Exclusive new Zelda deets

[Roto13]

Nintendo gave us the analog stick, the "dance pad controller" (even though it wasn't for dancing at the time), voice control (there was a mike in the Famicom controller), and saved the entire industry when it was on the verge of collapse in the 80's. They've made plenty of good decisions. They've made some bad ones, too, of course. That's because they take risks. The Game Cube's "kiddy image" shouldn't matter, since image is pointless. All about the games, and GCN has enough "adult" games. I don't know what they were thinking with the cartridges, though...

[ljkkjlcm9]

they were thinking of loading times with cartridges I'm sure, because some PS1 games have horrible loading times while N64 was instant always.

This seems like something Nintendo would do though. Zelda will be a last great buy for the GC, and also the first great buy for the Revolution, so people willing to spend the money on a revolution will get a bonus. I mean think about it. Zelda Link's awakening DX was a GB game but had bonus stuff on GBC, Oracle or ages/seasons were GBC games but had bonus stuff on GBA. This is definitely a nintendo and miyamoto move.

THE JACKEL

[Vyk]

I appreciate that they saved the industry, but that was 20 years ago. It hardly matters any more. They're not doing anything with it now. They're sitting in the corner doing their own thing putting on a show for their cult-followers, and not really much more. Yes, the DS is innovative, but it's not taking over the market by storm. They're just playing it normal and safe like. They don't take real risks, they take risks when they can afford the loss. Which is why they're still turning probably the biggest profit, while having the least market share. Analog control was inevitable. As was CD storage. I won't give them much credit for either choice they made in those regards. Cartridge wasn't such a bad idea if the industry hadn't wanted FMV so badly for some reason. And the GC doesn't really have a kiddy image, per se. It really is kiddy. The only mature games available on it are multi-platform. And even those are dreadfully few and far between. And its big name franchises are pretty paint-by-number any more. Yes, Mario had a water gun last time. Big whoop. He still ran around and jumped on things. If they stuck to repeating things that are fun, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. But they stick to things that are old and tired. There's never a new Zelda game anymore. They're more like re-makes or re-imaginings. Metroid Prime was the only true innovation, and it wasn't even developed by Nintendo themselves :/

[Maxico]

I like how the quality of the European gaming press is consistently ten years or so behind that of the American one.

That varies greatly. Magazines like GamesTM or *sigh* EDGE are miles ahead of any other magazine I've seen, American or otherwise in terms of quality and relative maturity.

Now console or company specific Magazines on the other hand are trash 99% of the time.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

I appreciate that they saved the industry, but that was 20 years ago. It hardly matters any more.

Of course it matters now. Columbus didn't do a whole heck of a lot after he discovered the Americas, but that event impacts the world in major ways to this very day. Likewise, Nintendo's acts in the mid-80s are reponsible for the entire industry as it exists right now.

They're not doing anything with it now. They're sitting in the corner doing their own thing putting on a show for their cult-followers, and not really much more.

They're the biggest innovators in the industry by far. Heck, they're practically the only innovators in the industry.

Yes, the DS is innovative, but it's not taking over the market by storm.

How is selling hundreds of thousands of units every week not taking the market by storm?

They're just playing it normal and safe like. They don't take real risks, they take risks when they can afford the loss.

The DS was a huge risk. The handheld market is Nintendo's biggest money-earner, so if their new handheld had flopped and forced them to recede to the GBA while Sony overtook the market with the PSP, they'd have been in quite a tight spot. The Revolution is another huge risk, as it favors an innovative yet highly unorthodox and unfamiliar method of control over sheer processing or graphics-producing power, which is what mainstream consumers are looking for.

Analog control was inevitable.

You may as well discredit every inventor and innovator who ever created everything, since, after all, somebody would have come up with their ideas eventually.

And the GC doesn't really have a kiddy image, per se. It really is kiddy. The only mature games available on it are multi-platform. And even those are dreadfully few and far between.

Some mature games that are exclusive to the GC are Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2, Eternal Darkness, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, and Geist. Those are just off the top of my head, and I'm not even into mature games.

And its big name franchises are pretty paint-by-number any more.

The same can be said for every single game company that has a franchise to its name. Huge upheavals of the status quo are for entirely new games, not installments in a series.

[Roto13]

Grand Theft Auto is paint-by-number. Halo is paint-by-number. Each Zelda game, however, brings something completely new to the table. Sailing, time traveling, repeating the same three days (not the same as Time Traveling) while transforming using different masks. Super Mario Sunshine revolved around a water canon. That makes it very different from Super Mario 64 right there. There had never been a game like Pikmin before it came out. Metroid Prime invented a genre. It's not an FPS. It's a First Person Adventure. Just to name a few.

[fantasyjunkie]

Good point, very good point

[Pouring Rain]

Oh God, I'll look like an idiot when I play Zelda on the Revolution -_-

[Roto13]

Oh, everyone will look like an idiot when they play anything on the Revolution, but at least it should be fun.

[Maxico]

I'd like to point out that Nintendo did NOT invent the analog stick, neither were they the first gaming company to introduce them to the console market. Sega was there a good generation before them with (an admittadly very rare, clunky and unrealeased outside of Japan) an optional analog controller for the MegaDrive.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Nintendo was the first to make analog input the standard for their console, though. Same deal with wireless controllers: they didn't invent the concept, but they were the first company to do it right.

[Vyk]

Precisely why I wasn't giving them credit for it. Had they invented it, sure. Same with the DS. Touch screen is awesome. But they didn't invent that. And I don't honestly think life would be any different for Nintendo had the PSP become more popular. Nintendo could afford to lose, because all they need is for their rabbid fans to do what they do. They survive more on fans than "installed user base". Regular gamers don't really help them out much, and I don't think they really count on them helping anyway

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

They survive more on fans than "installed user base". Regular gamers don't really help them out much, and I don't think they really count on them helping anyway

So you're saying diehard fanatics make up the majority of Nintendo's customers, right? Not that I'm going to refute it any more than I'd refute "The moon is made up of dry leaves and planaria." I just want to make sure.

[edczxcvbnm]

Regular gamers help out Nintendo tons. You don't maintain being the one of the top 3 most profitable publishers(Usually 1st or 2nd) with just followers.