Nintendophiles 10.08.08: Two Year Anniversary Edition
Posted by Theo Fraser on 10.08.2008
It’s the two year anniversary of Nintendophiles this week, and Nintendo commemorate the occasion by revealing the brand new DSi! Also, don’t miss all the fallout from the Nintendo Fall Conference this past week, with some massive new game announcements, a solution to the Wii storage issues, the status of Pikmin 3 and much, much more!
Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to welcome you to the Two Year Anniversary edition of Nintendophiles! Hard to believe I've really been writing this thing for two whole years, but each week it's been an absolute pleasure, and the time has flown by. I was planning to do a big long introduction, expressing all my gratitude to everyone for checking the column out on a weekly basis etc, but this week's new is so huge it simply can't wait any longer. So don't stick around reading this, get straight to the good stuff!
Nintendo Fall 2008 conference- The Info
Credit: Cubed3, IGN, CVG, Kotaku
I briefly reported in last week's column that rumors had flared up on the possibility of Nintendo announcing a successor to the DS Lite, with a built-in camera and audio playback made possible thanks to new hardware. During Nintendo's Fall 2008 Conference in Japan last week (and a few hours later in the US), Satoru Iwata confirmed the rumors to be true, revealing the Nintendo DSi. Take a look for yourselves:
Available in sexy white to match your Wii on matte black, the handheld is scheduled to launch in the US in late 2009. According to Nintendo of America's Cammie Dunaway, the DSi will actually sit side by side with the DS Lite for a good while, as the company still thinks there is a lot of untapped potential in the DS' second iteration. This is also the reason why the device will launch late in 2009, despite going on sale in Japan this November. Moving on from the launch details, we arrive at the specifics of the DSi itself...
The DSi stats:
0.3 Megapixel camera (640x480)
Support for Music playback (ACC support confirmed)
12% smaller and 2.6mm thinner than DS Lite at just 3.24" thick
No GBA cartridge slot
Built-in Opera web browser
Built-in internal memory
SD card slot
DSi titles will be region-locked, but standard DS titles remain region free
Is not in direct competition with media devices such as iPhone
Connect wirelessly to the DS Shop, much like the Wii Shop
Allow me to clarify a few things from that list. First of all, the reasoning for DSi titles being region-locked is actually quite valid, and is similar to the reason for the Wii's Shop Channel and VC titles being region-specific. Basically, many DSi titles will utilise some form of net communication facility, with internet services provided specifically with each territory in mind.
The omission of the GBA cartridge slot is a bummer, partly because I've really enjoyed going back and playing my old GBA games on the bigger, brighter screen, but it also sucks big time for Guitar Hero: On Tour fans. The way I see it, Nintendo are actually hoping many potential DSi users will shell out the cash for the newer model despite already owning a standard DS, therefore making the omission of the cartridge slot null and void.
With regard to the comment about the DSi not being in competition with the iPhone, Iwata noted that "We wanted users to have the device on them at all times. By downloading subway maps and other things, for instance, the DSi can be useful for applications other than playing games. We wanted to create an offering that would fit naturally into people's everyday lives." It's probably a good move to make the DS even more of a portable device, and a ‘must-have' wherever you go, but surely by proxy this makes it a media device rather than a dedicated games machine? The original idea with the Wii was to make it a device that is switched on at least once a day, much like a TV, and not just for gaming, hence all the different Wii Channels, so I guess this is in keeping with that thinking.
So what's all this about a DS Shop? This actually links in with the DSi's new internal memory, as you'll be able to connect to the DS Shop and use Wii Points (which will now supposedly be renamed ‘Nintendo Points') to purchase games and software before downloading directly onto your system. The software will be known as DSWare, and if parallels are to be drawn with WiiWare, this means developers will be able to test out various concepts for relatively low-risk. There's still a massive amount of untapped potential in the DS (as Dunaway noted), so this is the next logical step in helping developers free their minds of the burden of budgets. Four points categories will exist upon the service's launch: Free, 200 Points, 500 Points and Premium (800 Points). So in theory the most expensive and complex DSWare title will be sold for the equivalent of a standard SNES Virtual Console title.
Elsewhere in the conference saw various new game announcements, and if you weren't excited by the prospect of the DSi, you'll most definitely be giddy about some of these. The comments section of last week's Nintendophiles included a couple of opinions that Nintendo didn't have any good games in the pipeline. I think they may be eating their words right now...
