... and I won't bother posting them because they're pretty much exactly what we've been hearing for a long time now (if they really are real, that is)
Link to specs:
http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=8802
Unrelated but cooler: There's also this VC promo art pic. :)
![[Image: Virtual_Console_promo.jpg]](http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2006/07/Virtual_Console_promo.jpg)
From the Wii games seen at E3, I'm satisfied enough with the graphics to no longer worry about specs. Besides, the real attraction of the system is its unique controller and games.
I can't wait for Red Steel. Not so much because of the shooting scenes, but that sword-fighting video at E3 was impressive as hell.
The snow brothers are in that picture! That game rocked.
Let's see... We got Protoman rescuing Peach, Roll and Luigi driving some sort of Sega car, Dr. Wily buddying up with ROB and Robotnik, Bomberman tossing a Met-Al...
Izzat RACCOON PACMAN BEING CHASED BY BOOS?!
We got the Ice Climbers climbing a mountain to the Wind Fish's egg with Birdo on top of it. We got the Ghosts and Goblins demon holding a 1-up mushroom flying by Pit. Even frickin' puss in boots!
Kirby looks a little od- HE'S A VAMPIRE HUNTER! HOLY HELL! And Kid Dracula is next to him! Loved those games!
And much much more! Some I don't even frickin' recognize.
So am I to assume there will be Gameboy games included in the ol' "VC"?
Also, that entire thing should be the CAST OF SSBB!
Is... is that an adorable HOCKEY MASK WEARIN' JASON next to that magical burger man?
Did the Vic Viper shoot down a Pac-Man, because there's one on the side of the ship... :)
Dr. Robotnik is giving some kind of shady pedophiliac look to R.O.B.
Wait, now I see why... R.O.B. has the triforce of power!
That pac-man symbol is the same as the Penny Arcade guy's pac-man tatoo.
Bonk is flying a space ship.
Oh, oh THERE'S Waldo. That was a tough one.
Okay so someone was awesome enough to include Lolo and Lala and didn't put Samus Aran in there? Just two chibi Metroids getting blasted and NO Samus Aran?
Kirby as Simon Belmont is phunney and Birdo sitting on the windfish's egg is also phunney as previously described.
I don't see Mario in there either.
Nor do I see Megaman, Link, or Sonic.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it just has secondary and lesser known characters.
Quote:Bonk is flying a space ship.
Bonk? You think that's Bonk in the Vic Viper there (that's the name of the Gradius ship, by the way... as I said, with the Pac-Man pic on the side where a fighter plane's 'images of missions it's flown/things it's defeated' would be... :D)? Could be...
Quote:Nor do I see Megaman, Link, or Sonic.
Protoman and Dr. Wily are there though, and Robotnik... Cut Man too, and Beat...
... awesome! Ebisumaru! :)
Quote:Yeah, I'm pretty sure it just has secondary and lesser known characters.
Some are, some aren't... Bomberman's there, for instance... and Castlevania Kirby... Bub (of Bubble Bobble and Bust-A-Move), Arthur (I think), Gradius' Vic Viper... plenty of others. You're right that Sonic and Mario aren't there, but many other well-known characters are. Perhaps they were trying to highlight other characters though, and not just the top ones... for instance Goemon's not their, but top secondary character Ebisumaru is.
What's a chibi metroid by the way? I know that there's attempts to genetically engineer fake metroids called "mocktroids" but these look pretty much the same only adorable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chibi
Oh, and as for "major characters aren't in the picture", I guess that Bomberman (one of the main exceptions) is simply because that franchise doesn't have any characters in it that anyone would recognize that aren't Bombermen... but that doesn't hold true for Kirby. Or Castlevania, or several others... so I don't know. But they clearly did try to leave out some of the stars (Samus, Mario, Link, Sonic, Goemon, Mega Man, etc) and instead include lesser characters from their franchises...
And not just other franchises but a lot of one-shot games that are recorded as "awesome" by the diehard nerds as well.
I'm a little surprised at a lot of these because Nintendo did make it clear they only intended on including "the most popular games" on the system. Hopefully that translates to EVERY SINGLE GAME THAT ISN'T ARSE.
Still, what's up with the hocky mask guy? I know there was a Friday the 13th game on the NES (as well as Rare's Nightmare on Elmstreet game, which had an interesting waking world/nightmare dynamic which would have been great in a better game), but I wasn't aware anyone actually liked that game.
