N-Sider Q&A
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January 5th, 2001
Is it ever possible for a fans ideas to make it into a game? I have a few thoughts on things they should implement into a Perfect Dark sequel (very simple things, actually - 1) Have a scroll bar to set the speed of the game, instead of just an "on," "off," and "smart" setting for slow motion, 2) have it so that on the weapons select menu, you don't have to change the set to custom to change an individual weapon setting, and 3) allow the sims to have multiple characteristics, as in a fist-judge sim.) Now, I hate to think that Rare wouldn't think of these and therefore wouldn't implement them. But if I just send the ideas in a letter would that have any chance of being read by the development team? And, I've read that there can be legal issues if a developer uses ideas they got from someone outside the company. What do you guys think?
-Jacob Terry
Pete: Companies won't accept game ideas/concepts because things like lawsuits can pop up later on. Some companies do listen to feedback from fans, but generally that's for stuff like game play tweaks. If you sent that feedback to Rare, I don't see a problem with. Now if you sent a new game idea with a character design and so on, that's a whole new can of beans.
What is Nintendo's reasoning behind being so tight-lipped!? I mean, it's not as bad as it was with the N64... that was simply awful... and I don't care if they don't tell the public a lot of things, but even developers don't know a lof of things!!! I think Nintendo is being stubborn. For as long as they've been around, they need to grow up as a gaming company. The more they share with other companies, the better off the gaming industry will be. The benefits of opening up far outweigh the negative aspects.
- Mike
Pete: I wish I knew. In some ways, secrecy is a good thing, but if it's getting in the way of developer relations, then it's a problem. I doubt their policies will change until a new president takes over for Yamauchi.
Based on what you know so far from Nintendo, what are the five games that are most likely to be the five launch titles? Also, any word from Ubi Soft on Rayman 3?
-rxfang6
Pete: I would think that there would be new Mario and Pokemon games for launch. The new Pokemon movie in Japan coincidentally opens in July in Japan, so they'll probably want to take advantage of that. The other games I think will be new and original games with new characters. We haven't heard anything new from Ubi Soft, sorry.
Do you think there will be dozens of fighters for Gamecube like dreamcast?
-Odeh
Pete: Well I think Capcom will bring a lot of their 2D fighters to the GameCube, despite the button layout on the GC controller. I'm hoping Tecmo considers Dead or Alive 3 for the GameCube as well. Namco is the other big fighting company, and I'd love to see Soul Calibur 2 or Tekken 4, but chances are that Sony will get first dibs on those titles.
The GameCube will be awesome. I wish Nintendo would release it a month or two earlier to avoid bumping into the Xbox. Microsofts marketing tactics are shameful and crude. They WILL buy their way to the top. Any head start Nintendo can get will help them emmensely. Either way, I'm getting a GC. Would you happen to know if a new Mario Kart game will be a launch title?
-N
Pete: Well IGN's sources have heard that Nintendo is internally aiming for September 7th, 2001. Could happen, but I think it'll slip to October. Microsoft will probably then slide to late October or early November. Mario Kart is interesting, because Nintendo is forced to provide new Mario and Pokemon games for the GameCube, but Miyamoto also stated he wants new types of games on top of that. So we'll see if Nintendo can squeeze in a new Mario Kart in between there. It will come at some point, but whether it's a launch title is anyone's guess -- certainly would be a nice way to highlight GBA/GC link features.
Ok, we all know we're all headed towards the most aggressive console wars of our time. We have 3 big contenders, Xbox,Ps2 and of course the Gamecube. Personally i think Nintendo should come out on top, they've got the experience, and hopefully N64 was a good enuff learning experience for the company to avoid a repeat in history. I think more adult oriented games will surely give Nintendo a stronghold over the competion. What do you guyz think Nintendo will need in order to recapture its hold over the gaming industry???
