Teppo Holmqvist

1UP does have anti-Nintendo bias, and most of their writers are same idiots that write EGM. This is why I would take everything that they say with grain of salt, especially when there lots of positive hands-ons from same event.

Quote from Gamespot's CoD3 preview: Aside from this difference, the game played like you'd expect. All the core mechanics are the same here as in the PS3 and 360 versions--the difference is merely in how you interface with the game. Luckily, horizontal and vertical sensitivity adjustments were available in the build we played, so we could fine-tune the aiming to our liking, and afterward, we found the actual shooting gameplay to be more satisfying and skill-based than when played with a standard analog thumb stick. With the more flexible aiming, it became more realistic to switch to iron sights and squeeze off a quick headshot to take out that soldier just barely peeking over the barrier. We're looking forward to getting more time with this and other Wii games to get a better feel for this sort of unique FPS gameplay, which seems to approximate the feel of mouse aiming on the PC. http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/callofduty3/story.html?sid=6159455&page=2

It's interesting that some people value HD-TV and surround sound support more than actually having good games. But oh, almost forgot. You had already said in virtual console thread that you aren't going to buy Wii, so you are just spamming forums with your crap.

Let see.... Microsoft said during their Leipzig press conference that Xbox 360 has sold 1.3 million units in whole Europe. NPD says that Xbox 360 has sold 2.672.710 units in USA so far. NPD's numbers don't include Wal-Mart, so it's fairly safe to say Xbox 360's is around 4.6 million mark worldwide.

You are pretty much spot on as designers have clearly stated turning to be problematic.

Negatives? Wii is strong on three most important categories; controls, games and hype. If you value Zelda previews and optical audio cable more than having good games and new control scheme, well, more power to you. BTW, I give 3.9 of 10 for your comment. Here is my other complains about this article: Mainstream: It's pretty hilarious to say that 250 dollars isn't mainstream, when normal mainstream people are willing to pay twice than that for latest cellphone, iPod or TV-set. Advertising: Too early advertising just wastes money and can even make your customers jaded. Furthermore, advertising will lost its power completely if you do it for too long time without having product to sell. Plus Nintendo has done advertisement in form of articles. There has been various positive hands-on articles about Wii on most important US magazines, and they probably generate more hype flashing Wii logo during popular TV-show could. Vastly Superior FPS Controls: No matter what you think, Red Steel and CoD3 have vastly superior controls to dual analog setup. And ironically Cassamina himself has also praised CoD3's ja Red Steel's controls. Raising controversy for controversy's sake. Zelda previews: Bitching about Zelda previews is also bit stupid, as it has so much fucking hype around it that they Nintendo doesn't simply need to do anything.

Well... Finland's DigiExpo does have Wii on display with (at least) following games; Super Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Wario Ware and Wii Sports.

Here is the European list: 1st party Battalion Wars II Big Brain Academy (temporary name) Excite Truck Mario Strikers Charged Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Super Mario Galaxy (temporary name) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess WarioWare: Smooth Moves Wii Sports (bundled with hardware) 3rd Party Avatar: The Legend of Aang Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII Bust a Move Wii Call of Duty 3 Cooking Mama Wii Disney/Pixar’s Cars Disney’s Chicken Little: Ace in Action Elevator Action Wii Far Cry: Vengeance Gottlieb Pinball Classics GT Pro Series Happy Feet Harry Potter Impossible Mission Konami’s First Wii Title Leaderboard Golf Madden NFL 07 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Monster 4x4: World Circuit Need for Speed: Carbon Open Season Puzzle Balls Rayman: Raving Rabbids RED STEEL Sonic and the Secret Rings SpongeBob SquarePants and Friends: Creature from the Krusty Krab SSX Super Fruit Fall Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz Tennis Masters The Ant Bully Tiger Woods PGA Tour Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam Trauma Center: Second Opinion Wing Island Source: http://ms.nintendo-europe.com/wii/?site=w_launchtitles.html&l=enGB I doubt that this is comprehensive list, as for example Ubisoft always releases titles simulatenously in both Europe and USA, and same goes mostly for EA. Plus "Konami's first Wii title" sounds like that this list was compiled before Elebits was announced.

Better? I dunno. Revised battlesystem was major improvement over old one, but I think that they made game little too hard. Some bosses required much more grinding than I was ever forced to do in BK, and felt just annoying. Though I had never problems with new system, I'm suspecting that it is probably too hectic for some players. But what about plot? Plotwise BK:O is pretty much in same league as first BK, and you just need to admire Monolith Soft's skill to make plot-twists that are both unexcepted and believable. But I had some issues with the ending, which I felt to be both rushed up and bland. It didn't really help either that Geldoblame's rise into power was also really anti-climax. Seriously, most that he says in his scene feel bizarre and out of place. Overall I did find BK:O well-designed game that progressed smoothly, but you could too clearly see that Monolith had run out of time. For example, some lands that you discover later in the game feel underused, as they are only few screens large. If I would review game, I would probably go with 8.5. Entertaining, solid game, with fresh combat system.

