The Daily ‘Shroom – 6/15/07
- We may not have loved Mr. McMahon, but dammit, a lot of us respected him.
- Samus is in the house– er, Dojo, and looking good.
Sadly, nothing else really new to say– not even anything about the slightly-misnamed “Zero Suit.”
- TransFormers!
While not directly TransFormers related, it’s worth noting that this Sunday will have a four-hour marathon of Robot Chicken on Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, starting at 11pm, and at the top of every hour will be the new Robot Chicken: Star Wars episode.
In addition, however, will be two 60-second trailers for the game which will be shown as well, one behind-the-scenes, another a CGI trailer.
Sounds good, wish I could watch.
Fortunately, there’s a new clip that’s aired on The Tonight Show that you can see here.
BotCon looms ever close, and to taunt us even more, the convention has released a new image of the boxart for the convention-exclusive “Games of Deception” box set of toys, featuring art by none other than the legendary Don Figueroa.
- On a semi-TransFormers-related note, condolences go out to the friends and family of Shaun Christopher, a fellow TransFan who passed away earlier this week.
- I don’t often report rumors (seems like I say that a lot; take that to mean there are a LOT more I don’t report), but if this one is true, I’ll really be disappointed.
RUMOR from IGN is that Project H.A.M.M.E.R. for the Wii is cancelled, possibly with the team who was working on it making more “expanded audience” titles.
This has caused a little bit of an uproar.
Me, I was really looking forward to a new, more serious franchise out of Nintendo, and it just seemed neat besides. Matt at Press The Buttons sure liked it when he got to play. If this turns out to be true, I hope that the game was just coming along really, really badly and that’s why, rather than the proposed theory that Nintendo just wants more expanded-audience titles.
Stranger still, didn’t a rather recent release have this title listed as upcoming? Possibly this year?
Here’s hoping this doesn’t affect Disaster: Day of Crisis.
“Readers are reminded that this rumor is currently unsubstantiated by official Nintendo sources. We’ll keep you posted with any updates they become available.”
And of course, PMO will follow in kind.
In the meantime, if you need a refresher on what the game was, here’s a video reminder.
- So, like Venom? Then good news.
Like Iron Man and his Mighty Avengers? Well, maybe not so good news, then…
- Oh, now this is cool. I guess THQ lost the Power Rangers license or something, because Power Rangers: Super Legends is now coming out from Disney Interactive, among others.
Better still, it sounds like it’ll do something I’ve said should have been done sooner: take advantage of the long-running history of the franchise, and make something grand. That said, it looks to include heroes and such from the original Mighty Morphin days up to the current Operation Overdrive.
And best of all, it should be relatively inexpensive. Can’t wait, I just hope they do it justice.
- So the Hulk is returning to the big screen, and a Marvel exec says it won’t suck, though really, I don’t recall any promises offhand that the original would, either.
Seriously, though, the guy certainly seems optimistic that they can make up for their last attempt…
- For the upcoming live-action Castlevania movie (not to be confused with Warren Ellis’ animated work), Anderson is officially out, and Sylvain White is in, with the release set for next year.
And to hear
Joystiq tell it, these are better hands now, too. - IGN has an exclusive update on the GI Joe movie, and details surrounding the two scripts proposed for the film.
Strong words from the man behind the movie, though to be fair, reports coming out that pretty much every non-Duke member of the team was being replaced with Action Man (slight generalization here) and that Cobra was on the outs did not show promise; the changes to TransFormers were and are relatively mundane by comparison to something like that.
- Wow, is SEGA turning on the Wii now?
I swear, I hate listening to bitching like this. Look at how this damn industry got started! Look at how the design of Mario was dictated! There are CHALLENGES that CAN be overcome! Why does it feel like every developer starts to bellyache if they don’t have 50 gajillion terraflops of power to work with so that nothing is impossible?
God, grow something, already.
I don’t know, maybe I’m out of line here. But to me, it shows a limited vision and a lack of will to step up to any obstacles that get in their way. And what’s more, Nintendo will probably make some killer apps themselves, and third-parties will go on about “well, we can’t compete with that” and “Nintendo’s taking up the whole market on their system.” Well, YEAH. Because they actually TRY now and again, and don’t give up the second they have a doubt in their mind.
Maybe they’re being brainwashed by propaganda like this.
Oh well. At least we have Jessica Alba, so I guess we’re even.
- On a mildly-related note, Ninja Gaiden Sigma director Yosuke Hayashi says that if you think developing for the PS3 is hard, then you should just get out.
- Here is a neat little Father’s Day Contest.
Don’t think I can enter, though; my dad’s a country away from me. Maybe I’ll just pose my Father-in-Law as him instead…
- Hmm, sounds like Nintendo isn’t the only one keeping online secrets from its developers.
Guess it’s just an industry thing.
–LBD “Nytetrayn”
June 15th, 2007 at 5:15 am
The real winners are in the comments.
Being wowed by graphical prowess and particle calculations != EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT.
The reason Zelda doesn’t have voice overs is because people decided Zelda games shouldn’t have voice overs. I certainly wouldn’t mind voice acting if it were good. But. It complicates the translation process, and I’m certain people would be complaining.
Do you have less emotional attachment to a movie just because it was filmed with an old camera? Do care less about the story in a novel just because it doesn’t have Hi-Def pictures? Do plays lack the ability to convey a story? Why do you idiots think that the only way to make a game world feel full and alive is to have ALL THE MOST AMAZING TECH EVER?
