Grazza

To be fair to Choze, it's an interesting bit of news and it does all add to the feel that Nintendo will refresh the hardware in some way or another quite soon.

No, you're right actually. However, Eenuh should do what the tutors want for the sake of good grades. Also, it's good to embrace as many styles as possible, so you can take what you like from each. Eenuh, you are a brilliant artist with a brilliant style, so do what they say, but don't let them knock your confidence. I'm afraid I can't recommend anything non-commercial (to me, "commercial" = "something that sells", so therefore must be quite good...), but Asterix is probably the best cartoon art Ive seen. It's not strictly "illustrations", so it might be helpful to study. The artist just gets better and better over time too. Then there's comic book art, which is slightly more realistic than cartoons. Then of course there's total realism. Might be good to pull your talents in those directions just as a test- you can always "spring back" to your style after your course.

Hmm, I do get the feeling that we are approaching the "Majora's Mask"/"Banjo Tooie" type era for the Wii. There is an awful lot of buzz from analysts and games journalists about the "Wii HD in 2010", developers seem to be switching purely to "HD" machines and even Nintendo are talking an unusual amount about the next machine. My guess is that Zelda Wii will be short, simple and experimental, and thus might actually be ready for December 2010. However, until Galaxy 2 and Zelda are released, that's two very big development teams who won't be able to prepare games for the Wii 2. My guess is that Wii 2 will be announced at E3 2011 and arrive December 2011, with the Wii having a few modest games in the meantime.

Oh yes! I like dragons, but there's definitely something appealing about the birds. A flying mount would be great, but I'd also be happy if Link had wings. I know what'd blow me away, and that would be if you could take off anywhere, fly anywhere and land anywhere without any loading times or cutscenes. Now that really would be a way to seamlessly integrate flying.

Here's another interview Aonuma did with the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/nov/25/eiji-aonuma-legend-zelda-interview He's hinting at flight.

I totally agree with all of that. To me, the sailing in Wind Waker gets a thumbs up because, like Epona, it's "bolt-on" gameplay. Technically, you are still in control of Link the whole time. You can leave the boat at any time and swim around. The sailing in Phantom Hourglass and the wolf/twilight sections in Twilight Princess, however, are what I call "side-set" gameplay. It enters totally different gameplay and thus doesn't feel satisfying. That's my favourite moment too. The idea that these distant, tiny islands have been designed to communicate with each other and form a perfect pattern was more ambitious than anything I'd seen before in a game. ...And those two too! Really, it's an outstanding game. I totally agree with all that too. When I finished it, I couldn't quite believe what an amazing game I had just played, and I mentally reviewed it. I thought "How far off perfection is it? And what was it missing?" I came to the conclusion that I'd like another big, "community" island, like Dragon Roost, but that's about it. I really would score it 98%, because I think said island would only make it 2% better. Part of me would like to play a re-made, "complete" Wind Waker, but part of me thinks all the cuts accidentally made it a work of genius. For instance, maybe Great Fish Isle was meant to hold a dungeon, but would it still be so eerie and atmospheric if it did? Just a thought.

It's always nice to hear from Eiji Aonuma - he's one of the most modest and interesting people at Nintendo. To me, Ocarina of Time is brilliant. The whole design of the game is very subtle and plays on your psyché. For example, there's something relaxing about Lon Lon Ranch, a sanctuary in the middle of a large field. Arguably, the ranch in Majora's Mask didn't have the same effect and is memorable for that sidequest more than anything. Then there's the character design. The Dodongos had a simple form, but they were more enchanting then the more detailed "gekko" versions in Twilight Princess. King Dodongo looked massive, and it wasn't because I was young, it was all done with careful camera angles. The dungeons also felt more immersive to me, the Goron ones being personal highlights. I don't know about anyone else, but I really felt I was there in the upper floors of the Fire Temple. Again, it's all careful design.

I like it nightwolf, and by coincidence I watched Spider-Man 3 last night! Actually, there have been mechanical spiders in Spider-Man - some of the "Spider Slayer" robots.

Just completed Corruption and I loved it! Yes, it's a tad fragmented, but it has the best laser beam of any Metroid game, is less arduous than Echoes and is generally so much fun to play. What's more, it got me used to the Wii's motion controls. More 3D Metroid on the Wii 2 please!

That was an excellent post. To me, the important thing about timing is that it fits the console. It doesn't matter how long the wait was between Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time, the important thing was that they began work on the latter when they knew what they were doing with their next console (the N64). Allegedly, Wind Waker is not as long as it may have been, but that was exactly the right thing to do. It arrived at exactly the right time, and the essence of the game is perfect. It was an enormous mistake not to have Twilight Princess ready as a pure GameCube game for December 2005. It doesn't matter how many dungeons they wouldn't have had time to do - it would have been a much better game, true to the GameCube, if it had been designed in a way that could have been completed by December 2005. Onto Zelda Wii, I was concerned about the timing until they unveiled MotionPlus. I see this as the necessary hardware that makes their ideas possible and as long as it's designed on the Wii and released for the Wii (or designed on Wii 2 for the Wii 2), I'm confident it will be a good game.

I've played it three times and you're right, it was far, far better the 2nd and 3rd times, especially for pacing. However, the 2nd and 3rd playthroughs did clarify for me what was actually wrong with the game and which bits were just my disappointment. I don't agree with your whole list, but I do agree that progression was made, such as: * moving with weapons * horseback fighting * swordfighting moves However, it also went backwards in these areas: * controls * 3D town design * camera * loading times * NPC routines * dungeon integration * using enemy weapons ...And a few others like the absence of fire/ice arrows, power bracelets and such. I don't mean to be rude, but it's just too easy to say people change their minds or they hyped it up too much. The truth is far more subtle and difficult to define. Regarding the older games, I can only speak for myself, but I loved Majora's Mask back in the year 2000, considering it even better than OoT (an incredible achievement). Same goes for Wind Waker - I have never once criticised the cel-shading, and I loved it the first time I played it (again, considering it the best so far), although I do admit a lot of people didn't. You're right, Twilight Princess did make progress in some areas, and people will say "It's not as good as Twilight Princess" if it isn't, but that doesn't mean they don't appreciate those things now. Very true. Well, personally I see cel-shading as an improvement rather than a gimmick, but I agree about the wolf as it added a side-set of gameplay instead of improving the core gameplay. Hmm, I'm definitely getting the feeling these may be the only weapons (hopefully bombs as well). I wouldn't like to see it as organic as Metroid, because I think that'd be too confusing for people. There definitely still need to be towns and buildings, but I'd love to have mines and caverns with multiple entrances that you can pass through and return to different bits time after time. One thing that'd make it feel really up-to-date is if you could move whilst using any item (bow, sword, whatever). If you can't, it's just going to feel sub-Metroid Prime. Also, how about a new graphics engine where you can switch between 1st-person, 3rd-person and over-the-shoulder whenever you like? That'd make it feel really high-tech and make people say "wow".

I agree with what Ronnie is saying. There's nothing wrong with the Zelda formula, it just needs gradual evolution like everything else - keeping the good bits and improving the lesser bits. The problem with Twilight Princess was that it didn't build on the progression previous Zelda games had made - it even went backwards, discarding many of them. Zelda does need to learn a few things from Metroid, which is the more impressive series of the two at the moment. I liked how in Wind Waker, the sword and shield would gradually improve and automatically replace the last version. Metroid Prime 3 is probably the best so far for this, as you have your beams, your missiles, your grapple and your ball abilities (as well as armour and Phazon abilities). I wouldn't mind seeing Link have a number of set abilities that each gradually improve, rather than the enormous inventories of Twilight Princess. Another thing that's grating for me is the length of some of the dungeons. I find the co-op dungeons in Wind Waker and some of the dungeons in Twilight Princess a bit too long and complex in replays of the games. Wind Waker generally had the right idea, in that it was less about the dungeons, but I'd like that taken further. Dungeons could be as small as a house or as big as a castle, but the important thing is they don't feel detached (no pun intended) from the game world. I also really like the idea Hero of Time mentioned about roaming bosses. I can't wait to see what they've come up with.

