Zechs Merquise

Yeah, I too was hoping for major graphical improvements in Prime 3, I just wanted it to look like a significant improvement. The graphics in Prime blew me away, but in echoes, they were a bit underwhelming. I mean some areas were beautiful, but the dark world was just purple, and I found it a little repetitive and sometimes hard to gather my bearings. I think the dark/light world thing can work, it did so brilliantly in Zelda - LTTP (awesome awesome game). But I just didn't like it as much or felt it worked as well in echoes.

Well, plenty of people on this board care. Plenty of us have been Nintendo fans since the days of the NES, even before then when we used to play Game & Watch. We love Nintendo games, and thusly we want Nintendo to be around forever, not to lose even more ground in the home console market. It's not whining to support something you love and not want to see it fail. I'm not into football, but I can see why my mate's go ape with the management at Leeds United, they used to be champions and now they're not. The manager can't seem to see the problems that are blindingly obvious to the (dwindling) fanbase. I remember what it was like being at school, I loved my SNES and I also loved rubbing in the fact it had better graphics to Megadrive owners. Yeah, that was a bit sad, but it's the way kids are. And that affects sales. I'm not whining or pulling Nintendo down, I just don;t want them to fail. And just because I like them and don;t want them to fail, I'm not going to delude myself into thinking all their ideas and ways are 'great' As a footnote to this, I have noticed a lot of people coming out with crap about the 'Nintendo approach'. Well, listen here, Nintendo's approach in the days of the SNES were about having more power, the same was true in the N64 days, and the Gamecube was hardly underpowered as we all saw with Resi 4, infact it was far better than the PS2. This new 'graphics don't matter approach' is fresh news.

For me, Metroid Prime was the this generation's greatest game.

It really doesn't matter how much 'technology' is crammed into the Wii-mote and the nunchuck. If the public percieve the cost of buying an extra controller as too much, they won't buy it. Regardless of technical jargon. This is probably why the PS3's price point may well see Sony lose more ground to microsoft in Europe and the US.

I'm not in the best of moods today at all... so I'm gonna have a bit of a rant... So we as Nintendo fans lose the Resident Evil franchise, please don;t fob me off with rubbish about some 'Wii exclusive' which is basically a mish mash of old games with new 'improved' Wii-mote controls, we've lost Factor 5 and Silicon Knights, we certainly won;t be getting the new Tom Clancy games and I believe Free Radical have said 'no' for the new TimeSplitters game. But we're meant to be happy with all these 'cool' 'new' Wii exclusives, like shoddy looking ports of old games which utilse the Wii mote - hell, Far Cry lookied a million times better on XBOX. Now we get this bloody insult, we saw better on the N64. I think Nintendo may have come up with one of the greatest innovations in gaming history, and sadly they may have also doomed it to failure by packaging it with old technology.

Terrible. This is utterly shocking. I've tried to be even handed and fair with my opinions on the Wii and it's lack of graphical power. But if this kind of nonsense goes on it's gonna get slaughtered by the 360 and PS3, no one in their right mind would even think of paying the Wii's asking price for a system which produces sub-N64 graphics.

This is really disappointing news. I can't see any reason why they would region lock the VC, it's stupid, and we'll miss out on some games that are gems. I've always wanted to play Sin and Punishment!

I remember when my mum took me down to Woolworths to buy Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES, at the time that was the greatest game ever, and definetely one that lived up to the hype. Now that was a game. I think Halo 2 created a big buzz over in the west, but nothing in Japan. I think that Zelda: OOT was probably up there with Super Mario Bros. 3 as 'Most Anticipated Game EVER!'

This sounds great, remember over in Japan they've already got the ULTIMATE Resident Evil boxed set for the cube - every game in a special collectors box, awesome. As usual Europe will no doubt get the shaft...

As I said though, it's not only the framerates, but the fact that with all this power we could create some really new experiences. At the moment I'm playing Rainbow Six Lockdown on the Gamecube, and some of the enviroments are really big, and there's no slowdown and it;s a really smooth frame rate - I love it. I reckon the 360 shouyld easily be able to pump out beautiful games and keep the frame rate constant. When I play shooters on the PCI always optimise the settings for frame rate over detail. I just find it amazing that with all this power, we're still experiencing the same problems we did on the N64.

Get onto to eBay, go to the gamecube section and type in 'New Sealed' and you'll get a great selection of brand new games in their factory seal for only a few quid. Obviously there's also a massive amount of second hand stuff at really cheap prices. I recommend: Metroid Prime, Zelda Wind Waker Mario Sunshine Resident Evil Resident Evil 4 TimeSplitters 2 Mario Kart Double Dash Donkey Konga Plus, I just picked up Rainbow Six Lockdown new and sealed for a tenner, and it's a great game!

I tend to read a lot about games and although I only own Nintendo consoles I do take an interest in other formats. Now much has been made about the graphical power of Wii in comparison with that of the XBOX 360 and the PS3. I was reading the XBOX 360 news over on IGN, and read a preview for Gears of War. What baffled me was when the writer discussed 'slow down' in the game. Now we've all experienced this, and it's the one thing I hate most when playing an FPS - a jerky framerate and slow down. Now you'd reckon with all the power of the 360 all games would be running in silky smooth and stable 60 frames per second. But no. The sad thing with the graphical race is that all we are seeing is the same FPS, with you running into the room, which contains X many enemies and clearing them out, and when the 'x' becomes too big, we see slow down and frame rate issues - just like we did on the N64. Now back on the N64 i accepted this a lot more. Now I don't. I would happily trade a good number of the graphical bells and whistles to have a solid and smooth frame rate. But instead developers seem to just care about making the game look as good as they can in terms of sheer visual detail - regardless of how it affects the game play. This leads to us essentially playing visually improved versions of the same game. With all this processing power, how about a simplistic approach, but one where you were dumped on a WW1 battlefield litterally surrounded by hundreds of comrades as you charged over the top at hundreds of enemies? The true feeling of being in a real war. I think the Wii may not have the graphical power of the 360 or PS3, but at least we may have some games which aren't just last generations models with a lick of new paint.

