Tito

Yes, the internet took a lot of the "magic" away from the games. I'm not going to whine about it and wish for the return of the "golden age", but I've also felt that was a downside to the internet age. Perhaps the most defining game in my life was "Wild Arms", for the PS1. I wouldn't like RPGs so much without it, heck, I wouldn't even be here without it, as I would not have learned English. I was 12\13 years old checking out some games looking for something fun to rent. I came across this game called "Wild Arms". It was a pirate copy (that's right. In my country, many legal shops freely rent and sell pirated games), so the only thing on the box was the handwritten "Wild Arms" name. luckily form me "wild" and "arms" were among the 5 or 6 English words I knew at the time, so I figured it was "obviously" a wild action game with lots of cool arms!! Imagine my surprise, then, when I saw the game had no action whatsoever, I just had to go around talking to people without understanding a word of it, and when I ran across a monster, I just had to click on a menu, sit back and watch. Boooooriiiing!!!!! But for some reason, I felt compelled to understand what those funny looking people were saying, and I started playing with a dictionary by my side. In time, I needed the dictionary less and less, and soon an English-speaking RPG fanatic was born!! If I knew what the game was like beforehand, I would have stayed the heck away from it.

I guess I would as well. I should note that the "as long as I haven't played it before" part in my above quote doesn't apply to RE games!

Reminds of my fight against the last boss in RE: Code Veronica (I don't remember who the boss was). I ran out of ammunition, but I was full of first aid kits and herbs. So I just took the knife and slashed like mad, and used a kit\herb when my life was close to red. Since I'm writing this here, you can already imagine it had an epic ending: he died just when he was about to kill me, my life bar was red and I had no herbs\kits left. That was pure joy! As for the Wii, it was playing "Wii Sports" with my girlfriend over and over and watching her smile during the entire game.

Which is why I generally avoid MMOs (well, that and being unable to play offline, and the subscription doesn't help either) and other games that "don't end", like Civilization. I am a somewhat compulsive gamer (actually, my behavior is compulsive in general), and it doesn't really take much for me to forget about everything and play all day long...

I still enjoy games just as much as before, the only downside is that I'm no longer 12 years old and can't play as much, but I still play a lot, and most likely will play for my whole life. Technology allows for very rich game experiences, and since the Playstation and Xbox gaming has really grown. As much as I like Nintendo and dislike the current trend of style over substance, I don't think the industry as a whole would be where it is now if Nintendo hadn't lost its monopoly. Now there is a lot of competition, and that means more good games for us.

I know we are all tired of quick cash-ins and ports, but seriously give Capcom a chance! It's one thing to port old PS2 games, and another to port NEW games that just happened to be launched first on the other consoles. And besides, as long as the port takes advantage of the Wii and I haven't played it before, I don't really mind. I had a lot of fun with "The Godfather: Blackhand Edition", the Wii controls really added to the experience. That said, considering that "porting" a PS3\360 game to the Wii is pretty much like developing a new game (which is why Spore is on indefinite hold), it's quite possible that Capcom chooses to bring us an original RE altogether. But for those of you who REALLY hate ports, I suggest you brace yourself for the worst: if RE0 Wii does, we can expect every single old RE game to find it's way to the Wii.

With luck, they probably will give us GC ports AND RE5. They won't do RE5 Wii Edition unless they are really convinced it will do well. GC-Wii ports are cheap and quick, but "porting" a PS3 game to the Wii effectively means developing a new game, since very little can be used from the PS3 version. Still, money talks, and loudly: if they think they will profit from it, they will do it, and RE's success on the Wii just might lead them to this conclusion. And why would I want to play a game on an inferior hardware? That's easy: for one, I don't have the "superior" hardware! I might have one by the time RE5 comes out, but it's not likely. I have a PC, and pretty much every 360\PS3 game I REALLY want to play find its way to the PC eventually (with some notable exceptions.... Final Fantasy, Metal Gear... where are you!?!? ). And as outlandish as this may sound to most of you, in my country (Brazil) a gaming-capable PC is actually CHEAPER than a PS3:confused: ! Still, given a choice between a Wii version or a PC\PS3\360 RE5 version, I'd actually strongly consider the Wii version. Despite the fact I had beaten RE4 twice when I picked up the Wii Edition, the new control was compelling enough to bring me back for two more playthroughs, and I guess that says something about the Wii's "fun factor" potential.

