Reuters: Nintendo is Stealing E3

[Joe]

Actually, behavior wise, Nintendo was the high-school bully back in the day before Sony fucked them in the ass. They got fined for unfair competition practices, IIRC. Don't know if Sony has behaved in a similar fashion, asides from using their deep pockets to screw everyone over as corporations are wont to do.

Nintendo backstabbed Sony back in the day - the abotive CD-ROM attachment for the SNES was a joint venture between the two companies. Nintendo pulled out at the last minute - leaving Sony with the beginnings of the PlayStation 1.

I'm pretty sure Sony has yet to even approach the level of arrogance and general asshattery displayed by Nintendo in the years leading up to the N64, when they were sure they would King Shit during the third generation of console systems.

[Vendetta]

I'm pretty sure Sony has yet to even approach the level of arrogance and general asshattery displayed by Nintendo in the years leading up to the N64, when they were sure they would King Shit during the third generation of console systems.

I think the PS3 is getting close to that. They're offloading a lot of costs onto developers, the same way that Nintendo used to, and aren't providing any significantly better opportunities other than brand association in return. But unlike Nintendo, Sony aren't going to give anything back to the consumer either.

The only thing Sony showed at this E3 that I actually give a shit about was a PS2 game, God of War 2.

[Anarchist Bunny]

I don't get the impression that the fun factor of this particular toy is going to be well-reflected in static screenshots.

Not to mention there's more to graphical and performace increase than simply polygon count and lighting. It's not like Mario needs more detail on his body than he currently has.

Exactly, look at the start up of the Super Smash Bros. Brawl video. Mario barely changes except for his jeans get more detail. Kirby and Pikachu barely change at all, because they are all cartoon characters. Link how ever made a significant change.

[Admiral Valdemar]

I would imagine the more realistic, non-cartoon characters would get the graphical overhaul, as I expect Snake will given he's in the new Super Smash Bros.

[Davis 51]

I would imagine the more realistic, non-cartoon characters would get the graphical overhaul, as I expect Snake will given he's in the new Super Smash Bros.

Having seen the video, I can say that snake was easily the best looking character on there. Kirby, Pikachu and the like didn't look that much better because they already have as much detail as they need, but everyone else recieved a modest boost in graphical detail, and that's good enough for me.

[Stark]

Yeah, Snake looks fine, and Link looks ... like Link from TP. I'm more interested in the even MORE outrageous moves and the way the game appeared to flow differently. It's controller-controlled, not remote, right?

[Duckie]

Yeah, Snake looks fine, and Link looks ... like Link from TP. I'm more interested in the even MORE outrageous moves and the way the game appeared to flow differently. It's controller-controlled, not remote, right?

I think the remote can be used to play it if you were so inclined but there's no motion sensing capability which basically makes you use the pad.

I'm worried that the specials and new moves will unbalance the fighting that made 'pro' SSBM so fun. Hopefully they didn't fix glitches such as Wavedancing and dashing and so forth and short hopping. That would lower the strategic depth of SSBB immensely.

[Stark]

Yeah - at my peak, a friend and I could take the same character (usually Fox or Samus) and have utterly insane airbourne Matrix-fu battles that were almost totally even. THAT would suck to lose - just WATCHING a good SSB battle is fun.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

I recall reading that it uses the GameCube controller for input exclusively.

[Anarchist Bunny]

Yeah, Snake looks fine, and Link looks ... like Link from TP. I'm more interested in the even MORE outrageous moves and the way the game appeared to flow differently. It's controller-controlled, not remote, right?

I think the remote can be used to play it if you were so inclined but there's no motion sensing capability which basically makes you use the pad.

I'm worried that the specials and new moves will unbalance the fighting that made 'pro' SSBM so fun. Hopefully they didn't fix glitches such as Wavedancing and dashing and so forth and short hopping. That would lower the strategic depth of SSBB immensely.

Well, at the very least those new super moves seemed to be item oriented, which means they can be easily turned off.

[Duckie]

Yeah - at my peak, a friend and I could take the same character (usually Fox or Samus) and have utterly insane airbourne Matrix-fu battles that were almost totally even. THAT would suck to lose - just WATCHING a good SSB battle is fun.

Indeed, I have 72 or so SSB videos stashed in a folder somewhere. I haven't seen them all, but I have seen most with Ken (for his skills), AZEN (because he rocks at every single character), and DSF (because he's a Sheik user like me).

If SSBB 'fixes' the things that made SSBM competative in the first place, I don't think I would be enthused at all. Without wavedancing, shffling, and the myriad of other terms that could fill up a dictionary of tactics there would be no SSBM community at all.

Well, at the very least those new super moves seemed to be item oriented, which means they can be easily turned off.

Oh true. But I bet they'll introduce new mechanics that we've never seen before. Dodging, Air Dodges, and ->+B moves weren't in the first SSB but they were in the second after all.

