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[SantaC]

During Nintendo’s recent press event in Seattle, vice-president Reggie Fils-Aime addressed the group of journalists to discuss the company’s holiday marketing efforts, as well as broader issues they are facing.

He then cued up a new commercial for Echoes, which will be finalized soon and begin airing for the game’s release. The ad is titled “Iron Woman” and begins with a tall, blonde model walking down the street. As she walks, bits of metal appear from off the screen and fly onto her body. This goes on for several seconds, as the metal accumulates and eventually forms her suit of armor. Samus then holds out her cannon arm and fires at something in the distance. The ad finishes with a few seconds of gameplay footage.

Interesting. Read it all at planetgamecube.com


http://www.planetgamecube.com/news.cfm?action=item&id=5799

 

[Mejilan]

Welcome to...

 

[Deku Tree]

I wonder who the tall blond Iron Woman model is... that commerical sounds great.

 

[lexi]

In before GAF Reggie/DS/Marketing Campaign hate

The article confirms Nintendo was behind the Ilovebees parody, I believe that's news. Also some choice quotes:

* Nintendo is not satisfied with its worldwide #2 share or #3 console share.
* Nintendo would love to play the “wireless card” on the console sector.
* They believe interface, not graphics, will drive the industry.
* Miyamoto and other game designers at NCL are always searching for the next great franchise. They are not content to simply build off current series.

 

[Deku Tree]

Nintendo DS supports Wi-Fi play out of the box. There could have been wireless Internet games at launch if any developers had done it. Nintendo is currently working out details on how the feature should work and what infrastructure, if any, should be provided to developers and publishers for these games.

Why not start off with Mario 64 DS Wi-Fi Internet multiplayer Reggie?

 

[Wario64]

It woudl have been effective if the commercial showed this "iron woman" morphing in a ball and bowled over obstacles

 

[Zilch]

* Miyamoto and other game designers at NCL are always searching for the next great franchise. They are not content to simply build off current series.

Come again?

 

[duderon]

Come again?

They need $$$$ before they can come up with the next big thing

 

[Che]

* Nintendo is not satisfied with its worldwide #2 share or #3 console share.

Really?

 

[king zell]

 

[shuri]

* They believe interface, not graphics, will drive the industry.

Like connectivity?

 

[Mr_Furious]

Yet another Reggie speech stating nothing really worthy of attention.

*sigh*

 

[Mashing]

Why not start off with Mario 64 DS Wi-Fi Internet multiplayer Reggie?

I'd rather them design a game from the ground up with Wi-Fi Internet play. While I'm sure they could have gotten it to work, they needed a good launch title. I'm just glad that they've commited to making it happen eventually though.

 

[AniHawk]

Like connectivity?

Or cameras, microphones, touch screens, etc. Gaming in its current form will eventually evolve to a point where graphics/AI can't advance much further, and all that will be left to evolve will be gameplay.

I think Nintendo's about 10 years ahead of this though. They should be going with the flow until that happens, in my opinion.

 

[snapty00]

If they're not content with building off old franchises...then why are they basically doing just that?

 

[TheGreenGiant]

Come again?

that got a laugh out of me. Good one. Haha.

 

[lexi]

If they're not content with building off old franchises...then why are they basically doing just that?

This thread was waiting for you.

 

[Jonnyboy117]

It should be obvious, but just for clarification, I should state that the bulleted items are all paraphrased from Reggie's comments. I wasn't recording the discussion, so I can't give exact quotes.

 

[shuri]

Gaming in its current form will eventually evolve to a point where graphics/AI can't advance much further, and all that will be left to evolve will be gameplay.

Oh please. You sould like those old retrogamers now. Do you really believe that will happen in our lifespan?

 

[snapty00]

It should be obvious, but just for clarification, I should state that the bulleted items are all paraphrased from Reggie's comments. I wasn't recording the discussion, so I can't give exact quotes.

That would explain some of the irregularities, although they may still be right because Nintendo has said equally as weird things in the past.

 

[AniHawk]

If they're not content with building off old franchises...then why are they basically doing just that?

I think Reggie's just trying to calm fears or whatever. He probably understands fears among Nintendo fans and knows why people are hating the company so much. Unfortunately, it's not up to him.

 

[AniHawk]

Oh please. You sould like those old retrogamers now. Do you really believe that will happen in our lifespan?

In our lifespan? Yes. Unless we move into virtual reality or something. In another 60 years, I'd be very surprised to be playing video games on a little box in front of my television the speed things are going.

 

[DECK'ARD]

I dunno, I just don't see what they can do to revolutionise the way you interface with a console. It would need them to come up with something as important as the analog stick again. Controllers with tilt-sensors or something just aren't going to cut it.

I fear the marketing campaign for Revolution will be called "Smell me", and introduce gamers to the world's first aroma-therapy joypad or something ...

