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[pakkit]

Nintendo Voice Chat Episode 39

March 4, 2009 - Welcome to Nintendo Voice Chat. Matt Casamassina, Craig Harris, Bozon, and Daemon Hatfield are going to waggle their way into your hearts.

Matt put up his review of Sonic & The Black Knight. Sonic fanboys everywhere are drowning in their tears.

A Boy & His Blob Wii is official and we can finally talk about it.

Last week we talked about the disappointing sales of Moon. Publisher Mastiff was listening and has some insight to share.

We have impressions of Ghostbusters, EA Sports Tennis/Active, and FFCC: Echoes of Time to share.

Plus, we answer a bunch of listener mail. Remember, you can e-mail us your questions.

Listening now, they've got the whole group together. Plenty of Sonic-baiting, very nice. :lol

 

[[Nintex]]

Are they going to explain why they didn't know about Excitebots?

 

[Linkhero1]

I'm only listening for the Sonic part, pretty funny so far :lol

 

[Aaron Strife]

Summary placeholder.

- The four of them are in this.

Sonic and the Black Knight

- Black Knight theme music starts playing. Reply from Sonic fan to review: "Listen here you motherfuckers"
- Matt gave Unleashed a decent score so bitter Sonic fans shut up.
- "It's not a good Sonic game, or it's not a good game, either one is true"
- On swordplay: "It's not gesture, it is waggle"
- Design is terrible, game is just running and cutting.
- Basically they took Secret Rings and cut out everything that's actually good.
- God they're talking about this like forever. Summary within summary: the game sucks.

We Ski & Snowboard

- Mediocre but not as bad as Sonic.
- Basically the same game as last year.
- The balance controls work, which is good.
- There's not really anything for you to do.
- GOD THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT SONIC AGAIN

A Boy & His Blob

- Made by "some crappy developer"
- They knew about it, but couldn't say anything
- Put up a video today
- If you love games like Murasama you'll like this
- History lesson about the NES game
- Correlation between Aladdin Genesis and this game. I'm not really paying attention so I don't know what it is.
- Wario Land opened the door for 2D games on Wii

Punch-Out!!

- They're glad about classic style controls.
- Punch-Out!! is all about pattern recognition and they don't want to deal with inaccurate motion controls.
- Only problem is that the game may not be fine-tuned for the NES controls.
- Has to be like the NES game, has to be single player based.
- Other problem is that it may be Punch-Out 3D, they want them to lengthen the game somehow to be worth it.
- One of them wants a new Fight Night for Wii.
- The new guy on the box art is named "Spaz McTwist" (lol)
- They want there to be a guy who's so hard to beat, not to "casualize" it.
- Sure that Next Level doesn't want to be known as the guys who ruined Punch Out.

ExciteBots

- Looks like ExciteTruck except without trucks.
- ExciteTruck got a bad rap at launch by most people, but it was really fun.
- They like the turtle robot.
- Excitebike 64 should come to VC in preparation
- ExciteTruck has more legs than most Wii games in that they can still play it today.
- Talking about the NP preview.
- Glad it has online, hope for MP3/AAC support.

EA Grand Slam Tennis

- They got to play it without MotionPlus. Woo!
- Hands-on in about a day or two.
- It's like Wii Tennis, except better
- You should be able to control your guy with an analog stick (optional)
- Mix of realism with exaggerated characters
- Going to be pretty deep, online mode
- Even without WiiMotion it was fun

~Had some stuff but it got deleted because Firefox is bullshit. ~

They plan on checking out Tiger Woods next week.

- They're wondering how they'll implement non-MotionPlus gameplay.
- They think that they'll just take last year's game and add a separate mode for MotionPlus.

- Nintendo is still tweaking MotionPlus, and will delay the release past June.
- Wii Sports Resort will be an 8 game title, not 10.
- The swordfighting from WSR is good, as was the dog frisbee thing.
- Hard to tell if WiiMotion delay will delay the EA games as well.

