Good article from Nintendojo

[A Black Falcon]

OB1... how about my first reply up there, or DJ's long reply? You didn't say anything at all about either one...

Oh please, it's a pure gimmick. Instead of giving us these levels for free with Mario 3 (especially for those of us who are buying it for the third time), they expect us to pay around $70 for them. And they're not even that big of a deal! It's insane.

No, its not a pure gimmick! Is it expensive? Yeah. But just a gimmick? No way. Oh, sure, they could do a "NES Archives" thing for GBA... that'd probably be better, honestly. But just because they are doing it differently doesn't mean its gimmicky... the E-REader may be expensive, but the cards aren't hugely so. As I said, eventually the cost makes sense... I don't have one, but I'd consider it if I had the money. Its definitely unique, and uniqueness is something Nintendo likes. You clearly hate the E-Reader... not sure why. It really doesn't look that bad... sure its inconvenient and there could be better ways of doing what it does, but its sure different. Which is what Nintendo was going for, more than its profit value, I'm sure...

Mario 3... okay that stuff probably should have been in the cart. But still... its still nice to know that they'll be able to add more levels in the future, you know! Its not like the set of Mario 3 cards out right now will be the only one... sure, they just use the current tilesets. But they are new levels. Should some have been included, and some of the training stuff? Yeah, probably. But I see absolutely nothing wrong with using the only real way the game could have added something on... it really is an innovative use for the E-Reader and it'll be interesting to see if they put the feature in any other games.

Would getting it on an online service via the GC be better? Of course. But we just have to accept that for the time being Nintendo is moronic about online play.

Four Swords and Pacman are going to be the only two games that actually make good use of the GBA connectivity, but even then they could have made it so much better by adding online support so that more than just a small percentage of GC/GBA owners will be able to play four-player mode whenever they want to. Are you going to get either game?

Probably not, since I don't have many friends, much less friends with GBAs. Well, maybe I'll try to get the Pac-Man disc somehow, I don't know... though I probably will get FF:CC. That one looks like something I'd like...

I've been a Nintendo fan ever since I was old enough to pick up a controller, so the cynicism is there for a reason, trust me. You didn't even have to live through the disastrous N64 days! That turned just about every die-hard Nintendo fan into a cynic. So many delays! So few games! Ugh, just thinking about it hurts.

Funny how there are a lot of other Nintendo fans here who aren't nearly as cynical as you are...

And its not like I wasn't a Nintendo fan before '99 or anything! I've always been a Nintendo fan... I just only had the GB. And that had delays and everything too. I certainly know what you are talking about... I just haven't completelyy given up on Nintendo.

So out of dozens of games that use the feature, only two upcoming ones are actually going to make smart use of it. Weee! And don't forget that this is Nintendo's replacement for online gaming.

"Dozens" of games don't use the feature. Not even close.

Hmm... how about the Tingle Tuner in Zelda? Or some third-party games... Splinter Cell, if I remember, had a minimap...

I'm not betting on it.

Given how we know NOTHING about the N5 why give up so soon?



Oh yeah, and I wouldn't say that this is an either/or with 'either connectivity OR online'. I see no reason they can't have both! Your arguements are mostly about 'it costs too much' (a legitimate complaint about some of these things, certainly (the pointless ones), but not all of them...) or 'that'd be better online'.

Well of course GC games online would be better, and Pac-Man and Four Swords...

Though, you know, Pac-Man and Four Swords really wouldn't work online either. Those games are the perfect use of the GC-GBA link -- they rely on all the players being able to see one screen and their personal one at the same time. Unless it was those games online while you used a GBA as the controller instead of a normal controller, which kind of is against the point of 'online wouldn't need a GBA'...

Of course for FF:CC online would probably be perfect, and some other games that use it... but for the few that use that connectivity to its potential... it really is a unique form of gameplay.

Oh yeah, and of course the online would be better than the E-Reader for adding levels. I hope that when Nintendo finally goes online they'll do that. :)