I don’t care even about the control methods here. Graphics do not make the game and never have. They can BREAK the game, but they are not everything. People have made great looking games with tight limitations on the graphics. I see no reason you can’t do the same now.
Hell. Look at the Brothers in Arms game on the DS. Looks just fine, doesn’t it? Guess what. That game is running on a system only marginally more powerful than the N64. Could it look better? yes. Personally I’m not a fan of ZOMG TEH REALISM games. It’s why nothing on the 360 has begged me to buy it yet. But seriously.
WRITING is what leads to emotional attachment, not physics calculations and poly counts.
June 15th, 2007 at 5:25 am
Wrong link for the Power Rangers…
June 15th, 2007 at 10:47 am
…stupid copy-paste function…
–LBD “Nytetrayn”
June 15th, 2007 at 10:49 am
There, fixed.
–LBD “Nytetrayn”
June 15th, 2007 at 11:24 am
2. That was a disappointing update, especially for a Friday. But then, I guess the character updates are never all that “meaty”…
5. Man, hope that’s not true. But you know what that makes me think of? When Yoshi’s Island and some other games late in the SNES life cycle were supposedly cancelled. But then, I think Starfox 2 was one of those games mentioned…
In any case, this seemed like an interesting game, as it was being built from the ground-up to be a Wii game, and not just a standard game fitted to Wii controls. If I have any beef with the Wii to date, it’s that some of its games provide new and interesting controls, but not necessarily more intuitive.
11. I agree, that’s no way for a developer to think. However, the person being quoted is not a developer, so I wonder if we should pay too much attention to his remarks.
Developing for a system with limitations CAN be frustrating. If it comes down to a choice, though, I’d rather develop for a system with limitations than one with all the bells & whistles that’s extremely difficult to work with. I may not be in games, but I AM a developer… Hence all my bitching about Adobe. On the flip side though, sometimes you hit a wall with your limitations and have no choice but to search for an alternative… But until you reach that point, the one that’s easier to work with is always the first choice.
I think the biggest problem with having a comparatively underpowered machine is that ports are going to be tougher. You can’t just “copy-paste” a game from one system to another, requiring more effort than it would have taken otherwise.
Personally, I’ve been impressed with the Wii’s graphics so far. Maybe it would fail in a head-to-head comparison with the big systems, but just looking at the Wii games themselves, I like what I see. As for the controls, I think developers still need time to figure things out. Are you going with a new control scheme, or a more traditional one? Too many current games, I feel, are awkwardly handling this decision.
Maybe it’s better that the Wii has such different limitations than the other machines — developers will be encouraged to develop a different game for the Wii, and thus not try to force gesture controls into a game that wasn’ desgined with them in mind.
June 16th, 2007 at 12:49 am
11) More journalist arrogance. GoNintendo had to throw in their patronizing comment at the end, huh? Am I the only one who thinks games were very different from NES to SNES and especially from PS1 to PS2.
The Sega guy makes a perfectly valid point. First of all, the Wii is really underpowered, and second, the controller can just as well be a short-lived or narrow technology.
But its application for shooters and strategy is worthwhile and it definitely has “value” to developers. Unfortunately, this potential is hardly taken advantage of because game companies just don’t know what to do with the Wii. Idiot publishers toss kiddy garbage or throwaway party games on the Wii and then act frustrated when they are outsold by first-party titles.
Also, did GoNintendo just imply that the Gamecube isn’t fun? Anything to make fun of their interviewees, I guess. Go fanboyism!
Everyone knows that Nintendo has a monopoly on fun.
By the way, it’s surprising Sega guy said this when Sega was a big Wii advocate much earlier. But also remember the IGN article you linked to about how Sega Sammy is dabbling in everything right now and always switching gears. So I guess it’s no surprise that they would turn around on Wii, or any console.
June 16th, 2007 at 1:52 am
Am I the only one who thinks games were very different from NES to SNES and especially from PS1 to PS2.
Other than graphically? A bit, but not tremendously. They felt mostly like v1 and v2 to me of each, while N64/PS1 to SNES/Genesis felt closer to a new beginning, with advancement in 3-D and all.
The Sega guy makes a perfectly valid point. First of all, the Wii is really underpowered, and second, the controller can just as well be a short-lived or narrow technology.
Relatively underpowered, yeah, but you can still do good things with it. The same can be said of pretty much every piece of hardware to date, and I imagine in the future, something the level of PS3 would be considered underpowered as well. Truth be told, I don’t think there will ever be a system that has “enough power.”
But its application for shooters and strategy is worthwhile and it definitely has ?value? to developers. Unfortunately, this potential is hardly taken advantage of because game companies just don?t know what to do with the Wii. Idiot publishers toss kiddy garbage or throwaway party games on the Wii and then act frustrated when they are outsold by first-party titles.
I agree 100%. This is why I feel they’re bitching too much. ;P The opportunity is there, they just need to actively go for it.
Also, did GoNintendo just imply that the Gamecube isn?t fun? Anything to make fun of their interviewees, I guess. Go fanboyism!
I think they’re saying that the Cube was cheapest, that didn’t make it #1, thus making Sony’s stern assessment that it’s all about the price faulty.
By the way, it?s surprising Sega guy said this when Sega was a big Wii advocate much earlier.
Yeah, go figure.
–LBD “Nytetrayn”