For Resident Evil fans out there, this is great news. I'm pretty sure the fact that both RE Wii titles sold more than a million (so far. If Vgchartz is to be believed, RE4 is not far from the second million.) copies will not be lost on Capcom, and we just might be a bit closer to seeing RE5 Wii Edition! source: http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/04/umbrella-chronicles-ships-a-million-units-worldwide/

The most costly move, I think, was definitely dumping the joint "SNES-CD" project with Sony only to watch Sony do it by itself with the Playstation, and look where that got them! A few other very bad moves, the kind of bad moves that made everyone start saying they should go the way of Sega, were using cartridges instead of CDs with the N64, bullying and mistreating third-parties like they were still a monopoly and watching them flock en masse to Sony and Microsoft, the atrocious Gamecube-era marketing, and finally, missing the DVD and online bandwagon with the Gamecube. It's unclear to me how much negative impact the lack of online functionality had on the Cube, but it's pretty clear the lack of DVD hurt badly. The PS2 came just when DVD players were starting to be adopted by the masses, and facing with the prospect of buying a game machine AND a DVD players, or a game machine that also played DVDs, the market chose the latter.

Nintendo is also bucking the trend in the "first week" sales obsession department. I read an interview with Iwata at IGN where he says debuting at the top of the charts is not nearly as important as the overall sales. He points out that many games have a big first month, when enthusiasts buy them, and soon stop selling, while Nintendo games often drop from the top-10, but keep selling well over long periods of time. Comparing, say, halo 2 and Nintendogs, it's easy to judge just how right he is. Launched 09/11/04 in the U.S, Halo 2 sold 2.8 million in the first week. Nintendogs, launched in the U.S half a year later, had a 253k first week. Now, Halo 2 stands at 8.5 million worldwide, and Nintendogs at 16 million. Quite impressive. What this has to do with the thread is that many "analysts" and "industry watchers" where quick to say Mario failed because halo 3 had a 3 million first week, and must now eat their words. While I think it's unlikely Mario will outsell Halo 3 (and I also think it's stupid to imply that any game that sells less than Halo 3 is a failure), it's worth noting that, of the 6 million Halo 3 sold worldwide so far, over 4 million were sold in the first week, while "Borderline failure" SMG is already fast approaching the 4 million mark.

But that IS true. Most third parties want to "test the waters" with quick cash-ins, rather than take the time to make GOOD games, hardcore or casual. The simple truth is, most third-party "efforts" on Wii are crap, not because third-parties are incompetent, but because they don't want to take any chances, and seem to think that, just because the Wii is selling like mad, any crap with "Wii" on the box will sell as well, but it won't. I don't think you can get any more "hardcore" than, say, Resident Evil, Red Steel or Guitar Hero. And if Capcom, Ubisoft and Activision can sell these games on the Wii, why can't other third parties sell their games as well? That's not part of the problem, that's part of the solution. That's exactly why Nintendo made the Wii and the DS in the first place: because as games became increasingly complicated, the industry reached a point where it was making the same games for the same audience. And because of this lack of new players, the industry was stagnating. If the Wii and DS had never seen the light of the day, do you think your brother would be interested in Assassin's Creed?

Er... I wouldn't be surprised if someone actually acted on your idea, so maybe it's time the mods locked this thread...

If you are saying that, you definitely never had the displeasure of having your 50+ hours Xenogears save file erased by your stupid little cousin! It's not ridiculous, it's outrageous!!!

I want to buy more multiplayer games eventually so I can play with my girlfriend. She loves Mario Party, Trauma center, Wii Sports (tennis) and Wii Play (the ping pong and cow racing minigames), but also liked games like R.E 4 and Mario Galaxy. Meaning she likes boths games and "non games". I already decided on Trauma Center: New Blood, Umbrella Chronicles, Rockstar's table tennis, and perhaps WarioWare. I'd welcome suggestions as well. Are E.A Playground and Carnival Games at least as good as Mario Party? What about other fun multiplayer games? Not necessarily party games, any fun multiplayer game, from any genre, will do.

