Good article from Nintendojo

[A Black Falcon]

What about my comments up there, OB1? I think I have some points... :)

You seem to think connectivity is purely a gimmick to make Nintendo money. I do not. Is it as useful as they claim? Certainly not yet. But it has some, limited, potential...

Take that SMB3-E-Reader thing. Is it ridiculously expensive? Yup. However... it is Nintendo's only way of adding something on to a GB game. Given how much you want Nintendo to add on to its games I'd think you'd be happy that they're finally making extra levels for their games... (and they really are extra and not included in the system!) :)

The Metroid thing is moronic. Zelda's is more useful. The demo-disc usage is a good idea. Pac-Man GC is unique and could only be done that way. Four Swords GC... I think the 'most on GC, some on GB' dynamic could work well. I can see how if they do it right they could make it so that the gameplay experience is definitely different from how you'd play on four GBA's... I mean, when someone goes into a building they dissapear. What are they doing? You don't know... so the other people might follow to see... it could make it interesting.

Crystal Chronicles? It seems pointless; a bar on the bottom of the screen is just as good. I see no real reason that your inventory should be hidden, or a map... there is no reason to hide the info from the other players, so its just a lame gimmick that will greatly hurt sales of the game. Keep it as an option, certainly... but REQUIRED? Insane.

So its definitely a mixed bag... but there IS some non-$$$ potential, definitely. You are too cynical, as is Nintendojo.

Is it annoying to have to have a GBA to access certain features? Yes, absolutely! But if those features are truly different and could only really be done on a GB-GC linked game... I see no reason why not. It could add some features to specific games... they just need to stop using it for dumb stuff like they did in Metroid and seem to be doing in FF:CC.


I already talked about online fifteen times so no need to go over that again.

That is of course a problem, and I'm sure that the PS3 will have a built-in HDD because of that. I doubt Nintendo will with the N5.

Given the other two will, I actually think they well might...

Not everyone, believe it or not. And it is a big deal, because Nintendo fans like to get every last bit out of their games, and in some cases (FF CC) the GBA is required.

The same thing goes for the super-gimmicky E-Reader. In order to get all of the cool extra stuff in Mario 3 (which should be free seeing as good parts are supposed to have lots of extras), you need to buy a $50 E-Reader and several packs of Mario 3 E-Cards, which comes to about $90-100 total for the entire experience.

Why is the E-Reader so super gimmicky? I don't get that... sure, they could release the stuff they released for it in GBA cart collections, but what's the huge difference about having the E-Reader? If you get enough of the games for it it might even be cost-effective...

Uh, Sony hasn't done anything with connectivity...

They will once the PSP comes out.

That wasn't the point of the article at all. Nintendo cares the most about games, that is certain. However, they don't look at long-term investments like Sony and MS do. Sony and Microsoft are in the business for money just as much as Nintendo is (well actually, they're pretty much in it soley for the money), but they can see that while onling gaming isn't going to be immediately profitable, it will turn a profit in a long run. Nintendo won't offer an online gaming service because they don't see its potential. And admit it, sometimes they let their lust for the might dollar outweigh their integrity. Useless connectivity, the E-Reader, and the million recycled Pokemon games, anyone?

OB1, it does kind of sound like what GR is saying there... the guy goes on and on about how horrible Nintendo is and how they are just money-grubbing people while Sony and MS are better. That's crazy... sure Nintendo loves money but the other guys do just as much. If they had Pokemon they'd be doing the exact same thing. :) Is it annoying? Yes. But I can see why they're doing it... for Pokemon anyway. Some of that stuff isn't really excusable (the useless connectivity as a requirement and not an option)... but you go overboard. Nintendo just isn't that bad.