Ghostbusters

- Matt was impressed with it.
- Was convinced that the Wii version wouldn't be too good, but was pleasantly surprised.
- Same gameplay/story but with a different look.
- Matt liked the style.
- The controls were good, tight pointing controls.
- Engine works great.
- Has little touches that the 360 version doesn't.
- They use the same voice over from the HD version.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles

- Wii game is a port of the DS game
- DS game was made first with connectivity as an afterthought
- lol Square Enix tax. Wii version is the same price
- Weird to review because the DS version is great, the Wii version is... the same thing.
- Better to not use touch controls.
- Doesn't have voice chat, will be like Brawl's message thing.
- Comes out later this month.

- DSi has its own built-in age setting because of all the ratings systems from around the world.
- DSi will be able to have its own cartridges, but they think Nintendo will wait.

Moon

- Clarify on 1500 sales: It's sold more than that, NPD doesn't report from some retailers.
- The actual number is more like 5-6,000, which is still pretty low ;(
- Game had about 200k$ put into advertising
- Game may turn out to be a long, slow seller
- In hindsight "Big Busted Moon Game With Guns" would have sold better
- Chatting with Renegade Kid about their new projects

Listener mail

- They already answered the one that mattered
- From JediClairnet: DSi will play any retail DS cartridges
- From Diego: How confident about WarioWare for Wii with board/plus? Maybe, would be awesome
- From Jose: Is DSi's Wi-Fi compatible with WPA2? It would work for DSi games
- Also from Jose: When will there be a preview of Conduit's multiplayer? New preview on Friday, big multiplayer thing later
- Chad Smith: Why no LAN for The Conduit? Because Nintendo hates LAN and you
- Also: Why no 480p in Madworld? They probably didn't think to include it
- Also: Why no reviews for PES09? Konami won't give it to them, they finally gave it yesterday
- Jeff: Month of Conduit? Probably not a month, but something
- Chris: Conduit will be using WiiMotion, but WM+ doesn't have a release date, what's up? It can still release early without WSR coming out
- Dan: The enemies of MadWorld just stand around and don't attack lolwut? You can play it on Normal or Kill Yourself Hard, Hard is batshit insane to begin with, on Normal it gets gradually harder but still beatable.
- James: MadWorld is really violent but is the story anything worth mentioning? Surprisingly deep, good half hour of cut scenes
- Michael: Smart to release MW before RE5? Kind of, they're different systems so it won't really matter. One of them recommends MadWorld over RE5.
- TGAHarris: Pole's Big Adventure? One of them played it, was the funniest thing they ever played.
- Boom Blox Bash Party. They can't talk about it, it's awesome
- Adolf: Will Capcom port REOutbreak1&2 on Wii? They start talking about RE2 remake, Outbreak probably won't happen because it sort of fizzled out.
- Brandon: Indie love on DS? That's what DSiware is for.
- Shelby: NPC Metroid Prime, how does the D-pad work for the weapons? They don't know
- Charlie: Ocarina of Time on DS? It could...
- Mark: Weird story about the "Did you know your Wii could connect" e-mail. Can you talk about Mother 3? Reggie doesn't want to talk about it.
- Dan: Can DSi take videos with the camera? Nothing built-in

gooooood this was stupid long

 

[grandjedi6]

Sonic fanboys everywhere are drowning in their tears.

Well this part has been turning out true at least :lol

 

[pakkit]

Listen here you motherfuckers, I've had it with these awful fucking reviews, especially when you didn't get half way through Unleashed! I demand you give The Black Knight a fair review! You're just a bunch of biased dickheads who think they're clever with their shitty jokes. I hope you all die in a fucking fire, and your families are murdered you fucking pieces of shit!

:lol :lol

Matt did a pretty great dramatic reading.