I usually don't care about reviews (in fact, some of them, along with disgusting affairs like the recent Gamespot-Gerstmann stuff, make me despise reviews altogether), but in this case I worry about the negative impact it might have on sales. Apparently, Sega have big hopes for the return of this franchise, and considering the target audience is mostly the hardcore crowd, especially fans of the original, the lackluster critical reception is probably going to affect the commercial reception.

Isn't that wonderful? Third parties complaining because their half-hearted efforts don't sell? They can whine all they want, I don't care. The truth is, Nintendo games sell far more for a very simple reason: not only they have a strong brand and fan following (things they earned by making good games, not by whining nobody wants their games...) Nintendo games are among the best in the industry, period. Despite the fact that we are all fanboys and biased, critics and other developers frequently praise Nintendo games. Many Nintendo games make every single "top games of all time" list, and often take the top spot (in the last "top 100" IGN list, Nintendo had 5 games in the top 10, including the top spot). Ubisoft said they are working towards "Nintendo-like quality". And third parties expect their quick cash-ins to fly off the shelves? Not going to happen. Third-parties who take their time to make good games on the Wii, such as Ubisoft, Activision, E.A and Capcom, are reaping the rewards. All the others need to step up or shut up. But the crowning jewel definitely goes to Microsoft's hypocrisy: "Clearly, we have a competitor where they win and no one else wins. That is not sustainable, it has never been sustainable.” Clearly, their experience with Windows taught them everything about the "unsustainability" of winning while no one else wins, right?

I don't think they\he\she broke into your home just to steal your Wii, but they\he\she probably thought it was the best they could do. I mean, despite the fact you have expensive guitars, they are not easy to carry and hide, while a tiny Wii is just perfect, not to mention they probably know about the shortages causing the Wii to be sold for thousands of dollars. I, for one, would be glad if someone just took my Wii and left my guitars alone. My living room and bedroom are littered with a bass guitar, 2 acoustic guitars, a 12-stringed acoustic guitar and an electric guitar (and a really old keyboard no sane thief would bother stealing...), now imagine if someone took all that! Still, this sucks. Really does. I live in a violent city, and while no one ever broke into my house, I was robbed on the streets many times. And do you know what sucks even more than people breaking into your home and stealing your games? It's when, like what happened to my little cousin a few years ago, they break into your home, steal your N64, then break in AGAIN in the same week and steal the N64 you had just borrowed from a friend the day before...

I'm don't understand what you mean. Surely you know that Galaxy sold more than Mario and Sonic? That said, when Sega announced they expected to sell 4 million copies of M&S I tought they were smoking something... but now I'm pretty sure they will reach that number sooner than I expected. In my point of view as a gamer, I definitely agree with you. The game is pure joy, and whether it sells well or not is irrelevant. However, from a realistic standpoint, I know it just doesn't work that way. If Mario games start to sell poorly, Nintendo will stop making them, and we won't have any Mario game to play in the future. It's as simple as that, and that's why I care about sales.

Or "SMG" and the curse of success". The problem with success is that the farther you go, the farther people expect you to go, and good old Mario is "living" proof of that universal truth. SMG had disappointing sales, right? After all, during its first week of release, it sold "only" 250k in and 500k in the U.S. Many people were quick to compare that to Halo's zillions (though how anybody expected SMG to outsell Halo 3, especially in the U.S, is truly beyond me) and call it a "failure", including analysts such as Michael Comeau, who talked about "huge, borderline failure". And yet, figures from NPD, Media Create and VGchartz show the game stands at nearly 3 million units worldwide. Even considering VGchartz margin of error, there is a strong possibility that the game reached, or is very close to reaching, the 3 million mark, since these numbers don't include sales from Australia, New Zealand and Latin America, which is not much, but altogether they add up. We've got to give Nintendo their due (as if we didn't all the time!): while most companies hop joyfully in celebration when their games sell a couple hundred thousand copies, Nintendo makes a game that sells 3 millions in just over one month, and people call it a "huge failure"!!!!! More power to them!

