Nintendo Wii

retired_shannon · 07-26-2006, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bolton1987:
Hmm, I didn't mean wirelessly at all.

I meant the motion sensor - how do we know that's going to be realistic?

And, for example, for some games, it might be difficult to use the motion sensor - so will there be some sort of controller?

No...

you won't see many if any trandionally controlled games.

The only game that seems to be heading in that direction is Super Smash Bros: Brawl.

The general idea...is that there will be no traditional game pad except the Virtual console pad...which is needed for old games ofcourse.

retired_Moniicoxoxo · 07-26-2006, 07:18 PM

early tests (see E3 reviews) suggests that in games such as red steel, you don't point directly to the screen for your aim, but at the motion bar. but if we should belive Ubisoft (developers of Red Steel), they will have fixed that issue when wii is released. But of course, some games may be terrible with the motion bar, since it's up to each developer how they use the motion and accelerator technology that is provided with the Wii.

retired_bec8643 · 07-26-2006, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gaga_4_parma:
The E-Bay trickers.scammers have started...

Didn't last long though, listing is already invalid

retired_Rynny · 07-27-2006, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Gearbox Backs Wii
Maker of the acclaimed Brothers in Arms games pledges support for Nintendo's upcoming console.
by Matt Casamassina

July 26, 2006 - It looks like you can add another big-name third party developer to Nintendo's growing roster of Wii contributors. Gearbox Software, best known for the critically acclaimed Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 on PlayStation 2 and Xbox (the latter of which scored a 9.3 by IGN.com), revealed to IGN that it is signed up for the Big N's new console.

"Gearbox Software is enthusiastically supporting the Wii," said company president Randy Pitchford. The company head had no comment on what Wii projects it could be working on, saying only that, "At this time, we don't have any announcements to make about specific games we may be developing for Wii."

Asked what he thought of Nintendo's new console, Pitchford responded: "I think it's great. I'm very much looking forward to playing."

According to Pitchford, Wii has immediate strengths and weaknesses. "The strengths of the Nintendo Wii include the price, the unique interface, the sure-bet library of games based on the great Nintendo properties and the promise back catalogue of classic games from Nintendo and others that they have partnered with," he said. "The weaknesses of the system include its lower relative power when compared to other next-gen consoles and the unique interface requiring more dedicated focus specifically for the platform (which makes it more difficult to amortize larger AAA budgets across more customers from multiple platforms)."

Gearbox is currently underway with the next installment in the Brothers in Arms series, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway. The title has been officially announced for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. However, an allegedly leaked Ubisoft release calendar that hit the Web several months ago also listed an unnamed Brothers in Arms title for Nintendo Wii. Ubisoft has from the very beginning supported Nintendo's console with exclusive titles, including the first-person shooter Red Steel and the ground-up platformer Rayman Raving Rabbids, both of which will take advantage of Wii's innovative controller.

Quote:

Trauma Center Update
New details on Wii's first surgery game.
by IGN Staff

July 26, 2006 - Atlus may have given the honors to its American division to reveal its Wii-based sequel to Trauma Center, but it's only now that we're getting full details on the game. The latest issue of Famitsu has Trauma Center: Second Opinion as its big scoop for the week.

Titled Caduceus Neo in Japan, Second Opinion takes place in the near future and puts players in the role of Kousuke Tsukimori. Things kick off in 2018 as mankind feels the wrath of a mysterious incurable disease called Guilth. The Caduceus organization, which works in the shadows and attempts to eliminate all disease, will of course not stand for this. Tsukimori, a rookie doctor, comes into contact one day with a patient infected with Guilth. It turns out that Tsukimori is the doctor who will lead humanity to a new future.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion is actually a remake of the original rather than a full-blown sequel. To the scenarios of the original, the game adds a new scenario at the end and new characters here and there.

Atlus has made some big changes to Trauma Center with the Wii version. The game has updated character designs, with characters looking more adult than their DS counterparts. The game is also voiced, with famous Japanese voice actors providing the voices for the main characters in the Japanese version.

In terms of gameplay, the title's surgery system is now meant to play more like an action game. Listening to the advice of your nurse, you use the Wii remote to perform precision surgical cuts directly, with the nunchuck used in a few areas as well. This mode of play now has easy, normal and hard difficulty settings. You can also look forward to new types of surgery, including broken bones and heart transplants.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion is being directed by Kanada Daisuke and produced by Hashino Katsura, both of whom long-time Atlus fans should recognize. A Japanese release is set for 2006.

retired_Rynny · 07-27-2006, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Comic-Con 2006: LucasArts Comments on Wii
The makers of Star Wars and Indiana Jones confirm future Wii support.
by Mark Bozon

July 21, 2006 - In a Star Wars panel this afternoon at the San Diego Comic-Con, LucasArts representative Steve Sansweet confirmed that the company that would be working with all three next generation systems, most importantly for us, the Wii. During the Q&A session, a younger gamer took the microphone and asked if the company would be showing support for the newest motion-controlled Nintendo console. Sansweet's responded simply by stating the likeness between the Wii controller and a lightsaber, followed by a statement that LucasArts would be supporting every next generation system.