Friendly reminder: Yes, it's true that EBGames is important game retailer in USA, but still most consoles and games in USA* are sold via major retail chains like Wal-Mart and Toys'r'Us. These chains probably get more units than retailers whose main focus is games. * Same really goes also for rest of the world.

Finished the game. Beated all four optional bosses, 45 hours in the clock. Found only about 20 percent of all possible cards, and didn't finish many subquests (my list had sixteen unfinished subquests). My total playing time is probably closer to 60 hours, as I spent lots of time trying to beat some more annoying bosses (like the boss in the beginning of second disc).

My score for this thread:

Plus, we already have Virtual Console thread, and really good one too. Why not post it there?

There is very logical reason for it. By releasing games at slower pace, you encourage people constantly buy stuff. Psychological aspect is important.

Wrong, utterly wrong. Why you people can never check their "facts" before posting? Is that so hard? Or are you just crying for attention by spreading false information? I'm so fucking tired of this baseless rumour mongering that spreads around net, especially when it gets mixed with real information and known facts. But to correct you. Both MSX and PC-Engine were published in Europe. PCE's European name was Turbographx (notice no "16"), and you could buy it in (at least) France, Great-Britain and Germany. But because it was released in small quantities, it's extremely rare these days. MSX was, in other hand, relatively popular computer during its heyday, though it was never so popular as C64.

2006 October 12th Everyone　　 Company name:　Corporation [kapukon] Representative name:　Representative President Tsujimoto construction (Code:　The 9697 Tokyo Stock Exchange & Osaka Stock Exchange 1st section) Ahead communicating:　Public information IR room Telephone number:　(06) 6920-3623 Dispersion of this corporation subsidiary company and the news regarding clearing off Because this corporation resolved the dispersion of the clover studio corporation which is the subsidiary company of this corporation in the board of directors of 2006 October 12th opening, we inform. Description 1. Summary of the subsidiary company which it disperses (1) trade name:　Clover studio corporation (2) address:　Plain town three Chome 2 - 8 inside the Osaka city Chuo Ku (3) representative name:　Tsujimoto spring Hiro (4) establishment date:　2004 July 1st (5) capital:　90,000,000 Yen (6) business contents:　Development of game software for home (7) Principal shareholder:　Corporation [kapukon] 100% 1. Reason of dispersion The clover studio corporation creating the title which has creativity started doing the development of the game software for home in purpose, but in order to assure efficient development development with the selection and centralization of all groups, to disperse the same company. 2. Future schedule Clearing off joining Ryo:　2007 3 end of the month day schedule 3. Future prospect Concerning the loss seeing capital stock which accompanies the dispersion of the particular subsidiary company, in 2007 March period interim closing it is the schedule which appropriates approximately 400,000,000 Yen as a extraordinary expense. Concerning contents, we have interwoven to the correction of achievement expectation of the same date. http://ir.capcom.co.jp/news/html/061012a.html

So clearly Sony is d00m3d, as most PSTwo launch games look like PSOne games.

Bozie and I drove up to SF today and we’re doing a bit of a Wii tour. First stop: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. After two dedicated hours, I can tell you that the game is pretty awesome and I want every person who even remotely liked the previous titles — excluding the terrible Super Monkey Ball Adventure, that is — to go now and pre-order it. You will simply not be disappointed. Look for my impressions — and amazing new movies — very soon. But in the meantime, dream of the monkey goodness, for it is vast and beautiful. By the way, people who still say that the old games look better — and I’m talking about visuals here — you are blind. Banana Blitz is in a graphic league well beyond its predecessors. Next up: swords and guns, bunnies, and monster trucks and import racers. Stay tuned. http://blogs.ign.com/matt-ign

So far as I know, Nintendo has three completely working, but unreleased prototype games: - Earthbound Zero (US final beta, completely translated) - Star Fox 2 (originally planned for 1997, but canned before release. Prototype works perfectly after few bug fixes.) - Super Mario Bros 2 (this version uses bizarre sounding SMB theme in caves, and Nintendo hasn't yet replaced all Doki Doki Panic graphics with new ones. Slot machine and ending are different from retail version.)

I thought that they stopped developing Goldeneye Source after main developer died.