I Finally have my Wii, and guess what, it's a modded machine. Am I proud of it? No. Would I rather have an un-modded machine and support even more (as in "I do support it even though I have a modded machine") the industry that brought so much joy into my life? Yes, and I fully intend to do it when I'm living somewhere with decent prices and wages, like Canada or Europe. But before you brand me a thief, I ask you to consider the following: I live in Brasil, where the minimum wage is R$ 380,00. The Wii costs about R$ 1900,00, and original games go for R$ 250,00-300,00. That means Brazilians who earn the minimum wage would need to work for nearly 6 months just to buy a Wii and a game. Faced with this situation, can you honestly say that you would, in the words of Iun, "take a stand against the pirates and adopt a holier-than-thou attitude"? Or would you "play the games you want to play, in the only way you can"?

That's very easy. Look at Jade Empire or Oblivion. That kind of gameplay would be well-suited to realtime lightsaber duels!

Metal Gear, FF, and RE5 are definitely NOT technically impossible. Of course, we're talking about a Wii port, we're not talking about PS3-like graphics on the Wii. None of these franchises belong to Sony, and if their sales disappoint, we just might see more "Wii Editions" in the future. Careful, I'll hold you to your word! Rogue Squadron would be perfect. Goldeneye remake is not going to happen, but once they get the bond license out of the fridge, (E.A sold it to activision, and considering the time it takes to develop a game these days, I wouldn't expect a new Bond game before 2009, or a rushed-in-time-for-christmas-Q4 2008 at earliest), it's only a matter of time before James Bond comes to the Wii. Even the Gamecube had Bond games! But by far my most outlandish desire would be this: a full-blown Knights of the Old Republic RPG with real-time, motion-sensing light saber duels!

When I was thinking about my wish list, I was thinking about existing games and\or franchises that I would like to see on the Wii, I was not thinking about ideas for new games. That said, as long as the sequel as as good as the predecessors, I say bring them on! As for Star Fox, I think I'm going to be shot for saying this, but I really enjoyed Star Fox Adventures, probably for two reasons: I NEVER played a Star Fox game in my life, before or after Adventures, and I was fully aware this was Dinosaur Planet with Star Fox characters, not a "proper" SF game. So I was free to enjoy the game as it was, free of that "WTF HAVE THEY DONE TO MY BELOVED FRANCHISE" feeling. But Star Fox is a great fit for the Wii, and I'd be definitely interested if\when it came out. That's not going to happen, mostly because Umbrella Chronicles goes through the entire story, from RE0 to RE4, including Code Veronica and new areas and story elements, so I don't see Capcom investing in remakes of 9-7 years old games about a story they already told. And if RE6 ever finds its way to the Wii, I bet we'll see RE5 before. Star Wars lightsaber? Rejoice, we already have Lego Star Wars!!! Ok, just kidding... i have no interest in a "Lego Star Wars" game, but I would LOVE to SW on the Wii. Where's the petition? Man.. don't talk about Shenmue, it brings tears to my eyes... ever since I first heard about Shenmue, I was fascinated by the game. It was the sole reason I almost bought a Dreamcast once. Crap, why oh why do I have to live where vidogames are so prohibitively expensive? In all these years, I only played 20 minutes of Shenmue 2 at a friend's house, and it only made me feel sadder I could never enjoy this game. if they ever remade the first two for the Wii and launched the third... I'd be first in line!

Never fear, good friends! The war will continue! Edit: apparently I can't post links to other sites before posting 15 times... oh well, so check out IGNWii's news section. They say they pay for the data, and the console wars will go on!