If they really do toss every game I could ever want on there, then wow, I might actually consider selling off my old collection as payment for the "upconversion" (maybe not, there are other reasons I might keep the old and just ignore the Wii collection). But, there are certain issues to consider. Part of me wants an ultimate singlular awesome computron device I can play all my games on, but part of me knows the technical limitations.
Also, 512 MB is nice but downloadable content can get pretty big. Map packs alone tend to take up 10's of MB each. The SD card is also nice, but the real issue is how fast these things can be accessed and the cost. Hmm... If at any point a 20 GB SD card with speeds comparable to a 5200 RPM hard disk is made affordable, this becomes great, but the issue is I doubt that'll happen during this upcoming generation.
Quote:I'm a little surprised at a lot of these because Nintendo did make it clear they only intended on including "the most popular games" on the system. Hopefully that translates to EVERY SINGLE GAME THAT ISN'T ARSE.
No, they said more than just "the most popular ones"... I'd expect most all of the games developed by Nintendo itsself. Third party ones have no gaurantees though, of course... and as for TurboGrafx and Genesis, I think that Sega and Hudson said that they'd be putting pretty much everything they could on it... though that could turn out to be wrong, I hope not. :)
Quote:Also, 512 MB is nice but downloadable content can get pretty big. Map packs alone tend to take up 10's of MB each. The SD card is also nice, but the real issue is how fast these things can be accessed and the cost. Hmm... If at any point a 20 GB SD card with speeds comparable to a 5200 RPM hard disk is made affordable, this becomes great, but the issue is I doubt that'll happen during this upcoming generation.
I'd assume that you could just put the game into RAM... and I would think that SD card access times, while not HDD fast, are probably reasonable. As for size though, you won't be getting a 20GB SD card anytime soon, not for any price most people can afford... :) I wonder if Nintendo will sell any Nintendo-branded cards or something, and if they do what sizes they'll suggest... (and if the rumors of being able to link a USB HDD to the Wii come true) we'll see. But for the purposes of these games, unless/until they start getting into CD titles (the eventual appearance of CD-based games from the TurboCD/TurboDuo, Sega CD, Saturn, and maybe even PC-FX (the successor to the PC Engine (TurboGrafx) in Japan, not released here) consoles on the Virtual Console are all reasonable guesses when compared to the current list), SD cards will be just fine. And if they do start doing CDs, not even a HDD would cope with it if you tried to download EVERYTHING, unless it's a really big HDD...
Well yeah, really big HDD would be enough to store a lot.
That's a question though. One, will Nintendo support using a USB hard disk? Two, if they do, how is the system set up? The 360 is nice. All data storage is handled by the OS as opposed to the game itself. Every single time you save a game, the OS tosses a side menu over the game screen asking you what media you want to use. This has the benefit of making it so the game designers no longer have to put media selection options and support stuff into their games, and it has the further benefit of being "future proof" (to quote Sony's term) in that any future storage medium MS uses, they only need update the main 360 OS itself to support it and all the games will thus "support it". The downside is just the glaring "seperation" of the experience when that 360 side bar pops into view (and the slight load time associated with popping it up, but that can be eliminated with better coding). I suppose that little seperation of the experience issue can be eliminated by adding a small amount of customization into the OS so that games supporting it can replace the look of the side bar with their own custom appearence if they want to (ala SGB borders). Another solution for the issue would be the addition of an option in the 360 OS to "use the default" so that the choice menu didn't come up unless I changed the option back to normal behavior. Anyway, my point is that it would be nice if the Wii itself handled selecting what storage device to save to as opposed to having the game do that, which means that even if the system doesn't currently support a hard disk via the USB cable, it has the potential to do so in the future. I myself have a USB enclosure kit I've had to use every now and then that I could hook up to a decent sized laptop hard disk (or I could get an ATA or maybe SATA enclosure kit for really massive storage space) which would work fine, and looks nice to boot.
One of the most wanted games on the VC is probably Castlevania Dracula X: Rondo of Blood (Akamajou Dracula: Rondo no Chi) for the PC Engine CD (TurboCD), never released in the US, so some form of HDD support would be very nice... I know that lots of older CD games weren't too big (100MB maybe), but some were, and those would fill up SD cards annoyingly fast (and those things are not cheap, though prices are gradually going down)...
As for saving though, that's a great point that I hadn't thought of. It's always incredibly annoying when a game's programmers were lazy and force you to use one specific memory card (some N64 games: "You must have the memory card in controller 1 to be able to save. You can also use a rumble pack" ... and I'm supposed to switch it every five minuites when I save? Yeah right... just let me use controller 2 for the memcard, like better games do! And on the GC, let me use memcard port 2... I don't like switching cards. Make it easier to not have to do that.), and with the various saving options this time (at the minimum, internal memory and SD cards), all I can do is hope that games will let you use any of them... though I am of course doubtful, with the history of consoles that don't use on-cart saving.
