I plan on posting a short piece on Nintendo's slow switch from releasing Revolution "with or before" their competitors to releasing "in the same time frame." Here's the lastest refinement from Satoru Iwata in the same Spong.com interview I mentioned earlier:
“And of course, I cannot comment on when we’ll begin selling the Revolution. But I believe that our target audience is totally different than that Sony is aiming at with the PlayStation 3. And therefore slight differences in launch timings will not be very important. For example, if we were to launch a month sooner or a month later, I really don’t think it will matter a great deal."
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Revolution taking a cue from DS?
Spong.com has posted an interview with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata in which he says:
"I will tell you that the Nintendo DS is the key indication for what Nintendo really wants to do with the Revolution."
I haven't heard a statement this direct about the Revolution's relationship to the DS before. I hope that Revolution will take a cue from the WiFi aspects of the DS rather than the touch screen. That would make sense, also, given some of the other cryptic comments Nintendo executives have allowed to slip out. For example, this from Reggie Fils-Aime in the November GameInformer:
"We believe that the consumer wants more in the area of community, and we are looking at how we deliver that. ... What I am saying is that with our next home console we will address the area of gamer community. ... We are passionate about enabling our gamers to play their friends [and] to play with others across long distances."
"I will tell you that the Nintendo DS is the key indication for what Nintendo really wants to do with the Revolution."
I haven't heard a statement this direct about the Revolution's relationship to the DS before. I hope that Revolution will take a cue from the WiFi aspects of the DS rather than the touch screen. That would make sense, also, given some of the other cryptic comments Nintendo executives have allowed to slip out. For example, this from Reggie Fils-Aime in the November GameInformer:
"We believe that the consumer wants more in the area of community, and we are looking at how we deliver that. ... What I am saying is that with our next home console we will address the area of gamer community. ... We are passionate about enabling our gamers to play their friends [and] to play with others across long distances."
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Zelda GCN reminders
It's being reported that in an interview with a French magazine, Eiji Aonuma said that the Gamecube Legend of Zelda will be "very, very beautiful." So that's good. I thought I'd compile a list of some other tidbits about the game we've heard in the past. This is from the E3 2004 roundtable discussion on the game with Aonuma and Miyamoto:
"One thing that I can say is that up until now we've really focused on a young link maturing into a more grown up Link. This time we're going to be focusing more heavily on a more teenage/grown-up Link and so with that in mind we're going to be looking at different ways to express Link as an older teenager and trying to incorporate those types of features into the game."
And this:
"I'd like to see a lot of new ideas implemented, especially in the realm of puzzle-solving and that sort of thing. So I've asked Mr. Aonuma to focus his attention on that."
And this:
"I actually don't want Link to talk very much."
The last one I find unfortunate. The game is going to be great, there's no doubt about it. But I think it won't be revolutionary. It won't show the way forward for the genre like Ocarina of Time did. But, I think it could - especially if they combined some of the conventions of a Square-Enix grand RPG with the all-out fun of Zelda. That hasn't been done, I think. And that would be awesome.
"One thing that I can say is that up until now we've really focused on a young link maturing into a more grown up Link. This time we're going to be focusing more heavily on a more teenage/grown-up Link and so with that in mind we're going to be looking at different ways to express Link as an older teenager and trying to incorporate those types of features into the game."
And this:
"I'd like to see a lot of new ideas implemented, especially in the realm of puzzle-solving and that sort of thing. So I've asked Mr. Aonuma to focus his attention on that."
And this:
"I actually don't want Link to talk very much."
The last one I find unfortunate. The game is going to be great, there's no doubt about it. But I think it won't be revolutionary. It won't show the way forward for the genre like Ocarina of Time did. But, I think it could - especially if they combined some of the conventions of a Square-Enix grand RPG with the all-out fun of Zelda. That hasn't been done, I think. And that would be awesome.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Online vs. Print
A post at www.damnedmachines.com lists reasons that print supposedly sucks. Their number one reason is this:
"This point has been brought up already, multiple times. You can try to keep selling a magazine to people who don't realize that sites like GameSpot do exactly what you do and do it better or you can realize that you, your writers and your audience are growing older. ... Where are the articles on people using DDR for weight loss? On couples going on virtual dates in World of Warcraft? On the difficulties of gaming while parenting? On people who quit their jobs to game? A day in the life of a MMORPG GM? On the weirdos working on Sociolotron? On industry gossip? There's a million ideas out there like this."
