Grazza

Those airships are interesting. I thought it might be for Zelda until I saw Bowser's head and shell on them.

You're in for a treat!

Aw, it'd be a pretty stubborn gamer who couldn't be won over by new, powerful machine with an HD Zelda specially made for it. In complete honesty, my only problems with Nintendo happened many moons ago (about five years) when a) they set the spec of the Wii and b) they did that thing with Twilight Princess (I'd better not start with that!) What I'm trying to say is that their recent performance has actually been good. I genuinely believe they've listened to all the "it's not for the hardcore" complaints, because look at how good Spirit Tracks was. Challenging too, which I hear is the same for New Super Mario Bros Wii (not had time to play it yet) and the forthcoming Mario Galaxy 2. Speaking of forthcoming games, we've got Metroid and Zelda too. It's hard to see what else Nintendo could do with the current hardware. They're on form, but it may be hard to notice so late in the day. This is what I've always thought. It's hard to believe Nintendo couldn't make people want "Wii Sports 2 - HD". I agree about Blu-Ray, but regarding HDTVs, they've pretty much been the only type of TV you can buy for years. I'm the only person I know who doesn't have one. HD broadcasts are not mainstream though, that's true. In a way, a 3rd pillar would be good for both handheld and console (four pillars!) Although I admit, there are not those sort of complaints about the DS at all.

Yes, and part of it is beating a rival to market. Nintendo may want to undermine Natal and Sony's motion controller before they get them to market. This does work if you've got the public on your side like Nintendo does now. None of my mates were interested in the Dreamcast, no matter how good it actually was, because Sony were promising the PS2 would be better. I remember Reggie saying something about Blue Ocean can turn to Red Ocean and you've got to move on. Good point. Perhaps the new Pokemon game is just to sell the DSi? Maybe the new hardware really is a console though. I keep switching between the two. T3 magazine has picked up on this story and, although the info is nothing new, they seem to be implying it's a new console. I don't remember seeing this concept art before, with sensors to read your brainwaves: http://www.t3.com/news/nintendo-plots-new-wii-hardware-more-motionplus?=43563

Yes, I think you're exactly right there. I thought the DSi XL might be a test, for that very reason. The only thing is, I think it might be one large screen instead of two. I can't see a new Wii yet, as there are still a few big games to come. However, to my knowledge, there are no big 1st-party games planned for DS at all.

That's the spirit! (Sorry, I'm in a cheeky mood!) In all seriousness, there's nothing wrong with DKC. I just remembered I didn't diss it, I just haven't played 2 or 3. Yeah, loved 64 and loved Sunshine even more.

It's the storks I'm worried about. They must be knackered putting them there!

Nah, it probably won't I'm not being funny, but if you don't like that sort of theme, you don't like it. It's like Okami - some people think that has an amazing visual style and is a Zelda-beater, but not me (even though I think it's a good, 8/10 sort of game). (Although I did use to dislike Metroid Prime and now think it's excellent, but that was due to my poor gameplaying skills rather than not "feeling" it.) No, that was when I dissed Donkey Kong Country. Ah, I've only got a few stars in Mario Galaxy. Love the music, but find the gameplay disorientating. I might end up liking it, but I don't think I'm going to find it a classic.

Fair enough, I just thought it was brilliant from start to finish - the graphics, the technicality, the nautical theme. Some things you "get", some you don't. Unfortunately, I don't "get" the genius of Super Mario Galaxy so far. I don't even like it. Oh, it's one of the best alright, but I don't think it's as definitive as Wind Waker. In screenshots, Metroid Prime could appear to be a normal FPS, which doesn't do it justice, but that's the way it could appear. Wind Waker, on the other hand, represents a certain artistic vision and concept Nintendo had with the whole machine, really.

It's funny how the game people use to demonstrate a portable GameCube or backwards compatibilty with Wii (I know these are old mock-ups) is always Wind Waker. I've never known another game to suit a console so well. It really was utter genius and the definitive GameCube game. It wasn't behind in anything that mattered though. Yes, it didn't have extensive online capability, but that never felt like anything Nintendo's games needed anyway. And yes, it didn't have DVD, but I loved those mini-discs. The GameCube felt like it was designed to run Nintendo games 100% to their maximum potential. I remember booting mine up and thinking "Yes, massive draw distances! Fullscreen resolution!" Even the controller was better. You're right, it fixed the N64's shortcomings like a dream.

Like in real life!

That's exactly how I feel. To me, this is the natural way to feel - to want a new generation console, because that's the only significant way series like Zelda and Metroid will be improved. You're not biased. Biased would be to not see the quality in any of the games. Basically, Wii = GameCube + motion controls + widescreen + Flash memory + DVD + online features, which is not a bad thing, but it's not terribly exciting either. To me, processing power is the only thing that can define console generations, not controls, not HD (on its own), and so I consider the Wii as one of the more powerful last-gen consoles, like the Xbox. Again, not a bad thing. I loved the GameCube, but if we were literally still playing on our GameCubes, I think I'd feel the same about the upcoming games, ie. looking forward to playing them, but not that excited. It's been, what, eight years, and that's a long time to be playing (in effect) the same machine. To put this in perspective, I haven't even got an HDTV yet, because Nintendo is pretty much the only techie-type thing I care about enough to want to see at its best (and Dragon Quest). Which brings us back on topic, really - a new Wii with just an HD upscaling ability would be crazy, but a Wii 2 with all the processing power that implies would be great.