Here's an odd idea that occurred to me - if you have two GameCube/Classic controllers how about downloading something for the Virtual Console or WiiWare? I used to love playing 2-player scrolling beat-em-ups on my Megadrive! How about Golden Axe (short, but you can get the actual coin-op on the Virtual Console Arcade) or Streets of Rage 2?

I'm afraid I can't think of any Wii games, but do you both have a DS? The mini-games in New Super Mario Bros are brilliant.

That's odd, I did that on Friday night, totally accidentally. I started daydreaming and thought I was washing my face, not shaving, so I put it on my whole face! The worrying thing is, I didn't do it for comedy!

I thought the vast majority of "Waters of Mars" was very standard fare - space station, infections, monster chases - but I did like the bit where the Doctor became arrogant. Shame he didn't stay like that for the whole episode - character changes are far more interesting than all the flashy stuff.

I was looking forward to this, but it sounds too violent and bloody. It's a shame, as I won't buy it now.

In all honesty, I think anything that makes you callous is bad for the soul.

Ah, dash it, I shouldn't have referred to a game I know nothing about! Back to Zelda then... King V mentioned Majora's Mask and this is a brilliant example of a game using extra processing power for game design. The descending moon and the NPC routines are all allowed by the extra RAM of the Expansion Pak. That's how I hoped games would evolve. Compare that to Twilight Princess, where arguably the graphics are too good for the design of the game. Basically, I would like developers to set the design of the game, the physics and the A.I., then set a smooth framerate and sharp resolution (not necessarily HD), and then see what graphics they can build round that.

That's a good point. I can't remember where I read it, but apparently the A.I. in Halo 3 is not as good as Halo 2, because A.I. needs processing power and (proportionally) more of it went on the graphics this time. Now, each to his own, but to me that is getting priorities wrong. What I want to say is that graphics, power and HD are all related, but actually separate things. The most important one is processing power, because that controls the design of the game and how it feels. Personally, GameCube/Wii graphics are good enough for me at the moment. I'm playing Metroid Prime 3 at the moment and I'm quite happy that the extra processing power of the Wii has been used well.

Oh man, I love this game (Corruption) now! I've got used to the Wii controls and I actually love them, especially those puzzles where you turn a handle and slot in three different parts. This is the best of the three games for puzzles.

I'm glad you did actually - I was going to put my experiences of Metroid Prime 3, but didn't really want to bump it! I'm really enjoying this game now, although in general I've found it much more difficult than Echoes. The learning curve reminds me of getting used to the original Metroid Prime. I defeated Mogenar, which I found a challenge, albeit not too frustrating. It took me five tries and I failed most times by getting corrupted - that's something new I have to take into account. Then I'm onto Elysia, which is tremendous fun to navigate. It reminds me of the Fortress in Echoes, but I find it much better. However, I'm stuck at the Boost Guardian, which seems harder than the one in Echoes! I think the problem is that with previous Metroids you generally needed fast reactions, but with this you need a steady hand as well. That's the same reason I didn't like the Spider Guardian in Echoes. That said, Corruption is a good game and there are lots of subtle details which tell you it's more advanced than a GameCube game. Just generally the size of the environments, which are all "real", and they way the enemies react to the environment and each other:

I don't really know where to put this, but I've downloaded my first Virtual Console games and I'm loving it! I've got: Super Metroid Super Mario RPG Super Mario 64 Then I tried to download Lylat Wars but it cut out. Must have used my Wi-Fi limit. I also want: Golden Axe (Arcade, not Megadrive) Landstalker Wonderboy III: the Dragon's Trap Super Mario World Then I might try a few SNES games I missed at the time, like Contra III. I must say, I'm absolutely chuffed with the PAL conversions of Super Metroid and Super Mario 64. I never owned the former, but I did own the latter and I remember the black bars. Now, they're so small it's as good as perfect.