Punch-Out!! [Wii]
Mario & Luigi RPG 3 [DS]
Sin and Punishment 2 [Wii]
Another Code (Trace Memory) [Wii]
New ‘mothership' (i.e. main series) Tales Of title [Wii]
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time [Wii/DS]
Check some of them out in the Japanese Conference Reel below, as well as a couple of others not listed:
Nintendo also announced a new line of Wii titles called Let's Play On Wii. These games will be a selection of popular Gamecube titles remade specifically for the Wii with added motion control. Announced so far is Pikmin and Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat. Metroid Prime 1 & 2 have been mentioned but not officially confirmed. I think this is a tremendous idea, and if they retail at a budget price (no more than $20), they'll likely be a big commercial success. Some of the more hard-to-find GC titles would be appreciated, like Chibi Robo and Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door, but I'll happily take what I'm given.
A solution to the on-going Wii storage issues was next, but I'll come to that later on in the column to look at it in detail. What we can talk about here is the unveiling of the Wii Speak Channel. The Wii Speak peripheral will retail for $30 on November 16th, and whilst we already knew it would be used for social purposes in Animal Crossing Wii, it turns out that Nintendo are also putting the finishing touches to a new Wii Channel; the Wii Speak Channel. This will be a free channel to all Wii Speak purchasers, as the peripheral will come with a code to unlock it, allowing you to chat to up to 4 other players. Entering the channel, your selected Mii will appear and will mimic the user's mouth as if the Mii itself is speaking. Yeah, take THAT, LittleBigPlanet! You'll also be able to leave audio messages for your contacts on your Friends List, as well a neat little extra that allows you to narrate your stored photographs/slideshows. It's not going to be a deciding factor for people on the fence about buying Wii Speak, but it's a welcome addition, especially since Nintendo could have easily just flung the peripheral on the market and said, "Just buy it, OK, it's for Animal Crossing."
Also, the eagerly anticipated brutal affair that is MadWorld has been given a projected March 2009 release date. SEGA are still working closely with ELSPA and assure us that they are aiming for an ‘M' rating. This should prevent another Manhunt 2 situation (which has only now just been given a UK release date). Having said this, reports recently came out that the game may not even make it to Japanese shores, and a release in ‘difficult' countries (in terms of censorship) such as Germany and Australia has been held off for the time being. Despite all this, SEGA assure us that the game remains as violent as ever, and recent hands-on impressions have been positive.
Pheeeeew! That's quite a lot to digest in such a small time. Overall, an extremely optimistic and upbeat conference from Nintendo, and the media looks to have come away a lot more satisfied than *whisper it* "The E3 disaster". We can all feel proud to be Nintendophiles again!
Sin and Punishment 2! Coming to US shores!
Credit: IGN, Cubed3
This deserved its own section purely because it came from absolutely nowhere. Yes, we didn't know anything about Mario & Luigi RPG 3 either, but with the success of both of its predecessors, a follow-up was expected at some point sooner or later. A full-blown sequel to Sin and Punishment I never would have expected in all my years. Having never been released outside of Japan until its appearance on the Virtual Console last year, it was considered to be a ‘lost classic', and many assumed the franchise had died an early death. This announcement shows that the Hanabi Festival is working wonders, and for a sequel to even be considered it must have had a pretty impressive download rate. Good work, people! Onto the title itself, it looks spectacular. Check out the first official screens:
And the official debut trailer...
And before you ask, the game has already been given a vague ‘2009' North American release date, so yes...it's coming!
Pikmin 3 still Wii-bound
Credit: IGN
As I spoke about earlier, Nintendo's conference revealed plans for a new line of Wii titles called "Let's Play On Wii", which take the form of classic Gamecube games, remade specifically for the Wii with minor adjustments to control to allow for motion sensitive gameplay. One such title announced was the original Pikmin, and many feared that this was what Shigeru Miyamoto was referring to at this year's E3 when he said that a Pikmin title for the Wii was still in development. As much as we all love the first entry in the Pikmin series, it's safe to say that fans were definitely hoping for a new instalment.
Fortunately, things were cleared up a little while after the conference itself:
Cammie Dunaway:It's not the Pikmin that Mr. Miyamoto referred to, no. Mr. Miyamoto referred to a new Pikmin, as opposed to the classics that are being rereleased on Wii.
Awesome. In terms of promotion, it'd be a great idea on Nintendo's part to bring out the Let's Play On Wii Pikmin first, as it will help reacquaint gamers with the franchise (as it's been a couple of years since the last proper Pikmin title) as well help introduce it to new Wii owners, who then may be more tempted to fork out the cash for the third entry in the series.
More Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on Wii & DS
Credit: Famitsu
A very exciting prospect, this one. As mentioned above, the Nintendo Fall Conference 2008 was the cause of much elation due to a number of brand new game announcements, one of which being a new Final Fantasy title for both Wii and DS; Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time. According to Famitsu (who broke the news of the title's existence a day before the conference), Echoes of Time is a direct sequel to the DS' Ring of Fates, this time featuring on both Wii and DS. And get this...both versions can connect to each other simultaneously via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
This is made possible by the all-new ‘Pollux engine', and the interchangeable nature of each version means there are a couple of cool little surprises tucked away. On the DS, you'll be able to import various Miis to cover your character's faces, adding that nice little touch of personalisation. On the Wii, you'll see both the field screen and your inventory screen, making progress that little bit easier.
The best thing about Echoes is that Square Enix have done away with the option of a defined Single Player and Multiplayer mode. You'll be able to start a campaign by yourself on the Wii, have a friend drop round with their DS to join you for a couple of dungeons, and then carry on as normal on your own once they're gone. Switches between the number of players has to happen at a save point, but that's the only restriction. Awesome. Also, you won't be limited to playing with friends in person; the "World Matching" option allows you to play with fans from all over the world, assuring that you'll always be able to find company if you require it.
A Japanese release is pencilled in for January 2009, so we're looking at getting our hands on it in the Summer. I'm really pleased to see this, especially as it builds upon the Crystal Chronicles francise which is getting bigger and bigger thanks to the success of My Life As A King on WiiWare. We may not be getting the ‘proper' FF titles on Wii, by CC is quickly becoming a hot Nintendo franchise. However, I've got to ask...where the heck is Crystal Bearers for Wii? Has that game just dropped off the face of the planet or something?
Alas, it's not the external hard drive we'd all been hoping for, but for the time being it seems to be a suitable solution. I don't think I can remember the last time the issue of the Wii's tiny 512mb on-board memory didn't come up here in Nintendophiles, so I won't bore you all with the back story on this one. In a nutshell, with the ever-increasing Virtual Console catalogue and WiiWare downloads taking up room on the Wii's internal memory, many Wii owners were having to go through the tiresome process of deleting VC games to free up space then having to re-downloading them if they wanted to play them again. Nintendo were criticised for many months, offering no solution to such a problem, with Nintendo of Europe representative Laurent Fischer making the infamous comment that "only geeks and otakus" were experiencing problems. The backlash continued until Nintendo finally relented, accepting that there was a problem, promising to properly look into it. During this past week's Japanese & US Fall 2008 conferences, company president Satoru Iwata announced that the company plans to deal with the issue by allowing users to download VC & WiiWare titles straight to an SD card.
According to the conference, the speed at which you download from the Shop Channel to an SD card is significantly faster than the normal approach of downloading to the Wii Menu. Similarly, the process of transferring from an SD card to the Wii will be greatly improved as well. A firmware update will arrive in the Spring of next year, putting the whole process into action (so in the mean time, you'll still have to delete various titles to free up room until then).
The question that remains is whether or not we'll be able to play VC & WiiWare titles directly from the SD card itself. Originally, Nintendo didn't allow for this, as they figured people would simply download a particular title, take their SD card to a friend's house and let them copy it to their system. To combat this, Nintendo could easily start encoding Virtual Console games with Data Rights Management software, and I can't see that being too hard to employ. If this isn't the case, however, then we still haven't really found the solution we'd been looking for. You'll still have to go through the rigmarole of deleting games and transferring save files etc, so what has really changed? Save for speeding up the transfer process, it's not exactly user friendly. Once the hustle and bustle of the conferences have died down, I expect Nintendo will address this particular area, as this has been a frequently asked question on internet message boards this past week.
Great Nintendo Gaming Moments
Since Nintendophiles became a news report a couple a months after it first debuted, I've rarely had a chance to bring back the old retro features I used to include. Well, a two year anniversary column seems like the perfect opportunity to bring back one of my personal favourites; Great Nintendo Gaming Moments. First up, let's take a look back at the previous entries:
And that brings us up to date with this week's entry. It's certainly not as light-hearted as some of those other entries; in fact, I consider it to be one of the saddest moments in gaming history, right up there with some of the poignant scenes from Grim Fandango and the heart-breaking ending to Ocarina of Time. What exactly am I referring to?
Great Nintendo Gaming Moments #6: The Death of Rachel, Final Fantasy III/VI (SNES/GBA)
I won't start the gazillionth internet debate on which Final Fantasy is the greatest of all time, but despite VII's superior commercial success, VI (or III if you acquired the US SNES version) is the one old school FF fans often think of most highly. With an intricate plot, incredible character depth, the most varied combat system of an FF title and one of the best RPG villains in existence, it's got a lot going for it. Particularly taking the depth of character into consideration, it goes without saying that the player grows attached to the characters as the story progresses. Around 25 hours in, a scene takes place that is so beautifully realised it made me weep true man tears.