 

[Sciz]

Not all of us Sonic fans want to kill you, Matt. Just so you know.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Listen here you motherfuckers, I've had it with these awful fucking reviews, especially when you didn't get half way through Unleashed! I demand you give The Black Knight a fair review! You're just a bunch of biased dickheads who think they're clever with their shitty jokes. I hope you all die in a fucking fire, and your families are murdered you fucking pieces of shit!

This is either Rash or RobbieNick, I'm sure of it.

 

[pakkit]

This is either Rash or RobbieNick, I'm sure of it.

No HUELEN10 love?

 

[Davey Cakes]

This is either Rash or RobbieNick, I'm sure of it.

I'm not that insane. :lol

Really, as far as Black Knight is concerned, I've always just played devil's advocate. I did the same with Secret Rings and was rewarded, so I'm still reserving judgment on this one.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

No HUELEN10 love?

I'm convinved Huelen gave up the Internet...

 

[grandjedi6]

I'm convinved Huelen gave up the Internet...

We could spam his youtube page and ask him: http://www.youtube.com/user/HUELEN10

It says he logged in yesterday! :lol

 

[VOOK]

I'm convinved Huelen gave up the Internet...

Guys he is banned until like March 10 I think, I bought his old Mac Mini off him he's still alive.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

We could spam his youtube page and ask him: http://www.youtube.com/user/HUELEN10

It says he logged in yesterday! :lol

Oh yeah, he uploaded that trailer in the BK OP. Eh.

Anyways Wario Land: Shake It led to Boy and His Blob. Bow down, plebes!

 

[pakkit]

ExciteBots talks are pretty funny. :lol Entertaining episode, mos def. Plus, Matt says of Bozon's WiiMotion+ Fight Night pitch, "Yeah, that might be deec." (As in short for decent) I nearly spat out my coffee.

Very positive impressions for Grand Slam Tennis, even though they played without Motion+ or nunchuks.

 

[Aaron Strife]

and done

 

[pakkit]

and done

Nice summary, if anyone has the time I recommend they listen. It's a really good episode and there are actually a lot of good jokes and tidbits of information.

However, I should warn there is misinformation about the Conduit. There is no more WiiMotion+ functionality in the game, unbeknownst to the Wii IGN team, apparently.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

People are still surprised that a Sonic game sucks.

:lol

 

[MarkusRJR]

*goes to download*

...

*comes back to find an endless 500 Error Loop*

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

 

[Teknoman]

Video of Boy and his blob huh?

Did they elaborate on how motion plus feels versus normal wiimote motions?

 

[Black-Wind]

Listen here you motherfuckers, I've had it with these awful fucking reviews, especially when you didn't get half way through Unleashed! I demand you give The Black Knight a fair review! You're just a bunch of biased dickheads who think they're clever with their shitty jokes. I hope you all die in a fucking fire, and your families are murdered you fucking pieces of shit!

Holy shit at that last part!

; . . .

 

[Operations]

People are still surprised that a Sonic game sucks.

:lol

Yeah, still puzzled for this as well :lol

 

[Linkup]

- If you love games like Murasama you'll like this

You mean Muramasa Demon Blade? They don't seem similar at all outside of there perspective.

 

[Metaphoreus]

- Nintendo is still tweaking MotionPlus, and will delay the release past June.
- Hard to tell if WiiMotion delay will delay the EA games as well.

I find this bit rather annoying. As is widely known, Nintendo has taken to not announcing games until shortly before they launch; I don't know why, but the best--and most extreme--example has to be Excitebots, which was announced just days ago, and comes out in less than two months. Yet, they announced Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus at E3 some seven or eight months ago. Apparently this took a lot of developers by surprise, because this was the first time they were hearing about the accessory. So, some of them decided to make games using the technology, and--because Nintendo had announced a Spring release for WSR and WMP--these companies planned to be able to launch their games in spring or early summer.

