Pre-E3 Wii thread

I have a feeling the Nintendo side of E3 will go like this:

Phase 1: Videos of new Nintendo games for the Wii are shown. People are wowed at the graphics being twice as good as the Gamecube (even though this should be expected by pretty much anyone that has common sense). A few demos are given with what the controller can do.

Phase 2: Launch games are shown and 3rd parties demo their games. Every video shows a person swinging the controller around like a crack addict even for something as simple as pointing.

Phase 3: DSLite US release is revealed...noone cares because they want to see more of the Wii.

Phase 4: Some big surprise is revealed. Price, online system, virtual reality, toaster-oven built in, etc., etc.

Who else wants to take a guess?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Prime Blue

And I'm sure Nintendo helps them a lot during development.

Nintendo turned them down when Nibris asked them to be their publisher.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Technophile

That picture kinda worries me. Either Wii's specs and power were severly underestimated, or that's a real-life human being, meaning that the game uses a mixture of cheesy live-action and CG graphics.

If it's the latter then I'm gonna be on the brink of ruling the game out. Using live-action for videogames never turns out to be a good thing. (With the exception of maybe the fighters in the Mortal Kombat series during it's early days).

It's a live action shot, see their other images on IGN. The only images that have been released for the "game" are concept art and live action pictures.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Taegueki

Holy marcral! Since when did SE start to support Nintendo? All I remember is them ditching Nintendo for using cart instead of CD... and some remade-FF came out for GBA for milking...

Well, that's pretty much why they made Crystal Chronicles: so Nintendo would let them make GBA games. I wonder if the Dragon Quest game will be like that, where it has the name but otherwise doesn't bear much resemblance to the other games in the series. Guess we'll find out if they release some images or footage of it.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by sprouticus

Especially after this bomb was dropped:

http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/rele...f/060509ae.pdf

No HDMI output on the base model
No Memory card slot on the base model
No Wi-Fi on the base model

Nice knowing ya, Sony.

Ehh, many people probably won't even notice the difference. For your typical uneducated consumer, they'll see the $500 price point and won't care to "upgrade" their console. Really, it depends on if they care about unwired online play or have an HDMI connection on their HDTV (isn't the reason Nintendo isn't supporting HD formats because they say not enough people HAVE HDTVs to justify it? Of those, even less have HDMI ports on their HDTV, and since no other console offers that capability, it's not like they're losing customers because of it). Those things alone CERTAINLY aren't enough to throw the console back into third place if it was going to be poised to take the top spot.

With that said, these "basic" models and the Wii seem to focus on your typical consumer that isn't interested in the bells and whistles with their console. Most will still end up buying a console in order to play games, they don't care much about value or flexability. Nintendo would be smart to advertise the Wii as having "everything you need for a gaming experience". I'm sure many previous console owners have been burned when they found out they needed to buy a $30 just to save their games. Even a simple thing like saying "512MB of built in flash memory to save and download games!" would probably help the Wii's marketing.

As far as the Wii's "secrets", rumor has it that the controller has a speaker built into it. So for example, the sound of your gun firing in an FPS can be made from the controller itself instead of on your normal speakers. A neat little gimmick, gotta hand it to Nintendo to come up with an efficient feature like that which offers something unique without costing much to add (I mean how much does including a speaker into the controller cost? Maybe 25 cents?). I'm a bit worried that this means the chance of having a microphone on the controller is practically non-existant, though.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by BurningRanger

Fixed!

Do you have any idea how much $200 was "worth" back in 1985 when the NES was released? $500 nowadays for what's seen as a "multimedia entertainment machine" is hardly out of the question, people are paying $500 just for HD-DVD players. The market for the Wii isn't the same as the market for the PS3. People aren't go "well I was GOING to get a Blu-ray/DVD/game player for $500, but I think I'll get a Wii instead since it costs less".

Quote:

Also, Sony's not a company that's very conducive to innovation. Care for an example? Eyetoy. Aside from DDR, not a single 3rd party game used that.

Sega SuperStars? Tony Hawk: American Wasteland? The Urbz? Granted, the last two was just to import your face into the game, but it was used nonetheless.

Quote:

Pressure Sensitive buttons ZOMG! How many games used that, though? Metal Gear and Silent Hill. Woo. Thanks Sony, I just paid an extra 10-20 dollars for your shitty unresponsive controller so I could have pressure sensitivity in one game.

Plus Zone of the Enders, Madden, GTA, Ridge Racer, even games like Baldor's Gate Dark Alliance. I doubt the analog sensitivity cost much to add though.

