QA: 08-08-2003

I love Nintendo games but if Nintendo wants to steal some gamers away from Sony and XBox why dont they develop games that use similar formulas that people seem to want such as Halo or GTA? Nintendo games are brilliant but the fact that they always have the same franchise players I think keeps a certain segment away. Look at the success of Goldeneye, OK that was Rare but I am sure that Nintendo can come up with an even better title. Any thoughts?
-Garzon Juan R

Josh: Nintendo would be crazy to ignore their tried-and-true franchises -- the best-selling games for the GameCube (Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Mario Sunshine, The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Metroid Prime) all feature Nintendo mainstays. Clearly, their franchises still have power, though perhaps not as much in the past. With that being said, Nintendo is always working on new franchises to compliment their existing IP, evidenced by games such as Animal Crossing and Pikmin. Original franchises and game concepts are where Nintendo excels, and you won't catch them making a crime-romp or a first-person shooter ala GTA3 and Halo anytime soon.

A question to PGC.

Hey Planetgamecube,
Quick Question, Is there any chance that Star Wars KOTOR will be ported to Gamecube? Please tell me this is the case, I don't wanna buy an X-Box just for one game.
-Khalid Gafoor

Josh: Hey dude, we're not PGC. You should probably give your emails a little closer scrutiny when sending out a whole bunch of copies at once. Anyway, since I'm a nice guy and all, I'll answer your question despite your embarrassing blunder: no. For the forseeable future, you'll only find KOTOR on the XBox and PC.

Wavebird sales data

Hi,
I was wondering if Nintendo or anyone else has ever released sales data on the Wave Bird and the standard GC controller. The few GC owners I know (including myself) have ditched the standard controller and gone wireless, but I thought it would be interesting to see if the Wavebird has surpassed sales of the standard controller. One can only hope that Nintendo sticks with the wireless controller option for their next generation console... Thanks,
-David Anton

Josh: Sorry, David -- as far as I know, there isn't any controller sales data available to us. It's an interesting question of whether the next console will do wireless as standard, though -- I've heard some gamers say they're turned off by the Wavebird's lack of rumble and battery requirements. Perhaps if the controllers include a high-quality rechargable battery like that found in the GBA SP and some rumble, they will indeed be standard.

Nintendo = Apple?

Hey just a thought on the next generation console; don't you think it's kinda' coincindental that Nintendo's codename for their next generation system is named N5 which probably hints at how similar it might be with Apple's G5 PowerPC(G5 already has handles like the Cube!!!!!). Hey GameCube is esentially a beefed up PowerPC G3 so it could happen and I wouldn't mind at all if Nintendo patterns their system after the PowerPC just like the GCN. The GCN, I think is the best designed system in the industry right now and probably the least used in terms of hardware potential. Could Nintendo possibly use this architecture for their next Handheld system and still release it at a competitive price point? I just love how well designed the GCN is (handle and all) and hate to see the design completely forgotten after 2005!
-M

Josh: No; the rumoured codename of N5 simply refers to the fact that the next Nintendo console will be their fifth. Sorry.

Samus and Fox in F-Zero?

Do Samus Aran and Fox McCloud feature as playable characters in F-Zero GX?
ibro tbro

Josh: If they're in the game, they're so buried that no-one has found them yet, so at present, the answer is no.

Seaman GC?

Is there ANY chance of Seaman DC) coming to GC? I really don't want to hunt down a Dreamcast...
-Mike Krezner

Josh: I'm afraid Seaman won't be coming to any console for the forseeable future; the game performed well below expectations on the Dreamcast and is generally regarded as a niche title. On the plus side, you can pick up used Dreamcasts for around $20 -- in other words, damn cheap (at least, you can at the local flea market by my house). It's a good system, so I'd recommend grabbing one if you can find it.

TVs

Hi I was thinking of buying a new TV. I dont want to pay for an HDTV, but I would like to have 480P for Gamecube and DVDs. The only Model on analog tv that can do this is a Samsung. Do you guys know of any models??? Do you think that the gamecube 2 will take full advantage of HDTV??? Im saying this because wasn:t the FCC planning to kill all analog broadcasts by 2006 (forcing everyone to convert to HDTV) ???? TV Recommendations???
-Maxzzzz

Josh: I'll leave the TV suggestions to someone at Best Buy or Circuit City, but I can assure you that the GameCube 2 will feature all of the goodies to take advantage of HDTVs, such as progressive scan resolutions well above 480p. By the way, the FCC is indeed planning to shut down analog broadcasts by 2006, although that date may be pushed back a year or two.

Nvidia and ATI

there was a rumor before about NVidia not doing the graphics chipset for the next xbox, and that ATI was goign to win the bid or whatever. If ATI is diong the chipset for Microsoft, what does this mean for Nintendo?
-Maxzzzz

Josh: Even if ATI ends up supplying Microsoft with a graphics chip (which is not confirmed), they will still set Nintendo up, as well. But don't let this fool you into thinking the chips will be the same -- different machines have different needs, and the chips will likely be worked on by two completely different teams.

Q&A By: Josh Righter.

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