No word was given as to what possible titles could be on the way, and there was no further comment on the Wii. Nintendo fans were speculating that the somewhat "bad history" between LucasArts and the Big N could hurt the chances of a Star Wars or Indiana Jones Wii title, so the affirmation of total next gen. support is great news. More as it develops.

Quote:

Miyamoto Shares Wii Secrets
The origins of the nunchuck, Miyamoto's Wii games, and more.
by Anoop Gantayat

July 21, 2006 - Nintendo game master Shigeru Miyamoto, speaking with Japan's monthly Nintendo Dream as part of the magazine's 10th anniversary festivities, has shared a few intriguing details on the Wii, its controller, and his upcoming games.

Miyamoto first spoke about the origins of the system. "It was very important to have it become 'something that would be best to have there,'" he said, speaking of Nintendo's desire to make the Wii an attractive machine for households. Miyamoto feels that game machines had the status of a desirable household item at one point, but they lost it. The change happened when games "lost their fundamental nature as pure entertainment."

Wii development started with thoughts of "what kind of machine would make for a console that one wants to keep in the home?" The answer was something that doesn't get in the way, something "not frightening." The Wii project also began with the notion of making something "anyone can play, simply using one hand."

Of course, every Wii includes, in addition to the Wii-mote, the nunchuck accessory. Miyamoto explained the origins of the secondary device and its name. When Nintendo first made demo units, the development staff referred to the device as a nunchuck simply because it looked like one. American staffers referred to the device as nunchuck as well, so it became a development code for the device. Eventually, Nintendo investigated the copyright status of the term "nunchuck," learned that it was free to use as a standard word, and went with it.

Nunchuck isn't the precise name for the analog expansion unit that will ship with every Wii, though. Anything that's attached to the Wii-mote in similar fashion to the analog expansion unit is said to be in a nunchuck style position. Anything that's fixed to the remote similar to the gun expansion that was shown at E3 is said to be in zapper style position.

Earlier in development, the Wii-mote was referred to as the "Core Unit." The devices that attached to it were referred to as the "Peripheral Unit." This naming originated when Nintendo came up with the idea of splitting the controller into separate units. The biggest cost to the controller comes from wireless functionality and power consumption. Nintendo realized that by placing these costly capabilities into one device, the Core Unit, they would then be able to make and release a variety of Peripheral Units at cheaper cost to users.

Miyamoto also touched upon one of the last areas of the controller's functionality, its speaker. "We had a lengthy discussion on the matter," said Miyamoto about the decision to include either a speaker or a microphone in the controller.

There was apparently even some consideration of including neither in order to keep the controller from becoming too complicated, but this was vetoed. "Because you're using a wireless, rod-shaped remote control to play, it's important to have feedback and reaction to the actions that you take," said Miyamoto. "Controllers until now have used rumble, but we felt that rumble would be insufficient, and ended up keeping the speaker in."

He let out one bit of information, confirming first if it was okay to reveal it. Nintendo is making a game in which four players play together by passing a single controller around. The controller calls out player names in order to indicate whose turn it is.

He also suggested another idea, a game where the controller quietly gives out secret information to individual players as their turn comes about.

One of the main driving forces for the inclusion of the speaker was third parties. Nintendo actually considered removing the device for cost reasons, but found third parties requesting that it be left in.

Interest wasn't as high inside Nintendo from the start. "When we first started talking about the speaker, there was absolutely no reaction," revealed Miyamoto. This changed when people heard the sound effects generated by the speaker while swinging a sword in Zelda and noted that it sounded like swinging a Light Saber.

Asked about reactions from E3 which claimed it difficult to go back to using a standard controller after having used the Wii controller, Miyamoto said, "That's because once you've gotten used to free style using the remote control, going back to a controller where you use both hands, you're unable to move your hands and end up feeling a lack of freedom. However, I have absolutely no intention of being negative about current controllers. We are, after all, preparing a standard style controller in the form of the Classic Controller."

Miyamoto feels that some games will actually work better with the classic controller. He mentioned F-Zero as one such game.

The dialogue turned at one point to, of all things, left-handed and right-handed gaming. Miyamoto is left-handed, and he said that he's recently been trying to get used to using the remote/nunchuck pair in the "reverse" way -- that is, the remote in the left and the nunchuck in the right hand. While he's been getting used to playing like this, he feels lefties who've grown accustomed to playing games the current way will have an easier time of playing Wii games like everyone else.

In practice, regardless of game, you'll be able to play with either device in either hand. Miyamoto actually expects kids who've never played a game before to hold the remote in their left hand and the nunchuck in their right hand.

One of Nintendo Dream's closing questions for this interview asked Miyamoto to list the games in whose development he's directly involved. "Wii is the main [platform]," he said, "and I'm working on a number of titles, but there are some that have yet to be announced so I can't give an exact number." Pausing to think for a bit, he concluded that he's working on "a lot of games." "Of the games that have been announced, I'm working fully on Zelda, and also working on Mario Galaxy and Wii Sports. I'm also working on the product that was referred to as 'Remote Pointer Demo' at E3."

retired_shannon · 07-27-2006, 12:52 PM

I'm glad I didn't get Trauma centre for my DS... :thup: if it's coming on the Wii bigger and better no point in me dropping £20-£25 on the DS version. :thdn: