Nintendophiles 03.11.09: Punch-Out Wii, Dead Space: Extraction, Red Steel 2.

Posted by Theo Fraser on 03.11.2009

In the latest edition of the Nintendophiles, 411’s Theo Fraser looks at the long awaited return of the Punch-Out series! From there, discussion of the known Dead Space gameplay details, why MotionPlus technology is seeing a minor setback, and a look at the first artwork for Red Steel 2! Check out the full column for all the details!





Man Flu. Spawn of the devil, I tell you. OK, I freely admit I'm the melodramatic sort, but this current bout of man-flu has got me feeling like death. No, wait, death would be a preferable option right now. Last night I thought I'd started the menopause, as I kept going from being freezing cold to sweltering hot in the space of a minute. On the plus side, I'm hoping I may be able to take a day off, in which I spend the entire day in bed, cooped up in front of my Wii. Hmm, if I'm still ill next week, I may be able to coincide it with the release of GTA: Chinatown Wars and MadWorld. Maybe this man flu is actually a blessing in disguise.

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Nintendo unveil Punch-Out gameplay mechanics
Credit: GoNintendo

It's been 15 years since Nintendo delivered a knock-out blow to the competition with Super Punch-Out!! on the SNES. Fast-forward to 2009, and Nintendo is once again stepping inside the squared-circle to do combat with the opposition, rearing back for another slobberknocker with Punch-Out Wii. Surprisingly, Nintendo had been relatively quiet up until now with regard to the specifics of how it will control (obvious motion control notwithstanding), but that changed this week as Nintendo revealed a fact sheet, detailing playable characters and the various control set-ups.

• Characters include: Little Mac, Glass Joe, King Hippo, Von Kaiser and trainer Doc Louis. Fully rendered in cel-shaded 3D.


• Throw right hands with the Wii remote, left hands with nunchuk, just like Wii Sports Boxing.


• Control hooks and jabs by combining gestures with control stick movement on the nunchuk.


• NES-style control set up included; turn Wii remote on its side (a la ExciteTruck) for Classic Control, using purely the 1 and 2 buttons and the D-pad.


• "Star Punches" – special moves. Allows your character to take off more health from your opponent with a single strike.

The inclusion of Classic Control is interesting. Are Nintendo catering to the stubborn, old-school gamers who refuse to succumb to the ways of motion control, or is this a sign that it actually works better played with a ‘proper' controller? Wii Sports Boxing was perfectly intuitive (and a lot of fun!) but there were often a couple of issues in terms of responsiveness and the Wii detecting all your inputs. I would have thought Nintendo would know how to correct this by now, but it's something to bear in mind, at least.

No word on gameplay modes; I sincerely hope there's some kind of career mode in there somewhere. If the gameplay works well, sure, an Arcade mode will keep gamers busy for a short while, but everyone needs something to sink their teeth into, and I don't see how Nintendo could justify a $50 price tag without a ‘proper' single player mode. Hopefully this sort of thing will be detailed in the coming months. Expect to hear more on Punch-Out as we gear up for its May 18th launch date.

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More Dead Space: Extraction background info
Credit: CVG, Nintendo Power

It looks as if this is how we'll be getting our Dead Space news, at least for the time being. Each week, tiny snippets of information are revealed, slowly but surely filling out the back story of the title, letting us know what to expect. This time around, a couple of control mechanics have been divulged, alongside character info and a few other tidbits. So let's get to it!

For a start, although the game is a first-person shooter ‘experience' (a decision made mainly due to the use of the Wii remote), you'll catch glimpses of the game's protagonist in cut-scenes and the like, and this time you'll be taking command of a female lead called Lexine (although there will be multiple characters to take control of at various points throughout the adventure). The proceedings take place three weeks before the events of the 360/PS3 Dead Space original, and begin on a planet, before moving to the spaceship Ishimura (where the first game is set), which at this time is still fully inhabited. Considering the ship is deserted three weeks later once Isaac arrives, one would assume something pretty catastrophic is about to occur!