I think the best solution is to basically rip off MS and do exactly the 360 method, only even more seamlessly (as per my suggestions for solving the only problems that method presents). As I said, take the media selection and support out of the game and stick it in the OS and you no longer have a problem. The only issue is any slowdown that might occur (which can easily be taken care of, it only seems to be a result of the hard disk scanning in image data for the "side bar", it's just something that needs to be more optimized on the 360) and any suspension of immersion. If you select the default save media from the actual OS itself, BOTH matters can be eliminated as the OS just handles it itself without having to "load" anything in front of the user and the whole thing would be totally seamless.
And yes, I find those things annoying too.
Well yes, but is Nintendo that smart? :) (seriously though, there is something to be said for seamlessness of play...)
Yeah, that's why I wish the 360 could be updated so that it doesn't ask you every time you save or load a game file and instead you can just tell the OS to use a "default" media (the hard disk in my case) automatically every time.
Ya know, on thinking about it some Battletoads or a Double Dragon or two should be in that picture, maybe even a turtle that knowns ninjitsu.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the hockey mask kid is the main character from Slaughterhouse. Although I am not aware of a slaughterhouse version with kids... but how awesome would that be?
as far as Zelda, there's GANON, ocktorock, 'owl' (LA, OoT) and the Windfish's egg. There's a bunch of Mario series characters too. But Metroid gets.... two little Metroids. No Ridley, no Kraid, no Zoomers or Rippers not even a Waver and at the very least they could have included that mowhawk bird from Super Metroid who teaches you how to shinespark and sparkjump or the walljumping insect/plant monkies, but no, nothing, fucking Pit in all his glory and Metroid is barely mentioned, it's like poetiic justice except ass.
is that a moogle?
Quote:I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the hockey mask kid is the main character from Slaughterhouse. Although I am not aware of a slaughterhouse version with kids... but how awesome would that be?
That definitely could be, it's probably more likely him than it is Jason... (what about the hamburger though? Crossing it with Burgertime or something? :))
Quote:as far as Zelda, there's GANON, ocktorock, 'owl' (LA, OoT) and the Windfish's egg. There's a bunch of Mario series characters too. But Metroid gets.... two little Metroids. No Ridley, no Kraid, no Zoomers or Rippers not even a Waver and at the very least they could have included that mowhawk bird from Super Metroid who teaches you how to shinespark and sparkjump or the walljumping insect/plant monkies, but no, nothing, fucking Pit in all his glory and Metroid is barely mentioned, it's like poetiic justice except ass.
Well, that could be the Wind Fish's egg, but as a GB game that seems less likely... since Birdo is sitting on top of it, I'd assume that it's probably either a Mario 2 egg or a Yoshi egg (since that's also a Mario thing), despite its size and mountaintop location... (and I don't remember the Wind Fish's egg being pink either...)
It was, if you check the artwork (though the DX version had more reddish spots). Did you think it, like everything else in the original copy, was actually grey? :D Further, the owl is straight out of Link's Awakening, in his art style anyway.
I think it is more likely to be the wind fish's egg. I can't think of any other giant mountain topping eggs in video game lore.
And yes, that's a moogle, much like the moogle that's going to be in Mario Basketball :D.
Maybe the hockey-mask dude is the kid from Kid Chameleon. As far as I remember, there was a hockey-mask form you could take on.
Quote:It was, if you check the artwork (though the DX version had more reddish spots). Did you think it, like everything else in the original copy, was actually grey? Further, the owl is straight out of Link's Awakening, in his art style anyway.
I think it is more likely to be the wind fish's egg. I can't think of any other giant mountain topping eggs in video game lore.
The OoT owl looks the same as the GB one, you know... and why would the Wind Fish's egg be there? There aren't going to be GB games on the Virtual Console, as far as we know... (and no, I'm not going to take this as a hint that they will be there.)
Eh, whatever, it's a great image. :)
Bean/ I bet it you're right, i'm seeing Kid Chameleon as well. I wish someone would update that game, if you imagine it in 3-D the skating would be like tony hawk, the shooting like JFG/BW and of course the platforming and beat em up stuff too. Problem though right now is that because of Sony ripping through mascots the 'mascot game' (other than Mario) has become death for sales. Hopefully with Rayman and his rabbids and Sonic Wildfire we'll see mascot games make a come back. I think companies have realized the failure to reach an audience when you copy/paste a game with a new character your sales are as shallow as the game and then because of that, decent mascots are getting ignored like Sly Cooper and (up till now) Rayman, etc. Even Chibi Robo (a miyamoto creation) has failed to make friends outside a cult hit.