-Megatron
Pete: To recapture the console industry and to overtake the Playstation 2, Nintendo will have to do a lot of things right. Also, you'll notice every generation a new franchise emerges which can have a dramatic impact on system sales. On the NES, it was the Super Mario Bros. series, on the SNES it was Street Fighter II, for the last generation it was Pokemon on the Game Boy. If Nintendo can create that next "big thing" they should be in good shape, but it's important that Nintendo get that new franchise.
Without Square Soft. and launching over a year later in Japan, Nintendo will be really hard pressed to catch Sony over there. If they can work out an agreement with Square, well then things change quite a bit. In the US, they have a good shot, but they also have be cautious of Microsoft and even Sega. I don't know if Nintendo will get the majority console market share, but I think the GameCube can sell in the SNES range (45-50 million). Coupled with about 100 million GBAs...well, that's not exactly a bad deal.
Question: Will there be any PC games appearing on the GameCube e.g.. Quake III on the DC and Unreal Tournament on the PS2. Also will there be any sort of USB ports or firewire to enable keyboards or mouse?
-Laurence Foo
Pete: I'm sure there will be plenty of PC ports on the GameCube; more so than the N64. The GC has no USB or firewire ports, but Nintendo or a third-party can make a keyboard/mouse that hooks up via the main controller ports.
Hey, I was just wondering about Animal Forest. First, will it come to North America, more specifically Canada? Second, I heard you can transfer certain items from game to game if you use a controller pak on a different game. Do you have both people from each pak on at once or is it just the one person at a time thing? And finally how big is the world you live in? Seeing as how all you do is basically live in the place it better be big enouhg to remain interesting for a while.
Pete: We don't usually cover N64 games, but there's probably a half decent chance that this game might get switched over the GameCube as well or there will be some kind of GameCube version of it in the future. For more information on the game, we suggest you skip on over to IGN and check out their preview of it.
Hello Folks, First, I want to wish all of you a very happy new year 2001 and keep up the good work. Guys, I have something I would like you to clarify for me, a couple a days ago I was checking the IGN website and I read the interview to one of the Factor 5 executives; Is it true that Nintendo is willing to focus it's market to children ??? I mean, what is Nintendo planning to do now ??... First, they had a lot of problems because a lot of good companies didn't want to make games for the Nintendo 64 because of the cartridge issues and now they want to force older people to buy some other gaming console, just think about it guys.... people like us who have been Nintendo fans for years or maybe since they were born and now are maybe teenagers or maybe a little bit older, will Nintendo forget about them ??? I am a Nintendo fan, but I am also expecting Nintendo to make a pretty decent presence on the older market, otherwise people like me will definitely be forced to buy some other gaming console and forget about Nintendo in the same way they are forgetting us (if all of this is true).
warm regards,
-Henry A.
Pete: I don't think you should be too worried. Nintendo had now established a solid base of developers (Retro, Left Field, NST, Silicon Knights) that can provide a solid flow of games targeted at older audiences. It appears Rareware has also been given free reign on their titles, so expect them to make a lot more software aimed at older audiences. Who knows, perhaps EAD and other internal Nintendo teams will try to tackle some more edgy subject matter.
Will GBA cartridges be compatable with the SNES's Super Game Boy?
-Davy88
Pete: No, I would think not, since the Super Game Boy is made to emulate the regular Game Boy machine, which isn't nearly as powerful as the GBA. It's possible you'll be able to play your GBA on your television via the GameCube, however.
we are in 2001 but when will be the first ANNOUNCMENt about NGC ???
-Daniel B.
Pete: You could see some new stuff from Nintendo about the GameCube during March's Game Developers Conference (GDC), but don't expect anything major until the May E3 show.
Just curious, how many games does myamoto's team work on at a time. can they be working on both mario and Zelda at the same time. if not how could both be out at launch?
thanks,
-matt
Pete: EAD internally can work on a few titles at one time; they do have over 250 employees, after all. Zelda: Majora's Mask was done by half of the Zelda: Ocarina of Time team and was headed by Eiji Aonomu and not Shigeru Miyamoto, for instance.
Another week, another Q&A. Good stuff, now just keep those qs coming here!