[Mr Bean]

Yeah, Snake looks fine, and Link looks ... like Link from TP. I'm more interested in the even MORE outrageous moves and the way the game appeared to flow differently. It's controller-controlled, not remote, right?

I think the remote can be used to play it if you were so inclined but there's no motion sensing capability which basically makes you use the pad.

Which is a shame if you think about...

Just think, you swing a sword, or fly a plane with this thing... Now you can fight with it! Look as my friend and I play, him as Link and me as Mario. Look how releastic Link looks as he staggers onscreen right after clock my friend over his head with my controller, and look how reflective the tears in Mario's eyes are after my friend knee's me in the groin.




Come on now, think how purely evil this game would be if the above were true.

[Ace Pace]

The developer of SSB mentioned that while they have looked at the Wii remote as a possible method of control, they decided to remain with traditional input. I can find the interview if required.

[Mad]

I'm worried that the specials and new moves will unbalance the fighting that made 'pro' SSBM so fun. Hopefully they didn't fix glitches such as Wavedancing and dashing and so forth and short hopping. That would lower the strategic depth of SSBB immensely.

Apparently each of the SSBB developers have played over 10,000 games of SSBM, if that eases fears any.

Of course, there's no guarantee a glitch will stay unless it's specifically coded into the game mechanics. After all, a change in the physics system to support a new character could prevent the glitch from ever occuring. But if any of the developers make use of those skills, I'm sure they'll want to ensure the ability to do them stays in the next game.

[Shogoki]

Yeah, they basically took a group of game developers obsesed with SSBM and put them under the original creator of the game, who is now the director of the whole thing. I have high hopes for this game. I just hope he doesnt get Peter Jackson syndrome.

[Praxis]

So... now that you've used the system, can you tell us how Vympel was right about the stupid, sucky, unintuitive control scheme?

Link

Zelda information:
- NO SWINGING THE CONTROLLER for the sword, you just press a button. There are some cases where you will swing though. Reason = you’ll get tired too fast

Didn't see that one coming!

No, I obviously didn't know what I was talking about at all. The entire "move the controller to do stuff" schtick sounds really cool until you think about it for more than two seconds. It is in general not practical to actually swing your arm to swing a sword when playing a game. As I said, you get kind of tired. But hey, if they actually make the thing properly, requiring genuine little effort to play the game for a reasonable period of time, I'll happily concede the issue (and, when I see shitloads of games taking advantage, as opposed to a few, I'll concede that, too). But I had no illusions about how stupid it would be to use an exact emulation of physical movement as a control system. That Red Steel's control system is currently by all reports shit is not particularly encouraging- they can only hope to fix it by fourth quarter, which should be well within their capability.

Ignore the reason = part. That's one site's word, and I'll tell you right now that it's incorrect; both Red Steel and Dragon Quest Swords (which I saw a brief video of in a theater screening at Square Enix's booth) utilize a sword which you swing, and in fact, shooting tired me out more than swinging the sword on Red Steel (the motions don't have to be as broad as they advertise, but it's actually more fun to swing it like that- but if you want you can just twitch to swing) because with the demo units I had to hold my hand at a high angle to point at the screen while shooting, but with the sword I didn't have to point at the screen.

The reasons Zelda doesn't have you swinging the sword are twofold- one, the game's engine has already been written to use button-based attacks on the GameCube, so the best they can do without completely changing the combat engine is to add motion-based shortcuts- and two, the game is third person, not first (like Red Steel and Dragon Quest).

[Praxis]

I don't get the impression that the fun factor of this particular toy is going to be well-reflected in static screenshots.

Course not, the fun aspect is seperate- considering it's apparently not significantly better than the Gamecube from the point of view of how "advanced" it is, the start-up price difference seems questionable. It's probably all reflected in the online capabilities and the controller (though the Gamecube did have latent online capabilties that were never developed due to lack of interest).

EDIT: added comparison screenshot, me stupid.

This is in stark contrast to what the devs I spoke to at Blitz Games told me; in fact, he was rather excited about the system and felt that it could produce some impressive visuals, despite not being on the level of XBox 360 and PS3, once devs got the hang of it.

Anyway, the addition of WiFi ($100 extra on XBox 360 and only in the $600 PS3 model), built in memory, tiny size, the new controller, plus notably better visuals (despite not being a generational leap) are worth it to me. Plus all the new capabilities of course.

[Vicious]

Seeing the videos from E3 has made me decide to put off parts of a computer I'm in the process of building to get a Wii and at least TP (unsure on other launch titles, possibly FF:CC?).

Also, am I the only one utterly turned away by Mario: Galaxy? It just doesn't impress me, at least from what I've seen. Might rent it once it comes out and try it, but I have my doubts.

[Praxis]

It was a good game, enough to get me to buy it, but not on the level as Twilight Princess.

I've never played a Mario game that wasn't good, and Miyamoto is personally doing this one, so I'm buying.