Locke returns home to find his true love Rachel lying dead in her bed, after a brutal attack on the town of Kohlinghen by the Imperial army. Fortunately, Locke has just acquired the damaged Phoenix magicite, which he activates, bringing his love back to life. Hurray, hugs all round! Except it's unfortunately not a happy ending. Yes, the magicite has brought her back to life, but only for a fleeting moment. Long enough only for Rachel to give her heartfelt thanks to Locke for coming back for her and taking care of her, before setting him free of his guilt and setting his heart free from the chains of their love. *sob*
On the plus side, the damaged magicite has been fixed, giving you a brand new awesome Esper (VI's version of Guardian Forces/Summons). But it's a bit hard to be all gleeful, what with the whole death thing...
It's probably my favorite scene from the game, right up there with Kefka destroying the whole planet, and is just marvellously handled. The lamenting music, the heart-wrenching dialogue, the poignant blip-blip-blipping as Rachel's soul slips away, and Locke's 4-pixel expression of despair all add up to create a memorable (and tearful) atmosphere. Check out the Youtube clip below, but make sure you've got some tissues nearby!
Mark Salmela is back for the latest edition of B3yond the Report, with a preview of the Tokyo Games Show and a look at all the upcoming top tier PS3 titles.
The PC Centric Extravaganza is brought to you by Chris Evans, focusing on Dead Space, the modding community, and SAS Secure Tomorrow.
Derek Robbins runs down the Top 10 Best Cliche Levels in this week's 10th Hour.
Jordan Williams takes us through the games that claim to be the "GTA Killers". Check that out in this week's Working Title.
Chris Vicari resurfaces to bring you The PC Spotlight. Chris Evans had previously been the sole pilot for PC gaming here at 411 Games, so it's great that Chris Vicari has jumped on board to lend a hand.
Tommy Coloma also debuts a new column with The Import Scene, which...you guessed it...looks at the world of import gaming.
That's it for me this week, folks. Thanks for checking out the Two Year Anniversary column, and hopefully you'll stick around for two more! Big thanks to all my loyal readers for supporting the column all this time, and of course to the 411mania empire for allowing me to do my thang on a weekly basis. See ya'll next week!
Here, here, here we go,
So they're finally here performing for you,
If you know the words you can join in too,
Put your hands together if you want to clap,
As we take you through this monkey rap,
HUH!!
DK, Donkey Kong!!
He's the leader of the bunch, you know him well,
He's finally back, to kick some tail,
His coconut gun can fire in spurts,
If he shoots ya, it's gonna hurt,
He's bigger, faster and stronger too,
He's the first member of the DK crew!
HUH!!
DK, Donkey Kong!!
DK, Donkey Kong is here!!
This Kong's got style, so listen up dudes,
She can shrink in size to suit her mood,
She's quick and nimble when she needs to be,
She can flout through the air and climb up trees,
If you choose her, you'll not choose wrong,
With a skip and a hop, she's one cool Kong!
HUH!!
DK, Donkey Kong!!
He has no style, he has no grace,
This Kong has a funny face,
He can handstand when he needs to,
And stretch his arms out just for you,
Inflate himself just like a balloon,
This crazy Kong just digs this tune!
HUH!!
DK, Donkey Kong!!
DK, Donkey Kong is here!!
He's back again and about time too,
And this time he's in the mood,
He can fly real high with his jetpack on,
With his pistols out he's one tough Kong,
He'll make you smile when he plays his tune,
But Kremlings beware cos he's after you!
HUH!!
DK, Donkey Kong!!
HUH!!
Finally he's here, he's here for you,
It's the last member of the DK crew,
This Kong's so strong, it isn't funny,
He'll make a Kremling cry out for mummy,
He can pick up a boulder with relative ease,
Makes crushing rocks seem such a breeze,
He may move slow, he can't jump high,
But this Kong's is one hell of a guy!
Posted By: Matt P (Guest) on October 08, 2008 at 05:43 AM
FF6 is filled with a lot of these moments. Cyan's family saying goodbye on the ghost train, Gau trying to reunite with his father...with moments like these, I hope it gets a DS remake like FF4 just so I can see scenes in 3D.
Posted By: Vincent Chiucchi (Registered) on October 08, 2008 at 07:33 AM
