Phantom Hourglass Video

Betcha anything it will. BTW, anyone else notice you get a server error trying to access Nintendo.com? Must be overwhelmed with traffic with this news!

I 2nd that – looks absolutely marvellous!

Damnit, they brought the fucking sailing back. Well, maybe they’ll fix it so that it’s not so boring and shitty in this game.

I’m so excited about Nintendo I actually don’t know what to do!

I saw the video which was taken directly from the conference on kotaku.com – the vid quality is rubbish but so worth it to hear the crowd reaction!

Aaaaaaaarghghghghghhhhh! I want it all NOW!

I don’t know which to be more excited about, Twighlight Princess or the Phantom Hourglass.
I’m really worried that after all these delays and attempt to Revolution-ize the controls that it might suffer from trying to do too many things as a result of the goofy time that it is coming out.
The DS on the other hand has yet to dissapoint me so far and I’m really excited for this combination of 2D Zelda (which produced my favorite game: A Link to the Past) with the touch screen controls.

Anyway, I’ll be picking up both first day and I really hope to love both. The one thing that is for certain is that Nintendo has already gotten a fair ammount of my money over the past 6 months and they will be getting a heck of a lot more before the end of the year.

A Link to the Past is the best game ever made along with super metroid, Im pleased that they are making a new one but if there’s any of that sailing shit left from wind waker then im going to cry like a baby, it was the most dull experience ive ever had and it was a great game.

They need to get themselves a few more buttons on the revmote – how the hell can we play street fighter? We all knew they were going to make a controller like that when they bought that 3d mouse company a couple of years back, the reveolutionary bit is the nunchuck and the ability to HOPEFULLY play bloomin light gun games properly!

The whole virtual console thing is great, but how can you play genesis (Mega Drive as we call it here) and SNES games with only a 2 button NES pad? My room is already overflowing with computers of old 2x PCs, a Mac, NES, SNES, 64, Cube, Playstation so the fact that now im going to have to buy 4x 4 types of pads to play these old games doesnt sound so appealing to me – Even the NES pad part of the Revmote is a little concerning as the ergonomic Z trigger will be uncomfortable in your left hand.

I love the ideas behind it and the fact that it will be the cheapest system, however once ive got 4 remotes, 4 cradles, 4 snes pads, 4 chargers for the remotes, as many SD cards as i can get – how many games will I be able to afford?

I sincerely hope they make the pricing of games better than the rest, I love gaming but I cant justify paying £20 for a copy of altered beast that I might only play through once and then not even get to keep as I will have to delete it from my non existent hard disk – when if you look in the right places its not exactly difficult to get a CD full of roms and play on some emulator like everyone has been doing for the past 10 years.

I made a post on here the other day about the PS controller converters I bought for my cube, and to be honest, they are the only reason some of mates will even pick up mario kart! Its not that it isnt the best 4 player game on the market but until they will break these barriers then they are flogging a dead horse. It all looks wonderful and I cant wait to get one, however they need to address these issues before it will sell in the UK – well to gamers anyway (give me the whole not aiming at that market argument come on). The controllers have shot them in the foot with the last 2 home systems (64/Cube) Look at PS they took the old snes pad, added 2 shoulder buttons and made it perfectly ergonomic – Its still the market leader and its still the best pad on the market. The D pads on Nintendos have been shit since the SNES – you try doing a row of dragon punches on your N64 pad for a couple of hours and youll see what I mean – Killer instinct Gold anyone? – Pain in a box. The Cube Dpad was straight from the GBA and sticks up too high from the plastic casing of the pad, you just cant use it effectively like the PS pad.

Im sorry if I sound disheartened im not, I love the Big N and have owned all of their consoles bar the VB and DS (only reason I havent got a DS is cos it is so ugly and people will ridicule me at work) bring the Lite out, sort out your pad so that we can use the virtual console and show us the games – If they do launch in november then they need to put the cash into marketing it properly not as some cheap PS alternative as the UK kids simply wont buy it, they love GTA and 50 Cent these days not Cell shaded Zeldas with boring boats on them. We havent seen a really special game since Metroid prime 1 – even then pretty much every non fanboy i know bought it, played it a bit but got so bored of the monotonous running back and forwards and shit story that they didnt bother to complete it. Same with prime 2 only the story in that was really bloody awful, do yourselves a favour, pay some crime novelist 20K to get the story right before we have trapse back through miles of f’ing phazon to save some stupid looking alien thing that we dont care about.

