CS Console War Battle Plan: Nintendo
Posted by jaleelboone on August 8, 2006
I see you’re back for more, private. Welcome to part two of the CS Console War Battle Plans. Last week we gave Microsoft the secrets to winning the war. That’s just how we roll. All who know us best will know that Club Skill is a neutral party that wishes prosperity for the entire industry, so this week we’re giving the Nihongos over at Nintendo some extra artillery. Captain Mario is already getting ready, cleaning his overall buttons. Sargent Samus is locked, loaded, and awaiting further orders. If you detect any lame Wii jokes whatsoever soldier, feel free to grab my gun and pull the trigger without hesitation. Now huddle around troops, as there’s a battle afoot and we’re not gonna win without a planned attack.
Nintendo’s Wii
At E3 2005 Nintendo revealed their entry into the next, or as they would say, “new” generation of video game consoles. Codenamed Revolution, the goal of this system was to deliver a fresh new experience to gaming that none of the rival consoles could emulate, and thus bringing non-gamers into the industry with it’s simplistic and intriguing controls. Speaking of emulation, in 2005 it was also announced that the Revolution would allow users to purchase and download games from Nintendo’s past eras of the NES, SNES, and N64. Later on it was revealed that SEGA Genesis/MegaDrive and Hudson Turbografx16 games would be available on Nintendo’s Virtual Console. The Xbox 360 has had a year’s head start, and the Revolution, now named Wii to symbolize the remote controller and the no longer exclusive industry, is ready to enter the homes for the holidays around the same time as Sony’s PlayStation 3.
It’s going to be a busy holiday season, and Nintendo needs to secure a spot on many a wish list.
Nintendo’s booth at E3 2006
What They’ve Done Right
Nintendo has brought out the big guns. At launch we can expect two of their major franchises and have hopes for a third: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and possibly Super Mario Galaxy. On top of that they have other projects in the works, like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, along with titles from Kirby, Animal Crossing, and Donkey Kong.
A problem that the GameCube faced throughout it’s lifespan was that people never knew when they were getting the characters they bought the system for. The only ‘true’ Mario titles were Sunshine and the Paper series, with Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and the sports titles as backup. Metroid had the Prime series, Zelda had Wind Waker, Star Fox had the weak Assault and Adventures, Donkey Kong only had Konga and Jungle Beat, and apart from SSBM and AirRide, Kirby didn’t make an appearance on the GCN at all. Even so, that’s still a good number of games. But the problem that GCN owners had was that they didn’t know when these games were coming at the time. Nintendo wasn’t very good at saying, “This is what’s coming out and this is what’s coming down the pipe.” People bought the GCN expecting those games to deliver because they had the Nintendo brand, but unfortunately many of those games were sub-par. With the Wii, everyone knows what’s in the pipeline out and the fans are excited.
Maybe the first game to sell one console and boost another?
Nintendo is realising their mistakes from the last generation; Nintendo online was an oxymoron until the DS’s WiFi Connection. Now they’re fully integrating online play into their games with WiiConnect24, which will allow developers to send new add-ons to games through a twenty-four hour connection to the player’s console. With pre-paid points or credit cards, gamers can buy NES, SNES, N64, Genesis/MegaDrive, or Turbografx16 games and save them onto an SD card or hard drive. This opens up many possibilities with the Wii remote and favourites of the past.
And finally, Nintendo nailed E3. Going into the show people had doubts about whether Nintendo had the firepower to take down Sony and Microsoft’s graphical beasts. Sony and Microsoft’s press conferences (Sony’s especially), gave everyone what they wanted: the straight facts. Release date, price, games, it was all spoon-fed to the press. Nintendo instead worked on a different route, deciding to instead tease everyone until the were hyped about the announcements. Nintendo let everyone know their vision for this generation and slowly let loose information. And when you got out onto the show floor, the lines aorund the Nintendo booth were packed and the Wii still had a sense of mystery about it. That, plus things like the secretive Super Smash Bros. Brawl trailer got people hyped for a machine that was only a murmur before. Gamers and developers are now excited, wanting to see what the controller can do, and waiting on Nintendo’s next move.