Now, however, Nintendo is having some technical difficulties with the thing, and so they have to postpone its release. Why announce it nine months early if they weren't even sure it would be ready to be released when they said it would be? Why allow third parties to make games that, if not fully reliant on Wii MotionPlus, at the very least were designed to rely heavily on it through marketing? Had Nintendo not announced Wii MotionPlus or Wii Sports Resort until recently, having secretly confided in third parties during last summer that the project was in development, then these third parties could have 1.) designed the games around WMP, and announced it with no mention of WMP, so that gamers would not expect the functionality at launch, and 2.) given a huge boost to the unveiling of Wii MotionPlus: instead of Nintendo saying, "Here's Wii MotionPlus and here's Wii Sports Resort," they could have said, "Here's Wii MotionPlus and here's Wii Sports Resort and here's Tiger Woods and here's EA Grand Slam Tennis, and here's" whatever other games were ready to be announced.

Aaaaand... I guess that's enough ranting.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Was totally about to multiquote breakdown your post, but it's pretty apparent nobody wants Motion+ to be delayed. I also think it's apparent it was announced waaayy ago at E3 in order for developers to start getting games ready for its launch.

And a few select developers knew of M+ before E3.

 

[markatisu]

I wonder where the delay is, devs have had motion + kits for at least 3 months (according to High Voltage) so it seems like they either are not sure how to sell it or there is a problem with WSR

But I highly doubt there is a problem with Motion + itself or the other devs would have complained or mentioned it

 

[Regulus Tera]

Now, however, Nintendo is having some technical difficulties with the thing, and so they have to postpone its release. Why announce it nine months early if they weren't even sure it would be ready to be released when they said it would be? Why allow third parties to make games that, if not fully reliant on Wii MotionPlus, at the very least were designed to rely heavily on it through marketing?

It was almost certainly a preemptive move against a Microsoft and/or Sony Wiimote knock-off, which were heavily rumoured before last E3. Competition in such way never materialised, but the damage was already done.

 

[Metaphoreus]

I also think it's apparent it was announced waaayy ago at E3 in order for developers to start getting games ready for its launch..

As you noted, though, developers could have been notified of it (and some were) without it being announced at E3 for the entire public. I really don't care one way or the other; I'm just annoyed that Nintendo seems to have handled it so ineptly. (Let me qualify that: obviously, by ensuring that Wii MotionPlus works flawlessly at launch, Nintendo is acting wisely. My problem is that it was openly announced to the public, developers began developing games to utilize it--and certainly were hoping to capitalize on it in their marketing--and then it isn't ready when it was supposed to be.)

EDIT:

It was almost certainly a preemptive move against a Microsoft and/or Sony Wiimote knock-off, which was heavily rumoured for last E3. Competition in such way never materialised, but the damage was already done.

Oh, that's right. Now I remember. In that case, it was probably an announcement that they had planned for later, but felt necessary to make sooner. Alrighty, carry on, then.

 

[cooljeanius]

So did anyone else notice the coincidence that this is episode 39 and they gave Sonic and the Black Knight a 3.9?

 

[VOOK]

I'm convinved Huelen gave up the Internet...

Just got a email from him guys; He says he didn't send that email... :lol

But the only problem he had with it was they used the word retarted, and that Sonic Unleashed on Wii shouldn't of got the score it did.

And he is back on the 16th of April.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Just got a email from him guys; He says he didn't send that email... :lol

But the only problem he had with it was they used the word retarted, and that Sonic Unleashed on Wii shouldn't of got the score it did.

And he is back on the 16th of April.

Damn that's a harsh ban. o_0

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

I find this bit rather annoying. As is widely known, Nintendo has taken to not announcing games until shortly before they launch; I don't know why, but the best--and most extreme--example has to be Excitebots, which was announced just days ago, and comes out in less than two months. Yet, they announced Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus at E3 some seven or eight months ago. Apparently this took a lot of developers by surprise, because this was the first time they were hearing about the accessory. So, some of them decided to make games using the technology, and--because Nintendo had announced a Spring release for WSR and WMP--these companies planned to be able to launch their games in spring or early summer.