:-S

 

[soundwave05]

The Canadian Metroid Prime 2: Echoes commercial is pretty funny.

It starts with a hot girl talking about how she got her best friend hooked on something (you assume its drugs; "I bought it for him"), but it turns out to be Metroid Prime 2.

Then some game footage and the Nintendo logo comes up with the "mushroom powerup" sound from the original SMB. Nintendo Canada is running the spot in movie theaters already, I saw it before The Incredibles.

 

[AniHawk]

The Canadian Metroid Prime 2: Echoes commercial is pretty funny.

It starts with a hot girl talking about how she got her best friend hooked on something (you assume its drugs; "I bought it for him"), but it turns out to be Metroid Prime 2.

Then some game footage and the Nintendo logo comes up with the "mushroom powerup" sound from the original SMB.

Nintendo Canada is running the spot in movie theaters already, I saw it before The Incredibles.

The Canadian commercials are fucking awesome.

 

[DarkGiygas]

The Canadian commercials are fucking awesome.

 

[StrikerObi]

* Nintendo would love to play the “wireless card” on the console sector.

This is SO hot. It puts more fire behind the argument that Nintendo will use all-wireless controllers for their next system.

 

[Docpan]

...And they listened intently.

All hail Sir Reggie.

 

[Deku Tree]

Can I watch this Canadian commercial anywhere (I don't live in Canada)?

 

[Duckhuntdog]

I think it's a given that the Revolution will support wireless in MANY ways, from controllers to internet.

 

[Duckhuntdog]

This is SO hot. It puts more fire behind the argument that Nintendo will use all-wireless controllers for their next system.

If I was a betting man, I would bet on wireless controllers out of the box for the Rev. Of course at the loss of rumble, but since using rumble so much, I hearly even notice it anymore in games.

 

[soundwave05]

Reggie is great, but I think he's too late to really turn the ship around.

I'm not really sure how much power he has with Nintendo anyway. I mean he can get MTV to do commercials, but I don't know if he has Howard Lincoln-like power.

Howard Lincoln is the one who "discovered" Rare and suggested that Nintendo do a game with them (which ended up being Donkey Kong Country). He also pushed for the Retro Studios deal.

I wish Nintendo had Reggie, and people like him, about 5 years ago.

 

[Defensor]

No RE4 multiplatform comments?

 

[cvxfreak]

No RE4 multiplatform comments?

If he admits to kicking ass and taking names, then he'll be arrested!

 

[soundwave05]

I don't think RE4 is really worth commenting on. The GCN still has a long window of exclusivity on the game, and will probably get the best looking version to boot.

If anything I'd like to hear what Mikami's thoughts are.

 

[sc0la]

This is SO hot. It puts more fire behind the argument that Nintendo will use all-wireless controllers for their next system.

Sweet. One more mark on my evidence sheet there.

 

[Duckhuntdog]

Howard Lincoln-like power.

He also pushed for the Retro Studios deal.

Yeah, but if it wasn't for NOA and NCL coming in there and shit canning Spangeberg and his cronies it would have made Lincoln look like a moron for having Nintendo basically create Ion Storm 2. Escpeically after the missing Retro server turns up as a host for spangeberg's softcore/vanity page server.

 

[Alcibiades]

Unless the wireless controllers don't use batteries and last forever (10+ years), I doubt they will be wireless out of the box...

While wireless is great, the whole battery issue would get in the way for family customers I'm sure who don't care and don't want to bother...

Maybe there's a way to make them both wireless/wired at the same time...

 

[Brofist]

Unless the wireless controllers don't use batteries and last forever (10+ years), I doubt they will be wireless out of the box...

While wireless is great, the whole battery issue would get in the way for family customers I'm sure who don't care and don't want to bother...

Maybe there's a way to make them both wireless/wired at the same time...

I disagree, I think if they packed in a wireless controller with the Revolution it would be a statement. And how many battery powered remotes are already in people's houses. TV, DVD player, VCR etc.. probably much more. I doubt one more thing that needs batteries will cause any problems.

 

[Mr_Furious]

Gaming in its current form will eventually evolve to a point where graphics/AI can't advance much further, and all that will be left to evolve will be gameplay.

I can't disagree with you more about AI. AI still has a long way to go my friend.

In our lifespan? Yes. Unless we move into virtual reality or something. In another 60 years, I'd be very surprised to be playing video games on a little box in front of my television the speed things are going.

I'm not so sure about that. As this industry continues to move forward, technology will come to a point where it's not necessary to upgrade as frequently due to the improvements being so minimal. Couple this with the fact that as technology and game development gets more complicated, it'll take longer to develop the games for the respective hardware. A couple generations from now, I can see console lifespans lengthening compared to that of today.