What They’ve Done Wrong
The motion sensing Wii controller is supposed to introduce a new control scheme that will get even the most adamant non-gamer into videogames. This is all well and good, but some game developers have no desire to change. The Wii also has GameCube controller ports and the system’s Virtual Console controller, but Nintendo is trying very hard to push the remote-style controller. The head behind Castlevania, Koji Igarashi, has stated that the series is not fit for the Wii on many different occasions. “…I’ve noticed that Castlevania might not fit the controller. Wii is targeting some short gameplay, whereas Castlevania is a longer game. Once you get into the game you’ve been playing for so many hours it doesn’t really fit with Wii.”
Even more evident of his feelings surrounding the controller were this statement; “When it comes to Wii, obviously the controller has a unique feature, but I just can’t come up with a good idea that utilizes it. I mean, clearly you can with a lot of time.” It seems that no one has told him, “Hey, you can use a normal controller too!” and that could potentially lose some third-party series for Nintendo if developers go exclusively to another system due to misinformation.
“Oh yeah, we have that controller too…”
The secrecy helps in some cases, but in others it’s just annoying to the consumer. For instance, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will be sold on the Wii and on the GameCube. Some future Wii owners are concerned that the Wii’s remote will not feel as comfortable as the GameCube’s controller, so they are debating about which version to get. Again, the Wii has ports for GameCube controllers, but Nintendo has yet to confirm that the Wii version will have the option to choose between each control scheme.
The Wii’s Wi-Fi setup has caused confusion, also. Look around the Internet and some sources will tell you that the Wii can go online using Nintendo’s WiFi USB Connector, which a lot of current DS owners already have. Nintendo has neither confirmed nor denied this. Suspense is great, but there is a fine line between hype and confusion.
What They Need to Do
Nintendo has put themselves in a bind in some cases around the Wii. As with the controller, most likely the reason they aren’t pushing the GameCube and VC controllers is because they fear the consequences. If developers start ignoring the Wii remote it will become another failed Nintendo peripheral, and they can’t afford for that to happen. The way to counter this is to deliver some great games at launch that really make the Wii remote shine. After the possibilities are opened up and developers are aware that this can truly enhance gaming like Nintendo claims, there is no longer a need to shove the remote down their throats. Then you can tell them, “Yeah, but if you really want to go back to these controllers you still can”. We really don’t need to play Madden with the remote, but if we’re going to, we also want the option of playing with a normal controller.
If done right, an online Smash Bros could achieve greatness.
The biggest problem is online play. It’s great that Nintendo is embracing it, but now they’re not sure how to make it work. There is one main factor that’s messing everything up: Gamers want Xbox Live features for multiplayer, but Nintendo wants to keep it simple, and above all, free. You can’t have both. Under a free service, Nintendo can’t as easily enforce rules against misconduct or swearing over voice chat. Nintendo has always been and probably always will be a family-oriented brand. They can’t afford little Timmy being cursed out by Pikachu on Super Smash Bros. So their solution with this on the DS was to use friends codes to enable voice chat. This didn’t bode well with gamers who wanted more freedom. Nintendo needs to set up different types of rooms for different age groups. A kids’ room can have voice chat diabled in online matches unless someone is registered on their friends list and vice versa, and an adults’ room can have free for all voice chat. The Wii should have different profiles for each user, and each user should have control settings when it comes to online play. This hurdle can be overcome in many different ways; Nintendo needs to just put their minds to it.
And most importantly, keep the hits coming. Don’t make the same mistake as the what happened on the GameCube and keep your all-stars buried in a vault somewhere. We love our Marios and Zeldas, so keep giving them to us.
Final Analysis
You’re back in the race Nintendo, and if you correctly play the cards you’ve always had since the days of the NES, you could possibly come out of this battle on top. The games are what you’ve got, and with the graphical powers of the PS3 and 360 it may be all that you’ve got. So you’re going to have to deliver big to take them down. But you’ve come prepared; you have the deadly Nintendo All-Star Army on your side. Use them well and you may just become the ruler of all consoles once again.
