Blogging the (Nintendo) Revolution

Revolution release date silliness

Game Asylum lists the Nintendo Revolution as "available Christmas 2005" for $299.95 (but with a list price of $499.00). No, no, no! The Revolution won't be out by Christmas, and I wouldn't trust the price either. Really, I don't know why anyone would post this crap. In the very unlikely event that this is true (no way!), I will eat my shirt.

Will you buy SSX because it has Mario, Luigi, and Peach in it?

I love Mario as much as the next, but I'm slightly worried by the recent trend of lending out characters to other developers to put them in their game. Latest example: SSX on Tour. This game will have Mario, Luigi and Peach in it (screens), as an extra incentive for you to buy it. This leads me to ask two questions. 1. Won't this dilute the Mario brand? 2. Does it work? The Mario name is very strong, but lately we haven't seen him in the capacity that made him famous: Awesome platform gameplay. Sure, Mario strikers will be fun, I'll play the new Mario Party, and I'll get grooving on DDR Mario Mix. But, the game I really want is Mario 128. I think that's the game that everyone wants. The fans will tolerate all these Mario titles, and will probably play them, but Nintendo shouldn't forget that Mario is first and foremost a platform hero. I'm sure that many people will buy the new SSX because it has Mario in it. Hell, I bought Soul Calibur because it had Link in it. However, I think it will only be a matter of time before the fans will tire of it.

Aaaahh, nostalgia...

Do you remember the Super Mario Brothers Super Show, yes the series Lou Albano with, and The Legend of Zelda animated series? I certainly do, and I especially look back fondly to the Zelda-series. Now you can see them again online at the Yahooligans website. A fun way to spend a dreary Sunday morning.

Metroid Prime Hunters will go online

After the disappointing Zelda delay, I could use some good news. This certainly qualifies don't you think? Sure we'll have to wait until the first quarter of 2006 for Metroid Prime Hunters to launch, but it will launch "complete with access to Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection". The press release also mentions that:

For the first time, fans can get their hands on a trial version of the new single-player mission of Metroid Prime Hunters this weekend at the Penny Arcade Expo in Bellevue, Wash. Attendees also can see three previously unreleased bounty hunter characters in the game. These include Sylux, a ruthless sharpshooter who harbors an intense hatred for Metroid heroine Samus Aran; Trace, a young outcast who seeks power and a planet to invade; and Weavel, a cyborg Space Pirate assassin.

Sweet! I'll be checking the web for first-hand gameplay reports from Penny Arcade Expo-visitors. If you're going to that event feel free to drop me a line.

Revolution controller to be revealed at Toky Game Show

SPOnG reports that the wait is almost over, and that Nintendo will spill the beans on the Nintendo Revolution console and the mysterious controller at TGS 2005. To be precise at Iwata's keynot on the 16th of September. Here's what they think the keynote will entail:

Iwata will make his presentation of current activities at Nintendo. He will outline current projects and will then - unveil the Revolution in all its glory. The Revolution presentation will include an explicit outline of the hardware and its controller and input mechanic, as well as illustrate exactly how it will work. It will go on to show games running on the system and how they make use of the technology.

They also mention that Mario 128 will be "the star of the show"". Could it really be true? The people at SPOnG say they are 100% certain of this, and their track record for this kind of stuff is decent. In light of IGN's Matt Casamassina's recent comments (saying that the Revoluiton would be revealed soon), I'm going to put this in the 'very likely'-category. More on this as the story develops.

Early impressions of the Game Boy Micro at Kotaku

In a nutshell, they like it. I still think it is a tad expensive at $99, but this report is pretty encouraging:

Despite the Micro’s small size, early play-testing leaves me quite happy with the device. I’d even say that this is probably more comfortable then using the already fantastically designed GBA SP. For short burst of play, it feels like the Micro was built for my hands, almost like I had one made for me.

They also really like thescreen. I still have an original GBA (yeah I know), but I might just swtart saving up to replace it with one of these spiffy Micros.

What Gamecube games will you hang on to in the next generation?

As new consoles become available, many games of the previous generation
are often unceremoniously dumped on the used market. Backwards compatibility, a new thing for a non-handheld Nintendo console, means that there is some life in the current Gamecube games. What are you planning to do for the next generation? Are you going to keep your entire collection? Sell everything, or keep select titles?

I'm still undecided. I think I'm leaning towards keeping all my games, but what I do know for sure is that I'll definitely keep these titles:

• Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
• Super Monkey Ball 2
• Mario Kart: Double Dash
• Super Smash Brothers Melee [1]
• Metroid Prime 1&2
• Resident Evil 4
• Tales of Symphonia

What are your thoughts?

[1] I might sell SSBM if the Revolution looks so good that I'd never play the old one anyways. Then, again SSBM might only fetch a couple of dollars. Who doesn't have this game?

Daily Game evaluates Nintendo's next-gen strategy

Daily Game takes a long hard look at Nintendo's next-gen strategy in an insightful article. They take a reasonable fair and balanced view that makes for a good read. While the article doesn't provide anything really new, I think it's better than controller mock-up #4576. So go read Viva La Revolution: Evaluating Nintendo's Next-Gen Strategy. [Via: Infendo]

Here, kitty kitty!

I'm more of a cat-person than a dog-person. Quite frankly, dogs scare me. Naturally, I would never admit that in public. I usually say I appreciate the independent spirits of cats (which is also true, but really secondary to being afraid of dogs). Of course the extremely cute puppies of Nintendogs don't give me the shivers, but I'd still prefer a cat version of the virtual pet simulator for the DS. Eurogamer reports that such a version might be forthcoming. In an interview with Hideki Konno he mentions: "To tell the truth, we were already starting to develop a cat-based game at the outset of this project. So we already have the cat models, voice data and so on". Does this mean we'll see a Nintencats game soon? While Konno declined to give a real confirmation or a release date, it seems inevitable that it'll come out eventually.

Amazon France takes a stab at the Nintendo Revolution Price & Release date

Amazon France estimates a price of 299.99 euros, and a release date of June 15th for the upcoming Nintendo Revolution console. I would take this with a grain of salt. If it's true it'll be around the price of the Xbox 360 (The Core system will go for $299.99), which means that the Revolution wouldn't meet the expectation of being 'the inexpensive console'. Kotaku sez they "can’t imagine they just through a dart at the board to get the price and date. Call it an educated guess, but the information has to be coming from somewhere". Actually, I can imagine that. They just took a guess, and put the price of the Nintendo Revolution to match the 360 Core system. Hopefully we'll hear more about this soon...