I've yet to start it too, so I'll also be posting in here. At the moment I'm hooked on Bowser's Inside Story, and I'll probably play Mario Galaxy first too, but I definitely intend to help keep this thread going.

Thanks killer kirby! Did DQVI on the SNES have beastmaster abilities? I liked it in V, but I did think having so many human characters later on clashed with it. It's good that party talk has actually been put into this! It's incredibly useful for remembering what you're meant to be doing.

Could someone help me, please? I saw a screenshot on IGN which is supposedly Dragon Quest VI, yet it doesn't look anything like IV or V. There is a "Hacksaurus", but it looks more detailed than in the other two games, and it's on a 3D background. Also, there is a blue figure in the foreground with a sword and shield, and yet the battles in the Zenithia Trilogy are 1st-person, I thought. Is this really from Dragon Quest VI?

LOL! In all seriousness, it's probably not as powerful as two GameCubes. Since Microsoft removed the dedicated chips from Natal, it allegedly now consumes 15% of the Xbox 360's processing power, meaning in crude terms Natal titles will only be 85% as "good" (graphics etc) as a traditional 360 game could be. Likewise, I'm sure the Wii's motion control uses an awful lot of processing power.

This is so weird. When I sign in to Facebook, that's in Chinese now as well.

No, just something about the same size as the iPod Touch. There are phones and media devices of that size with an 800 x 450 resolution. It's great for web browsing as most sites are designed for 800 x 600, so with that resolution you don't get horizontal scroll bars. I say 800 x 450 because I assume it'll be 16:9. This is true. The two biggest improvements I notice are the better textures (because of the DVD) and in-game use of the built-in memory (such as auto-saving). The system really is very, very like the original Xbox in specs, features, everything.

Release dates for Dragon Quest VI and IX would be nice.

Oh, yes please! In fact, I think that's slightly more likely than a DS 2. One big touchscreen, at least 800 x 450 (for web browsing) - that'd be lovely. Looking at the hardware, it's weird to think that it didn't fail! I mean, I still don't "get" the appeal of two screens when you could have one that was bigger and higher-res. Hats off to Nintendo though, their software and marketing was utter genius - Nintendogs, Mario Kart, New Super Mario Bros, Animal Crossing... and so on.

30 months. I think that was the problem. The initial trailer (E3 2004) and all the demos up to late 2005 were spaced OK, but it felt like they didn't need the final 12 months. OK, I admit I was hyped, but they did actually ruin the game a lot in that last year, making it run on the Wii. It was a unique situation that hopefully won't happen again. Same for me. I'll view any videos and screenshots they release, because that's part of the excitement. I have to admit though, I only watched the first trailer for Spirit Tracks, wasn't hyped for it at all and almost didn't even buy it. However, I ended up loving it! But, did this make the experience better? No. Excitement and hype is part of life - I dare to be excited!! Yeah, they probably just check Yahoo when they sign out of their email. The situation at IGN is sad, and a bit of an overreaction to Nintendo's position. I used to love IGN, anticipating Twilight Princess and the "Revolution" especially, but I hardly ever check it now. Now, I don't think the Wii is a great console and it's never going to be one of my favourites, but let's not get this out of proportion. Nintendo's developers are as talented as ever, and Nintendo are making just as many "core" games as ever. We've got Mario, Metroid and Zelda to look forward to after all. It's just the limitations of the machine that make me less excited about them than I would be, and I think once you can accept that, you can accept the console and not think "Nintendo are for casuals" etc.

I'm 4/5 excited, and if Sonic had the same proportions and running animation as he used to, I'd be 5/5 excited!

I really think this is a new handheld. GDC is a "handheld" kinda conference for Nintendo, as they announced both DS Zeldas there. Just makes sense to me that they would reveal new portable hardware there as well as the huge games. The fact the DSi XL has not yet launched in Europe is a bit of a spanner in the works, I admit, but it will still have time to sell before the "DS 2" is actually released. Plus, it's been available in Japan for a few months, and I'm sure that's the market they want to keep interested. Also, two weeks ago I'd have said Nintendo would be a bit worried about the iPad. As it happens, that's looking like a bit of a flop, but it may still be influencing Nintendo, making them want to get a better gaming machine out onto the market.

Couldn't agree more. One amazing game is worth ten great ones. It is so hard, with the Wii's hardware, for a game to feel like it really is the best game of the moment. No matter how much you enjoy it, there is always that feeling (to me) that it's a bit last-gen.

To be fair, I can see how people would like to have iTunes open whilst they're browsing or reading.