In terms of weaponry, the famed flamethrower will make a grandiose return (hopefully guaranteeing us some sweet flame physics), and several types of pistols will be at your disposal. We now know that the nunchuk will be used to reload, and the remote's tilt function will be brought into play for close attacks (which presumably means melee attacks, such as pistol-whipping), but motion control won't just be used offensively; with a shake of both controllers, you can shake off enemies, should they latch on to you. Telekinesis is employed with the IR pointer, and the Wii remote speaker is used as an ‘audio log', which could be great if used sparingly. I'd say EA have got all the bases covered there, making full use of the motion control technology.

It's a case of so far, so good. Nothing particularly stands out as being incredibly innovative, but then again, that doesn't seem to be what EA are going for with this one; it looks as if they just want to offer a solid shooter to the mature, core Wii owners. If they can deliver everything they've planned thus far, we should have a decent title on our hands. We'll probably hear a little bit more next week, if the past few weeks have been any indication.

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MotionPlus set back a few months?
Credit: CVG

Wii owners expected to see the MotionPlus attachment on sale this spring, and whilst that may no longer be the case, Nintendo are adamant that this is not due to a ‘delay'. I see a few raised eyebrows in the room...allow me to elaborate.

At E3 2008, Nintendo revealed the MotionPlus Wii remote enhancement, alongside Wii Sports Resort, the glorified tech demo that will retail alongside the attachment, and a Spring 2009 release date was hinted at. ‘Hinted at' being the key word, apparently. It turns out that Nintendo aren't quite ready to release the device (as evident in Wii Sports Resort's absence from recent release schedules), seemingly confirming the rumors of a couple of issues with the technology that need addressing before it can see a general release. As such, the device now may not go on sale until June or even later into the Summer. But according to Nintendo, this cannot be seen as a delay, as an original release date was never officially revealed.





Nintendo's words exactly were, "No date was ever announced for MotionPlus - so technically it can't be delayed." That's a bit of a smarmy response, if you ask me. Very often games are given a vague release window, and are still announced as ‘delayed' if they physically aren't ready in time to meet that window. The defensive nature employed by Nintendo is curious here...should we be worried? Are there *significant* issues with the technology? I haven't heard any ominous rumors of that sort, and the device may ship sometime around June, which isn't that much of an extra wait, but one can't help but be intrigued by Nintendo's attitude. This is definitely one to keep an eye on.

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Red Steel 2 artwork

After the debacle of recent weeks where Red Steel 2 was kinda confirmed, then kinda confirmed a little bit more but still unofficial, and then finally, properly confirmed, it's refreshing to be able to offer the first pieces of media for the project. Below are two examples of concept art from the title, showing off some exterior locations, clearly once again rooting the game in Japan.








I'm not going to go crazy and try to analyse these for hidden meanings or anything, but it's nice to see the title's progress. The urban settings in RS1 worked well and looked pretty decent, especially considering it was a launch title, so it's good to see Ubisoft are at least attempting to add some visual flair with these intricate backgrounds. It's worth noting that these are ‘full realised' concept art, i.e. not just the pencil black-and-white drawings, inferring that these are the images the actual locations will be modelled on...inferring that they are ACTUALLY being modelled right now. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the title up and running at this year's E3.

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The 411 Games Crew

The Full Circle: 360 News Report is brought to you by Joe Roche.

Drew Robbins checks in with Three Player Co-op, alongside John De Large and Todd Vote.

Greg Bruno brings you another instalment of What If?!

The 411 Games Top 5 is presented by Todd Vote, focusing on the games the 411 Games staff have most regretted playing.

John De Large sets his sights on Sonic the Hedgehog in this week's What I Hate About You.

Derek Robbins counts down the Top 10 Pokemon titles in The 10th Hour.


Right, back to my pit to hibernate for a few days. Assuming I don't fall into a man-flu-induced coma, I'll be back in 7 days. Hope to see ya then! Thanks for reading.

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