But its funny about mascot-less games like Battalion Wars, you play as the grunts or as the different vets and vehicles and you end up drawing them everywhere and falling in love with their individual looks and personalities. But when you combine a great game with an interesting mascot you get an instant wide-spread audience and eons ago that's what Kid Chameleon did. So Sega, when you're done making Sonic and the remake of NiGHTs for the love of god start figuring out Kid Chameleon in 3-D dammit.
End up drawing them everywhere? That's only true for people who can draw. I know I can't, so I don't.
lazyfatbum Wrote:I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the hockey mask kid is the main character from Slaughterhouse. Although I am not aware of a slaughterhouse version with kids... but how awesome would that be?
There was a Super Deformed Slaughterhouse that was only released in Japan.
Slaughterhouse was boring, though, not really worth playing...
Here's a more accurate piece of Wii speculation than that first one I linked (which is false, if you didn't know)... a retracted IGN story. Part of it was reposted, but without the part about the CPU or upped production numbers... something that most seem to take as proof that it's real. Believe what you will, but it's certainly a lot more credible than a site which pretty much lists a slightly altered list of Gamecube tech specs and calls it "Wii specs"... :)
Quote:A number of big-name publishers are set to release their Wii games in mid-to-late October, which suggests that a system debut could not be that far off. And several insiders have told IGN that Tuesday, November 2 could, in fact, be the big day.
Thing is, not all of our contacts are in agreement on the date. Some have suggested that November 12 could, instead, by Wii's launch date. Regardless, though, it seems that Wii fans can look forward to their console sooner rather than later.
Sources suggest that Wii will launch with a $229 price tag and will be available in both black and white.
Insiders claim to have seen final hardware. The Broadway CPU is allegedly in the 750 CL line, a continuation of the 750 GX series. IBM may be working on a revised Broadway chip with a lower clock speed for a future Nintendo handheld -- presumably one that plays GameCube discs.
Nintendo has allegedly bumped production of Wii hardware to 5.5 million units by the end of the year, a significant upgrade to previous numbers. The jump is purportedly based on the positive reaction to Wii from press and industry analysts at E3 2006.
The console is unlikely to be region-free, although the lock is unrelated to hardware; a firmware update could theoretically allow gamers to play import software.
The lack of region-free support is completely expected, as all of Nintendo's consoles have regions, but also quite dissapointing...
229 sounds right. I was thinking 250 but the DSL is selling for 129 as well so it's just a 'nicer' price point. combine that with the rumor of a pack in of either a Wii game or a VC game or having Wii Sports built in to the hardware and you have a very nice console price. Now I wonder if it'll ship with two wiimotes and sticks or not... Both NES and SNES shipped with two controlllers but since then its been a single controller out of the box. I would think if Nintendo is pushing the whole family/multiplayer aspect that two controllers would be expected.
the 30 games at launch also tell me that Nintendo will want you to buy games instead of controllers, for every controller you buy that's a game you wont be buying and with all the third parties putting their eggs in Nintendo's basket this time around, every game sale will make o break Nintendo's relations with those third parties. So I think a two controller launch is likely.
Smoke/ I'm googling super deformed slaughterhouse but found nothing, are there pics anywhere?
Games associated with the characters in the picture
Punch-Out!!! (King Hippo)
Kirby (SE - self-explanatory)
Mega Man (Rush, Roll, Dr. Wily)
Mappy (SE)
Pac-Man (SE)
Kid Icarus (Pit)
Super Mario Bros. (series -- SE)
Bonk's Adventure (SE)
Adventure Island (Hudson is in the lower half of the picture)
Blazing Lazers (the ship Bonk is flying is from there)
Sonic the Hiedgehog (Dr. Robotnik)
Dragon Warrior (Slime)
Ghosts and Goblins (Arthur)
Legend of Zelda (Triforce, Octarok, Moblin, etc.)
Adventures of Lolo (Lolo and Lala)
Ice Climbers (SE)
Balloon Fight (the guy in the middle holding the balloon at the top of the pic)
Duck Hunt (the damn dog)
Pengo (the penguin by Ganon)
Mighty Bomb Jack (SE)
Bomberman (SE)
Final Fantasy (moogle)
Anyone else want to add more, feel free.