Now, however, Nintendo is having some technical difficulties with the thing, and so they have to postpone its release. Why announce it nine months early if they weren't even sure it would be ready to be released when they said it would be? Why allow third parties to make games that, if not fully reliant on Wii MotionPlus, at the very least were designed to rely heavily on it through marketing? Had Nintendo not announced Wii MotionPlus or Wii Sports Resort until recently, having secretly confided in third parties during last summer that the project was in development, then these third parties could have 1.) designed the games around WMP, and announced it with no mention of WMP, so that gamers would not expect the functionality at launch, and 2.) given a huge boost to the unveiling of Wii MotionPlus: instead of Nintendo saying, "Here's Wii MotionPlus and here's Wii Sports Resort," they could have said, "Here's Wii MotionPlus and here's Wii Sports Resort and here's Tiger Woods and here's EA Grand Slam Tennis, and here's" whatever other games were ready to be announced.

Aaaaand... I guess that's enough ranting.

Just speculating here, but I suspect it has less to do with getting the tech right and more to do with manufacturing difficulties (either they can't get their processes up to speed or the supply of components has hit a snag, due to price spikes, contractual disputes, availability issues etc.

The tech, I suspect, was ready back in 2006 for the Wii launch... but was scaled back due to costs at the time.

 

[Teknoman]

Who said they were having tech difficulties with Motion +?

 

[Volcynika]

I'll listen to this at work tomorrow. Woo.

 

[pakkit]

Who said they were having tech difficulties with Motion +?

It was speculative, and "insider information." We also have Nintendo Power's recent report that Grand Slam Tennis will release after Motion Plus, which would tag it either early June or May. Lately, I've got to say I trust NP's word far more than IGN's. The idea of constant calibration problems seems likely, though, it'll be interesting to see how they use M+. I just can't wait to get my hands on the thing; I really hope Nintendo talks about it soon.

 

[grandjedi6]

I wonder where the delay is, devs have had motion + kits for at least 3 months (according to High Voltage) so it seems like they either are not sure how to sell it or there is a problem with WSR

But I highly doubt there is a problem with Motion + itself or the other devs would have complained or mentioned it

Well High Voltage did mention that they choose to not include Wiimotion+ because they felt it ended up being too gimmicky. Perhaps Nintendo is trying to fine tune it to be less gimmicky then?

 

[AniHawk]

What's all this about a remake of RE2?

 

[Deleted member 30609]

What's all this about a remake of RE2?

A Capcom US PR rep gave a typical "we are conscious of what our fan base are asking for" response to the question when it was asked, and people were took it as some kind of hint.

 

[ZeroGravity]

- Basically they took Secret Rings and cut out everything that's actually good.

So basically they cut nothing out.

 

[AniHawk]

A Capcom US PR rep gave a typical "we are conscious of what our fan base are asking for" response to the question when it was asked, and people were took it as some kind of hint.

So it'll just be a port of RE2 then. Maybe if we're good, we'll get ports of RE3 and Code Veronica X.

 

[bdouble]

Well High Voltage did mention that they choose to not include Wiimotion+ because they felt it ended up being too gimmicky. Perhaps Nintendo is trying to fine tune it to be less gimmicky then?

For their game maybe. From the Live Move 2Demo and what NP said about Grand Slam it sounds fantastic. Not to mention it really doesn't matter when its released. All of EA's games seem to only be enhanced by it and not actually require it.

 

[Aaron Strife]

What's all this about a remake of RE2?

It was announced at Sunday's conference

 

[Teknoman]

It was speculative, and "insider information." We also have Nintendo Power's recent report that Grand Slam Tennis will release after Motion Plus, which would tag it either early June or May. Lately, I've got to say I trust NP's word far more than IGN's. The idea of constant calibration problems seems likely, though, it'll be interesting to see how they use M+. I just can't wait to get my hands on the thing; I really hope Nintendo talks about it soon.

