

The Wii could be in store for some major acquisitions if this week’s Nintendophiles is any indication, as Street Fighter IV and Grand Theft Auto could both be making their way to the console in the near future. Plus, why an Okami sequel is currently unlikely, Ubisoft’s big plans for Red Steel 2, the Wii storage issues becoming a ‘mainstream problem’ and a look at the new Tenchu IV trailer. Check out all that and more inside!




Welcome, one and all, to another edition of 411's premier Nintendo column. Before we get to the Nintendo issues and stories of the week, I just wanted to say a quick word about the hot topic of the moment: The Dark Knight. I got round to seeing it last night and it…was…awesome! I still can't get over Heath Ledger's performance, which was simply astounding. So yeah, great stuff, and now I should really try and get round to seeing Batman Begins to see how the Christian Bale era began. Oh, and just to bring things full circle, I now absolutely cannot wait for LEGO Batman: The Videogame.


We'll kicks things off with a little feedback from last week, as reader Eric has some comments on Nintendo's E3 offering.


"First of all, what's with all these net-writer nitwits using "whilst?" That's the most ANNOYING thing, I automatically skip the sentence as soon as I see that pretentious crap. "Look I me, I sound intelligent!"

Anyway, I love Nintendo. Call me a 'fanboy' if you want, I don't care, but the fact is they dropped the ball HUGE with this E3. There's no reason they can't show off the 'casual' games like Wii Music to the media while ALSO showing games that cater to a 'hardcore' audience. In truth, Nintendo really needs a big third party franchise like a GTA or MGS to make a big splash with people outside their own fanbase like me, but the fact they didn't provide an F-Zero, a Star Fox even, or better yet, a Kid Icarus, made the entire show a letdown. We don't even need a new Mario or new Zelda ever E3 for it to be a success, ,just give us SOMETHING. Wii Music seems fun, but it's not the top of the food chain - not even close.

So even if Nintendo's the biggest selling console right now, in the long run, this is the second - more like third - console in a row for them that's lacking third party support compared to their competitors. They need to nip that in the bud because their 'casual gamer' strategy's paid off so far, but down the line they need to counter PS3 & 360's audiences. They're not going to lure them in with gimmicks, kiddie-themed games and sub-par third party games."


Well first of all, I don't see the problem in using ‘whilst.' It's standard English and has nothing to do with trying to sound intelligent. ‘Hitherto', now that's pretentious. But ‘whilst?' Nah, I'm not buying that. Anyway, Eric makes a good point in questioning why Nintendo couldn't cater to both audiences at E3, and I totally agree about the lack of any ‘big' third party franchises. Ubisoft are hoping to extend Red Steel into a full-blown franchise (as we'll hear more about in a moment), and Square Enix still have *intake of air* Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers *and breathe out* on the cards, but neither are ‘killer apps' as such. Nintendo don't seem all that bothered about acquiring exclusivity deals with third-parties, which is probably one of their biggest mistakes right now.

Of course, if these ‘casual' games such as Wii Music and Wii Sports Resort sell well (which they undoubtedly will), it will further prove to Nintendo that they are on the right track. Good for business, but not so much for us core gamers.


Travis is a little more concise, but still makes a good point:

"I am on the fringe of saying "Fuck Nintendo" already...
This whole "WE LOVE CASUAL GAMERS!" shit is going too far..."

Fair play.





Ubisoft bring MotionPlus to Red Steel 2
Credit: GamesIndustry




In a welcome surprise, Ubisoft revealed yesterday that they would be employing the brand new MotionPlus technology into the forthcoming Red Steel sequel, thus becoming the first third-party developer to put it to use.

Ubisoft's executive director, Alain Corre, spoke to GamesIndustry and officially confirmed the existence of Red Steel 2 (which had up until this point only been heavily rumored), and rather interestingly noted the issues with the first title and how the Wii's technology at that point let them down.


"Red Steel 2 has been in development for many months now, and this new device will help us be even more precise in what we do with the product.

The Red Steel brand is strong - I think we released it on year one, and that people understood that it was a first try on new technology, technology that wasn't completely finished. And our game tried to grab the best out of it, and was a bit rushed to be sure to offer something in year one to Wii consumers.