Well, as I think the Wii may be a little bit of a misunderstood genius to the general public, I think demo pods or whatever we're calling them would be something that are really needed. I reckon if the new play style is good, and the controls do make you enjoy the games more, this is where the public will get their first taste of it. Although I have stated elsewhere that I'm a bit nervous about the road Nintendo have taken, IGN seem to love the new controls. I just hope that the public do.

The reason i was asking was because of the Wii Mote and the nunchuck, it will be hard to attach them to the console and hence stop thieving little rats! I know that in both my local HMV and GAME stores the DS stylus disappeared a long time ago...

The most anticipated game ever... well Super Mario Bros. 3 will be available through the virtual console!

The graphics are timeless, they make you feel like you're playing through a beautiful cartoon. I think it quite suited Link too, as it reminded me of his days on the NES and SNES. And although I really can't wait for Zelda: TTP, and I think the adult darker look is very cool indeed, I think one the greatest strengths of the Zelda series is that it can go anywhere graphically. Each tale in the series is unique. I did wish the whole shard hunt thing wasn't there though, I could've just lived without it, infact I'd rather have just had the shorter game. After seeing the ending with the proper Zelda world frozen under the sea, one thing i wished for was to see the first ever NES game remade in 3D in that graphical style, with the rich beauty of Hyrule in it's full glory, rather than just endles blue seas.

I know that up to now game stores have had the new consoles set up so you can have a go, we've all seen the XBOX 360s running in your local stores, and in the past we've seen the same with Gamecubes, PS2s etc. I'm just wondering what Nintendo will do with the Wii? Will the Wii mote mean that there will be no in-store demos playable for the general public? I always think it's good to see the demo pods around the store as it gives people a taste of the new hardware and a feel for the games.

I know I'll end up getting both, the Gamecube one as that's the one I'm looking forward to, as it's Zelda as I believe it's meant to be with the classic controls. But I'll get the Wii version because I am intrigued to see what Nintendo has done with the new controls.

I think we were all expecting Wii to be cheaper, I was hoping for £150, so it's not that much more. Personally I still think it's a good price compared to the 360, which lets be honest is not worth buying unless you get the full thing which is about £300. As for the PS3, that's gonna be silly money. However, I can see people's point of view when they say you get far more in terms of graphical power, HD and DVD playback etc with the other two. I also can see why people think that it is a lot for a console which is only about 1.5 times the power of the gamecube - a 5 year old system. But at the same time technological advances can not just be measured in terms of graphical power and CPU speed. The Wii in a lot of ways offers far greater technical advances than the 360 and PS3 put together, Nintendo have dropped out of the graphics race and have tried to redefine home gaming. I think Nintendo's price overall will be a hit with the public, more likely it will be the gaming community that will rebel over it.

Well, I think I'd rather play Zelda with the regular controls. I don;t want to have to be swinging my arms everywhere and jumping around everytime I draw my sword. Now, that may be just me, some people I'm sure will relish the idea of using the Wii-mote to control this.

I agree fully, where as we are deluged with screens and vids for new games for the 360 and PS3 every day, we've lacked that with the Wii. However some of the screens we have seen for Zelda TP and Red Steel have actually looked pretty damn sweet

In fact Nintendo haven't even confirmed it is still being released anywhere except the US. I have a feeling it may well be cancelled. But that is good business sense, as more people will have to pick up a Wii, and to be honest - Wii does have the most anticipated game EVER as a launch title! I wouldn't mind so much if they did this - but ONLY if they included standard controls as an option.

The PSP is aimed at the mass market, or at least Sony think it is! They thought they would capture the handheld market by pushing the new graphical level of handhelds to the limit and including extras such as MP3 and movie playback.

On the topic of graphics and realism in games, I thought I'd share something that my girlfriend said to me today. I ordered Donkey Konga and it came in the post this morning. I plugged it in and had a quick go, and my girlfriend sat watching. After a couple of minutes watching she was sat next to me in front of the TV and was actually playing it and enjoying it. Later on I went for a shower and returned to find her at it again. Now she's not a typical gamer, but she really enjoyed playing Donkey Konga, and I asked her why, she said because it was fun. She also stated that she played a lot of games when she was younger, but had been put off current generation games because they were too complicated and she didn't like to play for a 'greater level of realism', but wanted a game that escaped realism and was just 'fun'. She wasn't worried that Donkey wasn't beating his bongos in HD. Maybe the Wii is just what gaming needs. Maybe this is going to bring in a whole new sphere of gamers, people who just want to play for fun and escape reality. People who aren't bothered about having HD and blu-ray but just about having a good time. Maybe the Wii will do for the world what the DS has - reinvigorate the gaming. Which brings me onto another thing my girlfriend told me, she works on the games/electrical desk at what happens to be the biggest ASDA in the UK. She said they are always selling out of the DS, but can't shift PSPs for love nor money. She went on to talk about her love for the original mario games and how she used to have a SNES and loved it. Well, maybe the Wii with it's fun and seemingly simplistic approach coupled with the virtual console could just be the revolution we all hope for.

I went to add a signature pic to my profile, yet it says I have a limit of 500 x 100 or 19.5kb, which ever is smaller, yet some people have signatures much larger than this in terms of KBs, just wondering why?