Below are ten games I'd like to see coming to the Wii, as well as the possibility that I think it might happen. It's a bit long, so be warned! If you'd like, please post your own wish list as well! Baten Kaitos sequel. Likelihood: Possible. Baten Kaitos wasn't a blockbuster, but I'm pretty sure it was profitable, as evidenced by the release of its prequel, Origins. And considering Namco already announced the sequel to Tales of Symphonia, this one just might happen… eventually. Eternal Darkness remake. Likelihood: not going to happen. Eternal Darkness is one of those crimes of the videogame world: a true masterpiece that, for many reasons we don’t need to discuss here, just didn’t sell. Next to ED, RE feels like Kirby. And I mean it. Oh no, a big scary zombie! Yawn… but seeing my friend get up to swat a fly that landed on the TV from “nowhereâ€, then staring at me in disbelief when he realized there was no spoon, er, fly…. Now that’s scary! If it was released on the Wii and properly marketed, I have little doubt it would be a hit, as shown by the success of titles such as RE 4 and Red Steel (despite the bad press, this one sold nearly 1 million copies). But with Silicon Knights currently busy developing Too Human, rewriting engines and fighting court battles, not to mention the sadly dismal sales Eternal Darkness suffered, I’m not holding my breath. Resident Evil 5. Likelihood: unsure. Umbrella Chronicles started as a conventional, RE4 like RE game, but Capcom figured that Wii owners like “easinessâ€, and they decided to simplify the design. But, with RE4 Wii selling more than twice the 420.000 units Capcom originally expected, it just might be the incentive they needed. And because Umbrella Chronicles will walk through the entire RE4 series, it’s perfect to get new players acquainted with the story. I’m guessing that a lot will hinge on the performance of both Umbrella Chronices and RE5 (if it doesn’t do well, it’s more likely it will be ported to the Wii) New Donkey Kong game. Likelihood: likely. Like it’s more popular friend, Mario, Donkey Kong has graced every Nintendo Platform since the NES with it’s presence. And like Mario, there is a good chance we will see a glorious return to its platformer root. And no, I don’t count that Donkey Kong “thing†as a Donkey Kong game. New Metroid game: Likelihood: likely. Nintendo has said Prime 3 was the last in the Prime series, but that in no way means it’s the end of the Metroid franchise. Imagine Galaxy’s gameplay, and imagine the possibilities of that style of gameplay applied to a Metroid game. Hum… sounds good. Final Fantasy. Likelihood: unlikely. By FF, I mean a proper FF RPG. The FF series has always (as in “since FF7â€) been known to shock and awe us with it’s technological prowess, and the Wii just isn’t the hardware to show off fancy graphics, and SquareEnix is investing A LOT in the PS3 version, so I really don’t see this happening anytime soon. But if the Wii continues to conquer the world in the years to come, the PS3 fails to pick up steam, and FF’s sales suffer, SquareEnix just might start looking for alternatives. Metal Gear 4. Likelihood: unsure. Same as above. GTA. Likelihood: possible. Personally, I’m not a fan of the GTA series. While I did enjoy San Andreas, I always felt it was only an average game that owed its success largely to the “freedom of choice†hype, meaning that you can kill whoever you want, whenever you want. But I name GTA in my wish list for two reasons: first, I’m a Nintendo fan, and it’s obvious the tremendous boost GTA would give to the Wii, and second, if done right, the Wiimote could really push the series to new heights. GTA on a Nintendo console is no longer outside the realm of possibility for a number of reasons. Take-two, like many “hardcore centric†companies, such as Valve, publicly acknowledged the lack of Wii and DS support was an “obvious hole in their strategyâ€, and they are working to change that. Gone are the days when M-rated games just “didn’t belong†on Nintendo’s systems. Success really has the power to change how people view things, and whatever its problems, Manhunt 2 dealt the killing blow in this already faltering notion. I see this happening in the form of a GTA-spin-off at first, rather than GTA 4, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we learn in one or two years from now that Rockstar is readying a Wii-bound GTA. Viewtiful Joe 3. Likelihood: Likely. The most viewtiful game ever. ‘Nuff said. Pikmin 3. Likelihood: very likely. Pikmin seems like a perfect fit on the Wii. It was a critical and commercial success on the Gamecube, and the RTS genre is perfectly suited to the Wii. Heck, Miyamoto himself said so at this year’s E3. Personally, I think Pikmin has a huge potential. The RTS genre, coupled with the cute “garden settingâ€, just might allow Nintendo to make a great game that blurs even further the line between a game and an “activityâ€.