So Red Steel is a brand, and as with every brand we have, we now have to reach the top quality possible. What was missing was the preciseness of the sabre - and with this new device I think it will change the experience."


Clearly, the Red Steel development team are excited and enthusiastic about the prospect of this new technology, and by the sounds of it Red Steel 2 will provide the type of experience that we expected from the original Wii launch title. Now that Ubisoft have admitted that developing with the Wii's motion-sensing remote in mind wasn't as intuitive as they had hoped, will other third-parties step forward and voice their concerns? More to the point, if the MotionPlus technology is easy to get to grips with, can we say goodbye to all those shoddy, tacked-on Wii controls third-party developers love to implement, and instead see the kind of unique and innovative control schemes we had originally envisioned?




Grand Theft Auto Wii looking probable
Credit: GameDaily, Kotaku





Whatever your thoughts were on Nintendo's presence at E3, none can deny that the conference threw up one total shocker with the announcement of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars coming to DS. With this in mind, many gamers have recently pondered the possibility of a GTA instalment on Nintendo's home console. A couple of months ago, this would have been sheer wishful thinking, but now it seems like much more of a reality. Reggie Fils-Aime clearly hopes for GTA on the Wii, praising Take-Two and Rockstar for their work so far on the portable version and opening up the door for them to produce a Wii version if they so wished. Take-Two representative Ben Feder was recently questioned on the matter, and his response was comforting.


I can't comment on it, but obviously we have one of the best selling third –party games on the Wii in Carnival Games from 2K Play, so we know the Wii pretty well.

We're building up assets to develop for the Wii and we're excited about its growth. I can't comment on GTA specifically on the Wii...


From this, we can gather than Take-Two regard the Wii as a valuable platform. Carnival Games is obviously a wildly different entity to that of GTA, and is aimed at the casual market, but it showed the company that they can make a ton of money from Wii titles and proved that, unlike past Nintendo generations, third-party titles CAN sell well. Feder mentions that they are building up assets for the console, and what bigger asset is there than GTA? All the signs point towards the fact that Take-Two and Rockstar are at least considering a Wii GTA effort, and although I'd expect them to concentrate on the DS offering before work on a Wii version began, down the line I'm confident we'll see something fruitful emerge.




Wii storage issues now a "mainstream problem"
Credit: MTV

Ah, my favorite, the ol' Wii storage issue rears its ugly head once again. Except this time, it's not so ugly; in fact, things are looking good.

Reggie Fils-Aime addressed concerns for the hundredth time in an interview with MTV Multiplayer, but with a noticeable change of tack. The internet media outburst and backlash against the company regarding the relative lack of on-board storage in the Wii has evidently swayed them, and now Reggie and co. seem adamant that something has to be done.


Reggie Fils-Aime: We have said publicly that we're looking hard at the storage situation, that we're working on a range of solutions. We have nothing to announce now. But certainly it's an issue we are aware of and we're working to find a solution and we will.

MTV Multiplayer: Are you hearing this complaint mostly from — and let's use a nicer comment than "geeks and otaku" — more from hardcore gamers than from your expanded blue ocean audience?

Fils-Aime: From an Americas-centric perspective, here is the reality we see. We have a consumer base who loves virtual console. We have a userbase who really is enjoying WiiWare content. So for us really our challenge really is how do we satisfy all these consumers who are loving all of the product we make available on a download basis? As we continue to have things, as you point out, like ‘Mario Kart' that has its own channel when you're playing from an Internet perspective, we're just making this challenge tougher and tougher. So in our view this is becoming much more of a mainstream problem, which is why we have a sense of urgency to solve it.


I like the usage of the phrase "sense of urgency" there. It really should be a priority for the company, and while I was sure that Nintendo would use E3 as a platform to either debut an external hard-drive or reveal some other solution, it's a case of better late than never.




Street Fighter IV on Wii? With enough demand, it's possible
Credit: Siliconera




Unless you're a completely diehard Nintendophile, you'll no doubt be aware of other happenings in the gaming world, outside of Nintendo's environment. This past year, one of the big stories has been the resurrection of Street Fighter, with Street Fighter IV headed to Xbox 360, PS3 and PC by the end of the year. The title was displayed at this year's Comic Con, and Siliconera managed to grab a quick chat with the game's producer Yoshinori Ono, where talk of a Wii iteration crept up.