But really, this is getting off topic. Lets not debate the PS2/PS3 features here unless it somehow relates to the Wii. Complaining about PS2 hardware that was underused really doesn't have much purpose outside the PS2 or possibly PS3 thread.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by BurningRanger

At the risk of getting offtopic though... the speaker-in-remote plan is a horrible idea. The speaker will have to be small, like a Gameboy/DS speaker, and thus any sound produced would be highpitched and tinny. Which would kill the illusion of immersion created by my 5.1 sound system when i have gun sounds coming out of my hand that sound like they are from a $5 kids' toy.

I'm hoping that it will at least be good enough to make sounds like gunshots or lightsabers fairly accurately. It doesn't have to be super strong, but it would seem pretty pointless if it only made sounds that seem like they were ripped from an NES game.

In other news, Sega has announced an exclusive Sonic game for the Wii. From the sound of it, the "next gen" Sonic the Hedgehog that was already shown will only be on the PS3/Xbox 360, while Wii gets it's own Sonic game.

Quote:

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (May 9, 2006) - SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA® Europe Ltd. today announced Sonic Wild Fire (working title) exclusively for the Wii™. Developed by SEGA Studios, Sonic Wild Fire stars the Blue dude with the 'tude on his first solo adventure since the original Sonic The Hedgehog™ in 1991. This intense and exciting action game takes advantage of the innovative Wii™ controller as Sonic combines his trademark high-speed action with easy to play controls to offer a brand new experience!

Sonic's new adventure unfolds from a storybook of the classic tale, Arabian Nights, the last several pages from the book have gone missing, and it's up to Sonic to re-create the story. The vibrant environments provide for a refreshingly new look to the franchise filled with brightly colored mosaic tiles, glistening oases, swaying palm trees, and crumbling stone columns. Sonic activates specific areas in the prismatic environment to pull off new tricks and stunts, in addition to interacting head-on with various obstacles by jumping, dodging, and dashing.

"Sonic Wild Fire and the innovative Wii controller changes the way gamers play interactive entertainment," said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President of SEGA of America, Inc. "SEGA is excited to lead the gameplay revolution through its support of Wii with a Sonic release built exclusively for this new system."

Gamers will use the Wii controller to steer Sonic and experience an untapped freedom in gameplay and control. Hold the controller horizontally with two hands and tilt left and right to steer Sonic on different paths and maneuver deftly from obstacles and enemies. Continue to tilt and fling forward to dash-attack ground and air enemies and to break down barriers. In addition to the main game is an array of unique controller-focused mini-games which make Sonic Wild Fire fun to play alone or as a multiplayer game with friends. Get ready for a refreshing adventure that puts you on the forefront of gaming!

Sonic Wild Fire will be dashing to Wii's everywhere in 2007. For more information on SEGA's Road to E3 2006, please visit the official E3 page at www.sega.com/e3. For screenshots and artwork, please visit the SEGA FTP site at: http://segapr.segaamerica.com.

Honestly, it sounds pretty silly. "Sonic's new adventure unfolds from a storybook of the classic tale, Arabian Nights, the last several pages from the book have gone missing, and it's up to Sonic to re-create the story."...huh? That sounds like a plot for a really bad episode of Dora the Explorer. And holding the controller sideways to maneuver left and right? So you'd just use the controller to slide back and forth as you follow a railed path? That sounds like a Mario Party minigame more than a section of a Sonic game. Yeesh, I actually like the direction he's taking in the Xbox 360/PS3 game better.

Well, I guess we'll have to see some gameplay videos, I'm hoping they were just referring to the minigames and such when they were talking about those "innovative" uses for the Wii controller. And they said that you can look at screens from the game on their FTP, but I don't see any sign of it.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by chaofan

For reasons why Sony's "motion sensor" won't work, head over to the wonderful (sarcasm) guys at IGN:

http://revolution.ign.com/articles/705/705870p1.html

Though most of what they say is quite true. How could you hold a controller and be able to swing it? People complaining about having to move with a Wiimote won't have to scapegoat it anymore.

How does that say anything about the motion sensor not working? It just describes how the controller works and compares to the Wii controller. In fact they point out specific examples where the PS3's tilt sensitivity would work the same as the Wii controller. Also I don't think you actually have to *move* the PS3 controller, it just responds to tilt. Swinging it would be pointless.

They have similarities, but the Wii controller actually senses movement in 3d space whereas the PS3 controller senses tilt. Both will work for some things, while other things would require the full motion detection of the Wii controller.

Edit: wow, is it almost time for Nintendo's conference already? Maybe I should stay up for it anyway. Oh, and I'm absolutely terrible with time zones...what time does it start in Central Standard Time?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?