I just hope it actually makes motion control better, and isnt some throw away accessory. If its good, i'm glad its coming "early" in the console's life.

Looking forward to Wii Sports Resort too since it's the closest thing we'll get to Wave Race Wii.

 

[Black-Wind]

Well High Voltage did mention that they choose to not include Wiimotion+ because they felt it ended up being too gimmicky.

They meant that in the context of their game. It was a game built from the ground up as being a FPS . . . so throwing in 1:1 melee attacks at that point in the devilopment would have only added another bullet point to it but nothing much to the actual game.

I think they also said that it may use it in the future if they make another game in the series and design it with M+ in mind from the start.

And yeah, I agree with pakkit. IGN has been off about alot of shit ( the fates of Disaster day & Deamon Blade . . . ).

 

[Teknoman]

They meant that in the context of their game. It was a game built from the ground up as being a FPS . . . so throwing in 1:1 melee attacks at that point in the devilopment would have only added another bullet point to it but nothing much to the actual game.

I think they also said that it may use it in the future if they make another game in the series and design it with M+ in mind from the start.

Yeah, one to one controls really isn't needed in a game that isn't based on hand to hand combat, or something involving swings or strikes as an important part of the game.

 

[EatChildren]

Well High Voltage did mention that they choose to not include Wiimotion+ because they felt it ended up being too gimmicky. Perhaps Nintendo is trying to fine tune it to be less gimmicky then?

As has been said, HVS chose not to include it as they didn't have any design elements that would make use of it. The game has no melee weapons beyond the gun thrusting, with a vast majority of the gameplay revolving around the pointer.

They felt that adding M+ was gimmicky in that they had no features that could really take advantage of it, didn't have the time to rework in a plethora of new stuff, and didn't think it was fair to stick M+ on the box and have people expect it will be used for something cool.

Anyway, the M+ news really annoys me. The longer Nintendo take to bring this out the less chance of third parties picking it up and running with it. I really hope that at least Nintendo are pushing the peripheral at as many third parties prior to release, much like EA, and encouraging developers to work on it.

M+ is pretty much what I've envisioned for the Wii since the system was announced, so I'm very eager to play with it.

Glad to hear about MadWorld's high difficulty on hard.

 

[swerve]

We Ski & Snowboard

- Mediocre but not as bad as Sonic.
- Basically the same game as last year.
- The balance controls work, which is good.
- There's not really anything for you to do.
- GOD THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT SONIC AGAIN

I stopped reading IGN when they criticised Four Swords Adventures for having 2D visuals, and I've never missed it. Continuing their wrongness, this summary of We Snowboard is so disconnected from reality as to be laughable. It's the closest feeling to actually being on a mountain I've had from a snow game. Really amazing freedom, awesome balance board controls, and no load times between runs.

There's plenty for you to do. You can ski. And snowboard. And race. And do tricks. And chill out. And look around at the lovely view.

I think IGN needs to get some new Nintendo writers in.

 

[Crescendo170]

Anyone else thinks NVC has gotten really enjoyable lately? Ever since Daemon took over as host the guys seem to have gotten into it more. The show is definitely more upbeat now than it was a year ago.

 

[Frencherman]

I stopped reading IGN when they criticised Four Swords Adventures for having 2D visuals, and I've never missed it. Continuing their wrongness, this summary of We Snowboard is so disconnected from reality as to be laughable. It's the closest feeling to actually being on a mountain I've had from a snow game. Really amazing freedom, awesome balance board controls, and no load times between runs.

There's plenty for you to do. You can ski. And snowboard. And race. And do tricks. And chill out. And look around at the lovely view.

I think IGN needs to get some new Nintendo writers in.

qft

Really dissappointing review skills from Ign..