Pikmin was great, but the graphics and the cutesy feel simply let it be pushed aside by people in the UK. We love Mario, Yoshi etc, but big N we have had enough of cute, we want adult Zelda, we want red blood and we wouldnt mind some more adult games.

Phew, I think I should get a job as a professional moaner, keeping up the British stereo type.

imo:

fiddy cent = godawful game
ps2 pad = blisters/ i hate it
zelda ds = sweet
virtual sega games = totally hot

and btw- ever try a nes emulator? not that you should. or that i have. but a friend of a friend told me that nes games take up like no memory. so i dont worry about deleting from my revolution. and I can’t imagine altered beast costing £20. or anyone paying £20. or ever playing altered beast again.

finally, just b/c ps2 has sold the most doesnt make the ps2 pad the market leader. it just means most people own ps2s. the pad can still suck. and it does.

They’re all hungover after celebrating the Sega/TGfx16/ZeldaDS announcements.

Or they’re still finishing up the Infendo Radio podcast.

Sorry for the delay in updating my post, I didnt mean to sound so harsh but I will explain my thought trail a little more.

Please though, remember this, I am number one fanboy, ive had nintendo’s since I had bloody manhole on game and watch and got a Deluxe NES pack when I was 7 with ROB the robot and a grey zapper. I was the kid who had metroid one as soon as I could afford it and believe me I totally understand your criticisms of my post, but I will make myself clearer.

Firstly, GTA and 50 cent are rubbish games, I was referring to his god awful music which seems to terrorise the airwaves everyday round here with the local 15 year olds snapping up everything of his they can. However you cannot deny their sales figures.

The DS is amazing however it has one of the ugliest cases in the world, I was trying to import a Lite as soon as they were out but clearly that’s not going to happen just yet eh… However you never see people using their DS’s on the bus or tube in the UK, I think you will once the lite is here but you can instantly see when people look at it in the shops that think “Im not getting that, it doesnt look cool” im not doubting the games as those ive played ive been throughly impressed by, the cartridge system is the right one for the market and everything they have done with the actual system is great but you cannot deny it’s looks.

The cutesy image of everything Nintendo has hit them hard, when I had a SNES we used to have a house with 20 people in it everyday playing Street Fighter and even now give it a damn good plast, the party aspect of 4 player NBA Jam, bomberman and the likes are the reason why everyone piled round to my.
The N64 has Goldeneye, a killer ap, Zelda OOT and Mario 64, 3 of the best games ever made however no CD drive was a mistake, the machine was so much better than the PS that it should have been the leader – for us though there were many issues.

Firstly in Europe we are shit on badly because of poor PAL conversions, when I saw OOT of my GCN running at its native speed i nearly cried, even the other day I went to switch on my 64 version and turned it straight off, its so jerky its not worth playing. You guys got the good one, we are third best, I understand why this is and how it has to be this way, but you put a copy of that (PAL) next to full rendered FMV and Tekken 3 (JAP) running at full speed, not to mention the enormous piracy that happened here in the UK with PS and its no wonder it out did the 64. Obviously it was just the right system at the right market but the people who bought it all adopted the PS2 with its bad DVD drive and awful looks – the GCN is a better machine, you can see that with nearly everygame but the pad and cute looks put people off in the shops, when they play they will love it, its getting them to the play.

The controller didnt look appealing to pick up, lots of people didnt really get it, im not saying it was a bad design but the D Pad is truly awful compared to the PS, the lack of 4 buttons (not c pad) resulted in bad conversions of things.

The joystick is hard to hold, it wears out very badly and quite easily, the PS controllers do have the Analogues are the wrong places, however their construction is much more sturdy.

The xbox controller is awful, really bad, bin it.

The GCN Pad is too kiddified, its bright purple, the big green button is almost an insult to gamers and the way the pad is structured is great for some games but means that others simply dont work correctly- Hence the Tony Hawks comment. Almost impossible to play it with the Dpad and button config.

