Nintendo Media Summit Report

[Gorvi]

Wired's Chris Kohler has a huge write up (http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/04/nintendos-media.html) complete with hands on impressions from Nintendo's recent Media Summit in San Francisco.
I doubt there was anyone who walked away unimpressed. From the surprise hit of the show -- Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People, pictured above -- to surefire million-sellers like Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit, Nintendo is in a much better position, content-wise, than they were last year. And although the Nintendo DS still doesn't have nearly as much first-party support as the console, third parties are stepping up to fill the void with impressive games like Sonic Chronicles and Guitar Hero: On Tour.
LostWinds and World of Goo look especially impressive. Finally some WiiWare games are being shown that look like they'll be worth picking up.

[SynapseLapse]

LostWinds and World of Goo look especially impressive. Finally some WiiWare games are being shown that look like they'll be worth picking up.

Which are naturally the only titles you literally cannot pick up :p

[Kamalot]

Wow! That's a huge article on Game|Life.

As a HomeStar Runner fan (Wearing my Trogdor T-Shirt (with majesty) today), this section is one I find especially exciting.

Strong Bad is a hilarious game -- if you've ever chuckled at a Homestar cartoon, you'll be laughing along here. The gameplay is exactly what you'd expect: You click on things and people to interact with them, fill up your inventory with items, and try to solve puzzles. In the first episode, one of your goals is to get Homestar out of your house. It was pretty easy to do in the demo, but we're promised that it'll be much more complex in the real game.

While Telltale expects the length of each episode to be something in the vein of the Sam & Max games, meaning a few hours each, they're adding in a variety of Easter eggs to keep the hardcore fans playing long after the puzzles are all solved. There are Teen Girl Squad comic book pages hidden around the house. And you'll be able to play Snake Boxer 5, a micro-game with retro stylings, in Strong Bad's room. (Telltale promises a new game for each episode.)

[Kamalot]

LostWinds and World of Goo look especially impressive.
Joystiq has up impressions with additional screen shots of both LostWinds (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/15/joystiq-hands-on-lostwinds-wiiware/) and World of Goo (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/15/joystiq-hands-on-world-of-goo-wiiware/).
The 2DBoy site has up new videos of World of Goo (http://2dboy.com/2008/04/13/world-of-goo-trailer-2/) as well.

[Gorvi]

Joystiq has up impressions with additional screen shots of both LostWinds (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/15/joystiq-hands-on-lostwinds-wiiware/) and World of Goo (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/15/joystiq-hands-on-world-of-goo-wiiware/).
The 2DBoy site has up new videos of World of Goo (http://2dboy.com/2008/04/13/world-of-goo-trailer-2/) as well.
I saw some videos of both on IGN. They both look pretty impressive. I really hope Nintendo announces some kind of storage option at E3 so that more games like these can come out and be playable at all times.

[Kamalot]

I saw some videos of both on IGN. They both look pretty impressive. I really hope Nintendo announces some kind of storage option at E3 so that more games like these can come out and be playable at all times.

I suppose that's the nature of the beast these days. Either fill up your Wii's internal memory with games, or fill up your PS3's hard drive with gigs of game installs. Either way, customers are being asked to go out of their way to manage data this gen. :(

[Gorvi]

I suppose that's the nature of the beast these days. Either fill up your Wii's internal memory with games, or fill up your PS3's hard drive with gigs of game installs. Either way, customers are being asked to go out of their way to manage data this gen. :(
Well, yeah, but at least with the PS3 I can expand that to 250GB. I want that option with the Wii.

[Kamalot]

Well, yeah, but at least with the PS3 I can expand that to 250GB. I want that option with the Wii.

That'd be nice, but we are still talking about an effort that most people won't do, and people shouldn't have to do. A simple USB drive would solve the Wii's issue, and is far better than asking people to swap hard drives and transfer over all their previous data from one drive to another. Lets hope that if a USB storage solution does come out for Wii, that Nintendo does not follow Microsoft's price-gouging practice for a larger hard drive.

[Variable Gear]

Nintendo wouldn't even need a 100GB drive, or a 50 GB one. They simply need to deliver something in the realm of 10GB, because there's a bunch of people excited for WiiWare (like me) who have their Wii memory filled with VC games (like me).

[Zaro]

I'm far from having filled my Wii memory but this can change with all the interresting Wiiware coming. But i have some VC games that i can delete since i'm done with.

[Variable Gear]

I'm far from having filled my Wii memory but this can change with all the interesting Wiiware coming. But i have some VC games that i can delete since i'm done with.