Siliconera: Right now we know Street Fighter IV will come out on three home platforms, but have you thought about the Wii at all?

Ono: The more people that ask about it, the more likely we are to move in that direction. The very existence of Street Fighter IV was based on people asking about it for so long. If we get a lot of requests it will be something we will think about. It might be difficult to reproduce the graphics exactly as they are, but the gameplay should be completely intact. It's something we can think about.


Get that frickin' online petition going, STAT! It's surprising to see a developer being so receptive to the idea, as most would simply stave off that kind of talk with an industry-standard reply of "We can't comment on that right now". I wouldn't go so far as to say Capcom have already considered a Wii version, but their approach seems to be that if there's enough demand, they may as well produce it. Beat ‘em ups tend to struggle on the Wii due to the lack of buttons on the remote, but the flipside to this is that it allows developers to offer a different kind of format for control, ensuring a fresh and varied experience from the kind found on other consoles. If Capcom could pull it off without sacrificing any of the gameplay mechanics, Street Fighter IV would be an awesome addition to fill the huge gap in the Wii's catalogue of fighting games.




Want an Okami sequel? Better buy the first one!
Credit:



Originally released on PS2, Okami has been widely acclaimed on both its original platform and, more recently, on the Wii, with many claiming it to be one of the greatest games of the decade. Despite all this praise, judging by sales records it would seem that all of about 7 people have actually played it. Allow me to give you a virtual slap on the wrist if you've missed out on Amaterasu's immensely engaging adventure. And yet, the people who suffer the most are actually the gamers who DID buy Okami and thoroughly enjoyed it, as Capcom revealed this week that in order for a sequel to be made, the original would have to sell a heck of a lot more first.

US Capcom representative Christian Svensson said, "I think we need a lot more people buying the current version before we seriously consider a sequel" on the Capcom forums, which doesn't exactly bode well for the continuation of the franchise.

This harks back to the Beyond Good & Evil situation from a few years ago, where the original title was commended by all who played it, and yet in one of gaming's biggest travesties it sold abysmally. For a long time, plans for a trilogy of BG&E titles were scrapped, until Ubisoft finally gave in to internet petitions as Beyond Good & Evil 2 went into development. I'd hope that this will be the case with Okami, as it deserves to be a long-running and successful franchise. Whether the gaming public lets that happen is another story however.


As a brief aside, Svensson made no further mention of a Wii version of Lost Planet, which is disappointing as that was supposed to be addressed this past week. We'll put it on the backburner for now, but it's worth keeping your ears and eyes open for any more news on the title that potentially could be ported to the Wii alongside Dead Rising.




New Tenchu IV trailer shows off the goods

We've looked at Tenchu IV here before in Nintendophiles, and development is pretty much complete, with the title still on target for its Japanese release at the end of October. Below is the most recent trailer for the game, showing various clips from cutscenes as well as a few snippets of gameplay.





I'm pleased to say it's looking good, as I don't think I was the only one who thought we might receive a rushed-out, gimmick-ridden offering. Clearly that is not the case, as the visuals are great and what we saw of the in-game combat looked reasonably immersive, so I'm holding high hopes for this one. One millisecond in there showed a little splatter of blood, which is reassuring as many had also feared that the title would be ‘neutered' for the Wii. If the gameplay has enough depth to keep you hooked for the entirety of the story, core gamers will have something to look forward to this Fall.





The 411 Games Crew

B3yond the Report is brought to you by Mark Salmela.

John Curry and The Checkpoint looks at Comics That Should Be Games.

Drew Robbins has another edition of Coming Attractions for you.

Derek Robbins explores Nintendo's Focus in The 10th Hour.

The Full Circle: 360 News Report features the week's Microsoft-related gaming news, with Joe Roche at the helm.

Chris Evans takes a look at all the Games for Windows Live in The PC Centric Extravaganza.



That's it for another instalment of Nintendophiles, so join me again next week for all the latest news from the Big N. I've just got back from France, so in the meantime I'm going to hit the gym, as I've eaten so much cheese I think I may actually turn into one.

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