For me the pad is very ergonomic, but the sticks wear out really fast, ive bought about 7 so far – heavy handed friends.

Its the fact they they are trying to innovate but simply do this for internal games, not the 3rd parties who would gladly convert their efforts to all 3 consoles if they could – and in the GCNs case, if they sold.

This can be seen clearly from things like resident evil and the capcom deal that has now fallen through – getting the people to the cube has been a hard task, kiddy looks and a weird pad – great system, wonderful graphics, shame about no DVD drive as FMV would have beeen so good on a lot of games, however we have to move on from this.

You cant tell me that the Revmote will be any good to play SNES / Genesis games, its got two buttons! SNES 6 and Gen 3 – 6 on the later games.

If they do release a cradle for the pad it will most likely look something like the GCN pad that was mocked up on IGN – this means youll have to pay to play any other games by buying cradles.

Big N are still churning out old games for £20 here on GBA – Cube games are all in the discount bin, they dont stock them in a lot of shops and in others they are placed at the back.

Zelda DS totally hot, except for the sailing…

TP – well looking forward to it. WW bored me after a while though if im honest, it was that boat that did it.

I will buy a rev anyway, I cant wait, the innovation in there is brilliant same with the DS only this time I hope they get the get the market that they want – the case looks good, the pad is terrific but to think it took the guys from Retro to say, you need to add the nunchuck is not a good sign of the things that happen in HQ – they need to step back a little from the innovation and think about delivering the product, add 4 buttons at the bottom but where are the shoulder buttons? How can you play Super Metroid without them?

The things nintendo get right are unfortunately let down by the things they get wrong – 3rd party support, cutesy identity and trying too hard not to follow the pack – I completely understand the reasoning behind it but we need to look at it critically not with rose tinted spectacles – Take the bad things away and you have a rev pad with 4 buttons at the bottom and a way to simulate shoulder buttons so that you can use the virtual console.

Great things can happen with rev and I am eagerly anticipating it and collecting my DS lite. I apologise if I came across so harshly but these things are nigggling at me. They need to show the people that they can deliver these things as Sony et al can also put these into place,who is to say that you wont get Sega games on PS3 or 360?

Is it that great a deal playing through Sonic 2 (the last great sonic game) again? Are there that many great genesis games that you will play through again? How much will they charge for each of them – these are the issues I would like answers too – E3 should come sooner, I want to bloody know.

Nes Games are tiny, so are SNES ones, 64 ones arent but Ive got all the games I want – Im old enough to have been retro gaming for 10 years already.

They need to get it right this time, I hope they do, cheap dev costs means plenty of games – a good SDK so people can make games fast and easily, more internal / external partnerships, show the other guys the technology, show them how to use it and how it can be used. Make games on a cheap format, dont expect people to pay £40 for a mediocre game (Sunshine was poo IMO – not even close to 64, even now i still play that)

I guess its down to taste, I love GCN, I love the games I own – at least 20 – but I know why people dont own one, I know why people dont want to own one and I know why its looked at as a kiddy box – as im sure you do.

I didnt want to slag off the big N, I love the company and the ethics behind it, however their marketing to people outside of fanboys is toss – they need to get some stuff out there that makes the 20 – 50 something markets want to buy a Nintendo – great games that arent all cell shaded or with family friendly stories, we want some grime, we want fun and I love the sound of brain training.

The future does look bright, the future does look good for nintendo but I want to know how they will deliver and how they will market it to people – they need to get in the doors of the shops and make themselves known again.

They need the days of the SNES back lots of polished well made games from more than just Nintendo.

Sorry for more brain dumping but I am vitally passionate about Nintendo and want them to not be number 3, which if im honest is how it feels in the UK.

And as i said, I am a moany groany brit who loves nothing more to crticise things. Apologies.

Rowan:

As far as the cutesy image is concerned, even Nintendo themselves have made statements acknowledging that as a problem, especially with the Gamecube; so I can hardly disagree there. I myself don’t mind it’s appearance nor it’s color (mine is purple) but I know more than a few who do.

With respect to the controller, I think we’ll have to agree to disagree. I’m more than a little biased, however, as I’ve felt that the D-pad has been obsolete since the N64. I don’t understand it’s inclusion in any subsequent system at all.