More positive impressions at PlanetGamecube. I was completely surprised by how much fun I had with Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam on Wii at Activision last week. I played four-player for at least an hour, and after everyone else moved on or went home, I spent fifteen minutes or so in single player and only stopped because I was running out of time. The first thing that anyone needs to know is that this is not a standard Tony Hawk game. So whether you love Tony Hawk games, you can't stand them, or you just feel helpless when you try to compete, step back and approach this racer like you've never heard of Tony Hawk before. Downhill Jam is a four-player racing title in which you hold the Wii remote sideways, rocking it back and forth to steer your character to mimic how a skater balances on his board. You hold the 2 button throughout most of the race to crouch and pick up speed, releasing it to ollie and catch air. You press the 1 button to grind on countless lines on the way to the finish. While grinding, a balance meter appears above your character's head and you must tilt the remote to keep your mark in the center so you don't fall off the line. To perform tricks you use combinations of both buttons and the cross pad, usually when catching air. Performing tricks fills a meter to give you speed boosts that are activated by either shaking the controller or hitting the B trigger. And when you're near opponents you can slap or kick them off their boards with the cross pad. Like my experience with Excite Truck at E3, I find that using the remote to steer and balance just comes naturally. There was a slight tendency to over steer when I first started out, but after I got a feel for it, I had no trouble zipping back and forth across the course to reach goals or avoid being hit by traffic. With more focus on racing, the trick system has been simplified a little, but there is still a wide range of tricks that you can do and trick-based game modes. Speaking of game modes, there are about five different modes available in the multiplayer game, which kept it from getting stale even though only three areas were unlocked in the build we played. There is a standard race mode in which the first person to the bottom wins and a strange companion mode called Elimirace that crowns the last person as the winner. In trick mode, you'll try to gain as many trick points as possible before reaching the bottom. However, it does seem like crossing the finish line first puts you at a disadvantage since other players can see your final score and linger to do more tricks before they end the race. Slalom can be a lot of fun. In this mode there are hoops, called gates, strung throughout the course and a timer ticking down. Going through the hoops will increase your time by a few seconds; run out of time and you'll be disqualified. Whoever passes through the most gates and makes it to the bottom wins. The most competitive (and most bizarre) mode is called Steal the Head. It doesn't matter who gets to the bottom first, but similar to king of the hill modes in shooters, the person who keeps the head longest throughout the race wins. What is the head you ask? Well, it's your character's head, actually. You see, in this mode, when your characters jump off the starting line, all of their heads fall off except for the player in the lead. The rest of you are controlling headless skaters, trying to catch up to him, and "steal the head". So you're trying to get ahead to get a head. Get it? Then you want to hang on to the head as long as possible so that even if the others pass you at the end, you'll still win because you've had the head longer than anyone else. In single player there are some additional goals available for courses, including destroying specific objects or knocking over pedestrians. The trick mode is a little more robust in single player too, with special trick rings that put you into slow-motion, allowing you to get more tricks while in the air. The course designs I've seen are all pretty complex with multiple paths to take and lines to grind on. There are some particularly fun lines to grind in the Hong Kong level which have you popping strings of lanterns and sliding from one fishing boat to the next in the harbor. The courses are set up so that you can race on short sections of a slope or take the whole thing from top to bottom, and as you progress through the game the slopes tend to grow longer. On some sections of the courses, a red arrow will show up in the distance, pointing out a shortcut. Usually it takes a bit more skill to access shortcuts or to get through them without falling somewhere along the way, but they can help you shave off a lot of time if you don't mess up. Graphically, Downhill Jam is the most impressive of Activision's line up. There is a lot of detail throughout the game, and characters look smooth and polished. The style is more fantasy based, and at this point no real life skaters have been revealed besides Tony Hawk. Instead there's an assortment of more cartoon style characters like a goth chick and a guy with dreadlocks. Overall, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam has really hooked me, especially with its multiplayer modes. While it may not satisfy fans craving a more traditional Tony Hawk game, it's definitely worth checking out no matter how much experience you've had with the series. I'll be picking it up at the Wii launch for sure. SOURCE

You betcha. BTW, did you know that N64 games in Zelda Collector edition actually run with emulator. If you know what you are doing, you can even rip the roms and use them in any other emulator (they are basically US versions with button graphics replaced). Even more interesting is txt file that is on the disc. It clearly states that emulator works correctly with following games; - Mario 64 - Super Mario Kart - Paper Mario - Pilotwings - Star Fox 64 - F-Zero X - Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask This makes me wonder that did Nintendo have plans to release other collectors editions during Cube's lifetime? One possibility, of course, is that other games are side-results of making Zelda compatible N64 emulator.

Warez?* * For those who don't know, FFXII's US retail date is 31st of October, and someone leaked final retail version to the net.

Paper Mario did come out in Europe, but very late in console's lifetime and in extremely small quanties. Here is the PAL cover: Usually PAL-copy fetches 40-80 euros in eBay. MobyGames has more pictures.

Wii uses infra-red to determine distance, so halogen lamps can be problematic. But from what I have understood, to affect infra-red you need heavy concetration of halogen light.