While it's true that the gaming magazines need to move toward covering the culture more than just the games, I don't see the internet sites writing these stories, either. Yes, there may be personal accounts of such issues; but researched, investigative articles on these topics aren't to be found on the internet, either.
They go on to "liveblog" EGM quite critically, a truly misguided choice - of all the gaming magazines out there, EGM is trying the hardest to move the industry into the mainstream. They have the most non-game ads, they expanded their "Press Start" section about the culture to almost half the magazine, and they bring in guest writers every issue to report on trends.
"This point has been brought up already, multiple times. You can try to keep selling a magazine to people who don't realize that sites like GameSpot do exactly what you do and do it better or you can realize that you, your writers and your audience are growing older. ... Where are the articles on people using DDR for weight loss? On couples going on virtual dates in World of Warcraft? On the difficulties of gaming while parenting? On people who quit their jobs to game? A day in the life of a MMORPG GM? On the weirdos working on Sociolotron? On industry gossip? There's a million ideas out there like this."
While it's true that the gaming magazines need to move toward covering the culture more than just the games, I don't see the internet sites writing these stories, either. Yes, there may be personal accounts of such issues; but researched, investigative articles on these topics aren't to be found on the internet, either.
They go on to "liveblog" EGM quite critically, a truly misguided choice - of all the gaming magazines out there, EGM is trying the hardest to move the industry into the mainstream. They have the most non-game ads, they expanded their "Press Start" section about the culture to almost half the magazine, and they bring in guest writers every issue to report on trends.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Amped 3 for Xbox 360?
Of all the rumored names for the next Xbox, I really like Xenon the best. It's too bad I'm pretty sure that isn't going to win out, but Xbox 360 has a nice ring to it, too. If the name ends up being correct, I wonder if it will be called just the Xbox still or if people will start calling it the 360.
Well, no matter what's it called, Amped 3 is going to play on it. I suppose this isn't huge news, but it's the only "exclusive" information I really have. So I thought I'd try to spread it around. See, I'm a student at BYU with Sean Neff, who runs some snowboard clothing company (that I've never heard of, but others have). They've had him record some stuff for Amped 3 (he was in Amped 2 as well) and he told me that they got about halfway into production when it was moved from the Xbox to the 360. And this was several months ago - launch title, perhaps?
Well, no matter what's it called, Amped 3 is going to play on it. I suppose this isn't huge news, but it's the only "exclusive" information I really have. So I thought I'd try to spread it around. See, I'm a student at BYU with Sean Neff, who runs some snowboard clothing company (that I've never heard of, but others have). They've had him record some stuff for Amped 3 (he was in Amped 2 as well) and he told me that they got about halfway into production when it was moved from the Xbox to the 360. And this was several months ago - launch title, perhaps?
Better over time...
This is my first time blogging. I hope to fill this space with interesting analysis of trends in the videogame world, as well as a review now and then. It's more for me; as an outlet for the ideas I have, than to try and really create anything incredibly unique.
However, one thing that is missing from a lot of online (and print, for that matter) videogame journalism is research. That Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is going to have a multiplayer mode is reported as shocking news months after Miyamoto indicated as much in an interview; that Nintendo doesn't come through at E3 is treated as a surprise despite a history of overpromising. A lot of information can be culled and pieced together from the various online and print sources and I think I can do that well.
I do think that most videogame journalists do an admirable job, I'm not an IGN hater, for example. But that doesn't mean I'm not willing to see if I can add something worthwhile.
However, one thing that is missing from a lot of online (and print, for that matter) videogame journalism is research. That Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is going to have a multiplayer mode is reported as shocking news months after Miyamoto indicated as much in an interview; that Nintendo doesn't come through at E3 is treated as a surprise despite a history of overpromising. A lot of information can be culled and pieced together from the various online and print sources and I think I can do that well.
I do think that most videogame journalists do an admirable job, I'm not an IGN hater, for example. But that doesn't mean I'm not willing to see if I can add something worthwhile.
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