In fact, I’d prefer it if the Rev’s D-pad were replaced with an analog stick, myself. That, however, is impossible as it would undo all the work to simplify the controller. Still, I’d like it.

I actually like the button layout of the ‘Cube controller, though. I love that every button has a unique shape. It makes everything easy to feel, and I think the size of the A button increases it’s comfort. Like I commented earlier, I believe the ‘Cube controller to be the pinnacle of the current generation.

Many would and do agree with you regarding Nintendo having stuck with the cartridge format in the N64. I don’t have a strong opinion either way. I do, however, know that the cart format prevented the whole disk error/skipping problem that plagued the PSone. My friends were always playing with their systems propped up on one side with books in order to get it to work… it was the funniest thing.

If I understand you correctly, then, you’re referring to the Z trigger underneath the revmote and how that will make playing retro games akward because you hold the revmote sideways… is that right? If that’s the case I fully agree with you.

While playing NES games could be done holding the revmote sideways, I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that SNES and beyond would have to be played with either a ‘Cube controller or something else. Like you said, the revmote just doesn’t have enough buttons, shoulder or otherwise. Plus, I’m absolutely sure that third party controllers that simulate the SNES, the Genesis, or whatever else will saturate the market. If you like six button design for Steet Fighter, I’m sure you’ll be able to get it. I’ll bet that there’ll be more controller options for the Rev. than any other system has ever had.

Other than your concerns with the controller I think most of your concerns are being addressed by Nintendo with the Revolution. It certainly has a more adult look, wouldn’t you agree? Also, they seem to be occupying themselves quite a bit in attracting more third pary support.

I don’t think they should move away from the ideology of “not following the pack”, though. Quite the contrary. There are already plenty of followers in the videogames industry. Nintendo needs to continue to break away and do things differently.

Just imagine what would happen if they did nothing but make a more powerful system with maybe a little online play or HD support. It’d be the end of them. There would be absolutely no reason whatsoever to buy Nintendo. You could get all that and more with a 360 or a PS3.

Perhaps I do look at the Rev. with rose-tinted spectacles but Nintendo has never let me down before. I share the kiddy image concern with you. Not because I myself care but because if too many other people do, that hurts them. I have quite a few questions about the revmote, too.

Even so, I think Nintendo is working to solve these problems. I suppose it’s easier for me to have faith, though, since I’m such a big fan of the ‘Cube controller.

It would ruin it 😉

What im worried about is mainly the cost, you cant play snes games with a GCN pad as the Dpad is poo, if you dont already have 4x GC pads then you cant say, get GC games and play them 4 player out of the box…

The cost for a newbie to play SNES / GC games and Rev ones will be through the roof.

Rev Machine = £150/£200
3 x Revmotes(£30 each) = £120
3 x SNES (equivalent £10 each) = £40
4 x GC Cradles (£15 each) = £60

3 x Games (£40 each) = £120

Total = £490

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Downloads from

There you are talking the cost of a PS3 out of the box to play with the standard features of the console…

Very worrying…

I do love the GC pad, however the Dpad is truly awful and for fighting games / Tony Hawks its a necessity to have a decent one, they havent had a good one for the last 2 consoles!

When I mentioned following the pack I was talking button layout (4 buttons as they defined on the SNES the perfect layout) and Media, no CD drive meant N64 had no FMV – Tiny disks on GCN meant lack of it. I certainly would love to see the Big N be able to bypass these hurdles and get the mass market to revolution.

The DS as I said is definitely a minger, the lite is gorgeous… Design in these terms is where it comes into play – You just dont see anyone in my office (200 techies) with a DS, they all play games but simply Sony has brainwashed them with the PSP.
When they eventually treat us brits to the Lite, probably in 7 years time like normal then they will look at mine and feel jealous. Until then though… We will settle for beign treated like 3rd class citizens with awful PAL conversions and being last to get everything.
We had to wait 6 months after you guys just to get the Cube… Even then when you compare prices we pay about a third more for everything too, I guess thats just what you get eh!

Still with us getting near a $1.85 for our humble £1 its worth importing a Rev when they come out eh!

Im just worried about all of these add ons, remember the Mega CD (Genesis) and 64DD failures of old, people want something that works out of the box.