 

[Tellaerin]

Or cameras, microphones, touch screens, etc. Gaming in its current form will eventually evolve to a point where graphics/AI can't advance much further, and all that will be left to evolve will be gameplay.

I think Nintendo's about 10 years ahead of this though. They should be going with the flow until that happens, in my opinion.

Try about twenty years. Game AI in particular is still abysmally poor, and the way companies have been trying to position online play as some sort of substitute lately isn't helping. 'So what if such-and-such fighter/FPS/racer has poor single-player AI? You can play online against real live humans!' Which is a shame IMO, because those are the types of games where there's the most room for improvement in terms of creating humanlike AI, but since it's difficult and relatively CPU-intensive and since you can get far more visible results by concentrating on areas like graphics, it's something that increasingly seems to fall by the wayside.

 

[Screenboy]

...Someone post the damn Reggie Images!!!!



Quick!!111





-SB

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Howard Lincoln is the one who "discovered" Rare and suggested that Nintendo do a game with them (which ended up being Donkey Kong Country).

Wasn't the first Rare game with Nintendo, Slalom, for the NES?

 

[DDayton]

Wasn't the first Rare game with Nintendo, Slalom, for the NES?

Yep. Rare actually reverse-engineered the NES, then contacted either NOA or NCL about being a developer. They were on board with the NES from the very early stages.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Yeah...just did a search...

The Stampers always believed that they could make great games given the chance, so they started their own company. During the mid-eighties, the Stampers designed popular games for the Sinclair Computer, a home computer that caught on better in Europe than the United States.

As the popularity of the Sinclair began to wane, Joel Hochberg, the Stampers' American partner, showed them a new game system that had recently hit the market in Japan. The system was the Famicom, the console that would later be released as the NES in the West. The Stampers were impressed and decided to ally themselves with Nintendo.

Unfortunately, Nintendo wasn't particularly interested in setting up partnerships with Western development companies at the time.

"We went to Mr. Arakawa and told him that we wanted to make games for Nintendo, and he said fine," says Chris Stamper. "Originally we went to him and asked for the technical specs, but we couldn't get those, so I reverse- engineered the NES. I understood coin-op hardware, so I had a good idea of what the Nintendo actually contained."

"We produced a demo. When Mr. Arakawa saw the demo, he said 'Okay, you have our blessings', and gave us the full specifications."

"I think Chris got it about 99% correct," says Tim Stamper. "There were just a few things we didn't know about. But the interesting thing was that there were things about the machine that Chris discovered that weren't documented that instantly gave us an advantage which other developers didn't have."

Among other things, Stamper discovered that the NES could play games in a split-screen mode. Prior to Rare's reinvention of the NES, nobody had looked into doing split-screen games. Other companies had made two-player games, but they were always single-screen games such as Contra, from Konami, and Double Dragon, from Trade West.

Rare's first NES game was Slalom, a somewhat forgettable skiing simulation. The company's second NES game, R.C. Pro Am, was mostly the work of Chris Stamper. It was the first NES game to feature split-screen competition. This radio-controlled car racing simulation is generally considered one of the best games of its time.

R.C. Pro Am was just one of more than 60 games that Rare developed for the NES. Though the Stampers preferred to run a small and anonymous operation through the eighties, they managed to develop games for Acclaim, Milton Bradley, and other better known companies. The NES versions of Wizards and Warriors, Jordan vs Bird, Marble Madness, and Battletoads were all Rare games.

 

[TheQueen'sOwn]

Nintendo has at least 3 or 4 commercial spots during CBCs Movie Night in Canada (formerly Hockey Night in Canada).

 

[TheGreenGiant]

I want that ad. NOW. NOW GODDAMN IT. Why isn't Nintendo advertising yet?

 

[snapty00]

Next time someone gets a chance, ask Reggie (or whoever at Nintendo) why Nintendo of America no longer publishes more Western-made games. Even excluding Rare, Nintendo published/distributed these Western-made (or at least, Western-cocreated) games on Nintendo 64:

-StarCraft 64 (Remember, this was huge freaking news back then that Nintendo got the console-exclusive rights to StarCraft, and it could've been even bigger if Nintendo could've gotten it out in a timely fashion with even primitive online gameplay.)

-Cruis'n USA (As much as reviewers and the hardcore gamers hated it, this was was popular game.)

-Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

-Tetrisphere

-Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside

-Major League Baseball featuring Ken Griffey Jr.

-F-1 World Grand Prix

-Waialae Country Club: True Golf Classics

-Command & Conquer

And others.

 

[Guns N' Poops]

Oh, Reggie has spoken. TEH Reggie, teh saviour and 0wned, overhyped PR ape.

 

[DarienA]

Nintendo is not satisfied with its worldwide #2 share or #3 console share.

Nintendo doesn't know what their worldwide console share is?