Yeah, that's what I should do as well. However, it makes no sense to. In reaction to this interview (http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/10/interview-perri.html) I vowed to keep all my "rotten" VC games on the main screen and ready to go. Why? Because I like to have immediate access to all the games I've paid for. It's a pretty simple idea, and it's one Nintendo better address soon.

WN: Another issue that's coming down the pipe as more and more content appears on Virtual Console and with Wii Ware coming out is the issue of space on the Wii. You can't run stuff off of the SD card. It all has to be on the onboard memory. Are you looking at solutions to expand this?

PK: I think that Nintendo loves to have a really clean approach to what they're doing, and the idea is to not have too much of a packrat syndrome, where you've got so much stuff stacked up that… you want to just have products that you're actually going to continue to use. Virtual Console's a really good idea. And it's on the server, so one Chris Kohler purchases it, it's always his. You can download it again. So it's a matter of what do I want to play today. I think we also did the tradeoff: for the price, the size, the flexibility of the system, for us to do all kinds of things. Instead of having a huge box.

WN: At the same time, my memory is full. I went to download the Neo Geo games, and it's like, "you need x blocks of memory." So it's like playing a puzzle game, and I have to look at all my memory and think, what do I not want anymore, okay, I'll move it over here… And it's a laborious process. There's just no plans to change this right now?

PK: We're always talking. But if your refrigerator's full, you've got to pull something out and put something else back in. That's just the normal issue of space. I mean, really, are you using every single thing on there?

[Kamalot]

Yeah, that's what I should do as well. However, it makes no sense to. In reaction to this interview (http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/10/interview-perri.html) I vowed to keep all my "rotten" VC games on the main screen and ready to go. Why? Because I like to have immediate access to all the games I've paid for. It's a pretty simple idea, and it's one Nintendo better address soon.

How is this really any different than the Xbox 360? There are plenty enough Xbox Live Arcade games to fill up the drive. What happens when you run out of room? You delete them, or move them to Microsoft's stupid-expensive memory cards. Live lets you download them again later, at no cost. Wii isn't that different. It isn't ideal, but it works. SD cards are MUCH cheaper than Microsoft's solution.

[Variable Gear]

SD cards are MUCH cheaper than Microsoft's solution.

But, can you play XBLA games off of memory cards? I can't do that with the Wii...:(

[Gorvi]

How is this really any different than the Xbox 360? There are plenty enough Xbox Live Arcade games to fill up the drive. What happens when you run out of room? You delete them, or move them to Microsoft's stupid-expensive memory cards. Live lets you download them again later, at no cost. Wii isn't that different. It isn't ideal, but it works. SD cards are MUCH cheaper than Microsoft's solution.
The difference is that you can fit a ton of XBLA games on even the 20GB 360's HDD, where as with WiiWare games I doubt you could fit more than 15 or so.

[KSmitty]

Nintendo wouldn't even need a 100GB drive, or a 50 GB one. They simply need to deliver something in the realm of 10GB, because there's a bunch of people excited for WiiWare (like me) who have their Wii memory filled with VC games (like me).
What is the low end Notebook drive? 20GB? 40GB? Well whichever, put one of those suckers out, give it USB, a nice white shell matching the Wii dimensions so your Wii could fit comfortably on top of it, add support via update and Voila... it prints money.

[Variable Gear]

Don't forget that the Wii's backup-to- / restore-from-SD function is ridonkulously slow.

That's the reason I prefer to keep everything in the Wii's local memory.
What is the low end Notebook drive? 20GB? 40GB? Well whichever, put one of those suckers out, give it USB, a nice white shell matching the Wii dimensions so your Wii could fit comfortably on top of it, add support via update and Voila... it prints money.

It sure would. I'd buy one now. :o

[sixtyfps]

Don't forget that the Wii's backup-to- / restore-from-SD function is ridonkulously slow.

[Rone]

Ah, Samba de Amigo...not even the new Sega can screw that up.
But if you've played the original, you'll be somewhat disappointed to know that the control scheme is significantly different. Instead of raising and lowering the Wiimote and nunchuk to simulate the maracas controller from the arcade original, you tilt the Wiimotes to hit the notes. If the IR sensors are pointed up, you'll hit the high notes; if they're out to the sides, the middle; if they're pointed down at your feet, you'll hit the lower notes. :( Bad Sega. Bad.

[Variable Gear]

:( Bad Sega. Bad.

Hey, I know it sucks but Sega is too broke to manufacture peripherals anymore.

[Purple Santa]

Wii ware is looking awesome. One more reason I own a Wii.

[mister_slim]

Ooh, Space Invaders Extreme looks good and it's cheap. Time to import that DS paddle adapter.